Jan 2nd 1982. End of the Deltic era!

[sandwhich]

I remember this day well 34 years ago believe it or not, British Rail laid on a last special and it made BBC News. These locos lasted 22 years which seems a bit short considering other types from the same era some which are still in service (Class 37s & 47s). They were reliable but expensive to operate, there was talk of running them on cross country services after they were finished on the East Coast but of course nothing came of it. Come Jan 3rd 1982 some were lined up outside Clarence Yard depot awaiting a tow to the scrap yards. A sad sight indeed.

[STAFFORDA4]

Thanks for the recollection. I recall being amazed that the final rites at The Cross appeared on National TV news that night....not sure if BBC or ITV

[Mickey]

The steam guy's (the loco spotter's in the early/mid 1960s) didn't like them or any diesels for that matter 'mechanical boxes on wheels' they'd say for replacing there beloved A3s & A4s but because the Deltics were designed to run over the ECML they were 'our locos' and over a period of time became well liked by many of us along the ECML the sight & sound of a Deltic working flat out Up & Down the ECML with there trains of B.R.Mk1 & Mk2 coaches behind them from the mid/late 1960s & 1970s still evokes strong memories of good times passed for me of seeing them tearing through Welwyn Garden City station doing 100mph with there trains behind them, exciting stuff indeed.

I rode on them a few times as a secondman at Kings Cross (1974-75) when i was on 'Engine movements' with a driver mainly just taking them from the Passenger Loco over to the station or vice versa although in the summer of 1975 i did have about 3 main line rides on them one week on a Kings Cross-Leeds-Kings Cross diagram the Down working was with a Brush class 47 but the Up return working was with a Deltic back up to 'the cross' i think we arrived back in London around 7:pm and being in the summertime it was a daylight run all the way Up.

Another ride i had on one as a secondman again during the summer of 1975 was on the return half working of a 'Newcastle lodge job' that i fell in for by chance when the secondman who was booked on the diagram 'blew it in' one Friday night. The first part of the diagram was working the 1:00am Newcastle Down from Kings Cross with a Brush class 47 on the front arriving at Newcastle around 6:00am that morning but the return working back Up to London was with a Deltic on the '1st Mails' back Up to Kings Cross so after 'lodging' in a Newcastle hotel room all day during the Saturday (The West Parade hotel) myself and my driver and the guard walked down to the station to relieve a 'northern train crew' off the arriving train at around 10:30pm on the Saturday night and the train came in with a Deltic on the front which was great!!. Anyway the journey southwards back Up to Kings Cross was interesting because a couple of miles south of Doncaster we were turned off the main line at Black Carr Junction due to engineering works on the main line south of Black Carr Junction for a 'moonlight' run over the branch re-joining the ECML at Werrington Junction (north of Peterborough) the rest of the journey was uneventful and we completed the journey in darkness arriving back up no.1 platform at Kings Cross at the unholy hour of around 3:25am on a quiet Sunday morning.

Mickey

[sandwhich]

Yes the early diesels were not well received mainly because they were draughty and the crews expected something better, the Deltics were no different but of course they were also noisy and double doors to the engine room were fitted as well as a "curtain" across the cab to reduce the noise and draughts. They could also catch out pilot drivers not familiar with this traction. The control handle had to opened more slowly than other traction or there would be a loud overload. One Saturday night probably on what was then still known as the first mail we were diverted around March where we picked up a pilotman who opened the controller a bit quicker than he should have done BANG, my driver had to explain the differences between the Deltics and other traction. Secondmen were also issued with ear plugs because the train heating boiler was placed in the middle of the engine room between the two engines and sometimes you had to go in there and sort something out, these locos were eventually fitted with electric train heating so we didn't have to do that job anymore.

[Mickey]

Those twin Napier turbines were as LOUD AS HELL if you had to go into the engine compartment while the loco was working flat out on the main line it was a nightmare to be honest.

