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  1. Springs Branch

    Historical question on a freight train

    By chance, I was just perusing some old Working Timetables - looking at the eclectic range of destinations served by petrochemical trains from the Stanlow / Ellesmere Port area in the 1970s & 80s. Back in the day, I loved seeing those lumbering oil trains, plus the (generally much cleaner...
  2. Springs Branch

    Short-term Pre-paid Mobile Phone SIM cards for UK Visitors

    That's a good call. Mostly I'll have good coverage with all networks during my trip, but there are a couple of places I'll be visiting in rural Lancashire and North Wales which seem to have very poor / nil coverage on O2 (= GiffGaff) and Vodafone (ASDA Mobile - my other option), but adequate...
  3. Springs Branch

    Short-term Pre-paid Mobile Phone SIM cards for UK Visitors

    Thanks for the suggestions. Sounds like I can get what I need for around £20 for the month, easily and with minimal risks. GiffGaff sounds like a front runner. I actually tried entering a dummy order for a free SIM from GiffGaff using a randomly dreamed-up postcode as my UK address. Their...
  4. Springs Branch

    Short-term Pre-paid Mobile Phone SIM cards for UK Visitors

    I'm planning a trip to the UK for a month during May. I'm looking to buy a SIM card for my smartphone for the duration to get a UK mobile number & avoid high roaming charges from my Aussie provider for use in the UK. A Google search throws up a plethora of options - some order on-line &...
  5. Springs Branch

    Heysham Harbour Branch Signalling, 1970?

    Following Sealink's initiatives to develop Heysham / Belfast as a main sea route to Northern Ireland and BR's 1970 alterations, Heysham Harbour station became a busy old spot for loco-hauled rail services around the times of ferry arrivals and departure. See the attached scans of the May 1971...
  6. Springs Branch

    Same loco into 3 or more different London termini

    For a short period around 1959/60, just before the LTS line electrification, Class 31s were also used on some of the passenger trains into Fenchurch Street - hauling the old steam-era compartment stock. (e.g. I've seen a photo of 'skinhead' D5508 /31008 on a Shoeburyness - Fenchurch St train...
  7. Springs Branch

    Split ticketing and Nexus Transfare tickets

    I'm looking for some advice / reassurance from anyone familiar with ticket splits using PTE products and railcard time restrictions. Here's the story:- I'll be making a return journey with the missus via the Tyne Valley line, continuing to East Boldon on the T&W Metro. We'll both have Carlisle...
  8. Springs Branch

    Station announcer phraseology no longer used

    Back in InterCity days - before automated announcements and scrolling platform PIS - one manual announcement regularly heard at Wigan North Western went something like:- "Attention passengers on platform 4. The delayed 09 23 service to London Euston has been reported leaving Preston sixteen -...
  9. Springs Branch

    Liverpool Street - Norwich via Cambridge

    Thanks for that - it's confirmed I wasn't hallucinating about there being a train (the 00:48 arrival at Cambridge) which split for Norwich and Peterborough. To be a nuisance - did that train, and the (presumably DMU) connection from Ely to Kings Lynn at 01:25, only run on Saturday night /...
  10. Springs Branch

    Liverpool Street - Norwich via Cambridge

    I have hazy memories from the late 1970s and early 80s of several trips on the last train of the day from Liverpool Street to Cambridge (23-something from LST). It was the era when the wires ran out at Royston and Bishops Stortford. Train was Mk.1 LHRC, which continued to plod along to...
  11. Springs Branch

    Greater Manchester Multi-operator ticket query

    I'll be visiting the Brave New World of yellow buses in the next couple of months, and - with rail strikes and electrification closures - I've resigned myself to using Greater Manchester's bus network more intensively than I'd normally prefer. So, I've recently been researching fare options for...
  12. Springs Branch

    Wigan-Bolton electrification. Construction updates only please

    Do I remember correctly that when Hindley station closed for the bridge reconstruction there, didn't trains continue to physically stop but doors weren't released, so no-one could alight? If / when Ince is closed, maybe same will apply on the 1 tph booked to call there (usually the...
  13. Springs Branch

    Wigan-Bolton electrification. Construction updates only please

    Is something happening at Ince station at the end of April? The pdf timetable for the Manchester - Wigan line on Northern's website seems to show all trains which would normally call at Ince skipping that station from Mon. 22 April onwards. See notes X and Y in the attached ...
  14. Springs Branch

    Trams versus The Railways

    In line with this thread's title "Trams versus The Railway", one example of when The Railway (temporarily) fought back in the Wigan area is as follows... In the early 1880s, the Wigan Tramways Company Ltd, a private concern, was expanding its operations with a new street tramway between Wigan...
  15. Springs Branch

    Trams versus The Railways

    One contributing factor (amongst others) in the success of trams over local trains was that trams were often more conveniently routed than trains regarding where passengers actually lived or wanted to travel to. I suspect this was less of a factor in big cities like Birmingham, Manchester or...
  16. Springs Branch

    80sFreightliner lengths v Modern liners/intermodal

    The attached scans are from a 1979-80 Working Timetable, showing overnight Freightliner arrivals and departures at Trafford Park Terminal. Each column referring to a Freightliner service has a SLU = Standard Length Units note for that particular train. These seem to show trains...
  17. Springs Branch

    Station association

    Newcastle was also historically the terminus for suburban electric trains, whose route has now been taken over by the local light rail system.
  18. Springs Branch

    Settlement Association

    Castleton in Derbyshire is also on the route of National Cycle Route 6.
  19. Springs Branch

    Alphabet Stations Challenge

    York
  20. Springs Branch

    End of the station's word!

    Saint-Fargeau (Paris Metro)

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