SOUTHERN STEAM: The final flourish 50

SOUTHERN STEAM: The final flourish 50 Southern Steam the final flourish -1-2017

SOUTHERN STEAM The final flourish CONTENTS Beginners Luck Alan Varley 3 1966: 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 100-1 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 1966. 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 76026. Thankfully, some of our regular contributors fared better, and have provided articles that recreate the spirit of the time. Southern Steam the final flourish -2-2017

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 1962. 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, 35014 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. 18 50 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 -3-2017

Table 1 Salisbury-Waterloo Train Date 12.6.62 Load 13/432/475 Loco Atlantic Coast Express 35014 Nederland Line M C Miles m s mph ave 83 40 0,00 Salisbury 0 00 82 32 1,10 Tunnel Jc 3 13 36/53 20.5 78 12 5,36 Porton 08 30 52 48.4 75 40 8,03 Allington 11 25 56 54.9 72 49 10,93 Grateley 14 08 68/90 64.0 67 56 15,93 Red Post Jc 17 53 82 80.0 66 20 17,29 Andover 18 50 87 85.9 62 40 21,05 MP 62½ 21 45 70 77.3 61 00 22,57 Hurstbourne 22 55 79/69 78.2 59 06 24,53 Whitchurch 24 30 70 74.3 55 44 28,07 Overton 27 33 71 69.6 52 28 31,26 Oakley 30 10 76 73.1 50 20 33,38 Worting Jc 31 50 78 76.3 47 60 35,89 Basingstoke 33 40 85/88 82.1 44 00 39,65 MP44 36 18 85/79 85.7 42 15 41,47 Hook 37 38 80/76 81.9 39 67 43,83 Winchfield 39 26 79/83 78.7 36 40 47,16 Fleet 41 53 82 81.6 33 19 50,42 Farnborough 44 19 80 80.4 31 00 52,67 MP 31 45 59 77 81.0 28 00 55,67 Brookwood 48 15 85 79.4 24 25 59,31 Woking 50 52 79 83.5 21 52 62,02 W Byfleet 52 52 82 81.3 19 08 64,58 Weybridge 56 44 12*sigs/35 39.7 17 08 66,57 Walton 61 44 20*sigs 23.9 13 27 70,34 Hampton Ct Jc 67 08 50 41.9 12 03 71,64 Surbiton 68 39 54 52.0 09 64 73,87 New Maldon 71 03 60/65 55.8 07 22 76,42 Wimbledon 73 30 63 62.4 03 75 79,88 Clapham Jc 77 00 43*/50 59.3 01 29 82,37 Vauxhall 80 33 38* 42.1 00 08 83,63 Waterloo 84 02 20.7 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 -4-2017

Table 2 Waterloo-Salisbury Run n 1 2 Train 1100 Waterloo-West 1100 Waterloo-West Date 4.7.62 18.10.62 13/431/460 Load 13/432/475 35009 Shaw Saville Loco 35014 Nederland Line M C Miles m s mph ave m s mph ave 00 08 0,00 Waterloo 0 0 0 0 01 29 1,26 Vauxhall 3 47 34/50 20.0 4 04 32/55 18.6 03 75 3,75 Clapham Jc 7 19 41 42.3 7 32 44* 43.1 07 22 7,21 Wimbledon 11 29 52 49.8 11 28 58 52.8 09 64 9,76 New Maldon 14 08 60 58.5 14 00 62 60.4 12 03 11,99 Surbiton 16 20 62 60.8 16 06 68 63.7 13 27 13,29 Hampton Ct Jc 17 31 67/72 65.8 17 12 70/22*sigs 70.9 17 08 17,06 Walton 20 44 71 70.3 22 42 55 44.8 19 08 19,05 Weybridge 23 06 33*sigs 50.5 24 46 62/72 57.8 21 52 21,61 W Byfleet 26 34 52/56/47*sigs 44.3 26 58 70 69.8 24 25 24,32 Woking 29 34 52 54.2 29 15 7270 71.2 28 00 27,96 Brookwood 33 37 57 53.9 32 17 73 72.0 31 00 30,96 MP 31 36 42 60 58.4 34 49 70 71.1 33 19 33,21 Farnborough 38 45 69 65.9 36 40 75 73.0 36 40 36,47 Fleet 41 28 76/78 72.0 39 09 81 78.8 39 67 39,80 Winchfield 44 07 75/76 75.4 41 36 82/80/82 81.6 42 15 42,16 Hook 46 00 75 75.2 43 24 78 78.7 44 00 43,98 MP44 47 24 80 78.0 82 47 60 47,74 Basingstoke 50 19 64* 77.3 47 39 64* 78.8 50 20 50,25 Worting Jc 52 44 60 63.3 49 59 63 64.0 52 28 52,37 Oakley 54 47 63 62.0 51 58 69/67 64.1 55 44 55,56 Overton 57 32 75 69.6 54 36 79 72.7 59 06 59,10 Whitchurch 60 16 82 77.7 57 15 83 80.2 61 00 61,06 Hurstbourne 61 41 85 83.0 58 39 86 84.0 62 40 62,58 MP 62½ 62 47 81 82.9 59 44 82/85 84.2 66 20 66,34 Andover 65 24 88 86.2 62 25 83 84.1 67 56 67,70 Red Post Jc 66 23 80 83.0 63 26 76 80.3 69 00 69,10 MP 69 67 25 84 81.3 64 31 80 77.5 72 49 72,70 Grateley 70 17 68/65 75,3 67 23 70/69 75.3 75 40 75,60 Allington 72 48 74 69.1 69 49 75 71.5 78 12 78,27 Porton 74 47 85/92 80.9 71 49 85 80.1 82 32 82,53 Tunnel Jc 78 12 45* 74.8 75 18 42* 73.4 83 40 83,63 Salisbury 80 23 30.2 77 59 24.6 1966: 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 -5-2017

