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Trivia - Furthest you've seen someone carried beyond their intended stop

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Jimini

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When I was a train guard for GNER, I lost count of the number of passengers I’d find with Peterborough tickets when doing a check after leaving KX, when we were first stop York !

People also got overcarried on the 373 White Rose services that I worked because they could never work out how to open the doors. You had to push the door plunger quite hard to make it open, and then there would be a delay while the exterior steps were deployed before the door opened. Meanwhile the passengers would panic and run to find another door and get overcarried.

Also, one time we departed Peterborough heading north on an HST, next stop York. I had a female passenger come up to me and ask me to confirm that it was the Stansted airport service. She went into shock when I told her it was not. She was the leader of a hen party heading to Prague and she held all the airline tickets. The rest of the group were waiting for her at Stansted.

I got on the phone to Control, and explained the situation. They surprisingly gave authorisation for a stop at Grantham to let her off. However, we were just going through Stoke tunnel at the time at line speed. I quickly gave six to the driver and asked if there was any chance we could stop at Grantham. In a deep Geordie accent, he replied “Bloody hell mate, you’ve left it late but I’ll give it a go”.

I felt the brakes go in sharply like in a full service, and as we approached Grantham, we still seemed to be going too fast. If we overshot, it would be game over and we’d have to carry on. We roared into Grantham and came to a stop with the TGS door adjacent to the downward slope of the platform, accompanied by the nice aroma of burning brake blocks, and I could see station staff running over the footbridge from their office on the southbound platform to find out why an HST that they weren’t expecting had suddenly come to a stop.

I helped the lady down and she gave me a grateful kiss on the cheek, and waved to the driver who was hanging out of his cab door. The TGS door was slammed shut, I gave two on the buzzer, and the Valentas screamed as we headed north again in under 60 seconds from stop to start.

I heard later that Grantham staff got her heading southbound again 11 minutes later, and that she made the next Stansted service at Perterborough, though not sure if she made the flight?

Good old days on GNER, I miss em’ !

Great read!
 
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Furrysquid

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One that was entertaining more for the sheer number of people involved than the distance ... About 1996-ish, tea-time on a term-time Saturday, HST service going south from Newcastle, first stop Durham. Except that on this occasion, it didn't for some reason stop at Durham. The level of swearing - from pretty much everyone on board - as it shot onto the viaduct was quite impressive, and the next train north from Darlington, where it eventually stopped, was a very small DMU which ended up looking like a railway-themed version of "how many students can you get in a phone box".

(Saturday afternoon was, and quite possibly still is, when the entire complement of Durham Uni descends on Newcastle to do their shopping.)
 

74A

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Some express West Country GWR trains used to stop at Newbury then Taunton in the peak. IIRC the 1703 from Paddington did but the 1803 did not. It was quite common to find someone get on the wrong train and end up at Taunton. One night a young bloke got on the last train of the day from Taunton to go to Newbury. I estimate at that stage he would have travelled about 4 hours for what was a 15 minute journey. Then when the train got to Westbury there was a tree on the line so was diverted via Swindon non stop to Reading.

By the time the train got to Reading the last service to Newbury had already left. Fortunately for him there was 1 other passenger on board going to Newbury otherwise he might had had to fork out for a taxi.

He would have got home about 1 oclock so about 6 hours later !!
 

Traveller54

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From a newspaper in the 70s: in Edinburgh a man who worked near Waverley station and lived near Haymarket decided to take the train home one night as Princes Street was particularly congested so a bus would have taken ages and he couldn’t be bothered walking. The train shot through Haymarket and on enquiring, discovered it was an express to Aberdeen, first stop Dundee! His plan to save a few minutes cost him a few hours.

Today, I think most if not all trains through Haymarket stop there but this wasn’t the case then.
 

adc82140

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Many years ago, a friend of a friend was travelling on the southbound lowland sleeper, I think from Edinburgh. A companion who was not travelling had helped him load all his stuff on board. Unfortunately they stayed on board helping a bit too long, didn't notice the dispatch whistles, and had a nice trip to somewhere like Carstairs.

