Old and new bashing trips by Cowley

[Cowley]

I've changed the title on here so that I can put a couple more trips on and also any new days out that I do because I'm quite enjoying doing it and also reading other peoples reports. So here goes...

First trip to Scotland March 1988.

Unfortunately I've lost some records over the years but I've still got some and I'm able to piece together where we went and what we did. The trip involved my Dad Colin, my stepbrother Tom who at the time was and still is my second cousin (don't ask) and myself. It was a sort of family bonding railway and scenery type trip. Neither Tom or I had been to Scotland before and both loved our railways as did Dad.
I'm afraid that I'm not sure of the exact dates in March as I lost one of my bashing books from 1988 with them recorded.

Day 1

The Father and two very excited frothing teenagers are dropped at Exeter St Davids ready to catch 1S19, the overnight sleeper service from I think Plymouth to Glasgow/Edinburgh, as I remember it this was quite a long train by the time it arrived at Exeter already and would have more carriages added at Bristol Temple Meads. It rolled in behind 47517 Andrew Carnegie with black headcodes and highland stags on the cabsides. Surely a sign of good things to come!
On up to Bristol and a quick scope of Bath Road to see what was on shed, we were quite near the back of the train which was good as it turned out.

Day 2

The reason being that we stopped at the bottom of The Lickey ready to be banked by a pair of 37s, I think our train was a good 15/16 coaches long at this point. A chap appeared at the window next to us and said "Alright lads? I'm pretty good at getting the numbers of the bankers here", so we all peered out into the gloom and ascertained that it was 37059 and 37133 doing the honours.
The Father throughout this time was mainly slumbering, not being particularly excited by diesels.
After a very noisy shove up the incline we arrived at New Street and watched the swap to an 86 take place, I'm pretty sure this was 86247 Abraham Darby.
So on we went.
A year before Tom and I had made it over to Crewe from my Aunties house in Nottingham and had seen amongst other things 89001 on a test train when it was brand new, anything North of Crewe was new territory for us, furiously writing numbers down as we entered Crewe the excitement was starting to get too much and I think after that we probably tried to get some sleep for a bit as by now we were pretty tired.
We'd woken up again by Carstairs and got off to see what loco was going onto the Edinburgh portion, expecting something big and Scottish and rare I was fairly disappointed to find 47535 University of Leicester reversing on, this loco being pretty common in Exeter at the time, in fact I'd only been behind it a couple of weeks before. Ah well.
Into Edinburgh then, mythical land of Scotrail liveried 47/7s (how did I know they'd all end up in Exeter a few years later!?). I loved Scotrail livery, I'd only ever seen one coach (5813 I think) in it before and that was actually at Exeter, yet here I was on a sunny spring morning at Waverley surrounded by the stuff!

The father went off to have a hearty Edinburgh breakfast and a stroll at this point and left two gibbering neds to their own devices for a few hours, we spent the next few hours going backwards and forwards between Waverley and Haymarket (probably on the same return tickets) picking up 47/7s, we bagged 47702, 47704, 47707 and 47716.
We then reconvened on the 1030 Edinburgh to Aberdeen which was, yep 47535 again. Bah. This we took to Dundee travelling over the awesome Forth Bridge and the also impressive Tay Bridge, upon arrival at Dundee we saw our first 26, in original railfreight colours and we were well happy at this .
Then it was 47562 Sir William Burrell (in banger blue with snowploughs) to Perth where we got off to have a stroll in the gardens. The day had got quite impressively hot by now, in fact it was the hottest part of the country that day and Tom and I fell asleep on the sundial in the gardens for a couple of hours absolutely exhausted (I still have a photo of us asleep that Dad took somewhere).
This was turning into a long day.
We headed back to the station and took 47636 up to Inverness (another good Scottish loco in the bag) on the 1333 Queen Street to Inverness, enjoying the beautiful scenery. Saw more 26s and some IS based 37s (this trip was turning into a score fest) and then spent a bit of time wandering around the city killing time before getting the overnight train back to Glasgow (the 2340 Inverness to Glasgow/Edinburgh). This train was stiflingly hot as the ETH seemed to be stuck on 11, it was so hot in fact that we asked the guard if we could sleep in the brake van. "Aye lads" he said, so we crashed out on top of a load of mail bags with all the windows open and actually slept pretty well.

