AFTER all the frost and snow of January and February 1963, by March 9 it was very wet.

It would be, because the outdoor events officer of the West of England branch of the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society had arranged a day out to visit Southampton Docks and Eastleigh Works — the Swindon of the Southern Railway.

The party was leaving Exeter Central at 7.30am, but as in those days the first train up from Torre at 6.54am did not get into Exeter St David's until 7.45am, we came along later and went direct to Eastleigh.

Leaving Torre at 8.32am behind one of the North British-built D63XX diesel-hydraulics, we were in through coaches from Kingswear to Liverpool, which at Newton Abbot would join the coaches of the 8am from Plymouth to Liverpool and Glasgow, hauled by Warship class D-H No.D804 Avenger.

Passing in the other direction on the 6.25am Bristol Temple Meads to Plymouth was 4-6-0 No.5900 Hinderton Hall. D804 Avenger got us into Exeter at 9.30am, after only the one stop at Teignmouth.

At Exeter 2-6-0 No.6346, last seen on train-heating duties during the cold spell, was back on shed, probably in store, as it left Exeter in May 1963. 4-6-0 No.6903 Belmont Hall departed westwards at the head of a goods train, probably destined for Tavistock Junction yard outside Plymouth.

Lastly, 0-4-2T No.1466 was in the No.2 Bay platform, preparing to leave on the 10.25am Exe Valley service to Dulverton.

We departed first on the 10.06am up to Exeter Central, hauled by 4-6-2 No.34106 Lydford, where this train became the first half of the 10.30am to Waterloo, to be hauled by Merchant Navy class 4-6-2 No.35026 Lamport & Holt Line, which would take us as far as Salisbury.

Exeter Central seems to have been quite busy at this period, with three of the 'W' class 2-6-4Ts, then used for banking trains up from St David's, visible, also two Standard class 4 2-6-4Ts and two Ivatt 2-6-2Ts.

Not much was noted through the steamed-up windows on the way to Salisbury, just Standard class 4 2-6-0 No.76018 at Crewkerne, and at Templecombe, where in those days the Southern main line crossed over the Somerset & Dorset Railway line, an ex-LMSR 4F class 0-6-0 No.44560, two Standard class 5 4-6-0s, Nos.73049 and 73052, and a 'foreigner', ex-GWR 0-6-0 pannier tank No.3720, which had been a Bristol St Philips Marsh engine.

At Salisbury it was still raining. Salisbury then had both a Southern and a Western engine shed, the Western one a sub-shed of Westbury, though in the past with a fairly regular allocation.

A sign of the times was the presence of Hymek class D-H No.D7016, along with ex-GWR 2-8-0 No.3839, a visitor from Aberdare in South Wales.

The Southern was represented by S15 class 4-6-0s No.30828 and 30845 and Battle of Britain class Pacific No.34074 46 Squadron.

Having alighted from the Waterloo train, we boarded one of the then fairly-new 'Hampshire Units' across to Romsey, and another on to Eastleigh, where we joined the main party, who had been tramping around Southampton Docks in the rain.

The rain was so heavy at Eastleigh that I made no notes at all, nor were any photos taken. So it was all a bit of a washout.

We eventually came home from Salisbury on the 7pm from Waterloo, behind Battle of Britain class Pacific No.34080 74 Squadron.