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Anyone wishing to sample single Class 153s should head for the Heart of Wales Line, where on January 26 No. 153362 is pictured at Llandrindod Wells forming the 2V08/10.09 Shrewsbury to Swansea. The station is a crossing point for trains on the line, and where crews swap trains to return to their bases.
STUART WARR
LNER announced it was to resume the full pre-pandemic timetable from February 14. A visit to King’s Cross station on Monday January 24 found Class 91 No. 91130 Lord Mayor of Newcastle with DVT No. 82211 at the rear, waiting at platform 1 to form the 14.03 departure to Leeds. A little later the 12.02 from York was seen arriving at platform 7 at King’s Cross led by DVT No. 82225, with Class 91 No. 91127 at the rear of the train.
Further arrivals at Reading of Class 769 units from Wolverton included No. 769939 behind Class 37 No. 37800 on January 14, followed seven days later by No. 769927, also moved by No. 37800. No. 769940 was the next to be moved on January 28 hauled by Class 57 No. 57310. On February 4, Class 57 No. 57312 moved No. 739936 to Reading, with No. 769935 being moved by No. 57312 on February 11.
With the Class 321s coming to the end of their working lives, a number are now being moved to Wolverton Works for conversion to parcel units. Moves reported include Nos. 321335+321336 running from Clacton on January 14. The following week on January 21 Nos. 321340+321343 made the same move. The next pair were Nos. 321331+321333 on January 28 and on February 4 Nos. 321339+321341 made the same journey.
Increasing numbers of the new Class 720 units are now entering traffic as more are delivered from Derby.
Movements reported includes No. 720572 hauled by Class 47 No. 47749 from Derby to Oxley on January 14. A further move on January 19 had Class 56 No. 56081 and Class 47 No. 47727 top-and-tail No. 720544 from Old Dalby to Worksop.
The pairing of Nos. 56081 and 47749 moved No. 720524 from Worksop to Derby on January 25. Class 47 No. 47727 took No. 720586 from Derby to Oxley on January 28 and No. 720579 on the same move on February 5. No. 720528 was returned to Derby from Worksop on February 1 by Nos. 47749+56081.
One of the oldest units still left in service, Class 313 No. 313208, rolls into platform 1 at Bognor Regis past some splendid semaphore signals with the 2P36/13.52 from Barham on February 5.
CHRIS MILNER
A period watching southbound trains to the north of Cheshunt station on Monday, January 17 saw the following: Class 379 No. 379008 as the lead unit of the 11.53 from Cambridge North to London Liverpool Street; Class 317 No. 317506 was the lead unit of the 12.39 from Hertford East to Stratford; the Stansted Express 12.43 from Stansted Airport to London Liverpool Street, was formed of Class 745 No. 745102; and a little later, the 13.09 from Hertford East to Stratford was seen arriving at Cheshunt formed of Class 317 Nos. 317342+317341.
A brief visit to Stratford on Monday, January 24 found the 15.46 departure to Meridian Water at platform 12 formed of Class 379 Nos.379026+379023. Returning to Stratford a week later on Monday, January 31 the 15.16 departure to Meridian Water was formed of Class 720 No. 720577.
With the demise of the Class 379s in traffic, the Class is being largely gathered together at Harwich Parkeston Quay yard.
The first to arrive were Nos. 379002+379011 on January 13, followed on January 20 by Nos. 379004+379009. The next day, January 21, Nos.
379019+379020 arrived. Four days later Nos. 379003+379016 joined the ranks. Nos. 379018+ 379028 arrived on January 27 with Nos. 379001+379015 the next day. On February 2 Nos. 379017+ 379022 arrived, followed by Nos. 379010+ 379014 on February 4. The next day Nos. 379004+379009 returned to Ilford with Nos. 379002+379011 also moving to Ilford on February 8. Two further units arrived on February 9 in the form of Nos. 379024+379025. In addition, Nos. 379004+379011 arrived back following their visit to Ilford.
Services on the Highland Main Line suffered from serious disruption on Wednesday, January 19, when Class 37 No. 37419 working the 0Z19/07.00 Motherwell TMD to Inverness terminal complex was declared a failure on the single line section between Pitlochry and Blair Atholl and requested assistance.
The 08.45 Inverness to Glasgow Queen Street was terminated at Blair Atholl; the 08.35 Edinburgh to Inverness was terminated at Pitlochry; and the 10.10 from Glasgow Queen Street and 10.37 from Edinburgh to Inverness were terminated at Perth. ScotRail obtained buses to replace services. With the line reopened and fewer trains to pass 4D47 the 13.10 Inverness to Mossend Up Yard powered by Class 66 No. 66431 was given a run and arrived at Mossend 58 minutes early.
Storm Malik struck Scotland on Saturday, January 29, with ScotRail advising that 232 trains were planned to be cancelled.
Services north of the central belt were particularly badly affected, with services often suspended and no road replacement available. The Edinburgh- Glasgow Queen Street and the Edinburgh to Tweedbank route were operating with hourly services. Services between Wemyss Bay and Glasgow were suspended.
At Motherwell the scaffolding being used in connection with the redevelopment was blown down blocking access/egress to the station.
With winds at gale force and gusting to severe gale force, blanket speed restrictions were in force in Scotland. On the WCML, delays of between 15 and 25 minutes were caused by the speed restrictions.
With the disruption affecting services in the east of Scotland, LNER issued a do not travel warning for services north of Edinburgh. On the ECML the 06.11 Doncaster to Aberdeen encountered problems north of Morpeth and eventually arrived in Edinburgh some 258 minutes late. The 1E07/08.30 Edinburgh to King’s Cross was terminated at Alnmouth 133 minutes later than the passing time with the route blocked south of that point. The set returned to Edinburgh as a special train 1Z07. The line was then closed for repairs to the OHLE.
Sunday, January 30 saw the arrival of storm Corrie and ScotRail ceased operating any service due to depart after 18.00, and a blanket speed restriction of 40mph was in force for any train movements. The ECML remained closed with repairs to the OHLE taking longer than expected due to the strength of the wind. The first southbound train was the 1E12/11.00 Edinburgh to Newcastle, and the first Northbound train was the 1Z36/11.31 Newcastle to Edinburgh operated by Class 220 No. 220027.