London Paddington to Hereford train Cab Ride - 4K - Updated version

I hope you enjoy this cab ride from London Paddington to Hereford filmed in UltraHD during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown of summer 2020 by a friend who is a driver.
This is an updated version with clearer captions that where possible are larger and displayed for longer than on the original version here: • London Paddington to H...
We journey for a total of 150 miles starting out in England’s capital and slowly head into more rural areas as we pass through the famous University City of Oxford, then through the charming scenery of the Cotswolds before hitting major civilisation again in the form of Worcester. Then it’s out into and through the Malvern Hills passing Great Malvern and Ledbury before reaching our destination of Hereford.
We resisted the urge to get the recordings done at the widest possible focal length, as, despite the gains in peripheral vision, you get a very false impression of speed and perspective. This detracts from the realism. The focal length chosen attempts to give the best compromise of a realistic view of what the driver sees together with a decent amount of peripheral scenery. You won’t see any ‘barrel distortion’ i.e. bending buildings here!
Throughout the trip, captions give information on the route - past, present and future - in a way that is hopefully informative without being too over the top and intrusive:
• Bottom right of the screen is the maximum permitted speed at any given location for the train.
• Bottom left of the screen in orange captions is the name of the line we are on, together with information on where the signalling is controlled from, mode of traction the train is using, and lineside gradients of 1:100 or more.
• At the top of the screen, station details are in red captions.
• Major junctions, selected level crossings and other significant infrastructure are in green captions.
• Diverging and converging routes, as well as other lines we pass over or underneath are in dark blue captions.
• Other information, such as historical details, possible future enhancements and other general information the viewer will hopefully find useful, are in mauve or light blue captions.
• Small inset video, at various points on the route, gives ‘flashback’ footage to a previous layout, or views from the side window of the train.
The footage was recorded on several different days using an unmonitored camera.
It is for entertainment only, is not an official GWR or Network Rail publication, and should not be used for route learning.
Comments and discussion are very welcome.

[@peterthill]

What a great ride. Thx for having me 👍

[@bompou]

I have been obsessed with these train videos. they help especially when one cannot get out any more. I just want to say how very professional your production is, pointing out things to see, and keeping us entertained. Brilliant. Keep up the good work, and thank you!. Brian Higgins.

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thanks Brian, glad you enjoyed the ride.

[@tonylancaster8704]

This updated version is a lot better now that we have time to read the captions and the contrast is also better and makes the text a lot easier to read. Thanks

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Glad you like the changes, Tony.

[@arthurmee]

Rekindled some childhood memories of my childhood of frequent journeys from Ledbury to Worcester, Hereford and occasionally Paddington. Thank you for posting.

[@mattfilla3576]

Really wonderful video. I have developed a real interest in these cab ride videos and yours is one of the best I have ever seen - the information, historical tidbits, flashback videos, are all interesting and well done. The countryside is beautiful - it reminds me a lot of the rural areas of my state (Wisconsin).

[@stevies.1975]

I’ve got to say…. This is much better. Well done for these improvements. Nice to see a Slough stop (being my local station)….

[@robertcoleman4861]

Greetings from down under(sydney australia),Beautiful pictures & a wonderful scenic adventure well done,I'ts great to see some rebuilding of the network it should have never been dismantled by the so called experts all those years ago,Here in my home state of nsw in the country area's the gov did the same "SMASH & BURN" cheer's bob.

[@Railtrotter]

One of the best videos I've seen on the UK network!! By the image quality and the information provided !! It is a real pleasure to discover your network that I do not know 😃 greetings from Paris 🙂

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thank you very much - glad you liked it.

[@reeley]

loving the old style signals around Worcester !

[@BastiaanLuytjes]

Already watched (and enjoyed) the original version, but I appreciate the updated captions!

[@stephendavies923]

I thoroughly enjoyed this, watching it over a few days using the breaks included. Thank you very much for posting and I know my late father would have loved it.

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thank you, Stephen

[@bryanerde2564]

Fascinating - I particularly liked your captions and explanations. I last travelled on this line in 1978 on an HST125 to Cardiff and before that in the days of steam on the real Great Western just after the war on a holiday to the west country. Somewhat different now! Thanks for a real nostalgic trip.

[@yvindascanius6061]

I was 55 min into the other version with pale blue captions on cloudy backgrounds when I scrolled a bit down and noticed this version was available. Changed over and haven't looked back! Much easier to read with my slightly reduced eyesight!

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thank you - glad you liked this version.

[@petepnut]

A pleasure to watch (over four evenings!), thank you!

