1948 ECML (Scotland) Floods - Disaster & Diversions - 75th Anniversary

[70014IronDuke]

Taken from this thread

Trivia: Longest trip that any loco or unit has every done.

1948 - Mentioned up thread (#120) Apols, I'd missed it. Before the diversions commenced (23/8/48) each way between Tweedmouth(Berwick)-Kelso-Galashiels, the Pacific hauled Flying Scotsman was diverted over the S&C to Carlisle, and on over the Waverley route to Edinburgh. This distance was...

www.railforums.co.uk

(I have missed my posts, which were somewhat off beam as I didn't know the Tweedmouth - Kelso - St Boswells line was used)

I've been looking up some more information on this event, or weeks of events. And seeing as it's the 75th anniversary coming up in August-September this year, I thought it deserved a thread of its own. (I couldn't find an existing one in here, despite searching.)

It really was a major catastrophe for the eastern borders region, so feel free to post about this subject in the broadest sense.

In the summer of 1948 the Flying Scotsman was restored to a non stop run between London and Edinburgh and vice versa. In August severe storms swept away several bridges between Berwick and Dunbar and all Anglo-Scottish services were diverted to run via Kelso and Galashiels. Initially no thought was given to running non stop but on August 24th Driver Stevenson of Haymarket shed had a go at running non-stop and succeeded in covering the 90 miles from Waverley to Lucker troughs and the train ran on to London non-stop, a world record distance for a steam engine of 408 miles. This feat was subsequently repeated 17 times (8 down and 9 up).

Of the six A4s involved, in those 17 recorded 408 mile non-stop runs, 60029 accomplished the feat nine times. The decision to reroute from Tweedmouth to Edinburgh via Kelso and Galashiels, and vice versa, was announced on 17th August and workings began on Monday 23rd. I would have thought some route learning, over the St Boswells-Kelso-Tweedmouth branch must have been undertaken beforehand, by the top-link Haymarket crews involved.

The S&C was only used for a week or two prior to 23/8/48. Although the Flying Scotsman could have continued using the S&C, other expresses needed to run via Newcastle for Tyneside business. Hence it was decided all trains would run to Edinburgh via Tweedmouth-Kelso-Galashiels from 23/8/48.

Yes it must have been a real test for the crews on the Waverley, especially in the northbound direction after the A4 had run over 350 miles non-stop. It is worth noting that only three Haymarket drivers (Stevenson, Swan and McLeod) were involved in the 17 recorded non-stop runs, achieved by disregarding the booked Galashiels water stop.

Going south the next set of water troughs after Lucker were at Wiske Moor, south of Darlington. So a failed or partial pick-up at Lucker troughs would necessitate a water stop at Alnmouth, or Morpeth or maybe even Newcastle.

Stevenson, Swan and McLeod (sounds a bit like a 1970s rock band ) - what professionals. Hats off to you, Sirs!

I think it was @Taunton who once wrote that you could always tell when Haymarket men were manning the Glasgow-Edinburgh + 2 x 27s from the way they walked to the locos - because they felt and acted as if they were the elite crews. Well, maybe they were.

Their firemen would have had to do their part too, of course. Any mess up at the troughs meant an out of course stop.

It would be great if some events could be arranged later this year to commemorate these events - just in case anyone from the modern LNER happens to be reading.

I suppose there may just be a few people in the region still alive who remember something of these happenings?

I just wonder how they ran the Scotsman via the S&C non-stop before the Kelso diversions were started - Haymarket men would never have signed that route. And surely they didn't carry a conductor all the way to and fro London - Edinburgh just to run non-stop between the two capitals?

Some great photos of repairing the main line here:

The 1948 Floods | mysite

www.aytonhistory.com

 

[62484GlenLyon]

The book, Non-Stop! London to Scotland Steam, by A.J.Mullay, published by Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd in 1989, details the history of Anglo-Scottish steam and the inter company rivalry. It has a chapter devoted to the 1948 floods and the non-stop runs via Kelso and Galashiels. Looking at the pictures of the destruction of the ECML shown on aytonhistory.com it is amazing that through running was restored by November the same year.

