Looking back to 1984 on old VHS tapes I have converted this short video of trains at Bedford showing the old St Johns Station. Traction includes class 25,31,47, and at Bletchley some early electrics. I hope you enjoy watching.
Roy you never fail to let us down. I just wonder what your going to release next and I can not wait as I sit with my 00 BR blue class 47, 44, 40 and 55 sitting on my desk in front of me. You are a true historian. BR Blue forever
Fantastic roy! I have worked over this line since 1978 on the Footplate!and miss those days!you have brought back fantastic Memories of my favourite period working in the railway Industry!the 1980s! Many thanks to you!
Ah Roy, you're spoiling us! Fantastic video. Love the BR blue footage. The "roarers" sound superb! Fantastic main line action with the 86s and an 87 as well. Freightliner trains looked good. Loved the whole video from the start - the humble 104 - to the end. 25, 31s and 47s all great. Thanks very much for sharing with us.
I can remember travelling on that line in the early 1970's and the demolition of the station buildings in 1971. At that time the train used to arrive at platform 1, then when the passengers had alighted carry out a shunting manoeuvre to platform 2 for the return trip to Bletchley.
fantastic video! just how I remember Bletchley. Made me chuckle seeing Railwaymen casually walking around and jumping off moving loco's. I drive for Chiltern Railways and hopefully soon we will be running trains over the viaduct to Bletchley.
When you see all the empty land around Bedford St John's it really brings home just how extensive the railway facilities around Bedford were and how much had been lost already. I moved there in 77 so can remember the Old Midland Road station and the yards were still quite extensive. It was interesting to see the spur of the old Sandy Cambridge route still going out under the road bridge. Was it still serving some industry beyond the bridge even then?
Great video. I was 15 at the time and living in Bedford. I remember I being on the last train out of the old Bedford St Johns and joining the first train from the new Bedford St Johns. You captured it all so well, the 317s (which had only recently been introduced after sitting in the sidings for a year), the rat on the Fletliner, the old 104 on the Bedford - Bletchley, peak and mk2's, Bletchley depot and its 08 plus the electrics flying through there - they always seemed to fast compared to the Midland mainline, even on freightliners.
wow great video bought back lots of happy memories from my teenage years great trains at time I lived in Wembley so saw wcml trains daily now live near Bedford and on midland mainline
Fabulous footage. Brings back many memories, especially of the WCML through Bletchley where the motive power to be seen was truly varied, especially earlier, in the `70`s, and sometimes really surprising. Its probably little known that Class 52 Westerns were daily visitors en-route to the Wolverton discharge point with their stone trains from the Mendips. They were a wonderful sight powering over the flyover just south of Bletchley station. Busy periods would see two per day. These were my spotting days and incredibly I classed my `52s at Wolverton with D1038 Western Sovereign, just before her withdrawal in the summer of 1973! This stone service was later performed daily by Westburys fleet of Class 56`s, usually passing northbound around midday and returning south, mid-afternoon. A regular diagram of equal interest (well almost!) during the mid/late `70`s was the regular (I think weekly) evening fuel tanks from the south coast to Northampton hauled by a Class 33! I would cycle from my home village to Castlethorpe (closed station), just to see this diagram. One memorable evening it was `chased` by D1017 Western Warrior on a northbound freight.....thankfully I had my camera - unlike the day I saw a `Western` arrive in Bedford station with a freight, the loco ran around its train and dissapeared down towards St. Johns. A photo of that one would have been awasome! They were certainly the days, the like of which we will never see again, sadly.
Bedford St Johns was a sad looking place wasn't it. I never knew the Class 104s were based as far south as Bletchley. * Impressive tyre squeal at 3:00 :D Class 141 must've been on test from Derby.
Roy I was a supervisor in Bletchley PSB when those films were made. can you give me that actual date the Bletchley films were made as running freightliners fast line were my "signature" ! It would be nice if I was on shift !
Sorry I do not have the actual date, all I can say it was in April about 2 weeks before St John's Station closed. (I was a Signalman in Lincolnshire in the 1960's).
