37. The last day of April & some sun!-30.04.24

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-2024 > 37. The last day of April & some sun!-30.04.24

After what had seemed weeks of relentless rain and really cold weather the wind changed direction and there was some sunshine! To celebrate this event I took a teatime walk through Roade with my camera over my shoulder. Five freights in just less than half an hour was my reward.
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Images 1-5 of 5 displayed.

66951, 13.06 Ditton-Felixstowe North (4L92, 2L), Hyde Road bridge It's teatime and the last day of April so the sun is just able to still reach the depths of Roade cutting. It just manages to illuminate the flank of the 4L92 13.06 Ditton to Felixstowe Freightliner led by 66951. This particular 66 was the first of five that arrived in the UK in 2004 that were being evaluated as low-emission versions of the class. With ever more stringent emission regulations as further members of the class were ordered the lessons learnt from these early five examples were used to make the later locomotives compliant. Keywords: 66951 13.06 Ditton-Felixstowe North 4L92 Hyde Road bridge Freightliner
66538, 12.57 London Gateway-Garston (4M56, 29E), Hyde Road bridge Heading north through Roade taken from the village's Hyde Road bridge 66538 is seen leading the 4M56 12.57 London Gateway to Garston Freightliner train. The bridge in the background with its rather ugly pedestrian parapet carries the the former A508 main road through the village. This road has now been downgraded and is a lot quieter due to the opening of the Roade bypass last September (2023). Keywords: 66538 12.57 London Gateway-Garston 4M56 Hyde Road bridge Freightliner
66739, 13.39 Ditton-Felixstowe North (4L62, 3E), Hyde Road bridge With the sun sinking fast the final vestiges of the day's bright and welcome April light are struggling to reach reach the depths of Roade cutting. There is just enough light to to illuminate 66739 'Bluebell Railway' as it heads south working the 13.39 Ditton to Felixstowe North Freightliner. 4L62 is one of six freights that are due to pass through Roade within a forty-five minute period at around teatime on weekdays. Is there anywhere else on the mainline where this is the case I wonder? Keywords: Bluebell Railway 66739 13.39 Ditton-Felixstowe North 4L62 Hyde Road bridge
66565, 13.13 Felixstowe North-Lawley Street (4M93, 6L), Hyde Road bridge Turning the camera to the portrait position lends itself to better framing in this rather confined location at the very southern end of Roade cutting. The resultant image sees Freightliner's 66565 leading the 13.13 Felixstowe to Lawley Street 4M93 service. The white building with the rather tall chimney to the top left is the former station master's house located at the top of the access road to the former station that closed in September 1964. Keywords: 66565 13.13 Felixstowe North-Lawley Street 4M93 Hyde Road bridge Freightliner
66188, 13.20 Trafford Park-London Gateway (4L56, 2L), Hyde Road bridge The final freight of my forty-minute session on Roade's Hyde Road bridge passes southwards with the illumination of the bottom of the cutting now very tricky. To avoid the greenery and background being overexposed and burnt out I locked the camera on to this area securing its exposure. This leaves the foreground and the train about two stops underexposed and rather dark in its RAW form. However, the remarkable abilities of Photoshop allow me to then isolate the dark area and work on it to bring back the detail. This increases noise levels a little with Neat Image able to then deal with this admirably. All this reveals 66188 ponderously making its way through the cutting leading the 12.30 Trafford Park to London Gateway 4L56 service; time to go home for a cup of tea now! Keywords: 66188 13.20 Trafford Park-London Gateway 4L56 Hyde Road bridge EWS DB Cargo

Images 1-5 of 5 displayed.