Skirl o' the Bagpipes Friday 31st March - Saturday 1st April 1995
Where to begin? where can you begin when dealing with an all-time first for Class 33's and all the planning that goes into such a unique endeavour.
I suppose at the beginning. I think it was a Tuesday night when five of us met for a beer in one of the pre-eminent Real Ale pubs of London at that time, the White Horse in Parsons Green.
Myself (Poodle), Samways, Pinker, Kapur & Paul Smith. A few beers in, and the conversation drifted towards the end of the BR Special Trains Unit, which was winding down and would be handing over the reins to Watermans Railways shortly.
Kapur, never one to keep the noise down after a few liveners, was outraged that the Steam fraternity were marking the occasion with a number of Steam Charters on the final weekend. I think he said there were 10 sets of stock and nine were already spoken for. Someone must do something Diesel hauled!
"What can we do" I said, "We haven't even got any paper to write anything down". See that beermat came the reply - split it down the middle and write on that!
That's a start but where can we go? Kapur was enthused by this point and the cry of "Scotland" got the attention of most of the establishment!
Mr P had an idea, a couple of former Hither Green drivers had recently transferred to Scotland, 2 at Inverness & 1 at Mossend (I believe) so we could work around that for a start.
What to call the Tour? Kapur was all over that "most weekend Diesel trips to Scotland in the past have run as "Skirl o' the Pipes" why not go with a pair of 33/1 Bagpipes and call it the "Skirl o' the Bagpipes!" - sounds like a plan.
When to depart? Friday evening would be ideal so we got plenty of hours in Scotland but still got back by close of play on Saturday.
What routing should we look at? Should we depart & arrive from/to a Southern terminus? Ok for the outward but could be a bit restrictive on our return Saturday night due to possible possessions.
So a Southern location for the departure & possibly London Euston for the return? I put the 2 halves of the beermat in my pocket & probably got a surprise when I found them in the morning!
That will do for a start, Kapur would run the tour through his boss Mr Farrow's Hertfordshire Railtours, I would plan and time the train, then diagram the stock, locos and traincrew as all these aspects were involved in my job in the Res Charter planning office anyway. I would just cut out the need for a spec off the customer as he had already told me his requirements in the pub!
As usual with this sort of long-distance trip, a few things soon came to light that may or may not ruin our plan. Loco Fuel range for one, nominally 800miles for a Crompton so a pair in Multi on a decent load over some of the most dramatic climbs in mainland Britain was one consideration. Also the line from Perth to Inverness, "through the middle" as the route via Kingussie, Aviemore & up Slochd is commonly known, was shut from 0100 to 0530 on a Saturday morning.
To this end the original plan was a long run, starting at London Victoria, then onto the WCML all the way to Scotland. Then to Perth where we would have to sit for 2 1/2 hours or so for the line to re-open.
Kapur (as the Customer) then pointed out we would get to Inverness well before pub opening time & would have quite a long break - why not cane in the preserved line to Boat of Garten on the way?
Even more winner track for a Crompton involved & he would arrange for the lines class 27 to haul the train back to Aviemore.
After submitting the timings that I'd done to Railtrack for validation, I got on with the task of diagramming drivers with the relevant traction & route knowledge for the trip. We had drivers at our depot at Crewe with class 33 knowledge, we could split the WCML outward & return legs between 2 Crewe drivers. For the Scottish section I made sure of the actual knowledge of the former Hither Green men who had quite recently moved up there, also making sure that they would be available for the dates in question. I think Kapur sorted out the Conductor on the Strathspey railway from Aviemore to Boat of Garten.
As for the loco's, this would be the first occasion in their 35 year life that class 33 "Crompton's" had been planned to work a passenger train north of the Border.
Not wanting any mechanical issues on this the final weekend of the Special Trains Unit it was decided that 2 travelling Fitters would be required - they would be responsible for both prepping the 2 locos (33109 & 33116) prior to the trip and actually riding the Charter throughout. Don't ask me how you worked the hours out for that!
In the event the 2 Stewarts Lane Fitters who volunteered for this epic undertaking were Bob Ketterick (very keen on 40's back in the day) & Stephen Mann (aka "Puppy" - my brother).
Yes, keep it in the family and all that!
