Good Morning Folks,

Well so much for the 4 inches of snow we were supposed to have had last night, barely a dusting and roads are in good nick outside.

Anyway away from the weather scenario and onto matters concerning this site, I have been busy again with the Zenfolio template designer and this time have decided to give my Class 56 gallery the treatment. Whilst the Class 56 locomotives have carried a fair few liveries over the years (from BR Blue right up to today's liveries of Colas and DCR) I decided to settle on the sectorisation livery of Trainload Coal.

Some may argue it was a dull livery but in my view it suited the Class 56 well, the livery of course is unmistakable with the locomotive being in 3 shades of grey (triple grey as it's known) with the coal symbol featuring a yellow background with 4 black diamonds. Locomotives featuring this livery not only included Class 56's but also Class 08, 37, 58 and Class 60 and - as the livery suggests - was used on Merry-Go-Round coal trains in the UK from various coal mines and opencast sites to the various power stations mainly utilising the HAA-type hopper wagons.

In 2013, the Class 56's are long gone from coal trains as is the HAA hoppers, nowadays MGR traffic consists of Class 66's and bogie hoppers coded HTA (EWS/DB Schenker) HYA (GBRf) and HHA/HXA (Freightliner Heavy Haul) 

At the moment, the Class 56 gallery features 245 photo's at http://jamespower.zenfolio.com/p848082466