London based round trip for special needs child, this Saturday - suggestions?

[Egg Centric]

A friend of mine wants to take his adorable special needs 7 year old boy (Prader Willi but for the purposes of this thread you can basically think of the mentality regarding trains as autistic/ocd but without detailed knowledge) who loves trains on a trip this Saturday with some fairly idiosyncratic requirements. Initially they were going to do a round trip to Brighton but I said that it could be made quite a bit more interesting, and then as more of the requirements became clear I started to think this needs more input! So I have permission to post this thread and would welcome suggestions.

1. It should be a round trip, starting out in London. Ideally Liverpool Street because my friend has already said it would start out there before he looked into anything, but this may not be doable
2. So far as possible, it should be "national rail". Note that this is by a "normie" definition of national rail so it excludes the Overground and Elizabeth Line.
3. Nevertheless both of the above, as well as the tube would be acceptable in "small doses" to connect between the other legs.
4. There should be some variety around TOCs/Stock preferably in a "blatant" way
5. Somewhere like Hatch End where you can sit for half an hour or so and watch trains go by would be great - Hatch End itself is of course ruled out due to condition 2, plus the boy usually lives in Bushey so...
6. Avoiding lines to Watford good
7. It should not be unreasonably expensive but there is no particular budget. It will be two adults + the boy and on a family railcard. It doesn't have to be this low, but for comparison a London Bridge - Brighton Super Off Peak Return for the three is £21.85
8. Once again - this is for this Saturday so there is engineering work on.
9. The route needs to be known in advance so the boy can be briefed. The precise timings could have fudge so so long as there is a frequent service on each leg it will be fine. Backup plans would also be helpful.
10. Leave after 9:30am, back before 7pm.

 

[30907]

Unfortunately, there are major engineering works out of Liverpool Street affecting the Ipswich and Cambridge routes - I had been going to suggest a circuit via Bury St Edmunds - so the best suggestion I have is Southend Victoria, returning to Fenchurch St on C2C. You could include Romford-Upminster?

Not sure this is a brilliant suggestion - any better ideas? There are two routes to Hertford....

 

[bangor-toad]

Hi,
Here's a suggestion based on heading to Brighton:

London Victoria to East Croydon. On a Southern metro service.
Change and maybe watch a few trains pass by at East Croydon.
East Croydon to Gatwick. On a Southern or Thameslink service.
Change and maybe watch a few trains pass by and aeroplanes do their stuff at Gatwick.
Gatwick to Brighton. On a Southern or Thameslink service.

Have a walk around Brighton for a bit.
Get the number 29 bus to Uckfield.

Back on the train. Uckfield to London Bridge. On a Southern Turbostar.


That gives a decent variety of different trains, a couple of busy locations to watch trains go by and if interested a few aeroplanes.
There's also the possibility of a side trip, time and interest level permitting, from Brighton to Newhaven (to look at a ferry) or Seaford (to look at a stony pebble beach).
The bus to Uckfield is OK and it links with a different type of train. The bus starts from Brighton, goes to Lewes and then to Uckfield. The bus top in Brighton I think is in the centre by the shops, in Lewes it's an awkward walk from the train stations and Uckfield bus stop/station is very close to the train station.

The route via Uckfield goes through Eridge which is the interchange for the Spa Valley railway. They seem to be running on Saturday so you could get see (or maybe ride on) something interesting there.

Whatever's chosen, I hope he has a good day out!
Cheers,
Mr Toad.

 

[Egg Centric]

Unfortunately, there are major engineering works out of Liverpool Street affecting the Ipswich and Cambridge routes - I had been going to suggest a circuit via Bury St Edmunds - so the best suggestion I have is Southend Victoria, returning to Fenchurch St on C2C. You could include Romford-Upminster?

Not sure this is a brilliant suggestion - any better ideas? There are two routes to Hertford....

Very similar to my suggestion this...

Hi,
Here's a suggestion based on heading to Brighton:

London Victoria to East Croydon. On a Southern metro service.
Change and maybe watch a few trains pass by at East Croydon.
East Croydon to Gatwick. On a Southern or Thameslink service.
Change and maybe watch a few trains pass by and aeroplanes do their stuff at Gatwick.
Gatwick to Brighton. On a Southern or Thameslink service.

Have a walk around Brighton for a bit.
Get the number 29 bus to Uckfield.

Back on the train. Uckfield to London Bridge. On a Southern Turbostar.


That gives a decent variety of different trains, a couple of busy locations to watch trains go by and if interested a few aeroplanes.
There's also the possibility of a side trip, time and interest level permitting, from Brighton to Newhaven (to look at a ferry) or Seaford (to look at a stony pebble beach).
The bus to Uckfield is OK and it links with a different type of train. The bus starts from Brighton, goes to Lewes and then to Uckfield. The bus top in Brighton I think is in the centre by the shops, in Lewes it's an awkward walk from the train stations and Uckfield bus stop/station is very close to the train station.

The route via Uckfield goes through Eridge which is the interchange for the Spa Valley railway. They seem to be running on Saturday so you could get see (or maybe ride on) something interesting there.

Whatever's chosen, I hope he has a good day out!
Cheers,
Mr Toad.

Thanks, this looks extra promising and has the Brighton line in for familiarity for my friend. I will start another thread in the ticketing forum about best option but I assume it'll be Southern DaySave.

 

[Egg Centric]

Hmm maybe not given the difficulties buying them with short notice...

 

[Trainguy34]

It would be £23.50 per person but I don't think they can be purchased within 3 days.

 

[Noseygit]

This is a railtour booked to run tomorrow from Peterborough- Southampton docks running as 1z66 may be of some use to you and a different type of train

 

[Trainguy34]

This is a railtour booked to run tomorrow from Peterborough- Southampton docks running as 1z66 may be of some use to you and a different type of train

2 66s or 67s I believe.