I have been taking a few piccies of a Felixstowe North-Crewe Basford Hall Intermodal lately whilst on my daily exercise walk, and it got me thinking back.
In the early 70's I used to work The Tartan Arrow train which was half Freightliner wagons and half CCV? vans, so 75mph max for the Kentish Town to Glasgow Bridgeton service.
So I thought that I would compare the two trains on the Wigston to Basford Hall stretch.
In 1973 with an average overall weight of 837 tons the Class 47 took around 90 mins from Wigston Sth Jct to Crewe BH.
In 2021 the Intermodal has a max weight of 1475 tons with a Class 66 and is scheduled 1 hour 40 mins for the journey from Wigston North Jct.
FWIW On the southbound journey (4M50) we usually left Basford Hall the same time as an Electric hauled Freightliner which because of it's superior power went Fast Line, but with the 47 on full power with 837 tons on going up the Bank, what a sensation with all the colour lights and clag adding to proceedings.
In the early 70's I used to work The Tartan Arrow train which was half Freightliner wagons and half CCV? vans, so 75mph max for the Kentish Town to Glasgow Bridgeton service.
So I thought that I would compare the two trains on the Wigston to Basford Hall stretch.
In 1973 with an average overall weight of 837 tons the Class 47 took around 90 mins from Wigston Sth Jct to Crewe BH.
In 2021 the Intermodal has a max weight of 1475 tons with a Class 66 and is scheduled 1 hour 40 mins for the journey from Wigston North Jct.
FWIW On the southbound journey (4M50) we usually left Basford Hall the same time as an Electric hauled Freightliner which because of it's superior power went Fast Line, but with the 47 on full power with 837 tons on going up the Bank, what a sensation with all the colour lights and clag adding to proceedings.