It was common for GNER examples to run from Neville Hill standedge way to Manchester to spend a weekend contracted out to VXC, usually on newquay workings and ending the diagram at Craigentinny ready for monday morning. VWC sets worked out of London Paddington and Bournemouth on XC diagrams on weekends as did FGW examples out of Paignton/Newquay and Penzance ending up at Edinburgh or Glasgow before making their back workings to their home depots. fairly recently I observed a FGW set in Durham which had been hired out for an entire week to AXC so it still happens on occasions, tho usually its AXC and EMT hiring to VTEC/LNER these days.
FGW examples were also occasionally used on thames valley duties up to manchester. I remember one weekday after the remaining XC HSTs had been handed over to the SRA we "borrowed" a GW HST under the instruction "we need it back for the evening peak!" So it was booked to do a reading - birmingham and back run deputising for a voyager. However the job was stopped at Banbury. By chance the TM was one of the last Reading based TMs to still sign Stroud Valley AND HSTs so off via swindon and to cheltenham we went to be met there by a birmingham route conductor and we carried on..... to manchester! Suffice to say it didnt make it back to Paddington in time for the evening peak and Im not aware of any GW deputisations after that but that was probably down to traction knowledge expiring. It is also not know how it got back to Old Oak Common either!
