Returning to Grantham

[stembok]

61070: 1A47 was the southbound Heart of Midlothian at that time 13.30? ex Edinburgh. I wonder if the Peak has a malfunction in the train indicator blinds, which probably accounts for the lamps. Peaks seemed prone to this problem. Guess - taking shadows into account? Possibly 1A42 15.00 K/x -N/cle? Around 16.45 at Grantham.

[Flamingo]

Re D1516 on 4Z93, in their later years the first 20 Brush Type 4s that were built became nos. 47401-420. D1516 thus became 47417. This batch was known to the diesel enthusiast fraternity as 'Generators' because they differed from other e.t.h. fitted Brush 4s in that they had d.c. generators rather than the alternators fitted to the rest of the sub-class. The more knowledgeable members of that fraternity sometimes even referred to nos. 47401-420 as 'class 46 and a half' .

[StevieG]

Photo 9 : '1A47 - ??'
Just a possibly supplemental part-clue for the headcode.

When first able to start seeing 'the GN' London main line from the inside, in 1967 (at a signal box which shall remain nameless, but, merely for the sake of discussion, we will call New Barnet South), I seem to just remember that what we soon later became accustomed to as 1S60 [20:00 from KX? (Oops, sorry; the 8.00 p.m.) ] , used to be 1A60.

So I wonder if Class 1 'A' headcodes used to mean something like 'principal ECML trains' in both directions ?

[stembok]

As far as I remember the 1S-- codes were introduced in around 1969-70 for down trains from K/X. Before this it was 1A--, with even numbers down and odd numbers up for through East Coast trains. Trains to ,say, Hull or Leeds had their own codes
An interesting exception was the down Queen of Scots, K/X-Glasgow via Leeds which was 1S57 at the time of the photograph (1963).

[52D]

I cant remember which way round it was but i think the last two characters were either odd or even numbers and signified the up or down direction and were allocated numerically from 00 01 hrs onwards.

[strang steel]

Even was down and odd was up.

D was Doncaster division. H was Hull, J was Sheffield, L Leeds, and N Newcastle

Jon

[61070]

Moving on to late May or early June 1963. The date of these pictures is currently unknown but it will be a Thursday bracketed between May 23rd and June 20th. Weather records indicate May 30th and June 6th as the most likely days for a trip to Grantham station for a bit of 'lazing on a sunny afternoon' - three years before The Kinks had the idea.

Correction to the above - further research has shown the date of these pictures to have been Thursday 19th September 1963 - see later post (page 13).

However we may yet be able to crack this one too because, conveniently, a ticket collector in two of the pictures taken on the day is carrying a newspaper. I'm redoing those scans to see if I can improve the definition.
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1. New England's B1 61174 drifts past the parcels office.
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2. 1A30 was the 14:00 from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh, The Heart of Midlothian. The as yet un-named Deltic remains unidentified.

More of the goods yard to the left can be seen than in many of the pictures - it's usually completely hidden behind standing wagons. There is an old travelling crane made by Cowans, Sheldon of Carlisle. Would this have been manually powered? Further along the yard is a quite short lattice post with a finial and a ladder. Can anyone say what this would have been for?
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3. Platform 2, with adverts for Cromer, the Edinburgh Festival and Come to Hastings by Train.
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4. This woman carrying her two dogs was clearly an unmissable subject for a picture.

[stembok]

61070: In general -caution here !!- 1A30 the down Heart of Midlothian was covered by a 64B Edinburgh Haymarket Deltic at this time, May-June 1963 .The Finsbury Park Deltics D9001/3/7/9/12/15/18/20 were by this time all named, as were D9000 & D9013 of 64B, leaving D9004/6/10/16/19/21 of 64B unnamed .Of these D9006 was in Doncaster Works 19/5-6/6/63.
Of the six Gateshead Deltics D9002/5/8/11/14/17 Nos 2 & 11 were named at the time of your visit to Grantham. Wasn't Monday June 3rd also Whit Monday in 1963 ? My notes show that I was on holiday that whole week.

