20/07/85 ... Where were you?

Page last Updated : 20-01-08

Richard Weir recalls a Hellfire day,,,

...Continued from here .
"The Sou’west didn’t let me down (on this) day either. I discovered that 1M89 was allocated 25109, in enough time to catch the strummer to Dumfries on 1S63. It meant around 90 minutes festering, but at least Dumfries is a pretty pleasant town, compared to Annan! This train was load 6 and the thrash was tremendous, plenty of clag and a storming run, especially compared to 25089.

Three fine days. OK not exactly excessive mileages, but for a young basher, this was irrelevant at the time and is still a pretty strong memory, (all these) years on."

Jeff Hawken recalls...

"Further to the entry for 20th July 1985 by Richard Weir, I can add a little to 
his version of events.
I was working early shift in Glasgow Control that week, and so was able to 
maintain a close eye on events on the G&SW route (and elsewhere).

I didn't come out on Saturday 20/07/85, but had a run from Glasgow to Stranraer 
and back with 37017 the following day, with the 1505 from Glasgow. That was a 
favourite Sunday move, since it allowed a straight out-and-back run to Stranraer 
in daylight with decent traction.

Happy Days!"

   Ian McLean remembers...
"This was the second Saturday of a 14 day Freedom of Scotland, and considering it was a summer Saturday in the mid-80's, was something of
a disaster...

The day started on the previous night's northbound internal with 47617 on the 23.25 Edinburgh-Inverness for the short-doss move to Blair
Atholl for the southbound back. This rolled into Blair behind, not only, 47546 but also pilot loco 27045. At Perth the 27 was removed and
replaced by 47433 which piloted 47546 to Stirling as booked before being removed for 47546 to continue to Glasgow alone. From Queen St
47715 was taken to Haymarket to view the 07.06 Edinburgh-Inverness, I have no record of what this was but it clearly wasn't too exciting as
we opted to return to Glasgow on 47715 for the Glasgow-Scarborough. With strict barrier control at Queen St, however, we were unable to
get onto the platform for the Scarborough, (which I recall as being 47207 but don't have it noted), as only people with Scarborough
tickets were being allowed on. So we followed it to Edinburgh on the 08.30 with 47715 once again. There wasn't much happening at Edinburgh
so 47482 was taken all the way to Haymarket on the 09.40 Carstairs portion for a short run back to Edinburgh with 27054 on the Dundee.
Upon arrival at Edinburgh 27066 backed onto the stock to form the 10.15 back to Dundee and this was taken to Markinch in sheer
desperation. From the way the day was going it was no surprise when another Class 27 appeared and another Eastfield NB at that, thus 27026
was taken back to Edinburgh. Giving up on the Dundee circuit 47707 was taken to Glasgow on the 12.30 to view the 13.35 to Inverness which
failed to produce the desired 47/0 but instead Gateshead's 47466. This must have been delayed because we bailed at Gleneagles for the 12.30
Inverness-Glasgow, which should have made at Perth, and this turned up behind Haymarket NB 26s 023 and 021, shocking.

From Glasgow it was a fourth run of the day on 47715 on the 16.30 Edinburgh, taken to Falkirk High to return to Glasgow on 47707 on the
16.30 from the capital. Back at Glasgow once again there was the usual dash across town to view the 17.30 Central-Carlisle which was powered
by the first Class 47/0 of the day, 47156 of Gateshead. This was taken to Kirkconnel for shedmate 47414 back to Glasgow at 18.52 on the 17.40
ex-Carlisle. At Glasgow all that remained was to have 303064 and 303046 to Garscadden for some much-needed doss.
Three weeks later on August 10, another Where Were You date, I was, by stark contrast, to have probably the best day of my bashing career...

