Trivia: Longest trip that any loco or unit has every done.

[High Dyke]

I recall doing an overnight service from Glasgow Central to Bristol. not sure whether traction changed on the way or not though.

Found some interesting information on this site: http://www.1s76.com/

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Class 159 - Penzance to London Waterloo.

Waterloo - Weymouth would be the winner for multiple 3rd rail EMUs including 442s and 444s in regular service, with 450s, 411s, 421s and 423s visiting occasionally I think. A longer journey when diverted via Guildford and Havant.

I think I read once of a 142 deputising for a HST on a London service from Penzance via Bristol as far as Swindon. Sadly it was swapped there rather than allowed to clog up the fast lines into Paddington. Spoilsports if so, although I could be wrong about that.

I think it was a 143 that got as far as Swindon on a London service once. It wouldn't surprise me if a 143 had done something like Penzance to Swansea back in Wales&West days, longest run I had on one was Taunton to Newport though, which ran as far as Cardiff Central.

Some units won't ever have had much chance to stretch their legs due to limited operating areas, for example 507s maximum would be Chester to Chester via the Liverpool loop, not sure if 508s will have done longer than that on the SW or SE.

 

[Master29]

Aberdeen to Penzance must be up there, unless there's been a railtour that went further. That would cover both HSTs and Voyagers.

For class 373, London to Marseille or that place in the Alps that the ski-train used to go to (Bourg St. Maurice?).

For 158s, is there anything longer than the old London Waterloo to Manchester Piccadilly via Bristol and the Marches?

Class 158`s Penzance to Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool to Norwich and what about GWR Great Malvern to Brighton. A seven hour trip .

 

[Ash Bridge]

Back in 1987 a class 40 D200 (40122) operated a Preston to Preston Railtour that ran via Manchester Victoria, Wolverhampton and Northampton loop line to London Waterloo, then the West of England line to Exeter St Davids. Return was via B&H route to Reading then Leamington Spa, Nuneaton, Crewe, total distance was over 750 miles although a pair of 73s took over for the short Kensington Olympia - Waterloo section.

 

[Gloster]

Back in the 1980s, I believe some of the Tyseley based suburban DMUs got to exotic locations like Skegness.

Back around 1981 one made it to Paignton when The Devonian suffered a loco failure north of Birmingham and it was the only thing New Street could rustle up for the crowds. Toilet stops at Bristol and Exeter, and it went back empty.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Class 158`s Penzance to Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool to Norwich and what about GWR Great Malvern to Brighton. A seven hour trip .

Without looking it up, would Penzance to Manchester be further than Waterloo to Manchester? IIRC both ran via Bristol and the Welsh Marches line, and both had spells as the scheduled service over the Newport Avoider.

 

[Ash Bridge]

Without looking it up, would Penzance to Manchester be further than Waterloo to Manchester? IIRC both ran via Bristol and the Welsh Marches line, and both had spells as the scheduled service over the Newport Avoider.

Like you without checking, my money would be on Penzance being the greater distance of the two, at a guess 380 plus miles from Manchester.

 

[AndrewE]

I recall doing an overnight service from Glasgow Central to Bristol. not sure whether traction changed on the way or not though.

Found some interesting information on this site: http://www.1s76.com/

Those trains (the sleeper and the 0820(?) off Bristol) were diesel-hauled to Brum then electric forward down the WCML - and vv. Diesel under the wires was verboten for a long time after the WCML was wired.

They were key trains though, (from the Bristol perspective,) together with alternate hourly trains to and from Liverpool and Manchester so that you could go to anywhere important in the NW with just one change if you were travelling at the "wrong" hour!

 

[Master29]

Without looking it up, would Penzance to Manchester be further than Waterloo to Manchester? IIRC both ran via Bristol and the Welsh Marches line, and both had spells as the scheduled service over the Newport Avoider.

The Penzance Alphaline split at Temple Meads and a portion went to Milford Haven. The windy track in Devon and Cornwall possibly being a factor as to why it may well have been longer than the Waterloo service.

