Update August and September 2023 and we see a varied selection of Rail action in Cumbria and North Lancashire with main line steam, Nuclear moves and the Sunday only workings of pairs of Class 195/0s on the Furness Line and the late Sunday 195/1 working Barrow to Millom. The only 195 diagrammed on the Cumbrian Coast Following on from last time there was another DRS Sellafield to Barrow Marine Terminal move, This time just a light engine and some DRS Light engine driver training workings We see Class 37.47,57,67,68,86,88. HST Power cars, a couple of tampers and WCR Jubilees and Bulleid Pacifics were the Mainline Steam workings I'll drop in some still pictures in To whet your appetite 05/08/2023 Leyland 86 259 1Z87 Carlisle-London Euston (preserved 25Kv A.C electric) 13/08/2023 Appleby 67 007 1Z13 Edinburgh-Skipton (ugliest loco on British rail) 18/08/2023 Dunnerholme 68 007 and 68 003 Valiant 6C51 Sellafield-Heysham Power station 19/08/2023 Carnforth 43067 Tangmere and 57 601 Windsor Castle 5Z50 Carnforth WCR-Carnforth Down sidings 19/08/2023 Carnforth 45562 Sierra Leone (AKA Galatea) and 47 746 Chris Fudge 5Z35 Carnforth-York Holgate sidings 20/08/2023 Carnforth 195 021 and 195 019 1C52 Manchester Airport-Barrow in Furness 20/08/2023 Carnforth 195 021 and 195 019 1Y 97 Barrow in Furness-Manchester Airport 27/08/2023 Roose 195 1211Y96 Barrow in Furness-Manchester Airport 27/08/2023 Roose 195 006 and 195 008 1C52 Manchester Airport-Barrow in Furness 01/09/2023 Kirkby in Furness Lidgate UWC 68 003 The Poppy and 68 016 Fearless 6C52 Heysham power station-Sellafield 03/09/2023 Askam in Furness 195 118 2C31 Barrow-Millom 04/09/2023 Foxfield 37 405 6Z37 Warrington Arpley-Working Docks 04/09/2023 Askam in Furness 37 405 0Z38 Workington Docks-Shrewsbury 06/09/2023 Askam in Furness 88 007 Electra 0Z68 Kingmoor TMD-Carlisle Sth Junction 07/09/2023 Kirkby in Furness 68 007 Valliant 0Z68 Kingmoor TMD-Carlisle Sth Junction 07/09/2023 Askam in Furness 43251 and 43272 1Q82 Carlisle-Blackpool North 09/09/2023 Askam in Furness 88 005 Minerva and 88 006 Juno 6K73 Sellafield-Creve CLS 09/09/2023 Dalton in Furness 88 005 Minerva and 88 006 Juno 6K73 Sellafield-Creve CLS 15/09/2023 Kirkby in Furness 68 018 Vigilant and 68 034 Railriders 6C51 Sellafield-Heysham Power station 16/09/2023 Askam in Furness 47 805 Roger Hoskings and 47 810 Crewe Diesel 1Z62 Carlisle-Milton Keynes 16/09/2023 Ulverston 47 805 Roger Hoskings and 47 810 Crewe Diesel 1Z62 Carlisle-Milton Keynes 17/09/2023 Ulverston195 009 and 195 005 1C52 Manchester Airport-Barrow in Furness 17/09/2023 Thwaites Flat 195 130 2C31 Barrow n Furness-Millom 18/09/2023 Askam in Furness DR 77903 6U16 Wigan-Millom 18/09/2023 Ulverston DR 73930 6J01 Guide Bridge-Ulverston 21/09/2023 Askam in Furness 68 004 Rapid 0Z68 Sellafield-Barrow MT 21/09/2023 Barrow Ramsden Dock 68 004 Rapid 0Z68 Sellafield-Barrow MT 21/09/2023 Askam in Furness 68 004 Rapid 0Z73 Barrow MT-Sellafield 22/09/2023 Askam in Furness 68 018 Vigilant and 68 034 Railriders 6C51 Sellafield-Heysham Power station 23/09/2023 Furness Abbey Tunnel 68 018 Vigilant and 68 034 Railriders 6K73 Sellafield-Creve CLS 23/09/2023 Kirkby in Furness (Lidgate UWC) 43067 Tangmere 1Z28 Penrith-Telford 23/09/2023 Lindal in Furness 43067 Tangmere 1Z28 Penrith-Telford 26/09/2023 Askam in Furness 43272 and 43257 1Q47 Derby RTC-Carlisle 30/09/2023 Askam in Furness 45690 Leander 1Z87 Carlisle-London Euston 30/09/2023 Lindal in Furness 45690 Leander 1Z87 Carlisle-London Euston (Sanders on full to get up the incline) The nights are getting darker , Winters A'coming, but I'll try and get as much as I can Kev
So today we went out to get 35018 'British India Line' running the last steam hauled excursion of the year down the Cumbrian Coast line. This is one of Oliver Bulleids 'Merchant Navy' class 4-6-2s built for the Southern railway and is one of the heavier class of the two designs. It had its streamlined casing and the chain driven valve gear removed by British Rail which inproved reliabilty and maintenance but did little to sort the class tendency to be a bit 'Light on their feet' with a tendency to slip a lot. Looking well, in the curious light at Dunnerholme crossing So we jumped in the X-trail and headed over the hill to get it again at Lindal in Furness. Got there in plenty of time and waited, and waited. It showed leaving Barrow 14 minutes late on TOPS but it became apparent that it was lost somewhere. Many texts and Whats App messages later. It had slipped to a stop on the climb to Dalton Tunnel on wet leaves on the line and was stuck. This is not even the steepest part of the grade and what followed was typical of British railways today In their wisdom Network Rail keep Dalton junction signalbox closed on Saturdays. This