THE BLUE & GREYYEARS IN COLOUR PART 2
2 THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE| British Rail - The Blue & Grey Years in Colour
COVER:Anas-yetun-named
English-Electric Class 50
No. 50012 passes Aller Junction
and heads along the ‘branch’
towards Torquay and Paignton with
aDownexpressinAugust1977.
The ‘Hoover’ had been reallocated
from Stoke Division to Laira the
previous year, and on April 3, 1978
would be given the nameBenbow.
It was ultimately withdrawn in
January 1989 and fell victim to
the cutter’s torch at Vic Berry’s
Leicester yard.DAVE RODGERS
BRITISH RAILWAYS
Picture editorGary Boyd-Hope
DesignTim Pipes
Production editorsSarah Wilkinson
and Nigel Devereux
ReprographicsJonathan Schofield
Advertising executiveCraig Amess
01507 529537
[email protected]
PublisherTim Hartley
Editorial01507 529589
[email protected]
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PrintingWilliam Gibbons & Son,
Wolverhampton
The Railway Magazine,
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Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6JR
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M
Y father and I very rarely disagreed on anything, but
one of the few areas where we did clash was in our
respective tastes in music. For some strange reason
dad didn’t much care for my musical choices.
“Turn that racket down!” was one of his regular responses
when I had the volume too high, and likewise I’d always have
to poke some jibe about all his music sounding the same
when forced to listen to it in the car.
Yet one type of ‘music’ with which we shared a mutual
appreciation was the sound of a high-powered diesel engine.
Whether we were out line-siding, at a diesel gala or on a
railtour, as soon as the peace was shattered by the roar
of Napier, Sulzer or Maybach engines, we’d invariably turn
to each other with a large grin that said it all. In fact, dad
could whistle and hum a pretty fair impression of a Class 40,
something I’ve disappointingly never been able to replicate.
As it happens,it was on the subject of theType 4s that
we did have a rare fall out – or I fell out with him to be more
precise. It was one Friday evening in September 1983 and
I walked into the kitchen to find dad making sandwiches.
When I asked why he said it was because he was going on
a Class 40 Preservation Society (CFPS) railtour to Scotland
(the ‘Ayrshire Ranger’ as it turned out) the next morning.
I was mortified! How dare he go without me? I forget
what I actually said, but I certainly made my displeasure
known and – knowing me – probably gave him the silent
treatment (I was only eight at the time).When dad returned from Glasgow he’d brought me a
CFPS badge (which I still have) and a book on the ‘40s’, and
my ire was quickly forgotten. But he went one better, and
a few weeks later took me down to Paddington for a trip on
my first InterCity 125 to Plymouth. I’d seen HSTs on several
previous occasions, but this was my first time riding on one.
I was impressed, and although the type had replaced
the ‘Deltics’ on the East Coast by then, I was too young to
fully appreciate the implications the HSTs would later have
on other loco-hauled services. My beloved Class 50s would
follow in time.
I was reminded of my HST ‘initiation’ on May 18 this
year when the type finally ended its long association with
Paddington.The farewell took place at the time I was pulling
together the images for this second pictorial tribute to the BR
blue & grey era, and somehow it all seemed rather fitting. If
he’d still been with us I know that dad would have been sad
to see them go.
I was delighted with the reader response to the first
instalment we published in June last year, and therefore
jumped at the opportunity to compile another. Not only is it
a nostalgic trip down memory lane, but for me it’s something
more personal; a link to the man who fuelled my interest
from a young age. A shame his musical taste was so poor.Gary Boyd-Hope
Deputy Editor