the Journey

Travelling from Chesterfield to Stockport usually required a reversal at Sheffield. There was then a pleasant "trundle" down the Hope Valley through Grindleford and Edale to Chinley and then over the Hazel grove chord into Stockport.

Depending on shifts I would either travel from Chesterfield or take the car and travel from Sheffield, occasionally I would pick the train up at Dore.

One morning the overnight Bristol-Leeds mail dropped me off on Dore Curve and on a few occasions I came back from Manchester Piccadilly in the back cab of the evening St.Pancras parcels.

Journey time varied but was around 50 minutes from Sheffield and 70 minutes from Chesterfield.

haulage synopsis

Class 31

There were 69 ETH class 31/4s in existence and in just three months 47 different ones were had:
406  409  410  411  412
414  415  416  417  418
420  421  423  424  426
429  430  431  432  433
434  435  437  438  439
441  442  443  444  445
448  449  450  452  453
454  455  456  457  458
459  460  461  462  463
464  469

Class 47

16 class 47s were also had with 14 different locos, all ETH:
406  436  440  458  459
476  525  539  544  555
569  575  645  647

HOPE VALLEY HOBO - INTRODUCTION

What is it?
Haulages and observations during the first three months of 1988 travelling from Chesterfield to Stockport and back along the Hope Valley.


Why 1988?
I moved from London Euston to Stockport for British Rail as a parcels clerk on the 4th January 1988. I lived in Chesterfield and commuted from there each day to Stockport - my last day was 26th March 1988 when I transferred to Chesterfield - this is the story.

Does it have a purpose?
No, not really, it is just three months in my life of travelling on the railway and an insight into railway workings that have now long disappeared, the locomotives, the rolling stock, the people, even the parcels business itself is no more.

Why is it called Hope Valley Hobo?
I like the sound of it! And travelling through the Hope Valley at 6 o'clock on a crisp cold morning in the darkness of winter behind a class 31 with the windows wide open for maximum sound effects you can imagine being a hobo!

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