Back in the day...

[CW2]

Thursday 25/07/02
57601 1615 Paddington – Reading

Saturday 25/07/09
390 004 1151 Rugby – Coventry
220 007 1225 Coventry – Bournemouth via Reading
440 019 1524 Bournemouth – Weymouth
67005 1655 Weymouth – Bristol Temple Meads via Yeovil Pen Mill, Frome, Westbury
43295 + 43296 1930 Bristol Temple Meads – Birmingham New Street via Cheltenham Spa, Lickey
390 035 2110 Birmingham New Street – Rugby
Royal Train loco 67005 was required, and remains one of my lowest mileage 67s to this day.

 

[1971martin]

Friday 25th July 2014

321347 0655 Stratford - Shenfield
90003 0722 Shenfield - Ipswich
90011 0843 Ipswich - Chelmsford
321306+321315 0926 Chelmsford - Ingatestone
360106+360108 0945 Ingatestone - Chelmsford
90006 1003 Chelmsford - Ipswich
90007 1109 Ipswich - Norwich
90007 1230 Norwich - Colchester
90010 1347 Colchester - Diss
90003 1447 Diss - Ipswich
90008 1543 Ipswich - Stratford
378223 1712 Stratford - Willesden Jn
378229 1752 Willesden Jn - Euston
90020 1903 Euston - Birmingham NS
90020 2050 Birmingham NS - Euston

 

[1971martin]

Saturday 26th July 2014

90014 0930 Liverpool St - Ipswich
90003 1108 Ipswich - Norwich
47805 1203 Norwich - G Yarmouth (90003 DIT)
47805 1310 G Yarmouth - Norwich (90003 DIT)
90003 1400 Norwich - Ipswich
170205 1520 Ipswich - Needham Market
170207 1550 Needham Market - Ipswich
90015 1609 Ipswich - Liverpool St
315849 1733 Liverpool St - Bethnal Green
315836 1817 Bethnal Green - Liverpool St

 

[Harvester]

Wednesday 27th July 1983

45129 10:12 Derby-Birmingham NS
DMU 11:50 Birmingham NS-Derby

 

[1971martin]

Saturday 27th July 2013

315822+315819 0859 Stratford - Liverpool St
90012 0930 Liverpool St - Ipswich
90014 1108 Ipswich - Norwich
90002 1230 Norwich - Ipswich
321437+321309 1352 Ipswich - Chelmsford
360108+360109 1442 Chelmsford - Colchester
90012 1523 Colchester - Ipswich
90001 1543 Ipswich - Stratford
then a load of 315s
825+824 1707 Stratford - Maryland
860+840 1719 Maryland - Forest Gate
835+805 1731 Forest Gate - Manor Park
817+858 1743 Manor Park - Ilford
850+833 1756 Ilford - Seven Kings
829+801 1808 Seven Kings - Goodmayes
843+849 1820 Goodmayes - Chadwell Heath
812+838 1832 Chadwell Heath - Romford
Must have got bored! and finally
321444+321328 1853 Romford - Stratford

 

[youngiecj]

Saturday 27th July 2013

315822+315819 0859 Stratford - Liverpool St
90012 0930 Liverpool St - Ipswich
90014 1108 Ipswich - Norwich
90002 1230 Norwich - Ipswich
321437+321309 1352 Ipswich - Chelmsford
360108+360109 1442 Chelmsford - Colchester
90012 1523 Colchester - Ipswich
90001 1543 Ipswich - Stratford
then a load of 315s
825+824 1707 Stratford - Maryland
860+840 1719 Maryland - Forest Gate
835+805 1731 Forest Gate - Manor Park
817+858 1743 Manor Park - Ilford
850+833 1756 Ilford - Seven Kings
829+801 1808 Seven Kings - Goodmayes
843+849 1820 Goodmayes - Chadwell Heath
812+838 1832 Chadwell Heath - Romford
Must have got bored! and finally
321444+321328 1853 Romford - Stratford

A nice ride round that, the variety on the Eastern is much missed these days for me. Its alright scoring winning 720s but it does get a bit boring after a while!

 

[youngiecj]

27/09/2009. A short trip on holiday on a FOSS rover. It appears my note taking wasn't the best then!