As others have said earlier, what an achievement by the Haymarket men to preserve the non-stop running over the diversion, especially given the demanding nature of the hill climbing and distances between watertroughs - 91 miles to Lucker and then 95 miles on to Wiske Moor and 74 miles onto Scrooby. Truly, masters of their craft.

 

[Harvester]

I just wonder how they ran the Scotsman via the S&C non-stop before the Kelso diversions were started - Haymarket men would never have signed that route. And surely they didn't carry a conductor all the way to and fro London - Edinburgh just to run non-stop between the two capitals?

They didn’t run the Flying Scotsman non-stop when running via the S&C, which only occurred for about a week, prior to the Kelso diversions. IIRC the A4s on one or two occasions had a Midland Compound attached as pilot over the S&C, but details are sparse as are photographs of these runs. The Kings Cross crews would have signed the route to Leeds, and the Haymarket men south to Carlisle, and LMR crews could have easily filled in on the S&C, in what was a short lived temporary measure.

 

[Dr Hoo]

There was a British Railways film made. Called 'Floods in the North'. (I am not sure that it was a British Transport Film as such.)

It was made available in VHS video format by Transport Video Publishing around 1989 as part of a series called Archive Railway Films. Doesn't seem to be widely known.

 

[70014IronDuke]

There was a British Railways film made. Called 'Floods in the North'. (I am not sure that it was a British Transport Film as such.)

It was made available in VHS video format by Transport Video Publishing around 1989 as part of a series called Archive Railway Films. Doesn't seem to be widely known.

I think this must be the one, available on this page

1948 Floods in Berwickshire

Details, video and photographs of the damage to the East Coast Railway due to floods in 1948. The great lake at Ayton

www.aytonhistory.com

There also appears to be a link here - but this version is edited, without the (longish) intro by Sir Eustace Missenden.

They didn’t run the Flying Scotsman non-stop when running via the S&C, which only occurred for about a week, prior to the Kelso diversions. IIRC the A4s on one or two occasions had a Midland Compound attached as pilot over the S&C, but details are sparse as are photographs of these runs. The Kings Cross crews would have signed the route to Leeds, and the Haymarket men south to Carlisle, and LMR crews could have easily filled in on the S&C, in what was a short lived temporary measure.

Well, if they stopped at Leeds (and, presumably, Carlisle), that would make sense. I wasn't sure that Haymarket men signed the Waverley route, however - I thought that was St Margarets locos/crews that worked that route.

 

[WesternLancer]

Taken from this thread

Trivia: Longest trip that any loco or unit has every done.

1948 - Mentioned up thread (#120) Apols, I'd missed it. Before the diversions commenced (23/8/48) each way between Tweedmouth(Berwick)-Kelso-Galashiels, the Pacific hauled Flying Scotsman was diverted over the S&C to Carlisle, and on over the Waverley route to Edinburgh. This distance was...

www.railforums.co.uk

(I have missed my posts, which were somewhat off beam as I didn't know the Tweedmouth - Kelso - St Boswells line was used)

I've been looking up some more information on this event, or weeks of events. And seeing as it's the 75th anniversary coming up in August-September this year, I thought it desevered a thread of its own. (I couldn't find an existing one in here, despite searching.)

It really was a major catastrophe for the eastern borders region, so feel free to post about this subject in the broadest sense.







Stevenson, Swan and McLeod (sounds a bit like a 1970s rock band ) - what professionals. Hats off to you, Sirs!

I think it was @Taunton who once wrote that you could always tell when Haymarket men were manning the Glasgow-Edinburgh + 2 x 27s from the way they walked to the locos - because they felt and acted as if they were the elite crews. Well, maybe they were.

Their firemen would have had to do their part too, of course. Any mess up at the troughs meant an out of course stop.

It would be great if some events could be arranged later this year to commemorate these events - just in case anyone from the modern LNER happens to be reading.

I suppose there may just be a few people in the region still alive who remember something of these happenings?

I just wonder how they ran the Scotsman via the S&C non-stop before the Kelso diversions were started - Haymarket men would never have signed that route. And surely they didn't carry a conductor all the way to and fro London - Edinburgh just to run non-stop between the two capitals?

Some great photos of repairing the main line here:

The 1948 Floods | mysite

www.aytonhistory.com

Superb photo link there - thanks for sharing that @70014IronDuke