@@emmo999 Living in Woking , we see a lot of Tampers in the sidings , and across the other side of the yard , Class 66's with trains that have to reverse after heading a fair way towards Guildford . I never realised what long journeys these guys make . Great work by the ,Behind the scenes crews .
Some of the journeys are hours. A while back we were working at Herne Bay and were running out of/back to Hither Green. It’s part of the job, especially with so few sidings nowadays
Great to see the network of lines around that part of London. I grew up in a house backing onto St Helier signal box, now long gone (38 min) . There used to be a coal yard on the right (down side from Wimbledon) and another crossing towards Sutton that enabled the milk trains to be run round. These came from the West via Kensington Olympia to the Express dairy at Morden South, (39.10 min) that’s now the mosque. At around midnight and midday they’d be run round at St Helier. There’d be a gap in the frequency of electric service at midday to allow this. Before we had a car this route gave us access to many places, and from age 11 I used to commute to school, college and work, and enjoyed exploring those lines. Thanks for the opportunity to see the Sutton loop in particular. 😎👍
There’s a couple of other things just popped into my memory, one is that the Morden Northern line depot is just behind the mosque, ex- dairy, and Morden South. It was thought at one time pre WW2 the tube would follow the route through Morden to Sutton by passing the depot and joining the alignment by Morden South and on to Sutton. Until it closed most of the London bound trains from St Helier via Wimbledon terminated at Holborn Viaduct.
Thank you for another fascinating ride to "somewhere, via the back of beyond, and back to front". Looking (from Kiwiland) at that complex track layout, hats off to you guys for not ending up at Land's End or John O Groats.
This is interesting stuff. You mentioned about "working direction" which I have seen on the side of the tamper units whist working on the work site. I would gather this makes sense since the tamper operator sits from one side of the unit with a window facing the machine that you can glimpse from the inside and will start tamping from the beginning of the job and tamp to the other end, often having to go back to the start and tamp a second time if needs be. We generally have to make sure the operator can see the fastening ties or clips clearing the ballast stones with shovels to give a rough estimate of where the sleepers are to tamp them. For ones where it cannot tamp, we use manual handheld vertical tampers. But all in all these are fascinating machines indeed!
Thanks for another excellent video and grand tour of South London! It's great to see less well-known lines like the 'Portsmouth lines' down to Sutton, and the Wimbledon loop or 'Wall of Death', and also nice to see the Reversible Fast Spur at Streatham being used in the down direction. I don't mind the chat, by the way!
I prefer it not there, as it can distract with irrelevant chit chat, but sometimes there is no choice (unless someone in the cab says things that shouldn't be aired) in which case I'll silence the audio
Quite enjoyable. Very scenic. Coming from the US I've ridden some of these lines. I still have a 2003 London Connections pamphlet maps + an A To Z and realized this route was taking the long way from Here Hill to Clapham Junction. Great graphics, BTW.
If you're going past clapham junction platform 15 and back up via platform 8. This is one of my favourite station, Clapham Junction has been my best station for years
@@emmo999 yeah makes a big difference. Always need to get to victoria when my step kids come down from preston or vice versa. Used to live in eastfields estate before that and had to walk down to streatham common. Was a pain. And as for the state of the tracks im sure they changed em not long ago. 😂😂😂
A very enjoyable video also liked the chit chat when i go down to London from my home in west Yorkshire i like to go spotting at Clapham jct i have been on all the rail lines in zones 1 to 6 also the whole of the Underground & the Overground and the Croydon tram link and all of the Docklands railway.
Glad you enjoyed it. I have various other London suburban videos uploaded. The plan is to update some of the Southeastern ones, as they are before the Bermondsey dive under
Excellent footage there of some rarely seen suburban lines. Always been interested in seeing what they look like from the drivers point of view given how light the traffic can be. Also interesting hearing the conversation between the 2 blokes in the cab. Are you one of them by any chance?
Another fascinating trip round the houses of South London (and more of my old stomping ground (Sutton). But who knew fifty years on that there would be another use for a turntable???
