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Carstairs to Edinburgh pre-Electrification

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Whistler40145

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I am pretty new to the Forum

I hope someone out there can answer all or part of my questions?

Did pairs of 26s & 27s or mixed pairings work the Edinburgh portions from Carstairs?

Were Deltics ever used?

Also, did pairs of 20s ever produce during any shortage of motive power?
 
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4SRKT

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It was always duffs when I went on it. It's possible McRats did it in the distant past, but once Mk II aircons became the norm on WCML services, ETH locos were needed, and 47/4s were the boys!
 

rail-britain

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Were Deltics ever used?
Very unlikely, as these would be used on Edinburgh - Aberdeen instead
I would agree Class 20, 26, 27, 37, 40, and 47 would be the most common
As above, once air con coaches became the norm the vast majority were worked by Class 47/4

However even on the visits I made to Carstairs in the 1980s the occasional Class 37 and 47/0 would appear
ETH wasn't a real issue as the journey was typically only 30 minutes
 

DiscoStu

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I used to love those portions.

Most of the time it would be a 47/4 but there were certain trains that would drop whatever was available, eg 26 or 37/0.

The best train for this was 1B29, which left Carstairs at 22:16. It was the portion of the afternoon Brighton - Glasgow/Edinburgh. The loco for this would be whatever had worked the mailtrain from Edinburgh earlier that evening, so you can imagine the wide range of stuff that would turn up on it!

I think the rarest loco I had on this was 37508. It was particularly nice as I'd travelled up on the train from Coventry on the offchance of it dropping something good!! :lol:

I used to love pulling into Carstairs and looking out on the curve to see if I could tell what type of loco was waiting by the layout of it's headlights.

Most people would wait in Edinburgh to see what left on the mailtrain (if a TOPS report was unavailable), and if it was any good, they'd grab the next 47/7 shove-set over to Queen Street, followed by a fast sprint over to Central, for an EMU to somewhere like Wishaw, and then a taxi to Carstairs, followed by an hour or two in the pub down the road! Good times!!:p

Anybody else recall that train?
 

rail-britain

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The best train for this was 1B29, which left Carstairs at 22:16.
sprint over to Central, for an EMU to somewhere like Wishaw, and then a taxi to Carstairs
Sadly I had to leave Carstairs at about 19:00 in order to be back home for 21:00, so that would be well past my bedtime!
However on one occasion the northbound services were "extremely late" so had to use the local phone box to advise my parents that I would be late as I was now in effect stranded at Carstairs, and would phone them again at 21:00 if the train hadn't turned up!
In the end that was what I had to do, so got the local bus to Lanark, but missed the train so got another bus to Hamilton

As for getting to Carstairs
Using a daytripper, I used to travel to Lanark and then get the bus, usually the wait wasn't very long, but as above going the other way the wait at Lanark was nearly 50 minutes, so sometimes had to travel by yet another bus to Hamilton
 

route101

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Yep Carstairs is a Remote place . Not many trains call there.
 

Toad

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You could drop on anything there at times.......

Would strongly disagree it was always 47's.

20, 2x25, 26, 27, 37, 40
 

4SRKT

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You could drop on anything there at times.......

Would strongly disagree it was always 47's.

20, 2x25, 26, 27, 37, 40


Don't think anyone's said it was always duffs.
 

Statto

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I remember up till Privatisation, Glasgow/Edinburgh trains used to split at Carstirs, strange that a remote place should have had regular mainline service, mainly as this is where the line splits with the Edinburgh link going one way & Glasgow the opther , i think all Northbound trains thefront portion was for Glasgow with Edinburgh portion at the rear.
 

AJP62

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Thats right - Glasgow portion could pull away while Edinburgh portion had the diesel attached and waited for access over the southbound line to the Edinbugh route.

Going south the Edinburgh portion would run through the east side of the station and wait alongside the southbound main for the Glasgow portion to arrive then be backed on.

This meant that at the destination the Edinburgh portion was at the wrong end for the next northbound run so the portions would have to be swapped round. The Glasgow portion was typically 7/8 carriages with the catering vehicle whereas the Edinburgh portions were normally 4 carriages.

Even the odd timetabled Edinburgh only train would reverse in Carstairs when they were diesel hauled to Edinburgh, probably because this was handier for the shunters than treking over to the avoiding line.

I do remember using one such train several times one year when on a Scottish railrover. Full Mk1 rake to Manchester and often hauled by a 40. Must have been about 1978.
 

