Railroad memories of your youth

[NorthBrit]

Let’s take a trip back in time. Dust the cobwebs and think back. -----------

Being an orphan from three days old I lived with an Uncle and Aunt and two cousins until I was three years of age. Therefore it was at that time. (When I was four I lived with my Grandma and Granddad.)

If I was three, then it was just after WW2. Aunt and Uncle decided to take us to Bridlington for the week.

It was a Saturday morning. Suitcases were packed. The excitement of going on holiday.

As my Uncle had to work Saturday, he was to follow us the following day. (Six day working days were the ‘norm’ then.

I remember how dark, dingy and very smoky the area around the ticket office at Leeds City Station was. My two cousins (Jean, 7 yr old and Margaret, 5 year old) and I watched as my Aunt bought our train tickets. Carefully she placed them in her handbag.

With having two suitcases a Porter was needed and one was immediately on hand. Loading the cases on his hand barrow he asked “Which train.”
“Bridlington,” Aunt replied. To which we scurried after the Porter to our waiting train.

At last we boarded the train. Aunt lifted the suitcases on to the luggage rack above and we settled down in our compartment.
Looking out at the platform, a huge Station Clock gave the time of 08.56. Aunt smiled as our train was not due to depart until 09.37.
Another elderly married couple joined us in the compartment.

Aunt looked out of the window and saw, not twenty yards away, a lady with a tea trolley. The clock said 09.04. Plenty of time.
“There isn’t a queue I shall get some tea,” said Aunt. Jean pleaded with her not to go, but Aunt assured her all was okay and alighted from the carriage.

No sooner than she had bought the tea, she turned, saw and heard the engine take the strain an began the Schhuff, Schhuff, Schuff. The time was 09.07.

Pandemonium struck in the carriage. Three of us screamed “Mam.” Tears streaming down our cheeks

We were some way out of Leeds by the time the other couple in our carriage managed to calm us down.
The Ticket Inspector arrived. Off course we had no tickets. Aunt still had them in her handbag. The Ticket inspector was dubious to our story, but we stayed on board.

Finally we arrived at Bridlington. The elderly couple had their own suitcases, but they also helped us with ours.
At the ticket barrier, the Inspector allowed us through to the other side, but had to wait there until the next train from Leeds arrived. The elderly couple waited with us.

Thirty minutes later, the train from Leeds arrived. Amid tears of joy, Aunt thanked the elderly couple.

The 09.07 departure to Bridlington from Leeds was a ‘Duplicate’ and not in the timetable.

The week in Brid was great.

[NorthBrit]

Some stories sound unbelievable, but are true nontheless. This is one.

Our Dream House

Oh, the joy of owning the dream house. Not just a house but an old railway station. It was a dream of mine for a very long time. It was an old North British Railway Station; one of many that had been sold off and converted to houses . Our offer to purchase was accepted and we moved in. The station building still had a lot of it old charm. Very little had been altered in the fifty odd years since its closure; even the signal box at the end of the platform still had its signal levers and bells etc.. Off course they no longer worked, but such a joy to see.

The track had long since gone; probably used elsewhere. What fun to have a length of track laid and an old carriage on it? Purchases were made. An old British Railway Mark 1 carriage was painted in North British crimson. Afternoon tea with friends in the carriage, such a delight.

[pennytrains]

I’m told I sat on the floor making choo choo noises all Christmas day in 1972. Even when the train wasn’t running.

In 1976 I met the 4070. Nobody took any photos of it and I only had extremely vague memories of her but right behind the photographer was C&O Kanawha 2707. It was removed from Brookside Park to the Illinois Railway Museum because it was being heavily vandalized.

4070 sure was gorgeous that summer!

I’ve had this postcard for almost 50 years because my mother had the foresight to keep it out of my hands until I was in my 40’s

[NKP_guy]

My earliest memory is waiting with my mom by the W&LE track 250’ away from our house, watching as my dad & his buddy walked along the track on his way home from his shift at the nearby foundry. Dad was a bit unhappy with mom because he didn’t want me to see him walking along the track: dangerous.

