The Flickr Cliffehillstudfarmtodoncasterupdecoy Image Generatr

Well, what can I say... the TV series 'Thunderbirds' are remembered once more in the title of this charter, Thunderbirds are Go', en-route to Scotland and a long weekend of rail frivolity... Not a good day to be stood around as it turned out as it was fairly glum, cool and damp, but fortunately during the hour, no rain. During this hour, apart from the approaching charter train, there were also 3 freight moves and 3 passenger services, the latter also adding a little extra dimension to the shots, 3 of which are composite..
In the 1st of the 4-part mosaic pictures, telling yet another story, the scene looks over the old Masbrough Station site from the Midland Road bridge at the north end of the station. At upper left, a combination of traffic on the lines, in this 60 minutes, shows the approach from the south, of the weekend charter tour heading for Scotland, along the platform 3 line. This is the 4-day round trip charter, 1Z36, 'Thunderbirds are Go!' heading up from Derby and en-route to Linlithgow with 9 'MarkII, FO Riviera Coaches' in tow - 3340, 3364, 3314, 1657, 3356, 3278 & 9507.
57303/3 was rebuilt from class 47, 47317 to provide more power for West Coast Main Line passenger stock, when owned by Richard Branson's 'Virgin Trains'. They were used, among other things, to operate as a 'fast' rescue locomotive, when required, for Virgin West Coast Passenger services. As part of this operation, 16 class 57's were named-
* 57301 Scott Tracy
* 57302 Virgil Tracy
* 57303 Alan Tracy
* 57304 Gordon Tracy
* 57305 John Tracy
* 57306 Jeff Tracy
* 57307 Lady Penelope
* 57308 Tin Tin
* 57309 Brains
* 57310 Kyrano
* 57311 Parker
* 57312 The Hood
* 57313 Tracy Island
* 57314 Firefly
* 57315 The Mole
* 57316 FAB 1
from the old TV series by Gerry & Silvia Anderson, 'Thunderbirds are Go!'
Here at upper left it looks to have been approaching a red aspect on Signal S0425 at the north end of platform 3, but as it passed under 'Coronation Bridge', the signal changed to green and the engine revved up to pass straight through the station. It kept to the schedule and arrived in Linlithgow, just 2 minutes late, at 17:41, on the 8 hour run up from Derby, calling at Chesterfield, Swinton (bit of a surprise), York, Darlington, Newcastle, Edinburgh and finally Linlithgow.
Heading south of the fast lines at right, along platform 2 is a Northern Rail class 170, 170477 on the hourly service, this one, 1J43 from Bridlington to Sheffield. On Coronation Bridge, a 'Pallet Network' truck in matching blue livery, heads north and is about to pass 4 'enthusiasts' watching the passage of the charter train.
At upper right, with Signal S0425 having just changed to a green aspect to permit the charter to head on to the Midland Main line ahead, the set speeds up, no hanging about today, and heads of north on the 1Z36, Derby to Linlithgow, 'Thunderbirds are Go!' charter. What looks like a steam loco releasing some of its pent-up steam in the background, is the Templeborough Biomass plant exhausting water vapour from one of its large condensers next to the 'Old Road' around the corner. Fresh graffiti has once more been applied to the station walls and, as the lower right hand shot shows, more of the same on the station approach, on the wall alongside the old Millmoor Football ground off to the left.
at lower left, the set passes through the cutting north of the station with 2 of the 3 north-end signals visible, at far left, and still lit but hidden in the winter vegetation, the faint red aspect on S041 at the end of the old station back, goods, line can =still be seen in operation; the north-end of the line having now been severed from the main line. To its right the Midland Main line signal S0423 is showing red. of course, allowing the charter train to get away to the cross-over onto the main line at MAsbrough North Junction, where the old signalbox used to be, at the foot of the bank on the left just under the bridge. Silver Birch saplings have now taken over the 'central reservation' between the two sets of lines and this spring and summer will almost certainly block the view of the northern end of the 'Old Road' from his spot...
In the 4th, lower right shot, the view now looks south from Coronation Bridge and the 1st of the three freight workings approaches, fortunately for the composition of the shots here, it was running 10 minutes late and was held at the north-end signal, S0425, allowing some other traction to pass by, before moving off. Coming slowly around the corner from the Templeborough Biomass facility, and the old Masbrough Sorting Sidings, GBRf class 66, 66704, 'Colchester Power Signalbox' heads north on the sporadic, 6E42, Cliffe Hill Stud Farm to Doncaster Up Decoy working. It is hauling a rake of full, Network Rail, I.O.A.(E) type, yellow Box Wagons, 20 in all, on a Civil Engineers Train with a load of aggregate material. Booth's scrapyard is delineated by the line of double-stacked green containers with the usual presence of the blue and yellow jibbed cranes, Millmoor Football ground appears to also be in the same state it has always been in since the football club vacated this one in 2006 to, eventually, their new stadium at New York, Rotherham, not the USA!

