| The first Stanier Pacific that I "copped" was 46239 City of Chester, which I saw at Stafford in February 1950 on my first ever trainspotting outing. I also remember seeing 46247 City of Liverpool and 46256 Sir William A Stanier FRS, on the same day. | ||||
| Subsequent visits to the West Coast Main Line in the 1950's and 1960's tended to be concentrated on Crewe, Tamworth, or Rugby. And by the beginning of 1961, I had cleared all of the Princess Royal class, and all but two of the Princess Coronations. The two I needed were 46223 Princess Alice, a 66A Polmadie loco, and 46255 City of Hereford, from 12A Carlisle Upperby. | ||||
| A day trip to Carlisle in September 1961 saw off 46223, which brought in the Perth to Euston service, being replaced by 46240 City of Coventry. So now it was down to one, 46255. Carlisle Upperby 4-6-2's seemed to spend their time north of Carlisle, rather than south, so I was not optimistic. | ||||
|
But then in July 1964, an opportunity presented itself. The Locomotive
Club of Great Britain ran the "Three Summits" Railtour, from Birmingham
to Carlisle via Shap summit, then on to Leeds, via Ais Gill summit, then
from Leeds back to Crewe and Birmingham, via Standedge summit.
So there was a good possibility of seeing 46255 on the approach to Carlisle, as we passed Upperby Shed and Yards. But there was no sign of 46255 at Upperby. Why?, because she was standing in Kingmoor Yards, resplendent in green livery, ready to take over our train for the journey onwards over the Settle & Carlisle. And so, on Sunday 12th July 1964, after 14 years, I completed my Stanier Pacifics in style. I had left it late, for on 30th September 1964, all of the remaining Stanier 4-6-2s were withdrawn from service. |
||||
|
|
||||
|
46255 at Carlisle Kingmoor 12/7/1964 |
