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Bashing - any haulage fans?


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When I were a lad.... I spotted until July 1979 until my first love brought all that to an abrupt end. Then I lost contact with a group of mates with whom I was inseparable for over 5 years. However in March 1979 myself and my friend Phil started haulage (or bashing). As I said we went our separate ways from 1979 until the 1990s when we reunited and we still drink together frequently. Yesterday Phil dusted out his loft and found his old bashing logs from 1979-1982 and there are some real gems.

His haulage records

edit complete to mid 1981 he packed it in April 1982

Class 20 (18), 25 (42), 31 (70), 33 (56), 37 (45), 40 (101), 45 (115), 46 (50), 47 (306), 50 (49), 55 (12), 81 (10), 85 (24), 86 (77), 87 (24).

 

Just one day to whet the appetite (sorry need to look up the reporting codes)

Saturday 1st March 1980

46007 2355 Glasgow-Temple Meads (Parkway-TM)

31 423 0820 Cardiff-Portsmouth (TM-Bath)

33 208 0746 Portsmouth-Cardiff (Bath-TM)

50 039 0746 Portsmouth-Cardiff (TM- Cardiff)

25 245 1130 Cardiff-Crewe (Cardiff-Newport)

43133/134 (Zing) 1150 Cardiff-Paddington (Newport-Parkway)

50 026 1115 Plymouth-Manchester (Parkway-Gloucester)

45 110 1115 Plymouth-Manchester (Gloucester-Cheltenham)

47 532 1008 Newcastle-Cardiff (Cheltenham- Gloucester)

50 026 1322.Liverpool-Plymouth (Gloucester-Parkway(

 

Look at those loco swops and the range of haulage. Phil later went onto be a dedicated 40 basher around North Wales.

 

Anyone with any bashing memories? The log he has gives me huge potential for operations on my BR blue layout, especially those Portsmouth-Cardiffs!

 

Neil

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Funnily enough, my 'moves books' were recently liberated from my parents' loft. I went through a couple of the days with them and I think they were surpised/appalled how far I roamed of a day. They knew I was off somewhere but didn't know where exactly.

 

I went straight into bashing 47s and had an enjoyable five years or so of it. As much as the set of moves above makes me long for times like that, I did manage to enjoy a week in Scotland before the rest of the 47/7s headed south ('714 and '705 were already down here by then).

 

As far as possible I stuck to the path and avoided other classes but did have 31, 33, 37, 47, 50, 73, 81, 85, 86, 87, 90, 91 and a few HSTs, DMUs and DEMUs.

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Switching from north- to southbound overnights at Pitlochry during a Freedom in '84, oh happy memories (selective memories - the freezing cold and cramp from dossing down in a Mk2B night after night, for example).

 

I could never claim to have been a Man of Steel, I was more interested in the cameraderie and raking-in gigs in remote towns, but I loved the traction variety and even now, recalled instantly from memory the following highlights are fresh in my mind:

  • Sealink liveried MkIs behind 37067 from Ayr,
  • 37169 on a Waverley - Carstairs portion,
  • Henry Ford (47158?) across the Sutton Park line from Solihill to Wolverhampton in a summer Fridays-only move,
  • 45104+45150 on the Sunday morning Derby - St Pancras (booked for a pair),
  • flagging the ill-fated Polmont shove at Haymarket to rake in required 27017 on a Dundee service (many anxious parents of bashers that night),
  • a pair of 50s on the Down Midnight, all the way, in the summer of '85, on BR's 'Go anywhere for a Pound' promotion,
  • 56066 and 56088 on drags from Coventry to New St after the Watford derailment
  • 1O19 (Peak) out for 1E63 (50) back every school lunchtime in the upper sixth
  • and my first ever recorded haulage - D1067 WESTERN DRUID, New St - Banbury in July '75, aged 9.

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Switching from north- to southbound overnights at Pitlochry during a Freedom in '84, oh happy memories (selective memories - the freezing cold and cramp from dossing down in a Mk2B night after night, for example).