The amount of routes and lines in southern London, that i you guys have to get "signed off" on (and have to remember) must be akin to a Black cabbie having "the knowledge" ? Aaaaah, Wandsworth Road. Spent so many hours as a kid, day and night, stood on those platforms. Another brilliant vid. Thanks for sharing.
Tampers are used to position the track exactly where it needs to be. They are generally used to smooth out sideways kinks and also vertical dips in the track. Smoother ride for the passenger
@@emmo999 Ooops! I think 75 Ft (just under 23m) is the biggest we ever had. Could always import from the U.S. where they turned "BigBoy's", but I take your point. Probably easier to take the long way 'round (and take plenty sandwiches too!).
Just re-watched this one and read all the comments. Excellent video as usual! Would I be correct in thinking that the 'chit chat' was mainly because you had a road learner with you (calling out all the signals) and the other chat was incidental?
Awesome video from here in the US. For a track machine, you guys were moving along pretty well, what’s the max speed for your tamper? Here in the US most track machines (with few exceptions) are only good for 20-40 MPH depending on the machine. For transport they are usually loaded onto a road truck, or flatcar...
We can move around at 60mph as a rule. Anything much slower and would cause delays to other services on the line (such as passenger trains which can generally travel faster)
Fantastic video. You have to go in a circle just to get to other side of s Station. Working for Network Rail. Do you go all over the country. Or just southern England? Stay safe.
Excellent, excellent video !! The Chit-Chat is fine and welcome; it's better than having the video sound like a somber, stiff library, or morgue. It makes you real. This is the first time that I did Sutton to Wimbledon. It was a very interesting routing, especially since I'm interested in track layouts and routings ! Your photographic quality was bright and crisp; much better than the dull videos that are quite common presented; this gave a cheerful mood to the whole thing. Also, no dragging station waits which are mostly tedious. Is this a single unit tamping machine that you were riding, or was it a train with ties, ballast, and other stuff as well? Where was the origin ? What work was specifically being done ? I know what tamping is. Aarre Peltomaa of Mississauga, Ontario p.s. I am subscribed.
Thanks for the feedback. This was just a transit, i.e. just moving the machine from one set of sidings to another ready for its next shift. So no actual work carried out on this shift. This was just a single machine. Tampers move on their own, not as part of a consist. The origin of the run was Paddock Wood, but I have already uploaded this route from Paddock Wood to Herne Hill (via Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Orpington, Bromley South), so saw little value in reshowing it. My next recording will be uploaded in a week or so
Despite being called “junction”, there’s not much of a junction at Clapham, and to get from the Southern side into the Southwestern side, you need to do a bit of a journey!
As noted in the captions, the problem is that the tamper can only work in one direction. The problem in this case was to get it to the "south Western" side of Clapham Junction facing north from where it started at Herne Hill. They could easily and quickly get it to the desired location without going round the houses, but it would have been facing south; hence the roundabout journey.
Because ballast is loose stones (it aids with rain drainage), it settles with the movement of trains (just like your cornflakes in their bag) This can then lead to the track having bumps and twists in it. A tamper can then come along, lift the track back to where it should be and squeeze the stones underneath to support the track in its original position. Thus a smoother ride for the passengers If the bumps and twists are allowed to get too bad, then speed restrictions have to be brought in over that section, which obviously delays trains too
@@emmo999 Squeeze between sheduled passenger trains......I get a mental image of the Harry Potter & Prisoner Of Azkaban scene on the Night Bus squeezing between two "muggle" buses going in the opposite direction......"Hey guys, why the long faces?"(Lenny Henry voicing the shrunken head). LOL
Are there no ‘turntables’ any more that would maybe avoid all this travelling, saving time, money and the environment?…It’s probably a dumb question but seems worth asking!
They’d need to be over 40 metres across - not sure there has *ever* been one that big in this country, let alone scattered around the country. It’s only plant that has the issue, so they’d never invest. Generally we try and turn the machines with a suitable path in transit (such as here). The normal option is to find a suitable triangle and run two sides of it with a reverse, but that’s not always possible (or local)
It should also be pointed out that nowhere in the area covered is the line speed anywhere near 125 mph! Other than the section up from Wimbledon to near Clapham Junction the best you'll get is 60 and, given that many trains are "all stations" stoppers, not even that for the most part.