 

[Harvester]

Saturday 28th July 1962

Back to my school days. Returning from a productive train spotting trip to Carlisle on a peak summer Saturday. Outward by DMU!

D5098+(D5108?) 17:00 Carlisle-Newcastle (13:40 Stranraer-Newcastle)
B1 61176 19:30 Newcastle-West Hartlepool (15:43 Glasgow QS-Saltburn)

 

[1971martin]

Sunday 28th July 2013

90008 1230 Liverpool St - Manningtree
90013 1353 Manningtree - Liverpool St
321361+321440 1514 Liverpool St - Gidea Park
315820+315838 1546 Gidea Park - Shenfield
315838+315820 1613 Shenfield - Harold Wood
321331+321305 1631 Harold Wood - Stratford
378225 1655 Stratford - Canonbury
378226 1708 Canonbury - Highbury & Islington
378226 1720 Highbury & Islington - Battersea Park
378226 1819 Battersea Park - Surrey Quays
378135 1854 Surrey Quays - New Cross
465037+465188 1911 New Cross - London Bridge

 

[youngiecj]

28/07/2009

 

[1971martin]

Friday 29th July 2011

90008 1138 Stratford - Ipswich
90001 1309 Ipswich - Liverpool St
90015 1430 Liverpool St - Diss
90035 1617 Diss - Liverpool St
90049 1843 Euston - Coventry
390049 1951 Coventry - Euston

Monday 29th July 2013

Back then the Epping Ongar Railway ran trains on Summer Mondays

Out were GWR large prairie 4141 & Class 25 D7523. Trips undertaken with each.

 

[1971martin]

Friday 30th July 2010

A trip to the Spa Valley Railway, Presumably it was a Diesel Gala, but my book does not state this.

Trips behind 37254 & E6047 (73140).

 

[1971martin]

Saturday 31st July 2010

317710 0833 Stratford - Tottenham Hale
317664 0855 Tottenham Hale - Stratford
90005 0938 Stratford - Ipswich
90006 1109 Ipswich - Norwich
90015 1230 Norwich - Ipswich
90009 1342 Ipswich - Liverpool St
360101+360117 1508 Liverpool St - Stratford
395002 1532 Stratford I - Rochester
375921+375927 1622 Rochester - Bromley South
465044 1650 Bromley South - Beckenham Jn
Walk Beckenham Jn - New Beckenham
465245 1721 New Beckenham - London Bridge

 

[Harvester]

Sunday 31st July 1988

47438 15:39 Derby-Birmingham NS
43164+43019 16:42 Birmingham NS Derby

 

[CW2]

Wednesday 30/07/03
87024 1655 Euston – Stafford
87007 1740 Stafford – Euston, 66’ late.
87007 was booked to be working the 1753 Manchester – Euston, but stepped up to the 1627 departure vice failed Pendolino. Subsequently worked the 1955 Euston – Manchester, somewhat behind schedule.

Thursday 31/07/03
90016 0810 Euston – Crewe
220 014 1442 Crewe – Wolverhampton
86233 1519 Wolverhampton – Sandwell & Dudley
323 242 1548 Sandwell & Dudley – Wolverhampton
87010 1619 Wolverhampton – Euston

Saturday 31/07/04
43017 + 43192 0910 Reading – Bristol Temple Meads
67027 1107 Bristol Temple Meads – Preston via Lickey, Birmingham New Street, Aston, Soho
220 008 1609 Preston – Carlisle

 

[1971martin]

Sunday 1st August 2010

43045+43055 0900 St Pancras - Loughborough
43055+43045 1709 Loughborough - St Pancras

The GCR offered LMS 8F 48305, BR 2MT 78019 & D9009 Alycidon. Trips undertaken with each loco.

 

[NorthWestRover]

87007 1740 Stafford – Euston, 66’ late.

What was your highest mileage 87? I've seen 007 crop up a lot recently.

