End of the line for EWS?
 

Here's a pic of EWS loco 60074 which has just been brought out of storage and been given a repaint and named at a ceremony at Yorks NRM. Aside from the colour, which is a one off in connection with the name the loco was given, the one main thing to strike people is the fact that neither the name EWS, nor the logo is on the locomotive. Instead it is replaced by the DB Schenker logo. A colleage of mine reckons that DB Schenker's policy is to bring all the companies that they own under one roof, so not only will the EWS subsidiaries (Enegry, Industrial, International etc) cease to exist, but the brand as a whole.

Well I'll miss Rhubarb & Custard, I always thought that they made a good corporate brand.

On a more practical level, I worry that there are very rough times ahead for the staff of EWS. I hope that the long knives don't come out to cut the business to the bare bones. :(

I think that the EWS livery was one of the more succesful of the privatised liveries. At least they still looked like a loco rather than an advert for toothpaste.
Paul.

Speaking as an EWS employee,

There has been no staff notice to this effect, From what we are being told it is business as usual under the EWS brand.

Personally I would'nt read to much into the fact that one locomotive out of approx 300 has been applied with the DB branding.

Les

The balloons in the picture are a nice touch - really festive. :rolleyes:

The balloons are promoting the Teenage Cancer Trust in whose honour the loco was named.

I am also an EWS employee and rumours have been rife for a long time from various sources that the four new sectors will be the first thing to see the axe now that DB have taken hold of the reigns. I doubt that they will only go that far as well.

I do however still feel confident that the company is headed in the right direction. Making the sectors has obviously helped the company become much leaner and meaner, and where I am at Thornaby, we are all pretty optimistic about our future.

Sorry, didnt realise that. :o Looked they were only there to celebrate a paint job on the loco.

Hello,

What does the future hold for Thornaby TMD, i pass it most days and normally
they are a few locos stabled on the shed. I take it its just used for fueling locos now and not major work? If it does close for good i wonder if it will be sold off.

Thanks,
Martin

The future for Thornaby is simple. There isn't one. The only reason its still open at this moment in time is to fuel loco's and to use the wheel lathe.

All the drivers, including myself, have been moved to refurbished accomodation in Tees Yard, though we are still known as Thornaby. A fueling terminal has been removed from Masborough depot in Rotherham to Tees Yard and awaits commissioning. Once thats done, it will only be the wheel lathe that the depot is used for.

As things stand though, the wheel lathe isn't going to be taken out of service any time soon. Originally, the idea was to jack vehicles up and remove any wheels that needed turning and replacing them, but someone twigged that it would be much cheaper just roll a wagon onto the lathe and turn the damaged wheel and then get the wagon back into service in quick time. Much cheaper than removing wheel sets and carting them across the country. The latest rumour on the go is that they want to build a purpose built wheel lathe shed somewhere in Tees Yard and move Thornabys wheel lathe into it.

The bottom line is that EWS want to close Thornaby Depot as quickly as possible so as to avoid paying rates on the buildings. All major maintainance is now done at Toton. I think Stockton council has their eyes on the land that will become available once its closed.

The nail in EWS coffin was when it seemed to believe it could win contracts by just submitting a bid. It failed to take account of changing times and other operators. The loss of the Royal Mail contract was, in all fairness, probably not it's fault but I believe EWS thought it would be the preffered bidder all the time, and that was never likely to be the case for long.

Thanks for that information Dynamo.

It will be a great shame the day it does close down!
So what EWS depot are still fully open now? cannot be many left!

Martrin

Mart,

Do you mean EWS traincrew depots or EWS Maint depots.

There are plenty of traincrew depots stretching all across the country but the maint depots are few and far between. The nearest repair depot to us in Inverness is either Mossend or Millerhill (for what their worth).

Les

Hi,

Yeah like TMD that are still fully open. Has Immingham closed now or it is still hanging on like Thornaby?

Martin

Les G,

Has Ayr shed closed?

To the best of my knowledge, Ayr is now only a traincrew depot only maint depots in Scotland are Mossend and Millerhill, although EWS does have two fitters at Fort Bill.

Les

Even though Thornaby depot itself is closing, there'll still be fitters based in the area, but they'll become mobile.

Will they then be refurbishing the Wickham Trolleys for personal mobility?
More seriously I wonder what sort of operational radius they will have to cover and how will they get to where they are needed? Not so good if it is any distance and travelling takes longer than the work to be done.
John (G)

I don't think they actually need to travel very far to be honest. Most of the work will be done in Tees Yard, and for any more major work, the loco's will be hauled off to Toton if they can't run under their own power.

