Freight trains through Portchester between 1974-1977

[gc4946]

Hello,

 

I attended junior school alongside the line near Portchester station from Sept. 1974 until July 1977.

The only freight movements I'm aware of when I was sitting in class during school days were:

 

1. Class 33-hauled oil tanks towards Fareham (don't know where they originated or terminated, possibly Fawley?)

2. Class 47-hauled carflats with new Ford Transits from Eastleigh (where did these go to?)

 

Any other movements that I'm unaware of ... after all I couldn't look out there all the time!

 

Thanks

[Fat Controller]

Hello,

 

I attended junior school alongside the line near Portchester station from Sept. 1974 until July 1977.

The only freight movements I'm aware of when I was sitting in class during school days were:

 

1. Class 33-hauled oil tanks towards Fareham (don't know where they originated or terminated, possibly Fawley?)

2. Class 47-hauled carflats with new Ford Transits from Eastleigh (where did these go to?)

 

Any other movements that I'm unaware of ... after all I couldn't look out there all the time!

 

Thanks

The tank wagons were probably of fuel oil for the Sealink ferries at Portsmouth Harbour from BP at Hamble. Due to the layout of the access to the refinery, loaded trains would have to head towards Southampton, then run round and head back to Portsmouth Harbour.

I'm trying to think where the Transits might have been heading- Newhaven for export,perhaps.

Odd routing, though, as it would have been more direct to go from Eastleigh.

[pondy]

I went to school near there (Cams Hill nr the Delme Viaduct) between 79 & 85 and I do remember seeing 33s on oil tanks. I think they were going between Fawley and Gatwick Airport.

Saw the Transit trains a few times but have no idea where they were going. They did look very very long though from the classroom.

Can't remember any other freight apart from the very occasional 73 on parcels/empty newspaper trains.

[gc4946]

Thanks so far ... the Transit trains were around ten bogie wagons long, loaded with three (or four?) Transits per wagon, they were converted from Mk1s with the original bodies removed.

The oil trains consisted of a mixture of 4-wh and bogie wagons, according to an issue of Rail Express in 2007? (can't remember the exact one) their modelling section featured typical petroleum train formations and one of them was a Lindsey-Hilsea (Portsmouth) train formed of Esso 4-wh tanks, hauled by 37004, as recorded in 1981. I don't remember 37s running along that line when I was at school then.

There were block trains carrying stone from Merehead to Ardingly in Sussex, but I don't know if they ran early morning or late evening, AFAIK I don't remember seeing them during daytime.

[Fat Controller]

Were there goods trains to Fratton Yard from Eastleigh during the day? If there were, a couple of 'signature' loads would have been 'Tube' and 'Pipe' wagons carrying large wooden crates to and from Portsmouth Dockyard, and 'Lowmac' wagons carrying new ambulances from a specialist coachbuilder (Wadham Stringer?) to various destinations. The Admiralty traffic lasted until the demise of vacuum-fitted freights in the 1980s; the ambulance traffic until the late 1970s.

[gc4946]

I don't remember any Fratton-Eastleigh freights, running during school lesson and break times, not knowing any working timetables, although I won't be surprised if they conveyed naval traffic as the line into the Dockyard closed in early 1977. I don't know after that if goods were then loaded onto lorries in Fratton yard.

Due to the sharp curves of the Dockyard branch and within the naval base only short wheelbase stock was permitted.

[John M Upton]

There used to be a regular oil/fuel tank run to and from Portfield in Chichester up until the early 1990's using 33's and later RF Petroleum 47's which would have run that way. Also as already mentioned the Ardingly aggregates train, often 56 hauled went via the coast for some time (and indeed will apparently be returning to the coast in the near future apparently)

[gc4946]

So far to sum up so far:

Definitely during daytimes whilst I was at school:

 

1. Petroleum trains from Fawley to Portfield (Chichester) and Gatwick Airport, hauled by 33s

2. Petroleum traffic to/from Hilsea, 33s

3. Ford Transits conveyed from Eastleigh by 47s

 

Other times on weekdays (early mornings, evenings and at night):

 

1. Merehead-Ardingly aggregates, I now remember reading in the railway press that they were recessed at Chichester about 0545 for crew changes for trains bound for Ardingly, they were initially hauled by 47s, by around 1978/79, 56s.

Don't know if 52s hauled them before 1977.

2. Fratton-Eastleigh regular goods, according to photos, Dockyard freight was in standard 12T vans, plus coal for Fratton coal concentration depot and any other goods for the NCL depot there.

3. Engineers' trains, don't know times of scheduled movements of empty ballast hoppers and rail-carrying wagons to/from Redbridge depot.