Thursday 04/01/79
After my trip to Carlisle via the S&C the previous day, I was taking the long way round to get back to York. (I think I might have used some sort of cheap tourist round trip ticket for this move). There was only one way home, and that was the Shrewsbury – York overnight:
86210 0011 Crewe – Stockport
There was a long wait at Stockport as the corresponding westbound train was late arriving. Eventually it turned up – and with a Deltic on the front as an unexpected bonus!
55014 0051 Stockport – Leeds via OA&GB Jn. 50’ late. We lost some time at Huddersfield making an unscheduled attachment there, bringing the load up to 14!
At Leeds the Deltic was detached – presumably required to work one of the morning services to Kings Cross – and I waited to see what we would get to work forward to York. Required 40195 came off Holbeck and shunted yet another additional van onto the front, bringing the train up to load 15, but “obviously” that wasn’t going to work forward to York in sub-zero temperatures in the middle of the night in January, as it is No Heat…
40195 0236 Leeds – York, 70’ late. An utter thrash, but I could hardly value it by leaning out of the window for fear of frostbite. I did have some further runs off 40195 later that year, on the North Wales Coast. Thankfully that was in the middle of the day in August, so heating wasn’t an issue then.
Sunday 04/01/81
Having arrived in Edinburgh behind 40058 I had time for breakfast and a shower before heading south once more, this time via the WCML:
47706 0803 Edinburgh – Carstairs
At Carstairs there was no electric loco waiting to take over, so the 47/7 was run round and reattached to the south end. We thought it was going to work through to Carlisle, but eventually an electric arrived (the 47/7 had simply been keeping the stock warm):
85029 0943 Carstairs – Carlisle
South of Carlisle the WCML had an engineering block on, so everything was going over the S&C. I got the gen, and planned my journey south:
40032 1243 Carlisle – Preston via S&C, Blackburn
This was a 1055 Glasgow Central – Euston relief train, a rake of 10 Mk 1s. 40032 seemed to be chucking out a lot of oil in its exhaust, as I found to my cost when I tried to take a photo as we passed over Ribblehead Viaduct. (Oil all over my camera lens, my glasses, my face …) I stuck with the train at Preston, going forward with a Roarer:
85014 1530 Preston – Crewe
86261 1653 Crewe – Stafford
85037 1731 Stafford – Birmingham New Street, 20’ late.
At New Street there was another novelty loco on hand (or at least a novelty on this route):
33007 1922 Birmingham New Street – Reading via Coventry.
This was a full load 12 -the largest load I’ve ever had for a single class 33 - so it’s no surprise that it lost time: 20 -> 45’ late.
For the final leg of the journey, there was yet more novelty:
31117 + 31121 2212 Reading – Paddington.
Whereas the 33 had been on load 12, this pair of 31s was only on load 7, and regained a couple of minutes lateness to arrive back in Paddington on time.
I needed all three of 33007, 31117 and 31121 for haulage, and these were the only runs I ever recorded off these three locos.