 

I could never claim to have been a Man of Steel, I was more interested in the cameraderie and raking-in gigs in remote towns, but I loved the traction variety and even now, recalled instantly from memory the following highlights are fresh in my mind:

  • Sealink liveried MkIs behind 37067 from Ayr,
  • 37169 on a Waverley - Carstairs portion,
  • Henry Ford (47158?) across the Sutton Park line from Solihill to Wolverhampton in a summer Fridays-only move,
  • 45104+45150 on the Sunday morning Derby - St Pancras (booked for a pair),
  • flagging the ill-fated Polmont shove at Haymarket to rake in required 27017 on a Dundee service (many anxious parents of bashers that night),
  • a pair of 50s on the Down Midnight, all the way, in the summer of '85, on BR's 'Go anywhere for a Pound' promotion,
  • 56066 and 56088 on drags from Coventry to New St after the Watford derailment
  • 1O19 (Peak) out for 1E63 (50) back every school lunchtime in the upper sixth
  • and my first ever recorded haulage - D1067 WESTERN DRUID, New St - Banbury in July '75, aged 9.

 

 

Well well 'Chard. We must have been on the same train during the Watford derailment. I went to Paddy and back with one of those 56s but can't remember which now. I remember us arriving on the blocks at Padd, then waiting for it to released and back on to the next north bound. This was a Mk 3 set with a Mk 1 BG in which we rode - all droplights down of course. Pretty sure they put us out fast line from Reading to Didcot, and remember ex Bescot driver Gareth Jones taking the seat at Banbury on the way back.

 

My "bashing period" was really only from 1981 until about 1986 when I got fed up with BR and went to Germany, Austria and Switzerland for my fix.

 

Although Sulzer type 2s were my thing, I was also very partial to the sixteen wheelers, but anything Sulzer or EE was good. Never really got into 58s at all and anything more modern was just plain boring.

 

Glad I got to Scotland and managed a couple of trips on the West Highland with 27s, but that was before I started writing stuff down. Managed to get to the Scottish highlands, far north and Kyle with Sulzer type 2s, and the Thurso branch behind a 26 was the only train I have been on which was involved in a fatality !!!

 

Went and did the 89 on the KGX-PBO commuter, and had a 91+43 combo on a KGX-LDS in the early days.

 

Enjoyed the overnights which conveyed limited accomodation. Up & Down Weymouth, Yeovil, The Salop-York and return, the 0147 CRE-CDF etc The papers to Seaford (I think) Never did the Manchester-Cleethorpes though.

 

 

Happy days from a period in my life when I was carefree and single !!!

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...........Same as above, 81'-88' before I increasingly lost interest to girls and a job after my degree. Still got all my comprehensive notes, coaching stock etc, My interest was re-fired after finding my old stuff in the loft. Nostalgia. I was based from Coventry but went all over, particularly on continuous summer railtourers, and in 85' chasing down Cromptons on the Portsmouth's from Bristol..........then too and from Sheffield for 3 years with loco-hauled travel as the bible. Happy days! :sungum:

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Two days on a Scottish freedom "bash" below, only loco haulages logged. Most Scottish rovers with 12 hours plus spotting at carlisle before the start..Overnights, steam heat, off the beaten track, failures , thrash , compo's, sociable staff, comradie, scenery, sleepless exhaustion...oh happy days!

