DaveF

I remember that day very well, it was during the school holidays and I went with him. I have Brownie 127 equivalents of some of his other images from the day. There were certainly a few other photographers around and a lot of other trainspotters. The photo has also been on my flickr site for some years, before that it was on fotopic. I notice I have a different year stated there, I'm not quite sure from Dad's notes which is right! David

Now for this evening's batch. A bit different tonight, only two steam locos and one diesel. Barkston V2 60983 up goods c1959 JVol7061 Barkston Class 40 up ex pass c1959 JVol7062 Trent North signal box detonator placer Aug 49 JVol7131 Nottingham Midland River Trent Bridge 8F down goods c1953 JVol7209 Shoreham by Sea level crossing c1952 JVol7210 Snells Nook LNWR Loughborough branch pipe overbridge from Thorpe Hill Bridge 1948 JVol7211 Nottingham Victoria from south April 1948 JVol7250 Rugby watertroughs inlet pipes c1952 JVol7322 David

I've just remembered that I have another scan of the Class 5s at Derby, taken from a black and white slide (which was from the neg of the earlier print). It shows the whole frame, so that all the front loco is visible. I've left the scratches on as they take ages to clone out! Derby 2 BR Class 5s down ex pass c1959 Jmonoslide90 David Edited for spelling. David

The first six photos for this afternoon bring us to the end of the prints which were in Volume 7. The next Volume is called 10, it contains the small number of images from Volumes 10 to 12 plus scans of the few railway negatives of Dad's I have come across. The prints were catalogued in earlier volumes and had been moved at some time. Volumes 8 and 9 will follow later - when I have finished sorting them out. I'm not sure why Dad took a few black and white photos around 1959 as he didn't have a darkroom then - perhaps he had been given a film. Paddington Castle Class 5004 Llanstephan Castle c1950 JVol7367 Beeston sleeper works ED2 c1950 JVol7368 Bulwell Common B1 ex pass Manchester to Marylebone 1947 second better print JVol7369 Trumpington B17 61617 Ford Castle down ex pass c1949 JVol7373 Cambridge B1 possibly E1094 up pass Cambridge to London 1948 second better print JVol7375 Hitchin A1 60131 up ex pass c1948 JVol7379 Derby 2 BR Class 5s down ex pass c1959 JVol7059 Grantham A4 60010 Dominion of Canada up ex pass c1959 JVol7060 David

This evening's batch are around Nottingham and Grantham, somewhat later than usual - I went to the beach for a walk after tea! New Basford Class 5 45043 York to Bournmouth c1953 JVol7357 Nottingham Midland Class 5 44804 down pass c1953 JVol7358 Nottingham Midland 1P 0-4-4T with gas tank wagon c1949 JVol7359 Wilford Road Nottingham 4F l e c1950 JVol7360 Grantham D3 62000 down goods c1949 JVol7361 Grantham A4 60014 Silver Link down ex pass c1953 JVol7364 Weekday Cross B17 61652 Darlington up pass c1950 JVol7365 Grantham Barrowby Road A2 2 60504 Mons Meg down ex pass c1950 JVol7366 David

All this afternoon's batch are taken in and around Nottingham, only one is on the GC, the rest are all on Midland lines. Nottingham Midland 2P 40504 l e c1953 JVol7347 Nottingham Goods South O1 up goods c1950JVol7349 Wilford Road Nottingham 2F up goods c1950 JVol7350 Nottingham Midland Jubilee Class 45657 Tyrwhitt up ex pass c1952 JVol7351 Nottingham Midland 2P 40548 down pass c1952 JVol7352 Wilford Road Nottingham 3FT 47433 l e c1949JVol7353 Stapleford and Sandiacre 8F down goods c1952 JVol7354 Wilford Road Nottingham Tilbury Tank up goods c1949 JVol7355 David

Looking at Dad's photos it there appears to be distinct differences in cleaning of locos, by area and date. In 1947 (from relatively few photos) a lot of LNER locos in both the Nottingham and Cambridge areas were reasonably clean. The green engines seem to be cleaner, possibly because they were new (e.g.B1s) or had recently been ex works (e.g. some B17s). Remember that by the end of the war most locos were filthy and there was a big backlog of maintenance and few people available for cleaning. I suspect the LNER was making an effort to "sort things out" as labour became a little easier to obtain. There are too few LMS photos in 1947 to say much at all. It surprises me just how many locos seem to have been repainted and/or relettered LNER in full instead of the wartime NE. In 1948/9 again recently painted and new locos are quite clean, many others are very dirty. However, as years pass from 1948/9 it does appear that some of the larger passenger engines get less clean. Grantham always seemed to be able to get engine cleaners, so their express locos are often cleaner than most. In general the ex LMS locos seem to be dirtier than ex LNER. In early BR days as I've said Grantham made an effort, Kings Cross seems to have done so for express locos, many Cambridge locos are quite clean. New England locos seem to have been very grubby. Nottingham 16A (the ex LMS shed) appears to have had a few clean locos. Many of the locos seen at Rugby whatever the type and size seem not to have been cleaned very often. However, despite not being very clean there are fewer locos with white stains, rust and so on than later on. It is always tempting to think of those days as some halcyon time, I'm afraid my memories of the mid fifties onwards as a child born in 1949 are of the general dirt all around, not just on railways. It was clear that many stations had not been painted in a very long time, much war damage had been poorly patched up, much roof glazing was still missing or painted black and so on. If we want to see clean engines as the norm we need to go back to pre 1914, and even then some goods engines could be very dirty, and if you look at photos on the Midland Railway pre 1914 there were engines with damaged and dirty paint. The other thing I've noticed is just how many trains were hauled by the newest locos - A1s, B1s and O1s in particular on the ex LNER and Ivatt and Fairburn locos on the ex LMS. It is also interesting to realise just how many locos were built, or at least ordered, by the "Big Four" in the years just after the war. Edited to correct spelling David

