Furthest a shunter locomotive has moved under its own power?

[DGH 1]

Hi everyone, does anyone have any idea What the longest journey under their power a diesel shunter has done light engine, since they were introduced all those years ago? and also any long distance ( for a shunter) trains they've hauled?

 

[childwallblues]

When Allerton was a big shunter depot in BR days they could be seen at Trafford Park and Dee Marsh both a fair distance from Liverpool.

 

[Spartacus]

I remember EWS/DB moving their shunters around overnight on occasion, the longest I can recall myself was Peak Forest to Knottingley.

 

[deltic]

Norwich to Stratford tends to be given as one of the longest light engine movements

 

[bishdunster]

Weymouth 03s wenr regularly to Eastliegh for servicing. The journey took place overnight and an essenteal piece of kit was a wooden key !

 

[Acathater]

Weymouth 03s wenr regularly to Eastliegh for servicing. The journey took place overnight and an essenteal piece of kit was a wooden key !

They were allocated to Bournemouth shed, as were the 03s at Salisbury

 

[75A]

Not a particularly long distance but unpleasant enough.
Sunday night turn @ Brighton, 09 from Platform 7 dock to Newhaven Yard, swap Locos and bring the other one back.
Guaranteed to exceed the 29 mph 'trip' over the Falmer Bank which meant coming to a stop and starting again. Certainly not a turn you'd volunteer for!

 

[Magdalia]

I am going to start at the very beginning here, what happened when the locos were new?

For example, I've had in my mind that, when D2004-17 were delivered new to Cambridge, they ran light engine from Swindon via Oxford and Bletchley. And would deliveries to Norwich and Ipswich have been light engine too?

In the early days, when there were still many local branch lines with freight traffic, shunters would be used on lines with route availability restrictions. The most obvious example near here is the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway. One that lasted a long time is the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley line in Wales.

My recollection of the 1970s is that most long distance shunter moves, notably works visits and reallocations, were in the consists of freight trains. But Cambridge did have its equivalent of the Brighton-Newhaven swap, taking all night to swap over the loco outstationed at Bury St Edmunds.

 

[Rescars]

As the thread title doesn't specify fuel type, I'd guess that long distance trips by shunters and other small locos were more a feature of the steam era, especially pre-amalgamation. Plenty of refuge capacity to tuck things out of the way and avoid holding up other traffic, though that may not have been material given the average speeds of unfitted goods and mineral trains then.

In terms of small locos, IIRC one of the claims to fame of Dodman's diminutive "Gazelle" (subsequently acquired by Col Stephens) was its trip taking its original owner from King's Lynn to Chesterfield and back running light engine. I fear this may be going OT though, albeit travelling rather slowly!

 

[Spartacus]

I am going to start at the very beginning here, what happened when the locos were new?

For example, I've had in my mind that, when D2004-17 were delivered new to Cambridge, they ran light engine from Swindon via Oxford and Bletchley. And would deliveries to Norwich and Ipswich have been light engine too?

In the early days, when there were still many local branch lines with freight traffic, shunters would be used on lines with route availability restrictions. The most obvious example near here is the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway. One that lasted a long time is the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley line in Wales.

My recollection of the 1970s is that most long distance shunter moves, notably works visits and reallocations, were in the consists of freight trains. But Cambridge did have its equivalent of the Brighton-Newhaven swap, taking all night to swap over the loco outstationed at Bury St Edmunds.

I know I've seen photos of them in consists of slow freight trains, rods removed, and presumably in neutral

 

[Sun Chariot]

My recollection of the 1970s is that most long distance shunter moves, notably works visits and reallocations, were in the consists of freight trains.

My grey cells remember seeing exactly that, during my August 1988 All Line Rail Rover week. A class 08, minus coupling rods, marshalled behind brake van that, itself, was marshalled behind the train-engine; with a motley selection of wagonload freight.
My aged grey cells cannot for the life of me remember where I saw it, during my ALRR travels... Sheffield area maybe.

 

[Harpo]

My recollection of the 1970s is that most long distance shunter moves, notably works visits and reallocations, were in the consists of freight trains.

Yes - Minus the rods and de-meshed (i.e. motor gearing not connected) to enable faster running.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Colchester - Stratford light engine 08 (overnight) - was I am told , a very tedious job ...........from Ipswich , even more so.

Well into the 90's the re-allocation of loco power was done by 222 Marylebone Road until sectorisation ,hence often movements of power around the UK before any major timetable change ...........

 

[Harvester]

Two Hawksworth pannier tanks 1646 and 1649, moved from the WR to Helmsdale in the far north of Scotland in the late 1950s via the rail network. Some of the milage was within freight trains, but a good proportion was under their own power!

 

[etr221]

As the thread title doesn't specify fuel type, I'd guess that long distance trips by shunters and other small locos were more a feature of the steam era, especially pre-amalgamation. Plenty of refuge capacity to tuck things out of the way and avoid holding up other traffic, though that may not have been material given the average speeds of unfitted goods and mineral trains then.

In terms of small locos, IIRC one of the claims to fame of Dodman's diminutive "Gazelle" (subsequently acquired by Col Stephens) was its trip taking its original owner from King's Lynn to Chesterfield and back running light engine. I fear this may be going OT though, albeit travelling rather slowly!

The NRM/LCGB Ken Nunn photo collection includes at least one shot of an Ipswich or Yarmouth dock shunter tram engines running light engine up the GE main line en route to or from Stratford Works on a Sunday 120 odd years ago - which I imagine would have been an all day journey, stopping pretty well everywhere to recess/for water... The RCTS loco history notes such workings as requiring a special traffic notice with all the details.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

When the Meldin Quarry shunter needed maintenance I believe that was a fair track - Swindon Works iirc?