They were put on the last train back, and were greeted by a parking fine for overstaying in the 20 minute bays at Edinburgh.
 

trainophile

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Can't help wondering how often the wearing of headphones contributes to these situations. About 95% of train guards announce all the calling points before the initial departure and after every station. Of course you could still get caught out boarding at an interim station I suppose, as the announcement isn't generally made until the train has pulled out, but in those cases I would say nearly 100% of stations have overhead platform displays... unless of course they aren't working.
 

Ianno87

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Can't help wondering how often the wearing of headphones contributes to these situations. About 95% of train guards announce all the calling points before the initial departure and after every station. Of course you could still get caught out boarding at an interim station I suppose, as the announcement isn't generally made until the train has pulled out, but in those cases I would say nearly 100% of stations have overhead platform displays... unless of course they aren't working.

Headphones, or distracted by phone/texting.
 

PG

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Or just "switched off" as a result of the constant barrage of announcements. I can see how that could happen.
I'd say that is likely true - years ago with the absence of 'clutter' you knew that when the PA came on it was worth paying close attention to so you didn't miss your stop. Nowadays you're tuning out the stuff you consider is irrelevant and it can take a moment or two to realise that the 'dross' has finished and the announcement is actually relevant.
 

notlob.divad

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The most extreme example I am aware of is a couple of old school aquaintances who (aledgedly) after a late night out in Liverpool caught an early morning train to return to Warrington. They both quickly fell asleep, only to awake several hours and a not insignificant number of miles away in Norwich.
 

Essexman

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In sixty years I think I’ve missed my stop three times.

Once the guard announced that the train from Norwich to London was calling at Shenfield but it didn’t and I was carried forward to Stratford. We were returning from watching West Ham play at Norwich and quite a few others also heard the incorrect announcement and had to travel back. I complained and got a full refund. Turned out it wasn’t scheduled to call at Shenfield and it was the guard’s error.

Once I got on a train at Southend Central for Upminster, but forgot it was rush hour and stops are varied. It was only on leaving Benfleet that I realised next stop was West Ham. Sailed through Upminster, stopped at Barking but only at a signal and the doors didn’t open, so had to come back from West Ham.

Third occasion my colleague and I were in deep conversation on the Circle Line and didn’t realise we’d gone through Paddington until stopping at Bayswater.

I’ve occasionally got on the wrong train but nothing major. Once I missed an announcement (in German) at Frankfurt Airport that an ICE train was diverted, missing Cologne due to an unexploded WW2 bomb (an English bomb the guard told me) and he kindly arranged for the train to stop somewhere to let me catch a local train to Cologne Messe.
 

KeithMcC

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Frankfurt Airport reminds me of a slightly different story. ICE train, ready to go, American couple hurry down the escalator and the husband jumps on as the door signal sounds. Turns round to get wife and luggage just as the doors close and off we go, next stop Mannheim. Wife on platform with luggage, husband on train with tickets.
The lady conductor made some 'phone calls and sorted it out but I bet he got hell when his wife caught up with him!
 

Jamesrob637

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Not an overcarry as such, but in the mid-00s, way before commitments took over my life, I toured Germany for a bit. One day, I was staying at a friend's in Bonn and wanted to travel round NRW* a bit. So I bought the equivalent of a Bundesland rover ticket and my friend accompanied me as far as Düsseldorf. I think he just bought a return from Köln to DUS as he already had a local season ticket as far as Köln.
After a walk around Düsseldorf in pleasant autumn weather, we parted ways however I had a dinner scheduled in Bonn that evening; fortunately not until quite late. I carried on northbound (away from Bonn) until way past Dortmund, before realising that I'd never make it back to Bonn before the dinner, using regional trains alone.
This being pre-smartphones, I went to buy a ticket for a faster train back south. I think it cost 20 Euro for just over an hour's trip (around £13 at the then exchange rate) and I still had to change in Köln; fortunately regional trains from Köln to Bonn were frequent even back then. I definitely made the dinner albeit having not showered or anything beforehand. Thankfully it wasn't a date!
I did get my money's worth from the rover though!

