Most unusual/unexpected unit allocation you’ve been on?

[ChiefPlanner]

Short of 313's a couple of days in 1996 , so I put a 117 DMU on (a) Euston - Watford DC line (b) Camden Road - Stratford peak shuttle.

Both lost time , partly because passengers were not used to having to open /close slam doors. Still , saved some cancellations otherwise........

 

[Beebman]

One snowy day in February 1982 I travelled from Staines to Reading on a 4 x 2-EPB (BR type) formation instead of the usual VEP or CIG. Also around the same time the SWD would 'borrow' 4-CEPs sitting at Clapham Junction on their way to or from Swindon for refurbishment and I once had an unrefurbished one from Reading.

Meanwhile on the WR, one Sunday evening in the late 70s I travelled on a Tyseley 4-car Class 116 + 122 formation from Paddington to Twyford.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

In the "wrong snow" event there was a veritable haulage fest of locomotives being coupled to EMUs on the South Eastern routes; I had a 56 propelling a pair of EPBs from London Bridge to New Cross and a 47/3 propelling a CEP from Waterloo East to Cannon Street... and there was a lot more of this sort of thing going on all over the division...

 

[Julia]

Back in the days of a booked 47+8xMk2 on the Kings Lynn - Liverpool St, a six-car Cravens mashup substituting for a failure.

 

[Falcon1200]

One Saturday evening in August 1977 - Possibly the 13th - I and two friends, on an East Midlands Railrover with our bikes so that we could visit loco sheds, cycled from Wath Depot to Mexborough to get a train to Doncaster where we would spend the night on the station. Instead of the expected DMU, in came Knottingley's 47310 with a Mark 1 set. I believe this was a Sheffield-York train and was the return working of a Scarborough-Sheffield service. I have no records from that time but this one has stuck in the memory!

 

[317362]

Bit of a stretch and in the 'heard about' rather than 'went on' but will sort a list from some old magazines I am currently going through

 

[317362]

Motive Power Monthly 10/87 indicates 2xCIG units used on a school charter from Eastbourne to South Kenton on the DC lines. Reversed at Harrow it says here. Good grief!

 

[Iskra]

60163 Tornado operating scheduled Northern Rail services will take some beating!

 

[MadMac]

Motive Power Monthly 10/87 indicates 2xCIG units used on a school charter from Eastbourne to South Kenton on the DC lines. Reversed at Harrow it says here. Good grief!

What route would that have taken?

 

[ChiefPlanner]

What route would that have taken?

Possibly off the Southern 3d rail empire to Richmond , thence via a slighly dodgy crossover (rarely used) - thence to Willesden High leve; change end , and down onto the connection to Low Level and down the DC line , maybe berth at Watford Junction. There was an eclectic bunch of drivers down there , even in my time , who would enjoy such a variation to the boring day routine.

South Kenton is a pleasant enough 1930's era suburb , but I struggle to think of a venue / attraction to warrant a special like that.

 

[MadMac]

Possibly off the Southern 3d rail empire to Richmond , thence via a slighly dodgy crossover (rarely used) - thence to Willesden High leve; change end , and down onto the connection to Low Level and down the DC line , maybe berth at Watford Junction. There was an eclectic bunch of drivers down there , even in my time , who would enjoy such a variation to the boring day routine.

South Kenton is a pleasant enough 1930's era suburb , but I struggle to think of a venue / attraction to warrant a special like that.

Yeah, I was thinking something along those lines. Reading the clipping, it appeared to be people returning to South Kenton from Eastbourne. Possibly an outing from Harrow Public School?

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Possibly a very well organised Church / modest school outing of some kind.Harrow School appears too posh.

We used to get odd requests even post 1996 for church outings , regrettably never more than say 60 people so had to turns them down - though I did arrange (at some loss - thanks to having to buy a one day safety case from EWS !) , for a 321 direct from St Albans Abbey to Clacton on Sea for a local school. We actually had an ex GE driver who knew the route , but I got him to do a refresher to sign him off as competent. All enjoyed themselves thoroughly.

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

60163 Tornado operating scheduled Northern Rail services will take some beating!

Wow how long ago was this? Presumably there was a shortage of stock at the time!

 

[Bevan Price]

A few months before they finished - a trio of 153s on a Liverpool - Norwich - including the last two EM 153s required for "haulage".

And many years ago - a pair of 153s on a Birmingham - Liverpool service.

 

[Iskra]

Wow how long ago was this? Presumably there was a shortage of stock at the time!

It was 2017 I think. It wasn’t related to a stock shortage, but to celebrate the re-opening of the line after a landslide. It ran for at least a week, possibly two.

Some more surprising allocations from Northern were a trio of 142’s for a Leeds Utd football special to Barnsley, I’ve otherwise never seen a trio of Pacers in passenger service. Another was 155, 158, 158 to Blackburn Rovers, which was surprising as that was some of the best rolling stock available to Northern at the time!

