When I was younger we lived in Barnsley, which, like many other areas, had lost railway stations owing to Beeching's mass closures. So instead of being able to catch a train in Cudworth, Royston or Monk Bretton, we had to go from Barnsley. At that time, you could either catch a train to Leeds or to Sheffield. The train I remember most from those trips to Leeds and Sheffield was the Class 101 DMU, which, at that time, were all in British Rail blue liveries (much better than the various train companies we have now, and certainly these British-built trains were preferable to many running on our rails in the present day!)
I remember holidays in Scotland, which invariably meant a change in Leeds onto the Inter City 125 train, which, when I was a kid, I loved travelling on. Travelling onwards to Aviemore, Inverness or Oban was a real delight, train travel in Scotland was always good, as I loved the scenery and the places.
Catching a train from Leeds to Scarborough would involve travelling on a long train, hauled by a locomotive. On those long trains you were almost certain to be able to find a seat and the journey would be enjoyable, as, once past York, the ride to Scarborough is very pleasant and through rural areas. Nowadays, the ride from Leeds to Scarborough involves getting on a three carriage, cramped thing which will have a huge number of reserved seats and could well involve standing up for most, if not all of the journey.
Rail travel is one thing which has certainly NOT improved over the years.
