Specific trains/services you miss

[yorksrob]

Yes, all the peak CHX-Mid Kent ran via the Ladywell Loop then and seemed to be busier (mornings as well) than the CST services via Lewisham.

Ah cheers. Last time I used it was on a railtour.

 

[irish_rail]

I also very much miss direct intercity services from the south west to the north west (excluding Manchester.) That’s long been a major hole in our network (even pre-Covid) and one that should be rectified at the earliest practical opportunity. I don’t buy for a moment that Bristol requires an hourly service to Stoke, Macclesfield, Stockport and Manchester, but nothing to Crewe, Warrington, Liverpool, Preston and Carlisle, or that travellers to Glasgow are happy to make a tour of the north east, and pay through the nose for it.

Couldn't agree more. Its such a shame that people in the south west are told to either go to Yorkshire , or just fly if they want to go anywhere else. People want to go to Liverpool, Manchester the Lake District and even Scotland, but having to change on route plus the rubbish fares is a little off putting.

 

[HST43257]

0624, 0727 (especially this one) and 1735 XC departures from York via Donny. 0624 would’ve saved me from my 0528 start for the SVR a few weeks ago.

 

[Western Sunset]

The overnight Sheffield - St Pancras. Always a Peak; always Mk1 stock. Settle into a compartment at Derby around 1am, usually wake up by the Weetabix factory near Burton Latimer. Wake again at Bedford. Then see the sunrise at the approach to St Pan through the north London suburbs. Then a whole day of spotting ahead...

 

[45039]

Got that plenty of times on my spotting trips used to get into St Pancras just as the tube opened ,but dont miss the area round St Pancras/Kings Cross in the 80s especially in the dark .

 

[Whistler40145]

The Liverpool and Manchester sleepers including seating accommodation, joining with the Barrow portion at Stafford, usually produced a Roarer

 

[cjbirkett]

304s to Altrincham (BOUNCY seats!)
504s to Bury (same as)
305s to Glossop and North Berwick (ditto)
The occasional 115 that turned up on a Liverpool-Wigan stopper periodically
120s on Crewe-Lincolns
The 17.27 Edinburgh-Perth via Dunfermline when booked a 117
The 17.10 Man Vic-Southport when booked a double 101
The 17ish Liverpool-Blackpool North that used to be a 31/37
Devon Scot/Wessex Scot/Sussex Scot
304s and later 310s between Crewe and Preston on a saturday
More recently the 10.04 Preston-Barrow was very nice while it lasted.

and not a service I know but I really miss the original seats/layout on the 507/508s

best wishes

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The Brighton to Manchester/Scotland inter regionals

A fairly relaxing trip if one availed oneself of a First Class upgrade on the Sunday afternoon service between Manchester and Brighton. Usually rammed when passing through Birmingham New Street but three-quarters empty beyond Reading, which no doubt contributed to its demise.

304s to Altrincham (BOUNCY seats!)

Especially on the section North of Altrincham between Dane Road and Stretford!

Another contender... Anglo Scottish services diverted via Appleby/Settle/Hellifield during weekend engineering works. Used to take forever, but so much better than a rail replacement coach on the M6.

 

[Parallel]

A recent one for me was the Sunday morning direct Brighton - Cardiff service. Very useful to have a direct train when you have luggage and want to sit back and relax.

 

[wellhouse]

1718 (1818?) London Victoria - Horsham (-Portsmouth Harbour?) when the buffet car was like a local pub. Non stop cheese toasties and beers all the way, and I believe there was at least one wedding reception.

 

[AlbertBeale]

I miss the ubiquity of guards' vans/compartments, so travelling with a bike was hassle-free.

 

[cjbirkett]

Especially on the section North of Altrincham between Dane Road and Stretford!

Another contender... Anglo Scottish services diverted via Appleby/Settle/Hellifield during weekend engineering works. Used to take forever, but so much better than a rail replacement coach on the M6.

Drem-North Berwick was another good bit for the bouncy seat enthusiast. (As a child I called them boingy seats)

Ironic that ppl now pay premium fares to do the s & c on rail tours when you could do it for a £10 weekend first upgrade AND get oddball traction to boot! I remember completely by fluke dropping D9000 on one of these trains which had actually been advertised to do another service.

