July to December 2014.
The 20th anniversary of the 'Traction series' could not have come at a better time, for 2014 was a remarkable year for the modern motive power scene. A seemingly endless demand for locomotives has not only seen deliveries of new-build Class 66s and Class 68s but also the continuing reinstatement of a number of locos from the British Rail era. Add in the usual mix of extraordinary workings, fleet developments and selected highlights from the world of preservation, and programme number 39 is as good as it gets.
Freight Traffic and Traction:
Pairs of Riviera Class 47s on GBRf’s Drax gypsum traffic; new DRS Class 68s on Mountsorrel and Shap ballast and on Scottish intermodal traffic; 47812 ventures to Kilmarnock to collect new-build Ecofret wagons for GBRf; 50007 Hercules on the Boston steel; Balfour Beatty-liveried 20142 & 20189 on RHTT duties at London Victoria; Colas Class 37s on test runs and RHTT duties; 59003 returns to the UK from Germany; overhauled Colas Class 60s on test and in traffic; DB Schenker’s 60040 rescuing Colas Rail’s Sinfin tanks; Scotrail-liveried 90019 on the Millerhill-Tyne Yard infrastructure trip; new GBRf Class 66s being unloaded at Newport Docks; 73961 undergoing testing at the Great Central Railway; the first Colas Class 70 to work the Boston steel; the first main line runs of re-instated 56091 for Heavy Haul and 56103 for DCR; 73128 returns to the main line for GBRf; West Coast Railways’ 37688 hauling a crane from Eastleigh to Hornsey; 66084 de-railed at Brocklesby...and 47812, 68009 and 70807 on RHTT moves from York Works.
Passenger Traction, Railtours and Specials:
Tour De France additional loco-hauled services featuring DRS Class 47s & 57s and 67006 hauling the Virgin ‘Pretendolino’; a short-formation FGW HST working an Oxford-Paddington DMU service; 57305 & 57312 re-painted into Northern Belle livery; 68014 working the first Class 68-hauled charter train; D1015 Western Champion ventures to Kent on the ‘Canterbury Champion’ railtour; 40145 visits Saltburn on the ‘Cleveland Potter’; 47815 on a GBRf staff special to Great Yarmouth; DRS haulage for Virgin’s ‘Welsh Warrior’ Mark 3 farewell; multiple Class 57 failures and traction combinations on FGW’s Night Riviera sleepers...and 91111 unveiled in WW1 remembrance livery.
There's also:
50017 Royal Oak returns to the main line after 14 years; Crompton D6515 taking DMU vehicles from Swanage to Eastleigh Works; FGW’s 57605 at Ipswich hauling the Virgin ‘Pretendolino’ from Wembley to Norwich; 73119 & 73136 hauling the vintage ‘Chesham’ coaches from the Bluebell Railway to West Ruislip; 73961 working its first passenger train on the GCR; 47714 on EMU shunting duties at Asfordby; DRS Class 57s on a snowplough test run in Kent; London Underground Schoma diesel locos hauling the 1960 Cravens tube stock at the Epping & Ongar Railway; 68007 visits the Mid-Norfolk Railway; nine Class 14s hauling a passenger train at the East Lancashire Railway...and prototype HST power car 41001 hauling its first passenger train in 38 years!
News stories, factual information, an astonishing assortment of strange workings and locomotive classes - all mixed with plenty of thrash - make this programme the most comprehensive and authoritative video record of the second six months of 2014.
Areas Featured: From all over the UK
Class Featured: Most current UK loco types, including some preserved.
Narration: David Maxey.
Produced by - Locomaster Profiles
Running time - 100 Minutes
Format - 16:9 widescreen
DVD only
Released - February 2015