The Railway Dog

SVR Autumn Diesel Bash

Written by

Yoshi

in

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday September 28th to Tuesday October 4th

Yoshi at Kidderminster enjoying the last gasp of autumn sun with Class 52 Western diesel hydraulic No. D1040 ‘Western Queen’ in the background – 02/10/2022

Hello Dear Reader! It’s been a relatively quiet week on the rails in Yoshi’s manor. Engineers trains for the Chetnole track upgrade came and went, utilising the same locomotives on a rota as at the start of the work. Because of the their early departures via Dorchester South, Yoshi and I remained snuggled up in our bed. We had planned on seeing the final two trains depart via Yeovil Pen Mill on the Friday evening, but the rain and winds put us off as we didn’t fancy hanging around for them to make an appearance on an open windswept railway station. In the event it appears they left more or less on time, so it would not have be so tortuous!

Severn Valley Railway

Sunday 2nd October found us back at the Severn Valley Railway, this time for their 2022 Autumn Diesel Bash. The main attraction for me being the visit of two GB Railfreight Class 56 locomotives which have been repainted into retro British Rail liveries. The GBRf Class 56’s will eventually be rebuilt as Class 69 locomotives in due course, so we thought we’d take the opportunity to catch these while we can. Only one of the two Class 56 locomotives ran each day over the weekend; No. 56098 on Saturday and 56081 on the Sunday. I hoped that the locomotive not being used would be on static display, but this wasn’t really the case, and only a record shot could be achieved from publicly accessible areas.

GBRf Class 56 No.’s 56098 and 56081 coupled together at Kidderminster SVR awaiting their return to Old Dalby the following day – 02/10/2022

Despite this, we had another great day out at the Severn Valley. Even the fact the coffee machine wasn’t working at The Engine House cafe in Highley didn’t dampen my spirits. As we left Dorset and made our way northwards, the weather didn’t look conducive to a day out, but once past Bristol, the sun made a welcome appearance for the rest of the day. Thanks to Andrew and Scott for their excellent company and helping to look after Yoshi.

Deltic No. 55009 ‘Alycidon’ on the approach to Highley. I first saw this class of locomotive at London Kings Cross in 1977 and they immediately became my favourite diesel locomotives – 02/10/2022
Class 50 No. 50049 ‘Defiance’ departs Highley – 02/10/2022
Class 50 No. 50035 ‘Ark Royal’ arriving into Kidderminster – 02/20/2022
Class 50 No. 50033 ‘Glorious’ awaiting to be rescued at Highley with a ‘local service’ after being declared a failure – 02/10/2022
Class 31 No. 31466 plays Thunderbird loco for Class 50 No. 50033 ‘Glorious’ at Highley. A minor defect in the Class 50’s air system intermittently prevented the locomotive creating a brake – 02/10/2022
Class 31 No. 31466 at Highley – 02/10/2022
Class 52 No. D1015 ‘Western Champion’ nears Highley – 02/10/2022
Class 52 No. D1015 ‘Western Champion’ departs Kidderminster with an evening service – 02/10/2022
Class 52 No. D1062 ‘Western Courier’ running as classmate No. D1040 ‘Western Queen’ catching the late afternoon sun at Kidderminster – 02/10/2022
The second man on Class 52 No. D1040 ‘Western Queen’ ready to exchange tokens entering Highley – 02/10/2022
GBRf Class 56 No. 56081 and Class 20 No. 20048 being used as a translator locomotive for braking near Highley – 02/10/2022
GBRf Class 56 No. 56081 having arrived at Kidderminster after its sole round trip – 02/10/2022
GBRf Class 56 No. 56081 prepares to run to the sidings at Kidderminster – 02/10/2022
Large Logo liveried Class 56 No. 56098 at Kidderminster – 02/10/2022
Class 09 No. 09012 (D4100) ‘Dick Hardy’ came to the rescue after Class 46 No. D182 was withdrawn from service earlier during the gala – 02/20/2022 
Class 20 No. 20048 departs Kidderminster on the rear of a train to Bridgnorth – 02/10/2022
Yoshi chats with the driver of Class 31 No. 31466 during a stop at Bewdley – 02/10/2022
Our video from the 2022 Autumn Diesel Bash at the SVR

Class 91’s

Prior to our Seven Valley adventure, on Wednesday 28th September I was in London for a work meeting and I took the opportunity to pop into Kings Cross on my way to the office to catch a couple of Class 91 departures. I rather like the look of the business end of the Class 91 locomotive.

A total of 31 Class 91 ‘Electras’ were built by British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) at Crewe Works from 1988 to 1991 and numbered 91001 to 91031. They were overhauled by Bombardier at Doncaster between 2000 and 2003 and renumbered by adding 100 to their original number, with the exception of No. 91023 which became No. 91132 due to its involvement in fatal accidents at Hatfield in 2000 and Great Heck in 2001.

The IC225 fleet of 314 Mk 4 carriages built by Metro-Cammell in Birmingham were formed into 30 sets and with the addition of a Driving Trailer Van (DVT) allowed push-pull operation with the Class 91’s. The fleet is now greatly reduced following the introduction of Hitachi InterCity Express Trains (IET) and eight coaching sets have been retained for use on the East Coast Mainline with 12 Class 91’s.

Over the years the trains have seen several changes in operator as franchises have collapsed and taken over by government backed Operators of Last Resort. GNER was replaced by National Express East Coast, followed by East Coast, Virgin Trains East Coast and currently LNER. Each operator has applied its own livery to the locomotives and coaching stock with most recently LNER simply replacing the Virgin Trains branding with its own. Now, however, the fleet is receiving repaints with those not carrying a celebrity livery receiving a retro style inspired by the original Intercity 225 design of sharp lines and red and white styling, the LNER brand replacing the InterCity lettering and swallow motif which can be seen applied to No. 91004 in the video from 1994 further down this page.

