The last Cross City 323 takes me down memory lane
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
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What are your railway memories? What kickstarted your interest?
Quiet recently, I rode on a 323 from Five Ways to Lichfield Trent Valley. I couldn't stop listening to those beautiful motor sounds. I'm already missing them 😢.
The 323 unit I was on was 323215
Taking the Intercity 225 in GNER livery from King's Cross to visit my grandparents and auntie up in the Northeast. We'd often meet them in York where my granda would take me around the national railway museum before driving us up to their home in Teeside. Also seeing family in the other direction, taking the Eurostar down to Paris then a TGV west to visit my aunt, uncle and cousin in Brittany. I guess I have think for loco hauled electric intercity trains. But those old TGVs just did, and still do, seem like the coolest most modern trains about.
Riding up and down the core valley line between Ynyswen and Cardiff central as a small child, the smell of the diesel trains bring me back, and in a way I miss arriva trains Wales and the loud and often overcrowded Pacers
I live and have grown up on the Cross-City so I'm very sad to wish them goodbye. The first time I tried trainspotting was on a holiday, where my first train I recorded was 158831 at Lydney. Since then I have fallen in love with the 323's and their amazing traction motors. I think those motors was part of the reason I'd always liked trains!
Some of my earliest railway memories were visiting my grandparents as my grandad worked as a Crossing Keeper ar Buckland Crossing which was a farm crossing on the Chatham Mainline between Teynham and Faversham and lived in a railway workers cottage, used to go in his little hut which had a rack of levers for the crossing, it was a manual crossing so at Christmas he used to shut the barriers to the railway and I think my Dad was allowed to park on the crossing because the line was closed and the crossing was closed
Birmingham has changed so much since I last lived there back in the early 90's.
Im not crying you are, but honestly i could tell you were holding back tears sounds like you had a really awesome experience, thanks for sharing Jen ❤
I do remember the old Birmingham New Street so well. Used to remember the Burger King by the escalators to the Pallasades shopping centre but it does bring back memories in fact I would use the Cross City Line before Rugeley Town Station opened in 1997 as my local line I can even remember it was ether Butlers Lane or Blake Street with a old DMU departed the station before the electric trains started on the Cross City Line. Really like the video Jen and the Class 323s shall be missed on the Cross City Line.
I remember when that Burger King was called Casey Jones - it was a burger chain owned by BR. I used to travel into Brum with friends on a clapped out Class 116 DMU from Sutton Coldfield.
Lovely to see you taken on a memory trip, trains will do that. Growing up in the 1970s, it's the old slam door EMUs , with the well sprung seats, that always get memories of days out by the sea or up to London with my parents and grandparents. Everything does need to move on, but memories remain.
I love that the sound of a departing train is subtitled as "[Applause]" and then changes to "[Music]"
I know it's not the same, but you can get that 323 feeling by playing Train Sim World!
I used to go to that Wimpy’s with my nan as well.
Thanks Jen... I had many of the same memories in Brum as an undergrad in the late 1990s, The 323s were a big part of life for us Birmingham Uni students
I remember travelling on the Cross City from about the mid 1980's, firstly with my mum and brothers on day trips when the line was run with Class 116 DMU's (sitting right behind the driver so we can see the track ahead, and guessing which platform we'll be on before seeing the display in the tunnels after Five Ways), looking up at the clatterboard destination displays on our return home. Later it was Class 304 and 310's as the 323's weren't ready. I was following the electrification progress with the promotional material from Centro, and was looking forward to riding a 323, which finally happened in 1994 when I was on my way to the Villa.
I have always lived in the shadow of the Austin, and Longbridge, Northfield and Kings Norton were in close proximity to us (for trips to Bromsgrove the 145 went past our area). I remember the old Bull Ring, Pallasades and New Street. I can just about place the old in the new. Red zone used to be in the Pallasades car park, and in the old New Street the only lift that went up from platform level was the platform 8/9 lift. This opened up into the taxi rank right behind where tge escalators up to the Pallasades was. This shaft is in use for the new lift (with the old subway level now being staff only) so it's an ideal spot to work out where everything was.
