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Back in the day...

NorthWestRover

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IMG_20200518_204907.jpg

Preserved 26020 (aka 76 020) at the Rainhill 150 Celebrations in 1980, seen here at Bold Colliery.

IMG_20200518_204756.jpg

Terrible photo, but I had to include this, 76 014 (and although you can't see it - 76 030) on The Woldsman railtour at Penistone after crossing the Pennines via Woodhead, 21st April 1979. Have a look at the link for the rest of the haulage on that tour.
 
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47403

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Back in the day (as this thread is called), there were organised coach trips to a selection of depots. I remember one I did to the Yorkshire depots which would probably have included Tinsley, Healey Mills, Holbeck, Worksop, Immingham, Doncaster, Knottingley. I would have copped hundreds of locos on that. They used to go the remotely stabled shunters too.
I done loads of the coach trips from the North East. We could never get round Donnie, always an emphatic No. I never got round Immingham neither but done almost all the major depots from Inverness to Laira. Going round the scrap lines at March at 2am with a torch, was all part of the fun.
Loving this thread though. Only 82 and 83s I saw were the ones used at Euston and the red n blue departmental liveried 84, I saw somewhere on the West Coast, might've been Crewe.
As Mr xot says, the hop to Carlisle offered us North East natives, a completely different scenery. Sparkys, 25s, 26s and 27s for sight, were worth the price of a day return alone, nevermind the chance to get em for haulage, day returns to Penrith, could last all day if you avoided the grip. Trips up to Dumfries too, the added bonus of passing Kingmoor being hauled by a 26 or a 27. That's without runs down the S&C. Safe to say the West Coast side of things always seemed a lot better.
 

xotGD

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I reckon I'll have to make Carlisle the theme of my next post...
 

NorthWestRover

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Whilst we're waiting for our trip down memory lane to Carlisle, I'll give you some random classes from bashing trips in summer 1986....

IMG_20200521_184819.jpgIMG_20200521_184755.jpg

Two photos of the same pair of Syphons at (where??) on the Cambrian Coast Express.

IMG_20200521_184927.jpgIMG_20200521_184845.jpgIMG_20200521_184910.jpgIMG_20200521_191458.jpg

Goyle alert!! First one arriving at Warrington Central from Liverpool, then at Rotherham (possibly 31 288), then at Liverpool Lime St (31 185) and finally an ETH 31/4 somewhere else - anyone know where?

IMG_20200521_185024.jpgIMG_20200521_184855.jpg

More Syphons - one at Rotherham on a freight working, the other at Liverpool Lime St.

IMG_20200521_184830.jpg

And last in this selection - 50 010 at Birmingham New Street.

As I've said before, so much variety and it wouldn't have been hard to find any of these.
 

xotGD

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You'll have to find out the date for that pair of 37s - I might have been on that train too!
 

NorthWestRover

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OMG! I just watched 152 leaving New Mills (?). My Lords indeed. I love the number of health & safety breaches in that clip from the leap from the cab to the window hanging and the rather extreme flailing. Ha ha. Fantastic stuff.
 

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I know this is off topic but I think it fits in with this thread. I recently discovered this on youtube an hour of Class 40 action.

How weird - it just so happens I'm watching that very video right now (on my TV).

OMG! I just watched 152 leaving New Mills (?). My Lords indeed. I love the number of health & safety breaches in that clip from the leap from the cab to the window hanging and the rather extreme flailing. Ha ha. Fantastic stuff.

Those were the days. ;)
 

Mag_seven

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Great minds an all that

I only ended up watching that video because the following related video popped up as a suggestion in my YouTube account this morning:


I like the singing from the bashers as the 40 arrives in Manchester Picc at 4.00 to 4.25. :lol:
 

NorthWestRover

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The higgledy piggledy freight is very nostalgic too. Tanks, hoppers, brake vans all in the same train!
 

xotGD

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Loved that Class 40 video. The choreography of 057 and 122 passing on the S&C was perfect!
 

xotGD

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Carlisle! Part 1 - Bashing & Spotting in 1982

As we discussed up thread, a trip across the Tyne Valley was a journey into the exotic for us north-easterners. I still have my sightings records from 1982 alongside my bashing moves, so here are details of a few days out.

