Trivia - journeys which start in one direction before doing a 180 degree (ish) turn

[flitwickbeds]

Where can I get on a train which initially heads in one direction, before doing a semi-circle and ending up in a different place from the opposite (ish) direction?

Rules:
- No circular routes
- No changing trains
- Origin and destination must be a different town/city

My examples:
- Oxford to London Marylebone
- Brighton to Seaford
- Faversham to Ashford via Dover
- Heysham Harbour/Port to Lancaster
- Stratford-upon-Avon to Banbury

 

[Jamesrob637]

Montreux to Gstaad and Zweisimmen, one of many in Switzerland no doubt. Don't Genève-Aéroport to the rest of Switzerland SBB/CFF long-distance trains effectively go the wrong way into and out of the Airport station?

 

[Ianno87]

Stansted to Birmingham....

Heads south out of Stansted initially before curving north towards Cambridge.

Then heads north east towards Ely, north west towards Peterborough/Stamford/Oakham.

Then West through Melton Mowbray and south through Leicester. Then West/South West through Nuneaton to Birmingham. A brief bit of Southward running approaching Proof House.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Kings Cross to Sunderland (LNER route, via Newcastle) and vv.

It literally takes a semi circle through Newcastle between the King Edward (heading NW) and High Level (heading SE) bridges but also creates a wider horseshoe coming northbound into Newcastle, then southeast, east and southeast through South Tyneside before turning south just before Seaburn.

 

[alistairlees]

Moorfields to Birkenhead Hamilton Square (or New Brighton for even greater effect).

 

[SteveM70]

Liskeard to Looe. The branch curves through about 270 degrees.

 

[alistairlees]

Leeds to York via Harrogate would also be a good example; starts off west and goes through 270 degrees to end up south at York.

 

[alistairlees]

Oh, and Norwich to Sheringham - starts off south (ish) before ending up facing west, going via east and south.

 

[Darandio]

Assuming i've understood the rules correctly then the Sunday only (when it runs!) Hartlepool to Darlington service is worth a shout. Starts facing East, runs South then West before arriving at Darlington facing North.

 

[30907]

Faversham to Ramsgate
Dover to Martin Mill
Cromer to Roughton Road (and beyond)
Lincoln to Newark etc
Newcastle to Hexham (via HL Bridge)

Mainland Europe:
Frankfurt Hbf (main) via Sued towards Nuremberg/Berlin/Hamburg/Dresden
Munich Hbf via Ostbhf towards Salzburg/Innsbruck
Hamburg Altona towards Bremen/Hannover
Stuttgart towards Zurich (main line)
Heringsdorf (Usedom) towards Wolgast
Zurich HB via Enge towards Chur/Gotthard/Luzern
Luzern HB towards Gotthard via the original route (Kuessnacht)
Wien Hbf to Westbhf.
Andermatt to Oberalppasshoehe - and many more mountain lines!
Trieste to Ljubljana; Milan Centrale and Rome Termini would be candidates too.

 

[SteveM70]

Manchester Victoria to Blackburn via Copy Pit starts heading roughly north east and ends up going south west

Rochdale to Clitheroe starts south west and end up north east

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Clacton-on-Sea to London Liverpool Street. Starts off in a generally North East direction before looping round to head South West down into London.

 

[306024]

Colchester to Colchester Town.

And for real excitement Ipswich to Derby Road goes through roughly 270 degrees.

 

[NorthOxonian]

The "Romsey 6" service probably counts - it runs south-east from Salisbury to Romsey, and on to Southampton. It then curves northwards to head to Eastleigh, and then goes west back to Romsey.

If that's too circular for you, doing part of the route (Salisbury to Chandler's Ford or Redbridge to Romsey) would count.

 

[John Hunt]

Keep it simple -

Leicester to Oakham.

 

[SteveM70]

The Grand Central Bratfud to London turns through more than 180 degrees between Hipperholme and Mirfield

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Another couple: Largs to Glasgow Central. Initially sets off in a Southerly direction before looping round in a North Easterly direction into Glasgow.

Alloa to Edinburgh. The handful of trains that do this direct set off North Westerly from Alloa before looping round in a generally Easterly direction into Edinburgh.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Colchester to Colchester Town.

Origin and destination aren't separate towns/cities as per the OP, not sure about Ipswich and Derby Road either, otherwise you could equally have Manchester Victoria to Manchester Piccadilly.

 

[Merle Haggard]

When travelling around the North West last summer, catching a train at Blackburn confused my sense of direction. I can't remember the details, but the train I caught to Victoria via Rochdale not unreasonably headed east out of Blackburn but it continued Northwards from Manchester as the same train to, I think, Southport, and was shown as a through service at Blackburn. Another service, leaving at about the same time, headed West but its ultimate destination was to the S.E. of the town via Entwistle and Victoria. Presumably, it's the result of linking several services end-to -end. The current timetable doesn't seem to have these workings so I'm sorry I can't provide fuller details.

 

[Mag_seven]

Hamilton Central to Motherwell.
Glasgow QS to Anniesland via Maryhill
Corrour to Fort William

 

[martinsh]

inverness to Wick ?

Heads roughly west, north, north east, north west, east, north east, north west, north east, east ...

 

[Sloppyjag]

Fort William to Bridge of Orchy. North-East to Spean Bridge, East to Tulloch, South through Corrour to Rannoch then South-West to Bridge of Orchy.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Corrour to Fort William

Does Corrour even count as wayside hamlet noting the OP's original criteria of the origin and destination having to be a different town/city?

How about Stratford-upon-Avon to Stourbridge Junction. Starts off in a Northerly direction before looping through Birmingham and terminating in a generally Southerly direction

 

[306024]

Origin and destination aren't separate towns/cities as per the OP, not sure about Ipswich and Derby Road either, otherwise you could equally have Manchester Victoria to Manchester Piccadilly.

Rule 1. Read the rules, not just the title.
Both Colchester to Colchester Town and Ipswich to Derby Road disqualified, replaced by:

Ipswich to Lowestoft.

 

[Halish Railway]

There’s a couple around the aforementioned Bratfud - The route to Ilkley resembles a question mark, Forster Square to Leeds resembles a horseshoe and Interchange to Huddersfield resembles an S.

 

[martinsh]

Barrow in Furness to Millom
Pwllheli to Shrewsbury

Huddersfield to Sheffield pretty loopy too

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Martinsh: You beat me to it. Barrow-in-Furness to Millom. Sets off in a generally North Westerly direction before looping all the way around the Duddon Estuary and then South Westerly into Millom.

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Anything headed from St Pancras to the HS1. Leaves heading north for a very short distance before swinging east, with all destinations lying to the south of the station

 

[YorksLad12]

Leeds to Castleford? Leaves Leeds westbound, then curves to the south-east.

 

[London Trains]

Wolverhampton to Walsall
Waterloo to Weybridge via Staines
Purley to Tattenham Corner
Gravesend to Ashford
Waterloo to Kingston via Richmond
London Victoria to London Bridge