Back in the day...

[CW2]

...my mum and dad saw fit to throw away all the notes and photos I’d left in their loft without checking if I wanted to keep anything. Ah well

Ooh, so cruel. Hard luck.

 

[Shrop]

An alternative purchase with a much more restricted area but still with a choice of routes on which to enjoy cl45/46/47 and AC Electric haulage was to purchase a (Student) Ordinary Return between Derby and Rugby.
Valid for three months and with options of routing via Leicester/Nuneaton (with of course break of journey at Loughborough), via Birmingham, or the less glamorous change at Tamworth onto the AM4 Trent Valley Stopper (only one each way loco hauled call at Tamworth Low Level back then).
There is of course no suggestion tickets weren't checked very often in that geography in the mid-seventies.

Yes, there were some excellent student returns to be had, and a lot of guards were surprisingly tolerant of weird and wonderful route choices! As for not having tickets checked, I often bought a week's Midland Railtourer, which was bounded by Shrewsbury, Hereford, Gloucester, Banbury, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Stafford and everywhere in between. I used this from 9am (as it had peak restrictions) or earlier at weekends (although Sunday mornings were pretty ropey in those days) until around 9pm every night.
I'd bomb up and down all of the main lines all day long in my early teens, and once I actually managed a complete week without a single ticket check. If only I'd thought about the three month validity for student railcard tickets ...

 

[Techniquest]

CW2, cycling from Leeds to York in the daytime would be scary enough but in the middle of a December night? Yikes! I tip my hat to you and your bravery back then, I couldn't do it and I'm out cycling whenever I can!

 

[Cheshire Scot]

If only I'd thought about the three month validity for student railcard tickets ...

That might have been from 1976 onwards ?

 

[Shrop]

That might have been from 1976 onwards ?

Maybe that was just lucky, but that's the year I started at Uni

 

[Shrop]

Another memory - grabbing food one evening from the chippie by the road under the south end of Glasgow Central station and telling the chatty ladies that we'd just arrived from Wick. They'd never heard of All Line Rover tickets and were very surprised that people with English accents had arrived there from Wick.
We then boarded the overnight train to Bristol, and arrived into Penzance for a lunchtime pint. Three days after our chips we were back in the same chippie, telling the ladies we'd been to Penzance since we last saw them, and they refused point blank to believe us! We loved to kid people about some things, but this was the absolute truth, which many people on this forum could identify with, but to these ladies it was just wrong!. We'd actually gone from Penzance back to Glasgow via Norwich and Dundee, and the chip shop ladies found even Dundee hard to believe. The All Line Rover tales are many and varied!

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Maybe that was just lucky, but that's the year I started at Uni

Thought it might be. I will be in touch to see if you are who I think you might be!

 

[CW2]

CW2, cycling from Leeds to York in the daytime would be scary enough but in the middle of a December night? Yikes! I tip my hat to you and your bravery back then, I couldn't do it and I'm out cycling whenever I can!

I did a lot of cycling back then. I didn't learn to drive until my mid-20s, and then only because the job required it, so I used to do a lot of cycling (and had the legs for it back then).
I must admit that going over a flyover in Leeds with cars whizzing by in the wee small hours of Christmas Day, then seeing a road sign "End of Motorway 1 mile" was a bit heart-stopping.
After that, the run to York was relatively quiet.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Maybe that was just lucky, but that's the year I started at Uni

Thought it might be. I will be in touch to see if you are who I think you might be!

Having made contact I now come to the conclusion this forum is in danger of becoming a modern day railway version of Friends Reunited, having already renewed several other former contacts in this way!

 

[NorthWestRover]

I do have something to report on Boxing Day. Until then, to all regulars on this thread, many thanks for your contributions and have a Merry Christmas!

And a Merry Christmas to you too!

