Iskra
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Lovely photo a the end there 
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Kite goes Exploring, Trip Reports
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Kite159
Veteran Member
Trips on 18th – 20th October, Weekend in Cheshire
Originally this weekend getaway was booked for a Pathfinder tour which got cancelled due to the class 40 loco becoming unavailable, but I decided to keep my booking for my usual accommodation in Crewe with lots of ideas in my head of things to do, all based on what the weather forecast was predicting.
18th October – “Delays, delays & more delays”
Just felt like it was one of those evenings where everything was delayed, starting with the 16:59 from Grateley formed of a busy 159009 & 158884 running around 10 minutes late due to the previous Exeter – London service running late (and having stops ripped out), losing some more time along the way into London so arriving around 20 minutes late (mainly caused by congestion). After grabbing some dinner items from Sainsburys in the Sidings I headed towards the Underground for the Northern line where the platform was quite busy and screens was suggesting trains were turning back at Charing Cross due to some issue further along the line.
Plan Bakerloo time, with 3556 & 3250 taken to Oxford Circus for an unusual 5-minute wait for the next Victoria line service, just about squeezing onto 11010 & 11009 for the run to Euston, my original pick of trains to Crewe already departed so it was onto 390151 working a Manchester service, first stop Stafford. Departed near enough on time, but soon lost time due to congestion and a late running Wolverhampton bound service calling at both Watford Junction & Milton Keynes being in front so by the time the Pendo passed Rugby it was around 12 minutes late.
158884 at London Waterloo by Kite, on Flickr
Still, I was sitting in comfort, watching some videos on my tablet as the Pendo increased speed after Rugby to call at Stafford around 13 minutes late looking likely to be a similar arrival time into Crewe, that was until the train reached the Basford Hall area and hit some congestion and managed to lose 17 minutes before rolling into Crewe just over 30 minutes late. Hello delay repay I said to myself as I headed out of the station towards the shared house, making myself comfortable (after putting breakfast in the fridge for the morning as it was going to be an early start). Worse thing about this stay was someone staying in another of the upstairs rooms going out for a smoke during the night but not turning off the hallway light when they returned.
19th October – Exploring the Tissington Trail
The Tissington Trail is the name given to a mixed used path which makes use of the route of the former Uttoxeter – Ashbourne – Buxton line, running between Ashbourne & Dowlow (a couple miles south of Buxton and now a quarry) sharing the first few miles with the High Peak Trail towards Cromford. A walk I’ve been trying to do a couple of times this year but was either hit with poor weather or engineering works as reaching the starting point using public transport, the options are very limited with one bus a day in each direction (Monday to Saturday) with 2 buses each way on Sundays (Macclesfield – Chatsworth House).
Anyhow the day began with the former Scottish 170416 on the first EMR service from Crewe (making use of the former 1st class area for a little bit of extra comfort) which took me towards Derby and I headed outside the station to catch the High Peak operated route 114 service for Ashbourne with bus 806 on a lightly loaded service via Derby city centre (where the two other passengers whom boarded with myself at the station alighted) for a little trip via some small villages such as Quarndon, Kedleston & Cross o' th' Hands) only picking up another passenger on the outskirts of Ashbourne itself. Arrival was met with some damp weather as I headed towards the Sainsburys to grab some lunch items before having a little explore of Ashbourne before High Peak’s bus 292 (a little Solo) rolled in on the daily route 441 for Buxton (there is a more frequent route 442 towards Buxton which goes a different route from Ashbourne)
Hulleys of Baslow Bus 9 (MX09 AOF) outside Ashbourne Bus Station on a route 110 by Kite, on Flickr
Along the way the rain did clear up, being replaced with fog and part of me was tempted to bail out and carry on to Buxton but in the end, I decided to risk it alighting from the bus opposite the Duke of York pub in the small settlement of Pomeroy where my walk began with a short footpath across a slightly muddy field to reach the old railway line route (saved a walk along the busy A515). When I reached the old railway line, I headed towards Buxton to walk to the end at Dowlow before doubling back towards Hurdlow with the mist lifting and sun coming out. Yes, the path was a bit wet in places, but nothing that major (and I was expecting puddles due to the rain). After Hurdlow I continued the walk towards Parsley Hay where there was a bike hire place and the line splits with the High Peak trail heading towards Cromford and Tissington trail continuing south.
