Where can I find the cheapest RR tix for England?

National Rail Enquiries do not sell tickets. For that you need to go to the sites belonging to one of the train operators. It does not matter which one, they all sell each others tickets. There are some other sites which also sell train tickets but they will charge a fee on top of the ticket price. Try this one

http://www.nationalexpress.com/trainslanding.aspx

While all UK train companies sell each others' tickets, not all of them accept US credit cards for online booking. One site that does is East Coast. The right-hand side of the home page shows the current farthest ahead online booking date. Walk up fares for long distance trains are very expensive. For example, a last-minute 2nd class ticket for London-Liverpool is over £100. Booked well in advance, you can get a fare around £11.

Tim - I did not know that the National Express site did not accept US credit cards. Is it also the same for other foreign cards?

Linda,

Since the National Express site accepts US credit cards for coach service, it probably does for train service also. But I don't know since I've never registered on the site.

I think that the sites that don't take US cards don't take any international cards. But again, I don't know for sure.

This thread appears to answer my burning question: can I really get from London to York for 21 pounds or London to Edinburgh for 27? I was looking at an 8 day rail pass for over $200 but when I started plotting my trips each leg was unbelievably cheap! (I'm planning about a month in advance). I am so waiting for the other shoe to fall. Am I doing something wrong?

ditto on the question above. i'm planning MONTHS in advance (as in 'i can't even buy tickets right now because they are not selling them yet') and i'm wondering why anyone would buy a $300 rail pass for four days of travel, when you can buy individual tickets for less than $30. there's no way that can possibly pay for itself. are rail passes just for people who have no plan? because i'm a both financially challenged AND a huge planner, and am hoping that will work for me, but, again, i'm waiting for 'other shoe to drop', as is so well stated above.

Did you consider megabus.com for at least 1-2 legs of the trip? There are routes from London to either Manchester or Liverpool (but not between Liverpool and Manchester) and back again that start at 1 pound each way. I've gotten fares for as low as 4.50 GBP.

Good call on the megatrain..limited routes and times but the cheapest fares by far.
If you are going city-to city and can book ahead I reckon prebpought fares are a lot cheaper than passes.Walk up fares on Man. -london are notoriously dear.
In gerneral we have the most expensive trains in europe.
And heres the thing we also have the cheapest tickets in europe too, if you can pick time and prebook.Simon Calder did a article on it in the Independent.
You might also want to check moneysavingexperts (forum)travel section. People post routes up and the gurus often have a "split ticket" answer.
You can get area tickets , always worth looking on the Nat.rail site, under offers

Christine and Tracy,

Since last-minute fares for long-distance trains in the UK are very expensive, a railpass makes sense for people who need flexibility on their departure dates and times but don't want to pay through the nose for point-to-point tickets.

The only downside to booking well in advance and getting a discount fare is that the ticket will be for a specific departure date and time and is non-exchangeable and non-refundable. If you have to change your travel plans, you will be out the price of the ticket.