I'm in my mid 50's so grew up watching Deltics, 47's, 31's, 25's and DMUs running through Hertfordshire. I was never into collecting numbers, but used to get excited when something strange came through. Moving on to today, and I've got back into train spotting, or should that be documenting trains with a video camera !
Whilst being on the ECML we have a fair bit of variety, it tends to be based on five main classes, so things get a bit boring. I mean there are only so many times you can see a 91 in Virgin livery... But once in a while something come through that makes you all excited like that little 8 year old I one was...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhO3iWXlj0o&ab_channel=MalcolmCrabbe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhO3iWXlj0o&ab_channel=MalcolmCrabbe)
I have no idea what it was doing in my neck of the woods, and couldn't identify it on realtime trains (mind you that's not uncommon - I'm still trying to get to grips with that !)
A few weeks back I nabbed the Caledonia sleeper which was diverted due to Euston being closed...
I have this and a few more railway related videos on my channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzAvCOYFZbk&list=PLUKQ5vaCEquw3FBCrw77mAvq3HUqi98rU&ab_channel=MalcolmCrabbe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzAvCOYFZbk&list=PLUKQ5vaCEquw3FBCrw77mAvq3HUqi98rU&ab_channel=MalcolmCrabbe) please feel free to pop over and have a look
Thanks
Malcolm
I like to watch trains passing by and still very much enjoy travelling by train.
Down here there is little variety but I still stop and watch when I can.
I grew up in Wiltshire with a regular diet of Halls, Castles, Granges, Counties, panniers, praries and moguls etc along with SR types nearby.
As steam ended I saw (and copped) all of the WR hydraulics.
We shall never see those times again but as I said - I still enjoy watching trains.
not so sure that I still get excited, my childhood was spent in the tail end of steam and PROPER diesels ......
but the grandsons keep dragging granddad up to the nearby bridge to watch the "trains", well I wouldn't describe them as such, they're electric things, but the eldest has started collecting the set numbers, so granddad got him a book of the electric EMUs and a spotters logbook, and he enjoys it.
pity he won't see proper trains, or even diesels, around here, but he doesn't know any better !
No idea which panel I'm supposed to be looking at in your video, far too much going on! :confused1:
I still like seeing interesting things, never really 'spotted', but certainly always keep an eye out for things when travelling.
To be honest, I never really saw the attraction of 'train-spotting' at all, and as for ticking off wagon numbers - for me :sleep: :sleep:
I'll take the occasional photo if I chance upon something out of the ordinary but I'd far rather be riding one train for some distance than standing getting the merest fleeting glimpse of a dozen identikit multiple units...
Quote from: njee20 on October 18, 2017, 08:54:03 PM
No idea which panel I'm supposed to be looking at in your video, far too much going on! :confused1:
That's just the intro.....
I love to see all trains, and like to see different or unusual locos, but I've never been a 'spotter' with a log book or list. I do like to note, mentally, those logos I've not seen before, and even keep an eye out for them, and I like to walk up to a loco and touch it.
Simplified view: Steamers are exciting whether in-steam or not, diesels and electrics are interesting and occasionally exciting, some carriages have their charms, and wagons are.... er... wagons.
Quote from: malc-c on October 18, 2017, 09:30:39 PM
Quote from: njee20 on October 18, 2017, 08:54:03 PM
No idea which panel I'm supposed to be looking at in your video, far too much going on! :confused1:
That's just the intro.....
Haha! :dunce: seemed to go on for a long time, clearly I have a poor attention span! Even after watching it through (in 10 second chunks) I'm still unsure of what was so interesting, the 66?
Quote from: daffy on October 18, 2017, 10:32:14 PMand wagons are.... er... wagons.
Wagons are the best bit!
@malc-c (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=5722) Thanks for the videos. :thumbsup: Couldn't remember taking them but when I saw my initials come up at the beginning I guess I must have! :D
Seriously, I'm not sure what the 'something' was you spotted, the only oddity I noted was the DB loco at the rear of the Virgin train at 6mins 57 secs. Can you tell us the time frame for what you are referring to?
In my Childhood, one train a day didn't do much for encouraging train spotting, then at 13 moving to the outer hebridies didn't encourage it either...
I've never got excited by blue or any other colour boxes, It would have to be middle chrome green.
