Is this place haunted?

Moving around the site earlier was 57007 in white primer, looking very ghostly...!

66717 is progressing well in the Paintshop with the blue due to be painted any time now.

66589 is the latest Freightliner 66 to arrive for repairs, arriving on the Maritime trip on Monday.

450015 has replaced 450029 earlier this week for Siemens, 450026 remains on site.

Wabtec are finishing off 455840 which will be leaving tomorrow evening.

C Stock scrapping has restarted with Raxstar disposing of 6536 and 6567 yesterday.

End of an Era

Something I omitted from my previous post was that 59002 and 59004 were here over the weekend of 6th to 8th September for debranding. They had the large 'Y' and Yeoman branding painted out.

These were the last ones to carry the Yeoman logo, going back to John Yeoman the man who bought the 59s to the UK and ultimately also the design for the Class 66.

508 Disposals come to an end.....

The 508 disposals have come to an end, at least for now. 71488 and 64654 of 508203 were the last to be broken up by Raxstar earlier this week. This just leaves the 7 vehicles for Translators and spares.

 

Repainted 57002 departed with TSO 5810 and BSO 9525 and was replaced by 57007 which is now in primer. Arriving with 57007 were 47790, 47853 and TSO 6122 for repairs.

 

70017 has departed following completion of repairs. 66556 has also departed following repairs and 66587 remains here.

 

GBRf 66716 has departed following repainting and been replaced by 66717 which is in the Paintshop being prepared for repainting.

 

NR 57s are beginning to see more use with both GBRf and Colas using them recently.

 

31105 has visited several times recently with a Test Train and is currently in the yard being refuelled ready for its next outing.

 

Wabtec are now working on 455840 which is due out next week.

 

Siemens have 450029 and 450026 on site, with 029 due out very soon and another in to replace it.

 

MOD 428 is running around in primer with the covers off while 66s and 57s are in the Paintshop.

 

07007 has had downtime this week to fix some annoyingly persistent oil leaks which, fingers crossed, are now resolved.

 

C Stock arrivals so far this month have been; 5536/6536, 5567/6567, 5554/6554 and 5730/6730 with all but 5567 already in the scrap line.

 

Work continues on the overhaul of Merchant Navy 35005 'Canadian Pacific'.

A little more green.....

The Works is known for the yellow NR 57s that are based here and also the blue DRS locos that arrive for repairs and repaints on a regular basis and GBRf blue and gold locos being repainted. Now we have Freightliner green machines arriving for repairs, including a class 70. 66556 is ready to depart after repairs and 66587 and 70017, which both arrived on Tuesday, are undergoing repairs.

DRS 57002 is nice and shiny in its new coat of blue (well it would be if there was any sun!), coupled with Mk2 TSO 5810 also looking nice and shiny in Compass livery with Mk2 BSO 9525 in plain blue without the decals. All three are due to depart soon, I'm told.

66716 is the latest GBRf loco in for repaint and it's nearly complete in the Arlington Paintshop.

VSOE Mk2 BSO 9502 has been repainted in the umber and cream livery and looks very nice with the Pullman crests, gold lining and 'Car No. 9502' on the side.

Siemens have begun overhauls on the 450s with 450029 the first in. This involves replacement of the intermediate couplings so the unit is being split up. It also involves bogie overhauls so the vehicles can be seen about the place on yellow accomodation bogies which look quite strange.

Wabtec are working on 455839 which is due out on the 5th September.

508s are getting very thin on the ground now with only 9 vehicles left on site. 71515 (508210), 508202, 64677 (508210), 508205 and 64697 (508203) have all been scrapped by Raxstar in the last two weeks. 71488 (508203) has been shunted into the scrap line this morning and 64654 (508203) is in the shed being stripped of re-usable components.

64664 and 64707 of 508207 have been taken into the main workshops by Arlington and lifted off their bogies ready for work to begin converting them to translator vehicles.

More C Stock due next week.

Holiday Time

Well, I'm back from two weeks leave and quite a lot's changed!

57308 has departed with it's fresh coat of DRS blue and new 'County of Staffordshire' nameplates.

66741 has also departed in a new coat of GBRf blue/gold.

47839 has been scrapped between 6th and 8th August...RIP

Also scrapped are the remaining C Stock vehicles; 5708, 5588, 5556, 5528 and 5589...RIP

Today, Raxstar got busy with the 508s again and already 71501 and 71514 have been demolished.

Army Ruston 428 is in the Paintshop being prepared for a repaint now that it's back up and running.

DRS 57002 was on the loadbank this morning.

Siemens 444045 departed this morning and there's nothing more due in for them for a couple of weeks.

Wabtec are working on 455838 which is about half way through.

70017 was in this afternoon with another batch of wagons for repair and departed with those already repaired, back to Maritime.

Until next time.......

Less and less.....

The 508s continue to reduce with Raxstar scrapping 71498 of 508207 and all three vehicles of 508204, the last of these (64655) is being finished off as I type.

508202 is undergoing significant component recovery at the moment.

On a brighter note, 66741 (the last in unbranded Freightliner green) is in the Paintshop being prepared for repainting. 57308 and BSO 9525 are now in DRS blue awaiting decals.

MOD 428 (01508) is now operational again after many years in bits. Still a few jobs to do but she's been running up and down the yard recently.

Siemens are working on 450005 and Wabtec have 455837 in. 455826 departed behind 57306 on tuesday evening back to Selhurst.

Departures and an Extinction!

66740 departed yesterday, sporting fresh GBRf livery. 

47841 also departed having received a fresh coat of DRS Compass livery, modified roof grilles and a flush cab front. It ran to the LNWR depot next door and collected 66303 which had received replacement wheelsets.

Virgin Thunderbird livery is no more....57308 is in the Paintshop, having had the yellow fronts and black roof painted. The rest is in primer and preparation work is underway for painting the blue.

Siemens are preparing to swap units later this morning with 450079 ready to depart.

Wabtec are working on 455826 which arrived on Saturday behind 57301 having failed in the early hours on Friday morning on its way here.

508303 and 508301 have been scrapped by Raxstar, rendering the 508/3 subclass extinct!

508206 has also been scrapped. Next in line is 71498 from 508207 with 508204 ready to go in the scrap line after that.

Test Car 6 (ADB 975290) was scrapped on Monday. RIP!