Back in the day...

[NorthWestRover]

Presumably that was EMU to Helensburgh Central, walk to Helensburgh Upper to pick up the 37 from there?
37113 was an NB loco, so quite a rarity (even in summer) on the West Highland Line.

Well spotted on both. It was 37112.

 

[CW2]

Well spotted on both. It was 37112.

That makes more sense.

 

[D6130]

Because of the delay we ran non-stop through Girvan – but somebody alighted there anyway!

With the aid of a parachute?

That reminded me of the occasion in July 1982 - or possibly 1983 - when a friend and I went down to Ayr after work to cover an orangemens' special returning from Stranraer to Glasgow with a class 25 and load 11. (Must have been a stagger South of Ayr!). Unfortunately, I haven't yet been able to find my notebook for this period and I can't remember which loco it was, although 25 226 rings a bell. The most memorable thing about that trip was the fact that although the train was booked non-stop from Ayr to Paisley Gilmour Street, one elderly orangeman - possibly thinking of the service train pattern - must have thought that it stopped at Irvine. We had just about reached line speed (then 75 mph) as we passed Irvine but, almost immediately afterwards there was a full emergency brake application and we came to a crunching halt on top of the embankment just South of Bogside signalbox. After a couple of minutes, a door swung open about half way along the train and the aforesaid elderly orangeman from Irvine was uncerimoniously ejected from the train and rolled down the embankment, followed seconds later by his suitacase, which flew open on impact, scattering his belongings - including sash and bowler hat - down the side of the embankment. Somebody - possibly not the guard - closed the door and reset the emergency cord and we were on our way again. The elderly orangeman from Irvine was last seen staggering away across the bog shaking his fists at the train. His Paisley and Glasgow 'brethren' were obviously not impressed by having their pre-closing drinking time curtailed in this manner!

 

[CW2]

With the aid of a parachute?

We had to slow down for the token exchange, nominally 10 mph, so he simply flung the door open and leaped out!

 

[D6130]

We had to slow down for the token exchange, nominally 10 mph, so he simply flung the door open and leaped out!

Nominally! I've seen it done at about 40 on the West Highland line....strong arms required! (See my edited post for a realated story).

 

[MDB1images]

Sun 16th Aug 87
Second week of a North West rover but today I added a few pieces to the rover as I wanted to have a spin on the drags between Preston and Crewe.

47489 09:01 Bolton-Preston

47452 10:26 Preston-Crewe via Manchester Victoria

47625 14:22 Crewe-Preston via Manchester Victoria

85036 19:05 Lancaster-Preston

86423 19:43 Preston-Warrington BQ

81013 20:56 Warrington BQ-Preston*60 Late

47618 22:56 Preston-Bolton(Glasgow Central-Manchester Victoria 1M40).

Haulage wise I have 81013 as a winner in my notes(I suspect it was for the year though-I wasn’t complaining though!), 47625 was a winner for the year along with 85036.
Wasn’t expecting anything today bar ETH Class 47’s as it was mainly about having a ride on the diversion route.
On arrival at Preston from Crewe I seemed to have deck chaired for some time before heading to Lancaster, I presume the fact 20143 & 20186 was noted ‘loitering’ at Preston with drags over running may have kept me hanging back, just in case!
On arrival at Warrington BQ on 86423 I remember the much loved announcement to all bashers of ‘delay to train due to a locomotive failure’ so hung around and was rewarded with 81013.
Nothing was new for sight today.

MON 17TH AUG 87
47231 08:49 Bolton-Manchester Victoria (07:47 Blackpool N-Manchester Victoria 1J18)

47452 10:25 Manchester Victoria-Preston

86239 11:16 Preston-Carlisle

86408 13:36 Carlisle-Preston

86436 15:44 Preston-Lancaster

86423 15:54 Lancaster-Preston(Relief-Glasgow Central)

87024 16:30 Preston-Lancaster

87015 17:17 Lancaster-Preston

47085 18:59 Preston-Manchester Victoria(15:50 Glasgow Central-Manchester Victoria 1M87)

47452 22:19 Preston-Bolton(Glasgow Central-Manchester Victoria 1M40

Others noted….
47231 2J58 18:00 Blackpool N-Manchester Victoria
47231 21:xx Blackpool N-Manchester Victoria
47281 1M26 15:44 Nottingham-Blackpool N
47418 Newcastle-Liverpool LST(09:30 ex Man Vic)
47421 Newcastle-Liverpool LST(19:30 ex Man Vic)
47480 Workington-Huddersfield TPO
47567 1M22 07:18 Nottingham-Blackpool N
47644 Leeds-Carlisle AM
85038 Additional-Carlisle(21:47 ex Preston)

