The Railway Magazine – July 2019

12 •The Railway Magazine• July 2019

PREDICTED wetandwindy

weather failed to deter visitors

from attending the Crewe

diesel depot open day on

June 8, which was held at the

Locomotive Services Limited

(LSL) site, next to Crewe station.

Charities will be benefiting

from more than £72,000 raised

by the event, which was backed

byVirginTrains, with media

support fromThe Railway

Magazineplus AST Signs.

This sum includes more than

£17,500 raised from a sealed

bid auction for severalVirgin

‘Pendolino’and‘Thunderbird’

nameplates, which will be

donated to the Rethink Mental

Illness charity.

The seed for the event was

sown following the passing of

Alison Austin, daughter of Lyn

Gillan and brother of Melvyn,

who both work at Crewe station.

Alison lost her battle with

neuroendocine cancer at the

end of 2017.

Virgin‘Pendolino’No. 390115

was namedCrewe – All Change,

the title chosen for the event as

it reflects not only the railway

town’s importance as a junction

where passengers change trains,

but also in the future as Crewe

prepares for the coming of HS2.

The Class 390 also carries Alison’s

name on its cab ends.

Snapped up

The NET Patient Foundation,

which supports people with

neuroendocine cancer, will be

one of the main beneficiaries

from the fundraising day,

however Rethink, Myeloma UK,

St John Ambulance, the Railway

Children and several other local

charities stand to benefit from

the money raised.

Because of the small footprint

of the site, an initial allocation

of tickets was quickly snapped

up, but boosted by a release of

around an extra 300 just weeks

before the open day, taking

the attendance to slightly more

than 5,000.

More than 12 months in

planning had gone into the

event, which was expected

to have around 30 exhibits.

However, this had swelled to

more than 40 locos and units

following support from many

train and freight operating

companies, including East

MidlandsTrains, ROG, DB

Cargo, Freightliner, Colas,West

MidlandsTrains, Northern, LNER,

DRS, GB Railfreight and Network

Rail.

Two Class 70s were on site,

believed to be a first, and

Network Rail’s plain-line pattern

recognition train was providing

visitors with demonstrations of

its work. Inside the workshops

were more than 30 trade stands,

Expanded

As well as the charity aspect,

the day gave the public and

other sectors of the rail industry

an opportunity to see first hand

how the former diesel depot has

developed and expanded under

train operator LSL and its owner

Jeremy Hosking – and now rates

as having the best facilities for a

mainline heritage operation in

the country.

The site has a new boiler shop

with a 40-ton overhead crane,

and a new carriage shed, but it’s

the old diesel shed and adjacent

buildings where there has been

considerable investment both

in workshop and engineering

facilities as well as a new

paintshop.

This investment supports

the repair, maintenance and

overhaul of Mr Hoskings’steam

and diesel fleet, including‘Royal

Scot’No. 46100Royal Scot,

‘A2’No. 60532Blue Peter,

‘West Country’No. 34046

Braunton,‘Black Five’No. 45231

and GWR 4-6-0 No. 5029Nunney

Castle,as well as a number of

Class 47 diesels.

The depot is also the home

base for the Saphos and

Statesman railtour carriage fleets,

and in time will be home to two

HST sets and two Class 90s as

LSL and Saphos enhance

their offering to the rail charter

market.

08762, 08767, 20189, 20205, 37190, 37606, 37608, 43048, 43423,

47593, 47712, 47811, 47816, 47830, 47841, 47853, 50049, 50050,

55022, 55016, 56049, 57301, 57307, 66503, 67006, 68027, 70008,

70808, 73001, 73951, 73952, 86622, 88005, 90045, 91119, 92038,

DMU No.W55034, 142001, 221101 and EMU No. 319433. Steam

locos: 34046Braunton, 45231, 70000Britannia,and under repair

5029 Nunney Castle, 46100Royal Scotand 60532Blue Peter.

LIST OF EXHIBITS

Nameplate auction takes

Crewecharityeventtotal

to more than £70,

Inside the main shed were several

locos, including No. 86622, D

(47830) and No. 55022Royal Scots

Grey.JACK BOSKETT

Crowds dodge the showers

to photograph the rail blue

locos.CHRIS MILNER

BR Standard

No. 70000

Britannia

wasinsteam

for the event.

JACK BOSKETT

A selection of the nameplates

for auction which raised

£17,500 in total.CHRIS MILNER

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