Last steam "Golden Arrow" 1961

[rogercov]

Hi all
I thought I would share this pic which I took myself back in 1961 from the footbridge near Orpington station.
Apologies for the quality. It's scanned from the negative. There is a bit of camera shake on the original and some dust which crept in during scanning.

It's the up Golden Arrow on the last day of steam operation. I understand from other websites that this was on 11th June 1961 and this picture would have been taken at around 7pm. I also believe that the locomotive is 34100 Appledore, according to Hornby who made a model of it.

The picture is interesting as it shows both the old and new signal boxes. You will notice that there is a chap leaning out of the window of the old signal box, presumably to get his own photo.
Roger

 

[30907]

Thanks for this. I hadn't realised that the new Orpington box didn't open till later on - there were hardly any layout changes so it wasn't priority, presumably.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi all
I thought I would share this pic which I took myself back in 1961 from the footbridge near Orpington station.
Apologies for the quality. It's scanned from the negative. There is a bit of camera shake on the original and some dust which crept in during scanning.

It's the up Golden Arrow on the last day of steam operation. I understand from other websites that this was on 11th June 1961 and this picture would have been taken at around 7pm. I also believe that the locomotive is 34100 Appledore, according to Hornby who made a model of it.

The picture is interesting as it shows both the old and new signal boxes. You will notice that there is a chap leaning out of the window of the old signal box, presumably to get his own photo.
Roger

View attachment 84465

Nice to see that - slightly surprised that it was so early - I guess that was due to Kent Coast electrification however. I assume the service then went over to Class 71 locos full time?

 

[30907]

Yes it did. The full electric timetable wasn't introduced till a year later IIRC.

 

[WesternLancer]

Yes it did. The full electric timetable wasn't introduced till a year later IIRC.

Thanks

 

[matchmaker]

It's interesting that a Merchant Navy was used, rather than a Britannia.

 

[Clarence Yard]

The 2 SR Britannias had gone to the LMR in 1958 and 34100 is a West Country, not a Merchant Navy.

 

[Spamcan81]

It's interesting that a Merchant Navy was used, rather than a Britannia.

34100 was a rebuilt West Country, not a Merchant Navy and the Britannias allocated to the Southern had all been transferred away before 1961 IIRC.

 

[52290]

It's continuation on the other side of the ditch was still steam in 1967. At least as far as Amiens.

 

[Railwaysceptic]

The 2 SR Britannias had gone to the LMR in 1958 and 34100 is a West Country, not a Merchant Navy.

34100 was a rebuilt West Country, not a Merchant Navy and the Britannias allocated to the Southern had all been transferred away before 1961 IIRC.

Does anyone know why Britannias were allocated to the Southern Region in the first place? I'd have thought that with consistent pre-war electrification, Southern had enough steam locomotives already and the Battle Of Britain, West Country and Merchant Navy classes were sufficiently numerous to handle all the fast services.

 

[Gloster]

Was it something to do with British Railways wanting to put their brand new express locos on their most important and prestigious international train to show it off.

 

[30907]

Was it something to do with British Railways wanting to put their brand new express locos on their most important and prestigious international train to show it off.

Correct. AFAIK only the two were ever allocated.

 

[Taunton]

Yes it did. The full electric timetable wasn't introduced till a year later IIRC.

Was the Golden Arrow not then diverted to run via Faversham for a while, as the North Kent had been electrified earlier?

 

[30907]

Was the Golden Arrow not then diverted to run via Faversham for a while, as the North Kent had been electrified earlier?

That was the Night Ferry, which saved double heading.
The problem with the Arrow (and other Calais/Boulogne services) was that its Kentish port was Folkestone outward and Dover return, so it had to remain steam until the juice reached Folkestone.

 

[rogercov]

Thanks for the comments on my picture. Yes, the class 71s took over from 12th June 1961.
As mentioned above, there were only two Britannias on the service. They were 70004 William Shakespeare and 70014 Iron Duke.

Also, for a while in the mid 50s, I remember they put diesel 10203 on it.

The problem with the Arrow (and other Calais/Boulogne services) was that its Kentish port was Folkestone outward and Dover return, so it had to remain steam until the juice reached Folkestone.

That's interesting. I'd forgotten that. Yes, it certainly did that in the 50s.
However, I've checked a few timetables and it would appear that the Golden Arrow started using Dover in both directions from the start of the Winter 1960/61 timetable, which pre-dates the switch to electric. Some other services continued to use Folkestone.

 

[30907]

Thanks for the comments on my picture. Yes, the class 71s took over from 12th June 1961.
As mentioned above, there were only two Britannias on the service. They were 70004 William Shakespeare and 70014 Iron Duke.

Also, for a while in the mid 50s, I remember they put diesel 10203 on it.



That's interesting. I'd forgotten that. Yes, it certainly did that in the 50s.
However, I've checked a few timetables and it would appear that the Golden Arrow started using Dover in both directions from the start of the Winter 1960/61 timetable, which pre-dates the switch to electric. Some other services continued to use Folkestone.

I don't think the 92-min booking to Dover Marine could have been maintained via Chatham, so perhaps it wasn't worth the trouble for 6 months - and it would have been difficult to path as well.