All-Lines through the Ages – Thursday 30/07/81-Wednesday 05/08/81
DAY 1 :- WEST CALDER-MIDCALDER ; MIDCALDER-CARLISLE ; CARLISLE-
CREWE ; CREWE- BIRMINGHAM (NEW STREET) ; BIRMINGHAM
(NEW STREET)-LEICESTER ; LEICESTER-ST. PANCRAS ;
WATERLOO ; BASINGSTOKE ; BASINGSTOKE-ANDOVER JUNCTION ;
ANDOVER JUNCTION-WATERLOO ; WATERLOO-BASINGSTOKE and
return ; WATERLOO – SOUTHAMPTON CENTRAL
1C90 still stopping at Midcalder, therefore an early start to catch 2Y01 0611 Hamilton West-Waverley. One of the Scottish Region’s specialities at this time was the “mixed” DMU!! This morning the 0611 was formed of Class 107/175/116. 1C90 duly appeared some 3 minutes late – nothing to write home about – merely 47546 (IS). The load (if such it could be called!) 3 vehicles 96.5 tons tare, on a booking of 26 minutes to Carstairs…… without any exertions (47 minimum up to Cobbinshaw, thence max 66……actual 21 minutes 48 seconds……giving a 1.5 minutes early arrival.
At least the Glasgow portion was 87-hauled this morning. 87003 (WN) on load 10 (south of Carsairs)/330.5. It was pleasant (not to say amazing!!) to have an unchecked run to Carlisle
Abington booked. 11.5. actual. 12. 11
Beattock Summit 17 17. 36
Beattock 24 24. 13
Lockerbie 32.5 32. 50
Kirkpatrick 40.5 40. 56
4 minutes recovery time
Quintinshill 46.5 42. 46
Gretna Junction 47.5 43. 48
Carlisle 54 50. 49
3 minutes early on arrival – impossible to find any fault with this performance!
Inevitably 1A40 0935 Carlisle-Euston failed to produce the hoped-for roarer – instead there was 86217 (WN) on 10 vehicles 332 tare – at least it was a required locomotive!
Carlisle-Penrith booked 15.5 actual 15. 39
max 97.5 after Plumpton
Penrith-Oxenholme 25 24. 31
min 86/80 at Shap Summit
max 100 at Tebay
min 77 before Grayrigg
Oxenholme-Lancaster 15 17. 38
max 101.5 at Carnforth
P.W.S. *20 after Hest Bank
Lancaster-Preston 22 16. 10
max 104 at Garstang
4 minutes recovery time
Preston-Wigan North Western 12 11. 52
Wigan North Western-
Warrington Bank Quay 10.5 13. 15
signal check before Winwick Junction
Warrington Bank Quay-Crewe 22.5 23. 55
signal stop 28 seconds before Weaver Junction
slowing to *20 at Weaver Junction
4 minutes recover time.
Just 2 minutes down on arrival at Crewe.
Exactly the same onto New Street on 1V41 1122 Lime Street-Paddington – required 86/2 on load 10, this time 86230 (WN) and 327 tare.
Crewe-Stafford 23 19. 09
Stafford-Wolverhampton 15 14. 44
signal check at Bushbury Junction
Wolverhampton-New Street 19 20. 22
P.W.S. *20 before Coseley Deepfields
Signal stop 2 mins 18 secs after Monument Lane
1.25 minutes late on arrival – again most of the passenger would not have noticed!
Next move – 1E66 1315 New Street-Norwich- 31216 (MR) load 6/200. I don’t think my original plan was to bale at Leicester but, by the time we reached there, I was becoming bored!! Not that 31216 was poor
New Street-Nuneaton
(Trent Valley) 34 31. 05
3 minutes recovery time
P.W.S. *20 after Shustoke
Nuneaton (Trent Valley)-
Hinckley 6 6. 48
Hickley-Leicester 19.5 17. 09
3 minutes recovery time
Time into Leicester.
I was aiming for London and eventually the Southampton/Portsmouth overnight caper. From Leicester the motive power was 45109 (TO) on 1M24 1300 Sheffield-St.Pancras loading 9 vehicles 302 tare – regrettably I’m not in posessionof the WTT to cover south of Wellingborough – the public TT gave a schedule of 101 minutes up from Leicester!! If the WTT agrees, the run was superb and the timetable was forgotten!!
Wigston North Junc 5 5. 10
Kibworth 11 10. 43 80/86
max 90 at East Langton
Market Harborough 15.5 14. 41 *56
Desborough North 20.5 19. 37 60/62
Kettering 25 24. 10 91/80
max 90 at Finedon
Wellingborough 30 29. 17 84/*69
Milepost 59.75 33. 46 74/70.5/69
Sharnbrook 36. 00. 72/79/87.5
the next 36.85 miles to St.Albans were reeled off
in a mere 25 minutes and 27 seconds
Bedford 40. 31 90
Luton 54. 41. 78/75
St. Albans 61. 27 92/90/82
probably too good to last! signal check *37.5
between Radlett and Elstree
Hendon 73. 14. 86/70.5
St. Pancras 83. 56
3 late from Leicester – 14 early into St. Pancras (according to public TT).
Can’t imagine a 46 producing this on the ECML!!
Back to the Southern!! Well, I still needed numerous Class 50/73 and 33!!
Things started unpromisingly with 33009 (EH)- not required- on 1L89 1638 Waterloo-Salisbury loading 8/274, which was taken to Basingstoke. Another most impressive performance from a Class 33
Hampton Court Junc 16.5 15. 07. 76.5
max 80 at West Byfleet
Woking Junction 26.5 24. 01 72
P.W.S. *50 (taken at 60!!) at Fleet
Basingstoke 45.5 43. 53
1.75 early on arrival.