 

1/9/77 Th

47441 2055 Euston-Stranraer H CA-SH

87002 1035 Glasgow-Liverpool CE-CS

47409 0753 Manchester-Edinburgh CS-WA

27105} 1300 Edinburgh-Glasgow WA-HA

27211}

40047 0810 Birmingham-Edinburgh HA-WA

47294 0931 Liverpool-Edinburgh HA-WA

27203} 1400 Edinburgh-Glasgow WA-HA

27112}

27105} 1400 Glasgow-Edinburgh HA-WA

27211}

40060 1445 Edinburgh-Aberdeen WA-HA

27108} 1430 Glasgow-Edinburgh HA-WA

27209}

27203} 1600 Edinburgh-Glasgow WA-QS

27112}

40101 1740 Glasgow-Aberdeen QS-PE

40123 1740 Edinburgh-Inverness (fail Tomatin) PE-TO

26013} 1740 Edinburgh-Inverness TO-IN

40123(d)}

2/9/77 Fr

26029 1032 Inveness-Kyle IN-DI

26035 1110 Inverness-Wick/Thurso DI-GJ

26038 1110 Inverness-Thurso GJ-TH

26038 1732 Thurso-Inverness TH-GJ

26008 1732 Wick/Thurso-Inverness GJ-IN

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Switching from north- to southbound overnights at Pitlochry during a Freedom in '84, oh happy memories (selective memories - the freezing cold and cramp from dossing down in a Mk2B night after night, for example).

 

I was more of a basher than a spotter and in my time did many an overnight, some quite long distances, just to get a new loco in the haulage book. Glasgow Central to BNS for 47236 to Norwich comes immediately to mind.

 

I've done a few of the Pitlochry moves too 'CHARD, including on one occasion watching the 47s being swopped over and getting the same one back north whilst the one I wanted returned south. And not being able to do anything about it because of commitments later that morning on the Kyle line.

 

My first recorded haulage was also a Western, D1051 from Paignton to Exeter St. Davids on a school trip in 1975. But I didn't start bashing in earnest until the early 80s by when I had a job and money to buy the rail tickets. All great fun, at least while you could be assured some variety and there was a good chance that an NB (freight) loco might drop onto something gettable.

 

Although I did make a point of getting all the Class 43 (HST) power cars in the book, by the end of the 80s too many routes were becoming loco-hauled-free zones and my interest waned. The last Combined Volume I bought and bothered to update my haulage in was from 1996.

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I was more of a basher than a spotter and in my time did many an overnight, some quite long distances, just to get a new loco in the haulage book. Glasgow Central to BNS for 47236 to Norwich comes immediately to mind.

 

All great fun, at least while you could be assured some variety and there was a good chance that an NB (freight) loco might drop onto something gettable.

 

The last Combined Volume I bought and bothered to update my haulage in was from 1996.

 

I was such a casual it's embarrassing. I reckon I collected numbers almost as an afterthought, and haulage was a nice-to-have! My last update would have been some time after starting work, when priv and boxes still had a value in harvesting interesting loco-hauled moves.

 

At at point in time, probably when 158s were being delivered en masse, it all felt too much like a busman's holiday and the books started gathering dust. I certainly never bothered with 37s like the rest of my mob, once they started being bent at Crewe (37s, not my mob).

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An extract from a Scottish trip in 1990 (how many no heat tractors!) - I did quite a lot that year.

 

 

 