meant that the train had to come through the Barrow Loop ,mixed in with the regular service passenegr trains. It also meant that the train could not slowly back onto the Dalton Freight loop to get out of the way to wait for assistance. Two of West Coast railway's Class 47s were sent as 'Thunderbirds' to assist it from Carnforth but had to crawl behind a Manchester to Barrow Class 156 which then blocked both platforms at Barrow station. As the Dalton Junction signalbox was shut the 47s could not crossover there but had to go to Barrow to reverse where all three platforms and crossing were blocked They finally hooked onto the rear of the stranded charter train and pushed it up the hill 136 minutes late and by the time it got to Carnforth, where the Steam loco comes of it was 142 minutes late. The poor passengers were going all the way back to Bristol and god knows what time they were going to get there! Video will be on my next North west Rail action movie Kev
Days are getting shorter and the 'British India line Steam' railtour was the last of the season so there is less stuff to go out and see but.. nuclear traffic is holding up well 68 003 Astute and 68 004 Rapid top and tail two PFA flatrols through Askam The monthly Network Rail test train is now always hauled by HST power crs. In this case 43272 and 45257 from the Rail technical centre in Derby to Carlisle The weekly Heysham Power station service is top and tailed by 68 034 Rail Riders and 68 004 Rapid through Dunnerholme Last month the train operator Trans Pennine Express made the bizarre decision to cease using full sets of brand new trains on their services. rakes of Mk 5 coaches and Class 68s leased from DRS were basically going to be parked in a field. There has been uproar amongst the Rail community. Some of the TPE 68s have started to appear on Nuclear services and the RHTT Leaf busting trains. I would never have imagined this combination appearing 25kv AC/Diesel hybrid 88 010 Aurora leads 68 020 Reliance (still in TPE livery) on the Saturday Morning, Sellafield to Crewe, Flask train at Dalton All the sevens, 68 007 Valiant leads 88 007 Electra on the same working a week later at Park South We had a royal visit to Barrow by the Princess Royal (Princess Anne) and DRS dispatched a pair of 68s with an FNA-D (empty, of course!) to pose dockside at the Nuclear termional 68 006 Pride of the North and 68 034 Rail Riders enter the dock with the Nuclear fuel boats Pacific Heron and Pacific Grebe alongside there is a bit more on the video. Sometimes it is just too dark to shoot stills but the camcorders usually manage to get something useable At the end of the video is a nuclear train in the snow, This is a taster for the next compilation regards Kev
Back after a long absence. My Broken Ankle pretty much stopped most photography in January and February (See my other thread about it) Anyway, instead of parping about my issues lets start to get back into the good stuff Today was a good day Got Brooklyn out of bed so we could get 6K73, The Sellafield to Crewe Coal sidings nuclear flask train at Askam. 68 017 'Vigilant' working in multi with 68 033 'The Poppy' and 88 010 'Aurora' D.I.T (Dead in train) On Saturdays Dalton Junction Signalbox is closed and the Nukes are pathed through Barrow in Furness rather than the Dalton Loop shortcut. This gives us 20 minutes to drive over the hill to get it again at Dalton in Furness Exiting Dalton Tunnel, currently there is a 20 Mph speed restriction through the tunnel so we are getting them opening the thottle as they come through the platform You can just see the tunnel in the heat haze from the exhausts Those CAT engines sound good! Quick call into Dalton Pie shop and then on to Scout Green on the fierce ascent to Shap summit on the West Coast Main line an 88 with its Pantograph up 88 006 'Juno' attacks the bank with a heavily loaded Tesco Intermodal. Although the 88s knock ot nearly 5,400 Horse power, adhesion has always been an Achilees heal of the the bi-Modals Spring hasn't woken the vegitation up yet up here The main reason for tramping around the Westmorland Fells this early in the year Great Western, Castle class, 4-6-0 5043 'Earl of Mount Edgecumbe' attacks the climb unaided with a Vintage Trains excursion. It sounded so good! The second steam loco was Tangmere again. Doing a lot of work for West Coast trains at present it looked good The Southern Railway Bulleid streamlined 4-6-2 ( Nicknamed Spam Cans by U.K railfans!) went by in fine style but it became apparent that a class 47 diesel on the back 47 815 'Great Western' was in notch 8 and shoving the train up the hill as well As we trundled over the fells from the M6 to Scout green Brooklyn said " do you think there wll be more than 5 other cars here" "Er, Yes" More soon Kev
