Class 56 has seen something of a resurgence in 2006 as a result of Fastline using their 3 locomotives on a service from Doncaster to Thamesport. Here is 56301 in its rather smart new Fastline livery passing through Berkswell station on 16 June 2006. I do wish that this train would run via the far more sensible route via Solihull, Hatton, Leamington Spa and Oxford where there are far more and better photographic opportunities in my view. The platform shot was fortuitous given the loading of 4O90. One loaded flat behind the locomotive lends itself to a fairly tight angle as it doesn't accentuate the poor loading too much.
The news came through during the morning of 14 July that the 4O90 11.01 Doncaster - Thamesport was conveying 7 containers. This is about 5 more than usual so I decided this rare event should be recorded. Just as I was thinking about leaving home, a message came through from   Andy Williams   at Aston that the train was running about 30 minutes early. My original plan had been to go to Tame Bridge near Bescot, but the early running meant somewhere closer to home would be more sensible as although it was likely that the train would be held at Birmingham International until right time, I didn't want to risk missing it. I arrived at Berkswell at 15.30 and set up my camera just as 4O90 came into view in the distance. It passed at 15.25, some 35 minutes before its usual time, showing that it had not been held at BHI.
New   I spent a hour or two at Wigston Junction, Leicester on 20 February 1986. The sun had only just come out after a foggy and freezing cold day when 56133 came by, being routed onto the relief line, with a rake of stone hoppers. I mis-judged the length of the train when setting up the shot and made the unforgiveable error of chopping off the back of the train. Still, as pretty much everything except the basic railway has gone from this location, perhaps I will be forgiven...
This picture shows a relatively short-term flow of steel from Sheerness in Kent to Wolverhampton. 56065 is seen near Culham, virtually in the shadow of Didcot Power Station during the morning of 26 March 1993. At this time, the line from Leamington Spa to Didcot was very busy with freight. On this morning I saw class 60s on MGR traffic, class 47s on Automotive trains, this class 56, a sister locomotive on the Calvert to Bath Binliner and a 37 on a train from Kineton MOD. The Oxford to Paddington services had recently gone over to Turbo units, but all the InterCity traffic was in the hands of class 47s. In a little over 3 hours I photographed 11 locomotive-hauled trains, and that means only northbound services as no decent photograph of up trains is available because of the main road immediately behind the camera. 645
Class 56 was the prime mover of stone from the Mendip quarries to the South East in 1989. Here is 56044 with a train of empty hoppers passing the yard at West Ealing en-route to Acton where the loco ran-round the hoppers, on 16 February of that year. It is passing 33053 which had earlier arrived from the London direction with a heavy train of ballast wagons, which it deposited in the yard before returning light engine, presumably to the South Eastern sector. 645
It seems a long time since the M40 extension to Birmingham was completed, but in 1989 construction was ongoing. Vast tonnages of stone were taken from Merehead quarry in Somerset to the Reservoir Sidings just north of Banbury station. One such train 6A27 hauled by 56050 is here seen passing Kings Sutton during the late afternoon of 8 May 1989. Stone is still taken by rail to Banbury in 2006, but is now sourced from Mountsorrel in Leicestershire. 645
In November 1993, class 56 had begun a short-term takeover of some of the MGR coal traffic to Llanwern steelworks near Newport in South Wales. Here is 56102 passing the well-known photographic location of East Usk with such a train on the 18th of that month.
This picture was taken on Saturday 16 May 1992 in Harbury Cutting, between Leamington Spa and Fenny Compton. The train is the 6V20 10.06 Mountsorrel to Banbury utilising the Redland self-discharge set. This innovation gave an enormous amount of flexibility to the users of stone from the Leicestershire quarry. Trains from Mountsorrel still run to Banbury, but not on Saturdays and usually with class 66 power, although 60s do appear from time to time. 645
Here is a view of a 56 in "as-built" condition. 56077 is passing Leamington Spa with an empty MGR from Didcot Power Station on 7 May 1983. At this time, it is likely that the train would have been heading for Coalville for staging before going to one of the local railheads for re-loading. Note the shunting "dolly" on the extreme left of the picture. This was still controlled by lever and wire from the signalbox at the other end of the station, although there was not much time left for this mechanical device.
