when did day to day transport become boring for you? (was: main line railways)

[MyRule1]

I hope this in the correct place.

 

The answer may be it has not. This thread was inspired by a couple of postings in the Bachmann new Class 47 discussion.

 

I restarted my interest in railways when I started commuting into Liverpool Street in 1971. Over the years I have been lucky enough to have had a number of jobs which involved UK railway travel, most notably for nearly 25 years working for a organisation witch had over 200 sites in the UK. One of my jobs was to do spot checks on the IT equipment at these sites. These were supposed to be random no ever questioned why sites on obscure railway brach lines turned up. Stourbridge Town being on example.

 

Because of the location of our offices for management meetings most of my travel was out of Euston or Paddington. When I started these trips there were always interesting things to see from pre nationalisation stock to the end of wagonload freight. I cannot recall exactly when but sometime in first decade of this century the view out of the window became boring and I lost interest. Stabling points had gone stock was more standardised.

 

Since retirement my wife and I have undertaken a number of ranger and day trips but these have been more about the destination than the journey. Using Joni Mitchell 's line you don't know what you've got until it,s gone, this year we resumed our use of the train to get to Sheringham from Sudbury since theCovid lockdown. A trip that might have included Cl153, Cl156, Cl170. Cl90 and Mk 3's.cl360 and Cl321. Was now just Flirts Andrew EMU's.

 

I accept that there a a few places of interest, Crewe and Leicester come to mind from trips made in 2019 but in general after about 2005 I have found railways boring.

Edited January 18, 2023 by MyRule1
change of title

[rogerzilla]

It was struggling in the mid-80s; we got bored of Class 253 HSTs, especually once we'd seen every single one of them.  Local DMUs, similarly.

 

The highlight was always a class 50, because they make a thunderous noise at full speed and they all had good names.  Saw all of them too, except 50031 which I've since seen a few times in preservation.

 

Generally, MUs do nothing for me.  I do like class 68s but they don't run locally.  Class 66s are more interesting now that there are some in one-off or retro liveries.  There are always a few mooching around at Didcot Parjway.

Edited January 16, 2023 by rogerzilla

[PM47079]

I have been in the driving grade since 1986, I was always interested and enjoyed the mainline railway scene and variety.  But as the years have gone on and traction replaced the interest has waned. I am at the stage now where although I do the job professionally, I don't pay much attention to the modern railway.I have absolutely no interest in the class 66 whatsoever other than the technical data we are required to know, have a reasonable interest in the class 90 fleet and the class 08. Losing the 86 fleet was a big blow to my interest. However all this has meant my modelling and model railway interest has increased as I am now more interested in reading about and creating my favourite times in 4mm.

I suspect that this is a what has happened to the generation before me and will happen to the generation after me. 

 

 

[The Border Reiver]

11 August 1968.....

[LMS2968]

I've never going back to the 1950s had the least interest in diesel or electric locos, so the end of steam was the cut-off date. Despite this, I did work as a guard on both forms of traction in the early to mid-1970s, but it didn't last long: the uninteresting motive power mixed with very degraded lines - four tracks down to single where still open at all - were not good for morale.

 

I realise this won't be a universal viewpoint and if you do enjoy the modern scene, fair enough. It just wasn't for me.

[Rivercider]

My main interest in the railways is freight traffic. So I would say my interest has been declining from the mid-1990s.

My early memories include marshalling yards full of traffic, much of which was hopelessly uneconomic and was rapidly declining, but I found it fascinating. In the Speedlink era I thought rail freight had another chance, and Ed Burkhardt's vision for EWS was inspiring. But it was not to be. A few years ago I travelled by train from Weston to York, and back, and on the journeys only saw three freight trains on the move.

In todays railway one class of loco in about 25 different liveries is not inspiring or interesting to me. I do however find interest in some of the odd relics of buildings and infrastructure that remain from another age.

 

cheers 

[t-b-g]

My interest in the real railways really died the day the last Deltic was withdrawn. I did go out and about for a while afterwards but it was never quite the same.

[rogerzilla]

MUs aren't good for modellers, either.  It requires a lot of money to buy a matching set; no using the same coaches with various locos.  They are better for the passengers, though - they storm up banks as if they're not there, compared to loco-hauled trains.  More driven axles and usually a comfortable excess of power.

