Beacon Blue on Biomass

60026 'Helvellyn' passing Winwick this afternoon at head of the 6E10 12:03 Liverpool Biomass Terminal to Drax AES service. The locomotive operated by GBRf is owned by Beacon Rail and it's livery is based on it's owners dark blue with both Beacon and GBRf logos. The locomotive had reentered traffic in late 2021 after being out of use for over a year, due to fire damage suffered whilst working on the same circuit in 2020.

Freightliner Update

86604 86639 4L60 19:46 Garston FLT - Crewe Basford Hall seen at Halebank on 02/06/2020.

The last few months have been the strangest time in many of our lives, with the world consumed in a pandemic. COVID-19, or Corona Virus as it is more commonly referred to, has affected all of our daily lives. The railways are no exception with passenger operators running with reduced timetables, some operators such as Grand Central by Arriva decided to suspend all services indefinitely. During the lock down, trains would continue to run to provide key workers an opportunity to be able to get to and from their places of work.

Whilst waiting at Halebank, the familiar roar of the GE PowerHaul P616 engine disturbed the peace as 70005 ran light from Garston FLT - Ditton FLT.  This was under headcode 0F45 and was to position the loco to work the 4K45 12:52 Ditton FLT - Crewe Basford Hall service. Seen here at Halebank, the loco is heading for a runaround at Garston Yard 21/03/2020.

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Rail freight has continued also and in many ways has kept the country going with vital flows of foodstuffs, drinks and biomass to name just a few. One area that is only now really starting to feel the impact of COVID-19 is the inter modal container market. Most of the things we buy and use every day are made in China. With this virus seemingly starting in Wuhan, the Chinese went in to an early lockdown and with it the halting of industry. Many many deep sea container ships leave Chinese ports every day, carrying goods all over the world. In the case of the UK, a journey from China may take 6-7 weeks, so the last ships (in theory) to leave prior to China's shut down have arrived. 

                                      

Operators such as DB Cargo UK, Freightliner and GBRf are all big players in the inter modal market with services running all over the UK. Freightliner is the largest in this market, being originally a business built around the transport of containers all over the country. They have diversified in to other areas now with their Heavy Haul side of the business shifting anything from aggregates to household waste. But the containers are still very much the beating heart of the business. Operations are centred on the ports at Felixstowe and Southampton and serve inland terminals such as Coatbridge (Glasgow), Ditton (Widnes), Garston (Liverpool), Lawley St (Birmingham), Leeds, Trafford Park (Manchester), Teesdock (Middlesborough) and Wentloog (Newport)  - this list is not exhaustive.

Also during the global pandemic, Abellio Greater Anglia, have replaced their loco hauled Intercity services between Liverpool St and Norwich with modern units by Bombardier and Stadler. This has seen the delayed transfer of 13 Class 90's (90003-90015) to Freightliner. With reduced traffic levels at the moment and less pressure on the fleet, these 13 as well as the entire Class 70 fleet (19 locos) and several 66's have been placed in to temporary store until traffic levels pick up again. The 90's will all receive modifications and a repaint in to G+W orange before they enter traffic with 90014 expected to be the first. 90014 received a heavy exam at Crewe TMD and was shipped over to Basford Hall VMF where work has continued. The other 12 currently sit in the depths of Basford Hall yard awaiting the call. 

86637 86632 4M45 Felixstowe North FLT - Garston FLT, Halebank 17/03/2020. 

A jammy patch of light this morning as 90048 and 90016 pass through Red Bank under a moody sky. The service in question was the 4S50 06:03 Crewe Basford Hall - Coatbridge FLT liner. 05/06/2020.

The other loco's in the Fleet, the ever present Class 86's, continue to play an important role with the company. The fleet are largely concentrated on workings south of Crewe working various services to an from Ipswich but do retain at least one booked turn on weekdays to/from Coatbridge.

