Cardiff Nights ...... Make mine a double!
DB Cargo 'Sheds' 66143 and 66015 pass along Cardiff Central Station's platform 4 double-heading the 7.04pm Westerleigh Murco - Robeston discharged petroleum tanks (6B47) late last Monday evening.
The two locos are hardly needed for the 800 tonne return working, but the fully-loaded morning outbound train weighs in at a hefty 2,800 tonnes, hence the extra horsepower heading back to base.
It was tricky positioning myself for this one - the WTT routing indicated platform 3 (which was occupied by the passenger train at left), so I figured the other options were the Down Through Line, or platforms 4 / 6. Keeping a very close eye on the signal diagram gave me a few extra seconds to prepare for what was arguably the best option, at least regards lighting, and that was a platform 4 passage.
I opted for a fixed manual exposure to ensure the lead-loco headlights didn't corrupt the reading: 1/250s @ F6.3 and 16,000 ISO, but even then the station lights varied in brightness between frames. Thankfully the position I really wanted to work came out ok. I won't deny I grabbed a bar of chocolate from the vending machine afterwards…..(but only the single though😂)
Commenting off for this one, thanks.
9.08pm, 13th October 2025
Cardiff Nights ...... Make mine a double!
DB Cargo 'Sheds' 66143 and 66015 pass along Cardiff Central Station's platform 4 double-heading the 7.04pm Westerleigh Murco - Robeston discharged petroleum tanks (6B47) late last Monday evening.
The two locos are hardly needed for the 800 tonne return working, but the fully-loaded morning outbound train weighs in at a hefty 2,800 tonnes, hence the extra horsepower heading back to base.
It was tricky positioning myself for this one - the WTT routing indicated platform 3 (which was occupied by the passenger train at left), so I figured the other options were the Down Through Line, or platforms 4 / 6. Keeping a very close eye on the signal diagram gave me a few extra seconds to prepare for what was arguably the best option, at least regards lighting, and that was a platform 4 passage.
I opted for a fixed manual exposure to ensure the lead-loco headlights didn't corrupt the reading: 1/250s @ F6.3 and 16,000 ISO, but even then the station lights varied in brightness between frames. Thankfully the position I really wanted to work came out ok. I won't deny I grabbed a bar of chocolate from the vending machine afterwards…..(but only the single though😂)
Commenting off for this one, thanks.
9.08pm, 13th October 2025