The 'Thunderbirds are Go!' charter train clientèle, after arriving in the late afternoon of Thursday MArch 7th, are currently having a 3-day 'jolly' in Scotland, running around the place on various workings, before heading back south on Monday. These are the respective services running-
Outbound north (7th March), 'Thunderbirds are Go' charter
1Z36 Derby to Linlithgow
5Z36 Linlithgow to Barrow-in-Furness carriage sidings
Day 1 (8th March).
1Z36 Barrow-in-Furness to Manuel then Manuel to Edinburgh
1Z37 Edinburgh to Forth William
5Z37 ECS Forth William to Fort William carriage sidings
Day 2 (9th March).
1Z38 Fort William via Crianlarich to Oban
1Z39 Oban via Crianlarich to to Fort William
Day 3 (10th March).
1Z40 Fort William via Mallaig & Fort William to Wemsyss Bay
1Z41 Wemsyss Bay via Glasgow Central to Shields Rd. Junction
1Z42 Shields Rd. Junction via Glasgow Queen St. to Barrow-in-Furness G.F.
1Z43 Barrow-in-Furness G.F. via Manuel to Barrow-in-Furness
Return south (11th March) 'International Rescue' charter
1Z44 Linlithgow to Derby.
PHEW!!

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A follow-up picture, to accompany these 2 mosaics of the Masbrough Station area, has been up-loaded to my Image Archive #2 site, the picture being taken on Friday, 25th January, 2013, a cold, snowy day. The shot is taken south of the station and over-looks the Masbrough South Junction area where once resided its large North Midland Signalbox. In this area the North Midland line crosses over first, the Holmes Curve and then the South Yorkshire Navigation on a large bridge which also took the Masbrough South Curve, and its bridge, over from Holmes Junction to join the line here, just north of the box. The picture has been re-processed and enhanced since that time, just over 11 years ago, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch2/53587642393/

After departure of the charter train and the late-ish arrival of the aggregates train which had been running 10 minutes earlier further south, was now about to be held at the signal, S0425, the train seen here in the upper left of of the 2nd set of mosaic pictures, slowing to a halt for the signal ahead. This is GBRf class 66, 66704, 'Colchester Power Signalbox' heading north on the sporadic, 6E42, Cliffe Hill Stud Farm to Doncaster Up Decoy working. It is hauling a rake of full, Network Rail, I.O.A.(E) type, yellow Box Wagons, 20 in all, on a Civil Engineers Train with a load of aggregate material. As may be seen from this, and the other shots, not much has changed here at the old station site, except the repeated incursion of new graffiti tagging, which various flat, blank walls seem to encourage; and the less welcome, sides of freight wagons.. The 'Prince of Wales' pub still appears to be going though its outward state wouldn't suggest that all the rooms were being occupied for much of the time.. On the station Buddleia appears to rule the roost as far as prolific vegetation is concerned, its a shame as I find it rather pleasant to see but, it does get _everywhere_ if not controlled, just like Birch tree saplings... The goods line at the back of the station has now been left to rot away, after a clearance not so long ago, it's now once more covered in weeds and looks unlikely to be ever used again, the earlier prospect looked good, shame really.
At upper right, with the prospect of a light engine move arriving before the Stud Farm aggregates got away, the view-point changed to the east side of the station and, running 19 minutes early, just happened to be in this area, with the GBRf, 66704, still here and another freight, the third, the Dewsbury Cement, right behind the light engine. Rattling along the platform 4, old up goods line, is another GBRf, this time its 66725, 'Sunderland' on the 9 hour long distance move, 0O01, from Doncaster Up Decoy to Eastleigh East Yard; you'd think 'they' would have the odd spare light engine available at Eastleigh! Whilst this was going on, well, just about, another passenger service rattles through as well on the main line north over on the left. This happens to be the return service, 1W43, from the one seen earlier which was heading south to Sheffield from Bridlington, now its en-route back, this time to Scarborough, with the same Northern DMU, 170477, in charge; drat that Buddleia..
Its 11:05 and with the Stud Farm GBRf, 66704, still held at the signal _and_ GBRF 66725, moving along the up goods line, time for the 3rd of the 3 composite pictures, as a Freightliner heads along the up fast line towards Sheffield. Just to think, this wouldn't have been all that interesting a shot in 'the olden days' when freight and passenger traffic were passing through here like this all the time, but with the closeness of services on this day, it seemed appropriate to make a picture of how it once used to look, albeit with modern traction. Class 66 Freightliner, 66613, is on the regular 6M89, 'Freightliner Heavy Haul', Dewsbury Blue Circle to Hope Earles Sidings working with a rake of no less than 34 empty PCA Cement Tanks, off for a refill at the Castleton Cement works. Just needed a steam hauled charter to go through on the down fast line on platform 1 over on the far left, and that would have been something!!!!
In the final picture, now looking south over the site of the old Masbrough Station South signalbox area where the lines, unlike the past,ow go their separate ways, goods on the 'Old Road' to the left and passenger traction in the main to the right onwards through Meadowhall to Sheffield. ON this occasion, fortuitously, its freight on both sets of lines. The Dewsbury empty cement with Freightliner 66613 on the right heading passed the 'Rad Bull' public house, long since closed, and on the left and slowly moving towards the camera now, the GBRf has finally got away to the north, the signal at the north end S0425, having changed to a green after the Dewsbury had cleared the section to the north.
So quite a 60 minutes this turned out to be, after the two freights had gone, all went quiet once more, the next working, 4L11, to Felixstowe from the Masbrough N&W Container terminal to the south around the curve where the Biomass is still emitting a lot of steam in the cold air, not due for about 45 minutes...

