Trivia: Services that you find interesting for one reason or another

[jackot]

Here is a question: What services near you would you say you find particularly different or interesting for one reason or another? The railway seems to be losing more and more unique, infrequent or interesting services over the past few decades (for better and for worse), so what are some that are left? It is one of my favourite things about the railway, being able to travel on niche/infrequent services that I can actually find a use for.

I'm thinking maybe once-per-day services with a different operator or type of rolling stock to the norm, or services that happen occasionally only during diverts that bring new destinations/stock to a station. Really anything you find interesting that is not so frequent.

For example, I've recently loved using the Crosscountry diverts that occur via Guildford and Havant when the SWML is closed for engineering to get to destinations like Manchester and Newcastle, which haven't been seen on the departure boards since the days of XC running to Brighton and Portsmouth, or the morning service that ran pre-covid.

Another one for me would be the 444 diagrams that run Alton-Waterloo, as well as the 458 that goes 'the long way round' from Waterloo to Aldershot via Ascot once per day, leaving at around 17:00 as 1N91. IIRC, isn't there an SWR service that runs on the district line at some point for route knowledge?

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

IIRC, isn't there an SWR service that runs on the district line at some point for route knowledge?

Indeed, the 04:54 from Basingstoke to London Waterloo diverts along the District Line between Wimbledon and Wandsworth Town.

I believe one (or possibly a few) of the late evening services does the diversion in the opposite direction, but I'm not too sure.

There also used to be a relatively short-lived South Western Railway service from London Waterloo to Corfe Castle which doubled back four times, at Yeovil Junction, Yeovil Pen Mill, Weymouth and Wareham, which I always found rather quirky.

 

[hexagon789]

Indeed, the 04:54 from Basingstoke to London Waterloo diverts along the District Line between Wimbledon and Wandsworth Town.

I believe one (or possibly a few) of the late evening services does the diversion in the opposite direction, but I'm not too sure.

There also used to be a relatively short-lived South Western Railway service from London Waterloo to Corfe Castle which doubled back four times, at Yeovil Junction, Yeovil Pen Mill, Weymouth and Wareham, which I always found rather quirky.

2L77 2312 London Waterloo to Basingstoke does the diversion in the opposite direction.

 

[Snow1964]

My local station, Bradford-on-Avon, has an early morning 05:35 through train to London on Mon-Fri, starts from Bristol, but skips Bath Spa. There is no direct return service from London.

Saturdays see a cross country 220 or 221 Bristol-Plymouth pass through at early 06:27, presumably to keep crew knowledge of diversions

 

[nw1]

Here is a question: What services near you would you say you find particularly different or interesting for one reason or another? The railway seems to be losing more and more unique, infrequent or interesting services over the past few decades (for better and for worse), so what are some that are left? It is one of my favourite things about the railway, being able to travel on niche/infrequent services that I can actually find a use for.

I'm thinking maybe once-per-day services with a different operator or type of rolling stock to the norm, or services that happen occasionally only during diverts that bring new destinations/stock to a station. Really anything you find interesting that is not so frequent.

For example, I've recently loved using the Crosscountry diverts that occur via Guildford and Havant when the SWML is closed for engineering to get to destinations like Manchester and Newcastle, which haven't been seen on the departure boards since the days of XC running to Brighton and Portsmouth, or the morning service that ran pre-covid.

Another one for me would be the 444 diagrams that run Alton-Waterloo, as well as the 458 that goes 'the long way round' from Waterloo to Aldershot via Ascot once per day, leaving at around 17:00 as 1N91. IIRC, isn't there an SWR service that runs on the district line at some point for route knowledge?

Can these be from any period in history?

One very quirky service was the hourly Waterloo-Haslemere stopper which ran, briefly, from September 1994 to May 1995. It was non-stop Waterloo-Guildford and v.v., via the Cobham line, then all stations to Haslemere, headcode 74. In the down direction it was overtaken by the following 81 fast at Guildford, while in the up direction it ran just behind the 82 semi-fast, giving Godalming and Farncombe two trains within 10 mins of each other, then nothing for almost another hour. Usually a single VEP.

