Tilt Cab Man
Privett station 1954
The deserted grass grown platforms of Privett station, looking north towards the A32 road bridge, in the dying days of the Meon Valley Railway. Built on a lavish scale to main line standards by the L&SWR and opened in June 1903, the Meon Valley line ran from Alton (Butts Junction) to Fareham (Knowle Junction). It was principally built to keep the Great Western Railway from reaching the ports of Southampton and Portsmouth, the stations on the line boasted 600 foot long platforms to accommodate 10 coach trains, which never materialised. After through trains from Waterloo were withdrawn, the line became basically little more than a local branch line, serving a relatively sparsely populated area. Privett signal box had a very short life as a block post, being reduced to ground frame status on 19th June 1922 and the up loop reduced to a siding. It was to the LSWR Type 4 design, like all the boxes on the line, and had a Stevens Tappet frame of 23 levers. The line closed officially on 7th February 1955, the last regular passenger trains ran on Saturday 5th February. However an RCTS Special "The "Hampshireman" with 10 coaches double-headed by T9 class 4-4-0 Nos.30301 & 30732 traversed the line northwards the following day Sunday 6th February 1955.
Privett station 1954
The deserted grass grown platforms of Privett station, looking north towards the A32 road bridge, in the dying days of the Meon Valley Railway. Built on a lavish scale to main line standards by the L&SWR and opened in June 1903, the Meon Valley line ran from Alton (Butts Junction) to Fareham (Knowle Junction). It was principally built to keep the Great Western Railway from reaching the ports of Southampton and Portsmouth, the stations on the line boasted 600 foot long platforms to accommodate 10 coach trains, which never materialised. After through trains from Waterloo were withdrawn, the line became basically little more than a local branch line, serving a relatively sparsely populated area. Privett signal box had a very short life as a block post, being reduced to ground frame status on 19th June 1922 and the up loop reduced to a siding. It was to the LSWR Type 4 design, like all the boxes on the line, and had a Stevens Tappet frame of 23 levers. The line closed officially on 7th February 1955, the last regular passenger trains ran on Saturday 5th February. However an RCTS Special "The "Hampshireman" with 10 coaches double-headed by T9 class 4-4-0 Nos.30301 & 30732 traversed the line northwards the following day Sunday 6th February 1955.