JeffP's photos, early 70's and 80's.

[JeffP]

London used to be a magic destination for us, Stratford was soooooo atmospheric, going through that tunnel that you could NEVER get out at the other end in steam days, unless you had a permit. The bend in the tunnel where the route to Stratford (Old) Works used to fork to the right, gated and yet still available to explore, pure atmosphere, even though no locos....

 

Then emerging into a maze of buildings, the old steam shed, parts of the steam works, any of which might and did contain locos.

 

And Hither Green...straight off the platform, into the REAR of the shed, well away from the offices.....

 

Stewarts Lane...another "secret" back entrance, and old buildings, parts of the steam shed and Longhedge works.

 

Old Oak Common....back entrance off the canal path, straight outside the factory.

 

Great spotting days.

Edited February 8, 2014 by JeffP

[JeffP]

From oop North to Darn Sarf tonight.

 

Line up at Thonaby "Tees" shed, with class 31's and 37's outside the old steam shed.

 

Overall view of Thornaby depot. Thornaby also had a purpose-built diesel roundhouse, but it was empty and out of use on the day of my visit. My notes tell me that the loco showing the headcode 0H00 is 37003.

 

Two views inside the diesel shed at York, which is now, of course, the NRM.

 

You can't get much further south than this and still be in the UK, although, of course, this is not the mainland, but the depot at Ryde, St John's Road, Isle of Wight.

 

And this is what we came to see......the solitary class 05, Hunslet-built 05001, seen here at Sandown station. On the fourth photo my wife can be seen waiting patiently for me to take my photos, along with my friend, who had taken his, his wife is just out of shot. Told you somewhere else she was young, blonde and pretty...got me round a few sheds by asking for me.

However...the trip was a bit of a letdown for the girls, by the time we had found, and photographed the class 05, we had time for a cuppa, then back on the ferry to Portsmouth and back on the train home. I don't think the girls went on any more........

 

These photos are circa 1978, the Isle of Wight trip was a "Merrymaker" excursion from Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Barnetby and Scunthorpe, hauled by a class 47, and cost the princely sum of £4 each return. MkI stock, tatty but comfortable...happy days indeed.

Edited February 8, 2014 by JeffP

[JeffP]

All over the place tonight, with a medley of types, probably because the negatives aren't/weren't filed properly in the first place.

 

First off, we are at the NW end of Frodingham depot, with class 31/1, 31106, with no headcode panel.

 

And here's one at the same location with a headcode panel, 31265, flanked by 31106 and 37107.

 

The "front" of Frodingham depot, at twenty to four of a summer's evening, with classes 31, 37, 08 and what appears to be a 25 on shed.

 

And here's 20026, which went for a long time before being repainted into rail blue. It's still carrying the BR totem too, circa 1978. The nearest buffer is new, in primer...check out Brian Daniels' build of the same loco!

 

This one is missing from those taken at Ipswich station stabling point, showing a few class 03's stabled.

 

"King" class at Chester, 6000, "King George V".

 

Wigan Springs Branch, the old steam shed is still standing.

 

Reddish, class 76 off it's bogies, dumped in front of a line of those waiting their next work.

 

Class 24, 24022 at Reddish.

 

New class 56's at Tinsley.

 

One of the first sheds I visited in steam days, once I was old enough to go on club trips. Then it was full of Standard class 2 locos, 78xxx.

here, at Northwich, class 25's stand outside the old steam shed.

 

I THINK this is inside the old steam shed at Birkenhead, class 08's 08300 and 08213. Consensus has this as inside Northwich shed.

 

Frodingham again, with classes 47, 37 and 31.

 

In the late 70's, it wasn't uncommon to find a pair of class 31's deputising for a failed class 47, or even for a Deltic.

Here, class 31/4's, headed by 31412, bring a southbound express into Doncaster.

 

Here, class 47/4, 47433 heads a Kings Cross-Cleethorpes train into Barnetby, Autumn 1978.

Edited February 10, 2014 by JeffP

[DY444]

 

Diesels 70's and 80's584.jpg

Diesels 70's and 80's585.jpg

Two views from the first coach behind class 50, 50028, "Tiger" on it's way from Woking to London Waterloo. The southern purists may be able to pinpoint the exact locations?

