After Clearing Acton, The Line From Paddington To Reading Became Racing Ground. By Ealing Broadway Down Western Region Expresses Were Getting Into Their Stride And Would Be Touching 60 mph. 'Usk Castle' Is Seen Here Warming To Her Task And Preparing To Run Fast To Clear Reading In Even Time.

A 'Schools' On The Line Where They Became So Famous Before World War II. 'Hurstpierpoint' On A Summer Extra For Bournemouth In 1961. Before The Introduction Of The Bulleid Pacifics The 'Schools' Class Locomotives Became Legendary For Their Hauling Prowess On The Waterloo-Bournemouth Two Hour Expresses. By 1961 The Allocation Of These Powerful 4-4-0s To Express Haulage Was Becoming Quite Rare. During The Summer Season They Could Be Found On Secondary Express Duties Together With The Remaining 'King Arthurs,' When Shortages Of Top Link Motive Power Became Most Acute. The Only Regular 'Schools' Duty On The South Western Section Of The Southern By 1961 Was The 12.00 O'clock Waterloo - Lymington Pier Boat Train, A Duty Dictated By Severe Weight Restrictions On The Lymington Branch. Before The Transfer Of Spare 'Schools' Class Locomotives From The Eastern And Central Sections After Electrification, The 12.00 O'clock Boat Train Was Hauled By Old Drummond D15 Class 4-4-0s Two Of Which Were Retained At Nine Elms, Well Past Their Sell-By Date, Especially For Service On This Duty. 

A 'Castle' In Their Final Form, Fitted With Double Chimney And Four Row Superheater. These Modifications Were The Last Attempted On The 'Kings' And Several 'Castles' In An Effort To Make Them Steam Adequately On Less Than Perfect Welsh Coal. With The Rundown Of Steam Locomotive Motive Power Also Came The Rundown Of Top Quality Fuels With Which To Fire Them. Welsh Steam Coal Could No Longer Be Guaranteed As The Only Fuel Available To The Western Region, Quite A Challenge To Loco Crews Whose Charges Were Built To Accept No Substitutes.

Another Filthy Hall. This Looks Like A Substitution For A 'Castle' In This Instance. 'North Aston Hall' Has Got A Firm Grip On Them And Is Nicely In Charge As She Accelerates Through Ealing Broadway. I Wonder If The Eastern Region Powers That Be, Know That One Of Their Nice Thompson Brakes, [1st behind the engine],  Is Heading Further Away From Their Territory?

Feltham Based 'Urie S15' No. 30508 Gets A Chance Of A Run On The Main Line With A Summer Basingstoke-Waterloo Semi-Fast In 1960. These Old 'Chonkers' Were Very Often Pressed Into Service On These Trains And Revelled In The Chance To Kick Up Their Heels A Bit. I Don't Suppose It Was Much Fun For The Crews However As The 5' 7" Wheels Of These Heavy Goods Locomotives Were Not Designed To Revolve At Anything Like Mile-A-Minute Speeds.

Fast For Southampton Docks. Ocean Liner Expresses Were Highly Prized Traffic For The Southern Region. The Most Prestigious Of Which Could Be Formed Of Nothing But 1st Class Pullman Stock. Due To The Vagaries Of The British Weather, Ship Arrival And Departure Times Could Vary Considerably And These Non Stoppers Had To Be Slotted Into A Very Busy Timetable. There Were Some Variations To The Routing To Enable This To Be Carried Out Efficiently And Some Of These Trains Ran Via East Putney And Wandsworth Town At The London End. They Could At Times Run With Brightly Painted Headboards Such As "The Cunarder" And Were Normally Hauled By Spare And Idle 'Lord Nelson' Class 4-6-0s. In This Instance The Duty Has Fallen To A 'Battle Of Britain' Pacific, As The 'Lord Nelsons' Were In Decline By 1961. 34088 Was Once A Stewarts Lane Engine And Was Used On The Golden Arrow At Times. Note The Four Fixing Bolts On The Smoke Deflector Upon Which The Arrow Would Be Affixed.