Steve's 1980s rail pictures.

[Nearholmer]

The loco shed at Purley was primarily "muniments", which I think means the archive of formal, legally required, documentation; land titles, board minutes that have to be kept for a stated duration etc. Mind you, although the railway ran on tea and paper, there was probably room for more in the shed than just that, because it is (was?) pretty big.

[Mike Storey]

16 hours ago, SED Freightman said:

I'm sure that at one time collected tickets and used seasons etc. were sent in pre-addressed envelopes to the Ticket Checking Section, Purley (possibly located in the old loco shed), did the Clapham Junction office move to Purley or vice versa, or was it a separate operation ?

 

 

I seem to recall something similar but have no idea about the differences. I just know that, in the late 1970's and early 1980's, all SED tickets went to Clapham, until APTIS/PORTIS!

[SouthernBlue80s]

Stratford on a misty day

 

probably 1983/4

 

 

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by SouthernBlue80s

[SED Freightman]

Reference the earlier discussion on collected tickets it occured to me to have a look in the SR Phone directory, the last ever copy of which was dated 01/09/1992. The page covering Purley (copy appended below), gives a number for the D.O.F.A.S. Collected Ticket Section along with the Muniments Stores mentioned by Nearholmer.  It would appear that the used ticket checking operation was relocated from Clapham Junction, perhaps around the time Aptis was introduced, as there is nothing mentioned for them at Clapham Junction although the Fire Safety organisation activity was still based there.

 

[SouthernBlue80s]

Just found this nostalgic youtube video of all those London depots in the 80s.

It starts with Hither Green, my birthplace.

 

 

Not sure if the link is working. If not...

 

On Youtube. It is called.

London diesel depots in the 80s

Filmed by Stewart Chapman

 

Well worth a view.

 

It looks like he was filming the same day that I was photographing at Old Oak Common. If you stop the film at about 4.09 it's the same shot as mine on page 9 of this thread.

Edited March 5, 2021 by SouthernBlue80s

[sb67]

Nice find, fantastic bit of nostalgia, thanks for sharing  

[Mike Storey]

21 hours ago, SED Freightman said:

Reference the earlier discussion on collected tickets it occured to me to have a look in the SR Phone directory, the last ever copy of which was dated 01/09/1992. The page covering Purley (copy appended below), gives a number for the D.O.F.A.S. Collected Ticket Section along with the Muniments Stores mentioned by Nearholmer.  It would appear that the used ticket checking operation was relocated from Clapham Junction, perhaps around the time Aptis was introduced, as there is nothing mentioned for them at Clapham Junction although the Fire Safety organisation activity was still based there.

 

 

Many thanks! That clears that up then! You are an incredible source of diverse info!

 

Mind you - the phone for the site of Preston Park Old signal box intrigues me - I was SM at Brighton in the mid-80's, which included Preston Park - I have no idea where that phone was, as the box disappeared soon after the re-signalling in 1985!

[ess1uk]

15 hours ago, Mike Storey said:

 

Mind you - the phone for the site of Preston Park Old signal box intrigues me - I was SM at Brighton in the mid-80's, which included Preston Park - I have no idea where that phone was, as the box disappeared soon after the re-signalling in 1985!

Trust me, 

there are many telephone lines on exchanges that are down for sites that are long gone.

they shut these places and level them but the project managers  never turn the phones off!

[SouthernBlue80s]

Day trip to Peterborough

 

 

 

[Mike Storey]

Superb shots of Peterborough in the 80's! Just reminds us of how extensive the yards were. That pic of an HST on the old Platform 5 also reminds me of how many times that happened, because of delays on the Birmingham/Leicester - Norwich/Ipswich services. Down ECML main line services, stopping at Pbo, were normally booked through Platform 4. And, the view behind it, of the old C&W, is very nostalgic. All gone now of course, but optimistically, in favour of the new island platform. The view of the snowplough and train crew offices behind the southbound freight is also very different now. The snowploughs were moved to behind the north end of platform 2 by the late 80's.

[SouthernBlue80s]

33 minutes ago, Mike Storey said:

Superb shots of Peterborough in the 80's! Just reminds us of how extensive the yards were. That pic of an HST on the old Platform 5 also reminds me of how many times that happened, because of delays on the Birmingham/Leicester - Norwich/Ipswich services. Down ECML main line services, stopping at Pbo, were normally booked through Platform 4. And, the view behind it, of the old C&W, is very nostalgic. All gone now of course, but optimistically, in favour of the new island platform. The view of the snowplough and train crew offices behind the southbound freight is also very different now. The snowploughs were moved to behind the north end of platform 2 by the late 80's.

 

In the 80s Mike, I always felt Peterborough was a bit flat and a bit boring which in one way it was .....but, as you also point out, if you look at those pictures there was much of interest. And I had also forgotten how extensive the site was.

