Where did you start spotting railways

[lmsforever]

I was thinking about how I started watching railways and how many of you started ,I started watching Goodmayes yard on the GE mainline .My father took me on a Sunday mornings and he explained what was happening plus where the trains were going to. Later on I started going to Liverpool St watching from the water point as I could see all the station  throat.Then I went to the GN line to the north bel ow Alexander Palace on a cross line footbridge .There it was A4,s A1,s A2,sA3,s etc  happy days all this started me on a lifetime of railway enthusiasm a still happy to watch trains go by.nd I am

[woodenhead]

I looked out of my bedroom window to see class 24s, 25s, 40s, 45s and 47s.  Interesting these classes resonate most with me even today, especially the type 2s.

 

Later this included 37s and the odd 56.

 

Then I got to travel about the country and had seen pretty much all the locomotives in service by 1980, rolling stock became a thing once I was not seeing a great deal of new locos to rule off.  Saw most of the class 56s before they'd even left works.

 

Then I stopped probably not long after I began work in the early 80s, so anything later was something I saw here and there.

[Arun Sharma]

Leytonstone LT station in the late '50s watching Standard Stock on the Central Line - About 200 yards from my school. On the way home I would walk past the embankment between Leyton Midland and Leytonstone Midland on Hainault Road where, as often as not, there would be a 2-6-4T parked.

 

Afternote: I have a recollection of one of the F5 2-4-2 tanks passing southbound through Leytonstone presumably en-route Epping to Temple Mills yard.

Edited February 12 by Arun Sharma
addnl info

[stewartingram]

GE also. As a pre-teen we lived in the Isle of Ely, so trips in the car usually meant a wait at LC gates, or maybe a pause alongside the ECML at somewhere like Offord. And Saturday days out on the 137 bus to Cambridge, ending up with a trip to the station to watch the trains.

Age 10, we moved to Cambridge, near Chesterton Junction. My home base, which then expanded, as High School at 11 saw me at the Hills Road school, with daily lunchtime visits to the Cattle Market (Cambridge South box area). And the school had a trinspotting club, with a coach trip to London soon after I joined. All the London sheds, and my firs tlone escapade! Then on it expanded.

 

[franciswilliamwebb]

1975.  Skived off games for the afternoon and a school-mate took me to the scenic splendour of Bescot 😎

[4630]

I was fortunate to be brought up on the south coast in, what at that time was Hampshire, close to the SW mainline to Bournemouth.

I can vaguely remember being taken round Eastleigh Works on what I guess would have been one of their open days in the mid-1960s.

 

I had my first bike when I was seven in the summer of 1966 and for my Dad’s enjoyment and exercise as much as mine, we would often go out for an evening bike ride on the local country paths close to the railway line.  Our finishing point was often Hinton Admiral station.  That was my first opportunity to see steam locomotives and trains close up.

I can recall the ‘new’ electric trains introduced in 1967 to coincide with the end of steam along the line to Bournemouth and Weymouth.

 

By chance I came across an Ian Allan ABC for electric-multiple units in a local bookshop and must have pestered enough for it to have been purchased for me.  That would have been around 1969 and was the start of me taking closer interest in what was running along the local railway.

 

From that it was the annual purchase of the latest IA combined volume, underlining cops and venturing further afield to seek more exotic traction.  From around 1973 I also had access to a small camera which, with my Dad’s encouragement, I made use of.

 

From my early teens, when I had the money, I was regularly off, unaccompanied, to London to pursue the hobby further.  Firstly at the mainline stations and later at the various depots.

 

I stopped recording numbers religiously when I started work in 1977, but I’ve never really given up my interest in the railway, it’s just developed in different directions.  
 

It’s been ever present over the years and I’ve been fortunate that both the current and former Mrs 4630 have been, mostly, encouraging and tolerant.

[nigb55009]

Rylands Sidings, on the WCML north of Wigan. I hardly remember it really, I was four or five years old, it was just before the end of

steam, 1967ish. Later, the iron bridge, which crossed the old top yard at Wigan NW. It also crossed the lines into Wigan Wallgate.

From about 1975 myself and my younger brother would catch the bus down to Springs Branch on Saturday mornings.

