Photo Class 31306 and 31280 British Rail UK Diesel Locos Bletchley 1988

British Rail Class 31306 Diesel Locomotive, Bletchley 1988

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

The driver of UK diesel loco Class 31306, in Departmental Dutch Yellow Style livery 'smiles for the camera' as his loco heads through Bletchley station in front of BR Blue liveried Class 31280 on a beautiful sunny in August 1988.

 

Class 31306 was introduced from Brush Traction, Loughborough, in 1957 and carried the number D5839.

Class 31280 was built at Brush Traction, Loughborough, and introduced into service in 1957 and initially carried the number D5810. (See Historical Note below)

I also managed to spot Class 31306 three weeks earlier at the same station but unfortunately was unable to photograph it.  Perhaps there is some truth to the old saying, 'everything comes to he who waits' after all.

 

 

Class 31 Diesel Locomotive Historical Note:

Whilst hauling a train in which Queen Elizabeth II was travelling on 4th January 1961, D5667 (31240), broke down south of Cambridge.  

Two onboard Brush fitters, on hand to deal with any mechanical problems that may occur, were unable to fix the problem and a steam loco had to be sent for in order to rescue the stricken diesel adding over an hour to the completed journey.

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Photo Class 205032 BR Network South East DEMU Train Basingstoke 1988

Network South East Class 205032 Train Looking Its Age at Basingstoke Station

Photo: Charles Moorhen

Back to the days of the 35mm film camera for this shot of well-worn UK trains British Rail diesel multiple unit, Class 205032 in Network South East livery, as it stands in Basingstoke station on the 9th September 1988.

The fleet of 34 Class 205 trainsets were built at BR Eastleigh, Hampshire, UK, between 1957 and 1962 and were operated by the Southern Railway, replacing steam traction.

Class 205032 diesel multiple unit passenger train was built and entered service in 1962 and was eventually withdrawn in 2004.  205032 was fortunate in being rescued and now resides at the Dartmoor Railway.

In all, 10 trainsets managed to avoid the fate of the scrapyard, and seven examples are preserved, in various states of repair, at a number of heritage railways, such as those listed here:

205009 - Eden Valley Railway.

205018 - Lavender Line.

205023 - Swindon and Cricklade Railway.

205025 - Mid-Hants Railway.

205028 - Dartmoor Railway.

205032 - Dartmoor Railway.

205205 - Epping Ongar Railway.




Basingstoke railway station historical note:
In the mid-1800s, a special train was permanently kept in a state of readiness at Basingstoke, Hampshire, by the London & South Western Railway for the sole use of the Duke of Wellington - hero of the Battle of Waterloo -  should he require it.

Wellington was not a fan of what he described as the 'new fangled railways', and it is not known if he ever used his train.

What would he have made of the example above?

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Night Photo Class 150109 London Midlands DMU Sprinter Train Bletchley 2018

Class 150109 Diesel Multiple Unit, Bletchley Station

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

Resplendent in bright, freshly applied livery, UK trains London Midland Trains Class 150109 Sprinter diesel multiple unit passenger train stands in Bletchley station on the night of 18th April 2018, about to operate a local service that will probably be the last trip of the day to Bedford.

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Class 395021 South Eastern Javelin EMU Train Ashford 2013 Photo

Class 395021 Electric Multiple Unit, Ashford International Station

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

UK Electric multiple unit, Class 395021 Javelin passenger train, 'Ed Clancy MBE', operated by South Eastern Trains, running a scheduled service to Margate photographed waiting for the 'all clear' at Ashford International Station on the 9th June 2013.

More trains photographed at Ashford:
South Eastern Trains Class 375905 Electrostar

 
Southern Trains Class 171721 Turbostar DMU

 
Eurostar Trains 3001 and 3230, 2013

 
Class 377521 and Class 465923 EMU

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Photo Class 222 Midland Mainline Meridian DEMU Train Wellingborough

Midland Mainline Liveried Class 222 Diesel Multiple Unit, Wellingborough

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

Unidentified Class 222 UK passenger train diesel multiple unit train in striking blue and white Midland Mainline livery stands in Wellingborough station in the early 2000s.

This train livery was superseded by the colourful East Midlands Trains livery when the company took over the franchise.

With the capability of a top speed of 125 mph, and the ability of travelling 1,350 miles (2,170 km) between each refuelling, the Class 222 diesel multiple unit has been in mainline service since 2004.

Built for Midland Mainline and Hull Trains, and at time of writing operated by East Midlands Railway by Bombardier Transportation in Bruges, Belgium, a total of 27 sets were manufactured.

Although the Class 222s are fitted with the same Dellner couplers as those on the Class 220 Voyager DMU and Class 221 SuperVoyager DMU, they cannot work together in one train as the electrical connections are not compatible with the 220s and the 221s.

Due to their superior acceleration, the Class 222 DMUs replaced all of the Class 170 DMUs and a number of Class 43 Intercity 125 HST on the Midland Mainline.

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Night Photo Empty Didcot Parkway UK Train Station 2004

 Empty Didcot Parkway UK Train Station

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

A rare sight indeed.  An early evening black and white photo of a totally deserted Didcot Parkway UK railway Station.

Didcot Parkway station was originally opened simply as Didcot by the Great Western Railway in 1844.

The station is served by both local services operated from Reading to Didcot and Oxford, and by mainline services from London Paddington to the south-west of England and Wales.

The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&S) once linked Didcot with Newbury, carrying services to Southampton via Newbury, Highclere, Winchester and Eastleigh.

The DN&S was closed to passengers on the 10th September 1962, and to freight workings in 1967.

At the eastern end of Platform 1, there is a raised section of the east car park which used to be the bay platform for the DN&S.

Update:

Since writing this page, the car park has been excavated by archaeologists revealing the footings of numerous buildings.

In 1985 a new main station building was opened on the 29th July by David Mitchell MP, and the name of the station was changed from simply Didcot to Didcot Parkway.

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Photo Class 205028 BR DEMU Train Eastleigh Train Station 1989

British Rail Class 205028 Diesel Multiple Unit, Eastleigh

Photo:  Charles Moorhen

Photo of DEMU Class 205028 3-car unit UK passenger train, looking in a sad state of affairs due to the rundown of British Rail prior to privatisation, standing alongside a near-deserted platform at Eastleigh station, Hampshire.

205028 escaped the death sentence of the scrapyard and is now, unrestored, at the heritage Dartmoor Railway, Devon.

The diesel shunter in the background. to the right of the picture, is 09025 carrying the unofficial name 'Victory'.  

The class 09 loco  diesel shunter was built at Horwich Works by LYR/LMS/British Railways in 4/1/62.  

After years of service, 09025 was finally withdrawn on the 31/8/2005 and is now preserved on the East Kent Railway.

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