BR Steam Workings May-June 1957

The RailGenArchive project is ongoing continuation of the old 1980's Timewarp project and the site is updated at least once per week. A site dedicated to recording diesel and electric (mostly) passenger workings, currently there are 376520 workings on the site (at the time of this post). During the many years that this project has been running, steam workings have also been received, and, going forward, these will be posted here on this blog as time allows.

BR Steam Workings - May & June 1957.


Friday 24 May 1957
42865/45708 1420 Liverpool Lime Street To Newcastle At Stalybridge
45521 1515 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Stalybridge/Diggle

Saturday 25 May 1957
45215 1255 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Ashton/Diggle
45339 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Stalybridge
45642 1020 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange At Ashton

Monday 27 May 1957
45215 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Stalybridge
73095 1806 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Ashton/Diggle

Tuesday 28 May 1957
45222 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Stalybridge
73098 1806 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Ashton/Diggle

Wednesday 29 May 1957
45042 1806 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Ashton/Diggle
45237 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Stalybridge

Thursday 30 May 1957
45222 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Stalybridge
73097 1806 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Ashton/Diggle

Friday 31 May 1957
42379 1600 Hull To Liverpool Lime Street At Stalybridge
45070 1806 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Ashton/Diggle
45182 0732 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Diggle
45222 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Stalybridge



Saturday 1 June 1957
44940 0800 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Ashton
45237 1315 Manchester Exchange To Bradford Exchange Ashton/Diggle

Monday 3 June 1957
45215 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Ashton
45220 1255 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Ashton/Diggle

Tuesday 4 June 1957
45237 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Stalybridge
73093 1806 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Stalybridge/Diggle

Wednesday 5 June 1957
40071 1135 Stalybridge To Stockport At Stalybridge
44893 1255 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Ashton/Diggle
45215 0928 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Ashton

Thursday 6 June 1957
42410 1020 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Diggle/Huddersfield
45405 1315 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Huddersfield/Diggle

Friday 7 June 1957
45237 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Ashton
45314 1722 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Ashton/Diggle

Saturday 8 June 1957
42391 0815 Bradford Exchange To Stockport At Stalybridge
45215 1255 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Ashton
45222 1245 Manchester Exchange To Harrogate At Ashton

Tuesday 11 June 1957
44824 1650 Leeds City To Stockport At Diggle
45222 0733 Leeds City To Liverpool Lime Street Stalybridge/Ashton
45237 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Stalybridge
45454 1618 Wigan North Western To Leeds City At Diggle

Wednesday 12 June 1957
40081 0815 Bradford Exchange To Stockport At Stalybridge
45204 0800 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Ashton
45304 1806 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Ashton/Diggle

Thursday 13 June 1957
42115 1751 Stalybridge To Stockport At Stalybridge
44933 0632 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Ashton
45454 1722 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Ashton/Diggle

Friday 14 June 1957
42109 1455 Bradford Exchange To Huddersfield At Huddersfield
42115 1631 Huddersfield To Greenfield Huddersfield/Diggle
42353 1223 Stalybridge To Leeds City At Huddesfield
42410 1015 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Diggle/Huddersfield
42622 1354 Halifax To Stockport At Huddersfield
44934 1255 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Huddersfield
44680 1315 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange At Huddersfield
45063 1100 Liverpool Lime Street To Hull At Huddersfield
45075 1350 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Huddersfield
45080 1402 Hull To Liverpool Lime Street At Huddersfield
45222 1341 Stockport To Bradford Exchange At Huddersfield
45379 1135 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange At Huddersfield
45520/45521 1005 Newcastle To Liverpool Lime Street At Huddersfield
45553 1515 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Huddersfield
45558 1000 Sunderland To Manchester Exchange At Huddersfield
45708/45211 1420 Liverpool Lime Street To Newcastle At Huddersfield

Monday 17 June 1957
44896 0530 Hull To Liverpool Lime Street At Stalybridge
45103 0632 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Ashton
45689 1412 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Ashton/Diggle
73094 0730 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Greenfield
73096 1600 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Ashton

