Totton Sidings (Southampton)

[Supersaint]

Morning, I live in Totton 6 miles west of Southampton, Totton has a small set of sidings just west of the station/level crossings with 4 lines (use to be 7), this has not been used properly for around 18-20 years as the last trains in there were for the coal yard with a 56 or 37 down on a weekly bases dropping coal off, it use to stable oil wagons over the weekend for the Fawley oil trains & in the last 10 years very rarely flatbeds from the Martine Yard over the weekends & Plasser units now & again, also there was a set of 18 “Seacows” Hoppers there for around 4 months last year & at the time thought this was being used for storage !, halfway through the time there were there they swapped sidings & went down to 15 hoppers ?. Around Sept/Oct time these hoppers went & work began on putting 10’ metal fencing around the whole site & tree/shrub clearing, Oct/Nov 09 they replaced every other wooden sleeper & lifted 1 siding completely with the old ballast dug out & new ballast/sleepers replaced, a security guard was on duty 24/7 at the entrance. With in weeks they were making up the track for the Southampton tunnel lowering scheme & December 09 being very busy with all siding in use with a class 66 shunting around the yard now & again. By Jan 2010 the yard seemed deserted as the works on the Tunnel were completed ahead of schedule, the sidings are now overgrown & look like they may not be used again ?, this seems a lot of time/effort & money just for 3 months use.
Any idea’s if this will be used again in the near future ????

PS: I have pic’s of the whole change if anyone wants to see.

 

[Domeyhead]

Hi Supersaint thanks for the info. I live quite locally and am interested in all aspects of the Fawley line. COnsidering Fawley is Britain's largest refinery it is always a little disapointing how little rail traffic it generates. I beleive we are down to one crude train coming in per week a couple of Bitumen trains and a few gas oil tanks for various rail diesel fuelling points. I have not seen any pictures of the rail complex inside the refinery since the sixties railtours - security must be extremely tight! Dittto Marchwood, though it is easy to observe the rail operation from beyond the perimeter unlike Fawley.
Out of interest I also remember the stub of the Totton and Eling Tramway used until the end of Speedlink around 1990 for aggregate flows and the occasional tank for South Western Tar.

 

[Oracle]

There was a sole wagon there parked up for a time. The yard is still technically I think a p/way one, but will it ever see use again? Likewise Brockenhurst sidings. I have photos of locos running to and from Marchwood MoD, including taken from the cab. They include two of the black-yellow disc signal on the curve before joining the branch just before the station site. Also, one of each of the Down Totton wrong-direction starter and also of the gantry on the causeway, and the gpl on the #-over from the Down to the Up at town end of Redbridge station. I gather that the Totton Yard to Redbridge bi-di move is usually only used by the Freightliner empties on a Monday returing from Marchwood back to the FLT.

For a bird's eye view of Marchwood and Fawley go to one of the aerial mapping sites: this might work:
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=50.894997&lon=-1.402053&z=14.7&r=0&src=ggl

 

[Supersaint]

Hi Domeyhead, Use to help swing the gates across “High Street” road in the holidays in the early 80s for the stone train, late 80s early 90s “Redland” Bricks had it, not been used for around 14-20 years now but is still on the Network, lines have been lifted Eling side but remain upto & on the level crossing.
I was born in 1970 & bought up/lived next to the Bournemouth/London main line, also it was where the Fawley line Branched off left towards Fawley/Hythe & Marchwood, Have certainly seen changes since, can remember trains running 24 hours on the Fawley line 5 ½ days a week, from class 33,47 in the 70s & early 80s, then in the mid 80s class 37s,58s & 73s,early-mid 90s class 60s & 66s. One memory I remember was a Monday morning empties going towards Fawley in 86/87 with a class 37 leading, never really took much notice as living next to the railway you don’t but remember this as the class 37 was clagging away & going slow before it reached the bend, within a minute of it passing it stopped with the last few tankers opposite are house, what had happened I think it staled as there was far to many wagons on there, within an hour it had a 47 pushing this round the bend & on to Fawley, never found out the full storey though. Seen lots of specials go through including me being on one about 10 years ago on a Hastings unit doing a Fawley/Poole tour , also in 2004/05 a “Pathfinder”Kettle tour went down there.
Still a bit of movement on the line but only a fraction of what was.
Have you got the”Fawley Branch” line book by J R Fairman, Oakwood Press Books ?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Hi Oracle, remember that wagon, there 2 years plus, never found out why it was there though, have some pic’s of the yard in 81/82 when they were doing line renewals, pics of 2 47s in the yard with wagons.
Passed Brockenhurst Monday & there’s a Plasser there at the moment, do you remember the “Motorail” running down from Scotland on the weekends until the early 80s ?, have a few pics in books on this but would love to see more.