[russ p]

50 minutes ago, PM47079 said:

I have been in the driving grade since 1986, I was always interested and enjoyed the mainline railway scene and variety.  But as the years have gone on and traction replaced the interest has waned. I am at the stage now where although I do the job professionally, I don't pay much attention to the modern railway.I have absolutely no interest in the class 66 whatsoever other than the technical data we are required to know, have a reasonable interest in the class 90 fleet and the class 08. Losing the 86 fleet was a big blow to my interest. However all this has meant my modelling and model railway interest has increased as I am now more interested in reading about and creating my favourite times in 4mm.

I suspect that this is a what has happened to the generation before me and will happen to the generation after me. 

 

 

 

Virtually the same for me, I'm lucky enough to still drive 37s but it won't be for much longer,  and the same as Paul I have no interest in 66s whatsoever by far the most unpleasant loco I've ever driven . 68s sound half decent but that's it they look odd and I don't like sitting in the middle at least they are climate controlled and quiet inside 

As for travelling by train its just so uninteresting and uncomfortable.  Those stadler things seem to have more in common with trams than real trains and the Hitachi 800s are absolutely horrible in all forms, basically a Japanese commuter EMU with a nose stuck on

My interest started to diminish about 2000 and I've hardly any now even the infrastructure is boring now and mainly overgrown 

Not just railways mind don't even start on cars!

Good topic for what is supposedly the most depressing day of the year for a grumpy old man!

[John M Upton]

Around about the middle of May 2023 I reckon.  The 313's will be retired and I prefer driving those despite the fact they are absolutely knackered, worn out and life expired.   You have to actually drive them, proper old school two handle driving (old slam door style in effect), quirky characteristics especially in slippery rail conditions (0-60 by Thursday...) plus no annoying air conditioning fans or irritating vigilance alarm going off every other minute.

 

Also you can actually look back out of the cab window and see what is going on, you can't do that with modern stock, window is in the wrong place!

 

The 377's (and 387's which I apparently am going to be signing next year) are decent enough but there is no character to driving them although they do leak a lot less and the cab heating is a bit better.

Edited January 16, 2023 by John M Upton

[Phil Bullock]

Another nod for the day the Deltics finished.

 

My keen interest started in 67 but waned a bit early 70s when TOPS renumbering kicked in but then a trip to the 150 celebrations at Shildon in 1975 rekindled things until that fateful day …. 

[Mallard60022]

Never.

[Pete the Elaner]

46 minutes ago, rogerzilla said:

MUs aren't good for modellers, either.  It requires a lot of money to buy a matching set; no using the same coaches with various locos.  They are better for the passengers, though - they storm up banks as if they're not there, compared to loco-hauled trains.  More driven axles and usually a comfortable excess of power.

 

I disagree. They are different. That is all.

It is much easier at a show to send a DMU back & forth rather than fiddle around removing & re-railing a loco. When operating a split region layout at an exhibition, the operating team all preferred the DMU version of it for this reason.

MUs can be a single car, but 2 is far more common (some AM9s were 2 car as were 2-BIL, 2-EPB, 2-HAP. Buying a loco & a coach is not excessive so why should buying a 2 car MU be any different?

MUs lend themselves better to joining/splitting a train in a station. Joining/splitting 2 portions of a rake of coaches is far less common.

 

It is more difficult to model a recent location because the commercial support is not there for it. I can buy freight & InterCity stock for any line but these need local trains alongside them to look realistic, but they are only available in kit form, which does not attract new modellers to the hobby.

[Legend]

Still interested  but when you look at the railway now compared to even late 80s , you realise how basic it has become . I still get a thrill watching trains go past though.

[Chris M]

The first time my interest waned was when I discovered girls.

 

Since then I my interest has sort of adjusted. In the early days I used to live in hope of seeing a Western and hated Brush 4s. I wasn't keen on 50s when they invaded the West. Move on a few years and I lived in hope of seeing a 50 but wasn't interested in HSTs. Nowadays its great to see a HST, and I was so pleased to see one of the GWR 47s last year.

I love seeing steam locos running so long as it isn't Flying Scotsman, especially on the main line. I might be the only person in the country who thinks this but I do like the class 800s. They look good, sound good when rattling over points and I find them comfortable. Ok I only ever travel for about an hour on one. Overall, while the current scene is nowhere near as interesting as it used to be, I can still find interest. There are railtours, trains re-routed due to engineering works and quirks such as the soon to be gone GWR Castle class HSTs. Freight is very hard to find, oh for a milk train or a clayliner. 

 

 

And there are strange leftovers from a bygone era still around, albeit in ever shrinking numbers.

I first thought this was the remains of a signal box but on further thinking I reckon it was the wall that supported the down platform building at Dawlish Warren. The great thing is that it is still there. 

