Trains from St Mary Cray Junction to Chislehurst

[Turbo004]

I wish to travel from St Mary Cray Junction to Chislehurst. This is one of only five passenger lines I have left to cover in Great Britain. There seems to be only a few early morning services which run this way.
However looking at the National Rail website on weekend of 16/17 November Hastings line trains are shown to be diverted this way. When I go on the Trainline app though it does not appear to be all day. Can anyone confirm if it is all weekend? Many thanks in advance to anyone who can shed some light on the matter.

 

[causton]

On the Sunday it appears to be all day for services that call at Chislehurst.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...17/0200-0159?stp=WVS&show=passenger&order=wtt
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...17/0200-0159?stp=WVS&show=passenger&order=wtt

The links above show the times at St Mary Cray Jn for trains from and to Chislehurst respectively.

 

[Turbo004]

On the Sunday it appears to be all day for services that call at Chislehurst.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...17/0200-0159?stp=WVS&show=passenger&order=wtt
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...17/0200-0159?stp=WVS&show=passenger&order=wtt

The links above show the times at St Mary Cray Jn for trains from and to Chislehurst respectively.

Many thanks for this. Looking at it appears no trains are in for Saturday but lots on Sunday. I can get Sat 16th Nov off but may struggle to get Sun 17th Nov. Does anyone know if diversions are also planned for the Saturday.

 

[30907]

On the basis of the NRE site, the Sunday diversions are via the Chiselhurst Loops but Saturday's are via the Mid Kent as different sections of the main line are blocked.

 

[Turbo004]

Many thanks 30907 and Causton. Your input is greatly appreciated. Looks like I’m best to try and get Sunday 17th November off work. Being from the North of England and not familiar with the area or real time trains it’s great when other people are able to work out what is happening.

 

[30907]

Many thanks 30907 and Causton. Your input is greatly appreciated. Looks like I’m best to try and get Sunday 17th November off work. Being from the North of England and not familiar with the area or real time trains it’s great when other people are able to work out what is happening.

No problem. Good news is that both loops are scheduled to be used, not just the reversible one (the old down one).

 

[Chiltern006]

When the Thameslink to Maidstone East service starts, TL will make use of this Junction every half hour

 

[bionic]

When the Thameslink to Maidstone East service starts, TL will make use of this Junction every half hour

It's pretty much an open secret that the Thameslink Maidstone service will not happen.

 

[Medicy]

It's pretty much an open secret that the Thameslink Maidstone service will not happen.

Is it? Just today Ashford Borough Council won in court against the landowners of the Chart Leacon depot site, who were objecting to the use of the land for railway use. Now that this is cleared up, the depot can be restored to active use, with the Southeastern and Thameslink Hitachi units at the Ashford Hitachi depot and the other Southeastern units at Chart Leacon. Or are you saying that Southeastern will fully take over both depots?

 

[Turbo004]

The good news is that I’ve got Sunday 17th November off work. My intention is to catch a service from Sevenoaks to London Charing Cross hopefully going on the up loop from St Mary Cray Junction to Hawkwood Junction to Chislehurst Junction. I do not want to go on the Reversible Loop as I’ve been on this before. I’ve identified three services from St Mary Cray to London Bridge. Could someone tell me if any go over the up loop. The three services are:
2W62 17.58 Dover Priory - Charing Cross
2W64 18.20 Ramsgate - Charing Cross
1H58 18.44 Robertsbridge - Charing Cross

 

[Chiltern006]

The good news is that I’ve got Sunday 17th November off work. My intention is to catch a service from Sevenoaks to London Charing Cross hopefully going on the up loop from St Mary Cray Junction to Hawkwood Junction to Chislehurst Junction. I do not want to go on the Reversible Loop as I’ve been on this before. I’ve identified three services from St Mary Cray to London Bridge. Could someone tell me if any go over the up loop. The three services are:
2W62 17.58 Dover Priory - Charing Cross
2W64 18.20 Ramsgate - Charing Cross
1H58 18.44 Robertsbridge - Charing Cross

If you check on RTT and if they go through Chislehurst and St Mary Cray you should be ok, but if they go through Bromley South and New Beckenham then, well y'know.

 

[david737]

The good news is that I’ve got Sunday 17th November off work. My intention is to catch a service from Sevenoaks to London Charing Cross hopefully going on the up loop from St Mary Cray Junction to Hawkwood Junction to Chislehurst Junction. I do not want to go on the Reversible Loop as I’ve been on this before. I’ve identified three services from St Mary Cray to London Bridge. Could someone tell me if any go over the up loop. The three services are:
2W62 17.58 Dover Priory - Charing Cross
2W64 18.20 Ramsgate - Charing Cross
1H58 18.44 Robertsbridge - Charing Cross

It sounds like Chislehurst to Sevenoaks is shut on this particular Sunday which means the main line services will divert via Swanley & Otford. If that's the case The above trains will use the up loop as there will be a stopping service which terminates in the down slow plat at Chislehurst and these usually sit there for quite a while before returning to Charing X.

