Millenium Winter
A couple of haulage highlights from the Winter of 1999/2000 were the dated London Paddington-Penzance trains and the lasts and firsts of what was referred to as the 'Millenium' (31st December/1st January).
1C42 14:28 Paddington-Penzance / 1A80 12:49 Penzance-Paddington
These Class 47 hauled trains were advertised to run on a few dates at Yuletide, Easter and the May bank holidays. A list of these dates, which trains were advertised to run and locomotives used where known can be found here. Further observations and confirmations would be welcomed by Peter Hall .
Millenium lasts and firsts
An attempt has been made to give details of the last trains to be hauled by diesel locomotives on 31st December 1999 and the first ones the following day. Traditional diesel locomotive hauled daytime trains were by then mainly confined to the Cross Country/Great Western and Birmingham-North Wales routes. Whilst quite a lot of details are known gaps in the knowledge remain. Further observations and confirmations would be welcomed by Peter Hall
Cross Country & Great Western
Details can be found here of the last trains operating on 31st December 1999 and the first trains operating on 1st January 2000 in the order they appear in the timetables. Few Class 47 diesel locomotive hauled trains were on the move after 20:00 on the 31st, the final arrivals coming within the following hour (1). The first departure was at 10:00 on the 1st. For completeness the Class 86 hauled trains are also included as some may actually have been diesel hauled.
North Wales
Details can be found here of the last Class 37 hauled trains on the 31st and the first such trains on the 1st. The final arrival was due at Crewe at 20:15 from where the first departure was at 12:20.
(1) - Mysteries still surround what precisely happened to the 14:18 Brighton - Manchester Piccadilly. 47817 is understood to have failed at Banbury. A rescue locomotive came from Birmingham, possibly 47818, this then may have worked through to Manchester with 47817 dead in tow either in service or ecs. Clarification would we welcomed.
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