13th March: I had 47268 Newcastle to Carlisle and return on 1M04 / 1S15. I also blagged 08911 for haulage on the ecs stock shunt at Carlisle :smile: Here is what I saw that day:

03078
08116, 08911, 08912
25027, 25170, 25219, 25233
31206, 31292, 31411
37005, 37058, 37096, 37242
40022
45106, 45133, 45135
47026, 47099, 47195, 47268, 47418, 47420, 47452, 47501, 47528, 47536, 47555
81013, 81014, 81022
82001
85025, 85037
86101, 86224, 86228, 86230, 86236, 86243, 86255, 86261, 86328, 86329
87002, 87017, 87027, 87028, 87034, 87035

3rd May: 45060 took me from the Toon to the Border City & back on 1M04 / 1S15. Sightings for the day were:

08775, 08844, 08910
25208
31147
40106
45005, 45060, 45106, 45118
46037, 46050
47015, 47358, 47403, 47416, 47421, 47424, 47428, 47434, 47446, 47474, 47480, 47492, 47521, 47557
56080
81011
82006
85014, 85016
86033, 86037, 86039, 86212, 86218, 86222, 86225, 86226, 86237, 86245, 86315, 86316, 86317, 86319
87001, 87018, 87020, 87024, 87028, 87034

1st June: I was doing a Northumbrian Ranger that week. Moves for the day were:

47009 Sunderland - Newcastle 1N04
40081 Newcastle - Carlisle 1M04
40081 Carlisle - Newcastle 1S15
46011 Newcastle - Durham 1M79
47276 Durham - Newcastle 1E74

You can see why I went to Carlisle that day! Sightings:

03021, 03022
08116, 08176, 08217, 08313, 08844, 08911, 08912
25036, 25079, 25307, 25319
27204
31258, 31299
37107, 37172, 37192, 37215, 37283
40046, 40049, 40081, 40196
45009, 45012, 45065, 45130
46004, 46010, 46011, 46035, 46046, 46055
47009, 47103, 47211, 47276, 47298, 47348, 47424, 47451, 47528
56075, 56080, 56081
81001, 81008, 81017
83009
85001, 85016, 85024, 85033, 85034, 85037, 85039
86032, 86034, 86037, 86205, 86226, 86252, 86254, 86255, 86258, 86261, 86315, 86320, 86326, 86328
87006, 87007, 87009, 87010, 87013, 87022, 87030, 87031

2nd June: I didn't go to Carlisle, but worth mentioning I had 40085 Sunderland - to Newcastle on 1N04 :smile:

3rd June: I added a trip to Annan this day to get a couple of MacRats in the book:

46018 Sunderland - Newcastle 1N04
47421 Newcastle - Carlisle 1M04
27019 Carlisle - Annan 1S37
26035 Annan - Carlisle 1M06
47421 Carlisle - Newcastle 1S15
47463 Newcastle - Durham 1M79
47205 Durham - Newcastle 1E74

I won't list all the sightings this time, but highlights were 26041 and 83005. Just to conclude, my haulage book reveals that 1S15 produced 40s the next two days: 158 on the 4th and 015 on the 5th.

I hope the above was of interest. As I've previously noted, I watched 82s and 83s come and go on passenger without ever having any :(

Parts 2, 3 and 4 (with pictures!) to follow tomorrow...
 

Cowley

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What an amazing list of locos! I find myself wishing I was a little bit older sometimes, by the time I first got to Carlisle in 1988 so much of that stuff had disappeared.
 

NorthWestRover

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Amazing variety. I must admit I don't remember 56s at Carlisle, or were they at your end of the day?
 

NorthWestRover

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What an amazing list of locos! I find myself wishing I was a little bit older sometimes, by the time I first got to Carlisle in 1988 so much of that stuff had disappeared.

I was at secondary school from 1977 to 1982 and my school backed on to the freight line through Latchford which took much of the traffic from Yorkshire to the North West. Most frequent were the merry-go-round trains with coal from the Yorkshire pits to Fiddlers Ferry initially with Duffs (EDIT - I've reconsidered and decided that they were indeed 47/3s mostly, but not KY ones). Later these were 56s and 2x20s but I can't remember if I saw them when in school or at Arpley/Bank Quay. Other freight could be almost anything - 24s, 25s, 40s - several trains a day. Anything else was quite rare. The one stand out I remember cos this one caused a furore amongst the whole school, not just the train spotters, was A4 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley. Very exciting.
 
