Reminiscences

[Johnuk123]

That's amazing, Johnuk123! I was only five! Forgive me, but how do you know?

I have an interest in railway accidents, with a bit of research I located yours but can't find any more details.

 

[L&Y Robert]

My schooldays were at the Grammar School in Burnley in the 50's. The main school was just a little too small for all of us, and some classes were held in an annexe a quarter of a mile away in the Ebeneezer Methodist School, Colne Road. If we had to be "Up at Ebo" first thing in the afternoon, we had to find our own way up there, and on those occasions the loco-spotters in the class got a chance to detour past "Bank Top" (Central) station, to spot what was on "The London" that day, due out of Burnley about 13-25. (In those days there was a daily service from the valley towns (starting at Colne) to London Euston). Sometimes it would be "a namer", but not often. I myself wasn't a loco-spotter, but on one occasion the lads had for some reason gone early up to Ebo (game of footer in the yard, probably), and had persuaded me to "see what's on The London for us, will yer?" So I dutifully went down past the station (there used to be an iron footbridge over the coal sidings just there) and "copped" the usual 4-6-0 for them, on this day number 44950. In that curious way that memory has, I have remembered that number from that day to this. So, some weeks ago, I was surprised, pleased, and not a little nostalgic to find dear old 44950 featuring live, albeit briefly, on a short video in the Silent Cine series, posted on U-Tube "Last BR Steam 1968". The film is shot at Lostock Hall, the engine moving some wagons and slipping fairish whilst doing it. I was so, - well - /moved /to find this that I immediately E-mailed my son to tell him about it, and the story has passed into our family folk-lore. SoWHAT A JOLT it was recently whilst browsing through the pictures of David Sallery tofind the very same engine AGAIN, nicely photographed and twice! I E-mailed the this little story to him, and received a reply.

 

[DiscoStu]

The MKI buffet on the cross country trains that sold the Cross Country Grills - those plastic orange seats were great

Used to love hammering over Shap in a rattling MKI eating their amazing all day breakfast, before heading back to my seat in time to see whether a 26 would take the back portion round to Edinburgh

 

[47403]

The MKI buffet on the cross country trains that sold the Cross Country Grills - those plastic orange seats were great

Used to love hammering over Shap in a rattling MKI eating their amazing all day breakfast, before heading back to my seat in time to see whether a 26 would take the back portion round to Edinburgh

My mate and his dad used to do that move from time to time when they visited his family in Stirling, his Dad wasn't fussed he'd quite happily take the tram(HST) to Edinburgh, get the push pull 47's to Glasgow, to connect with whatever was loco hauled to Stirling. My mate however had other ideas and his Dad demneted, he'd insist on the loco hauled to Carlisle, then it was either that move, you recalled stu, however that went out the window if the Carlisle-Glasgow Queen St was a 26 or 27, they'd go that way. He had a multitude of traction on that back portion to Edinburgh though, was one where absoloutely anything could be attached. The jammy sod was coming back from Stirling one day, jumped aboard the Queen St-Carlisle behind a 27, which ran into difficulties and it was changed for pair of 20's at Ayr.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

The MKI buffet on the cross country trains that sold the Cross Country Grills - those plastic orange seats were great

Used to love hammering over Shap in a rattling MKI eating their amazing all day breakfast, before heading back to my seat in time to see whether a 26 would take the back portion round to Edinburgh

mmm - never had that pleasure , I always seemed to get a 47 or 40 on the back portion. A 26 would have been wonderful (or 27 for that matter)

 

[DiscoStu]

My mate and his dad used to do that move from time to time when they visited his family in Stirling, his Dad wasn't fussed he'd quite happily take the tram(HST) to Edinburgh, get the push pull 47's to Glasgow, to connect with whatever was loco hauled to Stirling. My mate however had other ideas and his Dad demneted, he'd insist on the loco hauled to Carlisle, then it was either that move, you recalled stu, however that went out the window if the Carlisle-Glasgow Queen St was a 26 or 27, they'd go that way. He had a multitude of traction on that back portion to Edinburgh though, was one where absoloutely anything could be attached. The jammy sod was coming back from Stirling one day, jumped aboard the Queen St-Carlisle behind a 27, which ran into difficulties and it was changed for pair of 20's at Ayr.

