I used to go to school from South Greenford to West Ealing late 50's and early 60's and spot in the old milk depot there. My how it has altered. Those were happy days. Great video, brought back many memories
5:22 Wikipedia semaphore signals 1870s During the 1870s, all the British railway companies standardised on the use of semaphore signals, which were then invariably all of the lower quadrant type. From the 1920s onwards, upper quadrant semaphores almost totally supplanted lower quadrant signals in Great Britain, except on former GWR lines.
Wheres the old GWR station buildings? Great cab ride video. Train spotting in early 60s at High Wycombe you were able to see a King pulling a Birmingham bound express
I think this is the one a day Parliamentary. I travelled on the precursor to this service from South Ruislip to Paddington direct before the service was rerouted to West Ealing.
This is what remains of that Ruislip to Paddington service. The route past OOC has been closed for reasons relating to hs2 so the service was diverted to serve West Ealing instead.
Do wonder why they extended this service to High Wycombe if they aren't going to stop at any of the intermediate stations? I know it's parliamentary but that was served with West Ruislip terminating, so why not give extra connections for the other stations on the way up to High Wycombe?
If this line had been south of the Thames, would it now be a thriving electrified commuter line into a London Terminus? I wonder if it could ever become part of the Elizabeth line?
London Overground should of operate the West Ealing-Greenford branch line and could of kept some of the Class 172/0s to be on the shuttle service. Geoff also done that journey and went to High Wycombe.
Thank you for this video showing the ‘New North Main Line’, the GWR’s High-speed route to Birmingham, built as late as 1910 to a high standard (e.g. no level crossings). Why bother with HS2 when you have an underused, well-engineered mainline between Paddington and the Chilterns? Look at the straightness of the (formerly double-track) route south of South Ruislip, then at the former 4-track formation to West Ruislip and beyond; and then look at various overbridges and station areas such as Beaconsfield - all built to fit 4 tracks. Could this route’s capacity potential be as much as what HS2 might deliver?
yeah, the Buckinghamshire area is in prime time TV shows quite a lot, especially midsomer murders which is filmed in multiple locations around the Chilterns. ^AG
Regarding the closure and subsequent removal of track between Old Oak Common and Greenford. Am i right in saying that HS2 is building a tunnel ventilation shaft at a location along this former route.
This route should be upgraded and a regular Chiltern service worked into/out of Paddington every hour or even half hourly. Ease the pressure on Marylebone.
Plan is to run regular services at 4tph down the New North Main Line to Old Oak Common, which will relieve Marylebone and allow interchange with Crossrail, HS2 and the North and West London lines. That'll be great as it'll provide a much easier route into the city and Canary Wharf for Chiltern passengers. By 2024 I think?
Sorry for the late reply, yes, the line that it runs on for the first 15 minutes or so is parliamentary and is only used by that train and a few freights.
Interesting. It’s the first time I’ve seen what the ‘supermarket tunnel’ (not sure of it’s official name) is like at Gerrard’s Cross. The construction of it was done to allow a certain supermarket to build on top of it; probably not a good investment, as it happened.
Yes, locally it is known as the Tesco tunnel (other brands are available) and is famous, as I’m sure you know, because it collapsed whilst the store was being built on top. I’ve never been myself so I can’t really say if it was a good investment or not but thanks for your comment. ^OB
It's effectively a parliamentary service which runs once a day, it's only there to keep the line between Greenford and West Ruislip open. It used to run from Paddington to West Ruislip, then got changed to Paddington to High Wycombe before eventually being operated from West Ealing to High Wycombe.
Hello, can you explain to me how running a non stopping service is saving money, to me, its a waste of money,no fare paying passengers,can't go anywhere,or am I missing something here, cheers
Hi Philip, this is called a parliamentary service which means it has to run to keep the line open, this train usually runs non stop due to the lack of demand for the service at this time of the day, as you can see from this video all the platforms were empty. ^AG
@@thechilterntrainspotters But it could be argued that with advertising a stopping service passengers may choose to use the service. I will admit it's a bit of a "Catch 22" situation
There can be two reasons for keeping these seemingly random one-off services: 🔸 in some cases, these unusual workings are "parliamentary" services, where a historical act of parliament requires the line to retain a passenger service but changing travel patterns mean there is no real demand - if the line is still used for freight services and so needs to be maintained and can't be physically removed, the cost of putting a closure act for passenger services through parliament can exceed the cost of running that nominal one train a day/week. 🔹 other times, the service is retained for route knowledge purposes. If traincrew don't use a route ever then after a while their certification to drive that route will lapse - but while the route may not be needed in normal service, sometimes it can be useful for diversionary purposes when there is a planned or emergency closure on their normal route, and so if you've got a pool of crew who have kept up their route knowledge by occasionally driving that odd working then they can swing straight into action.