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xotGD

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Amazing variety. I must admit I don't remember 56s at Carlisle, or were they at your end of the day?
The 56s were at the Newcastle end. From the original Gateshead batch. However, a 56 at Carlisle will be appearing soon...
 

47403

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Jesus a few years earlier I could sampled 40s for haulage over the Tyne Valley. I can only imagine the thrash out of Haltwhistle. The 1N04 was that the loco hauled turn up the DCL, I heard tales of 40s n Deltics on that turn or was that the Scarboro turn. Little before I was old enough to go out bashing.
However great story, I loved going and doing overnighters in Carlisle. All night spotting all day bashing,,, sleep on the way home unless ofcourse it was loco hauled. LOVED a weekend Northumbrian Ranger, especially in the summer timetables. Took us a while to discover them. Some lads from Cramlington told us about them. Summer Saturdays changed big time then. 6wks holiday always was a 1 week one and a trip to Edinburgh.
Looking forward to the rest, 27019 was one of the ones I had too.
 
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xotGD

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Jesus a few years earlier I could sampled 40s for haulage over the Tyne Valley. I can only imagine the thrash out of Haltwhistle. The 1N04 was that the loco hauled turn up the DCL, I heard tales of 40s n Deltics on that turn or was that the Scarboro turn. Little before I was old enough to go out bashing.
However great story, I loved going and doing overnighters in Carlisle. All night spotting all day bashing,,, sleep on the way home unless ofcourse it was loco hauled. LOVED a weekend Northumbrian Ranger, especially in the summer timetables. Took us a while to discover them. Some lads from Cramlington told us about them. Summer Saturdays changed big time then. 6wks holiday always was a 1 week one and a trip to Edinburgh.
Looking forward to the rest, 27019 was one of the ones I had too.
Yeah, 1N03 (southbound in the evening) and 1N04 (northbound in the morning) were originally sleeper portions via the coast. Used to produce Deltics back then. When the sleepers stopped, they carried on as loco-hauled locals. I had classes 31, 37, 40, 46 and 47 on it - basically a Gateshead chuck-out turn. Used to get to Sunderland on my 5p Transfare ticket bus-Metro-train. 1N04 was a free ride.

1M04 and 1S15 could produce whatever Haymarket had available, and could also see a loco swap either at Newcastle or at Carlisle for the return if something was required on shed. I remember one morning a 47 arriving from Edinburgh, and being replaced with a 40 - which was nice! Used to produce Deltics in their final months too, although I never had one on the turn.
 

xotGD

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Carlisle! Part 2 - Photting Session 1997

So only a decade and a half after the seeing assorted Roarers and MacRats, I had a session at Carlisle with my camera on 4th October 1997 . Just to clarify, I had been there inbetween times - and indeed have previously posted some piccies of 81s and 85s from those previous trips. Sadly, there wasn't a Class 40 and set of Mark 1s to take me there, just a unit. However, in the previous week I'd had a couple of runs with 89001 while out and about on a North East rover.

So on this occasion, there were several 37s about. First up, a couple of views of 37095 on Cargowagons, going somewhere then coming back later. I'd had this loco for haulage back in 1985 on the Scarborough - Newcastle. Withdrawn a few months after these photos were taken, it was cut up in 2005.

37095 a.jpg

37095 b.jpg

Next up, 37803 on logs. The former 37208 never troubled my red pen - its passenger workings in & out of Newcastle in 1979 were a bit before my time. 803 enjoyed a year in France before withdrawal on its return in 2000, and was cut in 2007.

37803.jpg

And a cavalcade of DRS Syphons also put in an appearance: 37607/609/610, before they turned blue. The circles on the side of 607 a reminder that they were meant to work Channel Tunnel sleeper services. 103/115/181 in old money. All still with us, although only 610 is in active service. It is also the only one of the three that I need, so fingers crossed...

