37254 and 37612 1Q18 Shockerwick 15/06/23.

            *Shot taken using a pole*

Running 27 minutes behind schedule following lineside vegetation issues on the Portbury branch line, Colas liveried 37254 Cardiff Canton is seen approaching Shockerwick leading the 1Q18 07:52 Bristol Kingsland Road to Tyseley infrastructure monitoring working on behalf of Network Rail. Providing power at the rear is blue classmate 37612, on loan from HNRC. This is part of a monthly circuit to cover routes in the area. This train would return northwards via Didcot, Worcester Shrub Hill, Nuneaton and Leicester having already had a trip to Portbury earlier in the day. The previous day it visited Weymouth. 

37254 was delivered new to Cardiff Canton depot as D6954 in January 1965. It remained based in South Wales until it was withdrawn from service in 1999. It escaped being scrapped and after several years found itself a new home in preservation at the Spa Valley Railway. That was not to be the end though as it was purchased by Colas in 2015 and reinstated to main line use in 2016 for use on infrastructure monitoring duties. 37612 was first allocated to Canton at the end of 1963 as D6879. After becoming 37179 and then 37691, it was selected to become one of the 37/6 locomotives adapted for and operated by European Passenger Services for the ill-fated Nightstar domestic passenger sleeper traffic via the Channel Tunnel. After this project was cancelled, the locomotive transferred to Direct Rail Services. The DRS blue base livery is still carried to this day, albeit de-branded as the loco has subsequently transferred to Harry Needle Railroad Company (HNRC). 

The train has just crossed over the county boundary into Wiltshire and is now in the western extremity of the parish of Box. The wide 'six-foot' between the two running lines gives away the fact that the formation was constructed wide enough to accommodate the original broad gauge running lines. These were converted entirely to standard gauge in 1892 following a period of mixed broad gauge and standard ('narrow' in the GWR vernacular) gauge operation. To the left of the frame is the site of Farleigh Down sidings. Initially opened in 1882 as a private siding for the loading of locally quarried Bath stone, a loading dock was provided at the end of a mile-long counterbalanced tramway down the hill from Monkton Farleigh quarry. This closed in 1930. The quarry was then purchased by the War Department for storage of munitions and the site was reopened in 1937 as a sub-depot of CAD Corsham. A 1,000 ft-long platform and transfer shed were constructed as well as a narrow gauge tramway. An aerial ropeway was initially provided to transport munitions up the hill to the quarry. Later on, a 2,200 yd-long tunnel was excavated from 30ft below the transfer platform to the quarry and a conveyor belt fitted to allow munitions to be transported below ground. The narrow gauge wagons were lowered down a slope from the transfer shed to the conveyor belt below by means of a creeper-retarder. The sidings closed in 1950 and the munitions depot closed in 1963. The transfer shed still stands to this day along with the ramp down to the conveyor belt.

15/06/23.

Taken in: UK / England / Bathford (show map)

Taken on: June 15, 2023

Tags:

class37

37254

cardiffcanton

lhcs

testtrain

colas

colasrail

colasrailfreight

infrastructuremonitoring

networkrail

wilts

wiltshire

banes

bathampton

batheaston

bathford

shockerwick

boxbridge

farleighdown

box « less

Sets appears in: • 2023

Camera: Canon EOS R5, f/7.1, 1/2000 sec, 35mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS R5
Lens:	EF35mm f/2 IS USM
Aperture:	f/7.1
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/2000)
Focal Length:	35mm
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Digital Photo Professional
Show full info

Stats: 4,105 views / 8 comments