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Glad I helped you while away several evenings!

[@raysmith114]

The first version was very good: this improved one is excellent. I enjoyed the Worcester to Hereford part immensely. Thank you.

[@bazza945]

Excellent second viewing. Takes your mind off the World's Troubles, thank you.

[@johnwhitehouse9885]

Thank you Just watched your update video and great to read the information Enjoyed the video. Be looking forward to your next video. Thanks again.

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thanks, John - glad you liked it.

[@meijiturtle3814]

Good to see a camera in use without an extreme wide angle focal length.

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thank you. We were hoping to provide a more realistic view.

[@asitmajumdereagleroutetracker]

Great video 😍 Like & Love from India 🇮🇳 Kolkata

[@geoffhurrell8478]

A great video - thank you so much for posting. It's fascinating to see how much of the infrastructure is barely out of the nineteenth century. The extreme wide-angle lenses does exaggerate the track curvature.

[@bobuk5722]

Hi folks. This channel is almost unique. They listened to comments about the captions on the earlier version and did something about it. Liked and subd. BobUK.

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thanks, Robert. It only took an hour or so to change some of the captions, which is a small amount of time compared to the rest of the project. Glad you liked the changes. Took a little longer to get it encoded and uploaded and processed of course, but with a 115gb file it will take time!

[@mikebuick2332]

What a great video!! Busy built up London is a stark contrast to Hereford. As a serious railway modeller, these videos are invaluable for capturing the details otherwise missed. It’s also nice to get a view from the front. Looking out for one that goes through Stroud at some point 👍

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Glad you like it, Mike - and glad it might help with the modelling side of things.

[@benransby3580]

Fbmn nwaeegt​@@MyRailwayVideosrr thifhm x fbhtg😂k

[@chrismaley512]

Excellent video! Many thanks for sharing.

[@proberts8]

What a lovely journey!

[@Rog5446]

Tah muchly, bloody brill!

[@dubtrev]

Top notch , a beautiful thing to watch

[@michaelpoole9595]

I've just come across your channel. Thank you for a delightful video. I used to travel from Worcester (and points north) to Great Malvern about 20 years ago, but, of course, I never saw the state of the track! Beeching has a lot to answer for - not only did he chop off so many wonderful branch lines, but he also singled so many "secondary" main lines, leaving the modern trains which now serve Worcestershire & Herefordshire permanently handicapped. Hopefully some of the many splendid improvements you identified will come to fruition. Thank you.

[@Martin_Adams184]

Excellent video. Thank you!

[@Stipperstone]

First class.

[@nickweiserfolz]

Very well done! A very good video, especially all Your detailed explanations are absolutely first class! Every viewer knows everytime where the tain is at the moment, why the line(s) are how they are now, how they were earlier times and we are told about possibilties for amendments in the future, too. And we can see a lot of really beautiful English countryside as well. Amazing! Maybe my English is not the best, please excuse me for that. I am German.

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thank you for your detailed comment and I am pleased you liked the video and accompanying information.

[@marinerhally]

What a beautiful day for the ride 😊

[@rumblefish2536]

Well that was a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours. Very many thanks.

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thanks...glad you liked it.

[@Cinemadamenic]

Superb. Thank you very much for this.

[@timkinder9170]

Brilliant! I just discovered your channel - used to ride this route a lot in the 80s. Thanks for this great content. From a new subscriber to your channel in Australia.

[@Cinemadamenic]

The site of Adlestrop station, made famous by Edward Thomas's poem, is just beyond the overbridge at 1:15:58, between Kingham (Oxfordshire) and Moreton-in-Marsh (Gloucestershire)

[@michaelberg9656]

I was expecting a big fast mainline, what a pleasant surprise to see a little rural single track line with semaphore signals and signal boxes! Great video.

[@ds1868]

That's only between Worcester and Hereford. Between Wolvercote Junction and Worcester the idea is make the Cotswold line fully redoubled.

[@michaelberg9656]

@@ds1868 A pity. They will probably clear away all that lovely old stuff at Worcester and replace it with the usual characterless cheap modern style.

[@idot3331]

@@michaelberg9656 And this is why the UK's rail network is as bad as it is. The rail network is already so far behind the rest of the world without people complaining about the upgrades we desperately need.

[@michaelberg9656]

@@idot3331 Right, I'm only giving the nostalgic point of view. I live in California so the efficiency of British Rail isn't an issue for me.

