Ty Monks

Memory of a train journey from my childhood.

Many years ago (I am thinking 1985ish when I was 7/8!) British Rail were trying to drum up trade and they came up with an offer and tagged it Ready Teddy Go. This offer allowed adults to travel for £5 (I think!) and children travel free (if they had a teddy with them, hence the tag line!) anywhere in the UK on a day return ticket that ran from midnight to midnight. I can’t remember how often the deal ran, think it was once a month but can’t remember! Unfortunately I (nor my dad!) kept a record of what we saw on these journeys, but as a young boy who grew up watching trains in Darlington with all the 1^st Gen DMU, HST’s and diesel hauled locos, going to a different region to see the different loco’s etc was great fun!

One of these journeys me, my parents and a family friend, left Darlington early in the morning, must have been around 1 or 2 in the morning, and caught the train down to London Kings Cross, we must of got there around 6 or 7 in the morning, then caught the Victoria tube line to Victoria. As a young lad from the North East, the first time on a tube train wasn’t enjoyable! We had breakfast in a café, just outside Victoria station, and I still remember having breakfast and feeling the tube trains rattling below my feet!

Well after breakfast, we crossed the road and into Victoria for my first taste of 3-rail services! I remember being excited about it and enjoying the trip, without a diesel engine sound! We ended up at Brighton and walked down to the beach, can’t remember what we did, I was waiting to get back on the train!

Soon it was time to head back to Darlington and we went back to the station. Now while waiting for the train back to London, (where connections up to Darlington, via the West coast were tight) our friend went into the WH Smiths on the platform and caused a bit of a stir with my parents! This was because around this time Trivial Pursuit had just come out and wasn’t available in the North East but she had found the game in the shop and almost missed the train back as she was queuing to buy it!

Anyway back to London and to Euston to catch an electric train to Carlisle, this was before the wires had reached Darlington, so again it was a new experience for me! I also remember it was my first experience at the game Trivial Pursuit! Off at Carlisle, sat behind the driver in a 1^st Gen DMU, to Newcastle (I loved those units, esp. when the driver had his blinds up!)where we wee expecting a loco hauled service back down to Darlington. But I was happy to see a class 101 unit waiting for us! Great! Driver had his blinds down (booo!), and while waiting time, he opened up the door into the carriage, said hello, asked where we were going and had been, then turned to me and said, come on join me in the cab for the journey to Darlington! I remember my dad being very jealous of this! Had a good chat with the driver, talking about the signals, speeds (arrival into Darlington station was at 30 mph!) and at one point he warned my that there could be some bangs just south of Durham as they had laid some detonators on the line earlier in the day! (Not sure why, he probably told me, but can’t remember now!)

That was one long, but fun, day out!

When I was a kid, as a treat myself and my dad would have a trip out to Bishop from Darlington in the early 80's and I remember that scene (Bishop Auckland Station) well. It was even better sat behind the driver going through Shildon tunnel, especially when the guard would "forget" to turn the carriage lights on!