Thursday 20 January 1966
By the turn of the year the 'Royal Scot' got an unadvertised stop at Crewe to change traction with electric locos now working into Euston. The scheduled path was obviously later from Crewe but the original path was regained at Weedon (1603) from which point the train ran in the former 'D420' times on to Euston, arriving at 1720.
From Carlisle to Crewe we had D302 and Upperby's Driver Samuels. From Crewe the loco was E3190 and 11 vehicles, 392 tons was conveyed throughout. Departing 6mins late (1202) the train was down to 1½mins late at Carnforth (1313) thanks to 7mins recovery time but with a TSR at Eamont (31mph) and signals of 36mph at Carnforth, (then 15mph at Hest Bank). The 'Scot' was up to 6mins late at Wigan (1405) after signals at Preston (3mph) and Euxton Junction (10mph). Maximum speed up to this point had been 85mph descending from Yealand summit. However two signal stops occurred after Weaver Junction (6mins late at 1424½). We stood 1½mins at Verdins' Sidings (Vs102 signal) and a further 1min at Crewe North Junction, so arrived Crewe 10mins late (1451) for the loco change. (168mins 39secs from Carlisle ).
Departing 11mins late (at 1500) we had 140mins in which to reach Euston on time, and with only one TSR ( Stafford , 18mph) it should have been easy. It wasn't!
For whatever reason this Driver chose to run at less that Duchess/EE Type 4 speeds and contrived to lose 3mins on to Euston arriving 14mins late at 1731.
It was depressing!
After 83mph at Standon Bridge we ran through the Trent Valley in the low “70s” until after Nuneaton and then reached an exhilarating (!) 84mph at Brinklow. Passing Rugby 17mins late at 1608½ we still had 71½mins left to get to Euston on time. The only delay was 30secs stand at Leighton Buzzard's signals. Amazing to relate we took 41mins 40secs to run, the 40.2 miles remaining - unchecked!
Passing King's Langley at 80mph we drifted down to 69mph by Watford and it took until Wembley to get up to 81mph again, this became 67mph at Willesden, 57mph at Kilburn and 13mph at Camden ! Then we tiik no less than 5mins 1sec - unchecked - for the last mile down Camden bank!
Comparing this with performances I have previously related behind steam and diesels it did not bode well for the new railway.
Returning again on 1S05 the 1910 from Euston to Inverness , I had E3215 to Crewe , and the doomed D322 forward. She was to be wrecked some fourteen weeks later at Moore (south of Acton Grange Junction), in this collision with runaway soda ash wagons and never ran again. (See further comments dated 7 May below).
Uniquely to diesel and electric traction, had D322 not been destroyed the pioneer of the class D200 would have received the appropriate TOPS number 40200 instead of the then vacant 40122!
The electric loco got us to Crewe 1min early (at 2209) but after detaching two vehicles had some trouble obtaining vacuum and departing 9mins late (at 2232). As far as Crewe we had 11 vehicles, 407tons and only 9,339 from there. On to Carlisle we had TSRs at Hartford , Wigan No. 2 and Penrith. Wigan No. 1 box stopped us for 2mins but our Carlisle arrival was 4mins early at 0108.
Saturday 5 February 1966
A rerun of the previous trip on the up 'Scot' behind D342 driven by J. Edmondson of Upperby. At Crewe E3187 took over with their Driver Cobb. The load was 10,361tons. Carlisle departing was 3mins late (1159) and we ran nicely a few minutes either side of schedule as far as Weaver Junction. We had TSRs at Eamont (44mph), Eden Valley (48mph) and Greenholme (22mph). At weaver Junction we were stopped for just under from 1415 to 1435 as an EMU was having trouble at Acton Bridge, so our Crewe arrival was 11mins late (1452). Maximum speed had been 88mph at Carnforth.
E3187 took 132mins 15secs to get from Crewe to Euston with widely spaced signal checks and a dead stand at the north end of Watford Tunnel (signal WJ182) for nearly 3mins we also had TSRs at Atherstone and Queen's Park.
The Euston arrival was 9mins early (at 1711) and we had many '90s' on the trip with a maximum of 95mph at Rugeley.
