London to Emerson Park Halt through carriages? - LMS 1939

[StephenHunter]

This bit from the July 1939 LMS timetable seems to imply a through service of some form from Fenchurch Street, reversing at Upminster:

Timetable World

timetableworld.com

Is this right?

 

[30907]

No. The practice of distinguishing connections from through trains was only introduced (in the UK) in the 1960s. Prior to that a note saying something like "passengers should enquire whether they need to change" probably appeared somewhere in the small print of the timetable. Where through coaches did run they were often (always?) noted specifically.

In this case, the idea of the 10am from Romford carrying a through coach to Fenchurch St and exchanging it at Upminster with one from London to Grays (see the Ockendon table!) tickles the imagination but certainly didn't reflect reality.

 

[hexagon789]

No. The practice of distinguishing connections from through trains was only introduced (in the UK) in the 1960s. Prior to that a note saying something like "passengers should enquire whether they need to change" probably appeared somewhere in the small print of the timetable. Where through coaches did run they were often (always?) noted specifically.

In this case, the idea of the 10am from Romford carrying a through coach to Fenchurch St and exchanging it at Upminster with one from London to Grays (see the Ockendon table!) tickles the imagination but certainly didn't reflect reality.

Yes, I've found trying to discern what is actually a through train in older timetables can be quite difficult at times.

Case in point, my 1922 Bradshaws - at first I thought the Kyle line had no through trains to Inverness because the table shows Kyle only as part of a branch from Dingwall. However, looking closely at arrival/departure times at Dingwall in the Inverness-Wick timetable plus footnotes for intermediate stations in what originally appeared to be a Dingwall-Inverness train, made me realise it must be a through from Kyle and the same for a similar working the other way.