Merseyrailfan
Member
Would the 507s longest Journey would be either Liverpool Central to Chester or Hunts Cross to Southport, which one? 507s have not gone anywhere since their introduction back in 78.
As individual moves this was nothing unusual on the Western, where all steam locos periodically visited Swindon works, including those from the far-flung corners, and then after overhaul commonly got reallocated wherever elsewhere, so over time all tended to have made these lengthy runs. Most notable were the two pannier tanks, 1646/49, which from new in 1951 were allocated to the Dornoch branch in the far north of Scotland until withdrawn in 1962. I believe they only came back to Swindon for overhaul once in that time, plus their initial delivery run, but it must have been quite a trip.Worth a mention is the surprising run of over 200 miles from Plymouth to Didcot on Saturday 2/12/1967 by preserved 0-4-2T 1466, coupled inside Hall 6998, on a GWS stock working. Both engines were in steam, and ran via Taunton, the Berks and Hants line and the Reading West curve, with water stops at Totnes, Exeter SD and I think Westbury. The 0-4-2’s bunker must have been quite low on coal on arrival at Didcot Railway Centre, or maybe the the Hall did most of the work!
They were intended for Manchester to Scotland, but as you say they did get elsewhere at times. Don't think they ever got as far as Aberdeen or Penzance, and almost certainly didn't run in service between the two.How far did the CrossCountry 158s venture? I seem to recall they cropped up on workings like Blackpool - Portsmouth on occasion…did they go further than that?
That is (or was) indeed a real service. There is also a Faversham - St Pancras via Deal service although obviously that won't be as long as the Kent loop service (although may well be the longest 395 service today).Not sure about 375s, although there is at least one service from Faversham to Charing X going round via Ramsgate, Dover and Ashford before going up the SEML that must be in with a shout.
The short-lived FNW service will certainly be the longest a 322 has done, along with 309s as they occasionally deputised. The Rochdale and Blackpool runs with 158s won't be though, as they've also run to Manchester from both London Waterloo and Penzance in Wales&West days.Surely the 322 manchester airport to Euston service is the longest service by the units.
Didn't the 158 run a Euston to Blackpool service as well?
Strictly speaking the Chester runs are Chester to Chester via the Liverpool loop, so that will be the longest.Would the 507s longest Journey would be either Liverpool Central to Chester or Hunts Cross to Southport, which one? 507s have not gone anywhere since their introduction back in 78.
For 508 at connex worked the London bridge to Tonbridge wells regularly.The short-lived FNW service will certainly be the longest a 322 has done, along with 309s as they occasionally deputised. The Rochdale and Blackpool runs with 158s won't be though, as they've also run to Manchester from both London Waterloo and Penzance in Wales&West days.
For 321s it'll be the time the West Yorkshire units were subbed onto Kings Cross services from Leeds after the Sandy derailment which saw all IC225 sets stopped for checks.
Strictly speaking the Chester runs are Chester to Chester via the Liverpool loop, so that will be the longest.
Might also be the longest for 508s, depending on what workings they did on the SW and SE.
Back in the 1980s, I believe some of the Tyseley based suburban DMUs got to exotic locations like Skegness.
I know in the early First Great Western days a 143 did Cardiff to Penzance. When FGW took over the local services from Wessex Trains there was a period when the attitude seemed to be that any DMU was interchangeable with any other DMU so we got things like 158s on the Taunton-Gloucester stoppers and 143s on semi-fasts.It wouldn't surprise me if a 143 had done something like Penzance to Swansea back in Wales&West days, longest run I had on one was Taunton to Newport though, which ran as far as Cardiff Central.
Class 313s have worked Kings Cross-Cambridge, during the "wrong sort of snow" in February 1991, but not in regular passenger service. I think that Kings Cross-Cambridge is nevertheless not quite as far as Brighton-Southampton.The 313s have done Brighton to Ore via Eastbourne and Brighton to Southampton via Swanwick and Brighton to Southampton via Eastleigh all in passenger service. I am not sure of the distances but for the 313s it would be one of those three. I am not sure which is the longest but it would likely be one of these three. Unless any of the 313s ever made it to Cambridge or Kings Lynn or Peterborough when FCC or GN or WAGN had them but i am not aware of this ever happening.