Returning on 1S07, the 1940 to Inverness we had E3093 to Crewe but still had Driver's relief at Rugby . The former traction changeover diagrams were maintained for the crews, in order to minimise disruption to their rosters but obviously with the route now fit for electric traction to/from Euston it was sensible to use these locos and cascade the diesels to other work. Driver Wolfe of Rugby worked from Euston and 11,377 tons from there as one vehicle was detached and a different one attached. Euston departure was 3mins late'waiting a Secondman to accompany Driver - over 8hours on duty' my Journal records! We stood at Atherstone from 2009 to 2017 whilst an open door was investigated so the Crewe arrival was 15mins late and departure 17mins late (at 2322). Despite two signal stops at Norton Crossing (2342-2344) and Carnforth No. 1 (0059-0102) D324 got us into Carlisle dead on time (at 0223).
The EE Type 4s were gradually being cascaded to the lesser duties by this time, but could still be found occasionally at the head of crack expresses:
Monday 7 February 1966
As in 1963 I tried the Wigan run again. By that time the Brush Type 4s were appearing in greater numbers displacing the EE variants after only a few years in the locomotive top link.
The up 'Midday Scot' was again my chosen train, 1315 from Glasgow and still non-stop Carlisle (dep.1511) to Wigan (arr.1715). The schedule included 10mins recovery time for the ongoing CWR programme.
D1634 had 12,428 tons and made a mockery of the schedule. Departing 2mins late we were 1min early at Plumpton (16mins 36secs), on a 21mph TSR! Further TSRs followed at Penrith (24mph), and Eamont to Eden Valley Junction (47mph) then Greenholme (15mph). Carlisle to Tebay took 50mins 38secs. The schedule was 51mins. The same as the 'Duchess' hauled 'Royal Scot' of the late 1950'! We then had anunchecked run to Wigan but despite the Driver trying to fill in time our arrival was 4mins early in 118mins 07secs. After 49mph at Hay Fell we trundled over Yealand Summit (MP9½) at 51mph. The downgrade towards Carnforth did get us a 52mph however! After Oubeck, and filling in the excess schedule the Driver moved us up a couple of notches to reach 80 mph at Garstang and pass Preston ¾min early. It was a boring trip but all that the schedule required and was intelligently driven.
I travelled on to Liverpool on a DMU. My return to from Lime street to Wigan was on the 2235, behind 'Black Five' 45069 and we took 62mins with stops.
This was a handy connection into 1S06, the 1930 Euston to Stranraer, 2345 from Wigan . D287 only had seven coaches but we never had a chance. Departing 5mins late we were 7mins late by Lancaster (0043) after a signal stop iin Preston station from 0009 to 0014, though still only omin behind the booked passing time. There were TSRs at Yealand, dillicar, Thrimby Grange and Eamont to Redhills (Penrith South). In addition signal checks intervened from Tebay to Penrith and stand at Carlisle No. 12 from 0216 for one minute. Our Carlisle arrival was 21mins.late, at 0220½. D287 would be replaced there, probably by a Scottish Type 2.
Thursday 10 February 1966 .
D304 had charge of the 1212 Perth-Euston and I joined at Carlisle . Departure was 2mins.late (1600). An easy load of 9, 31 tons, yet despite three TSRs: Plumpton 20mph, Eamont 48mph, Greenholme 19mph, we managed the 69.10 miles to Lancaster in 78mins.12secs- (67 net), with maxima of 82mph at Scout Green and Hest Bank, making the arrival 1min.early.
Thursday 24 March 1966 .
I travelled to London on the 1600 up'Talisman' from Edinburgh to King's Cross behind 'Crepello' arriving 19mins.late.
Returning from Euston on the 2250 to Perth was quite a mixture of traction. E3193 worked to Crewe , but at Bletchley D342 was coupled 'inside' to provide steam heat.
Departure from Bletchley at 0024 was 31mins.late and four minutes were recovered to Crewe despite 6mins.overtime at Tamworth and three TSRs between Colwich and Stafford .
At Crewe the two locos were removed in favour of 'Britannia' 70025 'Western Star'. It continued to be a disastrous night, our 38min.late departure from Crewe (0252) became 89mins.late at Carlisle (0651) after all manner of delays!
