My home station and especially the 08805 doing the lift replacement service as they had just started to update the lifts to each of the platforms. I did that shuttle many times and what's even better my old man was the signaller at Coventry during that time. A superb video of how it was back in the day.
I knew your dad when he was a signalman at Coventry, i was a shunter at the time, and when he moved to Rugby. He was what we called " A good old boy ". When I went driving and worked for Freightliner, we had to stable locos in the bay platforms at Rugby. I always used to ring the box via the NRN when I was approaching and if he answered I knew 99% of the time I was going to get straight in with no messing about. I hope he's still with us, and that he's keeping well.
Superb video, and bought back many happy memories of my time working at this station. The 08+BG as already commented on below, was to facilitate the lift replacement work to enable people who could non manage stairs to get from one platform to another.But also to get parcels and royal mail bags from the P1 to the the other platforms. 'Brutes' were used to convey the parcel/mail traffic into the BG and get them over to the platforms as the 4 wheel barrows would not fit into the BG. It was very hard work at times especially evenings as we would take 10+ brutes a at a time sometimes two trips were needed to meet the trains. At that time Coventry was a significant Royal Mail distribution hub and a lot of mail traffic was transported from the station to Bagginton Airfield to transfer to aircraft. The BG had to be changed every 2-3 days to ensure it got maintenance. Towards the end you see a Cl85 and a rake of mixed passenger/sleeper and parcel vans pass through P2 heading south/ This was a Doncaster - Wolverton ECS train that picked up and dropped off vehicles at all the carriage depots along that route, with vehicles off repair or needing repair at the locations.
Enjoyed that, thanks. Never realised there were so many 85s still in top link service. Had an amazing run behind 033 stockport-coventry early 80s. Definitely no slouch. The 33 from Leamington direction was a nice touch at the end.
Love seeing and hearing all those 85s. Caught a few at Carlisle towards their end. The 92s are noisy when the blowers are on but they cant beat an 85 for character.
Excellent video, many thanks for posting. Still enjoy the sound of those AC electrics. Brings back many fond memories. As you say, still a significant number of 85's around and also a variety 47's before the 47/8's took over the cross country workings.
Gotta love those old AC leccies. I'd forgotten how loud the 86/87s would scream at you as they slowed down with the rheostatic brake blowers howling away, blasting hot air out the top like a diesel! - A very evocative sound. The 310s also looked rather nice with their original wrap around screens, though I don't recall ever seeing them this way myself. Most were on the GEML with flat screens by the time I got to see them.
Superb again, never seen an O8 at Cov! Loads of Roarer action too. Presume the 33 came off there for an 85? Mate of mine was a trainman at Reading around then and told me about that train, I never saw it there
Yes it was Reading turn and If my memory serves me right the train went through to Nst.....possibly had an engine dhange, hence the Light 85 just prior....many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
Used to love catching the old 86/87 hauled trains down to London most weeks during the football season in the 80s from Stafford to Euston, and the 310s from home to work during the summers. Lovely memories.
Thanks for a really good video of everyday workings. The 47 is simply majestic in my opinion. The 33 was such a good all rounder. 85s 86s and 87s pulling 12 carriages. Is it me, but I swear trains ran better, had more space and were more frequent back then.
Less frequest, but considerably more seats. Definitely more comfortable seats as well. And I would say a smoother ride too. People think I'm looking through rose tinted glasses but the seating and ride quality in some of the more recent units is just shockingly poor.
A great video. I lived up the road in Kenilworth, the roller-coaster line, and spent many happy days there and have many fond memories of my times there. I live in Australia now and it's great to take a look down memory lane. Maybe I'll get round to posting all my videos one day.
I used to love the 310s because you could see out of the front behind the driver. My favourite were the 304s though and in the early days there was one compartment with a door each side but no corridor connection. Not really safe for females on their own though. I lived in the top part of Canley, closest station Tile Hill. Down the road from my street you could see the Class 40s going to the Mobil oil terminal on the other side of the line. I grew up hating BR Blue though, much prefered green locos and maroon coaches. Only saw one steam loco when I was about 3 or 4 years old at Coventry Station. I don't know where we were going at the time but mum took me across the platform to see this big black beast. It let off steam and I went running back to my dad crying. I remembered the shape though, it stuck in my memory. Later in life I recognised it as an Ivatt so not actually that big for a steam engine. Coventry had 2 on shed so it was probably one of those, light loco. I possibly saw a Jinty go past in Canley light loco in about 1966 but my memory is hazy of that. I did see rebuilt and unrebuilt Bulleids though with Up & Dn Bournemouth Belles on their way from and to Bournemouth West. We were on holiday in Bournemouth and my gran lived not far away in Winton. Little did I know that 23 years later I would be working trains out of Bournemouth West NSE depot. Retired now after 31 wonderful years.
