Grand Old Lady at Central
AC Locomotive Group's Class 87, 87 002 "Royal Sovereign" (on hire to GB Railfreight) makes a very rare outing on Class 1 services after a combination of events the previous night at Wembley saw it pressed into action on the Caledonian Sleeper Lowlander. It had last worked a main trunk run over a year ago in mid-February 2018 when it was scrambled to rescue Skoda 45 on 1S26 after it failed at Tring (09/02/2018). 87002 later worked 1M11 on 13/02/2018 to return south to Wembley - it's last trunk run prior to this one.
87002, seen here waiting to take 1M11 south, was preparing to depart with just its sixth main trunk run in the last two years. With its wheels well-worn, this could have been its last trip to Scotland and back before its time hired to GB Railfreight ends in the summer when the Mk5s are fully rolled-out. The 87 faces an uncertain future with recent rumours emerging that it may be sold abroad.
Grand Old Lady at Central
AC Locomotive Group's Class 87, 87 002 "Royal Sovereign" (on hire to GB Railfreight) makes a very rare outing on Class 1 services after a combination of events the previous night at Wembley saw it pressed into action on the Caledonian Sleeper Lowlander. It had last worked a main trunk run over a year ago in mid-February 2018 when it was scrambled to rescue Skoda 45 on 1S26 after it failed at Tring (09/02/2018). 87002 later worked 1M11 on 13/02/2018 to return south to Wembley - it's last trunk run prior to this one.
87002, seen here waiting to take 1M11 south, was preparing to depart with just its sixth main trunk run in the last two years. With its wheels well-worn, this could have been its last trip to Scotland and back before its time hired to GB Railfreight ends in the summer when the Mk5s are fully rolled-out. The 87 faces an uncertain future with recent rumours emerging that it may be sold abroad.