I grew up with BR blue.
The late 1970s was a time of standardisation yet looking back, the variety of locos and stock that visited Scarborough was positively exotic compared with today.
Yet in fact, the writing was already on the wall. The older enthusiasts bemoaned that it was nothing like the old days and of course, now I see they were right. Someone aged around 30 in 1977 would have seen a fully-operational steam shed at Scarborough; not to mention the last years of the Whitby branch and so much holiday traffic that the Londesborough Road excursion station was still in use up to 1963.
But the summers of the late 1970s and early 1980s still seemed like an exciting time to a newcomer. It was mainly summer Saturdays between July and September that saw things really brighten up loco-hauled services to/from Glasgow, Llandudno, London, Wakefield and Chesterfield. That meant 31s, 37s, 40s, 45s, 46s and 47s plus, in their twilight, a handful of Deltic visitors.
The 40s were a favourite for many I recall how the named ones had their nameplates removed a reminder that these were in some ways rather austere years for the railways.
Whats more, there were some unusual DMU visitors I recall the odd Cross-Country unit and also a unit that used to come down from Newcastle on summer Saturdays distinguishable by bars on the door windows fitted for operation on the Tyneside lines.
The real highlights were the Bank Holidays, when the station became fit to burst. The stabling point (now a bus depot) was filled with locos and one loco would even have to be stabled in Falsgrave tunnel mouth leading to Gallows Close goods yard on the old Whitby branch. On an afternoon, you could explore the platforms filled with silent rakes of Mark 1 carriages. Where was it all rustled up from? A lot of stock must have spent many weeks doing nothing in those days.
During the summer weekdays and Sundays there were just two loco-hauled services the faithful day-tripper trains from Wakefield and Chesterfield, often 40 hauled. Naturally, it wasnt so difficult to blag a cab visit in these when they awaited departure.
At this time Scarborough had 9 platforms as opposed to its existing 5 but after the summer season the station returned to a quiet predictability not so different to today, and platforms 6-9 (now used for car parking and with the platforms removed but with the roofing intact) in particular lay silent for months on end.
However, one marked difference was that the station had a year-round pilot usually an 08, but sometimes an 03, with two in the summer. In the winter, the pilots main duties, which were few, were to shunt the parcels van which came attached to the back of the first DMU of the day the mail train, arriving at 05.28 no less, and then heading back to York at 20.00.
Sometimes the pilot would miraculously change overnight to another loco just when the shunter slipped away for a 42-mile journey to York to swap with another shunter I never did discover.
The pilot would also head off through Falsgrave tunnel for some cursory shunting in Gallows Close goods yard, which by then was really on its last legs. There was a sometimes-a-week pick-up goods on weekday mornings, which occasionally brought the excitement of a class 20. On an afternoon one could merrily head off to Gallows Close and wander around there was no-one there to stop you, or who cared, anyway. The line carried on a short distance past the yard on the former Whitby branch where it came to an abrupt buffer stop at Manor Road bridge. So sad, so very sad.
Beyond the buffers lay the wasteland of the former extensive Northstead carriage sidings, with a large iron footbridge and the well of a turntable now all gone and grassed over (though the infilled turntable well can be located its a playground).
Outside the summer months, Scarborough was a quiet station, with only DMUs on passenger duty. We didnt call them by their classes (e.g. 101) as this wasnt reflected in their numbering so itd be a Derby unit, or Metro-Cammell or Cravens. Some of the units had permanently declassified old first class sections at one end these were obviously the prime spots to travel in, including the view behind the driver or of the tracks behind. I think the old first class was removed completely when the units were refurbished, after which some sported a new livery with white around the windows a positively radical change in those days!
The station wasnt open as it is now you needed a platform ticket as there was a ticket booth which seemed to be manned at even the quietest times. While there must have been fare dodgers, I dont recall any of the Disputes and Prosecutions mania of today. People without a ticket or the incorrect ticket were simply issued with an excess fare ticket/form, which took about 5 minutes for the guard or booth attendant to fill in by hand.
There didnt seem to be any announcements at the station and of course there were none on-board the train simply arrived at a station and it was up to you to remember to get off and take your belongings.
Were things better/worse? When youre an enthusiast and imbued with nostalgia for the old units, locos and stock, its impossible to make an objective judgement. I prefer the old stock, thats just how it is for me. But the station, even if its smaller, is certainly in much better nick today. The 1970s was the era of deferred maintenance and it showed.
One thing I will say was there seemed to be a much greater awareness that certain times would be busier, and an ability to cope with it. In the summer the DMUs would be reinforced to 6 or even 8-car sets to cope with the surge in passengers. Now its the same three-car 185s and same timetable on August Bank Holiday Monday as on a wet Monday in February. Do lines such as this actually want to cater for and attract holiday traffic any more?
The late 1970s was a time of standardisation yet looking back, the variety of locos and stock that visited Scarborough was positively exotic compared with today.
