Photo Class 66044 General Motors EMD EWS Diesel Loco Northampton 2014

Class 66044 EWS Diesel Loco, Northampton Station

Photo: Charles Moorhen 

Running north on the up line, General Motors EMD Class 66044 in English, Welsh & Scottish Railway livery spotted passing through Northampton station in 2014.

Class 66 diesel locomotive, Class 66044, was built in December 1998 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) and allocated to Toton TMD (Notts.).

At the time that this photo was taken Northampton station was still in the process of reconstruction, as can be seen by the temporary footbridge above the train.

Finished its operations for the day a London Midland Trains Class 350 stands on the station sidings in the background.

The new, modernised Northampton station was opened on the 12th January 2015, three months later than its proposed date.

More Class 66 Locomotive Images on 'Along These Tracks'.

Class 66005 at Wellingborough

Class 66013 & 66502 at Rugby (Scroll down for '66502' image)

Class 66086 at Didcot

Class 66086 and 66237 at Didcot

Class 66117 at Northampton

Class 66130 at Banbury

Class 66145 at Banbury

Class 66187 at Wellingborough

Class 66206 at Northampton

Class 66414 at Northampton

Class 66509 at Wellingborough

Class 66536 at Banbury

Class 66551 at Rugby

Class 66717 at Wellingborough

Class 66729 at Wellingborough 

Class 66765 at Wellingborough

Four Unidentified Class 66s Didcot.

Four Unidentified GBRF Class 66s Wellingborough

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Photo Well Worn BR Class 31101 Diesel Loco Northampton 1988

Class 31101 BR Diesel Loco, Northampton Station

Photo: Charles Moorhen

In BR Blue livery, Class 31101 passes through Northampton station on the 27^th July 1988 hauling a rake of empty flatbed trucks. 

The locomotive was built in October 1958 at Brush Traction in Loughborough and originally numbered D5518 and allocated to Crewe TMD.

Although in 1988 the Class 31's were coming close to the end of their working lives on British Rail, they were still a fairly common sight on Northampton's sidings, or passing through the station on various freight duties.

An unidentified Class 31 diesel locomotive entering Northampton station in the 1980's

 

Photo: Charles Moorhen

 

 

Recorded in my old spotting notebooks I found that during a short time, over a two-day period in 1988, the following Class 31 locomotives were seen at Northampton and Bletchley stations.

Northampton: 31101 31317 31135 31112 31141 31205 31215 31420 31108.

Bletchley: 31166 31296 31306 31168 31434 31152 31284.

According to information provided on the Avon Valley Railway website, the locomotive was the first Class 31 to work passenger services on the Southern Region and as a Royal Train locomotive.

 

 

Class 31 Diesel Locomotive Historical Note:

Whilst hauling a train in which Queen Elizabeth II was travelling on 4th January 1961, D5667 (31240), broke down south of Cambridge.  

 

Two onboard Brush fitters, on hand to deal with any mechanical problems that may occur, were unable to fix the problem and a steam loco had to be sent for in order to rescue the stricken diesel adding over an hour to the completed journey.

 

Finally withdrawn from service on British Rail on the 11^th January 1993, Class 31101 escaped the fate of the scrapyard and, along with sister locomotive 31130 “Calder Hall Power Station”, has been preserved and resides on the heritage Avon Valley Railway at Bitton Station, Bath Road, Bristol, South Gloucestershire BS30 6HD.

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Photo Class 43126 Intercity 125 HST Cigarette-Packet Livery Didcot 2004

Class 43126 Livery Intercity 125 HST, Didcot Station

Photo: Charles Moorhen

Trainspotting First Great Western Trains, Class 43126 HST Intercity 125, built in June 1979 and allocated to Landore T&RSMD (Swansea), at Didcot station on the 6th October 2004, displaying the somewhat bizarre and none-too-popular 'Fag Packet' livery introduced around 1998.

The FGW train livery was apparently nicknamed by some enthusiasts 'Fag Packet', due to its resemblance to the packaging of a particular brand of Dunhill cigarettes, while others say it looked more like a packet of Golden Virginia rolling tobacco.

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Photo Smoky Class 43098 Brel/Paxman Intercity 125 Basingstoke 1990s

Class 43098 HST Smoking Out of Basingstoke Station 

Photo: Charles Moorhen

Trainspotting Class 43098 Intercity 125, built in August 1978 and allocated to Landore T&RSMD (Swansea), in 'Swallow' livery introduced in 1987, leaving Basingstoke station in the 1990's in a cloud of diesel exhaust smoke, heading for Reading.

Brel/Paxman 43098 Intercity 125 has carried two names.  From 1985 to 1987 it was Tyne & Wear Metropolitan County, and from 1998 to 2004 it was Railway Children. 

An old slam-door diesel multiple unit, in Network Southeast livery, can be seen in the background standing in the station's bay platform before heading towards Reading.


