Class 60 locomotives

• 60008, 60046 and 60049 form an 0Z96 Immingham - Washwood Heath light engine movement, seen here passing Barrow-on-Trent at 14:17 on Thursday 21st September 2006. All three had recently been re-instated to traffic after a period out of use.
• Back at Barrow-on-Trent a decade later, when little had changed apart from the trains. This is 60011 heading 6E54 Kingsbury - Humber, and was photographed at 12:27 on Thursday 25th February 2016.
• Only a few days out of the Toton paint-shop, 60017 heads the 6M82 Walsall - Tunstead cement empties through Water Orton at 13:42 on Wednesday 5th September 2012. This train only produced a Class 60 sporadically, and has since been discontinued in favour of a train from Earles Sidings (Hope). Waiting the road on the left of this shot is 4L68 Birch Coppice - Felixstowe, which ran via Walsall and Birmingham International, and therefore needed to cross the main line here. It was subsequently discontinued.
• 60018 coasts past a newly re-modelled Ryecroft Jct with 6G22 Washwood Heath - Bescot at 18:45 on Wednesday 30th July 2008.
• 60019 coasts downhill through Leamore (between Bloxwich and Walsall) with a coal train from Mid Cannock. This shot was taken at 11:43 on Saturday 15th February 1997. It's the train rather than the loco which is really of interest here. The sidings at Mid Cannock were being used as an opencast disposal site at this time, and I recorded this train as being destined for Daw Mill (where the load would doubtless be blended with better quality deep-mined coal). In 1996 similar wagon-sets had been used to deliver coal from places like Maltby to Mid Cannock, again for blending. The empties off that service also ran through Bloxwich as 6P60 Mid Cannock - Toton, but this loaded train makes for a better picture. Although coal trains still rumble around the Black Country en route to and from Rugeley power station, all the local sources have now gone. The last pit in Staffordshire was Littleton, which closed in 1993. Daw Mill, the last pit in Warwickshire, closed in 2013.
• 60021 heads the 6M11 Washwood Heath - Peak Forest stone empties through Willington at 10:20 on Tuesday 18th September 2007.
• 60038 had only just been re-painted when this picture was taken at 15:24 on Thursday 28th March 2002, and by the look of the silver buffers and white tyres it had been tarted up for its re-naming ceremony ("Avesta Polarit"). It's trundling along Elford loop with the 6M00 tanks to Kingsbury, a train which would later be operated for a period by Freightliner Heavy Haul, before DBS regained the traffic. 60038 went into store in December 2008, and was moved from Toton to Crewe DMD in January 2009. It was still stored at Crewe DMD at the end of 2012.
• 60039 was working 6E08 Wolverhampton - Immingham on Tuesday 11th March 2014. This train which normally recesses at Bescot for an hour from about 13:30 to 14:30, and in early 2014 was more often than not worked by a Class 60. Occasionally E08 arrives Bescot substantially earlier, between 11:00 and 12:00. On those occasions it often recesses in the downside, rather than the UDG loop, but either way the loco stays with the train. However on this occasion it arrived early and the loco was removed from the train and fuelled. This shot was taken at 13:44, as 039 heads back to its train from the shunt neck at the north end of the depot.
• 6M09 Briggs Sidings - Walsall is booked to arrive at its destination just after 06:30, and once the loco has run-round the train all subsequent shunting is done from the north end of the yard, where there are no useful views for photography. This is the scene at 06:46 on Tuesday 9th June 2015, as 6M09 draws to a stand so that the loco can be detached.
• The 6E59 Kingsbury - Lindsey empty tanks heads north past Elford at 16:33 on Saturday 2nd August 2008. The loco is 60040, which had recently been re-painted to celebrate the centenary of the Territorial Army.
• 60040 worked a Liverpool Bulk Terminal (Gladstone Dock) - Ironbridge coal train on the morning of Saturday 7th February 2009. Here's the return empties passing Cosford at 13:24, where it was slotted in between the 12:47 Shrewsbury - New St (Cosford 13:17) and the 12:20 Wrexham - Marylebone (Cosford 13:30). The train is formed of a rake of HTA hoppers with buffers at the outer ends.
