QJ
Member
Railroving 1980 style
In enjoying reading about other people’s recent meanderings around Great Britain on various threads my mind wanders back to when I went in search of new track to grice and traction to red pen by whatever means open to me; service train or excursion, empty stock or even freight train or light diesel. I think back to the summer of 1980 as one of the highlights of my misspent youth.
I also shudder at the thought I used to set off straight after work and then go straight back into work afterwards to maximise my time roaming the rails. No wonder I eventually acquired an aversion to shift work (or rather it gave up on me) after a few years of burning the candle at both ends. However, I also found railway activity was often more interesting at night and didn’t want to miss anything; sleep deprivation adding to the fun.
Amongst the May highlights were a railtour from Bristol on the 10th that took in a number of branches in South Devon via Saint Philips Marsh and the Taunton avoiding line; though not without incident as the DMU was declared a failure at Newton Abbot. Thankfully a Torbay bound loco hauled ECS was commandeered (IIRC resulting in cancellation of at least one Paignton service - no delay minutes in those days) to transfer participants to my home city of Plymouth where a replacement DMU was waiting. No one missed out on the choice trackage including the Dockyard line to the Exchange Sidings. Nice.
On the 16th I red penned my 50th class 50 when Leviathan dropped onto the 0850 Paddington to Manchester. I was supposed to be heading home to catch up on sleep. Instead I ended up in Birmingham. Oops. However, 50040 kindly returned me back to London on the 1122 from Liverpool. Mileage move.
A stint bashing class 40s on the North Wales services on the Whitsun weekend was topped off when a certain well known gentleman of the gricing fraternity informed me a class 40 was earmarked for a Chesterfield to Balloch Pier Adex on the Monday.
As a result the early hours of 26th found me at Manchester Piccadilly waiting to board the 0210 Manchester to Cleethorpes. I can still hear the squeal of the road vehicles carrying the papers hot off the press, the clanking of the BRUTE trolleys and the shouts of the rail staff loading the vans behind the passenger coach. A familiar sound meant a class 40 had been sent from Longsight to take the train over the Hope Valley Line to Sheffield; Haymarket based 40065 no less. No red pen for this one but I was not too disappointed; give me a dud 40 over a Brush 4 any day.
Not long after the doors on the vans were slammed shut, the hustle and bustle in the station hushed and a guard’s whistle was followed by the sound of 65 lifting her train out into the darkness, condensation dripping off the carriage window. Time to enjoy 65 weaving her way across the throat of Manchester’s principal station and out through the southern suburbs towards New Mills.
All too soon Sheffield was reached with the 40 swapped for a 31 whilst I retreated to the station buffet (which remained open all night at that time). It wasn’t being possible to stay on the train and get back to Sheffield in time to catch the intended Adex. I cannot remember what Brush 2 replaced the 40 nor the Peak (presumably a 45) that rolled into Sheffield on 1Z43 much to my dismay. I had just bought a ticket for the train after the booking office had opened; the ticket office clerk recording which seats had been sold on paper coach seating plans. No high tech reservation systems back then.
Thankfully, having taken my seat onboard 1Z43 the sound of the Peak being uncoupled was replaced by the hoped for whistle denoting that my gen had been correct after all. 40065 was back fresh from being refuelled at Tinsley. I was just puzzled why no class 40 bashers seemed to be around. 276 miles later and I stepped onto Balloch Pier station (new line from Balloch Central in the book) having enjoyed EE type 4 haulage via Barnsley, Wakefield, the Whitehall chord, Settle and Carlisle, Beattock, Holytown, Mossend and Cowlairs. Of note was the train being held in the loop at Beattock station for a Glasgow bound express to whizz past then setting off up the bank at full chat at what seemed like little more than walking pace. Remind me again why class 4Os appealed to so many bashers?
Unfortunately the ECS to Cowlairs CS was whisked away by 25235 (now a resident of Bo’ness) before I could get any decent photos of 65 with its nose in the Loch. There was nothing for it but a tour of Loch Lomond dodging the showers aboard the Maid of the Loch; all part of the fare.