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A follow-up picture, to accompany these 2 mosaics of the Masbrough Station area, has been up-loaded to my Image Archive #2 site, the picture being taken on Friday, 25th January, 2013, a cold, snowy day. The shot is taken south of the station and over-looks the Masbrough South Junction area where once resided its large North Midland Signalbox. In this area the North Midland line crosses over first, the Holmes Curve and then the South Yorkshire Navigation on a large bridge which also took the Masbrough South Curve, and its bridge, over from Holmes Junction to join the line here, just north of the box. The picture has been re-processed and enhanced since that time, just over 11 years ago, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch2/53587642393/

Brought to a halt, thankfully, whilst the coupled pair of 'Voyagers' got away along the main line to the north, the 37 pulled up at the signal a short time later, 1st the driver then the second-man got out and commenced photographing the occasion, can't say I blame them considering the location and the class of loco on show, in very fine 'fettle 'as well. The light was so good looking north here, away from the sun, that the driver's orange hi-viz jacket is reflecting well off the side of the shiny loco. There's a Network Rail van at the side of the up line with a 'STOP' board mounted on the up line, towards Derby, rail head and beyond that, at the corner, is Masbrough North Junction with a 40mph restriction for the cross-over and a 75mph speed limit on the up line to the south. The brown relay building wall, facing the tracks, has once again had the graffiti painted out and I have lost count of how many times the 'artwork', of different style, soon reappears! Its now just a minute or two before S0425 changes aspect, the drivers are back in the cab and with a great engine rumble and yet another cloud of black, not blue, smoke, the 37 heads off onto the Midland Main line around the corner and on to Doncaster. his is the R.O.G., 'Rail Operations Group'/'Loram Rail' with class 37, 37510, ex-D6812 and 37112, 'Orion' in 'Europhoenix Livery' on the 0Z37, Derby R.T.C. to Doncaster Wood Yard working. After arriving at the, so called, 'Wood Yard', the loco will be coupled up to 10 old Network Rail MRA side-tipping ballast wagons, for the trip from there back to the Derby R.T.C on the 6Z37 working. Having arrived in Doncaster at 11:48, it will not however come back this way but sets off back at 12:34, 31 minutes early and heads east via Gainsborough Lea Road, Newark, Nottingham, Beeston and finally Derby R.T.C., hours later at 15:41; possibly a wagon positioning move back at R.T.C., arriving from the south instead of the north.

This first move was believed to have a couple of class 20s on it for a move from the Doncaster 'Wood YArd' back to the R.T.C., Railway Technical Centre, at Derby, but in the event, turned out to be an equally worthy single loco, class 37, 37510, 'Orion'. In this first shot, the loco had rattled along the Old Road from Tapton Junction having set out on time from the R.T.C. and then is paused in this area, on the old Westgate branch line bridge, now the line which accesses Booth's Scrapyard. There didn't appear to be any reason for this, other than the drivers fancied a looks-see into the scrapyard to see what was about; Masbrough's north end signal S0425 was at red anyway. After several minutes, the engines were revved up, a large cloud of black diesel smoke came up and it proceeded north into the Masbrough Station site along platform 3, halting at the still red-aspect signal. This is the R.O.G., 'Rail Operations Group'/'Loram Rail' with class 37, 37510, 'Orion' in 'Europhoenix Livery' on the 0Z37, Derby R.T.C. to Doncaster Wood Yard working. Some, scant, information about the class 37-

Number: 37510
Class: 37/5
Depot: BH - Barrow Hill Roundhouse Museum
Pool: Unknown
Livery: DZ - Direct Rail Services - Two Tone Compass Blue
Builder: English Electric Vulcan Foundry
Built: 13/02/1963
Works Number: E3241/D766, in 1963 as D6812
Numbers: D6812, 37112, 37510
First Allocation: Darnall
Name: 'Orion'

In the background, the still extant remains of the old Midland Control centre building, displaced in the 1060s by one of the most awful structures in the UK, so it was rated, 'Sheaf House', next to Midland Railway Station, and long demolished.