This was the ghost train that ran from paddington but unfortunately they had to stop the service into Paddington due to the tracks had yo be ripped up due to HS2 so now it is a West Ealing to High Wycombe service. This train doesn't stop anywhere because it is a parliamentary train which means that it has to run or they will have to close the route which takes time and money, so instead they choose to run a 1 service a day just to save money. Hope this helps ^AG
@@vinniesuperstar8923 Yup, it has already been severed at OOC, this parliamentary service only runs from West Ealing to High Wycombe because of this. The line between Greenford and Ruislip is fine and will remain for now however the reason why it doesn't run to Paddington is because the track has been removed for HS2. ^OB
@@thechilterntrainspotters I thought the idea of the "parli" ws that the train stopped at all stations on the route to keep it active? Did they change it since my days on the front in 1972?
@@martineyre5350 Yes, essentially the sounds are the same between the 165 and 166, however obviously there are small variations from unit to unit. Regards to the cab ride, this is something we can look into however we can't guarantee it. ^OB
The Chiltern Trainspotters yes used to take the 172s to Willesden for maintenance. Now they are maintained at Aylesbury which is why they are now unreliable! I also used to take the loco sets to Old Oak for the wheel lathe too. Now also done at Aylesbury.
Watch our latest cab ride on the Metropolitan Line here: ua-cam.com/video/HbOb28YnLtk/v-deo.html
I used to go to school from South Greenford to West Ealing late 50's and early 60's and spot in the old milk depot there. My how it has altered. Those were happy days. Great video, brought back many memories
Nice, and yes how things have changed! ^oB
5:22 Wikipedia semaphore signals
1870s
During the 1870s, all the British railway companies standardised on the use of semaphore signals, which were then invariably all of the lower quadrant type. From the 1920s onwards, upper quadrant semaphores almost totally supplanted lower quadrant signals in Great Britain, except on former GWR lines.
Thanks. ^OB
Wheres the old GWR station buildings? Great cab ride video. Train spotting in early 60s at High Wycombe you were able to see a King pulling a Birmingham bound express
I think this is the one a day Parliamentary. I travelled on the precursor to this service from South Ruislip to Paddington direct before the service was rerouted to West Ealing.
Correct, it is that train. ^OB
The Line runs behind my grandmothers house in Conway Crescent, Perivale.., though she passed away in 1981..
Thanks for the cab ride very quiet deasel train!!😎🚃🚃🚃🇬🇧🇺🇦
Interesting the AWS horn activated at 10:35 when the signal was displaying a green aspect.
This type always triggers to ensure that the driver is alert
wow, i didn't know Chiltern covers this route. I thought it had to be operated by gwr as a part of their franchise
Nope Chiltern started it in January 2019 :)
GWR run the West Ealing to Greenford shuttles
^AG
This is what remains of that Ruislip to Paddington service. The route past OOC has been closed for reasons relating to hs2 so the service was diverted to serve West Ealing instead.
Do wonder why they extended this service to High Wycombe if they aren't going to stop at any of the intermediate stations? I know it's parliamentary but that was served with West Ruislip terminating, so why not give extra connections for the other stations on the way up to High Wycombe?
What surprised me is how quiet the cab is, I thought this was an electric, until the wires stopped, there is next to zero diesel engine noise.
Yeah the engines are located towards the back of every carrage
^AG
Very enjoyable film and identifying the stations is something a lot of other film maker should take on board.
Thanks very much! we try to make the content the best of our ability and we like to take feedback into account. ^AG
If this line had been south of the Thames, would it now be a thriving electrified commuter line into a London Terminus? I wonder if it could ever become part of the Elizabeth line?
Thank you for the video. It was a nice and short cab ride. In a train of in a diesel locomotive?.The weather splendid.
Thank you! ^OB
Diesel multiple unit
London Overground should of operate the West Ealing-Greenford branch line and could of kept some of the Class 172/0s to be on the shuttle service. Geoff also done that journey and went to High Wycombe.
