The Flickr Rotherhamroadrailwaystation Image Generatr

* Parkgate
This is another of the Finsbury Park 'jollies' of which there have been two in the past years, the earliest I photographed at Brookhouse Viaduct and then later at Shepcote Lane, Tinsley Yard, was on 5th January, 2013; 'The High Marnham & Tinsley' Charter, see above in the Tinsley section. The next, photographed, was 4 years later on a warmer June 14th, 2017, this was 'The Great Central Lament' Charter, at Deepcar, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/35275365041/
and at Thoresby Colliery, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/35364913096/
and today, its back to Tinsley for a time, 'The Tinsley Tugger' and, once more, its a 'U.K. Railtours' operation with the traction, once again, supplied by D.B. Shenker Cargo. Of the 89 pictures taken in total, not to mention the 2-part video in 3 and 2 sections, the pictures here represent the best 'flavour' of the scenes shot and given that the Tinsley & Woodburn videos then 'fill-in' the missing bits, there seemed little point in posting anything other than what I though the best and most representative of the bunch. As usual , around this time, other 'things' are happening and before the Charter arrives the usual passage of liner traffic makes its was into and the out of the new terminal at Tinsley Yard and, with some 'fiddling', are seen here passing each other next to the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation, at the rear of the Parkgate Retail Shopping area off to the left. Heading north is Freightliner class 66, 66546 on the return service, 4D09, from the T.I.T.!, 'Tinsley Intermodal Terminal', to the Doncaster EuroPort Terminal where it will continue on at some point to Felixstowe North(FLT). Heading in the opposite direction at about the same time, a more colourful G.B.R.f variant of the class 66, this one 66711, 'Sence' on the 4E53, from Felixstowe North(GBRf) into Tinsley Yard(GBRf) container terminal. 66711 is in two-tone blue/green 'Bardon Aggregates' livery and is hauling a lengthy 41 containers, almost a full load, as will be seen later. The Swan is more interested in the folks stood on the bridge than what's going on along the close-by tracks or he maybe eyeing up a piece of the once more, large pile of dumped filth next to the footbridge.

* Parkgate
The Freightliner has cleared away and another slightly later shot of the GBRF heading southwards is on the left with, once more, two folk walking along the canal bank, ignoring what's going on track-wise, just to their right. They also look to be intrigued as to why there are a half dozen 'blokes' stood on the two bridges, pointing cameras their way, I recall they did ask what we were all up to as they passed and appeared moderately interested, though not enough to hang about.. Once all the freights had cleared out of the way, the star of the show came clattering along the old G.C. tracks through Parkgate and appears just behind that piece of soon to be removed greenery, one can only hope, its not going to be too long before the driver's view is obscured as the damn thing is too close to the tracks.. With 13 coaches in tow heading towards the camera is DBS class 60, 60062, 'Stainless Pioneer' with, just visible at the back, class 66, 66007, on the 2nd part of today's 'Tinsley Tugger' Charter, 1Z14, from the Doncaster Royal Mail Terminal to Tinsley S.S., sorting sidings, but, as will seen, it terminated, thankfully, alongside the GBRf container train at the GBRf terminal at the south-east of the Yard. There wasn't _all_ that much indication at the time as to whether the Charter would pull up in the sorting sidings, get re-watered there and then reverse out, fortunately this didn't happen and the set came along the old Tinsley Yard 'by-pass' line, for workings not needing to use the Yard, and reversed from there instead, as the following pictured at the Yard and the video will show. The Charter had set off from Finsbury Park that morning at 06:53 with D.B.S. Cargo class 67, 67006, 'Royal Sovereign' in charge for the speedy run up the East Coast Main Line to Doncaster, arriving at 10:00, where the 67 came off and the 60 and 66 were put on for the 2nd leg of this section to Tinsley Yard arriving at 11:33 after a 30 minute saunter around some of the back lines in the Doncaster Yards area.

* Parkgate
Finally for the stills section, the 'piece-de-resistance' as it were, as 3 components come together, as they can here with the Charter on the left approaching the old lattice footbridge and, some what serendipitously, in similar livery as the class 60, a runner passes by smiling up at the gathered throng-ette and at right, the boat cruiser 'Melody' comes along in its slow way, looking to me like a converted barge, and nothing wrong with that. A rather perfect picture, if I do say so myself.. On the left, with 13 coaches in tow is DBS class 60, 60062, 'Stainless Pioneer' with, just visible at the back, class 66, 66007, on the 2nd part of today's 'Tinsley Tugger' Charter, 1Z14, from the Doncaster Royal Mail Terminal to Tinsley S.S., sorting sidings. The Charter had set off from Finsbury Park that morning at 06:53 with D.B.S. Cargo class 67, 67006, 'Royal Sovereign' in charge for the speedy run up the East Coast Main Line to Doncaster, arriving at 10:00, where the 67 came off and the 60 and 66 were put on for the 2nd leg of this section to Tinsley Yard arriving at 11:33 after a 30 minute saunter around some of the back lines in the Doncaster Yards area. Parkgate and Aldwarke U.E.S. steelworks stand in the background and U.E.S. are the outfit which is currently undergoing some strife as it is being sold-off once more, this time without much luck in terms of a buyer... this affects the steelworks at Stocksbridge and of course all the jobs there... its not turning out too well this time, as far as I can make out.

