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Un timetabled trains

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Thepacerfan

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On a trip to see the engineering works on the East coast main line a steel train came past. I looked on realtime trains and open train times maps but nothing came up. Does anyone know why this is.
Thanks
 
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Spartacus

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What time was it and where were you, might help us to work it out?
 

pdeaves

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As Spartacus says, some extra info may help. However, did you try to sort by actual time rather than planned time? Otherwise, if a train is running very early you may not see it if the planned time is hours into the future. I'm not aware that RTT can show trains running 'off route' (unplanned diversion), so that may also be an explanation.
 

Thepacerfan

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It was at new Southgate Station, it was an ews liveried class 66 and the date was 13.02.2021

As Spartacus says, some extra info may help. However, did you try to sort by actual time rather than planned time? Otherwise, if a train is running very early you may not see it if the planned time is hours into the future. I'm not aware that RTT can show trains running 'off route' (unplanned diversion), so that may also be an explanation.
I looked searched under the all day category and nothing came up on open train times maps not even anything like 0s00 or 1z99
 

High Dyke

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Best guess, if the train was heading south (loaded), was the Scunthorpe - Dollands Moor service. The train is shown 'runs as required', but an enquiry for tomorrow shows it routed via Hertford loop before using the Camden incline to the North London Line. I'll make enquiries based on the information given by the OP.
 

southern442

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Sometimes I have been on RTT and BML trains are shown as passing Balham, and then the next place they are due to pass is Selhurst, so they wouldn't show up passing through Norbury for example. Perhaps it is a similar thing going on here?
 

30907

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Sometimes I have been on RTT and BML trains are shown as passing Balham, and then the next place they are due to pass is Selhurst, so they wouldn't show up passing through Norbury for example. Perhaps it is a similar thing going on here?
On the actual day, RTT interpolates passing times that don't appear in the WTT, so the OP's train should have shown up.
However, if a train is diverted at short notice (via Crystal Palace in your case), it will show up as No Report at Norbury etc, but it will not show at all at stations via Crystal Palace.
Hence High Dyke's comment - the train might have been booked Hertford Loop but run via the main line.
 

JN114

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While RTT and OTT are very good they don’t always capture everything. There’s been a couple of occasions I’ve arranged a VSTP and the train has definitely run; but when being curious/a sad-act back home from work and looking these trains up to see how they went they’ve not shown up; even hours after.

Neither, nor their other public equivalents, are or claim to be an authoritative source of train running information - nor truly are industry systems such as TRUST etc, although at least in TRUST’s case it is de facto the “official” line on how a train performed. It is plausible a train could even have been running without a schedule; although officially that’s frowned upon.
 

Thepacerfan

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Best guess, if the train was heading south (loaded), was the Scunthorpe - Dollands Moor service. The train is shown 'runs as required', but an enquiry for tomorrow shows it routed via Hertford loop before using the Camden incline to the North London Line. I'll make enquiries based on the information given by the OP.
Sometimes I have been on RTT and BML trains are shown as passing Balham, and then the next place they are due to pass is Selhurst, so they wouldn't show up passing through Norbury for example. Perhaps it is a similar thing going on here?
On the actual day, RTT interpolates passing times that don't appear in the WTT, so the OP's train should have shown up.
However, if a train is diverted at short notice (via Crystal Palace in your case), it will show up as No Report at Norbury etc, but it will not show at all at stations via Crystal Palace.
Hence High Dyke's comment - the train might have been booked Hertford Loop but run via the main line.
While RTT and OTT are very good they don’t always capture everything. There’s been a couple of occasions I’ve arranged a VSTP and the train has definitely run; but when being curious/a sad-act back home from work and looking these trains up to see how they went they’ve not shown up; even hours after.

Neither, nor their other public equivalents, are or claim to be an authoritative source of train running information - nor truly are industry systems such as TRUST etc, although at least in TRUST’s case it is de facto the “official” line on how a train performed. It is plausible a train could even have been running without a schedule; although officially that’s frowned upon.
Thank you for your help
 

sjm77

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On the actual day, RTT interpolates passing times that don't appear in the WTT, so the OP's train should have shown up.
However, if a train is diverted at short notice (via Crystal Palace in your case), it will show up as No Report at Norbury etc, but it will not show at all at stations via Crystal Palace.
Hence High Dyke's comment - the train might have been booked Hertford Loop but run via the main line.

I concur that this is a very common situation when relying on RTT only. You will see occasional TPEx services on the CLC route via Warrington Central or East Midlands Railway on the Chat Moss Route when they are not listed on RTT. The answer is always a signalling problem or unfortunately a suicide on one of the Liverpool to Manchester routes. Earlier this week is was a train that broke down twice on the CLC resulting in short notice diversions!

The answer is to use RTT and Traksy at the same time.
 

Freightmaster

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I concur that this is a very common situation when relying on RTT only. You will see occasional TPEx services on the CLC route via Warrington Central or East Midlands Railway on the Chat Moss Route when they are not listed on RTT. The answer is always a signalling problem or unfortunately a suicide on one of the Liverpool to Manchester routes. Earlier this week is was a train that broke down twice on the CLC resulting in short notice diversions!

The answer is to use RTT and Traksy at the same time.
To be fair, The OP said he used RTT and the OTT signalling maps but the train didn't appear on either.




MARK
 

Watershed

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It is plausible a train could even have been running without a schedule; although officially that’s frowned upon.
Untimed shunts are the way of life at some stations, although they are less numerous than they used to be.
 
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