SOUTHERN STEAM: The final flourish 50

Transcription

1 SOUTHERN STEAM: The final flourish 50 Southern Steam the final flourish

2 SOUTHERN STEAM The final flourish CONTENTS Beginners Luck Alan Varley : Stanier Black 5's on the LSWR Bevan Price 5 May-67 David Lloyd-Roberts 7 18th June 1967 revisited Frank Price 7 Last Saturday of Steam Don Benn 9 Prior to the Bournemouth electrification Martin Barrett 10 The Final Days Martin Barrett 24 The Grand Flourish Michael Rowe 48 Introduction- David Ashley In this special supplement, we commemorate the 50 th anniversary of the end of Southern steam. In what may become a ritual in the production of these commemorative booklets, we look again at the events that happened in the anniversary year (1967): In the world of sport, Foinavon, a outsider, won the Grand National. Whilst I would not consider myself an avid sports fanatic, I can vividly remember the 1967 European Cup Final when Celtic came from behind to beat Inter Milan 2-1. In the political world, the pound was devalued from $2.80 to $2.40 (Remember the pound in your pocket), Harold Wilson decided to apply for EEC membership and was vetoed by Charles De Gaulle again. In the transport world, forty died in the Hither Green rail crash and the Torrey Canyon oil spill caused major damage in Cornwall to the eco system and the tourist industry. In the world of entertainment, pirate radio became illegal and the BBC introduced Radio 1,2,3 and 4. They also introduced colour television broadcasts on BBC2. The first edition of Just a Minute was broadcast. It is still going now, and with the same chairman, Nicholas Parsons, aged 93. Keith Richard and Mick Jagger were jailed for possessing illegal drugs. In what is unlikely to be a precedent, we can add another Eurovision song contest winning statistic in this anniversary year, with Sandie Shaw winning with Puppet on a String My own experiences of the end of steam were - at best mixed, and Southern steam really did not endear itself to me: living in Nottinghamshire at the time, and with limited means, dictated that out-and-back journeys were the only option. I made a single attempt to sample steam travel with a return journey from Waterloo to Bournemouth in October However, with speed rarely exceeding 50mph, time was lost throughout, and making a return to Waterloo before nightfall required baling out of the down train at Brockenhurst (50 minutes late), and returning to Southampton on a stopping train which in retrospect was the highlight of the day, with spirited running behind the ubiquitous Thankfully, some of our regular contributors fared better, and have provided articles that recreate the spirit of the time. Southern Steam the final flourish

3 Alan Varley recalls his early experiences of the Atlantic Coast Express between Waterloo and Salisbury. Bevan Price experienced unusual Cross Country runs between Reading and Bournemouth behind LMR Black 5s. David Lloyd Roberts explains one of his final steam runs from Bournemouth to Waterloo, while Frank Price describes a rail-tour to and from Swanage shortly before the end of steam. Don Benn recalls his final journey on the 0245 Waterloo newspaper train Readers will be aware that the late Martin Barrett produced a series of articles chronicling his experiences on the Bournemouth line during the final two years of Southern steam. We print here the next instalment of these articles, and also reprint his article covering the final nine days in July 1967, which were first printed in Milepost 14¾ and 15¼ Finally, Michael Rowe reminisces about his travels in 1966 and 1967 and brings together some of the exceptional activities that were recorded by him and other recorders at the time. Beginner s luck - Alan Varley My first runs with the Atlantic Coast Express between Salisbury and Waterloo date back to the summer of Both were with Driver Saunders of Salisbury, both with the same quite substantial load, 13 coaches for 475 tons gross, and both with the same loco, Nederland Line. And the first, above all, set very high standards which I never again matched in over a score of other runs in both directions in the next two years. This first run was by some lengths the best. The ACE left Salisbury 4 minutes late and the hardest work was done in the first 20 minutes, with a fast time to Tunnel Junction despite some slipping and then 53/52 past Porton for an output of around 1700 EDHP up to Allington, and a full 90 maximum before Red Post though Andover was an excellent time with this load, enabling even time to be attained by Whitchurch, although the effort from Hurstborne to Worting was not quite up to the level of the earlier climbing. There was another high maximum after Basingstoke and then some irregular speeds with several easings. At Woking, with 25 minutes remaining, a punctual arrival seemed possible but two severe signal checks, at Weybridge and Walton, put paid to that. With a conservative estimate of a time of a little under 9 minutes from West Byfleet to New Malden the net time comes out as 74¾ minutes not a record by any means but nevertheless a fine time with this load and a mouth-watering introduction to the Atlantic Coast Express. A month later I timed the down train (Table 2, run 1). With an almost punctual start there was some restraint at first but as so often happened the ACE caught the 1054 departure from Waterloo before the latter crossed to the slow line platform at Woking. Outputs of around 1400 EDHP were enough to get us up to 80 by Milepost 44, well sustained on towards Basingstoke, so that Driver Saunders actually braked here was there, maybe, a fleeting sighting of a distant ahead? At all events 64 at Basingstoke and 60 over the summit at Worting, compared with a more normal 70/65, hampered the initial acceleration on the West of England line we were around 30 seconds slower from Basingstoke to Overton than might have been expected. After that, though, it was back to high speed with 88 at Andover and 92 below Porton. The minimum at Grateley was good with this load but not exceptional. Helped by a fast approach to Salisbury the Worting Jc-Salisbury time was 27 39, which might be qualified as normally fast despite the slow early stage. Net time was around 76 minutes, or 75½ if the Basingstoke braking was indeed a check. Southern Steam the final flourish