Yet in fact, the writing was already on the wall. The older enthusiasts bemoaned that it was nothing like the old days and of course, now I see they were right. Someone aged around 30 in 1977 would have seen a fully-operational steam shed at Scarborough; not to mention the last years of the Whitby branch and so much holiday traffic that the Londesborough Road excursion station was still in use up to 1963.
But the summers of the late 1970s and early 1980s still seemed like an exciting time to a newcomer. It was mainly summer Saturdays between July and September that saw things really brighten up loco-hauled services to/from Glasgow, Llandudno, London, Wakefield and Chesterfield. That meant 31s, 37s, 40s, 45s, 46s and 47s plus, in their twilight, a handful of Deltic visitors.
The 40s were a favourite for many I recall how the named ones had their nameplates removed a reminder that these were in some ways rather austere years for the railways.
Whats more, there were some unusual DMU visitors I recall the odd Cross-Country unit and also a unit that used to come down from Newcastle on summer Saturdays distinguishable by bars on the door windows fitted for operation on the Tyneside lines.
The real highlights were the Bank Holidays, when the station became fit to burst. The stabling point (now a bus depot) was filled with locos and one loco would even have to be stabled in Falsgrave tunnel mouth leading to Gallows Close goods yard on the old Whitby branch. On an afternoon, you could explore the platforms filled with silent rakes of Mark 1 carriages. Where was it all rustled up from? A lot of stock must have spent many weeks doing nothing in those days.
During the summer weekdays and Sundays there were just two loco-hauled services the faithful day-tripper trains from Wakefield and Chesterfield, often 40 hauled. Naturally, it wasnt so difficult to blag a cab visit in these when they awaited departure.
At this time Scarborough had 9 platforms as opposed to its existing 5 but after the summer season the station returned to a quiet predictability not so different to today, and platforms 6-9 (now used for car parking and with the platforms removed but with the roofing intact) in particular lay silent for months on end.
However, one marked difference was that the station had a year-round pilot usually an 08, but sometimes an 03, with two in the summer. In the winter, the pilots main duties, which were few, were to shunt the parcels van which came attached to the back of the first DMU of the day the mail train, arriving at 05.28 no less, and then heading back to York at 20.00.
Sometimes the pilot would miraculously change overnight to another loco just when the shunter slipped away for a 42-mile journey to York to swap with another shunter I never did discover.
The pilot would also head off through Falsgrave tunnel for some cursory shunting in Gallows Close goods yard, which by then was really on its last legs. There was a sometimes-a-week pick-up goods on weekday mornings, which occasionally brought the excitement of a class 20. On an afternoon one could merrily head off to Gallows Close and wander around there was no-one there to stop you, or who cared, anyway. The line carried on a short distance past the yard on the former Whitby branch where it came to an abrupt buffer stop at Manor Road bridge. So sad, so very sad.
Beyond the buffers lay the wasteland of the former extensive Northstead carriage sidings, with a large iron footbridge and the well of a turntable now all gone and grassed over (though the infilled turntable well can be located its a playground).
Outside the summer months, Scarborough was a quiet station, with only DMUs on passenger duty. We didnt call them by their classes (e.g. 101) as this wasnt reflected in their numbering so itd be a Derby unit, or Metro-Cammell or Cravens. Some of the units had permanently declassified old first class sections at one end these were obviously the prime spots to travel in, including the view behind the driver or of the tracks behind. I think the old first class was removed completely when the units were refurbished, after which some sported a new livery with white around the windows a positively radical change in those days!
The station wasnt open as it is now you needed a platform ticket as there was a ticket booth which seemed to be manned at even the quietest times. While there must have been fare dodgers, I dont recall any of the Disputes and Prosecutions mania of today. People without a ticket or the incorrect ticket were simply issued with an excess fare ticket/form, which took about 5 minutes for the guard or booth attendant to fill in by hand.
There didnt seem to be any announcements at the station and of course there were none on-board the train simply arrived at a station and it was up to you to remember to get off and take your belongings.
Were things better/worse? When youre an enthusiast and imbued with nostalgia for the old units, locos and stock, its impossible to make an objective judgement. I prefer the old stock, thats just how it is for me. But the station, even if its smaller, is certainly in much better nick today. The 1970s was the era of deferred maintenance and it showed.
One thing I will say was there seemed to be a much greater awareness that certain times would be busier, and an ability to cope with it. In the summer the DMUs would be reinforced to 6 or even 8-car sets to cope with the surge in passengers. Now its the same three-car 185s and same timetable on August Bank Holiday Monday as on a wet Monday in February. Do lines such as this actually want to cater for and attract holiday traffic any more?
along the Tyne Valley in what appeared to be my own little private railcar. Oh my what an extraordinarily fantastic trip that I've never managed to repeat to the same level of comfort.
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