Oddball Journeys (Trivia)

pokemonsuper9 · 31 May 2026

GordonT said:
Are there any other "deja vu" journeys anywhere which visit the same named station mid-journey for a second time? Georgemas Junction is the only other one that comes to mind as a possibility.

Just noticed a Sunday morning only train that instead of terminating at Hadfield or Glossop, runs as a Manchester - Manchester service, calling at both platforms at Dinting (and then all the same stations on the way back to Manchester).
I wonder how it's advertised on the boards, is it just shown as a service to Glossop until Hadfield where it's shown as to Manchester? Why doesn't it terminate at either of the two? I assume it has to be so people don't not get on for Glossop, or don't get on at Hadfield for stations to Manchester, but how does it display at stations before those two?

Realtime Trains | 2G80 0929 Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Piccadilly | 31/05/2026

Real-time train running information for 2G80 0929 departure from Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Piccadilly on 31/05/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

That line has a couple more oddities including:
Monday - Saturday fast morning only train (Manchester -> Ashburys -> Guide Bridge -> Hadfield only)

Realtime Trains | 2G00 0532 Manchester Piccadilly to Hadfield | 06/06/2026

Real-time train running information for 2G00 0532 departure from Manchester Piccadilly to Hadfield on 06/06/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

and Monday - Saturday last train of the day goes to Glossop reversing at Hadfield instead of the usual way around (then goes empty to depot).

Realtime Trains | 2G35 2329 Manchester Piccadilly to Glossop | 06/06/2026

Real-time train running information for 2G35 2329 departure from Manchester Piccadilly to Glossop on 06/06/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

RailUK Forums

Techniquest · 1 Jun 2026

dk1 said:
20:09 SX also operates direct from Norwich-Derby.

Funky fresh

I need to do that early morning run from Nottingham to Peterborough that goes via Oakham one day. Always been one that I forget about until after I’ve visited the East Midlands :lol:

Just got home from your part of the world, great time had in Norfolk and on GA

dk1 · 1 Jun 2026

Techniquest said:
Funky fresh I need to do that early morning run from Nottingham to Peterborough that goes via Oakham one day. Always been one that I forget about until after I’ve visited the East Midlands

Just got home from your part of the world, great time had in Norfolk and on GA

So pleased we helped to make your visit a good one.

Kite159 · 1 Jun 2026

Techniquest said:
Funky fresh I need to do that early morning run from Nottingham to Peterborough that goes via Oakham one day. Always been one that I forget about until after I’ve visited the East Midlands

Just got home from your part of the world, great time had in Norfolk and on GA

And I suspect you will be wanting to do that evening Sheffield - Derby service which is a 158 (or 170) for the novelty of a 158 on the 'intercity' section between Clay Cross & Ambergate Junction

Pokelet · 2 Jun 2026

Techniquest said:
2023 Crewe-Shrewsbury via Wrexham I travelled on that on Monday just gone, albeit from Wrexham although that wasn’t by choice.

That night it was started back at Chester instead of Crewe due to delayed train crew. Let’s not talk about Monday evening though, I still haven’t recovered and am still scarred!

As for oddball journeys, there used to be a Hereford to Dorridge train in the late evening, I believe on Saturdays only, at around 2020. It’s been a long time since it ceased, so my memory is hazy. No other through trains to/from Hereford off/onto the Snow Hill lines, can’t recall why it happened!

The Hereford - Dorridge finished around the time Bromsgrove remodel was completed or not long after. The Unit that ran it worked a diagram of route retention moves from mid afternoon on a Saturday. WOS-BHM. Down to Bromsgrove (Via Camp Hill) and then reverse and return to BHM via Camp Hill and then down to Hereford.

jfollows · 2 Jun 2026

1B34 08:25 Paddington-Plymouth called at Reading 08:49-08q51, Bristol Parkway 09:36-09q38, Bristol Temple Meads pass 09/49.
I remember going on it and having a nice breakfast too. Not sure what its next stop after Bristol Parkway was, although I stayed on for the trundle through Temple Meads for sure.
In 1981, mind.
q - advertised 2 minutes earlier

bigmanaiq · 2 Jun 2026

Surely the 0650 Fishguard Harbour to Clarbeston Road and subsequent return at 0718 are up there? To my knowledge, the only service(s) on the network to start/terminate at a request stop

Techniquest · 2 Jun 2026

Pokelet said:
The Hereford - Dorridge finished around the time Bromsgrove remodel was completed or not long after. The Unit that ran it worked a diagram of route retention moves from mid afternoon on a Saturday. WOS-BHM. Down to Bromsgrove (Via Camp Hill) and then reverse and return to BHM via Camp Hill and then down to Hereford.

