This was the Mecca for train spotter's of the diesel era. The oil tank area was used to supply diesel for the many hundreds of locomotives that had Toton (TO) as their major depot. It is a shame that there aren't more videos of it during its heyday. I remember during the late 1970's that "The Master Cutler" service (Sheffield to St Pancras and return) was the only regular (Monday to Friday) passenger service that went through Toton. This often led to a flurry of activity from all of the spotters who were fortunate enough to have access to an East Midlands Ranger ticket to ride from Leicester to Sheffield during their school holidays and see the line up of Class 20's, 45's, 46's and if you were lucky 44's. Ah happy memories!
I went train spotting there with some mates about 1971. We travelled on a rail pass for the midlands that cost us 1.25 pounds. When we got to Long Eaton we walked to the yard and spotted some low-numbered Peaks, and had a great time until the police caught us and gave us a rolloking !
The tracks are a field away from where i use to live,we used to train hop as kids in the 70s upto toton sidings or the other way over the erewash and all the way up to stanton and Staveley. These videos are awsome,im sat here reliving my youth.
Went to an open day at Toton, some time around 1970. We were able to wander freely through the cabs and engine bays of parked diesel locos. A different era!
People forget the mammoth-sized rail infrastructure this country had prior to the road really taking off, Empire decline and lack of investment in the last century. Many yards (well before the 1960's modernisation plan) stretched over huge areas and were unbelievably wide - after all, people forget the UK was THE global power not all that long ago, and we had the infrastructure to match.
Ain't that the truth. A clear depiction of Carlisle Kingmoor Yard between the 1950s and the 1980s -1990s can be seen through Train Simulator with the Western Lines of Scotland route and the West Coast Mainline over Shap route. Same location, but Kingmoor yard in the 1980s is just a fraction of what it was in the 1950s. Back in those days, the UK had some truly impressive infrastructure solutions. At least we can still see them via accurately made content for Train Simulator. Would've loved to be around in the 1950s.
Hi I grew up in Long Eaton in the 50's and 60's and spent hundreds of hours around Toton Sidings spotting, my father was a driver based at the yard so had trips around the sheds with him. Thanks for bring a lot of great memories back to me.
Toton sheds hold a very special memory in not just my heart but my whole family as it's were my Grandad worked throughout his life until retiring in the late 70s..I remember on Xmas day he'd take us down to the sheds as kids and we were allowed to sit in the locos and walk around inside looking at the trains being worked on..brilliant memories from a brilliant Grandad. Thanx for the upload it brings them memories back and I just wish he was still here to see his former works.
my Grandad would of been 106 yesterday, my mum texts me these anniversaries, born in Selston, he was a carpenter and worked right up to the 1980's and don't think he ever used a power tool, all hand saws and drills, incredible
Maintenance costs changed in the 80s and 90s as did overhaul requirements in the run up to privatisation and afterwards as well as the ongoing decline of steel and coal.
Used to work in and out of Toton during the 70's and early 80's as a Guide Bridge Guard .... nearly always at night and getting back to GB about 2am. ... After this i never went in the yards again. As you can see from my little pic I became a Driver and finished after 45 years service at M/cr Piccadilly. Happy Memories. An excellent video well done to all.
Yes Allan i remember those days well.I was your secondman on many occasions,and a Driver called Colin who used to cut peoples hair in his spare time. The Tannoys as i remember we had to stop the train and report to the yard staff and they would tell us when we could continue through the yard. Hope you are doing ok my friend.I am still driving trains in New Zealand.
@@philb6989 Yes Phil nice to know that some of us are still about.. That Driver was called Colin Shawcross he died aged 84 some years ago. Nice to hear from you. Allan
i used to work the security Gatehouse at Toton siding at the Stapleford entrance and when i could go for a wonder i always found the place soooo interesting
People back then respected operational machinery or units, but lack of respect, or self awareness is the reason for all this health and safety. Loved your Colwick yard video, i now live in Nottingham
Hi Ant, great video, reminds me of the Tinsley marshaling yards on the Sheffield/ Rotherham border. It was huge in its heyday probably 20 or more tracks wide now sadly it has 3 active lines for loading freight. I use to pass it every day on my way to school & was fascinated by the huge scale of it. Great memories. ❤😊
Thanks for the memories Ant. When I became a teenager in '73 I had a personal tour around the yard one afternoon with my brother in law as the responsible adult and a willing member of staff ! Though still big I well remember just how big and busy it was. Coal was still king ! Thanks again.
Pity Beecham had his way the railways could have been the future of the UK (Politicians poked their noses in for quick savings) All of the investment was put into road construction instead of investment in rail with the current situation of overcrowded roads, pollution and loss of the rail services. These services used to be able to get goods to within 5 miles of most areas. From where deliveries were done by locals, not HGVs. HS2 is to late and will only be for passengers, the money would be better spent on putting some of the now derelict lines back in service just for goods. Toton yard is an example as this could be the marshalling yards for containers this would take huge amounts of HGVs off the roads and we would not have a shjortage of HGV drivers.
That brings back so many memories. That was our playground as young lads. We played in all the air raid shelters was about 20 shattered about. Brilliant video
Great video. In the aerial photo at 3.22 the yard to the right was the East Yard as the name suggests trains departing from this yard worked to the East, March etc and the South. The location of the West Yard was located above the wagon repair shops where the loco is in steam (as you view from the photo) and as the name suggests trains worked Westwards towards Birmingham and further West and also towards Crewe to various destinations .On the very left of the picture that was known as Meadow Stowage yard which was a lot smaller than Meadow sidings. I started work at Toton in 1974 and had to learn all the yards. Such memories.
