By 1976 pre-nationalisation passenger coaching stock was virtually extinct however some of the last survivors were a number of London and North Eastern Railway “Gresley Buffets”. E9131 was one of these and is in use on the Manchester – Harwich boat train standing in the platform at Manchester Piccadilly on the 3rd July 1976.

Vehicle History
E9131E was built at York in 1937 (lot 761) to diagram 167 and was originally numbered 643. It is still almost forty years later mounted on Gresley bogies although its days in main line service would soon finish. In 1977 it entered preservation moving to the Severn Valley Railway and is in service as part of the “Teak Set” in 1987 the interior was rebuilt returning it to a more authentic appearance and removing the “formica/plastic” elements it had gained in the 1960’s.

Tags:   3rd July Praktica LTL Orwochrome UT18 9131 Epson 4490

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A late evening view of 20043 leading 20006 approaching Lenton North Junction with a train of loaded 24 ton unfitted coal hoppers from one of the Lean Valley collieries, 5th April 1978.

Locomotive History
20043 was originally D8043 and was built by English Electric at the Vulcan Foundry, entering traffic in November 1959, allocated to Devons Road MPD in Bow, London for cross-London transfer freight duties. On the closure of Devons Road in 1962 it transferred to Willesden. In March 1966 it transferred to Bescot and was one of a small batch of class 20’s allocated to Bescot MPD which at its peak in 1967 consisted of fifteen class 20’s (D8040 – D8044, D8134 – D8143). In January 1969 it transferred to Toton where it remained until October 1981 when it was stored along with a large number of Toton’s vacuum braked class 20 fleet due to the reduction in coal traffic from pit closures and the continued introduction of air braked MGR coal wagons. 20043 was re-instated in March 1982 and transferred to Scotland (Eastfield) only to be stored again in August 1982. Following air brake and slow speed control fitment to enable it to operate MGR coal duties it was reinstated, allocated to Eastfield in January 1983. Through out the rest of its career it was regularly transferred first to Tinsley in July 1985, followed by Immingham in July 1987, Toton in January 1989 and finally Thornaby in September 1990. It was withdrawn in July 1991 and broken up by MC Metals, Glasgow during April 1995. 20006 is one of the original batch of class 20 locomotives from 1957and was originally D8006. Withdrawal came in October 1990 and it was broken up by MC Metals, Glasgow in June 1991.

Tags:   5th April Praktica LTL Ektachrome 200 D8043 20043

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47497 stands at the head of a short train at Swansea High Street station, 5th March 1983.

Locomotive History
47497 was originally D1940, built at Loughborough and entering traffic on the 16th June 1966 allocated to West Coast Main Line duties. In May 1970 the Britannia bridge across the Menai Straits connecting mainland Wales and Anglesey was serious damaged by fire causing the main line to Holyhead to be closed. D1940 was one of three Class 47's stranded at Holyhead, it was later moved by sea across to Barrow-in-Furness. In June 1972 it transferred to the Western Region for a twelve year spell and is a local Landore allocated engine at the time of the photograph. Following spells at Gateshead and Crewe by August 1988 it was an Eastfield engine and was equipped with RCH remote control equipment for 100mph push-pull duties between Glasgow and Edinburgh and renumbered 47717. When these duties were taken over by DMU’s it transferred south to Crewe for parcel sector duties. Withdrawn in September 1996 it would take eleven years to dispose of this locomotive. Following long periods at Crewe Basford Hall, Derby and Barrow Hill it was finally dispatched to EMR, Kingsbury and broken up in March 2007.

Canon AT1, Agfacolour CT18

Tags:   5th March D1940 47497 47717 Canon AT1 Agfacolour CT18 Epson V600 New Photo Distillery

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On the cold, foggy and frosty morning of the 4th December 1976 whilst leaving Reddish MPD you could hear in the distance the distinctive sound of an approaching class 40. However by the sounds being made by the engine it was clear that the locomotive was struggling with wheelslip. Eventually 40034 appeared out of the gloom with a loaded Freightliner train travelling below walking pace and slowly passed by still struggling.

Locomotive History
40034 was built by English Electric at the Vulcan Foundry as D234 in 1959 and was one of twenty five class 40’s which carried the names of famous ocean going liners on cast brass plates, D234 being named Accra. These nameplates began to be removed by British Rail during the 1970’s, as the class 40’s were no longer considered as front line passenger engines and they were also attracting unwanted interest from "collectors". 40034 remained in service until January 1984 and was almost immediately broken up at Doncaster Works two months later.

Re-edited 4th December 2016

Praktica LTL, High Speed Ektachrome

Tags:   4th December D234 40034 Praktica LTL High Speed Ektachrome

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Wolverhampton station pilot 08765 standing in the sidings along side the station approach with the High Level station in the background circa 1974/early 1975. This locomotive is a strange choice for this duty as it is one of three Bescot class 08’s (08765, 08841, 08901) that were “waterproofed” for use as carriage pilots at Oxley carriage sidings and whose duties took them through the carriage washer on a regular basis. Part of the waterproofing can be seen along the footplate and even on this black and white photograph you can detect the worn and faded paint work.

Locomotive History
Originally D3933 it was built at Horwich works and entered traffic in March 1961. allocated to Kittybrewster MPD, Aberdeen. It transferred across the city to Aberdeen Ferryhill when Kittybrewster closed in 1967. In October 1971 it transferred south to Leicester before transfer to Bescot in April 1972. It would remain a Bescot engine for the next twenty plus years. In its latter years it could be found at Eastleigh where it was stored in May 2008. In June 2011 it was sold by DB Schenker to HNRC and moved to Washwood Heath before moving to Burton on Trent for further storage in November 2011. In February 2015 it moved to Locomotive Restoration at Shildon and by November 2016 was at Barrow Hill where it currently (December 2020) can be found.

Rescanned from original negative in lieu of print 18th December 2020

Hanimex Compact, Ilford FP4

Tags:   D3933 08765 Hanimex Compact Ilford FP4 Epson V600

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