That's My Loco!

Just fifty-four seconds (less than that, really) conveys several reasons why the Western Class 52 diesel-hydraulics were so popular with enthusiasts. Is it the stylish, elegant design?

Perhaps it's the superb hydraulic transmission, and the two independent engines that allow the loco to keep running even if one engine should fail. Or maybe, it's the wonderful roar! of the engines when pulling away.

Actually, it's all of those, and more besides!

It is little wonder that, back in the 'seventies when these locos were still running, I'd go all the way up to London Paddington, walk to the far end of the platform, just beyond the front of one of these magnificent beasts, and wait to see and hear its departure.

There's nothing quite like being that close to such an event (and it was always an event, however routine!) and I did it several times. One good bet was the 2230 Travelling Post Office (TPO), which was often Western-hauled; and the atmosphere at that time of night, after sundown, was something else again.

Oh, and yes, I too have been on a Western-hauled excursion, and hung out of the window just like those you see in the following video(!)

This short clip by traintelevision features one of the preserved locomotives in which I have shares, D1062 Western Courier (the other is D1013 Western Ranger, both pictured above), and is best watched full screen and played through a high quality audio system...

A Drive Around Strood

As Strood was mentioned in my last post, here is a drive around part of Strood, from October 2009, uploaded by Joe Blunt. I think the potholes we see in the road at the very end were fixed long ago!

It is notable for three things: (1) Strood isn't very exciting or special, at least not the parts traversed during these eight minutes; (2) Strood Station is flagged up at 1 minute 06 seconds in; and (3) the ride passes (without showing us) the Marlowe Park Medical Centre that I have referred to recently, at 7 min 10 sec. It also goes down a couple of back streets that even I have never walked, though I have looked at them on Google Street View.

Something one might notice is the number of railway bridges. In fact, we see barely half of those in urban Strood, the others being a little north of most of the route taken here...

Pullman Train at Strood

This short video, from one "goonerlewis16", shows the traditional Pullman carriages being hauled through Strood here in Medway, by a Class 67 diesel-electric locomotive at each end – 67 024 at the front, and 67 019 as the so-called banking loco to help push the train up steep inclines. Presumably there must have been at least one such elsewhere on its journey.

Visually, the cyclopean Class 67 isn't a very attractive loco, but it does the job well enough, with the power of a top-end Type 4 diesel, though not as high as a Type 5 (e.g. Deltic) but with a higher top speed.

If it's just extra hauling power that's needed, both locomotives will be joined together at the front, but for climbing long and/or steep inclines, the second loco goes at the back. After all, we all know how much easier it is to push (say) a heavy trolley of shopping or suitcase-on-wheels up a slope from behind than it is to pull on it from in front.

This train has the good fortune to have both...

What's That?

Returning home from my GP's surgery, riding upstairs in the Number 101 'bus, I again noticed something I had spotted before and never worked out where it was. This was when travelling down the hill of Chatham Maidstone Road, passing the end of Gladstone Road...

What is that building in the distance, rising up above all around it? I hadn't been able to think of anywhere I knew over in that general direction that stood out from the surrounding street scene, as this seems to do. Here's a closer view...

I had to wait until I returned home, then checked the precise direction via Google Street View, then switched to the aerial view and traced the line – straight to the far end of Gladstone Road, just beyond and a fraction to the right (north). This is what I found...

Yes, it's that wide block at the southern end of Semple Gardens! It's not only high, and at a (relatively) high altitude, it's also very wide – so here is just one side and the middle section of the block...

Well, that's one long-standing mystery finally solved!

Hundred of Hoo Railway

Prompted by an uploaded film made by the same company (Gazelle Films), I discovered these parts of a documentary they made on the Hundred of Hoo Railway. This refers to the branch off the line from Gravesend to Strood that heads off to the Hoo Peninsula, here in Medway. In fact it spends a few minutes at Hoo Junction, which I found really interesting, having whizzed past it on that main line.

It really is fascinating stuff for those who, like me, know many of the places featured but know them only as they are today. Here we also see how they were in years gone by, including lines and stations that no longer exist. It even features the Stoke Crossing which is currently in the local news...

Here are two of what seem to be at least three ten-minute parts of this production, which were filmed in the  'nineties and uploaded in video form just under two years ago. The producers apparently haven't put the last part(s) up, but are working on a DVD release of the whole thing, which could appear soon.

In the meantime, watch and learn, as I have just done...