British Rail-Hastings+DEMUs February 1986

Another vid now from 1986. Shot in February i went to Hastings to film the 'Hastings Unit' Thumpers before their withdrawl. There's a couple of shots at Charing Cross before we see Hastings, complete with semaphore signalling. A few EMUs are seen including one in Jaffa Cake livery and a Crompton on an engineers working. If you liked the video please subscribe to my channel, there are lots more transport & quirky vids to upload!

[@justinobrien3593]

if you closed your eyes for a second and a thumper unit passed by you would be convinced a pair of class 20 choppers had stormed by you.🤩😍🥰

[@DKS225]

Some fantastic classic footage of the Hastings DEMU’s and a salute to the people that were at St Leonards Depot that kept them running until electrification was completed plus the 12 “Slim Jim” Members of the Cromptons aka Class 33 that were based there.

[@traindriver35]

The speed the trains are going in and out of Hastings seems terrifying. It's all 15mph now and yet the track layout is exactly the same.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Back when drivers were allowed to drive trains properly......

[@hastingsdiesels]

Brilliant stuff, thank you so much for having captured this all those years ago and for sharing it with us now. Among the vehicles seen there are units 1016, of which one end is our motor coach Mountfield, and (coming in at a huge rate of knots at the end!) unit 1001, all vehicles of which we own.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Ah! That was a lucky shot then, a chance to see what they were like at the end of their BR service.

[@InvictaView]

And great to see it still in preservation. I saw and briefly filmed it at Tonbridge, 06th January 2024, on its Surrey excursion. A real blast from the past. 👍💯🇬🇧

[@steffanmaximum]

I use to drive trains on the Victoria to Ore, and Brighton lines from 1978-1986. This brings it all back, and it just seems like yesterday.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I aim to please! I, myself can't really believe it was over 30 years ago i filmed this. There will be more in the future, i went to Tonbridge after here so there is plenty more action to come!

[@alunhoskins4513]

Enjoyed that, thanks. They were my trains from Warrior Square to Charing Cross as a kid in the 60’s. Loved them then and still love them now. From being on them in the 60’s to ‘not’ being on them in MY 60’s😆 How the heck did that happen?

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I was only 19 when i filmed this.....and it seems like yesterday! The years have flown by......but at least i can look back and enjoy the past.....

[@EM-yk1dw]

Outstanding Soi! Weed free railway too!

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

It was back in the day. Br was strapped for cash but had PW engineers who wouldn't let things grow on a working railway, the tracks arn't Kew Gardens! With the amount of money sloshing around the industry nowadays, what's the excuse for not tackling it???

[@grahamgarnett4010]

I can still remember these in SR green.

[@castra58]

Wonderful memories. For a young child travelling first on the Bexhill West branch then changing at Crowhurst, the sound of an approaching DEMU from Hastings was a sense of excitement for a young me. In latter years, walking during early hours of the morning in Hastings, the air was often full of the sound of DEMU's ticking over in Alexander Park sidings. Travelling to Hither Green for six months in the 70's on the DEMU's and changing at Sevenoaks, the commute wasn't fun at times but those wonderful machine are missed now.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Yes, Thumpers were great traction to see & ride on. I still have more from this era to upload so keep an eye out!

[@annescholey6546]

Wretched CEPs took over!😠

[@stephenpowell5912]

I do so miss these times as a boy growing up remember in the 1980s born in 1973 going on these while at school ,Love the sound of the Iconic Thumpers going from East Grinstead to London Bridge in the Early 1980s ,Now at 49 They had that destinctive sound about them ,Today's Generation of Passenger trains don't ,Long live these 1950s legends ❤️to the Generation of Diesel locomotives that I miss the sight of when these also ruled British railways ❤️ Feeling nostalgic and emotional watching this ❤️🥺🎩🇬🇧And wow a Classic London Underground Tube train , Beautiful 😍

[@stephenpowell5912]

Remember the Thumpers going from East Grinstead to Tunbridge Wells or London bridge in the Early to late 1980s(1983-89)Time , Beautiful sound and great video thats nostalgic for me at 50 years old ❤

[@francishuddy9462]

That is the proper Charing Cross railway station, pre-1990, before it was ruined by the giant edifice built on top ...

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Yes, i wish i had filmed more before that happened....