Similarly the Glasgow South Western loco hauled as well, bagged a couple of RES 47s on them trips.

Going back to missing services can I just add ANY direct Preston/ Liverpool to south coast/south west service. Still a crime that these were culled so that we could all change at the utopia that is Birmingham New Street.

 

[yorksrob]

Going back to missing services can I just add ANY direct Preston/ Liverpool to south coast/south west service. Still a crime that these were culled so that we could all change at the utopia that is Birmingham New Street.

Yes, a good point here.

I was stood on Wigan North Western a couple of weeks ago watching successive crowded trains heading towards the Lake District and the rest of the North, and couldn't help wondering if we were missing a potentially good flow from the South West.

 

[rower40]

Another vote for the Clansman. In the year of BR's "Mad March Fares" offer (somewhere between 1985 and 1988) I bought a Bodmin Parkway (tho' it might've been Bodmin Road then) to Kyle of Lochalsh return for £12. Sleeper from Bodmin to Paddington, cycle across London to Euston, board the 0745 to Inverness, and it reached there in time for the last departure to Kyle. Ferry to the youth hostel in Kyleakin, and 2 days cycling on Skye. Then a return the same way.

 

[yorksrob]

Another vote for the Clansman. In the year of BR's "Mad March Fares" offer (somewhere between 1985 and 1988) I bought a Bodmin Parkway (tho' it might've been Bodmin Road then) to Kyle of Lochalsh return for £12. Sleeper from Bodmin to Paddington, cycle across London to Euston, board the 0745 to Inverness, and it reached there in time for the last departure to Kyle. Ferry to the youth hostel in Kyleakin, and 2 days cycling on Skye. Then a return the same way.

According to the BoE, £12 in 1988 would be £32.91 now, which seems like extremely good value to me.

 

[rower40]

According to the BoE, £12 in 1988 would be £32.91 now, which seems like extremely good value to me.

That's why they were "Mad March Fares" - it was to encourage students and Young-Persons Railcard holders to get out and travel. When I bought the ticket (from Cambridge station) the clerk said "I'm glad you're travelling in March - I wouldn't want to look up the real fare!".

 

[hexagon789]

Another vote for the Clansman. In the year of BR's "Mad March Fares" offer (somewhere between 1985 and 1988) I bought a Bodmin Parkway (tho' it might've been Bodmin Road then) to Kyle of Lochalsh return for £12. Sleeper from Bodmin to Paddington, cycle across London to Euston, board the 0745 to Inverness, and it reached there in time for the last departure to Kyle. Ferry to the youth hostel in Kyleakin, and 2 days cycling on Skye. Then a return the same way.

It would guess 1986 as the summer timetable that year had the Clansman as the 0745 EUS-GLC/INV that year, rather than the traditional 0930-0935 departure slot. The Inverness service being a portion on a normal 110mph Glasgow service, the 0745 off Euston.

Was also the only year it ran direct via the Trent Valley instead of the traditional route via Birmingham.

 

[nw1]

The 08:05 Portsmouth to Manchester or Liverpool (depending on the year; was 11.05 in 1982/83 before becoming 08.05). On-the-hour departure from Guildford (09.00, or 12.00 in 1982/83). Ran until May 1987 in some shape or form though some years ran to Poole on days other than summer Saturdays, for operational reasons. (see other threads).

Living on the Portsmouth Direct at the time, it was my first experience of an InterCity service and has a particular place in my memory.

Although I don't live on the Direct anymore, the existence of this service is why I (perhaps irrationally) would like XC to reintroduce Portsmouth services. Particularly if one departs Portsmouth Harbour at 08.05, or 11.05.

EDIT: and more recently, the Southern timetable from a few years ago, around 2013/14. The timetable seemed to be less predictable than now, more quirky and more interesting (various Reigate/Tonbridge dividers in the peak, and through Tonbridge trains) and the Horsham locals went to London Bridge, which seemed 'cleaner' to me. To my mind Thameslink should have focused on the Brighton corridor, and short self-contained branches off it (East Grinstead, Caterham, Tattenham) rather than trying to go everywhere.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

1M20, 10 10 Glasgow Central-Euston and 1S57, 09 45 Euston-Glasgow Central - The Royal Scot. 5 hours flat with an 87 and load 9, calling at Preston and Carlisle only.

