Techniquest
Veteran Member
I have allowed myself to fall behind, for some reason I thought that was still months away. Definitely another thing to convince me that a London trip is required soon!
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How difficult is it to arrive or leave at all timetabled platforms. 5 year project to achieve this.
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I have allowed myself to fall behind, for some reason I thought that was still months away. Definitely another thing to convince me that a London trip is required soon!
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All platforms
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I have scoped out my first day in London proper as a result of this welcome info. Unfortunately it will have to be a drive down and back on Wednesday but my goodness the pace of station tickage is fantastic. I don't know how realistic i am being with my itinerary so lets see if i can keep pace - and that trains are on time etc etc. Cheers.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Good luck! I've now read the thread about the new line, I'm planning to go soon after the Commonwealth Games finish personally. Before that I have got Stages 10-21 of Tour de France, as well as Tour De France Femmes which starts on 24th July (the same day as the men's race finishes) until 31st July. There's also attending the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games on 27th July, a swimming event (not my thing but my mum and sister wanted to go) the morning after, two athletics events which I forget the dates of, an evening of women's cricket (seemed a bargain at £15, why not!) which I also forget the date of right now and the Closing Ceremony on I believe 8th August.
Of course, there's plenty to watch with the rest of the Games too, so you can imagine that railways are taking a back seat for a while. However, London is absolutely playing host to my first red pen session in ages once that is all finished!
As for the bay platform at Barking, that is happily dud here. Many years back, and I also managed to achieve it on 16th October 2021. Seems crazy, the week before the line opens, that there was a time still in living memory that the line was operated by 2-car 150s. Mind you, I also fondly remember the days of 460s on Gatwick Express duties, the Darth Vaders. Not to mention an absolute host of now-gone motive power in London. I'm tempted by a visit to Nostalgia Avenue, but I'm going to keep that for a very special thread in autumn 2023!
Hope the visit to London goes well!
Kite159
Veteran Member
Jules is heading down memory lane again (although not a bad place to be) 
Good luck with your London trip
Good luck with your London trip
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Jules is heading down memory lane again (although not a bad place to be)
Not yet
Oh, the stories one could tell, there's just so many!All platforms
Member
Day 138: Wednesday 13/07/2022 - London Zones 1-6 Travelcard (paper version) - £22.30 - Valid all day. CP Upminster £10.30
Total time today 445 mins - Time on trains 204 mins and time waiting 241 mins. Stations completed today 17. Total completed 809.
Thanks to Kite for first pointing out to me the impending abandonment of the P1 bay (poetic license attempt) at Barking with the opening of the new Barking Riverside station in a few days. Could i fit it in to my busy schedule this week? Only by doing something rather silly like driving there and back in a day - oh, and by completely revamping my trip to South Wales the next day so as not to be driving quite so many miles as planned and ensure there is potential for some sleep.
Well, i was still over ambitious i feel as my alarm was waking me half an hour before i went to sleep (more poetic license) and i was on the road before 2.30am. Off to London then a year earlier than planned and i wanted to see just what might be possible in the capital and also to see if it was feasible to do an out and back there in one day. I will be trying other methods to try and find what works best for me but why not start with something ambitious. Driving so early in the day in July is fine to be honest and I arrived in Upminster on schedule and tried not to mutter too hard as i paid £10.30 for the privilege of leaving my metal chariot there.
Firstly i was surprised to see just how busy it was at 6.30am as i travelled one stop to Barking on a new TOC for me - C2C. Just about got a seat on the 8 car but at 7 minutes it wouldn't have mattered and in no time at all i was alighting at my main target for the day - Barking with a trip on the GOBLIN all the way to Gospel Oak to look forward to, calling at all platforms en route. With a 15 minute gap between services it all got a bit manic with no time for dawdling which is my default position given the usual leisurely service gaps up north. Not so in these parts and i had to be on point with no let up till about 10am when i got my first real breather. I have actually travelled this line before albeit some years ago - and before it was electrified i think. The ten intermediate stations started to merge into one in my head as i just got my head down and concentrated on switching platforms in an efficient manner as possible and marvelling at just how busy these earlier rush hour services all were. Not crush loaded but seating wasn't an option early on for sure.
I really have no particular memory of the interims to Gospel Oak despite looking back at my photos in an effort to jog my memory so in order i visited Wanstead Park, Woodgrange Park, Leyton Midland Road, Leytonstone High Road, Blackhorse Road, Walthamstow Queens Road, Harringay Green Lanes, South Tottenham, Upper Holloway and Crouch Hill before finally alighting at the P3 bay at Goespel Oak. No wandering off stations to have a look around and no time to dwell for the most part having switched platforms at pace. More about steps/stairs later. I do remember getting some supplies in at Leyton Midland Road, but the large convenience store didn't do sandwiches so one pile of rubbish later i was back on the platform aghast at what i had bought. Pork rinds anyone?? No time to eat anything mind.
I did have time to have a quick recce at Barking prior to all this. Here Underground and Main line trains co-mingle with the 8 platforms there. Going P1 to P8 we have the Goblin line bay, Eastbound District line, Eastbound Bay terminator, Eastbound Southend line, Westbound Southend line, Westbound District line, Goblin Eastbound line and the Westbound Goblin line. There is a flyover to allow these last 2 into Barking and will be the new route to/from Riverside. P7 + 8 are also used by C2C for their services via Dagenham Dock to Grays. There is a lot going on here and a place i will have to visit many times to fit all the line permutations in i feel. This is an example of the complex part of doing London where you can spend a lot of time criss crossing backwards and forwards and why i wasn't sure how to gauge how effectively i could spend my time here. Aftere today I am a little bit more optimistic London will not pose as many problems as i had first feared. Famous last words eh??
Back to business then at Gospel Oak where i had just alighted at the P3 bay there. My next thought was to turn East and have a look at the line towards Stratford - which may be another black hole station when i eventually get there, and i opted for a Kentish Town West out and back to kick things off. Blimey there are a lot of steps there and i just about burst a lung to get the return in an attempt to keep ahead of my original schedule, as i realised i need to try and buy some time just to catch my breath properly, and one of the reasons i did change my plans i bit later.
Another boatload of steps back at Gospel Oak but no hurry this time and off to Caledonian Road & Barnsbury where another quick turnaround saw me with no memory of the place. Camden Road next and i was determined to have a look around but nothing really of note distinguished it from anything else today so nothing to report again. Maybe more luck at Highbury & Islington then, where there are 8 platforms, 6 of them of interest to me and 2 for the Victoria line. I knocked out 4 of these today as i would be going to Moorgate and back. The line to Moorgate is underground and in fact is at the same level as the Victoria line. No surprise then to find it has the feel of an underground station here and slightly weird therefore to my eyes seeing a conventional Great Northern train appear. A first look at this TOC then but winding to and fro in the dark didn't allow me any lasting impressions. Maybe when i get to Kings Lynn perhaps. There are 2 interim stations on this line and Old Street was first as i finally sat down on the very empty return platform to have a few moments to catch up and consume some sustenance i.e a packet of crisps and a biscuit. The Northern line joins us briefly at this station so P3 and 4 are ticked off and another completed station as i travel one stop back to Essex Road where i was grateful the lines are close together and not a rat run, for the short trip down to what must be the smallest of the London terminals at Moorgate. Here i thought about venturing into the sunlight but the lure of the chase spurred me to carry on and a switch of platform for the run back to Highbury. Platform number 4 ticked off as i decided to deviate from my planned route and return to Barking via Gospel Oak to ensure track was completed, as i realised there were a few gaps. It also allowed me to both board and alight from P1 so that was all right then.
I toyed with going back to Upminster and doing the the short line to Romford but in the end i decided to have a look at Fenchurch Street as well as ticking off more platforms at Barking. I guess Fenchurch Street must be the second smallest London terminal with just 4 platforms, and i did get the chance to have a proper scout around outside, and where i scored some sandwiches at Pret. OK they were expensive but no more so than most station fare, and a darn site better quality. Beggars can't be choosers i guess, but very enjoyable none the less.
P3 and then P1 were in the bag at Fenchurch Street with the other 2 not promising to be awkward these can be knocked out another time without drama. This time i did go back to Upminster to legitimately tick off the 2 main platforms and return for one last time today to Barking where i just have P7 to do which will be done on Riverside day when it comes. I did notice a bay (P1a) at Upminster which does get used for engineering purposes so i might plan my next trip down here to coincide with that on Monday 29 August where it is in use all day. I will check back nearer the time of course....
Back at Upminster before 2pm and 17 stations in the bag which i think is a great haul. I have done more than this on a couple of Merseyside days near the beginning, but the potential in London to do more on stopovers is pretty encouraging. The weather was way hotter than home today with high humidity so i was forming puddles evrywhere i went and so the journey home was a nightmare. No air-con and a very tired hot and bothered driver saw me bailing at Luton i think for a cold drink, and a 20 minute snooze at Hilton Park after finally negotiating the Birmingham snarl up. Most unlike me but it had to be done. Back home i just had time to tweek a few things for my South Wales epic for Thursday before reaching for a cold one. Tomorrow will prove to be a complete contrast epic and a return to daft things i used to do many many years ago when i was involved in Motorsport.
Total time today 445 mins - Time on trains 204 mins and time waiting 241 mins. Stations completed today 17. Total completed 809.
Thanks to Kite for first pointing out to me the impending abandonment of the P1 bay (poetic license attempt) at Barking with the opening of the new Barking Riverside station in a few days. Could i fit it in to my busy schedule this week? Only by doing something rather silly like driving there and back in a day - oh, and by completely revamping my trip to South Wales the next day so as not to be driving quite so many miles as planned and ensure there is potential for some sleep.
Well, i was still over ambitious i feel as my alarm was waking me half an hour before i went to sleep (more poetic license) and i was on the road before 2.30am. Off to London then a year earlier than planned and i wanted to see just what might be possible in the capital and also to see if it was feasible to do an out and back there in one day. I will be trying other methods to try and find what works best for me but why not start with something ambitious. Driving so early in the day in July is fine to be honest and I arrived in Upminster on schedule and tried not to mutter too hard as i paid £10.30 for the privilege of leaving my metal chariot there.
Firstly i was surprised to see just how busy it was at 6.30am as i travelled one stop to Barking on a new TOC for me - C2C. Just about got a seat on the 8 car but at 7 minutes it wouldn't have mattered and in no time at all i was alighting at my main target for the day - Barking with a trip on the GOBLIN all the way to Gospel Oak to look forward to, calling at all platforms en route. With a 15 minute gap between services it all got a bit manic with no time for dawdling which is my default position given the usual leisurely service gaps up north. Not so in these parts and i had to be on point with no let up till about 10am when i got my first real breather. I have actually travelled this line before albeit some years ago - and before it was electrified i think. The ten intermediate stations started to merge into one in my head as i just got my head down and concentrated on switching platforms in an efficient manner as possible and marvelling at just how busy these earlier rush hour services all were. Not crush loaded but seating wasn't an option early on for sure.
I really have no particular memory of the interims to Gospel Oak despite looking back at my photos in an effort to jog my memory so in order i visited Wanstead Park, Woodgrange Park, Leyton Midland Road, Leytonstone High Road, Blackhorse Road, Walthamstow Queens Road, Harringay Green Lanes, South Tottenham, Upper Holloway and Crouch Hill before finally alighting at the P3 bay at Goespel Oak. No wandering off stations to have a look around and no time to dwell for the most part having switched platforms at pace. More about steps/stairs later. I do remember getting some supplies in at Leyton Midland Road, but the large convenience store didn't do sandwiches so one pile of rubbish later i was back on the platform aghast at what i had bought. Pork rinds anyone?? No time to eat anything mind.
I did have time to have a quick recce at Barking prior to all this. Here Underground and Main line trains co-mingle with the 8 platforms there. Going P1 to P8 we have the Goblin line bay, Eastbound District line, Eastbound Bay terminator, Eastbound Southend line, Westbound Southend line, Westbound District line, Goblin Eastbound line and the Westbound Goblin line. There is a flyover to allow these last 2 into Barking and will be the new route to/from Riverside. P7 + 8 are also used by C2C for their services via Dagenham Dock to Grays. There is a lot going on here and a place i will have to visit many times to fit all the line permutations in i feel. This is an example of the complex part of doing London where you can spend a lot of time criss crossing backwards and forwards and why i wasn't sure how to gauge how effectively i could spend my time here. Aftere today I am a little bit more optimistic London will not pose as many problems as i had first feared. Famous last words eh??
Back to business then at Gospel Oak where i had just alighted at the P3 bay there. My next thought was to turn East and have a look at the line towards Stratford - which may be another black hole station when i eventually get there, and i opted for a Kentish Town West out and back to kick things off. Blimey there are a lot of steps there and i just about burst a lung to get the return in an attempt to keep ahead of my original schedule, as i realised i need to try and buy some time just to catch my breath properly, and one of the reasons i did change my plans i bit later.
Another boatload of steps back at Gospel Oak but no hurry this time and off to Caledonian Road & Barnsbury where another quick turnaround saw me with no memory of the place. Camden Road next and i was determined to have a look around but nothing really of note distinguished it from anything else today so nothing to report again. Maybe more luck at Highbury & Islington then, where there are 8 platforms, 6 of them of interest to me and 2 for the Victoria line. I knocked out 4 of these today as i would be going to Moorgate and back. The line to Moorgate is underground and in fact is at the same level as the Victoria line. No surprise then to find it has the feel of an underground station here and slightly weird therefore to my eyes seeing a conventional Great Northern train appear. A first look at this TOC then but winding to and fro in the dark didn't allow me any lasting impressions. Maybe when i get to Kings Lynn perhaps. There are 2 interim stations on this line and Old Street was first as i finally sat down on the very empty return platform to have a few moments to catch up and consume some sustenance i.e a packet of crisps and a biscuit. The Northern line joins us briefly at this station so P3 and 4 are ticked off and another completed station as i travel one stop back to Essex Road where i was grateful the lines are close together and not a rat run, for the short trip down to what must be the smallest of the London terminals at Moorgate. Here i thought about venturing into the sunlight but the lure of the chase spurred me to carry on and a switch of platform for the run back to Highbury. Platform number 4 ticked off as i decided to deviate from my planned route and return to Barking via Gospel Oak to ensure track was completed, as i realised there were a few gaps. It also allowed me to both board and alight from P1 so that was all right then.
