Useful if you have any information on how the public specials loaded. It was a huge National logisitic operation at Coventry , York and Cardiff (anywhere else ?) , with a seriously complex train and resource plan. (which of course could never happen in the privatised railway) - my wife's family travelled Selly Oak to Coventry direct in what was a DMU special (in the small hours) - with many diesel sets for the Midlands operation sent up from Marylebone depot ! - there was a great write up in the Modern Railways edition around the time , referring to York.
(suggestions that the Cardiff rail element was poorly patronised...)
Likewise the Glasgow operation. Luckily we still had the Paisley Canal line as a through route then. I can't lay may hands on my notes right now but, IIRC, there were about 20 specials - all loco-hauled - from all over Scotland, the vast majority of which arrived from the East, disembarked their passengers at Corkerhill in about 5 minutes flat and then set-off Westwards to various stabling points in Ayrshire (ISTR Falkland Yard featuring prominently), to allow the next train to arrive and unload. The small number of specials arriving from the opposite direction (two or three maybe?) were despatched empty to Polmadie or Motherwell depots. In the morning, I was standing lineside at Shields Junction armed with clipboard, Special traffic Notice and high-vis anorak and my recollection is that all the trains were well-filled and - with one exception - very punctual. Motive power included classes 25, 26, 27, 37, 40 and 47 and - because the Scottish Region didn't possess enough spare stock - several Mark 1 sets had been borrowed from the ER and LMR. In the evening, I was at Corkerhill station and my recollection is that the whole operation went off remarkably efficiently, considering the potential difficulties in getting thousands of people marshalled in the correct order for the correct train at a tiny two-platform suburban station. If and when I find my notes, I shall post the details on here.
