Reversal at every station!

[tractakid]

This is a bizarre looking ATW diversion. Chester to Manchester Airport via Crewe and Piccadilly. It reverses at every station!

http://www.opentraintimes.com/schedule/Y90334/2013-12-19

 

[gordonthemoron]

so does the Stourbridge branch and the drain

 

[tractakid]

Yes, but not in a through service!

 

[Eagle]

What makes it even more silly is that it is going via the Styal line. (You might think it would make sense to serve the Airport first and terminate at Piccadilly, but then of course that means that the unit is out of place and that Piccadilly loses an early morning Airport service.)

 

[tractakid]

What makes it even more silly is that it is going via the Styal line. (You might think it would make sense to serve the Airport first and terminate at Piccadilly, but then of course that means that the unit is out of place and that Piccadilly loses an early morning Airport service.)

I didn't notice that. Haha, that's pretty bonkers. Even if it served Manchester Airport twice it could still keep it's claim to reverse at every station!

But this raises another question, how many trains in passenger service avoid Manchester Airport?

 

[Chapeltom]

These...

1O04 0511 MTWThO Manchester Piccadilly - Bournemouth
1H99 2230 MTWThO Birmingham New Street - Manchester Piccadilly
1W15 0830 SuO Cardiff Central - Manchester Piccadilly
1W09 0828 SuO, 1W11 0928 SuO Crewe - Manchester Piccadilly
1H74 1940 SSuX Euston - Manchester Piccadilly

 

[Eagle]

Those are the regular ones, but it's not uncommon for other services (particularly Virgin ones) to be diverted that way. You often see in VT's works calendar a lot of "this service will not call at Stockport".

 

[12CSVT]

Unless my Quail atlas is wrong, it isn't possible to access platform 5 at Crewe from the Chester line

 

[Whistler40145]

Quite correct, trains from the Chester line can only access through Platforms 6, 11 & 12, along with the bay Platforms.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Bevan Price]

Unless my Quail atlas is wrong, it isn't possible to access platform 5 at Crewe from the Chester line

Correct - you can only access platforms 6, 9, 10, 11 and 12 from the Chester line. And according to realtime trains, it used platform 6 at Crewe:

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/Y90334/2013/12/19/advanced

 

[Thomas6187]

The 00:44 Crewe-Piccadilly reserves at the one station it calls at, being Manchester Airport

 

[6Gman]

Many years ago I seem to remember a Manchester (Vic) to North Wales train which reversed at Wigan NW, Hooton and Chester. The journey time Manchester to Chester was somewhat extended!

 

[tractakid]

These...

1O04 0511 MTWThO Manchester Piccadilly - Bournemouth
1H99 2230 MTWThO Birmingham New Street - Manchester Piccadilly
1W15 0830 SuO Cardiff Central - Manchester Piccadilly
1W09 0828 SuO, 1W11 0928 SuO Crewe - Manchester Piccadilly
1H74 1940 SSuX Euston - Manchester Piccadilly

So, no Northern services at all.

This map could do with an expert to correct all the little flaws, just like showing Northern run Heald Green-Styal not via Manchester Airport.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/content/routemaps/nationalrailnetworkmapzoom.pdf

 

[gnolife]

These...

1O04 0511 MTWThO Manchester Piccadilly - Bournemouth
1H99 2230 MTWThO Birmingham New Street - Manchester Piccadilly
1W15 0830 SuO Cardiff Central - Manchester Piccadilly
1W09 0828 SuO, 1W11 0928 SuO Crewe - Manchester Piccadilly
1H74 1940 SSuX Euston - Manchester Piccadilly

Or to correct it so that the reporting numbers for those SuO ones are actually correct
1W02 08:28 SuO Crewe - Manchester Piccadilly (AW) (1W09 is 11:35 Cardiff - Manchester)
1W04 09:28 SuO Crewe - Manchester Piccadilly (AW) (1W11 is 10:30 Carmarthen - Manchester or 08:39 Bournemouth - Weymouth)
1W40 08:30 SuO Cardiff Central - Manchester Piccadilly (AW) (1W15 is 08:03 Paddington - Gt Malvern or 09:03 Southampton - Weymouth)

 

[185]

I used to work 1K03 York-Man Airport.

Left York
via Methley
Reversals at:
Leeds
Huddersfield
(+Halifax one night)
Salford Crescent

One of those nights where you walk more miles between cabs than the actual train probably runs for.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

This map could do with an expert to correct all the little flaws

That made me laugh, given how much the creator of that map (who rather immodestly says "Harry Beck, move over" in his Twitter bio) likes criticising perceived shortcomings in others' maps...

 

[tractakid]

As long as he is willing to accept criticism of his own map too, that's fine by me!

 

[kieron]

As long as he is willing to accept criticism of his own map too, that's fine by me!

And, to be fair, he is. He's even removed the blue line between Chester and Helsby in the latest version (only green trains use that route in the current timetable).

I do notice that the section between Bicester Town and the Chiltern line is described as "Under construction opening 2013". Maybe that was the plan once.

 

[tractakid]

And, to be fair, he is. He's even removed the blue line between Chester and Helsby in the latest version (only green trains use that route in the current timetable).

I do notice that the section between Bicester Town and the Chiltern line is described as "Under construction opening 2013". Maybe that was the plan once.

That's good. I did send him an email with some of my observations of the map but I have had no notification of receipt or a response.
Northern do run from Chester through Helsby, I would have made the line dotted and shown it as a limited service. Of course, showing the curve to Runcorn too.

 

[kieron]

That's good. I did send him an email with some of my observations of the map but I have had no notification of receipt or a response.
Northern do run from Chester through Helsby, I would have made the line dotted and shown it as a limited service. Of course, showing the curve to Runcorn too.

Only in the summer, though. There are other trains which have been left off the map, and it would be quite awkward to label it correctly. The old way it was shown (with a solid blue line between Chester and Helsby) was inconsistent, though.

 

[tractakid]

Only in the summer, though. There are other trains which have been left off the map, and it would be quite awkward to label it correctly. The old way it was shown (with a solid blue line between Chester and Helsby) was inconsistent, though.

Indeed it was.

Perhaps there needs to be a topic about this map. Can the mods separate it from this thread?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Just had an email back from Mr Smithers thanking me for my contributions

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Quite correct, trains from the Chester line can only access through Platforms 6, 11 & 12, along with the bay Platforms.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

A real rarity is a through working from Chester to Stoke, indeed I used to wonder whether such a move was possible. However I did it on a Compass Tours excursion from Hooton to Canterbury a couple of years ago.

 

[12CSVT]

A real rarity is a through working from Chester to Stoke, indeed I used to wonder whether such a move was possible. However I did it on a Compass Tours excursion from Hooton to Canterbury a couple of years ago.

In summer 1992 there was a Saturdays only 11:40 Llandudno - Nottingham diagrammed for a 1st generation DMU