Rugd1022 Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 Just been given this lovely link by a work colleague which I'm finding very distracting.... http://picasaweb.google.com/craigwdonald/NorthamptonBritishRailPhotos# ... although grainy and dark in places, there are some fascinating views of the lines radiating from Northampton Castle, including a Western which probably came up via Oxford and Bletchley. Photos of anything on the Northampton - Market Harborugh line are quite rare, and the Midland Mainline stuff around Kettering and Glendon Junctions look highly modelable! Nidge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted September 3, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 3, 2010 Some nice shots there, a bit of software such as Adobe Lightroom would significantly improve quite a few of them, easily, but still nice nonetheless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 ...and these two dead Baby Deltics at Kettering: http://picasaweb.google.com/craigwdonald/NorthamptonBritishRailPhotos#5361405470028162162 the cattle train being reversed in the charge of a class 25 is very interesting too. an awesome spot Nidge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted September 3, 2010 Author Share Posted September 3, 2010 This one's down to a certain Richard Coleman, a lurker of this fine parish (some of his early 80s shots appeared on the old forum). I love looking at stuff like this, especially when the bulk of material covers routes I now sign... it's interesting to see how much has changed and how much is still the same. Even though it's been modernised, the Midland ML still feels like an old railway to me. The Northampton - Market Harborough branch would make a good subject for modelling in this period, all kinds of traction and traffic went across it on diversions back then.... Nidge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERS Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 A wonderful find, brings back memories of summer afternoons at Glendon which was a favourite spotting haunt 30+ years ago. The 20s at Kettering were interesting, they rarely ventured south of Corby. The class 7 and 8 freights they mostly worked were restricted to the Corby line to avoid interference with passenger workings and as few Wellingborough crews signed them, they were usually on out and back turns from Toton and Nottingham. These are also the first pics I've ever seen of Northampton St Johns St. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennine MC Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 . the cattle train being reversed in the charge of a class 25 is very interesting too. It is, there are too many there for it to be easily explained away as barrier use. Pictorially I liked the splitbox telephotoed Peak storming through W'boro, and the three abreast with the 25, Western and 'leccy is neat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 The shots taken between Northamton Bridge Street and Piddington answer a few questions for me. What a brilliant site. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted September 3, 2010 Author Share Posted September 3, 2010 It is, there are too many there for it to be easily explained away as barrier use. Pictorially I liked the splitbox telephotoed Peak storming through W'boro, and the three abreast with the 25, Western and 'leccy is neat I'm wondering if the cattle wagons were being used to transport something else, some other form of 'perishable' traffic maybe...? Nidge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 46444 Posted September 3, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 3, 2010 Those fots of Wellingborough look brilliant. I have my lunch break in the station car park and the 25's/45's and 47's would certainly add some interest to the constant procession of Meridians/HST's and 66's. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rail-Online Posted September 4, 2010 Share Posted September 4, 2010 Hi, Rangers says "A wonderful find, brings back memories of summer afternoons at Glendon which was a favourite spotting haunt 30+ years ago. The 20s at Kettering were interesting, they rarely ventured south of Corby. The class 7 and 8 freights they mostly worked were restricted to the Corby line to avoid interference with passenger workings and as few Wellingborough crews signed them, they were usually on out and back turns from Toton and Nottingham" This may have been the case in the 1980s but back in the late 1960s and through to about 1977 they worked regularly down the Midland Main Line through Kettering on the slow lines (remember it was 4 track then). I always assumed that the reason they became rarer south of Leicester was simply a case of freight becoming increasingly rare! Incidentally what is the pic number of the class 25 on cattle - i have been through it twice and cannot find it! Cheers Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted September 4, 2010 Share Posted September 4, 2010 The 25 with cattle wagons.. http://picasaweb.google.com/craigwdonald/NorthamptonBritishRailPhotos#5360240272155969666 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERS Posted September 4, 2010 Share Posted September 4, 2010 Hi, Rangers says "A wonderful find, brings back memories of summer afternoons at Glendon which was a favourite spotting haunt 30+ years ago. The 20s at Kettering were interesting, they rarely ventured south of Corby. The class 7 and 8 