lostwin - BR in the mid 80's

[Sun Chariot]

19/10/86. On a particularly mucky day, 47708 on a morning working to Edinburgh.
View attachment 144454

There's "hanging out the door window" - and then there's.....

Lovely composition

 

[Sun Chariot]

It's OK Cowley - the weeding's done and my mother in law despatched back to hers. I'm allowed to swoon over photos again

 

[lostwin(m)]

23/10/86. Now with the experts on this forum, I'll only take a tentative stab at suggesting this is a Mk2 coach. Anyway, perhaps an image to provoke memories of the usually grubby windows at the end of these carriages. 47467 moves in to attach to the service forming the 17.30 Inverness - Edinburgh.

 

[lostwin(m)]

30/07/85. More traditional framing on this shot of 47437 hauling a short load of hoppers east out of Exeter Central.

 

[lostwin(m)]

Finally for tonight...

19/10/86. 25037 shortly after arrival on Sunday morning, having hauled the last leg of the marathon 16.48 from Penzance which had left the previous Saturday afternoon. This service was always heavily loaded - up to 15 coaches with sleepers IIRC - and the weekend also meant engineering diversions / no overhead power was common. I joined the train at Birmingham, Crewe to Preston involved diverting through Manchester and the OHL power was off north of Carlisle.

Now my notes suggest this particular train had had 10 different locos pulling (and pushing) it on its way. I assume I had spoken to another enthusiast on the train to fill in the details prior to my joining at BNS - does this sound plausible?

47 Penzance - Bristol
Additional 47 attached, Plymouth- Bristol
Different 47, Bristol - Birmingham
Banked up the Lickey by 2x37
86 Birmingham - Crewe
47 Crewe - Preston
87 Preston - Carlisle
47 Carlisle - Carstairs
25 Carstairs - Edinburgh

If so, that's a decent day of bashing on a single train!

 

[Cowley]

It's OK Cowley - the weeding's done and my mother in law despatched back to hers. I'm allowed to swoon over photos again

Good work. I did my jobs today too!

30/07/85. More traditional framing on this shot of 47437 hauling a short load of hoppers east out of Exeter Central.
View attachment 144458

Possibly bound for the coal concentration yard at Exmouth Junction. Lovely photo.

 

[Sun Chariot]

30/07/85. More traditional framing on this shot of 47437 hauling a short load of hoppers east out of Exeter Central.
View attachment 144458

Cracking shot of a location familiar to me in the 1980s. Domestic coal services: what a time-capsule. My last photos of domestic coal, were 1990 Preston Deepdale (handily, round the corner from my student house!); and 1991 when MoD's Bicester Ordnance Depot still took occasional coal supplies.

 

[gaillark]

Interesting to see an inspection saloon on the back of the Inverness-bound service. I presume a "piggyback" return to Inverness depot; unless it was being used as an observation car for West Highland passengers? I don't recall such a use; I'm only aware of the 101 conversion for Kyle Line, plus the "Mexican Bean" 104 for Oban Line.

BR did operate a observation car on the morning departure from Inverness to Kyle returning back to Inverness in the afternoon.

 

[gaillark]

Oh I miss those days when travelling was more fun. You don't see mail trolleys and sacks on the platform these days as well as the mixed traffic trains. Dover Western Docks gone.
Thank you for sharing these excellent photos.

 

[lostwin(m)]

21/10/86. Close up of the cab of 85019 at the head of a short mail train at Carlisle station. Like cars of the time, the rust is developing nicely under the paintwork!

 

[lostwin(m)]

21/10/86. If I recall correctly, this was taken from the covered overbridge through weather beaten plexiglass - hence the unusual light trails from the floodlights. 47644 had arrived on the 10.30 working from Euston and the natural light was fading fast at Stranraer. I understand that this part of the station and the tracks have since disappeared.

 

[lostwin(m)]

25/10/86, Carstairs. A scene that might be familiar to many. 47641 takes the rear part of the train and snakes across the banked tracks of the WCML with the Edinburgh portion of an Anglo-Scottish express.

