Iskra
Established Member
Coast and Peaks 4 in 8 Rover, Day 1
As noted by @Techniquest in this thread last year, Wales has been a bit of a gap for me in terms of route coverage. I improved the situation last year by travelling the Cambrian Coast, and my aim this year was to deal with the remainder of North Wales. Luckily, just the ticket exists for this and at £92.20 for four days it is still reasonable value and conveniently for me, it is valid from Sheffield.
After dumping the car at Meadowhall, I duly bought the required tickets- a Single was needed too to get me to Sheffield. This is mildly irritating as Meadowhall and Sheffield are in the same fares group and both TOC's at Meadowhall are getting revenue from the ticket, so it seems daft to me that this station is not included on the ticket.
0901 Meadowhall-Manchester Piccadilly (Liverpool Lime street). TP Class 185
This is a fairly common journey for me now across the Hope Valley, but I was lucky to secure the tip down seats in the vestibule beyond first class. allowing me to sit longitudinally across two of them and enjoy the fine views of the Hope Valley. It was a beautiful day and it was the first time in a while that I felt able to actually enjoy this journey, rather than being too wedged-out to do so. The guard was very chatty and friendly. I don't know what I've done, but can't make this bit of text not be underlined, so sorry about that!
I had a bit of a wait at Manchester Piccadilly P13/14 which was it's usual nightmare, made worse by biting cold temperatures and delayed trains. Is there a worse managed pair of platforms in the country? I thought to myself, as I watched staff yelling at passengers over and over again during my wait. A pair of Freightliner class 90's on some empty intermodals came through. I don't see too many 90's these days so that was a nice surprise. My train for Llandudno Junction ended up arriving before some late running services including a Blackpool train, which caused further confusion and shouting.
1044 Manchester Piccadilly-Llandudno Junction. TfW class 197.
My itinerary had actually told me to change at Oxford Road, but I thought my chances of a seat would be improved by boarding at Piccadilly. I need not have worried in the end as the 2-car unit was sparsely populated on arrival. The conductor was quick to come around and was again very friendly and helpful. As we plodded West (this train is a stopper in places), the weather improved somewhat with the sun making an appearance although it still was not particularly warm on board. As we plodded, and then stopped every few minutes any heat that the heating was providing, was being nullified by the doors opening frequently. Even though I was dressed for winter, I was very cold on this journey. I have now decided, I'm thoroughly against long-distance trains that have doors at 1/3rd's. The run along the coast itself was glorious, but after Chester I did note a number of 'characters' started to join the train. One such person didn't have a ticket, but instead a tall tale for the guard on his brief one-stop journey; the guard just walked away shaking their head. This was not my first journey on a 197, but it was my first journey getting a seat on one. I was pretty happy with the overall comfort of the unit, beyond the issue of temperature. By the time we reached Llandudno Junction, I was thoroughly cold, which waiting on the platform for my next train did not help.
My planning had been a bit relaxed for this trip, with just a vague plan to cover the line up to Blaenau Ffestiniog, but I also needed the brief journey to Llandudno Town too. Realtime Trains revealed that the same unit would come and whisk me to Llandudno and then conveniently take me back all the way to Blaenau Ffestiniog, and also giving me good chances of securing a good seat on the right-hand side for the best views.
1304 Llandudno Junction-Llandudno. TfW class 197.
Again, on this journey a number of characters were present, with a disproportionate number of passengers choosing to sit at the very front of the train, despite it being quiet. My assumption was that they were hoping the guard would not appear and thus the ride would be free, but I could be wrong. Either way, the guard did not appear on the short journey. It may only be short, but the scenery was very nice indeed, particularly with the winter sun on it. New route coverage.
1317 Llandudno-Blaenau Ffestiniog. RfW class 197.
I remained on board and chose a nice table seat by the cab for good window alignment, passing back to Llandudno. Through Glan Conwy, I noticed a lot of nice houses and then the real scenery begins. What a cracking line this was, with a lot of nature around. First impressions as we wound along the valley, were that the line felt quite Cornish- although that was probably helped by the sun being out, although that didn't last as we climbed. I did notice a dusting of snow on the top of the highest peaks as we climbed, and the cloud set in. The line then became very Welsh indeed, with lots of castles, slate everywhere and the mountains- all very enjoyable, before an unexpectedly long tunnel and we emerged at Blaenau Ffestiniog. The engineering of the line was fantastic too, with a particularly ornate viaduct standing out to me, and just the whole idea that this railway exists at all in such an environment defied all logic- it must have cost a fortune to build and run. I did notice that the 197 did seem to have a lot of problems on the rough track with unpleasant sounds coming from the bogies, that we didn't get along the mainline. At the destination, again it was very cold; my Iphone said it was 1 degree but was saying the 'feels like' temperature was -4 degrees, and I can vouch for the accuracy of that! All I did was have a quick walk around and take a few photo's before climbing back on board. This unit had stayed slightly warmer as the stops were fewer (or at least no-one was requesting the request stops), so it was a nice place to be. Curiously, when I discussed doing this journey with my parents, they told me that I'd actually already done it with them when I was extremely young in the 1990's. I do have a vague memory of a Regional Railways Class 153 next to a narrow gauge locomotive, which I had probably mis-assigned to Ravenglass, instead of here. Nevertheless, as I can't remember anything else of the line or where we boarded, I am going to count this as new coverage.
