an orange & black railway machine is seen passing through a silver-coloured railway station
an orange & black railway machine is seen passing underneath a bridge
Colas Rail's new Plasser & Theurer Unimat 08-4x4/4S tamper DR73954 approaches Nuneaton whilst working a Diss to Rugby move.
#tamperTuesday #ontrackplant
a yellow and white railway machine sits in a siding next to a lorry
several yellow and white railway cranes
several yellow and white railway machines sit in a siding
a yellow and white railway machine next to a wagon and brick building
During 1999 Tarmac split their Centrac business out into a new company - Carillion, and then in late 2001 GEC sold their share of GTRM to Carillion.
The combined fleet of machines were repainted into a yellow livery with white cabs.
#tamperTuesday #ontrackplant #OTPliveries
a yellow railway machine with maroon cabs sits in a siding
a yellow railway machine with maroon cabs sits in a siding
a yellow railway machine with maroon cabs sits in a siding surrounded by other yellow machines and a white road van
two maroon & yellow railway machines sit on some railway wagons in a grassy siding
GTRM - a joint venture of GEC Alsthom and Tarmac acquired the Central Infrastructure Maintenance Company in 1996. It purchased a few new machines, and in 2001 took over Centrac's fleet of old machines. Their livery was yellow with maroon cabs.
#tamperTuesday #ontrackplant #OTPliveries
an orange railway machine passes through a railway station surrounded by brick buildings and buddleia plants, under a hazy blue sky
an orange railway machine passes through a railway station surrounded by brick buildings
Colas Rail's Plasser & Theurer 08-4x4/4S-RT tamper DR73929 passes through Walsall whilst working from Nuneaton to the nearby sidings.
#tamperTuesday #ontrackplant
a yellow railway machine passes some grey wagons
a yellow railway machine sits in a siding. In the background are a variety of locomotives, buildings and wagons
three yellow railway machines are seen in some sidings
a long yellow railway machine with a cabin at either and a crane in the middle trundles through a railway station
In 1996 Tarmac acquired the Central Track Renewals Company as part of the privatisation process and started operating under the "Centrac" name. Their livery was a basic yellow with white roof.
#tamperTuesday #ontrackplant #OTPliveries
Haven't heard about its future yet but will update if I find anything out
a large yellow railway machine consisting of five vehicles passes through a railway station in dismal grey weather
a railway vehicle painted yellow, white, red and black passes through a station
three large yellow railway machine vehicles pass through a railway station in dismal grey weather
a large yellow railway machine consisting of five vehicles passes through a railway station in dismal grey weather
This year lots of older machines are getting replaced by brand new machines as some companies modernise their fleets. One casualty will be Loram's C2101 Rail Grinder which arrived in 2002. Here is DR79231-79237 (exc. 79234&235) passing through a gloomy Cardiff Central.
#ontrackplant
a yellow railway machine sits in an overgrown siding
a yellow railway machine sits in an overgrown siding, surrounded by other railway machines, signs and lights
a rusty yellow railway machine sits in an overgrown siding
a yellow railway machine sits on a black wagon
Here's the first in an occasional series looking back at old on-track plant liveries, kicking off with the classic yellow with red BR double arrow logo and Civil Engineering Department signage. A couple of machines lingered about on the rail network until the mid-2000s!
#ontrackplant #OTPliveries
Network Rail have put one of their Ballast Cleaning Trains up for sale. Closing dates for bids is 13 April.
Most of the vehicles can be found at Fairwater Yard, with a few having recenlty moved to Tyne Yard.
www.ontrackplant.com/news/network...
#ontrackplant
a large blue & white railway machine sits in a siding, with some buddleia bushes surrounding it
Due for retirement this year, Balfour Beatty's Plasser & Theurer 08-4x4/4S-RT Switch & Crossing Tamper DR73917 sits in a siding at Sittingbourne, partially obstructed by bushes and stuff.
#ontrackplant #tamperTuesday
a yellow railway machine in a shed
a red & grey railway machine accompanied by a similar yellow machine
a pair of maroon-coloured railway cranes sit in a siding
a large red railway machine is seen sitting on a road-lorry
Fifteen years ago the final Fastline machines at Bristol Marsh Junction OTPD (part of the larger St Philips Marsh site) were being cleared out with several going for scrap, some abroad and one for preservation in Swindon. February 2011
#ontrackplant #tamperTuesday
A large yellow railway machine sits in a siding. It is partially obscured by a fence and reels of cable. The sky is nice and blue
A large yellow railway machine sits in a siding. It is partially obscured by a fence and reels of cable. The sky is cloudy and dull.
Another Stoneblower off the list, although not entirely happy with the obstruction. Here are two shots of DR80216 taken a few minutes apart in very changable weather!