4 Table 1 Salisbury-Waterloo Train Date Load 13/432/475 Loco Atlantic Coast Express Nederland Line M C Miles m s mph ave ,00 Salisbury ,10 Tunnel Jc / ,36 Porton ,03 Allington ,93 Grateley / ,93 Red Post Jc ,29 Andover ,05 MP 62½ ,57 Hurstbourne / ,53 Whitchurch ,07 Overton ,26 Oakley ,38 Worting Jc ,89 Basingstoke / ,65 MP / ,47 Hook / ,83 Winchfield / ,16 Fleet ,42 Farnborough ,67 MP ,67 Brookwood ,31 Woking ,02 W Byfleet ,58 Weybridge *sigs/ ,57 Walton *sigs ,34 Hampton Ct Jc ,64 Surbiton ,87 New Maldon / ,42 Wimbledon ,88 Clapham Jc */ ,37 Vauxhall * ,63 Waterloo A few months later Ian Bliss also enjoyed a bright introduction to ACE running (Table 2 run 2). The load was still 13, though less well filled than in the summer. This driver s style (it was probably Allen of Salisbury, if the roster was adhered to) was quite different: hardly any speeds over the 85 SR limit but very hard work uphill and on the level. This run was checked much earlier, at Esher, but then produced a 1700 EDHP climb through Woking (perhaps a little more at first, easing over the summit) and 80+ speeds on the level through Fleet. This run too braked for Basingstoke but recovered more energetically and again turned on the power to go over Grateley summit at almost 70 from a relatively slow speed through Red Post Junction. The approach to Salisbury was taken quite gently, probably because the train was well on time; net time was 75 minutes, but the running was worth the 74½ that would have been possible with a stop like that of run 1. Southern Steam the final flourish

5 Table 2 Waterloo-Salisbury Run n 1 2 Train 1100 Waterloo-West 1100 Waterloo-West Date /431/460 Load 13/432/ Shaw Saville Loco Nederland Line M C Miles m s mph ave m s mph ave ,00 Waterloo ,26 Vauxhall / / ,75 Clapham Jc * ,21 Wimbledon ,76 New Maldon ,99 Surbiton ,29 Hampton Ct Jc / /22*sigs ,06 Walton ,05 Weybridge *sigs / ,61 W Byfleet /56/47*sigs ,32 Woking ,96 Brookwood ,96 MP ,21 Farnborough ,47 Fleet / ,80 Winchfield / /80/ ,16 Hook ,98 MP ,74 Basingstoke * * ,25 Worting Jc ,37 Oakley / ,56 Overton ,10 Whitchurch ,06 Hurstbourne ,58 MP 62½ / ,34 Andover ,70 Red Post Jc ,10 MP ,70 Grateley /65 75, / ,60 Allington ,27 Porton / ,53 Tunnel Jc * * ,63 Salisbury : Stanier Black 5s on the LSWR Bevan Price. Run 1 was on the Poole - Newcastle service, which at that time was booked for a Black 5 south of Banbury. The train was booked to change at Banbury to a diesel loco., and continue north via the Great Central route. Black 5s had replaced ex-gwr motive power when the Banbury to Birmingham area was transferred from Western to London Midland Region. I rode on this train from Bournemouth Central as far as Reading West. (The train used Reading west Curve, and continued via Oxford) Southern Steam the final flourish

