railography photo galleries : United Kingdom : Class 56 : 85-UK6-0113 : (14 of 14)

Horden Colliery

56016 passed Horden Colliery with a southbound coal train on 15 March 1985. In the background 56096 can be seen waiting to enter the pit with a train of empties.

Little in this scene survives 40 years later. The coal mines and the trains that served them are a distant memory, the semaphores are long gone. At least the railway survives but is now plain double track with a new Horden station opened here in 2020. 56016 was scrapped in 1997 after less than 20 years in service but 56096 completed 40 years in traffic and is still hanging on as part of the threatened Colas fleet.