Sounds good to me! :beers:
Quote from: daffy on October 19, 2017, 09:11:36 AM
@malc-c (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=5722) Thanks for the videos. :thumbsup: Couldn't remember taking them but when I saw my initials come up at the beginning I guess I must have! :D
Seriously, I'm not sure what the 'something' was you spotted, the only oddity I noted was the DB loco at the rear of the Virgin train at 6mins 57 secs. Can you tell us the time frame for what you are referring to?
Hi,
Glad you liked the videos
The thameslink class 700 was the "oddity". It's one of the new crossrail trains and not something you would find on the ECML, and yes, the class 90 pushing the Virgin train was also "not normal"
yes i still go out spotting about 20 times a year
if it runs on rail i am a fan i take numbers of every thing except wagons and photos of every thing
yesterday i got excite when i cleared all Chiltern railways stock with 165016
John
Quote from: malc-c on October 19, 2017, 10:14:57 AM
The thameslink class 700 was the "oddity". It's one of the new crossrail trains and not something you would find on the ECML, and yes, the class 90 pushing the Virgin train was also "not normal"
Is it? Surely 700s just operate the normal Brighton-Bedford services, and are nothing to do with Crossrail at all, which will be operated by 345 EMUs.
700s will soon be normal on the ECML when some services from Peterborough/Cambridge to Kings Cross get diverted into the Thameslink core instead. Imagine a day out from Cambridge to Brighton on those seats... :o
Quote from: JBQFC on October 19, 2017, 10:22:29 AM
yes i still go out spotting about 20 times a year
if it runs on rail i am a fan i take numbers of every thing except wagons and photos of every thing
yesterday i got excite when i cleared all Chiltern railways stock with 165016
John
I can sort of see the sense of achievement in completing the exercise, but for me it would have to be "I've ridden on every member of the fleet" rather than merely stood there while it's gone past...
Quote from: njee20 on October 19, 2017, 10:50:27 AM
Quote from: malc-c on October 19, 2017, 10:14:57 AM
The thameslink class 700 was the "oddity". It's one of the new crossrail trains and not something you would find on the ECML, and yes, the class 90 pushing the Virgin train was also "not normal"
Is it? Surely 700s just operate the normal Brighton-Bedford services, and are nothing to do with Crossrail at all, which will be operated by 345 EMUs.
Thanks for the correction,
Quote from: BlythPower on October 19, 2017, 11:05:56 AM
700s will soon be normal on the ECML when some services from Peterborough/Cambridge to Kings Cross get diverted into the Thameslink core instead. Imagine a day out from Cambridge to Brighton on those seats... :o
That's interesting, maybe this was a driver training run ?
I take it the seats aren't comfortable then ?
As Nick says the 700s are the new Siemens Thameslink stock (with similar 707s and 717s coming on other franchises).
Crosslink is Bombardier built 345s (which are similar to 701s and 710s!).
Cheers, Mike
Being in my mid 60s, I spotted steam, early diesels and early electrics. I was based in Wolverton on what is now the WCML but, as my Dad worked in the Wolverton Carriage & Wagon Works, I got 6 free passes each year and 1/3rd fares until I was 16. hence I travelled around much of the UK filling up my Ian Allan books. The fairer sex made a huge dent in my gricing activities and eventually everything became a boring shade of blue, then just multi-coloured worms with flat ends so I lost interest and have never rekindled it.
Every now and then we get steam locos at/near Preston so I make an effort to film them but that's now the extent of my interest in the real thing. I have my layout(s) to remind me of my yoof :D
Quote from: malc-c on October 19, 2017, 11:18:05 AM
That's interesting, maybe this was a driver training run ?
I take it the seats aren't comfortable then ?
Yes, that seems likely. They're going to be a lot more prevalent in the next few years as Thameslink's reach extends significantly.
The seats are brutally hard, in common with the newer 377/5 Electrostars, among others. There's just no padding! That aside, I quite like the 700s in general though, they are very 'roomy' with the open gangways, and the on board screens displaying things like loading information is interesting. Talking to a friend who visited the 3 Bridges open day, apparently they've got really neat diagnostics on board too - so at any time the depot can retrieve status updates on the entire fleet to diagnose problems remotely.
I think @newportnobby (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=264) is getting to the heart of the issue.
Quick history lesson: trainspotting was largely invented post-war as an activity for young children (primarily boys) to do. Ian Allen famously printed the little books of numbers, sold them cheaply, and the sheer variety of locomotives made 'collecting them all' very challenging.