• Now re-painted into DBS red, 60040 worked 6V05 Round Oak - Margam on Friday 27th July 2012. There would be few, if any, more opportunities to photograph a 60 in sunshine under the semaphores at Kidderminster, as they were swept away when the signalling was modernised in late August 2012. The appearance of D821 was an unexpected bonus in this shot, which was taken at 10:31.
• 60040 heads past Hardwick Wood, Streetly, with 6E08 Wolverhampton - Immingham. The train is just about to enter Sutton Park in this shot, which was taken at 15:05 on Thursday 13th March 2014. Usually a very good timekeeper out of Bescot, the empty steel was running about 15 minutes late on this occasion. I must confess to some tinkering here. The sun wasn't high enough to clear the trees, which left faint shadows on the train. I've removed those shadows from the locomotive bodyside in the post-processing. It's April before the shadows fall short of the up line, on which 6E08 is running. A later visit here, in the summer of 2018, found that no shot was possible. Vegetation growth rendered the fence all but unreachable from the public side, and even if it had been possible to get near it vegetation on the railway side precluded photos in any case.
• 60041 trundles down Elford loop at 15:10 on Wednesday 21st March 2007. The train is 6G47 Mountsorrel - Bescot, which ran via Loughborough, Sheet Stores Jct and Burton, unlike the outbound working which went via Nuneaton and Leicester. Taking a circular route meant that the loco didn't have to run-round the wagons.
• 60041 again, this time heading a late-running 6M11 Washwood Heath - Peak Forest past Washwood Heath yard at 11:40 on Wednesday 31st October 2007. The train is a mixed rake of wagons in RMC and Cemex liveries. Mexican-based Cemex bought the RMC Group in 2005.
• Only 14 Class 60s were in active pools by the time this picture was taken on Saturday 21st February 2009. One of them was 60044, seen here taking the 6M57 Lindsey - Kingsbury tanks through Willington at 11:20. Some regular 60 turns were handed over to Class 66s during February 2009, including this one - a Class 60 being used only occasionally thereafter. The refurbishment program for 60s, and their subsequent resurgence, saw this train once again become a solid 60 turn in 2012.
• 60044 heads through Aldridge with the 6H64 Walsall - Dowlow empty stone. This shot was taken at 12:16 on Saturday 18th April 2015, with the train running almost exactly to time. Stone trains started to run to Walsall in early November 2014. They share the sidings with the cement train, the stone using the yard in the morning and the cement in the afternoon. The stone uses similar paths to the cement when it ran from Tunstead (rather than Earles as it does now), and hence normally shares the same headcodes, 6M09 and 6M82. Quite why the empties ran as 6H64 on this occasion I know not, but the loaded train was 6M09 as usual.
• For a short period in summer 2007 the Margam - Corby coil trains were diverted to run from Wolverhampton Steel Terminal, the reason for which I've long forgotten. This led to trains of coil, loaded on open wagons, running over routes that no longer saw this sort of traffic. In this shot 60045 leads 6M96 Wolverhampton - Corby past the site of Sutton Park station at 12:44 on Wednesday 8th August 2007.
• 60051 passes the south end of the village of Cwm with 6B83 Ebbw Vale - Margam, the morning coil empties from the tinplate works. This shot was taken at 08:52 on Friday 25th June 1999. The tinplate works closed in 2002, while 60051 was stored in 2010 before being sold to Wabtec in 2017.
• 60054 was turned out for the 6M81 Margam - Round Oak steel on Wednesday 10th July 2013. Here it is, running a bit late on the approach to Droitwich at 10:09. Class 60s remain relatively uncommon on Round Oak trains, and those that do appear usually work the earlier 6M11 service.