As far as requirements went, things were not going to plan yet! 50027 (LA) on
1V17 1700 Waterloo-St.David’s loading 8/257 was not required either.
Basingstoke-Overton 9.5 8. 15
Overton-Whitchurch 5 4. 46
Whitchurch-Andover Junction 8 7. 21
was enough to being us into Andover Junction a few seconds ahead of schedule..
Now, it was back to Waterloo in time for the evening Weymouth Quay. This was achieved on 1O20 1620 St. David’s-Waterloo – 50026 (LA) in charge of load 6/196 tare – my first required 50 of this All-Line. Another perfect performance (OK, it should have been with this weight of train!!)
Andover Junction-Basingstoke 18.5 16. 36
max 86 before and after Overton
Basingstoke-Woking 19.5 19. 35
P.W.S. *50 at Fleet
max 91 at Milepost 31
Woking-Waterloo 25.5 25. 05
max 101.5 at Hersham
signal check *45 at Haynes Park
signal check * 37.5 before Wimbledon
1W95 2005 Waterloo-Weymoth Quay now beckoned – 73108 at the head of 8/271.5.
On a gentle schedule of 49 minutes non-stop to Basingstoke we did more than enough to cope with a 1.5 minute late start, 2 signal checks and a PWS.
Clapham Junction 7 6. 15
Hampton Court Junction 17 15. 17. 76.5
max 86 at West Byfleet
signals *54 through Woking
Woking Junction 26.5 24. 30
max 80 at Farnborough
P.W.S. *50 at Fleet
max 79 at Hook
signals *10 at Barton
Basingstoke 49 45. 39
1.75 ahead of schedule on arrival.
Back to Class 50 power…..50047 on 1O24 1820 St.David’s-Waterloo loading 7/229, running 8 late leaving Basingstoke.
Basingstoke-Woking 19.5 21. 30
P.W.S. at Fleet
signals on approach to Woking
Woking-Waterloo 25.5 24. 53
signals before Wimbledon
signals before Vauxhall.
NOT the most memorable SR run!!
So, to the overnight starting with 73133 (SL), load 10/353. on 1W55 2252 SX Waterloo-Weymouth as far as Southampton Central. there followed a gentle stroll through the night
Clapham Junction 7.5 6. 26
Hampton Court Junction 17.5 15. 52
1 minute recovery time
signals after West Byfleet
Woking 29 27. 22
Then with 5 minutes recovery included
Basingstoke 27 23. 15
Winchester 18.5. 18. 12
33-huled from Eastleigh as usual -33101 (EH)
Eastleigh 9 9. 25
all set for an early arrival then….signal stop of 3 minutes 26 seconds outside Southampton
Southampton Central 10 13. 53
2.75 minutes late – we deserved better!!
LOCOMOTIVES REQUIRED FOR HAULAGE
86217 Comet (WN) ; 86230 The Duke of Wellington (WN) ; 45109 (TO) ;
50026 Indomitable (LA) ; 73108 (SL) ; 73133 (SL) ; 33114 (EH)
DAY 2 :- SOUTHAMPTON CENTRAL-WOKING ; WOKING-EASTLEIGH ;
EASTLEIGH-PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR ; PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR –
SALISBURY ; SALISBURY-WATERLOO ; LIVERPOOL STREET-
CAMBRIDGE ; CAMBRIDGE-ELY and return ; CAMBRIDGE –
WHITTLESFORD and return ; CAMBRIDGE-ELY ; ELY-MARCH ;
MARCH-PETERBOROUGH ; PETERBOROUGH-NEWARK
NORTHGATE
Some 17 minutes later en-route back to Woking – 1W55 2238 SX Weymouth-Waterloo with 33112 to Eastleigh on 8/273.5
Southampton Central-Eastleigh 10 9. 22
A lengthy pause ensued – 14 minutes to be precise!! I was unaware of any reason until we reached Woking, where a check on the loco revealed, not 73133 as booked but 73114 – not that I was complaining, it being my third required 73 of the night!!
Eastleigh-Winchester 10 16. 22
signal stop of 3 minutes 08 seconds before Shawford
Winchester-Basingstoke 24 17. 46
Basingstoke-Woking 24 25. 34
P.W.S. at Fleet
up slow road from Post 31
All in all a late arrival of 6.5 minutes was about the best that could have been expected.
A fag and a coffee later……there appeared the fourth required 73 of the night – 73101 (SL) heading the 0245 MX Waterloo-Bournemouth load 6/194, 7.5 minutes adrift departing Woking.
Woking-Basingstoke 22 21. 33
1 minute recovery time
Basingstoke-Winchester 16.5 23. 38
2 signal stops-total 46 seconds in the area
Micheldever-Waller’s Ash (could have been faults with crossings??)
Winchester-Eastleigh 7 8. 19
8.25 minutes late – but at that time of the morning (approx 0425) who really cares!!
Time for a few minutes doss behind 33005 (EH) on 1T01 0433 Eastleigh-Portsmouth Harbour, followed by the lengthy all-stations crawl to Salisbury on 2Y56 0550 Portsmouth Harbour-Temple Meads behind 33007 (EH) on load 6/206 – 2 down leaving Portsmouth ; 1.25 late arriving Salisbury.