Day 3

Having left Inverness behind 47644 we were surprised to find 47604 on the front when we got to Glasgow Queen Street, not sure where they were swapped. Would anyone else know?
Now for the main event! 37s were pretty hard to come by in Devon haulage wise, you had to be in the right place at the right time. Tom and I had been in the right place a few months before during a Devon Rover when an HST had arrived at St Davids running on one power car, as we looked at the shed we realised the only thing spare was 37142 which was hurriedly put on the front before storming the banks to Plymouth and joy of joys actually being run round and sent back again on the same set! Excellent (still my favourite 37 and preserved only down the road at Bodmin).
So now we joined the Euston to Fort William sleeper with 37403 on the front and enjoyed the 37 thrash all the way to Fort Bill, including much noise and wheelslip going up Cowlairs. This whole journey was amazing, The Clyde, the submarines, the lochs and mountains, arriving and then crossing the platform to get the Mallaig train which was 3/4 coaches and 37412 on the front, the whole thing. Amazing. I still love it up there and have been back a number of times even though it's a bloody long way from here.

We found a nice BnB in Mallaig and then got the ferry to Skye and back just to say we'd been there really. When we got back we went into the chip shop and were having a conversation with each other about the fact that it had Haggis and chips on the menu, Tom then ordered Haggis and chips by mistake and the owner seemed so pleased that he'd ordered it that it took some getting out of actually. "So two fish and chips one Haggis and chips?", "No! no, just three fish and chips please". "Aye, right, one Haggis and chips and three fish and chips?". "No!" etc.
After this The Father got fairly drunk on McEwans and had to be sent to bed early for being silly.

Day 4

37412 again, back to Fort William, and then a bit of front window thrash behind 37409 back to Glasgow, the driver looked back at us leaning out the window once we'd cleared the junction, grinned and opened the power handle to full. Very nice .
Somewhere around Loch Lomond a whole party of schoolchildren joined the train and filled most of the empty seats in our carriage with plenty of fidgety, noisy excitement. Being pretty tired by now I just fell asleep and sitting in a corner in the bay opposite Dad and Tom I had an older chap sitting next to me while two children sat in the seats on the other side of the table, according to The Father one of the children became transfixed by the globule of drool slowly descending from my mouth as I snored in an exhausted stupor while the other one continually kicked the older chaps shins (possibly by fidgety accident, but not sure) The older chap just serenely sat there staring at the child and not saying anything. As we entered a tunnel near Glasgow it went dark as there were no lights on in the carriage, there was a sort of Thwack! noise, immediately followed by a yelp and as we came back into the light the young lad was rubbing his ear and looking around, while the old boy was just sitting as before, looking serene but with a very slight smirk on his face .

When we got back to Glasgow I think but I'm not totally sure that we went down to Queen Street Low Level and got a 303 out to Partick. We walked through the town and saw ladies standing in shadowy doorways which again was something I hadn't come across before.

We stayed in a tatty hotel that night and went out for a curry, then got to sleep ready for home the next day.

Day 5

303 EMU back to Glasgow and then a quick trip on The Clockwork Orange to Glasgow Central (what a station by the way).
We then caught the 1050 Glasgow to Plymouth all the way back to Exeter behind an 86, I think it was 86222 but not certain, 47565 came on at Birmingham and apart from seeing what was around at Crewe and enjoying the Lune Gorge I think I slept for most of the journey.
Returned home a very happy teenager having had a thoroughly enjoyable trip .

Just had a thought. When we left for Scotland Exeter was full of Skippers ie 142s painted chocolate and cream and I think when we got back it was all first generation DMUs back in the station and the Skippers/Pacers had gone. If anyone knows the dates this happened I might be able to narrow it down somewhat!

Thanks for reading.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

Having left Inverness behind 47644 we were surprised to find 47604 on the front when we got to Glasgow Queen Street, not sure where they were swapped. Would anyone else know?

Maybe Perth?

 

[Cowley]

Maybe Perth?

That's what we thought. Seems funny now having an overnight train in Scotland. It must have sat around somewhere for a while.

 

[Kristofferson]

That was awesome!

As I always say when reading these nostalgia reports, the railways were a very different place back then... More fun, but less safe??