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 44780 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, 45145 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 1966. I wonder if anyone timed it? (I can t find anything on the RPS database).. Run 1 2 Date 23-Jun-66 01-Jul-66 Train 10:30 Poole - 10:42 Poole - Newcastle Sheffield Mid. Loco 44780 45145 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 0.00 108 01 BOURNEMOUTH CEN. 0 0 00 2L/tsr15 1.26 106 60 Boscombe 4 01 1.80 106 17 POKESDOWN 4 5 25 0 00 3.66 104 05 CHRISTCHURCH 7 4 03 0 00 6.96 101 04 Hinton Admiral 6 43 40 9.46 98 44 NEW MILTON 11 10 38 0 00 12.45 95 45 Sway 5 19 42 14.21 93 64 Lymington Jcn 7 21 59 15.23 92 63 BROCKENHURST 9 8 40 0 00 19.93 88 07 Beaulieu Road 6 56 56/60 22.61 85 32 Lyndhurst Road 9 47 54 25.53 82 39 Totton 13 27 50* 26.09 81 74 Redbridge 14 13 46* 27.84 80 14 Millbrook 17 00 33* 28.79 79 18 SOUTHAMPTON CEN 23 19 42 0.00 79 18 SOUTHAMPTON CEN 0 0 00 5L 0 0 00 2L 1.83 77 09 St. Denys 5 36 31 5 46 34 3.20 75 59 Swaythling 7 57 39 7 58 41 4.11 74 66 Southampton Airport 9 03 46 9 06 41 5.54 73 33 EASTLEIGH 14 11 40 14 11 41 0 00 3L/sig10 0 00 RT 9.34 69 49 Shawford 9 00 38 8 28 38 12.46 66 41 WINCHESTER 14 13 51 13 13 32 Southern Steam the final flourish -6-2017

Miles m c Location Sch m s mph Sch m s mph 12.46 66 41 WINCHESTER 0 00 4L 0 00 2L s stop 3:37-4:35 14.71 64 23 Winchester Jcn 7 54 30 5 39 38 20.94 58 07 Micheldever 18 07 44 15 35 41 23.03 56 00 Roundwood Box 20 52 46 18 36 40 26.55 52 40 Wootton Box 25 15 56 23 48 46 28.70 50 28 Worting Jcn 29 05 tsr 25 27 40 tsr 30 31.30 47 60 BASINGSTOKE 29 33 09 30 32 30 0.00 51 35 BASINGSTOKE 0 0 00 9L/70 4.93 46 41 Bramley 7 14 57/52 8.28 43 13 Mortimer 10 41 89/72 13.59 37 68 Southcote Jn 15 53 44 14.54 36 72 READING WEST 27 17 58 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 64 27 Winchester Jn. 23 56 56 Loco 34024 61 48 Wallers Ash Box 26 43 61 Load 2,10,331/355 59 00 Micheldever 30 10 69 Recorder D Lloyd-Roberts 56 32 Roundwood 32 21 63/74/69 m c sch m s mph 50 20 Worting Jn. 39.5 37 22 64/66 109 05 Bournemouth 0.0 0 00 12L 47 60 Basingstoke 39 45 80/76 106 60 Boscombe 3 35 40 42 20 Hook 44 24 76/78 106 20 Pokesdown 4 24 50 39 60 Winchfield 46 13 81/87 104 25 Christchurch 6 16 69 36 40 Fleet 48 36 82 101 00 Hinton Admiral 9 19 64/56 33 20 Farnborough 52 18 23pws 98 40 New Milton 11 55 60/58 31 00 MP 55 24 56 95 40 Sway 14 40 69/68 28 00 Brookwood 58 08 73/78 93 60 Lymington Jn. 16 23 66/64 24 27 Woking 64.0 61 06 69 92 60 Brockenhurst 17 17 68/71 21 60 West Byfleet 63 21 77 89 59 Woodfidley 19 58 68/69 20 40 Byfleet 64 18 81 88 00 Beaulieu Road 21 23 73/68 19 20 Weybridge 65 17 76 85 40 Lyndhurst Road 23 43 74/65 17 00 Walton-on-Thames 66 53 81 82 40 Totton 26 58 sig 45/47 16 00 Hersham 67 43 82 81 71 Redbridge 27 44 sig 45/ss35s 14 30 Esher 68 55 77 79 18 Southampton Cen. 35.5 34 51 13 27 Hampton Ct.Jn. 78.5 69 46 74 0 00 12 00 Surbiton 70 54 69 78 15 Northam Jn Box 3.0 3 38 9 60 New Malden 72 53 71 77 08 St Denys 5 25 41 7 20 Wimbledon 75 14 64/57 75 56 Swaythling 7 15 51 5 40 Earlsfield 76 58 62 73 36 Eastleigh 11.0 9 40 61/20tsr 4 00 Clapham Jn 89.5 78 56 40/53 69 49 Shawford 17 36 40 1 29 Vauxhall 82 20 43 66 40 Winchester 21 36 54 0* 05 Waterloo 96.5 85 41 1E 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 -7-2017