[@ds1868]

@@michaelberg9656 the nostalgic viewpoint is understood and appreciated, but as mentioned many of these rural lines were double track then either closed down completely or single tracked. This happened in the 1960s and the UK's railways have never really recovered. The fiasco over the current build of HS2 which is now severely cut back and delayed is another current example of the madness. Still I do agree the line especially from Worcester to Hereford is certainly very attractive to look at. It is a time warp and probably hasn't changed much since it was built over 150 years ago.

[@drg111yt]

Thank you I did enjoy the ride, so clear and the captions were very informative😀I will move to Worcestershire.

[@steviep1965]

Great video, good quality and lots of info, hope to see some more in the future.

[@a.butler8908]

Excellent presented and well annotated cabride ... look forward to more if that is possible.

[@47longman]

A most entertaining and informative video, well put together. This is how it should be done. Many thanks.👍

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Hi there - many thanks!

[@RobRob5656]

exciting movie!

[@Geoffers008]

Fascinating, thanks!

[@christopherfairs9095]

Nice to come through the Malvern Hills and into Herefordshire, looking so green and rural with its hopyards and cider apple orchards. For many years now there have only been 4 railway stations in the whole county of Herefordshire.

[@briansr.5219]

Without doubt,taking all the elements which make up a cab ride video,this is,insofar as I can recall probably the best I have ever seen,though the route may have had something to do with that,especially after leaving Oxford behind.

[@jorgrisch6280]

Vielen Dank für diese schöne Führerstandsmitfahrt...Bitte weiter so .😀👍

[@meijiturtle3814]

Congratulations on getting the camera focal length right. I find it very irritating to watch those wide angle lens views with the verticals leaning inward.

[@julianhubbard4198]

Great video, relaxing train therapy!

[@carlosalves65]

I love it. Thank you !

[@tonywise198]

I enjoyed that. I left the Slough area in March 1958. In those days this train would have been "King Class 60XX" hauled. Others on the line would have been Castles, Halls, and 61XX (tanner-oners) on the locals. I wonder what Brunel would have thought about the catenary?

[@davidgrimshaw7825]

Excellent video, entertained me through several lunchtimes over Christmas. Pretty good advert for Hereford & Worcester as well. I agree with previous comments regarding information, would be better at bottom of screen with signaling and line data in top left. 10/10☺

[@videobosseditor0153]

Im doing this route tommorow night back from London and im going to london in morning

[@frankkie3849]

Once you get into the country it’s so beautiful to view..😊

[@nutsnproud6932]

Thanks for the video.

[@Traincabvideo]

This is wonderful 👍🏻 Thank you from Russian cabview 🇷🇺 🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thank you…

[@kenpottinger55]

Just found this video. I live in Reading,but never use the train. Comparing the current with the pre 2015 one, it's amazing just how much steel was used just to support the overhead line!!

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thanks, Ken - glad you liked it.

[@paul196426]

Great video, very informative, Subscribed.

[@pakroomitrains]

Awesome 👍

[@BevMattocks]

Fantastic video and gorgeous weather, too. Stunning scenery and interesting information. Perfect for 3 x sessions on my exercise bike! Will you be making any more longer driver's eye videos? I watch driver's eye videos while on my exercise bike.

[@philippankhurst6680]

Excellent, thank you. Improvements ? Maybe a few more former stations/closed junctions identified...

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thanks, Philip. I considered putting even more information in captions, but didn't want to overwhelm the viewer.

[@brrob8108]

52:13 A flashing single or double yellow aspect indicates that a train is to take a diverging route ahead with a LOWER line speed than the main route.

[@user-hc1im5fu5d]

Thank you for uploading this video; I thoroughly enjoyed watching it and learnt a lot! Just to ask, in due course please can you also film cab view videos of train journeys from Didcot Parkway through Oxford and Banbury and via Leamington Spa and via Kenilworth to Coventry. And from Bristol Temple Meads via Yate, Cam & Dursley, Cheltenham Spa, Worcestershire Parkway and Bromsgrove to Birmingham New Street? Cheers and I gladly await your response.

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thanks, Nicky - I will try my best, though I have limited time at the moment. Hopefully if I can't, one of the other cab ride uploaders will do so.

[@lucvanhoef2479]

Great video , i like it

[@atticbrowser9698]

I really enjoyed this, thank you. I was struck by the small number of passengers who seemed to be boarding at each station. Was this a particularly quiet day?

[@danamack7405]

Wonderful video - is it possible for you to publish any more ? Regsrds

[@alexcarter6680]

39:22 RIP to that bird

[@SimonTog]

Klasse video :)

[@TrainDriverRob]

Great quality, would love the Up direction, Reading-Padd, not for route learning purposes, of course.