Fantastic! I never did have a pair of 20's in Scotland

 

[Toad]

Ok best memories for me, start of my spotting/bashing career around Birmingham New Street.

1) 6p for a Platform Ticket
2) Dairy Milk Chocolate Machines on Platforms
3) Plenty of Brutes so sit in all day
4) Talking to the Shunters based at [stn]BHM[/stn]
5) Sitting in "the house" Platform 8/9 Derby end
6) The Cranks - Bayliss, Rancid George, Hutch, Nash, Pip, Plug, Electric Head, Shuff, Shaf, Little/Big Baker, Green Sleeves, MGM, Ged.....many more !!
7) Midland Railtourer - Going to Acocks Green, Smethwick Rolf Street to get a eight day one !! Ticket Berts could not count !!
8) Wicked trains, 6.43 Padd, 11.10 Poole, 13.21 Padd, 19.25 Didcot, 20.42 Padd and many more....
9) Sunday dragging to Nuneaton
10) S19 Pilot on Saturday Night from Worcester
11) Doing the 20's on the evening in East Mids, Harwich from Leicester mega late, can't get home from [stn]BHM[/stn], train or bus !! Rioting and getting a free taxi !
12) Everyone gathering on the concourse on a Summer Saturday morning, getting the gen and all heading off in different directions !!
13) G06 on a Sunday Morning awaiting a 40 !!!
14) Paying 1.50 to go to Padd, Bristol on a family railcard if four neds were rounded up - Ged, Colin Moss, Soup being the Card Holder - All Neds were apparently had to be related ???

Happy, happy days

 

[D6975]

. The jammy sod was coming back from Stirling one day, jumped aboard the Queen St-Carlisle behind a 27, which ran into difficulties and it was changed for pair of 20's at Ayr.

Queen St-Carlisle via Ayr???
What on earth was that service?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Anybody remember the 'Teddy Bear' tickets promotions back in the late 80s.
Adult day return anywhere for £5 or was it £10?, kids go free if carrying a teddy bear.
In conjunction with Family railcard IIRC.

On one we did:
HST Bristol - Brum
87007 Brum - Motherwell except for
47015 Tebay South GF - Harrison's sidings due to OHLE fault
Quick tour of ML, lots of 37 phots
314 211 Motherwell to Argyll St
47708 Q St - Waverley
HST Waverley - KX
HST Padd - Bristol
955.5 miles for a pittance...

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Anybody remember the 'Teddy Bear' tickets promotions back in the late 80s.
Adult day return anywhere for £5 or was it £10?, kids go free if carrying a teddy bear.
In conjunction with Family railcard IIRC.

It was 5 pounds. I remember doing Preston -Weymouth one one with oldest daughter (only 6 at the time in tow). We got to Wigan and asked "Daddy when are we going home" OMG - 2.5 more hours to Euston then a tube to Waterloo and then on to Weymouth- Then return. I should mention I bought her fish and chips in Weymouth!!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Oh and dont forget the Merrymaker excursions.

 

[flymo]

......
2) Dairy Milk Chocolate Machines on Platforms
......
Happy, happy days

For some reason I remember a machine at Newcastle that included a Bar Six.

EDIT: WAIFA. that's the one I couldn't remember

 

[Johnuk123]

You used to be able to make your own record.

At Birmingham New Street on one of the platforms was located a small booth.

You went in and recorded anything you liked and it was transferred to vinyl which came out the bottom 45rpm size.

 

[Welshman]

I remember as a child being fascinated by a big red machine on Bradford Exchange station. It had a large pointer at the front and a handle at the side, and you could imprint your name on to a thin metal strip for 1d.

