Yarmouth drags, the end is nigh (according to rumour) - Updated to include 28/09/13 workings

[beast66606]

Local rumours claim that DRS have not been awarded the contract for next year's Yarmouth drags - where the 90+train are dragged from Norwich - Great Yarmout thus forming a Liverpool Street - Great Yarmouth through service - it could mean the DBS have the contract for example but local hopes are not high so I took myself and my fiance (!) out to photograph it.

 

I've created a separate thread for the infrastructure stuff I photographed.

 

All photos taken 14 September 2013

 

The first drag, an empty stock from Norwich, was due to arrive at 09:51, but was having problems, eventually it departed Norwich and I awaited ...

 

Great Yarmouth.

 

170270 on 2C51, 09:55, Great Yarmouth - Norwich via Reedham

 

 

156419 on 2P14, 09:36, Norwich - Great Yarmouth via Acle

 

(note the in route ground signal (rear view) at "off".

 

 

A quick turn around

156419 on 2P15, 10:17, Great Yarmouth - Norwich via Acle

 

 

Mmmm, why is there a 170 arriving now ...

 

Check my information and 5V33 had arrived ... the first drag was a 170

 

170272 on 5V33, 09:19, Norwich Crown Point - Great Yarmouth - vice 47+90+stock+DVT (+30) via Reedham

 

153335, Michael Palin, and 153322, Benjamin Britten, on 2P52, 10:15, Norwich - Great Yarmouth via Acle

 

And the first London departs (I assume the 90 + DVT started from Norwich and the 170 terminated there)

170272 on 1V33, 10:40, Great Yarmouth - London Liverpool Street - vice 47+90+stock+DVT (Swapped at Norwich)

 

 

A quick visit to the station where I was quizzed by Greater Anglia staff about my intentions, I gave a technical answer concerning post mounted shunt signals, releases and locks which she seemed happy with (!) - I tried to chat about the Londons but as she claimed they were really reliable this year (errr, they've only run about 10 times out of 60 or so paths) I gave up, a nice lady though.

 

153322, Benjamin Britten, and 153335, Michael Palin, on 2P17, 11:17, Great Yarmouth - Norwich via Acle

 

 

 

 

 

Off to Asda for some "girly" shopping and then back again for the "man" stuff - although my lovely Jill was running the second video camera, and she got her share of insults from the idiot brigade.

 

156422 on 2C16, 11:36, Norwich - Great Yarmouth via Reedham

 

156422 on 2P19, 12:17, Great Yarmouth - Norwich via Acle

 

 

 

By now I knew the 47 was on it's way so I was waiting, and it finally came into view

47802, Pride of Cumbria, 90009, Diamond Jubilee, and 821132 on 1V18, 10:00, London Liverpool Street - Great Yarmouth via Reedham

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 47 then ran round the train

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we see the in-route ground signal again, and it's showing it's purpose, allowing shunting moves within the signalled area, the homes for the station are colour lights and are a good way out, the ground signal means the shunt doesn't need the token.

 

 

 

Before propelling back - the shunter is visible in some of the shots, at the "90" end

 

 

 

 

 

 

156412 on 2P20, 12:36, Norwich - Great Yarmouth via Acle

 

And we're off

47802, Pride of Cumbria, 82132 and 90009, Diamond Jubilee, on 1V43, 13:10, Great Yarmouth - London Liverpool Street via Reedham

 

 

 

 

The T scale train heads for the reeds

 

 

-- more soon --

[stewartingram]

Nice pics, though the area has become overgrown since I was last there! Just look at those carriage sidings. What a waste. (And the old M&GN bridge over Breydon Water has long gone....).

 

As an aside, does anyone know of 4mm yard lights (non working preferred) similar to the ones on wooden poles in the old carriage sidings? 