DaveNewcastle

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I remember Carstairs being a very busy station back in the steam days, (but don't recall anything about the locos neither steam nor diesel in later days). There was some non-stop traffic but nearly everything (freight and passenger) stopped and many were involved in complex moves to split or join. Of course sometimes the train wouldn't split but barrow-loads of goods would be transferred between trains during what seemed like quite long waits on the platforms.
. . . . . strange that a remote place should have had regular mainline service, mainly as this is where the line splits with the Edinburgh link going one way & Glasgow the opther . . . . . .
There were even more remote places, one of them was nearby at Riccarton Junction on the Waverley Line. That was an inverted 'Y' from Edinburgh in the north, and branching south to either Carlisle or Hexham. There was nothing there before the railway, which led to a small village developing, and when the railway left, the village was abandoned and left to crumble.
 

4SRKT

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Even the odd timetabled Edinburgh only train would reverse in Carstairs when they were diesel hauled to Edinburgh, probably because this was handier for the shunters than treking over to the avoiding line.

Also because it's easier to drop the diesel on the back rather than having to uncouple and move the electric loco first before putting the diesel on.
 

route101

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Theres a Edinburgh to Carstairs TPE 185 in the evening which connects onto the last southbound VT .
 

Moog_1984

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In the early 80s most of the "portions" were mark one or IIa-c mark twos, air braked, and being non coffin ( no Aircon) in the summer timetable ANYTHING could work them. Duffs were booked most likely, but were too busy breaking down on longer services on ECML, Highland line and replacing shove duffs as they were always getting fixed too.

It would not have been booked 26xxx or 27xxx Mac Rattlers because not all were air braked, but given trains like the bathgate car flats fed locos to carstairs, any "x.." dual braked loco could drop:

40s were more common on the Perth motorail and addexes via Cumbernauld / Larbert but I had a couple on the portion too ( 40047 rings a bell and a 15x while my book is hidden)

The most entertaining were pairs of 20s from the bathgate flats who would chop merrily away to the "'bra'

In 84 it went completely mad, with forties released from most "booked" diagrams they had before, and the miners strike releasing everything from 20s, 26s, Monstorously huge 37s and 47-3s, the latter of which created a lot of flapping in july 84 when they regularily went flat for batteries, completely withering duff bashers while we flailed behinds some humungous 37 nb!

There were loads of summer addexes too, and with Roarers breaking down pretty much all the time on the WCML, Carstairs in its weird middle of nowhere location, became a Mecca!

At one point there was probably more bashers than patients at the loony bin any saturday at 11:30!!
 

Whistler40145

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Were Classes 82, 83 & 84 regular or rare locos north of Carlisle?

Also, did Deltics & Peaks drop onto the Edinburgh portions?
 

Moog_1984

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You could tell them apart?

;)

I think the BR staff prefered the ones safely over the barbed wire....
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Were Classes 82, 83 & 84 regular or rare locos north of Carlisle?

Also, did Deltics & Peaks drop onto the Edinburgh portions?

Deltics were pretty much well booked up or covering their own sisters on ECML services. They did though work diversions via the WCML.

I wonder if the line was rated RA7? Peaks and whistlers were banned from Glasgow central due to dammage and derailments on the complex points on the approach. So they became very rare NW of the border. Carstairs locos were usually rostered from Motherwell or came off the Bathgate flats, but a peak could have worked a diagram from Waverley with a sensible return tour not "stranding" it there.
 

peteb

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I travelled on a BR Merrymaker Excursion from Birmingham New Street dep 0728 to Edinburgh arr 1222 on 7th April 1980. A Class 81 was used up to Carstairs. I do not have a record of what took us to Edinburgh, but I do have a record that the loco taking us back from Edinburgh dep 1755 was a Deltic. Somewhere I have the time log and a photo which I will try to dig out. The deltic was not really allowed to stretch its legs on the run back to Carstairs, although I recall it was a beautiful spring evening. The highlight of the trip being that Deltic and the fact that we were in an elderly 90mph Mk 1 FK which rode incredibly lively over Beattock and Shap with the 81 pulling us at 100mph! Happy days.
 

Moog_1984

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Well worth digging those photos out!!

Deltics were doing a fair few railtours in 1980. Oban amongst others, which was not officially booked a deltic, it just was the only ETH RA5 loco available at Haymarket!! Wink ;)

Nostalgia forums seem to have died a death unfortunetly- great for rare workings with confirming photos ( like 56s and 58s being rejected on the Hunterston trains !! )

Boo: did you ever bash with Fred the SKinhead?
 

The Big Boo

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Well worth digging those photos out!!

Deltics were doing a fair few railtours in 1980. Oban amongst others, which was not officially booked a deltic, it just was the only ETH RA5 loco available at Haymarket!! Wink ;)

Nostalgia forums seem to have died a death unfortunetly- great for rare workings with confirming photos ( like 56s and 58s being rejected on the Hunterston trains !! )

Boo: did you ever bash with Fred the SKinhead?

Mr Lowe- oh yes!
 
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