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.

The CSVT / RK270 mm

As an interesting anorak worthy excursion back into "what might have been" about the CSVT and EE D6700 variants.

The malaysians are jsut decommissioning the last Class22, which were a 1710hp set up made in Austrailia (AEI?) Previous references to this a few years ago noted it as a 12CSVT, but in fact it was a v8

So there are two fossils in the evolutionary pathway for the CSVT which mark power developments for rail traction beyond that of the DP2/ class 50.

The other "Missing Link" was the Hunslet built BoBo's which ran on the DUblin: Belfast Route in the 1970s. They were rated at allegedly 1500hp but more likely 1350. Unlike the reliable portuguese application of this PU, at 1350hp, now finding extending lives in Argentina, the V8s suffered major and catastophic failures on the "enterprise service"

The Malaysian locos are pretty hellfire, being like a fifty crossed with a 40 with some 37/31 thrown in for good measure as the thrash enthalls through the rev range. A relatively long life for the humid environment, and as with all type 3s really, performance punching above its weight.

At app 115 bhp per cylinder this means the v12 version of the CSVT from AEI at least, would have been around about 2600bhp!

Only a couple of years later in the late 70s, the T bone class 37 was of course realised as a potential export loco for BREL as lead supplier: viz a vis, class 58 with the RK and a big nasty silencer to plague fitters and enthusiasts.

As mentioned before, even with 2200hp, an alternator, CP7 bogie gearing, and a KV10 style load management system, the super-syphon-that-never-was would have been an impressive beast, probabkly managing 75 000 lbs

In the late 50s there was still rationing of most materials useful in a DE loco in the UK; EE 's ruston division probably knew that with better materials they could achieve outputs of 200hp per cylinder _: I dare say the old RK test beds, class 08 engines basically and straight 6s I have heard of, were run to failure with high power.

What they could have offered BTC/BRB was a lease engine scheme with lifetime upgrades as the higher horse power units came on line. However the locos were purpose built to the three power types EE supplied with SVT/CSVT engines eventually and with limitations on electrical materials, over-engineering was largely avoided.

In considering specific power output for a cylinder unit on a diesel engine, the developers take into account the major parameters. compression/decompression, fuel/turbo pressures, effective combination of the latter two and heat dissapation. (Lubrication relates to compression)

Eventually of course the smooth cycle of the V12 lead to the RK270 engine being developed to have almost 500 hp per cyclinder unit; but this entailed a larger size and much larger turbo chargers, thus resulting in the 270 being "out of gauge" to be fitted into a UK loco.

Also there is the issue of heat dissapation and thermal cycling; these are less prominent in shipping or other marine environments because water is a good conductor of heat, is usually relatively cool, and in plentiful supply. A loco has to pump air, which is a poor conductor, rather an insulator, and that air can be up to 50'C in some operating environments. For example the paxman "cousin" to the RK, the now VP developed from the Valenta, which itself as the Venture created 2250hp in the IC 125, where as it output almost 5000 hp ( 7000 kw ) in heat, most of which had to be radiated away.

However Rustons prior to absorption into MAN, found demand for a lighter and very compact unit for various more limited marine, generating and traction "footprints" for a PU:

It comes very full circle at this point becasue the PRIMA locos ( eg the horrid class 67 in the uk, but with electro-mechanical routes traceable to GEC Alsthom and hence EE) built for Sri Lanka ( and in fact another non US super-friendly country, Syria), where the difficult working environment has necessitated a major reduction in power output. To between 1700 and 1850 hp in fact.

Long live the EE type 3.

November, 26 years ago Class 37 moves....

This month just shows the gritty determination of a syphon basher trying to get up to 10,000 miles on ED boilereds!

Various links on the internet to class 37s are drying up as 80s bashers get a life less interesting....btw

A testimony to the reliability of the core WHL 37s, it was the usual suspects all the way. Not one line in the book for a whole month, just miles-and-chains.

Only thing of note was that I believe I either mileage-optimised the day with a duke to Crianlarich (even "the Bridge o'" , or prefered Charlie Browns on Buchannan St for lunch......I seem to remember tea and scones at Crianlarichs' repoened platform tea room as well.

03.11.1984	Transcard: restricted area
09:06:00	Home	Arrochar	37191
09:45:00	Arrochar	Glasgow QS	37081
12:20:00	Glasgow QS (Oban)	Crianlarich	37112
14:01:00	Crianlarich	Glasgow QS	37191
16:50:00	Glasgow QS	Dumbarton Central	37051
18:51:00	Dumbarton	Arrochar	37191
20:15:00	Arrochar	Home	37011
			ETHEL 1
10.11.1984	Trannie restricted area maybe
09:06:00	Home	Arrochar	37043
09:45:00	Arrochar	Glasgow QS	37081
12:20:00	Glasgow QS (Oban)	Crianlarich	37112
14:15:00	Crianlarich	Glasgow QS	37043
16:50:00	Glasgow QS	Crianlarich	37012
19:xx	Crianlarich	Arrochar	37112
19:45:00	Arrochar	Ardlui	37051
20:01:00	Ardlui	Home	37191
			ETHEL 1
17.11.1984	Trannie restricted area maybe
09:06:00	Home	Arrochar	37051
09:45:00	Arrochar	Glasgow QS	37043
12:20:00	Glasgow QS (Oban)	Crianlarich	37033
14:15:00	Crianlarich	Glasgow QS	37051
16:50:00	Glasgow QS	Bridge-of-Orchy	37043
19:xx	Bridge-of-Orchy	Home	37027
			ETHEL 1
24.11.1984	Trannie restricted area maybe
09:06:00	Homer	Arrochar	37043
09:45:00	Arrochar	Glasgow QS	27053
12:20:00	Glasgow QS (Oban)	Crianlarich	37175
14:15:00	Crianlarich	Glasgow QS	37027
16:50:00	Glasgow QS	Crianlarich	37085
19:xx	Crianlarich	Arrochar	37175
19:45:00	Arrochar	Ardlui	37191
20:01:00	Ardlui	Home	37033
			ETHEL 1

Misspent Youth??

I have had the conversation on the electic interweb that really we were mis-spending out youths being bashers. I mean I could have been an athelete or used the training to go into the Marines, being late in the fitness stakes peaking at 21! I could have taken up an instrument to match my vocal talent. Well, even a band member of suede was a 50 basher in the 80s/early 90s alledegly!

Link to http://newimages.fotopic.net/?iid=ylb9y7&outx=910&quality=70

A typical bunch of early to mid 1980s bashers : note the tweed sports jackets, as usually donned by "top men" from deltics , 40s, 46s and whizzos. Stylish...Suave.

What appealled about bashing to me was not just the "thrash" but as for most bashers, it was the game and the cameradery.

It is certainly an unhealty past time phsiologically: Long time sitting, junk food, too much coffee and cola. Ales midweek for the older lads if something produced. But what is there to gain?

Well of course there is entertainment value : I mean 1982-1985 was a great chess board, a "mouse trap" game of moves and shadowy "'gen' " about what was dropping. It was hilarious often: I mean like "all change at Glen Douglas" for example....dreadfiul


It wa all an absoltuely dreadful-flap.


But apart from being a real life equivalent to playstation, what benefits came from bashing?

Firstly independence: or rather the movement away from the womb into a much wider, much more fre, losse family to decide to follow: usually the "moves" would have a gathering of some neds you would know and a top man or two, so you could just turn up: in fact often you hoped to get a move other "men" missed and come in with a line in the book, especially in 1984 and 85 in the days of the huge NBs and the swansong of the 40s.

Travel is fun and refreshing when you are a teenager. I teaches you in fact that the vast majority of people in the UK are actually nice or at least not dangerous. I went places I would not want to go today without any trouble. In fact I think we never had any real trouble with "chavs" or anything, even the Oban Drunks were tame.

I learnt a lot about logistics and thinking that way about connections and "if shit happen
s" back up plkans: changing course quickly to correct mistakes, which is a good thing in life and business. Also to communicate, discuss, propose, debate etc.

A few bashers were into cycling and walkign, combining it with "viewing" and "photting", tunring up with bikes or boots on occasion. Gricing...all stemmed from a basher-spotter hillwalk near Glossop.

For me I came from a tory area and bashing helped me see beyond my own nose ( although most of my mates since 1980 were wo'kin' class come to think of it) and become both egalitarian and able to see the value of public services, and the hard labour and love employees had for "T' Railway". So socio politically it widened my horizons too.


I look back and regret I did not do more physical exercise when I was an early to mid teenage basher: my ideal jobs when I reached twenty were either Royal Marine or tour-de-france rider (grand tour pro), neither of which I was built enough for from the important early teen spring board in body development. Other things I could have done were playing rugger in the class team but they were all too dull for me in the team anyway.

Sod it, basher I was, and after all, life is all about a mis-spent youth and growing old disgracefully....

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

Bashing. "ned cards" Mid July 1984

16/7/1984 sATRUDAY

One day after the "freedom" was over and it was right into a transcard, at all of £4.99, and just to show the southside of Glasgow was where it was all happening, just take a look at this day:

16.07.1984  LowLand Master Transcard
08:54:00 Home	Glasgow C Low Level		303
10:02:00  Glasgow C	Johnstone		37138
10:50:00  Johnstone	Glasgow C		DMU
11:30:00  Glasgow C	Paisley		37013
11.xx   Paisley	Glasgow Central		DMU
12:40:00  Glasgow C	Stevenston		37196
14:09:00  Kilwinning	Glasgow C		DMU
15:08:00  Glasgow QS low level	Coatbridge Sunnyside		303
15:40:00  Coatbridge Central	Cumbernauld		40150
16:20:00  Cumbernauld	Springburn		DMU
16:34:00  Springburn	Glasgow QS Low Level		303
17:30:00  Glasgow C	Nitshill		27066
17.xx   Nitshill	Glasgow C		DMU
18:15:00  Glasgow C	Johnstone		DMU
18:52:00  Johnstone	Glasgow C		37155
20:56:00

The date is important: first saturday of the glasgow fair: the tradtional shutdown of the yards for a week or two's holiday, often taken doon-the-watter. In this case the addex's seem to be to the silvery sands of Stevenston. When we bailed there it was far from silvery in the town centre; strewn with litter and an itinerant Rottweiler shagging some poor unsuspecting mongrel.

A very big line for any diesel loco, but there were several monsters out. 37013 vo back out on the Stranrærs, and 138, seeming small beer now and not only big loco but a big line 37 196: think it was one of the few boiler isolated 37s: dunno where it was allocated at the time, but obvioulsy lurking with intent ex motherwell. We did a "shanks pony move over to Kilwinning assisted by an old double decker IIRC. Chips in between and a semi-fast Ayr DMU service to "whisk" us in for the next move: well rattle us up a little quicker than the stopping 311s down there at that time.

Then some daytime version of 1S81 or the likes drops a 40 and we go after it on a bloody transcard! That old grumpy sod with the tasch commented as such on the way from Coatbridge Central to Cumbernauld. But a line in the book was had from all be it a very lethargic 40150 when compared to her sister 155 we had bagged at Chester. A "desperate" move.

Then back into central for a strange move to Nitshill: IIRC 27066 was nb now and fairly large. To top it off, on one of the returning Stevenstons or Ardrossans 37155: very, very big ML IIRC and a nice rack of three huge syphons within three weeks: 154-156 thank you, my lords!

Saturday 21/7/84

21.07.1984	LowLand Master Transcard
09:06:00	Home	Garelochhead	37014
10:08:00	Garelochhead	Glasgow QS	37081
11:30:00	Glasgow C	Ayr	37155
12:30:00	Ayr	Kilmarnock	47537
13.xx	Ayr	Kilmarnock	37292
15:45:00	Glasgow C	Kilmarnock	26015
	Kilmarnock	Barrhead	DMU
	Barrhead	Kilmarnock	27001
18:47:00	Kilmarnock	Glasgow C	37048
		Central	303

A week later and we ae taking motherwell NB and foreign split box syphons for granted. But this day produced at that point the biggest of them all: in it's life as the super-syphon, 37292 probably worked three passenger trains and this was one. "huge if not enormous" as Rupert put it in a post to a blogg "this bashing day in History".