Who is geoff? ^AG
@@thechilterntrainspotters Geoff Marshall
Though once a signalman on that route from Ruislip it's the first time i've ever seen it from the cab, did notice layout changes though....thank you.
No problem, thanks for watching
^AG
@@thechilterntrainspotters I am curious and wondering if my old box at Gerrars cross was simply torn down or went to a preservation society?
I think it was just removed and scrapped however I might be wrong. ^OB
Thank you for this video showing the ‘New North Main Line’, the GWR’s High-speed route to Birmingham, built as late as 1910 to a high standard (e.g. no level crossings). Why bother with HS2 when you have an underused, well-engineered mainline between Paddington and the Chilterns?
Look at the straightness of the (formerly double-track) route south of South Ruislip, then at the former 4-track formation to West Ruislip and beyond; and then look at various overbridges and station areas such as Beaconsfield - all built to fit 4 tracks. Could this route’s capacity potential be as much as what HS2 might deliver?
Exactly, that is what all of us think over here. ^OB
Is Beaconsfield Station used a lot as a film location? I'm sure I've seen it in the Inspector Morse series.
yeah, the Buckinghamshire area is in prime time TV shows quite a lot, especially midsomer murders which is filmed in multiple locations around the Chilterns.
^AG
31:10 you see that big white rectangular building to the left of your screen is actually my primary school
Regarding the closure and subsequent removal of track between Old Oak Common and Greenford. Am i right in saying that HS2 is building a tunnel ventilation shaft at a location along this former route.
Yes, correct. ^OB
interesting to watch the northolt onwards bit side by side with the video 125 cab ride from 1989
Indeed! ^OB
Thanks, Great Video. Like your camera.
Thanks alot :)
^AG
They should run 5 car services to high Wycombe from london mb so that people don’t have to run and the driver can see the signal
I personally think they should just add a banner repeater or a off indicator
Beaconsfield and High Wycombe look hideous without the through roads! Thought they both been reinstated recently.
Nope, they havent. I remember when the through roads used to be there but they got removed. I do hope they get added back soon. ^OB
Princes Risbough was the station that regained a through road.
At 29:55 a Mark 3 DVT with mark 3 coaches and a class 68 passed by
They could still run this to Paddington via the GWML at West Ealing but Chiltern decided to do run it to West Ealing
There isnt the capacity on the GWML so Ealing next best thing.
This route should be upgraded and a regular Chiltern service worked into/out of Paddington every hour or even half hourly. Ease the pressure on Marylebone.
Yup, couldnt agree more. ^OB
Plan is to run regular services at 4tph down the New North Main Line to Old Oak Common, which will relieve Marylebone and allow interchange with Crossrail, HS2 and the North and West London lines. That'll be great as it'll provide a much easier route into the city and Canary Wharf for Chiltern passengers. By 2024 I think?
(Question from Canada) Why is the Up track dis-used? Not enough traffic?
Sorry for the late reply, yes, the line that it runs on for the first 15 minutes or so is parliamentary and is only used by that train and a few freights.
Great video thank you for sharing
No problem! ^OB
10:35 - is that a broken AWS electromagnet? The on-train system sounded a horn, even though the signal was green.
It appears so - I’m not completely sure however
Interesting. It’s the first time I’ve seen what the ‘supermarket tunnel’ (not sure of it’s official name) is like at Gerrard’s Cross. The construction of it was done to allow a certain supermarket to build on top of it; probably not a good investment, as it happened.
Yes, locally it is known as the Tesco tunnel (other brands are available) and is famous, as I’m sure you know, because it collapsed whilst the store was being built on top. I’ve never been myself so I can’t really say if it was a good investment or not but thanks for your comment. ^OB
The central line sure doesn't hang around on the open sections.
It sure doesn't
^AG
So is HS2 a sort of Super-Duper WCML?
Do a full cab ride from London liverpool st to Norwich
Will try my best. ^AG
and i could tell by the sound of the engine it is quiet indeed :). is it the 168 class?
165012
brilliant journey :) why did'nt the train stop at any stations? was this the only non stop service?
It's effectively a parliamentary service which runs once a day, it's only there to keep the line between Greenford and West Ruislip open. It used to run from Paddington to West Ruislip, then got changed to Paddington to High Wycombe before eventually being operated from West Ealing to High Wycombe.
13:11 - Passing service headed where?
Towards Marylebone
Is that the old line to Bourne End on the left as the train arrives at Wycombe and if yes, how far do the rails go?
