jonny777

Another memory jerker. That photo of the Immingham whaler may be 4 and a bit years before I was there, boarding the MS Dunera for an "educational" cruise, but those giant signals (presumably for entrance/exit to the lock?) were still there in 1967 when we left for La Coruna, Gibraltar, Tangiers and Lisbon (this last on the return journey). Thanks very much David.

I'm afraid that I was not on the platform there for another 4 months, but thanks for the memories. It is amazing how a few photos can shorten 45 years to seem almost like yesterday.

I have to agree with AberdeenBill. A wonderful classic shot of Bath Road depot in the good old days. The lack of locos showing just how depleted the WR could be of spare main line diesels during the height of the holiday season. 27th August 1968 was a Tuesday, and I guess this would be the day after August Bank Holiday, so most locally allocated locos would be scattered far and wide.

The interesting thing, for me, about the photos at Cheltenham on 23rd August 1968 is that on the same day I was at Exeter St Davids. D1611 was a Bath Road loco at the time, so I presume it had taken over from a hydraulic at Temple Meads. I dug out my notes, but unfortunately I did not see 1E11. I was hoping to add a bit more detail to the working that day. D34 was a Holbeck engine, so presumably is on a working from Leeds.

I had a tweak, because I cannot resist these things, but this is about the best that I could come up with.

Wow. I don't think I have ever seen a Peak hauling Mk3s on a service train. Or maybe I just am not in the right place at the right time?

Yes mid Dec 1981 was a prelude to early Jan 1982, although where I was across on the South Wales side at the time, we missed most of the December snow because a SE'ly wind off the Bristol Channel just kept temperatures high enough for it to be rain. However, a deep low pressure came almost straight over South Glamorgan / North Somerset and after many hours of gale force SE'ly winds they suddenly swung to NW'ly gale force winds, which was more than my garden fence could cope with and the entire length of it blew over almost instantaneously with a succession of bangs outside that sounded like war had been declared. I remember it well, and vowed it would never happen again - so I replaced the fence with leylandii, much to my neighbours annoyance. However, this is beginning to seem like the extreme weather thread so I had better get on topic - 31179 at Leicester in better weather December 1982 31196 and 31195 at Immingham in even better weather December 1983 Edited for typos.

I think that the class 73 photo is one of the best I have ever seen for showing the livery as initially applied to many of the class. Also the 33+4TC combo does illustrate the slight variation in the appearance of the blue shades between the locomotive and electric units, although not as dramatic a difference as some discussion groups would lead you to believe.

That photo of Weston station in the snow brings back a lot of memories. Early Jan 1982 was a well known snow event around the Bristol Channel/Severn Estuary coast, both over S Wales and the West Country. I was on the S Wales coast at the time, and most places were cut off for some days (weeks in the case of tiny rural villages served by hilly roads. I can't give you a 31 photo, or a even a railway one - because I had to try and walk to/from work - but this is what some of the drifts looked like.

Yes, you could be right. It was only a year or two earlier that they had diverted all the Paddington to Birmingham trains away from the route via High Wycombe, and on to the Reading/Oxford route - something that I never quite understood given the tracks from Old Oak to Reading being close to capacity anyway. Maybe when a service was delayed at New Street they just stuck on a 3-car MetCam to Reading and thought that passengers for London would have no difficulty finding the next eastbound service from there?

On April 22nd 1966, Class 22 D6346 was seen at Stratford depot where it had gone for tyre turning. I think there were quite a few visits by unusual locos for this purpose.

Yes, and I never quite worked out what they were doing there. They carried on appearing into the mid-70s as well, for instance on 7th June 1976 I saw M50326 and M50306. On the 17th June 76 there was M51110 M59121 and M50309. On the 21st June I saw M50308 M59119 and M50324. It was not just a summer thing either, and occasionally they got as far as Paddington, as on 5th Oct 1976 I saw M51112 M56267 and M50812 there. And back at Reading on 29th Nov 1976 I saw M50064 M59019 and M50115.

Well done, with the nuthatch - not yet seen one of those here in Somerset; but we did have a grey wagtail in the garden earlier this week. A very impressive little bird it looked too. We get occasional pied wagtails in the winter, especially if there is snow cover - but the grey version is a first for our garden.

