Back in the day...

[Harvester]

Never have travelled by train on Christmas Day. It seems the need to do so never arose, or was possible.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Everyone, have a happy Christmas and a good new year.

 

[countryjoe]

Friday 25 December 1992
SNCF 67469+67478 2259 Strasbourg-Lyon-Perrache E6193/2 from Besançon-Viotte to Lyon-Perrache 234 Km
Via Ambérieu
SNCF 72072 0636 Lyon-Perrache-Nantes R6802/3 from Lyon-Perrache to Tours 479 Km
SNCF 22391 0636 Lyon-Perrache-Nantes R6802/3 from Tours to Nantes 199 Km
SNCF 25202 1027 Bordeaux-St-Jean-Rennes E4372/3 from Nantes to Rennes 152 Km
Via Redon
SNCF 67349 p 1736 Rennes-St-Malo 89141 from Rennes to Dol 58 Km
SNCF 67372 1822 St-Malo-Rennes 87652 from Dol to Rennes 58 Km
SNCF 67372 p 2030 Rennes-Redon 89161 from Rennes to Redon 72 Km
SNCF 22351 1913 Quimper-Grenoble R6348/9 from Redon to Nantes 80 Km
SNCF 25222 1913 Quimper-Grenoble R6348/9 from Nantes to St-Pierre-des-Corps 196 Km
Saturday 25 December 1993
SNCF 9333 2224 Paris-Austerlitz-Irún R307 from Bordeaux-St-Jean to Dax 148 Km
SNCF 9319 2224 Paris-Austerlitz-Irún R307 from Dax to Irún 89 Km
RENFE 448026 0810 Irún-Madrid-Chamartin 202 from Irún to Madrid-Chamartin 625 Km
Via Medina del Campo
RENFE 432016 1630 Madrid-Chamartin-Jaén ???? from Madrid-Chamartin to Madrid-Atocha 8 Km
RENFE 440124+440127 1605 Guadalajara-Segovia ???? from Madrid-Atocha to Madrid-Chamartin 8 Km
RENFE 333019 0935 Barcelona-Estació de França-Cáceres 543 from Madrid-Chama rtin to Leganés 23 Km
RENFE 592056 1230 Badajoz-Madrid PD Atocha ???? from Leganés to Madrid PD Atocha 15 Km
RENFE 333015 1545 Catagena-Madrid-Chamartin TAL223 from Madrid Atocha to Madrid-Chamartin 8 Km
RENFE 333017 2230 Madrid-Chamartin-Lisboa (Santa Apolónia) R332 from Madrid-Chamartin to Calera y Chozas 160 Km
En route we stopped in the middle of nowhere for crew+pax to go to a nearby church for mass.
Loco then failed and rescued by dud 333019
Sunday 25 December 1994
SNCF 7309 2256 Paris-Austerlitz-Toulouse-Matabiau 4425 from Vierzon to Toulouse-Matabiau 513 Km
SNCF 8629 0729 Toulouse-Matabiau-Brive-la-Gaillarde 97446 from Toulouse-Matabiau to Montauban-Ville-Bourbon 51 Km
SNCF 9269 0747 Toulouse-Matabiau-Bordeaux-St-Jean 4702 from Montauban-Ville-Bourbon to Bordeaux-St-Jean 206 Km
SNCF 67435+67473 1027 Bordeaux-St-Jean-Rennes 4372/3 from Bordeaux-St-Jean to Nantes 376 Km
SNCF 22359 1027 Bordeaux-St-Jean-Rennes 4372/3 from Nantes to Rennes 152 Km
Via Redon
SNCF 66461+66457 1626 Rennes-Caen 89317/6 from Rennes to Lison 195 Km