And, here it is... unlike yesterday's move, due to no fault of the operator, GBRf, the working was over two hours late but today, thankfully, its on time and is passing through the area on the 2nd day of another container working, this time run by Freightliner, to and from Felixstowe as well. At this point, the Freightliner had already left the newly named, 'Tinsley Intermodal Terminal', I am reminded again that one T.V. 'Spiv', head of the 'Trotter' family in 'Only Fools and Horses', Derek, 'Del' Trotter and his brother Rodney, used to call their 'operation', 'Trotters Independant Traders' and had 'T.I.T.' on the side of their yellow Reliant Robin 3-wheeler, I make no further comment! The Freightliner however was held up at the other side of Rotherham pending passage through the station of Northern DMU heading south from Central Station and along the Holmes Chord to Sheffield; it wasn't long before the Freightliner was given the green though. Preempting all that by a few minutes only, G.B.R.f, class 66, today its 66754, 'Northampton Saints', heads moderately quickly along G.C.R metals on the 4E53, from Felixstowe North(GBRf) to Tinsley Yard(GBRf). There were 43 containers in the consist and it took some time for the whole lot to pass by, meanwhile, the Freightliner had been let loose through Rotherham Central and there was a fear it may pass by, behind the GBRf working; fortunately, it didn't. So, it looks like the situation with container traffic in this area, is real and increasing, the working from the Southampton Marine Container Terminal, yet to start. There are a couple of very irritating bushes growing up just the other side of the palisade fence and unless a long-handled pair of secateurs isn't deployed, the views here are going to be ruined; one bush to the left and one further along near the 1st grey container, in the shot at left. The right-hand view now also has limited space to get anything in but the loco and two of its haul and, there another line of the damn things growing up along the fence in this direction as well... The result of the previous night's heavy downpours of hailstones are clear to see along the canal bank, and elsewhere, though there was no flooding; there was however one death, in the Blackpool area, a nine year old boy was struck by lightning and died... what on earth was he doing in an open field during a lightning storm...

The last container of the GBRf service into Tinsley Yard had hardly disappeared around the bend beyond the bushes when the engine of the approaching return service operated by Freightliner started to make it presence known. There is a picture at the end which 'fixes' this mismatch of 'ships, passing in the night'.. Heading back south from the newly designated 'Tinsley Intermodal Yard' in the Freightliner schedule, they probably don't want to use the 'Tinsley Yard(GBRf)' term, is class 66, 66526, 'Driver Steve Dunn(George)' on the 4L09, Tinsley Intermodal Yard to Felixstowe North F.L.T. The inbound working came up early this morning, departing at 00:29 on the 4E82, Felixstowe North F.L.T. and arriving here at the Tinsley Intermodal Terminal at 07:07, it then having around 5 hours to do its business before the arrival of the GBRf inbound working, the one seen here, 4E53, from the same place, terminating at 12:25. At right, the first of the composite pictures with the action on and off the 'stepping bridge' as Freightliner 66526, 'Driver Steve Dunn(George)' heads under the bridge on the return working south, 4L09, the Tinsley Intermodal Terminal, to Doncaster it transpires for a five and a half hour wait, before continuing on to Felixstowe North F.L.T. as it too passes by the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation, just behind the camera. Not sure why it has to wait at Up Decoy Yard in Doncaster for all that time before heading south and on the bridge, BonsoirBaz is catching the action as local as always p;ass too-and-fro over the old stepping bridge, this time heading to the large retail shopping area in the background; a lot of work went into this composite!

Finally, the second composite, none too good I feel and the space on view along the lines here isn't really sufficient to do this job properly, an additional shot of the GBRf heading south, a little further on, would have made this a better composition. Still it works reasonably well as Freightliner 66526, 'Driver Steve Dunn(George)' heads north past Parkgate Retail World on the 4L09, Tinsley Intermodal Terminal to Doncaster then Felixstowe North F.L.T. working whilst approaching and heading for the same place is 66754, 'Northampton Saints' on the newly inaugurated 4E53, from Felixstowe North(GBRf) to Tinsley Yard(GBRf), the same place from which the Freightliner had just departed. Unlike the Freightliner service, the GBRf return working, 4L53, later in the afternoon at around 4pm does not wait in Doncaster but heads straight south. This scene here, once again, in similar fashion to the loco traction moves taking place under the Sheffield Parkway at the new container terminal, which haven't happened for 30 years or so, must be fairly unique with traffic of this density, though 5 workings a day only planned, passing along these G.C.R metals through Parkgate. The 'bush' I mentioned earlier, as becoming problematical, can be seen in the lower left corner, can't imaging this won't be a problem soon for driver sighting along the line.

