We are by now well into the summer service timetable and looking back it is hard to believe, due to the proliferation of steam engines observed during this month, that most, if not all, of steam haulage over the North Warwick Line would come to an end before the year was out. Earlswood Lakes Signal Box was normally closed on Sundays, but there was an exception to this rule on the 4th. Due to engineering works elsewhere the box was opened for diverted freight traffic. All in all there was a total of no less than eighteen such trains, some fully fitted and partially fitted along with Class 8 loose‑couple ones. Eleven of these were steam hauled and were as follows:
GWR 2800 Class 2‑8‑0 No. 3863 (82E Bristol Barrow Road) double‑headed with BR Class 5 4‑6‑0 No. 73032 (6C Croes Newydd).
GWR Grange Class 4‑6‑0’s Nos. 6848 Toddington Grange (85A Worcester) and 6857 Tudor Grange (2B Oxley).
GWR Hall Class 4‑6‑0 No. 6918 Sandon Hall (82E Bristol Barrow Road).
LMS Class 8F 2‑8‑0’s Nos. 48105 (16E Kirkby), 48133 (2E Saltley), 48629 (2E Saltley), 48669 (2E Saltley) and 48750 (16G Westhouses).
BR Class 9F 2‑10‑0 No. 92166 (8H Birkenhead).
Thanks to working the Sunday, coupled with overtime from working two designated ‘rest days’ on night shifts in one of the pay packets (cash in those days) my gross pay was £38.00. This sounds a pittance today but back then it was one tenth of the cost of a brand new 650cc Triumph Bonneville m/c! After tax and National Insurance I picked up £29.00 – I felt like a millionaire. I was, in comparison to the £4.5.4d (about £4.30 in today’s money) I used to pick up for working heaven knows how many hours in a shop in late 1963/early 1964.
As a result of this windfall I was able to upgrade my faithful Triumph Tiger Cub with the luxury of a top‑of‑the‑range fairing.
Triumph 200cc Tiger Cub
Triumph 200cc Tiger Cub registration 969 GAC before the addition of the fairing.
Photograph by Peter Hands
Triumph 200cc Tiger Cub
Seen here after the addition of the fairing.
Photograph by Peter Hands
Other steam locomotives recorded during July on banking, expresses and freight duties were:
GWR: 5700 Class 0‑6‑0PT No. 3635 being towed dead from Tyseley to Hayes/Birds, Bridgend for scrapping (13.7.65). 5100 Class 2‑6‑2T’s Nos. 4111 (2A Tyseley), 4155 (2A Tyseley), 4276 (2B Oxley) – employed on the 7.06am Henley‑in‑Arden to Birmingham (Moor Street) local passenger. Hall Class 4‑6‑0’s Nos. 4920 Dumbleton Hall (82E Bristol Barrow Road), 5932 Haydon Hall (82E Bristol Barrow Road), 5983 being towed dead from Tyseley to Hayes/Birds, Bridgend for scrapping(13.7.65), 5992 Horton Hall (86B Newport – Ebbw Junction). Grange Class 4‑6‑0’s Nos. 6819 Highnam Grange (85A Worcester), 6830 Buckenhill Grange (2B Oxley), 6836 Estevarney Grange (85A Worcester), 6858 Woolston Grange (2A Tyseley), 6861 Crynant Grange), 6864 Dymock Grange (2A Tyseley), 6870 Bodicote Grange (2B Oxley), 6871 Bourton Grange (2B Oxley), 6879 Overton Grange (2A Tyseley). Hall Class 4‑6‑0’s Nos. 6916 Misterton Hall (2D Banbury), 6917 Oldlands Hall (2D Banbury), 6918 Sandon Hall (82E Bristol Barrow Road) – down excursion, 6937 Conyngham Hall (81E Didcot), 6951 Impney Hall (2D Banbury), 6956 Mottram Hall (85B Gloucester – Horton Road). Modified Hall Class 4‑6‑0’s Nos. 6976 Graythwaite Hall (2D Banbury), 6984 Owsden Hall (82E Bristol Barrow Road), 6993 Arthog Hall (81F Oxford), Manor Class 4‑6‑0 No. 7808 Cookham Manor (85B Gloucester – Horton Road). Modified Hall Class 4‑6‑0’s Nos. 7907 Hart Hall (82E Bristol Barrow Road), 7908 Henshall Hall (2A Tyseley), 7915 Mere Hall (2A Tyseley), 7922 Salford Hall (81C Southall), 7924 Thornycroft Hall (82E Bristol Barrow Road), 7925 Westol Hall (88A Cardiff East Dock).