292 grumbled it's way over the slack line Kilmarnock-Ayr. At Ayr it was notably "hunting" , a fault I have heard caused by choking valve seats, badly adjusted timing chains or faulty governors. Although it probably did not prioduce anywhere near 2000bhp, the benefits of the alternator made it seem to accelerate quicker relative to less thrash!

37292 was actually the prototype for the 37/4s which could well have been uprated. This uprating was the same as the CSVT uprate on the 50s: so it is unlikely it would have been a success without gear-driven-cams, new valve gear etc. II guess that autumn 292 went down to Crewe works to become the 37/4.

The then "silly ba'heid" move persisted as syphons could well drop on from carlisle. Syphons like 048 were probably itinerant from lack of work on coal, and I reckon they displaced failed type 2s off Carlisle shed. Covering this move meant that you were "bowled out" for all the later west highland moves, bar doing a combined bus move to Garelocheid maybe.

Taking for granted was just as we did: this was actually the last "big" saturday out of Glasgow Central moves, and the likes of the 37 moves seen that summer would only be repeated on the Aberysthwiths the next summer, where NB 37s were actually BOOKED and not huge drops! A week later, at the end of August, I scored my last big ML 37, 152 which worked the 11:30 stranrær. Although as you will see the 11:30 more or less became booked a 37, the later examples seemed to be boilered stratford examples which IIRC became Scottish allocations anyway.

Certainly by October I was no longer a ned really, but a syphon basher bone fide and with enough under the belt to be a "man". I knew by that October freedom that the writing was on the wall. I was getting a bit bored of bashing from time to time, and that disastourous Mystex to Chester was just the first nail in the coffin.


37192 to dundee and back marked me as a syphon devotee: They became pretty common on that route later, but until 84 they were rare for some reason: There were still enough reasonably condition 27s and 26s to cover the dundee loco hauled prior to this. It is not a bad route for 37s, with top speeds of 90mph and very little running at the dreaded 40-50 mph slack spot. 37192 became my mileage machine, although I think I topped it with 188. It put in a good run, but one of the mrk Is had a dragging brake set so I reckon we didn't get over 75mph. IIRC I did this all alone, with maybe a paltry few "men" coming on later at Perth. West country bloke with beard reported the coach IIRC too.

Also that October, 264 moved north to Inverness ( again?) and was duly taken there. Dark evenings up the Far North East!

Getting Warm April -May1984: 37 296 "Ginormous" on the 17:15 Edinbuirgh

28.04.1984

09:06:00 Home Arrochar 37014
09:45:00 Arrochar Glasgow QS 37033
11:35:00 Glasgow C Kilwinning 47049
12:57:00 Kilwinning Glasgow Central DMU
13:50:00 Glasgow Central Stewarton 26037
14:38:00 Stewarton Glasgow Central DMU
16:50:00 Glasgow QS Dumbarton C 37039
17:56:00 Dumbarton Home 314


A fairly thankless day, a DMU out on the carlise-dumfries-glas, and with the lines in the book being 033 and the duff. Went home in disgust at fairly rancid WHL action. Already though, 014 is becoming my mileage beast.

05.05.1984

12:24:00 Hime Dumbarton Central 314216
12:51:00 Dumbarton Crianlarich 37037
14:10:00 Crianlarich Glasgow QS 37014
16:50:00 Glasgow QS Dumbarton C 37043
17:56:00 Dumbarton Helensburgh C 314
19:06:00 Helensburgh U Ardlui 37014
20:01:00 Ardui Home 37012 ETHEL2

Another day at the office: more miles on 014. 012 was a regyular outer on the Ft Bill with Ethel: think ED took some pride at keeping it going or maybe they just detuned it to keep it running longer : not as bad as 025 it was just a bit dull.



