60 013 dies

[yummy125]

The curse of number 13 claims a 60.

With 20 mins of life left:

60013 at Rotherham Steel Terminal early today en route to Toton looks to be terminal with reports that it has done a '60081' and put the internals of its engine out of the engine.

Could this be a lack of service / maintenance by DB / EWS cos they want to get rid of this class.

 

[Smudger105e]

The curse of number 13 claims a 60.

With 20 mins of life left:

60013 at Rotherham Steel Terminal early today en route to Toton looks to be terminal with reports that it has done a '60081' and put the internals of its engine out of the engine.

Could this be a lack of service / maintenance by DB / EWS cos they want to get rid of this class.

No, this loco was fitted with GSM-R radio equipment recently. If DBS did not want the 60s they would withdraw them from traffic.

I can confirm that the No7 con rod has done an Elvis (it has left the building!), leaving the big end in the engine, I assume the piston is still up there. Loco is being assessed, and may get another power unit.

 

[cj_1985]

i think the problem with EWS and now DBS and the class 60s has been that there hasn't seemed to be a set plan for the locos... especially with the loss of certain traffic/flows to other FOCS, and the economic downturn which has probably contributed to the locos being stored and rotated as and when they are needed...

but DBS are undertaking overhauls on some of the class 60s... so they obviously have a medium-long term need for locomotives with the capabilities of the class 60 (rather than double headed 66s or single class 59s)

 

[Smudger105e]

Also, under EWS, the 60s were becoming high hours vehicles, meaning that the major components were becoming life expired, or in need of major overhaul. The figure I heard quoted (in EWS days) was £300,000 per loco, and as EWS had 250 class 66s at the time, this expenditure could not be justified. They did quite a bit of bogie swapping to extend the life of several locos but you can only run them on a shoestring for so long, and EWS/DBS have had to make the decision whether to get rid or keep the 60s on purely financial grounds, which is as it should be.

 

[Skimble19]

What with the "Super-60" program that's been announced I doubt they're "trying to get rid of them".. they'd just withdraw them if they wanted to do that.

 

[dubscottie]

Also the 66's are leased so they may as well use them as they are paying for them..

The 60's are owned outright by DB so in effect they are saving money by storing them. As the 66's leases expire I would not be surprised if all 100 60's ended up back in service!!

 

[Tottenham Flyer]

As the 66's leases expire I would not be surprised if all 100 60's ended up back in service!!

If only that would happen, although unfortunately some of them are too far gone to ever see a return to traffic. All some are fit to be now is a source of spares.

 

[route:oxford]

So...

£300,000 to repair.
£100,000 Scrap metal value?

How much would a lovely new Class 70 cost? Clearly more than £400,000 - but it's a hefty deposit towards a brand new, more fuel efficient loco.

 

[ACE1888]

If ever a Class was a victim of 'Privatisation' it's the 60's

 

[yummy125]

60 081 should be saved as it spells the engineer's Birthday (with an added 0) & is a "celeb" which looks awesome in GWR Green.

 

[cj_1985]

there is no way that class 60s could fully replace the class 66s... for a start the class 66 are faster and that extra speed is needed for use on certain flows... which is why you rarely is ever see a class 60 on intermodals etc...

i have seen it mentioned on other forums that the DBS class 66s are not on a standard lease... but on a lease then own at the end of XX years... how tru that is i dont know...

but i think anyone that believes that class 60s would be used to replace the class 66s outright, is dreaming...

 

[northernrail]

This always happens, i saw 37419 hours before it failed,
37670 days before it failed and now 60013 8 days before it fails it, maybe i should stop seeing loco's before i destroy our railways

 

[Tottenham Flyer]

60 081 should be saved as it spells the engineer's Birthday (with an added 0) & is a "celeb" which looks awesome in GWR Green.

Whilst people may agree with you, from a business point of view why save 081 when there's plenty of other working locos? I'm sure if it was down to numbers, then 001 would be saved too, but a loco can't be saved just because it's in a special livery or is a certain number.

I should imagine by now that 001 & 081 are nearly body shells and bogies with nothing inside.

 

[Tottenham Flyer]

This always happens, i saw 37419 hours before it failed,
37670 days before it failed and now 60013 8 days before it fails it, maybe i should stop seeing loco's before i destroy our railways

So it's your fault is it?? Pleased someone has finally owned up! 

 

[37402]

They did quite a bit of bogie swapping to extend the life of several locos

When the 60s were in favour towards the back end of 2008 (just after DB took over and before the recession struck), a number of locos received brand new wheelsets. 60061 being one of them.
Some of the long term knackers are also sat on decent wheelsets, 60075 being a prime example - brand new!
Oh and as someone mentioned fuel efficiency above, despite being older, 60s will beat a 66 hands down!

 

[9K43]

It is the 66's that need sending back from whence they came.
A 60 is a drivers engine, fit for the job with plenty of pulling power, with a nice quiet comfy cab, and proper seats for a long 12 hour ballast turn.
The silence of the cab is only broken by the little noise that the heater fan makes.
If you are sitting/sleeping on the second mans side, beware of the electric cooker boiling your boots.

 

[GearJammer]

Can class 60's be re-geared to make them faster and more suitable to other jobs?

 

[ainsworth74]

Can class 60's be re-geared to make them faster and more suitable to other jobs?

Why bother when DBS have plenty of 66s on their books for that sort of work?

 

[GearJammer]

Why bother when DBS have plenty of 66s on their books for that sort of work?

