Uploads from Richie B.

(D)rainage

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 14:03:47 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

No.37259 gets 6L65 away from Wigton in an absolute deluge and passes a proper signal.
The possession for the drainage work stretched from St. Bees station through to the station at Braystones and although pathed only to St. Bees, Sunday morning's TOPS list showed the loco stabled overnight at Sellafield.

They're Coming To Take Me Away.....

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:33:35 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

My sanity was certainly in question on Saturday evening as I elected to drive 25 miles, in rain that necessitated triple-speed on the windscreen wipers, to photograph a train!
It wasn't meant to be that way of course; bright conditions on the coast had been the plan.
The train, 6L65 Carlisle Yard - St. Bees, has run a few times over the last couple of months in conjunction with Sunday drainage work being undertaken along the Cumbrian coast route.
As on earlier occasions the DBS operated working utilised a DRS 37 as traction, hence it once again attracted my attention.
Predicted rain arrived in Workington several hours earlier than forecast and with supposedly brighter skies inland I headed for Wigton station as it afforded me a modicum of shelter against the inevitable elements.
Although I arrived in good light by the time that No.37259 eased into the station at 18.15hrs it was chucking it down.
Following a signal check to allow the preceding unit to clear the section the 37 is powered away from a standstill on its way south as I cower under my 'brolly!

Shame There's No Sound

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 10:42:13 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

A final view of Thursday's 4M44 and with rain setting in Nos.37610 & 37607 dig in for the climb through Bessy Ghyll.

Megafret Mega Freight

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:21:36 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

4M44's thirteen loaded IKA twin "Megafret" wagons are powered away from Great Strickland by Nos.37610 & 37607 in some well manky Cumbrian gloom.
Sadly the shiny one was on the inside!

Day Of Rest

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:30:33 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

For me, that was.
Unusually my day off coincided with an interesting working, to wit; a pair of Class 37s on Thursday's 4M44.
A shortage of available Class 66s meant that Nos.37610 & 37607 were rostered and I was going out for them, regardless of the weather forecast.
Having spent half an hour in the Eden Valley goods loop our heroic pair get just over 800 metric tons of Mossend - Daventry intermodal containers rolling up the grade amid the cacophony of a throttled-up 24-cylinder soundtrack.
Beastly!

Roofless Efficiency

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:00:19 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

Freshly repanelled following removal of its centre exit and two-thirds of its roof, No.17479, the latest ex London Trident to undergo conversion at Lillyhall, awaits a trip to the paint shop.

Going Green

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:49:55 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

Ex London Trident LX51FNE awaits final fitting out following its conversion to O/T at Lillyhall.

Tank Traps!

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:47:36 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

6C46 trundles on to Sellafield.
The pyramidial lumps which we can see are solidified slag from the Moss Bay works of the Workington Iron & Steel Co. which were tipped from chauldron wagons worked along the Cleator & Workington Junction Railway's Moss Bay branch and which came in handy as a makeshift sea defence.
Not foolproof though as the erosion which is undermining the former C&WJR embankment testifies.

Iron Horse

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:53:11 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

Monday evening's 6C46 Sellafield - Carlisle flasks, forming the consist for the following day's Hunterston working, ease around the curve at Moss Bay behind Nos.20302 & 20304.
Although the train is atop an embankment it s not the one we can see, which once carried the single line of the Cleator & Workington Junction Railway's Moss Bay branch.
Our train rides on a second embankment behind.
Amid the pebbles on the beach, and giving the foreground a darker hue, are the remnants of slag from the long-gone days of iron & steel working in Workington.

Keeping Fit

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:59:58 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

A fair old climb up to the cab of No.66001 for Adrian as he prepares for reversal on to the docks with 6C17.

Schenker Schunt

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:29:07 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

6C17 approaches Workington docks with "Marra Man" at the helm of No.66001.
He will draw forward past the entrance before reversing the loaded calcium carbonate tanks on to the port spur.

Red China

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:47:05 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

"Marra Man" has company as he makes the short hop north from Workington yard to the docks with No.66001 and Friday's 6C17 china clay tanks.

A Bit Woolly

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:20:59 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

Friday's cattle induced Siddick mobilisation meant that this shot of the morning's 6C22 is not the one that was intended.
Here a side-on trio of Nos.57011, 57007 & D.I.T. 37194 haul the previous day's flask from Seaton south from Carlisle to Sellafield.

Relocation, Relocation

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:24:31 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

An early morning Friday message from "Marra Man" alerted me to the fact that the pioneer UK Class 66 No.66001 was heading up the morning's 6C17 Carlisle Yard - Workington and return 6C48 china clay tanks.
Not the first time it's fronted this train but the first since its repaint into DBS house colours.
With a 6C22 Carlisle - Sellafield flask train also pencilled in for early doors I decided to get out and about and see what was what as my shift didn't start until 10.20am.
My intention was to shoot both trains from atop the dyke which gives Siddick its name.
Unfortunately, having framed up a very nice shot with a backdrop of the Galloway hills, a herd of cows took umbrage at my appearance on the public footpath and I had to hastily leg it through the gate onto the foot-crossing to avoid a trampling.
This is not the shot I wanted.
Adrian pilots the loaded tanks to Workington yard for a run around before the short trip to the docks.

Don't Look Down!

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:12:37 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

A gaggle of photters check their outcomes at Tanyard Bay.

Chopper Down!

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 15:15:59 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

No.20305 leads 6Z51 below us at Parton on its way to Sellafield with the empties.

Sticking Their Noses In

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:42:44 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

After shooting 6Z50 at Nethertown I arranged to meet up with "Kingmoor Klickr" who had journeyed westward to get some shots in.
We decided that Whitehaven's Redness Point might be a good spot for a shot of the Workington - Sellafield return empties and arranged to meet there after travelling independently.
As it turned out that location was already over-populated with photters so we instead met up on the cycle path at Parton's Bank Yard Road.
With this working only occurring a couple of times a year the odds of the tide being anywhere near in at Tanyard Bay were pretty long.

Bo-Bovine

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 12:41:24 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

Sorry, couldn’t resist it!

Lowering The ISO Number

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 11:04:44 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

Having deposited one of its ISO containers at Drigg Thursday's 6Z50 sets off on the final leg of its outbound journey.
It's destination was the port of Workington where the remaining containers would be unloaded for onward road transportation to the Studsvik UK nuclear licensed site at Lillyhall.
No.20309 leads the train northward on the approach to Nethertown.
Although a bright and sunny day a haze in the air has obscured what would be a backdrop of the south western fells.

Re-jig For Drigg

nobody@flickr.com (Richie B.) — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 14:20:38 -0700

Richie B. posted a photo:

Although 6Z50 was pathed straight-through to Drigg with no timing slacks it had to actually pass the Low Level Waste Repository and head onward a couple of miles to Sellafield station in order to reverse and return on the "up" line before it could gain entry.
Although the LLWR is on the "down" side and exits onto the down line via trailing points a lack of signalling to facilitate down line reversing necessitated this manoeuvre which sees trains enter via a facing crossover.
This was good news for me as a clear run on the A595 from Green Road combined with some pretty nifty handling of the trusty Focus presented me with a bonus photting opportunity at Seascale.
With the loftier parts of the Sellafield complex on the skyline above the village No.20305 leads the consist the last mile southward.