32. The Emerald Isle Express-03.05.23

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-2023 > 32. The Emerald Isle Express-03.05.23

At a ridiculously early hour, I got up and walked across the field to capture the ECS move of The Emerald Isle Express charter. It was half-light when I left home but by the time it passed me at 05.35, there was just enough light to capture its passage. A little later and after breakfast I saw the charter proper on my way to work in Milton Keynes which was at a far more civilised time; there was also a good selection of freight too!
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Images 1-12 of 12 displayed.

66525, 02.43 Crewe Basford Hall-Bletchley flyover (6Y52, 4L), between Roade & Ashton 
 Taken at 05.26 on the third day of May meant that the lighting was a little marginal, to say the least for this photograph! I had to resort to a slow shutter speed and a pan shot to capture the 6Y52 02.43 Crewe Basford Hall to Bletchley flyover infrastructure working. There are some regular workings now heading over the refurbished flyover at Bletchley and then heading off down the newly reinstated East-West railway towards Winslow and Bicester. However, they do tend to run at some awkward times such as this particular one. 
 Keywords: 66525 02.43 Crewe Basford Hall-Bletchley flyover 6Y52 between Roade & Ashton Freightliner
66540, 02.43 Crewe Basford Hall-Bletchley flyover (6Y52, 4L), between Roade & Ashton 
 Bringing up the rear of the 02.43 Crewe Basford Hall to Bletchley flyover infrastructure working 66540 'Ruby' just catches some very early morning light at just before 05.30. The train is composed of a rake of former BDA/BEA wagons repurposed into MXA wagons that have gained the nickname ‘lobsters’ quite appropriate given their colour! 
 Keywords: 66540 02.43 Crewe Basford Hall-Bletchley flyover 6Y52 between Roade & Ashton Freightliner Ruby
92014, CS 21.52 Glasgow Central-London Euston (1M11, 21E), between Roade & Ashton 
 Whilst I have plenty of photographs of the ‘Highland’ sleeper service as it normally passes close to home at a fairly civilised time just before 07.00 the ‘Lowland’ service has been captured much less often due to it passing around 05.50. On this particular morning the 1M11 21.52 Glasgow Central to Euston (via a reversal at Edinburgh) is seen passing just south of Roade running some twenty minutes early lead by 92014 that is doing its best to blend its Caledonian Sleeper livery into the half-lit lush green spring countryside! 
 Keywords: 92014 21.52 Glasgow Central-London Euston 1M11 between Roade & Ashton Caledonian Sleeper
82139, 03.35 Crewe HS-London Euston (5Z90, 2E), between Roade & Ashton 
 I had been planning to get out and photograph the up ECS service for The Emerald Isle Express charter later in the day figuring that there would just be enough light if it passed on-time. When I checked its progress on RTT at 05.00 it was running twenty minutes early meaning that there would not be enough light so I gave up any idea of getting a photograph. However, a little later I spotted that it was being held at Rugby thus enabling me to grab my camera and walk across the fields close to home and position myself in one of my favoured spots. DVT 82139 leads the 03.35 Crewe HS to Euston ECS between Roade and Ashton. 
 Keywords: 82139 03.35 Crewe HS-London Euston 5Z90 between Roade & Ashton DVT Intercity Swallow
87002, 03.35 Crewe HS-London Euston (5Z90, 2E), between Roade & Ashton 
 Making light work at the rear of the six coach 5Z90 03.35 Crewe HS to Euston ECS move 87002 ‘Royal Sovereign’ pushes the stock south between Roade and Ashton. A little later in the morning, the Class 87 would lead the stock north again as far as Crewe where steam would take the train on to Holyhead. LSL (Crewe) must be congratulated again for the way that they have prepared their stock reminding enthusiasts and the paying public of the railways of thirty years ago and perhaps a railway (state-run but sectorised) that many feel needs returning to having tried the deeply flawed privatised approach for too many years now! 
 Keywords: 87002 03.35 Crewe HS-London Euston 5Z90 between Roade & Ashton Intercity Swallow Royal Sovereign
666418, 05.00 Crewe BH-Felixstowe North (4L89, RT), Victoria bridge 
