I read somewhere the scheme officially ended this January.

 
Thinking again of that Blackpool - York train that provided the Bradford to Leeds leg, here's a good write-up from the disused stations site of the Copy Pit line it uses and which almost closed. The write-up also notes that the likes of Skipton to Bradford Forster Square and Leeds were slated to become freight-only, with Skipton's passenger service provided via Colne. (The latter closed completely while Skipton's line to Leeds and Bradford is electric). In 1972, enormous Forster Square's station services were infrequent and it wasn't straightforward to access trains north over the Settle and Carlisle, the ticketing was peculiar - BR were experimenting with discounted travel for students, with each ticket needing to be exchanged for a chit detached from a little pad of them. Early DMUs everwhere, which were fragrant, purposeful but ponderous.

The threat of further decline hung over everything - but the tide was turning, not least when the campaign succeeded to restart passenger services at Baildon Station which had been closed for many years. Amazingly, the station's site was never cleared and since 1973 it's been back to life, and on a line that's now electrified.

Railway development planning is a funny thing. Also, on a smaller scale, comparing West Yorkshire to the Bristol area, is part of it that Bristol's not gained a metropolitan transport organisation to pull things together?

Mark


http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/features/copy_pit_route/index.shtml

https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BRB_NetworkForDevelopment1967.pdf

 

I will add "to Newbury" back in the original post - as that's as far as electrification has got.    There is much more to add too - this was/is the first chapter of a series of chapters (posts for a new master thread) going on to look at the stations, flows served, service interactions, potentials and challenges

 
Taunton to Barnstaple is my big regret in this part of the world.

I was able to tick off many closing lines in 1966, including the North Cornwall routes to Bude and Padstow. Taunton to Barnstaple somehow passed me by. This is possibly because this route and the North Cornwall lines were omitted from WR timetable in that summer since they were supposed to be already closed.

I was fortunate to travel on all (open) sections of the S & D in the early/mid 1960's. My only trip on the northern section was on the penultimate Saturday afternoon tackled via a tortuous trip from Weymouth via the Yeovil(s) and Templecombe. On the final Saturday, a similar trip over the southern section and I have some photos (not great) to prove it!   
 

 
I'm not clear from this how far west electrification extends.  Passenger service 1 implies all the way to Taunton, but I didn't think it had got that far.  A note about signalling and control would also be useful.

 
Ventnor Station in the 1960s while on a Southern Rail Rover, covered the line to Ventnor and to Cowes that day

 

Chuck it.....

 
Thanks for this. I'd read GWR's disruption pdf for the week at some stage but hadn't absorbed what Bristol's train service would be.

At the other end, the departure from Bradford was disrupted too - Forster Square to Shipley bustituted, so, an opportunity to walk across to Bradford's second station. On the way, a view of the plinth that supported Exchange station (a well-known fragment of lettering still clings on to a lintel there, photo below).

On the positive side the replacement is integrated with the city's bus station. Yesterday's train services there were complicated by engineering works somewhere, and also a broken down train was disrupting services from Manchester, which was probably awkward for people coming to Bradford for a significant football match.

In the event, the service that *was* running to time was the flow from Blackpool to York, which runs via Accrington and clear of the broken down train, 3 carriages cheerfully and cooperatively full and standing, which isn't too shabby given that its route was pretty much out of use (but fortunately not lifted or singled) for twenty years or so before becoming a core part of transpennine services. We joined it and emitting copious diesel noises, up it climbed the sinuous steep curves to Pudsey and, rather quieter, down it sailed to Leeds, ran through the station, and stopped at the extreme west end (footbridge and concourse are at the east). Off the train, a hike to the concourse and a bite to eat before heading through the barrier with 15 minutes contingency which as it happens we needed.

The Bristol train was displayed as on platform 12a, but the first member of staff I asked didn't know which end of the station that was. (It turned out to be the east end of the station...) Once waiting on 12A, two DMUs arrived, occupied the platforms there and stood roaring loudly at each hand, while 'Do not move' flags were attached to their cabs. No chance of hearing announcements but on walking back to check, sure enough the 5 car Crosscountry train, concealed around the curve to the west end of platform 12 (with carriage 'A' at the far end of that train). Another walk/gallop and we caught it with a minute to spare, looking forward to something to drink once we were aboard (you can guess what happened then...)

