European Railroad Discussion > Eastleigh, UK photos (was London freight)

Thanks again to all who made these photos possible.  I must tell you all, I still shoot slide film, so I only have a few photos to share from my phone.  But I think these few examples will show how my day went.  And there was a pretty special move that day.  Wow, I can't say enough good things about Eastleigh and the wonderful fans I encountered.  The train ride down from Victoria was quite nice, and the transfer at Clapham Junction quite simple.  The trains were prompt, and quite nice.  What a fabulous day for an American on a brief visit.

OK, on to the trains.  First up, let's see the ubiqitous Class 66, the power for most trains I saw in Eastleigh.  You'll get no complaints from me, as I love EMD power.  And this particular model wears the colors of the Wisconsin Central/Railworld, which was once one of the most adored regional railroads in the United States.  Then a photo of the train of empty auto carriers paused at Eastleigh for a driver change.
 

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Another Class 66, this one from Colas Rail Freight.
 

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Finally, here is the star of the day.  Although no one I talked to really seemed to know the story, vintage Class 73 locomotive 73-002 was moved into Arilington Fleet Services, a car painting facility.  She was moved in by none other than GBRf Class 66 66779 "Evening Star."  I was never in a good position to document the move on film or by camera, but here is the best I can do.

I look forward to many return trips to the UK in the coming years.  I had an outstanding time, and encountered so many friendly and accomodating fans.

 

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Gteat shots and very glad you had a good day at Eastleigh. 73002 is an electro-diesel, built in the 1960s to run off 3rd rail electric (750V DC) as well as having a 600hp diesel engine on board. They were often used in pairs on freight but found use on pasenger trains also, very versatile. 73002 (and 73001) have been stored at a heritage railway for a long time (Forest of Dean) but have been bought by a train operating company and while 73002 will be overhauled and repainted to go to a museum, 73001 is set to return to mainline use!
 

Thank you for filling in the rest of the story on 73 002.  I must say, the shunters in use at Arlington Fleet Services were like a museum unto themselves.  
 

It's an amazing time in the UK for older traction... many examples of locos from classes originally built in the 60s, 70s etc are being rebuilt/refurbished for use again, long after being originally withdrawn.

Does it have anything to do with emissions regulations like here in the US?  Rather than buy the more expensive/higher fuel consumption Tier 4 locomotives, some are opting to rebuild older locomotives instead of buy new.  Norfolk Southern is the biggest example.
 

Yes I think largely a cost thing - rather than go for a very expensive, brand new loco (which might be relatively unproven also), it's a good option to refurbish/rebuild something.

ShortlinesUSA Wrote:
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> Does it have anything to do with emissions
> regulations like here in the US?  Rather than buy
> the more expensive/higher fuel consumption Tier 4
> locomotives, some are opting to rebuild older
> locomotives instead of buy new.

Under EU rules, which mirror US legislation, you can re-build an existing locomotive with a non compliant engine i.e. an EMD 710 series but you can't buy new. So new 66s are a strict no-no but a class 69, the same engine in a 1970s class 56 bodyshell is OK, because the 56 has 'grandfather' rights, being built before the emissions legislation came in to force.

There's another issue which particularly affects us, the additional filters and scrubbers that are required to reduce emissions are difficult to fit into an engine body which is compliant with our restricted loading gauge, one reason why GE developed the class 70 with the gas engine derived P616 instead of using an existing EVO product, the engine of the latter is simply too big.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/19 16:00 by 86235.

Great responses and info, exhaustED and 86235.  I specifically wondered why GE didn't just drop a 12-cylinder EVO into the Class 70 after reading up on that model after seeing one of Freightliner's go through Eastleigh, and you just answered that without me even asking it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/19 18:37 by ShortlinesUSA.

86235 is spot on. The UK's loading gauge is very restricted/'petite' for historical reasons (tight tunnels and low bridges etc.) and the axle loading limit is lower. Hence the most common freight loco in the UK (class 66) is powered by a 12 cylinder 3200hp 710 engine rather than the 16 cylinder version used in the US.