BR Adexes and Merrymakers

[EbbwJunction1]

I remember joining a Mystex at Cardiff and we sat in a compartment with 3 others who had joined the train at Swansea. When we started talking about where the mystery destination might be, they looked puzzled. The train had been advertised as an Adex to Paignton at Swansea!

I think I've mentioned before being told on a tour of the Panel Box at Newport that the station announcer (based in the Panel Box) had once said that "the next train on Platform three is the Mystery Excursion to (xxx - I can't remember where)"! The result was that the announcer was not in future told where the train was going.

 

[Ostrich]

On the LM Euston Division in the 1980s the split was...

Football charter trains were organised by the football clubs themselves (or the accredited supporters club) and tickets would only be sold to season ticket holders/registered supporters. The organisers would steward the train.
Footexes were relief trains on which all other supporters travelled, at the normal fares, to keep them away from the general public. These would usually have a contingent of BTP officers in an attempt to keep order.

Football Charter: In the late 1960's Birmingham City FC inaugurated the "Beau Brummie Travellers Club" for which you registered, got a membership card and a pin badge. They ran a members-only football charter from New Street to Rotherham on 18th February 1967 (I've just looked it up) for an FA Cup 4th Round tie which I signed up for; it was a single Class 25 from memory. The coaching stock must have been fitted with some sort of rudimentary broadcast system, because the game finished 0-0 and I recall the Blues' captain, Malcolm Beard, having to apologise to the train on the return leg for missing a penalty!

Footexes: Three other Birmingham City away games I attended in the same era were not so pleasant. Leeds United was the worst, the Birmingham fans were corralled by the local police outside Leeds station and escorted frog-marched to Elland Road, surrounded by police horses. Leeds fans ambushed the return train not far out of the station, throwing missiles from an overbridge; a corridor window in the compartment coach I was in was shattered.

The game at Ipswich passed off without any problems, but there was trouble at Norwich station on the return journey from the fixture there - I recall Birmingham fans throwing missiles (bottles?) out of the windows at the train in the adjacent platform as we departed. It was also memorable for an incident on the outward journey. I remember what the haulage was quite distinctly, because when we were bowling at speed somewhere across the Fenlands, I decided to find the loo or the buffet or something, went to the end of the corridor, pulled open the gangway door, and found myself staring at the back cab of a Class 47 ........ Guard duly alerted!

 

[Pigeon]

I remember in the late 70s seeing what was probably a Footex relief at Birmingham New Street. It was after a game at Aston Villa and the away supporters were leaving on it. I think they had lost. I happened to be on an adjacent island platform (4&5 maybe). There was a lot of shouting, banging and the sound of smashing glass just before departure. Once it left I could see that the platform (3 maybe) was covered in glass. The railways probably save a lot of money by not carrying football supporters.

So many tales like this - footexes having half the windows smashed and the seat cushions chucked out onto the lineside - make me wonder why they didn't just follow the suggestion of your last sentence. Maybe there were enough surplus Mk1s dodging the scrapyard that they could assemble footex rakes entirely out of "next stop the chop" vehicles, and when they stopped running them it was because the supply had finally run out? Still leaves the question of how they found guards willing to work them, though, and for that matter what the PW staff thought about the risk of being decapitated by a flying seat cushion as one went past.

 

[Gloster]

So many tales like this - footexes having half the windows smashed and the seat cushions chucked out onto the lineside - make me wonder why they didn't just follow the suggestion of your last sentence. Maybe there were enough surplus Mk1s dodging the scrapyard that they could assemble footex rakes entirely out of "next stop the chop" vehicles, and when they stopped running them it was because the supply had finally run out? Still leaves the question of how they found guards willing to work them, though, and for that matter what the PW staff thought about the risk of being decapitated by a flying seat cushion as one went past.

I presume that they reckoned that if they didn’t run Footex, the football supporters would travel on regular trains. It also meant that you moved them at predictable times for the police from one place to another without the risk of bands roving intermediate stations if they had to change. It was a case of heads you lose, tails you lose. I would think that guards probably just locked themselves in their compartments.

 

[Masbroughlad]

I grew up in South Yorkshire in the 1970s and early 80s. My Dad used to take us all over by train. We particularly enjoyed Merrymaker excursions and covered a lot of the UK on them.

Originally, we went from the Sheffield Division stations - our main one being Rotherham. When they wound down, I think some were organised by the Leeds area?? We then used to drive to Alfreton and Mansfield Parkway or Worksop to pick up Merrymakers from there.

Always had an interest in these BR excursions and have found that many areas of the country used to run them.

I now live in Staffordshire. I have never seen any leaflets or other evidence that BR ran Merrymakers from Stafford and surrounds. Did they? Has anybody got old promotional material, leaflets etc if they did please?

Got me thinking further. Which Divisional/Area Managers across the UK ran Merrymaker or other Adex trains?

