NSE emerges

 

Although I've visited Guildford many times I've only had an hour or two at the station once! Back in 1986 (these were all taken on 20.8.1986) there was a good variety of trains (but nothing loco hauled during my visit). Western Region DMUs were working the Reading to Tonbridge services, which was a fascinating route back then, and still something of a backwater. Slam door stock were the order of the day there, but the real reason this day was memorable was that during my stay I saw the NSE red, white and blue livery for the first time. It wasn't as classy as the Jaffa Cake livery but looked good on 7349 which looked like it had just been outshopped!

woking

 

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33 107

 

 

6112

 

 

47 374

 

 

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My only trip (so far) to Woking station was on 18 August 1986. Although the weather broke down as the day went on I got some good shots. As well as all the Southampton and Bournemouth route trains, the line also carries all the Salisbury and West of England traffic and the Portsmouth Direct line trains. It was pretty busy with a wide variety of trains, both passenger and freight.

 

The full set can be seen on RAILS OF SURREY.

Basingstoke 13.8.1986

Just a hint at the variety of traffic on a normal day in August 1986 at Basingstoke!

And we thought we were hard done by because the locos weren't steam!

Eastleigh 13 August 1986

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47 100 

 47 203

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There were two big burdens that rail enthusiasts of my era (growing up in the 60s) laboured under. One was the regret that we had just missed steam, the second that rail was in decline and we needed to get as much in as possible before it all disappeared.

 

One qualifier is that I did actually catch a tiny amount of BR steam - I grew up in Littlehampton so it was almost all electric, diesels were really exotic. But I did catch a Brighton-Plymouth train steam hauled at Lyminster crossing. I saw the steam locos on the Isle of Wight at Ryde Pier, a shunter somewhere in London plus, from the balcony of my nan's flat in Battersea - and in the distance - the steam trains heading west from Waterloo.

 

Of course the world has changed and all the lines I feared we'd lose have stayed with us except a few - Bridport, Winchester-Alton, Okehampton, Swanage, Tunbridge Wells West to Eridge, Kingswear plus a few more. Most of these have active preservation groups. I also saw Lowestoft to Yarmouth, Uckfield to Lewes and Bramber. I suspect all three of these will be back as well.

 

So rail enthusiasm was a bit of a regretful pursuit back then. Except of course we can now see, with the benefit of hindsight, that it was actually a very interesting time! Lots of first generation diesels and electrics were still running. Mark one coaches, plenty of varied freight wagons, a lot of the steam era infrastructure and lovely empty trains!

 

These shots are from a few hours at Eastleigh, always a busy location. None of this is still running on the Network I suspect. This was before sectorization with everything still in BR blue, except the one coach in Inter City livery.

 

I took thousands of photos between 1971 and 1990. Hopefully eventually they will nearly all feature here! It's going to be a long task ...

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!