Something in the Solent area - Southampton to Fawley with Hastings diesel

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Keep 13th May 2017 free ... follow up in a few days

[TonyK]

Oooh! Hopefully, I will be somewhere in the solvent area then.

[paul7575]

Oooh! Hopefully, I will be somewhere in the solvent area then.

Financially, or something involving misuse of glue?   

Paul

[TonyK]

Certainly a fiscal issue. A friend who tried the other one came to a sticky end.

[JayMac]

Portsmouth Beer Festival that day.

A wrong turn after imbibing well and one could end up in the Solent.

[grahame]

For a spoon full of sugar, the Solent is a solvent ...

[TonyK]

Portsmouth Beer Festival that day.

A wrong turn after imbibing well and one could end up in the Solent.

Is that what they call Insolent?


(I can see where this is going. I have my coat at the ready)

[grahame]

http://www.hastingsdiesels.co.uk/railtours/2017waterside.pdf

THE FAWLEY FORESTER - Saturday 13 May 2017

Promoted by the Three Rivers Community Rail Partnership

Our train has been chartered by the Three Rivers Community Rail Partnership to run three shuttle-trips between Southampton Central and Fawley, on the old Waterside Line through Marchwood and Hythe. Its passenger service was withdrawn in 1966, and freight trains ceased serving Fawley oil refnery in 2016. This outing promotes the potential re- opening of the line to passengers, and celebrates the Partnership’s 10th anniversary.

Rather than send the train empty to Basingstoke to begin the charter, we made it an outing in its own right. Our train will run via the L&SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) Main Line to Southampton Central, then make its frst of three shuttle trips to Fawley, calling at Totton in both directions. After returning to Southampton it will then make two further shuttle trips to Fawley. The train’s third and fnal departure from Fawley will be the start of its journey back to Hastings.

[rogerw]

It's a shame that this clashes with the Minehead trip

[grahame]

http://www.hastingsdiesels.co.uk/railtours/2017waterside.pdf

THE FAWLEY FORESTER - Saturday 13 May 2017

Promoted by the Three Rivers Community Rail Partnership

From a post of mine elsewhere ...

What are you doing on 13th May?  I am spoiled for choice!   

There's a special train to Minehead - connection (included) from Swindon and 08:36, Chippenham at 08:53 and Melksham at 09:02 - all profits to a local charity and a very reasonable price of £35 per person / £30 per person for a group. See http://www.125group.org.uk/gwr-charity-hst-to-minehead/

And there's a special train running from Southampton via Totton and Hythe to Fawley - a rare opportunity to travel by train to the refinery gates.  See http://www.hastingsdiesels.co.uk/railtours/2017waterside.pdf

TransWilts are working closely with the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) team to help promote the Minehead service by High Speed Train, and with Three Rivers CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership) to help promote the Fawley trip on the Hastings Diesel. The trips are so different that I expect the choice of where to go to be a "no brainer" for most people. 

Personally I hope to make it to Fawley; Minehead is a much better leisure destination, but with TransWilts hopes to link Swindon - Westbury, Westbury - Salisbury and Salisbury - Southampton services in the not-too-distant future (giving through services such as Swindon to Salisbury and Chippenham to Southampton Airport), the Southampton connection is really important for us for our ongoing day to day business ... and it's possible that at some future date the service from Swindon would end up at ... a new station at Fawley.

[grahame]

Wow!   ... what a trip!   ... here's a first taster picture - more to follow.

[Chris from Nailsea]

In the interests of clarity and continuity, I have moved a few posts from this topic and merged them with a wider, ongoing, discussion of the possibility of reopening the former rail line between Hythe and Totton, at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=10308.msg213783#msg213783

However, I also include a copy here of the content of grahame's post about the 'Fawley Forester' excursion in particular:

What a fascinating trip to Fawley - a huge thanks to the Three Rivers Community Rail Partneship and to Hastings Diesels for organising it. With a choice of special trips yesterday to Minehead (a lovely town) and to Fawley (at the gates of an oil refinery, with no chance to get off), I chose the latter ...























Pictures all taken yesterday; some are informational shots rather than good pictures!

[ChrisB]

I think you also need to update post #4139 to make the reference to '#post 4' relevant again

[stuving]

I heard something unusual going through Wokingham station - non-stop, and just different-sounding - and looked out just in time to see its flat rear face and greener green colour. Looking on RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) I find it's a 100 mph EMU^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) going to Keynsham.

A what??? Closer examination shows that it started from Hastings, which provides an explanation, but only if it's really a DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit). Does labelling it an EMU have no effect at all? No-one get twitchy when it insists on charging up the bank and into P8 at Reading? (Special permission to go over the viaduct, apparently.) And as for 100 mph, that's going to be a challenge.

And then a bit later, another episodic visitor that's obviously a tour of some kind, and turns out to be from High Wycombe to Redhill (?). Due back later on its way from Caterham to Eastleigh (). Oh well, that's just a whole new kettle of fishy behaviour.

[grahame]

A what??? Closer examination shows that it started from Hastings, which provides an explanation, but only if it's really a DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit). Does labelling it an EMU^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) have no effect at all?

It's both - a diesel electric multiple unit.  Diesel engine generates the electricity which then runs the motors to drive the wheels around.