What fantastic and nostalgic memories of your younger days.....We must be around the same age, as I can vaguely remember steam around West London and Hampshire. You must have loved your career and like myself miss it terribly.....Many thanks and my best wishes to you....Matk
Towards the beginning of the film, 47519 was working 1S87 13.15 Brighton to Glasgow Central between Brighton and Birmingham New Street, she overnighted at Saltley Depot and then worked down to Poole from BNS the next day. Halfway through the film 47553 was on 1O13 15.30 Liverpool Lime Street to Poole after coming North that morning on 1M88 06.40 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly. Leccy 85014 was on 1A68 17.24 Wolverhampton to London Euston. 47662 was on 1M23 15.08 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly between Poole and Birmingham New Street.
Thanks for the film. I was local to Nuneaton and preferred watching there for the freight workings and the action in the engineering sidings. Do you have any footage of Nuneaton in the 80s? The Gronk is running heavy items between platforms while the goods lifts where out of action. I remember hearing one of the last Class 03s did this duty for a while, don’t know if anyone can verify.
Used to love spotting at Coventry sometimes a class 50 would thunder by on postal train or even better 2x class 33 on specials. most of our time was at Nuneaton my home town due to the famous drags on sunday would happen until the bad days when all the locos for vic berrys and the stack would come to Nuneaton lines of class 25-27 class 45 sad days really miss the proper locos.
Excuse my French... but bloody hell....310's & 317's!!. Absolute hellfire traction ...and the sound of those 87's 😀😀😀 What do we have now... wall to wall 350's and 390's. They call it progress, really 😢😢😢
Strange seeing 08805 there in that livery, i am on the train most days between telford and brum and that very same shunter in that very same livery is parked up at Soho depot !!!
My home town where my youthful years as a spotter began. I remember seeing a lot of things there, including a Class 44 Peak a couple of times in the late 70's but I never saw a 33....
I did happen to work once the Dover - Manchester TPO through to Coventry with a 33 back in 1995 ish....have to look up my records....many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
In the 80’s - I’m not sure when it finished - there was a Fridays Only Portsmouth - Leeds service which was diagrammed for a 33. It came off at New St, spent a couple of days at Saltley and returned on Sunday, taking over a Leeds-Portsmouth, again at New St.
Can you share this video with Cross Country trains?😂 The good old days when you could get a seat between Oxford and Birmingham, and the trains had space for more than about 5 suitcases! In 35 years the comfort has gone backwards and cost has rocketed!
Many as Andret states were mostly late or very early in the day and worked some of the sleepers....You're very welcome...many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
My home station and especially the 08805 doing the lift replacement service as they had just started to update the lifts to each of the platforms. I did that shuttle many times and what's even better my old man was the signaller at Coventry during that time.
A superb video of how it was back in the day.
many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
I knew your dad when he was a signalman at Coventry, i was a shunter at the time, and when he moved to Rugby. He was what we called " A good old boy ". When I went driving and worked for Freightliner, we had to stable locos in the bay platforms at Rugby. I always used to ring the box via the NRN when I was approaching and if he answered I knew 99% of the time I was going to get straight in with no messing about. I hope he's still with us, and that he's keeping well.
Excellent film of Coventry station and the trains that passed through atb the time of filming. Love seeing the 85's
many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
Superb video, and bought back many happy memories of my time working at this station.
The 08+BG as already commented on below, was to facilitate the lift replacement work to enable people who could non manage stairs to get from one platform to another.But also to get parcels and royal mail bags from the P1 to the the other platforms. 'Brutes' were used to convey the parcel/mail traffic into the BG and get them over to the platforms as the 4 wheel barrows would not fit into the BG. It was very hard work at times especially evenings as we would take 10+ brutes a at a time sometimes two trips were needed to meet the trains. At that time Coventry was a significant Royal Mail distribution hub and a lot of mail traffic was transported from the station to Bagginton Airfield to transfer to aircraft. The BG had to be changed every 2-3 days to ensure it got maintenance.
