GCR - Gerrards Cross to Nottingham Victoria

[CarltonA]

I will be going to Nottingham later this month from Slough via Paddington, Kings Cross and Grantham. I would be interested to know what sort of timings would have been possible when the GCR was open using Gerrards Cross as a departure point. My modern day journey is about three hours to the Midland station. Presumably, I would have needed to change at Woodford Halse or somewhere?

 

[Gloster]

In summer 1961 09.55 from Gerrards Cross would get you to Nottingham at 15.42 with several changes via Aylesbury; there don’t seem to be many options. It might be quicker via Banbury, but probably not as you would still have to use the same first and last trains.

 

[MichaelAMW]

I will be going to Nottingham later this month from Slough via Paddington, Kings Cross and Grantham. I would be interested to know what sort of timings would have been possible when the GCR was open using Gerrards Cross as a departure point. My modern day journey is about three hours to the Midland station. Presumably, I would have needed to change at Woodford Halse or somewhere?

In 1958 your easiest option would be:

Gerrards Cross d 11.54
High Wycombe a 12.12
.................... d 12.55
Nottingham Vic a 15.13

Otherwise (see Timetableworld) the local service looks rather fragmented, so you might have to change at High Wycombe, Princes Risborough and Aylesbury, in which case you might as well go via Marylebone.

 

[Magdalia]

In 1958 your easiest option would be:

Gerrards Cross d 11.54
High Wycombe a 12.12
.................... d 12.55
Nottingham Vic a 15.13

Otherwise (see Timetableworld) the local service looks rather fragmented, so you might have to change at High Wycombe, Princes Risborough and Aylesbury, in which case you might as well go via Marylebone.

From High Wycombe this is the 12.15pm Marylebone-Manchester, a train that finished in January 1959. After that passenger services over the Grendon Underwood-Ashendon link were sufficiently few and far between to qualify for the first ever PSUL list in 1963.

After 1958 I looked at moves via Banbury, but it was surprisingly difficult to get from Gerrards Cross to Banbury in those days, despite the hourly service from Paddington to Birmingham and beyond. Few of these seemed to stop at more than one of High Wycombe, Bicester North or Banbury. One move that I found in 1963, providing you don't mind a late arrival was:

6.46pm Gerrards Cross to Bicester North arrive 7.42 pm (6.19 pm from Marylebone)
8.12 pm Bicester North to Banbury arr 8.28 pm (7.10 pm Paddington-Shrewsbury)
9.16 pm Banbury to Nottingham Vic arr 11.35 pm (7.15 pm Swindon-Sheffield)

There was no remotely decent connection from Gerrards Cross to Banbury for the 10.50 am Bournemouth-Newcastle.

 

[CarltonA]

Thanks for the replies, looks like it would have been better via London back then as well.

 

[Taunton]

I recently wrote here about a comparable journey I had just made from Rickmansworth to Leicester, another routing that would seemingly have been more straightforward along the old GCR. Apart from having to go via Marylebone and St Pancras, it was galling to be passing through West Hampstead northbound over an hour and a half after going through there southbound!

The upside however is that compared to former times, when you would have to organise your day around one specific departure, it was just turn up and go throughout when my business meeting had finished in Rickmansworth.

 

[Gloster]

By 1966 there would have only been a morning and an afternoon option with a change at Aylesbury: 07.44 and 13.57 departure from Gerrards Cross, 11.35 and 18.01 at Nottingham. There might have been something (probably involving several changes) that would get you to Banbury in time to catch the Poole-York’s 14.58 departure (Nottingham 16.43), one of the few trains over the line to Woodford Halse.

I will be going to Nottingham later this month from Slough via Paddington, Kings Cross and Grantham. I would be interested to know what sort of timings would have been possible when the GCR was open using Gerrards Cross as a departure point. My modern day journey is about three hours to the Midland station. Presumably, I would have needed to change at Woodford Halse or somewhere?

 

[70014IronDuke]

I was looking forward to the answers on this thread. It's always amazed me how little the GC seemed to make use of - arguably - it's one traffic source where it really had a competitive advantage over its rivals, ie the Chiltern towns, seeking to use Aylesbury or High Wycombe as an outer pick up/set down point. (Of course, I'm talking about traffic between there and Leicester-Nottingham-Sheffield, not commuter to Marylebone.)

This thread just proves that to be the case.

In an earlier thread this year, someone did say that towards the end of express services trains did usually stop at one or t'other, but by then it was rather late in the day to try to generate new clientel.

 

[RT4038]

I was looking forward to the answers on this thread. It's always amazed me how little the GC seemed to make use of - arguably - it's one traffic source where it really had a competitive advantage over its rivals, ie the Chiltern towns, seeking to use Aylesbury or High Wycombe as an outer pick up/set down point. (Of course, I'm talking about traffic between there and Leicester-Nottingham-Sheffield, not commuter to Marylebone.)

This thread just proves that to be the case.

In an earlier thread this year, someone did say that towards the end of express services trains did usually stop at one or t'other, but by then it was rather late in the day to try to generate new clientel.

The 12.15pm Marylebone-Manchester was the only GC express to stop at High Wycombe. There was no corresponding train on the 'up' direction. (and this only to the end of 1959. After this time only the semi fast trains operated on the GC, all stopped at Aylesbury)

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 9 Jul 2022 ==

By 1966 there would have only been a morning and an afternoon option with a change at Aylesbury: 07.44 and 13.57 departure from Gerrards Cross, 11.35 and 18.01 at Nottingham. There might have been something (probably involving several changes) that would get you to Banbury in time to catch the Poole-York’s 14.58 departure (Nottingham 16.43), one of the few trains over the line to Woodford Halse.

In Winter 1961/2 the Bournemouth-York was 15h15 from Banbury - the only 'connection' to that from Gerrard's Cross via the cut off line departed Gerrard's Cross at 09h55 to High Wycombe arr 10h14, then the 10h50 High Wycombe to Banbury arrive 12h17. Time for a nice lunch.

The next connection from Gerrard's Cross departed 12h55, changing at High Wycombe( not Saturdays) and Princes Risborough nicely arrived at Banbury 15h47