Circular tour and thousand-mile tickets

[A S Leib]

At the railway station at Beamish, there's posters (photo attached) advertising North Eastern Railway circular tour* and thousand mile tickets. Were the circular tour tickets strict circular tours, or are they like at least some of the Round Robins (I think all except the Ffestiniog and Heart of Wales round robins) where doubling back is allowed? Were they ever abolished before being revived in their current incarnation? When were thousand-mile tickets abolished, how many were sold, and, possibly usefully for the thread on the all-lines pass, how much did it cost? The poster says £5 5s, but I don't know the exact year it's from. How common were similar tickets on other railway companies?

*The routes shown on the poster are

• York – Middlesbrough – Saltburn – Whitby – Scarborough – York
• Darlington – Kirkby Stephen – Carlisle – Newcastle – Darlington + Penrith – Keswick)
• York – Picton Junction – Grosmont – Malton – York + Grosmont – Whitby
• Leeds – Harrogate – Ripon – Thirsk – Middlesbrough – Saltburn – Whitby – Scarborough – Leeds
• Northallerton – Hawes – Appleby – Bishop Auckland – Crook – Newcastle – Northallerton
• York – Pickering – Whitby – Driffield – Enthorpe / Hull – Selby – York

 

[Gloster]

It does say in the ‘Golf in Northern England’ entry that it is the 1912 edition, so this is most likely to be 1913 or 1914.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Believe "Thousand Mile Ticket" coupon books may well have been issued from as early as the mid 1890s. Not a completely new innovation, believe similar tickets had previously already been available in Continental Europe and the United States. Wasn't just the North Eastern Railway Company that was offering them either, the Cambrian Railways Company in Wales certainly did also.

 

[A S Leib]

It does say in the ‘Golf in Northern England’ entry that it is the 1912 edition, so this is most likely to be 1913 or 1914.

I missed that, thanks; the National Archives inflation calculator says that £5 5s in 1910 had the purchasing power of ~£410 in 2017, so ~41p per mile. I think the 186 miles from Ramsgate to Bournemouth via Barnham's one of the cheapest season tickets per mile and that works out at ~6p per mile if doing that route ten times in a week; for an any permitted 1-week Newcastle – Edinburgh, ~19p per mile. The Avanti anytime return from Manchester Piccadilly to Euston's slightly over a pound per mile, so that would still be a good deal now if not constantly taking the same route (or perhaps even compared to some season tickets).

 

[Mcr Warrior]

What was inflation like between the mid 1890s and the early 1910s? Believe that when these "Thousand Mile" (first class) ticket coupon books were first issued (1st July 1896?) the price was also £5 5s 0d, so just over one old penny-farthing per mile, which was apparently 20% off the normal rate. Valid for 12 months from issue.

 

[A S Leib]

What was inflation like between the mid 1890s and the early 1910s?

The Bank of England inflation calculator says £10 in 1895 was worth £11.40 in 1913, so only 0.7% per year on average.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

So, when did "Thousand Mile tickets" stop being offered? Early 1920s maybe, so just before the Big Four grouping?

 

[Rescars]

So, when did "Thousand Mile tickets" stop being offered? Early 1920s maybe, so just before the Big Four grouping?

Or maybe August 1914 or shortly thereafter?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Or maybe August 1914 or shortly thereafter?

Can well imagine sales having being suspended shortly after the outbreak of WW1. However, the North Eastern Railway Company was definitely noted as offering the "Thousand Mile" tickets once again in January 1922. Not sure what the price per mile would effectively have been.