Very interesting and thanks for respecting the railway boundaries. I loved the old culvert bridge, they went to such a lot of trouble which these days would be a concrete pipe.
Ex-Pat from Mansfield. Late 60's, early 70's. I used to watch coal trains from the pits in Mansfield area. Likely they ended up in these freight yards.
A tremendously informative piece of work and obviously a place close to your heart, which you could tell by the affectionate way you spoke about it throughout. You really do have your presentation skills right up to speed now. I was told, when training at the BBC, by a 'household name in radio' from the 70's/80's, that once you open the mic you are talking to one person, basically having a conversation, and that is what you are now doing. It draws the viewer in and makes them feel part of the video, brilliant work.
Really enjoyed that. Love history and trains so I got some of each. Of course some lovely views too. Thanks so much for taking me along. Please stay safe and take care
Thanks for this insight. Must have been a real privilege to grow up with this extended "back yard". Never know what you've got till it's gone. Hope to view more of your work soon.
Fab drone footage. loved all the amazing colours. Great trek and findings. Music blended in so well. Thank you for Another Weill researched and enthusiastic vlog.
I spent the first 25yrs of my life in stapleford and this brings back memories of my childhood. We took the train from stapleford to long eaton every saturday to visit my grandmother.
Spent a lot of my youth hanging around on Toton sidings on the Nottingham road side there used to be lots of disussed trains and a field which had about 6 to 10 air raid shelters in , good times thanks for the memories
Great video. I frequently walk the dog around these paths as we live close by. Remembering cycling from school in the 1970s to watch hump shunting. Loved seeing the peaks working, Class 44s still a favourite.
Memories for me are mainlt from the mid 90's. I still remember that first time i found the embankment. I like to think, however poor it may look to us now, that young enthusiasts still get that feeling of amazement when they first come across it :)
@@TrekkingExploration it's still good to stand on the bank and watch the trains running through the erewash valley! There might not be the number of trains or the variety of traction of course 😉
Used to go up there in the late 70's train spotting, it was very busy, sad to see it's mostly all gone. Don't recognise much of where you went in your video, apart from the footbridge and embankment, but that's also true of Long Eaton when I go back, it's changed a hell of a lot. I don't like walking about where I used to go as a kid, it's too depressing. It's right what they say; never go back. Thanks......DA.
The bracket at 4:41 you found is known as a stretcher bar, it's the main part of the points/switch rails. It enables the turnout on S&C through the junction works (Points and crossings).
When I was nursing in Nottingham in 1974 I was working with a fellow staff nurse by the name of Maureen Tinsley and she lived at Toton!! I also remember parking in a layby on the A52 by the bridge over the yard. I went down the embankment and sat on my photo box by the road entrance the the loco shed. I was there a while taking colour slides when I got slung out! Still got the slides.
You are almost certainly right about the yard light stands having the lamp holder drop to ground level for servicing. This is much easier that sending someone up to the top... The method is still in use for some road lighting. The common features are a very tall pole and a cluster of lamps (usually) at the top. The particular ones to my knowledge are in Gloucester, close to the railway line triangle where traffic between Cheltenham and Swindon or Bristol can avoid entering Gloucester station, then reversing out. Thanks for the video, there is little left to remind us of the days when extensive, mixed rail freight was commonplace.
funny how past industrial use has meant it's now become a wild green space instead of more urban sprawl as next door. always amazing how well nature takes hold in oil-soaked ballast!
Another enjoyable and informative video Sir. The metal bracket at 4:40 is a stretcher bar. You'll find two or more of these fitted to sets of points, bolted between the movable switch rails.
Another great video. I spent a lot of time in the yard in the mid to late 90s as they used to stable the Long welded rail train in there and we used to do our maintenance and checks on it. It has changed a lot by the look of it.
We live a 5 minute walk from Toton Sidings and our daughter loves looking at the "choo choos". Such a shame the sidings is a shadow of its former self. Its a magnet for fly tippers now unfortunately. Keep up the good work with the videos. I particularly enjoyed the one of the Great Central Railway through West Bridgford. My road backed onto it and I have very fond memories of playing there in the summer holidays, finding old railway bits.
Thank you for the update and chat. Amazing how much you are familiar with the sites, makes you journeys a lot easier. See you on the next. Cheers Ant! 🏴🙂👍🇺🇸
In steam days, as midnight approached, on December 31st, the acres of locomotives here readied their whistles to blast in the new year. I lived in Lancs and shed code 41A Toton, Stapleford and Sandacre was exotic, like a trainspotters Mecca. For us, a huge allocation of difficult to get locos. Very occasionally a Stanier 2-8-0 would come onto Horwich Works. Otherwise a long day trip.
Thanks interesting. In mid 2000s i went in the aggregate sidings numerious times collecting recycled track ballast which was ground down aggregates for LARFARGE ( no longer ) now TARMAC crh & deliver to construction sites in Nottingham & Derby
@@TrekkingExploration I can emphasise with you as its like loosing a best pal. something you have grown up with. Had a similar feeling when Northampton Derngate bus station was converted into a public building .
