Chris T's photo archives

[Chris Turnbull]

A few miles south of Newcastle lies the cathedral city of Durham.  Once home to three stations Elvet and Gilesgate had lost their passenger services many years previously although freight lingered on until 1954 and 1966 respectively.  By the time these photographs were taken on 30th August 1969 there was but one station - Durham - sited on the ECML.

 

 

In this first photograph we see Class 45 No, 109 on an Up passenger

 

 

This is "Deltic" Class 55 No. 9008 "The Green Howards" crossing the viaduct south of the station on a Down passenger.

 

 

This shot of Class 37 No. 6769 gives a good indication of the position of the station overlooking the city

 

 

Taken on the station this is another "Deltic" Class 55 No. 9011 "The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers" on a Down passenger.

 

If I've got my "Up" and "Down" trains the wrong way round, I apologise in advance.  I am sure someone will let me know very quickly!

 

Thanks to Jonny777 for his help again.

 

Chris Turnbull

Edited May 18, 2022 by Chris Turnbull

[Porcy Mane]

Up & Down is spot on. Durham was a far better station when four tracks ran through...

 

Smashing pics btw. That looks like the Heaton to Eastgate cement probably running via Darlington when you took the phot.

Is the head-code readable on the original please?

 

Porcy

 

 

Edited December 17, 2014 by Porcy Mane

[Chris Turnbull]

Smashing pics btw. That looks like the Heaton to Eastgate cement probably running via Darlington when you took the phot.

Is the head-code readable on the original please?

 

I've scanned it in at a much higher resolution (giving a far greater size than RMWeb will take) and it looks like 6K21.  Would that be right?  If not let me know and I'll dig out my old colour slide viewer.

 

Chris 

[russ p]

Up & Down is spot on. Durham was a far better station when four tracks ran through...

 

Smashing pics btw. That looks like the Heaton to Eastgate cement probably running via Darlington when you took the phot.

Is the head-code readable on the original please?

 

Porcy

It would have to go via Darlington by then as the Reilly mill to bishop Auckland line was closed in 68. If it was now they would send it round the houses is still in ton and eaglescliffe as companies seem scared of shunting and run rounds

[Chris Turnbull]

On 9th September 1973 I paid the first of many visits to the Severn Valley Railway.  At that time it only ran between Bridgnorth and Hampton Loade, if I remember correctly, but nevertheless was on its way to becoming the first-class railway it is today.

 

 

This is one of the locomotives in steam that day at Bidgnorth, Collett 2251 Class 0-6-0 No. 3205 looking more spick and span than she had probably looked since she was last overhauled.

 

 

And this is the other locomotive, Gresley Class K4 No. 61994 "The Great Marquess" repainted as LNER No. 3442. 

 

 

Here we are on the train leaving Bridgnorth with 3205 at the head.  

 

 

This is the goods yard at Bridgnorth...

 

 

...and this is the view from the footbridge looking towards Hampton Loade.

 

Usual thanks to Jonny777

 

Chris Turnbull

Edited May 18, 2022 by Chris Turnbull

[Chris Turnbull]

We've had a lot of the East Coast Main Line recently so, to show there's no favouritism, this evening we pay a visit to the West Coast Main Line.  All photographs were taken on 22nd June 1978.

 

 

This is Bolton-le-Sands, just south of Carnforth, where we see 87020.  Things had changed since 1968!

 

 

Still at Bolton-le-Sands this is what I have helpfully called an "unidentified electric".  I think it's a Class 86 but am I right?

 

 

Moving south of Lancaster now, my notes are more helpful; this is 85005

 

 

South of Lancaster still, here's a panoramic shot of the lovely Lancashire countryside.  Oh, and there's a WCML express speeding through it.

 

 

It wasn't all 100 m.p.h. electrics; this is 40175. 

 

 

Even a humble DMU got to run on the WCML occasionally, again south of Lancaster.

 

Thanks to Jonny777 as usual.

 

Chris Turnbull

 

 

Edited May 19, 2022 by Chris Turnbull

[keefer]

nice parcels train behind 85005 - wooden bodied ex-SR PMV behind the loco? (looks like there might be more than one in the train)

your unidentified electric is indeed an 86

 

as you say, it's a nice variety of trains - you'd be used to (sick of, probably) the expresses whooshing past but oh to have a 40 trundling through or a 1st gen DMU rattling past these days!

[Chris Turnbull]

In June 1978, ten years after my first visit to Carnforth (posts #288, #290 and #299), I paid a return visit by which time it was Steamtown Carnforth.  Many of the locomotives were painted in unauthentic and rather gaudy liveries as has already been mentioned but not all.

 

 

 

This is Class "LN" 30850 "Lord Nelson" now to be found on the Mid-Hants Railway according to Platform 5's "Preserved Locomotives of British Railways".

 

 

And here's Class B1 1306 "Mayflower" looking far better than she did in 1968.  I'm not sure what the industrial locomotive is but I'll bet someone can tell us.

