Autumn Season

not class 37's this time around...

Sandite:

One solution to the leaf fall season is to run ’Sandite Trains’, these run after the last service train and
use two Class 37 locomotives (now substituted by Class 60's or 66's) supplied by the freight operator EWS and other train companies.

These locomotives sandwich two water carrying tank wagons and a general utility van. This houses the water cannon for cleaning the rails. The train passes at slow
speed over the sections of track worst affected by leaf contamination, the water
cannon blasts the crusted leaves and sap off the rails. A coating of sandite is
then applied.

Sandite is a mixture of sand, aluminum filings (to assist with the operation of signaling circuits) and special adhesive glue which allows the sandite
to stick to the rails.

Sandite alone cannot solve all the problems, but it does improve adhesion which
in turn reduces wheel slip and slide and thereby keeps the trains running to time.

EWS has once again returned stored locomotives to traffic to cover Sandite and water canon workings over the forthcoming leaf fall season. However this year it has been the class 60/66's that have benefited. Nevertheless here are some images from last years autumn season when 37's ruled.	Both 37890 & 37798 at Margam both having received repainted front ends	37717 inside Margam being re-instated after a spell in storage inside Canton
They work as either light engines, with Sandite - a sticky paste that aids adhesion for trains with disc brakes - carried in a hopper inside the locomotive, or by top-and-tail locomotives with water cannon wagons in between. The ‘37s’ returned to the Sandite pool are 37174, 37216, 37308/375, 37419, 37503/517, 37668/675/684/692, 37706/707/ 710/717/798, 37890/896. All were in the tactical reserve pool - a fleet of locomotives kept in operational condition that EWS can reinstate relatively easily for traffic increases or short-term dedicated contracts such as this.

37684 seen outside Cardiff Canton

37694 on October 17th 2004