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How far north did Warships or Westerns ever get?


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I always thought the Western hydraulics were fantastic locos but some of the names were naff.

 

Any thoughts on alternatives, western region based of course, rivers, mountains etc etc. No not Halls, Manors, Granges or Castles !!!!

 

D1000 Paddington Bear !!

 

D1001 anyone ?

 

Brit15

Edited by APOLLO
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Sorry back on topic.

early 1970's on the day of the Derby Loco open day. August Bank holiday Saturday. I missed it but obviously a good few enthusiasts will remember this.

a western took a service train up as far as Derby Midland station  & was changed there.

 

Peter

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6 hours ago, Matt37268 said:

Would that have been 818 or 832? They were still Br Owned at the time. 

Pass. It was a rumour, so make what you will of it. 818 was definitely a non-runner, and was cut up in 85, and 832 I believe was a basket case after it left RTC use, that required serious work before it ran again. The only candidate would be privately preserved 821. If it was a serious proposition, one can believe the BRB killing the idea.

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53 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

I always thought the Western hydraulics were fantastic locos but some of the names were naff.

 

Any thoughts on alternatives, western region based of course, rivers, mountains etc etc. No not Halls, Manors, Granges or Castles !!!!

 

D1000 Paddington Bear !!

 

D1001 anyone ?

 

Brit15

Aunt Lucy?

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On 06/08/2023 at 14:07, rodent279 said:

If ever anyone tells your a 1000 has never visited Thurso.....

 

Morris_Thurso_08082008

 

It would have to be a 1000, the 803cc would never have made it up the hills.

Sorry but I worked on these appalling lash ups, in the 1970s, the only good bit was the engine and that was an Austin 1098 cc  A series.   These days these things all have Marina engines, Disc Brakes. Marina suspension 5 speed gearboxes (Mazda?)  but factory fresh after 1000 miles at 30mph running in they  cruised along the motorway at a steady 55 holding the HGV's up doing 33mpg or so  while the occupants belted out such favourites as "Ging Gang Goolie" due to the fact the wind noise and back doors rattling rendered listening to the radio (if fitted) or holding a reasonable conversation impossible.  London to Bristol in one of those had you dreaming of a nice BR Mk1 even if you had to sit on a milk churn in the brake van because you couldn't get a seat

The Minor 1000  and the Traveller should have remained in production to save the railways, if the government had mandated everyone learned to drive in one few people would ever have secured a license and speeding would have been eliminated, the limit was 70 but that was Dale Earnheart territory in the days Stirling Moss's sister was winning international rallies  but you needed nerves of steel and very thick gloves to hang on the the violent oscillations of the steering as it broke the 60MPH barrier.  As something to drive the mile from home to the station in during spring summer and autumn in (It  wouldn't start in winter,)  it made sense, but with it's demise there was nothing anywhere near as awful for aficionados to buy.  Even the Lada  had a 5 speed box and the Trabant was not available.

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Off Wigan World web site

 

image.png.dc0fe54e270ff8911627683d3a3df9f3.png

 

Some of the Wigan Brakedown team with Western Courier, leanding a hand with a larg clock work key!! at Bold Colliery Rocket 150 May 1980.
L-R Fred Livesey, Bill Shufflebottom, Derek Gibson and John Barnes on the key.

 

Brit15

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Just had to include this, 

 

image.png.111988e84dd7eab6d47b4c32d92def6d.png

 

Lion passing Springs Branch on its way to Bold for Rocket 150, Harry Goulding at the controls.
May 1980. Can you imagine this happening on todays railway? I don't think so!.

 

Brit15

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On 06/08/2023 at 13:02, The Stationmaster said:

The 1000s used to come off at Chester as the Paddington - Birkenheads changed engines there so I doubt one ever got to Birkenhead.

 

Complete believe what you say about Westerns not penetrating that deep into "enemy territory", but as @APOLLO just posted Lion, I'm taking that as "Drifting License" to post this pic of at least one GWR loco that did get to Birkenhead, on a special.

 

Quote

7029 'Clun Castle' making a spectacular steamy exit from Birkenhead Woodside station, returning the second portion of the Stephenson Locomotive Society's "Farewell to the GWR Birmingham-Birkenhead Service" rail tour to Birmingham on 5 March 1967.