My plan for the return journey was to bail out at Carlisle during the crew change; the scheduled arrival at Sheffield meaning I would be stranded with no services to doss on. However, having got off at Carlisle I was intrigued by the signal changing to green with a large W in the indicator box. I remember mentioning it to the driver as he was about to restart 65 thinking if it was going via Shap I needed to get back onboard. No such luck as the driver wandered to the telephone to get the route reset. However, I cannot recall the exact circumstance but as 1Z43 whistled out of Carlisle I found myself settling into the second best seat in the house for the ride over the S&C. Imagine the look on those I was sitting with earlier when I appeared by magic back in my allocated seat after an unscheduled stop at Hellifield.
As I had nowhere to stay in Sheffield I remained onboard 1Z43 to Chesterfield where the station staff took pity on me and opened the waiting room for my personal use. A dud 45150 on the 00:05 from London whisked me back to Sheffield. I found out many years later there had been an Adex from Telford to Whitby on the same day. That was where the 40 throng went. I never did have 40199 for haulage but I think I didn’t do too badly.
The final fling of May found me sampling the 2005 Waterloo - Weymouth Quay boat train on 30/05 before heading to Bedford via some convoluted route involving the Weymouth to London TPO, the 0428 Eastleigh – Portsmouth newspaper train and the 47110 hauled 1255 Weymouth to Cardiff via Chandlers Ford; three class 73s requiring red penning in the process though 47110 was very dud in more ways than one. At Bedford equally dud 45146 rolled in on the 1759 from Sheffield to take me onto Euston around the then new chord onto the Bletchley line; with engineering work about to kick in to close the usual route to London. When I had previously caught a Sheffield bound MML train from Euston an AL7 electric had worked to Bletchley with the Peak taking over from there. Result. New route for a Peak for me.
To be continued when I get back from steaming around the Mosel, Eiffel and Saar valleys.............
In enjoying reading about other people’s recent meanderings around Great Britain on various threads my mind wanders back to when I went in search of new track to grice and traction to red pen by whatever means open to me; service train or excursion, empty stock or even freight train or light diesel. I think back to the summer of 1980 as one of the highlights of my misspent youth.
I also shudder at the thought I used to set off straight after work and then go straight back into work afterwards to maximise my time roaming the rails. No wonder I eventually acquired an aversion to shift work (or rather it gave up on me) after a few years of burning the candle at both ends. However, I also found railway activity was often more interesting at night and didn’t want to miss anything; sleep deprivation adding to the fun.
Amongst the May highlights were a railtour from Bristol on the 10th that took in a number of branches in South Devon via Saint Philips Marsh and the Taunton avoiding line; though not without incident as the DMU was declared a failure at Newton Abbot. Thankfully a Torbay bound loco hauled ECS was commandeered (IIRC resulting in cancellation of at least one Paignton service - no delay minutes in those days) to transfer participants to my home city of Plymouth where a replacement DMU was waiting. No one missed out on the choice trackage including the Dockyard line to the Exchange Sidings. Nice.
On the 16th I red penned my 50th class 50 when Leviathan dropped onto the 0850 Paddington to Manchester. I was supposed to be heading home to catch up on sleep. Instead I ended up in Birmingham. Oops. However, 50040 kindly returned me back to London on the 1122 from Liverpool. Mileage move.
A stint bashing class 40s on the North Wales services on the Whitsun weekend was topped off when a certain well known gentleman of the gricing fraternity informed me a class 40 was earmarked for a Chesterfield to Balloch Pier Adex on the Monday.
As a result the early hours of 26th found me at Manchester Piccadilly waiting to board the 0210 Manchester to Cleethorpes. I can still hear the squeal of the road vehicles carrying the papers hot off the press, the clanking of the BRUTE trolleys and the shouts of the rail staff loading the vans behind the passenger coach. A familiar sound meant a class 40 had been sent from Longsight to take the train over the Hope Valley Line to Sheffield; Haymarket based 40065 no less. No red pen for this one but I was not too disappointed; give me a dud 40 over a Brush 4 any day.
