Class 55 Deltic 55015 Tulyar passes East Putney with a Finsbury Park to Bournemouth working on October 17, 1981.
It’s really not easy to select just 10 pictures. These aren’t necessarily the best, or the most technically clever, or the most diverse in terms of geography or traction, so it’s a bit of a random selection, but I’ll start at (or near) the beginning.
Having failed miserably to record the passing of the Western Region diesel-hydraulics, I was determined not to miss out on the Deltics. This railtour was promoted by BR’S Eastern Region itself and took 55015 to Bournemouth and Portsmouth, with one of the highlights being a trip along the London Underground District line! The section between East Putney and Wimbledon, although owned and operated by BR, saw no BR passenger traffic other than a few empty coaching stock workings. However, London Transport exercises running rights as it forms the last few miles of the intensively worked District line from Earls Court, a situation which remains in place to this day. Other than thoughts that it would also be nice to get an LT train in the picture, my choice of location was chosen by the fact than my gran lived down the road in Putney and I could visit her afterwards!
The weather wasn’t kind. No sooner had I taken up position on the end of the platform, the heavens opened. Then the signalman in the ‘box a short distance down the line started yelling at me. I thought it really wasn’t the time or place for some jobsworth to start haranguing me with the ‘you’re not allowed to take pictures’ ritual. How wrong could I be? A few shouts and hand gestures later and I realised he was inviting me to walk along the (electrified) track side and come up to the ‘box, having sympathy for me – and later a few others – standing in the downpour!
The conditions were certainly putting the basic Russian camera to the test as 55015 opened up over the junction. The signalman even held an LT train formed of the usual aluminium finished C69 stock in the platform so that would be in the picture as well. Can you imagine anything remotely like that happening today? (Taken using a Zenith E)