Some historic details from Neil - we look forward to his and your early photos. Going back a bit now, but Roger Geach drew my attention to Sid Sponheimer’s photo of a Brush Type 4 pulling out of Truro on a down train, taken from Dobbs Lane over the roof of the old steam shed. I don’t think that Sid had intended to obtain the earliest known photo of one of these locos on a passenger train to Penzance but that is what he achieved! The year must have been 1967 – full yellow ends on green Class 47s first appeared in Spring that year, and the coach behind the loco is one of the three Hawksworth SKs (W1719/2135/2283W) painted in blue/grey livery – I believe that these and Truro’s resident Class 08 pilot had gone by early 1968. It probably pre-dates my own first two sightings on down trains in October that year, D1677 Thor and D1640 – I don’t think it’s one of these as it doesn’t appear to be named and I’m not standing on the black bridge! Hymeks D7029 and D7088 were also regular visitors at that time, having been loaned to Laira August to November apparently to cover for the temporary loss of D601/2/4 to South Wales. The down Cornish Riviera Express occasionally found itself with Type 3 power that autumn, and on one occasion I witnessed the two Hymeks side by side at Truro – D7029 on the down CRE and D7088 in the bay (D7017 also turned up in the bay one day). Considering D600 and D603 were still around to rub shoulders with Hymeks and Brush Type 4s as well as the other regular hydraulics in truly mixed liveries, Cornwall Autumn 1967 is an attractive proposition for railway modellers with hydraulic tendencies – it is after all pretty much the only legitimate use for Kernow Model Rail Centre’s forthcoming model of D600 Active in blue with full yellow ends!
It has been argued that Class 08s with TOPS numbers would never have retained the radiator ladders – never say never, as Trevor Tremethick’s illuminating (in more ways than one) photo of 08928 at Long Rock proves otherwise! His shot of D4161 at St Blazey in August 1973 indicates another candidate (it was still in early blue when renumbered 08931 the following spring) and I’m trying to find out if green 08840 was the same, for modelling purposes – it still had ladders as D4008 in January 1974. This kind of detail didn’t register with me at the time. Only locos in such remote locations would have achieved this feat.
It has been argued that Class 08s with TOPS numbers would never have retained the radiator ladders – never say never, as Trevor Tremethick’s illuminating (in more ways than one) photo of 08928 at Long Rock proves otherwise! His shot of D4161 at St Blazey in August 1973 indicates another candidate (it was still in early blue when renumbered 08931 the following spring) and I’m trying to find out if green 08840 was the same, for modelling purposes – it still had ladders as D4008 in January 1974. This kind of detail didn’t register with me at the time. Only locos in such remote locations would have achieved this feat.