Basingstoke railway station historical note:
In the mid-1800s, a special train was permanently kept in a state of readiness by the London & South Western Railway for the sole use of the Duke of Wellington - hero of the Battle of Waterloo - at Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK, should he require it.


Wellington was not a fan of the 'new fangled railways' and it is not known if he ever used his train.

   

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Freightliner Diesel Locomotive Class 66509 Wellingborough 2015 Photos

Class 66509 Freightliner Diesel Loco, Approaches Wellingborough Station

Photo: Charles Moorhen

General Motors EMD Class 66509 diesel loco in Freightliner livery, as it approaches Wellingborough station from Kettering heading towards Bedford, after passing under Mill Road bridge on the 28th July 2015

Class 66509 was built in June 2000 and allocated to Leeds Midland Road TMD.

Close-Up of Freightliner diesel locomotive Class 66509
Photo: Charles Moorhen  

Class 66509 Approaching Wellingborough Station 
 Photo: Charles Moorhen   

More Class 66 Locomotive Images on 'Along These Tracks'.

Class 66005 at Wellingborough

Class 66013 & 66502 at Rugby (Scroll down for '66502' image)

Class 66044 at Northampton

Class 66086 at Didcot

Class 66086 and 66237 at Didcot

Class 66117 at Northampton

Class 66130 at Banbury

Class 66145 at Banbury

Class 66187 at Wellingborough

Class 66206 at Northampton

Class 66414 at Northampton

Class 66536 at Banbury

Class 66551 at Rugby

Class 66717 at Wellingborough

Class 66729 at Wellingborough 

Class 66765 at Wellingborough

Four Unidentified Class 66s at Didcot.

Four Unidentified GBRF Class 66s at Wellingborough

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Class 43081 Brel Paxman IC125 East Midlands Trains Wellingborough 2015 Photo

Class 43081 Intercity 125 HST, Wellingborough Train Station

Photo: Charles Moorhen   

East Midlands Trains high speed train Class 43081, Intercity 125 built in March 1978 and allocated to Neville Hill T&RSMD (Leeds), is seen en route north to Sheffield about to depart Wellingborough station in July 2015.

For two days in July 2008 Class 43081 carried the name Midland Valenta.  Valenta refers to the Paxman Valenta diesel engines used on 195 Intercity 125 Class 43's.

From the position that the photo was taken it appears that I had thrown health & safety, and 'no trespassing on the railway' rules to the wind and decided to stand close to the tracks.  In fact I was standing on a crossbar of a gate at the side of a car park, with my shins pressing against the upper bars.

Definitely a painful situation, but well worth the few minutes of discomfort for me to photograph a Class 43 from a different angle for the 'Along These Tracks railway blog!

News Update:

Seeing East Midlands Trains colourful livery of red, white, orange and red flashing along the railway tracks, will soon become a thing of the past.

Abellio will take over the East Midlands Trains franchise on Saturday 18th August 2019. The Class 43 HST Intercity 125 and Class 222 diesel multiple unit will gradually be phased out by brand new Hitachi trains that will be a variant of the bullet-nosed Class 800 bio-mode DMU.

The new trains will have a lavender livery and be branded with 'EMR' on both sides.

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Class 153329 2-Car SuperSprinter First Great Western DMU Train St. Austell 2017

Class 153329 'SuperSprinter' DMU, St. Austell Station

         Photo:  Charles Moorhen 

First Great Western Trains DMU Class 153 329 allocated to EX - Exeter St. Davids, stands alongside the east-bound platform of St. Austell station, Cornwall, forming the front of a two-car local service about to leave for Par station in 2017.  Unfortunately, the number of the rear unit was not recorded.

Class 153329 unit coach numbers are as follows: 52329.


The sprinter Class 153 diesel multiple units were built by Leyland Bus between 1987 and 1988 as two-coach units before being converted to single-car units in 1991/92 by Hunslet-Barclay. 

The former Great Western Railway St. Austell signal box, seen in the background behind the train, closed on the 22nd March 1980.  It's future is still a matter of conjecture.

The covered lattice work station footbridge, above the rear of the two Class 153 dmu units, was built in 1859 and is a Grade II listed structure.  Regardless of this, the characteristic Great Western Railway bridge is threatened with demolition.  

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Four GBRf Class 66 Diesel Locos Through Wellingborough 2014 Photos

"Four Class 66 locomotives came along as I was about to go home"

I was at the 'London' end of platform two Wellingborough station on the 27th June 2014.  Leaning on a section of white wooden platform fencing I gazed across the nearby countryside, trying to decide whether or not to make tracks (no pun intended) for home. Then, a flicker of movement off to my left caught my attention.  

 

Looking up I saw a Class 66 diesel locomotive creeping along the freight-only line towards me.  "This will do" I thought.  "I'll grab a photo of this and then head home. 