The move in full:
47617    xe ED    1H01    23.25 Edinburgh-Inverness        23.28 Haymarket-Blair Atholl    105.65
27045    xb ED    1T04    23.30 Inverness-Glasgow          02.05 Blair Atholl-Perth              35.25
47546    xe IS      1T04    23.30 Inverness-Glasgow         02.05 Glair Atholl-Glasgow         97.71
47433    xe CD    1T04    23.30 Inverness-Glasgow          04.50 Perth-Stirling                    32.87
47715    xe HA    1O02    06.20 Glasgow-Edinburgh         06.20 Glasgow-Haymarket        46.06
47715    xe HA    1O05    07.30 Edinburgh-Glasgow         07.33 Haymarket-Glasgow        46.06
47715    xe HA    1O10    08.30 Glasgow-Edinburgh         08.30 Glasgow-Edinburgh         47.30
47482    xe GD    1C66    09.40 Edinburgh-Carstairs        09.40 Edinburgh-Haymarket        1.24
27054    xb ED    2J06     08.30 Dundee-Edinburgh          09.55 Haymarket-Edinburgh        1.24
27066    xo ED    2J15     10.15 Edinburgh-Dundee          10.15 Edinburgh-Markinch         33.25
27026    xo ED    2J10     10.30 Dundee-Edinburgh          11.08 Markinch-Edinburgh         33.25
47707    xe HA    1O25    12.30 Edinburgh-Glasgow        12.30 Edinburgh-Glasgow          47.30
47466    xe GD    1H13    13.35 Glasgow-Inverness         13.35 Glasgow-Gleneagles        46.79
26023    xo HA    1T30     12.30 Inverness-Glasgow         15.27 Gleneagles-Glasgow        46.79
26021    xo HA                                                     46.79
47715    xe HA    1O42    16.30 Glasgow-Edinburgh        16.30 Glasgow-Falkirk H            21.79
47707    xe HA    1O41    16.30 Edinburgh-Glasgow        16.52 Falkirk H-Glasgow            21.79
47156    xb GD    1M56    17.30 Glasgow-Carlisle            17.30 Glasgow-Kirkconnel         52.74
47414    xei GD    1S88    17.40 Carlisle-Glasgow            18.52 Kirkconnel-Glasgow         52.74

I presume that 27026 and 27066 would have been scored but have no record of this.

   Pip Dunn writes...
"My July 20 has started with an overnight - the day before I'd had 37121 on 1V21, the popular 1425 York-Plymouth relief followed
by 37100 on the 1831 Cleethorpes-Sheffield before 45066 on the returning Scarborough-Sheffield and 45044 on 1O28, the 2100
Bradford-Weymouth. Two winning 37s and a new 45/0.

To pass the night, I did 45044 from Sheffield to Birmingham, via Nottingham to join 47402 on 1E61, the 2035 Penzance-Newcastle
to Derby which dropped me nicely for a winning 31242 piloting 47606 on the 0601 Derby-Brighton, which went forward with 47534.
The Cambrian, again, was the aim for the day, with 37230/303 the booked pair, 37258 and, interestingly, 37155/171 on the third turn
(booked for a single 37). The usual Caersws move was enjoyed. Sadly for those of us who liked rats, by this time, the extended
train from Shrewsbury to Wolves had ceased to be a pair of 25s and was usually the 37 that had worked the first turn, so it was an
extra 30 miles of 37258 to get us back to the West Midlands. With nothing else out, I headed home somewhat earlier than usual
on 1O23 with 47421.

Friday July 19 1985

86250    xe    WN    1G29    1205    Euston-Birmingham NS    Coventry    Birmingham NS    19.25
47592    xe    CF    1E91    0855    Penzance-Newcastle    Birmingham NS    Derby    41
37121    xo    TI    1V21    1425    York-Plymouth    Derby    Birmingham NS    41
45117    xe    TO    1E75    1521    Bristol TM-Leeds    Birmingham NS    Sheffield    77.5
DMU    ve    LN    2C50    1923    Sheffield-Hull    Sheffield    Doncaster    18.5
37100    xot    GD    2R20    1831    Cleethorpes-Sheffield    Doncaster    Rotherham    13
45066    xi    TO    2H15    1910    Scarborough-Sheffield    Rotherham    Sheffield    5.5
45044    xi    TO    1O28    2100    Bradford-Weymouth    Sheffield-Nottingham-Birmingham NS    107.5

Saturday July 20 1985

47402    xd    GD    1E61    2035    Penzance-Newcastle    Birmingham NS    Derby    41
31242    xi    IM    1O62    0601    Derby-Brighton    Derby    Birmingham NS    41
47606    xe    CF
47534    xe    BS                Birmingham NS    Birmingham Int    8.5
86316    xe    WN    1S53    0726    Coventry-Glasgow Central    Birmingham Int    Birmingham NS    8.5
43028    ae    LA    1M29    0614    Bristol TM-Manchester    Birmingham NS    Sandwell & Dudley    5.25
43166    ae    LA
47559    xe    CF    1O03    0818    Wolverhampton-Poole    Sandwell & Dudley    Birmingham NS    5.25
86323    xem    WN    1J20    0730    Euston-Aberystwyth    Birmingham NS    Wolverhampton    12.75
47518    xei    GD                Wolverhampton    Shrewsbury    30
37230    xot    CF                Shrewsbury    Caersws    39.25
37303    xot    LE
37258    xot    LE    1A50    1110    Aberystwyth-Euston    Caersws    Welshpool    19.5
37155    xo    IM    1J24    0935    Euston-Aberystwyth    Welshpool    Caersws    19.5
37171    xo    CF
37303    xot    LE    2J22    1340    Aberystwyth-Wolverhampton    Caersws    Shrewsbury    39.25
37230    xot    CF
37258    xot    LE                Shrewsbury    Wolverhampton    30
86248    xe    WN    1A68    1727    Wolverhampton-Euston    Wolverhampton    Birmingham NS    12.75
47421    xd    GD    1O23    1550    Liverpool-Poole    Birmingham NS    Coventry    19.25"

Richard Boyd recalls...