 

[D1511]

Wow, I'm new around here, but I've really enjoyed reading these! Especially those from the early 80s, which was my heyday. I thought I'd lost everything from back in the day in an attic clear out at my parents' house about twenty years ago, but I found it in a suitcase in their garage a couple of years ago! My 'To the last drop', and 1H81, 82 83 etc (as well as my old spotting books....including the first ever Platform 5 motive power pocket book!) all in pristine condition, and my precious move notebooks! So I'll post some legendary days out from all line rover days of yore up on here! I was big on 40s, so there are some spectacular summer Saturdays in a strip of the country from N Wales to Scarborough where I met some completely bonkers 40 bashers from Huddersfield & Manchester! (Some of them might be on here!)
I moved to 47s as 40s started to dwindle, with a preference for the first 20 locos built, and their freaky fan noise and cool louvred vents.....with 47412 cleared for 20,000 miles (They were East Coast engines, and I'm from Edinburgh......and I did KX-EDB-KX-NEW behind 47412 one day in 1981!) I swear they were faster than the rest of them, although the opposite may have actually been true!
But there's loads of other moves....skinny 73s and 33s out of London bridge in the weekday evenings, pairs of 20s from the Midlands to Skegness, 33s on the Cardiff Portsmouth's, 56s (brand new at the time!) hauling electrics on the WCML during engineering works at weekends, freight 47s on specials to Devon and Cornwall from the Midlands, push and pull 27s to Glasgow, roarers (81-85s) on the WCML overnights, weird Landore and Canton 37s covered in coal dust on the 0050 Paddington Milford Haven (also a legendary dossing move in the day!)......some good stuff that people will enjoy I hope.
One other thing in the suitcase......about 6000 or so colour slides of motive power of all classes from 1978 to about 1984, including those to accompany the moves in my books. They're exactly as they looked 40 years ago, no mould or any deterioration at all (some were in Gepe glass mounts) so once I get those scanned and uploaded somewhere, I can post them alongside the historical moves. Some of you may even recognise yourselves hanging out of a window of a train I was about to get on that day!
I hope what I can share will be as entertaining and memory-provoking to you as reading your posts have been for me! Thanks...and more from me later. Murray

 

[Peter Sarf]

Wow, I'm new around here, but I've really enjoyed reading these! Especially those from the early 80s, which was my heyday. I thought I'd lost everything from back in the day in an attic clear out at my parents' house about twenty years ago, but I found it in a suitcase in their garage a couple of years ago! My 'To the last drop', and 1H81, 82 83 etc (as well as my old spotting books....including the first ever Platform 5 motive power pocket book!) all in pristine condition, and my precious move notebooks! So I'll post some legendary days out from all line rover days of yore up on here! I was big on 40s, so there are some spectacular summer Saturdays in a strip of the country from N Wales to Scarborough where I met some completely bonkers 40 bashers from Huddersfield & Manchester! (Some of them might be on here!)
I moved to 47s as 40s started to dwindle, with a preference for the first 20 locos built, and their freaky fan noise and cool louvred vents.....with 47412 cleared for 20,000 miles (They were East Coast engines, and I'm from Edinburgh......and I did KX-EDB-KX-NEW behind 47412 one day in 1981!) I swear they were faster than the rest of them, although the opposite may have actually been true!
But there's loads of other moves....skinny 73s and 33s out of London bridge in the weekday evenings, pairs of 20s from the Midlands to Skegness, 33s on the Cardiff Portsmouth's, 56s (brand new at the time!) hauling electrics on the WCML during engineering works at weekends, freight 47s on specials to Devon and Cornwall from the Midlands, push and pull 27s to Glasgow, roarers (81-85s) on the WCML overnights, weird Landore and Canton 37s covered in coal dust on the 0050 Paddington Milford Haven (also a legendary dossing move in the day!)......some good stuff that people will enjoy I hope.
One other thing in the suitcase......about 6000 or so colour slides of motive power of all classes from 1978 to about 1984, including those to accompany the moves in my books. They're exactly as they looked 40 years ago, no mould or any deterioration at all (some were in Gepe glass mounts) so once I get those scanned and uploaded somewhere, I can post them alongside the historical moves. Some of you may even recognise yourselves hanging out of a window of a train I was about to get on that day!
I hope what I can share will be as entertaining and memory-provoking to you as reading your posts have been for me! Thanks...and more from me later. Murray

Welcome to the Forum and it will be nice to see photographs of your haulage(s) with the exploits.

