Painting the 20s

摘要

Living a few miles north of Toton on the Erewash Valley Line since the 60s, the Class 20s were, along with the Peaks, the most common loco type seen by our group of youthful spotters. Familiarity breeds contempt, as they say, and the non-stop procession of loose- and partially-fitted coal trains hauled by pairs of 20s actually became monotonous to us, especially once we'd 'copped' all the Toton and Tinsley allocation. And yet, what a fascinating spectacle it was to watch the essentially unchanged from the steam-era rakes of 16, 21 and 24-ton rusty and battered mineral wagons with smoking guard's vans (of both BR and LMS patterns) clattering past every few minutes with their pairs of whistling 20s at the head. If only we'd realised it at the time...