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On this day in history 6 9 1971


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Southall-Reading-Southall

D1018 D1059 D1060 D1070  1535 1589 1607 1609 1646 1656 1658 1662 1664 1912 1933 1934 1935 1956  3601 3947  D7007 D7026 D7053 D7065  DB975023

 

Reading 

D809 841 853 854  D1002 D1003 D1020 D1028 D1029 D1035 D1036 D1040 D1056 D1065 D1068  1533 1584 1588 1589 1591 1606 1607 1612 1637 1640 1651 1658 1662 1667 1669 1672 1674 1677 1680 1709 1751 1753 1755 1776 1864 1904 1938  3807 3953 3965 5535  6514 6534  D7033 D7049 D7065 D7100  1200  E6045

 

Neil.

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Those were the days, eh?! I was a semi-regular visitor to Reading from a year later to the end of the 1970s but don't recall ever seeing a Class 73 there so well done! 1200 was off the Paddington - Bristol runs by then so I just missed that. All four of those Warships were gone a month later, D809 being one of the last three still running in maroon. Actually your post reminded me that the first Hymek withdrawal, D7006, occurred 50 years ago this month - I've just checked and it was taken out of service on 2nd September 1971, so 50 years and 4 days ago. Hymeks were my favourite class so that was a black day. D7081 went next, on 11th September, then the rot really set in on 3rd October which saw a mass diesel-hydraulic cull of Warships (including all remaining Class 43s), Hymeks and Class 22s. DB975023 (ex-W55001) was carrying its corrected number by then, in August 1970 I saw it at Truro numbered DB975073 - this was an error as a Mark 1 coach had already been allocated this identity.

 

Here's what I recorded in Cornwall on 6/9/68, so 53 years ago today - I'll leave out the DMUs too, but I'm not going to attempt to put them in numerical order, this is an as-it-happened listing. There were some very noteworthy sightings.........

Truro - Par: D1933, D1022, D831, D1045, D802, D6319, D1073, D1033.

Par/St Blazey: D6330, D4008, D1642, D4007, D1044, D6318, D1070, D832, D827, D1021, D6307+D6309, D3524, D3497, D3452, D826, D6315, D1023, D845, D1039, D1030, D1592, D7009, D1019, D817, D3526, D3517.

D1642 would have been stabled prior to working the Par - Park Royal Freightliner. The two ex-Toton Class 10s, D3452/97, were a huge surprise inside St Blazey shed, we had no idea why they were there (I never did see the third one, D3476). The reason was purchase by English China Clays for shunting at Fowey Docks. D3452 is still in Cornwall of course, preserved on the Bodmin & Wenford Railway. Yes really, Hymek D7009! Something appeared to have gone awry because D1592 had headed a down ECS through Par not long before D7009 followed it down light engine displaying the 'Cornishman' headcode 1V70, itself an exceptionally rare duty for a Hymek, which were exceptionally rare locos in Cornwall at the time! No idea what happened to the train's passengers. Just to top it off I recall a Neptune System 4-wheel track recording vehicle bouncing through at some point, also heading west. Happy days!

Sorry, no sign of D860, but hopefully D826 will guarantee a thumbs-up from another member.........!:D

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2 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

You were lucky to see 6319 pottering about Neil as it was withdrawn that month, it had only been out of Swindon for twelve weeks!

 

 

 

Sorry Nidge, I've confused things a bit by kind of hijacking @D860 VICTORIOUS's thread and turning the clock back exactly 3 years - my apologies to him, perhaps I should have started a new one. So D6319 was still green, and I believe had not long arrived at Laira from Bath Road - I remember cycling down the hill towards Truro station that summer, seeing it in the yard and thinking, "With a white stripe that clean this one has to be a cop!"

I left school during its 12 weeks in blue and first saw it like this on Saturday 19/6/71 paired with 6330 also in 'final blue' on a Cardiff - Penzance working (1B34) which passed Truro at around 15.00. I photographed it there parked up on 8/7/71, you'll probably have seen that image somewhere by now.......

