Leyburn Kid

Many thanks Tony. Would be interested in a look at that photo ... is it somewhere accessible please? Hi Phil. Going through some old rail mags from this era, I've managed to find another location for that picture of 1912 on the Waterston tanks. It's also in Railway Magazine, March 1971, p149. Hope this is helpful.

Thanks both

Hi Brian. Which locos took over these diagrams? Were they all C.37s?

I've got a sneaking feeling I've seen a picture of this. Thanks once again for a very detailed post.

Love that!! In a way that comes back to the discussion we had a few days ago, about the WR being very canny hijacking locos like the Cl.46 or Cl.47s. Seems the WR wins this game both ways!

Thanks again Brian. I suppose I was imagining that their usage could be linked to the braking systems on certain types of freight, or perhaps one class coping better with some difficult incline in the Valleys. But often these things were down to drivers, and their loco and route knowledge. Plus general availability. Given that Cl.47's were more numerous in South Wales than Cl.52s, it's safe to assume that there were more Cl.47 hauled freight turns. As a rough idea though, for both Classes, what proportion of diagrams would be passenger or freight in your opinion?

One aspect we've explored, particularly with Brian's excellent posts, is the way that Hymeks tended to work in west Wales, and Cl 37's in East Wales in the last couple of years before the Hymek cull. Was there any particular rationale behind the usage of Cl. 47s or Cl.52s on freight work in South Wales, beyond the fact that Cl.47s were more likely to be selected for inter-regional freight? In Shrewsbury for instance, in 1970-72 virtually all WR freight coming through was Cl.47 hauled, Waterston-Albion being one of the obvious exceptions.

Lovely pic, despite the hijacking LOL

You have my deepest sympathy. I went with a group of friends to Retford on the ECML one Saturday, and saw NO Deltics, mostly Cl 47's instead between 1500-1520. Apparently the Deltics were all being held back for heavily loaded trains the next day, for a Rugby League Final at Wembley. !

The Traffic & Traction section at the back of Railway Magazine would sometimes mention examples like this. I've got a sneaking feeling there were examples of Cl 46 & Cl 47 locos from other regions used by the WR on the Paddington - Bristol passenger services.

Wonderful detail again Brian. For some of these observations I will have to on the internet, as one or two of the branch lines appear to have closed by the time of my Rail Atlas!

Hi Brian Coming back to your Hymek diagrams west of Swansea, given that loco reliability in those days was perhaps around 70-80% for most classes, there must have been around a dozen Hymeks potentially available west of Swansea each day.

On those afternoon's at Swansea station there was a set there each day, I was taken by just how stylish they were. When they came out recently it was a no brainer, and easily my most expensive purchase.

STJ was a veritable melting pot! Two things come to mind, how many Warships would've worked deeper into South Wales, when they were increasingly concentrated on Devon/Cornwall, and increasingly unreliable when BR seemed to be skimping on maintaining them? Also what a wonderful period we were spotting in, with great variety, but just how understandable it was that BR wanted to rationalise.

It's interesting that the WR used Peaks on freight workings around this time, because you would imagine the main purpose of a Bristol Bath Road allocation was to help create a seamless Cross Country service