WELCOME TO DAVID HEY'S COLLECTION 

This site is growing!...
Over 1,000 photos of BR steam/diesels during the 1950s and 1960s

'THE TRANSITION FROM STEAM'

This website is intended to be a good-humoured look at contemporary attitudes and lifestyles; a personal observation of a gentler, more innocent age. The pages cover the period from the post-war Fifties to the vibrant 'Swinging Sixties' which, for my generation of post-war 'baby-boomers' (brought up on a diet of jam butties and roly-poly pudding) was something of a 'Boy’s Own' adventure, if you like. However, there is a serious side to this website  too. It is the growing sense that if we lose sight of our past then we may as well say goodbye to the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 





 


 

 

 

 
 

 

 NEW LINKS: Fast track navigation to New Pages, BR Region Pages (Left) and BR Diesels (Below). Click on image to visit the page, then click on 'X' top right screen to return to this page. Meanwhile, the main menu will direct you to every single page on the site. The main menu is perhaps the best way to navigate the full site.  

As I recall it, the end of steam overshadowed everything in the Sixties, but locking away one’s feelings will not dispose of them, rather it evokes a lot more feelings besides. Once you start unearthing childhood memories long lost in the mists of time a much bigger story begins to unfold. As you get older you begin to develop an extraordinary affection for old red telephone boxes, Dinky Toys, Hornby Dublo trains, Vespa scooters, frog-eyed Sprites, old bangers with running boards and starting handles - even women PCs in stockings and suspenders. Indeed, much of what has disappeared during the past fifty years means something special to someone in one form or other, especially BR steam in everyday service. 

But there must be countless thousands of ex-spotters like me who still bear the emotional scars of abandoning their allegiance to steam during the 1960s. Many abstained from the hobby as a matter of principle, others in reluctant surrender, but whatever the reason the overall feeling was that as steam had outlived its usefulness, then so had our interest in trains - a view in which I managed to persist until the bitter finale came in August 1968, and there were just five steam locomotives left: 3 Black 5s Nos 44781, 44871, 45110; a solitary 8F No 48448 and the last working 'Britannia' No 70013 Olver Cromwell.

But modernisation didn't effect everyone. The spotting community was made up of countless thousands of youngsters, who, by virtue of their youth had no way of knowing what had gone before, so with the introduction of charismatic diesels like the 'Peaks', 'Deltics', 'Warships' and 'Westerns', the end of steam mattered little to them - and, if truth be told, even die-hard steam enthusiasts had to admire the performances of the new diesels. At the same time,  BRs decision to name diesel locomotives was a commendable policy. The fitting of bodyside nameplates and, in some cases ornamental regimental crests, upheld a tradition  going back donkey's years which added a certain panache to the new diesel fleet. 

By 1965, BR's diesel fleet entered the much-maligned era of the 'Corporate Identity Programme' and the newly-formed British Rail Board (BRB) decreed that everything had to conform to a given standard. The BRB's design panel advised British Rail on the best means of attaining a high level of appearance by introducing a new livery for diesel and electric locomotives, passenger coaches, freightliner rolling stock and ships, along with the use of a new barbed wire logo, based upon the idea of two-way traffic movement. The diesel fleet's unimaginative colour scheme (devoid of a two-tone livery and bodyside lining) wasn't helped by the BRB's strict policy forbidding any concession to livery changes, which deprived depot staff of any incentive to take a pride in their particular traction, and it wasn't until the late 1980’s that the BRB finally adopted a more enlightening approach for its newly-launched Regional Services and Sectors.

(Right) But I’m getting ahead of myself...back in the Sixties the British Rail Board's (BRB's) Corporate Identity Programme left me stone cold, and everything that came afterwards was a poor second best. In particular I hated the BRB's 'barbed-wire' logo, which was an ugly design compared to the first British Railways totem (1948-1956) consisted of a 'British Lion' embracing a flanged wheel to symbolize rail transport. The second BR emblem (1956-1967) also had the 'British Lion' rising from a crown holding a driving wheel in its front paws , and a new coach roundel (1959-1967) appeared on coaching stock, diesel multiple units and electrical multiple units. A variation of the 'British Lion' and crown totem was cast in polished aluminum for the WR's prototype 'Western' class No D1000 Western Enterprise and the LMR's new fleet of WCML electrics - all were super designs and should have been left alone. After all, what is wrong with 'Britishness'?
 

