BR in the 1980s Milton Keynes Central Station on 25th May 1988

[@petesstuff]

Thank you for posting this. Its probably an age thing ' early 50s ' but this is my favorite BR era. When things are a bit run down but new things are afoot. INTER CITY exec and NSE liveries are the best ever carried on BR. Thanks again.

[@spompey]

Maybe 10 years earlier for me...but You're very welcome...many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark

[@Tornado922]

That was amazing to watch, so much variety in traffic to be seen. So pleased that you are releasing these films!

[@spompey]

You're very welcome...many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark

[@soundseeker63]

There is definitely something about the WCML during the class 85/86/87 and 310 era that is very evocative. It was all 321 units by the time I remember it, and the 85s had pretty much gone, plus DVTs made the formations a bit more uniform to some extent. But even then it was still an interesting and varied line. I would struggle to say the same now though. I realise you can't run a railway based on what enthusiasts want to see but... Yes, there was definitely something special about that time with so much veriety on offer....from the spotters perspective at least. "Old, dirty and late" was general public perception of BR at the time though!

[@spompey]

Very true.....but comfortable to travel by....Many thanks for your comment and for watching...best wishes...Mark

[@derektaylor2941]

As I just posted on another video from this channel (Rugby) on this actual day- 25th May 1988- my Dad and I were in Calais and took a trip on SNCF for a few stops; far from being this TGV-like experience that most Brits erroneously compared our trains to, this train still had end balconies and to walk from carriage to carriage you left the carriage, onto the balcony, over this narrow walkway with only chains to keep you from falling, and onto another balcony... Our trains were, on average, FAR beyond Europ at the time.

[@DaventryParkway]

Brilliant video, so lucky you filmed it thank you. I lived between MK and Northampton and was 18 at the time this was taken so know this like home. I’ve just begun to model a section of WCML of this period and have ordered a Class 310, one featured in this video so excellent reference material! 👍

[@spompey]

You are very welcome and many thanks.....best regards....Mark

[@EM-yk1dw]

Oh yes lovely AC locos and AM10 EMUs, what a great era, many thanks for sharing.

[@spompey]

You're very welcome...many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark

[@cedarcam]

I miss the class 86 locomotives sound, great to see them here at this busy station, even late in the evening a lot of passengers going into London.

[@animaltvi9515]

Just asking but how do you know its evening.

[@cedarcam]

@@animaltvi9515 LOL I was thinking it was, but after saying that it will be morning as announcements are 07:00 08:00 I was looking at the clock on the platform.

[@petesstuff]

I would also be tempted to say evening. May is daylight right up to 9:30 pm ... also those platforms seem a little too quiet for london rush hour !

[@cedarcam]

@@petesstuff That's what I was thinking at first but the announcer is saying as if it is morning, so not really sure now. I never went here in rush hour but seen other stations at that time and they are packed.

[@stephenduncan3605]

I miss Intercity Executive livery which was my favourite on the class 86 and 87 locomotives.

[@petersmith4455]

hi there, great video,this is when trains were a delight to see unlike today when they are a waste of space, thank goodness for LSL ltd and other private companies

[@Greenslade117]

I recall the 317s weren’t on the west coast mainline for more than a couple of years, before they were replaced by the Dusty Bins (321s). Another great video, thanks.

[@spompey]

You're very welcome...many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark

[@markcf83]

The old BedPan units would move around quite a bit after their cascading from Thameslink.

[@spompey]

@@markcf83 many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark

[@davidhartwell4826]

Ah, memories of the NSE loco hauled Northampton - Euston "Cobblers" and the short lived inter-City services from the north to Dover. A Network Card day return from Milton Keynes to Dover on a through Inter-City was a great day out.

[@spompey]

And sometimes Margate.....best wishes....and many thanks for watching....Mark

[@siddywiddyb]

Brilliant wow thank you! So great to hear the sound of 310 units again!

[@spompey]

You are most welcome and many thanks too.....Mark

[@carolinecleaveley]

takes me back to the 70s when used to travel alot from northampton to Euston and up north too. can remember this station being built.

[@spompey]

Many thanks for your comment and for watching...best wishes...Mark

[@jezbo7827]

Cracking video! Keep them coming!

[@spompey]

You're very welcome...many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark

[@davidwallace5831]

Brilliant! So many memories. Thank you!

[@spompey]

You're very welcome David and many thanks........Mark

[@adamw2911]

Brilliant video. The WCML was my 'local' so remember this period well. The last hurrah for the 310s , mk1 cobblers and Roarers. At least back then, what usually replaced it was a step up in quality and performance.

[@spompey]

Many thanks Adam....best wishes...Mark

[@richardwoodward3949]

Wonderful video. God, I miss the class 310's and the 81-85's. Class 86 was good too, but never really liked the 87's for some reason. I was 20 when this was filmed. Happy memories

[@spompey]

The time seems to have flown by when looking back....many thanks for your interest and best regards...Mark

[@duncancurtis5108]

Smashing shot a year earlier of an enthusiast hoping to bag 40122 barrelling south only for an 87 to block the view at the right moment! He fairly sprints up the platform.

[@spompey]

It's happened to me and I know the feeling....OOOoooppss.....Many thanks for your comment and for watching...best wishes...Mark

[@limeyfox]

05:26 I’ve never seen a 310 unit with wrap-around windows painted in NSE colours. I assumed the window replacement and relivery happened at refurbishment but clearly not always the case!

[@spompey]

You are very welcome and many thanks for your comment and for watching...best wishes...Mark

[@stephenpowell5912]

Feeling Nostalgic watching this classic footage from late May of 1988 ,Would have been aged 14 at the time born in July 1973 ,Remember living in Colchester in 1980 to 1981 and again in 1990 to 1992 using these classic EMUs to go to Clacton on sea or Walton on the Naze beach ,Great memories when i was a kid back then .❤Fab video when Camcorder's were big Chunky things but they did their Job .

[@spompey]

Apart from the irritating sound drop outs ..many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark

[@highvoltageswitcher6256]

For all the jokes about the BR sandwiches and various other complaints the railway worked back then. It also worked with way less subsidy than it does now. BR was Western Europe’s most efficient railway back then. If it had had the public money thrown at it back then which privatisation did we would have one of the best railways in the world now. Ideology run a muck!

[@cedarcam]

Sadly I have to agree, the railway had it's problems and things needed sorting out but I never remember the delays and disruption we get today, almost every day. I used to go out a lot all around the country so it is not as if I am talking about one area. Last Saturday there was major disruption setting off to Crewe caused by a failed train and getting back was almost as bad with a points failure and lineside fire causing huge delays OK A lineside fire there is not much you can do but why does it take hours to move a failed train or fix a set of points these days

[@phillipmeears]

Worked for british rail for ten years people have very short memories it was a mess to run and a mess to organise yes had some great stock but was awful to work for little own for the public to travel on.

[@cedarcam]

@@phillipmeears There were things wrong but there were spare locomotives and train crew eg a DMU arrived at 8am ish and stood until 4pm ish when it was run in service again That unit was kept in the siding to fill in for any failures their is nothing like that now. Local depots attended faults instead of being based miles away and at least in my area things ran better than they do today. Keeping trains on the move was a priority and control were quick to ask for an estimate of how long the fault would be causing delay so they could update staff and organise other ways of getting there. None of your this ticket is only valid on so and so, you bought a ticket and any train going there by reasonable route was OK. Todays trains are often less comfortable but they do have air con and double glazing better lighting and faster from A to B because of their superior acceleration and braking as well as track and signalling improvements just seems things go wrong all the time now and instead of a delay there are hours of delay for what would of easily been sorted out back then.