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. 1967 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 73029 and 34023 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 34089. During a photo stop at Southampton Central 34108 was added for the trip via Bournemouth to Wareham, where 34108 was detached and 80146 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 80146 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 35.90 Basingstoke 36 52 61/78 Loco 35013 41.50 Hook 41 20 76 Load 12,397/435 43.85 Winchfield 43 06 83 Recorder Mark Warburton 47.20 Fleet 45 26 85 Driver P Terry 50.45 Farnhorough 47 47 82 miles sch m s mph 52.70 MP 31 49 53 57tsr 0.00 SALISBURY 0 0 00 55.60 Brookwood 52 33 75/79 1.10 Tunnel J 4 4 35 32 62.05 Woking 54 55 27 72 5.45 Porton 10 19 47 62.05 West Byfleet 57 36 75 8.10 Allington 13 26 55 63.30 Byfleet 58 35 77 10.30 mp 73.25 15 41 61 64.60 Weybridge 59 39 72 10.95 Grateley 16 19 66.60 Walton-on-Thames 61 18 75 15.95 Red Post 20 10 82/76 69.30 Esher 63 21 78 17.35 Andover 21 15 79 70.35 Hampton Ct.Jn. 64 10 76 21.10 MP 62.50 24 16 65 71.65 Surbiton 65 13 74 22.60 Hutrstbourne 25 32 74 73.95 New Malden 67 03 70 24.50 Whitchurch 27 06 71 76.50 Wimbledon 71 07 10sig 28.10 Overton 30 02 75 78.10 Earlsfield 73 57 /35sig 31.30 Oakley 32 30 79 79.80 Clapham Jn 73 77 27 40 33.40 Worting Jn. 34 34 19 e/56tsr 82.40 Vauxhall 81 12 To MR 83.70 Waterloo 80 85 22 For our return, we had two Bulleid light pacifics: one un-rebuilt and one rebuilt, 34023 and 34108. 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 -8-2017

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 4-6-2 No. 34095 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. 35028 Clan Line with the 365 ton 5.30 pm from Weymouth on 12 th December 1966. 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 18.80 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 4-6-2 No. 34095 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 0.00 00 00 ¼ 50 230 50 1.23 St Cross Box 02 14 59/60 full 40 200 190 tsr 46* shut 22 210 0 2.47 Shawford Jct 03 30 44* ½ 25 200 160 3.12 Shawford 04 21 60½ ¾ 25 200 180 3.55 MP 70 04 42 68 ¾ 25 205 190 4.55 MP 71 05 32 78 full 25 210 200 sigs 35* shut 25 230 0 6.06 Allbrook Box 07 26 40 ⅓ 25 215 140 6.96 Eastleigh 11.00 09 08 net time 8 minutes Southern Steam the final flourish -9-2017

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 34024 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 34060 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 34090 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) 35003 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 -10-2017

