Rationale behind which routes crew at a given depot sign

[King Lazy]

Even if for a while when the service was changed to come from Leeds via Skipton it was booked to be worked by a 150 - which Barrow didn't sign. So Skipton crews had to stay on to work the train while Barrow piloted them!

And that in itself came about through a minor change to services as Barrow signed 150s under FNW and into the Northern era. There was a Lime Street to Millom booked as a 150 (almost always a 150/1) and a Sellafield to the Airport which was often a 150/2

When these services were recast Barrow drivers couldn’t maintain competence on 150s and eventually all took them off their traction cards.

A short time after the situation of conducting Skipton drivers on traction they used to sign came up.

It often only takes a very small change to remove route and traction knowledge. Workington guards had a single job on 158s from Preston. Once that went they lost both Preston and 158s.

At the same time Barrow Conductors only saw 142s on a single Saturday job. The Morecambes were all 15X. Had that Saturday job become a 15X Barrow Conductors would’ve lost 142s and a couple of years later there would’ve been the situation of them not being able to work the Morecambes which were almost all 142 by then.

 

[Galvanize]

Did the 442 stoppers that called at the stations south of Haywards Heath not have guards on them?

The 442s on the Brighton Mainline had a Guard onboard either all the way from London Bridge or Gatwick Airport if they were calling at the intermediate stations South of Haywards Heath.

The Victoria-Gatwick-Brighton non stop expresses (or the former Victoria-Brighton fasts that called only at Clapham Junction and East Croydon) were normally DOO throughout.