The path quality was good as it headed towards some absolutely beautiful scenery in a very rural area. I passed the old signal box at Hartington as the path continued mostly heading south towards Alsop En Le Dale & Newton Grange, pausing for lunch with a beautiful view. The path skirted round the edge of Tissington, crossing over the A615 on a modern bridge with the last couple miles not having such beautiful views as it headed away from the Peak District towards Ashbourne finishing with a tunnel with the path ending near the town centre a short walk away from the bus stops. A walk I would recommend, just a shame reaching it by public transport is very limited, no wonder why the many car parks along the way were busy.
View from the High Peak Trail between Hurdlow & Parsley Hay (2) by Kite, on Flickr
Annoyingly I had hit the gap in afternoon trains on the Derby – Crewe line, so would have had a 90-minute wait had I gone direct to Uttoxeter as I was originally toying with, instead I boarded the Trent Barton operated “Swift” route (bus 737) on the more direct bus towards Derby, terminating at the bus station. I had a gentle stroll towards the railway station, jumping onto a busy 170115 for the run to Long Eaton, seeing as I purchased a ticket to Long Eaton this morning from Crewe, I might have well made use of it for an extra 8 miles each way).
At Long Eaton, I took a seat on the Derby bound platform, relaxing before 158812 rolled in on the Crewe train. Making a change from the more usual 170 and first time I believe I’ve had a 158 on the route between Derby & Stoke on Trent. At Crewe station I headed back towards my accommodation via a takeaway to grab a burger meal box, consuming it in the lounge area and relaxing for an hour or so before heading back out to intercept a required 197.
158812 at Crewe Station by Kite, on Flickr
Back at Crewe station I took a seat on 197118 (in standard plus to make the most of the nicer seats before you have to pay extra for them) on a quiet train because a voyager was running quite late it split at Crewe instead of Chester, which did soak up a lot of the waiting passengers, although the 197 did get delayed heading to Chester as a result (due to the longer signalling blocks), at Chester it ran into the back of 197122 to become my first 6 coach 197 service to take me to Flint, where the main footbridge is out of action as a new lift bridge is getting installed. Access to the opposite platform is via an existing footbridge close to the station, the main reason for heading to Flint is to avoid a long wait in Chester due to a slightly mismatched timetable and to avoid the risk of TfW swapping out my required unit for something else.
Anyhow, 15 minutes at Flint later and winner 197124 rolled in, not as busy as I was expecting it to have been as I took a seat in Standard Plus as it ran into the rear of 197019 at Chester for the final section to Crewe. My last currently active (as of the 29th October) 197 with just 2 more of the 3 coach units left and the 2-coach batch with the signalling equipment for the Cambrian so a nice result. A good thing I went for it on the Saturday as the unit sat on the depot at Crewe most of the day on the Sunday only coming out to form a 3pm service towards Holyhead, the one which avoided me the weekend before when it got swapped over for 120 at Swansea.
197124 at Crewe Station by Kite, on Flickr
I alighted from the train at Crewe station, making my way back to the shared house, having a nice shower and relaxing for the remainder of the evening, thankfully the person whom couldn’t turn off the lights seemed to have disappeared as the house was quiet so I had a reasonable night sleep.
20th October – A West Midlands Day Ranger in the rain
Sadly, the weather had turned back to being a bit on the wet side, so walking was out of the option leaving me with some options. Engineering works in Liverpool had closed Lime Street High Level and there was no Merseyrail services via Hooton so heading towards Liverpool to hunt 777s was out. I did see if 230006 was floating around on the Wrexham – Bidston line but it wasn’t out (and a good thing I didn’t head that way as the services collapsed with a signalling issue at Wrexham). In the end I decided to head towards the West Midlands to see what 730s were floating around (although even that plan didn’t work as the southern section of the Cross City line collapsed due to overhead wire damage).
