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Location notes
Located between the towns of Farnborough and Fleet, Southwood lays on the main four-track section of mainline between London and Basingstoke.
Railway type and traffic
Class 159s diesel units operate half-hourly express services between London, Salisbury and the West Country, whilst Class 444 and Class 450 electric units operate the London to Basingstoke, Southampton and South Coast services. Typically trains will pass by around every 5 minutes. In the summer months in particular there are usually a number of steam tours that will pass by.
There is also a variety of freight services operated by DB Schenker, Freightliner and GBRf.
There is also a variety of freight services operated by DB Schenker, Freightliner and GBRf.
Environment
A fairly quiet business park in terms of noise but at the same time you are not isolated and there are a number offices nearby. You may wish to walk along Apollo Rise as there are a few different vantage points of varying heights.
Road directions
From the M3, Junction 4a:
Initially follow signs for Fleet to get you heading the correct direction. The road curves to the right before reaching a roundabout. Here take the first left and you will pass over the railway. Immediately beyond the bridge is a large roundabout at which you should take the first left. You will now be on Summit Avenue and you will come to a mini-roundabout with Nokia on your left. Continue straight across this roundabout and down the road. A short distance further on you will see a road on the right and a Morrisons supermarket. Once you have passed this you should take the next left turn (Apollo Rise). To your right you will see some large buildings with blue roofs. Once the road curves to left alongside Solartron Analytical you have reached the location. You may wish to continue further up the road for more photos however stop in the first parking bay as this is probably the best place.
Click here to set up your location for directions to this location
Southwood map co-ordinates
Initially follow signs for Fleet to get you heading the correct direction. The road curves to the right before reaching a roundabout. Here take the first left and you will pass over the railway. Immediately beyond the bridge is a large roundabout at which you should take the first left. You will now be on Summit Avenue and you will come to a mini-roundabout with Nokia on your left. Continue straight across this roundabout and down the road. A short distance further on you will see a road on the right and a Morrisons supermarket. Once you have passed this you should take the next left turn (Apollo Rise). To your right you will see some large buildings with blue roofs. Once the road curves to left alongside Solartron Analytical you have reached the location. You may wish to continue further up the road for more photos however stop in the first parking bay as this is probably the best place.
Click here to set up your location for directions to this location
Southwood map co-ordinates
Parking
There are a number of free parking bays along the road, or alternatively you can use the free car park at the busy Morrisons supermarket (a few minutes walk).
Public transport
Route 73 operated by Countrywide Travel (Yellow and black buses) operates hourly and runs from Frimley Park Hospital to Fleet. Key pick up points include Farnborough Kingsmead shopping Centre (5-10 minutes walk from Farnborough Main railway station) and Fleet station. Ask the driver for a ticket to the Southwood Business Park or Morrisons supermarket.
Click here to set up your location for directions to this location
Click here to set up your location for directions to this location
Amenities
The Morrisons supermarket is a 5-10 minute walk away. Simply walk back down Apollo Rise (from where you arrived) and take the walk-through. The supermarket is quite large and has it's own toilets and cafe.
Accommodation
Sun Compass
Sun Compass using Suncalc by brought to you by Vladimir Agafonkin:
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Southwood
Streetmap links
Southwood general view map
Southwood close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Southwood
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Southwood
Googly map
Southwood general view map
Southwood close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Southwood
Who likes this location on facebook
Railway Gen Group
Photographic notes
Firstly to help get your bearings, when looking at the buildings with blue roofs you are looking towards London (East). For trains heading from London (West) you have around 15-30 seconds notice of a train approaching, particularly thanks to the bright headlights of the Desiro EMUs. For trains heading towards London (East) it is a similar story. The line is of four track throughout. The only real problem is in the evening when trains heading towards London can be obscured by sunlight.
General views - All photographs © Damon Cox unless otherwise stated
Fig 1 - Looking east
Fig 2 - Looking east
Fig 3 - Looking west
Location Video
Disclaimer
All information contained within this is site is © Trainspots. The images used on this site remain the property of the original photographer, as credited at the top of the page, and are used with their kind permission.
The information on these pages is supplied for the benefit of railway enthusiasts who carry out a harmless hobby, and through the medium of photography and video, actually promote the railway industry. Railway enthusiasts can also act as eyes and ears against railway vandalism, and as such should surely be encouraged to do so by the supply of adequate information such as is found on this website.
This site has been created to assist railway photographers in their travels around the country. It is based on the personal knowledge and experience. No liability can be held against the web site or its contributions for incorrect information. Trainspots will endeavour to check all information and corrections will be accepted and posted accordingly.
Advice as to the locations general environment is given as a guide on each page. This information is a GUIDE only. ALWAYS be careful with your equipment, Trainspots can not be held responsible for your personal security. Avoid leaving your property on display for all to see, be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are, sadly, people who will not think twice about trying to steal your equipment.
Trainspots DOES NOT condone trespass and none of the information on this site should be taken as a right to trespass on either railway or private land. To the best of our knowledge all locations are publicly accessible areas, where they are not contact information will be given to the appropriate authority for permission to be obtained.
The content of this site is created and intended for all age ranges but the content of sites linked from this site are not subject to the same intentions. Trainspots will attempt to check links for validity but as time passes and the site grows this will not always be possible. Broken, or indeed updates to, links should be submitted to the editor for inclusion in the updates. All links external to the Trainspots site are opened in a new browser window. Trainspots has been running now for over 10 years and there are imitation sites and guides to railfotspots. But we are a free site and we continue on the path we started out on over a decade ago to provide a useful guide to UK Railway Photographic Locations.
The information on these pages is supplied for the benefit of railway enthusiasts who carry out a harmless hobby, and through the medium of photography and video, actually promote the railway industry. Railway enthusiasts can also act as eyes and ears against railway vandalism, and as such should surely be encouraged to do so by the supply of adequate information such as is found on this website.
This site has been created to assist railway photographers in their travels around the country. It is based on the personal knowledge and experience. No liability can be held against the web site or its contributions for incorrect information. Trainspots will endeavour to check all information and corrections will be accepted and posted accordingly.
Advice as to the locations general environment is given as a guide on each page. This information is a GUIDE only. ALWAYS be careful with your equipment, Trainspots can not be held responsible for your personal security. Avoid leaving your property on display for all to see, be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are, sadly, people who will not think twice about trying to steal your equipment.
Trainspots DOES NOT condone trespass and none of the information on this site should be taken as a right to trespass on either railway or private land. To the best of our knowledge all locations are publicly accessible areas, where they are not contact information will be given to the appropriate authority for permission to be obtained.
The content of this site is created and intended for all age ranges but the content of sites linked from this site are not subject to the same intentions. Trainspots will attempt to check links for validity but as time passes and the site grows this will not always be possible. Broken, or indeed updates to, links should be submitted to the editor for inclusion in the updates. All links external to the Trainspots site are opened in a new browser window. Trainspots has been running now for over 10 years and there are imitation sites and guides to railfotspots. But we are a free site and we continue on the path we started out on over a decade ago to provide a useful guide to UK Railway Photographic Locations.
