@NorthWestRover might recognise one of the moves:
Monday 30/07/79
I worked early shift in the station buffet at Manchester Victoria, then came out for an afternoon bash. Today was a day of connections …
40149 1530 Manchester Victoria – Liverpool Lime Street (1217 ex Newcastle)
This was 10 minutes late arriving, and dropped to 20 minutes late by Liverpool.
EMU + DMU via Rock Ferry to Chester for
40156 1853 Chester – Crewe, making a -2 connection into
47442 1918 Crewe – Chester
40055 2005 Chester – Crewe
This was 45 minutes late, regained 5 minutes en route.
86039 2117 Crewe – Preston
To cap it all, this was over 30 minutes late into Preston, so all connections and last trains to all points of the compass were lost. I was put onto:
DMU (ECS) 23:20 Preston – Manchester Victoria
Well past midnight by the time I got back to my bedsit. Up early for another early shift to start it all over again tomorrow …
Wednesday 30/07/80
In the evening I would sometimes stroll into Kings Cross in the hope there might be a class 40 on one of the Peterborough commuter trains. Failing that, over to Euston for a run with a Roarer on one of the Northampton commuter services (“The Master Cobblers”).
85037 1723 Euston – Bletchley
86207 1806 Bletchley – Euston
Then back to Kings Cross to see if matters have improved:
55009 2015 Kings Cross – York
This was 53’ late into York, after running at 20 mph from Retford to Doncaster, suspected hot box (false alarm).
(Thursday 31/07/80)
At York, I watched the comings and goings, waiting for a suitable locomotive to take me back south:
55006 0229 York – Kings Cross … and back to work.
Friday 30/07/82
87022 1545 Euston – Crewe
This was routed Down Fast – Low Level – Down Fast at Willesden to get around 86249 which had failed on the 1540 Euston – Shrewsbury.
DMU Crewe – Chester
47474 1853 Chester – Rhyl
40056 1941 Rhyl – Chester
40008 2058 Chester – Manchester Victoria
40124 2240 Manchester Victoria – Bangor
Sadly that was as far as I could take 40124, as I was back at work in Euston in the morning …
Saturday 30/07/83
I had made a long and unpleasantly Sulzery trip all the way to Holyhead to cover the 0125 Holyhead – Birmingham, which was diagrammed for a class 40. Would it produce?
40063 0125 Holyhead – Crewe
EMU Crewe – Manchester Piccadilly
40194 0804 Manchester Piccadilly – Skegness, via Romiley, New Mills, Sheffield, Retford, Lincoln Central
40194 1320 Skegness – Manchester Piccadilly
DMU Manchester Piccadilly – Sheffield, Sheffield – Worksop
40172 1931 Worksop – Manchester Piccadilly
EMU Manchester Piccadilly – Crewe
40080 (+86218 dead) 2354 Crewe – Preston (via main line)
Quite a high mileage day, with track spanning all the way from Holyhead to Skegness, and some decent mileage off a couple of NB 40s too.
Monday 30/07/84
Required 37117 is working the 1610 Edinburgh – Carstairs, which then goes on to work the daytime Kensington – Stirling motorail forward from Carstairs, so there’s no chance of picking it up later. I have to rely on getting it first time:
47704 1530 Glasgow Queen Street – Haymarket
37117 1613 Haymarket – Carstairs
Result! Better still, I got chatting with the guard, and was invited to join him for a run to Stirling on the motorail. That involved clambering aboard middle road at Carstairs, which would be frowned upon nowadays.
37117 17xx Carstairs – Stirling
47546 1919 Stirling – Glasgow Queen Street
Tuesday 30/07/85
Time for a day on the Southern:
86252 0344 Crewe – Euston
EMU Victoria – East Croydon
33024 0726 East Croydon – East Grinstead
33024 0826 East Grinstead – London Bridge
EMU London Bridge – Waterloo East
73123 0940 Waterloo – Basingstoke
This was the boat train to Weymouth Quay. I’d never had a train to Weymouth Quay, and despite being sat on this one I decided I had other priorities, and put it off for another day. I never did do the track to Weymouth Quay. Sometimes I just get it wrong …
33109 1124 Basingstoke – Reading
47068 1154 Reading – Guildford (0645 York – Portsmouth Harbour)
DMU Guildford – Gatwick Airport
I had a specific train I needed to cover from Dover Western Docks, but I had a little time on the Gatwicks first:
73127 1335 Gatwick Airport – Victoria
73122 1415 Victoria – Gatwick Airport
73117 1450 Gatwick Airport – Victoria
EMU Victoria – Dover Western Docks
47019 1800 Dover Western Docks – Mitre Bridge via Ashford, Hither Green, Lewisham, Factory Jn.
“Eurochildren” charter, conveying 580 Irish children back from France to Ireland via Stranraer. My interest lay mainly in the loco allocated to work it forward from Carlisle, although 47019 was also a disappointment (even though it was required) as the previous time this train ran it had been a pair of 33s out of Dover. I was welcomed on board at Dover (railwayman returning home to Scotland…)
86256 2003 Mitre Bridge – Carlisle
Saturday 30/07/88
47438 1000 Crewe – Shrewsbury
37278 + 37185 1048 Shrewsbury – Welshpool
37684 + 37682 1155 Welshpool – Shrewsbury
DMU Shrewsbury – Crewe
Friday 30/07/93
An after-work leap …
91016 1620 Kings Cross – Grantham
DMU Grantham – Boston
20132 + 20087 1845 Boston – Nottingham
DMU Nottingham – Birmingham New Street, EMU New Street – International
37421 2152 Birmingham International – Holyhead
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