North of York

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July 1978

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In July 1978, I took a holiday in the north east of England, starting at York, then spending a few days in Northumberland. Although it was not a railway trip as such, I took the opportunity for a few "photo stops"....

HST 254 001 at Pilmoor, 9 July 1978The selection starts at Pilmoor, between York and Thirsk, a spot which was my favourite train-watching haunt when I lived not too far from there. The HSTs had very recently been 55 015 "Tulyar" heads south through Pilmoorintroduced to the east coast route, and the first train through was no less than 254 001, first of the batch. Soon after, a southbound train passed through, in the hands of a slightly faded 55 015 "Tulyar", soon to be displaced. Pilmoor was an interesting spot - the former junction for the A peak hurries through Pilmoor, 9 July 1978Boroughbridge line lay just to the north of my overbridge, while to the south, just beyond the box, an overbridge was built to connect the Boroughbridge line with the Malton line, which branched off just to the south at Sun Beck Junction. It was never used. Older readers will remember the sighting signals - a set of four signals on the trackbed of the ill-fated link.

We drove north to spend the best part of a week at Bamburgh, the village less well known than the castle which is a major landmark on the Northumbrian coast, looking out to the Farne Islands, and north to Lindisfarne. The six photographs which follow were taken in the evenings, when the sun was dipping rapidly. The first three were taken near Lucker, once the well-known site of a set of water troughs.

Class 47 heads a southbound passenger, Lucker, 10 July 1978   Class 47 on a northbound freight, Lucker, 10 July 1978   Class 40 hauls a southbound empty car-carrier, Lucker, 10 July 1978

A couple of evenings later I spent an hour or so just a little further north near Belford.

47 521 on a southbound passenger near Belford, 12 July 1978   Southbound HST 254 014, Belford, 12 July 1978   Northbound Peak-hauled parcels in the fading light, Belford, 12 July 1978

Lastly, a couple of shots taken near the Scottish Border, in the course of a trip to St Abbs and Eyemouth.

40 065 on a northbound freight, Belford   HST above Hilton Bay, 13 July 1978   40 194 with northbound tanks, Hilton bay, 13 July 1978

The line is, of course, now electrified throughout. The Peaks, Deltics and class 40s have long since departed - even the HSTs play second string to the class 91-powered push-pull sets.

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