The first carriage used to be Chiltern Business class but hasn't been since before Covid. I've frequently sat in there at Marylebone as late comers have got on mumbling "this is first class" to themselves and walked through to busier carriages. And the joy of Mark 3 carriages where window seats actually have windows.
16:14 Hi Nick - Northampton is a weird station. As well as being my local! It (and Long Buckby) are actually on what's called the 'Northampton Loop' which is a branch of the WCML that splits off at Hanslope Junction to the south (after Wolverton), and runs north until Daventry Internal Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) to the north (just before Rugby). The longer dwell times at Northampton are essentially because it's on that loop, and is geographically roughly the midpoint of the WCML from London to Birmingham. A lot of train crews change over there.
25:38 Thank you for your dedication to the bit in capturing that gorgeous slice of pure 68 thrash! Symphonic sound of hells gates opening! Nothing better!
Congratulations, Nick - that feeling of relief was written all over your face, there! Perhaps the delay at Northampton is to ensure that people actually go there... I mean, can you think of any other reason for doing so?
When you were looking at the unopened stations in Northumberland, you failed to notice the unticketed station next to it - Birmingham (Curzon Street): yes, they've got themselves ready for HS2... And the Chiltern 68/Mk3s are among the nicest, smoothest, and most comfortable trains in use - my go-to for trips to London.
Nick I noticed at 15.05 Sandal & Agbrigg Station pops up on the station wall. S&D is one of my local station here in Wakefield. Its a station that was reopened around 20 years ago and has done very well ever since. It might worth your while paying a visit a some stage.
Nice to see you in my home county, unfortunately the rail links aren't the best here as the county was hit really hard by railway closures during Beeching and even before. I hope that some day we will get better rail links in Northants I would absolutely like to see a link for Northampton to Wellingborough and Kettering onto the Midland Main Line and potentially extending it through to Peterborough for an Esst Coast Mainline link much like the line that existed via Thrapston and Oundle pre Beeching. Brackley also had two stations that were closed on the Banbury and Verney Junction Line, sadly we probably won't see a reopening for either of the Brackley stations due to HS2 being built through there, despite Chiltern Rails plans to reopen the line through Brackley to Rugby back in 2008 that was rejected. Stations for Daventry and Towcester were shut even further back in 1958 and 1952.
Yeah, I would also love to see Northampton to Wellingborough (and then Kettering via Wellingborough), as well as possibly Wellingborough to Peterborough. This would allow me to travel, via Northampton, from Wellingborough to Milton Keynes. Sadly I doubt this will happen anytime soon and getting a car will likely be a better shout.
@@TheSpotify95 Yeah it'd be really useful I think, public transport is pretty non existent out here for a county with 750k people living in it. Especially if you live in a village you could potentially be like 6 miles from the nearest bus route for a 2 hourly service. I think pretty much everyone has to drive round here because there's no other option, I'd rather travel by train if the option is there definitely
Great video as usual. One suggestion you could do is all the stations in Nottinghamshire. Looking at it, as long as the trains stop at each station it can be done in a few hours.
It's mad to think how many stations there used to be in Northants. I'm from Corby and to get to Northampton via train takes about 2 hours. Iirc you have to go Corby -> Bedford -> Bletchley -> Northampton. Whereas the X4 bus takes an hour 20 and costs £2. It's still double the time it'd take to drive but it is what it is. Only a minute in but I'm looking forward to this one and have dropped a sub 💪💯
It's a shame that Northamptonshire only has six stations and getting between them is so difficult, it's definitely a very compelling argument for East West Rail. There's a compelling argument for a station at Rushden, either on the midland main line or the branch line to Higham Ferrers that’s been largely preserved. At 40,000 residents the Rushden-Higham area is one of the largest in the country with no train service. Maybe if there was a lot more money for rail then reopening the line from Northampton to Peterborough would be a good idea. An interesting fact about the Nene Valley Railway (which is a heritage railway in Northamptonshire) is that it was restored to a continental loading gauge and has a number of European locomotives in its collection.
The line used to go from Bridge Street Station in Northampton through to Wellingborough, Thrapston, Oundle and Peterborough which would have been a really useful link to both the midland mainline and the east coast mainline, but unfortunately the line was shut due to Beeching cuts
@@chrismcintyre2145 I thought it was wholly in Cambridgeshire, unless Wansford or Yarwell are actually in Northamptonshire, but I'm pretty sure they're not.
