This page is dedicated to two great rail cameramen - Jim Carter and Ray Morten
SPOTTING TRIPS TO CREWE
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Crewe! It was a spotter's paradise, and I wish I could have gone there more often, but as the journey involved catching a train from Leeds and changing stations at Manchester, my mother had a morbid fear that her small boy could get lost somewhere along the way. It never dawned on me that she had another, more tangible reason, like 'Mother Love', for example, but since she offered no other explanation, her refusal seemed very unfair. Didn't she realise how important this was to me? - I mean, a trip to Crewe?
But the answer was an emphatic 'No, no, no!' every time, and that was the end of the matter - or, rather, it was the beginning of another - because a few weeks later I met the doyen of young train spotters called Bonzo. Aged thirteen, he was a veritable professor on railways, who taught me all I needed to know about the Stanier 'Black 5' two-cylinder 4-6-0s with their Belpaire fireboxes, tapered boilers and outside Walschaerts valve gear; the 3-cylinder express variant 'Jubilee' class and rebuilt 'Royal Scots', and the 4-cylinder 'Princess Royal' and 'Coronation' class Pacifics. The 'Coronations' included the ex-streamlined locos which had been stripped of their casing in 1945, yet instantly identifiable by their bevelled smokebox tops. It coined their nickname 'semis' among spotters, but by 1957 they were becoming something of a rarity since only four remained in that guise; the last being No 46246 City of Manchester in May 1960. This loco ran a few months in BR maroon livery with a bevelled smokebox top - the only member of the class to do so. My thanks to Alan Taylor of Fleetwood for the additional information.
(Above-Below) The doyen of the 'Princess Coronation' class, No 46220 Coronation, was the first of five streamliners painted in Caledonian blue with silver stripes and emerged from Crewe works in 1937. The locomotive set a new world steam speed record during her press run with the LMSR's prestigious 'Coronation Scot' express. In September 1946, No 6220 was de-streamlined, but retained its cut-down (bevelled) smokebox top until December 1955. Here No 6220 poses for ER Morten at Crewe during early BR days. (Below) One of the five red streamliners to emerge from Crewe works in 1939, Stanier Pacific No 46239 City of Chester, which had its bevelled smokebox door altered to the conventional shape in February 1957. The loco stands on the turntable at Crewe North shed prior to hauling the 'Mid-day Scot'. Photos copyright ER Morten, JR Carter.
If truth be told, train spotting was more of a jolly jape for young boys - the 'thrill of the chase', if you like. However, there were certain rules to follow. I'm talking about 'honesty' and 'integrity', which are admirable sentiments but hardly the stuff you can rely upon when the very reason for collecting engine numbers was to push your 'cop'-rate as far as you could go. Therefore it gives me no great pleasure in saying that some members of the spotting community thought nothing of added random numbers to their collection, perhaps thinking that by cramming their Ian Allan abc chock-full of underlined 'cops' it somehow absolved them from paying any attention to a credible story...like where and when the sightings were made?
In Bonzo's opinion, these 'cheats' had no place in the club; they were offenders of the worst kind, whose indiscriminate spotting didn't depend on their powers of observation, more likely the fertility of their youthful imagination. Not only did the 13 year-old Bonzo have a maturity well beyond his years, he was two years my senior which allayed my mother's fear that I could end up in some place I shouldn't. The fact is, Bonzo opened all kinds of doors for me, because in spite of the distances involved, he was a master at deciphering railway timetables, and regularly organized visits to places like the railway Mecca of Crewe.
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Like a fishing trip, we always started the day with the highest hopes, and a visit to Crewe offered by far the best chance of adding a new batch of engine numbers to our collections. I was desperate to see my first 'Princess Royal' class and, of course, the mighty 'Coronations' - both classes being the almost exclusive preserve of the West Coast Main Line. As it turned out, I never did quite catch them all, though I came pretty close - just two short of bagging a 'full house' - but the expectation of 'copping' them all in the end never wavered.
