Preview

It is difficult to believe that well into the rail-blue era, the huge Paddington Goods Depot was still despatching trains to the west. Here, in the mid-1970s, a Class 47 Brush Type 4 D1637 (later 47483) makes up its train of fitted vans in the yard adjacent to Royal Oak underground station on the Hammersmith branch. Nowadays the location is part of the Crossrail project, an area of which was also once utilised as a bus depot� After closure to rail services the vast goods shed became a National Carriers Limited road depot before it was finally earmarked for redevelopment and demolished in 1986.

It was very unusual to see a Class 08 350hp shunter at Paddington, so I can only surmise that the booked Brush Type 2 Class 31 pilot has failed or a carriage has gone tick and needs removing to Old Oak Common. The Class 50, 50013, in line with most of its siblings, was later given a name, ‘Agincourt’. Many of the others received names from UK fighting vessels to create a sort of 1980s Warship class. Astonishingly, 21 examples, nearly half the original fleet, are now preserved in one form or another. It is to be hoped that all passengers on incoming services are aware that the place called ‘Paddington’ is the end of the line.

With the almost complete elimination of longer distance locomotive-hauled timetabled passenger trains, except for Northern and Chiltern Railways and the individual franchised railway firms that eradicated the role of an overarching British Rail, spotters are no longer treated to the occasional exciting sight of ‘foreign’ locomotives working off region. A regular ‘foreigner’ during the Winter 1983/4 timetable was a Class 45 Peak on the 13.07pm 1M14 Paddington to Liverpool service. Some time in Summer 1983 (possibly the10th or 24th June) 45131 is waiting to leave London Paddington� Meanwhile, HST power car 43008 (from set 253004) is idling in the adjacent platform� Given I rarely took notes of photographs, its amazing what can be found out from the Internet and social media�

Brush Type 4 Class 47 47500 ‘Great Western’ has charge of the Venice Simplon Orient Express Pullmans making up a special service to the March Cheltenham Gold Cup horse races, some time in the 1980s. The locomotive when built was given the number D1943, but on reception of its Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) identity it also received the nameplate and company crest in February 1979, eventually becoming the region’s pet, being painted GWR green and even having brass cabside number plates attached