yarmouth

(17.4.1986)

This was the approach to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight. This was the first and so far only time I've used the Lymington-Yarmouth ferry. Can't remember much about this day!

The trip to Ryde from Portsmouth is far more to my taste with trains waiting to meet you at Ryde Pier Head, usually with a triup down to Brading or Shanklin on the train. Yiou can now also change at Smallbrook for a steam train ride into the heart of the island. There are no such public transport delights at Yarmouth, perhaps just a bus which I detest. Yarmouth did once have a railway station which took you to Freshwater or Newport. No doubt this line will be rebuilt in the future and I'll have a reason to visit Yarmouth again!

Help!

(Barnham 27.8.1986 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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Back in 1986 this was the Brighton to Plymouth train at Barnham station - signalbox, blue and grey coaches and class 33 and 73 locos date this nicely. It looks like the class 33 was having problems and a class 73 was being attached to haul it the rest of the way to Plymouth. The class 33s were nearing the end of their working lives here, being well over 25 years old. Looks like fun anyway!

1986 snowstorm

(29.1.1986)

I often ran into snow when I was driving professionally and this was one of the worst occasions. I'd dropped in Cheltenham and then had to go into south Wales. It was snowing a little at Cheltenham but not enough to worry me, so I took the shortest route - which turned out to be the highest and steepest. It was quite hairy with the lightly loaded lorry slipping a lot. It was never a good idea to stop in weather like this, but I couldn't resist snatching these shots at the summit of the road. A few miles on as the road descended it opened out to a wide valley and the snow completely disappeared and I was driving in green again.

durham floods 1986

This was a surprise. I was driving back in 1986 and stopped overnight at Durham. It was (and still is) a surprisingly scenic city with a dramatically located cathedral on the bend of the river. However on this day (26.8.1986) the river was suffering from excess water and was flooding all along the banks. A few drivers hadn't managed to move their cars in time!

merging

This is Amberley on 14 September 1986. This is my brother Jeff who loved all the quarrying equipment and other stuff on display at the Chalk Pits Museum, this was their open day. This is actually off site, next to Amberley station and I managed to capture a slam door unit pass as I took the picture - the cars and semaphore signal also date this shot!

salisbury 14.4.1986

Back in 1986 this is the sort of train you'd catch if travelling from Portsmouth to Bristol or Cardiff. Pulling five mark one carriages you could travel in real luxury and these trains were far superior to the joke trains that run on this route today - often with just two coaches although the trains are much much busier today than they were 26 years ago.

I used to hang out at Salisbury a lot to catch shots like these before they vanished. Salisbury itself is still a pleasant city with a nice lot of shops.