First real memory was 4472 Flying Scotsman, heading north past Rylands in 1969.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I have loved railways for as long as I can recall, influenced by holidays (mainly Cornwall), my father's model railways (German, Swiss and Austrian) and an enthusiastic head teacher from my primary school who encouraged my interest. 

 

My interest really took hold for watching real railways in 1989 when I started senior school. The Coastway West ran along the end of our school fields, with the Lavant branch running along side the science and art blocks. There was a surprising variety along the main line then, with regular engineers trains (33 or 73, usually the latter), plus the Portfield oils (37 or 47), Ardingly aggregates (always a 56), and of course the Lavant gravel shuttle (always a 73 when I saw it).

 

Regular visits to London from about 1990 (into Waterloo) properly introduced me to the class 50, and I have happy memories of a day trip to a number of termini that year. Oh, to have had a camera back then!!

 

That got me properly started, and although I didn't travel regularly I managed to get a reasonable haul of numbers in the early to mid 90s, mainly residents and visitors to the south-east. 

 

Although I have not collected numbers for many years, I still like to take a few pictures...

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Hatfield, WGC and the Hertford, Luton and Dunstable branches. Also 'ear-spotting' on frosty winter nights, in my present location I can hear from North of Welwyn tunnels as far as about 20th mile bridge but that's nowaday's only Doncaster's finest steam traction, GM's shed, or the occasional 'something' in mechanical distress, if I am any judge. (Deltics now, when being given all the beans, over a seven mile stretch.)

[Nearholmer]

Visits to grandparents, which involved passing through Waterloo, truly the most interesting and exciting place on the planet to a small boy, from a small country town. If you’ve seen “Terminus”, that little boy was me, although thankfully I never got separated from my family.

[wombatofludham]

I was 1 when mom and dad moved to a new housing estate in Handsacre built to house miners moving to Lea Hall Colliery in Rugeley.  The Trent Valley mainline dived under Lichfield Road overbridge at the top of the street.  I suspect mom and dad noticed I liked trains on walks in my pram into the countryside that surrounded the village as the then still new electric expresses and long slow freights went past.  The railway seemed to be visible wherever you went in the village and surrounding area so it was probably inevitable I'd become obsessed with electric traction.  Then in 1968 I started primary school, and Hayes Meadow primary had a sports field that went up to almost the railway boundary.  One of my earliest memories of the school is one hot summer afternoon Mrs Niblett taking us outside for a story session and having to compete with the two class 25s being thrashed on the daily London Brickliner, one if the few diesel hauled freights to pass apart from MGR traffic.

My nan and grandad lived in Pleck, Walsall, and when we used to visit for the weekend Grandad would take me and my brother for a long walk which often included a stop off at Bescot yard, further feeding my interest.

Given my parents couldn't drive, the fact we used to rely on Green Bus of Rugeley's eclectic fleet, Midland Red's home built buses, and Walsall Corporation's pick and mix fleet including the last trolleybuses, to get around, also gave me an interest in buses.

So, I blame the family.

[mikejames]

I was born in 1942 and lived close to the GWR /BRW mainline just south of Tyseley. An uncle was a driver there so got some unofficial visits.

In those days kids were allowed much more freedom to wander about than would be allowed now, so i often went to 'watch the trains'. When about 10 I was allowed to catch the train to snowhill on a saturday morning and by about 13 I  was going on various excursions all over the country - it developed an indepence I am glad I got/have.

Occassionally on the saturday trips I would cross over to Newstreet but the old station seemed dirty and confirmed GWR was best!

Obviously then engines must have copper topped chimneys!

[MichaelE]

As a very young boy, I would stand in my backyard and watch an Illinois Central locomotive and a box car or two make it way to the stove foundry across the street. The tracks were about 60' from my back door.

 

When I was about five, my Great Grandfather got me a ride on the locomotive one day when passing through when they had to stop for motor traffic ahead when crossing the street.

 

From that day onward I was hooked on trains.

[KeithHC]

1960 onwards. Out of my bedroom in the distance I could see the Brighton line. So I can remember BIL, LAV, PUL, PAN, City and of course the BEL. Also saw the boosters and very occasionally a steam engine mainly rebuilt WC/BB. By about 1964/65 I was allowed with my mate to go to Salfords station to go spotting. I could get glimpses of the railway from my junior school but it was when I went to secondary it was down hill. The school faced on to the Quarry line….