 

[Techniquest]

I did a lot of cycling back then. I didn't learn to drive until my mid-20s, and then only because the job required it, so I used to do a lot of cycling (and had the legs for it back then).
I must admit that going over a flyover in Leeds with cars whizzing by in the wee small hours of Christmas Day, then seeing a road sign "End of Motorway 1 mile" was a bit heart-stopping.
After that, the run to York was relatively quiet.

That sign would indeed be heart-stopping! I've done dual carriageways myself before, once on the A46 around Alcester and another time on a ride from Salisbury to Bournemouth. It was not too far on either section, but that was unpleasant enough!

 

[Shrop]

I did a lot of cycling back then. I didn't learn to drive until my mid-20s, and then only because the job required it, so I used to do a lot of cycling (and had the legs for it back then).
I must admit that going over a flyover in Leeds with cars whizzing by in the wee small hours of Christmas Day, then seeing a road sign "End of Motorway 1 mile" was a bit heart-stopping.
After that, the run to York was relatively quiet.

Ah yes, cycling was my other interest along with railways, when the young ladies were being unreasonably dismissive ha ha! My longest was Shrewsbury to Taunton in a day, but one of my most memorable was my first ever ride through Birmingham when I was about 16. I was pretty fit and thought any roads that were legal to cycle on would be fair game for me, so I assumed that going through Birmingham on the A38 would be okay. As I headed down into the Queenway tunnel it felt great keeping up with the cars at 30mph or more on the downhill. Ha ha, I hadn't allowed for coming back up the other side, as the two lanes on my right were joined by a manic two lanes coming in from the left, with me going uphill on my bike! Let's just say it was scary, it taught me a lesson and I soon accepted using the stopping trains in preference to cycling that section!

 

[Cowley]

Just to say that I’ve loved reading this thread over the last year.
Well done everyone!

 

[D6130]

Just to say that I’ve loved reading this thread over the last year.
Well done everyone!

I've loved reading it too and look forward to another year of fascinating remniscences. Happy Christmas everybody!

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Tuesday 25th December 1979

This was the only time in my career of over 40 years on which I got asked to work on Christmas Day – no doubt some in the Engineering disciplines might have welcomed a chance to not work!
My signal box was booked to be open on day shift only, with amended hours, I think something like 10.00 to 18.00 or similar, to permit the operation of the limited passenger service provided on certain routes in Scotland on Christmas Day. I was booked late shift that week and hence ‘booked off not required’ on this particular Public Holiday.
On the morning of Monday 24th the staff Office phoned me at home to ask if I was available to work the amended day shift on the 25th. At that moment the unthinkable idea of the rest of the family enjoying Christmas dinner whilst I ‘tucked in’ to a sandwich at work far outweighed the potential benefits of enhanced time (would it be double time back then?) and a day off in lieu, and I politely declined. Had the request been made in a more timely manner (i.e. the previous week), I might well have said yes, but I was not going to forgo my Christmas Dinner at such short notice.

And I never travelled on any of those Christmas Day trains either, in any year.

Fast forward to 2021 and it is time to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and thank all contributors for their posts which have brought back so many memories of ‘Back in the Day’.

 

[Techniquest]

Ah yes, cycling was my other interest along with railways, when the young ladies were being unreasonably dismissive ha ha! My longest was Shrewsbury to Taunton in a day, but one of my most memorable was my first ever ride through Birmingham when I was about 16. I was pretty fit and thought any roads that were legal to cycle on would be fair game for me, so I assumed that going through Birmingham on the A38 would be okay. As I headed down into the Queenway tunnel it felt great keeping up with the cars at 30mph or more on the downhill. Ha ha, I hadn't allowed for coming back up the other side, as the two lanes on my right were joined by a manic two lanes coming in from the left, with me going uphill on my bike! Let's just say it was scary, it taught me a lesson and I soon accepted using the stopping trains in preference to cycling that section!

In one day, that sort of distance?! That is crazy, but I tip my hat to you for doing it! My best so far was 89 miles around Norfolk in the autumn of 2021, that was challenging enough!

Sounds a bit like when I somehow ended up in a tunnel under the Mersey once, that was a grim experience!

