Classic Traction in Cornwall
Craig Munday

57002 - in a past life
Bill Elston, Steve Clark & Phil Smith
Further to recent references to Class 57 no. 57002, I attach a couple of photos of it in its former guise as 47322, taken at Exeter.
Deforestation at Moorswater
Roger Winnen
69006 on Westbury -Eastleigh 'Tripper'
Guy Vincent
GBRF have recently been sending class 69s to Westbury for driver training and handling experience and this particular loco debuted last Monday (14th April) before making four further visits during the week. As 56128 I have no recorded sightings of the loco at Westbury so this was a fortunate opportunity to finally nail it.
56128 was stored at Toton for several years where it was stripped of many parts. It then moved to Log Marston for further storage, was sold to Devon and Cornwall Railways whose intention was to refurbish and reinstate it to traffic as 56313 following on from 56057 (56311) and 56003 (56312). This failed to take place and after further storage at the Nene Valley Railway, Wansford, the loco was sold to C F Booth, Rotherham and moved by road to their yard for scrapping. One cab was reportedly destined for 'The Cab Yard' outdoor museum near Bridgend. Fortunately the stripped and gutted loco was then resold to GB Railfreight and moved to Longport in late 2018 as a reserve donor bodyshell for the class 69 project. With the project increased to 16 conversions 56128 was included and emerged in July 2022 as 69006. It reached Penzance with sister loco 69005 on 24th June2023 when it worked Pathfinder's 'Mazey Day Special' from Tame Bridge Parkway.
I've included one picture each of 56311 (formerly 56057 and now 69002) and 56312 (formerly 56003, now 69013) with which 56128 would have been grouped as 56313 had the earlier Devon & Cornwall / BARS scheme come to pass. Also due to be included was 56114 which would have been renumbered 56314.