Longmoor Railtour re-run 30/04/66

[47296lastduff]

I know this is very mch a long shot, but has anybody got notes of the departure from Waterloo? The front-end power was 31791+31639, but was the train helped on departure by the ecs loco, and if so what was it? I know that such assistance was not unusual at the time.
TIA for any help on this.

 

[Magdalia]

The first place to look for answers to questions like this is the Six Bells Junction website. It is not comprehensive, but has good coverage of railtours promoted by the major operators.

This gives the Waterloo departure time as 0959 see here:

Six Bells Junction

As this was a Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (RCTS) trip then their magazine Railway Observer is also an obvious source. The 30/04/66 train was a repeat of 16/04/66 and both trains are covered in a single report in the July 1966 issue.

The Railway Observer report has a lot of detail but it does not give timings. It mentions that the empty stock on 30/04/66 was brought in by 35030 but there's no suggestion that it provided rear end assistance on departure in either the Six Bells Junction or Railway Observer reports.

The RCTS may have more information in their archive.

 

[47296lastduff]

Thanks Magdalia, I did check the sources you mention before posting, but this level of detail would not usually be mentioned at the time. It was so common as to be not worth a mention (not just at Waterloo).

 

[Bevan Price]

Thanks Magdalia, I did check the sources you mention before posting, but this level of detail would not usually be mentioned at the time. It was so common as to be not worth a mention (not just at Waterloo).

Yes, the (steam) loco bringing empty stock at Waterloo often gave departing trains a bit of a push, stopping at the signal at the outer end of the platform.