REWIND: #FAREWELLHST125
Stuart Boyd • 17 May 2020
The date was Saturday 18th May 2019. The location was Paddington station. The occasion was to say farewell to one of histories greatest trains!
The HST to many is the ultimate train. It was the ultimate travel experience, the ultimate way of getting from A-B. For one last time it would be departing from Paddington station. For one final time it would be running the tracks of the Great Western Railway. As the final four trains lined up on platforms 1-4 crowds were gathering to say their own farewell.
Below I relive the day, sharing tweets, videos & photos from the day. Enjoy taking a trip down memory lane... Or maybe Great Western Lane is more apt. Enjoy
The evening started by arriving at Paddington, just after the arrival of the first HST into platform 1, This was the service that had arrived from Bristol TM. The crowds were already building and you could sense all sorts of mixed emotions in the air.
I spent a little bit of time at the top of the platform getting a few photos and taking in the atmosphere. I can't ever recall an atmosphere like this at a station. It is a mixture of excitement and sadness. As I walked to the bottom of the platforms it was starting to dawn on me how important the HST is to so many people.
I arrived down to the bottom of the station just in time to see the 2nd HST arriving with the service from Great Malvern, Live video here:
The excitement continued to grow as the train arrived.
During the day I had been chatting to several people on Twitter. While stood at the end of the platform photographing the HSTs I was lucky enough to meet a couple of the people I'd been chatting to. Unfortunately I managed to get a little confused with who I was talking to. Easily done for me, peoples names go out of my head far too easily.
Always great meeting followers, but if I forget your name, don't be offended, I just have a crap memory.
Awkward Moment When @every_station Gets you confused for someone else 🤔😂😂
— Callum⚽️ (@callumLtfc) May 18, 2019
A short while later the 3rd train arrived, this was the service from Swansea. This would later form the very last HST departure from Paddington.
I had originally planned to arrive into London on this train. But I changed my plan to include visiting stations in Kent. It was nearly time, 3 out of the 4 trains had now arrived.
I was at this point trying to decide if I should stay where I was or head back down the platform to get a picture of the final train arriving from there. As it was. I chose to stay where I was.
A short while later, all four trains were at the respective platforms.
After I had taken all the photos at the end of the platform that I wanted to take I headed to join the queue of fellow excited enthusiasts all waiting to board the final train.
While waiting to board people were all chatting about there memories of the HST over the years. It was nearly time to board the final train. It got me thinking about my memories of them. Having lived in Evesham for a few years I travelled on the Cotswold line a few times.
After a short wait we were taken up the ramp and over the footbridge to the waiting HST on platform 4.
After finding my carriage it was time to find my seat. It was nice to see that every seat had a little memento on it for all passengers.
Later on in the journey they came round and gave some others that said " Last day of HST operation on the Great Western Railway" I now have both of the window labels in a frame along with the one from the night riviera that I got a few months earlier,
There was a shop on the train selling additional products to buy. Due to the reports of queues that were quite long I ended up giving this a miss. The window labels and my photos were good enough souvenirs.
It’s a bit manic at Paddington at the moment... #HST pic.twitter.com/o5LpYnJfcQ
— Russ Edwards (@russjedwards) May 18, 2019
The crowds upon departure were incredible. I mean I knew before this trip how much the HSTs meant to people. But this trip was showing me how much they really meant to so many people.
As some one who at the time would not call himself a train enthusiast, more a travel enthusiast, I was more interested in the travel and what service you got onboard. On this journey I saw why people loved the HST,
On this trip I myself turned from not just been a travel enthusiast to a little bit of a train enthusiast too. The power of the HST I suppose.
We set off out of Paddington and raced along towards our first call of the journey. On the journey we would be calling at: Reading, Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Chippenham, Bath Spa, Bristol, Weston-Super-Mare, Taunton (where I would alight) then it went on to Tiverton Parkway and finishing at Exeter St Davids.
The first stop on the journey was Reading. When at Reading the train totally emptied so every one could run out and get photo's. I didn't - Something i really regret when I look back at the day. thankfully there is Twitter and YouTube so I can look back at everyone else's day.
The same pattern happened at all the stations on the route. I did wonder if anyone would get left behind at one of the stations... I know I shouldn't laugh, but it would of been a little bit funny. I did opo out at Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-Super-Mare.
During the journey there was some special announcements by several different people, including GWR Deputy MD Matthew Golton, NR Chairman Sir Peter Hendy and the one and only Sir Kenneth Grange.
Along the journey I got to meet several people. After having a brief catch up at Paddington I had a proper catch up with @125_RailwayInfo (If you don't follow Cameron and his team please do, they a great bunch of knowledgeable and friendly people). At Bath I also got to catch up with @DsTrains who I first met when I visited Pilning staion. Always good to have a chat and catch up with Dan.
The final HST departs Reading,43198+43002 on 1C26 1830 London Paddington-Exeter St Davids.
— john sparrow (@wallygridboy) May 18, 2019
A rather large crowd+some decent tones from the driver. 👍 pic.twitter.com/NtQfvdplc5
A massive highlight of the trip for me was getting to shake hands with the great gent that is Sir Kenneth Henry Grange. The gentleman was responsible interior layout and exterior styling of the nose cone of British Rail's HST.
Having travelled in the drivers cab between Bath Spa and Bristol he was making his way back down through the train. He was stopping on his way to shake peoples hands and saying hello to people. A proper gent he was.
After leaving Bristol Temple Meads the train headed to Weston-Super-Mare. At Weston-Super-Mare is where Dan alighted and we had about a 10 minute wait. I went and had a stroll on the platform while talking to the GWR platform staff.
Between Weston-Super-Mare and Taunton I had half the carriage to myself which allowed me time to reflect on the evening. The journey had flown by, far quicker than previous journeys on that route.
We arrived at Taunton where I was allowed the treat of going in the drivers cab. Going in the drivers cab was a proper treat and ended the journey in the most memorable fashion.
After the HST departed from Taunton it headed down into Devon.
The next stop on the journey was Tiverton Parkway and then it was onto it's final stop, Exeter St Davids where a huge crowd welcomed and then watched the final HST to operate on the Great Western Railway.
I think anyone that travelled on final HST will agree that GWR put on a great finale. I know that for me it is an evening that will stick with me forever.
A year has now passed since proper HST services finished running on the Great Western Railway. The IET's have now been running since 16 October 2017. They have now had their time to settle in. I personally quite like them. I know they don't have the comfort of the HST, but they have grown on me, to a point where I would actually struggle to choose between a HST or an IET now... Controversial I know...
And the LAST HST (GWR) has left EXETER ST DAVIDS.
— UK Railway Information (@125_RailwayInfo) May 18, 2019
It’s been an incredible 43 years, all change please! 😢😢 #FarewellHST #HSTFarewell #HST125 #HST #GWR #Lastgoodbye #LastoftheHSTs #125HST pic.twitter.com/IzCuF0sYuO
And with that bomb shell... I will say my farewells.
Until my next blog.
Many Thanks for reading
Stuart :)
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A blog about the new Northumberland Line that is scheduled to start opening in the Summer of 2024.
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Walk around Windermere:
All photos © Every Last Station. Reuse only by permission.