Your epic train journeys

[railsquid]

Waxing lyrical here a bit, but a couple of random threads I was perusing here got the memory juices running. I've been on many trains over the years, but a couple were particularly memorable.

 

First was when I was 18 and left home for a gap year. My mother drove me to Birmingham New Street, where I boarded a train bound for London. It was emotional enough that I didn't even worry about the details of the train, but from memory - this was 1991 - it was a Mk2d/e/f train hauled by an 86 or 87. I had a brief moment of almost sobby "OMG, I'm really leaving" as the train left the station, but it soon passed. Crossing London by tube, I ended up at Waterloo and stopped to have a cup of tea (oddly enough I passed through there earlier this year for the first time in many years and though it's changed a lot I still remembered how it used to be) before realising that due to some timetabling change my train was leaving at 9:15 rather than 9:45 and just made it onto some strange alien Southern EMU stock which passed, to my amusement, through a station called "Bat and Ball" before depositing me at Dover where I made my way onto a ferry to Ostend and was bemused by the visibility of the famed White Cliffs from the Continent. Where I was impressed to see real genuine trams. Boarded a genuine European train headed eastwards, which according to my travel plan went all the way to my destination (Berlin) but that was only the sleeper coach attached at one end ("Kurswagen"), luckily I was young and alert and managed to somehow comprehend that I need to change trains at Cologne (which I reached after being surpirsed by a European lack of border controls and only deducing I was in Germany by sampling car registration plates), which turned out to be a former East German (Deutsche Reichsbahn) train which had a very distinctive smell - if the colour brown could have a smell, that would have been it (it was one which persisted in eastern German trains until the mid-90s, when I assume the stocks of cleaning agent they were using ran out). Awoke in the early dawn not sure where I was, but the radio on my fake Japanese personal stereo device from Dixons picked up "Antenne Brandenburg" which gave me a clue. Negotiated Berlin's S-Bahn, at the time served mainly by wooden trains from the 1930s, and the rest, they say, is history.

 

Second was in 1993, arriving in Tokyo and trying to negotiate the train system on the first evening while under the influence of jetlag. Got totally lost, made my way back to the hotel by taking random trains until I got somewhere I recognized (while being impressed with the LCD video screens on the Yamanote Line).

 

Third was 2003, back in Germany. Germany takes Political Education seriously, and 2003 was the 50th anniversary of the Worker's Revolt in the former GDR, which emanated from the industrial town of Bitterfeld, where there was a big exhibition. And there was a free train tour from Berlin, which I had to apply for, but as it was a weekday evidently the interest wasn't overwhelming. To my surprise it was not only free, but on a genuine Olde Train of the era, hauled by a "Krokodil" electric loco and consisting of various contemporary carriages. The exhibition part was interesting enough, but what sticks in my memory was the return journey where I was sat in a Prussian-era two-axle carriage which had an open platform at either end, rather than a corridor connection. Of course one wasn't allowed on it while the train was in motion, but being Germany, once the Official Warning has been broadcast, Elf'n'Safety is your own responsibility and standing on that open platform on a warm summer evening while the flat northern European plain rolled by at about 60km/h is one of my favourite memories. (Oh yes, and there was even free beer).

[BoD]

Mine wasn't just one journey but a couple of years ago I treat myself to an all line first class rover ticket and 'did' as may of the 'must do' lines as I could.  An absolutely fantastic two weeks.

[NGT6 1315]

For me, my best contribution would be the rail trip to London we did this summer. Look here for a selection of photos: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/74/entry-14536-across-the-english-channel/

 

As for impressions from this voyage, I did find it remarkable that the Cologne-London part took less time than the one from Leipzig to Cologne. Cologne Central was as busy as always and I could vividly imagine how just a very minor glitch might thoroughly foul up operations there. I suppose that is why this station is, in my impression, quite likely to produce delays which can ripple all across the Westphalian railway lines.

 

Brussels-Midi, on the platform level at least, was as decrepit as I remembered the station from my first trip there several years ago. Which is to say that in my impression, SNCB must have done only the bare minimum to keep everything together...

