[Source: Nick Catford] Fawley Station Gallery 2: 1 January 1956 - 20 March 1966
On 18 September 1960 Class H16 4-6-2T No.30516 has arrived at Fawley with the Locomotive Club of Great Britain 'The South Western Limited' railtour. This tour originated at Cannon Street and ended at Waterloo taking in the Alton - Winchester line, the Ringwood loop, Fawley and a run from Templecombe to Salisbury behind Somerset & Dorset 2-8-0 No.53804. Various locomotives were used, with No.30516 used only on the Eastleigh - Fawley and return to Totton legs. The Urie H16 class consisted of just five examples, intended for use on cross-London freight workings from Feltham yard. At the time of this photograph No.30516 was allocated to Eastleigh but she returned to Feltham in May 1962 and was withdrawn in November of the same year. The class became extinct with the withdrawal of No.30517 in December 1962. The coaching stock used on the railtour was 9RB (9-car Restaurant Buffet) set No.352, one of five sets, 350-354, allocated to Waterloo - Southampton Docks Ocean Liner Boat Trains. These sets comprised mainly BR Mk1 stock with one or two Bulleid vehicles depending upon the specific set. There were two sub groups, 350-352 and 353-354, the difference being variations in types of passenger accommodation. It would appear that carriage roofboards were in place at Fawley and had probably remained in situ following use on a boat train service. BR Mk1 stock roofboards were mounted below the cantrail, whereas on Bulleid stock they were mounted about the cantrail so when roofboards were applied to trains of mixed stock the resulting appearance looked quite odd. In the left background of this view can be seen Fawley's locomotive water tower while the rest of the scene is somewhat dominated by the accoutrements of the oil refinery. Visible are Esso tank wagons in two different liveries. Liveries were, of course, updated from time to time but tank wagons used by oil companies had livery variations, affecting both tanks and underframes, according to the particular product carried.
Photo copyright Colour Rail 340960 Another view of No.30516 after arrival at Fawley with the Locomotive Club of Great Britain 'The South Western Limited' railtour on 18 September 1960.
Photo by John Cramp from Flickr 30937 Photographic Database Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2T No.41328 stands at Fawley sometime after September 1961 and before DEMUs monopolised the regular service the following year. A batch of these locomotives was built new for use on the Southern Region, Nos. 41290-41319, with No.41328 being intended for London Midland Region use. She was shedded at Southport until September 1961 when she moved south to Eastleigh where she was fitted with the Southern arrangement of lamp/disc irons as visible here. She was also push-pull fitted but the equipment appears to have been removed by the time of this photograph for some mysterious and rather pointless reason. Withdrawal came in July 1964 and No.41328 was not among the class members to make it into preservation. The train is Bulleid 3-set No.823 for which specific details have not come to light, but it probably comprised a BSK at each end sandwiching a CK.
Photo copyright Colour Rail 304457 The 'Hampshire Venturer' railtour organised by the Southern Counties Touring Society stands at Fawley on 10 March 1963. This tour began at Victoria and ended at Waterloo. It took in Bulford Camp and Southampton Eastern Docks, both already visited by the time the tour reached Fawley. One of the locomotives used, on the Victoria - Andover Junction and Salisbury to Southampton Eastern Docks legs, was the then semi-preserved T9 No.120. Motive power for the Fawley branch was USA class 0-6-0T No.30074 which took over from No.120 at the docks and worked to Fawley and back as far as Eastleigh from where S15 No.30510 returned the train to London. Specific details of the tour train rolling stock do not appear to have been recorded but from photographs taken at various locations we know it comprised seven coaches and a hotchpotch of BR Mk1, Bulleid and Maunsell vehicles at that. The vehicle behind No.30074 appears to be a Maunsell Lavatory Brake Third, technically Second Class by this date. There is a set number on its near end but it cannot be identified owing to the drifting steam. The carriage was probably part of a disbanded set but still bore its former set number. Roofboards were carried and the differing mounting bracket positions according to stock design frankly made the train look a total mess. The roofboards were elaborate affairs, some may say overkills, with the inscriptions divided into three sections; left 'Southern Counties Touring Society' on two lines; centre 'The Hampshire Venturer' will full depth lettering; right 'Victoria - Bulford Camp - Southampton Docks - Fawley - Waterloo' squeezed onto two lines. The three sections were segregated by two heavy vertical lines. There was also a locomotive headboard, a simple rectangular affair, but it is not visible in this view. The USA tanks have been given brief descriptions elsewhere but No.30074 is rather interesting. She was numerically the last of the batch purchased by the Southern Railway (SR) and was allocated No.74 but never carried it. Entering service with the SR on 18 May 1946, she did so still bearing her War Department number 4326 on her cabsides and on her tanks 'Transportation Corps' and 'US Army' on two lines. She entered British Railways service still in this condition and eventually became BR No.30074 on 16 October 1948. Quite why this happened is apparently not recorded but a clue may lie in the fact that she entered service with the SR some months before the remainder (which entered service between April and November 1947). Therefore it is possible she was used as a 'test bed' to determine modifications required and thus a repaint was not bothered with at the time. She was withdrawn immediately after her jaunt along the Fawley branch but reappeared the following month as departmental No.DS236 and very smart she looked too, having been given a repaint for her new duties. Unlike some of her sisters who went on to see the end of steam on the Southern Region, she was finally withdrawn in August 1965 and scrapped at Eastleigh Works. Scrapping was by contractors (Cohen), suggesting she may have been withdrawn following a major failure which rendered her unfit to travel.