6 44780 was a Tyseley loco, presumably having worked south on the previous day. In summer 1966, electrification work was still progressing on the Bournemouth line, and tsrs & signal checks were fairly common. With a heavy 11 coach load, I consider the performance satisfactory, if not outstanding. The checks between Eastleigh & Winchester Jn may have been caused by the preceding 11:53 Southampton Terminus - Alton. Inevitably, time was lost as far as Basingstoke, but then regained over 9 minutes on an admittedly leisurely schedule to Reading West. (And this remains the current fastest steam time on that final section.) Run 2 was on the summer Saturday Poole - Sheffield Midland service. Somewhat surprisingly, a Shrewsbury Black 5, had found its way onto this train, and the load of 12 coaches plus a parcels van was a definite challenge for a Class 5. I only rode this service between Southampton Central & Basingstoke. Once again, I would call the performance creditable rather than outstanding., and just over 2 minutes were lost between Winchester & Basingstoke. Looking through old issues of Railway Observer, I noted that a Black 5 even managed to appear on a Waterloo - Bournemouth service during I wonder if anyone timed it? (I can t find anything on the RPS database).. Run 1 2 Date 23-Jun Jul-66 Train 10:30 Poole - 10:42 Poole - Newcastle Sheffield Mid. Loco Load 11/380/- 12+1v/412 Recorder B. Price,?/12 B. Price,?/14 Miles m c Location Sch m s mph Sch m s mph BOURNEMOUTH CEN L/tsr Boscombe POKESDOWN CHRISTCHURCH Hinton Admiral NEW MILTON Sway Lymington Jcn BROCKENHURST Beaulieu Road / Lyndhurst Road Totton * Redbridge * Millbrook * SOUTHAMPTON CEN SOUTHAMPTON CEN L L St. Denys Swaythling Southampton Airport EASTLEIGH L/sig RT Shawford WINCHESTER Southern Steam the final flourish

7 Miles m c Location Sch m s mph Sch m s mph WINCHESTER L L s stop 3:37-4: Winchester Jcn Micheldever Roundwood Box Wootton Box Worting Jcn tsr tsr BASINGSTOKE BASINGSTOKE L/ Bramley / Mortimer / Southcote Jn READING WEST All speeds estimated from rail joints. May 1967 David Lloyd-Roberts David recalls a run from Bournemouth to Waterloo. He says the driver would have been changed at Southampton. His recollection was that the locomotive was well-driven, but not thrashed, as of course- some were during this period. Date 06/05/1967 m c sch m s mph Train 1833 Bournemouth Winchester Jn Loco Wallers Ash Box Load 2,10,331/ Micheldever Recorder D Lloyd-Roberts Roundwood /74/69 m c sch m s mph Worting Jn / Bournemouth L Basingstoke / Boscombe Hook / Pokesdown Winchfield / Christchurch Fleet Hinton Admiral / Farnborough pws New Milton / MP Sway / Brookwood / Lymington Jn / Woking Brockenhurst / West Byfleet Woodfidley / Byfleet Beaulieu Road / Weybridge Lyndhurst Road / Walton-on-Thames Totton sig 45/ Hersham Redbridge sig 45/ss35s Esher Southampton Cen Hampton Ct.Jn Surbiton Northam Jn Box New Malden St Denys Wimbledon / Swaythling Earlsfield Eastleigh /20tsr 4 00 Clapham Jn / Shawford Vauxhall Winchester * 05 Waterloo E 18 June 1967 Revisited. Frank Price The 18 th of June 1967 marked the last time steam visited Swanage in the pre-preservation area. The occasion was a Railway Correspondence and Travel Society railtour from Waterloo, just three weeks before the end of steam on the Southern Region. Southern Steam the final flourish

