I had my first "trainspotting" experience in June 1953 at Westcliff Station, when my friend, Dave Otridge, persuaded me to join him. After a few visits and a notebook filling up with numbers, I splashed out my pocket money on an Ian Allen 'Midland Region' book and I was hooked! We generally sat on the railings by the station entrance opposite the Queens Hotel by the taxi rank, but occasionally the ticket collector, Cyril, let us sit on the luggage barrow on the platform.
There was a basic mix of 419XX Tilbury Tanks and the dedicated class of 2-6-4 Tanks - 42500-42536, which ran from Shoeburyness to Fenchurch Street. Then there were a few 422xx locos which ran from Southend Central to Kentish Town and St. Pancras. I well remember my father returning from work in London and telling me that he had seen 80069!! I didn't believe him, but sure enough it was the beginning of deliveries of several batches of this class of Standard locos on the LT&S.
Summer weekends and Bank Holiday Mondays were the highlight with 4F 0-6-0s, Crabs and Black Fives which were allocated to 1A - Willesden, that hauled excursions from such places as Watford, Bletchley and even Parson Street, Bristol! Despite the large allocation of Willesden, it was always the same small batch of locos that visited the line. Dave and I also payed regular visits to Southend Victoria, where there was a variety of locos to see including some rare ones on excursions on Summer weekends. More pocket money to buy the Ian Allen "Eastern Region" book for 2/6d. If only I had had a camera in those days.
A year later, my parents moved to Bristol, and a whole new vista opened. It was "Combined Volumes" from then on for the princely sum of 10/6d. This however is a different subject, and when we all moved back to Chalkwell in May 1963, electrification was beginning to take a hold.
I live in Billericay now and am still an enthusiast, and often revisit the old haunts and remember the days, well over fifty years ago.
Would be interested to hear the experiences of any other members who were around in those days.
Patrick Dewsnap.
admin
I spent many an hour at Laindon station watching the trains, but only because it was our local station and living 10 minutes away, I could soon get there. One day though, my brother, the kid next door and I fooled everybody. We got on our bikes and cycled to Southend, but boy did I know it when I got home and with Dad's belt across my rear end 6 times. That stung for hours.
I still visit Laindon as much as I can, despite now living in Norfolk again. I moved to Norfolk after leaving Laindon and what lovely memories I have of there?
Dave Otridge
Westcliffe-on-sea station
Well coincidence just doesn't cover it - there I am looking for LTSR sites and I find my old (sorry) school friend Patrick Dewsnap. He was luckier than me 'cos his family Sunday lunch time was later than mine so he saw excursions from further afield than I did as I had to leave earlier. My most foreign visitor was a special from Uttoxeter which arrived behind a 14A Fowler 4F, sadly not a cop!!
But back to the station and its taxi rank, a line up of yankee cars as I recall, including one Buick and its v.friendly driver. Yes Cyril was a gem but the ticket collectors on the other shifts we knew as Grumpy 1 and Grumpy 2!!!
On the subject of 80069, there were 3 batches (28 in all) of the handsome 2-6-4T locos on the LTSR of which a fair few have been preserved. The spooky thing is most of the preserved ones are Plaistow or Tilbury machines from a class numbering 155.
Briefly, the afternoon visits to the LNER often led to punishment being meted out at home. Why? I had an unfortunate propensity for going knee deep in lime from the Southend Victoria water treatment plant.
Finally (for the moment), I still have my 1957 combined (10/6 - a fortune for a 14 year old) and the half crowns worth of shed book, maybe rather tatty but still refered to from time to time.
Patrick Dewsnap
Westcliff-on-Sea/Southend-on-Sea.
Interested to read Dave Otridges contributions to this site. Brought back many memories! - He was the one who got me hooked on trainspotting. I also have all my old Combineds and Shed Books from the 1950/60s in the loft. Not in mint condition but probably worth a few bob! I well remember Dave sinking in the lime at Southend Victoria shed. He cleaned himself up with his hanky and buried the hanky in the lime. Goodness knows how he explained the missing hanky to his mum!! The taxi drivers at Westcliff station were great guys. They used to take us for rides in their cabs when taking passengers. A great treat in those days when neither of our parents were car owners. I remember that two of them were named Bill and Ernie. Can't remember the names of the other two or three. Slightly off LTS topic, but in 1959 and 1960 we did two mammoth cycling tours of UK, trainspotting and staying at Youth Hostels. Couldn't find Goole Depot despite referring to the Locoshed Directory! - Also still in the loft! Dave had several punctures and his three speed Sturmey Archer gear got stuck in second gear for most of the several hundred miles we covered!!! Happy days!!
Guest
I have just joined this forum, and would like to state that I am neither Grumpy 1 nor Grumpy 2 as mentioned in Dave Otridge's post.
Regards to all LT&S fans
Grumpyxch
Patrick Dewsnap
Westcliff-on-Sea in the early 1950s.
Bearing in mind that Dave Otridge and I were actively "spotting" at Westcliff Station in 1953/54 (Before I moved to Bristol) I was interested to see that a new member of the group has denied the fact that he is neither "Grumpy 1 nor 2". Is this message really from a ticket collector who was working at Westcliff during those two years? I am now 66 years old, so he must have done a few miles by now!! As a matter of interest, having mentioned the friendly taxi drivers at the station at that time in a previous message, I have remembered that another one was named Archie. Happy days!
Patrick.
admin
Nice to see you back on the forum Patrick.
Guest
Hello Patrick Dewsnap
The only ticket collecting I have ever done was a Bournemouth Belle Pullman Supplementary Ticket for the section from Southampton to Bournemouth. I dont know what they did for other Pullmans at that time but for the Belle you bought a normal ticket plus this supplementary ticket. I guess not many people rode the Belle just between Southampton and Bournemouth because this supplementary ticket was printed by the Southern Railway, and I was travelling on the train in 1966 (when Bulleid Pacifics and such were still hauling the Waterloo to Bournemouth and Weymouth expresses, and nearly 20 years after the Southern Railway ceased to be).
I kept this ticket in a drawer in my wardrobe, but when I went off to university in 1972, my parents decided it was time to get a new wardrobe, and my ticket ended up in the dustbin.
I wonder how much a Southern Railway ticket with a 1966 date stamp would be worth today?
