Last B.R. steam from KX

[Mickey]

I have been curious to know for a long time if the very last steam hauled express passenger working out of Kings Cross The Night Scotsman I believe(?) hauled by A4 Union of South Africa in October 1964 and departing 'the cross' at 10:00 pm departed to any special fanfare and being advertised as such to the public by the good old B.R. publicity department or likewise to no publicity what so ever?. I believe I read that the train lost a bit of time reaching Grantham that night due to a 'broken rail' being repaired in Stoke tunnel 100 miles from Kings Cross otherwise I believe it was a uneventful end to the last steam hauled express working out of Kings Cross before the end of steam on B.R. in August 1968 leaving aside ex-GWR Clun Castle on a 'special' from Kings Cross to Leeds in 1967 and 4472 Flying Scotsman on the 40th anniversary non-stop run from Kings Cross to Edinburgh in May 1968 which was in private ownership by then.

Was the A4 deputising for a failed EE type 4 on that night or was an A4 the last 'booked steam working' for the Night Scotsman train from the cross until October 1964?.

[Hatfield Shed]

I rather think that BR would not have drawn any attention to a steam loco on a regular service departure from KX after 15th June 1963, which was when the last working booked for steam traction headed out, memory suggests hauled by A1 60158 'Aberdonian' (anyone with a reference book to hand to confirm?).

Steam locos from out of area kept 'appearing' in the KX area until late 1964 and were most conveniently returned by being assigned to a scheduled working: all such departures would have been booked for diesel haulage, post 15th June 1963.

[Mickey]

Yeah I reckon you are right Hatfield Shed with regards to B.R. not making any special announcement regarding what appeared to be the very last 'service train' departure from Kings Cross in October 1964 hauled by A4 Union of South Africa because I have never seen any such publicity about it.

[Mickey]

Just out of curiosty after 'Top shed' closed in June 1963 a small number of steam hauled Up line expresses still arrived in Kings Cross through the remainder of 1963 and into most of 1964 so the question is would these pacific locos possibly from either York or New England have been turned on the 'Dalston triangle' on the north London line this question may have been asked and was answered before several years ago?.

The area of Dalston lays on the bordor area between the boroughs of Islington and Hackney on the edge of east London.

[Pyewipe Junction]

Surely the turntable, coaling and watering facilities at King's Cross shed would have remained operational for a while after formal closure of the shed.

It was quite usual for facilities at formally-closed sheds to remain intact for a while in case they were needed for any residual steam traffic.

[Pyewipe Junction]

Did the closure of King's Cross to steam affect steam-hauled freight services into Ferme Park? If steam was still used on these services after June 1963, then turning and refuelling facilities would still have been required. Perhaps these facilities were also used for steam locos arriving on passenger duties.

I see from BR Database that New England had a decent allocation of 9Fs up until the end of 1964, plus a few B1s as well.

[sandwhich]

There was a last special from Kings Cross in late 1964 which was 60009 and apart from 4472 no other steam was used until almost 30 years later to the day in 1994 when 60009 was used on a special to Peterborough and since then many more steam engines have been used on specials. After June 15th 1963 for a time steam made it up to the cross several times a week on passenger workings, freight traffic into and out of KX Goods Yard and Ferme Park was steam hauled on a number of occasions including an LMS 8F (saw it myself), Facilities at Top Shed were removed during 1964 and the area was then flattened and left derelict for some time until a Freightliner terminal was built there. Since then the whole area has changed and not a trace of Top Shed remains. If memory serves me right Hornsey Depot had a turntable which remained intact for a few years and was probably used to turn the engines that came up to Ferme Park during that time.

[Pyewipe Junction]

There was a last special from Kings Cross in late 1964 which was 60009 and apart from 4472 no other steam was used until almost 30 years later to the day in 1994 when 60009 was used on a special to Peterborough and since then many more steam engines have been used on specials. After June 15th 1963 for a time steam made it up to the cross several times a week on passenger workings, freight traffic into and out of KX Goods Yard and Ferme Park was steam hauled on a number of occasions including an LMS 8F (saw it myself), Facilities at Top Shed were removed during 1964 and the area was then flattened and left derelict for some time until a Freightliner terminal was built there. Since then the whole area has changed and not a trace of Top Shed remains. If memory serves me right Hornsey Depot had a turntable which remained intact for a few years and was probably used to turn the engines that came up to Ferme Park during that time.

Thanks very much for that information. It was just what I was looking for.

I was wondering whether to mention Hornsey, but as it closed earlier than King's Cross, I thought that facilities there would have gone out of use. However, thinking about it, Hornsey is of course more or less adjacent to Ferme Park which, as you point out, continued to be visited by steam until well after June 1963, so perhaps it was Hornsey that was used.

[Mickey]

4472 Flying Scotsman (as she was at the time in LNER green livery with a double-tender) worked the 40th anniversary run commemorating the 1928 non-stop run between Kings Cross and Edinburgh in May 1968 which in part was filmed and released on a BBC video back in the mid/late 1980s although I have never seen this film on a DVD?. Anyway It's not a bad film to watch running at about 60 minutes if you can get hold of a copy?.

The following summer of 1969 I rode behind 4472 as part of a small group of secondary school kids along with a train full of others when 4472 hauling a rake of B.R. Mk1s made another journey down the main line from Kings Cross to York anyway this particular trip of 4472 made a special stop at Welwyn Garden City to pick up before heading off along the main line northwards to York. On the return trip from York 4472 took the train as far as 'Donny' before being replaced by a green livered English Electric type 4 (class 40) for the rest of the journey back up to Kings Cross.

[Mickey]

Following on from my previous post above with regards to Flying Scotsman I saw her on three separate occasions and maybe four occasions possibly at and passing through Welwyn Garden City in the late 1960s. The first occasion was when 4472 as she was then in LNER green livery with a double-tender passed through WGC 'tearing' along the Down fast line with its train of B.R. Mk1 coaches in May 1968 working the aforementioned 40th anniversary commemorative non-stop Kings Cross to Edinburgh run which was totally amazing to watch her from the north end of the station going 'flat out' heading northwards towards Welwyn North. The second time was in May 1969 when I rode behind 4472 on a Kings Cross to York run that stopped at WGC to pick up and where myself and others rode behind her that I mentioned in my previous post above and the third time that I recall seeing Flying Scotsman was on a Sunday lunch time between about midday & 1:00 pm during the summertime of either 1969 or 1970 I can't recall which anyway on that Sunday I recall that it was a warm, bright and sunny day and I was standing on the Up platform at 'Garden City' with a number of others and I recall everyone was looking up the line towards Digswell and Welwyn North when the Welwyn signals were 'cleared' along the Up fast line towards Hatfield and finally a 'puff' of white smoke was spotted in the far distance and 4472 came tearing along Up fast line towards Kings Cross with a train of B.R. Mk1s.