 

Stewart

[beast66606]

The first and second drags take the Reedham line at Brundal, the third (and final) drag takes the more direct line via Acle, so off I went to Acle, punctuated by a 5 minute spell at Cantley until I remembered I was on the wrong line

 

Acle is a single line with passing loop, it retains semaphore signals and even has an LED style banner - visible in the first shot

 

Acle

156416, Saint Edmund, on 2P25, 14:17, Great Yarmouth - Norwich via Acle

 

 

 

 

 

156417 on 2P22, 13:36, Norwich - Great Yarmouth via Acle

Unfortunately I made a hash of this shot, it was supposed to include the signals

 

 

 

 

 

47802, Pride of Cumbria, 90015, Colchester Castle, and 821112 on 1V28, 12:30, London Liverpool Street - Great Yarmouth via Acle

 

 

 

 

 

[trisonic]

Lovely shots, Dave, as per usual.

 

Btw who are the "Idiot Brigade" and why would they insult Jill?

 

Best, Pete.

[beast66606]

Lovely shots, Dave, as per usual.

 

Btw who are the "Idiot Brigade" and why would they insult Jill?

 

Best, Pete.

 

Those who think trainspotters are sad - if I can suffer abuse from so called fellow "modellers" then the public are always going to be worse. Jill was also acting as a trainspotter so she was targetted too. I just told them to c'off.

[roundhouse]

I had that too when I was there.

 

Unfortunately Great Yarmouth isn't the nicest of places when stag parties etc. turn up at the weekends.

 

Ian

[trisonic]

Over here  they would soon be clubbed and hauled off in 'cuffs by the local Police......

 

Sorry to hear about that; mobs of drunks don't really happen unless you are in Philadelphia.

 

Best, Pete.

[beast66606]

Over here  they would soon be clubbed and hauled off in 'cuffs by the local Police......

 

Sorry to hear about that; mobs of drunks don't really happen unless you are in Philadelphia.

 

Best, Pete.

 

These aren't drunks Pete - they are "normal" for the area - but let's not give them any space, they're not worth it.

[beast66606]

And so to the final leg of this particular journey.

 

An overbridge near Postwick park and ride, not marvellous for trains leaving Norwich but somewhere different

 

170270 on 2P26, 15:36, Norwich - Great Yarmouth via Acle

 

156417 on 2C23, 15:12, Great Yarmouth - Norwich via Reedham

153335, Michael Palin, and 153322, Benjamin Britten, on 2J82, 15:50, Norwich - Lowestoft

 

 

156419 on 2C57, 15:55, Great Yarmouth - Norwich via Reedham

 

156416, Saint Edmund, on 2J83, 15:50, Lowestoft - Norwich

 

170270 on 2P27, 16:17, Great Yarmouth - Norwich via Acle

 

156417 on 2P28, 16:40, Norwich - Great Yarmouth via Acle

 

 

47802, Pride of Cumbria, 82112 and 90015, Colchester Castle, on 5V28, 16:25, Great Yarmouth - Norwich Crown Point ECS via Reedham

 

 

 

 

 --------------------------------

"Of our elaborate plans, the end" - Jim Morrison

 

[trisonic]

Lovely line that, Dave.

 

Thanks, Pete.

[Glorious NSE]

An overbridge near Postwick park and ride, not marvellous for trains leaving Norwich but somewhere different

 

No, but I like the gentle S in the other direction, very pretty.

 

Thanks for the pics.

 

(PS - No DRS may not mean no drags, other folks have 47s/57s...but 'shoot it while it's there' is good practice either way!)

[beast66606]

(PS - No DRS may not mean no drags, other folks have 47s/57s...but 'shoot it while it's there' is good practice either way!)

 

 

Cough - first paragraph

 

There's another two Saturdays of this seasons but who knows what will be 47 hauled and what will be a unit or even cancelled. I might well go out and take some more tomorrow.

[Swifty11]

Shame DRS may loose it, I can confirm that not even DRS know if they have or have not kept hlod of the contract. However the driver I was talking to said that they are thinking about trying to fit ETH to 57/0s and put those on the drags. Or maybe 68s? And according to him they are thinking about 37s? Should be interesting

[surfsup]

Looking at those repainted 153s and 156s - it would appear that they've removed the NRN Radio Pods too, giving those 153s the new 'Skinhead' look!.

[railroadbill]

Great set of pics, good there are still some  interesting train movements going on!  Took me back to some areas I haven't been to for quite a while as well, last time I was at Gt Yarmouth Station mk1 coaches were hauled by 31s. 