Back to London behind 33113 (EH) on 1L84 0755 SX Salisbury-Waterloo – 8 vehicles/274 tare. This made it a most successful night – my fifth required 33 to go with the four 73s!!! 33113 was 1.75 down on departure – there followed a typical SR run – schedule well within capabilities of loco – a bit of enthusiasm from crew – 1.5 early in Waterloo. Bare bones :-
Salisbury-Grately 14 14. 11
min 54 after Porton
Grately-Andover Junction 7.5 7. 15
Andover Junction-Whitchuch 9.5 9. 25
Whitchurch-Overton 5.5 5. 11
Overton-Basingstoke 10.5 9. 09
Basingstoke-Waterloo 45.5 43. 56
max 88 at West Byfleet
Before returning to Newark, there was ample time to inspect the Great Eastern section, beginning with 2L80 1005 SX Liverpool Street-Cambridge with 37109 (MR) loading 7/234
Liverpool Street-Tottenham Hale 11.5 13. 36
P.W.S. *30 before Clapton
Signals *2 before Tottenham South Junction
Tottenham Hale-Harlow Town 16 16. 31
Harlow Town-Bishops Stortford 9 9. 06
Thence all stations to Cambridge completely unchecked say for signals on the approach to final destination which effectively scuppered an on time arrival!!
Just for a change – the SF 47s were out and about on the King’s Lynns – 1L14 1036 ex-Liverpool Street producing 47263 loading 9/300 on a booking of 16.5 to Ely, actual 16. 59.
One 47 on the western Great Eastern main line, OK just(!!) – 2 in succession…….
1L27 1130 up King’s Lynn produced 47255 (SF) on load 9/297.5 – schedule to Cambridge 18 minutes (including 1 minute recovery) – actual 17 minutes 02 seconds.
In those, seemingly far off times – the early 1980s – if you found yourself in Cambridge with an hour or so to kill, the answer was simple, a return journey to Whittlesford. 10 minutes each was with half an hour to go on a walk through the village. It was an odd place during the day – the deserted village might well sum it up. The houses, which could not have cost, even in this days much under £300,000 a time, had some cars in the drives, but one rarely encountered another human being. Commuter country par excellence!!
To return to business – 2L65 1239 SX Cambridge-Liverpool Street – 37109 on the nest leg of the diagram – 7 vehicles/234 – on the next leg of the diagram as well!
Cambridge-Shelford 5.5 5. 30
Shelford-Whittlesford 5 5. 02
Back with 2L82 1205 Liverpool Street-Cambridge with required class 37, 37116 (SF) loading 7/232
Whittlesford-Shelford 5 5. 12
Shelford-Cambridge 7.5 6. 14
2 minutes recovery time
signals to *12 on approach to Cambridge.
A journey on a DMU was, sometimes, an inevitability. At least there was a good chance, in East Anglia, of falling on one of Lincoln’s now ageing Derby Heavyweights – Class 114/148! So the run from Cambridge-March was endurable!
The 1322 Norwich-New Street made it even more so, producing 31296 (BR) – and being fortunate with an unchecked run managed to turn a 2.5 minute deficit leaving March into a 2.75 minute early arrival into Peterborough.
Whittlesea 10 9. 54
3 minutes recovery time
Peterborough 23 17. 41
The run from Peterborough to Northgate resemble some films “so bad it was almost watchable”!! The 1403 FO (1N14) KX-Newcastle was hauled by the “black sheep” of the ECMLs 47s – 47523 (GD) already 8 late departing Peterborough
Tallington 7.5 9. 11 78/80
The ensuing climb to Stoke would have been reasonable with double the load of 7/230 – it was so bad as to be worth recounting in full
Essendine 12. 02 82/75
Little Bytham 14. 38 78
Corby Glen 18. 35 75/72
Stoke Summit 17.5 21. 54 70.5/70
We eventually struggled in to Grantham haveng lost a further 3.5 minutes of the, admittedly tight 22 minute booking. The stop at Grantham lost a further 3.5 minutes-was the proverbial “Clydeside screwdriver” being applied to 47523??!! IF, so it did not make much difference
Barkston South Junction 4 5. 29. 69/78
A sudden burst of mad enthusiasm produced a max of 95 through Claypole, but even so
Northgate 11.5 13. 22
16.5 late arrival……Oh, dear!!!!
LOCOMOTIVES REQUIRED FOR HAULAGE
33112 (EH) ; 73114 (SL) ; 73101 The Brighton Evening Argus (SL) ; 33005 (EH) ;
33007 (EH) ; 33113 (EH) ; 47255 (SF) ; 37116 (SF) ; 31296 (BR)
DAY 3 :- NEWARK NORTHGATE-DONCASTER ; DONCASTER-YORK ;
YORK-LEEDS and return ; YORK-DARLINGTON ; DARLINGTON-
NEWCASTLE ; NEWCASTLE-EDINBURGH WAVERLEY ;
EDINBURGH WAVERLEY-YORK ;
The point of the morning was to cover 1S85 0835 RELIEF KX-Waverley – dependent on its motive power (a Class 40 being the hope) was the extent of my journey northwards. There was no alternative but for a run with HST from Northgate to Doncaster! This was achieved on 1D00 0805 KX-Hull – power cars 43062 (BN)/43158 (NL) load 8/271. For no apparent reason the assemblage was running 11 late on leaving Newark and, even unchecked, the 14 minute booking to Retford (G.N.) was improved on by a mere 10 seconds! the run to Doncaster was much more hopeful as regards winning back the lost minutes – Black Carr Junction being passed in 9 minutes 53 seconds ex-Retford (14.57 miles). Then, as so often, came a signal stop (for all of 23 seconds) at Bridge Junction. Mind, even with this 3.5 minutes regained to Doncaster on an 18 minute booking (including the customary 4 minutes recovery) was not bad.
What would 1S85 produce – well, I suppose if not a 40 then one of the next best things was a 47/3 – 47374 (TI) to be precise on load 10 (mainly Commonwealth bogies)/356. It’s difficult to tell how good this 47/3 was….not being in possession of the relevant STN…..
Shaftholme Junction 5. 17 was pretty useful especially with a P.W.S.
