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A Railwayman's View - BR Midland Region by Peter Collins > Scotland
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Images 1-18 of 18 displayed.

LPPC DSL BW 0675 A bright and cool morning at Carstairs station as a Glasgow to Birmingham train, headed by an AL6 Class 86 electric stands and waits for the connecting service from Edindurgh which will soon arrive from the mid-left of the picture. These trains, consisting of three or four coaches arrived on the left, down, platform and after passenger and station work drew forward towards Glasgow before reversing over to shunt onto the back of the ex-Glasgow portion with no requirement for the passengers to alight at all. Imagine that today.
LPPC DSL BW 0674 The trackwork here at the south end of Carstairs station looks as if it is missing something somewhere, mainly because it used to be considerably more complicated. The accountants would probably tell you that it was previously over-ambitious and money needed to be saved, so here the layout is as lean as it can be whilst still fulfilling its basic purpose. That purpose is illustrated by a Brush Type 4 Class 47 in 1974, briefly running wrong line as it comes off the connection from Edinburgh at Strawfank Junction with a portion from the Scottish capital and now begins to position it to be added to the rear of an express on its way south from Glasgow. On the left are parked three Sulzer Type 2 Class 24s, the usual motive power for the express portions to/from Edinburgh. They are situated where Carstairs Motive Power Depot used to be. I had watched these manoeuvres before at this point ten years previously and a visit to the shed, at that time, revealed that, inside the building on the left, was no less than ER Pacific A2/3 60512 Steady Aim undergoing repair.
LPPC DSL BW 0945 July 1975 and our arrival at Perth had been by means of the Royal Highlander Euston to Inverness overnight service which we had joined at Crewe after a convivial evening in a nearby hostelry to the station there. I took this shot as I was amazed to see a William Stanier pre-BR design of sleeping car still running. The stock was the consist of the Euston to Perth sleeper which was about to head to the carriage sidings for servicing. In fact, the vehicle was scrapped not long after, in January 1976. I wonder how much sleep the vehicle’s occupants managed to obtain as they were whisked electric-hauled over the Westmoreland Fells the previous night.
LPPC DSL BW 00726 In steam days Perth motive power depot was well worth a visit as it was usually full of LMR, ER and Standard locomotives. With the demise of steam the facility closed but during the interregnum before the wholesale replacement of all trains with multiple-unit working the city required stabling and layover facilities for diesel locomotives and that was found on the north side of the station adjacent to the Highland Line platforms. Whilst locos still hauled most long-distance and Inter City trains the Class 50s ruled north of Crewe before West Coast electrification and here number 443, which probably brought in the overnight Royal Highlander from Euston, is practising an early form of identity privacy before taking a southbound service back to the LMR. Keywords: Digital, Rights Managed, Stock
LPPC DSL BW 0555 Pairs of English Electric Type 1 Class 20s in multiple were popular choices both in the Midlands for colliery coal hauls but also in Scotland, especially in steelmaking areas. Here a couple are about to pull away and are waiting for the signal to clear once the Inter City Swindon-built diesel unit, in which the photographer is riding, proceeds on its way to Glasgow Central having started its journey in Stranraer. Keywords: Digital, Rights Managed, Stock
Galapagos 0009 Having arrived early in the morning from Inverness in July 1973, a brisk walk across Glasgow from Queen Street to Central got us to the latter station in time to catch the 1M24 10.10 Glasgow to Birmingham, a train that later had the title Midland Scot bestowed upon it. Here, the driver of English Electric Type 4 Class 50 number 404, later to become 50004, keeps his eye on us whilst a reasonable payload of passengers get themselves organised before departure. Interestingly BR only leased this class of engines from the constructor initially.
LPPC DSL CO 0001-Edit-Edit Glasgow suburban electrification took place during 1959/1960, initially in the North Clyde area, with three-car units built by Pressed Steel at their Paisley plant, but serious transformer failures when less than a year old led to the complete class being withdrawn and replaced by steam services until the fault could be rectified. Once sorted they almost became icons of the Glasgow rail scene in their Caledonian blue livery. This is one of the classes leading an Inner Circle service into Glasgow Central in the early 1970s, as the Southern Clyde area had joined the electrified system in 1967, a few new identical units being built for the services. The original batch of trains became Class 303 whilst the identical second batch, built by Cravens in Sheffield became Class 311. Keywords: Digital, Rights Managed, Stock
LPPC DSL BW 0556-Edit After boarding the northbound Royal Highlander at Crewe as part of a rail-roving week, consultation of the public rail timetable revealed that we would be effectively unable to return south for some time if we remained on that train to Inverness, so the hunt was on for how far north we could go before having to turn back. It turned out that Carrbridge, one station north of Aviemore would be the place to abandon ship. This we did on what would probably be termed a ‘soft’ morning in the highlands. It was early but not too early and with just over an hour to wait the Post Office in the town yielded milk if not much else. Back at the station the first, early, train from Perth to Inverness ground to a halt sporting a Southern Railway GUV at its head. The train was there for a while waiting to cross our arriving service which we could see for some time, descending towards the station and, to our delight, the consist included a Griddle Car, in which we sat, with breakfast, all the way to Perth. Note the tall signal post for sighting purposes. Keywords: Digital, Rights Managed, Stock