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However, my own interest in train spotting has its roots in childhood, so I have no genuine nostalgia for the new diesel era. I lost interest in train spotting because from 1959 onwards my visits t
 
o the lineside produced less evidence of Britain's railway past, which, until then, had always seemed so constant. For example, my last Ian Allan abc Locospotters book - the winter 1958/59 edition - could not keep apace with the modernisation. By the early 1960s, unwelcome gaps began to appear among the steam classes (due to scrapping) and the proliferation of new diesels did not enter the equation because they wer
 
e not yet listed. Call it a dereliction of duty, if you like, but the inconsistencies creeping into the hobby was totally at odds with the orderliness that spotters expected, and many disenchanted youngsters turned to something more rewarding, such as railway photography - a natural adjunct to train spotting. 

  With the imposition of the unimaginative overall blue diesel livery gathering momentum, the first part of this website  is aimed squarely at steam enthusiasts. After all, they are the real victims of the 1968 holocaust, for having grown up with steam since childhood, the decision to ditch the trusty old steam workhorse hit them harder than anyone, and visits to engine sheds, official or otherwise, were no longer cheery and uplifting - the rusting remains of old steam locomotives abandoned at the back of sheds awaiting the cutter's torch was like intruding upon a mass grave. 

 
(Left) Thank goodness for the preservation movement! This photograph of the unique Class 8P No 71000 Duke of Gloucester awaiting departure from Bury with the 17.20 to Ramsbottom on the East Lancs Railway on 29th March 2008 evokes memories of spotting days at Crewe in the Fifties. No 71000 was the sole Class 8 Pacific designed and built by BR, emerging from Crewe Works in 1954 to work WCML expresses between Euston and Scotland. Following withdrawal from traffic at Crewe North shed (5A) in 1962, the story of its remarkable preservation can be found on the 71000 (Duke of Gloucester) Steam Locomotive Trust website - Link Here. (Below) Standard Class Pacific No 70000 Britannia at Bridgenorth on the Severn Valley Railway reminds me of the scrap lines we encountered in the Sixties, yet the circumstances couldn't be more different. Introduced to traffic on the Eastern Region in 1951, the engine was withdrawn at Newton Heath shed after 15 years in service. In 1966, the preservation movement was still in its infancy and it wasn't until 3 years later that Britannia was saved from the cutter's torch. This view shows the sterling work that goes into preserving our national heritage. The fact that almost 400 ex-BR steam locomotives have survived in preservation is a remarkable achievement...I hope you enjoy your visit and call back again. Photos © Andy Sparks, D Hey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 












































 


 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

On a final note, the most popular idols back in the Fifties were the comic 'cape crusaders' Spiderman, Batman or Superman, together with the Hollywood cowboy stars: Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger. However, the idols I worshipped above all others did not come from your usual ruck of pop singers, soccer players or film stars – and, unless you were a train spotter, none were household names. They were the railway photographers whose pictures appeared in the 1950-60s monthly magazines - the unsung heroes who helped shape my perception of the railway scene.

So when I bumped into Jim Carter in the mid-Eighties, the fear of causing him even the slightest embarrassment deterred me from asking for his autograph. We met on the embankment overlooking Marsden’s reverse curves at the Yorkshire end of Standedge Tunnel, a line he regularly worked during his days on the footplate. Mindful of those romantic tales about steam, I asked him – Did he really fry eggs and bacon on a shovel across the firebox? Jim left me in no doubt about his feelings – “Yon shovel is for feeding t’engine, not your gob!” So there you have it - straight from the horse’s mouth. This shot of a Class 8F and WD on snow clearing duties at Diggle at the Lancashire end of Standedge Tunnel is a classic. Few photographs – or photographers, for  that matter – can leave such a lasting impression.

Thanks Jim, this site is dedicated to you... 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although this website is still in its infancy, I’ll be pleased to include your spotting reminiscences from

 
steam days, but be warned - the seasoned spotter can spot a 'porky' a mile off, so embellishing your story with fictional flourishes is hardly convincing. That’s because train spotting captured the hearts of thousands of boys during the less-worldly Fifties, and although most of us are well past our prime (and in all probability forgotten what we did two minutes ago) the ageing process is surprisingly kind in another way. In the glow of memory we only remember the good stuff, so our spotting memories are bound to be mired in sentimentality. 


On the other hand, critics would argue that writing a personal account of ‘bunking’ sheds and chasing ‘cops’ is seldom illuminating or remarkable because all you are doing is regurgitating old anecdotes, which, by the very nature of the hobby, are exactly the same as everyone else’s...RUBBISH! Call me an old-fashioned day dreamer, but any memory of bygone days is better than none. Just send me a favourite old photo accompanied by a meaningful caption and it will give visitors to this site a chance of escaping the grim reality of today’s modern world...

Email address: david.hey2@ntlworld.com



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