All the loco names, classes and history he has cited are entirely accurate and are as follows:
BR No. NS No. Build Date BR Withdrawal Date Name
27000 1502 12/53 10/68 Electra
27001 1505 3/54 10/68 Ariadne
27002 1506 5/54 10/68 Aurora
27003 1501 8/54 10/68 Diana
27004 1503 9/54 10/68 Juno
27005 12/54 10/68 Minerva
27006 1504 12/54 10/68 Pandora
An excellent place for background to the line (which was electrified post-war then disgracefully closed in 1981) is http://www.thewoodheadsite.org.uk/.
As Roy says, it was the biggest post-war engineering project in Europe, and gave us Britain's first all-electric main line.
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11 comments:
So Roy is by no means the only "train nut" in Britain?! :-)
I have to say I fastforwarded over these parts. I have no interest at all.
"I have to say I fastforwarded over these parts. I have no interest at all."
Then you missed a particularly clever piece of "Hayley and Roy" writing by Jayne Hollinson, wonderfully delivered by David Neilson as a bereaved Roy coming to terms with his grief. And perhaps even more poignant than I at first realised.
We began by seeing him in a tight shot, eating a sandwich, before the model railway "reveal".
Roy reflected: "Ariadne, Aurora, Diana, Electra, Juno, Pandora. There's definitely seven."
After Fiz, Tyrone and Chesney had later managed to gain entry to Roy's flat and discovered the model railway, that list of names fell into place for viewers as he explained they were historic electric locomotives:
"Class 76 for freight, Class 77 for passenger. They started off with seven of those. Each named after a character in Greek or Roman mythology."
Roy's final scene in Monday's second episode saw him, again, alone in the flat but now taking Hayley's ashes out of the cupboard by the door where he had hidden them away, still struggling - whatever he said to others - to cope with his loss.
Putting them in pride of place on a shelf, he made one small step forward in his grief, as he finally remembered the name of the seventh locomotive:
"Minverva. That was the one. Goddess of Wisdom."
But there was one final twist - perhaps deliberate by the writer, perhaps not - when someone on Twitter pointed out that the locos Roy was talking about were all later sold on together for a new life in Holland. (Obviously also part of Hayley and Roy's story) Except Minerva. She "died young" - broken up and used for spares.
Script writing, acting and directing of such brilliance - it's no wonder that Coronation Street just can't stop winning awards at the moment.
Well said! Roy is one of the characters I am always interested in watching, seeing him deal with the loss of Hayley is a great storyline, a little sad too.
Thank you so much, lifeofwiley...
Roy had some lovely scenes on Monday... and fantastic to see that Corrie's continuing care and investment in the Croppers continues.
I found it all very moving.
Newfy... you missed pure quality... or do you prefer the endless worthless love triangles?!
Oh wow, Ian, that's a wonderful little background point!!!! I realized the 'goddess of wisdom' had to do with Hayley but didn't know the history of the train's fate.
Thank you Ian. It's so great that the writers get the background to that. It meant nothing to me as I'm not a train lover, but it fitted in with Roy which is great.
Corrie excels!
Wow! Thanks to Phil Greaves for such wonderful info relating to Roy's train interest. And lifeofwylie.com - that's a spot-on write-up of this poignant episode. Hayley won't just fade away in our memories.
Just the fact that Roy, struggling with his grief, acknowledged lost love Hayley as the Goddess of Wisdom would have been enough for me. But taken all together it was a genius piece of writing.
Coronation Street fans with a soft spot for Roy Cropper may be interested in a unique opportunity to see his model railway layout in operation.
Since the story line around Roy's obsession with his model railway following Hayley's death finished last year, a small section (about 6ft by 2ft) of the layout has been included in the Granada Studio Tours display. Next month, for the first time ever, the entire layout, about 13 ft square, will be on public display and will be working.
Roy's layout will be at "THE Christmas Model Railway Show - Manchester 2015!" on Saturday December 5th and Sunday December 6th, 2015 at the Barnes Wallis building, Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JR.
When Granada planned the story line, they contacted the Manchester Model Railway Society for help and advice. Now MMRS members are refurbishing the television prop ready for it to appear at their annual exhibition. Since Granada Studio Tours will shortly be closing down, this is probably the only occasion EVER that the layout will appear in public in its complete form.
The exhibition venue is only 3 minutes walk from Manchester Piccadilly railway station and further details of opening times and admission price etc, can be found on the MMRS website - www.mmrs.co.uk/exhibition
I am no soap fan but this model railway would be worth a look
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