Unfortunately such childhood memories were chilled by my later reading that such machines were often used to make identification tags by soldiers, prior to being sent "over the top" during WW1.

 

[47403]

Queen St-Carlisle via Ayr???
What on earth was that service?

It used to be the locco hauled up and down via Dumfries, Kilmarnock etc, the electrics used to go to Central the diesel to Glasgow Queen St, we're talking 20+ yrs ago here you know. His dad had the photo of it, after they arrived into Carlisle, may have got Ayr wrong but it was defintely that line.

 

[D6975]

It used to be the locco hauled up and down via Dumfries, Kilmarnock etc, the electrics used to go to Central the diesel to Glasgow Queen St, we're talking 20+ yrs ago here you know. His dad had the photo of it, after they arrived into Carlisle, may have got Ayr wrong but it was defintely that line.

Yes, via Kilmarnock, but definitely not to Queen Street.
Queen St is for services to the North and East. Carlisle services ran (and still do) into Central.
Getting from the GSW to Queen St would have involved several freight only lines and a reversal at Cowlairs - very slow.

 

[4SRKT]

Yes, via Kilmarnock, but definitely not to Queen Street.
Queen St is for services to the North and East. Carlisle services ran (and still do) into Central.
Getting from the GSW to Queen St would have involved several freight only lines and a reversal at Cowlairs - very slow.

Having been a great fan of the 27s on the G&SWR main line I can back up that they went to Central. Even before Glasgow's terminal station arrangements were simplified in the '60s G&SW line services went to St Enoch, and never Queen Street to my knowledge.

Basically it was Central for Caledonian workings to the south, St Enoch for the G&SWR, Queen Street for the North British, and Buchanan Street for Caledonian services to the north. I would guess that Inverness services off the Highland Railway would have run into Buchanan Street coming over CR metals from Stanley Junction. Likewise Oban > Glasgow trains joining the main line at Dunblane.

 

[scarby]

You used to be able to make your own record.

At Birmingham New Street on one of the platforms was located a small booth.

You went in and recorded anything you liked and it was transferred to vinyl which came out the bottom 45rpm size.

Yes, they were brilliant. The idea was that you could use them to send a message - but my older brother used to rehearse a song and then go in one with a guitar and record the song on it.

I would love to own one. Incidentally, nowadays I think there is only one company in the world that even manufactures flexi-discs.

 

[Johnuk123]

Yes, they were brilliant. The idea was that you could use them to send a message - but my older brother used to rehearse a song and then go in one with a guitar and record the song on it.

I would love to own one. Incidentally, nowadays I think there is only one company in the world that even manufactures flexi-discs.

I've still got my fantastic? recording made by me and my mate of "Radar Love"
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I have just remembered one day standing on Snow Hill station with my mother, I must have been around 7/8ish.

I watched the wheeltapper walking the full length of a Paddington bound train clanging his hammer.

I asked my mother what he was doing and after she'd watched him she told me he was probably just making sure the wheels weren't coming off.

I always believed this for years till I mentioned it at school and was rightly told I was an idiot.

 

[47403]

Yes, via Kilmarnock, but definitely not to Queen Street.
Queen St is for services to the North and East. Carlisle services ran (and still do) into Central.
Getting from the GSW to Queen St would have involved several freight only lines and a reversal at Cowlairs - very slow.

My apologies, Glasgow Central it is.

 

[D6975]

Sitting on Barnetby Station a fair few years ago, just after all the 'normal' 20s had been taken out of service.
A friend of mine comments - there used to be a 20 here, worked as yard pilot.
You won't see one of those today, nor will you see anything go straight on at the signalbox, nothing goes down the Gainsborough line nowadays.

10 mins later, top and tail 20s appear on the weedkiller and go down the Gainsborough line.
We couldn't stop laughing.....

 

[60163]

^ You just reminded me of my own memories of Barnetby a few years ago, seeing 56s and 60s after a day at Doncaster. Damn good times.

