“Dragging out of Rugby”, Sat 260283
Continuing our popular “local drags” features…
Nuneaton, line up!
The gen that had been passed down from the “big men” was that there was a “all day drag out of Rugby” on Saturday 260283. So with hopes of “rats, goyles and grids” dragging, the usual suspects filled a few seats (well,4!) in the power car of 310069 as it headed North from Leighton.
By Northampton the doubters were querying our “gen”, we bailed at Rugby only to be told by the ever soche supervisor that “theres no dragging till 11, and its only on the up ”…So we rejoined the 310 we’d just got off! Bailing at Cov for loco haulage in 50009 to New St. A few Int’l leaps, then 31423 on the usual stagger to Nuneaton on the 1015 Birmingham-Norwich. There were very few bashers on Nuneaton but on seeing a line of nb 47’s stabled round the back, we knew “we were in”.
It was then a case of waiting for your “winner” to drag, as all up trains were making booked stops at Nuneaton and Rugby for loco changes. My moves are listed below, plus other known gen. The ole isolation was near Trent Valley Jn at Rugby but the powerwas only off on theup TV lines into Rugby, the down and Birmingham lines being unaffected. It was all due to bridge parapet renewal.
Sample moves..
47200} 0915 Manchester-Euston NU-RU
87008}
86210 1000 Euston-Holyhead RU-NU
47356} 1000 Liverpool-Euston
86208}
47281} 0710 Glasgow-Euston
87012}
47357} 0920 Blackpool-Euston
87033}
31402 0903 Cambridge-Birmingham
86220 1055 Euston-Manchester
47330} 0810 Glasgow-Euston
87014}
47200} 1115 Manchester-Euston
86329}
47333} 1125 Liverpool-Euston NU-RU
86233}
So some “nb” local haulage in February saw me return home around lunchtime content with the morning out. There was to be a sting in the tail as the legendary Smudger Smith stayed on the drags all day and he and a good few others were rewarded as darkness fell.
The DMU forming the 1645 Leicester-Birmingham failed on arrival at Nuneaton and as what happened on our real railway at the time, assisting power was summoned! One of the umpteen nb 47’s hovering were not used, all being “allocated” for Rugby drags. 25302/25109 were summoned off the Nuneaton loco holding sidings to assist the DMU forward now well filled with bashers! Smudger advises there was a lot of “bellowing and flailing” as the big rats arrived at New St!
Happy days from 27 years ago, seems like yesterday in some ways!
260283 -Rugby drags, Phot spot
An exotic line up of nb drag power, 47330,357,200 and 333 at Nuneaton
.
47200 with 87008 panto down prior to departing with the 0915 Manchester-Euston
Variety in 25060 and 25226 with a van train bound for Leicester
.
Throbbing beast 56055 with MGR’s from Daw Mill
.
47356 drags 86208 South with the 1000 Liverpool – Euston
Additional gen from “TC” with thanks
45128 Bedford – Leicester (not recorded)
DMU Leicester – Nuneaton
47200(87008) Nuneaton – Rugby (09.15 ex Manchester)
86220 Rugby – Nuneaton (10.55 Euston – Manchester)
47333(86233) Nuneaton – Rugby (11.25 ex Liverpool)
EMU Rugby – Birmingham
31402 Birmingham – Nuneaton (15.08 Birmingham – Cambridge)
47357(87020) Nuneaton – Rugby (15.15 ex Manchester)
EMU Rugby – Birmingham
31421 Birmingham – Leicester (18.18 Birmingham – Norwich)
45143 Leicester – Bedford (19.07 Derby – St. Pancras)
I presume the move off 47200 at Rugby onto 86210 back to Nuneaton was rather tight. As I have a picture of 47200 at Rugby, I presume I caught the next one back north.
Of the other three nb’s out that day, 47281 was had on 18.06.83 on the 06.29 Bradford – Weymouth, 47330 on the 14.07.84 on the 15.59 Yarmouth – Birmingham, 47356 on a tour on 20.02.94 out of Manchester.
These drags were my only trips with 47200 and 47357, 47333 was had on 30.07.83 between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, with the 19.45 ex Paddington.
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Leighton Lists 