Yes, it is, I’m not completely sure how far they go but I can assure you they don’t go far at all unfortunately. ^OB
@@thechilterntrainspotters , thanks for that. I am from Bourne End originally and can remember the line when I was a little boy,
Great mate.
Thanks alot
^AG
You got lucky
It was authorised :)
^AG
Nice
Thanks
^AG
Hello, can you explain to me how running a non stopping service is saving money, to me, its a waste of money,no fare paying passengers,can't go anywhere,or am I missing something here, cheers
Hi Philip, this is called a parliamentary service which means it has to run to keep the line open, this train usually runs non stop due to the lack of demand for the service at this time of the day, as you can see from this video all the platforms were empty.
^AG
@@thechilterntrainspotters But it could be argued that with advertising a stopping service passengers may choose to use the service. I will admit it's a bit of a "Catch 22" situation
There can be two reasons for keeping these seemingly random one-off services:
🔸 in some cases, these unusual workings are "parliamentary" services, where a historical act of parliament requires the line to retain a passenger service but changing travel patterns mean there is no real demand - if the line is still used for freight services and so needs to be maintained and can't be physically removed, the cost of putting a closure act for passenger services through parliament can exceed the cost of running that nominal one train a day/week.
🔹 other times, the service is retained for route knowledge purposes. If traincrew don't use a route ever then after a while their certification to drive that route will lapse - but while the route may not be needed in normal service, sometimes it can be useful for diversionary purposes when there is a planned or emergency closure on their normal route, and so if you've got a pool of crew who have kept up their route knowledge by occasionally driving that odd working then they can swing straight into action.
Thanks for the replies folks
when I see speed limit signs with two numbers, what does that mean?
One is for freight, one is for passenger. 99% of the time the higher speed is for passenger.
This looks like it was filmed from the chiltern railways ghost train service
because it was :)
^AG
Is this or was this the ghost train from Paddington? What is the point in it if it doesn't stop anywhere?
This was the ghost train that ran from paddington but unfortunately they had to stop the service into Paddington due to the tracks had yo be ripped up due to HS2 so now it is a West Ealing to High Wycombe service. This train doesn't stop anywhere because it is a parliamentary train which means that it has to run or they will have to close the route which takes time and money, so instead they choose to run a 1 service a day just to save money.
Hope this helps ^AG
@@thechilterntrainspotters so that relates to the single line between Greenford and South Ruislip then? Has it already been severed at Old Oak Common?
@@vinniesuperstar8923 Yup, it has already been severed at OOC, this parliamentary service only runs from West Ealing to High Wycombe because of this. The line between Greenford and Ruislip is fine and will remain for now however the reason why it doesn't run to Paddington is because the track has been removed for HS2. ^OB
@@thechilterntrainspotters I thought the idea of the "parli" ws that the train stopped at all stations on the route to keep it active? Did they change it since my days on the front in 1972?
How did you get to do that?
I am not allowed to release any information, sorry about that
^AG
Oh okay that's fine.
@@UKTransport232 yeah sorry about that
^AG
Shame about the gazillion ads but otherwise a nice cab ride.
I will be revising the amount of ads soon, sorry about that ^AG
@@thechilterntrainspotters No probs, nice to hear. Is the 165 cab sounds identical to the 166? And will you post a cab ride if you drive them?
@@martineyre5350 Yes, essentially the sounds are the same between the 165 and 166, however obviously there are small variations from unit to unit. Regards to the cab ride, this is something we can look into however we can't guarantee it. ^OB
@@thechilterntrainspotters Thanks, just been driving the 166 in TSW2 and the bogie run sounds are kak in comparison to the above video!
I used to go round West Ealing and via Acton Wells too
Oh really!!! Never knew that :)
The Chiltern Trainspotters yes used to take the 172s to Willesden for maintenance. Now they are maintained at Aylesbury which is why they are now unreliable! I also used to take the loco sets to Old Oak for the wheel lathe too. Now also done at Aylesbury.
Too many ads including music videos so moved on.
No problem
Unnecessary comment though ❤❤❤
Diversion
Oh yeah it’s a parliamentary service
Yup. ^OB
3 ads in first 7 mins. Bye.
Sorry but if you dont like it just don't watch it
@@thechilterntrainspotters The good news? In my part of USA, I'm not seeing a bit of ads.
The gripers might try running Brave.
Gaurd operated when there’s DOO equipment? Kind of strange