Cab Ride - Hastings to Tonbridge

A cab ride aboard a tamper travelling from Hastings to Tonbridge, travelling through the Sussex and Kent countryside, through Battle, Wadhurst and Tunbridge Wells.
This is a continuation of the journey in the previous video from Ashford to Hastings, via Rye

[@lesliebradshaw1408]

Thanks for the Videos Your Journeys give me a real insight to areas that I would normally never see Particularly when you have access to the sidings and movements that normally are never mentioned Thanks much appreciated.

[@emmo999]

Indeed, we now do shunts never normally done. Pleased you enjoy the videos

[@DavidCollison]

Thank you for a great cab-ride video on one of my favourite routes

[@Crocs4cats]

I don’t know why but it’s so mesmerising to watch your journey from a different angle!🤷🏻‍♀️😅🤓

[@emmo999]

Glad you enjoyed the ride!

[@martinmarsola6477]

Another interesting video today. Always enjoy them! Cheers mates! 🇬🇧🙂👍🇺🇸

[@aquissuk]

That St Leonards station is amazing. What a lovely setting.

[@emmo999]

It does limit the station to 8 cars though, no chance of extending the platforms!

[@geoffbarry9540]

It's nice and was my local station for four years when living in England 2002-2006. I have video film I shot of trains there and elsewhere in the area in Jan 2004. Other stations on the line are even more lovely, particularly Battle and Etchingham whose buildings I think are Tite designs, as is Rye on the Marshlink line

[@nigelericogden3200]

It’s got a very nice community garden now.

[@seamusmcevoy2011]

Great to see that you filmed on from Hastings, fantastic viewing.

[@johnspeller3666]

It was not that the line was built on the cheap, but that the contractors, Fox, Henderson & Co., who were on the verge of bankruptcy, cut corners by only putting in four courses of bricks instead of the six specified by the line's engineer, Robert Stephenson. This became apparent when the tunnels started collapsing, and the additional two courses had to be added inside the tunnels, thus narrowing them.

[@emmo999]

Ah, thank you for the historical correction.

[@mrbluesky2050]

my thoughts too, If I recall my history, had almost forgotten the 'hastings gauge' stock.... and i think it was about four or six additional courses put in because the original was so badly done.

[@samuelfellows6923]

🤭

[@davidjohnson00001]

Sounds like building on the cheap to me.

[@rubyait]

Great video. One of my favorite parts of England! Thank you.

[@emmo999]

It’s very pretty around Kent and Sussex

[@julianguffogg]

Wonderful view. I travelled this trip many times.

[@shaunwest3612]

Great video emmo, another lovely journey, beautiful scenery, amazing railway infrastructure, tunnels, cuttings etc👌, love the imfomation captions 👌, keep up the good work 👌😀👍

[@emmo999]

Thanks, Shaun. The support is appreciated

[@atlanticcoastexpress]

Very interesting thank you! You may have been annoyed at the slow running with your machine…but as I don’t know this line very well it was interesting to see the Infrastructure closeup and in detail together with the topography either side of the route. I knew the history of the tunnels and they’re obviously as bad as described in the railway histories! As I used to work at Woking ECR it was also especially interesting to see how different the modern substations are on this route ( complete with the criminal daubing carried out with aerosol spray cans).It was always a unique line and retains its special status. Many thanks again, Rob in Bournemouth.

[@moogmike1]

Another very enjoyable video, thank you.

[@emmo999]

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed it

[@patrickspeaight9154]

Thank you, photography really brought scenery to light. To maintain interests, may I suggest that you the odd road bridge, it gives an idea of the speed, and to some an idea where one is. Thank you, caption are very good. Patrick, Northamptonshire

[@emmo999]

I try not to overload with too much text, so that the viewer can enjoy the ride, rather than constantly read subtitles. It’s just trying to find a balance

[@patrickspeaight9154]

@@emmo999 thank you, everyone will have a different perspective, however, not knowing the area, could mean a loss of interest. Did you know that the mill, Seaford, I think, is unique, it was powered by the tide, sea water.!!! Thank you, Patrick, Northamptonshire

[@steviep1965]

Really enjoy your videos, good routes, the noise of the tamper and the information captions make it really interesting, I never knew that about the narrow tunnels. 👍

[@emmo999]

Glad you enjoyed it. Nice to have the feedback. It’s a bit delayed, as I’m having a new kitchen fitted, but I’m halfway through editing my next video

[@timosha21]

I am a train 🚆and I approve this video!!

