507025
Waterloo (Merseyside), 24 April 2010
15 years ago today I spent half an hour or so at Waterloo station… Waterloo (Merseyside) that is!
Merseyrail’s 507025 was in charge of train 2U30, the 12.58 Every Week Day (EWD) service from Southport to Hunts Cross.
I think this is my only pic of a Class 507 electric multiple unit but I am looking forward to seeing preserved 507001 at The Greatest Gathering in August.
‘Join the Ghost Train’ vinyl adorning 170425
Dundee, 26 October 2017
Although I’m not a huge fan of Halloween (or All Hallows’ Eve as it’s known in Scotland) it was nice to see ScotRail getting into the ‘spirit’ of things back in October 2017.
170425 & 170475
Dundee, 26 October 2017
170425 later departed with train 1T82, the 12.13 Saturdays & Sundays excepted (SSuX) service to Glasgow Queen Street.
Is it really over four months since I posted anything here? 😬
Clearly, one of my New Year’s resolutions for 2023 must be to post more often!
Class 101 DMBS 50164 Daisy
Midland Railway-Butterley, 1 January 2010
These two class 101 diesel multiple unit (DMU) vehicles formed set no.101685 and were amongst the last five class 101 sets to be withdrawn from service by First North Western in December 2003.
Built by Metro-Cammell in 1956, 101685 had regained its early British Railways livery in 1994 and was named Daisy (unofficially) after the diesel railcar in The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry.
Class 101 DMCL 53160 Daisy
Midland Railway-Butterley, 1 January 2010
Both vehicles are now preserved at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway
… on the New Malden Junction-Shepperton line in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in London.
Class 455/8 5856 (plus Class 455/7 5710)
2O37, 14.03 South Western Railway (SWR) service from London Waterloo to London Waterloo
458512 (plus 458513)
2K37, 14.27 SWR from London Waterloo to London Waterloo
707030 (plus 707023)
2H44, 14.41 SWR from Shepperton to London Waterloo
Class 455/8 5857 (plus Class 455/7 5720)
2O39, 14.33 SWR from London Waterloo to London Waterloo
I was pleasantly surprised by the (albeit small) variety of EMU classes passing through the station… but even more surprised to find this relic of the Southern Railway!
‘Notice Is Hereby Given’
170404 & 170395
Tweedbank, 25 October 2021
Spotted yesterday at Tweedbank Station on the Borders Railway in Scotland, a pair of ScotRail class 170 ‘Turbostar’ diesel multiple units.
170404 was originally built for ScotRail services whereas 170395 (which had arrived with train 2T78, the 11.25 (SSuX) service from Edinburgh) was built for Hull Trains, entering service in March 2004, only to be replaced in May 2005 by class 222 ‘Pioneer’ diesel-electric multiple units (themselves now in service with East Midlands Railway).
There can’t be many three-car DMUs currently in service in the UK that have worked into two capital cities but 170395 is one of them, working into London King’s Cross with Hull Trains and Edinburgh with ScotRail.
Nine years ago I visited the Great Central Railway – Nottingham (GCRN) at Ruddington and was intrigued by a couple of strange railway vehicles…
Laboratory 1, RDB 975000
Ruddington, Great Central Railway – Nottingham, 15 July 2012
RDB 975000 (Laboratory 1) was converted from a British Railways Mk.1 Restaurant Second Open (RSO) in 1970 by the Research & Development Department at the Railway Technical Centre (RTC) at Derby for use as a high speed dynamics laboratory.
The lowered section of roof could be fitted with a pantograph (used to collect power from overhead lines) which could then be observed in operation through the windows in the roof visible in the image below.
Laboratory 1, RDB 975000
Ruddington, Great Central Railway – Nottingham, 15 July 2012
After lying out of use at Derby for many years RDB 975000 entered preservation at Ruddington in May 2011 but was scrapped in November 2013.
Observation Saloon 6300 HEBRIDEAN
Ruddington, Great Central Railway – Nottingham, 15 July 2012
6300 HEBRIDEAN was built as Class 101 Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) Driving Trailer Composite Lavatory (DTCL) 56356 in 1958 but converted in 1987 for use as a locomotive-hauled observation saloon on the Inverness-Kyle of Lochalsh ‘Hebridean’ services.
Withdrawn in 1994, 6300 was initially preserved at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway before moving to Ruddington but has since moved again, to the Barry Tourist Railway.
A 15-minute pause during a stroll in the Erewash Valley (near the site of the Former Shipley Gate station) yesterday produced the following…
66514
Erewash Valley Line, 4 January 2021
Freightliner’s 66514 heading 6M73, the 10.50 departmental service from Doncaster Up Decoy to Toton North Yard.
