A Christmas quiz - twelve days of Christmas

[whole diary]

[grahame]

There are twenty "terminals" but only one "junkie".   Anyone know where it is?

[grahame]

The "Junkie" is at Beckenham Junction".

I rather suspect that the impressive list of answers didn't take all that long for our friend from North Devon ... I know that I wrote a program to do most of the work for me, and suspect he did so to.  I'll put a copy online a little later and come back and modify the post to point you at it.   Meanwhile, for today, one that doesn't easily automate ...


Update ....   Automated script:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/cgi-bin/algo_cgi.pl

[grahame]

2. Can you identify the station that I am writing about, and where these slow trains went?

[All three answers today are from pages I came across online so you might be able to research them that way too]

a) One line in from one end ... several lines going out of the other.  On one of those lines, there were just two trains a day ... arriving at 10:18 and leaving again at 10:40, then arriving at 15:55 (16:40 on Saturday) and leaving again at 18:40.  The journey those trains made - of some 20 miles - took no less that an hour and 26 minutes. [Bradshaw, October 1950]. The station site has been completely replaced by housing in two new roads called Station Fields and Beeching Close.

b) A population of 1,120 in 2002. In July, 1922 just trains used to leave the station here (at 08:00 and 14:45) for the 75 mile journey to a city, where they arrived at 13:08 and 19:48. The service from this terminus ceased in 1940, though part of the line remained open until 1947, and a shorter part still until 1953.

c) Departures at 05:20, 07:16, 09:47, 13:00, 16:23, 18:22 and 21:00 (just on Saturdays) ... a journey of about 45 minutes from this terminus to the junction some 9 miles away.  The line was officially opened in 1872, but the timetable I have quoted is for 1950, by which time it had a different gauge and destination. The very last train ran on 5th November 1966, when the line was cut back by 5 miles and four stations closed, leaving just a stub of 4 miles from the junction and two stations on the 'branch'.

[grahame]

Hmmm ... not even a hint of an answer ... I guess the TV's better today 

Two of the three are right down in the South West  (that's "well beyond Taunton" from where I live) .... the other one is mostly in "The South", but geographically is north of most of "The North", and isn't anywhere near where the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) runs its trains.

[JayMac]

a) Halwill Junction?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm.  Sorry, grahame, but these three don't seem to be too easy, do they?

Taking your 'hint' that a couple of them may involve Devon or Cornwall, I found myself floundering in Padstow, or Wadebridge, for example - but I was clearly out of my depth!

Another clue (or three!) would be welcome!

C. 

[grahame]

Those are indeed trickier ... perhaps too tricky.   But Bignosemach had Halwill Junction correct; lines to Padstow via Wadebridge (so you were on the right lines, Chris), Bude, and that twice-a-day to Torrington.

The other one in the South West ... the remaining section is the only line AFAIK^▸ (as far as I know) that was built as a light railway and remains open as part of the main network.    And .... you can only have the south looping round and coming above the north in Ireland, can't you?  There were a couple of narrow gauge lines that became international services when the 26 counties and the six counties separated.

[signalandtelegraph]

c) Callington

[grahame]

c)  Is Callington

Yes, indeed -  (c) is Callington

[grahame]

Here are the links that I used to glean the information for yesterday's question ... and they include links for a fourth question which I did not give you.

http://trainweb.org/railwest/railco/sr/cal-service.html
http://www.trainweb.org/railwest/railco/br/halts.html
http://www.cdrrl.com/LLSRtimetables.htm
http://deaves47.users.btopenworld.com/Tunnels/Tunnels1.htm
http://trainweb.org/railwest/images/misc/wtt-cal-br50.jpg
http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/h/halwill/index.shtml
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=102796

You may enjoy browsing some of those, and you can certainly tell me that it's "B for B......." now, I suspect.

[signalandtelegraph]

b) Burtonport -  was just getting there when you posted links, honest!

[grahame]

b) Burtonport -  was just getting there when you posted links, honest!

Yes,  on the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway ... a fascinating line from another age.  The clues given, including the extra ones at the end of yesterday would have given it to you, so I do believe you were looking around in country Donegal (Killybegs, Glenties, Ballyshannon [which also had an 08:00 departure for Londonderry], Buncrana, Cardonagh)

[grahame]

3. Can you name the 12 furthest terminating points for trains that departed from London's Paddington station in 2009?   As a bonus, can you list any other destinations that would have displaced places off that list in the past?

[signalandtelegraph]

How about

1.  Penzance
2.  Plymouth
3.  Paignton
4.  Exeter St Davids
5.  Taunton
6.  Weston Super Mare
7.  Carmarthen
8.  Swansea
9.  Cardiff
10.Hereford
11.Great Malvern
12. Worcester Foregate St

From the past Newquay, Falmouth, Kingswear, Fishguard Harbour,Weymouth

[grahame]

How about

1.  Penzance
2.  Plymouth
3.  Paignton

...

From the past Newquay, Falmouth, Kingswear, Fishguard Harbour,Weymouth

A good start.  I can find some others from this year which will displace a few of your lower ones  ... and I can think of some altogether more "out of area" destinations from the past!