[@malcolmelliott1876]

Surprisingly quiet (apart from the rattles) for a work vehicle. Great quality pictures and of places and at speeds not normally seen. Pity you are not based country wide. Great work, thanks for sharing.

[@emmo999]

Rattles are, unfortunately, par for the course with these. With necessarily quite hard suspension, the ride is somewhat…. agricultural! 😂 I do aim to get out and about elsewhere as I can, like I did my Ely video. Time will tell

[@malcolmelliott1876]

@@emmo999 let me know if you ever get as far north as Nottingham- Skegness line!

[@johntyjp]

I ve been on this line often but never seen it from this aspect .Amazing how they built cuttings and tunnels in those days with pick and shovel and the amount of bricks used!! 🤔

[@emmo999]

Absolutely! All mechanical work, crazy what they achieved when you think about it!

[@jessicamorgan3073]

The line was built on the cheap, and the contractors skimped on the bricks used for the tunnel linings. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings_line#Deficiencies_in_the_construction_of_the_tunnels

[@Mortimer50145]

I was looking for a video of this section. Hastings Diesels have lots of other videos but not the bit on home territory. I found a very old video from just after the line was electrified and the track in tunnels was singled, but it's poor quality because of analogue camcorder quality in those days. Yours is much better!

[@emmo999]

Glad you enjoyed it. When I get opportunity I will film the other direction

[@grahamc5531]

Spent many a happy trip travelling from Luton down to St Leonards Warrior Square to visit my grandparents in the 70s and 80s...the old Thumpers, can still recall the smell of them...the hand written wooden boards that would be changed to announce the next train...and having to change at Tonbridge on occasion and having a very plain cheese sandwich from the Journey's End shop...or was it Journey's Friend?

[@emmo999]

I think “very plain” could pretty much describe any BR sandwich! I have a few finger boards in my collection, but they’re not hand written. They have white vinyl letters stuck on black boards

[@timdaugherty5921]

Love these

[@louis945]

Well How weird is that, I was on that 171 that went past at the start of the video as I got off at Hastings from a 375 on P3, and I did see this tamper go past on my 171 haha

[@emmo999]

Small world! Can’t remember the date of filming, but mid to late June would be sort of right

[@louis945]

@@emmo999 It was the final day of my work experience which ended in late June, I will go and check the date

[@louis945]

@@emmo999 Ok I found the date, it was 26th June which sounds about the correct time since this was uploaded on the 5th July

[@Rob_33]

Another great video. I noticed in this and the previous video that the headlights inside the tunnels are not as bright as normal. Was it just a case of switching them fully on?

[@emmo999]

This is an older machine, so they don’t have the main beam headlight switch like the newer ones do

[@Rob_33]

@@emmo999 thank you

[@emmo999]

No probs 👍🏻

[@martinusher1]

I'd guess that the tour of the Kent Coast was to orient the unit in the right direction (Ashford and Tonbridge are directly connected but you'd be going backwards).

[@emmo999]

Bang on! After Tonbridge, the machine returned the direct route back to Ashford, having turned around ready for the next shift

[@danamack7405]

What company owner the Plasser 09 type tamper ? Thanks

[@martinjh999]

At the end of Bo Peep Tunnel and Junction how did you see the signal?? I noticed that you could see the reflection on the glass - Is that how you saw it and was it different in real life to what the camera sees...

[@emmo999]

The camera is not as good as making it out as the human eye. Especially with the light levels coming out of the tunnel. It’s actually easier to see than you think it is

[@AndreiTupolev]

High Brooms: at one time famous for a fares anomaly whereby the cost of a season ticket from London to there was less than from London to Tonbridge, so there was all of a sudden a suspicious rise in the number of tickets being sold to there vice Tonbridge ... 🤔

[@emmo999]

Well that’s bizarre!

[@aquissuk]

Do you think they will ever consider making some/all of those tunnels double tracked by making them wider? I don't know your part of the world, but wondering if demand is great enough for it.

