We stay on the Tyne and Wear Metro for this latest edition of “Picture in Time” although its not one of the passenger vehicles that is the focus of the feature this time.
This photo isn’t going back too far in time as it was taken on 4th November 2015 and shows a Railhead Treatment Train in operation on the Tyne and Wear Metro network. As with national rail lines, the Tyne and Wear Metro suffers during the autumn with poor rail conditions because of the weather (and the dreaded leaves on the line) and so they run their own trains to help to clear that problem. Back in 2015 that gave this intriguing formation which included one of the battery locomotives, the special truck with the spray and one of the Metrocars.
Taken at Whitley Bay the Metrocar at the head of the train is 4088 but closest to the camera is battery locomotive BL2. This is one of three locos built by Hunslet in 1988 and they have been used for engineering trains, RHTT workings like this as well as to rescue broken down trains on the network. Their use in recent years has reduced and its believed that BL2 is now withdrawn and sored at Gosforth Depot.
Photograph by Trevor Hall, 4th November 2015