Addendum:
Since noting the point about the traffic reversal at Tinsley Yard taking place underneath the Sheffield Parkway bridge, and traffic not having been seen in this spot for decades, I recalled a picture I had seen last year related to the dismantling of the overhead Woodhead gantries at that end of the Yard. This took took place after the electrified line was closed in 1981 and the recovery workings were out-and-about taking down gantries etc and recovering the valuable, almost 1 inch diameter, copper wire, the picture, the only one I have ever seen at the same location where the GBRf and Freightliners are undertaking their reversal operations, can be seen here-
www.flickr.com/photos/masonphenix19/16784947762/
remarkable that someone had the nous to go and take this shot... shame there aren't a lot more..

And, even more container movements... this time, today, the timetable had them possibly passing each other somewhere between Templeborough and Aldwarke, as it turned out, it wasn't quite here, but one of pictures, having been merged from two, shows them doing just that... A fine day after last nights lightning, thunder and heavy hailstorms .. unbelievable conditions... The scene here looks rather tranquil in this triptych of 3 shots of the area around the 'Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation' which were taken, right next to the railway lines. At left a pair of swans glide soundlessly by through the area once occupied by a swing bridge which operated over the canal in the days when the green 'stepping bridge was just a simple affair, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/29082080745/
for a comparison of how it used to look, portrayed by the artist, Peter Bartle. The deck of this bridge has now been refurbished during for the Sheffield Tram/Train development and subsequent to the demise of the old canal swing bridge, another, lattice affair was put up in its place, that too was removed a few years ago to the one partially visible in the left-hand picture with a cyclist speeding towards the canal side. The centre shot, swinging the camera around 180 degrees and standing atop the latest bridge over the canal, shows a pair of coupled Transpennine class 185 units, 185119 & 185111 heading south towards Rotherham Central. This service usually heads along the Midland line from Swinton straight through to Meadowhall and Sheffield but, conveniently on this day, it had been diverted along here, this is the 1B75, Cleethorpes to Manchester Piccadilly, seen passing alongside the Rotherham cut of the Tinsley Canal, the S&SYN, en-route towards Central Station and then along the Holmes Chord and back onto the main line. At far right, looking towards the centre of Rotherham is the old Waddingtons Boat Yard, now the A.M.A. Steel stockyard with the two swans once again gliding by along the canal and the sky looking threatening once more..

I am reminded of the lines from 'She Moves Through the Fair', of which I have copies, sung by different musicians, my all-time favourite is the version by Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, Sandy Denny of 'Fairport Convention' which I still have a copy of, and in fact just recovered the L.P. out of my D.J. box and played it on my almost 50-year old Akai Stereo system which I have just put back together again, and which, by-and-large still works. The song is on their L.P., 'What we did on my/our Holidays' from 1969, sadly Sandy Denny died on 21st, April 1978, aged just 31, see-
www.sandydennyofficial.com/about-sandy/
and these are the words she hauntingly sang all those years ago, and for which scenes like these remind me-

'And she went away from me and moved through the fair
And fondly I watched her move here and move there
And then she went onward, just one star awake
Like the swan in the evening moves over the lake...'

The track may be heard here-
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNO4P6z-yxI

