lostwin - BR in the mid 80's

[Sun Chariot]

I do love the BRCW diesels. While I've never seen or heard a 33 in the flesh, I go wibble at the sight of its slightly less powerful 26 and 27 cousins.

I was fortunate to enjoy the 33s on Portsmouth to Cardiff workings / two railtours hauling "retro blue" 4TCs 410 + 417. Added to that, my sghts and photos of them belching fumes around BR(S) South Western & Central Divisions and BR(W), with freight / pw.

Three favourite moments:
1980s "tarted up" 33056 Burma Star taking the Southampton Boat Train empty stock out of Clapham Junction yard, power handle open, leaving a black cloud towards Battersea.
Head out the lead carriage, as 33033 took our Cardiff bound service into the dank maw of Severn Tunnel; the crescendo as it accelerated along the level and then up the gradient at the Welsh end.
33103 with nine carriages, deputising for a 50, erupting as it left Exeter St Davids and threw itself up the climb to Central.

I never tire of their rasping roar...

 

[Ken H]

22/12/86. The difference in profiles is apparent between 33201 and 33035, stabled at Waterloo.

View attachment 183352

Clas 33/2 narrow body for Hastings line. Known as 'Slim Jim's

 

[lostwin(m)]

Defo a Cavalier Mk2. My father had a Mk1 and a Mk2 face-lift as company cars.
My first car, coincidentally, was a Rover SD1 2600: late 1986 model. I'm sure it was built on a Friday afternoon shift: there were many different thread-gauges of bolts on it!

This thread's answered a question in my mind for decades - why the little Cromptons sported that nose-dent. I'm always learning!

If it is any consolation, my CX was by far the most unreliable car I ever owned, although that seemed to be mainly down to the engine that I think came from a Peugeot.

It did look incredible though, especially parked up and hunkered down on the suspension, it pretty much put its belly on the tarmac. Did attract the attention on the local school kids though, as judging by the foot prints, one of their favourite games was to use the shark nose as a ramp and literally run over the top of the car!

 

[lostwin(m)]

@GusB

Very similar here, our family’s first Citroen was also a BX, although as a teenager I encouraged my Dad into buying it (after he refused to entertain the Alfa, which was my first choice).

They have put out some rubbish along the way, but Citroen still have the DNA to innovate in a way that surprises.

 

[Sun Chariot]

They have put out some rubbish along the way, but Citroen still have the DNA to innovate in a way that surprises.

Their SM was a beauty, I have seen a couple in recent years and they still have "wow factor".

 

[lostwin(m)]

How many of us remember standing that close to the four-foot, camera in hand and no sudden apprehension from the BTP!

Mmm, yes it does look close, but I was on the correct (safe) side of the fence, camera poking over the top.

 

[75A]

They were often bashed by guards/shunters/secondmen throwing the end of a screw coupling over the drawhook while coupling up. I'm afraid I was one of the guilty parties!

Guilty as charged, on a second man Training Day at Hither Green in February 1980.
I was showing off how big and strong I was, and caused a lot of laughter, especially from the Instructor.

 

[Sun Chariot]

@D6130 and @75A you vandals!

Was it the slightly "bulbous" lower contour of the cab front, that made 33s more susceptible to this damage-scenario?

Did class 26s and 27s suffer similarly? I don’t recall seeing the little dents on the 26s. I have perused online photos: the 26s seem to have fewer affected and, of those affected, the dent is much smaller.

 

[Ashley Hill]

33/2s didn’t seem to suffer that much either. Having looked through Flikr most seem to have more of a dimple than a dent.

 

[75A]

33/2s didn’t seem to suffer that much either. Having looked through Flikr most seem to have more of a dimple than a dent.

 

[75A]

That might be related to the numbers in each class.
33/0 had 65, 33/1 19 and 33/2 only 12.

From memory (it was over 40 years ago) I don't recall ever seeing a Slim Jim down Brighton way, We used to get a pair of Bagpipes on the Exeter in the Summer months when there were more coaches, but they came to us as a pair and went back up to Norwood still joined.

