Here's another of my collected ramblings...
I always had a soft spot for class 40s. With their distinctive styling and unmistakeable sound, they were a key part of my hobby during the 1980s. Here’s an account of a long weekend, appropriately 40 years ago. Locos required for haulage are underlined.
Thursday 19/06/80
When heading from London to the North East or North West to hunt for class 40s, the favourite route would be to join one of the overnights out of Kings Cross. The first of these were the 20:00 Aberdeen and 20:15 Edinburgh. The 20:15 Edinburgh was the likelier train for a 40, and had the added bonus of departing from platform 8 (which had no ticket barriers to negotiate). I lived at Harringay at the time, so on my journey into Kings Cross I would pass by Finsbury Park depot, and could get a good idea if there were any class 40s in a position to work.
On this occasion, there were no 40s in evidence, so I reverted to the fallback – a stroll along the Euston Road to see what Roarers were working out of Euston. The 20:50 to Inverness and 20:55 to Stranraer nearly always produced a Roarer, and it was possible to take one to Rugby and pick up the second one there, thus:
85028 20:50 Euston – Rugby (20:50 Euston – Inverness)
81002 22:08 Rugby – Crewe (20:55 Euston – Stranraer Harbour)
A double score. On arrival at Crewe I retired to the all-night station buffet before doing the standard overnight move to Manchester via Stafford.
Friday 10/06/80
“The Joiner” was the nickname given to the Liverpool and Manchester to Euston overnight service, whose portions joined at Stafford. The balancing northbound service was known as “The Splitter”. A relatively comfortable overnight could be had by doing the Joiner to Stafford for a wait in the nice warm waiting room for the Splitter to Manchester. (The benefit of going into Manchester was that the stock remained in the platform until after 07:00, whereas at Liverpool the seating portion was often shunted off to Edge Hill shortly after arrival).
86255 01:26 Crewe – Stafford (00:30 Liverpool Lime Street – Euston)
86213 03:00 Stafford – Manchester Piccadilly (00:50 Euston – Manchester Piccadilly)
The normal move at Manchester would be to get some breakfast and some gen as to what 40s were working, and then start with the 07:47 Manchester Victoria – Bangor, a booked class 40 diagram. This time there was a surprise – 40042 was shown allocated to a Prestatyn to Cardiff charter. We (my companion PD and myself) decided that the chance of a 40 to Cardiff was worth the risk of turning down a 40 on the Bangor. We didn’t have the timings of the special, but knew it was booked to call at Chester, so we caught the first available DMU there.
Before long 40042 pulled in hauling 10 Mark 1 coaches – a typical excursion set. We already had a good idea what sort of charter this was from the groups of schoolkids milling around excitedly on the platform. This gave us some cause for concern. Would we be allowed on? We acted as voluntary marshals to help the teachers sort out which coach their kids needed to board, then went to see the organiser. We negotiated a return fare of £5 each – bargain!
40042 08:53 Chester – Cardiff Central (07:xx Prestatyn – Cardiff Central).
PD and I installed ourselves in a compo near the front, offering us seclusion from the schoolkids and plenty of noise from the 40. This was the first time I’d had a 40 on the Crewe – Cardiff line, so I was delighted we’d managed to join the train. On arrival at Cardiff the teacher gave us the timings of the return service and saw us off with a cheery “See you later lads”. (I suspect the money we’d paid him went straight into his personal beer fund).
With hours to spend in Cardiff, we decided to visit Woodhams scrapyard at Barry Island, which was still home to nearly a hundred scrap locos. We spent hours crawling over the various steam locos there, as well as a couple of withdrawn NBL diesels. We returned to Cardiff for a spot of late lunch, before returning to the station Required 31422 showed up working the 16:00 to Portsmouth Harbour, so I did a quick trip to Newport and return.
31422 16:00 Cardiff Central – Newport (- Portsmouth Harbour)
I struck lucky with a required 47 on the return:
47088 17:05 Newport – Cardiff Central (16:30 Bristol Temple Meads – Swansea)
Then the main event:
40042 18:00 Cardiff Central – Prestatyn.
