John Saville interviewed by Colin Divall

Oral history interview with John Saville conducted and recorded by Colin Divall on 5 November 2013, at the National Railway Museum. Duration: 1 hour 50 minutes. The interview focuses on John Saville’s passenger experiences on the railways as well as his trainspotting activities. Childhood in Wimborne area, parents, education; living in Wimborne area; [00:06:20] travelling by bus and train to school; school train, push-pull train to Brockenhurst, Weymouth Grammar School and Dorchester Grammar Schools differences; [00:16:20] Afternoon train passenger in late 1950’s; Broadstone, local traffic, Pines Express; travel in local trains; push-pull trains; late 1950’s-60’s Salisbury coach sets, locomotives, winter on Salisbury line; [00:21:40] travel comfort, interior of trains SW coaching stock, Brockenhurst, vans attached to trains; [00:24:10] Creedmoor Halt story; Passengers on Poole- Salisbury train; Parkstone Girls school children; bus and train travel whilst working in Salisbury, Salisbury-Wimborne, details of platform and passengers; [00:32:10] 1963 line closure, other train services, London-Wimborne, Salisbury-Weymouth; tablet loss Salisbury-Wimborne line, implications; [00:37:10] other train journeys, London, Bournemouth Central, Brockenhurst, trainspotting; [00:40:40]1961-1962, holidays in St David’s, train travel Wimbourne-Hungerford-Swansea-Haverfordwest, South Wales-Bournemouth trains, Wimborne-Salisbury Class 4 locomotive, Salisbury-Swansea journey Class 9F locomotive, busy trains, Cardiff-Swansea engine, Swansea-Cockett travel details, Cockett-Haverfordwest journey, passengers, return journey by car; trains running from Cardiff-Bournemouth (1949); lineside fires, firefighting; [00:54:30] Oakley Crossing, crossing keeper, trainspotting, summer Saturday trains, Waterloo-Swanage train; signalling details, bell signals, signal lever pulling, Wimborne and Oakley signals, road traffic usage; [01:04:00] signal box staffing, Oakley Box, Wimborne Box, Michael Webb book, Bill Norman (porter-signalman), split shift working; [01:07:10] developing personal interest in railways, time spent at Oakley, visits to Wimborne station; Wimborne Station detailed description, entrance, cafes, cattle market, station yard, layout, station house details, booking office, parcels office, waiting rooms, etc; [01:30:30] usage of Wimborne station, decline in 1960s, station staff; [01:34:20] station facilities, rooms, bookstall, parcels; [01:37:50] goods yard, goods shed, Poole end shunter cabin, shunting arrangements; [01:40:20] freight, goods trains, Merley; interaction with Wimborne station staff; [01:43:10] travel after railway closure, bus used, details of journeys, Brockenhurst-Wimborne route, car use (from March 1965), other bus route information; [01:46:40] railway after passenger traffic closure; goods trains continued, gradual disappearance of the signals, railway gradually subsided, thoughts on how it could have survived [01:49:52] [end of interview]

Oral history recording made by Colin Divall from the Institute of Railway Studies and Transport History (University of York) in partnership with the National Railway Museum.