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That is the 1400 from temple meads to london

Just after boarding was announced that it was stopping at bath, reading and london only

Except - ok its only been a month - but I didnt recognize any of the route after bath - I even saw two white horses I've never seen before

Is that a normal diversion I should expect in future

I had gotten to the point where in daylight on the cotswolds I could look up and within a minute tell you where we were - I don't like being totally bemused

The white horses can be seen down Warminster way on a Pompey-Cardiff service.

Did you pass through Westbury or Salibsury?  You could have possibly gone along the Wessex Main Line then through Salibsury and up through the line whose name I can't remember towards Reading.

Mainly at weekends services between Bristol-Padd can be diverted via the Berks and Hants after Bath missing out Chippenham, Swindon and Didcot Parkway.

Some services were diverted today due to cable theft between Didcot and Reading.

Probably means that you turned right shortly after Bath and went through Bradford-on-Avon and Trowbridge. Then, just as you were getting close to Westbury, you turn left and go through Pewsey and Newbury to get to Reading.

Avoids this afternoon's cabel theft between Reading and Didcot.

That is indeed the route it took. After Bath Spa it took the Wessex Main Line to Westbury East Loop just short of Westbury Station then picked up the Plymouth-Reading (or Berks & Hants if you prefer) beyond Westbury.

I like taking that diversion - much prettier than the normal route, albeit slightly longer in terms of time (although non-stop running time RDG-BTH via the B&H tends to be very comparable to the point to point journey time with stops at Didcot, Swindon and Chippenham via the normal route).

Remember taking that route early one Saturday morning on a fairly quiet train when one of FGW's finest train managers (haven't seen her in a while but I really hope she's still with FGW - one of the best IMHO) gave an occasional discreet commentary pointing out the scenic highlights once she had finished her ticket check, including the canals and the various white horses.

Me too. Used to be every winter in Jan/Feb that all weekend services between Swansea/Bristol-Padd would go via the B&H. Some winters FGW also ran most South Wales-Padd services to Swindon then reverse back through Chippenham-Transwilts-then onto B&H at Westbury.

Nowadays, with more seats on a HD HST set, they just combine South Wales and Bristol services into one service every hour reversing at Parkway and Temple Meads stopping at Bath before taking the Wessex main line down to Westbury to join the B&H to Reading.

I like it when they take this diverted route.   Only really done several journeys along this line myself, compared to the main route which I've done countless times.  It makes a very pleasant change from the normal route.  I especially enjoy the 1 hour 10 mins(approx) non-stop journey between Bath and Reading.  It makes it feel like you're on a proper long distance express service, compared to the the main route where it's stopping at stations every 10-15 minutes(with exception to the Reading-Paddington stretch).   It's much more of a relaxing journey.  I am hunting out the next time services are scheduled to take this route at weekends, and book myself a return journey on them.

There is a series of videos of this route on YouTube.

Not strictly true.  Though I can remember back in 2008 that they did the above.  And the trains were VERY packed out, with lots of people standing. This must have been when there was also engineering works on the mainline between Bristol Parkway and Swindon.  I did think it was  bit daft combining the two services, and there also being only one service per hour from Bristol stations to London.

Earlier this year when services took this route due to planned weekend engineering works, there were two services per hour from Bristol Temple Meads.   The xx:30 services would run via the Trowbridge & Newbury.   Whilst the xx:08 services would run fast/non-stop to Swindon via Bristol Parkway, then onto London.  The services from South Wales would still run via the usual route.

I can even remember one weekend back in 2008, when at some parts of the day there were actually three trains per hour between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington.  The additional third service would stop at most(if not all) stations between Westbury and Reading, with journey times of about 2 hours 40 minutes.

 

I stand corrected. 2009 Jan-Feb Saturday services were hourly Padd-Bristol and hourly Padd-South Wales with these services also calling at Bath and Temple Meads. However FGW did combine these two routes on Sundays except for a few extra Bristol-Padd-Bristol services during the late afternoon.

A number of services will be operating on this route today owing to vandalism in the Tilehurst area which is causing major disruption to services:
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