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Paddington

A Railwayman's View - BR Western Region by Peter Collins > Paddington

 

The photographs in this collection are from the Paddington section of Peter Collins' Railwayman's View Book Volume One - BR Western Region.

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Images 1-16 of 16 displayed.

LPPC DSL BW 1054 
 It is a morning in March 1964 and a visit to Paddington to meet my sister off the train back from school in Great Malvern was always an excuse to try and take some photos with my Brownie 44B.

The locomotive numbers were never noted but 6A90 was the headcode for an afternoon Severn Tunnel Junction to Moreton Cutting Sidings freight which presumably was the Western’s previous working. Both trains here were parcels workings, a huge business for the railways then. The incongruous sight of an oil-lamp on the loco in addition to running lights and headcode panel rather encapsulates the philosophy of BR at the time. 
 Keywords: Paddington, Western, BR, 1964, 6A90, mailbags, Warship, Parcels
LPPC DSL BW 0961 
 Hymek Class 35 D7061, still bearing its ‘D’ number prefix, pulls into London Paddington with the 13.15pm 1C56 up Hereford and Worcester express in 1971. Looking very much the worse for wear, the Hymeks became regulars on these services for a time, as it had become almost traditional that the Cotswold trains would be the last main-line refuge of first steam, then the Hymeks and after them, the Warships. By the late 1970s, a frankly pathetic service of DMUs bolstered by two morning and evening through loco-hauled trains with Brush Type 4 Class 47s was considered adequate. Considerable migration of wealthy London commuters to areas such as Charlbury, Kingham and Moreton in Marsh since the turn of the century has, at last, persuaded the operators that the line deserves much more. 
 Keywords: Hymek, D7061, 7061, 1971, Paddington, Hereford, 1C56, Passenger, BR, Western
LPPC DSL BW 0577 
 It’s around midnight at a strangely deserted Paddington one Friday night in April 1974. Waiting in platform 2 is the Western Class 52 that will head the overnight sleeper to Penzance, but first it has to pick up the Motorail GUV (General Utility Vehicle) from the loading ramp at the top of the platform at the buffer-stops before finally backing it, or them, onto the front of the sleeping cars. Over on platform 4 Hymek 7029 has a long, patient, wait at the head of a rake of GUVs and at least one Siphon G, before forming the early morning Thames Valley newspaper train. Over on platform 7 the stock is already in to form the 01.25am South and West Wales departure which ran via Gloucester and includes one of the relatively rare Mark 1 brake composites or BCK as they were coded. The Hymek was preserved and is currently undergoing restoration at the Severn Valley Railway by its owners, the Diesel Traction Group. 
 Keywords: Paddington, Western, Hymek, 1974, Passenger, Motorail, 7029, D7029, Parcels
LPPC DSL BW 0287 
 A Brush Type 2 Class 31 5539 (later 31121) waits at Paddington before returning empty coaching stock to Old Oak Common in the early 1970s. The locomotive is a spiritual successor to the many Pannier and Prairie tank locos that used to cover these workings in steam days, and the North British 63XX ‘Baby Warships’ that had previously worked the trains. It was one of a number of these rather nondescript and, in comparison, far less competent, engines that were drafted into the Western Region to take over from the departing Hymeks, as they were also used on the Worcester services. 
 Keywords: Paddington, Class 31, 5539, D5539, 31121, ECS, Passenger
LPPC DSL BW 0263 
 A summer’s morning at Paddington station in 1971 and on the left one of the newly arrived Brush Type 2 Class 31 locomotives waits to leave for Old Oak Common with 5A71, the empty stock of the 07.58am Didcot service, 1A71, consisting of one of the Western Region’s air-braked Mark 2 coaching sets. The Class 47 on Platform 5 is at the head of the 09.45am Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads, 1B52. The DMUs that replaced steam on the Western’s Thames Valley suburban services lasted for many years and one of these units is waiting to leave on Platform 6 with 2A18 from Paddington to Reading at 10.35am, calling at all stations. The Brute trolleys seen on the left of the photograph are left over from the previous night’s parcels activities. These trolleys are synonymous with British Rail at this time, and probably burned into the memories of many a rail enthusiast even now, some 50 years later. 
