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The North Country Continental

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Czesziafan

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Does anyone have any memories of travelling on the North Country Continental between Liverpool / Manchester and Harwich. I believe that it had at one time electric haulage over the Woodhead route with a change from steam to electric somewhere near Manchester and thence went via the GN&GE joint line.

Reservation label North Country Continental.jpeg
 
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30907

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There have been a good number of threads covering this in the past, might be worth searching? I've only used it in one of its early 80s varieties (Glasgow and Edinburgh-) Preston - Manchester Vic - Sheffield - Nottingham - Ely (-Parkeston).
The Woodhead route version would have been Liverpool C (only a portion) - Manchester C - Guide Br (loco change) -Sheffield - joint line - Ely - Parkeston.
Cutting the Liverpool portion and switching to Piccadilly simplified things!
 

306024

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Always enjoyed a trip on this train. Back in the early 80s the stock was based at Thornton Field CS (think West Ham stadium today) so would run ECS for maintenance.

It was diagrammed for a Stratford 47 but the Liverpool St loco controllers would jealously guard the home fleet. Unscrupulous controllers up north were known to pinch the well maintained Stratford machine and send a heap of junk back. So usually it was hoped a foreign engine off repairs at Stratford would come good to be sent instead.

Around that time the outward working was diagrammed for a March driver who had worked inbound to Parkeston with a freight, except on a a Monday when the freight didn’t run and a Parkeston driver would work it. When it got diverted via London Parkeston drivers would work to Watford if memory serves.
 
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randyrippley

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Always enjoyed a trip on this train. Back in the early 80s the stock was based at Thornton Field CS (think West Ham stadium today) so would run ECS for maintenance.

It was diagrammed for a Stratford 47 but the Liverpool St loco controllers would jealously guard the home fleet. Unscrupulous controllers up north were known to pinch the well maintained Stratford machine and send a heap of junk back. So usually it was hoped a foreign engine off repairs at Stratford would come good to be sent instead.

Around that time the outward working was diagrammed for a March driver who had worked inbound to Parkeston with a freight, except on a a Monday when the freight didn’t run and a Parkeston driver would work it. When it got diverted via London Parkeston drivers would work to Watford if memory serves.


So that explains the reputation as the least reliable train in the UK
 

Senex

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Does anyone have any memories of travelling on the North Country Continental between Liverpool / Manchester and Harwich. I believe that it had at one time electric haulage over the Woodhead route with a change from steam to electric somewhere near Manchester and thence went via the GN&GE joint line.
In the late '50s and early 60's it was electric between Guide Bridge (6-minute loco change) and Sheffield. It used the Fallowfield Loop in order to get to and from Manchester Central, where it reversed for Liverpool via the CLC using the Warrington Straight Line. It used to use the direct line from Clarborough Jn to Sykes Jn via Cottam, but then when that was closed it was switched to run via Gainsborough.
 
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Always enjoyed a trip on this train. Back in the early 80s the stock was based at Thornton Field CS (think West Ham stadium today) so would run ECS for maintenance.

It was diagrammed for a Stratford 47 but the Liverpool St loco controllers would jealously guard the home fleet. Unscrupulous controllers up north were known to pinch the well maintained Stratford machine and send a heap of junk back. So usually it was hoped a foreign engine off repairs at Stratford would come good to be sent instead.

Around that time the outward working was diagrammed for a March driver who had worked inbound to Parkeston with a freight, except on a a Monday when the freight didn’t run and a Parkeston driver would work it. When it got diverted via London Parkeston drivers would work to Watford if memory serves.
The Stratford 47s came off at Preston and were then regularly used on the barrow trains and also Manchester victoria to Blackpool,Bangor and hothead workings.
 

WesternLancer

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Does anyone have any memories of travelling on the North Country Continental between Liverpool / Manchester and Harwich. I believe that it had at one time electric haulage over the Woodhead route with a change from steam to electric somewhere near Manchester and thence went via the GN&GE joint line.

I used it in either 1990 or 91 for a trip to Amsterdam - by which point it was IIRC a 2 car Class 156 DMU. Pretty sure it still had seat reservations though, so I might have kept my reservation tag which would be an equiv to the image used! Not sure where to lay my hands on it however.
 
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