This time last year was taken up by a jaunt around the Parkgate and Rotherham Town area next to the station with the 'Rotherham Cut' of the Tinsley Canal just a stone's throw from all the latest action happening in the area at the other side of the still waters, after Tesco quit the area a few years ago. The other reason for being here on the this well-lit sunny day, was the passage through the area of a GBRf working which was taking a rake of old flat-bed wagons to Tinsley Yard for storage. A long rake of wagons of a similar vintage can be seen already stored there, parked up in the Yard when Newell & Wright were using it as a temporary Container Terminal, see videos here-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/48975816747/
another here-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/49024523378/
Now it looked as though another lot was on its way. As usual with this sort of move, it didn't appear at departure time, 07:49, meaning an early start wasn't required, but then as time went on, it looked like it wasn't going to run, though the activation time, 02:25, for the working, indicated it would run. And it did, around an hour later it left the Doncaster RailPort at the north side of Up Decoy/Wood Yard, at 08:55 and then proceeded to manipulate the long rake of flats, to get them positioned for the jaunt south; at one time appearing in Down Decoy, before proceeding to Hexthorpe Yard where there was another wait. Arriving at Parkgate with only 5 minutes to spare, Sheffield Tram/Train unit, 399203, has come in from Sheffield Cathedral via Tinsley(Meadowhall) on the 2A24, passenger service and is awaiting its departure time. Now, heading south on the up main line, 59 minutes late, fortunately for me, is GBRf liveried class 66, 66749, 'Christopher Hopcroft MBE - 60 Years Railway Service', on the 4Y28, Doncaster RailPort(GBRf) to Tinsley Yard(GBRf), with a long rake, around 30, of container flats. As may be seen here and in the video uploaded at that time, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/49618437907/
comes slowly around the corner, there clearly being a red on the signal, S0745, just beyond the Rawmarsh Road over-bridge next to the canal turning-hole, which resulted in the set stopping with the last container wagon just beyond the foot-bridge. The top right picture shows the GBRf preparing to stop at the signal just a short way along the track and, as the above video shows, it ends up with the last wagon having just cleared from under the footbridge on which I am standing... The long rake of old and new flats are to be stored in the, then, GBRf area at Tinsley Yard where activity took place at the end of last year, entailing container traffic, operated by Newell & Wright Container Services at Masbrough, being diverted there due to track-relaying at their Masbrough depot. As may be recalled, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/48985572488/
this entailed operating their container traffic at the south-eats end of the Yard which, in the main, wasn't ideal and with the onset of heavy rainfall, made the operations at times impossible. The Yard has been bereft of this latter-day operation since the end of 2019, it hadn't seen anything like this level of working for many a year, although the Bardon stone traffic still comes in 3 or so times a week, at the north-west end of the old Yard site. There is still a long line of flat-bed trucks parked on the line up to Outokumpu which were shunted up there when the Container services operated, so this is another long line of those ready for storage and perhaps ultimate scrapping at Booths Yard close to the old Masbrough station site. GBRf 66749, 'Christopher Hopcroft MBE - 60 Years Railway Service', was named in 2019 on the 5th December, see-
www.gbrailfreight.com/gbrf-celebrate-longstanding-employe...
The Tram/Train unit at the Tram stop in the right background of the top left picture has its white lights showing as it is ready for the off, on the 2A25, Parkgate to Sheffield Cathedral, but the GBRf working delayed that by 10 minutes or so...

The heavy rains at that time again caused problems and some of the surface water is still lurking around. The lower 4 pictures show the area in the town centre which at this time was under re-development with new housing and businesses to occupy the Forge Island site, once home to the Rotherham Forge & Rolling Mill, latterly Tescos Supermarket. Alongside 'Browns Cut', the section of water through here and the Rotherham Lock, the latter being closed while development proceeds, an access once used to exist in the past, over onto Forge Island from the main GC lines through Rotherham Central and in the picture at centre left, is a photograph of the area of the base of a swing bridge, which took a line over and into the Rolling Mills on the right. This line left the down line, in a north facing connection, so presumably workings were either reversed across the canal into the Rolling Mill or north-bound trains reversed on the cross-over and then went forward normally across the canal on the swing bridge. The line formation, junction and swing bridge line which left the main line at the station footbridge can be seen in the OS map, superimposed on a recent Google Earth view, at lower right. At centre right, a circa 1950s/60s shot along the same section of 'Brown's Cut' with the lock-house still extant and the swing-bridge area just the other side of the gated metal fence; gate open. The single line rail-head can be seen facing this way and the track at the Rolling Mill side of Forge Island, can also be made out. Note also, in the right background, the now demolished 'Phoenix Hotel', stands over-looking the scene in the days when Rotherham Central Station was about a half-mile further south; the station goods yard, at a slightly higher elevation can be seen, holding a rake of mineral and box wagons. Beyond the 'Phoenix Hotel' and to its right, dimly visible, is the Car House Gas Works on Greasbrough Road at Thornhill; the gas works too, long gone, though the 'Phoenix' was only demolished 'recently', well, around 9th May, 2012, seems like only yesterday!. The lower left picture shows the the swing bridge area into which piles of bricks ans rubble have been thrown.. I did contact the contractors at Rotherham Council and indicate that this was a historic piece of Railway Infrastructure and should be protected, they agreed and appeared to know all about it and indicated it would be retained; I haven't been back though since last March, just before the Covid Lock-down(s) started, see the 'flooding' video of this area taken at this time last year-
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/49627149422/
relevant bit is about 1 minute in. This is what was relayed to me, after I uploaded that video-
***********************************************************
NOTE: Whilst writing this, I have just heard back from two of the representatives involved with the Forge Island Re-development and, its good news. The materials washed into the Swing Bridge area by the recent flooding will be cleared out and all this space taken care of with a view to retaining it as part of the heritage and historical features of the location's industrial past. So, many thanks to them for taking time-out to reply and having such a considered view about the area's past history...
**********************
In the lower picture at left the swing bridge supports in the opposite wall can be seen but there is no sign of any track-work at the top of the wall, there also seems to be more detritus in the swing bridge mechanism than could have been washed in by the flooding? It will be interesting to see what this looks like now... a job for next week maybe.. Finally at right, a circa 1900s OS map superimposed over a Google Earth view of the are showing where all this is and how the scene has so dramatically changed over the last 100 years. At the bottom of this map, the Sheffield & Rotherham RAilway comes into the Westgate Station, passing over the wooden bridge over the River Don, the bridge's state in 1953 finally seeing the line closed; as can be seen, it _was_ Rotherham's 'most central station'. The Rotherham Iron Works, as the Rolling Mill was then called and the Providence Saw Mill are in the upper section between the River Don and the Canal at left. Rotherham Central then stood next to the MAin Street bridge but has now been relocated next to College Road and Rotherham's Bus Interchange just off the top of the map. The River Don's course has been changed and narrowed as can be seen at top right and there are many artifacts on the map which don't exist these days, like 'Cattle Pens', 'Rope Walk', 'Goods Shed' and 'Free Library'. In its latter days of the 1960s, the 'Public Baths', right next to the River Don was a disgusting place, I know, I learned to swim there and it was sometimes hard to make out the other end of the pool, due to the excessive amount of Chlorine used in the water... as I say, disgusting.. I won't mention the 'Gents Toilet' facilities, right over the River...

