Freight Driver's Eye View: Daventry to Ditton

Join me on board 66156 on this two and a half hour journey from Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) to Ditton Foundry Lane via the likes of Rugby, Stafford, Crewe Basford Hall and the iconic Runcorn Bridge.
This train was 6M13, formed of only 5 wagons, so was very light and quickly reached its maximum speed of 60mph. Filmed on 04/05/2022.
Unfortunately due to technical issues I was unable to include the live speedometer in this video, but I hope you enjoy the excellent quality of the new GoPro 10 Black - far superior to my old 4 silver!

[@BibtheBoulder]

I used to live in Polesworth. I had the good fortune to be invited into the old signal box which was a raised structure, sitting between the up fast and the down fast. On the occasions an up and down service passed at the same time the box literally shook. I was also there to witness the crane that removed the footbridge, thus turning Polesworth into the parliamentary station it now is...

[@ffrancrogowski2192]

The quality is very good on my tv screen. I reckon that this is a real classic of a video, and the sound of the loco is champion! Grateful indeed for this production.

[@skodass1]

Another brilliant video m8... still cant get over the sound of the 66 when it idles, sounds so good!

[@TwmUkLive]

Sounds like me washing machine

[@petersimons5675]

Can not watch the premier but looking forward to watching latter

[@jessicamorgan3073]

Thanks for another fab video. Keep going Ben! :-)

[@nevillegreen135]

Ben I am still enjoying the video no matter the problem. Look forward to the next one

[@rubyait]

Hi Ben. This is the best batch of track names I have seen yet. Network rail has to get a Committee to Rename Boring Tracks!

[@1903bretep]

Ben: another great video. many thanks, keep em coming.

[@stephencleaves]

Lovely and interesting video/journey Ben, always great to watch.

[@SativaIndica78]

Brilliant video Ben. Looking forward to some class 90 footage in the future!

[@lauriecooper8194]

Superb Ben, thanks very much.

[@jondavies9347]

Interesting and enjoyable ride to Dutton going through my home town of Tamworth and its surroundings.Thanks.

[@phwbooth]

Well done, Ben. Excellent.

[@samsc6728]

Nice thanks for sharing Ben!

[@juliansadler6263]

Thanks for the video Ben in Central Trains we took the flyover at Nuneaton and on to Peterborough where we changed as I didn't sign to Stansted. The rest quite new to me.

[@everykenyan]

I stumbled across your channel today, I love train vids in the background and I can't believe you have whole live streams!!

[@nevillebavin6390]

I enjoy watching Freight trains thanks fore a mother Video

[@camotech1314]

Wow it's pulling 5 cars like a champ

[@harrisonwalker6902]

Solid watch, cheers 👍

[@josesal]

Interesting ride, thanks for the share.

[@thesoupdragon112]

Love the videos, it would be nice for non railway people like me if you could maybe include a bit of information during it. Be interesting to know what was going on during the stop for example.

[@roygrafton6322]

yaaay it verks, thats much better. I see railcowgirl has been having the same trouble, seems you both got it sorted at the same time.

[@ianclarkson2251]

Awesome again Ben, missed the corner speedo though this vid. Plenty to see on this route, Keep em coming pal. Regards IAN

[@beneliastrains]

Thanks 👍

[@rubyait]

Good to ride with you again, Ben. I thought you had left “training.” Glad I was wrong!

[@simonangel871]

That windscreen wiper judder would drive me nuts!

[@markwilson4052]

Great video. And I saw you at Nuneaton this morning. A lot more than 5 wagons today! Held on the fast lines too and you had 'the feathers' to cross to the down slow.

[@beneliastrains]

That was me indeed! I was starting to think there was a bit of disruption to be honest, but all went smoothly after that.

[@markwilson4052]

@@beneliastrains A couple of northbound Pendolinos were held for 20 minutes, including the Glasgow one, but then it all ran smoothly. Spoke to the driver and he had said there was report of a 'bridge incident'. But it could not have been anything.

