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Hydraulics Up North

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neilmc

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I went to Birmingham area in 1969 and saw three hydraulics, one Warship, one Western and a Hymek. These were the first three hydraulics I had even seen (if you discount the D9500 series which had a short life at Hull Dairycoates!). I understand hydraulics were not unknown at Crewe though I never saw one there.

So did main line hydraulic classes ever get further North on regular service - Leeds, York, Manchester or the WCML for example?
 
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Oswyntail

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Not regularly(as in rostered), but Modern Railways contained frequent reports of hydraulics at York
 

Chester025

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D1013 worked the 0730 Swansea - Leeds and 1443 Leeds - Plymouth on 20th January 1977. A very rare working just a month before they were all withdrawn off the mainline. There have also been a number of charter workings with Westerns in BR days and with D1015 in pres.
 

12CSVT

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All the class 43 Warships (D833 to D865) would have travelled south from Glasgow between 1960 and 1962, as they were built by North British.

When they were in service, the Warships were sometimes diagrammed to work to Crewe
 

neilmc

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D1013 worked the 0730 Swansea - Leeds and 1443 Leeds - Plymouth on 20th January 1977. A very rare working just a month before they were all withdrawn off the mainline. There have also been a number of charter workings with Westerns in BR days and with D1015 in pres.

Thank you, I did hear a rumour of such a working although by 1977 I'd given up number collecting.

In 1967-69 we used to congregate at Leeds City in the evening and live in hope of a Western turning up on the Cardiff train, though none ever did. But it was often a "namer" from the D1660-77 batch of class 47s.
 

neilmc

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Just wondering about the logistics of getting a Western from Swansea to Leeds. Presumably there would have been a crew change at Birmingham, and in normal circmstances a loco change expected as you wouldn't expect a Birmingham driver (Saltley??) to be trained on a hydraulic. Did someone plan this just for the fun of it?

I bet it was also quite interesting when it turned up for refuelling at Holbeck.
 

Rugd1022

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Just wondering about the logistics of getting a Western from Swansea to Leeds. Presumably there would have been a crew change at Birmingham, and in normal circmstances a loco change expected as you wouldn't expect a Birmingham driver (Saltley??) to be trained on a hydraulic. Did someone plan this just for the fun of it?

I bet it was also quite interesting when it turned up for refuelling at Holbeck.

If I recall correctly, the Gloucester crew worked it all the way to Leeds with a Saltley Driver conducting them onwards from New St. Saltley men were not trained on the hydraulics.

;)
 

curly42

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It was definitely a Gloucester driver and secondman,but for the life of me I can't remember their names. If I think of it I'll ask if anyone remembers the next time the "retired section" meet up for drinks.
 

Moog_1984

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All the class 43 Warships (D833 to D865) would have travelled south from Glasgow between 1960 and 1962, as they were built by North British.

When they were in service, the Warships were sometimes diagrammed to work to Crewe

Some of the 42s were also built at NBL.

The final test train for them was up to Perth - there was an image on the electric internet of a cl42 at Strathblane.

So that would be the most northerly in prefudge / tour days!

D:H locos were trialled on the Bergensbane in Norway but DE had better tractive effort and the Di3s worked the route admirably apparently until wires went up.

The Russians had some DH classes which no doubt went north of this.
 

Rugd1022

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Some of the 42s were also built at NBL.

The final test train for them was up to Perth - there was an image on the electric internet of a cl42 at Strathblane.

So that would be the most northerly in prefudge / tour days!

D:H locos were trialled on the Bergensbane in Norway but DE had better tractive effort and the Di3s worked the route admirably apparently until wires went up.

The Russians had some DH classes which no doubt went north of this.

None of the 42s were built at NBL, they were all built at Swindon ;)
 

matchmaker

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Some of the 42s were also built at NBL.

The final test train for them was up to Perth - there was an image on the electric internet of a cl42 at Strathblane.

So that would be the most northerly in prefudge / tour days!

Unlikely - that line closed in 1959!
 

Moog_1984

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None of the 42s were built at NBL, they were all built at Swindon ;)

Sorry, some of these BoBo warships were built in Glasgow and tested on the Perth test train. Class 41s also would have gone at least to Perth. A safe shift for a driver and inspector team to get back to Glasgow for their tea.

Unlikely - that line closed in 1959!

Dunblane in Strathallan I should have said - there is a pic' of a warship at pretty good speed just north near the next level crossing IIRC.

So apart from those abroad, this is the most northerly operation/pre-operational working.

NBL just did not get with the plan of making quality diesel and AC locos, having made good qaulity steam mainly for export.

Really the UK government should have allowed directly imported engines (power units that is ;)) and more transmissions from Germany.
 