 

This is my attempt at the same wall in N

[LNER4479]

2 hours ago, The Border Reiver said:

11 August 1968.....

I think that it's a gradual process. Clearly the above date is a milestone in British railway history (I was there!) but if you were living in SW of England then the effective 'end of steam' would have been somewhat earlier.

 

I tended to think that the then modern railway (1986) was 'boring' when I joined it but I actually found much of interest in the first few years, particularly the diagramming and operation of Loco-hauled Coaching Stock which still had portioned trains, station pilots, etc. For me, it got 'boring' as a result of the Sprinter revolution. That saw off such interesting operations as Cl.31 + 4 wandering over to East Anglia, Nottingham - Blackpool with Cl 45 or 47, Loco-hauled TPE services, Cl.50 on WoEML ... etc

[wasabi]

My main interest has been 'track' and I think I covered about all of the 'main line' by 2019, but there are always additions being made.  I've also got most urban systems complete and have started on preservation.  I started going abroad in the early 80s and there's plenty left to keep me going.  You also see a lot of different countries and can visit plenty of pubs.  Railtours can be pricey but are holidays as well.  So I wouldn't say the railways can be boring - if you stretch your horizons.

[Reorte]

Well I can't say 1968 since I wasn't born then...

 

An assumption that it even has become boring is going to raise some hackles, since it hasn't for everyone. Personally speaking I agree, although it's not a sudden change, it's been moving that way for as long as I can remember, but it's probably only early this century that I started to actively dislike it.

[woodenhead]

For me it seems to be the end of loose coupled freight and the use of continuous welded rail on lesser lines.

 

For me the noise of metal wheels on joints, buffering up, a train of coal wagons snatching as a train begins to move, that's what I loved and when that went the railway lost it's soul.  I miss the sound of MGR trains at speed on jointed track, Mk3 coaches hissing and squealing as they arrive into a station, a Deltic sat in a station, a 37 purring away at 1am at Cardiff station waiting to haul a train of loose coupled minerals.

 

Someone mentioned above that Crewe was still interesting, to me it lost it's interest in the early 1980s with the consolidation of loco classes before sprinterisation appeared (and with it any lingering interest).

[The Stationmaster]

Same answer as my friend Mr Duck (of the fastest kind).  I have never lost interest in the railway but what takes my interest has chopped and changed a bit over the years and soem of it is very much an historical interest.  I still enjoy travelling by train - apart from those awful Crossrail underground thingies masquerading as real trains on the GWML.  i love watching freight trains go past although the traction scene ay yej jead of them is rathe monotonous and I can't help but criticise some of the half-baked current  ideas about how the railway should be run which even come from some folk in the industry (I wouldn't dare call those twits 'railwaymen', or women).

 

I first worked for BR in a school holiday job, in 1965, I joined full time on leaving school (via a couple of months working in a brewery waiting for my starting date) and worked from then until the end of the WR in 1992 solely on that Region.  I then went to TLF for a couple of years - but still involved with what had been the WR plus what had been the SR - before ending up with Eurostar until redundancy took me out of the big railway.   over ythe years some jobs weren't so good, some were very demanding in terms of hours and commitment and some had that plus a huge amount of job satisfaction.  And I was maybe lucky that my final 10 years on the big railway were both interesting and, despite the long hours in my final job, really enjoyable. (although i have to admit that being paid to travel round Europe by train or occasionally in an aeroplane did add to the variety).

 

So what did I do when I finished - went and got a job in railway consultancy, and that spread my wings and interest a bit further including a job in Scotland for a short while and then two sessions out in Australia - a whole new world of railway interest which even extended to the variety in EMUs.  after I retired from that (zero hours contract) job I was occasionally helping out a mate with stuff on heritage railways and at industrial sites - yet more variety and new things even tho' it all involved things running on rails.

 

I still enjoy riding on ttrains as much for the interest og. f what you can see - aprt from the lineside jungle - out of the window.  On Saturday I went up to London (Turbo then Class 387) over a route I know well and have known for years and from the Relief Line I found myself carefully studying the signal spacing on the Up Main approaching Slough and was fascinated to see that it's as bad as it w ever was when as depot boss I used to regularly drive on the Up Main most mornings.

 

Yes - the fascination and interest is still there after quite a lot of years although the whole scene has changed massively in my lifetime.  I just about worked on 'the steam railway' - even though our bit of it was officially 100% diesel (but plenty of it was still worked like the steam age railway) and finished up working in a company operating international multi-voltage electric trains and attending regular meetings with various other railways in Western Europe.  Once upon a time we used to think going to a meeting in Bristol was a big thing, taking part of one ina small town in the shadow of the Eiger was quite a step from that.