14.05.1984

09:06:00 Home Arrochar 37108
09:45:00 Arrochar Helensburgh U 37026
10:33:00 Helensburgh U Arrochar 37043
11:15:00 Arrochar Helensburgh 37191
12:24:00 Helensbugh Central Dumbarton Central 303
12:51:00 Dumbarton Crianlarich 37051
14:10:00 Crianlarich Glasgow QS 37108
16:50:00 Glasgow QS Dumbarton Cen 37191
17:33:00 Dumbarton Glasgow QS 27005 paired to 27020
18:20:00 Glasgow QS Ardlui 37108
19:59:00 Ardui Home 37014

Guess ethel was on the 14.

Still a stupid timetable with waits at the now abandoned helensburgh upper. Deadly dull, and I think the sweety shop may have shut at that time. The bail there was probably a chip move or just to stretch the legs rather than plodding down to dumbarton on the syphon. Sacrilidge if you think about it!

051 was a good mover but 108 was still sick with it's class 40 turbo on one bank of pistons.


16.05.1984

15:20:00 Home Glasgow QS 37192
17:15:00 Glasgow QS Edinburgh Wav 37296
18:30:00 Edinburgh Wav Glasgow QS 47706
19:22:00 Glasgow QS LL Home 303-314

HAH ! This one we all wagged our little tails over. 37 296, llangore or Cardiff allocated in 1970s BR blue with matching time wharp black glass head code blank. It was very lively on the 17:15, which was I think Inverness stock rotated over to run from Edinburgh and giving an extra express for commuyters. 296 was a beast up the tunnels and a whole pile of line striking sulzer bashers were on board. And they called us neds, they were Traitors on a Tractor!

It struggled past the bings at croy but gave a good thrash out of Falkirk, where I was gripped. Paid an excess with a pretend slept over croy or the last transcard stop.

This huge welsh NB was the first symptom of a certain Mr Arthur Scargill as it had nowt to do in the way of coal trains by then. Unfortunetly for us, it's route to ED was by no means random: it had already been reallocated or penciled for it, due to it being earmarked for "37/4"ing. At least it was big on that train in that number and livery, as Perth Man put it, "so big they had to jack up the ceiling of the tunnel at Queen Street"

With nothing worth doing apart from a bus move to Garelochhead or maybe Tarbert (old road though on L.Lomond.) retired that night early, was a shcool night anyway. I was tired enough to get on the wrong units for a farcical backwards and forwards missing trains rather than waiting!

God knows how I managed seven As in o grades

Anyhows, 37 296 earmarked or errant, this was a taste of things to come in the summer of the english civil war and the basher's heaven

Grey Spring in 1984: 40s and Mr C Gibb

Looking back in fact I did a lot less bashing in early 84 than I expected, but bagged one quite big NB 40 and a rare trip to dundee in 84 with a 40.

I must have an earlier bashing/spotting book because I met a certain Mr. Christopher Gibb behind 37014 / ETHEL on a night when Peter Walker made up time and I rode this one of my beasts to Dumbarton for a late night home.

Here was the rest of march after bagging , neigh, blagging 40 155

10.03.1984
09:06:00 Home Arrochar 37011
09:45:00 Arrochar Helensburgh Upper 37178
10:33:00 Helensburgh Upper Arrochar 37083
11:15:00 Arrochar Helensburgh Upper 37184
12:24:00 Helensbugh Central Dumbarton Central 314212
12:51:00 Dumbarton Crianlarich 37037
14:10:00 Crianlarich Helensburgh Upper 37011
16:45:00 Helensbugh Central Dumbarton Central 303
17:33:00 Dumbarton Glasgow QS 37175
18:20:00 Glasgow QS Arrochar 37011
19:45:00 Arrochar Home 37037 paired to 37012

Not such an uneventful day out as it seems: 178 was fairly rare on passengers for some reason, it was boilered, and 184 was really an IS loco.

