Oddball Journeys (Trivia)

[Watershed]

There's a single daily return working from Paddington to Banbury, formed of a GWR IET, running in the evening peak only.
There's no corresponding morning working (killed off during Covid) and no other booked IETs to Banbury.

And that service is/was booked to have a member of catering crew but no guard. I think Lumo is the only other example of 125mph DOO services with catering.

 

[Magdalia]

For the dedicated pursuers of oddball services the first departures from Lowestoft are 0524 to Harwich Parkeston Quay and 0538 to Cambridge.

The last arrivals are 2300 Beccles-Norwich then 2048 from Stansted Airport and 2147 from Harwich Parkeston Quay.

 

[45Fox]

I'd say that CrossCountry's 1L98 0625 Bristol Temple Meads - Stansted Airport is worthy of mentioning.

Is that the only booked XC class 170 from/to Bristol Temple Meads?

 

[Watershed]

Is that the only booked XC class 170 from/to Bristol Temple Meads?

There's also the 05:20 to Cardiff Central - effectively an in-service ECS move for the first Nottingham train of the day. Bizarrely, the equivalent return service in the evening is ECS.

 

[45Fox]

There's also the 05:20 to Cardiff Central - effectively an in-service ECS move for the first Nottingham train of the day. Bizarrely, the equivalent return service in the evening is ECS.

Ahh! l forgot about that one, many thanks.

I believe that the evening return is ECS off the 20.20 Leicester to Gloucester (1V17), itself a slightly oddball service.
One evening last December, at about the time of the timetable change, I saw on the departure screens at Leicester it was running through to Bristol Temple Meads and wondered if it was now a passenger service all the way. However, it turned out to be a one-off because of cancellations on the Birmingham to Bristol route that day.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Avanti now run a curious shuffle between Chester and Crewe in the evenings, partly in service. I’ve only noticed this recently.

1D90 arrives into Chester from Euston at 1806.

After a 20 minute dwell in P1, the 805 then runs ECS to Crewe P9 (itself unusual) as 5K90, dep 1826 arr 1850.

After sitting at Crewe for over an hour it returns to Chester as 5D95, dep 1955 arr 2016 back into P1.

It then runs the once daily Avanti service from Chester that terminates at Crewe, 1K95 dep 2037 arr 2059 where the unit then heads to Crewe carriage sidings. There’s no break in TfW service, it runs between the TfW shuttle.

The TfW shuttle itself goes hourly from 1758 but then the Holyhead also runs at 2023 so there actually four services between 1958 and 2058!

Odd that it’s a one off CTR-CRE only.
Odd that it uses P9 at Crewe.
Odd that they run an ECS to Crewe only to run it back again.
Odd pattern of service in general!

I expect there are crew or catering reasons to run it to Crewe, as well as Chester P1 being needed for the Cardiff terminator in between. Though what the point is in the CTR-CRE service run I don’t know. Perhaps it used to run further south but has been truncated?

 

[Sussex hammer]

Edenbridge to Edenbridge Town

 

[Kite159]

There's also the 05:20 to Cardiff Central - effectively an in-service ECS move for the first Nottingham train of the day. Bizarrely, the equivalent return service in the evening is ECS.

When I did that service earlier in the year, it was near enough empty until reaching Newport where it forms one of the first trains to Cardiff Central.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Edenbridge to Edenbridge Town

What through service does that? Aren't they on separate lines?

 

[sk688]

1519 Euston to St Albans Abbey - believe its in place to switch out the 350 on the Abbey Flyer ?

 

[SECR 65]

Are there any trains from Seaford/Newhaven Harbour nowadays (In service or ECS) that don't continue off the branch to Brighton?

Don't think so. Everything goes to Brighton to my knowledge.

 

[lione87023]

Don't think so. Everything goes to Brighton to my knowledge.

I'm sure there used to be a morning peak Seaford-Victoria and evening return Mon to Fri pre-Covid.

 

[SECR 65]

I'm sure there used to be a morning peak Seaford-Victoria and evening return Mon to Fri pre-Covid.

I don't know about pre-Covid, so I'm sure you're correct about that! I've just checked the data and it seems everything to Seaford works to and from Brighton other than RHTTs and empties to Lovers Walk.

 

[Krystal]

Battersea Park on the Overground. More often than not you get tired commuters at 11pm getting on the train thinking the train goes to Clapham, and so it's another Southern journey down.