 66518 ‘Patriot In Memory of Fallen Railway Employees’ just catches some early morning sunlight as it passes Victoria bridge south of Roade leading the 05.00 Crewe Basford Hall to Felixstowe Freightliner. This was the first of a procession of freights within half an hour or so a situation partially created by diversions as a result of the Nuneham viaduct closure in Oxfordshire. 
 Keywords: 666418 05.00 Crewe BH-Felixstowe North 4L89 Victoria bridge Freightliner Patriot In Memory of Fallen Railway Employees
390119, VT 07.13 London Euston-Manchester Piccadilly (1H04, 4L) & 05.00 Crewe BH-Felixstowe North (4L89, RT), Victoria bridge 
 As the 4L89 05.00 Crewe Basford Hall to Felixstowe Freightliner heads south celebrity Pendolino 390119 heads north working the 07.13 Euston to Manchester Piccadilly. I have precious few photographs of the PRIDE-wrapped Class 390 that appeared on the tracks back in 2020. AWC has stated that this is not a transient livery application but is going to be a permanent fixture of their fleet 
 Keywords: 390119 07.13 London Euston-Manchester Piccadilly 1H04 05.00 Crewe BH-Felixstowe North 4L89 Victoria bridge AWC Avanti West Coast Pendolino
66747, 03.10 Felixstowe North-Trafford Park (4M18, 4L), Victoria bridge 
 One-off liveried 66747 ‘Made in Sheffield’ leads the 03.10 Felixstowe to Trafford Park service past Victoria bridge between Roade and Ashton. Unfortunately, the light is not ideal but I was under pressure to capture something far more interesting on the fast line that was bearing down on the rear of the freight! 
 Keywords: 66747 03.10 Felixstowe North-Trafford Park 4M18 Victoria bridge Made in Sheffield
87002, outward leg of The Emerald Isle Express, 07.00 London Euston-Holyhead (1Z90, 4L) & 03.10 Felixstowe North-Trafford Park (4M18, 4L), Victoria bridge 
 Making a fine sight as it catches the morning sunshine 87002 ‘Royal Sovereign’ leads LSL’s immaculate and authentically repainted set of Mk. III stock passing Victoria bridge between Roade and Ashton in Northamptonshire. The LSL charter was running as 1Z90 throughout with heritage ScotRail 47712 ‘Lady Diana Spencer’ taking over at Crewe. This was an unadvertised charter that I had totally missed until somebody popped some timings up on a forum. It was a one-way journey for customers that was the first leg of a wider tour of Ireland returning, I believe, by air. As it passes this spot, the 4M18 Freightliner is seen in the foreground 
 Keywords: 87002 The Emerald Isle Express, 07.00 London Euston-Holyhead 1Z90 03.10 Felixstowe North-Trafford Park 4M18 Victoria bridge Intercity Swallow Royal Sovereign
66593, 02.50 Felixstowe North-Garston (4M45, 13E), Victoria bridge 
 The 02.50 Felixstowe to Garston 4M15 Freightliner passes Victoria bridge just south of Roade led by 66593 ‘3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway’. This weekday Freightliner covers just under three hundred miles taking a circuitous route initially south to London before heading northwards to Merseyside. This should be one of the services that ought to travel via the Fens through to Peterborough and Leicester thus saving many miles I would have thought but capacity issues on certain parts of this route remain a problem. 
 Keywords: 66593 02.50 Felixstowe North-Garston 4M45 Victoria bridge Freightliner 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway
70017, 03.24 Southampton MCT-Trafford Park (4M95, 62L), Victoria bridge 
 A freight service that is not normally seen on this route is seen passing Victoria bridge just south of Roade is the 4M85 03.24 Southampton to Trafford Park led by 70017. This is only my third photograph of this particular locomotive such are their few visits to the WCML route. The train was diverted from its more normal route via Didcot, Oxford and Banbury due to the closure of the Nuneham viaduct just north of Culham. 
 Keywords: 70017 03.24 Southampton MCT-Trafford Park 4M95 Victoria bridge Freightliner
66523, 03.39 Garston-London Gateway (4L52, 3E), Victoria bridge 
 The nose of 66523 just catches the morning sunshine as it passes Victoria bridge with the village of Roade seen in the background. It is leading the weekday daily 03.39 Garston to London Gateway 4L52 Freightliner. With no freight due for twenty minutes, I had to head off for work in Milton Keynes but a very reasonable start to the day was had! 
 Keywords: 66523 03.39 Garston-London Gateway 4L52 Victoria bridge Freightliner

Images 1-12 of 12 displayed.