A group of enthusiasts had gathered at Longport to view the first of the Class 69 rebuilds on the 19th July 2021. However, things didn’t go quite to plan.
Booked to run as 0O69, the 11.30 from Longport to Tonbridge West Yard, the departure time had been missed as Class 66/7 No. 66716 "Locomotive & Carriage Institution Centenary 1911-2011" was late arriving with the second of the Class 56 rebuilds. Having been shunted out of the way by resident Class 08, No. 08784, we waited, and waited.
Twenty minutes after taking the image, where 08784 pushed 69002 into a shed building, one of the enthusiasts said the move was cancelled due to ECTS failure, along with something else. RTT certainly showed that as the reason, and as we all looked at each other, and started to slowly move off, another of those assembled started pointing and saying ‘It’s Here!’. The next thing you know, GB Railfreight’s orange and blue liveried Class 69, No. 69001 "Mayflower", which wears both the Union Jack and ‘Stars & stripes’ flags on its bodysides, ‘yinged’ into view.
The former Class 56, No. 56031 stopped to reverse, before backing onto the Class 66/7. Once there, it was shut down, coupled up and a brake continuity test carried out. It was then propelled out by No. 66716 "Locomotive & Carriage Institution Centenary 1911-2011" before it commenced its journey down to Tonbridge. As can be seen, it looks as if the local bird population have already used the loco for target practice. I have no idea what was going on with the internet ‘wibble’, but there had been three different messages regarding the cancellation of the transfer of the ‘Franken-Grids’. Very irritating, but at least I didn’t miss anything.
