Another "cop" James B

[james b]

While writing out my "childhood memories" I have mentioned the 5 years I went "Train spotting" ..{1958-1963}.....for my grand children .

So I started to research the "Northern Railfans club" .....and so I found this site through this project.
I have a few photos of those times taken with my "brownie 127 "
While looking over the site ,I notice a lot of memories.
During the years 1978-1988... we lived at Oakworth .

I had bought a Newsagent , and I had a collection of B/W POSTCARDS printed .
Here is one I had done about the Railway .

Jim

[james b]

How I started my hobby "Train spotting"

I expect I went down the same line as many of my generation did at the time .

During the 1950,s I did not pass my 11 plus ,And so I was sent to Saltaire Secondary School.
At the bottom of the play ground was the main London to Glasgow railway line. And during play-time I spent my time watching the locos, taking passenger and freight trains ,up and down .With in a few weeks ,I made great pals with a few of my new play mates at the school, and I was told all the "nick names " the different engines were called.
One Saturday morning ,I meet up with a few of the lads ,and we went along to "Shipley bend " as it was known in our select group .It was a excellent position of capturing the views of all the trains that either ,went round the bend ,or through Shipley station to Bradford.
After a good few Saturdays , sitting on the bend ,during the autumn months, I needed some where dryer ,So I did a few chores around the house, and managed to save up enough pennies to get a "return ticket " to Leeds city station.

That first time ,standing on the longest platform ,with all the other "train spotters " At Leeds , had me completely smitten ,
It would be another few years , when I had to change school.
They had built a huge new one at Baildon ,where I lived ,I thought I might lose the enjoyment of seeing the trains .But NO !!!
By this time ,I had twisted my parents arm to buy me the "Trains Illustrated" each month, That's when I decided to join the "Northern Railfans Club " And for the rest of my days at school ,I went on as many trips I could afford ,with my "brownie 127"

My main Christmas gift was the Ian Allen combine for the year, plus just for good measure ,"Trains Illustrated" Annual.

In 1963 ,we moved house , to a farm in the sticks e/Yorkshire where I worked with my father full time .
And so my story ends there....Train Spotting.

Jim


The photo ,is of the very first I took at Shipley. Note in album .. A north bound freight for Carlisle.
It was a wet day .....

[james b]

This is a another view of Shipley station, where I took the photo ,I was at the other side of the signal box. The date of this image ,I am not sure , during the years I was there , these diesel units ,ran to Skipton and on the other platform to Leeds city station. Other units ran to Ilkley station

Jim

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up, Jim!

The picture of the DMU is post 1962. This was the date at which the large warning panel was applied.

[james b]

many thanks Blink Bonny



This a photo I took on the other side of Shipley station , it is 43113 heading for Bradford. approx. 1959

The second photo ,was taken at Shipley ,it was the parcel train from Leeds

jim

[james b]

While looking over the auction site , I came across the photo of Baildon station.

And to this day ,thE station buildings are just about the same ,as in the photo ,

What took my eye was the person sat on the platform ,with his legs hanging over the side .

In the fifties there was a bus strike, and for my father to get to work in Bradford , he walked down to Baildon station to catch a train to Foster Square station ,first thing in the morning.
It was nearly three years ago , since I caught a train from Ilkley to Baildon , to collect our car from a garage near by .

Jim

[Bryan]

This is a another view of Shipley station, where I took the photo ,I was at the other side of the signal box. The date of this image ,I am not sure , during the years I was there , these diesel units ,ran to Skipton and on the other platform to Leeds city station. Other units ran to Ilkley station

Jim

That photo is of Shipley Platform 1. Unit heading for Skipton via Shipley Bingley Jcn.
Behind the unit is Shipley Bradford Jcn heading for Bradford Forster Square.
The lines to the left are the main lines to Leeds via Shipley Guiseley Jcn and Shipley Dockfield Jcn.
Yard in the centre is now a carpark.
Main lines only had a platform on the Down line so Up trains needed to crossover and run wrongline for the platform.
This situation changed in about 1993 with the remodellings for Leeds North West Electrification when a platform was added on the Up.

[kudu]

How I started my hobby "Train spotting"

I expect I went down the same line as many of my generation did at the time .

During the 1950,s I did not pass my 11 plus ,And so I was sent to Saltaire Secondary School.
At the bottom of the play ground was the main London to Glasgow railway line. And during play-time I spent my time watching the locos, taking passenger and freight trains ,up and down .

As someone who lived close to THE London-Glasgow line, I was thrown for a moment, james, as to where this other Saltaire was, but thanks for your recollections and photos. It was perhaps fortunate from the point of view of my education that my schools weren't quite as close to a railway as yours. But I envy you your Brownie. Sadly I missed the opportunities to photograph what I was seeing.

I shan't bother with any recollections of my own here as a few years back I posted quite a long piece describing a walk through the tangle of my local lines, finishing at a splendid location overlooking the GW main line but with the chance to see locos from the other three post-Grouping companies as well. It's called "A Place by the Railway" if anyone's interested, and it's somewhere in Railway Chat.

Maybe I'll add a few more memories some time.

Kudu

[james b]

While I was looking over F/B ,I stumbled over this photo excursion coming through Bingley . The buildings on the right of the photo , in the back ground , just out of view , was where I lived in the late 1960,s Woolworths was at the side of the goods shed , bill boards can be seen on the side of the store .

[giner]

Thanks for your recollections, Jim. All the old photos are our window into another time.

[james b]

I HAVE ask nicely if I can borrow this pic..
A photo of Baildon Station , year dot ? notice the goods shed in the back ground .

[james b]

Another photo of Shipley goods yard , used to watch "crabs " doing shunting duties while train spotting .

[james b]

a " Jub" proceeding north with a Scottish express , under the bridge of "Fox corner " Shipley .. I think it is the THAMES CLYDE EXPRESS

[PGBerrie]

It is the Thames-Clyde Express - brings back memories of train-spotting at Walton, near Wakefield, where the Leeds-Sheffield main line crossed the Leeds-Doncaster line.

Could the Jubilee be Holbeck engine 45589 Gwalior? It was shedded there in 1950 and 1962, and presumably the time in between.

Peter

[JASd17]

The Jubilee at Shipley is heading towards Leeds, therefore going south.

John