IGNITING THE SUSSEX BEACONS
OF UNITY
THE HISTORY OF THE
SUSSEX BRANCHES OF A.S.L.E.F.
EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY
One of the main reasons for doing these web sites is to try and explain to everybody the history of the footplate grades, the conditions they had to work in and the creation of the A.S.L.E.F. branches within the Brighton & Sussex area. I am therefore very grateful for people sending me personal photos from their personal collection and for allowing me to display them on the web sites. But unfortunately what is missing, are the stories that accompany them. What I want to do is to try and remedy this by starting to record the remaining stories that are still out there, before they too are lost in the midst of time. I have added some information about some of the drivers that I know and the comments that have already have been sent to me. If you too have any stories about your own working life on the footplate, the people that you worked with and the conditions you had to work in please send me and I will post, on the web site. If you are interested in helping me in capturing these stories by any means possible please let me know. |
Final Years of Steam at
Eastbourne Shed 1958 - 65
By Roger Haggar
This a draft version of an article that appeared in the British Railways Illustrated Magazine October 2012 edition
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.