Photo by William Burns A general view of Fawley station looking towards Totton sometime in British Railways days. Observations include the concrete running-in board, Southern 'target' nameplate, grounded van body, lower quadrant signal, signal box and wagons in the goods siding. On the right stands the water tower with, far right, an H16 class 4-6-2T engaged on shunting duties and complete with shunters pole resting against the rear buffer. The water tower installed at Fawley was of a type known as 'Parachute' owing to its shape. They could be seen all over Britain, mainly on branch lines and at locations in remote areas, and were also common abroad.
Photo from John Mann collection The somewhat cluttered, but nonetheless quite charming, Totton end of Fawley station platform is seen in British Railways days. Visible are one of Fawley's two concrete running-in boards, lower quadrant signal, signal box and part of the goods shed. The clinker platform surface is also evident. In the distance are two trains but unfortunately image quality rules out positive identification. From what can be seen, one is a steam tank locomotive with a train of tank wagons and the other is a diesel shunter also with a rake of tank wagons. The diesel likely belonged to Esso and, from what little can be determined, it is a quite early machine with small, squat steam-style chimney - a feature found on many diesel shunters at one time. The nature of oil refineries dictates that non-steam locomotives are highly desirable and over the years Fawley had some antiquated Fowler shunters from the 1930s, at least one North British shunter virtually identical to the original BR D2700 series and, no doubt, many others.
Photo from John Mann collection
A 'Hampshire' DEMU (Diesel Electric Multiple Unit) awaits departure from Fawley sometime in the early 1960s when these units had taken over the service from steam. The vehicle partially visible is the driving trailer with its first class section and lavatory. These units are described in more detail elsewhere. Of note is the running-in board complete with raised lettering (see September 2016 picture) and the wooden-arm lower quadrant signal. Such signals might be considered an anachronism by this time but they remained common on branch lines and were swept away, not so much through modernisation but by line closures as a result of the so-called ‘Beeching cuts’. That at Fawley disappeared following the cessation of regular passenger services, its job as Up Starter being redundant. It was replaced by an upper quadrant signal beyond the signal box and better suited to freight train operation.
Photo from Jim Lake collection The rather austere rendered station building at Fawley, photographed during British Railways days. By this time the casement lamps on the building had been replaced by electric lighting. The overhead cables appear to be electricity rather than telephone and, no doubt, supply the lamps both further along and opposite the platform as well as those in and on the station building. The hut which the grounded van body butts up to was the lamp room. The large sign is a Southern Railway ‘Smoking Prohibited’ warning while the plaque lower down states simply 'Lamps'. A train of tank wagons is at the platform; this would occur when siding capacity was stretched but mostly to allow the incoming locomotive to be released. These movements, until 1966 of course, had not to interfere with passenger trains.
Photo from John Mann collection The somewhat cluttered but nonetheless quite charming Totton end of Fawley station platform in British Railways days. A train of tank wagons is at the platform; this would occur when siding capacity was stretched but mostly to allow the incoming locomotive to be released.
Photo from John Mann collection USA tanks Nos.30064 and 30073 at Fawley on 20 March 1966, a few weeks after Fawley had closed to regular passenger services. The occasion was the RCTS 'The Solent Railtour' which started and ended at Waterloo. The USA tanks were used on the Southampton Ocean Terminal - Fawley - Southampton Terminus leg. Both locomotives are in lined malachite green and of this pair No.30064 has survived into preservation while No.30073 was withdrawn and scrapped in 1967.
Photo from Mike Morant collection Click here for Fawley Station Gallery 3:
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