Page last Updated :  23-08-03  We wanted a date in 83 and this one was as good as any ... chosen after a number of people contacted  us in response to conflicting reports posted elsewhere on this site ... Below, a selection of gen, moves and anecdotes from the day in question...  First up, a list of NB gen from back in the day...   20159+20190 1E28 0856 Derby - Skegness   20159+20190 1M06 1915 Skegness - Derby, (Not Advertised)    20160+20180 1E29 0831 Derby - Skegness, (Not Advertised)    20160+20180 1M83 18.00 Skegness - Derby    20163+20172 1E26 0825 Leicester - Skegness    20163+20172 1M88 18.55 Skegness - Leicester   25079+25176+87025(Drag) 1S63 1245 Euston - Glasgow , between Bletchley - Rugby    25251+25287+8????(Drag) 1G24 1000 Euston - Wolverhampton , between Bletchley - Rugby    25265+862??(Drag) 1P31 1300 Euston - Blackpool , between Bletchley - Rugby    25265+8????(Drag) 1F19 1040 Euston - Liverpool Lime Street , between Bletchley - Rugby    25266+86207(Drag) 1D58 0850 Euston - Glasgow , between Bletchley - Rugby    25266+8????(Drag) 1S57 0945 Euston - Glasgow C , between Bletchley - Rugby    25266+8????(Drag) 1H32 1150 Euston - Manchester P , between Bletchley - Rugby    25266+86207(Drag) 1D58 0850 Euston - Holyhead , between Bletchley - Rugby    25315+8????(Drag) 1H30 0950 Euston - Manchester P , between Bletchley - Rugby    31231 1E77 1655 Birmingham NS - Norwich    31235 1L91 0835 Wakefield Westgate - Scarborough    31235 1L31 11.00 Scarborough - Leeds    31235 1L91 1858 Scarborough - Wakefield Westgate   37019 1D03 0840 Cambridge - Skegness    37019 1P61 1827 Skegness - Cambridge   37079 ???? 1800 Bridlington - Doncaster BRSA charter via Hull avoiding line    40001 2G14 1100 Dundee - Edinburgh Waverley    40028 1A05 0800 Wolverhampton - Euston, between Birmingham NS - Nuneaton    40028+87024(Drag) 1A14 1200 Wolverhampton - Euston, between Birmingham NS - Nuneaton    40028+87015(Drag) 1G28 1200 Euston - Wolverhampton, between Nuneaton - Birmingham NS    40093  ???? ???? Stranraer H - Euston, relief (Crewe-Stafford at least)    40122 1Z12 ????  -  The Hadrian Pullman Railtour between London King's Cross Warcop  charter    40122 1Z12 ????  -  The Hadrian Pullman Railtour between Warcop - London King's Cross  charter    40133 ???? ???? Blythe Bridge - Blackpool N, charter    40150 1J16 0920 Holyhead - Manchester Victoria , service started Bangor    40150 1D40 1436 Manchester Victoria - Llandudno    40150 1J40 1827 Llandudno - Manchester Victoria    45036 1O92 15:18 Leeds - Portsmouth, to Birmingham NS   45057 ???? 0005 St Pancras - Sheffield , to Ilkeston GF & from Nottingham    45070 1D35 0950 Manchester Vic - Llandudno    45070 1J22 1440 Llandudno - Manchester    45070 1D68 1845 Manchester - Holyhead   46051 1M67 12.19 York - Liverpool LS    47061 1M15 1548 Paddington - Manchester P, to Birmingham NS    47077 1V79 0825 Manchester P - Bristol TM, from Birmingham NS    47077 1E08 1425 Bristol TM - Leeds   47093+862??(Drag) 1F28 1255 Euston - Liverpool , between Bletchley - Rugby    47113 1H01 2350(30/7) Euston - Manchester, ( presume from Stafford )    47213 1N13 00.05 Kings Cross - Newcastle    47224 2L12 0844 Chesterfield - Scarborough    47224 2J12 1935 Scarborough - Chesterfield    47317 1M03 1159 Portsmouth - Manchester P, to Birmingham NS    47434+81011(Drag) 1M16 1930(30/7) Inverness - Euston, between Preston - Crewe    47453 1S70 21.00 Kings Cross - Aberdeen    47588 1M15 1548 Paddington - Manchester P, from Birmingham NS    56033 1Z39 1033 Birmingham - Scarborough, Charter    56062 1G26 1100 Euston - Wolverhampton, Between Nuneaton - Birmingham NS See also  July 1983 Diary  ] Conflicts Resolved .  Alan Baylis writes... "The delays from yesterday (30/7/83) meant that we couldn't even get back to Birmingham for 1S19 and the overnight  move.  When that arrived at Wolves it was a standing room only train.  I was pleased to get off at Crewe for another  train to Preston even though it was air-con stock.  47590                         Wolverhampton - Crewe                 2124 Bristol - Glasgow 1S19  47451 (& 87010)      Crewe - Preston via Manchester        2225 Euston - Perth 1S25  Within minutes of my arrival at Preston I ran into those with the gen and was heading south to cover the dragging  at Bletchley.  