Returning to Grantham

[61070]

Many thanks. I have emailed the Local Studies Library at Nottingham, attaching the enlargements of the newspaper and with a request to examine the Nottingham papers for 6th June and 30th May 1963 to see if they match.

[DaveF]

I've just come across this thread - it brings back memories of "spotting" at Grantham in the early 60s.

Especially the down side buffet - I was sitting in there one day when Mallard went through.

Happy days.

David

[61070]

Hello David. Thank goodness someone (i.e. yourself) was busy taking pictures of the ironstone branches etc. Hardly anyone else seems to have done this.

Let's go back to Grantham on Thursday 27th June 1963.
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1. 1A35 is the 10:00 from Edinburgh to London King’s Cross, The Flying Scotsman hauled by D9019 which was later named Royal Highland Fusilier.

To the right of the locomotive, suspended from the platform canopy, is a train starting indicator with its associated bell above it. Operated by the guard using a button at the far end of the platform, it was used to signal the driver to start after all platform duties were complete, when given the 'right away' by the Station Inspector dealing with the despatch of the train. It supplemented the guard's flag, or lamp, and whistle, which might be difficult for a locomotive crew to see / hear along a crowded platform. Photographs taken a few weeks later, on 3rd October 1963, show the indicator and bell removed, though they had still been in situ a month before, on 5th September.
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2. A permanent way inspector, carrying a cross level gauge. Examiner Tom Bellamy is at the door of the C&W Examiner's cabin and Driver Roy Veasey is further along the platform, opposite the door of the Passenger Shunters' cabin.
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3. I think these gents are a guard (on the left) and a driver. They are walking towards the north end of platform 3, possibly going up to the bay platform to take charge of a dmu for Nottingham.
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4. These two smartly attired lads are spotting at the south end of platform 3. 1N19 was the 13:20 service from King's Cross to Leeds Central and Bradford, hauled on this day by D1518.
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[61070]

5. Here's a southbound coal train, with additional wagons of various types immediately behind the locomotive, hauled by 92188 of Colwick (40E) motive power depot in Nottingham.
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6. Oil and grime on the crosshead and slide bars etc. of 92188. The sunlight, shadows and textured surfaces have made a nice study.
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7. & 8. 43082 of New England (34E) with an Engineers’ Inspection Saloon. The top of the officers' silver teapot can just be glimpsed in the second picture.

DE 320042, was built at Doncaster in 1909 and has been preserved by the LNER Coach Association on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (see http://www.lnerca.org/stock.htm).
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9 & 10 are now in a post dated 14th June.

[manna]

G'Day Gents
Another wonderful glimpse in to the past.......Pigs on the ECML, aaah, pigs might fly
manna

[rob237]

Certainly even more difficult for the driver to see his 'right away' on the down side, due to the prolonged curvature of Platform 3. IIRC, the Inspector was usually obliged to convey the signal onward from the curve's commencement, as I don't think any such indicator was visible to the driver on that side.

Classic 1930's Rev AC Cawston picture of Grand Parade's driver almost falling from his cab, whilst leaning out for the rear view.

Cheers
Robt P.

[strang steel]

Marvellous photos again, John.

61250 on the Heart of Midlothian (even if only for a short distance) is an excellent illustration of the problems in the early diesel days.

I always wanted to travel on the Pullman, and the supplement from Grantham to Peterborough was 2/6 when I looked at the adverts, but I either never had that much money or I found other things to spend it on.

I still rue a missed opportunity to travel in style - although what the attendants would have made of a scruffy teenager with his trusty duffle bag and tatty note book, I dont know.

John

[61070]

Just to explain that these two pictures were originally posted following 6, 7 & 8 above but they have been displaced during an editing session when I reordered the pictures. Hence strang steel's comments now appear to anticipate the images!!
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9. The Sheffield Pullman leaving Grantham for King's Cross. The train consists of six coaches, with brake second class Car No.78, built in 1928, bringing up the rear, another similar vehicle at the front, and four more modern Pullman Cars making up the rest of the train. The locomotive on this occasion was D6800.
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10. Finally a bit of incident to conclude the afternoon. D9000, hauling the down The Heart of Midlothian (1A30, 14:00 King's Cross to Edinburgh), has become a complete failure somewhere to the south of us. 61250 A. Harold Bibby brought the Deltic and its train forward to Grantham. 60010 then took the delayed service on as far as Newcastle.