• There's so much info around nowadays, in terms of both loco allocations and train running, that it's not often you're taken by surprise at the lineside. But that's what happened here. A trip to Streetly hadn't been very productive. RTT was also playing up, not updating running times from about 14:00, so there was no definitive info on train movements beyond random gen posts. It was perhaps only the lack of early success that made me hang on for 4G63 Bescot - Hams Hall, although we were only expecting the regular DBS 66. When a train was heard approaching at 15:20 we had no idea what it was, and it was a genuine surprise to see 60054 appear at the head of 4G63. Class 60s are not unknown on container trains, but they're pretty rare. This one was relatively easy to use a 60 on, an out and back with one driver, and no 75mph running required.
• This train proved popular amongst photographers in the summer of 2007. Firstly because it ran at a very useful time for a midsummer shot, and secondly because in the week commencing 30th July it was regularly producing a Class 60 and HTA wagons. This was a rare combination in the Midlands and south as only a few HTA rakes have conventional couplers on the outer wagons. The train is 6V17 Bescot - Portbury, formed of empty coal hoppers off a Fiddlers Ferry - Bescot working. This view was taken at 17:03 on Thursday 2nd August, and shows 60056 passing East View Road (Wylde Green) on the Sutton Park line. Pete Tandy also shot this train at Croome Perry nearly two hours later in the last of the evening light.
• 60061 and 60044 head through Holywell Jct with 1T60 Crewe - Llandudno. This shot was taken at 15:15 on Sunday 11th August 1991, on which day a series of charter trains along the North Wales coast were organised by Trainload Coal to raise money for charity. All were double-headed by various members of Class 20, 37, 56 and 60.
• 60063 winds its way down the valley through Bedlinog at 14:48 on Thursday 29th May 1997. The train is 6Z47 Cwmbargoed - Barry formed of empty MEA box wagons. At this time coal was being taken to Cwmbargoed from other South Wales sites.
• Steel trains pass at Brierley Hill on Tuesday 16th July 2013. It's 10:09, and 60063 is half a mile from its destination with 6M81 Margam - Round Oak. Meantime the Class 66-hauled 6V05 Round Oak - Margam has just got out of the way in time. I was a bit narked by the light on this shot, dawn broke cloudless, but a hazy fug rolled in about 40 mins before the train arrived, and then cleared about 10 mins after it passed. It's one I'd like to have another go at, but although 60s have become more common on 6M11/6V05 this year, their appearances on 6M81/6V07 are much less frequent. Brierley Hill yard stands to the right, these days reduced to a couple of sidings, and unused since the FLHH stone train from Croft stopped running a couple of years ago.
• 60068 worked a 6Z00 Lindsey - Kingsbury tank train on Friday 6th April 2007. It arrived in Elford loop at 15:25, and didn't depart until 16:15 so there was ample opportunity to do it both arriving and departing. This picture shows the 20-bogie train climbing past Portway at 16:17.
• 60074 was working the 6V75 Dee Marsh - Margam steel empties on Saturday 20th April 2013. I wasn't aware that it was running significantly early. In the event I only arrived at Wistanstow, just north of Craven Arms, with a few minutes to spare. 6V75 rolled by at 10:12, some 65 minutes up on its booked time.
• 60074 drops through Ryecroft Jct with 6G45 Toton - Bescot. It was running just under half-an-hour early when photographed at 18:56 on Wednesday 17th August 2016. Taken in the last vestiges of light on this August evening, and likely one of my last attempts at this shot before the wires arrive.
• 60074 heads away from Walsall at 09:20 on Saturday 6th July 2013. The train is 6D99 Bescot - Toton, formed of HQA ballast wagons, and running an hour late. This was before the re-signalling of course, so signal WL68 on the gantry is still lit and its replacement, DR4366, lurking in the foreground shadow is still under wraps. The new signal has a position 1 feather for the up fast line, whereas the old one had an F/S theatre route indicator. The new signal also stuffs the wider shot off the steps of the footbridge, but in any event vegetation would have done for it anyway. Compare the trees on the redundant part of the trackbed with this shot taken in 2001.