 

[Sun Chariot]

21/10/86. If I recall correctly, this was taken from the covered overbridge through weather beaten plexiglass - hence the unusual light trails from the floodlights. 47644 had arrived on the 10.30 working from Euston and the natural light was fading fast at Stranraer. I understand that this part of the station and the tracks have since disappeared.
View attachment 144537

Gem of a shot. I can almost feel the wind whipping into the station.

 

[Sun Chariot]

25/10/86, Carstairs. A scene that might be familiar to many. 47641 takes the rear part of the train and snakes across the banked tracks of the WCML with the Edinburgh portion of an Anglo-Scottish express.
View attachment 144539

2 RMBs at the tail end - Edinburgh's passengers must have bigger appetites (or sup more beer!).

 

[lostwin(m)]

2 RMBs at the tail end - Edinburgh's passengers must have bigger appetites (or sup more beer!).

I hadn't spotted that!

 

[D1511]

Just spotted this thread today.....these are all really excellent, and it's refreshing to see railway subjects taken with a photographer's eye rather than an enthusiast's one. The result is beautifully evocative shots of a bygone railway era that's a sad loss to many of us on here, and they take me right back to those days. Great work. As others have said, the activity of the people in the pictures really adds to the scenes brilliantly as well as the imaginative and interesting framing.
It's towards the end of my peak rail enthusiast days, as I was around and about in the 77 to 84 era but it's wonderful to see these scenes again recorded so well.
I've got a bit of a stash of old photos as well, but mine are all colour reversal.....all on nice film like Ektachrome and Fuji Velvia with most in gepe glass mounts, so there's lovely depth and colour saturation to them still (albeit lacking your eye for composition), but it will be a long job to scan them all!
But keep them coming please.... I'm really loving these!

 

[D1511]

2 RMBs at the tail end - Edinburgh's passengers must have bigger appetites (or sup more beer!).

Oh yes, we liked a McEwans Export or two up our way back then

 

[lostwin(m)]

Just spotted this thread today.....these are all really excellent, and it's refreshing to see railway subjects taken with a photographer's eye rather than an enthusiast's one. The result is beautifully evocative shots of a bygone railway era that's a sad loss to many of us on here, and they take me right back to those days. Great work. As others have said, the activity of the people in the pictures really adds to the scenes brilliantly as well as the imaginative and interesting framing.
It's towards the end of my peak rail enthusiast days, as I was around and about in the 77 to 84 era but it's wonderful to see these scenes again recorded so well.
I've got a bit of a stash of old photos as well, but mine are all colour reversal.....all on nice film like Ektachrome and Fuji Velvia with most in gepe glass mounts, so there's lovely depth and colour saturation to them still (albeit lacking your eye for composition), but it will be a long job to scan them all!
But keep them coming please.... I'm really loving these!

Thank you, that is really lovely feedback and I am glad you are enjoying the pictures. I do remember trying to be more 'progressive' in my approach to photography at the time. In fact, I am actually quite impressed at what my 16 & 17 year old self was able to achieve. My selection here are obviously edited to towards those that were successful, I'll admit to taking many more ordinary or unsuccessful shots as well!

Scanning images does take time, but you get into a workflow and it is rewarding - and often surprising - to see the images enlarged and un-noticed details emerging. Post production work can also help impact with a good crop, as well as correct defects. It is though worth investing in a good scanner, the cheap ones are pretty much useless. It's a great task for the coming winter months...

 

[lostwin(m)]

Unfortunately, I am going to have to call a close to what I guess I will be part 1 of sharing these images. I am shortly going to be travelling with limited access to the computer, so I will look to resume again early November. Thanks once again for the very generous feedback from all.

I'll bid my (temporary) leave with this one;

02/05/85. (unidentified) Class 45, Leicester North
It all started here for me, at Leicester. More specifically, the car park alongside Leicester station and the mound of excess tarmac that had been piled up, giving a great view under Swain St bridge to the depot and the North Signal Box. This is where my train spotting started - perhaps 3 years earlier - and was still a fine place for photos. Semaphore signals were still rife and Leicester depot can be glimpsed to the right.