In the space of two days. The oldest working main line steam engine in the U.K. Furness 0-4-0 No. 20 in action at the Ribble Steam Steam railway yesterday Alan Middleton and the team polish the brassworks before its next run from Preston RSR to the Strand Built by Sharp Stewarts as works number 1448 of 1863 it served the Furness railway as a 'Mineral engine' for many years before being converted into a saddle tank and going industrial service at the huge Barrow Iron and steelworks Rescued by the Furness Railway Trust, converted back with the building of a brand new tender, the restoration is quite astounding Neat eh? But how about the oldest working Industrial locomotive in action as well? Grant Ritchie were a small locomotive builder in Kilmarnock overshadowed by the prolific Andrew Barcay works who produced thousand of locomotives GR 242 of 1894 is a rare surivor Blowing off as it waits to head for the Strand. The track was hand sanded to let it get a grip Tomorrow I'lll do a contrast by showing you the latest, but maybe not the greatest, passenger trains I have encountered today Kev
Maybe not quite as pretty? The newly introduced Class 197 Civity DMUs built for Transport for Wales. This was the first one I had seen and I'm really not sure about the front end styling Made by CAF the three car units have aluminium bodyshells with each car having a Rolls-Royce MTU putting out 523 HP CAFs Civity range had already found business from other U.K train operators and what is substantially the same unit looks a lot better in service with the front end design on the ones supplied to Northern Rail This is 195 105 on the strange , Sunday only, Barrow to Millom and return working. The only 195 diagrammed for the Cumbrian Coast line despite all the stations having 3 and 6 car stop boards erected Sister engine 195 104 was involved in a bad derailment on Friday not far from my house at Grange over Sands. It was on the first Manchester to Barrow morning working and hit a eeice of track suspeed over a sinkhole that had appeared overnight https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ceq7zvx76e1o Not my picture (Courtesy of the Civil Engineer). Evidence seems to suggest it was a collapsed culvert coming off Garnge Golf course. As a former on call engineer and emergency response officer for the rail company I worked at lots of questions came to mind I think this is the first incident the 195s have been involved in More soon
The Grange over Sands derailment caused all sorts of disruption. a rail replacement bus service was instigated calling at all the stations between Barrow in Furness and Lancaster. This added 90 minutes time to the journey and was a complete pain. I've watched TOPS and RTT to look for engineering train activities and today it kicked off First up 70 812 ( one of the GE built 'Fuglies') heading from Carlisle NY to Ulverston. At Ulverston the train disappears off TOPS and could only be seen on TRUST as it entered the Engineering possession centrered on Grange next up another Class 70 70 816 , operated by Colas Rail appeared also on a Carlisle NY to Ulverston ballast and track component train. This was being driven by an old mate of mine, Steve decided to give it 'Wigan' on the horns when he spotted me Top and tailed on the back was one of my beloved Class 56s. 56 094 is now a rare beast in service After Lindal Summit Steve has to carefully descend the gradient down to Ulverston station.56 094 doesn't help as they aren't working in Multi in their wake trundled Tamper DR 73942 video more soon
With repairs completed on the sinkhole the engineering trains were scheduled to return up the Cumbrian Coast to Carlisle NY First back on Saturday morning was 56 0894 wit half the wagons My mate Steve Forest driving and going mad with the horns again when he saw me and Brooklyn No 70 on the back though? Next was 70 816 also on its own with the rest of the wagons So where was 70 812? Turned out it had been held back to test the repaired track on the following day. We went to Plumpton Junction to get it and found we had missed it by 3 minutes! However, it was pathed through Barrow which gave us just enough time to go over the hill and get it at Askam Thye GE built Class 70s divide opinion amongst railfans in the U.K and have attracted some not very flattering nicknames 'Ugly Bettys', 'Fuglies. and 'SuBos' after Susan Boyle a Britains Got Talent winner They had an unfortunate history of engine fires, Three that I know of and also the unfortunate 70 012 that was dropped from height back into the hold of the ship due to a lifting gear failure at Newport Dock,severely bending the frame and resulting in it being returned to Erie as a write off The video Kev
