37694 & 37521 Ardley Quarry 9 August 2003

With the M40 motorway in the background, 37694 & 37521 English China Clays pass the site of Ardley Quarry, on the Chiltern Line with the Pathfinder Tours 1Z71 12:22 Kettering to Crewe 'Metropolis Meanderer' railtour on 9 August 2003. The 37s had taken over from 66703 at Acton Canal Wharf Junction, and earlier in the day 92039 (Crewe to Nuneaton) and 60029 (Nuneaton to Kettering) had worked the 1Z70 outward leg of the tour. This location is not the most pleasant spot to spend time waiting for a train, as a vast area behind where I'm standing is a rubbish filled former quarry. Although it has now been covered with earth and returned to fields, there is the ever present smell of escaping methane!