A repeat of this months Home Page picture taken by Clive Smith, copyright. N.B. 'This picture dated 9th February 1985'
In the late 1970s and 1980s British Rail offered special Saturday cheap day bargain fares from Devon to a number of long distance destinations as far afield as Derby, Crewe, Swansea, Oxford and Portsmouth. The latter destination was attractive as a stepping stone to the Isle Of Wight and I made two outings there that decade on these fares. However on this date the weather took a turn for the worse and I decided to abort my journey at Southampton Central station largely spending time in the buffet or waiting room for warmth, occasionally stepping out to take a photo . This was one such and quite a rarity. I believe set L401 consisted of W51333, 59485, 51375. I have no idea what this working was as there were no DMU diagrams at Southampton for the best part of two decades if my knowledge is correct, only Southern DEMUs. This being a Reading allocated set and with poor weather, it could have been a stop gap additional on the cross country route but my notes show the inter- regionals were running and not heavily delayed. Bit of a mystery.
Regards, Clive Smith.
Regards, Clive Smith.
To the above we are very pleased to add the following additional comment by Civil Engineer John Roberts who gives even more details of traffic at the time and his own experience in Southampton tunnel.
Thanks for an interesting March home page. I was struck by Clive Smith’s suggestion that there hadn’t been any DMU diagrams in Southampton since c1965. The Swindon Inter-Cities were built for the Cardiff-Portsmouth axis and operated 1963-68 as 8-cars with buffet, but by the time I made my first rail trip to Southampton c1969 they’d been replaced by Hymeks, initially with Mk1 6-buffet sets but later reduced to 5-non-buffet and then 4-sets. When I started at Fratton Depot in 1973, these had just been downgraded to a mix of Swindon Cross-Countries and DEMUs displaced from recently-closed branches. There were some 6-car, but mostly 3-car with consequent crowding and limited lavatories which led to further downfall of the route. So in 1976 a few Inter-Cities reappeared and then they went back to loco haulage, initially Cl 31, but by the time I was working in Southampton Tunnel in 1983 we were being asphyxiated by Cromptons and the occasional Brush 4. We complained to the Chief Medical Officer and he sent a team down to measure their emissions, but we were told that Diesel exhaust wasn’t harmful. Finally in 1988 they went over to the new-fangled Sprinters (155, 156 and now 158) which continue to this day.
However, strange things happened at weekends when peak stock was freed from elsewhere, especially in Summer or during engineering work, eg loco-hauled sets from East Grinstead or Hastings units on the Brighton-Exeter. I don’t recall ever seeing a high-density DMU at Southampton, but a Bristol or Cardiff set could have been turned out to cover. The fact that L401 was always based at Reading makes me wonder if Clive’s spot had come down the main line, either as an excursion (unlikely in February) or driver-training, or because of engineering work somewhere.
Best wishes, John.
Thanks for an interesting March home page. I was struck by Clive Smith’s suggestion that there hadn’t been any DMU diagrams in Southampton since c1965. The Swindon Inter-Cities were built for the Cardiff-Portsmouth axis and operated 1963-68 as 8-cars with buffet, but by the time I made my first rail trip to Southampton c1969 they’d been replaced by Hymeks, initially with Mk1 6-buffet sets but later reduced to 5-non-buffet and then 4-sets. When I started at Fratton Depot in 1973, these had just been downgraded to a mix of Swindon Cross-Countries and DEMUs displaced from recently-closed branches. There were some 6-car, but mostly 3-car with consequent crowding and limited lavatories which led to further downfall of the route. So in 1976 a few Inter-Cities reappeared and then they went back to loco haulage, initially Cl 31, but by the time I was working in Southampton Tunnel in 1983 we were being asphyxiated by Cromptons and the occasional Brush 4. We complained to the Chief Medical Officer and he sent a team down to measure their emissions, but we were told that Diesel exhaust wasn’t harmful. Finally in 1988 they went over to the new-fangled Sprinters (155, 156 and now 158) which continue to this day.
However, strange things happened at weekends when peak stock was freed from elsewhere, especially in Summer or during engineering work, eg loco-hauled sets from East Grinstead or Hastings units on the Brighton-Exeter. I don’t recall ever seeing a high-density DMU at Southampton, but a Bristol or Cardiff set could have been turned out to cover. The fact that L401 was always based at Reading makes me wonder if Clive’s spot had come down the main line, either as an excursion (unlikely in February) or driver-training, or because of engineering work somewhere.
Best wishes, John.
Many thanks to both John and Clive.
Nunney Castle
Ian Morton
Ian Morton
11 5029 Nunney Castle passes Long Rock Signal Box. Copyright Ian Morton
Thanks Ian
Night Sleeper & Thoughts
Andrew Rigler
Andrew Rigler
I am a fairly regular user of the Night Riviera service the 23:45 ex Paddington. Normally, this gets into Plymouth for 05:11 but, last night things did not go to plan with 57 602 Restormel Castle, failing as it took up the load leaving Paddington. After more than two hours we were finally on our way with DRS Class 57 306 dragging the disgraced 57 602 all the way back to Penzance. As it was a sleeper train and I had a cabin, it was no big deal for me, but if I only had a seat, sitting around for a couple of extra hours overnight would not have been so much fun. However, the staff on the train were excellent as usual.
My thoughts and conclusions. First, it took a couple of hours to find and deliver, a replacement loco. I’m sure that in the days of Ranelagh Bridge Depot and Old Oak Common, we would have not needed to wait a so long to leave London, but that’s progress! Also, 57 306 appeared to really struggle with the load over the wet Devon banks. I thought at first it was slowing deliberately, but no, the train sped away up every time it hit a downgrade. Finally, the noise 57 306 made leaving Plymouth heading for Penzance at 07:02, so nearly two hours late, was pretty impressive and included a bit of horn!
Best wishes, Andy. Andrew Rigler, Manager UK & IRL
My thoughts and conclusions. First, it took a couple of hours to find and deliver, a replacement loco. I’m sure that in the days of Ranelagh Bridge Depot and Old Oak Common, we would have not needed to wait a so long to leave London, but that’s progress! Also, 57 306 appeared to really struggle with the load over the wet Devon banks. I thought at first it was slowing deliberately, but no, the train sped away up every time it hit a downgrade. Finally, the noise 57 306 made leaving Plymouth heading for Penzance at 07:02, so nearly two hours late, was pretty impressive and included a bit of horn!
Best wishes, Andy. Andrew Rigler, Manager UK & IRL
DRS 57306 at Plymouth 7th March 2020 Copyright Andrew Rigler
152D 57602 dead at Plymouth with 57 306 taking the load. 7th March 2020 Copyright Andrew Rigler.
Many thanks for your report Andrew. From other reports the night sleeper seems quite prone to problems these days. From my very limited experiance on the sleepers mamy years ago as an enthusiast sleep is difficult as you lie there waiting for the next bridge or tunnel!
Dawn at
Redruth
Martin Scane
Redruth
Martin Scane
On the 7th March 2020 Martin Scane witnesses the arrival of the 06.46 to Penzance; This train was formed of 43040 St Mawes Castle on the front with 43094 on the rear. Copyright Martin Scane
Many thanks Martin.