Fantastic Freight! Carlisle to Water Orton and Coventry during major disruption 21 July 26
I'd been invited to join Paul of West Coast Mainline Trains for a trip to Water Orton and Stafford. Great plan! After an early start with some 37s at Carlisle recently arrived on Network Rail Test Trains and a loaded China Clay Slrry train heading to Workington, we headed to Birmingham New Street to await the train on to Water Orton. Water Orton delivered the goods. However while there we learned of serious disruption at Stafford. We headed back to New Street as planned to find very few Avanti trains were heading north from New Street and certainly none through Stafford. We gave up any plans to film at Stafford and ended up at Coventry which proved interesting with freight and passenger services. However, as soon a train was announced for Carlisle and Edinburgh we were on it! Not risking getting stuck!
That was an eventful journey - over an hour late when it arrived at Coventry and then listening out that the train was still continuing as we passed Birmingham New Street and Preston. However before Preston we lost at least 30 minutes when the train stopped suddenly south of Warrington. So sudden I banged my head against a wall. A fault with the Pendolino - please don't cancel this train! Whatever the issue, it was resolved by the Driver. Back at Carlisle before sunset and a couple more freights to finish of a frustrating but successful day.
The times shown on clips are for guidance only and shouldn't be taken as definitive.
Any observations are my own and not intended to show any authority and may show my misunderstanding.
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The video captures a range of freight services across several locations, including Carlisle, Birmingham New Street, Water Orton, and Coventry. It features trains operated by multiple companies, such as Avanti West Coast, Colas, Freightliner, and others. The footage includes various locomotives and freight types, with some specific headcodes identified. The journey was affected by disruptions at Stafford, leading to changes in the planned route. The content highlights a variety of train movements and operations during a period of significant activity on the rail network.
Fishplate has identified 37 locomotives in this video. We’ve also matched 20 headcodes and 14 operators . Create a free account to see where they appear, unlock timestamps and locations, and view the full breakdown.
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