Class 68 Route Learner & class 70 Dewsbury Cement at Brightside - 1236+242
And finally, another duo in similar fashion to the earlier T.P.E. class 68, always good to get a good dollop of the surrounding industry into these shots but nowadays its all reducing due to redevelopment and what-not so have to make the best of what still exists. Freightliner, class 70, 'leader of the pack', 70001 is on the regular return empties from the Dewsbury Blue Circle cement works to the Earles Sidings at Hope on the 6M89 working, hauling 25 PCA Cement Tanks, timing load 600 tonnes. Once at Earles Sidings, the wagons will be separated into batches of about 10 and hauled up-grade to the cement works by the resident class 20, #2, which is a H.N.R.C leased class 20, 20168, 'Sir George Earle', it then takes the wagons on the 3km run up to the Castleton Cement Works where they are re-filled. It then brings them back down and takes another empty set back to also be filled after which it brings these back to the original rake and assembles the whole lot into the next cement working out of the sidings... Bit long-winded but this is how its been done for years, the incline and the single-track curvature being too much for a larger loco to deal with. no need to fix it, if it's not broken...
In the right shot, a bit of background enhancement has been applied to show up the sunlit slopes of Sheffield City centre and it looks like the restricted access on signal S1068 ahead is still in place, its 11:30 and passenger traction through the station is probably slowing things up a bit, 70001 wasn't delayed however and it arrived at Earles Sidings 3 minutes early at 12:12, having left the Dewsbury area at 13 minutes early at 09:37..
Class 68 Route Learner & class 70 Dewsbury Cement at Brightside - 1236+242
And finally, another duo in similar fashion to the earlier T.P.E. class 68, always good to get a good dollop of the surrounding industry into these shots but nowadays its all reducing due to redevelopment and what-not so have to make the best of what still exists. Freightliner, class 70, 'leader of the pack', 70001 is on the regular return empties from the Dewsbury Blue Circle cement works to the Earles Sidings at Hope on the 6M89 working, hauling 25 PCA Cement Tanks, timing load 600 tonnes. Once at Earles Sidings, the wagons will be separated into batches of about 10 and hauled up-grade to the cement works by the resident class 20, #2, which is a H.N.R.C leased class 20, 20168, 'Sir George Earle', it then takes the wagons on the 3km run up to the Castleton Cement Works where they are re-filled. It then brings them back down and takes another empty set back to also be filled after which it brings these back to the original rake and assembles the whole lot into the next cement working out of the sidings... Bit long-winded but this is how its been done for years, the incline and the single-track curvature being too much for a larger loco to deal with. no need to fix it, if it's not broken...
In the right shot, a bit of background enhancement has been applied to show up the sunlit slopes of Sheffield City centre and it looks like the restricted access on signal S1068 ahead is still in place, its 11:30 and passenger traction through the station is probably slowing things up a bit, 70001 wasn't delayed however and it arrived at Earles Sidings 3 minutes early at 12:12, having left the Dewsbury area at 13 minutes early at 09:37..