Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 15:35 28 Mar 2024
- Man held over stabbing in front of train passengers
- How do I renew my UK passport and what is the 10-year rule?
- Jet2 launches first flight from Liverpool airport
- Easter travel warning as millions set to hit roads
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
28th Mar (1988)
Woman found murdered on Orpington to London train (*)

Train RunningCancelled
13:26 Weston-Super-Mare to London Paddington
13:28 Weymouth to Gloucester
15:10 Newquay to Par
15:14 Swindon to Westbury
15:16 London Paddington to Cardiff Central
15:30 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington
16:04 Bristol Temple Meads to Filton Abbey Wood
16:51 Filton Abbey Wood to Bristol Temple Meads
17:54 Cardiff Central to London Paddington
17:57 London Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street
19:33 London Paddington to Worcester Shrub Hill
20:56 Worcester Foregate Street to London Paddington
Short Run
11:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
12:03 London Paddington to Penzance
12:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
13:03 London Paddington to Plymouth
13:10 Gloucester to Weymouth
15:10 Gloucester to Weymouth
15:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
15:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
16:19 Carmarthen to London Paddington
16:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
16:54 Cardiff Central to London Paddington
Delayed
13:59 Cardiff Central to Penzance
14:30 Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour
17:04 Bristol Temple Meads to Filton Abbey Wood
17:51 Filton Abbey Wood to Bristol Temple Meads
PollsOpen and recent polls
Closed 2024-03-25 Easter Escape - to where?
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
March 28, 2024, 15:42:20 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[142] West Wiltshire Bus Changes April 2024
[80] would you like your own LIVE train station departure board?
[56] Return of the BRUTE?
[46] If not HS2 to Manchester, how will traffic be carried?
[43] Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption el...
[34] Reversing Beeching - bring heritage and freight lines into the...
 
News: the Great Western Coffee Shop ... keeping you up to date with travel around the South West
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: 1 2 3 [4]
  Print  
Author Topic: Childhood travel memories  (Read 19700 times)
bradshaw
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1450



View Profile
« Reply #45 on: June 11, 2017, 17:54:20 »

As far as I can recall it was Brighton, Fareham, Southampton, Salisbury, Exeter, Okehampton, Plymouth. Used to see it through Crewkerne in the early 1960s
Logged
hoover50
Full Member
***
Posts: 87


Class 50 at Swindon


View Profile Email
« Reply #46 on: June 12, 2017, 19:18:15 »

Can somebody remind me of the route of the Brighton to Plymouth? Went to Plymouth a couple of times on it, I presume I would have got on at Havant (?).

I remember this running through the 1980's on Saturdays only. The route was Brighton - Chichester - Havant - Fareham - Southampton - Salisbury - Exeter St Davids

The usual traction was a single class 33 "Crompton" diesel locomotive but on Summer Saturdays it was often double-headed as extra coaching stock was added to the formation. On a few odd occasions there was even a relief train which ran a few minutes before it.
Logged
grahame
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 40690



View Profile WWW Email
« Reply #47 on: June 12, 2017, 19:25:52 »

Can somebody remind me of the route of the Brighton to Plymouth? Went to Plymouth a couple of times on it, I presume I would have got on at Havant (?).

I remember this running through the 1980's on Saturdays only. The route was Brighton - Chichester - Havant - Fareham - Southampton - Salisbury - Exeter St Davids

The usual traction was a single class 33 "Crompton" diesel locomotive but on Summer Saturdays it was often double-headed as extra coaching stock was added to the formation. On a few odd occasions there was even a relief train which ran a few minutes before it.

Didn't it run with Hastings Diesel units at one time, when they were spare on Saturdays from commuter duties?
Logged

Coffee Shop Admin, Acting Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, Option 24/7 Melksham Rep
PhilWakely
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 2007



View Profile
« Reply #48 on: June 12, 2017, 21:01:55 »

Can somebody remind me of the route of the Brighton to Plymouth? Went to Plymouth a couple of times on it, I presume I would have got on at Havant (?).