Some skill was required to find the right places to see rarities, and boys could be proud of their achievement as they went along. Getting all the engines in a smaller class of loco might be a good starting point, but bagging all the LMS Black Fives, for example, would take real dedication!
Children still do these pointless challenges today, witness the recent Pokemon fad over the last year or two.
The problem nowadays is that trainspotting simply isn't popular, any more than collecting Pogs. Like all these fads it's fundamentally pointless, but kids do them because other kids are doing them. They can compete or work together, as they prefer, and the social status comes from that. Trainspotting offers no social status at all, so why bother?
Rail enthusiasm continues, of course, including a great many youngsters. Just visit any preserved line on Thomas the Tank Engine or Peppa Pig day!
Speaking personally, the modern railway is dull. During the 1980s there were so many classes of loco, and such a huge variety of rolling stock (including things like Big Four brake vans) that made things interesting. One EMU is pretty much like any other so far as their engineering goes, many of them being derivatives of one particular basic design (take the 'Desiro' family for example). It's not even as if much of the modern railway is British-built, so there isn't even the local history aspect to fall back on. For sure the history of the EMD 66s is interesting, but primarily in showing the failure of British industry to keep up with engineering in the US, or perhaps more accurately, the failure of successive governments to invest in Britain's railway manufacturing capacity.
Cheers, NeMo
Quote from: PLD on October 19, 2017, 11:14:31 AM
Quote from: JBQFC on October 19, 2017, 10:22:29 AM
yes i still go out spotting about 20 times a year
if it runs on rail i am a fan i take numbers of every thing except wagons and photos of every thing
yesterday i got excite when i cleared all Chiltern railways stock with 165016
John
I can sort of see the sense of achievement in completing the exercise, but for me it would have to be "I've ridden on every member of the fleet" rather than merely stood there while it's gone past...
the things is i can spent hours on a platform taking photos and numbers but i soon get board riding on trains
i find spotting more of a challenge these day as it is easy to fill your book with emu and dmu numbers but locos are lot harder to find these days
I take my son out to Leicester or Nuneaton stations, so he can watch and photograph trains go by. Sadly I have no interest in the current railway traction/scene.
I grew up in the days of BR Green switching to Blue then Rail freight, Intercity etc and to me, those were the glory days when there was loads of loco hauled trains. lots of Depots to visit and Class 08 shunting locos were everywhere, I still remember the 08's at Birmingham New Street and the B'ham Nst to Norwich Class 31 workings.
I use to cycle from Wigston to Nuneaton to watch the APT go through and see the Merseyside and Manchester MK2 Pullmans.
Pendolino's Voyagers, Multiple Unit's everywhere and Class 66, 67 68, 70 its not the same.
:'(
For me... No steam, then no excitement. Prefer preserved railways these days.
:beers:
i grew up next to the ditton liverpool line so watching the halewood ford cars / cartics, freight from the docks, ac electrics, and tripped out at weekends from crewe to lancaster - diesels in blue and plenty of memories of the 1980s / 90s
I've never been trainspotting - collecting numbers. But I do like watching trains go by - models and the real things.
I like trains, planes, and automobiles because they are all examples of engineering. Most of my working life has been spent in mechanical engineering. As a kid, my favourite toys were Meccano, Hornby Trains, Scalextric, and bicycles - all examples of engineering.
This time last month me and MBH while holidaying in Florence, were riding on a local commuter train with (and toward the home of) a friend of MBH. As they chatted and gazed upon the beautiful Tuscan countryside, I gazed at the trackside infrastructure and passing trains. I'd spent most of that morning at the Stazione di Santa Maria Novella watching trains come and go. Don't ask me to quote the numbers of any of the locos I saw, I wasn't spotting!
I don't go train spotting as such, but I do still shout "Train!" if ever I see one in the landscape while on my travels.
Quote from: Yet_Another on October 19, 2017, 06:55:35 PM
I don't go train spotting as such, but I do still shout "Train!" if ever I see one in the landscape while on my travels.
Like a rail enthusiast Father Jack!? :D
Quote from: RailGooner on October 19, 2017, 07:22:17 PM
Quote from: Yet_Another on October 19, 2017, 06:55:35 PM
I don't go train spotting as such, but I do still shout "Train!" if ever I see one in the landscape while on my travels.
