Loco sheds and other railway buildings...

As well as the ETS issue, it was the fact that the entire hydraulic fleet of 309 locos was deemed 'non standard' compared with the 4000 or so diesel-electrics BR had at the time, so they had to go. It was a real shame because they were designed and built to tackle the steep gradients in the West Country, which they coped with admirably. Once their foibles had been sorted out, most of them gave good service, despite myths that have arisen about them. The reliability record of the Warships in particular improved in the mid '60s with some of them achieving higher mileages than the Deltics. The were all supposed to be gone by the Autumn of '73 but the last few Westerns clung on until February '77, partly because the 50s that had been drafted in from the London Midland Region were woefully unreliable, a problem that was only solved when the all fifty of them had been completely refurbished a few years later. Also during the period that the hydraulics were under scrutiny, the then brand new Sulzer powered 47s were having serious problems, which the BR board tried to hush up. There was a certain amount of back room politics involved too, as most of the BRB was made up of Derby and Crewe men who didn't like the idea of the Western Region doing their own thing with the hydraulics. Mistakes were made during the rush to modernise, but by and large the hydraulics were good workhorses and were well suited to the mixed traffic jobs that were given to them, day in, day out.

Talking of Crewe, here are some shots taken in the loco works in the early '70s....

Wonderful photos and recollections, thanks to all who've contributed so far!

This. British Rail didn't really like non standard engines or construction, presumably because it made maintenance work and spares availability more of a faff. They also got rid of any locomotives in small class sizes. This did for things like the Class 29 which had a high speed engine and a class size of 20 locomotives.

Technically you can depart from Birmingham New St in two different directions to get to London, due to the layout of the triangular junctions at Soho and Perry Barr to the north. You can actually go round and round in circles, by going via Soho, Perry Barr and Aston passing through New St all day long

My mate took these photos of Wellingborough Depot when he was road learning the Midland Mainline many years ago, sadly they were demolished, the roundhouse is still there (it is now listed apparently) but there's a new road running through the site of the servicing shed....

Not a building per se, but it’s railway related and was built....

https://youtu.be/VGFndeXtLmw

No worries. A friend and I have decided to make some videos of old stations, bridges, viaducts etc in Cornwall. When lockdown lifts we’ll get out for some more filming.

That viaduct is a cracker as it’s now just joining two fields together....
https://goo.gl/maps/tFQkS6MF83wkvamf7

Thanks, yes we we’ll do some more further afield if it works out

Great thread, thanks to OP and contributors. Brings back happy memories of growing up in Cornwall and being a rail enthusiast during the 70's and 80's. Class 50's were my favourites, saw everyone of them and likewise with the HST Class 43's.

I don't remember the Westerns etc, think by the time I got in to it they had all been retired. I do remember summer holidays though and buying a West of England Rail Rover ticket for a week of unlimited travel between Penzance and Bristol and all lines in between. We used to be out on the first train and back on the last, all for the princely sum of £13 and then some discounted Rail Riders membership tickets for add on excursions to Cardiff and Westbury!

I used to have lot's of railway memorabilia from family and family friends, had a set of drivers manuals for Class 47, 50, HST, 25 plus many others, locomotive master key, which I'm sure I still have somewhere (and interestingly is identical to the ones used in Australia where I live now), plus my cousin used to work at Redruth station so I used to get loads of station posters etc. Wish I still had them!

Stef

I think you can from Leeds too. Last year I got on a new Azuma for London and it headed north, at first I thought they must have programmed it incorrectly but it took a circuitous route to the East Coast mainline and ended up heading South albeit back to front.

My grandparents lived at the top of a hill in Kirkstall and as a kid in the late 50s and early 60s I was entranced by the view over the yards below that were always working and full of wagons and engines. In the dark, the glow from the fires was very emotive.

Does anyone have any pictures from there to remind me what it was like.