Towards the end you see a Cl85 and a rake of mixed passenger/sleeper and parcel vans pass through P2 heading south/ This was a Doncaster - Wolverton ECS train that picked up and dropped off vehicles at all the carriage depots along that route, with vehicles off repair or needing repair at the locations.
many thanks for watching and for the comment..most informative, thanks and.best wishes....Mark
Enjoyed that, thanks. Never realised there were so many 85s still in top link service. Had an amazing run behind 033 stockport-coventry early 80s. Definitely no slouch. The 33 from Leamington direction was a nice touch at the end.
The 33 was all the way from Tonbridge at that time....Many thanks for your kind comment and best regards...Mark
Excellent- such variety in everything in those days, locos, coaches and station furniture
Love seeing and hearing all those 85s. Caught a few at Carlisle towards their end. The 92s are noisy when the blowers are on but they cant beat an 85 for character.
Excellent video, many thanks for posting.
Still enjoy the sound of those AC electrics. Brings back many fond memories.
As you say, still a significant number of 85's around and also a variety 47's before the 47/8's took over the cross country workings.
many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
Superb. Thanks for posting. This takes me right back to such wonderful days.
You're very welcome......many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
Absolutely fantastic...
You're very welcome...many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
Gotta love those old AC leccies. I'd forgotten how loud the 86/87s would scream at you as they slowed down with the rheostatic brake blowers howling away, blasting hot air out the top like a diesel! - A very evocative sound. The 310s also looked rather nice with their original wrap around screens, though I don't recall ever seeing them this way myself. Most were on the GEML with flat screens by the time I got to see them.
many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
Superb again, never seen an O8 at Cov! Loads of Roarer action too. Presume the 33 came off there for an 85? Mate of mine was a trainman at Reading around then and told me about that train, I never saw it there
Yes it was Reading turn and If my memory serves me right the train went through to Nst.....possibly had an engine dhange, hence the Light 85 just prior....many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
Used to love catching the old 86/87 hauled trains down to London most weeks during the football season in the 80s from Stafford to Euston, and the 310s from home to work during the summers. Lovely memories.
You're very welcome..Many thanks for watching and for the comment...my best regards...Mark
Thanks for a really good video of everyday workings. The 47 is simply majestic in my opinion. The 33 was such a good all rounder. 85s 86s and 87s pulling 12 carriages. Is it me, but I swear trains ran better, had more space and were more frequent back then.
They were definitely less frequent!
But the other things you say were true!
Less frequest, but considerably more seats. Definitely more comfortable seats as well. And I would say a smoother ride too.
People think I'm looking through rose tinted glasses but the seating and ride quality in some of the more recent units is just shockingly poor.
many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
A great video. I lived up the road in Kenilworth, the roller-coaster line, and spent many happy days there and have many fond memories of my times there. I live in Australia now and it's great to take a look down memory lane. Maybe I'll get round to posting all my videos one day.
Please do post them. I live in Kenilworth and it has/is expanding at a totally unsustainable rate...
many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
Brilliant memories of trainspotting in the late 1980s
You are very welcome and many thanks....Mark
I used to love the 310s because you could see out of the front behind the driver. My favourite were the 304s though and in the early days there was one compartment with a door each side but no corridor connection. Not really safe for females on their own though.
I lived in the top part of Canley, closest station Tile Hill. Down the road from my street you could see the Class 40s going to the Mobil oil terminal on the other side of the line.
I grew up hating BR Blue though, much prefered green locos and maroon coaches. Only saw one steam loco when I was about 3 or 4 years old at Coventry Station. I don't know where we were going at the time but mum took me across the platform to see this big black beast. It let off steam and I went running back to my dad crying.
I remembered the shape though, it stuck in my memory. Later in life I recognised it as an Ivatt so not actually that big for a steam engine.
Coventry had 2 on shed so it was probably one of those, light loco.
I possibly saw a Jinty go past in Canley light loco in about 1966 but my memory is hazy of that. I did see rebuilt and unrebuilt Bulleids though with Up & Dn Bournemouth Belles on their way from and to Bournemouth West. We were on holiday in Bournemouth and my gran lived not far away in Winton.
Little did I know that 23 years later I would be working trains out of Bournemouth West NSE depot. Retired now after 31 wonderful years.
What fantastic and nostalgic memories of your younger days.....We must be around the same age, as I can vaguely remember steam around West London and Hampshire. You must have loved your career and like myself miss it terribly.....Many thanks and my best wishes to you....Matk
The 33 at the end was the icing on the cake.
