Inter regional loco hauled services from Brighton 1998.

The 1998 Timetable saw couple of interesting developments to the services via Olympia. The morning departure from Manchester and afternoon return from Brighton were now extended to start and terminate at Preston. This involved the stock running ECS from Longsight to Preston in the morning and back in the evening.

The Saturdays only service to Ramsgate now ran for the full duration of the summer timetable rather than having just a four week season. The northbound service was now routed via Reading and extended through to Edinburgh.

Class 47/8's remained the order of the day between Preston/Manchester and Brighton with a class 86/2 north of Preston. The exception being the Saturday train to Ramsgate which saw Napier power in form of class 55 D9000 between Birmingham and Ramsgate and v/v.

The dreaded Virgin red paint was starting to make big inroads into the smart Intercity livery.

PHOTOS:

	47841 "Institution of Mechanical Engineers" heads through Slindon with 1O40 the 1332 Preston to Brighton. Train revised due to engineering works Photo taken 15th May 1998. For a fullsize image click HERE Photographer Neil Harvey. Used with permission.
	Summer 1998 saw Virgin Trains hire in D9000 'Royal Scots Grey' for the Saturdays only 0658 Birmingham to Ramsgate service. The loco is seen here at its Destination station. Actual date unknown, photo by the author.
	Carriage label for the 0658 Birmingham New Street to Ramsgate service. Supplied by Steve Carter.
	On the same date D9000 is seen back at Kensington Olympia with the return service 1S87 the 1126 from Ramsgate to Edinburgh. Actual date unknown, photo by the author.
	Carriage label for the 1126 SO Ramsgate to Edinburgh service. Supplied by Steve Carter.
	D9000 aka 55022 'Royal Scots Grey' makes the Oxford call with 1S87 the 1126 Ramsgate to Edinburgh service. Photo taken August 1998. Photographer unknown / Authors collection.
	D9000 'Royal Scots Grey' powers through Sonning cutting with 1S87 the 1126 from Ramsgate to Edinburgh. Photograph taken 12th September 1998. Photographer Bob Foster. Used with permission.
	D9000 'Royal Scots Grey' waits to depart from Leamington Spa with 1S87 the 1126 from Ramsgate to Edinburgh. Photograph taken September 1998 looks like the same set as the photo above so probably 12th September 1998 Photographer unknown / Authors collection.
	D9000 'Royal Scots Grey' gets away from Kensington Olympia with 1S87 the 1126 Ramsgate to Edinburgh. It's the final day of the 1998 season for this service. Photograph taken 26th September 1998. Photographer Paul Cheeseman / Authors collection.
	Virgin Trains timetable No 9. West Midlands to the South Coast 27th September 1998 to 29th May 1999. Authors collection.
	47812 Approaches Stafford with 1M50 the 1415 Brighton to Preston service Photo taken 22nd October 1998. Photographer unknown / Authors collection.
	47847 approaches Kensington Olympia with the morning train from Preston. Photo taken 4th January 1999. Photographer Mark Shipman. Used with permission.
	86251'The Birmingham Post' is caught in after some rain at Carlisle with 1O40 the 1040 Edinburgh to Brighton, the 'Sussex Scot' . The loco will work the train as far as Preston. Photo taken 20th January 1999 Photographer John Irving Used with permission.
	Later the same day, in this great night time shot 86251 'The Birmingham Post' is captured at Carlisle with 1S76 the 0915 Brighton to Edinburgh the 'Sussex Scot' . Photo taken 20th January 1999 Photographer John Irving Used with permission.
	Carriage label for the 0915 Brighton to Edinburgh. Supplied by Steve Carter.
	Brighton station train shed seemingly forever covered in scaffolding and 47822 has charge of 1S76 the 'Sussex Scot', the 0915 to Edinburgh. Photo taken 11th March 1999 Photographer Richard Boyd. Used with permission.
	Over the Settle & Carlisle line 47818 leaves Hellifield with 1S76 the 0915 Brighton to Edinburgh. "The Sussex Scot" Photo taken 13th March 1999. For a fullsize image click HERE Photographer Neil Harvey. Used with permission.
	An undated slide purchased on eBay turned out to be a little gem. The slide was captioned D9000 on the Edinburgh to Brighton service at Stafford, this I suspected was actually the Ramsgate working. When the slide arrived a little bit of detective work on Goggle confirmed that this was indeed the southbound 'Sussex Scot'. Retimed to 0910 from Edinburgh and diverted via the S&C due to engineering work. 'Royal Scots Grey' is piloting 47848. Photo taken 20th March 1999. Photographer unknown / Authors collection.