1439 Blaenau Ffestiniog-Llandudno Junction. TfW 197.
On the way down, the train got a little busier, particularly at Betws-Y-Coed where a narrow gauge railway was running next to our train and the station cafe was very popular. On the way back down, I formulated a plan to head back down South to pick up the Premier Service.
I had an hour break before a useful service back South, so I headed to Enoch's Fish and Chips, just along the road from the station. I had excellent Cod and Chips with gravy and a beer, dining inside the nice warm cafe. It was exactly what was needed and gave me an energy boost too.
1640 Llandudno Junction-Wrexham General. TfW 158.
I was very happy with this 158. Firstly, for something different after a number of 197's but mainly for the warmth provided and maintained by having interior saloon doors. It was a pleasant journey. When the conductor came down, another chancer pretended to be on his phone, but they called them out which resulted in some excuse, followed by a ticket being purchased, I felt the conductor handled it very well. Fare evasion seemed to be rife on the North Wales Coast.
When planning, Wrexham seemed a safe point from which to catch the Northbound Premier Service, which it was- especially with it running late. But, it also gave me an opportunity to cover the line over to Wrexham Central, which was needed and was planned for later in the week, which would get me ahead. But, it didn't stop there as RTT had shown that I could sample some new and slightly unusual traction too.
First things first though, I opted to cover the line on a 197; to keep moving, to keep warm and just in case anything went wrong.
1806 Wrexham General-Wrexham Central. Tfw 197.
This was a short ride, and it was in the dark so very little to say about this one, beyond 'new coverage'. Although I did note, that if you sit on the tip-down seats in the disabled section, the 197 actually beats the Frecciarossa Executive Class for legroom
1817 Wrexham Central-Wrexham General. TfW 197.
1853 Wrexham General-Wrexham Central. TfW Class 230, New Class.
I then waited for the class 230 to appear, and made the same move. I actually quite liked this train. It rode smoothly, the interior was decent.
Bizarrely, this train then ran back to Wrexham General ECS, so with a very long wait for another train, I walked back. Wrexham Central seemed a really grim station. The walk was quite simple, and quick, which did leave me wondering why this bit of track still exists.
Back at Wrexham General, the Premier Service was still losing time, although the waiting room on the platform was very nice and warm, so it wasn't too bad. I got talking to a person in there, who was complaining about the state of the network, and when I pointed out she could claim delay repay for today's delay, her body language was revealingly ambivalent about her ticket situation which aroused my intuition (see below for how that one turns out).
1940 Wrexham General-Llandudno Junction. TfW Class 67 67008 and Mk4 carriages.
I've had 67008 before on a railtour to Morecambe, although it was in EWS livery back then. However, I was very happy to see that this train had the ex-Grand Central Mk4's in it, as I'd been eager to try the service for which they were intended, before it bit the dust, and I also had high expectations from them internally. I was not disappointed with the interior, it was very comfortable, I would have liked to have seen what first class was like based on how good standard was! Quite possibly the best Standard Class interior I've come across on the British network. I tried ordering food on the app, but it said it wasn't available- not a big problem since I'd eaten earlier anyway. 67008 provided some good noise and vibrations as we headed North. This train gave me flashbacks to the old days of express train travel, as a couple of blokes opposite chose not to faff with their phones, or watch Tik Tok's, but to drink tinnies, talk and play cards instead. The character that I'd got talking to in the waiting room was very happy with the rolling stock provided, but you'll be surprised to hear that they didn't offer a ticket up for the conductor, just excuses, although they did actually succeed in getting a free ride to Bangor as far as I could tell.
