THE SUSSEX MOTIVE POWER DEPOTS

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY

Having grown up in the fifties and sixties within visual distance of Hampden Park level crossing, it was inevitable that I would be drawn to the variety of steam locomotive classes that were an everyday sight until 1965.

Staple diet on the hourly Tunbridge Wells service was Fairburn and Standard 4 tanks, whilst E4 tanks handled the 

Freight was handled by a variety of classes including K, C2X, Q, Q1 and E4s. The coal wharves were on the east side of the approaches to Eastbourne Station, whilst the general freight sidings were adjacent to platform 1 on the west side. At Hampden Park a goods yard existed next to the up line. Here the main commodity was coal and wagons filled with bricks for the many estates that were under construction in the area. I well remember laying in bed and listening to the regular K class shunting it's wagons after dark and the magical ching, ching, ching of buffer on buffer, a sound all but gone today.

All was well with the World.

The Glasgow to Eastbourne car sleeper service was a source of fascination to the growing band of local schoolboy 

spotters and initially the motive power was provided by four King Arthur N15s with 30767 "Sir Valence" being the 

first to be recorded followed by 30793 "Sir Ontzlake", 30795 "Sir Dinadan"and 30798 "Sir Hectimere". It was with 

great regret that the usually clean brunswick green Arthurs were supplanted by two grubby ex- Midland Region 

Standard 5 4-6-0s 73041/42 in 1958. The latter was to be the loco involved in the fatal Eastbourne train crash on 25th 

August 1958. Little was I to know that the train I watched racing through Hampden Park that morning was just 

minutes from disaster!

The Glasgow to Eastbourne car sleeper service was a source of fascination to the growing band of local schoolboy 

spotters and initially the motive power was provided by four King Arthur N15s with 30767 "Sir Valence" being the 

first to be recorded followed by 30793 "Sir Ontzlake", 30795 "Sir Dinadan"and 30798 "Sir Hectimere". It was with 

great regret that the usually clean brunswick green Arthurs were supplanted by two grubby ex- Midland Region 

Standard 5 4-6-0s 73041/42 in 1958. The latter was to be the loco involved in the fatal Eastbourne train crash on 25th 

August 1958. Little was I to know that the train I watched racing through Hampden Park that morning was just 

minutes from disaster!

More interesting motive power was to follow however, and Bulleid Pacifics could often be seen at the head of the train 

with 34089 "602 Squadron" becoming a regular performer in the new decade. In all, I recorded no less than 35 

different light Pacifics, both original and rebuilt over the years.

The year of '59 was to bring a number of interesting and unusual locomotives to Eastbourne amongst which were T9s 

30702 and 30711 on 7th October and 31st July respectively. These and the last E1/R 0-6-2T 32697 which arrived at 

the end of October were en-route to Ashford for scrapping and demanded immediate attention from the spotting 

fraternity whilst they remained on shed. It was on 17th November 1959 that I observed my first rebuilt light Pacific in 

the area when 34021 "Dartmoor" pulled out of Hampden Park with the two coach 8.20am Hailsham service returning 

tender first at 8.55am. Apparently the Pacifics arrived in Eastbourne with the overnight parcels and paper vans from 

London and the Eastbourne shed foreman having had them turned , made use of them on the Hailsham run. 

"Dartmoor" was followed by a succession of rebuilds including '25 "Whimple", '37 "Clovelly", '05 "Barnstaple", ’50 

Royal Observer Corps", '03 "Plymouth", '13 "Okehampton", '16 "Bodmin", '12 "Launceston", '22 "Exmoor", ’14 

"Budleigh Salterton", and '01 "Exeter".

Other attention grabbing trains were the seasonal inter-regional Birkenhead express, always referred to as the "Birk” 

and the three summer Saturday specials arriving within twenty minutes of each other and invariably headed by a 

Schools Class. The "Birk" did not qualify for prestige motive power such as a Schools and employed U, U1, N and K 

class moguls e.g. U Class 31610 on 12th March 1960

Visits to the roofless Eastbourne MPD at weekends and often after school involved cycling down to Tutts Barn Lane 

and then through the large allotment area to the wooden bridge which spanned a dyke to gain access to the hallowed 

ground. Bikes would be left on the allotment side of the bridge as a quick getaway was sometimes necessary if the 

shed foreman spotted you and came running, shouting, shaking a fist and occasionally lobbing a lump of coal at you! 

In 1962 one could expect to see up to three K or Q Class locos, the occasional N or U1 and several Standard 4 tanks 

on shed plus summer Sundays held Schools 30923 "Bradfield" or 30928 "Stowe"on a regular basis. Other regulars 

involved rebuilt West Countries 34100 "Appledore" and 34101 "Hartland". An unusual class for Eastbourne arrived 

in the summer of '62 when H 0-4-4T 31518 redundant from push-pull work in Kent, set up home for a while for use on 

the Hailsham service. During 1963 further interest was created when a number of surplus Ivatt 2-6-2 tanks and 

former Eastern Region Standard 4 moguls were re-allocated to the Southern with 41326 and 76034 becoming 

regulars on Eastbourne shed, the latter being a replacement for the now withdrawn K class moguls.

When Brighton MPD closed in 1964 and the Glasgow Car Sleeper service by then routed to Newhaven, Eastbourne 

shed was used to service and turn the Willesden Black 5's that provided the motive power. This produced a succession 

of different locos and the icing on the cake and to our almost disbelief Jubilee 45672 "Anson" appeared on Saturday 

20th June. Although minus nameplates and withdrawn on paper, it was a most welcome visitor for the enthusiasts 

even if it was not so to the operating department! If this was not enough to please us, the arrival of a failed Eastern 

Region B1 61313 six days later just about topped it off. A photograph of the B1 buffer to buffer with a Black 5 on a 

Southern shed was possibly unique and I have often wondered if this had ever happened before

My Brownie 127 camera loaded with a roll of Ilford HP4 often accompanied me on shed visits and though not 

producing the greatest of images it has provided me with some good memories of a misspent youth. It was an 

extraordinary case of deja vu when some fifty years later on July 14th 2011 I found myself standing on Hampden Park 

footbridge with an old spotting chum and my son David, photographing 70000 "Britannia" on the Cathedrals 

Express. David was regaled with memories that my friend and I shared of standing at this very spot to witness the 

summer Saturday specials. Names such as "Blundells", "St Lawrence" and "Cheltenham" just slipped off the tongue.