It was a warm summer evening, and all the windows were open. The exhaust from 40042 was shimmering in the evening heat. The climb up Llanvihangel bank north of Abergavenny was a long, noisy slog, and the non-stop run through Shrewsbury was made memorable by the driver’s liberal interpretation of the speed limits, and the deafening sound of the 40 being opened up to full power. Arrival back at Prestatyn was 25 minutes early. A fine day out.
From Prestatyn we decided to continue west to Holyhead to cover the 00:53 Holyhead – Euston, which was a good bet for a 40.
47438 22:15 Prestatyn – Holyhead (19:00 Euston – Holyhead). A couple of hours snooze.
Saturday 21/06/80
40032 00:53 Holyhead – Crewe (- Euston)
An impressive load 12, which meant plenty of noise to be enjoyed on the climb out of Holyhead. Once that was over, I settled down for a snooze …
At Crewe PD left me, but I decided to stay on through to Euston despite the dud 86/2. Sometimes a good overnight doss is necessary.
86212 03:xx Crewe – Euston (00:53 Holyhead – Euston).
What on earth was I thinking? I must have been suffering from Roverbrain – an unfortunate condition brought on by poor diet and loss of sleep. Why go through to Euston – there are no class 40s to be had there? I decided to head north once more, aiming for North Wales and whatever 40s would be available on a Summer Saturday.
86257 08:10 Euston – Birmingham New Street (- Blackpool North). Another dud 86/2, but there was something better at New Street …
86103 09:55 Birmingham New Street – Wolverhampton (- Manchester Piccadilly).
I was intending doing this to Crewe or Manchester to head for the North Wales Coast when one of the local West Midlands bashers said to me “I’m surprised you are still here. I thought you’d be on 40044.” It turns out 40044 had re-engined the Glasgow – Bristol sleepers at 07:00 from New Street. That was a temptation I couldn’t refuse – the North Wales Coast was always there, but 40s to Bristol were exceedingly rare. I turned round and headed south, as there was no knowing which service the 40 would return on from Bristol.
47229 10:37 Wolverhampton – Birmingham New Street (09:24 Manchester Piccadilly – Poole).
46043 11:00 Birmingham New Street – Bristol Temple Meads (08:12 Leeds – Bristol Temple Meads).
A required 47 took me back to New Street where I made an immediate connection into 46043 down to Bristol. The 46 was running well, with speeds up to 95 mph on the flat sections.
On arrival at Bristol Temple Meads I could see 40044 sitting outside Bath Road depot, shut down. Would it work back? Surely it must do – but on which train? Driver traction knowledge would be the big issue – it would have to be a train worked by a Saltley driver. I couldn’t get any gen, until mid-afternoon when word reached me that it was going to go back on 1S19, the northbound balancing working of the sleepers to Glasgow and Edinburgh. I was very sceptical, as that was the heaviest train of the day. It would be far more sensible to re-engine one of the northbound Summer Saturday additionals returning to the Midlands.
I decided on a fill-in move:
50010 15:15 Bristol Temple Meads – Gloucester (12:40 Paignton – Manchester Piccadilly)
50010 16:21 Gloucester – Bristol Temple Meads (13:22 Liverpool Lime Street – Plymouth)
50010 was not in the finest of health – which was proved when it shut down entirely on the curve departing Gloucester. I had hopes of some massive freight class 37 coming out of the yard to rescue us, but after a few minutes the 50 burst back into life, and carried me safely back to Bristol.
Word had spread, and a few more 40 bashers turned up at Bristol in the hope of having 40044. Well, it worked:
40044 21:30 Bristol Temple Meads – Birmingham New Street (- Glasgow Central)
37232 + 37298 Lickey bankers.
The load was 16 vehicles, 581 tonnes trailing. The weakest loco had been allocated to the heaviest train. The results were inevitably slow and noisy. 40044 slogged slowly up Filton Bank – so slowly in fact that we were already 15 minutes late by Bristol Parkway. At Bromsgrove we gained winning pair 37232 and 37298 as bankers. Despite their best efforts we managed to reach New Street fully 30 minutes late, all of it attributable to the loco.
