104. Saturday afternoon mainline diversions-31.10.20

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-2020 > 104. Saturday afternoon mainline diversions-31.10.20
Halloween did not go favourably for the WCML around Northampton! According to the National rail site (and others) there was an incident on the Weedon loop meaning that it was closed and all trains going via Northampton. Looking at RTT it appeared that the problem was in the area of Kilsby tunnel and that a Class 390 was trapped in the middle of it. The chaos that ensued around Northampton between Hanslope and Hilmortin Junctions was dramatic! I dread to think what the minutes late total was but most trains arrived at their destinations way over thirty minutes adrift with some many more.
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Images 1-9 of 9 displayed.

390010, VT 13.10 London Euston-Glasgow Central (1S69, 38L), site of Roade station Making very sedate progress along the down slow line and stacked up behind a procession of other trains, 390010 'Cumbrian Spirit' passes Roade working the 1S69 13.10 Euston to Glasgow Central. After a morning of pretty relentless rain and strong wind, the weather has improved with some blue sky putting in an appearance behind me, not that you would know from this photograph! This particular Pendolino was the first one to appear in Virgin's very smart flowing silk revised livery back in the autumn of 2017. Now it is one of the diminishing numbers of units still running around debranded almost a year after Avanti West Coast took over the franchise in December 2019. Keywords: 390010 13.10 London Euston-Glasgow Central 1S69 site of Roade station Cumbrian Spirit
66550, 09.46 Felixstowe North-Crewe Basford Hall (4M87, 18L), site of Roade station Leaving a heavy smoke train across Roade 66550 leads the 09.46 Felixstowe to Crewe Basford Hall Freightliner. The train had been held for some time at Hanslope Junction whilst a procession of Pendolinos had crossed from the up and down slow lines to the fast ones due to the emergency closure of the Weedon route. I thought that this particular Class 66 would be staying at Basford Hall for attention given its smokey engine but I saw it back in August when its engine was equally as bad, see.... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/29395248604/x66550-12-16-lawley-street-felixstowe. If it was a car that appeared in my garage for an MoT test it would fail on emissions so Freightliner really needs to deal with this. Keywords: 66550 09.46 Felixstowe North-Crewe Basford Hall 4M87 site of Roade station
390045, VT 13.20 London Euston-Manchester P (1H27, 31L), site of Roade station With a train at virtually every signal in front of it, 390045 was at a walking pace as it passes Roade working the 13.20 Euston to Manchester Piccadilly. Due to the emergency closure of the mainlines in the vicinity of Kilsby tunnel all traffic was diverted through Northampton with consequential chaos centred on the station. This particular service did not arrive too late at its destination being only half an hour late - many others lost much more time than this. Keywords: 390045 13.20 London Euston-Manchester Piccadilly 1H27 site of Roade station
221101 & Class 221, VT 12.50 Birmingham New Street-London Euston (1B21, 44L), Roade cutting Unfortunately, by this time of day during British wintertime the sun, when it's out, does not illuminate the depths of Roade cutting making photography tricky. Celebrity Voyager 221101 '101 Squadron' leads another, but unidentified, set through the cutting working the very late running and diverted 12.50 Birmingham New Street to Euston train. With Avanti West Coast putting on hold its plans to introduce new bi-mode units to replace the Voyagers it looks as though the WCML will be stuck with them for a little longer yet! Keywords: 221101 Class 221 VT 12.50 Birmingham New Street-London Euston 1B21 Roade cutting Voyager Avanti West Coast 101 Squadron
66768, 10.34 Felixstowe North-Hams Hall (4M23, 4E), Roade cutting Cop number one.......66768 leads the 4M23 Felixstowe to Hams Hall Freightliner through Roade cutting. This GBRf locomotive is a photographic cop so it's a shame that it is in the deep shadows in the depths of the cutting. Keywords: 66768 10.34 Felixstowe North-Hams Hall 4M23 Roade cutting
390042, VT 14.07 London Euston-Liverpool Lime Street (1F18, 48L), Roade cutting Wearing its face-covering 390042 passes very slowly through Roade cutting working the 14.07 Euston to Liverpool Avanti West Coast train. This service arrived at its destination nearly fifty minutes late mostly caused by it having to travel on the Northampton loop due to the closure of the Weedon route. It never really recovered any of this lost time but with passenger numbers being so low due to COVID, delay-repay compensation claims would have been lower than normal. Keywords: 390042 14.07 London Euston-Liverpool Lime Street 1F18 Roade cutting Avanti West Coast Pendolino
66765, 12.44 Hams Hall-Felixstowe N (4L21, 74L), Roade cutting Cop number two..... 66765 leads the very late running 12.44 Hams Hall to Felixstowe through Roade cutting. To my surprise, this was my second photographic cop of the day and within fifteen minutes of seeing the last one! Although, like that image of GBRf's 66768, this one is also in the deep afternoon shade of Roade cutting but a cop is a cop! Keywords: 66765 12.44 Hams Hall-Felixstowe N 4L21 Roade cutting GBRF
66013, 07.49 Ditton-Dollands Moor (6O16, 10E), site of Roade station Despite running extremely late here passing Roade, the 07.49 Ditton Foundry Lane to Dollands Moor 6O16 actually arrived early due to its layover in Wembley Yard being cut very short. This is a new flow but I am unsure of what is actually being conveyed in its mix of Cargo Wagons and flats with plain boxes. Still wearing the EWS livery that it has had since its arrival in the UK during 1998 66013 leads the train. Thanks to Mike for identifying the headcode of this train. Keywords: 66013 07.49 Ditton-Dollands Moor 6O16 site of Roade station EWS
National Rail Enquiries-Service Alteration Details screenshot A screenshot from my mobile phone shows National Rail's information pertaining to the incident on the Weedon line that precipitated the diversions through Northampton and the massive delays to all services. Interestingly, Avanti West Coast's website had no information about the problem despite being the TOC that appeared to be most severely affected! Keywords: National Rail Enquiries-Service Alteration Details screenshot

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