With the 37 out of the way, it was a short time, around 15 minutes before the next piece of traction arrived and this time one which, as far as I am aware, does not run all that often anymore. Fortunately once more, a well turned out, G.B.R.f. loco with a brightly coloured set of yet another type of Network Rail Civil Engineers wagons, the large M.B.A. type, with a 2000 tonne timing load of aggregate on board. The left-hand shot here shows yet another fine G.B.R.f loco, 66711, 'Sence', on the once regular 6E42 working, Cliffe Hill Stud Farm to Doncaster Up Decoy. In the haul is a rake of 21 yellow M.B.A.s carrying aggregate from the interestingly names, 'Stud Hill Farm' area in Leicestershire, these days theses workings now seem to be 'few and far between'... The other locos in the G.B.R.f. 'stable' which have interesting livery are-
66709 MSC Shipping Livery
66711 Aggregate Industries
66718 London Transport
66720 Childrens Rainbow
66721 London Transport White
66727 Maritime Blue
66743 Brown Maroon Livery
66746 Brown Maroon Livery
66747 Newell & Wright Transport
66779 Brunswick Green
66780 Cemex Blue/White
66783 Biffa Red Orange
66789 BR Large Logo
though I am not sure how up-to-date this list is in an ever changing livery era where locos get named and then re-named and re-liveried as need arises...
In the right shot, the N'R. guys are now out and about at the side of the relay building and .. well I have no idea what they are up to during this south-bound line possession of the 'Old Road'..

It was lucky, for a change, that this happened at the same time, passage of another yellow front-panel type of traction, this time a passenger train on the long, 05:24 departure, arrival, 12:34 with 17 station stops, 1S37, Plymouth to Newcastle service and 2 'Voyagers' coupled together, 221133 & 220024 on the Midland Main Line at right. In front of the long close 'Red Bull' Public House and the small estate built on the Holmes Junction West Sidings beyond the long passenger set passes the class 37, now slowing for a stop at Masbrough north end, signal S0425 still at red and which will afford some for a cab exit and photography of the loco by the driver and second-man. This is the R.O.G., 'Rail Operations Group'/'Loram Rail' with class 37, 37510, ex-D6812 and 37112, 'Orion' in 'Europhoenix Livery' on the 0Z37, Derby R.T.C. to Doncaster Wood Yard working. After arriving at the, so called, 'Wood Yard', the loco will be coupled up to some, 10 in fact, old Network Rail MRA side-tipping ballast wagons for the trip from there back to the Derby R.T.C on the 6Z37 working.

Risking 'life and limb' to get over Coronation Bridge, the traffic is once more a tad horrendous with a lot of speeding as usual, this view shows the twin coupled Voyager set, 221133 & 220024 getting away north up the main line on the 1S37 "Plymouth to Newcastle service, whilst 37510, ambles slowly along and comes to a halt, well short of the north-end signal. More brilliant yellow-end panels brighten up an otherwise quite sombre station site, I see the graffiti has one more been 'browned-out', and on the up goods line on the far right, under the Midland Road bridge, Network Rail are present. This is indicated by the presence of a 'STOP' board on the far-right railhead on the up line just beyond the bridge; the line had been under possession since early on and there were no south-bound freights during the morning and afternoon. On the old 'down goods' line is the R.O.G., 'Rail Operations Group'/'Loram Rail' class 37, 37510, ex-D6812 and 37112, 'Orion' in 'Europhoenix Livery' on the 0Z37, Derby R.T.C. to Doncaster Wood Yard working. After arriving at the, so called, 'Wood Yard', the loco will be coupled up to some, 10 in fact, old Network Rail MRA side-tipping ballast wagons for the trip from there back to the Derby R.T.C on the 6Z37 working.

