5016 Montgomery Castle heading the 2.55 pm to Swansea and Milford Haven at Paddington on 29 October 1961.
“If we used the Circle Line from Victoria we could access the delights of Paddington, Kings Cross and Euston”
34100 Appledore in Bickley cutting on the down Golden Arrow on 7 June 1961.
This chapter is unashamedly a collection of some of my favourite images taken entirely in the period 1960 to 1963 and includes some of my earliest colour shots, fortunately taken on Kodak 6x9 cm film with my Kodak folding camera. Until I got married in 1968 I lived in the South London area, first at St Mary Cray, then Bromley and finally at Shirley, near Croydon. It was when we moved to Bromley that I started to explore the nearby locations for trainspotting purposes, the natural progression being the acquisition of the inevitable Brownie 127 camera which started my long standing hobby of railway photography, which continues to this day. Bromley South and Grove Park were natural spots and I managed to accumulate a lot of photos from both places, many of dubious quality as I mistakenly thought that moving up from the basic Brownie to a Kodak folding camera with a top shutter speed of a hundred and twenty fifth of a second would guarantee good results.
H class 31550 brings the ECS of a boat train into Platform 2 at Victoria on 11 March 1961.
Nevertheless I managed to record the end of main line steam on South Eastern lines even including the occasional foray by train to Victoria. The Golden Arrow featured high on my agenda and was always hauled by a beautifully turned out Stewarts Lane Bulleid light Pacific in the Spring and early Summer of 1961, usually No 34100 Appledore, or 34101 Hartland. Other trains of particular interest were the 9.10 am Charing Cross to Ramsgate and the unique 7.24 am London Bridge to Ramsgate, which was nearly always headed by a Maunsell E1, D1 or L1 4-4-0, though I remember once seeing a C Class 0-6-0 deputising. I even found the money for a couple of runs on this train.
31507 on the 7.24 am London Bridge to Ramsgate approaching Elmstead Woods tunnel in the last week of steam, June 1961.
In June 1961, in the last week of steam, 34067 Tangmere passing Bromley South with an up boat train.
34101 Hartland passing Bromley South on an up boat train in May 1961.
Before that my younger brother and I had found our way by train from Bromley North to London Bridge and then, by walking, to the cab road at Liverpool Street, though I didn’t record anything of those days and it wasn’t until after the end of South Eastern steam that I bagged a couple of shots there. Much more appealing was the South Western main line at Wimbledon, reached by a short cycle ride. Many hours were spent on the footbridges and footpath there, sometimes even straying by train to Clapham Junction where some half decent colour shots were obtained, fortunately using the archival quality Kodak negative film.
26 September 1961. 30796 Sir Dodinas le Savage approaching Wimbledon with the 8.46 am Salisbury to Waterloo.
34077 passing Bromley South on a down boat train, March 1961.
The crew of 34025 look for the photographer as the 9.10 am Charing Cross to Ramsgate storms to Elmstead Woods tunnel in June 1961.
29 September 1961. 34091 Weymouth passing Clapham Junction with the 2.54 pm Waterloo to Basingstoke.
60518 Tehran backs out of Kings Cross, August 1960.
6942 Eshton Hall backs into Paddington, October 1960.
60014 Silver Link at Kings Cross on 19 September 1961.
B1 class 61149 with L1 67703 and D6711 at Liverpool Street, July 1961.
70006 Robert Burns stands at Liverpool Street in the rain with a down train in July 1961.
60110 Robert the Devil leaving Kings Cross with a down express on 19 September 1961.
90428 passing Hatfield with an up freight, 27 October 1962.
60500 Edward Thompson and 60136 Alcazar at Kings Cross on 19 September 1961.
By September 1961 I had bought a cheap East German Franka 35mm camera and this was used with some success for about a year, during which time my brother and I had discovered that if we used the Circle Line from Victoria we could access the delights of Paddington, Kings Cross and Euston, the first two seeing many visits as steam was still there in good quantity until around mid 1963.
