Here's the next move, my 5th All-liner and my 6th "big" rover.
By April 1991, Maggie had gone and John Major was Prime Minister.
What effect would his reign have on the railways?
Probably nothing too earth shattering.
Anyway, my camera had expired shortly before this move and so there are no photos to go with it. Still, it was a good move, although the era that I now refer to as the "first generation" of all-liners was coming to a close.
Enjoy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here we go again, with all liner number 5.
The loco hauled Trans-Pennine services had come to an end in January, the
50s were well on their way and, being winter, there were no Scottish 37
turns, other than the Fort William sleeper of course.
Things were starting to look bleak but we were still looking forward to it.
My mate and I went and we started on Friday, April the 26th, leaving Wakefield
behind 47806 and heading straight down South.
We stayed on the 'twin' until Oxford where we bailed for a service to Padd.
Luckily, loco haulage still held sway on these trains at the time, but their
days were numbered as well.
NSE liveried 47521 was the engine that took us from Oxford and we did this
to Reading were we leapt to view the comings and goings.
At the time I still needed one of the ex-Scotrail 'shove duffs' and this was
47711.
I was understandably pleased, therefore, when this beast arrived on a London
bound service.
We did 47711 into Paddington and back out to Reading before heading over to
Basingstoke, on 47816, in our perennial hunt for 50s.
Unfortunately, it was a sign of the times that our first Waterloo - Exeter
service was 47 hauled and it was another of the former Edinburgh - Glasgow
push-pull fleet, 47707, that we did to Andover.
Our fortunes bucked up after that and 50017 was enjoyed to Salisbury,
followed by 50029 to Woking and 50007 to Basingstoke.
Then it was 47822 to Reading and 47812 into Padd for the 'Night Riviera'.
Day two began with 47835, later 'Royal' 47799, working the beds as far as
Bristol where 47807 took over.
We did this as far as Par and then did a unit back to Plymouth.
The unit was wedged with public schoolboys on their way to Saturday morning
lessons!
One of the top trains at that time was the Saturday morning Plymouth -
Waterloo via Southampton, which was pretty much a solid 50 turn and this was
our intended service.
After a full English breakfast at a café in Plymouth town centre we returned
to the station to view our steed.
Hellfire!
It was 50050, which had just been returned to original BR blue livery and
D400 identity.
Needless to say, we did this throughout, enjoying over 243 miles of
fantastic thrash.
The loco we had back out of Waterloo wasn't too bad, either.
It was Crompton 33102 and we did it to Basingstoke.
Next up was a run back North, doing 47849 to Birmingham and 90022 to
Manchester.
We then covered the overnight Manchester - Euston service, which was hauled
by several locos due to Saturday night engineering work.
47840 did the first leg of the trip, working as far as Stafford before
handing over to electric traction in the shape of 86233 (both locos that
later gained fame after receiving blue repaints!).
At Bletchley it was back to diesel power and one of the few surviving original blue
47/4s, complete with Stratford silver roof, 47478, which took over to Euston
station throat.
This was during the time when diesels were banned from actually entering the
station and so the 'duff' was removed a couple of hundred yards North of the
platform and the 86 did the final bit.
For reasons lost in the mists of time we then did a unit out to Watford
Junction.
The only reason I can think of for us doing this is that it would enable us
to view other Euston bound services and see if anything decent was dragging.
Evidently there was nothing interesting going South as our next haulage was
47491 which took us North.
"Horwich Enterprise", also still in blue, came off at Bletchley and handed
over to 86214 which we did to Rugby.
Next up was a run to Stafford on 87009, this being routed through Bescot
yard.
We were going up to Scotland to cover the 'Fort Bill beds' and we got there
by doing 86254 from Stafford through to Edinburgh, 47593 to Dundee and then
various units to Crianlarich.
There had recently been a change in the West highland line timetable and
this had left an imbalance.
Previously, the driver of the up 'beds' had taken over the last Glasgow -
Fort William service at Crianlarich, with the Glasgow driver returning on
the sleeper.
