Occasionally I get the opportunity to go over to Nottingham to visit Toton TMD, now famous for its line of decaying Class 60's sitting now for many years by the famous bank. I always get there first thing in the morning and this day was no different, Wednesday 25th August with a just after 5am arrival.

The remains of 86429 sit at Crewe on the 4th July 1987, 86211 the other locomotive involved sits on a few meters away from it. Colwich junction sits between Rugeley and Stafford and is where the four track mainline splits into two routes. two tracks go to Manchester via Stoke on Trent and the other two lines go to Stafford and Crewe. It was a high speed c ollision between two express trains, if it was not for the coaching stock being strong then there would have been many fatalities, the only death was the driver of the approaching train. I am not going to go into all the details of the crash and the consequences of it, or the lessons that should have been learnt from it, that would later come back to haunt. These are covered in other in depth articles in other places on the internet. It was quite strange to see the locomotives at Crewe during the open day, just covered in tarpaulin to try and hide them, removed of their boogies and just there in plain view to be seen.

350105 & 350244 at Stafford 12/01/2019. One heading south and the other heading north. in the late 1980's when i used to go as a teenager, it was 304's that used to do the same routes. then 310's. Time passes by, the stations and the rolling stock my differ, still people travel the same routes. were the days of British Rail really that bad, have the railways improved with the different franchises. With the network creaking and Network Rail battling with the Victorian network, there are only so many sticking plasters you can put on it until it finally fails. I am sure the rail franchises do all they can to run a good service, no one deliberately sets out to cause delays and disruption. There are clearly issues with the current status quo on the railways. What is the answer? It seems everyone has an opinion, but who is right and who is wrong......

The class 67 was designed as a direct replacement for the now ageing class 47, built by Alstom in Valencia, Spain between 1999 and 2000. Originally built for the English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS) 30 were produced and were leased via Angel trains on a 15 year lease, for high speed Royal Mail and passenger trains. At the end of the 15 yuear lease they were transferred to DB Cargo UK. It is very similar in the power unit as the class 66, The traction motors are frame mounted rather than axle hung to reduce unsprung mass to allow higher speeds. The cab design has a central driving position. The highest speed achieved is 143mph by 67002 on the Madrid-Toledo high speed line. The first locomotive delivered was 67003, in October 1999. Issues with the loading gauge caused acceptance delays. All loco's had been delivered however by early 2000, modifications that were required were completed by June 2003. They have been used on many different routes and services, currently 28 are operated by DB Cargo UK & 2 by Colas Rail.

26015 built at the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon works, Smethwick delivered 13/02/1959 as D5315. 47 of the calss were built. Worked in the London area for the first few years then moved to Scotland were they all remained until disposal. Renumber 26015 25/05/1974. Worked in Scotland until its withdrawal 23/06/1991. Arrived at Inverness 17/08/1992 for storage due to its general poor condition. It was broken up by MC Metals in September 1994. There is some good news, 13 of the class have been saved, although 7 of this are actually in storage. Their future is unknown.

E3177 released to traffic 21/08/1965, spent most of its life running up and down the WCML. Renumbered to 86217 under the TOPS numbering system, renumbered 86504 1988, site here at Bescot 04/11/1988. Spent the final part of its life in the UK on the Anglia line. Withdrawn from stock April 2004. In February 2013 exported to Hungry and is now operated by Floyd ZRt and numbered 0450 006. 86217 carried several names during it life on British Rail 1980-1985 Comet 1985-1994 Halleys Comet 1994-2004 City University

Saltley was always a good place to see Class 58's, usually 5 or 6 of the class would be sitting there over the weekend. 58012, built 31/03/1984, withdrawn from service 05/12/1999. However this locomotive is one of the five of the class that has been saved. Purchased in 2016 from Ron Hull scrapyard, it is now stored at The Battlefield Line awaiting restoration. 58017 the locomotive behind, which is obviously running judging by the smoke coming from the exhaust fans. was not so lucky. Delivered 31/10/1984, named Eastleigh Depot 26/04/1995. Withdrawn from stock 30/04/1999. Apparently sat around for 13 years before being broken up at Eastleigh in 2013. Out of the 50 locomotives built 5 have been saved, 17 scrapped and a further 28 are currently stored in either Alizay in France or Albacerte in Spain, there futures unknown.

Saturday's at Bescot were a great opportunity to see a wide variety of motive power. Here we can see a classic line up, only 3 different types of loco on this one. 58007, released from Doncaster works 09/12/1982, named Drakelow Power Station 25/08/1990. Transferred to France 14/10/2014, it is now stored in Alzay in France, with an uncertain future. 37352, released from the Vulcan foundry as D6708 10/02/1961, renumbered 37008 March 1974. wandered around the network for many years, renumbered again to 37352 17/06/1988. renumbered back to 37008 06/07/1989, unfortunately 37008 was involved in a collision with an empty freightliner rake at Seabrooks Sidings while working 4S83 1830 Tilbury - Coatbridge with 37225. After the accident 37352 awaited its fate at Stratford Depot, officially withdrwan from stock 24/02/1992, moved to Tinsley 31/01/1993. Finally taken to MRJ Phillips at Crewe 21/07/1996. 47306, released from Brush Locomotive works as D1787 26/11/1964. One of 512 built, renumbered 47306 in April 1974. One of the lucky ones, it is currently undergoing refurbishment at the Bodmin Heritage Center, dispite having a fire in the wiring system, should be running under its own power once more, if it is not already doing so. 37285, released from English Electric Vulcan Foundry as D6985, Based at Canton. Renumbered to 37285 in March 1974. As with most other locos, moved around the network until 1993, stored serviceable 27/01/1993. returned to traffic at Tinsley, 31/03/1993. until stored unserviceable 15/08/1994. Renumbered to 37335 02/09/1994 and returned to Immingham as a stored Locomotive and components striped. Condemned 30/07/1999 and then cut up by Raxstar at Immigham MPD. More information on Class 37's can be found by clicking on the link below. https://www.class37.co.uk/default.aspx

27th December 1988, class 115 51899 sits at Aylesbury in between duties. The full set number are 51899-59761-51886, with the first named Aylesbury College, the only DMU car to carry a name plate. released into service in 1960 until there replacement in 1992 by the new Class 165's. They spent most of their time running the Chiltern line into London Marylebone. The Tyseley units survived a little longer until 1994. However this set was saved and is now in BR green and lives on the Buckinghamshire railway Center.