As Chapter Five shows, the South Western main line held most of my attention in 1962, but there were also trips to the Sussex area, with Groombridge being within cycling distance and offering the chance to photograph frequent steam hauled trains. Even the Brighton main line had its attractions and one train in particular held a fascination for me: the 5.25 pm London Bridge to Reading via Redhill, which was booked to be hauled by a Brighton based Schools Class 4-4-0. I got many shots of this train including some taken in the depth of winter using flash, though these weren’t too successful. The scenic Redhill to Guildford line also had many visits, and this is covered in Chapter Seven.
6002 King William IV heading a van train at Paddington on 29 October 1961.
60056 Centenary passing Hatfield with an up freight, 27 October 1962.
6002 leaving Paddington on 29 October 1961 with a down afternoon van train.
6989 Wightwick Hall at Paddington after arrival with the 9.50 am from Worcester on 29 October 1961.
From April 1963 I was using an Agifold 6x6 camera and this took me through to the end of steam. It could generally be relied on provided I developed the films properly. It took me into a new era of chasing steam out of Kings Cross, until its demise in June 1963, and also on the Great Western main line; also Sussex for remaining steam, another little gem there being the Three Bridges to East Grinstead line, operated by H and M7 Class 0-4-4 tanks, including the now preserved 31263; and the Oxted lines weren’t neglected either.
But if 1962 was the summer for steam out of Waterloo, many Saturdays in the poor summer of 1963 were spent at locations on the Kenton to Bushey section of the line out of Euston where the number of steam hauled trains rivalled that still seen out of Waterloo. The latter had lost its attraction a bit as the end of 1962 had seen the withdrawal of the remaining King Arthurs, Schools and Lord Nelsons. When I think back now at the distances and number of places I cycled to I am amazed that I managed it all without incident, though of course road traffic then was much lighter than now, as was the pace of life generally.
There are some familiar numbers amongst the locomotives pictured in this chapter, as some have been preserved and can still be seen working on the main line or preserved lines today, or being overhauled or restored to working order.
8458 shunting stock for a van train at Paddington on 29 October 1961.
20 July 1963, Kenton. 46237 City of Bristol on the 11.40 ex Euston Lakes Express.
18 September 1960. 34010 Sidmouth at Waterloo with the 8.35 am to Bournemouth.
27 July 1963. 45529 Stephenson and 46252 City of Leicester on shed at Camden 7.10 am.
At 4.39 pm on Saturday, 20 July 1963 44786 passes South Kenton with a down freight.
45156 Ayrshire Yeomanry near Kenton on a down freight on 9 July 1963.
27 July 1963. 45529 Stephenson on the 1.05pm Llandudno to Euston at Harrow.
15 June 1963. 60046 Diamond Jubilee passing Oakleigh Park on the 7.18 am Grantham to Kings Cross.
15 June 1963. 60017 Silver Fox at Oakleigh Park with the 9 am from Kings Cross to York.
V2 60912 and A3 60112 St Simon emerge from Oakleigh Park tunnel going north, to new homes.
2 June 1963, Coulsdon North. 45434 down Midland Excursion.
4 June 1962. 30911 Dover near South Croydon with the 5.25 pm London Bridge to Reading via Redhill.
48517 on a freight from Willesden near Clapham Junction on 5 July 1963, seen from a 4EPB unit.
3 September 1963. 76043 at Northwick Park on an up freight.
9 June 1963. 46245 leaving Oakleigh Park tunnel with the 9.15 am Kings Cross to Doncaster HCRS special.
26 May 1963. 31263 enters Grange Road with the 12.40 pm East Grinstead to Three Bridges.
2 June 1962. 31543 near Groombridge with the 11am Tunbridge Wells to Oxted.
7029 Clun Castle passing West Ealing on the 9.15 am Paddington to Hereford and Worcester on 21 June 1963.
26 May 1963. 31263 entering Rowfant with the 12.08 pm Three Bridges to East Grinstead.
7903 Foremarke Hall passing West Ealing with a freight for the Greenford branch on 21 June 1963.
6986 Rydal Hall on a down van train at Iver on 21 June 1963.
7002 Devizes Castle near Slough with the 6.55 am Cheltenham Spa to Paddington on 22 June 1963.
6128 on a down freight at Iver on 21 June 1963.