*Nordrhein-Westfalen

**@Bletchleyite might be able to glean more of the tickets and schedules being a Germanophile.
 

Bletchleyite

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**@Bletchleyite might be able to glean more of the tickets and schedules being a Germanophile.

Probably the second one of these:


SchönerTagTicket NRW Single​


Valid for one person throughout North Rhine-Westphalia. Valid Mondays through Fridays between 9 a.m. and 3 a.m. the following day as well as all day Saturdays, Sundays and official holidays. For travel in second class in regional trains as well as all buses and trams in all of North Rhine-Westphalia.

(This isn't a single ticket, it's a rover, it's named like that because it's not a group ticket)
 

Foxhunter

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Frankfurt Airport reminds me of a slightly different story. ICE train, ready to go, American couple hurry down the escalator and the husband jumps on as the door signal sounds. Turns round to get wife and luggage just as the doors close and off we go, next stop Mannheim. Wife on platform with luggage, husband on train with tickets.
The lady conductor made some 'phone calls and sorted it out but I bet he got hell when his wife caught up with him!

My wife and arrived in Tirano in plenty of time for our Bernina Express northbound reservations, so took the opportunity to have lunch at the restaurant by the station, and got chatting with an American lady steadily making her way through a bottle of wine. She was travelling south, and was waiting for her husband, who had taken the opportunity to alight at Alp Grüm to photograph the Palü glacier. The Swiss railway departure process of clock tick, doors shut, go had caught him out. I hope it wasn't the same couple, though I suspect she would probably have been pretty mellow by the time he arrived. I got the impression that a little bit of alone time was what was required at this point in their holiday.

I didn't risk getting off to photograph the glacier.
 

PG

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Frankfurt Airport reminds me of a slightly different story. ICE train, ready to go, American couple hurry down the escalator and the husband jumps on as the door signal sounds. Turns round to get wife and luggage just as the doors close and off we go, next stop Mannheim. Wife on platform with luggage, husband on train with tickets.
The lady conductor made some 'phone calls and sorted it out but I bet he got hell when his wife caught up with him!
Reminds me of changing at Nottingham a few years ago off a late running Robin Hood service with my other (less experienced in railway matters) half and daughter in tow. Over the bridge and I'm emphasising that we haven't got time to dwadle as we reach the foot of the stairs with our next service at the far end of the platform. She takes off convinced I'm meaning we'd better try out for the Olympic team, looks back at me as I signal her to get on. I get to the train and realise I'm ok to continue down the platform to locate our reservations before boarding at the appropriate door. She panics at seeing us continue past so jumps off, whistles blow and I spy her through the corridor connection having (rightly) decided to get back on so we head along to retrieve her.
To say she was less than amused is putting it mildly as I'm accused of abandoning her miles from home etc., etc. All the more ironic given that she was born and raised in Nottinghamshire while its anything but local to me!
 

rishtonlad

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I have seen people on the early London services from Preston overcarried mainly to Wigan and Warrington given that the ones I normally use are the first couple off Glasgow.
 

-Colly405-

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Late to this thread, but back in the '80s I was on a northbound overnight, aiming to get off at Carlisle to connect to somewhere further north, I forget where. I woke up at Stranraer.
 

185143

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I've "overslept" on the Inverness sleeper and arrived at the lounge car after breakfast had finished being served.

Made more impressive by the fact that I was in the seats and had been on since Euston.
 

xotGD

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Bending the theme of the thread slightly, one day when there was a cheap ticket deal on I had planned a trip from Birmingham to Penzance. Ticket bought in advance.