*60 beforehand
the time at Selby of 19. 30 would have been a get deal better had it
not been for signals *22 at Selby
Canal Junction and signals *10 after it!!
a max of not more than 86 at Naburn , then 2 signal stops
of total 6 minutes 12 seconds – result
York booked 33 minutes ex-Doncaster actual 43. 02
By this stage 1S85 was running 12 late!! This was quite far enough with a 47, even a 47/3!!! What else could fairly easily be covered? Answer. 1E86 0900 SO ex-Llandudno from Leeds to York – 1M63 1150 York-Lime Street providing the connection. there was a price to pay….1M63 being headed by 47525 (YK) load 6/191 but…..
Actually 47525 was in good form – 5 minutes late departure provided the spur – 100 achieved by Bolton Percy passed in 7. 10 from York
Chuch Fenton 11.5 9. 15 91/69
Micklefield 16.5 13. 08 75/70
Cross Gates 21.5 16. 50. 92.5/90
Leeds 28 22. 31
a few seconds early on arrival. Now why could not all 47 performances be like this????
The odd thing about the return on 1E86 – apart from the fact that it was a required Class 40 40182 (SP) loading 9/301 was that the assemblage was on time leaving Leeds! Another most impressive performance followed
Cross Gates 8.5 7. 19 50/51.5
acceleration steady 53/54.5/56/60 passes Garforth at 67
Micklefield 14 12. 22 72/69
max 80
Church Fenton 18 16. 20 70.5/66
max 80 at Copmanthorpe
York 29 27. 18
1.75 early – can’t be bad for SO ex-North Wales Coast!!!
Next stage – to Darlington accomplished courtesy of 1S27 0736 SO Plymouth-Waverley behind 55022 (YK), with a load of 13 vehicles/434 tare slightly over the timing load of D420! Not that anybody would have noticed!!
Skelton Junction 4.5 4. 03
Tollerton 11 10. 26. 88/90
max 92.5 at Sessay
Thirsk 19.5 18. 39 92.5
max 94 at Otterington
Northallerton 25 23. 56 90
another exceptional occurrence – unchecked
into Darlington!!!
Darlington 36 34. 45
Another unlikely motive power onto Newcastle! 47337 (BS) in charge of 1N13 0920 SO Yarmouth-Newcastle – another train of 13/435 tons as against timing loads of D420!! Again time off – admittedly on a gentle booking -24.5 to Durham, 22.5 onto
Newcastle. After the *20 P.W.S. either side of Parkgate Junction, it was perhaps unsurprising that we took 25 minutes 12 seconds to Durham. But with the help of no less than 7 minutes recovery form then onward, we managed the interesting time of 14 minutes 25 seconds to Newcastle arriving no less than 9.5 minutes early!!
Then another SO job – 1S51 1508 SO Scarborough (Central)-Waverley, which re-engined (not booked!) at Newcastle with 40164 (HT) replacing 40086 (GD) – perhaps the GD machine was low on fuel?? 1S51 left 9 late and suffered 2 signal checks before Morpeth
Morpeth 18.5. 21. 25
Alnmouth 34 37. 23
P.W.S. *20 before Little Mill
Belford 47 53. 28
Berwick-upon-Tweed 59 64. 46
No! 40164 was not the best Class 40 on HTs allocation. But then…with the help of 4 minutes recovery time
Reston Junction 72.5 74. 22
Grantshouse 78.5 78. 45
min 62 up to site of Penmanship
a gravity assisted max 90 through Innerwick
Dunbar 87.5 87. 42
Drem 96 96. 06
another 4 minutes recovery +0.5 minute margining
Monktonhall Junction 110 105. 00
Portobello 112.5 108. 06
Waverley 117.5 112. 54
A mere 4 down on arrival.
Not long to wait before the first of the night trains produced! 1E35 2045 King’s Cross with 55022 (YK) -my favourite Class 55. A slightly pathetic load to Newcastle 5/166 only!!
Waverley-Drem 19 17. 22
max 93 at Prestonpans
0.5 minutes margining time!
Drem-Dunbar 12 11. 33
0.5 minutes margining time!!
max 88 after East Fortune
Dunbar-Berwick 28.5 27. 41
max 83.5 after Reston Junction
1 minute recovery time.
Berwick-Alnmouth 31.5 26. 42
Alnmouth-Morpeth 17.5 18. 28
Morpeth-Newcastle 21.5 23. 41
assume some delay on this section, but I was
not very conscious!!
I was not pleased when 55022 was replaced at Newcastle – short of fuel? minor fault? Replacement 46009 (GD) at least it was required!! With load made up to 9/318 ex-Newcastle and 13/457 ex-Doncaster an early arrival (5 minutes) into KX.
LOCOMOTIVES REQUIRED FOR HAULAGE
43062 (BN) ; 43158 (NL) ; 47374 (TI) ; 40182 (SP) ; 47337 (BS) ; 46009 (GD)
DAY 4 :- DARLINGTON-KING’S CROSS ; WATERLOO-BASINGSTOKE ;
BASINGSTOKE- READING GENERAL ; READING GENERAL-OXFORD
and return ; READING GENERAL ; PADDINGTON ; KING’S CROSS-
NEWARK NORTHGATE
The usual tube to Waterloo for 1V09 0910 SUN St.David’s with 50047 (LA) on load 10/336 – a far from unusual run to Woking
Clapham Junction 6.5. 6. 36
Hampton Court Junction 16. 15. 25
Woking 25 23. 41
Then very much like a Sunday on to Basingstoke
signal stop of 4 minutes 26 seconds at Farnborough, followed by a P.W.S. *20 at Fleet, followed by wrong-line working (down fast) from after Fleet to Basingstoke – result of all this ;
Woking-Basigstoke 21 37. 06
15 late in -though of corse 1V09 could well have been retimed.