My next recordings were to commence on Monday 18 April 1966. This was to be day one of Britain 's New Railway, with the full electric timetable operating between Euston and Manchester/Liverpool.
Monday 18 April 1966
This was Day One of Britain 's new railway. The inaugural day, of full electric working from Euston to Manchester and Liverpool . The line maximum speed was increased to 100mph and headways between trains became standardised at around five minutes (in some cases less). Slick turnarounds at termini were the other big culture change with 50 minutes being the average. For example and up Manchester service arriving at Euston at xx10 would form the next xx00 departure for Liverpool with the incoming loco'on the stops', until released by the departing service. On release the former incoming loco would then be available to work another departure in less than 90 minutes from arriving. This of course was only the start of the culture we take for granted nowadays although the situation today is even easier with fixed formation trains not requiring re-engining and shunt release. At this time all the electric locos were used as a common pool. Trains were not scheduled to a particular class of electric loco and what we came to know as Classes AL1 to AL6 (later, 81 to 86) were intermixed and remained so for a number of years. On this first day the successor to the 'Caledonian' was my choice, which was the 0740 Glasgow to Euston (1M18), due from Carlisle at 0931 and booked for brush Type 4 traction as far as Crewe where the stop was from 1203 to 1211, for passengers and to change traction. With a further stop at Stafford the Euston arrival was scheduled at 1415. This 6hours 35mins. Schedule was an astonishing 5mins. Faster that the 1957 steam hauled 'Caledonian' and actually 5 minutes slower than the 'Coronation Scot' of 1938!
It was no Brush 4 that drew into Carlisle 's platform 4 that day but EE Type 4 No. D324. On this day of all days one might have expected that all concerned would be on their toes as regards performance, but it was not the case. This is not criticism of the EE4s, but recognition that the schedule was framed for the higher powered Brush 4s and was thus a performance risk. There were 3 TSRs up to Crewe : Calthwaite (20mph), Penrith (48mph) and Burton & Holme (18mph) but the schedule had eight minutes recovery time for these. Together with the signal delays from Scout Green (20mph), at Tebay (12mph) through to Lowgill (27mph), Bay Horse (7mph) and Leyland (24mph) meant that our 3min.late departure had increased to a maximum of 18mins.late passing Wigan (1138½). Thankfully we then got a clear road to Crewe and with 9minutes recovery time drew into platform 4 only 8 mins. late (1212) in 157mins.20secs.from Carlisle . The maximum speed had been 82mph at Hest bank, but there was nothing higher than 79mph (at Winsford Jn.) after that.
The traction change took only seven minutes so we got away 7 minutes late (1219) behind E3107 with Driver Jones of Crewe. Suffice to say the Euston arrival was achieved 1min. early despite a signal stop on Camden Bank (EN65 signal).
I returned on the 1605 Glasgow (1S83), again on the successor to the 'Caledonian'. E3195 (with Euston Driver Oliver) got us to Crewe 9½ mins. Late (1815½) due to signals to 40mph at Ashton (Roade), a slow line diversion from Stafford to Crewe with a 3mph TSR at Bradnall Wharf (nr. Standon Bridge ). There was only one '100', in Tring Cutting.
At Crewe the late arrival expanded to a 16mins. Late departure (1831). This was the theme throughout the loco changing era at Crewe where up trains were dealt with quite slickly but down services always seemed to be overtime. Thankfully from Crewe we at least had a Brush 4 in the form of D1843. We lost a further minute on to the Wigan stop (38mins.19secs.) due to a TSR at Norton Crossing (20mph) and signals at Springs Branch (8mph). A further minute was lost there and departure was 18mins.late (at 1911). We then encountered three TSRs on to Carlisle at Hest Bank and Greenholme (both18mph) and Penrith (48mph). In addition there was a signal check at Wreay to 47mph. So we took 107mins.55secs. from Wigan to Carlisle and arrived 14 minutes late. Not really a good advertisement for the 'New Railway'
Saturday 30 April 1966 .
