England, Isle of Man, and Wales

Scenes from West Country and London Area, August 1961 Don Winter This year’s holiday comprises two weeks in West Road into central London, passing the the Thames again at Kingston, and on into the Cornwall (with side trips to Devon), followed by construction works for the Slough Bypass (first Windsor-line platforms at Clapham Junction. a week in the London area. As usual, now, we stretch of the forthcoming M4) and the elevated At Clapham Junction station, there is a travel by road, but I manage to get in some train section between the North Circular Road and general sorting out of tracks. The tracks from watching time either during stops or by taking Brompton Road, on several different trips into Waterloo to Windsor split off to the far right (as days by myself. central London. We take the South Circular viewed from the east end of the station, facing We travel from Hull to Cornwall through Road (which is more of a concept than a reality) west), a number of tracks go to the loco-hauled Leicester, Rugby, Broadway, Stroud, an to visit Dad’s friends in Maidstone. We also carriage yards (for Waterloo) in the middle, and overnight in Wells, then across north Devon locally spend a morning at Windsor Castle. four tracks from Waterloo proceed through the (avoiding the infamous Exeter Bypass) to our The folks are going to spend that afternoon in main part of the station on the ex-LSWR base in a rented caravan southeast of Liskeard, Windsor Great Park, so I opt for Slough instead. mainline alignment. Through the station, there within earshot, if not actual sight, or I take a local train from Windsor & Eton Central are also four more tracks, to the left, carrying the Mooreswater Viaduct. (the former GWR station) to Slough. The ex-London, Brighton, & South Coast Railway’s I don’t get much of an opportunity to watch Windsor station has a fine overall roof covering tracks from Victoria through Balham and trains in Cornwall or southwest Devon, except the several platforms, including the one used by Streatham to Croydon and Brighton. On both the for places like Penzance where the approach royalty to travel between London and Windsor. Windsor side and the Brighton side are more road runs right alongside the engine shed and The DMU to Slough runs across the bridge over connections to and from the West London line, terminal station. From what I do see, however, the Thames into Eton (which has no station of its which heads off to the north across the Thames. Cornwall is completely turned over to DMUs own at the request of Eton College), then north I spend several hours at Clapham Junction, and Diesel-Hydraulic Locomotives. I don’t see a the couple of miles to Slough, where it uses the much of the time on the platforms providing the single steam engine the entire two weeks. south to east leg of the wye, past the engine best views of the steam-hauled expresses on the We visit all of the expected places in shed, and crosses the fast lines to stop on the ex-LSWR mainline, crossing from one platform Cornwall: Looe, Fowey, Newquay, Truro, slow side of Slough mainline station. to another by means of the pedestrian subway Falmouth, the Lizard, St. Ives, Penzance, Slough station comprises two island beneath the tracks. Unlike the ex-GWR line at Mousehole, and Lands End. We also visit platforms, one between the Down and Up Fast Slough, steam continues almost unchanged on Dartmoor, Kingsbridge (to visit an aging relative lines and a more northerly one between the the express trains from Waterloo to both of Dad’s), Buckfast Abbey, Barnstaple and Down and Up Slow lines. I settle down on a seat Bournemouth and Exeter, as well as on the Boat Ilfracombe. I don’t catch sight of any former- on the Fast lines platform to watch the show, Trains to Southampton. In part this is due to the Southern engines in the latter two places, either. Although many of the expresses are now worked plans to electrify the Bournemouth line and While we’re walking around Buckfast by those diesel-hydraulics (of the Warship provide EMUs to run the service. This should be Abbey, which took decades to build in the early classes, mostly), expresses for Oxford and the accomplished by 1967, and in the meantime, 20th-century, Dad remarks that the construction Cotswold line, Cheltenham, Devizes and steam will have to soldier on. For the enthusiast, effort is like life: those responsible for starting Trowbridge, and Weymouth, all seem still to be this means the show will continue for several the enterprise aren’t around to see how it turns steam worked. I see quite a number of Castles years, yet. out. It takes decades more before I truly feel and about the same number of Halls on these It certainly does on this summer day in 1961, what he was talking about! trains. I even see one King, although since I’m with many examples of the Bulleid Pacific At the end of our two weeks in Cornwall, we too far west for the Birmingham direct line classes, from Nine Elms, Salisbury, Eastleigh head for London, retracing our steps across north through the Chilterns, the opportunities for and Bournemouth passing during the day, as Devon and stopping for the night in east seeing Kings are quite restricted. Many of the well as a couple of Lord Nelson 4-6-0s on Somerset. Then we head up the A303, stopping express trains have chocolate and cream livery Southampton Boat Trains. There is also the usual at Stonehenge and then, early afternoon, at on the carriages. complement of steam shunters handling stock in Andover, where Mum wants to do some grocery As it starts to get dark, and I start to get the carriage sidings. shopping. hungry, I return to the Slow lines platform and Of course, essentially all of the trains on the Here, I take the opportunity to spend a couple take a DMU back to Windsor. Then I walk back Brighton side are EMUs, as are all of the local of hours at lineside, just east of Andover station to our caravan park, which takes a lot longer trains on the LSWR side on the Windsor line and on a summer-Saturday afternoon. I’m just in than I anticipate and I arrive well after dark. headed for destinations up to and including time for the afternoon parade of up trains, Next time, I’ll figure out how to use a bus to get Woking, as well as the Portsmouth expresses. sections of the Atlantic Coast Express and the here! Stopping trains on the mainline beyond Woking, like, and in short order I see more than a half On the day the family is going to visit Kew such as those going to Basingstoke, are steam- dozen (but less than a dozen) long green Gardens, I opt to take a train to Clapham hauled, by various types of 4-6-0s, including passenger trains headed by Bulleid Pacifics of Junction for a day’s train watching instead. I get both ex-SR types and BR Standard types (some various classes, including Merchant Navies, and dropped off at Windsor’s Riverside station, and of which have names inherited from King Arthur both kinds of West Country (or Battle of take an EMU to Clapham Junction. Not long class 4-6-0s or an earlier era). Britain), including those with air-smoothed after leaving the terminal station, the train A little after mid-day, it’s time to eat, so I casing. crosses the Thames on a skew bridge, and then leave the station by means of the pedestrian All too soon, this interlude is over, the heads up the left bank of the river past subway, and exit into what amounts to an alley, groceries are loaded in the car, and it’s time to Runnymede (where the barons forced King John which is, however, lined with small shops, a leave. From here it’s a relatively short trip past to sign the Magna Carta). At Staines, where the number of which are hot food purveyors. I have Basingstoke and through Camberley to our electrified line from Reading trails in from the something to eat and drink, and take a walk rented caravan, a mile or so west of Windsor. right, we add a portion to the train. The line then around the area, including the bridge that crosses For four of the six days we spend here, I tag heads directly east past the huge marshaling yard the tracks to the west of the station. The view along with the family visiting sites (and sights) at Feltham, where shunting is performed by the from the bridge is not as good as that from the in London and its environs. We take the Great Southern’s massive Class Z tank engines, across platforms, so I return to the station, using a

1 06/03/18 Vignettes: Trips by Train in and around Yorkshire, 1951-1961 Platform Ticket in case I wish to leave again before taking the train back to Windsor. At the end of the day, after most of the evening rush has abated, I board a down Windsor-line train (making sure I’m in the Windsor portion) and return to the caravan.

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