European Railroad Discussion > ECML 1980

A month or so ago I promised 55002 (Chris from York) that I would find my slides of the East Coast Main Line (ECML) from my 1980 trip.  So I've tried cleaning these up as much as possible, but the combination of bad film, nonstop gloomy, cloudy days, and operator error (that's me!!) means that these are not the most stellar collection of photos from the ECML.  But I'll try posting the best of the lot and see how it goes.   And since my 2 stints living in the UK have both been in London, from my perspective the natural starting point for the ECML is at Kings Cross. 

1)   A Class 55 Deltic starting to accelerate out of Kings Cross with what looks like a rake of Mk II coaches in April 1980.   By 1980 most of the Deltics were on secondary trains, having been bumped off the premier trains by the innovations in slide #2...
2)  Three sets of HSTs (Class 254) at Kings Cross - looks like at least one is ready to head north. 
3)  And here goes an HST heading off for the north. 
 

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4)  Moving north, here we are at Hitchin, and a southbound (up) HST heading to London has just blown the doors off of an EMU preparing to stop at Hitchin.    Though it's dark, I like the sense of movement in this one!
5)  Here's a set of the EMUs used on the ECML at Hitchin -  think these are Class 312, though hard to read the number. 
6)  Here's a rake of Mk I coaches at Hitchin pulled by a Class 47 - perhaps either a train from Cambridge or one of the semi-fasts from Peterborough.   Perhaps a TOer has an opinion on that.

 

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7)  Southbound Class 55 Deltic approaching Grantham with what looks like a train of mostly Mark II coaches in May 1980.
8)  Northbound Deltic at Grantham with a mix of Mark I and II coaches.   The white cab gives it a "sporty" look!
9)  Closeup of front.
 

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10)  One more at Grantham - HST at speed.  I can't recall how I got this shot - perhaps at a footpath crossing the right-of-way?  Would those have still existed along this line at this time?    I'm SURE I didn't trespass....
11)  HST at Durham going across the viaduct. 
12)  Another HST on the Durham viaduct - side view with partial double-decker bus!
 

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13)  Deltic coming into Newcastle with a rake of Mk I coaches.
14)  Deltic at the platform in Newcastle - note budding young foamer on the right in the checked jacket. 
15)  And my last shot on the ECML of a Deltic in Edinburgh Waverly station. 
 

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The Deltics are such classics, almost cartoonish in look but brilliant. Your photo 13 is superb in every way!
Fred

Love the King's Cross shots.

There were, probably still are, footpath crossings over the ECML, even in 125 mph territory.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/24 21:11 by 86235.

Thank you for sharing these

Wow. That's a great collection, thanks for uploading. The ECML has had some of the finest trains in the UK. Here's a couple of my early B&W attempts. I hadn't started on slides by then.
1. In 1974, D9017 starts up an engine in the diesel depot at Kings Cross.
2. In 1975, 55019 powers north out of the tunnel s at Kings Cross.   Chris uk.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/24 09:33 by 55002.

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Duncan's shots at King's Cross are fantastic (especially the classic Deltics). However I was intrigued by the several shots of the then recently introduced HSTs (then class 254 now class 43) because they looked somewhat familiar. I had visited Kings Cross in 2016 and found a few shots of HST consists among the many photos I took. In fact two of them came close to replicating Duncan's photos albeit in very different livery. (OK maybe not that close). 

If I mangled the details about the class numbers, please feel free to correct the record.

WP17

 

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HSTs were originaly class 253 and 254. Some are being exported currently for use in Mexico!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/24 15:58 by exhaustED.

exhaustED Wrote:
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> HSTs were originaly class 253 and 254. Some are
> being exported currently for use in Mexico!

Did they retain their last three digits when the class numbers were changed?

Thanks
Neil

WP17 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> exhaustED Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > HSTs were originaly class 253 and 254. Some are
> > being exported currently for use in Mexico!
>
> Did they retain their last three digits when the
> class numbers were changed?
>

Sorry for the delay Neil.... which class number change are you referring to? 

exhaustED Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> HSTs were originaly class 253 and 254. Some are
> being exported currently for use in Mexico!

And Nigeria

exhaustED Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WP17 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > exhaustED Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > HSTs were originaly class 253 and 254. Some
> are
> > > being exported currently for use in Mexico!
> >
> > Did they retain their last three digits when
> the
> > class numbers were changed?
> >
>
> Sorry for the delay Neil.... which class number
> change are you referring to? 

Duncan's second photo shows unit 254 016. When the HSRs were reclassified to 43s did that unit automatically get renumbered to 43 016 or were all the units assigned completely new numbers. 

Thanks

WP17

WP17 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Duncan's second photo shows unit 254 016. When the
> HSRs were reclassified to 43s did that unit
> automatically get renumbered to 43 016 or were all
> the units assigned completely new numbers. 
>

Ah ok. Originally they were in two classes, class 253 (western region of British rail) and class 254 for eastern region sets. The same 253 XXX or 254 XXX number was applied to both of the power cars at either end of a set (lower front of the cab). However each power car also had an individual E43 XXX or W43 XXX number at the same time, on the rearward cab side. You can make it out on one of the side views above. As time went on it was obvious that power cars needed to be swapped around and so the use of the 253 and 254 set numbers was stopped and the power cars were reclassified as class 43. Hope that's clear.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/24 15:16 by exhaustED.