Another was the 1984/5 and 1985/6 version of the famous loco-hauled 0805 from Portsmouth Harbour (1M03 in some years). This went to Manchester in 1983/4 and Liverpool in 1986/7, but in the intervening two years it went to Poole via Reading, providing a connection into the northbound Wessex Scot. It seemed to be mostly a positioning move, as there was an unbalanced Liverpool-Portsmouth the previous night and it then went on to form an unbalanced Poole-Manchester.

 

[jackot]

Can these be from any period in history?

Yep absolutely!

One very quirky service was the hourly Waterloo-Haslemere stopper which ran, briefly, from September 1994 to May 1995. It was non-stop Waterloo-Guildford and v.v., via the Cobham line, then all stations to Haslemere, headcode 74. In the down direction it was overtaken by the following 81 fast at Guildford, while in the up direction it ran just behind the 82 semi-fast, giving Godalming and Farncombe two trains within 10 mins of each other, then nothing for almost another hour. Usually a single VEP.

Wow, I never realised that existed! Strange of it going Waterloo to Guildford non-stop via the Cobham line, I suppose the only time that has happened since is during engineering works.

Indeed, the 04:54 from Basingstoke to London Waterloo diverts along the District Line between Wimbledon and Wandsworth Town.

I believe one (or possibly a few) of the late evening services does the diversion in the opposite direction, but I'm not too sure.

There also used to be a relatively short-lived South Western Railway service from London Waterloo to Corfe Castle which doubled back four times, at Yeovil Junction, Yeovil Pen Mill, Weymouth and Wareham, which I always found rather quirky.

That was the one I was thinking of.
I had heard of SWR going to Corfe Castle at some point, but that route must have taken 5 hours at least I would think!

 

[py_megapixel]

For some reason there used to be a random all-stations (or close to it) service from Stoke-on-Trent to Blackpool North leaving about 07:00 every weekday. This was relatively short-lived by the standards of such things - I think it ran from May 2018 to December 2022. Stock was a 331, which was unusual on the Stoke line at that time.

I can't remember if there was a corresponding evening return. I suppose there must have been in order to put the 331 in the right place.

 

[Matt1981]

I remember in the early 2000s the late service from Birmingham New Street to Bromsgrove being a Wales and Borders 158 (destination Cardiff Central), which made a change from the usual Central Trains units.

I'm sure I remember in the early 90s an early morning working from Worcester - New Street using a 166 (unless I was dreaming)

These days, I like my journey to work on Tuesdays (I start later one day a week for childcare reasons) using the one a day diagram routed via the Camp Hill line on the Hereford/Worcester - New Street route. Even after a year of catching this once a week it still seems a novelty after years of stopping at University every day

 

[samrammstein]

On Sunday mornings there is Merseyrail service, 2W04 0749 Rock Ferry to West Kirby, which is one of only a few Merseyrail services which switch lines in service (there are a few early ELP/CTR examples midweek). Thought if onboard the PIS would only advertise the destination as Liverpool Central until past James St.

 

[318266]

The Helensburgh expresses pre-GLQ rebuild works were always nice.

Believe the morning left Helensburgh at 0759, all stations to Dumbarton Central, Scotstounhill, Hyndland, all stations to I believe High Street or Bellgrove or maybe even Springburn.

The 1712 return was from Bellgrove, all stops to Partick, non-stop to Dumbarton C then all to Helensburgh.

The first train out of Oban Mon-Fri called at all stations to Helensburgh Upper, Cardross, Dumbarton Central, Singer, Maryhill, Possilpark then Glasgow Queen Street.

 

[nw1]

Yep absolutely!


Wow, I never realised that existed! Strange of it going Waterloo to Guildford non-stop via the Cobham line, I suppose the only time that has happened since is during engineering works.

You can find it on the 1994 WTT on Network Rail, section WG.

A little later on, there was also the hourly Waterloo-Portsmouth and Southsea fast at xx40, calling only at Guildford and Havant, which also generally went non-stop via the Cobham line, with a few exceptions. Usually a single 442, with CIGs appearing near peak times.