I was quite intrigued by the airport-style checks at the Eurostar terminal at Brussels-Midi, this having been my first ride with them. The Eurostar set we got itself did look decently maintained but inside looked decidedly "ninetiesy." It also was quite noticeable how the coaches were smaller than the German stock I'm used to!

The ride itself literally was a blast as we sped through Belgium and northern France, and right into a bad weather front as we approached the Channel. Thus, we emerged into a rain front on the English side while I gazed to spot some first impressions of today's British railways!

I also was quite impressed how our bullet train bulleted right into London, with the cityscape flying past as we curved in towards STP.

[DavidR]

Mine was a 'gap week' between leaving school and starting work in Birmingham 1962. A friend and I purchased a WR all-line rover ticket (1st class, I wanted to travel in comfort)and we 'did' as much of the Western as we could, travelling along as many branches as possible and all the main lines. Highlights: a footplate ride on a 'Mickey Mouse', between Hereford and Brecon, the Brecon and Neath,Taunton - Minehead in a B set.

Starting very early, on the final day: Snow Hill - Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury - Taunton, Taunton - Paddington, Paddington - Snow Hill behind a mixture of steam and diesel.

Best laugh? Standing on Taunton station near to the driver of the Paddington train, who was wearing suede shoes. Someone asked him what the motive power would be, "Diesel", he replied with a certainty. You should have seen his face when a 'Castle' pulled the train in!

[Titan]

One that I do not think I will beat, Derby - Vienna, summer 1993 IIRC.  I was a lowly trainee engineering technician, gaining experience on the Networker Project team. When we sent the Networkers to Vienna I asked if I could go too, and to my astonishment they said yes! Not only that they basically gave me £500 in travel vouchers and said 'off you go then' Mind you that had to cover everything including hotel and travel, and to make it more interesting I decided to travel the whole way by train, although not by accompanying the Networkwers accross Europe themselves. I caught the 'Austrian Night Express' It left from one of the channel ports, can'[t remember which one - had to use the ferry pre chunnel days, but I had to be careful to get on the right coach as only two or three of them worked right through to Vienna. Saw the Gas Turbine 'Kerosine Castle' whilst I was there. Being the trainee I got wonderful jobs like repositioning the artificial snow nozzles whilst turned on in temperatures of -20, directing them at couplers, windscreen wipers, doors etc. Ended up looking like the abominable snowman! On my way there I think I had the couchette to myself, but due to the conductor making a booking error on the way back I ended up sharing with 3 girls. They did not seem too bothered and I certainly wasn't!!!  I diligently amassed enough reciepts to account for the entire £500 given to me, but no one asked me for them!

[eastwestdivide]

Epic, but not in a good way:

Early 1980s, Turin to Paris overnight, and on to the UK, on an evening when Juventus had just beaten Glasgow Celtic. The quicker of the footie fans piled onto the train, although some were still running down the platform as we pulled out. I managed to get a fold-down seat in a corridor (no room in the compartments), accompanied by "merry" Glaswegians. The singing petered out about 2am, but the smell of beer lingered long after that. 

I was very impressed by the fan who had bothered to learn some Italian, and bellowed "Viva il Papa" (long live the Pope) at all and sundry. Incredibly, I didn't get any stick for being obviously English, although I could have tied the "mi dispiace, non capisco" method.

Somehow, I gave them the slip crossing Paris and never saw them on the run to the Channel or on the boat (or was it the hovercraft?).

[roundhouse]

We have an Epic train journey every day at the moment commuting - no two days the same disruptions!!!

 

 

 

Back in 2008 we spent 6 weeks travelling around mainland Europe by train with just one flight as the overnight train from Paris  to South of France was full six weeks prior so we flew Brussels to Porto then carried on across Europe.

 

We started in Newcastle taking the DFDS ferry to Bergen, then across Scandanavia, into Finland, overnight ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm, then after the flight through Spain Switzerland Austria Italy back into Austira Hungary, Poland and Germany etc.