They run from the junction at Peckham Rye through Denmark Hill, over the top of Brixton, then to Wandsworth Road and Battersea Park. They are supposedly named after Atlantic Road in Brixton, which only this pair of lines crosses
What a rat’s nest of rail lines this part of UK is. You drivers must need to place a lot of faith and trust in the ROC workers. One wrong switch position and you could be in Reading instead of Isle of Grain! And you do it mostly at night. 👏🏻👏🏻
Every time there’s a route option, the signalling tells you where you’re going. It’s up to the driver to realise he’s going the wrong way, stop and question it
emmo999 That must be really complicated by darkness, which I understand that you drive in a lot. Actually, I have watched a few. Ishtar rides and found the challenging without having to drive!
A very calming video today. Beautiful weather and the ride. See you on the next. Cheers mates! 🇬🇧🙂👍🇺🇸
A great ride as always . Nice to hear the Guys having a chat . ( Viewed 26/8 /2024 .)
Glad you enjoyed the ride. It’s a rare video having conversation in - I prefer to keep chit chat away from the videos
@@emmo999 Living in Woking , we see a lot of Tampers in the sidings , and across the other side of the yard , Class 66's with trains that have to reverse after heading a fair way towards Guildford . I never realised what long journeys these guys make . Great work by the ,Behind the scenes crews .
Some of the journeys are hours. A while back we were working at Herne Bay and were running out of/back to Hither Green. It’s part of the job, especially with so few sidings nowadays
I quite enjoyed the chit chat with your co driver made the journey worthwhile
I generally prefer no conversation in the cab - you won’t find many videos with any
Great to see the network of lines around that part of London. I grew up in a house backing onto St Helier signal box, now long gone (38 min) . There used to be a coal yard on the right (down side from Wimbledon) and another crossing towards Sutton that enabled the milk trains to be run round. These came from the West via Kensington Olympia to the Express dairy at Morden South, (39.10 min) that’s now the mosque. At around midnight and midday they’d be run round at St Helier. There’d be a gap in the frequency of electric service at midday to allow this.
Before we had a car this route gave us access to many places, and from age 11 I used to commute to school, college and work, and enjoyed exploring those lines. Thanks for the opportunity to see the Sutton loop in particular. 😎👍
Fascinating history, I knew none of that!
There’s a couple of other things just popped into my memory, one is that the Morden Northern line depot is just behind the mosque, ex- dairy, and Morden South. It was thought at one time pre WW2 the tube would follow the route through Morden to Sutton by passing the depot and joining the alignment by Morden South and on to Sutton. Until it closed most of the London bound trains from St Helier via Wimbledon terminated at Holborn Viaduct.
The Morden depot was very obvious on the right as we went along
Thank you for another fascinating ride to "somewhere, via the back of beyond, and back to front". Looking (from Kiwiland) at that complex track layout, hats off to you guys for not ending up at Land's End or John O Groats.
Thank goodness we don’t, eh! 😂
This is interesting stuff. You mentioned about "working direction" which I have seen on the side of the tamper units whist working on the work site. I would gather this makes sense since the tamper operator sits from one side of the unit with a window facing the machine that you can glimpse from the inside and will start tamping from the beginning of the job and tamp to the other end, often having to go back to the start and tamp a second time if needs be. We generally have to make sure the operator can see the fastening ties or clips clearing the ballast stones with shovels to give a rough estimate of where the sleepers are to tamp them. For ones where it cannot tamp, we use manual handheld vertical tampers. But all in all these are fascinating machines indeed!
If it wasn’t for you guys clearing sleepers, tampers would be coming down in the wrong place and smashing sleepers meaning headaches for all
@@emmo999 oh I'd bet!