 

[yorksrob]

The 21:00 Ribblehead - Leeds. Being the only one getting on in the middle of the countryside is quite enjoyable.

 

[xotGD]

The Skipton - King's Cross. A daily loco hauled service down Airedale, when everything else is a unit. Used to be my regular commute for a couple of years but I don't get up early enough to see it too often these days.

 

[SouthEastern-465]

The Bromley North Branch when it runs directly to and from London Charing Cross during engineering work or new years eve.

The last regular direct service ceased in 1990 I believe.

 

[Springs Branch]

Couple of random examples:

- CrossCountry services between Manchester and Birmingham & beyond which (generally once per day) run via Crewe rather than Macclesfield. Sometimes these have gone via the Alsager line and Stoke, sometimes direct via the WCML to Stafford.

- Similarly, I think there used to be one ATW train per day between Birmingham and Chester which went via Stafford and Crewe rather than Shrewsbury and Wrexham. But this one might not have been in the timetable for a few years now.

- Local trains between Wigan NW and Liverpool Lime St going (generally once per day) via Newton-le-Willows and St Helens Junction, rather than St Helens Central.
For many years this had been a once-per-week parliamentary train in one direction only - usually running at some odd time like late Sunday evening or first thing Saturday morning, to retain a nominal service on the Golborne Jn - Lowton Jn - NLW Jn chord.

Historically:
- Expresses between Piccadilly and Euston which ran via the Styal line (pre-Airport days, of course), missing Stockport but calling at Wilmslow. One of the Manchester Pullman runs did this for a good few years.

- Northern ran regular Southport - Manchester - Stockport - Chester trains on Sundays in the past. Not too interesting in itself, but a Southport to Chester ticket was technically not valid on this through train. SOP-CTR tickets were priced by Merseyrail and issued 'VIA BIRKENHEAD' with no other options available. I don't know whether or not anyone attempting the long-way-around journey on the Northern train was ever refused or penalised. Maybe the long ride on a Pacer was penalty enough.

 

[Strathclyder]

Not sure if the range of diversions that resulted from the Queen Street High Level/Cowlairs Tunnel closure/blockade between March and June 2016 strictly qualify here, but there were some interesting services that sprang up as a result. My personal standout were the Anniesland - Falkirk Grahamston, services, which ran via Maryhill, Springburn, Cumbernauld & Camelon.

The first train out of Oban Mon-Fri called at all stations to Helensburgh Upper, Cardross, Dumbarton Central, Singer, Maryhill, Possilpark then Glasgow Queen Street.

Was coming here to mention this one if it hadn't been mentioned already.

This particular service (headcode 1Y20) formerly started at Arrochar & Tarbet until it was extended to Oban in the December 2014 timetable change, and at one time provided the WHL stations in SPT's area with a morning commuter service into Glasgow in the time period in which they managed the heavy rail stations in their region, though this had long ceased to be the case by the time it was extended to Oban. It has managed to retain it's unique stopping pattern for historical reasons barring major blockades of course.

(I believe it dates back to the BR/loco-hauled era, but am willing to be corrected on that)

 

[Intercity110]

the cross city due to the 323s and the uniformity of the stations.
the marston vale due to the rural-ness of the line, the 230s (not any more!) and the high amount of level crossings
the High speed 1 due to the speed and rolling stock.

 

[30907]

This particular service (headcode 1Y20) formerly started at Arrochar & Tarbet until it was extended to Oban in the December 2014 timetable change, and at one time provided the WHL stations in SPT's area with a morning commuter service into Glasgow in the time period in which they managed the heavy rail stations in their region, though this had long ceased to be the case by the time it was extended to Oban. It has managed to retain it's unique stopping pattern for historical reasons barring major blockades of course.

(I believe it dates back to the BR/loco-hauled era, but am willing to be corrected on that)

OK, correction follows

The service was provided initially by starting one of the then-new Maryhill services back from Garelochhead (I think initially, not Arrochar) in response to demand (this explains the suburban stops).
Maryhill reopened in 1993, and I think the extension was a couple of years later, so we are getting into the Sprinter era. (An early morning Glasgow-Maryhill was sacrificed to get the set out to the WHL.)

