Fray's last snoop
Taken on Saturday 27th November 1976, the last time I trespassed into the scrapyard adjoining Swindon Works. I gained entry by grabbing some railings at the top of a wall, hauling myself up and scrambling through a gap where two of the railings had somehow been forced apart ...probably by diehard "Western" fundamentalists. The area was uninhabited, but you had to wait for a moment when there were no cars visible in either direction. The Westerns were down to the last handful of survivors and there wouldn't have been much point in coming again; besides, I was getting on a bit for this sort of misbehaviour.
According to one website I have consulted D1049 was withdrawn 26th April 1976 and arrived at Swindon on 21st September. Wikipedia's article gives the scrapping date as 3rd February 1977. I suppose it was inevitable, once train reporting numbers were no longer displayed, that the screens on the Westerns would be turned to show the locomotive number. This seemed to happen within days of the old system's abandonment. Presumably this was unofficial. Of course it made identification from a distance much easier, but somehow I never cared for the practice.
Fray's last snoop
Taken on Saturday 27th November 1976, the last time I trespassed into the scrapyard adjoining Swindon Works. I gained entry by grabbing some railings at the top of a wall, hauling myself up and scrambling through a gap where two of the railings had somehow been forced apart ...probably by diehard "Western" fundamentalists. The area was uninhabited, but you had to wait for a moment when there were no cars visible in either direction. The Westerns were down to the last handful of survivors and there wouldn't have been much point in coming again; besides, I was getting on a bit for this sort of misbehaviour.
According to one website I have consulted D1049 was withdrawn 26th April 1976 and arrived at Swindon on 21st September. Wikipedia's article gives the scrapping date as 3rd February 1977. I suppose it was inevitable, once train reporting numbers were no longer displayed, that the screens on the Westerns would be turned to show the locomotive number. This seemed to happen within days of the old system's abandonment. Presumably this was unofficial. Of course it made identification from a distance much easier, but somehow I never cared for the practice.