Rugd1022

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Sorry, some of these BoBo warships were built in Glasgow and tested on the Perth test train. Class 41s also would have gone at least to Perth. A safe shift for a driver and inspector team to get back to Glasgow for their tea.



Dunblane in Strathallan I should have said - there is a pic' of a warship at pretty good speed just north near the next level crossing IIRC.

So apart from those abroad, this is the most northerly operation/pre-operational working.

NBL just did not get with the plan of making quality diesel and AC locos, having made good qaulity steam mainly for export.

Really the UK government should have allowed directly imported engines (power units that is ;)) and more transmissions from Germany.

The only B-B Warships built in Glasgow were the Class 43s, D833-D865. The Class 42s D800-D832 and D866-D870 were all built at Swindon.
 

Moog_1984

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The only B-B Warships built in Glasgow were the Class 43s, D833-D865. The Class 42s D800-D832 and D866-D870 were all built at Swindon.


Which is a little academic since TOPS came in in 1973 and D833-865 were all withdrawn.....they were bo bo warships with different gubbins (MAN/VOITH)

........cut up despite actually attaining better availability and MPC than duffs and erm Westerns :oops: in the mid - late 60s once the NBL faults were rectified.
 

Rugd1022

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Which is a little academic since TOPS came in in 1973 and D833-865 were all withdrawn.....they were bo bo warships with different gubbins (MAN/VOITH)

........cut up despite actually attaining better availability and MPC than duffs and erm Westerns :oops: in the mid - late 60s once the NBL faults were rectified.

I know, but my point was that not all of the Warships were built at the same place, ie: NBL at Glasgow ;). Originally, the two different types were supposed to have the ability to swap engines and transmissions between them but this didn't transpire, as the engine mounts were different for starters.

The 'Class 42 / 43' designation actually came in on paper in the Spring of 1968, although as you say 'Tops' didn't come into operation full stream until 1972 / 73 (some locos were renumbered in 1972, including some of the AC electrics). From Spring '68 onwards, as the Warships passed through Swindon for overhaul and a repaint, 'Tops' style data panels were applied to the body sides near the cab doors which bore the Class 42 / Class 43 designation at the top, although not all 71 locos received them.

;)
 

Driver Bob

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Certainly Warships and possibly also Westerns used to work passenger services to Crewe via the Marches line, Newport, Hereford, Shrewsbury to Crewe in the 60's and 70's.

As a young Western Region gricer in the late 60's on my first visit to Crewe by train to see Midland engines, the first loco I saw there, in Basford Hall yard, was a Western! Hilarious! :roll:

Bob.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Somewhere recently I saw a photo of a Western at Chester, and was reminded that in the 60's, Westerns used to work from Paddington through to Birkenhead via Wolverhampton Low Level and Chester.

Bob.
 
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Certainly Warships and possibly also Westerns used to work passenger services to Crewe via the Marches line, Newport, Hereford, Shrewsbury to Crewe in the 60's and 70's.

As a young Western Region gricer in the late 60's on my first visit to Crewe by train to see Midland engines, the first loco I saw there, in Basford Hall yard, was a Western! Hilarious! :roll:

Bob.

I had the same experience to you in reverse. I went to Dawlish with my parents on holiday in 1968 and virtually the first loco I saw was D14 which I had seen in Nottingham the week before, and on a regular basis prior to that.

Not very far north I know, but I have read in a 1960s magazine of a Hymek turning up at Colwick on a freight from the Banbury area.
 

Bevan Price

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Certainly Warships and possibly also Westerns used to work passenger services to Crewe via the Marches line, Newport, Hereford, Shrewsbury to Crewe in the 60's and 70's.

As a young Western Region gricer in the late 60's on my first visit to Crewe by train to see Midland engines, the first loco I saw there, in Basford Hall yard, was a Western! Hilarious! :roll:

Bob.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Somewhere recently I saw a photo of a Western at Chester, and was reminded that in the 60's, Westerns used to work from Paddington through to Birkenhead via Wolverhampton Low Level and Chester.

Bob.

The Westerns worked as far as Chester, but trains reversed and got a different loco between Chester & Birkenhead - usually steam, but Classes 40 & 24 were also used occasionally. I don't know of any hydraulic reaching Birkenhead on a normal passenger service. Until the mid-1960's, there used to be an overnight freight between Old Oak & Birkenhead, and that is the most likely working on which a hydraulic might possibly have been used.

Some Westerns were built at Crewe, so probably had running-in trips in the area - most likely on the Shrewsbury line, but a very reliable source told me he saw one near Edge Hill (Liverpool) once.
 

Spam Can

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Dont still have the identities but there were definately 2 Hymeks on Blackpool Central shed (awaitng return journeys on summer specials) July/August 1964.
 

lord rathmore

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I never saw a Western or a Warship in Manchester but I remember seeing several Westerns (including D1005 I think) brand new at Chester in 1962.
I also saw a couple of Warships at Crewe but I can't recall ever seeing a Western there.
 