 

Thanks!

 

ps rather liked the 153 and 156 in white with red doors.

[mcowgill]

The diagrams for Yarmouth trains mean they can also end up at Lowestoft (some turns do Norwich - Yarmouth - Norwich- Lowestoft - Norwich), both Norwich and Lowestoft have limited run round capabilities. 

 

The Yarmouth drags carry a travelling shunter to help with the ground frame and coupling, top and tail sets don't need a shunter, don't need a run round loop, don't need 20 minutes at each end of the trip to turn round, the list goes on and on.  Top and tail working is far simpler, thats why the autumn water cannon/sandite trains are normally top and tail, quick turnround with no operational difficulties, platform / pathing restrictions etc.

 

As for 57s or 37s, I've been told in the past that these have never appeared on Greater Anglia drags/replacements as they are not on the GA safety case.

 

Martin

[beast66606]

The diagrams for Yarmouth trains mean they can also end up at Lowestoft (some turns do Norwich - Yarmouth - Norwich- Lowestoft - Norwich), both Norwich and Lowestoft have limited run round capabilities. 

 

The Yarmouth drags carry a travelling shunter to help with the ground frame and coupling, top and tail sets don't need a shunter, don't need a run round loop, don't need 20 minutes at each end of the trip to turn round, the list goes on and on.  Top and tail working is far simpler, thats why the autumn water cannon/sandite trains are normally top and tail, quick turnround with no operational difficulties, platform / pathing restrictions etc.

 

As for 57s or 37s, I've been told in the past that these have never appeared on Greater Anglia drags/replacements as they are not on the GA safety case.

 

Martin

 

Martin - 37s worked the Lowestoft Airshow specials (ECS) last year.

 

 

Short set, this year

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4qAZ5ty2ao

[mcowgill]

Martin - 37s worked the Lowestoft Airshow specials (ECS) last year.

 

 

 

So they did!  I knew I was doing something that day, here's proof of my appalling memory - my own shots!  The second one is the evening return working so they weren't just on the ECS.  

 

 

 

I've been racking my brains to remember what I'd been told by the guys I know at Crown Point, I think it's a train crew/traction knowledge issue.  Last year's Lowestoft trains had the class 37s worked by DRS crews, the Yarmouth drags and short set are both worked by the Crown Point Greater Anglia crews that are passed out on 47s (a fairly small link).  Switching to alternative power will involve some conversion for crews or the use of the loco hirer's crews which might not go down too well in Norwich.

 

Martin

[class"66"]

Awsome photos!!!  

[beast66606]

September 28th saw the final day of service, whether it's for this season or for ever will only be known for sure next year, a guy I met was well in with some of the drivers and they don't know yet so ... perhaps this thread will return next year, or perhaps not.

 

Unfortunately it was a bright sunny day, this means that photography is difficult except at the usual places, so I make no apologies for the quality of the shots, I was recording the event rather then getting magazine shots.

 

First off I headed for Cantley, whilst there I heard the first drag was to be a 170 - again.

 

September 28th 2013

Cantley.

 

156416, Saint Edmund, on 2J68, 08:55, Norwich - Lowestoft

 

The reason the first drag was cancelled became obvious, the 47s were out on the short set

47802, Pride of Cumbria, 82114 and 47841 on 2C50, 09:06, Norwich - Great Yarmouth via Reedham

 

156412 on 2J69, 08:50, Lowestoft - Norwich

 

170207 on 5V33, 09:19, Norwich Crown Point - Great Yarmouth - vice 47+90+stock+DVT via Reedham

 

Then the usual predicament, do I photograph the return short set from the sunny side or go for the other side ? - I chose the latter.

47841,  82114 and 47802, Pride of Cumbria, on 2C51, 09:55, Great Yarmouth - Norwich

 

156416, Saint Edmund, on 2J71, 09:50, Lowestoft - Norwich - stopper (getting the distant at caution)

passing

153322, Benjamin Britten, and 156419 on 2J70, 10:05, Norwich - Lowestoft - stopper

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "drag" passes.

