Found this journey tonight by accident. I'm a huge fan of cab rides and this journey from Kent (An area I'm not too familiar with) to Clapham Junction through the myriad of lines in South London was a challenging but fun ride. I have to admit I had to get out my TRACKatlas to follow the journey but was delighted enough to follow the ride from Bromley South to Platform 5 at Clapham Junction. Be assured that I'll return to this video often. (In spite of the rain). I now want to see the ride to Oxford from Clapham Junction. Greetings to you all from the largest island with no railways (Which is why I like the cab rides), Papua New Guinea.
Quite fascinating. Thanks for posting this. Not only is the sound of the DMU so evocative but I used to live near Penge and the intricacies of the interconnecting rail routes in that part of London has always intrigued me and absorbed my interest. Beautifully filmed and edited.
Superb! Beautifully filmed and edited. Many's the time I'd catch one of these as far as Tonbridge before changing for Paddock Wood, simply to enjoy the throb of those engines. So glad those dulcet tones can still be enjoyed today. Interesting route, too. What a great way to spend 48 mins. Many thanks!
Love rain on a train. These old units to my memory had sliding top windows (with very satisfying clicks when closed) in the passenger carriages and you would often get caught out with a rain storm and the water pouring in. Imagine that, being able to open a train window yourself!!
Fantastic video. I hope one day Hastings Diesels Ltd will do a speed run from London Bridge to East Croydon to Gatwick Airport and to Brighton and so forth on video for people to watch. I hope somebody could comment on that and also perhaps do a speed run from London Victoria to Hastings via the Catford Loop. These trains are classic and bet somebody might say that they don't see many of these trains in general back in the days when they were in the tracks. Highly recommended video.
Great video with a mind boggling array of junctions, flyovers and switches. How about a few photos at the end of the trainset that we were traveling on?
Following feedback of this nature, in my more recent videos I have done so. But you can also see hundreds-literally hundreds!-of photos of our train at www.hastingsdiesels.co.uk
@@hastingsdiesels Thank you, yes, I found them since my last comment. I was thinking there were many different trains or engines involved, but I visited your website and know a bit more now. I also learnt that some trainsets were 'thinner' or narrower than others, and that was a revelation.
Another excellent video. I travel on the line from Tonbridge Charing cross quite a bit. Nice to see the route from the front of the train. Where was the train eventually going.
On all Cab view vids I see lots of lengths of rail (long and short) left between the running rails. Abandoned, wasted, forgotten, waiting for collection??
Only watched the first two minutes and found two basic errors. The train departed Tonbridge from platform 2 not platform 3. The train then crossed Tonbridge West Junction not Tonbridge East Junction.
Crikey, you're correct on both counts. Amazed nobody else (including me) spotted this before. This was one of my earlier efforts, perhaps I was more error-prone then. I've added these two Errata to the video description -- thanks.
Between Sevenoaks and Dunton Green stations, at the Shoreham Lane overbridge, is where Southern Railway 'River' Class 2-6-4T #800 "River Cray" derailed on August 24th, 1927, causing the Sevenoaks Derailment, which tragically killed 13 people and injured 21 others when the coaches crashed into the overbridge and were crushed. Despite test running of 2 other 'River' class tanks on the East Coast main line, which revealed that the real cause of the derailment was the uneven track on this line, all of the 'Rivers' were rebuilt into tender locomotives and the class became extinct. Unless, as is apparently being floated, the Bluebell Railway convert U class #1618, which was originally designed as 'River' class tank loco, into one........
The best cab ride videos IMHO- steady camera, good quality, and lineside info. If they won't let you have a mic in the cab, could you rig one in or near the engine compartment, so we get the full effect?
Thank you. Where possible I've put a mic in the back cab - so that all cab sounds (except those of the controls, horn/whistle and the AWS) are captured. This particular video uses leading-cab sound, of course, but I haven't always been able to get a sufficiently long recording in the back cab (or I didn't know I'd need to at that point) hence some videos have had to be silent.
fabulous , and the approach at the end to Clapham Junction a wondrous sight , b.t.w. on 38.45 was that an outward bound to Sevenoaks ? ( 26.50 , pretty lady !! )
I don't know the destinations of the trains we see, unless they say. Nowadays I capture data from Realtime Trains to assist with this but I didn't back then.
You're right on both counts, but old maps suggest that the Westerham face of the island platform would have been visible to the left about where we pass beneath the footbridge.