* 38Mby MP4 phone Video, it is 42s long, so video can be watched within the Flickr interface. The wind noise once more suppressed!
* Parkgate

DRS class 66, 'Shed' comes along on the northbound section of this day's, Tuesday, RHTT schedule, which sees it heading for the Humber port of Hull, before heading off for the final leg of the journey, 3S15 back to base at York Thrall Europa. This is the 3S14, Woodburn Junction via Rotherham Central to Hull working of the RHTT with DRS 66304 now at the head after the reversal at Woodburn and now 66427 on the back with a mucky rake of FEA-B RHTT A Tank Wagons in between; damn shame the OHL stanchions weren't erected on the canal-side of the tracks!

* Parkgate
Finally, before heading off back to the safety of home... there's not much in the way of a parting shot here, the bridge under the road being a very restricted view but not without its ancillary interest from recent changes in the surrounds due to the Tram/Train infrastructure requirements.. DRS 66427 brings up the rear of the set of RHTT wagons, never cleaned during the season by the looks of things, the set is on the 3S14, Woodburn Junction via Rotherham Central to Hull working from where it will depart at 15:19 that afternoon on the 3S15 working back to York. On the next day we were back with the class 20s, as seen, if you were lucky on Monday, 20118, 'Saltburn-by-the-Sea' and 20132, 'Barrow Hill Depot' but operating in indifferent weather, so gave it a miss; the following day however, now with the locos fully 'grimed', were photographed at Woodhouse Station and Tinsley Meadowhall, that to follow later... time to stop.

* Parkgate
And moving swiftly away from the Lincoln Line running alongside what is now a 4000-house property Estate, plonked right next to Orgreave 'Village' and over to here, a little fraught though the traffic in these 'Covid Days' was far from busy. First mosaic piece shows a set of four shots which I always finding interesting to record. For posterity, the sight through what is now a load of metal posts with wires, the Sheffield Tram/Train OHL posts, very solid they are too, running on the side of the single line track, opposite the 'turning hole' of the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation at Parkgate. These structures now make it hard to get decent shots anywhere along the line from the Parkgate Tram stop further along behind the camera and all the way to Tinsley Meadowhall where the line branches off to join the Supertram route, its a shame as this, and one or two other areas, offer a good view with surrounding interest, not any more here as will be seen. In the top right, an excavation looks to be taking place on the north side of the Midland Main line, possibly in the Primrose Bridge area of Thornhill, though there is a lot of muck in those parts that could be shifted! At upper and lower right, two of the standards traction types plying this route, class 150s, at top, 150206 heading towards Rotherham on the 2N10 service from Leeds to Sheffield and beneath that one, 150228 heading back north on the 2R26, Sheffield to Doncaster stopper. The large grey signal with feather, S0744, at the side of the track, is the one used to signal Sheffield Tram/Trains into the Tram stop just a few hundred metres off to the left. At lower left, the view along the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation across the 'turning hole' put in by the British Waterways Board in the 1980s so that large craft had somewhere to reverse once they had reached this end of the navigation. Unfortunately much of this came to naught as there ensued a large decline in river-borne traffic and in fact the only large craft which comes along here anymore in the 400 tonne 'Exol Pride', oil products barge, which brings heavy oil from the one of the docks on Hedon Road in Hull, to the Rotherham Oil Terminal, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/49064124518/
showing the barge parked up at the Oil Terminal in November last year, during the middle of heavy flooding along here which saw lots of passenger services curtailed here and the swamping on the Newell & Wright temporary Container Terminal at Tinsley Yard; the flooding may have been instrumental in the Temporary Terminal's short life span, of just a couple of months, at the Yard; it was all over by Xmas last year and it was part of two flooding events which occured during this time.. The view at lower left shows the restricted access at the main road bridge over the canal for large vessels in the distance. In the background, now standing tall amongst the other 'clutter' is the chimney of the new 1MW Biomass plant at Templeborough, the works conveniently nested between the intersection of the Midland 'Old Road' and the GCR's line from Woodburn to Mexborough; it makes no use of this asset at all.. Caffe Cristinacce with its usual crowd of swans is on the left, but today someone has attracted them away with a handful of cast food; the man in the puffer jacket as it turns out...