Like a rail enthusiast Father Jack!? :D
Now you come to mention it, I've been known to shout "Biscuit!" as well ;)
Quote from: Yet_Another on October 19, 2017, 07:24:49 PM
Quote from: RailGooner on October 19, 2017, 07:22:17 PM
Quote from: Yet_Another on October 19, 2017, 06:55:35 PM
I don't go train spotting as such, but I do still shout "Train!" if ever I see one in the landscape while on my travels.
Like a rail enthusiast Father Jack!? :D
Now you come to mention it, I've been known to shout "Biscuit!" as well ;)
And can you tell us Tony, what's that viaduct made of? :smiley-laughing:
Living across the big pond I still like to go out and see the trains, not really into the "spot it, jot it, got it" side of it anymore, but I do like the photograph them, unfortunately as we get older the scene seems to get boring, our young uns seem to get excited at some of the stuff that comes through whereas we just look and say another boring modern machine that looks the same as the rest.
I remember exactly this when I used to "spot" back home (BNS, Donny, York, Crewe), the old heads would turn a nose up at the second gen diesels, or the boring sparkies or the HST) now I think I'm that old head!!!
I eventually stopped spotting and replaced it with mileage goals, although I still looked out at the ever changing scene (spin and win rail tours got a lot of my cash, but I wasted trips by only riding for the required loco and not bothering with the rest of the tour), sadly most of the memories of those days are just that now, the railway to me has lost much of its character, windows that don't open, engines that don't clag or make noise, sorry a 66 yinging just doesn't do it after growing up with things like 37s growling along (although they can't pull the skin off a rice pudding)
Thanks for reading and reminding me I'm getting old!!!
From 1975 to 2010 I enjoyed watching trains, noting down numbers and taking photos. Then I suddenly woke one day, when I was due to go to Doncaster for the day. And I just couldn't be bothered. I thought that a diet of 91s and 66s making up 80% of my day was suddenly unappetising.
That day and that lack of appetite has stayed with me ever since. If I get the chance to see trains when I'm in America, I'll move heaven and earth to do so. But for the UK? No, I'm not really interested now. I don't even get much of a buzz from seeing my old favourites, the Class 50s, the 47s, the 55s, or even Black Fives and Jubilees.
It's like a switch has been flicked off. Very weird. I've seen four Class 70s in my entire life, and no Class 68s at all; and I'm not bothered any more.
Depressing stuff.
Andy
UK
I,ve got to agree Malc the excitement of waiting for that ploom of smoke from the big iron horse the sound of the throttle wide open and smell that smoke theres not a site or smell better in the world.We have many days out on preserved railways just soaking up all that history. Wonderful days.
Les (first timer )
I have never been a 'spotter', collecting the numbers has never interested me personally (not knocking anyone who does like it, we all like different things) but I ALWAYS like watching trains, whether going past or just stationary, there is something hugely impressive about seeing a locomotive stationary from close up such a huge amount of potential power. I am fascinated by the engineering of all types of trains and the permanent way too so could wonder round a preserved railway for hours.
I think the saddest thing is that I absolutely love riding on any train, but I never do because it is so expensive. I would love to go to Newport station where I live and just go for a ride, but tickets make that impossible. I have been on the Lydney railway locally a few times and it is a great experience but while I understand the ticket price helps fund the railway and I can't complain about it, if it was cheaper we would go more often. It's an annual visit at the moment.
Is there any way to go travelling cheaply on the main railway network? Any special tickets I don;'t know about? My boys would love it too.
Matt
Matt, the cheapest way without any railcards I know is to pick a date, as far in advance as you can and get the cheapest ticket available, National inquiries lists all available for the selected day, as an example I put in Newport to Reading day trip return for Nov 25th and got a 17.50 outbound and 20 return (37.50 total for the return trip)
For staying local the rail rovers can be decent value depending on where you want to go and how much you want to travel (too many to list but generally valid after rush hour and come in 3 in 7, 7 day and 14 day rovers)
Somethings since I was last there might have changed but cheap options are there, just need to dig around a little
I had an early teens spotting phase ca. 1984 - 1987, which faded away due to the inevitable, but have always maintained an interest in railways. The post-BR British scene is however still alien to me, as I left the country in 1991 and didn't come back all that much. I was however mildly bemused and pleased on a trip a couple of years back to see some BR-era stuff knocking around, sometimes even in BR livery, and even purchased a Platform 5 loco book for old times' sake, but collecting numbers fails to appeal any more. I do however spend a lot of time watching trains, as my son loves them and Tokyo is an excellent place for all kinds of train-related activity (not to mention all the cheap but quality N gauge you can eat :beers: ).
