Large Logos Go East!

Now with just two coaches 37403 leads 37407 into a sunny Great Yarmouth with the 12:36 Norwich - Great Yarmouth. 21/01/2019

With 2019 likely to be the last year of loco hauled action on the Wherry Lines out of Norwich it took little persuasion to get me onto a nice Mk3 rake up from London for another go at the class 37's in late January. Since my last visit the colours had changed- DRS blue loco's had been ousted by a pair of BR Large Logo liveried 37's. The pair in use had plenty of appeal for me; 37403 has made very few runs on the Anglia turn and is of course well known to be the loco belonging to the SRPS based at Bo'ness, and rumoured to be returning from DRS hire soon. The second, 37407 is the most recent loco to return to service with DRS after a staggering 18 years off the rails!
Here are a couple of pictures from a day of mixed weather - thick fog inland, but glorious sunshine on the coast! Enjoy!

Inland the fog lingers- 37407 departs from Brundall Gardens working the 13:17 Great Yarmouth - Norwich. 21/01/2019

Passenger 37's Swansong

37401 'Mary Queen of Scots' leads 2C45 09:18 Barrow-in-Furness - Carlisle away from St Bees. 15/11/2018.

In fading light 37409 'Lord Hinton' arrives into Seascale
working 2C33 15:31 Barrow - Carlisle. 15/11/2018

In years to come will we look upon autumn 2018 as the swansong of class 37 passenger operation in the UK? Right now there are two areas of passenger operation using veteran class 37/4's; in Cumbrian and in Norfolk. Each weekday four class 37's are available to travel behind on two scenic (but very different) routes. New orders of DMU's are on their way however and by this time next year both of these operations are likely to have finished- potentially also bringing the end of booked mainline passenger trains with the popular class 37's. Both routes offer some stunning journeys and great photographic opportunities but those wishing to enjoy these trains need to act fast!

37401 complete with enthusiastic driver leads 2C59 14:52 Barrow - Carlisle away from Seascale and towards Sellafield. This is the only northbound train (with loco leading) that can be photographed by the sea at this time of year in reasonable light- and then only on the brightest of days. 15/11/2018

In less bright conditions 37409 works 2C59 the following day seen near
Kirby in Furness. The namesake of the locomotive 'Lord Hinton' was a
nuclear scientist and engineer responsible for the construction of Calder
Hall Power Station, the first large-scale commercial Nuclear Power Station
and today part of the complex at Sellafield which provides much trade to
the route and employment in the area. 16/11/2018

In Cumbria class 37's have worked some services between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness (and previously Preston) over the spectacular Cumbrian Coast line since 2015. For a period this year complaints about the class 37's resulted in one of the two diagrams switching to more modern class 68 operation, but increased loco requirements during autumn have led to the 37's being back firmly in charge for the final months of this operation. In January 2019 the class 37's are scheduled to disappear for good on passenger trains on this line, replaced by DMU's which will be displaced from electrification project and the first deliveries of class 195 DMU's from CAF. I was lucky to spend 3 days on the line during November, with 37401 and 37409, both now resplendent in heritage BR Large Logo blue providing power for the trains. This is certainly not the best time of year for photography, but even on the dullest of days this route has a certain beauty. If you have not yet enjoyed the ride around the coast behind a loud class 37 then time is really running out!

2C46 09:03 Carlisle - Barrow-in-Furness is pushed by 37409 'Lord Hinton' on the approach to St Bees. This is a higher vantage point in the same area as that used for the photo of 37401 at the top of the page. Both 37 hauled trains will pass at St Bees at the end of this single line section. After a brief inland interlude southbound trains again hug the Irish Sea between St Bees and Seascale.

37419 leads the Anglian 'Short Set' into Brundall working 2P20 12:36
Norwich - Great Yarmouth on a beautiful autumn day. The semaphore
signals as well as the manually controlled crossing gates here will be
swept away by the current re-signalling scheme. 13/11/2018.

The loco hauled operation in Norfolk running on the Wherry lines between Norwich and Great Yarmouth / Lowestoft has a little longer left to run than it's northern counterpart. Greater Anglia anticipate using their 'short set' top and tailed by class 37's for the duration of 2019 until new class 755 Bi-mode DMU's arrive to work regional services. These trains have been running on and off for an extended period, originally with class 47's providing the power and covering for poor availability of DMU's. The operation here is very different to that in Cumbria with two locos top and tailing the train instead of the push-pull operation used by Northern. The length of the journey is significantly less and the scenery an awful lot flatter! (No mountains out on the Norfolk Broads!). Like Cumbria this railway has a lot of charm complete semaphore signals controlled from manual signal boxes- though these are due to be swept away in a re-signalling scheme in early 2019. Certainly the Wherry Lines will be changing over the next couple of years- again time is running out to sample this fantastic loco hauled operation, which will certainly be missed by the enthusiasts.

