What train encapulates your childhood?

[Journeyman]

I think the phase 1 CIG's that had Jaffa Cake livery were facelifted internally with donkey stripe moquette.

Yeah, they were all 17xx units, which got fluorescent lighting and PA at the same time.

 

[WesternLancer]

I think the phase 1 CIG's that had Jaffa Cake livery were facelifted internally with donkey stripe moquette.

Thanks - that seems likely. In fact now I think about it I recall thinking that at first (before boarding) I expected the jaffa cake CIG to be a full internal refurb like on the CEPs I had seen and ridden on, but then discovered it was just a facelift for the CIG, as no new hopper windows or major internal refits / new seats etc - just the upholstery (and I guess the lights etc as @Journeyman says).

I expect at the time I just thought there was not enough money to do the CIGs to the equivalent of the CEPs. Memory thinks I later leanred there was more to it - ie need for asbestos removal on CEPs perhaps.

Still, at the time I liked the new jaffa colour and new interior upholstery.

 

[yorksrob]

Thanks - that seems likely. In fact now I think about it I recall thinking that at first (before boarding) I expected the jaffa cake CIG to be a full internal refurb like on the CEPs I had seen and ridden on, but then discovered it was just a facelift for the CIG, as no new hopper windows or major internal refits / new seats etc - just the upholstery (and I guess the lights etc as @Journeyman says).

I expect at the time I just thought there was not enough money to do the CIGs to the equivalent of the CEPs. Memory thinks I later leanred there was more to it - ie need for asbestos removal on CEPs perhaps.

Still, at the time I liked the new jaffa colour and new interior upholstery.

Yes, the CEP refurbishment was extremely heavy with little left from the original interior.

Personally, I think that central division passengers got by far the better deal

 

[WesternLancer]

Yes, the CEP refurbishment was extremely heavy with little left from the original interior.

Personally, I think that central division passengers got by far the better deal

With the benefit of hindsight I def'ly tend to agree with that. But at the time 'new' seemed exciting to my more youthful self!

 

[D6130]

Memory thinks I later leanred there was more to it - ie need for asbestos removal on CEPs perhaps.

The phase 1 CIGS also needed asbestos removal....as was demonstrated dramatically in the aftermath of the Patcham collision a few years earlier, when the injured passengers and rescue workers were inhaling clouds of blue asbestos dust.

 

[181]

Actually I think I may have got it wrong about never seeing SUBs in service. Now that I think about it, I'm starting to remember one occasion in which I saw SUBs at Platform 1 in Guildford, covering a Cobham service. Didn't examine them closely, as I think they pulled out before I arrived on the platform, but it was semi-dark, and it was on the way home from school (which would make it between 16:00 and 17:00) so it would have had to have been Nov/Dec 1982 or Jan 1983 as otherwise it would have been full daylight. Probably Jan 1983 as I only became aware of what a 4SUB was when I received the Ian Allan 'Multiple Units' book as a Christmas present in 1982.

Interesting - because I rarely saw SUBs, the 4EPB was probably the most antiquated unit I saw on a regular basis on the Southern, so I more clearly rremember their disappearance.

Given that I didn't (as far as I can remember) know the difference between 4-SUBs and EPBs until I started travelling to and from school on them in September 1982, and the differences noticeable to a passenger were mostly fairly subtle, it's perhaps surprising that I quickly became quite keen on (not to say sentimental about) the 4-SUBs as distinct from EPBs. I'm guessing that it was to do with their being the oldest trains that I travelled on regularly and the knowledge that they represented one step further back into railway history than the EPBs.

Incidentally, it's frightening that the 455s now are almost as old, perhaps in some cases older, than 4SUBs were in 1983. That does make you feel old.

That's one of a number of things like that that have been making me feel old in recent years. To be fair to both of us, the design of the SUBs and EPBs made them feel more part of the past, whereas the basic layout of a 455 (double sliding doors at 1/3 and 2/3) isn't much different from much more modern suburban trains.

 

[Journeyman]

I never noticed this when I was a kid, but I rode the preserved SUB on the main line a couple of times in the nineties, and one big difference to EPBs jumped out at me.

SUBs have very basic control systems that operate at line voltage, with no low voltage auxiliary systems like the EPBs. EPBs made a constant humming sound, which was the motor generator set that powered the control circuits and kept the batteries charged. You'd particularly notice this in stations. SUBs didn't have that kit fitted, and when at a stand they were completely silent.

