This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2021) |
Hanson Traction Ltd was a locomotive leasing company based at Washwood Heath, Birmingham, West Midlands.
The company owned thirteen locomotives, consisting of seven class 56s, one class 50 and five class 31s. They were the first company to return class 56 locomotives to mainline use in the United Kingdom [1] after the previous fleet (operated by Fastline) was withdrawn in 2008, owing to a decline in traffic levels (specifically the intermodal arm).
In October 2010, the company was merged into the operations of British American Railway Services and the locomotives rebranded as part of their Devon & Cornwall Railways fleet with ultimate ownership by RMS Locotec, part of the wider group.
Hanson Traction was founded by IT entrepreneur Garcia J Hanson in 2006. The company purchased Neil Boden's preserved class 56, BR large logo blue liveried No. 56057 British Fuels in 2008. The locomotive later became 56311 and was painted into a non-standard yellow & grey colour scheme at the Railway Technical Centre in Derby. Purchase of a second class 56, Load Haul liveried No. 56003 followed shortly afterwards—this became 56312 and was repainted into the Artemis livery which consisted of a purple bodyside, yellow cabs, grey roof and large green ARTEMIS name complete with squiggly green vinyls. [2] Both of these 56s returned to the mainline in late 2008 and have seen use with Colas Rail, having appeared on their Washwood Heath to Immingham & Boston to Washwood Heath steel workings (the former was a short lived trial run), Dagenham to Dollands Moor "Transfesa" trains and Dollands Moor to Hams Hall Norfolk Line container workings. They have also been used on track machine movements and excursion trains from time to time.
56312 was repainted again in October 2011 and wore the same livery as 56311, this being a non-standard grey and yellow colour scheme with 'DCR' (Devon & Cornwall Railways) logos and advertising for the June 2012 Railfest event (DCR being a subsidiary of British American Railway Services, the present owners of Hanson Traction). As of August 2012 the Railfest event logos and advertising have been removed.
Two further 56s, No's 56114 and 56128 were also purchased with the view to returning them to the mainline when traffic levels required. However, 56128 has remained in storage at Wansford (Nene Valley Railway) since 2008 and now appears to have an uncertain future. 56114 has donated its power unit to 56311, and was stripped of usable parts & scrapped in March 2012.
Hanson Traction also own class 31s No. 31190 & No. 31602 plus class 50 No. 50008. 31190 has been used mainly on route learning runs for DB Schenker, Network Rail & DCR during 2010 and 2011. 50008 is currently residing at the BARS depot in Washwood Heath where it is undergoing repairs and reinstatement of the vacuum braking & AWS equipment removed for the abortive move to Peru some years ago. It has been repainted into the unique BR "Laira blue" livery, which it carried when it was in service with British Rail. 31452 has remained inactive during 2011 after a brief period of hire use with DB Schenker for Network Rail test trains during 2010.
Neil Boden's BR blue class 47 No. 47270 Swift had a short spell with Hanson Traction before he parted ways with the company to form Boden Rail Ltd in early 2010. He had initially joined the company when 56311 (057) was acquired, which he owned and operated at the Nene Valley Railway whilst it was in preservation.
Hanson Traction's core depot was the former Alstom facility at Washwood Heath in the West Midlands, which it began using in 2009. [3]
In October 2010, the company was purchased by British American Railway Services (BARS). [4]
The acquisition of Hanson Traction by BARS means that the combined assets now include six class 31s, five class 56s (three operational and two stored, a sixth loco was subsequently scrapped in November 2011) and one class 50, plus a wide variety of coaching stock and other vehicles.
The British Rail Class 07 diesel locomotive is an off-centre cab 0-6-0 diesel-electric shunter type built by Ruston & Hornsby in 1962 for the Southern Region of British Railways. The 14 members of the class were primarily used at Southampton Docks and later also at Eastleigh Works.
DB Cargo UK, is a British rail freight company headquartered in Doncaster, England.
The British Rail Class 31 diesel locomotives, also known as the Brush Type 2 and previously as Class 30, were built by Brush Traction from 1957-62. They were numbered in two series, D5500-D5699 and D5800-D5862. Construction of the first locomotive was completed in the final week of September 1957, and the handing-over took place on 31 October. The first Class 31 entered service in November 1957, after the launch of the Class 20 locomotive and was one of the Pilot Scheme locomotives ordered by British Railways to replace steam traction.
FM Rail was a railway charter company based in Derby, England. The company was formed when spot hire company Fragonset Railways and charter operator Merlin Rail merged. It went into administration in 2006.
