B.R. Mystery tours & excursion trains

[Mickey]

Deleted

[1H was 2E]

There is a site called Sixbellsjunction which aims to record every excursion, both enthusiast and general public. It lists a lot of mystery excursions by date and I've looked at the dates you mention and, ironically, details apart from date seem to be a mystery. The webmaster gives the opportunity for users to update but, perhaps due to volume, my own updates have not been acted on. (see also my reply to "Grantham Accident". Pity - it has the makings of an indispensable site.

[StevieG]

" Back in the 1960s & 1970s British Rail use to run a number of trains around the country usually at weekends advertised as 'Mystery tours' to the general public the 'in joke' being back then with B.R. staff was that even the train crews didn't know where they were going let alone the general public that were riding on these trains?. .... "

You must remember what these were generally referred to as, in STNs (Special Traffic Notices) and late individual Circulars Micky? -

- .... 'MYSTEX's ; with Football excursions unsurprisingly described as 'FOOTEX's.
This led to staff (well, many signalling staff at least) often (unkindly!) referring unofficially to rail enthusiast excursions as 'CRANKEX's!

[strang steel]

It lists a lot of mystery excursions by date and I've looked at the dates you mention and, ironically, details apart from date seem to be a mystery.

I have found that problem with mystery excursions on Sixbellsjunction.

My theory is that because the majority of passengers on a mystery excursion were not railway enthusiasts, they are highly unlikely to remember details about the trip, and are even less likely to realise there is a railway excursion site out there on the web.

I went on several in the 1970s including one from Lincolnshire to Edinburgh, which I swear on the return journey was routed via the freight lines thus avoiding York station. Of course, none of my enthusiast workmates would believe me afterwards because they maintained that no passenger trains went that way.

All we have so far is a date 20th April 1974, but I doubt that few people on the train were interested in anything other than the destination. Unfortunately, I cannot find my notes from the trip, so would love to have someone remind me of the details. I know the train loco was a 40, but that is about as far as it goes.

[Boris]

My wife and, I plus two mates went on one of these, we finished up in Yarmouth, it was Wednesday, it rained all day, it was pre holiday season, there were about six shops, no cafe's open and to cap it all B.R had shceduled THREE "Mystery"train loads to arrive there within half an hour.

What a fun day we all had.

Mind you we did have some really good ones, a day trip from Leeds to South Wales, Tenby was fantastic at £5.00
I often wonder how the two lads who were running up the station road, waving madly, got home after we were already departing.

[Mickey]

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[cambois]

My recollection of a Mystery Excursion was a autumn Perth public holiday Monday in 1976, when we has one from North Wales (LLandudno I think) calling at Stirling and Perth. We went through the train at Stirling letting all the passengers know, as at that time a local public holiday meant that everything (and I mean everything) was shut!

So the Stirling businesses got a good bit of extra trade and one up for Stirling where the railway rivalry was always with Perth

[Andy W]

Ah! Those Merrymaker excursions. Hours of travel in a Mk 1 TSO (usually with Trojan trim seats and egg box light fittings) to some far off resort. A very cheap way of seeing the railway for young enthusiasts of the 1970s when your money had to go a long way.

Neither Yarmouth or Lowestoft see many local hauled trains these days but the signalling is still mechanical from Brundall eastwards. Some decent sized boxes too.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

When working on the platform at Southend Central, we had a Mystery trip train arrive about 1130, one Saturday, all the way from Swansea (about 10 coaches) two things stand out, loco hauled coaches, very rare, and class 47's, in 2 and a half years at Southend Central that was the only class 47 that I saw, usually 31's and 37's

The Swansea mystery tour would have been in 1981-2

manna

[sandwhich]

I remember back in 1979 there was a mystery tour running one Sunday from I beleive Hitchin to Brighton, it was booked to run to Dalston Jcn run round and make its way to Willesden High Level where a relief crew would be waiting for its onward journey. So far so good. DOH! engineering work on the North London Line between Dalston and Camden Road put paid to that idea. It wasn,t as if nobody knew, it was scheduled. So what next, send the train into KX pull the train out with the shunt engine to Hornsey and go to Willesden via Harringay curve to Gospel Oak and Willesden, problem solved. DOH! again. The Driver did not know the route, Oh! **** now what do we do, find someone who does. That happened to be me on an ECS working in Ferme Park, so I ended up working this train which arrived at Willesden over an hour late. I was also told that being a Sunday Harringay Park Jcn box was shut so a then signals inspector had to be sent over from Willesden to open the box in order to let us through. The true meaning of a mystery tour.