26th June 1982

Ian Allan
The Ian Allan Limited

Route :

Notes :
(1) From advert: 'The Ian Allan Limited' will be formed of an Eastern Region Class 254 Inter-City 125 diesel unit running 1,000 miles over four BR Regions with 125mph operation over appropriate sections. 'The Ian Allen Limited' promises to set a first, by being the highest mileage [within 24 hours] and the fastest rail tour so far operated - so bringing the spirit of the renowned Ian Allan rail tour of the past into the 1980s. By a later advert the route had changed to "over 900 miles".
'The Ian Allan Limited' offers two types of ticket with seat reservations throughout:
£35 -- Silver Star, reserved seat, buffet service throughout.
£55 -- Gold Star, reserved seat in first-class accommodation, the all-in price including: full breakfast, lunch and dinner.
(2) Due to vandalism in South Yorkshire (broken windows due to stone throwing) the train had to run at reduced speed. The resultant late running meant on reaching Carlisle the train was diverted via Hexham to Newcastle to regain time, thus not reaching Edinburgh as booked. Booked route being : Carlisle - (via WCML) - Carstairs - Coatbridge - Cumbernauld - Falkirk Grahamston - Edinburgh Waverley - (via ECML) - Newcastle.

From The John Debens Ticket Collection.

Sources : PRAR (from contemporary sources), Steve Daly & John Broderick (on the train throughout)

Brief Tour Review
(by Steve Daly)

My friend and I were First Class passengers on this working.  Departure from Paddington was right-time, but we made an unscheduled stop at Reading to dispose of a member of the public who had got on thinking this was a service train!  We then did quite well until we were up in South Yorkshire.  As I recall somewhere around the Normanton/Knottingley area one of the windows in my carriage was smashed by lineside vandals.  Fortunately only the outer skin was broken, but this meant that we had to reduce speed as there was a danger that a passing train could have sucked out the remaining skin of the double glazed window.

As a result, by the time we reached Carlisle (via the S & C) we were well behind schedule.  The decision was then made to divert us to Newcastle via the Carlisle – Hexham – Newcastle route.  On arrival in Newcastle we had a couple of hours there while they attempted to fix the window.  We opted to ride the then infant Tyne & Wear Metro, bagging the front seat by the driver as often as we could!  The return route from Newcastle was as planned - straight down the ECML to King’s Cross.  Despite this the day was still a veritable bargain – all that First Class mileage with full meal service at your seat.  Mind you, that was quite a bit of money to me in those days.

Steve Daly

Timings (Booked & Actual)
(from John Broderick)

Back to "The Railtour Files"