A great cutting sent to me by Mike H, from a 1960s Modern Railways magazine.
One surprise is that four tracks seem to pass under Dumblederry Lane bridge (with some mineral wagons shown on the fourth track, at right), I have only ever known two here.
The steel firm moving the rolling mill equipment via the train, Richard Thomas and Baldwins, became part of British Steel Corporation (now Corus) in 1967. A Class 25 loco appears to be at the head of the freight.
A road-railer busy collecting felled tree trunks in Sutton Park on Sunday.
The bridge is known by the old-worlde name of Tumbledown, and is bridge number 41.
A superb official BR photograph showing Type 2 Bo-Bo loco number D5233 at Aldridge in the mid-1960s. The loco appears to be on the crossover near the goods yard and Walsall Wood branch line, the station buildings can also be seen in the background (right). I've an idea that 9T64 was the Washwood Heath - Bescot tripper, but does anyone know for certain ?
The loco had an interesting history, it was built at Derby Works in 1963, allocated to Birmingham Division in 1966, renumbered to 25083 in 1974, withdrawn in 1984 and then stored at Crewe for fifteen years until being bought for preservation in Scotland as late as 1999.
Photo copyright British Railways.
6D44 Bescot - Toton with 66189+66016.
4O90 Birch Coppice-Grain hauled by "Medite" loco 66709 for only the second time.
6M82 Walsall-Peak Forest behind 60040 once again.
All seen in glorious sunshine today - at one point the temperature touched 20c, not bad for October !
One for all you livery fans out there, as Fastline's 4O90 is today worked through by GBRF's 66709 "Joseph Arnold Davies" in her black MEDITE livery.
The liner has been worked by a number of unusual loco's in the past four weeks, including "ghost" 56311, DRS 66420, new Fastline loco 66303 and now 66709, as well as the more usual 56302 & 303....
60099 "Ben More Assynt" passing through on Monday with the 6M82 Walsall - Tunstead cement empties, and a short while later a Class 66 heads for Bescot with 6G21 from Stud Farm.
60099 is yet another Class 60 that I haven't seen for ages, probably two years or more, the name refers to a Scottish mountain....
Seen heading across Sutton Park today were two sets of four loco's running from Crewe to Stowmarket, in order to work the seasons RHTT trains (water jetters).
The first batch comprises 57009+010+008+011.
Then, two views of the second move consisting of 57012+004+007+37087.
Both trains passed within an hour of each other and provided a splash of blue in the dappled sunlight.
The bridge shown is number 42 "Bracebridge Wood Arch".
Although supposedly en route to Eastleigh for storage, 37401 + 37417 were sent back to Bescot from Didcot yesterday evening, to work an overnight ballast train to North Wales.
Here the engines coast through Aldridge on their way into Bescot.
In the background is bridge number 54, Erdington Road.
66200 "Railway Heritage Commitee" streaks across sunny Sutton Park early on Saturday afternoon with the 4G07 liner for Washwood Heath.
The loco's small nameplate is not visible in this shot, as it is fitted under the cabside window at the far end.
Although the photo was taken around 1400 hours, long shadows are already reaching out onto the tracks...
