33119 attracts a few onlookers as the preparations continue for the departure of the 09.50 Swansea - Ports. '119' suffered a traction motor fire running light at Selhurst on 21/7/89. Withdrawn 26/10/89, it was eventually cut up in Glasgow on 8/4/92.

33027 "Earl Mountbatten of Burma" stands under the fine roof at Bristol T.M. with the 08.30 Brighton - Cdf. awaiting 47543 to remove the stock when it takes it on to the Welsh Capital. 027 can then be released into a holding spur.

33110 sits in a holding spur after bringing in the 10.10 Ports.-Swansea while 33059 runs out of the platform to get into a holding spur after the 12.06 Cdf. - Ports. had left behind 33027.

Ready to take the 11.10 Ports. - Cdf. forward from Bristol T.M., 33059, with the characteristic lack of marker lights above the buffers.

It was now well after 2pm and I had already decided earlier to catch the 12.10 Ports - Cdf, but what an absolutely inspired choice of return trains it turned out to be. 33013 deputising for failed 33028 and that was just for starters. It would become the longest journey by rail from Bristol to Newport I've ever had. The trip paned out very much like this:

In place of the failed 33028, 33013 stands in platform 11 at Bristol T.M., preparing to depart with the next leg of the trip to Cardiff with the 12.10 from Portsmouth H., yours truly on board.

33013 eased out of platform 11 approaching B57 at amber with a brake application before the next signal, B131, at red. B131 changed to amber before stopping bringing a modest application of power to raise speed and coast to the next signal at Dr. Day's Jcn.. 013 was allowed to pass through unchecked diverging left towards Lawrence Hill at an easy pace. On emerging from the cutting into Lawrence Hill station B233 was sighted and changed to green. 013 was given some serious throttle until Stapleton Road station where it was eased back. Power was not reapplied to any degree until beyond Narroways Jcn. (Severn Beach branch) when it sounded like the handle had been pulled to the last notch for the steady thrash to Filton. At this point, the trolley girl reached the front coach and stayed put for a while. 47543 passed in the other direction on the 14.00 Cardiff - Ports. before power was cut at m/p 3 3/4 and a short brake application through Filton station. A couple of notches were put back on as we took Filton North Junction and accelerated through Patchway to a blast on the horn. A few more notches were engaged on the descent to Patchway Tunnel so by then we were flying. Just a few miles on at Pilning, we must have caught up with the preceeding train as a brake application was necessary to comply with amber aspects. Dropping down the cutting on the approaches to the Severn Tunnel, speed was reduced to a veritable amble - in the distance signal N164 was visibily red. Still with several hundred yards to go, N164 turned green yet 33013 still pulled up and well short, the first indication all was not well up front. After idling for a minute, 013 attempted to draw forward but got just a few yards when the brakes were applied yet again. This was repeated a number of times with not much more than 20 yards gained in total. With the train virtually static for 5 minutes, coffee sales sored (40p a cup).

On the descent from Pilning to the Severn Tunnel, 33013 has come to a halt at signal N164, just in front of the short Ableton Lane Tunnel.

The lack of headway with clear signals did not go unoticed by the guard who dismounted from the front coach to investigate our non-progress. Having applied a consultative procedure with the sharp end, the guard returned offering words of comfort like, "Hope he doesn't conk-out in the tunnel!!" Shortly, we were moving again but at a mere trundle, the gradient enough to overcome the resistance of the train. 100 yards infront of the Severn Tunnel we came to a halt and the driver resorted to a reset of the national grid interface, i.e. he shut down 013. This brought about a rush of sales of Penguin chocolate bars at the trolley as passengers prepared for the worst.

For a full 10 minutes we enjoyed the warm, sunny delights of a quiet railway cutting. It was as if we were at one with nature - the birds sang, insects buzzed and fizzed and the long grass swayed on the embankment in the sweet, spring breeze. Just before we get too carried away on the position in which we find ourselves, the Sulzer unit fired back into life, belching forth noxious, suffocating fumes (no pain, no gain). 33013 made an attempt to lift the train into the Tunnel but again, pulled up, right at the Tunnel mouth. The cold air cascading from the black cavern provided a sinister accompaniment to the cool shadow cast on us by the Tunnel's 'fortifications'. The pause in our journey at this point was short but subtly significant. Was the driver having second thoughts about entering with his limping charge or was 013 trying to tell him something? Whatever brought us to a stand at this point, made not a jot of difference - off came the brakes and the train slid gently into the gathering gloom. What vestiges of light there were to be used by the eye rapidly disappeared, artificial methods now the only form of illumination. 013 continued to idle only, no power being applied on the descent. Speed was around 15mph. With the Eastern portal several hundred yards to our rear appearing pin-hole like, the train came to yet another halt. Diesel fumes were far more noticable now in the claustrofobic confines, as was the noise level.

