UK: Chiltern Railways Class 68 (no. 68011) departing High Wycombe bound for Birmingham Moor Street

UK: Chiltern Railways Class 68 (no. 68011) departing High Wycombe bound for Birmingham Moor Street on train 1R29, the 1202 London Marylebone - Birmingham Moor Street
Clip recorded 23rd March 2024.
The Class 68 is a type of mainline mixed traffic diesel-electric locomotive manufactured by Stadler Rail (and previously by Vossloh España) for Direct Rail Services (DRS) in the United Kingdom. The design is derived from the Stadler Eurolight, and Stadler's product name for this variant is the UKLight.
On 5 January 2012, DRS announced the placement of an order for fifteen Class 68 locomotives, the first of which arriving in the UK during January 2014. DRS testing determined the type to have satisfied its specification and to be suitable for operations. The first batch of Class 68s was quickly followed by a second batch, also intended for DRS and the first to be built by Stadler; the delivery of these units was completed during April 2016. A third batch of Class 68s was also ordered, deliveries of which were completed during July 2017. The Class 68 has since been followed by two closely-associated locomotives, the Class 88 and Class 93.
Since its introduction in 2014, the Class 68 has been used on numerous passenger and freight operations, including DRS's nuclear flask trains. In addition to DRS's freight operations, the operator has also used the type to haul various charter trains. Several units have been subleased to other operators, including Chiltern Railways, Abellio ScotRail, and TransPennine Express, for passenger services, hauling various rakes of carriages to do so, in some cases being outfitted with Association of American Railroads (AAR) push-pull apparatus.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains, that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. It operates commuter/regional rail passenger services from its central London terminus at London Marylebone along the M40 corridor to destinations in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, as well as long-distance services to the West Midlands along two routes. Services on the Chiltern Main Line run from London to Birmingham Snow Hill, Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford, with some peak-hour services extended to Kidderminster.
Chiltern Railways also runs trains on the London-Aylesbury line to Aylesbury (some of which continue on to Aylesbury Vale Parkway), and on the Princes Risborough to Aylesbury and Oxford to Bicester branch lines.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe, is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is 29 miles (47 km) west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, 13 miles (21 km) south-southeast of Aylesbury, 23 miles (37 km) southeast of Oxford, 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Reading and 8 miles (13 km) north of Maidenhead.
The town is served by High Wycombe railway station on the Chiltern Main Line, with services operated by Chiltern Railways from London Marylebone to Aylesbury, Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon, Birmingham Snow Hill and Kidderminster. The station is the busiest in South Buckinghamshire. Express services travel to London in 23 minutes, slower trains take up to 45 minutes.
The Wycombe Railway ran from High Wycombe to Maidenhead on the Great Western Main Line through Loudwater and Bourne End. However, it was a victim of the Beeching cuts with the Wycombe to Bourne End section closed in May 1970. The southern section remains open as part of the Marlow Branch Line.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
@FrontCompVids - Follow us on Twitter!
More FrontCompVids clips are regularly added to so don't forget to Like and Subscribe!
Click / frontcompvids for more details :-)