Mark

 
For several years there were two Boots stores on Reading station.  Now there are none.  Presumably down to extortionate rental prices from Network Rail as the Boots on the transfer deck was always busy?  The chocolate shop less so!

 
I've got this card in my wallet. Does it still work?

The last time I used it was at Euston to make a bacon roll slightly less extortionate and no more edible, but that was ages ago.

The % discount was watered down over time IIRC.

 
On Saturday the line was closed between Bath Spa and Chippenham.   Trains ran from London Paddington to Chippenham and back.   Bath Spa was also served from Paddington via Swindon, Bristol Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads before reversing for the last leg.  Today the closure extends to include Chippenham and the single line to Melksham.

 
Perhaps my use of them is summed up by a word you used in your first line - convenience.

I often visit them towards the end of my journey to pick something to take home and so save a special diversion on the way home.

 
Perhaps it's just me ... but my use of UK station buffets and and convenience stores has plummeted over the years.  I feel they have gone upmarket, and additionally a second layer to that their price differential to other places offering a similar product is great - a yawning gap.   The Bite card used to give me a feeling of loyalty.

I will still be pushed over the threshold to actually buy at some - but I still have to bite (my tongue) at one that's not too far from home when changing trains.  "Would you like a small or large coffee" and my answer, if I'm being honest, you be "I would like a large one, but you only sell small and medium [which you describe as large...]".

Taking a flask "with", find an outlet off station premises, risking a trolley that visits before we're too close to destination ... not brilliant alternatives, but the way I do it.

Perhaps other travellers share my logic for being far less of a buffet / station outlet customer than in the past?

 
A return trip to Bradford - courtesy of advance standard Crosscountry class tickets upgraded to first for the wriggle room that offers during a three and a half hour leg of the journey.

On the return journey, we were very glad to leave the five carriage Crosscountry service at Bristol because there was a heavy passenger flow in full flight there, the crosscountry train did the usual Bristol thing of running clean through the station to the country end (its apparently done to manage congestion on the platform but created quite a bit of its own - many of said heavy passenger flow pursued  the train and a lot started boarding at Coach 'A' oblivious to the four people who were getting off, with the train manager heroically trying to sort things. After ten minutes or so everyone did get aboard though but I hate to think what it was like on the train.

After which, the last part of the journey to Bath took an hour, with a train cancellation, unexplained engineering works that weren't being well represented on realtimetrains, which was simply getting things wrong, or by staff at the station - the entire network apart from Leeds and Bradford feeling understaffed, probably because they were lost in the crowds - and a platform change from 11 to 0 and back to 11 which, with luggage, was 'Unhelpful'. We finally flew through the barriers at Bath as the crush before the barriers had built up enough that staff there opened them to clear things a bit.

I'm presuming that Bathampton Junction was closed in one direction for engineering works and wouldn't be surprised if some at Bristol heading for Bath, boarded the IEPs heading for Paddington via Parkway and ended up travelling back via Swindon.

Mark

 
I have made my strong feelings known on this sorry subject before. 

 

Why not focus on improving services rather than punishing customers?

 
If that was Ventnor station, down by the beach, it might have survived through to today.

 
I am seeing pictures of ex Brighton Belle power car "Celia" on the read of a London to Gillingham excursion - with various comments about it being less than authentic/original in parts.

Adding two and two - this looks like a spare power car [body] that's been converted into a "glorified observation car", and is separate from the [4/5]BEL project to get an up and running electic pullman set out on 3rd rail lines.   Have I added 2 and 2 correctly to get 4, or is there a different situation here?

 
Happy memories there, Phil.

I went to prep school at Stoodleigh, near Tiverton. Always went back to school by car, but rail home. Usually Tiverton to ESD, then Taunton to Castle Cary, on a couple of occasions via and changing at Yeovil Pen Mill. And on a couple of occasions when there was extensive flooding at Stoke Cannon, then Tiverton, Dulverton to Taunton and Cary. Hey ho.

 

Here's another - Hamster Power

 

"some only to pick up passengers" is a joke really, and may as well be dropped! Yes, I know that Reading does not appear on the departure boards at Paddington on the far west services on a Friday afternoon, but all of the regular commuters know that the train stops there! I've boarded the 1703 Penzance service on a Friday and it was packed to Reading, but suprisingly empty after Reading!