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Ah yes I see what I did there - was thinking of D860s date when I was replying to your post! I don't recall ever seeing any 22s turning a wheel but it's possible I just didn't notice, my first visit to Old Oak was in '71 so there may have been one or two knocking about. I did see several being cut up at Swindon though.

 

 

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Fascinating memories here, thanks for posting.

 

As a family we moved home during half term in October 1971 from Exeter to Weston-super-Mare.

In Exeter we had lived near Exmouth Junction, close enough to just see the Salisbury - Exeter line.

From the nearby playing field I copped many class 22s working the Chard Junction milk, also the Warships on the Waterloo services. In fact I saw all the class 22/42/43s that were still in service as listed in the Ian Allan book with the maroon Warship on the cover. I never did record any of the early withdrawals though, apart from the class 41 Warship at Barry.

 

cheers

Edited by Rivercider
clarification
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20 hours ago, Neil Phillips said:

Those were the days, eh?! I was a semi-regular visitor to Reading from a year later to the end of the 1970s but don't recall ever seeing a Class 73 there so well done! 1200 was off the Paddington - Bristol runs by then so I just missed that. All four of those Warships were gone a month later, D809 being one of the last three still running in maroon. Actually your post reminded me that the first Hymek withdrawal, D7006, occurred 50 years ago this month - I've just checked and it was taken out of service on 2nd September 1971, so 50 years and 4 days ago. Hymeks were my favourite class so that was a black day. D7081 went next, on 11th September, then the rot really set in on 3rd October which saw a mass diesel-hydraulic cull of Warships (including all remaining Class 43s), Hymeks and Class 22s. DB975023 (ex-W55001) was carrying its corrected number by then, in August 1970 I saw it at Truro numbered DB975073 - this was an error as a Mark 1 coach had already been allocated this identity.

 

Here's what I recorded in Cornwall on 6/9/68, so 53 years ago today - I'll leave out the DMUs too, but I'm not going to attempt to put them in numerical order, this is an as-it-happened listing. There were some very noteworthy sightings.........

Truro - Par: D1933, D1022, D831, D1045, D802, D6319, D1073, D1033.

Par/St Blazey: D6330, D4008, D1642, D4007, D1044, D6318, D1070, D832, D827, D1021, D6307+D6309, D3524, D3497, D3452, D826, D6315, D1023, D845, D1039, D1030, D1592, D7009, D1019, D817, D3526, D3517.

D1642 would have been stabled prior to working the Par - Park Royal Freightliner. The two ex-Toton Class 10s, D3452/97, were a huge surprise inside St Blazey shed, we had no idea why they were there (I never did see the third one, D3476). The reason was purchase by English China Clays for shunting at Fowey Docks. D3452 is still in Cornwall of course, preserved on the Bodmin & Wenford Railway. Yes really, Hymek D7009! Something appeared to have gone awry because D1592 had headed a down ECS through Par not long before D7009 followed it down light engine displaying the 'Cornishman' headcode 1V70, itself an exceptionally rare duty for a Hymek, which were exceptionally rare locos in Cornwall at the time! No idea what happened to the train's passengers. Just to top it off I recall a Neptune System 4-wheel track recording vehicle bouncing through at some point, also heading west. Happy days!

Sorry, no sign of D860, but hopefully D826 will guarantee a thumbs-up from another member.........!:D

Spot on, thank you kindly 860, and what a list of locos there.    I wonder if 826s paint was on the way to being the tatty battered, but gorgeous machine it was prior to its Laira repaint.

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HI Neil,Rugd1022,Rivercider and D826,

I think a bit of confusion has crept in here,might have something to do with two of us being Neil!

Neil,coincidentally,I started spotting at Southall in 1968,so I had Falcon underlined as D0280,and I can recall seeing paired-up  Warships racing through,though only in the down direction,Warships were my favourite loco's right from the start,and still are.The 81A NB2's were of course often seen.

