Railway Herald
Having completed a night shift at Staythorpe, a quick call to Thoresby box assured me that all was in order for this working and that, allied to a decent weather forecast, meant I found myself at Whitwell Station on the Robin Hood line at 06:45.
This train comprises empty coal wagons that have delivered coal to Thoresby Colliery in deepest Nottinghamshire. One can only presume that the coal being delivered from one pit to another is to be used for blending. This movement has been operating for several months with coal being delivered to Thoresby arriving in the early hours. The discharged wagons, seen here, are then returned to Holgate before being tripped back to Butterwell opencast in the North East. The previous evening however the pattern had changed and instead the coal delivered overnight had originated from Kellingley Colliery, West Yorkshire. The wagons however were still tripped to Holgate on this occasion. For the record, the cheery waving driver is piloting Class 56 No. 56312 with 15 empty JRA's in tow and is seen passing Whiwell Station, Derbyshire at 07:25 on Good Friday on 29th March 2013 with 6Z22 06:46 Thoresby Colliery - Holgate Sidings (York).
John Illingworth