I really, really enjoyed that read keep them coming.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RichmondCommu]

The earlier memories of the S & C reminds me of two occasions on the line that I think I will always remember.

The first one was back in 1979 at Aisgill following the tragic collapse of Penmanshiel Tunnel. My family and I were enjoying a short walking holiday in the Yorkshire Dales / Howgills in the August of that year when one glorious afternoon we were walking close to the summit at Aisgill. Suddenly Dad and I can hear a train approaching from the Kirby Stephen direction. Around 20 minutes later two class 40s making a terrific racket appear, crawling up to the summit at a snails pace. The photograph that I have show's a train that was long and heavy which perhaps explains the struggle that the two type 4s faced.

The other memory is in the winter of 1984. Having spent the night at the YHA in Carlisle we were on the first southbound train of the day to Leeds on a freezing cold morning with snow in the air. All was well until we arrived at Kirby Stephen where we were halted by the signalmen. After a few minutes the guard came down the train and informed everyone that the line was blocked in the Dent area. Well over an hour later (indeed it might have been two!) two class 37's appeared sandwiched between two snow ploughs, absolutely caked in snow and ice. With one line now clear we ran through to Leeds, noting the snow piled high on the platforms at Dent and over the other line (I can't remember whether it was the up or the down) that was still blocked.

Thanks for a fantastic read everyone

 

[Cowley]

The earlier memories of the S & C reminds me of two occasions on the line that I think I will always remember.

The first one was back in 1979 at Aisgill following the tragic collapse of Penmanshiel Tunnel. My family and I were enjoying a short walking holiday in the Yorkshire Dales / Howgills in the August of that year when one glorious afternoon we were walking close to the summit at Aisgill. Suddenly Dad and I can hear a train approaching from the Kirby Stephen direction. Around 20 minutes later two class 40s making a terrific racket appear, crawling up to the summit at a snails pace. The photograph that I have show's a train that was long and heavy which perhaps explains the struggle that the two type 4s faced.

The other memory is in the winter of 1984. Having spent the night at the YHA in Carlisle we were on the first southbound train of the day to Leeds on a freezing cold morning with snow in the air. All was well until we arrived at Kirby Stephen where we were halted by the signalmen. After a few minutes the guard came down the train and informed everyone that the line was blocked in the Dent area. Well over an hour later (indeed it might have been two!) two class 37's appeared sandwiched between two snow ploughs, absolutely caked in snow and ice. With one line now clear we ran through to Leeds, noting the snow piled high on the platforms at Dent and over the other line (I can't remember whether it was the up or the down) that was still blocked.

Thanks for a fantastic read everyone

That must have been amazing. Thanks for that.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

That was awesome!

As I always say when reading these nostalgia reports, the railways were a very different place back then... More fun, but less safe??

I really, really enjoyed that read keep them coming.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Kristofferson much appreciated

 

[Techniquest]

A much more interesting journey around Scotland than on 170s!

 

[Cowley]

A much more interesting journey around Scotland than on 170s!

Yes it probably was. I think the Sprinter revolution was beginning to take effect by then perhaps on The Far North line? Not sure though.

 

[Ash Bridge]

Regarding the 142 Skipper units, a couple of the books I have here state either all withdrawn from WR service by Sept 1987 then dispatched to Newton Heath, or all sent North by the end of 1987, can't find any precise date sorry, excellent reports btw, you've certainly got a talent for interesting/entertaining write ups

 

[Cowley]

Regarding the 142 Skipper units, a couple of the books I have here state either all withdrawn from WR service by Sept 1987 then dispatched to Newton Heath, or all sent North by the end of 1987, can't find any precise date sorry, excellent reports btw, you've certainly got a talent for interesting/entertaining write ups

Thanks Ash Bridge, just really enjoying doing it .
The thing is I looked it up and it said that too. I went to see my Stepbrother Tom last night for a couple of beers in Exmouth and forced him and his wife to sit on the sofa while I read it out to them (she's got a broken ankle so it was quite difficult for her to get away). Tom confirmed everything was as I said and we're both fairly sure that the 142s were still there. However we also did a trip over to East Anglia in 1987 around September and perhaps that was the weekend we got back and found they'd all gone.
The trouble is it's 28 years ago now and not always easy to remember.