Aside from those the only cherished railway memories i've got - apart from the ones i'm creating these days - are Crewe in late 90's/early 2000's. RR 37s, IC/Virgin-liveried 90s, 86s, 87s, 47s, DVTs, and the sheer amount of loco activity. And of course, Platform 13!

 

[theblackwatch]

Anybody remember the 'Teddy Bear' tickets promotions back in the late 80s.
Adult day return anywhere for £5 or was it £10?, kids go free if carrying a teddy bear.
In conjunction with Family railcard IIRC.

It was 5 pounds. I remember doing Preston -Weymouth one one with oldest daughter (only 6 at the time in tow). We got to Wigan and asked "Daddy when are we going home" OMG - 2.5 more hours to Euston then a tube to Waterloo and then on to Weymouth- Then return. I should mention I bought her fish and chips in Weymouth!!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Oh and dont forget the Merrymaker excursions.

I remember those 'Teddy Tickets' - think it was about 1986. One trip we did on it was Harrogate-Dover (via Manchester & Kensington Olympia, return via King's Cross). What amused me was that one of our group paid more for his taxi to the station (about 10 miles) than he did for the journey to Dover! King's Cross was chaotic those Saturday evenings.

 

[flymo]

I wish this thread would stop invoking memories.... (NOT)

I was thinking the other day of the nights around 1984/5 I would haul myself out of bed at 1am and drive down the 4 miles or so to Newcastle Central to have a look at the sleepers passing through and other goings on at that time in the morning. Many a time a 47 was purring away in P8, P9 or P10 (before renumbering) with its cargo and it was just so easy to see what was going on and be a part of. This was the time the ECML had sleepers and even though several were not shown as stopping at Newcastle in the TT they would change crews there or wait time.

Occasionally I would watch the southbounds off then wait awhile for the northbounds. After that I would head off home around 5am for a bit of kip before getting up for work at 6:30.

Oh my......

 

[Johnuk123]

I wish this thread would stop invoking memories.... (NOT)

I was thinking the other day of the nights around 1984/5 I would haul myself out of bed at 1am and drive down the 4 miles or so to Newcastle Central to have a look at the sleepers passing through and other goings on at that time in the morning. Many a time a 47 was purring away in P8, P9 or P10 (before renumbering) with its cargo and it was just so easy to see what was going on and be a part of. This was the time the ECML had sleepers and even though several were not shown as stopping at Newcastle in the TT they would change crews there or wait time.

Occasionally I would watch the southbounds off then wait awhile for the northbounds. After that I would head off home around 5am for a bit of kip before getting up for work at 6:30.

Oh my......

Oh my indeed ! Seems you were a bit of a lightweight having to go back to bed before work !

 

[flymo]

Oh my indeed ! Seems you were a bit of a lightweight having to go back to bed before work !

Ha ha good one.

After the last of the northbounds passed through around 3am there wasn't that much to do. I would sometimes stay later and watch the Newcastle sleepers being shunted (into P6 or P7 I think back then) around 5:30 but not too often. Besides I needed my beauty sleep. Something tells me I never got enough.

Often surprised me how busy the Nightrider could get. Not many seats free some nights.

 

[The Big Boo]

East Coast Overnights

1A41, 1L00 1E35, 1A40, 1S60, 1S66 et al.

Did plenny.

 

[L&Y Robert]

Often surprised me how busy the Nightrider could get. Not many seats free some nights.

Anybody remember "The Highwayman"? Newcastle to not-quite London - it finished at Finsbury Park. Lots of sleepy slightly bewildered youngsters decanted nowhere much, looking for the way to the tube!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Were any of the older members on here ever belonging to the British Rail run Manchester Rail Travel Club that ran from 1980 to 1984. Those were the days when there was no shortage of carriages to run special excursion trains and there were weekly journeys to all parts of England, Scotland and Wales and a series of regular printed programme of journeys (always in the house colour of orange and white headings) was sent out by post to all members of the club to show where each train was going to, the price involved and the names of the stations where these trains were calling in the local Manchester region where these trains could be joined. There were also specials run to special events such as air shows, flower shows,etc. Best of all, for those with a spirit of adventure, there were "mystery" journeys, where the final destination was not announced until the train was 30 minutes into its journey.