I live on landsdown grove just close to the wagon yard. It still amazing how big the site used to be. Lived in long eaton all my life ( 42 years ) i grew up close to Main Nottingham to London line down from the old trent station. Great video sir
I spent a lot of time up there in the 90s. When i used to live in Trowell & work in Attenborough, i used to cycle the long way around to go over the embankment every evening :)
I use to live on Doncaster Grove from & worked for a contractor & was the last Person In Charge Of Possessions (PICOP) & Controller Of Site Safety (COSS) on engineering works when the signal box and signalling here & Trent was decommissioned & taken over by the East Midlands Control Centre (EMCC) London Rd Derby.
4:39 I think that’s a rod that connects the 2 ends of a point switch … not sure what it’s name is but the v shaped section travelling from the frog of the points towards the 2 ends that move when the point is switched I think it’s the connecting bar between the 2 rail ends
Thanks for this wonderful video. I've always heard of Toton, but never knew much at the time. So I found this very interesting and informative. It was massive! I wish I saw it back in the day with all our favourite BR blue locos. Thank you for the info and the great drone footage.
I used to live in Toton . I remember walking past the sidings in 80's and 90's. I remember seeing trucks parked in the yard. I would walk along the hill from near Stapleford down to Long Eaton. I saw some of the tracks being lifted.
The big embankment on the Stapleford side once gave a good view of loco boneyards latterly redundant 60s. How 45015 remained there escaping both MCs and Berrys was a miracle.
Doing Toton was the Holy Grail in the early 70s but I only made it once. We'd been to Derby Works open day and then jumped on a bus to Toton. Unfortunately when we got there the Police stopped us because everyone else had had the same idea, so I never actually made it round. It was like the German Army when it got within 12 miles of Moscow in WW2 but was then forced to retreat. So near but so far.
Awesome video Ant boy does this being back memories me my ex brother and ex father went on railway walks when we were kids and those old concrete lights and air raid shelters were there then although not the fencing around depot and there used to be horses and old burnt out signal boxes as well so what you were looking at certainly in terms of the old lights and air raid shelter are at least in excess of 30 years old we used to access area from path near long Eaton Asda and what was the old bt phone exchange many moons ago your videos are awesome
Grate video I lived in one of the railway owned houses 14 midland street my father worked at Toton siding as a yard Marshall, the oil storage yard was run owned by BP I use to watch the lorrys/tankers fill up .there was a small coal yard on the opposite side. path you walked down was known as blackpad I used to watch the steam trains from the old foot bridge as a young child I would stand and wait for the smoke and steam to come up through the wooden boards Grate fun 😀
My grandfather worked at the wagon works until he retired. I've been down the old air raid shelter many times when I was a kid, I'm 69 now. There used to be a railway hostel opposite where the oil terminal is, which was at the end of Midland Terrace which had a row of railway houses on it, I lived in one of them with my parents until I was 12. The old footbridge was Known as Long Tom. There are plenty of old sleepers in amongst the trees, you used to find coal at one time. Ans can I just say, that there is no such thing as points, it's a slang term, they are switches.
Exactly the route I take if I decide to cycle to Asda, been meaning to have more of a look round where you first started the video. I worked on track for a few years but only ended up in Toton once and it was dark. 😔
The oil sidings you meanion at 1:10, was the Fina petroleum termimal for Long Eaton. It was last used in 1993 and the land was quickly redeveloped for the Asda supermarket that is there now.
I fell into that shelter in the early 80's during a drunken short cut back from the pubs in long Eaton. An old hatch was missing and vegetation had grown over to the point of it looking like solid ground. I'd be screwed now because the entrance is bricked up but back in the day after a bit of an adventure I blundered out.
What an interesting video!! I visited Toton only once in about 1983/4. Along with Tinsley it had a huge allocation of locomotives so, as a southern spotter, was very much on the must visit list. It's amazing to see how the site has shrunk over the years but the incredible thing is how nature, and specifically Silver Birches is reclaiming the land. Fascinating stuff, please keep up the good work - those drone shots are awesome!!!
Another interesting video Ant, just love all that railway nostalgia. Reminds me of childhood days back in the late 50’s and early 60’s when parents house used to back on to a railway embankment just by Harold Wood station in Essex. I used to climb through the fence and watch all the steam trains go by, happy uncomplicated days. 👍
Another fab video. What I find fascinating, is what was heavy industry and how nature reclaims the land making it almost beautiful again. Its wrong they pull old buildings down for no reason. Thankyou for all your hard work making these videos. Xx ps love ur Northen accent lol.
It definitely has a kind of natural beauty about these places once nature takes over again. Glad you enjoyed it, and my accent. I'm guessing you are from the South? 🙂X
Enjoyed that immensely, thank you. Been there a few times but never looked into it this deep, did beat a path around the whole site back in the early 90's I think. The line of class 60s now was a line of class 31s at the time!!! Wonderful to see it again.
Hi buddy. An absolutely fantastic video of a special place in my train spotting days 👍🏻 I live in Manchester so a trip to Toton yard in the 70s was awesome 🤩 Shame it’s only a fraction of what it was once 😫 Take care and thanks for a lovely video.
I used to go trainspotting on the bank overlooking Toton depot in the early 90's, and there was a constant flow of coal trains. I'd arrive at Long Eaton station, walk up from the south, over the bridge, and to the east side of the Wagon Repair Depot... past dozens of HAA coal hopper wheelsets. A few times a year I'd do an overnight stay on the bank on a Friday night, and then head to Long Eaton station in the morning about 6-7am. One one occasion, it was a misty morning, and when I reached the bottom, the mist was a really thin dense layer at weist height, thick enough that I couldn't see my feet!... so every dozen or so steps, I'd have to lean down and look below the mist to check I wasn't going to bump into any old sleepers, cable... and even make sure I was still on the trail.
