Rail "mystery tours"?

[SussexMan]

I remember reading this in a book in the 80s. It took them to Margate, they went home for a cuppa and then headed back to wherever their holiday was!

Update: just found the story through a Google Books search:

"As part of their holiday Mr and Mrs William Farmer of Margate decided to go on a British Rail Mystery Tour, boarding the adventure train at Newport, their chosen resort, and fully expecting a trip through the mountains of Wales, the couple chatted happily away for two hours and, when the train stopped, they got out.

"The first thing they noticed was a large sign reading Margate. "We nearly fell off the platform," said Mr Farmer. "However, while the rest of the party looked round the town we popped home, had a cup of tea and answered a few letters."

From memory, that was in this book:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Heroic_Failures

 

[LOL The Irony]

We went on one when I was about two years old (we went on quite few other ones too), at the time we lived near Oxford, so we caught the train to London to pick up the mystery tour at Marylebone.
The train apparently did a great long journey around the Home Counties and then deposited us back at Oxford.
So we just caught the bus home after some lunch...

IIRC they did refunds if that happened.

 

[Spartacus]

And Internet forums!

Y paths diverging at junction stations could keep it interesting for those not digging into forums I suppose, with a bit of planning it could be kept going for quite a while.

 

[d9009alycidon]

I went on a few from Glasgow in the 1970s, you could usually work out a rough idea of the destination from the departure station (Queen Street or Central) and the journey time, destinations tended to be very predictable, Morcambe, Blackpool or Chester from Central and Inverness or York from Queen Street as they tended to use the paths used by the summer dated services to the resorts, by working out the journey time to try and go to somewhere interesting the good ones we went on took us to Chester and York. The worst one we went on was Morcambe at the tail end of October, it was wet, got dark early and the stock used was a Carlisle Mk2 set instead of the usual Mk1 compartment stock which always provided a good environment for a card school/several cans of foaming ale on the journey home. One memory is of locking Hamish (remember him) in the toilet think a bit of string was involved

 

[LAX54]

Has there ever been such a thing? Where the leisure pax buy a ticket for the day, board and have no idea where they are going until they get there?

I know that happens all the time for coach trips - but in the back of my head I'm sure there were such trips on rail advertised in the 70's (maybe when stock wasn't so much at a premium?). Clearly the drivers and signalmen would know (hopefully...)..

I suppose one logistical problem would be what do you do with the train after it's arrived at it's destination for, what, 2 - 3 hrs until return; tucked away on a rarely-used platform, sidings, or moved completely out of the way miles away??

As others have said, back in the 70's and 80's we had the old 'MYSTEX' trains very popular and cheap too !
Recall one back in the mid 70's was en route to Portsmouth, however after a driver change en route, the new driver did not sign Portsmouth, so train was diverted to Bognor with a RR at Barnham, no one of course knew that was not the original destination

 

[HaggisBotherer]

Guess there would be zero chance running a railway mystex these days?!

With reduced platform space and lack of stock I would imagine so. However Sunday's may be an option if there's spare stock and the train has somewhere to "park". Could even find a new use for the discontinued pacers - turn up at 9am on a Sunday for a 14-hr trip.....

Err... I suspect what Masboroughlad actually had in mind was...

RealTimeTeains et al would rather spoil the mystery element these days!

And Internet forums!

Thanks for giving me a wee chuckle at the earnest reply, though, Howardh

 

[Ralph Ayres]

Went on several of these in the 70s from the Marylebone line. Excellent value and a good day out. One problem with the Mystery Trips was that they were occasionally to the same place as a "named destination" trip, probably banking on no-one doing both and allowing the timetable to be reused, so if you were the sort of family (as mine was) who went on every one you could end up visiting the same place twice.
One day the train was heavily delayed en route but we pulled into Shrewsbury at the time we were meant to reach our mystery destination and were told we had arrived. We had a sneaking suspicion that the original plan had been to go to Chester or Aberystwyth.

 

[ABDeltic]

A good one I did in 1974 was from Derby to Whitley Bay with a pair of Class 25's! Also did Derby to Margate and Hastings.

