Tuebrook to Ashton in Makerfield

[@martinhew981]

Great video. I always enjoy them but it was good to see the movements inside the terminal, running round etc. Thanks for posting this.

[@doncoffey5820]

I could have run it without some time ago but I was sure waiting for approval was going to make an interesting video.

[@miketintinsmith9775]

A truly and most inforative video there Mr Coffey! I could almost taste the stone dust! Many thanks

[@doncoffey5820]

Glad you enjoyed it Mike. It sounds like I got the right atmospherics!!!

[@rbrwr]

I enjoyed seeing the unloading operations and the different angles that Don was able to film from the cab.

[@heckelphon]

That was really enjoyable, and a run along a route I'd never seen before. It felt almost like a day out! Astonishing that the excavator manages to empty the wagons so cleanly. Thanks for the video.

[@doncoffey5820]

I must admit, I always thought there would be quite a lot left in but a good operator can get most of it out.

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

Don, can we have more videos like this. The shunting / loading / unloading is so much more interesting and provides a better insight to the duties of a driver.

[@doncoffey5820]

Have a look at Wakefield to Knowsley Malcom. That shows similar footage at the waste loading plant. I’ve also got GBRf’s job where we go down to Bootle docks to drag a loaded biomass train up the severe gradient with a Class 69.

[@mikeuk4130]

Thanks for another fascinating video, Don. Good to hear the thump of the 8MB275T doing its work. Also good to see ex-Colas 60 047 carrying the correct original-style “Scafell Pike” nameplates as would have been carried by D1. Full marks as usual to GBRf for their thoughtfulness and great attention to detail.

[@doncoffey5820]

Roger was telling me that there is somebody in GBRf who is really keen to keep these traditions.

[@vickyharrison2227]

Excellent as always Don,really enjoyed the “outside “ views .please keep them coming 🤞🏻

[@doncoffey5820]

I thought it would go down well but we don’t often get chance to show it Vicky.

[@Andrew-lz8lz]

Another brilliant journey and great to actually see the delivery of the goods.

[@doncoffey5820]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@alan9160]

What a great job..trundling along on a nice sunny day!

[@doncoffey5820]

I certainly enjoy it at the age of 66.

[@robertlevey2935]

What a remarkable video. Thanks Don and Roger, and everyone else that made this video possible. Superb.

[@doncoffey5820]

Glad you enjoyed it Robert.

[@jackking5567]

Excellent to see rail operations at a destination like that. Many thanks for sharing :)

[@doncoffey5820]

Glad you enjoyed it👍

[@alanmaycock4976]

Another really interesting vid Don. Reminded me of a ‘journey from hell’ I made in about 1974. Used the Wigan North Western to Liverpool line all the time then. One Sunday departed Wigan as usual at 7.00pm but seemingly overshot the junction at Ince Moss and carried on down the WCML Goods past. Bamfurlong. Then stopped for 30 minutes before reversing around that chord, back to the usual line. Some kind of signalling and points apocalypse saw the driver get out at every signal and phone for permission to proceed. From St. Helens Shaw Street (now Central) we had to proceed down the goods only line towards Widnes as far as St. Helens Junction, creaking through tight bends between fiery glass furnaces. Then reversed direction a second time to use Chat Moss into Lime Street. Journey time 5 hours instead of 50 minutes.

[@doncoffey5820]

Krikey Alan, that sounds a rough do.

[@MaterialAmbience]

Nice one Don, well worth the wait. I do love the low throbbing sound these locos make, soothing and sounds like pure power. I look forward to more videos 😊

[@michaeldewey5652]

I always enjoy a freight video but you don’t often see the operations inside terminals. I really enjoyed it and Don’s captions about how it all worked. Thanks

[@doncoffey5820]

Glad you enjoyed it Michael.

[@davesmith7748]

Brill....and great to see in the terminal

[@dcbickersteth]

Very interesting great to see the cab and outside shots

[@doncoffey5820]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@kevsbangerracers2027]

Your driver looks so laid back and relaxed sitting there

[@doncoffey5820]

He’s very experienced Kev. It becomes instinctive after a while.