The 90s were when i would be there quite frequent. Still a very busy location and rather large too. To think it really wasn't that long ago either.....
@@TrekkingExploration Nice Nice 😊 The Fencing , Maybe It's About Graffiti Writing ? Even If Old Trains Or Trailers ? Some People See It As An Eye 👀 Sore ... Me Ah Think It Adds Colour To The Boring One Tone Stuff , Like Concrete Other Wise It May Jus Be To Show The Ground Border ? Nay Trespass Etc !+)
In 1962 (or thereabouts) we used to cycle to Toton and watch the hump shunting being carried out from the hill overlooking the yard. It was very busy then, before the advent of heavy road haulage, along with it's congestion, pollution and accidents on the motorways. A shame that we couldn't continue with this intensive transport system, although the railways are clawing back some of the business, thanks to the speeding up of the freight side of the service and using locomotives that are capable of express speeds.
Used to do the same in the late seventies/early eighties and can still remember the sounds. There's a very interesting 5 minute clip of the Hump shunting control building and operation on RUclips narrated by John Peel
Great video , I really enjoyed this. It's sad to think how much of the railways have been abandoned in our country . Not far from me in the East end of Glasgow there is abandoned track in the trees with a brake van, ventilated van and tank wagon still there.
@@TrekkingExploration You can get to it, but not officially 🤔 I've got photographs of them I took recently. They've just recently cut a lot of the trees round about them.
Hi I used to be in offices at the oil terminal it was owned by Phillips petroleum ,midland street long Eaton ,I worked for Murphy brothers who had oil offices there must have been 70s Asda there now
It's a real shame how toton yard ended up last time I went near there was attenborough for the last hst 125s the railways are needed more now but seem to be dieing a slow painful death great video
The railways are hardly dying. Pre-covid, passenger numbers were at record levels, way higher than in BR days. A lot of the freight's disappeared -- especially coal -- but passenger rail was very healthy until we started geting unhealthy.
Toton yard is quite local to me, though I haven't seen much of it from the Derbyshire side. The air raid shelter at 9:35 used to be accessible until fairly recently - a few feet inside there's a 90 degree turn to the right and beyond that it's blocked up with gravel.
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All on screen text regarding the West Yard should also include the East Yard 🙂
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This was the Mecca for train spotter's of the diesel era. The oil tank area was used to supply diesel for the many hundreds of locomotives that had Toton (TO) as their major depot. It is a shame that there aren't more videos of it during its heyday. I remember during the late 1970's that "The Master Cutler" service (Sheffield to St Pancras and return) was the only regular (Monday to Friday) passenger service that went through Toton. This often led to a flurry of activity from all of the spotters who were fortunate enough to have access to an East Midlands Ranger ticket to ride from Leicester to Sheffield during their school holidays and see the line up of Class 20's, 45's, 46's and if you were lucky 44's. Ah happy memories!
Saturday afternoon NREA trips in the 80s too
I went train spotting there with some mates about 1971. We travelled on a rail pass for the midlands that cost us 1.25 pounds. When we got to Long Eaton we walked to the yard and spotted some low-numbered Peaks, and had a great time until the police caught us and gave us a rolloking !
The tracks are a field away from where i use to live,we used to train hop as kids in the 70s upto toton sidings or the other way over the erewash and all the way up to stanton and Staveley.
These videos are awsome,im sat here reliving my youth.
Went to an open day at Toton, some time around 1970. We were able to wander freely through the cabs and engine bays of parked diesel locos. A different era!
People forget the mammoth-sized rail infrastructure this country had prior to the road really taking off, Empire decline and lack of investment in the last century. Many yards (well before the 1960's modernisation plan) stretched over huge areas and were unbelievably wide - after all, people forget the UK was THE global power not all that long ago, and we had the infrastructure to match.
Ain't that the truth. A clear depiction of Carlisle Kingmoor Yard between the 1950s and the 1980s -1990s can be seen through Train Simulator with the Western Lines of Scotland route and the West Coast Mainline over Shap route. Same location, but Kingmoor yard in the 1980s is just a fraction of what it was in the 1950s. Back in those days, the UK had some truly impressive infrastructure solutions. At least we can still see them via accurately made content for Train Simulator. Would've loved to be around in the 1950s.
Hi I grew up in Long Eaton in the 50's and 60's and spent hundreds of hours around Toton Sidings spotting, my father was a driver based at the yard so had trips around the sheds with him. Thanks for bring a lot of great memories back to me.
I'm so pleased about the memories that's what these are all about for me. That makes me smile. Thankyou for watching :)
Toton sheds hold a very special memory in not just my heart but my whole family as it's were my Grandad worked throughout his life until retiring in the late 70s..I remember on Xmas day he'd take us down to the sheds as kids and we were allowed to sit in the locos and walk around inside looking at the trains being worked on..brilliant memories from a brilliant Grandad.
Thanx for the upload it brings them memories back and I just wish he was still here to see his former works.
my Grandad would of been 106 yesterday, my mum texts me these anniversaries, born in Selston, he was a carpenter and worked right up to the 1980's and don't think he ever used a power tool, all hand saws and drills, incredible
Maintenance costs changed in the 80s and 90s as did overhaul requirements in the run up to privatisation and afterwards as well as the ongoing decline of steel and coal.
