Great watching. We used to drive up from North London to spend the day going round the East Midlands/South Yorkshire depots and SP’s in the late 80’s. Leicester, Coalville, Toton, Shirebrook, Tinsley. Usually had no bother just walking around.
A long time ago a friend of mine and myself went from Weymouth to The Channel Islands is was very wet and the train couldn’t do journey to the quayside. So they laid on taxis from the station. l have never seen taxis go so fast.
As nice as it would be to have that tram way still exist I get why it got taken up because look how much traffic the train was holding up. It wasn’t a problem back in the age of steam because cars were not as prevalent as they are now.
marvellous. :) my dad took me on this line at least once, but i think it was earlier than this - i've a vague recollection of a Rail Blue liveried 33 running round at Weymouth Quay. also, great photobomb (filmbomb?) by a Bristol RE around 15:46 as the train passes the series of pubs. :)
How wonderful it would be to see this return, but sadly deeply impractical. Can you imagine the public and their precious vehicles just for starters...? I've seen other film in the 80s of BR staff bouncing a badly parked car out of the way (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x6XEVvVRB_4.html) - imagine (attempting) that now. The world is so entitled, I can just imagine some Porsche 4WD driver would probably face down a Class 33 🤣 H&S would require a 12ft wall around the track anyway so it wouldn't be much of a sight. No-one allows for human common sense - you know - huge train, you move out of the way. The driver and 2nd must've really heaved a sigh of relief once they got to the platform. That final view from across the Quay must've been some sight when it was steam (was it ever?) Love the sound of the 33. Also, you forget just how popular the Sierra was!!! 0:25 - 2:20
When I was a kid I used to visit my gran in Whitefield, North Manchester. I'd get the old 1990's metrolink tram into the city and my grandad told me for the first time that this train goes through the streets. To my amazement it did. With cars and people inches from the track. It was very surreal. Now having seen this going on in Weymouth I'd go crackers as a kid. Gutted it's gone. All the tourists getting pictures and the locals causally driving around a freaking mainline train crawling through the streets!
i can kinda see why they did remove the line from the video, as there was lots of traffic, but why couldnt they have made the line into a Tramway and extended it towards the suburbs a little bit?
Fascinating to see actual footage of the train creeping down the street and the impact it had on the traffic. Probably worth having the link in its heyday but it was scrapped because it was no longer used and the track on a public highway was knackered. If you want to connect a railway station to a port you run a bus service like they do in Southampton to the departure point for the Cowes ferry though I appreciate it isn’t so romantic. I couldn’t see NR spending the money on maintenance for something had become a folly. It’s quicker to walk.
trains. it was built to link the main line with the quay. harbour branches used to be pretty common in the UK, but they generally had their own right of way rather than running through the streets. :)
Not it wasn't, it was the right decision to get rid of it. Who would pay to keep it in place? How often would you use it, if it was left in place? There are far better rail lines that either need to be brought back into use or need investment, not this pointless line.
@@gwpee1727 It didn't need funding to keep it in place, it was solid steel rail deeply embedded in the road. It wasn't taking any looking after or maintenance, and could have been left alone. it sat there since the 1930s in the form it was last seen in, without needing "kept in place" or paid for. It was a piece of the towns industrial and transportation heritage, and one ripped up at enormous expense, it could never be put back. So it was very much the wrong decision.
I'd have visited Weymouth just to see that. No reason to go there now. Madness getting rid of something so fascinating and such an attraction. Love the VW Beetle at the beginning, sees the huge train, turns around and scuttles away.
I used that service in 1977 but Im not sure which stopped first the Ferry to Jersey or the train to the quayside. A bit like Dover when they abandoned the boat trains too
The train went from a Mainline station to a ferry terminal, the men and the police car in front are to ensure the track is clear of cars and the public. People are following it as it was the last remaining place in Britain I believe, where a main line train ran down a main road in a town, so quite rare! It has all been taken up now. Hope this answers your question?
@@batman51 When was that changed? Suburban stock on Southern Region was originally all blue but changed to white over blue around the mid 80's as I recall. Central and South East divisions anyway.
@@pajotero4219 This is what I found on Wikipedia: "Non-corridor coaching stock and other multiple units received all-over Rail Blue until about 1980, when most received the same blue/grey livery as corridor coaching stock.. "The 4REP and 3/4TC EMUs were a notable oddity, initially receiving all-over Rail Blue despite being express corridor stock. They were repainted into blue/grey in the early 1970s. " Sounds about right!
if memory serves, Network SouthEast refurbished those 4TC sets and repainted them in an approximation of their original livery for use on charters and the like, presumably after the Weymouth electrification rendered them mostly redundant in the late 80s.
Suggest you also have a look at this one as well if you haven't seen it, which RU-vid kindly led me to yesterday. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x6XEVvVRB_4.html
Some of the snowflakes should visit Chur in Switzerland where the Arosa trains leave the main station and set off up the main streets!! No police or railway officials nor a van in front. I'm bigger than you so keep out of my way. Videos on youtube show this well!!! Having said that this was a great piece of our heritage, now sadly lost forever.
So short sighted by the council to condem this historical asset, correctly managed it could have been a attraction to not only rail enthusiasts, but a boost to tourism in general.
To be fair I kind of disagree. The line didn't really have much going for it and wasn't long enough to make a remotely worthwhile journey, enthusiast or not. Also add the cost of an engine or two, stock, maintenance etc and it just becomes non viable.
@@pajotero4219 On the contrary, with the potential of running excursions from far afield through to the quay, the operating of an environmental tram in the tourist season, and the recent interest in operating commercial passenger vessels, the line would have been an asset for the town.
Afraid you are letting misty-eyed reminisces to get in the way. The line was incredibly cramped and caused major problems traffic-wise when used... far too high-a price for a jolly for the tourists. Even a bubble car shuttling back and forth on summer saturdays would be intolerable with any regularity. For enthusiasts it was an interesting curio but as an asset? in truth the town is generally glad to see it gone - not everyone is a sentimental gricer
@@amazoniaamazonia7225 so I am boring and narrow minded, but you seem ready to bring someone else's town to a standstill (yes it did, I have seen it) for the sake of your pastime... But I'm the narrow-minded one. Bell end
Back when coal was king. A golden age but few of us realised. Thank you for being one of the few to record it. Fossil fuels, fossil HAAs and fossil traction.
