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Last-day line farewells by normal service train

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Shimbleshanks

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As a four-year-old child I was taken by my mum on what I believe was the penultimate working on the Amlwch-Gaerwen branch, in 1964. I'm pretty certain it was a DMU and we probably went through to Bangor. We probably wouldn't have been able to do the very last train as there would have been no way of getting back from Bangor by train; we didn't have a car in those days.
 
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theblackwatch

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I did the last train round the Oldham loop before it closed for conversion to a tramway, being one of the last 3 or 4 people ever to alight from a heavy rail (as opposed to light rail) service at Milnrow. Good party atmosphere on board.
 

Calthrop

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Concerning "not very last day, but making it with little time to spare": my personal ultimate in that, has to be the Waverley route Carlisle -- Edinburgh. I travelled on that line just once, one way only, in the last days of 2018; on my way to spend 10 days / 2 weeks over New Year, with friends in Dundee -- to all intents and purposes, my first visit to Scotland. My return southward had to be via Carstairs: the "Waverley" was already gone.

Am probably being ridiculous; but, re-reading this thread -- of course I meant 1968: I take it that the error, and what actually intended, has been obvious to readers -- just a stupid brain-glitch !
 

Bevan Price

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I was also on the Oldham Loop on the last day, but not on the final train. However, a year or so earlier, I think I was probably the only enthusiast on the final train between Manchester Victoria and Thorpes Bridge Junction via the Cheetham Hill line; the time of the final train was brought forward by a few hours, with hardly any prior notice, and I was lucky enough to be at Manchester Victoria when I found out about the change. On my return to Manchester a couple of hours later, the points leading to the Cheetham Hill line had already been disconnected.
 

ChiefPlanner

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I did Addiscombe on the last morning - and saw off the last Wimbledon - West Croydon later on - a packed 2 car set with a young driver who had swopped for it. You could not have got a cat onto it.

I missed the last ones on Elmers End - Selsdon as work got in the way.
 

Aictos

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I travelled on the last "National Rail" service between Farringdon and Moorgate. Train was 100% enthusiasts!

As did I! I travelled on the last service TO Moorgate but missed the last service FROM Moorgate as I was busy networking with the MD as it was at the time.
 

ChiefPlanner

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As did I! I travelled on the last service TO Moorgate but missed the last service FROM Moorgate as I was busy networking with the MD as it was at the time.

A little bit of a conversation with FCC before , made the last MG pair of 319's a great event , and I managed to pluck up the courage to speak to the MD....a good effort to be fair. Much enjoyed.
 

Aictos

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A little bit of a conversation with FCC before , made the last MG pair of 319's a great event , and I managed to pluck up the courage to speak to the MD....a good effort to be fair. Much enjoyed.

Indeed, she was actually quite approachable and she did put the hours in eg I asked her a question that night during the event and at midnight of all times she actually got back to me with a answer! Not many managers are that approachable!
 

Malcmal

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A little bit of a conversation with FCC before , made the last MG pair of 319's a great event , and I managed to pluck up the courage to speak to the MD....a good effort to be fair. Much enjoyed.

FCC? MD? MG?

What is this - some kind of secret code?? :lol:
 
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I was on the last (BR) passenger train to traverse Eridge - Tunbridge Wells West, from Uckfield. Never heard so many detonators in my life as I did on that trip :)

Of course TWW was used for empty DEMU stabling for a while afterwards.

I've never travelled on it in its preserved incarnation. Really must get round to that sometime.
 

27016

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Was anyone out and about on Saturday 1st October 1966 for the last day of train services over the Bude and North Cornwall Lines?
 

randyrippley

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Yeovil Pen Mill - Taunton (as far as Montacute). Baptist Chapel annual day out to Weymouth dated to coincide with the last day, we even had a through coach back from Weymouth hauled by a DMU to Pen Mill, then attached to the last train to Taunton. Seemed like the whole village was on that red non-corridor coach, we climbed the hill to Bincliffe at walking speed
 

341o2

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Lymington branch CIG's LDO, and trolleybuses - on Bradford 843 last trolleybus apart from the Saturday enthusiasts specials and final procession Sunday
 

Ianno87

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As did I! I travelled on the last service TO Moorgate but missed the last service FROM Moorgate as I was busy networking with the MD as it was at the time.

A little bit of a conversation with FCC before , made the last MG pair of 319's a great event , and I managed to pluck up the courage to speak to the MD....a good effort to be fair. Much enjoyed.

Now...wasn't the last service at Moorgate (a departure) actually what was normally an ECS move but made passenger for the last day? So it was arguably a "special".

I couldn't do the last day myself, so it had to be the day before for me.
 

Bald Rick

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Now...wasn't the last service at Moorgate (a departure) actually what was normally an ECS move but made passenger for the last day? So it was arguably a "special".

I couldn't do the last day myself, so it had to be the day before for me.

Don’t think it was. I caught the penultimate one (by chance), and the last one was there ready to go half an hour later with Ms Holt and a whole lot of grubby people in anoraks hanging around. IIRC it was the 1939 Bedford.