LPPC DSL BW 00729 Aviemore The first down morning train, after the departure of the Royal Highlander, from Perth to Inverness waits time at Aviemore before heading north over Slochd Summit to its final destination. Double-heading with two Sulzer Type 2s was the normal booked motive-power for these trains and it was quite common to see different Classes in multiple. Here a BR-built Class 25 is heading a BRCW Class 26 number 5333. Keywords: Digital, Rights Managed, Stock
LPPC DSL BW 00728 The clankety-clank tickover of the two Sulzer Type 2s has increased in rhythm and, more than anything, volume as the first Perth to Inverness train of the day gathers itself together and heads away from the down platform at Aviemore. It would have been difficult to hear anything anyone nearby was saying whilst all this was going on such was the amount of sound the two locos were emitting as the driver would have been anxious not to lose minutes before the next stop at Carrbridge on these tightly timed services. Keywords: Digital, Rights Managed, Stock
LPPC DSL BW 0915-Edit The journey from Inverness to the Far North consists of long moments of fairly tedious single-track interspersed with interesting stations and passing loops and some beautiful scenery but once past Altnabreac the land becomes flat and almost featureless until, seemingly out of the blue, the signalbox and junction at Georgemas arrive with a Sulzer Type 2 Class 27 ticking over in that desultory way that these locos did. The form was that the train drew forward into the station allowing the branch loco to come on the back and head our two uncoupled coaches off around the line to the right on which the Class 27 is standing in this picture. Keywords: Digital, Rights Managed, Stock
LPPC DSL BW 0913-Edit A journey to take in both Wick and Thurso in one weekend on service trains proved successful, but with little respite from actually travelling. Starting on a Friday with a late morning Kings Cross to Edinburgh run, followed by a brief trip to Falkirk for a meal stop before the Sleeper to Inverness. This fed into the early service to Wick with Thurso portion and this is proof of arrival at the UK’s furthest north station. Lunch and a bus ride to Wick followed before starting the return journey that afternoon. Keywords: Digital, Rights Managed, Stock
LPPC DSL BW 1223 An overnight trip from Carlisle on an almost deserted short train of assorted coaches and vans to Ayr meant we were in time to catch one of the original BR Swindon Works-built Inter City units of the late 1950s to that outpost of south-western Scottish rail terminals at Stranraer. Consisting of just one 126 Class unit, our first-class compartment was difficult to tell the difference from a loco-hauled coach interior of the period, with much woodwork in evidence. It was propitious that the unit was turning round almost immediately at its terminus and heading back to Glasgow as it turned out that there was precious little to see when we got there and with the withdrawal of the ferry service to Larne from this point there must now be even less. So, after a leg-stretch on the platform and the shot you see here safely recorded, we were on our way back in less than 30 minutes. Keywords: Digital, ISO, John Stiles
LPPC DSL CO 0214-Edit At this point on the Wirral Railway Circle’s Grand Scottish Circular Tour of April 1973, according to the schedule, it should have been dark but due to a fatality on the West Coast Main Line near Tebay we had been held up by nearly three hours at Shap. Daylight enabled this shot of our train waiting at Cowlairs after the tortuous journey around the Glasgow suburbs for a loco-change and the addition of a Restaurant Car portion to be added for breakfast to be served whilst travelling over the West Highland Line. The staff were very anxious for us to be on the way again.
LPPC DSL CO 0215 The outward via Mallaig part of the Grand Circular Railtour from Crewe has arrived at Fort William and is so long, what has become the front portion at the other end with Restaurant car and Sleepers having already been uncoupled and drawn away, that the two Sulzer Type 2s have had to move forward onto the quayside giving the chance of a rare shot of a train in this position before the station’s location was moved several hundred metres north and this line lifted to make way for a road by-pass.
LPPC DSL CO 00010020-Edit Over the weekend of April 5th, 1973, the Wirral Railway Circle ran two extremely ambitious railtours to Scotland. Both left from Crewe, one went to Mallaig and the other to Kyle of Lochalsh. The passengers for each were exchanged mid-journey by means of ferries between the two destinations. However, such was the length of the down train to Mallaig and need to detach restaurant and sleeping cars for reattachment to the evening return train that a very complicated shunting session was accomplished at Fort William and here two Sulzer Type 2 Class 26s and an English Electric Type 3 class 37 are caught during the movements with train Guard and rail staff supervising. Keywords: Digital, Rights Managed, Stock
LPPC DSL CO 0001001300250041-Edit Kyle of Lochalsh station, at the end of the line from Inverness, was the terminus from which passengers could gain access to the Isle of Skye having arrived by rail. It was a substantial structure which consisted of a wide and long island platform with both sides in use. Behind me as I shot the photograph, is the quayside and then the narrow strait with the town of Kyleakin on Skye reached at this time by ferry but there is now a road bridge. The two Sulzer Type 2 Class 25s stand with an April 1973 Grand Scottish Circular Tour return leg having arrived from Crewe and waiting for passengers off the ferry from Mallaig who had come via the West Highland Line but were due to return via Inverness and Perth. Note the line bottom right which leads to the quayside to deal with fish traffic, another source of revenue long since abandoned to road transport. Keywords: Digital, Rights Managed, Stock
LPPC DSL CO 004900610080-Edit Waiting at the opposite platform face to that depicted on Page 174 is the afternoon Kyle to Inverness service train which our railtour was due to follow down the single line. Headed by one of Inverness (60A) depot’s ubiquitous Sulzer Type 2 Class 24s number 5125 it has the rugged coastline on the edge of Loch Carron and part of Kyle town as a backdrop. On the right are some fish boxes stacked which used to give the Guard’s Vans on these trains their unique aroma. When the Southern CCT behind the loco was built it probably never expected to end up so far from home in the course of its duties. Keywords: Digital, Rights Managed, Stock

Images 1-18 of 18 displayed.