When passing Colthrop Crossing Signal Box if you pause the video you can see someone taking what looks like to be a photo. Well I was that person on duty in the Signal Box and I took a video of this train passing. Here is the link to my video. kzread.info/dash/bejne/gYiuzs6LnsmtZMo.html

@Rog5446

Жыл бұрын

Tah Muchley!

Trivia: Approaching Midgham Station, you would have noticed 'Woolhampton' popping up on the screen just before the station. The station is actually in the village of Woolhapton and Midgham is about two miles away, not even on the line. This is because the GWR decided to call the station by the next nearest village, because they did not want passengers confusing it with Wolverhampton, that was also served by the GWR. Tip: If you like a nice walk, get the train from Midgham to Newbury and walk back along the Kennet and Avon canal. It's about two hours worth and when you get back to Midgham, pop into the Rowbarge for lunch, which is on the canal.

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Yes indeed, I put Woolhampton up as a caption precisely to highlight the fact that they deliberately mis-named Midgham station :-) Good idea for the walk, beware though of the swing bridge by which the canal towpath changes sides - I wanted to get along there once but a single-crewed narrowboat had had no way of shutting the bridge so the towpath was effectively temporarily severed.

As a local lad who has commuted this route to Slough for work (20+ years), popped to Hungerford with the family for days out etc I can only say how wonderful this video is. Great to see the route from the track.

@hastingsdiesels

Ай бұрын

Thank you Jonathan, glad you enjoyed it!

Brillant as usual, thanks for uploading!

Yet another superb video from Hastings, really looking forward to seeing the rest in this series, well done guys.

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you... so am I :)

Thanks for the ride and all the useful info...I'm looking forward to viewing more of your cab rides.

Always a good day when one of your videos pops up on youtube. The canals of Britain worked towards their own demise, transporting material for the "new fangled railways" which once opened led to the canals almost complete abandonment for long haul freight traffic.

This is better with back cab audio. At least you don't have to listen to that flat!! Great video as ever. Love the research you guys do into the local areas, a real education ;)

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I provide leading cab audio where possible, flats or no! I suppose I could add the rear cab soundtrack as an alternative soundtrack, if YT supports that?!

Have used the line many times---though never in a DEMU!---but never knew the names of the level crossings, so a double thank you.

Yet another awesome video

Thanks for the video.

Always appreciated.

Excellent film. Well documented. Looking forward to the remainder of the journey. ( I don't mind the flat)

As someone who drives the route frequently on slightly later forms of Diesel Electric Train with four times as many cylinders I found this very good viewing!

Thank you for posting this excellent video. As someone who travelled it behind Kings, Castles and Warships, it has always had a special place in my heart. It's a pity about the disfiguring OLE - but we must accept progress (I suppose).

another excellent video, waiting for the next...

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Patience :-) My aim (and I've managed to stick to it for some months now) is a video every Saturday.

👏👏😁Thank you for this - brilliant 😁

Wheel lathe visit soon I hope!

Great video, (hope you get that wheel flat sorted).😉🙏

Great video, as usual. Am I the only one who thinks it all looks so much better without the uglification wires.....sorry electrification! "Progress", I know, but at what cost to the countryside. Mr. Grumpy has left the building!

@davidgandar7339

5 жыл бұрын

Bob, you are not alone in your comment about the cateniary wire fittings. They should have used the system as on the GNER.

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

I'd tend to agree, it does look a bit... chunky.

@davidgandar7339

5 жыл бұрын

Chunky! More like a battleship builders yard!....(Watching your excellent videos in NZ)

@bobwood856

5 жыл бұрын

@@davidgandar7339 Reading is just unrecognisable from when I knew it, admittedly a few years ago now. Just a metal tunnel. I just hope this doesn't happen to my local station, Taunton. No sign of the dreaded wires there yet!

@Graham_Langley

5 жыл бұрын

@@hastingsdiesels I'd go with unbelievably ugly.

Another enjoyable trip!

Another fine vid thanks richard pity it was a bit gloomy kind regards bob.

Another great vid 👍

Very nice ride thankyou

TRIVIA: When approaching Midgham station, Woolhampton was displayed with the Woolhampton crossing. Midgham is about two miles away, but the GWR called the station at Woolhapton Midgham, because they did not want passengers at Paddington getting on the wrong train for Wolverhampton.