 

[a1904]

142

Leeds - Huddersfield - Sheffield - Lincoln

Quite a trip. Although, Leeds - Carlisle is a fair trek too.

When did they last run that from Leeds? Did a return journey on a 142 from Huddersfield to Lincoln as late as 2019?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

When did they last run that from Leeds? Did a return journey on a 142 from Huddersfield to Lincoln as late as 2019?

The once a day Leeds to Sheffield via Huddersfield service ended when the Leeds to Huddersfield stopper transferred to TPE.

Extensions to Lincoln/Retford on every service ended a fair bit sooner, but certain services continue to run beyond Sheffield to the present day, particularly on Sundays.

 

[Mat17]

When did they last run that from Leeds? Did a return journey on a 142 from Huddersfield to Lincoln as late as 2019?

If I had to hazard a guess as to when the service ended it would most likely have occured when ATN was merged with FNW - so 2004.

All Huddersfield services ran through to Lincoln at that point, except for the 17:XX off of Huddersfield, which started in Leeds and ran all stops from Leeds to Huddersfield via Morley, once at Huddersfield it ran through to Lincoln - all stops.

142s were the more usual type for it, but 153s were known!

 

[Bikeman78]

Some units won't ever have had much chance to stretch their legs due to limited operating areas, for example 507s maximum would be Chester to Chester via the Liverpool loop, not sure if 508s will have done longer than that on the SW or SE.

508s did London Bridge - Redhill - Tonbridge - Strood for several years. At least one ran from Ashford to Charing Cross.

 

[Magdalia]

Here are a few suggestions that I think have not been mentioned yet.

Steam loco: A4s Kings Cross-Edinburgh on the Elizabethan.
Diesel loco: twin tank class 47s on Kings Cross-Aberdeen sleepers throughout.
Electric loco: class 86s Harwich-Glasgow via Birmingham.
1st gen DMU: BRCW class 104s Manchester-Yarmouth summer Saturdays, daily Birmingham-Norwich many types.

The OP has not specified whether relief trains or charters are included. This is a crucial distinction for some cases.

 

[Bevan Price]

As for units there are several long distance services they have operated, whether they were suitable is open to debate:

158s - Penzance - Manchester Piccadilly, Rochdale - Euston
317s - Kings Cross - York (relief services)
322s - Manchester Airport - Euston
141s and 144s - York - Blackpool North
142s - some bizarre services when they were new. Holyhead - Hull (?), I had one on a Crewe - Blackpool North WCML service.

317s - Slightly longer, at least once 3 x 317 did Euston - Liverpool Lime Street & return on a relief service when one of the London football clubs was playing in Liverpool. Still have regrets that I did not rush over the footbridge at Crewe to take it to Liverpool.

 

[Magdalia]

317s - Slightly longer, at least once 3 x 317 did Euston - Liverpool Lime Street & return on a relief service when one of the London football clubs was playing in Liverpool. Still have regrets that I did not rush over the footbridge at Crewe to take it to Liverpool.

The reliefs and charters distinction is particularly important for class 317s where the longest run is a BR staff special from Kings Cross to Newcastle.

317327, 43183 NCL 27-3-93

Another view of 317327 at Newcastle on a staff special from Kings Cross, posing with 43183 on the 1205 to Plymouth. 27 March 1993.

www.flickr.com

 

[Dr_Paul]

Class 159 - Penzance to London Waterloo.

For 158s, is there anything longer than the old London Waterloo to Manchester Piccadilly via Bristol and the Marches?

When did these run? I don't recall seeing them at Waterloo during my commuting days. I do recall Waterloo at Paignton services; and I'm pretty sure that there was one with a single 158 that went via Salisbury and Bristol into Wales, whether it was to Cardiff or Swansea I can't recall.

 

[Alanko]

I'm not sure I understand OP's parameters.

Some locos on departmental runs like PLPR or UTU trains must cover a lot of ground in a night?

 

[Halish Railway]

For class 373, London to Marseille or that place in the Alps that the ski-train used to go to (Bourg St. Maurice?).

