Over 80 Years in Store Between Them
All four of the GB Railfreight long-term stored Class 92s in one shot taken across Loughborough Meadows as they stand lifeless in the yard at the Brush Traction works. All were stored on 24 April 2001.
92046 "Sweelinck" with 92021 "Purcell" behind it are both just visible over on the left, whilst 92040 "Goethe" and 92045 "Chaucer" are in full view on the edge of the field.
In front of 92040 and 92045 there is now racking containing various spare Class 92 parts.
With the recent announcement that the Brush Traction works are to close by the end of 2021, the futures of these locomotives look less certain than ever.
The History of the Stored Class 92s at Brush:
021, 040, 045 and 046 are the remaining stored Class 92s in the GB Railfreight fleet – with all four having been stored for over 20 years.
The Forgotten Four were part of the seven Class 92s originally owned by European Passenger Services (EPS) for use on the ill-fated Nightstar European sleeper service.
Up until April 2001, all of the EPS engines were used along with the rest of the Class 92 fleet as part of the common pool operated by EWS and based at Crewe ETD.
However, with the Nightstar project officially over, EPS offered their 92s for sale during 2000, but no buyers were found. Consequently, all seven were stored on 24 April 2001 - with 021, 040, 045 and 046 never having worked since.
021 and 040 were eventually purchased by Europorte (along with three other 92s) on 15 Feb 2007 from EPS for a total of £2m for the five locos (which cost £21m to build in 2007 prices).
021 and 040 remained stored and were moved by road from Crewe IEMD to Loughborough by Allelys in late July 2008. In Summer 2010, 021 and 040 moved to Cheriton where they remained for a while, before moving on to Coquelles/Frethun Eurotunnel Depot in Autumn 2011.
021 and 040 remained at Frethun Depot in store until being repatriated on 24/11/2018 and 08/12/2018 respectively for parts recovery and storage at Loughborough Brush.
The remaining two EPS 92s - 045 and 046 - were also purchased by Europorte in November 2007. They were both moved by road to Loughborough in late July 2008 and have remained at Brush ever since, donating parts to the rest of the Europorte/GBRf fleet.
In February 2014, all Europorte Class 92s – including the stored locomotives - were sold to its then subsidiary, GB Railfreight Limited. The Caledonian Sleeper contract meant the GBRf active fleet increased to 12 of their 16 engines. However, the remaining four stored locos – ironically all originally intended for sleeper operations – are unlikely to work again.
Over 80 Years in Store Between Them
All four of the GB Railfreight long-term stored Class 92s in one shot taken across Loughborough Meadows as they stand lifeless in the yard at the Brush Traction works. All were stored on 24 April 2001.
92046 "Sweelinck" with 92021 "Purcell" behind it are both just visible over on the left, whilst 92040 "Goethe" and 92045 "Chaucer" are in full view on the edge of the field.
In front of 92040 and 92045 there is now racking containing various spare Class 92 parts.
With the recent announcement that the Brush Traction works are to close by the end of 2021, the futures of these locomotives look less certain than ever.
The History of the Stored Class 92s at Brush:
021, 040, 045 and 046 are the remaining stored Class 92s in the GB Railfreight fleet – with all four having been stored for over 20 years.
The Forgotten Four were part of the seven Class 92s originally owned by European Passenger Services (EPS) for use on the ill-fated Nightstar European sleeper service.
Up until April 2001, all of the EPS engines were used along with the rest of the Class 92 fleet as part of the common pool operated by EWS and based at Crewe ETD.
However, with the Nightstar project officially over, EPS offered their 92s for sale during 2000, but no buyers were found. Consequently, all seven were stored on 24 April 2001 - with 021, 040, 045 and 046 never having worked since.
021 and 040 were eventually purchased by Europorte (along with three other 92s) on 15 Feb 2007 from EPS for a total of £2m for the five locos (which cost £21m to build in 2007 prices).
021 and 040 remained stored and were moved by road from Crewe IEMD to Loughborough by Allelys in late July 2008. In Summer 2010, 021 and 040 moved to Cheriton where they remained for a while, before moving on to Coquelles/Frethun Eurotunnel Depot in Autumn 2011.
021 and 040 remained at Frethun Depot in store until being repatriated on 24/11/2018 and 08/12/2018 respectively for parts recovery and storage at Loughborough Brush.
The remaining two EPS 92s - 045 and 046 - were also purchased by Europorte in November 2007. They were both moved by road to Loughborough in late July 2008 and have remained at Brush ever since, donating parts to the rest of the Europorte/GBRf fleet.
In February 2014, all Europorte Class 92s – including the stored locomotives - were sold to its then subsidiary, GB Railfreight Limited. The Caledonian Sleeper contract meant the GBRf active fleet increased to 12 of their 16 engines. However, the remaining four stored locos – ironically all originally intended for sleeper operations – are unlikely to work again.