I checked out of the shared house, not sure when I will next be back, heading towards Crewe station via the Tesco at the garage for breakfast items and towards platform 5 where I gambled wrong on the way 220030 was positioned and ended up standing on a very busy service towards Birmingham New Street, being able to ID a Shrewsbury service departing as a 4 coach 196. On checking RTT I saw a Wolverhampton – London Avanti service was showing as a winner 805 so after grabbing some fresh air I headed back in the Wolverhampton direction on dud 730003 working the stopping service, which even featured a ticket check (which for West Midlands Train was quite rare).
730003 at Wolverhampton Station by Kite, on Flickr
After checking the identity of another 196 from Shrewsbury (running quite late) and seeing a voyager being very cosy, I headed across to platform 4 for winner 805012 to roll in from the depot, taking a seat for the trip towards Birmingham New Street where my luck wasn’t with me in terms of 730s (only half hourly towards Lichfield today with nothing heading south due to the overhead wire damage) so I jumped onto a pair of Avanti voyagers (221102 & 221101) on an Euston service which departed right behind a late running LNR stopper (which itself was following a late running Birmingham International stopper), I was going to stay on to Coventry to see what the 196s were out on Nuneaton – Leamington services but bailed at Birmingham International (which turned out to be a good thing as the voyagers lost more time and would have missed both 196s). I headed back to Birmingham New Street on a busy 390152 before boarding dud 730045 leading winner 730043 on the next Lichfield service which took me to Blake Street.
A quick platform change at Blake Street and it was onto duds 730041 & 730005 back towards Birmingham New Street for the final time of the day, transferring to 350109 & 350368 working a Crewe service (which would normally be a Liverpool service had the line been open). For the second time of the day I had my ticket checked, the guard managing to get to the front coach by Wolverhampton. These 350s took me towards Crewe going on the slow lines north of Stafford, arriving into platform 7 giving me around 20 minutes to waste before winner 805005 rolled in with dud 805001 on the rear, easily getting a table seat near the front of 005 (which like with the 197s I’m now waiting for the rest to enter service).
805012 at Wolverhampton Station by Kite, on Flickr
This was a fast service calling only at Stafford towards London Euston so a good speedy run (although I really need to do a WCML Voyager farewell run at some point). Arrival into Euston was a few minutes behind schedule due to congestion around Milton Keynes, giving me just under an hour to reach Waterloo. As the sun was out, I decided to have a gentle stroll via my usual route, arriving just over 35 minutes later (which included a trip to a Co-Op for dinner to make use of some membership vouchers to get a £2 meal deal).
My final train for this weekend getaway was 159105 & 158886 working the 18:45 service for Salisbury, taking a seat in the front coach and relaxed for the journey to Grateley where I had a gentle walk home to get myself ready for the week ahead. An enjoyable weekend, shame the weather on the Sunday was a bit rubbish (I did have a plan to walk from Hayfield towards New Mills, but that will have to wait until next year now). More photos can be found on my Flickr, link is Here, thanks for reading
Originally this weekend getaway was booked for a Pathfinder tour which got cancelled due to the class 40 loco becoming unavailable, but I decided to keep my booking for my usual accommodation in Crewe with lots of ideas in my head of things to do, all based on what the weather forecast was predicting.
18th October – “Delays, delays & more delays”
Just felt like it was one of those evenings where everything was delayed, starting with the 16:59 from Grateley formed of a busy 159009 & 158884 running around 10 minutes late due to the previous Exeter – London service running late (and having stops ripped out), losing some more time along the way into London so arriving around 20 minutes late (mainly caused by congestion). After grabbing some dinner items from Sainsburys in the Sidings I headed towards the Underground for the Northern line where the platform was quite busy and screens was suggesting trains were turning back at Charing Cross due to some issue further along the line.
Plan Bakerloo time, with 3556 & 3250 taken to Oxford Circus for an unusual 5-minute wait for the next Victoria line service, just about squeezing onto 11010 & 11009 for the run to Euston, my original pick of trains to Crewe already departed so it was onto 390151 working a Manchester service, first stop Stafford. Departed near enough on time, but soon lost time due to congestion and a late running Wolverhampton bound service calling at both Watford Junction & Milton Keynes being in front so by the time the Pendo passed Rugby it was around 12 minutes late.