Not long after the doors on the vans were slammed shut, the hustle and bustle in the station hushed and a guard’s whistle was followed by the sound of 65 lifting her train out into the darkness, condensation dripping off the carriage window. Time to enjoy 65 weaving her way across the throat of Manchester’s principal station and out through the southern suburbs towards New Mills.
All too soon Sheffield was reached with the 40 swapped for a 31 whilst I retreated to the station buffet (which remained open all night at that time). It wasn’t being possible to stay on the train and get back to Sheffield in time to catch the intended Adex. I cannot remember what Brush 2 replaced the 40 nor the Peak (presumably a 45) that rolled into Sheffield on 1Z43 much to my dismay. I had just bought a ticket for the train after the booking office had opened; the ticket office clerk recording which seats had been sold on paper coach seating plans. No high tech reservation systems back then.
Thankfully, having taken my seat onboard 1Z43 the sound of the Peak being uncoupled was replaced by the hoped for whistle denoting that my gen had been correct after all. 40065 was back fresh from being refuelled at Tinsley. I was just puzzled why no class 40 bashers seemed to be around. 276 miles later and I stepped onto Balloch Pier station (new line from Balloch Central in the book) having enjoyed EE type 4 haulage via Barnsley, Wakefield, the Whitehall chord, Settle and Carlisle, Beattock, Holytown, Mossend and Cowlairs. Of note was the train being held in the loop at Beattock station for a Glasgow bound express to whizz past then setting off up the bank at full chat at what seemed like little more than walking pace. Remind me again why class 4Os appealed to so many bashers?
Unfortunately the ECS to Cowlairs CS was whisked away by 25235 (now a resident of Bo’ness) before I could get any decent photos of 65 with its nose in the Loch. There was nothing for it but a tour of Loch Lomond dodging the showers aboard the Maid of the Loch; all part of the fare.
My plan for the return journey was to bail out at Carlisle during the crew change; the scheduled arrival at Sheffield meaning I would be stranded with no services to doss on. However, having got off at Carlisle I was intrigued by the signal changing to green with a large W in the indicator box. I remember mentioning it to the driver as he was about to restart 65 thinking if it was going via Shap I needed to get back onboard. No such luck as the driver wandered to the telephone to get the route reset. However, I cannot recall the exact circumstance but as 1Z43 whistled out of Carlisle I found myself settling into the second best seat in the house for the ride over the S&C. Imagine the look on those I was sitting with earlier when I appeared by magic back in my allocated seat after an unscheduled stop at Hellifield.
As I had nowhere to stay in Sheffield I remained onboard 1Z43 to Chesterfield where the station staff took pity on me and opened the waiting room for my personal use. A dud 45150 on the 00:05 from London whisked me back to Sheffield. I found out many years later there had been an Adex from Telford to Whitby on the same day. That was where the 40 throng went. I never did have 40199 for haulage but I think I didn’t do too badly.
The final fling of May found me sampling the 2005 Waterloo - Weymouth Quay boat train on 30/05 before heading to Bedford via some convoluted route involving the Weymouth to London TPO, the 0428 Eastleigh – Portsmouth newspaper train and the 47110 hauled 1255 Weymouth to Cardiff via Chandlers Ford; three class 73s requiring red penning in the process though 47110 was very dud in more ways than one. At Bedford equally dud 45146 rolled in on the 1759 from Sheffield to take me onto Euston around the then new chord onto the Bletchley line; with engineering work about to kick in to close the usual route to London. When I had previously caught a Sheffield bound MML train from Euston an AL7 electric had worked to Bletchley with the Peak taking over from there. Result. New route for a Peak for me.
To be continued when I get back from steaming around the Mosel, Eiffel and Saar valleys.............
incidentally was 40065 the only member of the earlier D2xx numbered batch to be retro fitted with 4 character headcode panels?
. In seriousness each to their own. However I'm at a loss how you could do a shift at work after cranking session like that. I doff my cap to you for doing so.
Don't make me laugh. My top trump wins every time. Weight 136 tons. Your go! 
As for the shifts at work after cranking. Don't doff your cap too much. I am now paying for it with a wheelbarrow load of medication. 
Still it was fun.