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Ah Reading!

 

Still Mecca as late as 76 for Wizzo bashers - only down side was had to endure journey behind a gutless 31 from Worcester to get there

 

You never knew what might turn up either - eg a 40 on cartics one evening - but the Westerns were the main event no doubt

 

Phil

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One of my favourite hydraulic memories was my first visit to Paddington in October 1974. When we arrived back at the station to go home to Bristol there were no less than 5 Westerns rumbling away at the blocks - it was a normal sight then since the previous decade, but was soon to change forever. I never saw more than that again- in 1974 the 50s had not impacted much on the Westerns, but the next two years it changed dramatically.

I was lucky though because in 1974-6 Westerns were a daily sight in Bristol.

Neil

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Shut up you lot - you are making me feel old.  The first diesel hydraulic I saw was D601 on the Up Mail (at St Budeaux) no more than a month or three old. I can remember the D8XX 'warships' as they arrived brand new on the Swindon running-in trip up to Paddington on a passenger job from Swindon and back on the '3 o'clock parcels' as we called - and of course others came into service on that train too in later years.  the first D10XX I saw were pairs of steel tubes laid out in A Shop with various bits of plate being welded between them and onto them and, once they got a bit further on, with numbers painted on the bufferbeam (we all thought they might come into traffic like that!).

 

So I sort of saw many of them come and many of them got - working at Westbury from 1974 -1978 had its advantages ;)  Oddly tho' I think i probably did more footplate mileage on Hymek's than on any of the others - not that it was a vast amount anyway.

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A Western Collection this morning.

 

I've mentioned the scarcity of obtaining certain copyright photos of hydraulics, they are sought after (unfortunately for me). Biggest regret I have is not taking my own photos, but at the age of 15 when they finally went, a decent camera did not seem a high priority.

Maroon, BSYP, or Green colour shots of any of the major classes, or indeed any slide of a class 22 demands a premium price.

 

 

Tell me about it.

 

I remember a slide of a 22 taken somewhere in Cornwall, that sold on Ebay for over £100.

 

I'm afraid that I cannot stretch to that kind of money, so thanks for sharing what you do have - especially given the prices you may have paid for some of them.

 

 

EDITED: to say that I found the link that I sent to a friend, and my estimate from memory was way too low. The slides was of D6328 at Calstock in 1971 and it finished on £205.01

Edited by jonny777
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Shut up you lot - you are making me feel old.  The first diesel hydraulic I saw was D601 on the Up Mail (at St Budeaux) no more than a month or three old. I can remember the D8XX 'warships' as they arrived brand new on the Swindon running-in trip up to Paddington on a passenger job from Swindon and back on the '3 o'clock parcels' as we called - and of course others came into service on that train too in later years.  the first D10XX I saw were pairs of steel tubes laid out in A Shop with various bits of plate being welded between them and onto them and, once they got a bit further on, with numbers painted on the bufferbeam (we all thought they might come into traffic like that!).

 

So I sort of saw many of them come and many of them got - working at Westbury from 1974 -1978 had its advantages ;)  Oddly tho' I think i probably did more footplate mileage on Hymek's than on any of the others - not that it was a vast amount anyway.

Sorry Mike! Hee hee comes to us all

 

The Worcester men speak very highly of the Hymeks - was the opinion the same at Westbury?

 

Phil

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So I sort of saw many of them come and many of them got - working at Westbury from 1974 -1978 had its advantages ;)  Oddly tho' I think i probably did more footplate mileage on Hymek's than on any of the others - not that it was a vast amount anyway.

So it's your fault so many got stuck on stone trains rather than working passenger trains, then... :-)

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Interesting story Phill re withdrawn Westerns,

I thought until very recently that I'd never seen D1032 and D1038. I'd always wondered what was in the con yard at Swindon in October 1974 on my first trip to London. A photo posted on RMweb confirmed they were parked in a highly visible position in the con yard the day before my trip, so I'd seen them. I was well pleased, as I knew we hadn't collected all the numbers that day!

Neil

Edited by Downendian
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Your mentioning D1039 had me looking in my old spotting books to confirm that I needed it. My notes only go back as far as Feb 1974 although my interest started in the summer of 1972

 

I did notice that my first trip round Bristol Bath Roadon the 16th August 1974 I didn't see a single Western, the only Hydraulic was 7017...a cop for me at the time.

 

A trip to Laira in the same week was much more fruitful with D1048,D1010,D1046,D1047,D1012,D1033,D1035,D1045,D1028,D1006,D1063,D1015,D1023 & D1070 present.

 

Phill :)

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Latest batch - will be running into the time when i urgently need my scanner shortly.

 

Some of these have been on an older version of RMweb, but its probably worth a reappearance as that was many years ago.

 

The first of these is D1036 in Sonning Cutting, June 1975 - note the square brake tender, slightly blurred but still a good 'un

post-6925-0-03440500-1422786689.jpg35638BBE-6EFB-4E24-8822-9E5327ACEA60.jpeg.d756ee056684c4207ee684e2ddbcb9e9.jpeg

 

Next a favourite of mine D6333 at Cowley bridge junction on a Hemyock bound milk train, early 1970s

post-6925-0-98138600-1422786761_thumb.jpg

F751BC6B-5190-46D0-B516-FAD335F610F8.jpeg.a9018adf8a09e813b39c7df169df2add.jpeg

Third and I know we all like quizzes, D7014 at what I think is Weymouth but will be guided by superior knowledge

post-6925-0-42289100-1422786825_thumb.jpg

 

Finally the sad part - scrapped Hymeks

D7054 was a celebrity the last Hymek to be scrapped in Green, i saw her in January 1975 in this sort of state. Hydraulics were often stored at Bristol St Phillips Marsh before space could be found at their ultimate destination, the cutters torch at Swindon.

22nd July 1973 with D7098 behind and blue pullman stock too.

A9DB6D3F-A4C1-4447-B148-A537EE700C90.jpeg.2ba0d36ace8ece3ba7218e500ec3f266.jpeg

 

Another of a scrapped Hymek D7009 amidst her sisters at St Phillips Marsh, Bristol in 1973. On my first visit to Swindon works in January 1975, there was an unidentifiable Hymek whose body had been cut down completely with just the cross bracing left. By a process of elimination I think it was D7009.

post-6925-0-87509800-1422787370_thumb.jpg

D7054 Bristol St Phillips Marsh 220773.jpg

Edited by Downendian
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Once again, some evocative shots- thanks for posting.

The Class 22 is at Tiverton Junction; the train is the milk train from Hemyock.

Pretty certain that the Hymek with the maroon coach is at Weymouth. The sidings at the back dealt with traffic to and from the Quay Tramway; I remember going on a Mystex from Llanelli that ended up in Weymouth in 1969 or so, when these sidings were filled with all sorts of Fruit Vans with traffic from the Channel Islands. Odd to see them filled with condemned pre-Nationalisation vans- it's as if a seasonal animal feed or fertiliser train has coincided with the wagon-graders' day out at the seaside...

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Hi guys,

 

A very interesting topic.

 

D1039 eluded me too.  But i was only 8 at the time.

 

I missed all the ones that were cut up 73 and 74 as my first trip to Swndon Works was early 75. I was upset to think that i had missed D1032 which was cut 5/12/74 and only just saw D1014 which was cut13/2/75.

 

Rob

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Sorry Mike! Hee hee comes to us all

 

The Worcester men speak very highly of the Hymeks - was the opinion the same at Westbury?

 

Phil

Same everywhere I think Phil although they weren't as well thought of as the EE Type 3s by the Valleys men.  They were smashing locos to ride on - probably the best hydraulic of the lot although the D8XX 'Warships' weren't too bad once the suspension was sorted; the 1000s developed a none too pleasant bouncing motion at about 50mph which wasn't too bad on passenger trains but was not much appreciated on the stone workings, but they couldn't 'arf pull on stone trains and they had the big advantage over the diesel electrics of having 'coupled' wheels on each bogie which made them less likely to slip it seemed.

 

Incidentally the picture of D6333 above labelled as 'Tiverton Junction' very definitely isn't - it is standing at Cowley Bridge Jcn's Home Signal on the Up Departure Line from Exeter Riverside Yard.

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