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 1 2 3 Fri Sat Sun Date 19 May 1967 20 May 1967 21 May 1967 Train 1723 Waterloo 0830 Waterloo 1130 Waterloo Loco 34024 34060 34090 Load 9/301/328 12+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 0 0 00 2 late 0 0 00 1½ late 0 0 00 1L/LL 1 29 Vauxhall 3 49 31/45 3 48 27/44 3 18 34/53 4 00 Clapham Jn 7 8 03 27 7 8 13 7 6 52 52/49 tsr 25 tsr 15 5 47 Earlsfield 11 13 41 13 08 34 8 36 57 XTL 7 25 Wimbledon 13 37 49 15 52 44 11 04 34 8 60 Raynes Park 15 20 53 17 42 51 13 10 48 9 60 New Malden 16 27 57/58 18 52 53 14 19 53 11 00 Berrylands 17 45 56 20 13 57 15 39 59 12 00 Surbiton 18 48 56 21 17 56 16 40 57 13 27 Hampton Ct Jn 18 20 10 61 18 22 37 62 18 17 53 66 14 28 Esher 21 18 60/62 23 45 60 18 54 68 16 00 Hersham 22 47 60 25 14 62/27s 20 14 64 17 00 Walton 23 48 59/57 27 04 29 21 10 65 19 09 Weybridge 26 04 59 31 12 40 23 22 61 20 34 Byfleet 27 15 64 32 47 50/51 24 31 65 21 60 West Byfleet 28 28 62 34 16 50 25 45 61 24 25 Woking 31 03 56 37 14 51 28 19 57 24 60 Woking Jn 32 31 35 53/56 33½ 37 48 52/49 34 28 51 59/65 28 00 Brookwood 35 11 53 41 41 50/52 32 00 62/66 31 00 MP31 38 41 49/52 45 14 50/60 34 49 64/69 33 20 Farnborough 41 22 45 47 38 59 36 53 62/57 36 40 Fleet 45 32 48/55 50 50 62/66 40 13 58/60 39 60 Winchfield 49 16 51 53 56 58 43 37 53 42 20 Hook 52 09 55/52/59 56 25 62/58/66 46 21 58/64/ss 2m31s 47 60 Basingstoke 57 57 54 61 42 58 61 57 31 63 64 00 50 20 Worting Jn 62 60 57 47 60 64 27 51 5½ 5 13 41 52 40 Wootton 63 49 45 67 06 48/60 8 09 49/58 56 00 Roundwood 67 47 55 70 49 58 11 56 56 58 00 Micheldever 69 47 64 72 43 65/66 13 52 66/69/s 60 15 Weston 71 46 67 74 43 62 16 19 37/43 61 49 Wallers Ash 73 02 69/ss 5m6s 76 11 60/67 19 37* 64 23 Winchester Jn 80 82 02 24/36 76 78 38 64 22½ 25 01* 66 40 Winchester 83½ 86 13 80 38 62 25½ 29 27 84½ 87 40 27½ 30 45 -/43 tsr 50 tsr tsr 26 69 49 Shawford 5 03 56/62/8s 84 03 50/60/t 5 55 38/55/t 73 33 Eastleigh 10½ 11 10 25 84½ 88 41 27 9½ 11 26 27/35 74 60 Southampton Apt 13 10 41/50 91 11 40 13½ 14 07 14½ 14 30 75 56 Swaythling 14 25 48/s 92 32 48/54 2 22 34/41 77 09 St Denys 16 41 35 94 15 50 5 10 17/XLL 78 19 Northam Jn 17½ 18 14 90 95 32 5½ 7 42 /ss2m27s 79 18 Southampton 21 20 45 93½ 100 14 8½ 14 03 * via loop - ss 59s & 24s ZW10, SLW Southern Steam the final flourish -11-2017

Run No 2 3 Sat Sun Date 20 May 1967 21 May 1967 Train 0830 Waterloo 1130 Waterloo Loco 34060 34090 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 79 18 Southampton 97½ 107 25 12½ 19 25 -/37 tsr 12 81 74 Redbridge 5 29 44/51 5 6 48 18 82 40 Totton 6 17 50 8 08 38 85 32 Lyndhurst Road 9 36 53/64 11 52 59/62 88 00 Beaulieu Road 12 16 58/66 14 24 56/66 92 65 Brockenhurst 16 46 58 20½ 19 32 23½ 21 00 93 60 Lymington Jn 17 17 49 56 2½ 2 38 33 95 45 Sway 19 50 51/64 5 11 53/65 98 45 New Milton 22 50 60 10½ 8 41 11½ 9 20 101 00 Hinton Admiral 25 10 72/62 4 11 63/66 104 28 Christchurch 28 06 66 10½ 7 41 11½ 9 10 /30 106 23 Pokesdown 30 13 45 3½ 4 53 4½ 5 25 106 60 Boscombe 30 57 37 2 07 19/32 108 01 Bournemouth 37½ 33 32 6½ 4 58 43½ 39 30 /38/sigs 29 110 53 Branksome 5 45 33 112 00 Parkstone 7 40 56/62 113 62 Poole 10 10 15 12 11 15 /42 116 00 Hamworthy Jn 4 07 39 118 60 Holton Heath 7 14 60/s 120 70 Wareham 10 10 39 Tuesday morning and 0835 had 35008 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) 35007 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 -12-2017