'Heavyweight' 37716 breaks the monopoly of 37/4's on the passenger workings as it leads 2P21 13:17 Great Yarmouth - Norwich away from Brundall Gardens. 37/4's are required on all trains for their train supply, however the top and tail set can use one 'no heat' locomotive and 37719 has been modified for these operations accordingly. 13/11/2018

The Snow March

1st March 2018 dawned bright and with a dusting of snow in South West London. 450124 leads a morning commuter service in to Surbiton.

As March arrived in the UK and the days started to draw out, most would be forgiven for not expecting snow. However March 2018 has been unseasonably cold with two blasts of arctic weather sweeping the country bringing widespread snow (and all the travel chaos that goes with it!). In the south of the country the first bout of snow arrived overnight providing a coating by the morning of Thursday 1st March. The white stuff continued to fall across the weekend but brought with it poor light and only slight accumulations in the London area. Other areas saw much deeper snow fall with further issues caused by drifting due to the dry nature of the snow coupled with strong winds. Across many parts of the country lines were closed due to being blocked with snow and Network Rail dispatched many of their snowplows to clear routes.

A 10 car formation from Guildford to Waterloo is led into Surbiton by 5713. 01/03/18

Wearing the new South Western Railway colours 158887 calls at Basingstoke with a heavily snow encrusted service to London. 01/03/2018

444006 kicks up the powdery snow as heads towards London at speed following the second wave of snow to hit the south of the UK. Sunday 18th March 2018.

444030 makes an impresive sight kicking up snow as it heads through Potbridge (near Hook). The M3 crosses the SWML on the lower of the two bridges. The roads did not escape the travel disruption with many in this area being quite treacherous. 18/03/2018.

Despite the cold snap weekend engineering still had to take place. 66847 had been involved in a possession in the Portsmouth area and now heads through Potbridge back to Eastleigh 

450112 brightens up the bleak landscape with a Basingstoke - Waterloo service seen at Potbridge on Sunday 18th March.

Temperatures had returned to more normal levels by the second week of March however forecasts of further snow began to surface. The weather forecasters once again got it right with another dose of snow covering much of the country on Saturday 17th March. The snow continued across the weekend with accumulations of several centimeters widely across the south east by the end of Sunday. This was to be the last of the snowfall with skys clearing the following week and the snow then rapidly melting as just a few days after it fell temperatures made it to double figures. While always a challenging time for the transport industry snow is a rare commodity in the UK and certainly provided some photographic interest!

Following snow over the weekend the sun put in an appearance on Monday 19th March. As can be seen the snow has already started to melt around the stabling point at Eastleigh where 66061 shunts past some if it's competitors stabled locos.

66519 accelerates away from a crew change at Eastleigh. 19/03/2018.

Photographed from the nearby public road 57003 can be seen collecting snow within Eastleigh Works. 19/03/2018

377158 emerges from Southampton Tunnel with a Southern service. 19/03/2018

158957 passes St Denys bound for Southampton while working a Portsmouth - Cardiff service. 19/03/2018

Another view from St Denys with 66092 heading north east with a container train from the ports. 19/03/2018

Cumbrian 37's

37401 and 37402 both looking work-stained in Large Logo Blue at Barrow-in-Furness. 37401 prepares for departure with the 11:40 to Carlisle while 37402 has arrived with the 10:04 from Preston and will shortly depart for the carriage sidings. 22/01/2018

37401 pauses at Whitehaven for the token exchange.

With the news that full class 37 operation may soon be giving way to class 68's on the Cumbrian Coast I found myself on the Sunday night Caledonian Sleeper on 21st January heading up to Carlisle. The sleep wasn't too bad but there was still no getting away from the fact that an 04:30 wake-up call is early! At 04:45 the London - Glasgow/Edinburgh overnight snaked out of Carlisle into the night and all that remained was to wait for the class 37 to arrive for the 05:15 Northern service to Preston via Barrow-in-Furness.