This sequence of events was pieced together with information from a range of sources back in April 2009 – see photos-of-footplatemen-at-grantham-1962 ... 259s0.html (though I've had to remove the photos).

[61070]

I have emailed the Local Studies Library at Nottingham, attaching the enlargements of the newspaper and with a request to examine the Nottingham papers for 6th June and 30th May 1963 to see if they match.

Re. the sequence on page 11, I've had an interesting reply from Nottingham Local Studies. They think the newspaper is the Nottingham Evening Post but, if it is, it's not the issue of 30th May or 6th June 1963.

I have checked the Nottingham Evening Post and the Guardian Journal for the dates mentioned. None of these are the paper in the photographs. We are only able to spend 30 minutes on an enquiry and I have done this. There will be no charge as I was unable to find anything for you. The headlines [on the dates asked] were to do with Profumo and Christine Keeler [Profumo resigned on 5th June 1963].
The paper in your photographs does look like the Evening Post but I wonder if the date is more recent?

This leads me to review the basis on which I assigned a late May/mid-June 1963 date to those pictures, which was based on the position in which they were filed relative to other films of known date in what appeared to be a chronological sequence.

[adge]

There was another paper in Nottingham until the early sixties - "The Nottingham Evening News" - might be a possibility.

[mr B]

It must have been great able to go spotting at Grantham, but with all those locos every day there would'nt be much to look forward to, unlike Saltburn or other 'day' excursion venue's with only visiting locos on bank holiday and special event days. Any way the photos are great.

Mr B .. bringing sunshine to the heritage line

[61070]

There was another paper in Nottingham until the early sixties - "The Nottingham Evening News" - might be a possibility.

Thanks adge, that's very helpful. The Nottingham Local Studies Library's newspaper index says that the The Nottingham Evening News was in circulation until 1963, but it doesn't give the date in the year when it stopped. I'll ask them to check that too.

[Andy W]

On a recent visit to my parents home (just north of Grantham!) I managed to locate the KX Divisional Roadrailer files (KM2/878), which cover the period 1963-1968, shortly before the vehicles were sent for scrap.

I don't have the schedule for the run of 4Z93 on 18th April (Circular X281) as, annoyingly, that's when the first file starts. But I do have the names of the people & locos involved as a special costing exercise was done on the crew. The crew going south would have been Driver Hicks and Fireman Foley (both of KX) and Guard Coddington would have been in the back cab. H.O. Inspectors Dixon and Jenkinson accompanied the train as did D.O. Inspector Warner. The Technical man on the trains would have been their Roadrailer Technical Officer - a young Pat Sumner, later to be the Divisional C&W Engineer at KX.

The load was 50 vehicles and the purpose of the test was both high speed and braking trials. D1516 left KX Top Shed at 8 a.m. with Driver Pearcy and Fireman Graves, presumably to Enfield Chase (Old) where the roadrailers were stabled. This crew didn't feature beyond 10.30, which is probably after they had been relieved by Hicks and Foley (who had been on since 8.15 a.m.). On the up run Drivers Piggins and Fireman O'Callaghen appear at 4.20 p.m. but where is not known because Drivers Hicks and Foley are still booked on till 7.00 p.m.

D1516 arrived back in the Pass Loco at 6.45 p.m. and the stock seems to have been worked from Ferme Park (with D5605 - later 31404) by Hornsey Driver Turner and Fireman Youlton with KX Guard Browne. This may have been involved turning via Temple Mills as another trip on Thursday 9th May (also 4Z93) did do just that going out via Canonbury and back via Palace Gates. D5605 left 34B at 6.40 p.m. and was back on shed at Hornsey at 10.05 p.m.

That May 9th trip was timed to pass Grantham going south at 3.38 p.m. Bell code for these trains was 5-4.

Between main line trips there was a set of tests carried out at Enfield Chase on the 20th and 21st with six of the vehicles going into road mode and back again.

[AndyRush]

Some footage of Roadrailers on test can be found here:
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=436

Other interesting stuff on the film as well

Andy

[DaveF]

Hi All,

Photo attached of Class 47 D1516 on an up test run of the Roadrailer train at Corby Glen in April 1963.

David