GB Railfreight on the Caledonian Sleeper

Currently the only class 92 in the GBRf corporate colour scheme, 92032 worked the London - Glasgow sleeper on the night of
15th July 2015. This loco is not one of the dedicated 'sleeper' fleet and is more usually seen on freight workings.

Undoubtedly one of the finest looking locos on the mainline- 47847 departs
Glasgow Central with the empty stock working to Polmadie of
the previous nights sleeper from London- 09/07/2015

Continued unreliability of GBRf's dedicated fleet of class 92's for the Caledonian sleeper contract has led to a wide range of traction appearing on the trains. Class 90's continue to be hired in from DBS and locomotives from Freightliner have also now made appearances on the trains. The GB 'Heritage' fleet also continues to see action on front line sleeper services in addition to ECS duties with 86101 and 87002 working Anglo-Scottish sleeper services.
As well as electric locos being hired in Serco continues to hire class 67's from DBS to work the highland portions of the sleeper train until GBRf's rebuilt class 73's become available. On occasions class 47's from GBRf have also worked portions of the train, particularly from Castairs to Edinburgh, and empty stock between Glasgow Central and Polmadie depot.

The interesting selection of traction seems set to continue for some months yet as the dedicated class 92's receive modifications and maintenance to help them settle in to their new role on the sleeper. The teething troubles are hardly surprising considering the under-utilisation of the fleet for so many years. With some TLC the class 92's will almost certainly be able to provide many years of reliable service hauling the overnight trains from London to Scotland- ironically hauling sleeper trains (all be it to Europe) was one of the original purposes for which the class 92's were built back in the early 90's!