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Carlisle - 13th October 2009

66414 (James the Engine) on Daventry - Grangemouth Tesco train - which will soon change to haulage by DBS class 92
66414 (James the Engine) on Daventry - Grangemouth Tesco train - which will soon change to haulage by DBS class 92. Geoff Morris

  
Some of the RCTS party at Carlisle
  Some of the RCTS party at Carlisle. Richard Neale
9 Branch members attended the station observation at Carlisle on Tuesday 13th October and were joined there by Malcolm Riley from West Riding Branch and Glyn Jones who had come all the way from Ludlow ! Our Branch secretary also planned to attend but he managed to mislay his advance purchase tickets and therefore he didn’t make it !!

Arriva blue 57313 parked alongside Carlisle station along with failed 47853 (in XP64 livery) and Virgin-liveried 57303
  
Arriva blue 57313 parked alongside Carlisle station along with failed 47853 (in XP64 livery) and Virgin-liveried 57303. Geoff Morris  
Most of us travelled north on a Virgin Voyager to Edinburgh, arriving at Carlisle at 11:00. Parked alongside the station was XP64-liveried 47853 which had failed there on a railtour a couple of weeks ago. Virgin-liveried 57303 was parked adjacent to it and was soon joined by Arriva blue liveried 57313 which we had seen parked at Preston during our journey north. It had been preceded by one of DRS’s “celebrity” class 66s, 66414 (James the engine) on a Tesco container train from Daventry to Grangemouth, which our Voyager had overtaken at Grayrigg. We were pleased to see this because DRS have lost the contract for these services and their class 66s will soon be replaced by DB Schenker class 92s.

Anglo-Scottish coal services are a regular sight at Carlisle. During our observation, Freightliner services predominated but some DB examples also appeared, particularly after the main party had departed in the afternoon. In retrospect, the most noteworthy freight working was 66151 on a late-running train of rails for Workington to Carlisle Yard as I subsequently saw on a gen-group that the last dispatch of rails from Workington was just 2 days later (rail production at Workington having been closed and transferred to Scunthorpe). We were very fortunate to see this working because if it had run to time then it would have passed through before the main party arrived.

66566 departs Carlisle with FHH coal hoppers from Ravenstruther to Ratcliffe while northbound FHH coal hoppers wait in platform 3
  
66566 departs Carlisle with FHH coal hoppers from Ravenstruther to Ratcliffe while northbound FHH coal hoppers wait in platform 3. Geoff Morris  
  
66151 on Workington - Carlisle yard Departmental conveying rails - one of the last batches of rail to be dispatched from Workington following transfer of rail production to Scunthorpe.
  66151 on Workington - Carlisle yard Departmental conveying rails - one of the last batches of rail to be dispatched from Workington following transfer of rail production to Scunthorpe.. Geoff Morris

  
57313, in Arriva blue but without any branding, at Carlisle on the Carlisle - Chirk log train
  57313, in Arriva blue but without any branding, at Carlisle on the Carlisle - Chirk log train. Richard Neale
Most of the party took a Scotrail class 156 to Annan in order to view the traffic in the DRS depot at Kingmoor and also in the yard. As is often the case, the view of the DRS depot was obscured by a coal train but an RHTT that was top & tailed by DRS 66s could just be seen. At Annan the old station building is now a bar and we adjourned there to await our return train. It was very quiet when we got there – indeed we almost woke the barmaid up ! 66523 with coal empties for Killoch, which had been blocking our view at Kingmoor, passed through Annan but we were all in the bar and so don't have a photo ! When we passed Kingmoor Yard on the way back we noted 57313 had transferred there from the station and was waiting to leave on the Carlisle – Chirk log train. It eventually passed through the station at least an hour later than normal. Again we were lucky - if it had been at its booked time we would have missed it (having been in the bar at Annan) ! Our return to Carlisle was in 156437 which had been repainted in the new Scotrail "Saltire" livery.

RCTS party in the bar that has taken over much of the old up station building at Annan
  
RCTS party in the bar that has taken over much of the old up station building at Annan. Geoff Morris  
  
156437 in the new
  156437 in the new . Richard Neale

  
View of where the 1970s buffet building used to stand at Carlisle station with services to Leeds & Newcastle in the bay platforms behind.
  View of where the 1970s buffet building used to stand at Carlisle station with services to Leeds & Newcastle in the bay platforms behind. . Richard Neale
The punctuality of passenger services throughout the day was very good with all services running on time (within the accepted performance limits). One notable "feature" of Carlisle station that was (thankfully) missing was the 1970s-built buffet building on Platform 4 which had been closed around the start of the year and looked very much out of character with the rest of the buildings. (100_6018 near here)

The following observations are presented in good faith based on notes taken by Richard Neale, Geoff Morris, Alan Rhind, Dave Douglas & Andy Bennett plus information from the Freightmaster website & Yahoo North West gengroup.