I toyed with going back to Upminster and doing the the short line to Romford but in the end i decided to have a look at Fenchurch Street as well as ticking off more platforms at Barking. I guess Fenchurch Street must be the second smallest London terminal with just 4 platforms, and i did get the chance to have a proper scout around outside, and where i scored some sandwiches at Pret. OK they were expensive but no more so than most station fare, and a darn site better quality. Beggars can't be choosers i guess, but very enjoyable none the less.
P3 and then P1 were in the bag at Fenchurch Street with the other 2 not promising to be awkward these can be knocked out another time without drama. This time i did go back to Upminster to legitimately tick off the 2 main platforms and return for one last time today to Barking where i just have P7 to do which will be done on Riverside day when it comes. I did notice a bay (P1a) at Upminster which does get used for engineering purposes so i might plan my next trip down here to coincide with that on Monday 29 August where it is in use all day. I will check back nearer the time of course....
Back at Upminster before 2pm and 17 stations in the bag which i think is a great haul. I have done more than this on a couple of Merseyside days near the beginning, but the potential in London to do more on stopovers is pretty encouraging. The weather was way hotter than home today with high humidity so i was forming puddles evrywhere i went and so the journey home was a nightmare. No air-con and a very tired hot and bothered driver saw me bailing at Luton i think for a cold drink, and a 20 minute snooze at Hilton Park after finally negotiating the Birmingham snarl up. Most unlike me but it had to be done. Back home i just had time to tweek a few things for my South Wales epic for Thursday before reaching for a cold one. Tomorrow will prove to be a complete contrast epic and a return to daft things i used to do many many years ago when i was involved in Motorsport.
| Upminster | Depart | 6.31 | ***** | CC | stations | platforms | ||
| Barking | Arrive | 6.38 | P5 | CC | wait 15m | completed | completed | |
| Barking | Depart | 6.53 | P1 | OG | ||||
| Wanstead Park | Arrive | 6.59 | P1 | OG | wait 7m | |||
| Wanstead Park | Depart | 7.06 | P2 | OG | 1 | 2 | ||
| Woodgrange Park | Arrive | 7.08 | P2 | OG | wait 4m | |||
| Woodgrange Park | Depart | 7.12 | P1 | OG | 1 | 2 | ||
| Leyton Midland Road | Arrive | 7.19 | P1 | OG | wait 13m | |||
| Leyton Midland Road | Depart | 7.32 | P2 | OG | 1 | 2 | ||
| Leytonstone High Road | Arrive | 7.33 | P2 | OG | wait 15m | |||
| Leytonstone High Road | Depart | 7.48 | P1 | OG | 1 | 2 | ||
| Blackhorse Road | Arrive | 7.55 | P1 | OG | wait 16m | |||
| Blackhorse Road | Depart | 8.11 | P2 | OG | 1 | 2 | ||
| Walthamstow Queens Road | Arrive | 8.13 | P2 | OG | wait 10m | |||
| Walthamstow Queens Road | Depart | 8.23 | P1 | OG | 1 | 2 | ||
| Harringay Green Lanes | Arrive | 8.31 | P1 | OG | wait 4m | |||
| Harringay Green Lanes | Depart | 8.35 | P2 | OG | 1 | 2 | ||
| South Tottenham | Arrive | 8.37 | P2 | OG | wait 6m | |||
| South Tottenham | Depart | 8.43 | P1 | OG | 1 | 2 | ||
| Upper Holloway | Arrive | 8.52 | P1 | OG | wait 6m | |||
| Upper Holloway | Depart | 8.58 | P2 | OG | 1 | 2 | ||
| Crouch Hill | Arrive | 9.00 | P2 | OG | wait 5m | |||
| Crouch Hill | Depart | 9.05 | P1 | OG | 1 | 2 | ||
| Gospel Oak | Arrive | 9.11 | P3 | OG | wait 8m | |||
| Gospel Oak | Depart | 9.19 | P2 | OG | ||||
| Kentish Town West | Arrive | 9.21 | P2 | OG | wait 2m | |||
| Kentish Town West | Depart | 9.23 | P1 | OG | 1 | 2 | ||
| Gospel Oak | Arrive | 9.25 | P1 | OG | wait 7m | 1 | 3 | |
| Gospel Oak | Depart | 9.32 | P2 | OG | ||||
| Caledonian Road & Barnsbury | Arrive | 9.38 | P3 | OG | wait 4m | |||
| Caledonian Road & Barnsbury | Depart | 9.42 | P2 | OG | 1 | 2 | ||
| Camden Road | Arrive | 9.44 | P1 | OG | wait 10m | |||
| Camden Road | Depart | 9.54 | P2 | OG | 1 | 2 | ||
| Highbury & Islington | Arrive | 9.58 | P8 | OG | wait 9m | |||
| Highbury & Islington | Depart | 10.07 | P6 | GN | ||||
| Old Street | Arrive | 10.12 | P4 | GN | wait 21m | |||
| Old Street | Depart | 10.33 | P3 | GN | 1 | 2 | ||
| Essex Road | Arrive | 10.36 | P2 | GN | wait 3m | |||
| Essex Road | Depart | 10.39 | P1 | GN | 1 | 2 | ||
| Moorgate | Arrive | 10.45 | P9 | GN | wait 6m | |||
| Moorgate | Depart | 11.01 | P10 | GN | 1 | 2 | ||
| Highbury & Islington | Arrive | 11.09 | P4 | GN | wait 6m | |||
| Highbury & Islington | Depart | 11.15 | P7 | OG | ||||
| Gospel Oak | Arrive | 11.24 | P1 | OG | wait 14m | |||
| Gospel Oak | Depart | 11.38 | P3 | OG | ||||
| Barking | Arrive | 12.14 | P1 | OG | wait 16m | |||
| Barking | Depart | 12.30 | P8 | CC | ||||
| London Fenchurch Street | Arrive | 12.45 | P3 | CC | wait 18m | |||
| London Fenchurch Street | Depart | 13.03 | P1 | CC | ||||
| Upminster | Arrive | 13.25 | P2 | CC | wait 7m | |||
| Upminster | Depart | 13.32 | P1 | CC | ||||
| Barking | Arrive | 13.40 | P5 | CC | wait 9m | |||
| Barking | Depart | 13.49 | P4 | CC | ||||
| Upminster | Arrive | 13.56 | ***** | CC |
All platforms
Member
Day 139: Thursday 14/07/2022 - Explore South Wales Pass - £45.55 - 4 in 8 Days - Valid after 9.30am Weekdays - Day 1. Bridgend to Church Stretton - £33.75 - Anytime Single. CP Church Stretton free.
Total time today 1295 mins - Time on trains 719 mins and time waiting 576 mins. Stations completed today 7. Total completed 816.
This will be an overnight attempt at the least friendly of any PSUL options i have come across so far, and so there wasn't the need to set off early. Church Stretton was chosen for its 9.30 starting time and freebiness of its parking so a most leisurely start, plenty of sleep achieved therefore, and the option of 2 more hours on the journey down to South Wales. An almost perfect weather situation too with none of the humidity from yesterday and short sleeves the order of the day till gone 10pm. The services today mostly behaved themselves apart from a few platform alterations at Cardiff some of which were to my advantage. Plans were a little looser than usual with options to see what platforms at Cardiff are being used and take advantage later on if possible.
My first stop of the day was Llanharen which re-opened in 2007 and still looks quite fresh. A wait of only 13 minutes between services so i didn't get too far in exploring but one side has quite a lot of newish housing which overlooks the line. Quite a few folk got on and off on both services so clearly a winner. Pontyclun was next, one stop back down the line betweeen Bridgend and Cardiff and the opportunity to resupply my back pack at the local Co-op. I didn't go too mad as Cardiff would feature heavily later on so i was not as paranoid as usual about running out. The third of the trio of stations hereabouts is Pencoed and this was ticked off without bother before my first of 7 trips today to the metropolis of Cardiff. P1a was no stranger to me as i arrived but then i decided to take as much time as i could on each visit to work out the A+B variants properly. I may have got my knickers in a twist last time as there is no P5 of course these days despite what the lovely tiles on the underpass indicate. Very understandable why these have been left in sitiu.
My next platform was my second platform 0, the first being at Stockport. Despite many visits this year the one at Leeds has escaped me so far. 2 down then and 7 to go. Next stop is the end of line at Ebbw Vale Town and which takes over an hour to get there. My favorite Valley line by far so far but i haven't really explored the top end of the Rhymney line or any of the ones via Radyr so i may be getting ahead of myself here. Anyway, a peach of a journey only marred by an unexpected layover at Risca as the Crosskeys to Newport train was having brake issues ahead of us. It was at this point i decided to stick this line out rather than go back to Cardiff as my connection back there would be in jeopardy otherwise. The offending train rolled past us eventually and we moved off back up the line about 10 minutes adrift of where we should be. A very smart turnaround at Ebbw Vale with barely enough time to take 3 pictures and we were coasting back down the line trying to make up a little bit more time. A chance to get out my book at Crosskeys as i waited for the next Cardiff service. The service patterns were not friendly enough to do both platforms last time so a linear hop it was. With track and all platforms safely ticked on this line Plan B was most definitely put in place back at Cardiff with a near 50 minute wait being the result before setting off on the Rhymney line for my second bite of this particular cherry.
The first of the afternoon commuters were out in force by this time so i positioned myself in a place i thought the front carriage door might stop and was pleased as punch when it arrived as anticipated, and so i got first dibs on the seats. What i was really aiming for was the short early evening wait at Gilfach Bargoed as this gets quite the random limited service both ways and so i mapped out backwards and decided my first stop would be Hengoed. It was at this point i started to work out that doing this line in the evening would be something to avoid judging by the amount of feral kids seen hanging about on platforms and even on the return to Caerphilly. All of a sudden no sight of any ticket checks on this line despite it being just 6pm. Might be a coincidence but probably not. Caerphilly was not the cheese experience i was expecting as i attempted the 2 main platforms before one last trip up the line. An almighty ding dong was in full force as i arrived with an annoying loud mouthed drunk trying to intimidate a bunch of teenagers who were not giving an inch of ground. Reminded me of a nature programme of a group of smaller animals defending against a larger predator in a weird way. Highly entertaining for the neutral at a distance and which took up all my time there. Strike 2 for this line then. Strike 3 was the sign at the station saying all alcohol on the line between Caerphilly and Rhymney was banned.
Gilfach Bargoed hove into view next then and as well i asked the guard as he grudgingly admitted it was the front door only that would be opened. No announcements to this effect however. The platform here must be the shortest yet encountered but i wasn't measuring the blessed thing as by this time there was a small delay and i had 3 minutes to swap platforms and prevent a long wait for the next service. A quick scoot up the ramp and across the bridge just in time to encounter a rottweiler just let off the leash in this very quiet enclave. Bloody hell... i just legged it down the ramp in the hope it didn't follow which it mercifully didn't. Here i found the return service was also delayed by a few minutes so panic over and time enough to see just how short it was. About 50 feet or so was my estimate. I heard there were a few in Scotland that are also tiny so no claims being made. It just looked very odd - as i seem to find a lot of things it seems. That was the last of the completed stations today but my no means the last platforms or track.
The next order of the day was to get to Bridgend and see if i could score a new platform in doing so. No luck in this but i would score 6 new variants later on. The reason for Bridgend was an attempt at the Leckwith curve going East in daylight, which was duly achieved on a very busy service, and so i didn't get the views i was expecting. I have since looked at the track layout in some detail and now understand this much better. We did land in P3a which involved some shenanigans with crossovers and rarely used paths according to UTTtrackers detailed info on the subject. Tick for Leckwith Eastwards then. Westwards is not harder to do as such but can only be done early morning when there are a few other competing targets. This is getting harder to plan!
That was fun, lets do it again, this time via Llanharen. It would have been Pencoed but the timings got too tight to risk being stranded out of position. It was getting to be full dusk by the time we left Llanharen. This time i had a prime viewing position and the route taken made more sense than before even if it was in the gloom. Quite a pause at Ninian Park where the service stopped this time, and allowed one person to board before trundling into Cardiff P7b which i would think sees little use. It probably got used this time as it was then off to the depot a few minutes later. One of my bigger ticks of the day in retrospect. I also saw P6b in use by a GW service earlier in the day and P1b was also seen in use so these 2 may be doable in the future too. This just leaves P7a which i haven't seen in use yet of the remaining possibilities. Not too shabby then!
Time for a pause, a restocking of supplies, check in at home and grab last orders in the Wetherspoons outside the station before my next move which again was a platform attempt - this time at Newport and which involved the bonus of P2a at Cardiff. Once at Newport it was apparent it was almost deserted with the default late night protocol of P1/P4 already in full swing so no attempt at P3 for the return. This shouldn't be difficult to do another time. A mere 30 minutes later i was on my way back to Cardiff for some more train watching and an hours wait for my main reason for my late night one man party.
the Ogmore Vale Extension Line or (OVE) is a pig to tick off, and which involves using a parallel bit of track to the main line for a mile or so to the west of Bridgend. One use per day each weekday and both in the middle of the night. Not always timetabled, and even if it is, not always used, so its a bit of a mugs game even attempting this. I won't drag this out any longer than necessary as the attempt Eastwards was a bust before it started as RTT showed a late alteration to not use OVE. The return was still scheduled but didn't either. If i had attempted this on Tuesday or Wednesday morning i would be smiling now. I will try again next year midsummer. It wasn't quite light enough on the return to see much but another 10 minutes would have made all the difference. I did look at hotels to see if i could work that in but it would have meant trying to get some shut eye between 9pm and 12.45am say, and with nothing remotely affordable i just decided to pull an all nighter as i once did in my rallying days. Boy that's a long time ago now and probably before Jules was even around (c. 1980). I too can play the memory lane game haha.
One small thing that i didn't realise would happen and that was Swansea station would close for an hour between 2.20 and 3.20 (approx) and so i found myself wandering the streets to stave off boredom. The streets did have folk on them for the first 20 minutes but either side of 3am they were completely empty and so i had Swansea to myself pretty much. I was banking on some shut eye by this time not wandering aimlessly in a strange city. I did easily spot the Tesco Express outside the station and the shiniest thing for a good distance in any direction it was too. Folk then started to arrive and queue up for the grand lifting of the shutters and i wandered up towards the front to find an empty carriage on the 3.48 GW service to London. Disappointing then to see it steam (or whatever the diesel equivalent is) past the relevant junction only to have it wait at Bridgend for a good 10 minutes to account for the planned detour schedule. Grrr...