37402 'Stephen Middlemore 23.12.1954 - 8.6.2913' stands beneath the roof at Preston awaiting it's departure with the 10:04 Preston - Carlisle via Barrow-in-Furness. 22/01/2018

Several locomotives were on Carlisle Kingmoor which could have turned up for the train but ultimately I was very pleased to see 37402- the one I had been hoping for- on the rear of the train as it growled into the station. I had first seen 37402 back in 2005 when it was stored at Bescot- A loco I had missed and never expected to see running again. When 37402 returned to service with DRS in 2013 it was certainly a pleasant surprise- yet it had eluded me on passenger workings since (I really should have come to Cumbria more!) and was now considered a very threatened loco with high engine hours. The 'large logo' 37 did not disappoint taking me the 156 miles to Preston via the coast- sadly all in darkness at this time of year. If not for the scenery watching the various flows of commuters proved interesting - workers for Sellafield, school traffic for Barrow and then Ulverston and finally workers heading into Preston. The 05:15 from Carlisle is a heavily loaded train for many sections of it's journey!

37401 crosses Harrington Viaduct working the 11:40 Barrow - Carlisle. 22/01/18

The other locomotive out on the coast was 37401 which had berthed at Barrow-in-Furness overnight. The result was a great pairing of the first two class 37/4's working together in BR Large Logo blue in 2018!
Things are soon due to change with class 68's expected to take over one of the diagrams from late January. 37's are likely to continue in some form for a few more months but issues with reliability of both the locos and the Mk2 DBSO's have caused poor performance on the route and alternative options are therefore being explored. Once again I am reminded that this is a beautiful line and I really must make the effort to get back here once the weather improves!

Autumn RHTT's

73201 Broadlands approaches Kingswood on the Tattenham Corner branch in Surrey on 17th November 2017 with the 3W91 RHTT based out of Tonbridge Yard and operated by GBRf. The train visits several commuter railways which do not see loco hauled traffic.

MPV's while less interesting that the loco hauled operation cover the RHTT
operation in many parts of the country. A Sussex based unit is seen at
Clapham Junction on 24th October 2017 waiting clearance from the
West London Line onto the Brighton Main Line.

In early December the last of the Autumn Rail Head Treatment Trains ran on the network for 2017. These trains provide interest annually covering a variety of lines which may not regularly see loco-hauled traction for the majority of the year. Trains are supplied by all of the major freight companies which also brings a wide selection of traction which this year has included class 20, 37, 56, 57, 66, 67 and 73. The trains jet the rails with water at high pressure to remove a build up of leaf mulch which affects both adhesion of trains and can also interfere with detection of trains by track circuits. As well as loco-hauled RHTT sets Network Rail also use their Multi Purpose Vehicles for many circuits which undertake jetting and can also apply an adhesion modifier to the rails in the form of Sandite paste.

66723 'Chinook' leads 66710 through Camden Road while jetting with the 3W81 circuit from Broxbourne. It doesn't take long for these trains to build up a thick layer of dirt associated with the water jetting. 29.11.2017

20303 and 20305 have been the regular traction for the DRS operated South Yorkshire RHTT during 2017 with 20312 providing backup. Class 20's have been used on these workings once again due to weight restrictions, the DRS fleet now seeing very limited use aside from these duties. Once again 2017 has been mooted as the last year for the DRS class 20's on RHTT duties- only time will tell! 20303 'Max Joule 1958-1999' (re-named from 20301) and 20305 approach Brough with the 3S14 circuit from Sheffield to Hull on 18th November.

73128 'OVS Bullied' stands at the usually EMU only branch terminus of Tattenham Corner ready to continue the 3W91 circuit back towards Tonbridge on 17th November

Red pens at the ready!

21st December 2016 was by no means blessed by the weather,
however with a day off work and the prospect of catching up
with 37424 made a trip to Anglia worthwhile. 37424 is seen
arriving at Cantley with the 14:55 Norwich - Lowestoft. 37405
is on the rear of the Anglian 'Short Set'. 

After a remarkable 16 years off the national network 37424 has made a remarkable return to traffic during 2016. On December 16th it hauled its first regular passenger train, since it's final passenger working for EWS, the Fort William portion of the Caledonian sleeper (diverted to Oban) on 7th March 2000.
For those searching for 37/4's this locomotive definitely has a draw, not made any less strong by the out-shopping of the locomotive in BR Large Logo blue as 37558 in commemoration of the final year of operation of Avro Vulcan XH558. The locomotive has had extensive work carried out on it at Loram (formerly RVEL) at Derby including a complete re-skinning and major structural repair work to bring it from close to scrap condition back to a revenue-earning passenger locomotive. With the amount spent on the overhaul it is hoped that 37424 will continue to see use on passenger trains with DRS for some years.