"The "day" in fact began on Friday evening and my
 moves were as follows:

 Friday 19 July 1985

 47292 Paddington-Twyford            18.15 Paddington-Twyford
 DMU  Twyford-Reading
 47618 Reading-Birmingham          17.05 Poole-Liverpool
 47205 Birmingham-Bristol             21.30 Manchester-Newquay

 Saturday 20 July 1985

 47402 Bristol-Sheffield                 20.35 Penzance-Newcastle
 47372 Sheffield-Birmingham         06.45 York-Portsmouth
 47589 Birmingham-Basingstoke   06.00 Bradford-Poole
 47193 Basingstoke-Stafford         11.40 Poole-Manchester
 47421 Stafford-Birmingham          15.50 Liverpool-Poole
 47627 Birmingham-Paddington     17.25 Manchester-Paddington.

 This was quite a fruitful weekend with 47292, 47589 and 47193 being
 required. What else do I recall about the weekend or consider
 noteworthy? A riot at Twyford as various bashers tried to do the ECS
 of the Twyford train to Reading - no chance, hence the unit. A
 northbound overnight on a Friday night? Well, that was a few years ago
 then, wasn't it! Some decent mileage with a couple of my required
 engines - 47589 had only recently been converted to ETH from Welsh
 "biggie" 47251. But the thing that really sticks in my mind about this
 particular weekend was simply feeling tired to the point of
 exhaustion, since I hardly got any sleep at all on the Friday night in
 spite of ample opportunity to do so. So it was perhaps understandable.
 that I was "at leisure" on the Sunday."

Nick Ross remembers...

"						19/7/85 fr
45044	2100 Bradford-Weymouth			Chesterfield-Nottingham

						20/7/85 sa
45077	2232 Leeds-Paignton			Nottingham-Leicester
47460	0005 St.Pancras-Derby			Leicester-Derby (via Nottingham)
47402	2035 Penzance-Newcastle			Derby-Sheffield
DMU	0529 Sheffield-Chesterfield		Sheffield-Chesterfield
DMU	0607 Chesterfield-York			Chesterfield-Sheffield	
37042	0710 Sheffield-Skegness			Sheffield-Nottingham
31188	0723 Chesterfield-Yarmouth		Nottingham-Peterborough
47151	0810 Birmingham-Yarmouth		Peterborough-March
31224	0935 Norwich-Birmingham		        March-Peterborough
31178	0908 Yarmouth-Newcastle			Peterborough-Grantham
47472	0930 Yarmouth-Leeds			Grantham-Nottingham
20047}	1205 Skegness-Leicester			Nottingham-Loughboro
20013}
47290	1025 Portsmouth-Leeds			Loughboro-Nottingham
43152}	1605 Nottingham-St.Pancras		Nottingham-Kettering
43055}
53425}
59163}	1710 Kettering-Bletchley		Kettering-Bletchley
53439}
082 	1825 M.Keynes-Euston			Bletchley-L.Buzzard

Additional notes:
Vast crowds of "peak bashers" at Nottingham for 45044's run round.
47460 IS 47 outrageous sight arriving at Leicester around 2am on 1P03 St Pancras-Derby
overnight 31178 large one, but would have preferred a 37.
low scores just 31188/78 and the 20's, very average East Mids Summer Saturday
DMU lively over Sharnbrook on return run 
37042 failed on return Skeg-Sheff, 31439 very dull rescue!"

Richard Rooker writes...

"All scored with the exception of 31439, which should have been winner 37042.

37036 Sheffield - Rotherham on 1M89 0715 Sheffield - Blackpool
47372 Rotherham - Sheffield on 1O27 0645 York - Portsmouth
45066 Sheffield - Rotherham on 2H10 0805 Chesterfield - Scarborough
47322 Rotherham - Sheffield on 1V80 0820 Bradford - Paignton
47358 Sheffield - Chesterfield on ???? 0940 Leeds - Poole?
47343 Chesterfield - Sheffield on ?
HST Sheffield - Chesterfield
31439 Chesterfield - Sheffield on 1E02 1043 Skegness - Sheffield (shame 37042 had failed)
HST Sheffield - Chesterfield
47290 Chesterfield - Sheffield on 1E14 1025 Portsmouth - Leeds
47378 Sheffield - Rotherham on 1E28 1005 Weymouth - Bradford
31459 Rotherham - Sheffield on 1M52 1700 Hull - Manchester "

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