Virgin Pendolino Drags at Crewe (10th September 2005)

Footage taken on Saturday 10th September 2005.

While Crewe works staged the Great Gathering event, the station was bustling with Virgin Class 57 Thunderbird locomotives hauling Pendolino trains on Crewe - Liverpool diversion diagrams.

The footage also includes EWS 90026 working a Holyhead to Birmingham Mk3 diagram, with Virgin DVT 82126 Wembley Traincare Centre leading.

Due to the poor quality of the film (for which I apologise), it is impossible to identify the locos involved that day, apart from Jeff Tracy, FAB 1 and Firefly. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it!

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Virgin
• pendolino
• drag
• Crewe
• works
• great
• gathering
• Class
• 57
• Thunderbird
• Locomotive
• Liverpool
• Diversion
• diagram
• EWS
• 90026

[covladuk1985]

What is 3rd rail? i thought tracks were 2 lines....

[theamateurbasher]

@covladuk1985 A third rail is for some electrified routes on the National Rail system, where the loco or unit picks up the current (direct) from a conductor or a pick-up shoe.

This however, is not a third rail route; the Pendolinos are being dragged by diesels (the class 57's you see in this presentation) because of engineering on the Runcorn route into Liverpool, meaning the Pendolinos have to be diverted via a non-electrified route.

[theamateurbasher]

@covladuk1985 (continued) - The red-and-black train (propelled out of Crewe to Birmingham by a Class 90 electric locomotive) had been out to Holyhead behind another class 57 diesel, again because that route is non-electrified.

Hope this clears things up. Thanks for commmenting!

[covladuk1985]

@theamateurbasher There are wires above? the class 90 has the thing extended so it must be using the overhead wires?

[theamateurbasher]

@covladuk1985 Yes, there are wires above. But when these Pendolinos arrived in Crewe from London, they had to have their pantographs lowered in readiness for being dragged over a non-electrified route, because the wires on the Runcorn route weren't available - as I've said before, there was engineering work going on at the time.

The class 90 had come from the Electric Depot nearby, so this wasn't part of the drags.

[soundseeker63]

Why does everyone seem to have a problem with the pendolinos?

[WaerzMedia09]

@soundseeker63

As Class 91's and 43's 99% of the time never need to be hauled by another locomotive? ECML more efficient than WCML?

[AccountNotFound]

@covladuk1985 its an electrified rail that runs inbetween tracks providing a 650 DC-1500dc current replacing the 25kv Ac current

[yaxattax0]

@badassfcuk Actually, class 57 locos are not American, but British. And the "Italian crap" is built using what was originally British technology :)

[theamateurbasher]

I can't honestly say anything about that.

[badassfcuk]

Is there no British Engineering left? Is that why they have to import a load of american engines to pull a load of italian crap?