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I seem to remember when visiting grandparents (so before 2013) there being regular semi-fast trains from Lichfield City alongside the stoppers. Does anybody have any timetables from the era?

Just for fun- how would you rank the most to least sensible options for expanding the Merseyrail network? Taking into account political desirability, cost of reinstatement, possible revenue streams, regeneration benefits, and of course general connectivity. Here's my basic list: and I may be...

Is there anything that could conceivably tilt the economic balance back in favour of locomotive hauled workings to at least say 1960s/70s levels? Or are the advantages of multiple units so overwhelming that barring the odd pocket, there'll never be any meaningful return to locos and stock? I'd...

I believe Northern have been offered but turned down GWR's 769 fleet. For me personally that's a shame as I rather like the 769s, but I appreciate this is a niche position! The question is- if Northern received an additional 19 (?) 769 sets, what if any routes would be suitable for bimode...

I am fascinated by the transition era from the steam age railway of the early 1960s to the essentially modern network of the late 1970s. I've seen plenty of threads before about locos: but here's a more niche question. Does anybody know when the first coaching stock (aside from the XP64 rake)...

I'm travelling to London from Preston next Saturday 10th May, returning Sunday 11th. As an enthusiast, I'd like to change in Birmingham on the way down to travel on the 14.43 from Moor Street for some loco-haulage. Is such a journey break acceptable on a standard Off-Peak return? The only...

Just a bit of fun... If any one of these three lost Beeching-era main lines were to be restored, in full, which would have the best chance of achieving even a modicum of commercial success? (Yes, I know none of them is remotely realistic in any sense!)

Is there any reason the Preston-bound platform at Ormskirk has enjoyed a short northward extension?

I realise this isn't going to happen any time soon... However- assuming a line was reinstated with a comparable layout to the actual Copy Pit route (double track, at least hourly service, but no electrification), would a Blackburn-Leeds via Skipton service stand a chance of washing its face...

I've seen this discussed a little as the ultimate nuclear option that could be taken to end strike disputes. How plausible is it, in reality, that the DfT or an operating company could go down this line? Has it been done before? And how dramatic would the impact be on services thereafter...

Today the GCR makes much play of its status as the UK's (world's?) only double track heritage railway. Which got me to wondering- how many of the UK's current preserved railways were once double tracked? A handful, or many of them? I know what's now the ELR certainly was originally double...

Aside from the famous Gresley buffets, how many other pre-nationalisation carriages survived beyond the end of steam? Keeping it to loco hauled coaches to begin with!

I'll prefix this by saying I understand the reasons why Merseyrail operates as it does, with a regular clockface all stations service. So purely in terms of speculation - would it even be possible to timetable semi-fast services, and if so, how could it be achieved and what frequency would need...

I know there are issues with Avanti being reluctant to issue tickets in advance- but when do they generally go on sale? I'm hoping to buy two adult tickets using a Two Together Railcard for travel Preston to London on Saturday 10th December. Advance singles are available, but as yet no return...

If the BR transition era can be considered as running approximately from 1957 up until 1968, which year would it be fair to mark as the real watershed moment where more top flight expresses were operated by diesels than steam locos? Would I be right to say 1962? And for the years prior to...

I've posted this in speculation, but no doubt it'll become a real discussion soon enough. What cascades will be required to remove the 150s from the network: and how soon, realistically, could it be achieved? Does the whole 15x series need removing, or can some classes stay? And what does...

If one were able to travel back in time to, say, June 1968, how much working BR steam would be actually observed in the North West? Assuming our hypothetical time traveller had no access to WTTs or whatever. Did any lines see booked steam passenger workings at this point, besides the Blackpool...

You quite often see discussed here the idea that electrification costs have increased sharply vs BR days because of the relative drought in new projects between c1995 and 2010, which led to a collapse in skills. All that seems reasonable: but with electrification projects now having been...

I've seen it discussed in the Restoring Your Railway fund thread that there's not currently the capacity to deliver both an additional hourly service between Preston and Blackpool South through a dynamic loop on the Fylde line, and a hypothetical hourly Preston-Fleetwood working. It would have...

I know the main remodelling of Victoria station itself took place in 1992/93. But I think I'm right in saying that the four track formation west through Salford Crescent, as well as the lines up to Red Bank, remained in use for at least a couple of years after this date? So- does anybody...