“In this video we take a look at movements around Shrewsbury Station in the mid 1960s as steam was coming to an end. All credits for this video must go to Michael Clemens of B&R Videos who once again kindly gave me permission to use these clips that were filmed by his late father Jim Clemens, who did such a superb job recording these scenes which were taken from the DVD Steaming Through Shropshire Pt 1. Enjoy.”
Video can be found in youtube under “1960’s trains at Shrewsbury”.
Now given my Dad drove these engines, you can bet I spent the whole 12 minutes 42 seconds looking for him, but the focus here is the engines and the only thing you can make out about the drivers are the pale blue denim jackets.
Other surprises is that the black engines and the maroon carriages don’t always sparkle and it was a bit dirtier than I’d been led to believe. (And check out the recent visit of a steam engine to Salop.)
They also seemed very comfortable reversing – in this video seemingly more than going forward.
You sense that diesels were smoother as well as cleaner (look out for the cab videos), although I sometimes wondered if they’d kept steam for Wales, whether it might have sustained an interest for tourists. Sometimes.