Having risen early, we met at Horsforth station - both carrying the latest fashion accessories; a matching pair of tartan duffel bags or ex-Army & Navy khaki shoulder bags, both stuffed with jam butties the size of breeze blocks - and, in Bonzo's case, a well-thumbed copy of 'Health & Efficiency' magazine, plus umpteen bottles of fizzy pop. He loved Tizer, perhaps swigging up to three bottles a day, and mine if he'd had the chance. I've known him belch all the way from Leeds City to Manchester Exchange, spending much of the journey poking his head out of windows in search for cops. After a quick dash across Manchester city centre to London Road station, we hung around the Eastern Region platforms hoping to 'cab' one of the EM1 Bo-Bo electrics on the Sheffield service via Woodhead, some carrying the oddest names such as Diomedes, Ulysses, Mentor and Pomethues.
(Above) A development of the earlier Metropolitan-Vickers and Gresley designed Class EM1 Bo-Bo introduced in 1941-1950 for the Manchester-Sheffield electrified route via Woodhead was the heavier Class EM2 (introduced in 1954) which had six powered axles and higher speed range for passenger duties. In all, seven were built, including No 27003 Diana seen here awaiting departure from Manchester Piccadilly with the 11.15 to Sheffield Victoria on 24th February 1963. Click on link to vist Keith Long's 'Rail Cameraman' page
(Below) Class B1 No 61082 approaches Manchester (London Road) with a train from Sheffield on December 3rd 1953. Photo © BKB Green.
(Above) When the Manchester-Crewe electrification commenced on September 12th 1960, the impact of the intensified, accelerated electric service saw an increase of 62% on passengers. It was just reward for Mancunians who had suffered a depressing timetable compilation and complicated diversions during electrification work. From the start, twenty two 2,300hp electric locomotives were provided for the new service which eliminated almost all steam working from the newly-named Piccadilly station. With the overhead electric warning sign on the cab end, BR/Sulzer Type 2 No D5135 stands beneath the overhead catenary at Piccadilly station in April 1961. For the record, during the Spring of 1963, the LMR were offering rail travellers week-end breaks in London, including hotel accomodation, meals, coach tours and a night club visit for an all-in fare of £12 to £19! Photo © GEC/Altsom
The caption material for ER Morten's photo (above) was obtained from Wikipedia's interesting 'Crewe Works Railway' webpage. Click here for link.
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(Above-Below) The fireman of 'Britannia' class 7MT No 70021 Morning Star doesn't look best pleased! Perhaps a spotter has thrown something from the footbridge at the north end of Crewe station; worse still spitting was commonplace among certain factions of the spotting fraternity. The loutish behaviour of a relative few idiots reflected on us all. (Below) The BR Standard classes were the new image of Britain's railways in the 1950s, personified by the Riddles-designed BR Standard Class 7MT - the imaginatively named 'Britannia' Pacifics. Constructed at Crewe works, No 70021 was among the first batch (Nos 70000-70024) built between January and October 1951. Mr Morten's photo is dated 6th August 1951, so this is probably the first revenue-earning duty for the locomotive. On the other hand, judging by the pristine paintwork of the BR1 tender this is more likely to be a running-in turn prior to its allocation to the Western Region. Photos © ER Morten - click on link to visit Mr Morten's 'Rail Cameraman' Page
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Sadly it was the reckless few vandals who infiltrated the spotting fraternity that spoiled the fun for the rest of us. I'm harking back to the days when Britain stood at the social crossroads, and the stuffy, stiff-collared old order was about to be swept aside by a brash new youth culture. All at once, train spotting began to take on insidious undertones. The foul-mouthed antics of the hooligan element became a menace to the rail-travelling public and, in some extreme cases, their thuggish behaviour would stand up well against the yob culture that began to creep into football in the Seventies and Eighties. As a result, the authorities came down hard on spotters, and unless you could produce a valid ticket, anybody who looked remotely like a spotter was not allowed on the platform. Many stations barred us altogether, and warning notices were posted at ticket barriers - NO TRAIN SPOTTERS ALLOWED! So when Bonzo and I boarded the train for Crewe, the hoity-toity displeasure on the faces of the London-bound passengers was a palpable thing. They shifted in their seats, as if shrinking from something nasty. Then baggage mysteriously appeared from suitcase racks onto unoccupied seats; anything to prevent us from sitting in their compartment.