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 4 5 6 7 Mon Mon Tues Wed Date 22 May 1967 22 May 1967 23 May 1967 24 May 1967 Train 0835 Waterloo 1535 Waterloo 0835 Waterloo 0835 Waterloo Loco 35003 E6012 pushing 35008 35007 Load 8+BG/297/310 2x4TC units 403+421 8+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 0 0 00 3¼ late 0 0 00 3 late 0 00 2 late 0 00 1L/sig 1 29 Vauxhall 3 05 36/52 3 18 -/54 3 37 36/57 4 23 31/33/s 4 00 Clapham Jn 7 7 50 15/t 7 6 48 38 7 04 41 9 57 22 tsr & sigs 6 5 47 Earlsfield 12 17 40/45/s 8 52 57/61 9 00 55/56/s 12 45 42 7 25 Wimbledon 14 46 42 10 45 53/52 11 19 37 14 45 60 8 60 Raynes Park 16 42 54 12 21 59/65 13 17 52 16 11 65 16 55 emerg 18 03 stop 9 60 New Malden 17 44 57 13 17 64 14 21 56/61 19 36 29/45 11 00 Berrylands 19 07 55 14 33 56/53 15 37 54 21 22 42 12 00 Surbiton 18 20 53 15 42 55 17 28 23 22 19 21 20 17 55 24 10 13 27 Hampton Ct Jn 3 2 48 50 18 17 02 68 3 03 45 3 04 50 14 28 Esher 4 03 59 18 06 65 4 24 53 4 24 56 16 00 Hersham 5 29 67 19 37 59 5 52 66 5 54 63 17 00 Walton 6 24 67/71 20 40 58 6 45 67/72 6 51 66 19 09 Weybridge 8 23 68 23 12 53/21s 8 43 71/t 9 08 25/t 20 34 Byfleet 9 23 75/76 25 52 11 18 21 12 07 30 21 60 West Byfleet 10 22 75 27 45 50/59 13 21 43/58 14 01 50/56 24 25 Woking 18½ 13 22 34 30 57 16 45 17 37 20 18 50 38 36 45 21 00 /s 20 15 24 60 Woking Jn 1 28 32 1 15 25 2 02 25 1 39 34 28 00 Brookwood 5 28 63 5 43 52/50 6 30 58/59 5 53 56/67 31 00 MP31 8 13 67/61t 9 12 53/58 9 38 58/t 8 45 63/72/t 33 20 Farnborough 10 24 62 11 34 52/66 11 53 61/59 10 44 62 36 40 Fleet 13 14 75/82 14 51 59/52 15 09 62/65 13 34 75/82/78 39 60 Winchfield 15 43 77/79 18 16 54 18 45 stop 16 03 80/82 19 05 42 20 Hook 17 36 78/82/24s 20 55 58/61 23 58 53/72/25s 17 56 79/83/42s 47 60 Basingstoke 31 24 13 29 27 30 31 31 24 00 33 31 55 34 20 28 25 50 20 Worting Jn 5½ 4 41 46 5 13 44 4 50 52 52 40 Wootton 7 22 53 8 02 50/62 7 17 61 56 00 Roundwood 10 50 62 11 39 60 10 17 74 58 00 Micheldever 12 35 74 13 34 62 11 54 77 60 15 Weston 14 17 82 15 32 71/78 13 31 82 61 49 Wallers Ash 15 20 83/88 16 43 76/77 14 35 88/91 64 23 Winchester Jn 21½ 17 17 81 18 55 72 16 26 82 66 40 Winchester 25 19 58 21 38 19 03 27 25 00 -/51 25 05 -/40 26 10 -/48 tsr tsr 37 XLL tsr 46 69 49 Shawford 5 02 48/65/t 5 37 40/49/XTL 5 09 51/58/25t 73 33 Eastleigh 10 9 55 22/40 11 23 23/37 10 27 29/42 74 60 Southampton Apt 14½ 12 32 14 25 12 52 15½ 15 05 14 40 13 45 75 56 Swaythling 2 18 34/47 2 19 40 2 39 30/36/s 77 09 St Denys 4 18 44 4 14 51 6 13 20/ss53s 78 19 Northam Jn 5 5 43 5 37 /s 11 24 /s 79 18 Southampton 8½ 8 58 9 31 15 33 Southern Steam the final flourish -13-2017

.. Run No 4 6 7 Mon Tues Wed Date 22 May 1967 23 May 1967 24 May 1967 Train 0835 Waterloo 0835 Waterloo 0835 Waterloo Loco 35003 35008 35007 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 79 18 Southampton 12½ 15 50 -/38 17 25 -/38 21 10 -/38 tsr 17 tsr 19 tsr 81 74 Redbridge 5 7 00 23 6 42 25 6 35 21 82 40 Totton 8 18 35 8 13 37 7 45 39 85 32 Lyndhurst Road 11 58 55 12 03 54/66 11 13 59/67 88 00 Beaulieu Road 14 16 69/78 14 25 64/74 13 29 66/75 92 65 Brockenhurst 19 19 00 19 13 18 28 22 21 40 21 40 22 35 /s 93 60 Lymington Jn 2½ 2 42 32 3 15 33 3 23 30 95 45 Sway 5 18 54/66 5 58 54/65 6 07 45 98 45 New Milton 8 13 62 8 55 61 9 16 61 101 00 Hinton Admiral 10 27 75 11 09 76 11 34 75/77 104 28 Christchurch 13 21 58 14 00 64/66 14 20 64 106 23 Pokesdown 15 35 46 16 04 49 16 24 49 106 60 Boscombe 16 14 46 16 43 45 17 04 36/ss 1m48s 108 01 Bournemouth 25 18 39 19 17 23 37 31 30 10 /40 27 25 /37 31 25 /39 110 53 Branksome 6 6 25 6 23 5 44 7 6 50 /33 6 45 /37 6 15 /38 112 00 Parkstone 3 3 16 3 03 3 03? 3 45 /45 3 20 /47/s 3 40 /42 113 62 Poole 4 3 55 4 28 4 02 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. 1716 local (run 9) had 2-6-4 standard tank 80133 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 35028. 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. 1716 (run 12) had 4-6-0 standard 75076 in charge today, but Southern Steam the final flourish -14-2017

