your first ecounter with the southern?
 

i would just like to know peoples first ecounter with the southern,its just that mine was in june,1998,and it was a NSE livered class 421 cig,and it was such a good memory,and thats my story what about yours?

Bullied Pacific Waterloo to Weymouth in 1965 !:p (aged 7 at the time)

thanks for comment MC,
i would of loved to be around in the age of the steam,but out of all the trains ever been built for the southern i think the pacifics are the southerns iconic image,what do you think?
SouthEastern-465(NSERS member)

Rebuilt or spam-can?

Waterloo to Weymouth via Alton (engineering works) & return direct route

Merchant Navy, Battle of Britain/West country rebuilt & spam can & standard class5(named).
Touched nearly a 100 Mph coming back the fastest I did behind a steam loco.
This was over a Saturday night & Sunday Visited Weymouth,Bournemouth,Eastleigh & Basingstoke Sheds I was 17 at the time most of my "spotting was done on the Midland & eastern regions although I did go to Birmingham(Snow Hill)a few times.

first ecounters
 

the origianals,but i think BR spoilt them making the light pacifics,do you?and out of all the storys i have heard so far,i think yours is the best so far for the ecounter with the southern,do you agree on the unrebuilt-pacifics are the southerns most iconic train?

I can't remember that ! I lived in Derby at the time, and remember being surprised they still had steam on the route ...

ml
 

i think there was the occasional pacific midland!

The main reason the Bullied pacifics were rebuilt was their chain driven valve gear.
In their rebuilt form they were some of the finest locos to run on British Railways
regularly reaching 100mph.

unrebuilt best!
 

i know but i just have a thing for the unrebuilts!

bibbylin
 

i heard that unrebuilt pacific 'bibby-lin' axles snapped during service then,'foreigners' gresley V2s took the service while all were withdrawn for inspection?is this one of the reasons they were re-built,but this was in the 50s when this accured

Two of Colwick's (38A)B1s 61188 & 61192 were also "loaned" to the Southern region at that time for two weeks that was in 1953 I don' know which section of the Southern so I don't know where they worked to.

ill look it up and tell you tommorow,but im shaw it was a bournmouth bound train?as for the part of the southern they were working on i woudnt have a clue but i'll look that up to,but i guess they had to do all the pacifics jobs!

If the B1s worked to Bournemouth that would be the "Waetern Section" working out of Waterloo they could have been on the "Eastern section" working out of London Bridge to Dover.

a 33 on the kensington-olympia drag. in late 80's then the bubble on the greenford branch. after that watching 50's through clapham.

I've bever got round to travelling in Southern territory yet, but my first encounter with a Southern locomotive was 34067 Tangmere at the East Lancs Spring Gala back in 2006 (I think it was 2006, but that sounds like a long time ago now!).

thanks pavorossi,and,6678bjm,your a luckyman seing a 'cromptom' class 33 in its heyday,and povorossi is 34067 unrebuilt,or original?

reply for bubblewrap,
it was april 1953,and centre driving axle of no.35020 'bibbyline' snapped as it passed crewkerne with the 2:20 pm ilfracombe-to-waterloo,all MNs were withdrawn for inspection,while gresley V2s worked the 'bournmouth belle','britanias' worked the 'A.C.E' and 'Black Fives'and the B1s undertook lesser duties releasing Light-pacifics for Merchant Navy work,
hope this helped,SouthEastern-465,Nsers member
_______________________________________________BR Network-SouthEast 1984-1986'old,late,and dirty' the good days of the southern!

Tangmere is in original condition, and can often be seen on the mainline down south. Alas, it doesn't tend to venture North as much as it did when it was part owned by Ian Riley.

thanks adam,
do you have any unrebuilt pacifics on the east lancs?

Not in traffic unfortunately. We do have one stored here, but it's a kit of parts at the moment, and it's up for sale. But, you never know what the future will bring.

ok thanks adam,
do you know of anybody who does own unrebuilts?

