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Trivia: Most ridiculous through trains?

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Kentish Paul

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Virgin Cross Country did still run this service at the beginning of the franchise on Saturdays. Ramsgate to Birmingham New Street I think.

Yes, and hauled by a Deltic. D9000 in original livery. Went up to Ramsgate a few times just to listen to it. Left Birmingham about 06 something and returned just after midday i think.:D
 
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thenorthern

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Wasn't there once an Aberystwyth to Skegness train once. I know as well there was a Manchester Airport to Cleethorpes via Derby train once as well.

Ah the good old days of Central Trains with their pointless extensions.
 

Rail_40

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A few wacky workings from Summer 2000 section PC WTT;

1N02 0045 London Paddington - Bristol Temple Meads (DMU-T)
1C05 0600 Cardiff Central - Gunnislake (DMU-S)
1C07 MO 0602 Reading - Penzance (DMU-E)
1V07 MX 0505 London Waterloo - Penzance (DMU-E)
1O20 0600 Carmarthen - London Waterloo (DMU-E)
1M45 0600 Portsmouth Harbour - Liverpool Lime Street (DMU-E)
1F07 0625 Carmarthen - Portsmouth Harbour (DMU-E)
1C93 BHX 0929 Pontypridd - Par (DMU-E)
1O24 0759 Manchester Piccadilly - London Waterloo (DMU-E)
1V94 0900 Brighton - Milford Haven (DMU-S)
1V80 1104 Manchester Piccadilly - Penzance (DMU-E)
1V03 1217 London Waterloo - Milford Haven (DMU-E)
1O22 1440 Cardiff Central - London Waterloo (DMU-E)
1O83 1300 Liverpool Lime Street - Portsmouth Harbour (DMU-E)
1M92 1517 London Waterloo - Manchester Piccadilly (DMU-E)
1C98 1323 Milford Haven - Exeter St. Davids (DMU-E)
1V05 1917 London Waterloo - Carmarthen (DMU-E)
1C99 FX 1816 Pembroke Dock - Warminster (DMU-S)
2B66 0736 Highbridge & Burnham - Haverfordwest (DMU-A)
 

Carlisle

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They were Cross Country services weren't they? Even Virgin XC ran into Paddington several times a day in the early to mid 00s, I can't remember whether it stopped with Operation Princess or the handover to Arriva. A
.

I think the Paddington XC services were discontinued the same time the SRA stopped their services to the likes of Liverpool , Blackpool etc around 2004
 

cactustwirly

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PHILIPE

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What about the 1706 Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads
calls at: Twyford, Reading, Theale, Thatcham, Newbury, Kintbury, Hungerford, Bedwyn, Trowbridge, Bradford-on-Avon & Bath Spa
Takes 2hrs 31 minutes

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C50346/2016/03/23/advanced

to compare: 1700 also to Bristol Temple Meads, calls at: Reading, Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Chippenham & Bath Spa. Takes 1hr 44 mins

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C50265/2016/03/23/advanced

Runs to Westbury only from May Timetable.
 

Welshman

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Wasn't there once an Aberystwyth to Skegness train once. I know as well there was a Manchester Airport to Cleethorpes via Derby train once as well.

Ah the good old days of Central Trains with their pointless extensions.

Central Trains also joined-up their Skegness-Nottingham-Derby-Crewe-Manchester Airport services to give through services.

I used to use it from Heckington to Crewe - 3 hours on a 153!!

Central Trains - or the "Yarmouth to Barmouth Railway" as it was also known!
 

Dai Corner

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I seem to remember travelling home from work on a Manchester Piccadilly - Taunton service which left Bristol Temple Meads around 17.15 and called at all stations including Bedminster and Parson Street which had very infrequent calls in those days (early - mid 1980s). It was class 50 hauled and often the buffet stayed open and one could buy a beer before the pubs opened at 18.00.
 

Mark62

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There was a Scarbourogh to Sheffield train around 11am SO that ran via Normanton and Barmsley. This train called called at Normanton. It wasn't balanced by an outward Sheffield service. I travelled on it once with 8 mark 2 stock with declassified first class compartments. We had a peak on the front.
Of course there was the Newcastle to Largs service that had a 40 on it. There were many anomolous Saturday specials years ago. The Devonian from Paignton ran non stop between Torquay and Derby. A marvellous run that did it faster than trains today. The Paignton to Hull and Leeds had 13 coaches, ran via the cut at Chesterfield and split at Doncaster.
One of my favourites was the afternoon Scarborough to Leicester that ran via the Anlaby curve and ran non stop between Brid and Selby. Then it took an unusual route to Baghill. It was usually a 31 with a collection of different classes of stock.
Unusual runs have always been an interest of mine. I started studying the timetables in 74. Wish I still have them all. I believe that one had an 87 on the front.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Yes, and hauled by a Deltic. D9000 in original livery. Went up to Ramsgate a few times just to listen to it. Left Birmingham about 06 something and returned just after midday i think.:D
Didn't it run under the PSA or something like that. Would that be public service agreement. I do believe that Virgin were obligated to run it and other strange runs to the south coast to places like Eastbourne
 

Bookd

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Withdrawal of the Virgin services to Kent lead to introduction of the daily 'parliamentry' from Wandsworth Road to Kensington Olympia, and the more ridiculous weekly rail replacement bus to Ealing Broadway. This was because although the Virgin service did not carry such local passengers they formed the only remaining passenger trains over a short stretch of track near Clapham Junction. When the trains ceased it did not occur to anyone that they needed to formally close the line as a passenger route.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I should of course have said Sussex services - Eastbourne is not in Kent!
 
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Which in turn were a legacy from the old GWR route from Paddington - Birmingham - Birkenhead.

When the WCML was electrified the aim was for all London - Birmingham - NW traffic to be serviced from Euston.

A couple of trains a day between Paddington & Birmingham / NW were left in place to retain those links.

Back the late 70s there was a regular hourly Paddington to Birmingham service. I used it to comute to and from Oxford. If I recall it was a class 47 and MK1 or MK 2 service
 

hassaanhc

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How about the Sunday afternoon and evening services in both direction between London Waterloo and Kingston that travel via the Hounslow Loop to Twickenham and reverse there to go to Kingston? :D I don't think anyone would ever have thought that the second Sunday train per hour for the Hounslow Loop from 13 December 2015 would come in that format, rather than the more expected circular service (out to Hounslow via Brentford, return to Waterloo via Richmond, or vice-versa) that runs Monday to Saturday.

However, due to various engineering works, the full service to/from Kingston has so far only run on one Sunday (in over 3 months!), and that one occasion (20 December 2015) was only because engineering work on Hounslow Loop was cancelled! The other occasion the full service ran was New Years Day 2016, which actually fell on a Friday but a Sunday service operated. Although on Sundays 17 Jan to 14 Feb inclusive the last service, the 0011 Barnes to Kingston (actually Monday by this point ;)) did run via Hounslow. The next Sunday that a full service is expected to run is on 3 April.
 
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Central Trains also joined-up their Skegness-Nottingham-Derby-Crewe-Manchester Airport services to give through services.

I used to use it from Heckington to Crewe - 3 hours on a 153!!

Central Trains - or the "Yarmouth to Barmouth Railway" as it was also known!

I'm sure central trains would have topped the list with more than one of their services if they were still around!!
 

Mark62

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May 1984 to May 1986 saw a Paddington to Hull and Leeds XC working which returned to Brighton.
http://www.1s76.com/1S76%201984.htm
I'd forgotten that one. I had to be in Hull for the morning and deliberately caught an afternoon train back. It was hauled by a 47 and had four or five air conditioned Mark 2 stock. That memory was buried deep. Now, I can't remember what the final destination was but the Leeds portion joined at Doncaster. I got off ,I think, in Sheffield. I think we left hull around 14.00.
 

Wookiee

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There goes half an hour of my life...

The 06:52 Manchester Piccadilly to London Waterloo (1O24)

Calling at

Crewe, Nantwich, Wrenbury, Chester, Prees, Wem, Yorton, Shrewsbury, Chester, Craven Arms, Ludlow, Leominster, Hereford, Abergavenny, Cwmbraen Bristol Temple Meads, Bath Spa, Bradford Upon Avon, Trowbridge, Warminster, Woking, Clapham Junction and London Waterloo (13:14)

This is in the 2001 timetable.

What the hell was this formed of?! Sprinter or LHCS?
 

Doctor Fegg

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BR once ran Paddington-Birmingham circulars on a Sunday: out via the Cotswold Line and back via Banbury, and vice versa. Apparently advertised at New Street as trains to Charlbury!

In the mid/late-90s Central Trains had a Cambridge-Aberystwyth service for a while.
 

Shrimper

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Once upon a time TPE ran a Barrow-Windermere service via Lancaster and Morecambe - it now starts at Lancaster.
 