That would be Preston only in the days of the five hour timing. The first time I used the up train it arrived in EUS 9 mins early - 4hrs 51.
The several trains which called Carlisle and Preston (only) typically took around 5 hrs 7 mins and The Royal Scot pinched the extra minutes for the headline time by being on a timing load of E420 (twelve) as against E455 (thirteen) for all of the other trains which I suppose here and there gained the odd half minute which along with the lack of a Carlisle call accumulated the required number of minutes.

The 01 00 Glasgow Queen Street-Oban passenger and news....all two coaches of it. Never used it, as it was non-stop Glasgow to Crianlarich, but it often used to wake me up as a kid with the class 29 opening-up after the 25 mph restriction round the reverse curves through the former Rhu station. Didn't take long to reach the 40 line limit (or perhaps slightly more?) with such a light load. When it reverted to class 27 haulage in about 1970-71, it was even noiser!

EDIT: I seem to have become an established member. That's worth a couple of Italian craft beers to celebrate!

I remember 1B01 well, having travelled on it a couple of times on FoS rovers, left undisturbed by the train crew on arrival in Oban to sleep through until it was time to move to another set of coaches on one of the other platforms for the 07.55 back.
By the late seventies it had ceased to become a passenger train (replaced by a new 12.55 from Queen St (which also aided the removal of the summer only DMU) and ran with just one BG as 4B01. After year or two it was realised as the train was running anyway and a few people wanted to get to Oban for early ferries a coach was added to the formation but now running as 2B01.
During the mail and newspapers only era I had the dubious honour five or six times every third week (depending on whether or not I was working my rest day) of passing the single line token to the driver when working night shifts in Craigendoran box. On one memorable occasion there had been a short possession and one of the P Way workers wanted to get back to Arrochar so I agreed stop 4B01 outside the 'box to enable him to board and the driver was then unable to lift the single van up the hill and required the following freight to be dumped in th loop to provide assistance.

 

[dodecahedron67]

EDIT: and more recently, the Southern timetable from a few years ago, around 2013/14. The timetable seemed to be less predictable than now, more quirky and more interesting (various Reigate/Tonbridge dividers in the peak, and through Tonbridge trains) and the Horsham locals went to London Bridge, which seemed 'cleaner' to me. To my mind Thameslink should have focused on the Brighton corridor, and short self-contained branches off it (East Grinstead, Caterham, Tattenham) rather than trying to go everywhere.

the southern through tonbridges were always a nice way to guarantee a seat down if the extended time wasn't an issue, and I seem to remember they used to run through to CHX pre-LBG works at some times during the day

 

[Barnsley]

The 0957 Summer Saturday Sheffield to Skegness, used to be a 117 that came empty from Derby

 

[Ken H]

The 0957 Summer Saturday Sheffield to Skegness, used to be a 117 that came empty from Derby

The summer dated Nuneaton - Skeggy. Pair of Cl 20 Choppers and a rake of Mk 1's. Went via Leicester and Nottingham

 

[D6130]

On one memorable occasion there had been a short possession and one of the P Way workers wanted to get back to Arrochar so I agreed stop 4B01 outside the 'box to enable him to board and the driver was then unable to lift the single van up the hill and required the following freight to be dumped in th loop to provide assistance.

That must have been a very wet autumn night....or a very poorly 27 - or perhaps both?!

 

[Cheshire Scot]

That must have been a very wet autumn night....or a very poorly 27 - or perhaps both?!

As far as I recall it was dry, but a very very poorly cl27.

 

[Robert Ambler]

The overnight Sheffield - St Pancras. Always a Peak; always Mk1 stock. Settle into a compartment at Derby around 1am, usually wake up by the Weetabix factory near Burton Latimer. Wake again at Bedford. Then see the sunrise at the approach to St Pan through the north London suburbs. Then a whole day of spotting ahead...

Yes used that a few times very useful especially if you got a compartment to yourself and could stretch out for a kip.