 

[Paul Jones 88]

In 1987 I was working in Ashford Remand Centre (Middlesex), which was next to the railway and I distinctly remember 2EPB services running past as well as 4VEPs, I had a good view of the railway whilst repairing the cell block roofs.

 

[nw1]

In 1987 I was working in Ashford Remand Centre (Middlesex), which was next to the railway and I distinctly remember 2EPB services running past as well as 4VEPs, I had a good view of the railway whilst repairing the cell block roofs.

Ah ok, didn't realised they carried on that long. (I was about to reply thinking that you meant Ashford, Kent, before I re-read your post!). Maybe they were only on the Reading line at that time as I am 99% sure they were not on the main line by that stage.

 

[R Martin]

You fella must be very young! I remember going to meet a girlfriend at West Worthing on a what I think was a NOL. I remember because if I ha d a drink and the "Rock and Roll" ride usually ment I had to "cross my Legs" until I got to Lancing where I could use to Loo! Happy days

 

[nw1]

Ah ok, didn't realised they carried on that long. (I was about to reply thinking that you meant Ashford, Kent, before I re-read your post!). Maybe they were only on the Reading line at that time as I am 99% sure they were not on the main line by that stage.

Sorry, another random memory has come back to me; the 2EPBs did last a little longer than I first thought.

I think (about 70% sure) that the 'Alton Flyer' (my term, not sure it was generally used) - the 18:13 non-stop from Waterloo to Ash Vale then all to Alton in the 1985/6 timetable, was a 2EPB + 4VEP.

 

[Deepgreen]

SR/BR 4-SUBs in the transition years from green to blue. There, it's out there...

I never noticed this when I was a kid, but I rode the preserved SUB on the main line a couple of times in the nineties, and one big difference to EPBs jumped out at me.

SUBs have very basic control systems that operate at line voltage, with no low voltage auxiliary systems like the EPBs. EPBs made a constant humming sound, which was the motor generator set that powered the control circuits and kept the batteries charged. You'd particularly notice this in stations. SUBs didn't have that kit fitted, and when at a stand they were completely silent.

Apart from the distinctive brake pressure recharging pump often kicking in going 'kerchug kerchug....'

 

[nw1]

SR/BR 4-SUBs in the transition years from green to blue. There, it's out there...


Apart from the distinctive brake pressure recharging pump often kicking in going 'kerchug kerchug....'

Not SUBs, but the thing that you don't hear so much these days away from the suburban area is that distinctive 'Duh-duh-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH ... duh... duh........ duh' of Southern units from EPBs right up to 442s and 456s. That's the same thing isn't it? I certainly understood it to be something to do with the brakes.

I remember hearing it sometimes when a train stopped at a station, and I particularly associate it with VEP/EPB combos on Platform 1 at Guildford a few minutes before they were due to pull out.

I last heard it on a 456 going from Wanborough to Guildford in 2014, so presumably you can still hear it if you use 455s or 456s regularly. Took me back to my younger days...

 

[181]

Not SUBs, but the thing that you don't hear so much these days away from the suburban area is that distinctive 'Duh-duh-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH ... duh... duh........ duh' of Southern units from EPBs right up to 442s and 456s. That's the same thing isn't it? I certainly understood it to be something to do with the brakes.

I remember hearing it sometimes when a train stopped at a station, and I particularly associate it with VEP/EPB combos on Platform 1 at Guildford a few minutes before they were due to pull out.

I last heard it on a 456 going from Wanborough to Guildford in 2014, so presumably you can still hear it if you use 455s or 456s regularly. Took me back to my younger days...

Somewhat off-topic for this thread, but in 2001 I was pleasantly surprised to hear much the same sound from under the floor of an ancient American-built interurban electric railcar on the Hershey Railway in Cuba.

 

[Andrew1395]

For me it was the 501 DC units on the North London DC network. They were the trains that brought my grandparents to our house (including Boxing Day); the trains that took me to school and the trains that I used to explore London. Including Sunday trips to Broad Street to visit the markets and the shops that were originally the few that were open on that day.

 

[DanNCL]

8/9 years old for me would be the Class 91+Mark 4 sets in GNER blue with a white stripe, GC HSTs still with Valenta engines (I remember they kept setting off the fire alarm at Sunderland station) and a photograph of Marilyn Monroe on the carriage end walls, and the Tyne & Wear Metro fleet in the former red/green/blue liveries plus several advert liveries, all now a thing a of the past.

There were of course also XC livery voyagers back then, some things never change.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

8/9 years old for me would be the Class 91+Mark 4 sets in GNER blue with a white stripe, GC HSTs still with Valenta engines (I remember they kept setting off the fire alarm at Sunderland station) and a photograph of Marilyn Monroe on the carriage end walls, and the Tyne & Wear Metro fleet in the former red/green/blue liveries plus several advert liveries, all now a thing a of the past.

