Your very first rail journey with parents

[DeeGee]

Three Bridges - East Croydon, sometime in 1977.

My boy's first train journey was Liverpool Street to Tottenham Hale, if you don't include the Walthamstow Central - Euston trip he did by tube the same weekend.

 

[Manchester77]

Manchester Piccadilly to Gatley in 1982 I think, I can't really remember much about it other than how amazed I was by all the different trains at Piccadilly.

I know my grans was in 1939 from Longsight as part of her evacuation in WWII. I guess she'd have been on some kind of LMS stock and locos. It wasn't direct she said they got off somewhere and completed the final leg on a coach, does anyone happen to know what station they'd have got off at?

 

[John Webb]

Somewhere in the Welsh Valleys north of Llantrisant - 1946 - 18 months old. I can clearly remember being in my push-chair and being pushed off a very basic platform onto a path running by the railway line where there was this hissing monster, almost certainly an 0-6-0 pannier tank, never been out of love with railways ever since!

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Probably Euston to Chester on a HST on the day of the Ladbroke Grove crash 1999.

 

[Lrd]

A trip on the Swanage railway to meet Santa some time in the late 90s.

 

[Temple Meads]

I think it was a local trip - Exeter to either Exmouth or Dawlish, not sure which!

First "proper" trip was Tiverton to Cardiff.

First solo trip was Exeter to Newton Abbot on a HST

 

[43074]

My very first journey was on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in 2001 (behind 'Sir Nigel Gresley' so I'm told), although my first National Rail trip would probably have been Leicester to Nottingham on an HST shortly afterwards.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

A shunt in Ammanford Goods yard with a 2-8-2 ex GWR tank. Prised off the footplate wwith bad grace - train crew said they were "right away to Scotland..." 1962 or so.

First "proper" journey - Neath General to Aberavon Beach in a brand new looking green DMU with yellow front stripes , home on a filthy steam hauled non compartment maroon liveried train. (and the Western Welsh 251 bus of blessed memory from Neath)

First proper trip to London in MK1 maroon stock with "Western Yeoman" - again from Neath. School trip to Bristol Clifton Down behind a green Hymek. Course - did not appreciate this wealth at the time...

 

[DiscoStu]

1982, I was five ... Northampton to Euston with a BR Blue 310 EMU.

Was on our way to my first ever football match, Spurs v Liverpool.

It finished 2-2

 

[Bevan Price]

Don't remember my first journey, but as we had annual family holidays in Cleveleys when I was little, it was probably from St. Helens to Blackpool, changing at Wigan North Western. I have vague memories of seeing a very grubby streamlined Duchess at Wigan on one such trip, so that must have been about 1948...

 

[4SRKT]

My earliest railway memory is of a steam heat peak calling at Belper station on a soutbound working, which we boarded. This must have been 1974 at the latest as we moved to York in that year.

 

[Johnnie2Sheds]

Barrow on Soar - Leicester and back. Bout 1963.. not sure of the traction as I was 3 but guessing a Swindon 150 or some sort of smallish kettle like a 2-6-4T? Pretty sure they got rid of steam on the Nottingham Division in 1964. I do have vivid memories of Leicester being a complete building site in the 60s though. All that lovely concrete they threw up mmmmmm.

 

[QJ]

Blaenau Ffestiniog Central, pannier and two non corridors , to Bala, then on to Ruabon,and Paddington, remember a King getting on somewhere, or at least the strange front end bogie, would be 1957

I expect you are right about the King, Mountainier. I believe these worked services between Paddington and Shrewsbury where a loco change would take place for something a little less heavy on the track.

The first trip I can remember being taken on by my mother was in 1967 (March or thereabouts as it must have been around the Easter school holidays) on a footex from Plymouth to Cardiff to visit relatives. I wish I could find out the number of the loco that hauled it (believed to have been a Western) and the route taken (it possibly took the up goods line at Exeter Saint Davids as that was still open at the time). Unfortunately, these things seem to have gone unrecorded unlike the decades following.

Unfortunately, my parents were in love with the motor car so rail trips were exceedingly rare. Of all the lines that existed in the South West at the time the only route now closed I know I travelled over was that from Bere Alston to Tavistock North.

 

[maniacmartin]

Discounting tourist things such as the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway:

Lincoln to York, changing at Retford, late 1990s

 

[fowler9]

The first one I clearly remember was behind 87004 Britannia from Liverpool to London. I have vague memories of various journies on 304's from West Allerton to Lime Street before that. I also remember seeing D200 passing through passing through Mossley Hill station whilst getting a train hoe from town at an early age. It was when 40122 had been re painted in the old BR Green livery. I also remember a trip to Crewe for an open day and seeing loads of Class 43's being built.

 

[poshfan]

Grimsby Town to London Kings Cross via Boston, late 60's.

 

[Desiro360]

My first journey on a train was from Felixstowe to Ipswich with mum when I was 3 years old. Spent a while at Ipswich looking at the trains before traveling back to Felixstowe. That trip was what ignited my interest and passion in Trains and Railways

 

[Trog]

First trip I know of was to visit my Grandmother in the winter of 1962/63. My mother and I travelled in the Guards Van as my pram was a bit big for the normal doors. The Guard apparently noticed me watching the track roll out from under the train through the windows in the coach end, and advised my mother to distract me before it made me sick.