People like to photograph our train because it's a 60-year-old celebrity. The frequent ringing of a bell that you can hear in the cab is the Automatic Warning System (AWS)'s indication that we are approaching a signal showing a green aspect. Look up Automatic Warning System on Wikipedia for a fuller explanation.
Can I also ask ? Why is Orpington Station so large 4 platforms seems a lot ? Is there history behind its size, I've travelled this route before with OldSkidMarks, he drives or did drive a 66 pulling Stone Wagons! really enjoying your vids fella, great work, well done
Thanks for your comments. I don't know about the stored rail around the track. Orpington has 8 platforms, it has 4 tracks on its London end and two different lines feeding it (from Hither Green and from Bickley); I imagine it's a key point on routes through the area.
It is the terminus for many trains from Charing Cross, Cannon Street, Victoria and Blackfriars, plus through services to Hastings, Dover and Ramsgate so I guess you need all 8 platform lines.
I have a question - my maths isn't the best in the wor and my judging of distances isn't much better. The first tunnel in the video the Hildenborough Tunnel is quoted as being a mile long or 1693 yards but the next one the Polhill Tunell is quoted as being a mile long or 851 yards. If they are both a mile long surely the distance should be the same in yards too. Please can you explain?
Hi Simon, sorry my captions have mis-led you slightly. 1 mile equals 1760 yards. But these figures denoting lengths of tunnels are measured in miles AND yards. Hildenborough tunnel is 1 mile AND 1693 yards, in other words nearly 2 miles, long. Whereas Polhill Tunnel is 1 mile AND 851 yards, in other words around 1.5 miles, long. Does that make more sense now?
Just how fast are you permitted to drive this thing? Does Network Rail (or the insurance company) have you restricted, or do you just follow the signs?
We don't get to drive it at all. To run it on the main line railway network, we pay a Train Operating Company (GB Railfreight in our case) who provide the fully licensed and trained crew to operate the train. It is then operated under GBRf's Safety Case, and within the parameters of our train's Main Line Certificate and of course the permanent and temporary speed restrictions as posted on the railway network. The short answer to your question is 75mph.
Well, I suppose that answers the next question I had, who exactly was at the throttle. I figured they'd require somebody with training for that route operate it, although your group likely had to give the driver a bit of training to run something that might be older than he is! Here in the States it's something similar, when a museum wants to run something on the mainline, like just a few weekends ago, I had the fun chance to ride behind a steamer out of Chicago.
Since it wasn't mentioned, I assume this did NOT go through the old East Brixton station? Is this right or is there simply nothing left of it worth mentioning?
We did go through it, I can see from old maps that its platforms were indeed on the Atlantic Lines. I just didn't spot it nor know of its existence. It's at around 37:30, I've added a note to the description. Thanks for pointing it out.
While you're about you could note the junction of the old Crystal Palace (High Level) branch on the left as round the curve towards Nunhead junction and station. There's new housing on the right of way and wat I blieve was a plying field but a lot of that line's row is still acessible.
@@martinusher1 Thank you, now done. I think I hadn't refined my processes sufficiently at the time I produced this video - nowadays I have a 1930s OS map open to follow along looking for old lines that I might not have known about.
Hi again, this is the only part of this railtour that I've published *so far*. A second member of staff joined the train at Clapham Junction, to be the route-conductor from Reading onwards, but I wasn't ready for that and hadn't set up an audio recorder in the rear cab - and when I did later on it failed so quite a lot of this would have to be silent or else unpublished. Then 5 weeks later we went to Cleethorpes which I was better prepared for, so I worked on that one instead! I would like at some stage to revisit this one and publish what I can, it includes the newly upgraded Oxford - Bicester section and the "New North Main Line" down from West Ruislip through Greenford.
Dana, we do now have Part 2 published: Oxford to Bicester and the Chiltern Main Line; and the intention is to publish West Ruislip to Willesden South West Sidings via Greenford next Saturday.
The driver's on his own in the cab. Fortunately the master controller (power handle) is on his right-hand side, and it is juuust possible for him to hold that down (it's also the deadman's handle) with his left hand whilst reaching all the way across the cab to operate the offside wiper. He actually did this for me if you watch carefully. But it is a distraction for him and he also can't see forwards while he does it (I didn't ask him to do it, the weather is in the lap of the gods as far as my videos are concerned).