One of my favourites back in the 70s was the 0100 Holborn V to Bromley N via London Bridge (I actually caught it once, connecting out of the last Charing X-Dartford); in its last years it then went back to Grove Park and on to Orpington.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Once used a diverted Manchester -> Buxton service, operating at the Northern end of the route, between Manchester Victoria and Stockport (via Denton) on a Sunday (a decade or two ago). Much more interesting route than using the rail replacement bus from Piccadilly.

 

[Andy Pacer]

Quite like the Sunday only Nottingham - Carlisle (via the S&C).

 

[zero]

My goal has been to travel on as many unusual routes as possible.

https://www.branchline.uk/PSULdocs.php has a comprehensive listing of all rarely used passenger train routes since 1963, but it would not include services that just have atypical calling patterns or are concatenations of two normal routes, and doesn't pay attention to rolling stock at all.

Also if you sign up to GENSHEET there is a weekly summary of diversions that may use a rare route, and people also post about unusual track, but some of these are very minor for example unusual crossovers and running the "unusual" direction on bidirectionally signalled lines.

Personally the only unusual services that I actually use for genuine travel rather than just making a special trip for fun, are the early morning Croydon tram services from Therapia Lane towards New Addington when the trams start from the depot - for the rest of the day New Addington services go round the Croydon loop.

 

[miklcct]

The most interesting service for me in the UK is the Shenfield metro. It is my ideal of how railways should be operated in general. It is the role model of how we can maximise the capacity on existing mainline architecture, similar to the East Rail Line in Hong Kong which is also a metro operation on mainline track.

I am truly interested in any mainline railways where a high-capacity, frequent, simple metro operation runs.

 

[JD2168]

One odd journey I have been on is the once a day Northern from Scarborough to Sheffield which instead of running via Goole & through Thorne & Hatfield goes via Selby then via the East Coast Main Line to Doncaster.

There used to be a train at 7:05pm from Bridlington which instead of being limited stop as usual stopped at almost every station on the route to Sheffield & ran via Rotherham Central.

 

[Techniquest]

There's been a number of unusual workings over the years that I've done, I'll be honest I've no chance of remembering all of them. A good few were PSUL workings, done specifically for the track when I still cared about such things, and some were diversions around engineering works.

One working that will always stay in mind is the long-gone Abergavenny to London Paddington. One of the early Hereford to London HST services, that came up empty from Bristol, entered service at Abergavenny for a while. The racket made by the screaming HSTs at the time was incredible, certainly one way to wake yourself up there with the climb up Llanvihangel!

Another slightly odd one was the 0330 (as it was back then) Swansea to Paddington, as it was normally routed via Ninian Park on its way into Cardiff. I also recall it had a long standing time in Cardiff too. On the same theme, the super-early service on Saturdays used to reverse at Bristol Parkway, calling also at Bristol Temple Meads then onwards to London. I still remember being asleep on it once and waking up fast as the train manager came through bellowing his request to view people's tickets. Not that he stopped long enough to actually check tickets!

In terms of current services, I do like the weekend diversions of Hereford to Birmingham services via Kidderminster when they happen. It's just the novelty factor for me there, arriving at Snow Hill is such a different experience to arriving at New Street! When I'm on it, I do like the first Sunday service to Manchester from Hereford, as it goes via the Manchester Airport avoiding line. Again, a novelty and just fun to do something slightly different.

To be honest, I don't do weird and wonderful workings much these days. Occasionally I consider revisiting PSUL and seeing what bits I haven't done, but that's just never got off the starting line. I just don't have the enthusiasm for doing stupid o'clock journeys for PSUL workings now! There's that weird one from Wigan to Liverpool via Newton-le-Willows that occasionally comes to mind, and the Saturdays Only Skipton to Kings Cross via Hambleton West Junction too, but I just don't have the desire to book time off for them!

 

[Strathclyder]

OK, correction follows

The service was provided initially by starting one of the then-new Maryhill services back from Garelochhead (I think initially, not Arrochar) in response to demand (this explains the suburban stops).
Maryhill reopened in 1993, and I think the extension was a couple of years later, so we are getting into the Sprinter era. (An early morning Glasgow-Maryhill was sacrificed to get the set out to the WHL.)

