Talk:Varsity Line

message: It would be nice to get the feel of the original line - anyone got any old timetables? How often did service run? What were the end-to-end timings, the times of first and last trains (well I suppose academics never did get up very early...) Lawrence18uk (talk) 19:52, 7 April 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: there are copies of timetables dating from as early as 1910 on display at the Ridgmont Station Heritage Centre - I'll see if I can get some details on my next visit Andywebby (talk) 17:36, 10 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Historic Info Wanted

message: I deleted this
Another somewhat hopeful idea that has been discussed is to run the section between the West Coast and Midland lines  along a new alignment, serving Milton Keynes before heading off to the east to join the former Bedford-Northampton line near the village of Turvey, following this alignment into Bedford.  This alignment, whilst allowing Bedford and Milton Keynes stations to be served without the reversal of trains is likely to be entirely unaffordable.
since it reads like the railway buff's version of fantasy football.  It cannot be a serious option given that the Marston Vale line already connects the WCML to Bedford.  --Concrete Cowboy 17:16, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Wild speculation

message: What is "bin-liner freight"?  When you say "within this", which "this" do you mean?  The overgrown track to Steeple Claydon? or something else? --Concrete Cowboy 12:12, 8 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I received a private mesage to explain that "bin liner freight" means freight wagons containing domestic refuse going to a land-fill site. --Concrete Cowboy 13:14, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bin-liner freight? 

message: Since we have a route diagram that lists all the stations, do we really need another copy in the body of the article? It seems to me that it just clogs the article and discourages readers from going past it.  For now, I'll just move it to the bottom but if there are no objections in the next couple of weeks, I'll delete it. --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 14:17, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  List of stations needed twice? 

message: The material on the B&C Railway suffers from highly dubious and inconsistent dates. The Railway company did exist, it's Board Minutes are in the National Archives but not digitised. Surely we can come up with a reliable source that has credible dates? --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 23:26, 8 October 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Awdry (1990) says (p. 60) that it was incorporated 6 August 1860, and "opinions differ on the date of opening, some citing 1 August 1862, others October of that year". The B&C did absorb the Sandy & Potton Railway on 7 July 1862 (Awdry 1990, pp. 100-1), which may explain the text "the Bedford and Cambridge Railway which opened on 7th July 1862"; the S&PR had opened in 1857. --Redrose64 (talk) 09:19, 9 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bedford and Cambridge Railway - dubious dates 

message: This page needs updating to cover the private funding for it recently announced. (not got time myself)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38201570  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.105.187.71 (talk) 20:47, 4 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: First of all, no it doesn't - this article is about the historic line, not the new [different] route. New stuff goes in East West Rail Link at least until there is some real track laying to Cambridge. In any case, "Grayling will announce" - let's wait until he does, then we'll have a direct citation rather than a "by the way" in a story about something else. --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 23:22, 4 December 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Private company instead of network rail 

message: I am uncomfortable with this article. It starts, very reasonably, with "This article is about the historic Oxford - Cambridge line from 1845 to 1967. For its modern recreation, see East West Rail."
This has been consistently ignored by enthusiastic, but not always well-judged, edits about later events. Even the Infobox defies this recommendation. The RDT diagram (IMHO hopelessly ugly and opaque) dominates the text and may put the reader off. Why is Quainton Road on it?
I am uncomfortable about the title of the article, "Varsity Line". I don't recollect that being on everyday use until fairly recently. (No doubt someone can find a old usage in print, but I emphasise "everyday use". It was just the Oxford to Cambridge line. An as-yet ill-informed person looking to wikipedia to help, and who noticed an old railway line at Bicester (say) on a map is unlikely to think "Varsity Line", which doesn't even mention that it is a railway article.  
The only source citation in the entire article relating to the pre-1967 period is Awdry, p 63, which is an encyclopedia. A single paragraph, 91 words. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. Yes, I know, sometimes you can't avoid that, but it seems a bit lazy.
I wonder if the answer is a new (separate) article with more thorough historical citations. Afterbrunel (talk) 15:23, 17 March 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Scope of the article; and the name? 

