Longer Distance Service You Didn't Expect Without Changing

[WesternLancer]

Here we go: Whitley Bay

Well found!

 

[Taunton]

I can remember in the early 1970s seeing that Whitley Bay train in Glasgow Queen Street one summer Saturday, although it was an early afternoon departure and the train. made up of Newcastle stock, more reasonably had come north in the morning and was now returning. Just a 3-car dmu by this stage, with a smattering of Glaswegians, all of whom seemed to be elderly, standing slightly bewildered at the barrier with suitcases. It wasn't that speedy, it left on the main line, but was routed via Falkirk Grahamston while the following Edinburgh push-pull overtook it on the main line.

 

[LickeyIncliner]

One oddity I remember getting while on an All-Line Rover about forty years ago was the Euston-Barrow-in-Furness sleeper. I presume it ran in case Navy or MoD personnel wanted to get from London to the submarine facilities there?

It was more obscure than that earlier in the 1960s. The sleeper carried on in the early morning up the coast, but couldn't quite reach Whitehaven because the tight single line tunnel approaching there was out of gauge for standard BR sleepers - hence why the dmus on the line used to have bars over the droplights. So it terminated one station short of Whitehaven, at an odd minor station called Corkickle, where the sleeper was apparently detached in an extended stop. This was all documented in an extensive side note in the timetable column. The sleeper must then have been worked empty back down the coast, as the evening departure added it to the train at Barrow.

I know from a former colleague who used it regularly that another market that sleeper served was government officials and scientists travelling between the nuclear installations at what is now Sellafield (originally Calder Hall and Windscale) and the related office/research establishments in London and the South-East. Hence the continuation to Corkickle - presumably with a stop (perhaps a request stop) at Sellafield Station?

 

[30907]

I had a job interview in 1997 near Bournemouth (actually went a short distance further, to Wool) and was a direct train from Penrith to Bournemouth (terminated at Bournemouth, I don't know where it started from, but somewhere in Scotland). I remember it reversing at Reading, but I'm not sure of the exact route it went.

The direct route: Glasgow and Edinburgh to Poole (or Bournemouth?) - WCML to Stafford, through Brum to Coventry, Leamington, Oxford, Reading, Basingstoke etc.

 

[Harvester]

A through train from Glasgow to Whitley Bay would be impossible today but was a regular summer Saturday service in the 1950s.

On occasions it seems to have been graced with A4 haulage! The Railway Observer reported that 60012 worked the train on 21st and 28th July 1962. There was also a SO Saltburn-Glasgow and return at that time, booked for a Thornaby B1 between Saltburn and Newcastle via the Durham coast.

 

[route101]

The direct route: Glasgow and Edinburgh to Poole (or Bournemouth?) - WCML to Stafford, through Brum to Coventry, Leamington, Oxford, Reading, Basingstoke etc.

Ran to the end of Virgin Cross Country days I think. The ECML service did.

 

[D9006]

What year didthe anglia services run from Ipswich to Basingstoke, not sure of the reason behind these, think was 3 or 4 services each way, found attached timetable

 

[hexagon789]

What year didthe anglia services run from Ipswich to Basingstoke, not sure of the reason behind these, think was 3 or 4 services each way, found attached timetable

2000-2002. At one point one working started in Norwich.

It was to provide a through service without changing essentially.

 

[Magdalia]

Ipswich to Basingstoke, not sure of the reason behind these

Connectivity from East Anglia to Heathrow with a bus connection from one or other of Feltham or Staines, I can't remember which.

 

[Route115?]

There was a railair link from Feltham

 

[Sad Sprinter]

I'm trying to think of some, but the only one that comes to mind is the 04:55 from Brighton to Victoria I took once that called at all local stations between East Croydon and Clapham Junction. A welcome way to get straight home late at night! I think it missed out Wandsworth Common though, which is odd considering Wandsworth Common has no gateline so wouldn't matter if it was unstaffed

Of course, the direct Alphaline services from Waterloo to Wales was a surprise for my family as a child when they first started, living in the area and having family in South Wales. We never caught it though - always going from Paddington, but now I'm older with more patience it would be a service I'd like to try if it was still running

 

[londonbridge]

Yes. By some margin. About 5 hours from Gatwick to Manchester via Reading / Birmingham on a through train.

From memory this used to call at East Croydon at 10:00am and arrived Piccadilly at 3:00pm, would have been ideal for Manchester football if it had run an hour earlier.

 

[AY1975]

There was the South West Trains SO London Waterloo to Penzance with the return working being the 14:30 (ish) Su Penzance to London Waterloo and Brighton. Left Penzance as a three car, joined with another three car at Plymouth then split again at Salisbury, this ran until 2009.
Until 2006 there was the 07:47 Penzance to Portsmouth Harbour which originally ran to Westbury and attached to a Cardiff-Portsmouth service, did the opposite on the return, splitting at Westbury, in later years it was a dedicated through service in both directions with no splitting and joining.

I also seem to recall that for at least one timetable period in the days of loco-hauled Waterloo-Exeter trains, about 1990ish I think, there was a daily Waterloo-Penzance and/or a Waterloo-Paignton.

 

[hexagon789]

I also seem to recall that for at least one timetable period in the days of loco-hauled Waterloo-Exeter trains, about 1990ish I think, there was a daily Waterloo-Penzance and/or a Waterloo-Paignton.

There were definitely Saturday extensions to/from Paignton and Plymouth in the early 1990s. Presumably weekdays as well.