Thanks for another excellent video and grand tour of South London! It's great to see less well-known lines like the 'Portsmouth lines' down to Sutton, and the Wimbledon loop or 'Wall of Death', and also nice to see the Reversible Fast Spur at Streatham being used in the down direction. I don't mind the chat, by the way!
Chit chat adds to trip never remove it
I prefer it not there, as it can distract with irrelevant chit chat, but sometimes there is no choice (unless someone in the cab says things that shouldn't be aired) in which case I'll silence the audio
Clapham Junction,a train viewer's heaven. Train traffic is intense, coming and going. Loved it. Thank you for the video.
Lots going on!
Quite enjoyable. Very scenic. Coming from the US I've ridden some of these lines. I still have a 2003 London Connections pamphlet maps + an A To Z and realized this route was taking the long way from Here Hill to Clapham Junction. Great graphics, BTW.
Glad you enjoyed the ride. Once the daylight hours get longer again, I’ll get the video camera out again
What a great video!
Enjoyable video. Did not realise you had turned around !!
Dont be sorry for the chit chat.It was good,did not spoil the ride.Thanks and safe driving.
Cheers for the feedback
Great video nice scenery and good weather.
If you're going past clapham junction platform 15 and back up via platform 8. This is one of my favourite station, Clapham Junction has been my best station for years
Takes me back to my student days with a flat in Herne Hill 1969./70. Green BR slam door compartment stock then
I do miss the sound of the EPBs!
I enjoyed that trip! hearing all your chit chat ! hope you had a good holiday? my only complaint is next time clean the window please!
The sun didn’t help but, yes, agreed. I’m normally able to place the camera better, but on this occasion, it was out of the sweep of the wipers
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the feedback
Great video again. What a pity there is no turntable to use at Nine Elms anymore :)
Some of the machines are 40m long - not sure they’d fit!
Nice video. Great to see the view from the cab going passed my flat on the left at 22.22.
I guess the new (ish!) station at Eastfields is pretty handy for you getting about then!
@@emmo999 yeah makes a big difference. Always need to get to victoria when my step kids come down from preston or vice versa. Used to live in eastfields estate before that and had to walk down to streatham common. Was a pain. And as for the state of the tracks im sure they changed em not long ago. 😂😂😂
Another extremely interesting video from you... Thank you my friend...
Glad you enjoyed it! The next one is uploading right now....!
@@emmo999 Can't wait...
A very enjoyable video also liked the chit chat when i go down to London from my home in west Yorkshire i like to go spotting at Clapham jct i have been on all the rail lines in zones 1 to 6 also the whole of the Underground & the Overground and the Croydon tram link and all of the Docklands railway.
Glad you enjoyed it. I have various other London suburban videos uploaded. The plan is to update some of the Southeastern ones, as they are before the Bermondsey dive under
Excellent footage there of some rarely seen suburban lines. Always been interested in seeing what they look like from the drivers point of view given how light the traffic can be. Also interesting hearing the conversation between the 2 blokes in the cab. Are you one of them by any chance?
Excellent video - thank you
Thank you!
Another fascinating trip round the houses of South London (and more of my old stomping ground (Sutton). But who knew fifty years on that there would be another use for a turntable???
It would need to be over 40m long - not sure any were ever built that big! 😂
The amount of routes and lines in southern London, that i you guys have to get "signed off" on (and have to remember) must be akin to a Black cabbie having "the knowledge" ? Aaaaah, Wandsworth Road. Spent so many hours as a kid, day and night, stood on those platforms. Another brilliant vid. Thanks for sharing.
Likewise, I’ve spent hours at Wandsworth Road photting freight!
What a palaver! Most interesting, thanks. (I liked the chit chat, me)
Glad you enjoyed it!
Me too.
Interesting Route, with Railway Conversation..
Great video. Lots of routes, lots of switches, lots of trains! A beautiful day for an excursion.
What is a tamper? What is it used for?
Tampers are used to position the track exactly where it needs to be. They are generally used to smooth out sideways kinks and also vertical dips in the track. Smoother ride for the passenger
Hmmm, perhaps direction reversals and re-introduction of "Turntables" is the way to go??????