If I remember correctly a gentleman by the name of Jeremy Hoskings owned Tangmere in partnership with Ian Riley, and when he Ian sold his share, Jeremy retained his. I think his current partner is the gentleman at Carnforth, who's anme escapes me at present. Don't know of anybody else off the top of my head I'm afraid.

Tunbridge Wells in early 1950s, frightened as a very small child by a steam loco. However, first encounter was in 1960, Ottery St Mary in Waterloo.

Travelling down from London to Tunbridge Wells in the 1990s on CEPs, CIGs, & VEPs to see my fiancee.

(I liked it so much I chucked my career in to become a driver on the SouthEastern :eek: )

(I liked it so much I chucked my career in to become a driver on the SouthEastern :eek: )[/QUOTE]

:) :) Bet that cured you!

I think many of us do! Tangmere is my wife's favourite loco from the moment she saw it at The East Lancs Gala in January 2004. (Her 2nd favourite is Stepney). Went on one of the nearly last trips on the Folkstone Harbour Branch with Tangmere in April last year.

The main reason the Bullieds were rebuilt was that they cost an arm and a leg to maintain! Even given the criminally short lives of some after rebuilding, the last one was rebuilt, I think, in 1960, the cost of rebuilding was recouped!

For more information on the rebuilding see "Ron Jarvis - From Midland Compound to the HST" by J.E.Chacksfield, pub. Oakwood Press. Jarvis was in charge of the design work for the rebuilds. He was later involved in the design of the HST! There is a chapter on rebuilding the Bullieds including the costings.

My first memory of the Southern was traveling down to Newhaven to catch the Ferry to Dieppe. Remember the EMUs which did not impress! Can't remember what pulled the boat train.

Also remember going down to Crowhurst and seeing Q1s.

In 1966 went to Collage in Brighton so travelled on the EMUs from London and on the coast line to Lewes. Remeber seeing the Brighton Belle at Brighton.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

A holiday in London in 1952; we stayed on Holland Park Road, just round the corner fron Kensington Olympia which was a fairly busy station in those days. I was entranced by a T9, so much more elegant than the Midland Compounds!
Later I was to learn how dirty Southern sheds were compared to LM & LNE sheds. (Especially Nine Elms).

Oddly enough, my first encounters with anything Southern was on the ex-GWR line between Reading & Tilehurst. When I was just a sprog in the early 50's, my grandad used to take me to Tilehurst station late on a Sunday morning (he was waiting for The Roebuck to open), and when I was old enough, it was just a few minutes walk, so I started 'spotting, with some of the other kids. On m way home from school at Grovelands, if I was quick enough, I could see an unrebuilt WC/BB (none rebuilt yet) crossing Scours Lane bridge with the Oxford (and probably beyond) train; I once saw an LSWR 700 class 0-6-0 pottering about in the Government cold storage depot next to the Oxford Road, but my most memorable recollection was of a SR Q1 'coffee pot' 0-6-0 chuffing eastward through Tilehurst on a goods train. I can still recall the clanking after all these years!
After moving from Reading around 1957, the family ended up in Gosport, not known for vast quantities of trains, but regular visits to Eastleigh and umpteen shed bunkings there made up for it (then, anyway). During the very early 60's, the shed would have a wealth of SR locos, many of which were of pre-grouping origin, albeit largely on the scrap line. Naturally, I lost 99% of my notebooks. Oh, for a digital camera back then.... (sigh...)

Was born in Croydon in 1950 and spent the first 12 years of my life in a house at Addiscombe, overlooking the entrance to the 4-road carriage shed there. My young memories of that house are all punctuated by the noise of electric units (EPBs) creeping in and out of the shed. And I have a vague, distant memory of a steam engine which came once a week or so to shunt the coal yard on the other side of the tracks – in my mind's eye it was a Maunsell mogul, but I'd love to know for certain what kind of loco it might have been.

first encounter was at waterloo 1954 aged 12 with my father to meet a russian pen friend of my sisters .ran off several times I lived on the midland and had never seen any southern engines great day .We didnt find him so went to Victoria and found him there cor what a great day and came home with a jub at the head blimey even a grreeaater day