The final 2 new platforms at Cardiff were the full fat GW services to/from Swansea so P1 and P2 are both in the book now and P4 the other one that they use which isn't ticked is not too difficult either i believe, so a small win at the end. I could have changed at Newport but platform possibilities won out and i bailed once i saw we landed at P2. the final act was to wait for the service back to Church Stretton and ensuring i set my alarm just in case. I did get my head down a little but its not that different to the redeye from America in some ways and just dozing all the way back. An uneventful drive home just after 7am was the endgame and a power nap was all i needed late afternoon to keep me going. A good nights sleep and i felt fine again. Back to South Wales again Sunday and Monday and thankfully avoiding any planned heat based service alterations although i will be changing my original plans once more. A little matter of the once a year week of services to Builth Road using the Colliery Loop to Hendy Junctions on the Swansea District line. Too good an opportunity to turn down. It will mean a late finish for me but i don't see a way of avoiding that. Lets see. A very late drop intop the schedules though...
Total time today 1295 mins - Time on trains 719 mins and time waiting 576 mins. Stations completed today 7. Total completed 816.
This will be an overnight attempt at the least friendly of any PSUL options i have come across so far, and so there wasn't the need to set off early. Church Stretton was chosen for its 9.30 starting time and freebiness of its parking so a most leisurely start, plenty of sleep achieved therefore, and the option of 2 more hours on the journey down to South Wales. An almost perfect weather situation too with none of the humidity from yesterday and short sleeves the order of the day till gone 10pm. The services today mostly behaved themselves apart from a few platform alterations at Cardiff some of which were to my advantage. Plans were a little looser than usual with options to see what platforms at Cardiff are being used and take advantage later on if possible.
My first stop of the day was Llanharen which re-opened in 2007 and still looks quite fresh. A wait of only 13 minutes between services so i didn't get too far in exploring but one side has quite a lot of newish housing which overlooks the line. Quite a few folk got on and off on both services so clearly a winner. Pontyclun was next, one stop back down the line betweeen Bridgend and Cardiff and the opportunity to resupply my back pack at the local Co-op. I didn't go too mad as Cardiff would feature heavily later on so i was not as paranoid as usual about running out. The third of the trio of stations hereabouts is Pencoed and this was ticked off without bother before my first of 7 trips today to the metropolis of Cardiff. P1a was no stranger to me as i arrived but then i decided to take as much time as i could on each visit to work out the A+B variants properly. I may have got my knickers in a twist last time as there is no P5 of course these days despite what the lovely tiles on the underpass indicate. Very understandable why these have been left in sitiu.
My next platform was my second platform 0, the first being at Stockport. Despite many visits this year the one at Leeds has escaped me so far. 2 down then and 7 to go. Next stop is the end of line at Ebbw Vale Town and which takes over an hour to get there. My favorite Valley line by far so far but i haven't really explored the top end of the Rhymney line or any of the ones via Radyr so i may be getting ahead of myself here. Anyway, a peach of a journey only marred by an unexpected layover at Risca as the Crosskeys to Newport train was having brake issues ahead of us. It was at this point i decided to stick this line out rather than go back to Cardiff as my connection back there would be in jeopardy otherwise. The offending train rolled past us eventually and we moved off back up the line about 10 minutes adrift of where we should be. A very smart turnaround at Ebbw Vale with barely enough time to take 3 pictures and we were coasting back down the line trying to make up a little bit more time. A chance to get out my book at Crosskeys as i waited for the next Cardiff service. The service patterns were not friendly enough to do both platforms last time so a linear hop it was. With track and all platforms safely ticked on this line Plan B was most definitely put in place back at Cardiff with a near 50 minute wait being the result before setting off on the Rhymney line for my second bite of this particular cherry.
The first of the afternoon commuters were out in force by this time so i positioned myself in a place i thought the front carriage door might stop and was pleased as punch when it arrived as anticipated, and so i got first dibs on the seats. What i was really aiming for was the short early evening wait at Gilfach Bargoed as this gets quite the random limited service both ways and so i mapped out backwards and decided my first stop would be Hengoed. It was at this point i started to work out that doing this line in the evening would be something to avoid judging by the amount of feral kids seen hanging about on platforms and even on the return to Caerphilly. All of a sudden no sight of any ticket checks on this line despite it being just 6pm. Might be a coincidence but probably not. Caerphilly was not the cheese experience i was expecting as i attempted the 2 main platforms before one last trip up the line. An almighty ding dong was in full force as i arrived with an annoying loud mouthed drunk trying to intimidate a bunch of teenagers who were not giving an inch of ground. Reminded me of a nature programme of a group of smaller animals defending against a larger predator in a weird way. Highly entertaining for the neutral at a distance and which took up all my time there. Strike 2 for this line then. Strike 3 was the sign at the station saying all alcohol on the line between Caerphilly and Rhymney was banned.
Gilfach Bargoed hove into view next then and as well i asked the guard as he grudgingly admitted it was the front door only that would be opened. No announcements to this effect however. The platform here must be the shortest yet encountered but i wasn't measuring the blessed thing as by this time there was a small delay and i had 3 minutes to swap platforms and prevent a long wait for the next service. A quick scoot up the ramp and across the bridge just in time to encounter a rottweiler just let off the leash in this very quiet enclave. Bloody hell... i just legged it down the ramp in the hope it didn't follow which it mercifully didn't. Here i found the return service was also delayed by a few minutes so panic over and time enough to see just how short it was. About 50 feet or so was my estimate. I heard there were a few in Scotland that are also tiny so no claims being made. It just looked very odd - as i seem to find a lot of things it seems. That was the last of the completed stations today but my no means the last platforms or track.
The next order of the day was to get to Bridgend and see if i could score a new platform in doing so. No luck in this but i would score 6 new variants later on. The reason for Bridgend was an attempt at the Leckwith curve going East in daylight, which was duly achieved on a very busy service, and so i didn't get the views i was expecting. I have since looked at the track layout in some detail and now understand this much better. We did land in P3a which involved some shenanigans with crossovers and rarely used paths according to UTTtrackers detailed info on the subject. Tick for Leckwith Eastwards then. Westwards is not harder to do as such but can only be done early morning when there are a few other competing targets. This is getting harder to plan!
That was fun, lets do it again, this time via Llanharen. It would have been Pencoed but the timings got too tight to risk being stranded out of position. It was getting to be full dusk by the time we left Llanharen. This time i had a prime viewing position and the route taken made more sense than before even if it was in the gloom. Quite a pause at Ninian Park where the service stopped this time, and allowed one person to board before trundling into Cardiff P7b which i would think sees little use. It probably got used this time as it was then off to the depot a few minutes later. One of my bigger ticks of the day in retrospect. I also saw P6b in use by a GW service earlier in the day and P1b was also seen in use so these 2 may be doable in the future too. This just leaves P7a which i haven't seen in use yet of the remaining possibilities. Not too shabby then!
Time for a pause, a restocking of supplies, check in at home and grab last orders in the Wetherspoons outside the station before my next move which again was a platform attempt - this time at Newport and which involved the bonus of P2a at Cardiff. Once at Newport it was apparent it was almost deserted with the default late night protocol of P1/P4 already in full swing so no attempt at P3 for the return. This shouldn't be difficult to do another time. A mere 30 minutes later i was on my way back to Cardiff for some more train watching and an hours wait for my main reason for my late night one man party.
the Ogmore Vale Extension Line or (OVE) is a pig to tick off, and which involves using a parallel bit of track to the main line for a mile or so to the west of Bridgend. One use per day each weekday and both in the middle of the night. Not always timetabled, and even if it is, not always used, so its a bit of a mugs game even attempting this. I won't drag this out any longer than necessary as the attempt Eastwards was a bust before it started as RTT showed a late alteration to not use OVE. The return was still scheduled but didn't either. If i had attempted this on Tuesday or Wednesday morning i would be smiling now. I will try again next year midsummer. It wasn't quite light enough on the return to see much but another 10 minutes would have made all the difference. I did look at hotels to see if i could work that in but it would have meant trying to get some shut eye between 9pm and 12.45am say, and with nothing remotely affordable i just decided to pull an all nighter as i once did in my rallying days. Boy that's a long time ago now and probably before Jules was even around (c. 1980). I too can play the memory lane game haha.
One small thing that i didn't realise would happen and that was Swansea station would close for an hour between 2.20 and 3.20 (approx) and so i found myself wandering the streets to stave off boredom. The streets did have folk on them for the first 20 minutes but either side of 3am they were completely empty and so i had Swansea to myself pretty much. I was banking on some shut eye by this time not wandering aimlessly in a strange city. I did easily spot the Tesco Express outside the station and the shiniest thing for a good distance in any direction it was too. Folk then started to arrive and queue up for the grand lifting of the shutters and i wandered up towards the front to find an empty carriage on the 3.48 GW service to London. Disappointing then to see it steam (or whatever the diesel equivalent is) past the relevant junction only to have it wait at Bridgend for a good 10 minutes to account for the planned detour schedule. Grrr...
The final 2 new platforms at Cardiff were the full fat GW services to/from Swansea so P1 and P2 are both in the book now and P4 the other one that they use which isn't ticked is not too difficult either i believe, so a small win at the end. I could have changed at Newport but platform possibilities won out and i bailed once i saw we landed at P2. the final act was to wait for the service back to Church Stretton and ensuring i set my alarm just in case. I did get my head down a little but its not that different to the redeye from America in some ways and just dozing all the way back. An uneventful drive home just after 7am was the endgame and a power nap was all i needed late afternoon to keep me going. A good nights sleep and i felt fine again. Back to South Wales again Sunday and Monday and thankfully avoiding any planned heat based service alterations although i will be changing my original plans once more. A little matter of the once a year week of services to Builth Road using the Colliery Loop to Hendy Junctions on the Swansea District line. Too good an opportunity to turn down. It will mean a late finish for me but i don't see a way of avoiding that. Lets see. A very late drop intop the schedules though...
| Church Stretton | Depart | 9.30 | ***** | AW | stations | platforms | ||
| Llanharen | Arrive | 11.37 | AW | wait 13m | completed | completed | ||
| Llanharen | Depart | 11.50 | P1 | AW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Pontyclun | Arrive | 11.54 | AW | wait 36m | ||||
| Pontyclun | Depart | 12.30 | AW | 1 | 2 | |||
| Pencoed | Arrive | 12.39 | AW | wait 9m | ||||
| Pencoed | Depart | 12.48 | P2 | AW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Cardiff Central | Arrive | 13.09 | P1a | AW | wait 25m | |||
| Cardiff Central | Depart | 13.34 | P0 | AW | ||||
| Ebbw Vale Town | Arrive | 14.43 | Single | AW | wait 2m | |||
| Ebbw Vale Town | Depart | 14.45 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Crosskeys | Arrive | 15.10 | P2 | AW | wait 56m | |||
| Crosskeys | Depart | 16.06 | P2 | AW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Cardiff Central | Arrive | 16.15 | P0 | AW | wait 48m | |||
| Cardiff Central | Depart | 17.03 | P6a | AW | ||||
| Hengoed | Arrive | 17.41 | AW | wait 11m | ||||
| Hengoed | Depart | 17.52 | AW | 1 | 2 | |||
| Caerphilly | Arrive | 18.09 | P2 | AW | wait 18m | |||
| Caerphilly | Depart | 18.27 | P3 | AW | ||||
| Gilfach Bargoed | Arrive | 18.48 | AW | wait 8m | ||||
| Gilfach Bargoed | Depart | 18.56 | AW | 1 | 2 | |||
| Cardiff Central | Arrive | 19.36 | P8 | AW | wait 6m | |||
| Cardiff Central | Depart | 19.42 | P3 | GW | ||||
| Bridgend | Arrive | 20.01 | P1 | GW | wait 24m | |||
| Bridgend | Depart | 20.25 | P2 | AW | ||||
| Cardiff Central | Arrive | 20.48 | P3a | AW | wait 25m | |||
| Cardiff Central | Depart | 21.13 | P4a | AW | ||||
| Llanharen | Arrive | 21.30 | AW | wait 18m | ||||
| Llanharen | Depart | 21.48 | P1 | AW | ||||
| Cardiff Central | Arrive | 22.14 | P7b | AW | wait 73m | |||
| Cardiff Central | Depart | 23.27 | P2a | AW | ||||
| Newport (South Wales) | Arrive | 23.44 | P4 | AW | wait 32m | |||
| Newport (South Wales) | Depart | 0.16 | P1 | AW | ||||
| Cardiff Central | Arrive | 0.28 | P2b | AW | wait 60m | |||
| Cardiff Central | Depart | 1.28 | P1 | GW | ||||
| Swansea | Arrive | 2.18 | P1 | GW | wait 87m | |||
| Swansea | Depart | 3.45 | P2 | GW | ||||
| Cardiff Central | Arrive | 4.47 | P2 | GW | wait 25m | |||
| Cardiff Central | Depart | 5.12 | P1a | AW | ||||
| Church Stretton | Arrive | 7.05 | ***** | AW |
Kite159
Veteran Member
2 busy days there
(Platforms 7 &8 at Barking are also used by the weekend C2C services which come from Liverpool Street via Stratford, using the connection after Forest Gate, although I suspect you will be back at some point for that track).
Shame the Ogmore Vale Extension Line didn't produce for you, I only managed to get it ticked off earlier this year on a railtour which did it
(Platforms 7 &8 at Barking are also used by the weekend C2C services which come from Liverpool Street via Stratford, using the connection after Forest Gate, although I suspect you will be back at some point for that track).
Shame the Ogmore Vale Extension Line didn't produce for you, I only managed to get it ticked off earlier this year on a railtour which did it
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Despite many times on the 0330 (then 0400) Swansea to Paddington in years gone by, I never knowingly did the OVE line either, so it's something we both have an interest in doing. It's not terribly significant for me though, if it got done when I was there then happy days, but I'm not in a rush to do it. Truth be told, at that time of day I'd not have cared enough to notice if the HST lurched over to do it, I'd have been more likely to be resting after a late finish at work or similar.
Your rallying days were indeed before my existence, late '84 for my arrival on Earth.
Two very productive adventures there it must be said, and I am very pleased to see London was good to you. I do wonder what on Earth you bought in that convenience store all in. It sounds like an incredibly unhealthy feast must have been bought!