Even on the penultimate one the driver gave it the beans (we were on the through route, not the crossover) blowing the horn repeatedly.
 

Journeyman

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I was on the last (BR) passenger train to traverse Eridge - Tunbridge Wells West, from Uckfield. Never heard so many detonators in my life as I did on that trip :)

Of course TWW was used for empty DEMU stabling for a while afterwards.

I've never travelled on it in its preserved incarnation. Really must get round to that sometime.

You really should - especially because they have preserved Thumper 1317 on site. I'm not sure if it formed the last train, but it was in service on the very last day, and it's been restored into blue and grey, the livery it carried at the time. Very nice link with the past there.
 

ChiefPlanner

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Now...wasn't the last service at Moorgate (a departure) actually what was normally an ECS move but made passenger for the last day? So it was arguably a "special".

I couldn't do the last day myself, so it had to be the day before for me.

It was a quickly planned as a "special" , (vice ECS) and the two "striped" 319 units were allocated, with , as mentioned the MD in attendance. Nice gesture.
 

70014IronDuke

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Yeovil Pen Mill - Taunton (as far as Montacute). Baptist Chapel annual day out to Weymouth dated to coincide with the last day, we even had a through coach back from Weymouth hauled by a DMU to Pen Mill, then attached to the last train to Taunton. Seemed like the whole village was on that red non-corridor coach, we climbed the hill to Bincliffe at walking speed

That's a fascinating one. When was this, 62? 63? Was that normal practice, to run through coaches I mean, from Weymouth that way?
 

randyrippley

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June 1964
I've read references to through excursion coaches being run on Sundays, but that one was a special due to the level of bookings. Later I rode on other DMU hauled coaches out of Weymouth but by then they stayed with the train. We must have rode to Weymouth that day on the same carriage, but I can't remember it. Too young!
Somewhere I have photos of the last steam loco and wreath
 

Altfish

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I was also on the Oldham Loop on the last day, but not on the final train. However, a year or so earlier, I think I was probably the only enthusiast on the final train between Manchester Victoria and Thorpes Bridge Junction via the Cheetham Hill line; the time of the final train was brought forward by a few hours, with hardly any prior notice, and I was lucky enough to be at Manchester Victoria when I found out about the change. On my return to Manchester a couple of hours later, the points leading to the Cheetham Hill line had already been disconnected.
I did the same on The Altrincham line, seem to remember it was Xmas Eve, last train from Timperley to Altrincham and last train back ... or was it the other way round as I think the last train from Altrincham was an ECS
 

70014IronDuke

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I've read references to through excursion coaches being run on Sundays, but that one was a special due to the level of bookings. Later I rode on other DMU hauled coaches out of Weymouth but by then they stayed with the train. We must have rode to Weymouth that day on the same carriage, but I can't remember it. Too young!
Somewhere I have photos of the last steam loco and wreath

Ah, the days when the railway ran trains to suit customer rquirements, rather than the railway's shift times. :)
That means I missed it by about 16 months (first visit to Yeovil Sept 65). Even today, Yeovil is an intriguing railway centre, certainly vis-a-vis the size of the town. It must have been so much more then, with the complicated, if infrequent, services like Taunton - Pen Mill. Would the passenger trains have been 41xx or 51xx 2-6-2T hauled?
 

Bevan Price

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Ah, the days when the railway ran trains to suit customer rquirements, rather than the railway's shift times. :)
That means I missed it by about 16 months (first visit to Yeovil Sept 65). Even today, Yeovil is an intriguing railway centre, certainly vis-a-vis the size of the town. It must have been so much more then, with the complicated, if infrequent, services like Taunton - Pen Mill. Would the passenger trains have been 41xx or 51xx 2-6-2T hauled?

According to BR Steam Motive Power Depots by Paul Bolger, in 1950:
Yeovil Pen Mill depot (82E) had an allocation of just 8 x 57xx 0-6-0PT and 2 x 55xx 2-6-2T
Taunton (83B) had a bigger allocation, including 4 x 41xx/51xx 2-6-2T, 9 x 55xx 2-6-2T, 8 x 57xx 0-6-0PT, 9 x 2251 Cl. 0-6-0s,
11 x 43xx 2-6-0s, plus 2 Castles, 5 Halls, 3 Granges, 1 x 28xx 2-8-0 and a few other assorted small tank locos.
 

randyrippley

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According to BR Steam Motive Power Depots by Paul Bolger, in 1950:
Yeovil Pen Mill depot (82E) had an allocation of just 8 x 57xx 0-6-0PT and 2 x 55xx 2-6-2T
Taunton (83B) had a bigger allocation, including 4 x 41xx/51xx 2-6-2T, 9 x 55xx 2-6-2T, 8 x 57xx 0-6-0PT, 9 x 2251 Cl. 0-6-0s,
11 x 43xx 2-6-0s, plus 2 Castles, 5 Halls, 3 Granges, 1 x 28xx 2-8-0 and a few other assorted small tank locos.