Tuesday 18 June 1957
42354 1740 Greenfield To Stockport At Saddleworth
42621 1740 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Ashton/Diggle
42713 1615 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange At Stalybridge
44934 0632 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Ashton
45708 1600 Hull To Liverpool Lime Street At Greenfield
73094 0730 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Greenfield

Wednesday 19 June 1957
42281 1740 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Stalybridge/Diggle
42702 1615 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange At Stalybridge
42865/45563 1700 Liverpool Lime Street To Newcastle At Diggle
45204 0632 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Ashton
45424 0730 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Greenfield
45708 1600 Hull To Liverpool Lime Street At Greenfield

Friday 21 June 1957
40081 2050 Stockport Edgeley To Stalybridge Guide Bridge/Stalybridge
42283 1740 Manchester Exchange To Marsden At Stalybridge
45028 1737 Manchester Exchange To Newcastle At Stalybridge
45135 1722 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Stalybridge
45204 1720 Blackpool Central To Leeds City Stalybridge/Diggle
45212/45668 1700 Liverpool Lime Street To Newcastle At Stalybridge
45646 1600 Hull To Liverpool Lime Street At Stalybridge

Saturday 22 June 1957
45222 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Stalybridge
45237 1255 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Charlestown/Diggle
45340 1220 Huddersfield To Manchester Exchange At Greenfield
45339 0735 Bradford Exchange To Stockport Edgeley At Stalybridge
45435 1245 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Ashton Charlestown
73092 0715 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Greenfield
73096 0730 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Mossley

Monday 24 June 1957
42354 1650 Leeds City To Stockport Edgeley At Stalybridge
45237 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Stalybridge
73095 1806 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Charlestown/Diggle

Tuesday 25 June 1957
42391 1650 Leeds City To Stockport Edgeley At Stalybridge
44808 0730 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Diggle
45237 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange At Diggle/Stalybridge
45708 0530 Hull To Liverpool Lime Street At Ashton Charlestown

Wednesday 26 June 1957
42353 1650 Leeds City To Stockport Edgeley At Stalybridge
45340 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Stalybridge
73044 1806 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Charlestown/Diggle

Thursday 27 June 1957
45215 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Stalybridge
45424 1806 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Charlestown/Diggle
45563 0730 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Diggle

Friday 28 June 1957
42660 1740 Greenfield To Stockport Edgeley At Stalybridge
44893 0632 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Charlestown
45026 1722 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Charlestown/Diggle
45051 0730 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Greenfield
73097 0715 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Diggle

Saturday 29 June 1957
40581/45581 0855 Newcastle To Liverpool Lime Street 15 Late At Stalybridge
42451 1205 Manchester Exhange To Leeds City Charlestown/Stalybridge
44808 0730 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City At Diggle
45340 0712 Leeds City To Manchester Exchange Diggle/Charlestown
73099 1219 Manchester Exchange To Leeds City Stalybridge/Diggle


From the railway books of Mr John Bates.
C/o Christopher Pakinson.

© 'UD' & 'Clayhead'
Preserving the gen online since 1999...
Keeping you posted on behalf of the RailGenArchive team -

BR Steam Workings 1964 - 1965

The RailGenArchive project is ongoing continuation of the old 1980's Timewarp project and the site is updated at least once per week. A site dedicated to recording diesel and electric (mostly) passenger workings, currently there are 376228 workings on the site. During the many years that this project has been running, steam workings have also been received, and, going forward, these will be posted here on this blog as time allows.

BR Steam workings - 1964

Saturday 8 February 1964
5055 1550 Cardiff General To Shrewsbury At Shrewsbury
5927 1733 Shrewsbury To Ludlow At Shrewsbury
6916 1210 London Paddington To Birkenhead Woodside From Shrewsbury
6934 1630 Birkenhead Woodside To London Paddington Into Shrewsbury
6971 1435 Birkenhead Woodside To London Paddington Into Shrewsbury
7820 Xxxx Whitchurch To Oswestry
7820 Xxxx Welshpool To Shrewsbury At Shrewsbury
45308 1410 London Paddington To Birkenhead Woodside From Shrewsbury
45363 1800 Shrewsbury To Swansea At Shrewsbury
45406 1932 Shrewsbury To Crewe Shrewsbury/Crewe
45660 Xxxx Stafford To Shrewsbury At Shrewsbury
48305 1430 Chester To London Paddington Into Shrewsbury
70047 1540 Liverpool Lime Street To Cardiff General Into Shrewsbury
73056 1745 Shrewsbury To Stafford At Shrewsbury
75023 Xxxx Welshpool To Shrewsbury At Shrewsbury