The British Rail Class 73 is a British electro-diesel locomotive. The type is unusual in that it can operate from the Southern Region's 650/750 V DC third-rail or an on-board diesel engine to allow it to operate on non-electrified routes. This makes it very versatile, although the diesel engine produces less power than is available from the third-rail supply so the locomotives are rarely operated outside of the former Southern Region of British Rail. Following the withdrawal and scrapping of the more powerful Class 74 electro-diesels in 1977, the Class 73 was unique on the British railway network until the introduction of the Class 88 electro-diesels in 2017. Ten locomotives have been scrapped.
The British Rail Class 37 is a diesel-electric locomotive. Also known as the English Electric Type 3, the class was ordered as part of the British Rail modernisation plan. They were numbered in two series, D6600–D6608 and D6700–D6999.
The British Rail Class 50 is a class of diesel locomotives designed to haul express passenger trains at 100 mph (160 km/h). Built by English Electric at the Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows between 1967 and 1968, the Class 50s were initially on a 10-year lease from English Electric Leasing, and were employed hauling express passenger trains on the, then non-electrified, section of the West Coast Main Line between Crewe and Scotland. Initially numbered D400–D449 and known as English Electric Type 4s, the locomotives were purchased outright by British Rail (BR) at the end of the lease and became Class 50 in the TOPS renumbering of 1973.
The British Rail Class 92 is a dual-voltage electric locomotive, which can run on 25 kV AC from overhead wires or 750 V DC from a third rail. It was designed specifically to operate services through the Channel Tunnel between Great Britain and France. Eurotunnel indicates the Class 92 locomotive as the reference for other locomotives which railway undertakings might want to get certified for usage in the Channel tunnel.
The Class 67 locomotives are a class of Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotives that were built for the English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS) between 1999 and 2000 by Alstom at Meinfesa in Valencia, Spain with drive components from General Motors' Electro-Motive Division.
The British Rail Class 90 electric locomotives were built for mixed-traffic duties, operating from 25 kV AC overhead lines and produce 5,000 bhp (3,700 kW). They weigh 84.5 tonnes and can typically achieve a top speed of 110 mph (177 km/h).
The British Rail Class 60 is a class of Co-Co heavy freight diesel-electric locomotives built by Brush Traction. They are nicknamed Tugs by rail enthusiasts.
Fastline was created by six railwaymen who undertook a successful management buyout (MBO) of Eastern Track Renewals from British Rail in 1996. In that year they bought Northern Track Renewals from British Rail, and undertook all the studies and examinations that resulted in their acquiring a Harsco Track Renewals Train, the first continuous-process track relaying system in the country. They also examined the possibility of acquiring their own diesel locomotives because of dissatisfaction with the service provided by others for engineering trains. The company was acquired by Jarvis, who later resurrected the Fastline name to create a railway freight operator. It operated a fleet of Class 56 and Class 66 locomotives. The class 56s cost £700,000 each to refurbish. A fourth and a fifth Class 56 were hired in from Hanson Traction Ltd. Fastline's base was at Doncaster, Yorkshire. It ceased trading when Jarvis plc entered administration and subsequently ceased trading in late March 2010. The company is in administration with N.G. Edwards, N.B. Kahn, P.S. Bowers and I. Brown of Deloitte LLP.
The British Rail Class 56 is a type of diesel locomotive designed for heavy freight work. It is a Type 5 locomotive, with a Ruston-Paxman power unit developing 3,250 bhp, and has a Co-Co wheel arrangement. Enthusiasts nicknamed them "Gridirons", due to the grid-like horn cover on the locomotive's cab ends fitted to nos. 56056 onwards. Under its Romanian railway factory nomenclature, the locomotive was named Electroputere LDE 3500, with LDE coming from Locomotivă Diesel-Electrică and the 3500 being the planned horsepower output.
London, Midland and Scottish Railway Jubilee Class 5593 named Kolhapur is a preserved British steam locomotive.
Mendip Rail Ltd is an independent freight operating railway company in Great Britain. It is a joint venture composed of the rail-operation divisions of Aggregate Industries and Hanson Aggregates.
Colas Rail is a railway infrastructure and rail freight company primarily active in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of the French industrial group Bouygues.
The history of British Rail's corporate liveries is quite complex. Although from the mid-1960s to the 1980s the organisation was associated with "Rail Blue", a number of other schemes were also used, especially when it was split into operating units or "sectors" in the mid-1980s.
LNER Thompson Class B1 61306 is a preserved British steam locomotive. In preservation, it has carried the LNER-derived number 1306 and the name Mayflower, complete with LNER Apple Green Livery, though this guise is entirely fictional as the engine was BR built. 61306 now runs wearing BR Apple Green with British Railways lettering.
RMS Looctec is a railway company based in Wolsingham, England. It has specialised in industrial railway management, infrastructure maintenance, and rolling stock leasing; one major customer was its former sister company and rail freight operator DCRail.
DCRail (DCR), legally named Devon & Cornwall Railways Limited, is a British train operator. It has been active as a freight operating company since May 2011.