SNCF 66455+66459 1610 Rouen-Rive-Droite-Rennes 89308/9 from Lison to St-Lo 18 Km
SNCF X4919+X4921 1818 Rennes-Caen 89323/2 from St-Lo to Caen 75 Km
SNCF 67491+67481 2017 Cherbourg-Paris-St-Lazare 3928 from Caen to Paris-St-Lazare 239 Km
Via Houilles-Carrières-sur-Seine
Wednesday 25 December 1996
CP 1941 0803 Lisboa (Santa Apolónia)-Covilhã IC541 from Entroncamento to Covilhã 194 Km
CP 0317 1400 Covilhã-Guarda R5613 from Covilhã to Guarda 47 Km
CP 1970 1520 Guarda-Lisboa (Santa Apolónia) IR810 from Guarda to Mangualde 78 Km
CP 1561 1303 Lisboa (Santa Apolónia)-Guarda IR813 from Mangualde to Celorico da Beira 39 Km
CP 1553 1820 Guarda-Lisboa (Santa Apolónia) IR812 from Celorico da Beira to Mangualde 39 Km
CP 1970 1600 Lisboa (Santa Apolónia)-Hendaye R311 from Mangualde Vilar to Formoso 123 Km
Thursday 25 December 1997
RENFE 333089 2200 Irún-Lisboa (Santa Apolónia) R312 from Medina del Campo to Vilar Formoso 204 Km
CP 5614 2200 Irún-Lisboa (Santa Apolónia) R312 from Vilar Formoso to Entroncamento 327 Km
CP 2501 0750 Covilhã-Lisboa (Santa Apolónia) R5604 from Entroncamento to Santarém 32 Km
CP 2558 1200 Lisboa (Santa Apolónia)-Covilhã R5611 from Santarém to Entroncamento 32 Km
CP 5605 1205 Lisboa (Santa Apolónia)-Porto (Campanhã) IR825/33 from Entroncamento to Pombal 63 Km
CP 2626 1306 Lisboa (Santa Apolónia)-Vilar Formoso IR20835 from Pombal to Coimbra-B 48 Km
CP 5610 1500 Guarda-Lisboa (Santa Apolónia) IC512 from Coimbra-B to Pombal 48 Km
CP 5609 1610 Porto (Campanhã)-Lisboa (Santa Apolónia) IR826/34 from Pombal to Entroncamento 63 Km
Tuesday 25 December 2001
SNCF 6540 + 7298 2308 Paris-Austerlitz-Modane 5559 from Chambéry-Challes-les-Eaux to Modane 99 Km [In Tandem]
FS E656-463 0848 Modane-Torino Porta Nuova R22923 from Modane to Torino Porta Nuova 106 Km
FS D445-1106 1123 Torino Porta Nuova-Borgofranco D9845 from Torino Porta Nuova to Chivasso 29 Km
FS D445-1106 p 1123 Torino Porta Nuova-Borgofranco D9845 from Chivasso to Borgofranco 40 Km
IIRC we were doing some branch line but Bertie Bus went forward.
FS D445-1106 1329 Borgofranco-Torino Porta Nuova D9848 from Borgofranco to Chivasso 40 Km
FS D445-1106 p 1329 Borgofranco-Torino Porta Nuova D9848 from Chivasso to Settimo 12 Km
FS D445-1108 1425 Torino Porta Nuova-Borgofranco D9849 from Settimo to Chivasso 12 Km
FS E632-021 p 1420 Milano Centrale-Torino Porta Nuova IR2016 from Chivasso to Torino Porta Susa 23 Km
FS D445-1099 p 1530 Borgofranco-Torino Porta Nuova D9850 from Torino Porta Susa to Torino Porta Nuova 6 Km
FS E444-099 1707 Torino Porta Nuova-Venezia S. Lucia IC637 from Torino Porta Nuova to Milano Centrale 153 Km

 

[D6130]

My, you did know how to enjoy Christmas day back in the day, didn't you? Presumably the driver of 333 017 shut the loco down, applied the handbrake and shut down the engine in order to go to mass....and no doubt, when everyone returned, it refused to start on what must have been a cold night in the High Sierras. Must have been an atheist loco!

 

[1971martin]

Friday 27th December 2019

90007 1122 Liverpool St - Ipswich
90011 1313 Ipswich - Liverpool St

Due to a possession in Colchester station, both ran via the goods lines at Colchester.

 

[D6130]

MONDAY 28th DECEMBER 1987:

43 145+43 037 Penzance-Exeter St Davids
47 620 Exeter St Davids-Reading via Pewsey

 

[QJ]

As I am heading north on the Highland sleeper on 28/12 some 41 years after a making a similar journey north of the border (but not before a spin south)...............

Friday 28 December 1979
33112 EH 1W55 2252 (PD) London Waterloo - Weymouth (Eastleigh to Southampton Central)
33106 EH 1W50 2238 (PD) Weymouth - London Waterloo (Southampton Central to Eastleigh)
73108 SL 1W50 2238 (PD) Weymouth - London Waterloo (Eastleigh to Woking)
73125 SL 1B01 0245 London Waterloo - Bournemouth (Woking to Bournemouth)
3*4VEP Bournemouth to Eastleigh
1*4REP+2*4TC Eastleigh to London Waterloo
55003 FP 2220 London Kings Cross - Edinburgh Additional (London Kings Cross to Edinburgh)

Saturday 29 December 1979
55006 YK 1S79 2315 London Kings Cross - Aberdeen (Edinburgh to Aberdeen)
47207 HA 1149 Aberdeen - Glasgow Queen Street (Aberdeen to Arbroath)
40062 HA 0935 Glasgow Queen Street - Aberdeen (Arbroath to Aberdeen)
55006 YK 1240 Aberdeen - Edinburgh (Aberdeen to Edinburgh)
27210 HA top + 27101 HA Tail 1530 Edinburgh - Glasgow Queen Street (Edinburgh to Glasgow QS)
27112 ED 2L53 1644 Glasgow Queen Street - Dundee (Glasgow QS to Perth)
(Banked to up Cowlairs incline by 27001 ED)
40061 HA 1644 Inverness - Edinburgh (Perth to Edinburgh)

Sunday 30 December 1979
55011 YK (PD) Aberdeen to London Kings Cross (Aberdeen to Darlington)
46053 GD 2100 (PD) London Kings Cross - Edinburgh (Darlington to Edinburgh)
(reversed at Newcastle then routed via Scotswood - Carlisle - Beattock - Carstairs avoiding line - Haymarket)
47705 HA 0840 Edinburgh - Aberdeen (Edinburgh to Kirkcaldy)
1*101 DMU Dundee - Edinburgh (Kirkcaldy to Edinburgh)
47461 HA 1100 Edinburgh - Aberdeen (Edinburgh to Haymarket)
1*101 DMU Perth - Edinburgh (Haymarket to Edinburgh)
47708 HA 1130 Edinburgh - Glasgow Queen Street (Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street)
1*303 Glasgow Queen St LL to Hyndland
1*303 Hyndland to Helensburgh Central
1*303 Helensburgh Central to Partick
1*314 Partick to Motherwell
1*314 Mortherwell to Partick
1*303 Partick to Glasgow Queen St LL
47709 HA 1700 Glasgow QS - Edinburgh (Glasgow QS to Edinburgh)
1* HST (43072+43118) 1825 Edinburgh - Leeds (Edinburgh to Newcastle)
47409 GD 2128 Newcastle - London Kings Cross (Newcastle to York)

Monday 31 December 1979
47157 LE 2000 (PD) London Kings Cross - Aberdeen (York to Edinburgh)
40160 HA 0435 Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street (Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street)
1*303 Glasgow Central to Newton
2*303 Newton to Motherwell
1*303 Motherwell to Newton
1*303 Newton to Rutherglen
1*314 Rutherglen to Newton
1*314 Newton to Motherwell
87017 WN 0710 Glasgow Central to London Euston (Motherwell to London Euston)

 

[D6130]

40061 HA 1644 Inverness - Edinburgh (Perth to Edinburgh)

Sunday 30 December 1979
55011 YK (PD) Aberdeen to London Kings Cross (Aberdeen to Darlington)

If it's not a rude question, how did you get from Edinburgh to Aberdeen on the Saturday night/Sunday morning?

 

[QJ]

If it's not a rude question, how did you get from Edinburgh to Aberdeen on the Saturday night/Sunday morning?