8 1967 was the summer of love and flower power. Scott Mackenzie enjoined us to wear some flowers in our hair, the Beatles released Sergeant Pepper, and in the Kinks' 'Waterloo Sunset', surely a paean to the last days of steam, Terry met Julie at Waterloo station every Friday night also saw the end of steam on the Southern Region and the finale of steam at London termini. A number of railtours were run in the final weeks and I felt that one of these had to be travelled on to mark the occasion. In 1967 I was a student at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne not the easiest place to start the journey, but at that time there were still overnight trains where it was possible to travel 'on the cushions' to London, taking advantage of a cheap return fare of 62/6d ( 3.12½ in today's money). So, I caught the 2314 from Newcastle, Deltic hauled, arriving at Kings Cross at 5am. Crossing London by tube to Waterloo allowed time for breakfast before joining the stock of the special. For the first leg, we had and and, after unusually travelling via East Putney to Wimbledon to pick up the mainline, we headed down through Cobham and the Portsmouth direct line through Guildford and Petersfield to Fareham. It was a glorious sunny day, and we later learnt that a number of lineside fires had been started near Haslemere which were attributed to our train. At Fareham, our two engines came off to be replaced by During a photo stop at Southampton Central was added for the trip via Bournemouth to Wareham, where was detached and added to the rear of the train. Then on to Worgret Junction and down the branch to Swanage where participants swarmed over the tracks to get photos. No hi-vis jackets or concerns about trespass then! Our 12-carriage train meant that was well off the platform and under the road bridge at the north of Swanage station. We then retraced our steps to Wareham where the train reversed and the standard tank was detached before we continued to Weymouth, pausing by the shed to set down those who wished to look around. Like the others on the Southern, the shed closed to steam on 9 July. Date 18/06/1967 miles sch m s mph Train RCTS Railtour Basingstoke /78 Loco Hook Load 12,397/ Winchfield Recorder Mark Warburton Fleet Driver P Terry Farnhorough miles sch m s mph MP tsr 0.00 SALISBURY Brookwood / Tunnel J Woking Porton West Byfleet Allington Byfleet mp Weybridge Grateley Walton-on-Thames Red Post / Esher Andover Hampton Ct.Jn MP Surbiton Hutrstbourne New Malden Whitchurch Wimbledon sig Overton Earlsfield /35sig Oakley Clapham Jn Worting Jn e/56tsr Vauxhall To MR Waterloo For our return, we had two Bulleid light pacifics: one un-rebuilt and one rebuilt, and They took us via Southampton and Romsey to Salisbury, where we again reversed and changed engines for the last time - to Merchant Navy 35013, formerly 'Blue Funnel' but now like most of its contemporaries minus its nameplates. We had a planned 80-minutes non-stop run to Waterloo and we made a good start, covering the 58 miles from just before Andover to New Malden at an average of 74mph, with a maximum of 85mph at Fleet, but a succession of signal checks in the London suburbs meant that the final time was just over 85 Southern Steam the final flourish

9 minutes. There is a log of the run, by M Warburton, printed below. Arrival back at Waterloo was just after 9 pm, rather late and almost twelve hours after we had started. Still 'a grand day out': six different engines and 350 miles of steam was good value for the ticket priced at four pounds, on what turned out to be the last society railtour before the end of steam on the Southern. Then it was time to return to Kings Cross for the 0005 newspaper and parcels train to Newcastle, Peak hauled. Little did I think at the time that 25 years later I would again depart Waterloo behind a Bulleid pacific or that 42 years later I would be at Wareham to see the first through steam-hauled train to Swanage in the preservation era. But as they say, they are different stories. THE LAST SATURDAY OF STEAM Don Benn The last few weeks of Southern steam were a frantic time, as we chased the remaining steam locos to get as many runs as possible, forsaking lineside photography in the process. The last Saturday morning saw us on the 2.45 am train from Waterloo behind Rebuilt West Country class No Brentor which had earlier arrived with the last steam hauled 6.15 pm from Weymouth. Our crew were Gordon Porter and fireman Randall. Gordon was one of the fast men who never carried a watch but could always be relied on the produce great performances whatever the condition of the engine. He gave me what I consider to be my best 100 mph run with steam: 103 mph near Fleet with No Clan Line with the 365 ton 5.30 pm from Weymouth on 12 th December His normal mate was Tom Moult but on this night, he wasn t around. At departure time, I counted 129 passengers, mostly enthusiasts, all hoping for a good run as Gordon Porter was driving. It was raining and we weren t banked out of Waterloo so the start was very slow and nothing special was noted to Woking, except for a lively 75 after Raynes Park. From Woking though, still in the rain, we ran very well to Basingstoke, reaching 75 mph at milepost 31 and 90 mph after Fleet, where steam pressure was down to 130 lbs. Even so we ran from Woking inside even time and then gave me my fastest actual time to Winchester of 18 minutes 13 seconds for the miles with a nice spell in the 90s down the bank. We were eight minutes early at Winchester and during that time word came back that Gordon Porter had requested my presence up front and so for the last time on that damp and misty morning I rode on the footplate of an engine on the main line, and with my favourite driver as well. It could hardly have been any better. Details of this section are shown in the log. (The log for the complete journey appears as run 30 on page 38) Date Saturday 8th July 1967 Train 245 am Waterloo to Bournemouth Loco Rebuilt West Country class No Brentor Load 3 coaches and 4 vans, 178 tons tare 190 tons gross Crewe Driver Gordon Porter and fireman Randall, Nine Elms MPD Weather Damp and misty Recorder DB from footplate miles sched mins secs speed regulator cut off boiler steam chest 0.00 Winchester ¼ St Cross Box /60 full tsr 46* shut Shawford Jct * ½ Shawford ½ ¾ MP ¾ MP full sigs 35* shut Allbrook Box ⅓ Eastleigh net time 8 minutes Southern Steam the final flourish