 

[CW2]

Tuesday 25/12/84
I used to make an annual trip to Poland in the depths of winter to try to rack up extra steam haulage, as back in the 80s Poland still had a plentiful fleet of steam locos. This was before the birth of my sons, which eventually compelled me to stay at home for a traditional family Christmas. So this is what I got up to on Christmas Day 1984:
(Apologies for missing Polish accents)
SP30 138 0040 Koluszki – Slotwiny
The SP30s were small diesel locos, used for short local trips or shunting. This 4km trip was simply to put us in place to join our overnight south:
EU07 178 0103 Slotwiny – Tomaszow Mazowiecki
EU07s were/are Polish-built electric locos developed from the EU06 class built by English Electric at Vulcan Foundry, which were themselves a development of the BR Class 83 Roarers.
Pt47 56 0216 Tomaszow Mazowiecki – Skarzysko Kamienna
Pt47 55 0445 Skarzysko Kamienna – Rzeszow
In contrast to the pre-Christmas madness, on Christmas Day itself the trains were mostly empty, so we had a comfortable FC compartment to ourselves all night. PKP ran a full scheduled service on Christmas Day, other than a few “workers” trains.
(Pt47s were 2-8-2 express passenger locos, handsome beasts with full smoke deflectors).
After our long and steamy overnight, there was more steam to be had:
Ty2 1092 1016 Rzeszow – Jaslo
Ty2 1136 1236 Jaslo – Zgorz
TKt48 167 1517 Zagorz – Sanok
TKt48 96 1602 Sanok – Jaslo
Ty2 439 1812 Jaslo – Rzeszow
(Ty2s were former German class 52 Kriegslok 2-10-0s. TKt48s were 2-8-2 tank locos, ideal for climbing hills or slow branch lines, but with a relatively low top speed).
EU07 141 2116 Rzeszow – Debica
Ty2 644 2309 Debica – Stalowa Wola Rozwadow
A fine steamy day, with a decent variety of locos, and some very snowy scenery close to the Czechoslovakian border region.

 

[Shrop]

In one day, that sort of distance?! That is crazy, but I tip my hat to you for doing it! My best so far was 89 miles around Norfolk in the autumn of 2021, that was challenging enough!

Sounds a bit like when I somehow ended up in a tunnel under the Mersey once, that was a grim experience!

Yes, it remains my longest ride ever, and it won't be broken now that I'm over 60! To be fair it was actually Church Stretton I started from, but Shrewsbury is better known. I started at 5.00am, passing through Hereford at 7.30 and then Monmouth at 9.00.
After cycling down the Wye Valley to Chepstow, I crossed the Severn Bridge on the cycle path, stopping midway to appreciate the swaying in the breeze and the general vibrating that you just don't notice from the car. Soon after midday I found a chippie in Bristol to feast on a much needed pie and chips, and then continued along the A38 over Redhill to Bridgwater where my Aunt and Uncle lived.
The A38 was very busy as it was pre M5 opening, and I took pleasure in passing 4 miles of stationary traffic approaching Highbridge. Some distinctive cars and caravans passed me soon after the bottleneck, and I took further pleasure overtaking them back as they queued into Bridgwater!
I reached my Aunt and Unce's house just before 3pm, and after a quick refreshment I thought I may never cycle so far again in a day, and I was close to Taunton with a few hours of daylight left, so I cycled on down there to enjoy a few Westerns before heading back up to Bridgwater.
So yes, not quite from Shrewsbury, but the final return trip to Bridgwater made for the same total distance of 160 miles. The next day I cycled on over to see my Granny in Minehead, but that's another story ...

