On Friday November 1st, Caroline and I went to a performance of “The Truth About Harry Beck” at the Cubic Theatre located in the London Transport Museum, Covent Garden. The play is a two hander and outlines the creation of the iconic London Tube map we know so well today – well recommended and is on multiple dates and times until Sunday 5th January 2025.
Over the first weekend of November 2024, the railway line between Wareham and Weymouth was closed to SWR passenger trains (GWR services terminated and originated at Dorchester West) as engineering work was carried out at a number of locations. Eight trains arrived with materials and equipment and eight trains left, involving ten locomotives (count them!):
Saturday 02/11/2024:
The list of workings for the Friday & Saturday were: 6C01 2212 Eastleigh East Yard to Upwey – 70815 tnt 70811, 6C02 2252 Eastleigh East Yard to Dorchester South – 56049 ‘Robin of Templecombe’, 6C03 2348 Eastleigh East Yard to Moreton – 56051 ‘Survival’, 6G11 0051 Eastleigh East Yard to Wareham – 66757 ‘West Somerset Railway’, 6G12 0132 Eastleigh East Yard to Wareham – 66722 ‘Sir Edward Watkin’, 6G13 0241 Eastleigh East Yard to Wareham – 66711 ‘Sence’, 6Y84 0330 Eastleigh East Yard to Wareham – 66557, 6Y85 0400 Eastleigh East Yard to Wareham – 66511 tnt 66413, 6Y85 1800 Wareham to Eastleigh Yard – 66413, 6Y84 2045 Wareham to Eastleigh East Yard – 66511
Sunday 03/11/2024:
The list of workings for the Sunday were: 6G13 1555 Wareham to Eastleigh East Yard – 66557, 6G12 1655 Wareham to Eastleigh East Yard – 66711, 6G11 1755 Wareham to Eastleigh East Yard – 66722, 6C03 1930 Wareham to Eastleigh East Yard – 66757, 6C02 2035 Wareham to Eastleigh East Yard – 56051 tnt 56049
The remaining departure was scheduled for the Monday morning and ran as 6C01 0400 Wareham to Eastleigh East Yard – 70815 tnt 70811
Friday evening, November 8th 2024, I was visiting a good friend near Eastleigh and on the way home, I took the opportunity to see DB Cargo Class 66 No. 66177 passing through the station working 6N05 2249 Eastleigh East Yard to Poole. The train was scheduled for a ten minute layover at Redbridge which would give me plenty of time to get closer to home in order to see No. 66177 once again. In the event, 6N05 went straight through Redbridge, but this meant Yoshi and I didn’t have long to wait at Branksome before getting another shot of the train. Finally we saw the consist parked up at Sterte, Poole in readiness for the locomotive to get in position for the weekend engineering work.
The video below also includes views of Balfour Beatty Rail Services Matisa B41UE Tamper No. DR75411 working 6J61 2213 Eastleigh East Yard to Poole Storage Sidings at Southampton Airport Parkway and Branksome. The engineering work itself centred around Creekmoor Viaduct on the Holes Bay causeway.
13th November 2024 – Working 5B09 0757 Eastleigh East Yard to Bournemouth T&R.S.M.D, GBRf Class 57 No. 57310 arrived at Poole hauling ex-Class 508 driver trailer barrier vehicles on the way to Bournemouth depot to collect the final South Western Railway Class 458/5 EMU to be delivered to Widnes Transport Tech later in the day. This was originally diagrammed to run as 5Z66 1441 Bournemouth T&R.S.M.D to Eastleigh East Yard but was later updated to 5Z66 1241 Bournemouth T&R.S.M.D to Eastleigh East Yard, which caught a lot of folk by surprise, including me and despite an attempt to see the train passing Christchurch, I just failed to capture a video of it passing!
The New Measurement Train ran through North Dorset on Thursday 14th November 2024 with Class 43 HST power cars No.’s 43251 and 43303 reporting as 1Q23 0552 Reading to Salisbury via Exeter New Yard.
