Reminiscing at Eastleigh 100

Had a cracking day today at Eastleigh 100. I decided to splash some cash & go for an early bird ticket (8am rather than 10am start), on the pretext I would likely get more time with less people around to do some decent photography, and I'm very glad I did, because the place was heaving by 11am! I spent over 6 hours there, the first 3 hours of which was focused on photography; I ended up taking nearly 300 digital photos, and over 40 on B&W roll film... (some film to soup this week!). The latter half was spent mostly browsing the trade stands and trying not to spend too much pocket money!

Perhaps surprisingly the big draw for me was not the steam locos (although there was a very decent collection of Southern locos on shed), but instead the splendid array of classic diesels, most of which were working in my youth. Seeing my favourite 50's & 33's turned out in immaculate liveries took me right back to the early-mid eighties, and open-days at Stratford, Cardiff Canton & Stewarts Lane.

A slightly sad counterpoint to this was that a good part of the Eastleigh works is gutted, and looking somewhat sad for itself (although by all accounts things aren't in too bad shape considering the whole lot could have been closed). Anyway, all in all a great day - stay tuned for some photos...!