Strathclyde class 156 on Cumbrian Coast

[northernrailer]

I was looking through flickr and came across these two old pictures of a class 156 in the Strathclyde Orange and Black livery at Sellafield working to Carlisle.

Will this have been a one off or did Scotrail / Strathclyde units reguarly run on the Cumbrian Coast line, or will it have been a case of a unit failed and the Strathclyde unit was sitting spare at Carlisle so they borrow it??

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73789322@N04/8185114027/in/set-72157632113796505

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73789322@N04/8185152456/in/set-72157632113796505

 

[12CSVT]

If the July 1993 date is when the photo was taken, then there was probably nothing unusual about this. All class 156s at the time were allocated to the Regional Railways sector of British Rail (the likes of 'First North Western', 'Northern Rail', 'First Scotrail', etc didn't exist then), so provided a unit type was cleared for a certain route and the drivers signed that type of unit, in theory it was possible for any unit of that class to appear regardless of depot allocation.

 

[sprinterguy]

If the July 1993 date is when the photo was taken, then there was probably nothing unusual about this. All class 156s at the time were allocated to the Regional Railways sector of British Rail (the likes of 'First North Western', 'Northern Rail', 'First Scotrail', etc didn't exist then), so provided a unit type was cleared for a certain route and the drivers signed that type of unit, in theory it was possible for any unit of that class to appear regardless of depot allocation.

There were still different divisions of Regional Railways though by 1993: Regional Railways Scotrail, Regional Railways North East, Regional Railways North West, Regional Railways Central and Regional Railways South Wales & West. It was still rather rare for units from different divisions of Regional Railways to be used in other divisions, as there were still set diagrams to be covered and fleet rosters and maintenance regimes to be adhered to.

I do not believe that Scotrail/Strathclyde PTE class 156s had any booked work on the Cumbrian Coast route at this time, so I assume that this will have been a case of a unit failure of a North West unit on a previous service and the Strathclyde 156 was what was available at Carlisle to cover.

 

[transmanche]

If the July 1993 date is when the photo was taken, then there was probably nothing unusual about this. All class 156s at the time were allocated to the Regional Railways sector of British Rail (the likes of 'First North Western', 'Northern Rail', 'First Scotrail', etc didn't exist then), so provided a unit type was cleared for a certain route and the drivers signed that type of unit, in theory it was possible for any unit of that class to appear regardless of depot allocation.

Around that time, you'd regularly see a Strathclyde PTE unit running Newcastle-Sunderland services in the evening. (Presumably having worked on a service from Stranraer or Glasgow and stabling at Heaton overnight before returning.)

 

[142094]

Around that time, you'd regularly see a Strathclyde PTE unit running Newcastle-Sunderland services in the evening. (Presumably having worked on a service from Stranraer or Glasgow and stabling at Heaton overnight before returning.)

Aye, no doubt, easier to send one out from Newcastle to cover instead of getting one off Heaton depot.

Haven't seen it recently but I bet there has been a time when the Scotrail 156s have been used to cover a working around Newcastle. Interestingly there are one or two services early morning between Carlisle and Dumfries which use Northern's 156s, before they are sent from Carlisle along the Tyne Valley.

 

[sprinterguy]

Around that time, you'd regularly see a Strathclyde PTE unit running Newcastle-Sunderland services in the evening. (Presumably having worked on a service from Stranraer or Glasgow and stabling at Heaton overnight before returning.)

I can't remember it being a regular occurrence, but then again I was very young. I would have thought that it only occurred on those few occasions when RR North East were short of a unit at the last minute. The local railway photographer Ian Carr noted a Strathclyde PTE 156 on the Durham Coast route in 1991 as being reasonably unusual, albeit I know that it did happen from time to time.
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Haven't seen it recently but I bet there has been a time when the Scotrail 156s have been used to cover a working around Newcastle. Interestingly there are one or two services early morning between Carlisle and Dumfries which use Northern's 156s, before they are sent from Carlisle along the Tyne Valley.

The last SPT class 156 that I saw on the Durham Coast route was in about September 2003, although other units might have gotten out and about around the North East more recently.

 

[transmanche]

Haven't seen it recently but I bet there has been a time when the Scotrail 156s have been used to cover a working around Newcastle.

I don't know if any Scotrail units stable overnight in Heaton now. And of course, there are very few evening trains between Newcastle & Sunderland these days

 

[142094]

I don't know if any Scotrail units stable overnight in Heaton now. And of course, there are very few evening trains between Newcastle & Sunderland these days

There should be at least one, as the early morning 06.47 to GLC is a Scotrail 156. In fact IIRC it leaves NCL the night before on an ECS straight after the 20.15 arrival.