Certainly some such workings lasted until the WoE frequency was doubled in 2009 and the extensions were cut to free up units.

 

[Taunton]

Curiously, the Western (GWR and then Region) never had much depot provision at Exeter, it was all down at Newton Abbot, and from the start of dieselisation of the SW main line this is where both locos and stock were based. It was further common that trains to there were worked in service down to Paignton, and then came back to the depot, enhancing the service on The Branch, and this accounted for the various through services from the Salisbury line to Paignton.

 

[GoneSouth]

Earlier in the thread there was mention of a York to Tenby service. I don’t remember the Tenby section but I do remember in the early 90s there being a daily York to Swansea and a reverse Swansea to York. Loco with I guess MkII coaches with wooden vaneer on the walls and quite comfy seats with winged headrest, much more character than anything in the XC route today. I loved HSTs but I also loved it when a random collection of mismatched old coaches turned up, often with old individual filament light bulbs and windows which you could open to let fresh air in and give you a chance to see through the 30 years of dirt encrusted on the windows. Happy days (having said that, I don’t remember anything quite that ancient on this particular route, but definitely on some XC journeys in the eighties.

Anyway, back to the York - Swansea, route was Leeds-Cheltenham with all the same stops to today, then instead of going Gloucester Newport which would have been the quickest route, it went all the way into Temple Meads and reversed. Good times!

 

[hexagon789]

Earlier in the thread there was mention of a York to Tenby service. I don’t remember the Tenby section but I do remember in the early 90s there being a daily York to Swansea and a reverse Swansea to York. Loco with I guess MkII coaches with wooden vaneer on the walls and quite comfy seats with winged headrest, much more character than anything in the XC route today. I loved HSTs but I also loved it when a random collection of mismatched old coaches turned up, often with old individual filament light bulbs and windows which you could open to let fresh air in and give you a chance to see through the 30 years of dirt encrusted on the windows. Happy days (having said that, I don’t remember anything quite that ancient on this particular route, but definitely on some XC journeys in the eighties.

Anyway, back to the York - Swansea, route was Leeds-Cheltenham with all the same stops to today, then instead of going Gloucester Newport which would have been the quickest route, it went all the way into Temple Meads and reversed. Good times!

The loco-hauled York-Tenby was replaced in 1985 by a Summer Saturdays extension of the 1200 Newcastle-Cardiff & 1110 Cardiff-Newcastle to/from Tenby in each direction.

One of a number of the principal changes to Table 51 services on Summer Saturdays in that year aimed at addressing overcrowding.

I've no idea if it ever returned as a separate loco-hauled York/Tenby or similar working again, but the York-Swansea LHCS was a staple feature of XC services certainly from the early 1990s until presumably 2002.

 

[leytongabriel]

Not so strange as some listed here, but I remember being pleasantly surprised at the possibility of a direct service from London Waterloo to the not -enormous citadel of Bradford -upon-Avon in the days when there were some Waterloo - Bristol trains.

 

[JamieL]

The direct route: Glasgow and Edinburgh to Poole (or Bournemouth?) - WCML to Stafford, through Brum to Coventry, Leamington, Oxford, Reading, Basingstoke etc.

Ran to the end of Virgin Cross Country days I think. The ECML service did.

I think I got this train around 2002. I remember having to go from Edinburgh to Southampton and was amazed there was a direct train! I also remember being amazed at the price - it was over £100. Even the bloke selling the ticket was surprised at the cost!

 

[route101]

I think I got this train around 2002. I remember having to go from Edinburgh to Southampton and was amazed there was a direct train! I also remember being amazed at the price - it was over £100. Even the bloke selling the ticket was surprised at the cost!

I believe there was a limited Scotland - Bournemouth service on Sundays until around ten years ago.

 

[contrex]

Not so strange as some listed here, but I remember being pleasantly surprised at the possibility of a direct service from London Waterloo to the not -enormous citadel of Bradford -upon-Avon in the days when there were some Waterloo - Bristol trains.

I used them quite a few times from Bristol to connect with Eurostar when it went from Waterloo. but always returned via Paddington.

 

[Dr_Paul]

I was at Penzance waiting to board the SO train to Milton Keynes in 1987 when a somewhat bemused local gentleman asked me where Milton Keynes actually was.

Which route did it take?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Oct 2023 ==

What year did the anglia services run from Ipswich to Basingstoke, not sure of the reason behind these, think was 3 or 4 services each way, found attached timetable

Looking at the timetable, some of them didn't stop at Willesden Junction. I remember that at the time, and thought it a bit odd, seeing that it's quite an interchange.

 

[hexagon789]

Which route did it take?

Usual XC route Penzance to Birmingham via Plymouth etc; then International, Coventry, Rugby and Milton Keynes.

Used one of the Manchester Pullman sets (mixed Mk3, Mk2F & Mk1), another set did the perhaps better known Manchester Piccadilly to & from Paignton Friday/Saturday working.

 

[Spursglory]

Usual XC route Penzance to Birmingham via Plymouth etc; then International, Coventry, Rugby and Milton Keynes.

Used one of the Manchester Pullman sets (mixed Mk3, Mk2F & Mk1), another set did the perhaps better known Manchester Piccadilly to & from Paignton Friday/Saturday working.

Are there timetables for these services?

 

[hexagon789]

Are there timetables for these services?

Tables:
51 (Cross-Country NE & NW - SW)
66 (London to Rugby, Birmingham and Wolverhampton)

I think 1985 was the first year of operation, certainly not there in 1984. They lasted in various forms into the 2000s.