scottturner

So to begin a whole new series of weekly blog posts I thought Id take a chance to finish what I started previously and finish of my selection of childhood railway haunts all of which proved to be a catalyst in my desire to gain as much pleasure and knowledge from the railways as possible (a task to this day im still grappling with)

So where are we going this week you ask well Chelmsford Essex …… at this point you must be really worried Birmingham and Essex yes my heritage is indeed very colorful but to each his own.
So basically the story behind this gem is the majority of my family live in Chelmsford and obviously the town is part of the London commuter belt so frequent trips to London were made from this station. The station ticked a number of essential boxes which made it so prominent in my mind and those were.

Electric trains
Somewhat vintage feel
Fast through trains
Freight trains

So under the circumstances i couldn’t be happier but rather than spending hours at this station it was more of a case of brief stays at the station meeting my dad off the train to London when he would go for the day (probably to escape the family the lucky sod) and also when I myself made trips to London with the family.
Now when it comes to the traction itself a real bond was made between myself and the class 321 units which although look rather dodgy they have their own character which can’t be matched my favorite memory would be the single phase traction motors which upon moving off would make this loud yawning sound and upon hearing this i would nudge my mum or brother and pretend to yawn which never got tiring (Id usually get told to knock it off by Maryland station)

As for passing trains obviously the class 86 was the star of the show for me on the mighty expresses to Norwich or Ipswich and just like back at home would be working in the backwards or forwards fashion which would thanks to the use of the DBSO or as I would think “the strange backwards carriage loco thing”. And this truly highlighted the class 86’s as my pure favorite electric locomotive with the almost art deco 3 window design and how the IC livery suited the flat body sides so well and as for many the named status of the majority of the locomotives just added even favor on my part.

Other than the 321’s and the 86’s I don’t particularly remember much else of the traction as was mentioned journeys on the GE were what I’d describe as short and sweet.

Apart from the traction as strange as it sounds the caternary was something of interest obviously at this point I had no idea of its 6.5kv pioneer status but either it was quite vintage and ornate which always just makes everything just that little bit more special.

Upon recent visits I have comes to see that not way too much has changed I mean the trains have locomotives on them and although class 90’s aren’t exactly my cup of tea there fun to ride behind and slowly but surely the caternary is being upgraded but considering how crap it has become I welcome it if anything but no matter what the changes it will always be my favorite line and deserves to be the GREAT…… Eastern.

So as you may know my last post was quite some time ago and this was mainly an exercise of faith to see if I would receive any responses to my 3 previous Pilot posts before going into a full scale set of weekly ramblings.

And congratulations I have received some positive comments and have decided to start doing weekly posts………. what about you ask ? well nothing in particular just my set of thoughts and memories but as people tell me my thoughts on the railways are slightly far fetched so this might supply many of you out there with a source of entertainment.

So I hope you enjoy and comments as always will always be welcomed and private emails etc are just as welcomed.

All the best

Scott Turner

Hello there

Well welcome to yet another Blog from yours truly this time we change location albeit about 5 miles south of the last and we end up at Berkswell. Well the deal with this station was a little bit later on in my life my mother found a antique framing shop and would occasionally visit to have posters framed for herself and her friends (hence the frequent visits).
These visits would usually be after school so I could take advantage of the situation and visit the station which at the time was home to a level crossing with warning lights so I would know exactly when a train was coming.
So at this time I was around 10 years old an Virgin trains had finally taken over the West Coast but all that meant was less class 86’s and new paint jobs for everyone and also to my displeasure no class 310’s and instead class 323’s.
Anyway so this station was quite a fun station for me in the fact the platforms had basically no width at all so I could basically sit on the bench cling for dear life and watch the trains absolutely flying through which I could never get bored of and due to my visits the staff seemed to remember me and just give a quick ‘hello’ and followed by a ’seen much yet’ to which I would reply ‘The usual nothing special but happy to be here’ and it seemed to play out this way every visit but back then the normal everyday traction was enough for me (Not quite the case these days really).
So around half hour would be spent at the station which was eaily enough time to just see everything there was to see with the odd days without a class 47 or a HST but then again the diesels wern’t top of the agenda in this case was the class 86,87,90 which was almost like the three muskateers of the WCML back in those days.

Anyway hope you enjoy that brief memory

All the best
Scott Turner

Hello there

As you can tell this first week of my blogging has been very considering the amount of blog entries im writing everyday but anyway there is a lot of memories from the 1990’s to get through.

Well this time we turn to the second most influential station of my childhood which was Marston Green this station was at the time the best way for the family to travel into Birmingham to do shopping and what not so a trip to the station woulds be done maybe once a month or sometimes more (I wished).

The station itself to me has always been quite an oddity in the fact that it has two footbridges and the station building is another one of those WMPTE off the wall designs that no one really understood for good reason,but nevertheless it has always been a good place to do the commute to town.

Back then the traction when traveling from the station was normal the class 310 units which as far as Emu’s go have always been a favorite of mine as they were really the last of the slam door stock in the area so it was alway great to try being the first to open the door at the station although my parents stopped that as soon as they could (for obvious reasons) I wouldn’t call the 310’s attractive but they defiantly your attention but mainly I think it was that warm old feel they gave kind of the feeling you get from a sofa over ten years old.

The only other units found there at the time were the 321’s which I will cover in much more detail on the GEML section of this blog so for the time being lets describe them as fast and different (Explanation is defiantly needed).

So now we get on to the Top link passengers services as freight really has always been quite absent from this as the Trent Valley has it all covered.As with any part of the WCML High Speed Trains had a large part of this line so usually after ten minutes one would rear it’s head and blast through the station although International was only around a mile away but still they always made a racket through any station and the one thing any enthusiast will tell they remeber about an older HST is the flashes of black,white and red followed by an almighty scream as a leaving present.