The fleet has remained static for the last few years at 16 operational locomotives. Some have spent periods out of use such as 86627 and 86632 which had Transformer and Wheel set attention before returning to active use, but were never formally stored. Since the start of the Corona Virus pandemic several examples have been stored. First to go was 86610 which requires new wheels, thankfully the loco is being kept 'warm' at Crewe and hopefully should be returned to traffic in due course. 86614 was then the next to be stood down. That in the past week has been reinstated and is currently back in traffic. At the expense of this reinstatement was 86627 which has been stood down at Basford Hall. Time will tell whether this one comes back, with Freightliner describing rumours of the 86's demise as 'Fake news'. I believe a core fleet will be retained with a couple of locos probably becoming spares donors to keep them going.

This afternoon 86605 has been moved to store but this should be a temporary stint as the loco is receiving attention at Crewe.

86608 86638 4L60 19:46 Garston FLT - Felixstowe North FLT at Hartford on 14/05/2020.

90043 90016 4S59 20:59 Crewe Basford Hall - Coatbridge FLT at Hartford 04/03/2020

90016 was in the news in late May, when it failed near Mossend whilst paired with 90047 on an evening departure from Coatbridge. The train was shunted back in to Mossend yard where the errant 90016, which reportedly had caught fire and was scorched, was removed before 90047 continued south solo. The reports of 90016's demise where premature and somewhat exaggerated as, after being transferred back to Crewe the next day, was back in service by the end of the week once again paired up with 90047 on Anglo-Scottish flows.

At the time of writing 90044, the only electric to carry the G+W Orange+Black scheme, is out of traffic pending the arrival of parts at Crewe.

90044 90046 4M11 Hartford 04/03/2020

90047 90045 4M11 18:03 Coatbridge FLT - Crewe Basford Hall, Acton Bridge 14/05/2020.

08530 Trafford Park FLT 18/01/2020.

66517 66522 4K83 12:13 Garston FLT - Crewe Basford Hall, Halebank 30/05/2020

Recent Pics

60047 6J37 Red Bank, June 28, 2018

After a short break of a couple of weeks, the logs are back! Also back (for now) at the helm is 60047 which will shortly be transferring to GBRf with the 9 other Class 60's operated by Colas. The logs are likely to revert to Class 70 power, indeed 70812 powered this service at the start of the week.

70813 6J37 Red Bank, August 10, 2018

The new order on 6J37 (at least for now) as 70813 eases through Redbank on the first full day post Class 60. The heavy log train runs from Carlisle to Chirk and has been a Colas turn for over a decade. The service has used traction such as Virgin Class 57/3's, DRS Class 57/0's, as well as Colas's own Class 47's, 56's 60's 66’s and 70's over the last few years.

66711 'Sence' 6L48 Weaver Junction, August 2, 2018

One of the most colourtul locomotives on the network is GB Railfreight's Class 66 66711 'Sence' in it's Aggregates Industries scheme. I have a soft spot for this locomotive and cant help but follow it around when its in the local area. Such luck at the moment is that after having a period on the Liverpool-Drax Biomass circuit, Sence is back working off Liverpool on the Ford Automotive train between there and Dagenham Docks. This locomotive actually delivered my new Ford Kuga to Garston last week which was pretty cool. Anyway, the GM is seen here giving it full beans away from Weaver Junction running around 15 mins early.

66721 'Harry Beck' 6E09 Daresbury, August 11, 2018

A pleasant surprise this Sunny Saturday morning as 'London Tube' liveried 66721 'Harry Beck' shifts its load of Biomass through Daresbury towards Weaver Junction. The service was the 6E09 07:40 Liverpool Biomass Terminal to Drax Alternative Energy Station in Yorkshire.

86638 86612 4K64 Halebank, July 11, 2018

Generally booked for a pair of 86's, the 4K64 11:46 Garston FLT - Crewe Basford Hall service is certainly one of my favourite services to photo. Operationally, Monday night to Friday night a pair are booked to work the 4M42 21:52 Felixstowe North FLT to Garston FLT forward from Ipswich, arriving at Garston just before 6am the following morning. The loco's remain on hand then to work 4K64 at lunchtime. Generally this pair (barring operational issues/failures) will then work to Coatbridge from Crewe later that evening. This has been a fairly recent change as it used to be that the loco(s) that worked the 4F45 08:20 Garston FLT - Crewe Basford Hall service would then return on 4K64. This loco now generally runs to Ditton light to assist with shunting/hauling the 4L92 14:03 departure to Felixstowe. On a Monday, loco's are ferried to Garston via 4F80 05:12 Crewe to Ditton and then run light to Garston.

