Trivia: Unusual train services

[Esker-pades]

There's probably a reason for this, but Kyle of Localsh to Elgin seems a bit of a strange service

It is the only service that uses the third side of the triangle of track at Inverness.

 

[4-SUB 4732]

I get confused with the class numbers! If a 465 is a Networker, these are also on the Ashford services, stopping at Orpington then fast to London Bridge. If a 376 is the Electrostar, then, yes, that would be rare!

Don’t believe there are any more 465s on the Ashford to London? Unless there’s the very rare peak service that has them?

 

[ItsGrimUpNorth]

Just discovered that there is a through/stopping service that leaves Carlisle at 1745 and ends up at Morpeth.

The first train of the day, at 0630, also goes through to Morpeth. I use this service for work a bit, don’t think many from this end would go past Newcastle from my observations? A couple of evening trains do the reverse journey from Morpeth, and theres also a random Chathill origin now.

Since the botched timetable change in May, when it was supposed to go from 15 each way to 28 but only raised to 18, there’s Sunderland’s, Middlesbrough’s, Nunthorpe’s and Saltburn’s too. Proper mess at present.

Also the second train from Carlisle to Newcastle starts at Dumfries, think there’s some historical agreement between Scotrail and Northern on some early morning services?

Until the last timetable change, there was one odd Sunderland - Whitehaven daily working, sort of 18.30? ex Carlisle I think it was. Maybe a decade back or more, there used to be a couple more Newcastle - Cumbrian Coast workings. I can't remember if there were any the other way, strangely. But perhaps someone in here knows better (as they usually do). I wonder if these workings attracted any/many through passengers?

You’d get a few Metro Centre shoppers on these services from West Cumbria, so usage wasn’t bad. The train had to cross the southern end of the station completely though which will have been a pain I’m guessing!

0630 Newcastle to Glasgow Central via the Tyne Valley and Dumfries is pretty strange.

Operates as a Northern service to Carlisle and then a Scotrail service for the rest of the journey. Heads back at 1613 and takes four hours....

Another historical working I think, possibly to do with Stranraer and the Harbour in days of old (I’m sure others will know better) then altered to Glasgow over time. There’s zero need for this in the timetable to be a through service.

 

[70014IronDuke]

...

You’d get a few Metro Centre shoppers on these services from West Cumbria, so usage wasn’t bad. The train had to cross the southern end of the station completely though which will have been a pain I’m guessing! ...

Thus blocking all lines? I had wondered about this (but don't know the track layout at Citadel). Surprising they even considered any through workings if so.

 

[xotGD]

Is Berwick to Kings Cross unusual? I am not aware of anything starting or terminating at Berwick in modern times.

Back in the day there was an early morning Berwick - Haymarket. Loco and stock.

Plus after it stopped running through to Edinburgh there was the teatime Newcastle - Berwick and return all shacks - usually a 31. Now of course this is the Chathill terminator.

 

[Kite159]

Thus blocking all lines? I had wondered about this (but don't know the track layout at Citadel). Surprising they even considered any through workings if so.

There was a return working from Whitehaven, however that was split at Carlisle (Whitehaven - Carlisle, then a Carlisle - Newcastle) which also crossed over the southern end of Carlisle.

 

[route101]

The first train of the day, at 0630, also goes through to Morpeth. I use this service for work a bit, don’t think many from this end would go past Newcastle from my observations? A couple of evening trains do the reverse journey from Morpeth, and theres also a random Chathill origin now.

Since the botched timetable change in May, when it was supposed to go from 15 each way to 28 but only raised to 18, there’s Sunderland’s, Middlesbrough’s, Nunthorpe’s and Saltburn’s too. Proper mess at present.

Also the second train from Carlisle to Newcastle starts at Dumfries, think there’s some historical agreement between Scotrail and Northern on some early morning services?



You’d get a few Metro Centre shoppers on these services from West Cumbria, so usage wasn’t bad. The train had to cross the southern end of the station completely though which will have been a pain I’m guessing!



Another historical working I think, possibly to do with Stranraer and the Harbour in days of old (I’m sure others will know better) then altered to Glasgow over time. There’s zero need for this in the timetable to be a through service.