Another dash, this time by foot, but now just the smaller of the two distances mentioned before, about 250m back to the Midland Main line at Kilnhurst to await passage of another regular, the 'Dewsbury'. Fortunately this was halted at Swinton for a few minutes then appeared to take a few more minutes longer than expected to come just south to here at the old Midland's Kilnhurst Station site below St Thomas Church in the background. Fortunately not only did a red truck pass by as the Freightliner got to this point, but a Northern Rail DMU, class 142, rattled north to Swinton Station giving what could be sub-tiled, 'a Red, Green & Blue aspect to the frame. The passenger DMU is on the 2R11, Lincoln Central to Adwick service and is seen passing Freightliner class 66, 66587 on the regular late morning 6M89, Dewsbury Blue Circle Cement, depart 09:46, to the Earles Sidings at Hope, arrival 12:10, 600 tonne empties working. The red truck belongs to another recycling firm, 'Universal' this time and their base is also in the Swinton area this, along with much else in these parts, is now indicative of what has taken over the old, heavy industrial concerns which used to pervade the are in every nook and cranny; recycling materials these days is big business and everyone appears to want to get in on it, no bad thing really.

With more controllable light in the north facing images, a set of passengers await the next local service, the Northern 2N19, Leeds to Sheffield stopper, as class 66, 66134 ambles along the platform one line with its motley rake of old wagons, presumably for scrap somewhere further north? Some slight interest is being shown by the passengers and one has a camera out, I think, taking shots of the interesting scene happening a few feet away. Although not visible in the image, Swinton's S0461, was showing green with the 'feather' lit as the set is taking the east-bound cross-over just ahead, to proceed on through Mexborough and Conisbrough and so to Belmont Down Yard in Doncaster, having set off from the T.M.D. at Toton this morning at 08:34, it will arrive in around half an hour, 12 minutes late, at 11:02; the 6E23 working.

* SYJR - Dinnington Junction
With the two mid-morning workings having departed, the earlier Cottam having passed by before I arrived, there was now nothing for it to either return home or, to try and wait it out, 3 hours according to the time-table, for the next working along here, significantly, a coal train. Having already decided before arrival, that a walk would be in order in weather which, this week, was probably going to be the only good day, this next pair of shots shows some of the local features, now that Dinnington Colliery is no more. On the left, in front of the Cam,fit Road bridge at the point where the single-track section of the SYJR, opens out into double-track metals, a series of signposts showing the walking tracks, one in particular along the track-bed of the now defunct Laughton Mineral Line to Thurcroft Colliery, also long gone and the 'Bluebell Way', a walking track alongside the SYJR along to Dinnington. The board in the foreground also points to the large hill, south of and once part of Dinnington Colliery, which is now an open parkland area, rising up atop what must have been, yet again for these sorts of spaces, an now grassed slag-head; pleasant enough and with unobstructed wide-ranging views of the area. Atop the Dinnington Colliery mound, now grassed over, on the north side facing what is now a circus/travellers site at top left, was this display of artificial flowers and a tribute with no indication as to what it referred to... thoughts centre on some tragedy, and the scene, looking over a nature pond and hide, felt and looked poignant, with the backdrop being the line formation of the South Yorkshire Joint line, set in the cutting in front of the two grey buildings behind the 'red heart' and passing in front of the 'circus ground' now occupying the background..

* SYJR - Dinnington Junction
Back to the trains for the 1st of the new year shots. Seemingly the SYJR, South Yorks Joint Railway, line from Kirk Sandall in the north to Brancliffe East JUnction in the south on the Lincoln line, is once more seeing daytime traffic, albeit at a rate of only 1 or 2 moves every two hours or so... Still anything is better than the pre-Xmas situation when on occasion there were no moves during a 24-hour period. GBRf appear to sending a few of their moves to and from Doncaster to the south via this route rather than heading south along the old GC line through Mexborough and thence the main passenger route, the Midland Main Line, through Masbrough and thence south to Tapton Junction. This week has also seen Colas running a pair of class 67s in light engine mode, up and down the SYJ on Tuesday and Wednesday, from Derby through Doncaster and on to Hatfield, passage through here being at 10:44 on the north-bound leg and 15:12 on the south-bound leg, the run being 30 minutes early in each case. GBRf also had their regular Wellingborough working passing through but this only ran on Tuesday & Wednesday this week. Today, in somewhat glum weather again, unlike yesterday, yet another working ran, for today only, again operated by Colas, the 6xxx, from Rugby D.E.D. to the Doncaster D.C.E Sdgs., currently running 69 minutes late; not sure what this was. In this first shot which I thought I would miss as it picked up on its 17 minute lead further south and ended up arriving in the area as I was driving, 'as quick as you might', heading for a spot south of Dinnington but at the last minute thought better of it and headed straight for this locale as the working pulled up at Worksop's WP0605, the signal immediately south of WP0607 which gave authority for the move from the double, to single track section. As it turned out, the set stooped for a while at WP0605 and I was left hat-less in the cold waiting for the working to come under the road bridge, south of the site of the old Dinnington Station and the point where the line at Dinnington Junction in the distance, curved east towards Dinnington Colliery, the site of which was just off to the left in this picture. Here, the driver is putting on power having crossed from the double to single track section, just behind the line of wagons and the working from the south is in the charge of GBRf class 66, 66776, 'Joanne', the 1st of 3 named GBRf units today, on the 6E42, Cliffe Hill Stud Farm to Doncaster Up Decoy, working, normally routed through Masbrough, on the 'Old Road'. Although the land over to the left was given over to the large Colliery and sewage works, on the right, where the new industrial estate now stands, there was very little in the way of any works, it being chiefly farmland, with the old tacked of the Midland & Great Central Joint line between Anston and Laughton West junction, passing through it; this line disappeared in the 1920s but, the blue-brick bridge abutments over Camfit Road are still present.