A brilliant day for haulage, started off with winner 47231 on the Blackpool-Manchester circuit, headed to Man Vic but the AM Notts-Blackpool was ETH so another deck chair wait to see if anything was around before heading North(I presume again in search of a Eastfield NB Loco), I suspect 47475 was offered and declined on the Carlisle-Glasgow(only loco I noted at Carlilse that was ETH bar 47644 arriving from Leeds)before some Electric spinning awaiting the main event which was the hoped for appearance of 47085 on the 1M87 Glasgow-Man Vic from Preston, 47085 was named Mammoth and it was certainly a mammoth loco for me, a WR Non Heat loco was much desired in the late 80’s in the North West(after being common for years before that-I was a child then though!), sight wise it will come as no surprise another of Heatons finest (143018)troubled the scorers at Carlisle

 

[xotGD]

17th August 1982

A 5p Transfare from the bus driver gave me:

31319 Sunderland - Newcastle 1N04

17th August 1983

I took a dmu to Carlisle and back. Before the return working, a bit of a fill in move:

40122 Carlisle - Leeds 1E23
40122 Leeds Carlisle 1M26

Very nice!

17th August 1985

47419 Newcastle - Durham 1M73
37148 Durham - Newcastle 1N35
45104 Newcastle - Durham 1M76
47319 Durham - Newcastle 1S94

The following year 37148 became 37902. This looks like its last passenger turn as a proper Syphon.

17th August 1989

A bit of a spin around the West Midlands behind 87007, 86251, 87025 and 87003

 

[QJ]

Thursday 17-08-1978

• 85022 CE Birmingham New Street to Stafford 2124 Bristol to Glasgow
• 86013 WN Stafford to Crewe 2215 London Euston - Glasgow Central
• 86244 WN Crewe to Preston 2345 London Euston - Barrow in Furness

DMU Preston to Blackburn

• 25140 LO BV ride whilst trip consist put together (loco then commandeered for another freight)
• 25209 LO Blackburn Yard to Preston Dock Exchange Sidings recessing afterwards in North Union Yard 0810 Blackburn East Lancs Sidings - Preston Dock exchange Sidings trip (BV ride)
• 47474 BS Preston to Poulton le Fylde 0900 London Euston to Blackpool North
• 40125 LO Burn Naze to Blackburn Yard 1400 Burn Naze South to Blackburn Yard (BV ride)

DMU (class 105) Blackburn to Preston

• 86240 WN Preston to Carlisle 1405 Birmingham New Street to Glasgow Central
• 87027 WN Carlisle to Glasgow Central 1345 London Euston to Glasgow Central
• 47273 HA Glasgow Queen Street to Stirling 1935 Glasgow to Aberdeen
• 40074 GD banking 1935 Glasgow to Aberdeen to Cowlairs mp1
• 40142 HA Stirling to Glasgow Queen Street 1735 Aberdeen to Glasgow
• 27010 ED Glasgow Queen Street to Croy 2044 Glasgow to Dundee
• 47516 IS Croy to Glasgow Queen Street 1938 Dundee to Glasgow Queen Street

EMU (class 303) Glasgow Queen Street Low Level to Bridgeton Central and return

• 86213 WN Glasgow Central to Preston 2355 Glasgow Central to Bristol

Friday 18-08-1978 (bit of a track bash to start the day then whistling heaven)

• 86007 WN Preston to Lancaster 2345 London Euston - Barrow in Furness
• 47448 CD Lancaster to Barrow 2345 London Euston - Barrow in Furness

DMU Barrow in Furness to Lancaster

• 87034 WN Lancaster to Preston 0632 Carlisle - London Euston

DMU (class 105) Preston to Rose Grove

• 25047 SP Rose Grove to Padiham CEGB 0530 Blackburn Yard to Padiham CEGB (BV ride)
• 25047 SP Padiham CEGB to Rose Grove ---- Padiham CEGB to Blackburn Yard (BV ride)

DMU (class 105) Rose Grove to Blackburn
DMU Blackburn to Manchester Victoria
EMU (class 504) Manchester Victoria to Bury Bolton Street and return
DMU Manchester Victoria to Leeds
DMU (class 124) Leeds to York

• 40074 GD York to Durham 1710 York - Newcastle
• 40017 KD Durham to York 1335 Edinburgh to Liverpool
• 40092 HM York to Wakefield Westgate 1920 Scarborough - Wakefield Westgate
• 55022 HA Wakefield Westgate to Leeds 1940 London Kings Cross to Leeds
• 40067 YK Leeds to Stockport 2150 York - Shrewsbury

Part of an All Line Rover from 15 to 22 August 1978 with the Saturday spent sampling 40s on the North Wales main line.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Wednesday 18th August 1982

Hoovers...

