The Bristol Railway Archive

Brilliant - thanks for that guys. Was the same code used for up as down workings?

get_that_bus_out wrote:Brilliant - thanks for that guys. Was the same code used for up as down workings?

The 'visca versa' in my posting was a clue. In other words, yes is the answer to your question.

Martin Street wrote:

get_that_bus_out wrote:Brilliant - thanks for that guys. Was the same code used for up as down workings?

The 'visca versa' in my posting was a clue. In other words, yes is the answer to your question.

Doesn't that mean that you could have Bristol-Bath and Bath-Bristol services passing each other, both running with the headcode 2B93 (which would seem to defeat the point of having identifying codes)? Or was the service infrequent enough that there was only one local train on the line at any time?

WR Tim wrote:

Martin Street wrote:

get_that_bus_out wrote:Brilliant - thanks for that guys. Was the same code used for up as down workings?

The 'visca versa' in my posting was a clue. In other words, yes is the answer to your question.

Doesn't that mean that you could have Bristol-Bath and Bath-Bristol services passing each other, both running with the headcode 2B93 (which would seem to defeat the point of having identifying codes)? Or was the service infrequent enough that there was only one local train on the line at any time?

I know what you are saying but it was a route code not an individual train code. To pour oil on the fire, the through trains from Bournemouth West to Bristol TM were also 2B93 but the through trains in the opposite direction were 2C93, there were two through trains a day in each direction with a loco change at Green Park.

Thanks Martin, should have read your reply a bit more carefully! Am I remembering correctly that the down Pines ran as 1O95? I've got a feeling that the up working was 1M04 or 1M05 but have never seen any photos of a train carrying this code.

get_that_bus_out wrote:Thanks Martin, should have read your reply a bit more carefully! Am I remembering correctly that the down Pines ran as 1O95? I've got a feeling that the up working was 1M04 or 1M05 but have never seen any photos of a train carrying this code.

Pines Express as per the Summer 61 WTT

1O95 10.30 Manchester-Bournemouth West
1M04 09.45 Bournemouth West-Manchester.

And while looking this up I came across these SO gems, whoever thought these up!

1O92 07.00 Cleethorpes-Exmouth
1E59 10.40 Exmouth to Cleethorpes

The Up train was booked off Green Park at 2pm and the Down train arrived there 2 minutes later.

Maybe they're not all that crazy - they could have been designed to serve two passenger flows: holiday traffic between the Midlands and Cleethorpes/Exmouth in both directions? After all, to take another example I don't suppose there are a huge number of passengers on a Cardiff - Portsmouth or Milford Haven - Manchester service that make the through journey, but both tend to be pretty busy throughout because of the different traffic flows en route.

I have a photograph of a Peak (D31) in the Bath MPD section of the new site which bears the headcode 2B93.

Roger wrote:I have a photograph of a Peak (D31) in the Bath MPD section of the new site which bears the headcode 2B93.

As I understand it Peaks regularly worked the locals between Bristol and Bath Green Park as an infill turn after arriving from the north before they returned homeward.

Alex