message: In adding the current equivalent (£12M) of the £125,000 cost, I followed the footnote style already in the article, viz.,
A prospectus for the Bedford and London & Birmingham Railway was prepared; the capital was to be £125,000.About £ today.
IMO, it is more accessible to give the equivalent in-line, thus: A prospectus for the Bedford and London & Birmingham Railway was prepared; the capital was to be £125,000 (about £ today).
Does anybody have a strong preference either way? --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 12:18, 13 October 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Inflation adjusted costs: style to use? 

message: Why Oxford and Bedford, rather than Oxford and Cambridge? Mdrb55 (talk) 21:01, 22 March 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: Because the former rail route between Bedford St John's and Cambridge has been entirely pulled up. Part of it is now occupied by the Ryle Telescope, other sections have been built over (such as in the areas around Sandy and Potton), so a new route needs to be surveyed, acquired and constructed. This would need to include bridges under or over the A421, A1 and M11. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 23:25, 22 March 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: Hang on, this article is about the Varsity Line as it was in 1967, not what has happened to it subsequently. So Oxford and Cambridge are the  correct terminus stations, Bedford Midland Road wasn't even on it.  The "Varsity Line" was the line between the Varsity cities: when it stopped going to Cambridge it wasn't the Varsity Line any more. Somebody is getting confused with East West Rail (Western Section). Or are we to show Bicester Village (sic) as the western terminus? I have reinstated Cambridge as the eastern terminus. --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 23:43, 22 March 2021 (UTC)

text: Yes. It could be argued that the name "Varsity" might have stuck out of habit even if both termini were lost. That is not relevant here, however, and the line that this article describes goes from Oxford to Cambridge. Britmax (talk) 23:47, 22 March 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Termini 

message: Is it just me or is that section only very tenuously related to this article? It seems to describe a failed bid to run a service over the line and not any significant construction work. The text is heavy going so maybe I missed the point? --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 18:11, 13 February 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway 

message: Someone has deleted an illustration I added to this article. They have challenged my rationale in the history summary, where of course I am unable to reply.
One of the deficiencies of Wikipedia articles is that they tend to be huge slabs of text, rather out of step with the modern approach to the needs of a general readership. My daily newspaper includes interesting, but not immediately relevant, photographs in the editorial pages simply to lighten the mood; compare any national neespaper from the 1900s, which are dull and heavy going.
It is rarely possible to use directly and immediately relevant images in railway history articles. Sometimes "opening day" engravings from the Illustrated London News are available, although these are often generic illustrations, often by artists who did not witness the event. "Last train" ceremonies at line closure often appeared in the press but are rarely copyright free.
I believe that out of copyright picture postcards of stations, which can often be found, have a place in these articles. Afterbrunel (talk) 19:13, 19 May 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Thank you for engaging in the WP:BRD process. The someone was me. As I wrote in the edit note, the policy on images is that their purpose is to illustrate, not to decorate. The article already has enough images to give the 'flavour' of the line. It is not at all obvious how an image of  (probably one of the least significant of the stations on the line, single tracked here, barely more than a halt) adds significant value. When it is associated with a section on "grouping of the railways", the reader must wonder why what's the significance? Wikipedia is not a newspaper, a magazine or a tourist guide. We don't decorate articles to make them look pretty. Please remember that most visitors use mobile phones to read it, not giant desktop screens. So images must earn their keep: I don't see how this one does. But let's see what consensus emerges. --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 19:44, 19 May 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Illustrations 

message: Is this correct?  When/where/how was Aylesbury connected to the L&BR?  (before Verney Junction, obviously). 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 12:25, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: More than two decades before the Wycombe Railway. See Cheddington to Aylesbury Line and . --Redrose64 🦌 (talk) 12:55, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Before my time . What confused me is that there is nothing about it at  (which I suppose is puristically correct since it was a different station, but...) --𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 13:05, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Is  any good? I have done it elsewhere where a town was served by two different railway lines, e.g. Burnley Manchester Road railway station. --Redrose64 🦌 (talk) 13:34, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Aylesbury?