Thanks! That was a good handful of years back then, from memory it’s got to be close to 10 years since the rebuild of Bromsgrove was complete?

Mcr Warrior · 2 Jun 2026

bigmanaiq said:
Surely the 0650 Fishguard Harbour to Clarbeston Road and subsequent return at 0718 are up there? To my knowledge, the only service(s) on the network to start/terminate at a request stop

You don't actually have to request the arriving/returning train to stop, at Clarbeston Road station, for these two services, do you?

bigmanaiq · 2 Jun 2026

Mcr Warrior said:
You don't actually have to request the arriving/returning train to stop, at Clarbeston Road station, for these two services, do you?

No, but it still is an odd place to terminate even if it isn’t a request stop.

mp01 · 2 Jun 2026

bigmanaiq said:
No, but it still is an odd place to terminate even if it isn’t a request stop.

Connects in with the Milford Haven to Manchester Piccadilly service but isn't needed to run all the way to Carmarthen as the others for the rest of the day do?

The exile · 3 Jun 2026

mp01 said:
Connects in with the Milford Haven to Manchester Piccadilly service but isn't needed to run all the way to Carmarthen as the others for the rest of the day do?

I wonder how many “real” passengers the return to Fishguard gets- it connects out of nothing.

Minnietheminx · 3 Jun 2026

johntea said:
1017 Sheffield to Carlisle on Sunday

2133 Nottingham to Leeds on Sunday (the unusual part being it does Sheffield - Leeds slow all stations route)

The return on Sunday - 1520 Carlisle to Nottingham. I wonder if that's a nod to pre-Covid times, when the incoming service came up from Nottingham.

GordonT · 3 Jun 2026

1N79 the 1910 ex Glasgow (Queen Street) to Dundee for route retention operates via Falkirk Grahamston, Winchburgh Curve and Dunfermline arriving Dundee 2144, 39 minutes later into Dundee than 1A57 the 1937 ex Glasgow (Queen Street) to Dundee which goes via the conventional route via Stirling and Perth arriving Dundee 2105.
1N80 the 1915 ex Dundee to Glasgow (Queen Street) operates the "oddball" route in the opposite direction arriving Queen Street at 2121, 6 minutes later into Queen Street than 1T62 the 1833 ex Aberdeen to Glasgow (Queen Street) timed to depart Dundee at 1947 via Perth and Stirling arriving Queen Street 2115.

Pokelet · 4 Jun 2026

Techniquest said:
Thanks! That was a good handful of years back then, from memory it’s got to be close to 10 years since the rebuild of Bromsgrove was complete?

Yeah, I think it was completed about 10yrs ago? I was commuting to BHM whilst the works took place (which was chaos). Once the station was completed the timetable was slightly recast so all HFD's called - some in the peak didn't as a 3+2 170 could only platform 3 carriages northbound.

Old Yard Dog · 13 Jun 2026

I remember a Barrow to Colchester through working in the early days of NW England to East Anglia services before these were simplified. It ran in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

Me and the missus are almost certainly the only people to get on a train at Overpool and alight at Dent, returning from the same stations . This was an excursion which picked up at Overpool as it was a newly opened station.

CheshireCrusty · 13 Jun 2026

Jimini said:
Those Alphaline Wales & West early morning services from Waterloo to Wales (Maesteg?) via. Reading spring to mind, if we're doing old services. Caught those a few times, back in the day!

I remember fondly using the Alphaline service from Manchester to London Waterloo - via SHrewsbury, Newport (Wales) and Bath spa

Mcr Warrior · 13 Jun 2026

CheshireCrusty said:
I remember fondly using the Alphaline service from Manchester to London Waterloo - via SHrewsbury, Newport (Wales) and Bath spa

Time to kill and still cheaper than an All Line Rail Rover?!

MidsMike · 13 Jun 2026

Kite159 said:
And I suspect you will be wanting to do that evening Sheffield - Derby service which is a 158 (or 170) for the novelty of a 158 on the 'intercity' section between Clay Cross & Ambergate Junction

Another little quirk that train in a way is another sort of direct Norwich to Derby service as it’s off the 1750 Norwich to Sheffield.

styles · Tuesday at 13:53

I always thought the 0511 Nottingham to Liverpool Lime St service was unusual, operated by EMR. It was amazing if you lived in the Midlands and fancied a day out hiking in the Peak District though, especially with the fares. I took it a few times and was often the only person sat on the train without an orange hi-viz on

Oddball Journeys (Trivia)

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