November - Intercity Railway Society

this safely at all times, as there were arrivals and departures occurring during our visit. Appropriately
one of the arrivals we saw was an intermodal hauled by 66502 'Basford Hall Centenary 2001'.
During a typical day Basford Hall will see around 100 train movements and passing the outside of the
Yard stabling lines are the Down Fast and Slow Independent lines. These offer a freight only route
that bypasses Crewe station where they become the Down Liverpool and Down Manchester
Independents, diving under the mainlines to the north of the station.
Our visit concluded after 45 minutes back at the top end of the Yard where we just had time to gather
most of our party (some had already rushed off) for a quick photo. For those who like to put a face to
those who ably give you articles in Tracks, James Holloway is second from the left in the foreground.
All in all it went well and was enjoyable and somewhere that we should definitely visit again. I am
pleased to report that everyone followed instructions and gave a good account of the Society which is
important because these visits are dependent on people behaving sensibly and following instructions.
Now we have the contact with Freightliner, who I spoke to on Saturday, we can make arrangements
for a visit in 2013, our 40 th anniversary year and they would be happy to accommodate us.
The following is a log of the locos recorded during our visit:
Down Independent Lines:
66304
66736 'Wolverhampton Wanderers'
Basford Hall Yard:
66068, 66103, 66147,
66502 'Basford Hall Centenary 2001',
66525, 66529, 66533, 66563, 66596
70004 'The Coal Industry Society', 70011
86609, 86622, 86637, 86501
90016, 90045, 90047
90016 & 86501
6
photos by Mark Richards