From the guard's van

I was never inspired by the class 47s. They seemed very ordinary but they have lasted well and have appeared in a good number of liveries over the years. Here are a few of them. We begin with the Virgin Cross Country livery seen here on 47814 with a down train passing Taunton in the late 1990s.  Loco 47452 stands at Rhyl in the "blue" years when it was a case of 'if it moved, paint it blue'.  After privatisation some of the 47s went to the freight sector. Here 47786 "Roy Castle OBE" stands in the up loop at Darlington station with a test train.  Fragonset had a few class 47s and here one of them, 47703, is seen approaching Cogload Junction east of Taunton with an up train in the late 1990s.  Freightliner's 47292 passes Clifton up loop on the WCMIL with an up freight as it begins the southbound climb to Shap Summit. In its original (heavily stained) two tone green livery D1503 passes through York station light engine. Note t...

As you may gather, I have been scanning old transparencies from my archive. After looking at the Deltics I thought it would be appropriate to look at the other mainline locos of the late 50s and early 60s, the class 40s (as they became after TOPS). A class 40 with the later single head code with a down tank train at Drem Junction east of Edinburgh. Dated before the line was electrified in the late 1980s With original disc head codes this class 40 arrives in York station with an up train in the 1960s. An up train approaching Bescot junction on the Wolverhampton line with a passenger train. The overhead steelwork has been erected but no wires appear to be in place so we are looking at the early 1960s. It is passing the premises of Edward Elwell. The company was taken over by Spear and Jackson the tool manufacturers. The site is now cleared and the siding into the works has long since disappeared.  D383 wends its way through the pointwork at the bac...

The DB class 218s were a common sight once but the class has been reduced drastically... in fact it might even be extinct by now. Munich Station in 2002. Two locos head a westbound train into Kaufering station.  Here one is pushing and the other pulling.  A good connection. 

These few shots were taken en route from Zurich to Lugano on the Italian border exactly 50 years ago. Unfortunately I can tell you no more about the locations or the locos than that. A small electric shunting loco. 

One of the GNER liveried class 373s at York station's platform 11 having just arrived from Kings Cross. This one was about to depart platform 9. Power car 3314 was one of the Regional sets which were eventually operated by SNCF on their  internal services out of Paris.  And that is as close as we ever got to the promised services from the North of England through the Channel Tunnel and on to the cities of Europe. 

A few assorted pictures of Deltics taken up and down the East Coast Main Line. D9008 standing in the loco yard at Kings Cross station. D9020 at the south end of York station with an up express. An unidentified Deltic heads south past the remains of the up yard at Tweedmouth. Back to York... the north end this time with a down express leaving. Note the link to the Scarborough line in the foreground. An up stopping train about to leave the south end of York station. By the time this shot was taken the HSTs were taking over the expresses... one is just passing under Holgate bridge. The Deltic is numbered 55014.