Yes, but the wipers on the two windscreens are controlled separately. The driver, who was the only person in the cab, did actually get up and reach across to operate the wiper on 'our' side of the cab at one point as you will notice - whilst still holding down the deadman's handle on his own side of the cab.
All that old rail just left, the contractors should be made to remove it as part of their contract! When at first I saw it, I thought it was new rail but was told it wasn't worth any money, so they leave it! How true this is I don't know as I'm not a real Train Buff I just enjoy Cab Rides, I can't help but think that there an accident waiting to happen, as I say I'm not an uber fan so if I'm wrong I'm sorry but another channel host replied that it all gets left behind
Thanks for the video, love these Thumpers!!😎🚃🚃🚃🇬🇧
Excellent video. As a former Southeastern Conductor that brought back a lot of memories. Thanks!
Found this journey tonight by accident. I'm a huge fan of cab rides and this journey from Kent (An area I'm not too familiar with) to Clapham Junction through the myriad of lines in South London was a challenging but fun ride. I have to admit I had to get out my TRACKatlas to follow the journey but was delighted enough to follow the ride from Bromley South to Platform 5 at Clapham Junction. Be assured that I'll return to this video often. (In spite of the rain). I now want to see the ride to Oxford from Clapham Junction. Greetings to you all from the largest island with no railways (Which is why I like the cab rides), Papua New Guinea.
Quite fascinating. Thanks for posting this. Not only is the sound of the DMU so evocative but I used to live near Penge and the intricacies of the interconnecting rail routes in that part of London has always intrigued me and absorbed my interest. Beautifully filmed and edited.
Excellent video and captions. Thanks.
Superb! Beautifully filmed and edited. Many's the time I'd catch one of these as far as Tonbridge before changing for Paddock Wood, simply to enjoy the throb of those engines. So glad those dulcet tones can still be enjoyed today. Interesting route, too. What a great way to spend 48 mins. Many thanks!
Yes!
Love rain on a train. These old units to my memory had sliding top windows (with very satisfying clicks when closed) in the passenger carriages and you would often get caught out with a rain storm and the water pouring in. Imagine that, being able to open a train window yourself!!
This is an education, a totally outstanding view of the Rout's through South London and a great run up through Kent. Keep them coming please.
Gosh the late great class 319 in thameslink colours lol another one added to the collection love this
Like the information given as we make the journey - very helpful.
Smashing pleasing journey. Thanks for posting.
Thank you, glad you appreciate it!
Lovely chug of the diesel with added rain on metal
Super nice... bravo...
greetings from Romania...
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
-joe-
Another lovely video, made all the more enjoyable because of the rain. After all its June, what else would you expect!
Superbly filmed and edited, well captioned at every stage so you know where you are. Well made Hastings Diesels.
Thank you, glad you appreciate my efforts! ^RG
I love the sound quality in these videos. Captioning is very helpful too.
Awesome video, thanks so much for this. Petts Wood Junction is an amazing layout
Thanks Mark, yes it's a complex network of lines at different levels... almost a spaghetti junction of the 19th Century!
Greatly enjoyed the ride, wish we could go on to Oxford!!
Thank-you!
Excellent mystery route - just checking my OS map to see where we went through, over & under!
Fantastic video. I hope one day Hastings Diesels Ltd will do a speed run from London Bridge to East Croydon to Gatwick Airport and to Brighton and so forth on video for people to watch. I hope somebody could comment on that and also perhaps do a speed run from London Victoria to Hastings via the Catford Loop. These trains are classic and bet somebody might say that they don't see many of these trains in general back in the days when they were in the tracks. Highly recommended video.
Amazing, that old low loader (at 28:32)has been sitting on the embankment now for at least 20 years!
I noticed that as well.
I take it there was a derailment there at some point?
Great video with a mind boggling array of junctions, flyovers and switches. How about a few photos at the end of the trainset that we were traveling on?
Following feedback of this nature, in my more recent videos I have done so. But you can also see hundreds-literally hundreds!-of photos of our train at www.hastingsdiesels.co.uk
@@hastingsdiesels Thank you, yes, I found them since my last comment. I was thinking there were many different trains or engines involved, but I visited your website and know a bit more now. I also learnt that some trainsets were 'thinner' or narrower than others, and that was a revelation.
Ah, glad you found out about all that. :) Welcome to the unique and slightly limited world of Hastings Diesels!
When I pause these vids I feel like I am moving backwards.
At this video you have passed in total 71 (bridges and tunnels) and 1 railroad level crossing.
