Class 28 workings in the mid-late 60s?

[HighlandSpot]

Hello,

Does anyone have good resources to see the kinds of workings Class 28s were on towards the end of their short lives? I know they were all allocated to Carlisle by then. How far in each direction did they go at this point?

Also, would a Class 28 have ever hauled an inspection saloon?

Cheers!

 

[Deepgreen]

Hello,

Does anyone have good resources to see the kinds of workings Class 28s were on towards the end of their short lives? I know they were all allocated to Carlisle by then. How far in each direction did they go at this point?

Also, would a Class 28 have ever hauled an inspection saloon?

Cheers!

As an aside, is the BR emblem in your avatar deliberately reversed?

 

[Strathclyder]

It may be a tad on the expensive side, but I'd heartily recommend Anthony P. Sayer's book on the Co-Bos.

To cut a long story short though, they were generally used on local passenger and freight work in/around Carlisle, Lancaster & Barrow as they gradually filtered back into stock after their Dukinfield rehabilitation work. The Cumbrian Coast Line featured in their sphere of passenger/freight work, as there is photo evidence of one (linked below) hauling a nuclear flask train (single-handed I may add) at Sellafield, or Windscale as it was still called back in the 60s. At least two were also used on a trial on Tunstead limestone trains in 1963-64. Perhaps surprisingly, they were actually considered superior to the two Class 40s they worked alongside as part of this trial, but Derby Type 2s ended up being used in the event. That aside, the furthest south they likely got post-Dukinfield on a semi-regular basis were visits to Reddish Depot on the Woodhead Line for tyre-turning and other light maintenance work.

Class 28 | D5717 Windscale 0166 DClough

Metro Vic Co Bo D5717 approaches Windscale with a train conveying nuclear waste flasks from Latina, Rome, 1/66. ©David Clough Collection/Rail Photoprints

railphotoprints.uk

Class 28 | D5714-X-NorthendenJunction-0563-RPC

D5714 approaches Northenden Junction with a test train of empty ICI hoppers bound for Tunstead, 5/63

railphotoprints.uk

Class 28 | D5712-Y-Reddish-260568-GE

'Metrovick' Class 28 Co-Bo D5712 seen on 9C Reddish depot on 26th May 1968. It was withdrawn in the September of that year and subsequently cut up at J.Cashmore, Great Bridge during December 1969.

railphotoprints.uk

(all linked images copyright of their respective owners)

 

[Ashley Hill]

Also, would a Class 28 have ever hauled an inspection saloon?

I believe the Bring Back BR campaign vow to correct it once BR is returned.

 

[Magdalia]

Does anyone have good resources to see the kinds of workings Class 28s were on towards the end of their short lives? I know they were all allocated to Carlisle by then. How far in each direction did they go at this point?

All of the fleet went to Barrow after rehabilitation at Dukinfield, but they moved to Carlisle in two tranches: D5700-03 and D5714-16 in November 1965 and the remainder in December 1966, which is when Barrow lost its allocation of main line locomotives. So the Carlisle locos probably carried on doing some of the work that they used to do when based at Barrow.

It may be a tad on the expensive side, but I'd heartily recommend Anthony P. Sayer's book on the Co-Bos.

I would agree regarding the Sayer book. It has lots of detail, but doesn't have very much on what the locomotives actually did. The chapter "operations: a high level summary" takes up less than 10 per cent of the book, and more than half of the chapter is pictures.

The photographic evidence is the most helpful, and the Sayer book has lots of pictures. The CoBos were working in an area that still had steam, so lots of photographers were lineside. But on the other hand not all of them wanted to use up their film on CoBos.

Also, would a Class 28 have ever hauled an inspection saloon?

I haven't checked through the book to see if there are any pictures of inspection saloons.

 

[Strathclyder]

I would agree regarding the Sayer book. It has lots of detail, but doesn't have very much on what the locomotives actually did. The chapter "operations: a high level summary" takes up less than 10 per cent of the book, and more than half of the chapter is pictures.

