Class 08, 09, and 10
Diesel Shunter
December 1997
No. 09009 "Three Bridges C.E.D." is seen once again, this time at Hither Green Depot. As far as your author is aware, whilst this shunter was painted into Red and Gold livery, it never received "EWS" branding. The August 2004 edition of "The Railway Magazine" noted the locomotive as being in store at Stewarts Lane. Based on the latest information that your author has from Summer 2024, No. 09009 is still operational at Wolverton Works in Buckinghamshire. © David Glasspool Collection
2nd March 2003
No. 09010 is seen at Hoo Junction "up" yard, still wearing what your author believes was a well-weathered unbranded BR Blue livery. Purchased by the South Devon Railway for preservation in 2010, No. 09010 arrived there from Hither Green Depot on 30th September of that year and returned to traffic on that line on 30th July 2011 (ref: The Railway Magazine, October 2011). © David Glasspool
1st August 2004
No. 08921 again, but this time in the decidedly industrial surroundings of Sheerness Steel Works. The livery applied in 1996 is now looking somewhat battle-worn and the locomotive had by this time acquired the name "Pongo". No. 08921 was not the only shunter on site that day; it was in the company of at least two 0-6-0 diesel hydraulics that belonged to the steel works. The mill ceased to produce steel in November 2011 and went into administration in the following January. Demolition of the site began in 2016. © David Glasspool
25th February 2006
A sparkling No. 09006 is seen at the western extremity of Hoo Junction "up" yard. The occasion was a circular rail tour around Kent from Victoria via the North Kent Line, which included a run along the branch to Grain. Your author recalls that EWS staff perfectly timed No. 09006 to be moving when the rail tour arrived at the junction as a demonstration; this picture must therefore have been taken on the return from Grain, when No. 09006 was static. Back in 1991, No. 09006 was one of a group of twelve shunters allocated to Selhurst; later that decade, she became part of a pool of shunters allocated to Stewarts Lane, but based at Hither Green, before moving to Old Oak Common in summer 1998 (ref: The Railway Magazine, September 1998). In late 2003, she came out of a period of store and re-entered traffic at Old Oak Common. In summer 2008, No. 09006 went into store at Doncaster Carr (ref: The Railway Magazine, August 2008). In 2015, No. 09006 went into store at Barrow Hill (ref: The Railway Magazine, December 2015), the base of the Harry Needle Railroad Company, and by December 2024 had moved to the Dean Forest Railway for preservation. © David Glasspool
25th February 2006
Accompanying No. 09006 at Hoo Junction was "Mainline" liveried No. 09024, seen here coupled to Class 66 No. 66077. A key factor behind the demise of diesel shunters at freight yards has been the use of "main line" locomotives such as Class 66s to marshal wagons. In the month after this photograph was taken, No. 09024 was moved to Eastleigh to work the yard there whilst the usual shunter, No. 08765, was under repair (ref: The Railway Magazine, June 2006). No. 09024 itself failed at Eastleigh later in the same year with a faulty generator, requiring another shunter, No. 08482, to be delivered there in the September as a replacement (ref: The Railway Magazine, November 2006). In October 2011, the locomotive arrived at C.F. Booth, Rotherham, for scrapping (ref: The Railway Magazine, January 2012), but within a few months was purchased for preservation and moved into storage in Wishaw, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands (ref: The Railway Magazine, March 2012). In early 2014, No. 09024 arrived at the East Lancashire Railway. © David Glasspool
19th February 2014
Class 08 No. 08799 is seen moving a rake of eleven Network Rail-liveried ballast wagons in Hoo Junction "up" yard. Based on your author’s observations, Hoo Junction has become a hub for infrastructure materials such as ballast and railway sleepers. At that time, No. 08742 was also a resident of Hoo Junction and can just be seen in the distance, on the right. The December 2013 edition of The Railway Magazine also notes No. 08650 being on the nearby Isle of Grain during the same period, based at the aggregate terminal formerly run under the "Foster Yeoman" brand. By October 2014, No. 08799 had been transferred to Westbury (ref: The Railway Magazine, December 2014). In the August 2023 edition of The Railway Magazine, No. 08799 was noted having gone into store. © David Glasspool Collection
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