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It was the end of summer 1967 when steam finished
in the West Riding and although there may have been a railtour or two
after that, that saw the end of steam in Bradford.
It has always been one of my regrets that I was unable for various (mainly
financial) reasons to get any recordings of steam hauled trains on the
steep climbs towards Leeds & Halifax before steam finished.
Back in the summer of 2000 I had thought that the chance was going to
come my way when someone went to a lot of trouble to try to arrange
unassisted steam haulage out of Bradford Interchange when Taw Valley
was involved in working a private charter in connection with publicity
for a newly released Harry Potter book. Or was it a film? Whatever the
reason, despite the train being topped and tailed with a diesel everywhere
it went, no diesel was to be attached leaving Bradford. Why it actually
visited Bradford was a bit of a mystery in itself.
Anyway, all this came to naught when the Bullied Pacific proved itself
incapable of keeping the train on the move up the gradient and ended
up being pushed by a diesel.
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On 28th January 2006 the attempt was to be
made again, this time with Black 5 45407 as motive power, with a charter
train for Past-Time Rail.
The lines around Bradford were my stamping ground in 'real' steam days
and I wouldn't care to count the number of times that I travelled behind
steam up that steep hill out of Bradford Exchange behind Black 5s and
Fairburn tanks both towards Leeds as well as the route that this train
was going to take towards Halifax with it's continuos gradient of 1
in 50.
The load was 8 coaches which perhaps doesn't sound excessive until you
consider that the start is very difficult with the gradient beginning
some way down the platform, the engine and first coaches actually being
on the gradient.
In steam days, if my memory serves, the maximum load for an unassisted
Black 5 out of Bradford Exchange was 7 coaches and anything more than
that would have a banker at least as far as Bowling Jc. at the top of
the gradient. In addition, the start out of Exchange was a little easier
with the gradient starting beyond the platform end and usually, the
loco that had brought in the empty stock would give the train a push
to the end of the platform.
So, how would 45407 cope with it's load and the gradient?
We found a recording spot at the back of an industrial estate between
Mill Lane Jc. and Ripley Street bridge which seemed suitable although
it was quite near a go-cart track which chose half past 12 as the time
to start operations, just 7 minutes before the train was due to depart!
As the recording begins 45407 has just started out of Interchange.
The initial start out of the platform is good but as more and more of
the train comes onto the 1 in 50 gradient speed falls alarmingly and
I was beginning to think that the loco was in danger of stalling.
I should have had more faith in one of Stannier's Black 5s and the excellent
judgement and enginmanship of driver Bob Morrison as, once clear of
the junctions, 45407 begins to accelerate a little and, with the locomotive
later reported to be in full forward gear with the regulator in the
roof, continues to accelerate as it passes on the gradient towards Bowling
Jc.
If you are wondering what the internal combustion engine noises heard
as the last coach passes, it's the sound of the generator coach at the
back of the train being started.
What an excellent recording, (one that I have been waiting a long time
to make and the first steam hauled passenger train to leave this side
of Bradford for around 38 years!
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You can find some 1960's photographs around Bradford on the Gallery
pages.
I must apologise to my dial-up
visitors for the size of this
download but be patient,
it's worth it!
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The train was routed via Copy Pit to Blackburn but sadly there was
no way that we could hope to get in front of the train to get a recording
there so our next chance was to get a recording on the climb from Blackburn
to Sough.
We thought that we had plenty of time but road works and couple of diversions
meant that we only reached Darwen a few minutes before the train was
due to leave Blackburn and we were lucky to find somewhere to record
from in the little time we had.
The train was due to make a pathing stop at Darwen to cross a service
train and, as this recording begins, 45407 can be heard approaching
going easily on the gradient which is around 1 in 80 here. As it passes
the loco is eased as the stop at Darwen is not far away.
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To finish off the day we called in at Bradford
Interchange to have a look at 45407.
It wasn't quite the same as the last Black 5 I saw there which was 45428
in Bradford Exchange in September 1967 (and had a footplate ride up
to Low Moor!) but it was nice to see it there just the same.
As it could be a one off opportunity we decided to have a try at recording
45407 leaving, running tender first with just it's support coach.
The Black 5 is heard making a gentle start out of the station on to
the 1 in 50 gradient and heading, tender first, back to Bury.
At my age, I hope I won't have to wait another 38 years before I have
the opportunity again. Will I still be recording steam when I'm 92?
God willing!
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