31440 Chinley 19 June 1984

Chinley station in the 1980s had an air of unkempt dereliction, with weed grown platforms, and the foundations of demolished buildings visible everywhere. 31440 speeds through this once important location with the 1M19 07:37 Cleethorpes to Manchester Piccadilly on 19 June 1984. Although always happy to see a 31, I remember that at the time I was regretting not have visited this location on more occasions when the stylish Class 124 DMUs operated these services! Locos replacing DMUs was a bit novel at the time. Sadly it went completely downhill shortly afterwards.