I have been to Rugby before but on this visit, I thought it was extremely quiet.
The ‘Star’ here was Direct Rail Services (DRS) Class 57309 named ‘Pride of Crewe’.
Rebuilt from Class 47’s by Brush Traction at Loughborough. The 57’s incorporated General Motors engines which greatly improved the loco’s performance.
57309 was originally part of Virgin Trains‘ (VT) twelve strong ‘Thunderbird’ fleet and was named ‘Brains’ in that series.
Along with 57302 and 57305. 57309 was leased from ‘Porterbrook’ by DRS for a period of 3 years from April 2012.
From December 2012 DRS contracted to provide haulage for VT and presumably, its presence at Rugby was to be of such service if required.
Parked in a siding adjacent to the station are a small collection of vehicles.
96605
Is one of a small collection of vans that at one time were used by the ‘Motorail’ service. These ran in passenger train formations carrying the cars of the trains passengers.
The last time I was here which is over two years ago, they were parked in the same position.
These former ‘Great Western’ liveried vehicles ran as part of the ‘Night Riviera’ service from London to Penzance.
Introduced in 1999. The trains ran until 2005 when after considerable financial losses, they were withdrawn.
6376
Is one of two ‘Translator’ vehicles owned by ‘Porterbrook’. ‘Also known as ‘barrier’ vehicles.
Their purpose is to bridge the gap between loco’s, coaches, wagons etc. that have otherwise incompatible couplings.
Originally they were Mark 1 coaching stock.
Directly opposite the railway station is the local ‘Stagecoach’ Midlands garage. Like the railway station, it was very quiet.
The only bus outside in clear view was.
P905 RYO
A Leyland Olympian with Northern Counties Palatine 1 bodywork. It has that forlorn look about it that old buses have just before they are sold on.
KX61 GEJ and KX61 GDU
An image taken from Platform 1 on the railway station shows a couple of ‘megabus.com’ Volvo B9R’s with Plaxton Panther 2 bodies tucked away in the garage.
No comments:
Post a Comment