 

[Laurencew]

I went on many of these from Chester that had originated from North Wales at some unearthly hour.
Very often we were routed via the WCML, so it was then a process of elimination. Left at Primrose Hill was Southend or Clacton. Then West London line ( change to a class 33 at Mitre Bridge) and if I remember correctly, hanging out of the train to catch a glimpse of the splitting semaphore signal approaching Clapham Junction. Left arm was Eastern Division, Margate, Folkestone etc. Centre arm was Central, Eastbourne, Brighton, Littlehampton, Bognor etc. Right arm Southwestern, Portsmouth or if time allowed, Bournemouth.
All great fun, and passengers from Holyhead go home after a 19 hour day!

 

[duffield]

The biggest mystery there is why would anybody want to go on a day trip to Birmingham?

The splendid well-restored canals, e.g. the Gas Street Basin area?

 

[ajs]

Recall doing 2 mystery tours, both from Portsmouth area and still have a ticket for one!Was the 16th September 1973 and cost £2.70 about £30 today.

It either went to Colchester, where there were many coaches waiting to take passengers on a tour of Constable Country, remember stopping at Flaxford Mill.

Or it was what turned out to be a 7 Counties tour, ending up in Gloucester, going out via Havant, Guildford, Reading, and returning via Salisbury. At Gloucester, there were again coaches waiting for a tour of the Wye Valley and remember stopping at Tintern Abbey.

Was the SW division of Southern Region unique in running mystery tours where there was a coach trip at the destination, rather than just be dropped of at a station?

 

[Bedpan]

We went on at least three, and possibly more, SW division mystery tours starting at the London end. I think that they started at Clapham Junction and then called at place3s like Surbiton and Woking, or vice versa, depending on the destination. One was to Cheddar Gorge, with coaches from Bath, and another was to the Norfolk Broads (Hoveton and Wroxham) with a boat trip, I still remember he names of two lads who looked after the punters (I think) Alan Hayes and peter Sparks - I wonder if they are forum members?

 

[crosscity]

I was in my teens in the seventies and the Mystery trips were great fun. We went to places you'd never dream of going on a day out by car or coach as it would be just too far. From Halifax/Bradford/Huddersfield I remember trips to Llandudno (you were given the choice of Rhyl and Colwyn Bay, too), Ayr, Windsor, Skegness and Worcester. With the Merrymakers I would go alone or with my spotting friends as I could plan which sheds or railway hubs to visit. With the mystery trips I would go with non-spotting friends as a destination of railway interest was less likely - although the journey was always interesting. We all went to places we would never have gone to and we all must have enjoyed them as we went on so many.

You got to bash freight-only lines and lines you wouldn't dream of traveling on. All on loco-hauled Mark I (mainly) corridor stock. Organising them must have taken much effort on the railway's part, and I read somewhere that one planner's dedication to them was the only reason they continued for so long. So hats off to him!

 

[Newshy37]

yes - used to go from Preston in the mid 70's, from memory I seem to remember going to Clacton, Stratford on Avon, Birmingham and somewhere on Clyde, thing it was Largs.

My uncle worked on the ticket gate and we had to try and avoid him as he would shout to us the destination!!!!

I was on a Largs trip, 37??? from Polmadie.

 

[Taunton]

They were a favourite starting from Torquay and Paignton, as well as those being destinations. Thursdays were the favourite day, the stock from weekend extras was available and by then the weekly holidaymakers were likely getting a bit fed up with the place (especially Paignton). If it was a Warship you were staying on the Western Region, if a Class 47 then you were going off it. Mostly the shorter destinations though (Bath was common) as the holidaymakers would want to start after their guest house breakfast and be back in time for their paid-for tea there.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I went on one from Newport which ended up in Liverpool.

It was on the same day as Swindon Town beat Arsenal 3 - 1 in the League Cup Final at Wembley, 15th March 1969.

We used to say that if the train went north around Maindee Junction, it was going to the North West, straight on it was the South West or the Midlands.

Some years later, I went on a visit to the Panel Box on Newport Station. One of the things that the staff in the Box did was to make the live platform announcements. One of the staff told us a story about one of his mates (No name, no pack drill!) who announced that the next train on Platform Three was the "08:30 Mystery Excursion to XXXXX" (I've forgotten where)! From that time on, they were deliberately not told where the trains were going to, just in case they forgot and made the same mistake.

