HowExeter-basedenthusiastSean Greenslade noted No.D829’sreturnto serviceonMarch 17, 1972. Clearly he
didn’t expecther back in traffic!SEAN GREENSLADED829without nameplatesand in action on passenger traffic justover a
monthbefor eits final withdrawal onAugust 26, 1972.Itisincharge ofthe
14.30 fromPaddingtonto PaigntonatExeterStDavids onSaturday,
July 22, 1972.She hadbeenreinstatedtohelp withthe chronicWR
motivepower shortagethat summer.RPPsold by theSto resController of the LMR at
Collectors CorneratE uston.Perhapsyou will be
goodenoughtoi nvestigate thisfor us, advising
us if the nameplatehasbeen promisedtoThames
Television, who authorised itto be givento
them and alsothe present positionregarding the
availability of‘Magpie’.
Six days later,the CM&EE office at
Paddingtonproducedits reply. On behalfofStan
Ridgeway,the CM&EE, MrYule wrote: “The
two nameplatesfrom ‘Magpie’wereremoved,
initially whenthe locomotive was firstwithdrawn
from trafficbutinv iewofthe interest in this
locomotivethe plates werenot passed tothe
Stores Controller at Euston.‘Safekeeping’
“When‘Magpie’ wasreinstated to trafficit was
not considerednecessarytofit the nameplates in
view ofthetemporarynatur eofthe arrangement,
and theplatesare at present in safekeeping atmy
Plymouth (Laira) Depot,pendingadecisio nasto
the future of this locomotive.
“Withregardtothe promise to let Thames
Television have the nameplates,Ihave not been
approachedinthismatter and certainlyhave no
knowledgeofany suchpromise beinggiven.
“If thefutureshowsthat the nameplatesare
like ly to comeontothe market, thesale would,
of course,bedealt with bytheStores Controller,
LMR, atEuston.
“I am unable to give you any further
informationat presentregardingthe lengthof
time that‘Magpie’ is likely toremain in service.”
That last sentencewas aclearindication
of th eongoingmotive powershortage which
wasdoggingtheregion aheadof thesummer
timetable in 1972.No. D829found much ofher
workinglife involved the manyfreights to and
fromPonsandane and Exeter Riversideaswellas
stone workingstoMersthamwithloads for the
constructionofnew motorways.The CM&EE’sexplanationof whythe plates
wereremovedand notrefitted,andwhy they
could not giveatime asto whenthelocomotive
woul dbewithdrawn,was passedon to Sue
Turner at Thames Television attheheightofthe
summer(July 14).Interestingly,inDJFaircloth’s
reply,there was nomentionof anypromise to
give the TVcompanythe nameplates.
Tendayslater,MissTurner wroteback, and
remainedkeentoget hold of theplates.
She said: “I was most interested to hear that
MAGPIEistemporarily backinservice.However,
Iwas alittledisturbed toread that ‘it seemslikely
that they(thenameplate)willeventually besold
to private enthusiasts’–since fairlyearly on in our
correspondence aboutthe MAGPIELocomotive
Imentionedthat wewould likethe nameplates.“I am sure the publicityvalue that BritishRail
would extract from our programmehaving these
nameplateswhen the MAGPIELocomotive
is finallyremovedfromservicewouldgreatly
outweigh any possiblemonetaryvalue deriving
fromtheirsale to private enthusiasts.
“I alsohope thatyou willkeep us posted as
tothe likelyfinal destination of the MAGPIE
Locomotive, since it is almost certainthat we
wouldlike to makeafilm of it whenitf inally
leaves service.”
On August2, some23 days before No. D
was withdrawn forasecondand final time,BR
finally told SueTurner they had no knowledgeof
any prom iseregarding th enameplatesand asked
her to name theidentityof th epersonwho had
done so.THEMAGPIESTORY