A route that Eurostar used for nine years.
Another excellent video. I travel on the line from Tonbridge Charing cross quite a bit. Nice to see the route from the front of the train. Where was the train eventually going.
Oxford!
On all Cab view vids I see lots of lengths of rail (long and short) left between the running rails. Abandoned, wasted, forgotten, waiting for collection??
Another fine video many thanks richard,Doe's it rain over there?kind regards bob from sunny sydney.
Only watched the first two minutes and found two basic errors. The train departed Tonbridge from platform 2 not platform 3. The train then crossed Tonbridge West Junction not Tonbridge East Junction.
Crikey, you're correct on both counts. Amazed nobody else (including me) spotted this before. This was one of my earlier efforts, perhaps I was more error-prone then. I've added these two Errata to the video description -- thanks.
Between Sevenoaks and Dunton Green stations, at the Shoreham Lane overbridge, is where Southern Railway 'River' Class 2-6-4T #800 "River Cray" derailed on August 24th, 1927, causing the Sevenoaks Derailment, which tragically killed 13 people and injured 21 others when the coaches crashed into the overbridge and were crushed. Despite test running of 2 other 'River' class tanks on the East Coast main line, which revealed that the real cause of the derailment was the uneven track on this line, all of the 'Rivers' were rebuilt into tender locomotives and the class became extinct. Unless, as is apparently being floated, the Bluebell Railway convert U class #1618, which was originally designed as 'River' class tank loco, into one........
More, more, take me to Oxford!
We will, we will - in due course, but I'm afraid no soundtrack - a second member of staff joined the cab at Clapham for route-learning purposes.
I'll live with it - the pictures and captions tell enough of the story anyway. I'm dying to see the new layout thorugh Reading from the cab...
All in due course... which could mean almost any timescale I'm afraid. So much to do. I'm minded to finish Cleethorpes first.
The best cab ride videos IMHO- steady camera, good quality, and lineside info. If they won't let you have a mic in the cab, could you rig one in or near the engine compartment, so we get the full effect?
Thank you. Where possible I've put a mic in the back cab - so that all cab sounds (except those of the controls, horn/whistle and the AWS) are captured. This particular video uses leading-cab sound, of course, but I haven't always been able to get a sufficiently long recording in the back cab (or I didn't know I'd need to at that point) hence some videos have had to be silent.
Just put the mike in the engine compartment so we can enjoy the throb of that diesel
Anyone know what type of points those Yellow painted ones are past Bromley South? Not HW or clamp locks.... never had them in the 90s.
fabulous , and the approach at the end to Clapham Junction a wondrous sight , b.t.w. on 38.45 was that an outward bound to Sevenoaks ? ( 26.50 , pretty lady !! )
I don't know the destinations of the trains we see, unless they say. Nowadays I capture data from Realtime Trains to assist with this but I didn't back then.
Wow thumpers are loud from inside the cab
Wasn't Dunton Green station the junction for the Westerham branch line? If it was the site of the junction is impossible to spot in this.
You're right on both counts, but old maps suggest that the Westerham face of the island platform would have been visible to the left about where we pass beneath the footbridge.
Why so many people taking photos of this train at Bromley South? And, what is the constant bell ringing indicating?
People like to photograph our train because it's a 60-year-old celebrity. The frequent ringing of a bell that you can hear in the cab is the Automatic Warning System (AWS)'s indication that we are approaching a signal showing a green aspect. Look up Automatic Warning System on Wikipedia for a fuller explanation.
Can I also ask ? Why is Orpington Station so large 4 platforms seems a lot ? Is there history behind its size, I've travelled this route before with OldSkidMarks, he drives or did drive a 66 pulling Stone Wagons! really enjoying your vids fella, great work, well done
Thanks for your comments. I don't know about the stored rail around the track. Orpington has 8 platforms, it has 4 tracks on its London end and two different lines feeding it (from Hither Green and from Bickley); I imagine it's a key point on routes through the area.
It is the terminus for many trains from Charing Cross, Cannon Street, Victoria and Blackfriars, plus through services to Hastings, Dover and Ramsgate so I guess you need all 8 platform lines.
I have a question - my maths isn't the best in the wor and my judging of distances isn't much better. The first tunnel in the video the Hildenborough Tunnel is quoted as being a mile long or 1693 yards but the next one the Polhill Tunell is quoted as being a mile long or 851 yards. If they are both a mile long surely the distance should be the same in yards too. Please can you explain?