 

[david_g]

I was in my teens in the seventies and the Mystery trips were great fun. We went to places you'd never dream of going on a day out by car or coach as it would be just too far. From Halifax/Bradford/Huddersfield I remember trips to Llandudno (you were given the choice of Rhyl and Colwyn Bay, too), Ayr, Windsor, Skegness and Worcester. With the Merrymakers I would go alone or with my spotting friends as I could plan which sheds or railway hubs to visit. With the mystery trips I would go with non-spotting friends as a destination of railway interest was less likely - although the journey was always interesting. We all went to places we would never have gone to and we all must have enjoyed them as we went on so many.

You got to bash freight-only lines and lines you wouldn't dream of traveling on. All on loco-hauled Mark I (mainly) corridor stock. Organising them must have taken much effort on the railway's part, and I read somewhere that one planner's dedication to them was the only reason they continued for so long. So hats off to him!

If it was the same Windsor trip I went on it was memorable as the electric due to take us forward from Stockport was declared a failure so the 40 stayed on the front down to London and when (if my memory isn't playing tricks) we got to North Pole the 33 due to take us forward was stood down and the 40 worked right through to Windsor, possible the only time a member of the class went there.

 

[philjo]

I went on a couple of mystery trips around 1991/2. They started from Stevenage and were connected with the local pantomime at the Gordon Craig Theatre. Members of the cast were present on the trip.
The first one ran to York. I can’t remember which units but it used EMUs on the then recently electrified Ecml. I remember the emus arrived in what is now bay platform 1 at York.
The following year there was a mystery trip to Portsmouth.

 

[Welshman]

They were indeed very popular in the 1970s.
You had to book well in advance, and I remember going on one from Huddersfield, which trundled around Healey Mills, Wakefield Kirkgate, the Midland Main line to Rotherham Masborough, the Old Line avoiding Sheffield and the Camp Hill line around Birmingham,
After several hours we were glad to alight at.....Worcester Shrub Hill.
The only one thing more exciting than the prospect of several hours in Worcester was the thought of the slow trundle back again!

 

[crosscity]

If it was the same Windsor trip I went on it was memorable as the electric due to take us forward from Stockport was declared a failure so the 40 stayed on the front down to London and when (if my memory isn't playing tricks) we got to North Pole the 33 due to take us forward was stood down and the 40 worked right through to Windsor, possible the only time a member of the class went there.

I can't remember the exact details of the trip, and my spotting notebooks are long gone. However I can tell you that the trip took place on Sat 13 Jan 1973 as I've still got the ticket. I took some pictures on the day but none of our train and none at Windsor, which is a regret. Where did you join the train, and did you take any pictures?

 

[crosscity]

They were indeed very popular in the 1970s.
You had to book well in advance, and I remember going on one from Huddersfield, which trundled around Healey Mills, Wakefield Kirkgate, the Midland Main line to Rotherham Masborough, the Old Line avoiding Sheffield and the Camp Hill line around Birmingham,
After several hours we were glad to alight at.....Worcester Shrub Hill.
The only one thing more exciting than the prospect of several hours in Worcester was the thought of the slow trundle back again!

I think I was on this one. It took place on Sun 26 Aug 73. I have some pictures of the locos on Worcester shed.

 

[Taunton]

I wonder if these obscure routings were convenient to rostering for maintaining a depot's signing of obscure routes by crews, and that drove some of the decisions for which way it should go, to save a specific route knowledge run.

 

[david_g]

I can't remember the exact details of the trip, and my spotting notebooks are long gone. However I can tell you that the trip took place on Sat 13 Jan 1973 as I've still got the ticket. I took some pictures on the day but none of our train and none at Windsor, which is a regret. Where did you join the train, and did you take any pictures?

My dad saved my old spotting books when my mum was going to chuck them out and hid them in the garage, I'd assumed they were long gone after I moved out, so...

According to my notes it was 12.1.72 but that can't be right as that was a Friday when I would have been in school and by the looks of it I was still writing the year down as 1972 in January so I guess it was the same trip. Joined at Huddersfield with D269 on the front; my memory must be playing tricks as I have an asterisk down next to D6516 for haulage so either the EE4 (as they were back in the day) came off and 6516 took over or possibly was attached as a pilot.