As regards the notes of Reading,I can't recall what the 73 was doing there,but IIRC the 33's worked the Weymouth/Poole cross countries to Reading and return.I did post some Class 43 info in the DH section some time ago,and just to reiterate,D809 in it's rather weather-beaten maroon was working 6A27 that day,a fabulous memory.

As you point out,the Hymek cull had started, I had seen D7006 on a freight at Clapham Jct in the August,and I think D7081 was the first to actually be taken out of service due to fire damage,I have it noted at OOC in the August,I'm guessing it was stored by then.I managed to see all of the Hymeks,by the skin of my teeth,and I'm fortunate to own a set of numbers from D7069.Also,you've identified what the DB975023 was,I couldn't remember! As has been said on here before,the Autumn cull of DH loco's was surely implemented too rashly.

 

Great notes from your day at Truro,I would have copped a few there! The Par-Park Royal Freightliner is of interest to me,I have an Exe Rail print of a 47 at Newton Abbot on this service.Also,I worked in Park Royal back in the day,and remember the Goods Depot still standing,even though I had lost my rail interest at the time,however I digress...

Me and my mate eat our sarnies in the cab of 6319 at Marsh Jct in around October 72,the only loco still there,what an appalling loss that loco was.Oh,and just noticed the reference to D860,probably my fave 43,and,as well as Champion,there were THREE other mfye Warships at  the end D815,D817 and D838,perhaps I misunderstood your wording.

So,thanks for all your replies and combined memories,from a period in rail history we were fortunate to witness.

I know this forum isn't the place for moralising and philosophysing,but how different is the world we live in now....

 

Neil

 

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Hi Neil,

 

My interest started in 1966 centred on Truro (I actually lived in Playing Place, about 3 miles out on the A390 Falmouth Road - there's a reason for the odd name but here's not the place to go into that!) So I have all five D600 Warships underlined, as well as D6301, but only have a sharp memory of D600 Active in blue passing Penwithers Junction on a Saturday with an up freight. It was the last one of the five I needed to see. Naturally then I also saw pairs of D800 Warships, mostly on the up 'Cornish Riviera Express'. (I only have scant scribbled notes for 1967 and got better organised from June 1968 - the Ian Allan Locolog books helped there but I filled them up too quickly so switched to those small cash books. I stopped recording numbers at the end of 1990 but still have every notebook in between. So many people now regret chucking theirs away but that was never an option for me, they are my personal historical documents!) I managed to see Falcon as D0280 once, at Exeter 23/5/69........that was a totally unexpected monster cop and a masterly piece of coincidental timing!

From September 1972 until July 1977 I was based in Swindon and every 5-6 weeks would hop on the train to Reading, and from there travel via 3R 'Tadpole' unit down the Redhill line as far as Blackwater where I stayed the weekend with relatives. Many a Saturday trip into London Waterloo from Camberley was undertaken to 'do' the stations and depots, but sometimes I would just head back to Reading for the day, and the train was often formed of a Class 33 with 3 or 4 Mark 1s - so the 'Tadpoles' were not 100% in charge on the route.

Sadly I missed out on just two Hymeks, D7071 & D7079. It could easily have been worse, there were quite a number I only saw once. I scored 41 out of 58 Class 22s - it was generally the 81A higher numbered ones withdrawn in 1968 which escaped me. Like the D600s the first six, D6300-5, were easily cornered in Cornwall!

I have two b&w photos of Class 47s - 1589 & 1640 - about to couple up to the Freightliner at Par but never thought to capture the whole train in its siding alongside the station...........sadly, half a century later it appears nobody else did either! (Or the Hymeks on the Kensington Olympia - St Austell Motorail during high summer 1970/71, the loco spending all day stabled on St Blazey, but that's the subject of another thread!)

 

I didn't mention D838 because it had been withdrawn the previous March so didn't make it through the summer to the 3rd October cull, unlike the three Class 42s. Considering it had been outshopped in sparkling MFYE livery in early September 1968 D838 could perhaps have lasted that long. Although it was only possible to see 6319 in blue livery during 1971, it wasn't the only one - 861 Vigilant previously MSYP was outshopped in blue 8/3/71 and ran for less than 7 months in this livery. Last Class 43 repaint into final blue of all 835 Pegasus released 8/4/71 was one month less, although it had carried an earlier version of blue beforehand. In many ways the repainting of Warships seems almost nonsensical - so many received two coats of blue during overhauls (820 got three!) so how on earth did 809/15/17 manage to reach October 1971 still in maroon?! One could also wonder why only one of the eight 1970/71 Class 22 overhauls (6338) was amongst the four final survivors, the other three having been last overhauled in 1967.......

 

One sign that the DH cull may have happened too quickly became evident in Cornwall in the autumn of 1971 when the first Class 25 arrivals proved to be in such poor condition (the LMR was never going to release its best locos, was it?!) that 6330 and D6334 were still visiting Truro Yard up to two weeks after they'd been 'officially' withdrawn in that 3rd October cull!

 

Yes, I absolutely agree we were very lucky to have witnessed the diesel- hydraulics' relatively short tenure on the Western Region, and to be honest all of the other First Generation classes too. We were spoilt to the extent that I personally can't summon much interest in the current scene. Unless a pair of Class 47s are due on a special :good:!

 

The Other Neil

Edited by Neil Phillips
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Looking back it's astonishing how concentrated a time span the Hydraulics had and how many times some of them went through Swindon for overhaul at great expense, only to to be put in store or withdrawn after a very short time back in traffic. To put it into context, over roughly the same time span the current fleet of class 66s has barely seen the inside of a workshop to the same extent, if at all. Some have had livery changes and a lick of paint here and there, but nowhere near as many times as the Hydraulics.

 

All this Hydraulic nostalgia is making me want to build a proper WR layout, but I just don't have the room, even for a reasonably sized N gauge affair!

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Great to see the nostalgic info in this thread - it really takes you back to the era. 
 

Regarding W55001, I recorded it at Bristol Temple Meads as a passenger unit (in BFYE) in April 1968 and then at Cardiff Canton as DB975073 on 21/7/69. I knew it was previously W55001 because you could see the number through the paint at that time! 
 

Any visit to the West Country for an outsider truly was like visiting a different railway in 1967/8 - during a two week holiday at Teignmouth in the summer of 1967, no Peaks were recorded and only a couple of class 47s - everything (passenger wise) was in the hands of Westerns, Warships, D63xx (class 2 trains), or DMUs. No Hymeks either (though I had seen one or two of them in Cornwall in 1965). For a West Midlands based trainspotter, this was absolute heaven - although we had started to see exotic NBL Warships when they were allocated to the Birmingham New St to Paddington passenger services from 1967 - they only lasted about a year on those services but were regulars at both Tyseley and Bescot (some got allocated to D02 temporarily - possibly for crew training?) - and running light to and from them. It was quite a shocking sight to see a couple of class 43s at Old Oak Common with nameplates missing and withdrawn (1969 I think - some of the withdrawals got reinstated for a while). 
 

1971 appears to have been the subject of a significant redeployment of ‘standard’ motive power to replace not only Warships, D63xx and Hymeks on the WR - but also class 29 and 17 in Scotland.  


My information at the time came from Railway Magazine - there was also Modern Railways though that contained a proportion of very technical articles! I seem to recall Railway World to be quite steam orientated though. The main fact with motive power changes was it was often a couple of months in arrears (owing to the publication delay) so it was often a case of fingers crossed you’re in time if chasing specific items. If only I’d known about the RCTS Railway Observer at the time - we did get good info via the magazine of the loco society we joined in mid teens - some of their organised shed bash extravaganzas were sometimes a little hair raising looking back - not least the coach journeys in between each shed!!! I vividly recall on a London area trip, Hither Green (and Stewarts Lane) providing the dubious new attraction of 3rd rail electric lines to avoid treading on…and being confronted with the grounded body of 15213 next to the entrance road (vehicular) at Hither Green. 

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11 hours ago, br2975 said:

How we used to get the news....... a couple of months later

.

As reported in Railway World, December 1971

.

Brian R

Railway World-1971-December.jpg

 

Many thanks Brian, a reminder that I used to plough through these lists every month updating my latest Ian Allan allocations booklet - in pencil obviously as locos could move on again the following month! Surely I wasn't the only one....?! I still have these too (1968-76).

 

Notable - Oct 16: 1936-82A, presumably after being fitted with ETH (the only green 47/4 the WR ever had). 5180-84A, the first 25 into Cornwall 30/7/71, but allocated to 86B at the time. Now it was official! 5809/12-82A, these were the first 31s to reach the WR following 5528/30/5/6/9 to 81A Nov/Dec 1968 for Padd ECS work, both were green and 5809 was the only one the WR received still with block serif numbers and lion & wheel emblems. 6319 & 7006/81 to store 16/10? - officially maybe, but as already mentioned 7006 went 2/9 and 6319/7081 both 11/9 (I cabbed 6319 on the Laira scrapline on that day. Sad loss.) 29 Warships withdrawn on a single day, shocking. And the famous Class 29 'prototype' 6123.......I really must finish my model of that one!

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12 hours ago, br2975 said:

And, as a follow up to my previous post....

.

As reported in Railway World, January 1972.

.

Brian R

Railway World-1972-January.jpg

Railway World-1972-January-2.jpg

 

More nostalgia to work through! Interesting to note both 8000 and 5000 moving to the ScR within a week of each other (I had scored 8000 at Derby coupled to 8063 on 4/11/69, one of the very first 20s I ever saw; 5000 was different, I caught that as 24005 just before Swindon Works demolished it!) 8000 had still been GSYP in June 1971, I wonder if was still like this when it reached Scotland?

Looks like the Locomotives Withdrawn list wiped out Classes 29, 17 & 12. Oh no, and there goes D826 Jupiter.....somebody's going to be upset! (OK, it's been gone for half a century now, let's compose ourselves :mosking:!)

Was the state of the nine ex-LMR 25s the reason why 6336/9 were withdrawn then immediately reinstated? Of these, only 7656 had been repainted into blue - 7573/4/5/7 were all GFYE, 7657 was still GSYP (the WR's only such example) and 7675/6/7 were still in their original as-built early blue style.

Error spotted in the text - "five BR/Sulzer Class 45s from the Eastern Region" - 184/5/6/8/9 were Class 46. AFAIK the only 45s the WR ever had were 34-42 in the early 1960s.

I visited Bristol St Philips Marsh on a dismal 27/11/71 and there were 36 withdrawn hydraulics dumped there. Around a year later 6319 was alone there, we know the reason but in the end it counted for nothing......

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2 hours ago, MidlandRed said:

Great to see the nostalgic info in this thread - it really takes you back to the era. 
 

Regarding W55001, I recorded it at Bristol Temple Meads as a passenger unit (in BFYE) in April 1968 and then at Cardiff Canton as DB975073 on 21/7/69. I knew it was previously W55001 because you could see the number through the paint at that time! 
 

Any visit to the West Country for an outsider truly was like visiting a different railway in 1967/8 - during a two week holiday at Teignmouth in the summer of 1967, no Peaks were recorded and only a couple of class 47s - everything (passenger wise) was in the hands of Westerns, Warships, D63xx (class 2 trains), or DMUs. No Hymeks either (though I had seen one or two of them in Cornwall in 1965). For a West Midlands based trainspotter, this was absolute heaven - although we had started to see exotic NBL Warships when they were allocated to the Birmingham New St to Paddington passenger services from 1967 - they only lasted about a year on those services but were regulars at both Tyseley and Bescot (some got allocated to D02 temporarily - possibly for crew training?) - and running light to and from them. It was quite a shocking sight to see a couple of class 43s at Old Oak Common with nameplates missing and withdrawn (1969 I think - some of the withdrawals got reinstated for a while). 
 

1971 appears to have been the subject of a significant redeployment of ‘standard’ motive power to replace not only Warships, D63xx and Hymeks on the WR - but also class 29 and 17 in Scotland.  


My information at the time came from Railway Magazine - there was also Modern Railways though that contained a proportion of very technical articles! I seem to recall Railway World to be quite steam orientated though. The main fact with motive power changes was it was often a couple of months in arrears (owing to the publication delay) so it was often a case of fingers crossed you’re in time if chasing specific items. If only I’d known about the RCTS Railway Observer at the time - we did get good info via the magazine of the loco society we joined in mid teens - some of their organised shed bash extravaganzas were sometimes a little hair raising looking back - not least the coach journeys in between each shed!!! I vividly recall on a London area trip, Hither Green (and Stewarts Lane) providing the dubious new attraction of 3rd rail electric lines to avoid treading on…and being confronted with the grounded body of 15213 next to the entrance road (vehicular) at Hither Green. 

 

Yes, quite right about DB975073's old number W55001 being visible through the paint, same here!

Like you I also read Railway Magazine, not the others for the very same reasons you mention. The publication delay was a little frustrating but back then it was the best the photographic reproduction and printing technology could offer and we just had to live with it. 

Poor old 15213 - not in the usual condition for a 'gate guardian' then!!

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As Neil mentioned above.....the end of July 1971 saw the Class 25's make their first appearances in the West Country, to replace the NBL Class 22's

similar in nature to their introduction to the South Wales area during December 1970.

.

On July 30th 5180 was noted arriving at St Blazey, followed by 5179 on August 19th, bound for Laira.

.

With these machines, and later 5181 and 7657 (the latter arriving at Newton Abbot on September 3rd) crew training commenced.

.

There still remained thirteen Class 22's 6308/19/22/26/30/33/34/36-39/43/56 with ten diagrams to cover.

.

The St Blazey turns visited St Dennis Junction and the Retew branch, Tavistock Jcn and Boscarne, Goonbarrow Jcn, Drinnick Mill and Lostwithiel and the Truro area.

.

Laira turns went to Keyham and Liskeard, Plymstock and lastly Devonport. The Newton Abbot locomotive visited Heathfield and Stoneycombe.

.

Exeter turns went out to Barnstaple Junction and Torrington, Tiverton Junction, Hemyock and Chard Junction.

The last turn ran out to Okehampton. A number of these turns were not daily.

Edited by br2975
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A few days earlier, on Thursday 2nd. September, 1971, I did a Cardiff – Swansea trip, to try and clear my remaining couple of Landore shunters.

.

The day went like this;

.

Cardiff General

54, 159,

1029, 1047 (hauled),

1913, 1990,

3257, 3357, 4019,

6971, 6975,

7044, 7086,

(50668+59275+50721), (51052+59292+51080),

Cardiff Canton 86A

54, 75, 143,

1662, 1730, 1911, 1933, 1935,

6908,

7063, 7077, 7079, 7097, 7098,

Ninian Park / Leckwith Loop

7064,

Llantrisant

3423,

6921,

Margam

16, 158,

6980,

7068,

Port Talbot

3431, 3824,

6944, 6954,

Briton Ferry

159,

3432,

Swansea

4126, 4128, 4174,

W80970W

Landore 87A

1009, 1013, 1031, 1045, 1061, 1062, 1066,

1587, 1599, 1600, 1604, 1610, 1615, 1661, 1665, 1718, 1923,

2087, 2120, 2122, 2142, 2144, 2145,

3823, 3986, 4174,

6891,

Swansea – Cardiff

Swansea

1037, 1047,

1605 (hauled),

(50090+50132), Canton's only Derby twin-set, diagrammed / used on Swansea - Carmarthen turns.

Briton Ferry

163,

BSC Abbey Works, Port Talbot

502, 503, 905, 906, 951, 979,

Margam

158,

1612, 1616,

3437,

6941, 6980,

NCBOE Llanharan

75006 – Hunslet 18” 0-6-0ST.