31324 Cardiff C to Bristol TM, 1O67 07.55 Cardiff to Portsmouth
50021 Bristol TM to Bath Spa, 1A79 07.40 Taunton to Paddington
43131/43132 Bath Spa to Bristol TM, 1B?? 08.15 Paddington to Bristol
43192/43191 Bristol TM to Newton Abbot, 1V?? 07.20 Derby to Plymouth
50007 Newton Abbot to Exeter, 1M22 11.38 Plymouth to Man Picc
50030 Exeter to Plymouth, 1B58 10.42 Paddington to Penzance
50013 Plymouth to Bristol TM, 1B59 13.45 Penzance to Bristol TM
W51370 Bristol TM to Cardiff C, 19.30 Bristol to Cardiff

Thursday 18th August 1983

Day 6 and yet another overnight on the Highland Main Line...

47479 Perth to Inverness, 1N05 23.30 Glasgow QS to Inverness

But worth it for...

37035 Inverness to Kyle, 2K02 06.55 service
37035 Kyle to Inverness, 2N20 11.10 service

Then a disappointing interlude with none of the locos on the Aberdeens being required...

26037/47445 Inverness to Forres, 1A37 14.48 Inverness to Aberdeen
47013 Forres to Inverness, 1N27 13.55 Aberdeen to Inverness

Then two Syphons which were also not required, but that's OK...

37114 Inverness to Brora, 2K12 17.40 Inverness to Wick
37183 Brora to Inverness, 2N37 18.00 Wick to Inverness

Then just for a change...

47469 (required) Inverness to Glasgow QS, 1T04 23.50 Inverness to Glasgow

And onto my final day on the Freedom of Scotland...

 

[CW2]

Saturday 18/08/79
Having arrived at Stranraer at some ungodly hour behind 40113, we did the only sensible thing and departed again with the same loco as soon as possible:
40113 0120 Stranraer – Preston
It seemed the booked electric to take over at Carlisle was used for something else, so we had 40113 under the wires over Shap to Preston, to really crown this top move. At Preston I learned that required split-box 40131 was working the 0753 Manchester – Glasgow to Preston, so I set off to intercept it.
DMU Preston – Bolton
40131 0811 Bolton – Preston via Ince, Wigan North Western
This was diverted due to a body on the line at Adlington, delaying the train by 20 minutes (and scoring some rare class 40 track in the process). At Preston it re-engined to 87018, which I took forward to Lancaster to see if 40131 was going to do the rest of the diagram:
87018 0846 Preston – Lancaster
40131 0917 Lancaster – Barrow in Furness
40131 1100 Barrow in Furness – Preston
That’ll do very nicely thank you. Now, time to report back to work:
87020 1242 Preston – Warrington Bank Quay
40106 1343 Warrington Bank Quay – Manchester Victoria

Thursday 18/08/83
Required 37226 was working the Scarborough – Sheffield, so I set off after work to have it out of Scarborough:
45001 1750 York – Scarborough
37226 1910 Scarborough – York
Job done – except that back at York they had turned out 37084 on a Trans Pennine diagram for the run to Scarborough and back. Well, it would be rude not to:
37084 1950 York – Scarborough 13’ -> 8’ late, max 89 mph before Seamer.
37084 2115 Scarborough – York

Monday 18/08/86
37188 0820 Glasgow Queen Street – Oban
37188 1300 Oban – Glasgow Queen Street

(Thursday 17/08/89)
87002 2245 Euston – Preston
Friday 18/08/89
87006 0323 Preston – Crewe
87031 0446 Crewe – Birmingham New Street
All of which was to position myself at Birmingham sufficiently early to cover the Birmingham – Skegness:
20141 + 20023 0719 Birmingham New Street – Leicester
43081 + 43046 0830 Leicester – St Pancras
Then after another late shift at Paddington:
85030 2244 Euston – Preston via Birmingham New Street
Class 85s were the last of the Roarers in regular passenger traffic, and by 1989 were quite rare on passenger, so I was pleased to pick up this example.
(Saturday 19/08/89)
86103 0300 Preston – Crewe (2355 Glasgow Central – Euston relief)

Thursday 18/08/92
Returning from a family holiday to the Isle of Man:
DMU Heysham – Lancaster
86259 1345 Lancaster – Birmingham New Street
47829 1606 Birmingham New Street – Reading
This was the through Edinburgh – Brighton Cross Country service, so minimizing the hassle with the family and luggage.