 

Keith

 

 

[cessna152towser]

Late 1950s.   Could see some tall signals and rising locomotive smoke from the window and it was just a short walk to Arkleston Junction on the "joint" G&SW and Caley line between Glasgow and Paisley.   Further along Gallowhill Road was a footbridge spanning all eight tracks, up and down Renfrew, up and down slow, up and down fast and two long relief loops.   Standard fare was ex-LMS and BR standard types, though once I recall seeing a B1 heading a special, and soon afterwards (early 1960s) the B1s became more common once Ayr (67C) received an allocation.   There is still a footbridge at this location, though now fewer tracks and bridge and its parapets were raised for the 1967 electrification.

[osbornsmodels]

Didcot station1957 and from my bedroom window I could see the DNSR working uphill to Upton & Blewbury. A bit later the City of Truro was a regular turn on the line and the setting sun set it off beautifully. Little did we know it wasn't to last.

[APOLLO]

Mum and Dads bedroom window had a view 1/4 mile away of the L&Y Pemberton Loop line that ran from Hindley to Pemberton. Back in the early 60's mainly coal trains Liverpool bound from Yorkshire, hauled by Dub Dees and Black 8's mainly. A 4F 0-6-0 Tender loco was usually banking up to Orrell from Westwood Park signalbox. The coal trains slowly dissapeared by the mid 60's when the signalbox closed but the line continued in use untill 1968 or so. Photo care of Wigan World web forum. Westwood Park signal box in the background.

 

 

Later it would be lineside just south of Wigan NW near the canal bridge where Wallgate trains could also be seen along with the gas works and electricity works and Chapel Lane goods yards shunting.  Always busy.

A ten minute walk. My photos around 1966/7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later Taylors Lane bridge at Springs Branch just before steam finished in 1967. Half an hour walk.

 

 

Two for nigb55009,  Rylands Sidings / Whitley Crossing. Dad's photos. 

 

 

 

We have lost so much.

 

Brit15 (Now you all know where my Forum name came from !!!!)

Edited February 21 by APOLLO

[DaveF]

I was born in 1949.  Dad was a railway enthusiast and modeller and took a lot of photos, Mum also liked trains.  In 1951 he took a photo of me on Nottingham Victoria station, being firmly held in Mum's arms so I didn't run about.  I am clearly concentrating on something behind him which could only have been a loco.  There is another photo taken a few weeks later of me with Mum at the lineside, again I am concentrating on something behind Dad which must have been something on the railway.

 

I can remember being on the footplate of a loco at Nottingham Victoria, it was before I had a spell in hospital so I must have been 3.

 

As for writing down loco numbers that would have been soon after I learnt to read and write when I was about four and a half.

 

Until I was 7 or 8 we travelled by bus and train so saw trains whenever we visited grandparents, had days out and so on.  A bit later oon I used to trainspot with Dad at Grantham, Nottingham and Derby. Then we moved near to the GC main line when I was 8 and I spent a lot of time at the village station and sometimes in the signal box.

 

At grammar school I could see railways from most classrooms but the trains were not close enough to see the numbers.

 

The interest coninud untils today...  When Mum was in her 90s I used to take her out for rides in the car, it always had to include a stop by a railway so she could watch the trains.  Both she and Dad liked driving traction engines and railway locos - usually small ones.  For a while around end of the war Mum was a turbine designer at Brush in Loughborough so she liked anything involving engineering.

 

David

Edited February 11 by DaveF

[TheQ]

Never,

 train spotting that is.

First memories Cyprus late 1950s unfortunately the passenger line closed 1951, and the freight line was too far away.

Moved to Wiltshire 1963, the through line closed 1958..., just about getting old enough to travel when we moved to the outer hebrides.. no trains at all...

[APOLLO]

I also attended Wigan Grammar School just to the north of Wigan NW (63-69) and trains could be seen but just too far away for their numbers. Just before I left I caused pandemoniun (and earned a detention) for shouting "KESTREL" out loud as HS4000 thundered north on a 20 coach test train from Crewe to Carlisle - the only time I ever saw this loco in action. 1969 I think.