Carlisle Station Observation 13th October

At Carlisle:

Stabled alongside station: D1733/47853 (Failed) & 57303

Freight and Light Locomotive workings seen

09.20   6602104.45 4S90 Drax PS-New Cumnock empty EWS coal hoppers
09.206608205.20 6E85 Hunterston-Drax PS loaded EWS coal hoppers
09.4043013/1405.59 1Q06 Derby-Glasgow Central measurement train
09.566660408.55 6U68 Carlisle VQ-Mountsorrel empty box wagons
10.206651407.03 4M75 Leeds Hunslet-Carlisle Yard empty Heavyhaul Hoppers
10.295701208.13 6C42 Sellafield-Carlisle Kingmoor acid tanks
10.3266425+6643207.03 3J06 Skipton-Kingmoor TMD RHTT
11.0466413 08.39 4M44 Mossend-Daventry Intermodal
11.1966414 06.12 4S43 Daventry-Grangmouth Tesco Express
11.2557313 Arrive Light from Preston etc into adjacent through roads joining D1733/47853 & 57303
11.526656609.22 6M31 Ravenstruther-Ratcliffe p.s. loaded FHH coal hoppers
11.586652308.19 4S11 Ferrybridge p.s-Killochner empty FHH coal hoppers
12.066615109.33 6X98 Workington-Carlisle yard Departmental (rails) The last of these workings took place two days later
12.356604312.26 6K05 Carlisle yard-Crewe Basford Hall Departmental
13:086616112:02 6C48 Workington- Carlisle Yard wagonload service

Travel out to Annan:
13.09 Carlisle-Glasgow with156501

Kingmoor Yard: 08922, 66113/151/598

Kingmoor DRS Depot: 37194/682 50049 57010/12 and 66425/32 on RHTT

Travel return to Carlisle:
14.03 as 12.03 Glasgow-Carlisle with 156437

At Carlisle: Freight and Light Locomotive workings seen
14.356651209.24 4S60 Leeds Hunslet-Ravenstruther empty FHH coal hoppers
14.515731312.51 6J37 Carlisle yard-Chirk logs
15.1257303Depart Light southbound
15.136650715.04 6M26 Carlisle yard-Ratcliffe p.s. loaded FHH coal hoppers
15.336616115.28 6E62 Carlisle yard-Tees yard Intermodal
15.346601413.30 4S04 Warrington-Ayr empty coal hoppers
16.0437038+37603northbound
16.2266425+66432 16.10 3J06 Kingmoor TMD-Barrow (via S&C) RHTT
16.456620411.15 4S72 Drax p.s.-Ayr empty coal hoppers
16.5186637/8663814.01 4M74 Coatbridge-Crewe Basford Hall Freightliner
17.096603114.02 4S15 York Holgate-Chalmerston empty FHH coal hoppers
17.196642412.17 4S44 Daventry-Coatbridge Intermodal
17.22325005/004/00716.14 1M44 Shieldmuir-Warrington RMT
17.386655415.05 4S68 Leeds-Killoch empty FHH coal hoppers
17.479204217.48 6O12 Carlisle yard-Eastleigh wagon load

Passenger services seen:
Cumbrian Coast line: 153358,156443/464
Euston services: 390013/16/17/18/21/25/29/36
Glasgow & South Western route: 156437/501/506/509/514
New Street services: 221104/05/08/10/12/18
Newcastle line: 142017/70, 156444/48/80/84/90
Settle & Carlisle line: 158792/95/901
Trans Pennine services: 185101/03/40

Travel to Carlisle by Chester Group:

08.52 Chester-Warrington BQ as 07.45 Llandudno-Manchester Picc. with 175115
09.27 Warrington BQ-Carlisle as 08.20 Birmingham N S-Edinburgh with 221118

Travel back to Chester by Chester Group:

15.49 Carlisle-Warrington BQ as 14.40 Glasgow-Euston with 390021
17.26 Warrington BQ-Chester as 16.50 Manchester Picc.-Llandudno with 175115

Geoff Morris

30/10/09