Class 56's another victim of the BORG!

Those of you who watch Star Trek will understand the reference to the Borg whose catch phrases 'resistance is futile' and 'prepare to be assimilated' were rather what the average train fan in the U.K felt as EWS (Wisconsin Central) took over the various railfreight sub sectors spun off from British Rail one after the other and then proceeded to decimate the ranks of diesel loco classes by rolling out hundreds of identical EMD Class 66 co-cos. Very able engines but the diversity of traction so prized by U.K railfans was rapidly becoming an endangered species

Relatively modern examples like the Class 56 heavy haul Co-Cos fought off the challenge of the whispering death longer than some other classes but their days were numbered as they were bumped off their staple duties of MGR Coal workings and coil steel trips.

Although I started videoing relatively late I managed to catch a few of the remaining workings through Chesterfield, New Whittington and Clay Cross. I kick myself for not having video when they were in their pomp in the South Yorkshire, North Derbyshire coal fields but i console myself with the huge amount of stills I took.

Now I used to work as a photographer and used to take my lunch breaks by the lineside, one consequence of this was that occasionally I found myself stood by the track hand holding a Mamiya RB67 medium format roll film camera (Think brick with a lens on the front!) waving this lump around trying to do action pics of fast block freights. Sometimes it worked.

http://i320.photobucket.com/albums/nn340/kevsmith/Class 56s/56E61019.jpg

56 086 drifts down to towards Chesterfield under tapton bridge with a southbound Coil Steel train

video quality not up to usual resolution , might need tweaking in Sony Vegas can be found at



[video=youtube;Z-CUVtGdTb8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-CUVtGdTb8&feature=share&list=UUI6p-eLL5zX3K226z27Josg[/video]

 

Thanks for catching these scenes for us! I hope someone is conserving at least a few of those machines.

I didn't know Wisconsin Central was involved in British railroading. Around here (western half of US) we often call Union Pacific by the name The Borg because of the way in which they assimilate other roads.

 

That's some nice action of some coal workings from across the pond. Thanks for sharing!

According to Wikipedia, there are five Class 56s that are currently preserved.

 

Problems with photobucket

let me try again



thats better!

56 008 in tatty Railblue livery slows for the crossover at Chesterfield station. This was one of the early ones built in Romania and was deeply disliked by the fitters who had to maintain it!

A good place to catch the 56s was Woodhouse station on the old Great Central line from Sheffield to Worksop where the MGR coal train was run round. 56 021 is seen in the cutting to the east of Woodhouse station



Both HAA and HEA coal hoppers can be seen in this shot

Also on the GCR and further east a 56 hurries through Shireoaks station on a working from West Burton power station. Note the classic early GCR signalbox



embedded better into the thread 56 080 at Clay Cross Junction with a nothbound MGR



cheers KEV

 

The class 56 groups website is

http://www.class56group.co.uk/

best of luck to them. (Some of my fitters worked on them back in BR days and hated them!)

KEV

 

I Know. I model the Sacramento River canyon in Z and my Espee mates have always described U.P as the borg! Ed Burkhart came across the pond with grand ideas for railfreight in the U.K but I think he got shafted by his own board of directors. EWS is now owned by DB Shenke now, a division of DB (Deutsche Bundesbahn) german state railways and from the people I know who work there it is not a happy ship.
KEV

 

Thanks for sharing Kevin, one can only imagine the rails during WWII in England and feel fortunate we both are not speaking German ...
Paul