Run No 8 10 11 13 14 Wed Thurs Thurs Fri Fri Date 24 May 1967 25 May 1967 25 May 1967 26 May 1967 26 May 1967 Train 1530 Waterloo 0835 Waterloo 1530 Waterloo 0835 Waterloo 1518 Waterloo Loco D1923 35028 D1922 34025 73092 Load 11+BG/400/425 8+BG/297/318 10+2 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 0 0 00 1 late 0 00 2½ late 0 00 3 late 0 00 1 late 0 00 1½L WLXTL 1 29 Vauxhall 3 21 35/48 2 58 38/53 3 32 34/44 3 27 35/53 4 08 30/45 4 00 Clapham Jn 7 7 26 30 6 29 39 8 02 28 7 11 42 8 15 42/38 5 47 Earlsfield 9 42 55/58 8 32 54 10 20 50 9 19 47 10 31 44 7 25 Wimbledon 11 34 56 10 25 60 12 16 56 11 22 52 12 42 50/49 8 60 Raynes Park 13 05 60/59 11 56 60/s 13 48 59 12 56 59 14 27 53 9 60 New Malden 14 07 61/60 13 25 38/42/s 14 49 59/60 13 56 63 15 33 61 11 00 Berrylands 15 20 64 14 11 37 16 09 52 15 09 60/s 16 51 58 12 00 Surbiton 16 16 67 17 24 17 17 56 17 08 17 53 59 18 00 18 10 13 27 Hampton Ct Jn 18 17 23 76 2 54 48 18 40 62 3 16 40 19 11 64 14 28 Esher 18 20 70 4 12 58/64 19 47 61/57 4 50 47 20 19 63 16 00 Hersham 19 37 74 5 39 57/s 21 19 60 6 39 52 21 47 60 17 00 Walton 20 29 69 7 12 29/20s/28 22 22 56 7 48 53/54 22 49 59 19 09 Weybridge 22 48 30 11 39 25 25 35 26 10 26 36 25 45 25 tsr 15 tsr 20 tsr 16 tsr 22 tsr 23 20 34 Byfleet 27 27 18 15 58 30 10 22 13 36 25 29 11 28 21 60 West Byfleet 29 35 45 18 03 41/51 32 09 50 15 53 40/48 31 44 31/38 24 25 Woking 32 13 59 21 50 34 48 67 19 48 36 38 repair 24 00 21 30 40 40 engine 24 60 Woking Jn 34 32 41 65 1 31 30 35 15 65 1 16 26 42 22 27 28 00 Brookwood 35 34 72/75 5 56 57/63 38 08 71/54 6 01 52 47 54 42 31 00 MP31 38 08 67 8 58 62/67 41 13 55 9 18 56/61 51 59 45 tsr tsr tsr tsr 59 33 20 Farnborough 40 20 56 11 05 62 43 28 60 11 34 61 54 32 57/61 36 40 Fleet 43 37 67/72 13 59 73/74 46 23 76/78 14 41 65/66 57 49 59/64 39 60 Winchfield 46 28 62 16 42 69/72 49 02 66/60 17 39 64 60 58 62 42 20 Hook 48 57 57/64 18 52 69/76 51 29 62/67 20 04 62/65 63 31 60/64 sigs 20 XLL sigs 39 47 60 Basingstoke 56 43 24 31 56 44 54 27 44 68 54 60/s 28 15 31 55 50 20 Worting Jn 60 60 12 52 5 22 45 59 27 59 5 32 46 72 17 33 52 40 Wootton 62 31 60/63 7 58 56 61 38 62/77 8 19 50 76 03 38 56 00 Roundwood 65 59 57 11 05 71 64 29 75 11 44 66 80 13 54 58 00 Micheldever 67 55 67 12 38 83 66 08 73 13 25 76 82 14 65 60 15 Weston 69 47 74 14 07 91 67 56 60/s 15 03 82 84 08 72/74 62 00 Wallers Ash 69 57 74 15 05 93 69 25 54 16 07 84 85 20 72 64 23 Winchester Jn 75½ 73 10 75 16 55 81 72 20 60/32s 18 03 85 87 38 67/30s 66 40 Winchester 78½ 75 55 19 18 76 11 20 12 90 48 36 80½ 79 45 27 50 -/49 79 35 -/44 26 25 tsr 40 tsr 48 tsr 36 tsr 45 tsr 47 69 49 Shawford 5 34 52/67 5 14 53/65 6 11 48 5 27 51/58/33s 95 05 57/65 73 33 Eastleigh 10 9 16 61 9 03 57 10 11 60 10 43 36/47 98 55 55 74 60 S'hmpton Apt 10 28 62/66 11 06 11 34 53 12 45 100 18 59 11 55 13 35 75 56 Swaythling 11 26 62/21s 2 18 36/44/s 12 44 49 2 25 39/44 101 21 55/58 77 09 St Denys 14 18 42 4 34 23 14 36 45 4 35 37/ss20s 102 55 58 78 19 Northam Jn 15½ 16 00 6 41 16 28 7 55 /sig 104 15 79 18 Southampton 19 19 22 9 55 19 29 11 28 107 47. Southern Steam the final flourish -15-2017