* Parkgate
Its not long before the main event, delayed slightly outside Rotherham Central at the signal, S0748, at Ickles, whilst 2 passenger trains make there way through, those in fact shown in the 1st picture. Attempting to keep out of the way of the OHL stanchions in these pictures, DRS class 66, 'Shed' comes along on the northbound section of this day's, Tuesday, RHTT schedule, which sees it heading for the Humber port of Hull, before heading off for the final leg of the journey, 3S15 back to base at York Thrall Europa. This is the 3S14, Woodburn Junction via Rotherham Central to Hull working of the RHTT with DRS 66304 now at the head after the reversal at Woodburn and now 66427 on the back with a mucky rake of FEA-B RHTT A Tank Wagons in between; damn shame the OHL stanchions weren't erected on the canal-side of the tracks! Rotherham All Saints Parish church stands in the background above the loco and the shops and businesses at the side of the Navigation are presumably finding things difficult in these hard, Covid, times. This appears to be the only day when the 66s ran on the S.Yorks RHTT, the last time in 2018, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/31417973898/
showing 66434 at the head and at the back, 66432 replacing the usual run of DRS 20303 and 20305. There's lots of heavy engineering in this spot now and there's development work going on behind the camera on the site which used to be 'BnQ', the Australian outfit, 'Bunnings' ans finally 'Homebase', now all relegated to history, not sure what the development will be, but guess its the sort of a more permanent variety as the whole site is being redeveloped for 'big stuff'

A special tribute banner to the N.H.S., justly deserved and rightly supported by everyone in the UK for the tremendous public service they have shown, in dire circumstances with even threats to their own well being, they have truly shown what a good publicly funded service is all about, unlike the USA and other countries who do not have this, we have everything to be grateful for and it needs well deserved praise, financial support and the staff paid in a meaningful and proper way... Rant over... 'Thank You NHS', .. it ought to be a shinning beacon around the world.. R.O.G., a well placed banner, demonstrating who has brought us through this last awful, and now, 6 months and .. its not over yet.
The 'Rail Operations Group', class class 47, 47815, ex-D1748, 'Lost Boys 68-88', passes under the old Parkgate footbridge, recently 'refurbished' for the Sheffield Tram/Train system, is on the 5E16, Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) to Gascoigne Wood Sidings, with a single Barrier Coach, No. 6338 in tow. The G.C.R. footbridge has remnants left from the initial building of this line and was featured in a painting by Peter Bartle, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch2/49565224397/
in August, 2016, before the bridge was refurbished for the Tram/Train system. The Doncaster 'enthusiast', after further chat, makes his way off and plans to return home, though he seemed quite interested in the old Tram/Trolley bus station building, mentioned earlier, and shown in the first picture. That Barrier Coach looks like it needs a bit of 'TLC', though I guess its purpose doesn't doesn't mean it has to be kept in tip-top condition...

