West Coast Railway Company

West Coast Railway Company (WCRC), also known as West Coast Railways is a railway spot-hire company and charter train operator, based at Carnforth in Lancashire, on the site of the old Steamtown heritage depot. In 1998, the company became the first privately-owned company to be given a licence as a train operating company.

Description

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" (named for the historic Jacobite political movement), which runs from Fort William to Mallaig in the West Highlands, and passes over the spectacular Glenfinnan Viaduct. "The Jacobite" is the only scheduled steam operated service on the National Rail network.

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. Its coaching stock consists mainly of Mark 1 and Mark 2 coaches and a small number of Mark 3 sleeper vehicles.

In 2005, WCRC 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 a revised maroon livery, based on that of the Royal Scotsman carriages.

In late 2005, WCRC sold its two operational Class 37 locomotives (nos. 37197 and 37261) to Direct Rail Services (DRS), and received four Class 33 locomotives in exchange. WCRC later sold non-operational locomotive no. 37423 to DRS as well. In 2006, WCRC hired two preserved locomotives, nos. 37214 and 37248.

In early 2007, WCRC purchased five class 47/7 locos from EWS. These were nos. 47760, 47776, 47786, 47787 and 47792. These loco's had been stored at Healey Mills, near Wakefield, after being deemed surplus to requirements. Of these, 47792 has been returned to service and returned to its former number, 47804. This was followed by the return of 47787 in September 2007 and 47760 in April 2008. The remaining locos are currently under repair and are expected to return to traffic at some point in 2008.

Later in 2007, WCRC again added to its fleet by purchasing a number of class 37s from EWS. 37676 was the first to be purchased in October, followed by nos. 37517, 37668, 37685, 37706, 37710, 37712 and 37717 in December. These were transferred across the Pennines to Carnforth in January 2008 in several batches.

Routes commonly operated over by WCRC include the nearby Cumbrian Coast Line and the Settle and Carlisle Railway. The company utilises several sidings at Hellifield, south of Settle Junction, where the lines to Carlisle and Carnforth diverge, allowing easy access to the WCRC home base.

Fleet Details

External links

* [http://www.wcrc.co.uk West Coast Railway Company website]
* [http://www.steamtrain.info/WCR.htm West Coast Railway Company website]
* [http://www.westcoastrailway.co.uk Information on "The Jacobite"]