Not at the rate there sending them abroad they won't, i was more asking just out of curiousity tbh.

 

[ainsworth74]

Not at the rate there sending them abroad they won't, i was more asking just out of curiousity tbh.

I suppose so! Though you would assume they would stop before they run out of locomotives

As for re-gearing I would guess so I would suspect the limiting factor would be cost and perhaps a risk to increasing wear and tear on the locomotive by running at higher speeds than it was intended to run at. As I said it's unlikely when DBS have access to appropriate locomotives already, but I don't see why it wouldn't be technically possible.

 

[dubscottie]

As for re-gearing I would guess so I would suspect the limiting factor would be cost and perhaps a risk to increasing wear and tear on the locomotive by running at higher speeds than it was intended to run at..

Are the 60's Bogies not derived from the class 89"s??? If brush can rebuild 47's then maybe a go-faster 60 with ETH...

 

[Peter Sarf]

Are the 60's Bogies not derived from the class 89"s??? If brush can rebuild 47's then maybe a go-faster 60 with ETH...

Problem is, I think, the class 67s can fill that requirement. No point converting locos for work which other locos can already do UNLESS there is a shortage of locos for that kind of job. The only chance for the 60s is for there to be enough heavy haul work for them to do and that the supply of class 66s is soaked up by European work and other faster work. Maybe that is the class 60s down fall - perhaps there are too many other types of loco that can get by doing do what a 60 does best and not enough work for those other locos anyway.

I wonder if the 21 odd super-60s is a fleet too small - I mean as in non-standard ?. However I wonder if the even smaller fleet of 59s have much life left - what is the excuse for keeping them going compared to an extra dozen or so super-60s ?. I guess some/all of the 59s are leased ?.

 

[Hydro]

I guess some/all of the 59s are leased ?.

I think DB actually own their 59's, taking over from National Power.

 

[Peter Sarf]

I think DB actually own their 59's, taking over from National Power.

Oh yes the National Power ones (that worked around Drax ?) I thiink got transferred with the wagons to EWS (now DBS). I think it is one of the Ex National Power 59s that is now in Europe This seems to be long term. If Europe like them enough maybe they would take all the other 59s and leave a vacancy for the 60s back here in the UK. The other 59s I think might still belong to Mendip Rail and the trains are only operated by EWS. Cannot help feeling the 70s might represent a future threat to the 60s.

 

[sprinterguy]

Oh yes the National Power ones (that worked around Drax ?) I thiink got transferred with the wagons to EWS (now DBS). I think it is one of the Ex National Power 59s that is now in Europe This seems to be long term. If Europe like them enough maybe they would take all the other 59s and leave a vacancy for the 60s back here in the UK. The other 59s I think might still belong to Mendip Rail and the trains are only operated by EWS. Cannot help feeling the 70s might represent a future threat to the 60s.

The only 59 that I know of that’s gone to Europe is 59003, which was one of the Yeoman class 59s and was shipped to Germany in the mid nineties, I'm not aware that any of the ex-National Power 59/2s have left the country.

The 59/0s (The original Yeoman fleet) are owned by Aggregate Industries and the 59/1s (The original ARC fleet) by Hanson but they are operated in a common pool under the banner of Mendip Rail. The 59/2s are owned by DBS.

 

[Peter Sarf]

The only 59 that I know of that’s gone to Europe is 59003, which was one of the Yeoman class 59s and was shipped to Germany in the mid nineties, I'm not aware that any of the ex-National Power 59/2s have left the country.

The 59/0s (The original Yeoman fleet) are owned by Aggregate Industries and the 59/1s (The original ARC fleet) by Hanson but they are operated in a common pool under the banner of Mendip Rail. The 59/2s are owned by DBS.

My mistake, 59003 is not one of the National Power ones.

Given its one of the Mendip Rail ones does that make it more likely that all the 59s could be re-deployed to mainland Europe ?. 59003 has been out there for a very long time.

 

[sprinterguy]

My mistake, 59003 is not one of the National Power ones.

Given its one of the Mendip Rail ones does that make it more likely that all the 59s could be re-deployed to mainland Europe ?. 59003 has been out there for a very long time.

I don't think that it's likely: AFAIK, the operation of the Mendips stone trains is undertaken in house by Mendip Rail as concerns locos and wagons (though I don’t know what the crewing arrangements are), so they would need a new fleet of locos to replace their current class 59s before they were shipped abroad. Also, operators in mainland Europe are free to order newer class 66 locos and many have done so, so the older class 59s would have limited appeal. The fate of the Mendip Rail 59/0 and 59/1 locos lies beyond the scope of and is completely separate to the future of the DBS owned class 59/2s.

If anything, I think any potential future expansion of the Mendips stone traffic would be the perfect opportunity for DBS to offload its’ six class 59/2s onto Mendip Rail.

 

[GearJammer]

Why would they want 60's down on the Mendip stone trains, the 59's are better! Besides, i think the 59/0's and 59/1's have got a lot of life left in them yet!

 

[Smudger105e]

Can class 60's be re-geared to make them faster and more suitable to other jobs?

I believe that the 'Super Sixties' are to have a higher top speed than a standard 60. Regearing has not been necessary. I will check the accuracy of that info though.

Why would they want 60's down on the Mendip stone trains

I think the 60s will continue to be based around Toton and Immingham, because of Driver and Fitter traction knowledge.

 

[TGVDUDE]

I think the 60s will continue to be based around Toton and Immingham, because of Driver and Fitter traction knowledge.

Westbury is capable, as is Margam