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Stations Where Trains Reverse as Part of the Journey


edcayton

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i was just about to mention reading and as you am surprised it took 1/2 way down page 2 for it to be mentioned

 

i noticed today that an XC service from oxford to southampton was booked to call at reading west rather than reading, not sure if there were engineering works happening though

 

machynlleth to birmingham services reverse at shrewsbury

 

there used to be (possibly still is) a llandudno to bangor local service in the mid 2000s that changed ends in llandudno jn

Interesting. my experience in the first half of the 1960s was that many if not most of the north of England to south coast trains that came through Oxford avoided Reading General and only stopped at Reading West though there were some that reversed at General usually in one of the far platforms. If I wanted a ride behind a Bulleid Pacific that meant getting one of the trains from Oxford including the Pines Express that did avoid Reading General usually followed by the trolleybus from West to General to pick up a Paddington-Worcester train.

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today was the first time ive heard reading west announced, i think it was a one off as passengers i overheard talking said they had come from reading to oxford via a local service to catch the xc from oxford (which came in ECS from the south)

 

there is one daily XC anomily at didcot where a bournemouth to manchester service changes ends at milton jn for route retention purposes, instead of taking the avoiding line at didcot it runs through the station non stop on the GWML to milton jn (the old entrance to the power station) changes ends then runs back round the pretty much freight only foxhall curve towards the north, its booked to do it every day but doesnt always do it, depends on how its doing for time or if my coal train is in its way!!

 

edit: not sure if its been mentioned but battersby jn on the whitby line

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i caught a skegness to nottingham service last year that changed ends at newark

 

I think you mean Grantham - almost all of the Skegness trains call there and change directions. 

 

A few MML services reverse at Nottingham - normally to and from the Erewash valley lline up the Chesterfield, but the last train of the day from London serves Nottingham and then reverses out and heads towards Derby.

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Did n't the overnight sleeper on the ECML  arrive at Glasgow Queen St. in the early hours  and then have some sleeping coaches  attached/detached and sometimes observation car attached before departing up the  West Highland line.  I don't know if that would be counted as a reversal or seperate train since I beleive  that not the whole train was involved. If anyone knows of the shunting details of this at Queen St.  I would be much obliged since I'm modelling that era/area.

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Some more current examples:

 

Springburn (the new electric service between Cumbernauld and Dalmuir or Balloch)

Glasgow Central (through services between Ayr and Edinburgh/North Berwick)

Carstairs (Edinburgh/Euston Sleeper)

 

The Euston-West Highland Sleeper, at one time, reversed both at Eastfield and Queen St (this being before the chord allowing direct access between Springburn and Queen St was built).

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It's hardly dangerous as it's properly signalled. The issue is that it reduces capacity on the ECML as gaps need to be left in the timetable for the Lincoln trains to cross.

 

I'm not sue if reinstating the Bottesford-Newark line would help, as the trains would still need to cross the ECML at Newark. What's needed is a proper flyover at Newark.

 

A flyover at that location is difficult due to proximity of the Trent.

 

But there is plenty of space at Northgate to rearrange the station and trackwork so that Nottingham - Lincoln trains would interfere with ECML much less than they do when using the crossing and the bonus of better interchange. Surely much better value than a flyover.

 

Newark Castle might need to be retained as a branch but the station could be moved south of the level crossing.

 

But back on topic:

Glossop and Hadfield

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I only board them at Leicester, so I care not as to their origin  :sungum:

Not wanting to sound overly pedantic or labour the point, but the point I was making is that the trains from the Midlands to Norwich which reverse at Ely don't pass through Leicester - they are en route from Liverpool via Manchester-Sheffield-Nottigham-Grantham-Peterborough! The Midlands-East Anglia trains which pass through Leicester are on Cross Country Trains' Birmingham-Stansted Airport route.

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Liskeard - Looe reverses at Coombe Junction.

 

I know we're talking present day but when the Bodmin Road to Wadebridge line was open there was a reversal at Bodmin General.

You could say it still happens now with the Bodmin and Wenford running to Parkway and Boscarne but really this is two seperate journeys.

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I am not sure if this topic is only UK but on holiday in Canada last year and using ViaRail to cross the centre of the country, I found that at Edmonton the train not only reversed into the station but also was split in half to fit. Also reversed in at Saskatoon.

 

Peter

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At the other end of Sheffield station to the Liverpool-Norwich serices the Adwick-Lincoln services also reverse, although I think that's more a case of two diagrams being interlinked.

The Norwich bound services cause extra confusion at Sheffield as they split at Nottingham so there are announcements about travelling in the front or rear parts of the train, but which is which?

Also the last service of the day to Nottingham/Norwich doesn't reverse and leaves north from Sheffield and takes the GC and then the Midland Old Road to chesterfield for route knowledge purposes. I assume the reverse service also does but I've never caught it

Edit: actually, I've just caught it, looked out the window expecting to see Dronfield and I see Barrow Hill! Annoying, if I'd realised I'd have waited and caught the next service and got to Sheffield sooner (assuming they aren't all diverted today)

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The FGW 2M95 Portsmouth to Westbury service reverses at Eastleigh just after 22:00.