I saw that film footage on dvd a few years ago of i think no.15 Nimbus arriving at 'the cross' to a hero's welcome on the last run Up from Edinburgh in 1982 and when she entered the station the thousands of wellwisher's there gave her a huge round of applause as she rolled in, it was quite moving actually.

The commentator on the dvd said that when the Deltics first entered service a few loco spotter's of the day would use them as a toilet for displacing the A3s & A4s but in time they gradually became liked by many and by the time of the last run a guy is seen kneeling down on the platform beside Nimbus in tears kissing the loco.

"Thats the old Deltic magic..."


Mickey

[Hatfield Shed]

Those twin Napier turbines were as LOUD AS HELL if you had to go into the engine compartment while the loco was working flat out on the main line it was a nightmare to be honest...

But to the young linesiders like me they were the sole compensation for losing our wonderful Doncaster pacifics. From first hearing the varied 'song' of the type from DP1, I was smitten. On a frosty still night I could hear them at home from South of Hatfield to emerging from Welwyn North North Tunnel. They just don't make stuff like that any more.

[brsince78]

Final scenes at Kings Cross on the evening of 2nd January 1982.....

[Mickey]

Those twin Napier turbines were as LOUD AS HELL if you had to go into the engine compartment while the loco was working flat out on the main line it was a nightmare to be honest...

But to the young linesiders like me they were the sole compensation for losing our wonderful Doncaster pacifics. From first hearing the varied 'song' of the type from DP1, I was smitten. On a frosty still night I could hear them at home from South of Hatfield to emerging from Welwyn North North Tunnel. They just don't make stuff like that any more.

Yeah totally agree Hatfield the old 'Detic hum' became a normal sound on the ECML for me from about 1967 through to about 1976. In clear calm weather if i was standing on Welwyn Garden City station you would hear a Deltic approaching on a Down express from the south when it was at the 'sand hole bridge' that was the bridge that use to be before the 20th Mile bridge but was swept away due to electrification in the mid 1970s and on the Up road on a good day when the weather was calm and clear sometimes when it had just crossed over the Welwyn viaduct at Digswell and was approaching WGC station at speed!!.

In the past at Welwyn Garden City usually due to crossing trains over from the Down to the Up side (before the Welwyn flyover was in daily use circa 1974) if an Up express had got a 'signals check' when approaching WGC which was fairly common at onetime once it 'got the road' through WGC the driver would open the controller wide open usually producing an exhaust plume of smoke that would shoot skywards as the train got back underway again (sometime accompanied by a blast on the locos 2 tone horn when passing the box!!) all very dramatic stuff the samething use to happen at Hitchin's Cambridge Junction as well if an Up express got a signals check when approaching Hitchin usually because a Cambridge train had been crossed over to the Cambridge branch in front of an Up express the Cambridge Junction signalman would just 'straighten the road up' behind the Cambridge train and 'whip the boards off' just as the Deltic was rounding the curve at Cambridge Junction with the same effect as at Welwyn Garden City the driver would open the controller wide open to get the train back underway.

Mickey

[PinzaC55]

I well remember my first trip to Doncaster after the fateful day. A Class 25 came into the station hauling the morning local from Cleethorpes and I thought "Oh no, is the best I am ever going to see at Donny ? !
Can you imagine if a Rat worked a local train now ?

[Andy W]

I remember the day well. After seeing No 15 off the depot, we waited by the lineside (actually the site of Western Sidings) to see it go through. No 2 was rumoured to be the the loco that should have worked it but that had failed a few days before. No 15 was sent south and very hurriedly prepared at Clarence Yard into FP livery, only the white springs visibly remaining from it's York guise.

The return working was actually done by No 0 (or 22 in new money), as scheduled.

The three demics in the yard were No 13 (withdrawn a few days before Xmas), No 8 (failed with flat batts on the 31st) and No 17, which had failed on the last down service working on the 31st and had to come back. All three were hauled off to Plant a few days later.

