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Era 5 diesel Stafford/Shrewsbury/Wolves


MartynA
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I am looking to get a diesel to run passenger services with my era5 midland area theme. I specifically would like a loco that ran Stafford to Shrewsbury via (what is now) Telford but I’m struggling to get any prototype information or pictures.  I have lovely images of Britannias and Jubilees with three coach trains and a Duchess on a goods train but nothing for early diesel power. Could someone please give me an idea what may be suitable? Thanks as always! 

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The line between Stafford and Wellington closed to passengers in 1964, so not much in the way of diesel loco hauled passenger trains ever happened - in my memory 2-6-4 tanks were the favourite passenger power up to the end for those trains that went through to Shrewsbury. Now Wellington to Shrewsbury was and is a very different matter.  Because up to 1967 this was part of the Paddington-Birkenhead main line which was late in the dieselisation queue, you'd see first Westerns, and then Class 47s on passenger turns, although many services were steam hauled north of Wolverhampton, initially with assorted GW 4-6-0s, and later with Black 5s, and the services that didn't work to or from Paddington were mostly DMU.

Turning to freight, the line from Stafford to Wellington closed to through freights in 1966 as the section at the Stafford end closed completely. Again, that meant there was little diesel freight in the days of a through service as steam was still used, what there was would probably have seen Class 24s and 25s. Once the route became a freight branch, worked from the Wellington end, and progressively cut back nearer and nearer to Wellington, Bescot area allocated 24s and 25s would again have been the power after steam ended. The Wellington to Shrewsbury section saw these too, of course, but also 40s and 47s. Really these classes were all that were allocated in the area and all that drivers were trained on in your era, apart possibly from Class 20s. During the period before Shrewsbury to Wellington passed to LMR control Hymeks worked some through freights on that section, and I've seen a picture of a Warship on one too.

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BR Sulzer type 2 - later class 24/25 - certainly chimes with mythical prototypical operations

 

For a Type 4 you wouldn't go wrong with an EE type 4 - later class 40 - as they were being cascaded from front line services at this time by the arrival of Brush 4s which were probably more WCML locos in the LM Western Division in your time frame.

 

Cheers

 

 

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I have a number of books on railways in the Stafford area which feature the Stafford-Wellington line. None of them feature any diesel power. Quite a variety of steam in addition to the ones mentioned by the OP, including Black 5, Jubilee, Stanier Mogul, 8F and BR Standard 4 and 5. A report on the last official passenger working (steam) through Gnosall references "a diesel" stopping for a photo call by the Stafford Newsletter the following day: http://www.gnosallhistory.co.uk/railway.htm but I can't find those photos anywhere.

 

The only diesel picture I have found is the last train to leave Newport goods yard in 1968 - a Brush 4/Class 47 from this Shropshire Star article: https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/nostalgia/2017/03/30/last-train-marked-end-of-an-era/

 

This old cine film shows the stretch between Stafford and Wellington but again all steam. A DMU is seen briefly, lurking alongside the steam shed at Stafford but I think these were used on Stoke and Manchester services.

 

 

 

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As has been said, the Stafford to Wellington line closed whilst still steam operated, possibly from the Stafford end. There is a video on You Tube of a complete trip towards the end, and showing the various loco types encountered en route.

 

Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton was affected by a couple of key events, as well as the usual modernisation and Beeching issues - these are transfer of the WR route to the LMR in 1963 and full introduction of the WCML electrification through Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Bescot and to Walsall in March 1967.

 

For actual locos, Paddington to Birkenhead was dieselised with Western class diesels after the Kings allocated to Stafford Road were withdrawn - 1962. Any OOC allocated ones built up to late 63/early 64 were used - my limited personal experience included the low numbered ones (eg D1011). These were replaced by either brand new or almost new Brush Type 4s from 1964 - D1682-D1690, D1695/6 and various in the low D17xx (except 1702-6 - later ER class 48s), allocated to Oxley but OOC and other ones appeared - say up to D1757 - NB the several months old D1734 (Bristol Bath Road) came to grief adjacent to Coton Hill yard when it struck wagons derailed in the yard which fouled the main line - one of the D168x which was nearby in the yard was damaged also. D1734 was the shortest lived class 47 of all. Note there was still a lot of steam on freight on the ex WR Midland area lines in the mid 60s. Stanlow to Albion block oil trains were also run by Birkenhead 9Fs until the mid 60s when replaced by class 47s. 

