lostwin - BR in the mid 80's

[lostwin(m)]

A selection of shots taken at regional Scottish stations.

09/07/86. Ladybank. 27025 pulls in with the 12.15 Edinburgh - Dundee service. This one has a timeless feel for me, almost as if you could replace the train with that of a steam loco or a modern unit and everything else would look the same.

 

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22/10/86. North Berwick. Class 101 DMU basks in the late autumn sunshine with the 13.04 service to Haymarket - a route that follows the southern banks of the Firth of Forth.

 

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24/10/86. Milingavie. The driver of the Class 303 changes ends as the recently arrived unit will now form a service to Springburn.

 

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06/07/86. Fort William. Parcels are unloaded from the recently arrived service from Glasgow.

 

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14/07/86. Plockton. 37415 approaches with the 14.00 Kyle of Lockalsh - Inverness working. Even the station cat has come out to greet it!

 

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23/10/86. Burntisland. This station is situated right on the banks of the Firth of Forth.

 

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09/07/86. Arbroath. 47715 is reflected in the station windows as it pulls the 16.55 Edinburgh - Inverness into the scheduled stop.

 

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A couple of images of platform side accoutrements that might be of interest, as slightly more unusual. The first is taken at Carlisle and presumably would be salt for platform surfaces in the winter. The second is at London Bridge - what are these for?

 

[Sun Chariot]

The second is at London Bridge - what are these for?

View attachment 146044

Aren't they water cylinders for refilling the toilet tanks on the units?

 

[MDB1images]

Finally - and correct me if I am wrong here - but these Kent bound services had moved to London Bridge by 1987. Certainly, that is where I took this image of 33211 on the 04.09 to Ramsgate, 09/08/87. My notes also remind me that I had put my bags on the train to 'reserve' a seat whilst I took photos well before the official departure time, only to see the train power out of the platform. Fortunately, it was only a shunting manoeuvre and the train, with my stuff came back 5 mins later!
View attachment 144348

Cracking photo, love the story around it, suspect seeing the train depart with your gear caused more yhan a minor flap!

 

[lostwin(m)]

Aren't they water cylinders for refilling the toilet tanks on the units?

I knew it was going to be something pretty prosaic! They looked so futuristic that I was kind of hoping they were some sort of top secret krypton drive units for EMU’s that they only tested at the dead of night !

 

[Sun Chariot]

They looked so futuristic ... some sort of top secret krypton drive units for EMU’s that they only tested at the dead of night !

Ah - you'd seen the little-known hydrogen propulsion experiments, 35 years prior to the 2020's trials using converted EMUs.
4VEPs were chosen for the 1980's trial because, if the gas ignited accidentally and the whole darn thing went "POP",.then it could be passed off as "excess arcing" - and, besides, there were plenty more VEPs to use even if one went flambé...

 

[D6130]

Aren't they water cylinders for refilling the toilet tanks on the units?

IIRC from my days as a guard at Brighton in the 1980s, they were drinking water bowsers....used for topping-up the restaurant and buffet cars.

 

[Gloster]

A lot of the pipes that fed water to station platforms were lead or, in many cases, nobody knew what they were made of. It was fine for water for filling up the toilet tanks to be taken from these pipes, as the washbasins had a big notice saying ‘Not drinking water’, so you couldn’t complain. However, for cooking and hot drinks BR had to find an alternative supply, so good quality tanks that could be filled from a separate source were used.

 

[D6130]

A lot of the pipes that fed water to station platforms were lead or, in many cases, nobody knew what they were made of. It was fine for water for filling up the toilet tanks to be taken from these pipes, as the washbasins had a big notice saying ‘Not drinking water’, so you couldn’t complain. However, for cooking and hot drinks BR had to find an alternative supply, so good quality tanks that could be filled from a separate source were used.

When I worked in the Southern Region, South Western Divisional offices at Wimbledon in the mid-late 1970s, one of my colleagues was such a desperate crank that he collected the numbers of the drinking water bowsers at the Southern Region mainline stations....both the tractors and the tanker trollies. I won't name him in case he is a member or reader of the forum! IIRC, the two bowser trollies at Brighton when I worked there in the mid-1980s were S1888 and S1895. (Aaargh....I've blown my own cover there!)

 

[lostwin(m)]

When I worked in the Southern Region, South Western Divisional offices at Wimbledon in the mid-late 1970s, one of my colleagues was such a desperate crank that he collected the numbers of the drinking water bowsers at the Southern Region mainline stations....both the tractors and the tanker trollies. I won't name him in case he is a member or reader of the forum! IIRC, the two bowser trollies at Brighton when I worked there in the mid-1980s were S1888 and S1895. (Aaargh....I've blown my own cover there!)

oh dear!

 

[lostwin(m)]

Folkestone Warren. Did I say that I had spent many, many hours down here! It was - and still is - undoubtedly a stunning location and I am sure that was part of the pleasure. You could go down to the sea, disappear into the woods and try out the rope swings and wander along the cliff paths. But there was also an almost perverse sense of determination not to miss that rare working along the line that wasn't another Victoria bound EMU. And the more hours you waited it out, the greater the expectation that that dark blob that had just entered the tunnel would pop out a mail or freight working with a precious loco on the front.

Plenty of time too to use my camera, as this selection should show.

24/12/86. To illustrate my dedication, it's Christmas Eve, i had just come off an all nighter to get here and I still made the time for a couple of hours down at 'the front'. This was my bridge, it's still there, still looks the same. It's the only crossing for at least a mile in either direction. At the right point on the bridge you could see right through the tunnel to the east and glimpse approaching trains a mile away from the west, before they disappeared into the gloom and cutting respectively. Also in the picture is a London bound EMU, i never did bother determine their type or class...

 

[lostwin(m)]

10/04/85. IIRC, you had to pay to have your car towed away by a scrappy in the 80's - today they will usually pay you. This resulted in many abandoned vehicles, some of which were pushed over the cliff top for extra measure. This one (Austin Maxi?) had recently appeared.

 

[lostwin(m)]

24/10/85. With hours to spare and no shortage of units, various creative photography techniques could be tried out. Few have a failure rate as high as panning !

Eventually, one good image occurred...

 

[75A]

24/10/85. With hours to spare and no shortage of units, a bit of creative photography techniques could be tried out. Few have a failure rate as high as panning !

Eventually, one good image occurred...

View attachment 146099

Like it.

 

[lostwin(m)]

23/10/85. Anything to try and disguise another EMU...

 

[lostwin(m)]

11/08/87. This sort of thing made up for it though. 33206 bursts from Shakespeare tunnel with a random freight working - , probably one they just cobbled together out of pity as they had heard i had been waiting 2 years

 

[Gloster]

11/08/87. This sort of thing made up for it though. 33206 bursts from Shakespeare tunnel with a random freight working - , probably one they just cobbled together out of pity as they had heard i had been waiting 2 years

View attachment 146102

It is quite possible that the second wagon, a Tiphook bogie steel carrier (I think), was on delivery from Arbel Fauvet and the VEA in front had only been attached to turn it into a train.

 

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11/08/87. Right at the end of my rail photography days, they're actually started to become some more regular loco hauled traffic. 47619 heads the newly introduced 07.40 Manchester P - Dover WD cross country inter city working.

 

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Like it.

Cheers. I assume modern digital cameras have some sort of 'pan effect' button you can press to do this for you now!

 

[lostwin(m)]

Not too far down the road from Folkestone - especially when I had my bike available - was Dover. Hardly a mecca for locos either, an 09 shunter was the only reliable attendee - although strangely I didn't seem to take a photo of that. The odd bit of variety did pop up, as these shots all taken on 9th April 85 show.

A busy scene at Dover Priory Station with trains in both platforms 1 & 2 and carriage sidings to the left. What would the structure on 'stilts' be in the background - it looks an unusual shape for a water tower?

 

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Single, powered parcels carriage 68004 stands in the elevated stabling point at Dover Priory.

 

[Gloster]

Not too far down the road from Folkestone - especially when I had my bike available - was Dover. Hardly a mecca for locos either, an 09 shunter was the only reliable attendee - although strangely I didn't seem to take a photo of that. The odd bit of variety did pop up, as these shots all taken on 9th April 85 show.

A busy scene at Dover Priory Station with trains in both platforms 1 & 2 and carriage sidings to the left. What would the structure on 'stilts' be in the background - it looks an unusual shape for a water tower?
View attachment 146207

Probably a water tower with a roof.

 

[lostwin(m)]

An EMU approaches through the tunnel to the east west of the station (i was there the other day and realised my error) with the stock forming the 10.52 service to Victoria.

 

[lostwin(m)]

73125 starts to form the morning parcels train. Next stop would be Dover Western Docks where additional vans would be attached before heading (presumably?) to London.