Looking forward to hearing the section between Hungerford and Westbury. That will be a test for the engine...

Great video and interestingly this is the same route the class 210 Demu used to service as far as bedwyn back in the 80s

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Ah, the thing with a 317 bodyshell?

@markcf83

4 жыл бұрын

@@hastingsdiesels that's the one. There were two units-one a three car and the other a four car.

Network rail's Yellow Sprinter on shed at Reading. That's one place that they've made a great improvement, before all trains off the Reading West line for the old platforms 8/9 (the relief line platforms) had to cross all four tracks, and they would usually have to wait for up to 10 minutes if there was an HST anywhere between Reading and Didcot for it to cross in front.

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Good spot with the yellow sprinter, do you know what that does? I did see it but didn't know. Yes, the Reading Feeder Lines which pass beneath the new viaduct giving a grade-separated junction must be a huge help.

@AndreiTupolev

5 жыл бұрын

@@hastingsdiesels I think it's used for track testing isn't it, ultrasonic track testing or something like that

At 23.16 on the right of the track hidden in the trees, you can just see the white discs with red centres on the gates that closed the branch line into the Thatcham Army Ordnance Depot (opened 1940; closed 1999) which is now a housing estate. The points, branch line and the lines in the depot were all taken up. The Ordnance Depot ran all the way to the end of the green fencing at 23.43.

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Great spot, thank you for this. My research had shown that such a facility once existed, but I'd not looked carefully enough to spot this physical evidence still there for all to see. Thank you!

@2112pk

5 жыл бұрын

i know for a fact that as recently as 2010, the sidings were still there, only severed a few feet from the mainline, visible from the station. from looking at the footage 23:14 it seems there's still some left under the bushes nearer the gate.

Thank you. An excellent video, as usual. One of the best aspects of your videos is the printed commentary about junctions (present or former) and other details about the tracks taken. For example, I wasn't aware of the Reading Feeder Lines at that point, until you pointed them out. Then I found the track plans. It's quite an arrangement!

@hastingsdiesels

4 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@ncgrealestate7890

2 жыл бұрын

B

@ncgrealestate7890

2 жыл бұрын

Bbbv ngghh

...Unusual overhead wiring rigs...different to the usual ones elsewhere..!!!

A very nice run.

I hate seeing the virgin GW skyline being wrecked by electrification. I remember the same on the ECML years ago. The last time I travelled on an unelectrified East Coast was behind a 47 - not even an HST LOL!

Nice video.

27:17 to the left I BELIEVE there was (recently as the mid 2000s) another buffer-stop for the DNS past the one still next to the mainline, hidden away in the weeds next to the building with the red stripe. Still a few slightly lower brick arch bridges past Newbury it seems, kind of don't want to think about what they'll do to them once they reach them with the electrification work.

@peterdavy6110

5 жыл бұрын

I remember that set of buffers. Always wondered why they were there. They went when the industrial site was expanded. Can't recall the date, but I think it was mid-1990s.

@2112pk

5 жыл бұрын

@@peterdavy6110 I'm no expert (having not been born at the time) but from the photo's I've seen there were several at different times. as far as i can tell there was a set right next to the buildings in question until the mid 2000s (there's a photo as part of a "current" DNS photo album on flikr) perhaps even 2012, now a substation, for the overhead lines i'd asume. but i can see that it used to go right up to the old brick overbridge, obviously long gone, mid 80s according do the nice little plaque on the last remaining stone of it (with a lovely etching of an LSWR T9). somewhat entertaining to try to figure out which buildings were there before they closed the line, but there's a sense of bitterness when what was once the junction of a very useful (and dare i say, more so today were it still existent) public transport route is now a shady looking furniture shop and a papa johns. that's... progress??

Between Towney and Aldermaston was the Ufton Nervet bridge!

@hastingsdiesels

4 жыл бұрын

No, it isn't. Ufton bridge is before Towney, as described in the on-screen commentary.

Great video Enjoyed Thanks. ( John Whitehouse )

Another great video. A quick question: what is the top speed and typical fuel consumption for these units?