Now there are TWO short sets in Anglia!

With 50 years between them 37419 and 68019 are seen at Norwich with their respective loco hauled sets for the Wherry Lines. 17/08/16

37405 passes the Semaphore signals and box at Reedham 17/08/16

This is certainly not the first time I have written about diesel loco hauled passenger activity in East Anglia (and I hope it won't be the last). For several years now locomotives and coaches have been hired as a stop-gap measure to cover for a shortage of DMU's in the region. It was a surprise to some when the class 47's which had performed these duties for many years were replaced in June 2015 by class 37's. It was perhaps even more of a surprise when in July 2016 a second loco hauled 'short set', powered by brand new class 68's from DRS was also inaugurated to serve the Wherry lines.The reason for the use of 68's on some local services can be directly attributed to the damage sustained by 170204 which struck a tractor on an occupational crossing in April. The unit has severe cab damage and is expected to be out of traffic for many month for repairs to be completed. This situation exasperated the already fragile availability of DMU's based at Norwich Crown Point.

68016 heads across the broads towards Acle from Great Yarmouth.

For the enthusiast it makes the Wherry lines from Norwich to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft a mecca for loco haulage with two class 37's and two class 68's available on trains every weekday. Combine this with the beautiful scenery of the broads and traditional semaphore signalling and it is easy to see the appeal for the photographer also.
The class 68's are currently scheduled to perform with Abellio Greater Anglia until the end of the current franchise in 2016. It is currently uncertain what plans will be put in place beyond this date to provide continued coverage for 170204.

37419 approaches Reedham with the 14:55 Norwich Lowestoft 17/08/2016

The current booked loco hauled workings in the area (Monday - Friday) are:

37405 approaches Acle with the 13:17 Great Yarmouth - Norwich.

Set 1 (class 37):
07:47 Lowestoft - Norwich
08:36 Norwich - Great Yarmouth
09:17 Great Yarmouth - Norwich
10:36 Norwich - Lowestoft
13:17 Great Yarmouth - Norwich
14:55 Norwich - Lowestoft
15:48 Lowestoft - Norwich
17:36 Norwich - Great Yarmouth
18:17 Great Yarmouth - Norwich
19:00 Norwich - Lowestoft
19:55 Lowestoft - Norwich

68016 'Fearless' at Great Yarmouth with the 18:47 to Norwich.

Set 2 (class 68):
06:52 Norwich - Great Yarmouth
07:32 Great Yarmouth - Norwich
08:09 Norwich - Great Yarmouth
08:45 Great Yarmouth - Norwich
10:05 Norwich - Lowestoft
10:57 Lowestoft - Norwich
16:40 Norwich - Great Yarmouth
17:17 Great Yarmouth - Norwich
18:06 Norwich - Great Yarmouth
18:47 Great Yarmouth - Norwich*
20:40 Norwich - Great Yarmouth
21:17 Great Yarmouth - Norwich
22:05 Norwich - Lowestoft
*Via Reedham

37419 approaches Somerleyton with the 15:48 Lowestoft - Norwich stopping service on 16th June 2016.

Semaphore so long

Autumn sees additional interest at Barnetby several days a week when class 20's working the 2S13 water cannon circuit pass.

GBRf's 66745 applies its sanders as it passes by the signals
at Barnetby. The road has been set for the next move in the
opposite direction.

I first came to Barnetby in 2007, I knew then that it would be a place I would keep coming back to. The combination of a busy freight scene together with a stunning array of semaphore signals and plenty of photographic variety was a winning combination. Sadly however the days of the semaphores have had a line drawn under them. On 24th December 2015 they will be used for the last time before a 17 day blockade takes place to renew all signalling equipment under the North Lincolnshire Area Resignalling scheme. Nine boxes at Appleby, Barnetby East, Brocklesby Jcn, Elsham, Marsh Jcn, Pasture Street, Roxton Sidings, Stallingorough and Wrawby Jcn will be made redundant with control of the new signals transferring to the Route Operating Centre (ROC) in York. The new equipment will be more reliable than the old signals and release capacity for freight services. However photographs such as these, from my last trip to see the semaphores at work on 16th November 2015 will become a thing of the past.

The evening light catches the semaphores controlled by Barnetby East box. All of this will be gone after Christmas 2015.

The sun is setting on the semaphores at Barnetby as a passing freight train streaks across my camera lens.

