Class 121 routes in the early 1960's

[geoff_nicholls]

Is the a book or website where I can find a complete list of where the class 121's were working, when first introduced in the early 1960's (i.e. while operating in parallel with steam locos)?

[chrisf]

Railcar.co.uk is useful for all things dmu related.  On it is an official WR allocations list dated June 1962.  It gives the following:

 

Southall - 55020/1/2/3/4/5/8/9

Reading - 55026/7/30/1/5

Laira - 55033

Marsh Junction - 55032/4

 

Of the driving trailers, all but 56282/9 were at Southall, the rest at Reading. 

 

The Southall allocation worked Ealing - Greenford, West Drayton - Uxbridge, West Drayton - Staines West, Slough - Windsor.   Reading resourced Twyford - Henley on Thames, Radley - Abingdon, Didcot - Newbury and Reading - Westbury locals.  The Laira car would have worked turn and turn about with the allocation of 122s on Churston - Brixham, Brent - Kingsbridge, Lostwithiel - Fowey, Liskeard - Looe and other lines as branches were closed.  Pairs of single cars also worked Plymouth - Saltash and Truro - Falmouth alternating with 118 power twins.

 

Chris [edited to add some I forgot!]

Edited August 17, 2017 by chrisf

[dibber25]

Railcar.co.uk is useful for all things dmu related.  On it is an official WR allocations list dated June 1962.  It gives the following:

 

Southall - 55020/1/2/3/4/5/8/9

Reading - 55026/7/30/1/5

Laira - 55033

Marsh Junction - 55032/4

 

Of the driving trailers, all but 56282/9 were at Southall, the rest at Reading. 

 

The Southall allocation worked Ealing - Greenford, West Drayton - Uxbridge, West Drayton - Staines West.   Reading resourced Twyford - Henley on Thames, Radley - Abingdon and Reading - Westbury locals.  The Laira car would have worked turn and turn about with the allocation of 122s on Churston - Brixham, Brent - Kingsbridge, Lostwithiel - Fowey, Liskeard - Looe and other lines as branches were closed.  Pairs of single cars also worked Plymouth - Saltash and Truro - Falmouth alternating with 118 power twins.

 

Chris

Which depot worked the DN&S? I recall seeing a photo of a Pressed Steel working that line. I think it was probably W55035 which would have made it a Reading turn presumably? I never saw driving trailers on the Staines branch after I started using it in 1962 but there are photos of them on the branch in 1960/1. I seem to recall - from fishing trips out on Staines Moor - seeing two-car formations, but at that time I hadn't 'discovered' Staines West, so I took no interest.(CJL)

[lapford34102]

Maiden Newton - Bridport.   Alongside Panniers and then Ivatt 2MT's

 

Stu

[chrisf]

I knew someone would read my post immediately, before I edited it to add some that I forgot.  According to the London cwp for winter 1961-62, the Didcot - Newbury car stabled at Didcot overnight and ran empty to Reading for fuel and inspection early evening.

 

The Slough - Windsor and Maidenhead - High Wycombe [forgot that one too] cars stabled at Slough but it is not clear from the cwp whether they belonged to Reading or Southall.

 

I also forgot the Marsh Junction cars, which worked Yatton - Clevedon and Bristol - Portishead.   [More haste, less speed ...]

 

Lapford, I think the Bridport branch was not diesel worked in 1961, which is what the OP asked.

 

Chris

Edited August 18, 2017 by chrisf

[lapford34102]

 

Lapford, I think the Bridport branch was not diesel worked in 1961, which is what the OP asked.

 

Early 60's in the title so that's open to interpretation.

Weymouth's first DMMU's appeared in 59. On the Bridport branch the first units were often 2 car Derby Cross Country's used until the Single cars came into service. Also the refence to alongside steam. Apart from goods, till 65, there was also a single steam worked passenger service for a while, an I vat 2MT and single coach.

Away from Bridport history references at mo unfortunately but anyone with either Gerrty Beale's or Brian Jackson's book to hand can probably find a definitive date.

Just trying to help :-)

Stu

[chrisf]

Sorry, Stu, no offence meant!  I have a number of CWPs on line but none of them list workings to and from Bridport.  I had this strange idea that it was in the Bristol division but clearly not.

 

Chris

[lapford34102]

Hi Chris, no problem at all. Now I'm bit baffled as I'm pretty sure any unit at Wey was Bristol Div...

Thwy certainly carried "B" codes in the 70's

The Bridport units used to come back to Wey shed overnight. There was even a fuelling point for unis and Hymeks at the shed

Hopefully the OP will be back with maybe a clearer area in mind and we can all go from there

Cheers

Stu

[chrisf]

Further to the above, I now find that the Bridport workings are in the body of the Bristol cwps for summer 61 and winter 61-62 but not in the index!  They all show 2 car Cross-Country sets out of Weymouth working to Bridport.  I suspect that the 121s took over a bit later having been displaced from a line that had closed.