 

[D6130]

MONDAY 18th AUGUST 1975:

The beginning of a hectic two week holiday staying with my grandparents near Stockton, taking in the Stockton & Darlington 150th Anniversary cavalcade at Shildon, various associated railtours, a week's Yorkshire Ranger ticket (mainly track-bashing in DMUs, but some haulage) and culminating in a visit to Derby Works open day.

6052 Petersfield-Waterloo (a class 414/2-HAP unit most unusually flying solo on a peak shoulder Portsmouth Harbour-Waterloo semi-fast....very cosy!)
S59 Waterloo-Bank (I was trying to clear all the Waterloo & City cars for sight and haulage)
55 012 "Crepello" 12 00 Kings Cross-Darlington (I splashed-out for a very enjoyable lunch in the restaurant car to celebrate having left school in July!)
E50610/56201 Darlington-Stockton

Unfortunately, time and patience prevent me from listing the many locos seen en route, but a few highlights include:

Ex-works 50 003 at Doncaster.

Steam 41241 at York (en route from the K&WVR to the Shildon cavalcade).

Steam: LMS 8233 (now 48773), Caledonian 419, LMR 600 "Gordon", LNER 246 "Morayshire" and LNER 4771 "Green Arrow", stabled at Allens West MOD Depot sidings in preparation for the Shildon Cavalcade.

 

[xotGD]

18th August 1984

Summer Saturday Syphonfest:

37272 Newcastle - Darlo 1E28
37070 Darlo - Durham 1N13
37272 Darlo - Durham 1S51
37006 Durham - Newcastle 1E33

272 was another of those that was massive at the time, but had an ETH box fitted and became 37431. And here is 006 earlier in its journey:

37006 possibly on 1E33 0910 Paignton - Newcastle of Saturday August 18th 1984. (rrpicturearchives.net)

18th August 1986

Returning home from our mini-break in Keswick:

86230 Penrith - Carlisle 1P63

18th August 1990

Another day using the West Mids travelcard:

90043, 86439, 90035, 87030, 87005, 47845, 87026 and 87010 provided the haulage.

 

[MDB1images]

TUE 18TH AUG 87
47231 08:49 Bolton-Manchester Victoria(07:47 Blackpool N-Manchester Victoria 1J18)

31203 09:40 Manchester Victoria-Blackpool N(07:18 Nottingham-Blackpool N 1M22)

31203 11:20 Blackpool N-Preston(11:20 Blackpool N-Nottingham 1M51)

86409 12:57 Preston-Carlisle

47441 14:30 Carlisle-Dumfries

47478 15:34 Dumfries-Carlisle

86414 17:28 Carlisle-Preston

31126 19:06 Preston-Blackpool N(15:44 Nottingham-Blackpool N 1M26)

31126 19:44 Blackpool N-Preston(19:44 Blackpool N-Nottingham 1M54)

47286 22:19 Preston-Bolton(Glasgow Central-Manchester Victoria 1M40

Others noted….
47231 2P62 19:30 Manchester Victoria-Blackpool N
47411 Newcastle-Liverpool LST(09:30 ex Man Vic)
47421 09:03 Liverpool LST-Newcastle
47489 1M12 Harwich PQ-Blackpool N
47602 Workington-Huddersfield TPO.

Another brilliant day for Non Heat winners for haulage, 31203 was much sought after on the AM Notts-Blackpool followed by 31126 on the PM Notts-Blackpool, 47286 on 1M40 was a good way to round the day off.
No winners for sight today(those Heaton 143’s must have been drying up!)