Yes the 33 worked through from Tonbridge....Many thanks and best wishes.....Mark
Towards the beginning of the film, 47519 was working 1S87 13.15 Brighton to Glasgow Central between Brighton and Birmingham New Street, she overnighted at Saltley Depot and then worked down to Poole from BNS the next day. Halfway through the film 47553 was on 1O13 15.30 Liverpool Lime Street to Poole after coming North that morning on 1M88 06.40 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly. Leccy 85014 was on 1A68 17.24 Wolverhampton to London Euston. 47662 was on 1M23 15.08 Poole to Manchester Piccadilly between Poole and Birmingham New Street.
Excellent information, greatly appreciated and my best wishes to you Stephen....Mark
Thanks for the film. I was local to Nuneaton and preferred watching there for the freight workings and the action in the engineering sidings. Do you have any footage of Nuneaton in the 80s? The Gronk is running heavy items between platforms while the goods lifts where out of action. I remember hearing one of the last Class 03s did this duty for a while, don’t know if anyone can verify.
Used to love spotting at Coventry sometimes a class 50 would thunder by on postal train or even better 2x class 33 on specials. most of our time was at Nuneaton my home town due to the famous drags on sunday would happen until the bad days when all the locos for vic berrys and the stack would come to Nuneaton lines of class 25-27 class 45 sad days really miss the proper locos.
Like many of us too....good old memories...Many thanks and best wishes....Mark
Excuse my French... but bloody hell....310's & 317's!!. Absolute hellfire traction ...and the sound of those 87's 😀😀😀
What do we have now... wall to wall 350's and 390's. They call it progress, really 😢😢😢
Strange seeing 08805 there in that livery, i am on the train most days between telford and brum and that very same shunter in that very same livery is parked up at Soho depot !!!
many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
My home town where my youthful years as a spotter began. I remember seeing a lot of things there, including a Class 44 Peak a couple of times in the late 70's but I never saw a 33....
I did happen to work once the Dover - Manchester TPO through to Coventry with a 33 back in 1995 ish....have to look up my records....many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
In the 80’s - I’m not sure when it finished - there was a Fridays Only Portsmouth - Leeds service which was diagrammed for a 33. It came off at New St, spent a couple of days at Saltley and returned on Sunday, taking over a Leeds-Portsmouth, again at New St.
Absolutely magic. Will we ever hear a roarer roar again? 😢
Sadly not.....Many thanks Jason and best wishes...Mark
That 33 is a rare beast !
You're most welcome and Many thanks for your comment and for watching...best wishes...Mark
Can you share this video with Cross Country trains?😂
The good old days when you could get a seat between Oxford and Birmingham, and the trains had space for more than about 5 suitcases! In 35 years the comfort has gone backwards and cost has rocketed!
I totally agree with you Nick...share if you like...and many thanks...best wishes...mark
47553 again, that one was also in your Bournemouth video 😂 (later renumbered 47803, and painted a horrid yellow)
many thanks for the comment. Andrei...yes that loco follows me....best wishes....Mark
Hard to think that the class 47 have now been replaced by voyagers aka cattle wagons
at 24:26 ,what is that sound the loco is making? Sounds like a ww2 air raid siren!, is it the generator maybe.
I believe it is the equipment on the roof to power the Traction Motors....Many thanks for your comment and for watching...best wishes...Mark
Super!
You're very welcome...many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
I was working in Station Square in Coventry at that time, I would have heard all of those trains 😂
Many thanks Julian....sounds like a good place to have been working...I know I would be constantly distracted....best wishes...Mark
Were 85s just as busy at weekends? That my explain not seeing even one twixt Euston and Watford in 1989.
By then they were mostly used on freight, so mostly at night.
Many as Andret states were mostly late or very early in the day and worked some of the sleepers....You're very welcome...many thanks for watching and for the comment...best wishes....Mark
That first consist.....3 completely different brake vehicles and 2 different catering vehicles.
Many thanks for your comment and for watching...best wishes...Mark
86 at the start, on InterCity Mk 1 stock and not stopping, must have been a charter, or empty stock for one
I guess that it too was a special bound for some tour out of Euston perhaps.....thanks Andrei as always....Mark
Never saw a 33 at Cov
It did see a daily 33 on a parcels in the early evening for a brief period....Best wishes and many thanks...Mark
23..47 ?
Chatting to someone on opposite platform...maybe....many thanks and best regards...Mark
So much more interesting trains back then, compared to the Japanese, generic rubbish we have today.
They were indeed ...Many thanks and best wishes...Mark