Hello, I'm at Euston
at the far end, platform 16
it's a Friday afternoon
and there's a strange old familiar friendly face
here on platform 16
If I move the camera round, we've got ourselves
a classic InterCity swallow liveried train
What on earth is going on here?
What's going on is that rail tour company
Locomotive Services
have started a Friday only charter train service
on the West Coast Main Line
and it has InterCity branding
The train is made up of six former Greater Anglian
Mark 3 first class coaches, topped and tailed
by a Class 87 locomotive at the front
and a Class 82 driving van trailer at the rear.
The Class 87s began life
performing on the West Coast Main Line
So it's an absolute nostalgic treat
for those who remember that
There's actually two services that run
First, a southbound journey between Crewe and London
with no intermediate stops
and then a trip north from Euston
all the way to Manchester Piccadilly
with several stops along the way
The train's leaving in four minutes
The greatest thing, which we do need to recognise
is the fact that you can of course, turn the handle
It's so good
Slam the door
(door clunking shut)
It's so good
And slide the window
(window thudding shut)
We're back to slidey windows slammy doors, and I love it
It costs 75 pounds for the first class only
single flat fare with no rail card discount
You can buy in advance from the website
or just as a walk-up fare on the day, on the train
There is a buffet car on board
as we'll see in a moment
and you'll be travelling at 110 miles an hour
but the journey time all the way to Manchester
is over three and a half hours
because it goes via Birmingham making stops along the way
Oh, and on board, I bump into a familiar face
I will take you around the train in a minute
I just need to tease slightly
that my travelling companion, quite by chance
happens to be Mr. Paul Lucas
otherwise known Paul Wingingit
And we didn't realise
we were gonna be on the same train, did we?
No, we did a little bit
Happy coincidence. There we go.
Maybe
So we'll be chatting to Paul in a bit
The spacious and open ambiance of these carriages
are really nice, with lovely comfortable seating
and there's tables, either for two people or for four
which crucially line up with the window
(passenger laughing)
Contentious
I've come down into one of the carriages and met
this is Max, right?
Yeah
Hello, good afternoon
Have you ever ridden a rake of carriages
pulled by a class 87 before?
I you don't hope you don't mind
You don't look old enough to remember
when this was the staple of the West Coast Main Line
I'm not sure I have
Okay
Or actually, so first time
All right, and?
It's nice right?
It's very nice. It's very smooth
Extremely smooth, Extremely smooth,
and it it's nice riding something
that isn't an EMU or a DMU
It's so quiet here at the back of the train
You elected to sit in the quiet part of the train
Just had our tickets checked by the lovely Stewart
Max over there is surreptitiously
trying to lean with his elbow on the window
So this brings me to
an essential thing we must do, of course
is to acknowledge that these seats are really superior
You could definitely get very comfortable
on one of these
You could lie back, I could definitely nod off
I'm worried though.
I don't think ...
Max, how are you finding the elbow, that it's gonna-
It's sliding
It's not gonna ...
But-
So you can't do that, but you can just do that
So to sleep, it's an arms folded head back thing
But you said about the number of seats in the carriage
Max, do you wanna count
how many seats there are in in the carriage?
I'm just gonna send Max off
just while I have a snooze (chuckling)
have a quick count
You gotta walk down the train, Max
There he goes
He's gone right down.
Look he's doing it
58
58, what's 6 times 58, quick?
A a big number
All of the internet are shouting the maths right now.
I'm gonna try it
That's about 300 and something, isn't it?
I find maths to be very thirsty work
so it's time to go and get a drink from the walkup buffet
It's still my favourite thing
I love walking up to a buffet on a train
Hello
- Hello
Paul's on camera
Do you wanna cup of tea?
You wanna get a beer don't you?
Yeah, go on, get us a beer
It's okay, you're over 18
You can have an alcoholic drink
I am over 18, why not?
Let's have a beer
Can I see your ID?
Paul, what beer would you like?
I'll get the Spitfire, please
And I'll just take a just...
Do you do decaf coffee?
Coffee in hand
it was time to talk to Paul and ask him
why is he here?
Why am I here. Yeah.
I'm here because this is the train of my childhood.
There we go
This is a classic Class 87 at the front
We got some Mark 3 carriages
The only thing that's different about this train
is that it's very clean
I don't remember it being this clean-
So you- when I was 15.