If you do the Chiltern line again it’s worth noting that 1st Class is declassified on three Mark 3’s so anyone can sit in there (usually the front carriage)
I haven't woken up thinking I should visit every station in Northamptonshire, but having visited every London Underground station, I am considering visiting more of the stations in the Oyster fare zone
Northern to Thameslink between stations is at least an 1hr 30mins involving LNER or EMR....... well that all ends here, Northern now travel to Bedford with the Marston Vale line!
A shame you had to back to Northampton from Long Buckby to 'tick it off' as it were, otherwise you could have stayed on the train to Milton Keynes, and changed for the faster Avanti service up to Coventry. I used to travel to Coventry from MK a lot around 15-20 years ago, and I'd always try to time my journey to get what was then the Virgin Trains service direct via the Kilsby Tunnel, as the route via Northampton was a good 30 minutes longer due to that pointless wait time.
Nick, Northampton has a long wait because drivers normally change over there. The LNWR Euston - Birmingham New Street service sees the first driver go from Euston-Bletchley/Northampton and the second goes from either Bletchley/Northampton through to Birmingham - no driver drives the whole route sadly. I live in Rugby, so my local line lol
The dwell at Northampton is for a number of reasons, including contingency to recover lost time, tanking/servicing the toilets, cleaners servicing the interiors. It not just drivers changing either, Conductors too. And there are Traincrew who sign and work the whole route from Euston to Brum and vice versa; granted not every trip but this happens quite regularly.
Despite that King’s Sutton is in Northamptonshire. It is very much close to the county border with Oxfordshire and could have been in Oxfordshire and is few miles from Banbury. I only have been to Northampton, Wellingborough and Kettering and I would like to go to Corby.
The East Midlands Railway Class 360 are pretty nice since they were transferred from Greater Anglia. And London Northwestern Railway are to replace the Class 350/2 once the Class 730/2 have started being introduced from next year. The only stations in Northamptonshire I have been to is Wellingborough, Northampton and Kettering. And I haven’t been to Corby yet and I don’t think I have ever been to Kings Sutton before.
Ooh, Northamptonshire eh? It's a shame I didn't see you on my commute, since I commute between Wellingborough and Corby for my work (both of which are in Northamptonshire)! I'd have definitely given you a wave if I'd have seen you on my regular travels.
Nice bro…. You’re in my neck of the woods. You guys always over look our EMR line. They are empty until you get to Bedford....... its chaos the amount of people that commute from Bedford. 8:20 mins My Town.. born, raised & still living there. No shop at station, only a B*wiched on platform . Our barriers are always open, we always wonder why we bother getting tickets. LOL The view from Platform 4 at the New estate Stanton Cross in operation, and taking shape.
6 stations!? That's the same number of stations in Iowa (USA) and you can only "visit" 5 of them in a day if you're traveling through on the 1 train a day that serve most of them (the California Zephyr)
As I understand it, the delay/s at Northampton were due to being sponsored by different sectors in BR days, NSE south of Northampton and Regional Railways north thereof, in privatisation they tried to remove those dwell times but it didn't work, the trains were for a time operated by Silverlink to Norhampton and Central from Northampon when going S to N.. As a result there is an inbuilt catch up mechanism for any delayed train here and it works well, so it remains.
Chiltern Trains were "upgraded" in the nineties to a single "comfort" class so on the Banbury to King's Sutton part you would be on one of their trains.
Well aren't you happy for the 1960s reforms? In the good old days there were more stations in the county. Try adding Banbury, Stamford and Peterboro for a more realistic experience.
well, next year should give you a little more exposure to Milton Keynes with the opening of Oxford to Bletchley (and the newly possible Pointless Journey from Bletchley high level to Bletchley low level)
Northampton and 350/2 are horrid things. Hope you sat in the coach by the 68 Nick? Can't believe you had to go in and out the county to complete this. I used to live in Wellingborough. Midland Mainline HST's and 170s were a thing back then.
You mention Northern trains and Thameslink being a strange mix. Northern did for a time have 319372 which was in debranded Thameslink livery (with First interior).
