Recollections
Memories of Clans at Preston
By John Elliot
During the early 1950s I, and many of my fellow schoolboys spent most of our holidays locospotting. Although the pimary object of the hobby was to underline the numbers in our Ian Allan ABC books to show how good we were, to some of us it developed into a lifelong interest in all aspects of the railway industry.
Living in Blackpool, there was always the variety of many weekend holiday trains from all over the country, but the real excitement was to go to watch the main line expresses through Preston. We were thrilled to see the 'Royal Scot' the 'Midday Scot' and later the 'Caledonian'. These were hauled by Duchesses, Princess Royals and occasionally Royal Scots - all glamourous locomotives but not brand new to our young minds. In fact some of our older companions had seen all the members of those classes! How we were looking forward to the new 'Standards' that we had heard so much about. At least it would put us all on an level playing field. But the Britannias were sent to the Eastern, Western and Southern regions and the new standard 5s and 4s were rather elusive. Suddenly the Clans came and we were bowled over. They looked so brilliantly new and powerful in construction, in style and even in sound with their chime whistles.
The first real event of our day when we reached Preston station was the arrival of the Manchester - Glasgow express. It was always a Polmadie Clan with 7 or 8 coaches and it came in on platform 4. The engine was then uncoupled from its train and moved forward to beyond the end of the platform while the station pilot was attached to the rear of the train to pull it back to the south end of the station. Very soon afterwards the Liverpool - Glasgow entered platform 5 and negotiated the central crossovers between the platforms and came to stand at the north end of platform 4. The engine was usually a Bank Hall Jubilee or occasionally a Black 5. I remember a couple of times it was 44767 - the one with Stephenson motion. The station pilot would gently push the Manchester portion forward to be attached to the rear of the Liverpool portion and the Clan would slowly move back to couple up to the Liverpool engine. Hectic platform activity then ceased, flags were waved, whistles were blown and the splendid sight moved majestically under Fishergate bridge and away towards Lancaster and all points north.
Of the two locomotives, the Clan would always be leading - why was that? We thought in our schoolboy minds that it would be because they possessed smoke deflectors or windshields as we called them. The magnificent train of 15 or 16 coaches had four different nameboards; Liverpool - Edinburgh, Liverpool - Glasgow, Manchester - Glasgow and Manchester - Edinburgh. I often wonder what happened when it reached Carstairs.
Memories of Clans at Liverpool
By John Massey
I have happy memories of 'Clans' from my boyhood in Liverpool and will always associate them with the Glasgow to Liverpool service. It was always a joy to see the unusually quiet confines of Liverpool Exchange Station enlivened by the presence of a 'Clan' at the buffers. Sometimes my limited pocket money allowed a visit to Preston on a summer Saturday and the highlight was often the arrival of a 'Clan' paired with a 'Class 5' on the afternoon Glasgow to Liverpool/Manchester train. I am sorry to say that the train was invariably late arriving at Preston, often by a considerable margin. And yet it was one of these late running workings that gave me one of my most exciting trips on BR, a high speed dash from Preston to Liverpool behind 'Clan Buchanan' with just a handful of coaches (4?) in the early 1960's. The train seemed to go like the wind with the chime-whistle sounding almost continuously as we raced across the many level-crossings on the route. Judging by our rapid rate of progress, it seems unlikely that the 'Clan' was responsible for the late running, at least not on that occasion. Alas my notes of the journey have not survived, though the excitement of it remains bright in my memory.
The Curse of the Black Fives
By Andrew Pepper
It was 72007 Clan MacIntosh that introduced steam railways into my life in early childhood. She was my favourite engine during the five years I lived at Stranraer - between 1953 and 1958. Even in early childhood, I must have had something of an aesthetic eye, for I loved the high running plate of the Standard classes - to me it made them look more powerful. And if they also had smoke deflectors .....well, I could want no more in the looks of an engine! The only Standard classes that came to Stranraer were the Clans, I always looked out for the high running plate of Standard Fives as well, but never saw any there. But there was a second, more practical, reason for liking the Clans. In our family we knew that, if we had a Clan on the front of our train, then we would reach our destination on time! Anything else, and we would usually be late - and often 30 or 40 minutes late. 'Anything else' usually meant a Black Five; most of them were in terrible condition and often we had good reason to curse them - I can only assume that the post-war shortage of fitters had taken its toll.