Great watch - most illuminating. Thanks.
The only problem with turntables is they’d have to be 45m long, and that takes up a hell of a lot of space for only a handful of machines
@@emmo999 Ooops! I think 75 Ft (just under 23m) is the biggest we ever had. Could always import from the U.S. where they turned "BigBoy's", but I take your point. Probably easier to take the long way 'round (and take plenty sandwiches too!).
At least we have a kettle for long signal holds! 👍🏻
nice one, and a bit of line round to Wimbledon I've not previously seen.
There were other routes we could have taken, but we have to ensure the machine is facing the correct direction
Nice drive. If only someone could invent a device that you drive on to that turns the tamper round (tongue firmly in cheek). :)
Ha! Has there ever been a turntable in this country that’s over 40m long?
@@emmo999 You need to talk to your bosses and get them to import a Big Boy turntable from Cheyenne or something 😆
Herne Hill to Clapham Junction - now that would have been a useful passenger route.
What? Going all around the world to get there? 😂
@@emmo999 Well, I'd probably get off the first time it got there.
You can do almost that journey, as London Overground go from nearby Denmark Hill to Clapham Junction
Just re-watched this one and read all the comments. Excellent video as usual! Would I be correct in thinking that the 'chit chat' was mainly because you had a road learner with you (calling out all the signals) and the other chat was incidental?
Pretty much, yes. In an ideal world, I only tend to record when I’m in the cab on my own, but in this case recorded with two in the cab
Awesome video from here in the US. For a track machine, you guys were moving along pretty well, what’s the max speed for your tamper?
Here in the US most track machines (with few exceptions) are only good for 20-40 MPH depending on the machine. For transport they are usually loaded onto a road truck, or flatcar...
We can move around at 60mph as a rule. Anything much slower and would cause delays to other services on the line (such as passenger trains which can generally travel faster)
Fantastic video. You have to go in a circle just to get to other side of s Station. Working for Network Rail. Do you go all over the country. Or just southern England? Stay safe.
Although it’s called Clapham Junction, there’s actually very few interchanges! The southern and south western sides are completely independent
And sorry, to answer your other question, I cover from Southampton across to Dover and up to Norwich
What were ye actually doing? Just out for a spin? Nice day for it
Machines have to be moved between sidings sometimes during the day ready for their next shift. That’s what these journeys are
Excellent, excellent video !! The Chit-Chat is fine and welcome; it's better than having the video sound like a somber, stiff library, or morgue. It makes you real. This is the first time that I did Sutton to Wimbledon. It was a very interesting routing, especially since I'm interested in track layouts and routings ! Your photographic quality was bright and crisp; much better than the dull videos that are quite common presented; this gave a cheerful mood to the whole thing. Also, no dragging station waits which are mostly tedious. Is this a single unit tamping machine that you were riding, or was it a train with ties, ballast, and other stuff as well? Where was the origin ? What work was specifically being done ? I know what tamping is.
Aarre Peltomaa of Mississauga, Ontario p.s. I am subscribed.
Thanks for the feedback. This was just a transit, i.e. just moving the machine from one set of sidings to another ready for its next shift. So no actual work carried out on this shift. This was just a single machine. Tampers move on their own, not as part of a consist.
The origin of the run was Paddock Wood, but I have already uploaded this route from Paddock Wood to Herne Hill (via Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Orpington, Bromley South), so saw little value in reshowing it.
My next recording will be uploaded in a week or so
@@emmo999 Thanks much, Aarre Peltomaa
Via the world not joking! great video
Despite being called “junction”, there’s not much of a junction at Clapham, and to get from the Southern side into the Southwestern side, you need to do a bit of a journey!
@@emmo999 Live in Carshalton so know all the lines
Round through Carshalton is quite pretty. I still need to sign off a couple of routes around Sutton
Circuitous routes are mainly used to please the transpotters and cabriders I’ll bet! Did it, too!
As noted in the captions, the problem is that the tamper can only work in one direction. The problem in this case was to get it to the "south Western" side of Clapham Junction facing north from where it started at Herne Hill. They could easily and quickly get it to the desired location without going round the houses, but it would have been facing south; hence the roundabout journey.