Run No 9 10 12 13 14 Wed Thurs Thurs Fri Fri Date 24 May 1967 25 May 1967 25 May 1967 26 May 1967 26 May 1967 Train 1716 Southampton 0835 Waterloo 1716 Soton 0835 Waterloo 1518 Waterloo Loco 80133 35028 75076 34025 73092 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 79 18 Southampton 0 0 00 7L /23 0 00 /36 0 00 12L /s25 0 00 0 00 80 14 Millbrook 3 2 57 3 22 3½ 5 40 /22 6 45 /29 /37 /28 2 25 sig 2 08 sig 3 25 stop 2 30 stop tsr 23 tsr 18 tsr 23 tsr 21 tsr 23 81 74 Redbridge 4 6 30 6 51 5 35 6 37 23 6 47 28/31/s 4½ 6 45 /24 5 50 /23 82 40 Totton 1½ 1 51 8 10 35 2 02 7 46 42 8 15 16 2 2 15 /48 2 45 /50 85 32 Lyndhurst Road 6 5 04 11 47 57 4 51 11 36 50/59 14 05 44/52 6½ 5 25 /47 5 10 88 00 Beaulieu Road 4 15 46/61 14 03 67/78 3 58 50/64 14 17 55/67/25s 17 11 47/60/s 92 65 Brockenhurst 10½ 9 44 18 45 9 18 20 32 22 37 28 11 10 10 23 00 23 55 sigs 19 93 60 Lymington Jn 2½ 2 10 36/45 3 17 30 2 46 33 25 05 30 95 45 Sway 6½ 5 02 6 04 48 5 22 52/63 28 03 42/46 7 5 15 30 27 sig 54 30 50 stop 98 45 New Milton 4½ 4 39 9 02 69/68 8 27 58 34 13 40 5 4 55 /52 101 00 Hinton Admiral 5 4 08 11 09 79/81 10 48 71/72 37 18 63 5½ 4 20 /42 /54s 104 28 Christchurch 5½ 5 38 14 04 60/65 13 46 60/62 42 02 sig 6½ 5 50 /36 42 20 stop/30s 106 23 Pokesdown 5 3 57 16 07 53 16 01 39 47 02 28 6 4 15 sigs sigs 106 60 Boscombe 1 30 24/34 16 48 38 16 52 24 48 05 28/30 3 18 sig 18 12 sig 50 00 sig 8 33 stop 19 00 stop 50 35 stop 108 01 Bournemouth 5½ 10 25 22 17 20 46 52 48 32 45 /37 27 55 /35 110 53 Branksome 6 22 6 30 7 05 /37 7 15 /35 112 00 Parkstone 3 07 3 03 3 55 /43 3 35 /45 113 62 Poole 4 02 4 08 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 34025 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 -16-2017

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 5 73092 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 34034 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. 35007 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 2-6-0 Standard 76069 on four. Despite having only a Run No 16 17 18 Sat Sun Mon Date 20 May 1967 21 May 1967 22 May 1967 Train 1201 Wareham 1531 Bournemouth 1212 Poole Loco 76069 to B/mth D1922 75077 to Bmth 34025 ex Bmth 34018 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 120 70 Wareham 0 0 00 3 late 118 60 Holton Heath 3 11 64/70 116 00 Hamworthy Jn 5 54 43/54 113 62 Poole 10 9 35 12 11 25 /47 0 00 8L /37 112 00 Parkstone 2 57 45/47 3 35 28/34 110 53 Branksome 4 47 37/60 6 18 32/50 108 01 Bournemouth 10 8 18 10 05 22 23 20 0 0 00 2L 24 10 106 60 Boscombe 4 32 35 3 42 46 3 56 38 106 23 Pokesdown 5 20 44 4 19 56 4 40 47 104 28 Christchurch 7 44 53/48/51 6 18 62/58 6 48 60/53 101 00 Hinton Admiral 11 38 49/44 9 28 67/64 10 24 54/45 98 45 New Milton 14 51 53/60 11 40 75/77 13 34 51/56 95 45 Sway 18 01 57 14 03 66/63 16 57 52 93 60 Lymington Jn 19 47 65 15 40 67 18 52 59/63 92 60 Brockenhurst 20 43 64/54/63 16 33 69/78 19 51 62/65 88 00 Beaulieu Road 25 29 54/61 20 20 75/78 24 26 59/65 85 32 Lyndhurst Road 28 04 51/55 22 23 65/32s 26 52 60/69 82 40 Totton 31 22 50 25 52 37 29 46 51/46 81 74 Redbridge 32 11 49 26 52 42 30 35 47 79 18 Southampton 35½ 36 14 31 17 34 44 Southern Steam the final flourish -17-2017