Then, from 1951 until 1961, we lived in the house shown. My bedroom was just above the diamond-shaped window; I want you guys to see how close I lived to the NKP main line. All day, every day, Berkshires on every freight train, Bluebirds on the morning & evening passenger trains. I don’t think we could have lived any closer, nor found a better place for me to spend my childhood.

The photos were taken from an experimental rail-bus in the early 1980’s.

[ronpetrich]

I grew up in Chicago. I received my first model train in 1955, a Lionel set, that we set up in the basement on a ping-pong table. I was hooked. That same year my Grampa Chada took me for a cab ride on a PRR GP9 at the roundhouse yard at 59th. Street. I rode the Milwaukee Road Twin Cities Hiawatha many times between Chicago and Winona, Minnesota during the period 1965-1968, and commuted on the Rock Island from the southwest side at 107th. Street to LaSalle Street Station in 1969-1971. My last train ride was on the Big Boy excursion between Roseville, California and Sparks, Nevada in July, 2024. Worth every penny! Ron

[wjstix]

Reviving a 7 year old thread - hardly a record, but still impressive!

[York1]

It’s a good thread to revive!

[gmpullman]

@pennytrains

but right behind the photographer was C&O Kanawha 2707.

Here’s little ol’ me (in dad’s arms) on the 2707 not long after the engine was moved into Brookside Park in Cleveland:

April 1959 C&O 2707 Brookside by Edmund, on Flickr

My brother-in-law was one of the people in charge of moving the engine out of the park in 1982 on temporary trackage. I forget exactly what happened but the engine got away from them and rolled toward the parking lot! They had to call in Hulcher or one of the recovery contractors to rescue the engine. Here’s the only photo I’ve seen of moving the 2707 IN to the park display:

Locomotive in Brookside Park | Trains Magazine

Yes, the 4070 in better days!

4070_Quigley_6-28-75 by Edmund, on Flickr

This was the infamous night trip that only made it as far as Brecksville due to an overheated journal on the fireman’s side trailing truck!

Some of my 8mm movies of the Cuyahoga Valley Line when it was still run by the B&O:

Cuyahoga Valley Line: The Early Years With the 4070

Great memories!

Ed

[richhotrain]

@gmpullman

Great memories!

Ed

[pennytrains]

@wjstix

Reviving a 7 year old thread - hardly a record, but still impressive!

There are a lot of new members who completely missed these older discussions. Everyone gets to be a newby once

[richhotrain]

@pennytrains

There are a lot of new members who completely missed these older discussions

True, but you wonder how the first time OP even found this old thread with such a general subject title.

Rich

[wjstix]

Well a topic rising from the dead is in the spirit of Halloween I guess.

[pennytrains]

Maybe it’s a recommendation thing based on what you looked at recently?

[richhotrain]

Ahh, that would be interesting. Does the software do that?

[NorthBrit]

The Railway Line

Many, many years ago there was a time when everything went along slowly. There seemed to be no ‘hustle and bustle’ to get todays job done yesterday. No rushing here, rushing there. Oh no! People would stop and talk. People would listen. Cars and buses seemed to travel a leisurely pace. They would get there all in good time. People would talk to one another in the store whilst the shopkeeper made up a shopping order. Yes, people had more to do, but somehow it all got done without the fuss.

A long time before that; hundred or so years earlier in fact, the Blyth and Tyne Railway Company built a railway line from its main line and threaded it over the land to Shankhouse Colliery. Just a single track weaving its way. A simple track over flat land. No tunnels or bridges, except one over Blyth Road near Cramlington. No houses or factories in the way, just grassland.

The railway to take away the coal. The line was at its busiest before and after the Great War. Coal production from Shankhouse eased somewhat, but the little 0.6.0 locomotive kept trunding the line back and forth. By 1938 production slowed even more. Truth be told the colliery should have closed then, but the Second World War brought a reprieve as more coal was needed.

By 1950 the colliery was in its last year. The track was in dire need of repair. (My poor track laying was in better shape.) The little 0.6.0 locomotive and coal wagons looked even worse condition as they made their slow journey to the main line. The wagons seemed to sway this way, that way on the uneven track. The long grass around the scene swaying in the warm breeze.

