35A

Great to see it. I must have done as well, given when it was demolished - but I only clearly remember it in its latter years, with the pillars standing lonely and forlorn. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a picture as good as this from the upstream side.

The Deltic in J1644 is D9008. As others have said, it's great to see a photograph of the bullion train. Although this was a regular lunchtime working in the 1970s, like so many, I never got around to taking a picture of it myself. I hadn't realised that it still ran as late as the early 80s, as I had left the area by that time.

C6107: towards the end of July 1983 20 163 was indeed recorded paired with 20 172 on the Skeggies. On 24th they worked 1E28 08:56 Derby - Skegness/1M83 18:00 Skegness - Derby; on 25th they worked 1E86 08:15 Leicester - Skegness/1M22 18:55 Skegness - Leicester; on 26th they worked 1E85 09:29 Derby - Skegness/1M47 18:37 Skegness - Derby; on 27th they worked a relief train to 1E85/1M47: 1E04 at 09:37 from Derby/1M07 at 18:10 from Skegness; on 28th they were on 1E86/1M22 again; on 30th they worked 1E86 08:39 Leicester - Skegness/1M02 12:37 Skegness - Leicester (the Saturday train) and on 31st they worked 1E26 08:25 Leicester - Skegness/1M83 18:00 Skegness - Leicester. Neither were recorded on the trains earlier in the month. C6109: on 26th July 20 073 was recorded paired with 20 070 on 1E04/1M07 (see above for timings); on 27th they were on 1E85/1M47. No other recordings for July. C6128: on 17th August 20 073 was paired with 20 193 on 1E86/1M22; on 18th they worked 1E85 08:48 Burton-upon-Trent - Skegness/1M47 18:37 Skegness - Burton-upon-Trent; on 21st they worked 1E26 08:25 Leicester - Skegness/1M88 18:55 Skegness - Leicester; on 22nd they worked 1E85/1M47; on 23rd they worked 1E86/1M22 again. No other recordings for August. Gen courtesy of www.thebashingyears.co.uk and my own records. Thanks for reminding me of many fun summer evenings bouncing about behind pairs of 20s, particularly west of Nottingham, after a day at college (with the occasional trip to Skeg thrown in)!

J2652: the positioning of the data panel and shed sticker on the cabside is very non-standard (in blue livery they were normally under the running number) - in fact I don't even recall seeing one with them in this position, although I must have done, as I used to see the 'Generators' on an almost daily basis throughout the Seventies. It's also interesting that this loco is subject to some RTC experiments, with at least two white, engraved detail plates affixed to the bottom of the cab door. I've done some ferreting and identified this photo of 1513 slightly later in 1971, with the data panel and shed sticker on the cabside and a similar pattern of experiment plates. Unfortunately I can't find any photo of 1515 at that time (with them being so common I didn't tend to photograph them often myself, annoyingly!) to cross-reference. I used to record details of the experiments being carried out on locos and had a few pages of notes with them all listed - inevitably I have no idea where they are at the moment but I'll keep looking! Whilst not fully discounting 1515, it could possibly be 1513. http://class47.co.uk/c47_zoom_v3.php?img=0662050000200

I'm not sure about that, as D1914 was a Canton loco and, whilst WR locos did occasionally appear on the East Coast, it didn't happen very often. Looking at the picture I think that it's very difficult to even be certain that it ends in 14. It might just be a faded area of the number that makes it appear so. Also, under the D prefix is a black oval, very common on Eastern Region locos where cast shedplates were no longer available. There were odd 40B ones but most commonly they were Tinsley (41A) painted shedplates. I'm wondering if it might be D1994 - although the D1989-D1999 batch were Gateshead based (and ECML regulars) for a considerable length of time, D1994 was the odd one out, remaining at Tinsley. To be honest, I think that this one is very difficult to call, as it isn't possible to enlarge it far without losing the resolution. I think that it will probably remain guesswork!

Yes, my apologies all - I did actually spot the 1L34/1L37 discrepancy when I was researching/checking things. However, when typing it up (in the small hours) it slipped my mind to include the query. Unfortunately I can't offer anything from my notes for the period, as I have a large gap during that time as I was "in works" myself from April to July, due to a serious illness. Whichever way you look at it, it's a conundrum. It wasn't unknown for trains to run with wrong headcodes - I can remember several occasions when a Saturday train ran through carrying a M-F headcode, Sundays I was around far less frequently. It could just be a coincidence that both the wrong code was wound up and a BG was added to the set to get it up to Yorkshire (perhaps to return a previously defective vehicle or to get one up there to replace another defective one?). Again, it wasn't that unusual to see the odd, unexpected vehicle in a formation. Complete speculation - but I think that we're reduced to guesswork on this one!

