RD21704(vid). Trains in Cornwall, 1989 - Part 4.

RD21704(vid). In August, 1989 the family holiday was near Hayle in the west of Cornwall and this video, filmed mainly at St. Erth, is a further reminder of the last days of British Rail with InterCity HSTs, Class 47 diesel-electrics and a Class 50 on the West of England main line.
Camcorders were horrendously expensive in those days, but luckily for me a local camera shop used to hire them out by the week, so I hired one for a fortnight to make a video record of the holiday. It also came in handy for recording the local railway scene. It recorded directly onto VHS tapes and the quality doesn’t compare with today’s digital equipment.
Nevertheless, it is a record of trains as they were at the time, so it’s a historical record if nothing else.
Part One of this video can bee seen here:
• RD21701(vid). Railway...
Part Two is here:
• RD21702(vid). Railway...
and Part Three is here:
• RD21703(vid). Trains ...
August, 1989. Copyright © Ron Fisher 2021.

[@ClydebridgeStation]

The NSE 47 we saw at St. Erth, is 47705, which was the second 47/7 to leave Scotrail. It moved at the end of May 1989 to Stratford Major depot for overhaul, and repaint into NSE livery, losing its name "Lothian" in the process, and was then allocated to Old Oak Common.

[@Madonsteamrailways]

The first train we saw was either a 108 or 117. The second one was a Class 47 with Network South East carriages, probably from London.

[@EErail26]

Lovely footage. We had a wonderful two week holiday in St Ives too during mid July that year. I managed to have 50035 on the Sundays only train to Paddington between Penzance and Liskeard.

[@ronfisher2-railwaytravelvideos]

Amazingly, in 2023 you can still see HSTs and semaphore signals in Cornwall !

[@Madonsteamrailways]

That’s either a 108 or a 117!! The next train is a 47 with Network South East carriages.

[@Madonsteamrailways]

And why do these diesel locomotives whistle from the engine? That’s more a trait of the electric locomotive than the diesel!!

[@Madonsteamrailways]

Sorry to say!! The scenery is more my style than half the diesel locomotives!! I’m a steam or electric man!!

[@ronfisher2-railwaytravelvideos]

You should be happy with my latest video then; it's mostly electric. The next one that I'm working on is 100% steam and the one after that is 100% electric. So keep an eye on my channel.