The Highwayman

[Percy Main]

On reflection THE HIGHWAYMAN service sounded like a good way to travel (for some people) from London to Newcastle or return compared to wots on offer from Branson or whoever is running the service nowadays flying up & down the ECML!!.

THE HIGHWAYMAN worked by a English Electric type-4 (class 40) hauling a rake of B.R.Mk1s doing a stately 50-60mph.

In a way The Highwayman was a bit like the charter flights that used to operate in those days to odd destinations and by non-standard routes. All tickets had to be bought in advance and were only valid on that one train (unusual at the time except on excursions).

[giner]

Who knows? Maybe RB got his ideas from this train. Maybe he was just an ECML lad just like the rest of us. From small acorns, and all that.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

If, my memory serves me correctly, the Highwaymens stock were stabled at Bounds Green, would then travel to Drayton Park/ Ashburton Grove to run round, then came up passed Clarence yard, to Finsbury Park.

manna

[DaveGN]

Did BR not reinstate the Highwayman in the 80's on a Sleeper set? I'm thinking of around the time when we had all those trains branded such as The Aberdonian, The Cleveland Executive, The Hull Executive, The Talisman and so on. I'm sure I have some of the drop window stickers with the colour picture on somewhere in the loft....

[DaveGN]

Having just wrote that post - I think in fact on second thoughts, maybe they didn't. I think I was thinking of The Night Rider!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1980s-British ... 43b311b53f

Well the chap on the poster does look like a Highwayman....

[Mickey]

Deleted

[manna]

G'Day Gents

I rode the Night Rider/Blue Lagoon one night from York to Edinburgh..............stood all the way, what was the point of blue lights when you had to stay awake, to stop yourself from falling over !

manna

[Hermit 109]

I worked "The Highwayman" on many occasions. It was rostered a class 40 loco in both directions and the stop at Doncaster was for the train crews to swop trains. King's Cross loco crews would depart the pass loco at 08.30 L/E to Holloway Carriage sidings, pick up the empty stock 5N45 and depart at 09.00 for Finsbury Park where the headcode became 2N45. Departure was 09.27 from Finsbury Park and arrival at Doncaster 12.01.
We then crossed over to the up side, just enough time for a fresh can of tea, and worked the up service 2A55 departing Doncaster at 12.20 and arriving at Finsbury Park at 15.12, then empties back to Holloway Carriage sidings and finally L/E back to pass loco arriving at 16.20.

[hq1hitchin]

I worked "The Highwayman" on many occasions. It was rostered a class 40 loco in both directions and the stop at Doncaster was for the train crews to swop trains. King's Cross loco crews would depart the pass loco at 08.30 L/E to Holloway Carriage sidings, pick up the empty stock 5N45 and depart at 09.00 for Finsbury Park where the headcode became 2N45. Departure was 09.27 from Finsbury Park and arrival at Doncaster 12.01.
We then crossed over to the up side, just enough time for a fresh can of tea, and worked the up service 2A55 departing Doncaster at 12.20 and arriving at Finsbury Park at 15.12, then empties back to Holloway Carriage sidings and finally L/E back to pass loco arriving at 16.20.

You've a better memory than me, Hermit - I can remember the special stickers for the carriage windows, the fact that one of the two Thompson buffets 1705/6 ran in it and that a KX bloke 'Fried Bread Fred'? for some reason started off from the Park one morning with a few doors open, as not all the passengers had joined at that time.

[AndyRush]

Because of its leisurely timings, us unscrupulous engine controllers used the Highwayman a way of shuffling locos around. Finsbury Park Brush Type 2 to come off at Doncaster for Works, vacuum braked Haymarket EE Type 4 overdue maintenance to work forward was typical...!

Andy

[hq1hitchin]

Because of its leisurely timings, us unscrupulous engine controllers used the Highwayman a way of shuffling locos around. Finsbury Park Brush Type 2 to come off at Doncaster for Works, vacuum braked Haymarket EE Type 4 overdue maintenance to work forward was typical...!

Andy

and some wag in KX Control suggested combining it with 5N30 Holloway - York empty stock train. 'Passengers for Connington travel in the rear portion'. Happy days

[Mickey]

Deleted

[hq1hitchin]

I presume there was a buffet car service with this train?.

On a 7hrs+ trip to Newcastle i guess a cup of British Rail tea and a cheese sarnie would be most welcomed?.

Certainly, Michael - and one of the Thompson buffet cars 1705/6 often worked the service. Incidentally, the reason in started/terminated at Finsbury Park was because The Highwayman was an attempt to compete with coach travel and not full fare rail travel so it was felt using Kings X would have had an adverse affect on revenue from other trains.

You're right about the long journey time. On a Control Office graph (locations shown vertically and times horizontally), The Highwayman seemed to go crablike across the graph.

[Mickey]

Deleted

[sandwhich]

Yes i remember The Highwayman in the dim and distant past, It was a daytime working Mon-Fri but was an afternoon working on Saturdays, its timings were so slack that even slow road running you could not lose time. One Saturday I worked this train with a Driver who was a bit impatient to say the least. The up working was as said booked to stand at Doncaster for around 25 mins. As it was not a booked passenger stop he persuaded the station supervisor to let us go early, i was doing the Driving, we reached 60mph and my Driver ordered me to open up to 90 mph, my protestations about not letting us run fell on deaf ears, we were soon checked and checked again and were eventually turned in slow road at Grantham and then stood at High Dyke before proceeding to Stoke and turned in again where it was mostly slow road all the way to Kings Cross (apart from the various bottlenecks) where this train terminated on Sats. After all that we arrived 10 mins early. Horn blowing all the way no doubt annoyed a few signalmen who probably muttered not to politely about not reading our timetable. I would think that Control was also on to them at times as well. Much unneeded stress all around.