 

DMUs from the usual Tyseley pool of class 116 (50050-79/85; and a handful of the ex Cardiff and Bristol ones) would have appeared along with class 122 (55002-10; also 12 and 13 at times, though odd ones of these seem to have been swapped to and fro with Laira) - after closure of Much Wenlock and the Severn Valley north of Bewdley, other than as additional power cars or replacement power cars in class 116, there doesn't appear to be any reason for these to have appeared. Class 128, 55992-55996 may also have appeared. All of these went from W to M prefix in 1963. Some 116 and 122 were still in that almost malachite green colour. 

 

Class 40 were prevalent in the Birmingham area (of the WMCL allocated batches - 210-236, 255, 267-9, 287-344, 369-384 or thereabouts - so all three headcode or not variants).

 

From March 1967, with full electrification of the WMCL routes through services from Wolverhampton Low Level to Birkenhead ceased - passenger trains generally terminated terminated at Wolv High Level - a batch of 3 car class 119 and 101 (the latter being the last 5 sets from the Lichfield - Birmingham line batch 50316-50320) were allocated to Chester for these services - they were all repainted (the 8 X 119s in blue/grey - 51085-87; 51099-51104 etc). 

 

Any Stoke or Birmingham Division class 24/25 may have appeared on freight/parcels but probably more likely after early 1967. Livery celebrities like D5021 and D5028, and some of the final batch eg D7670 and D7677 were regular performers on freight from Bescot. D5000-49, and 73-93 were Stoke Division from 1967/8. 5000 was stored after withdrawal at Shrewsbury. The local 47s and 24/25s are likely to have run any freight in the remaining bits of the Stafford line. 

 

Until the later 60s, locos tended to remain in their allocated areas - however as the era wore on so the appearance of, for instance, ER class 47 became more regular, say at Bescot. 

 

Hope this helps you. 

Edited by MidlandRed
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I didn't mention other hydraulic types. These were definitely the exception rather than the rule but:-

 

Hymek - the Lickey bankers from the mid 60s were D7021-7025, with other ones occasionally until replaced by class 37. One of these performed daily on 3M02 parcels which went down through Bescot around 9 pm.

 

Warship - from mid 67 these were used on the New St to Paddington services. They were always class 43. They appeared to travel to Bescot, possibly for refuelling via Soho loop - my most memorable train spotting recollection is of D842 (maroon), D847 (bfyp) and D845 (green), as 0Z00 all under power passing from the Soho loop towards Bescot at Perry Barr North junction in October 67 - every visit to Bescot up to April 68 at least, shows one class 43 recorded. I doubt these ventured further north but you could certainly argue a borrowed loco (if passed for the route!!). They also appeared at Shrewsbury. 

Edited by MidlandRed
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2 hours ago, MidlandRed said:

I didn't mention other hydraulic types. These were definitely the exception rather than the rule but:-

 

Hymek - the Lickey bankers from the mid 60s were D7021-7024, with other ones occasionally until replaced by class 37. One of these performed daily on 3M02 parcels which went up through Bescot around 9 pm.

 

Warship - from mid 67 these were used on the New St to Paddington services. They were always class 43. They appeared to travel to Bescot, possibly for refuelling via Soho loop - my most memorable train spotting recollection is of D842 (maroon), D847 (bfyp) and D845 (green), as 0Z00 all under power passing from the Soho loop towards Bescot at Perry Barr North junction in October 67 - every visit to Bescot up to April 68 at least, shows one class 43 recorded. I doubt these ventured further north but you could certainly argue a borrowed loco (if passed for the route!!). They also appeared at Shrewsbury. 

 

The Bescot 43s had an occasional outing to Crewe and back as well as Shrewsbury in the '67 / '68 period, sometimes in daylight but so far no photos of this have been published.

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So hydraulics in the W mids...

 

Would you believe a Class 43 made it to Crewe as late as Summer 1971?

 

30th July 862 worked 1M36 Newton Abbot to Newton Le Willows motorail , returned south on 1V47 Manchester to Penzance as far as Plymouth.

 

And on the same day 854 also made it to BNS on a Paignton to Manchester relief. 

 

Warships getting to Brum via the Lickey or Kidderminster were not that rare - there was also 6M20 Worcester to BNS vans which could be either a Warship or Hymek - the loco then ran light to Proof House Junction prior to working 4V03 Curzon Street to Bristol vans, and a regular Sunday passenger working from Hereford with a 3 coach rake up the Lickey - dont know what that worked back.