One thing to remember though is the fact that the modern day loco's that EWS use aren't anywhere near as labour intensive as the older loco's used to be. They are also much more reliable.

Here's a pic of a DB Class 66 in Germany. A friend tells me this loco now has a big DB in the middle of its body since this photo was taken. He also reckons this could be the corporate colour of all DB's loco's soon. That includes EWS.

I dont know much about new motive power, apart from I enjoy watching them.
Is it just me, or do the 66's really look good in whatever livery they are turned out in.
Paul.

Yeah I think your right there Paul. They do look pretty good in whatever livery. Its just a shame they are built like bike sheds on wheels. :D

Here's the livery us at work think suits it best though.

That looks mean! Almost like something out of a science fiction movie.
You say they are like a bike shed on wheels. Does that mean they really are'nt as good as they look?
Paul.

Yeah. They look ok from a distance, but the bodywork is very close to being like corrugated iron. There's two reasons for this. Firstly its to keep the weight of the loco down, and secondly and most importantly, it helps keep the price down as well because it makes them easier to maufacture and also keeps the cost of materials down. Alan Sugar would have been proud of the finished products though.

He would'nt have fired anyone then. I dont watch "The Apprentice" but have seen clips from it. That seems to be his catch phrase.

Paul.

Doesn`t the extra weight resting on the driving wheels give it more traction on the rails?

It's a fine balance between adhesive weight and axle loading!

When the first of the 66's were being built they knew how heavy they were allowed to make them, so the last thing they added to them was the fuel tank. The reason being was so that they could put as big a tank on as possible that would make the loco still beneath the maximum weight with a full tank.

EWS need to give their locos a wash that would knock a tonne off each ones axle weight.

Much more important things to do with locos than wash them. (management statement)

Les:p :D

Further to my original post in this thread, here's some pics of the latest EWS loco to come out of the paint shops. The red is darker than the normal EWS red and once again there's no mention at all of EWS anywhere on the loco.

The word is that very soon, all train staff will soon by issued with a brand new uniform, and the EWS brand will not be on it.

Cheers. Ewan.

Not to be of poor taste but isn't there something ironic about a British locomotive carrying the German national railway logo and a British Army banner?

Sign of the times I suppose.

Possibly, but you would be hard put to find a county that the British [or English] Army hasn't fought at sometime in our history :D

I think you'll find that the first and second world wars were probably about the only times in our history that we've been at war with Germany. Since the second world war we've been brothers in arms with them, especially during the cold war.

Cheers. Ewan.

This would be because, since WWII, Germany were banned from having there own army/airforce perhaps? The British Army and the RAF have bases there.

Some of the EWS 'old boys' who wear a T shirt and jeans will be in for a bit of a culture shock then, if DB follows the current trend of dressing Freight Train Drivers to look like business men in a suit and tie - GBRf style.

Can you imagine sitting on a filty old ballast train at 3 AM, trying to get your head down but making sure you don't crease your suit or get dirt on it ? Crazy !

I remember when Connex first got their franchise. The uniform was b***dy awful, but I damaged my ribs laughing when they pushed the Fench theme too far and tried to make us wear Foreign Legion style Kepi hats.

Just like these splendid chaps :D...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:F...n_dsc06878.jpg

I wish I'd kept mine now, but sadly it fell under a train and got crushed. Oddly enough this happened to most of them. ;)

....You've got to be kidding, right?

Nope the hats were similar to that, except light blue.

I wasn't suggesting they gave us the frilly red bits and sub-machine guns, though there have been times.....;)

I wear the EWS T shirt all the time, but if I was made to wear a proper shirt and tie it wouldn't bother me to be honest, even if it was on a ballast train. At this moment in time, though a new uniform has been mentioned, I've heard no word as to whether or not we'll be made to weat a shirt and tie. EWS drivers do get issued with shirts and ties as well.

Getting back to 60040 though, I was told last night that the colour is actually EWS red, though its obviously a much glossier version. I think that if they keep that style and colour without the yellow stripe then it will be a good plan. It looks much better.

I saw 60040 yesterday on the Warrington to Blackburn Cargo Waggons and she looked a picture, even the inside was painted white. It would be great if all the 60s ended up in the same condition. All the best.