Not a rude question - the answer is by cut and paste. Scored a few times and not always spotted. Entry amended. At least it proves someone reads my posts occasionally. Cheers!

 

[D6130]

Not a rude question - the answer is by cut and paste. Scored a few times and not always spotted. Entry amended. At least it proves someone reads my posts occasionally. Cheers!

You're welcome! A very interesting itinerary....Takes me back a few years too.

 

[D6130]

SATURDAY 29th DECEMBER 1984:

33 025 Hove-Norwood Junction via Redhill (ECS)


MONDAY 29th DECEMBER 1986:

73 121 Redhill-Brighton


TUESDAY 29th DECEMBER 1987

43 077+43 050 Kings Cross-Edinburgh
47 713 Edinburgh-Glasgow QS HL via Falkirk High


THURSDAY 29th DECEMBER 1988:

43 083+43 063 Luton-Sheffield via Derby
47 658 Sheffield-Leeds via Moorthorpe and Wakefield Westgate
DMU Leeds-Selby
DMU Selby-York
43 089+43 060 York-Darlington

 

[Harvester]

Monday 30th December 1991

156427 12:55 Beeston-Coventry
47847 14:29 Coventry-Leamington
47819 14:57 Leamington-Derby
156402 17:08 Derby-Beeston

 

[D6130]

TUESDAY 30th DECEMBER 1986:

73 102 Redhill-Brighton


WEDNESDAY 30th DECEMBER 1987:

37 406 Dumbarton Central-Glasgow QS HL

 

[Jamesrob637]

Five years ago today was the day TPE ran a MK3 train with sandwiches by 67s. No idea of the numbers or anything - a mate of mine alerted me a couple of days before.

Six years ago today I caught a train from Ash to Guildford.

 

[Harvester]

Friday 31st December 1993

156423 09:18 Beeston-Crewe
37425 11:33 Crewe-Llandudno Jct
37422 14:18 Llandudno Jct-Chester
158??? 15:27 Chester-Crewe
150229 16:15 Crewe-Beeston

And more recent at the GCR.

Monday 31st December 2018

45305 12:00 Loughborough Central-Leicester North
45305 12:50 Leicester North-Rothley
70013 13:20 Rothley-Leicester North
70013 13:50 Leicester North-Loughborough Central

The Brit’s last day in service (expiry of it’s boiler ticket).

 

[D6130]

WEDNESDAY 31st DECEMBER 1986:

87 014 09 45 Euston-Glasgow Central

 

[xotGD]

WEDNESDAY 31st DECEMBER 1986:

87 014 09 45 Euston-Glasgow Central

Heading north for Hogmanay!

 

[D6130]

Heading north for Hogmanay!

Indeed!

 

[1971martin]

Wednesday 1st January 2014

90003 1230 Liverpool St - Diss
90011 1417 Diss - Colchester
321328+321357 1513 Colchester - Ipswich
90014 1546 Ipswich - Diss
90013 1617 Diss - Colchester
90007 1723 Colchester - Liverpool St

Thursday 1st January 2015

90012 1130 Liverpool St - Diss
90010 1317 Diss - Colchester
90011 1425 Colchester - Norwich
90002 1600 Norwich - Liverpool St

 

[D6130]

FRIDAY 2nd JANUARY 1987:

87 009 Glasgow Central-Euston


SATURDAY 2nd JANUARY 1988:

87 019 Glasgow Central-Carlisle
47 509 Carlisle-Leeds
43 080+43 074 Leeds-Kings Cross

 

[Segedunum]

A little more contemporary...

Winning units/stations/unusual platforms in bold. I was flying out the next morning and my plucky 18yr old self had a little more stamina to be riding around on a GM Ranger late enough to get Stockport 3a in the bag.

I'm 99% sure 142053 was my last NT 142.