Im sure on Sundays theres through services from Whitby to Carlisle .

 

[Esker-pades]

Hexham - Danby and return. Terminating at Danby is just weird.

 

[vlad]

The Saturday-only (strike permitting) 1358 Northern service from Stoke to Manchester bizarrely runs between Bramhall and Heaton Chapel without stopping.

I assume there's a reason it doesn't call at Stockport but I've no idea what it is.

 

[Deafdoggie]

The Saturday-only (strike permitting) 1358 Northern service from Stoke to Manchester bizarrely runs between Bramhall and Heaton Chapel without stopping.

I assume there's a reason it doesn't call at Stockport but I've no idea what it is.

That is an oddity alright, and misses cheadle Hulme out too, despite slowing for the junction anyway, but I guess it stops people changing for Stockport! I don't know why you can't go to Stockport then, but they really have made sure you can't.

 

[DavidGrain]

The first two trains in the morning from Birmingham New Street to Cardiff.
0500 via the Stourbridge line
0542 via the Camp Hill line
The rest of the day they run via the Birmingham West Suburban line.

I suspect that these often run fairly empty out of Birmingham and are really positioning trains and use the routes that they do to maintain route knowledge

 

[A Challenge]

The Summer Sundays only 08:08 Edinburgh to Oban 12:06 calls at Haymarket, Linlithgow, Polmont, Falkirk High, Dalmuir, Helensburgh Upper and all stations to Oban. The reverse on the same calling pattern is the 17:11 Oban to Edinburgh 21:09. Why?

 

[DavidGrain]

The last all stations stopper at night (Monday-Fridays) from Birmingham to Stourbridge is not a West Midlands Railway train as one might expect but a Chiltern Railways express from London

 

[transmanche]

0630 Newcastle to Glasgow Central via the Tyne Valley and Dumfries is pretty strange.

Operates as a Northern service to Carlisle and then a Scotrail service for the rest of the journey. Heads back at 1613 and takes four hours....

There used to be more joint Scotrail-Northern Glasgow-Newcastle services, about three a day. But it was reduced to just one service in each direction from the May 2018 timetable. In fact, a while back there used to be through Newcastle-Stranraer trains for the ferry.

The Tyne Valley line also offers a handful of Morpeth-Carlisle services and even one Chathill-Carlisle service.

 

[mm333]

There's the Friday WMT service from Birmingham New Street to Gloucester, which is the only WMT service to call at Ashchurch, Cheltenham and Gloucester. For some reason, on past RTT instances, it becomes an unknown TOC from Worcester-Gloucester http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/P83405/2018/08/24/advanced

 

[30907]

The Summer Sundays only 08:08 Edinburgh to Oban 12:06 calls at Haymarket, Linlithgow, Polmont, Falkirk High, Dalmuir, Helensburgh Upper and all stations to Oban. The reverse on the same calling pattern is the 17:11 Oban to Edinburgh 21:09. Why?

Why what? Don't understand your point.

 

[Kite159]

The last all stations stopper at night (Monday-Fridays) from Birmingham to Stourbridge is not a West Midlands Railway train as one might expect but a Chiltern Railways express from London

And IIRC there is a Snow Hill - Banbury service during the week (22:12ish) which calls at all the stations after Tyseley towards Banbury (http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C72015/2018/09/11/advanced)

Although it isn't the last southbound departure

 

[A Challenge]

Why what? Don't understand your point.

Why do they run a West Highland Line train to Falkirk and Edinburgh without stopping in Glasgow (OK it couldn't do both Glasgow and Falkirk without a reversal).

 

[DavidGrain]

There's the Friday WMT service from Birmingham New Street to Gloucester, which is the only WMT service to call at Ashchurch, Cheltenham and Gloucester. For some reason, on past RTT instances, it becomes an unknown TOC from Worcester-Gloucester http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/P83405/2018/08/24/advanced

If you follow this train through, it returns to Worcester Depot SO not as an ECS but as a WMR advertised passenger service although last Saturday it left Gloucester 6 minutes early so I hope there were no disappointed passengers left overnight on the station. It then waited at Shrub Hill so that it got to the Depot right time.
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/P89627/2018/09/08/advanced

 

[70014IronDuke]

There was a return working from Whitehaven, however that was split at Carlisle (Whitehaven - Carlisle, then a Carlisle - Newcastle) which also crossed over the southern end of Carlisle.

ah, so it was not avertised as a through working?
I see from another poster that two of the Glasgow - Newcastle through trains have been dropped from May as well. That's a shame.

