Thank you for filming and uploading this. Until the late 1960's, the Southern Region trains arrived at a separate station to the south west of the main Victorian building. It had its own (Southern Region) ticketing. Then they built platforms 4A and later 4B and it all became one station. Where the front entrance with shops is in your film, was where the old South (?) station was. At some time there was a petrol station there. Nice to see the 207's which went down to Portsmouth Harbour via Basingstoke, Eastleigh, Botley and Fareham. Until at least the late 1970's, the North Downs service via Wokingham, Guildford, Redhill etc to Tonbridge was served by 'Hastings' style Diesel Electric units, with compartment coaches. Nice film, thank you.
I remember as a kid when there was just one platform - 4A, which caused all sorts of problems with Waterloo and Tonbridge trains almost jostling for position. If I remember correctly the Tonbridge service would arrive after and depart before the Waterloo trains. The Hastings style DEMUs were horrendous being in fact only 1 and half carraiges available. The wide bodied EPB trailer was often locked as there was no corridor connection to the narrow bodied Hastings coaches, one of which had the the huge 4SRKT engine. I later worked in Gasworks road near Huntley and Palmers in the late 70s. Take me back to that time any day. 🙂
In 84 We visited my Auntie&Uncle in Reading, we travelled from Edinburgh to London down the ECML, then to Reading, travelled back a week later via the WCML cos being a Sunday there was engineering works&diversions.
Very much the bad old days, when the railway was on its arse and just about coping... Comparing the general state of the place to how it is now is really quite refreshing ! This from a 30 year railwayman!
+David Othen it's possible they are still there however I know British Gas are slowly taking many of these gas storage holders down. Two have just been cut up near where I live in recent months. I have a soft spot for these once common sights. 😀
I notice everything was having to approach from Paddington along the Relief Line. That means 7 miles (from Ruscombe Jn) with no Down Main available - I bet that screwed up the timetable!
Didn't see the Edinburgh to Penzance 47 run around its train and head down the Basingstoke line? Or, did go forward to the west London extension to Clapham Junction?
Nice early views of the 59 locos ,the ARC one must be new at this point in time and the Yeoman one pulling some of the scrapped ex ore waggons in its rake that Accurascale are modelling soon.
I know this video is a few years old now but thought id like to give some info as i remember travelling to and from Reading from Bracknell down the line a bit Platform 4a was nearly always to London Waterloo via Ascot, Staines etc and 4b was to Redhill via Guildford it went down via Earley and Winnersh then spurred off at Wokingham to go via Crowthorne and Sandhurst etc to Guildford and Redhill and Tonbridge? Hope that fills in a few blanks for you.
And in those days the trains to Waterloo were often 4 coaches of the the slam door variety. They smelt of damp. Nowadays we have 10 coach air conditioned units.
If I remember correctly they alternated and I do miss the 423s, the had so much character. I don't think the north downs line ever stopped at Earley or both Winnersh stations.
Many happy summer days after work were spent sitting at the country end of P5 on the wall. Stone empties used to go from one side to the other and block the entire station; all you could see at the town-end were rows of HSTs etc stacked up at the lights waiting to get into the station, them screaming their way out again. Now I sit on the nice new seats at the end of P8, wasting away my days, as the forest of overhead equipment gradually grows, eventually to hide the view completely. Reading is still a dump, but the new station is great.
I think there was a better variety of haulage in those days though some of it had seen better days. The old station didn’t have enough platforms and waiting on a train from London for a free platform was common place. Having said that it was easier to get between platforms along the overbridge than take a long walk today. The privatisation years have bought a new station, electrification and rolling stock though reduced subsidies have driven up fares. Crossrail is long overdue and Reading is now part of London on the tube maps!
@@andrewlong6438 You still won't be able to use your oyster up to Reading, It just means that most of the stations will be contactless under tfl fares.
Just watching the 59 pull away around 5.00. As it's way over the north side of the station, presumably it was making for Westbury via the Bristol main line and Trowbridge, rather than the more direct Pewsey route.