I shall miss the 323's, and hope the remaining 9 find a new home soon.
I remmeber the old Birmingham new street, I remember the bit underneath the platforms you sometimes had to go through to get up to the concourse, the station was very dark and dingy back then. The Class 323's are amazing and I have plenty of memories of them, I'm gonna miss seeing them in the West Midlands.
Very rarely, Jen, you make a video which I would class as 'all right'. 99% of your videos range from 'excellent to wow!' and then there are the videos, like this one, which just stop me in my tracks.
The strange and varied things which make up our memories; the memories which we cherish and those which we would wish to expunge.
I used to catch the local train to school every day and would ride in the 'guard's van' and while the guard would be wandering the train checking and issuing tickets from a clunky mechanical machine hung around his neck together with his leather satchel for the money, I was trusted to make sure that passengers had got on and off the train safely and signal the driver to move off to the next stop.
Looking back on it (55+ years ago) it was great to have had that trust placed in me but the more mature me(?!) shudders to think of what could have gone wrong and what would have happened to the guard if he had got caught.
Still, statute of limitations and all that and the fact that nothing bad came of it, I suppose all's well.
Your nostalgia for the Cross City 323s. My nostalgia for the BRC&W suburban twin.
Thank you, Jen.
Thank you so much!
I could listen to reminiscing about trains and railway infrastructure forever.
Oh the sound of those 323's.
Great video as always Jen.
Brilliant video Jen 👍
I'm sure we all remember random things from our younger days. One of my childhood memories was those Travellers Fare cafes which seemed to be at just about every station . I doubt any of them were likely to win any Michelin awards, but at least they did their job
Great video Jen. I was a bit before the 323s on my journeys into Brum from Lichfield in the 80s but so much of what you describe is my memory of the City at that time. Fantastic trip down memory lane.
Been having several similar experiences... Great video, Jen. Stay well
The first train I remember was a Class 107 going into Glasgow 👵🏻.
Hi Jen, I've ridden many a 323 train, I loved the different sound they made, they were a brilliant replacement fir the 315's as they were fast on the pullaway speed and they also worked similar to the 313 units to in relation to thier braking style.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the TRAMS, as they were part and parcel of the whole Bullring redevelopment plan which now run a great service, the interchange is just outside the side entry/exit point.
Catch you next vlog, as ever take care, Jon B.
Ahhh. Back in my day, the local station had semaphore signals and manually operated gates....
I mean, it still does but that's not the point! 🙂
Genuinely quite emotional watching this. I grew up by Kings Norton Station , catching the old DMU's to school everyday, back in the days when the centre platforms were still not yet bricked off. Then worked in longbridge on Tessall Lane when the Rover was still there before the bollards were put up - oh, this got me in the tear ducts. That and hearing that voice of New Street that I miss...
Oh Jen. Thanks so so much for this. I'm all very emosh now.
*support hugs from the 0121 area*
The Class 323 that Northern are keeping and inheriting the other Class 323 from West Midlands Railway shouldn’t replace them for at least 10 years.
Still it’s sad to see them go as the Class 730/0 are now in service on the Cross-City Line.
I think I've been on that route recently; on one of the random journey adventures (rolling a dice for how many minutes to remain at the current station before catching the next train, and another for how many stations to travel). Pretty sure Longbridge was where I stopped for lunch on the day that took me from Lichfield to Wrecsam.
Oooh! I've been a member for nearly 2 years.
Thank you so much for sticking around so long!
A lovely video! I visited my gran who lives in Wolverhampton every year in the summer as a kid in the 90’s and I have many fond memories like this using these 323 units to head into at the time a very big and scary Birmingham. I was so glad I could go back this weekend and enjoy the 323’s for one more time in this area and reliving my memories like you have here. Thanks for a great video Jen! ❤
I miss the 323's already
08:04 i love the noise
Great video Jen! Do sad 323s went 😢
A really well put together video! I agree especially with your thoughts from 7:30 - the 730s are a huge improvement but we can alll reminisce on what has been an incredible 30-or-so years of 323 operations in the West Midlands and look at the memories they have created. My train which I will have memories of will be the 168s - lucky for me they have just received a refurbishment so I think they have a few more years yet.