 

[Ash Bridge]

Thanks Ash Bridge, just really enjoying doing it .
The thing is I looked it up and it said that too. I went to see my Stepbrother Tom last night for a couple of beers in Exmouth and forced him and his wife to sit on the sofa while I read it out to them (she's got a broken ankle so it was quite difficult for her to get away). Tom confirmed everything was as I said and we're both fairly sure that the 142s were still there. However we also did a trip over to East Anglia in 1987 around September and perhaps that was the weekend we got back and found they'd all gone.
The trouble is it's 28 years ago now and not always easy to remember.

That was a bit cruel regarding your stepbrothers wife

But yes, 30 years nearly and some of the finer details if just left to memory and not recorded are getting lost in the mists of time now sadly.

 

[Cowley]

That was a bit cruel regarding your stepbrothers wife

But yes, 30 years nearly and some of the finer details if just left to memory and not recorded are getting lost in the mists of time now sadly.

Well she did break her ankle on his Birthday on Saturday, so she did kind of deserve it...
At least she's got a good sense of humour.

As far as my memory goes I thought it was about time to write some of this stuff down while I can still remember. At least it's down now and I can fill that brain storage space with other trainy things!

 

[47403]

That was a cracking read Cowley, some cracking traction there. I was trying to pin names on some of the 47's, 47636 Sir john De Graeme. 47535 was a beast of a 47, common as hell but was always a sprightly one, 47550 and 47555 were others too.
Sure I had 47636 on the 1S15, 17.18 Newcastle to Edinburgh stopper and one of the Newcastle-Liverpool, Trans Pennine turns. Sure the dominos had gone then the 2nd time then. This is not my photo below but here's the beast with the ECS for the 17.15

and again not my photo but here its again at Newcastle, without the dominoes, doesn't look half as beastly, parked up in what was affectionately nicknamed the hole, basically where locos got parked up, along with parcel vans and the resident GD 03, sadly no more, they're the platforms predominantly used for the Metrocentre, Hexham, Boro and Sunderland services there now.


Had many a good time riding the 47/7s between Waverley and Queen St, bailing at Falkirk to avoid the grip too The 37/4s had mainly taken over the Fort Bill turns, so missed out on the 37/0s doing them turns. Only ever went as far as Arrochar with them. If you timed it right, you could bail one and make another back, didn't always work to plan mind. Only done it about 3 times.

my mate used to go to the South West for holidays, to visit family down there, waiting for the loco change at Brum and Bristol, jammy sod would get the odd hoover underlined too. I was always jealous about that.

Hopefully you can share more tails, love owt like this.

 

[Calthrop]

Cowley, thanks – very interesting stuff; you certainly did some end-to-end-of-the-country getting-around. Loved your 1988 Scottish bash account – including the Mallaig chippy (did you encounter there or elsewhere, the renowned and dreaded deep-fried Mars Bar in batter – or had that not yet been thought of?).

Your Day 4 tunnel incident, irresistibly brings to mind the hoary old tale about the country under harsh occupation by an “outside” power – Nazi-occupied Europe / Communist bloc / wherever-whenever. Four fellow-passengers in a train compartment -- an army officer of the occupying / oppressing nation; a withered old woman; a pretty young girl; and a young male freedom-fighter of the oppressed country. The train runs into a tunnel – in the general conditions of bleakness and shortages, no carriage lighting: it’s pitch-dark. The freedom-fighter seizes his chance, and plants a big smacking kiss on the back of his hand; and immediately punches the army officer hard in the face. Train emerges from tunnel. Freedom-fighter is pleased with his cunning ruse; old woman thinks, “good for the girl – loathsome occupying officer kissed her in the darkness, hoping for more; but she defended her honour.” Girl thinks: “whyever did he kiss the old woman, rather than me?” Officer thinks: “what the hell happened?” (It’s a “given”, that he’s a relatively nice and restrained oppressor -- he doesn’t promptly shoot all three of them dead, on the grounds that plainly someone was up to something dodgy.)