 

[Joey Beauchamp]

Does anyone know why there is now one Northampton Loop service in each direction that starts / finishes at Walsall instead of Birmingham New Street?

 

[Kite159]

Does anyone know why there is now one Northampton Loop service in each direction that starts / finishes at Walsall instead of Birmingham New Street?

To give a direct train Walsall to/from London to keep the local MP quiet?

 

[Djgr]

The handful of West Wales trains that bypass Swansea are interesting journeys.

 

[yorkshirerail]

Leeds to Goole via Knottingley

 

[NSE]

There are Brighton to Newhaven Harbour services that do not continue to Seaford for whatever reason.

Spontaneous, today there is one at Newhaven harbour at 1241, and one at 2141.

Everything else continues to Seaford.

It’s for route retention to keep competency on the Marine turn back. They’re both booked Brighton turns however they’re regularly re-allocated to keep both Eastbourne and Brighton drivers compliant.

Everything to and from Seaford (apart from emergencies and ad hoc plans for engineering) is too and from Brighton. The first arrival is empty before returning in service and the last service returns empty to Lovers Walk. Though this quite often runs back via Wivelsfield.

 

[Zamalek]

The 07.04 Bath Spa to Filton Abbey Wood - importantly not calling at Bristol Temple Meads.
What’s more, the next westbound train at Bath, although very conventionally going to Bristol TM, originates at Fratton, not Portsmouth.

The first one goes back to when part of the Ministry of Defence moved from Bath to Abbey Wood back in the late 1990s, and was intended to take Bathonians to their new office ....

 

[norbitonflyer]

There’s no corresponding afternoon service - just the 07.04 from Bath.

Mot any more, but there was in 2019.

 

[sp503]

1H02 0453 Bristol TM to Paddington via Bristol Parkway instead of Bath Spa
And of course the infamous 1K71 0510 Bristol TM to Paddington via Westbury and Newbury

 

[duffield]

The one-off direct 1Y97 0613 Retford to Nottingham via Sheffield is a bit unusual although it doesn't take much longer than the more conventional routes from Retford to Nottingham, changing at Grantham or Worksop.

 

[Pokelet]

06:35 Salisbury to Worcester Foregate Street. Runs Westbury then Swindon and up to Gloucester. Everything else is via Bristol.

Central Trains were the kings of the oddball service though. Great Malvern to Grantham via everywhere on whatever sprinter turned up.

 

[mervyn72]

Again back in Central Trains days I got on a class 156 at Shrewsbury advertised through to Sleaford but I only went as far as Lincoln.

 

[185143]

Mot any more, but there was in 2019.

Was that when Temple Meads was being remodelled?

IIRC XC were diverting and reversing back into Bristol, GWR just ran the Portsmouth-Cardiff straight past.

 

[Pinus contorta]

The 1229 Manchester Airport to Corkickle merits a place here.

The 1229 Manchester Airport to Corkickle merits a place here.

Think from memory this used to arrive at Barrow from the Airport and sit in the Sidings for a long time mid afternoon before returning to Manchester much later in the day. So I guess its just better utilisation of units since the tunnel closure and also it helps to move the peak commuter flow out of Sellafield more efficiently with it having 1/3 2/3 egress

 

[Jimini]

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!

 

[81A]

On GWR the 0510 Oxford to Worcester Shrub Hill is a bit of an odd one, as it runs non stop from Oxford to Moreton-in-Marsh, then resumes the normal stopping pattern. It is the only train to skip all of the stations between Oxford and Moreton-in-Marsh. It is more of an in service positioning move than a normal passenger service, so I doubt it inconveniences many (any?) people…

There are also the early morning/late night GWR services from Reading/Didcot to Paddington that call at the Elizabeth Line stations (Hayes & Harlington etc, as they would have before the Elizabeth Line started). These trains are often the only non TFL services to call at these stations. Also, they have a tendency to use the (very rarely used) Paddington platform 14. And one of them is (one of?) the only class 165 working(s) to Paddington.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 May 2026 ==

Forgot to add that the 0510 is also unique in the fact that it starts at Oxford (all others start at Paddington, with the exception of the evening stopping train which starts at Didcot).

 

[Welshman]

Again back in Central Trains days I got on a class 156 at Shrewsbury advertised through to Sleaford but I only went as far as Lincoln.

Not for nothing was Central Trains known as the Yarmouth to Barmouth Railway!

I once travelled from Heckington to Crewe on a through Skegness-Manchester Airport service using a Cl..153 dogbox.
But only once!