After all that, it was a walk to the Premier Inn at Llandudno Junction where a cheap room had been secured (January is a great month to travel for cheap prices). An enjoyable and productive day, achieving more than I expected and ending with a good bit of loco-haulage
As noted by @Techniquest in this thread last year, Wales has been a bit of a gap for me in terms of route coverage. I improved the situation last year by travelling the Cambrian Coast, and my aim this year was to deal with the remainder of North Wales. Luckily, just the ticket exists for this and at £92.20 for four days it is still reasonable value and conveniently for me, it is valid from Sheffield.
After dumping the car at Meadowhall, I duly bought the required tickets- a Single was needed too to get me to Sheffield. This is mildly irritating as Meadowhall and Sheffield are in the same fares group and both TOC's at Meadowhall are getting revenue from the ticket, so it seems daft to me that this station is not included on the ticket.
0901 Meadowhall-Manchester Piccadilly (Liverpool Lime street). TP Class 185
This is a fairly common journey for me now across the Hope Valley, but I was lucky to secure the tip down seats in the vestibule beyond first class. allowing me to sit longitudinally across two of them and enjoy the fine views of the Hope Valley. It was a beautiful day and it was the first time in a while that I felt able to actually enjoy this journey, rather than being too wedged-out to do so. The guard was very chatty and friendly. I don't know what I've done, but can't make this bit of text not be underlined, so sorry about that!
I had a bit of a wait at Manchester Piccadilly P13/14 which was it's usual nightmare, made worse by biting cold temperatures and delayed trains. Is there a worse managed pair of platforms in the country? I thought to myself, as I watched staff yelling at passengers over and over again during my wait. A pair of Freightliner class 90's on some empty intermodals came through. I don't see too many 90's these days so that was a nice surprise. My train for Llandudno Junction ended up arriving before some late running services including a Blackpool train, which caused further confusion and shouting.
1044 Manchester Piccadilly-Llandudno Junction. TfW class 197.
My itinerary had actually told me to change at Oxford Road, but I thought my chances of a seat would be improved by boarding at Piccadilly. I need not have worried in the end as the 2-car unit was sparsely populated on arrival. The conductor was quick to come around and was again very friendly and helpful. As we plodded West (this train is a stopper in places), the weather improved somewhat with the sun making an appearance although it still was not particularly warm on board. As we plodded, and then stopped every few minutes any heat that the heating was providing, was being nullified by the doors opening frequently. Even though I was dressed for winter, I was very cold on this journey. I have now decided, I'm thoroughly against long-distance trains that have doors at 1/3rd's. The run along the coast itself was glorious, but after Chester I did note a number of 'characters' started to join the train. One such person didn't have a ticket, but instead a tall tale for the guard on his brief one-stop journey; the guard just walked away shaking their head. This was not my first journey on a 197, but it was my first journey getting a seat on one. I was pretty happy with the overall comfort of the unit, beyond the issue of temperature. By the time we reached Llandudno Junction, I was thoroughly cold, which waiting on the platform for my next train did not help.
My planning had been a bit relaxed for this trip, with just a vague plan to cover the line up to Blaenau Ffestiniog, but I also needed the brief journey to Llandudno Town too. Realtime Trains revealed that the same unit would come and whisk me to Llandudno and then conveniently take me back all the way to Blaenau Ffestiniog, and also giving me good chances of securing a good seat on the right-hand side for the best views.
1304 Llandudno Junction-Llandudno. TfW class 197.
Again, on this journey a number of characters were present, with a disproportionate number of passengers choosing to sit at the very front of the train, despite it being quiet. My assumption was that they were hoping the guard would not appear and thus the ride would be free, but I could be wrong. Either way, the guard did not appear on the short journey. It may only be short, but the scenery was very nice indeed, particularly with the winter sun on it. New route coverage.
1317 Llandudno-Blaenau Ffestiniog. RfW class 197.
I remained on board and chose a nice table seat by the cab for good window alignment, passing back to Llandudno. Through Glan Conwy, I noticed a lot of nice houses and then the real scenery begins. What a cracking line this was, with a lot of nature around. First impressions as we wound along the valley, were that the line felt quite Cornish- although that was probably helped by the sun being out, although that didn't last as we climbed. I did notice a dusting of snow on the top of the highest peaks as we climbed, and the cloud set in. The line then became very Welsh indeed, with lots of castles, slate everywhere and the mountains- all very enjoyable, before an unexpectedly long tunnel and we emerged at Blaenau Ffestiniog. The engineering of the line was fantastic too, with a particularly ornate viaduct standing out to me, and just the whole idea that this railway exists at all in such an environment defied all logic- it must have cost a fortune to build and run. I did notice that the 197 did seem to have a lot of problems on the rough track with unpleasant sounds coming from the bogies, that we didn't get along the mainline. At the destination, again it was very cold; my Iphone said it was 1 degree but was saying the 'feels like' temperature was -4 degrees, and I can vouch for the accuracy of that! All I did was have a quick walk around and take a few photo's before climbing back on board. This unit had stayed slightly warmer as the stops were fewer (or at least no-one was requesting the request stops), so it was a nice place to be. Curiously, when I discussed doing this journey with my parents, they told me that I'd actually already done it with them when I was extremely young in the 1990's. I do have a vague memory of a Regional Railways Class 153 next to a narrow gauge locomotive, which I had probably mis-assigned to Ravenglass, instead of here. Nevertheless, as I can't remember anything else of the line or where we boarded, I am going to count this as new coverage.
