9th August 1989
After a quick spin to Glasgow my return south went something like this,85040 ROARING on 1V59 from Glasgow to Preston on the 12.10 Glasgow Plymouth but the driver declared it a failure at Preston and was removed in favour of 90027 which to me was rancid at the time but anyways it was done to Crewe where i bailed and fell onto 20218 & 20099 working the 15.47 Crewe to Derby which was done to Stoke where i bailed for 85014 another roaring machine which was working 1V62 16.18 Manchester to Plymouth as far as Birmingham New St where I struck lucky again with 85003 working 1A71 17.04 Shrewsbury London Euston which was done to the blocks. Happy days indeed and plenty of roaring miles to be had.
A very nice set of moves indeed. I bet the pair of 20s on the Crewe - Derby were a bit on the chilly side.
Monday 22nd December 1980
A trip to Saltburn.
Well if the TPE plans for class 68 deployment come to fruition, we may yet have reason to visit Saltburn on a regular basis in 2022. Here's hoping ...
Meanwhile, another fine selection from me:
Thursday 22/12/77
45066 0819 York – Birmingham New Street via Cudworth, Masborough
47140 1118 Birmingham New Street – Reading via Solihull
Friday 22/12/78
40074 1704 Leeds – York
47471 1733 York – Leeds
DMU Leeds – Selby
55021 1852 Selby – York
40042 1920 York – Leeds
Saturday 22/12/79
So we rolled onto Anglesey with 40112, hoping to see a pair of class 40s waiting outside the stabling point ready to work the 0053 relief to Euston. Nope. There was 40133 at the Anglesey Aluminium sidings, shunting wagons around, and that was it. Cupboard bare.
We watched as 40112 (with its defective boiler) was detached and sent onto the stabling point, and – once we had warmed up a little – we too wandered up there to find out what would be working the 0053 (booked a pair of 40s). The sight that met our eyes was glorious – 40133 had arrived, been refuelled, and coupled in multiple with 40112. There’s our answer!
40133 + 40112 0053 Holyhead – Crewe
Thankfully the fitters at Holyhead had managed to revive the train heat boiler on 40112. Indeed, it was putting out such high pressure steam that the pipe on the front coach burst, so there was a 37’ delay whilst it was shunted out.
I had a lengthy fester in the all-night buffet at Crewe, then set about returning home to York (in a manner of speaking):
86019 0737 Crewe – Warrington Bank Quay
DMU Warrington Bank Quay – Manchester Victoria
47523 1050 Manchester Victoria – Huddersfield
40115 1143 Huddersfield – Manchester Victoria (Relief)
85034 1423 Manchester Piccadilly – Stockport
86103 1436 Stockport – Manchester Piccadilly
31242 1515 Manchester Piccadilly – Sheffield via Romiley, New Mills
This 31 was on load 11, and lost 10 minutes to Sheffield, struggling with the heavy load.
At Sheffield it re-engined as booked:
47006 1625 Sheffield – Chesterfield
45025 1706 Chesterfield – Sheffield, 30’ late.
This was the 1140 Poole – Newcastle, which detached a Leeds portion at Sheffield. The Leeds portion was on the front, so the 45 worked through to Leeds, with the loco off the Manchester – Harwich taking over the Newcastle portion at Sheffield. Yes, it’s that underpowered 31 again!
31242 1741 Sheffield – York, 40’ late.
Thursday 22/12/83
Once again I’m making a trip to London to pick up my passport and visa from the Polish Embassy. I had worked a night shift in Leeds Control, so I wasn’t too worried about the motive power, all I wanted was a good doss:
43080 + 43043 0705 Leeds – Kings Cross
After picking up my passport I returned to Kings Cross, to see what was on offer. There was a 1230 Kings Cross – Edinburgh relief, 10 Mk 1 compartment coaches, that’ll do nicely. As for the loco, well, the phrase “bottom of the barrel” sprung to mind:
31168 1230 Kings Cross – York via Hambleton
After negotiating Kings Cross station throat, the power handle was opened wide, and remained there for the next 57 minutes! 15’ late into York.
Saturday 22/12/90
I’m off to visit my parents in Plymouth, but as usual I chose the long way round, this time to cover the Saturdays Only Brighton - Plymouth:
DMU 04xx Reading – Redhill
EMU 1705 Redhill – Brighton
73109 0905 Brighton – Portsmouth Harbour
50003 1023 Portsmouth Harbour – Exeter St Davids via Southampton, Salisbury
50018 1422 Exeter St Davids – Plymouth
Wednesday 22/12/93
43164 + 43149 0740 Reading – Bristol Temple Meads
37407 0900 Bristol Temple Meads – Southampton via Chandlers Ford
37407 1112 Southampton – Romsey
158 827 Romsey – Southampton
2413 Southampton – Waterloo
Then half a day at work, and home again. Some good new 37 track for me.
