MY LIFE IN TRAINS
My Story - Part Eleven
Stratford, St Pancras, Kings Cross, Teignmouth and Exeter
In late May 1960 we went round Stratford shed again, a final hurrah before ‘O’ Levels took over for a while. I had no way of knowing, but I thought I’d done OK this time, so I expected I would return to school in September for two years of ‘A’ Levels. The one GCSE I didn’t retake was Latin – the school and I both thought it wasn’t worth the effort after getting just 4 percent the first time around, and it was clear that I was more a future scientist than a classicist .
My next photos were just one at St Pancras and one at Kings Cross, before we went to Teignmouth in Devon on a rare family holiday. I planned this trip meticulously, getting shed permits to take advantage of cheap rover tickets for the whole rail system of Devon. I started on the Teignmouth sea wall, followed by a trip to Newton Abbot with my Dad and a solo trip to Exeter.
All Photographs by Alan Lewis Chambers ©
Stratford Departmental GER J69/2 0-6-0T No 44, formerly 68498, poses outside the Works on 25 May 1960.
GCR A5 4-6-2T No 69821 waits in the scrap line at Stratford on 25 May 1960.
Young spotters lounge on the platform end at St Pancras on 4 August 1960 as LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No 45565 'Victoria' prepares to leave.
Kings Cross station loco yard - GNR condensing N2 0-6-2T No 69520 and an unidentified LNER J50 0-6-0T wait for work.
GWR Hall 4-6-0 No 5936 'Oakley Hall' rolls along the Teignmouth sea wall with a westbound Class C freight - probably parcels - on 28 August 1960.
Heading east on the sea wall at Teignmouth on 29 August 1960 is BR Warship No D810 'Cockade'.
GWR 2-8-0 No 3847 heads west along the sea wall at Teignmouth on 29 August 1960.
GWR 2-6-2T No 4165 is ready for Newton Abbot pilot duty at 15:35 on 29 August 1960.
GWR 5400 Class 0-6-0PT No 5412 shunts at Exeter St Davids station on 30 August 1960.
GWR 0-6-0PT No 1608 shunts at Exeter St David's station on 30 August 1960.
Departmental 44 at Stratford is the old 68498.