 

I'll never forget the chime whistles of Britannias leaving Wigan northbound when trying to get to sleep. Less than 1/2 a mile away but sadly no view !!

 

Brit15

[JJGraphics]

In the early 1950s my Grandfather used to take me to a builder's yard at the bottom of Highgate Road in Kentish Town in North London near where he lived where there was a good view of the tracks from St Pancras and an oblique view of Kentish Town shed.

He was a bus conductor at Highgate trolleybus depot and he would occasionally take me to the depot, on one side of which there was a pair of double doors leading out to a loading platform where there was a goods yard served by the line between Gospel Oak and Upper Holloway. I stood with him and watched fly-shunting taking place in the goods yard alongside the depot.

From then on I was hooked and when I grew older I went transporting at most of the North London termini.

John

Edited February 11 by JJGraphics

[petrox]

1 hour ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

Hatfield, WGC and the Hertford, Luton and Dunstable branches. Also 'ear-spotting' on frosty winter nights, in my present location I can hear from North of Welwyn tunnels as far as about 20th mile bridge but that's nowaday's only Doncaster's finest steam traction, GM's shed, or the occasional 'something' in mechanical distress, if I am any judge. (Deltics now, when being given all the beans, over a seven mile stretch.)

That's interesting, with the wind in the right direction I can hear trains crossing the viaduct at Welwyn - we must be in the same area.

Back in the mid-1950's our house backed onto the ex-GE line between Enfield Lock and Waltham Cross stations - N7 and L1 tanks on locals, B1, B17, Britannia on expresses, WD, K3 and occasionally J39 on freights - once even an E4 2-4-0? Some years later I remember chatting to the driver of an A4 at Kings Cross, just before the loco was to be withdrawn.

Not trainspotting, but for my 50th birthday treat, my wife arranged a trip driving Flying Scotsman at the Nene Valley Railway.

So with all this LNER background, my layout is inspired by - GWR Kingswear!

Pete

[petethemole]

I loved trains as a toddler and onwards; afternoon walks frequently included a wait by a local bridge on the Midland London line.  Grandparents lived in Hitchin within sight of the ECML and regular visits included time at their allotment, overlooking the line and the Civil Engineers' yard, busy even on Sundays.  I was about nine (1957) when I discovered number taking and was given the Observers' Book of Locomotives.  I recorded the numbers and classes seen in a big notebook until I got the 1959 ABC for the Midland Region and later the Eastern/NE volume. Spotting was mostly at Ampthill station or the adjacent overbridge, another bridge nearer home, and the overbridge south of Hitchin station. Holidays took us to Suffolk via Liverpool St, and Ipswich. Aged 11 I started going further afield with a school friend and visited Bletchley and the WR and SR London termini.  Pressure of school work at a 'hothouse' school doing A levels a year early and having school on Saturdays led to me giving up spotting in '64, although I was losing interest with the demise of steam on the locally accessible routes.  Early enthusiasm for diesels as the new thing faded as I realised they were quite boring (to me).

[Pete the Elaner]

My first bedroom was within line of sight of the Colchester-Clacton line. 309s appealed to me because they passed through the village non-stop. Very occasionally, I would get to see something which I now know to be a class 37 on what I expect was an engineers' train.

So I really do view a line as being rather naked & incomplete if it does not have OLE.

As I got into my teens, I had a few day trips to London, the class 86s hauled the InterCity services & I discovered there were lots more electric locos over in Euston.

I was always interested to see what was on shed as I passed Stratford, Willesden & Old Oak Common. A trip to Harrow on the main line & return on the DC to see both sides of Willesden (with a walk to Old Oak) was not uncommon.

[97406]

By sight, Navigation Road Station in Timperley and the Black Bridge over Skelton Junction. By the sound, from my house not far away. 25s and 40 s mainly which then gave way to 20s and 37s. Class 304s on the former MSJ&A to Town. AC locos and AC and DC multiple units at Piccadilly. caught the end of the green/blue changeover period, but only really got into knowing them properly in the mid eighties.

Edited February 11 by 97406