 

[Merthyr Imp]

Your Day 4 tunnel incident, irresistibly brings to mind the hoary old tale about the country under harsh occupation by an “outside” power – Nazi-occupied Europe / Communist bloc / wherever-whenever. Four fellow-passengers in a train compartment -- an army officer of the occupying / oppressing nation; a withered old woman; a pretty young girl; and a young male freedom-fighter of the oppressed country. The train runs into a tunnel – in the general conditions of bleakness and shortages, no carriage lighting: it’s pitch-dark. The freedom-fighter seizes his chance, and plants a big smacking kiss on the back of his hand; and immediately punches the army officer hard in the face. Train emerges from tunnel. Freedom-fighter is pleased with his cunning ruse; old woman thinks, “good for the girl – loathsome occupying officer kissed her in the darkness, hoping for more; but she defended her honour.” Girl thinks: “whyever did he kiss the old woman, rather than me?” Officer thinks: “what the hell happened?” (It’s a “given”, that he’s a relatively nice and restrained oppressor -- he doesn’t promptly shoot all three of them dead, on the grounds that plainly someone was up to something dodgy.)

In the version I heard (approx. 45 years ago) the officer thinks: 'Just my luck, he kisses the girl and I get punched for it.'

 

[Cowley]

That was a cracking read Cowley, some cracking traction there. I was trying to pin names on some of the 47's, 47636 Sir john De Graeme. 47535 was a beast of a 47, common as hell but was always a sprightly one, 47550 and 47555 were others too.
Sure I had 47636 on the 1S15, 17.18 Newcastle to Edinburgh stopper and one of the Newcastle-Liverpool, Trans Pennine turns. Sure the dominos had gone then the 2nd time then. This is not my photo below but here's the beast with the ECS for the 17.15

and again not my photo but here its again at Newcastle, without the dominoes, doesn't look half as beastly, parked up in what was affectionately nicknamed the hole, basically where locos got parked up, along with parcel vans and the resident GD 03, sadly no more, they're the platforms predominantly used for the Metrocentre, Hexham, Boro and Sunderland services there now.


Had many a good time riding the 47/7s between Waverley and Queen St, bailing at Falkirk to avoid the grip too The 37/4s had mainly taken over the Fort Bill turns, so missed out on the 37/0s doing them turns. Only ever went as far as Arrochar with them. If you timed it right, you could bail one and make another back, didn't always work to plan mind. Only done it about 3 times.

my mate used to go to the South West for holidays, to visit family down there, waiting for the loco change at Brum and Bristol, jammy sod would get the odd hoover underlined too. I was always jealous about that.

Hopefully you can share more tails, love owt like this.

Oh man, that picture of 636 made me breath heavily! Funnily enough I think I ended up having it on a Waterloo - Exeter turn in the end. Thanks 47403, means a lot.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

In the version I heard (approx. 45 years ago) the officer thinks: 'Just my luck, he kisses the girl and I get punched for it.'

Made us laugh, thanks guys.

 

[AJM580]

Enjoyed reading about your Scottish trip. It brought back memories of a three day railtour I did up that way. Courtesy of NENTA's the Skye Train, it was a Friday evening departure from Ipswich with 47366 to Norwich where we had 47806 forward. A meal on the train with friends was the cue for an entertaining evening of coffees topped off with brandy before trying to get some sleep. I woke up just as we got to Edinburgh, and saw the Forth Bridge in the early morning gloom before heading towards Perth and the Highland Main Line. it then all went pear-shaped as we neared Drumochter Summit. 47806 ground to a halt, and all you could hear was the traffic on the A9. It was soon clear that we were going nowhere in a hurry, as the 47 had failed. The method of rescue was quite impressive as the 16 coach Royal Highlander sleeper was right behind us with 47593 in charge. It duly buffered up to the rear and the whole 28 coach ensemble made it over the summit and on to Dalwhinnie where 47604 was waiting to take us on to Inverness. The trip to Kyle of Lochalsh was 37025/37428 forward, where we then went across the ferry to the Isle of Skye for a scenic coach tour. Getting back to Kyle of Lochalsh it was 37428 on its own back to Inverness, where we had a break while the train was reformed and we gained 47801/47806 back. 806 had been worked on at Inverness and once the gradients of the Highland Mainline were behind us, the resurrected 47806 took us back to East Anglia via the ECML and a quick diversion down the GN/GE joint line as well. Heady days - 25 years ago. As I remember there were a few 26s & 37s still kicking around the area

 

[Cowley]