WED 19TH AUG 87
47231 08:49 Bolton-Manchester Victoria(07:47 Blackpool N-Manchester Victoria 1J18)
47539 10:25 Manchester Victoria-Preston
86405 11:16 Preston-Carlisle
47503 13:52 Carlisle-Annan(13:52 Carlisle-Glasgow Central 1S37)
47480 14:49 Annan-Dumfries
47467 15:34 Dumfries-Carlisle
86418 17:28 Carlisle-Preston
47436 20:10 Preston-Bolton(Edinburgh-Manchester Victoria 1J27)

Others seen….
47231 2P62 19:30 Manchester Victoria-Blackpool N
47406 Newcastle-Liverpool LST(09:30 ex Man Vic)
47418 09:03 Liverpool LST-Newcastle
47436 1M26 15:44 Nottingham-Blackpool N
47478 16:15 Carlisle-Leeds
47488 1M12 Harwich PQ-Blackpool N
47639 1M22 07:18 Nottingham-Blackpool N
47648 1M87 15:50 Glasgow Central-Manchester Victoria

Haulage wise a quiet day, 47467 was a nice Inverness ETH Class 47 to scratch in on the G&S, but today it looks like every depot had enough ETH loco’s today.
Sight wise just MK3 Sleeper 10570 at Preston on the empties to form the Barrow sleeper kept the scorer awake.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Friday 19th August 1983

After a packed week mainly split between moves out of Inverness and Glasgow QS with a couple of flurries around Edinburgh, the final day of my Freedom of Scotland arrived.

Good to start with a required Syphon after a week on the WHL...

37188 Glasgow QS to Tyndrum Upper, 1B07 06.00 Glasgow to Mallaig
37026 Tyndrum Lower to Arrochar, 1T16 07.40 Oban to Glasgow QS
37085 Arrochar to Crianlarich, 1B08 08.04 Glasgow QS to Oban
37027 Crianlarich to Bridge of Orchy, 1B10 08.34 Glasgow to Mallaig
37022 Bridge of Orchy to Dumbarton C, 1T24 09.19 Mallaig to Glasgow
37026 Dumbarton C to Arrochar, 1B11 12.55 Glasgow to Oban
37085 Arrochar to Glasgow QS, 1T32 12.25 Oban to Glasgow

Walk across the city and my only visit to Glasgow Central in the whole week, but not a bad move...

37090 (required) Glasgow C to Carlisle (via Dumfries), 1M89 15.50 service
87007 Carlisle to Preston, 1M52 17.10 Glasgow to Euston
87029 Preston to WBQ, 1M47 17.20 Glasgow to Birmingham NS

Monday 19th August 1985

Day 1 of Interrail with girlfriend. I had done one alone the previous year, but the less said about that the better.

I have the little brown card from the 1985 version, purchased according to the stamp on the back on 12 Aug 1985 from Warrington Bank Quay BR LMR for the princely sum of £119.

50039 (required) Slough to Paddington, 1F07 07.32 Newbury to Paddington
EMU Victoria to Folkestone Harbour, 09.45 Boat Train
Ferry Folkestone to Boulogne
SNCF train Boulogne to Paris Nord

Monday 19th August 1991

Presumably a work training course...

47848 Oxford to Reading
47834 Reading to Oxford

Yawn.

 

[CW2]

Tuesday 19/08/80
It’s make-your-mind-up time. Was I going to carry on studying music at City University, or did I want to drop that and try for a job on the railways. I had to go home to York to chat with my sister and pick up some paperwork, so for once my trip down the ECML was purely from necessity:
47544 2015 Kings Cross – York
So if that was the better option, I wonder what hideous device was on the 2000 Aberdeen?!

Sunday 19/08/84
Returning home from a Continental bash:
68009 (MLV) + 1595 + 1526 + 1518 0540 Folkestone Harbour – Victoria
43074 + 43053 0845 Kings Cross – York

Monday 19/08/85
37090 1105 Glasgow Queen Street – Perth
47706 1224 Perth - Dundee
The idea in coming to Dundee was to cover the Edinburgh stoppers, for a little run with 27s. Instead I found the 1115 ex Edinburgh had collapsed at Leuchars. It arrived 60 minutes late with the Dundee station pilot 27045 hauling dead 47701. The 27 was restricted Air Only (i.e. it could not work a Vacuum Braked train on its own), so required 37288 dropped on the other end to work back to Edinburgh. Result! (37288 later re-emerged as 37427, off which I had many, many trips).
37288 1330 Dundee – Edinburgh
There was further entertainment in store at Edinburgh:
37036 1610 Edinburgh – Carstairs
So all I had to do now was hope the pair of 25s produced on the relief from Exeter:
25296 + 25286 1813 Carstairs – Edinburgh
DMU Edinburgh – Stirling

