"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
Abigail Brady wrote:
On Apr 12, 12:00 am, Dave Nesbitt
wrote:
One delightful idiosyncrasy is that to get to Sutton direct from
Blackfriars you take a train indicated to Wimbledon, and vice versa.

This is one of these cases where the departure boards at Blackfriars
should probably lie about the destination, by giving 'St Helier via
Sutton' and 'Morden South via Wimbledon' (or whatever pair of stations
works out to be the best advice) as the destinations.

There will be several stations for which the best train from Blackfriars
will be the next loop train regardless of direction. If they reduce the
service frequency enough, this would cover the entire loop, removing all
confusion. ;-)

On the standard off-peak service this seems to apply to stations South
Merton to West Sutton inclusive - and on the basis that a train at the
platform is worth two on the departure board, that might well be extended at
least to Wimbledon Chase and Sutton.

The UKRTT does not in fact give any clues that through running takes place,
showing all trains in either direction as terminating at Sutton - and
presumably the xx05 and xx35 arrivals at Sutton via Wimbledon form, after
standing for minus one minute, the xx04 and xx34 departures via Hackbridge.

Peter

"Tony Dragon" wrote in message
...
news outlook wrote:
"Peter Lawrence" wrote in message
I'm sorry if this is a bit of a stupid questions, but by Wimbledon
loop do people mean the one with Sutton on it, right?
Yes. aka Wall of Death.


How did it come to be known by such a distinctive (and ominous) name?


Just look at the gradients & curves.

There have been occasions in the leaf fall season when the guard has
resorted to walking ahead of the train with a bucket of sand, spreading it
non the rails as he goes.

Peter

On 12 Apr, 16:14, "Peter Masson" wrote:

The UKRTT does not in fact give any clues that through running takes place,
showing all trains in either direction as terminating at Sutton - and
presumably the xx05 and xx35 arrivals at Sutton via Wimbledon form, after
standing for minus one minute, the xx04 and xx34 departures via Hackbridge.

Peter

When I were a lad in the 1960s, there was a Holborn Viaduct-Tulse Hill-
Wimbledon-Sutton-West Croydon-Crystal Palace-Balham-Victoria service.
If my memory serves me right, from Holborn to Haydons Road it was
shown as terminating at Wimbledon, from Wimbledon to West Sutton it
was announced as going to Sutton, from Sutton to Waddon it was a West
Croydon train, from where it was announced to Victoria. (and the
reverse in the other direction.)

On 12 Apr, 16:16, "Peter Masson" wrote:
"Tony Dragon" wrote in message

... news outlook wrote:
"Peter Lawrence" wrote in message
I'm sorry if this is a bit of a stupid questions, but by Wimbledon
loop do people mean the one with Sutton on it, right?
Yes. aka Wall of Death.

How did it come to be known by such a distinctive (and ominous) name?

Just look at the gradients & curves.

There have been occasions in the leaf fall season when the guard has
resorted to walking ahead of the train with a bucket of sand, spreading it
non the rails as he goes.

Peter

I always call it the Wimbledon & Sutton line. Built by the Southern
Railway, opened in 1930, and designed from the start for electric
traction.

contrex wrote:
On 12 Apr, 16:14, "Peter Masson" wrote:

The UKRTT does not in fact give any clues that through running takes place,
showing all trains in either direction as terminating at Sutton - and
presumably the xx05 and xx35 arrivals at Sutton via Wimbledon form, after
standing for minus one minute, the xx04 and xx34 departures via Hackbridge.

Peter

When I were a lad in the 1960s, there was a Holborn Viaduct-Tulse Hill-
Wimbledon-Sutton-West Croydon-Crystal Palace-Balham-Victoria service.
If my memory serves me right, from Holborn to Haydons Road it was
shown as terminating at Wimbledon, from Wimbledon to West Sutton it
was announced as going to Sutton, from Sutton to Waddon it was a West
Croydon train, from where it was announced to Victoria. (and the
reverse in the other direction.)

IIRC in the 60's the Holborn departures were West Croydon via Wimbledon
& Sutton & the Victoria departures were Sutton via West Croydon.
As to the Wimbledon Sutton being known as the 'wall of death' I remember
the daily milk trains for Morden South leaving Morden empty to go to the
first flat bit of track to turn round (after St Hellier) usually pulled
by a Q1 it made a very impressive sight & sound.

--
Tony the Dragon

On 12 Apr, 16:52, Tony Dragon wrote:

IIRC in the 60's the Holborn departures were West Croydon via Wimbledon
& Sutton & the Victoria departures were Sutton via West Croydon.

That's as maybe, but I am certain that at Tulse Hill the ex-Holborn
trains were announced to Wimbledon only.

contrex wrote:
On 12 Apr, 16:52, Tony Dragon wrote:

IIRC in the 60's the Holborn departures were West Croydon via Wimbledon
& Sutton & the Victoria departures were Sutton via West Croydon.

That's as maybe, but I am certain that at Tulse Hill the ex-Holborn
trains were announced to Wimbledon only.

You're probably right if they were announced as West Croydon those not
in the know could have found themselves going the long way round.

--
Tony the Dragon

On 12 Apr, 17:08, Tony Dragon wrote:

those not in the know could have found themselves going the long way round.

And adolescent emu bashers...

On 12 Apr, 13:32, Sarah Brown
wrote:
In article ,
Abigail Brady wrote:

On Apr 12, 12:00 am, Dave Nesbitt
wrote:
One delightful idiosyncrasy is that to get to Sutton direct from
Blackfriars you take a train indicated to Wimbledon, and vice versa.

This is one of these cases where the departure boards at Blackfriars
should probably lie about the destination, by giving 'St Helier via
Sutton' and 'Morden South via Wimbledon' (or whatever pair of stations
works out to be the best advice) as the destinations.

They do something similar with the Cambridge slows at KX, giving
"Foxton" as the destination (last station before Cambridge).

Which I long suspected was the case...but it only ever came up during
a service disruption, when I decided to get confirmation from a member
of staff before jumping aboard the only train going north for the
foreseeable future. I noticed they do it on the GWML as well, with
slow London-bound services advertising as terminating at Ealing
Broadway instead of Paddington. Makes sense....as long as people know
it's an advisory of destination and not where the train actually
terminates.

"Jamie Thompson" wrote in message
...

Which I long suspected was the case...but it only ever came up during
a service disruption, when I decided to get confirmation from a member
of staff before jumping aboard the only train going north for the
foreseeable future. I noticed they do it on the GWML as well, with
slow London-bound services advertising as terminating at Ealing
Broadway instead of Paddington. Makes sense....as long as people know
it's an advisory of destination and not where the train actually
terminates.

The up stoppers from Northampton were always advertised as "Watford
Junction". It makes sense.

And see (or hear) also "Rudy" (Supertramp, "Crime of the Century", last
track on the first side). I never understood why the recording from
Paddington said "passengers for Radley change at Didcot". But apparently the
connecting train did go all the way to Oxford, but you could get there
quicker by direct train (which presumably didn't stop at Radley).

Regards

Jonathan