Enjoyed reading about your Scottish trip. It brought back memories of a three day railtour I did up that way. Courtesy of NENTA's the Skye Train, it was a Friday evening departure from Ipswich with 47366 to Norwich where we had 47806 forward. A meal on the train with friends was the cue for an entertaining evening of coffees topped off with brandy before trying to get some sleep. I woke up just as we got to Edinburgh, and saw the Forth Bridge in the early morning gloom before heading towards Perth and the Highland Main Line. it then all went pear-shaped as we neared Drumochter Summit. 47806 ground to a halt, and all you could hear was the traffic on the A9. It was soon clear that we were going nowhere in a hurry, as the 47 had failed. The method of rescue was quite impressive as the 16 coach Royal Highlander sleeper was right behind us with 47593 in charge. It duly buffered up to the rear and the whole 28 coach ensemble made it over the summit and on to Dalwhinnie where 47604 was waiting to take us on to Inverness. The trip to Kyle of Lochalsh was 37025/37428 forward, where we then went across the ferry to the Isle of Skye for a scenic coach tour. Getting back to Kyle of Lochalsh it was 37428 on its own back to Inverness, where we had a break while the train was reformed and we gained 47801/47806 back. 806 had been worked on at Inverness and once the gradients of the Highland Mainline were behind us, the resurrected 47806 took us back to East Anglia via the ECML and a quick diversion down the GN/GE joint line as well. Heady days - 25 years ago. As I remember there were a few 26s & 37s still kicking around the area

Great bit of nostalgia there AJM580!
It's surprising what a 47 could move when called upon. I was going up Dainton Bank behind 47491 'Horwich Enterprise' in late 1987 when it gave up with at least 12 on and after about an hour 47637 'Springburn' turned up (47826 in new money) from Exeter and shoved the whole lot up the bank. Not quite up to the level of your 47593 feat, but not too shabby on a bank as steep as Dainton...

 

[47403]

Wow two top posts on here too. Many thanks for sharing those folks. 47593 was a beast n a half in my book. One helluva load to push n pull over Dromochter Summit bet she was thrashing harder than a dominatrix with an MP.

Well jealous of 37025 for haulage. My mate Cal had it more than a few times and said it was his fave 37 for haulage and we'd had more than our fair share between us.

Looking forward to more nostalgia in this excellent thread.

 

[Cowley]

Gloucester and Warwickshire diesel gala 8/10/16

An actual modern day trip report!

This time of year my friend Paul and I go to the Severn Valley diesel gala, in fact we've been every year for the last 13 years I think. My first diesel gala up there was in 1991 when I was still bashing on the main line (actually since being on here I seem to be getting bitten by the bug again), I love a bit of diesel nostalgia and have to get a fix every few months somewhere.

I'll make this one fairly brief as I'm up to my neck painting a 16 bedroom hotel in Exeter at the moment and if I don't do this now it'll end up being another historic trip report...

We ended up going up in my van as Paul's car had sprung a leak, I didn't mind because I love driving 'The Beast' at any opportunity .
Got to Cheltenham Racecourse nice and early and waited for the first train which was 26043. Front seat and dodgy iphone picture in the bag we set off, it soon became clear that the 26 was not at it's best with a pronounced missfire and once we arrived at Winchcombe it started making some very strange popping noises. There was obviously some tinkering going on and after 37248 had rolled in in the opposite direction we set off with the wee beast sounding a lot healthier.

Arrived at Toddington and walked up to the other end for a bit of Peak action behind 45149 which we took to Gotherington, although the Peak looked good and was obviously well looked after I found it a bit on the quiet side, they've clearly done a good job on repairing the silencer as well as everything else.

From Gotherington I think we did 37248 back with it's working boiler heating the train, it wasn't a particularly cold day but what a treat and boy did it look good too.

Next we took 20137 to Gotherington, which was one of the best runs of the day with plenty of tunnel thrash in Greet tunnel . In my opinion small Locos are the best on preserved lines and they're usually what I go for.

The Peak was then taken back to Toddington for a bit of lunch and a walk round the sheds. This then coincided with the Peak yet again as the next departure! We then took that up to Winchcombe, jumped on to 47376 back to Toddington before getting the 24081 and 26043 back up to Winchcombe.

I think that's the right order but I'm a little hazy. We definitely got the 37 again and eventually ended up on the last train back to Cheltenham Racecourse behind the class 20. I know we covered everything and I got 4 winners out of the day! (the 47, the 20, the 45 and the 37) I was pretty surprised by this.