 

The early Westerns were on cyclical 3 day diagrams from Laira when they started to work the Birkenhead trains - guess they would have been crewed by OOC and Stafford Road men when working to Salop?

 

Fascinating times!

 

Phil

 

 

 

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On 23/08/2019 at 06:29, Andy W said:

The line between Stafford and Wellington closed to passengers in 1964, so not much in the way of diesel loco hauled passenger trains ever happened - in my memory 2-6-4 tanks were the favourite passenger power up to the end for those trains that went through to Shrewsbury. 

If I remember rightly it was a few ( 3 or 4) of the last Fowler 2-6-4T's that were operating that service. I paid a successful visit to Stafford shed to see them.

Edited by bike2steam
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2 hours ago, Phil Bullock said:

So hydraulics in the W mids...

 

Would you believe a Class 43 made it to Crewe as late as Summer 1971?

 

30th July 862 worked 1M36 Newton Abbot to Newton Le Willows motorail , returned south on 1V47 Manchester to Penzance as far as Plymouth.

 

And on the same day 854 also made it to BNS on a Paignton to Manchester relief. 

 

Warships getting to Brum via the Lickey or Kidderminster were not that rare - there was also 6M20 Worcester to BNS vans which could be either a Warship or Hymek - the loco then ran light to Proof House Junction prior to working 4V03 Curzon Street to Bristol vans, and a regular Sunday passenger working from Hereford with a 3 coach rake up the Lickey - dont know what that worked back.

 

The early Westerns were on cyclical 3 day diagrams from Laira when they started to work the Birkenhead trains - guess they would have been crewed by OOC and Stafford Road men when working to Salop?

 

Fascinating times!

 

Phil

 

 

 

 

Old Oak men mainly Phil, with help from Tyseley and possibly Stafford Road men.

Edited by Rugd1022
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12 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

 

Old Oak men mainly Phil, with help from Tyseley and possibly Stafford Road men.

 

Cheers Nidge

 

we know Stafford Road men did at least some training on westerns...there’s the picture of Enterprise on the web on a training run to Stourbridge. But probably futile given the depot closed soon after the westerns arrived 

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This video is worth a watch. Again, mostly steam traction featured but note the post from Trevor Heath in the comments, talking about a parcels working 1966-67 at Wellington (Wellington Telford West as it was for a short time) under the charge of Brush Type 4s.

 

 

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On 24/08/2019 at 20:36, Rugd1022 said:

 

Old Oak men mainly Phil, with help from Tyseley and possibly Stafford Road men.

Old Oak and Stafford Road shared the jobs initially, plus Salop had a few turns on them as well Nidge.

Tyseley gained some work on them later - from early 63 from memory.

Incidentally although all the D10xx used were OOC engines, 8 were diagrammed as Stafford Rd engines (Turns 84A/2, 3A/B/C and 4A/B/C/D), and those were based on Oxley for fuel & inspection.

The SRD engines covered a couple of overnight freights and some parcels workings to Salop as well.

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I loved next to the line near Trench Crossing untill 1966 and diesels were extremel rare on the line between Stafford and Wellington. For a short time a diesel railcar set was used on the Stafford to Shrewsbury services but were replaced by the usual 3 coach trains hauled by the usual crowd of Shrewsbury’s and Stafford locos. Regarding the Fowler 2-6-4 tanks used on these services, the Stafford regulars were 42309, 42389 and 42400.

the only Diesel I saw was D5083 on the Irironbridge coal train.

 

David

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11 hours ago, Norton961 said:

I loved next to the line near Trench Crossing untill 1966 and diesels were extremel rare on the line between Stafford and Wellington. For a short time a diesel railcar set was used on the Stafford to Shrewsbury services but were replaced by the usual 3 coach trains hauled by the usual crowd of Shrewsbury’s and Stafford locos. Regarding the Fowler 2-6-4 tanks used on these services, the Stafford regulars were 42309, 42389 and 42400.

the only Diesel I saw was D5083 on the Irironbridge coal train.

 

David

 

Interesting. 

 

As this was an LMR service, the 3 car DMU was likely a BRCW (class 104), or maybe a Cravens (class 105), possibly based at Derby.  Most of the non-ex WR route LMR West Midlands DMUs were multiples of 2 cars (Ryecroft based) until the Black Country service closures in 1965, and electric local services (March 1967) - except Lichfield to Redditch had 3 car (class 101). The Birmingham to Derby and Leicester local service DMUs tended to be 104 or 105 3 car sets based in the East Midlands. 