By the way, No 15 is Tulyar, not Nimbus - that was No 20.

[silverfox]

Back in 1958, when i started school at Trinity Grammar, we soon found out that within 5 mins of hard running we could get to Wood Green Station. ( hence only one O level in maths). As the 233 stopped outside the station, every morning from 08.00 to 0835 was spent on the platform,8.45 if we had wind of late running overnights . The choice of early morning drink was,at the time a Jubbly, remember them? a whole 4d.the local newsagent in the road opposite also froze them, ideal in the hot summer mornings. One day a blue screaming monster came through on the 08.20 ex KX. We had only heard of this beast on the LM main line, what was it doing here? TI and RM soon confirmed our fears and thereafter this 'thing' entered the south end of Wood Green Blue and left the north end covered in orange streaks on the RH side. 4d was never spent better, and we also suffered the ignomy of seeing the Heart Of Midlothian 13.00 ex KX being hauled by a Brush type 2 several times. The first time it occured we though the loco had failed and they had put the CBE which left at 13.10, out in front of it,but nooo.this was the shape of things to come
So fast forward to 1976 and my long distance courting the future Mrs Fox who at the time resided in Edinburgh £19.00 was spent every fortnight on a weekend return and the alternate weeks she travelled south but for 17.00!!!. We managed to be hauled by all 22 ,and she had the added bonus of going back home on the inaugural Silver Jubilee, along with a glass of champagne and an acrylic comermorative paperweight ( got cine of the southbound arrival at KX that evening) Junior fox managed a fair bit of haulage up to 1981 although at 3yo i doubt if he remembers much, but a Family railcard helped defray the costs. When er dad paid his regular visits we picked him up at KX and i got all except 2 on film, but not many were taken at Waverley. Yep they took some getting used to ,but i got to like them from 1976 onwards. My only regret is that video was not around in 1981, when on late afternoon on Wood Green Station doing a bit of observing, three locos all L/E came through doing insane speeds and the howl was heared before they came out of the tunnel. the station shook as it blasted through.Also managed to get some revenue haulage on Sats with a TfL travelcard on the Virgin Margate-Brum route from East Croydonto Kenny O, although sometimes we did travel through to Reading. Yep, all in all i got to like them.

[StevieG]

" .... In the past at Welwyn Garden City usually due to crossing trains over from the Down to the Up side (before the Welwyn flyover was in daily use circa 1974) if an Up express had got a 'signals check' when approaching WGC which was fairly common at onetime once it 'got the road' through WGC the driver would open the controller wide open usually producing an exhaust plume of smoke that would shoot skywards as the train got back underway again (sometime accompanied by a blast on the locos 2 tone horn when passing the box!!) .... Mickey "

.... One or two of the signalmen I knew in that area referred to the horn-blowing in such circumstances as 'blowing ar***oles' at the Box, for making what was presumed to be an unnecessary error in judging correct priorities of movements' sequences [sometimes true, no doubt : Sometimes, trying to achieve minimal delays in total, by making a necessary but un-timetabled shunt of a train across, at a time that was either a tight 'margin' between on-time (or late) runners (or having to make such a move that the timetable just didn't cater for without delaying something); on occasion, with signals for the 'shunt' already 'Off', let down by crew or platform staff not (or unknowingly being unable to) start the move as soon as anticipated].

[andro]

I have many good memories of the Deltics, beginning with watching the prototype on its test train through Stevenage - 1960? I still have a photo of it somewhere, taken with the old Brownie box camera. Perhaps the best memory of the production series was rushing out from school in Letchworth to see the inaugural run of the XP64 set as the afternoon Talisman, hurtling north through Three Counties and looking stunning in the original green livery (still my favourite) with the blue and grey carriages behind it, and the most heavenly sound ever to come out of a locomotive. The experience of riding behind one and accelerating up Stoke Bank was amazing at that time. I have always felt that they made a bigger difference to the railway and public perception of it than any other diesel. The EE Type 4 was a fine looking locomotive to my eye, but barely outperformed the pacifics, and perhaps didn't equal the best. The Deltics did things that had never been done before and the general public knew it; not just us lineside lurkers. It was a great time to be watching trains and riding in them.