I remember this running through the 1980's on Saturdays only. The route was Brighton - Chichester - Havant - Fareham - Southampton - Salisbury - Exeter St Davids

The usual traction was a single class 33 "Crompton" diesel locomotive but on Summer Saturdays it was often double-headed as extra coaching stock was added to the formation. On a few odd occasions there was even a relief train which ran a few minutes before it.

Didn't it run with Hastings Diesel units at one time, when they were spare on Saturdays from commuter duties?

Yes, it did, in the early 70's. I recall one year (1971 IIRC (if I recall/remember/read correctly)) when mum and dad took us on a camping holiday in the New Forest. I was in my mid-teens and wanted to get back to Exeter early to play cricket. I pleaded with dad that I could travel back to Exeter on the train from Brockenhurst, changing trains just once - at Southampton. To my great surprise, he agreed and I was able to travel on this service.

My earliest memories of the 'Brighton' were in the mid-60s when Warships ruled the Mule services. The Summer Saturdays Only 'Brighton' saw the introduction of double-headed Cromptons and I remember spending number of Summer Saturday lunchtimes in Exwick Playing Fields (opposite Exeter St Davids) waiting for the pair of D65xx on the 'Brighton' to appear out of the tunnel and come down the bank from Central

« Last Edit: June 12, 2017, 22:03:49 by PhilWakely » Logged
Bmblbzzz
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 4256


View Profile
« Reply #49 on: June 19, 2017, 14:32:31 »

As the expression goes.... Hindsight is a wonderful thing'.

I have two major regrets in life...........

I posted way back at reply #2 about hindsight and regrets.

However, I have no regrets about being led on by my older brother and both of us being naughty little schoolboys! I am not entirely certain of the year, but it was either 1963 or 1964. We lived a couple of miles from Exmouth Junction shed and on several occasions, I recollect cycling over to the shed and leaving our bikes unchained at the entrance. Then, walking in and sneaking passed the manager's office to spot whatever was on shed at the time before sneaking out again and cycling home.

On one such occasion, 34026 'Yes Tor' was in steam on one of the shed roads, complete with driver and fireman. My brother caught the attention of the driver and naturally asked 'Can we get on the footplate please?'. The answer was 'Yes' and we were duly helped up onto the (rather warm) footplate. Much of the conversation has been lost in the mists of time, but I can remember being asked if we wanted to stay on the footplate for a ride to Exeter Central as 34026 was just about to be sent there. Two very excited youngsters eagerly said 'Yes', oblivious to the consequences of being dropped at Exeter Central and having to make our own way home. Thankfully, brother - being four years older than me - had enough money (and sense!) for us to get the train back to Polsloe Bridge Halt and walk the few hundred yards to our bikes at Exmouth Junction.

Not sure how the driver and fireman fared, but nobody seemed to bat an eyelid at Central when we got off the footplate.
It certainly doesn't sound like something that could happen now. But there is an Ian McEwan novel, written and set in the 1990s, in which the hero hitches a lift in the cab of a goods train (but is set down at or very near a level crossing rather than a station). And in real life, I have a friend who was given a lift in the cab of a XC (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) Voyager because the driver spotted her stowing her unusual bike away (I think she must have boarded during a driver changeover at BHM).
Logged

Waiting at Pilning for the midnight sleeper to Prague.
bradshaw
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 1450



View Profile
« Reply #50 on: June 19, 2017, 19:38:19 »

In the time before the closure of the Bridport branch a prospective teacher was travelling to Bridport for an interview at Colfox School. When the guard found out he arranged to drop him off at Bradpole Crossing, as it was nearer the school.
Unbeknown to him the head teacher had driven to the station to pick him up; however he still got the job and told me the story some years later when I was working there
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: 1 2 3 [4]
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page