PGH

37403 leaving Crianlarich on the 12.04 Glasgow to Oban View from the site of Crianlarich Lower Station where the former platform was used for timber loading. A southbound freight crosses the viaduct on the West Highland Line. 37425 at Crianlarich on a northbound freight The same train leaving Crianlarich The former loco shed at Crianlarich used as a permanent way depot 37409 approaching Crianlarich Station on the 14.45 Fort William To Glasgow …..and at the station The viaduct over the River Fillan 37403 at Oban Station

37408 + 37412 at Tulloch on the 8.40 Fort William to Glasgow waiting for…… 37409 on the 21.00 Euston to Fort William view from the train approaching Rannoch Station (couldn't decide which of the above two to post so you're getting both !) 37422 at Tyndrum Upper on a permanent way train 37411 at Crianlarich on the 8.34 Glasgow to Oban 37411 at Oban Station

37411 shunting the steam train coaches at Fort William Fort William with 37425 arriving on the 21.00 from Euston and 37411 right waiting to depart on the 10.05 to Mallaig 37424 at Fort William Junction on the 16.10 Fort William to Mallaig 37411 at Fort William Junction on the 15.55 from Mallaig 37411 at Fort William Junction on the 18.10 Fort William to Euston, passing under the bridge which formerly carried the British Aluminium Co's 3ft gauge line from the works to the pier on Loch Linnhe

47550 at Inverness on the 15.03 to Aberdeen 37114 and 37240 at Inverness 37415 crossing the River Ness viaduct on the 12.14 from Thurso and Wick 37415 after arrival 37416 at Inverness on the 17.35 to Thurso and Wick

37415 at Dingwall on the 15.05 Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness 37416 at Dingwall on the 17.35 Inverness to Wick and Thurso 37421 arriving at Dingwall on the 16.40 Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness 37414 arriving at Inverness the following day on the 11.28 from Kyle of Lochalsh [ 37414 again after arrival 37414 with Inverness station pilot 08717 and again ! - but useful maybe for positioning the numbers 37260 passing Inverness on a permanent way train (presumably, as the first wagon contained sleepers)

Strathcarron Station Strathcarron from the footbridge, view towards Inverness View towards Kyle of Lochalsh 37415 arriving at Strathcarron on the 11.10 from Inverness alongside Loch Carron with the avalanche shelter just ahead over the railway and A890 alongside Kyle of Lochalsh (again) ……with 37415 running round 37415 on the 15.05 to Inverness

47492 at Inverness Inverness south bound platforms with 47492 on the 10.35 to Euston apparently the sun does shine occasionally in Scotland 37414 arriving at Inverness on 7.10 from Kyle of Lochalsh Two months later back in Inverness and back in dull overcast weather, 37414 again, this time arriving on the 6.00 ex Thurso/Wick. On the right 37421 is waiting to depart on the 10.10 to Kyle of Lochalsh passing 37260 on a ballast train at Garve 37421 leaving Strathcarron on the 10.10 Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh

37416 after arrival at Wick 37260 arriving at Georgemas Junction on the Thurso section Adding Thurso section to rear of train from Wick at Georgemas Junction 37416 about to leave Georgemas Junction on combined train Brora goods shed 37418 on the 17.35 from Inverness arriving at Brora with 37416 right on the Inverness train

37417 crossing the River Ness Viaduct at Inverness on the 7.10 ex Kyle of Lochalsh, viewed from the south side. The viaduct collapsed 7 months later and was replaced by a rather less attractive steel structure. 37416 crossing on the 6.00 ex Thurso and Wick train 37417 on the 10.10 Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh taken from the north side of the viaduct 37419 at Inverness on the 11.10 to Kyle of Lochalsh The rather attractive group of buildings at Helmsdale Station Georgemas Junction from the departing Wick train with the Thurso section leaving from the other end of the station

How's this:

Kyle of Lochalsh 37419 on the 15.05 to Inverness 37414 on the 16.40 to Inverness with the converted DMU 'Hebridean' observation saloon next to the loco Achnasheen Station Crossing the River Bran east of Achanalt Dingwall Station looking northwards