Me? I was ecstatic. I thought having a 40 to Cardiff was exceptional, but having a 40 out of Bristol the very next day topped it – and then some.
86236 23:50 Birmingham New Street – Crewe (21:30 Bristol Temple Meads – Glasgow Central), via Aston, Bescot, Wolverhampton.
Sunday 22/06/80
I stuck with the train north of New Street as this was the only overnight move on offer. I could have alighted at Crewe, but there was better doss to be had by sticking with it through to Preston.
47483 (+ 86236 dead) 01:27 Crewe – Preston (21:30 Bristol Temple Meads – Glasgow Central), via Chester triangle, Warrington.
This being a Sunday morning, the WCML was partially closed for maintenance, Hence at Crewe the pan was dropped on the 86, and 47483 attached to the front to haul us via Chester. At Chester there were special arrangements listed in the Sectional Appendix allowing trains to run towards the north junction, stop, then propel the entire train towards the west junction, then haul it back through Chester station and on towards Warrington. This used to be a regular occurrence, with Sunday daytime trains being diverted this way too.
On arrival at Preston 47483 was detached, and I alighted from my 6-hour marathon from Bristol. Now what? I had to head south to get myself back to London. The 22:00 Stranraer – Euston arrived with required 86329, so that was my way out.
47483 (+86329 dead) 03:57 Preston – Crewe (22:00 Stranraer – Euston).
47483 again. Oh well. You might have expected this train to do the Chester diversion too- apparently not. We ran up the WCML through Warrington to Golborne Junction, then hung left to join the Liverpool to Manchester route through Eccles, then via the Castlefield corridor and Manchester Piccadilly on to Stockport and Crewe, where the 47 was removed.
86329 06:06 Crewe – Euston (22:00 Stranraer – Euston).
This ran via Stafford, Bushbury, Bescot, Aston, and Stechford, with an eventual arrival time in Euston well after 09:00.
So ended my long weekend, remarkable for having 40s from both Cardiff and Bristol, plus a fine selection of other required locos. 40 years ago – it doesn’t seem that long.
I always had a soft spot for class 40s. With their distinctive styling and unmistakeable sound, they were a key part of my hobby during the 1980s. Here’s an account of a long weekend, appropriately 40 years ago. Locos required for haulage are underlined.
Thursday 19/06/80
When heading from London to the North East or North West to hunt for class 40s, the favourite route would be to join one of the overnights out of Kings Cross. The first of these were the 20:00 Aberdeen and 20:15 Edinburgh. The 20:15 Edinburgh was the likelier train for a 40, and had the added bonus of departing from platform 8 (which had no ticket barriers to negotiate). I lived at Harringay at the time, so on my journey into Kings Cross I would pass by Finsbury Park depot, and could get a good idea if there were any class 40s in a position to work.
On this occasion, there were no 40s in evidence, so I reverted to the fallback – a stroll along the Euston Road to see what Roarers were working out of Euston. The 20:50 to Inverness and 20:55 to Stranraer nearly always produced a Roarer, and it was possible to take one to Rugby and pick up the second one there, thus:
85028 20:50 Euston – Rugby (20:50 Euston – Inverness)
81002 22:08 Rugby – Crewe (20:55 Euston – Stranraer Harbour)
A double score. On arrival at Crewe I retired to the all-night station buffet before doing the standard overnight move to Manchester via Stafford.
Friday 10/06/80
“The Joiner” was the nickname given to the Liverpool and Manchester to Euston overnight service, whose portions joined at Stafford. The balancing northbound service was known as “The Splitter”. A relatively comfortable overnight could be had by doing the Joiner to Stafford for a wait in the nice warm waiting room for the Splitter to Manchester. (The benefit of going into Manchester was that the stock remained in the platform until after 07:00, whereas at Liverpool the seating portion was often shunted off to Edge Hill shortly after arrival).