 

[Harvester]

Thursday 3rd August 1989

43181+43023 11:18 Sheffield-York
47477 13:12 York-Darlington

 

[NorthWestRover]

I hope what I can share will be as entertaining and memory-provoking to you as reading your posts have been for me!

Very much looking forward to it. Certainly your 40 bashing will bring back memories.

It's great that every time this thread is starting to lose momentum, someone new pops up.

 

[CW2]

What was your highest mileage 87? I've seen 007 crop up a lot recently.

I managed to clear all the 87s for 1000, including 87101.
87007 was actually one of the lower ones, on 1159.75.
87021 was the highest on 3046.25, apart from 87002 which is currently on 5130.25.
I haven't done any of the European trips that have involved 87 haulage, but I'm tempted ...

 

[CW2]

Very much looking forward to it. Certainly your 40 bashing will bring back memories.

It's great that every time this thread is starting to lose momentum, someone new pops up.

Hear Hear to that - and welcome to the forum D1511.

 

[1971martin]

Saturday 3rd August 2013

Diesel Gala at the Spa Valley Railway featuring -

D3489, 33063, 37254, E6047 (73140) & 207017

 

[xotGD]

Wow, I'm new around here, but I've really enjoyed reading these!

Welcome to the thread! Looks like we've got another full year of entertainment once you start posting your moves. And please do include as many photos as you wish. Anything from Back in the Day is most welcome!

 

[D1511]

Hi everyone and thanks for the hellos!

I thought I'd start with a spotting trip to Manchester on 24/02/79, so that younger folks on here could see some eyewateringly tasty numbers that are now long gone. Shout outs to Bill Stirling, Stephen Lynn and Iain Flynn who were also on this trip and may well be members on here nowadays......

40160 haulage Edinburgh - Carstairs
85025 haulage Carstairs - Preston

40034, 08912 and 86025 were spotted en-route to Preston.

Preston 3.23am to 6.20am
08925, 47535, 86214, 86212, 87005, 87006, 08337, 83011, 87020, 87022, 85026, 87009, 87018, 40014, 86101, 87035, 87036, 87002, 08016, 86022, 86030, 87101, 87027, 47437, 40179, 47487, 47480, 08677, 25199

Manchester Victoria 7.20am
25209, 40118, 40040

Newton Heath 9.30am
40118, 40027, 08675, 08477

Longsight E 11.00am
82008, 86248, 87029, 81012, 86238, 81001

Longsight D 11.20am
40126, 25266, 47364, 40129, 40117, 08914. 08687, 40029, 25131

Reddish 1.05pm (76s anyone?!)
25288, 76025, 40112, 40145, 40024, 40026, 76006, 76015, 76054, 76014, 76023, 76050, 76055, 76048, 76043, 76051, 76009, 76052,
76006, 76015, 76007, 76028, 76056, 76049, 76057, 76004, 76054, 76002, 76014, 76023
(Some of these locos were on blocks and were clearly out of service by this time)

Ashburys Jn 1.45pm
08298, 08599, 25093, 40152

Guide Bridge 2.35pm
76026, 76038, 40111, 76036, 76040, 76027, 40128, 76003, 76001, 76046, 76034, 76039, 76033, 76037, 76038, 76026, 76036, 76027, 25263, 25106, 40091, 40029, 40120, 40129, 40152, 08686, 08820, 08604, 47349, 47335, 25309, 47188, 25297, 08298, 25119
(Also lots of 1500dc emus that my companions were most excited about)

Manchester Picc 3.40pm
86230, 31123, 08915, 86252, 86235, 86224

Manchester Vic 4.10pm
45045, 40149, 08677, 25180, 40035

47487 haulage Man Vic - Preston
86246 haulage to Carstairs
47405 haulage to Edinburgh

Preston 5.45pm
86243, 85025, 47515, 47538, 47488

Carlisle Kingmoor 7.45pm
47068, 25202, 47147

Nothing else noted, so either Waverley was full of the usual crap or we were just too tired.

Apologies in advance if I've transposed any numbers in error.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Fantastic

 

[NorthWestRover]

Manchester Picc 3.40pm
86230, 31123, 08915, 86252, 86235, 86224

Not so common in Manchester back then.

