Caley739

In the 1950s the 2 overnight trains Euston to Perth were worked by Crewe North engines and men between Crewe and Perth. The engines would lay over at Perth until their return south on overnight trains. Perhaps unsurprisingly Perth running foremen were tempted to use these engines on their long layover on fill in jobs to Glasgow or Aberdeen.My understanding is that the LMR did not approve of this practice because the softer Scottish coal available at Perth had a lower calorific value than the Staffordshire hard coal available at Crewe.

The most unusual combination I remember was in 1964 at Craigenhill summit  during a Sunday relaying operation where down trains had to reverse through the crossover because of single line working. A late running Euston-Glasgow sleeper appeared with a Thompson A2 Pacific as train engine, either 60512 or 60522 recently allocated to Polmadie, and the pilot a Kingmoor Clan Pacific, number long forgotten.