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Swindon Scrap Line, 1983


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I always wondered why the center windscreen was removed on 40’s, 45’s and 46’s. I wonder if was a visual reference to fitters that that loco can be used for stripping and spares.

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I heard that 40s were so well built that the screens were removed, and the top nose doors were left open, in order to encourage tin worm to enable easier cutting.

No idea if true, and I can't vouch for Peaks in that respect.

If you look at pictures of 40s on the Crewe scrap line 1984-85 they seem to have had their windscreens removed as a matter of course although this could be because they were (presumably) interchangeable with class 37s.

 

Re D818, my interpretation is that it was cut up out of bitterness in protest at the closure of Swindon Works although at least it provided spares for the other two locos.

Edited by E3109
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I always wondered why the center windscreen was removed on 40’s, 45’s and 46’s. I wonder if was a visual reference to fitters that that loco can be used for stripping and spares.

I had similar thoughts.  Doubtless somebody will know.  

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Memories of Swindon works, i went here as a kid every year from 1979 to 1985.
Dont remember much as a 4 year old, but i have D1028/41/48/58 in my 1979 abc, and remember at some point (might be Horwich in 1980) my dad telling me that D1041/48 will move to Bury transport musuem, where he was heavily involved.

First visits i recall positive activity, class 03/08s being overhauled etc.
Later it was wagon overhauls.
By 1984 it was mostly just scrapping and in 1985 there wasnt much left.

I went on the Swindon Ambassador railtour each year with my dad, usually whatever pulled it broke down, the whole thing would run late and the following year it would be on Swindons scrap line.

Great early memories, every year i’d spot something historic i hadnt seen before (D7029, D1015 etc), final two years i saw D5705 there, by 1985 I was old enough for my own camera, and have some grainy images from Swindon...

 

best efforts of a 110ASA camera with a parent who would allow me 1 camera film every few months !

 

Though 1985 things down the road in Bristol were a bit more interesting...

 

Can anyone help me with this location ? definitely summer 1985, loco is 6960 Raveningham Hall.

 

Edited by adb968008
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This brings back memories - those early 80s scraplines were mesmerising to me as a youth, approaching Swindon, Derby, Crewe one was confronted with seeminly endless lines of gutted locos, victims of the fall in traditional freight and sympotmatic of seismic changes taking place

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I was just thinking about D5705 when reading recent comments, and as much as 818 was a loss, thank goodness the gasaxe wasn't wielded on the Co-Bo.

 

D818 I understand was just a shell inside (much like 18000 is now).

As you can see in my picture, it was pretty rotten on the outside, it had been painted on top of rust several times. I have a piece of it's paintwork not that looking at it would convince anyone.

 

There was a lot of dead rot left from the 1970's.. D7096 (in Derby) I recall was pretty much done for too.

 

D8243 (also in Derby) I think would have been a better save out of what was left from the 70's withdrawals from what I remember seeing (I seem to think D5705 looked pretty worse for wear the two years I saw it at Swindon).

 

I seemed to think diesels rotted far worse than steam locos.

Edited by adb968008
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Memories of Swindon works, i went here as a kid every year from 1979 to 1985.

Dont remember much as a 4 year old, but i have D1028/41/48/58 in my 1979 abc, and remember at some point (might be Horwich in 1980) my dad telling me that D1041/48 will move to Bury transport musuem, where he was heavily involved.

 

First visits i recall positive activity, class 03/08s being overhauled etc.

Later it was wagon overhauls.

By 1984 it was mostly just scrapping and in 1985 there wasnt much left.

 

I went on the Swindon Ambassador railtour each year with my dad, usually whatever pulled it broke down, the whole thing would run late and the following year it would be on Swindons scrap line.

 

Great early memories, every year i’d spot something historic i hadnt seen before (D7029, D1015 etc), final two years i saw D5705 there, by 1985 I was old enough for my own camera, and have some grainy images from Swindon...

 

best efforts of a 110ASA camera with a parent who would allow me 1 camera film every few months !

attachicon.gif1011_025.jpgattachicon.gifIMG_0041.jpg

Though 1985 things down the road in Bristol were a bit more interesting...attachicon.gifIMG_0023.jpg

 

Can anyone help me with this location ? definitely summer 1985, loco is 6960 Raveningham Hall.

attachicon.gifIMG_0003.jpg

I particularly liked your picture of the King on the end of BTM: brought back happy memories of Bristol -  I was a student at Bristol Poly by then.  I remember it well, both in one piece and latterly, sat around in pieces, pending restoration.  It looks rather better these days.

