Recalling the last days of steam
Not so. On that last weekend of steam running, July 8/9, 1967, a few services were loco hauled and that was it. On Monday, July 10 everyone began work at local electric depots or moved to pastures new.
John Gardner, of Petersfield, was at Guildford loco depot and then moved to Woking to be a mixed traction driver.
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Hide AdAfter some years he’d had enough of driving and changed his career to become a guard at Fratton.
He looks back on his days on steam locos with pride.
‘Electrics were just not the same to me’ he says.
In this picture we see John at the water column at Basingstoke, assisting the driver filling up the tender.
It is late 1967 and the steam era has just a few weeks left to run.