 

 

First one is approaching Wimbledon.  Second one is approaching Earlsfield.

[beast66606]

I think 08300 / 213 is Allerton.

[Mallard60022]

Morning Jeff. I too remember Stratford as a fantastically atmospheric shed. My first visit there in 1960 on an official bash resulted in approximately 250 loco's noted. Way later in early diesel days (say early 70s ) it still had amazing atmosphere. Only some of the Scottish sheds (but smaller) and perhaps OOC had the same 'atmosphere'. Lovely pics.......

Thornaby. That roundhouse was built in 1958 I was told by a member of staff there. It  was actually intended for steam but really never got used by steam as the decision was around then made that steam would be eliminated in the north east, only the north west! However, as we all know, steam was working just up the road until 1967!

I never saw a diesel in it on my few visits in diesel days. There were some wagons! What a waste of resources.

The last time I went to Wigan (1982/3?) it was so foggy that you couldn't see more than a few yards; it was aso snowy, just right for weekend shed bash!

P

[JeffP]

Thanks DY444.

 

Beast: are you certain? Isn't Allerton an electric depot? I've only been once and we didn't get round, so my photos are outside the shed.

Speke?

 

Mallard: wish I'd been to Stratford in steam days. I regularly went to Doncaster Plant and shed from 1960 until they stopped repairing steam locos, then from 1966 went on club trips, but most sheds were a total disappointment, with some I only dreamed about, like Crewe North, already knocked down.

[Fat Controller]

Thanks DY444.

 

Beast: are you certain? Isn't Allerton an electric depot? I've only been once and we didn't get round, so my photos are outside the shed.

Speke?

 

Mallard: wish I'd been to Stratford in steam days. I regularly went to Doncaster Plant and shed from 1960 until they stopped repairing steam locos, then from 1966 went on club trips, but most sheds were a total disappointment, with some I only dreamed about, like Crewe North, already knocked down.

Speke had been knocked down by the time TOPS numbering appeared, I believe; I went there just after steam had finished, when the allocation was a few ex_LMS 350 hp shunters.

[JeffP]

That was my understanding too...there were some locos at Speke Junction IIRC, but no shed building.

 

My memory does tell me that I never got inside Allerton ED.

[Mallard60022]

Jeff, I wish I had been to the Plant in 1960 and then onwards! I did get to Crewe North, South and Works in '63 as part of my first mammoth 4 day rail bash with some group or another. I copped just over 1000 (yes you read that right) loco's that trip. I still have the book somewhere.

What I didn't mention was that this visit to Stratford in steam days was my only visit in steam days (sadly) and was part of a school trip to London from Plymouth. Our Music Master at the time was a rail buff and arranged Top Shed and Stratford visits. We then went to see Ben Hur somewhere and I probably fell asleep! Can't really remember the journey home from Paddington. Can't remember eating anything all day either. Happy days.

P

[Pannier Tank]

I think 08300 / 213 is Allerton.

 

They were both allocated to AN Allerton 10/1976  to 01/1977

 

08213 - 10/1976 to 10/1980

08300 - 05/1968 to 01/1977 & 10/1977 to 07/1983 when it was withdrawn

Edited February 10, 2014 by Pannier Tank

[JeffP]

I think the pics date from 1978. Is/was the inside of Allerton DED like that? It was a modern building from the outside. Like Willesden. And I still remember being refused admission, the only place we were.

[Pannier Tank]

I think the pics date from 1978. Is/was the inside of Allerton DED like that? It was a modern building from the outside. Like Willesden. And I still remember being refused admission, the only place we were.

08300 was back at Allerton 10/1977 so it's quite possibly AN. I wonder if they had OHL on all roads at AN?

Edited February 10, 2014 by Pannier Tank

[D6975]

Post 61 there's a shot labelled as 37377+37291.

The back loco is definitely not 37291.  I can identify it as definitely 37351.  It was the only one of the initial batch to carry this livery.  (the cantrail grilles identify it as one of D6700-4)

 

Post 131 there's a splitbox 37 coming off a bridge.  This is 37096, the only one to receive that peculiar paint job at the bottom of the nose.