Your rallying days were indeed before my existence, late '84 for my arrival on Earth.
Two very productive adventures there it must be said, and I am very pleased to see London was good to you. I do wonder what on Earth you bought in that convenience store all in. It sounds like an incredibly unhealthy feast must have been bought!
All platforms
Member
I have come to realise that the OVE is best done on or around midsummer when at least the return can be done in daylight, so i am going to park this until next year and do it as a one off then. Trying to tee up start and end points for this on a normal platform grab day was at best a compromise. Perhaps a mini break in the area can be arranged.........
London was a pleasant surprise. I am sure it will bite me on the bum a few times, but the tickage potential is the best out there. Depends just how much awkward stuff actually exists.
I think the haul included pork scratchings and a packet of quavers, some chocolate something or other and a pepsi max. Dulls the senses for sure.
All platforms
Member
Yes i had seen that option and its on the list to do. To be honest its not a main focus yet but its good to know i can knock off a few stations if i get bored elsewhere.2 busy days there
(Platforms 7 &8 at Barking are also used by the weekend C2C services which come from Liverpool Street via Stratford, using the connection after Forest Gate, although I suspect you will be back at some point for that track).
Shame the Ogmore Vale Extension Line didn't produce for you, I only managed to get it ticked off earlier this year on a railtour which did it
The OVE is a very strange thing and the timings are horrendous. I have just mentioned above i am going to try again mid June next year as not sure i can face another PSUL disaster in these parts right now. I am sure there will be some new bits of track for me when i finally evolve onto railtours. Last chance saloon stuff and railtour only possibilites i guess at that stage. I guess i am still at the keen to do it under my rules phase still - wonder how long for though....
All platforms
Member
Day 140: Sunday 17/07/2022 -Explore South Wales Pass - £45.55 - 4 in 8 Days - Valid all day at Weekends - Day 2. CP Cardiff Central £12.50 + Newport (Dusk to Dawn) £4.00.
Total time today 750 mins - Time on trains 367 mins and time waiting 383 mins. Stations completed today 11. Total completed 827.
A glutton for punishment streak saw me once again in the South of the Principality, and if not for a non cancellable hotel booking i may have deferred to a less sweltering time. No matter, it all adds to lifes rich pageant and its a new day so all is good - until its not of course. For some reason the hotel prices in Cardiff this weekend were extortionate despite looking many weeks ago and i had to settle for a Central Newport offering instead. This messed me up big time with Car Park options and prices so the prize for the most expensive official CP i have visited goes to Cardiff Central who charged me 1250 English pennies for the privilege. My Satnav may have taken me through a bus only route to get me there too so i am now awaiting a dual language envelope.
3 PSUL options were my main goal for the day and i had crafted an excellent itinerary around these (if i may so so myself). First out of the bag was the Leckwith curve going West, and with few daylight opportunities to do so for most of the year i settled on the Sunday offering. It made much more sense in bright sunlight and a great start to the day. Off at Bridgend for the return to Cardiff which should have landed me in time to leave on P4b - one of my 6 targets there. Unfortunately it had an extended dwell at Port Talbot Parkway with a brake problem. A very helpful station manager was on hand to keep folk advised but how long was the delay. There was a GW service behind this and i wondered if they would loop round given no Westbound services at this time. A tense wait ensued and my hypothesis became a reality as it did get past the stranded train and hove into view - but too late for me to get my P4b connection. I had to be on the 12.04 service West but now i had to see what could be done meanwhile.
This gave me the opportunity to properly explore Cardiff and i must correct an earlier supposition/mistake about Platform numbering. The A+B elements form no real continuity and so i can now definitively say that at the London end of the station it goes P1A P2A P3B P4B P6A + P7B. How mad is that? Observations from last Thursday evening and today gradually saw me come to the light as to what services used what end of the platforms and without exception P1 to P7 all had action at both ends of the respective platforms. Only P3 and P4 had anything timetabled as such. OK thats that put to rights. The depot end primarily saw use for Westbound services but also any terminators which were then scheduled to go to depot (thank you RTT for showing these).
I had probably 2 out and backs i could entertain before the 12.04 so i settled in to keep a watch for anything interesting. P7a was up so after double checking where to bail and return comfortably i was on the Barry Island service with my first new station of the day in the bag at Cogan, which was broiling quietly in the sunshine as i arrived. Cue, waiting in the shade under the bridge along with 3 other punters. Back at Central nothing else presented itself where i could return in time so just a period to watch and confirm platform usage. Thankfully Cardiff has wonderfully wide canopies which offers tone of shade - and unusually for a large station, enough seats for everyone. Probably my biggest bugbear at interchange stations is the paucity (word of the day) of seating. Just provide more! Simples.
Attempt number 2 at completing Landore saw me and a full complement of passengers board the service straight from the depot..... and wait... and wait again. A very apologetic announcement confirmed my worst fears - no driver for the service and the rest of my day was immediately toast. 2 attempts and 2 failures. I will do another Sunday/Monday combo to try again - but not sure when now given the strike days announced and other real life commitments in the offing. No new platform offerings were showing themselves but i did remember that P3 at Newport would be seeing some love from something else i was looking at a few days ago. There would be a XC service to Nottingham starting shortly that was scheduled to call at P3 with my first break of the day being a platform alteration so that the service gave me a double tick as we started from P3b. Ah.. a blissful 15 mins or so air conditioned comfort later i had my Newport P3 ticked off too and a short wait for a return service. The island canopies at Newport are see through so whilst some shade is afforded, the temperature is no lower. Interestingly the return also used P3 at Newport, being bi-directional its not too much of a surprise i guess, with nearly all services using the island platforms at this time.
Back at Cardiff i was just biding my time when another opportunity arose - the next XC service to Nottingham would depart from P1b as i saw it arrive from the depot and sit behind the Manchester service that was having a right old dwell. Maybe there was something to be gained today after all, as these missing platforms aren't timetabled and you just have to be there to take advantage. One additional trip to Newport and back (another P3 usage there) and i was in a bit of a quandary. Do i stay and try and tick off the remaing 3 platforms at Central or do i see what i can do on the Rhymney line? P4 and P4b are in the timetable a few times and P6b doesn't hold too many fears as i have seen it in use 3 times now and so i resolved to spend the rest of the day in tick mode. First off was Caerphilly P1 which sees very little use during the week but there is an hourly Sunday service (mainly) i could take advantage off so P1 it was and my third station completed for the day before going for number four at Lisvane & Thornhill on the return down the line. The Rhymney Sunday service is hourly with very few interim terminators at Bargoed or Ystrad Mynach so it was a case of hoping shade could be obtained at each station as i was determined to do the rest of the line today.
Bargoed was next where shade and a lovely breeze could be obtained by walking to the South end of the platform and just revelling in it. Even today there are things to watch for when planning this station as not all arrivals from Cardiff use P2 as i would experience for myself after visiting Pengam next. Nothing of note at either station within a few minutes walking that i could ascertain and i could really do with some more water but it wasn't desperate so i carried on. Somewhere would have a shop near the station surely? I have to say the scenery was excellent as we got onto the single line section above Bargoed with the next stop being Brithdir with the only thing of note being Brithdir Constitutional Club - whaterver that is. No shop, and nothing at Ystrad Mynach either as i bobbed up and down the line. My next attemt was at Pontlottyn and then back to Tir-Phil where i had a 34 minute wait. Nothing immediately apparent but depite the heat i did have a scout around and was pleased to see a pub hove into view just above the station. One pint of iced full fat coke later (normally never touch the stuff but there is something about this that calls to me in very hot weather) and i was ready for the last new station of the day at Rhymney. I am glad i did this line today as there will be closures in August to complicate matters as the South Wales Metro programme gathers pace. I really want to do this part of the world now and then revisit at some later stage given the promised new stations, electrification, and much better service patterns. I was a little surprised to see a phalanx of sets to the side of the station at Rhymney - it looked like an impromptu stabling point, but its probably been there for years.
Back at Cardiff i could see that i could probably tick off another 2 of my remaining platforms - but at the expense of delaying my end of day to near 11pm - and given my need for a wind down and an early start tomorrow i decided discretion was the better part of valour and headed for the car and a leisurely drive up to Newport.
Total time today 750 mins - Time on trains 367 mins and time waiting 383 mins. Stations completed today 11. Total completed 827.
A glutton for punishment streak saw me once again in the South of the Principality, and if not for a non cancellable hotel booking i may have deferred to a less sweltering time. No matter, it all adds to lifes rich pageant and its a new day so all is good - until its not of course. For some reason the hotel prices in Cardiff this weekend were extortionate despite looking many weeks ago and i had to settle for a Central Newport offering instead. This messed me up big time with Car Park options and prices so the prize for the most expensive official CP i have visited goes to Cardiff Central who charged me 1250 English pennies for the privilege. My Satnav may have taken me through a bus only route to get me there too so i am now awaiting a dual language envelope.
3 PSUL options were my main goal for the day and i had crafted an excellent itinerary around these (if i may so so myself). First out of the bag was the Leckwith curve going West, and with few daylight opportunities to do so for most of the year i settled on the Sunday offering. It made much more sense in bright sunlight and a great start to the day. Off at Bridgend for the return to Cardiff which should have landed me in time to leave on P4b - one of my 6 targets there. Unfortunately it had an extended dwell at Port Talbot Parkway with a brake problem. A very helpful station manager was on hand to keep folk advised but how long was the delay. There was a GW service behind this and i wondered if they would loop round given no Westbound services at this time. A tense wait ensued and my hypothesis became a reality as it did get past the stranded train and hove into view - but too late for me to get my P4b connection. I had to be on the 12.04 service West but now i had to see what could be done meanwhile.
This gave me the opportunity to properly explore Cardiff and i must correct an earlier supposition/mistake about Platform numbering. The A+B elements form no real continuity and so i can now definitively say that at the London end of the station it goes P1A P2A P3B P4B P6A + P7B. How mad is that? Observations from last Thursday evening and today gradually saw me come to the light as to what services used what end of the platforms and without exception P1 to P7 all had action at both ends of the respective platforms. Only P3 and P4 had anything timetabled as such. OK thats that put to rights. The depot end primarily saw use for Westbound services but also any terminators which were then scheduled to go to depot (thank you RTT for showing these).
I had probably 2 out and backs i could entertain before the 12.04 so i settled in to keep a watch for anything interesting. P7a was up so after double checking where to bail and return comfortably i was on the Barry Island service with my first new station of the day in the bag at Cogan, which was broiling quietly in the sunshine as i arrived. Cue, waiting in the shade under the bridge along with 3 other punters. Back at Central nothing else presented itself where i could return in time so just a period to watch and confirm platform usage. Thankfully Cardiff has wonderfully wide canopies which offers tone of shade - and unusually for a large station, enough seats for everyone. Probably my biggest bugbear at interchange stations is the paucity (word of the day) of seating. Just provide more! Simples.
Attempt number 2 at completing Landore saw me and a full complement of passengers board the service straight from the depot..... and wait... and wait again. A very apologetic announcement confirmed my worst fears - no driver for the service and the rest of my day was immediately toast. 2 attempts and 2 failures. I will do another Sunday/Monday combo to try again - but not sure when now given the strike days announced and other real life commitments in the offing. No new platform offerings were showing themselves but i did remember that P3 at Newport would be seeing some love from something else i was looking at a few days ago. There would be a XC service to Nottingham starting shortly that was scheduled to call at P3 with my first break of the day being a platform alteration so that the service gave me a double tick as we started from P3b. Ah.. a blissful 15 mins or so air conditioned comfort later i had my Newport P3 ticked off too and a short wait for a return service. The island canopies at Newport are see through so whilst some shade is afforded, the temperature is no lower. Interestingly the return also used P3 at Newport, being bi-directional its not too much of a surprise i guess, with nearly all services using the island platforms at this time.
Back at Cardiff i was just biding my time when another opportunity arose - the next XC service to Nottingham would depart from P1b as i saw it arrive from the depot and sit behind the Manchester service that was having a right old dwell. Maybe there was something to be gained today after all, as these missing platforms aren't timetabled and you just have to be there to take advantage. One additional trip to Newport and back (another P3 usage there) and i was in a bit of a quandary. Do i stay and try and tick off the remaing 3 platforms at Central or do i see what i can do on the Rhymney line? P4 and P4b are in the timetable a few times and P6b doesn't hold too many fears as i have seen it in use 3 times now and so i resolved to spend the rest of the day in tick mode. First off was Caerphilly P1 which sees very little use during the week but there is an hourly Sunday service (mainly) i could take advantage off so P1 it was and my third station completed for the day before going for number four at Lisvane & Thornhill on the return down the line. The Rhymney Sunday service is hourly with very few interim terminators at Bargoed or Ystrad Mynach so it was a case of hoping shade could be obtained at each station as i was determined to do the rest of the line today.
Bargoed was next where shade and a lovely breeze could be obtained by walking to the South end of the platform and just revelling in it. Even today there are things to watch for when planning this station as not all arrivals from Cardiff use P2 as i would experience for myself after visiting Pengam next. Nothing of note at either station within a few minutes walking that i could ascertain and i could really do with some more water but it wasn't desperate so i carried on. Somewhere would have a shop near the station surely? I have to say the scenery was excellent as we got onto the single line section above Bargoed with the next stop being Brithdir with the only thing of note being Brithdir Constitutional Club - whaterver that is. No shop, and nothing at Ystrad Mynach either as i bobbed up and down the line. My next attemt was at Pontlottyn and then back to Tir-Phil where i had a 34 minute wait. Nothing immediately apparent but depite the heat i did have a scout around and was pleased to see a pub hove into view just above the station. One pint of iced full fat coke later (normally never touch the stuff but there is something about this that calls to me in very hot weather) and i was ready for the last new station of the day at Rhymney. I am glad i did this line today as there will be closures in August to complicate matters as the South Wales Metro programme gathers pace. I really want to do this part of the world now and then revisit at some later stage given the promised new stations, electrification, and much better service patterns. I was a little surprised to see a phalanx of sets to the side of the station at Rhymney - it looked like an impromptu stabling point, but its probably been there for years.
