Channel Tunnel 'Cromptons'

The late 1980s saw a pool of Class 33s allocated to the Construction sub-sector, these being largely dedicated to transporting materials to the various Channel Tunnel building sites in Kent. Paul Wade describes how to upgrade the Heljan ‘Slim Jim’ variant as well as model the associated Queen Mary brake vans.

THE construction of the Channel Tunnel during the late 1980s and early 1990s created a need for a fleet of locos to deliver the multitude of building materials to the various construction sites. Much of this traffic would be contained within Kent making Class 33s, either singly or in pairs, the natural choice for the work.

In May 1988, the Railfreight triple grey livery with Construction markings was applied to Nos. 33050 and 33051 to launch the contract with TransManche Link to deliver concrete tunnel lining segments from the Isle of Grain to Shakespeare Cliff.

A further 10 ‘Cromptons’ would be similarly repainted between October 1988 and August 1989 as they passed through Eastleigh Works for overhaul, encompassing seven more Class 33/0s, Nos. 33021/33/42/53/56/63/64, and a trio of narrow-bodied Class 33/2s, Nos. 33202/04/07.

The actual size of the Construction fleet was much larger than this dozen, many others not being repainted out of BR blue, with the pool allocation fluctuating considerably over the years.

Workings for the locos included Yeoman PGA hoppers containing stone from Grain to Sevington, tunnel segments to Shakespeare Cliff and Ashford Kimberley sidings, minestone from Snowdown Colliery, spoil from Shakespeare Cliff to Sevington, and some trains of steel items. However, they did work on the other sections of the erstwhile Southern Region and later could be regularly seen on engineers’ trains as the tunnel material requirements gradually decreased.

Heljan fine-tuning