 86613 86627 4K64 Halebank, June 29, 2018

With a toot from the driver and a wave from the second man's seat, Freightliner 86613 leads the 4K64 11:46 Garston FLT - Crewe Basford Hall through Halebank. Class mate 86627 was dead in tow taking a breather en-route back to Crewe. 

60059 6H02 Daresbury, July 11, 2018

A bit of a surprise this morning as I was waiting for the 90's on 4M27.... the unmistakable rumble of the Mirrlees MB275T engine. DB Cargo (UK) Class 60 60059 'Swinden Dalesman' hauls the 6H02 09:29 Arpley Sidings - Tunstead Sidings through Daresbury. The former Loadhaul favourite was the 7th 'Tug' released from the 'Super 60' overhaul programme at Toton after 60007, 60054, 60091, 60074, 60079 and 60063. Earlier work had been trialed on 60011 (electrical) and 60099 (mechanical) prior to the programme commencing. 60059 re-entered traffic in the spring of 2012 and has recently been 'de-schenkerised'.

 67002 1Z60 Daresbury, August 11, 2018

1Z60 04:44 Bristol Temple Meads to Appleby Pathfinder railtour.

 68025 'Superb' 5Z68 Moore, June 28, 2018

Another run of the Class 68 and MK3 ex 'Pretendolino' stock under Freightliner control was recorded this morning at Moore. 68025 'Superb' and 68031 'Excelsior' are recorded at either end of the 5Z68 10:02 Crewe C.S - Carlisle test run.

 88008 'Ariadne' 4M48 Red bank, August 5, 2018

1453 Mossend Euroterminal to Daventry Drs (Tesco)

                             

Freight Update

On a day that brought glorious sunshine, the 4K64 11:46 Garston FLT - Crewe Basford Hall was well loaded and hauled by a pair of Cans! 86628 and 86614 multi power the train towards Ditton East Junction where they will make a brief stop to allow a Pendolino to pass by. This service is more often than not 86 hauled, either single or double-headed. Once a booked Class 90 turn, the hire of locos to Sleeper duties plus the Russell container trains that are double headed, 90's are relatively rare on this turn now. As mentioned 86's are the stable diet but 66's and occasionally 70's can appear from time to time. Always nice to see these wonderful AC Electric workhorses though, despite their advancing years they never get old! 18/04/2018.

Still carrying full 'DB Schenker' branding is DB Cargo 66101 here at Halebank. The loco has just slowly edged its way out of the Jaguar Land Rover plant at Halewood and is about to begin its long journey to Southampton Eastern Docks, 18/04/2018

88001 'Revolution' leads the long 4S43 Daventry - Mossend Euroterminal 'Tesco' express through Red Bank, Newton-Le-Willows on Saturday 21/04/2018. These electro-diesels are the newest class of locomotive introduced in the UK and are used predominately in 'Electric' mode with a 'Last Mile' diesel engine to cover short distances of electrified track. The Mossend/Daventry turns are the stable diet at the moment and the Class have also seen some use on Sellafield Flasks and WCML departmental trains.

Disturbing the early morning peace and quiet, DRS Class 68's 68023 'Achilles' and 68001 'Evolution' lead the 6C53 06:25 Crewe Coal Sidings - Sellafield through Daresbury. There is just something about these 68's that make them a personal favorite. The noise from them when a driver opens up will no doubt make them a cult classic! 21/04/2018.

A rather shabby 66061 heads towards Acton Bridge with the 6O42 11:31 Halewood Jaguar Cars - Southampton Eastern Docks on 05/04/2018. It has now been 20 years since the first Class 66 landed on British soil and this particular loco has carried this paint scheme from new avoiding the DB Stickering and the red paint brush so far but not for much longer...

DB Schenker Red 90040 leads Malcolm Logistics liveried 90024 towards Acton Bridge with the 4M25 06:06 Mossend Euroterminal - Daventry on 05/04/2018.