This is the view from the northern end of the main down platform of Leamington Spa station on 31 May 1985 as 56059 accelerates along the up main line with a Didcot-bound MGR. There is quite a severe gradient at the rear of the train, locally known as "The Dip", and it was customary for the signalmen to do their utmost to avoid checking a heavy freight at the signal protecting the junction with the Coventry line, as it was not unheard of for a stall to occur. This obviously led to delays if an assisting locomotive had to be summoned from the Birmingham area.
Another shot of a blue 56 shows 56021 under the semaphores at Banbury South with a Didcot PS to Baddesley empty MGR. The light was that lovely warm evening colour one gets late on spring evenings: this was taken on 4 May 1989. 645
Just as I was about to set off for work on the morning of Friday 3 March 2000, my mobile telephone rang. A signalman friend of mine was calling to tell me that not only was a class 37 booked on the Daw Mill to Bicester coal, but also that 56007 had earlier taken an MGR to Didcot power Station. This was very rare by this time so a diversion to Hatton (where else?!) had to be made. The 56 turned up right on cue and the sun just managed to stay out long enough for the locomotive to be illuminated. 645
The combination of a sunny morning and a Loadhaul 56 has always been irrestible to me, so when I found out that 56100 was diagrammed for the 6M04 Toton to Round Oak steel service on 30 April 1999, a quick drive over to Stoke Prior was in order. It was a bonus that the train consisted of the new wagons, which were still clean at this time. The train will turn right a few hundred yards to the south of this location and run to Worcester where the locomotive will run round before returning north to Round Oak via Kidderminster and Stourbridge Junction. 645
One of the aspects of the railway scene I miss in 2005 is the prospect of an unusual locomotive class appearing on a one-off working. On 23 July 1999, 56043 appeared near Cheltenham on a unknown northbound engineering train, narrowly missing being obscured by a southbound Virin HST. 645
On 15 July 2005 I made one of my infrequent visits to a privately owned line. 56003 was booked to work all services on the GWR (Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse) and I quite fancied a shot of this. When I left Stratford-upon-Avon at 08.50 the sun was shining, but by the time I reached Hailes, just outside Toddington at 09.20, the light was awful. I had hoped to get the ECS working from Winchcombe but this had run before I arrived. By 10.30, departure time for the first public train of the day, the light had picked up quite a bit, although the sun was still well hidden, which was a bit of a shame because it would have been an attractive scene with the bank of Rosebay Willowherb (Angustifolium Epilobium) in the foreground. Here, 56003 with 37324 are passing Hailes bridge. The 56 is air-braked but the GWR's stock is vacuum-braked, meaning that a VB loco has to be included in the consist. I had rather hoped that the resident class 73 would be used if only for the novelty value...
This is the only time I have seen a class 56 on the Bridgwater - Sellafield nuclear flask train. The picture shows 56044 at Defford on 1 May 1997. The white polythene sheeting used by the farmer to protect his crop does not exactly help the attractiveness of the scene, but I suppose it does show the different seasons and farming practices.
In November 1997 the very short branch from Moira Junction, on the Coalville line, to the site of the former Rawdon Colliery was reopened to facilitate the removal of a large amount of coal left in situ. The six-month contract involved a couple of trains per week which originated at Toton, were loaded by mechanical grabs at a newly-built pad and then ran to Immingham. The second of these trains ran on 16 November and 56097 is seen snaking into the sun and onto the branch at 08.45. The subsidence for which this line is famous can clearly be seen towads the rear of the train. 645
This rather shadowy view shows 56097 on the Rawdon branch as it powers its train towards the loading pad. I really would have liked a shot of the train departing and thanks to the signalman who kindly kept me supplied with hot drinks on this very cold 16 November 1997, had arranged to take my picture from the signalbox gallery. Unfortunately, due to the sheer incompetence of railway management (not exactly how the signalman put it!) there was a delay of several hours while they decided whether the track was safe or not to run the loco round the train - noting that this was the second train and that the first had operated without any problems in the absence of management! By the time they had sorted themselves out it was virtually dark so no shot was obtained.
