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Surplus rolling stock after Beeching

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randyrippley

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Sorry, but I think the reference is to the pre-war Gresley Gangwayed Passenger Brake - which I remember seeing in Rail Blue in Clapham Yard around 1980.
I imagine it was in the Yeovil Papers set (0140 Waterloo), 3as the regular Exeter sets had back-to-back BSOs to cope with short platforms.

When the 33's were being used the sets were formed with a full brake or parcels van at each end. That was still the case in the early 80s behind the class 50s, but may have changed later. My memory is uncertain, but I think they had both the BSOs and the end vans
 
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30907

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Checking the 1976 WTT, 4 and 6 wheelers would only have been permitted West of Salisbury on the paper train or the first down from Salisbury and last up which were formed 4 Mk 1s and a CCT. There was a reasonable number of parcels workings East of Salisbury.

The carriage working notice unhelpfully describes the regular sets as "8RU" or "8RB" which only tells you what sort of catering vehicle Newton Abbot supplied. I was going by memory and photos. ISTR the Exeters ended up with micro-buffets aka TSO(T) when they went to airbraked stock.
 

Cowley

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Checking the 1976 WTT, 4 and 6 wheelers would only have been permitted West of Salisbury on the paper train or the first down from Salisbury and last up which were formed 4 Mk 1s and a CCT. There was a reasonable number of parcels workings East of Salisbury.

The carriage working notice unhelpfully describes the regular sets as "8RU" or "8RB" which only tells you what sort of catering vehicle Newton Abbot supplied. I was going by memory and photos. ISTR the Exeters ended up with micro-buffets aka TSO(T) when they went to airbraked stock.

I'm sure you're right as I remember them on the Waterloo - Exeter sets but I think they may have been replaced by a trolley service by the late 80s? I seem to remember that the little counter bit was still in some of the carriages though.
 

randyrippley

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Checking the 1976 WTT, 4 and 6 wheelers would only have been permitted West of Salisbury on the paper train or the first down from Salisbury and last up which were formed 4 Mk 1s and a CCT. There was a reasonable number of parcels workings East of Salisbury.

Nice theory, but by the time I saw them they were on daytime services........I worked at an office in Gillingham with a view of the line 1981-84 and the sightings would have been during that time, daytime.
As for the first up from Salisbury.......was that made up with borrowed Oxted line stock like the first up from Yeovil (something like 06:40 start)?
It was normally 33 hauled, even when the 50s were around and sometimes a 4-TC would stand in for the regular set
 

30907

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As for the first up from Salisbury.......was that made up with borrowed Oxted line stock like the first up from Yeovil (something like 06:40 start)?
It was normally 33 hauled, even when the 50s were around and sometimes a 4-TC would stand in for the regular set

I'm not familiar with stuff later than summer 82.
At that time the first Up from Yeovil was the back working of the papers, so a self contained diagram (it did more than one trip by then) with 5 or 6 Mk 1s plus BGs, and yes, it remained a 33 diagram. The Oxted sets were plain 8s with just one BSK (or whatever).
The other non-TC working I remember was the 1638 down relief which (again from memory) made good use of one of the two Channel Islands sets. Without access to the timetable, I can't remember how it got back to Clapham Yard in time for next morning's boat train.

ISTR the first Up Salisbury (all stops to Farnborough, Waterloo 0806-ish) was booked TC.
 
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Taunton

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Checking the 1976 WTT, 4 and 6 wheelers would only have been permitted West of Salisbury on the paper train or the first down from Salisbury and last up which were formed 4 Mk 1s and a CCT. There was a reasonable number of parcels workings East of Salisbury.
Was this stock in the newspaper train which was in the big high speed derailment smash at Raynes Park in the middle of the night, the one that demolished the station footbridge with vehicles all over the platform? Possibly not, as I believe it was hauled by an Electro-diesel. Former girlfriend's family were living near the station at the time, everyone in the road woke up with the huge noise, initially assuming a plane crash of something approaching Heathrow.
 

JohnElliott

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Excepting the one that was re-bodied using Leyland National bus panels around 1980, by the same people that brought you the LEV that subsequently evolved into the Pacer. Given how those turned out, I think we can be grateful that the Mk1 conversion didn't go into volume production.

There was also the Networker Classic -- that might have been better-liked had it gone into production.

Chris Green's "The Network Southeast Story" mentions that the Leyland rebuild was one of the options for replacing the Thumpers on the Hastings line -- rebuild them as Leyland-bodied hauled stock with class 33/2s pulling them.
 

30907

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Was this stock in the newspaper train which was in the big high speed derailment smash at Raynes Park in the middle of the night, the one that demolished the station footbridge with vehicles all over the platform? Possibly not, as I believe it was hauled by an Electro-diesel. Former girlfriend's family were living near the station at the time, everyone in the road woke up with the huge noise, initially assuming a plane crash of something approaching Heathrow.
No, checking online this was on 28.11.67 and involved the 0340 Guildford and Basingstoke papers which did not convey passengers (at most a BSK IIRC). The 0140 Yeovil was a class 1 service, and not strictly a newspaper train (apologies if anyone was misled).
 

70014IronDuke

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I'd query pre-grouping - the elaborate exterior panelling would have been a giveaway - but the "big 4" stock built in the 1930s was comparable to the Mk1 from the passenger point of view.

As well as the need for "modernity" and improvements in comfort on competing modes, increasing train speeds were making the traditional coaches less acceptable, particularly because of the noise and draughts with the windows open.

Apols, you are correct. I meant Big 4 stock of the 1930s. Must be the drugs.
 

yorksrob

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There was also the Networker Classic -- that might have been better-liked had it gone into production.

Chris Green's "The Network Southeast Story" mentions that the Leyland rebuild was one of the options for replacing the Thumpers on the Hastings line -- rebuild them as Leyland-bodied hauled stock with class 33/2s pulling them.

Keeping them going as they were was undoubtedly the better option !
 

nw1

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I'm not familiar with stuff later than summer 82.
At that time the first Up from Yeovil was the back working of the papers, so a self contained diagram (it did more than one trip by then) with 5 or 6 Mk 1s plus BGs, and yes, it remained a 33 diagram. The Oxted sets were plain 8s with just one BSK (or whatever).
The other non-TC working I remember was the 1638 down relief which (again from memory) made good use of one of the two Channel Islands sets. Without access to the timetable, I can't remember how it got back to Clapham Yard in time for next morning's boat train.

ISTR the first Up Salisbury (all stops to Farnborough, Waterloo 0806-ish) was booked TC.

I remember in the 1983-85 period there were two sets which ran the Waterloo-Salisbury terminators (which ran 2-hourly, combining with the Exeters), one was a 33+TC and the other a 33+Mk I coaches. I can't remember though whether this was Mon-Fri or Sat.
The Exeters left Waterloo at 0910, 1110, 1310 etc and the Salisburys 1010, 1210, 1410 etc - but were more irregular in the up direction and ran at different times in the peaks.
 

John07

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Many of the line closures in the Beeching era were rather short on train services anyway - hourly at best, often much less frequent, and also often consisting of very short trains. So although lots of lines closed, not as many trains fell out as a result.
My Grandfather worked as a signalman on the Wellington to Stafford line via Newport in the latter stages of the line's history. I think he, typically, had one train a day coming through.
 
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