Shut That Door!
The appearance of the Bluebell Railway's slam door EMU 3417 'Gordon Pettitt' at London Waterloo was something that those on the final scheduled slam door service out of the station – on 26 May 2005 – thought we would never see again. Although not under power – having been dragged into the station by a class 73 – the memories of that May day came flooding back.
As a member of the press, I had received an invite and travel pass for the final train – the 11.35 Waterloo to Weymouth, although the slam door stock only ran as far as Bournemouth. Having arrived a long while before departure time, I was able to make many pictures and interview staff in order to build up a pictorial record of the day. Shortly after my arrival at Waterloo, the television camera crews thought it would be good to film train dispatcher George Russell as he walked the length of the train, past dozens of open doors – something that he had done thousands of times before. It seemed incredible that after today the sound of doors being slammed shut would no longer echo along Waterloo's platforms – instead being replaced by almost silent sliding doors on the new Desiro trains. Gone also were the compartments and droplight windows, although passengers would no doubt argue that both could be troublesome – especially compartments late at night when undesirables had a habit of appearing on public transport.
The departure from the capital saw enthusiasts hanging from every window and try as one might, one could not draw much of a parallel between the tearful farewell as Trevor Howard bade farewell to Celia Johnson, in Brief Encounter and the farewell to a slam door electric train – there just wasn't the romance there, but there was plenty of emotion! Although this was the final scheduled passenger service out of Waterloo to use slam door stock, two 'Seaside Slammer' excursions, the first on the 11 June for staff, and the public outing on the 18 June, ran before the final curtain came down.
Upon arrival at Bournemouth, driver Bill Read – looking very dapper – was happy to pose for the cameras and chat, before taking the train off into the sidings and as it disappeared out of view, the assembled crowd watched in respectful silence – knowing that they were witnessing the end of an era.
Not everyone mourned their passing though and Graham Eccles, SWT chairman, said: "I am a professional railwayman. I have no room for emotion, and I don't regret their passing one little bit." On 26 May 2005 that was one sentiment that I never heard repeated by anyone else. I wonder what Mr Eccles would have made of Saturday's appearance of 3417.
Some pictures from 26 May 2005, here:
Many saucy and shocking slam door incidents (one rail manager said, very seriously, that the book should be banned!) are told in 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Train to London' . Having sold 1,000 copies, I've managed to arrange a tag on order of 100 copies to volume two in the 'A Funny Thing' trilogy 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Train to the Midlands' Both titles now available to pre-order and both nearing sell out.
https://www.chimewhistle.co.uk/shop/p/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-train-to-london