Rolling stock that you regret not riding

[mrcheek]

I wish I could have done a 1st Class All Line Rover in the days of compartment stock.

Although I did once ride in such a carriage. It was on a Merrymaker special in the early 1980s. The train left Taunton one coach short for some reason. They eventually added a coach at Bristol, and it was First Class

 

[Muzer]

I'd love for there to be a railtour with compartment stock (other than for the staff coach), but I'd hazard a guess that there are concerns about bad behaviour in the compartments...

 

[class387]

Ah it's A Stock for me as well - I remember seeing them everywhere but I never went on them and I don't think I ever used the Metropolitan before the S Stock was introduced. It's partly because of that regret of not travelling on them enough before withdrawal that I bought one of the A Stock luggage racks from the London Transport Museum Acton Depot last year! Also I made sure to travel on the D Stock and even on the very last service so I wouldn't have the same regrets again.

Luckily I did ride the A-Stock many times, mainly on the East London Line, and looking back I really enjoyed them and miss them. However I was too young to appreciate them and had a 'new is always better' mentality, so missed out on their final days pointlessly (I even saw one a few weeks away from withdrawal, which I flagged for an S-Stock) which I really regret.

D-Stock has always been my favourite LU Stock, if not my favourite train full stop as it was the one that got me into railways as a toddler. However as I hunted them down relentlessly during their withdrawal and was on the last run I have no regrets. I would be annoyed if I don't get to ride a 230 though.

 

[E_Reeves]

Like anything else, they have specific diagrams.

Is there a list I can view?

 

[43096]

Is there a list I can view?

They're posted on another forum.

 

[E_Reeves]

They're posted on another forum.

Can you post a link or something please?

 

[gordonthemoron]

APT, could have in the 80s as there were regular 'test' runs which staff could get tickets for

 

[SteveyBee131]

Class 101's and other 1st generation DMU's on the main line would be on the top of my list.

Then 47's on cross-country services, and 86's and 87's on the WCML, or the 89 on the ECML. Indeed, anything loco-hauled anywhere would have been nice to sample.

 

[43096]

Can you post a link or something please?

http://www.wnxxforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=17869&start=150#p459538

 

[hooverboy]

APT, could have in the 80s as there were regular 'test' runs which staff could get tickets for

+1 for that.would have been a bit special.
I've been quite lucky with loco hauled stuff as I regularly used to do rail rovers in the summer back in the 80's/90's,and they always used to have summer specials somewhere hauled by something exotic...east coast was 20's,25's,31's,37's 40's 44/45/46, 47 ,the occasional 50 and deltics.

when I used to go to newbury races with dad at the back end of the 70's that was generally a 35 or 42....don't think I did a western though.

for summer holidays back then bournemouth /weymouth was mostly 33's

likewise with west coast main line.....I can remember they used to do a semi-fast from euston to northampton and that was nearly always 81-85 hauled.

the one I would have like to have done was a 76 up manchester way.

there's also something rather nice about the fresh air from the older carriages(mk1 to mk2c)..if you're behind a diesel .
mk2d onwards are only fun if your stick your head out of the window!

the best we have now is top and tail 37's/47's on the wherry line.still miles better than a sprinter!!!

 

[delt1c]

I'd love for there to be a railtour with compartment stock (other than for the staff coach), but I'd hazard a guess that there are concerns about bad behaviour in the compartments...

compartment stock is great but does have major disadvantages (especially 4 a side) where only 2 get a proper window seat and when full can be cramped. On the plus side if you are a group it is great

 

[43096]

when I used to go to newbury races with dad at the back end of the 70's that was generally a 35 or 42....don't think I did a western though.

You'd be struggling to get any of those locos in the late 70s as the Warships finished in 1972, the Hymeks in 1975 and Westerns in 1977.

 

[hooverboy]

You'd be struggling to get any of those locos in the late 70s as the Warships finished in 1972, the Hymeks in 1975 and Westerns in 1977.

showing my age!

I was about 7 or 8 when the HST came on stream(1976 or 1977 IIRC).
I never got to ride the first one(fairly sure they enetered service out of paddington about a year before KX., but I did ride one of the first ones on east coast main line from peterborough to york.

 

[yorksrob]

I wish I could have caught a late night newspaper train somewhere, preferably in a careworn mk1 carriage.

As well as the novelty, the idea of catching a train late at night and arriving in the early morning holds a lot of appeal (not least not needing to shell out for a hotel).

 

[GlosRail]

APT and Class 50's and the 89 for me.

