Locos in odd/rare corners of the network.

[TheSignalEngineer]

I just managed to get a couple of the D J Norton photo books from the county library system. Looking through the first volume I found a picture of 72001 Clan Cameron arriving with an Up express at Birmingham New Street in January 1952. Brand sparkly new, even the wheels were clean. I'm wondering if it was running in ex-Crewe Works prior to delivery to Polmadie. I never managed to see one south of the Liverpool-Manchester axis in my spotting days although a couple of confirmed sightings of the Kingmoor ones did reach our patch, one on a special to Coventry in 1962 and the following year 72008 worked a special Leeds - Tyseley - Stafford Road Works - Crewe - Leeds. There was another report of one passing Aston in 1957 with a special full of RAF personnel but I can't corroborate that.

[adb968008]

On 10/10/2019 at 09:19, w124bob said:

No thats not one of my pictures, my comment about the type of van used was from vague memory. All my pictures were taken from inside the factory gate . Now back to the thread, does this count.

A shot of 47556 waiting between Oldham Mumps and Oldham Werneth with ecs for a Footex, Villa played Latics and we waited a few minutes for a path into Wernth before picking up the fans and heading for Crewe and a loco change. Returned  via Ashton , Denton, Guide Bridge , Stockport and Crewe. I worked a fair few class 31's around the Oldham loop but this was the only 47 I took up there, and possibly the last footex round the branch .

 

 

 

Sorry, wrong choice of words, the picture was mine, a youngster with a cheap camera and few skills.., I was asking if it were your train.

 

sadly though I need to break it to you, there were at least 3 tours that day, heres my early morning efforts of the second one, there was a large logo blue 47 used also, but cannot find the picture right now. The also had an Oldham Athletic headboard.

 

Edited May 9, 2021 by adb968008

[keefer]

11 hours ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

I just managed to get a couple of the D J Norton photo books from the county library system. Looking through the first volume I found a picture of 72001 Clan Cameron arriving with an Up express at Birmingham New Street in January 1952. Brand sparkly new, even the wheels were clean. I'm wondering if it was running in ex-Crewe Works prior to delivery to Polmadie. I never managed to see one south of the Liverpool-Manchester axis in my spotting days although a couple of confirmed sightings of the Kingmoor ones did reach our patch, one on a special to Coventry in 1962 and the following year 72008 worked a special Leeds - Tyseley - Stafford Road Works - Crewe - Leeds. There was another report of one passing Aston in 1957 with a special full of RAF personnel but I can't corroborate that.

You can have a Clan at Paddington. 72006 Clan Mackenzie went Padd-Swindon & return for the Home Counties Railway Society's 'Third Swindon Special' on 8/12/1963.

Details at: https://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/60s/631208hc.html

5 Photos at David Christie's excellent Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/david_christie/8144983637/in/album-72157625877622705/

Including one with 72006 next to Warship D853: https://www.flickr.com/photos/david_christie/8144980015/in/album-72157625877622705/

 

As an aside, it must've got down to London & back home somehow - I wonder if there are any pics/details of that?

 

Edited October 14, 2019 by keefer

[Halvarras]

A Class 40 away from its usual haunts - 319 leaving Oxford and heading south on 19th May 1973 (if I'd been using a normal camera instead of an Instamatic I'd have captured Oxford station plus 319, instead of 319 and a nondescript bit of yard, but it IS Oxford, honest!) I wonder where it went from here?

On many visits to Oxford and considerably more to Reading 1973-76 I never saw another Class 40 at either location (although I did catch 40079 heading a northbound freight through Banbury in July 1981). Maroon Mark 1 also a bit rare by then.

 

[Halvarras]

I've lived in Swindon from 1972 to 1977, and 1982 until, well, a few weeks' time actually (!!), and in all that time this was the only Class 33 I ever saw there - 6501 on 2nd February 1974 (probably renumbered 33002 very shortly after). Image requires tidying up. By this time I'd 'invested' in a 35mm Halina Paulette Electric......which was so underwhelming that before the year was out I'd followed much of the crowd and purchased a Zenith E - remember those? Great lens attached to a lump of granite! Well, about as solid as anyway. Mine was serial number 73214859 - yes, I'm THAT sad!!

[Halvarras]

And finally, before I sign off for a while for the house move alluded to above, here's a humdinger! 44 years ago D1062 Western Courier and 818 Glory were repainted by works apprentices in readiness for the Swindon Works Open Day on 13th September 1975. I knew one of them via the Swindon MRC and got invited along to wield a paint brush, although all I did on the Warship was assist with holding the nameplates in position while they were riveted on. On 3rd September during a break in proceedings I took myself off to the nearest corner of the Con Yard to photograph the Western expected on 1A67. The light was beginning to fade by the time 1A67 passed by............behind 37199!! A South Wales Class 37 would have been unusual enough, but how on earth did a Thornaby 37 end up working a passenger train up the GW main line??!! (this working can be verified on the class37.co.uk website)

Of course views like this are now almost completely obliterated by the over-engineered catenary masts and gantries of the GWML electrification, something I never thought I'd see while I lived here...... 