 

[Techniquest]

Yes, it remains my longest ride ever, and it won't be broken now that I'm over 60! To be fair it was actually Church Stretton I started from, but Shrewsbury is better known. I started at 5.00am, passing through Hereford at 7.30 and then Monmouth at 9.00.
After cycling down the Wye Valley to Chepstow, I crossed the Severn Bridge on the cycle path, stopping midway to appreciate the swaying in the breeze and the general vibrating that you just don't notice from the car. Soon after midday I found a chippie in Bristol to feast on a much needed pie and chips, and then continued along the A38 over Redhill to Bridgwater where my Aunt and Uncle lived.
The A38 was very busy as it was pre M5 opening, and I took pleasure in passing 4 miles of stationary traffic approaching Highbridge. Some distinctive cars and caravans passed me soon after the bottleneck, and I took further pleasure overtaking them back as they queued into Bridgwater!
I reached my Aunt and Unce's house just before 3pm, and after a quick refreshment I thought I may never cycle so far again in a day, and I was close to Taunton with a few hours of daylight left, so I cycled on down there to enjoy a few Westerns before heading back up to Bridgwater.
So yes, not quite from Shrewsbury, but the final return trip to Bridgwater made for the same total distance of 160 miles. The next day I cycled on over to see my Granny in Minehead, but that's another story ...

Thanks for sharing that tale, some really good going there and a lot of challenging terrain on your way through my home county! The bits around Chepstow must have been tough going too mind, and the A38 sounds like a right scary mission.

The motorways not existing seems weird to me, the M4 and M5 for example have always been there!

The ride to Minehead I'd love to hear about

 

[Shrop]

Thanks for sharing that tale, some really good going there and a lot of challenging terrain on your way through my home county! The bits around Chepstow must have been tough going too mind, and the A38 sounds like a right scary mission.

The motorways not existing seems weird to me, the M4 and M5 for example have always been there!

The ride to Minehead I'd love to hear about

Thanks, yes I remember going through Tintern and loads of corners after, then quite a hill past the Chepstow racecourse!
The ride from Bridgwater to Minehead was always a challenge, I actually did that a handful of times in my teens when I had relatives in Somerset. Now that was quite a ride, VERY hilly, nothing massive just one gradient after another. I also remember THOSE walls just before Williton, I think they may have gone since, but back then there was about a mile of narrow and twisty two lane road where lorries and buses really had to slow right down to pass each other. I used to wait until there was nothing behind me, then cycle flat out to minimise the traffic following, but there was nearly always a few cars behind me by the time the road opened out again. At least that section was pretty flat! Then it was an excellent downhill run to the railway bridge at Williton, and I always noticed the station buildings at Washford too.
Minehead was always lovely, I visited my Granny there many times, usually in my parents' car, and I'll never forget a handful of trips from there to Taunton by train in 1970 and 71 before the line closed. Taunton was a mecca for Westerns and Warships, my eyes were like saucers on my first trip there at 12 years old! I had at least four rail trips on that line during my first year of transpotting, one to Taunton, one to Bristol, one to Exeter and a second to Taunton.
Bristol was great to see the last of the North British among other things, and Exeter produced my first 65er, ie class 33. The real treat at Exeter though, was wandering off the end of platform 1 after cabbing a Warship on a Plymouth train, towards a closed shed. I expected the door to be locked but it wasn't, and inside were D802 Formidable and D830 Majestic, both withdrawn, in total silence, and absolutely no-one in the building except me. At that age, coming from Shropshire where the only classes you ever saw were 08, 24, 25, 37, 40 and 47, I may as well have stumbled into an undiscovered gold mine!

 

[Techniquest]

I think that's why I haven't been to Somerset on the bike yet, all the hills! Sounds like a beast of a ride though.

Those memories of the area are certainly a nice insight into a long-gone era. Taunton really isn't much of a place to go to now, although in terms of the buildings the new bit on the Down side of the concourse is much nicer than what came before it. In terms of the trains, it's a really dull place now.

I still have a memory from June 2004 of 57602 taking the Up sleeper out of Taunton, and of the Hornby and Cotswold Rail liveried HST power cars at Taunton, going there now just feels strange!

