Wednesday, 31 July 2013

Day Returns

In the early sixties my train-spotting friend Eric and I spent a marvellous couple of years visiting different railway centres. Places such as Eastleigh, Weymouth, Swindon, Salisbury, Reading, London, all gave us unforgettable experiences with steam.  

Salisbury was particularly impressive on summer Saturdays. So many trains would be passing through that sometimes we would miss locos on the far side of the station. With Western Region locos on the north side and Southern on the south, a missed number would create communal apoplexy among the spotters! SR-based locos from all directions could turn up - Brighton, Eastleigh, Bournemouth, Basingstoke, Nine Elms, Exmouth Junction, Yeovil. Then, of course, locos from Western Region depots such as Swansea, Cardiff, Shewsbury, Westbury, Bath Road, Gloucester would drift in on inter-regional services including Saturday reliefs. 

 (Below is a shot of Schools class 30911 'Dover' at Salisbury in August 1961).
My first GW Castle, 5052 'Earl of Radnor', was seen at Salisbury, along with my first County and Grange: 1024 'County of Pembroke' and 6834 'Dummer Grange'. I also remember being particularly proud of the pristine Bulleid Pacifics compared with the dingy Western locos. In those days, Southern Region steam was kept in beautiful condition.

 As an example of Salisbury's delights here's a list of the locos seen on 26th July 1961.

SALISBURY22-Jul-61
22XX2200
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
22XX3206
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
43XX6350
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
43XX6364
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
CASTLE5052EARL OF RADNOR
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
CASTLE5092TRESCO ABBEY
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
CASTLE5097SARUM CASTLE
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
COUNTY1024COUNTY OF PEMBROKE
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
GRANGE6809BURGHCLERE GRANGE
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
GRANGE6834DUMMER GRANGE
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
GRANGE6842NUNHOLD GRANGE
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
GRANGE6863DOLHYWEL GRANGE
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
HALL4909BLAKESLEY HALL
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
HALL4915CONDOVER HALL
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
HALL4942MAINDY HALL
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
HALL4948NORTHWICK HALL
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
HALL6968WOODCOCK HALL
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
HALL7911LADY MARGARET HALL
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
KING ARTHUR30796SIR DODINAS LE SAVAGE
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
MN35001CHANNEL PACKET
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
MN35003ROYAL MAIL
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
MN35006PENINSULAR & ORIENT
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
MN35010BLUE STAR
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
MN35016ELDERS FYFFES
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
MN35020BIBBY LINE
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
MN35025BROCKLEBANK LINE
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
MN35029ELLERMAN LINES
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
M730674
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
N31814
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
S1530507
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
S1530512
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
S1530823
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
S1530824
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
S1530841
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
SCHOOLS30917ARDINGLY
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 475068
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 4 MOG76010
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 4 MOG76015
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 4 MOG76017
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 4 MOG76019
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 4 MOG76026
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 4 MOG76054
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 4 MOG76055
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 4 MOG76061
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 573072
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 573081EXCALIBUR
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 573083PENDRAGON
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 9F92232
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
STD 9F92248
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
U31620
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
U31626
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
U31629
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
U31636
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
U31791
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
U31801
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
U31803
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34002SALISBURY
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34008PADSTOW
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34024TAMAR VALLEY
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34033CHARD
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34036WESTWARD HO
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34048CREDITON
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34051WINSTON CHURCHILL
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34052LORD DOWDING
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34055FIGHTER PILOT
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34059SIR ARCHIBALD SINCLAIR
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34069HAWKINGE
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34078222 SQUADRON
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34088213 SQUADRON
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34096TREVONE
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34097HOLSWORTHY
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34098TEMPLECOMBE
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34099LYNMOUTH
SALISBURY22-Jul-61
WC34108WINCANTON

Reading was also one of those spotting locations that could be quite easily reached from New Milton, and so we were able to spend long days perched at the end of platform 3. A relatively short mid-winter visit, on 18th February 1962, still produced 21 steam locos among a mass of diesel hydraulics.  

On one Reading trip in 1962 I experienced one of those unforgettable occasions that all enthusiasts treasure. I was waiting for the Basingstoke DMU to arrive in platform 1. It was dark, very cold, and everyone seemed to have gone home for the night except me. Eventually, away in the distance, towards London, a GW whistle started up. It got louder and louder until, in a deafening cacophony of noise, 'Dartmouth Castle' blasted through the platform with a down express. I had a fleeting impression of an open firebox door, a stream of brightly lit carriages and a disappearing tail lamp as the final coach bucketed into the night. A page of the 'Reading Evening Post' gently fluttered onto the track, and the station was left in silence.

I have been a Castle fan ever since!

London was, of course, a magnet for for enthusiasts in the south of England, and I have always felt sympathy for northern railway buffs who would have to travel many miles to see such a variety. The list of steam sheds on offer in Central London included Bricklayers Arms (SR), Stewarts Lane (SR), Nine Elms (SR), Old Oak Common (WR), Willesden (LMR), Neasden (LMR), Camden (LMR), Cricklewood (LMR), Kentish Town (LMR), Kings Cross (ER), Hornsey (ER) and Stratford (ER).

On our first visit to London, on 15th October 1961, we set out from New Milton on the 6.20am local to Eastleigh. The Riddles Class 4 Mogul set a fine pace of 74mph near Beaulieu Road, the fastest I have ever been behind one of this class. At Eastleigh we connected with the 7.22am to Waterloo, headed by an Eastleigh West Country. This got us to Waterloo at 8.59am.

Photographically speaking, my first spotting ‘bash’ to London was a disaster. London was under a blanket of thick fog. Luckily my ‘pot shots’ of 60006 'Sir Ralph Wedgewood' and 60015 'Quicksilver' (pic opposite) in the murk at Kings Cross have turned out to be publishable, but the rest certainly weren’t! 

With permits to visit Bricklayers Arms, Kentish Town, Willesden, Camden, Finsbury Park and Old Oak Common our haul of steam numbers for the day reached 368. But mere numbers disguise the excitement experienced by our intrepid band of five ‘Hampshire hogs’. We had never seen locos from other regions before, apart from the daily GW Hall on the York-Bournemouth and other GWR classes at Salisbury. So with Stanier ‘Black Fives’ and 8Fs stirring the adrenalin the reader can imagine what effect A4s, Duchesses, Princesses, Britannias and Kings had on us; not to mention the Southern gems on shed at Bricklayers Arms: D1 and L1 4-4-0s, E4 tanks, C class 0-6-0s and a delightful cluster of nine Schools.

Our only disappointment that day was that our train home was hauled by a Lord Nelson, which we assumed wasn't going to give us any fireworks. It didn't, but we arrived home on time, and that's all you could ask of such a veteran.

It goes without saying that we used to return home from such trips absolutely filthy, but, let's face it, there can't be a better way to get dirty than chasing steam!
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)