Random: Old Memories that are not seen anymore

[Harry Douthwaite]

Do you happen to have any memories of the railways of Britain that are no longer able to be fulfilled once again? For example, Ware and St. Margarets level crossings on the Hertford East branch used to have noisier sirens back in 1998, however, they have replaced them with new, quieter ones. Also, I happen to remember a train resembling a Class 442 on the Hertford East line, it was on a day in 1997/1998 when the trains were cancelled on the Hertford East line, this was the only train on the line, and it happened to be painted in South West trains colours, but it had double-doors like a Class 317. I also remember seeing a Coal freight rush through Welwyn North in 1997. (A BR Blue Class 31!)
So, what are your memories?

 

[Daniel]

I remember, being a child in the area, 317s in NSE colours, always checking the stripes on the liveries - usually red, but very rarely green - since being here I found that those with a green stripe had been lent to the c2c line.

 

[Harry Douthwaite]

Oh yeah! I remember seeing those green-striped 317s too, back in 2001 or 2002 I remember seeing one at Welwyn North with a green stripe, and in 2004, on the 1st of August or sometime around there, at 5:00pm there was a 317 going to Hertford East from London, and that was a 317 with a green stripe.

 

[class 313]

I remember, being a child in the area, 317s in NSE colours, always checking the stripes on the liveries - usually red, but very rarely green - since being here I found that those with a green stripe had been lent to the c2c line.

The green stripe was the livery of LTS Rail which was indeed, the now c2c line.

I remember 319s back in NSE white and NSE grey. Then into one of my favourite 319 livery's. Thameslink Graffiti. No no it wasn't actual graffiti, but it was the name of the livery. Then came along the Dark Blue with yellow strip livery.

I also remember Thameslink from when it started from NSE. *Big grin*

 

[Demps]

56's through york... lineside on hot summer days, 37's, 47's, intercity HST's

The sound of 60's thumping through the night when i was asleep, an eeire noise to say the least.

 

[laseandre]

Class 303s on the North Clyde and Argyle Lines. Those were the days

 

[driver9000]

Edinburgh/Glasgow trains attaching/splitting at Carstairs was always interesting - even better that us lot on the Edinburgh portion nearly always got a 47 to take us on to Edinburgh

Sitting right behind the driver on 10x DMMUs, some used to leave the blinds up until the late 80s was always a treat.

Happy days!

 

[Mintona]

IC Swallow HSTs thrashing out of Gloucester with Horton Road behind full of locos. Those were the days...

 

[Nym]

Proper Locos, ANYWHERE!

 

[me123]

Class 303s on the North Clyde and Argyle Lines. Those were the days

Yeah, even I remember those beauties. Bring back memories of my childhood, even though I had no clue what they were at the time

 

[16CSVT2700]

Class 50s on the Padd-Oxfords/VV, Salisbury/exeters
Class 47s on XC workings pre-'94
Every decent thing before privitisation and none of the plastic crap we have these days!

And some piccies:
http://50149.fotopic.net/c962308.html

 

[Jordy]

56s on full whack up the bank from Brocklesby Jcn at Barnetby

 

[Respite]

I remember a railway system we had in this country, one whose purpose was to convey passengers around almost everywhere & freight to & from industrys. A time before companys were more intersted in applying ghey colours to all their trains in a vain attempt to make there brand name standout rather than attempt to run some kind of interconnected public transport service. :cry:

 

[BOSCH]

I remember a railway system we had in this country, one whose purpose was to convey passengers around almost everywhere & freight to & from industrys. A time before companys were more intersted in applying ghey colours to all their trains in a vain attempt to make there brand name standout rather than attempt to run some kind of interconnected public transport service. :cry:

Never a truer word spoken !!!
My fondest memories ? loco hauled ncle-l/pools when I worked at ManVic,those wonderful class 45's/46's !!!

 

[djw1981]

Yeah, even I remember those beauties. Bring back memories of my childhood, even though I had no clue what they were at the time

They only disappeared 6-8 years ago....

 

[me123]

They only disappeared 6-8 years ago....

I know. I only became a railfan very recently, and was only regularly using the train from about 4 years ago. But I did occasionally take the train beforehand I do still remember the 303s like they were around yesterday. (I sound like an old man, not a 17 year old student )

 

[Julian G]

My memories-
I always loved seeing VXC 47s on the Manchester-Brighton (soon to be extinct) at my local and I still like seeing the XC's workings today

I remember doing those station visits to London Terminals every Sunday, i have a photograph of me standing in front of an IC livered DVT in 1996 at Euston

LUL related- 1959 stock on the Northern Line, ive only done these 3 times, such "real" tube trains

 

[O L Leigh]

By 'eck, you're all so young.

