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?

 

 



brief stop

(All 17.2.1977)

 

 

This is Langwies on the Arosa branch of the Rhatische Bahn in Switzerland. The stations on this branch are all classic Swiss chalet style, the main reason I left the train here was to get a shot of the Langwies bridge (top), which is well known in Switzerland.

 

It was cold and snowy and I was glad to get back on the train!

 

This is one of the things that we enthiusiasts do that the civilians don't - have these odd moments when we end up somewhere strange and randon, for no real reason, engage with the place for a few minutes then move on. If we do take photos then we freeze the moment for ever.

swiss street style

(Both 1.2.1977)

Down in south eatern Switzerland is the big metre gauge Rhatische Bahn, a network of narrow gauge routes that have a monopoly in Switzerland's largest and most sparsely-populated canton of Grisons. There are main routes between Chur and St Moritz, the Davos loop, the long branch to Schoul-Tarasp, the fantastic Bernina Railway and another branch from Chur to Disentis which has an end on junction with the former Furka-Overalp Railway, which eventually ends up in Zermatt in the west of Switzerland. There is also a very new route the Vereina railway which links the Davos loop to the Scoul-Tarasp line through a VERY long tunnel. ALL Rhatische Bahn lines are very scenic.

There's one other line which is the self-contained branch to Arosa. This departs from its own station complex in Chur and immediately uses a street running section to the outskirts of the city, it then plunges into a short tunnel and continues as a normal railway to the smart resort of Arosa.

This was my first sight of long passenger trains running on street (other than on the Weymouth Tramway) and was very intriguing. A fair amount of street running has been eliminated in Switzerland since 1977 but this particular stretch is not only still going strong but has in fact since  been doubled! Well worth a visit!

very hot bluebell!

(All 30.6.1976 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - BLUEBELL RAILWAY

This is Freshfield Halt on the Bluebell Railway on the VERY hot 30th June 1976. This is one of the very little used halts on the Bluebell Railway and this was of course back in the days when the Bluebell only ran between Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes. This halt was to close a few years later, seeing hardly any use. In fact it is one of FOUR halts on the post-BR Bluebell line that have closed over the years!

It does look now like the Bluebell is morphing into something more than a sleepy heritage branch line, and becoming something of  a network of lines in the middle of Sussex, with East Grinstead now open and ownership of the branch from Horsted Keynes to Haywards Heath. It doesn't seem a very big step for the Bluebell to now look south to Lewes, completing the network and tapping the valuable south coast tourist traffic!

We are now seeing a steady flow of specials from off the Network run down the line to Sheffield Park, bringing in a wide variety of locomotives and getting the line even better known. Back in 1976 such an idea would have seemed to border on madness. You underestimate the Bluebell - and the whole heritage/community railway scene - at your peril!

Bluebell Railway website

Wikipedia Bluebell Railway

medstead

(Both 24.6.1976 copyright Rail Thing)

 

 

This is Medstead and Four Marks station on the Winchester to Alton 'Watercress' line back in 1976. Track had just been lifted, the line was closed completely on 5.2.1973. This was a very useful diversionary route for the main London to Winchester and Southampton route and should have been a candidate for electrification rather than closure.

 

A few years on and track was relaid at this location and trains - albeit 'heritage' ones - run regularly again. But I still think that this line's future lies as a real community railway offering a full freight and passenger service between Winchester and Alton, hopefully eventually finally getting that electrification and easing capacity problems on the main line. A particularly stupid closure and one that certainly wouldn't have happened just a few years later.

alresford 1976

 

(All 24.6.1976 copyright Rail Thing)

 

Back in 1976 Alresford had not long been part of the Watercress Line and I don't think trains were running at this time. Whilst there is a Southern tender engine all the other locos on site were industrials. It's sometimes easy to forget that many of today's flagship lines started off very small and some didn't even make it (though 97% did!) Of course back in the 70s, or at least in the first half of the decade, there were still a few lines being closed by BR, which is perhaps easier than rebuilding a line from the trackbed up, but remember that the track through Medstead HAD been lifted at this time (photos will follow!)

 

When I hear people today questioning the viability of new build lines I think they need to remember that some of our biggest and busiest lines nearly didn't make it. Swanage struggled for years and all the track was lifted. The Kent and East Sussex had terrible problems with level crossings. The Festiniog lost part of its line under a reservoir. All were overcome.

 

The Third Wave of railways is now happening. These are lines that mainly closed before 1970 and have been lifted. Most of these new schemes have a community railway element, some (like the Waverley) have even been taken over by governments and built. The S&D of course falls into this category and who would have thought that this line now has a group that plans to restore the whole route, and that there are now five separate restoration and operating sites along the line?

 

I think it's a good idea to sometimes look back at the early days of some of the stars of the heritage (1st and 2nd wave) restorations!



ropley in 1976

 

All 24.6.1976

 

 

This was Ropley back in the hot summer of 1976. The line had been closed by BR three years earlier and whilst there were stirrings at Alresford, further along the line, Ropley was still in deep sleep, but the track was still in place.