The Clans worked the Glasgow semi-fasts, the Northern Ireland boat trains and, as far as Carlisle, the 'Northern Irishman' boat train to Euston - known to all as 'The Paddy'. Occasionally, they would also appear on the Carlisle semi-fasts. The boat trains naturally departed from Stranraer Harbour station, whilst the semi-fasts went from the Town station (later to be closed). My father was the Marine Superintendent in charge of British Railways ferry service between Stranraer and Larne, with his office in Stranraer Harbour station, and I would often join him when the 'Princess Margaret' was berthing (joined in the summer months by the Dover-based train ferry, the 'Hampton Ferry', which provided a summer-only car-carrying service). The best place to stand was on the road opposite the signal box and the platform ends. High above me would tower no less than three double-headed expresses during the summer months! How awesome a sight that was to a boy! - such power, such capacity for speed, and taking hundreds of people to such far-off places! To me, it was freedom and escape; an English boy cooped up in a flat and attending Stranraer Academy during the 1950s didn't exactly live a fun life! Yes, three double-headed expresses all together! There was the Glasgow boat train, made up of 11 coaches, and usually headed by a Clan, with a 2P 4-4-0 as pilot to cope with the 1 in 54 ruling gradient as far as Ayr. There was the Newcastle boat train, 9 coaches and usually getting the raw deal in terms of motive power - normally the roughest Black Five available, as the 'Newcastle' was about the last in the queue for engines, after the other boat trains and the day's semi-fasts. A 2P 4-4-0 was also provided for this service, as the Dumfries line had a 1 in 73 ruling gradient. Then, the final departure, 'The Paddy' to Euston. This train would be 12 coaches most of the year, two-thirds of them sleeping-cars. At the front would usually be another Clan, piloted by a Black Five. Occasional variants would be a Jubilee paired with a Black Five, or two Black Fives. Crabs would sometimes appear, usually on the 'Newcastle', and there must have been Midland Compounds, as the last Compound in Scotland was withdrawn from Stranraer shed in September 1956 - I have no memory of them, and suspect they were used on the local stopping trains, along with the 2Ps.
So, on a summer evening, I would stare in wonder at two Clans, two Black Fives and two 2Ps, all simmering or blowing off in readiness for their long, hard journeys. The Clans would be any out of 72005-9, but Clan MacIntosh was the most common, on both the boat trains or the semi-fasts, followed by 72008 Clan Macleod and 72006 Clan Mackenzie. 72005 and 72009 would appear periodically for several weeks, with long gaps in between. I don't remember any out of 72000-4 appearing. I have one particularly fond memory of one of my many trips to Ayr or Glasgow behind 72007. On a lovely summer day, we were held at signals at Glenwhilly for 20-30 minutes - a not uncommon event, as the next block section on the single line included the steep climb, from both directions, to the infamous moorland summit of Chirmorie. A Black Five or 2P had failed ahead of us on the single line. The 'starter' signal at Glenwhilly was about 200-300 yards past the platform end, more of an advanced starter, but 72007's driver sensibly stayed on the level gradient in the station, rather than having to pull away on the steep gradient out on the moors. Glenwhilly's flower-beds were beautiful, in common with most of the other stations on the line, and one of the Stranraer Harbour booking office staff got out of the next compartment (much of the coaching stock was ex-LMS suburban) and picked some flowers. My father exchanged some banter with him, as Clan MacIntosh simmered gently before subsequently making a confident start away up the hill. In those days, I must have travelled behind Clans two or three times a month. They were very sure-footed on the twisting and turning climbs across the wild moors, often in appalling weather. They were doing the job they were built for, handling medium and heavy trains on some of the most demanding routes in Scotland, and the engine-men felt fortunate to have such reliable and capable engines. For me, they were just as natural as the locomotives I now see twice a week as a volunteer on the Bluebell Railway. Not only did I travel behind such attractive designs as the Clans, but they took me to other railway wonders. On arrival at the great St. Enoch station in Glasgow, with its magnificent roof (like a slightly smaller version of St. Pancras) there would be the 'Thames-Clyde Express', awaiting departure behind one of the 'Firth' Britannias. And on 'The Paddy' on arrival at Carlisle, I would hope for the Duke of Gloucester to take over, my greatest dream of all, or else a Duchess. I never did experience the Duke on 'The Paddy' (though I did finally see her one day as we passed Camden shed), but my log book of steam journeys does include the Duchess of Atholl and City of Bradford as two of the locomotives supplied for the English part of the journey. Most of the time, however, we had diesel power south of Carlisle ...yes, even in the 1950's! Working 'The Paddy' was the regular turn for the two LMS designed diesels, nos. 10000 and 10001, working in tandem. Each was regarded as equal to a Black Five, hence the need for double-heading.