[Grizz]

On 03/03/2021 at 20:39, SED Freightman said:

 

I had a couple of visits to the fire training school off St John's Hill, Clapham, the best part of which always came at the end of the course when you got the opportunity to point a fire extinguisher at a couple of burning cardboard boxes !  

Oh wow, I went there to do my fire training. The trainer was ex fire brigade and a legend. Although these days I suspect he may have been sacked PDQ.
He asked questions about the different colour extinguishers and when my mate gave him the wrong answer he sprayed him in the nuts with a carbon dioxide extinguisher! My poor mate was the shyest and quietest in the group.
On the same day he asked what do you do if you are on board a train and you find an empty extinguisher? A few people answered things like ‘Tell the guard’ or ‘tell the driver’.....he just shouts “no you don’t...you throw it away” and then picked the nearest one and threw it out of the open window into the back yard. 
 

Finally at the end of the training he got someone to light up a tray of diesel using a big heap of old rags and then once it was really burning up, from a safe distance got us to spray it with water. The fire ball went way up in the air and the smoke was incredible, before finally he put it out with foam. 
 

I have been on loads of railway fire courses since then, nothing ever came close to matching that. As a young teenager I thought it was brilliant and as an older geezer I still do.

 

Sorry just noticed that that was off topic.....

Edited March 8, 2021 by Grizz

[Rivercider]

More great photos there.

That 58 at Peterboro is presumably on a Fletton flyash working?

 

cheers

[SouthernBlue80s]

5 minutes ago, Rivercider said:

More great photos there.

That 58 at Peterboro is presumably on a Fletton flyash working?

 

cheers

 

Yes. I seem to recall the big draw for me was the 58s on those workings.

[Davexoc]

On 08/03/2021 at 19:59, Mike Storey said:

The view of the snowplough and train crew offices behind the southbound freight is also very different now. The snowploughs were moved to behind the north end of platform 2 by the late 80's.

 

By 2008 they were dual purpose, snowplough in winter, strimmer in summer.....

 

 

That is ADB965232 with 965233 lurking in the background.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Davexoc
Photo restored

[SouthernBlue80s]

So they are the same ploughs that were there in the 80s I presume?

 

I have just found this picture of Peterborough with a plough to the side of the station.

 

 

[Nearholmer]

Peterborough station must have been deeply unmemorable then (maybe it still is!), because I went there a few times en-route to the Nene Valley Railway, and can't remember a thing about the place!

[Dagworth]

Peterborough was the destination for many of our days out when I was a teenager growing up in Stowmarket. It was the furthest we could get with an Anglia Ranger ticket so a lot of the day would be spent back and forth between March and Peterborough, usually with a wander around to the depot at March. Out and back were always the European although the evening would be extended by going up to Ipswich. My first 58s were on the Flettons. 
The photos bring back great memories. 
 

Andi

Edited March 8, 2021 by Dagworth
De-autocorrupt

[101]

56 minutes ago, Grizz said:

Oh wow, I went there to do my fire training. The trainer was ex fire brigade and a legend. Although these days I suspect he may have been sacked PDQ.
He asked questions about the different colour extinguishers and when my mate gave him the wrong answer he sprayed him in the nuts with a carbon dioxide extinguisher! My poor mate was the shyest and quietest in the group.
On the same day he asked what do you do if you are on board a train and you find an empty extinguisher? A few people answered things like ‘Tell the guard’ or ‘tell the driver’.....he just shouts “no you don’t...you throw it away” and then picked the nearest one and threw it out of the open window into the back yard. 
 

Finally at the end of the training he got someone to light up a tray of diesel using a big heap of old rags and then once it was really burning up, from a safe distance got us to spray it with water. The fire ball went way up in the air and the smoke was incredible, before finally he put it out with foam. 
 

I have been on loads of railway fire courses since then, nothing ever came close to matching that. As a young teenager I thought it was brilliant and as an older geezer I still do.

 

Sorry just noticed that that was off topic.....

 

I went on a fire training course at Old Oak like that once, may have been the same chap, I remember him lighting an aerosol can and spraying it like a flamethrower over our heads while we were sat in the classroom- certainly got our attention!

I also remember him lighting a large fire with wood and diesel in a cage outside which unfortunately he picked me to put out - but it was a good lesson because if I had seen a fire that large in real life I'd have run a mile but I actually put it out quite easily with the correct extinguisher.

[SouthernBlue80s]

24 minutes ago, Dagworth said:

Peterborough was the destination for many of our days out when I was a teenager growing up in Stowmarket. It was the furthest we could get with an Anglia Ranger ticket so a lot of the day would be spent back and forth between March and Peterborough, usually with a wander around to the depot at March. Out and back were always the European although the evening would be extended by going up to Ipswich. My first 58s were on the Flettons. 
The photos bring back great memories. 
 

