I got this picture for the view of the train being loaded, hauled ex-LMS 2P 4-4-0 No 40569, which is carrying a 5A Crewe North shed plate. The date appears to be sometime in the 1950s, the loco moving to Watford in 11/59. Withdrawal came a few years later in 6/61. A single lamp is being carried over the LH buffer, which would indicate a pick-up goods, but it may be a "light engine" light that hasn't been changed yet. My guess is that it's a parcels working. The location, however, has defeated me - can anybody recognise it?
Gordon Luck has come to the rescue - it's an Up train at Crewe station, platform 6. Armed with that info the presence of ex-GWR vans, a pair of Siphon Gs (early and late versions), behind the loco suggests a Parcels working to Shrewsbury. There used to be a working from Crewe to Bristol although the only source I have is for 1935-36 when it ran overnight and comprised almost entirely GWR vehicles: passenger brake vans and Siphons. Rostered for up to eight vehicles, if this was a comparable service in early BR days it would have been no problem for a lightweight ex-LMS 2P. Presumably, Shrewsbury took over with a GWR loco.
Click on the image for an enlargement