Now, the last unit was an Oban only service and so there was nothing for the
Fort William crew to return home on.
This meant that two 37s were used as far as Crianlarich where the front one
was removed, returning light engine to Fort William with the same crew that
had brought it in.
The Glasgow crew having come up on the Oban unit, of course.
When the sleeper arrived, the front machine was unrequired although I can't
actually remember what it was!
The second machine was 37402 "Oor Wullie", which was a winner.
Nice.
Once again the route of the sleeper had been revised and it now went to
Edinburgh rather than Glasgow.
At the Scottish capital 86252 replaced the Syphon and hauled us through the
night to London.
Monday was the day selected for a 'hygiene stop' so we worked our way to
Wakefield, doing 86212 and then 86225 between Euston and Birmingham,
followed by 47833 from New Street to Westgate.
After our ablutions we returned to the railway, travelling via Manchester,
on a series of units, to Crewe.
We headed North on 87023, but only as far as Preston.
Next up was a bit of a fester in Preston waiting room, which was packed, and
it was the early morning when we got our next haulage, 90020, which was done
to Birmingham.
We had decided that Tuesday was 'ED' day, so getting to Gatwick or Victoria
was our first objective .
47809 did the honours from New Street to Reading, where we swapped onto an
NSE service hauled by 47596.
At Paddington we observed 47581"Great Eastern" waiting to leave and decided to have a run on it.
This was done out to Reading and 47818 took us to Basingstoke where we leapt
aboard an EMU back to London.
After making our way to Victoria our day of 73 bashing began.
73201/202/203/204/207 & 212 were the entertainment that day.
We finished up back at Victoria and did another unit out to Clapham Junction
where we boarded a cross country service being hauled by 47839.
We did this to Reading and then a DEMU was sampled to Basingstoke.
Our next move was to head West for the up 'beds'.
We had plenty of time so we actually went back to Waterloo, on 47716, in order
to pick up our intended Exeter service.
As luck would have it, the engine we were going to get was a 50, 50033
"Glorious", which was good.
At that time 50033 had acquired the nickname 'Smoky Joe", not without reason
as the amount of clag was phenomenal.
We strolled to the front at Waterloo and you literally couldn't see your
hand in front of your face as she sat idling.
We did "Glorious" throughout to Exeter and then some tram or other to
Liskeard where we picked up the sleeper, which was worked by 47802.
Wednesday the 1st of May was 'Vac' day for us.
With the 50s now on their last legs we were very fortunate to be able to
clock up some serious mileage.
However, we had to get to the Waterloo - Exeter route first and this was
done by getting 47840 from Padd to Reading and 47818 over to Basingstoke.
After that it was 100% pure 50.
We did 50017 Basingstoke - Waterloo, 50050 Waterloo - Exeter, 50031 Exeter - Waterloo, 50017 Waterloo - Exeter and finished with
50017 running round the stock and doing a late Exeter - Newton Abbot
service.
Not a bad day!
From Newton Abbot we endured a tram to Plymouth for the up 'beds', which was
again in the hands of 47802.
Thursday was the last day of the move and we still had 50s on our minds.
We started by repeating the previous day's moves, this time it was 47843 to
Reading, 47816 to Basingstoke and 50037 into Waterloo.
Obviously we couldn't do everything that we had done the day before as we
had to make it back to Yorkshire, so we did a couple of shorter runs
instead.
50033 was enjoyed again, this time as far as Tisbury from where we did the
fairly nondescript 47530 to Salisbury.
50048 was taken back to Basingstoke and we began our journey home.
47837 took us from Basingstoke to Birmingham and 47840 was our last loco of
the move, hauling us from New Street to Doncaster.
Something uninspiring, and unrecorded, took us from Donny to Wakefield.
And that was another all line rover over with.
All in all, though, another enjoyable move.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So that's another out of the way. In just two years the amount of loco hauled workings had shrunk considerably and we were starting to think that the writing was on the wall for our week long extravaganzas. I did hope to get just one more in, before the 50s finished, but I was now giving thought to alternative means of getting my fix.
