The Last Year of Bashing 1985

My last year of bashing, and I suspect that by numbers, this was probably the single biggest year of retirals I dare say.

Why? Well the only dinosaurs were falling since 1979: 24s, 55s, 44s, 46s etc. Now the 40s were to go and boilered services to stop.

Also I feel my day was up. I had taken up cycling and venture scouts and kept an interest in mountain walking. Girls too, who had been a bigger thing in 1982 actually.

The social side of bashing was going down hill: all the bitter little rat bashers slagging the 40s ..etc. The top men didn't bother much to speak to us, and the gen also seemed to dry up a bit.

All and all I grew out of it, but I had one last big bang: the cambrians. More to the point, the first day of the cambrians under decent power!

Almost thirty years on I find the older me looks back and says, yeah a bit of a thrash, some great cameraderie and I got to see most of the UK. A sense of freedom, a taste for logistics, talking to strangers all the time, statyin out of trouble. Egalitarianism, which was brought out most of all by the range of people turning out for the first Cambrians: trashy scousers in pork pie hats, public school boys, scots, taffs, londoners, skinheads ( well at least one notable Fred the skin head)

The older me looks back and thinks he could have spent his time more productively: studied to be a doctor or a computer nerd, been a pro rugby player, done the cross country running to get into the marines, climbed all the Munro mountains, made some other "list of achievements" which other people might respect.

But the real me knows, if I landed back in 1978 then I would become a die hard fan of English Electric Locomotives.

Bashing Class 37s 1st Dec 1984

01.12.1984	Trannie restricted area maybe
09:06:00	Home	Arrochar	37033
09:45:00	Arrochar	Glasgow QS	37184
12:20:00	Glasgow QS (Oban)	Crianlarich	37191
14:15:00	Crianlarich	Glasgow QS	37033
16:50:00	Glasgow QS	Crianlarich	37112
19:xx	Crianlarich	Arrochar	37191
19:45:00	Arrochar	Ardlui	37033
20:01:00	Ardlui	Home	37027
			ETHEL x

Well all very hum drum, while I dare say that many readers would give their right arm to have done this little lot of ED boilered syphons las saturday.

A bit of a trip I just don't quite remember: i remember going over Sloch just a couple of overnight times, and at Kyle just once in the winter, and this must have been it. Pretty unremarkable, I wonder if 033 was on a Dundee train or a Perth: units had been displaced by several more locohauled in 84 -85 and this was down to "perth man" in control. 37s were regulars.

7 to 8th Dec 1984	Mini Freedom of Scotland
02:50:00	Home	Glasgow QS	37026
			ETHEL 1
23:30:00	Glasgow QS	Perth	47546
		Inverness	47614
06:55:00	Inverness	Kyle-of-Loch Alsh	37260
11:10:00	Kyle-of-Loch Alsh	Inverness	37260
14:32:00	Inverness	Aberdeen	47012
17:05:00	Aberdeen	Perth	47522
19:13:00	Perth	Glasgow QS	37039
20:59:00	Glasgow QS low level	Home	303
Back to more of the mundane WHL; But 37 265 was a bit large IIRC. I think it was NB by then.
19th Dec 1984	Trannie
09:06:00	Home	Arrochar	37051
09:45:00	Arrochar	Glasgow QS	37265	(012 had failed,dead on train)
12:20:00	Glasgow QS (Oban)	Crianlarich	27052
14:15:00	Crianlarich	Home	37051
27th Dec 1984	Trannie ( WHL train times an hour or more late)
10:3x	Home	Garelochhead	37033
10.xx	Garelochhead	Glasgow QS	37090
12:20:00	Glasgow QS (Oban)	Helensburgh Upper	37184
14:54:00	Helensbugh Central	Glasgow QS Low Level	303
16:50:00	Glasgow QS	Crianlarich	37051
19:xx	Crianlarich	Home

Once again, from above, a boring day, but maybe a line in the book for an itinerant 37090 which was probably GD allocated iirc, but later moved up to ED.

This day in history: Bashing 27th Oct1984

27.10.1984	Trannie restricted area maybe
09:06:00	Home	Arrochar	37102
09:45:00	Arrochar	Helensburgh Upper	37033
10:33:00	Helensburgh Upper	Garelochhead	37175
11:15:00	Garelochhead	Dumbarton Central	37111
13:06:00	Dumbarton	Crianlarich	37026
14:01:00	Crianlarich	Glasgow QS	37102
16:50:00	Glasgow QS	Dumbarton Central	37111
17:33:00	Dumbarton	Glasgow QS	37191
18:20:00	Glasgow QS	Ardlui	37192
20:01:00	Ardlui	Home	37011
	This was just another day in history, I have missed out a whole"Freedom" and some other days, which we can come back to. But since this is the day..... Only thing of note was 37102 which I do no think stayed long at eastfield. Boilered from somewhere. This was a full day on the WHL with only a couple of hundred miles covered. Just think that 50 bashers, and even 40 men could do at least twice this! But lets face it Garelochead to Crianlarich is the best stretch of railway in the united kingdom!!!!!!!!!		ETHEL 1