Back at Cardiff i could see that i could probably tick off another 2 of my remaining platforms - but at the expense of delaying my end of day to near 11pm - and given my need for a wind down and an early start tomorrow i decided discretion was the better part of valour and headed for the car and a leisurely drive up to Newport.
| Cardiff Central | Depart | 8.06 | ***** | AW | stations | platforms | ||
| Bridgend | Arrive | 8.30 | AW | wait 60m | completed | completed | ||
| Bridgend | Depart | 9.30 | P2 | GW | at completed | |||
| Cardiff Central | Arrive | 9.50 | P2 | GW | wait 37m | stations | ||
| Cardiff Central | Depart | 10.27 | P7a | AW | ||||
| Cogan | Arrive | 10.34 | AW | wait 17m | ||||
| Cogan | Depart | 10.51 | AW | 1 | 2 | |||
| Cardiff Central | Arrive | 10.59 | P6a | AW | wait 105m | |||
| Cardiff Central | Depart | 12.44 | P3b | XC | ||||
| Newport (South Wales) | Arrive | 12.57 | P3 | XC | wait 8m | 1 | 4 | |
| Newport (South Wales) | Depart | 13.05 | P3 | AW | ||||
| Cardiff Central | Arrive | 13.17 | P4a | AW | wait 28m | |||
| Cardiff Central | Depart | 13.45 | P1b | XC | ||||
| Newport (South Wales) | Arrive | 13.57 | P3 | XC | wait 26m | |||
| Newport (South Wales) | Depart | 14.23 | P2 | XC | ||||
| Cardiff Central | Arrive | 14.36 | P0 | XC | wait 9m | |||
| Cardiff Central | Depart | 14.45 | P6a | AW | ||||
| Caerphilly | Arrive | 15.03 | P1 | AW | wait 6m | 1 | 3 | |
| Caerphilly | Depart | 15.09 | P1 | AW | ||||
| Lisvane & Thornhill | Arrive | 15.14 | AW | wait 11m | ||||
| Lisvane & Thornhill | Depart | 15.25 | AW | 1 | 2 | |||
| Bargoed | Arrive | 15.55 | P2 | AW | wait 33m | |||
| Bargoed | Depart | 16.28 | P1 | AW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Pengam | Arrive | 16.32 | AW | wait 13m | ||||
| Pengam | Depart | 16.45 | AW | 1 | 2 | |||
| Brithdir | Arrive | 16.55 | Single | AW | wait 31m | |||
| Brithdir | Depart | 17.26 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Ystrad Mynach | Arrive | 17.41 | P1 | AW | wait 4m | |||
| Ystrad Mynach | Depart | 17.45 | P2 | AW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Pontlottyn | Arrive | 18.17 | Single | AW | wait 12m | |||
| Pontlottyn | Depart | 18.29 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Tir-Phil | Arrive | 18.33 | AW | wait 34m | ||||
| Tir-Phil | Depart | 19.07 | AW | 1 | 2 | |||
| Rhymney | Arrive | 19.15 | Single | AW | wait 9m | |||
| Rhymney | Depart | 19.26 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Cardiff Central | Arrive | 20.36 | ***** | AW |
Kite159
Veteran Member
A very expensive car park for a Sunday!
Shame you missed out on the PSUL via Ninian Park but it will be there for time to come
Shame you missed out on the PSUL via Ninian Park but it will be there for time to come
All platforms
Member
Day 141: Monday 18/07/2022 - Explore South Wales Pass - £45.55 - 4 in 8 Days - Valid after 9.30am Weekdays - Day 3. Abercynon to Merthyr Tydfil - £2.20 - Anytime Return. CP Abercynon free.
Total time today 457 mins - Time on trains 159 mins and time waiting 298 mins. Stations completed today 12. Total completed 839.
Mulling over the days proceedings and enjoying another cold one before turning in i realised that the prospect of near 7 hours on a Heart of Wales service (to Shrewsbury and back to kill time) and the possibility of being stranded somewhere given this heat thing that everyone is talking about i bailed on my original plan in favour of trying again on Wednesday. This would allow me to see if the Royal Show services actually ran and if there were any problems on the line. So far so good but i will check back later to see if we had a normal service for the whole day today. If they were air conditioned coaches i wouldn't be talking about this but that prospect is just about as likely as rocking horse err.. you know what!
With my trusty shorts and short sleeved shirt as my nod at weather specific sartorial elegance i tossed the metaphorical dice and plumped for the first service to Merthyr from Abercynon which i would do in a series of linear hops given the parlous state of my railfund currently. What i was not expecting at pre 6am up in the valleys was single digit temperatures and a very noticable breeze. It felt bizarrely Baltic and i retrieved my anorak thingy from the back of the car as i waited for the first service. In the end i decided to take this with me - yes i know, it promised to be the hottest day of the year, buit not just yet! I would be back before 9.30am when i could hide my shame by returning it to the car. How Posties do their rounds in shorts in Winter i will never know. Ice for veins they must have. Anyway, nothing like a bit of off topic to start things off.
I would say at this point that the electrification programme on the 2 stub lines i would be doing today was very noticable as would be the first steps in dualling some single line sections. Track laid but signs, cabinets and stuff in the way mean that it will be some time before we see this in use. Another reason to return once completed. Lots of concrete bases at Quakers yard my first port of call, and my best (but very uninformed) guess at this would be for another platform going in. One of the best bits of doing this journey is the early mornings on rural lines - no interruptions by pesky travellers and nature in full flow right in front of you. If not, a few minutes dipping in and out of a book is also welcome. Of some obscure and random note the wait time apart from the one at the terminus was 31 minutes at each of the 5 stops i would be making before returning to Abercynon. File under weird.
Next up was Merthyr Vale platform 2 and my eagle eye spotted an easily missed "premier" franchise in the distance so off i duly trotted to stock up on more trash - just in case of course. My next linear hop was to Troed-y-rhiw where the local school kids were rocking up and disturbing the peace. No matter, just what one might expect and something different i guess before we were on board again for the short hop to Pentre Bach. I don't remember much about this station but a few folk did appear for the one stop to Merthyr journey. Something which i noticed today was the number of journeys being made locally - just one or 2 stops was common. The chill of the early morning was quickly burning off around this time and a coatless existence from now on was happily experienced. Before i knew it we were back at Merthyr Vale, this time for the P1 wait before getting back to the start point of Abercynon.
Next up would be the Aberdare line which was just as pretty as the Rhymney line. Whilst i still have to do the Treherbert line all of them are a delight at the top end. Very commanding scenery for the most part. With my 4 in 8 pass now in action i could move a bit quicker and skip stop with Mountain Ash the first of these around 10am. I really didn't want to be dong this all day so i gave myself a 1.30pm cut off time and got stuck in meantime. Penrhiwceiber (easy for you to say it) came and went and i landed in Cwmbach which is a lovely spot only spoiled only by the deeply vandalised TfW ticket machine on which a number of alterations had been made, not the least of which was the removal of the screen so that the insides were visible. It was also doing a more than passable imitation of that tower thing at Pisa and had had its top bit snapped off too. There was an engineer chap there scratching his head assessing what was needed and i offered to be the builders assistant for 10 minutes in that i ensured the blessed thing didn'f fall over as he had a ganders at the back and underneath. No lost 10ps had rolled under it that i could see but it would need a lot of TLC to bring it back again. Clearly the local populace had a lack of interesting alternative things to do. The chap also mentioned the one at Fernhill was also vandalised as i was to find out next where i confirmed no screen or top bit was also the order of the day.
Aberdare was the end of the line and despite a buffer on the single line it occupies, the track clearly continues beyond this but in a delapidated state. What to do in the time left to me. I did toy with going up to Treherbert but in the end i wanted to tick of the main platforms at Rady and Pontypridd just leaving the bays to do at each for another visit. The connections were tight at each but thankfully doable although the double gate line between platforms at Pontypridd made it a close run thing. Why now to have a close inspection of my ticketing arrangements as they are barely glanced at normally?
I have experinced 40c before on holidays and its never a fun thing. It never get near to that today but mid 30's for sure and i decided to make the last trip my last. I plumped for Trefforest Estate as this gets fewer services normally but was foiled by my only cancellation of the day. I did get to have a wander here lured by the Craft beer this way sign but it proved to be a red herring as the unit was shut. I wandered over th bridge here and espied a food type pub so another pint of coke was called for which took the edge off a little bit and put a spring back in my step for the walk back to the station. Just over 15 minutes later i wa sback at the car and a blast of Saharan heat as i opened the door. My current chariot is somewhat ancient in that AC was not one of its attributes and so it was i plotted a route back over the mountains to see if i could squeeze a lower degree or two out of the journey. No such look as it just got hotter the further North i went. I stopped at a Co-op in Builth Wells for a meal deal in air conditioned bliss and then headed for home for 6pm where 37C was the order of the day.
I still have day 4 of my railpass to consider and if the heat ceases this evening i will use that tomorrow - hopefully a Royal Show special and a complete the HoW line combo.
Total time today 457 mins - Time on trains 159 mins and time waiting 298 mins. Stations completed today 12. Total completed 839.
Mulling over the days proceedings and enjoying another cold one before turning in i realised that the prospect of near 7 hours on a Heart of Wales service (to Shrewsbury and back to kill time) and the possibility of being stranded somewhere given this heat thing that everyone is talking about i bailed on my original plan in favour of trying again on Wednesday. This would allow me to see if the Royal Show services actually ran and if there were any problems on the line. So far so good but i will check back later to see if we had a normal service for the whole day today. If they were air conditioned coaches i wouldn't be talking about this but that prospect is just about as likely as rocking horse err.. you know what!
With my trusty shorts and short sleeved shirt as my nod at weather specific sartorial elegance i tossed the metaphorical dice and plumped for the first service to Merthyr from Abercynon which i would do in a series of linear hops given the parlous state of my railfund currently. What i was not expecting at pre 6am up in the valleys was single digit temperatures and a very noticable breeze. It felt bizarrely Baltic and i retrieved my anorak thingy from the back of the car as i waited for the first service. In the end i decided to take this with me - yes i know, it promised to be the hottest day of the year, buit not just yet! I would be back before 9.30am when i could hide my shame by returning it to the car. How Posties do their rounds in shorts in Winter i will never know. Ice for veins they must have. Anyway, nothing like a bit of off topic to start things off.
I would say at this point that the electrification programme on the 2 stub lines i would be doing today was very noticable as would be the first steps in dualling some single line sections. Track laid but signs, cabinets and stuff in the way mean that it will be some time before we see this in use. Another reason to return once completed. Lots of concrete bases at Quakers yard my first port of call, and my best (but very uninformed) guess at this would be for another platform going in. One of the best bits of doing this journey is the early mornings on rural lines - no interruptions by pesky travellers and nature in full flow right in front of you. If not, a few minutes dipping in and out of a book is also welcome. Of some obscure and random note the wait time apart from the one at the terminus was 31 minutes at each of the 5 stops i would be making before returning to Abercynon. File under weird.
Next up was Merthyr Vale platform 2 and my eagle eye spotted an easily missed "premier" franchise in the distance so off i duly trotted to stock up on more trash - just in case of course. My next linear hop was to Troed-y-rhiw where the local school kids were rocking up and disturbing the peace. No matter, just what one might expect and something different i guess before we were on board again for the short hop to Pentre Bach. I don't remember much about this station but a few folk did appear for the one stop to Merthyr journey. Something which i noticed today was the number of journeys being made locally - just one or 2 stops was common. The chill of the early morning was quickly burning off around this time and a coatless existence from now on was happily experienced. Before i knew it we were back at Merthyr Vale, this time for the P1 wait before getting back to the start point of Abercynon.
Next up would be the Aberdare line which was just as pretty as the Rhymney line. Whilst i still have to do the Treherbert line all of them are a delight at the top end. Very commanding scenery for the most part. With my 4 in 8 pass now in action i could move a bit quicker and skip stop with Mountain Ash the first of these around 10am. I really didn't want to be dong this all day so i gave myself a 1.30pm cut off time and got stuck in meantime. Penrhiwceiber (easy for you to say it) came and went and i landed in Cwmbach which is a lovely spot only spoiled only by the deeply vandalised TfW ticket machine on which a number of alterations had been made, not the least of which was the removal of the screen so that the insides were visible. It was also doing a more than passable imitation of that tower thing at Pisa and had had its top bit snapped off too. There was an engineer chap there scratching his head assessing what was needed and i offered to be the builders assistant for 10 minutes in that i ensured the blessed thing didn'f fall over as he had a ganders at the back and underneath. No lost 10ps had rolled under it that i could see but it would need a lot of TLC to bring it back again. Clearly the local populace had a lack of interesting alternative things to do. The chap also mentioned the one at Fernhill was also vandalised as i was to find out next where i confirmed no screen or top bit was also the order of the day.
Aberdare was the end of the line and despite a buffer on the single line it occupies, the track clearly continues beyond this but in a delapidated state. What to do in the time left to me. I did toy with going up to Treherbert but in the end i wanted to tick of the main platforms at Rady and Pontypridd just leaving the bays to do at each for another visit. The connections were tight at each but thankfully doable although the double gate line between platforms at Pontypridd made it a close run thing. Why now to have a close inspection of my ticketing arrangements as they are barely glanced at normally?
I have experinced 40c before on holidays and its never a fun thing. It never get near to that today but mid 30's for sure and i decided to make the last trip my last. I plumped for Trefforest Estate as this gets fewer services normally but was foiled by my only cancellation of the day. I did get to have a wander here lured by the Craft beer this way sign but it proved to be a red herring as the unit was shut. I wandered over th bridge here and espied a food type pub so another pint of coke was called for which took the edge off a little bit and put a spring back in my step for the walk back to the station. Just over 15 minutes later i wa sback at the car and a blast of Saharan heat as i opened the door. My current chariot is somewhat ancient in that AC was not one of its attributes and so it was i plotted a route back over the mountains to see if i could squeeze a lower degree or two out of the journey. No such look as it just got hotter the further North i went. I stopped at a Co-op in Builth Wells for a meal deal in air conditioned bliss and then headed for home for 6pm where 37C was the order of the day.