Peter, I've had a look at my original higher res. scan and think that you are right. Also the shed plate is wrong for 45536, as it has only one number, which I hadn't noticed before. If it isn't 45606 then it would be 45686, but looking at the nameplate I think your idea is best. I've altered the caption. Very many thanks. David

I haven't found any black and white photos. There are a few colour ones taken many years after closure. I think the train service was too sparse for him to bother with it, as he had to do all his traveling by train in those days so he wouldn't have got many photos and in the early fifties he was usually only free on Saturday afternooons and Sundays like most working people. His weekday photos were usually taken in lunch breaks or when travelling for a business reason. David

Once again this evening we'll visit Grantham and then spend some time looking around the Nottingham area. Nottingham Victoria K2 up ex pass c1953 JVol7327 Grantham C12 ecs c1952 JVol7333 Grantham Barrowby Road O2 down iron ore c1952 JVol7334 Trent Lane Junction East Midlands Gas Board shunter c1950 JVol7335 Nottingham Victoria J1 65009 l e and N2 69550 up pass c1950JVol7340 Grantham A4 60015 Quicksilver c1951 JVol7341 Nottingham Midland Fowler 4MTT 42373 up goods c1952 JVol7343 New Basford B1 61168 down pass c1951 JVol7345 David

This afternoon's are a little later than usual, the sun was out today so I decided to have a drive inland in Northumberland. For those who know the area I went to Otterburn and Rothbury, coming back along a nice single track lane with three fords. Once off the A696 to Otterburn some roads were quite busy - at least one car every five minutes, others were very quiet - I saw one car in half an hour on the way back. Now for the photos. These are from Nottingham and Rugby again. Rugby Rebuilt Patriot class up ex pass c1950 JVol7315 Rugby Class 5 45418 up pass c1950 JVol7316 Rugby Stanier 4MTT 42585 le 1950 JVol7317 Nottingham Loco 2P 40553 c1953 JVol7320 Nottingham Goods South B1 up ex pass c1953 JVol7321 Rugby troughs Unrebuilt Royal Scot down ex pass c1950 JVol7323 Rugby Jubilee class 45636 Uganda up goods JVol7324 Nottingham Victoria O4 up coal c1952 JVol7326 David Edited to amend loco number and name David

This evening most of the photos are from the ex LMS. Huntingdon A1 60118 up ex pass c1948 JVol7307 NottiNgham Mansfield Junction Fairburn 4MTT 42680 Nottingham to Mansfield c1950 JVol7308 Trent 2P 40458 up pass c1950 JVol7309 Edwalton 4F 44158 up pass c1950 JVol7310 Trent Fairburn 4MTT 42184 up pass c1950 JVol7311 Nottingham Victoria A3 up ex pass c1949 JVol7312 Rugby Jubilee up ex pas c1950 JVol7313 Nottingham Midland Tilbury Tank Nottingham to Worksop c1950 JVol7314 David

This afternoon's batch, a bit earlier than usual - the sun's out so I want to go back into the garden. Once again a mix of places and quality! Please do keep the caption corrections and additions coming, it's much better if the captions are right for anyone who is doing historical research or modelling a specific year. By the way "c" in front of the year means I know it could be at least a year either way. Sandy A4 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley down ex pass c1949 JVol7297 Huntingdon A2 up goods c1948 JVol7298 Hitchin A3 up ex pass c1948 JVol7300 Hitchin A1 60114 W P Allen down Flying Scotsman with dynamometer car c1948 JVol7301 Does anyone have more information about why the dynamometer car was attached? Nottingham Victoria 2P 40420 pass Nottingham to Northampton c1949 JVol7302 Edwalton Jubilee 45607 Fiji up ex pass c1948 JVol7304 Cambridge B17 61619 Welbeck Abbbey from a different image c1948 JVol7305. Market Harborough down ex pass c1951 JVol7306 David

John, Having had a look at a very much enlarged copy of the original scan it appaears that part of the number is obscured by a bolt or rivet on the bufferbeam. I would say it could be 77458, especially as only a little later, in 1950, it was shedded at March. I've altered the caption (and Dad's notes). Graham, Many thanks for that. I hadn't realised that we had had a family holiday in Brighton as late as 1954, as the only time Dad went there was for holidays. I've amended the caption. David