Something to remember is that when it closed the line had been transferred to the Southern, as had the Pen Mill shed, which was amalgamated with the Southern Yeovil Town shed. That resulted in N class locos sometimes being used (Taunton has posted about that in the past)
Other stock could be pressed into service - for instance a late running DMU from Weymouth resulting in a class 22 diesel hauled emergency service Pen Mill - Taunton. The 22 would have been the Yeovil Town based banker, used for climbing Evershot Hill on the Weymouth line. Thinking about it, I can't be certain but I've a feeling that was a single through coach dropped off the back of the DMU
 
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YorksDMU

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My parents took me for a journey on the train on the last day of services over the Beverley to Market Weighton and York line on 27th November, 1965. It had snowed quite heavily overnight, and I recall my father listening to the forecast on the radio. He decided that we should go to Beverley station and see if the trains were running. They were. So we caught the 10.00 a.m train, a class 104 DMU. Got into York at 10.52.
We spent a full day in York. Then, after much discussion, it was decided that we would catch the last ever train, departing York at 9.45 p.m. A six car DMU with a class 101 and a class 105 Cravens unit. We travelled in a rammed class 101 DMCL.
That train departed on time, and sped, at full line speed, non stop to Pocklington. There, some time was spent whilst a commemorative scroll was handed to the driver. Then it was through the snow covered landscape to Market Weighton. On the approach to the station, two old ladies sat in a seat next to me - I was sat on my fathers knee, the train was so full - said that, over to the left was the old line to Selby. One asked if Doctor Beeching had closed it down earlier that year. The other lady said yes, he had.
So, some extra time was spent in Market Weighton station - the platform was heaving with people. Then, the train left, with detonators being set off. It was non stop to Beverley.
Well, that’s my memory of a quite remarkable as well as sad day back in 1965.
 

Cowley

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My parents took me for a journey on the train on the last day of services over the Beverley to Market Weighton and York line on 27th November, 1965. It had snowed quite heavily overnight, and I recall my father listening to the forecast on the radio. He decided that we should go to Beverley station and see if the trains were running. They were. So we caught the 10.00 a.m train, a class 104 DMU. Got into York at 10.52.
We spent a full day in York. Then, after much discussion, it was decided that we would catch the last ever train, departing York at 9.45 p.m. A six car DMU with a class 101 and a class 105 Cravens unit. We travelled in a rammed class 101 DMCL.
That train departed on time, and sped, at full line speed, non stop to Pocklington. There, some time was spent whilst a commemorative scroll was handed to the driver. Then it was through the snow covered landscape to Market Weighton. On the approach to the station, two old ladies sat in a seat next to me - I was sat on my fathers knee, the train was so full - said that, over to the left was the old line to Selby. One asked if Doctor Beeching had closed it down earlier that year. The other lady said yes, he had.
So, some extra time was spent in Market Weighton station - the platform was heaving with people. Then, the train left, with detonators being set off. It was non stop to Beverley.
Well, that’s my memory of a quite remarkable as well as sad day back in 1965.
Thanks for sharing your memories. Very interesting.
 

Taunton

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I don't recall the closure event on Taunton-Yeovil, only heard about it afterwards. It was one of those lines where each of the half-dozen services in a day might have a different class of loco. 45xx, 4575 (different shape, bigger tanks), 41xx, 61xx (Taunton got several of these in the 1960s displaced from Paddington, wonderful locos), 82xxx (the opposite), and 57xx Panniers. Yeovil would send out some of the same, and also 412xx tanks and N class 2-6-0s - 31840 for some reason seemed to be used more than any other. Like most of the sheds west of Salisbury, a lot of what was sent out each day was actually Exmouth Junction allocated locos. Yeovil shed, alongside Town station, quite commonly had three or four Bulleid Pacifics on hand, though they never came to this line. Prove me wrong somebody. Never saw a D63xx diesel on it but have seen pictures, nor a dmu, but apparently it had previously had a GWR diesel railcar turn, one of the original ones without buffers, which broke down at somewhere like Martock with a jammed transmission and was a nightmare for the Taunton breakdown crew to recover.

Only use of the line I made was a summer excursion (maybe two) to Weymouth, reversing at Pen Mill. The stock was equally diverse, old GWR B-sets, BR standard non-corridors, and green Southern coaches, these being the only corridor ones. That Sunday excursion was in a B-set.
 
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TheSel

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I did the last Liverpool Central (High Level) to Gateacre - April 1972, a few days before my 14th birthday. I don't remember the exact time, but six o'clock ish - it certainly wasn't dark. And instead of leaving us 'marooned' there, the crew brought the dozen or so enthusiasts back to Hunts Cross on the [nominally] ECS working back to Allerton depot. That wouldn't be allowed to happen today!

Also did the very last return trip from Manchester Piccadilly - Glossop - Hadfield and back on a 506 (7 December 1984, again quite early, about six pm from Picc) before the line was shut for conversion from DC (Direct Current) to AC (Alternating Current) to enable class 303 etc EMUs to take over. Detonators galore accompanied that trip, especially leaving Hadfield and approaching Piccadilly.

Anyone recognise themselves?

Class 506 last day (interior).jpg Class 506 last day.jpg
 
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