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Returning from London to Birmingham |
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| My first ever trip
from my home in the Midlands to London was in April 1952, when I was
taken by my father to the annual Easter Model Railway Exhibition at
Central Hall, Westminster. A further visit to the same venue followed in
1953, and in August 1954, I accompanied my mother on a short London
break which included a day excursion to Margate. But from 1955 onwards trips to and from, or through, London became more regular. There were twice yearly business visits, usually in February and October, together with holiday travel. With a younger sister and an even younger brother, travel to and from our family holidays, usually in the South West of England, were made using the family Morris Minor. And we didn't all fit in, so I travelled by train. Outwards, I usually travelled direct, but on the return, I worked out a few rather more ambitious itineraries. |
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| Below is a listing of my return journeys by steam from 1955 to 1962, that involve variations from the the direct Paddington to Birmingham Snow Hill, and Euston to Birmingham New Street, services. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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I missed out on the route that I wanted to do most of all. A Waterloo to
West of England service as far as Templecombe, then the Somerset &
Dorset to Bath Green Park, from where it would have been a simple matter
to catch a local to Bristol Temple Meads, and the 7.20pm Bristol to
Newcastle back to Birmingham. Fortunately though, I did have several
journeys over the S & D. I certainly enjoyed my three trips from Marylebone to Rugby Central on the Great Central line, though I never did the up direction. But the most spectacular return journey of all was on 8th March 1958. I had already come up from Leicester to St Pancras in a snowstorm, and at Kings Cross I wondered whether to alter my plans and return to Birmingham on one of the conventional routes. I am glad I continued, since A3 no 60050 gave me a good run to Grantham, with blue skies, lots of sunshine, and a good layer of snow on the ground. And the gentle trundle on a J39 0-6-0 from Grantham, through Nottingham Victoria, to Derby Friargate was the icing on the cake. |
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| If only I had a time machine. | ||||