 

[Segedunum]

I had a Merseytravel-spec Pacer (142046) rock up on a Newcastle to MetroCentre shuttle around 2014. I assume it had come up the Cumbrian Coast and over the Tyne Valley as some last-minute swap. This is back when allocations tended to be a lot more rigid and it was rather rare to get anything other than a Heaton unit in the North East!

 

[Cambus731]

That would be about few years ago one Sunday when I caught a late morning train from Braintree to Witham and was astonished to find that it was being worked by a Class 156. I had no idea that 156s were passed for the Braintree branch.

 

[Parallel]

Further afield I was also surprised when I was waiting for my TfW service at Birmingham New Street and a 175 had shown up!

There was a booked daily working from Birmingham International that was 175 worked - I think it continued to Llandudno and then worked other routes. Still rare though!

 

[Harpo]

I was also surprised when I was waiting for my TfW service at Birmingham New Street and a 175 had shown up!

As was I with a pair of TfW 153s in the evening peak.

 

[DaventryRabbit]

There was a booked daily working from Birmingham International that was 175 worked - I think it continued to Llandudno and then worked other routes. Still rare though!

Indeed it did. 0709 ex BHI

 

[yorksrob]

Class 47 hauled phase 1 CIG between Ashford and Hastings. That was definitely memorable - no lights through Ore tunnel.

Correction - it was a phase 2 CIG.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

It was 2017 I think. It wasn’t related to a stock shortage, but to celebrate the re-opening of the line after a landslide. It ran for at least a week, possibly two.

That was the Settle - Carlisle "plandampf" event, I think? Pretty sure it was a one week duration and you're right about it being to publicise the re-opening ofg the line after a lot of work.

 

[317362]

Following up the Southern unit on the Watford DC lines, the following month's Motive Power Monthly has another one, Watford Junction-Portsmouth and return, formed 2-HAP 4314 and 4-VEP 3111.

Same page (15) references 2x Marylebone 115s on a Preston-Blackpool additional on 29 August. It was a different time...

 

[Omnidekkalover]

Just spotted a 14 coach meridian between London St Pancras and Nottingham on real-time trains. Part of some distruption that seems to be happening on the midland mainline right now

Realtime Trains | 1D61 1705 St Pancras International to Nottingham | 08/08/2025

Real-time train running information for 1D61 1705 departure from St Pancras International to Nottingham on 08/08/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[43096]

Just spotted a 14 coach meridian between London St Pancras and Nottingham on real-time trains. Part of some distruption that seems to be happening on the midland mainline right now

Realtime Trains | 1D61 1705 St Pancras International to Nottingham | 08/08/2025

Real-time train running information for 1D61 1705 departure from St Pancras International to Nottingham on 08/08/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Is it actually running as a 14-car? Because it won’t fit the platforms at St Pancras. Or, as seems likely, the disruption has meant set allocations to diagrams have been changed and the data feed is still showing both sets.

 

[1D53]

60163 Tornado operating scheduled Northern Rail services will take some beating

Whilst they were on Northern safety case they were 'special tickets only', weren't they? Don't think normal day singles etc were accepted.

I do however remember 61264 coming to the rescue on the Whitby Line back around 2014. There was some kind of issue and the Steam was going ECS Grosmont to Carnforth but ended up running as a passenger train as far as Middlesbrough.

 

[saismee]

Just spotted a 14 coach meridian between London St Pancras and Nottingham on real-time trains. Part of some distruption that seems to be happening on the midland mainline right now

Realtime Trains | 1D61 1705 St Pancras International to Nottingham | 08/08/2025

Real-time train running information for 1D61 1705 departure from St Pancras International to Nottingham on 08/08/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

This is likely a unit swap and RTT is displaying both units instead of just the new one. RTT isn't reliable for unit information.

 

[Iskra]

Whilst they were on Northern safety case they were 'special tickets only', weren't they? Don't think normal day singles etc were accepted.

I do however remember 61264 coming to the rescue on the Whitby Line back around 2014. There was some kind of issue and the Steam was going ECS Grosmont to Carnforth but ended up running as a passenger train as far as Middlesbrough.

They were official National Rail Tickets open to the general public, but limited in quantity. No different to how advances work and can sell out really.

 

[BeijingDave]

Seem to remember being on a class 85 Euston-Warrington BQ on a Glasgow service in the 80s. I assume a replacement for an 87.

Would it have got over Shap with a full rake?

I guess not, so must have been replaced at Preston or another locomotive added.

 

[43096]

Seem to remember being on a class 83 Euston-Warrington BQ on a Glasgow service in the 80s. I assume a replacement for an 87.

Would it have got over Shap with a full rake?

I guess not, so must have been replaced at Preston or another locomotive added.

Any of the AC locos would get over Shap with such a service. Single 66s get over SHap on freight trains, so an 83 - which has much higher power at rail than a 66 - is not going to have a problem on a passenger train.