 

[D1511]

Here are some manoeuvres from Aug 1981

1E35 20.25 Edinburgh Kings Cross 47274 Edinburgh - Doncaster (237)

1L00 01.10 Kings Cross Leeds 31175
Doncaster - Leeds (30)

DMU to New Pudsey

1V71 06.49 Bradford Penzance 47575
New Pudsey - Leeds (6)

1M08 07.52 Leeds Llandudno 40152
Leeds-Dewsbury (9)

DMU to Leeds

1M71 09.30 Leeds Llandudno 40097
Leeds - Huddersfield (17)

DMU to Dewsbury

1Z30 08.08 Newcastle Manchester (relief) 40084
Dewsbury - Huddersfield (8)

1E34 08.55 Blackpool Newcastle 40166
Huddersfield - Leeds (17)
(The word RIOT is written in the margin for this one.....there was a squad of mad 40 bashers on this!)

1M66 09.35 Newcastle Blackpool 40126
Leeds - Huddersfield (17)
(Same as above!)

1E86 09.00 Llandudno York. 40047
Huddersfield - York (47.25)
(My head wasn't inside the front coach for much of this! )

1M69 13.00 Scarborough Manchester 40198
York - Leeds (25.25)

DMU - Sowerby Bridge

1E45 12.20 Blackpool Sheffield 37064
Sowerby Bridge - Sheffield Mid (61.25)
(Lots of tractor boys on this!)

1V97 16.38 Leeds Bristol TM. 47087
Sheffield Mid - Birmingham New St (77.5)

1V68 19.25 Birmingham NS Didcot 47254
Birmingham NS - Didcot (77.25)

Tram Didcot - Reading

1A21 18.50 Hereford Paddington 50006
Reading - Paddington (36)

1P54 23.45 Euston Barrow in Furness 86326
Euston - Crewe (158)

.......and on to the next day of my all-line rover.....

 

[D1511]

Being from Edinburgh before electrification in the late 70s, seeing an electric loco would involve a trip to Carstairs, Motherwell or Glasgow. And it was quite a treat for us, especially as they were often paired on freight workings.

Occasionally, we'd take a spotting trip to Carstairs as it offered the prospect of some decent haulage there and back on the Edinburgh portions of WCML trains that were coupled to services from Glasgow. If you were either careful not to be spotted, or chatted up the guard, you could hop on the Edinburgh portion for the haul up the line and reverse back onto the other platform where the Glasgow portion had arrived, and hop off while the trains were being coupled together!

Here's a wee trip from Friday 3rd August 1979, with everything we saw that day, although apologies there aren't any details of what they were working. There will also be some repetition of things going up and down to Glasgow & Edinburgh. Being pretty hardcore spotters at the time, we were there from about 7.30am until about 10.30pm. It was a lovely day and we all got sunburned!

47527 haulage to Carstairs

40060, 40084, 87023, 85006, 40138, W43000 (252001), 86208, 85040, 37120, 37167, 87035, 86025, 85003, 40150, 40167, 20105, 47104, 86221, 87024, 86254+87028, 85008, 86247, 47270, 87027, 85003, 84002+83011 (nice!), 85003, 85035, 86036, 86033, 87007, 86006, 37072, 55019, 86233, 87019, 85040, 86036, 85023, 86256, 87003, 86011, 87024, 86038, 87021+87027, 86029, 81001+85024, 87018, 87012, 87007, 87015, 83011+84010 (84002 replaced but appears later!), 85035, 87004, 86032, 86256, 81007, 87002, 40139, 86233, 86226, 37164, 87021, 40154, 87023, 87012, 87101, 85019, 47316, 20121, 85006, 40153, 81001, 40064, 25065, 86226, 86036, 40061, 81002+84002 (nice pic of these two ), 40069, 47177, 85023, 86013+85016, 85035, 86012, 86028, 87032, 81001, 86250, 86247, 47543, 27021, 87006, 26042, 87006, 47257, 87002+81020

25065 haulage back to Edinburgh

What strikes me most looking back at this list now is how almost every freight train under the wires was hauled by electric traction......in 1979. Despite more of our network being electrified nowadays, our electric locomotives have reduced in number significantly. 66s haul everything....even the freightliner trains from Willesden to Coatbridge that I saw with electric traction 44 years ago. So much for progress.......