My equivalent on this date, but end of second year was...
Regarding 86s, I found very early on that simply standing in the right location with an expectant smile on the lips (hoping for practically anything other than an 86) was sufficient to make them appear as if from nowhere!
I don't have a record of 86257 but it is marked in my Platform 5s so I know I had it. Of others the only ones I didn't have were 001, 005, 008, 009, 037, 038, 039 (with any number).
So now I'm going to have to go through my moves book to figure out how many Cans I had and which ones I missed...
Well I was working early shift in Leeds Control that day.
Rumour has it that the Springburn bandits were after the Mars Bars kept in the Winter emergency supply box in the brake van....presumably so that they could sell them to their local chipper to be deep-fried in batter!
Rumour has it that the Springburn bandits were after the Mars Bars kept in the Winter emergency supply box in the brake van....presumably so that they could sell them to their local chipper to be deep-fried in batter!
Seriously though, I believe the main target was the boxes of fresh salmon being sent from Fort William to Billingsgate fish market in London. These had a high monetary value - and a ready market amongst the restaurants of Glasgow. There were a couple of incidents where individual passengers were also relieved of personal possessions e.g. jewellery / watches.Correct, much to the frustration of the Fish Farm and, no doubt their customers in London.
I hadn't appreciated that we took this route - 38 years later I can get my yellow pen out!
The attempts to overcome the Springburn Bandits were extensive. It was strongly suspected that some members of BR staff were involved in tipping them off as to which vans were carrying salmon on which days, and also to tip them off about any BT Police presence, but this was never proven. One notable by-produce of all this was the wide range of routes adopted by the Fort William - Euston portion over those years. Once the notion of detaching at Cowlairs and running via Springburn was abandoned in 1983, the first solution was to detach the portion at Dumbarton Central and leave it there for a long time (long enough to walk out, go to the pub, visit the fish & chip shop, then get back on board and reclaim your seat, reeking of alcohol and causing an aroma of fish and chips to waft under the noses of the hungry souls on board the train!). At 2303 the train would then run via Clydebank, through Glasgow Queen Street Low Level (rare loco hauled), Sunnyside and Whifflet to Mossend. By 1984, the whole train was running into Glasgow Queen Street, splitting there, and the through portion then going north to Stirling to attach there to the up Inverness - Euston (instead of Mossend). In later years, depending on which train the Fort William portion was being attached to, the joining operation variously took place at Stirling, Mossend, Carstairs, Carlisle, and of course Edinburgh. Traction on the portion was usually 37, occasionally 27, and regrettable even the odd 47.
I didn't have the Peak recorded either. But annoyingly I didn't require it either.
I saw a 37 get re-railed at Newport sometime around then, Right on the last points in the throat of the stabling point / yard. Quite possibly it was the same event.
