Didn't Spalding - March and Clayton West close after 1980? I have a shot of a 31 coming off the joint line at Whotemoor taken June 1982 just after I left school
Yes, on checking, you're correct - 1982 and 1983 respectively.
It's worth remembering the Lincoln avoiding line was still open at this time, with some Yorkshire to Great Yarmouth summer Saturday services using it, but I never managed a ride on one. Probably should have tried harder to do so in the 1970s, but I think they may have stopped sending the summer extras that way by the time its closure was on the cards in the 1980s. The diversion of trains at Lincoln to Central so St Marks could be closed was one of the reasons given for it.
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All-Line Railrover Ticket 1980
I left a slightly longer gap this year before my seven days on the national network.
Saturday 2nd August 1980
I didn’t make a very early start considering it was the first day, not leaving Nottingham until the 0855 St Pancras service (45128, Mk2d downgraded 1st class) as far as Leicester, arriving at 0927.
From there – it being a summer Saturday – I got a Leicester to Paignton service (46018, Mk 1 Open) at 0934 to Birmingham, arriving 5 minutes early at 1038. This called at Hinckley and Nuneaton.
From New Street I got a service from Shrewsbury (86246, Mk 2f) which left 2 minutes late at 1050 to Euston, arriving 13 minutes early at 1217.
Following a bite to eat and an afternoon at the theatre I returned on a Leeds service from St Pancras hauled by 45122. I’ve noted down that I rode in a Mk2c Brake Second. This left at 1801 and arrived in Nottingham 2 minutes late at 2007.
Sunday 3rd August 1980
As I remarked in an earlier posting, on Sunday mornings in those days there were practically no trains out of Nottingham other than in a London direction before 10am. So on this day I cheated and went by Barton bus (route 5B) at 0745 to Derby, arriving 0844. Plenty of time to walk from bus station to railway station for a Birmingham to Leeds train (45013, Mk2a coach). This was timetabled to depart at 0923, but had been retimed on this day to 0947 – presumably because of there being no engineering work. This got me to Sheffield at the scheduled original time of 1036.
For some reason I didn’t get a through service on the Hope Valley line to Manchester – whether it was because there weren’t any on a Sunday morning or if there was some other reason I don’t know. But I left Sheffield on a Metro-Cammell 2-car dmu at 1128 to New Mills, arriving there 10 minutes early at 1223. I left there on a Derby 2-car dmu at 1241 to Manchester Piccadilly via Reddish North, arriving 2 minutes early at 1312.
I walked to Manchester Victoria, and from there travelled on a Derby 2-car dmu coupled to two Cravens 2-car sets at 1430 to Southport via Wigan. This arrived 13 minutes early at 1527 and so allowed me to get an earlier service (a class 507 emu) than planned from there, which left 2 minutes late at 1532 to Moorfields, arriving at 1608.
Whether I got an unrecorded connection to Lime Street or whether I walked there I don’t know, but I had plenty of time before departing there on a Birmingham service (86240, in a Mk 1 compartment coach) which left 2 minutes late at 1725. This got me to Crewe at 1802.
From Crewe it was what I have down as a Metro-Cammell 3-car unit (unusual) on a Lincoln service which left 3 minutes late at 1823 and got me back to Nottingham 4 minutes late at 2017.
Monday 4th August 1980
An early-ish start with a Glasgow train at 0715 to Carlisle. This was hauled by 47102 and I was in a Mk1 open coach. Evidently the loco ran round at Leeds as I don’t have a note of anything different from there. It arrived at Carlisle, 4 minutes late at 1145.
Not long in Carlisle before I was on a service from Edinburgh at 1204 in a Mk2c coach hauled by 86235 as far as Preston where 47474 took over for the run via Wigan and St Helens Central to Liverpool, arriving 13 minutes late at 1452.
Not long in Liverpool either, as I left at 1505 hauled by 47405 in another Mk2c coach to Leeds, calling at St Helens Junction, Manchester Victoria, Stalybridge, Huddersfield and Dewsbury, arrived Leeds 2 minutes early at 1655. From there it was a Derby 2-car dmu at 1714 to Sheffield via Normanton, Wakefield Kirkgate and Barnsley, arriving 3 minutes late at 1841.
