This will be a slow burn thread, but those of you who have been following my 'retirement' thread in the Cattle Car section will know that one of my last projects was to get some more of the PFA two axle Container wagons back in traffic These freight cars were having a GR (General repair) overhaul at Arlington Fleet services at Eastleigh Works, near to Southampton in Hampshie on the South Coast of England . I'll come back to the history of the London South Western Railway's massive Main works later but to start I'll give you a taster. So my first ever visit to to Eastleigh was part of a 'thrash', where a convoy of like minded railfans blitzed as many depots and works as we could in a weekend. In 1978 this included Swindon, Basingstoke, Reading, Didcot, Newbury and Eastleigh. My chosen chariot at the time was a one of General Motors more obscure offerings, The mighty, 1200 cc , Vauxhall HA Viva Camper van This isn't a picture of mine. I suspect the steel from my example is probably wrapped around a tin of beans now More soon but as a taster ex works Class 33 in 1978 Kev
So I couldn't afford lots of colour film in those days so I only took two other photos in 1978 This battered example of a class 07 shunter still carries its Pre-TOPS running number. It was already sold off to private industry by then. These diesel electric six wheelers were built by Ruston Hornsby in the early 1960s One Ruston 0-6-0DE still lurking about in 2017 was this one now numbered 01 508 Another 33 was seen. 33 001. The first in the class was originally numbered D6500 but sadly was involved in an accident at Liss in 1988 and was cut up in 1989 more soon Kev
So a class that was, until recently, unique to the Southern region of British Railways was the Class 73 Electro-Diesel Bo-Bo. With a 600hp English Electric diesel engine but also working off the 750V DC third rail they didn't stray far from the Southern For a Northener is is always nice to come across them Back in November 2013 73 141 'Charlotte' and 73 205 'Jeanette'were stabled in the yard Fast forward to 2022 and Jeanette has been re-engineered as a Clas 73-9 with a 1,600 HP MTU engine and still carrying its 'Jeanette nameplates is now number 73 964 It was top and tailed on the Netwrok Rail PLPR (Plain Line Recognition Train) Test train with 73 962 'Dick Mabbutt' formerly 73 204 In 2017 73 201 'Broadlands' was under repair in the works Bizarely, For a Northern lad, I have actually made a Z gauge Class 73 to run on my Republic steel layout More soon Kev
The venerable Class 08 diesel shunter is usually present somewhere in the works The six coupled diesl electrics once numbered about 850 examples but as the move to 'Block trains' gathered pace many became redundant. However 172 still survive Also seen Class 57s. these are the original Sulzer powered Co-Co class 47s repowered with GM EMD motors This Class 57/3 has the retractable Delner coupling to allow it to be used as a 'Thunderbird' rescue loco to recover failed EMUs and DMUs . The Thunderbird nickname comes from the Kids TV show of the same name and originally many of these locos carried nameplates relating to the characters from International rescue This example formerly owned by DRS is being converted back to a non Delner fitted example for LSL More soon Kev
So. Lets crack on The G.E built Class 70 were built between 2009 and 2017 at the Erie works and were ordered by Freightliner and Colas. The styling attracted a lot of criticism when they first appeared. 70 016 was on a Southampton-Crewe Basford Hall container working In the yard was DBSO 9714. These 'Driving Brake standard opens' were formely used on passenger working with a Class 47 or 37 on the other end. We had a few at DRS when we were running the Cumbian Coast Loco hauled passenger services but the most active ones are now owned by Network Rail and used on the test trains Also in the yard one of the works Class 08s was trundling around. 08 629 The dominant loco on the U.K scene, the EMD class 66, are everywhere at Eastleigh. 66 415 was originally owned by DRS but when it came off lease Freightliner snapped it up. It now carries the Genesee and Wyoming colour scheme that is being applied to some Freightliner locos (they are the parent company) and carries the nameplates 'You are never alone' I think this colour scheme suits these locos So another odd-ball, The class 153 single car DMUs were one of the classes that were withdrawn en-mass recently with the sweeping away from the Network of the 1980s built 'Bus bodied' units 153 385 is one of a few that have been added to the Network Rail infrastructure monitoring fleet and has been fitted with a lot of additioanl equipment seen on the front end Plenty more to come
My last project for DRS was getting the PFA general repair program further on These versatile little four wheelers get used for all sorts of 20ft containers but were overdue some major work. The best way to do these was to strip them out and flip them over onto their back. Back on their feet Also going down the line were some TDA fuel tankers In the past tjey have also been busy with TEA tanks What is that lurking on the right hand side? On a previous visit I was there to sign off some of our four bogie KXA-C flask wagons More soon kev
Back in 2017 three engineers trains passed including a 125 tonne crane and some panel track carrying wagons Kev
The HST, Intercity 125 High Speed train is commonly known as the 'train that saved British Rail' and has done sterling service since 1975. However time moves on and the Class 43 power cars are being phased out in many regions as newer trains are acquired Some examples have turned up at Eastleigh though A couple of east Midland railway examples in the yard They are still more than useable and Network Rail and Colas are using them on some of the Test trains 43049 has been fully restored to the Intercity Executive livery for LSL and was ticking over in the yard before returning to their Crewe HQ More soon Kev