News Archive for January 2023

Many photographers are turning to the use of camera poles, to provide an increased height perspective for railway photography.

This method has been superbly executed in this image taken at Creech St Michael. The additional height also lifts the camera above the lineside vegetation to give a clearer view of the train as it rounds the curve through village.

With an elevated view from a camera pole Cross Country retro powercar No.43184 leads No.43303 south at Creech St Michael on the 24th January 2023. The HST was operating the 1V50 06:06 Edinburgh - Plymouth service.

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On a cold and frosty 20th January 2020 with a trailing load of 2,152 tonnes in tow, Freightliner operated Class 66/6 No.66623 is seen slogging up 1 in 80 incline of Wellington Bank towards Whiteball Tunnel at Beambridge, hauling 6C27 05:12 Whatley Quarry to Exeter Riverside loaded aggregate.

The train had been held at Fairwater Yard and owing to the standing start in Taunton was caught by the following Cross Country Voyager very quickly, which resulted in the Voyager being held at Beambridge until the freight had cleared the summit. The Voyagers arrival at Tiverton Parkway was some 25 minutes late.

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Welcome to our review of 2022

Over the past few weeks we have been compiling the 2022 statistics to being you some interesting facts in relation to the railway workings throughout the previous year.

Our particular thanks go to Adam Hiscock who has worked hard behind the scenes to produce an excellent set of information based on last year’s operations.

In total there has been a large decline in locomotive visits with just 195 passing through Taunton last year. This is partly because of the completion of the Okehampton project which had previously provided a large increase in engineering trains passing through Taunton.

The Freightliner / HOBC operation which is based at Fairwater Yard continued to operate through 2022, the top five locomotives out-based at Fairwater Yard were No.66518 (123 Days), No. 66593 '3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway' (67 Days), No.66511 (63 Days), No.66566 (50 Days), and No.66560 (48 Days).

GWR ‘Night Riviera’ services provided another year of good reliability, No. 57605 'Totnes Castle' was the top performer of 2022 with 158 appearances, followed in consecutive order by No. 57604 'Pendennis Castle' with 128 appearances, No. 57603 'Tintagel Castle' with 144, No. 57602 'Restormel Castle' with 27, and hire in locomotives No. 57306 'Branchline Society' with 48 appearances, and No.57305 with just four.

Colas: 16 out of the 17 Colas Class 70’s appeared at Taunton. Only No.70807 didn’t operate, this was last seen on the 19th November 2020 operating 6C36 12:58 Moorswater – Pengam cement. March 2022 was the best month for the Class with 7 different locos passing Taunton during that month. All five of the Colas Class 66/8 locomotives also visited Taunton in 2022. A special mention for No. 56049 'Robin of Templecombe' which made it’s first visit since 2014 and No.56113 which last visited Taunton in 2019.

DB Cargo: 24 DB Cargo Class 66 locomotives passed through Taunton in 2022 operating either 6V99, 6G71 or 6Z71 down China Clay, a reduction of one from 2021. The ‘up’ China Clay (6M60) operated 23 times a reduction of 4 trains compared to 2021. The top appearances were No.66006, No.66104 and No.66105 each operating the trains 4 times.

Freightliner: 29 different locomotives operated the Exeter Riverside aggregate flow. Only 4 Class 59’s appeared compared to the 25 Freightliner Class 66 locomotives. No.66620 was the most popular appearing 10 times during 2022. Heritage Locos: No.33025 and No.33029 made their first visit in many years, as did No. 37418 'An Comunn Gaidhealach' and No. 37419 'Carl Haviland 1954-2012'. A total of 5 Class 37/4’s appeared – possibly the most for over 20 years. No.37521 made its first appearance since 2019 and No. 37800 'Cassiopia' made its first appearance since 2018. 2022 was a good year for Class 47s visiting on charter work. 15 of the Class passed through Taunton, and were used on 27 different charter trains. The addition of No. 50050 'Fearless' operating a charter meant an increase to three Class 50’s visiting Taunton during the year. Most notable were the first appearances of DCR Class 60 locomotives No. 60046 'William Wilberforce ' and No. 60055 'Thomas Barnardo' which reset an absence of over 20 years.

Overall, the total locomotive visits have shrunk (along with most of the major rail freight in the south west) to 205 from the previous low of 219 in 2020. We have discounted 2021 due to the Okehampton project which was only ever going to provide a temporary rise in the yearly figures due to the huge volumes of materials being moved to and from the worksite. With only one ‘booked’ revenue earning flow of bulk materials now operating through Taunton in the shape of the China Clay from Cornwall. We rely on the as required and temporary flows such as Aggregate, and Engineers trains to bulk out the rest of the year in Taunton. It’s been said for years that the volumes of supermarket traffic and commodity flows which operate down the congested M5 corridor from the Midlands and Bristol into Devon and Cornwall, together with the pursuit of ‘green bulk haul alternatives’ should be providing plenty of rail bound traffic, as of 2022 the south west remains cut off from any major rail freight investment or bulk rail freight flows. We understand that while trials to restart timber traffic and aggregate from Hackney Yard were successful no further action has been taken to progress these as regular alternatives to road haulage.

Freightliner 'powerhaul' liveried Class 66/4 No.66416 is pictured at Bathpool approaching Taunton with 6X04 09:33 Tackley - Fairwater Yard track replacement train on the 15th January 2023.

Out of sight on the rear of the train was No.66515, the pair had been out on overnight track renewals and were returning to Taunton for replenishments.

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With the Network Rail Track Replacement Train (TRT) back operating from Fairwater Yard, flows of used concrete sleepers are now operating to Doncaster for replenishment with new.

Doncaster Wood Yard is the UK base for recycling and manufacture of new concrete sleepers for the UK rail network. Freightliner Class 66/5 No. 66533 'Hanjin Express/ Senator Express' passes through Broomhay Crossing (Bathpool) on the 16th January 2023 operating 4E18 09:47 Fairwater Yard - Doncaster Wood Yard on the 16th January 2023. The loco was transporting used sleepers lifting during weekend track renewals and would return with a fresh set ready for the following weeks operations.

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We are pleased to announce the addition of a NEWS ARCHIVE page which allows better navigation of the older news pages.

Over the past four years we have been adding older Taunton Trains news and pictures onto the website, navigation of those pages had become harder as the amount of information added increased. We have now solved this issue with a new page added to the site which allows random browsing to any year and month previously uploaded. This also allows future uploads of older archive news material. We hope you enjoy looking back through the previous news stories and pictorial additions.

Please also remember our Workings Log is also expanding rapidly with over 220,000 workings now stored in our database. If anyone wishes to assist with writing up of archive information to add to this growing database, Taunton Trains is always happy to hear from volunteers, as the more information that can be added the more can be shared. info@tauntontrains.co.uk

Freightliner kicked the year off with a splash of colour on the 5th January 2023 by moving four of its locomotives from Christmas storage.

Freightliner Powerhaul liveried No.66416 leads No. 66415 'You Are Never Alone', BNo.66589 and No. 66506 'Crewe Regeneration' past Broomhay Crossing operating as 0A66 12:00 Fairwater Yard - Stoke Gifford. The locomotive movement was one of only two trains which passed through Taunton that day due to the national rail strike which had seen all passenger services cancelled.

To view the gallery, please click here.