Back in the day...

[CW2]

Apologies if this is a bit rambling (and of absolutely no interest to some readers) and contains minimal detail of the trains actually taken, but having recently rediscovered hundreds if not thousands of tickets I thought the ticketing and costs might be of interest to some.

No apologies necessary - a fascinating read. Thanks for posting.

 

[D6130]

Tuesday 22nd November 1983 – a short visit to Hamburg
This was my fifth trip in 1983 to watch Aberdeen in action in European football competitions. As three of the previous four had been by rail (Munich, Waterschei (Genk) and Beveren (near Antwerp), plus I had taken two touring holidays also by rail, I had exhausted my 1983 allocation of FIP Coupon Tickets (free passes), at least for the countries involved in this trip, and consequently this trip was made on a set of handwritten paper reduced rate Privilege Tickets (50%), which I had purchased in advance (by post) from the then BR International/Sealink Travel Centre at London Victoria at a total cost of £31.48 including cover charge of £1 the receipt for which was included within the ticket cover. As I still have these tickets, I have included the details and costings for interest.

Tuesday 22nd November 1983
07.10 Hook of Holland to Hamburg – CANCELLED DUE TO INDUSTRIAL ACTION
Having arrived in Hook of Holland on that excellent ship Koningen Beatrix I had in my hand a seat reservation (an additional £1) on the above train plus priv. singles Hook to Bentheim Gr. (frontier) 237 kilometres at a cost of £4.90, and Bentheim Gr. to Hamburg 391km for £7.24.
Due to the Industrial Action the only long distance train running that morning was the one to Cologne (and perhaps beyond) via Venlo, and the advice from staff at the Hook was to travel on this for onward connections in Germany – I don’t recall if this was hauled by one of the former Woodhead route EM2s (numbered 15xx by NS) on this occasion but I did travel behind these several times on the route via Venlo.
07.xx Hook to Monchengladbach, 10.28 M’gladbach to Duisburg, 11.xx Duisburg to Hamburg Hbf (the last of these may have involved a cross platform change at Dortmund but my memory fails in that respect (the then hourly ICs to Hamburg and Hanover alternated between the two main routes between Cologne and Dortmund with cross platform interchange at both)). I can confirm the time of 10.28 ex M’gladbach as the DB conductor had endorsed the cover of my ticket with the time and platform (3).
S Bahn Hamburg Hbf to Pinneberg
SV Hamburg 0-0 Aberdeen 0 – UEFA Super Cup first leg. The ‘Super Cup’ in those days was not an actual cup (as it is today) but actually a plaque which was duly presented to Aberdeen and paraded in a lap of honour after the second leg victory a couple of weeks later. It may be difficult to imagine in these days of the mega rich (or in some cases in mega debt) football superpowers that in 1983 Aberdeen were voted European Team of the Year by the prestigious France Football magazine, and defeated both Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in that year. I very much doubt their record of being the only Scottish team to win the Super Cup and hence the only Scottish Team to win two European trophies will ever be challenged.
S Bahn Pinneberg to Hamburg Hbf
23.45 Hamburg Hbf to Bonn Hbf – Priv. single £11.72 (496km) – todays normal price single is 97.60 euro! This was the Kiel to Bonn overnight on which I had booked a sleeper (£13.50) to Bonn (arrive 05.50) in order to avoid an even earlier arrival time in Cologne. and I can only assume this train did not include couchettes as 6 hrs 5 mins occupation of sleeper berth fell well beyond my rule of thumb that normally minimum of 8 hours was required to justify the significantly higher cost of sleeper where couchettes were available.

Wednesday 23nd November 1983
06.xx Bonn to Cologne, 07.xx Cologne to Oostende – priv. single Bonn to Aachen Sud Gr. £2.50 (107km), and Aachen Sud Gr. to Oostende £4.12. The latter train would no doubt have had the regular banking assistance out of Liege and possibly also out of Aachen where the heavier trains would get a push from a DB diesel (wiring being SNCB 3kv). The latter ticket was from printed stock and does not show a distance (approx. 270km), although in error I had been issued a 50% reduction where the normal reduction for SNCB was 75% (50% reduction for retired staff). I do have other SNCB Privs. from this era which were issued at 75% reduction, including one from printed stock from Oostende to Sterpenich (frontier) from 1985 for £3.34 although that does state a distance of 330km.
Victoria must have had a fairly large range of priv. rate printed stock and I also have one from Aachen Sud Gr. To Puttgarden Mitte See (the ticket frontier between DB and DSB).
Ferry – or Jetfoil - Oostende to Dover and hence northwards to be back at work in Scotland on the Thursday – my travels earlier in the year meant I did not have much leave left!

