Unusual destinations included on blinds

[Pyewipecarshed]

Inspired by the thread on Merseyrail class 142 blinds, I thought I would start a thread on unusual/weird destinations included on multiple unit destination blinds in times past.

My starters are the following;

Class 144's had both "Glasgow Central" and "Edinburgh" on their blinds c.2008.
Glasgow Central was a throwback to when Arriva Trains Northern extended the 0947 Leeds-Carlisle service to Glasgow in the late-90s/early 2000's, although one of the first things Railtrack did was to ban 14x from working it! But Edinburgh??

Arriva Trains Northern 142's had "Stanhope" on the blinds from an early -90's summer Sunday service along the then freight-only Weardale line.

Class 158's could originally display "Strensall" because that station was proposed for reopening when they were built. It wasn't reopened and still doesn't exist to this day!

And finally (from the Merseyrail 142 thread) Northern Trains programmed the 142's with electronic blinds to be able to show "Barrow Haven"... even though nothing terminates there!

Any others??

 

[WirralLine]

Merseyrails 507/8 units used to have Wigan Wallgate, Skelmersdale and Headbolt Lane on their pre refurb manual blinds just incase it ever happened. Headbolt Lane obviously has now opened, but no 3rd rail so even now a 507 couldnt get there! Skelmersdale extension was never built, and it seems never will, and still no 3rd rail extension to Wigan - again, never will be!

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

Merseyrails 507/8 units used to have Wigan Wallgate, Skelmersdale and Headbolt Lane on their pre refurb manual blinds just incase it ever happened. Headbolt Lane obviously has now opened, but no 3rd rail so even now a 507 couldnt get there! Skelmersdale extension was never built, and it seems never will, and still no 3rd rail extension to Wigan - again, never will be!

Interesting stuff, thank you! I didn't realise that Headbolt Lane was planned so far in advance and had the slightly naff-sounding name from the start. At the risk of going off on a tangent, I don't understand why they didn't install a short extension to the third rail rather than the complication of having certain 777s fitted with batteries.... because if they had 507/8s could've gone there... hellfire!!

 

[TheHovisKid]

There was an odd Kingmoor set in the 80s still showing Keswick. And a set (I think ex-South Gosforth, transferred south) with biro in the back of the white blank saying:
NO LEEDS
NO COLNE
NO BANANAS

 

[Beebman]

I used to have in my collection a blind from a SR 508 which included 'Basingstoke' but I don't think they ever got there?

 

[WestAnglian]

Eastern Region 105s bound for Hertford North sometimes displayed Hartford, a place about 180 miles away. I know that some were used on the LMR but would have expected a different set of blinds.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Some ER DMUs displayed "Woolwich", a throwback to the GER, which was in the habit of omitting the "North". (as Im noticed recentky when I was cataloguing some GER accident reports at the National Archives)

(At the time the GER existed, North Woolwich was indeed in the borough of Woolwich)

 

[Paul AC]

Not really what the OP was after, but I recall that a DMU railtour sometime in the mid 1980s ran around all day with "Cross Princes" on the destination blind; this being "Kings Cross" and "Princes Risborough" set manually to half-way between.....

 

[pdeaves]

Some Network SouthEast stock (319s? Maybe 317s) had Dunstable on the blinds ready for reopening/electrification that never happened.

 

[150219]

Not really what the OP was after, but I recall that a DMU railtour sometime in the mid 1980s ran around all day with "Cross Princes" on the destination blind; this being "Kings Cross" and "Princes Risborough" set manually to half-way between.....

That's Gerrards Cross and Princes Risborough, which was fitted to some of the Class 115 units operating out of Marylebone depot and often used for rail tours.

 

[WestAnglian]

In the final days of the Chiltern Bubble Cars there was the odd dodgy destination ...

 

[317362]

I had a cab ride on Southend Gala Day (just asked) on a 321 from Wickford to Southend, and I was allowed to change the digital destination code to St Neots, this was one of the programmed in options.

Many many years later, we got 321s, although I'd imagine none ever terminated (and those NSE LCD displays were long gone).

 

[sad1e]

Class 158's could originally display "Strensall" because that station was proposed for reopening when they were built. It wasn't reopened and still doesn't exist to this day!

I remember seeing in a thread somewhere on here that 158's had Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Coalville on their PIS system as the Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line was thought to be a high priority for reopening for passenger services at the time.

 

[ls2270]

Some Network SouthEast stock (319s? Maybe 317s) had Dunstable on the blinds ready for reopening/electrification that never happened.

The 319s also had Milton Ernest in anticipation of that opening. It didn’t!

 

[Helvellyn]

The 319s also had Milton Ernest in anticipation of that opening. It didn’t!

I hadn't realised there had been plans by NSE to electrify North of Bedford?

 

[Sad Sprinter]

455s have Redhill but I don’t think they ever got there?

 

[sad1e]

455s have Redhill but I don’t think they ever got there?

They did but apparently it was quite rare in passenger service.

Class 455 at Redhill.

Does anyone know why there is always a class 455 unit parked up in Platform 4 at Redhill. I see it almost every evening sitting there (if you go through at around 00:00 you will definitely see it). Does this work to and from Redhill as a passenger service? Or is this just kept here as a spare unit?

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[MadMac]

The excellent Railcar site has a whole section on 1st Generation DMU blinds HERE. There was one blind version in Scotland that included Cluny Bridge among its destinations, even though there was never a station there. Apparently it was the result of incorrect information being given to the manufacturer. There are pictures on the site showing it.