 

 

[Fat Controller]

08300 was back at Allerton 10/1977 so it's quite possibly AN. I wonder if they had OHC on all roads at AN?

Looking at my copy of Quail, it appears that, until the recent rebuilding, only the northermost two shed roads wire wired throughout. The next one was wired to the doors on the western end, and the southernmost two roads weren't wired at all.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Fat Controller

[Rivercider]

I think the pics date from 1978. Is/was the inside of Allerton DED like that? It was a modern building from the outside. Like Willesden. And I still remember being refused admission, the only place we were.

Jeff

Allerton allocated shunters covered the duties at Northwich in that timespan

it looks a bit like the inside of Northwich shed to me,

 

great pics as usual by the way..

 

cheers 

[JeffP]

Post 61 there's a shot labelled as 37377+37291.

The back loco is definitely not 37291.  I can identify it as definitely 37351.  It was the only one of the initial batch to carry this livery.  (the cantrail grilles identify it as one of D6700-4)

 

Post 131 there's a splitbox 37 coming off a bridge.  This is 37096, the only one to receive that peculiar paint job at the bottom of the nose.

Thank you very much, both posts are suitably amended with your username thanked.

[JeffP]

Another "Merrymaker" outing tonight, this time to Bournemouth, but we went back to Eastleigh.

I've also squeezed in a couple from Crewe that are out of sequence again.

 

Class 33/0's at Eastleigh, with 33012 and 33030 identifiable.

 

Cab of class 73/0, 73006 at Eastleigh.

 

73's in the foreground and 33's in the background at Eastleigh.

 

Dumped class 74's at Eastleigh, 74005 and 74008 are present, with class 08, 08150 in the foreground.

 

Better view of 74005.

 

Two views attempting to show the solitary class 07 shunter present on that day, it's D2991, which later received the TOPS number 07007. It was derelict on the day I went.

In the second shot, class 08, 08387 is also identifiable. The second shot is taken from the line to Fratton...we didn't get round! But the return journey took time, so few photos at Eastleigh.

 

Inside Crewe works, and in primer is class 47, 47601. This loco was the testbed the new 16 cylinder Ruston engine which would power the class 56's. This dates the photo to 1974.

It later became 47901, and was used as a testbed for the 12 cylinder Ruston engine that powered the class 58's.

 

Works yard at Crewe, with plenty of class 40's and 47's about. 1974 again.

Edited February 10, 2014 by JeffP

[AberdeenBill]

Hi Jeff,

 

Belting  photos of Eastleigh.  In photo 6 (panorama of Eastleigh Works), there are not one but two of the diesel-engine carriers (flat wagons with aluminium "sheds") visible, which used to shuffle between Eastleigh and St Leonards (Hastings).  

 

Was it really 1974 (40 years' ago!!) that 47601 was being prepared for service??

 

Best regards,

Bill

[JeffP]

Yes it was, I checked my dates with Google.

 

And thanks for that...I never knew what those alloy "sheds" on wagons were!

[Mallard60022]

A bit OT but I believe Allerton was a 'no no' because there had been a fatality involving the OHL; trespassers I believe, although the 'source' (shed worker did not state that and could just have been pulling our.............). The lads could often get a list though if there was someone helpful on duty.

P

[jonny777]

Another "Merrymaker" outing tonight, this time to Bournemouth, but we went back to Eastleigh.

I've also squeezed in a couple from Crewe that are out of sequence again.

 

Diesels 70's and 80's731.jpg

Class 33/0's at Eastleigh, with 33012 and 33030 identifiable.

 

Diesels 70's and 80's732.jpg

Cab of class 73/0, 73006 at Eastleigh.

 

Diesels 70's and 80's733.jpg

73's in the foreground and 33's in the background at Eastleigh.

 

Diesels 70's and 80's734.jpg

Dumped class 74's at Eastleigh, 74005 and 74008 are present, with class 08, 08150 in the foreground.

 

Diesels 70's and 80's735.jpg

Better view of 74005.

 

Diesels 70's and 80's736.jpg

Diesels 70's and 80's737.jpg

Two views attempting to show the solitary class 07 shunter present on that day, it's D2991, which later received the TOPS number 07007. It was derelict on the day I went.