Then just a couple of weeks before the tour was due to run Transport Video Publishing announced they wanted to Video the tour, from both the cab & lineside. More work for me as I then had to arrange for Traction Inspectors throughout, including booking any Hotels the TI's then required, to allow non-railway staff to be able to travel in the cabs.
I went down to Stewarts Lane the day before the tour, Bob & my brother showed me all the spares they had loaded into the engine rooms of both locos "just in case" and all the new paint they had applied to both locos for the occasion. Add to that the fact that the locos had been Fuelled to the absolute limit meant the 2 locos were sitting very low on their springs!
Friday 31st March
No rest for the wicked, I was actually working today prior to doing the tour. We met in the Wetherspoons pub at Victoria station about 1630, my girlfriend and her best mate seemed to be already intoxicated, I think they'd been drinking at my place before coming into Central London to meet us. (Luckily they weren't doing the tour!)
A few celebratory liveners as it was obvious by now that the tour should actually happen!
From our original ad-hoc planning meeting in the White Horse, Mr Paul Smith was be-suited for the send off from Victoria, a real-life Bagpiper present to pipe us away. Samways (not a Crank) had decided to join us on our little jaunt to Scotland & back, he was attired as James Bond (complete with underarm gun holster) don't ask me why. No-one told him that we could only manage to do these drinking marathons, with overnight's included, as we'd had years of training...
Myself and Rich Pinker were of course billeted in the front coach as befits Life members of the Crompton Roadshow - and Kapur was in charge of the train (where was the Fatman? (RIP)) as Hertfordshire were running the tour.
From our original ad-hoc planning meeting in the White Horse, Mr Paul Smith was be-suited for the send off from Victoria, a real-life Bagpiper present to pipe us away. Samways (not a Crank) had decided to join us on our little jaunt to Scotland & back, he was attired as James Bond (complete with underarm gun holster) don't ask me why. No-one told him that we could only manage to do these drinking marathons, with overnight's included, as we'd had years of training...
Myself and Rich Pinker were of course billeted in the front coach as befits Life members of the Crompton Roadshow - and Kapur was in charge of the train (where was the Fatman? (RIP)) as Hertfordshire were running the tour.
We departed Victoria with much wailing of pipes (both Bagpipes & both Bagpipes if you see what I mean) & with much flailing of arms evident.
It didn't take long for the first mini-riot when, after Mitre Bridge Jn, the signaller tried to send us towards Acton Canal Wharf instead of onto the WCML - so a short propelling move was performed.
On arrival at Watford Jn, a pick-up point, our Boss Des was on the platform to view proceedings - I held my plastic glass out of the window offering Des a try of my beer when James Bond shot a hole through the glass with a plastic pellet from his shoulder-holster gun!
"Why don't you go down the train to the Steward's compartments James - they may be more your level" ie: bugger off you spilt the only beer I'd be drinking before Crewe!
There was a table in the front coach with some recognisable Bashers on, they had 2 polypins of beer on the rack above their table - "look, we've got more beer than the Crompton Roadshow!" was the cry. Little did they know - at Crewe we rolled into the platform and Big Al, landlord of the Albion in Crewe, rolled a brute forward to meet the front coach loaded up with polypin after polypin of racked-off bright beer. After a good 12 minutes we had all the beer on board, on the racks above our tables - well why else had I included a ten minute stop in the platform at Crewe (& indicated which platform we must arrive on)?
The recognisable Bashers in question were gobsmacked but not for long - we told them that anyone in the front coach could purchase pints off us throughout the trip - so enjoy!
Onwards to Preston where we were planned to take on water, no un-flushable toilets on this train thanks - we would be drinking a lot of Beer!
The pair had performed flawlessly to this point, thrashing away to some tune. Shortly we would be facing the climb up Shap - how would we fare on load ten with the ETH on? Simple - bald-headed thrash was the order of the day, you would have thought these locos were built for this sort of long-haul Thrash!
Then without further ado we crossed the Border into Scotland and faced the formidable climb up to Beattock Summit, 1033feet above sea level - no problems for a pair of Crompton's tonight!