Friday 19/08/88
An after-work overnight move to Plymouth to visit my parents:
47591 2243 Crewe – Liverpool Lime Street
86433 2340 Liverpool Lime Street – Birmingham New Street
(Saturday 20/08/88)
I snoozed to New Street, alighting there to choose a suitable train towards Cornwall with good dossing potential. My opportunity arose when the 2110 Newcastle – Penzance produced a Goyle, and a nice empty FK:
31438 0206 Birmingham New Street – Bristol Temple Meads
47559 0410 Bristol Temple Meads – Plymouth

Friday 19/08/94
90007 1920 Euston – Milton Keynes Central
90014 2022 Milton Keynes Central – Birmingham International
37425 2152 Birmingham International – Holyhead

 

[D6130]

TUESDAY 19th AUGUST 1975:

A local DMU runabout (Tees Day Ranger?) to see the pre-cavalcade exhibition of historic locos in the bay platforms at Darlington - plus other preparations:

E50294/56062 Eaglescliffe-Darlington (while awaiting this, steam loco 2005 ran through Eaglescliffe en route from the NYMR to Darlington).

Steam locos on display at Darlington: 43106, 1000, 92220 "Evening Star", 75029 "The Green Knight", 4498 "Sir Nigel Gresley", 5690 "Leander",
1306 "Mayflower" and 7808 "Cookham Manor". Among diesel locos seen was now-preserved 40 145 - then still in green livery.

E56056/51216 Darlington-Bishop Auckland

Steam loco 841 "Greene King" was on Darlington Depot and NER 1275 and 1463 were outside North Road station museum.

E51216/56056 Bishop Auckland-Darlington
E50217/56072 Darlington-Saltburn
E50294/56062 Saltburn-Thornaby

Looking back through my notebook, it's amazing how many industrial locos I spotted in the Thornaby-Middlesbrough-Redcar area - some of which were ex-BR class 03s and 04s.


THURSDAY 19th AUGUST 1976:

A day trip from my grandparents' place back to my old haunts in Scotland - starting with an overnight on the 20 00 Kings Cross-Aberdeen, which I had hoped would produce a 40, in the scorching Summer of '76 (by now enjoying BR free passes!):

E51429/56082 Thornaby-Darlington
46 031 Darlington-Edinburgh

(continued tomorrow....)

SATURDAY 19th AUGUST 1978:

A trip to Wolverton Works open day....preceded by a Hastings-Ashford yellow pen bash:

7398/7057 07 39 Petersfield-Waterloo
1016 09 18 Waterloo East-Hastings
1119/1317 10 52 Hastings-Ashford
7160/7154 11 40 Ashford-Charing Cross
Northern Line: Charing Cross-Euston
076 13 05 Euston-Wolverton
084 ???? Wolverton-Euston
Northern Line: Euston-Waterloo
19 20 Waterloo-Petersfield

I have the full list of locos and stock visible at Wolverton Works. If anyone's interested, feel free to message me.

 

[NorthWestRover]

I think I went to Wolverton Works Open Day that year.

 

[xotGD]

19th August 1982

A repeat of two days earlier:

31319 Sunderland - Newcastle 1N04

19th August 1986

47403 Newcastle - Durham 1M73

No idea how I got back!

19th August 1988

Two of us took the last unit to Carlisle ahead of my fourth and final Freedom of Scotland. The primary purpose was to enjoy 37/4s on the West Highland, Far North and Kyle lines while we still had the chance. All will be revealed over the next 7 days...

19th August 1989

31105 Newcastle - Heworth

Another ned-ped leap.

19th August 1990

Nuneaton drags:

86209 New St - Wolves
58013 (+86253) New St - Nuneaton
58013 (+87027) Nuneaton - New St
87027 New St - Wolves
86210 Wolves - New St

 

[xotGD]

TUESDAY 19th AUGUST 1975:

That was quite a line up at Darlington.

Back then, did the train to Bish leave from the now-gone bay platform at the north end of the station?

 

[D6130]

Back then, did the train to Bish leave from the now-gone bay platform at the north end of the station?

To be honest, I can't remember! Darlington was resignalled in 1972 - initially controlled from an NX panel in the former Darlington South box, which was renamed simply "Darlington", before being recontrolled from the new Tyneside SC in 1991. I believe that the North end bay platforms (5 & 6) lasted for a few years longer, so the answer is probably "yes".

 

[NorthWestRover]

To me, these moves in 1982 and 1983 show the silly things we would all do in pursuit of our hobby....

