Station pilots

[Electrostar387]

One wonders how much work it actually had in the ten years after the 4CIGs went in 2005, maybe the depot just didn't want to lose it's pet which is fair enough

Lovers Walk were always very fond of it, for sure! According to Wikipedia, so take with a pinch of salt, it was used occasionally for heritage services to drag them backwards from Brighton to Preston Park to then go through via Hove. But nowadays not so much of an issue as heritage services tend to have a diesel loco on the rear for rescue/reverse movement purposes anyway!

 

[Sun Chariot]

When did Waterloo lose its 09 shunters? Did they last until the end of loco haulage or did they go before that?

I never saw a station pilot at Waterloo during my visits in the latter half of the 1980s. 33s and 50s parked in loco stabling platform, that was it.

1988, I saw and photo'd:

08 833 Liverpool Street Pilot, in pseudo-GER livery, shunting parcels stock at its namesake terminus.

08 xxx doing similar at the west side of London Euston.

08 xxx assembling TPO rake at Bristol Temple Meads.

 

[Harpo]

Traditionally in steam days there were two types of station pilots, one for shunting stock, vans, and anything else around, and the other as a main line standby in case of need, which also got used for stock pilot etc in between.

Taunton west end long had two, one of each, the main line standby, fully coaled, most commonly being Hall 4932, Hatherton Hall, while the other, a pannier tank, was replaced in 1962 by a Class 08. Early diesel days meant the Hall had gone not infrequently gone somewhere, and been replaced by a second pannier tank, I believe it was known to be at Paddington from time to time, especially in the deep winter of 1962-3 if a Warship steam heating boiler had packed in. The only turntable around was inside the shed, so it occasionally made a quick visit into there if it suddenly had to face the other way.

Honourable mention for the Taunton Twins, the engineer’s 31s that rescued so many failures.

 

[xotGD]

Birmingham New St used to have a celebrity station pilot - 08604 in green, complete with cast "604" number plates.

 

[Richard Scott]

Birmingham New St used to have a celebrity station pilot - 08604 in green, complete with cast "604" number plates.

Remember 08805 being at New Street in 1989, it was used to rescue 47836, which had collapsed near Proof House Junction.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

When did Waterloo lose its 09 shunters?

AFAIR their duties finished with the end of the Newspaper traffic, but will stand corrected.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Birmingham New St used to have a celebrity station pilot - 08604 in green, complete with cast "604" number plates.

Yep, I have a photo of it; also of same-era LMS black 08 601.

 

[Rescars]

Around 1980, special workings from the West Midlands offering full dining facilities (eg Ascot race specials) would include RKs in the consist. These were often victualled in the parcels bay at Wolverhampton HL. The RKs would be worked from Crewe to Oxley attached to a regular ecs working and were then tripped to Wolverhampton by an 08. Clearly a pilot type of working - but where did the 08 come from? Was it Bescot perhaps? I don't recall either Wolverhampton HL or Oxley having a regular 08 pilot at the time. but memories fade and perhaps I wasn't paying that much attention at the time - in any case it was all quite a while ago.

 

[Harvester]

The last station pilot at Sheffield was 08691 (unofficially named Escafeld). I last saw it in February 1994 before it was transferred away, and it was not replaced.