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Monday 18 Dec 2023

Rail industry raises £3,000 for Yorkshire-based charity through loco photoshoot

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A charity photoshoot in York organised by colleagues at Network Rail has raised £3,000 to support Yorkshire-based charity, Martin House Children’s Hospice.

Held at Network Rail’s Holgate Engineering Works, the company’s largest in the country, over 70 people were at the one-off photoshoot event on Saturday evening to raise vital funds for the charity, marking the end of the season for the network’s Rail Head Treatment Trains (RHTT).

Five Class 37 diesel locomotives, stationed at the works throughout their RHTT season, were cleaned and made to look their shiny best by volunteers from across the rail industry, before being lit for more than 70 photographers to capture enigmatic and atmospheric images under the evening’s moonlight.

The locomotives’ popularity and Network Rail’s ongoing support for Martin House Children’s Hospice led to the creation of this event. Photographers each paid a donation to be a part of the evening.

The five locomotives have all been part of Network Rail’s Rail Head Treatment programme and often attract rail enthusiasts out onto the rail network to catch them in action. The loco-hauled trains work to blast fallen leaves off the railway during autumn and leave a sand-based substance on the rail head to help train wheels grip and run reliably.

Recently, colleagues from Network Rail and DB Cargo were presented with a ‘Heart of Gold’ award for raising over £250,000 for the charity through organising a series of rail tours across the country.

Chris Gee, Programme Director for Network Rail and one of the event’s organisers, said: “We had a brilliant evening on Saturday as over 70 people from the across the industry and beyond came down to Holgate Works to mark the end of Rail Head Treatment Train season through pictures and raise a great amount of money for Martin House.

“It has been a busy season for the locomotives based at Holgate and it was lovely to see them presented so nicely after working hard throughout the autumn keeping the nation’s passengers moving.

“Network Rail has supported Martin House’s incredible work for a number of years now and it is amazing that we have been able to raise even more money for them through this special event.”