DRS Class 57s at Eastleigh, 8th August 2021

When I arrived there was a double Class 57 cacophony around the neighbourhood, with the locomotives running through the works some 90 minutes ahead of schedule. 57002 is seen at the works exit where it held for about 15 minutes before departing at 13:29 as 0Z45 14:33 to Crewe Gresty Bridge (DRS). Buddleia is something of an Eastleigh feature these days.

Before the 57s could depart 66731 Capt. Tom Moore arrived with late running 6G11 09:09 Wandsworth Road - Eastleigh, seen earlier at Farlington Junction. The first OCA wagon was 112081.

The trailing OCA was 112104.


57002 (rebuilt from 47322) led 57003 (rebuilt from 47317) away on the return to Crewe. 

These are the surviving pair of active Class 57s with DRS. It would seem that they will be available for the forthcoming RHTT season, but a lot may depend upon the condition of their wheelsets through and after that. They already spent a short period in storage in mid-2020. They previously visited in January 2020.