Used to work in and out of Toton during the 70's and early 80's as a Guide Bridge Guard .... nearly always at night and getting back to GB about 2am. ... After this i never went in the yards again. As you can see from my little pic I became a Driver and finished after 45 years service at M/cr Piccadilly. Happy Memories. An excellent video well done to all.
Yes Allan i remember those days well.I was your secondman on many occasions,and a Driver called Colin who used to cut peoples hair in his spare time. The Tannoys as i remember we had to stop the train and report to the yard staff and they would tell us when we could continue through the yard.
Hope you are doing ok my friend.I am still driving trains in New Zealand.
@@philb6989 Yes Phil nice to know that some of us are still about.. That Driver was called Colin Shawcross he died aged 84 some years ago. Nice to hear from you. Allan
i used to work the security Gatehouse at Toton siding at the Stapleford entrance and when i could go for a wonder i always found the place soooo interesting
People back then respected operational machinery or units, but lack of respect, or self awareness is the reason for all this health and safety. Loved your Colwick yard video, i now live in Nottingham
Hi Ant, great video, reminds me of the Tinsley marshaling yards on the Sheffield/ Rotherham border. It was huge in its heyday probably 20 or more tracks wide now sadly it has 3 active lines for loading freight. I use to pass it every day on my way to school & was fascinated by the huge scale of it. Great memories. ❤😊
Thanks for the memories Ant. When I became a teenager in '73 I had a personal tour around the yard one afternoon with my brother in law as the responsible adult and a willing member of staff ! Though still big I well remember just how big and busy it was. Coal was still king ! Thanks again.
I remember when I first appeared on the embankment around 1992. Jaw dropping. Even then it was spectacular. Thank you for watching 🙂
I used to be a driver at Toton in the early to mid nineties. Great memories
That's around the time I used to watch from the embankment. Thanks for watching 🙂
Pity Beecham had his way the railways could have been the future of the UK (Politicians poked their noses in for quick savings) All of the investment was put into road construction instead of investment in rail with the current situation of overcrowded roads, pollution and loss of the rail services. These services used to be able to get goods to within 5 miles of most areas. From where deliveries were done by locals, not HGVs.
HS2 is to late and will only be for passengers, the money would be better spent on putting some of the now derelict lines back in service just for goods. Toton yard is an example as this could be the marshalling yards for containers this would take huge amounts of HGVs off the roads and we would not have a shjortage of HGV drivers.
That brings back so many memories. That was our playground as young lads. We played in all the air raid shelters was about 20 shattered about. Brilliant video
Nice little history walk and very well shot. I learned a lot watching this. Thanks so much for sharing!
Cheers, from Canada 🇨🇦
This is pure recorded history. In 100 years people will be calling on this vid to understand what the hell they are looking at!
Well done. Keep it up.
Great video.
In the aerial photo at 3.22 the yard to the right was the East Yard as the name suggests trains departing from this yard worked to the East, March etc and the South. The location of the West Yard was located above the wagon repair shops where the loco is in steam (as you view from the photo) and as the name suggests trains worked Westwards towards Birmingham and further West and also towards Crewe to various destinations .On the very left of the picture that was known as Meadow Stowage yard which was a lot smaller than Meadow sidings. I started work at Toton in 1974 and had to learn all the yards. Such memories.
Very interesting and thanks for respecting the railway boundaries. I loved the old culvert bridge, they went to such a lot of trouble which these days would be a concrete pipe.
Thanks so much Don, glad you enjoyed it 😀
I'll be back make a second part in January. Hopefully finding similar locations in the UK too 👍🙂
Ex-Pat from Mansfield. Late 60's, early 70's. I used to watch coal trains from the pits in Mansfield area. Likely they ended up in these freight yards.
We bunked the sheds at Toton many times in the mid-late 'fifties. Mainly steam then - 8Fs, 9Fs, garratts, Midland 0-6-0s, a few early diesels. Heaven!
A tremendously informative piece of work and obviously a place close to your heart, which you could tell by the affectionate way you spoke about it throughout. You really do have your presentation skills right up to speed now. I was told, when training at the BBC, by a 'household name in radio' from the 70's/80's, that once you open the mic you are talking to one person, basically having a conversation, and that is what you are now doing. It draws the viewer in and makes them feel part of the video, brilliant work.
I remember the yards at toton 1970 what a place to be pure heaven for class 20s
Really enjoyed that. Love history and trains so I got some of each. Of course some lovely views too. Thanks so much for taking me along. Please stay safe and take care
Thanks for this insight. Must have been a real privilege to grow up with this extended "back yard". Never know what you've got till it's gone. Hope to view more of your work soon.
Fab drone footage. loved all the amazing colours. Great trek and findings. Music blended in so well. Thank you for Another Weill researched and enthusiastic vlog.
WOW! That brought back memories of when I was a child in the early 60s to mid 60s living in Toton. Toton Sidings were one of my playgrounds.
I spent the first 25yrs of my life in stapleford and this brings back memories of my childhood. We took the train from stapleford to long eaton every saturday to visit my grandmother.
The number of diesel locomotives that used to have a TO allocation in my 1980s spotting books! What a sign of the times.
Absolutly amazing it was, i always remember the first time i saw it
Brilliant video great memories
Used to play in the abandoned signal buildings and locomotives as a kid, early 90s
Spent a lot of my youth hanging around on Toton sidings on the Nottingham road side there used to be lots of disussed trains and a field which had about 6 to 10 air raid shelters in , good times thanks for the memories
Great video. I frequently walk the dog around these paths as we live close by. Remembering cycling from school in the 1970s to watch hump shunting. Loved seeing the peaks working, Class 44s still a favourite.
