Coventry to Aylesbury via Milton Keynes Central and 1 other station

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Coventry to Aylesbury via Milton Keynes Central and 1 other station 02/12/2023 at 11:19 #154572
leigh
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I was watching a very old episode of Great British Railway Journeys (Series 1 Episode 19) where Michael travels from Coventry to Aylesbury, approximately in the year 2009. He says the trip requires 2 changes of train and shows one of the interchanges at Milton Keynes Central, then a second interchange at an unnamed station.

You can find the episode online here and the specific sequence is at 13 minutes in.

Which station would the unnamed be, and what route would he have taken?

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Coventry to Aylesbury via Milton Keynes Central and 1 other station 02/12/2023 at 20:54 #154576
Steamer
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leigh in post 154572 said:
I was watching a very old episode of Great British Railway Journeys (Series 1 Episode 19) where Michael travels from Coventry to Aylesbury, approximately in the year 2009. He says the trip requires 2 changes of train and shows one of the interchanges at Milton Keynes Central, then a second interchange at an unnamed station.

You can find the episode online here and the specific sequence is at 13 minutes in.

Which station would the unnamed be, and what route would he have taken?
Was Milton Keynes explicitly referenced in the narration? If not, I expect its inclusion was part of the notorious "gets on a HST then gets off a 153" mix and matched shots in that series.

I expect the route he'd have taken is Coventry-> Banbury (or Leamington Spa)-> Princes Risborough-> Aylesbury.

Via MKC may be possible if the full East-West rail build happens, but as far as I know there are no plans at the moment to run trains Aylesbury-> Claydon-> Bletchley.

"Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q)
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Coventry to Aylesbury via Milton Keynes Central and 1 other station 03/12/2023 at 09:49 #154578
Peter Bennet
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Steamer in post 154576 said:
leigh in post 154572 said:
I was watching a very old episode of Great British Railway Journeys (Series 1 Episode 19) where Michael travels from Coventry to Aylesbury, approximately in the year 2009. He says the trip requires 2 changes of train and shows one of the interchanges at Milton Keynes Central, then a second interchange at an unnamed station.

You can find the episode online here and the specific sequence is at 13 minutes in.

Which station would the unnamed be, and what route would he have taken?
Was Milton Keynes explicitly referenced in the narration?
Not only that but he clearly got off the train at Milton Keynes, you can see the station signage.

Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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Coventry to Aylesbury via Milton Keynes Central and 1 other station 03/12/2023 at 11:38 #154579
bill_gensheet
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Two changes FROM Milton Keynes might be Watford jn (taxi Watford Met) and Harrow.

However the most likely IMO was Tring- taxi - Wendover !

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Coventry to Aylesbury via Milton Keynes Central and 1 other station 03/12/2023 at 21:39 #154585
andi
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bill_gensheet in post 154579 said:
Two changes FROM Milton Keynes might be Watford jn (taxi Watford Met) and Harrow.

However the most likely IMO was Tring- taxi - Wendover !
If he started at Coventry and changes at Milton Keynes Central, thatʼs already one change.
I donʼt see any way to get from Milton Keynes Central to Aylesbury with only one more change.

I donʼt know that area though, so there might be something Iʼve missed or something that wasnʼt on the maps I looked at.

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Coventry to Aylesbury via Milton Keynes Central and 1 other station 03/12/2023 at 23:55 #154588
9pN1SEAp
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Short of getting some special service running down via Wembley, Acton Wells Jn and Greenford, it'd be tricky!

Or by time travelling back to 1984 when the Varsity Line still existed and taking this excursion!

Jamie S (JAMS)
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Coventry to Aylesbury via Milton Keynes Central and 1 other station 04/12/2023 at 02:19 #154590
andi
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9pN1SEAp in post 154588 said:
Or by time travelling back to 1984 when the Varsity Line still existed and taking this excursion!
Does anyone know where I can find a time machine? That looks like an interesting trip.
Strange that the train in the leaflet picture has a pantograph though, last I checked the lines out of Marylebone werenʼt electrified.

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Coventry to Aylesbury via Milton Keynes Central and 1 other station 04/12/2023 at 07:36 #154591
Peter Bennet
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I've been on a railtour that's done the line, the details of which I can't recall.
Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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Coventry to Aylesbury via Milton Keynes Central and 1 other station 04/12/2023 at 10:27 #154592
clive
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Peter Bennet in post 154591 said:
I've been on a railtour that's done the line, the details of which I can't recall.
I did a railtour from Rickmansworth (which is where I caught it) to Rugby via Aylesbury, Verney Junction, and Bletchley. I can't tell you the exact date (early-mid 1980s), but if anyone else reads Underground News, it was described in the October issue, page 585.

(Normally I would go and dig the issue out of my archives, but right now I'm on the opposite side of the world to it.)

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Coventry to Aylesbury via Milton Keynes Central and 1 other station 04/12/2023 at 11:16 #154593
58050
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When I was on the footplate in the mid to late 1980s I had to secondman a Bletchley driver from Bedford to Aylesbury on the Nomix Chipman weed killing train. We ran over the Bedford to Bletchley line & at Fenny Stratford we took the line direct to Claydon LNE Jn. over Bletchley flyover & then to Aylesbury via Calvert & Quainton Road. We were relieved at Aylesbury & then rode on the train to Marylebone & on the way they were spraying the embankments with weed killer, but not over the 4th rail tracks of the Metropolitan line as that was prohibited. The route we took back in 1986 wasn't open to public services, unless it was probably on a railtour.
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Coventry to Aylesbury via Milton Keynes Central and 1 other station 04/12/2023 at 15:59 #154596
bill_gensheet
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andi in post 154590 said:
9pN1SEAp in post 154588 said:
Or by time travelling back to 1984 when the Varsity Line still existed and taking this excursion!
Does anyone know where I can find a time machine? That looks like an interesting trip.
Strange that the train in the leaflet picture has a pantograph though, last I checked the lines out of Marylebone werenʼt electrified.
Public trips to go shopping in Milton Keynes were a 'thing' back then, and a way to promote reopening the line. Even Oxford - Bicester had not reopened then.

I did an Oxford - Milton Keynes in May 1985, and an Aylesbury - Milton Keynes in Nov 1990. They called at the closed stations like Bicester and Verney.

Bill

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Coventry to Aylesbury via Milton Keynes Central and 1 other station 12/12/2023 at 10:30 #154712
MarkC
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leigh in post 154572 said:
I was watching a very old episode of Great British Railway Journeys (Series 1 Episode 19) where Michael travels from Coventry to Aylesbury, approximately in the year 2009. He says the trip requires 2 changes of train and shows one of the interchanges at Milton Keynes Central, then a second interchange at an unnamed station.

You can find the episode online here and the specific sequence is at 13 minutes in.

Which station would the unnamed be, and what route would he have taken?
I am convinced that the second station you are referring to is Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station. While the program seems to suggest that Michael travels by train only between Milton Keynes and Aylesbury I believe that he may have gotten off at Milton Keynes used other methods to travel to Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station, then onto Aylesbury railway station.

The route it seems they were trying to emulate is in part the Varsity line.

Last edited: 12/12/2023 at 15:42 by MarkC
Reason: None given

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