• A shot that required two attempts. 60077 crosses Stambermill Viaduct, Stourbridge, with the 6M41 Margam - Round Oak steel. This photo was taken at 18:02 on Wednesday 14th May 2008. My first pop at this ended in failure a few days earlier. On that occasion an appointment with dinner saw me walk away from the shot at about 18:20, after a 50 minute wait. M41 turned up about three minutes later, just as I was getting into the car, but at least it was only a 66. On this second attempt I turned up in plenty of time to ensure that I didn't miss it on a lovely sunny afternoon. In the event I had to wait an hour, but it was probably worth it. Stambermill Viaduct stands in the middle of suburban Stourbridge, taking the railway over the River Stour and the A458 Birmingham road. The river follows the curving tree line to the right, and goes under the arch beneath the second wagon. The road is further to the right.
• 60079 worked 6M81 Margam - Round Oak on Friday 20th April 2012, The return working is 6V07 Round Oak - Margam, at this time booked to leave around 17:00. 60079 is seen departing Kingswinford Jct pretty much bang on time, at 17:19. Signal KJ76 to the left showed a fixed red aspect, with a call-on signal below. Trains to Round Oak collected a train staff at Kingswinford Jct, which was just beyond the second overbridge. Kingswinford Jct box was abolished in August 2012 as part of the same scheme which saw the demise of Kidderminster, Blakedown and Stourbridge Jct boxes.
• 60089 shunts ballast wagons at Bescot on Thursday 8th May 2008. It's about to detach from a rake of empty HQA hoppers which its positioned for loading, and then propel the adjacent loaded rake back into the Up Yard. 60089 was taken out of service in August 2008, and in late 2013 was stored in Toton Yard.
• Not much freight traffic through Walsall on the late afternoon of Thursday 9th July 2015. The Bridgwater flask ran, passing nearly an hour early as it often does, just after 16:00. The Westbury - Bescot was untypically an hour early, passing just before 15:00, maybe because there was no traffic. However there was no Rugeley coal, and the Washwood Heath - Bescot was caped. What did run was 6V52 Wolverhampton - Margam, which was hauled by 60092 and was helpfully 43 early as it emerged from Park St tunnel at 17:33. There's been some vegetation clearance here in recent times, allowing this shot from the west side of the line which hadn't been possible for many years previously (it used to look like this). It won't be available for long though, regrowth is already evident, and in any case OLE is coming as part of the Cannock line electrification.
• A photo taken on a digital camera, but already more than a decade old. 60093 heads north through Lea Marston at 09:33 on Tuesday 26th October 2004. The train is 6M11 Washwood Heath - Peak Forest.
• 60099 approaches Bescot with 6G99 from Toton. This pic was taken at 15:49 on Saturday 6th April 2013. It's not a train that normally produces a Class 60, and the load on this occasion was just two bogie flats. 60099 worked the Bescot - Stud Farm ballast on Monday the 8th, before returning to Toton on Tuesday the 9th.
• 60100 again, this time powering away from Water Orton at 10:48 on Monday 29th September 2003. The train is 6Z61 Washwood Heath - Grimsby.
• 60100 crawls out of Bescot Down Reception at 14:55 on Tuesday 15th August 2017. The train is 6E08 Wolverhampton - Immingham, which was diverted all that week due to electrification work around Walsall. During this period the train ran as normal into Bescot, then ran-round and went forward via Soho and New St. On this particular day the Wolves - Bescot leg ran around three hours early, arriving at 10:39. This wasn't uncommon, and the train was subsequently retimed to leave Wolverhampton at 10:04 and recess at Bescot until 14:30.
• 60500 passes Barrow-on-Soar with 6E52 Peak Forest - Peterborough. This train was booked to run on Mondays and Wednesdays at this time, and the shot was taken at 14.14 on Monday 10th October 2005. The MBA wagons convey limestone. The footbridge in this shot was destroyed in an accident on 1st February 2008. A lorry engaged in railway engineering work clipped the deck causing it to collapse and foul the railway, which was open for traffic. A Class 158 ran into the wreckage, injuring the driver. A new bridge was eventually provided, and is visible in this shot.