1S12/1E20 "The Silver Jubilee"

In honour of HRH Queen Elizabeth II's 25 reign as British monarch the UK celebrated her silver jubilee in many ways during 1977. British Rail dedicated the 1S12 07:45 King's Cross - Edinburgh and 1E20 15:00 return services as "The Silver Jubilee" and included a buffet car decked with 1952-1977 memorabilia. Place settings, napkins, destination boards, etc all held "The Silver Jubilee" motif and the train loco also carried a special headboard. The inaugural service departed from King's Cross on the 8th June 1977 hauled by 55012 "CREPELLO" the return 1E20 15:00 working saw Haymarket based 55022 "ROYAL SCOTS GREY" in charge.

The 1S12 and 1E20 remained a 'titled' service until December 30^th, however, as 1978 dawned the service often produced an HST set prior to a more comprehensive service in May of that year - the 1S12 actually becoming a booked HST diagram from the 20th March. Deltics did still deputize for the odd 'Zing' and it's interesting to note that the very last appearance was on the 1^st May 1978, when 55012 fittingly turned out to handle the bank holiday service - a HST would not have been long enough to cope with demand!

The following tables show know Deltic workings, the gaps in information could well have been services handled by class 47's and others. Here's one theory from Paul Gildersleve why Deltics did not always produce:
"...Looking at the 'up' overnight trains to King's Cross; 1A40 from Newcastle was in the Cross around 02:00 if this had a Deltic then 1S12 could be in business. 1A41 rarely had a Deltic at this time but if it did then OK again. 1A45 was next - this had sleepers attached and therefore this train would spend more time in the station, also it wasn't a regular Deltic working at this time and I think unlikely that Gateshead would want to get rid of too many Deltics when they had a few trains (1A07, 1A11 etc) to send out in the morning. 1E35 was the train. If this was a Deltic then 1S12 should (exams permitting) produce a Deltic. 1E39, whilst not conveying sleepers used to arrive in either platform 1 or 2 I believe. By the time the loco was released it would be getting close to 07:00. It would then have to shunt into the tunnel, back into a platform, back into the tunnel, then into the neck and then onto the fueller. This would have to be done amongst the arrival of stock for the departures, the removal of other stock from overnights and all the loco movements that would also be necessary. Not to mention the first commuter arrivals. To sum up, you needed a Deltic to have arrived on or by 1E35 at the latest for 1S12 to produce. 1E20 was obviously different. This train would only work if Haymarket had something off exams or repairs or the loco off 1S12 as everything else would have been sent south by 15:00."

If anyone can supply information regarding those engines (other than class 55's) that worked this service, and their respective dates, I would be very grateful. Similarly if you can provide photographs of Deltics working "The Silver Jubilee" or information on whether headboards were carried (and again on which date) all would be much appreciated...

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

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