Please, please, can people come to grips with the idea that a great number of the 91s are going to be scrapped in the near future. This constant attempt to find other uses for them begins to look increasingly ridiculous. They are thoroughbred greyhounds designed to fly along at 140mph on express passenger services. They have been utterly hammered in their working life clocking up hundreds of thousands of miles every year for nearly thirty years.
The only work they remain potentially suited to is long distance high speed passenger work. Of such work that is available there is a vanishingly small demand for thirty year old locomotives. Indeed just about the only game in town is Grand Central to Blackpool (which may end up using 90s anway) and Alliance's new scheme between Paddington and Cardiff (which is highly unlikely to ever get off the ground). They aren't suited to freight services and they aren't suited to all-stop passenger services.
As hard is it is for some to accept their time has come. They've been excellent servants on the ECML for several decades but it's time for the majority of them to go for scrap.
The only work they remain potentially suited to is long distance high speed passenger work. Of such work that is available there is a vanishingly small demand for thirty year old locomotives. Indeed just about the only game in town is Grand Central to Blackpool (which may end up using 90s anway) and Alliance's new scheme between Paddington and Cardiff (which is highly unlikely to ever get off the ground). They aren't suited to freight services and they aren't suited to all-stop passenger services.
As hard is it is for some to accept their time has come. They've been excellent servants on the ECML for several decades but it's time for the majority of them to go for scrap.