St. Fagans

1654,

Cardiff Canton 86A

54,

1647, 1919, 1927, 1935,

3747, 3819,

6605, 6886, 6978, 6986,

7093, 7097,

Cardiff General

97, 131,

1598, 1616, 1924,

7657

.

Brian R

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1 hour ago, Neil Phillips said:

 

More nostalgia to work through! Interesting to note both 8000 and 5000 moving to the ScR within a week of each other (I had scored 8000 at Derby coupled to 8063 on 4/11/69, one of the very first 20s I ever saw; 5000 was different, I caught that as 24005 just before Swindon Works demolished it!) 8000 had still been GSYP in June 1971, I wonder if was still like this when it reached Scotland?

Looks like the Locomotives Withdrawn list wiped out Classes 29, 17 & 12. Oh no, and there goes D826 Jupiter.....somebody's going to be upset! (OK, it's been gone for half a century now, let's compose ourselves :mosking:!)

Was the state of the nine ex-LMR 25s the reason why 6336/9 were withdrawn then immediately reinstated? Of these, only 7656 had been repainted into blue - 7573/4/5/7 were all GFYE, 7657 was still GSYP (the WR's only such example) and 7675/6/7 were still in their original as-built early blue style.

Error spotted in the text - "five BR/Sulzer Class 45s from the Eastern Region" - 184/5/6/8/9 were Class 46. AFAIK the only 45s the WR ever had were 34-42 in the early 1960s.

I visited Bristol St Philips Marsh on a dismal 27/11/71 and there were 36 withdrawn hydraulics dumped there. Around a year later 6319 was alone there, we know the reason but in the end it counted for nothing......

Oh no chaps, there she goes off to the dump.  

 

Poor old Jupiter, that Laira repaint could've lasted another 2 or 3 years.

 

I love all this nostalgia- shame we're not round a table in a quiet pub - a virtual cheers to you all.

 

Sounds daft, but the other elements of railway rolling stock that are indelibly etched in my memory and promote happy memories are images of Siphon Gs, 6 wheel milk tanks, motorrail trains with the flats and coaches together, and clayhoods/flat tarp clays with roller bearings on the clay liner. Lower quadrants at Exeter down west too.   I can still hear the signal wires twang and hear the lower quadrant outside Kennaway tunnel bouncing a millisecond later in my minds ear. I loved that bloody signal and its sighting board - no idea why, but with the pegs you could see what was happening for a long way whether you were in front or behind them. I spent so much time on that footbridge outside Kennaway.  Hearing the muffled approach of an up train and then it bursting out on the line next to Marine Parade - we were spoilt for variety.

 

There goes another pint. I'll naff off as I'm getting very "jumpers for goalposts" -  My round - cheers.

 

Matt W

Edited by D826
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Neil, Brian, Nidge, Midland Red, and D826. 

 

Firstly Neil, D600 Active in blue near Truro on a Saturday freight!   Not something you would see in West Middlesex.

 

I used to take my Ian Allen ABC to Southall and underline stuff as it came through.  I have some of my notebooks, as you say, historically and personally very important.  Seeing D0280 at Exeter must have made you wonder if you were imagining things.  My mate has either a slide or photo of Falcon at Dawlish (I think) in 1969, could be the same occasion.  Reading was a great place for spotting back then.  

 

Now Neil, far be it for me to add to your Hymek woe, but on two separate occasions in April 1972, I have D7071 and D7079 logged at OOC, in store I think.  I had the same scenario with Hymeks, copped a couple at Canton that I never saw again.      Only 22 NB 2 's seen by me, way below your total.  I think I have seen a published photo of a Western on the Par - Park Royal freightliner, and one of the magazines had a Hymek feature giving details of the Kensington - St Austell Motorail on th eight or so occasions Hymek worked it in summer 1971.

