Unusual Motive Power on GW Mainline 1959-63

[Tallpaul69]

Trying to find peoples recollections or even better logged observations of unusual motive power on the GW Main line between Paddington and Reading between 1959(ish) and 1963(ish).

 

I am working up the WTT for my new layout plan around Maidenhead in this time period.

It would add to the interest of the layout if I could find evidence to justify the use of SR, LMR and ER locomotives(steam or diesel) or unusual DMUs.

 

So where have I looked and what have I found?

 

I have scoured all the books I have/ can get to look at, and the Trains illustrated for that period and a while after to take account of delays in reporting.

 

Quite a few odd locos turned up at Reading, but little evidence of them getting further east.

 

Also some evidence of ER/LMR locos around Paddington from the GW&GC Line.

 

A few mentions of ER/LMR running down the Maidenhead to High Wycombe branch on specials

 

But I am sure there are a number of folk out there with personal memories that never got to the "Official" records, so can you help me please?

 

Many thanks

Cheers

Paul 

[scottystitch]

If you haven't already, you might want to pick up a copy of  "The Unusual and the Unexpected on British Railways: A Chronology of Unlikely Events 1948-1968" by David Peel. A good read, full of some wonderful unusual movements. It is arranged in chronological order within each year.

 

[Tallpaul69]

12 minutes ago, scottystitch said:

If you haven't already, you might want to pick up a copy of  "The Unusual and the Unexpected on British Railways: A Chronology of Unlikely Events 1948-1968" by David Peel. A good read, full of some wonderful unusual movements. It is arranged in chronological order within each year.

 

No, that's one that has passed me by!

 

I should have said that sources I have consulted include my copies of the late, lamented, GWJ (I have them all)! and all my MRJs (again, I have access to them all). I have yet to delve into the other monthly mags, of which I have several hundred, but that is a bit of a daunting task, especially if you don't have all the annual indexes!!

 

Best regards

Paul 

[guzzler17]

Another book suggestion which would be worth a look if you haven't already.

 

"The Day of The Holiday Express" by David Woodley and published by Ian Allan.  ISBN 0 7110 2394 8

 

It discusses Western Region services on 9th July 1960 in terms of geographical areas and contains a listing of locos, possibly just WR ones, and what services they were used on.  Lots of photos taken either on the day or very close to.

 

I'm not an expert on the steam era but I find it a fascinating read about how many trains were run on the WR on a summer Saturday.  Oh if only there were such interesting workings and variety of motive power these days!

 

 

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

The only things I saw which I don't think have made any books etc were a 4F and a 'Crab' on separate Windsor excursion running running the GW main line route west of Maidenhead and not going over the Wycombe branch.  The fact that they were cleared for the Wycombe branch suggests to me that a B17 worked at least one excursion over it at some time in the 1950s but I have never seen a photo of one. Most of the Wycombe branch oddballs which I know about have cropped up on the relevant website.

[jointline]

Having lived next to the WR main line for all of that period, and being a keen train spotter,  I can remember seeing no foreign motive power. I think I have a picture of a Type 33  on a Sunday excursion,  but never saw any SR engines (or rolling stock) during the reference period.  

 

There were certainly some troop trains in the early fifties,  but I wasn't old enough to register the origin of the coaches.   

 

I did once see an LT train being towed through,  but have no idea at all where that was going (or coming from!).

 

The most foreign looking machines we saw were the ROD 2-8-0's (quite uncommon).   I can recall one ex USA S160,  but that must have been in the early '50s.

 

Sorry not to have come up with anything!  But I think Paddington to Slough (the extent of my knowledge) was pretty much a GWR dominated zone!

[bike2steam]

On page 32 of Locomotives Illustrated, No.22, 'The LMS Moguls', is a pic of  Nuneaton's Crab 42781 ( with exLMS passenger stock) on the west curve at Slough coming from Windsor & Eton Central, on the 6th July 1960. I presume it's on it's way home via Oxford, Leamington, and Coventry.

