Above: Having travelled from London on the footplate, Colin looks back towards his friend Keith Fair as A4 No. 60021 Wild Swan departs from Newark (North Gate) for Retford and Doncaster on Thursday 18th April 1963. Photograph by Keith Fair.
All photographs by Colin Walker except where noted otherwise.
This was an official trip on the footplate arranged through the Line Manager's office at Great Northern House. Here's the covering letter which came with the footplate pass.
Meet the Crew
The locomotive crew were from Doncaster. The driver was either Stan Holgate or Stan Osborne, pictured below with Fireman Balkwill. The accompanying Loco Inspector was George Harland.
On 1st May 1968 George Harland was one of two Motive Power Inspectors who accompanied the preserved No. 4472 Flying Scotsman between London and Edinburgh on the 40th anniversary of the first non-stop run between the two capital cities. You can see a 40-minute documentary film of the event on BBC iPlayer here. Inspector Harland makes several, mostly incidental, appearances during the film, but there’s a ‘name check’ by Alan Pegler and a short 'speaking part' alongside fellow Inspector Les Richards in a sequence beginning at 30m 21s, approaching Berwick upon Tweed, when there was concern about the water situation.
Locomotive and Train
The locomotive was streamlined A4 No. 60021 Wild Swan with the 8.10am from King's Cross to Doncaster and Hull. There were stops at Hitchin, Huntingdon (North), Peterborough (North), Grantham, Newark (North Gate) and Retford. Colin travelled on the footplate from King's Cross to Doncaster.
For copies of this and other timetables see the Timetable World website.
Through the North London tunnels
Here we commence a mile of 1 in 107 ascending gradient, most of it enclosed in two successive tunnels. The steam alongside will be escaping from the cylinder drain cocks, which the driver has opened to release any water that may have condensed inside the still cold cylinders. He may also have the steam sanders in operation to improve traction by forcing a jet of sand between the coupled wheels and the rail head. The start out of King's Cross was one of the most challenging of any major British terminus.
Today there's an additional bridge here which carries the HS1 line from St Pancras station to Europe via the Channel Tunnel.
Grantham and Peascliffe
Newark (North Gate) - meeting a friend
Colin's friend Keith Fair was waiting on the platform at Newark (North Gate) station with his camera as the train arrived.
Photograph by Keith Fair
Photograph by Keith Fair
Photograph by Keith Fair
Retford
The trackwork and signalling at Retford was quite complex. On the approach to the station from the south a double-track line between Sheffield and Gainsborough was crossed on the level - a 'flat' crossing. Beyond the platforms, at Retford North, there was a junction for a sharply curved connecting line in the Sheffield direction. In 1965 the flat crossing at Retford was replaced by a bridge.
Scrooby Water Troughs
Water troughs enabled locomotives to replenish their water supply while in motion, thereby allowing trains to travel greater distances without a stop. They were long metal troughs fixed between the rails and filled with water. When about to pass over the trough a scoop beneath the locomotive or its tender was lowered by the fireman, using a handwheel in the cab. The speed of forward motion forced water into the scoop, up the scoop pipe and into the locomotive's tanks or tender.
Water troughs were provided at roughly 20 to 50 mile intervals on many main lines. The length of troughs on the East Coast Main Line was between 600-700 yards, so they could be sited only where the track was dead level for approaching half a mile. Trough locations familiar to Grantham footplate crews were at Langley (near Stevenage), Werrington (north of Peterborough), Muskham (north of Newark), Scrooby, and Wiske Moor (north of Northallerton).
'Dipping' water troughs caused much intense spray, so old sleepers have been laid alongside the tracks to guard against the ballast being washed out.
Forward to the next page: Returning to 'The Smoke', without the smoke - by Deltic, on Thursday 18th April 1963.
Loco Inspector George Harland - does anyone have any background info on George Harland. He was on the footplate of 4472 during its 40 anniversary non-stop run in the 1968 BBC documentary when they are making the decision not to stop for water at Berwick-on-Tweed.
Thank you John. I wasn't aware of the connection between George Harland and the 40th anniversary non-stop run to Edinburgh in 1968. I've just seen the documentary on iPlayer - it's a really evocative watch. I've added a link to it at an appropriate point in the page. Unfortunately I don't have any information about Inspector Harland. Perhaps someone will see this and tell us more.
John Clayson