freights they mostly worked were restricted to the Corby line to avoid interference with passenger workings and as few Wellingborough crews signed them, they were usually on out and back turns from Toton and Nottingham" This may have been the case in the 1980s but back in the late 1960s and through to about 1977 they worked regularly down the Midland Main Line through Kettering on the slow lines (remember it was 4 track then). I always assumed that the reason they became rarer south of Leicester was simply a case of freight becoming increasingly rare! Incidentally what is the pic number of the class 25 on cattle - i have been through it twice and cannot find it! Cheers Tony I checked this with a retired Leicester driver who was much better versed on it than my "over the fence" view of things! The section from Wigston to to Glendon was always double track with loops, more commonly north of Mkt Harborough. The Leicester resignalling in 1987 ended the four track section (the longest in Britain by the way) right through from St Pancras to Glendon. On the stretch from Mkt Harborough to Glendon, there was only one recess and also coincided with the steepest gradients on th MML to the summit of this stretch. Class 6 freights were restricted in length which varied according to the power at the head, 27 MGR wagons with a class 45 on the front for instance. Class 7 and 8 were virtually barred in daylight hours because of the time taken to pass this length, being diverted via Syston, Manton and Corby to rejoin the main line at Glendon, as were class 6 trains which exceeded the working limits. Most coal trains to Brent and beyond were rostered for type 4 haulage or pairs of type 2s, working from Toton to Wellingborough, where crews and sometimes engines were changed. After about 1967, when the last of the London based sheds were rid of their 20s, very few Wellingborough crews signed class 20s so when they did venture south, they invariably only reached Wellingborough and then came straight back, often light engine or engine and brake. It wasn't feasible for Toton crews to work a class 8 turn from Toton to Wellingborough and then do one back in a single shift so invariably they ran back "on the cushions" or with a light engine(s). If 20s did get stuck at Wellingborough, they could sit there for days before Toton or Leicester could muster a crew to retrieve them. The usual trick was to try and get the Toton crew to work the train back at last as far as Leicester, where the 20s were of more use, and ride home passenger from there, that only worked at night when they had a path between passenger trains which allowed them to run back via 'Harborough. The Welbeck to Northfleet MGRs worked from Nottingham to Wellingborough and were always type 4 hauled, crews changed there with Cricklewood men taking them South, Toton or Nottingham crews (He couldn't remember which) having a corresponding return to bring home. These occasionally did run via' Harborough providing they were within the limits. He seems to think 47 haulage allowed a further two wagons and 56s in later years, up to 33. 20s did run South from Leicester with Willesden and Northampton trains, which as some of the pics here show, ran to Mkt Harborough and then on to the Northampton line. He couldn't recall any trains rostered for 20s which regularly ran South of Corby, Toton - Lloyds and corresponding Corby - Toton trains being all type 1 hauled , which seems to make the shots of the 20s at Kettering a bit rare. I did have a sectional appendix detailing the restrictions but I guess it's stuck in the loft somewhere, I have to confess I've not seen it for years! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennine MC Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 This one's interesting; obviously early TOPS period. Is the ore tippler in local use or (possibly more likely), at the tail end of a roadstone train returning to the WR? Apologies for any geographical impossibilities, I know Hardingstone is near Northampton and something to do with the SMJ, but little else Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobbler Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 Hardingstone Junction is were the Northampton to Peterborough line and the Bedford line diverged. These are behind the photographer. To the left of the picture is the Track Depot, the building on the right is the former Midland Railway loco shed ( still standing in 2010, burnt out roof ) I use to work with someone who use to be a signalman at Bridge Street Junction in the early 1970,s, he remembers Westerns working down the Bridge Street line with stone from the Mendips wich had worked in via Bletchley flyover. In this gallery, there is a shot of a Western at Northampton No 3 signal box, I think he is about to runround empty MDVs which had perhaps come off the Bridge Street line after unloading stone ? We think they used to unload stone in the sidings behind the old Bridge Street Station ? Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 This one's interesting; obviously early TOPS period. Is the ore tippler in local use or (possibly more likely), at the tail end of a roadstone train returning to the WR? Apologies for any geographical impossibilities, I know Hardingstone is near Northampton and something to do with the SMJ, but little else The Pool number should give the answer- I shall inquire elsewhere. The footboards of the van look to have fine greyish material on them. When was the photo taken? By 1983 (the only list I have for regular receiving terminals) it no longer received stone- my 1980 Baker doesn't indicate a terminal either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennine MC Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 Cheers chaps. Now you come to mention it Brian, it is a Western pool (7xxx), and the lettering details tie in with a 1974/75ish application (metric tare but not TOPSed). It would be nice to think Northants ore had lasted that long but I'll be very surprised if it's not a stone train TBH. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 Cheers chaps. Now you come to mention it Brian, it is a Western pool (7xxx), and the lettering details tie in with a 1974/75ish application (metric tare but not TOPSed). It would be nice to think Northants ore had lasted that long but I'll be very surprised if it's not a stone train TBH. It would have been one of the batch which were vac-fitted from new- the conversions received a much larger stencilled panel with the Pool number as the top line, and the other data underneath in the normal fashion. Initially, there weren't enough wagons to run fully-fitted trains, so vac-fitted wagons (tipplers, 16t minerals and 21t minerals) were put at both ends of the rakes, until the conversion programme had done enough, whilst brake vans were drafted in from anywhere and everywhere- hence the air-piped van on this train. It would have been about 1975 when the last partially-fitted stone trains worked out of the Mendips IIRC. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClikC Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 This image is now my desktop, it really is evocative. \ http://picasaweb.google.com/craigwdonald/NorthamptonBritishRailPhotos#5360242368377713234 Fantastic collection. Regards Matt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted September 5, 2010 Author Share Posted September 5, 2010 Quite glad I started this thread now, there are some interesting tentacles spreading out . Rangers - a wonderful account of freight working south of Leicester from the retired driver! Things haven't changed that much in some ways.... although our FLHH 66s are more powerful than the old traction we still struggle over the summits at Kibworth and Desborough with our heaviest trains. Heading south in the daytime with a loaded train from the Leicestershire quarries still causes delays to East Mids HSTs and Meridians, very often we'll be down to around 20 - 25mph at Desborough, then gather speed once over the summit by the old water tower, only to get put onto the slow line at Kettering North Jcn to let the (understandably) irate HST men go by. This in itself causess further delay as you're dropping down hill towards a red signal which only comes off when you've got the brake well and truly in, then a few more minutes go by until you're clear of the junction and inside the next signal. This usually results in the passenger man giving you 'what for' on the horn as he goes by on the Up Fast line... ! Anyway, back to the OT.... Northamptonshire is a large county and once boasted something like thirty to forty stations... it now has only five, how sad is that? Nidge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 This image is now my desktop, it really is evocative. \ http://picasaweb.goo...242368377713234 Fantastic collection. Regards Matt It's also opposite-handed isn't it? The loco's wrong-line, double-arrow back-to-front etc... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClikC Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 It's also opposite-handed isn't it? The loco's wrong-line, double-arrow back-to-front etc... Haha, i didn't even notice! Looks even better the right-way round. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennine MC Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 Haha, i didn't even notice! Looks even better the right-way round. Course, if it'd been a 40 you'd have noticed something wrong Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClikC Posted September 5, 2010 Share Posted September 5, 2010 Course, if it'd been a 40 you'd have noticed something wrong I reckon it's more likely i'd have built one back to front... I am actually surprised i didn't notice really, the transformer header tank (I believe it's called) is a dead give away, and the BSK is Corridor side. A "Should have gone to specsavers" moment perhaps... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rail-Online Posted September 6, 2010 Share Posted September 6, 2010 Rangers, I stand corrected, 20's must have been rarer that I recall as a pre 15 year old spotter at Wigston! Info from Drivers is always great. I must have copped most of mine at work north of Leicester and remeber them because they were an exception rather than a rule -the train I DO remember was a mid afternnon block train of fitted 16T opens (possibly sand but definately not coal) racing down the MML every day and rostered for a pair of 20s about 3pm around 1976. It must have come off at Wellingborough (or poss taken the Market Harborough to Northampton line which may have been still open) Cheers Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted September 6, 2010 Share Posted September 6, 2010 Course, if it'd been a 40 you'd have noticed something wrong Only if Heljan had made it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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