But we didn't want to sit down. We were only interested in what was going off outside the window. Within minutes of leaving London Road, the train was passing Longsight shed (9A) - two end-to-end buildings containing 12 and eight tracks respectively - and, judging by the dense layer of smoke shrouding the scene, sheltering a good proportion of its main line passenger stud. In the yard, we spotted a couple of 'Jubilees' and a 'Brit', but the rest were lost through the blur of rolling stock assembled in the intervening sidings.
(Above) A product of Crewe workshops, No 46245 City of London, introduced to traffic in June 1943 - and the first of 16 Duchesses to be repainted in BR-style red livery by the London Midland Region in December 1957 - heads past the works prior to taking over a Railfan Special on September 1st 1964. The locomotive was one of 17 Duchesses withdrawn the same month. Note the boilers in the background (now the site of the Crewe Heritage Centre). Photo © J Carter Click on link to visit Jim's 'Rail Cameraman' Page
(Below) Prior to accelerating the Anglo-Scottish expresses on the West Coast route in 1927, the LMS took the unusual step of borrowing a 'Castle' class 4-6-0 from the GWR for tests between Euston and Carlisle. The performance of the GWR engine proved superior to the LMSR's 'Claughtons', so a decision was taken to dispense with Sir Henry Fowler's planned 3-cylinder compound and 4-cylinder compound Pacifics, and an order was placed with the North British Locomotive Company of Glasgow to build fifty 3-cylinder 4-6-0s with a parallel boiler and Belpaire firebox. At the time, the SR generously offered a few pointers of their own for the Derby drawing office to consider, so the 'Royal Scots' had more than a passing resemblance to the Southern Railway's 'Lord Nelson' 4-6-0s introduced a year earlier. Sporting a 5A (Crewe North) shedplate on the smokebox door, No 6149 The Middlesex Regiment waits its next turn of duty. Photo © L Turner
(Above) The doyen of the Class 6P5F 'Patriots' No 45500 Patriot heads a 'down' express through Stafford on 3rd June 1952. The resemblance in external style to the larger 'Royal Scot' class coined their nickname 'Baby Scot', but the scrapping of the LNWR's war memorial engine Patriot led to the name being transferred to the class. Photo © ER Morten
(Below) Established in 1845, Crewe works came under the direction of many well-known Chief Mechanical Engineers whose reputations are synonamous with the locomotive types that came off the assembly line. Crewe not only built steam locomotives for the London & North Western Railway (LNWR), London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMSR), and British Railways (BR), the works also designed and built the Covenanter tank for the war effort overseas. The last steam locomotive built at Crewe was the BR Standard class 9F No 92250 in 1958 - the 7,331st engine to be built from the beginning. In this view outside the paint shop, a line-up of steam and diesel include BR Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 No 92004, an unidentified Crosti-boilered variant and a Standard Class 4 2-6-0 numbered in the 76000 series. On the diesel front, several EE Co Type 4 1Co-Co1s and a solitary EE Co Type 1 Bo-Bo are joined by a Class EM1 electric (one of 58 Bo-Bos Nos 26000-26057 designed by Gresley and Metro-Vickers for the Woodhead route). On the extreme right, a newly-built 2,700hp diesel-hydraulic Co-Co No D1072 Western Glory was one of 44 diesel-hydraulics to be constructed at Crewe for the Western Region.
