This must be an old video. There are no overhead electrification masts.
It's from 2003 (it's the old station at Bromsgrove too).
When the Lickey is closed is the banker still sent to Stourbridge Jn in case something needs a shove up Old Hill bank? I seem to recall there were paths for that to happen in the not too distant past. (I don't know what the procedure for that was but assume trains were stopped at the loops at Rowley Regis)
Many years ago (1970s) I used to live not far away from Rowley Regis station. Back then (when the off-peak passenger service was 1 tph!) freights with a banker most often just stopped on the mainline, banker uncoupled then the freight continued on its way. If there was a path back to Stourbridge the banker would then run back through the crossover and be on its way. Otherwise the freight and/or banker would go into the loop to wait. In those days there was usually a banker stationed at Stourbridge Junction (most often a Peak or 47), which banked freights up to both Dudley and Rowley Regis as required.
Of course if you want a bit of super-power (diesel) banking 'thrash', then how about a 4 x 3000hp 'pusher' set (the proper EMD 'music' is from 1:27 onwards
):
(That's equivalent of four cl.59's - ballasted up to 167 tonnes each - on the back. They slip a little bit as they go past, just tell you they're giving it everything they've got... It's my video, and the people standing around watching were a group of enthusiasts from the UK who just happened to arrive a while after I did. The locos will stay on the rear past the summit at Gallitzin and down the other side, around the famous Horseshoe Curve, into Altoona to provide downhill dynamic braking assistance).
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