There were of course also XC livery voyagers back then, some things never change.

Not SUBs, but the thing that you don't hear so much these days away from the suburban area is that distinctive 'Duh-duh-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH ... duh... duh........ duh' of Southern units from EPBs right up to 442s and 456s. That's the same thing isn't it? I certainly understood it to be something to do with the brakes.

I remember hearing it sometimes when a train stopped at a station, and I particularly associate it with VEP/EPB combos on Platform 1 at Guildford a few minutes before they were due to pull out.

I last heard it on a 456 going from Wanborough to Guildford in 2014, so presumably you can still hear it if you use 455s or 456s regularly. Took me back to my younger days...

Growing up on the Brighton mainline, to me, that's what all EMUs sounded like. You can imagine by surprise when I first heard a MetCam Networker start up when I was 5...

 

[krus_aragon]

My family didn't make much use of the national railway network when I was young. We visited many of the narrow gauge lines in North Wales, but these were all one-off visits. My strongest memory of BR (as was) was seeing two-car Sprinters in Regional Railways colours as we drove along the A55 ("look, it's Annie and Clarabel looking for Thomas!"), and hearing trains whoosh past the car park of Abakhan Fabrics near Mostyn when we visited.

The trains that really would encapsulate my childhood are the ones that I rode on biennial visits to see family in Canada: the H series trains of the Toronto subway. Just hearing the notes from the door chime will whisk me right back to the thrill of the underground railway...

 

[Bikeman78]

My family didn't make much use of the national railway network when I was young. We visited many of the narrow gauge lines in North Wales, but these were all one-off visits. My strongest memory of BR (as was) was seeing two-car Sprinters in Regional Railways colours as we drove along the A55 ("look, it's Annie and Clarabel looking for Thomas!"), and hearing trains whoosh past the car park of Abakhan Fabrics near Mostyn when we visited.

The trains that really would encapsulate my childhood are the ones that I rode on biennial visits to see family in Canada: the H series trains of the Toronto subway. Just hearing the notes from the door chime will whisk me right back to the thrill of the underground railway...

Those subway cars remind me of the legendary R32 cars in New York. I have fond memories of belting around the A/C/E lines in the mid 2000s. Managed to find a few on the A line in 2019. Absolutely brutal when pulling away. The drivers normally went from zero to full power so standing passengers had to hold tight or they wouldn't be standing for very long! No door chime on the R32, the doors slid silently shut without any warning.

 

[urbophile]

Although I was never a serious trainspotter, I was fascinated by railways and trains from an early age. In the 1950s we lived at Gargrave, the first station beyond Skipton towards Carlisle and Morecambe; though Bradford was the nearest big city, Leeds was better served by the trains. So after a day exploring the trams of Leeds we would head home on the Leeds, Bradford and Morecambe Residential Express, or the Resi for short. This was a fast train to serve the (by then, I suspect, dwindling number) of businessmen [sic] who commuted from their seaside homes to their city offices. The fun happened at Skipton. First of all (I think I've got the sequence right) the express from Leeds would arrive at one side of the island platform. Then the rear three coaches would be uncoupled and left standing, while meanwhile the express from Bradford arrived on the other side. Its locomotive would be detached and make way for the train from Leeds to move forward and reverse, coupling up to the coaches just arrived from Bradford. Then the newly configured express would set off for Lancaster and Morecambe, calling perhaps at Hellifield but nowhere else I think. When that was out of the way the loco that had arrived from Bradford coupled up to the rump of the Leeds train – now known as the Resi Pup – and went forwards calling at all stations to Morecambe. Probably the overall journey time for those at the local stations was little different, because of the delay, but it was more fun than any of the other trains.

 

[John Griffiths]

I'm not an expert so can't give class numbers, but the green slam-door emus on the Twickenham-Richmond-Waterloo service in the mid-late 60s onwards, with a little frisson of fear caused by the 'Don' t open the door early' posters showing a woman knocked to the platform (and in my imagination killed) by such a misdemeanour.

 

[farleigh]

4Cig on East Coastway in pouring rain is evocative for me

Also Jaffa Cake 4Ceps on NSE. I thought they were brand new what with all the 'futuristic' yellows and oranges.

 

[nw1]

4Cig on East Coastway in pouring rain is evocative for me

Also Jaffa Cake 4Cigs on NSE. I thought they were brand new what with all the 'futuristic' yellows and oranges.

