80. An extremely cold & foggy walk-11.12.22

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-2022 > 80. An extremely cold & foggy walk-11.12.22

After a particualy balmy autumn that saw me just a month ago still wearing shorts the weather has really turned! It is now extremely cold and wintery. Wrapped up appropiately I took my Sunday walk to coincide with the passage of a couple of interesting moves local to home in Roade. A little late running meant that I was out for a little longer than I had intended!

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Images 1-5 of 5 displayed.

221103 & 221105, VT 10.03 Wolverhampton-London Euston (1B35, 6L), Roade cutting
The plan was that by now the Class 221 Voyagers should have been confined to history on the WCML route. However, as is all too tragically the case considerable slippage has meant that the planned withdrawal has been put back. With the replacement Class 805 bi-mode units undergoing testing I suspect that the long-awaited transition will be sometime in the late spring. 221103 and 221105 head south through a frosty Roade cutting on the low line having been diverted via Northampton with the 10.03 Wolverhampton to Euston service.

Note - later in the day that I wrote this I read in Rail that the first Voyager (221162) had been moved to storage at Worksop after coming off-lease and facing a very uncertain future.
Keywords: 221103 221105 10.03 Wolverhampton-London Euston 1B35 Roade cutting AWC Avanti West Coast

390042, VT 09.35 Liverpool Lime Street-London Euston (1A15, 6L), Roade cutting
Passing under the newly constructed bridge that spans Roade's historic cutting that will carry the village's long-awaited bypass 390042 emerges from the cold fog on the Northampton slow line. The Avanti West Coast 09.35 Liverpool to Euston train is one of the new and improved services as part of the roll-out of the company's new timetable following a turgid time on the WCML for some months that found the government getting involved and the imposition of an improvement plan back at the start of the autumn.
Keywords: 390042 09.35 Liverpool Lime Street-London Euston 1A15 Roade cutting

66951, 11.33 Hanslope Junction-Bescot Yard (6Y61, 9L), site of Roade station
Running rather late after missing its scheduled departure time from the down slow just south of Hanslope Junction the 6Y61 11.33 infrastructure working to Bescot Yard ambles past a frosty and foggy Roade. The rake of YWA Salmon bogie flat wagons and HQAH bogie autoballasters is being hauled by Freightliner's 66951 with 66554 out of sight on the rear. After its late start, the train gained some of its time arriving just nine minutes behind schedule at Bescot.
Keywords: 66951 11.33 Hanslope Junction-Bescot Yard 6Y61 site of Roade station Freightliner

66554, 11.33 Hanslope Junction-Bescot Yard (6Y61, 9L), site of Roade station
Dead in tow at the back of the train 66554 passes the site of Roade's former station. The HQAH autoballaster gives a clue as to the working, the 6Y61 11.33 Hanslope Junction to Bescot Yard infrastructure train following from overnight work near Bletchley in association with the East-West railway.
Keywords: 66554 11.33 Hanslope Junction-Bescot Yard 6Y61 site of Roade station Freightliner

720116, 11.56 Rugby-Wembley IC Depot (5Q28, RT) & 390047, VT 10.43 Liverpool Lime Street-London Euston (1A20, 21L), A508 bridge
Even on Sundays, the testing of new stock continues! As Avanti's 390047 heads south Greater Anglia branded 720116 is seen passing Roade as the 11.56 Rugby to Wembley Inter City Depot 6Q28 mileage accumulation run. The train had run north earlier in the morning but was running extremely late so was capped at Rugby rather than running further to Nuneaton before returning south again. These five-car 720/1 units have already started to enter service on the GA network and will be offering a step change from the old mixture of hand-me-down units that passengers have to use.
Keywords: 720116 11.56 Rugby-Wembley IC Depot 5Q28 390047 10.43 Liverpool Lime Street-London Euston 1A20 A508 bridge Greater Anglia AWC Avanti West Coast Pendolino

Images 1-5 of 5 displayed.