1. Bathampton Junction-12.03.77

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-1977 > 1. Bathampton Junction-12.03.77
A local trip with my friend Simon to Bathampton Junction on the GWML just outside Bath. No fences or restrictions meant free access around the area of the old station (closed 03.10.66). Another example of the different attitude towards people on railway property then! It is likely that we would have ridden our bikes here as we seemed to do a lot of that then.
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Images 1-5 of 5 displayed.

Class 50, unidentified up working, Bathampton Junction A Class 50 heads towards Paddington on an up express. I was keen on these low angle pictures at this time, I seem to remember thinking that they accentuated speed and action; I was only 13 then! Keywords: Class 50 Hoover Bathampton Junction
Bathampton Junction looking east The view looking eastwards from the over bridge at Bathampton Junction. Straight ahead is the mainline to Paddington. Curving off to the right is the line to Westbury that is about to head along the glorious Avon Valley. The remains of the old station platforms can be made out in this view. Also, the location of the old signal box can be made out. It was a BR structure dating from the 1950s and was sited on the brown earthen area just behind the signal post on the left. Keywords: Bathampton Junction Bath
Class 47, up parcels working, Bathampton Junction A Class 47 makes light work of a three-carriage up parcel working. It is speeding past Bathampton Junction heading eastwards. Again, no prizes for this photograph but my skills were very much in their early stages at this time in my life! Keywords: Class 47 parcels train Bathampton junction bath
C503, unidentified down working, Bathampton Junction There is no possibility that a shot like this could be taken today, access to such spots in 1977 was far easier and tolerated then. I shudder now to think that my friend and I could be in such an exposed position taking pictures, but it was a different time then I suppose? Another of my trademark very low angle shots at Bathampton Junction showing one of the very successful Swindon built Class 120 dmus. These units were built for fast regional routes across the Western Region but by the early 1980s most had moved north to the Midlands to replace their more decrepit units. C503 was a Cardiff based unit and could well have been returning to the principality on this working that would have originated from either Portsmouth or, more likely, Weymouth. If it was in its set formation C503 should have been composed of W50659, W59281 and W50700. Keywords: Class 120 DMU C503 Bathampton Junction W50659 W59281 W50700
Class 50, unidentified up working, Bathampton Junction My friend, Simon Petrameredies, gives a thumbs up to the driver of the unidentified Class 50 heading an up express for London Paddington. He's doing this in order to extract a blast on the horn because in the plastic bag was my cassette recorder attempting to capture the sound on some grotty C.60 cassette! I suspect that the driver would have given a blast on the horn without the gesture given our position on the lineside. We are actually standing on the rubble that was formally the up platform at Bathampton that was closed on 03.10.66, only eleven years prior to when this picture was taken! Keywords: Class 50 Hoover Bathampton Junction Bath

Images 1-5 of 5 displayed.