September 2019 RAIL EXPRESS 95
Gareth Bayer WAGONS
GB Railfreight and Mendip Rail
order newfleet of stone wagons
Ermewa and TouaxRail will be financing 195 newwagonsforaggregate boxesand hoppers, all to be builtby
Greenbrier-AstraRail at itsworkshops inPoland andRomania.
THE appetitefornew wagons forthe
aggregates business showsnosign of
abating, with both GBRailfreight and
MendipRailplacin glarge ordersfor
deliveryover the nextyear.
The‘blue team’ hasrevealed
plans to acquire100 JNA-TEalnos
101.6-tonne boxeswith LN25 low-
trackforcebogie sfollowingatrip by
adelegation from GBRf that visited
Gree nbrierat its Astra Rail Drobeta-
TurnuSeverin siteinRomania.The
wagons will be leasedfromErmewa
andthe first 25wagons will be
completedby the end of July, with
delivery to the UKexpect ed during
August.
The order will take GBRf ’s fleet of
the AstraRail-builtJNA Ealnos type
up to 150vehicles. Its first 50were
delivered in twobatches in late 2017
andwerenumberedNos.81 70 5500
454-0to 81 70 5500 503-4. This new
group will be numbered directlyafter,
although theywillbei mmediately
obvious inatrain due to their
prominent Ermewa branding.
The existing JNAswere in thenews
in mid-Julyhaving formed thefirst train
of materials along with VTG’sownblue
JNAsto th enew Ashville Aggregates
West Dr ayton Distribution Centre,
whichhasopened in anticipation ofkey
localinfrastructure proj ects such as
Heathrow expansion and HS2.
Three trains perweekwillrun to
Pictured inside Greenbrier-AstraRail’s Drobeta-Turnu Severin workshops on July2,J NA-TEalnos boxwagon No. 81 70 5500 505-9
will probablybeinthe UKby the time this issue ofRail Expressis published. While the first batch of 50wagons delivered in 2017
wore no lessor branding, it is clear who is financing this batch of GBRfwagons!GB RailfreightDEVELOPMENTS
■FREIGHTLINER:Thelast outstanding
MWANo. 8 1705891530 hasarrived
in theUK and wasrecordedat Leeds
MidlandRoad in mid-July.■GB RAILFREIGHT: Forthe thirdyear
running,GBRf has provided arakeof
wagons forthe Severn ValleyRailway’s
‘Goods Gala’event in June–in this case
three NACCO-leased IIA-F sandwagons
from the Sibelcocontract. They were
delivered on June1bySVR-themed
Class 66/7No. 66763, thetrain
returningtoDoncaster RobertsRoad on
the 7th.■NETWORK RAIL:Therehavebeen
moreoverhauled ZZA independent
snowploughmoves, such as onJune 11
whenDRS’Nos. 57003and 57002
departedDerbysandwiched between
ploughs Nos.ADB 965211 andADB
965237 as the 7Z37/09.34Loram
Derby-Willesden Brent. Thequartetwas
on it sway agai ntwo days later on the
13th undera7Z37/09.06 headcodeto
its final destination ofTonbridgeYard.BR blue Nos. 20189 and 20205
were in charge of a7Z20 test runfrom
LoramDerby on June24formed of
’ploughsNos. ADB965217 andADB- On July8they were then
deployedtotheir newhome, Nos.
37059 and37218providi ng power
forthe 7Z06/10.54LoramDerby-York
Holgate Workstrip.
■VTGRAILUK: Having completed the
conversionof39JSA telescopic hood
steel carrierconversions into open
steel coil wagons in 2018, Arlington
FleetServic es at Eastleig hWorks has
restarted the productionline following
the arrivalofafurther 24examples,
all from long-term storeinS outh
Wales.OnJ une1,No. 66171worked a
6O12/14.57 from Llanwern with Nos.
VTG4024/31/8/48/70/91/2,VTG
4111/3/24/30plus threeothers as
aload, andthesewere well on their
way to completionat th eworksby
the end of the same month.Then
on Ju ly 20, Nos. 66079 and66093
were in charge of a6O12/14.53Llanwern-Eastleighthat ha dNos.
VTG4022/55/60/8/72/93,VTG
4101/4/18/21/35intow.
Meanwhile at WHDavis, Langwith
Junction, VTG’sbright blue JNAbox
wagons ha ve departed thesite andinto
service. DBCargoprovided oneofi tsownbrigh tblue Class 66sfor themove,
No .66051Maritime Intermodal–Four.
This worked a7Z20 toToton NorthYard
comprisedof18ofthe 20rebuilds, Nos.
VTG4073/5/98,4100/2/3/7/9/20/2/
3/5/7/8/31/2/4/7. Thisleaves
Nos.VTG 4115/6still at WH Davis.the former ThorneyMillsite (6V42
fromWellingboroughand6M12 return),
eachremovi ng therequi rementfor60
lorry trips.MENDIP TRAFFIC
MendipRailwillalso be acquiring similar
JNA Ealnos-stylewagons from Astra
Rail’s workshopsinRomania, with 55slated toarri ve in th efirstquarterof
2020.Notably,this is the first orderfor
newwagon sfor TouaxRailinthe UK,
the lessor having entered the market
in this country via the purchase of
GE Rail Services’fleetin2 015. Itwill
take thenumber of JNA/MMAEalnos
boxesinthe UK up to 654examples,all
delivered since January 2016.The JNAs will be joinedby 40 IIA
Fabfnoos 101.6-tonne hoppers (with
lowtrack-force bogies) next spring.
Also leased fromTouaxRail, thesewill
be constructed at Greenbrier’sWagony
Swidnicafactoryin Poland.
The 95 newwagon swill
supplement theexisting 636vehicles
in the MendipRail fleet.EThe sceneinside WH Davis atLangwith Junction on June 26 as an unidentified HHA coal
hopper isreduced in lengthby twohopperbaysready foranewlifecarrying aggregates.
The work is beingundertaken on behalf ofowner VTGRailUKand the 100 planned
conversions willkeep thevenerable Britishwagonbuilder busyinto 2020.WH Davis