SLEEPER VIA MELKSHAM TONIGHT

[whole diary]

[want2workrail]

Is it usual for the Sunday night sleeper to be routed via MELKSHAM?
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C41400/2018/08/19/advanced

[grahame]

Is it usual for the Sunday night sleeper to be routed via MELKSHAM?
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C41400/2018/08/19/advanced

Not uncommon for it to go via Melksham - we had a thread a long time ago that looked at all the ways it has been.

Next station down - Trowbridge - is an interesting one.    Sleeper may pass though in either direction.   Tonight it's southbound but if the routing is Newbury and Bristol, it would be northbound - both parts of its London to Penzance run.

[martyjon]

Is it usual for the Sunday night sleeper to be routed via MELKSHAM?
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/C41400/2018/08/19/advanced

.... and tonights is also routed via Yeovil too.

[grahame]

From this list ... route no. 7 tonight!

Normal routing to avoid overnight engineering work:
1. Exeter, Taunton, Bristol TM^‡(resolve), Bath, Swindon, Reading
2. Exeter, Taunton, Bristol TM, Bristol Parkway, Swindon, Reading
3. Exeter, Taunton, Bristol, Bath, Newbury, Reading
4. Exeter, Taunton, Westbury / Westbury avoider, Newbury, Reading
5. Exeter, Taunton, Westbury, Melksham, Swindon, Reading
6. Exeter, Yeovil, Castle Cary, Westbury / Westbury avoider, Newbury, Reading
7. Exeter, Yeovil, Castle Cary, Westbury, Melksham, Swindon, Reading

Houston, we have a problem
8. Exeter, Taunton, Westbury, Bath, Bristol TM (loco onto other end of stock), Bath, Chippenham, Swindon, Reading
9. Exeter, Yeovil, Castle Cary, Westbury , Bath, Bristol TM (loco onto other end of stock), Bath, Chippenham, Swindon, Reading
10. Exeter, Taunton, Westbury, Bath, Bristol Parkway, Swindon, Reading
11. Exeter, Yeovil, Castle Cary, Westbury , Bath, Bristol Parkway, Swindon, Reading
12. Exeter, Taunton, Westbury, Melksham, Chippenham, Bristol TM (loco onto other end of stock), Bristol Parkway, Swindon, Reading
13. Exeter, Taunton, Westbury, Melksham, Chippenham, Bristol Parkway, Swindon, Reading
14. Exeter, Yeovil, Castle Cary, Westbury , Melksham, Chippenham, Bristol TM (loco onto other end of stock), Bristol Parkway, Swindon, Reading
15. Exeter, Yeovil, Castle Cary, Westbury , Melksham, Chippenham, Bristol Parkway, Swindon, Reading

All the above should be possible without having to provide additional Traincrew for route knowledge. At one stage it would also have been possible to send the train into London Waterloo rather than Paddington via either Acton or from Reading.

[bobm]

I’ll be on it tonight but I don’t propose to stay awake to see which way it goes!

[grahame]

To think ... you could have twice that number of routes if you had "via Totnes" and "via Okehampton" 

[bobm]

No wonder it takes an extra hour on Sunday nights!