[Mickey]

" .... In the past at Welwyn Garden City usually due to crossing trains over from the Down to the Up side (before the Welwyn flyover was in daily use circa 1974) if an Up express had got a 'signals check' when approaching WGC which was fairly common at onetime once it 'got the road' through WGC the driver would open the controller wide open usually producing an exhaust plume of smoke that would shoot skywards as the train got back underway again (sometime accompanied by a blast on the locos 2 tone horn when passing the box!!) .... Mickey "

.... One or two of the signalmen I knew in that area referred to the horn-blowing in such circumstances as 'blowing ar***oles' at the Box...

Yes you are correct Stevie in your interpretation of what was really meant by a blast on the locos 2 tone horn by many driver's & secondmen but i didn't know how to post it lol ha ha ha...

Back at Welwyn Garden City box I remember one day that i can still remember quite well a Up express Deltic hauled received a severe signals check when approaching WGC and was nearly brought to a stand at the Up fast line outter home signal no.34 (co-acting arms on a tall lattice post) this was in part due to the late clearing of the Up fast line outter home signal it's self and was in turn due to the then construction of the 'Welwyn flyover' during most of 1973 which meant that ALL southbound traffic even the usual local x2 car Craven units starting from WGC that would normally be routed along the Up slow line they even had to be run over the Up fast line as well between WGC & Hatfield because the Up slow line was BLOCKED under a engineers possession between 10:00 & 16:00hrs daily Mon-Fri anyway no.34 signal was cleared to allow the express to approach the Up fast line inner home signal no.33 at danger on the gantry at the Hunter's Road bridge but in the meantime the express 'got the road' through WGC soon after so the Up fast line inner home signal no.33 and the Up fast line starter no.32 (on the approach to the 20th Mile bridge) were both 'whipped off' to clear and the Deltic driver opened the controller with a lot of exhaust fumes going skywards to get his train back underway again but as i watched the express about to pass the box i noticed from the open side window of the secondman's cabside a uniformed arm appear making a slow hand and wrist gesture up & down!?!? lol ha ha ha ...

I never forgot that funny enough 43 years on.

Mickey

[Hatfield Shed]

...at the 'sand hole bridge' that was the bridge that use to be before the 20th Mile bridge but was swept away due to electrification in the mid 1970s ...

Amongst the original residents of 'The Hyde' the straggling agricultural hamlet on the ground that is now built over as WGC East of the railway, that was always 'sand pit bridge'; the 'sand pit' in question being the sand and gravel quarry West of the line that was later exploited to create the Gosling stadium sports ground bowl. 'Fossilised' in the residential street names of WGC is a Sandpit Lane, and its alignment if extended West to the railway hits the former site of the now demolished bridge.

But there was a siding on the up side of the line, which would originally have been off the Hertford branch, and evidence of earlier sidings, by the bridge: that was very definitely known as 'Sand Hole siding'. This was swept away along with the old bridge when electrification and the associated construction of the WGC flyover occurred in the 1970s. With the leaves down, and especially if the brush has been cut back, once can still see some of the old siding alignments as cuts in the shallow cutting side.

This was a great playground in the fifties and early sixties for the local ruffianly kids - one of whom was me - as there was broken equipment everywhere from an old aerial ropeway system that once conveyed the sand and gravel from the final working pits via the bridge to the siding. And of course there was the ECML right alongside, and at one time conveniently positioned upright in the 10 foot between the slow and fast some quite large diameter concrete pipes from which to do the trainspotting. You could see 'for miles' from these, so if authority appeared one could disappear into the scrubby woodland long before they got close.