 

 

Carnforth also had a number of Stanier Class 5s of which these are three.  It is always nice to see these grand old ladies looking like this especially since the other option would have been this...

 

 

...but I shall always remember them like this...

 

 

Class 8F No. 48765 at Hoghton in July 1968 with Class 7200 No. 7202 at Barry in August 1968 (above).

 

<Nostalgia mode OFF>

 

Thanks to Jonny777 again.

 

Chris Turnbull.

 

 

Edited May 19, 2022 by Chris Turnbull

[EddieB]

It seems that "2134" was also identified as No. 3 "CORONATION" at the time of that visit.  The loco is still at Carnforth, although it is now renamed back to "W.T.T", which was its identity at Carlisle Plaster & Cement Co., Cocklakes (and later, British Gypsum Ltd).  It's an 0-4-0ST, built by Andrew Barclay in 1942 (b/n 2134).

[Chris Turnbull]

Tonight we have a visit to Nottingham in the 1970s.

 

 

Here's Class 25 D5186 at Long Eaton on 16th December 1972

 

 

Class 08 3505 enters Nottingham Midland from the east on 21st March 1974.

 

 

On the same day at the west end of the station these are Class 25s D5225 and 25132 

 

 

Also on 21st March 1974, a pair of Class 20s pass through Nottingham Midland station; the first locomotive is 20170.  They have just passed under the bridge that carried the Great Central main line which had closed in the mid-60s but this section remained open as far as Hotchley Hill Sidings, mainly to serve the army ordnance and supply depot at Ruddington.      

 

 

This is Class 45 No. 38 reversing at Weekday Cross Junction on 1st May 1974 on its way to from Ruddington.  This section was to close later the same year when a new cord was opened connecting the GC line with the Midland main line at Loughborough.

 

 

The bridge over Nottingham Midland was removed some years later only to be rebuilt in 2013 to carry the southern extension of NET.  This is the station being remodelled on 27th July 2013 with the new bridge under construction overhead.

 

Thanks to Jonny777 as usual

 

Chris Turnbull

Edited May 19, 2022 by Chris Turnbull

[DaveF]

Those 70s photos are just how I remember Nottingham when I was visiting family around then.

 

I never did manage to get a photo of a diesel at Weekday Cross, I think yours is the first I've seen.

 

David

[LNERGE]

Those 70s photos are just how I remember Nottingham when I was visiting family around then.

 

I never did manage to get a photo of a diesel at Weekday Cross, I think yours is the first I've seen.

 

David

How did the train proceed to Ruddington? Was there somewhere to run round nearby?

[DaveF]

How did the train proceed to Ruddington? Was there somewhere to run round nearby?

 

I never saw a train on that bit of the GC during that time.  Such information as I have says that by 1968 there was only a single track headshunt in the tunnel to the north of Weekday Cross, which implies that there was no loop, so the loco would presumably have propelled the train to Ruddington.  The 1971 freight working timetable for the area state that workings to Ruddington were issued as Special Traffic Notices, I have never come across any of those.

 

 

My sectional appendix for the area was published after the Weekday Cross connection was closed, once the connection to the GC had been built at Loughborough

David

Edited December 23, 2014 by DaveF

[30851]

I would say that this is a train returning from Ruddington. Normally trains to and from Ruddington were propelled backwards between Trent Lane Jct and Weekday Cross. An example can be seen on the rcts mystery photo's site under G-241 - sorry embedding links doesn't seem to work for me! Of course - this could be an exception to the rule!

 

 

 

Rob

[Chris Turnbull]

I would say that this is a train returning from Ruddington. Normally trains to and from Ruddington were propelled backwards between Trent Lane Jct and Weekday Cross. An example can be seen on the rcts mystery photo's site under G-241 - sorry embedding links doesn't seem to work for me! Of course - this could be an exception to the rule!

 

You could well be right, the train could have been reversing to Trent Lane West Junction.  There was no run-round loop at Weekday Cross Junction so it would make more sense for it to be reversing when the photograph was taken.  My notes make no mention (I suppose it seemed obvious at the time) and after forty years I can't remember!

 

I've assumed you are correct and have changed the caption accordingly.  Many thanks.

 

Chris Turnbull

Edited December 24, 2014 by Chris Turnbull

[eastwestdivide]

I would say that this is a train returning from Ruddington. Normally trains to and from Ruddington were propelled backwards between Trent Lane Jct and Weekday Cross. An example can be seen on the rcts mystery photo's site under G-241 - sorry embedding links doesn't seem to work for me! Of course - this could be an exception to the rule!

 

Rob

RCTS mystery photo link: http://www.rcts.org.uk/features/mysteryphotos/index.htm?location=&srch=G-241&page=0

 

There's been lots of photos of Nottingham GC on that RCTS site in recent months, detailing the stages of demolition of the station as well as traffic elsewhere on the line.

[Chris Turnbull]

Since the Ruddington working has sparked so much interest, here's another photo of No. 38 either about to enter or just leaving Victoria Street tunnel.