Crazy for Crewe!

97303 stands at Crewe having reversed on 3S71 the north Wales RHTT. Due to traversing ERTMS fitted lines this diagram
has to be worked by the class 97's which bring some welcome growl to Crewe. 97304 is on the rear. 

43062 'John Armitt' waits to head south with the NMT.

Talk to any of the camera or notepad wielding inhabitants of the platforms at Crewe station and you will no doubt be told that this place simply 'isn't what it used to be'. Of course the days of loco hauled passenger trains; diesels on the North Wales Coast and the regular passage of Anglo-Scottish expresses at the hands of class 86 and 87's are long gone. Even the general presence of locomotives is much reduced following the demise of the once busy Crewe Diesel Depot.
All this said- the station can still have interest and I was fortunate enough to have the company of no fewer than eight class 37's during a quick 2 hours stint at the station on 28 October 2015 (three of these being on the depots to the south of the station). Throw in the New Measurement Train, a few light engines and of course the regular traffic and it is certainly still possible to have a crazy few hours at Crewe!

The first test train, 37604 and 37667 pause at Crewe on their route to Holyhead. 

At one stage 75% of the class 97 fleet was present at Crewe as 97301 turned up to work a test train back to Derby while the
RHTT 97's were also in the station to reverse- unfortunately they were at opposite ends of the station.

Loco hauled on the Cumbrian Coast

37409 'Lord Hinton' leads 2C34 the 14:35 Carlisle - Barrow towards Nethertown on a beautiful stretch of the Cumbrian Coast. 9th July 2015

In an amazing turn of events loco hauled passenger trains have returned to one of the UK's most scenic railways. Four trains in each direction six days a week between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness are now in the hands of class 37's from DRS hauling the companies refurbished Mk2 coaches. 

37603 powers along the Cumbrian Coast with the 14:37Barrow-in-Furness to Carlisle on 9th June 2015. On a beautiful day it ishard to imagine how exposed this coastal railway, and the ramshackleseaside cottages can become during a stormy winter. 

In order to fill a shortage of DMU's following the transfer of class 170's from Transpennine to Chiltern the Department for Transport has funded these loco hauled trains, which in turn allow Northern to loan class 156's to Transpennine. This also tallies with a long standing ambition of DRS to run additional 'workers' trains to the nuclear complex at Sellafield- by far the largest single employer in the area.

These trains are ultimately going to be operated with a single class 37/4 in push/pull formation with three standard Mk2 coaches and a DBSO, however for the start of operations the DBSO's have not been available resulting in top and tailed trains. Because there are only a limited number of ETH fitted 37/4's (and only one is required per trainset) the second locomotive has often been from the DRS freight pools, giving a chance to experience regular passenger turns with freight 37's- who would have though it in 2015!?

66424 leads 37605 and flasks as they head southbound on a gorgeous summers evening at Ravenglass on the Cumbrian Coast line. Nuclear traffic makes up a large proportion of the freight workings over the Cumbrian Coast line with trains serving the large nuclear reprocessing facility at Sellafield. 9th July 2015.

The passenger trains are not the only attraction (not withstanding the scenery) of this line- the proximity of the nuclear facility at Sellafield also produces several flows of interesting freight trains along this line, usually in the hand of DRS's varied fleet and often with interesting wagons such as the nuclear flasks. Trains can run each day from Sellafield to a variety of locations on the network to serve Britains nuclear power stations and also docks such as Barrow where nuclear materials are imported and to the low level waste depository a few stops down the line at Drigg.

Usual traffic on the line is formed of a selection of Northern Rail's DMU's from classes 142, 150, 153 and 156- while adequate for the job the certainly do not provide the level of comfort of a loco-hauled Mk2. 10th July 2015.

2C42 the 17:37 Carlisle Barrow pulls into St Bees on 9th July 2015 with
37423 'Spirit of the Lakes' at the helm. Here it will cross the other loco hauled set before continuing on to Barrow-in-Furness.

The current loco's and stock are due to run for the foreseeable future but if you want to catch the top and tail operation, complete with freight 37's you will have to be quick- the first DBSO has already started training on the Cumbrian Coast route. If you like great scenery, and class 37's I can only say that you really must get yourself up to Cumbria- and hope to have the glorious weather I have enjoyed. I hope to be back before long to try a few more of the spectacular photographic locations this part of the world has to offer.

On 10th July 2015 'freight' 37218 is seen heading north from Seascale with 2C41 the 14:37 Barrow - Carlisle.