 

[Oracle]

The Motorail used the loading dock that the cycle hire wagon is in I think.

I have taken shots of the High Street LC, and drive over it several times a week. The vegetation was cleared past the nursery round the corner to the NR boundary and likewise the Wharf side but that is overgrown again. I thought that the track had gone? There is still tramway in the Wharf. I have some shots taken in the early 1950s of South West Tar Distillers and tramways into their complex can be seen but no wagons.

One of my shots of the LC at Marchwood was used in RAIL on Harris's page: a car driver could not wait and zipped around the gates as the signalman was opening them! That's my only rail photo to be published in amagazine so far. I have however published enough of my road vehicle photos in the past...in the mag that I am Deputy Ed of!!!!

 

[swt_passenger]

I reckon the next major use of Totton sidings might be when they do the S&C renewals in the Southampton Central - Millbrook area. Planned for early 2011 apparently...

 

[Oracle]

There was a Network Rail Transit van in the sidings area this morning.

 

[Dennis]

PS: I have pic’s of the whole change if anyone wants to see.

Yes please.

 

[collexions]

Hi Supersaint. I grew up in Totton, 1969-1989, and have very fond memories of watch activity in Totton Sidings from both Brockenford bridge (end of the road I grew up in (Rumbridge Street), and from Junction road). I spent a lot of my early teens bothering the signaller in the junction road box, and spent most evenings hanging around there with mates from 1979-1985. My dad used to work on the industrial estate on the road up to the station that backed onto the ealing wharf line, and I used to spend school holidays there to get an up close look at the BR or CF 47 or 56 on the Westbury ARCs!
I now live in Bradford-on-Avon, work in the rail industry, and still have an interest in such things, although I haven't revisited Totton for any length of time for about 15 years. I'd be very interested in you pictures of the goings on in the yard though! Can PM me at collexions(at)gmail.com. Thanks Paul.

 

[Supersaint]

Hi Supersaint. I grew up in Totton, 1969-1989, and have very fond memories of watch activity in Totton Sidings from both Brockenford bridge (end of the road I grew up in (Rumbridge Street), and from Junction road). I spent a lot of my early teens bothering the signaller in the junction road box, and spent most evenings hanging around there with mates from 1979-1985. My dad used to work on the industrial estate on the road up to the station that backed onto the ealing wharf line, and I used to spend school holidays there to get an up close look at the BR or CF 47 or 56 on the Westbury ARCs!
I now live in Bradford-on-Avon, work in the rail industry, and still have an interest in such things, although I haven't revisited Totton for any length of time for about 15 years. I'd be very interested in you pictures of the goings on in the yard though! Can PM me at collexions(at)gmail.com. Thanks Paul.

Hi,you must be in your 40s ?, I went to testwood 82-86,I to spent time bugging the Shunter in the Holidays to close/open the gates on high street for the ARC stone trains (Health & Saftey wasnt around then just common sence).I will post pic as soon as I can get to grips with down loading.
Thanks Eric

 

[Oracle]

There was a lot of activity there in the P/way yard today with vans galore!