Apologies if this is a bit rambling (and of absolutely no interest to some readers) and contains minimal detail of the trains actually taken, but having recently rediscovered hundreds if not thousands of tickets I thought the ticketing and costs might be of interest to some.

Likewise.....a fascinating read - particularly the comparison between ticket prices then and now. Brings back memories of my continental travels in the same era.

Meanwhile, a couple of years earlier:

SUNDAY 22nd NOVEMBER 1981:

Having spent a couple of days and an overnight with my girlfriend's aunt in Birmingham, it was time for her to set-off Southwards back to London and me to head Northwards back to Glasgow:

15 30 Bristol TM-Liverpool Lime St: 86 101 Birmingham New St-Crewe (Consist: W81312/3403/3152/6075/5667/6129/6092/3092/M80900 (9 AB/EH)
16 30 Bristol TM-Glasgow/Edinburgh: 87 025 Crewe-Preston (Consist: M81574/6021/6043/5433/14088/13605(G)/3191/6062/6045/6053/14117(E))(11)
86 216 Preston-Glasgow Central (with M1981 added to front of consist, making load 12 AB/EH)

 

[xotGD]

22nd November 1989

Returning from work trip:

90028 Euston - Milton Keynes
86253 Milton Keynes - New St

A cunning plan to avoid a Can all the way.

22nd November 2001

91013 Newcastle - Doncaster
47854 Doncaster - Derby

I presume the Duff was on a York - Bristol or similar. Better than a Tram. However, that's what I then needed to board at Derby.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

No apologies necessary - a fascinating read. Thanks for posting.

Thanks @CW2 and @D6130 for positive feedback.

I must remember to document my visit to Hell when that date comes round.

 

[D6130]

I must remember to document my visit to Hell when that date comes round.

Ah yes...I was there in June 1986 and again in June 1999 but, unfortunately, I have not yet been able to find my notebooks from those years, so I can't remember the exact dates.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Ah yes...I was there in June 1986 and again in June 1999 but, unfortunately, I have not yet been able to find my notebooks from those years, so I can't remember the exact dates.

I bought a one way ticket to Hell - but have survived to tell the tale!

By the way, I have just realised the D6130 photo was taken at a location I am - or at least was - very familiar with! Apologies for being so slow to pick that up!
@D6130 is standing close to the end of platforms 1 & 2 and the train is passing where platform 4 once stood, with the bench in the foreground on platform 3 which of course is now the only surviving platform on that station which in my youth boasted 5 platforms.

 

[Techniquest]

To the honourable gentleman who told the tale through Europe, I have to confess most of those places don't ring a bell but it sounds like an epic adventure!

 

[Falcon1200]

At Marsh Gibbons (what an evocative name) we crossed a 47-hauled train heading the other way, hauled by the infamous 47054

Sorry to be pedantic @CW2, but there was only one primate involved, as it is Marsh Gibbon, rather than Gibbons. Still an odd name for a Buckinghamshire village however !

Thanks to all for the ongoing fascinating trip reports.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

To the honourable gentleman who told the tale through Europe, I have to confess most of those places don't ring a bell but it sounds like an epic adventure!

By no means as epic as trips to matches in Budapest in 1984 and Gothenburg in 1986 the latter passing through Hell and many of other places mainly far from any semblance of a direct route.

 

[CW2]

Sorry to be pedantic @CW2, but there was only one primate involved, as it is Marsh Gibbon, rather than Gibbons. Still an odd name for a Buckinghamshire village however !

Thanks to all for the ongoing fascinating trip reports.

Aah, I must have confused the location with the demeanor of some of the bashers aboard the train!

Cheers!

 

[Techniquest]

By no means as epic as trips to matches in Budapest in 1984 and Gothenburg in 1986 the latter passing through Hell and many of other places mainly far from any semblance of a direct route.

Definitely some monster journeys there! I dread to think how long they must have taken!

 

[NorthWestRover]

Satruday 23rd November 1985

1985 meandering to an end..

Tram Wolves to Birmingham NS, 10.39 Man Picc to Plymouth
47588 Birmingham NS to Wolves, 11.40 Poole to Man Picc

 

[CW2]

Thursday 23/11/78
A less than exciting way home from college …
47553 1620 Harrogate – Leeds
46032 1707 Leeds – York

Sunday 23/11/80
Not all gen is good …
I was “reliably informed” that the Up and Down Midnight (Paddington – Penzance and v.v.) were diverted via Salisbury tonight, just as they had been the previous weekend, so I had set off for Salisbury on a late night ED to Basingstoke, thence:
33108 0004 Basingstoke – Salisbury via Southampton
There the night shift chargeman revealed to me that the information regarding the Paddington overnights was utterly dud, and there was no train scheduled to depart Salisbury until the morning. At least he took some pity on me, and allowed me to doss the night in the FC compartment of a 3H unit stabled in the station. It wasn’t the warmest of overnights, so I ended up wrapped in one of those foil blankets you see on mountain rescue programmes (I always carried one with me for events such as this).
Eventually – after a long cold stationary overnight – there came salvation:
50019 0833 Salisbury – Basingstoke via Southampton
50036 0958 Basingstoke – Salisbury (direct)
50014 1157 Salisbury – Waterloo via Southampton, 10 -> 40’ late.

Tuesday 23/11/82
Still with wife in tow, we emerged at Inverness from the overnight sleeper from Edinburgh, and had a trip on the Far North line:
26032 1055 Inverness – Dingwall
26041 + 26024 1148 Dingwall – Brora
37262 1340 Brora – Inverness
47040 1630 Inverness – Ladybank
27018 1955 Ladybank – Edinburgh
47035 2230 Edinburgh – York
This was the 1920 ex Aberdeen, and was 24’ late ex Edinburgh. We recovered to only 6’ late at York, despite following the 2105 Edinburgh – Kings Cross into York, on which 47564 had failed, and had been rescued by 37076!

Wednesday 23/11/83
Remember: Not all Gen is Good …
I had taken 47519 from York to Grantham with the specific intention of intercepting 40057 which was allocated onto the 2300 Kings Cross – Edinburgh via Leeds. What do I get?
47416 0051 Grantham – Leeds
I was working early shift in Leeds Control, so I got somebody to let me in, and got my head down for a few hours. Then after early shift I went back to York for a few hours:
45106 1400 Leeds – York
… and then my normal train to work …
45123 2023 York – Leeds
I was all ready to head for my digs when I noticed the 1805 Liverpool – Scarborough was running late. I decided to hang around to cover it, just in case …
40015 2110 Leeds – York, 85’ late.
DMU York – Leeds
So I did get a run with a 40 on that day in the end, albeit not the one I expected, and for a much shorter mileage.

Thursday 23/11/95
I had a Polish railway manager friend staying with me, and we decided to go for a trip to the Isle of Wight. (Timings of Unit moves not recorded).
166 210 Reading – Guildford
2408 + 2403 Guildford – Portsmouth Harbour
(Ferry)
008 Ryde Pier Head – Shanklin
009 Shanklin – Ryde Esplanade
(Hovercraft)
3433 Portsmouth Harbour – Eastleigh
43099 + 43092 1435 Eastleigh – Reading

Thursday 23/11/00 (edit to correct date)
Every so often our bosses would “treat” us to a combined staff meeting in some far-distant location, mainly because it is cheap off-season. This time it was Retford, carefully chosen so that we could fully experience the post-Hatfield timetable meltdown first hand – and because that’s where our boss lived:
E* 3301 + 3302 1033 Kings Cross – Retford

 

[D6130]

Thursday 23/11/82

I suspect that you mean't to type 23/11/2000!

Meanwhile, on THURSDAY 23rd NOVEMBER 1978, I had a day trip to Bristol, where my brother was studying at the time. During the day he gave me a lift to Bath, where we had a pub lunch together.