I would have travelled from Didcot to Paddington quite a bit in the late 80's and I remember travelling on various 1stGen DMU's and HST's but not Class 50's. I think they were withdrawn from this area around 1991.

 

[Mikey C]

compartment stock is great but does have major disadvantages (especially 4 a side) where only 2 get a proper window seat and when full can be cramped. On the plus side if you are a group it is great

An added benefit is that if the group is a bit "rowdy" it keeps the noise away (or at least reduces it) from everyone else...

 

[hooverboy]

APT and Class 50's and the 89 for me.

I would have travelled from Didcot to Paddington quite a bit in the late 80's and I remember travelling on various 1stGen DMU's and HST's but not Class 50's. I think they were withdrawn from this area around 1991.

I think at that time class 50's and HST's did the express down to the southwest.I'm 90% certain paddington to oxford was 47 hauled.

 

[Whistler40145]

Class 44 Peaks, Class 123/124 Units, Class 310/312 EMU, Class 84 AC Electric

 

[GW43125]

I'd love for there to be a railtour with compartment stock (other than for the staff coach), but I'd hazard a guess that there are concerns about bad behaviour in the compartments...

When the 4VEP comes back, that's got compartments for 1st class.

 

[yorksrob]

When the 4VEP comes back, that's got compartments for 1st class.

And two standard ones !

 

[GW43125]

And two standard ones !

Must have missed those then!

 

[yorksrob]

Must have missed those then!

My location of choice for many years, travelling on the Southern

 

[GW43125]

My location of choice for many years, travelling on the Southern

Predates my commuting by quite some time!
I've walked through the one at Strawberry Hill but that's it.

 

[Mag_seven]

For me it would have to be a Deltic in passenger service - coming from Glasgow I never ventured onto the ECML much and when I did HST's had taken over.

 

[physics34]

In their heyday, the best EMUs in the country, and 25kV gave them stunning performance. Lucky enough to have ridden them a few hundred times.

Yeh ive heard they were very well liked. Oddly didnt try hard enough to do them on Clactons, which annoys me now..and i couldve made an effort to go to manchester to do the last few aswell.... suppose i was so wrapped up with the SR EMUs at the time

 

[fowler9]

Remember seeing them in Victoria as a kid, don't think I ever rode them though. They used the same basic bodyshell and cab design as the 304/305/308s. Unlike the 308s, they never had gangways retrofitted between cars. Did the 304s and/or 305s ever have them added?

I have a vague childhood memory of riding on "old underground trains" in Liverpool, and given the journey (Lime Street to New Brighton) can cover 503s. Only remember vague things though. 502s possible, but can't think of a time I'd have done them. Trips to Southport would've been all on diesel via Wigan.

Don't think the 304's ever had gangways. Loved them, I remember them going from 4 car to 3. As for the 503's and 502's I think the 503's were on my side of the river and the 502's went to the dark side (The Wirral). I may be completely wrong though.

 

[randyrippley]

I could imagine you were absolutely gutted! Just like I was for missing a one and only chance to ride behind Warship D805 Benbow from Plymouth to Bodmin Road back in 1972

Benbow?
Every time I rode behind that it failed

 

[Buggleskelly]

Wish I'd been on 310's and 312's more often, they were such great trains. I remember them with LTS rail (pre- c2c) and FGE. I believe the 312's had more life in them by the time they were withdrawn, they could have been kept until at least the beginning of this decade. I'm hoping to try grab a ride on a Pacer (142) before they are withdrawn at some point to wonder why people complain about them so much.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Don't think the 304's ever had gangways. Loved them, I remember them going from 4 car to 3. As for the 503's and 502's I think the 503's were on my side of the river and the 502's went to the dark side (The Wirral). I may be completely wrong though.

Never rode a 304, bagged 303s and 305s to Glossop though.

On the old Merseyrail units, my memory was saying 503s were Wirral and 502s were Northern line... but I claim no authority on that. I've heard some say that the Wirral units aged more gracefully, and were more presentable than the ones on the Lancashire (of old) side of the Mersey. I vaguely recall thinking the train on the 'Liverpool Underground' was fancy, though sliding doors would've been a novelty to me then!

 

[physics34]

Wish I'd been on 310's and 312's more often, they were such great trains. I remember them with LTS rail (pre- c2c) and FGE. I believe the 312's had more life in them by the time they were withdrawn, they could have been kept until at least the beginning of this decade. I'm hoping to try grab a ride on a Pacer (142) before they are withdrawn at some point to wonder why people complain about them so much.

yep they were only around 25 years old .... they couldve got another 10 years out of them, with central door locking etc.