 

4 weeks of the trip was on a first class Interail ticket. We didn't have a plan as how to get home until just before we left Berlin to spend the last full week  in the Czech Republic when we purchasied a EuroSpezial DB ticket (from the multi language ticket machines at berlin Hauptbahnhoff) to get us across Germany to Brussels then Eurostar home.

 

really want to be able to do something like that again.

[Southernman46]

Anyone remember the "Lindisfarne" railtour in 1982 and its interesting return journey.
 
Irchester (not far north of Bedford) to St Pancras in about 4 1/2 hours using 3 different locos................

[John M Upton]

31st March/1sr April 1994(?), my first Railtour, the 'Skirl of the Bagpipes' with 33109 and 33116 at full pelt up the WCML rumoured to have hit a 100 mph at one point!)

 

Totally bonkers railtour but great memories....

[knobhead]

Sassnitz - Berlin in 1980. Not so exotic perhaps, but a truly bizzare experience behind the iron curtain.

[Mallard60022]

Probably 'driving'/'firing' OL49.69 from Wolsztyn to Poznan in October 2003 on my first visit to Wolsztyn/Poland. We left about 05.30, half the journey under clear skies with full moon and arrived at about 07.30 and around 200 'commuters' hurried past the loco without a glance.

As a passenger it has to be in 2005, Kiev to somewhere in west Ukraine overnight, taking about twelve hours on what was supposed to be a sleeper. The following weekend it was a return trip and I have no idea what route we took but I was knackered. Fortunately the Hotel just off the famous Freedom Square in Kiev was comfortable and the following day was spent visiting two large loco depots in the City. That was like stepping back to the 70s over here; hundreds of loco's and free to roam (more or less).

Best short trip over here was probably behind St 5, 73096, Guildford to Exeter Central via Reading and Basingstoke and return up the WR Main via Reading mid to late 90s. That loco was in top condition. Epic going up Honiton Incline (46MPH average).

P

[Pugsley]

the first one that springs to mind was travelling from Halifax to Vancouver, and most of the way back again. by train in 2004. I wanted to do the whole thing by train, but sadly didn't have enough time, so had to cheat and fly from Montreal to Halifax to catch the plane home. It was quite an adventure, and I did it all by myself as I didn't know anyone else who could get the necessary amount of time off work!

 

It was a great journey, I met some great people on the way out and the way back, including one man who had written many of the songs for Sesame Street! I also got the overnight train from Toronto to Montreal, something sadly not possible these days as it no longer runs.

 

The flight home was epic as well - we were originally not going to go via St Johns, NL, because of bad weather, so passengers for that destination were told not to board. Once we'd taken off, things must have improved slightly, so the pilot decided to land. It was the hairiest landing I've ever experienced - I'm not normally nervous at all on flights, but I was firmly holding on to the armrest on this one!

 

The next one was a railtour with triple-headed 37's, to Maxwelltown. A great, if very long, day out and I managed to get a cab ride between Appleby and Garsdale, which was pretty epic in itself.

 

The only other one that springs to mind, which was epic in not quite so good a way, was a journey with a mate from Huddersfield to Birmingham International, which due to disruption (I can't quite remember why) involved four changes and being evacuated from Birmingham New Street for about 20 minutes due to the security alert alarm going off! It was the worst train journey I'd ever had and to this day I've never taken a train journey with him again

,

[10800]

The iron ore train in Mauritania, both ways, 18 hours each way (eat your heart out, Palin).

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Not quite in the same league, but Gunnislake to Plymouth is a favourite; especially the first bit to Bere Alston. Round all the tight bends to Calstock, then across the viaduct high over the Tamar. Magic.

[DaveF]

Probably the summers of 1988 and 1989 when I spent a month each year riding around Switzerland by train using a Swiss Rail Pass.  Most days I travelled and photographed from about 7.30 am until it was time for an evening meal.

 

One day the several thousand photos may appear on RMWeb if enough people want to see them.

 

David

[SM42]

My most memorable are:

 

Swindon to Didcot. "What's special about that?" you may ask  It was 1978, I was 7 and it was my first ride on one of those new fangled HST thingies. Head out of the droplight, wind in my hair, brilliant.