. Run No 15 16 17 18 Fri Sat Sun Mon Date 19 May 1967 20 May 1967 21 May 1967 22 May 1967 Train 1730 Weymouth 1201 Wareham 1531 Bournemouth 1212 Poole Loco 35007 34025 D1922 34018 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 79 18 Southampton 390½ 0 00 2L 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 78 19 Northam Jn 3 3 54 4 4 12 3 19 3 00 /tsr 77 09 St Denys 5 25 36 6 04 33 5 13 34 5 01 33 75 56 Swaythling 7 47 44 8 24 42 7 03 59/65 7 16 45/50 74 60 Southampton Apt 9 05 48 9 45 47 8 02 57/sig 8 31 47/s/xLL 73 33 Eastleigh 11 10 39 50 11 11 35 40 9 48 39 10 42 27 tsr 22 tsr 25 tsr 19 XTL 69 49 Shawford 17 32 41 18 46 41 16 35 58 16 15 53 66 40 Winchester 21 41 48/50 22 53 50 19 31 69/ 19 45 58 ss 64 23 Winchester Jn 24 18 49 25 26 51/53 ZW 22 23 1m37s 21 56 61 121 24 00 SLW /46 tsr 19 61 49 Wallers Ash 27 35 53 28 35 52 29 55 26 50 42 30 25 SLW X UP 60 15 Weston 29 17 50 30 16 51/53 33 51 51 28 51 47 58 00 Micheldever 31 51 52 32 49 51 36 07 61 31 25 55/56 56 00 Roundwood 34 12 50 35 12 50 37 56 66/79 33 36 55/68 52 40 Wootton 37 46 63 38 49 62 40 42 75 36 54 64/59 50 20 Worting Jn 39½ 39 58 61/50s 40½ 41 03 58 44 38 ss 1m52s 39 11 61 47 60 Basingstoke 42 37 53 43 30 65/72 52 43 22 XTL 41 25 69/79 42 20 Hook 47 58 66/69 48 17 68/70 58 04 82 45 40 78 39 60 Winchfield 50 11 67/75 50 26 69/73 59 54 85/91 47 47 79/82 36 40 Fleet 52 56 72 53 09 68/70 62 09 88/89 50 14 78/82 33 20 Farnborough 55 41 69 55 58 68 64 31 72 52 42 77/79 31 00 MP31 57 38 67/75 58 04 63/65 66 19 78/90 54 27 78 28 00 Brookwood 60 12 73/69 60 52 63/60 68 26 88/s61 56 43 84 24 60 Woking Jn 63½ 62 54 75 64½ 64 02 65 71 19 75 59 16 76 24 25 Woking 63 17 75/77 64 28 65/67 71 42 77 59 38 78 21 60 West Byfleet 65 17 75 66 48 62 73 33 85 61 30 85 20 34 Byfleet 66 15 78 67 58 65 74 25 87 62 23 87 19 09 Weybridge 67 14 74/72 69 07 64/60 75 17 90/87 63 17 83 17 00 Walton 69 04 75 71 18 64 76 49 93 64 55 84 16 00 Hersham 69 54 74 72 14 64 77 30 85 65 42 79/s 14 28 Esher 71 12 68/70 73 37 65 78 37 80 66 56 65 13 27 Hampton Ct Jn 78½ 72 13 66 79½ 74 42 63 79 28 78 67 58 62/s 12 00 Surbiton 73 27 63/62 75 59 63 80 29 81/85 69 19 56 11 00 Berrylands 74 25 63 77 01 58 81 13 82 70 21 60/s 9 60 New Malden 75 36 62 78 16 61 82 11 79 71 43 51 8 60 Raynes Park 76 33 61 79 16 60 83 01 69/s 72 53 55 7 25 Wimbledon 78 05 51/53 80 47 55 85 02 31/21xLL 74 26 59/61 5 47 Earlsfield 80 08 50 82 54 48 88 46 48/59 76 15 59 tsr 21 tsr 21 tsr 12 4 00 Clapham Jn 89½ 83 02 29/52 90½ 85 50 32/46 90 25 53/59 80 23 26/50 1 29 Vauxhall 86 56 38 89 57 39 93 34 36/s 84 23 41 0 11 Waterloo 96½ 90 02 97½ 92 54 97 08 87 17 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 34025 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 -18-2017