02/01/2018

91119 Newcastle - York
185101 York - Manchester Picc
350408 Manchester Picc - Manchester O Rd
175007/175010 Manchester O Rd - Manchester Picc
158788/158857 Manchester Picc - Manchester O Rd
142053/142087 Manchester O Rd-Deansgate
150220 Deansgate - Manchester O Rd
185120 Manchester O Rd- Manchester Picc
175011 Manchester Picc - Stockport
390112 Stockport - Manchester Picc
390104 Manchester Picc - Stockport
390045 Stockport - Manchester Picc
3057 (Metrolink) Piccadilly - Piccadilly Gdns
150114 Manchester Vic - Greenfield
142027/156423 Greenfield - Ashton-under-Lyne
150136 Ashton-under-Lyne - Mossley (GM)
150114 Mossley (GM) - Stalybridge
185108 Stalybridge - Manchester Picc
142052 Manchester Picc - Stockport
150141 Stockport (3a) - Manchester Picc
3015 (Metrolink) Piccadilly - Piccadilly Gdns

 

[QJ]

It's got to be added.......... Deltic Farewell Salute

Saturday 02 January 1982
55015 FP 1F50 0830 London Kings Cross - Edinburgh Waverley (London Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley via ECML through Selby and Newcastle Goods line)
55022 YK 1F50 1430 Edinburgh Waverley - London Kings Cross (Edinburgh Waverley to London Kings Cross via Newcastle Goods line and ECML via Selby)

I didn't have a ticket to travel on this as I was working on a night shift that weekend. I decided to go to Kings Cross to watch the train depart before heading home. However, on turning up at Kings Cross I discovered a few seats were available because the expected kitchen car had been replaced by an RMB. I couldn't resist the temptation. The downside to this was having to go straight back to work on the return to Kings Cross in the evening. The other issue I had to contend with was in the wardrobe department; not class 20s but the fact that in sitting down the backside of my trousers disintegrated in ripped jeans style. Fortunately my winter overcoat was long enough to hide any embarrassment.

 

[NorthWestRover]

What a day that was.

 

[1971martin]

Wednesday 2nd January 2019

90011 0938 Stratford - Ipswich
90012 1143 Ipswich - Chelmsford
360102+360106 1212 Chelmsford - Colchester
90002 1247 Colchester - Ipswich
90010 1344 Ipswich - Norwich
37716+(37423) 1455 Norwich - Lowestoft
37423+(37716) 1548 Lowestoft - Norwich
90011 1700 Norwich - Stratford

 

[D6130]

THURSDAY 3rd JANUARY 1985:

73 004 Redhill-Three Bridges

 

[1971martin]

Friday 3rd January 2014

90028 1903 Euston - Birmingham NS
90028 2050 Birmingham NS - Euston

Thursday 3rd January 2019

387142+387139 1142 Paddington - Reading
43185+43002 1249 Reading - Paddington
43002+43185 1336 Paddington - Reading
387150+387140 1423 Reading - Didcot
387140+387150 1501 Didcot - Reading
43159+43160 1552 Reading - Paddington
91119 1703 Kings X - Peterborough
91132 1809 Peterborough - Kings X

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Saturday 4th January 1969:

On Sunday 5th January 1969 the 21.55 Edinburgh Waverley to St Pancras was the last train on the Waverley route, delayed en route by protests it was around two hours late by the time it reached Carlisle.

Just over three and a half years after my first trip over the Waverley route Sat. 4th January found me on one of several railtours which traversed the Waverley route that weekend, BR Scottish Grand Tour no6. These Grand Tours usually traversed some unusual sections of route and this one was no exception as will unfold in the description which follows. With load 9 coaches we departed Waverley just before 09.00 behind Haymarket stalwart no. 1974 (class 47). Just over ten minutes later we ground to a halt at Millerhill whilst the Police searched the train following a bomb alert which mercifully proved to be a hoax. After a twenty plus minute delay we proceeded and called at the principle intermediate stations of Galashiels, Melrose, St Boswells and Hawick. We passed a northbound Deltic hauled Railtour somewhere in the vicinity of Riccarton Junction (this originated in Newcastle) and continued south to Longtown Junction where the train left the Waverley route and took the branch to the west, skirting the northern boundary of the MOD Longtown site and reaching the WCML at Mossband. Staying on the Goods line we took the flyover into Kingmoor yard then the goods avoiding lines by-passing Carlisle station before heading for Newcastle arriving on the now closed route via Scotswood. Here 1974 gave way to 250 (class 40) and we headed through Manors before taking the South to East Curve at Benton for an anti-clockwise trip round the North Tyne circle. I must acknowledge 'Six Bells Junction' which tells me from Millerhill to Newcastle (second arrival) the train was variously running between 20 and 32 minutes late and with 1974 again in charge we departed Newcastle 29 mins late this time routed via Jesmond to regain the ECML via the W to N curve at Benton. Despite an unscheduled call at Dunbar the lateness had been reduced to just 2 minutes when we arrived at Waverley 2hours and 8 minutes after leaving Newcastle. I suppose line speeds must have been lower in those days but only a few years later I travelled Newcastle to Edinburgh without the diversion via Jesmond and Dunbar stop in 1 hour 58 minutes on a heavy overnight train behind a class 40 so despite the time regained the run with 1974 must have been fairly pedestrian.