 

[CW2]

Saturday 26/12/81
My first trip to Poland was meant to be in Christmas 1981, but on 13 December 1981 the Polish Government declared Martial Law. Tourism was prohibited, and when I went to pick up my passport from the Polish Embassy in London they cancelled my visa on the spot. So I had the leave, and the desire to go chasing steam locos, but was unable to go to Poland. The next best offer would be East Germany, which still had a few outposts of steam workings (although nothing like the scale of steam in Poland). So we hurriedly replanned our trip, got accommodation arranged in Saalfeld, and off we went.
We entered via Probstzella in the wee small hours of Christmas Day, but only had a few diesel runs that day. Next morning we tried again. After a while, having watched some freight workings depart with steam, at last we succeeded:
44 0196-4 1116 Saalfeld – Camburg
Camburg was the change-over point for electric traction. We learned from the crew that they would be working back on a freight, so we decided to go for a meal in Jena and cover a couple of other turns:
119 014-9 1339 Camburg – Jena Saalbahnhof
Time for a meal and some beers, then …
118 805-1 1757 Jena Paradies – Jena Saalbahnhof
119 071-9 1829 Jena Saalbahnhof – Saalfeld
Back at Saalfeld there was another 44 waiting to work the 2050 to Arnstadt, so we took that.
44 0305-1 2050 Saalfeld – Rottenbach
Sadly it only worked a couple of stations to Rottenbach, and was then hooked off and replaced by a diesel. We alighted, and watched with interest as it attached to the rear of the train, and then departed with the 44 working just as hard on the rear as the diesel was on the front! Oh well. We trudged up a steep snow-covered track to find a bar, where food and drink was consumed, as there was a long gap in the services. On our way back from the bar, I remember trudging downhill through the snow to be met by three couples who were walking up the hill towards us. They were probably all in their 40s, and were walking as if this was a military exercise, perfectly in step, arm in arm, with their heads all bobbing up and down perfectly synchronized. I snorted to my mate “My Lords, it’s a charabanc party without the charabanc!”. (I blame it on the lager I’d drunk).
Back at Rottenbach we viewed an establishment named “Bad Restaurant”. Well, yes.
118 396-1 2319 Rottenbach – Saalfeld

 

[xotGD]

26th December 1981

There were no trains running but there were buses, so I took one into Gateshead town centre for an unofficial depot visit. Deltic 21 was the only member of the class to spend Christmas in the north east, but plenty of other locos on the depot.

I may not have brought gold, frankincense or myrrh, but I did venerate number 21 as best I could.

 

[CW2]

Sunday 27/12/87
Off to Poland once more:
86433 1444 Crewe – Euston via Bushbury, Aston, Stechford
86243 1830 Liverpool Street – Manningtree
The customary pre-ferry pint, then:
Clacton units 309 611 +309 622 2027 Manningtree – Harwich Parkeston Quay

Tuesday 27/12/88
… and the same again, via Dover this time:
86101 1112 Crewe – Euston
9007 + 1537 + 1618, Victoria – Dover Western Docks

Wednesday 27/12/89
Can you see a pattern developing here?
47491 0707 Reading – Paddington
1529 + 1586 Victoria – Dover Western Docks

Thursday 27/12/90
Returning home post-Christmas after a parental visit:
47819 1117 Plymouth – Reading
This was an 0908 Truro – Paddington additional.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Sunday 27th December 1981

My first real bashing day, i.e. I went out for haulage on a particular type of loco and it wasn't a Ned leap. However, I don't have my moves book from the day which means I only have the good moves, not the Duffs and units. Anyway, it was a special day.

55015 York to Liverpool LS, 1M70 15.40 York to Liverpool
55009 Liverpool LS to Manchester Victoria, 1E22 19.15 Liverpool to York

I didn't have any more Deltic haulage, although of course there is still opportunity. I did go to York on 2nd January 1982 to see the farewell tour.

Thursday 27th December 1990

Less than a decade later and things had changed beyond recognition on the railway. And I was recording haulage, but not actively going out for anything. This was my penultimate 87 recorded for haulage...

