Countdown to July 9th: 10/6 to 9/7 and The End

The final countdown of the last 30 days was literally that. Loco crews were capturing their treasured moments with steam and each wanted to say goodbye in their own particular way. For one or two it involved 'breaking' their loco in some final flurry of stupidity so I won't dwell on the fusible plug incidents and other issues as they really were a small minority of cases. But if you were around in the early summer of 1967 and needed further evidence of what a wonderful class of locomotive the Bulleid Pacific was, it was all laid out there for you to savour and enjoy.

Many would be able to fill a book of what went on; I will capture a few personal memories that, of course, had to be slotted in amongst the ongoing engineering works and signal/track failures that continued to turn some runs into the journey from hell. For example, 35008 on the 0830 Bournemouth service when we were through Esher at 80 mph in 16½ minutes with the clear intention of getting inside even time soon after Woking but the signallers had other ideas. It was 35 minutes before we got through Woking and another 30 minutes to Basingstoke. And so it continued. Despite a touch under 90 down to Winchester and further fast running through the New Forest, we were 15 late into Bournemouth. But it was not all like that.

Saturday June 17th 1967. The 0830 ex Waterloo with Jim Evans who was on his last steam turn before going off on modern traction training. It is perhaps invidious to single out one engineman as there were so many excellent crews at Nine Elms, but for me, Jim Evans is the 'tops'. A true professional and the master of the brake as he demonstrated on this day. He had already given me an even time run from Woking to Waterloo - 24 minutes dead with 34100 - so I knew he would hurry along if allowed. And he didn't disappoint.

We were unchecked until the tsr at Hook and a serious of signal checks in the Basingstoke area. but this was after getting inside even time by Fleet having swept over Milepost 31 at a speed that was no different from a rare fast pass of Woking. Recovering from these checks we accelerated up to Roundwood, going over the top at 68 and then simply pressed on. Speed first hit 90 at Wallers Ash and peaked at 95 before Jim decided that it would probably be a good idea to ease up a little as we were booked to stop at Winchester. It was all still a blur of vegetation as we flashed across Winchester Junction at 88 and finally the handle was dropped, the brakes came on and remained on. In the space of a little over two minutes we came to a stand in the right place in under 68 minutes or 62 minutes net for the 66 miles.

Early into Winchester, and early at Southampton despite further checks. A leisurely water stop and then away again, right time, for a storming run through the New Forest. The high eighties approaching Christchurch and through Boscombe in under 27 minutes for the 27½ miles only to be held outside Bournemouth as they were not ready for us. Nevertheless we arrived five early in a running time that was equivalent to the old two hour schedule and this included the additional stop at Winchester. Fantastic.

Just as fantastic were the hurricane style sprints between Basingstoke and Woking on the 2256 arrival when three figures were being clocked with regularity. I went down on the 1854 Salisbury stopper on June 27th for a taste of what was going on. Poignantly, this was with 35023 on my last run with her. She was my only 100 mph locomotive having clocked 102 with Bert Hooker approaching Andover on the famous Exeter trip in October 1966.

Peering westwards into the dark at Basingstoke I saw the boiler of a Merchant Navy drifting down the platform - yes you can tell the difference - and Clan Line drew up. Fred Burridge was under instructions not to break Clan Line as by then it was known that she was destined for preservation after a mishap with the previous candidate and I did wonder whether that would affect the performance. Well, we didn't reach 100 but I was more than satisfied with 96 (some say 95!) and a running time to Woking of 19½ minute for the 23½ miles including the 60 mph tsr approaching Milepost 31.

It was now July and I had already resolved not to go on the final runs; that would have been too sad. My farewell was in two parts. On July 4th I slipped up to Clapham Junction for one more ride on the 'Kenny O' - the shuttle service from Clapham to Kensington Olympia for postal workers. Over the years I had enjoyed many trips with a range of different locomotives on this little known steam commuter service that operated twice in the morning and again in the evening. My tally of motive power comprised:
H Class: 31305, 31542.
Standard Class 3: 82018, 82023, 82026.
Standard Class 4: 80015, 80133, 80154

On this occasion I had Ivatt Class 2 No. 41319 with a train full of people outbound and just me on the return. We stalled on the climb up to Platform 17 but restarted eventually, almost as though the loco knew that it had not much longer.

So my final day was actually on Wednesday July 5th. It was, appropriately, behind Clan Line as it came up to London prior to storage before its new owners took charge. I went down to Bournemouth on the 0835 with Driver McLagen and 35007 - the locomotive that had never given me a duff run and always seemed to make steam whatever the circumstances. The whole of the Winchester area was in meltdown with its signalling and we were 40 late at Southampton, also Bournemouth but this was not about loco performance.

The crew had only 40 minutes to turn around before bringing the 1453 back to Waterloo. Clan Line gave me a lively run to Southampton in under 34 minutes including two tsrs. But once again, the network was in disarray, this time in the Basingstoke area, and it was only after Winchfield that the crew had the opportunity to remind me of what we were about to lose. The flash downhill from Milepost 31 and through Woking at 80 with that evocative Bulleid whistle echoing off the station infrastructure. A further dash in just nine and a half minutes to Surbiton - an average of 77 - before the customary signal check at Wimbledon as we caught up the Guildford New Line service that called there. And for me, that was it.

But here we are, fifty years on, and all things being equal, the star of some of those days - i.e. Clan Line - is about to do it all again. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.