You grew up on the West Coast Mainline?
I did, yeah.
So I was born at Northwick Park, at the very southern end.
Okay.
Then I lived in Wealdstone.
Could you hear the rattle of the trains
in your back garden, if you're out on the swing set?
Not quite.
We barely had a garden when I was in Wealdstone,
but I used to be terrified-
From your bedroom window then could you hear the trains?
I could hear them.
Yeah. Okay.
But I used to be terrified
of these trains going through the platform
at Harrow Wealdstone before they had
the fence up between the fast lines and the slow lines.
Right, yeah.
And apparently used to hide in the waiting room
whenever one of these came past at 110 miles an hour, but-
And what we've got here are six carriages, Mark 3s.
Is that right?
That's right.
That have come over from
the old Greater Anglia InterCity sets.
But what...
Do you think they've upgraded the seat.
This, it's a nice...
It's nice, isn't it.
It's a nice seat, the Mark 3 seats,
especially in first class,
a real classic recliner.
We slide right back.
Let's just let's do the rest interview like this.
It's not my most flattering angle.
No, not mine.
(chuckling)
Paul slide down.
So yeah, you could have a snooze on these trains, right?
You could definitely have a snooze.
That's out.
We may see Paul again.
I may employ him as a random cameraman,
or just, yeah, or just waving in the background.
Right, I'm gonna go and have an explore
the rest of the train.
Paul just went, off camera,
"Do you want to know
an interesting fact about International?"
Yes, I do.
My little fact about Birmingham International Station
is it's called Birmingham International,
but the airport is not called
Birmingham International Airport.
It's just Birmingham Airport, these days.
You see what, what he did.
He got he got an aeroplane fact into my train video.
Hell, why not?
How very dare you.
There we go.
Light's on, slidey window.
I'm just here to do this, just cause I can.
Let's see what he wants.
Another quick interview time.
Mark, hello.
Mark Thomas, right?
Yeah.
Isn't that the name
of a famous comedian called Mark Thomas?
The Mark Thomas comedy product long time ago.
That's not you?
No, absolutely not.
You are instead...
You're the train manager?
I'm the train manager for the Friday Charter.
See, and it's called the Friday Charter.
We've even got the nice- It is indeed.
We've got, look, my eye,
we've got a little folder here.
Now I thought it was just running for three or four weeks,
but we've had the news this week that it's been extended?
Indeed.
So the initial trial was for four weeks,
and we're delighted that, following that trial,
to be able to extend it right through every Friday
to the 9th of December.
Okay, now the other thing is
that you've been telling me that
it's been growing in popularity
'cause you've been putting out
social media tweets and stuff.
Yeah, I mean, every week we've run, this is week four,
we're seeing increase in numbers,
and today I've carrying more passengers
out of Euston today than we've done so far.
So this is your busiest one yet?
Yeah.
I mean, as you'd expect,
the trend is upwards as the word gets out.
Okay, and you're saying that
as we stop at sort of Crewe,
maybe are we stopping at Stafford as well, maybe?
Yeah, we do.
More pickups will be getting on
at those points. Yeah, we do have
some part fares from our intermediate stops going north.
So Birmingham New Street, now Wolverhampton,
Stafford, Crewe, Wilmslow.
Okay, so the obvious, but somewhat cheeky, question is,
is what is the longevity of a service like this?
Is there a notion to maybe make it a full-time thing
or expand from Fridays to more than one day a week?
At the moment we're committed
to going through to the end of December.
There could be the possibility of a Monday,
but at the moment we we're running the Friday train
through to the 9th of December.
Okay.
Is there anything else you'd like to add, just-
No, welcome on board.
It's great.
And how'd you find our amazing rolling stock?
Yeah, I've been chatting to my friend, Paul,
and we just...
these are seats that you can fall asleep in.
It reminds me of a time
when trains across the country had more comfortable seats.
If you're leaving us here, please ensure that you have all
of your personal possessions with you.
Once the train has come to a complete stand
at Birmingham New Street and the-
Before the unlock sign above the door is illuminated.
Please then, and only then, lower the drop window,
and reach for the external handle to open the door.
(window thudding open)
We made it to New Street.
You all right?
All right.
All right there.
19:22 at New street.
A long time, still loving the slammy door.
(door clunking shut)
(window thudding shut)
So good.
Paul and I got chatting
about the nostalgic time of the railways.