Why didn't you go on the Leicester to London that runs a couple times/day via Corby? South into Corby, touch the platform, and straight to Kettering and Wellingborough
Please tell me Nick is doing a no shave November and grow out his beard for a month. That would be interesting. Besides NOrthamptonshire, he should also visit all stations in counties that start with NO for November. That would be interesting.
@NickBadley i watch this video and i like all the information you can get one your phone like signals and what type of train I will be getting could you let me know what sites you use please thank you
The delay on the LNWR services at Northampton is so the toilets can be refreshed and replenished with new water. I was unfortunate enough to be sitting there on a service.
It's like a 20 minute walk to the bus station from Wellingborough Station and then another 30-40 mins on the X4. Could have saved a tiny bit of time I suppose the purpose is to do it all on the train though?
For the last year I've been making monthly trips to Northampton for work. So have been buying my tickets from other local stations to home to add to the ticket boards at Northampton. Snowdown and Bekesbourne are my tickets!
So, if your "I'm getting back on the same train at Northampton" doesn't count, surely you have to include leaving Kings Sutton in the video for it to count? No?
The site I use at 2:30 is opentraintimes.com in case you were wondering.
Since I've had about 10 comments asking me!
Thanks. I wonder why it doesn't cover the Southport to Manchester route...?
Oh lol just seen this reply
Thank you
Do you do videos or shorts every day @NickBadley?
For april fools you should visit every station in Rutland
Better than going to every motorway in Rutland. At least you'd get something.
The classic Oakham 😀
Rutland doesn’t exist anymore!
@Trainspotting_Mayhem Or Clackmannanshire
Rutland does exist.
The first carriage used to be Chiltern Business class but hasn't been since before Covid. I've frequently sat in there at Marylebone as late comers have got on mumbling "this is first class" to themselves and walked through to busier carriages. And the joy of Mark 3 carriages where window seats actually have windows.
16:14 Hi Nick - Northampton is a weird station. As well as being my local! It (and Long Buckby) are actually on what's called the 'Northampton Loop' which is a branch of the WCML that splits off at Hanslope Junction to the south (after Wolverton), and runs north until Daventry Internal Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) to the north (just before Rugby). The longer dwell times at Northampton are essentially because it's on that loop, and is geographically roughly the midpoint of the WCML from London to Birmingham. A lot of train crews change over there.
I think the county had 64 stations at the peak of railway dominance.
Good video nick, next time to save time, you should catch the X4 bus from Wellingborough to Northampton
25:38 Thank you for your dedication to the bit in capturing that gorgeous slice of pure 68 thrash! Symphonic sound of hells gates opening! Nothing better!
Ah yes, Kettering: where the people are called Legends 😂
That Board with all the tickets on it at Northampton is really cool.
While watching this I’d forgotten about Kings Sutton. I was expecting you to include the Northampton Lamport station of Pitsford!
Congratulations, Nick - that feeling of relief was written all over your face, there! Perhaps the delay at Northampton is to ensure that people actually go there... I mean, can you think of any other reason for doing so?
Very sensible - getting straight back on the train out of Corby. It's not a place you wanna stay! Trust me, I grew up there!
In an ideal world the Leicester-Northampton line wouldn't have been closed (a Beeching cut, and a TOTALLY unjustifiable one too.)
When you were looking at the unopened stations in Northumberland, you failed to notice the unticketed station next to it - Birmingham (Curzon Street): yes, they've got themselves ready for HS2...
And the Chiltern 68/Mk3s are among the nicest, smoothest, and most comfortable trains in use - my go-to for trips to London.
Nick I noticed at 15.05 Sandal & Agbrigg Station pops up on the station wall. S&D is one of my local station here in Wakefield. Its a station that was reopened around 20 years ago and has done very well ever since. It might worth your while paying a visit a some stage.
I was amazed you had watched ‘A Perfect Misunderstanding” when the Silverlink 150 passed the Starter at Danger at Kemptson Hardwick
Nice to see you in my home county, unfortunately the rail links aren't the best here as the county was hit really hard by railway closures during Beeching and even before. I hope that some day we will get better rail links in Northants
I would absolutely like to see a link for Northampton to Wellingborough and Kettering onto the Midland Main Line and potentially extending it through to Peterborough for an Esst Coast Mainline link much like the line that existed via Thrapston and Oundle pre Beeching. Brackley also had two stations that were closed on the Banbury and Verney Junction Line, sadly we probably won't see a reopening for either of the Brackley stations due to HS2 being built through there, despite Chiltern Rails plans to reopen the line through Brackley to Rugby back in 2008 that was rejected.