[@highvoltageswitcher6256]

@@phillipmeears It was far from perfect. However, it was starved of investment, especially by ideologically possessed hyper-globalists. Released cabinet papers state one of the main objectives of privatisation was to reduce trade union power. That was an ideologically driven decision that clearly failed in its main objective. Ironically privatisation and demographic changes seems to have made the Railway Trade Unions more powerful.

[@AndreiTupolev]

Oh god yes. Some things are much better now - information, accessibility - but comfort just doesn't seem to be a consideration now (although that started with Sectorisation and the "Sprinters for everything" mentality), and now, nearly every day, the super-duper computerised signalling will go down completely somewhere and everything will stop dead. That just never happened in BR days.

[@AndreiTupolev]

One 12 coaches, and one 13 coaches on the Northamptons. Presumably the non-stop 85 at15:17was ECS.

[@spompey]

Yes A return ECS working from earlier in the day.....Much appreciated Andrei....Mark

[@AndreiTupolev]

WCML guards always had a bit of a rough end of the stick until the DVTs came along. Passengers (certainly at the London end) had Mk 3 Open Firsts, and guards had draughty, rattly Mk 1 BGs

[@spompey]

The bliss...I would give up my seat anytime on a modern day train for a MKI seat even if it was a BG or GUV.....Care to join me on that one Andrei......many thanks....Mark

[@michaelpowell3980]

@@spompey I'd be right there with you... these were the last good days of the WCML before DVTs came along and trains turned into shuttles... mind you, I'd take a DVT and Mk3s over a pendolino every time.

[@spompey]

Many thanks Andrei....mark

[@paulnolan1352]

Nice reflection but a bit after my time (mid 70’s for me) and Bletchley was my Temple. Incidentally 86242 was the Nuneaton smash casualty seen here over a decade later still running.

[@spompey]

Many thanks for watching and for the info......Best wishes Paul....Mark

[@fatwalletboy2]

The cobbler drivers werent in any hurry were they?

[@spompey]

As Always......Saltley Men eh........many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark

[@cannadineboxill-harris2983]

