Mid Hants Steam Railway, The Watercress Line, July 2010
We've visited plenty of preserved railways and ridden
in many timeless steam trains on our travels, usually as part of our
annual holiday, but not this year. So to keep Mike happy Belinda
allowed him an outing to the Watercress Line - the heritage Mid Hants
Railway. It runs from Alresford to Alton along a route that was
once part of the Southern Railway. So join us as we chuff through
the Hampshire countryside on the Mid Hants Steam Railway's Watercress
Line.
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Alresford is the Mid Hants Railway's headquarters, the traditional
station building certainly looked the part and we arrived in plenty of
time to catch our steam train to Alton on the Watercress Line in
Hampshire.
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We (or rather Mike) just love these restored old stations! The
Watercress Line booking office here at Alresford looked just the
'ticket' decked out in traditional Southern Railway green.
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It wasn't long before the steam train, dead on time and with a blow of
its whistle, chuffed effortslessly into Alresford, watched and
photographed by the many enthralled people on the period
platform. We took this photo from...
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...the passenger footbridge which you can see here. Hissing and
spitting, engine No. 34007, a West Country class locomotive called
'Wadebridge' that clocked up 823,193 miles in mainline service, drew
elegantly to a halt.
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At Alresford there's the Mid Hants Railway's goods shed and passenger
facilities here include a small buffet. There was no hurry to
board as they shunted the steam locomotive round to the other end...
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...and couple it up at what was now the front of the train. Note
the steam railway buff on the opposite platform taking a photo!
An adult ticket on the Watercress Line cost £12 for all day travel.
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The whistle blew and the guard stood ready with his green flag so at
this point we decided to get onboard before the steam train left
without us! See below for other preserved steam railway lines
we've visited.
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At first glance the carriages didn't look too dissimilar to modern
ones, then a closer look - the light fittings, door handles, luggage
racks - and you realise they're restored rolling stock, especially as
they're so clean!
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The steam train stopped at Ropley station for a while as it took on
water to climb the steep 1 in 60 gradient ahead. Ropley is also
the Mid Hants Railway's engineering base with a locomotive yard,
restoration projects sheds, plus it has a handy picnic area.
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Mid Hants Steam Railway shares Alton station with the mainline which
allows visitors to travel to the Watercress Line by rail. We
couldn't help but notice the contrast between the mainline platforms
and the Watercress one on platform 3, which was much more attractive;
it was clean, had lots of flowers, smart helpful staff and... the
trains ran right on time!
Mid Hants Railway hold a World War ll day with music and
dress from the era to mark the railway's use to transport troops,
arriving at Southampton, to London. There's many video clips on
YouTube.
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A close shot of the steam locomotive; look closely and you can see a
little boy with his father on the platform who's explaining the
workings of steam engines, just as Mike's dad did with him in the
sixties when steam working was on its way out.
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A final shot of Alton station then. The Watercress Line is so
called because the local Watercress farmers used it to transport their
Watercress to the London markets, right up until British Railways
closed this Hampshire line in 1973.
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Heading back now and passing through Medstead & Four Marks, the
highest station in Southern England. Here the former goods yard
houses the Mid Hants Railway's Permanent Way, signals and building
departments.
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Back at Alresford we observed a rerun of the shunting of the steam
locomotive to the other end of the carriages, this time with a lot of
lovely steam, observed by this man in a stripy t-shirt! He could
just be an older version of...
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...this boy in a stripy t-shirt! Could be a budding heritage
steam railway bod... well maybe not, looks like he's bothered by all
that noisy, hissing steam.
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One for all you steam railway enthusiasts - the wheels of the steam
engine! A steam loco buff will tell you the wheel arrangement is
a 4-6-2; er, oh, right.
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The metaphor signal's a go and the Watercress Line steam train started
its journey once again...
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Can't get enough of steam trains? We've collected
together some relevant Mid Hants Railway and other preserved railway tourism resources.
Other heritage steam lines we've visited: West Somerset Railway, South Devon Railway, Swanage Railway in Dorset, Gloucestershire & Warwickshire
Railway, Lakeside &
Haverthwaite Railway (Cumbria), North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Strathspey Steam Railway
(Highlands).
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