British Rail Network SouthEast-Salisbury & Andover, Autumn 1992

Another request from a subscriber now, a vid showing Andover. I only have a couple of shots there and they are both on this vid. I was spending a day filming at Salisbury and saw 47 704 on the West of England service. It was the only 47/7 that they didn't take on after Scotrail use as it needed an overhaul which NSE wouldn't pay for. RES did pay for it's works visit and used it but wouldn't let NSE commander it. As the West of England line ended up so desperate for traction at the end of loco hauled operations they went to BR Board level to get permission for them to use it. This the Board agreed to so reluctantly RES had it taken from them. As i needed it for haulage i rode behind it to Andover before returning to Salisbury. Also seen on this upload is a DEMU, a 37 on oil tanks, a 33 haulinga departmental EMU and of course 47's on the West of England services-enjoy! If you liked the video please subscribe to my channel, there are lots more transport & quirky vids to upload!

[@jasongoulden2938]

Some lovely clips of the 7s what beasts they were such ashame all these boring multiple units have knocked our local hauled trains out the window

[@squarewheelsorguk]

More great footage captured and shared for posterity - thank you!

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

You're welcome. The line was quite interesting in its last few years, lots of Cromptons were used, freight 47s, parcels 47s and one evening the 17.34 Yeovil was ED 73 134 (& typically was one of the few times i didn't have the video camera with me so i only have a photo of that working!) which only went as far as Basingstoke! Class 37's had worked on very rare occasions but sadly not when i was there. But i will get more up over time.

[@magicdave93]

Some great 47 action and very atmospheric. Thanks for posting buddy. 👍🙂

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

There will be more, i spent quite a bit of time chasing this last bit of loco haulage on NSE.....

[@magicdave93]

I’m so glad you did. 👍🙂

[@ImpressionsArt]

Very nice, that's a document for saving history. Hard to believe that 1992 is 27 years ago - Thump up

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

And the 159's are still running on that route!

[@ImpressionsArt]

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus "a living fossile" :-) btw: your videos are great, I'll sub you

[@amadigidigaula771]

dude, you have the best videos on here.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Thank you. I have plenty more to upload, you will be kept busy viewing for years to come!

[@roberthill6216]

I would like to second the original poster's motion, please!

[@geoffbarry9540]

Would love to be able to recreate for the camera the old Andover when the Midland and South Western and Romsey lines made this such an important railway junction. As with so many locations which the years have hugely diminished, that would be something worth filming! No disrespect intended to your excellent uploads, which are themselves now historical gems.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Oh yes, some places now you would never know what had been thre before such has been the rationalisation. A lot of Beeching of course occured over half a century or more ago now.....

[@johnbowles4754]

Love the vid, please, please, please keep on putting them on. 😎 👍 😁

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I will, have no fear, plenty more to come.....

[@christopherruff8528]

Great nostalgia.. 37,33,47,60.. I never saw 47 579.. :( The Demus horn sounded like a deltic!!!

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Somewhere i have 47 579 on the West of Englands. I will try & track it down and put it up in a future WoE upload!

[@lindawilson813]

Love travelling from Portsmouth behind all these to Plymouth every weekend in the eighties

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

An interesting run that i have never done loco hauled sadly.....

[@europeantransporttv212]

This is such a great video! This shows what the past is really about and what in the present we have missed out on. I was never there to see any of this unfortunately, this gives me an amazing idea of how Britain has ruined its railways and how good it really was

[@lazergaming884]

Thank you for uploading a vid with some shots of Andover! It’s strange how it’s not changed at all much since then apart from the rolling stock. Great video as usual :)

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Thank you, and sadly for you these are all the Andover shots i have. But there are plenty more from the WoE line which will be uploaded over time, happy viewing......

[@AndreiTupolev]

The description is a fine summary of how daft Sectorisation got, notwithstanding all the beneficial things that NSE undoubtedly did. See also how they fitted different couplings to the 159s so they weren't compatible with 158s. :rolleyes:

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Yes, somewhat crazy especially as 158's were around on part of the 159's route so would have been handy in event of a failure for a push out.