* SYJR - Dinnington Junction
The last working north, the Cliff Hill Stud Farm, arrived at Maltby box and waited, the next, diverted, working was from the north, Doncaster, was on its way and looking at the track diagram, they both ended up at the same signal. Once south of St. Catherines junction, the last signal south is at 229R en-route for the the Maltby box and this must be an up/down signal as both workings, 6E42 and this none, 6M73, were on the track diagram at the same signal. 6M73 is the regular lunchtime move to Toton from Doncaster and usually it is pathed through Masbrough, this week GBRf have been using the SYJR, maybe due to congestion, maybe for other reasons, whatever, here it is, preparing to take the road south onto the double track section. Its another engineers train consisting of track carriers and, once again, Network Rail MRA(C) side-tipping open ballast wagons. In charge at the front, a pair of GBRf class 66 locos, leading is 66778, 'Darius Cheskin' and behind that, 66773 on the 6M73, Doncaster Up Decoy to Toton North Yard, rails move, with toady, a fairly short rake in the consist. Over on the right, about a 20 mins before the pair of GBRf locos arrived, a Network Rail maintenance gang arrived, not to deal with any problem on the track, but to clear out the local water culverts, one of which runs at right angles to the track where their van is parked; must be a nice job, whatever the weather! This class 66 loco, 66778, has been seen before in these parts and 'Darius Cheskin', is an odd name and this is the reason why-

'... During a charity tour run by GB Railfreight on 15 July 2017, 66778 was named 'Darius Cheskin' at Cleethorpes station. GB Railfreight about the story behind 66778's new name:
A few months ago we auctioned off the opportunity to choose a name for one of our locomotives, with the proceeds being donated to our nominated charities. The auction winner was Mike Cheskin, a life long rail enthusiast from Charfield, Gloucestershire. Mike sadly lost one of his sons Darius in 2004 to a rare form of bone cancer called Ewing's Sarcoma. Mikes other son has since named his 7 year old grandson after him and Darius Junior is also an avid rail fan.
So when our staff charter train arrived in Cleethorpes on Saturday with Mike and his grandson on board, Darius was asked to uncover the nameplates on 66778, and was somewhat surprised at what he found underneath! Mike and Darius Cheskin are pictured here shortly after the unveiling and we're very grateful to Mike for a very generous donation to our charity fund..'

* SYJR - Brookhouse Viaduct
After the sojourn around the Dinnington Colliery site, there remained around 2 hours to go before the next passage of a train, this time once again, south along the SYJR. Not rushing away too quickly, it seemed pertinent to head north so that the earliest view of the next working could be had, and then a bolt home. The reason for 'hanging about' in this not too wonderful clime, was that a heavy coal train was due through the area which, it appeared was going to take its time coming along from the Humber ports and heading to the power station at Cottam. With a timing load of 2400 tonnes, and in the charge of yet another GBRf locomotive, it seemed prudent to try and catch this as soon as possible and that would have meant Firbeck, north of Maltby, before the working took pause at Maltby Box for a time-tabled stop of 35 minutes; another period of loitering around which wasn't welcome. In the event it was clearly to advantage to try and get the shot somewhere of note and what better, than once more, a coal train crossing the Brookhouse viaduct. I guess in reality now, this working could be describes as 'rare as hens teeth', nice expression that, and well, maybe not quite, but a GBRf, 2400 tonne coal train is something to warrant attention, and on this once very busy coal line it required some attention. Setting off at 11:40 from the Humber International Terminal, having loaded up with 2200 tonnes of coal or thereabouts, the GBRf move, 6F72, with 66740, 'Sarah' in charge, comes slowly over the Brookhouse Viaduct on the Immingham H.I.T to Cottam Power Station move; as soon as the loco got to the left side of the bridge, the driver put power on, and the long train scuttled off south, as quick as it might. A few minutes later, the driver sounded the horn, for the approach to the Laughton foot crossing, around 1km away to the south. The consist tailed back along the viaduct and there were around 20 or so GBRF HYA bogie coal hoppers full to the brim with foreign coal, the black stuff for Cottam Power Station; this and West Burton being the only two coal-fired power stations in the area, along the River Trent, east of Worksop. Shortly before the coal train arrived, a character from Dinnington, as it turned out, arrived to take care of his daughter's horses which, up until he arrived, had been in the field in front of the viaduct; they ran, out of shot to the left as soon as he opened the gate, one needing some encouragement, he then walked up towards the camera as the coal train started to cross the bridge. He stated that coal moves were all that ever came this way, but of course now, that's not true as there are other moves of other interest passing up and down this line, if not all that frequently, it is hoped the new usage keeps the line, and signal box at Maltby, going for a long while; the pre-Xmas workings, with not much happening at all, were looking to be a bit of a worry but that, at least this week, appears to have changed, its to be hoped it continues as this _is_ a very useful diversionary line, at the very least...