Memories for me are mainlt from the mid 90's. I still remember that first time i found the embankment. I like to think, however poor it may look to us now, that young enthusiasts still get that feeling of amazement when they first come across it :)
@@TrekkingExploration it's still good to stand on the bank and watch the trains running through the erewash valley! There might not be the number of trains or the variety of traction of course 😉
Another great & fantastic video of
Toton Yard -The Remains of a Giant - Abandoned & Forgotten Railway Explore!.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thanks Michael. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Fascinating video, I live in Toton and walk around much of this most days. It's very popular with dog walkers.
Explored this area in the late 1960's and then flew over here last year on a flight out of Peterborough.
Fascinating historical area.
Never made it here in the 80’s but got to tinsley yard.. what a sight..
Used to go up there in the late 70's train spotting, it was very busy, sad to see it's mostly all gone. Don't recognise much of where you went in your video, apart from the footbridge and embankment, but that's also true of Long Eaton when I go back, it's changed a hell of a lot. I don't like walking about where I used to go as a kid, it's too depressing. It's right what they say; never go back. Thanks......DA.
The bracket at 4:41 you found is known as a stretcher bar, it's the main part of the points/switch rails. It enables the turnout on S&C through the junction works (Points and crossings).
Cheers Stefan. Thanks so much 🙂
Wow! Epic as always. Great research, production and footage. Next up - your Colwick Yard video
When I was nursing in Nottingham in 1974 I was working with a fellow staff nurse by the name of Maureen Tinsley and she lived at Toton!!
I also remember parking in a layby on the A52 by the bridge over the yard. I went down the embankment and sat on my photo box by the road entrance the the loco shed. I was there a while taking colour slides when I got slung out! Still got the slides.
You are almost certainly right about the yard light stands having the lamp holder drop to ground level for servicing. This is much easier that sending someone up to the top... The method is still in use for some road lighting. The common features are a very tall pole and a cluster of lamps (usually) at the top. The particular ones to my knowledge are in Gloucester, close to the railway line triangle where traffic between Cheltenham and Swindon or Bristol can avoid entering Gloucester station, then reversing out. Thanks for the video, there is little left to remind us of the days when extensive, mixed rail freight was commonplace.
At one time, a couple of them still had the cables hanging down, used the flap against the post, sounded a bit like a yacht marina.
funny how past industrial use has meant it's now become a wild green space instead of more urban sprawl as next door. always amazing how well nature takes hold in oil-soaked ballast!
Another enjoyable and informative video Sir. The metal bracket at 4:40 is a stretcher bar. You'll find two or more of these fitted to sets of points, bolted between the movable switch rails.
Thanks Roy. Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the information too 🙂
You had me as soon as I heard that enchanting music at the start! Thanks as always. Now, I'll watch the following 28 mins, 30 seconds ;-)
I do have a big thing for the music I use. 😀
Glad you enjoyed it and hopefully Colwick too 🙂
Now I need to film another yard....
Another great video. I spent a lot of time in the yard in the mid to late 90s as they used to stable the Long welded rail train in there and we used to do our maintenance and checks on it. It has changed a lot by the look of it.
Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks so much for watching. It's shrunk vastly since I used to go in the 90s & early 2000s
I love urban exploration and you just took it up a notch. Thank you for my new obsession.
We live a 5 minute walk from Toton Sidings and our daughter loves looking at the "choo choos". Such a shame the sidings is a shadow of its former self. Its a magnet for fly tippers now unfortunately.
Keep up the good work with the videos. I particularly enjoyed the one of the Great Central Railway through West Bridgford. My road backed onto it and I have very fond memories of playing there in the summer holidays, finding old railway bits.
Thank you for the update and chat. Amazing how much you are familiar with the sites, makes you journeys a lot easier. See you on the next. Cheers Ant! 🏴🙂👍🇺🇸
A brilliant video, most interesting. Thanks for posting.👍👍
Love how nature soon takes it back
Definitely. Thanks for watching 🙂
In steam days, as midnight approached, on December 31st, the acres of locomotives here readied their whistles to blast in the new year.
I lived in Lancs and shed code 41A Toton, Stapleford and Sandacre was exotic, like a trainspotters Mecca. For us, a huge allocation of difficult to get locos. Very occasionally a Stanier 2-8-0 would come onto Horwich Works. Otherwise a long day trip.
I bet a lot of individuals came from far and wide for a day here and still do. The New Year memory sounds amazing. Thankyou for watching :)
Amazing how nature finds its way back too. Big thumbs up.
Thanks so much Paul 😀
i'm from long eaton moved away when i was 18 .so this was great to see thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching Tom I'm glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Thanks interesting. In mid 2000s i went in the aggregate sidings numerious times collecting recycled track ballast which was ground down aggregates for LARFARGE ( no longer ) now TARMAC crh & deliver to construction sites in Nottingham & Derby
thanks for this walk. had a shock when we came though on a charter last year.
It's very different to what it once was. Thank you for watching
@@TrekkingExploration I can emphasise with you as its like loosing a best pal. something you have grown up with. Had a similar feeling when Northampton Derngate bus station was converted into a public building .
Great film Ant, my Dad first took me to the Depot in September 1976 to spot the Class 44’s which were based at Toton.
