Wcml Preston To Crewe Discussion

Ah yes, we used to joke on the Provincial Desk in Swindon Control, “Opportunities on Regional Railways, as one door closes another one opens.”

They were rancid things and the diagramming was appalling with 35 sets to cover 31 diagrams. Many of those were cyclic spending two or three days before (in theory) returning to Canton for an A or B Exam but didn’t really work in practice. Worse was at the time, Western Provincial were covering most of the non Inter City services on the Cotswold Line so if a 155 failed at Oxford meant a cancellation, trying to retrieve the set and a step up at Cardiff (when already short) to attach another set on the back of a Manchester service to detach at Hereford to restart the working.

Apologies for rambling nostalgia wittering.

 

Haha XD
I laughed a little too hard at that

 

My initial interest in 37s was caused by the sight of 37427 I'm Liverpool Lime Street as a Younger lad. We normally just got blue 40s, 45s, 47s and 81 to 87s so these things with the Welsh names were a novelty.

 

That's quite alright for the rambling nostalgia, it's most welcome

Knowing what management were like they probably clamped down on that quip in the same way they sent a memo out about not referring to the shiny new 321s as "Dusty Bins" or Class 90s as "Skoda's" At one of my former airlines we had an aircraft registered G-BOBP and by 2008 it was an absolute donkey, it was knackered but kept on going, it was often referred to as "Big 'ole Pile (of) Bollocks" - management found out and sent a memo round about that one... Ironically, that old crate (built in 1989 which is old for 'new' plane models) is still flying to this day in Jordan (the place not the person, though I could understand the confusion)

That got me thinking back though the old memory banks, first as to it's name but then to hmm when did I last see it? It turns out I saw it moving for the final time (literally) at Booths when it was in the process of being scrapped, they shunted it into the open ready to remove the power unit, it's bodyside's carved away to make for easy access to it and grim viewing -