Class 47 photos

[astropsidings]

47 463 on 07.30 Manchester Piccadilly-Brighton, Heyford, 6th September 1982. The station building was subsequently dismantled and moved to Didcot Railway Centre (still a pile of stones?)

 

47 287 setting back behind the South box, Banbury, 15th September 1983.

 

47 437 on 05.50 Paddington-Liverpool lime St., running 66 mins late, Banbury 9th February 1985.

[Halvarras]

4 minutes ago, keefer said:

Seems strange just as a pain blue loco, I remember all of the hoo-ha with the GWR repaints in 1985!

Incidentally, did the WR namers always have red-backed plates or were they black at some point?

 

Initially they were all black. The first pair to gain red-backed plates were D1676 'Vulcan' and D1677 'Thor' on reallocation to Stratford (what the.....?! 😡) in December 1968 - they spent 2 years there before returning to the WR (good, back where they belonged! 😀), retaining the red plates on green livery. As 47091, 'Thor' became the only WR namer to gain its TOPS number whilst still in green livery, but had lost its plates - and was in very poor external condition - by May 1975. Next was 1660 'City of Truro' during a repaint from green into blue at Old Oak Common (I've always assumed) in August 1971, followed a couple of years later likewise by 1661 'North Star'.

After that the situation became a little hazy - 47081 'Odin' was seen with red plates at Reading in 1974, and 47079 'George Jackson Churchward' also red at Truro in January 1975, but many locos still carried black plates. The overall impression during the mid-1970s was that Crewe Works was sending them out from overhaul with black plates and depots were occasionally repainting them red - and this was in between spells without plates for a few of them, including 'Odin' IIRC. A sighting of 47088 'Samson' ex-works with 'domino' headcode panels and red plates at Swindon in June 1977 suggests Crewe had begun outshopping the WR namers with red plates as standard, yet 7 years later 47083 'Orion' and 47086 'Colossus' still had black plates! By then 47085 'Mammoth' was a Stratford loco (eek!) with light grey roof and (red) nameplates in the higher position. 

Around mid-1980 47484 'Isambard Kingdom Brunel' gained a peculiar variation, with - I think - orange-backed nameplates with lettering and rimming picked out in black, and small BR logos in odd positions. This didn't last long, and may have been 'corrected' before the loco suffered collision damage in late 1981 which would certainly have curtailed it - I saw it ex-works blue at Penzance in June 1982, as per Nidge's pic above.

Another oddity which often slips beneath the radar is 47089 'Amazon' which had gained corporate-style nameplates in the 'WR position' by September 1985 but was again short-lived, being written off in a collision at Chinley Junction in February 1987.

[Southernman46]

BR blue - "North Star" - 2005 style .......................

 

(Clapham Junction early on a December morning - little treat after a night undertaking SM's track inspections between Waterloo & Clapham}

 

Edited June 4 by Southernman46

[vulcan product fan]

While sat watching trains at Old Oak Common 47223 passes with an oil train 

[6990WitherslackHall]

47077 North Star approaches  a rake of carriages after running round at Pickering on 26/05/24.

 

[4630]

On hire to Locomotive Services Limited from D05 Preservation Limited 47828 on the rear of 1Z85, Crewe to Scarborough, 'Bucket & Spade' charity charter organised by the Railway Benefit Fund, at Heaton Lodge East Junction on 5th June 2024...

 

 

...and again on 1Z88, the return working, on the Calder Valley line approaching Brighouse.

 

 

[Rugd1022]

Photo by Jim Platt : 47 446 and 47 303 heading north through Rugby on 23rd September 1979...

 

[Ray M]

47004, Seen in better days.

Holywell Halt.

[Rugd1022]

On 03/06/2024 at 16:41, Halvarras said:

 

Initially they were all black. The first pair to gain red-backed plates were D1676 'Vulcan' and D1677 'Thor' on reallocation to Stratford (what the.....?! 😡) in December 1968 - they spent 2 years there before returning to the WR (good, back where they belonged! 😀), retaining the red plates on green livery. As 47091, 'Thor' became the only WR namer to gain its TOPS number whilst still in green livery, but had lost its plates - and was in very poor external condition - by May 1975. Next was 1660 'City of Truro' during a repaint from green into blue at Old Oak Common (I've always assumed) in August 1971, followed a couple of years later likewise by 1661 'North Star'.

After that the situation became a little hazy - 47081 'Odin' was seen with red plates at Reading in 1974, and 47079 'George Jackson Churchward' also red at Truro in January 1975, but many locos still carried black plates. The overall impression during the mid-1970s was that Crewe Works was sending them out from overhaul with black plates and depots were occasionally repainting them red - and this was in between spells without plates for a few of them, including 'Odin' IIRC. A sighting of 47088 'Samson' ex-works with 'domino' headcode panels and red plates at Swindon in June 1977 suggests Crewe had begun outshopping the WR namers with red plates as standard, yet 7 years later 47083 'Orion' and 47086 'Colossus' still had black plates! By then 47085 'Mammoth' was a Stratford loco (eek!) with light grey roof and (red) nameplates in the higher position. 

Around mid-1980 47484 'Isambard Kingdom Brunel' gained a peculiar variation, with - I think - orange-backed nameplates with lettering and rimming picked out in black, and small BR logos in odd positions. This didn't last long, and may have been 'corrected' before the loco suffered collision damage in late 1981 which would certainly have curtailed it - I saw it ex-works blue at Penzance in June 1982, as per Nidge's pic above.

Another oddity which often slips beneath the radar is 47089 'Amazon' which had gained corporate-style nameplates in the 'WR position' by September 1985 but was again short-lived, being written off in a collision at Chinley Junction in February 1987.

 

1660 was definitely painted into blue in the Factory at Old Oak in August '71 and has the old style 'serif' vinyls applied on all four cab sides, likewise 1661 was repainted in the Factory a bit later, but without any BR arrow logos applied, it stayed this way until 1976 / 77 I think. In the case of 1660 the buffer beam cowling was also painted blue.

[Halvarras]

2 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

 

1660 was definitely painted into blue in the Factory at Old Oak in August '71 and has the old style 'serif' vinyls applied on all four cab sides, likewise 1661 was repainted in the Factory a bit later, but without any BR arrow logos applied, it stayed this way until 1976 / 77 I think. In the case of 1660 the buffer beam cowling was also painted blue.

 

Yes, only 1660 and XP64 D1733 ever got blue cowlings.......AFAIK........

 

1660 was the only 47 to carry serif style numbers on blue* (Russ Saxton once argued that 1589 did too, but he'd been misled by a dodgy photo and I was able to prove otherwise!) I didn't know about 1660's uniqueness until it appeared on display in the then down yard sidings at Truro for the reopening of Truro's remodelled yard on 7 November 1971. The loco had been named there 59 years ago yesterday and it's astonishing that it's still in operation, having been withdrawn in March 2004 and retrieved from a scrapyard in April 2007 by Colas "for an estimated further 6 years' use".....so it's already exceeded this by over a decade. Long may it last!

 

The Factory was presumably also responsible for the repaint to 1647 which was same as 1661 but with small (2') BR arrows.......one of which didn't achieve 100% adhesion!

 

*Until 47853's 'heritage' repaint back to D1733 by Virgin XC......but the serif numbers were incorrect and anyway it wasn't boggo 'BR blue'.....😉

 

[Rugd1022]

3 hours ago, Halvarras said:

 

Yes, only 1660 and XP64 D1733 ever got blue cowlings.......AFAIK........

 

1660 was the only 47 to carry serif style numbers on blue* (Russ Saxton once argued that 1589 did too, but he'd been misled by a dodgy photo and I was able to prove otherwise!) I didn't know about 1660's uniqueness until it appeared on display in the then down yard sidings at Truro for the reopening of Truro's remodelled yard on 7 November 1971. The loco had been named there 59 years ago yesterday and it's astonishing that it's still in operation, having been withdrawn in March 2004 and retrieved from a scrapyard in April 2007 by Colas "for an estimated further 6 years' use".....so it's already exceeded this by over a decade. Long may it last!

 

The Factory was presumably also responsible for the repaint to 1647 which was same as 1661 but with small (2') BR arrows.......one of which didn't achieve 100% adhesion!

 

*Until 47853's 'heritage' repaint back to D1733 by Virgin XC......but the serif numbers were incorrect and anyway it wasn't boggo 'BR blue'.....😉

 

 

I see 'City Of Truro' quite often when I'm working, it's often on Leicester depot as I pass by with one of our stone jobs. It came past me at Market Harborough a few weeks ago in the fog, it was quite spooky to see a WR namer in blue with red plates emerging out of the mist in 2024! Last time I drove it was back in '84 so it's nice to see it still knocking around.

[montyburns56]

47230 Poulton Jn 1986 by Alan Sherratt

 

 

[Rugd1022]

Photo by John Goodale : 47 257 at Derby on 13th September 1980...

 

[08221]

47826 and 47802 top and tail the 0606 Saltburn to Bath Spa WCR charter through Uttoxeter on 5 July 2024.

 

 

[Rugd1022]

Photo by Dale Green : 47 514 at Nottingham Midland c.1974...

 

 

Photo by Ian Edmondson : 47 574, 47 108 and 47 616 at Crewe Works on 2nd June 1984...

 

 

[Rugd1022]

Photo by Simon Bailey : 47 517 at a rather chilly Perth station on 6th January 1981...

 

 

 

 

 

[Rugd1022]

Photo by Andy Hoare : 47 481 on the north outgoing road from the turntable at Old Oak on 24th January 1981...

 

 

 

 

 

[Ray M]

47222 Knottingley Oct 86

[03060]

1 hour ago, Ray M said:

47222 Knottingley Oct 86

Now that's the 'Appleby Frodingham' that I remember. 👍

[Halvarras]

6 hours ago, Ray M said:

47222 Knottingley Oct 86

 

With a very prominent orange warning stripe. These had first appeared the year before as white stripes (sides only) on the new Railfreight Grey locos, I'm not sure when the switch to orange encircling the roof occurred but I'm sure ex-works 37698 had it when I noted it on Swindon stabling point in March 1986. Works output was obligatory, but when did depots begin to apply it to standard blue locos during 1986, and was 47222 therefore amongst the very first so treated?

[mpb56125]

47375 working railtour in Hungary

 

 

Budapest Nyugati

 

 

Debrecen

 

 

Gorogszallas

 

 

 

Mark

 

[Hippel]

4 hours ago, mpb56125 said:

47375 working railtour in Hungary

 

 

Budapest Nyugati

 

 

Debrecen

 

 

Gorogszallas

 

 

 

Mark

 

In the 3rd picture, does it say FALCON to the right of the cab door?

 

Paul

[mpb56125]

3 hours ago, Hippel said:

In the 3rd picture, does it say FALCON to the right of the cab door?

 

Paul

Yes

 

 

 

 

Mark

[balders]

On 12/07/2024 at 09:01, 03060 said:

Now that's the 'Appleby Frodingham' that I remember. 👍

I recall being very pleased when she turned up on 1V76 York-Plymouth 23rd May 86' into Sheffield, taken to New Street. Fabulous loco.

 

Regards

 

Guy

Edited July 15 by balders

[saxokid]

East lancs diesel gala july 2024