SCOTTISH STEAM’S FINALE
The last ‘Brits’ north of the border
Once every decade, when the year ends with a ‘7’, every enthusiast reserves July 9 in the diary. Bulleid ‘Pacifics’ gather at galas, and work railtours out of Waterloo, as everybody remembers the final summer of Southern steam in 1967. Yet every other significant ‘end of steam’ date that year always seems to go unmarked. In the case of the North East on September 9, the will is always there, but the boiler certificates of the necessary locomotives have never quite fallen right. In September 2007, ‘J27’ 0-6-0 No. 65894, of ‘Blue Star Special’ fame, was out of ticket, and ‘Q6’ 0-8-0 No. 63395 was barely run-in after overhaul; while this September, despite the best efforts of the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group, both engines were still in pieces.
I WAS COMPLETELY UNAWARE SUCH A TRAIN EXISTED, LET ALONE BEING STEAM-HAULED TO BOOT!
But the real forgotten anniversary of 1967 is the end of Scottish Region steam. As far as we are aware, no event has ever been held, or even suggested, to commemorate this. Perhaps it’s because, unlike the Southern’s blaze of glory with Bulleid ‘Pacifics’ and 100mph-plus runs, Scottish steam died not with a bang but a whimper. It had no iconic express engines performing heroic deeds – the last rites were performed by a grimy Fairburn tank in Glasgow, nondescript BR Standards on Beattock and humble ‘J36s’ in Fife. Even the date is difficult to pin down. Unlike the Southern’s definite deadline, the demise of steam north of the border was a lingering, drawn-out affair. Officially, the region did away with steam on May 1, after a final handful of steam-worked Glasgow suburban trains; a forgotten ‘star’ of this farewell being Motherwell-allocated Fairburn 2-6-4T No. 42274, specially diagrammed to the 5.03pm GourockGlasgow Central on April 28. However, two venerable ‘J36’ 0-6-0s, Nos. 65288 and 65345, were not withdrawn, from Dunfermline and Thornton Junction respectively, until June 5. But even that was not the end. Although the Scottish Region had officially become a steam-free zone, management had reckoned without the mecca of Carlisle Kingmoor shed (12A) just over the border – whence ‘Britannias’ and ‘Black Fives’ continued to invade diesel territory right up until the end of the year. Keith Widdowson, then a young BR clerk at Waterloo’s Telephone Enquiry Bureau, regularly travelled the length of the country that year to see the dying embers of Scottish steam. This is his account of ‘the end’…
BORDER RAIDERS
On August 6 1966, having arrived at Carlisle on a steam-hauled (from Crewe) 1.15pm Euston to Glasgow, and witnessing it being taken forward with a Brush Type 4, I was aimlessly wandering around and contemplating my next move when I noticed some ‘elder’ enthusiasts congregating around a telephone box. It transpired that they were phoning the Kingmoor foreman to ascertain what he was dispatching for an 8.25pm Perth departure. I was completely unaware such a train existed, let alone being steam-hauled to boot! That evening, ‘Britannia’ No. 70006 Robert Burns was in charge of the featherweight two coaches and one van (the smallest train booked for ‘Brit’ haulage that I have come across) and an unexpected 94¼ steam miles were enjoyed as far as we could go without being stranded – Coatbridge Central. The novelty of a ‘Britannia’-powered train into the steam desert that Scotland was fast becoming attracted my patronage on nine more occasions. On the final Friday of Scottish steam, April 28 1967, a trip with my lifelong friend Graham (Jock) Aitken to the disappointingly few remaining steam-hauled Glasgow suburban trains resulted in the pair of us cutting our losses and heading south to Carlisle for the (now retimed) 8.32pm Perth departure. Kingmoor turned out No. 70022 Tornado that night and, as it was a Friday, the load was increased, with an empty sleeping car, to four! A wonderful run ensued, with a maximum of 81mph approaching Ecclefechan and 82mph just after Wamphray – seriously exceeding the 75mph Scottish Region-imposed maximum for steam! The following day, No. 70012 John of Gaunt was provided, but it was a disappointment in comparison, with a ‘mere’ 78mph near Symington. Defying all expectations, the 8.32pm Carlisle-Perth remained booked for steam haulage for a further five weeks – after which only the summer Saturday trains and reliefs were liable (but not guaranteed) for steam locomotives. My last journey on the 8.32pm was on Bank Holiday Monday, May 29, powered by No. 70038 Robin Hood. Presumably, as it was the end of the Glasgow Fair weekend, the passengers joining at Lockerbie overwhelmed the two-coach train and all corridors were fully occupied. Moving on to Saturday July 1 and, with The Beatles’ ‘All You Need Is Love’ holding sway at the top of the charts, the first colour transmission on television – coverage of the Wimbledon men’s final – was broadcast. On that day, to avoid full-on depression in connection with the impending demise of steam on my home patch (Southern Region), I travelled to Carlisle on the 1.20pm Euston-Glasgow Central. It was the first running of the service that summer and, unsure whether it was steam or diesel, I was much relieved upon seeing No. 70025 Western Star reversing round the corner at Crewe to work the 141 miles over Shap. Upon arriving at Carlisle I was in a position to travel on the 8.32pm Perth had it been steam – but a Sulzer Type 2 was gurgling away
at its head and, as confirmed in a LCGB bulletin some time later, booked steam on regular all-year timetabled trains into Scotland had ended.