My memories revolve around the GEML and East Anglia. Therefore I remember Stratford Cl47's in banger blue (complete with silver roof) on Mk2's hacking up to LST because the wires only went as far as Colchester. I also remember when the knitting reached Ipswich and there was a traction changeover every trip. I also remember the Cl315's arriving new from York and looking dead modern alongside all the slammers toiling up Brentwood Bank. There were Cl31's on the depot waiting to take out a scratch XC train to Birmingham and 1st gen DMU's with the blinds up rattling along the Breckland Line and across the Fens to Ely and Cambridge. Clown Point didn't exist and the enormous Norwich "railway lands" were still in use.

We did ocassionally use the MML to visit family in Bedford, so it was into the dark and spooky cavern of St Pancras and onto a rake of threadbare Mk1's with a Peak at the top. The electrification along there was still underway and the "new" Bedford station had only been open a matter of months. The first of the Cl317's were arriving, but were just being stashed in various carriage sidings because the unions "blacked" them. You might be lucky and see an HST along here, but I can only recall seeing the one.

HST's were still all the rage; the APT was still in experimental (and troublesome) form; steam heat was still the norm; LEV1 kept cropping up from time to time to be laughed at; connections were advertised (and held); and both trains and stations had a very different smell.

O L Leigh

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Ha Ha!
. . . and YOU're so young!!

I recall going for family strolls along the tracks - on wooden sleepers; handing packets to the driver to be taken off him at the other end - on steam locos (before Red Star parcels); oak panelled passenger compartments with sliding doors and framed pictures of "middle england" above the centre seats - in every compartment; mixed freight and passenger carriage; high level water tanks; water troughs in the 4 foot; staff everywhere - who looked at their watch in answer to almost every query; piles of coal everywhere; heavy smoking in all passenger trains - no less smoky than the engine sheds or station platform; oil lamps, coloured flags, semaphone signals on long control rods - which you heard clanking as much as saw; roundhouses and turntables; the tiny alternators bolted onto steam locos - about twice the size of a car alternator; everything you touched being oily, sooty or both; and no distinction between services which served the railway's own needs for coal and steel and those that served industry or the passenger.

oh yes, and being puzzled by the engines in a deltic. I still am.

 

[yorkie]

Class 308s in West Yorkshire (ended 2003)
Class 37s top n tailing on the S&C and Leeds-Knaresborough commuter runs (ended 2004)
Class 37s on the Rhymney valley (ended 2006)
Class 37s on the West Highland line (ended 2006)
Slam-door Mk1s - VEPs/CIGs/CEPs/Thumpers - on the Southern region (ended 2005 apart from CIGs on the Lymington line, but it's not the same)
Class 31s on Bristol-Weymouth/Brightons (ended 2005)
Class 87s on the WCML (ended 2006)
Class 312s on most recently the GEML (ended 2004 - but note the comment on that video by Welwyn22 is dubious - some 313s are older than 312s!)
Plus loads more, only gone recently, while passengers stand due to a shortage of stock. What a waste

Fortunately I managed to get that lot in before the end, and now I enjoy Valenta haulage whenever I get it as sadly that won't last forever either. There's nothing else really rateable in regular service on the main line any more. It's shocking how much we have lost in the past few years.

Looking further back, HSTs were my favourite train for as long as I can remember, I have a photo of me aged 3 next to 43108 (fortunately is not yet 43308!) and I'm glad that Valentas are not going to be history on the ECML for a while to come yet (thanks to GC, but shame about the price!). I suppose many 'bashers' back then would have looked down on kids liking HSTs! It will be a sad day for me when I have to add Valentas to the list of memories that aren't seen any more.

But also on my local lines I remember the first generation DMUs on Chiltern (still running on the shuttles between Aylesbury and Princes Risborough though!). I used to enjoy watching 87s, 86s and HSTs rush through Harrow & Wealdstone while waiting for a 321 to London but my parents nearly always took me to London on the Metropolitan, which I found to be less interesting at the time, but how times change! The WCML is now depressing, although the 321s remain for now, but I do like to go on A stock whenever I am down in London.

 

[45002]

Sitting on the old Gloucester Eastgate Station for hours on summer saturday's in the early 70,s watching real trains.

MARTIN

 

[Meld]

Ha Ha!
. . . and YOU're so young!!

I recall going for family strolls along the tracks - on wooden sleepers; handing packets to the driver to be taken off him at the other end - on steam locos (before Red Star parcels); oak panelled passenger compartments with sliding doors and framed pictures of "middle england" above the centre seats - in every compartment; mixed freight and passenger carriage; high level water tanks; water troughs in the 4 foot; staff everywhere - who looked at their watch in answer to almost every query; piles of coal everywhere; heavy smoking in all passenger trains - no less smoky than the engine sheds or station platform; oil lamps, coloured flags, semaphone signals on long control rods - which you heard clanking as much as saw; roundhouses and turntables; the tiny alternators bolted onto steam locos - about twice the size of a car alternator; everything you touched being oily, sooty or both; and no distinction between services which served the railway's own needs for coal and steel and those that served industry or the passenger.

oh yes, and being puzzled by the engines in a deltic. I still am.