[@joeridemoor9558]

Being a Tsw4 player since quite a while, I'm really impressed by how well they managed to simulate the Class 66's distinct sound! And not only the Class 66 for that matter, also a lot of other British and German rolling stock is very well done apparently! Would be nice though to see the entire cab, especially your actions as a driver, and not only hearing you acknowledge AWS at yellows, but also seeing it. 😁

[@firstfreeone]

Nice ride, Thanks Ben. The EMD rockets along with minimal load. they do not call the loco models GT for nothing.

[@MartinMiller1]

Excellent!

[@class87srule]

Good video. Depressing to see all those Freightliner electrics parked up at Basford Hall.

[@neerajtamrakar6785]

very nice video

[@cteasdale1979]

Love sound

[@mikkie444]

Companys spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on a new engine but only £2.50 on wipers

[@samshunt5715]

Driver leaves heated windscreen on, it stops raining and wipers melt on to windscreen. = squeaky noise as it drags across melted rubber.

[@peterbattey8263]

Surely that's down to the driver, don't they check their engines over before leaving depot? Hate to think what the state of his car is. A bus/lorry driver checks his vehicle before taking it out on the the road even after taking over from previous driver, paperwork has to be signed by driver handing over and driver taking over. Any defects must be reported at beginning and end of run, if can't be rectified out on road then as soon as possible or vehicle is taken out of service.

[@S2RUF]

@@peterbattey8263 The wipers on this are working no different to any other 66 I’ve been on, they are operated by the air system of the loco rather than an electric motor so they don’t typically have a smooth action. Plus there is no intermittent setting, I wish there was, it’s either continuous slow or continuous fast, so when it’s drizzling lightly you need it on to clear the screen but it’s often not ‘wet enough’ to stop you dragging a blade over too dry a screen. When it rains more heavily then they operate silently and smoothly.

[@wilfriedfriedemann3349]

The company should buy new wipers instead of bidding on used wipers online.

[@GoTroppo69]

Land Transport: We have efficient, intelligent wipers deployed on millions of vehicles Railways: Oh, you want to see when it rains?

[@TrainsBoatsPlanes]

Looks great to me.

[@kevinellis8869]

Another great video, good to see the Crewe Independent lines but sad to see so many locos 'resting'. Have you signed any more routes that we can look forward to seeing in the future?

[@aviano72]

So many class 86 (?) at that yard

[@SteveSmithRailways]

One day they will make wipers for locomotives that don't make that hideous noise when in use when its not wet enough for them. That would drive me nuts!

[@dixiedean1955]

Great video, thanks for sharing. Crazy this journey is diesel hauled though, under the wires! (Apart from the final shunt)

[@brrob8108]

If the loco is used off the wires on the next job it would look silly sending an electric!

[@dixiedean1955]

@@brrob8108 True. But I'm sure diesel use you be better minimised.

[@brrob8108]

@@dixiedean1955 I am sure they use electric where possible but many destinations are not on the wire.

[@ianwilkinson4602]

@@dixiedean1955 Considering the climbing cost of energy, it could be that diesel may turn out to be cheaper ;-)) or even coal :-)))))) I doubt the environmentalist would like that too much.

[@kevsbangerracers2027]

Great video ben who was that fella standing by the line when you stopped….looked like a train spotter!

[@brrob8108]

Thanks Ben, another great video and some route I have never seen before. ps is Don C still fighting the filmfuhrers?

[@112Haribo]

Don Coffey has released a couple of interesting videos that one of his mates at Freightliner filmed for him. Those videos are still annotated in Don's classic style and are super interesting to watch.

[@andycruickshank1671]

I see that the windscreen wipers on engines still drag and make annoying sounds in light rain.You would have thought that in all that time someone would have solved the problem.Great video though.

[@agems56]

Set the wipers to intermittent to one swipe per minute or longer so that the window is good and wet!

[@yeahman70]

31:07 theres a WMR Class 730 on test

[@jimififul]

Quick question - is the shunter at the end constantly using your name to avoid confusion with other drivers who might by chance be on the same frequency, or is he just mega-friendly?