At one point in my Bashing career I thought I would need to move North of the Border, the BR Board decided class 33's would be the perfect traction for the Sleeper services North of the Border to the Scottish Highlands, they would re-allocate a portion of the 33 fleet up there.
However, being based in central London, the Board members regularly drank with the Southern Region hierarchy who were not impressed with this idea! Why not just ETH some 37's & we will keep all our own locos down here? So that's what transpired.
On this night the pair stormed ever further North, passing the yards of Mossend with only a brief pause for Crew relief then onwards via Stirling through to Perth, for our enforced fester waiting for the Signal Boxes to re-open.
Saturday 1st April
I decided sleep was not an option, I'd been up since 0700 Friday and drinking solidly since 1630 - I didn't want to drop off and wake up with a Hangover so I nipped into the locos and spent a couple of hours talking to my brother.
Then a couple of minutes prior to departure I recharged my glass & got in position out of one of the front windows to enjoy the Thrash. The first glimmers of daylight were just breaking through by the time we proceeded along the mountainous route from Kingussie to Aviemore.
Then from Aviemore we took in the Strathspey railway to Boat of Garten.
33116 & 33109 at Boat of Garten 1Z33 1803 London Victoria - Inverness. Photo used with courtesy of Roddy MacPhee
We then had the pleasure of D5394 (27050) for the run back to Aviemore, splendid Tip-Top thrash with such a load.
4 BRCW locos at Aviemore Speyside. 33109 and 33116 on Hertfordshire Railtours "Skirl o' the Bagpipes" plus preserved D5394 (27050) and 26002. The 27 had worked the tour back from Boat of Garten. That's almost certainly my brother holding the door to the 2nd coach open in his orange overalls. Photo used with courtesy of Jon Piesing.Then the moment we had all been waiting for - the run up the long climb to Slochd summit. Outrageous thrash from the pair of Crompton's but no problems at all with the climb.
33116 & 33109 arrive at Inverness off the 1Z33 1803 London Victoria - Inverness. Photo used with courtesy of Roddy MacPhee
Arrival into Inverness was 35 minutes early - partly due to not going through Tomatin Loop, which was booked but was omitted. This was a bonus as it gave time for the original 5 of us to be interviewed for the video, stood in front of the locos, to explain the "Beermat planning evening".
The outward leg of the Tour of a Lifetime was over!
Then off to the Pheonix as there was more beer to be drunk!
The Phoenix in Inverness. Fresh off the Skirl o' the Bagpipes overnight tour from London Victoria are (L to R) Bernie, David, Poodle, Swish, Neath, Pogo, Steve Lane and Andy North. Photo used with courtesy of Duffield (Steve Thorpe).
We were in the rear coach for all of the 569miles of the return trip - so four of us started playing cards, the card school was to last all the way to London!
Unbelievably the former Hither Green driver at the helm leaving Inverness, now more used to driving pairs of Tractors on the overnight, claimed the 33's would perform poorly up the climb through Drumochter & up to Slochd summit, compared to a pair of 37's. I'm glad to say he had to eat his words after a storming run!
33109 "Captain Bill Smith RNR" and 33116 "Hertfordshire Railtours" are seen leaving Perth with the return 1Z33 12.20 Inverness to London Euston 'Skirl o' the Bagpipes'. Photo used courtesy of Jim Ramsay.The tour returned by the same route as the outward (minus the Strathspey railway) - you would expect problems somewhere on a journey of this magnitude but there were none!
We arrived in Euston, a happy crowd, tired, weary and probably still drunk...
I myself carried off the one unopened Polypin - Orkney Dark Island no less - plus I was tasked with looking after the headboard. I cannot remember if we made it into the Head of Steam at Euston (it would have been tight on the booked timings) but I did invite some of the Roadshow to come round to my place in Croydon the next day to help drink the Dark Island & say goodbye to my time in London - I was moving up to Crewe shortly as my job with Res was relocating there.
The best tour ever! 33109+33116 take a well earned break having arrived after a faultless run from Inverness on Hertfordshire Railtours 'Skirl o' the Bagpipes tour. Photo used with courtesy of Duffield (Steve Thorpe).
So a tour planned & scribbled down on a beer mat, that had been split into two, by 5 of us having a drink in the White Horse Parsons Green one evening, turned out to be a Classic!
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