Cheers,
55013
By April 1991, Maggie had gone and John Major was Prime Minister.
What effect would his reign have on the railways?
Probably nothing too earth shattering.
Anyway, my camera had expired shortly before this move and so there are no photos to go with it. Still, it was a good move, although the era that I now refer to as the "first generation" of all-liners was coming to a close.
Enjoy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here we go again, with all liner number 5.
The loco hauled Trans-Pennine services had come to an end in January, the
50s were well on their way and, being winter, there were no Scottish 37
turns, other than the Fort William sleeper of course.
Things were starting to look bleak but we were still looking forward to it.
My mate and I went and we started on Friday, April the 26th, leaving Wakefield
behind 47806 and heading straight down South.
We stayed on the 'twin' until Oxford where we bailed for a service to Padd.
Luckily, loco haulage still held sway on these trains at the time, but their
days were numbered as well.
NSE liveried 47521 was the engine that took us from Oxford and we did this
to Reading were we leapt to view the comings and goings.
At the time I still needed one of the ex-Scotrail 'shove duffs' and this was
47711.
I was understandably pleased, therefore, when this beast arrived on a London
bound service.
We did 47711 into Paddington and back out to Reading before heading over to
Basingstoke, on 47816, in our perennial hunt for 50s.
Unfortunately, it was a sign of the times that our first Waterloo - Exeter
service was 47 hauled and it was another of the former Edinburgh - Glasgow
push-pull fleet, 47707, that we did to Andover.
Our fortunes bucked up after that and 50017 was enjoyed to Salisbury,
followed by 50029 to Woking and 50007 to Basingstoke.
Then it was 47822 to Reading and 47812 into Padd for the 'Night Riviera'.
Day two began with 47835, later 'Royal' 47799, working the beds as far as
Bristol where 47807 took over.
We did this as far as Par and then did a unit back to Plymouth.
The unit was wedged with public schoolboys on their way to Saturday morning
lessons!
One of the top trains at that time was the Saturday morning Plymouth -
Waterloo via Southampton, which was pretty much a solid 50 turn and this was
our intended service.
After a full English breakfast at a café in Plymouth town centre we returned
to the station to view our steed.
Hellfire!
It was 50050, which had just been returned to original BR blue livery and
D400 identity.
Needless to say, we did this throughout, enjoying over 243 miles of
fantastic thrash.
The loco we had back out of Waterloo wasn't too bad, either.
It was Crompton 33102 and we did it to Basingstoke.
Next up was a run back North, doing 47849 to Birmingham and 90022 to
Manchester.
We then covered the overnight Manchester - Euston service, which was hauled
by several locos due to Saturday night engineering work.
47840 did the first leg of the trip, working as far as Stafford before
handing over to electric traction in the shape of 86233 (both locos that
later gained fame after receiving blue repaints!).
At Bletchley it was back to diesel power and one of the few surviving original blue
47/4s, complete with Stratford silver roof, 47478, which took over to Euston
station throat.
This was during the time when diesels were banned from actually entering the
station and so the 'duff' was removed a couple of hundred yards North of the
platform and the 86 did the final bit.
For reasons lost in the mists of time we then did a unit out to Watford
Junction.
The only reason I can think of for us doing this is that it would enable us
to view other Euston bound services and see if anything decent was dragging.
Evidently there was nothing interesting going South as our next haulage was
47491 which took us North.
"Horwich Enterprise", also still in blue, came off at Bletchley and handed
over to 86214 which we did to Rugby.
Next up was a run to Stafford on 87009, this being routed through Bescot
yard.
We were going up to Scotland to cover the 'Fort Bill beds' and we got there
by doing 86254 from Stafford through to Edinburgh, 47593 to Dundee and then
various units to Crianlarich.
There had recently been a change in the West highland line timetable and
this had left an imbalance.
Previously, the driver of the up 'beds' had taken over the last Glasgow -
Fort William service at Crianlarich, with the Glasgow driver returning on
the sleeper.
Now, the last unit was an Oban only service and so there was nothing for the
Fort William crew to return home on.