Less than a fortnight later and the 'New Railway' had not yet improved. I took the up ' midday Scot' from Carlisle (dep. 1507) to Crewe (1741). The train had been delayed at Carstairs by loco trouble and our departure was 32mins. Late behind D333 and 11, 394 tons in tow. Locos had been changed at Carlisle but my journal does not record the culprit that came off the train there. There were three TSRs up to Preston , at Eamont (44mph), Thrimby Grange (29mph) and Hincaster (30mph). Together with a signal check at Bolton-le-Sands (48mph) meant we took 93mins.33secs. to reach preston, recovering only ½min. despite nine minutes recovery time. The schedule of course was for brush Type 4 traction by this time, not our EE version.
Performance otherwise was quite good with 86mph at greenholme and 84mph at Carnforth. From preston (dep. 1713), still 29mins. Late, we recovered 4½mins. On to Crewe (52mins.05secs.) despite a signal check at Warrington (27mph). With the arrival there at 1805½ I thought that I was just in time to catch my train back to Carlisle at 1815. I need not have worried.
There had been a signalling failure at Nuneaton and the AL6 handed over to D1849 and departure was 32mins. Late! Three minutes were recovered to the Wigna stop (34mins15secs.) thanks to 91mph at Hartford and a 31mph TSR at Norton Crossing. The Wigan departure was 28mins.late (at 1922) and 13mins.were recovered by Tebay (2023) thanks to 85mph at Balshaw lane, 90mph at bay horse, 87mph at Carnforth and 57mph at Grayrigg.
Unfortunately the Civil Engineer then had more than his quote of TSRs (for the ongoing Long Welded Rail programme), and we had checks, with 20-27mph, from Tebay north to Scout Green, meaning the train taking 12mins. To climb Shap, losing five. After that there was 50mph at Eden Valley , 52mph at penrith and 22mph at Southwaite. We reached at 84mph at Harrison 's Sidings, 90mph at Plumpton and 85mph at Brisco, so plenty of effort between the many TSRs. So, with 10mins.recovery time from Preston we drew into Carlisle 19mins.late (at 2105) having taken 103mins.13secs from Wigan .
Friday 20 May 1966 .
Another return trip to Crewe . The up 'Midday Scot' had D1844, and she ran a competent trip taking 95mins.52secs. from Carlisle to Preston arriving 2mins.late, due to three TSRs between Penrith and Shap Summit, plus a further one at Galgate. From Euxton Jn. To Wigan we suffered severe signals all the way and were 9mins.late at Weaver Jn. However 6mins. Recovery time helped us into Crewe 5mins. late after a two minute stop at Crewe North Jn. 59mins.38secs.from Preston .
The down 'Caledonian' was entrusted to D340 and our departure was 3mins.late (181). Two minutes were recovered to the Wigan stop (34mins.45secs.) despite severe signals at Warrington (3mph!) and being routed through the slow line platform. We had reached an efficient 88mph at Weaver Jn.
Punctual from Wigan (1854) on a timing framed for a Brush Type 4 we were only ¾min. late at Lancaster (1933) despite a 19mph TSR at Galgate. Matters then deteriorated. Severe signals at hest bank and we were down to 7mins.late at Carnforth (1945). There were further TSRs at Hincastr (18mph) and Scout Green (22mph), both awkward locations and we now 12mins.late over the Summit (2026½).
After reaching 92mph between Bessie Ghyll and Clifton & Lowther the train came to a stand at Eden Valley for 9½ mins. As the engine had stopped!
Thankfully it restarted and the effort resumed with speeds 82mph and 85mph from Plumpton to Brisco including as easing to 75mph around the Wreay curve. A final severe signal check at No.5 and the Carlisle arrival was a disappointment 21mins.late (2107) in 132mins.42secs. from Wigan .
Tuesday 21 June 1966 .
I had been on a trip from Carlisle to Liverpool behind non-'Whistler' traction, and the last leg of the journey home from Wigan was on the 0006 departure
(the 2040 Euston - Stranraer of Monday night-'The Northern Irishman') behind D218 driven by Gordon Edmondson of Carlisle . The load was 9, 315 tons.
Department from Wigan was punctual, and the Carlisle arrival 2mins early (at 0212) despite 3mins standing at signals at Preston No.1 and a TSR at Southwaite.
PAULS 1965 LOGS PAULS 1970`s LOGS