Really good video though Jen!!
Very nostalgic. Thanks!
What a wonderful trip down memory lane! Thank you! ❤
For me, it was Grunting into Town on a DMU, from the Sutton Coldfield side.
Visiting Shops like Co-op (site now Primarrk)
Hudsons (now closed Cotswolds Outdoor) and Midland Educational (BHF Charity Shop)
Regular visits to the Odeon Theatre, to see everyone from Gary Numan, Iron Maiden, and Alice Cooper, and (mostly) catching the last 11pm (sharp!!!!) Train back to Sutton.
🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂
We all loved Woolworths, just not enough to actually buy things there which is why we all miss Woolworths now
Thanks for those older photos interspersed throughout. I had traveled to England around that time, stayed in Coventry, but did visit Birmingham briefly. Funny how old photos and memories can take you right back. Cheers!
A lovely gentle Jen video. I don’t know Birmingham well. Only been there once in 1971 or 72. Did a tour on a narrow boat round the many canals. Thank you for painting a picture of the place.
I love your videos Jen. I last got to ride a 323 in 2019, but I'm pleased they'll live on in the North of England.
As a Manc, always loved the sound of a 323, glad we're getting them :)
I was sad to see the 304s & 303s go when they turned up, but they very soon became iconic.
Shout out to "The Austin" at Longbridge, my sorely missed cousin and his dad worked there for years.
The 323 I grew up with. I'll miss the sounds it makes. Where I grew up I would hear them coming as I lived right opposite the line as it was on a curve I would hear them. I went to Redditch quite a lot on them. My Frist memory of going on the train to Birmingham was around 2009 with my parents to go to the German market. On them trains
There's a Wimpy in Shrewsbury! Also Midland Red takes me back wow! The 143 too! Lived In Kidderminster for 17 years and last 5 in Bromsgrove :) Also at the old Birmingham New St I'm pretty certain had the most dangerous escalators on the whole network lol
You'll be very familiar with the 192 then too!
The 323s bring me such strong memories. I have memories of using them as a child as far back as 2000-2001 to visit my grandparents who lived near Selly Oak. I live in Canada now and don't visit as often as I once did.
I visited Brum earlier this year to attend my grandfather's deathbed and I took a 323 there. Things are so different now, but the train stayed constant. On that train I felt such strong happiness and sadness. From journeying to the Warley model railway show and to visiting the university hospital to say goodbye.
I'm sad to see them gone, but happy they were such a key part of my memories. I'll miss the iconic hum as they accelerate out of the station.
brilliant video the 323s are great & i have memories if seeing them in the regional Railways livery everytime i passed through Birmingham in the 90s & early 00s while travelling from the South to the North & i rode a few on the Cross City Line earlier this year when i did a week in the Midlands & i got a shot of 323221 which brought back memories but they will be missed & at least we can enjoy the ones with Northern for more years to come i just love the sounds they make & the 730s are great & doing the train journeys back in the day is what got me into doing solo train journeys & visiting different parts of the Country & i still enjoy it today even tho every train has their downfalls for example the Voyagers are always overcrowded & rammed ful
Jen, I absolutely loved this video and thanks for sharing some of you're memories.
My great grandad use to man the signal box in Aldershot, and if I was good I was allowed to sit in a small stool and watch him operate the leavers, plus the line ran past the bottom of their garden, so I could stand and watch the trains go by.
Waves as you go past where i live
Usd to work for LR at Solihull lived in Knowle for a while often would go to New St after work,on these remind ,me of underground stock still think that New St is the worst Station ever,but it has its uses and doesn't choke you anywhere near as much as it used too with the exhaust fumes.
Bless you for sharing Jen, that made me quite teary, memories are so important, I'm quite lucky now, I live next to a railway line and two canals, be well x PS there is still a Wimpy in Huddersfield.
Just brilliantly done as always❤
I loved watching this!
2:08 phone call
that was sweet hold those memories close because its only with fondness the heart wants to look back.
Ty
Great video Jen 😊
Love Brum. Lived there just before and during the refurb of New Street. Remember when in was announced taking loads of photos of the, what I thought, what’s beautiful brutalist architecture.
