Visited solo.
CF Booth's are under a contract from London Transport to dispose of the stock but under some ridiculous draconian rule publishing any photos of the tube stock either here or in Eastleigh Works (as has been covered by other explorers) is forbidden. The scrapyard has always had a brilliant relationship with photographers and I'm not going to violate that or their franchise, so once I've completed uploading this report I'd appreciate it if this was moved to NP and given a proper name. On an additional note this one of a series of 4 reports where I've used Corel software to process my photos instead of the usual Photoshop. I don't have access to Photoshop now, so I have to use Corel. Also, I've decided that without over-processing the photo and ruining it I've decided to be a bit more artistic and do more with them; looking back I don't think my photos really stand out that much. So I'd be interested to know how you think they've fared.
Anyway, to the visit itself. I've returned to Manchester again, but finding myself on a loose end I thought I'd get out and do some exploring. At the same time there was this Class 56 that I'd tried to get photos of (once in 2002 and again in 2007) but failed. The fact that it's been holed up in a high security loco building complex since 1996 made it something I could NOT miss under any circumstances. There wasn't much else to see (the 2 37's I'd already seen at both Margam in 2007 and Long Marston (see report here or on Flickr) in 2010, so not that high a priority), but what else did I have to do? Off to Rotherham I went.
By the looks of it this is one of the yard shunters based at the scrapyard. IIRC it's an ex-MOD shunter owned by one of the employees but isn't currently operational.
This one I don't know anything about, other than it's also owned by one of the workers but not operational either.
Class 37, 37696. To cut a short story short, I'd already seen this in store at Long Marston a few times where it was being looked at with a view to being overhauled. Alas, this was not to be and it's been sent here.
Class 37 37415. Again I saw this in store at Margam Depot in South Wales (now demolished) and Long Marston, and likewise it was looked at with a view to being overhauled but it was not to be. Interestingly it was bought twice by Harry Needle (overhauls locos for reuse at Barrow Hill) and sent here twice! Except this second time it's finally met its end.
And the reason for my visit: Class 56 56009/56201. This particular loco was bought by Brush Traction at Loughborough to test new power units for locos they were planned to be building, but in 1998 EWS (then the monopoly freight operator) had already placed an order with GM in Canada for 250 locos rendering this one obsolete. Nevertheless it spent 15 years in Loughborough doing absolutely nothing. This year it was bought by Harry Needle to be stripped for parts (not that it had much left on it anyway) and then scrapped. Since my visit, however it's allegedly been sold so who knows what'll happen with it? I was expecting it to be in far better condition than it was but 15 years of storage meant it's been reduced to little more than a shell (I tried to get a picture of the engine room but I didn't have my tripod out and they don't like people climbing up on the locos here so I couldn't get a shot). For reasons unknown it had a Hong Kong 1996 sticker stuck on the side of it, for anyone who asks...
This is 37229. Withdrawn by DRS in 2012 as part of their rationalisation programme, it was stripped and sent here for scrapping. By the week after I went it'd gone.
Finally, the LU stock that's been sent here from Eastleigh for disposal.
On a final note, I've said it before and I'll keep saying it, but with so little loco dereliction around (much of the stuff around is either inaccessible or I've already done it) it looks like I won't be chasing derelict trains for much longer. Nevertheless I shall enjoy it for what remains for as long as I can. As a little bit extra I'll post some more loco dereliction on this thread, so don't move it until I've done that!
Hope you enjoyed that,
Love TBM x
CF Booth's are under a contract from London Transport to dispose of the stock but under some ridiculous draconian rule publishing any photos of the tube stock either here or in Eastleigh Works (as has been covered by other explorers) is forbidden. The scrapyard has always had a brilliant relationship with photographers and I'm not going to violate that or their franchise, so once I've completed uploading this report I'd appreciate it if this was moved to NP and given a proper name. On an additional note this one of a series of 4 reports where I've used Corel software to process my photos instead of the usual Photoshop. I don't have access to Photoshop now, so I have to use Corel. Also, I've decided that without over-processing the photo and ruining it I've decided to be a bit more artistic and do more with them; looking back I don't think my photos really stand out that much. So I'd be interested to know how you think they've fared.
Anyway, to the visit itself. I've returned to Manchester again, but finding myself on a loose end I thought I'd get out and do some exploring. At the same time there was this Class 56 that I'd tried to get photos of (once in 2002 and again in 2007) but failed. The fact that it's been holed up in a high security loco building complex since 1996 made it something I could NOT miss under any circumstances. There wasn't much else to see (the 2 37's I'd already seen at both Margam in 2007 and Long Marston (see report here or on Flickr) in 2010, so not that high a priority), but what else did I have to do? Off to Rotherham I went.
By the looks of it this is one of the yard shunters based at the scrapyard. IIRC it's an ex-MOD shunter owned by one of the employees but isn't currently operational.
This one I don't know anything about, other than it's also owned by one of the workers but not operational either.
Class 37, 37696. To cut a short story short, I'd already seen this in store at Long Marston a few times where it was being looked at with a view to being overhauled. Alas, this was not to be and it's been sent here.
Class 37 37415. Again I saw this in store at Margam Depot in South Wales (now demolished) and Long Marston, and likewise it was looked at with a view to being overhauled but it was not to be. Interestingly it was bought twice by Harry Needle (overhauls locos for reuse at Barrow Hill) and sent here twice! Except this second time it's finally met its end.
And the reason for my visit: Class 56 56009/56201. This particular loco was bought by Brush Traction at Loughborough to test new power units for locos they were planned to be building, but in 1998 EWS (then the monopoly freight operator) had already placed an order with GM in Canada for 250 locos rendering this one obsolete. Nevertheless it spent 15 years in Loughborough doing absolutely nothing. This year it was bought by Harry Needle to be stripped for parts (not that it had much left on it anyway) and then scrapped. Since my visit, however it's allegedly been sold so who knows what'll happen with it? I was expecting it to be in far better condition than it was but 15 years of storage meant it's been reduced to little more than a shell (I tried to get a picture of the engine room but I didn't have my tripod out and they don't like people climbing up on the locos here so I couldn't get a shot). For reasons unknown it had a Hong Kong 1996 sticker stuck on the side of it, for anyone who asks...
This is 37229. Withdrawn by DRS in 2012 as part of their rationalisation programme, it was stripped and sent here for scrapping. By the week after I went it'd gone.
Finally, the LU stock that's been sent here from Eastleigh for disposal.
On a final note, I've said it before and I'll keep saying it, but with so little loco dereliction around (much of the stuff around is either inaccessible or I've already done it) it looks like I won't be chasing derelict trains for much longer. Nevertheless I shall enjoy it for what remains for as long as I can. As a little bit extra I'll post some more loco dereliction on this thread, so don't move it until I've done that!
Hope you enjoyed that,
Love TBM x