Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton

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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 10/07/2024 at 15:04 #157786
clive
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2799 posts 		My employer has just moved us all to a new office which means I now overlook Cambridge North station from six floors up.

A couple of times I've seen a movement going on on the goods tracks. A train arrives from the south consisting of some empty (I think) open wagons hauled by a 66. It comes into the eastern of the two tracks behind platform 3 and stops. The loco uncouples and runs up to the points where these two merge (heading towards CA223 but not actually getting close to it). After a bit (uncoupling?), the driver gets down and checks the handpoints, gets in again, and moves forward clear of the points. They get down again, move the points, get in, and drive back to CA218. Wait for the shunter to move the handpoints at that end, then shunt back on to the rake to get coupled up. They then sit there for 10 or 15 minutes before being given a route out back towards Cambridge behind something else.

OpenTrainTimes shows the departing service heading in the direction of Liverpool Street, disappearing into Harlow Mill or Broxbourne up-side sidings. Each time they haven't left by the time I've needed to go home.

The headcode on OpenTrainTimes was 6Lxx both times (it might have been 6L42).

Does anyone know what this working is? Where it comes from and is going to? Neither OpenTrainTimes nor RealTimeTrains have any clues.
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 10/07/2024 at 15:15 #157787
Hap
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1048 posts 		Hi Clive

Do you have times/dates?

Craig
How to report an issue: www.SimSig.co.uk/Wiki/Show?page=usertrack:reportanissue
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 12/07/2024 at 15:37 #157814
clive
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2799 posts 		Hap in post 157787 said:

Do you have times/dates?
Yes! I took a photo from the office window the first time. It was 20th June. The loco was reversing at the south end at 12:46 and the whole lot was sitting at CA218 waiting to depart at 13:08, so it must have left in the next 10 minutes or so.

My guess would be that it left in the five minutes between 1T35 and 2H39, since the down 1T32 was late. Or, failing that, in the 6 minutes between 2H30 coming into platform 3 and 1K74 into platform 2, but that would be harder because they're both in the opposite direction.
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 12/07/2024 at 15:48 #157815
0D07
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91 posts 		6L42 is the Mounstsorrell to Chesterton Jn Aggregates service
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 12/07/2024 at 21:26 #157818
postal
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5269 posts 		Long shot. Could it be 6M04 1157 Barrington Pad Gbrf to Willesden Eurotermnal Gbrf which is booked to RR at Cambridge Recp 1&2 Gbrf then routed forward towards Liverpool St. Train maybe sent forward to Chesterton to RR due to congestion at Cambridge. Today's running at https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H24439/2024-07-12/detailed#allox_id=0 so the timings and running into Broxbourne Rcp fit. Looks as if it runs every weekday.
“In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe
Last edited: 12/07/2024 at 21:33 by postal
Reason: None given
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 12/07/2024 at 22:03 #157820
clive
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2799 posts 		postal in post 157818 said:
Long shot. Could it be 6M04 1157 Barrington Pad Gbrf to Willesden Eurotermnal Gbrf which is booked to RR at Cambridge Recp 1&2 Gbrf then routed forward towards Liverpool St. Train maybe sent forward to Chesterton to RR due to congestion at Cambridge.
I did wonder that - I'd been following 6M04 on Traksy today. But the train I was interested in was definitely showing as a 6Lxx on Open Train Times maps, not a 6Mxx. My mind is now saying that it was 6L04, which suggests it was also from Barrington but went to somewhere else rather than Willesden.
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 12/07/2024 at 22:50 #157821
Steamer
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3997 posts 		clive in post 157820 said:
postal in post 157818 said:
Long shot. Could it be 6M04 1157 Barrington Pad Gbrf to Willesden Eurotermnal Gbrf which is booked to RR at Cambridge Recp 1&2 Gbrf then routed forward towards Liverpool St. Train maybe sent forward to Chesterton to RR due to congestion at Cambridge.
I did wonder that - I'd been following 6M04 on Traksy today. But the train I was interested in was definitely showing as a 6Lxx on Open Train Times maps, not a 6Mxx. My mind is now saying that it was 6L04, which suggests it was also from Barrington but went to somewhere else rather than Willesden.
List of freight trans passing Shepreth Branch Jn on 20th June here: https://charlwoodhouse.co.uk/rail/liverail/frt/SHPRTBJ/4/20/06/24

I can only agree with Postal that it was 6M04 continuing further north to run round; the times certainly seem to match up.

6L04 is the return Willesden- Barrington working; this runs in from Hitchen and propels back onto the branch at Foxton, it doesn't continue to Cambridge and in any case arrives there around 8am.

A 6L42 did run on 20th June from Hanwell to Harlow Mill but doesn't run via Cambridge: https://charlwoodhouse.co.uk/rail/livetrain/H21674/20/06/24, perhaps you saw its TD at Harlow Mill and mistook it for the train you saw?