The next series of photos was taken on two trips to the West Highland Line and the lines north of Inverness in 1988, when all passenger workings were still in the hands of the Class 37s and just prior to the introduction of the Class 156 Sprinters on those routes. The photos are posted in the order taken, so some locations will appear more than once and the sequence may seem illogical at times. It may be useful for that reason to give details of the routes taken: July 1988 - overnight to Fort William; FW - Mallaig & return (steam - not included here); Banavie - Mallaig - Kyle of Lochalsh (boat) - Inverness; Inverness - Wick & return. September 1988 - Inverness via ECML and Aberdeen; Inverness - Kyle of Lochalsh & return; Inverness - Fort William (bus); FW - Mallaig & return (steam); FW - Oban; Oban - Crianlarich & return; Oban - Glasgow 37408 (and signal) at Glasgow Queen Street 37413 at Fort William on the 10.05 to Mallaig 20114 crossing the Caledonian Canal Bridge at Banavie, returning light engine to Fort William after delivering oil tank wagons to the Corpach Paper Mill The Banavie swing bridge in action Banavie Station, view towards Mallaig showing the new signalling centre opened the previous year, which controls train movements on the West Highland line 37424 arriving at Banavie on the 10.05 Fort William to Mallaig

The Nantlle Tramway (continued) The junction of original and later routes behind the ruins of Talysarn Hall, view towards Talysarn. The original route ran to the right, the tunnel being a later addition to enable a slate waste tip to be extended over the line. The later route was to the left round the base of the tip. Further east there was another diversion from the original route to make way for an extension of the Dorothea Quarry Pit, which included this overbridge of standard gauge dimensions In 2007 the scene has hardly changed except for removal of the rails The tramway crossed the road by a lattice girder bridge The same bridge from track level - note the transverse steel strips fixed to the timber deck to give the horses grip. The tips of Pen-yr-Orsedd Quarry, the line's ultimate destination, are in the left distance. The same location in 2007 Nearing the terminus the tramway occupied a ledge high above the houses of Nantlle Village. Just off the photo to the left is a flooded pit of the Pen-y-Bryn Quarry; Pen-yr-Orsedd Quarry is in the left distance with its top level mill just visible on the skyline; on the right the Nantlle Valley leads up towards Rhyd-Ddu with the summit of Snowdon hidden in the clouds beyond. The tramway terminus from the bottom of the Pen-yr-Orsedd inclines. The building on the left was formerly a stables, converted for use to transfer slates from tramway wagons to road vehicles. The building beyond incorporated a weighbridge. The narrow track crossing the tracks has been widened into the quarry access road and the remainder of this site is now very overgrown and obstructed by tree growth.

The Nantlle Tramway was one of the more unusual parts of BR, and may be of limited interest here with perhaps little modelling potential. It was officially closed in December 1963, together with the short Talysarn Branch from Penygroes. The following black & white photos were taken in 1965 shortly before tracklifting commenced, and the colour photos were taken in 2007. Talysarn Station Yard looking east. The former passenger platform is on the far left (passenger services ceased in 1932), to the right is the slate transhipment wharf with 3'-6" gauge track still in situ but overgrown and far right is the small timber goods shed. The Nantlle Tramway left the yard at the far left corner and crossed a road on the level. In earlier years a standard gauge siding also crossed the road to serve the Coedmadoc Slate Quarry, the only North Wales slate quarry with a direct standard gauge connection into the quarry itself. For a period at least this siding was mixed gauge and it is believed that it was worked by a narrow gauge locomotive hauling the standard gauge wagons. Tramway trackwork between the standard gauge sidings, used for transfer of coal from main line to tramway wagons The tramway ran alongside the road through Talysarn, view looking eastwards in 1965 A similar view in 2007 At the east end of Talysarn Village the tramway and road were crossed by a high stone embankment and this is the view looking west towards Talysarn Station from the top. The tramway emerges from the second of two tunnels under the accesses to houses and a chapel on the north side of the road. The embankment itself and all the slate waste and derelict property in the centre and foreground of the photo were cleared in a 1970s landscaping scheme and used to partly fill the flooded quarry pit on the left, leaving a tidier but rather featureless area and obliterating the tramway course. The tramway and road passed through the embankment in separate arches View looking east from the top of the embankment. On the left is the flooded pit of Talysarn Quarry and bottom right behind the car are the bottom of two inclines, which formerly connected to the tramway. The road was originally the main road through the Nantlle Valley until it was replaced by a new road on the south side of the valley following the collapse of part of it into the Dorothea Quarry Pit in 1924. Two of The Dorothea Pit's blondin ropeway towers can be seen in the right distance. From this point to the end of the tramway most of the original route was diverted at various dates to permit quarrying operations. The original route here ran across the (later) quarry pit to enter a tunnel near the derelict building on the extreme left of the photo. The final course shown here was the fourth as the pit was extended.

