Electric locos and trains

Quite a modern form of transport you may think. But the first electric train in Britain ran along Brighton sea front in 1884. London underground was being electrified by the 1890's.
The Great Railway builders of the mid nine****th century had the foresight to know that electricity would be the future power of traction.
As a kid i sat on Deepfields Station and watched the mighty steam trains thunder through, but i don't think i would have witnessed such a sight had it not been for the war. Lines were already being electrified in the 1930's.
The class 81 locomotives that took over the expresses through Deepfields around 1967, are long gone so are there descendants the 86 and 87 classes. In fact it's rare to see a locomotive either electric or diesel hauling a passenger train in our area now.
Diesel locos are becoming as uncommon now as steam was in the mid sixties. Now is a good time to take a few pics for posterity though i think you are already too late.
Modern trains now are made up of multiple units either diesel or electric powered, but though they aren't as pleasing on eye as a steam loco storming through a station, they are far more cleaner, economical and trustworthy.
With concerns about the effects of emissions on the environment i think all services will be electric in the future.
It's an ever changing world and has changed immensely in my lifetime.

Volks Railway still operating until Coronavirus stopped it.

Check out the 'Daddy Long Legs' on the history section.

volksrailway.org.uk

When I went back to visit Harrogate with my parents in the 70’s there was an area full of little hillocks known locally as “The Hairy Mountains” and we’d spend hours up there hiding and playing war games.

These hillocks sat either side of the then defunct railway tracks courtesy of Beeching having had them ripped up.

There was a ghostly air about the place and a sort of melancholy feel.

When my dad first took me up the Hairy Mountains he’d told me stories of having spent hours up there in the 40’s watching the steam trains rush by and collecting their numbers.

To sit there 30 years later and just see the marks of where the tracks used to run was spooky.

It was the same at The Hawthorns station in the 70’s and through to the 90’s......looking over the bridge to see the ghostly outline of the disappeared tracks before they were reinstated.

Below is a link to the summer playground of my youth.....I spent summer holidays in Harrogate because it was more fun than where I lived in Stourbridge.

There’s a school in the main picture and although I can’t pick them out individually due to picture quality both of my grandparents houses are on the far side of the school.

From this elevated point you could still see home territory which was always comforting as a young kid.

Happy days.



https://images.app.goo.gl/5qBDuYBr6DdzGfYr7

All heritage Railways in this country are facing difficult times. They not only run old steam and deisel locos, they restore them (and carriages) and provide a lot of income to their local areas. Support the lines local to the area - The Severn Valley Railway and TheChasewater Railway

About three years ago while I was working in Pennsylvania I took the opportunity to visit the state railroad museum in Strasbourg. One of the exhibits was this magnificent GG class electric loco. Built in the forties the last one came out of service in 1983 with Amtrack of all people. I like it just as an beautiful piece of industrial design, a working piece of art.

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