[@beneliastrains]

Bit of both. He's mega friendly and it's also to avoid potential confusion

[@Johnny16781]

Great One again Ben How come you had to go Through Crewe Basford Hall instead of going through Crewe Sta Would have been faster for you LOL

[@beneliastrains]

Most freight goes through Basford Hall for I presume capacity reasons. It's a bit of a slog through there!

[@garybroadhurst3548]

I was surprised how low the speed limit is through the whole of the Crewe bypass-lines. I know there's lots going on and staff moving about close to the line, but is there some other reason? Certainly in the north section where the Liverpool and Manchester lines split it feels like it could be faster. Doesn't this cause a bottleneck for even the freight traffic? I remember as a kid standing on Crewe station in the 70s and early 80s. It was frustrating missing all the freight traffic. You could hear it and sometimes see the roof or the odd pantograph. It seemed to move a lot faster than 10mph then!

[@martinjh999]

14:38 - What speed the Down Fast? Wondering how fast that 390 was going... Also why did you have to stop to let it by? Was it the aerodynamics of the 390 being dangerous if you were moving as well?

[@beneliastrains]

125 on the down fast. If we had continued we would have crashed into the pendolino - as you should be able to see the slow and fast lines merge at Brinklow

[@stoicavasilica5735]

Ați aflat că în ISPWICH,a plouat mult 🌧️🇬🇧, chiar orașul a fost inundat,de ce?

[@fordanglia5777]

Great Video. From around 1hr 39 mins says Down fast Independent. It has a 10mph speed limit. Shows how much investment goes into freight. HS2 money should have gone into improving freight.

[@edmund-osborne]

Do you not think freeing up existing lines of express services by HS2 will benefit freight?

[@fetchstixRHD]

@@edmund-osborne: This is the point that mostly convinced me that HS2 brings benefits. I wouldn't be surprised if "improving frieght" (without major detriment to other services) ended up requiring work that's comparable to HS2, if not worse (at least with HS2, it's being built on almost entirely new alignments with minimal interaction with other lines!) Mind you, if only there were a crystal ball... 🔮

[@AntonyShannon]

As always a delight to see these video. It is a shame that apart form the last 3 - 4 minutes of the video the service was a diesil under OHLE . It would have been nice to see this as an electric freight service - a bi-mode would be really useful here

[@fetchstixRHD]

Would a journey like this be suitable for an 88, by any chance? Of course it being so doesn't mean they can get put on yesterday, so I'm mainly being curious...

[@stephenmaiden528]

I take containers to Malcolms sometimes

[@mikkie444]

Was that a disused line just before MADELY JCN if so were did it come from/ go to

[@beneliastrains]

It was the old line to Silverdale Colliery

[@tartansimmo7147]

Why was that guy at Crewe grumpy with the Ilkley. Was funny though 😂

[@WizardWiddys]

Obviously a musician. Ilkley Moor should be a fourth but the 66 horn is a minor third...

[@tartansimmo7147]

@@WizardWiddys 👍

[@gruggberg6053]

Hi Ben where you a passenger train driver then freight?

[@ECMLTrains]

14:38 heellllllooooooooo

[@jamesmcbride6304]

Jesus ! i think it needs a set of wiper blades. drives you nuts

[@stoicavasilica5735]

Salutări din orașul meu natal TECUCI România 🙋🙋🙋🇷🇴🌿😀

[@Gus0898uk]

What sort of weight would this train be? It certainly gets a move on.

[@beneliastrains]

This particular train was only 258 tonnes which is only a couple of tonnes more than two 66s

[@martinjh999]

@@beneliastrains What gets me about 66's is just how long a train they seem to be able to pull... Seen them here and while waiting for trains and its amazing just how long a train they can pull...

[@juliansadler6263]

You were on freight but try explaining to a passenger there is no train stopping at Polesworth your ticket is valid on the bus. Then they get on a Midland Mainline train and go off in the wrong direction.

[@kevinrayner5812]

Where is this freight terminal exactly given Daventry doesn't have a railway?

[@beneliastrains]

It's closer to Crick

[@kevinrayner5812]

I assumed it was the terminal at Crick just didn't realise it was called the Daventry terminal. It is touch and go whether it is closer to Rugby (with a railway) than Daventry (that doesn't have a railway).

