The forlorn sight of split-box Peak 45053 seen at Crewe Works Open Day in 1984
<b>Sat. 2nd June 1984 1Z38 - 'The Midland Executive' railtour</b>
A rather excellent railtour that managed to include scheduled stops at Derby and Crewe for the two works open days :)

A sad view of one of the last surviving split-box Peaks 45053 (D76) making an unusual sight at Crewe Works, as the Peaks were always overhauled at Derby A pair of Class 85s - one of which is 85033 - are also in the scrap line. Note the preserved West Riding Automobile AEC Reliance coach JHL983 that was being used to ferry enthusiasts to and from Crewe station :) - see comments section below.

<b>Locomotive History</b>
<b>45053</b> was built at Crewe works as D76 and entered traffic in Nov 1960, allocated to Crewe North. Two months later it transferred to Derby and started a twelve year spell allocated to Midland Main Line depots. In Nov 1973 it was transferred to Holbeck and remained allocated to Eastern Region depots for the rest of its life. Its demise after twenty three years service proved to be protracted and full of false hope. It was initially withdrawn in Mar 1983, was reinstated, only to be withdrawn again in Nov 1983, and consequently moved to Swindon Works for breaking up. However, it was later sent to Crewe Works for inclusion in the Class 45 heavy general repair programme. On arrival at Crewe this repair was cancelled and 45053 remained at Crewe until finally broken up in Oct 1988. [Info courtesy of <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pics-by-john">www.flickr.com/photos/pics-by-john</a>  - see comments section below]

Taken with a Zenith TTL SLR camera and standard lens. <b>Scanned from the original negative with no digital restoration</b>

You can see a random selection of my railway photos here on Flickriver: <a href="http://www.flickriver.com/photos/themightyhood/random/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.flickriver.com/photos/themightyhood/random/</a>
d76 76 45053 locomotive creweworks crewe railtour themidlandexecutive bashers railbashers railenthusiasts class45 peak coach scrap scrapped 85033 class85 al5