In the football season, single Crompton's hauling coaches was a Saturday regular.
Brighton used to run a 'Seagull Special' with Headboard to most away games outside of London, and clubs from 'up norf' would have their special (s) taken over somewhere in London by Norwood men with a Crompton who would come down to Hove, where we would relieve them and take the ecs to Littlehampton, rest for a couple of hours and then the coaches back to Hove for another Norwood crew.

 

[D1511]

Their SM was a beauty, I have seen a couple in recent years and they still have "wow factor".

If it was good enough for the great Johann Cruyff, then that'll do for me!

My dad owned a Vauxhall dealership with his brother in Edinburgh, and we had some belter Vauxhalls over the years. I particularly remember a metallic green Ventora with black vinyl roof. My favourite was the 2.3L Firenza though ....what a lovely car that was. A little overdrive sliding switch on top of the great shift.......

 

[lostwin(m)]

Thanks for the celebrity Citroen SM pic @D1511 We have been strangely light on 47's pictures throughout this thread, especially considering how common they were. So here's one for you.

16/06/85. 47628 in GWR green working the 17.02 Wolverhampton - Southend (?) (at least that is what I think my notes say). My notes go on to say the picture is taken between Wolverhampton and Bescot on a diversion due to engineering on the mainline. However, since starting this thread my faith in the accuracy of my notes have taken a few knocks along the way, so make of that what you will!

 

[Gloster]

Thanks for the celebrity Citroen SM pic @D1511 We have been strangely light on 47's pictures throughout this thread, especially considering how common they were. So here's one for you.

16/06/85. 47628 in GWR green working the 17.02 Wolverhampton - Southend (?) (at least that is what I think my notes say). My notes go on to say the picture is taken between Wolverhampton and Bescot on a diversion due to engineering on the mainline. However, since starting this thread my faith in the accuracy of my notes have taken a few knocks along the way, so make of that what you will!

View attachment 183423

I presume that the date is bit out: 40 or 60 years! (Autocorrect, I suspect. Oh, that we could have such a sight today!) (I see that you have corrected it.)

 

[D1511]

Thanks for the celebrity Citroen SM pic @D1511 We have been strangely light on 47's pictures throughout this thread, especially considering how common they were. So here's one for you.


View attachment 183423

Some of us appreciated them in the 80s!


There's a thread about window hanging elsewhere on here, but I must have at least 50,000 miles of it under my belt! That's a great pic ....as they all are.
I have a picture taken from the very first window of 83012 zooming up Shap that I like as it gives a real impression of speed.....but these would have us banned from heritage railways nowadays!
Your thread has motivated me to hunt through my parents attic and garage for more of my pics, as I knew there were a lot more, and I found an old Rucanor bag and a Adidas SL82 shoebox full of Agfa CT21 and Kodachrome boxes! So I've been busy scanning and I'll need to ask a mod to resurrect my thread. Nothing with as creative an eye as your shots, but good enough for the pocket books of the day and nice memories of the BR Blue small numbers era for some on here. And also some featuring some wonderful old cars!
It also will give modern enthusiasts an idea of how we just used to turn up at depots and get waved round with no supervision whatsoever, crawling all over the four foot among manoeuvring locomotives as we went!

 

[Sun Chariot]

Wonderful stuff @D1511 and I cannot wait to marvel at your photographic fruits too

I took a fair few photos from carriage's door, to get "down the train" shots. On looking back through my BR sectorisation era 35mm shots, invariably the background was cluttered, or the curve not sharp enough to do it justice. However, two "hits":
37426, train and Welsh scenery perfectly reflected in carriage window, as I travelled from Cardiff to Crewe.
47293 + (failed) 47541 reflected in glorious Scottish summer sunshine as I travelled north along the Highland Main Line.

And as for depot wanderings, I found visits easier to do, the farther north I went! I enjoyed a couple of hours in Eastfield in 1990, with no more than a cursory nod from the shed staff. MC Metals and Bury shed (full of 504s in sun and snow, two weeks after Manchester's Metrolink started operating) were visited even more unofficially (ahem!)