 

[eastwestdivide]

We may have bumped into each other then as I was spotting at Leicester 1980-83ish, although usually in the ‘birdcage’ above the depot.

 

[lostwin(m)]

We may have bumped into each other then as I was spotting at Leicester 1980-83ish, although usually in the ‘birdcage’ above the depot.

Almost certainly then!

 

[sprinterguy]

Interesting to see an inspection saloon on the back of the Inverness-bound service. I presume a "piggyback" return to Inverness depot; unless it was being used as an observation car for West Highland passengers? I don't recall such a use; I'm only aware of the 101 conversion for Kyle Line, plus the "Mexican Bean" 104 for Oban Line.

BR did operate a observation car on the morning departure from Inverness to Kyle returning back to Inverness in the afternoon.

After a bit of a hunt around the internet to confirm, I feel fairly confident that that's ex-LMS inspection saloon DM45028, which performed observation saloon duties on the Kyle line in 1986.

The class 101 driving trailer conversion was introduced the following year, observation cars having been reintroduced to the Kyle line in some form in 1979.

Wonderfully evocative photos lostwin(m); some really atmospheric and creative captures of a transitional period for BR.

 

[Cowley]

After a bit of a hunt around the internet to confirm, I feel fairly confident that that's ex-LMS inspection saloon DM45028, which performed observation saloon duties on the Kyle line in 1986.

The class 101 driving trailer conversion was introduced the following year, observation cars having been reintroduced to the Kyle line in some form in 1979.

Wonderfully evocative photos lostwin(m); some really atmospheric and creative captures of a transitional period for BR.

Good bit of detective work there.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Unfortunately, I am going to have to call a close to what I guess I will be part 1 of sharing these images. I am shortly going to be travelling with limited access to the computer, so I will look to resume again early November. Thanks once again for the very generous feedback from all.

I'll bid my (temporary) leave with this one;
02/05/85. (unidentified) Class 45, Leicester North.
View attachment 144607

Leicester (aka London Road) Station, a location I didn't get to spend enough time at. This viewpoint was one I loved - I have a photo of an incoming IC125 back in 1988. I also captured the only "double-Peak" (45135 + 145) I ever saw on a service train, from the adjacent platform to this one.

 

[lostwin(m)]

After a bit of a hunt around the internet to confirm, I feel fairly confident that that's ex-LMS inspection saloon DM45028, which performed observation saloon duties on the Kyle line in 1986.

The class 101 driving trailer conversion was introduced the following year, observation cars having been reintroduced to the Kyle line in some form in 1979.

Wonderfully evocative photos lostwin(m); some really atmospheric and creative captures of a transitional period for BR.

After working through my contact sheets for potential images to scan for my next batch of photos, I realise that I have a better picture of this carriage. No number shown in the image but it should help.

 

[Cowley]

After working through my contact sheets for potential images to scan for my next batch of photos, I realise that I have a better picture of this carriage. No number shown in the image but it should help.
View attachment 145474

Fantastic. I never knew that they’d used an inspection saloon as a viewing carriage back then until you posted the photo the other day. Very interesting.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Fantastic. I never knew that they’d used an inspection saloon as a viewing carriage back then until you posted the photo the other day. Very interesting.

I foresee a load of Scottish themed layouts now running a Bachy inspection saloon at the end of their Mk1 rakes!

The saloons have a toilet to the middle of the coach; and I wonder what ticket arrangement (or supplement) to use it - and how tickets were checked, in light of no through access from the adjacent carriage.

 

[lostwin(m)]

Part 2 - Down the Rabbit Hole...

A series of 'progressive' railway photographs for you to ponder and generally shake your hand at !

07/07/86 - I haven't got a clue what is going on here, all I know is that it is 37422 at Mallaig...

 

[lostwin(m)]

06/07/86. Unmistakably, 37422 at Fort William.

 

[lostwin(m)]

May 86. First shot on the roll of film and I hadn't advanced the roll sufficiently, so fogging creates a ghostly effect. Unidentified 20 at Leicester.