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On arrival at the railway Mecca, the first item on the agenda was to scout the station for any southbound departures. That done, we headed for the footbridge at the north end. What a place! The bridge could well have been put there especially for spotters. Not only did it provide a grandstand view of the main lines to the north, it gave a tantalizing glimpse of smoke and steam rising from express engines simmering in the shed yard at Crewe North.
Having claimed our spot, a group of spotters told us what had been through earlier that morning. We had missed a 'Patriot', several 'Royal Scots', a 'Princess Royal', a couple of 'Coronations' plus the prototype Deltic had worked the up 'Merseyside Express'. But the prize cop I wanted above all others was No 71000 Duke of Gloucester which had run light engine in North shed, so there was a good chance it would emerge later that day. Only it didn't, and I had to wait another year before I finally caught up with it at Carnforth.(Left-Below) A spotter jots down the number of Princess Beatrice at the north end of Crewe station. All twelve members of the class were withdrawn between October 1961 and November 1962. Photos copyright D Pritchard collection.
I was rarely disappointed with my visits to Crewe because the railway Mecca produced the highest 'cop'-rate of anywhere I visited on the LMR. I even 'copped' my first Western Region locos on shed at Gresty Lane near the football ground. As for the twin Co-Co diesels Nos 10000/1? I remember spotting them at Crewe heading the up 'Royal Scot' express and, judging by Bonzo's impeccable time-keeping, running a few minutes ahead of their booked time. Leading the ensemble was a rather grubby No 10000 in green livery with the BR insignia on its side, and carrying the distinctive tartan 'Royal Scot' headboard on the nose-end. A loud groan rose up from the pack of spotters, then another - and another - until the footbridge was awakened to a crescendo of cat calls and boos. I'd never heard the likes of it before. I glanced at Bonzo swigging his Tizer, his face showing a variety of emotions. I wasn't sure whether he was caught up by the hostility around us, or suffering from trapped wind? It turned out to be neither...like me, Bonzo was as pleased as Punch; the Co-Co twins were 'cops' for the both of us and, after watching them glide through the station, we dutifully logged them in our books, away from prying eyes.
(Above) Had it not been for the involvement of the LMS Princess Royal class No 46202 Princess Anne in the tragic multiple railway accident at Harrow in 1952, the design and construction of the BR 3-cylinder Caprotti-fitted No 71000 Duke of Gloucester would never have got off the ground. At the time, No 46202 Princess Anne, better known as the former experimental Turbomotive, later rebuilt back to its conventional form in 1952, sustained damage beyond repair and was subsequently written off. This led to the Railway Executive agreeing to Riddles's proposal for the construction of a prototype Class 8 standard 4-6-2 as a replacement locomotive. With newly-erected electrification masts visible in the background, the 'Duke' blows off steam at its home shed at Crewe North (5A) in June 1962. Photo copyright JR Carter.