175 was spitting flames by that time and performed clagg and burn on that run. 37012 was probably failing but both locos were in working order blue starred up. Worth missing ETHEL for the pair doubel mileage.


17.03.1984 Mystex

07:24:00 Helensbugh Central Glasgow C Low Level 303-314
09:00:00 Glasgow C Crewe 86220
12:30:00 Crewe Shrewsbury 47412
12:53:00 Shrewsbury Crewe 33060
16:06:00 Crewe Shrewsbury 33060
18:10:00 Shrewsbury Crewe 47412
19:10:00 Crewe Glasgow Central 85034
22:59:00 Glasgow QS low level Helensburgh Central 303

First haulage by those lovely little shreddies: well, what else is there to say up until 12:53 that day: a gennie duff, noooo big deal in 84. I was well impressed with the speed the shreddies could do south of crew and smooth acceleration. Another fine type 3: which SCR were sadly deprived of!

Good chippy by the river in Shrewsbury: most flooded chippy in the UK thereafter I beleive. Best chips I have EVER had!

Roarer for a long, long train back: roaring was good though on the WCML as their days were numbered. IIRC there was a detonator over beatock and we went to Charlie Browns on Queen Street for samosa and chips. Brilliant waste of time.


31.03.1984 Green Ticket with Chris Gibb

09:06:00 Home Arrochar 37192
09:45:00 Arrochar Glasgow QS 37022
11:30:00 Glasgow QS Edinburgh Waverley 47703
12:26:00 Edinburgh Wav Haymarket 47476
12:44:00 Haymarket Edinburgh Waverley 47274
13:17:00 Edinburgh Wav Dundee 40024
15:21:00 Dundee Edinburgh Waverley 40024
17:00:00 Edinburgh Waverley Glasgow QS 47710
18:20:00 Glasgow QS Home 37192

On a rather usual transcard day, "Cocoa the clown" as the poor bloke was called, a nice bloke who didn't hate insects, declared "sixteen wheels on edinburgh" and also with some frikkin crystal ball that the next type five freighter would be two stroke!

Chris Gibb is out for the day and "withered" at the thought of a 40. A scottish region "green" cheapy family ticket is on for the day, so we acquire one and head off for the "dundee circuit". Right enough, 40 024 had done one tour and back and was awaiting us, steaming.

Good thrash out the tunnel but after the bridge junction it really was fairly pedestrian with the 40 ambling along both ways for some reason.

Back home on the erstwhile 37 192.

14.04.1984 Mystex 1Z10

07:24:00 Helensbugh Central Glasgow C Low Level 303-314
09:00:00 Glasgow C Warrington 86322
12:30:00 Warrington Llandudno 45132
14:52:00 Llandudno Llandudno Jnct DMU
16:26:00 Llandudno Jnct Llandudno DMU
17:20:00 Llandudno Warrington 45132
19:04:00 Warrington Glasgow Central 86322

Mr Gibb and baglet in tow: this time he was withered to see a nose and three windows at Warrington curves only for it to reveal itself as an ETH Wagon. I think he probably had tried to fix it, but no roarer and a dumn sister in laws sister baglet made for a wry tour.

1H84

When you got a little up the ranks or experience as a basher, you needed to get a little platform 5 publication called "1H8x" with a nice photo of a train carrying that head code with the coincidental year, from 10 years before. ( which seemed like ancient egypt to us).

Trains still carried a "head code" on paper and in the TOPS computer system. In order to use the printed reports from the latter, which sometimes got in the grubby hands of bashers, you needed the codes as TOPS works on an abbreviated system using these as UIDs if you like. Also it makes you sound more professional talking about 1S45 instead of " the 1010 from Kings Cross to Edinburgh".

So come the Orwellian year, the book was IH84 and IIRC the cover was a centre box 40 displaying the actual code.

Some trains which had been standard type 2 or class 40/45-o suddenly became open to booking of whatever loco was around. It is also alleged that some depots began hoarding itinerant class 47s and 37s as reliable metal to haul trains when ever required. I don't know if there is any truth in this or their motivation to reduce labour stress by taking more time to fix failed locos or to keep head counts up. Maybe it was because sheds like Immingham and Cardiff did not have the space for locos and were please to send them off on their holidays in the summer of 84.

