How the Hobby has changed over the Decades

[delt1c]

Reading the posts got me thinking how much the hobby has changed over the decades.

When I first became interested in railways in the late 1960s steam had gone, but a great variety of diesel and electric locos were around to savour.

I remember my first sighting of a Clayton at Bathgate and a friend commented that it was pushing out more fumes than a steam engine.

My first long day return trip was from Haymarket to Manchester, I remember being surprised when it arrived at Haymarket with a Skinhead 24 on the front, combining at Carstairs for my first Class 50 haulage, which unfortunately didn't fare well, as the 50 failed south of Lancaster and I only got as far Preston before having to return North. The Northbound journey at the time was uneventful, however with hindsight it included the Mk2 buffet conversion.

Then as more diesel classes were withdrawn I became interested in coaching stock and there was great amount of variation on the network at that time from pre-grouping passenger stock to Southern vans built for Elephant transportation. At this time there were still 6-wheeled vans running and 12-wheeled sleepers.

I enjoyed many hours on the end of platforms with enthusiasts of the time; we could only guess what would turn up, as not all services returned with the same stock or loco. That is what made it so interesting, the surprise factor.

Also I used to enjoy exploring disused lines, where the stations were still intact and often the lines still there and used for storage of condemed stock.

Now the hobby has become a lot more predictable and, thanks to the internet, we know what is coming before we even see it. Yes I know it is progress but the good old days sitting with other enthusiats sitting on a mail trolley at the end of a platform, sharing notes and views, while eating an apple pie and drinking a cold coffee for me are missed.

 

[Iskra]

Predictable = reliable. The trains might be less exciting these days, but most people are simply interested in getting to their destination and whether you like them or not, units usually do it faster and more reliably. Old trains are still around if you want to see them on preserved railways. That's a massive positive, that old trains are actually preserved and looked after at the end of service these days, not like back in BR when they were mostly hastily sent off for scrap (how many classes have we lost because nobody cared about the history back then).

I think there is some misplaced nostalgia too. I'm sure it wasn't all interesting in 'the good old days.' There are still positives to the hobby, you might have to look harder, but they are still there. Enthusiasts still can be found on the end of platforms and the camaraderie still exists. Perhaps it's positive that you can find out what's coming (although there are still no guarantees of course), as you can prioritise what interests you rather than having to spend long periods of time waiting and hoping. If you want to research something you come across on your travels, you can do it instantly on your phone, if you are delayed or your train is cancelled you can work out a new plan in seconds with all the required information to hand very easily. Instead of talking to two people on the end of a platform, you can canvass the opinions of hundreds if not thousands on RailUK. You can instantly share a picture of a train on twitter with millions of people.

Things change, you can either be positive about that, or negative. I know which I prefer. Nostalgia is nice, but I'm not convinced it was anywhere near as good a railway for moving people from A to B, perhaps we should appreciate the functional banality of our modern railway a little bit more?

 

[mrcheek]

The biggest change I noticed is that when I first had an interest in trains (1980ish), most enthusiasts hated HSTs because they werent proper locos.

Coming back to the railways 20 years later, enthusiasts now loved HSTs because they were the nearest thing we had left to proper locos

 

[Iskra]

The biggest change I noticed is that when I first had an interest in trains (1980ish), most enthusiasts hated HSTs because they werent proper locos.

Coming back to the railways 20 years later, enthusiasts now loved HSTs because they were the nearest thing we had left to proper locos

Yes, I suspect there will always be a degree of this. Steam v Diesel as an even earlier example.

We still do have TfW, Chiltern, TP, LNER, GWR, Scotrail, GC (soon) and CS all operating locomotive hauled services so things aren’t that bad. And with a number of these TOC’s LHCS will still be in place for the foreseeable future.

HST’s too will be are around for a while yet.

 

[xotGD]

Gone are the days of spending 2 hours at the lineside waiting to photograph freight and none turn up.

But on the flip side, being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time when something immense turns up is also much less likely.

Pros and cons of the modern technology at our disposal.

 

[Kendalian]

Gone are the days of spending 2 hours at the lineside waiting to photograph freight and none turn up.

But on the flip side, being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time when something immense turns up is also much less likely.

Pros and cons of the modern technology at our disposal.

Yes it's made so much difference (positive!) having the likes of RTT at the push of a button when waiting at the lineside!

As for us enthusiasts, we've got a lot older! Very rare now to see youngsters at the platform end compared to the early 1980s; most of us seem to be 50+ (myself included )

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Well in my lifetime a huge amount has changed. I was raised and started spotting in the late 1960s in Broughton, Preston so WCML. I saw steam including Brittannias and the introduction of diesels and double headed (now class 50s) 400ers. I remember Mark 2 aircon stock being introduced and then I saw the WCML electrified and all the electrics so no longer needed to go to Crewe. I saw the introduction of the Class 87s. I would go on shed bashes and in those days we just walked around depots and I cleared my locos in July 1976. I then attempted to get a photo of them all but ended up about 300 short. I saw withdrawals of westerns, warships, hymeks and north british. I remember seeing my first Clayton on Polmadie. Push and pull class 27s on Glasgow -Edinburgh. I remember my first Deltic D9010 which we took from York -Doncaster. I remember clearing my Tommies for the first time. I remember my first time going round Toton. I saw D2-D10 all on the same day. It was another 18months before I saw D1. Many great memories and so much has changed. I do of course remember the TOPS renumbering in the early 1970s.

Then the haulage craze came in - I remember APT runs and of course HSTs. I remember the intense electrification programme of the 1980s then privatization. Now a huge number of new trains. Now I just photograph and don't really do mileage runs or even collect numbers.

I still love the hobby. Vast changes though. I still find multiple units a bit boring though.

 

[Iskra]

Yes it's made so much difference (positive!) having the likes of RTT at the push of a button when waiting at the lineside!

As for us enthusiasts, we've got a lot older! Very rare now to see youngsters at the platform end compared to the early 1980s; most of us seem to be 50+ (myself included )

I think the youth engage in the hobby in a totally different way. They don't stand on platforms, but there are loads on twitter!

 

[theblackwatch]

I think the youth engage in the hobby in a totally different way. They don't stand on platforms, but there are loads on twitter!

You're right here - and hobbies/interests do evolve. Comparisonshave been made with the 1960s - remember folks, that's around 60 years back. If, in the 1960s, you'd posed a similar question, you would have been comparing it with the early 1900s - and I suspect you'd find people's hobbies/leisure activities were very different between 1960 and 1900 (more so than between the present and the 1960s)!

 

[Mag_seven]

I think what you like is very much dictated by what era you grew up in - I grew up in the 70s/80s where diesel / electric loco hauled was very much the thing which probably explains why diesel / electric loco hauled railtours today seem to be largely patronised by people in their 40s/50s!

 

[MDB1images]

The biggest change I noticed is that when I first had an interest in trains (1980ish), most enthusiasts hated HSTs because they werent proper locos.

Coming back to the railways 20 years later, enthusiasts now loved HSTs because they were the nearest thing we had left to proper locos

I was at Paddington for the last GWR chuck out, a thoroughly good effort but I wouldn't have crossed a platform to get on a HST in the 80's(and they had plenty clag and noise back then), just shows how things can change.