70014IronDuke
Established Member
- Joined
- 13 Jun 2015
- Messages
- 3,699
or the so-called "Heart of Wessex" line (am I alone in detesting these 'created' nick-names?)
I read somewhere that this is one of the few lines where services levels are virtually unchanged since DMU-isation in the 60s.
Does anyone know if this is true? Kind of interesting to wonder why - presumably because demand has not increased as elsewhere, or is it that the line has been singled so much that FGW could not improve the service if it wanted to?
I'm also intrigued as to what worked the line before DMUs (which arrived, sort of 1961-ish, I suppose?) I'm sure there must be hundreds of photos, but I simply never remember seeing any. My guess would be 43XX class - at least if the trains were 3 or 4 carriages - but I have to wonder if they actually ran the line as a through service in steam days.
Of course, it was, originally, the main line to Weymouth from Paddington, I know that, but I have no idea when the last through trains/carriages ran that way..
xxxxx
I read somewhere that this is one of the few lines where services levels are virtually unchanged since DMU-isation in the 60s.
Does anyone know if this is true? Kind of interesting to wonder why - presumably because demand has not increased as elsewhere, or is it that the line has been singled so much that FGW could not improve the service if it wanted to?
I'm also intrigued as to what worked the line before DMUs (which arrived, sort of 1961-ish, I suppose?) I'm sure there must be hundreds of photos, but I simply never remember seeing any. My guess would be 43XX class - at least if the trains were 3 or 4 carriages - but I have to wonder if they actually ran the line as a through service in steam days.
Of course, it was, originally, the main line to Weymouth from Paddington, I know that, but I have no idea when the last through trains/carriages ran that way..
xxxxx