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The idea of this madness is to recreate the original route it took in 1987. Not just the little bit I did but the FULL trip of 1E31 Glasgow Central to Harwich Parkston Quay. Obviously the original train no longer runs and I would have to use current trains.
What bits were no longer able to be done?
What alternatives would I have to use?
Am I insane?
Where to stay as I would definitely need hotels.
How would it compare to the beast - The Aberdeen to Penzance trip (I missed out on that train!)?
By the way the Aberdeen to Penzance trains was 775 mile long,
The Original:
WAYYYY back in in July 1987 (it was the 16th according to my Haulage log) my mate Greg and I ventured off to do this train after work. A few of us in the office had been talking about it for a little while but the time finally came and off we went.
Working at Waterloo went over to Euston and caught a train up to Watford Junction.
At Watford we were standing waiting for the train, when an announcement came over that all trains in to London were being delayed. After all these years I have no idea why and has long since been forgotten. Finally the train arrived and we boarded, it was dark and pouring down with rain by this time.
1E31 Watford Junction to Willesden Signal 58 86205 [15m 00ch].
We were in the front carriage but had a choice of seats as there were not as many people on it as we expected. Off it went and after a short time we stopped at Signal 58 for the Diesel loco to be attached.
1E31 Willesden Signal 58 to Stratford 47447 [11m 23ch].
Moments later the loco pulled away and off we went. I have been told that the train took the route through Primrose Hill station which closed on 18 September 1992 which I was not aware of so I may need to recalculate my mileages on that one but I doubt there will be no real difference.
Under the dark skies we travelled over the North London Line to Stratford. Ahh Stratford before the redevelopment … a huge depot. Once the loco was detach onwards we travelled.
At Shenfield we alighted and then headed back to London and it was STILL raining.
I have made a mock up of the Working Timetable of the train and route at the bottom of these article (thanks to RailForumsUK member 'Sir Felix Pole' for the timings).
The Logistics:
This is a bit of a nightmare to be brutally honest.
Firstly it is not a one day trip from where I am based. It would very much look like a multi day event.
Hotels
Hotels would need to be booked. Obviously the first one being at Glasgow. Near the centre will be more expensive but if I can get a place for a cheaper rate on a line I need then that'll be better.
The next hotel would have to be Harwich.
Unit 5 Harwich Portside Retail Park, Mariners Way, Harwich, CO12 4YA - An 18/25 minute walk
The station is now called Harwich International having been changed in 1995 from Harwich Parkston Quay.
Trains
With no direct trains what to do?
The Plan
This is broken down in to five parts. This is to allow for different portions of the route no longer in use and due to modern day service patterns.
There are not a lot of trains that head southbound from Glasgow central that go via Wolverhampton. I just the six (Summer 2026 timetable), so there are tqo trains to start off with
9M51 08:00 Glasgow Central to Euston. If this one is used everything below will be about an hour earlier.
or
9M53 09:40 Glasgow Central to Euston.
Despite the original European leaving at 11:40 I think it prudent to catch the 09:40 as there are changes involved. The nearest interchange point to Watford on this train is either Coventry or Euston. Let's do Coventry with an arrival of 14:40.
Two choices now an Avanti West Coast train at 14:45 - Not much chance of catching that one or a LNWR train.
1Y48 15:05 Coventry to Watford Junction which arrives in to Watford Junction at 16:33.
Now comes the slow services.
2C46 16:48 Watford Junction to Willesden Junction arriving in to the low level station at 17:21.
I need to allow at least 10/15 minutes for this interchange as this station has stairs and can be busy. There are trains to Stratford every 5 minutes.
2L21 17:32 Willesden Jn (HL) to Stratford (18:14)
2N52 17:38 Willesden Jn (HL) to Stratford (18:22)
2L52 17:43 Willesden Jn (HL) to Stratford (18:28)
All the London Overground trains terminate at Stratford. Then it is over to platform 10 for the next train.
Hopefully first Manningtree train can be caught.
1P56 18:39 Stratford (London) to Manningtree (19:28) or
1A94 19:43 Stratford (London) to Harwich International (21:00)
The final leg now. Two trains to choose from.
2A42 20:00 Manningtee to Harwich International (20:16)
DISCLAIMER: You've got to be pretty MAD to try this trip. Disclaimer
The Original 'Mock' Working Timetable.
DOWN | 1E31 | ||
Glasgow Central to Harwich Parkston Quay | The European |
| |
July 1987 |
|
| |
Timing Load | Electric Loco |
| |
M-F | Mileage | ||
|
| ||
Glasgow Central | dep | 11 40 | 0-00 |
Motherwell | 12 01 | 12-69 | |
Carstairs | arr | 12 14 | 28-59 |
Carstairs | dep | 12 22 | …… |
Carlisle | arr | 13 13 | 102-27 |
Carlisle | dep | 13 20 | …… |
Oxenholme | 14 00 | 152-25 | |
Lancaster | arr | 14 18 | 171-36 |
Preston | dep | 14 38 | 192-34 |
Crewe | arr | 15 26 | 243-34 |
Crewe | dep | 15 30 | …… |
Wolverhampton | 16 10 | 283-16 | |
Birmingham New Street | arr | 16 31 | 296-06 |
Birmingham New Street | dep | 16 48 | …… |
Birmingham International | arr | 17 00 | 304-24 |
Coventry | dep | 17 12 | 315-00 |
Milton Keynes Central | 17 47 | 359-14 | |
Watford Junction | 18 15 | 391-45 | |
Shenfield | 19 33 | 417-68 | |
Chelmsford | 19 43 | 427-32 | |
Colchester | arr | 20 12 | 449-17 |
Colchester | dep | 20 13 | …… |
Harwich Parkston Quay | arr | 20 35 | 466-39 |
A Few Stats:
Miles coverable: 466m 39ch.
Number of Moves: 5
Possible Haulage: 390, 350, 378, 720