Sunday Shed at Paxton Road…
Fresh from Newport Docks a brand new 66 has arrived at Paxton Road. Ostensibly for crew training, the ‘red death’ has begun…
These rails have seen steam, diesels come and go, more recently even the threat of the end of wagonload when ‘Speedlink’ was abandoned for 3 years before Transrail reintroduced ‘Entrerprise’. Now they’re part of a new hope, a new journey for freight by rail in the UK as enigmatic Ed Burkhardt promises the world.
Yes, it is 1998.
The end of the century sang Blur. Meanwhile Oasis had a Masterplan.
I was finding out who I was and about to miss my A-level grades.
Life goes on and things work out…
Gone are my teens.
Gone is Ed Burkhardt (he lasted until 1999).
Gone are these small yards.
Gone too is wagonload.
I’m still here, so is the Shed.
We have our memories.
Good company for a Sunday morning.
Until next time, more soon…
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It must have been at about the same time that I saw my first Shed.
ReplyDeleteWhere my first wife, our small daughter and I lived then had the Lewes-Eastbourne line across the road; I often used to walk along the path that was on an embankment parallel to it as you'd usually see at least one train passing, almost invariably a BR(S) EMU or perhaps a 73 with a ballast train.
One morning, I was ambling along by the line and heard a strange sound, a sort of "ying-ying-ying" behind me. I turned to look, and there it was...the first of many 66s.
Nearly 30 years on, and, as you say, much has changed. First wife became ex-wife 3 years later and died 12 years ago, small daughter is now taller than me and teaches English in Barcelona, I've moved further away than I ever thought I would.
SR EMUS now replaced by Electrostars, but freight in that corner of Sussex had already finished by about the mid-1980s.
Still see 66s of course, and in many different colour schemes.
A somewhat more unlikely survivor is the Class 73...surely a contender for Really Useful Engine if ever there was one?
Lovely photo, James!
Simon.
Thank you for the reflections - we are both still here.
Delete73 - certainly. In my teens three appeared at Chester! I’ve always fancied doing a Merseyrail 73/0… and these days they’re even in Scotland!
Hi James
ReplyDeleteI think the demise of Ed Burkhart and his team ( for whatever reason ) was a giant setback for rail freight in this v country.
I remember I was on a train in probably 1998 going to one of my regular business meeting at the National Railway Museum. Burkhart and some of his team were sitting in the carriage. We were on that part of the line where it and the A1 run close together and a steady stream of lorries ( including with containers could be seen. Burkhardt got up and looking out noted to his team. that the road looked like an inefficient train and marketing should get on to it, to grasp the opportunities. I always wondered what happened and did the road building lobby in government win out. As we now know it was nationalised when German state railways took over - perhaps a lesson there
Best regards
Alan
Yes crazy that the Germans bought it - I gather primarily for acces to EuroCargo Rail, the EWS subsidiary open access freight provider in France!
DeleteI remember standing on Westbury station in 2001 waiting for a Cornwall train and an enthusiast was loudly telling everyone how rubbish he thought the 66's were. I remember thinking how wrong he was too! I spent my teens modelling American short lines and remembered how familiar the sound of the 66's was, as I'd watched hours of footage of SD40-2's. I think Ed Burkhardt fell foul of a management takeover and the accountants at EWS, he was certainly a visionary. Thought provoking post James. Lovely model too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom. I’m glad these reflections have given you a moment to remember and reflect too… hope you had a good weekend.
DeleteI rather like 66's too. Their sound as they go by our house on the South Wales main especially when running light engine as a pair. A memorable rail trip behind one along the Heart of Wales line & more. (sitting in a mk2 coach) Great photo James and looks a superb model.
ReplyDeleteThanks Roger… I like the fact it was Mr Foster Yeoman’s love of the Western that gave us the front end look of these too!
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