The very cold and frosty morning of 14 December 1996 produced the rare sight of type 5 power on the Stratford-upon-Avon branch when Pathfinder's "The Rooster Booster" traversed the line. 56032 is seen on on the inward journey to Stratford passing Claverdon station in a small patch of sun. The train, 1Z56, had started at Bristol Temple Meads and ran to Stratford via Worcester and then went on to Guildford, Kengsington Olympia, Northampton, Birmingham New Street and back to Bristol. Class 58, 58005 preceded the tour down the line to Stratford to haul it to the Southern via Leamington Spa. To see the return from Stratford at Hatton, please use this link. 58005 at Hatton.
In 1991, work started on renovating the historic dockyard at Chatham in Kent. This entailed the removal of many tonnes of dangerously contaminated spoil from the site, all of which ended up in the landfill site at Forders Sidings, near Bedford. The majority of the trains to and from the dockyard were hauled by construction sector class 33s whose trans were staged in the yard at Gillingam and eventually made up into one load for a 56 to haul to the Midlands. On odd occasions through, a 56 worked into the docks as evidenced here by 56037 which has just joined the rather tight branch with its load of empty and sheeted-over wagons.
One of my favourite areas for railway photography used to be the freight lines around Buckinghamshire. Saturday mornings were the best time to be there especially if the Akeman Street fertiliser train ran. There was time for several shots of this and once it had cleared the single track at Bletchley the morning stone train from Whatley quarry to Wolverton, 6M24 would be on the way from Claydon Junction. 56056 is seen here passing the site of Swanbourne station with this working on 29 June 1991. The train was audible for several minutes before it came into view. Once again, it would have been good for a video sequence if I had had the equipment then.
Class 56s worked some of the heavy oil trains through Manchester Victoria. Here, 56106 moves away from a signal check with a good show of exhaust as it prepares to tackle the stiff eastbound climb up Miles Platting bank. The 31 on banking duties ws not required to help. I think the Pacer unit also visible would have been a more likely candidate for a shove up the hill!
One of the the last 56s in red-stripe livery was 56018. This loco is seen here on 3 February 1996 with a loaded MGR probably heading for Ironbridge Power Station. The location is on the main line at Lea Marston - luckily for me, the train ran this way rather than via the Kingsbury loop.
The same location is seen here some 7 years later on 17 April 2003 when 56038 was caught passing Lea Marston with the 6G42 Birch Coppice to Bescot train. This working has been one of the more popular in the West Midlands as it has regularly produced 37s and 56s. This situation still holds true as far as 37s are concerned, but 56s have sadly been consigned to history. There was no danger of the train being routed via the Kingsbury loop on this occasion as the slow lines via Whitacre Junction were closed for engineering work.
New   From July 1990 a new aggregate service was incorporated into the freight WTT after working as a "special" for a while. 6DO8, the 14.23 Witton to Toton empties (later to form a service to Whitwell quarry for reloading) passes the remains of Sutton Park station on 13 July 1990 somewhat early at 12.31 behind a rather scruffy 56105. The train used 23 PQAs leased from Tiger Rail.
This location near Castle Donnington was one of my favourite locations on the freight-only line from Stenson to Sheet Stores Junction. I say "was" because Castle Donnington power station, the focal point of the scene looming in the background is no more, having been flattened. 56099 is pictured passing by with an empty MGR heading for one of the Nottinghamshire loading points.
One of the more attractive liveries to be carried by class 56 was, to my eyes, the black and orange branding of Loadhaul. 56090 is adorned with this colour scheme as it passes Claydon, Gloucestershire with the 6V14 Hull Saltend to Baglan Bay acetic acid tanks. This was a nearly solid 37 turn at this time, 23 May 2001 but a phone call during the late morning alerted me to this more unusual power for the train and enabled me to arrange an afternoon away from the office at short notice.