06/08/90 87026 CARLISLE CARSTAIRS

06/08/90 47562 CARSTAIRS INVERNESS

06/08/90 37261 INVERNESS NAIRN

06/08/90 37708 NAIRN INVERNESS

06/08/90 47492 INVERNESS HUNTLY

06/08/90 37261 HUNTLY ELGIN

06/08/90 37262 ELGIN ABERDEEN

06/08/90 47492 ABERDEEN MONTROSE

06/08/90 37240 MONTROSE PERTH

06/08/90 47717 PERTH NEWTONMORE

06/08/90 37419 NEWTONMORE PERTH

06/08/90 47701 PERTH GLENEAGLES

07/08/90 47643 GLENEAGLES PERTH

07/08/90 37419 PERTH INVERNESS

07/08/90 47460 INVERNESS INVERURIE

07/08/90 37262 INVERURIE INVERNESS

07/08/90 37262 INVERNESS ELGIN

07/08/90 37262 ELGIN INVERNESS

07/08/90 37418 INVERNESS KYLE OF LOCHALSH

07/08/90 37418 KYLE OF LOCHALSH INVERNESS

07/08/90 37418 INVERNESS MUIR OF ORD

07/08/90 37419 MUIR OF ORD INVERNESS

08/08/90 47712 INVERNESS DALWHINNIE

08/08/90 47593 DALWHINNIE INVERNESS

08/08/90 47643 INVERNESS INVERURIE

08/08/90 37419 INVERURIE INVERNESS

08/08/90 37262 INVERNESS ELGIN

08/08/90 37262 ELGIN INVERNESS

08/08/90 37262 INVERNESS ABERDEEN

08/08/90 37113 ABERDEEN INVERURIE

08/08/90 37154 INVERURIE ABERDEEN

08/08/90 47643 ABERDEEN MONTROSE

08/08/90 37240 MONTROSE PERTH

08/08/90 47642 PERTH NEWTONMORE

08/08/90 47701 NEWTONMORE DUNBLANE

09/08/90 47709 DUNBLANE BLAIR ATHOLL (failed)

09/08/90 47633 BLAIR ATHOLL INVERNESS

09/08/90 47642 INVERNESS INSCH

09/08/90 37419 INSCH INVERNESS

09/08/90 37128 INVERNESS ELGIN

09/08/90 37128 ELGIN INVERNESS

09/08/90 37128 INVERNESS FORRES

09/08/90 37154 FORRES INVERNESS

09/08/90 47562 INVERNESS ABERDEEN

09/08/90 47644 ABERDEEN MONTROSE

09/08/90 37240 MONTROSE PERTH

09/08/90 156438 PERTH GLASGOW QUEEN STREET

09/08/90 47630 GLASGOW QUEEN STREET INVERNESS

10/08/90 47644 INVERNESS KEITH

10/08/90 37154 KEITH INVERNESS

10/08/90 37156 INVERNESS KYLE OF LOCHALSH

10/08/90 37156 KYLE OF LOCHALSH INVERNESS

10/08/90 47706 INVERNESS PITLOCHRY

10/08/90 37240 PITLOCHRY INVERNESS

11/08/90 47717 INVERNESS GLASGOW QUEEN STREET

11/08/90 156513 GLASGOW QUEEN STREET PAISLEY CANAL

11/08/90 156513 PAISLEY CANAL GLASGOW QUEEN STREET

11/08/90 318263 GLASGOW CENTRAL AYR

11/08/90 26005 AYR CARLISLE

11/08/90 26005 CARLISLE AYR
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Wasn't called bashing in my time - just a "day out" - and mentioning peaks, this was just one day, 22 March 1970.

 

Wigan Wallgate to Manchester Victoria M50460

Man Piccadilly to Chesterfield M50676

Chesterfield to Sheffield D79 (St Pancras-Sheffield)

Sheffield to Derby D190 (York-Poole)

Derby to Chesterfield 1554 (Plymouth-Sheffield)

Chesterfield to Derby 166 (Sheffield-Plymouth)

Derby to Chesterfield 41 (St Pancras-Manchester)

Chesterfield to Sheffield 1607 (The Devonian)

Sheffield to Derby 78 (Sheffield-Bristol)

Derby to Sheffield 11 (St Pancras-Sheffield)

Sheffield to Chesterfield 148 (Newcastle-Bristol)

Chesterfield to Manchester Pic 63 (St Pancras-Manchester)

Manchester Vic to Wigan Wallgate Unrecorded DMU

 

Back then some locos had the D prefix, some didn't. I wish now that I had recorded more, loco liverys, stock etc, but we were too busy with heads out of the windows listening to that wonderfull Sulzer scream and the 4-2 clickety clack of the wheels (3-2 with a Brush 4 !!).

 

I still have the 2 unclipped tickets, day returns Chesterfield to Derby & Sheffield. Ticket collectors must have been on strike that day !!!!!!!

 

Wonderfull days.

