Wessex

Drivers Eye View

Weymouth to Waterloo - For commuters into Waterloo, London’s largest terminus, the south coast resort of Weymouth must seem a million miles away - yet it is only 142¾ miles by rail and enjoys an hourly service throughout the day.

Mention the town of Weymouth and the unique Quay branch instantly springs to mind and therefore this Driver’s Eye View begins with a brief look at the so called “tramway” from a class 73 electro-diesel locomotive.

Heading north on the mainline out of Weymouth aboard a class 442 Wessex Electric, we climb up towards Dorchester South.

Turning east the train calls at the intermediate stations as far as Poole and Bournemouth, with their classic causeway approaches.

Speeding up now, we call at Brockenhurst and pass through the delightful stretch of unspoilt New Forest to Southampton.

Now the Wessex slots into South West Trains’ new shuttle pattern, which provides 3 fast trains an hour between port and capital city, now including Winchester as well.

We then run non-stop at up to 100mph along the old LSWR quadruple track mainline via Bassingstoke and Woking.

This is our first Drivers Eye View to run through Clapham Junction and of course into Waterloo itself, just prior to the start of international services.

Filmed in 1994.

NOTE: Winchester / Bassingstoke section excluded for time reasons.