On Thursday 22 August 1974, Chris and I went to the Steamtown
Exhibition at Carnforth by train. We met up with this Stanier Class “Green Five,”
which, perhaps, does not have quite the same ring to it as “Black Five,” although
it was in steam. The ex-SNCF Class 231K Pacific No. 231K22, emphatically was
not.
These locomotives were similar to the Class 231E examples that
Ian and I had travelled behind, when we were double-headed on our Paris-bound
express from Calais as far as Amiens, in July 1966. We also saw them powering
round the curve through Etaples station at high speed, while we were waiting
for our cross-country connection to Montreuil-sur-Mer. Our train eventually sauntered
up the valley towards Arras, pulled by a Class 141R, during the late afternoon
of a beautiful summer’s day.
That was our first European mainland adventure. I remember
it clearly, yet it was over 50 years ago. Fifty years before that, Arras was
being torn apart by the First World War, which adds a certain historical
resonance. World War Two was before our time as well, though it was not that
long gone when we were young. Our fathers had all fought in that one. A lot of
good work was achieved since then to bind the nations of our continent together
peacefully, through increased trade and co-operation.
Soon put a stop to that, though, eh?
No comments:
Post a Comment