GWR Grange Class 4‑6‑0 No. 6871 Bourton Grange
GWR Grange Class 4‑6‑0 No. 6871 Bourton Grange, from 2B Oxley, lays a smokescreen over the Warwickshire countryside as it pounds up the last few yards of the long gradient from Stratford‑upon‑Avon with an up fitted freight on 22nd July 1965. Three months later and Bourton Grange was with us no more – a no longer required rusting hulk in an anonymous siding.
Photograph by Peter Hands
LMS: Class 5 4‑6‑0’s Nos. 44856 (2B Oxley), 45006 (2B Oxley). Class 2 2‑6‑0’s Nos. 46428, 46442, 46457 – all from 2A Tyseley – banking engines from Stratford‑upo‑Avon. Class 8F 2‑8‑0’s Nos. 48147 (5D Stoke), 48353 (2C Stourbridge), 48402 (2C Stourbridge), 48490 (9F Heaton Mersey), 48644 (15E Coalville), 48662 (16F Burton).
LMS Class 8F 2‑8‑0 No. 48105
With the brick‑built signal box to the fore LMS Class 8F 2‑8‑0 No. 48105, of 16E Kirkby, approaches the camera with a down partially fitted freight on 1st July 1965. From 1957 onwards No. 48105 had spells at Hellifield, Wellingborough, Saltley, Kirkby and Coalville MPD’s before arriving again at Kirkby in May 1965.
Photograph by Peter Hands
BR: Britannia Class 4‑6‑2 No. 70045 Lord Rowallan (2B Oxley) – Wolverhampton (Low Level) to Kingswear express, 70053 Moray Firth (2B Oxley) – down express. Class 5 4‑6‑0’s Nos. 73003 (81F Oxford), 73015 (82E Bristol Barrow Road), 73036 (6D Shrewsbury), 73067 (6D Shrewsbury) – 1Z18 excursion + freight working. Class 4 2‑6‑0 No. 76010 (70D Eastleigh). Class 9F 2‑10‑0’s Nos. 92073 (2D Banbury), 92125 (2E Saltley), 92138 (2E Saltley), 92150 (2E Saltley), 92204 (2A Tyseley), 92209 (86E Severn Tunnel Junction), 92218 (2D Banbury), 92224 (2D Banbury), 92243 (86B Newport – Ebbw Junction).
BR Britannia Class 4‑6‑2 No. 70045 Lord Rowallan
An overcast summer’s day heralds the passing of BR Britannia Class 4‑6‑2 No. 70045 Lord Rowallan, from 2B Oxley, as it speeds through a deserted Earlswood Lakes station with a down express on 3rd July 1965. At the end of the 1965 summer service No. 70045 had a brief spell at 2D Banbury before moving on to a final home at 12A Carlisle (Kingmoor).
Photograph by Peter Hands
Many locomotives, like previous months, were from depots in the Midlands with the notable exceptions of Birkenhead, Bristol, Didcot and Southall along with representatives from Cardiff, Newport and Severn Tunnel Junction in South Wales. Unfortunately Cardiff East Dock was to close on 3rd August. The biggest surprise visitor was 76010 from Eastleigh. Quite what it was doing on the North Warwick line I know not.
To be continued