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Have now found the photo of the BRCW 2 car unit used for the Stafford - Shrewsbury for a short while in 1964, before it reverted to steam untill closure in September 1964. The photo is from Bob Yates book The Shropshire Union Railway by Oakwood Press, and the photographer is Michael Mensing. My understanding is the DMU was needed elsewhere so was transferred away and the service reverted to steam for the last few weeks of operation.

 The only other time diesels were seen my me on the line was the result of diversions. Around 1962/3 the West Coast main line between Crewe and Stafford was closed for a few hours so trains travelled Crewe, Market Drayton, Wellington and Stafford, so I saw and heard the thunder of a few class 40s, the rest of the expresses being steam.

 

David

1D2A97C8-4590-4EC0-B48E-13A274B51DC0.jpeg

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Fabulous - really interesting photo and we have a lot to thank Mike Mensing for, photographing these DMUs at a time when many enthusiasts spurned anything which didn't blow steam out, least of all DMUs, which saw off so much steam motive power.

 

Anyway this is almost certainly one of the 2 car BRCW M50532/M56175 - M50541/M56184 batch - I'd previously thought these had all been at Ryecroft (Walsall), 21F - but coutesy of the info on the excellent Railcar.co.uk, the gaps in underlining in my Combined Volume can now be explained by a couple of the sets being at Newton Heath/ Longsight from new - and several being at Stoke/Crewe South.

 

By probability, this could be M50537/M56180, which was at Stoke (5D) from 4/63 to 10/64, when it went on loan to Bletchley - returning to Stoke a few weeks later....though the dates don't quite match. 

 

Im pretty sure more were allocated to 21F and for a longer period than shown in the allocations on the railcar site - I'm guessing maybe the regions didn't record everything - there is no reason I'd have seen them otherwise on services like New St to Walsall via Sutton Park. 

 

The WMCL diversions were very interesting - diesel hauled expresses being about 100% class 40 - steam was much more varied but included Brits and (when diverted via Wolverhampton, Stetchford, Coventry) occassional Coronation Pacifics. I recall a couple of hours spent at Stafford station in this early 60s era, when a succession of southbound express passenger trains entered the station hauled by a class 81-85 electric, a class 40 and then 70048 - the Brit with the unfeasibly large nameplates!! Talk about variety!! Maybe that's where I saw some of the 5B/5D DMUs underlined also. 

Edited by MidlandRed
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  • 2 weeks later...

On the strength of @Norton961 's post, I ordered myself a copy of the book. I know the area very well and have walked and cycled the Stafford-Newport stretch on many occasions, as it's now the Stafford to Newport Greenway part of Sustrans Route 55. https://www.enjoystaffordshire.com/things-to-do/stafford-to-newport-greenway-p740641

 

I hadn't appreciated the variety of motive power that appeared on the line. I knew it was home to some of the last Fowler 2-6-4Ts and appearances by Pacifics towards the end of steam, but the book reveals even in LMS days there was quite a selection. I'd always thought of the line as something of a rural branch, but connecting two important centres like Stafford and Shrewsbury meant some interesting trains could appear - particularly on freight or diversions.

 

Which has set me thinking...

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The Stafford - Shrewsbury workings could not only see the usual Stafford and Shrewsbury locos ( Standard 5s, B5s, Fowler and Ivatt 2-6-4 tanks) but was used by Shrewsbury shed for “ fill in turns” so Edge Hill rebuilt Class 7s ( Re built Patriots and Re built Scots) having arrived at Shrewsbury with services from Crewe going on to the south, would come off the train at Shrewsbury ( having handed over to a GW region loco) and then be used by Shrewsbury for a return trip to Stafford on the stopper) before working back towards Crewe later in the day with an express having taken over from a GW region loco. When I moved to Trench In 1961 I saw most of Edge Hills Class 7s in the space of a few weeks. I trVelled behind a number of re built Scots from Crewe North as well (46148 being one).

There was also an evening freight around 4.30 which called in the MOD depot at Donnington and this would have a variety of motive power, including most of the Jubilees re allocated to Burton on Trent shed as well as 46155 The Lancer (Crewe North Re built Scot) and a Llandudno B5.

There are lots of details in my book from Crowood Press.

 

David

3B3B9E16-58BA-49CB-B8A0-C5B13AC31212.jpeg

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