Stations for Daventry and Towcester were shut even further back in 1958 and 1952.
Yeah, I would also love to see Northampton to Wellingborough (and then Kettering via Wellingborough), as well as possibly Wellingborough to Peterborough. This would allow me to travel, via Northampton, from Wellingborough to Milton Keynes. Sadly I doubt this will happen anytime soon and getting a car will likely be a better shout.
@@TheSpotify95 Yeah it'd be really useful I think, public transport is pretty non existent out here for a county with 750k people living in it. Especially if you live in a village you could potentially be like 6 miles from the nearest bus route for a 2 hourly service.
I think pretty much everyone has to drive round here because there's no other option, I'd rather travel by train if the option is there definitely
I think it's a pathing thing to allow freight trains to pass at Northampton.
Also, you could have got some food from Wellingborough's Bewiched coffee shop... that would have been a good use of the 30 minutes you spent there :)
It's a fab little coffee shop
Brilliant video Nick, there's been plenty of tight connections in this one lol.
Great video as usual.
One suggestion you could do is all the stations in Nottinghamshire. Looking at it, as long as the trains stop at each station it can be done in a few hours.
the noise of the TPE 68s ticking over in Scarborough was one of the reasons they were withdrawn
It's mad to think how many stations there used to be in Northants. I'm from Corby and to get to Northampton via train takes about 2 hours. Iirc you have to go Corby -> Bedford -> Bletchley -> Northampton. Whereas the X4 bus takes an hour 20 and costs £2. It's still double the time it'd take to drive but it is what it is. Only a minute in but I'm looking forward to this one and have dropped a sub 💪💯
LNW trains from Euston to Birmingham often divide at Northampton.
Great job on visiting all the stations in Northamptonshire Nick. I’m still yet to visit the ones on the MML!
In Network South East days, the train @ Northampton became a West Midlands Train! i.e. it changed operators!
There are only two syllables in Kettering. Locals pronounce it Kett’ring.
It's a shame that Northamptonshire only has six stations and getting between them is so difficult, it's definitely a very compelling argument for East West Rail. There's a compelling argument for a station at Rushden, either on the midland main line or the branch line to Higham Ferrers that’s been largely preserved. At 40,000 residents the Rushden-Higham area is one of the largest in the country with no train service. Maybe if there was a lot more money for rail then reopening the line from Northampton to Peterborough would be a good idea.
An interesting fact about the Nene Valley Railway (which is a heritage railway in Northamptonshire) is that it was restored to a continental loading gauge and has a number of European locomotives in its collection.
The nene valley is also in Cambridgeshire because it starts at peterbourgh
The line used to go from Bridge Street Station in Northampton through to Wellingborough, Thrapston, Oundle and Peterborough which would have been a really useful link to both the midland mainline and the east coast mainline, but unfortunately the line was shut due to Beeching cuts
@@chrismcintyre2145 I thought it was wholly in Cambridgeshire, unless Wansford or Yarwell are actually in Northamptonshire, but I'm pretty sure they're not.
@@dominicbarden4436 yea I thought it to but I don’t really know
Yeah I just checked it fully in Cambridgeshire
Another monumental journey! Thanks for all the good work. Keep ‘em coming 👍
There used to be alot more prior to beeching and there used to be a line connecting the lines but that also got ripped out
Double 350/2's - Sadistic 20:58 made me giggle! Nat should put that on a t-shirt 😅
If you do the Chiltern line again it’s worth noting that 1st Class is declassified on three Mark 3’s so anyone can sit in there (usually the front carriage)
26:22 Interestingly, albeit slightly wonky, you could say your journey was a reverse "N" for Northamptonshire...
I haven't woken up thinking I should visit every station in Northamptonshire, but having visited every London Underground station, I am considering visiting more of the stations in the Oyster fare zone
Northern to Thameslink between stations is at least an 1hr 30mins involving LNER or EMR....... well that all ends here, Northern now travel to Bedford with the Marston Vale line!
