Thank you Ian. Somewhere I have more video from this visit that my friend took I remember he got the class 20 starting up to drag the EMU out We did not know they were cutting the peak up at the other end of the yard and the day after our visit the class 50 was cut I asked how many days and the reply was. Days It will be done in a few hours then we saw how they tore the EMU motor coach apart and knew what he meant about taking hours. We did not get anything to bring back, sometimes I wish I had asked like you did. We had gone by train so limited on what we could of carried. I was on a training course at Slateford and the day the 37 ran away a work mate was taking its photo He thought the camera was going weird as it was not focusing then realised the loco was moving He ran to try and get in the cab but the door was either locked or too hard to open and she got away from him. He had to go to the inquiry and was praised for his action in doing that then using the signal post phone to alert the box. The collision happened close behind the hotel I was staying in and I got a few photos. In those days the railway kept moving and they put single line working in. I rode past the 37 on a train and got photos, by then the HST had been moved on shed and was sheeted over as my train passed. I did not know or do not remember they cut the 37 on site. It was a mess though so probably not fit to be moved anywhere.

Check out Vic Berrys summer 88 blitz on 45069 and the rest.

Yes It is interesting how a change of livery makes a huge difference to a trains looks The BR green was well suited, then in blue that same loco looked very bland whereas another would look better in blue but not in railfreight. Many liked the NSE livery but I tend to agree with you It looked too vivid toy town like to me. I preferred the inter city swallow. Today we have some very bright colour schemes which bring a lot of variety interest to the scene, I still prefer the co operate blue grey though.

Yea A 4 car set ripped apart in one day

It was a sad sight that day but the railway had to modernise. I still like steam over diesel. They were so inefficient though. These diesels were a lot better to work with. Sadly many were still in good order and could of been used for a lot longer than they were. Even the scrap man who let us in to film said it was a crime breaking up so many good trains. The class 20 they used is still at work. 08's are a favourite of mine as well.

I like seeing old locomotives scrapped and the more violent the destruction the better, though I prefer seeing steam locos getting cut and sliced.

Yes it is I have not been back past here for years but was told the flats had gone and the scrap yard is now built on. I bet a lot has changed round there.

There's a new shopping development on the site ..

@@gerrynicol3951 OK. Like many old railway yards and rail connected sites , sadly not replaced by industry but by retail and warehousing

@@cedarcam yes it's a shame

Peter Downey Its a telephone klaxon Someone calling the yard hoping to save something I hope

+cedarcam It's a message telling them to get the scrap engines cut and ripped apart quicker! Chop up that old stock and melt it down for scrap!

+heelfan1234 LOL £50 bonus pay if you can break a 50 in 50 mins

cedarcam I think MC metals managed it in a day. But with a couple of massive pairs of hydraulic shears on tracks, the kind used to break up ships, yes I think a 50 could be seriously mangled in 50 mins. The shears can even break up the engine. Further processing would be needed to extract copper from the generators and motors.

+heelfan1234 Yea we were told it was only a days job with those machines. The engines were not always broken. They were still good to go after reconditioning so many were sold on to other countries. The motors and generators were piled up ready to be taken for copper extraction by another company. MC concentrated on getting the asbestos out which was used in many of our locos for noise insulation. That's why so many cabs were seen left about in our scrap yards. The easy part was breaking the centre section and getting to the bits with most value. As you see the loco we saw was cut in 3 sections first. They had broken the centre section before we got there. The rest was being pre cut and as we left was all but finished. The heavy electric unit remains were loaded in a lorry and the lighter metal stacked up. I guess they had to sort that later as it was covered in insulation (Not asbestos) and Formica

I'm surprised you got permission to go into a working yard. I tried it here in dublin in the 90s. I asked for permission to grab a photo of an ex Dublin Bus AN68 Leyland Atlantean sitting at the edge of the yard in the prominent bus breakers in Dublin port. I could see it through the fence from the road. Not a chance they'd let me, even after I gave them my word I wouldn't publicise where I took the photo. They did have a couple of AN68 atlanteans in the car park as well which I certainly had a good look at, photographed and got into as they were in an area accessible to the public. Being the only woman transport enthusiast in Ireland has its drawbacks as well as its advantages! The office thought no way she's a transport nut but I am!

Some of them had and they had a special area to deal with them as well as the loco cabs which also contained asbestos. The one we saw being torn apart which was out of an EMU had been refurbished and the asbestos was removed during that work. Some DMU's they scrapped probably contained it as well. Some of it was hard to remove and left sealed in when the units were refurbished.

they burn it out most times i think