I needed to know why they don’t dig a tunnel and do an extension for the main line Train so that they can extend the unused abandoned underground train stations. Why couldn’t they use the part D78 Stock train doors on the sides and also restructure the front face of the A60 and A62 stock and that includes the class 313, class 314 and class 315 remix and make them all together and also redesign them an overhead line and also make them into Five cars per units and also having three Disabled Toilets on those Five cars per units A60 and A62 stock trains and also convert the A60 and A62 stock trains into a Scania N112, Volvo B10M, Gardner 6LXB, Gardner 6LXC and Gardner 8LXB Diesel Engines and also put the Loud 7-Speed Voith Gearboxes even Loud 8-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Gearboxes in the A60 and A62 stock, class 313, class 314, and class 315 and also modernise the A60 and A62 stock and make it into an 11 car per unit so it could have fewer doors, more tables, computers and mobile phone chargers. A Stock Trains and also having 8 Disabled Toilets on those A stock trains. why couldn’t we refurbish and modernise the Waterloo and city line Triple-Track train tunnel and make it more Larger and extend it to the bank station, making it into a Triple-Track Railway Line so those Five countries such as Australia, Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden to convert the waterloo and city line Triple-Track Railway tunnel into a High-Speed Railway lines? The Third Euro tunnel Triple-Track Railway line to make it 11 times better for passengers so they could go from A to B. Then put the modernised 11 car per unit A Stock and put them on a bigger modernised Waterloo and city line Triple-Track train tunnel so it could go to bank station to those Five countries such as Australia, Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden. The modernised refurbished 11 cars per unit A stock could be a High Speed The Third Triple-Track Euro Tunnel Train So it is promising and 47 times a lot more possible to do this kind of project if that will be OK for London Australia, Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden. oh by the way, could they also tunnel the Triple-Track Railway Line so it will stop from Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex so that the Passengers will go to Australia, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden and also extend the Triple-Track Railway Line from the Bank to Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex Stations so that more people from there could go to Australia, Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden more Easily. Why couldn't they extend the Piccadilly Line and also build brand-new underground train stations so it could go even further right up to Clapton, Wood Street can they also make another brand new underground train station in Chingford and could they extend the Piccadilly Line and the DLR right up to Chingford? All of the classes 150, 155, 154, 117, 114, 105, and 106, will be replaced by all of the Scania N112, Volvo B10M, Gardner 6LXB, Gardner 6LXC and Gardner 8LXB Diesel Five carriages three disabled toilets are air conditioning trains including Highams Park for extended roots which is the Piccadilly line and the DLR trains. Could you also convert all of the 1973 stock trains into an air-conditioned maximum speed 78 km/hours (48 MPH) re-refurbished and make it into a 8 cars per unit if that will be alright, and also extend all of the Piccadilly train stations to make more space for all of the extended 8 car per unit 1973 stock air condition trains and can you also build another Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive Companies and can they order Every 37 Octagon and Every 17 Hexagon shape LNER diagram unique small no.13 and unique small no.11 Boilers from those Countries such as Greece, Italy, Poland, and Sweden, can they make Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive speeds by up to 142MPH so you can try and test it on the Original Mainline so it will be much more safer for the Passengers to enjoy the 142MPH speed Limit only for HS2 and Channel Tunnel mainline services, if they needed 16 Carriages Per units, can they use those class 55’s, class 44’s, class 40’s and class 43HST Diesel Locomotive’s right at the Back of those 18 Carriages Per Units so they can take over at the Back to let those Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive’s have a rest for those interesting Journeys Please!!!!!!!, oh can you make all of those Coal Boxes’s 17 Tonnes for all of those 142MPH Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive’s so the Companies will Understand us PASSENGER’S!! so please make sure that the Builders can do as they are told!!!! And please do something about these very very important Professional ideas Please? Prime Minister of England, Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister of Sweden, Prime Minister of Germany, Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister of Poland and that Includes the Mayor of London.

[@gavinthorburn5385]

No phones.no laptops.better times

[@spompey]

Absolutely....just good old fashioned broadsheets....many thanks and best wishes...Mark

[@WCML730]

05:30 what train is this?

[@spompey]

One of the many early morning rush hour trains to Euston I believe.....many thanks.....Mark

[@WCML730]

@@spompey thanks, what Class train is this??

[@onezuluseventy]

A class 310 unit on a MKC - Euston local, nothing unusual. They later went to the LT&S

[@WCML730]

@@onezuluseventy thank you!!

[@spompey]

@@onezuluseventy Many thanks for the info Peter and for watching....Mark

[@Buckstom]

8:33 is i think the Executive Saloon that could be hired and put into service trains.

[@spompey]

Not sure.....but many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark

[@TrainDriver1953]

Maggie thatcher yes

[@spompey]

You either hate her or love her...just like a pot of Marmite.....many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark

[@Comrade_Dyatolov]

One brilliant railway system ruined by an evil witch.

[@smithge4uk]

Who Beeching?

[@Comrade_Dyatolov]

@@smithge4uk thatcher and also beeching

[@owenevans83]

Thatcher wasn’t involved in privatisating BR, blame Major

[@AndreiTupolev]

I presume you mean Margaret Hilda (blessed be her name)? She didn't really take much interest in the railways (which was why she never took on the railways unions like she did the miners), it was JM that was the mastermind behind that

[@spompey]

Hhhmmm Well need we say more...many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark

[@andrewchaston503]

At least you could be rest assured that the driver was not earning more than a neurosurgeon. Totally ridiculous the money these knob pullers earn now 😊

[@spompey]

Not just knob pullers my friend.....and handles and loads more and I never earned as much as a brain surgeon...many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark