Sunday 13/02/77
Western Requiem Relief Railtour with 1010 throughout:
0906 Reading – Treherbert via Gloucester, Cardiff Central, Ninian Park, Radyr, Pontypridd
1255 Treherbert – Pontypridd
1340 Pontypridd – Merthyr Tydfil
1432 MerthyrTydfil – Pontypridd
1515 Pontypridd – Aberdare
1620 Aberdare – Cardiff Central via Cardiff Queen Street
1820 Cardiff Central – Paddington via Gloucester
The return journey was booked via the Severn Tunnel but was diverted via Gloucester due to signal failures.
Wednesday 13/02/80
After the exploits on The Bangor with 40069 it was time to return to London. A very fine way of doing so presented itself:
83005 0027 Manchester Piccadilly – Stockport
I knew the 83 would be coming off at Stafford (where the train combined with the Liverpool – Euston), but at Stockport a greater temptation presented itself:
40085 0051 Stockport – York via Denton Jn, OA&GB Jn
There it wasn’t too long before the 2035 Aberdeen – Kings Cross arrived – the same train I’d been on 24 hours previously. Sadly, no 40 on it this morning:
47431 0337 York – Kings Cross
Saturday 13/02/82
47707 0352 Mossend – Cowlairs
37039 0425 Cowlairs – Glasgow Queen Street
37011 0600 Glasgow Queen Street – Spean Bridge
It was a magical morning on the West Highland Line. The snow was deep and brilliant white, the air was crisp, the sun was shining, but the temperatures were way below zero. I did the usual double-back move from Spean Bridge:
37108 0924 Spean Bridge – Corrour
All was going well until just approaching Corrour, when the loco started making strange noises, and appeared to lose power. We departed from Corrour, in limp mode, and were soon in dire straits, with the loco barely able to move the train at walking pace. We subsided to a halt, then propelled slowly back into Corrour station and requested assistance:
27111 1017 Corrour – Garelochhead 84’ late, and somewhat chilly.
The 27 dumped 37108* in the loop at Corrour to await collection. I alighted at Garelochhead to cover the 1254 Queen Street – Oban, but realised that because of late running the trains would cross at Glen Douglas (where there was only a crossing point, not a station). So I held on at Garelochhead to warm up, and dropped back onto the following Oban – Queen Street service (with a 37 I’d already had earlier that morning):
37039 1436 Garelochhead – Glasgow Queen Street
47546 1550 Glasgow Central – Carlisle via Dumfries
87003 1851 Carlisle – Euston
*37108 was later renumbered to 37325 and spent time on the Hunterston – Ravenscraig ore services, and survives to this day at Crewe Heritage Centre undergoing restoration. Maybe it will reappear on the main line one day …
Thursday 13/02/86
47483 0011 Stirling – Inverness
Hooray, there’s a 37 on the 0555 Inverness – Aberdeen:
37178 0555 Inverness – Aberdeen
37178 0940 Aberdeen – Inverness
I really enjoyed having a 37 on this route, as it offered a bit more in the way of acceleration and high speed running than the normal class 37 routes in Scotland, especially as they were essentially on class 47 timings. Back at Inverness I was all set to head south on the 1430 Inverness – Edinburgh with a 47, but there was another treat waiting me. The next leg of 37178’s diagram was another round trip to Aberdeen, but the boiler had failed … so they turned out 37261 to replace it!
37261 1432 Inverness – Aberdeen
37261 1740 Aberdeen – Inverness
Now I really must head south again:
47454 2030 Inverness – Mossend
Saturday 13/02/88
37426 0620 Crewe – Cardiff
37426 1045 Cardiff – Crewe