Not wasting anytime at all today and neither is this working being put in the Kilnhurst Loop, over on the left in front of the loco, as it does on very many occasions, especially if south-bound freights are in the area and they have to pass each other. Today that isn't the case and GBRf 66745, 'Modern Railways - The first 50 Years at Doncaster', rattles off north, it too now not far from completing the 5 hour journey from Leicestershire to Doncaster on the 6E42 working. All looks clean a tidy here, the ballast is new(ish) all the point-work is being retained and there is another signal with feather, S0716, for moves off the main line and into the loop, just behind the camera. To the right of the yellow MBA wagon, partially in shadow, the old site of the 'Thomas Hill Vanguard Locomotive Works', constructed in May 1978, by and for the Thomas Hill Vanguard Locomotive Works which continued in business until taken over in 1990 by the owners of Doncaster Wagon Works, R.F.S. Industries, now of course, Wabtec. The locomotive works finally closed here in 1993 when all work was transferred to Doncaster; the building survives and looks pretty much the same as it ever did, it is currently being used for light industrial purposes and looks to have been recently extended; there are still signs of rails going into the building at the north end, viewed on Google Earth. And, speaking of 'wasting no time' above, on the main road alongside the canal on the other side, another form of waste is being dealt with, this time its HGV belonging to 'Moulding Solution Plastic Recycling Ltd.', another local business in the Swinton area and it will presumably be dealing more and more with one of the now recognised blight's of the modern era, since the last war, plastic waste. The Chinese now of course are no longer willing to import the stuff, from here and elsewhere, and well, not actually sure what they used to do with it all, one assumes they recycled it into more products which were then sold back to us; seems like a 'heads they win, tails we lose', scenario!

The real reason for the mad dash over from Swinton Interchange appeared around 15 minutes later, running on time, in the form of colourful GBRf class 66, 66745, with a longish name, 'Modern Railways - The first 50 Years at Doncaster', on the regular run from the Cliffe Hill Stud Farm in Leicestershire, to Doncaster Up Decoy, on the 6E42 working. This working has a 2000 tonne timing load but today only 13 of the 20 box wagons appear full of aggregates from the quarry. On the right, a 'Stagecoach' bus, the No. 217 service to Mexborough is heading north right alongside the other side of the canal and behind the bus the large grey building belongs to 'Charles Thompson Ltd', fabricators of steel products of one sort or another and who have a rather prestigious on-line presence-
www.charles-thompson.co.uk/contact-us/
and a rather typical sort of industry to have in this once very industrial area. If its thirsty work in there during the long, hot Summer days, across the other side of the canal to the left of 66745, 'The Ship Inn' has a water-side view but no access and little in the way of outside space to enjoy the scene, the beer barrels appear to have the optimum spot... shame really. Sticking out above the rear of 66745, right on the bank of the canal is Sheffield PSB's, now controlled from York R.O.C. of course, S0716 MAS signal with feather, the latter authorising moves off the main line and into the Kilnhurst Goods Loop at the other side of the road bridge, behind the camera.

* SYJR - Dinnington Junction
Quickly dashing over the main road, very busy for such an 'outpost', but new industry, a 'circus/travellers' venue and new housing, the latter on the northern part of the colliery site, has changed all that, and the engineers train of blue and white Network Rail, MRA(C) side tipping ballast wagons, rattles off north towards Brookhouse Viaduct and the Maltby Colliery signalbox; the latter a bit of a misnomer, as there is now Maltby Colliery anymore. Just in front of where the train curves around slightly to the right in the distance, was Dinnington Station and off to the right, Kiveton Park sewage works now, as may be seen, yet another large industrial estates thrives with environmentally-friendly palisade fence, razor wire and with only the lineside birch-tree growth ignoring it all. The condition of the line, ballast and drains here and elsewhere, was improved by Network Rail last year and one wondered at the reason why at a time when the downturn in coal traffic produced hardly any moves along this line; maybe these GBRf diversions, and other stuff happening along here, were one of the reasons... This is the north-bound, GBRf class 66, 66776, 'Joanne' on the 6E42, Cliffe Hill Stud Farm to Doncaster Up Decoy, working... On the right, the large premises of 'Hodge-Clemco Ltd.', abrasive manufacturers of all kinds and beyond that, one of the largest Mobile Home and Recreational Vehicle retailers in the north, 'Marquis Motorhomes & Caravans Ltd.'