I seem to remember a trip report about someone taking one from Nîmes to Waterloo, so maybe they got as far away as Montpellier or Perpignan.

 

[Grecian 1998]

When did these run? I don't recall seeing them at Waterloo during my commuting days. I do recall Waterloo at Paignton services; and I'm pretty sure that there was one with a single 158 that went via Salisbury and Bristol into Wales, whether it was to Cardiff or Swansea I can't recall.

From around 2003 until December 2009 when all workings west of Exeter St Davids were withdrawn to ensure there was enough stock to run the new hourly service from Exeter.

There was never a weekday service which is probably why you never saw it on the boards. There was a down train to Penzance on Saturday evenings IIRC, although it might have come from Brighton rather than London.

On Sundays there was a direct Penzance - Waterloo service setting off around early afternoon IIRC. West of Plymouth I think it was crewed by Wessex Trains / GWR staff - not sure on the precise arrangement.

I think Waterloo - Paignton services appeared in around 1994 shortly after the 159s took over - they were definitely running by 1996. Plymouth was added as a destination around 2000. For some years the majority of London - Torbay services ran from Waterloo and SWT provided Ivybridge's only London service.

158s did run from Waterloo to West Wales and up to Manchester Piccadilly via Newport and Hereford. The intention was them to provide connections into the Nightstar running from Waterloo to Paris, but this never happened.

 

[Steddenm]

There was a 150 a couple of years ago that stood in for a faulty IET between Exeter St Davids and Paddington but think it was capped at Reading.

 

[DanNCL]

A few I can think of:
91: Kings Cross - Glasgow Central
185: Lime Street - Edinburgh via Leeds and Newcastle
373: Waterloo - Cannes on 16 May 2006. Special run for the premiere of The Da Vinci Code, completed the 883 mile journey non-stop in 7 hours 25 minutes, was the record for the longest non-stop high speed journey (still is unless China have beaten it)
800: Kings Cross - Inverness via Newcastle, Carlisle and Edinburgh
801: Kings Cross - Glasgow Central
802: Paddington - Penzance (passenger service), Kings Cross - Edinburgh (ECS)

 

[MadMac]

In mid-2000, eight Class 101 power cars (with only six operational) left Corkerhill under their own power for Newton Heath, a good couple of hundred miles away. I don’t know if they travelled the whole way under power, as I have a recollection that they came to a halt somewhere en route with the fire bells going off. An identical move a week later was hauled by a Class 37.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

A very new 150 went from Cardiff , via Derby to Hamburg (West Germany) , for the IVA exhibition. 1988.

Admittedly , it was for exhibition , but it did carry some riders for safety and so on reasons.

 

[Mat17]

A very new 150 went from Cardiff , via Derby to Hamburg (West Germany) , for the IVA exhibition. 1988.

Admittedly , it was for exhibition , but it did carry some riders for safety and so on reasons.

Some 141s got as far as Iran

142049 went to Canada as well.

 

[Skymonster]

A few I can think of:

373: Waterloo - Cannes on 16 May 2006. Special run for the premiere of The Da Vinci Code, completed the 883 mile journey non-stop in 7 hours 25 minutes,

A mere drop in the ocean compared to the three DRS Class 20 locomotives that ran to Pristina, Kosovo in 1999 - around 2,800 miles

 

[GS250]

Euston - Ayr after the latter bit was electrified? Or was there usually a loco change at Glasgow to another AC?

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Some 141s got as far as Iran

142049 went to Canada as well.

The 150 , and a hand picked collection of other vehicles went on it's own wheels. I minded it for a few hours , so I changed the destination blinds a few times to confuse the Germans - Merthyr one end and Paignton the other. Etc.

(the 20's to Kosovo was presumably crewed throughout by Saltley..... )

 

[Spartacus]

Didn't 150s do some Holyhead - Scarboroughs when first introduced, 254 miles? Not quite Hamburg, but for anyone who ever did it throughout it must have felt like it! They also did the port-port Holyhead - Hull.

 

[87007]

There's a freight service Felixstowe to Coatbridge via London. 16 hour journey for longest time maybe?