86255 01:26 Crewe – Stafford (00:30 Liverpool Lime Street – Euston)
86213 03:00 Stafford – Manchester Piccadilly (00:50 Euston – Manchester Piccadilly)
The normal move at Manchester would be to get some breakfast and some gen as to what 40s were working, and then start with the 07:47 Manchester Victoria – Bangor, a booked class 40 diagram. This time there was a surprise – 40042 was shown allocated to a Prestatyn to Cardiff charter. We (my companion PD and myself) decided that the chance of a 40 to Cardiff was worth the risk of turning down a 40 on the Bangor. We didn’t have the timings of the special, but knew it was booked to call at Chester, so we caught the first available DMU there.
Before long 40042 pulled in hauling 10 Mark 1 coaches – a typical excursion set. We already had a good idea what sort of charter this was from the groups of schoolkids milling around excitedly on the platform. This gave us some cause for concern. Would we be allowed on? We acted as voluntary marshals to help the teachers sort out which coach their kids needed to board, then went to see the organiser. We negotiated a return fare of £5 each – bargain!
40042 08:53 Chester – Cardiff Central (07:xx Prestatyn – Cardiff Central).
PD and I installed ourselves in a compo near the front, offering us seclusion from the schoolkids and plenty of noise from the 40. This was the first time I’d had a 40 on the Crewe – Cardiff line, so I was delighted we’d managed to join the train. On arrival at Cardiff the teacher gave us the timings of the return service and saw us off with a cheery “See you later lads”. (I suspect the money we’d paid him went straight into his personal beer fund).
With hours to spend in Cardiff, we decided to visit Woodhams scrapyard at Barry Island, which was still home to nearly a hundred scrap locos. We spent hours crawling over the various steam locos there, as well as a couple of withdrawn NBL diesels. We returned to Cardiff for a spot of late lunch, before returning to the station Required 31422 showed up working the 16:00 to Portsmouth Harbour, so I did a quick trip to Newport and return.
31422 16:00 Cardiff Central – Newport (- Portsmouth Harbour)
I struck lucky with a required 47 on the return:
47088 17:05 Newport – Cardiff Central (16:30 Bristol Temple Meads – Swansea)
Then the main event:
40042 18:00 Cardiff Central – Prestatyn.
It was a warm summer evening, and all the windows were open. The exhaust from 40042 was shimmering in the evening heat. The climb up Llanvihangel bank north of Abergavenny was a long, noisy slog, and the non-stop run through Shrewsbury was made memorable by the driver’s liberal interpretation of the speed limits, and the deafening sound of the 40 being opened up to full power. Arrival back at Prestatyn was 25 minutes early. A fine day out.
From Prestatyn we decided to continue west to Holyhead to cover the 00:53 Holyhead – Euston, which was a good bet for a 40.
47438 22:15 Prestatyn – Holyhead (19:00 Euston – Holyhead). A couple of hours snooze.
Saturday 21/06/80
40032 00:53 Holyhead – Crewe (- Euston)
An impressive load 12, which meant plenty of noise to be enjoyed on the climb out of Holyhead. Once that was over, I settled down for a snooze …
At Crewe PD left me, but I decided to stay on through to Euston despite the dud 86/2. Sometimes a good overnight doss is necessary.
86212 03:xx Crewe – Euston (00:53 Holyhead – Euston).
What on earth was I thinking? I must have been suffering from Roverbrain – an unfortunate condition brought on by poor diet and loss of sleep. Why go through to Euston – there are no class 40s to be had there? I decided to head north once more, aiming for North Wales and whatever 40s would be available on a Summer Saturday.
86257 08:10 Euston – Birmingham New Street (- Blackpool North). Another dud 86/2, but there was something better at New Street …
86103 09:55 Birmingham New Street – Wolverhampton (- Manchester Piccadilly).
I was intending doing this to Crewe or Manchester to head for the North Wales Coast when one of the local West Midlands bashers said to me “I’m surprised you are still here. I thought you’d be on 40044.” It turns out 40044 had re-engined the Glasgow – Bristol sleepers at 07:00 from New Street. That was a temptation I couldn’t refuse – the North Wales Coast was always there, but 40s to Bristol were exceedingly rare. I turned round and headed south, as there was no knowing which service the 40 would return on from Bristol.
