A hot day near Selham 1977

(All 3.7.1977 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - RAILS OF SUSSEX

Until 1955 short passenger trains travelled on a wonderfully scenic branch line that ran from Pulborough to Petersfield, following the line of the South Downs. The line served a number of villages, together with the larger towns of Petworth and Midhurst. The section from Midhurst to Pulborough remained open for freight traffic until 1964, with the section from Petworth which also served Fittleworth lasting until 1966.

On our regular trips to see family in London we often crossed the line at Fittleworth. I can't re

mg any track down, it was probably buried under vegetation. But each time we crossed the station got a little more dilapidated!

Later, in the 70s, I managed to get a motorbike, and a regular trip up from Littlehampton, where I lived, was a visit to this line, either at Fittleworth, or further along, between Selham and Midhurst, where about a mile of trackbed was walkable. This was a particularly nice spot, set deep in the woods with plenty remaining from the railway.

This was the classic disused railway, with dilapidated stations and even the odd signal post or loading gauge. I assume everything today is pretty much the same, though the station buildings at Selham, Petworth and Fittleworth have now all been restored. Fittleworth and Selham are smart homes, whilst Petworth is now a hotel.

No doubt had this pre-Beeching closure not happened the line would be busy today with tourist and commuter travel. There are the very first stirrings of a revival of course, but it may be many more years before trains run again. So for at least a while longer the simple pleasure of walking along an old trackbed can still be enjoyed!

Selham station (from Wikipedia)

Selham railway station served the village of Selham in the county of West Sussex in England. The station was out in mostly open fields, although a public house was located nearby. The station was on the Pulborough to Midhurst which was originally part of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway. The station opened after the line (which opened in 1866) on 1 July 1872. The station was closed to passenger services in 1955, but freight was still carried up to May 1963, before the station was closed completely. The line through the station remained open for another year serving Midhurst. The station building is now a private home.

A feature on the two stations at Midhurst will follow at a later date!

on the frontline

Dawlish 50 021 10.9.1984

Dawlish 47 353 10.9.1984

Dawlish 10.9.1984

2.9.2014

2.9.2014

4.9.2014

4.9.2014

4.9.2014

143 621 4.9.2014

Dawlish Warren 10.9.1984 

 

31.8.2014

Dawlish Warren 10.9.1984

FACEBOOK - TRAINS ON THE SEA WALL AT DAWLISH

I took my first ever railway photo (indeed photo of any kind!) at Dawlish 

Warren on 9 July 1971. We were staying at Warren Sands campsite just along the way and the railway was an inevitable draw to a 14 year old with the beginnings of an interest in railways. I've been back a few times since on day trips, but got to spend a whole week there last week.

The line has been in the news recently and it certainly has an atmosphere of being in the front line in the coming 'war' against us and climate change. There are now strong moves to get a diversionary route or two in place in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the disgrace of last winter's inevitable six week closure.

I think we all need to visit this line as much as we can and record it in all its moods. It's now probably the only railway in the UK that may close in the future. That would be a tragedy.

We're planning to buy a caravan in Dawlish Warren (safely up on high ground and well away from any cliff edges of course) in 2016. My plan is to visit regularly and record the last decades of this line. 

My first railway interest was stirred by the Gothic remains of recently closed railways in Sussex - Fittleworth, Bramber, Lavant. And then I got deeper in, visiting the Selsey Tramway and others. Holidays took me further afield and I got to see lines in their last years - Kingswear, Okehampton, Yarmouth to Lowestoft. Dawlish was an eye-opener, an interesting (and open!) main line! Of course in the 70s it was Westerns and Peaks and class 47s, with first generation DMUs filling the gaps, plenty of freight etc. There were even still semaphore signals, and the line was haunted by the recent passing of steam, exemplified by the postcards being sold at Dawlish Warren, many of them featuring classic steam on the sea wall.

Steam has now returned of course, and we got to see the double headed Atlantic Coast Express on the sea wall. Most of the rest of the trains seemed rather dull with the occasional HST adding a touch of flair and history, and an image of the future, amongst the Voyagers and modern DMUs.

So expect a lot more from me on this stunning line over the coming years (and the next few days).

amazed!

FACEBOOK DISUSED RAILWAYS

About a year ago I thought a Rail Thing Facebook group would be a good idea. But it soon transpired that it was far too general, and that Facebook groups needed to be more targeted. So a few more sprang up - Southern Electrics and DMUs, ones for counties, classes of locos, Swiss trains, narrow gauge, trams etc etc. There are now about 300, possibly more! Some have just a few members, several have a few hundred but only one currently has more than a thousand.