The first journey I remember was the Boat train from Waterloo to Weymouth Quay, Merchant Navy to Weymouth Town then an 03 diesel through the streets.

 

[Searle]

something on WAGN I assume, in the late 90's, either from Hertford to London or Peterborough!

 

[Clip]

Probably Portsmouth to Newcastle in the late 70s

 

[lord rathmore]

First I remember Frodsham to Chester in about 1958. Loco was a tank, probably a Fowler 2-6-4. Next one remembered was to Manchester behind a Jubilee.

 

[gnolife]

Heald Green to London Euston, changing at Wilmslow and Crewe. The only detail I can remember is that it was a 323 doing the run from Heald to Wilmslow.

 

[Bill EWS]

Mine was an outing with the BB's back in 1950/51! I was about eleven or twelve. They had an outing to Ellen which is about 16 miles from Aberdeen via Dyce Jtn, I knew of Ellon as we went through it by bus when visiting friends in Boddam but had never actually been in Ellon for any time nor gone by train.

As I had never been to the station before and travelled on my own to meet up with the group I remember feeling quite afraid of what appeared to be such a long journey. The train departed from one of the bay platforms at the north end of the station. If you know the station it is where you catch the taxis today. There were four bay platforms at that spot. The trains for Boddam, Fraserburgh and Peterhead departed from there. I think possibly the trains for the MacDuff branch also left from the bays too.

The coaches were wooden without any corridor and we just had to sit, crowded into the coach and simply wait time. I never saw the engine at any time but remember it's sounds.

It was exiting going through the two cut & cover tunnels just beyond the station and agerly watched out for the spot at Woodside (Which was once a station) where there was a children's game park where we played a lot and used to run up to the fence to watch the trains going by. There was a stop signal on the Up line and we had a good look at the engines while they stopped there. When I used to wave to people on the trains I used to wonder how they managed to afford to go on a train and to where they were all going.

I remember stopping at some stations but had no idea which was which was which.

The train stopped at Ellon and we got off on what I remember was a large/long platform. This was I learned many years later was the large island platform that was the Up main and the Boddam branch platform. I wish I had been old enogh to have known that at the time as the Boddam branch became of great interest to me over the years.

I remmeber us all trundling over the high footbridge and to the entrance of the station and one of the elders walked us to the site where the gathering had been held. Again, it was some years later that I learned that it was called Gordon Park.

To me it was just a field but they had a few stalls and things set-up and plenty of games and a sort of picnic. I remember the day was quite nice and it didn't rain and I quite enjoyed the day. I visted Gordon park about 4 years back and I was surprised to see just how small it was. I remembered it as being hugh! I hardly remember the journey back home or getting home from the station but I remember my mother asking if I enjoyed the outing and replying that I had.

I was 18 years old before I travelled on a train again and that was to Dundee and I could affort to pay my own fare by then and realised how those people had managed to dravel way back then.

Here is a link to some photos of Ellon station as it was back in the 50's, and ealier.....

http://theatreorgans.com/hammond/keng/kenhtml/Boddam%20To%20Ellon/Ellon%20Station%20Photos.htm

 

[TheJRB]

According to my grandfather, mine was Blackfriars to Catford in about 1999 when I would have been three. I don't know what stock it would have been though! I also travelled on the DLR on the same day.

At some time in the early 2000s, probably around about 2003, I went from Ashford to Canterbury West on a slam door if my memory serves my correctly. The earliest journey I've put on Railmiles was Lelant Saltings to St Ives on a 150 in 2009 though!

 

[bicbasher]

According to my grandfather, mine was Blackfriars to Catford in about 1999 when I would have been three. I don't know what stock it would have been though! I also travelled on the DLR on the same day.

This may have been before the combined Southeastern/FCC service started, so I expect it was a Networker.

319s did operate on the Catford loop previously when the Sevenoaks stoppers were part of NSE's Thameslink.

 

[trentside]

Mine would have been Saxilby to Lincoln Central or vice versa, when I was in my pram (around 1990). The first journey I can clearly remember is Saxilby to Sheffield on a 144, then onto the Supertram through to Meadowhall - around 1996/7.

 

[Harlesden]

In the early 60s the Reading line would be mainly run by BILs and NOLs.

Thanks Monty. Built in the 1930's I understand.

 

[fowler9]

Based on what some people have said I am suddenly aware of how old I am. Ha ha.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Mine would have been Saxilby to Lincoln Central or vice versa, when I was in my pram (around 1990). The first journey I can clearly remember is Saxilby to Sheffield on a 144, then onto the Supertram through to Meadowhall - around 1996/7.

So you were in a pram on a pram so to speak .

 

[Welshman]

Based on what some people have said I am suddenly aware of how old I am. Ha ha.

If you're aware of being old, then I'm positively ancient!

My earliest memory is of a journey from Sowerby Bridge to Halifax, about 1955ish.

A dirty LMS six-a-side non-corridor compartment, with prickly horse-hair upholstery which hadn't seen a brush in years - I dread to think what was living in them, and then off my blotched, short-trousered legs.

My father cutting his return ticket in two with his penknife in between puffing away at his cigarette.

Then his getting up as the train drew into Halifax, and opening the window with the leather strap so he could lean out and open the door when the train had stopped.

Then seeing a rake of the first Derby Lightweight dmus parked in Halifax [presumably on test], and thinking how modern they looked after what I had just alighted from!