[Colonel Panic]

The 1921 Census has just been released, albeit with some hefty charging for the next three years.

I had a quick rummage and after a bit of further research discovered that a distant uncle was in the Old Bailey in 1907 claiming he'd been done by some card sharks - for just over £200 - as had several other people. However, one thing was very interesting; in The Old Bailey transcript is says ...

...then Brown went to look for him and then came back and said, "What are you waiting here for; we here lost the train. Meggs is waiting on the platform all the time." The next train was at 1.30. They saw the officials about having a special train. The official said it would cost £30. They said they should not mind that, but after consideration they suggested to go down by Meggs's motor car.

That one could "call" for a special train to be laid on for not a _huge_ amount of money is a bizarre concept - all the more so as presumably the next train wouldn't have been much of a wait anyway.

Has anyone heard of such a thing?

[rikur_]

Nowadays we call them a 'charter train'. Yes, they were a thing right from the start of railways and continued through the decades. Wide range of purposes from exhibitions, sports events, factory holidays, boarding schools bringing their children back from the city (Harry Potter style) or just private travel. Over the years they've got progressively more difficult to operate/procure as the network has filled up with scheduled trains. So nowadays you probably need to plan one 20 weeks+ in advance, but there was a time when they were available on the day. Back in the day you'd arrange them with the railway company that ran that line, nowadays there are a number of operators and 'brokers' that can help arrange. I think a colleague managed to arrange one with a couple of days notice last year, helped by surplus capacity in the network due to covid.
See https://www.trainhire.co.uk/ for an idea.

[kanga]

A 'special' (which disappears) is the central theme of an extra-canonical 1898 Conan Doyle mystery:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story ... st_Special

'Specials' also appear in a few Sherlock Holmes stories.

I have once travelled on a 'special', in the '60s. It was chartered to take a large aggregated Cadet Camp (Cadets, staff, equipment) on a long and circuitous route round Southern England to Newcastle, for embarkation to a week-long Camp near Bergen in Norway.

[StratoTramp]

I'd never heard of it. Very interesting, thanks for sharing. It's good when you can put a personal touch on history.

[CloudHound]

HMQ always rents a special.

[rikur_]

The best special that I've been on, went roughly:
- 4pm London Euston
- 6pm Crewe
- 9pm Bangor
(alight ascend Snowdon)
- 4.30am Bangor
(breakfast along Furness line with views of Morecambe Bay and lake district)
- 9am Ravenglass
(alight, catch Ravenglass railway then ascend Scafell)
- 7pm Ravenglass
(watch sunset from Cumbrian Coast route)
- 4am Fort William
(alight climb Ben Nevis)
- 1pm Fort William
(lots of stunning views for a few hours)
- 8pm - pause at Preston for takeaway delivery
- 9pm - Crewe
- 11pm - Euston

[OCB]

The best special that I've been on, went roughly:
- 4pm London Euston
- 6pm Crewe
- 9pm Bangor
(alight ascend Snowdon)
- 4.30am Bangor
(breakfast along Furness line with views of Morecambe Bay and lake district)
- 9am Ravenglass
(alight, catch Ravenglass railway then ascend Scafell)
- 7pm Ravenglass
(watch sunset from Cumbrian Coast route)
- 4am Fort William
(alight climb Ben Nevis)
- 1pm Fort William
(lots of stunning views for a few hours)
- 8pm - pause at Preston for takeaway delivery
- 9pm - Crewe
- 11pm - Euston

Ahhh…I’m genuinely too old for this comeback - but Shirley “photos or it didn’t happen”….
and purely because I do actually want to see the photos

[skydriller]

Was it a steam choo-choo??

Always wanted to fly low alongside a steam choo-choo - its on "the list"...

Regards, SD..

[rikur_]

Ahhh…I’m genuinely too old for this comeback - but Shirley “photos or it didn’t happen”….
and purely because I do actually want to see the photos

Roger: https://www.railwaychildren.org.uk/even ... e-by-rail/

[rikur_]

Was it a steam choo-choo??

Always wanted to fly low alongside a steam choo-choo - its on "the list"...

No, electric for London/Crewe, diesel for the rest.
I've tried the 'fly lowish alongside a steam choo-choo' , but keeping to not below 500ft it was somewhat disappointing.

[PeteSpencer]

Was it a steam choo-choo??

Always wanted to fly low alongside a steam choo-choo - its on "the list"...

Regards, SD..

My parents used to tell the chilling tale from WW 2 when the train they were travelling in was selected by a lone Spitfire pilot for a fun time ‘beat up’ .

After a few minutes of low level passes and treetop skimming flight he crashed into a field alongside the train and perished in a ball of fire ……..,

[CloudHound]

Mystery tours by train were probably specials. I went to Farnboro by train but ended up held at Clapham Junction for quite some time.

The train next to us appeared full of glum passengers who it turned out had been there an hour.

The were on a Mystery Tour

[skydriller]

I've tried the 'fly lowish alongside a steam choo-choo' , but keeping to not below 500ft it was somewhat disappointing.

Yeah, well, its on "the list" because I wasnt planning on being that high or far away...

[Trent772]

There are also Parliamentary Trains.

Very odd 'ghost train services' required by some franchises. They can be difficult to find but offer very cheap, but slow times as they usually stop everywhere.

I was stuck in London a couple of years ago - East Coast line blocked, so I thought I would go to St Pancreas, get to Birmingham and then to Leeds.

Got in and there was a direct stopping service from there to Leeds. Took about 4 hours and it was an old Intertitty 125. Packed until Stevenage, then loads of room.

I asked the Guard and he said it was a required train that ran twice a day.

You can find it now on Trainline etc.

[kanga]

There are also Parliamentary Trains.

Very odd 'ghost train services' required by some franchises. They can be difficult to find ...

<slight drift >

analogously, there are 'ghost' "rail replacement 'bus services". Rail companies may be required by the Regulator to arrange them while a rail service is 'temporarily' suspended; but there have been examples where they seem to have been made deliberately difficult to find (either in the timetable or at the railway stations en route and at either end, by signage or by asking station staff or on the operator's enquiries line), apparently to prove (by lack of use) that there is no need to reinstate the rail service.

</>

Incidentally, I believe that Mr Thomas Cook's first organised rail excursion (for members of a Temperance Society to go to a rally in another town not far away) was a 'special'.