I still have day 4 of my railpass to consider and if the heat ceases this evening i will use that tomorrow - hopefully a Royal Show special and a complete the HoW line combo.
| Abercynon | Depart | 6.06 | ***** | AW | stations | platforms | ||
| Quakers Yard | Arrive | 6.10 | Single | AW | wait 31m | completed | completed | |
| Quakers Yard | Depart | 6.41 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Merthyr Vale | Arrive | 6.45 | P2 | AW | wait 31m | |||
| Merthyr Vale | Depart | 7.16 | P2 | AW | ||||
| Troed-y-rhiw | Arrive | 7.20 | Single | AW | wait 31m | |||
| Troed-y-rhiw | Depart | 7.51 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Pentre Bach | Arrive | 7.53 | Single | AW | wait 31m | |||
| Pentre Bach | Depart | 8.24 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Merthyr Tydfil | Arrive | 8.27 | Single | AW | wait 10m | |||
| Merthyr Tydfil | Depart | 8.37 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Merthyr Vale | Arrive | 8.48 | P1 | AW | wait 31m | |||
| Merthyr Vale | Depart | 9.19 | P1 | AW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Abercynon | Arrive | 9.28 | P1 | AW | wait 21m | |||
| Abercynon | Depart | 9.49 | P2 | AW | 1 | 2 | ||
| Mountain Ash | Arrive | 9.58 | AW | wait 6m | ||||
| Mountain Ash | Depart | 10.04 | AW | 1 | 2 | |||
| Penrhiwceiber | Arrive | 10.07 | Single | AW | wait 17m | |||
| Penrhiwceiber | Depart | 10.24 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Cwmbach | Arrive | 10.38 | Single | AW | wait 16m | |||
| Cwmbach | Depart | 10.54 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Fernhill | Arrive | 10.57 | Single | AW | wait 8m | |||
| Fernhill | Depart | 11.05 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Aberdare | Arrive | 11.11 | Single | AW | wait 10m | |||
| Aberdare | Depart | 11.21 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Radyr | Arrive | 12.11 | P1 | AW | wait 8m | |||
| Radyr | Depart | 12.19 | P2 | AW | ||||
| Pontypridd | Arrive | 12.33 | P3 | AW | wait 5m | |||
| Pontypridd | Depart | 12.38 | P2 | AW | ||||
| Trefforest Estate | Arrive | 12.45 | AW | wait 42m | ||||
| Trefforest Estate | Depart | 13.27 | AW | 1 | 2 | |||
| Abercynon | Arrive | 13.43 | ***** | AW |
All platforms
Member
What a doozy - and i did look at alternatives - still way cheaper than getting a Cardiff hotel however.A very expensive car park for a Sunday!
Shame you missed out on the PSUL via Ninian Park but it will be there for time to come
I was lucky enough to get the Leckwith/Ninian Park track on my first move of the day actually, it was Landore that has been the sore point. The reverse track into Cardiff was done as i waited for the OVE debacle err service last Thursday. These PSUL options are proving spikier to do than i imagined when i blithely added them all to my already long list.
On the plus point the rest of the platforms in South Wales don't look too challenging. Oh why did i have to go and say that....
Excellent trip reports again All Platforms. I remember I got Landore when I was trying for the Swansea District Line! The PSUL's are hard to do. I've had many years experience and it's amazing how they change. Occasionally they can become much easier when a regular service starts. For example Northallerton avoiding lines are due to become easier with the December timetable when I think an hourly Middlesborough - London service starts. It's already easier than it was. Hope you get success with the Welsh Show specials.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Fingers crossed your Heart of Wales trip will be a success, good decision not to do it on a 153 in the extreme heat. It's still pretty warm here in Hereford today, I'm about to go out for a couple of hours and nearly put my running gear on, but then the temperature picked right back up and I'm melting already! Even this heat on a 153 is challenging, so I think you made the right decision to hold off on it.
Yikes to all the PSUL move issues, and the expensive car park, but it does look like you did rather well in South Wales. At Rhymney, those sidings have been there since before I first went there in the early 2000s, no idea for sure if they've always been there or not but they are used a lot overnight for the early morning services.
Driving in that heat must have been a real challenge, I absolutely do not envy you there whatsoever. Even at 8pm last night when I left work, and thus a moderately cool environment in places (some of it was pretty warm even with AC), it was a warm night. In 15 minutes out there I easily went through 500ml of water and that was at a fairly slow pace of walking.
Looking forward, as always, to the next instalment when it's done and I hope Wales is better to you this time. You should be fine in terms of scenery at least!
Yikes to all the PSUL move issues, and the expensive car park, but it does look like you did rather well in South Wales. At Rhymney, those sidings have been there since before I first went there in the early 2000s, no idea for sure if they've always been there or not but they are used a lot overnight for the early morning services.
Driving in that heat must have been a real challenge, I absolutely do not envy you there whatsoever. Even at 8pm last night when I left work, and thus a moderately cool environment in places (some of it was pretty warm even with AC), it was a warm night. In 15 minutes out there I easily went through 500ml of water and that was at a fairly slow pace of walking.
Looking forward, as always, to the next instalment when it's done and I hope Wales is better to you this time. You should be fine in terms of scenery at least!
All platforms
Member
Day 142: Wednesday 20/07/2022 - Explore South Wales Pass - £45.55 - 4 in 8 Days - Valid after 9.30am Weekdays - Day 4. Tonypandy to Porth - £3.90 - Anytime Return (no railcard as forgot!) Tonypandy to Llwynypia - £1.75 - Anytime Single. CP Tonypandy free and Bridgend £7.00
Total time today 761 mins - Time on trains 221 mins and time waiting 540 mins. Stations completed today 12. Total completed 851.
Perhaps i should rename this series of jaunts as a "Trials and tribulations of" series.....
Where do i start? Perhaps the fact that i got less than an hours sleep because of the heat, perhaps the consequential very necessary 20 minutes kip i had to indulge in somewhere near Abergavenny, perhaps the unnecessary supply run not far from the kippage spot, or do i blame the non working Car Park machines at Bridgend where i queued fruitlessly for 15 minutes waiting to use one. Yup the Royal show special left without me after a struggle of a journey down and left me with a "what the heck do i do now" moment. I would ordinarily call it brain freeze but today it was a more appropriate brain meltdown - too much burning the candle at both ends and such like. Fortunately, deep in the recesses lurked a "what's left virtual map surfaced, and i quickly settled on the top end of the Treherbert line, and with a time extension for the day already negotiated it seemed daft to not use it. Treherbert it was then, and a return to Bridgend later to tick off 3 of the 4 remaining Heart of Wales stations, finishing with the Royal Show return service. To be honest the return service would be the more awkward of the two for me so there will hopefully be next year for the outward section turning at Pontarddulais which is my sole remaining HoW station. I will also have to return next summer for the pointless OVE. Maybe more - lets see how this year finishes first though.
Off to Tonypandy then which was chosen as one of the few stations on the line i had a chance of getting right in a pronunciation contest - perhaps a poor criteria to use but whilst it it didn't have an official car park, i could park safely on the main road. I would be using my recently discovered technique of the linear hop before the start time of my Pass at 9.30 and a cheap if leisurely way of making progress early weekday mornings. Upon arrival it wasn't immediately apparent where the station actually was but common sense prevailed and i spotted the steps down to the platform pretty quickly. I would go 2 stops one way and then return and hope this got me somewehere near 9.30. Maybe 3 would have been better but no matter. I don't really use the ticket machines on platforms but i did find the TfW one fairly simple to use, and with the added pressure of a train approaching as i made my selection there was no time to search for the add railcard option. The ticket was dispensed just as the guard was ready to depart. Phew.
With the exception of my starting point and Porth, i think the other 8 stations on this branch line are all particularly Welsh sounding and it gets my vote as the most Welsh line of all - if that's even a category of course. First stop of the day was Dinas Rhondda and fairly typical of what i would find for the rest of the morning. A village which had developed along the valley and jostling for space with the railway, river, and the main road. Defintely not as pretty as the other Valley lines being much more urban in charachter. Porth was next and the distinction of being one of the two passing points, and where a lot of development at the station was well underway. Too early to determine exactly what the result would be to my eyes though. Back at Tonypandy i could wait for an hour - or 30 minutes and go one stop North to Llwynypia which was what i plumped for, for the princely sum of £1.75. A few opportunities therefore to get a few more pages under my belt at each stop with not that much to explore beyond the station environs.
Not being at my best today for concentration i didn't keep that much notice as the pace picked up post 9.30 and Ton Pentre and Ystrad Rhondda were polished off without comment before landing at Ynyswen, the penultimate stop on the line and where you could see the final stop in the distance with the track being straight as a dye. Not quite rural but the houses had reduced to just a single line of them, so quite a surprise when this turned out to be the busiest station on the line - based entirely and arbitrarily on how many got on and off at the same time as i did. My penultimate station on the line however would be Treorchy, one stop back and for those with very long memories, the place where Max Boyce recorded his first successful live recording. Now that's obscure trivia for you.
Last stop is Treherbert of course and i finally got the urge to go exploring but with a dwell time of about 7 minutes before returning that ambition was thwarted. I did seriously think about ticking off at least one more station nearer to Cardiff before moving on, but with my time keeping clearly not my strong point today and with the ticket machine at Bridgend Car park still to negotiate i decided to call time on this line for today. Perhaps for the best really.
I had chosen Bridgend not so much for my start point as for where i wanted to end up and get home from. The ticket for my car by the way was obtained from the main ticket office as the 2 machines were refusing to recognise my cards. I perhaps should have realised this in the morning but hey ho. So, part two of the day starts with a lengthy wait at Bridgend but it wasn't an issue as my real aim was the 14.36 from Swansea so it didn't matter how or when i got there as long as i made that connection. I duly arrived on the GW service, which i still think is one of the best ways to travel from what i have experinced so far, and something to look forward to as i expand my horizons into GW territory.
Time then at Swansea to go outside and experience the city in daylight compared to my 3am jaunt less than a week previously. The Tesco opposite the station was a Godsend and an opportunity to get something vaguely sensible at reasonable prices. Food options satisfied i returned to wait far the Heart of Wales service and an opportunity to do the lower part of this from its starting point. First stop was almost an hour into the line and the furthest North i have still to tick off so Llandeilo it was. A passing place that doesn't often get used as such - although this mornings Royal Show special did pass the first service from Shrewsbury here. Time enough to see what the village has to offer and once on the main road i espied a Co-op further along and i enjoyed 15 mins of air conditioned bliss there for no other reason than i could. Also of note in Llandeilo is that it is the home of at least 15 quietly rusting away Toyota MR2's in a compound next to the main road. A large garage there may house more examples. No signage so it didn't look to be a commercial enterprise. Another oddity for my book.
The barrow crossing was getting some serious usage from the dog walking fraternity as i settled back in the shelter to while away some time and in the scheme of things quite a pleasant place it was too. Doing the line at this time of day would normally be a no no for me but it does afford a few instances of shorter waits compared to the middle of the day and so a mere 100 minutes after arriving i was off again this time to Pantyffynon where i have been previously, but only as a start/end point which of course doesn't count for me. Hurrah - a proper bench at the pointy end of the platform and so i took the opportunity of a bit of shut eye with nary a soul around to disturb me. Bliss. Suitably refreshed i had a good scout around and went and had a ganders at the crossing point on the branch line about a 100 yards away. The road sign was an old fashioned steam train one, something i haven't seen for a very long time. I don't think the freight branch line is used currently judging by the rusty rails but a diversion nevertheless to go look at. It was either on the way to or from Pantyfyynon i saw a punter scrolling through the Rail UK forums so i said a very brief hello before alighting. A below minimal chance that he will be reading this but hello again anyway.
Final new station of the day was Ammanford a whole 3 minutes away from Pantyffynon and where another collector, this time of track was spotted waiting on the platform. We swapped stories for a while which made the last 40 minute wait go so much more quickly. He had travelled from (i think) the Gravesend area for the Royal Show track tick and both of us were not going to be back home before 1am it turned out. In a way i'm surprised i don't stumble over more of the Rail community on my travels so it made a welcome diversion to do so. Hi by the way.
The guard overheard our chat and offered up the sight of an abandoned lightship as we traversed over the Swansea District line. I had spotted this last week when going the other way but its slightly odd dimensions made much more sense once the lightship aspect was advised. Hope it isn't left to just rust into the mud. Back at Bridgend at 8.45pm and dusk wasn't far way as i started the long journey home. Dog tired to be honest and it was a bit of an effort to keep moving forward at times. However i am made of stern stuff and can grind these things out. I was slightly bemused by the fact that Gloucester services had shut for the night by the time i arrived to have a quick comfort break so i decided to carry on - well, what else could i do? All was well and Birmingham safely negotiated before i finally did stop briefly. What i didn't know was that traffic would be held just a mile or so further on so had an impromptu bit of stop/start for 30 minutes to greet me. Just what i wanted. Not. Back at 1am as alluded to earlier. Given i had set out about 2.30am i call this as the day that saw me thinking perhaps i am getting too ambitious. Not helped by the fact i had to be in Glasgow before 10am the next day on a non rail based activity that should hopefully raise some cash for the coffers. I would allow myself a short rail bonus if time allowed after business was attended to. Lets see. Meantime i have a 2 day break in Lytham St Annes to look forward to as real life once again intrudes. It will be good to see some old friends. Actually, it could be argued that old in both senses might be applied to though i wouldn't say that out loud of course.
Total time today 761 mins - Time on trains 221 mins and time waiting 540 mins. Stations completed today 12. Total completed 851.
Perhaps i should rename this series of jaunts as a "Trials and tribulations of" series.....
Where do i start? Perhaps the fact that i got less than an hours sleep because of the heat, perhaps the consequential very necessary 20 minutes kip i had to indulge in somewhere near Abergavenny, perhaps the unnecessary supply run not far from the kippage spot, or do i blame the non working Car Park machines at Bridgend where i queued fruitlessly for 15 minutes waiting to use one. Yup the Royal show special left without me after a struggle of a journey down and left me with a "what the heck do i do now" moment. I would ordinarily call it brain freeze but today it was a more appropriate brain meltdown - too much burning the candle at both ends and such like. Fortunately, deep in the recesses lurked a "what's left virtual map surfaced, and i quickly settled on the top end of the Treherbert line, and with a time extension for the day already negotiated it seemed daft to not use it. Treherbert it was then, and a return to Bridgend later to tick off 3 of the 4 remaining Heart of Wales stations, finishing with the Royal Show return service. To be honest the return service would be the more awkward of the two for me so there will hopefully be next year for the outward section turning at Pontarddulais which is my sole remaining HoW station. I will also have to return next summer for the pointless OVE. Maybe more - lets see how this year finishes first though.