I overdossed, and was still in bed when my train left New Street. All was not lost, and I still made it as far as Plymouth.
 

snowball

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I haven't read all the pages of the thread so maybe I'm not the only one who's had an experience like this.

Back in the 1970s I was on a much-delayed Sunday evening train from somewhere on the WCML to Edinburgh. There were two girls in my compartment who lived in Dundee and were returning from a holiday in somewhere like Torquay. They probably had to go to work in the morning. The train stopped at Haymarket and I tried to persuade them that their connection was probably being held there. There was no public address on the train and if there were announcements on the station they were not audible on the train. They insisted on staying on to Waverley. The last I saw of them was when I was getting a taxi and a railway official was telling them they should have got off at Haymarket. I hope the railway paid for a taxi for them.
 

Cdd89

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A couple of years ago, I was with a family member and we were getting the train from London Bridge to Cambridge. We separated on the platform and agreed to meet up on the train. I then couldn’t find said relative so rang them up. They said they were on the train in the third coach sitting near the whatever. It took a long time of walking up and down the train before it dawned that we were on two different trains and she was on the one to Brighton which left from the adjacent platform.
 

anthony263

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When I've done taxis at Bridge It wasn't unheard of getting a knock on the taxi window and a gentleman with briefcase in a suit asking could you take them back to Swindon as they'd fallen asleep on the train.

Always got good tips and £300 taxi fare
 

Lampshade

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I have a mate who claims to have fallen asleep on the train home and woken up in Blackpool Carriage Sidings.

I have my doubts :lol:
 

roversfan2001

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My only instance of overcarrying was while on a train from Leyland to Wigan I fell asleep and woke up at St Helens, heading north, having been to Liverpool and back in the meantime. Luckily, due to various delays, my overall journey wasn't delayed.
 

Killingworth

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August 1961, we arrived at Carigendoran on the Clyde steamer Maid of Ashton to take the 9.08 train to Glasgow. My father always had the national timetables and had calculated this trip around Scotland in the greatest detail. We had a connection from Queen Street across Glasgow to make for Carlisle and then Newcastle.

There was a little train already in the station and we settled down into an old carriage. Ah, it suddenly started off about 8.40 and heading in the right direction, for 2 minutes before reversing to Helensburgh Upper on the way back over to Arrochar and Tarbet!

Quick evacuation, leaving camera behind. Hailed taxi, dashed back to catch correct train at Helensburgh Central at 9.03. Phew!!

The camera was returned to Newcastle Central lost property and I still have the picture of the steamer.

Sad to say I too love timetables.
 
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stut

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Commuting on WAGN/FCC/whatever for many years, you used to frequently get people for Finsbury Park on the first-stop-Biggleswade evening expresses. Quite often, they'd ask someone, and then insist that it did actually stop at Finsbury Park, despite the sign - "they" just didn't want you to use it for short journeys.

Some years before, I'd done the same at Cannon Street, trying to get to London Bridge one evening, and ending up in Sevenoaks.

My most annoying one wasn't strictly an overcarry, but rather a split-off from the route I'd intended. For a while, the "Cambridge Cruisers" and Peterborough semi-fasts left at exactly the same time from King's Cross. And the 17:44 to Peterborough always left from platform 8. I used the bike racks on platform 9, then came through the arch and jumped on at the front. One evening, I did that - there were no departure boards at the front of the platforms then - and all the PIS displays on the train were switched off. But I heard someone saying "it's the 17:44", so just relaxed. No announcements at all - the first I realised was when we sailed past the Peterborough train at Finsbury Park. I'd hoped it was one with a peak stop at Letchworth or A&M, but no such luck - all the way to Cambridge for me! Took me ages to get home...
 

Ianno87

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Some years before, I'd done the same at Cannon Street, trying to get to London Bridge one evening, and ending up in Sevenoaks.

A friend of mine got similarly caught out jumping on an evening peak train at Waterloo East (in the days when not everything stopped at London Bridge) - a lovely excursion to Sevenoaks it was!
 
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