If non UK stuff is allowed then the recent demise of the Thello Paris-Venice sleeper seems a big loss. A useful time efficient and cost effective way for me to visit the folks in Italy.

 

[D6130]

Yes used that a few times very useful especially if you got a compartment to yourself and could stretch out for a kip.

If non UK stuff is allowed then the recent demise of the Thello Paris-Venice sleeper seems a big loss. A useful time efficient and cost effective way for me to visit the folks in Italy.

I agree. Although I've only used it once, it was a very popular and useful service. I miss even more the Paris-Rome overnight sleeper, which we used to use to reach Florence, en route to our place in Italy. I know the food was microwaved, although the wine was good, but there was something special and quite romantic about dining as the train sped through the Burgundy countryside, before retiring for the night after leaving Dijon.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Having used both Paris - Rome and Paris - Venice sleepers in the past I would find them useful today, but I have multiple domestic entries below:

• 20.38 Carliisle to Perth, the Down Caledonian TPO, two coaches plus a BG and a TPO vehicle good for a class 81 or 85 to Mossend, (20.33 with class 26 throughout pre electrification), booked to be looped at Beattock for faster WCML express to pass, connecting at Perth into:
• 23.30 Glasgow Queen St to Inverness, like quite a few overnight trains it had more vans (typically 9 leaving Perth) than coaches - 6 including sleeping cars from both Glasgow and Edinburgh, a great way to connect to the Far North in the morning in an era when the only daytime 'connection' from south of Perth involved several hours wait for the evening North train in Inverness, or even to connect with the 06.xx bus to Fort William.
• 06.00 Glasgow Queen St to Malliag, load 9 with a single class 27 including parcels van on the front, two sleepers from Kings Cross to FW, and restaurant car throughout from Glasgow to Mallaig, a great way to see the West Highland line in all seasons and connecting with the Stornoway boat via Kyle (also the Portree boat on certain days) at Mallaig.

Worth noting the Up Caledonian TPO did not convey passengers but had three portions, each with one TPO vehicle from respectively Perth (plus one BG), Glasgow and Edinburgh (plus 2 BG) to Carlisle combiningto make load 6 ex Carstairs.

 

[JRT]

2150 (later 2234) York - Shrewsbury, with a portion to Manchester Victoria, and balancing 2250 Shrewsbury - York. An excellent overnight out-and-back move to Stockport from York, either with a 40 or Deltic.

That was the mail train, complete with letterbox on the side, 1980s? and a convenient time too for coming back from York or Stockport (00:50) to Huddersfield (there was a connection from Manchester Piccadilly 00:30 –Stockport, also Leeds–Bradford Interchange, see below). Rather annoyingly it still ran many years later, without the passenger coach.

Also the “milk train” (actually newspapers but the name stuck) a slow train from London that called Leeds and Bradford Interchange, allowing a very late night in Leeds. It allowed me to get back from Futurama, a late night music event in the 1980s.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Any class 120 service on the Central Wales line. Supreme comfort.

The 0050 Paddington to Swansea (connections and portions for West Wales) - basically the paper train. Limited passenger accommodation but all the press you desired

 

[Techniquest]

I think one for me has to be the 03:30 Swansea to London Paddington. I used that service more times than I care to count on various spotting trips, especially handy if I'd finished work at around 1am and I was getting a lift into town anyway. Nostalgia aplenty with that service!

Another 'miss that' for me would be the variety that used to happen on the Hereford to Birmingham/Nottingham services in the mid 2000s. I've no idea why now, looking back, but I do remember disliking 156s at the time. Oh I was a silly old sausage at the time! Even so, back then the mix of 150s, 156s, 158s and 170s was quite the lucky dip as to what you'd get.

Weirdly, they're the only two things I can think of right now. There's plenty I'm glad has changed for the better, such as no more 165/166s and 180s on the Paddington to Hereford services, and the 175s are a big step up from the 158s. I also like the 172s on the Birmingham to Hereford route, much less droning than on 170s! I also like the vast improvement to Thames Valley local services with the 387s, a huge improvement! In a weird way, for a while I kind of missed the Pacers in Cardiff, then I recently watched a video with lots of them in it and I remembered the screeching they'd make and the missing them stopped very fast!