I’m not really clued up on trains but what do these tamper machines do? What is their purpose?
Because ballast is loose stones (it aids with rain drainage), it settles with the movement of trains (just like your cornflakes in their bag)
This can then lead to the track having bumps and twists in it. A tamper can then come along, lift the track back to where it should be and squeeze the stones underneath to support the track in its original position. Thus a smoother ride for the passengers
If the bumps and twists are allowed to get too bad, then speed restrictions have to be brought in over that section, which obviously delays trains too
@@emmo999 ah ok that’s interesting to know, yeah really interesting
I think I just saw half a dozen snails race past this train! LOL
The machine was doing mine speed at all times. But equally, we have to squeeze between scheduled passenger trains
@@emmo999 Squeeze between sheduled passenger trains......I get a mental image of the Harry Potter & Prisoner Of Azkaban scene on the Night Bus squeezing between two "muggle" buses going in the opposite direction......"Hey guys, why the long faces?"(Lenny Henry voicing the shrunken head). LOL
Geez, the driver's window could stand a bit of a wash!
The sun didn’t help but, yes, agreed. I’m normally able to place the camera better, but on this occasion, it was out of the sweep of the wipers
Any chance you can get on to the North Kent coast? Love the journey from Gillingham to london.
As soon as I have opportunity, it’s on the list
Looks like wading through someones overgrown garden.
What part?
@@emmo999 All of it, the railway infrastructure in this country is appalling
Are there no ‘turntables’ any more that would maybe avoid all this travelling, saving time, money and the environment?…It’s probably a dumb question but seems worth asking!
They’d need to be over 40 metres across - not sure there has *ever* been one that big in this country, let alone scattered around the country. It’s only plant that has the issue, so they’d never invest. Generally we try and turn the machines with a suitable path in transit (such as here). The normal option is to find a suitable triangle and run two sides of it with a reverse, but that’s not always possible (or local)
@@emmo999 Thank you.
Thanks for the " ride". Assuming track speed is 125 mph, what's the fastest these track machines can travel?
60mph is top whack for these machines
It should also be pointed out that nowhere in the area covered is the line speed anywhere near 125 mph! Other than the section up from Wimbledon to near Clapham Junction the best you'll get is 60 and, given that many trains are "all stations" stoppers, not even that for the most part.
Well just one video to go. i have now watched all, not interested
in the game ones so left them . and a like was left for all. 👍🏻
What are these Atlantic lines all about?
They run from the junction at Peckham Rye through Denmark Hill, over the top of Brixton, then to Wandsworth Road and Battersea Park.
They are supposedly named after Atlantic Road in Brixton, which only this pair of lines crosses
@@emmo999 ah I see now , that makes sense now
Another Excellent vid,Thanks What sort of area do you cover?
I cover from Thanet in Kent across to Eastleigh in Hampshire, with pretty much most lines in between, so quite a wide area!
@@emmo999 Great stuff,plenty of potential there.
When opportunity arises, I’m always out to film other routes I’ve not yet covered
what operator
What a rat’s nest of rail lines this part of UK is. You drivers must need to place a lot of faith and trust in the ROC workers. One wrong switch position and you could be in Reading instead of Isle of Grain! And you do it mostly at night. 👏🏻👏🏻
Every time there’s a route option, the signalling tells you where you’re going. It’s up to the driver to realise he’s going the wrong way, stop and question it
@@emmo999 All part of a difficult and complicated job and another of the reasons why we admire you so much. Thanks
emmo999 That must be really complicated by darkness, which I understand that you drive in a lot. Actually, I have watched a few. Ishtar rides and found the challenging without having to drive!
Reckon you could walk from HH to CJ quicker than this.
Possibly. But there was reason for going around the houses
Going on holiday with the girlfriend and get asked if the wife is going with you? I wonder if I misheard that?
I have no idea 😂😂 What was the time? I have a habit of calling my other half my “mrs” even though we’re not married and sometimes people get confused