[@stephenpowell5912]

Love the sound of The sound of The Thumpers almost sound like Class 20s ❤

[@MKTTransportVideos]

So glad you filmed the interior as well. Fascinating units.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I enjoyed riding on them this day. After here i went to Tonbridge for more filming before heading back up to London on one.

[@annescholey6546]

They called them Hell Carts

[@francishuddy9462]

I remember these diesels roaring into Tunbridge Wells Central, back in the early 1980s, an amazing sound ...

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Yes, Thumpers sounded real good!.....

[@laurieharper1526]

When I was a kid, we used to go onto London occasionally on a Saturday. The narrow slab-sided Hastings thumpers would always be on platform 5 or 6 at Charing Cross. This was in the days when they were in dark green livery (which I much prefer to blue and silver). I loved the noise they made as they powered up.

[@UKHeritageRailways]

I used to commute to and from Charing Cross. There was no sound better than one of these accelerating out of the station, amplified by the fact that the platforms were now covered by the office block above.

[@christopherbraiden6713]

Thanks for the video you can't beat these old thumpers, I just love them on home turf!!🚃🚃🚃🚃🇬🇧

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

My pleasure....I caught these in their dying days, and they still wre good, claen units to ride on.

[@christopherbraiden6713]

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus yes they were!!

[@geoffbarry9540]

I left Hastings for the last time just over 20 years later in Dec 2006. The change to the entire environment apart from the actual platforms was amazing. And, of course, we travelled on the juice...

[@OlafProt]

I grew up with the Tadpole units on the Reading-Tonbridge line so this is fantastic. So familiar all the sounds. Class 33s were my favourite too. Are the EMUs 4CIG? I also miss the fact that the guards almost always seemed to keep their doors open until well clear of the platform... the slam door trains were the best. Can’t get over the interior shots. The light bulbs, top windows, seat covers... wow. 😊

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Thank you....i filmed these in February 86 so not too long before the electric service started. Hastings seem quite busy then and with a good bit of variety. Not too good on Southern units though.....CIG's& VEP's i think......

[@rocksreynolds3642]

Love Thumpers, thanks! Interesting rail train as well.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I seem to recall this was a Monday so the ballast train had probably been out over the weekend.

[@penninetrains1398]

Great video! I was a guard at Brighton at that time and frequently worked to Hastings and Ore on the East Coastway electric services. On Summer Saturdays we ran extra relief trains for foreign language students from Hastings to Brighton in the morning and back in the evening - usually a nine car class 205/207 DEMU formation, but occasionally a 12 car class 201/202/203 formation. Noisy, smelly, but very characterful!

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I bet that looked and sounded hellfire!!! I'm pleased you like the vid, i can't really believe it was over 30 years ago!

[@EM-yk1dw]

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus Yep I can't believe it is 30 years ago too Soi. I used to bunk off school to ride the Hastings DEMUs!

[@nicnak4475]

How did they link the four engines to run in unison ? thanks :o)

[@squarewheelsorguk]

@@nicnak4475 Electrically linked via the 27-way control-jumper, which you can see as the u-shaped cable plugged into a dummy socket, on the secondman's side of the front of the cab.

[@nicnak4475]

@@squarewheelsorguk thanks Richard

[@4vepvik781]

Nice new footage of old skool Hastings Units in action etc.👍🏾👍🏾

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Yes, i managed to get them on film not long before their replacement!

[@zennor_man]

Marvellous, thank you. I first rode on a Hastings Thumper circa 1957...they were a revelation & a source of childhood wonder. I could not understand why they used to stand at Charing Cross revving the engine at full throttle then ticking over!...

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

My pleasure..... They revved the engines in order to speed up the compressors and charge the air system, and when enough Main Res air, the Brake Pipe.....

[@barrythedieselelectricstea5217]

great video mate 😚😁

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Thank you, there will be more from Kent. I have rather a lot of video so am spreading my uploads around the country to get plenty of interest!

[@geoffbarry9540]

Ah, Hastings - you've done it again with Memory Lane. Lived there for four years 2002-2006. Caught what will probably be my last ever train in England from there to Charing Cross in December 2006 en route back to Australia at the end of our great adventure. Never got to ride the Hastings DEMUs though. Have often toyed with the idea of modelling one but my skills are now declining.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I do have some ffilm from around 2000 which may look similar to how it was when you were there. This was just at the end of the narrow gauge Thumpers working the Charing Cross services. In May 1986 the new electric service started and these old units were withdrawn....

