Stafford Memories

[MarkWi72]

I was recalling memories of Friday evenings at Stafford in the early to mid 80s, when I'd go with my dad. We'd stay until it was too dark for photos. I had an old AGFA sillette camera , given to me from my Grandad and still have the photos from those trips (not just Stafford, but a lot of places, mainly along WCML and branches/loops). Sometimes I'd get aWM 'Dayranger' ticket and go to Stafford. It all seems so recent, yet isn't.

Stafford itself was great; loads of movements with various rolling stock, including HSTS from 1984 onwards (Manchester-S/West Region). London Brick 'Fletliner' with the 25s on it, loads of different freights, and loco hauled passenger. DMU/EMUs were in the minority then.

I'll never forget May 1985. It was two days after the Heysel Disaster - that is vivid in my mind as I'm a football supporter too, and was then. We were on the Northern end of Platform 4, and one of the Signalmen called us over and asked if we wanted to go in the box, Stafford Number 5. We shot over before he finished the sentence! We spent an hour or so up there, it was a dream for me. I was fasinated with the workings from the different lines which fed/feed into Stafford. I set the road for a few trains, including a Freightliner which went from the up fast to up slow, and then off towards Wolverhampton. Happy days,

 

[nw1]

I spent time at Stafford on several occasions in the mid 80s for a few hours each time, as I had relatives there. These occasions were in Feb 83, Dec 83, Aug 84 (x2), and sometime in late 1985 (can't remember exact date, I had a feeling it was December, but I also remember waiting for the 1730 arrival from Brighton - which never turned up - and it was daylight, which would imply otherwise). Also tried to access in Aug 83 but was prohibited due to not having a permit.

Main things that struck me, after being used to the Southern (South Western division):

- Lots of InterCity trains. At that time, InterCity seemed very romantic and full of mystique. Mostly hauled by named 86s, with some 87s and 85s.

- Surprisingly few trains actually stopping per hour compared to somewhere like Guildford. In a typical hour on the second occasion (Dec 83) you'd have a Birmingham InterCity around xx25 (extending towards Reading or Bristol), a Manchester or Liverpool InterCity also around xx25 (xx55 seemed to be a long-standing northbound departure slot from New Street from as far back as 1973, according to timetableworld.com). Some hours, however, these did not stop at Stafford. Then there was a London-bound InterCity about every 2 hours (generally from Liverpool) and v.v., but not on clockface timings; a two-hourly 304 EMU to Manchester (generally originating at Stafford, xx50 even hours, hourly near the peaks) and an irregular 304 EMU to Nuneaton or Rugby, perhaps every 2.5 hours or so. Penkridge appeared to be closed SX off-peak, so no Birmingham stoppers, though they operated on Saturdays rather infrequently, sometimes with 310s.

- Quite a few non-stop InterCity services, and frequent freights.

- Despite the relatively limited number of trains actually stopping per hour, it was still a very interesting place to spend some time, due to the non-stop services (passenger and freight) in addition to the stoppers.

In 1984/85 the Birmingham InterCity departure times became much more irregular, and varied each hour. There was a tendency for southbound Reading services to go on the hour (IIRC 0753 to Poole, 1059 to Brighton and 1502 to Portsmouth) but the Bristol services were at other times. I also remember HSTs being introduced on the Bristol routes that year.
One of the 1984/85 occasions was a summer Saturday and I recall many summer additionals with MkI stock calling on that occasion.

Most unusual thing I saw at Stafford was on 20 Feb 1984 (I think) when I returned to Guildford after spending the weekend there with relatives. I was waiting for the 1421 to Portsmouth which was very late. It eventually turned up perhaps 40 mins late, with no annoucements about what the issue was. The station was very quiet on a cold and dull February afternoon. What had happened was that the 1426 to Plymouth (that hour there were two soutbound ICs close together) had failed (I remember the loco was 86222 Fury) and the loco of the 1421 (an 85, possibly 85038) pushed it in, so you literally had the two services, locos, coaches and all, coupled together. EDIT it arrived on Platform 4, whereupon the 1421 detached, reversed northwards out of the station, before re-arriving on Platform 1, leaving the failed 1426 at Stafford on platform 4 to presumably be rescued by another loco.

 

[peteb]

Stafford with my lads watching trains about 20 yrs ago, lots of loco haulage back then including cross country. Its still worth a day out, plenty of freight, and the town is much more interesting than you might think too.

 

[nw1]

Stafford with my lads watching trains about 20 yrs ago, lots of loco haulage back then including cross country. Its still worth a day out, plenty of freight, and the town is much more interesting than you might think too.

Yes, loco-hauled XC services, as well as Southern Region second-generation* slam door EMUs, are two of those features of the railway which originated well before I started using the railways in 1982 and were still going beyond the millennium. Seems a remarkably long period, but it isn't really given average lifespan for stock is c. 35 years - and it's now the case that, frighteningly, 2001 (which still seems like yesterday) is closer to 1982 than the present.

(*CIGs, VEPs, CEPs etc; so I'm treating CORs, BILs etc as the first).

 

[satisnek]

My abiding memory is not actually of the station itself but the Stafford Arms pub across the road. One Saturday evening in the early 1990s my friend and I stumbled across a beer festival here (I think we had been out and about on 'Midline Day Rangers' or some similar ticket). After a while my friend decided to go home while I stayed to enjoy the live music - a three-piece band featuring ex-Climax Blues Band drummer John Cuffley. Unfortunately I only heard a couple of numbers before I too had to catch the train to Birmingham (I think it was a 304) and thence back to Kidderminster. Shortly after this the pub was taken over by Titanic Brewery who immediately 'blinged it up' (long before the term was invented, but mirrored walls, that kind of thing, you know what I mean). Today there's a car dealership on the site.

 

[MarkWi72]

I'm certain I've been in that pub, waiting to change at STafford on the way back from away matches up north.

 

[nw1]

I'm certain I've been in that pub, waiting to change at STafford on the way back from away matches up north.

My days at Stafford were before I was old enough to enter pubs, but hearing that what sounded like a decent pub has closed brings us to the "Beeching of the 2010s..", the sad widespread closure of pubs since around 2010 due to the landowners realising they can make more money using the land for other things. Even if the pub is popular (there is a well-known example not far from me).

That and things like even basic things like banks closing. That Blur album "Modern Life is Rubbish" was released about 25 years early