Andi

 

Andi - Similar experience to me. I was in Kent and in 1980 funds, lack of,  would often limit me to the East Kent rail rover. 

[Simon Lee]

11 hours ago, Grizz said:

Oh wow, I went there to do my fire training. The trainer was ex fire brigade and a legend. Although these days I suspect he may have been sacked PDQ.
He asked questions about the different colour extinguishers and when my mate gave him the wrong answer he sprayed him in the nuts with a carbon dioxide extinguisher! My poor mate was the shyest and quietest in the group.
On the same day he asked what do you do if you are on board a train and you find an empty extinguisher? A few people answered things like ‘Tell the guard’ or ‘tell the driver’.....he just shouts “no you don’t...you throw it away” and then picked the nearest one and threw it out of the open window into the back yard. 
 

Finally at the end of the training he got someone to light up a tray of diesel using a big heap of old rags and then once it was really burning up, from a safe distance got us to spray it with water. The fire ball went way up in the air and the smoke was incredible, before finally he put it out with foam. 
 

I have been on loads of railway fire courses since then, nothing ever came close to matching that. As a young teenager I thought it was brilliant and as an older geezer I still do.

 

Sorry just noticed that that was off topic.....

 

Sounds like the old Ashford Fire Instructor we had a very bored young lady on our course, lots of sighing, huffing and puffing, and tutting from her.  She got the CO2 treatment, he stood behind her, waited until her head nodded forward then a quick 5 second blast got her attention. 

 

He also had a collection of bits from a PW Propane cylinder that had exploded, that brings home why there is always an exclusion zone on any fire involving those. 

 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

11 hours ago, SouthernBlue80s said:

Similar experience to me. I was in Kent and in 1980 funds, lack of,  would often limit me to the East Kent rail rover. 

 

Yes, before I started work, all I had to fund excursions were pocket money (not much!) and a paper round, so I was forever on the lookout for travel bargains. There was a weekly East Sussex Rover, which included Tonbridge-Hastings and Rye-Brighton, plus Tunbridge Wells-Uckfield and the bus to fill-in the Lewes-Uckfield gap, but the best bargain was actually by bus, where a "Wanderbus" ticket covered the whole of Southdown, Maidstone & District, and East Kent Road Cars for a day for what could be saved-up by not buying lunch at school for four days. The only trouble with the buses was that they were a tad rambling and slow, but one of my bros and I still managed to see steam (fireless!) locos working at Gravesend by going all the way on the bus. Naturally, I got a decent bike as soon as I could - the perfect system, because it was easy to take it the train for bits of long trips - that way I covered every railway, including all the industrials, open and closed, in East Sussex.

 

Once, I got a wheelbarrow from the dump, stripped it and repainted it, fixed it up, and sold it for enough money to buy a half-fare day return to Cambridge, and another time went to Spalding on a Hastings Unit on one of the Flower Festival excursions (not that I went to the flower festival!).

 

 

[SouthernBlue80s]

15 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

 

Yes, before I started work, all I had to fund excursions were pocket money (not much!) and a paper round, so I was forever on the lookout for travel bargains. There was a weekly East Sussex Rover, which included Tonbridge-Hastings and Rye-Brighton, plus Tunbridge Wells-Uckfield and the bus to fill-in the Lewes-Uckfield gap, but the best bargain was actually by bus, where a "Wanderbus" ticket covered the whole of Southdown, Maidstone & District, and East Kent Road Cars for a day for what could be saved-up by not buying lunch at school for four days. The only trouble with the buses was that they were a tad rambling and slow, but one of my bros and I still managed to see steam (fireless!) locos working at Gravesend by going all the way on the bus. Naturally, I got a decent bike as soon as I could - the perfect system, because it was easy to take it the train for bits of long trips - that way I covered every railway, including all the industrials, open and closed, in East Sussex.

 

Once, I got a wheelbarrow from the dump, stripped it and repainted it, fixed it up, and sold it for enough money to buy a half-fare day return to Cambridge, and another time went to Spalding on a Hastings Unit on one of the Flower Festival excursions (not that I went to the flower festival!).

 

 

 

It was a different time.  That's the flavour of my experience, except transpose East Sussex for Kent.

 

Trying to scrape together pocket money and paper round money together. I used my bike often. To cycle the 10 miles to Faversham. I wouldn't do it today, but as you know the country roads back in the late 70s very early 80s were pretty empty.

 

 

[SouthernBlue80s]

Round the back of Findsbury Park

 

Not the most spectacular of pictures but hopefully will jog some memories.

 

 

 

 

 

[ess1uk]

On 08/03/2021 at 20:34, SouthernBlue80s said:

 

In the 80s Mike, I always felt Peterborough was a bit flat and a bit boring which in one way it was .....but, as you also point out, if you look at those pictures there was much of interest. And I had also forgotten how extensive the site was.

It still is!

shame so much of the railway has gone now