It looks like 5218 & 7524 double headed back from Riverside to the West London Line before 269 took us home.

No photos unfortunately.

 

[70014IronDuke]

The Margate two, but doubtless there were others. Mystery excursions from Euston used to usually go Northampton - Market Harborough, just to throw you off the scent, but invariably end up in Carlisle. That’s a long way for two 14 year olds whose parents were astonished where we had got to.

I didn't know they used Northampton - Mkt Harboro, but certainly added to the mystery When was this, can you remember?

 

[crosscity]

My dad saved my old spotting books when my mum was going to chuck them out and hid them in the garage, I'd assumed they were long gone after I moved out, so...

According to my notes it was 12.1.72 but that can't be right as that was a Friday when I would have been in school and by the looks of it I was still writing the year down as 1972 in January so I guess it was the same trip. Joined at Huddersfield with D269 on the front; my memory must be playing tricks as I have an asterisk down next to D6516 for haulage so either the EE4 (as they were back in the day) came off and 6516 took over or possibly was attached as a pilot.

It looks like 5218 & 7524 double headed back from Riverside to the West London Line before 269 took us home.

No photos unfortunately.

On the day I went back to Slough or got off there and didn't go to Windsor (I really can't remember). However the three pictures I took are at Slough, and can be seen here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rayh/shares/6m1w48. Did you go to Slough? If you did I'm sure your spotting books would contain the Hymek and Western, and maybe the bubble car too. I can corroborate your information because I still have my Ian Allan book of BR motive power which I used to underline the loco's I'd seen, and mark whether I'd been hauled and whether I had taken a photo. All the locos you mentioned were marked as 'hauled by'. I also took a picture of 5218 and 7524 but threw it away as it was rubbish. I am certain you and I were on the same trip.

I have photos from other Mystery trips in 1973 to Ayr (Sun 01Jul), Skegness (Sun 05Aug), Worcester (Sun 26Aug). I wonder if you were on any of those. I have not yet uploaded the photos to Flickr, but when I have I will post a link on this thread if you (or anyone else) are interested.

It is one of my regrets that my spotting books were lost. I would love to be in the position you are in being able to re-live the day. Fortunately my index of slides survived, along with many of the tickets I used plus the Ian Allan locospotters books. I have been able to use all of these sources to add meaningful captions and tags to my photos.

It sounds s though you were from Huddersfield so you would have missed the 'Halifax' experience at the end of most of the Mystery and Merrymaker trips that ran from there. As most of the rakes were 12 or 13 coaches they were 'banked' up the steep gradient from Greetland Jct to Dryclough Jct. The banker was usually a Healey Mills EE Type 3 and there was a cacaphony of horns before the noisy ascent. A great way to end a fantastic day out on the railway.

Thank you for sharing the information you gathered more than 45 years ago.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Edgbaston.
Wonder at what point pax knew their destination? Reading the one above about Stockport rather than Southport, if they weren't told Southport they'd be none the wiser, and Stockport is great for a day trip. There's...., well there's ....., or.......OK then; it's a grand place for a hat fetish. And there's always beer to fall back on.
Mind you, given the time, Stockport's central to Manchester (shops); peaks (walks), Manchester Airport (plane spotting) and so on, so given four hours and a timetable it's probably not that bad a mystery destination.

As well as the brewery https://www.robinsonsbrewery.com/

There is also an air raid shelter https://www.stockport.gov.uk/topic/air-raid-shelters

My brother recalled going on a Mystery Excursion from Swansea that took him and his then girlfriend to Littlehampton - it was shortly afterwards they parted company.

 

[david_g]

On the day I went back to Slough or got off there and didn't go to Windsor (I really can't remember). However the three pictures I took are at Slough, and can be seen here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rayh/shares/6m1w48. Did you go to Slough? If you did I'm sure your spotting books would contain the Hymek and Western, and maybe the bubble car too. I can corroborate your information because I still have my Ian Allan book of BR motive power which I used to underline the loco's I'd seen, and mark whether I'd been hauled and whether I had taken a photo. All the locos you mentioned were marked as 'hauled by'. I also took a picture of 5218 and 7524 but threw it away as it was rubbish. I am certain you and I were on the same trip.