 

Best wishes, 

 

Paul 

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This brings back memories - those early 80s scraplines were mesmerising to me as a youth, approaching Swindon, Derby, Crewe one was confronted with seeminly endless lines of gutted locos, victims of the fall in traditional freight and sympotmatic of seismic changes taking place

Same here. My A level Art painting was a class 40 being taken apart at Doncaster.

 

I got an A. Fascinating days. Derby works open day Sept 1982 was a big eye opener to the photogenic aspects of decay :(

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This brings back memories - those early 80s scraplines were mesmerising to me as a youth, approaching Swindon, Derby, Crewe one was confronted with seeminly endless lines of gutted locos, victims of the fall in traditional freight and sympotmatic of seismic changes taking place

You mean like this?

 

post-29514-0-53517900-1548366255_thumb.jpg

 

Loco numbers are all that were present and not all are in view.

 

Dave

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Yes, there was quite a recession in the early 80s, and I think the 46s were stored initially; pending an upturn in the economy and with it BR freight traffic.

 

I don't many (if any) were reinstated in reality. 

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You mean like this?

 

attachicon.gifGraveyard.JPG

 

Loco numbers are all that were present and not all are in view.

 

Dave

 

I expect a lot of those locos had been rendered surplus by the British Steel strike (Jan 2 1980 to Apr 1 1980). Similarly there were hundreds (probably thousands?) of unfitted coal wagons laid up, many never to be used again,

 

cheers

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I was going to say that most of the Peaks in the initial pictures at Swindon would have been Class 46s, a number of which were resurrected from storage at ZL, with varying degrees of success and longevity.

 

Something that always surprised me is how long some of the stripped out hulks were left standing for. Would have thought that they would have been cut once stripped if only to recover the space that they occupied. Presumably space wasn't an issue back then.

 

As others have said, although Glory being cut came as a (nasty) surprise, in reality it was a shell having donated many components to the otherwise preserved examples. Perhaps it could have been plinthed somewhere had it survived.

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The hst picture looks to be at reading.?

 

Swansea?

6960 did some runs from there to Carmarthen that year.

 

I too thought Reading, but wouldn't that mean the Hall was in Platform 2 and the HST in Platform 3, which were both short bays?

Haven't been to Swansea by train since the early 80s, but I seem to recognise the building behind, so not sure it's there either.

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I particularly liked your picture of the King on the end of BTM: brought back happy memories of Bristol -  I was a student at Bristol Poly by then.  I remember it well, both in one piece and latterly, sat around in pieces, pending restoration.  It looks rather better these days.

 

Best wishes, 

 

Paul 

Snap  - I was a student at Bristol Poly at the same time and remember that King

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I was going to say that most of the Peaks in the initial pictures at Swindon would have been Class 46s, a number of which were resurrected from storage at ZL, with varying degrees of success and longevity.

 

Something that always surprised me is how long some of the stripped out hulks were left standing for. Would have thought that they would have been cut once stripped if only to recover the space that they occupied. Presumably space wasn't an issue back then.

 

As others have said, although Glory being cut came as a (nasty) surprise, in reality it was a shell having donated many components to the otherwise preserved examples. Perhaps it could have been plinthed somewhere had it survived.

I seem to recall that you are right re the 46s.  There were some 45s as well, though: 45027 in my first picture; and then the unidentified split-box example in the the sixth picture (though I am trying to work out whether that is in fact another image of 45027 - which, I believe, was a split-box example? -  difficult to tell though). These days I am rather more careful to keep my notebooks somewhere safe!

 

Best wishes,

 

Paul 

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OK - when were you two at Bristol Poly? I was there 1973 to 1976, doing (studying would be too strong a word) a London BSc in economics. Spent more time as DJ at the Wednesday night bops at Unity St...

Small world, isn't it?  I was there 1984-87 at the Coldharbour Lane site.  Had a great time, met my future wife and actually managed to get a degree - nobody more surprised than me!  Still have fond memories of the place, though it looks a bit different round there now: in my first year I walked across open fields to get from Parkway to the Poly.  A bit trickier to do nowadays, I suspect.

 

Best wishes,

 

Paul

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