Sarah Siddons Today

[roythebus]

Much has been written about our favourite loco, click the link below for some superb photos by Dave Burleigh undergoing repaint last year:

www.themodelrailwayclub.org/docs/bull_0811.pdf
scroll down to page 7.

With thanks to the Model Railway Club.

[Oracle]

Thanks for that! That dates the abortive trip to Portsmouth I think to June 1982..the second trip went ahead...I think in July? Idiot I am I elected for the earlier trip and missed out. I cabbed Sarah as you all know in August 1979, when the Test Team were at South Ealing. Something never to be forgotten! Shortly afterwards I went on a booked week's steam and diesel loco driving course on the North Norfolk Railway.

[roythebus]

Was Sarah's trip to Portsmouth THAT long ago? i remember being in the right place at the right time, well nearly, for that one. I was working a 4 SUB up from Hampton court and was "on the block" behind Sarah and train as she'd run up the local from Woking instead of the main! And I had my camera ready too.

There was also a time when I managed to get a pic of a couple of battery locos working down the main between Clapham Junction towards Wimbledon, about 1984 as the pic was from the cab of a 455.

[d7666]

Feb 24, 2009 9:43:10 GMT Oracle said:

Thanks for that! That dates the abortive trip to Portsmouth I think to June 1982..the second trip went ahead...I think in July?

I am a bit confused by the dates quoted.


SS to Portsmouth was 1984 ... 07/07/84 to be exact ... and that is the date in my records of travel as I was on it ... and date confirmed at:

www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/80s/840707mr.htm


As far as i can recall 1982 was the year SS re-merged after a long period of non-use (as far as passenger specials were concerned) on Met.line workings only and it took place in Spetember.

The first was 05/09/82 - and I was on the first run that day - there were 2 identical trips that day , both repeated on 19/09/82 which are als on SixBells
www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/80s/820919lu.htm


The other main line dates were:

1985 was SS to Folkestone
www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/80s/850921lt.htm
1989 to windsor
www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/80s/891210br.htm



The batteries through Clapham Junction were hourly shuttles between Victoria and Streatham Hill for the EMU depot open day ... L19 and L30 either side of a 4Vep, I could quote SixBells
www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/90s/901021ns.htm
but in this case it was myself who supplied the gen.

The Vep number is missing since it was not under power so not counted for haulage hence missing from my records.

--
Nick

[Ben]

Is Sarah still cleared for railtours on NR? What TOPs classification is (was) she assigned?

[d7666]

Feb 25, 2009 17:31:27 GMT Ben said:

Is Sarah still cleared for railtours on NR? What TOPs classification is (was) she assigned?

BR number 89212.

This does not imply it was class 89/2 ... several sources make this error ... 89xxx was a *number* series NOT split into classes ... the third digit of 89xxx was an approximation to the original Type 1 to Type 5 *diesel* locomotive power classification applied in this series to electric locos as well. SS horse power made it approximately equivalent to BR Type 2 diesels, hence it became 892xx, the 12 of 89212 is LU 12.


SS would at the very least have to be TPWS and ODR fitted for main line running but would probably hold ''grandfather rights'' on other issues.


--
Nick

[d7666]

OTMR, sorry not ODR.

--
Nick

[roythebus]

The pics of battery locos I've got show them on the SW main line, not the Brighton side. i know, I took the pics!

[Oracle]

The batteries trips are new to me! Thanks for that and memory refreshments. Back then, i.e. in the late 1970s and into the next decade, tours tended to sell out straightaway. It seems that the Commercial Dept. used to concentrate on mailing those who had bbeen on previous tours, though there were I seem to recall adverts as well in the railway mags say. Or it was mentioned in Underground News.

Somewhere in old UNs is an issue with I think a front cover shot of ex-Standard Stock at Wimbledon, being the TRT that was lent to BR.

[Ben]

It would be good to see her on the southern again some day.

Maybe a tour of the third rail section of London Overground? That would generate some publicity!

[d7666]

Feb 26, 2009 8:23:27 GMT roythebus said:

The pics of battery locos I've got show them on the SW main line, not the Brighton side. i know, I took the pics!

Not sure about this ... but I think they might have transferred from LU to BR via Wimbledon depot - and it might have been Wimbledon that did the coupling to the 4Vep.

The ''Battery Tube Rover'' trips or whatever they were called that had Gatwick Express stock between batteries were assembled at Wimbledon - both the batteries arrived from LU and the GEx stock from Stewarts Lane and mated at Wimbledon .

I did 4.5 round trips between Victoria and Streatham Hill on the SH Open Day shuttles and they were all via central lines lines not south western ... in fact the track layout at CJ does not allow SWD/CD connection. AFAIK all the public shuttles were the same (else I'd have done the other track as well) ... but how they got to/from there before/after the event I do not recall

--
Nick

[roythebus]

I could speculate on crossing from Lillie Bridge to BR at Olympia, then via WLL to Clapham Junction, then crossing to the SW main line via Clapham yard.

[Oracle]

Or via Richmond to Up Windsor? From memory in the past transfers to the SR were usually achieved via Wimbledon... via Wimbledon Park Depot (presumably for inspection).

[d7666]

Feb 27, 2009 11:19:01 GMT Oracle said:

From memory in the past transfers to the SR were usually achieved via Wimbledon... via Wimbledon Park Depot (presumably for inspection).

This is consistent with my memory of all such events.

I don't recall Olympia ever being used for transfers of this nature ... engineering materials in/out yes, but stock transfers for special workings no. Thats not to say it never happened, but in over 30 years of following this sort of thing, I've never heard of it.

Also, with ref. to this particular thread, but digressing into not LU matters, it would be highly unusual to deliberately do a transfer move at Clapham Yard between the Windsor side (i.e. to/from WLL) and the Main side. If it did arrive off WLL and bound for Wimbledon the move really is stay on the Windsors and route via E.Putney which gives exactly the right destination without any abnornal shunt moves.

--
Nick

[Oracle]

It seems that transfers between the Windsor lines, including out of Victoria via Stewarts Lane, run via Point Pleasant Junction, East Putney, and Wimbledon, or via Virginia Water and Byfleet West Junction (I think it is called).

[roythebus]

Yes, but it still doesn't explain why 2 battery locos wer photographed by me on the SW down MAIN LINE between Clapham Junction and Wimbledon! When I dig the photo out I'll try and post it on here.