 Keywords: BR, Paddington, Class 31, Class 47, 1971, Passenger
LPPC DSL BW 0288 
 Heading into Paddington to complete its run from Weston-super-Mare is a two-tone green Brush Type 4 Class 47 number 1605 (later 47028/47559) in 1971. On the right is the huge Paddington Goods Depot which has now long gone. The train is the 13.40pm service that was due to arrive in the capital at 16.10pm, and is formed of the then-standard air-braked rake of Mark 2 carriages with the addition of Mark 1 catering vehicles and a BG Full-Brake. The stock returned to Bristol at 19.45pm after being serviced at Old Oak Common carriage sheds. Beyond the familiar girder-bridge in the background will be London Transport’s Royal Oak station, their electrified tracks being the two on the far right in the picture. 
 Keywords: Class 47, 1605, 47028,47559, Paddington, Passenger, 1971
LPPC DSL BW 0261 
 Hymek D7064 arrives at Paddington’s platform 4 on a gloomy afternoon with the 14.15pm from Worcester (1A26) in 1971. Consisting entirely of Mark 1 stock, these trains were and always had been the Cinderellas of the various mainline routes radiating out of the capital to the West and were always at the end of the supply-chain as far as motive-power was concerned. Despite this, with the last-remaining Hymek Type 3s concentrated on the route they were quite capable of running very fast indeed, even in their twilight hours. In the far right background, an LT Hammersmith-line train is calling at Royal Oak station. D7064 was withdrawn on 3rd October 1971, not long after this photo was taken and is reflected in the state of the loco! 
 Keywords: BR, Paddington, Western, 1971, D7064, 7064, Hymek
LPPC DSL BW 0313 
 Class 47 1749 (later 47156), departs London Paddington with the 12.52pm 1B29 service to Cheltenham in 1971. Alongside is Class 31 5539 (later 31121), used regularly at this time to move coaching stock between Paddington station and Old Oak Common carriage sidings. The leading coach of the Cheltenham service has one of the short-lived waist-level destination boards that were used at this time. To the right and adjacent to 5539 are the points at the throat of the entrance to the locomotive layover sidings at Westbourne Park. These were used by engines that were booked for a smart turn-round in London and wouldn’t have time to return to Old Oak between arrival and departure. 
 Keywords: BR, Western, Paddington, Class 47, Class 31, 1749, 47156, 5539, 31121, 1971
LPPC DSL BW 0245 
 Warship class 42 number 805 ‘Benbow’ backs down from Old Oak Common or Westbourne Park onto the late morning Hereford express one spring day in 1970 at Paddington station. This route is now called the Cotswold Line as a marketing tag and run today by Great Western, which is probably the greatest misnomer of all time. They were the last Class 1 trains to be steam-hauled from the terminus and later the final top-link trains to be hauled by Hymeks. Subsequently, the Warships eked out their last days on the services and, as can be seen from the condition of the locomotive, little care was being expended on them by this stage. However, the crews still maximised their performance and I enjoyed a run behind 842 ‘Royal Oak’ at this time, when it deputised for a failed Brush Type 4 on an up Hereford train and it cruised happily at over 90mph between Oxford and London. 805 still carries a headcode that suggests earlier use on a special Penzance to Kensington milk service. 
 Keywords: BR, Western, Warship, 805, 'Benbow', 1970, Paddington, Light Engine
LPPC DSL BW 0289 
 This photograph is not all it seems. The 11.55am Paignton to Paddington Express, 1A05, due in Platform 2 at 15.50pm, seems to have been late into London behind Brush Type 4 Class 47 number D1932 (later 47493/47701). The photograph was taken pre-May 1972, when the loco had its boiler removed and was fitted with Electric Train Heating (ETH). The train would form the 16.30pm service to Penzance, nominally from Platform 2, and so as to reduce any delays and platform changes, it seems that the train is being dragged out of Paddington and re-positioned to Platform 2 for departure. The train is a standard air-braked set of Mark 2 coaches with a Mark 2A BFK behind the loco. These were superb vehicles as they had all the advantages of the modern Mark 2 construction and bogies, yet still retained full First Class Mark 1 compartment accommodation. The locomotive is interesting in that it still displays a painted D before its numerals, but has two new BR logos on its bodyside. 
 Keywords: BR, Western, Paddington, Passenger, Class 47, 1932, 47493, 47701
LPPC DSL BW 1296 