66109 is seen near Halewood with the 6O16 11:46 Ditton Foundry Lane - Dollands Moor. For operational reasons this service heads out of Ditton and reverses at Garston Yard before heading back to Ditton East Junction. From here the service then heads to Latchford sidings for another reversal before recessing at Warrington Arpley Sidings until the evening when it proceeds on to Dollands Moor.

66503 'The Railway Magazine' is seen taking the 'Fast line' near Jaguar Landrover Halewood with a lightly loaded 4Z80 08:15 Garston FLT - London Gateway on 21/04/2018. This particular loco has had its cab front and cab side Freightliner logos replaced with the newer Freightliner logo along with Genesee & Wyoming branding. 

With a slight pinch of sun peering through the forming clouds at Daresbury, the Freightliner Class 90 pairing of 90041 and 90043 slowly edge the 4M27 Coatbridge-Daventry through Daresbury. This was my first opportunity of 90041 being on the front of a service since reinstatement, having caught it several times in the past few weeks being the tucked in loco. Welcome back! 23/02/2018..

DRS places third order for Class 68's

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/traction-rolling-stock/single-view/view/uk-and-italian-operators-order-vossloh-locomotives.html?cHash=be53496d2893eb5bdfad8350348e26ed&Continue=1

Direct Rail Services (DRS) have placed a third order for the successful Class 68 introduced in 2014. The companies first order was for 15 locomotives and following the introduction of these machines an additional order for ten locos was placed. This latest order is for seven locomotives and highlights how in demand the 68's are. Currently the mixed traffic design is occupied with both freight and passenger work. Chiltern Railways replaced hired in Class 67's on passenger services between London and Birmingham earlier this year. Following the change over from First to Abellio in Scotland, Class 68's have also been deployed on passenger work North of the Border working peak services on the Fife circle, again at the expense of DBS Class 67's.

On the freight front the only regular booked turns for the Class at the moment is the 6U76 Crewe Basford Hall-Mountsorrel (6U77 return). North of the Border the 4H47 Mossend to Inverness (4D47 return) and the 4A13 Grangemouth to Aberdeen (4N83 return) intermodal turns have been in the hands of Vossloh's finest for some time. Other turns have and indeed do sometimes throw up a 68 such as engineers trains and wagon movements. Earlier this year, DRS experimented with Double Class 68's on Mossend-Daventry (and return) intermodal services. Replacing Class 92's hired in, two locos were required to maintain the timings of the ridiculously powerful 'Dysons'. A shortage of locos has seen this service revert to Double Class 66's for now...

So what is likely to occupy these additional beasts? Well a lot of rumours and speculation surround the Class. Talk of TPE and Northern looking at introducing a loco hauled turn utilizing the Cat's has been doing the rounds as of late. The difficulty here being that both franchises are shortly to be renewed before the new locos are expected to arrive, so things can change. First Great Western replacing 57's on sleepers with 67's is something that has been thrown around for some time. Could the 68's comeback to haunt the 67's again? At this point it must be said that there are no *official* plans to replace 57's on 'Night Riviera' duties.

The Northern Belle also recently had 68 power.Could we see an umber and cream Warskip? Highly unlikely but you never know...

So what for the impact on rest of the fleet? Serious inroads in to the Class 37 (non ETH) fleet as well as the elimination of the Class 20 and Class 47 has to be high on the agenda. Even perhaps the Class 57 could be under threat. Unless DRS has major expansion plans its hard to see them maintaining such fleet levels. They have committed to their leased Class 66's for another 5 years so they're safe...

I had the pleasure of travelling behind Chiltern liveried 68015 between Birmingham Moor st and London Marylebone in May. I had read a lot from enthusiasts about how powerful and noisy these locos are and needless to say I was not disappointed. The acceleration on these locos is impressive but it is the sound that has made perhaps given them a cult following. They may sound different from a vintage Class 37 but they are certainly no quieter. For a modern locomotive they are incredibly popular with enthusiasts. However what is perhaps most pleasing is that this third order proves that the Class is popular with the people who truly matter, railway operators themselves...