GBRf Heritage Liveries visit the North West

GBRf are perhaps the most exciting operator on the network when it comes to providing variety amongst it's loco liveries. Recently we have seen Class 47's, 50's and 60's receive different variations of the famous Blue/Orange scheme. But it is perhaps the Class 66 fleet that is the most exciting. Below is a list of the current 'Specials' GBRf have to offer!

2 loco's I have been able to catch up with recently are 66779 and 66789.

BR Brunswick Green liveried 66779 'Evening Star' is nearing journeys end as it passes the Jaguar factory in Halewood, Merseyside. The loco was working the additional 6X43 0909 Dagenham Dock Recp Gbrf to Garston Car Terminal Gbrf Ford automotive service. This particular train has ran more frequent recently with Ford stockpiling due to uncertainty around Brexit. This image was recorded just after 16:00 on 21/05/2019. The loco later returned to Dagenham with the empties and is now back in the area at Tuebrook sidings, where we will wait to see if it drops on to the Biomass circuit.

The lovely BR Large Logo Blue 66879 'British Rail 1948-1997' powers through Acton Bridge with the 6V35 0944 Clitheroe Castle Cement Gb to Avonmouth Hanson Sdg Gbrf on 16/05/2019. The loco the former EWS 66250, painted by GBRf when purchased from DB Cargo. GBRf are to be congratulated on providing such a wonderful bit of variety amongst a class which are seen as many as the devil.

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...

The Cumbrian Docker

Saturday 21st March saw Pathfinder Tours operate a train between Birmingham International and Carlisle. It wasn't however just a straightforward trip up the WCML, it was routed along the scenic Cumbrian Coast line route. As well as the glorious views on offer, thrown in was some rare access to the private docks branches at both Barrow and Workington. The choice of traction wasn't bad either, a pair of DRS Class 57/0's top and tailing!

The Traction

The traction for the tour was a pair of Class 57/0 diesels operated by Direct Rail Services (DRS). These locomotives are normally 'Freight only' machines with no ETH and were introduced in the late 1990's by Freightliner. Utilising the body shells of Class 47 diesels, they have refurbished EMD engines and actually have traction motors from Class 56 diesels. allowing them to be introduced at a fraction of the cost of a new build locomotive. 

 

57004 was converted from Class 47 47347 in 1998. Originally operated by Freightliner and named 'Freightliner Quality' it was stood down following the decision in 2007 to start to hand back the locos in favour of Class 66 diesels. Allocated to Carlisle Kingmoor depot and carrying DRS 'Compass' livery, this locomotive is actually owned outright by DRS, unlike the other 8 57/0's which are leased from Porterbrook. Following the crash of 37515 in 2008 and subsequent insurance right off, it was given as a direct replacement. 

57008 was converted from 47060 and was introduced in 1999. Under Freightliner it was named 'Freightliner Explorer' and again was stood down with the rest of the fleet with the change in traction policy.
With DRS the 57's are mainly used on nuclear flask workings and are particularly well utilised in the Autumn when the RHTT season starts. 


The Tour

The day for myself started at Warrington Bank Quay and at 09:40 the train pulled in to platform 3 with 57004 at the helm, 57008 hanging on at the rear. The coaching stock was formed of Riviera trains MK1's which have been well looked after. So apart from the fact we were being hauled by a pair of locos introduced for freight in old MK1 coaches, it was a fairly standard journey up the West Coast Mainline through Wigan before our last scheduled stop at Preston. From Preston we continued north through Lancaster towards Carnforth. On the approach to Carnforth we were advised by an on board announcement that Intercity liveried 37518 had been moved to a 'phottable' position on the West Coast Railways depot there. With many onboard now on their feet looking out the windows, we slowly crawled past the seemingly endless line of stored coaching and parcel stock stored there. Eventually arriving at the north end of the yard where the diesel depot is located, the coaches were replaced by lines of Class 47 and 57 locomotives with the odd 37 thrown in. With Carnforth out of the way the train branched left and on to the start of the Cumbrian Coast line. Cumbria is beautiful in any weather, but on this line with the sea on one side and the mountains on the other, in full glorious sunshine then it really is something else. Miles and miles of fields, greenery and wildlife. Disturbing the peace and tranquility today was 57004 on the climb towards Ulverston.