We were taken from the Manchester region to places not often served from there, such as Folkestone, Southend, etc. The best mystery trip that we went on, from a rail enthusiast's view, was one that ended in Largs !!.

When the club was closed in 1984, all the members were sent a specially produced key-ring as a mark of commemoration.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

I wasn't a member of any formal club, but travelled on several merrymaker excursions from Manchester (or local stations in the area) between 1978 and 1983.These included Yarmouth, Southend, Herne Bay, Margate, Ramsgate, Portsmouth, Salisbury, Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay, Dawlish, Barry Island (Twice) and Edinburgh among the destinations. I'm trying to track down dates and locos used for these as I have lost many records and sometimes, shamefully, didn't note the haulage.

One of the benefits of the interweb is that information on these has occasionally surfaced, resulting in the Red Pen coming out of storage recently for 40137, 47015 and 85039 several years after they were scrapped :grin:

 

[47403]

I was around 11 and I'd been badgering my dad to take me somewhere during the 6 weeks holidays, he'd taken me to the NRM one weekend a few months previous with a couple of my cousins and I was eager to get there again or go to Edinburgh, for a day out looking at trains, Dad said, he'd do his best and try and get some time off work and to leave it with him.
One afternoon, my dad shouted me in the house and said, I've got some news for you about going trainspotting but you need to ask a friend too, I was talking to Alan last night in the club and he wants to know, if you and a friend would like to go to Crewe with him and a few of his mates, I gleefullly said yes, then said, where's Crewe and are you coming too, he said no and its 4 weeks time, your going through the night, to Carlisle and down the West Coast, Carlisle, I said, its supposed to be brilliant there and overnight. Excitement wasn't the word.
If you want go you'll have to save your pocket money for your spending money, I had to choose a friend to go, there was only one place, so my 2 cousins were ruled out, there was only one option, my Tyne Yard companion, I nearly took his door off the hinges knocking to ask if he wanted to go. My Dad was told to go and explain to my friends mam and dad and it was on.
Skip forward 4 weeks any bit of pocket money, spare change and odd job money earned at grandparents house went into a big jar in the kitchen. Alll changed to notes on the day at the post office and my grandparents added an extra tenner to the fund. At 4 o'clock and like cats on a hot tin roof, my Dad, obviously sick of us being totally hyper told me and my mate to make ourselves scarce for a bit but be back in time for a bath and a change of clothes, we bunked off to Tyne Yard, stopped at the paper shop for new notebooks and enough pens to sink a ship and on the 10 minute walk to Tyne Yard, we spoke of seeing our first Electrics, we looked in our battered locosheds, hoping to see the likes of Royal Scot, City of Lancaster etc.
We took the last DMU off Newcastle - Carlisle, it was then, my mate and I found out that we'd been invited because that we took notice but more importantly were needed for the railcards, Alan and his friends were brilliant with my mate and I, explaining what was planned and where we were going, a visit to the works planned on Saturday afternoon, then off to Chester, jump on the merseyrail to a depot called Allerton, then back home on the Liverpool to Newcastle.
At Carlisle the very first loco we saw is etched in my mind it was 37003, a Gateshead stalwart, we'd seen it at Tyne Yard in the afternoon, we had an hour or so at Carlisle to kill, our eyes darted everywhere, our first electrics were a pair of 86's on a freightliner, an 08 was shunting mail vans, my mate and I went over an asked if we could cab it, the shunter driver an old guy, said hop aboard and asked what we were doing out of bed at this hour, we explained to him it was our 1st time in Carlisle and we were going to Crewe, I don't know if it was oiur excitement or our story but credit to that old fella, we got our 1st cab ride in that 08, one of Alans mates took a photo of me and my mate looking out the window of the 08 in the middle road of Carlisle Station, if we'd went