 

the dangerous crossing on the level of the main line.

Not sure why you think it's any more dangerous than any other junction? I assume you mean the famous flat one and as said above it's fully signalled and as it's not got any moving parts less risk in degraded situations as you can't set a wrong route and get a derailment. Plenty of fixed diamonds get the same wear from wheel hammer and are inspected appropriately.
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Interesting. my experience during the 1960s was that many if not most of the north of England to south coast trains that came through Oxford avoided Reading General and only stopped at Reading West though there some that reversed at General usually in one of the far platforms. A ride behind a Bulleid Pacific on various trains from Oxford including the Pines Express was usually followed by the trolleybus from West to General to pick up one of the Paddington-Worcester trains.

 

 

today was the first time ive heard reading west announced, i think it was a one off as passengers i overheard talking said they had come from reading to oxford via a local service to catch the xc from oxford (which came in ECS from the south)

 

there is one daily XC anomily at didcot where a bournemouth to manchester service changes ends at milton jn for route retention purposes, instead of taking the avoiding line at didcot it runs through the station non stop on the GWML to milton jn (the old entrance to the power station) changes ends then runs back round the pretty much freight only foxhall curve towards the north, its booked to do it every day but doesnt always do it, depends on how its doing for time or if my coal train is in its way!!

 

edit: not sure if its been mentioned but battersby jn on the whitby line

 

Interestingly I just checked the National Rail website for cross-country services from Bournemouth to Oxford and Birmingham and it appears all now go via Reading West and avoid the reversal in Reading General. I knew I had fallen out of touch with such services. In the 1970s, 80s and at least the early 90s, when I was doing occasional trips up north or to London from Poole via Paddington (for the fun of it! :) ), the cross-countries always went via Reading General with a reversal. At some point 'recently-ish', there has obviously been a decision to stop doing that and force any passengers from Reading or along the GW main line to have to use a local service at some point to catch the cross-country service, as big jim alludes to.

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Interestingly I just checked the National Rail website for cross-country services from Bournemouth to Oxford and Birmingham and it appears all now go via Reading West and avoid the reversal in Reading General. I knew I had fallen out of touch with such services. In the 1970s, 80s and at least the early 90s, when I was doing occasional trips up north or to London from Poole via Paddington (for the fun of it! :) ), the cross-countries always went via Reading General with a reversal. At some point 'recently-ish', there has obviously been a decision to stop doing that and force any passengers from Reading or along the GW main line to have to use a local service at some point to catch the cross-country service, as big jim alludes to.

Might the current absence of XC services running into Reading General be connected with the works there?

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Some do

 

A few years ago there were Also Three Bridges to Tonbridge reversing at Redhill.

 

 

 

Castleford and Wakefield Kirkgate in West Yorkshire are other reversing points.

Yes. I got a train from Leeds to Sheffield via Castleford in 1999. I was happily videoing through the window. When we arrived at Castleford, then departed again, I suddenly found myself facing the wrong way! Luckily it was lightly loaded and I was able to swap seats.

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When i where a lad:

On our away days to Morecambe. The train would run past Shipley station,

and then reverse into the platforms on the Bradford-Skipton line.

that was mainly because there where no platforms on the Leeds-Skipton lines.

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We've had major and minor stations mentioned.

 

Only goes to show what a backwater Worcester is these days - any Brum - Hereford services that call at Shrub Hill have to reverse there - under the control of the super semaphores of course

 

And as for Brum New Street - as several others have already commented -  any which way you like....

 

Phil

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Interestingly I just checked the National Rail website for cross-country services from Bournemouth to Oxford and Birmingham and it appears all now go via Reading West and avoid the reversal in Reading General. I knew I had fallen out of touch with such services. In the 1970s, 80s and at least the early 90s, when I was doing occasional trips up north or to London from Poole via Paddington (for the fun of it! :) ), the cross-countries always went via Reading General with a reversal. At some point 'recently-ish', there has obviously been a decision to stop doing that and force any passengers from Reading or along the GW main line to have to use a local service at some point to catch the cross-country service, as big jim alludes to.

 

Might the current absence of XC services running into Reading General be connected with the works there?

That  is exactly the situation Brian.  These trains have long been routed via Reading (General as it once was) with a reversal and that goes right back to the days of diesel loco haulage in BR times.  But the current engineering work prevents that so the trains run via Oxford Road Curve as was the case with the much sparser cross-country service back in steam days (when none of the them - there were only 2 each way for years) ran into Reading General (as it then was) and were in any case worked through to/from Oxford by Southern engines.

 

The Reading rebuilding work has introduced an interesting variant on the theme with trains reversing at Tilehurst - originally this was done with some West of England HST services in an earlier stage but currently I think the only train which is, or has been, doing it is an empty Voyager from Eastleigh to Guildford.  An additional signal and signalled route was provided at Tilehurst specifically to enable these reversals to take place so while they can be considered an 'engineering work' diversions they are being made over a fully signalled route which has been installed on a permanent basis.  And having made the journey I can assure you that Reading to Reading West via Tilehurst on an HST takes a bit longer than walking between the two stations (but is more comfortable).

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