Reminds me of unit 2301 (the first refurbished BEP), which appeared on the Portsmouth Direct one sunny Saturday in February 1983 (on the 12:03 semi-fast Haslemere to Waterloo to be precise). I thought at first this was a brand-new train, given the futuristic interior (compared to the unrefurbished CIGs and VEPs) and the brightly-painted (repainted) exterior.

Even went as far as to write 'NEW TRAIN: 2301' in the Ian Allan multiple units book. I think I learnt just a few weeks later it was actually a refurbished unit... during the course of the year, the BEPs replaced the BIGs on the Direct which were sent over to the Central Division. Not sure what they replaced there though...

 

[-Colly405-]

Although I avoided them when out travelling on the trains for fun when young (much preferring the 50s), it has to be HSTs on the Western. School trips in 1980 from Plymouth to London was possibly my first introduction to them (coming back on the midnight ), and of course a number of us in Plymouth vowed never to take a "tram" in Cornwall...

Yes, we still get them locally as XC HSTs and half-length Castles, but 40-odd years later, back down in Devon last week, the first three trains I saw passing through Dawlish were HSTs - 2 Castle, one XC.

It will be necessary, but a sad day indeed when they are *finally* gone; the end of the only type of train I've seen and used continually throughout 40 years of railway interest.

 

[nw1]

Although I avoided them when out travelling on the trains for fun when young (much preferring the 50s), it has to be HSTs on the Western. School trips in 1980 from Plymouth to London was possibly my first introduction to them (coming back on the midnight ), and of course a number of us in Plymouth vowed never to take a "tram" in Cornwall...

Yes, we still get them locally as XC HSTs and half-length Castles, but 40-odd years later, back down in Devon last week, the first three trains I saw passing through Dawlish were HSTs - 2 Castle, one XC.

It will be necessary, but a sad day indeed when they are *finally* gone; the end of the only type of train I've seen and used continually throughout 40 years of railway interest.

HSTs have had an impressive length of time in service, when you consider they were introduced around 1976. The 'standard' lifespan for a train seems to be around 35 years (e.g first-generation slam door Southern stock c.1935-70, CIGs/VEPs etc. c.1969-2004), though some manage longer and some seem to have restricted lifespans - thinking particularly of the 442s here, presumably because they had equipment from the REPs.

The 442s are probably the first class that have come and gone during the period I have been following the railways (1982+).

 

[john prytherch]

I am now 70! I have several happy childhood memories; but if one train has to "encapsulate" my childhood it would be a 14xx plus auto trailer working between Monmouth and Ross on Wye.

We lived in Monmouth from 1957-1959. Both our home in Dixton Close, and our primary school on the way to Dixton, enjoyed intermittent views of the Ross line, among the trees (not too many of them then) on the other side of the River Wye. Our primary school had a most enlightened head teacher, Miss Evelyn Bowers. During November - December 1958, after the closure from early January 1959 had been announced, she stopped the lesson when a train was due to leave Monmouth May Hill, invited us all to watch it from a large bay window overlooking the valley, explained that this was a joy about to be taken away from us, and gently expressed some righteous anger that we were growing up in a world where such barmy things as closing a railway could happen.

In the week of the closure, she had the following poem published in the Monmouthshire Beacon:

A Small Train Thinks
(in a Very Small Way)

I'm out of date, and out of place,
I've wasted public money,
They'll need it all for Outer Space -
So that's not really funny...

They're shooting rockets at the Moon
Like coconuts at Sally,
Day-trips may run to Mars quite soon -
But no more to my Valley.

To see me puffing down the line
Caused Them a deal of worry.
Yet in that one-track world of mine
What need had I to hurry?

Past hoary rocks and ancient chase,
By heron-haunted streams,
I chugged along my antique pace
And stopped for timeless dreams.

I whistled long around each bend,
My smoke stretched in a cloud;
But now I've reached my journey's end
No longer I'm allowed.

To spend my days in sweet content
In puffing down the line,
My way of travel was not meant
For nineteen fifty-nine.

But when They've scaled the lunar heights
And circled every planet,
And broken all their days and nights
in record speed to span it;

And when their greater roads They've planned
For lesser men to travel by,
Will any find a fairer land
Than I found down the Wye?

E.M. BOWERS

I think my mother took me and my brother for two return trips to Ross, and one to Chepstow with pannier tank haulage. At Ross we saw "big trains on the main line" and never imagined that it too would close within seven years. The trip to Chepstow was just for the ride before closure, and I think the turnround time there must have been very short, as I do not recall watching any other trains on the main line there.