Would I be correct in assuming that actual trainspotting is a very British hobby? I've never heard of it outside the UK, and while both countries I've lived in (Germany and Japan) are not short of enthusiasts, spotters per-se seem non-existent.
Hi all,
I've never been a number collector and living in Surrey near Woking as a boy in the 70s there wasn't really much to see that hadn't been seen the day before, just lots of EMUs. I used to cycle down to the mainline though after school to watch a class 50 pulling the express from Waterloo to Exeter St. Davids which to me was a treat.
I think the only other locos I saw were a class 73 that seemed to be at Woking all the time and a class 33 at Fratton after football matches in Portsmouth pulling the Cardiff train which departed just before the London one.
I think this is why I model Continental as when I traveled by train in Europe with my father, who did freelance travel writing, it was like having lived on Twixes all the time with the occasional Mars Bar, I now had a whole exotic sweet shop to look at.
With regard to the OP, I sort of do get a bit excited as I know nothing of British trains anymore really and don't see them that often so they're all sort of new to me. I have to go to Eastleigh now and again and make a point of having my lunch in my van in a supermarket car park there so I can watch the passenger trains but mainly some interesting freight manoeuvres.
I think living up north in the past (and possibly even now) would have have been much more interesting.
Cheers weave :beers:
Quote from: weave on October 21, 2017, 04:26:17 PM
Hi all,
I've never been a number collector and living in Surrey near Woking as a boy in the 70s there wasn't really much to see that hadn't been seen the day before, just lots of EMUs. I used to cycle down to the mainline though after school to watch a class 50 pulling the express from Waterloo to Exeter St. Davids which to me was a treat.
I think the only other locos I saw were a class 73 that seemed to be at Woking all the time and a class 33 at Fratton after football matches in Portsmouth pulling the Cardiff train which departed just before the London one.
I think this is why I model Continental as when I traveled by train in Europe with my father, who did freelance travel writing, it was like having lived on Twixes all the time with the occasional Mars Bar, I now had a whole exotic sweet shop to look at.
With regard to the OP, I sort of do get a bit excited as I know nothing of British trains anymore really and don't see them that often so they're all sort of new to me. I have to go to Eastleigh now and again and make a point of having my lunch in my van in a supermarket car park there so I can watch the passenger trains but mainly some interesting freight manoeuvres.
I think living up north in the past (and possibly even now) would have have been much more interesting.
Cheers weave :beers:
Compared to that I grew up in paradise... short ride to Birmingham New Street with a wide variety of diesels and AC electrics, and lived within cycling distance of the Lickey Incline... Never did understand the SR with its vast assortment of self-propelling Mk1 variants...
Hi Railsquid,
I'm honestly glad you had a better time. My dad did take me up to Reading to watch the Paddington to the West trains a couple of times and to King's Cross and Euston once which was a massive treat.
He wasn't a train fan at all really so was putting himself out although thinking about it he did let me wander off to do train things saying 'when you're ready or if anything happens you know where I am, I'll be here (THE BAR) so think he was having fun too :D.
The thing is I was quite happy just being near railways. My great uncle lived in Fishguard and I could spend all day at the harbour station. Only one train a day and a few wagons but I thought is was great. Waiting for the train and the ferry was fantastic. Another thing was you could wander around on the tracks without anyone saying anything (and you didn't get electrocuted!).
Simple, innocent days.
Cheers weave :beers:
Quote from: weave on October 21, 2017, 05:43:14 PM
Hi Railsquid,
I'm honestly glad you had a better time. My dad did take me up to Reading to watch the Paddington to the West trains a couple of times and to King's Cross and Euston once which was a massive treat.
He wasn't a train fan at all really so was putting himself out although thinking about it he did let me wander off to do train things saying 'when you're ready or if anything happens you know where I am, I'll be here (THE BAR) so think he was having fun too :D.
The thing is I was quite happy just being near railways. My great uncle lived in Fishguard and I could spend all day at the harbour station. Only one train a day and a few wagons but I thought is was great. Waiting for the train and the ferry was fantastic. Another thing was you could wander around on the tracks without anyone saying anything (and you didn't get electrocuted!).
Simple, innocent days.
I forget how we stumbled upon the information, but at some point I and my trainspotting comrade became aware that not only could we take the train from New Street to Bescot without being troubled by ticket inspectors, but could access part of the yard from the station with no risk of being eletrocuted unless one of us happened to be holding up a 3-yard long pole (which believe me was never the case).
