MANY thousands of Herefordians have walked along the Great Western Way over the years.

But in decades gone, the south city path was not home to walkers or cyclists, but instead a busy rail route.

Les Hyde shared members of our We Grew Up In Hereford group on Facebook this picture, taken from Usk Close in 1966, of a class 47 locomotive hauling freight towards Redhill Junction from Barton Yard, now the site of Hereford’s Sainsbury’s supermarket.

“The area is just about unrecognisable now,” he said.

Others fondly remembered the trains rumbling through what is now one of Hereford’s most densely populated areas.

“My favourite train was the Steam Engine Evening Star that hauled the Esso tankers and passed at 9.30pm each night,” wrote John Billingham.

“I loved to see the trains at the bottom of my garden in Escley Drive,” said Carol Baggott.

Caz Namphac also remembered watching the engines going past and being waved at by the guard.

“I lived on Escley Drive with the Usk Close sign along the side of the hedge of my garden. Loved to see the freight trains go past my bedroom window. I remember the trains hooting as they went past on New Year’s Eve,” she wrote.

Others remembered jobs on the rails in Hereford.

“That might have been me on that Sulzer diesel. I was a fireman on the railway in 1966,” said Roger Cleves.

Glynis Hiles remembered the excitement she felt when she saw a locomotive on the lines.

“My dear dad was a driver on steam and diesel, so we always got excited when we saw one in case he was driving,” she said.

Val Morgan said the line should never have been closed.

“With Belmont spreading to the abbey it could have been used for transport into town. Think how many cars that would have taken off the road,” she wrote.