 

[jnjkerbin]

The good news is that I’ve got Sunday 17th November off work. My intention is to catch a service from Sevenoaks to London Charing Cross hopefully going on the up loop from St Mary Cray Junction to Hawkwood Junction to Chislehurst Junction. I do not want to go on the Reversible Loop as I’ve been on this before. I’ve identified three services from St Mary Cray to London Bridge. Could someone tell me if any go over the up loop. The three services are:
2W62 17.58 Dover Priory - Charing Cross
2W64 18.20 Ramsgate - Charing Cross
1H58 18.44 Robertsbridge - Charing Cross

All 3 are shown on Real Time Trains with the line code CL after St Mary Cray Jn rather than RVL which indicates they are all booked via the Up Loop, so unless something happens on the day, they are as good a bet as any.

 

[Turbo004]

All 3 are shown on Real Time Trains with the line code CL after St Mary Cray Jn rather than RVL which indicates they are all booked via the Up Loop, so unless something happens on the day, they are as good a bet as any.

Many thanks for this. I couldn’t work it out from real time trains myself. Hoping everything goes to plan on Sunday 17th November.

 

[Barn]

Out of interest, why do these diverted services tend to stop at Chislehurst rather than passing through?

 

[30907]

Out of interest, why do these diverted services tend to stop at Chislehurst rather than passing through?

For Orpington (and people who would otherwise have changed there); it's been done for as long as I remember - plus Otford for Sevenoaks if Sevenoaks Tunnel is shut.

There's even a non-stop CIT-ORP bus to connect, as well as stoppers.

A quirk of the 4-character "headcode" system is that the Hastings trains, which call at CIT, are class 1, while the Kent Coast ones, which don't, are class 2...

 

[Turbo004]

In the end my wife was unwell yesterday and was unable to attempt this stretch of line due to having to look after my daughter. I’ve had a look and I can’t see any planned use of the line in the immediate future. The regular services are too early for me as the trains from Chester can’t get there in time.

 

[jnjkerbin]

In the end my wife was unwell yesterday and was unable to attempt this stretch of line due to having to look after my daughter. I’ve had a look and I can’t see any planned use of the line in the immediate future. The regular services are too early for me as the trains from Chester can’t get there in time.

Sorry to hear that - I hope your wife is feeling better soon.

With regards to the track, it looks like the next date it's being used is Sunday 9th February when Chatham Main Line (Victoria - Rochester and beyond) services are being diverted between St Mary Cray and Victoria to run via Chislehurst, Lewisham and Nunhead. Once again, it looks like up trains are using the up loop, whilst down trains use the reversible line. Here's a link showing all departures from Swanley that seem to be going that way (some trains also stop at St Mary Cray). If the train schedule shows 'CL' in the 'line' column for St Mary Cray Jn then they should be using the up loop.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...20-02-09/0700-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt

 

[Turbo004]

I finally got to do this line this morning. Due to work commitments, home life and storms a weekend attempt has been unfeasable.
From Chester though the earliest you get to Euston is 07.25 which would mean attempting to catch the 07.40 from London Victoria to Rochester. This service then gives a seven minute connection into the 07.19 Ramsgate - London Cannon Street which is booked to use the Up Chatham Loop.
Feeling that 15 minutes is too tight to get from Euston to Victoria I came up with a different plan. I caught the 20.20 Chester - Warrington Bank Quay Northern service yesterday which connected with the 21.16 Avanti service to Lancaster. I then caught the 22.20 Transpennine service to Carlisle. This gave me two and half hours to watch trains at Carlisle before catching the sleeper to London.
I saw 2 66’s, a pair of 70’s, a pair of 86’s, an 88, two pairs of 90’s and finally a pair of 325’s all on freight whilst waiting.
The sleeper was booked into Euston at 07.07 giving me an extra few minutes to get to Victoria for the 07.40 to Rochester. In fact the sleeper arrived 6 minutes early giving ample time to get to London Victoria. The service to Rochester ran to time. Finally the 07.19 Ramsgate - Cannon Street ran to time on it’s booked route via St Mary Cray Junction - Chislehurst Junction (via up Chatham Loop). I was delighted that I had finally done this bit of track especially with the tight connections and arguably unreliable operators used.
Mods feel free to move this to Trip Planning and Reports section if you feel so.