Off to Tonypandy then which was chosen as one of the few stations on the line i had a chance of getting right in a pronunciation contest - perhaps a poor criteria to use but whilst it it didn't have an official car park, i could park safely on the main road. I would be using my recently discovered technique of the linear hop before the start time of my Pass at 9.30 and a cheap if leisurely way of making progress early weekday mornings. Upon arrival it wasn't immediately apparent where the station actually was but common sense prevailed and i spotted the steps down to the platform pretty quickly. I would go 2 stops one way and then return and hope this got me somewehere near 9.30. Maybe 3 would have been better but no matter. I don't really use the ticket machines on platforms but i did find the TfW one fairly simple to use, and with the added pressure of a train approaching as i made my selection there was no time to search for the add railcard option. The ticket was dispensed just as the guard was ready to depart. Phew.
With the exception of my starting point and Porth, i think the other 8 stations on this branch line are all particularly Welsh sounding and it gets my vote as the most Welsh line of all - if that's even a category of course. First stop of the day was Dinas Rhondda and fairly typical of what i would find for the rest of the morning. A village which had developed along the valley and jostling for space with the railway, river, and the main road. Defintely not as pretty as the other Valley lines being much more urban in charachter. Porth was next and the distinction of being one of the two passing points, and where a lot of development at the station was well underway. Too early to determine exactly what the result would be to my eyes though. Back at Tonypandy i could wait for an hour - or 30 minutes and go one stop North to Llwynypia which was what i plumped for, for the princely sum of £1.75. A few opportunities therefore to get a few more pages under my belt at each stop with not that much to explore beyond the station environs.
Not being at my best today for concentration i didn't keep that much notice as the pace picked up post 9.30 and Ton Pentre and Ystrad Rhondda were polished off without comment before landing at Ynyswen, the penultimate stop on the line and where you could see the final stop in the distance with the track being straight as a dye. Not quite rural but the houses had reduced to just a single line of them, so quite a surprise when this turned out to be the busiest station on the line - based entirely and arbitrarily on how many got on and off at the same time as i did. My penultimate station on the line however would be Treorchy, one stop back and for those with very long memories, the place where Max Boyce recorded his first successful live recording. Now that's obscure trivia for you.
Last stop is Treherbert of course and i finally got the urge to go exploring but with a dwell time of about 7 minutes before returning that ambition was thwarted. I did seriously think about ticking off at least one more station nearer to Cardiff before moving on, but with my time keeping clearly not my strong point today and with the ticket machine at Bridgend Car park still to negotiate i decided to call time on this line for today. Perhaps for the best really.
I had chosen Bridgend not so much for my start point as for where i wanted to end up and get home from. The ticket for my car by the way was obtained from the main ticket office as the 2 machines were refusing to recognise my cards. I perhaps should have realised this in the morning but hey ho. So, part two of the day starts with a lengthy wait at Bridgend but it wasn't an issue as my real aim was the 14.36 from Swansea so it didn't matter how or when i got there as long as i made that connection. I duly arrived on the GW service, which i still think is one of the best ways to travel from what i have experinced so far, and something to look forward to as i expand my horizons into GW territory.
Time then at Swansea to go outside and experience the city in daylight compared to my 3am jaunt less than a week previously. The Tesco opposite the station was a Godsend and an opportunity to get something vaguely sensible at reasonable prices. Food options satisfied i returned to wait far the Heart of Wales service and an opportunity to do the lower part of this from its starting point. First stop was almost an hour into the line and the furthest North i have still to tick off so Llandeilo it was. A passing place that doesn't often get used as such - although this mornings Royal Show special did pass the first service from Shrewsbury here. Time enough to see what the village has to offer and once on the main road i espied a Co-op further along and i enjoyed 15 mins of air conditioned bliss there for no other reason than i could. Also of note in Llandeilo is that it is the home of at least 15 quietly rusting away Toyota MR2's in a compound next to the main road. A large garage there may house more examples. No signage so it didn't look to be a commercial enterprise. Another oddity for my book.
The barrow crossing was getting some serious usage from the dog walking fraternity as i settled back in the shelter to while away some time and in the scheme of things quite a pleasant place it was too. Doing the line at this time of day would normally be a no no for me but it does afford a few instances of shorter waits compared to the middle of the day and so a mere 100 minutes after arriving i was off again this time to Pantyffynon where i have been previously, but only as a start/end point which of course doesn't count for me. Hurrah - a proper bench at the pointy end of the platform and so i took the opportunity of a bit of shut eye with nary a soul around to disturb me. Bliss. Suitably refreshed i had a good scout around and went and had a ganders at the crossing point on the branch line about a 100 yards away. The road sign was an old fashioned steam train one, something i haven't seen for a very long time. I don't think the freight branch line is used currently judging by the rusty rails but a diversion nevertheless to go look at. It was either on the way to or from Pantyfyynon i saw a punter scrolling through the Rail UK forums so i said a very brief hello before alighting. A below minimal chance that he will be reading this but hello again anyway.
Final new station of the day was Ammanford a whole 3 minutes away from Pantyffynon and where another collector, this time of track was spotted waiting on the platform. We swapped stories for a while which made the last 40 minute wait go so much more quickly. He had travelled from (i think) the Gravesend area for the Royal Show track tick and both of us were not going to be back home before 1am it turned out. In a way i'm surprised i don't stumble over more of the Rail community on my travels so it made a welcome diversion to do so. Hi by the way.
The guard overheard our chat and offered up the sight of an abandoned lightship as we traversed over the Swansea District line. I had spotted this last week when going the other way but its slightly odd dimensions made much more sense once the lightship aspect was advised. Hope it isn't left to just rust into the mud. Back at Bridgend at 8.45pm and dusk wasn't far way as i started the long journey home. Dog tired to be honest and it was a bit of an effort to keep moving forward at times. However i am made of stern stuff and can grind these things out. I was slightly bemused by the fact that Gloucester services had shut for the night by the time i arrived to have a quick comfort break so i decided to carry on - well, what else could i do? All was well and Birmingham safely negotiated before i finally did stop briefly. What i didn't know was that traffic would be held just a mile or so further on so had an impromptu bit of stop/start for 30 minutes to greet me. Just what i wanted. Not. Back at 1am as alluded to earlier. Given i had set out about 2.30am i call this as the day that saw me thinking perhaps i am getting too ambitious. Not helped by the fact i had to be in Glasgow before 10am the next day on a non rail based activity that should hopefully raise some cash for the coffers. I would allow myself a short rail bonus if time allowed after business was attended to. Lets see. Meantime i have a 2 day break in Lytham St Annes to look forward to as real life once again intrudes. It will be good to see some old friends. Actually, it could be argued that old in both senses might be applied to though i wouldn't say that out loud of course.
| Tonypandy | Depart | 8.05 | ***** | AW | stations | platforms | ||
| Dinas Rhondda | Arrive | 8.07 | Single | AW | wait 29m | completed | completed | |
| Dinas Rhondda | Depart | 8.36 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Porth | Arrive | 8.39 | AW | wait 6m | ||||
| Porth | Depart | 8.45 | AW | 1 | 2 | |||
| Tonypandy | Arrive | 8.51 | Single | AW | wait 30m | |||
| Tonypandy | Depart | 9.21 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Llwynypia | Arrive | 9.23 | Single | AW | wait 34m | |||
| Llwynypia | Depart | 9.57 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Ton Pentre | Arrive | 10.04 | Single | AW | wait 21m | |||
| Ton Pentre | Depart | 10.25 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Ystrad Rhondda | Arrive | 10.27 | AW | wait 3m | ||||
| Ystrad Rhondda | Depart | 10.30 | AW | 1 | 2 | |||
| Ynyswen | Arrive | 10.38 | Single | AW | wait 10m | |||
| Ynyswen | Depart | 10.48 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Treorchy | Arrive | 10.49 | Single | AW | wait 15m | |||
| Treorchy | Depart | 11.04 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Treherbert | Arrive | 11.08 | Single | AW | wait 7m | |||
| Treherbert | Depart | 11.15 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Tonypandy | Arrive | 11.34 | ***** | AW | drive + wait | |||
| Relocate to | ****** | ***** | ***** | ***** | 88 mins | |||
| Bridgend | Depart | 13.02 | ***** | GW | ||||
| Swansea | Arrive | 13.32 | P3 | GW | wait 64m | |||
| Swansea | Depart | 14.36 | P2 | AW | ||||
| Llandeilo | Arrive | 15.40 | P2 | AW | wait 102m | |||
| Llandeilo | Depart | 17.22 | AW | 1 | 2 | |||
| Pantyffynon | Arrive | 17.44 | Single | AW | wait 91m | |||
| Pantyffynon | Depart | 19.15. | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Ammanford | Arrive | 19.18 | Single | AW | wait 40m | |||
| Ammanford | Depart | 19.58 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Bridgend | Arrive | 20.46 | ***** | AW |
All platforms
Member
Whilst i haven't got my list to hand, the ones i have gone for in the main i have been lucky enough to succed with (eventually) with a few still eluding me in areas i have spent a lot of time in/on.
South Wales hasn't been as kind with Maindee, OVE and Landore attempts all proving fruitless so far - despite attempts at all of them. You may be right that it will all take years to do, but i can be tenacious at times. For now my focus is the All Platforms and standard track gig, but always looking to see if i can graft this around a PSUL opportunity. Its still fun to do - great fun for the most part, but i may have to take a few days off to recharge the batteries before haring off again on another madcap scheme.
I do find it fascinating how the PSUL (and some mainstream examples) can become easier, harder or downright impossible from timetable to timetable change. Motto - If you see something - do it! Sorted. now where did i hear something similar to that.. Cheers.
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Techniquest
Veteran Member
Considering the issues encountered on this trip, and the ultra long day with long drives, that was a pretty good result. I haven't done the Treherbert line in many a year, I seem to recall it being more scenic than the Aberdare line though. I will have to investigate and check my memory with a return there some time!
Hopefully your trip to Scotland and indeed the Blackpool area will be a welcome rest after the chaos!
Hopefully your trip to Scotland and indeed the Blackpool area will be a welcome rest after the chaos!
Kite159
Veteran Member
Good news on getting that rare track into your book, even if you had a battle with the car parking machines at Bridgend
All platforms
Member
Day 143: Thursday 21/07/2022 - Blantyre to Larkhall - £2.75 - Off-peak Return. CP Blantyre free.
Total time today 157 mins - Time on trains 25 mins and time waiting 132 mins. Stations completed today 4. Total completed 855.
Todays railway jaunt was completely unplanned as i had no idea what time my business in Glasgow might be completed, but i knew i wanted to take advantage if time allowed. I toyed with knocking out either Barrhill or Stranraer as those are very much outliers, but i finished too late to guarantee getting down there in time. In the end i just plumped for a linear visit to Larkhall and back and chose Blantyre as my base. I used to live in Glasgow (north of actually) and know the journey there and back like the back of my hand but as i was still tired from my previous jaunts i just wanted to have a very leisurely afternoon - and i did so for the bargain sum of £2.75. It was also just easier to do it this way rather than work out a series of reverses and as i would be going outside the Strathclyde Roundabout ticket area a heck of a lot cheaper.
Not a lot to report in truth as i inched my way to Larkhall and back. The weather was very sunny - a rarity in these parts and as each hop would take only 2 or 3 minutes i would never got the sense of how the Scotrail 6 car class 320 traction performs. I got my rest as Hamilton West and Central were visited, then Chatelherault was the first stop on the single line. Whilst i did have time to go a wandering i just wanted to rest up, so that's what i did. Merryton was next and awash with a school trip or two but the platform is plenty big enough to not be in the midst of the mayhem. The only station i didn't have an opportunity to wander outside the station environs was the terminus at Larkhall with a 9 minute turnaround. With the 3 branch line stations being single platforms i could skip on the way back and with brief waits at the Hamilton brace of stations i was back at Blantyre before i knew it.
I did take time at Hamilton Central on the way down to briefly exit the platform and get something cold from McColls which is ubiquitous in these parts and it was good to hear the Glasgow "patter" very much in evidence and something the rest of the UK will only have heard in old episodes of Rab C Nesbitt. In particular the habit of ending most sentences with the word but. There were many more that brought back some good memories. For example anyone in authority or giving info requested was referred to as "big man" Just a different style......
Larkhall P2 gets used for most of the week and P1 on Sundays so a return visit is required here. A modest start to the Central belt but i think this needs overnights to be effective. Nothing planned however yet - and nothing planned for next week yet either. The latest strike announcements have nobbled my original plans for then and has left with me with a hotel booking i am not sure if i am going to use. I will have a closer look tomorrow.
Total time today 157 mins - Time on trains 25 mins and time waiting 132 mins. Stations completed today 4. Total completed 855.
Todays railway jaunt was completely unplanned as i had no idea what time my business in Glasgow might be completed, but i knew i wanted to take advantage if time allowed. I toyed with knocking out either Barrhill or Stranraer as those are very much outliers, but i finished too late to guarantee getting down there in time. In the end i just plumped for a linear visit to Larkhall and back and chose Blantyre as my base. I used to live in Glasgow (north of actually) and know the journey there and back like the back of my hand but as i was still tired from my previous jaunts i just wanted to have a very leisurely afternoon - and i did so for the bargain sum of £2.75. It was also just easier to do it this way rather than work out a series of reverses and as i would be going outside the Strathclyde Roundabout ticket area a heck of a lot cheaper.
Not a lot to report in truth as i inched my way to Larkhall and back. The weather was very sunny - a rarity in these parts and as each hop would take only 2 or 3 minutes i would never got the sense of how the Scotrail 6 car class 320 traction performs. I got my rest as Hamilton West and Central were visited, then Chatelherault was the first stop on the single line. Whilst i did have time to go a wandering i just wanted to rest up, so that's what i did. Merryton was next and awash with a school trip or two but the platform is plenty big enough to not be in the midst of the mayhem. The only station i didn't have an opportunity to wander outside the station environs was the terminus at Larkhall with a 9 minute turnaround. With the 3 branch line stations being single platforms i could skip on the way back and with brief waits at the Hamilton brace of stations i was back at Blantyre before i knew it.
I did take time at Hamilton Central on the way down to briefly exit the platform and get something cold from McColls which is ubiquitous in these parts and it was good to hear the Glasgow "patter" very much in evidence and something the rest of the UK will only have heard in old episodes of Rab C Nesbitt. In particular the habit of ending most sentences with the word but. There were many more that brought back some good memories. For example anyone in authority or giving info requested was referred to as "big man" Just a different style......
