The remarkable travels of a wandering sixty-six!
11th December 2022
It has always been a wonder to me as to just how far a locomotive can travel on Britain's railways over a relatively short period of time. By that I mean that since the days of BR, when locomotives were based at a specific depot and would not ordinarily travel too far from home, the modern railway, with its much smaller fleet of engines available, now expects these locos to work an awful lot harder and earn their keep. So it is not unusual to find that a particular freight company's engine can cover some remarkable distances, and not always on just simple cyclical out-and-back trips either. After a recent visit to Margam in South Wales, and the subsequent events that occurred afterwards, the proof that locomotives can certainly see the sights of Britain in a very short time become all too clear!
Monday 5th December 2022 and DB Cargo Class 66 no. 66079 "James Nightall G.C." sits in Margam Yard awaiting attention.
On Monday 5th December 2022, the time of my visit, DB Cargo's Class 66 no. 66079 "James Nightall G. C." was stabled at Margam awaiting an exam (a scheduled maintenance appointment, in other words!). Nothing unusual about that but five days later I noticed that the loco was booked to cover a Westbury to Totnes rail train, travelling down to South Devon overnight and returning the following day, Sunday 12th December. This made me think -just how did it end up on this trip?
Thankfully, as a subscriber to Freightmaster, I was able to gain some insight into this by studying a number of the TOPS reports that are posted on the FM Online forum. What I discovered was, to me, quite remarkable. It turned out that on Thursday 8th December no. 66079 worked the 6M73 Margam to Hardendale (Shap, Cumbria) limestone empties, after which it must have run light engine to Carlisle for stabling. On the Friday, 9th December, it worked back to Margam, from Hardendale, this time with the loaded 6V71 containerised lime train, arriving in South Wales that evening. If that was not enough, the following day (Saturday 10th) it was teamed up with another DB Cargo Class 66, no. 66028, on a 6O12 transfer of RHTT wagons to Westbury and Eastleigh. This was in the path of the regular 0O12 light engine transfer from Margam to Westbury (and Eastleigh), usually run to provide locos for booked engineering trains that weekend. As an aside, the ex-France escapee, no. 66028, had itself just arrived that Friday evening from the North East on the 6V02 Tees Yard to Margam empty steel train! Another long distance trip! So, once relieved of the RHTT wagons these two top-and-tailed the 6W98 rail train from Westbury to South Devon (dropping off rail on Rattery bank, west of Totnes).
Sunday 11th December 2022, six days since I saw it in Margam and after its foray to the furthest northern reaches of England and back, no. 66079 powers back to Westbury after an overnight visit to South Devon.
The empty rail train, also running as 6W98, returned to Westbury on the Sunday morning, and that's when I caught up with it, crossing the frozen Somerset levels! To cap it off, by the following morning of Monday 12th December, no. 66079 found itself back at Margam and working an empty coal train up the valley branch to Cwmbargoed!
There is no doubt that DB Cargo locomotives are worked hard, and cover some incredible distances, often in just a few days. To think that between my encounter with 66079 at Margam on the Monday, and the time we met again in Somerset just 6 days later, the engine had almost reached Scotland, and back to South Wales, and then down to Wiltshire and Devon. Quite incredible really, well over a thousand miles covering the length and breadth of the country. Some journey!!
Bringing up the rear of the 6W98 empty rail train is recent returnee from France, no. 66028, which appears to have been treated to a freshly-painted yellow front!
Monday 5th December 2022 and DB Cargo Class 66 no. 66079 "James Nightall G.C." sits in Margam Yard awaiting attention.
On Monday 5th December 2022, the time of my visit, DB Cargo's Class 66 no. 66079 "James Nightall G. C." was stabled at Margam awaiting an exam (a scheduled maintenance appointment, in other words!). Nothing unusual about that but five days later I noticed that the loco was booked to cover a Westbury to Totnes rail train, travelling down to South Devon overnight and returning the following day, Sunday 12th December. This made me think -just how did it end up on this trip?
Thankfully, as a subscriber to Freightmaster, I was able to gain some insight into this by studying a number of the TOPS reports that are posted on the FM Online forum. What I discovered was, to me, quite remarkable. It turned out that on Thursday 8th December no. 66079 worked the 6M73 Margam to Hardendale (Shap, Cumbria) limestone empties, after which it must have run light engine to Carlisle for stabling. On the Friday, 9th December, it worked back to Margam, from Hardendale, this time with the loaded 6V71 containerised lime train, arriving in South Wales that evening. If that was not enough, the following day (Saturday 10th) it was teamed up with another DB Cargo Class 66, no. 66028, on a 6O12 transfer of RHTT wagons to Westbury and Eastleigh. This was in the path of the regular 0O12 light engine transfer from Margam to Westbury (and Eastleigh), usually run to provide locos for booked engineering trains that weekend. As an aside, the ex-France escapee, no. 66028, had itself just arrived that Friday evening from the North East on the 6V02 Tees Yard to Margam empty steel train! Another long distance trip! So, once relieved of the RHTT wagons these two top-and-tailed the 6W98 rail train from Westbury to South Devon (dropping off rail on Rattery bank, west of Totnes).
Sunday 11th December 2022, six days since I saw it in Margam and after its foray to the furthest northern reaches of England and back, no. 66079 powers back to Westbury after an overnight visit to South Devon.
The empty rail train, also running as 6W98, returned to Westbury on the Sunday morning, and that's when I caught up with it, crossing the frozen Somerset levels! To cap it off, by the following morning of Monday 12th December, no. 66079 found itself back at Margam and working an empty coal train up the valley branch to Cwmbargoed!
There is no doubt that DB Cargo locomotives are worked hard, and cover some incredible distances, often in just a few days. To think that between my encounter with 66079 at Margam on the Monday, and the time we met again in Somerset just 6 days later, the engine had almost reached Scotland, and back to South Wales, and then down to Wiltshire and Devon. Quite incredible really, well over a thousand miles covering the length and breadth of the country. Some journey!!
Bringing up the rear of the 6W98 empty rail train is recent returnee from France, no. 66028, which appears to have been treated to a freshly-painted yellow front!