THE TRAIN NOW LEAFING KIRTON TUNNEL ON THE BRIGG LINE IS TREATING THE TRACK

Brigg Blog was pleased to receive this picture by email from rail line campaigner Paul Johnson.

It was taken earlier this week by Richard Stewart and the location looks to us to be Kirton Tunnel - the only structure of its kind in North Lincolnshire.

Paul tells us that Network Rail's Rail Head Treatment Train "is visiting the Brigg line to jet spray the sticky leaves off the track."

Last year, he suggests, this special train did not visit the Brigg line and delays were caused to  Saturdays-only passenger trains "due to poor traction."

Digs in the national media about "the wrong sort of leaves on the line" holding up trains have been doing the rounds for years. But slippery rails are no joke for today's diesel units.

It was an issue during the age of steam, but less so. This was due to various reasons, we suggest...

• The way locos' large driving wheels applied tractive effort to the track
• Steam loco sanding equipment had been improved to a high level over many decades (abrasive, specially-dried sand was dropped on the rails just in front of the wheels)
• A steam loco with tender behind (no joke intended!) was very heavy - improving grip. However, having said that, we have seen instances in recent years where preserved steam locos have still "slipped" in wet conditions. Not to a huge degree, though, and they soon recovered. 

Brigg Blog does not claim to have  extensive knowledge of diesels but we think the loco pictured is a Class 20. Such engines were built for British Railways in the late 1950s and early 1960s and examples were often to be seen in Scunthorpe and at Barnetby. Not so often, though, on the Brigg line. Prior to becoming Class 20s, they were English Electric Type 1 Bo-Bos (if memory serves us correctly from trainspotting days long ago). Common on the Brigg line in the 1960s and 1970s were Co-Cos. Not named after the famous circus clown but a reference to the diesels' wheel arrangement. These were classified A, B, C, D and E. Steam locos had a different notation, eg 2-6-4, 0-6-0 and 4-6-2 to show how many wheels they had.