Southern Steam in London - Waterloo

I have to say I find the endless procession of film depicting the desperately sad last knockings of steam around Waterloo and the South West simultaneously tedious and somewhat depressing - there must be literally miles of footage depicting grubby rebuilt Bulleid Pacifics on the last steam worked main line in Britain shot in 1966/67. This clip at least breaks up the horrorshow with a variety of other types filmed before the very end.

1) Bulleid Light Pacific ('West Country' class) class prototype, No.34001, shorn of her 'Exeter' nameplates, delivers the archetypal display of wheelslip as she departs with a Weymouth bound service.
2) Bulleid Light Pacific ('Battle of Britain' class) No.34087, formerly named '145 Squadron' as seen from a block of flats just outside the station.
3) An 'out the window' view of ex-LMS Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2T No.41298 on an empty carriage stock working.
4) Bullied 'Merchant Navy' Class Pacific No.35030, formerly named 'Elder Dempster Lines'. At this late stage BR Rail Blue livery was being applied to the suburban electric stock such as the 4-SUB unit seen here.
5) Another Ivatt 2-6-2T, this one No.41312, another ECS working from the station, flanked by both green and blue liveried 4-SUBs.
6) Bulleid Light Pacific ('West Country' class) No.34040, formerly 'Crewkerne' on a train of BR Mk1 suburban stock.
7) An absolutely filthy Standard Class 4MT 2-6-4T tank draws the stock from the up Bournemouth Belle out of Waterloo.
8) A marginally less grotty Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2T (No.41218?) brings in a train of empties from Clapham.
9) Bullied 'Merchant Navy' Class Pacific No.35030, formerly named 'Elder Dempster Lines' again, departing in a plume of steam and black smoke.
10) Back in time a couple of years, this Merchant Navy (No.35012) has her 'United States Lines' nameplates intact.
11) Maunsell 'Lord Nelson' Class 4-6-0 No.30852 'Sir Walter Raleigh'
12) An unidentified and typically grubby Bulleid Q1 0-6-0 arrives with empty stock.
13) Maunsell 'Lord Nelson' Class 4-6-0 No.30852 'Sir Walter Raleigh' coming the other way.
14) One is insulted by the appalling sight of an ex-GWR 0-6-0PT, one of a number of these utterly wretched machines allocated to Nine Elms for ECS working, arriving at the platform; truly an anathema to the right thinking Southern enthusiast.
15) Merchant Navy No.35012 'United States Lines' again, assisted from the platforms by former LSWR M7 Class 0-4-4T No.30249.
16) A BR Standard Class 5 4-6-0 reverses in.
17) Former LSWR S15 Class 4-6-0 No.30503 departs.
18) 'West Country' 4-6-2 No.34095 'Brentor' in 1966, still with her nameplates.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• southern
• steam
• railway
• region
• british
• rail
• railways
• waterloo
• maunsell
• bulleid
• pacific
• 'merchant
• navy'
• 'battle
• of
• britain'
• 'west
• country'
• 'lord
• nelson'
• M7
• S15
• Q1
• LSWR
• L&SWR

[metadyneman]

It's interesting to hear you say that the endless miles of film depicting the end of steam as tedious and depressing but for someone who was only 7 years old at the time and understood little of the politics behind the railways at the time, I could watch the endless miles of film for ever. Please don't stop posting them, they wer part of my growing up!

[SouthernRailwayFilms]

I'm actually too young to remember any of it - a babe in arms in 1967, but old enough to remember 70's trips to the Ashford Steam Centre on running days, where I would have seen the SER O1 0-6-0 and on at least one occasion a visit from 'Clan Line' - I wish that as much attention had been paid to the end of steam in the South East in 1959/60... all that film of the South Western division when it was all over bar the shouting is just rubbing it in a bit :-)

Don't worry, plenty more to come yet.

[metadyneman]

Glad to hear it.. if you have anything featuring Portslade station or Brentford Central one is where I live now the other is where I remember the"green" trains as a 7 year old respectively!!

[SouthernRailwayFilms]

Dunno yet :-) definitely a bit more Brighton to come. Next is a big chunk of Basingstoke.

[penninefilms]

WHOT YEAR IS THIS FILM

[SouthernRailwayFilms]

First part is 1967. From 02:53 it's around 1960/1961.

[Chafford1]

But despite the poor condition of many of the locomotives in 1966/67 numerous recorded examples of 100mph running in those final years (despite the official 85mph limit)

[JulietJusticeLTD]

fab footage of a bygone world.

[TheTelstar008]

Thank you, for all the nostalgia and all the film clips that you have posted for posterity,

they are truly remarkable.

[zelo1954]

@zelo1954 Oh I forgot to mention - the shed foreman took pity on a waif/stray from NE England and let me go round. Just magic.

[zelo1954]

Surprised you've had no coppertops in your list of commenters. Mind you, if I were a true Southern man, I'd feel the same. I cannot imagine you were too thrilled at the influx of Ivatt tanks either?

You - and a couple of others - have made generally and readily available a great record of moving Southern steam for all the world to share. I wish the same were true for other regions. My own introduction to the SR was the entrance to 70A in 1960 and the glorious sight of 35003.

[bankerbertha]

At least I'm old enough to remember these times (born 1945). Even in 1966 we didn't think it would really end. I managed to get round all the Southern London sheds and Eastleigh around 58/59 (and remember seeing the first of the rebuilds). Those were indeed halcyon days, and the last fling of clean engines.

I used to stand on the (public) balconies of those flats in 66/67 and watch those 'desperate' last rites.

Thanks for posting. 5*