[@emmo999]

No, not without pulling them down and rebuilding them. Between Hastings and Tunbridge Wells there’s only two passenger trains an hour each direction, and north of Tunbridge Wells is 4 trains an hour each direction. The single line sections are generally quite short, so do not really cause delay

[@Southerntrainspotter315]

2:01 great thash in that tunnel

[@emmo999]

Ha, they do make a nice noise in tunnels!

[@HSTHoward]

Nice video. I can see my car in the carpark at Etchingham 🤣

[@emmo999]

Do you park there and pass to TBW then?

[@HSTHoward]

@@emmo999 When I can I do.

[@emmo999]

Frant not easier, being nearer?

[@HSTHoward]

@@emmo999 I live in Etchingham now!

[@jessicamorgan3073]

Lovely line, but some steep gradients too. Thanks for posting

[@emmo999]

It’s very pretty along there. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@aquissuk]

Any idea what work they are doing at 30:34 ?

[@emmo999]

It looks like bank stabilisation work, possibly due to a landslip?

[@antonydicesare4632]

How comes you've come from ashford, through Hastings, to get to tonbridge. Is there not a way of getting there around paddock wood?

[@emmo999]

The whole point of the run was the machine was facing the wrong direction (tampers have a working direction and thus need to face a certain direction for some shifts). So this run was to turn the machine around. It went out facing one way, ran from Ashford-Hastings-Tonbridge. Then ran back to Ashford via Paddock Wood, having the effect of turning the machine around

[@antonydicesare4632]

@@emmo999 Thank you, lovely video

[@emmo999]

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it

[@danamack7405]

Colas Rail ?

[@wilfbm9067]

When was this?

[@emmo999]

A month ago or so

[@samuelfellows6923]

At 55:39 sounded like the driver turned the air conditioning off [what sounded like a fan cuts out]

[@emmo999]

No air conditioning on these old girls! Any sounds are just normal rattles and noises these develop over time

[@harrisongooch2904]

could we maybe get some more SE lines from gravesend?dartford?cannon strreet or even charing cross?!?!?!?!?!

[@emmo999]

They’re on my radar to do again soon

[@timdaugherty5921]

We don’t have semaphore signals here anymore

[@emmo999]

I’m not sure why these have survived, but let’s be grateful they have!

[@2H80vids]

It's not an area I think of as particularly hilly but there's plenty tunnels on this stretch. I wonder if the crooked contractors realised that their shoddy work would still be causing grief over 150 years later. The few thousands they were fined may well have been a lot of money in those days but what has been spent to date repairing their deceit? Think of the stock built to special loading gauge, repairs and arrangements following collapses, preventative repairs, resignalling all the singled sections, the months of single-line working, skewing/relaying of track - the list, and the cost, is HUGE. Multiple millions of £s and probably many thousands of man-hours over the years, and all to save two courses of brick worth a few pounds. On the positive side though, without the sketchy builders, we wouldn't have Hastings DEMUs on the main line, or the odd-looking Slim Jims and P-Way crews, of several generations, got a few Sundays' overtime.👍😁 Thanks for another interesting journey from the best seat in the house. Cheers for now, Dougie.

[@emmo999]

Crazy to think about, isn’t it. So much individuality to this section of line

[@2H80vids]

@@emmo999 Interesting to see so many stations with staggered platforms too.

[@emmo999]

A definite feature of the SER, I feel. They are in quite a few places, but now overlap more where they have been extended from the original build

[@2H80vids]

@@emmo999 In many cases, there would have been a level crossing between the two platforms. That design meant that stopping trains had already cleared the crossing when they stopped, saved blocking the road during the station stop.

[@emmo999]

Whilst the theory is true, I wouldn’t say it was all that many. The places on this line, such as Robertsbridge and Etchingham still have level crossings and they don’t follow the pattern. Places such as Stonegate, Wadhurst, etc didn’t have level crossings. More likely it was a barrow crossing, which Hamstreet retained an inordinately long time, mainly because of the straight line visibility each direction and there was no other means of crossing. It was removed when a lift/footbridge was installed

[@andabossftw]

How fast can these locomotives travel?

[@emmo999]

They’re on track machines, rather than locomotives. They’re not designed for lots of traction hauling coaches. They’re good for 60mph though as they are