(Below) Designed at Derby and built at Crewe Works in May 1954, the unique Class 8 Pacific was intended to represent the pinnacle of modern British locomotive development, but No 71000 was unpopular with crews for being a shy steamer and after only a short working life on some of the heaviest Stanier 'Pacific' diagrams based at Crewe North MPD, the locomotive was withdrawn from traffic in November 1962, stripped of its outside cylinders and valve gear, and sold for scrap to Woodham Brothers in December 1962. Rescued from Barry for restoration by the 71000 Trust, a dedicated team of volunteers discovered a design fault with the ashpan dampers, which partly explained why No 71000 was a poor performer in BR days. Today the engine has become one of the great crowd-pullers in the preservation movement. Here No 71000 heads north through Madeley just south of Crewe with the down 'Mid-day Scot on 18th June 1955. Photo copyright ER Morten
(Above) In the days before the obligatory warning stripe appeared on the cabsides of steam locomtives, an immaculate No 46235 City of Birmingham heads light engine to its home shed at Crewe North after working a Euston train from Glasgow. The ban on the Stanier 'Coronations' south of Crewe was imposed following the energisation of the overhead catenary, and surviving locomotives were painted with a diagonal yellow stripe across the cab side to denote prohibition of their movements south of Crewe. Fortunately, No 46235 was one of three 'Coronations' to survive the cutters torch. Withdrawn in October 1964, the locomotive found a new lease of life, albeit as a non-working static exhibit at the Birmingham Museum of Science & Industry. Photo © JR Carter
(Below) Although officially designated the 'Princess Coronation' class - later shortened to 'Coronation' - the Stanier Class 8P Pacifics will always be called the 'Duchesses'. It seems an odd choice, seeing that of the 38 members of the class, only 10 - Nos 6225-6234 - were named after Duchesses. The remaining locos carried a proliferation of 'City' names, except for No 6257 Sir William Stanier FRS, named in honour of the LMSR's CME 1932-1944 at a ceremony held at Euston in December 1947. Here, No 46238 City of Carlisle heads a 'down' express at Warrington. Photo copyright JR Carter
(Above) Introduced to traffic in July 1938, No 6233 Duchess of Sutherland was one of five non-streamlined 'Duchesses' Nos 6230-34 built at Crewe works in 1938. The locomotive was allocated initially to Camden shed, then spent a long period at Crewe North before ending its days at Edge Hill shed on Merseyside. Withdrawal came in February 1964 after clocking over 1½ million miles in service. The loco was purchased by Billy Butlin and repainted for use as a static display at the company's holiday camp at Ayr. Here, No 6233 makes a splendid sight after being restored to its original LMS livery (well, a pretty-close version, some would say) at Crewe works before being towed by rail to the Ayr camp on 23 October 1964. No 6233 remained at the holiday camp until February 1971, then it was entrusted to the Bressingham Steam Museum on a free loan agreement. From there it went to the Midland Railway Centre in Derbyshire for overhaul and return to running order - a fitting end. Photo © JR Carter
(Below) In 1966, an unusual visitor to Crewe works was Class A4 No 60010 Dominion of Canada. The loco entered service at Kings Cross shed in May 1937 as No 4489 Woodcock, but was recalled to Doncaster and re-emerged as Dominion of Canada painted in the LNER's garter-blue livery. A year later, the locomotive was fitted with a bell presented by the Canadian Pacific Railway. It also carried the Canadian Pacific Railway's five-note chime whistle in place of the Crosby tri-tone standard for the class. After a brief spell at Grantham shed between April-September 1957, No 60010 returned to Kings Cross where it remained until the shed closed in June 1963. It was transferred for a few months to New England for secondary duties on the ECML, before ending its days at Aberdeen Ferryhill shed to work the 3hr schedule Aberdeen-Glasgow expresses. Condemned at Darlington works in May 1965, the locomotive languished at Darlington shed until August 1966 before it was towed to Crewe for refurbishment.
(Above) Class A4 No 60010 looks in sparkling condition at Crewe works (note the buck-eye coupling at the rear in the top picture) before it was formally presented to the acting High Commissioner for Canada at a ceremony held in the Royal Victoria Dock, London on 10 April 1967. The locomotive is now on static display at the Montreal Railway Historical Museum, Canada. Photo © B Tate
(BELOW) LMS/English Electric Co 1,600hp Co-Cos Nos 10000/1 © GEC/Alstom: The Ivatt twins as we remember them - powering the 'Royal Scot' in early British Railways days. Working in multiple, the Co-Co twins were regularly employed on the heavy Anglo-Scottish expresses during the 1950s. The 'Royal Scot' express had a distinctive tartan-coloured headboard, carriage destination boards, and end cover for the gangway door of the rear coach, all of which added a certain panache to this Anglo-Scottish service. Sadly, such extravagances as locomotive headboards and carriage destination boards had disappeared by the mid-Sixties, and most of the titled trains were named only in the timetable and the headboards discarded. If pioneer diesels are your bag, click on photo for link to page.
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