In the second shot, class 08, 08387 is also identifiable. The second shot is taken from the line to Fratton...we didn't get round! But the return journey took time, so few photos at Eastleigh.

 

Diesels 70's and 80's738.jpg

Inside Crewe works, and in primer is class 47, 47601. This loco was the testbed the new 16 cylinder Ruston engine which would power the class 56's. This dates the photo to 1974.

It later became 47901, and was used as a testbed for the 12 cylinder Ruston engine that powered the class 58's.

 

Diesels 70's and 80's739.jpg

Works yard at Crewe, with plenty of class 40's and 47's about. 1974 again.

 

Oh yes. Crewe works in the early 70s. It brings a lump to my throat.

 

I remember the Open Day in 1973, mainly because my camera jammed and I had no photos

 

TOPS renumbered locos which became totally confusing as I no idea which ones they were until Modern Railways appeared a few weeks later.

 

24041 - which one was that ? 40051 - just write it down and hope it was a cop.  47059 & 47166, anyone's guess?

[JeffP]

The rolling out of TOPS was what got me and a mate BACK into spotting after losing interest at the end of steam. On a whim we went on our first Merrymaker, picking it up at Gainsborough Lea Road as a mystery trip. It ended up at Weston Super Mare, and WE ended up at Bristol Temple Meads.

 

Of course, we then had to buy an Ian Allen shed-book or two to check what the renumbering was all about, and away we went........around 1972/3. It must have been, because I was already hooked by 1973 when I went back to college after working for two years at Nypro........

Edited February 11, 2014 by JeffP

[Clive Mortimore]

Hi Jeff

 

Thanks for these, I am really liking the ER shed photos.......might have to borrow them    

 

The TOPS renumbering had the opposite effect on my spotting. It started about the time I was more interested in girls, rock music and going down the pub which didn't help. I was doing a lot of travelling at weekends so while sat on the train by myself I was still noting the numbers. But locos like the Peaks with the new TOPS numbers I couldn't tell if I needed them or they were a "cop" off the top of my head, where I could with the "D" numbers. So I gave up sitting on the train with my note book, funny thing was when I put away the note book the young laddies sitting opposite started to talk to me   

[JeffP]

Varied locations again tonight, from the far west to Yorkshire.

 

Another Merrymaker saw us going to Torbay...and of course, we went back to Newton Abbott, where we failed to get round the shed/works.

Here, shot from the station, a class 47 pauses in front of two class 52, "Westerns", with the works building in the background. My notes tell me that, from left to right, the locos are:1063, "Western Monitor", 1059, "Western Empire" and 47083, "Orion". 4/08/75.

 

Newton Abbott allocated class 08, 08955 shunts outside the works. 4/10/75.

 

On the same day, failed class 52, 1021, "Western Cavalier" is towed through Newton Abbott by class 45, 45069. Some wag had "named" the class 45 "Western Acorn", in the dirt on the side.

 

View of Frodingham depot, October 1975. Class 37, 37107 is the loco in the foreground.

 

Ex-works class 31, 31265, Frodingham, 5/10/75.

 

And newly outshopped class 45, 45062 was also present, 5/10/75.

 

Line up of class 31's at Frodingham, sunset, with 31268 nearest the camera.

 

cab view of 45062.

 

Allerton DED on 28/8/75, finds class 86, 86226 stabled at the rear of the shed.

 

The remains of class 02, D2852, stand amongst the "fireweed", (rose-bay willowherb), at Allerton, the loco never received a TOPS number. It was the only one of the class I ever saw outside prservation.

 

Class 25/3, 25303, Newton Heath, 27/8/75.

 

Longsight diesel depot, 27/8/75, with, from left to right, 86036, 25119, and 40015. just visible behind 25115 is 47535.

 

Reddish, 27/8/75, left to right: 76039/04/33/11, and 40024

 

A dismal day at Holbeck, 27/8/75, finds, from left to right, 45006 "Honourable Artillery Company", 47002, and 45032, with the furthest peak having not been noted by me.

Edited February 11, 2014 by JeffP