Inverness 1955

[Skippy222]

Hi - new on here so apologies if I’m asking something that can be found in the files!
My dad is doing a piece of writing and would like to check if a train ran from Inverness > Perth, stopping at Aviemore
on New Years Day, 1955 ?
Have tried internet searches but couldn’t find anything, this seems the ideal place to
post the question. Thank you for any help !

 

[30907]

The summer timetable for 1955 is here (see Table 35).
https://timetableworld.com/ttw-viewer?token=66d160cc-d943-40f6-be38-842d1602845c
Back then trains ran every day including Christmas Day (and New Year's Day in Scotland).
I am no expert on Scottish services, but the steam routes out of Waterloo c. 1960 operated a reduced weekday service - so I imagine at the least a Sunday service would have operated from Inverness (2 afternoon trains!).

 

[Skippy222]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, much appreciated !
Even more so for the link to the timtables.
My dad was fairly sure he caught a train on N.Y. Day but he wanted to ensure his memory was accurate.
Thank you !!!

The summer timetable for 1955 is here (see Table 35).
https://timetableworld.com/ttw-viewer?token=66d160cc-d943-40f6-be38-842d1602845c
Back then trains ran every day including Christmas Day (and New Year's Day in Scotland).
I am no expert on Scottish services, but the steam routes out of Waterloo c. 1960 operated a reduced weekday service - so I imagine at the least a Sunday service would have operated from Inverness (2 afternoon trains!).

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, much appreciated !
Even more so for the link to the timtables.
My dad was fairly sure he caught a train on N.Y. Day but he wanted to ensure his memory was accurate.
Thank you !!!

Last edited: A moment ago

 

[WesternLancer]

Looks like on summer sundays they were Inverness to Glasgow services (the 2 Sunday afternoon departures), - ie no local all stations train on a sunday - with refreshment cars. Not sure if the refreshment cars would have operated on New Years Day but it's possible? The earlier of the 2 trains only seems to have the Refreshment Car in high summer - ie not the whole duration of the summer timetable.

 

[Bevan Price]

Looks like on summer sundays they were Inverness to Glasgow services (the 2 Sunday afternoon departures), - ie no local all stations train on a sunday - with refreshment cars. Not sure if the refreshment cars would have operated on New Years Day but it's possible? The earlier of the 2 trains only seems to have the Refreshment Car in high summer - ie not the whole duration of the summer timetable.

I have only the timetables covering New Years Day for 1954 & 1956. There was only one train from Inverness (at 15:00 / 3:00 pm) on Winter Sundays.
The weekday services were fairly similar to those shown in the on-line timetable for Summer 1955, with one or two minor retimings, but omitting the "summer-dated" trains.

At that time, Christmas Day always had a Sunday service (with some listed as "will not run"). Boxing Day & New Years Day had normal timetables, but with some trains cancelled.

 

[30907]

At that time, Christmas Day always had a Sunday service (with some listed as "will not run"). Boxing Day & New Years Day had normal timetables, but with some trains cancelled.

Was that the case in Scotland, though, with the different pattern of holidays?

 

[Bevan Price]

Was that the case in Scotland, though, with the different pattern of holidays?

At that time, the Glasgow / Edinburgh / Inverness timetable (and some other Scottish Main Line services) also appeared in the LMR timetable, and no New Years Day changes are shown for that route in the LMR Christmas/New Year supplements. A different situation may have applied to some branch lines and Glasgow/Edinburgh local services.

 

[Inversnecky]

Was that the case in Scotland, though, with the different pattern of holidays?

Christmas was banned as a holiday after the Reformation: my father said it was a normal working day till after WW2: the first time they saw a Christmas Tree was one set up by Polish airmen arriving during the war.

Then, no doubt under the influence of TV, etc, Christmas became a normal holiday.

One other difference is that in Scotland, both Xmas and New Year have equal status as holidays, while in England, I think, NY is more the junior partner (you don’t get 2nd off like Boxing Day).

 

[30907]

At that time, the Glasgow / Edinburgh / Inverness timetable (and some other Scottish Main Line services) also appeared in the LMR timetable, and no New Years Day changes are shown for that route in the LMR Christmas/New Year supplements.

Thanks. There weren't many trains on weekdays even in the 70s!

Christmas was banned as a holiday after the Reformation: my father said it was a normal working day till after WW2: the first time they saw a Christmas Tree was one set up by Polish airmen arriving during the war.

Then, no doubt under the influence of TV, etc, Christmas became a normal holiday.

One other difference is that in Scotland, both Xmas and New Year have equal status as holidays, while in England, I think, NY is more the junior partner (you don’t get 2nd off like Boxing Day).

Thanks. Perhaps the increased Roman Catholic population was a factor.
Boxing Day isn't a Scottish holiday (Jan 2nd was added when NY became a public holiday down south - 1970ish?).

 

[Inversnecky]

Perhaps the increased Roman Catholic population was a factor.
Boxing Day isn't a Scottish holiday (Jan 2nd was added when NY became a public holiday down south - 1970ish?).

Don't think so - more the influence of English and American culture, through the new medium of TV etc.

Boxing Day is a Scottish holiday though.

 

[30907]

Boxing Day is a Scottish holiday though.

Apologies - it's Easter Monday you don't have. I think was confused because IIRC Strathclyde retained Boxing Day trains when they disappeared in England and Wales

 

[D6130]

I'm sure that when I was living in Scotland in the 'sixties, 'seventies and 'eighties, there were no passenger trains at all on New Year's Day and those ECML and WCML trains that were running from the South terminated at Carlisle or Berwick. I also recall that at certain depots - possibly Eastfield? - volunteers (presumably those just finishing their shifts) would sound several loco horns at the stroke of midnight.

 

[Skippy222]

Looks like on summer sundays they were Inverness to Glasgow services (the 2 Sunday afternoon departures), - ie no local all stations train on a sunday - with refreshment cars. Not sure if the refreshment cars would have operated on New Years Day but it's possible? The earlier of the 2 trains only seems to have the Refreshment Car in high summer - ie not the whole duration of the summer timetable.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Big apology for not responding sooner, wasn’t expecting any further comments .Have just logged in a found that you among others, have been good enough to help !

Looks like on summer sundays they were Inverness to Glasgow services (the 2 Sunday afternoon departures), - ie no local all stations train on a sunday - with refreshment cars. Not sure if the refreshment cars would have operated on New Years Day but it's possible? The earlier of the 2 trains only seems to have the Refreshment Car in high summer - ie not the whole duration of the summer timetable.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Big apology for not responding sooner, wasn’t expecting any further comments .Have just logged in a found that you among others, have been good enough to help !