In any case, bashers had a quandry: more trains than ever could drop, while booked 40 diagrams were basically vanished. Also you could be a ned and take those god awful 31.4s (aka ETHELS by non ped bashers now) to join moves together and remain loco hauled. By volume in fact, 31, 33 and 47 probably wee way out in the lead of passenger bookings in the list of 1H84 but also the least interesting locos for the bashing population profile: I never met a shreddie or ped' basher and 47 bashers were looked upon as vermin to be waterbombed and derived at any opportunity.

There was a happy band of peak bashers, but they kept themselves to themselves, being very class loyal and having every opportunity to do so still in 1984. Deltic men had moved to 40s, for want of 50s where they lived and deltic men were the "top men" in our considerations.

Anyway, the quandry was WHAT trains to cover: some top men considered TOPS print outs as cheating, but like the internet for students, everyone was at it in 1984 in order to get the most for their all liners, freedoms or ticked employee boxes.

Anything with a suitable RA could turn up on any train that was not coffin (Air Condition) rolling stock. This had a down side; the numerous 47/4s and the newer converted 6s could equally turn up out of crew or carlisle to thwart a well covered move. Or they cascaded out unwanted and unpopular boilered duffs. I mean people rant on the internet about boilered duffs and I was on one of the last Edinburgh to newcastle steamers with NO other bashers but us and we just did it out of boredom and the need for some "therms" on a chilly night on an October holidays "freedom".

The chaos insued and in the next blogs you can read about how I got to grips with it

Class 37 EE type Three 1750hp weirdness

1) 108: class 40 turbo
2) 133: bendy bogies- I have a note from  the cl37lg committee that 37175 bore these, but also I see that 37133 was in doncaster works in 1984 alongside some 50s undergoing HGR and I wonder if this was when it had these. Gordon Sellers said it was 133 which had bendy fitted (articulated bogies, persumably like US locomotives have)

3) far north mixed freight-passenger

4) class 20 pilot WHL

5) end to end, Greenock to Aviemore: other end to end workings pre 1990?

6) 37/0s which became /1s upon repair

7) 37 296 reallocation before "fouring"

8) the proposed small diesel ETH generator in the wiki pdf on the D6700s

9) the pairs used to propell the APT on the non wired ECML



10) working the Flying Scotsman ( 1S45) in 1960 blip

11) tripples to Llanwern

12) doubles for swaps and run ins: more common than I rememeber on the WHL, the of course the georgemas junction loco and the 37/4 run ins.

13) unusual workings pre 37/4x/5 etc upgrades: glasgow QS low level, the sleeper through to Central etc. 1S81 and the whole thing

14) the 37/3s at ML * see below # 24

15) doubles in the West Country on high seped trains in the 60s/ 70s : failure? Better than d1000s?

16) lickey bankers, QS tunnel bankers...:other bankers??


17) THe early scottish allocation to Grangemouth

18) the glasgow edinburgh push pull trial of 37s

19) the use of 37s to replace 47/7s in july 1984- what happened?

20 ) routes which hardly ever saw thirty sevens in the 70s and early 80s

21) the converse;: routes the 37/4s etc came to run on frequently post 1986 which had never seen 37s before.

22) 37292s uprating to 2000hp

23) why the locos were chosen to become 37/4s and /9s.

24) Oddity: scotland chooses the reverse of welsh steel trains: ML depot trialled both class 56s and later 58s on the hunterston iron ore trains and coal fuel trains for Ravenscraig, and decided resolutely that a pair of thirty sevens out performed single 56s or 58s. Pt Talbot - LLanwern trains used pairs of 56s, and were of course faster than even the triple 37s. But maybe due to the diagrams, there was no advantage seen in going over to single type 5s. This could have been a little biased by MLs management having gathered good operating 37s over time and wanting to retain both head count in fitters and not burden them with a whole new set of training, failures and spare parts.