Tuesday 24th July 2018
56301 made its first foray onto the mainline (under its own power) for some time yesterday morning, running as 0Z26 1127 Leicester LIP – Knighton Junction with 56081 to collect 27059, returning as 0Z27 1258 Knighton Junction – Leicester LIP. The 27 had arrived at Knighton by road earlier this year from Tyseley, the sidings here having been reinstated as a road transfer point as Leicester Depot itself is deemed unsuitable for such maneuvers. However, upon arriving at Knighton the 27 was unable to be moved and both 56s returned to Leicester solo.
56105 has swapped places with 56113 as the hired-in Peak Forest shunt loco for Victa Railfreight / GBRf, running as 0Z56 Crewe Basford Hall – Peak Forest on Thursday (19th July) with 56113 going the other way back to Crewe the same morning.
56096 has joined 56094 on the 6M32 / 6E32 Preston Docks circuit this week, replacing 56090 which was on the train last week. 090 is undergoing routine maintenance at Barnetby Sidings. All three locos again featured on engineers trains from Doncaster over the course of the weekend, with 096 working to and from Hemsworth Loop on 6C87 and 090 / 094 working to and from Sheffield on 6C52.
Next in line for reinstatement to front line service with Colas, 56049 has now moved pools from COLS to COFS, signalling the strong likelihood of a mainline test run in the very near future.