Trains of Basingstoke in the 1980s – When Class 50s & Cromptons Ruled the Railway

Basingstoke in the Late 1980s – Class 50s, Class 33s, Thumpers & British Rail Memories.

Step back in time to Basingstoke Railway Station in the late 1980s, when British Rail offered an incredible variety of trains and locomotives.

Basingstoke was one of southern England's most fascinating railway junctions, bringing together trains from London Waterloo, Reading, Southampton, Bournemouth, Salisbury and the West of England.

In this video we return to the days of Class 50s roaring through with Waterloo to Exeter expresses, Class 33 Cromptons working with 4-TC sets, Class 47s on longer-distance passenger trains, Southern Region diesel-electric "Thumpers", and the familiar slam-door electric multiple units that once dominated the railway around Basingstoke.

It was also the colourful era of Network SouthEast, when the traditional British Rail railway was beginning to change.

We explore how Basingstoke became such an important railway junction, the trains you could have seen here during the late 1980s, and how much the station has changed since those wonderfully atmospheric days.

Today's railway may be cleaner, quieter and more comfortable — but has some of the character and variety disappeared?

Do you remember Basingstoke in the British Rail years? Did you travel behind the Class 50s or remember the Class 33s and 4-TCs?

Let us know your memories in the comments.

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