This did not mark the end of my visits to the Waverley route. At its northern end it remained open for a couple of years to serve Lady Victoria Pit at Newtongrange (now the home of the Scottish Mining Museum) and I travelled over this section on an SRPS Railtour formed of the Society's LMS and Caledonian stock hauled by a class 20. This tour also traversed the branches to Kinneil Colliery and Cockenzie Power station, and I think Grangemoth too. Then, in the late 1990s when working for EWS I attended a Marketing event at the then Isis Link Freight terminal at Harker Brunthills (Carlisle) at the northern end of the remaining 1 mile stub of the Waverley route - sadly only the traincrew on the trip from Kingmoor were able to traverse this surviving section of the Waverley route, no such luck for guests. On checking the Sectional Appendix I find this section of route is still in situ serving Carlisle Warehousing although whether there is any traffic on it today I do not know.

Finally in 2020 I was able to make a return trip from Edinburgh to Tweedbank on the re-opened section of route which of course runs on a new formation bypassing MIllerhill, this on a 2 car class 158 which was full and standing leaving Galashiels on the return trip. A later trip was southbound only and from Galashiels I continued to Carlisle by bus although of course the A7 follows a very different route, only coming close to the former rail route briefly at Hawick and for a stretch north of Longtown then parallel but not adjacent as far as Harker.

 

[D6130]

Wonderful memories there @Cheshire Scot . I only wish that I had been able to travel over the entire Waverley Route before it closed but, unlike you, I didn't have a father who was a railway enthusiast....and I was only 11 at the time, so too young to be allowed out travelling on my own. I think one of the many reasons why the line was closed with such indecent haste was to avoid the expenditure on a skew bridge to carry the then new M6/A74 interchange over the line just North of Harker station. On several school holiday car trips to visit my grandparents in Co.Durham, I remember crossing the old A6 bridge at Harker station when the line was still in use, but I never saw a train there. Then in the summer of 1969, we drove along the newly-opened A74 dual carriageway and M6 motorway which had severed the now-disused railway, leaving two rusty tracks coming to abrupt ends either side of the road.

I often wonder whether the Waverley Route ever acquired any continuously-welded rail....apart from the short section between Portobello Junction and Millerhill. All of the many photos and videos of the line that I have seen show only jointed track, both bullhead and flat bottom. I expect that - given that the line had been slated for closure six years earlier - British Rail didn't consider any investment in further modernisation to be worthwhile (unlike their predecessors the LNER, which completely resignalled the Galashiels area in 1937, abolishing four signalboxes and installing colour light signalling and motorised points at the two remote junctions).

I guess your recent trip on the Borders Line would have been in 2020 rather than 2002, as it only reopened in 2015.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

I guess your recent trip on the Borders Line would have been in 2020 rather than 2002, as it only reopened in 2015.

Thank you, original edited!

 

[37166]

Thursday 04 January 1990

73109 London Waterloo - Surbiton
50009 Clapham Junction - London Waterloo
50016 London Waterloo - Clapham Junction
50028 Clapham Junction - London Waterloo
50049 London Waterloo - Clapham Junction

* Filling time on a Capital card...honestly!