In summary then a real railway where the staff took pride in their work,

The Job went titsup everyone pulled together worked long hours and got things sorted and the job running again.

 

[87015]

My earliest years were spend being dragged around as a baby on roarers, I have few memories due to being somewhat infantile but had 2k behind them including a few 81s for haulage. Memories proper from the early 90s with 33/1s out of Waterloo, EPBs. Always been frequent up Brum, be it 304 bashing (GREAT fun), 310s, syphons to North Wales or just 'Daytrippering' taking in anything and everything.

From about '98 concentrated on 87s up and down the WCML, been in a bit of a hole the last year or so!!

Try to do plenty of preserved lines to make up for what I missed, big 25 fan

 

[CosherB]

9Fs on coal trains to Partington and Fiddlers Ferry power stations.

8Fs on the Buxton to Northwich ICI limestone hoppers.

0-6-2 tank and single carriage on the Manchester Central to Warrington Bank Quay push - pull stopper.

A Brittania on the diverted Pines Express through Sale in the late 50s, while the Manchester - Crewe line was being electrified.

Going to school on the 1,500 VDC 1930s EMUs from Brooklands to Altrincham, complete with 'Ladies Only' compartments (that line is no longer a railway - it's the Metrolink today).

First generation 25KV electric locos, white cab surrounds, cast 'lion & wheel' emblem, and no yellow ends, thundering through Alderley Edge at speed at the head of old LMS coaches.

A steam-hauled school trip to Scotland, struggling up Shap so slowly we could reach out of the windows and pull leaves off the lineside bushes.

Being passed up onto the footplate of Jubilee 'Tobago' at Manchester Victoria when I was about 6 years old, seeeing the roaring fire and gleaming copper and brass in the cab, and thinking that 'tobacco' was an odd name for a steam loco.

 

[Harry Douthwaite]

Posted by: yorkie "Class 312s on most recently the GEML (ended 2004 - but note the comment on that video by Welwyn22 is dubious - some 313s are older than 312s!)"

Hey! That's my comment! As far as I knew, 312 units were built in 1975 and the 313s were built around 1979 or something like that. Still, now looking on Wiki, the 312s were built from 1975-78 and the 313s from 1976-1977. And Indeed, what a waste of stock, scrapping and keeping them out in the elements while passengers wait around for the next train which could be ages away!

 

[nowananorack]

I remember class 306's on the Liverpool Street - Gidea Park. Distinctly remember somewhere on the line, a 'thump', the lights dimming and the drive diminishing, then another 'thump' and everything returning to normal.
I can also 'smell' the new VEP'S (class 423). I remember delaying my journey from Portsmouth to Havant by 5 mins by aiming for the 16:00 slow Waterloo train, using a VEP and a pair of 416's or 415,rather than the 15:55 Brighton which utilized BILS, class 401, and/or HALS, class 402. The Brighton trains were later replaced by demoted COR's when the CiG's arrived on the fast Waterloo - Portsmouth line.

 

[Tom C]

Theres quite a lot that I miss...........

The simple stuff is things like 47's on XC, Cans out of Liverpool Street and Euston and the dear old vans. Loco haulage out of Waterloo and Paddington was a big loss, especially the 50's out of Waterloo.

The end of the 1st Gen DMU's and the AC slam door EMU's made the day to day local services rather boring.

The big things were the 303's which I spent many happy hours on, 37's on just about everything north of the border, 37's on the "club trains" to Blackpool, the 47's on Edinburgh to Glasgow and just about every train to Stranraer, the double headed 37 thrash on Sundays out of Holyhead and 31's on Norwich to Birmingham trains.

Of course the biggest loss was the Mk1 EMU's on the SR.

Just going to a London Terminal and it doesn't matter which used to be fun in the 80's because there was something interesting. Nowerdays its just a sea of plastic drizzle and the last thing that even remotely interests me is the A Stock on the Underground although thats just as dreary after the losses of the great 38, 59 and 62 stock.

 

[Harry Douthwaite]

Well, these are all a lot of memories! I was expecting a lot, but this goes slightly off my estimation for how many memories will be posted in 5 days. Excellent this is!
Now here's one of my excellent memories, I remember going to Welwyn North between 2001 and 2004 and watching WAGN, GNER and Hull Trains zoom past me, the toothpaste livery of a Class 365 just whooshing past in a blur, the Black Knight Livery of GNER hissing and zooming past. Now that was something I wished to share with my offspring later on in life, but now it's near-impossible for something like that to happen again! Unless I start a full-scale uproar and rebellion about how TOCs are operated, then I absolutely will not be able to see GNER or any companies from the past ever again! (Unless in a video)
Oh, by the way, does anybody on here happen to have a video of a level crossing in the Hertford East Branch before 1999? If so I would love to see it.

 

[TheSlash]

Jointed bullhead track

 

[Respite]

Jointed bullhead track

I still drive over these 60ft sections on bullhead, it's all good. :grin: