richscylla Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 I know that Class 73s were very much Southern Region locos - but did they ever get to South Wales? My layout is set between Newport and Cardiff but I have a massive soft spot for the 73s. Whilst I know I could invoke Rule 1, I have my own Rule 1, i.e. if it happened once then I can justify it. So did a Class 73 ever run on those lines, especially pre-2004. I know that last year the GBRf tour ran a pair to Cardiff, and I'm guessing that might mean it hasn't happened before. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_parkes Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Just do it!! Fabulous locos. Enjoy every moment. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 52 minutes ago, richscylla said: I know that Class 73s were very much Southern Region locos - but did they ever get to South Wales? My layout is set between Newport and Cardiff but I have a massive soft spot for the 73s. Whilst I know I could invoke Rule 1, I have my own Rule 1, i.e. if it happened once then I can justify it. So did a Class 73 ever run on those lines, especially pre-2004. I know that last year the GBRf tour ran a pair to Cardiff, and I'm guessing that might mean it hasn't happened before. Never heard of it happening, but I can think of circumstances where it might have happened:- A lot of 'slam-door' stock from the SR ended its days in scrapyards in South Wales. Empty steel wagons being cleared from Hamworthy. A short rake of containers might have been despatched from Southampton; whilst I've never heard of this happening in South Wales, there was a well-recorded incident of a 73 work through to Birmingham via Oxford. This would have been in the 1980s. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatofludham Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Two class 73s were used on a Cross Country service to Birmingham in the 80s following the failure of the rostered 47, Southern "Thumpers" worked through to Cardiff in the 1970s so an ED to South Wales isn't beyond imagination. Also, don't forget Merseyside had (has???) a small fleet of ex-Southern EDs for engineering work. Again, it's not beyond the pale to imagine a visit south by a Merseyside ED to collect some sort of engineering related gubbins. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted July 20, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 20, 2019 I am pretty certain a 73 visited Canton Depot for an open day once. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albie the plumber Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 I remember the Newport rail open days had a '73 in the line up of locos on platform 1 of the station , this was back in the early to mid nineties So before privatisation of B,R, Don't know if it arrived under its own power , it may have done so but it may well arrived in the company of a class 33 that was also present there if I remember rightly Albie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 There was a railtour using two of the Merseyrail ones that visited Wales. But I don't think it got to the southern bit. I think it went via Chester to somewhere like Shrewsbury. I think all the Merseyrail ones are preserved now. Although I think one has been gutted. Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TravisM Posted July 22, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 22, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said: There was a railtour using two of the Merseyrail ones that visited Wales. But I don't think it got to the southern bit. I think it went via Chester to somewhere like Shrewsbury. I think all the Merseyrail ones are preserved now. Although I think one has been gutted. Jason 73001 is being returned to mainline condition at LSL Crewe but 73002 is being stripped for spares at Eastleigh to return 001 to service. After that’s done, it will cosmetically restored and displayed at Hornby, at Margate. 73003 is preserved and based at Swindon (I think) but travels to other preserved railways and 73004 was scrapped in 2004 at EMR Kingsbury. 73005 and 73006 were rebuilt into Caledonian Sleeper Class 73/9, 73966 (73005) and 73967 (73006). Edited July 23, 2019 by jools1959 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy stroud Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 There was an inter-city livered class 73 at Canton open day in July 1985. I think it was 73 123 Gatwick Express. Also, I know it's not Cardiff but I did see a class 73 at Swindon station once in the mid 1980s. It arrived light engine from the Reading direction and shortly afterwards passed back through the station with some coaching stock from the works. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merfyn Jones Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 On 20/07/2019 at 19:37, wombatofludham said: Two class 73s were used on a Cross Country service to Birmingham in the 80s following the failure of the rostered 47, Southern "Thumpers" worked through to Cardiff in the 1970s so an ED to South Wales isn't beyond imagination. Also, don't forget Merseyside had (has???) a small fleet of ex-Southern EDs for engineering work. Again, it's not beyond the pale to imagine a visit south by a Merseyside ED to collect some sort of engineering related gubbins. A railtour with 2 x 73s ran from Chester to Llandudno Junction once and ran back light, due to the limit of their fuel tanks, so South Wales may have been a trip too far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 5 minutes ago, Merfyn Jones said: A railtour with 2 x 73s ran from Chester to Llandudno Junction once and ran back light, due to the limit of their fuel tanks, so South Wales may have been a trip too far. I've a feeling that was the one I meant. Unless they did more than one. Photo and a bit more detail here. http://www.penmorfa.com/Archive/thirtyfive.htm Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 65179 Posted July 24, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 24, 2019 On 23/07/2019 at 10:05, andy stroud said: There was an inter-city livered class 73 at Canton open day in July 1985. I think it was 73 123 Gatwick Express. Photo of 73123 at Canton on the Hattons site here: https://www.hattons.co.uk/newsdetail.aspx?id=400 Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 65179 Posted July 24, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 24, 2019 How about this pair: https://railphotoprints.uk/p443014996/h1DA18377 A pair of 73s at Pilning taking some 37s to Canton for tyre turning in 1998. Simon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 65179 Posted July 24, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 24, 2019 (edited) A more recent (2011) one down the road from me at Celsa's Tremorfa Steelworks / Tidal Yard which I'd forgotten I'd seen by Carl Brunnock on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/47500cdb/9922954104/in/photostream Simon Edited July 24, 2019 by 65179 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TravisM Posted July 24, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 24, 2019 There is of course the Class 73 that is at the Barry preserved railway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
br2975 Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 (edited) Class 73s visited South Wales on several occasions. . They visited Cardiff Canton for tyre turning on several occasions during the late 1980s, I saw one there, but cannot recall the number, my brother saw another running light through Newport en-route to Canton on a different occasion. Both were in the 'Inter City' red stripe style livery. . Another was present at the 1985, Cardiff Canton Open Day, also in the aforementioned IC livery.. . I have a photo or two of 73136 in Mainline Livery, at Cardiff Canton, somewhere in my collection (see following post). . I also have some images of the GBRf Cl.73 used as a shunter at Cardiff's Tremorfa steel works, when that company took over the Celsa (UK) contract. Here are a couple of images I took at Cardiff Central on Saturday, 18th August, 1990. . Brian R Edited July 25, 2019 by br2975 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
br2975 Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 73136 'The Bluebell Railway' at Cardiff Canton TMD, 25th. November, 1998. . Brian R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
br2975 Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 GBRf owned 73209, takes a break from shunting at the Celsa (UK) Tremorfa steel works, Cardiff on Sunday 1st February, 2011. A Brian Rolley photo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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