Saturday 7 November 1964
61394 1610 Manchester Central To Sheffield

Saturday 14 November 1964
61093 1610 Manchester Central To Sheffield

Saturday 21 November 1964
61153 1610 Manchester Central To Sheffield

Saturday 28 November 1964
45633 1610 Manchester Central To Sheffield



Steam Workings - 1965

Saturday 30 January 1965
61392 1610 Manchester Central To Sheffield

Monday 15 February 1965
45608 1610 Manchester Central To Sheffield

Saturday 20 February 1965
61050 1610 Manchester Central To Sheffield

Wednesday 3 March 1965
61051 1610 Manchester Central To Sheffield

Saturday 13 March 1965
61190 1610 Manchester Central To Sheffield

Saturday 3 April 1965
61050 1610 Manchester Central To Sheffield

8 May 1965
61394 1610 Manchester Central To Sheffield

Saturday 29 May 1965
45095 1610 Manchester Central To Sheffield


Gen c/o Christopher Parkinson

© 'UD' & 'Clayhead'
Preserving the gen online since 1999...
Keeping you posted on behalf of the RailGenArchive team -

Lostock drags - 1986

If the West Coast Main line was blocked north of Wigan and south of Euxton Junction (near Preston) diversions via Lostock Junction, on the Manchester Victoria - Preston via Bolton route could come into effect. With northbound services, upon arrival at Wigan, a draw back loco would be attached at what had been the rear of the train, which would haul the service over to Lostock with the train loco still on the rear. Upon arrival at Lostock, the draw back loco would be detached and the original train loco would continue north. If southbound services were also effected, the process would be reversed, the drawback loco added at the rear of the service at Lostock to work forward to Wigan with the main loco on the rear to Wigan, before continuing south from there.

During the summer of 1986, on Sundays, there was three northbound services, all booked to be diverted via Lostock and those were, in order of departure from Wigan, at 1010 1P08, 1P14 at 1024 and then at 1130 would be 1P06. 1P08 was the 0922 Liverpool Lime Street - Preston, which was a portion for 1S41 1005 Manchester Victoria - Edinburgh Waverley. Second up, 1P14 which was a 0900 Crewe - Blackpool North, which would start back from Stoke-on-Trent each week from 22 June, while the third turn, 1P08, was the 0822 Birmingham New Street - Blackpool North. All three of these trains were booked, and usually got, a Class 47/4, while the two drawback turns were each booked for 2x Class 20's, one pair to work 1P08 to Lostock, then return light to Wigan to pick up 1P06, the second pair to work 1P14 only to Lostock.

For all currently known details of the locos that worked these trains, visit the RailGenArchive website. Enter the site, then select the date search option, enter a date, such as 18-05-1986, the first Sunday of Lostock drags, select a data filter to see a single class (or leave it with the default 'All' to see everything), then enter or click the GO button. After that, you can use the +7 and -7 day buttons to loop through Sunday's during 1986.

There are some conflicting details currently showing on the RailGenArchive, this due to conflicting reports received (especially re the Lostock drags for Sundays 29th June, 13th & 20th July), so any help resolving these, to either confirm or refute anything shown anywhere on the site is always very welcome. We can be contacted either using the comments box below or via the Contact Us page on the main site either via email or the contact form provided.

The RailGenArchive project is ongoing continuation of the old 1980's Timewarp project and the site is updated at least once per week.

Many thanks for all your help and support so far.

© 'UD' & 'Clayhead'
Preserving the gen online since 1999...
Keeping you posted on behalf of the RailGenArchive team -

Clayliner continued.

While much has been written about the west county china clay traffic and the vacuum braked Clayliner service to the Potteries during the period 1967-1982, there is very little detail out there of the Stoke end of the operation, until now...