 

[SlimJim1694]

I finally got to do this line this morning. Due to work commitments, home life and storms a weekend attempt has been unfeasable.
From Chester though the earliest you get to Euston is 07.25 which would mean attempting to catch the 07.40 from London Victoria to Rochester. This service then gives a seven minute connection into the 07.19 Ramsgate - London Cannon Street which is booked to use the Up Chatham Loop.
Feeling that 15 minutes is too tight to get from Euston to Victoria I came up with a different plan. I caught the 20.20 Chester - Warrington Bank Quay Northern service yesterday which connected with the 21.16 Avanti service to Lancaster. I then caught the 22.20 Transpennine service to Carlisle. This gave me two and half hours to watch trains at Carlisle before catching the sleeper to London.
I saw 2 66’s, a pair of 70’s, a pair of 86’s, an 88, two pairs of 90’s and finally a pair of 325’s all on freight whilst waiting.
The sleeper was booked into Euston at 07.07 giving me an extra few minutes to get to Victoria for the 07.40 to Rochester. In fact the sleeper arrived 6 minutes early giving ample time to get to London Victoria. The service to Rochester ran to time. Finally the 07.19 Ramsgate - Cannon Street ran to time on it’s booked route via St Mary Cray Junction - Chislehurst Junction (via up Chatham Loop). I was delighted that I had finally done this bit of track especially with the tight connections and arguably unreliable operators used.
Mods feel free to move this to Trip Planning and Reports section if you feel so.

I take my hat off to you going to all that effort to get one little bit of track. I remember when we were doing Charing Cross to Orpington giant rounders via Greenwich, Sidcup and the Lee spur there were more spotters than normal punters on the trains trying to get the Lee spur and the new layout around the Bermondsey dive under ticked off.

 

[Mike99]

Turbo004

I finally got to do this line this morning. Due to work commitments, home life and storms a weekend attempt has been unfeasable.
From Chester though the earliest you get to Euston is 07.25 which would mean attempting to catch the 07.40 from London Victoria to Rochester. This service then gives a seven minute connection into the 07.19 Ramsgate - London Cannon Street which is booked to use the Up Chatham Loop.
Feeling that 15 minutes is too tight to get from Euston to Victoria I came up with a different plan. I caught the 20.20 Chester - Warrington Bank Quay Northern service yesterday which connected with the 21.16 Avanti service to Lancaster. I then caught the 22.20 Transpennine service to Carlisle. This gave me two and half hours to watch trains at Carlisle before catching the sleeper to London.
I saw 2 66’s, a pair of 70’s, a pair of 86’s, an 88, two pairs of 90’s and finally a pair of 325’s all on freight whilst waiting.
The sleeper was booked into Euston at 07.07 giving me an extra few minutes to get to Victoria for the 07.40 to Rochester. In fact the sleeper arrived 6 minutes early giving ample time to get to London Victoria. The service to Rochester ran to time. Finally the 07.19 Ramsgate - Cannon Street ran to time on it’s booked route via St Mary Cray Junction - Chislehurst Junction (via up Chatham Loop). I was delighted that I had finally done this bit of track especially with the tight connections and arguably unreliable operators used.
Mods feel free to move this to Trip Planning and Reports section if you feel so.

Well done, what have you got left now? is it just 4 bits left to do? I have about 80 miles left to do odd bits here and there. Including Drem to North Berwick, I live near Leicester and the other bits are in the South, so I've got to knuckle down and get up to Scotland.

 

[Turbo004]

Got 6 passenger lines left according to the Baker Atlas. These are Dingwall - Kyle of Lochalsh, Manningtree avoiding line, Eurostar out of St Pancross and Eurostar from Ashford abroad.In addition there is a tiny stretch on the West side of Finsbury Park which last time I researched may have come into use with Thameslink. The final stretch is Ilford Down Passenger loop which apparently has no booked passenger trains. Now I’ve got so few lines left looking at doing some of the red freight lines in the Baker Atlas as well.

 

[Kite159]

By Manningtree avoiding line I assume you mean the curve from the Harwich branch towards Ipswich?

 

[Turbo004]

By saying Manningtree Avoiding Line I meant the curve which Ipswich to Harwich trains take. It’s a very hard line to do from Chester with only very early or quite late services meaning an overnight stay somewhere.

 

[Kite159]

By saying Manningtree Avoiding Line I meant the curve which Ipswich to Harwich trains take. It’s a very hard line to do from Chester with only very early or quite late services meaning an overnight stay somewhere.

Although you can get back to London from the evening train which opens up a lot more options for hotels