Two more Loadhaul examples were rostered for the annual Worksop Open Commitee charter on 2 August 2003. The train, 1Z56 "The Worksop Riviera" is pictured at Ashchurch en-route to Paignton behind 56118+56107 on a gloriously sunny morning. The return working the same evening also ran in perfect light but the shot at Defford was slightly marred by a southbound Virgin Voyager intruding into the scene. It was worth the slight disappointment to hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth from some of the assembled masses! 645
New   In perfect lighting conditions on 22 January 1994, 56129 was photographed hauling the 07.55 Toton to Bicester COD coal train past Hatton Station Junction. This train ran roughly once every 2 weeks during the autumn and winter supplying coal in HEAs to the Army camp. Sadly, the Bicester line's geography is such that photography at the time the train arrived was difficult when the sun was as brilliant as it was on this day.
New   Three weeks after the photograph above was taken, the Bicester coal ran again in equally beautiful light. This time, the locomotive was 56058. I've included this shot even though it's virtually a duplicate of the one of 56129 to show the livery difference between the two locos. 645
New   Although it was difficult to photograph the "Bicester coal" arriving at it's destination because of the direction of the light, it was a different matter when it left later on the Saturday afternoon, at least if the sun co-operated. On 12 February 1994 this was the case as 56058 approached Banbury Road Road, Oxford with the empty HTAs slip-worked from the previous fortnight's train at 15.23 precisely. This locomotive was a regular on this job in early 1994 - I photographed on at least four separate occasions that year.
This another of those pleasant but slightly bland locations. It is to be found just north of Burton-on-Trent and the picture shows 56100 on a northbound empty MGR heading from Rugeley Power Station to Toton on 10 September 1997.
New   Moving into the outskirts of Burton-on-Trent, 56090 is seen at 09.58 on the morning of 17 August 2001 heading north with the morning Wolverhampton Steel Terminal to Scunthorpe working. I photographed 3 56s within an hour this morning which for the time was quite noteworthy and certainly worth posting out on rail-gen. Another picture from the day is shown below.
New   Exactly one hour after the picture of 56090 shown above was taken 56027 appeared on the Aldwarke to Wolverhampton steel. The plain black of partial Loadhaul livery without the large logo doesn't quite look right to my eyes but it is good to get a record of these odd paint schemes.
The Calvert to Bath and Bristol binliner featured class 56 power for a while in 1993. Here is 56055 powering away from Bicester London Road with the empty containers on 6 May.
Going back to Loadhaul locos, here are 56112+56118 making Hatton station shake with 6P18 Coventry to Washwood Heath spoil train on Sunday 21 July 2002. The train ran from Coventry to Leamington Spa where the locos ran-round their train before heading for their destination via Hatton. The racket this pair was making was quite incredible as my video taken on the day witnesses. The vibration was such that my car alarm was set off as they passed and the misty appearance of the photograph is down to a smoky bonfire in one of the gardens adjacent to the station.
Steel trains to and from Llanwern were occasionally 56 hauled even towards the end of their working lives. Pairs of grids were less common and on this occasion was the result of a derailment at Oddingley. 56103 was the loco involved and was taken to Cardiff Canton for examination. When all was found to be in order it returned to the North East on 6E39, the 16.47 Llanwern to Lackenby on 27 June 2002 where I shot it at Defford. The pilot engine is 56056.
New   In contrast to the image above this pair of grids was diagrammed for 6E35, a working returning empty steel slab carriers from Llanwern to Lackenby on the afternoon of Saturday 22 March 2003. News of this train didn't escape far and I was the only photographer in evidence at Croome Perry when it passed, a bit late at 15.45. The driver was clearly enthusiastic as can be seen by his waving arm and by the noise from the locos, 56032+56078 as he opened up while approaching the bridge - some good video footage resulted.
The former coal concentration depot at Aylesbury saw regular stone trains from Mountsorrel in the early 1990s. These conveniently ran on Saturdays and this picture, taken on 3 March 1991 shows 56061 shortly after leaving the depot and heading towards the station where the loco will run-round the Redland hoppers before returning via Claydon, Bletchley and Bedford.
This view shows the same working as the one above but on 17 February 1992. Unusually for a block stone train, a brake had to be included in the consist because of the proplling movement into the depot. This location has changed beyond comprehension since this picture was taken.