Thanks in advance of any information.

 

[Bevan Price]

I must have been about 9 or 10 when my parents took me on the first "Excursion train" that I remember. I presume it started at St. Helens Shaw Street, but we joined at Moss Bank (on the Rainford branch), and went to Southport. I don't remember the route details, but it can only have been via Ormskirk (reverse, loco ran round train) and Burscough South curve. Non-corridor stock, and a rare loco for the Rainford branch, Jubilee 45623.

In later years, did several ADEX / MYSTEX organised by Liverpool Division, which - dependent on route, usually picked up at Runcorn or St.Helens (Shaw St. or Junction). One of the last involved 40111 to Largs and back. Surprisingly not many enthusiasts going North, as the "40 bashers" hadf expected it to be electrically hauled over Shap.

And two I remember whilst working in London, both from Finsbury Park; one a Brush 2 (Class 30) to Southend Victoria, the other a Class 24 (D5052) to Brighton (via York Road & the Widened lines). (Their TOPS classifications are shown to help identify the locos, but did not exist at the time of the trips).

 

[eastwestdivide]

I now live in Staffordshire. I have never seen any leaflets or other evidence that BR ran Merrymakers from Stafford and surrounds. Did they? Has anybody got old promotional material, leaflets etc if they did please

In Kent, we often had excursions starting from Macclesfield (to Margate/Ramsgate). Not sure where else they picked up though.

 

[Gloster]

In Kent, we often had excursions starting from Macclesfield (to Margate/Ramsgate). Not sure where else they picked up though.

Would Macclesfield have been the north end of the Stoke Division, which I think was one of the more active promoters of excursions?

I think that those parts of the network that tended to be the destination for excursions (WR Bristol Division, SR Central and South Eastern Divisions, etc.) tended to organise fewer excursions than other ones.

 

[Fleetwood Boy]

Living on the Fylde Coast I was puzzled for a long time by the comprehensive programme of Saturday ADEXs. We went on three. Two mystery tours (one to Berwick behind 40008 and one to Oxford where I saw my only ever Western at New Street), plus an advertised trip to York with 40106 in scruffy green.

For long time thought it strange to “waste” a long rake of coaches on a Saturday when there were umpteen SO trips to be covered at Blackpool. Turns out that if you stayed in digs for a fortnight your friendly landlady kicked you out all day on a Saturday so she could clean your room so there was a big market in both coach and rail day trips despite it coinciding with peak demand for travel to/from Blackpool.

 

[Helvellyn]

Living on the Fylde Coast I was puzzled for a long time by the comprehensive programme of Saturday ADEXs. We went on three. Two mystery tours (one to Berwick behind 40008 and one to Oxford where I saw my only ever Western at New Street), plus an advertised trip to York with 40106 in scruffy green.

For long time thought it strange to “waste” a long rake of coaches on a Saturday when there were umpteen SO trips to be covered at Blackpool. Turns out that if you stayed in digs for a fortnight your friendly landlady kicked you out all day on a Saturday so she could clean your room so there was a big market in both coach and rail day trips despite it coinciding with peak demand for travel to/from Blackpool.

Were they all ADEX or were any Mystery Excursions? If the latter I wonder if anyone ever ended up back home for the day!

 

[Fleetwood Boy]

Were they all ADEX or were any Mystery Excursions? If the latter I wonder if anyone ever ended up back home for the day!

Two were mystery trips. And as one headed to Berwick via West Yorkshire and Tyneside and the other to Oxford via the West Midlands, I suspect at least some customers had a feeling of deja vue.

 

[D6130]

Got me thinking further. Which Divisional/Area Managers across the UK ran Merrymaker or other Adex trains?

In the late 1970s/early 1980s the late Gerry Daniels, Area Manager first at Basingstoke and then at Salisbury, was very proactive in organising ADEXs for specific interests....especially Rail Ale Rambles - or BEEREXs as we called them. These coincided with the 'real ale revival' and the meteoric rise of CAMRA....and of course many real ale enthusiasts were - and still are - also rail enthusiasts. These trains usually started from Waterloo and called at principal stations on the South Western main line before visiting two different towns or cities with a good selection of real ale pubs - one at lunchtime and one in the evening, remembering that pubs still closed in the afternoon in those days - with a late evening return home. Gerry was also a noted rail/ale enthusiast and CAMRA member and often travelled on the trains himself....off-duty of course. Initially the trains were formed of class 33/1 locos and spare 4-TC sets - sometimes loading up to 12 cars, such was their popularity! One particularly memorable trip in about 1977 took in Oxford and Bath, with an afternoon trip to Worcester Shrub Hill where the one lady working the station buffet - not subject to normal licensing restrictions - was beseiged by about 300 thirsty punters on a half-hour stopover.

Of course, there were always a few punters who didn't make it back to the train....and presumably had to make their own way home by service train, once they had sobered-up!

 

[theblackwatch]

In the late 1970s/early 1980s the late Gerry Daniels, Area Manager first at Basingstoke and then at Salisbury, was very proactive in organising ADEXs for specific interests....especially Rail Ale Rambles - or BEEREXs as we called them. These coincided with the 'real ale revival' and the meteoric rise of CAMRA....and of course many real ale enthusiasts were - and still are - also rail enthusiasts. These trains usually started from Waterloo and called at principal stations on the South Western main line before visiting two different towns or cities with a good selection of real ale pubs - one at lunchtime and one in the evening, remembering that pubs still closed in the afternoon in those days - with a late evening return home. Gerry was also a noted rail/ale enthusiast and CAMRA member and often travelled on the trains himself....off-duty of course. Initially the trains were formed of class 33/1 locos and spare 4-TC sets - sometimes loading up to 12 cars, such was their popularity! One particularly memorable trip in about 1977 took in Oxford and Bath, with an afternoon trip to Worcester Shrub Hill where the one lady working the station buffet - not subject to normal licensing restrictions - was beseiged by about 300 thirsty punters on a half-hour stopover.

Of course, there were always a few punters who didn't make it back to the train....and presumably had to make their own way home by service train, once they had sobered-up!

According to https://www.crookhamtravel.co.uk/past.htm , 596 people travelled on the trip to Oxford and Bath in 1977! Is Gerald Daniels no longer with us? I remember him turning up for a Retro tour around 10 years back to do it one way to scratch some track in the book that he required.

 

[WesternLancer]

In the late 1970s/early 1980s the late Gerry Daniels, Area Manager first at Basingstoke and then at Salisbury, was very proactive in organising ADEXs for specific interests....especially Rail Ale Rambles - or BEEREXs as we called them. These coincided with the 'real ale revival' and the meteoric rise of CAMRA....and of course many real ale enthusiasts were - and still are - also rail enthusiasts. These trains usually started from Waterloo and called at principal stations on the South Western main line before visiting two different towns or cities with a good selection of real ale pubs - one at lunchtime and one in the evening, remembering that pubs still closed in the afternoon in those days - with a late evening return home. Gerry was also a noted rail/ale enthusiast and CAMRA member and often travelled on the trains himself....off-duty of course. Initially the trains were formed of class 33/1 locos and spare 4-TC sets - sometimes loading up to 12 cars, such was their popularity! One particularly memorable trip in about 1977 took in Oxford and Bath, with an afternoon trip to Worcester Shrub Hill where the one lady working the station buffet - not subject to normal licensing restrictions - was beseiged by about 300 thirsty punters on a half-hour stopover.

Of course, there were always a few punters who didn't make it back to the train....and presumably had to make their own way home by service train, once they had sobered-up!

Sounds like an impressive chap

 

[Rob F]

Did two Mystex's from Nottingham in the early to mid 70s when I was 6 or 7. One went to Barmouth and the other to Bournemouth.

Around the same time, I remember travelling between Sheffield and Manchester with Mum and Dad and my sister. Unfortunately, Manchester United where at home that day. Fortunately, we shared our compartment with an enormous chap who looked like he was military. The 'fans' gave us a wide berth, but I remember getting off at Piccadilly and the the glass shades and bulbs on the reading lamps in the compartments were smashed on the whole length of the train.

 

[xotGD]

I remember travelling between Sheffield and Manchester with Mum and Dad and my sister. Unfortunately, Manchester United where at home that day. Fortunately, we shared our compartment with an enormous chap who looked like he was military. The 'fans' gave us a wide berth, but I remember getting off at Piccadilly and the the glass shades and bulbs on the reading lamps in the compartments were smashed on the whole length of the train.

Presumably that was the boat train from Harwich, full of Man U fans from Essex.

 

[Harpo]

Presumably that was the boat train from Harwich, full of Man U fans from Essex.

Bit harsh when Parkeston was its only Essex pick-up. Rampaging Suffolkians maybe?

 

[Tony73E]

Would Macclesfield have been the north end of the Stoke Division, which I think was one of the more active promoters of excursions?

I think that those parts of the network that tended to be the destination for excursions (WR Bristol Division, SR Central and South Eastern Divisions, etc.) tended to organise fewer excursions than other ones.

My Dad, who was a Driver at Faversham, used to bring home the weekly Special Traffic Notice in the '70's which I used to scan for excursions to the Kent Coast. Macclesfield and Stoke-on-Trent were regular originating point - Wolverhampton was another. Most WCML originating trains were worked by electric locos to Mitre Bridge where they swapped to Class 33's. The ones from Burton-on-Trent must have been 47 throughout I presume.
Excursions off the Western came from places such as Treherbert and Rhymney and tended to be Class 47 throughout - including most of the original namers. Excursions from Oxford were normally DMMU's.