73106 and 73138 go down the Quay on a Pathfinder Tours excursion at the Spring Bank Holiday weekend - result glorious mayhem! It's amazing that no one fell under the wheels.
Brilliant vid, well deserved 5 stars. I only ever saw one train one this branch, way back in 1970/71 a class 03 or 04 shunting black heavy oil tanks. So sad this line is no longer in use.
I was so lucky as a kid to have been a passenger on this train back on the 70s. At the time I don't think I understood the significance. Seemed a bit going through the streets.
I was on holiday back in 74 and it was always a great event for us to see a train going down the high street.Makes me wonder what the Health & Safety would think??.great video
With all those orange hi-vis tops both on the street and on the train this looks like some kind of alternative orange order parade. Was anyone there playing the sash on a flute?
Obviously a unique spectacle precious to our heritage that everybody loved to see and would never be repeated so therefore it had to go, no two ways about it. I used to put it down to stupidity but now I just think its intentional.
Thanks for posting, a brilliant vid!! Such a shame that the tramway is no longer in use, I would have loved to have travelled on it, better still, driven a train on it!! I remember a trip there in the early 1970's, and an 03 or 04 diesel shunter was shunting black oil tanks, fuel for the ferry perhaps??
Good video, captures the "event"-atmosphere well, 138 looking smart in Dutch livery. 73's are an inspired choice for the trip, since they can benefit from third rail juice from somewhere around Southampton.
1999. So recent. And yet a lifetime ago - so different. 4:15 You can imagine now all the huge 4WD Porsche-type vehicle probably facing down the train lol
Derek, I never thought that I'd see the day when a train would be guided by their very own police escort,now how cool is that!!!!And I thought that we were the only ones that did "streetrunning"....DANG WAS THIS ONE TOTALLY AWESOME VIDEO MAN!!!!;-D 5 STARS & A FAV FROM ME!!!!U EARNED IT Bryan
The British Transport Police escort was required because motorists had a habit of parking their cars in such a way that they obstructed the Tramway line along Weymouth Quay, in spite of warning signs and road markings which instructed them not to do so!
this is a first for me, yes iv seen trams doing this but never a br diesel, could you imagine royal scots grey doing that , i would come down especially from gateshead in the north east to see that, what a site that would be, thanks for vid
Thanks! I don't think any trains have been down the Quay since then. The last timetabled trains to the ferries were in 1987 and they were led down by a man with a red flag! As Weymouth/Portland will be the centre for the sailing events in the 2012 Olympics I believe that there are plans put forward to rip up the tramway as part of tarting up the town's image!
Absolutely typical! A line that would be perfectly poised for getting tourists down to the quay and the heart of Old Weymouth, or spectators down to Olympic events...And yet they decide to go and close it for good in the late 90s! :-( Now strike me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Dr. Beeching supposed to have passed on in 1985?...
Technically I believe it was mothballed and has never been officially closed... although it couldn’t be used now as the rails have been tarmac-ed over and such.
Sadly a unprofitable line due to safety issues. It would only be good for a heritage line, not a scheduled service with paid staff to clear the streets.
Dosedmonkey Or perhaps maybe a 1tpd parliamentary service to Waterloo...? Station master at Weymouth or alternatively the guard could clear the street?
Police officer with beard at the beginning was British Transport police officer based at Bournemouth.I forgets name.Spoke to him breifly or nodded occassionally when seeing him on my travels in the 90s and early 00s. Remember having a long chat with him on the platform at Bournemouth whilst waiting for my train home.I expect he is long retired now!
wow i was just looking for some pictures of the Weymouth street running a few days ago and today i find this! Great video, this was the last piece of UK steetrunning, correct? shame its out of operation now, we still got a bit of streetrunning left in the US.
Just a FYI, the class 73 locos like this were electro-diesels, capable of running from 3rd rail electricity supply, or they also have a small diesel engine to enable running on non-electrified lines.
No - it's not on a separate website...yet. I'm in the process of setting up a Multiply site for my wildlife videos, mainly because several don't seem to be possible to upload to RU-vid - light flares off water perhaps - and may extend it to railway videos, but it will take time. I'll show it as my website in due course.
It was my first recording on my then new digitl camera. I'm not sure if I've still got the edited format on disk, if so I might upload it. I'm actually having uploading problems at the moment - each time it finishes uploading I get an "unexplained error" message which is more than a little frustrating!
Does anyone know if both of the Class 73 locomotives were working when this excursion train travelled up and down Weymouth Quay, or was the one at the back being hauled "Dead in Train" by the one at the front?
Very literal - put a coin on the line & get a loco to flatten it! The old pre-decimal pennies were an ideal size. When I was a kid I used to have coins flattened by Bournemouth Belle-pulled Merchant Navies etc. They were't any use for platform ticket machines after that though! I wouldn't recommend the practice in today's faster, quieter railways!
I think that there are possible plans, which may have stalled due to financial situation, for a hotel and retail complex near the old ferry terminal. If successful they might have incorporated the tramway in the project....but I may be wrong!
@wellowvids Apparently in February 2009 the Council agreed to purchase it from Network Rail for £50,000 because the latter confirmed they didn't want to keep it, but some people want it to be retained for the 2012 Olympics to transport people to and from the sailing events there. en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Weymouth_Harbour_Tramway
That's surprising - it doesn't lead anywhere near the new sailing centre, which is on Portland, and most spectators will surely find it far quicker to walk!!
You havent lived in Weymouth. In places like Manchester and Sheffield, there tram way have there own lanes so that cyclist dont have to go on them and the rails are smaller. These rails are on a public road, wide and are never used anymore so they need to go. If they aren't need, why keep them. Who ever owns the line could make a bob or 2 from the scarp value of them.
With the madness this caused in 1999, it would be even worse if they tried this again now. I personal think they should ripe up or tarmac over those rails to make them safe for cyclist. Ive got my wheels stuck in them number of times and thank God, I didnt injurer myself or end up under a car or bus.
i came off my motor bike on the wet tram lines before the bridge went up over Radipole..where the old road circuit into town met the car park by the bowling green..