Trains Around Eastleigh and Southampton by John Jackson | Amberley Blog

It’s hard to believe that my first ever visit to Eastleigh railway station was just a few weeks after England’s football triumph in the 1966 World Cup final. What’s more, my memories of that Eastleigh visit are almost as vivid as that famous victory on the Wembley turf. I even remember some of the nameplates on the steam engines seen that Autumn Day, including Battle of Britian steam locos named Exeter and Templecombe. Of course, it wasn’t very long after that Eastleigh trip that ‘our’ beloved steam engines disappeared from ‘our’ rail network, to be replaced by ‘their’ diesel and electric loco successors. It seemed to me at the time that us ‘know it all’ rail enthusiasts were taking on the ‘know nothing’ establishment in an ‘us versus them’ battle. The steam enthusiasts were to lose of course, and, for many, the end of steam was also to be the end of their interest in the hobby.

Another British Rail blue-liveried Class 47 No. 47376 also carried an unofficial name: Skylark. These locomotive namings were a local initiative by Sheffield’s Tinsley depot staff involving locos allocated there towards the end of the 1980s. This Eastleigh stabling point view of No. 47376 was on Monday 20 July 1992 after the loco had been used on weekend infrastructure work. (Trains Around Eastleigh and Southampton, Amberley Publishing)

Not so for this rail enthusiast. By now, the lifelong love affair with the UK’s railways was in my blood. Almost six decades after that encounter with Battle of Britain and Merchant Navy locos, I continue to be regularly drawn back to the Eastleigh and Southampton area. When compiling ‘Trains around Eastleigh and Southampton’, published by Amberley Publishing earlier this year, I attempted to demonstrate why.

Of course, like the UK rail network generally, Eastleigh and Southampton have seen many significant changes through these 60 years. Many older readers will remember the British Rail ‘blue’ period when just about all traction sported that colour. Later, the attempt to split our railways into sectors brought many changes in loco liveries generating more variety on stabling points such as the one next to Eastleigh station.

The former Southern Region’s Class 73 electro-diesel locomotives also found work on these weekend infrastructure traffic duties. Class member No. 73108 was one of these to carry the yellow and grey Departmental livery and a regular visitor to both the stabling point at Eastleigh and, a little further north, at the Civil Engineers yard at Woking. (Trains Around Eastleigh and Southampton, Amberley Publishing)

The biggest transformation was brought about by the privatisation of our railways in the 1990’s. In this publication, I also take a look at these transitional years, as well as a detailed look at what has happened in this area in the three decades since.

Of course, some of those childhood railway bugs remain. I still get a thrill of anticipation as to what may be in store whenever I visit the area. What may be on view when looking at Eastleigh’s main rail yards, perhaps from the vantage point of a selected Travelodge window? Maybe it will be the glimpse of something unusual when gazing into the former Eastleigh Works from the Campbell Road bridge area.

Adulthood has brought with it the advantage of being slightly over 6 feet in height these days. That’s high enough for me to have an unrestricted view over most of the bridges in the area. In particular this big kid still revels in the excitement of that first look from the bridge close to Freightliner’s depot at Southampton Maritime.

I do hope that you’ll experience the journey through the pages of this Amberley publication. Perhaps you’ll see why I am repeatedly drawn back to the area and, who knows, maybe just a little of my excitement will rub off on you, too!

Trains Around Eastleigh and Southampton by John Jackson is available for purchase now.