And I then found another passenger on board
with similar thoughts.
Well, I think that it is important
that the railway is there,
to promote social mobility,
and to promote movement of people.
And we seem to be now
building trains where seats don't line up with windows,
and all we're focused on
is getting as many people in as possible,
and we seem to have lost
sort of the joy and the comfort of travelling by train,
which obviously will put people off in the long term
of travelling on the railway.
And I think that's a real shame.
And when you come on here,
all the seats line up with the windows,
and I just think this is
exactly what train travel should be like.
And if it was more like this on your day-to-day commute,
I think you would find more people
would get out the car and travel by train.
And for the complete facilities check,
I got the urge to go to the toilet.
No, not to actually wee,
but just to see if they've been refurbished too.
(door clicking open)
The toilet is, I think it's the same.
I don't think this has been...
This is the same from when it was Greater Anglia.
Is it? Help me out here, YouTube.
Let's go super wide.
Is this toilet (chuckling) the same?
I think it is.
Or have they upgraded it, I can't tell.
(train clacking on the tracks)
As some passengers amuse themselves
in a way that also seemed like a nostalgic throwback,
we then discovered that we may have made
a miscalculation earlier.
You miscounted earlier.
I somehow added 10 whole seats.
So earlier in the video, everyone is screaming,
going, "But a Mark 3 only has 48 seats."
And somehow you said 58.
Yeah. Yep.
So what's what's 48 times 6, quick, quick.
We should've lost less maths.
Less than 300 and something.
It's on screen now.
Arm out of the window and nice.
You made it, Paul.
I made it.
We're at Piccadilly, still loving the livery.
It just looks, hi.
It just looks, dunno who that was.
It just looks good. It looks good.
Thanks Mark. You're welcome.
You're brilliant. Thank you so much.
Great trip. Great trip.
Yeah, thank you.
Cheers. All right.
This is a Crewe Electric Depot plaque,
and it was allocated to certain electric locos,
mainly during the eighties and nineties,
but we've thought we bring it along.
It's not allocated to an 87.
87s were allocated to Willesden
but we thought we bring it along
because it's an electric,
and that's what it is right here.
Where did you get it from?
I actually got it from the Severn Valley Diesel Gala.
It's not a real one.
It's a replica, Okay.
made of resin, but it does the job.
It's the same size, and yeah-
And you've having your photo taken with that?
Yeah, we basically all just...
We've done it for the past four weeks, now.
All right, are you all friends?
Do you all know each other?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Come on, guys, let's get a photo of all you.
Let's get in.
This is flailing, flailing.
In a minute, in a minute.
It's appreciating the thrash of the locomotive.
It is.
Ready, ready, ready.
Three, two,
(train roaring past)
one.
Lords 77.
How was your trip?
It was very good, very good.
Took it from International all the way to Manchester.
Very, very good. Very good.
Smooth, great to get behind there.
Well, behind the 87.
Great to get on a Mark 3,
so yeah, fantastic, fantastic.
The train departs Piccadilly
to go back to where it's stored at Crewe.
So I've gotta ride this train.
The good news is I rode it today
'cause I thought today was the last time it was running,
but just this week they put out on their social media
that they're gonna continue it,
and you can ride this train, I believe,
now up until the first week of December.
Link in the description.
If you wanna go on, buy yourself a ticket,
either from the Crewe down to London run,
or do this journey, as I just did,
the London up to Manchester.
It is only one way and there's no last train home,
so I'm now staying the weekend in Manchester.
Paul, what did you make of it?
Absolutely loved it.
Great trip down memory lane.
Nostalgic memories for you?
Super nostalgic.
That's the train of my childhood.
I loved it. So glad I did it.
You were telling me you used to play truant,
skip school, so that you could catch
trains on the West Coast Main Line.
That is outrageous.
That's absolutely true,
and I hope my parents don't see this.
They knew I skipped school once,
they didn't know that I did it about 10, 12, 20 times.
I used to come down.
I used to go and bash the Class 87
and Mark 3 loco hoard stuff
way back when I was a teenager.
So this really is a trip down memory lane.
Not always good memories, but memories none the less.
Go and watch Paul's channel.
Could you ask YouTube to like and subscribe to me as well?
Please like, and subscribe,
and leave a great comment on Geoff's video.
Thanks very much. Bye everyone.
Bye. Bye.