A shame you had to back to Northampton from Long Buckby to 'tick it off' as it were, otherwise you could have stayed on the train to Milton Keynes, and changed for the faster Avanti service up to Coventry.
I used to travel to Coventry from MK a lot around 15-20 years ago, and I'd always try to time my journey to get what was then the Virgin Trains service direct via the Kilsby Tunnel, as the route via Northampton was a good 30 minutes longer due to that pointless wait time.
Nick, Northampton has a long wait because drivers normally change over there. The LNWR Euston - Birmingham New Street service sees the first driver go from Euston-Bletchley/Northampton and the second goes from either Bletchley/Northampton through to Birmingham - no driver drives the whole route sadly. I live in Rugby, so my local line lol
The dwell at Northampton is for a number of reasons, including contingency to recover lost time, tanking/servicing the toilets, cleaners servicing the interiors.
It not just drivers changing either, Conductors too. And there are Traincrew who sign and work the whole route from Euston to Brum and vice versa; granted not every trip but this happens quite regularly.
22:16 they got Avanti’d in like 2019, and were swiftly told off (something something grade 2 listed?), so they de-Avanti’d the signage.
A shame that you didn't have time to give each station the full Geoff Marshall.
Despite that King’s Sutton is in Northamptonshire. It is very much close to the county border with Oxfordshire and could have been in Oxfordshire and is few miles from Banbury. I only have been to Northampton, Wellingborough and Kettering and I would like to go to Corby.
The East Midlands Railway Class 360 are pretty nice since they were transferred from Greater Anglia. And London Northwestern Railway are to replace the Class 350/2 once the Class 730/2 have started being introduced from next year.
The only stations in Northamptonshire I have been to is Wellingborough, Northampton and Kettering. And I haven’t been to Corby yet and I don’t think I have ever been to Kings Sutton before.
actually, I've done the exact thing you mentioned in the intro except for the 48 railway stations of Cumbria!
Hey Buddy
Good content + thank you
What app are you using while looking at the platform allocation while waiting at at nottingham station please?
Time for a new series. Visit every station in a county.
Ooh, Northamptonshire eh? It's a shame I didn't see you on my commute, since I commute between Wellingborough and Corby for my work (both of which are in Northamptonshire)! I'd have definitely given you a wave if I'd have seen you on my regular travels.
Wellingbough mentioned!!!!
Nice bro…. You’re in my neck of the woods. You guys always over look our EMR line.
They are empty until you get to Bedford....... its chaos the amount of people that commute from Bedford.
8:20 mins My Town.. born, raised & still living there. No shop at station, only a B*wiched on platform .
Our barriers are always open, we always wonder why we bother getting tickets. LOL
The view from Platform 4 at the New estate Stanton Cross in operation, and taking shape.
6 stations!? That's the same number of stations in Iowa (USA) and you can only "visit" 5 of them in a day if you're traveling through on the 1 train a day that serve most of them (the California Zephyr)
As I understand it, the delay/s at Northampton were due to being sponsored by different sectors in BR days, NSE south of Northampton and Regional Railways north thereof, in privatisation they tried to remove those dwell times but it didn't work, the trains were for a time operated by Silverlink to Norhampton and Central from Northampon when going S to N.. As a result there is an inbuilt catch up mechanism for any delayed train here and it works well, so it remains.
2:52 btw what app/wedsite is this
Maybe do this again when East West Rail is open, just to see how much quicker it is
That's a solid shout!
Could have taken the X4 bus from Wellingborough to Northampton
Chiltern Trains were "upgraded"
in the nineties to a single "comfort" class
so on the Banbury to King's Sutton part
you would be on one of their trains.
I'm with you, my rules are that you can't get back on the same service so I'm with you on the first visit to Northampton not counting.
Nice video Nick, went to Kings Sutton myself on Saturday though not crazy enough to do the other 5 stations in 1 day 😀
Thanks Nick. Is it me or does a video making trip go much better when Nat is there to 'manage' the journey?
You got a Chilten silver service. Thats some luck - so jealous.
It's "SHEDULE" in the UK. "SKEDULE" is American.
