Railways I have known

My father was a model railway enthusiast.  He had an attic full of OO-gauge railway, and I contributed as a second train operator and the signalling engineer (see my 'Inventions' page).  The railway room was a frequent Sunday afternoon destination.  My mother had zero interest and was a bit jealous of the attention devoted to the railway.  I would wait until my father would mysteriously disappear - then would check around and end up climbing the steep ladder to the attic.  Now as I try to rationalise I think the interest for me was the time-and-motion study in judging train speed (hence my inertial control) and enjoying how well (yes, really) my signalling system worked.  Strange that my mother had no interest.  My sisters occasionally would come up but their interest was more in moving model people around on the platform and making up stories - quite at variance with my own interest.

I remember my parents invited a young man (but older than me and not in my peer group) to stay for lunch after church and the afternoon.  Perhaps his parents were away.  He also expressed zero interest in the model railway, when asked, which frustrated me because it meant we had to stay downstairs and "entertain" him.  I have never had much time for entertaining people.  People should not need to be entertained IMHO.

The other railway in my life (apart from my general interest - to this day I reckon I could have enjoyed a career as a train driver) was the line from Winchester to Alton.  British Rail closed the line in 1973 but the stretch from Alresford to Alton has now thankfully been resurrected by a preservation society and is known as the Mid Hants railway or the Watercress line.

Every school morning at about 08:10, having gulped down some breakfast, I would start running to the station.  It was invariably a close shave - I liked my bed in those days.  The train left at 08:25 I think.  There were rare occasions when I arrived too late, and unless someone was willing to drive me in that meant a detention.  There were prefects posted to catch latecomers.

From Winchester Junction to Alton it is single line so was operated on the tablet or token system.  The walk-way from which the signalman would exchange the token is visible to the right of the box in the picture above, the branch line to Alresford being to the right of that.  This picture is a thumbnail taken from a site where they want you to pay good money for a not much bigger version.

The picture below is taken just after leaving the main line Up line.  The perspective in this picture is odd - in fact the curve was very steep, with a guard / check rail, and the wheels squeaked unmercifully.  It concerned me at the time that perhaps each time metal was being pared off.

In railway terms in the UK 'up' always refers to going towards, and 'down' away from London.  Outside of railway terminology you go 'up' from most places in the world to London, but you go 'down' from Oxford (or Cambridge) to London.  I thought you needed to know that.

The only station between Winchester and Alresford is (was) Itchen Abbas, shown below.  I am told that the property of one or more houses now crosses the path of the old railway, which spells little hope that this section of the line will ever be restored.

The station at Alresford has two lines to allow trains to pass.  The next picture shows the up train waiting on the left and the down train arriving.  This view is so ingrained in my memory that I can almost feel myself there as I look at it.  The foul weather in the picture was typical of winter mornings.  There was no pedestrian bridge in those days: in the mornings I would cross over to the down platform using the crossing visible.  Back in those days this was not considered unsafe.  Now-a-days people get jittery about such things.  Such people seem to delight in taking the fun out of our lives.

The rolling stock was a two (or sometimes three) carriage diesel set.  Back in those days we had pennies.  Americans still call their cent pieces pennies, but a real penny is 12 to the shilling and 20 shillings to the pound sterling (or indeed Irish punt) and about 31mm in diameter.  Having previously been to Eastleigh Railway Works where I saw a penny being squashed under a steam hammer, I figured a train wheel might have the same effect so I placed one on the rail at the crossing just as the down train was due.  The signalman (Mr. Norris by name, may God rest his soul) leaped down the stairs from the box and ran to where I was (the train was coming closer) and scolded me most severely in front of my peers.  His point was that little pennies grow into big pennies and big pennies kill.  He did right.  I have never forgotten that lesson.

I enjoyed the train ride every morning and evening.  It was a special part of the day totally to yourself - no parents and no teachers to nag you.  To this day I am happy travelling on a train - anywhere, any length.

The pictures above are more recent now the line is operated by the preservation society, but similar rolling stock to that which we travelled to school in.  Of course they also run steam trains.  There is possibly no smell as sweet as that of a steam engine.  There is possibly no man made machine as elegant as a steam engine.