The first private branch line of the day was that of Barrow Docks, something not too many passenger carrying trains have been on in recent times. Today, Barrow docks mainly handles specialist vessels, notably ships from Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited and its nuclear fuel carriers. Security is tight due to the sensitivity of the subject and as such there are a few stops whilst gates are unlocked and the train is given clearance to crawl along the line. Eventually at a stop, the train is next to two PNTL vessels, 'Pacific Heron' and 'Pacific Egret'. These two vessels were introduced in 2008 and 2010 respectively and have security features that enable them to transport MOX fuel and plutonium dioxide from here to Japan. As mentioned above, there have been several issues with the transportation of this cargo over the years mainly involving Greenpeace and the truly reckless behaviour of some of its tree hugging activists. These ships are truly kitted out for this type of Cargo with a double hull and essential systems have backups to ensure reliability, kind of sounds like the Class 92 of the seas... In terms of protection, the vessels are fitted with Naval guns as well as other defence systems.

Also in view is the shipyard of BAE systems which is responsible for the design and production of Nuclear submarines. Nearly all of the Royal Navy Submarines were built here, the exceptions being made at Cammell Laird Birkenhead.

Back to the tour and 57008 was started up on the rear of the train to drag us back out of the private line, before handing back over to 004 which was to continue on the northbound trip. With a planned stop at Barrow station for a photocall being called off due to time constraints we were headed to Ravenglass for a quick stop and an opportunity to stretch the old legs. Here is home to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway which is a 15 inch narrow gauge railway which stretches for 7 miles to Dalegarth Station. Even with this fine piece of engineering, I couldn't bring myself to point my camera at a 'Kettle'. The stop here allowed an opportunity for some photographs of our train.

Back on board and back underway, the 57 took no time getting up to speed as we headed for Workington Docks. This section was probably the most beautiful and took in towns such as Sellafield and Whitehaven and was alongside the Irish sea for most of it. At Sellafield, we stopped for a couple of minutes next to the DRS holding sidings and the former DRS diesel depot which now houses the nuclear flask wagons and is still owned by BNFL. In the sidings today were Northern Belle liveried 57306+57312 which had worked up from Crewe that morning. On the headshunt was 37612,37059,57009 and 57002. 37603 and 37611 were also noted within the confines of the depot.

At Workington, the docks branch was accessed by a reversal, so 57008 was put back in to use slowly traversing the internal rail system. Workington docks these days handles about 300,000 tonnes of Cargo per year. This ranges from both dry and liquid bulks and forest products. Indeed on the day of our visit there was activity with timber traffic. In one of the sidings were some French registered 'Silver Bullet' wagons with 'Ermewa' branding.

Back on the line and the train was headed to Carlise for a brief 40 minute stop enabling a chance to be fed and watered. On the approach to Carlisle Citadel station we passed the now closed depot at Carlisle Currock. The shed here was closed by EWS in 2007 after being gradually run down over several years like many of their depots. Prior to being mothballed the depot was mainly used for maintaining wagons rather than locos but did still look after a fleet of shunters used in the Carlisle area. The depot is a sad sight today, truly abandoned with smashed windows, doors and overgrowth as well as lifted track. 

Shortly after we pulled in to Carlisle station and here 57004, with a fair shift behind it today was shut down. The stop in Carlisle was originally scheduled to be a two hour break, however this had to be reduced due to operational reasons throughout the day. Leaving at 17:20 the journey down south on the WCML was also set to be interesting as it took it some goods loops such as the ones at Eden Valley, Shap and Oxenholme. These loops are used normally for freight services to pull in to, allowing faster and higher priority trains to pass. One thing I was particularly looking forward to was seeing how the 57 fared on the climb to Shap Summit, which is 916 feet above sea level and the result was pretty impressive. Between leaving Carlisle and passing through Plumpton, the service had lost 8 minutes. This was maintained even on the climb to Shap and upon arriving at Shap Summit the train had not lost anymore time. At this time of day the sun was disappearing but what a sight the Lune gorge was in the evening light, simply stunning. The rest of the trip down South was mainly in the dark and largely uneventful. Upon arriving at Preston the service was by now 20 minutes late, and at Warrington Bank Quay were I was to leave the train we were late almost the same amount of minutes. Railtour time I think they call it..

So all in all a very good tour, allowing some rare mileage on freight only private branches as well as goods loops. The scenery on offer was unbelieveable as expected for Cumbria but with the weather on our side it just took it to another level. The opportunity to get some miles in behind some 57/0's was not one to be missed either for me personally. The price of the tour was a little higher than what I had paid on recent tours at £89, but perhaps with the ridiculous online booking charge taken out of the the equation, I'd say it was a reasonable price for what was delivered.