Friday 20th August 1982

Last day of family holiday in Cardiff, travelling back by train the following day to Warrington, so what do I do? I go more than halfway to Warrington and then travel all the way to Plymouth. Mad.

31286 Cardiff C to Bristol TM, 1O67 07.55 Cardiff to Portsmouth
43178/43189 Bristol TM to Birmingham NS, 1E?? 07.05 Plymouth to Leeds
50002 Birmingham NS to Plymouth, 1V76 09.20 Liverpool to Penzance
50032 Plymouth to Bristol TM, 1B59 13.45 Penzance to Bristol
W51362 Bristol TM to Cardiff, 19.30 service.

Over 500 miles, 12 hours.

Fast forward a year...

Saturday 20th August 1983

So, I've spent the past week covering 4454 miles on a Freedom of Scotland, 7 overnights, getting home around 8pm last night. Over half of those 4454 miles were behind Syphons (2263 since you ask), so where am I barely twelve hours after getting back from my Scottish trip?

37082 Manchester Picc to Peterborough, 1E34 08.15 Man Picc to Yarmouth
37173 Peterborough to York, 1N13 09.10 Yarmouth to Newcastle
47549 York to Sheffield, 1V?? 14.28 York to Plymouth
37072 Sheffield to Man Picc, 1M54 13.20 Skegness to Man Picc

All 4 locos required, another 286 Syphon miles. Mad.

Tuesday 20th August 1985

Interrail from Paris Nord to Amsterdam Centraal.

 

[CW2]

Monday 20/08/79
A little pre-work leap:
40026 1105 Manchester Victoria – Chester
40106 1313 Chester – Manchester Victoria

Thursday 20/08/81
86255 1635 Euston – Crewe
This had test coach MENTOR marshalled right behind the loco. I was in the adjacent vehicle – the front passenger coach – and opposite me were the LM Chief Traction Inspector and Chief Passenger Train Inspector (is that a thing?) who were busily keeping a record of the run.
47555 2116 Crewe – Holyhead
When there’s only one train you can take, 47555 appears.

Friday 20/08/82
I had arranged to go to Poland with my mate Ken Howard. He’d been there several times before, and so knew the ropes, whereas for me it was all new. This trip had been planned for the previous Christmas / New Year holiday period, but got postponed due to the imposition of Martial Law, with the rise of Solidarity. Things had settled down a bit, so I was keen to go ahead with the trip. Unfortunately Ken then got caught up in a protracted house removal, so I ended up going alone. The story of that trip is not for this thread, but it certainly started in style:
37087 0905 Liverpool Street – Harwich Parkeston Quay

Saturday 20/08/83
37226 0952 York – Scarborough
This was 55’ late after detaching coaches at both Castleford and York with binding brakes.
37226 1145 Scarborough – York
46011 1301 York – Huddersfield
45108 1430 Huddersfield – Leeds
40122 1600 Leeds – Carlisle
DMU Carlisle – Newcastle
46010 2054 Newcastle – York

Monday 20/08/84
Having recently started work in Glasgow, my home was still in York, and I was living in a bedsit in Hillhead. After a couple of weeks travelling around bits of Eastern Europe with my wife, it was time to head back to work. At least I could make an interesting trip out of the transit:
31436 0804 York – Leeds
47547 0900 Leeds – Carlisle
85039 1205 Carlisle – Glasgow Central

Tuesday 20/08/85
I had stayed overnight at Stirling to cover an ADEX to Aviemore, hoping for a big 37 on it. Sorry, no, 47xxx was the result. Oh well:
47703 0717 Stirling – Edinburgh
27054 0915 Edinburgh – Dundee
27054 1130 Dundee – Edinburgh
At this point I learned that the Glasgow Queen Street guards had decided to “come out in sympathy” with their Glasgow Central colleagues, who were already on strike over the proposed withdrawal of guards from the local electric services (the “Strathclyde Manning Arrangement”). So in order to get to work on time I had to take the rail replacement bus:
Bus Edinburgh – Glasgow Queen Street

Sunday 20/08/89
Once again I’ve got a job in one location and a house somewhere entirely different. In this instance my house and family is in Crewe and my job is in London. Commuting to / from the family home at weekends becomes quite important in these circumstances:
87014 1700 Crewe – Euston

Saturday 20/08/94
37425 0315 Holyhead – Stafford
158 851 Stafford – Crewe
304 037 Crewe – Deansgate
51533 + 51224 Deansgate – Manchester Piccadilly
47786 0820 Manchester Piccadilly – Bradford Forster Square via Guide Bridge, Stalybridge, Leeds
45596 1118 Bradford Forster Square – Carlisle
45596 1650 Carlisle – Bradford Forster Square
Fast Car Bradford Forster Square – Crewe
87002 2359 Crewe – Carstairs
That was the last time I had steam into Bradford. There was another steam tour taking place in Scotland the following day, so the fast drive over the Pennines from Bradford Forster Square to Crewe ensured we made the sleeper in good time.