[@stoicavasilica5735]

Cumva este un tren 🚆 de marfă?🤔🛤️

[@joesproductions9232]

At 1:38:25 was the guy not impressed with your horn usage?

[@louiemontford5210]

It very much left my ears ringing hence when I shook my head 😂

[@bigupyourself]

Still call it Daventry

[@gn7026]

How many miles per gallon does a 66 these days?

[@dumitrulangham1721]

Is this your locomotive?

[@beneliastrains]

Not mine personally, but yes, I was driving it.

[@Freddie118]

What loco are we in ,looks quick for a shed!

[@TheArkamedBat]

66.

[@Freddie118]

Thanks just seen caption,

[@hoagy_ytfc]

66156

[@ebzZzZ]

can you actually do 75 when you not dragging a train?

[@beneliastrains]

When the linespeed is 90mph or above, yes. When it's 85mph or below, light engines are limited to 60mph because of their poor braking performance

[@ebzZzZ]

so are the drivers using the wagons to stop lol

[@dmklim]

What units are used on the speed signs: mph or km/h?

[@112Haribo]

mph, since this is the UK

[@stoicavasilica5735]

Hey England 🙋🙋🇬🇧

[@Aidankiwi]

United Kingdom not England

[@stoicavasilica5735]

@@Aidankiwi thanks my frends 👍

[@djselectrix1395]

@@Aidankiwi nope! England is correct, part of the United Kingdom, because that is where it is filmed.

[@colinnich]

@@mofomat In this case, Great Britain would also have worked

[@mickydee3819]

I'm trying to find route maps of railways in England. I live in America, can anyone help please? I type Daventry to Ditton and all I get is the road routes.

[@S2RUF]

If you want a general ‘UK Rail Atlas’ of all the UK rail routes then maybe get a Baker UK Rail Atlas online, I used to use one when I worked in a previous job. It just shows the UK rail lines, with stations, yards, junction names etc. it’s not overlaid with road routes, just rail lines but may be of interest.

[@mickydee3819]

@@S2RUF Thanks

[@suesilva3053]

PЯӨMӨƧM 💘

[@sgtgrash]

I hate to say it but from where I'm sitting I prefer the footage from your older camera, the image is sharper and there are less visual artifacts... 🤔

[@beneliastrains]

It's not the camera, it's KZbin. The 4k version has stuck and isn't processing. Check back in a few days and it'll be better.

[@sgtgrash]

@@beneliastrains Ah okay, thanks Ben 😉

[@sgtgrash]

Two weeks in and it's still looking ropey, I want to watch but the artifacting is doing my head in 🥴

[@roygrafton6322]

18 days later and it's still not 4k, why is youtube so useless? I can't watch this on my monitor, it's just a lot of fuzzy blobs. sorry.

[@jamesmcbride6304]

Why is it every time i watch one of these drivers eye views and they switch on the wipers they jump all over the place and just end up smearing alll the time. Seems like they are overlooked on maintanance. find that not very safety conscious.

[@anthonyikwueme4630]

bad techno music to be played on thje central line

[@rmirmi8377]

For some reson it looks like the video clip has been speeded up by %2 percent. so no its not worth the time

[@keffa1982]

I don't think it has. The framerate is 50fps and due to the more fluid motion a higher framerate allows for makes motion seem a bit quicker. Also depending on the focal length it can sometimes make a vehicle appear to be moving faster or slower than it really is which is a thing with GoPro's.

[@agems56]

Just slow it down by that much! Problem solved!

[@bertiewooster3326]

The driver get £79k a year and they strike for more !!

[@beneliastrains]

Hmm, what shit newspaper did you read that in?

[@bertiewooster3326]

@@beneliastrains We know a driver up the road he's got the dosh mate flash motor no mortgage easy money.

[@beneliastrains]

@@bertiewooster3326 probably works lots of overtime then, he certainly doesn't earn it as his base salary.

[@bertiewooster3326]

@@beneliastrains Yes he works some if you want to have the things in life you desire you have to work for them.....try it.

[@Oskarjlee]

@@bertiewooster3326 Such a bitter comment, it's not easy money either