Cor! With a movement like that, to get onto the Reading West line, he literally crossed every running line west of the station, including both Reading West lines, according to my 2000 Trackmap. No wonder they rebuilt it!
Of course he probably started at Acton on the slow line north of the running lines and if Reading station was busy on its south side, including the centre track, it may have been the only place he could cross over.
Ron Stanbridge has uploaded one of his vids which goes in sections from Acton Wells all the way to Bristol on a Class 37 route learner. The perception is that they spent some time idle after reaching the GW main line before getting on and then pretty much sidled down the DR to Reading. They were lucky, however, to be switched from the down relief over to the southern side at the approach to Reading and then round onto the Reading West line without stress. From there to Westbury is my favourite section of the vid, as it takes the journey past a public footpath west of Pewsey where I spent two late afternoons filming at the lineside whilst on holiday at Manningford Bohune Common in 2005, when we were living in England. Happy days.
Filmed like a true professional no matter how much attention the beautiful, playful woman at 12:50 & 14:44 wanted from your camera like a true rail enthusiast you moved away and continued with filming trains.
My favourite time for spotting. Thanks for these nostalgic videos.
Brilliant film, Reading, just as I want to remember it, thanks so much for sharing
Thank you for filming and uploading this. Until the late 1960's, the Southern Region trains arrived at a separate station to the south west of the main Victorian building. It had its own (Southern Region) ticketing. Then they built platforms 4A and later 4B and it all became one station. Where the front entrance with shops is in your film, was where the old South (?) station was. At some time there was a petrol station there. Nice to see the 207's which went down to Portsmouth Harbour via Basingstoke, Eastleigh, Botley and Fareham. Until at least the late 1970's, the North Downs service via Wokingham, Guildford, Redhill etc to Tonbridge was served by 'Hastings' style Diesel Electric units, with compartment coaches. Nice film, thank you.
I remember as a kid when there was just one platform - 4A, which caused all sorts of problems with Waterloo and Tonbridge trains almost jostling for position. If I remember correctly the Tonbridge service would arrive after and depart before the Waterloo trains. The Hastings style DEMUs were horrendous being in fact only 1 and half carraiges available. The wide bodied EPB trailer was often locked as there was no corridor connection to the narrow bodied Hastings coaches, one of which had the the huge 4SRKT engine. I later worked in Gasworks road near Huntley and Palmers in the late 70s. Take me back to that time any day. 🙂
Happier times than now
In 84 We visited my Auntie&Uncle in Reading, we travelled from Edinburgh to London down the ECML, then to Reading, travelled back a week later via the WCML cos being a Sunday there was engineering works&diversions.
That’s the best looking Distant Lookout I’ve ever seen at 3:15 !
Very much the bad old days, when the railway was on its arse and just about coping... Comparing the general state of the place to how it is now is really quite refreshing ! This from a 30 year railwayman!
Are the two Gasometers still there that we can see in the distance or have they been dismantled by now and gone..?
+Bevoin1970 May be somebody who lives in Britain can answer but I think they have gone.
David Othen Ah thank you.
+Bevoin1970 I just looked at Google maps and it appears that the frames are still there or were there in 2012 when the road views were done.
+David Othen it's possible they are still there however I know British Gas are slowly taking many of these gas storage holders down. Two have just been cut up near where I live in recent months. I have a soft spot for these once common sights. 😀
Yes they were a part of the urban landscape like power station cooling towers and mine shafts.
I notice everything was having to approach from Paddington along the Relief Line. That means 7 miles (from Ruscombe Jn) with no Down Main available - I bet that screwed up the timetable!
Who is that woman with the chequered flag at 3:16?
Didn't see the Edinburgh to Penzance 47 run around its train and head down the Basingstoke line?
Or, did go forward to the west London extension to Clapham Junction?
I like the stylishly dressed PW workers' lookout with the chequered flag
Paddington to Liverpool Lime Street via Reading. You almost get the feeling it's going the wrong way 😁
Nice early views of the 59 locos ,the ARC one must be new at this point in time and the Yeoman one pulling some of the scrapped ex ore waggons in its rake that Accurascale are modelling soon.
