Preview

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�

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�

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.

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!

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 �

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 worked 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 �

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.