Friday 20/08/99
43137 + 43002 1940 Reading – Didcot
47488 2009 Didcot – Coventry
86245 2131 Coventry – Birmingham International
87005 2221 Birmingham International – Birmingham New Street
37429 2330 Birmingham New Street – Holyhead
I’m racking my brains as to why I went to Didcot – possibly travelling with a colleague who lived there - and why I alighted at Coventry (possibly to reduce the 47 mileage). Odd.

 

[NorthWestRover]

But not querying why you went to Holyhead at that time?

 

[CW2]

But not querying why you went to Holyhead at that time?

The Holyhead overnight was a 37 powered positioning move, so there is some logic to it. In other words I went to Holyhead because that's where the (37-hauled) train took me
On another level there's a big philosophical question as to why folks like us do any of this stuff, but that's not for this forum.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Fair enough, it was just that you had commented on the dismal nature of Holyhead overnights when doing 40s. But then you chose to do it on a common 37/4. I certainly wasn't criticising!

 

[xotGD]

20th August 1983

A low cost Summer Saturday:

45023 Sunderland - Newcastle 1N35
37173 Durham - Newcastle 1N13 (As had by @NorthWestRover earlier on its journey)
37010 (+47468 + 45065) Durham - Newcastle 1E71

That's right - the Wagon and the Duff had both fagged. A serious load for the Syphon to haul. Here is the cavalcade after arrival into the Toon:

Class37.co.uk

(That isn't me standing on the left!)

20th August 1988

Freedom of Scotland - Day 1

86439 Carlisle - Glasgow C 1S23
37404 Queen St - Tulloch 1Y01
37408 Tulloch - Dumbarton C 1T18
37405 Dumbarton C - Crianlarich 1Y13
37406 Crianlarich - Queen St 1T28
37413 Queen St - Rannoch 1Y23
37409 Rannoch - Queen St 1T46
47469 Queen St - Perth 1L71

Plenty of 37/4 action through West Highland scenery. Lovely stuff. Heading north ready for the next day...

20th August 1989

Readers may recall that I has several journeys attending job interviews earlier in the summer. Well now it was time for me to abandon the loco-hauled moves between Newcastle and Sunderland and head to Brum ready to start work. Of course, doing an HST direct would be silly:

86501 Carlisle - Preston
47489 (+86501) Preston - Warrington BQ
86501 Warrington BQ - Crewe
86431 Crewe - New St

This was the first version of 86501 (86258 in real money) - and I think this was the only time I saw it as such. Did anyone else have a Can for haulage when they were in the 86/5 number sequence?

 

[D6130]

FRIDAY 20th AUGUST 1976:

Having arrived in Edinburgh from Darlington overnight behind 46 031, it was now a case of "Go West young man"!

47 208 04 35 Edinburgh-Glasgow QS via Falkirk High
27 022+27 036 06 00 Glasgow QS-Crianlarich
27 011 09 57 Crianlarich-Oban
27 031 12 25 Oban-Helensburgh Upper
EMU 002 Helensburgh Central-Glasgow QS LL (after a quick rendezvous with a couple of schoolfriends)
27 104+27 203 ?? ?? Glasgow QS-Edinburgh via Falkirk High
47 461 ?? ?? Edinburgh-Darlington
E50139/59083/50144 ?? ?? Darlington-Thornaby

 

[xotGD]

On another level there's a big philosophical question as to why folks like us do any of this stuff, but that's not for this forum.

Hopefully because we enjoy it. When I stopped enjoying it, I stopped doing it. Now I enjoy it again, on my own terms - and if I start to feel angst due to missing out on something, I just try to remind myself that I'm trying to have some fun. There isn't a person in charge keeping score.

 

[CW2]

Hopefully because we enjoy it. When I stopped enjoying it, I stopped doing it. Now I enjoy it again, on my own terms - and if I start to feel angst due to missing out on something, I just try to remind myself that I'm trying to have some fun. There isn't a person in charge keeping score.

Well said.

 

[NorthWestRover]

It's a very personal hobby.