Finally, in October 1958, my father was transferred to the Shipping and Continental Department's head office in Victoria, and so we moved from Stranraer to Sussex. But even on that final journey on 'The Paddy', we weren't yet free of the curse of the Black Fives! As usual, the 'Newcastle' departed Stranraer Harbour first, hauled by a 2P piloting a Black Five that even I, as a child, could hear was in a very bad way - the big ends were knocking something awful! I suppose it was a case of either supplying that machine or cancelling the train and, as long as there was an engine that could still steam and theoretically had the necessary power, as there always was, then cancellation remained unthinkable. Sure enough, when we started our journey Clan MacLeod was in charge with a Black Five as pilot; we didn't get much further along the single line than Palnure, only a third of the way to Dumfries, before we were brought to a stand. The seven-mile 1 in 80 climb to Gatehouse of Fleet had collected another scalp, in the form of that ailing Black Five on the 'Newcastle', and my last memory of the journey was falling asleep thinking that I did at least know something about steam engines!
Eight Clan-less years passed down south until January 8th 1966, when a gricing trip to Carlisle Kingmoor shed brought me into contact, for the final time with my three old friends, nos. 72006/7/8. This was at the stage when several fine classes were having their last survivors withdrawn, and my notes record these three as condemned, along with the last Scots nos. 46115 (now preserved) and 46140, and the last rebuilt Patriots, nos. 45530/1. I photographed my favourite Clan MacIntosh on that dour January day, at least she still looked fairly respectable, with all her motion and her number plate still fitted. I felt honoured to have had the opportunity to see those three Clans again, eight years on, despite the sad circumstances. It was like saying 'Thank You' and 'Good Bye'. Clan MacIntosh will always remain my favourite locomotive, so fine a performer was she 50 years ago. Having started my passion for steam with 72007, and having travelled so often behind nos 72005-9, how wonderful it is now to think of future journeys behind 72010! Maybe some of these will be on the Bluebell Railway one day, perhaps renamed and renumbered for the occasion as one of the Scottish Clans, nos. 72015-24, that were also never built.
But don't think the curse of the Black Five died with our move south in 1958! I never re-visited Stranraer until Past-Time Rail's famous three-day tour in 1999, which featured two Black Fives as the motive power from Crewe to Stranraer via Glasgow and return. Until 1999, I had never travelled on a steam-hauled train where the locomotive actually hauling the train had failed - diesel failures, yes - electric failures, yes (including one where a Standard 4 4-6-0 ended up hauling a failed electric locomotive and the 16-coach 'Merseyside Express' between Tamworth and Nuneaton!). Unfortunately, the number of Black Fives heading Past Time Rail's tour varied between one and two, until finally we had to dump one in a siding at Lockerbie.
A Black Five failing in Southern Scotland? It all seemed very familiar! Black Fives? I will stick to a Clan in future!
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