 

Next was 1987ish on a Young Person's Railcard offer. Me and a mate seeing how far we could get for £20. Kidderminster to Edinburgh. Had about and hour before we had to head back.

 

Mid 80s:  Sandwell and Dudley to Dundee (with the school railway club) via Preston to get some 08 haulage in as we were shunted onto the back of the Glasgow to get us to Carstairs.

A blast over Forth and Tay bridges and only 40 minutes to spare before the train home. Memorable for the 0500hrs start and having eaten all our sandwiches by 12. Well it did seem a lot later in the day than  it really was.

 

Krakow - Poznan  via Lodz. Supposedly only a 6 hour trip which turned into an epic 10 hour slog on an brand new  EMU with not the most comfortable seats in the world.

 

More recently Poznan - Zakopane. An overnighter this one but no sleeping car for us. On the cushions all the way. Poznan - Wroclaw in the dark due to lighting failure in our carriage. Change at Wroclaw and Krakow. Almost 12 hours at  standard PKP speeds (i.e not very quick) Wonderful none the less.

 

Andy

[station cat]

Funnily enough, the answer to 'how far can you get to and come back from in day starting from Reading' also turned out to be Edinburgh. Good use of a staff family pass I reckon.

 

Favourite/most epic would be my first overnight train - Budapest to Berlin last spring. Budapest Keleti is a beautiful old station, with passengers happily wandering across the tracks and we went via Bratislava whcih is a very foreign feeling station. Throw in the confusion as to how long we were stopping in various places and it was all good fun.

[APOLLO]

My "Epic train journeys"

 

2 weeks in Germany 1971

Hamburg Altona to Westerland (Sylt) behind an oil burning 4-6-0 & return

Konigswinter to Koblenz, then down the Mosel to Trier & return behind steam (to &from Koblenz)

Rheine to Emden West & return behind steam

 

1986 Wigan Wallgate to Munich, via Bolton, boat train (ex Glasgow) Bolton to Harwich, boat to Hook of Holland, Train Hook to Cologne, fast train down to Munich. - All on one ticket !!

 

1988 Trier to Paris & back in a day (drove to Germany that year) - Paris, expensive hell hole - won't go back !!

 

1990 New York to Washington & back in a day. Washington - walked from station to Lincoln Memorial, saw the White House, photographed the "Secret Police" dogs !!! called in the Smithsonian & saw the Gemini (I think) capsule etc. Nice model shop back then at Washington station.

 

1991 Tokyo to Kyoto & back in a day - Bullet train (the original one). Found an English café in Kyoto selling Bacon Butties !!!

 

1993 Bangkok to Chiang Mai overnight sleeper - first class !! The Restaurant car had "Water Bug Soup" on the menu, and other delights with "various things" listed as ingredients - I had fried rice and a few beers - slept well. Wonderful place is Chiang Mai, drove there earlier this year - wish we had gone again by train - 400 miles !!

 

1994 Bangkok to Hat Yai overnight sleeper - second class !! Holiday in Southern Thailand, "Down south" is OK but far better "up north" - (It always is !!!)

 

And many journeys in Britain behind steam 1963 - 68, too many to list.

 

Wonderful memories.

 

Brit15

[Purley Oaks]

This year - Sarajevo to Mostar 1950s Swedish stock, wonderful scenery, fresh coffee and beer - outward 7am, returning arrived Sarajevo 9pm - a 3-hour trip in a very slow train; loved every minute

Mal

[TheSignalEngineer]

When BR travel facilities changed to the present box system we tried to go as far as possible on one box, which lasted for two days  plus you could start at 10pm on the preceding evening.

 

We managed Birmingham to Armadale, Isle of Skye, via the Mallaig ferry. Prior to that we had a 24-hour challenge on one occasion doing Birmingham - Euston (Class 87), Kings Cross - York (HST), York-Edinburgh (Deltic), Edinburgh - Dundee (101), Dundee-Edinburgh (Class 26), Edinburgh-Carstairs (Class 47), Carstairs - Birmingham diverted via Manchester Vic (Classes 81, 40 and 86)

[newbryford]

Beijing to Luo He sometime in late 1990. It was a work trip and we were supposed to fly Beijing to Zhenchou (sp.?) but were given the wrong flight time and arrived at the airport too late!