1439 Blaenau Ffestiniog-Llandudno Junction. TfW 197.
On the way down, the train got a little busier, particularly at Betws-Y-Coed where a narrow gauge railway was running next to our train and the station cafe was very popular. On the way back down, I formulated a plan to head back down South to pick up the Premier Service.
I had an hour break before a useful service back South, so I headed to Enoch's Fish and Chips, just along the road from the station. I had excellent Cod and Chips with gravy and a beer, dining inside the nice warm cafe. It was exactly what was needed and gave me an energy boost too.
1640 Llandudno Junction-Wrexham General. TfW 158.
I was very happy with this 158. Firstly, for something different after a number of 197's but mainly for the warmth provided and maintained by having interior saloon doors. It was a pleasant journey. When the conductor came down, another chancer pretended to be on his phone, but they called them out which resulted in some excuse, followed by a ticket being purchased, I felt the conductor handled it very well. Fare evasion seemed to be rife on the North Wales Coast.
When planning, Wrexham seemed a safe point from which to catch the Northbound Premier Service, which it was- especially with it running late. But, it also gave me an opportunity to cover the line over to Wrexham Central, which was needed and was planned for later in the week, which would get me ahead. But, it didn't stop there as RTT had shown that I could sample some new and slightly unusual traction too.
First things first though, I opted to cover the line on a 197; to keep moving, to keep warm and just in case anything went wrong.
1806 Wrexham General-Wrexham Central. Tfw 197.
This was a short ride, and it was in the dark so very little to say about this one, beyond 'new coverage'. Although I did note, that if you sit on the tip-down seats in the disabled section, the 197 actually beats the Frecciarossa Executive Class for legroom
1817 Wrexham Central-Wrexham General. TfW 197.
1853 Wrexham General-Wrexham Central. TfW Class 230, New Class.
I then waited for the class 230 to appear, and made the same move. I actually quite liked this train. It rode smoothly, the interior was decent.
Bizarrely, this train then ran back to Wrexham General ECS, so with a very long wait for another train, I walked back. Wrexham Central seemed a really grim station. The walk was quite simple, and quick, which did leave me wondering why this bit of track still exists.
Back at Wrexham General, the Premier Service was still losing time, although the waiting room on the platform was very nice and warm, so it wasn't too bad. I got talking to a person in there, who was complaining about the state of the network, and when I pointed out she could claim delay repay for today's delay, her body language was revealingly ambivalent about her ticket situation which aroused my intuition (see below for how that one turns out).
1940 Wrexham General-Llandudno Junction. TfW Class 67 67008 and Mk4 carriages.
I've had 67008 before on a railtour to Morecambe, although it was in EWS livery back then. However, I was very happy to see that this train had the ex-Grand Central Mk4's in it, as I'd been eager to try the service for which they were intended, before it bit the dust, and I also had high expectations from them internally. I was not disappointed with the interior, it was very comfortable, I would have liked to have seen what first class was like based on how good standard was! Quite possibly the best Standard Class interior I've come across on the British network. I tried ordering food on the app, but it said it wasn't available- not a big problem since I'd eaten earlier anyway. 67008 provided some good noise and vibrations as we headed North. This train gave me flashbacks to the old days of express train travel, as a couple of blokes opposite chose not to faff with their phones, or watch Tik Tok's, but to drink tinnies, talk and play cards instead. The character that I'd got talking to in the waiting room was very happy with the rolling stock provided, but you'll be surprised to hear that they didn't offer a ticket up for the conductor, just excuses, although they did actually succeed in getting a free ride to Bangor as far as I could tell.
After all that, it was a walk to the Premier Inn at Llandudno Junction where a cheap room had been secured (January is a great month to travel for cheap prices). An enjoyable and productive day, achieving more than I expected and ending with a good bit of loco-haulage