Edited April 11, 2019 by bike2steam

[The Stationmaster]

6 hours ago, bike2steam said:

On page 32 of Locomotives Illustrated, No.22, 'The LMS Moguls', is a pic of  Nuneaton's Crab 42961 ( with exLMS passenger stock) on the west curve at Slough coming from Windsor & Eton Central, on the 6th July 1960. I presume it's on it's way home via Oxford, Leamington, and Coventry.

Ah, a Stanier 2-6-0 and it is underlined in my ABC but I am certain the one I saw on the GW main line was a Fowler Crab.  If it 's on Slough West Curve (aka Bath Road Curve) it might well have run over the Wycombe branch although I would think main line/Chester line to be more likely for an excursion from the Nuneaton area (unless another shed had 'borrowed' it).

 

I never saw any Southern engines between Reading (exclusive) and Acton on the GW main line but at least one obviously got there when the Brighton atlantic worked an excursion for Marlow onto the Wycombe branch.

[bike2steam]

Sorry Mike, it was a 'Fowler Crab', I posted the wrong number, ( 2 senile moments in one day - too much!)

[Tallpaul69]

On ‎11‎/‎04‎/‎2019 at 09:37, bike2steam said:

On page 32 of Locomotives Illustrated, No.22, 'The LMS Moguls', is a pic of  Nuneaton's Crab 42781 ( with exLMS passenger stock) on the west curve at Slough coming from Windsor & Eton Central, on the 6th July 1960. I presume it's on it's way home via Oxford, Leamington, and Coventry.

Thanks for that reference.

Could it have returned via the Maidenhead to High Wycombe line?

 

Cheers

Paul

[Norton961]

Also try The Railway Observer they make interesting reading.

 

 

[DCB]

Your chosen piece of line is just a bit too far east, West of Reading on the way to Didcot there were Southern turns every day and West and north of Didcot ER ex GC turns every day.

The last GWR main line steam turns I believe were Poole - York trains with Banbury Black 5s in 1966.

[D9020 Nimbus]

There's a mention in Adrian Vaughan's Signalman's Morning of "City of Truro" deputising on a service train, but he was of course based west of Reading and I can't remember if he said where CoT took over.

[Steamport Southport]

Wasn't City Of Truro put in the pool with the rest of the locos and used on regular trains?

 

I'm pretty sure it was on the DNS railway and did what was normally a Mogul duty. That was one of the reasons it got renumbered back to 3440, as 3717 was already in use.

 

 

Jason

[The Stationmaster]

On 25/04/2019 at 12:20, DavidCBroad said:

Your chosen piece of line is just a bit too far east, West of Reading on the way to Didcot there were Southern turns every day and West and north of Didcot ER ex GC turns every day.

The last GWR main line steam turns I believe were Poole - York trains with Banbury Black 5s in 1966.

The Poole - York was normally worked by a (rebuil) Bulleid pacific south of Oxford in the final years.  However Black 5s andf 8Fs could occasionally be seen on through workings between Banbury and Basingstoke.

[DCB]

Just now, The Stationmaster said:

The Poole - York was normally worked by a (rebuil) Bulleid pacific south of Oxford in the final years.  However Black 5s andf 8Fs could occasionally be seen on through workings between Banbury and Basingstoke.

I thought engine changing at Oxford ended in 65 and the Banbury 5s then worked right through. 

[The Stationmaster]

13 minutes ago, DavidCBroad said:

I thought engine changing at Oxford ended in 65 and the Banbury 5s then worked right through. 

I definitely saw Bulleid pacifics south of Oxford later than that (and Black 5s earlier than 1965 although only running light as I'm fairly sure they were working unbalanced freights).

[pH]

I travelled on the York-Bournemouth from Banbury to Oxford in September 1965. The engine was 4920 of Barrow Road shed, which had replaced an EE Type3 at Banbury. There was no engine change at Oxford, and 4920 took the train on southwards.

 

In that same month, I saw 8F 48065 of Leicester shed bring a goods into Basingstoke from the Reading direction. If it had come all the way from Leicester, I would presume its most likely route would have been via Banbury and Oxford.