This meant that two 37s were used as far as Crianlarich where the front one
was removed, returning light engine to Fort William with the same crew that
had brought it in.
The Glasgow crew having come up on the Oban unit, of course.
When the sleeper arrived, the front machine was unrequired although I can't
actually remember what it was!
The second machine was 37402 "Oor Wullie", which was a winner.
Nice.
Once again the route of the sleeper had been revised and it now went to
Edinburgh rather than Glasgow.
At the Scottish capital 86252 replaced the Syphon and hauled us through the
night to London.
Monday was the day selected for a 'hygiene stop' so we worked our way to
Wakefield, doing 86212 and then 86225 between Euston and Birmingham,
followed by 47833 from New Street to Westgate.
After our ablutions we returned to the railway, travelling via Manchester,
on a series of units, to Crewe.
We headed North on 87023, but only as far as Preston.
Next up was a bit of a fester in Preston waiting room, which was packed, and
it was the early morning when we got our next haulage, 90020, which was done
to Birmingham.
We had decided that Tuesday was 'ED' day, so getting to Gatwick or Victoria
was our first objective .
47809 did the honours from New Street to Reading, where we swapped onto an
NSE service hauled by 47596.
At Paddington we observed 47581"Great Eastern" waiting to leave and decided to have a run on it.
This was done out to Reading and 47818 took us to Basingstoke where we leapt
aboard an EMU back to London.
After making our way to Victoria our day of 73 bashing began.
73201/202/203/204/207 & 212 were the entertainment that day.
We finished up back at Victoria and did another unit out to Clapham Junction
where we boarded a cross country service being hauled by 47839.
We did this to Reading and then a DEMU was sampled to Basingstoke.
Our next move was to head West for the up 'beds'.
We had plenty of time so we actually went back to Waterloo, on 47716, in order
to pick up our intended Exeter service.
As luck would have it, the engine we were going to get was a 50, 50033
"Glorious", which was good.
At that time 50033 had acquired the nickname 'Smoky Joe", not without reason
as the amount of clag was phenomenal.
We strolled to the front at Waterloo and you literally couldn't see your
hand in front of your face as she sat idling.
We did "Glorious" throughout to Exeter and then some tram or other to
Liskeard where we picked up the sleeper, which was worked by 47802.
Wednesday the 1st of May was 'Vac' day for us.
With the 50s now on their last legs we were very fortunate to be able to
clock up some serious mileage.
However, we had to get to the Waterloo - Exeter route first and this was
done by getting 47840 from Padd to Reading and 47818 over to Basingstoke.
After that it was 100% pure 50.
We did 50017 Basingstoke - Waterloo, 50050 Waterloo - Exeter, 50031 Exeter - Waterloo, 50017 Waterloo - Exeter and finished with
50017 running round the stock and doing a late Exeter - Newton Abbot
service.
Not a bad day!
From Newton Abbot we endured a tram to Plymouth for the up 'beds', which was
again in the hands of 47802.
Thursday was the last day of the move and we still had 50s on our minds.
We started by repeating the previous day's moves, this time it was 47843 to
Reading, 47816 to Basingstoke and 50037 into Waterloo.
Obviously we couldn't do everything that we had done the day before as we
had to make it back to Yorkshire, so we did a couple of shorter runs
instead.
50033 was enjoyed again, this time as far as Tisbury from where we did the
fairly nondescript 47530 to Salisbury.
50048 was taken back to Basingstoke and we began our journey home.
47837 took us from Basingstoke to Birmingham and 47840 was our last loco of
the move, hauling us from New Street to Doncaster.
Something uninspiring, and unrecorded, took us from Donny to Wakefield.
And that was another all line rover over with.
All in all, though, another enjoyable move.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So that's another out of the way. In just two years the amount of loco hauled workings had shrunk considerably and we were starting to think that the writing was on the wall for our week long extravaganzas. I did hope to get just one more in, before the 50s finished, but I was now giving thought to alternative means of getting my fix.
Cheers,
55013
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