home there and then, I'd have been a happy bunny. Our first electric hauled train wasn't an 86 or 87 but 81013 to Preston, Alan pointed out the angle of the coaches as we went over Shap. At Preston, the Police asked us all what we were up to on the station and asked to look at the tickets, probably baffled why a motley collection of Geordies would be standing in Preston at god knows what hour, all the time, more electric hauled freight trains whizzed through, we couldn't(my mate and I) comprehend why they all were double headed but certainly weren't complaining, from Preston to Wigan we jumped aboard hauled by 85022, then after a short stay there it was another 81, this time 81004 to Warrington, I was looking forward to an 86 or 87 for haulage but was told by Alan, these are rarer, there'll be plenty time to be hauled by the 86/87's, I wasn't convinced. after a good hour and a half if not more at Warrington, which was an amazing for freight of all types both Electric and Diesel, it seemed everything we'd saw was a cop, truly fantastic. The next electric for haulage to Crewe was 86240, at last we'd got one.
Crewe was chocker block, we spent ages picking off loco's on Crewe Diesel and around the platforms, picking off the units and other passenger turns, both electric and diesel, my mate and I were on over 2 hours writing stuff down, evetually with our feet killing, we sat down on one of them parcel barrows taking stock of what we'd seen so far, this was trainspotting as good as it gets. We took a wander to the Station shop and bought a copy of Rail Entusiast and as I was walking away I saw a spotters book and seen as we'd saved up for this and our locosheds were battered to bits, we decided to purchase the brand new Platform 5 loco, DMU and EMU books and all with new blue plastic covers to boot, my mate bought one of them labelling guns too and we labelled our books, so we knew which one was which, we were as happy as pigs in the proverbial. I didnt want to leave the station but with the works visit planned, we did and the wether it was the excitement or not, the walk to the works seemed to take ages.
The works was nothing like what I expected, but in a good way, definitely more interesting, than just getting the numbers. They were building the last 3new 56's then too, the numbers were chalked on the shells, seeing them repairing crash damaged loco's, can't remember if it was that visit or the open day years later, when I saw 47452 there, 47452 had crashed on Morpeth curve and my mates and I saw it being moved by another 47, passing Tyne Yard, 47452 was half covered in a tarpaulin, there was no tarp on it, when I saw it next at Crewe Works and we got to see the full extent of the damage to it, I asked then, will 47452 get fixed or withdrawn and was told it looks worse than it really is and it should get to run again, it was great news for this 47 fanatic, then there was more electrics to pick off with binoculars off Crewe Electric.
Back to Crewe for the next move, this time to Chester, I have always been a 47 fanatic, so when a Peak took the place of the electric for the journey to Holyhead, again I was disappointed only to be told again, you know how often peaks do this run, I didnt really want to know but the journey was a laugh, with one of Alan's mates telling me how he used to drive Claytons for the NCB. A jump on the merseyrail and off to Allerton, I've never seen so many shunters in one Depot, mainly 08's but I'm sure the was an 03 and a couple of 37's too. Back on the Merseyrail to Lime Street, then it was a short hop on a DMU, I think one of lads wanted it for haulage but we did pass Edge Hill for and picked off the shunter there, then from Manchester to Newcastle it was 47422 home, I had my head out the front window next to the loco as we left but I decided to take a seat and promptly flaked out, till about Leeds, we all tried to pick off as much as we could at Neville Hill and York but I was shattered but had the biggest grin ever, we got off at Newcastle and got the numbers of whatever was knocking about jumped in a taxi, got home and bored my dad to death before i was sent for a bath then bed after my supper. I waited till the next day to mark everything up in my new books an arduous task a one I still hate doing.

 

[flymo]

I really love reading your posts 47403, it's as if I were there.

Brilliant stuff.....