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Our DEMU's maximum permitted speed is currently 75 mph. Its fuel consumption will depend very much upon the type of working, but for a long day out we probably run at something like 2 miles per gallon. Many further details here: www.hastingsdiesels.co.uk/1001/

Nice! I subbed. Greetz from the Netherlands. Joachim - TrainJJ

..One thing I must say is :- that I always have to turn the volume right down on my Sound Pack...as the engine noise tends to cause me to " Doze - off "...with its repetetive sound...and I end up missing parts of the ride..!!!.

@andypreston1524

5 жыл бұрын

I think the throb of a 4SRKT is a great therapeutic "White Noise" to relax to ! Beautiful sound.

Love your videos. One question, I see you recorded Cromer to Holt along the NNR. Have you got any videos coming from the East Anglian area? I only ask because your cab view videos are the best, and there is little to nill cab view videos of East Anglia, except the Rail125 series filmed in 1998, which funnily enough shows the Hastings unit at Great Yarmouth on the Burney Arms Branch.

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

It's all down to where we've been. The next outing after The Sixty Marches was the West Norfolk Wanderer, so expect footage from Hitchin to King's Lynn plus the Middleton Towers branch. And you'll see that we're intending to run a railtour to Lowestoft and Norwich in May, so that'll get videoed - come on it if you like! www.hastingsdiesels.co.uk/railtours/

Always impressed by the number of enthusiasts w/cameras along the way. How are your runs publicized in advance? Am watching this from Philadelphia as a regular traveler in the 40s -50s from Reading to my great-aunts in West Lavington, Wilts (station long Beecham-ized). (Next video Hungrford to Westbury covers this)

@hastingsdiesels

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you. Our outings are advertised on our website and on twitter, and do seem to attract a lineside following, yes. :)

Btw, your captions ( Holy Brook, Newbury Race Course) add a deal of interest to the journey. Please also think about an annotised map of the journey - I have to keep dragging out my old Shell South-East England Road Map which also shows rail routes.

@hastingsdiesels

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you. Some of our more recent videos do indeed have a mapping feature!

@nxskok

3 жыл бұрын

@@hastingsdiesels openrailwaymap.org is very good. I've been following these with the video in one tab and the map in another.

17:05 I see! I'm doing extensive research on that story!

sounds like a flat spotted wheel around 26 to 37

Great ride. When will the rail route reopen from Reading to Didcot? How long will the trains be rerouted through Newbury?

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

It was a weekend engineering possession.

I've ridden (normal) PAD-RDG-DID many times, and never gotten good shots of lightweight Unipart-Dorman LED signals. Your videos are excellent for signal visibility, and this one has got a nice set of feathers lit and transitions given you are following another train. Your captions annotations are also outstanding. Why doesn't Compton signal T2871 have a feather? I need to plow more carefully through the rest of your videos looking for green banner repeaters, PRIs, and splitting distants.

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you, glad you like! You evidently know (far) more about actual types of signal heads than I do (personally I drive on LU not NR and ours are mostly not nearly as visible as these). You ask about Compton signal T2871 - you mean Newbury, surely? The bay platform to the right of the one we pulled up at was the 'Compton bay', for the Didcot shuttle trains when the dear old DN&SR was still working (I explored a lot of its remains in my youth, hence particular interest!). Anyway ref signal T2871 it is basically a "wrong-road starter" (in LU parlance anyway), there is only one route available and that's back across onto the Down Westbury. You'll only need a feather where there's more than one route available, e.g. if the Up Westbury were bidirectionally signalled. And yes, you will find a green banner repeater near Bath in an old video that's on here (hmm, yes it's near Keynsham in fact, but I just checked the footage that'll get published in about part 4 of THIS outing and it's not green as the signal in question is yellow). You'll find a PRI at Shortlands on the Tonbridge to Clapham video, and a splitting distant on the GWML near West Ealing on the West Ruislip to Willesden video. :-)

@AndreiTupolev

5 жыл бұрын

I like those signals. The junction feathers look rather like Mickey Mouse's ears.

Although electrification is a definite upgrade it is so very ugly, non-electrified lines can be almost invisible in the landscape only becoming noticeable when a train actually passes by. As electrification advances I suppose we will get used to it

Noticed that the train has both the two-tone horn and a whistle. Under what condition does the driver use the whistle instead of the horn?

