3. Steam, quadruple HST, freight and sunshine-18.01.23

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-2023 > 3. Steam, quadruple HST, freight and sunshine-18.01.23

What's this? A day with no industrial action on the railways, a steam train passing, four HST power cars, plenty of freight and the sun was out; what on earth is going on? A day off coincided with all of the things just mentioned so I popped out twice from home in between doing the chores!
Click here to search The Archive Files


Images 1-11 of 11 displayed.

66512, 07.50 Felixstowe North-Lawley Street (4M94, 19E), Victoria bridge With a team undertaking further embankment clearance at Ashton just south of Roade 66512 heads south leading the 4M94 07.50 Felixstowe to Lawley Street Freightliner service. Whilst recent work in Roade necessitated the closure of the fast lines over the Christmas and New Year period at this location trains were still passing at line speed with the lookout being kept busy. Keywords: 66512 07.50 Felixstowe North-Lawley Street 4M94 Victoria bridge Freightliner
221108, VT 08.53 Holyhead-London Euston (1A26, 32L), Victoria bridge With the withdrawal of the Class 221 Voyagers underway on the WCML route with them going into storage pending future use elsewhere there is still a number in operation. They are to be replaced by a fleet of Class 805 bi-mode units that are undergoing non-mainline testing at the time of writing. By the end of this year (2023) the distinctive sound of the six-cylinder turbo-powered Cummins QSK19-R will no longer be heard on this route. This, for many travellers, will be no bad thing! Keywords: 221108 08.53 Holyhead-London Euston 1A26 Victoria bridge Avanti West Coast Voyager
45231, 09.49 Southall LSL-Crewe HS (5Z31, 3E), Victoria bridge Stanier Black 5 45321 'The Sherwood Forrester' passes Victora bridge between Ashton and Roade with a support coach as the 09.49 Southall LSL to Crewe HS move. Being such a cold day the condensing of the exhaust was quite dramatic and seen for some distance not going unnoticed by the team of workers involved in embankment clearance. Their lookout stopped all work as the train was spotted up the line with all taking a healthy interest as it passed by reinforcing the interest that many still have in a steam locomotive. Keywords: 45231 09.49 Southall LSL-Crewe HS 5Z31 Victoria bridge Locomotive Services LTD The Sherwood Forrester
66585, 09.55 Crewe Basford Hall-Southampton MCT (4O35, 42E), Victoria bridge With the front, ten or so Freightliner wagons being unloaded 66585 leads the 09.55 Crewe Basford Hall to Southampton MCT passes Victoria bridge just south of Roade. I was pleased to be able to record this rather anonymous Freightliner locomotive as it has appeared to evade my camera over the years thus being a photographic cop! Keywords: 66585 09.55 Crewe Basford Hall-Southampton MCT 4O35 Victoria bridge Freightliner
221115 & 221103, VT 13.16 London Euston-Glasgow Central (9S77, 41L), site of Roade station Avanti Voyagers 221115 and 221103 passes Roade in the low winter's afternoon sunshine working the 9S77 13.16 Euston to Glasgow Central. The train left Euston some ten minutes late steadily losing time that was not recovered until it reached Birmingham New Street. However, things went wrong again later in its journey with it losing a lot of time in the northwest being an hour adrift at one stage and eventually arriving forty-one late at its destination; not a great performance from start to finish! Keywords: 221115 221103 VT 13.16 London Euston-Glasgow Central 9S77 site of Roade station Avanti West Coast Voyager
66568, 09.12 Felixstowe North-Trafford Park (4M63, 16E), site of Roade station I was getting concerned that following clearance of this spot a couple of years ago during the COVID-19 shutdown of the WCML that things were regrowing rapidly and that soon photography would become tricky here once again. However, the re-growth has been cut again in the last few weeks keeping it clear for a time to come. 66568 leads the 09.12 Felixstowe to Trafford Park Freightliner past the site of Roade's former station on a bright but chilly winter's afternoon. Keywords: 66568 09.12 Felixstowe North-Trafford Park 4M63 site of Roade station Freightliner
43465, 43468, 777140, 43484 & 43480, 12.32 Wembley Reception Sidings-Crewe Down Refuge Sidings (6Q43, 57L), site of Roade station What a train! There had been chatter around the possible operation of this train for a while and finally today it operated in all its glory! In order to move the newly constructed Stadler Class 777 units from Wembley Yard to Crewe (for onward movement to Merseyside) the German logistics specialists' railadventure (sic) have been tasked with undertaking the work. I believe that they also brought the units from Siedlce in Poland, where they had been constructed, across Europe and through the tunnel to Dollands Moor. railadventure has modified nine redundant Class 43 HST power cars (with two more bought as donor vehicles) for use on the mainline along with translator stock. 43465 (ex Grand Central and EMT) is paired with 43468 (ex Grand Central) with 43484 (ex Grand Central & EMT) and 43480 (ex Grand Central & EMT) are seen passing Roade with 777140 sandwiched safely in the middle as the 6Q43 late running 12.32 Wembley Yard to Crewe Refuge Sidings. Keywords: 43465 43468 777140, 43484 43480 12.32 Wembley Reception Sidings-Crewe Down Refuge Sidings 6Q43 site of Roade station HST Class 43 Merseyrail Railadventure
66504, 09.27 Southampton MCT-Garston (4M58, 35E), site of Roade station In the lengthening winter afternoon sunshine 66504 leads the 4M58 09.27 Southampton MCT to Garston Freightliner through Roade. 66504 is a regular performer on this route and I have photographed it a number of times in my local area including at this spot back in the deep and dark days of the COVID-19 lockdown, see.... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/29181362604/x66504-12-57-london-gateway-garston Keywords: 66504 09.27 Southampton MCT-Garston 4M58 site of Roade station Freightliner
66507, 12.16 Lawley Street-London Gateway (4L46, 2E), site of Roade station The 12.16 Lawley Sreet to London Gateway Freightliner emerges into the late afternoon sunshine from the relative darkness of Roade cutting led by 66507. This Freightliner Class 66 is not one of my most commonly photographed with me having just two other images of it recorded. Keywords: 66507 12.16 Lawley Street-London Gateway 4L46 site of Roade station Freightliner
88005, 13.37 DIRFT-Tilbury (4L48, 25L), site of Roade station The daily 4L48 13.37 (or thereabouts) Daventry to Tilbury docks Tesco Express has been operating for a number of years and is one of the most dependable freights to pass my home village of Roade just after lunchtime. However, what has begun to change is the motive power. Whilst it has been a DRS Class 66 for many years over the last eighteen months or so Class 88s have become regular performers on the train. 88005 'Minerva' leads the train out of Roade cutting into the late afternoon winter light on the up slow line almost catching me out due to its almost silent operation compared to a noisy and struggling 66! Keywords: 88005 13.37 DIRFT-Tilbury 4L48 site of Roade station DRS Direct Rail Services Minerva
720611 & 720609, 14.18 Nuneaton-Wembley Yard (5Q94, 3E), Hyde Road bridge With deliveries underway the Class 7201XX and 5XX subsets have started entering service with Greater Anglia. However, at the time of writing (Jan '23) the order for twelve 7206XX sets has yet to enter service with C2C with them undergoing mileage accumulation and testing. 720611 and 720609 pass through Roade seen passing under Hyde Road bridge as the 5Q94 14.18 Nuneaton to Wembley Yard run. I quite like the livery applied to these new units with it being kept relatively plain and simple but I am not too sure how well the white will hold up in use? Keywords: 720611 720609 14.18 Nuneaton-Wembley Yard 5Q94 Hyde Road bridge C2C

Images 1-11 of 11 displayed.