10 The Bournemouth Line electrification June 1965 to July 1967 Martin Barrett Rumours were going around that steam would finish at the end of May hence the flurry of last steam railtours, so I booked the week off work so I could spend all my time on the LSW, and it was on Friday evening I left early to catch 1723 from Waterloo (run 1). This week it had in charge with a light load of only nine coaches, but due to the density of traffic in the evening peak it made the usual sedate progress barely exceeding 60 mph before Woking, then gently falling to 49mph by MP31. It appears the regulator was eased even more as speed dropped to 45mph by Farnborough and didn t recover much before Basingstoke. Despite all this, we had recovered one of the two minutes late start by Worting Jn and eventually after reaching a maximum of 69mph at Wallers Ash, we stood five minutes approaching Winchester Jn. The journey forward to Southampton was no better it looks like an easy turn for the fireman. If I thought that was slow then 0830 down (run 2) with on Saturday 20 May, with Driver Sullivan in charge according to Mr Bloxham, soon dispelled my illusions. Albeit it had 13 vehicles, but one tsr and one signal check with speed barely exceeding 60 mph saw us through Worting Jn in 64½ minutes although a little more effort was made up to MP31. From Wootton, we seemed to coast down through Eastleigh and another couple of tsrs ensured we arrived at Southampton in over 100 minutes. After three extra minutes detaching the boat portion running was definitely better with Bournemouth being reached in 33½ minutes with a maximum of 72mph down the bank. With only five on beyond Bournemouth, no more time was lost to Wareham, arriving 7 minutes late. Third time lucky! Sunday morning saw me on 1130 from Waterloo (run 3) with on only seven. Even running local line to Wimbledon (and passing Clapham Jn at 52mph), we still beat the 18-minute schedule to Hampton Court Jn and with speed in the low 60s, MP31 passed at 64mph after passing Woking at 59mph, we eventually passed Hook in only 46m21s, over 10 minutes quicker than the previous day. Needless to say, we sat outside Basingstoke for a few minutes. Sometimes single line working actually works very well, and today it did. Having stopped in the loop at Wallers Ash, we went through the SLW and only lost four minutes on the normal schedule to Winchester. Of course, things never go according to plan all of the time, so with two tsrs, local line running from St Denys and a stop outside Southampton, overall ten minutes was lost from Waterloo. By slick running, most of this was regained by Bournemouth. Monday 22 May, 0835 from Waterloo (run 4) on 9. Appalling start to the journey with signals before and after Clapham Jn together with the tsr a further three minutes lost to Surbiton in addition to the 3¼ minutes late start. Never mind we went out of Surbiton like a rocket reaching 76mph after Byfleet not the usual experience and picked up five of the lost minutes by Woking. We then stood over five minutes in Woking so once again we shot out of the station reaching 67mph at MP31 before the 60mph tsr before Farnborough, from where we powered away reaching 82mph before a check spoilt the run to Basingstoke we were inside even-time by Hook. We stood nearly eight minutes at Basingstoke, but once again the driver made the most of a clear run reaching Winchester in under 20 minutes with a maximum of 88mph after Wallers Ash another five minutes here! Things calmed down then until a sudden burst of speed to 78mph before Brockenhurst re-energised me. A quick 75mph through Hinton Admiral provided a fitting climax to an excellent run. Southern Steam the final flourish

11 Having returned to London, I decided on a valedictory trip to Salisbury so I joined 1535 down (run 5) which by now was an electro-diesel pushing 8 TC coaches. It barely needed to exceed 60 mph to keep time here, but interesting to note that tsr after Clapham Jn had gone, but been replaced by another before Byfleet. I was very fortunate to have made such a good run earlier in the day. Run No Fri Sat Sun Date 19 May May May 1967 Train 1723 Waterloo 0830 Waterloo 1130 Waterloo Loco Load 9/301/ BG/429/460 6+BG/230/245 m ch location sch m s mph sch m s mph sch m s mph 0 11 Waterloo late ½ late L/LL 1 29 Vauxhall / / / Clapham Jn /49 tsr 25 tsr Earlsfield XTL 7 25 Wimbledon Raynes Park New Malden / Berrylands Surbiton Hampton Ct Jn Esher / Hersham /27s Walton / Weybridge Byfleet / West Byfleet Woking Woking Jn /56 33½ / / Brookwood / / MP / / / Farnborough / Fleet / / / Winchfield Hook /52/ /58/ /64/ss 2m31s Basingstoke Worting Jn ½ Wootton / / Roundwood Micheldever / /69/s Weston / Wallers Ash /ss 5m6s / * Winchester Jn / ½ 25 01* Winchester 83½ ½ ½ ½ /43 tsr 50 tsr tsr Shawford /62/8s /60/t /55/t Eastleigh 10½ ½ ½ / Southampton Apt / ½ ½ Swaythling /s / / St Denys /XLL Northam Jn 17½ ½ 7 42 /ss2m27s Southampton ½ ½ * via loop - ss 59s & 24s ZW10, SLW Southern Steam the final flourish