 

Brit15

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My first recorded haulage was 9001 St Paddy YK - KX in 1970 but I didn't really start bashing until '76. I went on to clear the class on the cheap, mainly between York and Selby. Three years 'study' in Birmingham led me to clear my 50s for haulage and rack up a lot of mileage behind 31s, 45s, 46s, 47s, and all the electrics. A few 56s on the drags too. The New Street bashing scene in the early 80s was a real eye-opener with all the flailing and 'basher-speak'. I still like a bit of thrash these days, diesel galas and the occasional railtour for old times sake, and I still play the bashing game 'Hellfire' when I can spare a couple of hours. They were good days indeed.

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An extract from a Scottish trip in 1990 (how many no heat tractors!) - I did quite a lot that year.

 

 

 

 

Good, wasn’t it?. After the big non event of the sprinters taking over services from the 374** in 1989, and more relief bus services running between F Bill and Glasgow on a Saturday, the next year was a big surprise.

By then, most of the 374**'s that were fitted with ETH for working passenger services in Scotland and Wales were, pulling freight around, while Scot rail used anything they could get hold of.

37708 was prober acquired of the Aberdeen tanks, 156 was at the time weekend only engineer pool, bur seamed to be bolted to the 10.15, Inverness kyle, the 4763*'s had uprated ETH and would frequently blew up on the Sleeper/ car service, leading to even more chaos.

All this was to go on for a further 3 years.

Just had a look and I was up in Inverness a few weeks after you, one particular morning, we had done a dodgy overnight move to get to Aberdeen for the first train to Inverness, 37101 appeared on the train. This was a good cop, and a rare working for a Tinsel loco, at Inverness we had a welcoming party by a group of bashing friends that had, had a comfy night in a B&B, looking at my mate and myself, who were looking a bit worst for wear, said “ha,ha Berts phoned is mate at control and its allocated for the next one backâ€, it was good to see there faces drop as 47*** was attached the front of the train that now had 37101, dead in it formation, after the authorities had asked for it back, with fuel!!.

Good days

Gary

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Now I have managed to understand most of this, a couple of mates used to be into bashing Peaks

in the late 70s/early 80s, though it never appealed to me.

I used to provide gen on Peaks for one fellow railwayman for his after work haulage trips when I first worked in TOPS.

 

Is there a glossary of terms that was used and accepted nationwide, or did local/regional words

phrases and expressions come into use?

 

cheers

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The railway enthusiast interweb is a sadder place without Dreadful.

 

I never counted myself a basher, but the first time I arrived back at my home shack after the streetlights were turned off was after scooping three nb Tractors betwixt Ipswich and Colchester when the OLE was off, Dad wasn't pleased!

 

I've had more miles than I care to imagine behind Spoons but spent most of my Anglia ranger time between Pet and Nor/Low doing Peds. Before Sprinters turned up natch.

 

Only do mainline tours behind Grids and Tugs now, if a Shed or anything with ETS does the same tour it doesn't even get underlined.

 

There are some times, you wish you were ten years older!

 

C6T.

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24s, 25s and 40s (before they became "trendy" by being withdrawn) down the North Wales Coast, 8x on the electrified lines around Crewe - Carlisle, Deltics on the ECML, never made any notes sadly, so unless I photographed the train I don't know what I was hauled by.

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I don't know how I got into it really, my first introduction was been carted of on tours by members of the local model railway club. On one tour “the Conway Consort†, we were in the leading coach behind a 40 up to Blaenau Ffestiniog, I noticed the thing in front was making an awesome noise.

Bashing through the 80's gathered momentum towards the end of the decade, I spent a lot of money, tried not to get into mischief, saw the country, well the bit from the railway station to the nearest real ale pub. The result, books full of drivel, 2000 odd slide that will take me years to scan, and lots of memory’s of antics that went on in the day of a basher.

I still have friends that I met along the way, and some that I am acquainted to through my work with the Class Forty Appeal.

 

Back to present, when I was at Midland Railex last year, I took along a younger member of our local model railway group. On the Sunday evening, a few of the CFA members started up D212, I took the lad up into the cab, told him to stand in the doorway, and then opened Aureol up to full power, he now attends all our working parties, and as proved a useful addition (he will be reading this).