170207 on 1V33, 10:40, Great Yarmouth - London Liverpool Street - vice 47+90+stock+DVT (Swapped at Norwich)

 

156407 on 2J72, 10:58, Norwich - Lowestoft

 

 

156419 and 153322, Benjamin Britten, on 2J73, 11:00, Lowestoft - Norwich

 

During this time it was debatable if the next drag would run, would the 47s stay on the short set ? would they stable, would they work it - info was sparse but the signal cleared at the expected time and

 

47802, Pride of Cumbria, 90014, Norwich and Norfolk Festival, and 82112 on 1V18, 10:00, London Liverpool Street - Great Yarmouth via Reedham

 

 

 

A move to Reedham for the return drag

 

170206 on 2J76, 12:58, Norwich - Lowestoft

 

The drag was expected, but it's time came and went, no sign of departure from Great Yarmouth, then the news came in - the point clip keys had been left at Norwich and the train was running late, now we had the risk it could go via Acle and not pass Reedham at all - nail biting time.

 

156416 on 2C54, 13:18, Norwich - Great Yarmouth via Reedham

 

 

After this had passed there was no way the drag could come via Reedham, the line is single and it take 15 minutes to traverse. Eventually the unit got to GY but at the time same, all the realtime sites were reporting the drag had arrived at Norwich, it must have gone the other way ... but, the points had been set for a train off the branch so, mmmm, I think I'll wait and see.

 

47802, Pride of Cumbria, 82112 and 90014, Norwich and Norfolk Festival, on 1V43, 14:00, Great Yarmouth - Norwich

- point clip key left in Norwich, running late, terminated at Norwich, spare set worked forward from Norwich at the correct time.

 

 

 

As this drag was running very late, it was even more debatable if the next, and final drag would run, I had spotted some interesting signals on Google, and so I headed for Lingwood for a quick look

 

Lingwood

170204 on 2P24, 14:36, Norwich - Great Yarmouth via Acle

 

I then moved to the interesting bridge, and sure enough the signals were there, level crossing distants.

During this time there had been no news of the drag, as I was bending down to get my still camera from the bag I heard the familiar sound of a signal clearing, well something was coming ...

 

47802, Pride of Cumbria, 90012, Royal Anglian Regiment, and 82121 on 1V28, 12:30, London Liverpool Street - Great Yarmouth via Acle

 

Yes, that is another distant signal - more about this on another thread later.

 

170271 on 2P26, 15:36, Norwich - Great Yarmouth via Acle

 

For the final ECS, possibly for ever, I decided to head to Brundall, whilst the sun would be completely wrong, I hoped I could get something as it passed the cabin.

 

47802, 82121 and Pride of Cumbria, 90012, Royal Anglian Regiment, and 82121 on 5V28, 16:25, Great Yarmouth - Norwich Crown Point via Reedham

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------

 

The End.

[treggyman]

Hi

 

Happened on this thread completely by accident......

 

Have really enjoyed browsing through your superb pictures & very informative text.....

 

It's an area of the country I don't know at all but your pics & text have changed that.....

 

Thanks for sharing....

 

Cheers Bill

[alfsboy]

Great shots of one of the few exciting trains we get through Brundall .It was sheduled for finishing years ago .I see the signal box is getting tatty .I used to walk the dog past the railway and always took my camera Sadly the dog selfishly died and I dont go down there at all now which is dumb as its about 1/4 mile from my house.anyway here are some shots of the hauler from 2005 .The train is actually stopped at the signal box and a few minutes later the signal man came out onto the from walkway and waved it through .

[alfsboy]

Looks like it is still running .My wife  and grandson informed me that a big big train with engines each end went by very quickly  when they were taking our twin tails of terror for a doggie walk early evening  at Brundall .

[beast66606]

Looks like it is still running .My wife  and grandson informed me that a big big train with engines each end went by very quickly  when they were taking our twin tails of terror for a doggie walk early evening  at Brundall .

 

That's the short set - top and tail 47s on DRS MkIIs. No sign of any drags this year, not looking good.

[alfsboy]

I am not really bothering going down to see any local trains until the BNSF have a Yarmouth - rest of country   double stack  run through :-)