 The prototype High Speed Train (HST), then classified as Class 252 and with Power Car 43000 leading, waits to leave Paddington during its revenue earning trial period on a train to Bristol. Little did anyone realise what was going to develop.... Note the empty Brutes waiting around for their next tasks, with some blocking the platform for passengers. These were neat cages on wheels for parcels/newspapers, or other items of non-freight train merchandise. The title derives from British Rail Universal Trolley Equipment and they could be seen littering pretty well any busy station, making it clear how important this sort of traffic was to British Rail at the time. 
 Keywords: BR, Western, HST, Prototype, 43000, Passenger, Paddington
LPPC DSL BW 0262 
 A quiet summer’s morning at Paddington in 1971 and the empty stock for a down express to Bristol has arrived from Old Oak Common at Platform 2. Putting in a very rare appearance is an ex GWR Director’s saloon (W9005W) looking smart in chocolate and cream livery, attached at what will be the front of the coaching set which is awaiting its locomotive, probably from Westbourne Park layover sidings. The saloon formed part of the Ocean Liner Express trains that ran from Plymouth to London in the 1930s until the Great Depression saw the services suspended and the coaches used on special services. The last Ocean Liner Express ran in 1962, and W9005W was then used as an Inspection Saloon by BR Western Region. The saloon has been restored and is now used on the South Devon Railway. 
 Keywords: BR, 1971, BR, Western, W9005W, Coaching Stock, Director's Saloon, Passenger
LPPC DSL BW 0312 
 It is difficult to believe that well into the rail-blue era, the huge Paddington Goods Depot was still despatching trains to the west. Here, in the mid-1970s, a Class 47 Brush Type 4 D1637 (later 47483) makes up its train of fitted vans in the yard adjacent to Royal Oak underground station on the Hammersmith branch. Nowadays the location is part of the Crossrail project, an area of which was also once utilised as a bus depot. After closure to rail services the vast goods shed became a National Carriers Limited road depot before it was finally earmarked for redevelopment and demolished in 1986. 
 Keywords: BR, Paddington, Western, Class 47, Parcels, Freight, D1637, 47483, Royal Oak
LPPC DSL BW 1297 
 It was very unusual to see a Class 08 350hp shunter at Paddington, so I can only surmise that the booked Brush Type 2 Class 31 pilot has failed or a carriage has gone tick and needs removing to Old Oak Common. The Class 50, 50013, in line with most of its siblings, was later given a name, ‘Agincourt’. Many of the others received names from UK fighting vessels to create a sort of 1980s Warship class. Astonishingly, 21 examples, nearly half the original fleet, are now preserved in one form or another. It is to be hoped that all passengers on incoming services are aware that the place called ‘Paddington’ is the end of the line. 
 Keywords: BR, Paddington, Western, Class 50, 50013, Class 08, Passenger, Shunter
LPPC DSL BW 1269 
 With the almost complete elimination of longer distance locomotive-hauled timetabled passenger trains, except for Northern and Chiltern Railways and the individual franchised railway firms that eradicated the role of an overarching British Rail, spotters are no longer treated to the occasional exciting sight of ‘foreign’ locomotives working off region. A regular ‘foreigner’ during the Winter 1983/4 timetable was a Class 45 Peak on the 13.07pm 1M14 Paddington to Liverpool service. Some time in Summer 1983 (possibly the10th or 24th June) 45131 is waiting to leave London Paddington. Meanwhile, HST power car 43008 (from set 253004) is idling in the adjacent platform. Given I rarely took notes of photographs, its amazing what can be found out from the Internet and social media. 
 Keywords: BR, Western, Passenger, HST, 43008, Class 45, 1M14, 1983, 45131
LPPC DSL BW 0683 
 Brush Type 4 Class 47 47500 ‘Great Western’ has charge of the Venice Simplon Orient Express Pullmans making up a special service to the March Cheltenham Gold Cup horse races, some time in the 1980s. The locomotive when built was given the number D1943, but on reception of its Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) identity it also received the nameplate and company crest in February 1979, eventually becoming the region’s pet, being painted GWR green and even having brass cabside number plates attached. 
 Keywords: BR, Western, Pullman, Passenger, 47500, 'Great Western', Special, Paddington

Images 1-16 of 16 displayed.