What GWR should do, on a once-only basis, is let the train run non-stop through Reading station and stop it at Reading West, with an army of RPI waiting on the platform. Of course, pax waiting at Reading will have been pre-warned to make their way to Reading West!

 

Yes - there's Pullman catering available on the 13:03 and 19:04 from Paddington to Plymouth, and the 13:15 and 18:16 back from Plymouth

 
Here's a picture. It's AI. From here on Facebook, and the commentary with it.


I note a follow up:


How do we stand on the Coffee Shop?  We have already somewhat discussed this - over 100 messages on the Coffee Shop match " AI " - some of them in our none-public areas.  But worth a re-iteration:

If something is very clearly marked, even for the "scan reader" then AI images are allowed.  A small footnote on the base of a long piece of text saying "images are illustrative to show what we are describing" is NOT, to me, "very clearly marked".

 
Back in 1967 (I was 10 years old), my parents decided to have a family day out on the Hoe at Plymouth. We were a family of 6 and a car that would only take 5, so dad offered both my brother (who was 14) and I the opportunity of travelling down from Exeter (Pinhoe station had closed by then) to Plymouth by train. Of course, we were both train nerds and the opportunity of passing both Newton Abbot and Laira sheds was too good an opportunity to miss!

We go to the Exeter St David's ticket office and are asked 'did we want to go via Newton Abbot or Okehampton?'. Of course, you can guess the answer.  With the benefit of hindsight, the biggest mistake of my rail enthusiast life! I never did get to travel over the SR route to Plymouth!

My father was an avid golfer and a member of Tiverton Golf Club. He used to drop me off at Tiverton Junction to do some spotting whilst he played golf. I wish I could have travelled on the Tivvy Bumper!

Later on in life, I went to Bath University. I wish I could have had a trip on the S&D   

So, in summary......
1.  SR route to Plymouth;
2.  Tivvy Bumper.
3.  S&D
 

 
Does 4 also include the Pullman service?

 
Two halves of what should have been one line but never were

   Shoreham by Sea to Christ's Hospital
   Christ's Hospital to Guildford

Now cycled most years as the Downs Link

   Chichester to Midhurst

Partially cycled most years as the Centurion Way

I didn't include Brighton to Kemp Town because at this range I am not sure whether I actually travelled on it or not. The memory gets mixed up with my first fag (Perfectos) was I on a train to Lewes and just saw the Kemp Town viaduct.

The mists of time!

 
This thread has popped up "on this day" 10 years ago - "DOO strikes start on Southern" on 26th April 2016.

Makes me sad - there must be better ways of resolving differences between parties to all wish (or state their wish) for a safe, modern, efficient, reliable, affordable passenger railway system.  Or am I being naive?

Nothing fixed in 10 years on the principle here.  My understanding is that we have bought a modern railway at goodness know what cost from Oxford to Milton Keynes and Bedford that sits unused apart from some empty passenger trains and occasional freight train.   I do hope that the line is open for passenger use in the near future; it would have been so useful to me in my working days - Melksham to Bow Brickhill, for example - was not easy ... and I really hope it's not as litlle used as Coryton to Treforest, or as stillborn as regular new passenger services from Taunton to Minehead in the '70s.

 
I am amazed at the hugely wide variety of lines selected here.  I wondered as I asked the question whether I should run a poll.  I "chickened" on that, not knowing what options I would choose ... and suspecting that the most votes would be for "something else".

Our regrets at missing out on these lines are absolutely not suggestions or justifications of any potential re-opening campaigns, though it is interesting to think about a scenario where things might have been different.

 
My English grandparent's back garden abutted against the old Nottingham Suburban Railway Line from Daybrook Junction through Sherwood and into Nottingham (Victoria I think).  It closed before I was born but I have a picture of me being carried by dad in my grandparents back garden watching the last train on the main line going past Daybrook Station.
As children, my brother and myself had many happy hours on the deserted railway lines as it was a quick hop over the back garden fence.  I've often thought what it would have been like actually travelling on the lines and can't help thinking how useful they would now have been to the city's transport system.

 
Didcot, Newbury and Southampton.
Swindon, Andover to Romsey
Southampton Terminus -  I may have done this as I was born before it closed and I did live in Southampton.