Smiffy@brizzle

Anyway, bee as I have in my bonnet about transport provision along the whole of the "varsity corridor", I will say no more,because it isn't really what the OP was looking for. - Nearholmer Feel free to carry on about this, interesting asides from the original conversation are something I always find interesting. The section of the Varsity line west of Bletchley remained in use until 1993, well into the more enlightened era of railway development. Even then, it wasn't so much closed as just fell into disuse, suggesting there was little need for it at the time, from a freight perspective. So even if it had survived, the sort of railway that could have gone many days, even weeks, between use. The potential for passenger use towards Milton Keynes was probably frustrated by the junction arrangements at Bletchley. A truly realistic layout would probably look more like Coalville to Burton does nowadays. - D854_Tiger I would have thought with the entire length of the Varsity line still open that it would be more heavily used than sad stump that actually exists. It was said that the line's usage declined as it became quicker to travel into London and then back out again to Oxford/Cambridge than travel direct between the two perhaps suggesting that an express service may have had some success. I have to say the idea of a derelict station with the freight services rattling through with maybe the odd rerouted weekend passenger service to avoid closures elsewhere on the network does hold some appeal.

From what I managed to garner Stewart, class 37s hauled some passenger services to Kings Lynn (early machines with corridors in the nose and split displays) and I remember them running on the GN line from Cambridge hauling freight but I was a wee nipper during the 1980's and my memories are patchy.

Firstly Hello! This is my first post on this site so I'm hoping I've chosen the right area to post this question. I've only modelled in 00 in the past with a particular interest in preserved railways which allow for a mixture of rolling stock and an interesting array of old equipment and rolling stock rotting/rusting away in the sidings. This is an embryonic idea for a new layout based on the premise of the Varsity Line surviving beyond the 1967 closures of sections of the line. Despite several attempts to close the line as a whole or just sections of the line, local politicians stepped in and forced the British Railways Board to maintain services along the entirety of the route. I'm planning to model a section of line near the Cambridge end during the 1980's. I've fairly sensibly assumed that the line will not have been electrified but I'm not sure what locomotives, DMUs, etc would have used the line. I remember class 31s being common at Cambridge along with 37s (I grew up near Cambridge) with pictures of Cambridge station in 1980s showing Cravens 105/106 DMUs being used too. What stock might have been used on the Varsity Line, I suspect a solitary 105 for stopping service between Cambridge and Bedford with locomotive hauled for faster Cambridge - Bedford - Oxford expresses (possibly class 50s or even Deltics eking out a second career until eventual withdrawal in the late '80s like the class 50s) but what do you think? After sectorisation who would have run the services; NSE or Provincial and would Intercity have taken responsibility for running a fast service between the two university cities? I'd be interested to hear your opinions and suggestions on this idea.