I live on landsdown grove just close to the wagon yard. It still amazing how big the site used to be. Lived in long eaton all my life ( 42 years ) i grew up close to Main Nottingham to London line down from the old trent station. Great video sir
I spent a lot of time up there in the 90s. When i used to live in Trowell & work in Attenborough, i used to cycle the long way around to go over the embankment every evening :)
@@TrekkingExploration I would love to see somebody recreate this depot from the 60s in a Hornby scene set. Look forward to watching your next videos.
I use to live on Conway street 16 years ago.
Very interesting as always, would have loved to have visited when it was fully operational...
I use to live on Doncaster Grove from & worked for a contractor & was the last Person In Charge Of Possessions (PICOP) & Controller Of Site Safety (COSS) on engineering works when the signal box and signalling here & Trent was decommissioned & taken over by the East Midlands Control Centre (EMCC) London Rd Derby.
That is a massive area. Looking at those photo’s 😮 Incredible back in the day. Thx Ant 🙏🙂
4:39 I think that’s a rod that connects the 2 ends of a point switch … not sure what it’s name is but the v shaped section travelling from the frog of the points towards the 2 ends that move when the point is switched I think it’s the connecting bar between the 2 rail ends
Great video Ant my mate who moved to long Eaton in the early 70s used to take me there via the canal and fields on our bikes when we’re exploring 👍
Thanks for this wonderful video. I've always heard of Toton, but never knew much at the time. So I found this very interesting and informative.
It was massive! I wish I saw it back in the day with all our favourite BR blue locos.
Thank you for the info and the great drone footage.
I'd love for it to return to something that i can remember in the 90s. Som of the footage on RUclips is amazing. I'll be back to do a Part 2 very soon
I used to live in Toton . I remember walking past the sidings in 80's and 90's. I remember seeing trucks parked in the yard. I would walk along the hill from near Stapleford down to Long Eaton. I saw some of the tracks being lifted.
I used to spend many hours up here in the 90s plus it was also on my cycle home from work. Thankyou for watching :)
The big embankment on the Stapleford side once gave a good view of loco boneyards latterly redundant 60s. How 45015 remained there escaping both MCs and Berrys was a miracle.
A facinating video Ant, where would we be if people had not taken photographs of how it used to look like, hard to imagine now .
Awesome video blast from the past
Interesting to see what its like now compared to the massive yard it was
When I saw the drone footage i did I couldn't believe how slim it was. Almost nothing.
Good to know nature is reclaiming the area.
Doing Toton was the Holy Grail in the early 70s but I only made it once. We'd been to Derby Works open day and then jumped on a bus to Toton. Unfortunately when we got there the Police stopped us because everyone else had had the same idea, so I never actually made it round. It was like the German Army when it got within 12 miles of Moscow in WW2 but was then forced to retreat. So near but so far.
Awesome video Ant boy does this being back memories me my ex brother and ex father went on railway walks when we were kids and those old concrete lights and air raid shelters were there then although not the fencing around depot and there used to be horses and old burnt out signal boxes as well so what you were looking at certainly in terms of the old lights and air raid shelter are at least in excess of 30 years old we used to access area from path near long Eaton Asda and what was the old bt phone exchange many moons ago your videos are awesome
Grate video I lived in one of the railway owned houses 14 midland street my father worked at Toton siding as a yard Marshall, the oil storage yard was run owned by BP I use to watch the lorrys/tankers fill up .there was a small coal yard on the opposite side. path you walked down was known as blackpad I used to watch the steam trains from the old foot bridge as a young child I would stand and wait for the smoke and steam to come up through the wooden boards Grate fun 😀
My grandfather worked at the wagon works until he retired.
I've been down the old air raid shelter many times when I was a kid, I'm 69 now. There used to be a railway hostel opposite where the oil terminal is, which was at the end of Midland Terrace which had a row of railway houses on it, I lived in one of them with my parents until I was 12.
The old footbridge was Known as Long Tom.
There are plenty of old sleepers in amongst the trees, you used to find coal at one time.
Ans can I just say, that there is no such thing as points, it's a slang term, they are switches.
Exactly the route I take if I decide to cycle to Asda, been meaning to have more of a look round where you first started the video.
I worked on track for a few years but only ended up in Toton once and it was dark. 😔
The oil sidings you meanion at 1:10, was the Fina petroleum termimal for Long Eaton.
It was last used in 1993 and the land was quickly redeveloped for the Asda supermarket that is there now.
I remember the old Asda next door too when the new one was under construction staying open
There is 2 cylinder style air raid shelters on Toton yard one where you pointed out and another one across the other side
I fell into that shelter in the early 80's during a drunken short cut back from the pubs in long Eaton. An old hatch was missing and vegetation had grown over to the point of it looking like solid ground. I'd be screwed now because the entrance is bricked up but back in the day after a bit of an adventure I blundered out.
Also a couple of tunnels under the actual hill on the LE side and one that allowed you to cross under the railway.
What an interesting video!! I visited Toton only once in about 1983/4. Along with Tinsley it had a huge allocation of locomotives so, as a southern spotter, was very much on the must visit list. It's amazing to see how the site has shrunk over the years but the incredible thing is how nature, and specifically Silver Birches is reclaiming the land. Fascinating stuff, please keep up the good work - those drone shots are awesome!!!