#stoneblower #ontrackplant
#TrackMachineTuesday DR76311 part of a consist at Peterborough 9.4.96
an orange, black & yellow railway machine sits in a siding
an orange, black & yellow railway machine sits in a siding. Next to it is a yellow machine.
a close up shot of a name plaque "Jupiter" and another label stating "This machine is powered by HVO fuel"
"COLAS RAIL" and "DR73910" decals on an orange railway machine's cab
Colas Rail's Plasser & Theurer 08-4x4/4S-RT Switch & Crossing Tamper DR73910 "Jupiter" sits in a gloomy siding.
#tamperTuesday #ontrackplant
Here is a short round-up of tamper and road-railer news during January 2026.
#ontrackplant
www.ontrackplant.com/news/tamper-...
DR73908 might be making its last move to Rugby OTPD today before being retired/replaced by DR73954 in the Anglia region. (Usual cancellation / rescheduling disclaimers apply! )
Here's a photo of it when it was new. How time flies!
#ontrackplant
www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-n...
Taunton Fairwater Clearout - new forum topic by Roger Harris.
#ontrackplant
www.ontrackplant.com/forum/on-tra...
a large yellow & blue railway machine sits in a siding
a large yellow & blue railway machine sits in a siding
a large yellow & blue railway machine sits in a siding
a close up detail of some numbering information on a yellow railway machine
A pair of SBRail's Plasser & Theurer Unimat 09-4x4/4S Dynamic Tampers sit in the siding at Hemel Hempstead ready for work over the Christmas period on the WCML, 24 December 2025.
ontrackplant.com #ontrackplant #tamperTuesday
On Saturday 17th DR73906 should be making its last move to Rugby OTPD before being retired/replaced by DR73953 in the Anglia region. Usual cancellation / rescheduling disclaimers apply!
If you see it then please upload a photo!
#ontrackplant
www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-n...
On Thusrday 15th January a new Balfour Beatty tamper (DR73955?) should be moving from West Ealing to Swanage Railway for testing. Usual cancellation / rescheduling disclaimers apply!
If you see it then please upload a photo!
#ontrackplant
www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-n...
a small orange & yellow railway machine sits in a siding. It is next to a box and a lot of brown trackwork & vegetation
a small orange & yellow railway machine sits in a siding. It is accompanied by a yellow wagon
Two of Colas Rail's small Plasser & Theurer tampers (DR73922 and DR73913) are seen in various sidings, 19 December 2025.
#tamperTuesday #ontrackplant
Nice pair 👍🏻👍🏻
a moody dark scene featuring lots of railway tracks, some metalic structures, and a railway machine pluming out some exhaust fumes.
a large yellow railway machine trundles through some pointwork. It is under some overhead wires.
Network Rail Harsco Stoneblower DR80215 makes a spirited departure from Crewe. This machine is returning to Scotland (via a stop at Preston) after its yearly service at Harsco's works in Derby. 19 December 2025.
#stoneblower #ontrackplant
Metals is a bit boring 😳 - there's now four 37s in it!
(Construction and Coal coming in at one each; and poor Petroleum and Distribution at none each 🎻)
Two were sadly scrapped at the start of 2025 but fortunately they weren't gaps as I'd photo'd them in the 1990s. It would've been nice to get recent photos of them, but oh well.
Made a good effort with last year's Stoneblower photo goal - filled in five out of eight gaps - including the Scottish one which I didn't think I'd get.
Will aim to get at least two more this year (not sure I'll manage the Worksop example ☹️)
#ontrackplant #stoneblowers ontrackplant.com
a large white & blue railway machine passes through a railway station. It is slightly obscured & surrounded by shadows.
a large white & blue railway machine passes through a railway station under a bridge
DR77002 - one of SBRail's Plasser AFM2000RT ballast finishing machines - trundles through Crewe working from Stafford to Preston. 19 December 2025.
#ontrackplant
A large railway signal box with brick lower half and beige & green wood panelling on top.
A small railway signal box with brick lower half and beige & green wood panelling on top.
I made a rare foray into the area earlier in the year and was pleasantly surprised to see similar on the signal boxes of Littlehampton and Chichester.
(Littlehampton station also had delightful Red Star parcels signage but I forgot to photo it)
Merry Christmas
(And if you haven't contributed anything yet, then the Christmas period is always a good time to dig out those old notebooks and photos and start sending them in!)
Join today at ontrackplant.com
A small yellow, black and green railway trolley sits in a siding and is surrounded by snow. "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" text is overlaid on the picture.
I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thanks for all of your contributions of sightings and photos over the last year!
#ontrackplant ontrackplant.com