Network SouthEast

[bakerstreet]

Not sure if it is just the happy memories of my younger days, the slam doors to all parts of urban London, a time of Routemaster buses and tube guards and Thames TV, my first experiences of train bashing when I had no idea it even had a name, journeys down to the summer sun and sea on the south coast, the vibrant colours and branding, the unique ticketing (Network AwayBreak and StayAway), the pride of having such a good looking real life train set to play with.. (cont P94, as they say) but... all that said and done... wasn't Network SouthEast the best railway brand and network ever?

 

[shinkansen1966]

Network South East was the second best UK rail brand, ever.
The best was INTERCITY. It was actually first used in this country in the 1950s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterCity

Then copied around the world and became excellent national product in the UK.

Remember those relaxing ads ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVXlyafEaaA


The government of the 1990s and private companies who wanted to run our rails, let it go. And we shall probably never see InterCity used on railways here ever again. :cry:

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The Canterbury West signalbox still has a Network SouthEast logo on the nameboard facing the platforms...

 

[b0b]

The route branding of NSE trains along with the Eddie Pond art was a lot of fun. I have an Eddie Pond poster in my office, they come up on ebay every now and again.

 

[Aictos]

The Canterbury West signalbox still has a Network SouthEast logo on the nameboard facing the platforms...

The Northern City Line between Highbury and Islington and Moorgate is stuck in the NSE era!

 

[LE Greys]

NSE was never quite finished. The Networker Project would have halved the age of rolling stock if it had been implemented in full. However, the sector certainly did very well. I loved the livery, it refreshed the older stock while looking equally good on newer stock, that's probably why Chiltern have effectively carried on with it. Rail Blue always looked drab by comparison (I just remember it on 317s before the repaint). The red lamp posts never quite worked, but the colours made run-down stations look a whole lot better.

I hope that someone repaints a rake of MkIIs in the old colours, to run behind a Class 50 on railtours.

 

[EM2]

The one thing I loved about NSE was whenever I was sat on a deserted platform, waiting...and waiting...and waiting...there was always 'tick...tick...tick...' from the big digital clock.

 

[yorksrob]

One of the many good points about Network SouthEast was that they had in place a programme of rolling electrification and rolling stock cascades of the sort we need to see today. It even went beyond NSE with the 308's to Yorkshire.

So yes - I agree with the OP (although Inter-City might be up there as well).

I did find the ticking clocks a little irritating at the time though

 

[b0b]

The one thing I loved about NSE was whenever I was sat on a deserted platform, waiting...and waiting...and waiting...there was always 'tick...tick...tick...' from the big digital clock.

I love those clocks too... there's a place that sold them at one point but they were not cheap!

It was fun to hear the ripple of digit changes, like between 23:59:59 and 00:00:00

edit: and a 24 hour clock that uses a leading 0 for the hours, like a proper clock should!

edit 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSaxIoHXNjY

edit 3: http://www.distel.co.uk/asps/viewimage.asp?ID=27401TG04&ER=0.673&CY=USD&AP=1114.41

 

[wintonian]

I used to set my watch by the big red clock, but now due to computerisation there is a delay so there not as accurate.

And everything NSE was red.

 

[yorksrob]

I noticed at Charing Cross recently that the clocks were still red with the NSE lozenge Never hear the ticking anymore but that might be because I've always got an MP3 player on.

 

[GearJammer]

The one thing I loved about NSE was whenever I was sat on a deserted platform, waiting...and waiting...and waiting...there was always 'tick...tick...tick...' from the big digital clock.

I did find the ticking clocks a little irritating at the time though

Funnily enough i have to agree with both posts, it was irratating but i do miss it now its not there! Hopefully some are preserved somewhere?

........... so were all agreed then, the best thing about NSE was the clocks?

I hope that someone repaints a rake of MkIIs in the old colours, to run behind a Class 50 on railtours.

Yep totally agree, but the best bit is that it would'nt look to out of place with other classes of locos on the front, and they don't have to be NSE liveried either, BR blue, BR Large Logo, Railfreight large logo, railfreight triple grey and Dutch... none would look that out of place on the front!

