DMU Tail Loads

Western Region

Milk tanks seemed to be regulary hauled between Plymouth and Saltash - pictured on page 119 of the August 1962 Modern Railways magazine are two GRC&W single cars hauling two tanks over the Royal Albert Bridge, and a two-car BRC&W suburban set is pictured in March 1969 with three tanks on page 37 of the August 1994 issue of Traction magazine.

Chris Thompson remembers catching the train from Oakhampton to Exeter Saint Davids, 1969-71. The formation was a 3-car unit plus a bubble car (Class 121 or 122) pulling ex-SR utility van or CCT.

Eric Stuart: "Tail-loads of vans of various sorts were very common. Kevin Robertson's book includes a number of pics of this kind of traffic. I find the towing of passenger vehicles of interest and rarely photographed. A picture in Railway Bylines (March 2003) shows a GRC&W single car hauling one coach away from Kingsbridge. The trailed vehicle appears to be one half of a B-Set that was halved for use on the line, so probably W6850W. The caption says the unit was "struggling", but, although the gradient is quite steep, it should have been able to cope. As the branch was now "Second Class only", some people could get a free up-grade to First! The Inter-city and Cross-Country sets on the Birmingham-South Wales service used to tow a passenger coach at peak times. The later GWR cars hauled both passenger and freight vehicles; occasionally both. The Lambourn branch is probably the most frequent producer of such workings. Both GW cars and Cl 119s ran with loco-hauled stock wired-through and incorporated within in the train. There are a few pics of these workings around (the Hawksworth Coaches)."

The first image is at Birmingham Snow Hill in June 1958, with W5865W at the rear of a 6-car Swindon Cross-Country set. Michael Mensing.

Eric Stuart found the following note in Railway Observer (December 1962 issue): "On 26th October E8727E was hauled from Exeter to Tiverton Junction behind a cross-country diesel set ..." (This was one of the Thompson BSs that had come to releive the antidiluian Barry Rly BSs on the Hemyock branch for the last year it operated.)

The next image shows a Swindon Cross-Country unit ascending Old Hill bank on the 9.40am Cardiff - Birmingham Snow Hill via Hereford service on 30th August 1962. It is hauling a pre BR bogie BG which might possibly be an LMS 50' van. Michael Mensing.

The third image shows W9083W, a Hawksworth 12 wheel 1st class sleeper, leaving Swansea on the back of a Swindon Cross-Country DMU working the 2.50 to Pembroke Dock on 28th February 1964. Robert Thomas.

Tom Clift recalls: "The Central Wales Line had regular tail traffic on the first southbound & last northbound services for several years post dieselisation in 1964. This was for mail traffic & a throw back to pre 1964 when the two services concerned started from/terminated at York. The hauled vehicle was any variety of 8 wheel BG/GUV/CCT. Because of the messy detachment/attachment arrangements at Llanelli, towards the end a Class 122 Drive End Trailer was used instead (W56293 springs to mind, & also 121 x W56285?) to make life easier & let the vehicle run to/from Swansea with the 'hauling unit.' The decline of mail carried put an end to this arrangement.

Also, when there were peak traffic requirements (i.e. Summer Saturdays, The Royal Welsh Agricultural Show or Shrewsbury Flower Show) it was not uncommon for an SK to be attached at Llanelli on the busiest morning departure going north to provide more capacity. The formation would be turned on the triangle at Salop for the return working. This was a pretty hopeless for the Guard trying to issue tickets with no corridor connection, & also the adverse effect on power:weight ratio affected time keeping on this hilly route. At this time the line was worked by a select fleet of headlight fitted Class 120 Swindon Cross Country units (June 1964 to May 1982) in Power Twin formation."

Eric Stuart continues: "I remember an up evening train from Barnstaple to Exeter (2x3 dmu) hauling a GUV. I think the tail-load worked down on the first train, but I could only hear it, not see it, as it was quite early!" (Rory Wilson adds to this: "the first Down DMU, 04.05 Exeter St David's in the early 1980s if I remember correctly, used to have a GUV containing newspapers off the Paddington newspaper train as a tail load. The GUV started at Exeter: it wasn't detached off the portion of the Paddington that served Exeter; instead the North Devon papers were transferred over").