The Retro Years: June
Rail Express|June 2020
A selection of archive images of June workings in years gone by.
The Retro Years: June

1: ‘Peak’ No. D107 (later 45120) heads south through Wood End, Warwickshire, with an inter-regional train to the Western Region on June 10, 1973. Wood End is on the Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon line, which until 1976 continued on through Broadway and the present day Gloucestershire-Warwickshire Railway to Cheltenham and the South West.

2: Built in 1960 as six-car sets, but here reduced to five-cars, the stylish Class 124s were powerful DMUs for tackling the demanding trans-Pennine routes from Liverpool/Manchester to Leeds/York/Hull and others. This set calls at Stalybridge on June 27, 1975 with the 09.10 Liverpool Lime Street-Hull. The station then still had its soot-covered canopies, but has a general run-down air that has been much improved through upgrades in the 1990s and 2000s.

3: The 17.00 King’s Cross to Edinburgh on June 23, 1975 is still loading, but ‘Domino’ headcode-fitted ‘Deltic’ No. 55004 Queen’s Own Highlander is champing at the bit to get going and leave the rainy London terminal behind.

4: ‘Western’ No. D1022Western Sentinel, already showing signs of a lack of care as the class heads towards its final days, speeds west of Hayes & Harlington in the London suburbs with a West Country express from Paddington in June 1976. This is near the site of the present day Airport Junction and the branch to Heathrow.

5: Electrification at Doncaster was still a decade away as ‘Whistlers’ Nos. 40040+40006 head north through the station, the lead loco carrying a nasty scrape along its upper bodyside. The background is dominated by the former Wagon Works, which is now home to Wabtec Rail.

This story is from the June 2020 edition of Rail Express.

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This story is from the June 2020 edition of Rail Express.

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