The smell when you came through the ticket barriers Millie’s cookies on the corner and the sweetcorn from the corn shop at the top of the escalators. Can’t believe how long it been
The Millie's cookies smell! How did I forget that?!
...but PRabellum model shop is stil going in The Jewelry Quarter and yoh can get there on a tram ride!
This is sad
Some parts of this really resonated. I moved to Coventry in 2006 and began exploring the West Midlands with Network Daytrippers and 323s played a big part in the exploration. I recall there being TV screens high up that showed advertisements and news.
I didn't have a smartphone and there were massive unexplored areas, so I would go wherever sounded interesting. I'd heard of Longbridge and so I went there expecting a town centre with a high street, but it was 2007 so I arrived to find acres of dead factories. It was genuinely fantastic to explore the whole region back then, and I still try to find new aspects and routes.
I really wish I took more photos of the old New Street before it disappeared. I only have 3, from when there was a powercut. I travelled through it all weekly throughout the years of rebuilding and it was amazing to experience the new concourse for the first time.
Welcome back to Birmingham bab!! Thanks for sharing your memories with us. I too remember the 'old' New Street Station, and Bullring, simple times ey? Great Video, thanks for sharing. ❤❤✌✌☮☮
What the lady is saying that it’s weird that class 323s has already left WMR - West Midlands Railway 🚃 in the West Midlands in England 🏴 and I agree ☝️ with her. It’s probably feels sad 😔 😞 😢 that class 323s have previously gave up ⬆️ 🔝 🆙 the job in the West Midlands however things change and life moves on. I’m sure ✔️ 👌 👍 that class 323s are pretty 😍 good 👍 😊 😌 trustworthy trains 🚂 🚆 🚊 in the world 🗺️🌏 🌍 🌎. It must feel warm inside the class 323 trains 🚊 🚆 🚂. It’s a roof over the head. Class 323s has ran in the West Midlands for 30 years from 1994 to 2024. Its final day is Sunday 29th September 2024 is under 3 previous months before Christmas 🎄🎅 🧑🎄 🤶 2024. Second generation EMU - Electric ⚡️ Multiple Unit trains 🚊 🚆 🚂. 🤶🎅🧑🎄 WMR - West Midlands Railway 🚃 runs everyday and public holidays except Christmas 🎄🤶 🎅 🧑🎄 Day and Boxing 🥊 Day. Most of the class 323s have previously GWR t to NT - Northern. 👍 😄 😀
Great video 🙂
I'm a bit older than you, so I remember the Cross City Line with DMUs, then initially replaced by Class 304s (which, being a Smethwickian, I loved) 310s plus some 308s, as the 323s were delayed in entering service. As such, I never really forgave them, but, yeah, I had a last ride a while back, before they began to get scarce!
Oddly enough, I went from Lichfield-BNS on a 730 tonight!
5:20 "the pallasades"? Really? Yes, really, lower-case and spelling mistake and all. At least it isn't called that any more. Not sure I like "Grand Central", though. Not specific enough and too American.
Good video Jen it is sad that WMR class 323 is transferring over to Northern rail because this will be replaced by class 730 trains
In an similar way I feel nostalgic to the 150's that ran between Barking and Gospel Oak, where I would always look down from the elevated tracks down onto the houses as a young kid, on the way home to Walthamstow, or look at them running past the park I used to go to in Leyton, which then became the 172's, and with the 315's and 317's, boarding a warm train when its raining and going into Liverpool Street was always very fun, especially when we would pass by London Fields and Cambridge Heath, or along the Great Eastern Lines out to Shenfield...
My dad used to work for British Rail and then EWS, As a child I used to have a free pass so I could travel where I wanted for free, so from Leicester my memory was of getting the 17 Bus from Braunstone to Leicester city centre, walk to the Railway station, then if I was going via New Street it was a Regional Railway and latterly Central Trains 156 or 158 (or sometimes a 150 or 153). Going via Nuneaton and seeing loco hauled West Coast services storming past, then trundle into New Street. Then get some breakfast from Upper Crust, and then walk down to platform and wait for a loco hauled Cross Country service somewhere. Fantastic video.