@kentthrashlover6756

5 жыл бұрын

Horn is used for Whistle Boards and Whistle is used for Depot and Trainspotters

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Sort of! There's actually no official distinction between one and t'other, each are an audible warning device. Different drivers will do different things, some only use the whistle (BTW the units were fitted with chime whistles when new, but the horns soon replaced them; we retro-re-fitted ours with whistles sourced from LU). Personally I like a mixture as this driver does: horn for official purposes, whistle for acknowledging linesiders.

@kentthrashlover6756

5 жыл бұрын

Hastings Diesels Ltd Wow I didn’t actually know this. Thanks for letting us know :)

Don't think I've seen a signal aspect before where the lens changes colour rather than lighting a different lens - 1st signal 3:30 or so

@mrbluesky2050

5 жыл бұрын

modern LED signals, spreading rapidly, less power use, easier maintainence, only need max of two 'heads' to show four aspects,

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

That's how modern LED signal heads are arranged. The LED can show different colours depending on which wires are energised, so a separate head for each aspect is not required.

@Spookieham

5 жыл бұрын

Cheers - obvious enough with LEDs but first time I've seen it.

What is the unit’s speed limit please?

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Hi, it's 75mph. More info here: www.hastingsdiesels.co.uk/1001/#technical

Another great trip, shame about the wheel flats.

When will electrification be completed on the line the train was running on?

@formidable38

5 жыл бұрын

Newbury to Reading has now been energised!

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this, I wouldn't have known that. I knew though that the video would form an historical record of work in progress. :)

@peterdavy6110

5 жыл бұрын

@@hastingsdiesels Probably the last shot of the old Newbury station footbridge before it was demolished.

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

@@peterdavy6110 Crikey, you're right. We went through again on 16 June on our way to Paignton, and it had gone. I've uploaded a soundtrack-less version of our June footage, from Newbury Racecourse (platform 3 this time) and so onward into the Down Newbury Loop, for comparison: kzread.info/dash/bejne/p6OXyM2BdLGef5s.html

So what happened to the Ascot to Reading leg?

@Graham_Langley

5 жыл бұрын

Ah, I assumed it was part of the Alpine Sunset series. Sorry.

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

The Sixty Marches didn't come through Ascot, it came from Guildford direct to Reading via Sandhurst; and I didn't board until Reading so there's no footage from that bit.

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Ah yes. Look at the 'Show more' info on part 6 of the Alpine Sunset, you'll see my explanation there. No worries.

Southcote Junction's still a flat junction, though

New bogie bearings needed after this ride because of flat wheels.

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

Not really. The bearings will be just fine unless they were not correctly assembled. The tyres have a much tougher job to do.

Not quite sure why you called the loop at Hungerford ‘up passenger loop’ when it’s generally referred to as the ‘Hungerford Loop’ and mostly used by the aggregates trains...

@hastingsdiesels

5 жыл бұрын

I'm not intimately familiar with this line, so I'd never heard it referred to at all. So I could only go by what it says in the Sectional Appendix, which is Up Passenger Loop. 🤷🏻‍♂️

@12crepello

3 жыл бұрын

It means that the loop is passed for handling passenger trains should the need be. The down loop at Towney is now upgraded to a "passenger loop" since electrification.

@stevies.1975

3 жыл бұрын

@@hastingsdiesels I’m sorry. I never saw your reply to this until today from an additional reply. I’ve checked with a couple of friends who have also heard it referred to as the Hungerford Loop in recent years. There was until not so long ago a down loop at Hungerford too which led to some sidings and was used even less. Hence its (and the sidings) removal. Although the sidings were removed quite some years ago to be fair. In terms of passenger use for Hungerford Loop, one of my friends could find no evidence of passenger train use in recent times (only aggregates). Most trains tend to stop at the Theale loop. Even then, mostly aggregates and the occasional charter for timings. I’m guessing the appendix name hasn’t been changed.

The electrification of railways does spoil the look of them.

@Graham_Langley

5 жыл бұрын

Agreed. It's almost as if there's a brief to make the whole thing as ugly as possible, starting with the pylon design. The number of pylon designs used amazes me.