Some NYMR Memories

Apologies for picture quality - scans from old prints, and I have almost zero 'processing' skills!

Locos old and new - the '2 Black Fives' was one of the first time when 2 were running on the same day, back when it was still novel!

Blue Peter was probably the first public train she ran since restoration - I was honured to be the Guard!

Steven

 

Fantastic shots - thanks for sharing them

 

Great memories. Thanks!

 

Any more Steven?

 

Oh, 100s Bryan! I have a number more that are scanned and ready to post - will add over the next few days!

Steven

 

As promised, a few more!

Rocket and Repton on the day the first Share Issue was launched (1990), Mirvale on a return visit from the Middleton, Joem and No.5 leave Grosmont, a 'special' paint job for the Warship and a couple of the 'old' and 'new' track layout at Grosmont and rebuild of Platform 2.



Steven

 

I wonder what the costs of getting the EVL running line moved would have been if done by NR rather than BR for the Grosmont remodeling, if it was being done today?

Sawdust.

 

Many, many times the BR cost in real terms would be my guess - plus 3 or 4 times as long to plan and do it.

 

I seem to recall that we were appalled by what BR charged - and it only had 5 digits before the decimal point!

A few more - and soon I am going to have to scan a few more images!

Filming at Goathland - a student project, can't remember which University, the contract repaint job for Regional Railways at Pickering, Dame Vera on her first train in UK preservation (a 'thank you' for those who had worked on her restoration), Grosmont MPD as was - cottages disappearing and how Rocket got to Grosmont for the Share Issue launch!



Steven

 

Was the MK2 repainted in NSE for a filming contract? I remember there was a display at Grosmont about it quite a few years ago.

 

Steven - I think that was Dame Vera's first train on the NYMR but not her "first train in UK preservation". I traveled behind - or was it on - her at Isfield on the Lavender Line in 1986 shortly before she came to the Moors.

Peter

 

I do not think so. As I recall a six coach rake of Vac Braked Mk 2s came in for repainting from NSE into RR livery, not the other way round. I wonder how many of those coaches survive today.

The photo looks like it predates the re-installation of the turntable on that road.

Peter

 

Ahh, could well be wrong then, I seem to recall a few MK2's were repainted into Reggie Rail by the MRC at Swanick too.

 

@torgormaig is correct - it was a contract job to repaint 6 'spare' NSE coaches in Regional Railways livery. Regional Railways were allocated a number of vac braked sets when the Turbos came in on NSE to provide extra capacity at busy times. All were sent for store/scrap/sale when Privatisation came along.

(Peter - you are also correct about about Dame Vera having hauled passengers as Isfield, but I might argue the train for the restorers was its first proper train - it was just push/pull at Isfield - when she arrived at Grosmont, it was found the front vac pipe was a dummy and had no connection to anything, especially the braking system!)

There was a Mark 1 painted NSE on one side only for a 'filming' contract - E4481, the first coach on the Dame Vera picture. It was in rather poor condition, so was 'sold' to Yorkshire TV to be a 'stunt double' for W4817 in filming a derailment for Heartbeat, 4817 being used for running shots and 4481 being lifted (by steam crane) into a 'derailed' position on the cross-over at Grosmont. Yorkshire TV splashed out on 2 days of 2nd Unit stunt filming for seconds of footage of the inside of the coach during the supposed 'crash', directed by the then James Bond Action Arranger Paul Weston. The result was very effective.

After Casualty weren't interested in using 4481 for the train crash they were filming a couple of months later (they brought in Mark 2s from Carnforth), the NYMR got a 'phone call from Central TV one Friday afternoon - they wanted to blow up a coach for The Cook Report - could we accommodate them that coming Sunday! The TV crew painted 4481 on one side in NSE livery - it was February, so the paint didn't really dry and Roger Cook himself ended up with some NSE blue on his fawn jacket during filming.

We took the coach to Newtondale Halt early on the Sunday morning. The coach and Halt were populated with dummies, high explosive sufficient to replicate the effect of 2lbs of Semtex were placed on board in a brief case, and Roger Cook did a piece to camera about how easy it would be to leave such a bomb, as a neighbouring passenger to look after the brief case while the bomber 'popped to the loo' but actually got off and then they set running automatic cameras, including a very expensive slow motion camera surrounded by sandbags with just a gap to film through actually in the coach. With us all well out of the way (Jack Twyman, John Russell and I on the Class 25 round the corner at Northdale, the Levisham 'Wombles' sheltering with the crew under the bridge at Newtondale), Roger Cook pressed the plunger and the bomb detonated, making 'a bit of a mess' of E4481 (as Neil MacDonald put it when he came to tell the loco it was safe to return) - and totally wrecking the high speed camera when a nail from the 'bomb' went straight through the lens!

After being 'scavenged' for spares, the remains of E4481 were broken up later that year - I am sure the bogies will still be about - and the money from the 2 filming jobs used to buy 4786, which I believe has now gone to the Churnet Valley. Ironically, we may have been able to sell the remains of 4481 as the Anglia TV series The Chief did a train bomb story line later that year - and had clearly taken 4481 as a template for the damage done to a scrap Mark 1 for the 'post explosion' shots.

I wrote an article for Railway World about the 3 filming jobs (Heartbeat in January, The Cook Report in February and Casualty in March) and did some display panels which are probably what @Matt37401 remembers. Not sure where my pictures are now (I think still attached to the home made display panels!) but if I can find them, I shall post some on here.

Steven

 

Thanks for that Steven, most interesting.

 

Fortunately the bomb had been placed above a brake cylinder and the domed reservoir absorbed the down blast, so there was no damage to the track.

Sawdust.

 

I hope Steven doesn't mind me adding to this thread. The above was taken on the occasion of 60007's very first visit to the NYMR, in the dim and distant past (can anybody help with the date please?). I was working at Pickering and heard on the grapevine that Gresley was going to make a gauging run that evening. Realising that as Blue Peter was due to haul the last arrival into Pickering, it would pass the A4 at Levisham as it returned to Grosmont LE (remember those moves!). So as soon the last train came in, I hot footed it to Levisham by car and was the only person there to capture the moment as I remember.

Sawdust.

 

2006 and City of Truro with a short train of LNER stock, appropriate as the loco owes it's existence to the LNER.

Sawdust.

 

The Pickering flood of 2007, hopefully won't be repeatable due to "Slowing the flow" flood prevention scheme. The waters had gone down by the time I got there. The rails in the yard and on the turntable had been topped by the water overnight.

Sawdust.

 

Might as well jump on the bandwagon with a trio. The first pair showing the Lambton Tanks plus Antwerp with Lambton No 5 in steam, and the last showing S15 841 making an energetic departure from Grosmont past the much smaller [in all photos] MPD.