Class 377/5s worked Thameslink for a while including lots of Bedford-Brighton, though the longest working was probably Bedford-Ashford via Maidstone.The 377s would probably be either London Victoria to Southampton via Worthing and Eastleigh or maybe Brighton to Watford Junction too. I am not sure which one is further. But it would be one of those two.
I believe they did.Speaking of the 309s, when FNW got rid, didn't they do a Manchester to GEML railtour?
I’m pretty sure they did Liverpool Street to Cambridge services during the WAGN days.315s - poss Liverpool St _ Southend Vic (had one myself to Billericay)
508s did Waterloo to Horsham regularly - 39 miles I think.The short-lived FNW service will certainly be the longest a 322 has done, along with 309s as they occasionally deputised. The Rochdale and Blackpool runs with 158s won't be though, as they've also run to Manchester from both London Waterloo and Penzance in Wales&West days.
For 321s it'll be the time the West Yorkshire units were subbed onto Kings Cross services from Leeds after the Sandy derailment which saw all IC225 sets stopped for checks.
Strictly speaking the Chester runs are Chester to Chester via the Liverpool loop, so that will be the longest.
Might also be the longest for 508s, depending on what workings they did on the SW and SE.
Waterloo-Paignton started in the early 1970s with class 33 haulage as a way of making use of otherwise ECS stabling runs to Newton Abbott. They were used for early evening Exeter-Paignton commuter traffic. They ran as through services but may not have been publicly timetabledI think Waterloo - Paignton services appeared in around 1994 shortly after the 159s took over - they were definitely running by 1996. Plymouth was added as a destination around 2000. For some years the majority of London - Torbay services ran from Waterloo and SWT provided Ivybridge's only London service.
Cockfosters to Hounslow?The 483s would be the Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin services.
The 484s would be the Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin services.
Here are a few suggestions that I think have not been mentioned yet.
Electric loco: class 86s Harwich-Glasgow via Birmingham.
As I have already mentioned, this train ran via Birmingham not the Trent Valley, so the mileage is even further.There was the Glasgow Central - Harwich Parkeston Quay service which was a through 86/2. Initially it was dragged Camden Road - Channelsea Jn by a 47 until the North London Line was electrified. I believe there was a short period of through electric working before the train was withdrawn. Did anybody on here do it? I did the balancing train out of Harwich at 0750 one morning, after some Continental bash. We made an out of course stop at Ilford, and despite the announcements to stand clear, a number of GE commuters boarded the train thinking it was an express to Liverpool Street. The guard greeted them over the PA with "Good morning, and welcome aboard The European to Glasgow Central. Our next stop will be Crewe." In fact there was a pick up only stop at Watford Junction, so the stowaways were able to alight there! I make it about 466 miles for the 86/2, or 471.75 after through electrification.
Of the six A4s involved, in those 17 recorded 408 mile non-stop runs, 60029 accomplished the feat nine times. The decision to reroute from Tweedmouth to Edinburgh via Kelso and Galashiels, and vice versa, was announced on 17th August and workings began on Monday 23rd. I would have thought some route learning, over the St Boswells-Kelso-Tweedmouth branch must have been undertaken beforehand, by the top-link Haymarket crews involved.In the summer of 1948 the Flying Scotsman was restored to a non stop run between London and Edinburgh and vice versa. In August severe storms swept away several bridges between Berwick and Dunbar and all Anglo-Scottish services were diverted to run via Kelso and Galashiels. Initially no thought was given to running non stop but on August 24th Driver Stevenson of Haymarket shed had a go at running non-stop and succeeded in covering the 90 miles from Waverley to Lucker troughs and the train ran on to London non-stop, a world record distance for a steam engine of 408 miles. This feat was subsequently repeated 17 times (8 down and 9 up).