September 2019 RAIL EXPRESS 85
POWERSCENE
❯
Next day(July 25), No. 68009 took
16 emptyYKAs through Staffordon
the 6G94/12.22Basfor dHall-Bescot,
andthatsameeveningworkedfrom
Toton back to Crewe with No. 68004.
Finall y, prior to avisit to Gresty Bridge,
No. 68009handled the6Z76/13.00
BasfordHall-Studfarm (July26)
returningwith20loadedIOAs.
Asilver-grey ChilternTrains
example,No. 68015 had No. 66429
‘deadint ow’onthe 6X05/12.46
CarlisleYard-BasfordHallengineers’
trai nonJuly2,while No. 68022(TPX
livery)wasone of fivelocomotives
(66423/33, 66539and 37401 being
the others)noted atOxenholme earlyon July 19 on the 6C02/04.19Basford
Hall-Carlisle Yard.CLASS 70
FREIGHTLINERexampl eNo. 70003
undertookatrial runona‘Jumbo’ stone
train on July18, handling theheavy
7A91/22.50Merehead-ActonYard with
aviewtoClass 70s beingused on such
trafficwhen Freigh tliner takesoverthe
Mendipcontract laterthis year (see
also page 79). No.70003subsequently
rejoinedthe other eight currently
operational Class70s in the DFGI pool
(Nos.70002/5/6/7/8/10/15/20) on
container traffic.
ColasRailfreightexamples havecontinued towork the 6S31/09.43
Doncaster-Millerhill engineers’ trains,
with No.70817aregularperformerand
double-headingwith No. 70802 on July- Otherreported pairingsinclude
Nos. 70806+70811(July15) and
Nos.70814+66741 on July26.
CLASS 73
ELECTRO-dieselsNos. 73201Broadlands
and73107Tr acywere turnedoutto
‘top andtail’ theLondonTransport 4TC
stockformingthefirst of UKRailtours’
planned ‘SwanageSundaySpecial’
trains, running as the 1Z73/09.44
Waterloo-SwanageonJuly28.
The NetworkRail pairi ng of Nos.but on July 4No. 66846escaped
north withatrain of 23 IV Avans for
store.Runningas th e6Z66/06. 35
Bridgend (Fords) to Ellesm erePort, the
trai nreached Hooton at 12.24 having
travelledoverthe Merseyrailthird
rail electricroutefrom ChesterNorth
Junction–arareopportunity to see a
freight train on that stretchofrailway
in daylight hours.
Unfortunately, apointsfailureat
Hootonstoppedthe trainfromgoing
to Ellesmere Port,and No. 66846
retired to Shrewsbury (Coleham)for
the weekend, completing thetripto
EllesmerePort (Manisty Wharf)four
days later .Havingremained in the
genera larea, No. 66846appeared on
the NorthWales coast with No. 37521
on the 6C69/06.20 BasfordHall-
Talycafnballas ttrain onJuly 15,
spendingacouple of days re ballasting
the ConwyValleybranch line.
CLASS 67
JULY6found No.67029RoyalDiamond
takingchargeofthe 1Z03/05.57
Tame Bridge-Kingswear asfaras
BristolTemple Meads,wherePacific
No.60163Tornadowaswaiting to
takeover, althoughthe Class 67also
handled thereturn leg from Bristol to
the West Midlands.
The Pullman-liveried duo of Nos.
6702 1and 67024poweredanevening
VSOE charter (1Z91/17.44Southend
Central-Barnesand 19.45return)
on July13, while Nos. 67006Royal
Sovereignand 67029were noted at
OxfordonJuly17double-headingthe
5Z62/11.03Eastleigh-Tyseley empty
stock.The followingevening, both
67s along with Nos.66082and66221
were atop the6F25/20.53 Bescot-
Warrington Arpleyfreight, with Nos.
67006 and 67029heading offto Crewe
IEMDforattention thenextmorning.
No. 67015handled the
1V80/09.45LondonVictoria-BathSpa
BritishPullman and the1O92 15.55
returnsingle-handedlyonJuly17, but
aweeklater (July 24) it commenced
three nightsof work on ECML mail
traffichauli ng Class 325EMU
No. 325006on the 1E06/22.45
WillesdenPRDC-Low Fell. The
corr espondingworking from Newcastle
(1M80 21.43fromLow Fell)was in the
handsof Nos.67001and 325001,
locomotivesand setsswapping trains
the followi ng night.
CLASS 68
GENERALLYacceptedasastand-
by locomotivefor Chiltern Trains,
No. 68009Titanhandledanumber
of freight trains during themonth,
starting withthe 6K97/19.32Toton-
Basfor dHallonJ uly9.Two days later
it waspairedwithNo. 66059 haulinga
singl eMHA wagononthe 6D95/14.41
Bescot-Toton,before becomingthe
25thdifferen tmember ofitsclassto
handlethe Cr ewe CLS-Valleyflasks.
Thatoccurred onJuly 24 whenNos.
68009+88010 coveredthe diagram.
Incidentally, thenineexamples not to
have been noted on this tu rn ar eNos.
68006/7/8,68010,68012/3/4,68019
and68021.Crewe trainingforTransPennine Express Class 68s and Mk.5s continues to Scarborough, No. 68025 being pictured at theYorksh ire
coastaltown onJuly19with the 5E68/05.01 from Liverpool Lime Street.Mick AtkinTheActon Grangeclosur esaw the 6M90Avonmouth-Cli theroe diverted via the Crewe-Manchester line, theworking on July25seen
at Holmes Chapel behind No. 66756.Steve Morris