Great Western Coffee Shop

Hi all
I was on a turbo yesterday, I was wondering what do the numbers on the exterior destination screen mean? I've frequently seen these numbers.
Thanks

I can (and did) guess - but no confirmation.

In the process, I can across a GWR guide showing the layout of all their current trains, and station facilities - off topic, but I have mirrored it (here) (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/Facilities_Guide_April_2021.pdf) and whitelist (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/whitelist.html)ed it so that guests can see it too.

Think of them as being the same as a bus service number (route number if you're in London Transport).

For those of us who grew up south of the river, headcode numbers were very important, especially if normal service had been disrupted by fog (pre-Clean Air Act).  I lived on the Orpington and Sevenoaks main line; our numbers were mainly 12-17. Even numbers went to and from Charing Cross, odd numbers to and from Cannon Street. 12 and 13 were short workings to Orpington. 16 and 17 went through to Sevenoaks.

2x and 3x headcodes went down the Mid-Kent line towards Hayes (and other places)
4x and 5x are the Dartford Loop (via Sidcup)
6x are via Blackheath and Charlton
7x are via Bexleyheath
8x are via Greenwich

Another sequence covered services to/from Victoria (even numbers) and Holborn Viaduct (odds)

And initially you couldn't use the same number twice, so 22, 33 and so on were unallocated, on account of the numbers being displayed using stencils.  When roller blinds came in (technological progress!), 22 was allocated to Charing Cross - Hastings and 33 to Cannon Street - Hastings.

All of this makes sound sense in the complicated railway geography south of the river. Probably less useful out in GWR-land.

I can remember the old electric units working the Reading to Waterloo line displaying numbers on roller blinds.  They were in the 80 series.  I can’t recall which was which but you could tell from the number which called at intermediate stations between Reading and Wokingham and which didn’t. 

And much less useful in GWR land where the numbers don't seem to be obviously published anywhere.

As with everything rail they get complicated ... fares, timetables, routing guides and easements, GRIP, so should expect that of headcodes.

Do remember that the 14 and 15 were the Charing Cross / Cannon Street to Orpington OR Sevenoaks via Lewisham, the 18 was the one that went beyond Sevenoaks to Ashford (don't recall a 19) and then the 4 and 5 carried on beyond Ashford via Folkestone and the 90 beyond Ashford via Canterbury.

I seem to remember the turbo routes from Paddington to Slough were 86/87 and those to Maidenhead were 74/75.

I've always assumed they existed on the Turbos because they were so closely related to the Networkers built for south of the river, and therefore perhaps had components in common, so someone decided to make the most of it and dreamt up some route codes.

From what I remember the route codes for Thames Valley worked something like this circa 2000. I'm not sure if they still follow this pattern (esp given so many have upped sticks to Bristol) - I haven't paid close attention but I have a feeling when I've seen the displays in recent years they haven't followed this.

In general the first digit was origin/destination for trains to/from London, or which local area if non-London service.
The second digit was a hint at the stopping pattern - with higher numbers indicating more stops, in general.

Rule of thumb only - this pattern broke down for some routes.

Memory rusty but first digit was something like:
0/1 - Oxford/Cotswold fasts - as first digit used mainly for fasts, I have a feeling the second digit was less consistent with these codes as the slow patterns weren't needed
3 - Oxford stoppers
4 - Newbury/Bedwyn
5 - Reading stoppers
6 - Twyford & Henley
7 - Maidenhead & Marlow
Bit rusty on the suburbans but something like:
8 - Slough & Windsor
9 - Hayes stoppers (few morning peak services) & Greenford

Second digit:
Generally indicated first/last few stops at London end
1, 0 - Faster e.g. Paddington, Reading
2 - Paddington, Slough
(Can't remember how first/last stop MAI/TWY worked)
3 - Paddington, Ealing Broadway, Slough
4 - Paddington, Ealing Broadway, Hayes
5 - Paddington, Ealing Broadway, Southall, Hayes
6 - Paddington, Ealing Broadway, then all
7 - Paddington, Acton, Ealing Broadway
8,9 - branch shuttles etc

So for example using the Newbury/Bedwyn routes starting 4:
40, 41, 42 would have been the peak fasts/semi-fasts
43, 44, 45 for the off-peak Paddington-Bedwyn stoppers
48 or 49 for the Reading-Newbury/Bedwyn locals

Or for Twyford/Henley routes starting 6:
The afternoon pre-peak PAD-Twyford (which then went ECS back to SLough) must have been 64 or 65
Peak PAD-Henley around 61 or 62 depending on pattern
Then 68/69 for the non-London services - possibly 69 for TWY-HEN and 68 for RDG-HEN

IIRC some 'unrealistic' codes were re-purposed for local services that didn't neatly fit the pattern - e.g. 92 is unrealistic as 9 indicates short distance route and 2 indicates express pattern which wouldn't have been used in practice.

Can't remember the North Downs codes but I think it either used the 'Reading area' codes that weren't needed for the main line e.g. 58/59 or used one of the 'unrealistic' code patterns.

These route codes were of course in some timetables at least. The 1999/2000 national one says at the beginning (in what is in part a statement of the blindingly obvious):

Most of what Halfren says tallies with the codes given. For the North Downs Line, they were:
85  Guildford stoppers
86  Shalford stoppers
87  Redhill stoppers
94  Gatwick fast (Guildford, Redhill only)
95  Gatwick semifast throughout
96  Gatwick, all stops Reading-Ash

For those with voluminous attics, they used to be an Ian Allen book of Headcodes. Never got my head round the logical (?) of it.

I like that.
Could I ask if its my computer that shows the info"on its side"
If so, can any one advise how to get the info "to stand up straight"

I think rotating it would be more useful than mirroring it... ;)

(More seriously - infoman, your PDF reader will probably have a "rotate" menu option. You may need to save the PDF and open it separately, rather than viewing it in your web browser.)

I don't recall the number codes being used on the Cotswold Line for many years. Curious if GWR have brought them back now the Turbos have mostly gone west (where the skies are blue).

Alas, the 'rotate' icon requires payment on my PDF reader.

I'm obviously a sad bunny - my copy isn't even in the attic.

If all else fails,especially if it involves parting with money, try:

Try Ctrl+R

or Ctrl+Shift+Plus (Clockwise)
    Ctrl+Shift+Minus (Anticlockwise)

Excellent!

Ctrl-Shift-Plus/Minus have the required result. Ctrl-R toggles a display of horizontal and vertical rulers.

My PDF reader is Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (64-bit), v2021.011.20039.

Many thanks!