 

Rapid was the Warship that myself and my mates thought we had missed but maybe being an early withdrawal dictated it's position in the Con Yard at Swindon, a greart cop for us.  My (fading) memories of 43's in 1971 are how tidy some looked, as you say some were overhauled and just months later cast aside, BR were good at wasting money back then.  Yes, all of the first generation classes are interesting now....   Brian's copies of "loco stock changes" take you back, up to date info just wasn't available.   And Nidge, I echo your thoughts on a layout, maybe one day.     Good stuff from Midland Red too and, D826's thoughts of masses of nostalgia over a few pints is most pleasant!  "Jumpers for Goalposts" - while playing "three and in"......   thank you all for sharing your memories , time machine becoming every more necessary.

 

Neil

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3 hours ago, D860 VICTORIOUS said:

 

 

................................I have some of my notebooks, as you say, historically and personally very important.  Seeing D0280 at Exeter must have made you wonder if you were imagining things.  My mate has either a slide or photo of Falcon at Dawlish (I think) in 1969, could be the same occasion.  Reading was a great place for spotting back then.  ..

.

 

 'Falcon' was diagrammed for a summer dated, Saturdays only working from Bristol - Paignton, where the loco would lay over during the afternoon before working the balancing trip back to Bristol. Apparently this was not a popular diagram as only Bath Road men were trained on 'Falcon' and then only a few links.

.

Brian R

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5 hours ago, D860 VICTORIOUS said:

Seeing D0280 at Exeter must have made you wonder if you were imagining things.  My mate has either a slide or photo of Falcon at Dawlish (I think) in 1969, could be the same occasion.  Reading was a great place for spotting back then.  

 

Now Neil, far be it for me to add to your Hymek woe, but on two separate occasions in April 1972, I have D7071 and D7079 logged at OOC, in store I think. 

 

1 hour ago, br2975 said:

 

 'Falcon' was diagrammed for a summer dated, Saturdays only working from Bristol - Paignton, where the loco would lay over during the afternoon before working the balancing trip back to Bristol. Apparently this was not a popular diagram as only Bath Road men were trained on 'Falcon' and then only a few links.

.

Brian R

 

We were bowling along behind D821 Greyhound between Exeter and Taunton on 23/5/69 when we were passed by Falcon heading west. We had intended to see a Peak diagrammed to reach Taunton but as soon as we got there we caught the next train back to Exeter to catch Falcon on its return. I don't know what its down headcode was but the up was 1E50, from memory a Paignton to Sheffield relief. The later Bristol - Paignton return workings I believe were all 1Z17.

 

Woe indeed, but I was in no position to visit OOC in April 1972, where D7071/9 would have been stored following withdrawal. I did reach Cardiff though, on 4/4/72 - quite a day out from Truro - and copped D7021/64/67 stored at Bristol SPM and a still active D7092 at Canton. These four are amongst those I only saw once. D6500 at Exeter on the way home was a nice surprise.

 

Fifteen days after my Cardiff day out I managed to score D7032 from Truro to Penzance, as far as anyone knows the last time a Hymek was seen there. My b&w photo of '32 on the blocks at the end of the line has been published three times I can think of......... It was withdrawn one year and one day later, on the face of it prematurely as it had only received a general and repaint into blue at Swindon in August 1971, so only carried blue for around 20 months. I assume it had suffered failure of a major component.

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Coincidence ? - On 4th. April, 1972 I did a Cardiff - Swindon 'Footex' with the intention of seeing my last Warship, ( 828 'Magnificent' ) which was allegedly on 'the dump'.

.

If it was, I didn't see it, and the gap in my combines and locoshed books remains.

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Power for the 'Footex' was provided by steam heat (D)6885.

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Laid out below is a record of what I saw on that afternoon / evening.

I must have spent some time on Cardiff General before the trip, as several locos were seen twice.

.

Note,

1200 'Falcon' was outside Swindon Works,

7097 & 7099 were the only working Hymeks seen.

.

Brian R.

 

 

image.png.9c2467f2077a83d2fbb46f38644aaf9f.png

 

Edited by br2975
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