Blindtraveler

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Nowhere near enough to a Pacer :(
Nobodys mentioned the Edinburgh Inverness via Aberdeen. Currently an evening train but theres been a working over this routing in one shape or form for years. I remember when it was a morning departure South and formed of a single 158, always horribly overloaded by Huntley and pre dating the fast running from Louchers meaning by the time it reached the likes of Kirkaldy and Inverkeithing pax were being asked not to bord.

Another 2 services joined into 1 but with no benifit for end to end users is Edinburgh Ayr via Glasgow central. Multiple stops via Motherwell etc but to add insult to injury anyone wanting Prestwick Airport or a connection to Irish see services from the East has to suffer the slowest of the 4TPH Glasgow Ayr workings.
 

Master29

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was it by any chance a hangover from the wandering days of the Class 33's - a good way of bringing a lost one one home? They worked into South Wales, then on to Crewe/Chester and then sometimes got hijacked to run to Manchester

Strange one that. Almost half reminiscent of the current SWT Waterloo to Bristol but what about the Penzance - Manchester Piccadilly/ Milford Haven via Newport and Abergavenny. I remember it had 3 coaches. A,B and another a single unit that presumably was the portion that went to Milford Haven. Was confusing when you got on it as if you did have a reserved seat you often had a bit of a tete a tete with whoever wanted the same seat as you.
 

30907

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BR once ran Paddington-Birmingham circulars on a Sunday: out via the Cotswold Line and back via Banbury, and vice versa. Apparently advertised at New Street as trains to Charlbury!

And on weekdays.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Nobodys mentioned the Edinburgh Inverness via Aberdeen. Currently an evening train but theres been a working over this routing in one shape or form for years. I remember when it was a morning departure South and formed of a single 158, always horribly overloaded by Huntley and pre dating the fast running from Louchers meaning by the time it reached the likes of Kirkaldy and Inverkeithing pax were being asked not to bord..

But there's nothing ridiculous about the routing.
 

61653 HTAFC

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I can't imagine many would've used the Leeds to Sheffield via Huddersfield from end to end. Especially as it was advertised as a Dodworth service at Leeds.
 

Mcr Warrior

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Once upon a time TPE ran a Barrow-Windermere service via Lancaster and Morecambe - it now starts at Lancaster.

Northern now operate a "direct" service (Mon-Sat) from Barrow-in-Furness to Windermere, this is 1720 service via Lancaster arriving Windermere at 1858.
 

Altfish

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Not read through all these but has the Glasgow to Penzance service been mentioned. It goes via Edinburgh and the ECML to York. IIRC it takes about 12-hours
 

grid56126

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.......and if you go back further to the "The European / Lorelei / anothernamethisyear" Harwich boat train from Scotland, now that was simply daft.

Was it daft? Think back 25 - 30 years.

No channel Tunnel . . .

European flights were available, but mostly by flag carriers at huge prices, low cost was not around then. . . .

Domestic connections to the continent were by traditional train . boat . train. . .

Victoria to Dover / Ramsgate boat train and connections from Calais / Ostende were busy enough to run multiple trains of 12 CEP / MLVs to from Victoria and the viable alternatives in those days were Harwich / Hoek and Harwich / Various DFDS connections. A daily connecting train to and from the midlands / North served a very real purpose. A lot of those flying from East Midlands and Manchester / Bradford today on budget airlines would have used these trains. I used the Liverpool Street / Harwich / Hoek route a few times when there was no viable alternative and compared to today's flying / Eurostar alternatives it was a decent journey. Train / ship / train connections with minimal distance required to lug bags around at both ports. No stupid bag search theatre, despite the whole of the UK and Europe being under some nasty campaigns, far worse than we see today.

Toward the end of their lives the trains ran empty as competition bit in. They had to go then, quite rightly, they served little purpose, although 86/2s over the North London Line were quite hellfire in the last year of operation.
 

Senex

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I used the Liverpool Street / Harwich / Hoek route a few times when there was no viable alternative and compared to today's flying / Eurostar alternatives it was a decent journey. Train / ship / train connections with minimal distance required to lug bags around at both ports. No stupid bag search theatre, despite the whole of the UK and Europe being under some nasty campaigns, far worse than we see today.
I too used that route a good few times, both by the Liverpool Street train and by the North Country Continental. It was indeed a decent journey, and you're so right about no stupid bag search theatre (or long queues for passport controls). It was always good to see the long-distance trains all lined up at Hoek on arrival in the morning. And do you remember coming the other way using the westbound Rheingold on occasions when it was running late and they opened a side-gate and just let you get straight from train to boat by the quickest route?
 
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