Hymek D7017 Departs Minehead..06/09/14

While I was out for 1015s run to Minehead I had chance to video the departure from Minehead of Hymek D7017...it was well worth the effort..

 

A sight & sound I absolutely loathed in the early 60's.

 

And now???

 

Can't see why. A well designed loco doing what it was designed to do.

 

Proper clag!

 

Not the design so much, but their " interference" in our beloved steam scene.
Hated it when one of those turned up instead of a King/Castle or Hall etc.
Likewise with the Warships & Westerns.

 

Was that because you changed your mind in the late 60s when the Hymeks, Warships and Westerns had continued the Great Western "go it alone" tradition that BR was determined to destroy with the introduction of Diesel Electric locomotives ?

On a personal note, I considered the Hymeks one of the finest types hence my involvement in the early days of 7017s preservation.

 

Well, in my opinion the fireman needs a bit more secondary air ...

Tom

 

Didn't BR standardise everything at that time? Everything that moved, powered or otherwise had cans of blue paint tipped over then, sometimes mixed with a bit of grey.
All part of this "corporate image" stuff.

 

Still better than those comedy Southern Region diesels the Western had to help replace twice on Waterloo - Exeter's with the Warships and then the 50's

 

well in the case of the Hymeks, no. The area around the windows at the side was painted yellow which wasn't the BR standard scheme.

 

Sadly that was a case of the "old enemy" being the WR. Once the WR "gained" operating rights west of Salisbury in September 1963 it defined the Exeter - Waterloo service as secondary and operated it from the Exeter end - thus imposing their standard traction in the guise of the "Warships". These proved such a success that BR withdrew the fleet of hydraulic transmission locomotives and - presumably - in an attempt to "upgrade" the Exeter - Waterloo service introduced MkII stock with its need for ETH-fitted locomotives with the consequence that the WR introduced Class 50s to the line although Class 47/7s were also used on occasions.

The SR did not surrender lightly; in summer months when trains had no need of heating it was found that 33s could handle the 8-coach trains hence the SR offered the use of those to help the WR provide enough 50s to cover WR requirements elsewhere. If you must blame anyone then blame "the management" as today the service operates as a bit of a half-way house in that the service trainsets are based and maintained at Salisbury (WR territory) but are leased and operated by South West Trains as successors to the old SR.

 

The heading of this thread had me worried - I thought that D7017 was departing Minehead in terms of West Somerset Railway! Thankfully not - she belongs to be on this line and is a reminder of the earliest achievements of the Diesel and Electric Group, at a time when preserving diesels was thought by many to be eccentric.

John

 

Yes - it's easy to forget that D7017 was the FIRST diesel locomotive to be preserved by public subscription and harder for those of us involved to see what a historic precedent the Diesel & Electric Group was setting.

 

Not quite; the 33s were restricted to summer workings only because during the "heating" season their ETH index of 48 units was insufficient to heat the 9-coach consist of the Waterloo - Exeter stock. Certainly throughout 1970s the summer services were powered by 33s whilst the winter services were nominally powered by Warships but replaced by 33s on frequent occasions due to "reliability" issues. Towards the end of the 1970s the 50s took over for the winter session as the Warships were withdrawn from service and Old Oak Common created a pool of locomotives dedicated to the Exeter - Waterloo diagrams.

 

My recollection as a Westcountryman is that after September 1964 the D8xx Warships ran all services over Exeter - Waterloo (with occasional Western and Hymek substitutions and no doubt the odd class 33 D65xx especially on the Brighton train which was Saturdays only in the summer) until October 1971, then the 33s took over. Most Warships were then withdrawn, just a few continuing on other WR services in the Westcountry. All Warships had gone out of BR service anywhere by December 1972. The Exeter - Brighton train went over in summer 1972 to Hastings d.e.m.u working, lasting until May 1977 after which time class 33 took over this working as well as the Waterloo service. In May 1980, the class 50s (ironically also named by then after warships) took over the Exeter - Waterloo service, but class 33s in pairs ran the Exeter - Brighton Saturday service; this arrangement lasting until 1993 by which time the increasingly unreliable class 50s were often substituted by class 33s and class 47/7s displaced from Glasgow- Edinburgh push-pull services.

John