Thanks for your comments. Yes, the three colours mentioned were mixed in roughly equal parts. However I have found that Humbrol colours do vary so that similar mixes don't always give the same result and you may need to vary the mix. The idea was to represent old sleepers with virtually no traces of creosote on their upper surfaces.

After all that's been said I think I'll stick to that conclusion which seems to agree with most of the evidence. Probably BR fans - to whom the original livery would have been significant - might have ignored any discolouration due to weathering in later years, whereas others might have taken it as an indication of the original livery. I don't know the official withdrawal dates of these locos, but I was told by staff on site that 01001 had been partly dismantled for engine repairs c1971/2 which had never been completed so it was certainly never used after that date. The author of the publication mentioned in Post #240 started work on the loco about late 1968 and stated: "There were two identical locomotives in the big engine shed but, during my time on the job, only one was ever in use. The other was taken out from time to time but, in the end, was used for spare parts for the one in regular service" So probably 01001 saw little if any use at Holyhead. In July 1980 I was told that 01002 was last used "about 18 months ago", in July 1981 "about 2 years ago", so sometime in 1979 seems a reasonable assumption. The main reason given by staff for abandoning the railway for stone transport was the condemning of the travelling crane which ran the length of the breakwater on its own rails and was used to unload the rail wagons and place the stone where required. It was later toppled off the breakwater and cut up on the beach at low tide. In July 1980 the railway still showed signs of recent use by the Wickham trolley. IRS records show it as transferred to Bangor in Oct 1980, but I was told by staff in 1981 that it had been sent away in August or September 1980 for use on the Conwy Valley Line after flood damage, then taken to Bangor and scrapped. Track on the breakwater railway was lifted in late 1980 and completed by Christmas leaving just the track in the shed and a few yards outside. Finally, I forget as it seems so long ago, who the heck started this discussion by suggesting that these damn locos were green ?

Hard to say, but in the top photo there seems to be traces of green in the black stripes on the front of 01002, indicating a change in colour. I do wonder why the 01 numbers were apparently painted on green patches - did the painter think the original colour was green ? But apart from that I think they were most probably originally black weathered to green (or given a greenish tint), as suggested by Steve N, but more from the action of salt than any other cause.

Thanks for your input Merf, drjcontroller and Enterprisingwestern, its useful to get the views of those that actually saw the locos rather than those who rely on photos (but thanks for those that supplied the links anyway) or printed information. Unfortunately I didn't note the colour in 1967 when the locos were in much better external condition and it wasn't until 1980 that I noted them as green, principally from 01002, as 01001 was partly sheeted over by that date. As the note was made at the time of the visit I can only assume that they must have appeared green at that time. There is no doubt that 01002 got a lot of exposure to the elements during its use on the breakwater, which probably accounts for the varying condition of its paintwork. A former employee of Wilds published an account of his time at the brickworks, which included a period assisting the loco driver on 01002. He recalled that at times they were caught out by bad weather while working on the breakwater and on one occasion the loco derailed when they were returning, with waves actually breaking over the track. They had to be rescued by the Wickham trolley and the loco left on the breakwater until the following day.

Did you actually see it then ? If not then that's a fairly unhelpful comment - you could just as easily say if you want to see black you'll see black, but it was green

Under the cab side view (third photo down in the above link) it states: "and the new number applied in June 1974, on a strip of fresh black paint" , but according to Merf that was definitely green. It doesn't look particularly green in the photo, just a bit lighter than the remainder of the cab side, so if that looks black in photos taken only 5 years after it was applied maybe we shouldn't be relying on photographs for any indication of the colour.

The Industrial Railway Society's RECORD magazine No.85 has a report of a visit to Holyhead Breakwater in 1976, when 01002 was out working and not in the gloom of the shed, and states "The locomotives are unusual insofar as they display modern style computer numbers but still retain the lion and wheel emblem and the old green livery" Most published reports say they were black, but unless they say "I was there and noted them painted......", they may be just regurgitating the same correct or incorrect information Maybe those noting it as green were fooled by the green patches applied over the old numbers noted by Merf, and assumed under the grot the remainder was green. However the Tops numbers were applied in June 1974 (per IRS North Wales Handbook), which was well into the BR Blue period. If they weren't fussy about matching the original paint colour with the new number patches, would they perhaps more likely have used the readily available blue if the locos were black ? Just a thought Not passing any judgement here, just presenting the evidence M'lud

I noted them as green, and a commercial colour photo I have shows a definite green 'tinge'.

The isolated Holyhead Breakwater Railway was more an industrial railway than part of BR, however it was probably widely known by BR fans as the location of the last two Class 01 shunters - hence its inclusion here. BR took over responsibility for the Holyhead Breakwater from the Ministry of Transport in 1948, and with it the Breakwater Railway which ran the full length of the breakwater, then to the maintenance depot at the former 7ft gauge loco shed, a total distance of approximately 13/4 miles, and a further 1/2 mile to the Breakwater Quarries, where stone for its foundations had been obtained. The quarries had been taken over around the turn of the century (1900) by William Wild & Sons Ltd, who established a brickworks to manufacture firebricks from the silica rock. Wilds also supplied stone for breakwater maintenance. The railway served three main purposes during the BR period: 1. Transport along the breakwater for BR personnel maintaining the breakwater and lighthouse at the seaward end, initially using a Drewry petrol railcar which was later replaced by a Wickham permanent way trolley. 2. Transport of stone from the Breakwater Quarries to maintain the breakwater foundations. 3. Internal shunting at the quarries and brickworks, and also transport of bricks and crushed silica down to the quay at the inland end of the breakwater for shipment by sea. The last two operations were carried out by Wilds using a Peckett 0-4-0ST ordered by the Ministry of Transport in 1934 and supplied to Wilds as part of the contract to supply stone for the breakwater maintenance. When this loco required replacement in 1966 BR supplied (presumably under the terms of the existing contract) ED6, a departmental Fowler 0-4-0DM from the Ditton Sleeper Depot. This was found to be unreliable in service and was soon replaced by D2954 and D2955, later designated Class 01 001/002. The locos were in effect on hire to Wilds and driven by Wilds own driver, but unlike the steam loco, which was kept in a small shed at the brickworks, the diesel locos were stabled in the former 7ft gauge loco shed. [Photo removed] D2955 working in the quarry with an antique 'ship canal' type wooden tip wagon, September 1967. Perhaps one of the most unusual items of rolling stock to be shunted by a BR diesel loco in commercial service. [Photo removed] D2955 was fitted with a length of timber below each buffer beam for use with the timber flat wagons employed for taking stone down to the breakwater [Photo removed] The stone was carried in three sided steel skips placed on these wagons, which were lifted off by the travelling crane on the breakwater and tipped where required [Photo removed] Interior of the former 7ft gauge loco shed with D2954. The standard gauge rails were carried on timber baulks supported on stone blocks within the 7ft gauge inspection pits. One of the old 7ft gauge rails still remained on the left side of the nearest pit. I doubt if D2954 was ever used in service on the Breakwater Railway, not being fitted with the timber below the buffer beams like D2955. It was certainly not used after 1971, when it was dismantled for repairs which were never completed and after that it was used as a source of spares for D2955. [Photo removed] The Wickham permanent way trolley used by BR workers for transport along the breakwater The brickworks closed in 1974, but Wilds continued to supply stone for the breakwater and latterly stone was brought in by road from another of Wilds' quarries and loaded onto rail wagons near the brickworks where it could be weighed before being transported down to the breakwater. The contract with Wilds was terminated in 1975 and slate blocks were then brought in by road from Penrhyn Quarry. The blocks were transferred to rail wagons on the quay area at the inland end of the breakwater and the loco was then operated by a BR driver. [Photo removed] BR also provided their own wagons after 1975 - Two Conflats DB709304 and DB710155, and two flat wagon conversions (from vans ?) M 418362 and E311393 [Photo removed] 01 002 (D2955) with 01 001 (D2954) inside the shed, July 1980. The railway had last been used the previous year, since when the stone was carried direct to where required on the breakwater by lorries. The two locos were scrapped on site in February 1982.

No, if there were I would have posted them.

No I don't. The siding branched off the Amlwch Line just south of the overbridge shown in photo 8 of Post #196. The photo below is looking south (towards Gaerwen) from that overbridge, the site of the junction being marked with the red arrow.