For the first time since 2019, the South Devon Railway hosted a diesel gala. This one day event utilised the SDR’s home fleet of diesel locomotives throughout the day alongside guest Class 60 No. 60029 ‘Ben Nevis’ provided by DCRail. We popped to Buckfastleigh for an afternoon of diesel action – 09/11/2024
In amongst the usual Avanti West Coast Pendolino’s and West Midlands Trains Class 350 EMU’s, I spent an interesting few hours at London Euston on 17th November 2024 as Great Western Railway diverts took place due to engineering work for the construction of HS2’s new station at Old Oak Common requiring the closure of the Great Western Mainline into London Paddington. The Caledonian Sleeper and the GWR Night Riviera stood side by side in the former LMS terminal. Class 92 No. 92033 ‘Railway Heritage Trust’ arrived with the empty coaching stock for the Caledonian Sleeper and departed light loco as 5S96 2117 Wembley Inter City Depot to London Euston / 0A96 2337 London Euston to Wembley Inter City Depot. While Class 92 No. 92018 headed up 1S26 2330 London Euston to Glasgow Central and Edinburgh having arrived light engine as 0S26 2104 London Euston to London Euston. The GWR sleeper stock was top and tailed by Class 57 No.’s 57602 ‘Restormal Castle’ and 57605 ‘Totnes Castle’ which arrived reporting as 5Z51 2115 Reading Traincare Depot to London Euston and departed forming 1Z51 2333 London Euston to Penzance. Locomotive Services Limited Class 90 No. 90001 ‘Royal Scot’ worked in light engine as 0Z51 Crewe Holding Sidings to London Euston and departed as 0Z52 2356 London Euston to Wembley H.S. , the locomotive hired in to provide power to the GWR Night Riviera stock while at Euston to alleviate diesel fumes from the Class 57 locomotives while waiting at platform. We were also treated to a Rail Head Treatment Train top and tailed by GBRf Class 66 No.’s 66750 and 66752 working as 3J01 1414 Kings Norton Ot Plant Dept to London Euston / 3S01 0007 London Euston to London Euston.
The monthly PLP test train utilising GBRf Class 73 locomotives did not make it to Dorset in November, the train being cancelled at Bedford due to a problem with the traction equipment. No.’s 73965 and 73963 had been allocated to 1Q51 1115 Derby RTC to Eastleigh Yard via Weymouth.
Another Class 458 Unit drag to Bournemouth was scheduled to take place on 19th November 2024 with GBRf Class 57 No. 57305 bringing No. 458403 down from Widnes following conversion. However the Class 57 failed at Wembley and was replaced by Class 47 No. 47739 which eventually arrived at Bournemouth depot the following day as 5Q64 1700 Southampton Central to Bournemouth T&RSMD. The first leg of the return path to Leicester LIP with loco and barrier coaches reported as 5Z66 2008 Bournemouth TRSMD to Eastleigh East Yard.
On a visit to Oxford, we enjoyed a walk along the Oxford Canal from the City Centre to the Trout Inn at Wolvercote. On the way we saw a couple of passing freight trains as well as Harry Needle Railroad Company Class 37 No. 37405 working 0Z38 1100 Oxford Down Engineers Siding to Oxford Down Engineers Siding – 26/11/2024
A launch event to mark the rollout of long-delayed new trains for South Western Railway (SWR) was held at London Waterloo on Thursday 28th November 2024 where Class 701 No. 701031 was named ‘Nighthawk’ by cricket legend Stuart Broad. The former One Day and Twenty20 captain unveiled the name a short trip up the line from Vauxhall, home to the Oval cricket ground where he took the final wicket in his last Test match. ‘Nighthawk’ is a nickname given to Broad by his teammates and reflects his role as a nightwatchman in the game of cricket. Thank goodness for press releases!
Highlighting its suburban network as a hub for sporting excellence, SWR also named trains the ‘Jockey’ for horseracing destinations such as Ascot, Sandown and Kempton Park; the ‘Red Rose’ for English rugby at Twickenham; the ‘Ace’ for the Wimbledon Championships; and the ‘Thames Racer’ in honour of the Boat Race.
The Derby-built Class 701 Arterio trains are five years behind schedule. Ninety trains, costing £1bn, were ordered in 2017 and were due in service from November 2019. The trains have been held up by extensive faults, mostly to do with their software. Many have spent years stored in sidings around the country.
The RMT union held 78 days of strikes about the role of guards on these trains before reaching an agreement with the train operator. The first Arterio train carried passengers between London Waterloo and Windsor in January 2024. The “development” service was mostly restricted to one return trip a day outside peak hours. Since then, five Arterios have appeared in service, serving the routes to Windsor & Eton Riverside and Shepperton, calling at some of SWR’s busiest stations including Earlsfield, Kingston, Richmond, Twickenham and Wimbledon.
Building on those destinations, it was confirmed that the new fleet will serve stations including Dorking, Epsom, Guildford, Hampton Court and Reading over the next six months, moving SWR closer to its ultimate goal of transforming every journey on its suburban network.
Each ten-car Arterio carries over 50% more customers than the eight-car Class 455 trains they replace, significantly increasing capacity for customers. The fleet will also improve customer comfort, providing modern features including Wi-Fi, charging points at every seat, real time information, accessible toilets and air conditioning.
To mark the Arterios being named and to celebrate the next ten being rolled out, an orchestra played a medley of well-known sporting tunes, including the themes from TV’s Grandstand and Match of the Day and the film Chariots of Fire.
SWR is training 750 drivers to operate the Class 701 trains.
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