A week in the UK on random rails

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jis

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I was in the UK for a week over the last weekend and did quite a bit of "training". As a matter of fact I was on trains each day I was there.

The day I arrived I took the Elizabeth Line from Heathrow to Paddington and retired in the Mercure Hotel by the station for the day. Noted the convenience of paying for the trip using a tap of the Apple Watch at the entry and exit gates again.

The next day I tumbled out of bed around 8am and decided to go down to the Concourse of Paddington and see where to go. I was equipped with a Global First Class m-Eurailpass fleixble 7 days in a month. Oddly this was cheper than the corresponding Britrail Pass when I purchased it. I decided to go to Newton Abbot to check out the rebuilt Dawlish Seawall (photo posted elsewhere). So off I went on the 10:05 to Penzance. GWR in my opinion runs one of the better regional services and they did not disappoint. It was a Hitachi Class 8xx and the run from Paddington to Reading (the first stop) is always impressive. Noticed that electrification has reached Newbury, and the train smoothly transitioned to diesel and carried on without stopping. Next stop was Taunton, followed by Tiverton Pkwy and Exeter. Then it was down the west bank of Exe River and along the Dawlish Seawall and up the Teign River to Newton Abbot, where I hopped off and waited for the return trip on a Plymouth - Paddington. Another 8xx, same stopping pattern. But I dropped off at Reading.

Back in my work life I spent many week in England staying at a hotel in London and commuting out to Bracknell or Winnersh Triangle to work at various HP locations in Berks. I wanted to see what the Reading to Waterloo line looks like these days. Back in the days it was Slam Door C1 stock. That is of course all gone now replaced by modern Siemens EMUs. But it was still nice to trundle along stopping everywhere through familiar places all the way to Waterloo. Then a quick ride on the Bakerloo Line to Paddington. That was it for the day.

For the next day I had planned a trip to Edinburgh by LNER from Kings Cross on the ECML. This was on a Reservation Obligatory train. I had already obtained reservations attached to my Global Eurailpass, all on my phone, so I was all set to go.

I had a choice to either walk half a mile to the Hammersmith and City Line Paddington Station and have a single seat ride to Kings Cross, or take a few steps to the Circle Line Paddington Station and change at Edgeware Road to get to Kings Cross. being lazy, I chose the latter and it worked out fine. As originally built the Hammersmith and City Line station was called Bishops Road, and the Circle Line Station was called Praed Street. Only the Bakerloo Line station was called Paddington. Later the three were interconnected for fare free interchange and all three were then named Paddington. They are actually quite far apart. and now of course there is a fourth Paddington - the Elizabeth Line one, which is in yet another corner of the Paddington main Line station entered at the Westbourne Terrace end.

Anyhow, the trip to Edinburgh went uneventfully arriving there right on schedule. The weather was lovely so the views of North Sea were quite spectacular. At Edinburgh I got a round trip Tram ticket on my phone and rode the entire line end to end. The Tram Line is very nice and convenient for traveling between St. Andrews Square and the Airport, stopping at important en route places like Princes Street, Haymarket and Edinburgh Park. Upon return to St. Anrews Square I just walked around Princes Street and Waverley Bridge until train time for return to London. I have spent weeks in Edinburgh in the past so there is no tourist things and a few non-tourist things that I have not already done there.

The trip back to London was again quite uneventful, but that was the last uneventful day of travel. :)

Next day (Saturday) I had a meetup with family and friends in Oxford at St. Hilda's College, for an event. Normally, one would catch an Express train to Oxford from Paddington and be in Oxford under an hour with two stops (Reading and Didcot Parkway). But that was not to be. The track was out between Didcot and Oxford because the old bridge across the Thames was trying to fall down, and was being repaired. Fortunately there is a second way to get to Oxford avoiding the alleged bus substitution that was running. Chiltern Railway has a service running from Marylebone to Oxford via Bicester every hour. So off I went to Marylebone by the Bakerloo Line (Circle and Hammersmith and City pass to the south and do not go there). The journey to Oxford went smoothly once the route was figured out. It was remarkably peaceful and nice on campus of St. Hilda's College by the river. There were students punting around on the river and a Cricket match was in progress across the river with everyone in proper white attire and all that, as we met over finger sandwiches and wine and tea in the Pavilion on the river. It was neat. The trip back was uneventful, back to Marylebone and then Bakerloo to Paddington.

Next morning (Sunday), it was off to Milton Keynes to spend the day with a cousin. Milton Keynes is on the WCML and trains depart from Euston. I usually take what is now the Avanti service (in the past it was Virgin West Coast) which flashes by at 125mph and takes just 34 mins non stop. But since I had lots of time on hand I decided to take a Northwestern Railway local which takes almost an hour stopping everywhere beyond Watford. But first one has to get to Euston. Again the Circle line is south of Euston and drops you off at Euston Square for a short walk to Euston. Since I was feeling lazy I took the Circle Line to Kings Cross and changed to Northern Line to get to Euston right under the station. The journey to and from Milton Keynes Central was uneventful. Basically it was just take the first train that came by, other than Avanti West Coast. Of course my pass would have worked equally well on Avanti, even if I got on one by mistake.

Upon return from MKC I decided to go and check out the little Northern Line extension to Battersea Power Station. TfL definitely builds their extensions in a more aesthetically pleasing way than MTA does in New York. After checking out the new station took Northern Line back to Embankment and changed to Circle Line to get back to Paddington. Circle Line is truly a sub surface line rather than a wholly underground line in this segment. many stations are just in cuts and not in tunnel, including the Paddington Station.

Monday I was headed to Cambridge to spend the day with a friend. The fastest Cambridge trains run by Great Northern depart from Kings Cross, so following the usual Circle Line rigmarole I showed up at Kings Cross, to find an uttter mob scene there. Due to unspecified signal issues all departures were held until further notice. So first I thought maybe it is a Kings Cross problem and maybe the slower Thameslink service is running from St. Pancras next door. But that was not to be Those trains were being turned at Finsbury Park. Upon inquiry I discovered the outage was in Stevenage, so it was time to put Plan C in action, Another Circle Line ride to Liverpool Street to catch the slower Greater Anglia service to Cambridge, since that does not go anywhere near Stevenage. The plan worked and I made it to Cambridge, well actually Cambridge North, which is closer to my friend's place, albeit an hour later than planned.

I had spent many weeks in Cambridge at one time working with the ANSAware Group in the University. The friend I was visiting was from way back then. Then later we were both on the Architecture Board at the Object Management Group, a standards body known for standards like CORBA (used on every plane you fly in) and UML. In those days we had another friend who lived outside Cambridge who was into Lawn Railways. He had one in his huge estate in the back yard that one could fire up and ride around. The model Steam Engine was exquisitely detailed. Unfortunately he has passed away and I have no idea what happened to his hobby railway.

We had a great time catching up over a Lamb Skewer lunch at a Pub and then lazily walking along the lazily flowing Cam River. The trip back was uneventful as the problems at Stevenage had cleared and the Great Northern Cambridge Expresses were running with minor residual delays. These EMU trains run hourly nonstop from Cambridge to Kings Cross including 125mph running on the ECML between Hitchins and Finsbury Park. Quite impressive service, in many ways better than Amtrak's NEC (e.g. no reservations required... just have a ticket and hop on). Any way, upon return to London I decided to knock off the two Eastern branches of the Elizabeth Line (Abbey Wood and Shenfield), before returning to Paddington and my hotel to pack up to depart the next morning.

The next morning I decided to splurge and take the Heathrow Express to the airport. Got me a ticket on my phone and off I went heading back home to the US in style, after an on the whole successful, occasionally eventful week of train riding and meeting up with friends and relatives around London and UK.
 
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Your trip brings back memories of my two trips to England. One in 1988 and one in 1990. In 1990 I studied in Cambridge. I preferred the Liverpool-Cambridge routing because some of the trains still had slam-door cars and I could open up the window and stick my head out. I had a grand time on one trip listening to DJ Fast Eddie singing yo-yo get funky on my headphones as I rode along with my head poking out of the window. This was not one of my smarter moments in reflection.
 
Enjoyed your report.

For the next day I had planned a trip to Edinburgh by LNER from Kings Cross on the ECML. This was on a Reservation Obligatory train. I had already obtained reservations attached to my Global Eurailpass, all on my phone, so I was all set to go...

The trip back to London was again quite uneventful, but that was the last uneventful day of travel. :)
...but waiting for the food review - Dine, Dish or Deli? ;)
 
No worries. It's one of the more reported attributes of LNER FC service and thought you'd have an opinion.
Oh. The LNER food was nowhere near as good as what is served in Acela First Class. In general on board food service has taken a spectacular dive in the UK through the pandemic and has a long way to go to recover.

For example, for Breakfast they served something called a Bacon Roll, which consists of a small Hamburger type Roll with two half slices of American style Bacon. That's it. Fortunately I had a Salmon Cream Cheese Baguette and a Medium Latte from Upper Crust at Paddington before heading off to Kings X. :D
 
The Circle Line was built before electrification and the cut and cover construction included optimistic provisions for the smoke to escape. Its profile was large enough to allow for through cars from the main line railways, as the eventual demand for urban transport was not anticipated.
Yes, actually it was the Paddington - Kings X segment of the Circle Line that was built first by the Metropolitan Co. The other side of the Circle was built by the District Railway, and they eventually completed the Circle. Meanwhile Metropolitan built out to Hammersmith to complete the west leg of what is today the Hammersmith and City Line. At Hammersmith it connected back then to LSWR, the part of which shared trackage with District Line to Richmond. Remnants of that connecting viaduct , now defunct, can be seen west of Hammersmith as one proceed towards Hammersmith on the Piccadilly or District Line, on the left of the track.
 
Next morning (Sunday), it was off to Milton Keynes to spend the day with a cousin. Milton Keynes is on the WCML and trains depart from Euston. I usually take what is now the Avanti service (in the past it was Virgin West Coast) which flashes by at 125mph and takes just 34 mins non stop. But since I had lots of time on hand I decided to take a Northwestern Railway local which takes almost an hour stopping everywhere beyond Watford. But first one has to get to Euston. Again the Circle line is south of Euston and drops you off at Euston Square for a short walk to Euston. Since I was feeling lazy I took the Circle Line to Kings Cross and changed to Northern Line to get to Euston right under the station. The journey to and from Milton Keynes Central was uneventful. Basically it was just take the first train that came by, other than Avanti West Coast. Of course my pass would have worked equally well on Avanti, even if I got on one by mistake.

Blimey, I've commuted between MKC and London since 1986! A few minor inaccuracies - the Avanti trains take 29 minutes (unless stopping at Watford or if you take the timing for London-bound trains which will include recovery time). Unless it's late or early in the day the all-stations LNW service is invariably overtaken by an Avanti or a fast or semi-fast LNW. Services have just about returned to pre-pandemic levels which are two fast LNW (31m) and three Avanti (29m) trains per hour plus another two semi-fast (41m) so there's no reason to get a stopper during the day. I almost never got an all-stations LNW during the day if I could help it!

If you're getting the EB Circle or Met, getting off at KX and then getting the Northern or Vic back instead of getting out at Euston Square is the height of foolishness! It's only about 5/6 min walk from Euston Sq (about 400metres) instead of 2 mins extra on the circle, 5 mins changing trains, 2/3 mins waiting and another 2 mins back then about 5min faffing around up 2 flights of escalators and stairs. Madness - 10/15 mins longer and just as much walking!

Yes, actually it was the Paddington - Kings X segment of the Circle Line that was built first by the Metropolitan Co. The other side of the Circle was built by the District Railway, and they eventually completed the Circle. Meanwhile Metropolitan built out to Hammersmith to complete the west leg of what is today the Hammersmith and City Line. At Hammersmith it connected back then to LSWR, the part of which shared trackage with District Line to Richmond. Remnants of that connecting viaduct , now defunct, can be seen west of Hammersmith as one proceed towards Hammersmith on the Piccadilly or District Line, on the left of the track.
I used to drive trains on the H&C and Circle lines. Between Baker St and Hammersmith you'll notice that the tracks are much wider apart than the normal loading gauge. This is because it's a relic of when the line was GWR broad gauge. At Latimer Rd SB you can see the remnants of the branch to Kensington (known as the Outer Circle) which was closed and never rebuilt following bomb damage in 1940. Outer Circle (London) - Wikipedia
 
Blimey, I've commuted between MKC and London since 1986! A few minor inaccuracies - the Avanti trains take 29 minutes (unless stopping at Watford or if you take the timing for London-bound trains which will include recovery time). Unless it's late or early in the day the all-stations LNW service is invariably overtaken by an Avanti or a fast or semi-fast LNW. Services have just about returned to pre-pandemic levels which are two fast LNW (31m) and three Avanti (29m) trains per hour plus another two semi-fast (41m) so there's no reason to get a stopper during the day. I almost never got an all-stations LNW during the day if I could help it!

If you're getting the EB Circle or Met, getting off at KX and then getting the Northern or Vic back instead of getting out at Euston Square is the height of foolishness! It's only about 5/6 min walk from Euston Sq (about 400metres) instead of 2 mins extra on the circle, 5 mins changing trains, 2/3 mins waiting and another 2 mins back then about 5min faffing around up 2 flights of escalators and stairs. Madness - 10/15 mins longer and just as much walking!
Hey.. I did not study the timetable. I just took whichever train was departing when I happened to be at the station. ;) Good to know about the range of running times that exist.

Many here been known to be quite foolish when we are riding around for fun. Sorry for upsetting your sensibilities :D At AU there are people who travel from New York to Washington DC via Chicago sometimes. :p
 
Hey.. I did not study the timetable. I just took whichever train was departing when I happened to be at the station. ;) Good to know about the range of running times that exist.

Many here been known to be quite foolish when we are riding around for fun. Sorry for upsetting your sensibilities :D At AU there are people who travel from New York to Washington DC via Chicago sometimes. :p

There used to be a proper timetable leaflet you could pick up but it's all online now (tbh it's very easy to get real time train info and journey planning on iPhone but I still like to see the options available in full)

I totally get the travelling for fun thing but not when you're trying to get to or from work!

When I was a student in Manchester in the 1970s, instead of taking the normal route via London home to Chelmsford (in Essex) I got the 1515 Harwich boat train which ran via Sheffield, Peterborough, March and Ely to Ipswich where I changed for the Norwich-London line.
 
There used to be a proper timetable leaflet you could pick up but it's all online now (tbh it's very easy to get real time train info and journey planning on iPhone but I still like to see the options available in full)
Yup. I was aware of all that but I was just goofing off and did not want to spend time on timetables too much. Because I was traveling on a Eurail Pass I had to pull up the route registration page which showed all trains that Eurail knew about so as to select one to put it in the trip list and attach to the pass. That was the entire totality of tinkering with timetables I indulged in.

There was one case where the train I was taking was not on the Eurail list, I just created the train and attched it to the pass for that one. It was the SWR Reading to London Waterloo stopping service via Ascot.
I totally get the traveling for fun thing but not when you're trying to get to or from work!

When I was a student in Manchester in the 1970s, instead of taking the normal route via London home to Chelmsford (in Essex) I got the 1515 Harwich boat train which ran via Sheffield, Peterborough, March and Ely to Ipswich where I changed for the Norwich-London line.
The last time I worked in the UK was 15 years back. Since then I have been there often, just to visit friends and relatives. And the train rides have always been mostly under very relaxed circumstances allowing me to do many seemingly crazy, foolish and mad things. ;)
 
There used to be a proper timetable leaflet you could pick up but it's all online now (tbh it's very easy to get real time train info and journey planning on iPhone but I still like to see the options available in full)

I totally get the travelling for fun thing but not when you're trying to get to or from work!

When I was a student in Manchester in the 1970s, instead of taking the normal route via London home to Chelmsford (in Essex) I got the 1515 Harwich boat train which ran via Sheffield, Peterborough, March and Ely to Ipswich where I changed for the Norwich-London line.
That cross-country boat train intrigued me when I was planning my April 1970 visit to England, but I had no legitimate way to work it into an itinerary that would interest my companion! I had the impression from British army colleagues in Berlin that the zig-zag trip was run for their benefit. It was timed to connect with the Berliner and Crossed Swords across the former British Zone of Germany.
 
That cross-country boat train intrigued me when I was planning my April 1970 visit to England, but I had no legitimate way to work it into an itinerary that would interest my companion! I had the impression from British army colleagues in Berlin that the zig-zag trip was run for their benefit. It was timed to connect with the Berliner and Crossed Swords across the former British Zone of Germany.
That's something I never considered. It was actually very difficult to find in the BR timetable because it never had a route timetable to itself. IIRC when I first went on it it was routed via Woodhead and the closed and derelict Sheffield Victoria then via Chesterfield Nottingham Sleaford Spalding Ely Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich. Later it went via Grantham and Peterborough.
 
On approach to Heathrow, we came in from the North and I got some fantastic shots of London:

View attachment 32603

In this shot you can see the Tower Bridge, London Bridge station and in the corner a bit of Waterloo.
Great photo, my wife works right by London Bridge station (just off Borough High St with Borough Market just over the road) to the left of the Shard near Guys Hospital. Nice view of Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast too. I worked in Brixton up until last year which would be to the left of this pic. :)
 
Great report. I found it interesting about the difference in cost between Eurail and Britrail pass. Last month I did a grand circle trip all by train: London - Leeds - Settle - Glasgow - Inverness - Aberdeen - London. A great trip with some spectacular scenery in places. I would definitely agree about the mediocre food in LNER 1st class. Service was excellent however. The longest of the various trips was the nonstop from ABD - KGX. Stayed at a marvelous Mariott in Aberdeen. Would definitely return there. Thanks again for your report.
 
That's something I never considered. It was actually very difficult to find in the BR timetable because it never had a route timetable to itself. IIRC when I first went on it it was routed via Woodhead and the closed and derelict Sheffield Victoria then via Chesterfield Nottingham Sleaford Spalding Ely Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich. Later it went via Grantham and Peterborough.
I learned about it from the DB Ausland Kursbuch, in which it was headlined "Cross Country Boat Trains" in English. In the Summer 1971 edition from Harwich Parkeston Quay, it stopped in Ipswich, Bury St. Edmunds, Ely, March, Spalding, Lincoln Central, Sheffield Victoria, and Manchester Picadilly. The Germans may have omitted minor stops. Of course, it did not run on Sundays. It is shown as offering "Light Refreshments" on board. The 252-mile trip took 6½ hours.

The page format has blank columns available, so perhaps there was once an overnight train to connect with the daylight sailing.
 
Paddington station and the different underground platforms there. I got burned by that on a business trip in 2004 when I arrived at Paddington having taken the Heathrow Express planning to ride the Circle Line to my hotel near Liverpool St. Except that it was a Sunday and the Circle was shut down for engineering work. No problem I'll just take the Hammersmith and City. But now I found I was at the wrong platform but the staff was understanding and directed me to the H&C which seemed about a mile away 😕. In retrospect I could have taken the Bakerloo to the Central line. But I really wanted to ride the original 1863 portion the world's first metro which I had never been on at that point.
 
Next day (Saturday) I had a meetup with family and friends in Oxford at St. Hilda's College, for an event. Normally, one would catch an Express train to Oxford from Paddington and be in Oxford under an hour with two stops (Reading and Didcot Parkway). But that was not to be. The track was out between Didcot and Oxford because the old bridge across the Thames was trying to fall down, and was being repaired.
Yes, it’s quite a repair. The distortion was obvious, and apparently the early investigations from the civil engineers were accompained by those sucking through teeth noises that you hear when an expert looks at your car - it seems to have been held up by string and chewing gum for the last 100 years. As well as being the primary route from Oxford to London it also carries the main container traffic from Southampton to the north, avoiding London. The extensive grade-separation works at Reading a few years ago improved the working by eliminating the conflicting movement.
They‘re supposed to be re-opening the route in a couple of weeks.
 
I learned about it from the DB Ausland Kursbuch, in which it was headlined "Cross Country Boat Trains" in English. In the Summer 1971 edition from Harwich Parkeston Quay, it stopped in Ipswich, Bury St. Edmunds, Ely, March, Spalding, Lincoln Central, Sheffield Victoria, and Manchester Picadilly. The Germans may have omitted minor stops. Of course, it did not run on Sundays. It is shown as offering "Light Refreshments" on board. The 252-mile trip took 6½ hours.

The page format has blank columns available, so perhaps there was once an overnight train to connect with the daylight sailing.
It was the successor to the North Country Continental. A version of that train seems to have been run by the Great Eastern and its allies (and post-1923 by the LNER) from the opening of the quay at Harwich in the late 1800s. As a splendidly bucolic wander round England it had no equal.
 
Paddington station and the different underground platforms there. I got burned by that on a business trip in 2004 when I arrived at Paddington having taken the Heathrow Express planning to ride the Circle Line to my hotel near Liverpool St. Except that it was a Sunday and the Circle was shut down for engineering work. No problem I'll just take the Hammersmith and City. But now I found I was at the wrong platform but the staff was understanding and directed me to the H&C which seemed about a mile away 😕. In retrospect I could have taken the Bakerloo to the Central line. But I really wanted to ride the original 1863 portion the world's first metro which I had never been on at that point.
As you discovered, the H&C platforms are effectively part of Paddington main line station, and give you an excellent first-hand illustration of how the GWR ran broad gauge trains on to the Met in the early years. If you have the time, it’s the nicest way of getting further east to Kings Cross etc - especially with the air-conditioned S-stock.
 
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