I'm 30 seconds into the video and I already want to eat because you started mentioning closed food places. Thanks Jen! 😄
A lot of my extended family lived in in South Birmingham along the Cross-City line, and then when I went to BCU I ended up living on Pershore Road so would often use Bournville station. I remember the Pallasades and the old escalators down to New Street. This video has brought back a lot of memories, thank you :-).
Digbeth coach station has similarly changed beyond recognition - I swear the old one was the basis for the interior colour scheme of Ryanair planes!
Used to walk from there to New St at a ridiculously early hour coming from London on the 422 to catch the first train out to Cambria, so there was plenty of time to absorb the infrastucture.
323 is a beauty, even when she's just floating on by to somewhere else, and she played her part in Brum's transformation - wish her well up in that Manchester \m/
If you thought the old New Street Station was bad you just had to walk down the road to the old Digbeth Coach Station, which was far worse, a really terrible place.
@@srfurley I often walked the other way \m/
The first time I ever rode a 323 was in Wolverhampton around 2009, me and my dad were going to see a metal concert in Dudley. As we left Wolves my dad looked visiably preturbed, he didn't like the sound of the traction motors of the 323 and was glad when we got off the train. We had an awesome time at the concert. The following afternoon we had to return to Wolves to get our Voyager back to Manchester, and once again my Dad wasn't comfortable on the 323... he defiantely let me know about it afterwards. My Dad would pass away in 2016, and one of his final wishes was for me to go to Birmingham, he thought i'd enjoy it. So on my birthday that year, I would do the Manchester to Dudley run again, then head into Birmingham afterwards. Safe to say he was right, I visit the city at least twice a year now. Even though I was late to the party, I am sad that the 323's are leaving Birmingham. Thank you for sharing your memories Jen! Passing them on will make sure that those memories will carry on to the next generation.
Amazing how a humble commuter train can have such a profound effect on a child. For me I grew up with the Wessex Electrics (class 442) down in Dorset and it was really sad to see them be quietly scrapped following their withdrawal during Covid. I used to draw them as a kid, their front lower valance reminded me of the front bumper of the Escort Cosworth (which I also drew a lot!) And the Network Southeast logo was somewhat iconic at the time. I have fond memories of watching them cross over Poole High Street and the occasional treat of travelling up to Waterloo on them, once being lucky enough to have a guard take pity on us when the train was packed and letting our family have a first class compartment. They always had a coffee bar in the middle which was barely visible through all the cigarette smoke. Different times!
I lived in Kings Norton when they were introduced. Correct me if I’m wrong but they appeared some time after electrification. An interesting story. I was going to be away on holiday when the great switch on occurred. I remember going into Brum the Sunday before my holiday on what I thought was my last ever DMU on the Cross City. A few weeks later I decided to repeat the trip on my first electric train. Shock horror, they were still running DMUs on Sundays.
I went on the farewell tour. A Wonderful but sad day. It was weird going to Liverpool on a Class 323.
I’ve only been riding these trains regularly for maybe 5 years but I am gonna miss sitting on my regular seat on a cold crisp morning on my way to college. The 730s are gorgeous trains and they’re so comfortable but I think it’s gonna take a while for them to feel like home.
You touched on so much that is relevant to my own life here. I live in Lincolnshire now but went to Birmingham yesterday to visit my Dad. The first time I've not been on a 323 on the cross city line. The new trains are great but I miss that nostalgic 323 sound. I remember watching them being phased in when they were new whilst slam door electrics were temporarily used. Didnt seem the same without them!
I spotted you on the upper level of the concourse on my way into work! Unfortunately I didnt have the time to come and say hi
I used to work at Toys R Us selling Nintendos 😂
I saw the rail tour on Sunday at Wolverhampton nice driver gave me a 2 tone horn
why do they feel the need to retire these
I like that they sound like tube trains :)
god, look at the state of brummagen
They've all moved to the north west
whats replacing the 323
730/0s
class 730 (the 3-car variant)
What they said ^^ 🙂
I grew up on the Southern with SUBs and EPBs. 323s look like very modern trains to me.