g4mby wrote:Lulu wrote:
So where is everybody nowadays? I am past 12 hrs filming on the platforms mark at all sorts of hours/days and not seen a single spotter.
They seem to appear in their hundreds every time a steam special passes through, in their dozens when a rare diesel passes through and may be a few will congregate whenever a freight is due but what else is there to see at Temple Meads these days?
Therein lies the rub! The railway has become so standardised in the last 30-40 years that, to me at least, there is very little to be interested in unless something out of the ordinary happens, such as a steam special.
All this is a far cry from the "old days," when there was enough going on to keep the interest of all but the most transient of enthusiasts.
For those not old enough to remember, these are the sorts of things you might have seen on an average Saturday morning in 1963:
Warship diesels and the occasional Western on all the Paddington trains - the Brush type 4s (class 47s) had yet to come, let alone the 50s!
NBL type 2s (D6300s) on the Portishead branch and ECS workings. Some Portisheads were steam hauled by standard class 3 2-6-2Ts. The Hymeks were beginning to appear and generally take over SPM steam turns, although they sometimes deputised on the GWR main line services.
A portion for the 1015 Paddington that arrived at about 0955 from the west, steam hauled and usually by a County 4-6-0
St Phillips Marsh retained passenger steam work on the Salisbury trains. Usually powered by Castles or Counties, with the occasional Hall thrown in for good measure
Pannier tanks shunting Bristol Goods, and trips freights between East and West depot, Stoke Gifford and Kingsland Road yards, powered by whatever was available!
Virtually all the local passenger services on the Gloucester line and some of the Midland main line trains were still steam worked, usually by Jubilees or Black 5s, but sometimes something more interesting would turn up like a Scot or a Brittania. The locals were almost invariably worked by Black 5s, Standard class 5s or LMS 4F 0-6-0s, that is until Goucester Barnwood closed in May 1964. Then their turns were transferred to Horton Road, and that resulted in GW steam stock appearing - Manors and the 4300 2-6-0s were often seen.
Just as an aside, we sometimes used to go home to Staple Hill or Mangotsfield on the 1052 SO local to Gloucester, simply because it was a DMU! That was something different in those days
LNER B1s appeared from time to time. If one was seen on Barrow Road shed it would almost certainly go home the next morning on the 0840 Sheffield. More B1s would be seen on summer Saturdays on relief trains - I once saw two in one day (61167 and 61169 on 20th July 1963)
The Blue Pullmans - not used in service on Saturdays but would be in Bath Road depot for servicing.
The Green Park trains - exclusively steam worked from Bath shed with class 2 or 3 2-6-2Ts. Some of the Bristol turns were also steam worked but Peaks and Hymeks were sometimes used on fill-in turns.
I'm sure some of the "older hands" around here can remember some more, and a few of their postings might jog my memory further!