It is possible but unlikely that an E4 would be used on an express working at this time. It is more likely that the loco is working as station pilot/shunter, which would carry two lamps front and rear,one red lamp and one white lamp, arranged over the buffers. In a black and white photo it is just about impossible to differentiate between this and the express headcode. When Dad made any notes at all about photos he took it was at the time he took them, so the caption is likely to be correct. His usual error was to forget which was up and down!! David

There appears to be some horizontal lining about a quarter of the way down the dark colour of the lower bodyside, which would suggest GWR livery. It is slightly clearer on the original higher resolution scan. As far as I know the last time Dad was at Paddington when he was taking black and white photos was August 1948, going on honeymoon - and taking photos of railways - Mum likes railways too. David

This evening a mix of ECML, Cambridge and even one on the GWR. Once again grainy film was in use - probably war surplus. Cambridge B17 61619 Welbeck Abbey Cambridge to Kings X c1948 JVol7286 Paddington Hall class up ex pass c1948 JVol7288 Cambridge E4 2790 ecs c1948 JVol7289 Sandy A1 60122 up Tees Tyne Pullman c1949 JVol7291 Sandy A1 60115 up ex pass c1949 JVol7292 Sandy J1 65003 up goods c1948 JVol7294 Huntingdon A1 up ex pass c1949 JVol7295 Huntingdon Ouse Bridge A3 up ex pass c1948 JVol7296 David

O7 was the LNER classification for the WD 2-8-0s they had, at first on loan and then incorporated into stock before nationalisation, hence the dual classification in my captions. Many even got renumbered into the 63000 to 63199 series before being transferred to the 90000 series with the other WDs. David

I think that the rather feeble glimmer from the electric headlamps would not have been clearly distinguishable in bright daylight so no one, especially signalmen, would know what class of train it was as the locos had all 4 electric lamps permanently attached, hence the use of oil lamps as well. There may have been other reasons I don't know about.

Ian, I think you are quite right - I never thought to check Dad's notes by actually looking at the photo before captioning it! Having, after a bit of search, found a few 3SUB photos in my books I am convinced. David

This afternoons set - a bit of ECML, Southern and Cambridge (yet) again. Cambridge Ivatt 4MTs M4003 is rear one Bletchley to Cambridge c1948 JVol7275 Cambridge O7 WD 77458 up goods c1948 JVol7276 Feltham S15 down goods c1949 JVol7277 Waterloo 2NOL c1949 JVol7279 Cambridge Stanier 4MTT 42591 Cambridge to Bletchley second better print c1949 JVol7280 Cambridge O2 63952 up goods c1949 JVol7283 Huntingdon A1 60119 up Yorkshire Pullman c1949 JVol7284 Hitchin A2 up parcels c1949 JVol7285 David

We'll spend this evening in Cambridge(ish) with a quick look at the Southern again. Cambridge B1 61106 l e c1948 JVol7261 Shepreth B1 Cambridge to Liverpool St c1948 JVol7262 South Lynn M and GN locoshed D3 2137 Nov 1948 JVol7264 Trumpington D16 3 2608 Cambridge to Stratford c1948 JVol7265 Waterloo N15X 32330 Cudworth c1948 JVol7268 Cambridge B17 1624 Lumley Castle up pass c1948 JVol7270 Cambridge Stanier 4MTT 42591 Cambridge to Bletchley c1949 JVol7272 Feltham Yard Powered hand shunter c1949 JVol7274 David

Many thanks to both of you. Looking at the photo carefully it is pretty obvious isn't it! I nevers aw many Great Western engines in the places where I've lived - but I would never have dared to admit I didn't recognise the various types when I used to visit Teddy Boston at Cadeby in the 60s! David

This afternoon's photos range from Devon to Carlisle, and Great Eastern to Midland. The last two images have been seen before but this time they are from much better prints. Coldham Lane Junction D16 2556 up pass c1948 JVol7241 Cambridge B1 down pass Kings X to Cambridge c1948 JVol7244 Carlisle Class 5 up ex pass Glsgow to St Pancras June 48 JVol7247 Loughborough 2P M576 and compound up ex pass c1948 JVol7248 Starcross Castle Class down ex pass Aug 48JVol7255 Kingsbridge 45xx Kingsbridge to Brent Aug 1948 JVol7257. Liverpool Street B1 1286 Liverpool St to Yarmouth prior to Dad's footplate ride c1948 JVol7259 Cambridge K2 E1753 up goods c1948 JVol7260 David

This evening we go on very brief visits to a number of locations around Britain ranging from the south coast to Scotland. Brighton E3 32169 c1952 JVol7202 Brighton 10001 c1954 JVol7203 Nottingham London Road Junction 4F 44416 ecs c1953 JVol7204 Daybrook K3 61833 down goods c1954 JVol7207 Trent 8F up goods c1952 JVol7217 Cambridge B1 1287 shunting van c1947 JVol7221 Kingmoor Carlisle Jubilee Class 5678 De Robek up goods June 1948 JVol7237 Perth NB goods J83 June 1948 JVol7239 David