12 Run No 2 3 Sat Sun Date 20 May May 1967 Train 0830 Waterloo 1130 Waterloo Loco Load 10/330/360 ex Shmptn 6/202/215 5/165/180 ex Bmth m ch location sch m s mph sch m s mph Southampton 97½ ½ /37 tsr Redbridge / Totton Lyndhurst Road / / Beaulieu Road / / Brockenhurst ½ ½ Lymington Jn ½ Sway / / New Milton ½ ½ Hinton Admiral / / Christchurch ½ ½ 9 10 / Pokesdown ½ ½ Boscombe / Bournemouth 37½ ½ ½ /38/sigs Branksome Parkstone / Poole / Hamworthy Jn Holton Heath /s Wareham Tuesday morning and 0835 had on the usual load of nine (run 6). Only a moderate run out to Surbiton and the journey on to Woking was now spoilt by tsr at Byfleet. No improvement after Woking with stop at Winchfield for some unknown reason, but still only three minutes late from Basingstoke which was all recovered by Winchester thanks to speed in high 70s coming down the bank. Just for some variation, we had local line running from Shawford Jn to Eastleigh followed by the usual overtime at Southampton. This was followed by a standard run on to Poole. Wednesday morning and 0835 once again! (run 7) on nine. This time there was a little more interest as we wandered across to the Windsor lines and back again and were then badly checked approaching Clapham Jn. Having unusually reached 65mph by Raynes Park we suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Did the fireman lose his shovel or something? Anyway, after a quiet recovery and a restrained run to Woking the journey suddenly burst into life. Leaving Woking we reached 67mph before easing back to 63mph at MP31 and after 60mph tsr at Farnborough, roared away into the low 80s before Basingstoke 24 minutes was better than average. However, this paled into insignificance as we left Basingstoke with such vigour that we breasted Wootton at 61mph and then accelerated away to reach 91mph after Southern Steam the final flourish

13 Wallers Ash. Just 3 seconds over 19 minutes to Winchester really exceptional. After that the run went back into the usual category with running similar to the previous two days. Run No Mon Mon Tues Wed Date 22 May May May May 1967 Train 0835 Waterloo 1535 Waterloo 0835 Waterloo 0835 Waterloo Loco E6012 pushing Load 8+BG/297/310 2x4TC units BG/297/310 8+BG/300/315 m ch location sch m s mph sch m s mph m s mph m s mph 0 11 Waterloo ¼ late late late L/sig 1 29 Vauxhall / / / /33/s 4 00 Clapham Jn /t tsr & sigs Earlsfield /45/s / /56/s Wimbledon / Raynes Park / emerg stop 9 60 New Malden / / Berrylands / Surbiton Hampton Ct Jn Esher Hersham Walton / / Weybridge /21s /t /t Byfleet / West Byfleet / / / Woking 18½ /s Woking Jn Brookwood / / / MP /61t / /t /72/t Farnborough / / Fleet / / / /82/ Winchfield / stop / Hook /82/24s / /72/25s /83/42s Basingstoke Worting Jn 5½ Wootton / Roundwood Micheldever Weston / Wallers Ash / / / Winchester Jn 21½ Winchester / / /48 tsr tsr 37 XLL tsr Shawford /65/t /49/XTL /58/25t Eastleigh / / / Southampton Apt 14½ ½ Swaythling / /36/s St Denys /ss53s Northam Jn /s /s Southampton 8½ Southern Steam the final flourish