 

 

Chris Turnbull

Edited May 19, 2022 by Chris Turnbull

[LNERGE]

Super pics. If you built a model railway with that track layout and operated it as such no one would believe you it was prototypical i'm sure.

 

There is very little out in the public domain about how these lines were operated once they'd shut for passenger traffic. I imagine in the first few months not a lot changed but the butchers would soon creep in to do away with signalling and recover reusable assets. There are some super shots on the RCTS site showing a completely bare Nottingham Victoria site with double track newly laid through. Was Weekday Cross box still open at this phase and to which boxes did it work to?

[Chris Turnbull]

Here's a part of the world that hasn't featured as yet in this thread - Bromsgrove on 8th March 1980.

 

 

 

Here we see Class 46 No. 46010 on a Down passenger.  At this time there was only one platform and all stopping Down trains had to cross over to the Up line and back again.  This was at the height of the BR rationalisation and could not have helped to improve track utilisation.  The famous Lickey Bank started just at the end of the platform and the gradient can clearly be seen in the track and the last few coaches of the train.

 

 

Class 47 No. 47035 passes Class 37 Nos. 37210 and 37206 that were acting as bankers that day.  March 8th was a Saturday when few freights were running so sadly I didn't see any banking being carried out whilst I was there.

 

 

Passing the Up sidings Class 47 No. 47123 is about to commence the ascent of the bank.

 

 

Taken from the bridge at the end of Railway Walk (what a great name for a road) Class 47 No. 47519 approaches Bromsgrove from the south with an Up express.

 

 

Finally here's a relatively new Class 253 No. 253003 passing the bankers having just descended the bank.

 

I don't have the expertise of David Ford to post a Christmas card on here but may I take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

 

Special thanks to Jonny777 for vetting all these colour slides as I am unable to do so.  There's still quite a few to go!

 

Season's Greetings

 

Chris Turnbull

 

 

Edited May 19, 2022 by Chris Turnbull

[JeffP]

Amazing weathering on those 37's...it's almost as if it's been sprayed on.

[Doncaster Green]

I am that man building a model of that area!   But when it was still a proper junction  so no dodgy workings - I hope!

 

Weekday Cross box had long gone by then - you can see the end wall of its base about level with the far end of the loco.   You can also just about see the slightly lighter brickwork in the parapet wall where the front of the box was.

 

Merry Christmas one and all

 

John

 

PS I meant to quote LNERGE's post above but I don't seem to be getting it right!

Edited December 24, 2014 by Doncaster Green

[LNERGE]

I am that man building a model of that area!   But when it was still a proper junction  so no dodgy workings - I hope!

 

Weekday Cross box had long gone by then - you can see the end wall of its base about level with the far end of the loco.   You can also just about see the slightly lighter brickwork in the parapet wall where the front of the box was.

 

Merry Christmas one and all

 

John

 

 

 

PS I meant to quote LNERGE's post above but I don't seem to be getting it right!

John, have you seen this picture?

 

http://tillyweb.biz/abcw/weekdaycrossjuncdiag.jpg

 

There's a few more too..

[russ p]

Since the Ruddington working has sparked so much interest, here's another photo of No. 38 either about to enter or just leaving Victoria Street tunnel.

 

740501 Nottingham Weekday Cross Junc GC line 38 A9.jpg

 

Chris Turnbull

I never realised the road bridge was as old as it is, didn't realise it was there when the railway was open

Since the Ruddington working has sparked so much interest, here's another photo of No. 38 either about to enter or just leaving Victoria Street tunnel.

 

740501 Nottingham Weekday Cross Junc GC line 38 A9.jpg

 

Chris Turnbull

I never realised the road bridge was as old as it is, didn't realise it was there when the railway was open

[great central]

You could well be right, the train could have been reversing to Trent Lane West Junction.  There was no run-round loop at Weekday Cross Junction so it would make more sense for it to be reversing when the photograph was taken.  My notes make no mention (I suppose it seemed obvious at the time) and after forty years I can't remember!

 

I've assumed you are correct and have changed the caption accordingly.  Many thanks.

 

Chris Turnbull

 

The method of working, I believe, was that trains bound for Hotchley Hill would arrive at Trent Lane Junction via Midland Station and the connection through London Road Low Level yard (from Toton?). They would run forward onto a stub of the GN Grantham line, then reverse back over Trent Lane, through London Road High Level station and into Victoria Street tunnel via Weekday Cross. They would then run forward up the GC to Ruddington and Hotchley Hill.

The return was the reverse with the loco leading into Victoria St tunnel then reversing to TLJ and then forward again through Midland and back from whence it came.

I remember standing on Midland Station one day when a pair of 20s roared over the GC line bridge. I don't know what speed limit there was at the time, but they must have been opened right out from the start at Weekday Cross, speed well into the 50s I reckon.

[great central]

I never realised the road bridge was as old as it is, didn't realise it was there when the railway was open

 

I never realised the road bridge was as old as it is, didn't realise it was there when the railway was open

 

The road was built at the same time as the Broad Marsh Centre, the service area on the roof being accessed from that road.