I have photos from other Mystery trips in 1973 to Ayr (Sun 01Jul), Skegness (Sun 05Aug), Worcester (Sun 26Aug). I wonder if you were on any of those. I have not yet uploaded the photos to Flickr, but when I have I will post a link on this thread if you (or anyone else) are interested.

It is one of my regrets that my spotting books were lost. I would love to be in the position you are in being able to re-live the day. Fortunately my index of slides survived, along with many of the tickets I used plus the Ian Allan locospotters books. I have been able to use all of these sources to add meaningful captions and tags to my photos.

It sounds s though you were from Huddersfield so you would have missed the 'Halifax' experience at the end of most of the Mystery and Merrymaker trips that ran from there. As most of the rakes were 12 or 13 coaches they were 'banked' up the steep gradient from Greetland Jct to Dryclough Jct. The banker was usually a Healey Mills EE Type 3 and there was a cacaphony of horns before the noisy ascent. A great way to end a fantastic day out on the railway.

Thank you for sharing the information you gathered more than 45 years ago.

You must have walked to Central and got the train to Slough as the Mystery Tour ran via the Southern Region to Riverside. I didn't make it that far but did cop Pressed Steel unit 55028 at Central which is the unit in your photo at Slough, must have done tourist stuff in Windsor for the rest of the day. It's interesting this trip was on a Saturday as I remember most trips running Sundays, I wonder if Windsor Castle was closed Sundays.

I lived near Huddersfield then and always boarded there so yes, I missed the bankers up from Greetland. I don't recall the tours ever picking up in the reverse direction (was the Bradford avoiding line still open then?); they always seemed to pick up Halifax first, then Huddersfield even if that meant reversing at Huddersfield.

I only have notes for one more trip, to Bath 17/03/73 behind 1109, as the usual trinity of Sex, Drugs & Rock & Roll (well girls, beer - remember Webster's Best? & music) were becoming more interesting, plus I was sitting O-levels that summer. The line over Standedge which I lived close to wasn't very inspiring by then, an hourly service mainly worked by the Trans-Pennine units with a few loco hauled Liverpool - Newcastles in the morning, round lunchtime and early evening; there was a three hour gap in the loco hauled passengers between about 1.30 and 4.30 with only an hourly Liverpool - Hull in each direction in between. The freight had fallen right off by then too and there weren't many Healey Mills 37s left that I hadn't seen. The thought of the current six trains an hour in each direction would have come as a great surprise.

I'd be interested in seeing your photos if you want to post links, even though I wasn't on them; I remember doing a trip to Skegness at some point. There also some shorter trips - Southport & Chester spring to mind - which always seemed disappointing compared to the more distant destinations. I have notes on several in 1972: Llandudno 9/7/72, Yarmouth 13/8/72 and Kings X 11/11/72; there may be more if I fish out earlier books.

 

[JB_B]

I've heard that some BR "mystery tours" in the '70s were a thinly disguised way of getting round the then rather draconian licensing laws. Is there any truth in that?

 

[Steamysandy]

A number were run from Edinburgh.Scarborugh is remembered for a class 25 substituting each way between Edinburgh and York for a last minutemfailed class 40 On the way back a near miss with a lorry on a Level Crossing led to the train coming too a stand.We were late and I was going to be stranded in Edinburgh but where we stopped was a mile from home- so I bailed out and walked home!
Another gem was Shrewsbury.Everybody knew it was going there.So passing Chester Bank,there was Sir Nigel Gresley waiting to back down to pick up a Northbound Welsh Marches Express which arrived a few minutes after we arrived behind Princess Elizabeth.The locoswere changed and the Special left for Chester.
A few minutes later 6000 King George V appeared from the south and negotiated the Triangle before heading back south with it's Support Coach
Morecambe,Southport,Blackpool and Durham were other ones I went on but I know Rhyl was also done
As with the Glasgow ones we could work out where they were going from the departure time from Waverley and the Arrival time at the destination!

 

[Rob F]

Did Bournemouth and Barmouth from Nottingham in the mid 70s.