195009
Erewash Valley Line, 4 January 2021
195009, working 1Y15, the 11.09 Sundays excepted (SuX) Northern service from Leeds to Nottingham.
The class 195s seem to have finally taken over from class 158s on this route, I’ve seen a few but this is the first time I’ve photographed one.
60010 & 66207
Erewash Valley Line, 4 January 2021
DB Cargo UK’s 60010 and 66207 passing with 0F54, the 12.05 light engine move from Belmont Down Yard to Toton T.M.D.
I didn’t hang about any longer, the leaden sky soon produced rain…
Last night I made a pre-Lockdown 2.0 trip out to photograph the local Rail Head Treatment Train (RHTT) having determined that said train stopped at Matlock Station for 45 minutes… plenty of time to set up a tripod and capture a few images.
But as we know ‘the best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley’ and 66114 and 66111 only paused for a moment before heading into the darkness north of the station to make room for…
156401
Matlock, 3 November 2020
… East Midlands Railway’s 156401, working 2A72, the 22.19 (SSuX) service from Derby. After pausing for a couple of minutes 156401 departed with train 2A79, the 22.56 to Nottingham.
Once 156401 had left the single-track branch at Ambergate Junction, 66111 and 66114 reappeared but again only paused briefly before continuing on their way.
66111 (plus 66114 out of sight at the rear)
Matlock, 3 November 2020
The two DB Cargo (UK) locos ‘top and tailed’ the RHTT vehicles and last night their route began at Toton Depot at 21.22 and took in Derby, Matlock, Leicester, Kettering, Nottingham and Newark Castle before finishing at Stapleford & Sandiacre at 04.06.
The RHTTs remove autumn leaf fall from the rails with high pressure water jets and can also apply an ‘adhesion modifier’ to help train wheels grip the rail… Vital for safety!
15 years ago today I was driving from Balerno (a suburb of Edinburgh) to Banavie in the Scottish Highlands and had decided to stop at as many railway stations as I could get away with before my wife got fed up with my antics! 😁
Curriehill, on the Shotts line, was first and after a couple of minutes 156437 (allocated to Corkerhill Depot in Glasgow) put in an appearance on the 09.26 First ScotRail service from Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow Central.
156437
Curriehill station, 3 September 2005
The station opened on 5 October 1987 and stands on the site of the Caledonian Railway’s ‘Currie Hill’ station which was closed by British Railways on 2 April 1951.
Next was Balloch, another newish station, and I arrived to find 320302 (allocated to Glasgow Shields Road Depot) waiting to depart with the 11.38 First ScotRail service to Drumgelloch.
320302
Balloch station, 3 September 2005
The ‘new’ Strathclyde PTE carmine and cream livery is more obvious in this pic and to my eye looks far more ‘railway-like’ than most post-privatisation liveries. It finally disappeared from the national network in December 2019 following withdrawal of the Class 314 electric multiple units.
Balloch station opened on 24 April 1988 and replaced the former Balloch Central station which closed the previous day and had been situated on the other side of the busy Balloch Road. The building just visible in the background is the former station building, now a tourist information centre.
I’ve just checked with the excellent trainlogger website and both units are still in service with ScotRail, wearing the current Saltire blue livery.
D.Wickham & Co. Ltd. DTCL E56171 & DMBS E50416
Carrog Station, Llangollen Railway, August 2014
This two-car diesel multiple unit (DMU) was built by D.Wickham & Co. Ltd. of Ware, Hertfordshire in 1957 and was one of five such sets allocated to branch line services in East Anglia.
As more and more branch lines closed in the 1960s these Wickham sets were deemed surplus to requirements and were withdrawn from service. Two were exported to Trinidad, two were scrapped but the fifth (E56171 and E50416, later renumbered TDB975006 and TDB975005) was converted into a saloon (complete with kitchen facilities) for use by the General Manager of British Rail’s Eastern Region, remaining in use until 1980.
Eventually preserved by the Llangollen Railcars group the unit was restored at the Midland Railway-Butterley thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant and it returned to service in 2004.
Interior of DTCL E56171
Carrog Station, Llangollen Railway, August 2014
The beautifully restored interiors are a very comfortable and stylish way to travel and the large windows give a fantastic view of the Denbighshire countryside that the Llangollen Railway passes through.
The Wickham sets were withdrawn before TOPS* classification was applied but they were allocated Class 109 by British Rail.
*The TOPS computer system for managing locomotives and rolling stock is something I’ll be going into more detail about in a future post.
Railway Miscellany 