Thanks so much Andy. It is a very tiny area now sadly, i was shocked when i saw it from above to be honest. Glad you enjoyed it :)
Brilliant we used get off at Long Eaton station and follow the canal up to Toton back in the 70s happy days
The Canal was the perfect route here :) Thanks for watching :)
Another interesting video Ant, just love all that railway nostalgia. Reminds me of childhood days back in the late 50’s and early 60’s when parents house used to back on to a railway embankment just by Harold Wood station in Essex. I used to climb through the fence and watch all the steam trains go by, happy uncomplicated days. 👍
Thank you for another very interesting video.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching 🙂
Another fab video. What I find fascinating, is what was heavy industry and how nature reclaims the land making it almost beautiful again. Its wrong they pull old buildings down for no reason. Thankyou for all your hard work making these videos. Xx ps love ur Northen accent lol.
It definitely has a kind of natural beauty about these places once nature takes over again. Glad you enjoyed it, and my accent. I'm guessing you are from the South? 🙂X
@@TrekkingExploration yep rich southern girl lol
@@christinecrockford1654 ha ha ha ha drinks on you then if we ever bump into each other 😂
Love to meet u for a coffee one day if ur that unlucky lol
@@christinecrockford1654 awwww of course. Message me on the Facebook page if you like 👍
Enjoyed that immensely, thank you. Been there a few times but never looked into it this deep, did beat a path around the whole site back in the early 90's I think. The line of class 60s now was a line of class 31s at the time!!! Wonderful to see it again.
This is excellent, thanks you!
Glad you enjoyed it Bryan
Hi buddy. An absolutely fantastic video of a special place in my train spotting days 👍🏻 I live in Manchester so a trip to Toton yard in the 70s was awesome 🤩 Shame it’s only a fraction of what it was once 😫 Take care and thanks for a lovely video.
I used to go trainspotting on the bank overlooking Toton depot in the early 90's, and there was a constant flow of coal trains.
I'd arrive at Long Eaton station, walk up from the south, over the bridge, and to the east side of the Wagon Repair Depot... past dozens of HAA coal hopper wheelsets.
A few times a year I'd do an overnight stay on the bank on a Friday night, and then head to Long Eaton station in the morning about 6-7am.
One one occasion, it was a misty morning, and when I reached the bottom, the mist was a really thin dense layer at weist height, thick enough that I couldn't see my feet!... so every dozen or so steps, I'd have to lean down and look below the mist to check I wasn't going to bump into any old sleepers, cable... and even make sure I was still on the trail.
The 90s were when i would be there quite frequent. Still a very busy location and rather large too. To think it really wasn't that long ago either.....
Great vid mate I did a similar walk there back in 2016..
Really Enjoyed That
!+)
Odd With The Sleepers
Strangely Arranged
Thanks very much. Yes they are at a strange angle
@@TrekkingExploration Nice Nice 😊
The Fencing , Maybe It's About Graffiti Writing ?
Even If Old Trains Or Trailers ?
Some People See It As An Eye 👀 Sore
...
Me Ah Think It Adds Colour To The Boring One Tone Stuff
, Like Concrete
Other Wise It May Jus Be To Show The Ground Border ?
Nay Trespass Etc
!+)
Have a look at the Wallasey dock railways. Most of it has gone but still lines visible with level crossings on way to Birkenhead. Just a suggestion.
In 1962 (or thereabouts) we used to cycle to Toton and watch the hump shunting being carried out from the hill overlooking the yard. It was very busy then, before the advent of heavy road haulage, along with it's congestion, pollution and accidents on the motorways. A shame that we couldn't continue with this intensive transport system, although the railways are clawing back some of the business, thanks to the speeding up of the freight side of the service and using locomotives that are capable of express speeds.
Used to do the same in the late seventies/early eighties and can still remember the sounds. There's a very interesting 5 minute clip of the Hump shunting control building and operation on RUclips narrated by John Peel
Great video , I really enjoyed this. It's sad to think how much of the railways have been abandoned in our country . Not far from me in the East end of Glasgow there is abandoned track in the trees with a brake van, ventilated van and tank wagon still there.
Wow that sounds amazing? Can you get to it?
Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for watching 🙂
@@TrekkingExploration
You can get to it, but not officially 🤔
I've got photographs of them I took recently. They've just recently cut a lot of the trees round about them.
Hi I used to be in offices at the oil terminal it was owned by Phillips petroleum ,midland street long Eaton ,I worked for Murphy brothers who had oil offices there must have been 70s Asda there now
Ding ding! I'm a tram and I approve this video :D
Wow lots to see amazing how much is still round take care xx
There's probably a lot more too x
It's a real shame how toton yard ended up last time I went near there was attenborough for the last hst 125s the railways are needed more now but seem to be dieing a slow painful death great video
From the drone footage i could not believe how slim the yard has become. Its crazy comparing it to the old photpgraphs. Thanks for watching :)
The railways are hardly dying. Pre-covid, passenger numbers were at record levels, way higher than in BR days. A lot of the freight's disappeared -- especially coal -- but passenger rail was very healthy until we started geting unhealthy.
Nice video, would have loved to see it in it's prime but still fancy a visit now if I am being honest!
Did a tunnel run from toton sidings into chilwell depot ? The oil terminal was behind asda not been threw there for along time 👍
No but there are loads of tunnels under Chilwell.
Great footage again, thanks
Thanks James 🙂
Toton yard is quite local to me, though I haven't seen much of it from the Derbyshire side. The air raid shelter at 9:35 used to be accessible until fairly recently - a few feet inside there's a 90 degree turn to the right and beyond that it's blocked up with gravel.
I've not missed out on much with the shelter then.... Thank you for watching :)
NICE TO SEE....THANK YOU