 

[route101]

The Summer Sundays only 08:08 Edinburgh to Oban 12:06 calls at Haymarket, Linlithgow, Polmont, Falkirk High, Dalmuir, Helensburgh Upper and all stations to Oban. The reverse on the same calling pattern is the 17:11 Oban to Edinburgh 21:09. Why?

Aimed at daytrippers from Edinburgh .

 

[Deafdoggie]

If you follow this train through, it returns to Worcester Depot SO not as an ECS but as a WMR advertised passenger service although last Saturday it left Gloucester 6 minutes early so I hope there were no disappointed passengers left overnight on the station. It then waited at Shrub Hill so that it got to the Depot right time.
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/P89627/2018/09/08/advanced

That link is for ECS. It’s not a passenger service

 

[30907]

Aimed at daytrippers from Edinburgh .

...and relieving the all-year service from Glasgow at the same time.

It does qualify as unusual, as I presume it takes the third side of the Cowlairs triangle.

 

[route101]

...and relieving the all-year service from Glasgow at the same time.

It does qualify as unusual, as I presume it takes the third side of the Cowlairs triangle.

And 156 east of Falkirk on that route is rare .

Another is the Fife 156 that leaves Edinburgh around 7 .

 

[DavidGrain]

There is a Saturday afternoon WMR train from Worcester to Birmingham New Street which takes the Camp Hill line but I expect that is purely to maintain route knowledge. This is the only scheduled WMR passenger service over this line.

 

[Dai Corner]

Have we had the following?

0619 Hereford - Barry Island
0911 Swansea - Newport which returns as the
1040 Newport - Cardiff Central

 

[DavidGrain]

Have we had the following?

0619 Hereford - Barry Island
0911 Swansea - Newport which returns as the
1040 Newport - Cardiff Central

Hereford to Barry Island does seem odd but I am assuming that it is a Hereford to Cardiff train which happens to continue to Barry Island probably to spend the rest of the day shuttling back and forth to Merthyr Tydfil.

As for Swansea Newport and back to Cardiff I can see nothing unusual with a train serving three towns along the same main line. You will see diagrams like this all over the country.

 

[Dai Corner]

Hereford to Barry Island does seem odd but I am assuming that it is a Hereford to Cardiff train which happens to continue to Barry Island probably to spend the rest of the day shuttling back and forth to Merthyr Tydfil.

As for Swansea Newport and back to Cardiff I can see nothing unusual with a train serving three towns along the same main line. You will see diagrams like this all over the country.

It's unusual for 'main line' services to go into the Vale of Glamorgan or the Valleys, or for any train to start form or terminate at Newport.

 

[A Challenge]

It's unusual for 'main line' services to go into the Vale of Glamorgan or the Valleys, or for any train to start form or terminate at Newport.

12:32 Holyhead to Maesteg then, and in a similar vein the 10:22 Holyhead to Llanelli

 

[adrock1976]

The Summer Sundays only 08:08 Edinburgh to Oban 12:06 calls at Haymarket, Linlithgow, Polmont, Falkirk High, Dalmuir, Helensburgh Upper and all stations to Oban. The reverse on the same calling pattern is the 17:11 Oban to Edinburgh 21:09. Why?

The section of track between Cowlairs North and East Junctions were once frequently used by the Fort William portion of the sleeper train. Since this has been re-routed via Glasgow Queen Street low level, the Summer Sundays Only Edinburgh Waverley - Oban still maintains a passenger service along that particular stretch of track, and also avoids having to go through a formal closure process.

On a side note, when there were plans to scrap the Fort William sleeper in the mid 1990s, these plans were abandoned as there were some sections of track in Scotland that were solely used by the Fort William sleeper, and thus was saved from the axe.