87030 WBQ to Nuneaton
150110 Nuneaton to Coventry
47839 Coventry to Oxford

 

[D6130]

SATURDAY 27th DECEMBER 1980:

While staying with my parents over Christmas and New Year, I decided to take some stuff from their house near Garelochhead to my flat in Hyndland and return in the evening:

15 52 Helensburgh Central-Airdrie: 303 020 Helensburgh Central-Hyndland via Yoker
17 22 Helensburgh Central-Airdrie: 303 036 Hyndland-Glasgow QS LL
18 21 Glasgow QS HL-Oban: 27 034 Glasgow QS-Garelochhead (Consist: SC3881/4255/4193/14024 Load 4 VB/SH)

 

[Falcon1200]

Thursday 27th December 1984
50040 0940 Poole-Newcastle (Oxford-Birmingham New St)
87018 0730 Penzance- Glasgow C (from Birmingham New St)

On one of my post-Christmas journeys back north around this time, maybe this one but I can't remember now, the train from New St to Glasgow was so busy that I spent the entire trip sat on mailbags in the BG !

 

[Graeme.Hutchis]

Saturday 27.12.1991 S/C Specials

318 259 Branchton -Glasgow on the 10.14 Wemyss Bay Glasgow for 90012 Glasgow to Carlisle (unfortunately no more ROARERS) 11.15 Glasgow -Euston 1M20.The reason for this was to get some tractor action across the S/C and this duly produced in the form of 37049 (dud and 37095 also dud with 47479 for the therms working the 13.18 Carlisle -Leeds 1Z33 which I'm sure a few on here will remember anyways my move back north went something like this ,158812 Leeds to York on the 14.23 Liverpool-Newcastle ,then forward on 90024 York to Newcastle which was working the 14.30 Kx-Newcastle for a very quick pint then onto 91019 to Edinburgh which was working the 15.00 Kx-Glasgow .At Edinburgh i bumped into a couple of cranks who said the 20.45 Edinburgh-Glasgow Central was allocated 87014 which indeed duly produced and was done to Glasgow which was something slightly different to end the day on then 303083 on the 22.05 Glasgow -Gourock .If anyone can recall 1Z33 running on the 30.12.1991 13.18 x Carlisle to Leeds with 56117 up front, I cant for the life of me remember what was with it to heat the train as i have nothing noted .Any help would be much appreciated .

 

[NorthWestRover]

Tuesday 28th December 1982

Another day reconstructed from my class listing, so I'm not even sure of the order of the moves today. Gaps will be units and 47/4s...

31403 York to Scarborough
31417 Scarborough to Leeds
45128 York to Leeds
45105 Leeds to Man Vic

 

[CW2]

Friday 28/12/90
Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin …
As usual, I was heading off from the UK to Poland for a steamy winter break, meeting up in Poland with various fellow cranks for different parts of the journey. As usual, a serious amount of pretty meticulous planning had gone into all this, plotting a route across the Netherlands and West Germany that allowed me to sample some interesting track and traction, then over the border into East Germany, and finally Poland. Saying farewell to wife and sons, I headed off …

43166 + 43030 1819 Reading – Paddington
Taxi to Liverpool Street (I guess the Tube wasn’t functioning, and I had a big heavy bag).

I was aiming for the 1935 Liverpool Street – Harwich Parkeston Quay, connecting into the 2130 Koningen Beatrix to Hoek van Holland on which I had booked a cabin. The first excitement was the unexpected running of a 1927 relief service to Harwich. What would that be, I wonder? Turned out to be a pair of 321 units. Thanks, but I’ll do the 86/2 instead. I boarded the boat train proper with 86218, noting as I did so that about 20 minutes before booked departure time they were warning anybody who doesn’t have a confirmed reservation for the boat not to attempt to travel. Unusual. Must be a bit busy …

86218 1935 Liverpool Street – Harwich Parkeston Quay

On arrival at Parkeston Quay I was met by the rare – possibly unique – sight of three large passenger vessels all tied up alongside. There was the Tor Scandinavia ex Gothenburg, my ship the Koningen Beatrix for Hoek van Holland … and the St Nicholas which at that time should have been on the other side of the North Sea forming the night sailing from Hoek van Holland to Harwich!