47330 (& 87005)      Preston - Crewe via Manchester        2210 Glasgow - Euston 1M10  47434 (& 81011)      Crewe - Stafford                               1930 Inverness - Euston 1M16  81011                        Stafford - Rugby  EMU(310088)           Rugby - Bletchley                              0720 Rugby - Euston  Ten of us sat for two hours at Bletchley waiting for 25266 to work and most of us were happy when it did the first  train!  Less happy were those who wanted 25198 which should have been with it but for a last minute brake failure.  25266 (& 86207)      Bletchley - Rugby                              0945 Euston - Glasgow  86207                         Rugby - Stafford  47452 (& 86207)      Stafford - Crewe  Today's railtour had four new engines on the return leg for me and to cover that I joined the Pete Jones fast car move  from Crewe to Scarborough.  I fell asleep several times until the exhaust literally fell off the car!  After that the noise  kept everyone (and the locals) awake.  As for the tour it was almost an hour late into Birmingham.  Fast car (number not recorded)     Crewe - Scarborough  56122                         Scarborough - Doncaster               1715 Scarborough - Plymouth 1Z39  20179 & 20191         Doncaster - Toton  56033                         Toton - Birmingham" Nick Ross recalls... "Cliff advised of a down isolation at Bletchley and he was right with an impressive drag line up of 2 single rats,  a pair and 47093.  25266 then 25079/176 were raked in on Bletchley - Rugbys, then 310073 was joined at  Rugby for a plus 20 at the Keynes onto 25265 on the last drag. Unfortunately a traction motor fire on 073  saw me literally hauled off the train by the cheerless Northhampton supervisor. After a flap for a replacement  and a reversal due to the Up crossover being isolated we crossed 25265 on the last drag at Roade.  At Nottingham later in the evening vast crowds were out for 40122 return to service tour. 20172/20163 took  me to Leicester whilst the Stranraer/Fort Bill was joined at Nuneaton with the usual appalling wedge but roarer  power.   070        0913 Euston - Bletchley           LB-BL  25266}  0850 Euston - Glasgow            BL-RU  86207}  86238    0900 Manchester - Euston       RU-WJ  87025    1245 Euston - Glasgow           WJ-BL  25079}  1245 Euston - Glasgow           BL-RU  25176}  87025(d)}   47093    1255 Euston - Liverpool  862xx(d}  073        1436 Rugby - Euston               RU-NO (fail-fire)  084        1436 Rugby - Euston               NO-MK  25265}  1300 Euston - Blackpool  862xx(d)}  86248    1600 Euston - Carlisle              MK-NU   47563    1715 St.Pancras - Derby  DMU     1730 Birmingham - Peterborough     NU-LS  HST       1800 St.Pancras - Sheffield              LS-NO  20160}  1800 Skegness - Derby  20180}   20163}  1855 Skegness - Leicester                NO-LS  20172}  47536    1850 St.Pancras - Nottingham  45052    ???? Bridlington - Wellinborough Charter  31160    ???? Birmingham - Cambridge  31422    1800 Norwich - Birmingham            LS-NU  20159}  1915 Skegness - Derby Addit   20190}   37019    1826 Skegness - Cambridge  85040    2100 Euston - Stranraer/Fort William     NU-ME" SUDBURY writes... "This was the day of the 'White Rose Rambler' railtour so I, along with some other 'regulars' were on the tour instead  of going to Skeg as usual.  However my move to get into the tour involved 20159 and 190 from Derby to Notts so I can confirm they were  on a train from Derby to Skeg that day.  I also have a gen sheet that I compiled that day that notes 20159/190 as being the Derby - Skeg main train, the relief  being 20160/180 on one of their innumerable visits to Skeg that year. This 'relief' actually ran every Sunday without  fail through the main part of the summer in 1983 and was actually in the WTT as an 'N' ( unadvertised ) rather than a  'Q' ( as required ) train.   My notes also show the following :-  Leicester - Skeg 20172/163  Cambridge - Skeg - 37019  Chesterfield - Scarborough - 47224.  The tour was 56033 to Toton Centre, 20179/191 (for which big pair we paid 20 quid only for them to go to skeg the  following Sunday!) to Doncaster via the now-closed Bottesford - Newark line and 56122 forward to Scarborough via  Bridlington. At Brid me and some others baled off when we saw 37079 (v. big at the time) in the sidings on some  stock; We had it on the (reporting number not known) 1800 return BRSA charter to Doncaster via the Hull avoiding  chord line where we made it back onto the tour on about a plus five! We were gripped by a very topical Len  Fairclough lookalike on the Charter who like his namesake probably went off to molest some children afterwards!  