Tuesday, 30 June 2009 00:00

Southern Electrics

Written by Mike
Class 405 4-SUB unit no. 4645 near Ockley between Horsham and Dorking, 14 May 1982 Class 405 4-SUB unit no. 4645 near Ockley between Horsham and Dorking, 14 May 1982

For my ‘railway fix’ I’ve been giving the scanner a lot of work, scanning old slides from the 1980s. 

The first results of the scanning of slides have now been uploaded – and they include a lot of Southern Electrics.

It was an interesting time. 

Rail blue liveried electric multiple units were gradually being treated to blue and grey livery. 

New Class 508 units were replacing the venerable 4-SUBs. 

On the basis the 4-SUBs had an operational life of approaching 35 years, somebody starting to commute into London on them when new at age 25 would have been sixty when they were replaced.

Sadly scanning old slides can be soul destroying. At the time I wasn’t rich, so I used a variety of cheaper slide films for my shooting. 

They haven’t stood the test of time well, but Photoshop has done much to recover faded and shifted colours. 

Despite that they’re far from what I’d be happy with today, but they’re an interesting insight into the day-to-day comings and goings on the Southern Region 27 years ago.

Check out:

UK Railway Scene - 1981

UK Railway Scene - 1982

UK Railway Scene - 1983

Mike

Mike

Mike McCormac has been a photographer since about ten years old.  He's a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, and lives in a village in the hills near Paphos in Cyprus.

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