1972 Cotswold Line Timetable

[whole diary]

[SandTEngineer]

As we have been comparing old timetables in other topics.  Here is my offering for the 1972 Cotswold Line timetable.  Bet you can't squeeze it all on one page now...

[IndustryInsider]

What a terrible service - no wonder there was a threat of closure.  I bet it was standing room only on the 04:25 Worcester Shrub Hill to Moreton train!  Presumably it carried mail and goods as well?

[stuving]

What a terrible service - no wonder there was a threat of closure.  I bet it was standing room only on the 04:25 Worcester Shrub Hill to Moreton train!  Presumably it carried mail and goods as well?

Which didn't come first - no commuters or no commuter trains?

[IndustryInsider]

I didn’t realise Pershore had just the one train a day each way back then.

[SandTEngineer]

I used to enjoy travelling down on the 1205 off Paddington.  Hymek on the front with 8-10 coaches on (including buffet car).  Train divided at Worcester Shrub Hill, and Hymek and three coaches forward to Hereford.  It was a lovely thrash at 70mph plus on jointed track down the gradient (not hill) from Colwill to Ledbury and through the hop fields to Hereford, with the Hymek Diesel-Hydraulic engine making a lovely sound.  Oh such happy days

One day I was determined to visit Ascott-under-Wychwood to photograph the signalbox and level crossing there.  I do remember having to walk the 4 miles from Charlbury and back, to do that.

[CyclingSid]

Couldn't you have stuck a bike in the guard's compartment?

[SandTEngineer]

What a terrible service - no wonder there was a threat of closure.  I bet it was standing room only on the 04:25 Worcester Shrub Hill to Moreton train!  Presumably it carried mail and goods as well?

Yes, and look at the 3 hour mid-afternoon gap in both directions....

[SandTEngineer]

I didn’t realise Pershore had just the one train a day each way back then.

Very useful service for commuters from Pershore to Worcester and back if you worked 9-5.  Hard luck if you didn't.

[JontyMort]

I didn’t realise Pershore had just the one train a day each way back then.

Very useful service for commuters from Pershore to Worcester and back if you worked 9-5.  Hard luck if you didn't.

And hard luck if you worked anywhere else.

When did Handborough become Hanborough?

[grahame]

When did Handborough become Hanborough?

"On 28 September 1992 the station was renamed Hanborough" according to WikiPedia, referencing  Bird, John H. (January 2005). "Operation Hope Not". Steam World (211): 16–22.

[JontyMort]

When did Handborough become Hanborough?

"On 28 September 1992 the station was renamed Hanborough" according to WikiPedia, referencing  Bird, John H. (January 2005). "Operation Hope Not". Steam World (211): 16–22.

Well, well. I suppose it’s better than “Woodstock and Witney Parkway”.

[didcotdean]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) had a habit of picking a lesser used variant of place name spelling and this one persisted a long time. Didcot was another example of this habit as Dudcote was the marginally preferred local.name for the village. The railway eventually won out that time although Dudcote was still in use at least into the 1910s.

[jdw.wor]

Does anyone have a timetable for when the original and now closed stations were still served?

[grahame]

Does anyone have a timetable for when the original and now closed stations were still served?

From 1949; these may not have scanned too well (black on ageing yellow original) ... if you view each image in a separate window, you may find them more readable as I have uploaded higher resolution to give you best chance, then ask the browser to resize for initial display.

[Robin Summerhill]

Couldn't you have stuck a bike in the guard's compartment?

Didn't you still have to pay a fare for bikes in 1972? You certainly did in the 60s because I paid to take mine on a few occasions.