Back to Nottingham on a St Pancras train (45108, Mk2d) at 1903 to Nottingham, arriving 2 minutes early at 1956.
Tuesday 5th August 1980
This centred around my third trans-pennine route in three days.
Not a very early start, which was on a service which, unusually, had started from Barnetby. It was the usual Swindon 3-car Cross Country unit (Class 120), and left Nottingham 4 minutes late at 0840, arriving in Birmingham 7 minutes late at 1010.
At Birmingham, I was due to get a Plymouth to Liverpool service at 1055 and change at Crewe for Preston, but perhaps it was announced as late running as instead I travelled on the service I would have changed to at Crewe – a Birmingham to Aberdeen train, hauled by 85035. Travelling in a Mk 1 compartment coach I departed in it 8 minutes late at 1111 and arrived at Preston 15 minutes late at 1256.
Still plenty of time there to get a service from Blackpool in a Class 110 BRCW 3-car dmu at 1400 to Leeds via Rose Grove, Hebden Bridge and Halifax. I think services via the Copy Pit line had only fairly recently been reintroduced at this time. Arrived at Leeds at 1558, I then got a York to Liverpool service (47415, Mk 1 Open) at 1621 to Huddersfield, arriving 2 minutes late at 1649.
From there I got a Metro-Cammell 2-car dmu at 1718 to Sheffield via Penistone and the disused Sheffield Victoria station, arriving at 1812.
Then for the second day running it was a St Pancras service (45150, Mk2d) at 1903 to Nottingham, arriving 2 minutes early at 1956.
Wednesday 6th August 1980
I had originally planned on starting with a service at 0722 to Birmingham, but perhaps on second thought not wanting to trust a 20-minute connection there got an earlier train from Nottingham. This was at 0708, which I’ve got down as a Metro-Cammell 3-car unit. This got me to Birmingham 11 minutes late at 0851.
From there it was a service from Euston, Mk2f stock, which left 3 minutes late at 0923 hauled by 86235 as far as Wolverhampton where 47436 took over, to Shrewsbury, arriving at 1027.
Then it was a Swindon Cross country 3-car dmu (Class 120) 3 minutes late at 1045 right through to Aberystwyth, arriving 10 minutes late at 1308.
I returned on the same unit, departing Aberystwyth at 1400 all the way to Crewe, arriving there 20 minutes late at 1730.
The late arrival meant I missed the 1722 back to Nottingham, so had to wait for the 1825 (the inevitable Swindon 3-car dmu), arriving back at 2020.
Thursday 7th August 1980
On the last two days, I had originally planned to travel over the Manchester – Chester route and Birmingham – Oxford – Paddington respectively, but for some reason I changed my mind and just settled for my biannual visits to the bookshops in Birmingham and London.
On this day, I started with a Derby 2-car dmu 2 minutes late at 1029 to Derby, arrived 3 minutes early at 1101.
From there I got a service hauled by 45036 in a Mk2a coach at 1113 to Birmingham, arriving 8 minutes late at 1213.
I left Birmingham at 1448 for Euston (86228, Mk2f), arriving 21 minutes late at 1651. Still plenty of time to walk to St Pancras for a service at 1720 to Leicester (45105, Mk2d), arriving 2 minutes early at 1843.
Then back to Nottingham at 1930 (45127, Mk2d), arriving 4 minutes early at 1959.
Friday 8th August 1980
I did at least make an early start for London, with the 0700 to St Pancras, calling at Loughborough, Leicester and Kettering (45112, Mk2d), arriving 2 minutes late at 0914.
I returned from London at 1341 from Euston to Birmingham, calling at Coventry and Birmingham International (87021, Mk2f), arriving 4 minutes late at 1523.
Then a service 5 minutes late at 1545 to Derby (45075, Mk 1 compartment), and departed there for Nottingham at 1647 on the usual Swindon Cross-country 3-car dmu.