I probably should take proper notes but I don't bother with mileage these days, just like to get lines in the book.
It was a very relaxing nice day out, far less full on than the Severn Valley Diesel Gala, met and chatted to some very nice people including a guy who used to drive 33's at Brighton who was fascinating to talk to and a good laugh too and a guy I remembered from 25 years ago who used to work in the TOPS office at Exeter. Small world.

Mrs Cowley wrote some of this out while I washed up bless her. It took her ten minutes to do what took me an hour.
I'll stick a couple of my not very good iPhone photos on here too.

Cheers folks (actually not cheers as I'm 12 days into an alcohol free month).

Edit. No idea why the photos are sideways.

 

[55013]

Nice report.
I agree that small locos are best at heritage lines as well.
I've no idea why your photos are sideways, but I'm sure somebody who is more computer literate than me will be along with an explanation before too long.

 

[FQ]

Sounds like a great time. I agree with both you and 55013 that smaller locos are better on pres lines.

 

[Cowley]

Thanks guys. I can only assume that I was lying down when I took them...

As far as small locos go, a 24 on seven coaches up the hill towards Crowcombe on the West Somerset was pretty damn nice a couple of years ago. I like to cover everything and then spend a bit of time behind a type 2 or similar when I do these galas.

 

[Ash Bridge]

Thanks guys. I can only assume that I was lying down when I took them...

Oh come on Cowley you can't kid us, I'll bet you were bashing the ale or/and cider as well as the diesels

At least you got your new avatar spot on though

 

[Cowley]

Oh come on Cowley you can't kid us, I'll bet you were bashing the ale or/and cider as well as the diesels

At least you got you're new avatar spot on though

Haha. I haven't touched a drop this month because of this be a sober hero thing. God it's been a long month though.
We're not even halfway through yet :cry:. I suppose I do feel a bit healthier, they've sent us a badge and a token that gives us one night of drinking on any day we choose this month.
One sniff of the barmaids apron though and I really will be on the floor now

Just you all think of me while you enjoy your Friday evening drink tonight!

 

[Ash Bridge]

Haha. I haven't touched a drop this month because of this be a sober hero thing. God it's been a long month though.
We're not even halfway through yet :cry:. I suppose I do feel a bit healthier, they've sent us a badge and a token that gives us one night of drinking on any day we choose this month.
One sniff of the barmaids apron though and I really will be on the floor now

Just you all think of me while you enjoy your Friday evening drink tonight!

Iam that, as I've just opened a bottle of Tribute this moment it is my first since last weekend though!

Anyway good on you, and I really do admire your willpower!

 

[Cowley]

Iam that, as I've just opened a bottle of Tribute this moment it is my first since last weekend though!

Anyway good on you, and I really do admire your willpower!

Thanks Ash Bridge.
I bet that tastes good doesn't it?

 

[Ash Bridge]

Thanks Ash Bridge.
I bet that tastes good doesn't it?

Like nectar!

 

[Techniquest]

Quite an enjoyable day there, I didn't know you could bail at Gotherington now. I need the track beyond Todderington, I need to revisit. 37248, must have been one that arrived in the last few years? Think I've had the 24, not had the 45 and is 73129 still there?

20137 is an absolute BEAST! 37099 (was numbered 37324 last time I was there) isn't bad either mind. I think I have a lot to catch up on!

 

[Cowley]

Thanks Tech. Yes Gotherington is quite good, the passing loop is just outside the station (on the Cheltenham side), because obviously the main platform is privately owned along with the station building. You can get quite a nice photo of a train waiting to come into the station as one is about to leave.

I was a bit surprised they weren't running a DMU shuttle over the new extension, I have been on it already but it's nice going over Stanway viaduct...

37248 used to be used by WCRC although I think it was owned by members of the Growler group. It was painted maroon and named Loch Arkaig. I must say it looks absolutely superb now.
The 73 was in the shed along with 47105 and a very rusty ex French class 20 (20035), 37215 was outside and was going to be used on Sunday, I didn't need it anyway.

I checked my books when I got home last night and I did indeed get four winners! That doesn't happen much these days, well worth the trip

Couple of photos(the right way up too), 45149 arriving at Gotherington from Cheltenham and an eclectic mix of traction on shed at Toddington.