Just out of interest, how much of the MK2 stock that was used by NSE still survive, especially on the mainline? Would i be right in thinking that most of the current 'Green train' that is currantly steam hauled on the main line is made up of this stock?

Good old NSE, the more i think about it the more happy memories it brings back!

 

[yorksrob]

........... so were all agreed then, the best thing about NSE was the clocks?

Nah, for me, aside from the legacy of a well organised and well marketed railway network which managed to achieve an enviable level of renewal with minimal public subsidy, the best thing personally would have to be comfortable old slammers looking resplendent and shiny in red white and blue

 

[MidnightFlyer]

The Northern City Line between Highbury and Islington and Moorgate is stuck in the NSE era!

Yeah the station nameboards and signs are all in the design. Drayton Park isn't though. Everything else is now in SN/SE/FCC styles.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Anyone remember how they were being so strict about keeping the NSE name and livery secret with everything securely covered up and extra staff standing artound making sure nobody got a sneak peep before the launch date but a few days before the launch they then left a freshly painted EMU outside Selhurst depot for several hours?

 

[yorksrob]

Where I grew up in Kent, we'd already had Jaffa Cake for a while which had itself created a bit of a stir in the playground, so the NSE launch proper probably didn't have quite as much impact as in some areas.

 

[shinkansen1966]

The one thing I loved about NSE was whenever I was sat on a deserted platform, waiting...and waiting...and waiting...there was always 'tick...tick...tick...' from the big digital clock.

LOL. Me too. Memories coming flooding back. Then, of course, you'd get the multiple ticks when the minutes or hours rolled over. T, t, t, tick...tick..tick...

 

[LE Greys]

LOL. Me too. Memories coming flooding back. Then, of course, you'd get the multiple ticks when the minutes or hours rolled over. T, t, t, tick...tick..tick...

They got a bit beyond NSE. I remember the one at Westbury on bleak winter nights while waiting for the Frome stopper. It was best when 19:59:59 became 20:00:00

 

[ainsworth74]

They got a bit beyond NSE.

I'm fairly sure there was one at Doncaster on platform 7ish, that side of the station anyway. I like them personally, more so than the LED clocks we now have commonly on the network.

 

[Aictos]

The one thing I loved about NSE was whenever I was sat on a deserted platform, waiting...and waiting...and waiting...there was always 'tick...tick...tick...' from the big digital clock.

Hertford North still has one although the text isn't too clear on one side, it's still in working order and is the loudest thing on the station after the 01:38 has left!

I used to set my watch by the big red clock, but now due to computerisation there is a delay so there not as accurate.

And everything NSE was red.

The one at Hertford North is quoted to be very accurate indeed it's the only one on the GN which many set their watches by, myself included.

I love those clocks too... there's a place that sold them at one point but they were not cheap!

It was fun to hear the ripple of digit changes, like between 23:59:59 and 00:00:00

edit: and a 24 hour clock that uses a leading 0 for the hours, like a proper clock should!

edit 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSaxIoHXNjY

edit 3: http://www.distel.co.uk/asps/viewimage.asp?ID=27401TG04&ER=0.673&CY=USD&AP=1114.41

Really, I would have love to have one in the garden Who actually manufactured them in the first place as I'm trying to google them but with no luck as I don't know where to start.

Yeah the station nameboards and signs are all in the design. Drayton Park isn't though. Everything else is now in SN/SE/FCC styles.

Yes but Drayton Park isn't between Highbury and Islington and Moorgate now is it? Which is why it was not initially mentioned by moi.

It's between Highbury and Islington and Finsbury Park to the best of my FCC route knowledge.

 

[GearJammer]

Really, I would have love to have one in the garden

Yeah i bet your neighbours would love it to, lol

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Yes but Drayton Park isn't between Highbury and Islington and Moorgate now is it? Which is why it was not initially mentioned by moi.

It's between Highbury and Islington and Finsbury Park to the best of my FCC route knowledge.

Yeah... was just trying to show its just that random part of track H & I - Moorgate that is still in the 90s... knew full well it was FBP-H & I. thanks

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Really, I would have love to have one in the garden Who actually manufactured them in the first place as I'm trying to google them but with no luck as I don't know where to start.