The photographic evidence is the most helpful, and the Sayer book has lots of pictures. The CoBos were working in an area that still had steam, so lots of photographers were lineside. But on the other hand not all of them wanted to use up their film on CoBos.

Indeed. It may not be for everyone, but all things considered, I personally think that it'll be one of the go-to reference sources for the Co-Bos for some time to come.

 

[CE142]

I have seen pictures of them on passenger services on the Furness line.

 

[47296lastduff]

I had D5716 on a Man Vic to Barrow on 11/01/64, and I think that was normal at the time.

 

[Gloster]

Up until the Cumbrian Coast timetable was reduced in April 1966 they had a few passenger workings as far as Workington, but after that there few of them. They appeared on mail and goods, though I think mostly towards the Barrow end. They did work around Heysham a fair amount. (Culled from various sources, so more an impression than anything else.)

 

[Bevan Price]

Up until the Cumbrian Coast timetable was reduced in April 1966 they had a few passenger workings as far as Workington, but after that there few of them. They appeared on mail and goods, though I think mostly towards the Barrow end. They did work around Heysham a fair amount. (Culled from various sources, so more an impression than anything else.)

I had one (from Lancaster to Preston) on the 13:03 Workington - Manchester Victoria in 1965.

 

[HighlandSpot]

Were any seen in Scotland at that time?

 

[E27007]

July 1968, I was at Carnforth shed, a CoBo passed by in the up direction hauling a train of oil tanks, I believe that the oil tank train was one of their regular diagrams.
I attach a link to an image of a CoBo on such a train at Carnforth.

1967 Carnforth CoBo

The train was not bogie stock, perhaps there may be images which show the exact type of tank wagon of the workings
postscript,

A link to a CoBo on oil tanks:
CoBo Oil tanks

 

[randyrippley]

Not necessarily oil tanks.
Besides Windscale (which would have needed a lot of acid) there were also major chemical sites at

Heysham (Trimpell) http://www.heyshamheritage.org.uk/trimpell_oil_refinery.html

Whitehaven (Marchon) https://www.cumbria-industries.org....als/a-history-of-marchon-works-at-whitehaven/

The two links give potted histories of the sites and indicate the chemicals involved

 

[Strathclyder]

Were any seen in Scotland at that time?

Unless I somehow completely missed it, Mr. Sayer's Co-Bo book makes no mention of 28s making any appearences in Scotland post-Dukinfield. Am happy to be proven wrong however.

 

[HighlandSpot]

Would it have been possible for a 28 to have been hauling an inspection saloon (possibly engineers or divisional manager) at any point? I've seen a variety of locos hauling inspection saloons including 24s, 25s, 22s, 47s, etc.

 

[randyrippley]

unlikely as they had a red circle coupling code, weren't the inspection saloons all blue star?
Unless the saloon was hauled rather than the more usual propelled

 

[Cowley]

Would it have been possible for a 28 to have been hauling an inspection saloon (possibly engineers or divisional manager) at any point? I've seen a variety of locos hauling inspection saloons including 24s, 25s, 22s, 47s, etc.

If this is related to model railways I wouldn’t worry too much. If you like the models then go with it I reckon.

Although it would have been unlikely to see a Cobo with an inspection saloon it’s not totally impossible.

 

[HighlandSpot]

unlikely as they had a red circle coupling code, weren't the inspection saloons all blue star?
Unless the saloon was hauled rather than the more usual propelled

I've seen some hydraulics hauling them by themselves in the west (at least one 22 and one Hymek). I wonder if a CoBo was ever in a similar situation? I know the western region was lacking blue star locos in the 60s/earliest 70s though.

 

[Gloster]

I've seen some hydraulics hauling them by themselves in the west (at least one 22 and one Hymek). I wonder if a CoBo was ever in a similar situation? I know the western region was lacking blue star locos in the 60s/earliest 70s though.

There is no problem about hauling an Inspection Saloon as long as the brakes are compatible. Propelling is a different matter, as the driver can’t clearly see ahead and the loco inspector in the saloon can’t control the loco. However, it was done at slow speed as the inspector should have a brake handle and in emergency could throw out the anchors.