[iands]

9 hours ago, Neil Phillips said:

A Class 40 away from its usual haunts - 319 leaving Oxford and heading south on 19th May 1973 (if I'd been using a normal camera instead of an Instamatic I'd have captured Oxford station plus 319, instead of 319 and a nondescript bit of yard, but it IS Oxford, honest!) I wonder where it went from here?

On many visits to Oxford and considerably more to Reading 1973-76 I never saw another Class 40 at either location (although I did catch 40079 heading a northbound freight through Banbury in July 1981). Maroon Mark 1 also a bit rare by then.

 

Don't apologise for using an instamatic, I think the "nondescript bit of yard" is brilliant, and personally I think yards offer much more interest than most stations.

[caradoc]

13 hours ago, Neil Phillips said:

A Class 40 away from its usual haunts - 319 leaving Oxford and heading south on 19th May 1973 (if I'd been using a normal camera instead of an Instamatic I'd have captured Oxford station plus 319, instead of 319 and a nondescript bit of yard, but it IS Oxford, honest!) I wonder where it went from here?

On many visits to Oxford and considerably more to Reading 1973-76 I never saw another Class 40 at either location (although I did catch 40079 heading a northbound freight through Banbury in July 1981). Maroon Mark 1 also a bit rare by then.

 

 

Great photo Neil, thanks for posting. Definitely Oxford, the South Yard in the background is now the station car park (although IMHO it should be bay platforms for terminating electric trains from Paddington !)

 

Sadly most of my records from the 1970s are long gone, but I do still have an old Locoshed book which shows locos I saw at Oxford up until August 1975; Class 40s noted are 201, 258, 259, 304, 324 and 332; I obviously missed 319 !

[The Pilotman]

11 minutes ago, caradoc said:

 

Great photo Neil, thanks for posting. Definitely Oxford, the South Yard in the background is now the station car park (although IMHO it should be bay platforms for terminating electric trains from Paddington !)

 

And the distinctive tower of St. Barnabas church in Jericho is above the rear cab. 

[Phil Bullock]

I suspect Banbury men knew them so the occasional appearance further south not unreasonable... my only sighting was 40173 at Reading on a train of cartics one evening in 76 at the end of a days Wizzo bashing ....

Edited October 22, 2019 by Phil Bullock
Spelling

[brushman47544]

1 May 1982 seen at Reading: 

40004 1V18 Manchester - Paddington
40004 1M13 11:50 Paddington - Birmingham NS

[Halvarras]

Many thanks Ian, you make a very good point about yards vs stations. Perhaps the Instamatic got it right after all!

 

Caradoc, OK so 319 not as rare as I thought through Oxford, but I was still lucky to capture it as I only visited Oxford every 3-4 months back then. Mainly for my beloved Hymeks on the Padd- Worcester runs to be honest, although pairs of Class 20s on MGR coals to Didcot Power Station were also an attraction. Lots of green ones in the early 70s! I seem to recall that on the day 319 went through I arrived at Oxford from the south and noticed 1558 on a train in the opposite platform, and on disembarking caught sight of crowds at the north end. Going to see what the fuss was about I discovered 9F 2-10-0 92203 'Black Prince' waiting to depart north with 1558's rake of Mark 1s. This was the first steam-hauled special I'd seen since the ban was lifted. I've only just learned that 9Fs are currently banned from the national network as the flangeless centre driving wheels are incompatible with modern trackwork. 

 

Regarding the photo of 37199 passing Swindon, the class37.co.uk website identifies the train as the 1725 Cardiff-Paddington - I didn't log such details myself.

 

Since Class 40s through Oxford has caused some interest, how about Class 37s on passenger workings? Before I really do sign off for a bit here are two almost identical photos of such events taken from the footbridge at the north end of Didcot yard. Complete coincidence this - considering that, like Class 40s on this route, I never saw any other such workings at Oxford or Reading, and only visited this footbridge 4 times, I was surprised by 6813 on 8th September 1973 and gobsmacked by 37136 on 21st June 1975!! The first loco's headcode appears correct but the second one definitely isn't.

(BTW I apologize for the quality of my images - all are scanned from negatives subjected to decades of loft temperature extremes. These two also compare the Halina, top (which didn't have TTL focusing) with the Zenith-E, which did. What a revelation that was - provided one remembered to manually stop down after focusing.....!)