AND STILL THEY COME
So was that it? I am certain the Scottish Region authorities could never have foreseen the foreman’s predilection at the one-time Scottish shed of Carlisle Kingmoor for dispatching wave after wave of steam penetrations over the border after the home fleet was withdrawn that May. Unwanted and unwelcome, they were usually dispatched light engine back over the border post-haste. Some of the most pleasurable occurrences while chasing steam in those final years were such unexpected turn-ups, which resulted in a complete revision of any plans. It was the third weekend of July 1967 and, having spent the day on West Coast Main Line services in the Preston area, I was at Wigan North Western just after midnight looking forward to putting my head down on the southbound ‘Highlander’ home. I didn’t possess a copy of the London Midland Region Special Traffic Notice that weekend, and was therefore unaware that a Paignton-Glasgow relief was booked to call there; upon feasting my eyes on the motive power, I dashed hell for leather along the platform, under the subway, just making the train before its departure north. Why the rush? I just couldn’t refuse a double header with a pair of Stanier’s finest: Nos. 44758 (10A Carnforth) and 44878 (12A). This was a true act of a ‘haulage basher’. Only once aboard did I look into the consequences of my action. Although the train briefly stopped at Preston, I reasoned that, as the southbound ‘Highlander’ was not calling there, I would have been stranded for a great many hours, and the lure of a warm compartment was preferable to the hard benches of a waiting room. I had been on the go since leaving work on Friday afternoon and sleep deprivation took effect almost immediately upon departing Preston; only the diesel coupling on to the front at Carlisle some two and a half hours later disturbed me enough to alight. Some time later ‘Brit’ No. 70024 Vulcan came up from Kingmoor and sat tantalisingly in the middle road – for what? When the 9.20pm (relief) St Pancras-Glasgow came in with a ‘Peak’ diesel, which was then uncoupled for Vulcan to take over, I thought
HERE WAS PROOF THAT MY ALL-EMBRACING HOBBY WAS BEING TAKEN AWAY
‘why not?’ – steam into Glasgow was becoming pretty rare. I was now fully awake and ready to enjoy a dawn entry into Scotland, and unsure of its routing, realised at Gretna that it was taking the Glasgow & South Western Railway route via Dumfries, with an added attraction of travelling via Dalry and Paisley (an engineering work diversion?). A mere six days later I travelled to Carlisle over Ais Gill with Holbeck’s ‘Jubilee’ No. 45593 Kolhapur – the intention being to then head south over Shap to the steam-infested Preston area. The train concerned was the 6.40am Birmingham-Glasgow and, although I believed that it was booked for diesel haulage forward, after a lengthy period a chime whistle announced No. 70021 Morning Star (recently transferred from Stockport) reversing onto the train. For some reason (a family commitment perhaps?) I wasn’t planning to stay out a second night that weekend and, confronted with my penultimate requirement of a much-wanted ‘Brit’, frantic page-turning of timetables resulted in me reboarding the train to its first stop at Dumfries, a 12-minute connection returning me home just after midnight. A further six days later, on Friday July 28, I booked a day’s annual leave to travel on the, hopefully still steam-operated, 1.27pm Fridays and Saturdays-only Manchester–Glasgow service. Although the train was ‘Brit’-hauled south of Carlisle, No. 70032 Tennyson having replaced failed classmate No. 70010 Owen Glendower at Carnforth, it was diesel-hauled over the border. I abandoned it and was about to return south when ‘Black Five’ No. 44964 arrived with a Euston-Perth relief train. It was a ‘right time, right place’ scenario, for no sooner had No. 44964 come off the train than Kingmoor’s No. 45455 backed on. As it was a ‘required’ locomotive I was aboard before you could say ‘Bob’s your uncle’ – irrespective of where the first stop was going to be. The Scottish Region authorities must have been fed up to the back teeth with Kingmoor continuously forwarding steam over the border and had decreed, by that date, that no steam was to continue north of Glasgow. This edict meant No. 45455 was replaced at Motherwell by a Brush Type 4, which caused me to alight and return to England via Glasgow. Having spotted in the LMR Special Traffic Notices a 1.52pm Euston-Glasgow relief on Friday August 11, I considered it a fair enough bet to take a half-day’s leave for. After surmounting Shap unassisted with Kingmoor’s No. 44899, the eight-vehicle train was relinquished to ‘Brit’ No. 70032 Tennyson at Carlisle for the 116½-mile journey over former G&SWR metals, which was to become my last steam into Glasgow. Lured by the now-rare ‘Brit’ mileage, I joined the SLS-organised ‘Carlisle Kingmoor’ tour at its starting point of Birmingham New Street on October 15 1967. This tour, postponed from September 24, utilised No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell, which faultlessly worked the 161 miles from Crewe to Kingmoor via Whalley and Ais Gill. Unlike my first outing to 12A, when a lot of shoe leather was worn away getting there, this visit was far easier, being accessed off the railtour, while the train was stabled during the hour-long turnaround adjacent to the running shed itself. I never did get to the Barry Island graveyard of steam; unlike at Dai Woodham’s yard, here there was no future for the majority of its occupants. With Kingmoor’s obvious advantage of size, the shed had become a dumping ground with 108 locomotives on site. As I wandered among them, climbing aboard, photographing them from all angles, it was with a sense of foreboding for the inevitable cessation of steam. Here was the undisputable proof that my all-embracing hobby, which had occupied my life for the last four years, was being taken away from me. The BRB had even announced the dates: within ten months there would be no more British steam.
A FINAL FLING IN ’68? FIRST-FOOT MYSTERY
So not only is the ‘end date’ of Scottish steam uncertain, it remains a mystery which was the final locomotive to work over the border in normal BR service. Perhaps this historic occasion could be properly commemorated after 50 years, by giving due recognition to the ‘Britannia’ concerned? Was it No. 70004 on December 30 – or did another ‘Brit’ stealthily sneak across the threshold under the cover of darkness, bringing Scotland one last Hogmanay gift of coal and steam to see in the new year of 1968?