GWR diversion out of London Euston Sunday 17th November 2024

[@Knack-fo5dc]

That is one hell of a clunky train for a wonderful new inter city train for everyone. Motors noisy too. Great catch though. Kept thinking we were joining the western main line but the wrong catenary. Eventually the work trains and horrible new catenary gave it away.

[@tonyskinner1643]

Thanks for showing the route I had assumed they would use was correct. I wondered about the east/west route via Bletchley/Oxford might have been used for Cardiff Trains.

[@matthewbull7]

Great video Ben

[@iainmaturin8460]

Really

[@matthewbull7]

Whats your point ?

[@kiwitrains]

I didn’t know where the train was

[@johnrafferty8087]

I Love Acton Wells box. It's so huge but the modern panel is in the dar cirner

[@JW1_1]

Nice video. I would’ve loved to see the route from Paddington up to High Wycombe, another rare diversion that happened a while ago🤔

[@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire]

@@JW1_1 Track at Old Oak Common was lifted in 2017.

[@cardiffian558]

@@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire The bridge over the road has also been demolished to enable the spoil conveyor to be constructed. It is very unlikely that Friars Junction will be restored. An alternative route is via West Ealing and Greenford East on to the (now single-tracked) line to West Ruislip.

[@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire]

@@cardiffian558 The plan is to restore it.

[@cardiffian558]

@@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire Thank you for that welcome news. There are working signals (controlled by Didcot Thames Valley OCC SN workstation and not by Greenford East) on the truncated branch which seems strange, but it makes sense if the line is going to be reopened.

[@adrianbaron4994]

Can only be done with a Class 800 Bimode as the wires end at Cardiff, not Swansea ( the promised and essential extension to Swansea was binned by the Tories ) and the freight link between the GWR and WCML via Acton Wells is still diesel only. Even Bristol Temple Mills is still bypassed by electrification, which beggars belief. As a result, heavy, very expensive to buy, and expensive to run Class 800 bimodes must be used when electrification is clearly the answer. But that takes forward planning over several years, and our own dismal politicians only believe in vote-grabbing short-termism. That is why the French, Spanish, and Chinese can build high-speed rail to all their major cities and offer fares at competitive prices, and we can't.

[@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire]

The Poplar lines are being electrified for Elizabeth Line as an electrified diversion route during the longer blockades of Old Oak Common for HS2 and it should be finished by 2026.

[@markcf83]

Electrification to Swansea was only stopped because of the severe overspend of the works. They were meant to electrify to Bristol via both Bath and Bristol Parkway but neither were done.

[@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire]

@@markcf83 To Swansea will be funded by the Welsh government.

[@nathanw9770]

This has to be one of the rarest diversions

[@haden3828]

Fantastic man!!!!

[@carlcaulkett3050]

Presumably this is a diesel-only movement, since I'm pretty sure there are no wires on the Acton Wells to Main Line chord... Mind you, I haven't been keeping up with GWR electrification, so I don't know if the wires go all the way to Swansea yet 🤔

[@carlcaulkett3050]

Doh!I've just realised that they were using class 800 bi-mode units. Problem solved 😉

[@adrianbaron4994]

@@carlcaulkett3050 I don't see any stop to put the pantograph down before the freight-only section is reached ( I am guessing that it is around 10.10 as this is where there seem to be no more masts ) so was the train running on diesel from Euston until it reached the GWR mainline?

[@bishwatntl]

​@@adrianbaron4994yes. There are videos of the GWR trains moving in and out of Euston in diesel mode.

[@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire]

​@@adrianbaron4994GWR were only using the engines all of the time from Ealing to Euston and while in Euston.

[@markcf83]

The electric trains go as far as Cardiff Central. The money ran out to go beyond the Welsh Capital.

[@endofthelines9843]

Last year there was news of LNER trains being diverted to Liverpool Street

[@letrainavapeur]

You never get to see the best parts of any city from the train, just the opposite.

[@brentgoodman4401]

What was the route from Euston to mainline to reading??

[@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire]

In reverse odder. The GWR trains left Reading on the Mains and ran to Dolphin junction on the mains (near Slough). The GWR trains ran on the GWML relief lines between Dolphin Junction and Acton West Junction due to the Mains being closed for points rewnal at Southall. The GWR diversions left the GWML at Acton West Junction, where they used the Poplar lines to head around the back of Acton Mainline and Up to Acton Wells Junction, where the briefly ran along the North London Line to access Willesden South West Sidings, then at Willesden West London Junction (Opposite Willesden Junction station) it joined the West Coast Mainline (WCML) Fasts for the rest of the way into London Euston.

[@AngusJones]

Since when did GWR trains go to Euston???

[@andrewreynolds4949]

It’s a diversion, for construction of the Old Oak Common station

[@SpoonyMcSpoonface]

Where the graffiti Night on my Mind is there’s a disused tunnel,where did it go?

[@cardiffian558]

It was the Up Carriage line which went underneath the whole layout from Primrose Hill junction: it was known colloquially as the "rathole". I rode through it on the Night Sleeper train from Glasgow just before it closed.The signage is still in place at the former tunnel entrance

[@SpoonyMcSpoonface]

@ thanks for the reply 😃

[@robllan]

Does the track alignment allow the same route in the opposite direction? 🤔

[@norbitonflyer5625]

yes, it does

[@stevede1766]

I done the run in on Sunday crawling speed lol

[@arandamei2189]

Just think how much better this would have been if there had been a commentary on exactly where we were, the jerkiness eliminated and/or the rail co had allowed a cabride. Aim higher, look at some of the continental videos!

[@joesphford7618]

How they get to London estoun from the south west

[@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire]

By the route which was taking in the video but rather than heading via GWML from Reading to South Wales they took the Berks and Hants to Taunton and South West.

[@joesphford7618]

@@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire ok thank you

[@fatwalletboy2]

Im so sensitive to the rustling crisp packet sounds.....grinds my gears.

[@Delete_DeLolz]

You poor sensitive snowflake Go run to your safe space

[@Fedderchini]

Oh give over

[@StuAnderson90]

I agree but it sounds more like someone wrapping a present 😂

[@spinosuchusdude7302]

3:17 rip lnwr 350/2s

[@kiwitrains]

Terrible

[@andrewreynolds4949]

Terribly interesting