Penzance - Thurso/Wick

[Gathursty]

Has a service or railtour ever done the most extreme journey on our island?

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Has a service or railtour ever done the most extreme journey on our island?

No, not that I can recall - but I remember a friend of mine who was a co-driver getting his priv tickets from Penzance to Wick/Thurso. Broke his journey many times but staff were allowed that.

 

[32475]

That's an extremely good question and sadly not one that I can answer. I'd have thought that something like a Caledonian Sleeper charity and publicity stunt would be a sell out if that was ever possible or maybe that's just in the realms of fantasy!

 

[delt1c]

Wasn't there a 3 day railtour a few (maybe a good Few Years ago) that did this ? Something in my fuzzy grey matter thinks it Was called The Great Briton or similair

 

[delt1c]

Here is a link

The Railtour Files

 

[Malcmal]

Six Bells Junction

Here is a railtour from 2007 that did this epic journey - though not in a single day

Just looking at it now and what an impressive array of steam traction was involved. I cannot imagine anything like this happening post-Covid for many years to come.

 

[Gathursty]

That's an impressive railtour!

 

[DerekC]

My mother's stories of the Jellicoe Express (my dad was stationed in the Orkneys in 1941/2 and got hospitalised) make me wonder if there might have been any wartime epic journeys of the kind envisaged in the OP, but I doubt there is any record if there were.

 

[WesternLancer]

My mother's stories of the Jellicoe Express (my dad was stationed in the Orkneys in 1941/2 and got hospitalised) make me wonder if there might have been any wartime epic journeys of the kind envisaged in the OP, but I doubt there is any record if there were.

Plymouth or Portsmouth to Thurso for naval purposes might have been plausible?

 

[Malcmal]

My mother's stories of the Jellicoe Express (my dad was stationed in the Orkneys in 1941/2 and got hospitalised) make me wonder if there might have been any wartime epic journeys of the kind envisaged in the OP, but I doubt there is any record if there were.

I never heard of the Jellicoe Express until now so I did a quick Google and came up with this helpful article:

Misery on the Jellicoe Express | Hostilities Only

Throughout 2 world wars, the Jellicoe Express ran between London Euston and Thurso, linking the South of England ports with Scapa Flow.

www.hostilitiesonly.co.uk

Sounds like it was not a very pleasant experience!!

 

[306024]

No, not that I can recall - but I remember a friend of mine who was a co-driver getting his priv tickets from Penzance to Wick/Thurso. Broke his journey many times but staff were allowed that.

Did that too a few years ago, in fact Lands End to John O’Groats, but not without incident.

Day 1. Bus Lands End to Penzance, Great Western HST Penzance to Plymouth, Cross Country HST Plymouth to Sheffield where it failed (central door locking fault), East Midlands HST Sheffield to Leeds.

Day 2. 158 Leeds to Carlisle, foul day so no chance of seeing much scenery, 156 Carlisle via Dumfries to Glasgow. 170 Glasgow to Inverness, which failed near Aviemore (ran out of fuel). Southbound 170 terminated Aviemore (buses forward) and used to tow us to Inverness.

Day 3. 158 Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh, a slight detour as there was time to do it, back to Dingwall then 158 to Thurso.

Day 4. Bus Thurso to John O’Groats.

That was adventurous enough, nothing but admiration for those that walk or cycle it.

 

[DerekC]

I never heard of the Jellicoe Express until now so I did a quick Google and came up with this helpful article:

Misery on the Jellicoe Express | Hostilities Only

Throughout 2 world wars, the Jellicoe Express ran between London Euston and Thurso, linking the South of England ports with Scapa Flow.

www.hostilitiesonly.co.uk

Sounds like it was not a very pleasant experience!!

My mum said that it was pretty rough, but she got on OK by finding a compartment reserved for members of the WRNS who took pity on her and let her in. She remembered it as taking over 24 hours, but I think that might have included getting diverted due to air raid damage - she was a bit vague about where. On the way home she nearly got arrested because the train stopped for signals at Berkhamsted (where she was living) so she got off, it being slam door stock in those days, to save herself at least a couple of hours into Euston and back. A military policeman shouted "get back on the train" at her and was in the process of climbing out to arrest her when the signal cleared and the train started to move. He evidently decided that she wasn't much of a threat to national security and got back on the train, leaving my mother on the platform rather pleased with herself!

 

[WesternLancer]

My mum said that it was pretty rough, but she got on OK by finding a compartment reserved for members of the WRNS who took pity on her and let her in. She remembered it as taking over 24 hours, but I think that might have included getting diverted due to air raid damage - she was a bit vague about where. On the way home she nearly got arrested because the train stopped for signals at Berkhamsted (where she was living) so she got off, it being slam door stock in those days, to save herself at least a couple of hours into Euston and back. A military policeman shouted "get back on the train" at her and was in the process of climbing out to arrest her when the signal cleared and the train started to move. He evidently decided that she wasn't much of a threat to national security and got back on the train, leaving my mother on the platform rather pleased with herself!

Interesting to read of those recollections. Quite funny if the MP had got off and the train gone.... mind you they would probably have been so angry about that that they would have 'thrown the book' at your mum!
So was your mum up at Thurso / Scapa to visit your father? Or was she serving there too?

 

[WesternLancer]

Did that too a few years ago, in fact Lands End to John O’Groats, but not without incident.