05 22 Waterloo-Portsmouth Harbour: 7749 Petersfield-Fratton
07 47 Portsmouth Harbour-Bristol TM: 31 419 Fratton-Bristol TM (Consist: M4947/M24900/M81144/W15647/W25926/M25563 Load 6 VB/DH)
16 58 Bristol TM-Portsmouth Harbour: 31 414 Bath Spa-Portsmouth & Southsea (Consist:W5133/W16207/E80836/M25625/W25931/W24892 Load 6 VB/DH)
19 29 Portsmouth Harbour-Waterloo: 7424 Portsmouth & Southsea-Petersfield

 

[xotGD]

23rd November 1991

Lower league footy outing...

86213 New St - Wolves
47818 Wolves - Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury Town 1 Hartlepool United 4

Plastic back to Wolves
87009 Wolves - New St

 

[CW2]

I suspect that you meant to type 23/11/2000!

Corrected - thanks!

 

[NorthWestRover]

Thursday 24th November 1988

Back to Wolves for Graduation.

47664 Oxford to Wolves

 

[CW2]

Thursday 24/11/77
Another variation on the college-to-home journey:
31409 1652 Harrogate – Leeds, which re-engined at Leeds to:
55009 1730 Leeds – Wakefield Westgate
Sadly I have no further memory of that evening, and my notes give no clues. Perhaps I was attending some gig or event in Wakefield?

Friday 24/11/78
55017 1620 Harrogate – Leeds
46042 1707 Leeds – York
47483 1733 York – Leeds
45027 1906 Leeds – York
47522 2130 York – Leeds
After all that to-ing and fro-ing, I met some friends in Leeds and stayed overnight at their flat.

Saturday 24/11/79
Since moving to University in London, I’d acquired a new girlfriend, so what better way to take her home to visit my sister in York than the 2015 Kings Cross – York? Sadly, it could only produce a steam-heat duff, but this train had other attractions, most notably that of leaving from Platform 8 at Kings Cross.
47035 2015 Kings Cross – York

Thursday 24/11/83
After an early shift in Leeds Control, I realised that my favourite class 50, 50018, was allocated to the 2000 Cardiff – Crewe. This called for desperate measures, starting with a Cravens DMU!
51258 + 5xxxx 1424 Leeds – Sheffield
45143 1534 Sheffield – Gloucester
50015 1812 Gloucester – Bristol Parkway
43002 + 43xxx 1912 Bristol Parkway – Newport
50018 2020 Newport – Crewe (Success!)
(Friday 25/11/83)
From Crewe, it was a simple matter to get back to Leeds, ready for early shift the following morning, courtesy of the Shrewsbury – York TPO:
47492 0011 Crewe – Stockport
45110 0050 Stockport – Leeds (via Guide Bridge, Stalybridge)
At Leeds I made a quick phone call, and was admitted to the office, where I got my head down on some office chairs for a few hours doss ready for another early shift.

Saturday 24/11/84
A little after-work electric bash:
87032 1510 Glasgow Central – Carlisle
All was going splendidly until Floriston, where there was a flash and a bang, and the pantograph dropped. Wisely, the driver decided not to put in the brakes, so we coasted the remaining 7 miles to Carlisle, arriving there 5 minutes early with an utterly dead 87 on the front! I didn’t record what replaced it, as I had no validity south of Carlisle, and I knew there was a Roarer heading north:
85023 1710 Carlisle – Glasgow Central

Monday 24/11/86
By this time, all the G&SW services were supposed to be in the hands of ETH 47s, so it was quite rare to have anything smaller on the circuit. I was on the Glasgow (WCML) Traction desk that morning, and was surprised to see No Heat 25323 coming in with one of the morning trains from Carlisle. Crewe Control were most apologetic, but the booked 47 had failed at the last minute, so they’d had to swipe a nearby 25 off a trip freight to work it instead.
OK – well I’ll have to return the favour, and send the 25 straight back to them, as there was no endless slush-fund of ETH 47s sitting spare at Polmadie. Chatting with the supervisor at Polmadie (a friend and fellow crank who was filling that role as his first placement after successful completion of the BR Management Trainee scheme), he suggested putting the 25 in multiple with 27008, so the latter could supply steam heat.
I agreed, allocated the locos to the 1545 to Carlisle, then went out to have them.
25323 + 27008 1545 Glasgow Central – Annan
Unfortunately as part of the changeover to ETH traction on the G&SW, the steam heat bags had been removed from all the coaches, but this information had not been updated in the POIS/TOPS system, so the provision of 27008 to heat the train was an utter waste of time. At least it provided me with an interesting mixed pair! I was glad to get out at Annan and immediately return north with another unusual loco (in these parts at least):
47500 “Great Western” 1815 Annan – Glasgow Central