 

GBRf Class 66717 Wellingborough           
Photo: Charles Moorhen

However, loco, GBRf  Class 66717 'Good Ol' Boy'' came closer, I realised that it was not on its own.  It was, or so I believed, double-heading with GBRf Class 66729 'Derby County'.

Great! I thought.  A good photo to end the day with.  

 

But there was more to come.

 

        GBRf  Class 66729  Wellingborough            
Photo: Charles Moorhen

In the middle of what I soon discovered was a fairly long train, GBRf Class 66738 'HUDDERSFIELD TOWN' was now passing in front of me.  "This has to be a it" I said aloud to myself.  

 

As there is a bend in the track at that location I did not have a clear view.

 

   GBRf Class 66738 Wellingborough       
Photo: Charles Moorhen

Lo and behold there was still one more Class 66 to come.  The tail-end-Charlie turned out to be, Class 66731 'Interhub GB'.

GBRf Class 66731 Wellingborough     
Photo: Charles Moorhen

In my excitement to capture all four locos, I was sure that I'd hurried the whole thing and the images would not be as good as I hoped.  

However, seeing them on the PC monitor later, I was glad that 

I'd decided to hang on at Wellingborough station for those extra few minutes.


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Class 66765 GBRF Diesel Locomotive Wellingborough 2015 Photo

Class 66765 GBRF Diesel Loco

GBRf  Class 66765 Loco
Photo: Charles Moorhen   

Class 66765 diesel locomotive in two-tone GBRf livery, and allocated to GBRf Peterborough, enters Wellingborough station on the freight-only line on the 28th July 2015, heading towards Bedford.

At the same time, East Midlands Trains Class 222 018 dmu, built between 2003 and 2005 and allocated to DY Derby Etches Park T&RSMD, enters the station alongside platform 1 heading north.

222 018 Wellingborough

Photo: Charles Moorhen

East Midlands Trains Class 222 018 DMU (above) on a previous occasion enters Wellingborough station from Kettering heading towards Bedford.

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Night Photo Class 67013 Chiltern Railways Alstom GM Diesel Loco Banbury 2014

Class 67013 Diesel Locomotive, Banbury Station

Photo: Charles Moorhen

Chiltern Railways Class 67 013 locomotive, one of a class of 30 produced, is seen here at Banbury station on the evening of the 13th January 2014, hauling a rake of silver liveried Mark 3 coaching stock.  

Class 67013 was built in March 2000 and is allocated to CE - Crewe International Electric T&RSMD.
Between July 2008 and December 2013 the locomotive carried the name 'Dyfrbont Ponycysylite' .

An example of an hourly-run service operated by Chiltern Railways between Marylebone and Birmingham Moor Street station.

Built between 1999 and 2000 the Class 67 locomotives operating these Chiltern Railways services would eventually be replaced by Class 68 locos built between 2012 and 2016.

Class 68013 Locomotive           Photo: Train of the Week blog

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Photo BR Class 08466 and Class 37's Bescot Station England 1989

Class 08466 and Class 37 Locos, Bescot Station

Photo: Charles Moorhen

Back to the 20th century and a cold day at Bescot yard on the 17th March 1989.  In those days I was using a Russian-made Zenith EM 35mm film camera to capture a British Rail Class 08 shunter and two Class 37 locos.  A far cry from the versatility of today's digital cameras.  But, great fun nonetheless.

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In the foreground is Railfreight Class 08466, built in October 1958, is seen pottering about Bescot sidings.  

Behind 08466, in the middle, is Class 37271 with Class 37890 in the distance.

Diesel shunter Class 08 08466 was withdrawn on the 30th September 2010 and subsequently scrapped at CF Booth, Rotherham.


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Photo British Rail Diesel Shunter Loco Class 08909 Bay Platform Rugby 1988

Class 08909 BR Shunter, Rugby Station

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

 

Once a common sight pottering around Rugby station, British Rail  Class 08909, built between 1952 and 1962 and allocated to Bletchley TMD, in BR blue livery, similar in design to its sister Class 09 is seen parked up in one of the station's bay platforms at the eastern end in November 1988.

The condition of Rugby station roof is a sad testament to how derelict the station canopy had become before its refurbishment that was to come years later.

Class 08909 diesel shunter loco survived until 2011 when it was sent to C.F. Booth's for scrapping on the 10th August of that year.

A total of 996 examples of the Class 08 diesel, or 'Gronks' as they were nicknamed by the railway enthusiast fraternity, were produced for British Railways. 

 

 

Class 08 Shunter Historical Note:
At Tinsley Marshalling Yard near Sheffield, UK, six '08' shunters were coupled in three pairs for shunting operations.  In each pair one locomotive cab was removed; its power controlled from the 'cabbed' 08.  This combination of power units were classified as Class 13.

The three pairs worked together in Tinsley Yard for twenty years until early 1985 when hump-shunting came to an end.

 

They were numbered thus:

D4500 (D3698  D4188), D4501 (D4189  D4190), D4502 (D3696  D4187).

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