257 Squadron at Eastleigh – jigsaw

^{STEAMING TO}

^{Hampshire and Dorset}

A nostalgic journey by train from London’s Waterloo station down to the counties of Hampshire and Dorset.

We begin our journey at the London & South Western Railway’s terminus station at Waterloo which was completely rebuilt following the First World War and opened in 1922 by HM Queen Mary. Its many platforms and bustling atmosphere is seen in the mid 1960s at a time when steam haulage to the south coast was nearing an end.

Soon after our departure, we get glimpses of the depot at Nine Elms and scenes from the trackside of Bulleid pacifics at work and at speed through Clapham and on to the county of Hampshire. We stop at Winchester and Eastleigh where we view the main line trains and some local services added to a visit around the motive power depot and view older Southern classes at the end of their service periods and visitors from the LNER in the form of Flying Scotsman, the Great Marquess and Blue Peter.

After Northam and Southampton Terminus is seen, we stop at Southampton Central for an indepth survey of steam services in 1966 and 1967. We progress through the New Forest to Brockenhurst and a stopover to take a journey down to Lymington with various engines including Standard tanks and Ivatt 2-6-2Ts.

Our onward journey takes us to Bournemouth and the magnificent station buildings and locomotive depot where we see many engines on shed.

Finally, we spend time at Wareham and a trip through Purbeck down to Swanage before we reach the end of the South Western Main Line at Weymouth and its depot full of locomotives either in service or waiting to depart for scrapyards in South Wales.

80 minutes duration