14 .. Run No Mon Tues Wed Date 22 May May May 1967 Train 0835 Waterloo 0835 Waterloo 0835 Waterloo Loco Load 8+BG/297/310 to Bmth 8+BG/297/310 to Bmth 8+BG/300/315 to Bmth 8/265/275 ex Bmth 8/265/275 ex Bmth 8/268/275 ex Bmth m ch location sch m s mph m s mph m s mph Southampton 12½ / / /38 tsr 17 tsr 19 tsr Redbridge Totton Lyndhurst Road / / Beaulieu Road / / / Brockenhurst /s Lymington Jn 2½ Sway / / New Milton Hinton Admiral / Christchurch / Pokesdown Boscombe /ss 1m48s Bournemouth / / / Branksome / / / Parkstone ? 3 45 / /47/s 3 40 / Poole Later that afternoon I joined 1530 down (run 8) as far as Southampton in order to sample the local to Bournemouth. It went in bursts up to 75mph, shut off and coast to 60mph, then open up again. In this fashion, we reached Winchester in just under 76 minutes despite slowing to 15mph for the tsr at Weybridge and turning to the local line at Basingstoke. We barely needed to exceed 60 mph to keep time to Southampton local (run 9) had standard tank on only three not exactly a difficult task, but a 7½ minute late start followed by an extended stop at Millbrook and a minute s stop before Redbridge ensured this was stretched to 12 minutes leaving Redbridge. Brisk running between the stations only Beaulieu Road was missed out allowed seven of the lost minutes to be regained by Pokesdown, only for five of them to be lost standing outside Bournemouth. Thursday morning dawns and 0835 (run 10) has yet another different MN this time After a brisk start, checks intervened so only one minute of the 2½ minute late start was recovered by Surbiton. Obviously, things were not going well as further checks and the tsr meant we lost over three minutes to Woking on the ridiculously easy schedule of 18½ minutes. However, a clear run to Basingstoke with speed reaching the mid-70s allowed us to regain all of the lost time. Once again, we had a fast run to Winchester. Today we had a slower acceleration taking ¾ minute more to Wootton passed at 56mph, but then went like the wind, passing Wallers Ash at 93mph so we were only just over ¼ minute slower to Winchester than the previous day another excellent effort. The run on to Poole was very similar to those earlier in the week, 78mph before Brockenhurst and 81mph down Hinton Admiral bank. The afternoon followed the same pattern as Wednesday with 1530 to Southampton (run 11) with D1922 in charge. Slightly different driving technique, but the same result around 76 minutes to Winchester (run 12) had standard in charge today, but Southern Steam the final flourish

15 Run No Wed Thurs Thurs Fri Fri Date 24 May May May May May 1967 Train 1530 Waterloo 0835 Waterloo 1530 Waterloo 0835 Waterloo 1518 Waterloo Loco D D Load 11+BG/400/425 8+BG/297/ BG/398/420 8+BG/302/318 10/333/355 m ch location sch m s mph m s mph m s mph m s mph sch m s mph 0 11 Waterloo late ½ late late late ½L WLXTL 1 29 Vauxhall / / / / / Clapham Jn / Earlsfield / Wimbledon / Raynes Park / /s New Malden / /42/s / Berrylands /s Surbiton Hampton Ct Jn Esher / / Hersham /s Walton /20s/ / Weybridge tsr 15 tsr 20 tsr 16 tsr 22 tsr Byfleet West Byfleet / / / Woking repair engine Woking Jn Brookwood / / / MP / / tsr tsr tsr tsr Farnborough / Fleet / / / / / Winchfield / / Hook / / / / /64 sigs 20 XLL sigs Basingstoke /s Worting Jn Wootton / / Roundwood Micheldever Weston /s / Wallers Ash Winchester Jn 75½ /32s /30s Winchester 78½ ½ / / tsr 40 tsr 48 tsr 36 tsr 45 tsr Shawford / / /58/33s / Eastleigh / S'hmpton Apt / Swaythling /21s /44/s / / St Denys /ss20s Northam Jn 15½ /sig Southampton Southern Steam the final flourish

16 Run No Wed Thurs Thurs Fri Fri Date 24 May May May May May 1967 Train 1716 Southampton 0835 Waterloo 1716 Soton 0835 Waterloo 1518 Waterloo Loco Load 3/100/103 8+BG/297/318 to Bmth 3/100/103 8+BG/302/318 to Bmth 10/333/355 8/265/273 ex Bmth 8/270/280 ex Bmth m ch location sch m s mph m s mph m s mph m s mph m s mph Southampton L / / L /s Millbrook ½ 5 40 / /29 /37 / sig 2 08 sig 3 25 stop 2 30 stop tsr 23 tsr 18 tsr 23 tsr 21 tsr Redbridge /31/s 4½ 6 45 / / Totton 1½ / / Lyndhurst Road / /52 6½ 5 25 / Beaulieu Road / / / /67/25s /60/s Brockenhurst 10½ sigs Lymington Jn 2½ / Sway 6½ / / sig stop New Milton 4½ / / Hinton Admiral / / ½ 4 20 /42 /54s Christchurch 5½ / / sig 6½ 5 50 / stop/30s Pokesdown sigs sigs Boscombe / / sig sig sig 8 33 stop stop stop Bournemouth 5½ / / Branksome / / Parkstone / / Poole departure was 12 minutes late this time and being 17 minutes late leaving Redbridge, I baled out at Brockenhurst, not being sure to reach Bournemouth for the up working. The running was slightly better than Wednesday. By Friday morning it appeared Nine Elms had run out of Merchant Navy s as WC was turned out (run 13), although it made little difference on only nine vehicles. Driver Pilcher was in charge and the running was rather lacklustre with only 63mph at New Malden and 54mph between Surbiton and Woking. However, a reasonable effort was made to breast MP31 at 56mph, but speed then stuck in the mid-60s all the way to Basingstoke. The running to Wootton was rather laboured as well; passed at only 50mph, but at least 85mph was attained by Winchester Jn and Winchester was still reached in only 20m12s. Then, as earlier in the week, we tootled along to Poole with nothing much of note. Southern Steam the final flourish