[@BangaloreAviation]

It’s my first visit to your channel. Lovely video. Thanks for sharing. May I understand the numbers in the parentheses next to the station name like Didicot Parkway (53m 10c). What do 53m and10c mean? Thanks in advance.

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thank you. The numbers are the distance from London Paddington (the start of the journey) - it is in miles and chains, a chain being roughly 20 metres.

[@brrob8108]

@@MyRailwayVideos A chain is a linear measure not metric = 22 yards

[@ianwilkinson4602]

@@brrob8108 To hell with the metric system😁

[@richardditchburn3853]

Great video. This trip is surly on my Bucket List. From four track mainline to single track secondary lines, what a contrast. As a viewer from Canada it is sure interesting to see passenger trains travelling at 100 mph on single track. In North America the speed in most parts of the continent is kept to 75 mph, not to mention being held for freight trains. Re the comment at 38 mins. I noticed a flying junction at Northallerton to get freight trains onto the North Easton line to wards Sunderland. If they could afford this in the late 19th century, what's the problem today. It just needs commitment from Network Rail. I'm sure that commuters from Oxford would appreciate it. Too many engineers think in the terms of money instead of convenience. In regards to the point in the video at 02:07:00 Great Malvern station; we increase from five to nine coaches. Where did the extra train, added to ours, come from?

[@richardstone5813]

@1.09.16 the line has a public horse bridleway that crosses. Tricky enough at 75mph…. I often crossed it with my dog for nearly 30 years…frankly, it is fast enough as it is.

[@hawthornvalley]

Greetings from Down Under. Thoroughly enjoyable. By any chance do you have a video of the return journey.

[@MyRailwayVideos]

No, I am afraid it's one direction only. Glad you liked it.

[@Gagon32]

luv it

[@stevensgt1]

Loved the vid. When comparing the 'before and after' shots can someone please tell me why it is necessary to have so much 'ugly' overhead construction totally destroying the view? Is there a reason for not using 'third rail' power? ...(Love the cab rides posted from all over Europe, but not a railway enthusiast otherwise)

[@Martin_Adams184]

The main reason why, as you rightly point out, there is "so much 'ugly' overhad construction totally destroying the view" is that the entire GW line electrification project was grossly over-specified. And the main reason for that was that this was the first mainline electrification scheme that Network Rail had undertaken since the electrification of the East Coast Main Line in the 1980s. Hence those who had expertise for that earlier project had moved on or retired. So the recent electrification got its specifications from various sources, including EU specifications that were not necessarily relevant for this particular project. Over-specification was one of the major factors behind the project's gross overrun in costs, and the fact that, as of now (September 2021), it is still incomplete. (If you look at cab-based films on the West Coast or East Coast, the differences are obvious.) The aesthetic disaster of this GW scheme has been much commented on within and without the railway world. Lengthy accounts of how it all happened can be read in Modern Railways magazine over the last couple of years, and in The Railway Magazine. The reason why third-rail is not used is that, although it is cheaper to install, it is less efficient and requires more sub-stations. Back in the 1950s, Britain and some other countries in Europe agreed that the long-distance electrification standard would be 25,000 volts AC overhead. Some of the main pioneering work in developing that system was done in this country. There's a pretty good, comprehensive discussion of this subject in the Wikipedia entry "Railway electrification system." Sorry for so many words -- it's a pet subject of mine!

[@stevensgt1]

@@Martin_Adams184 Don't be sorry. It's so nice to have a detailed explanation posted. Over-specified is plainly visible when I compare overhead construction in the UK compared to similar rail layouts and large junctions on the continent. We seem to have larger and twice as much supports, trusses, gantrys etc then elsewhere. And as for third rail.....always wondered why, and personally....bring on the extra sub-stations!!

[@tomkent4656]

@@Martin_Adams184 At least they could have painted them green!

[@Martin_Adams184]

@@tomkent4656 Yes. Great Western Railway green!!

[@joezen2710]

Fantastic Video. Love the Cotswolds. I do have to say I was somewhat annoyed by the "doubling" flashbacks. They did not show much different track layout but instead obstructed the gorgeous scenery. Other than that, well done! Really enjoyed the ride.

[@stephensaines7100]

I found the 'flashbacks' of great value, especially as that relates to the single tracking.

[@AluminumOxide]

41:01 that prodtruding building to the right in the background is the UK Atomic Energy Authority Culham Science Centre nuclear fusion reactor!