Suddenly. the train came to a halt. The fireman looked out and back from the cab. He climbed down from the cab and made his way to the offending wagon; a wheel off the rail. The fireman was stocky in build and (I would think) in his late fifties in age looked at the wagon, kneeled to his haunches and lifted the wagon back on to the rail. Seemingly without a care he walked back to the locomotive and climbed aboard. The train continued on its gentle way.

The colliery and railway line has long gone; even the bridge over Blyth Road. The Blyth and Tyne has had a new lease of life with new houses and factories to care for. Off course people say the line should have been modenised ‘yesterday’. Then they say their car or the use of road transport is more convenient etc. etc. .

[NimbusRI]

The moment that sticks out in my mind was the summer of 2006. I was 5 at the time. My family planned a trip to Colorado and we were staying with some family friends near Durango. One of the days we were there, we rode the Durango & Silverton heritage railway and I remember that trip quite fondly. At one point, I had convinced my dad to go up to one of the coaches at the front of the train. There was soot on the windowsill of those open-window observation coaches and it got all over my arm! We bought a DVD that went over the history of the D&RG(W) that I remember watching for hours on end. I’d love to visit the railroad again (or the Cumbres & Toltec) and better appreciate the scenery that is there. It’s a gorgeous location.

[Woke_Hoagland]

@richhotrain

Ahh, that would be interesting. Does the software do that?

I certainly get all kinds of threads promoted to me… some quite old. I don’t think there is a sophisticated algorithm; at least not one that comprehends what I enjoy reading and posting about.

The ‘search the community’ feature is a magpie: it will list keywords in any thread it finds, and not clearly indicate whether it’s a becto thread. I suspect many of the ‘newbie’ resurrections come from such searches, when people are shy about asking their own new questions.

[richhotrain]

@Woke_Hoagland

The ‘search the community’ feature is a magpie: it will list keywords in any thread it finds, and not clearly indicate whether it’s a becto thread. I suspect many of the ‘newbie’ resurrections come from such searches, when people are shy about asking their own new questions.

I guess “memories” would be the operative word for find this thread.

Rich

[pennytrains]

@richhotrain

interesting. Does the software do that?

Why not? It’s just an outgrowth of the “personalized ads” algorithm I suspect. After all these folks have to sell magazines to keep food on their tables.

[South_Bank_Terminal]

Our family 2 week summer vacation at Robin Hoods Bay, along the North Yorkshire coast gave me my lifelong love and fascination with Railways and Trains. At that time, as a kid - holidays were my only interaction with them.
I have posted this photo before, which shows a Metropolitan Cammel 101 DMU descending the 1:39 (2.57%) along the cliffs at Stoupe Brow, heading towards RHB in the far distance.

At RHB, trains would pass on the Loop (passing siding) with strict directional ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ lines.
Waiting to head south (away from the photographer) towards Scarborough on the ‘Up’ line (nearest) is a BR Derby Works built DMU, whilst heading north on the ‘Down’ line towards Whitby is a Metro-Camm 101 headcode B6

Immediately north of RHB, off the platform ends, begins a 1:43 (2.33%) grade, towards Whitby.
I can still hear the roar of the engines and rasp of the exhausts as the units got underway.

Just like the kid in the photo, I would evade my parents, dodge through the open gates of the Goods Yard and stand next to the line, just to watch, listen - and catch the aroma of this scene.

Stood on the Scarborough bound platform, it was different again. The DMUs would descend rapidly down the 1:43, brakes squealing, screeching and howling as the Driver slowed down, not just to make the station, but to safely get through the Turnouts and onto the ‘Up’ line

A publicity poster by BR, utilising more than a bit of Artistic license.

The Scarborough-Whitby did not quite hug the cliffs as close as this.

The closure of the S&W had quite a profound effect on me, even at such an early age because as such a young kid, I did not fully realise what was transpiring. Only until after the event, did it start to sink-in.
Last year we went on holiday by Train as normal, this year we didn’t.
The replacement Bus services were a joke and the magic was gone, lost forever, never to return.
Regards, Paul.