[@ronvalente65]

Thourghly enjoyed the video, brings back a lot of memories of what was the site of Edge Green Colliery in Golborne, where the stone Terminal is, after the colliery closed the site was taken over by Thomas Crompton and sons, lock and hingemakers who used it as a foundry ! I remember going in the foundry 60 years ago, since then it has been used for all sorts, it still gets called Kelbits by the locals

[@doncoffey5820]

It’s a pity so much was lost but at least we got a little peek of what is left. All the best Ron.

[@amtrakharry]

That was another master piece Don !!! Very interesting. Loved it...:):):)

[@doncoffey5820]

Good to see you Harry. We were lucky to share a little more than usual.

[@rickschell7874]

Another Great video! I enjoyed the pictures of the cab and dashboard. Keep making rhese great train rides 😊.

[@doncoffey5820]

Thanks! Will do!

[@andrewsimkins8780]

Nice trip out on a sunny day. Well done Driver McVey.

[@doncoffey5820]

He’ll see your comment Andrew.

[@MrStarfishPrime]

Thanks for your work, Don. I find your videos very instructive and relaxing.

[@doncoffey5820]

You are very welcome 👍

[@estar9d749]

Thanks Don (and Roger) for another great video. I never realised what Kelbits stood for, despite the fact that we used to take bitumen tanks in there - doh! I was very impressed with the new track layout at Roby / Huyton (well, new to me anyway - I last worked over that road in 1995). The increased junction speed heading off the Chat Moss line towards Prescot must be a useful advantage for freight drivers to have a run at the bank. Looking forward to seeing footage of the dock branch, if you get chance to film down there. Keep up the good work!

[@doncoffey5820]

Glad you liked it. The branch to the docks was filmed the same day so that’s just waiting for me! Yes the routes keep changing so it’s good you can make comparisons.

[@darrenhillman8396]

Very interesting and enjoyable, Don! Looking forward to your next production!

[@doncoffey5820]

Coming soon Darren.

[@TrainTraction]

Fantastic video Don, great to see how it works going into the terminal slowly and out, was brilliant

[@doncoffey5820]

Glad you enjoyed it 👍

[@Melalmighty]

Another great video Don thanks for this. Very informative as usual. Loved watching the ground crew as that is the job I used to do when trains engines were coming on the works where I used to work and sending trains off the works.

[@doncoffey5820]

Yes, we don’t always get the opportunity. The last one was Wakefield to Knowsley binliner.

[@rodmorgan4603]

One of your best. Rod

[@doncoffey5820]

Cheers Rod 👍

[@Deepak-wr9pt]

Thanks for another great video - up to your usual high standards.

[@doncoffey5820]

Much appreciated Deepak.

[@tarikkaratren]

I would like you to see the Turkish train simulator as well.

[@rickdeckard4213]

Fantastic, I thoroughly enjoyed that. Gimme more of the same. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. 😁

[@doncoffey5820]

😂. More soon!

[@Pjs75]

Brilliant, informative and educational! Thanks to all concerned….

[@doncoffey5820]

Our pleasure!

[@44662dc]

Superb video Don I did enjoy the cab shots and that you got permission to go inside Heidelberg. Looks like Roger really enjoys his work as well. Loved your commentary on the recent Ardwick Depot video with Nodrog. Great work as always

[@doncoffey5820]

Thanks on both counts. Watch out for a forthcoming Martin Zero video at Ardwick.

[@duncanrathbone2658]

Thanks for a great video, it is one of the best I've seen for a long time. Bye the way I helped build 69001 when it was 56031 at Doncaster Plant Works back in 1976 ( I think it was )

[@doncoffey5820]

We’ve got the footage of 69001 dragging the Drax train up from Bootle docks. That will come soon.

[@robertbrierley7083]

Informative video as usual, Great cab shots.😊

[@doncoffey5820]

Many thanks!

[@stephendavies6949]

What a great video! I'm only up to the point where the train is leaving the railhead after unloading, but it's absolutely fascinating. Geoff Mashall recently made a video on the GWR Marlow branch where those Victorian token machines are also still in use.

[@doncoffey5820]

You can see them in the Hindlow to Crewe video too.

[@silurian9420]

Very interesting and thanks for posting.

[@doncoffey5820]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@davidbarrett1487]

Thanks Don all very enjoyable. Dave.

[@doncoffey5820]

Glad you enjoyed it Dave.

