Did Anyone Travel From Sheffield Victoria Station ?

[Moomin22 10]

Our family travelled often from Vic station. My dad was shunter so we went free. Big ols steam engines thundering up to the platform scared me to death, mind you i was very young at the time.::)happy memories.

[Manxdeedah 10]

Can't understand their way of thinking regular fast trains accross the Pennines, it was a good freight route too.

The Great Central Railway was the last main line to be built too, at the turn of the last century Sir Edward Watkin had plans to build a main line from Manchester through Sheffield,Nottingham,Leicester, Rugby into London Marylebone station and beyond through a Channel Tunnel and on to Paris. It was also a buizy passanger and freight route from north east to the south west.

All the great stations have gone now Sheffield Victoria, Nottingham Victoria, Leicester Central, also lots of jobs for lots of people.

 

And I think it was built to the Continental Loading Gauge steviered,at least the part called the London Extension?

 

Chris

 

---------- Post added 17-05-2013 at 22:02 ----------

 

Your memory is indeed sound; Green coaches were used on the Southern Region of British Railways - see here for example - and Southern Region stock was normally used on the 12-02 pm train to Bournemouth as you suggest. I think this service started from Sheffield, though it might perhaps have come Manchester, or from Bradford via Huddersfield etc.

 

I seem to remember it started at York hillsbro. I can still see the York-Bournemouth boards on the coaches and I can also remember the Southern Region green coaches in the set.

Didn't an ex GWR Castle Class get as far as Huddersfield where it fouled the platform? Should have been taken off at Leicester.

 

 

Chris

 

---------- Post added 17-05-2013 at 22:19 ----------

 

I never went further than Ely but I found this 1957 handbill advertising the Harwich boat train and other long-distance trains to and from the Eastern counties. Here's a closer look at the times.

 

There used to be a train from Manchester to Norwich on a sunday evening in early 60s. I was in the RAF at Feltwell near Lakenheath where the train stopped,very handy from Sheffield Victoria. It went via Worksop,Retford,Gainsborough Lea Road,Lincoln,Sleaford,Spalding,March,Ely,Shippea Hill,Lakenheath,Brandon,Thetford,Attleborough and Wymondham.

Coming back on a friday to Sheffield there was a train from Norwich via Lakenheath through to Newcastle so we used to change at Retford and pay 1/6d supplement to use the Master Cutler instead of waiting for the service train.I seem to think we got into Victoria about 2130 hrs so bags of time for a pint or two.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Manxdeedah

[macstewart 10]

Sounds like a Scammell Scarab..

 

When I worked at Victoria Station we were working at Bridgehouses one Sunday taking down old cabling from the wall on the drive and getting towards the bottom of the drive, the ladders we were using couldn't quite reach so some one decided that we should drive one of the Scammels with a trailer on the back down and use that. This worked perfectly but unfortunately when attempting to turn the Scammel around on the drive it got stuck and we had to leave it until the next day for someone else to remove it.

[Cookingfat 10]

tfhink it's about time to put this topic to bed after al this time it's been going on and and n ore agood few years now and there a may be the last loco if the last is 2 ber ar they shoulld link up an put them across the bride to show her in her finery

[Manxdeedah 10]

tfhink it's about time to put this topic to bed after al this time it's been going on and and n ore agood few years now and there a may be the last loco if the last is 2 ber ar they shoulld link up an put them across the bride to show her in her finery

 

What's all that mean please?

Anyroad,I don't know about putting it to bed but of course YOU don't have to look at the thread if you don't want.There seems to be a quite a few on here that are still interested.

Edited May 18, 2013 by Manxdeedah

[cliffekid 10]

Used it regularly in the sixties, travelling on the anglers excursions to places like Saxilby, Five Mile House,Southry and Stixwold. The train, (often steam)used to terminate at Woodhall Junction,(Kirkstead) cliffekid

[dacrlit 18]

Herbert Humble used to do when he was in the Army.

[johnpm 18]

I've uploaded scans of the 1954 list of departures from Victoria Station (see my post #6) to postimage.org. Here are links to the scans "]Page 1. Pages 2-3.Pages 4-5.Page 6.

 

Have only just picked this thread up. Thanks hillsbro for the timetables. As a boy in the 1950's I went to Retford to train spot on many occasions summer & winter. Quite a crowd met up there & we had a great time. To this day I can still remember the Victoria Station announcement for the Retford train finishing off wiith "Grimsby Town, Grimsby Docks & Cleethorpes",

At the time Retford had an infamous crossing on the "up" side where the Cleethorpes line crossed over the main line. Trains on the main line could be seen to sway from side to side as they crossed it on their way north & very occasionally came off the track. This was avoided by putting the Cleethorpes line underneath.

I also recall a few trips on the Master Cutler that way before it was re-located to Sheffield Midland.

Great days !!!

[hillsbro 28]

Hi johnpm - glad the timetables are of interest. My older brother and I also used to go trainspotting to Retford. I remember going there one Sunday in 1961, only to find that all the main line trains had been diverted via Lincoln. So we went conkering instead.. I also travelled to Retford on the Master Cutler in 1964 when it was Pullman stock. You couldn't use day return tickets on it, but I had a "holiday runabout" ticket which was actually valid. I can still see the look on the posh Pullman-car attendant's face as he disdainfully allocated me a seat. I'm sure he didn't like to allow this scruffy-looking sixteen year-old trainspotter on his train but he was powerless to stop me... Here is a scan of the runabout ticket which I still have. Although it states that it "must be given up on expiry", when I returned to Victoria Station in the evening of the last day of validity, I managed to convince the ticket collector that I was going "home" on the 10-15 pm tran from Sheffield Midland to Brightside..

 

The trains from Sheffield Victoria to Cleethorpes via Retford continued to Gainsborough Central and then via the "Brigg line" to Barnetby. For many years this line has only had a handful of Saturdays-only trains, but thanks to the Hatfield landslip closing the Doncaster-Thorne line it has had a "new lease of life" and is now carrying a great deal of diverted freight, notably coal. On Saturday, Transpennine Express (whose services via Scunthorpe have been cancelled since the landslip in February) are due to begin a Sheffield-Cleethorpes service via this line.

 

I remember well the crossing at Retford. It was apparently the introduction of "merry go-round" coal trains that led to the Retford dive-under being built (by Henry Boot's) in the 1960s, as the crossing would have caused too many delays to their schedules.

 

Great days indeed!

[johnpm 18]

Great memories hillsbro! I still take my youngest grandson age 5 to see trains on the NYMR (which I live near) & Durham where he lives. Things are very quiet on NYMR at present - the recession seems to be biting. Good thing is Sir Nigel Gresley (of which Society we are members) is up & running again.

Looking forward to the Mallard 75 celebrations at York in July.

[Dreb48 35]

Hi hillsbro and johnpm. I used to go regularly to Retford from the Vic late 50s spotting like you guys.

Used to sit on the wall at the end of the station with my Tizer and Marmite sandwiches. It was the only time my dad ever went with me spotting.

He knew nothing about engines but loved to hear the cry of ' Streak 'and then the whole wall trembling as it thundered through at speed.

In contrast to that was the clanking of the lengthy goods trains on the cross over line.

Happy memories

[Puffin4 10]

I travelled on a number of occasions to and from Victoria station, on holiday to east coast resorts. I don't actually remember it closing but I recall that I last used it in about 1969, to Manchester and back.

 

I was a much more frequent user of Midland station as I used to spend most weekends in the Hope Valley in my teenage years in the 1950's.

 

Mike