Several times over the last 20 minutes the driver of the 12.10 Ports. - Cardiff must have deliberated and cogitated on his next move but now at this point it was too late to consider many alternatives. He had passed the last loop into which he could have sought refuge. It was s**t or bust time or somewhere in between. Place a rattley tin of assorted nuts and bolts in a small space and aggitate a couple of hundred times a minute is not too disimular to an 8 cylinder diesel doing its damnedest to drag a few hundred tonnes when its not feeling its best and so it proved. Off came the brakes, pull on the power handle and see what happens. 013 throttled up and down for the next 4 miles. Just as it tried to step up a gear at around 10 - 15mph the power would cut, wait for a moment while the electrical trips gathered their electrical thoughts allowing the power unit to throttle up again and again and again. You would have thought the driver was trying to row 013 across the Severn (that's a reference to the apparent arm movements needed to induce such a performance). 4 miles of Crompton/Sulzer heaven unless you wanted to get somewhere - I have little doubt I was in a minority of one.

Even above the racket that was trying to get us to the pastoral lands of Monmouthshire and Glamorgan, I could hear discent from the ranks, some in the form of colourful English not repeatable on this website for fear of bringing it into disrepute. The said racket got noticeabley laboured when we bottomed out and began the 1 in 90 ascent to the Welsh side. No more would gravity assist 013's passage (have you had your passage assisted?). 013 had to work for itself but work it did. Many more minutes passed when in the distance, natural light could be gazed, albeit a mere pin-point. 013 suddenly had a target to aim for which grew larger in front of ones own eyes. An Up IC125 passed us at reduced speed, no doubt warned of the semi-cripple coming the other way. Minutes later, the 'toot' of a 37 fell upon the ears then 37254 drifted past on the Up line, light engine. Looking back down the train I could see it stop near the end coach, whilst looking ahead, the welcome sight of full daylight was but moments away. The precise moment 013 staggered out of the 'hole' was captured on film. Such was the effort put in by the damn thing I felt it necessary to record the achievment.

33013 staggers out of the Severn Tunnel into Welsh daylight after 40 or so minutes of MK1 type artificial light. At least the passengers were relieved.

37254 passed us running wrong line (going Down on the UP line), clearly 37254 was going to perform some heroics. It stopped ahead of us alongside signal N168 waiting for us to catch up and stop adjacent. With an apparent rescue operation afoot, 37254 shot off towards Severn Tunnel Jcn.(wrong line working) only to re- appear minutes later on our Down line, making its gradual descent to the front of 013. The guard at this point re-emerged at the leading door of the coach after consultations with the driver. As he clambered in he announced to those within earshot there was "an earthing fault". He turned to me and commented that I hadn't recorded one like that before! This is correct and is still true to this day.

37254 duly attached and after a false start from N168 due to a brake pipe leak made a terrific run to Newport, all guns blazing. The 12.10 Ports - Cardiff arrived at the Welsh town a mere 100 minutes late and was terminated there not at Cardiff. I have no idea how much administrative and passenger torment the failure of 013 caused the network that day but it occupied one of the areas bottlenecks for a good hour more than it should have with all the problems that causes to the London services aswell.

37254 with the disgraced 33013, terminated at Plafform 1, Newport. This appears to have been 013's last recorded passenger working (Good news!,some might say) before withdrawal in 3/89. After 2 years at Eastleigh Works, it was scrapped in Glasgow by MC Metals on 3rd June 1991.

The relatively few Crompton trips that I did complete during the 1980's are mostly ordinary affairs having no real highlights save for the fact that a Crompton was there. However, backed up with as much material as I will ever need to remind me of that faitful day in May 1988, 013 left an impression. Though 12 years have passed since, I can still smell the fumes, taste the cold Tunnel air and still only guess as to what was going through the driver's mind when he took the plunge.