I think one of the return trips to Ross was in a streamlined diesel railcar, at a time when I think half the journeys were diesel and half steam. I can't remember much about the railcar but I know I didn't enjoy it so much - it seemed to be full of fumes.

My first ever cab ride (I have made very few in my life) was on a pannier tank at Troy station, into the tunnel and back again, I think just for my entertainment! I thought (and still do) that the pannier tanks looked more beautiful than the 14xx 0-4-2Ts, but the latter were the usual steam power for the Ross line.

 

[Diplodicus]

Thank you for your posting that I enjoyed immensely.

 

[krus_aragon]

In the week of the closure, she had the following poem published in the Monmouthshire Beacon:

A Small Train Thinks
(in a Very Small Way)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading both your story and the attached poem, thank you.

 

[Class360/1]

I am now 70! I have several happy childhood memories; but if one train has to "encapsulate" my childhood it would be a 14xx plus auto trailer working between Monmouth and Ross on Wye.

We lived in Monmouth from 1957-1959. Both our home in Dixton Close, and our primary school on the way to Dixton, enjoyed intermittent views of the Ross line, among the trees (not too many of them then) on the other side of the River Wye. Our primary school had a most enlightened head teacher, Miss Evelyn Bowers. During November - December 1958, after the closure from early January 1959 had been announced, she stopped the lesson when a train was due to leave Monmouth May Hill, invited us all to watch it from a large bay window overlooking the valley, explained that this was a joy about to be taken away from us, and gently expressed some righteous anger that we were growing up in a world where such barmy things as closing a railway could happen.

In the week of the closure, she had the following poem published in the Monmouthshire Beacon:

A Small Train Thinks
(in a Very Small Way)

I'm out of date, and out of place,
I've wasted public money,
They'll need it all for Outer Space -
So that's not really funny...

They're shooting rockets at the Moon
Like coconuts at Sally,
Day-trips may run to Mars quite soon -
But no more to my Valley.

To see me puffing down the line
Caused Them a deal of worry.
Yet in that one-track world of mine
What need had I to hurry?

Past hoary rocks and ancient chase,
By heron-haunted streams,
I chugged along my antique pace
And stopped for timeless dreams.

I whistled long around each bend,
My smoke stretched in a cloud;
But now I've reached my journey's end
No longer I'm allowed.

To spend my days in sweet content
In puffing down the line,
My way of travel was not meant
For nineteen fifty-nine.

But when They've scaled the lunar heights
And circled every planet,
And broken all their days and nights
in record speed to span it;

And when their greater roads They've planned
For lesser men to travel by,
Will any find a fairer land
Than I found down the Wye?

E.M. BOWERS

I think my mother took me and my brother for two return trips to Ross, and one to Chepstow with pannier tank haulage. At Ross we saw "big trains on the main line" and never imagined that it too would close within seven years. The trip to Chepstow was just for the ride before closure, and I think the turnround time there must have been very short, as I do not recall watching any other trains on the main line there.

I think one of the return trips to Ross was in a streamlined diesel railcar, at a time when I think half the journeys were diesel and half steam. I can't remember much about the railcar but I know I didn't enjoy it so much - it seemed to be full of fumes.

My first ever cab ride (I have made very few in my life) was on a pannier tank at Troy station, into the tunnel and back again, I think just for my entertainment! I thought (and still do) that the pannier tanks looked more beautiful than the 14xx 0-4-2Ts, but the latter were the usual steam power for the Ross line.

Loved the poem!

 

[muddythefish]

I am now 70! I have several happy childhood memories; but if one train has to "encapsulate" my childhood it would be a 14xx plus auto trailer working between Monmouth and Ross on Wye.

We lived in Monmouth from 1957-1959. Both our home in Dixton Close, and our primary school on the way to Dixton, enjoyed intermittent views of the Ross line, among the trees (not too many of them then) on the other side of the River Wye. Our primary school had a most enlightened head teacher, Miss Evelyn Bowers. During November - December 1958, after the closure from early January 1959 had been announced, she stopped the lesson when a train was due to leave Monmouth May Hill, invited us all to watch it from a large bay window overlooking the valley, explained that this was a joy about to be taken away from us, and gently expressed some righteous anger that we were growing up in a world where such barmy things as closing a railway could happen.

Thank you for that - and the superb poem

What an enlightened lady, raging in her own quiet way at the stupidity of government. And that was 5 years before Beeching!

They were beautiful lines in the Monmouth / Wye valley area. What a loss