Caption:

Superpower! Coming to a stand at Carlisle’s main up platform,

presumably for crew relief, is a block working of steel strip loaded ‘eye to the sky’. Most likely this is a working from the Ravenscraig steelworks which was near Motherwell but which, like so much of Britain’s industrial manufacturing base, is now closed and razed to the ground. The destination of this particular working was probably the Dee Marsh works near Shotton in the Wirral. The power comes from double-headed Class 87 electrics working in multiple and the wagons were part of a dedicated pool which also had outings to and from Llanwern on the WR near Newport. Ensuring the correct positioning and availability of these pools was always a headache to Freight Operating Departments at Paddington and Glasgow in period.