Recent content by 70014IronDuke

As many in here know, back in the late 1960s, post Beeching, it was realised that some loss-making rail lines should be saved on "social" grounds. The good citizens of places like Beccles and Builth (Rd), Barnstaple and Brora needed and deserved a rail service, despite the fact that these...

Gosh. Hadn't realised these kind of data sheets existed! Thks.

I forgot to mention the up SuO service, 1E20, the 15.19 ex Carlisle DOES still go to Notthingham still. But it's all shacks over the S&C (despite its Class 1 designation). And it gets you into Nottingham a bit late to go much further - arr 19.58. Could be a nice ride in May - August, I suppose...

Has timekeeping on the route improved noticeably at all as a result of the re-doubling?

As @Gloster says, in the years of your interest, trains from Euston and St Pancras were both part of the LMS Railway. However, in practice, both lines in many ways worked according to their former owners, ie the St Pancras route kept many of its Midland Railway traditions, ditto the Euston line...

Not any longer, alas. It's been cut back - starts at Sheffield now. The Thames-Clyde was usually routed through Trent and Leicester - didn't take the 'back road'. (That was for The Waverley, at least most timetables that I'm aware of. (Sorry to rain on the party! :'()

In which case, it might well be that he worked trains from Euston, not St Pancras (or KX), even if he lived nearer those stations. (It's only 8 mins walking between them and Euston in any case.) Euston had many more restaurant car services than St Pancras - to Birmingham/Wolverhampton...

Excellent little case study of how to motivate folk at all levels. Thanks for this, just a shame about the bigger picture regarding Speedlink.

I don't think so. Sure, the Southern (Railway) closed a few branches, and yes, they would surely have gone under BR and Beeching - but overall the Southern lost no main or even secondary lines the way the other BR regions did, except, you might argue, for Exeter - Plymouth via Okehampton. I...

Interesting. Got any more on this story, I mean, why the work there was so good? Good management team, or just a random set of tradesmen who took pride in a good job?

Fair point. I'd have thought even single locos must be barely working for significant distances on today's steam-hauled specials, given the current line's 60 mph limit. Need a footplate inspector or experienced driver to answer that one.

Surely the Highwayman was an innovation of BR Eastern Region - it was not some outside entrepreneurial outfit who were ex-road coach people. They had locos and old Mk 1s to spare, all perfectly serviceable and initiated the train to utilise these assets for the cost-conscious traveller. At...

The Night Ferry, especially when worked via the North Kent route, famously had a regular 4-4-0 pilot even when worked by an 8P MN to ensure it got over Sole Street Bank - at least from what I've read. The former SE&CR 4-4-0s were 3P in the BR ratings, of course. I think both locos would be...

This was long the practice with the overnights, so providing a sleeper service from both Nottingham and Derby. This was probably true even pre-electric haulage via the Caledonian route - depending on the particular timetable in force at the time - but possibly even in steam days. It is a...

Almost certainly not the winner, but the footbridge at Faversham, which crosses the main lines and the former shed throat, used to appear mighty to a nipper in short trousers.