 

It was a 14 hour overnight journey with about 3 loco changes along the way. We had to use a seperate waiting room at Beijing - reserved for non-Chinese - and travelled on a "soft-sleeper". I had never had green tea until then - and not had it since. The toilet facilities on-board were little more than a hole in the floor, watching the tracks go by. Apart from that, it was a brilliant experience and leaning out of the window about 8am on a crisp winter's morning, whilst crossing the Yellow River, I felt like Michael Palin.

 

Cheers,

Mick

[jsp3970]

Spending a month in India in 1984, Leaving New Jalpaiguri with a severe storm on our heels, bridges were being washed out behind us as we sped through the humid night. Later I can remember crossing the Indian state of Rajastan and watching as a wild lioness walked away from the tracks. A few days later I finally got to ride my first scheduled steam train on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (sadly the Darjeeling Railway had been washed out!)

 

Riding the bullet train in Japan in 1985. Really cramped and whenever we passed another train the ears would pop, especially in a tunnel!

 

In 1987 crossing the USA on Amtrak. Going through the mountains was incredible with amazing scenery, especially with the remains of wrecked freight cars laying down below us.

 

My father taking me up to Inverness in 1989 just so that we could ride the overnight train to Edinburgh in a sleeper car as they had announced the end of this service.

 

In 1990 leaving Windsor for Toronto on a VIA Rail Canada train, as we pulled out the tracks split and both engines dropped on to the ground. That is the only accident I have been in on a train.

 

In 1991 going to Wolstyn in Poland and riding / driving various steam engines, even cabbed a ST43 diesel. The best part was being allowed to drive them!

 

In 1998 riding the overnight train from Ankara to Adana. The scenery was incredible and I got plenty of photos!

 

But the one that really sticks out in my mind was only a short ride in 2006 on VIA Rail Canada from Kingston to Belleville and was the first ride I did with my young son. From the look on his face as we rode the train I knew he was hooked!

[railsquid]

When BR travel facilities changed to the present box system we tried to go as far as possible on one box, which lasted for two days  plus you could start at 10pm on the preceding evening.

 

We managed Birmingham to Armadale, Isle of Skye, via the Mallaig ferry. Prior to that we had a 24-hour challenge on one occasion doing Birmingham - Euston (Class 87), Kings Cross - York (HST), York-Edinburgh (Deltic), Edinburgh - Dundee (101), Dundee-Edinburgh (Class 26), Edinburgh-Carstairs (Class 47), Carstairs - Birmingham diverted via Manchester Vic (Classes 81, 40 and 86)

 

Maybe a stupid question -  but what's the box system?

 

[woodenhead]

Epic journeys: all line rover trip around the country in the 80s, highlights:

- Manchester to London, not very epic I hear you say. Well it took 4 hours in absolute darkness on an overnight service as they turned out the lights, it was unheated and it was mk2a stock with the centre doors. Draughty as heck, I couldn't get warm and I couldn't wait to arrive in London.

- Aberdeen to London by sleeper. I slept all the way so missing the experience and when the porter woke me in the morning with a pot of coffee I didn't heed his warning about the spring loaded table which then sprung spilling hot beverage all over me and the bed.

- after another overnight train - the postal from Manchester to Cardiff I tried to do some mileage around the valley lines only to find myself falling asleep amongst the commuters, most embarrassing as I was in that half and half awake state with my head nodding.

 

This was also when I realised the railways were changing and not for the better, I had done over night trips to Cardiff and Stratford in the late 70s and they were brilliant, by the mid 80s a lot of the traffic had gone and rather than be alive with freight those places were now dare I say it, quiet by comparison.

[trisonic]

Shenfield to Innsbruck to meet my folks - I was just turned 13 (or was it twelve?) Interesting journey by steam and electric.

 

Best, Pete.