Day 1. Bus Lands End to Penzance, Great Western HST Penzance to Plymouth, Cross Country HST Plymouth to Sheffield where it failed (central door locking fault), East Midlands HST Sheffield to Leeds.

Day 2. 158 Leeds to Carlisle, foul day so no chance of seeing much scenery, 156 Carlisle via Dumfries to Glasgow. 170 Glasgow to Inverness, which failed near Aviemore (ran out of fuel). Southbound 170 terminated Aviemore (buses forward) and used to tow us to Inverness.

Day 3. 158 Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh, a slight detour as there was time to do it, back to Dingwall then 158 to Thurso.

Day 4. Bus Thurso to John O’Groats.

That was adventurous enough, nothing but admiration for those that walk or cycle it.

Impressive schedule! I take it the rtn was not back to Lands End?

 

[DerekC]

Interesting to read of those recollections. Quite funny if the MP had got off and the train gone.... mind you they would probably have been so angry about that that they would have 'thrown the book' at your mum!
So was your mum up at Thurso / Scapa to visit your father? Or was she serving there too?

My dad got a serious kidney infection whilst defending the Home Fleet with a scaffolding pole (that's another story) and was hospitalised. Mum got a special pass (which she had to go to the War Office to obtain) to visit him in hospital. I think she went twice, but I am less sure about that.

 

[WesternLancer]

My dad got a serious kidney infection whilst defending the Home Fleet with a scaffolding pole (that's another story) and was hospitalised. Mum got a special pass (which she had to go to the War Office to obtain) to visit him in hospital. I think she went twice, but I am less sure about that.

Thanks for the reply. Interesting times. And of course places our current difficulties in context - which is always worth being reminded of form time to time, in various different contexts.

It must have been an experience not being part of the services people going on those trips (even if in another service), but like everything else I guess you take it in your stride when you have to.

 

[hexagon789]

Would a through coach count? I think the LNER trialled something jointly with the GWR but I need to check some books for specifics.

 

[mailbyrail]

I'm sure there was a timetabled through service from London to Lairg in the 1970s - but only a single newspaper van made the entire trip, other bits got dropped off along the way, although the WTT showed it as a through class 1 service.
Leaving Euston (I think it was) on a Saturday night carrying Sunday papers, but I can't remember any of the details.

 

[TheSel]

I'm sure there was a timetabled through service from London to Lairg in the 1970s - but only a single newspaper van made the entire trip, other bits got dropped off along the way, although the WTT showed it as a through class 1 service.
Leaving Euston (I think it was) on a Saturday night carrying Sunday papers, but I can't remember any of the details.

Football scores and celebrity gossip, at a guess!

 

[xotGD]

I'm sure there was a timetabled through service from London to Lairg in the 1970s - but only a single newspaper van made the entire trip, other bits got dropped off along the way, although the WTT showed it as a through class 1 service.
Leaving Euston (I think it was) on a Saturday night carrying Sunday papers, but I can't remember any of the details.

That reminds me of the joke about the chap going into a newsagent in the north of Scotland:

"Would you like yesterday's paper or today's?"

"Today's please."

"Then come back tomorrow!"

 

[Vespa]

That was adventurous enough, nothing but admiration for those that walk or cycle it.

I've heard of 2 guys riding a Honda 50 all the way from Lands End and got caught up in some snow along the way but still perservered finally arriving at John O'Groats a few days later.

 

[Fleetwood Boy]

I'm sure there was a timetabled through service from London to Lairg in the 1970s - but only a single newspaper van made the entire trip, other bits got dropped off along the way, although the WTT showed it as a through class 1 service.
Leaving Euston (I think it was) on a Saturday night carrying Sunday papers, but I can't remember any of the details.

I’m pretty sure I read an article in Railway World around that time which was about Britain’s longest rail journey, which I think was a largely parcels/newspaper working from St Pancras. I thought it went through to Wick or Thurso, and the author of the article travelled through but there were a lot of portions added and subtracted en route and it may have been only one van that went the full distance.

 

[306024]

Impressive schedule! I take it the rtn was not back to Lands End?

To answer your question I should have done. Outbound was simply Paddington to Penzance throughout, and for the return I opted for the Inverness - Euston sleeper, which from Inverness was headed by a GBRf 66 with a Colas 47 behind it. That night the wires came down on the WCML so we terminated Edinburgh in the middle of the night, with the northbound sleeper stuck south of the blockage. Most passengers were accommodated in a hotel with tea and biscuits for a couple of hours then on the 05.40 Edinburgh to Kings Cross, while I got a shower at Edinburgh station, breakfast, and travelled home to East Anglia at a more leisurely pace a few hours later. It was one of those trips that gets jinxed, but glad I did it.

 

[racyrich]

My mum said that it was pretty rough, but she got on OK by finding a compartment reserved for members of the WRNS who took pity on her and let her in. She remembered it as taking over 24 hours, but I think that might have included getting diverted due to air raid damage - she was a bit vague about where. On the way home she nearly got arrested because the train stopped for signals at Berkhamsted (where she was living) so she got off, it being slam door stock in those days, to save herself at least a couple of hours into Euston and back. A military policeman shouted "get back on the train" at her and was in the process of climbing out to arrest her when the signal cleared and the train started to move. He evidently decided that she wasn't much of a threat to national security and got back on the train, leaving my mother on the platform rather pleased with herself!

At least the train stopped legitimately. The 1948 Winsford crash was partly caused by a soldier pulling the cord so he could hop across the field and go straight home.