LondonBound
Member
Why aren't there many Class 70 trains around? I understand the class 66 are proper workhorses but is it simply that the emissions changed?
Freightliner did have the option for more but never took it up, probably didn't help that coal traffic disappeared overnight. Freightliner have had issues sourcing spares for the locos they have.
I don’t believe the Colas batch were those intended for Freightliner. 70021-030 were the Freightliner options and GE had reserved works numbers 58801-810 for them. The Colas 70802-810 batch have works numbers 61859-867, which suggests it was a completely separate order.Their early reliability issues and fires were a major draw in Freightliner's decision not to take up the potential additional batch (which were taken on by Colas as 70802-810)
The 59 fleet is going through a bogie overhaul programme: one loco is stopped and its bogies are used as the float for the programme. Once they're done the final set of bogies will be overhauled and will go underneath the stopped loco.as a side note what's the story with the 59 on temp bogies its been there quite a long time now..
I think a lot of the stored locos are awaiting spare parts.i pass midland road depot pretty much every day and it is a little disheartening seeing class 70's being parked up - i would have thought the Mendip work would have been ideal for them.
as a side note what's the story with the 59 on temp bogies its been there quite a long time now..
I don’t believe the Colas batch were those intended for Freightliner. 70021-030 were the Freightliner options and GE had reserved works numbers 58801-810 for them. The Colas 70802-810 batch have works numbers 61859-867, which suggests it was a completely separate order.
The 59 gave up its bogies to provide a spare set to enable the 59s to have bogie overhauls in the same way that a Freightliner 90 did a few years ago. Once all the 59s have had freshly overhauled bogies put under them it will get the last set put under it.i pass midland road depot pretty much every day and it is a little disheartening seeing class 70's being parked up - i would have thought the Mendip work would have been ideal for them.
as a side note what's the story with the 59 on temp bogies its been there quite a long time now..