EDIT: Researching further, 1Q98 ran on that day, arriving at Cambridge Reception Sidings 06:00 and departing 14:20; possibly it was blocking the sidings such that 6M04 couldn't run round?
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Last edited: 12/07/2024 at 22:56 by Steamer
Reason: None given
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 13/07/2024 at 12:52 #157827
clive
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2799 posts 		Thanks Steamer, that all makes sense.

I'm still sure it had a 6L headcode, though. I'm wondering if someone in Cambridge PSB either mixed the two up or decided that, since it was going to Broxbourne initially, it ought to have an L headcode. And Liverpool Street didn't bother to change it when it passed Elsenham because they knew it would have to be re-entered when leaving Broxbourne.

You don't know which loco it was, do you? It had this weird colour scheme and I've not managed to find a decent photo of it.

There seem to be some odd headcodes around these days. Yesterday we had 2Q52 from Cambridge Recp to Middleton Towers - in East Midlands livery and looked like two dogboxes - and 0L37 Hoo Junction Yard to Whitemoor that was shown as "trailing load 1400 tonnes", which is a BIG light engine. (I missed it passing because of a meeting, so I don't know what ran.)

Thanks to everyone who helped answer this.
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 13/07/2024 at 13:45 #157828
Joe S
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131 posts 		2Q52 is, I believe the NR track recording train or similar, made out of the old EMR livery DMUs.

Often see it running around between Ipswich - Norwich, if memory serves.
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 13/07/2024 at 14:23 #157829
eps125
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160 posts
Online 		clive in post 157827 said:
Thanks Steamer, that all makes sense.

I'm still sure it had a 6L headcode, though. I'm wondering if someone in Cambridge PSB either mixed the two up or decided that, since it was going to Broxbourne initially, it ought to have an L headcode. And Liverpool Street didn't bother to change it when it passed Elsenham because they knew it would have to be re-entered when leaving Broxbourne.

You don't know which loco it was, do you? It had this weird colour scheme and I've not managed to find a decent photo of it.

There seem to be some odd headcodes around these days. Yesterday we had 2Q52 from Cambridge Recp to Middleton Towers - in East Midlands livery and looked like two dogboxes - and 0L37 Hoo Junction Yard to Whitemoor that was shown as "trailing load 1400 tonnes", which is a BIG light engine. (I missed it passing because of a meeting, so I don't know what ran.)

Thanks to everyone who helped answer this.
Clive was it by any chance this GBRf livery? 66718
Last edited: 13/07/2024 at 14:24 by eps125
Reason: None given
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 13/07/2024 at 15:48 #157831
clive
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2799 posts 		eps125 in post 157829 said:

Clive was it by any chance this GBRf livery? 66718
That's it! What on earth is it supposed to mean?

Thanks.
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 13/07/2024 at 16:04 #157832
MarkC
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1105 posts 		clive in post 157831 said:
eps125 in post 157829 said:

Clive was it by any chance this GBRf livery? 66718
That's it! What on earth is it supposed to mean?

Thanks.
Not 100% sure but I think the livery is to do with the name of the loco "Peter, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill of Imber in the County of Wiltshire" due to his contributions to the transport sector.
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 13/07/2024 at 17:29 #157835
postal
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5269 posts 		clive in post 157827 said:
I'm still sure it had a 6L headcode, though.
6L04 is the headcode for the inward working so maybe someone in the box just carried 6L04 forward instead of entering the new 6M04.
“In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 13/07/2024 at 17:36 #157836
clive
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2799 posts 		Joe S in post 157828 said:
2Q52 is, I believe the NR track recording train or similar, made out of the old EMR livery DMUs.

Often see it running around between Ipswich - Norwich, if memory serves.
Google tells me that it's actually three separate 153s: 311, 376, and 385. They're fitted with new track recording kit including cameras on the ends. Anglia's got two of them because there's nothing else within hundreds of miles that can couple to a 153. Wessex just has 385.
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 13/07/2024 at 18:20 #157838
eps125
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160 posts
Online 		clive in post 157831 said:
eps125 in post 157829 said:

Clive was it by any chance this GBRf livery? 66718
That's it! What on earth is it supposed to mean?

Thanks.
It's supposed to be a variation on a London Transport Museum livery, but having had it described to me as weird by a number of colleagues I had an idea it would be the one!
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Unknown wagon movement at Chesterton 13/07/2024 at 18:29 #157839
TUT
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545 posts 		https://www.flickr.com/photos/invader1009/53763995155/

385 seen at Shrub Hill.

I don't really understand why measurement trains run under a class 2 headcode, but they have done for a while. I know 2Z01 is an officers' special train, but I've never seen one of those.
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