Other gen I have for that Sunday is that the 0005 St Pancras - Sheffield was 45057 with a diesel loco drawback from  Ilkeston Groundframe in the early hours of Sunday morning to Nottingham which was 47536." .Tim Proudman tells us ... "My book records thus:-   1E29 0831 Derby-Skeg relief 20160+180;   1E26 (  0825 Leicester - Skegness ) which I took forward from Nottingham to Skeg itself.   I returned on the 3rd pair out, 20159+190 which worked 1M06 back from Skeg, which I took all the way to Derby."  While Neil Hirst reports ... "I had 37 019 ( 1D03 0840 ex Cambridge ) to Skegness and came out with 20 160/180 on the 18.00  Skegness - Derby. I suspect that these worked in on the Derby. There was a period that year when Control  were sending down a Relief..."  'UD' writes ... "I decided to cover 'The Drags' that day.  Something I hadn't expected was the sight of split-box 40133 with a Blythe -  Bridge - Blackpool charter.  The Derby - Stoke route usually closed until well into the afternoon.  Despite living less than 50 miles away the train service was such than an overnight or a fast car move was a requirement  to cover any of the first three Euston trains.  The 1st Euston - Wolves was also ruled out.  The only move would appear  to be the 1V79 0825 Manchester P - Bristol TM, which was the first available service.  This could produce something,  but today it was 47534. Arriving at New Street, 47077 was waiting to take 1V79 forward and 56033 was just  departing with the 'White Rose Rambler' railtour.  Though required North Star was turned down in favour of a hour  long fester.  Also required, 40028 was already in platform 4 awaiting the arrival of 1A14 1200 ex Wolves.  Plenty of  time for a photo then.  That hour passed slowly with only 47432 1H31 New St - Manchester P departing shortly after we arrived, 50018  arriving with 1S61 0850 Paddington  - Glasgow around mid-day, then 31422 bringing in the stock for the 1E76 to  Norwich.  87024 arrived on 1A14, then it was pan down, and away with the Whistler.  En-route we would pass the 1G26 1100  ex Euston.  If, instead of going straight to New St, we had waited at Stoke for the 1A11 0900 Manchester - Euston,  or baled off 1V79 for it at Stafford and taken 1A11 down to Rugby we could have covered 1G26.  As was more  often the case than not back then, we set of blind, without gen so what ever we did it there was a bit of risk we  would get bowled.  Imagine then seeing a 56 at the head of 1G26!  Fortunately it was 56062 and a dud.  So far, the move was:  47534 1V79 0825 Man P - Bristol TM                    Stoke - New St.  40028+87024(Drag) 1A14 1200 Wolves - Euston   New St - Nuneaton  This was followed by:  40028+87015(Drag) 1G28 1200 Euston - Wolves   Nuneaton - New St  While on 1G28, 47590 was passed heading for Nuneaton on 1A20.  The next train, 1A23 would be the last Euston bound Drag ( unless dragging over ran, which was not unknown ) and  we would make that at Wolves, so:  87015 1G28                                                             New St - Wolves  1A23 was usually diesel hauled from Wolves to Nuneaton, the electric loco removed from 1J32 1400 Euston -  Shrewsbury would take it forward.  47590 would probably be working 1J32 between Nuneaton - Shrewsbury.  45125 1A23 1500 Wolverhampton - Euston             Wolves - New St  At New Street 47317 was detached off 1M03 1159 Portsmouth - Manchester P, replaced by 86247.  Then, the next few trains were all to cover 1M15 which we had always been lucky with in the past:  86247 1M03 1159 Portsmouth - Manchester P       New St - Wolves  87010 1V98 0920 Glasgow C - Paddington            Wolves - New St  ( 31231 was turned down on 1E77 1655 New St - Norwich ).  47440 1V98 0920 Glasgow C - Paddington            New St - Leamington Spa  47061 1M15 1548 Paddington - Manchester P       Leamington Spa - New St  47588 1M15 1548 Paddington - Manchester P       New St - Stoke ( Vice electric )".

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