Some details relating to the class 47, 47815, from the class47 website-

Built: Brush Falcon Works
Production Order: September 28th 1962
Works Number: 519 (originally 510)
To traffic: July 1st 1964
DETAILS
-------
T/M connection: AP (All Parallel)
Brakes (as built): Metcalfe-Oerlikon - Vacuum only
Radiators (as built): Fixed three-part grilles
Boiler (as built): Spanner Mk.III
CURRENT STATUS
--------------
Operational: 47815, Livery- Riviera Trains (blue)
NUMBERS
-------
D1748: July 1st 1964
47155: February 1974
47660: September 1986
47815: August 1989
NAMES
-----
47815
Abertawe Landore: At Swansea High St. Station by Councillor John Davies, Lord Mayor of Swansea on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the station. July 1st 2000
Plates removed: by 03/2005
47815: GREAT WESTERN, At Crewe Works Open Day September 11th 2005
LIVERIES
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D174
BR: Dual Green (Yellow warning panels)
BR: Dual Green (full yellow ends)
BR: Monastral Blue (Standard)
47155
BR: Monastral Blue (Standard)
BR: Monastral Blue (Grey/silver roof)
47660
BR: Monastral Blue (Large logo (grey roof))
47815
BR: Monastral Blue (Large logo (grey roof))
BR: INTERCITY (Swallow)
Post-BR: Great Western
Post-BR: FGW (green with gold band)
Post-BR: FGW (BR dual green)
Post-BR: Riviera Trains (blue)

* This is 28sec long, so video can be watched within the Flickr interface.

Finally, the video taken during passage of 47815 and its Barrier Coach, 6338, on the 5E16, Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) to Gascoigne Wood Sidings Empty Coaching Stock pick-up move.

A 'distanced crossing', in both senses of the phrase, one 'on-top' and one under. R.O.G. operated class 47, 47815, ex-D1748, the 'Lost Boys 68-88' and with large logo banner, 'Thank You NHS', passes along the GCR's line northwards to Aldwarke Junction for a move back onto the main line after being diverted at Holmes Junction, whilst 'on-top' a cyclist, sands-mask, passes Doncaster masked enthusiast, with as much distancing as permitted on the narrow footbridge; at least they were trying and being courteous; not true of all. R.O.G. operated 47815, is on the BArrier Coach, No.6338, move, 5E16, Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) to Gascoigne Wood Sidings, for a late afternoon pick up and a mid-evening return at 19:30 back to Derby R.T.C. with an E.C.S., Empty Coaching Stock move, presumably them having been stored in the old coal sidings, next to the site of the now demolished Gascoigne Wood Coal Mine. 47815 has been seen frequently in this area and a bit further afield, possibly most notably in the Shirebrook area along the aptly named, 'Robin Hood' line-
on October 29th, 2015 at Shirebrook Station, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/22025996803/
and at the Davis & Son, works on the same day-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/22658317011/

Moving on from the long thin prison, to await the arrival of a diverted, due to the works just seen, class 47 with a Barrier Coach heading north to Gascoigne Wood Sidings, an odd destination I suppose and right next to the old Gascoigne Wood Mine, long since demolished and now a recycling centre. As usual, by way of an introduction, four shots of the area, at upper left, in 1985 the centre for Commercial Navigation was moved to Rotherham's old Tram & Trolley Bus Depot with the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation passing right outside, eventually, Waddingtons bought the premises and operated it as a Boat Yard for over 10 years. It then became a steel stockyard, 'AMA (Storage & Distribution) Ltd', and has operated from the premises ever since, at least it has retained the original building and traditional 'fan-light' roof atop. 'Waddingtons of Swinton' operated in the area from various locations including further north at Eastwood in 1959 and further south at at the Don Street Depot in Rotherham, in 1961, becoming the Head of Commercial Navigate in 1968 and lasted until the move, in 1985, to the Rawmarsh Road Depot, seen in this picture. The old Don Street area is now home to the R.U.F.C.'s 'New York' football stadium. At upper right, one of the diverted services due to the work at Thornhill on the Midland Main Line, fortunately, this is one of the few class 43, HST sets, to pass through, this one leading power car 43304 with 43357 at the rear, on the 1V56, Edinburgh Waverley via Rotherham Central to Plymouth service and ran to time on the whole eight and a half hour trip south. At lower left, the now common-place run of the Sheffield Tram/Train which, after various 'teething' problems of one sort or another, is now running a regular, though reduced service, between Sheffield Cathedral and Parkgate Retail. This one, class 399 EMU, Electric Multiple Unit, 399204, is 2A22, Sheffield Cathedral via Tinsley Meadowhall to Parkgate and is about to draw to a halt at the tram stop just ahead alongside the canal. This day appeared particularly quiet given the fact that the whole area of ex-heavy industry, is now given over to retail outlets and only a handful of folk came past me, none of them wearing masks, as was I, over the bridge to and from the shopping area. At lower right, a more typical service running alongside the canal, with some works going on along the bank side on the right, the barge borne crane appears to be a bit heavy on the right and the barge is leaning over rather significantly, other equipment is further along on other craft, nearer Eastwood Lock. Northern Rail class 158, 158870, with 2-coupled units in the reduced service era we are in, passes on the 2N07 Leeds to Sheffield service. This day was the last days of the two-week works shutdown of the U.E.S. Works in the background at Aldwarke and the following day, Monday 10th August, the one and only Aldwarke U.E.S. to Stocksbridge steel train, 6J57, ran to schedule, but that was the only one of the week.

