Back in the late 90’s there use to be an London Victoria to Southampton Central / Littlehampton / Hastings
At Haywards Heath the train will divide the front 8 coaches to Littlehampton and Southampton, the rear 4 coaches to Hastings
It would then divide again at Worthing. The front 4 coaches for Southampton Central and the rear 4 coaches for Littlehampton
There have also been some particularly stupid workings (in more recent memory) where a train would divide at Haywards Heath for Eastbourne, Hastings and Littlehampton.
The combined Eastbourne & Hastings portion would divide from the Littlehampton portion at Haywards Heath. It would then proceed as 8 coaches to Eastbourne, where the rear 4 coaches of that portion would reverse and continue to Hastings, and the front 4 would terminate and form a working back to somewhere else.
Inevitably, 4 things would happen:
1. Nobody could understand this, no matter how it was announced, and everyone for Lewes would end up at Hove.
2. Someone would stay onboard the Eastbourne terminating portion and end up going back to Lewes.
3. Three minutes before leaving London Victoria, the train would be given a stop order for Balcombe, with an 8 coach platform, and Normans Bay, with a 3 coach platform.
4. An unfortunate wheelchair user or someone with a lot of luggage would then join coach 3 of the Littlehampton portion at Clapham Junction and want to travel to Normans Bay.
(And there would be a complete crew change at Haywards Heath, with the crew of the front portion having come off a minimum-length break...)