Deltic

[hereward]

Hi Folks,
In the 1950’s I went, with a friend, an enthusiast, to Lichfield Trent Valley to see “Deltic” call while under test. It had a glass roof and windows in the centre of the loco covering an office with drawing boards and about five male staff. When I have mentioned this to people in the past I’ve had some strange looks. Did anyone else see this? – Thanks.

[pre65]

I can't believe there was any spare room for all that if Deltic was fully functioning.

Were you on "whacky baccy" ?

LocoJoe might know 'cos he was the second man on Deltic for a while.

[62440]

Sounds like you're confusing the Loco and the Dynamometer car used in the road tests, there are plenty of photos in existence of Deltic both as it was and as it is today. The link will take you to the oldest one on the Railway Forum gallery.:-http://www.railwayforum.net/gallery/...&searchid=8993

And this to the most recent one.:-http://www.railwayforum.net/gallery/...&searchid=8994

Regards, 62440.

[hereward]

Pre65 - Nah - Wacky Baccy, we didn't have that then, not north of Watford anyway. I think you are right, according to Google there wasn't enough room inside for an office and five technicians. 62440 yes it could have been pulling a special dynamometer car and thanks for the links, I appreciate both your interest, this has been bugging me for a long time. I guess my memory is playing tricks. Where is Locojoe?

[locojoe]

Hi hereward welcome to the forum, I too think you're confusing the Loco and the Dynamometer car. Have a look at this link http://tinyurl.com/l3fo97p which shows fictional renditions of Deltic DP1 in various colours. I quite like the prototype 'Deltic' decorated in the crimson and gold scheme of the pre-war LMS streamliners, what's your favorite Deltic DP1 colour.

[hereward]

Hi Joe,
Thanks for the welcome and the link, very pretty. I am not into diesels really, can’t say what colour Deltic was, I have no preference. I do have an affection for steam locos although I’m not an expert. We would only be 11 years old when I started going trainspotting with that guy, it was the travelling round by push bike and train that I liked. We travelled across London when 12 years old. One of those things that can only happen once in a lifetime was to see A4 “Woodcock” cruising quietly into Kings Cross with its valve gear and conrods tumbling smoothly over. Up till then I had only seen pictures of A4’s and wasn’t sure they actually existed (same with “Spamcans”). Strangely enough I drove past that guy today and turned around and drove back to speak to him, the first time for thirty odd years. He couldn’t even remember where he had seen Deltic, his memory was worse than mine. Best - hereward

[Silver Fox Phil]

Hi Hereward and welcome to the forum. Interesting thread too. Now Kings Cross for me back in the late fifties and early sixties was the place to be! I often would travel through from Lincoln as a lad on my way over to Belgium three times a year. We were occasionally hauled by the A4 and boy did we love them on the ECML. We could hear them and shout Streak coming, and the young spotters would get so excited! Passing sheds along the way like Grantham, Finsbury Park, New England and of course Top Shed. I loved seeing these east coast locos cruising in to Kings X and having to wait till the coaches were taken out again before being able to move out to the shed for preparing for the next duty.
I loved the smoke, the steam and smells of these great beasts of an engine! Bliss.
All the best
Phil

[pbowler]

That evokes a lot of happy memories Phil of the late 50s and early 60s at Newark or Carlton on Trent on the ECML that never to be forgotten A4 whistle as they raced towards Newark station. I remember the original Deltic in blue and yellow livery and also D0280 Falcon doing trials on that line, more than half a lifetime ago. I think Falcon was a light brown sort of sandy colour.

[hereward]

Great memories Phil, I have a further eight A4’s underlined, in my Ian Allan from those days, that I must have seen that day since that was the only time I saw A4’s in service. Not that I can remember them, but you can only see something for the first time once in a lifetime, like Woodcock. Saw Mallard at NRM and Union of South Africa being rebuilt at SVR. That mate of mine called those A4’s “Shrikes” (butcher birds) and I never knew why. Perhaps he had misheard the kids shouting “Streak.” We went from Walsall, I think, to Peterborough on the inaugural diesel service; we were invited, by the driver, to footplate Cock o’ the North, I read somewhere that Gresley had used it as a test bed for the A4’s. Took my two grandsons 2 and 6 to SVR on Wednesday; there was a Stanier 8F, in the Engine House at Highly, with a yellow diagonal stripe across the cab number. This was something else that had bugged me for years, after seeing that stripe on railway videos. Someone told me it was to warn the driver not to go onto electrified sections, I take it this was correct.
Just been reading about a poster who said that school had interfered with his trainspotting. I worked with a girl who said trainspotting had interfered with her schooling. Her classroom was adjacent to a railway line, when a train came by a group of boys would be jumping up and down shouting: “It’s a Brush it’s a Brush.” She didn’t have a clue what they were on about – me neither, unless it was Brush of Loughborough who made electric vehicles. Sorry about rambling on. –hereward.

[pre65]

Brush made (or supplied parts for) an awful lot of diesel electric locomotives.

Falcon works Loughborough.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brush_Traction