In July, I decided to take a ride on The Watercress Line vintage railway in Hampshire. One of the guys on the Hawaii tour - Bob - was a volunteer there, although he wasn't working the day we visited. We were a bit short of time on arrival - seven minutes before the train was due to leave, so we didn't hang about - just bought some tickets (when we travelled: Adults £14, Children £7, bears free, families of 2+2 £35) and hopped on the train.
On this trip I was travelling with my good buddies Frank (the big guy), Theo (the little guy) and for this trip we had BooBoo2 (@BooBooBearGreen is a Twitter buddy and he hoped to come with us, but couldn't make it, so we brought a laminated version of him instead!) As walking wallets, we also had assistants Di and Paul dragging along, but you don't want to hear about them...
The line has one end at Arlesford, the other end at Alton, but we were nearer to Arlesford on this occasion. The volunteer staff are in uniform and the ticket collector was kind enough have his photo taken. The carriage had open seating, but not many people on this Saturday morning meant we could commandeer seats on both sides of the aisle so we could run between windows and check out the view. According to Mr Conductor, we'd missed the Teddy Bear's Picnic train by a week (who knew?) and he hadn't been expecting teddies today.
Arlesford station has a lovely 1940s Southern Region platform, on which there are some period advertisements, like this Cadburys one from my local chocolatiers. There was also an old-fashioned phone box. [For the youngsters, these boxes were little waterproof rooms on street corners from where you could make a telephone call. This one even had a phone with a Button B! Go ask Grandma, or maybe Great Grandma!] Unfortunately, this was locked shut so I couldn't do my Superman impression.
There are four stations on this railway line - Alresford, Ropley, Medstead & Four Marks and Alton - along a ten-mile, 34-minute route. Your ticket permits you to hop on and off, but we were just going there and back on this visit. Our first stop was at Ropley Station. Another pretty stop with topiary features on the attractive platform. The buildings are restored as a 1923 London and South Western station. The locomotive shed can be found here.
It was all very tidy on the platforms, the grass and flowers very nicely kept. I watched as the guardsman waved his green flag and blew his whistle to send the train on its way. (See the movie.)
Along the route there is an abundance of green fields and open spaces which is lovely and relaxing to watch. Particularly as the weather was so fabulous.
We stopped at Medstead & Four Marks which is the highest station in southern England. It is the home of their Wagon Restoration Group and is a peaceful spot. There are some more topiary animals here as well as a 1930s Southern Region station.
At the far end of the line - for us - was Alton Station. This station is shared with South West Trains, who provide onward connection to Woking and London (Waterloo). It's only when I got home I found out that Coors have a brewery near Alton - now you tell me! Seems Jane Austen's house at Chawton was just a couple of miles away and there's a walk from Alton, but we'd planned to go there next (we would drive there). Maybe next time I'll do the research first! I also found this poster - there was a Teddy Bear's Picnic last week. See?
The boys and I took a seat on a bench to wait as the diesel locomotive moved from the back of the train, along the length of the carriages and back to the new front of the train. You can see this on the movie. Below left there's a water tower for the steam engines, but we didn't need that for the diesel. Unfortunately, we were in the second week of hot, dry and sunny weather so the steam locomotive was suspended to avoid any fire risk alongside the track. It was a shame for us (and a dropped Ted for them!), but it would be expensive if there was any problem. Below right is the locotive mid-switcheroo.
Once the loco was back on the new front of the train I got the chance to take a closer look. See, diesels aren't that boring, but - if I'm honest - steam trains are my preferred form of locomotion. Just that bit more character, I think.
As I was on assignment for you, the readers, I asked them if I (we) could take a look around the cab. They said yes! So, this is it. I have no idea what anything does, but if I did, and told you, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be paying attention. They wouldn't let me drive so I rejoined the boys and we went to look for a seat.
On the way back, we decided to take our own private compartment. It was a corridor carriage, with private seats and a table and no riff raff - apart from the assistants! We passed back through Medstead & Four Marks from where you can apparently take a selection of long walks. I say apparently as - those who know me will attest - I have no intention of taking a long walk any time soon.
I spotted a Caution: Do not lean out of the window sign above the window on the window, so of course, I had to! Bad bear! We passed some of those wagons they are restoring, or have restored.
Outside Ropley, we passed one of the steam locomotives they use on the Watercress Line. Shame it wasn't running, but we were having fabulous weather so it wasn't all bad! There aren't many bends on this run so this is the only shot I got of the engine from the train. Not great, but I tried!
Back at Alresford, I spotted a man with the token! You know what a token is, don't you? A lot of the Watercress Line is single track and when trains travel on single track (to go either way) the driver must have the token or they can't pass. This is a system designed in Britain in the 19th Century and used around the country, wherever there is single track. The goal is to stop mistakes - one token means one train means no collision. We have seen this system in use in the US too, so I probably bored you about it before! Anyway, when I saw him with it I thought you'd want a photograph. Well, I did even if you don't care.
At Arlesford, the locomotive had to go from what was now the back of the train back around to the track. It can do it here as there is a double line (no token necessary!) We thought the footbridge would be a great vantage point and you can watch the changeover in action in the movie below. While on the bridge I was able to get up close and not very personal with this railway signal.
It was very hot so we thought it was time for refreshments - all in the interests of research for you of course. Sort of. There's a nice little cafe at Arlesford and they have cold drinks (including beer!) and hot and cold food. We decided to hang around until the train left to go around again.
As we headed down the platform back to the car park we passed the Signal Box. Or rather, we didn't pass it, we asked and they let me in! Isn't that great? Here's where they have all the levers to change the points (like during the changeover of the locomotive I was telling you about?) They use the levers to determine which train can move down which track. I even got to pull the levers (and there wasn't a crash or anything! Phew!)
You should check out the Watercress Line. It's a nice little ride and there is stuff to so at the stations with your daytime rover ticket so you can get on and off as you like. They also have a number of specials - take a look at their website. What we didn't get to do this visit was try out their dinner train or their RAT - the Real Ale Train! How cool is that? Go visit - it's a lot of fun. If you see volunteer Bob, tell him TourGuideTed sent you!
