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West Coast Railways

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Class 57/6, no. 57601 passing Brockhampton, north of Cheltenham, on 16th April 2005, whilst working a Bath-Skegness charter train.

West Coast Railway Company (WCRC) is a railway spot-hire company and charter train operator, based at Carnforth in Lancashire. The company operates charter trains throughout the year, many of which are hauled by its fleet of steam locomotives. The most famous of these is The Jacobite, which runs from Fort William to Mallaig in the West Highlands, and passes over the spectacular Glenfinnan Viaduct.

The company also owns and operates a fleet of diesel locomotives, which are primarily used to haul charter trains, but have also been hired to other railway operators. The fleet is mostly composes of Class 37 and Class 47 locomotives, but also includes the prototype passenger Class 57, no. 57601. The Class 37 locomotives were all purchased from Ian Riley Engineering, which ceased its spot-hire operations in mid-2004.

In 2005, WCWC won the contract to haul the Royal Scotsman luxury train from EWS. As a result, its two operational Class 37 locomotives and a Class 47 were repainted into Royal Scotsman maroon livery.


Fleet Details

Key: In service Withdrawn Preserved Under repair Sold for further use Scrapped


Number Class Name Livery Year Acquired Previous Operator Status
08220 08 - BR Black 1986 ex-British Rail Operational
08678 08 Ulverstonian BR Blue 1993 ex-Glaxo, Ulverston Operational
37197 37 - Royal Scotsman Maroon 2004 ex-Ian Riley Engineering Operational
37235 37 - Trainload Grey 2004 ex-Ian Riley Engineering Withdrawn
37261 37 - Royal Scotsman Maroon 2004 ex-Ian Riley Engineering Operational
37423 37 - Trans-Rail 2004 ex-Ian Riley Engineering Under repair
47245 47 - Railfreight Distribution (Revised) 2003 ex-HNRC Under repair
47492 47 - Rail Express Systems 2003 ex-HNRC Under repair
47826 47 Springburn InterCity Swallow 2005 ex-Virgin Trains Operational - leased from Porterbrook
47851 47 Traction Magazine BR Two Tone Green 2005 ex-Virgin Trains Operational - leased from Porterbrook
47854 47 - Royal Scotsman Maroon 2002 ex-Virgin Trains Operational
57601 57 - WCRC Maroon 2003 ex-First Great Western Operational