Class 91 No. 91110 ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’ awaits departure from London Kings Cross with the 1003 1D09 service to Leeds. The InterCity 225 fleet leased by LNER is in the process of receiving a full repaint as the rolling stock is brought in for essential maintenance. The repaint of No. 91110 was completed in July 2022 – 28/09/2022
Side detail of Class 91 No. 91110 ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’
Side detail of Class 91 No. 91110 ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’
Side detail and nameplate of Class 91 No. 91110 ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’
Side detail of Class 91 No. 91110 ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’. In September 1989 No. 91110 achieved 162.8 mph on an overspeed test at Stoke Bank near Peterborough, the fastest ever recorded by a UK locomotive. Stoke Bank is the same location where the world record for a steam locomotive was set at 126 mph by Gresley A4 No. 4468 ‘Mallard’ on 3rd July 1938.
Class 91 No. 91107 ‘Skyfall’ at Kings Cross platform 2 heading 1D10 1033 London Kings Cross to Leeds. The Class 91 powered IC225 trains have been operating on the East Coast Main Line for 33 years. The Gresley A4’s managed 27 years and the Class 55 Deltics 20 years. The Gresley A3’s and the IC125 HST’s both notched up 40 years of continuous ECML service – 28/09/2022
Close up of nameplate for Class 91 No. 91107 ‘Skyfall’
Class 91 departures at London Kings Cross – 28/09/2022
Class 91 No. 91114 ‘Durham Cathedral’ at York – 04/07/2013
Nameplate detail of Class 91 No. 91114 ‘Durham Cathedral’ at York – 04/07/2013
Livery variation applied to Class 91 No. 91114 ‘Durham Cathedral’ at York – 04/07/2013
East Coast liveried Class 91 No. 91120 at York – 28/08/2011
Class 91 No. 91101 with Flying Scotsman branding at Doncaster – 05/07/2013
Class 91 No. 91102 at York – 28/08/2011
Class 91 No. 91121 at York – 28/08/2011
Europhoenix liveried Class 91 No. 91117 stands adjacent to unique Class 89 No.89001 ‘Avocet’ at the recent Barrow Hill 150+2 celebrations – 28/08/2022
The flat end of Class 91 No. 91120 can be seen clearly in this image alongside Class 89 No.89001 ‘Avocet’ at the recent Barrow Hill 150+2 celebrations. The Class 89 was a prototype for an electric six-axle mixed traffic locomotive which did not progress beyond this example – 28/08/2022
Another view of Europhoenix Class 91 No. 91120 in the company of “Peak” Class 45 No. 45060 ‘Sherwood Forester’ and Class 66 No. 66726 ‘Sheffield Wednesday’ at Barrow Hill 150+2 celebrations – 28/08/2022

From The Archives

My first visit to London Kings Cross found Class 55 Deltic No.’s 55002 ‘The Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry’ and 55008 ‘The Green Howards’ await departure in 1977
In the diesel era the stabling point at London Kings Cross was commonly known as “Passenger Loco”. It was usually used by locomotives that needed a quick service and refuelling before their next trip north. There was a pit inside the shed where an “A exam” could be performed. A few locos would be berthed there during the day between trips and at night. Also from my first visit to The Cross in 1977
Class 55 Deltic No. 55004 ‘Queens Own Highlander’ stands next to a Class 254 HST set at Kings Cross. The Deltic’s replaced Gresley A3 and A4 Pacific steam locomotives on top link duties before themselves succumbing to the advent of the High Speed Train which in turn were replaced by the Class 91’s – 25/09/1981

In 1994 what was heralded as being the best ever programme of main line steam specials was announced on 11th August, exactly 26 years after the end of regular steam on British Railways. A big surprise was the announcement of the return to steam at Kings Cross on the weekend of 29th / 30th October 1994 when LNER A4 Pacific No. 60009 ‘Union Of South Africa’, coincidentally the last steam locomotive to leave the East Coast terminus thirty years previously, was booked to haul private charters to Peterborough. Following these successful charter runs, No. 9 found herself imprisoned in Bounds Green depot for six weeks following an “under the wires” ban imposed by Railtrack who declared the locomotive as being out of gauge by 1.5 inches at an overbridge near Primrose Hill Tunnel which could have resulted in a flashover. This led Railtrack to impose a complete ban on all steam movements under overhead wires across the rail network which saw the cancellation of three other rail tours until Railtrack backed down and agreed the locomotive was in gauge all along!

I went along to Kings Cross on the 30th October 1994 to see the locomotive and train head for Peterborough – but as you can see in the video below my view of the departure was almost ruined by the arrival of Class 91 No. 91004 ‘The Red Arrows’! This Class 91 locomotive was withdrawn in February 2020 and is currently awaiting disposal at Booths of Rotherham, its fate is unconnected with passing in front of me while I was attempting to film steam at The Cross however!

Steam at Kings Cross 30/10/1994

Sixteen years later, I was once again able to see steam at Kings Cross – two A4’s this time when No. 60007 ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’ hauled the Railway Touring Company special train “The Tynesider” from Newcastle to the London terminus with sister locomotive No. 60019 ‘Bittern’ sporting two tenders to facilitate a non-stop run to York as there was no requirement to take on water en-route. I was using a mini DV camera at the time which had a tendency to “hunt’ in low light. Well, in any lighting conditions to be honest. But we include it here as it seems appropriate.

Steam at Kings Cross 27/11/2010

Thanks for visiting. We aim to be back again next week and hope to see you again. Thank you as always for comments and corrections which are very much appreciated.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More posts