Friday 24/11/95
My Polish friend was still with me, so we set off for a day trip to Holyhead:
43004 + 43130 0756 Reading – Paddington
From Euston, we intended catching the through HST on the 0903 Euston – Holyhead. Walking into Euston station, we found it was Cancelled: “Passengers are advised to catch the 0910 Liverpool service and change at Crewe”.
OK then:
87035 0910 Euston – Crewe
The intention was to change into the 1124 Crewe – Holyhead, with a 37/4. However that 37/4 failed as well, so the defunct HST (which had terminated at Crewe on its journey into London) was resurrected, and shunted back into the station to form:
43041 (+43042 dead) 1104 Crewe – Holyhead
We made it to Holyhead OK, with two trainloads of people and only half the horsepower. At Holyhead there were more fun and games. This set should have formed the 1338 to Euston, but the 1356 Holyhead – Crewe was cancelled (because of the previous incoming 37/4 failure), so instead we set off in its path at 1356. Well, when I say “set off”, I mean we made a brave attempt at departing from Holyhead with only one power car working, and came to an ignominious juddering halt on the hill just outside the depot. Then we subsided gently back into the platform, to the bewilderment of some of the passengers. People emerged from the depot with buckets of sand, to hand sand the rails, and eventually we got going again at 1403, and just made it up the hill this time!
43041 (+43042 dead) 1338 / 1356 = 1403 Holyhead – Llandudno Jn
At Llandudno Jn my friend went to visit the Blaenau Ffestiniog branch, whilst I reacquainted myself with some 37/4s:
37417 1436 Llandudno Jn – Bangor
37429 1522 Bangor – Prestatyn
37425 1612 Prestatyn – Llandudno Jn
37417 1642 Llandudno Jn – Prestatyn
37402 1712 Prestatyn – Bangor (reuniting with my friend at Llandudno Jn en route)
37402 1823 Bangor – Crewe
… and so to a B&B overnight in Crewe, at the end of a very eventful day.

Friday 24/11/00
After our team meeting in Retford, I chose my train south carefully:
E* 3302 + 3301 1350 Retford – Kings Cross
Slightly disappointing to get the same North of London Eurostar set I’d had on the way north, but still worth it for the novelty. There were still many speed restrictions, in the aftermath of the Hatfield crash.

 

[D6130]

Nothing from me today, I'm afraid....but a fun day out tomorrow from November 1978.

but this train had other attractions, most notably that of leaving from Platform 8 at Kings Cross.
47035 2015 Kings Cross – York

If you don't mind me asking, what was the particular attraction of leaving from platform 8?

 

[CW2]

Nothing from me today, I'm afraid....but a fun day out tomorrow from November 1978.


If you don't mind me asking, what was the particular attraction of leaving from platform 8?

Without going into too many details, platforms 2-7 had lockable ticket barriers, whereas platforms 1 and 8 were "open access". I'll leave the rest to your imagination ...

 

[xotGD]

24th November 1990

Heading north for an Edinburgh derby...

86243 New St - Carstairs
47210 Carstairs - Waverley

Hearts 1 Hibs 1

I can't imagine that the Duff was supplying steam heat.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Part 2 (missed this earlier). I don't remember this at all and have no idea why I would have gone to Knutsford on a Tuesday afternoon in November... It was not railway related, I know that much...

