Photo Chiltern Railways Trains Assorted Diesel Rolling Stock Aylesbury Depot

Assorted Diesel Traction, Aylesbury Depot

Class 165 025 DMU, Ruston Diesel Locomotive 01509, and Class 117 DMU
Photo: Charles Moorhen

A collection of the old and the new photographed at Aylesbury Rail Depot, Buckinghamshire.
From left to right is Chiltern Railways Class 165 025 DMU; one of a total of 39 trainsets for 165/0 with a further 37 trainsets for 165/1.

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At the centre is Class 117  960301 DMU used by Chiltern Railways for departmental purposes.

Owned by Chiltern Railways, on the right is Ruston diesel locomotive, No. 01509, 'Lesley'.

From an entirely personal perspective, I love the collection of brand new axles in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture which was taken from the railway station footbridge.


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Photo British Rail Liveried Class 310086 4-Car EMU Northampton 1988

Class 310086 British Rail EMU, Northampton Train Station

Photo: Charles Moorhen

Class 310 086 EMU British Rail commuter train, in standard British Rail blue livery, is seen waiting at platform 2 of Northampton railway station in June 1988 with a destination board that reads 'special'.

Class 310086 unit coach numbers are as follows: 76170  62111  70771  76220. 

    

Note the use of curtains in the windows of the First Class carriage. Talk about luxury!                                                                                                                                                          

50 of these 4-car slam-door trains were produced, as part of the West Coast Main Line electrification project, at British Rail C & W Works, Derby, between 1965 and 1967 and had a maximum speed of 75 mph. 

This class of non-corridor electric multiple unit was replaced on the Euston to Birmingham service in 1987 by the unattractive, box-shaped Class 317, which itself was superseded by the Class 321 and then by Class 350.

On the 11th October 1984 Class 310 310086 & Class 310 310067, forming an eight-car 17:54 service from Euston to Bletchley, was involved in a serious accident with a freight train.
The freight train, headed by Class 86 86006 & Class 85 85035, collided with the electric multiple unit.

The driver of the passenger train had passed a signal at danger.

Three passengers died as a result of the collision and the driver of the passenger train, along with 17 others, were injured.

Following refurbishment in 1985, the Northampton-line Class 310's continued in service until eventually being withdrawn between 2001 and 2002.

Class 317327 EMU in Network Southeast livery, Northampton.  Photo: Charles Moorhen

 

The Class 317 4-car electric multiple unit replaced the Class 310's on the Euston - Birmingham service.

          Class 321437 Waits at Wolverton Station en route to London Euston                               Photo: Charles Moorhen

 

       

 

The Class 321 4-car electric multiple unit (321437 seen above in Silverlink livery)  subsequently took over from the Class 317 units.

Class 350104 Waits at Rugby Station

                                                       Photo: Charles Moorhen

 

 

The Desiro Class 350 4-car electric multiple units subsequently replaced the Class 321 units on the Euston to Birmingham line.

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Photo British Rail Class 317327 Network Southeast EMU Train Northampton 1980's

Class 317327 Network South East EMU, Northampton Train Station

Photo: Charles Moorhen

4-Car unit Class 317 327327 EMU in Network South East livery, allocated to Bletchley, stands at Northampton's Platform 2 in the 1980's on its way first to Rugby and then on to Birmingham New Street station, where seventeen of the class operated between 1987 and 1989.

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Class 317327 unit coach numbers are as follows: 77026  62687  71603  77074

This class of electric multiple unit replaced EMU Class 310.  The Class 317 was later to be superseded by EMU Class 321 operated by Silverlink Trains, and then by EMU Class 350 run by London Midland Trains. 

In all, 72 all-steel 4-car Class 317 commuter train units were produced in two batches between 1981 and 1987 able to reach a maximum speed of 100 mph.

 


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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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Photo Class 66086 and Class 66237 Diesel Locos Didcot Sidings 2004

Class 66086 and 66237 Locos, Didcot Station

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

On my first ever trip to Didcot railway station in Oxfordshire, in 2004, I was fortunate to capture an image of these two General Motors EMD EWS Class 66 diesel locomotives stabled on Didcot sidings - Class 66 66086 and Class 66 66237.

 

Class 66086 was built in April 1999 and allocated to Toton TMD (Notts.).

Class 66237 was built in May 2000 and allocated to Poznam (ECR Poland).

The way they look it is almost as if they were deliberately posed.  "Oh! to have that sort of power!" 

On the same day that I took the above image I was fortunate enough to photograph Class 60 60016 'Rail Magazine' one month before it was renamed, 'Langdale Pikes'.


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Photo DR73116 Network Rail Plasser & Theurer Tamper Northampton 2014

Class DR 73116 Network Rail Tamper Machine, Northampton Station

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

During the modernisation of Northampton railway station in 2014, Network Rail's track machine, DR 73116, passes through, heading in the general direction of Rugby on the 17th July.

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Photo GM Class 67017 Arrow Diesel Loco Leamington Spa 2000

Class 67017 Diesel Loco 'Arrow', Leamington Spa Station

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

Class 67 67017, built in March 2000 and allocated to Crewe International Electric T&RSMD, seen here in EWS livery, hauling a Chiltern Railways train, was photographed at Leamington Spa station.

A number of diesel locomotives are giving nicknames by railway enthusiasts, one such example was the once popular, Class 50 locomotives known as "Hoovers", and the Class 67 is no exception; though I wasn't aware of this when I took the photo. 

It was much later that someone on a platform somewhere informed me that they were called 'skips'. I couldn't imagine why they were given that particular name until someone suggested that I imagine the locomotive upside down.

The old saying, “what's in a name”, certainly rang true in this instance.


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