37607 37609 37610.jpg

I also pointed my camera at some passenger trains. Here is 86206:

86206.jpg

Better than a Can, 87004:

87004.jpg

And also showing off the sleek lines of Intercity livery, 90011:

90011.jpg

However, things were changing, and not for the better. 87006 and stock display their Virginity:

87006.jpg

After that shock to the system, it was on board another unit for the scenic delights of the Tyne Valley.
 

xotGD

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Carlisle! Part 3 - Freight 1999

Another year, another North East Ranger. 89001 was still out and about, and I also had 90024 and 90036 on the ECML. 23rd July I decided to take in the scenery with a run over the S&C, followed by a photo session in Carlisle before the unit back to the Toon, concentrating on freights. Traction was varied, and started well, with 37799 on empty steel wagons. As 061 this loco worked the Newcastle - Yarmouth & return in 1979, on the middle Saturday of my 2 week holiday there, so it evaded me. 799 was exported to Spain in 2001 and was cut up in 2011.

37799.jpg

Sorry in advance - a Shed. 66117 in fact. Anyone know what is in those wagons - is it gypsum?

66117.jpg

Electric freight now. Freightliner Cans 86604/621 working a southbound, er, Freightliner. I guess we have to call them intermodals now, but I'm old school:

86604 86621.jpg

More electric traction, with 92026 on what I would call a mixed freight, but I'm sure there is a posher name for this working. I think this Dyson is currently dumped at Crewe:

92026.jpg

Next up, a Tug on a coal train. 60088 is presumably heading down the S&C to one of the Aire Valley power stations:

60088.jpg

And finally, 92025 basks in the sunshine. I did not choose to miss the back cab off my photo - this was the last exposure of my film, and it got chopped off! This Dyson is now operating in Bulgaria, according to Wikipedia, so unlikely to be seen in Carlisle any time soon:

92025.jpg

With no spare film, that was it for the day!
 

47403

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Yeah, 1N03 (southbound in the evening) and 1N04 (northbound in the morning) were originally sleeper portions via the coast. Used to produce Deltics back then. When the sleepers stopped, they carried on as loco-hauled locals. I had classes 31, 37, 40, 46 and 47 on it - basically a Gateshead chuck-out turn. Used to get to Sunderland on my 5p Transfare ticket bus-Metro-train. 1N04 was a free ride.

1M04 and 1S15 could produce whatever Haymarket had available, and could also see a loco swap either at Newcastle or at Carlisle for the return if something was required on shed. I remember one morning a 47 arriving from Edinburgh, and being replaced with a 40 - which was nice! Used to produce Deltics in their final months too, although I never had one on the turn.
Well you live n learn, I didnt know of the the 1N03, I thought the 1N04 was just an Evening turn, certainly sounds like fun, especially if it was a Gateshead chuck out, absolutely owt could and obviously did end up on it.

I witnessed that first hand because when the 143s went pop, at times it looked like Gateshead and Thornaby were having a competition to see who could throw out the biggest of the biggies.

The 1S15 was another chuck.out turn too but anything remotely scottish was sent back on it, hysteria would hit if a MacRat had found it's way to Gateshead, Hope's it might make the 1S15, were always expressed, unfortunately I never saw one on it, pre 84 but I'm sure you may know of one may have.

One thing you maybe able to clear up, if you can? Early trips out, with friends n family members, there was always a 47 parked up with a few sleeper coaches in what is now platform 1, I assume it was a Kings Cross to Newcastle Sleeper, Did it just go back to Heaton or go further North later ECS. Just I cant remember a sleeper starting at Newcastle. Yet one I'm sure came from Edinburgh.

Loving this thread, hope I'm not hijacking it. My apologies if I am.
 

xotGD

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Carlisle! Part 4 - Freight Photting 2000

Another camera session at Citadel station. Far too many sheds! I'll spare you all the images of 66024 and 66012 on coal trains, but here are 66182 and 66133 on such workings:

66182.jpg

66133.jpg

A solitary Syphon put in an appearance, in the shape of 37674. I had this when it was 37169 back in 1985 when it was working a DMU replacement turn on the Tyne Valley line. Now preserved on the Wensleydale Railway, although it hasn't worked since 2018:

37674.jpg

And finally, the promised Grid. 56110 with a handful of random wagons:

56110.jpg

That's all for now. I have an idea for the next episode, so stay tuned...
 

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