Thursday 27th August 1987 ... Where were you?

"It was past 2am, we were on Grantham station, and it was bloody cold. The
previous day we'd had 47188 to Blackpool and back on the Notts diagram, and
then taken the last sprinter across for 1S29. This was a cunning overnight
as you could go to Newcastle and cover the vice-sprinter diagrams on the
Middlesbroughs and Carlisles, and if there was nothing out you could head
south. This day I was flapping slightly, though, as 47296 was at Derby, one
of my last five Brush 4's (47130/276/361/380 being the others - I'd fed them
through the machine the previous day and all the TE machines were well out
of the way, 380 was on repair and 130 was at Eastleigh, so no problem
there.) Being at Derby, it (47296) could do the Notts, or any relief which was ECS
from Etches Park - so a fair chance!

1S29 was an hour late, says station Bert - he doesn't know why. Eventually,
a light appears from the south - about time too. As it comes closer, though
....... oh no - lights in the sky! 31159 splutters in with the sleepers.
Normally I'd rather eat my own toes than get on a pedestrian, but it's
2.30am in Grantham. We get on. Apparently '650 had burst at Peterborough
with an AWS fault, and they had nothing else. Hmph - likely story. Anyway,
we stagger to Donny where banger blue 47538 is waiting to whisk us north.
By the time we're heading for Durham, we've got a dilemma. We're going to
miss the 0605 Newcastle-Liverpool at Newcastle - we'd have to bail at
Durham - but then we'd miss checking the vices. I decide that the 296
factor is too great and bail - in fact most of us do.

47406 has charge of M53 and we catch up on the Z's as we head for
Manchester. Once at Vic, a gen call is made. 296 is out of it, it's on a
class 9 train which turns out to be an inspection saloon. However, 188 has
taken the ECS to Bristol for the early Bristol-York relief. A quick look at
the bible sees that we can cut her off at the pass at Sheffield, so it's a
fast taxi to Picc for a 142 over to Sheffield. 188 arrives on time with
some familiar faces on board. One jumps off, comes up to me and proclaims
me to be a "lucky b*****d". "Why?" "296 is the 1342 Derby-Penzance
relief". Get in there!!!

I let 188 go and we get a quick pair of 43's down to Derby. 296 backs the
stock in, and we're off!! One down, four to go! Talk turns to how far 296
will go - the train is booked to Penzance today, but there's some doubt
about whether it'll go, or terminate at Plymouth. We decide we're taking
296 as far as she goes. As we're checked approaching Bristol, however,
there's something happening. Looks like a banger blue 47 heading north -
what's this? As we crawl towards Temple Meads, it quickly becomes apparent
it's an NB machine with the generator set, probably a Padd service. I
decide to flag it if it's a steamer, but as we get closer ... it's a slow
speeder ... it's - blimey! - 312!! "Bail!".

We peg it round the subway and pile on. Sociably, the genny van is at the
back and the barrier coach at the front is a declassified Mk2a BFK. Comfy!
And we're off, on a train that turns out to be the 1605 BTM-Padd. At
Chippenham, some more usual suspects pile on. One pokes his head into the
compo ... "Oy, you need 130, don't you?" "Yeeesss..." (thinks - surely
not...) "It's doing the 1717 Waterloo-Exeter, a vac burst...." Arggghh!!!
Unbelievable. Some frantic bible juggling produces the fact that we can
make it at Basingstoke off a DMU from Reading .... trouble is, it's only a
+20 or so off our train, which is timed (of course) for a HST, and we're not
a HST......and we left a few down to begin with..... flap!

Luckily, drive knows what he's doing, and 312 storms down the main line to
pull into Reading with at least five to spare. We pile over to the waiting
DMU in the bay - full of suits - and chug down to Basingstoke for an anxious
wait. Will they send 130 back? Will they find a spare vac? Or even a
shredder? Bite your nails time.... finally it appears in the distance ....
and it's a Brush ... surely it must be ..... it gets closer .... silver roof
... no heat ... that's it!! Two out of five in one day ... what are the
odds?

We trundle down to Salisbury, where a fitter is called to 130. Ah come on,
don't strand us here. But he gets the big hammer out and we're soon off
again, passing disgraced 50028 in the bay that had started this whole
malarkey. I offer a silent thankyou to the burst vac. Various vac bashers
appear at stations down the line, get bellowed at, and look suitably peeved
and disappear to the back of the train. Too soon we're at Exeter, where
it's a quick pair of 43's to Plymouth, for the up midnight with 47500, and
we start all over again... "

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