Throughout the Clayliner years (1967-1982), clay was handled at two Stoke-on-Trent terminals. Longport was one, used throughout, while initially, Longton, along the Stoke-Derby line, was the second location used. The main clayliner trains mostly ran through to Longport, but would usually call at Stoke yard (Adjacent to the main railway station) to detach around half the wagons, these would then be tripped the last few miles, usually by a Class 24, a class once very common on all local duties in the Stoke area. A Class 24 would return to Longton each weekday evening to collect the empties taking them to Etruria, (around a mile north of Stoke) where they would be joined by the empties ex Longport, hauled by another Class 24 loco. The return Clayliner empties departed Etruria at around 0330 which goes a long way to explaining why there are not too many photos of the service anywhere the Midlands.

The handling of the clay traffic, and indeed all freight traffic at Longton ended (around 1973?), the second terminal used was now Shelton Wharf. Shelton Wharf sidings were access by a trailing connection from the spur serving the former Stoke sundries depot, by then known as National Carriers Ltd (NCL), just prior to the c1960 single track bridge that crosses the Trent & Mersey canal. Shelton Wharf sidings comprised six roads arranged in pairs with hard standing in between allowing transfer of clay to road vehicles for onward distribution. The loaded wagons for Shelton Wharf which usually came off 6M55, were then tripped from Stoke Yard by a Class 08, usually early morning. Shelton Wharf was mostly in operation SX, during daytime only, and could be observed from the footbridge across the line from the nearby Cockshute Sidings. Each evening, once the unloading operations were over for the day, the Class 08 would return to Shelton Wharf to sort the empty from the loaded wagons, which to the casual observer, always seemed to be unloaded in a random fashion.

A Class 24 would then arrive with the empties from Longport, propelling them up the spur from Stoke Yard, to one of the six through sidings in front of the NCL depot, at the far (Cliffe Vale) end of which there was a headshunt and connections into the NCL building itself. For awhile each evening both the 24 and 08 would be involved in the shunting of the clay traffic. Sometimes, surplus loaded clay wagons could be left in front one of the through roads in front of the NCL depot. Once shunting was complete, the Class 08 would depart, light engine, for Stoke Yard, followed by the Class 24, which would position the clay empties on the Stoke end of the spur, ready for collection in the early hours to form 6V53, as the NCL depot saw little other freight activity by the late 1970's, it having mostly gone fully over to road transport by then.

From August 1975, mass withdrawal of the Class 24's commenced and Crewe gained Class 25's as replacements, some of which came from western region depots including Plymouth Laira, so former Cornish clay motive power such as 25216 or 25217 could later be found at the other end of the operation, retrieving the Clay empties from Longport then shunting Shelton Wharf. Four Class 24's survive in preservation, 24032/054/061/081, all were former Crewe machines and most probably worked this duty at some time or another.

During 1982, 3 of the six roads in front of the NCL depot were lifted and a new Clay terminal began to take shape on the headshunt at the Cliffe Vale end of the NCL site. By the end of the summer of 1982, once the Cliffe Vale terminal was complete, Longport ceased handling the Clay traffic, as did Shelton Wharf, which only saw some limited use after that, to store wagons for a time before complete closure and subsequent redevelopment and the vacuum braked Clayliner service finally ended and the old wagon fleet withdrawn. A fleet of 35 new, French built Air Braked wagons in a distinctive new White & Blue livery formed the replacement service which was now diesel hauled throughout...

As usual, any comments corrections etc can be posted in the box below.

Many thanks for all your help and support so far.

© 'UD' & 'Clayhead'
Preserving the gen online since 1999...
Keeping you posted on behalf of the RailGenArchive team -

Clayliner

A few notes on a long running, long distance and very well known freight working following on from a discussion had between a bunch of us when we all met up at a recent, Churnet Valley Railway diesel event...

The Clayliner Clay service started during 1967 (August?) and was fully fitted, so needed no a guards van, but still timed at 45mph. Wagons used were short wheel based wooden bodied, five plank opens fitted with Vacuum brakes and roller bearings, loaded wagons were covered by (flat topped) tarpaulins. NOT to be confused with clay hoods, which were similar wagons, but featured a high bar and tarps with sloping tops, as these wagons rarely left the west county, and were only ever used on local traffic. Some box vans were also conveyed other clay products. All wagons used quickly took on a familiar coating of White.