While looking for last steam workings (another thread), I found a report that on 3rd December 1965 - D9010 "The Kings Own Scottish Borderer" worked 1V67, the 1840 York to Swindon service, as far as Sheffield Victoria, then returned to York l/e.

£74.99??? I think I will weather my own.

And, double slips on what appear to be the main running lines. Presumably there would have been a severe speed restriction, but I can't see any signs.

Wow, that is real rain on the Thorpe Bay photo. It gives a great atmosphere to the picture.

And me. I am only a year younger but had little knowledge of composing a photograph in those days. I just used to point my simple camera in the general direction of the subject, press the shutter and just hope. I also did not have the foresight to buy colour film.

The last Edinburgh to Lanark stopping service was hauled by 61347 on April 18th 1966. The last train on the Silloth branch was worked by 43139 on September 6th 1964. The last steam workings from both Glasgow St Enoch and Queen Street appear much harder to pin down. With the former, it seems that occasional steam locos appeared right up until closure; and despite steam being banned from the latter by early 1966, a few B1s appeared after the ban, on foot-ex trains. However, the last St Enoch to Kilbride passenger service was worked by 80121; the last recorded St. Enoch to Kilmarnock via Barrhead had 44992 in charge; and the final recorded St. Enoch to Kilmarnock via Dalry was headed by 45214; all on April 15th 1966.

Yes, maybe you are right. I am a little early with my guess in that case. Perhaps 1990? It couldn't be much later as the units were withdrawn to have their doors fixed.

That Cardiff photo must have been taken around 1988/9 when some of the original 2-car 155s were working in the region.

This is an excellent question, and a database of the best we can do would be a great source of information to modellers of that period. I have looked through a few contemporary magazines of the era, and found a number of snippets:- The last steam service *out* of Paddington was said to have been 7029 on a special train to Cheltenham via Swindon, Bristol and Gloucester (27th Nov 1965) but there are reports of steam locomotives being added to diesel hauled trains following failure of the steam heating boilers. On 22nd January 1966 D1923 and 44760 arrived at Paddington on the up Cambrian Coast Express, and on the same day a service from Birmingham arrived behind D1686 and 45436. The last steam loco at Cheltenham St James appears to have been 7808 which was shunting the goods yard on 31st Dec 1965. The station closed the next day 1st Jan 1966, and the last train had D1901 as power, so unless an interloper nipped in and out during the morning, 7808 is a pretty safe bet for that section. The last recorded working on a scheduled Cleethorpes to Doncaster service was 61035 on the 4th February 1966. On the 28th February 1966, 61024 left Scunthorpe on what appears to be the last steam hauled goods from there to Healey Mills, but whether this was the last steam working over any of the route between those two places is doubtful. I have yet to discover the last steam working through Grantham, although I suspect it must have been recorded somewhere.

I have seen a photo of what purports to be the last Nottingham to Skegness SO steam working on Aug 1st 1966. I don't remember seeing it, but could well have been on holiday with my parents that week. I can't remember where I saw the photo, but it may have been for sale on Ebay. The last steam loco that I saw at Nottingham Midland was on 1st November 1966 and was 44941 on a goods train heading towards Colwick. This may not have been the last one, but steam was rare by then. While the class 114s and a few 105s took over all the local Lincolnshire services in the late 1950s, that was not the last time steam worked the Grantham to Boston stopping trains. In the coldest weeks of January 1963, steam returned on these services for maybe ten days or so. The trains had Flying Pigs on the front, and were formed of old non vestibule carriages of various vintage, that looked as if they had been stored in a siding for many years. The carriage windows were completely iced up, and there was steam leaking from the heating pipes along the train. Three carriages seemed to be the norm, but I only saw them in the early mornings, as I was at school most of the time.

Sorry, and I know that it is only my childish sense of humour - but wouldn't your 'Bucket' list be reserved for travelling behind class 40s?

As I may have mentioned on another thread (David Ford's excellent photos, I think) the Newcastle to Colchester only ran between June and September for much of the 1960s. The rest of the year it ran to Lincoln.