Larkhall P2 gets used for most of the week and P1 on Sundays so a return visit is required here. A modest start to the Central belt but i think this needs overnights to be effective. Nothing planned however yet - and nothing planned for next week yet either. The latest strike announcements have nobbled my original plans for then and has left with me with a hotel booking i am not sure if i am going to use. I will have a closer look tomorrow.
| Blantyre | Depart | 12.11 | SR | stations | platforms | |||
| Hamilton West | Arrive | 12.14 | SR | wait 7m | completed | completed | ||
| Hamilton West | Depart | 12.21 | SR | |||||
| Hamilton Central | Arrive | 12.23 | SR | wait 25m | ||||
| Hamilton Central | Depart | 12.48 | SR | |||||
| Chatelherault | Arrive | 12.51 | SR | wait 29m | ||||
| Chatelherault | Depart | 13.20 | SR | 1 | 1 | |||
| Merryton | Arrive | 13.22 | SR | wait 32m | ||||
| Merryton | Depart | 13.54 | SR | 1 | 1 | |||
| Larkhill | Arrive | 13.56 | p2 | SR | wait 9m | |||
| Larkhill | Depart | 14.05 | p2 | SR | ||||
| Hamilton Central | Arrive | 14.14 | SR | wait 11m | ||||
| Hamilton Central | Depart | 14.25 | SR | 1 | 2 | |||
| Hamilton West | Arrive | 14.27 | SR | wait 19m | ||||
| Hamilton West | Depart | 14.46 | SR | 1 | 2 | |||
| Blantyre | Arrive | 14.48 | SR |
Kite159
Veteran Member
It's a shame the SPT Daytripper ticket got withdrawn leaving parts of Scotland in "no ranger" land (excluding the Spirit of Scotland/ALR). That would have been a handy ticket for you for the area it covered.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Agreed, the Daytripper was one of the best value tickets out there.
Hopefully when the honourable gentleman makes his way back to Glasgow, a pair of 318s and 320s will be available to have a ride through the tunnels, in a motor coach. The noise can be amazing! Sadly, a video I did in December 2014 (I haven't got everything online yet) is not quite as vocal as I thought it was, but certainly it will provide an idea to the fun awaiting the return:
All platforms
Member
Ah.. i thought there was an extended version of the Strathclyde Ticket, i must have missed its demise. Added complications (or should that just read extra cost) of course when my head swivels in earnest to the North of Glasgow.
All platforms
Member
Despite commuting for over 10 years into Glasgow, i don't think i ever did the tunnels - or maybe once when i did a more restrictive version of a day ticket that only extended as far East as Whifflet at that time. Thinking back that day out was probably very formative in making what i am doing now a reality - although it did take about 25 years to gestate properly. Very distinctive sound on those 320's by the way!
All platforms
Member
Day 144: Tuesday 26/07/2022 - North Wales Rover - £14.10 - Any 2 consecutive zones (C+M) - Valid all Day. CP Llandudno Junction £4.50
Total time today 537 mins - Time on trains 258 mins and time waiting 279 mins. Stations completed today 6. Total completed 861.
Yah boo hiss to the rail strike tomorrow and the wasted hotel cost that results. Not in the mood to trek too far today so settled on a leisurely stroll down the Blaenau line to complete this having first ventured there in April. An acceptable start time was a bonus and i settled down to the near hour long journey and my first stop at Roman Bridge. I think the old station house is a holiday let and another in my occasional series on those buildings that you can peer into on the platform if you had a mind to. There was another at Pont-y-Pant if you yearn after these things. Another one of those stations that today look to be almost pointless were it not for the collector or the occasional walker. Being relatively close to the terminus it was only a 30 minute wait for the return and back to Tal-y-Cafn for station number two.
I was able to break out my book today and alternate dipping in and out of this with just taking in the glorious scenery that was afforded at two of the long wait stations today. A real tonic for the soul and probably one of my favourite types of day. Pottering up and down a branch line in decent weather. I still have quite a few of those to do but not many left within a 100 miles of me now.
A chance to stretch my legs at Llanwrst where supplies were replenished with an abundance of choice with Londis Spar and Co-op all vying for my custom. Quite a few retail outlets were being rejuvenated and it may well be a place to revisit on a future occasion. It was on the journey into Llanwrst i first spotted another line completer but who was doing a different route as he alighted at Dolgarrog. I next saw him board at Roman Bridge later in the day and alight at Tal-y-Cafn. Best of luck there on whatever your quest may be.
Llanwrst was probably the second busiest of the day after Betws-y-Coed which always seems to draw the crowds but where i had previously visited. Next up for me was Glan Conwy and i could have happily stayed there for another hour. What a vista! The tide was about 2/3 in at the time of my visit and fully out 2 hours later as i passed through on another service. Favourite view from a station bench so far. I'm fairly certain of that and it would be great to come across something that could beat or match it. No covered seating however so maybe not a station to dwell at in the rain.
At last it was time to visit the station at Blaenau Ffestiniog which i have done many time previously, but only from the narrow gauge line. So weird to be co-located with the BR side of things. Technically a single (if quite a long one) platform, although it does have a runaround line for specials i guess. Not sure how often they make it down this line however.. All of a sudden Welsh was being spoken everywhere whereas i hadn't noticed it previously. A decent Co-op visit later i was back on board for the run to the other end of the line at Llandudno but first mention must be made of the alien slate based moonscape as you emerge from the tunnel. I do know the area but it was quite a cool thing to suddenly emerge into a different world.
My final target was P1 at Llandudno which doesn't see that much action (or didn't when i last looked) before returning to Junction and a relaxed drive home - and i don't see many of those. 6 stations done and in my head i think North Wales is done - but no i always seem to overlook the line from Bidston to Wrexham and then the track to Gobowena and the 2 interim stations and so i still have some relatively local stuff to look forward to. I may have to ration myself.
Not playing out tomorrow of course but i do have plans for Thursday. Lets see if it works.
Total time today 537 mins - Time on trains 258 mins and time waiting 279 mins. Stations completed today 6. Total completed 861.
Yah boo hiss to the rail strike tomorrow and the wasted hotel cost that results. Not in the mood to trek too far today so settled on a leisurely stroll down the Blaenau line to complete this having first ventured there in April. An acceptable start time was a bonus and i settled down to the near hour long journey and my first stop at Roman Bridge. I think the old station house is a holiday let and another in my occasional series on those buildings that you can peer into on the platform if you had a mind to. There was another at Pont-y-Pant if you yearn after these things. Another one of those stations that today look to be almost pointless were it not for the collector or the occasional walker. Being relatively close to the terminus it was only a 30 minute wait for the return and back to Tal-y-Cafn for station number two.
I was able to break out my book today and alternate dipping in and out of this with just taking in the glorious scenery that was afforded at two of the long wait stations today. A real tonic for the soul and probably one of my favourite types of day. Pottering up and down a branch line in decent weather. I still have quite a few of those to do but not many left within a 100 miles of me now.
A chance to stretch my legs at Llanwrst where supplies were replenished with an abundance of choice with Londis Spar and Co-op all vying for my custom. Quite a few retail outlets were being rejuvenated and it may well be a place to revisit on a future occasion. It was on the journey into Llanwrst i first spotted another line completer but who was doing a different route as he alighted at Dolgarrog. I next saw him board at Roman Bridge later in the day and alight at Tal-y-Cafn. Best of luck there on whatever your quest may be.
Llanwrst was probably the second busiest of the day after Betws-y-Coed which always seems to draw the crowds but where i had previously visited. Next up for me was Glan Conwy and i could have happily stayed there for another hour. What a vista! The tide was about 2/3 in at the time of my visit and fully out 2 hours later as i passed through on another service. Favourite view from a station bench so far. I'm fairly certain of that and it would be great to come across something that could beat or match it. No covered seating however so maybe not a station to dwell at in the rain.
At last it was time to visit the station at Blaenau Ffestiniog which i have done many time previously, but only from the narrow gauge line. So weird to be co-located with the BR side of things. Technically a single (if quite a long one) platform, although it does have a runaround line for specials i guess. Not sure how often they make it down this line however.. All of a sudden Welsh was being spoken everywhere whereas i hadn't noticed it previously. A decent Co-op visit later i was back on board for the run to the other end of the line at Llandudno but first mention must be made of the alien slate based moonscape as you emerge from the tunnel. I do know the area but it was quite a cool thing to suddenly emerge into a different world.
My final target was P1 at Llandudno which doesn't see that much action (or didn't when i last looked) before returning to Junction and a relaxed drive home - and i don't see many of those. 6 stations done and in my head i think North Wales is done - but no i always seem to overlook the line from Bidston to Wrexham and then the track to Gobowena and the 2 interim stations and so i still have some relatively local stuff to look forward to. I may have to ration myself.
Not playing out tomorrow of course but i do have plans for Thursday. Lets see if it works.
| Llandudno Junction | Depart | 7.28 | ***** | AW | stations | platforms | ||
| Roman Bridge | Arrive | 8.14 | Single | AW | wait 32m | completed | completed | |
| Roman Bridge | Depart | 8.46 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Tal-y-Cafn | Arrive | 9.23 | Single | AW | wait 80m | |||
| Tal-y-Cafn | Depart | 10.43 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Llanwrst | Arrive | 10.56 | Single | AW | wait 76m | |||
| Llanwrst | Depart | 12.12 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Glan Conwy | Arrive | 12.32 | Single | AW | wait 66m | |||
| Glan Conwy | Depart | 13.38 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Blaenau Ffestiniog | Arrive | 14.37 | Single | AW | wait 21m | |||
| Blaenau Ffestiniog | Depart | 14.58 | Single | AW | 1 | 1 | ||
| Llandudno | Arrive | 16.13 | P1 | AW | wait 4m | |||
| Llandudno | Depart | 16.17 | P1 | AW | 1 | 3 | ||
| Llandudno Junction | Arrive | 16.25 | ***** | AW |
Kite159
Veteran Member
Glan Conwy is one of my favourite stations for the views.
I even scored a new platform in London on Friday evening, platform 3 at Grove Park. Which seems to get a lot more use in the current timetable (trains from Charing Cross). Doesn't look like platform 2 sees much (if any), but looking at the track layout trains for that platform will need to be on the fast line from at least Chislehurst.
I even scored a new platform in London on Friday evening, platform 3 at Grove Park. Which seems to get a lot more use in the current timetable (trains from Charing Cross). Doesn't look like platform 2 sees much (if any), but looking at the track layout trains for that platform will need to be on the fast line from at least Chislehurst.
Attachments
Techniquest
Veteran Member
A very successful fairly local day out there! I haven't been on that line since the mid 2000s, my memory of the solo 153 journey is not terribly clear so I will have to go back some day. From what I've read and seen about the line, I will have great fun going off exploring with some walking on that line, maybe even a bit of cycling too!
I actually forgot there's a strike on today, good thing I don't need to use the railway! Hopefully you're using the day to do something productive
As for the other stations in the Wales part of your local area, might I suggest Ruabon gets done with a bus link to Llangollen and its heritage railway? Llangollen is certainly a picturesque place, and the heritage railway is definitely worth a ride. Chirk has a few bits of interest around it, I don't know how easy any of it is to see but you've got things like the aqueduct and the huge railway viaduct alongside it. The views going over that I recall are quite good. Gobowen still has its signal box from memory, and of course some sort of heritage railway operation attempting to get stuff happening. So worth a look about
I'm trying to remember interesting things about the Borderlands line from Wrexham to Bidston, but not a lot comes to mind. 11 and a half years, almost to the day, since I last went on that line so you'll have to forgive my lack of memory. I seem to remember something about Hawarden Bridge, the first thing that came to mind is that there's a National Cycle Network route that runs alongside the station. Not that I can remember where that goes to/from right now, but it's thanks to Geoff Marshall's video about the station that I have that memory. Dee Marsh is nothing as big as it was, although it does still get some freight to/from Margam. Long gone are the days of numerous 60s being seen up that way though, and a 60 hauling a heavy steel train is a fantastic sight and sound! Mostly just 66s on them now, but that may have changed.
Going back to your Glasgow comment, yes indeed the 320s have a great sound to them. I do like the noise of the 318s as well, although I have to say I like the 334s and their noise too. You'll love a Roundabout day out, so much to do and see! I think I've just talked myself into a Glaswegian adventure when I next get some time off
I actually forgot there's a strike on today, good thing I don't need to use the railway! Hopefully you're using the day to do something productive
As for the other stations in the Wales part of your local area, might I suggest Ruabon gets done with a bus link to Llangollen and its heritage railway? Llangollen is certainly a picturesque place, and the heritage railway is definitely worth a ride. Chirk has a few bits of interest around it, I don't know how easy any of it is to see but you've got things like the aqueduct and the huge railway viaduct alongside it. The views going over that I recall are quite good. Gobowen still has its signal box from memory, and of course some sort of heritage railway operation attempting to get stuff happening. So worth a look about
I'm trying to remember interesting things about the Borderlands line from Wrexham to Bidston, but not a lot comes to mind. 11 and a half years, almost to the day, since I last went on that line so you'll have to forgive my lack of memory. I seem to remember something about Hawarden Bridge, the first thing that came to mind is that there's a National Cycle Network route that runs alongside the station. Not that I can remember where that goes to/from right now, but it's thanks to Geoff Marshall's video about the station that I have that memory. Dee Marsh is nothing as big as it was, although it does still get some freight to/from Margam. Long gone are the days of numerous 60s being seen up that way though, and a 60 hauling a heavy steel train is a fantastic sight and sound! Mostly just 66s on them now, but that may have changed.
Going back to your Glasgow comment, yes indeed the 320s have a great sound to them. I do like the noise of the 318s as well, although I have to say I like the 334s and their noise too. You'll love a Roundabout day out, so much to do and see! I think I've just talked myself into a Glaswegian adventure when I next get some time off
All platforms
Member
A quick check shows that Grove Park P2 has no timetabled options currently so that's another one for the engineering day visit - whenever that is.
If i'm honest it is this kind of thing that i fear i will find loads of examples of when i start on the London based stations. I have learnt that research is the key to a successful day out, so i may have to up my game for the London Zones. Whilst i may have the odd day out in London this year it was always going to be a year 4 or 5 thing to concentrate on. I hope i don't miss out on other major usage changes meantime.
Congrats on the new platform by the way. If you are still ticking these off after many years exploring, what chance do the latecomers have haha.