Railway memories - HAPPY YULETIDE FOLKS 😀 :)

Wishing all my railway friends out there a Happy & Peaceful Christmas and a much better New Year than the last one 😀

Here to celebrate the passing of the old year and arrival of the new is a sneak-preview of one of my latest railway scans from the 1980s which I hope to be able to upload (time-allowing) in 2022!

Thanks to all for your support and kind messages over the last year - another great year of reminiscences, anecdotes and of course photography.

In this shot is Class 306 DTSO 65670 originally from unit 070 but reformed into 080 - quite a few of the units were reformed in their latter years when individual coaches were condemned. The old Liverpool Street-Shenfield Class 306 units made an unlikely sight stored at (of all places) Bradford Forster Square station! I thought at the time that they must have been on their way to one of the Northern scrapyards in the Sheffield / Rotherham area - perhaps Booth's - but Adrian Nicholls' informative caption to the colour picture in the comments section below tells otherwise. Certainly an odd combination of London-based EMUs seen in a withdrawn state at the non-electrified northern station - there was a lot of spare track there at the time with the once grand station having become dilapidated and partially disused. I think my photo would have been taken in January 1984 when there had been a heavy snowfall :)

'The Class 306 EMUs were introduced in 1949. They consisted of 92 three-car trains which were used on newly electrified suburban on the Great Eastern Main Line between Shenfield and London Liverpool Street.

The Class 306 units were built to a pre-World War II design by Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (Driving Trailer) and Metro Cammell (Driving Motor Brake and Trailer) and each carriage featured two sets of twin pneumatic sliding passenger doors, which could be opened by either the guard or the passengers, who could use buttons fitted inside and outside the doors. The order was placed by the LNER in 1938 but official delivery did not commence until February 1949.

Units being made up of three coaches, trains were formed up to three units (nine coaches) although off-peak trains formed of only two units (six coaches) could be seen.

Formations of 001-092
DMSO: 65201 to 65292
TBSO: 65401 to 65492
DTSO: 65601 to 65692
In all cases the last two digits of the unit number matched those of the coach numbers. The whole fleet was allocated to Ilford depot.

The Class 306 trains were withdrawn in the early 1980s, with 306017 preserved at Ilford depot. It had been repainted in a near original green livery, albeit with a yellow warning panel on the front to comply with then-current safety regulations. In the early 2000s, it was restored to operational condition by First Great Eastern. [Wiki - more info here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_306

Taken with a Soviet made Zenith TTL camera and standard lens. From an original slide, scanned and unrestored.

And in my time-honoured tradition, I'll be posting some of my favourites from all your superb photographs in the comments section below...

You can see a random selection of my railway photos here on Flickriver: www.flickriver.com/photos/themightyhood/random/

Taken in: UK / England / Bradford (show map)

Taken on: January 1, 1984

Tags:

080

306080

Class 306

EMU

Station

Bradford

Bradford Forster Square

Snow

derelict

Scrap

Withdrawn

070

306070

E65670 « less

Sets appears in: • My personal favourites • Station Scenes more » • The Scrapline • EMUs « less

Groups appears in: • train stations -+- gares -+- bahnhöfe • Rail more » • Trains and railways • Railway • Flickritis: over 87,000 waiting for a vaccine. • I Love Trains • UK Railways • The Best Of Your Best: Post 4 Comment on 2 NEW CONTEST • **FlickrsBest** • ! ! "Best Of Flickr Level 1 +15 faves P1/fav/AW 3 • Flickr Elite Group • "Exemplary Shots - Flickr's BEST! (Post 1 Award 3)" • flickr BEST PHOTO • *Best of Flickr* (Comment 1 / invite 2) PHOTOS ONLY • British Rail Steam, Diesel and Electric Traction • Your best photo on Flickr • Railway Photographers • BRITISH RAILWAYS • RailwayWorld • British Diesel & Electric Trains • British Electric Multiple Units • LIFE ON THE RAILWAYS • BEST FLICKR PHOTOGRAPHY- Children's World Contest - Vote Now • UK Railway Stations • British Multiple Units • UK Trainz • GB Railways • BEST OF THE BEST (Invited Images ONLY--POST 1, AWARD 2) • Railway Scrap Line: Withdrawn, Condemned and Cut-up • *Flickr's BEST* - SERIOUS Photographers - Post 1/Comment 3 • Urban Photography • UK Class 303/306/311 - BR Sliding Door EMU's • Rail UK: BR Blue Livery • Classic UK rail traction • EXPRESS YOURSELF ✲ rules changed: NO 2end LIFE! - • UK Train Pics • ***Flickr Global • Flickrs Best Photos • Reality Railway Pictures • Railways in the snow • Zenit Central • British Rail 80s and 90s • Best of the Best on Flickr • PLANET EARTH BACK IN THE DAY • British Railways (1948 to 1995) • Trains in the 70's, 80's and the 90's • British Rail • Railway Ruins & Remains • Best FLICKR Photo (post 3 / award 3) • UK Rail Images (no post limit) • Railways in the UK • Anything Railway • All Out Train's • ` FLICKR ´ • Trains of the UK • Withdrawn, damaged & Scrap Loco's • UK Railway Atlas • UK Train - Best Shots • Diesel & Electric Multiple Units / HST's / Trams of the World. • UK Railway photos • Flickr Social • BR CLASSIC TRACTION PHOTO SHOWCASE - BEST OF THE BEST (NEW) • British Rail 1980's Depots, works and stabling points • Transport Scenes That Are Now Lost To History. [No 30/60 limit. • First Generation Multiple Units. • The best photographs from around the world. • British Rail 1970-1997, the Bashing years « less

Stats: 4,647 views / 9 comments

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: