The various threads on XC, and the recent one asking for extra carraiges in particular, have caused me to think about some of my journeys under BR and Virgin across the network in the 1990's.
For a large part of the decade my brother was based in the West Country, whihc meant regular trips down from Bristol Parkway. I also enjoyed exploring Scotland several times, always involving a trip on either the WCML or ECML, but always including XC!
One of most memorable journeys was on leaving Glasgow Central at about 1610 on a LHCS service in the middle of March (I think) 1994. There was snow on the ground, and it was both beautiful and eerie to look out at the hills of the Lake District as the light faded.
I also remember leaving Totnes on a busy HST on a Sunday lunchtime in 1991. As the TM ran through the list of calling points to Scotland, I was hit with a real sense of adventure. How tempted I was to stay on the train and journey northwards, instead of alighting at bristol parkway and returning to south wales! I don;t think I;d been to Scotland at that point; that journey probably did more to entice me to go than anything else!
I remember taking the Thames Valley route for the first time in 1995, from Birmingham to Reading on a Tuesday lunchtime, and back the following afternoon. Even then the trains, which were HST's, were very busy, and there were hardly any spare seats in my carriage as we left Reading. Things got even busier at Oxford!
Not all the trains were full though. There used to be a very useful train that left Swansea at around 0745 in the early 1990's, which I caught a few times to York. It was a 47 and coaches whenver I used it, but being sandwiched between London trains at 0732 and 0802 most of the time, it never attracted a lot of passengers, save for a handful of long distance travellers like myself and a few commuting to Cardiff who must have found the times more convenient.
I also took a Virgin HST from Reading to Bournemouth on a Friday afternoon in 1999, which to my great surprise was very quiet. I expected a healthier loading than what I guessed was around 20% in my carraige, especially as it was a Summer weekend and Bournemouth had a very good reputation for nightlife at the time.
On the whole, though, the trains that I used were well filled (even the 0745 ex Swansea got full after Bristol), reasonably priced and comfortable. What a shame that nowadays I avoid XC wherever I can, as it is usually cheaper, faster and far more comfortable to use other routes.
Does anyone else have good or bad memories of the 1990's on XC?
For a large part of the decade my brother was based in the West Country, whihc meant regular trips down from Bristol Parkway. I also enjoyed exploring Scotland several times, always involving a trip on either the WCML or ECML, but always including XC!
One of most memorable journeys was on leaving Glasgow Central at about 1610 on a LHCS service in the middle of March (I think) 1994. There was snow on the ground, and it was both beautiful and eerie to look out at the hills of the Lake District as the light faded.
I also remember leaving Totnes on a busy HST on a Sunday lunchtime in 1991. As the TM ran through the list of calling points to Scotland, I was hit with a real sense of adventure. How tempted I was to stay on the train and journey northwards, instead of alighting at bristol parkway and returning to south wales! I don;t think I;d been to Scotland at that point; that journey probably did more to entice me to go than anything else!
I remember taking the Thames Valley route for the first time in 1995, from Birmingham to Reading on a Tuesday lunchtime, and back the following afternoon. Even then the trains, which were HST's, were very busy, and there were hardly any spare seats in my carriage as we left Reading. Things got even busier at Oxford!
Not all the trains were full though. There used to be a very useful train that left Swansea at around 0745 in the early 1990's, which I caught a few times to York. It was a 47 and coaches whenver I used it, but being sandwiched between London trains at 0732 and 0802 most of the time, it never attracted a lot of passengers, save for a handful of long distance travellers like myself and a few commuting to Cardiff who must have found the times more convenient.
I also took a Virgin HST from Reading to Bournemouth on a Friday afternoon in 1999, which to my great surprise was very quiet. I expected a healthier loading than what I guessed was around 20% in my carraige, especially as it was a Summer weekend and Bournemouth had a very good reputation for nightlife at the time.
On the whole, though, the trains that I used were well filled (even the 0745 ex Swansea got full after Bristol), reasonably priced and comfortable. What a shame that nowadays I avoid XC wherever I can, as it is usually cheaper, faster and far more comfortable to use other routes.
Does anyone else have good or bad memories of the 1990's on XC?
Never cabbed any of them, but I did cab a GB 66 in platform 11 when it was on driver training one day. Cabbed one of Royal Mails' 325s at Warrington RMT just a month or so ago while the driver was on layover waiting to take it back to Sheildmuir, so there's still drivers willing to let you have a look around. But anyway, I'm just digressing into general childhood memories now, which I suppose when remembering "the old days" of Crosscountry was always going happen!