Well aren't you happy for the 1960s reforms? In the good old days there were more stations in the county. Try adding Banbury, Stamford and Peterboro for a more realistic experience.
Pre decimalisation boundaries Market Harborough was also in Northamptonshire
2:44 what is that app? I've been wanting it
well, next year should give you a little more exposure to Milton Keynes with the opening of Oxford to Bletchley (and the newly possible Pointless Journey from Bletchley high level to Bletchley low level)
Northampton and 350/2 are horrid things. Hope you sat in the coach by the 68 Nick? Can't believe you had to go in and out the county to complete this. I used to live in Wellingborough. Midland Mainline HST's and 170s were a thing back then.
Iv always wanted to go on EMR so it definitely sounded like a fun trip
Bloody hell Nick's had his ears lowered 😂
Which track map tracking site do you use? Didn’t quite look like traksy 🤷🏼♂️
opentraintimes.com
Never actually used Traksy yet!
Great video 👍 love your channel and I know how hard it is TBH plus yes I hate delays & 100% agree with how annoying it can be!
Haven’t nick already got on every station on the marathon vale?
What app did nick use on the EMR intercity
Idea for the all stations - Winslow on East West Rail when it opens
Great video Nick - Many thanks mate 😁
You mention Northern trains and Thameslink being a strange mix. Northern did for a time have 319372 which was in debranded Thameslink livery (with First interior).
I remember that! I never got to ride it though
OMG IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS COUNTY (my home county)
New challenge for you to try to get from Sheffield to Manchester not using the hope valley line
Peterborough used to be part of Northants.
Are they doing up the Marston Vale for EWR yet ?
Why didn't you go on the Leicester to London that runs a couple times/day via Corby? South into Corby, touch the platform, and straight to Kettering and Wellingborough
2:38 what is that app
6:17, 11:47 and 26:22 - just two seconds to digest the map’s a bit of a challenge!
Please tell me Nick is doing a no shave November and grow out his beard for a month. That would be interesting. Besides NOrthamptonshire, he should also visit all stations in counties that start with NO for November. That would be interesting.
You should try going to every station in county Durham
@NickBadley i watch this video and i like all the information you can get one your phone like signals and what type of train I will be getting could you let me know what sites you use please thank you
Point to point idea:
Mill Hill (London)
Mills Hill (Mcr)
Mill Hill (Blackburn)
Yu should do a video with Geoff Marshall
Northamptonshire only had 6 stations ?
That surprised me.
That is correct.
Beeching really hated Northants it seems. Apparently in the golden age there were about 70!
The delay on the LNWR services at Northampton is so the toilets can be refreshed and replenished with new water. I was unfortunate enough to be sitting there on a service.
Also crew changes
If you go to buy train tickets from Nottingham train station ticket machine for Kettering they only give you the option to buy 1st class tickets
24:21 best toilets for any uk train
I have to wonder whether there were buses that could have expedited the Wellingborough to Northampton part of the journey
It's like a 20 minute walk to the bus station from Wellingborough Station and then another 30-40 mins on the X4. Could have saved a tiny bit of time I suppose the purpose is to do it all on the train though?
Can you visit every station in Cambridgeshire
What’s the app/website you’re using at 2:40 ?
opentraintimes.com!
Thank you
Can you go to sandy station in Bedfordshire
Can you do every station in Leicestershire
YAYYAYAYAY IVE BEEN WAITING FOR NORTHAMPTON YAYAYAYYAAYAYAYAY
If I couldn’t guess I live in Northampton
Would it not have been quicker to jump on a bus from Wellingborough to Northampton?
For the last year I've been making monthly trips to Northampton for work. So have been buying my tickets from other local stations to home to add to the ticket boards at Northampton. Snowdown and Bekesbourne are my tickets!
Surprised you didn't bump into Purple at Wellingborough
He mostly does it via drone now
So, if your "I'm getting back on the same train at Northampton" doesn't count, surely you have to include leaving Kings Sutton in the video for it to count? No?
What another awesome RUclips video by you Nick! Your RUclips channel is absolutely amazing to watch 😊
Kettering yeeeeeeah my town
inspired by my comment on a previous video??
I LIVE IN NORTHAMPTON I REALLY WANTED TO MEET YOU 😢