I think my happiest train times were when I was living in a run down apartment in the former East Berlin overlooking the main east-west line through the city, sitting on the balcony on a warm summer evening watching the trains float through the night, wish I'd been able to take more photos...
Can no one remember the steam age, it was wonderful you actually saw a engine doing something with moving parts And always had a wave from the driver as it thundered past.
Quote from: first timer on October 21, 2017, 06:33:02 PM
Can no one remember the steam age, it was wonderful you actually saw a engine doing something with moving parts And always had a wave from the driver as it thundered past.
I was a trainspotter from the age of 8 or 9 at Wolverton, Bucks..
Steam galore but I didn't get much pocket money then so couldn't afford proper Ian Allan books. All my numbers were written in scrap note books which were all lost in the next house move (we had many :'()
I also used to travel back and forth between Wolverton and Northampton for schooling and lost count of the times I was invited onto the footplate by drivers I came to know. Never got a cab ride, though.
Even aged 12 or 13 (we're talking 1965-66) I was up with the larks and off out for the day. I used to see how many termini and sheds in London I could visit :)
By then I was getting enough from a paper round to afford the books to keep my numbers in.
Quote from: Intercity on October 21, 2017, 02:55:13 PM
Matt, the cheapest way without any railcards I know is to pick a date, as far in advance as you can and get the cheapest ticket available, National inquiries lists all available for the selected day, as an example I put in Newport to Reading day trip return for Nov 25th and got a 17.50 outbound and 20 return (37.50 total for the return trip)
For staying local the rail rovers can be decent value depending on where you want to go and how much you want to travel (too many to list but generally valid after rush hour and come in 3 in 7, 7 day and 14 day rovers)
Somethings since I was last there might have changed but cheap options are there, just need to dig around a little
Thank you, I appreciate that, but nearly £40 for a ride is still pretty steep, and if I wanted to take the kids? I suppose I could go to Cardiff and back for a few quid but it's not much of a trip.
Birmingham is less than £20 single, get a family railcard and kids are very cheap. Have a look for odd routes which no one wants to do!
Quote from: njee20 on October 21, 2017, 09:12:40 PM
Birmingham is less than £20 single, get a family railcard and kids are very cheap. Have a look for odd routes which no one wants to do!
Thank you, I will have a look round. :NGaugersRule:
Quote from: mattycoops43 on October 21, 2017, 09:15:18 PM
Quote from: njee20 on October 21, 2017, 09:12:40 PM
Birmingham is less than £20 single, get a family railcard and kids are very cheap. Have a look for odd routes which no one wants to do!
Thank you, I will have a look round. :NGaugersRule:
Would this be of any use for covering your local lines?
http://www.railrover.org/pages/explore-cardiff-and-valleys.html (http://www.railrover.org/pages/explore-cardiff-and-valleys.html)
Also, for travelling to Birmingham without Advance tickets you can save quite a bit by splitting at Cheltenham. It's nice to do a circular trip via Chepstow one way and Bristol Parkway the other.
In the 70s and 80s I grew up on a diet of Southern Region EMUs and loco-hauled services but Fratton Yard had its variety of departmentals and loco-hauled stock - but I very rarely jotted down loco or unit numbers.
Nowadays, it's the exceptional that interests me - e.g. Network Rail's yellow HST track measurement unit or the odd diesel-loco-hauled excursion or steam special.
Quote from: first timer on October 21, 2017, 06:33:02 PM
Can no one remember the steam age, it was wonderful you actually saw a engine doing something with moving parts And always had a wave from the driver as it thundered past.
Not without a time machine to take me back a few years before my birth...
Are you trying to say I,m old or just older than you ?
I can remember the steam age, but they didn't go thundering past, They all stopped at the station. Especially after 64 when the through line was cut.
I can just about remember 50s and 47s on the SWML. Otherwise it's always been EMUs for me! :-[
I miss the old SR slam door stock, the sounds of the compressors, the doors slamming shut, the squeal of the brakes, as a young un I would travel down to London away from all the loco hauled stuff and fast electrics just to ride around the Southern region, the third rail system and 12 car trains just kept me coming back for more (I did prefer the 4CIG units with the second class comp right behind the driver, so many used to think it was part of the first class seating), remember the Brighton express service with 8DIGs when they started it up? And no trip to the SR was complete without a trip on the GatEx with a 73 (once in a blue moon on diesel) and a thumper or two.