 

[lostwin(m)]

oof, just checked out an old 'window hanging' thread, I've obviously been a very naughty boy in my time!

As we are on a roll with Brush's

12/08/85. A 'Gennie' or perhaps the Gennie, 47401 in its natural habitat of... Hampshire. 14/13 Portsmouth - York.

 

[lostwin(m)]

14/08/85. 47602, newly named 'Glorious Devon' pauses at Southampton on a cross country service. The applied plaque confirms the naming as part of the GWR 150 celebrations.

 

[D1511]

oof, just checked out an old 'window hanging' thread, I've obviously been a very naughty boy in my time!

As we are on a roll with Brush's

12/08/85. A 'Gennie' or perhaps the Gennie, 47401 in its natural habitat of... Hampshire. 14/13 Portsmouth - York.

View attachment 183431

Serck radiator grilles in full effect!
And it may be in Hampshire, but it's heading back home!

 

[lostwin(m)]

23/10/86. Back on a train / car theme, presumably the Maestro is the signalman's choice of wheels - inverness Rose Street.

 

[lostwin(m)]

11/08/87. And on a car & train theme... 47368 hauls a load of freshly arrived French automobiles from Dover.

 

[Cowley]

23/10/86. Back on a train / car theme, presumably the Maestro is the signalman's choice of wheels - inverness Rose Street.

View attachment 183434

47614 aka 47853 aka 47241 aka D1733 the original XP64 blue loco.

I had it from Edinburgh to Berwick in that livery a few years after this photo.

I'll need to ask a mod to resurrect my thread.

I mean I’m right here. Be it 80s cars or trains!

 

[Sun Chariot]

we just used to turn up at depots and get waved round with no supervision whatsoever, crawling all over the four foot among manoeuvring locomotives as we went!

That reminds me of a depot pass visit to Toton, just after the class 60s came into operation. I took a shot, crouched in the pit, looking up (wide angle) at a 60 cab front
I remember getting a lot of weird looks from the other people on that day's visit!

 

[Sun Chariot]

I mean I’m right here. Be it 80s cars or trains!

That sounds like a forum section: The No-Sheds Threads.

 

[317362]

Minor point, not CPVs, but CSAs (air-braked and a bit bigger than most presflos). I was in Leicester early 80s, and it wasn’t always a 56 when I saw them. But yes, Fletton brickworks by Peterborough was the destination.

Catching up with the magnificent photos for which many many thanks,this one gives a chance to highlight my local freight that I never got a picture of (I was young, it would always be there, sigh ..)

As well as Fletton, Little Barford by St Neots also had Radcliffe flyash trains, including a bit of heading South on the bidi down slow line past St Neots. In the main, 47s, seemed to be 47325 most days.

 

[Ken H]

Where did the fly ash go? Seem to remember it was put in breeze blocks

 

[D6130]

Where did the fly ash go? Seem to remember it was put in breeze blocks

IIRC, the fly ash to Fletton was used to fill-in old brickworks clay pits.

 

[eastwestdivide]

IIRC, the fly ash to Fletton was used to fill-in old brickworks clay pits.

Yes, I think the (re)use of it in building materials came later

 

[lostwin(m)]

I really don't want to de-rail the thread, but the CX was a thing of beauty (in my humble opinion). I always liked the Citroen look, but it wasn't until my dad bought a BX that I really began to appreciate them. (Maybe we need a "Citroen Wibble" thread... )

Getting back on topic, I do love the BRCW diesels. While I've never seen or heard a 33 in the flesh, I go wibble at the sight of its slightly less powerful 26 and 27 cousins. It's probably a just Sulzer thing.

As I can't resist a good wibble, I can offer you these;

09/07/86. On it's return working from Dundee compared to the pictures a couple of pages ago, here is 27025 arriving at Ladybank.

 

[lostwin(m)]

22/10/86. 26001 light engine through Princes St gardens.