Amazingly it's the Disused Railways group and yesterday it reached 5000 members! I've no idea why it's so popular, and it's still not as focused as I'd hoped when I set it up. The idea was just to have pictures of closed lines and a few memories, but it's sort of expanded from that. But it does seem to have captured the imagination of an awful lot of people! Who knows where it will be this time next year.

I became interested in disused lines long before I got involved with the real thing, and as a teenager got to look at many lines, the Midhurst lines, the Selsey Tramway, Cuckoo line, Lynton and Barnstaple, Meon Valley, Gosport, Hayling Island etc, all visited via rail and then on foot. I loved the atmosphere. It's ironic that over the last 15 years I've been trying to encourage their reopening!

We won't see their likes again. With railways reopening everywhere all closed lines are under threat. make the most of them whilst they are still there ...

Fittleworth 15.5.1977

Beeding 20.11.1986

Baynards 20.5.1977

Selham 3.7.1977

Itchen Abbas 24.6.1976

Mold 2.4.1985

another world

 

Above 3 all copyright Rail Thing 15.5.1977

 

Freight days, winter 1958

 

 

Back in the sixties we often went from Littlehampton to London to visit relatives and for some reason Dad went via Fittleworth. Just before the village on the left hand side there was an intriguing closed railway station, and I think it's one of the things that first got me interested in railways.

 

I don't ever remember it with track in place even though it closed to freight as long as 1966. Perhaps it was hidden in the grass?

 

The bottom shot shows the station when the line was still open to freight as far as Midhurst. The station building had deteriorated in the 19 years since the top pictures were taken. The station has since been turned, inevitably, into a house.

 

There was a preservation scheme back in the early seventies but nothing came of it. This would have made a nice alternative to the Bluebell, the scenery is superb. Perhaps after the oil runs out the line will return? Certainly Petworth and Midhurst will need some sort of rail connection in the future, but there are two other former rail routes (to Petersfield and Chichester) and a prospective new one (via Fernhurst to Haslemere) that could also be built. Who knows, perhaps all four lines will reappear in time?

 

 



where it all began ...

 

(Photo copyright Peter Martin)

 

 

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when I got interested in railways, but it was mainly disused lines that captured my attention first, with regular trips towards London crossing over the old Midhurst line at Fittleworth and holidays westward crossing the Bishops Waltham branch and, perhaps most importantly, the S&D.

 

I was brought up in Littlehampton and remember the early green electrics, and this photo says a HUGE amount to me! I used to practice in a band in a house behind the second carriage above, my uncle's company painted that big gasholder and in later years I took loads of pictures from the footbridge in the background. I travelled to school in these older units between 1967 and 1972, getting off at Durrington-on-Sea.

 

Perhaps a boring commuter line electrified since the 1930s wasn't the usual inspiration for a railway enthusiast, but we also had a short docks line at Littlehampton and a unique gauge steam miniature railway on the seafront.

 

I also caught main line steam (just once!) on the outskirts of Littlehampton when I saw a big Merchant Navy or similar pulling the through train to Plymouth in around 1963.

fittleworth

(All pics copyright 15.5.1977 Rail Thing/Steve Sainsbury)

FACEBOOK - REVERSING BEECHING - ROUTES TO MIDHURST

Back in the sixties this place always fascinated me. We used to go over it in the car on the way to London visiting relatives. Every time it looked more and more derelict. I even got involved with a preservation attempt for the route in the 70s.

It was the first station out from Pulborough on the Pulborough-Midhurst line, which closed to passengers in 1955, lingering on in part for freight until May 1966.

Back in the seventies it was possible to wander around the station and line but eventually it was sold and turned into a house. Of course in the future the line is almost certain to be restored as it serves the small towns of Petworth and Midhurst and would provide an excellent link to London.

At one time Midhurst had three routes, the others being the branch to Petersfield, on the London to Portsmouth main line, and the wonderful line through the Downs southwards to Chichester, which closed as long ago as 1935 to passengers. The only direction trains didn't travel in was northwards, and a line through Fernhurst to Liphook or Haslemere will provide a very useful commuter route in the future.

More info (from Gravelroots)

FITTLEWORTH RAILWAY STATION

Fittleworth railway station was on the LBSCR, London, Brighton and South Coast, line between Pulborough and Midhurst which opened in 1859.
For some 30 years there was no station at Fittleworth. After numerous complaints, a small station opened in September 1889.

After nearly 66 years of service it finally closed to passengers in February 1955. Freight traffic from Fittleworth continued until 1963 three years before the lines total closure in 1966. The small station building remained undeveloped for many years. However it was restored and converted into a private dwelling in 1987.
more on the local lines here

timeline - 
1859 line opened 
Sep. 1889 Station opened 
Feb.1955 Station closed to passengers 
May 1963 Station closed for freight 
1966 line closed