Yes - but it makes it a beggar to try and identify the stock!

C1640 I would also agree is 55 018. However, that loco was recorded as working 1E13 11:40 Edinburgh - King's Cross on 30th June 1974, which might have given it a tightish turnaround for 1L34 (I don't have a WTT for that, to check, but I suspect that it's feasible). J4029 is definitely not 55 022. It looks very much like 55 004. If so, that would have to have been taken between 1st and 9th Sept 1974, as she was taken into works on 10th and remained there for the rest of the month and the first 12 days of October. I was going to suggest that C3874 is 55 012. Having checked, that was recorded as working 1S21 10:55 King's Cross - Edinburgh on 30th May 1978, which matches Mark's always reliable notes about the train formation in #10433.

Fascinating, Gilbert. I love seeing the detail that I don't remember - and that includes the roof on the bays and the wall along platform 5. "Before my time", as they say nowadays on quiz shows, as an excuse for ignorance (my mitigation: I was born in 1958). That is the only photograph that I've ever seen of that detail, so thanks for educating me a little more.

Thanks David. That's my daily dose of knee-tremblers! Lovely images. Reminds me that at that time the whole 1500-1519 batch had been painted blue but virtually every other ECML 47 was still green (with odd exceptions). I particularly recall seeing 1104, 1105 and 1108 return after their visit to Crewe and appointment with the blue paint pot, the first of their batch.

Agreed. 45s from 55A/HO were fairly common visitors, in the 70s. As a Leicester resident in the early 80s, in the couple of years up to and through the coming of HSTs, I don't recall seeing or photographing any 46s on MML services, though, as they were not ETS-fitted (likewise the 45/0s, which were all that Holbeck had). The Midland Lines 46s (138-165) all headed west between 1968 and 1973. The Eastern Region batch (166-193) spent most of their lives at Gateshead, although a few them did bounce back and forth between Gateshead and Holbeck for a year or two, here and there, and even Haymarket had one on loan, before they all consolidated back at Gateshead. The Western Region also borrowed a handful of them for a while during their later years. Anyway, we digress a bit .....

J3176 - it's interesting to see a 46 on a MML service as late as 1973. 151 went to the Western Region in 1969 and (apart from the quartet that went from the Midland lines to Gateshead before later heading westwards: 139, 148, 153 & 160 IIRC) the rest of the Midland batch had migrated to Bristol Bath Road or Laira by May 1972. It's likely, I suppose, that it had either been into Derby Works for minor rectification (clearly not a repaint!) and had been on a test run to St. Pancras and back or more probably that the London Midland had purloined it, whilst in the area, to replace a failure. It certainly wasn't unheard of to see a 46 on the MML after they had moved away but traction knowledge would probably have started to become an issue.

Agreed. However, unlike 1E01, 1E05 and 1E11 (which were *very* exceptional if they didn't produce a Deltic), it wasn't altogether uncommon for 1E07 or 1E17 to turn up Brush-worked on any day of the week. 1E11, incidentally, was often used to 'run in' an ex-works Deltic between Doncaster and Peterborough. From time to time it would arrive with a pair on the front, the piloting loco being detached at Peterborough.

J2468: According to the Chronicles of Napier, 9021 worked 1E01 on Saturday 5th December 1970. Nothing recorded for 12th December. On 19th it worked 1S84, a King's Cross - Edinburgh relief, and on 26th it worked 1E07, 10:10 Edinburgh - King's Cross. J2471: No record of 9008 working 1L13 during December 1970 (there's only actually seven workings recorded that whole month) and on Saturday 5th December it was recorded as working 1E17 10:30 Aberdeen - King's Cross, from Edinburgh. Nothing for 12th or 19th. On Saturday 26th it worked 1E11, 12:00 Edinburgh - King's Cross. If both of those photos were taken on the same day, then it can't be 5th or 26th. Possibly 12th or, depending upon what time 1S84 ran north, it could be 19th, after 9021 had arrived on 1E01 and been serviced and fuelled. I've checked my notes and have no sighting of either on those dates, so I can't shed any more light on which it might be, I'm afraid.

Ditto re 5N68 (or 1N68). The SO 09:25 King's Cross - Skegness was 1D01 in summer 1974. Perhaps the route indicator had not been reset from a previous suburban working on the Friday?