The main feature of the day, the class 47 and Barrier Coach, a bit alarmingly, left Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) 59 minutes early which quickly got me on the go but on the quiet drive over, the set sat at St. Mary's South Junction, waiting right time, so panic over and the planned visit to the N.R. work-site on the Midland Main LIne at Thornhill,. could be made before this working arrived. An interesting chap from Doncaster was present masked, as was I, and on the bridge over the rail formation with me on the canal bridge, but we managed to have a chat about various things before the 47 arrived. Coming along the Midland MAin line from Chesterfield and through Sheffield, the R.O.G., 'Rail Operations Group', has brought class 47, 47815, ex-D1748, 'Lost Boys 68-88', as far as Holmes Junction, south of Masbrough Junction/Station, and then crossed over and turned off onto the Holmes Chord and through Rotherham Central, to pass though here on time on the 5E16, Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) to Gascoigne Wood Sidings with a single Barrier Coach, No. 6338, in tow. A Doncaster enthusiast is preparing for the shot and ass is usual with these things, all the action is over in less than a minute, we did get a decent toot from the driver which can be heard in the accompanying video at the end.

As may be seen here and in the video which follows, the class 4 working, with over 30 flat-bed container carriers I reckoned, comes slowly around the corner, there clearly being a red on the signal, S0745, just beyond the Rawmarsh Road over-bridge next to the canal turning-hole, which resulted in the set stopping with the last container wagon just beyond the foot-bridge. The long rake of old and new flats are to be stored at the GBRf area at Tinsley Yard where activity took place at the end of last year, entailing container traffic, operated by Newell & Wright Container Services at Masbrough, had to diverted there due to track-relaying at their Masbrough depot. As may be recalled, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/48985572488/
this entailed operating their container traffic at the south-eats end of the Yard which, in the main, wasn't ideal and with the onset of heavy rainfall, made the operations at times impossible. Now the Yard is bereft of its latter-day operation, it hadn't seen anything like this level of working for many a year, although the Bardon stone traffic still comes in 3 or so times a week, at the north-west end of the old Yard site. There is still a long line of flat-bed trucks parked on the line up to Outokumpu which were shunted up there when the Container services operated, so this is another long line of those ready for storage and perhaps ultimate scrapping at Booths Yard close to the old Masbrough station site. Running almost an hour late today is GBRf 66749, 'Christopher Hopcroft MBE - 60 Years Railway Service', named last year on the 5th December, see-
www.gbrailfreight.com/gbrf-celebrate-longstanding-employe...
on the 4Y28, Doncaster RailPort(GBRf) to Tinsley Yard(GBRf) working and being a class 4, the maximum running speed is 75m.p.h.; though its difficult to see how it could reach that on such a short, circuitous, journey to here. The Tram/Train unit at the Tram stop in the right background, now has its white lights showing as it is ready for the off, on the 2A25, Parkgate to Sheffield Cathedral, but the GBRf working delayed that by 10 minutes or so...

* A 1.5 minute, 23Mby MP4 video, showing passage of the GBRf Container Wagons

GBRf liveried class 66, 66749, 'Christopher Hopcroft MBE - 60 Years Railway Service', is on the 4Y28, Doncaster RailPort(GBRf) to Tinsley Yard(GBRf), container flats move, and long it was too, as this video shows.. not all that spectacular a view watching flat-bed trucks pass, taken on the stills camera this time, not the phone, so no shutter noise though there probably wouldn't have been anyway, once you've seen on flat-bed wagon, you've seen them all!

What seemed like an endless rattle of wagons, slowing for the signal, S0475, ahead due to an Adwick to Sheffield service, 2R17, which was still in Rotherham Central and itself, 7 minutes late, of course the GBRf shouldn't have been here at all at this time, but around an hour earlier... PAssing by the brightly lit 'T.k.Maxx' retailer and beyond that, now, a McDonalds and Homebase D.I.Y store on a site which is now also filling up with other retail outlets, after long being empty. There is a lot of detritus about the place at either side of the canal and its clear the River Don, off to the left, has left a lot of vegetation and other rubbish, when it flooded last year and to some extent again, over the last week or so.. it all now appears to be over after snow, hail, high winds and what-not and this day brough the welcome relief of some sun, albeit with a bit of a low temperature... GBRf liveried class 66, 66749, 'Christopher Hopcroft MBE - 60 Years Railway Service', is on the 4Y28, Doncaster RailPort(GBRf) to Tinsley Yard(GBRf), container flats move, and is now heading towards Rotherham Central and Tinsley, after a brief pause here, to let passenger traffic ahead clear the line through to the turn out which takes that traffic over to Holmes Junction.