Now we get on to my favorite aspect of this station THE ELECTRICS if you ask an close friends of mine they will tell you I am mad about electric locomotives and this place sparked off that interest (sorry about the pun) the classes found at this location were the typical offerings of class 86,87 and 90 as the 92’s had yet to really make an entrance on the network.All the electrics at the time were mainly painted in Intercity livery which to me all gave them a reason to be respected as this meant they were the important prize winning locomotives not really to be messed with so when one was on the approach I would make sure I stood well back and cover my ears as to a child a 100mph train is quite scary.The 86’s were always my favorite I don’t exactly know why but when presented with both classes 87 and 86 the 86 would get more of a look in.

Surprisingly that is it for this station as the traction was never extremely varied as only two types of unit could be found and well as said before freight on this line was minimal although Im sure someone out there could tell me different.

So once again as always I hope you are enjoying the memories and comments good or bad are always welcome.

All the best

Scott Turner

Hello there

So now the introductions are over and done with we can get down to the important stuff the memories ! In my recollections from the past there is only a handful of locations that come to mind but the one that deserves the first post is Water Orton this station is basically where I learned about the railways in a sporadic way thanks to my dad being the only family member interested enough to take me for a few hours every month.

If you have ever graced the station with your presence you will know that it is a case of underlying beauty covered with urine graffiti and wooden boards most people will complain but if this station was returned to it’s former glory it would defiantly be something to marvel at.

But anyway back to the trains basically the format would be dad would take me down with some sarnies and a trip to the shops to pick up any other essentials (crisps,drink,paper) and we would spend probably three hours on the platform seeing what would turn up. My dad would make an attempt at writing down numbers and explain to me what classes and numbers meant but that all seemed to go over my head as being young I just had my own name for every locomotive or unit and here is some examples.

Class 47 The Intercity express trains.

Class 37 Piggy trains.

Class 43 Intercity 125

Class 20 Big nose

Class 58 coal locomotive.

So some of these may or may not make sense to you but that was my own perspective on things back then obviously there was more traction than that but water Orton as I remember it was a little set in its ways as far as traction was concerned although one time I did see a pair of 33’s doing well nothing my dad straight away was surprised me on the other hand watched the pair leave and waited for the next train.

Now as far as units go they have never really excited me that much I mean I can think of worse things to stand around watching but honestly I never really gave them the time of day but still I remember the 150’s when they did the what I assume was Nottingham – Cardiff trips and then there was the new 158’s which did Birmingham – Cambridge and finally the 156’s which did Birmingham -Leicester, the 150’s did impress me as due to being on the derby mainline they did come through the station at some speed (speed being the number one attribute to impress me back then).

I suppose there is freight to talk about now Water Orton at the time was subject to an intense MGR service utilising classes 37,20,58,56 and so on but 37’s and 58’s were the most memorable probably due to the immense sound the 37’s projected out and with the 58’s it was the general oddness of the class not looking like anything I had ever seen before.But other than these coal trains I can’t really remember much else yeah there was the odd departmental using a class 31 and the new class 60’s on the oil trains but I guess they failed in comparison to the MGR workings as most children who like trains seem to find coal more important than anything else.

Probably the most important aspect of Water Orton was the long distance passenger workings or the expresses as I knew them there typically was two types of traction which was the High Speed Trains which were the more common of the two and then there was the class 47’s which even back then were somewhat of a treat to see and when ever one was seen hurtling around the corner I would begin to get a little to excited and my dad would shoot up come see what I was raving about and watch with me and if any clag was involved he would probably be as impressed as me.

Finally there is probably the most long lasting memory that I have gained from Water Orton in my early years and this was seeing Sir Nigel Gresley (the locomotive) on a rail tour which back then would always be well advertised around the village so would bring out countless individuals with there cameras regardless of if they did this occasionally or rarely as it was not to be missed.All I remember of the event was pulling up the side of the road leaving the village which the railway ran alongside and there was a handful of people talking amongst one another about I assume the event at hand and then everything went silent obvious I had no concept on silence so I continued to talking until told by my mother that the train was coming so I shut up and watched in amazement as this steam engine like no other flew past us all whistling her heart out which was followed by the rattle of the coaches and the finally the whisp of steam lingering behind and it sent a shiver through my spine.It would be another 15 years before I seen her at Water Orton and well you will have to wait for the story also……..

All the best.

Scott Turner.

Hello there

My name is Scott Turner I have lived in the Birmingham area all my life and obviously a fall under the category of railway enthusiast some out there call it a curse or a childhood fascination that you never shook off but these days I call it a blessing.I was maybe not so lucky as the majority of enthusiasts as I was born in 1988 so BR blue a something I do not remember,my era though has been the final years of British Rail and the beginning of privatization.

Being born at this time did mean I had missed out on many great things as a railway enthusiast such as the following statements.

“I’m sorry I cant say I remember D1010 on the china clay”

“What does a roarer sound like ? “

“Where is old oak common ? “

But also I feel lucky as I have met a handful of the younger lot who don’t remember when I trip from Marston green to Birmingham new street involved the slamming of doors on a class 310 or when class 47’s weren’t actually that special and when rail tour’s were more of a blessing than a given.

Over the course of this year this blog will basically be a series of ramblings by yours truly about my memories from around 1990 to 1998 regailing the majority of memories.You are probably wondering why I asm doing considering that there are many people who have their stories from much more interesting times well the answer is these are the only memories I was able to have and it is always great to see the state of play back from someone else’s eyes rather than just your own.

I honestly hope you enjoy this blog in it’s entirity and if there are any criticisms please be gentle im still a novice to this…..

All the best.

Scott Turner.