50s in the 80s

(All pics copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - CLASS 50

I generally order railway stuff in my own mind by line rather than motive power, but I've departed from that today with this post featuring the iconic class 50s around the network in the 1980s. Always one of my favourite locos which exuded real power!

I will add numbers, locations and dates later!

Haslemere 6.7.1977

HASLEMERE

(All pics 6.7.1977 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - 70s UK RAILSCENE

On a warm July afternoon in 1977 I motorbiked up the Portsmouth Direct line, stopping at each station to take pictures. This is Haslemere, a neat station with an extra platform and substantial buildings and canopies. I only caught one train going through sadly!

Haslemere station

Haslemere is a station that from  a small wayside stop has grown into a very busy commuter station over the years. It lies on the Portsmouth Direct line, which was electrified in 1938. The station was opened on 1 January 1859.

It has an excellent service to London Waterloo of four trains an hour, two of them are express services. It is the only station on the Portsmouth Direct line between Guildford and Havant with more than two platforms, platform 3 is used to allow northbound expresses to overtake stopping services.

The station would have become a junction (or will in the future) if the direct line to Midhurst via Fernhurst had opened in the 19th century.

Passenger usage in 2014-15 was 1,785,000 and has been steadily growing year on year.

Upper Warlingham 16.8.1988

UPPER WARLINGHAM

(All 16.8.1988 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - SOUTHERN REGION SCENE - 1980s

Three snatched shots at Upper Warlingham on 16 August 1988 showing the station and an NSE liveried unit number 1266 on an East Grinstead train. 

Upper Warlingham Station

Upper Warlingham station is on the Oxted line and is one of three stations that serve Whyeleafe, as well as serving Warlingham. In fact it is only 150 metres (geographically) from Whyteleafe station on the parallel Caterham branch.

The 'Upper' prefix was added in 1956 to distinguish the station from Warlingham station on the Caterham line, renamed Whyteleafe South at the same time.

The "Upper" prefix originated because what is now Whyteleafe South station on the Caterham line, approximately 600 yards to the south west, was previously (until 1956) called Warlingham station and the prefix was originally necessary to differentiate them, Whyteleafe South station being lower down in the valley. Somehow the prefix survived the change in 1956.

Typically (2016) the station sees 2 trains per hour to London and East Grinstead.

The station was opened on 10 March 1884 and has seen passenger traffic almost double over the last 10 years, from 533,000 in 2004/05 to 976,000 in 2014/15.

Sheffield Park 8 July 1977

SHEFFIELD PARK

(All pics 8.7.1977 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING HERITAGE - BLUEBELL RAILWAY

Almost 40 years have passed since I took these photos in July 1977 of the Bluebell Railway. Back then it was an all-steam line just 4 miles long, linking the country station of Sheffield Park to the extraordinary junction station at Horsted Keynes. Remarkably up until 14 years before these pics you could reach the Bluebell via the Southern Region's electrified branch from Haywards Heath to Horsted Keynes. It took the Bluebell another 50 years to reconnect with the network! But the line also owns the trackbed of the Haywards Heath line so at some point in the future the original Bluebell connection will be regained though, sadly, unlikely to be electrically operated! 

So back in 1977 the Bluebell was a very pleasant and self contained set up, with loads of classic steam locomotives and coaches and for those of us brought up in Sussex it was a fairly regular treat to travel on the line. There was hardly a house visible on the entire route and this section really showed the wonderful rural nature of the line. Stations were built on a grand scale for such a rural line, with the earthworks, bridges and tunnels built for double track, which was present between East Grinstead via Horsted Keynes to Haywards Heath. The section south of Horsted Keynes was always single track.

I've always felt that heritage lines tend to freeze time and old pics of them can almost be reproduced today, and that this static element makes them less interesting than network lines. But as time passes that's fading. It's true that the biggest clue to the age of this pics is the array of classic cars in the exterior shot of the station, but fashions etc also date a pic. As of course does the traction used - locos come and go, go out of ticket, become unuseable or get sold on. There is change on heritage lines after all!

Overall of course the Bluebell has changed enormously since the seventies. Freshfield Halt has closed for example, there are new stations at Kingscote and East Grinstead, with West Hoathly always a possibility in the future. The line is no longer all steam, and of course there are now excursions off the network, which bring all sorts of visitors to the line. Facilities have improved both front of house and behind the scenes. The little line has become big business, but you can still savour the lovely Sussex countryside from inside a vintage carriage - and see more of it now on the longer journey!