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Class 60's to Colas

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Boothby97

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al.currie93 said:
And speaking of Colas and their locos, here is the first picture of 37219 now in Colas RailFreight livery.



https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd...._=1401585178_7834059d51dc9469e333e413a78a1af9
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Bit off topic sorry, but what was the deal with the 37s? I know they came out of preservation (correct me if I'm wrong!), but did they buy them off whoever owned them outright, or is it some form of lease? Are they also marked to return to preservation once Colas are done with them, or is that also uncertain? Thanks :)
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The Class 60 and Class 37 both look beautiful by the way :P[/QUOTE]


They own the 4 37s, yes
 
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Helvellyn

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Interesting that 60087 has kept its original number, as the 66s were renumbered.
 
Peter Mugridge

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Helvellyn said:
Interesting that 60087 has kept its original number, as the 66s were renumbered.
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I fear this is not an outbreak of common sense but more to do with the 220s, 221s, 222s, 350/3s and 350/4s hogging the 601xx, 602xx, 603xx, 604xx, 605xx, 606xx, 607xx, 608xx and 609xx sequences.
 
al.currie93

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Boothby97 said:
They own the 4 37s, yes
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Thanks :) must have been a buy from whoever owned and was preserving them then! Anyone know if they were used and loved in preservation? Or was it "preservation" as in sitting doing nothing in a locked shed for a few years? If the former then I hope they return after Colas are done with them (hopefully a good few years!). But if the latter, then Colas are probably the better preservers :P
 
fgwrich

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al.currie93 said:
Thanks :) must have been a buy from whoever owned and was preserving them then! Anyone know if they were used and loved in preservation? Or was it "preservation" as in sitting doing nothing in a locked shed for a few years? If the former then I hope they return after Colas are done with them (hopefully a good few years!). But if the latter, then Colas are probably the better preservers :P
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At least 2 of the 37s were preserved runners - 37175 at Boness and 37219 at either the Mid Norfolk or Chinnor. 37421 Was under a protracted overhaul and repaint into Regional Railways livery before being purchase by Colas last year.
 
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455driver

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Colas own the 37s outright so when they have finished with them they are free to do with them as they see fit, either sell them on, scrap them, strip them or throw them off a cliff!
They are under no obligation to return them to the previous owner unless there is some sort of covenant set when they were purchased, which is very unlikely.
 
fgwrich

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TorqueOfTheDevil

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I think... Colas's plan will go something on the lines of this.

37s - Jobs that can't be handled by larger locos with restrictions on certain routes. If fitted with some form of ETRMS then that will include use on the Cambrian.
47s - Stock Moves and other jobs.
56s - Steel Traffic, Oil / Fuel jobs.
60s - Logs, heavy freights, possibly for fuel / oil jobs?
66s - Coal, Oil / Fuel jobs.
70s - Network Rail NDS work.

That said, I wonder if there is a plan to ultimately replace the 66s, either with more 60s or new build 70s. The 5 66s could then be sold onto GBRF.
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Would it not make more sense to bin the 47s? The 66s are more useful and much newer.
 
fgwrich

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TorqueOfTheDevil said:
Would it not make more sense to bin the 47s? The 66s are more useful and much newer.
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Maybe it could be, but the 66 is probably a less useful loco for carrying out job such as stock moves than a 66 - speed being a major factor, and given how much 66s are in demand by the other FOCs it wouldn't surprise me if they move on from Colas first. And Colas have hired out their 47s in the past to Wabtec to provide ETH for coaches undergoing testing, so they do bring in some money for Colas even if they are just a class of 3.
 
Tim R-T-C

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The 47s also have potential for spot hire to passenger companies to rival DRS.
 
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What are the shifts like at Colas ? What depots do they have nearest to Blackpool?

Have been thinking of putting in for a Drivers job here, drive proper engines on proper trains.
Instead of units.
 
fgwrich

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fgwrich

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That said, I've found the original picture of it in Washwood Heath.

As with the DRS Livery, I think that Colas's livery looks smarter on the more slab sided locos like 47, 56, 57 & 60 rather than the more broken up sides of the 37s.
 

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Boothby97

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ac6000cw

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#1 driver said:
are people ( spotters ) just looking in the cab , see the speedo goes up to 75 and assume that is the speed it goes ?
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This is all from memory (I don't have the magazine to hand), but :

Way back in BR days, not long after the 60's were introduced (with the Trainload Coal sub-sector, I think), Modern Railways had a piece (in the Roger Ford column) about Railfreight Distribution being interested in acquiring a version of them. As part of that, to check the ride etc. at higher speeds, at least one of the class had its software modified to allow operation up to 75 mph. The article specifically said that nothing else was changed for the trials (which I think took place on the northern part of the WCML), and that everything went well (ride at 75 was OK).

Maybe the loco(s) modified were left in that state, so it's quite possible that on the railtour that others have mentioned, one of those locos was used, and authorised to run at 75 mph ?
 
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CosherB

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Beveridges said:
When the 60's were first built they were tested at 100mph on the midland mainline.
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apparently, the pantograph problems prevented the full 155 mph test speed to be achieved with the prototype WCML Mk 5 rake of carriages ..... ;)
 
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