[@danamack7405]

Wonderful video - is it possible for you to publish any more ? Regards

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Thank you Dana Mack - I will put some more up when I have the free time.

[@christopherbentley5216]

Kingham. A shadow of itself to its 1950s days

[@johnbarham7718]

Excellent film. How does the driver know the atp warning is eronious?

[@larsfredriksson3108]

Some kind of 'enhanced TPWS++' west of Paddington since all signals seem to be fitted, not just prior to convergence?

[@simonpitt8145]

Great video, but I can understand why there was such a negative reaction ( particularly around Street and Goring I believe ) to the rather over engineered catenaries. They are an absolute eyesore and why do they need to be that OTT in the first place. The ones on the East and West coast mainlines aren't as heavily constructed as that and yet still serve their purpose well enough. Thank god the electrification through Bath was dropped. It would be such a shame to have a beautiful city ruined by those monstrosities threaded through it. I'm not sure what Brunel would have made of it all either. Nonetheless, it was a great video beyond Didcot and thank you for taking the time to upload.

[@mcolombo22]

Nice vid!! Question! How do you calculate the braking location to be exactly on the platform? Is it automatic or is it braked by the driver?

[@TrainDriverRob]

All done by the driver, no automation on the mainline in the UK

[@markpunt9638]

At Honeybourne, why is platform one not the up bound platform.?

[@timothymarshall6709]

Reading Station oh boy outlet shopping

[@mdhazeldine]

Great video. Can you please tell me where I can get the video that you inserted (the "flashback" to 2015) at Reading?

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Hi, Mark - It's part of a cab video from Paddington to Oxford that I haven't uploaded as of yet.

[@mdhazeldine]

@@MyRailwayVideos Ah ok. I look forward to that one when it comes out!

[@robertomonanni801]

I have a question: around the 33-34 minutes mark you say that the noise is erroneous (there’s a double yellow signal ahead) and the driver must press a pedal to prevent the emergency brakes to be applied. This sound is the standard in Train Simulator 2014-2016… has something changed from those years? Each time the signal is not green the player has to press a key to ack the noise and avoid the emergency brake to be applied. Why is the sound erroneous now?

[@gerrybarritt5082]

Great videos but please change the the colour of your notes at top of screen. BLUE on blue sky just does not work. Thanks.

[@gen12345able]

Would love to see realtime speed.

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Yes, perhaps I can arrange for a 'speedo cam' as well next time!

[@davidrobins1021]

13:50 Do we have to stop at Slough? Slough is best passed through at 125 mph.

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Not all trains stop at Slough, but I guess if you live there it's nice that the train stops! :-)

[@ianhosier4042]

Too right! Slough is such a dump!

[@admiralpegasuscc]

Can i ask, what are "chains" when displaying the distance stations are from start point

[@ianwilkinson4602]

It is a pre-metrification measure 1 chain=22 yards or 66 feet, some traditions live on, including PINTS of milk [ with metric equivalent ], GALLONS of Petrol [ priced per litre 😁], MPG [ miles per gallon ], roadsign distances and map distances are still shown in MILES etc., etc..all good fun 😁

[@waynekoch2284]

Speed’s impressive if mph 😮

[@kraz904]

What’s the color of the boat house at Hereford??

[@parkandrideme]

What do the black triangles mean ??

[@RightAwayProductions005]

Hello Sir. A quick question. If I were to credit you on this amazing and truly immersive cab ride, would you be ok with me using this video as a reference to making the Cotswold Line in Train Simulator? It’s an integral missing part to the game

[@MyRailwayVideos]

Hi there, yes that would be OK with me - thanks for asking. If you were able to link to the video as part of the TS route then I would be grateful.

[@RightAwayProductions005]

@@MyRailwayVideos hi there. Of course! Many thanks for your response!

[@samanthaschnetzler7812]

Why is there 1 track at Harborough?

[@trainsatlondonpaddington9076]

Is this an IET they are driving?

[@AndreA-ke2id]

It's a pity we couldn't have a proper driver's eye view.

[@peteanderson4395]

Does Jenny still work in the cafe at foregate street????

[@Davidxela]

Can anyone tell me the information given along with the station names at stops? I'm guessing the number with the m at the end is the distance travelled in miles. But what is the number accompanied by cc?

[@LUAu101]

chains

[@denelson83]

Network Rail seriously needs to get more lines electrified.

[@timothymarshall6709]

one of your routes goes too Reading im confused it isnt the Reading pa. where i live.

[@MyRailwayVideos]

No, this is the original Reading, in Berkshire, England. :-)