 

Chris

[The Johnster]

Pedant alert, but I would assume that the Bridport 2-car 'Derby' cross country set was in fact a Gloucester RCW class 119.  These had a 'Derby' style cab but were otherwise similar to the Swindon cross country class 120 sets.

[lapford34102]

Pedant alert, but I would assume that the Bridport 2-car 'Derby' cross country set was in fact a Gloucester RCW class 119.

 

Quite correct but everyone at Weymouth called them "Derby" units.

 

Chris, thanks for finding out that info. Beginning to think that the single cars may well have begun to appear as more 117/118 units became available.

 

Stu

[The Johnster]

Quite correct but everyone at Weymouth called them "Derby" units.

 

Chris, thanks for finding out that info. Beginning to think that the single cars may well have begun to appear as more 117/118 units became available.

 

Stu

 

Fair enough.  At Canton in the 70s we called class 45/6 'Cromptons'; AFAIK they did at Bristol and Gloucester as well.  The description would have got you a blank stare if you applied it to a 33.

[br2975]

There is at least one published photo of a Cl.121 passing Tondu shed, dated as early as 1963.

.

This was a Bridgend - Treherbert working, via Cymmer Afan.

.

Brian R

[lapford34102]

 

Fair enough.  At Canton in the 70s we called class 45/6 'Cromptons'; AFAIK they did at Bristol and Gloucester as well.  The description would have got you a blank stare if you applied it to a 33.

If a 45/6 had turned up at Weymouth  everyone would have shouted "Peak". Ah, the wonder of railway's regional linguistics :-)

 

Anyhow wondering if the OP has been back to check yet.

 

Stu

[The Johnster]

If a 45/6 had turned up at Weymouth  everyone would have shouted "Peak". Ah, the wonder of railway's regional linguistics :-)

 

Anyhow wondering if the OP has been back to check yet.

 

Stu

 

Cardiff spotters knew them as 'Peaks', although strictly speaking that term should only apply to class 44, and a railwayman would have known what you meant by it, but the term was not in general use on the railway, probably anywhere south or west of Saltley!  Similarly, Hymeks were more often called 'D 7 thousands' or 'D 70s' and Westerns 'D Thousands', although in this case the distinction was less clear.  Class 47 were 'Sulzers', never Brush on the railway, another spotter's term, and the class 37s were called 'D68s' in the same way as ex GW classes were '49s', 56s' and so on.

 

I became aware that Canton had never called it's BR standard pacifics Britannias and had never heard the term; they were '70 thousands', and all of the BR standards were referred to in this way at the shed, '73 thousands', '92 thousands' etc.  90 thousands not WDs or Austerities.  The dmus were 'Valley sets' for class 116, 'Cross Countries' indiscriminately for 119/120, and 'Inter Cities' for 123; 'London sets' for 117.  By the time other dmu classes turned up at Canton we were calling them 800s, or 400s , or whatever as appropriate.  Warships and Baby Warships, again everyone knew what they were but the terms 'D800' and D63' were much more likely; they were Bristol's problem and our men didn't sign 'em anyway.  The local name, the repeatable one anyway, for the Baby Sulzers when they first turned up was 'spin dryers', because there was a bit in the engine room that looked like one and they were reckoned to be almost, but not quite, as good as a spin dryer at pulling trains.  I never heard the term Baby Sulzer used on the railway.  By the time 31s turned up TOPs was up and running, and ex GW men took to it like ducks (not like ducks to water mind, just, like ducks) and used TOPS class numbers as if they'd been born to it; same goes for class 50, which again were Bristol's problem; our blokes didn't sign them back in the 70s.  45 and 46 were rare  (but not unknown) downline from Cardiff for the same traction knowledge reason.  Ebbw Junction's 1200 was simply called Falcon, by everybody, because that was it's name...

Edited August 21, 2017 by The Johnster

[lapford34102]

Somewhat getting off the original subject but following on your post. My late father, a Weymouth driver who started on the GWR never referred to virtually any GW loco apart from it's number; 49's, 14's, etc etc. The only one I ever heard him refer to otherwise was the ROD's which he detested. The Hymeks were referred to as Hymeks or D 7 thousands interchangeably, they were the only were the only diesels they signed for about 5 years apart from the "drewry's". There were Merchants and West Counties ( irrespective of whether it was a WC or a BoB), Standards were number named apart from Nine Elms's 73000 5mt's which were oddly called "cockney standards".....  Cromptons were Cromptons unless they were push-pull fitted in which case they were TC Cromptons. When the SR got it's handful of of Type 4 diesels in 67 they were simply called "Brush".  When the Brush Type 2's turned up in the early 70's they thought they'd gone back to the stone age.

 

Cheers

Stu

Edited August 21, 2017 by lapford34102