Bizarre events at Edinburgh Haymarket

[Denzo]

Long time lurker, first time poster

I often travel from Haymarket to Falkirk Grahamston shortly after 4:30 on Friday afternoons. My usual M.O. is to buy a single ticket, go down to platform 4 and jump on whatever comes first, the ScotRail service to Dunblane or the chieftain going towards Inverness.

These usually arrive in quick succession, around 4:40pm. The virgin service is supposed to arrive first although it is a bit delay prone which is understandable coming from London.

Today was oddly different. The chieftain was due in at 4:39pm as per with the Dunblane train a few minutes later, but in between there was a delayed train which was marked on the boards as "charter only", I've literally never seen this at a train station before, can anyone explain what it means?

Also around the same time there was a train due to depart from platform 0 which I've never seen before. It was listed as going to Inverkeithing and seemed to be a weird combination of freight carriage and a HST type passenger train. Anyone care to explain?

Any help would be appreciated, just feeling randomly curious.

 

[NotATrainspott]

Long time lurker, first time poster

I often travel from Haymarket to Falkirk Grahamston shortly after 4:30 on Friday afternoons. My usual M.O. is to buy a single ticket, go down to platform 4 and jump on whatever comes first, the ScotRail service to Dunblane or the chieftain going towards Inverness.

These usually arrive in quick succession, around 4:40pm. The virgin service is supposed to arrive first although it is a bit delay prone which is understandable coming from London.

Today was oddly different. The chieftain was due in at 4:39pm as per with the Dunblane train a few minutes later, but in between there was a delayed train which was marked on the boards as "charter only", I've literally never seen this at a train station before, can anyone explain what it means?

Also around the same time there was a train due to depart from platform 0 which I've never seen before. It was listed as going to Inverkeithing and seemed to be a weird combination of freight carriage and a HST type passenger train. Anyone care to explain?

Any help would be appreciated, just feeling randomly curious.

Because of the Forth Road Bridge closure, ScotRail have hired in whatever trains are available to run additional shuttle services between Haymarket platform 0 and Inverkeithing. The only trains available are surplus old carriages, which are sandwiched between two passenger locomotives so that they can just reverse at either end like a modern train rather than needing to shunt the locomotive to the other end like they used to back when locomotive+carriage trains were commonplace.

 

[najaB]

... in between there was a delayed train which was marked on the boards as "charter only", I've literally never seen this at a train station before, can anyone explain what it means?

It more than likely means that it was a charter. So only board it if you are part of the charter group.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

The charter was 'The Festive Settle Scotsman' from Blackpool.

You do see it occasionally at stations, presumably to stop curious passengers getting aboard.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

The charter was 'The Festive Settle Scotsman' from Blackpool.

It seems to have unsettled one Scotsman though not sure if the OP was feeling particularly festive today.

I can see myself out thanks.

 

[me123]

Welcome to the forum

I don't know if you've ever visited RealTimeTrains? It's a great resource for these types of things. The advanced mode can tell you quite a lot about these trains, including any delays incurred at intermediate points.

A charter train is essentially just what it sounds like - a train that's been chartered by people, and is not for general use. It's advertised as a Charter Train so that you don't accidentally hop aboard with your NR ticket. Sounds a lot like 1Z48 (the Festive Settle Scotsman) as has been said, a rail tour trip to Edinburgh from Blackpool that you'd have to book directly with the company. Interestingly, it wasn't booked to stop at Haymarket but did incur a sizeable delay for some reason. The information for Haymarket itself isn't available, did it stop there for long?

As has been said, Scotrail have an emergency FRB closure timetable with locomotive-hauled carriages providing additional runs between Haymarket and Inverkeithing. Details available here. Once the bridge reopens, you won't see these any more, although Scotrail do normally operate some locomotive hauled trains to Fife during the height of the rush hour at the moment.

 

[fishquinn]

The charter was 'The Festive Settle Scotsman' from Blackpool.

You do see it occasionally at stations, presumably to stop curious passengers getting aboard.

And to attract enthusiasts ? Especially with the traction on that particular tour (47804 and 47826)!

 

[johnwaero]

The train left Blackpool as 1Z46. After leaving Hellifield the leading loco 47826 developed a fault and displayed some impressive sparking (hot oil) crossing Ribblehead. 47804 pushing from the rear took up the load and the train was reversed at Carlisle by using the London Road Jnc-Upperby Jnc freight spur. The return train 1Z48 arrived at platform 9 in the Haymarket direction but left eastwards with 47804 at the front, and 47826 in the rear and reached Slateford (23 mins late) via the Craigentinny, Niddrie West, Craiglockhart Jnc loop, thus avoiding Haymarket. 19 passengers out of about 400 missed the train, some boarding at Carlisle courtesy of a Virgin connection from Edinburgh. Further delays were experienced on the S&C because of a landslip and single line working. Blackpool was reached 35 minutes late. Quite an eventful day!