Hi Simon, sorry my captions have mis-led you slightly. 1 mile equals 1760 yards. But these figures denoting lengths of tunnels are measured in miles AND yards. Hildenborough tunnel is 1 mile AND 1693 yards, in other words nearly 2 miles, long. Whereas Polhill Tunnel is 1 mile AND 851 yards, in other words around 1.5 miles, long. Does that make more sense now?
Just how fast are you permitted to drive this thing? Does Network Rail (or the insurance company) have you restricted, or do you just follow the signs?
We don't get to drive it at all. To run it on the main line railway network, we pay a Train Operating Company (GB Railfreight in our case) who provide the fully licensed and trained crew to operate the train. It is then operated under GBRf's Safety Case, and within the parameters of our train's Main Line Certificate and of course the permanent and temporary speed restrictions as posted on the railway network. The short answer to your question is 75mph.
Well, I suppose that answers the next question I had, who exactly was at the throttle. I figured they'd require somebody with training for that route operate it, although your group likely had to give the driver a bit of training to run something that might be older than he is!
Here in the States it's something similar, when a museum wants to run something on the mainline, like just a few weekends ago, I had the fun chance to ride behind a steamer out of Chicago.
Am I right in saying that there used to be a signal box at the London end of Orpington Station
Apparently so: www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/96340-orpington-sr-1991-prototype-photos/
Since it wasn't mentioned, I assume this did NOT go through the old East Brixton station? Is this right or is there simply nothing left of it worth mentioning?
We did go through it, I can see from old maps that its platforms were indeed on the Atlantic Lines. I just didn't spot it nor know of its existence. It's at around 37:30, I've added a note to the description. Thanks for pointing it out.
While you're about you could note the junction of the old Crystal Palace (High Level) branch on the left as round the curve towards Nunhead junction and station. There's new housing on the right of way and wat I blieve was a plying field but a lot of that line's row is still acessible.
@@martinusher1 Thank you, now done. I think I hadn't refined my processes sufficiently at the time I produced this video - nowadays I have a 1930s OS map open to follow along looking for old lines that I might not have known about.
What happened to the other parts if there are any, and can you tell me how many there might be? Thanks.
Hi again, this is the only part of this railtour that I've published *so far*. A second member of staff joined the train at Clapham Junction, to be the route-conductor from Reading onwards, but I wasn't ready for that and hadn't set up an audio recorder in the rear cab - and when I did later on it failed so quite a lot of this would have to be silent or else unpublished. Then 5 weeks later we went to Cleethorpes which I was better prepared for, so I worked on that one instead! I would like at some stage to revisit this one and publish what I can, it includes the newly upgraded Oxford - Bicester section and the "New North Main Line" down from West Ruislip through Greenford.
Dana, we do now have Part 2 published: Oxford to Bicester and the Chiltern Main Line; and the intention is to publish West Ruislip to Willesden South West Sidings via Greenford next Saturday.
Use of the windscreen wiper would have made it even better!
The driver's on his own in the cab. Fortunately the master controller (power handle) is on his right-hand side, and it is juuust possible for him to hold that down (it's also the deadman's handle) with his left hand whilst reaching all the way across the cab to operate the offside wiper. He actually did this for me if you watch carefully. But it is a distraction for him and he also can't see forwards while he does it (I didn't ask him to do it, the weather is in the lap of the gods as far as my videos are concerned).
Why does that bell keep sounding ?
That's the Automatic Warning System. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Warning_System
Don't these trains have windscreen wipers?
Yes, but the wipers on the two windscreens are controlled separately. The driver, who was the only person in the cab, did actually get up and reach across to operate the wiper on 'our' side of the cab at one point as you will notice - whilst still holding down the deadman's handle on his own side of the cab.
This is a thumper am i right
Was this filmed in a class 205?
No, it was filmed from the Hastings DEMU - which is class 201/202.
@@hastingsdiesels I was close xD and okay! 🤣
Ah, le jardin d'Angleterre.
All that old rail just left, the contractors should be made to remove it as part of their contract! When at first I saw it, I thought it was new rail but was told it wasn't worth any money, so they leave it! How true this is I don't know as I'm not a real Train Buff I just enjoy Cab Rides, I can't help but think that there an accident waiting to happen, as I say I'm not an uber fan so if I'm wrong I'm sorry but another channel host replied that it all gets left behind