freight 78

A nice shot of a class 37 hauled freight heading through Marks Tey in Suffolk. This was (and still is) the junction for the Sudbury branch which survived both truncation, reducing it from a through route to a branch, and cloure proposals in the dead decades of the 60s and 70s, which is now of course flourishing in common with railways throughout the UK. How long before the missing section is reinstated?

50 at basingstoke

One for Paul Beard!

A class 50 on an Exeter train at Basingstoke station 9.8.1986.

The Salisbury-Exeter route was much neglected in the 60s and 70s - incredibly closure was ever considered at one time. It was run down, singled over most of its length and often employed underpowered locos. The 50s however were good for this route, and could be said to be part of the line's revival which since the 80s has seen stations reopened (Feniton and Templecombe) and the line partly redoubled. The next few decades should see the line electrified throughout, nore stations reopened and hopefully some of the branches rebuilt (Sidmouth, Lyme Regis etc). With the New S&D reopening Templecombe should become an interchange station once more, and even the Seaton Tramway should be re-extended to Seaton Junction allowing exchange traffic.

shanklin 1977

Isle of Wight Railways Remembered


I've always liked the Isle of Wight railway network, even if today it's a lot smaller than it was and will be again. One of the daftest closures of the Beeching years was the Shanklin-Ventnor line which connected the busy seaside town of Ventnor to the outside world. Of course BR at the time fully expected the IOW railways to all have closed by 1975, so that the rather silly situation with the line terminating short at Shanklin would have been short lived. Fortunately at least part of the essential Newport and Cowes line is currently being operated as a heritage line, I can't seriously see Cowes and Newport staying off the network for many more years!

20 and APT at beattock 1985

BEATTOCK

(5.6.1985 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - CLASS 20

I lived near here for five years, but five years after these pics were taken. This is Beattock summit on the main Carlisle to Glasgow line. I'd photographed a class 20 with a guards van waiting in the passing loop when quite by surprise the APT came through on a test run!

twyford 1977

Some more random shots from Twyford in Berkshire, all taken on 8 August 1977. One of my favourite locations both for the variety and quantity of traffic passing through, with the added bonus of branch line trains to Henley-on-Thames.

jaffa cake

(barnham 13.8.1986)

In the mid eighties the first moves towards privatizing the network began to be made with regions being allowed to drift away from the corporate blue and grey. For a brief few months Network South East experimented with the classy 'Jaffa Cake' livery, which sadly soon gave way to the garish red, white and blue. The old slam door stock, which had been exclusively either rail blue or blue and grey for the best part of twenty years, could for a year or so could be seen in a variety of colours. This was by far the best!

eighties electrics

(All Kings Langley 3.6.1985 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - WEST COAST MAIN LINE

A lovely sunny day at this LMR station - very busy with trains, mostly loco hauled back then, and most with blue and grey livery still. From the island platform it was easy to capture most of the traffic on film.

More info (from Wikipedia)

Kings Langley railway station is just under the M25 motorway at Junction 20. It serves the village of Kings Langley, and the nearby villages of Abbots Langley and Hunton Bridge. The station is 21 miles (34 km) north west of London Euston on the West Coast Main Line. The station and all services calling at the station are operated by London Midland.

The station was opened in 1839. From 1909 the station was known as Kings Langley & Abbots Langley, becoming Kings Langley on 6 May 1974.

Services[edit]

Monday to Saturday a half-hourly service to London Euston southbound and Tring (Saturdays Milton Keynes Central) northbound. Evenings and Sundays there is an hourly in each. A number of night and rush hour services are extended to and from Birmingham New Street and Coventry. There is one train each weekday morning to and from Crewe.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Apsley		London Midland West Coast Main Line		Watford Junction

Accidents and incidents

• On 14 March 1935, an express passenger train from Liverpool to London was brought to a halt at Kings Langley due to a defective vacuum brake. Due to a signalman's error a milk train ran into its rear. A freight train then ran into the wreckage.