47229 10:37 Wolverhampton – Birmingham New Street (09:24 Manchester Piccadilly – Poole).
46043 11:00 Birmingham New Street – Bristol Temple Meads (08:12 Leeds – Bristol Temple Meads).
A required 47 took me back to New Street where I made an immediate connection into 46043 down to Bristol. The 46 was running well, with speeds up to 95 mph on the flat sections.
On arrival at Bristol Temple Meads I could see 40044 sitting outside Bath Road depot, shut down. Would it work back? Surely it must do – but on which train? Driver traction knowledge would be the big issue – it would have to be a train worked by a Saltley driver. I couldn’t get any gen, until mid-afternoon when word reached me that it was going to go back on 1S19, the northbound balancing working of the sleepers to Glasgow and Edinburgh. I was very sceptical, as that was the heaviest train of the day. It would be far more sensible to re-engine one of the northbound Summer Saturday additionals returning to the Midlands.
I decided on a fill-in move:
50010 15:15 Bristol Temple Meads – Gloucester (12:40 Paignton – Manchester Piccadilly)
50010 16:21 Gloucester – Bristol Temple Meads (13:22 Liverpool Lime Street – Plymouth)
50010 was not in the finest of health – which was proved when it shut down entirely on the curve departing Gloucester. I had hopes of some massive freight class 37 coming out of the yard to rescue us, but after a few minutes the 50 burst back into life, and carried me safely back to Bristol.
Word had spread, and a few more 40 bashers turned up at Bristol in the hope of having 40044. Well, it worked:
40044 21:30 Bristol Temple Meads – Birmingham New Street (- Glasgow Central)
37232 + 37298 Lickey bankers.
The load was 16 vehicles, 581 tonnes trailing. The weakest loco had been allocated to the heaviest train. The results were inevitably slow and noisy. 40044 slogged slowly up Filton Bank – so slowly in fact that we were already 15 minutes late by Bristol Parkway. At Bromsgrove we gained winning pair 37232 and 37298 as bankers. Despite their best efforts we managed to reach New Street fully 30 minutes late, all of it attributable to the loco.
Me? I was ecstatic. I thought having a 40 to Cardiff was exceptional, but having a 40 out of Bristol the very next day topped it – and then some.
86236 23:50 Birmingham New Street – Crewe (21:30 Bristol Temple Meads – Glasgow Central), via Aston, Bescot, Wolverhampton.
Sunday 22/06/80
I stuck with the train north of New Street as this was the only overnight move on offer. I could have alighted at Crewe, but there was better doss to be had by sticking with it through to Preston.
47483 (+ 86236 dead) 01:27 Crewe – Preston (21:30 Bristol Temple Meads – Glasgow Central), via Chester triangle, Warrington.
This being a Sunday morning, the WCML was partially closed for maintenance, Hence at Crewe the pan was dropped on the 86, and 47483 attached to the front to haul us via Chester. At Chester there were special arrangements listed in the Sectional Appendix allowing trains to run towards the north junction, stop, then propel the entire train towards the west junction, then haul it back through Chester station and on towards Warrington. This used to be a regular occurrence, with Sunday daytime trains being diverted this way too.
On arrival at Preston 47483 was detached, and I alighted from my 6-hour marathon from Bristol. Now what? I had to head south to get myself back to London. The 22:00 Stranraer – Euston arrived with required 86329, so that was my way out.
47483 (+86329 dead) 03:57 Preston – Crewe (22:00 Stranraer – Euston).
47483 again. Oh well. You might have expected this train to do the Chester diversion too- apparently not. We ran up the WCML through Warrington to Golborne Junction, then hung left to join the Liverpool to Manchester route through Eccles, then via the Castlefield corridor and Manchester Piccadilly on to Stockport and Crewe, where the 47 was removed.
86329 06:06 Crewe – Euston (22:00 Stranraer – Euston).
This ran via Stafford, Bushbury, Bescot, Aston, and Stechford, with an eventual arrival time in Euston well after 09:00.
So ended my long weekend, remarkable for having 40s from both Cardiff and Bristol, plus a fine selection of other required locos. 40 years ago – it doesn’t seem that long.