[@kevsbangerracers2027]

A good video, a lot more going on, more informative, excellent

[@doncoffey5820]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@dahliagreen5919]

Thank you for another fascinating freight journey with so much carefully edited in detail, Don. Given the heavy loads and grades sometimes being climbed, the tensioning rod in the coupling link looks little more than an inch in diameter.

[@doncoffey5820]

Yes, it always amazes me that the entire weight of the train is taken by those threads.

[@tarikkaratren]

harika olmuş

[@ffrancrogowski6263]

A most enjoyable video, Don. A great train to work with this ideal locomotive, the class 60, wiith Roger firmly in control. The 60 is a lot more quiet in the cab than a 66, so it must make the day appear to be less stressful for a driver. Wouldn't it have been great if they could have brought loads more of the 60s out of storage at Toton and have them refurbished at Loughborough - it's only down the line. The route of this train is very interesting indeed, with being routed via St. Helens and then eventually at the side of the WCML at Bamfurlong, and then going on to the Haydock Branch for the Heidelberg works. Like you say Don, the stone cuttings have to be very much appreciated how they were traditionally excavated by sheer manpower, at Olive Mount and near Thatto Heath. I want to ask you one question, Don, please, does the Rail Operator like Craig actually travel with the train, both ways? Many thanks for this video showing, it's brilliant, again, with all the thorough editing. Keep well, mate.

[@doncoffey5820]

Good to see you Frank. You’d like Roger - he’s a great guy and full of enthusiasm for the rail industry. Craig does normally travel with the train. He was in the back cab of the loco in both directions. The RO’s sometimes meet trains by travelling in a van (GBRf have a fleet of brand new Ford vans for such cases). We were very lucky in this case that both GBRf and Heidelberg agreed to let me show the footage.

[@alanmaycock4976]

I think it’s worth adding that the up & down goods joining the Ince Moss Chord at 40.19, departing at 1.20.14, continue in a flyunder below the WCML.emerging on the east side into sidings now related to Springs Branch Depot but until the late 70s also giving access to The Whelley Loop. The loop rejoined the WCML about 4 miles north of Wigan North Western Station providing a goods bypass of Wigan. There were also chords from other lines, including the Great Central and Lancashire & Yorkshire Railways that fed into the bypass loop as well as innumerable colliery spurs. The flyunder where the loop rejoined the WCML at Standish is just about indentifiable on train cab videos that venture that way. No junction stub lines - just evidence of the skewed underbridge and if you know where to look, the northbound up-ramp and wider fence lines.

[@doncoffey5820]

Good info Alan. Would be worth watching Preston to Tunstead again 👍

[@arkwrightnut]

Much more interesting to see cab interior views hope you are allowed to continue this, pity TFL have stopped Dale Charmons tube driving channel that was also very interesting.

[@doncoffey5820]

Getting the right permission is key. I certainly wouldn’t be allowed to vlog quite in that way but I don’t know the full story. You can have permission but somebody else overrides it.

[@Guard_Amos]

I love seeing cab rides of the routes I sign from the front as opposed from the back. I've not had to go around Ince Moss Chord for around 16 years

[@doncoffey5820]

Mr Amos. Good to see you 👍

[@30041946]

Hello Don. I really enjoyed this journey and how nice to see the smart crew and inside the locomotive / start up - an excellent format. I think that this is one of the best you have recorded plus the recording of the return journey as well. One comment ... When the locomotive was swapping ends at the unloading dock I was trying to make out who was recording this movement from the trackside - very dapper!!!

[@doncoffey5820]

The finest most upstanding person you’ll ever find on KZbin but he’s shy so I can’t reveal his identity 😉

[@stephengittoes7136]

Fond memories of the best traction I ever drove and the working of tanks into kelbits both as a driver and a guard we used to propel ten 45 ton tanks into the ridings then propel tanks and piped brake van to springs branch great times

[@doncoffey5820]

Sounds fascinating Stephen. It’s a shame so much was lost.

[@SaxonSuccess]

Great stuff, thank you to all concerned.

[@fredfoto7362]

Top video and commentary. You're a credit to GB Railfreight.

