| Continuing the journey north, at Rugby the line from Northampton trails in on the up side, while a mile north of the sad remnants of the once-magnificent Rugby Midland station, the line to Birmingham takes a left turn at Trent Valley Junction. Passing under the up Birmingham line on its decaying concrete flyover, there is a brief level section where Newbold water troughs were once located, to quench the thirst of Duchesses and the like.
Thereafter the three-track (one down, two up) line undulates slightly, climbing gradually to a minor summit north of Shilton, after which the descent towards Nuneaton has on occasion been enough for 87s to approach the 120mph mark. Nuneaton itself is of course infamous for 1975's smash involving 86006 and a failed 86242, which together came to grief in catastrophic fashion after taking a 20mph TSR at 80mph, thanks to a warning board's illumination having run out of gas! Several deaths sadly resulted in the ensuing wreckage. Having dipped to 100mph through the station, the linespeed once again goes up to 110 shortly after, though the curves at Atherstone, which sports ornate but sadly vandalised buildings, are restricted to 90/85mph down/up for hauled stock. A gentle descent towards Tamworth ensues, with the linespeed at 105mph. At this point the line becomes twin track only. The last level crossing for many a mile on the main line to Glasgow is 3½ miles further on at Hademore, also formerly the site of water troughs. By Lichfield Trent Valley the line is climbing once again at the ruling 1 in 330 grade, with a brief level at the former Elmhurst crossing. North of the former Armitage station, the two tracks once again become four, as far as Colwich where the direct line to Manchester turns off. The junction was the site of another huge WCML smash in 1986 when 86211 collided head on at 90mph with a stationary 86429 which had overshot the signal protecting the junction. Amazingly, no passengers died. Linespeed is now pegged at 90mph due to the sweeping curves as the line passes through Lord Lichfield's Shugborough estate and the 777 yard tunnel, which precedes the slow line turnout at Milford & Brocton. Shortly further on the up slow crosses at Whitehouse Junction, whereafter the line approaches Stafford via a short straight section, followed by the Queensville curve. Once limited to 60mph, the linespeed is now 75mph for hauled stock, thanks to improved alignment. At Trent Valley Junction (again!) the Birmingham line trails in on the down side, and the remnants of a once much larger complex of sidings are visible on the up side immediately south of Stafford station, 133.4 miles from the capital. Upon departure, electric traction is - as so often - hampered by a neutral section which prevents a really hard start from rest, as the line traverses Doxey Marsh. Climbing continuously for the next dozen miles, the linespeed dips briefly due the curves at Norton Bridge, whereafter 110 resumes. Passing the splendid Mill Meece Pumping Station on the down side, followed by the former Standon Bridge station at MP 143½, a summit is reached just north of the erstwhile Whitmore station, at MP 148. Madeley Bank is rightly famous for giving 6220 Coronation the chance to achieve 112½ (not 114..!) mph way back in 1937 and much later would occasionally see an 87 achieve the magic 120mph - tyre size, overspeed trip, and driver's nerve permitting - on the dash downhill towards Crewe. Indeed, I once clocked an 86 at 118mph on this stretch....! Two miles south of Crewe the large yard at Basford Hall is still busy, while on the up side is the latter day LWNR's centre of operations. Lines trail in from Stoke (up side) and Salop (down) prior to arrival at what is still one of the country's main stations, 157.9 miles from Euston. |
Journey's end at Stafford for 85019 in the small hours of the morning, having just completed the 75½ mile leg with 1K12, the Preston portion, to combine with the Manchester and Liverpool portions of 'The Splitter' overnight service to Euston. |
85109 runs into Stafford with a well-loaded 1A65, the Saturday afternoon Carlisle-Euston van train, in 1990. |
86101 Sir William A Stanier FRS runs into Platform 1 at Crewe with a northbound Cross Country working. |
Running 30 minutes late due to detaching a coach at Watford, but having been royally thrashed down the Trent Valley in a bid to make up the arrears, 86101 stands at Stafford with a Euston - Manchester service in 1989. |
86214 Sans Pareil, heading 1M01 Poole - Carlisle, overtakes 86103 on a Liverpool-bound train, near Great Bridgeford. |
A bad day! Having travelled north to Glasgow on 1S54 behind 86224 (which was not booked to return south), I returned on 87035 on 1M31, only to find myself blown to pieces when 87028 failed in Glasgow on 1M34! Having been summoned to rescue, and had a minor fault rectified prior to leaving 75 minutes late, Caledonian is seen making an additional stop at Nuneaton due to the late running. Despite the full load and dead 87 on the rear, a determined Euston driver gave this incomparable machine plenty of full-taps treatment, and a storming run was had. |
86229 Sir John Betjeman cruises round the curves at Atherstone, bound for Euston, in 1992. |
86239 L S Lowry stands at Crewe on a Sunday, awaiting work the following day. |
Early in the TDm era, and before it became a dedicated parcels machine, 86241 Glenfiddich passes Stafford on the front of the DVT, heading for Euston. |
86253 The Manchester Guardian races past Millmeece (near Standon bridge, between Crewe and Stafford) on a warm summer evening in 1993, with a Glasgow - Birmingham cross country service, in the days when full use was made of the overhead electrification which took so much time and effort to even approve, let alone actually erect. |
86258 Talyllyn runs into Stafford in 1992 on a cross-country turn. |
Still resplendant in a proper colour scheme, which suited the class very well, 86258 Talyllyn is seen cruising towards the 90mph permanent restriction at Norton Bridge. The train is passing the well-located bridge at Heamies Farm. |
86261 sees action on the front of a DVT in 1992, at a time when res 86s were relatively rare on passenger workings. |
Stabled adjacent to Crewe Diesel Depot in 1992 are 86431 and 86419 Poste Haste. Both are now but a memory. |
86424 runs into Crewe fron the south in 1994. |
86424 stands at Stafford on a cross-country turn in 1992, alongside a Class 304 EMU. The loco sports the original version of res red livery. |
Passing the GEC works as she runs into Rugby on an up express is 86436, in 1988. |
86604 heads a line of storesd 86/6s outside LNWR Crewe early in 2005. Having been shunted across to appear at the Works Open Day, the loco made an unexpected return to service recently, as a replacement for 86620 which was burnt out while working 4S59 with 86609. |
86604 and another class-mate stand at Rugby during a few seconds' pause on an evening liner. Are they heading north or south.....? |
In the mid 1990s, 86620 + 866xx head north on a summer afternoon at Rugeley. This machine was of course another fire victim, only a few weeks ago catching fire near Winsford whilst heading for Scotland with 86609 on 4S59. The resulting conflagration was, alas, reminiscent of the demise of several class 81s! 86620's date with the acetylene torch is similarly certain. |
86621 and a class-mate head north between shadows of sun and shade at Whitmore, on a northbound liner. |
86632 "Brookside" is unusually seen working a freight single-handedly, passing Stafford on the fast lines. Judging by the paintwork, it was not long out of works. |
The A51 road overbridge at Stableford makes an excellent, if slightly precarious, vantage point for northbound trains. Here, 87001 Royal Scot notches down as she approaches the neutral section south of Whitmore, the autumn sun fast disappearing. |
Sporting - to my eyes anyway - the least pleasing version of InterCity livery borne by the class, 87004 Britannia (I think...the numbers are ridiculously small!) takes the down fast line and passes Crewe at 80mph, in charge of 1S83, around 1990. A vastly inferior form of traction can just be seen skulking in the background on the slow line. |
