OK, so who remembers these?
For those of you who dont know, these were excursions/holiday specials, usually run on sundays in summer. You would get a 47 with a rake of Mk1s, which would stop at a series of local stations (in my case, everything between Taunton and Bristol Parkway), and then proceed on to some far flung seaside location.
They had pre-booked seats (so they were generally sold out), and at bargain prices. One train out, one train back, leaving about 7 o'clock in the morning, getting home close to midnight.
These were my first introduction to rail travel in the late 70s and early 80s. Went from Weston-super-Mare to Aberystwyth, Llandudno, York, Scarborough, Southport, Margate, Brighton and Bridlington. I believe a couple of these may even have been advertised as "mystery tours", with destination not announced until you were almost there! (always a fun guessing game for all the family).
In the early 80s, they stopped doing them, just as my father and I were about to embark on a trip to Edinburgh (which is one of the reasons why when I do an ALR, I always try to do Weston-super-Mare to Edinburgh and back in a day).
Most of the travellers were families, but there were a few others, even a few bashers and spotters. And they were always great fun. As a child I would get car sick. But never train sick. So I loved train travel then, and I guess thats why I still love it today.
Anybody else ever go on these?
For those of you who dont know, these were excursions/holiday specials, usually run on sundays in summer. You would get a 47 with a rake of Mk1s, which would stop at a series of local stations (in my case, everything between Taunton and Bristol Parkway), and then proceed on to some far flung seaside location.
They had pre-booked seats (so they were generally sold out), and at bargain prices. One train out, one train back, leaving about 7 o'clock in the morning, getting home close to midnight.
These were my first introduction to rail travel in the late 70s and early 80s. Went from Weston-super-Mare to Aberystwyth, Llandudno, York, Scarborough, Southport, Margate, Brighton and Bridlington. I believe a couple of these may even have been advertised as "mystery tours", with destination not announced until you were almost there! (always a fun guessing game for all the family).
In the early 80s, they stopped doing them, just as my father and I were about to embark on a trip to Edinburgh (which is one of the reasons why when I do an ALR, I always try to do Weston-super-Mare to Edinburgh and back in a day).
Most of the travellers were families, but there were a few others, even a few bashers and spotters. And they were always great fun. As a child I would get car sick. But never train sick. So I loved train travel then, and I guess thats why I still love it today.
Anybody else ever go on these?