17 Having returned to Waterloo, being the Friday prior to a bank holiday, there was a 1518 relief to Bournemouth running (run 14). This was loaded to ten with only Standard in charge I had a funny feeling that the following 1530 was going to get a poor run and I wasn t disappointed! The start wasn t too bad with 64mph at Hampton Court Jn, but recovery from the tsr at Weybridge was laboured and eventually we stopped at Woking for four minutes to repair the engine it wasn t lack of steam, maybe the injectors. 45mph was reached at MP31 followed by around 60mph until checked approaching Worting Jn and then after a burst to 74mph another check approaching Winchester which had taken nearly 91 minutes we were now in 1530s path. Eventually we arrived in Southampton in 107m47s. It is hard to find any redeeming features about the run to Bournemouth with multiple signal delays and the 28 or so miles taking nearly 53 minutes! It is worth noting that 1622 relief with and Driver Fordrey in charge reached Winchester in just over 64 minutes with 75mph at MP31, 90 mph after Hook and 97mph after Wallers Ash. What a difference an hour makes! And now the up runs. On Friday 19 May, having arrived in Southampton at 1913 off 1723 down, it was a very quick dash to pick up 1730 Weymouth (run 15) that left only three minutes later if it had been on time I would have missed it on 12 went up the bank around 50mph and with only one tsr took 40 minutes to clear Worting Jn. After a brief check, approaching Basingstoke, we then had a clear run all the way to Waterloo in 47½ minutes apart from the 20mph tsr before Clapham Jn. No heroics, but speed in the mid-70s with a maximum of 78mph at Byfleet a competent run. On Saturday 20 th May, having travelled down on 0830 from Waterloo, I joined 1118 Weymouth at Wareham (run 16) with Standard on four. Despite having only a Run No Sat Sun Mon Date 20 May May May 1967 Train 1201 Wareham 1531 Bournemouth 1212 Poole Loco to B/mth D to Bmth ex Bmth ex Bmth Load 3+BG/127/132 to Bmth 11/363/380 3/99/102 to Bmth 9+BG/329/355 ex Bmth 10/339/360 ex Bmth m ch location sch m s mph sch m s mph m s mph Wareham late Holton Heath / Hamworthy Jn / Poole / L / Parkstone / / Branksome / / Bournemouth L Boscombe Pokesdown Christchurch /48/ / / Hinton Admiral / / / New Milton / / / Sway / Lymington Jn / Brockenhurst /54/ / / Beaulieu Road / / / Lyndhurst Road / /32s / Totton / Redbridge Southampton 35½ Southern Steam the final flourish

18 . Run No Fri Sat Sun Mon Date 19 May May May May 1967 Train 1730 Weymouth 1201 Wareham 1531 Bournemouth 1212 Poole Loco D Load 11+BG/400/440 9+BG/329/355 11/363/380 10/339/360 m ch location sch m s mph sch m s mph sch m s mph m s mph Southampton 390½ L Northam Jn /tsr St Denys Swaythling / / Southampton Apt /sig /s/xLL Eastleigh tsr 22 tsr 25 tsr 19 XTL Shawford Winchester / / ss Winchester Jn /53 ZW m37s SLW /46 tsr Wallers Ash SLW X UP Weston / Micheldever / Roundwood / / Wootton / Worting Jn 39½ /50s 40½ ss 1m52s Basingstoke / XTL / Hook / / Winchfield / / / / Fleet / / / Farnborough / MP / / / Brookwood / / /s Woking Jn 63½ ½ Woking / / West Byfleet Byfleet Weybridge / / / Walton Hersham /s Esher / Hampton Ct Jn 78½ ½ /s Surbiton / / Berrylands /s 9 60 New Malden Raynes Park /s Wimbledon / /21xLL / Earlsfield / tsr 21 tsr 21 tsr Clapham Jn 89½ /52 90½ / / / Vauxhall /s Waterloo 96½ ½ month left before withdrawal this put up a very spritely show with 70mph before Hamworthy Jn, 47mph up Parkstone bank and 60mph before Bournemouth. WC took over there with the load increased to ten. The run to Southampton was disappointing with speed falling from around 50mph to only 44mph at the top of Hinton Admiral bank and speed hardly Southern Steam the final flourish