We'ren't they made by Solari, who also did the flip board indicators?

 

[Mojo]

As a person who grew up on NSE in the 1990s I certaintly do remember those clocks well and always remember asking my mum one morning what time 37:89:00 was

 

[Solent&Wessex]

The clocks survive in quite a few places - as does NSE branding. Ryde Esplanade station has a nice ticking clock which still has the NSE logo on. Shanklin station booking office is wonderful - red window surround, NSE sign, NSE Position Closed blind, and it still has the digital display built into the frame for the displaying the price info from the Aptis machine.

The NSE logo can also be found in the platform edge stones at Bank station on the Underground Waterloo and City line platforms.

Newhaven Marine station still had a full set of NSE station nameboards when I visited last year.

You can often find NSE artifacts dotted around all over the Southern Region if you keep your eyes peeled.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Funnily enough i have to agree with both posts, it was irratating but i do miss it now its not there! Hopefully some are preserved somewhere?

........... so were all agreed then, the best thing about NSE was the clocks?



Yep totally agree, but the best bit is that it would'nt look to out of place with other classes of locos on the front, and they don't have to be NSE liveried either, BR blue, BR Large Logo, Railfreight large logo, railfreight triple grey and Dutch... none would look that out of place on the front!

Just out of interest, how much of the MK2 stock that was used by NSE still survive, especially on the mainline? Would i be right in thinking that most of the current 'Green train' that is currantly steam hauled on the main line is made up of this stock?

Good old NSE, the more i think about it the more happy memories it brings back!

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway had a Mark 1 which was still in NSE style internally, with Edward Pond paintings etc. Sadly it got refurbished last year and that and all the formica has gone.

2 years ago I noted the Bodmin and Wenford Railway using a maroon Mark 2 which was still NSE style inside - complete with route maps on the walls!

 

[RPM]

The route branding of NSE trains along with the Eddie Pond art was a lot of fun. I have an Eddie Pond poster in my office, they come up on ebay every now and again.

I loved all the Eddie Pond artwork and I tried to photograph as many of the murals as possible before they were lost to refurbishment.

http://anoraksia.ukgeeks.co.uk/c766143.html

Eddie pond found my site and sent me a load more of his posters and route brandings which are also on there now:

http://anoraksia.ukgeeks.co.uk/c1202150.html
http://anoraksia.ukgeeks.co.uk/c1279923.html

Iconic stuff!

 

[Mojo]

I loved all the Eddie Pond artwork and I tried to photograph as many of the murals as possible before they were lost to refurbishment.

Iconic stuff!

Wow! Thanks for posting these; they really brings back some memories of sitting in those lovely red seats with light switches in the armrests in First class on a 165 as a child (and probably a teenager!) staring at these. I don't think I noticed that they had different versions between First and Standard at the time but now I can see it and rather cleverly the First class ones have red to match the seats and the Standard ones have blue, presumably for the same purpose!

Can you still see these on any other units like the electric Networkers?

 

[atomicdanny]

As a person who grew up on NSE in the 1990s I certaintly do remember those clocks well and always remember asking my mum one morning what time 37:89:00 was

It used to happen a lot at Aylesham and Dover Priory, where they would randomly show the wrong numbers, lol. Although I miss them now that they are gone they were far better than the current ones.

There might be one electric loco still in nse though? (although not the best picture, although taken in February)

 

[merlodlliw]

Used to see NSE stock on the Euston to Pwlhelli Saturday summer specials

 

[Aictos]

I loved all the Eddie Pond artwork and I tried to photograph as many of the murals as possible before they were lost to refurbishment.

http://anoraksia.ukgeeks.co.uk/c766143.html

Eddie pond found my site and sent me a load more of his posters and route brandings which are also on there now:

http://anoraksia.ukgeeks.co.uk/c1202150.html
http://anoraksia.ukgeeks.co.uk/c1279923.html

Iconic stuff!

Love the site, don't suppose you might be lucky enough to find any West Anglia, Great Northern or Thameslink posters or murals....please?