Tuesday 24th November 1987

86259 Wolves to Crewe, 1S?? 07.57 Harwich PQ to Glasgow
Duff Crewe to Chester, 1D?? 11.30 Eston to Holyhead
DMU Chester to Knutsford, 2J?? 14.28 Chester to Manchester OR
DMU Knutsford to Manchester OR, 2J?? 16.55 Knutsford to Manchester OR
304*** Manchester OR to Man Picc, (Altrincham to Wilmslow service)
85011 Man Picc to Wolves (via Stoke), 1G?? 18.06 Man Picc to Birmingham Int

 

[Falcon1200]

Monday 25th November 1985; Returning north
47456 0734 Poole-Glasgow Central (Oxford-Birmingham New St)
85002 ditto (Birmingham New St-Glasgow Central)

Tuesday 25th November 1986; A day trip (!) to Mallaig
37412 2100 Euston-Fort William (Glasgow Queen St-Fort William)
37402 1005 Fort William-Mallaig
37402 again 1220 Mallaig-Fort William
37402 again again 1742 Fort William-Euston (to Glasgow Queen St)

 

[Peter Sarf]

Part 2 (missed this earlier). I don't remember this at all and have no idea why I would have gone to Knutsford on a Tuesday afternoon in November... It was not railway related, I know that much...

Tuesday 24th November 1987

86259 Wolves to Crewe, 1S?? 07.57 Harwich PQ to Glasgow
Duff Crewe to Chester, 1D?? 11.30 Eston to Holyhead
DMU Chester to Knutsford, 2J?? 14.28 Chester to Manchester OR
DMU Knutsford to Manchester OR, 2J?? 16.55 Knutsford to Manchester OR
304*** Manchester OR to Man Picc, (Altrincham to Wilmslow service)
85011 Man Picc to Wolves (via Stoke), 1G?? 18.06 Man Picc to Birmingham Int

I immediately came to the conclusion that you must have gone there for a pub crawl. Fits the times. I think Knutsford is also a base for some walks so perhaps it was that. Just brainstorming really.

 

[NorthWestRover]

1987 it was more likely to be a pub crawl than a walk around Tatton Park!

 

[CW2]

Tuesday 25th November 1986; A day trip (!) to Mallaig
37412 2100 Euston-Fort William (Glasgow Queen St-Fort William)

Ah 37412! Whenever I went for it, it went onto a random freight, or repairs, or failed. I never had it in Scotland, despite many attempts. In the end I managed just one run with it from Bruton to Bath Spa. It was my final 37/4 for haulage.

 

[xotGD]

1987 it was more likely to be a pub crawl than a walk around Tatton Park!

You were only there for a couple of hours. Job interview?

 

[Harvester]

Friday 25th November 1983

Trip to York:

DMU 09:38 Beeston-Derby
43167+43168 10:32-Derby-York
45122 14:28 York-Derby
DMU 17:15 Derby-Beeston

Three Class 40s observed in service that day, and all three would be withdrawn by the following summer. We passed 40126 running LE between Derby and Long Eaton, probably going to Toton. When returning 40129 was seen on a northbound freight just south of York, and 40035 was on a parcels train at Sheffield.

 

[D6130]

SATURDAY 25th NOVEMBER 1978:

Double-headed Cromptons over the Wiltshire, Dorset and Devon banks. A friend and I travelled from Woking on a Pleasure-Seeker ADEX to Plymouth, which had started from Clapham Junction and picked up passengers at various stations via the Hounslow Loop and Chertsey:

07 05 Portsmouth Harbour-Waterloo: 7387/7051 Petersfield-Woking
1Z41: 07 45 Clapham Junction-Plymouth via Honiton and Exeter St Davids (run-round): 33 009+33 021 Woking-Plymouth
1Z42: 17 15 Plymouth-Clapham Junction via same route as outward journey: 33 021+33 009 Plymouth-Woking
21 20 Waterloo-Portsmouth Harbour: 7056/7379 Woking-Petersfield

Consist of 1Z41/1Z42: S25909/25934/4436/4065/3916/1872/13400/35011/3918/3919 (Load 10 AB/EH)

Neither of the 33s were required for haulage, but it was a fun day out with some impressive performance over the banks.

SUNDAY 25th NOVEMBER 2012:

10 00 Belfast Central-Dublin Connolly: 9003+209
Bus: Dublin Connolly-Dublin Ferry Port
14 30 Irish Ferries Dublin Ferry Port-Holyhead: HSS "Jonathan Swift"

I didn't record the traction from Holyhead to Skipton via Chester, Manchester and Leeds, so I assume that it was all units.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Thursday 25th November 1982

Wagons roll! Evening Ned leaps and only the first was required. Ah well.

45129 Earlestown to Lime St
45143 Lime St to St Helens J
45133 St Helens J to Lime St