[@roberthill6216]

At 5:07 is 47706, in extremely tatty Scotrail livery, with NSE flashes, and, still with the Eastfield West Highland Terrier logo on the side. I know it was scrapped at Crewe in 1996, after being transferred to RES. Nice to see it in action in the west country.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

It was a solid performer on here for 1992 and into 1993 when the local hauled workings finished......

[@roberthill6216]

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus after that, will have been when it transferred to RES. It didn't work for long before it suffered a failure, after which it was condemned. 47701 appears at the end of the video, another model I have, so a really helpful video. Did you capture the GWR 150 green 47's? I know I have seen footage of 47079 in trainload livery in a couple of your videos. I have been in hospital, so have had a chance to do some binge watching! (Silver linings and all that)!😊

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

@@roberthill6216 All the ex Scotrail 47/7s worked on the West of England line, even 704 which NSE rejected as it needed an overhaul which they wouldn't pay for. Res decided to pay for it and wouldn't let NSE use it afterwards. As NSE got ever more desperate for traction, they had to go to BR Board level to get their hands on it, and it did appear on the line...... I can't believe the 159s are now as old as the traction they replaced!

[@roberthill6216]

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus I still consider the 159's as new! Your video's are the next best thing to a time machine!👍 I honestly thought the push/pull 47/7's were split between RES and NSE, as I had seen them in both liveries. I hadn't realised they had all worked in the west. (At the time I was at primary school). I did manage to bag a couple of them for haulage around Preston and Manchester when they were on loan to Virgin cross country from EWS or Fragonset in the late 90's. Happy days!👍

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

@@roberthill6216 703, 712 & 717 were Res locos but were commandeered by NSE to replace 50s. Res only objected to 704 as they paid out for its overhaul. I can see why NSE didn't want to pay, they would have only used it for a year or two before Res aquired it. Why both sectors didn't pay 50-50 for its overhaul i'll never know......

[@alanbottomley5581]

Nice vid. Kick myself for not getting down south enough in my spotting days but thankfully most of the best diesels still running in private railways.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

We all have regrets as to what we missed or could have done. The trouble is life & work gets in the way......

[@ClydebridgeStation]

Work on the new traincare depot at Salisbury, for the 159s, was well advanced, in this video.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Yes, this was towards the end of loco hauled West of England operations.....

[@roberthill6216]

I still consider the 159's as new trains!

[@geoffbarry9540]

What happens when iron brake blocks are applied to steel railway wheel treads daddy? On a dark night son, November the bloody fifth... Love it.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I was stopped by the signalman one night at Purfleet as someone had seen sparks coming off my train (it was bituen from Thames Haven), i told him i was braking so yes, there were sparks coming off the wheels! I still had to check the train though.....so i had him block the other line while i walked around the train! So that played havoc with the passenger service on the LTS that evening......

[@roberthill6216]

47's were ace for it. The number of times I saw sparks coming of a 47/7 or 47/8"s brakes coming into Blackpool North, never ceased to amaze me!😊👍

[@AMK1000]

The 159's look poignant sat there 'We are about to end this magical period'

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Yes, it wasn't long before they entered service. Those sat at Salisbury appear not to have no unit numbers on them at this time.

[@AndreiTupolev]

Was that a Sandite unit behind 33101? A 60 dragging 47579/711 ? That was something of a novelty.

[@rocksreynolds3642]

AndreiTupolev Yes it sure looked like a Sandite rail cleaning unit.

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

@@rocksreynolds3642 I'm more inclined to say it was a de-icing unit, the Southern had rather a lot more of those. And sandite units were not that common in those days, and this departmental unit looks to be quite old.

[@geoffbarry9540]

Where on earth was the tug going with the two 47s? Laira?

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

Quite possibly. I'm guessing they came off Eastleigh shed but equally they could have been heading off to Crewe (via various moves to get there) as i think Res took on a lot of the ex west of England Pool locos. As you can see, the 159s had arrived at this point and were due in service shortly.....

[@MrGriser]

I thought the first 159 didn't arrive until 6th January 1993.