THE long-running saga of the ‘Shenfield Shark’, No. DB 993733, has come to an end with its disposal after around 35 years.
Having been seemingly forgotten after being detached with a hot box at the Essex station in the late-1980s, various attempts had been made to recover the ZUW ballast plough brake van over the past decade for preservation. However, with the adjacent platform roads being wired at 25kV ac and the questionable structural integrity of the 1956-built wagon, owner DB Cargo UK was left with no choice but to cut it up on site. This was completed over the weekend of February 24/25.
DEVELOPMENTS
■ DB CARGO UK: While some of the ancient YKA ‘Osprey’ and YWA ‘Salmon’ track panel carriers have recently started to332), DBC apparently sees a future for some vehicles. On January 26, Nos. DB 996468/939 departed DBC’s overhaul/repair operation at Stoke-on-Trent after receiving attention. They had both arrived at the former Marcroft Engineering facility on April 6, 2023. They were followed on February 2, by YKA Nos. DB 996405/666. While the latter had only been on site since May 22, 2023, No. DB 996405 had arrived at Stoke as far back as April 4, 2018.
