Thanks Gray and eagle 125,
I have just been looking at page 42 of An Illustrated History of Mansfield's Railways by Paul Anderson and Jack Cupit and it shows a single 20 nose first exiting Bolsover Doe Lea Valley station going to Glapwell colliery in 1971.
Suppose I've answered my own question.

When I first saw one, they were working singularly, but later in pairs, and I got to photo quite a few, but sadly can't locate the pictures right now.

Actually it's brake force on a flask train and you tend to see one twenty and one 37 on flasks and the consist is usually only one or two wagons unless it is a military train when it will have a coach and armed guards in the train


But back to pure class 20 train and shunting duties here is one of my favourites NOT my photo worse luck (borrowed from FB so some folk may not see this)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...1117498&type=1

Just after the miners strike in1985, we had class 56 locos to go from Mills to Fiddellers Ferry Power Station with 36 HAA in tow.
On arrival at Warrington, we had to run round the HAAs at the Canal sidings, the drop down to the football sidings and then RR the train again. Each RR could take hours before we could get into the Power Station.
Whilst waiting to go to FF, streams of MGR's from up north came into Warrington powered with nose to nose Class 1 Bo-Bo's complete with a fitted Brake Van with a guard riding on the brake. This means that the trains would just propel into the football sidings , having only run round the one time, whilst we had to RRx2.
This made the job back to the mill over 16 hours.
Some folk loved that but not for me.

The only time I got on a Type 1EE was on the weed killer round the Leeds/Skipton Area in 1986 or so. This weed killer was run by BR staff before contractors got hold of it.

The Silver Hill-Teversal20's duties were discussed again this lunchtime down at the pub with a couple of ex Silver Hill Colliers.
We recalled a sad event that happened during the early1970's with the 20 shunting rakes from Silver Hill down the old Skegby branch.
Local children from Teversal would play near the track in the extensive Manor Woods.
On one occasion one of the young lads was crossing the track when the shunted wagons appeared and in his haste to get away ended up under one of the wagons, resulting in his leg being amputated.
He survived but it was a huge shock to the local community.
I recall the incident, but it was interesting for us to reflect how back in those days there was little heed payed to railway safety compared to today.

Yes, an unfortunate accident but back then people were expected to look out for themselves and didn't expect the Nannies to rush in. When I was a lad (born 1941), my mates and I played near railway lines, of which there were many in the area where I lived. We were expected to keep a good lookout for anything moving and to appreciate that a railway wagon was much heavier and harder than we were. No-one that I knew were ever involved in an accident.

Pennies on the rail?

As a young boy (about 6 years old) I use to go down to the Bulawayo loco shed most days. They were doing a lot of building at the time, with a new coaling stage and new ash pits for the new Garratt's that were arriving. No one ever chased me away or told me off. I was offered rides on loco's that were being moved about, and even allowed to shovel some coal into the firebox. I could only lift a 1/4 shovel of coal and drop it through the firebox door. I did often get into trouble from my mother for the state of my clothes, and from my farther for upsetting my mother. Years latter, just before he died, my father told me that it was a dream of his to work on the footplate and that he envied me for having done so.

Here is an interesting photo of a class 20, nose first, hauling a failed DMU.:)

http://www.railwayforum.net/gallery/...ith-failed.jpg