Cheers for that, not sure where I got the idea that it started during the loco-hauled era from tbh; had a gut feeling it originated in the Sprinter era not long after Maryhill was reopened.

That does square, as Garelochhead is a SPT boundary station on the WHL. Wonder why 1Y20 was later curtailed to start at Arrochar & Tarbet, as even with the historical context you've provided, it still seems like a strange starting point.

 

[GW43125]

Circa 2019, when the 442s were reintroduced, there were a couple of Sunday evening glorified Bournemouth-Fratton positioning moves. One such move was the 18.18 Poole-Waterloo, stopping only at Bournemouth and Southampton on the way. There were a couple of Portsmouths as such which were something like Waterloo-(new line)-Guildford-Havant-Fratton-Southsea (I may have missed one out).

I'm sure there used to be an HST in the mornings which was pretty much a Didcot stopper, and part of me wants to say it skipped Reading. Needless to say, it was the very first diagram to become a 387. Similarly, the 17.07 & 18.07 Paddington-Frome (HST) used to stop at Twyford for some reason.

Back on the south western, there was a morning Basingstoke-Waterloo which, until May or December last year, called all stations to Brookwood, then Weybridge (skipping Woking), then over the crossover to the up fast at the London end, fast to Waterloo.

There also used to be a peak train (2N13) which ran semi fast Richmond (later Clapham then eventually Waterloo) as far as Egham, then ran fast to Ascot before carrying on to Guildford via Aldershot. Was quite good getting 70mph out of a pair of 456s, being the only service train to skip Virginia Water and Sunningdale during normal service. Latterly went over to a 450 before being binned in 2022.

Was very much a one-off but for football one year, southern ran a 12 car 387 calling Brighton-Falmer-Lewes-Eastbourne. It was absolutely empty and we flew along to Eastbourne. My usual train home from Brighton was a 12 car 387 which called Hassocks, Gatwick, Croydon, Clapham, Victoria. Always got a storming run and was empty until Gatwick. I do miss the fast Brightons though.

Summer Saturday networkers to Ramsgate were also good, pretty much all stations via Greenwich but got a few fast runs (Herne Bay to Margate being one)

And the pre-2018 peak Tattenhams. Pair of 455s fast London bridge to Norwood. Other good 455 runs include engineering timetables when they occasionally do Clapham-Woking non stop, and the last Guildford on a Saturday night which, from memory, called something like Clapham, Surbiton, Woking, Guildford.

 

[Purple Train]

I like 1N42 and 1R03. 1N42 is the 1656 Paddington-Maidenhead, operated by GWR; fast to Slough, then calls additionally at Burnham. 1R03 is the 1758 Paddington-Reading, also operated by GWR; fast to Slough, then all stations except Taplow to Reading. I don't use them often, but they're nice little novelties!

 

[james60059]

As any period in history is welcome, I lived in Coventry until early 2000's and always liked the variation of destinations that Central Trains ran from Coventry via Leicester (Lincoln, Nottingham and even Sheffield was one too). Of course, the Nuneaton remodelling scheme put paid to that but IIRC, Central Trains use to have some weird and wonderful diagrams.

 

[Kite159]

I like 1N42 and 1R03. 1N42 is the 1656 Paddington-Maidenhead, operated by GWR; fast to Slough, then calls additionally at Burnham. 1R03 is the 1758 Paddington-Reading, also operated by GWR; fast to Slough, then all stations except Taplow to Reading. I don't use them often, but they're nice little novelties!

Especially with the large upgrade, a 387 has only the metro spec 345s on the Elizabeth line

 

[JonathanH]

I like 1N42 and 1R03. 1N42 is the 1656 Paddington-Maidenhead, operated by GWR; fast to Slough, then calls additionally at Burnham. 1R03 is the 1758 Paddington-Reading, also operated by GWR; fast to Slough, then all stations except Taplow to Reading. I don't use them often, but they're nice little novelties!

All gone in the new timetable as well. GW calls at the smaller stations are now overnight novelties.