Moog_1984

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Blackpool is an interesting one: Brum drivers from Kiddieminster ?

York is North of there and also it was normal service trains that the odd western got through the net on.

But the warships produced at NBL in glasgow got at least to Perth, probably dundee too.

I'd like to hear a flight of fancy that one, like the mirrlees engined goil, got up into the highlands on a test/demonstrator train.
 

Zerothebrake!

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Howdy,I can't recall the secondman's name but I think it was Reg Ireland of Gloucester depot who drove D1013 to Leeds on 20/01/77...he was a real gentleman and a pleasure to work with.BH.
 
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I went to Birmingham area in 1969 and saw three hydraulics, one Warship, one Western and a Hymek. These were the first three hydraulics I had even seen (if you discount the D9500 series which had a short life at Hull Dairycoates!). I understand hydraulics were not unknown at Crewe though I never saw one there.

So did main line hydraulic classes ever get further North on regular service - Leeds, York, Manchester or the WCML for example?

I once saw an unidentified Warship at Chesterfield. It must have been 1971/2? Memory is a little hazy on this point. I knew it was a Warship because of the distinctive shape. May well have been an enthusaiasts special?
 

caliwag

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Interesting...I spotted regularly in Perth from 1960-1963/4 and I recall no mention of such movements. We did get 'foreigners' on the express freights from Glasgow and Dumfries...notably Metrovicks, LM 24s, Patriots, Jublilees, class 5s and Scots from sheds well South of Upperby...I guess on lay-overs from Anglo-Scottish expresses to Glasgow. The one we always hung about for into the late evening was the Heilan Piper (the Polmadie) and Galloway Piper (I guess the Corkerhill!). I would have thought that these would have been the obvious choice for trialling hydraulics.

The guys at Bonybridge (just South of larbert on the main line) reported regularly all the oddities North of Glasgow (in Trains Illustrated of the period) and there's no mention there either (could all have happened at the dead of night of course).

The other excellent source of unusual movements is the Railway Observer (loads of back issues at the Vintage carriage Trust at Ingrow).

Interestingly, just checked a September TI...quote...'while ex-LNW 0-8-0 49104 (Preston) was a remarkable guest of Polmadie on July 29 (61)! Remarkable indeed, now imagine if that had worked to Perth on the Heilan Piper!
 

theblackwatch

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Not very far north I know, but I have read in a 1960s magazine of a Hymek turning up at Colwick on a freight from the Banbury area.

A friend of mine (who has now passed away) had a Hymek for haulage late one night from Leicester Central to Swindon - presumably via the GC to Banbury - in the 1960s. Oh for a tardis...
 

Rugd1022

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A friend of mine (who has now passed away) had a Hymek for haulage late one night from Leicester Central to Swindon - presumably via the GC to Banbury - in the 1960s. Oh for a tardis...

That would have been the return working of a regular Hymek job onto the Great Central.... apparently they used to wake up the residents of nearby Abbey Street in Rugby when they crossed the WCML on the birdcage bridge and accelerated into the cutting just south of there!
 

caliwag

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Dont still have the identities but there were definately 2 Hymeks on Blackpool Central shed (awaitng return journeys on summer specials) July/August 1964.

No mention in 'Motive Power Miscellany', Modern railways. Try Railway Observer which covered odd movements more thoroughly! I was there for a week in August and have a log, but no Hymeks!
 

12CSVT

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A friend of mine (who has now passed away) had a Hymek for haulage late one night from Leicester Central to Swindon - presumably via the GC to Banbury - in the 1960s. Oh for a tardis...

Possibly the overnight York - Swindon, which was booked for a Hymek as far as Leicester. The Hymek would have worked up to Leicester on a Swindon - York service.
 

Johnuk123

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The Westerns worked as far as Chester, but trains reversed and got a different loco between Chester & Birkenhead - usually steam, but Classes 40 & 24 were also used occasionally. I don't know of any hydraulic reaching Birkenhead on a normal passenger service. Until the mid-1960's, there used to be an overnight freight between Old Oak & Birkenhead, and that is the most likely working on which a hydraulic might possibly have been used.

Some Westerns were built at Crewe, so probably had running-in trips in the area - most likely on the Shrewsbury line, but a very reliable source told me he saw one near Edge Hill (Liverpool) once.

I used to see Westerns at Wolves Low Level on the Birkenhead trains, I assumed they went straight through to Birkenhead.

I can remember seeing Western Enterprise in it's desert sand livery and telling everybody at school it was unique.

Then a few days later I saw Western Champion which although slightly darker was a similar colour.

In fact with the maroon ones, the green and the later blue they went through a few colour changes.
 
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