Next came a novel experience (for me!!) – 2V30 0908 SUN Portsmouth Harbour-Reading General – load 4/137.5 with 33111 (EH) in charge. Tight timings caused for some enthusiasm which was duly shown.
Basingstoke-Bramley 6 5. 53
max 77
Bramley-Mortimer 4.5. 4. 26
max 64
Mortimer-Reading General 9 9. 37
max 75 before Southcote Junction
Then 37 seconds late on arrival!
Next move – Oxford with 50007 (LA) heading 9/294 on 1B28 0955 SUN Paddington-Worcester Shrub Hill. Presumably there had been engineering ops – the train was 20.5 late on the public booking away from Reading General
Reading General – Didcot 19 19. 22
max 75 after Pangbourne and
at Moreton Cutting
P.W.S *50 after Goring
Didcot-Oxford 21 11. 56
9 minutes recovery time
max 84 at Kennington Junction
Only 7.5 late by this stage!
Back to Reading General on 1A59 1130 SUN Oxford-Paddington behind 47033 (LA) – the third required loco of the morning.
Oxford-Didcot 15 13. 28
4 minutes recovery
max 79 before Culham
P.W.S. *50 after Appleford Halt
Didcot-Reading General 23 17. 54
P.W.S. *50 after Cholsey
max 86 ater Pangbourne
6.5 minutes before time on arrival at Reading General.
Trains from Birmingham New Street and North thereof rarely did me any favours regarding haulage, so it was a pleasant surprise to see 50023 (LA) heading the 0825 SUN Lime Street-Paddington, comprise of 8 vehicles/268 tare. Running 26 late leaving Reading, a cracking start was made
Twyford 6 5. 55 80
Maidenhead 10.5 10. 25 92.5
Slough 14.5 14. 30 95/*51.5
Brakes were being applied for a weave to the Up Slow road – where we remained for the rest of the way.
Paddington 38 41. 38
9 minutes recovery time!
Half an hour late (all bar the shouting!!) into Paddington.
Back home to the ECML and base at Newark for the night. Taken by 55008 (YK) at the head of 1L43 1605 SUN KX-York. A typical Sunday run
Wood Green 6.5 6. 08. 86
max 91 at Hadley Wood, then signals *14
Potter’s Bar 12 13. 37 *20.5
weave to Down Slow
Welwyn Garden City 17 21. 39 *53
weave to Down Fast
3 minutes recovery
Hitchin 24.5 29. 27. 100
max 102.5 at Arlesey
Sandy 32 35. 27 100/98
max 102.5 at Tempsford
Huntingdon 43 47. 33
4 down departing
Peterborough 19 14. 44
4 minutes recovery time
max 102.5 at Holme
Only 0.5 minutes late leaving – a beautiful run ensued
Tallington 7.5 8. 03 97.5/100
most of the way up Stoke at 99/100
Stoke Summit 17.5 17. 13 99/100
Grantham 22 21. 47
TIME off
Barkston South junction 4 4. 28 84/92.5
max 101.5 after Claypole
North Gate 11.5 11. 42
Peterborough-North Gate 43.75 miles, running time 33 minutes 29 seconds – time gained on schedule 1 second!!! Not bad for a train which fell into the ‘semi-fast” category!!.
LOCOMOTIVES REQUIRED FOR HAULAGE
33111 (EH) ; 50007 Hercules (LA) ; 47033 (LA) ; 50023 Howe (LA)
DAY 5 :- NEWARK CASTLE-NOTTINGHAM ; NOTTINGHAM-BOSTON ;
BOSTON-SKEGNESS ; SKEGNESS-GRANTHAM ; GRANTHAM-
NEWARK NORTHGATE
Nottingham was the first port of call this morning. The journey from Newark Castle was in the comfort of a 3-car Cross-Country set forming 2M97 0751 St. Mark’s-New Street. Purpose to cover the “Skegs” and their pairs of Class 20s. So, to 1E86 0824 FSX Leicester-Skegness with 20075 (TO)/20070 (TO) loading 9/304 tare. Scheduled non-stop to Boston – 50.20 miles in 80 minutes, including the inevitable recovery time, in this case 7.5 minutes.
Netherfield & Colwick booked 6 actual 6. 54
Bingham 16 15. 05 58/60
Bottesford West Junc. 22 20. 51 54.5/53
P.W.S. *20 after Bottesford
Allington Junction 28 29 17 *13/*17
2 minutes recovery
Barkston East Junc. 36 35. 03 51.5/48
1 minute recovery
max 63 before Rauceby
Sleaford 52 49. 45. *10
P.W.S. *20 before Kirkby Laythorpe
slowing *15 for crossings at both
Heckington and Hubbert’s Bridge
4.5 minutes recovery
max 54.5 before Heckington
P.W.S. *15 on approach
Boston 79.5 78. 22
Time off Nottingham ; 1 early into Skegness. ; 2 required Class 20s. What more could one ask for??
Best part of 1 hour festering time at Boston – time to admire the “Stump” (1) before the arrival of 1E85 MThO Burton-on-Trent-Skegness In charge, 20181 (TO) leading 20047 (TO), a fairly hefty load of 11 vehicles/368.5, and running 12 late on departure from Boston. We all suffered more than somewhat!! Schedule of 36 minutes, including 2 minutes recovery ; actual 42 minutes 12 seconds. Mind nothing to do with locos or crew – in addition to a P.W.S. *15 at Sibsey (crossing again!), we were stopped for signals either side of Bellwater Junction – whilst stationary for a mere 34 seconds in total……. Our maximum speed was 59 at East Ville. Our arrival in Skegness was 18.25 late.