Interesting, Mike. Thanks. Looks like (from the link) that both 'F' and 'G' were permissible. I remember, from late 1970 onwards, lots of Christmas and Easter holiday reliefs (plus football specials etc) running as '1Gxx' workings at the south end of the ECML, usually class 46s or 47s. The first 'F' code that I recall was the "Deltic Scotsman Farewell" in 1982 (although from January 1976 it had become impossible to track codes unless you had access to a WTT). That, of course, was an inter-regional working (as, interestingly, was the Doncaster - Edinburgh example in your photograph - I wonder if that's relevant?). I was quite surprised at the time that it wasn't a '1Zxx'. There were probably some more specific rules written somewhere as to what should be a 'F' and what should be a 'G' if we can but find them!

'G' was normal for internal additional passenger workings ('Z' for inter-regional) - but it's possible that 'F' was used for non-passenger workings, I don't recall and I don't have any recorded in my notes for 1970-74. I do recall seeing 'F' used in the very late 70s, early 80s, though. It looks like the consist includes Cortina Mk 3s and Zephyrs - so perhaps a Dagenham - Wrenthorpe working? 'F' for Ford, perhaps?

Dave - J2944 is, I suspect, a train to a Southern destination, given the headcode 1O07 (unless it's carrying the wrong code). If it were bound for Paddington it would be a 'V'. Another lovely batch of shots! Thanks, as always.

That fits, Phil. D8032 moved from Haymarket (had previously been at Inverness - which would explain the tablet catchers) to D16 Nottingham Division in July 1968.

Agreed. The plate's too short for all of the racehorses, except for "Meld", "Pinza", "Tulyar" or "Nimbus". "Pinza" and "Nimbus" still had domino headcodes in August 1977, although the sandbox filler flaps on the noses and in the bodysides had been plated in. "Meld" had had both the headcode panel and the sandbox fillers plated over. "Tulyar" still had a domino headcode panel and had not had its sandbox fillers plated - which matches Dave's picture. So, I'm with you, 15.

I love the Leicester pictures. They bring back very fond memories of when I lived there in 1982 & 1983, just as the Peaks were being stood down from front line service, replaced by cascaded 125s. There was also a daily class 50 working into Leicester, from Lawley Street, which would set back onto the fuelling point just after 20:00, which would cause a great deal of excitement. Sadly, I only photographed it once: 50 011 "Centurion" IIRC. C659 is interesting. The Tyseley 116s didn't used to venture beyond Leicester (from the Birmingham direction) that often and very rarely went further east than Peterborough in the early 70s. I suspect that that is a Peterborough - Birmingham working, vice a 104 or 120, which were the usual stock. C660 is curious, as well. 1M38 doesn't ring a bell with me and I don't remember anything from the eastern counties that would be load 7. At that time, 1971, the only loco-hauled passenger services (other than the SO Walsall - Yarmouth) that I recall were a single working at around 17:?? from Leicester to Peterborough, which usually employed a double-headed class 25. At Peterborough they would be split, one returning with the two coach Royal Mail train to Crewe (1M58) and one working back with the stock, in service, at around 20:20 (1M59, I think). The following year, the diagram was abolished and the loco for 1M58 was, for several years, supplied by the Finsbury Park class 31 that had worked up from King's Cross on one of the terminating evening commuter services. If anyone has a timetable to hand I would be interested to learn what 1M38 was.

ICBW, Rob, but I think that the third vehicle is a 104 driving trailer, formed with the corridor connection nearest the camera (as with the following 101 DMCL). Probably an ECS move?

Nice to see the Swindon Cross-Country unit in C8041 with a traditional 592xx series centre car (originally with miniature buffet). Most of the remaining sets had had them replaced with spare class 101 cars by 1986, to increase seating capacity by eliminating the wasted buffet space.

The adjacent pictures of D9007 "Pinza" in J1782 (Jul 69) & the class 46 'Peak' on the Toleman cartics in J2664 (May 71) just reminded me of the 23rd October 1971 when I recorded 9012 "Crepello" on 4Z03 (cartics) not far from the same location. Other than on a couple of short distance test trains, consisting of VanFits, that was one of only two occasions in fifteen years when I actually saw the very rare occurrence of a Deltic working freight (the other was around the same period, when I observed one on an up Freightliner at about 21:40 one night, just as it was almost dark).

Just to add to that: I would take a punt on the class 37 being on 1C15 Peterborough to Harwich Parkeston Quay and 55 001 being at the head of 1E11, which departed Peterborough just before 1C15. 37s were not common at Peterborough on a Saturday in 1974, except on 1B13/1C15 (as I've previously mentioned) which would have propelled back into platform 4 from Nene Sidings at around 16:40, after running round.