 

Sorry to rattle on but interesdtin the railway is very much what you make it or can make it and I've loved railways for longer than I can remember.  And although I was far toopyoung to know anything abou. it my first train ride probably would have seen me riding in more coaches lettered GWR than carrying any sign of nationalisation

[cessna152towser]

9 minutes ago, Chris M said:

The first time my interest waned was when I discovered girls.

Same here.  I lost interest in railways when I started dating my first serious girlfriend at the start of 1967, though when I went to university in 1969 and started travelling into Glasgow daily my interest was somewhat revived, especially with the wide variety of parcels stock to be seen on passing Salkeld Street depot.  Full brakes and vans from BR and the Big Four, even the occasional horse box re-purposed as a parcels van.  When I graduated from university the girlfriend moved away to a new life in England and I found myself working in a small family business within walking distance of my parents' house.  I developed a nostalgia for the opportunity to meet people at university and in the daily commute and got myself into weekends away at the Great Central Railway where I was involved as an early member of Witherslack Hall loco group.   Marriage and a move to trainless Hawick in the Scottish Borders saw interest wane again.  I took up flying as a hobby for a few years, from Carlisle Airport, until grounded for medical reasons.   At the turn of the new millenium the Waverley Route Heritage Association was founded along with the surge in interest in restoring the whole Waverley Route.    Around the same time I started going on a few railtours though none recently as they have priced themselves out of my market.   As an aside from my flying interest I took an interest in Easyjet's attempts to establish domestic services from Newcastle Airport and made some very ambitious day trips by air to Stansted and Bristol  (4:15am till midnight!) which enabled me to visit the Bluebell Railway, the West Somerset Railway, the Mid Hants and the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway as well as a Bristol branch lines tour behind Nunney Castle and an opportunity to sample Great Western 125 between Bristol and Paddington, and walking sections of the Somerset and Dorset.   I still do some volunteering at Whitrope Heritage Centre during the summer season.

[PhilH]

Perhaps it depends where you live. I was born and bred in Bishopstoke, just across the fields from Eastleigh and within earshot of Bulleid pacifics whistling up through the station. I spent most of my boyhood waking hours on Campbell Road bridge trainspotting along with seemingly hordes of others. Such an interesting place, never really knew what was going to turn up. Western thingies from various places, midland namers on the Fawley oil trains, all sorts. Then my voice broke and other interests took over, so I suppose that’s when it become boring compared to other things….

 

Fast forward 60+ years and Eastleigh is still an (relatively) interesting place. Yes, emus etc. (no, not the birds) rule the day but there is usually enough of a variety of other bits and bobs to warrant a few hours on the platform. And…there is a Wetherspoons over the road which always has an interesting selection of ales and ciders plus jolly good brunches. And it’s all within a pensioner’s bus pass free ride of home.

 

So as I say, I think depending on where you live modern railways can be boring, perhaps there is enough in other places to be not so much.
 

 

 

 

 

[Johann Marsbar]

About 1989/1990 Nationally, though I did take an interest again when Anglia Railways started doing silly things like running a 50, 55 and a Hastings Unit on normal services in East Anglia in the late 1990's,  plus the end of loco hauled runs in the early 2000's on Cross Country and the WCML.

Other than that, it's only the things like the 37 hauled "Short set" being used out of Norwich up until about 4 years ago and the odd day trip out by rail that keep me going with any interest in the UK scene. The current Greater Anglia fleet gets you from A to B but doesn't hold much attraction to me, so I tend to look abroad nowadays for my rail interest........

[CHAZ D]

I lost interest at the final end of the Westerns! My interest had waned at the end of steam, but at least the Westerns Hymecs and Warships had a sort of individuality rather than the sameness of the 125's

[PatC]

The decline started in the late 80s when the Cromptons started to disappear from our laocl passenger traffic. I was born and brought up on the south coast so anything loco-hauled that broke up the procession of EMUs was of interest to me. I kept the interest up through the 90s but the end of the slam door EMUs and all their differences, if you took the time to look, in the early 2000s more or less put paid to it really. I used to commute to work in Southampton in the early 2000s on the SWT Class 170s and I found myself noticing the details the odd unit that wasn't in sequence with the rest of the Salisbury allocation (yellow interior fittings, ended up going to Southern). It made me realise I needed to get out more😂 

Edited January 16, 2023 by PatC