Now if a 3-car Cross-Country represented the “Lord Mayor’s show”. then the journey back to Grantham on 2D62 1344 Skegness-Grantham, represented the – how shall we put it tactfully??-the other extreme. For those of you too young to experience the true horror of Cravens DMUs – they rattled ; everything in them rattled; the passengers rattled!!! Actually, this was not the worst I had ever travelled in -good job on a journey of some 100 minutes!!
Short day this – back to Northgate on 1L44 1603 KX-York – not a happy experience, either! 55013 (YK) was not having a good day. 7.75 minutes adrift leaving Grantham, with a fairly miserable max of 93 after Claypole another 2 minutes were lost of the 11.5 booking to Northgate (actual 13 minutes 26 seconds). Could 55013 have been on one engine only??
LOCOMOTIVES REQUIRED FOR HAULAGE
20075 (TO) ; 20070 (TO) ; 20047 (TO)
DAY 6 ; NEWARK NORTHGATE-KING’S CROSS ; WATERLOO-BASINGSTOKE ;
BASINGSTOKE-READING GENERAL ; READING GENERAL-OXFORD ;
OXFORD-BIRMINGHAM NEW STREET ; BIRMINGHAM (NEW
STREET)-CREWE ; CREWE-EDINBURGH WAVERLEY ; EDINBURGH
WAVERLEY-WEST CALDER
Home to north of the Border this day, starting with a taste of the new order on 1A00 0620 SX York-KX with motive power 43153 (NL)/43101 (NL) on the standard 8/271 with an on time departure from Northgate.
Barkston South Junction booked 8. actual. 7. 56 100/97.5
Grantham 11 11. 34
Scheduled to Peterborough in the slightly alarming tine of 22.5 minutes (well, if you take out the 4 minutes recovery time before Stoke Summit….!!)
Stoke Summit 9.5 5. 14. 90
Tallington 17 13. 00. 113/120
Peterborough 22.5 20. 28
max south of Tallington 113
Thence – Peterborough-Huntingdon 13 13. 11
Still on time out of Huntingdon
Sandy 10 10. 02
2 minutes recovery
0.5 minute margining
Hitchin 24 16. 07
Woolmer Green 28 20. 27
signals before Welwyn North
1 minute recovery
signals after Hatfield
P.W.S. *20 before Brookman’s Park
Potter’s Bar 35.5 32. 56
2 minutes recovery
Wood Green 42 36. 47
signal stop 47 seconds on approach
KX 47.5 45. 54
Yes, signs of the new order but it was highly boring!!
I’m minded of the occasion – it must have been 1962 – on Grantham when 1A47 (the diners”) arrived some 15 minutes ahead of schedule from York on the old steam timing. In conversation with the driver. I asked him what the then new order was like. He sang the praises of the Class 55s, pointed out that he could now come to work dressed in a clean white shirt, then as 1A47 was signalled to depart a far-away look came into his eyes….”but I wish they would give me back my A4″, he said as he opened the controller.
Anyway, enough of the reminiscences – back to August 1981…….Over to Waterloo as usual to cover the morning Weymouth boat train. One of those “YES!!!!! moments – 73006 (the only time I ever had one of the originals for haulage) on 8 vehicles 274 tare
Clapham Junction booked 7 actual 6. 18. 64/*46
1 minute recovery
Hampton Court Junction 16 16 19 61/64
max 76.5 at West Byfleet
Woking Junction 27.5 25. 55 69
max 73.5 after Farnborough
P.W.S. *20 after Fleet
max 74.5 at Barton
Basingstoke 48 47. 29
I was beginning to see this sort of performance at the typical for the Southern region in the Summer of 1981.
Routing myself via New Street and the WCML, my next move was 1M51 0942 Poole-Piccadilly to Oxford. 47477 (LA) was not exactly inspiring but at least it was required! A good load too 11/399. 19 minutes booked to Reading General, actual 19. 02 with 77 max at Mortimer and a signal stop of 11 seconds outside Reading. Then a loco change, which I was not foreseeing – 47035 (LA) which cut the 32 minute booking to Oxford to 26 minutes 31 seconds despite a P.W.S. *20 after Goring. back to normal for me on the Paddington-Birmingham services. 1M13 1150 ex-Paddington – 47500 (OC) loading 8/256 and running 7 late.
Wolvercote Junction 4 3. 53 70.5
I minute recovery
Heyford 12 11. 23 73.5/69
slowing to *48.5 after Heyford
(signals??)
P.W.S. *20 after Aynho
max 73.5 after King’s Sutton
Banbury 21 24. 18
Banbury-Leamington Spa 19 18. 03
max 87.5 after Fenny Compton
P.W.S. *20 before King’s Sutton
Leamington Spa-Coventry 18 16. 40
including signal stop – 3 minutes 14 seconds
Coventry-International 11 10. 39
International-New Street 17 13. 03
including 2 signal stops after Proof
House Junction – 50 seconds
3 minutes late (by public book) on arrival at New Street.
Motive power did not noticeably improve!! Somone once described Class 86/2s to me as “47s with pantographs”.
I’m obviously in ruminative mood this evening – the latest question on which I am ruminating is…..why have Class 47s been so unpopular with so many railway enthusiasts (including myself) over the years. After all, as you will have seen from my All-Lines, I have had some perfectly respectable performances from many of them. All right, so every class has its “black sheep” – 47009, 47523 and 47555 spring immediately to mind – but every class has these – 85036 for example!! So, before telling you my reasons :-
could it be that there were just so many of them?
could it be that they were not made by English Electric??
could it be that their appearance was relatively undistinguished???
could it be that railway enthusiasts are extremely conservative (with a small
“c” please note????
if 47s were so undesirable so, why were Class 47/3s always regarded as
so rateable – I suspect rarity value on passenger trains!
Now, why did I dislike them?? Well, when the production Class 55s were introduced to the ECML in 1961 not only were they, literally, in “a class of their own” regarding performance capabilities, the 22 of them were supposed to replace a mere 55 Pacifics. Now, we had the best part of 200 even allowing for early withdrawals, not to mention 180 odd V2s. So, the danger was limited – it was the introduction of the Class 47s which really sounded the death knell of so much of ECML steam!!
And so, back to the Summer of 1981 yet once more!! The next stage of my journey took me to Crewe on 1M85 0740 Penzance-Lime Street behind 86233 (WN) loading 9/294. Again I’m afraid that I am only able to rely on public timetable for schedules.
New Street-Wolverhampton 16 16. 22
signal check on approach
Wolverhampton-Stafford 13 13. 31
signal check on approach
Stafford-Crewe 28 19. 48
6.25 early into Crewe!!
Thence to 87 haulage – 87020 (WN) heading 1S75 1400 Euston-Central – 9 vehicles only taring in at 303. 26 minutes adrift leaving Crewe, thanks to a signal failure N of Stafford. The cause was NOT helped by another signal failure South of Hartford;_
Winsford Junction 8 14. 47
signals before Minshull Vernon
signals before Winsford
signal stop before Winsford Junction – 32 seconds
Weaver Junction 12.5 24. 30
signals before Hartford
P.W.S. *20 at Hartford Junction
Acton Grange Junction 16 28. 31
Bank Quay 17.5 29. 49
Winwick Junction 20 32. 53
Wigan North Western 26 39. 00
Balshaw Lane 31.5 44. 29
1 minute recovery time
Euxton Junction 33.5 45. 28
3 minutes recovery time
Preston 41 51. 33
36 late leaving Preston
Preston-Lancaster 17.5 17. 10
Lancaster-Oxenholme 15 14. 47
Oxenholme-Penrith 26 25. 30
Penrith-Carlisle 19 15. 42
4 minutes recovery
Yet another 87 run, where one almost felt the lack of enthusiasm up front!
31.25 late away
Gretna Junction 7.5 6. 15
Quintinshill 9 7. 19
Kirkpatrick Fleming 11 9. 14
P.W.S. *40 after Castlemilk
Lockerbie 20 19. 02
Amazing what a change of crew can make!! Unfortunately, dozy station work at Lockerbie meant that we were 32 late leaving
Beattock 10 9. 25
Beattock Summit 18 15. 49
One of my most memorable climbs!!
Abington 23.5 20. 58
3 minutes recovery
Strawfrank Junction 36.5. 31. 02
Carstairs 38.5 32. 08
27.25 late arriving at Carstairs – 1.25 lost since Crewe – 4.75 gained ex-Carlisle.Definitely “a game of two halves”, this one!!!
Bale at Carstairs for 1G12 the Edinburgh portion of the 1620 ex-Manchester (Victoria) – motive power NOT APPRECIATED – 47712 (HA) – load 5/163 – 20 minutes late on departure from Carstairs.
Midcalder Junction 19 16. 02. *60
minimum 70.5 up to Cobbinshaw
max 77 before Harburn
4 minutes recovery after Camps Junction
P.W.S. *40 at Kingsknowe
Haymarket 34.5 28. 16
A rather rapid time of 3 minutes 05 seconds to Waverley was not enough to keep the slightly absurd 2.5 minute booking!! But 11.5 late on arrival showed a significant gain ex-Carstairs.
The joys of a High-Density DMU (Classes 116/175) greeted passengers on 2Y48 2152 Waverley-Central!!
LOCOMOTIVES REQUIRED FOR HAULAGE
43101 (NL) ; 43153 (NL) ; 73006 (SL) ; 47477 (LA) ; 47035 (LA) ; 86233 Laurence
Olivier (WN) ; 87020 North Briton (WN)
DAY 7 ;- WEST CALDER-MIDCALDER ; MIDCALDER-CARLISLE ; CARLISLE-
PRESTON ; PRESTON-CARLISLE ; CARLISLE-GLASGOW CENTRAL ;
GLASGOW QUEEN STREET-EDINBURGH WAVERLEY – EDINBURGH
WAVERLEY-WEST CALDER
Just a quiet day to finish with – back on the WCML as far as Preston. The Midcalder bale to start with – 2Y01 0611 Hamilton West-Waverley (Class 107/161) for 1C90 comprising 47413 (GD) with 4 vehicles/132.
Midcalder Junction booked 2.5 actual 1. 55 37.5/51.5
min 72 up to Cobbinshaw
4 minutes recovery time
max 78 after Auchengray
signal stop 3 minutes 32 seconds at Carstairs East
(presumably to prevent us arriving too early?!)
Carstairs 26 22. 47
The Glasgow portion produced 87 haulage in the shape of 87035 (WN) – load South of Carstairs 11/366
Abington 11.5 11. 54. 90/92.5
Beattock Summit 17 17. 16 87.5/90
Beattock 24 23. 58 94/90
Lockerbie 32.5 32. 43 97.5/100
4 minutes recovery time
Quintinshill 46.5 43. 25 88/86
Gretna Junction 47.5 44. 37 67.5/41
signal stop just before Mossband for 35 seconds
max 92.5 at Rockcliffe
Carlisle 54 56. 18
Just the 2.25 minutes adrift at Carlisle – shame about the signal stop!!
South to Preston – 87 hauled once more – 87020 (WN), having had the night in Glasgow working 1M59 0805 Central-Euston – 8 on/270 – 7.5 late leaving Carlisle
Penrith 14.5 14. 23
Shap Summit 24. 33
Tebay 28.5 27. 58
Oxenholme 38 37. 31
Carnforth 46 45. 51
Lancaster 51.5 52. 11
One wonders how often the 5.5 minute booking from passing Carnforth to a Lancaster stop was kept?? Station overtime did nothing to aid the cause of timekeeping! The net result was that, despite 4 minutes recovery time and a time
Lancaster-Preston 22 17. 12
1M59 was still 5.25 down into Preston. Another run failing to show the true potential of Class 87s, I feel.
Somehow on many of the runs I had behind 86/2s I had the feeling of enthusiasm, so ofter missing behind 87s! 1P08 0840 Euston-Carlisle turned up behind 86228 (WN) – required – load 10/336. A departure from Preston 15 down.
Preston-Lancaster 17.5 16. 52
max 103 at Barton gave notice of intent!
Lancaster-Oxenholme 15 14. 39
max 103 at Burton&Holme
Oxenholme-Penrith 26 24. 41
max 95 before Tebay ( 11.5 10. 35)
min 78 at Shap Summit (14. 20)
Penrith-Carlisle 19 14. 47
max 103 after Calthwaite
4 minutes recovery time
Lateness by Carlisle reduced to 9 minutes.
The logical move back to Waverley was via Glasgow! The Nottingham, with ,hopefully, a “roarer” to Central , thence a walk to Queen Street for the the 1650 SX, which could be anything!!
The Nottingham duly produced – 85025 (CE) – a mere 2.5 late
The late Tony Ewer captured the magic of Carlisle overnights, 85025 with a Northbound overnight on July 28th 1986.
Gretna Junction 7.5 7. 25. 97.5/94
Quintinshill 9 8. 27. 89/90
Kirkpatrick Fleming 11 10. 20. 92/87.5
max 97.5 at Ecclefechan
P.W.S. *40 after Castlemilk
Lockerbie 19 20. 17 69
max 98 at Nethercleuch
Beattock 27.5 29. 09 88/92.5
Beattock Summit 35 36. 23 80/78
Abington 40.5 41. 51 92.5/88
2 minutes recovery time
max 97.5 at Thankerton
Strawfrank Junction 53.5 51. 55 83.5
Carstairs 55 53. 36 89
max 95 at Carluke
Law Junction 60.5 58. 53 63
2 minutes recovery time
P.W.S. *60 before Wishaw South
Shieldmuir 63.5 62. 18
Motherwell 65.5 65. 51
Not bad at all! thence on a tidy 16 minute booking…
Motherwell-Central 16 15. 31
signals after Eglinton Street.
Arrival in Central 1632…..just good time for the 1650 SX ex-Queen Street. Those were the days when I was relatively fit!! For those out there who never had dealings with the 1650, the first thing to note is that it was not a push-pull set. The second thing to note that it was the classic “chuck-out”, there was no logic as to the type of loco or the depot it was allocated to – it MUST have been part of a locomotive diagram, but its preceding and subseqent working remain a mystery to me! Well, this evening it produced the spectacle of 26040 (IS) on 6 vehicles/203 with no banking assistance to Cowlairs. I can only assume, from the debacle which ensued that the crew was not amused!
Cowlairs 4 4. 41. 17/21.5
Lenzie 8 11. 08 48/51
A not altogether scintillating maximum of 56 at Castlecary
Greenhill Upper Junction 15.5 23. 30 58
max 59 at Bonnybridge
Falkirk High 19 28. 38
An interesting footnote here – the schedule was 0.5 minutes LESS that the “push-pulls” were allowed. Someone in the Timing Section of Buchanan House must have been having a laugh!!
Leaving Falkirk High 10.5 late (having departed Queen Street on time!!) we staggered off in the general direction of Waverley
Polmont 4 5. 02 46/49
Linlithgow 7 10. 09 56/55
Winchburgh Junction 10.5 15. 41 56/56
a sudden spurt to 65.5 at Ratho
4 minutes recovery time
signals *12 after Balgreen Halt
Haymarket 24 29. 51
The “push-pulls” were allowed 25 minutes!!
16 minutes behind time we set off from Haymarket
Waverley 5.5 3. 31
2.5 minutes recovery time
14 down on arrival. Poor little………
Last leg….2Y42 1903 Waverley-Central – and I logged it!! 50160/59074/50158 load 3/89 .
Waverley-Haymarket 3 3. 13
Haymarket-Slateford 4 3 38
Slateford-Kingsknowe 2.5 2. 37
Kingsknowe-Midcalder 11.5 11. 27
Curriehill 4. 33. 40/43
Ravelrig J. 7. 11 44/43
Midcalder-West Calder 8 8. 00
max 61 after Newpark
2.5 minutes late.
LOCOMOTIVES REQUIRED FOR HAULAGE
86228 Vulcan Heritage (WN) ; 85025 (CE)
TOTAL MILEAGE 3370.08
LOCOMOTIVES REQUIRED
FOR HAULAGE 37
Bonus extra! Jim’s moves for July 25th 1981 below!
1Z18 1005 RELIEF Waverley/1023 RELIEF Central-Preston
40157 Waverley-Carstairs
82005. Carstairs-Carlisle
1M28 1025 Waverley/1045 Central-Lime Street/ManVic
86320 Carlisle-Lancaster
1M30 1110 SO Central-Euston
86224 Lancaster-Preston
1Z42 1258 RELIEF Crewe-Central
85014 Preston-Lancaster
1S39 1208 New Street-Central-Waverley
85006 Lancaster-Oxenholme
Thanks to “GJ” for this view of 85006 at Central prior to working the “emcars” of the 0732 ex Stranraer on March 10th 1984, in Jim’s back garden too!
1S67 1345 Lime Street-Waverley
85011 Oxenholme-Carlisle
1S58 1430 SO Blackpool North-Waverley
81015 Carlisle-Carstairs
40169 Carstairs-Waverley
Yes…I know…I should have stayed on Z18!!! But all that was without prior information!!.
Thanks to Jim Burton for the brilliant logs and memories…
end
Leighton Lists 