At the platform end, on the left, there is temporary speed restriction advance warning board for the junction to the south and at present, Swinton's S0464 is showing a red aspect though by this time, south-bound services were running through and a Northern service en-route from Scunthorpe to Lincoln Central, had just passed. DBC 66134, is on the short haul of a motley set of old wagons including an MBA type and an old coke hopper along with 3 others I do not recognise... Think it may bell be the time for 'Mr. Scrapman'.... At last some finer weather is here and after the recent snow falls, it once more feels like Spring with Astronomical Spring starting on Saturday night when the UK puts the clock forwards one hour and B.S.T. starts again..

* SYJR - Dinnington Junction
The Engineers train arrived her on time, at 11:44, although earlier I had thought it would be delayed until the Stud Farm move, 6E42, cleared the line at Maltby, but the two workings must have crossed over at the box and so 66778 leading with 66773 behind arrived here promptly. It was odd, the working number, 6M73, shown on the Maltby signal, didn't clear and reset until the working had got onto the Lincoln line at Brancliffe East junction, giving the impression it was stuck at the signal at Maltby; until in the distant, partial gloom, a pair of headlights could be discerned coming towards the camera. Rushing over the road, the pair are picking up speed and heading south along the double track section towards Anston, then curving left towards the newly refurbished, Brancliffe East Junction. Behind the pair of 66s is a VolkerRail crane and then a series of track wagons, all heading as usual at this time of day, south to Toton North Yard.

The next two, light engine moves, came past in quick succession and rather unusually, these regular lunchtime moves were both down-graded from a class 6 to class 0, both light engines. Both class 6 locomotives, on the left, in DBC red the 6X01, now 0X01, 66009, on the Scunthorpe Trent T.C. to Eastleigh East Yard, 'Rails Train', today, with no rails. On the right following 20 minutes later the second light engine move, this time the other lunchtime south-bound run, a GBRf class 66, 66776, 'Joanne' on the 6M73, now down-graded to 0M73, the Doncaster Up Decoy to Toton North Yard working. Both locos are seen passing the 'pile of red-bricks', which is now all that remains of the Woodhouse Mill railway station; it always amazes me how just bits of the old infrastructure, swept away over the last 50 years or more, are left at the lineside when all the other materials are taken away. Should be grateful I suppose that at least something remains to remind us where things actually used to be though are are pictures around, in this case, of what the scene used to look like here...

As the light and messy scene near the lines at Beighton weren't very welcoming, a move a little further north for the rest of the shots, back to Woodhouse Mill. This first shot, a two-part panorama, featuring a horse and rider over on the right taking a walk along the path which used to be the sidings into one of the B.S.C.'s slag reduction sites with its own engine shed for two local shunters and a travelling crane along with the usual mounds of slag. The area is now a small woodland with Treeton Dyke set amidst it with its escapees; a family of Turtles which came out of the River Rother during one of its flooding periods, not uncommon, where the turtles came from in the River... who knows. Woodhouse Sewage works is on the left and the new Wavereley Housing estate set to consist of around 4000 dwellings, can be seen in the centre background on the northern edge of the old Orgreave Coking plant site. Trundling up from the south, the second of the only two north-bound workings, this time in the form of a class 66 Freightliner, 66507 hauling another 2000 tonne timing load, this time, 6E88 from the Mountsorrel Quarry Sidings, up to Doncaster Down Decoy. The consist is ballast and is once again being carried in 20 or so of N.R.'s blue and grey MRA(A) side tipping, open ballast wagons. The area ahead towards the Treeton down goods loop, has been cleared recently and there is now a good view of proceedings along the line; it looks like the loop's longevity is assured, for the present at any rate. The pile of bricks at lower right, in front of the N.R. access gate, along with the leaning telegraph pole, is now all that's now left of Midland's old Woodhouse Mill Station, set between the running lines where now the weeds grow...

Some additional information provided with thanks to Adrian Booth-
' This site was operated by the Slag Reduction Company. The Hudswell Clarke loco was an 0-4-0 saddle tank fitted with 14in x 20in outside cylinders and 3ft 3in diameter wheels. It was HC 1340, originally new to Vickers Ltd. of River Don Works, Sheffield, as their No.16. The second loco was a Yorkshire Engine Company 2345 of 1934, which was another outside-cylinder 0-4-0 saddle tank....'