[manna]

G'Day Gents
Don't you think that the lady carrying the dogs , should have a little white furry pom-pom tail herself
manna
Wonderful pics

[60129 GUY MANNERING]

Morning John,
1. Not wishing to be picky ,but according to all my printed literature (Reliable Sources)_ 61174 was never allocated to 34F Grantham, but from October1960 until December 1963 was allocated to 34E Peterborough New England Shed, from where she was withdrawn.

2 A serious attempt by Lincolnshire County Council to close Grantham Museum with about 11 redundacies, even specifying a date. Also anything that has ever been gifted or willed to the Museum is now consider the property of L.C.C. AND WILL BE DISPOSED OF BY THEM AS THEY SEE FIT.
I just wondered if,knowing your generosity some items of yours will fall into this area.
Kind Regards,Derek.

[61070]

Derek - you are correct - I read the shedplate off the photo and saw 'F' but it is an 'E', so I've put that right in the caption. Should have checked elsewhere as the definition was about on the limit (or get better glasses!).

I hadn't heard the news about the museum. I know some of the people who work there, who may be among the 11. I will get in touch with them. Thank you.

[61070]

Thanks for the information on potential Deltic locos, stembok; and yes, 3rd June was Whit Monday in 1963 so that does increase the chance of 6th June being the date.

Now for another newspaper challenge, as hinted earlier.
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5. Fortunately the Ticket Collector on duty that afternoon has his newspaper with him. A series of pictures was taken of this scene, and it's exactly 4pm according to a station clock visible in one of them.
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6. Here is his paper, blown up and rotated. Perhaps the best clue initially could be the column headed 'GRANTHAM NEWS' at far right (beyond the 'RACING' column). Presumably, then, this is a regional or provincial newspaper, possibly an evening daily, published in a town or city within 'reach' of Grantham. Could that be Nottingham? Newark? Lincoln? Peterborough?

The other stories might provide a clue. Is there some sort of local swimming pool controversy going on: '[Pr?]otest march on [xxx]al pool scheme'. Or could it be 'coal pool scheme' – some kind of mining industry upheaval, affecting bonus rates maybe?
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7. This view, cropped from a different picture, shows what's over the fold: 'YOUNG PEOPLE NEED SENSE OF SECURITY' (and who would disagree with that?) and an advert for 'THE IDEAL HOME DO-IT-YOURSELF EXHIBITION', though, unfortunately, too indistinct to read where and when.
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Can any of our local-to-Grantham correspondents point me in the direction of regional/provincial papers of the day that might have carried a column of Grantham news? I could then ask the relevant local studies libraries to look at their copies for 30th May and 6th June.

Sorry, I realise that this is a bit of a tough one.

[61070]

A serious attempt by Lincolnshire County Council to close Grantham Museum with about 11 redundacies, even specifying a date. Also anything that has ever been gifted or willed to the Museum is now consider the property of L.C.C. AND WILL BE DISPOSED OF BY THEM AS THEY SEE FIT.

For those interested The Grantham Journal website carries the story:

http://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/c ... d_1_647029

While this is no NRM, it is a very active and much valued local museum with collections and displays that tell something of the story of the local community of people who worked on the railway. It certainly reflects, in the context of a general town museum, the part the railway has played in Grantham's history. Its closure would represent, in effect, a denial of that heritage to the people of Grantham. I don't want to get too 'heavy' about this on the forum, but if this concerns you do please email the paper with comments. If you feel very strongly about it send me a PM and I will forward the addresses of local council senior managers and leaders who might be lobbied. The more they hear from people from outside of Grantham the more they might take notice.

[stembok]

Looks possible that the item "Grantham News" in the photographs may be in the form of a 'stop press' item in the margin- so is it a local weekly or perhaps more likely a regional paper for this part of the East Midlands area The racing item- either card or results on the page. Pity we can't see the venues as this might be of help in dating the paper.

[60129 GUY MANNERING]

John,
the Nottingham Evening Post was the most common local paper published on a daily basis, many of the railwaymen would take it as some of these gents had a strange liking for Nottingham Forest Football Club and the coverage of this club was a mainstay of the sports pages of this paper.
Regards,Derek.