The power of a forty!

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An extract from a Scottish trip in 1990 (how many no heat tractors!) - I did quite a lot that year.

 

 

 

06/08/90 87026 CARLISLE CARSTAIRS

06/08/90 47562 CARSTAIRS INVERNESS

06/08/90 37261 INVERNESS NAIRN

06/08/90 37708 NAIRN INVERNESS

06/08/90 47492 INVERNESS HUNTLY

06/08/90 37261 HUNTLY ELGIN

06/08/90 37262 ELGIN ABERDEEN

06/08/90 47492 ABERDEEN MONTROSE

06/08/90 37240 MONTROSE PERTH

06/08/90 47717 PERTH NEWTONMORE

06/08/90 37419 NEWTONMORE PERTH

06/08/90 47701 PERTH GLENEAGLES

07/08/90 47643 GLENEAGLES PERTH

07/08/90 37419 PERTH INVERNESS

07/08/90 47460 INVERNESS INVERURIE

07/08/90 37262 INVERURIE INVERNESS

07/08/90 37262 INVERNESS ELGIN

07/08/90 37262 ELGIN INVERNESS

07/08/90 37418 INVERNESS KYLE OF LOCHALSH

07/08/90 37418 KYLE OF LOCHALSH INVERNESS

07/08/90 37418 INVERNESS MUIR OF ORD

07/08/90 37419 MUIR OF ORD INVERNESS

08/08/90 47712 INVERNESS DALWHINNIE

08/08/90 47593 DALWHINNIE INVERNESS

08/08/90 47643 INVERNESS INVERURIE

08/08/90 37419 INVERURIE INVERNESS

08/08/90 37262 INVERNESS ELGIN

08/08/90 37262 ELGIN INVERNESS

08/08/90 37262 INVERNESS ABERDEEN

08/08/90 37113 ABERDEEN INVERURIE

08/08/90 37154 INVERURIE ABERDEEN

08/08/90 47643 ABERDEEN MONTROSE

08/08/90 37240 MONTROSE PERTH

08/08/90 47642 PERTH NEWTONMORE

08/08/90 47701 NEWTONMORE DUNBLANE

09/08/90 47709 DUNBLANE BLAIR ATHOLL (failed)

09/08/90 47633 BLAIR ATHOLL INVERNESS

09/08/90 47642 INVERNESS INSCH

09/08/90 37419 INSCH INVERNESS

09/08/90 37128 INVERNESS ELGIN

09/08/90 37128 ELGIN INVERNESS

09/08/90 37128 INVERNESS FORRES

09/08/90 37154 FORRES INVERNESS

09/08/90 47562 INVERNESS ABERDEEN

09/08/90 47644 ABERDEEN MONTROSE

09/08/90 37240 MONTROSE PERTH

09/08/90 156438 PERTH GLASGOW QUEEN STREET

09/08/90 47630 GLASGOW QUEEN STREET INVERNESS

10/08/90 47644 INVERNESS KEITH

10/08/90 37154 KEITH INVERNESS

10/08/90 37156 INVERNESS KYLE OF LOCHALSH

10/08/90 37156 KYLE OF LOCHALSH INVERNESS

10/08/90 47706 INVERNESS PITLOCHRY

10/08/90 37240 PITLOCHRY INVERNESS

11/08/90 47717 INVERNESS GLASGOW QUEEN STREET

11/08/90 156513 GLASGOW QUEEN STREET PAISLEY CANAL

11/08/90 156513 PAISLEY CANAL GLASGOW QUEEN STREET

11/08/90 318263 GLASGOW CENTRAL AYR

11/08/90 26005 AYR CARLISLE

11/08/90 26005 CARLISLE AYR

Just found this, it could only be round about that time, i will have to dig the books out

 

post-7480-0-10528900-1330372083_thumb.jpg

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