The regular loaded northbound service was 6M55 from St Blazey, from the mid 1970's, usually through to Longport, some three miles north of Stoke-on-Trent although some trains terminated at Stoke Yard, which was adjacent to the main railway station while most Longport runs called at Stoke to detach.

Throughout the Clayliner years (1967-1982), clay was handled at two Stoke-on-Trent terminals, with returning empties originally returning from Etruria, departing around 0330. In later years, changes saw the return workings starting at Stoke, and (for different reasons) the departure time was later put back by around a hour.

Northbound routing was originally via Westbury, Swindon, Didcot avoider and Oxford to reach the WCML at the bottom of the Bletchley flyover. Once here, northbound loads and southbound empties were timed to meet and WR diesel and LMR electric to switch between trains and each loco to return from whence they came. North of Bletchley, running was usually via Northampton then direct from Colwich to Stone although runs via Stafford are also known. It was engineering work, (singling the Oxford-Bletchley route) that saw the Clayliner diverted via Worcester and Bescot around 1973/74.

The Clayliner was allocated WR Type 4 diesel power south of Bletchley and later Bescot and various classes appeared including Western's. But did any Class 52's ever reach Stoke? Some say 'probably' despite web searches and asking around, no solid evidence, written or photographic have yet been found. North of Bletchley and later Bescot, AC electric power was booked, classes 81-85 inclusive most common, but all Class 86 variants also appeared, but Class 87's never worked these trains, on account of Air brakes only. Class 24's, easily the most common diesel type around the Stoke area from the end of steam were involved in the local trip workings the various between the local terminals, while vice electric turns were inevitable. One such turn, reported on multiple websites, but probably originating in the railway press, has 5022/5038 working 6V53 down to Bletchley and back to the Stoke area with 6M55 on 17-02-1972. During the later, via Bescot days, occasional diesels of classes 40/46/47 have been recorded in Stoke, but as yet, no Hydraulics's... unless you know different?

Coming up, a more detailed description of the local clay trips and terminal's at the Stoke end of this long running operation.

As usual, any comments corrections etc can be posted in the box below.

Many thanks for all your help and support so far.

© 'UD' & 'Clayhead'
Preserving the gen online since 1999...
Keeping you posted on behalf of the RailGenArchive team -

Plus Minus 7 days feature added

The RailGenArchive website updates continue, and this week we've also added a new feature to the date search pages. Want to look at consecutive summer Saturdays, well now you can, with just the click of a button.

Although the site currently covers the years 1970 - 1995 we will also add any new data for other years that we receive. To avoid lots of empty pages being generated, only dates within the above years are excepted by the date and diary search pages, but workings from outside those years will appear under loco search options.

If there are any features that you'd like to see added to The RailGenArchive site, your suggestions are always welcome, also any feedback, new info or error reports, then please Contact Us either via email or the contact form provided on the main site.

There is currently a feature in preparation to be posted here soon, facts to be checked first, also more news from the The RailGenArchive project soon.

Many thanks for all your help and support so far.

© 'UD' & 'Clayhead'
Preserving the gen online since 1999...
Keeping you posted on behalf of the RailGenArchive team -

RGA mini revamp

Apologies for the lack of blog postings of late, this due to my efforts with the main ongoing project, The RailGenArchive website for which regular rounds of updates and corrections continue. The site database currently contains 370310 records with all loco classes featured and is updated regularly. The site currently covers the years 1970- 1995 . We will expand that date range if the demand is there and the gen is forthcoming. In the meantime, we will include any workings we receive that are outside those years and you will now find those records when listing workings by individual locos.

The RailGenArchive site has had a bit of a mini revamp this weekend so any feedback on the new look of the data pages would be very welcome, as would any suggestions for further site improvements or new features that you would like to see, together with any corrections or additional gen then please Contact Us either via email or the contact form provided on the main site.

With luck, there will be more posting here soon with more news from the The RailGenArchive progect and maybe even a few notes and photos of how things were.

Many thanks for all your help and support so far.

© 'UD' & 'Clayhead'
Preserving the gen online since 1999...
Keeping you posted on behalf of the RailGenArchive team -