[@doncoffey5820]

Roger will see your comment 👍

[@KPP365]

It's sad to see that the railway doesn't look after the area's the track runs by. It all seems overgrown, and the brickwork on the bridges looks like it desperately needs pointing ? Great video 😊 PS If I can get in the front with you, I would be more than happy. The views look awesome 👌 Its a totally different journey.

[@steveluckhurst2350]

Thank you.

[@sticklebrick2003]

51:31 trespassers on the track ahead - looks like theres work for the fencing gang here!

[@doncoffey5820]

Yes I did see then but in a remote location like that, they’d climb an electrified fence 😉

[@ljbyrne7]

I much appreciated the shot of the dashboard Don, at 19:59. I'd made an estimate of the speed between the previous AWS warning ramp and the following signal gantry as c.40mph. So I was pleased to see that the dashboard shot which followed, showed maybe 1 mph over my estimate. May we have more of these brief shots? On another note are there still trackside gradient indicators? I keep looking out for them when watching your excellent videos, but can never spot them. Keep them coming. Leo

[@doncoffey5820]

It’s a question of opportunity Leo. Different companies have different rules on what can and can’t be filmed. I knew that video would be popular because it gives you a little look where you wouldn’t normally be allowed.

[@MM0IMC]

57:20 Strange seeing a road speed limit sign of the railway...

[@epj900]

I know Craig Farmer well, he was my postman for a number of years until he went onto the railway

[@doncoffey5820]

He’s a nice guy and his activities certainly add to the video.

[@neilcunningham3280]

Sometime see this when I'm at Thatto Heath or St Helens Central.

[@michaelritchie5303]

As we back into the stone terminal, do I spot some Giant Hogweed at the side of the tracks 55:46?

[@doncoffey5820]

Wouldn’t be surprised Michael, it’s rife on the railway.

[@MM0IMC]

57:26 Just curious why the didn't use the direct branch line, rather than the more difficult reversing manoeuvre?

[@doncoffey5820]

Not sure where you mean. The other end of the branch no longer exists.

[@UKbrownSkinBoy]

"Speed Limit - 3MPH" - Like a Rocket!!!

[@doncoffey5820]

We don’t hang about 😉

[@outlaw7718]

Great video! Out of curiosity, do British locomotives have a way for you to keep the loco brakes released while the brakes on the rest of the train are applied? I'm a driver over here in the states, and we call it actuating or "bailing off" the engine brakes while applying light power to keep the coupler slack stretched while slowing or stopping. Anyway, thank you for your wonderful videos, they've brought me hours of enjoyment!

[@doncoffey5820]

I don’t know for sure but maybe Roger himself will respond to you. I drive multiple unit trains.

[@alanhutchins4233]

Excellent video. Who accompanied the driver and did the ad hoc filming?

[@doncoffey5820]

Me with permission from GBRf and Heidelberg.

[@smudgycat6750]

'How do you know the rears clear' We hit the big bush

[@JohnFloydPhotography]

Cracking video Don, why do the RO's need to wear bodycams?

[@doncoffey5820]

It’s a record of correct procedure in the event of a mishap.

[@joelharris1335]

Am I right in say that the train to Ashton-in-Makerfield is part of a longer train from Ribblehead in Cumbria?

[@doncoffey5820]

Shap Joe. It says right at the beginning of the video.

[@jamesstevenson3589]

Give me a couple of days, I'll get a view from the offloading cab, I'll mount my phone up, i wasn't operating the machine that day.

[@doncoffey5820]

Please do, I’d love to see it but Messenger is the best method of getting me.

[@simracer1256]

It's. A. Train.

[@doncoffey5820]

You’re not at gunpoint. Watch something else.

[@edmund-osborne]

can you PLEASE stop filming these at 25fps!!!!

[@doncoffey5820]

I’ve never filmed in 25fps. The camera is set to 2.7k 50fps which is correct for PAL. You haven’t said what you think it should be but 30/60fps doesn’t produce a smooth video.

[@kennethworrall687]

Video quality poor refresh rate etc.

[@doncoffey5820]

I think you’ll find that’s your method of streaming. The footage is crystal clear.

[@KarlFromDover]

Only as far as the movement into Heidelberg's but I notice on google earth that there was a direct link from the WCML into the site. Why wasn't that reinstated?

[@doncoffey5820]

Only because that would need to be completely rebuilt where this route was already in existence.