I know this video is a few years old now but thought id like to give some info as i remember travelling to and from Reading from Bracknell down the line a bit Platform 4a was nearly always to London Waterloo via Ascot, Staines etc and 4b was to Redhill via Guildford it went down via Earley and Winnersh then spurred off at Wokingham to go via Crowthorne and Sandhurst etc to Guildford and Redhill and Tonbridge? Hope that fills in a few blanks for you.
And in those days the trains to Waterloo were often 4 coaches of the the slam door variety. They smelt of damp. Nowadays we have 10 coach air conditioned units.
If I remember correctly they alternated and I do miss the 423s, the had so much character. I don't think the north downs line ever stopped at Earley or both Winnersh stations.
8:28 is there a better sound (except a screaming valenta maybe)
Many happy summer days after work were spent sitting at the country end of P5 on the wall. Stone empties used to go from one side to the other and block the entire station; all you could see at the town-end were rows of HSTs etc stacked up at the lights waiting to get into the station, them screaming their way out again.
Now I sit on the nice new seats at the end of P8, wasting away my days, as the forest of overhead equipment gradually grows, eventually to hide the view completely.
Reading is still a dump, but the new station is great.
Before Privatisation Great times
I think there was a better variety of haulage in those days though some of it had seen better days. The old station didn’t have enough platforms and waiting on a train from London for a free platform was common place. Having said that it was easier to get between platforms along the overbridge than take a long walk today. The privatisation years have bought a new station, electrification and rolling stock though reduced subsidies have driven up fares. Crossrail is long overdue and Reading is now part of London on the tube maps!
@@andrewlong6438 You still won't be able to use your oyster up to Reading, It just means that most of the stations will be contactless under tfl fares.
At 11:25, it’s a class 119 DMU going to Gatwick not a class 108, however, they were very similar..
Reading: Before it had a full frontal lobotomy....
Just watching the 59 pull away around 5.00. As it's way over the north side of the station, presumably it was making for Westbury via the Bristol main line and Trowbridge, rather than the more direct Pewsey route.
At 6:05 you can see that he crosses over all the main lines and I think that he is heading on the direct route to Westbury via Newbury & Pewsey
Cor! With a movement like that, to get onto the Reading West line, he literally crossed every running line west of the station, including both Reading West lines, according to my 2000 Trackmap. No wonder they rebuilt it!
Of course he probably started at Acton on the slow line north of the running lines and if Reading station was busy on its south side, including the centre track, it may have been the only place he could cross over.
Ron Stanbridge has uploaded one of his vids which goes in sections from Acton Wells all the way to Bristol on a Class 37 route learner. The perception is that they spent some time idle after reaching the GW main line before getting on and then pretty much sidled down the DR to Reading. They were lucky, however, to be switched from the down relief over to the southern side at the approach to Reading and then round onto the Reading West line without stress. From there to Westbury is my favourite section of the vid, as it takes the journey past a public footpath west of Pewsey where I spent two late afternoons filming at the lineside whilst on holiday at Manningford Bohune Common in 2005, when we were living in England. Happy days.
Thank you very much for the extra information.
Filmed like a true professional no matter how much attention the beautiful, playful woman at 12:50 & 14:44 wanted from your camera like a true rail enthusiast you moved away and continued with filming trains.
+Gareth Roberts Thank you!!!
Anyone know when First Gen DMUs ceased operating on the Great western Main Line?
+MrGriser Sorry I do not know - anyone else?
In and around 1993 they were replaced with class 165/1 and class 166.
Yes this was their swansong years! I have footage of the 165 &166s on these platforms taken a couple of years later.
10:31 the red cubes!!!
If a Corona was attacking the world in those days, I think that the slammies would have lasted a lot longer.
3-14-3-28 i would not of said no lol
+class37100 No to what?
The bird in the orange hi vis who was the lookout for the engineers on the track.
+class37100 Absolutely - sorry to be so slow on the uptake - old age I guess!
Bad filming and bad editing. I am dissapointed.
Perhaps you could learn to spell, before you write rude comments.