[@chris-io1ki]

Priceless footage. Thumpers were my lords!

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I have more, of these and others over on the South Western division. When they were short of locos or stock the odd Thumper made it to Waterloo, i think i have a vid taken at Clapham Junction with one working Up Road!

[@francishuddy9462]

I'm from Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Remember these iconic trains in the late 1970s and early 1980s ...

[@Kivetonandrew]

Living up North, we never saw these Thumper units. However, they sound exactly like Class 20 Choppers.

[@InverhavonRailways]

Thy had a 4 cylinder version of the same engine, rated at 500/600hp. You could hear them for miles.

[@TheGingerGenius78]

Loving the Clag at 7:55 into the tunnel northbound !

[@pauldelcour]

This is wonderful, some of these I have never seen in real life, only as a model. Fantastic atmosphere and sometimes awful diesel fumes.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I'm pleased you enjoyed it..... Didn't really notice the fumes, it's just how things were back then...... Diesel being better than steam, electric being better than diesel although like back then, the elites want rid of diesel but throw their hands up in horrow at the cost of electrifying the network......

[@AndreiTupolev]

I suppose that engineering train was in association with the electrification. A rare case of a Hastings gauge Crompton actually on the Hastings line, then

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I have had them for haulage on the Bristol-Weymouth's!

[@dodgydruid]

Those rail carriers could well have been former EMU stock themselves, 6 GRI bogie and frameset's were converted to rail carriers early 70's when the whole fleet was broken up at Hoo Junc yard. I will say the Hasting's units were a joint favourite of mine with the MLV, CEP and HA/HB's.

[@Martindyna]

Thanks for the awesome video, I fell in love with the Thumper DEMUs when they were used for the Basingstoke to Reading shuttle service. Love the semaphore signals still in use, we see the signal arm fall to danger here 7:48 Great attention to detail in filming the front of the power car and we see vaguely what you looked like when you were 19 as you film the inside of the cab 11:05 I believe the maximum permissible number of cars was 15, have you ever seen such a train?

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Thank you.... No i think 12 cars was the longest i saw. I do have more video of Thumpers including those on the Reading-Basingstock line, i will look at getting one up soon....

[@Martindyna]

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus Thanks; hope to see a video of my local Thumper line when you have the time.

[@williamradford8817]

1986 The good old days of the six coach DMU's on the Hastings to Charring cross rote, same of the Chernobyl N.P.P disaster

[@stevehillier7018]

And to think one of these was involved in a massive Disaster at Hither Green in November 1967. 1007 short under frame having most of its trailers completely wrecked. 1017 being the trailing vehicle survived

[@davidwolstenholme6413]

Those thumpers were so cool, I just wish I'd spent time with them when I had the chance but they were a long way just to get in position to do them. Still....

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I only just got them on film, and that was this one & only trip! There is more to come from this day out, i stopped off a Tonbridge on the way back to London......

[@davidwolstenholme6413]

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus I shall look forward to seeing that.

[@ZeldaFitz]

Just before network south east livery came into being

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

NSE was launced later in the year. At this time is was still the London & South East Sector under the control of 4 out of the 5 Regions....

[@AndreiTupolev]

10:39 arriving at speed with red tail blinds on the front? 🤔

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Probably running late (i seem to recall some sort of delay to trains behind the one i arrived on) and getting it ready for its return run....

[@Martindyna]

Can you please advise the sections of line that were not electrified, making the DEMUs necessary?

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Tonbridge to Bo Peep Junction just before Hastings was the section not electrified until 1986.

[@TheGingerGenius78]

And Hastings to Ashford !

[@InvictaView]

​@@TheGingerGenius78Yes, and still diesel only. Such a poor service with only three car trains which are woefully over crowded in the summer. Rarely see a four car on there. This is Southern controlled though. There far superior Ore-Brighton EMU trains are always 4 or more car trains, and never overcrowded. 👍💯🇬🇧

[@annescholey6546]

Last ones at Rye in 2001

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Was that the green Hastings DEMU? I seem to recall filming it at Hastings in around 2000.

[@bobwood856]

Unit No. 1111, known as the "eyebrows" unit!

[@AlanAlanAlan161]

Also known as Beanstalk row 1111

[@annescholey6546]

1133 lived at Salisbury