 

7029 at Birkenhead Woodside station.  5 March 1967

 

Edited by KeithMacdonald
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28 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Complete believe what you say about Westerns not penetrating that deep into "enemy territory", but as @APOLLO just posted Lion, I'm taking that as "Drifting License" to post this pic of at least one GWR loco that did get to Birkenhead, on a special.

 

 

7029 at Birkenhead Woodside station.  5 March 1967

 

Hardly “enemy territory”. The Salop/Chester line was GWR and the Chester/Birkenhead line was joint GWR/LNWR.

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58 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

Just had to include this, 

 

image.png.111988e84dd7eab6d47b4c32d92def6d.png

 

Lion passing Springs Branch on its way to Bold for Rocket 150, Harry Goulding at the controls.
May 1980. Can you imagine this happening on todays railway? I don't think so!.

 

Brit15

Whatever you do, don't show that to DfT, they'll have a whole fleet of them!

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33 minutes ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Complete believe what you say about Westerns not penetrating that deep into "enemy territory", but as @APOLLO just posted Lion, I'm taking that as "Drifting License" to post this pic of at least one GWR loco that did get to Birkenhead, on a special.

 

 

Plenty of (G)WR locos got to Birkenhead, indeed they had a depot at Mollington Street

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4 hours ago, rodent279 said:

Pass. It was a rumour, so make what you will of it. 818 was definitely a non-runner, and was cut up in 85, and 832 I believe was a basket case after it left RTC use, that required serious work before it ran again. The only candidate would be privately preserved 821. If it was a serious proposition, one can believe the BRB killing the idea.

I’ve some friends in the DTG and I’ve never mentioned this one to me before, I’ve mentioned it before previously but I have a spotters book mentioning the movement of a couple of Hydraulic’s up to Fort William and using them as train heat boilers. 
I’ll try and dig it out. 

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1 hour ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Complete believe what you say about Westerns not penetrating that deep into "enemy territory", but as @APOLLO just posted Lion, I'm taking that as "Drifting License" to post this pic of at least one GWR loco that did get to Birkenhead, on a special.

 

 

7029 at Birkenhead Woodside station.  5 March 1967

 

 

GWR 4-6-0s were common in Birkenhead, just not Castles.

 

spacer.png

 

That's Liverpool City Centre with the Three Graces in the background.. They used to take goods to and from Birkenhead by barge. Quickest way of moving them as the Mersey Railway Tunnel was passenger only and the road tunnel wasn't built.

 

No Warships, though there is a U Boat in Birkenhead!

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24 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

GWR 4-6-0s were common in Birkenhead, just not Castles.

 

spacer.png

 

That's Liverpool City Centre with the Three Graces in the background.. They used to take goods to and from Birkenhead by barge. Quickest way of moving them as the Mersey Railway Tunnel was passenger only and the road tunnel wasn't built.

 

No Warships, though there is a U Boat in Birkenhead!

Had no idea 31806 had made it to the North West! 😜

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U 534 plonked directly on part of what was Woodside Station.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/U-boat+Story/@53.3949054,-3.0096401,265m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x487b272773acffa7:0x33bfb7f52843dbad!8m2!3d53.3950318!4d-3.0095945!16s%2Fg%2F1yh9tv_5x?entry=ttu

 

I think one of the reasons we are thinking about Birkenhead is it's a place that the Warships and Westerns would have probably got to if the boundary changes hadn't occurred and then closure of Woodside. Not seen any evidence that they did though.

 

 

Jason

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Photos c/o Anthony Guppy collection, original photographer unknown...

 

D1004 in green livery at Crewe c.1963, with another unidentified Thousand...

 

D1004D10XXCREWEAGYUK.jpg.787cd29f72e31e58d4cbc0307e71b863.jpg

 

D1020 in maroon livery departing Crewe on the 10.00 Manchester Piccadilly - Bournemouth job...

 

D1020CRFEWEon10.00MANCPICC-BMTHAGYUK.jpg.0baea88fb90fd918673e25c825f5b238.jpg

 

Interesting side snippet on the Crewe built Thousands - a couple of years ago I was in a taxi, coming home from a night job into Basford Hall Yard and as I got chatting to the driver he told me all about his previous life as a fitter and fabricator in Crewe Works, as well as working on the Brush Type 4s he did some bodywork on the D1030 to D1073 batch, he said it took them a while to get used to the 'stressed skin' construction on these locos. He recalled seeing the four green liveried examples (D1035 to D1038) being photographed outside the works before being sent down to Swindon for acceptance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Rugd1022
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