It transpired that whist docking at Harwich that morning the St Nicholas had struck the quay and damaged a propellor. After some repairs, the 1130 for Hoek van Holland had eventually set sail at 1630, only to shudder to a standstill in the North Sea, then limp back to Harwich (with a full load of passengers) for further repairs. Thanks to rough weather in the North Sea, both the Tor Scandinavia and the Koningen Beatrix were delayed by several hours arriving, meaning that all three vessels had only just arrived at Harwich in the space of a single hour.

So, in summary, when I arrived at Harwich there were:
3+ trainloads of people (including me) trying to board the ships;
2 shiploads of delayed people trying to board the trains; and
1 extra shipload of people trying to leave their failed ship, do a U turn, and board a vessel on which they had no reservations!
Of course, everybody was carrying more luggage than usual, it being that time of year.

Now you would think that the ferry and port operators, Sealink Stena Line, would come to the rescue and sort out the chaos. Well, by some horrible coincidence, they had announced massed compulsory redundancies amongst the port staff just before Christmas (what thoughtful and considerate timing), and today was the last scheduled day at work for many of those staff. When the managers tried to round up people to work overtime to help them out of this mess, their responses were utterly predictable. I think the word “OFF” may have featured quite prominently in the conversations.

It wasn’t until fully two hours after I arrived in Harwich – during which time I had stood wedged shoulder to shoulder alongside everybody else in the waiting area - that eventually some semblance of organisation started occurring. A senior Sealink Stena Line manager announced that he wanted volunteers to spend the night in the St Nicholas, where they would have a free shower and cabin, before sailing tomorrow morning (24 hours late) after repairs were completed.

Eventually boarding started on the Koningen Beatrix, and I claimed my pre-booked cabin, then went for a (very) late night meal in the Rembrandt restaurant. We sailed shortly after midnight, or about two and a half hours late. I retired to my cabin and got my head down, knowing full well that my elaborately planned and carefully researched bash had just been eviscerated at the first contact with reality. This was an eventful start to what was to be an event-filled bash around Poland. (Maybe the details of that will appear in another thread some day).
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Tuesday 28/12/93
Steam on the Brighton Main Line:
43030 + 43134 1427 Reading – Paddington
75069 1600 Victoria – Brighton via Redhill
3478 Brighton – Hove (actually) & 1748 return
75069 1958 Brighton – Victoria via Quarry Line
43032 + 43144 2200 Paddington – Reading

Wednesday 28/12/94
3405 + 3524 Reading – Clapham Jn
35028 1003 Clapham Jn – Exeter St Davids
I think this might have been some sort of one-way stock positioning special. I’m not sure.
43102 + 43191 1551 Exeter St Davids – Plymouth

Monday 28/12/98
Getting from Plymouth to Reading via the “scenic” route:
43186 + 43017 1200 Plymouth – Exeter St Davids
47712 1246 Exeter St Davids – Birmingham New Street via Weston Super Mare, Camp Hill
This was the 1140 Plymouth – Liverpool, starting from Exeter 30’ late after connecting out of the above service. I stuck with the train through to Crewe via Nuneaton:
47844 1653 Birmingham New Street – Nuneaton, 10 -> 30’ late.
86225 1733 Nuneaton – Crewe, still 30’ late.
At Crewe, the purpose of my lengthy diversion produced:
37421 2016 Crewe – Birmingham International via Rugeley, Cannock, Stechford
This Cannock diversion was new 37/4 track for me south of Stafford (hence my travelling half the length of the country to cover it).
90014 2208 Birmingham International – Euston
(Tuesday 29/12/98)
158 865 0045 Paddington – Reading