Also, the Scottish 156 units have Grangemouth available as a destination on their blinds, presumably another opening that never materialised. The 311 electrics had Ibrox on their blinds even though it closed pre-electrification.

 

[Djgr]

Interesting stuff, thank you! I didn't realise that Headbolt Lane was planned so far in advance and had the slightly naff-sounding name from the start. At the risk of going off on a tangent, I don't understand why they didn't install a short extension to the third rail rather than the complication of having certain 777s fitted with batteries.... because if they had 507/8s could've gone there... hellfire!!

Because of the anti-third rail cult

 

[Beebman]

I definitely remember reading that 'Uplawmoor' was included on the blinds of the Class 303s at the time of the South Clyde electrification as it was originally planned that the wires would continue to there beyond Neilston.

 

[ian1944]

The Railcar site has a 50/60s blind showing Edinburgh Inner Circle and Edinburgh Outer Circle. What routes would these have taken? Would they have been continuous with clockwise and anticlockwise operation?

 

[The exile]

The Railcar site has a 50/60s blind showing Edinburgh Inner Circle and Edinburgh Outer Circle. What routes would these have taken? Would they have been continuous with clockwise and anticlockwise operation?

Speculation - but probably just terminology for which way they went round the Sub (Morningside line). Glasgow Subway used to use Inner and Outer Circle for anti- and clockwise (maybe still does).
So inner circle would have served Haymarket first, Outer circle last.

 

[ian1944]

Speculation - but probably just terminology for which way they went round the Sub (Morningside line). Glasgow Subway used to use Inner and Outer Circle for anti- and clockwise (maybe still does).
So inner circle would have served Haymarket first, Outer circle last.

Sounds likely, as there's no obvious continuous loop elsewhere in Edinburgh. Before looking at maps I thought maybe there was on the north side, conditioned by the blind in question supposedly from a Leith-based DMU.

 

[MadMac]

Sounds likely, as there's no obvious continuous loop elsewhere in Edinburgh. Before looking at maps I thought maybe there was on the north side, conditioned by the blind in question supposedly from a Leith-based DMU.

On a semi-related note, the “Solari” flap departure board at Waverley, which was installed around 1977, had “Suburban Circle“ as one of the available destinations.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Oct 2025 ==

Sounds likely, as there's no obvious continuous loop elsewhere in Edinburgh. Before looking at maps I thought maybe there was on the north side, conditioned by the blind in question supposedly from a Leith-based DMU.

Here’s a Gloucester unit at Gorgie East with “Edinburgh Outer Circle” on the blind. I don’t think Haymarket handled DMUs until after Leith closed.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Oct 2025 ==

I definitely remember reading that 'Uplawmoor' was included on the blinds of the Class 303s at the time of the South Clyde electrification as it was originally planned that the wires would continue to there beyond Neilston.

The mockup displayed in, I think, Glasgow Central had Bo’ness on the display!

 

[EbbwJunction1]

In the final days of the Chiltern Bubble Cars there was the odd dodgy destination ...

View attachment 190288

The Class 121 “Bubble Car” No. 55034 at the Cholsey & Wallingford Railway in August 2024 had “Llandudno” on the front blind and “Pickering” on the rear blind. I haven't got an image to hand, sadly.

 

[Thornaby 37]

Class 142 at Lancaster with Grantham on the destination blind when they were new

 

[CarltonA]

I've seen Quainton Road displayed on a 168 at Marylebone. There were a couple of Quainton Clubman railtours previously, so perhaps it had been added for that reason originally.

 

[150219]

There's probably a few different elements that make up the reason for unusual destinations, which may be worth stating. 1) Closed stations which featured on blinds fitted before the stations were closed and remained fitted because there was no need to change them, 2) Unopened stations which were provided on blinds in anticipation, but that never opened, 3) Stations which featured on a blind fitted for the correct location at which the unit was originally based but a replacement wasn't immediately fitted when transferred to another depot, 4) Destinations deliberately set for fun or amusing reasons, 5) Destinations for contingency purposes but rarely or never used for timetabled terminating services. This is not exhaustive (as post #18 shows with Cluny Bridge).

Re: posts #11 and 25. 121034 was fitted with those blinds at Tyseley Museum before it was transferred to Aylesbury. Most if not all of the destinations on that blind were displayed at one point whilst in service with Chiltern, but not Aylesbury or Princes Risborough because they were not included.

Re: post #27. Quainton Road was traditionally provided for the Class 115 DMU excursions by an insert, which was a tradition made unnecessary with digital displays when the 165 units were introduced (and 168s when they followed). A few readers may be aware that Bromley North was also occasionally displayed on Chiltern units too.

One of the more unusual destinations shown on the South Eastern allocated Class 508 units was 'Please listen to announcements'. Previously mentioned in other threads I'm sure was the inclusion of 'Spalding' on the Class 317 units. 'Ashington' featured on Pacer blinds long before it reopened. 'Dudley' could often be seen on Sprinters running in passenger service around Birmingham too.

 

[Helvellyn]

I'm told SWT 158/159s had every SWT station set in their external PIS displays, a host of Western Region codes and then some interesting special codes. If I remember what I was told correctly this included Ludgershall, Marchwood, Fawley, Hythe, Dartmouth Steam Railway, Mid Hants Railway, Swanage Railway and Seaside Special - the latter would compliment Race Special that you sometimes saw on a 455!

 

[Ash Bridge]

Going back some now, I can recall a class 100 dmu employed on the Stockport - Stalybridge service displaying Afonwen on its destination panel for several days running. Possibly sometime around 1971-72, Afonwen station on the Cambrian Coast line I believe had closed around 1964.