Salisbury Station
missing from the article… “deliberation and regret of not being able to find a suitable undercover site within the city boundary by Oct. 1961, the council had to let it go. The last regular Schools working before the change to diesels was reported in The Hastings Observer of Sat. June 14th 1958 (see below) when ‘Leatherhead’ worked the 7.30 p.m. slow to Charing Cross, crewed by driver Jim Burnett and fireman Ed Coffey. There is a photo of them looking out of the cab before departure (see below) overseen by Inspector Harry Daisey who, incidentally, was a next door but one neighbour of ours. As we know, steam of various classes worked around Hastings until 1964-5, the last being, if memory serves me right an LCGB special in June ? 1965.”
Peter Ellingworth… Thought you might be interested in an article I wrote for The Maunsell News, a magazine for members of The Maunsell Locomotive Society based at The Bluebell Railway. The article is about the Schools Class Locos handling the Hastings-London trains via Tonbridge, that were a part of the Hastings scene from the early 1930’s until the late fifties-early sixties. The first photo is at Salisbury not Hastings. Built in mind with the width restrictions of the Hastings to Tonbridge direct route, they did sterling work until diesels took over as well as outstanding performances on the main South Western route out of London Waterloo, and the South Eastern to East Kent. The Bluebell Line has ‘Stowe’ no 28 of the class, currently undergoing overhaul by them and the MLS. Ten or so were shedded at the former St. Leonards ( West Marina) depot.
Jane Hartley… I remember standing on Warrior Square bridge watching the trains coming through.
Peter Ellingworth… Likewise- my parents when first married lived in Southwater Road, so it was just down the road for me…. I think 30923 ‘Bradfield’, being renamed incidentally from the original ‘Uppingham’ because of objections from their Headmaster, also put in an appearance during March-April 1962 as I vaguely remember seeing an original single -chimneyed ‘Schools’ on the aforementioned parcels trains. Some of them such as ‘Malvern’ & ‘Ardingly’ were fitted with the wider squat chimneys when modified by Oliver Bulleid with mulitiple jet blastpipe exhausts, such as on the lead photo outside Salisbury station but following initial trials (after as such seen in the photo) with a much more visually pleasing squatter lipped chimney- plenty of photos online if you wish to look. The three locos mentioned home depot at the time was Brighton, but I believe moved around being stabled overnight at Tonbridge and or possibly London Bricklayers Arms/Stuarts Lane from time to time. They were an amazing design, but all were withdrawn or scrapped by the end of Dec ’62, mainly for accountancy purposes : had this not happened I did hear that an intention was to move some north to work the Liverpool- Manchester trains until the end of steam in 1968. Three are preserved : ‘Cheltenham’ property of the NRM York, ‘Repton’ on the NYMR, and ‘Stowe’ at the Bluebell Railway, which is being restored to running condition again. And ‘King’s Canterbury’ – well almost ! ‘Tonbridge’ and ‘Marlborough’ were I think other almosts, but I believe the potential purchasers ( ‘Tonbridge’ by one of the schoolmasters) objected to BR’s stipulation that a binding condition of sale was not further resale should they want. Other steam visitors of note to Hastings I remember seeing in ’62 mostly on through trains from the Midlands/North West, were the former LBSCR ‘K’ class which took the trains over at the southern end .
Another very capable and versatile design, again scrapped for accountancy purposes in Dec ’62. The Bluebell Railway very much wanted to buy one, but at the time was using all its available finances to purchase the line from BR itself.
Likewise- my parents when first married lived in Southwater Road, so it was just down the road for me….
sorry for the scan missing about some of ‘King’s Canterbury’ almost being saved, details of which I have filled in on my supporting text, but both scanners available to me were giving problems.
I think 30923 ‘Bradfield’, being renamed incidentally from the original ‘Uppingham’ because of objections from their Headmaster, also put in an appearance during March-April 1962 as I vaguely remember seeing an original single -chimneyed ‘Schools’ on the aforementioned parcels trains. Some of them such as ‘Malvern’ & ‘Ardingly’ were fitted with the wider squat chimneys when modified by Oliver Bulleid with mulitiple jet blastpipe exhausts, such as on the lead photo outside Salisbury station but following initial trials (after as such seen in the photo) with a much more visually pleasing squatter lipped chimney- plenty of photos online if you wish to look.
The three locos mentioned home depot at the time was Brighton, but I believe moved around being stabled overnight at Tonbridge and or possibly London Bricklayers Arms/Stuarts Lane from time to time.
They were an amazing design, but all were withdrawn or scrapped by the end of Dec ’62, mainly for accountancy purposes : had this not happened I did hear that an intention was to move some north to work the Liverpool- Manchester trains until the end of steam in 1968.
Three are preserved : ‘Cheltenham’ property of the NRM York, ‘Repton’ on the NYMR, and ‘Stowe’ at the Bluebell Railway, which is being restored to running condition again. And ‘King’s Canterbury’ – well almost !
‘Tonbridge’ and ‘Marlborough’ were I think other almosts, but I believe the potential purchasers ( ‘Tonbridge’ by one of the schoolmasters) objected to BR’s stipulation that a binding condition of sale was not further resale should they want.
Other steam visitors of note to Hastings I remember seeing in ’62 mostly on through trains from the Midlands/North West, were the former LBSCR ‘K’ class which took the trains over at the southern end .
Another very capable and versatile design, again scrapped for accountancy purposes in Dec ’62. The Bluebell Railway very much wanted to buy one, but at the time was using all its available finances to purchase the line from BR itself.