158884 at London Waterloo by Kite, on FlickrStill, I was sitting in comfort, watching some videos on my tablet as the Pendo increased speed after Rugby to call at Stafford around 13 minutes late looking likely to be a similar arrival time into Crewe, that was until the train reached the Basford Hall area and hit some congestion and managed to lose 17 minutes before rolling into Crewe just over 30 minutes late. Hello delay repay I said to myself as I headed out of the station towards the shared house, making myself comfortable (after putting breakfast in the fridge for the morning as it was going to be an early start). Worse thing about this stay was someone staying in another of the upstairs rooms going out for a smoke during the night but not turning off the hallway light when they returned.
19th October – Exploring the Tissington Trail
The Tissington Trail is the name given to a mixed used path which makes use of the route of the former Uttoxeter – Ashbourne – Buxton line, running between Ashbourne & Dowlow (a couple miles south of Buxton and now a quarry) sharing the first few miles with the High Peak Trail towards Cromford. A walk I’ve been trying to do a couple of times this year but was either hit with poor weather or engineering works as reaching the starting point using public transport, the options are very limited with one bus a day in each direction (Monday to Saturday) with 2 buses each way on Sundays (Macclesfield – Chatsworth House).
Anyhow the day began with the former Scottish 170416 on the first EMR service from Crewe (making use of the former 1st class area for a little bit of extra comfort) which took me towards Derby and I headed outside the station to catch the High Peak operated route 114 service for Ashbourne with bus 806 on a lightly loaded service via Derby city centre (where the two other passengers whom boarded with myself at the station alighted) for a little trip via some small villages such as Quarndon, Kedleston & Cross o' th' Hands) only picking up another passenger on the outskirts of Ashbourne itself. Arrival was met with some damp weather as I headed towards the Sainsburys to grab some lunch items before having a little explore of Ashbourne before High Peak’s bus 292 (a little Solo) rolled in on the daily route 441 for Buxton (there is a more frequent route 442 towards Buxton which goes a different route from Ashbourne)
Hulleys of Baslow Bus 9 (MX09 AOF) outside Ashbourne Bus Station on a route 110 by Kite, on FlickrAlong the way the rain did clear up, being replaced with fog and part of me was tempted to bail out and carry on to Buxton but in the end, I decided to risk it alighting from the bus opposite the Duke of York pub in the small settlement of Pomeroy where my walk began with a short footpath across a slightly muddy field to reach the old railway line route (saved a walk along the busy A515). When I reached the old railway line, I headed towards Buxton to walk to the end at Dowlow before doubling back towards Hurdlow with the mist lifting and sun coming out. Yes, the path was a bit wet in places, but nothing that major (and I was expecting puddles due to the rain). After Hurdlow I continued the walk towards Parsley Hay where there was a bike hire place and the line splits with the High Peak trail heading towards Cromford and Tissington trail continuing south.
The path quality was good as it headed towards some absolutely beautiful scenery in a very rural area. I passed the old signal box at Hartington as the path continued mostly heading south towards Alsop En Le Dale & Newton Grange, pausing for lunch with a beautiful view. The path skirted round the edge of Tissington, crossing over the A615 on a modern bridge with the last couple miles not having such beautiful views as it headed away from the Peak District towards Ashbourne finishing with a tunnel with the path ending near the town centre a short walk away from the bus stops. A walk I would recommend, just a shame reaching it by public transport is very limited, no wonder why the many car parks along the way were busy.
View from the High Peak Trail between Hurdlow & Parsley Hay (2) by Kite, on FlickrAnnoyingly I had hit the gap in afternoon trains on the Derby – Crewe line, so would have had a 90-minute wait had I gone direct to Uttoxeter as I was originally toying with, instead I boarded the Trent Barton operated “Swift” route (bus 737) on the more direct bus towards Derby, terminating at the bus station. I had a gentle stroll towards the railway station, jumping onto a busy 170115 for the run to Long Eaton, seeing as I purchased a ticket to Long Eaton this morning from Crewe, I might have well made use of it for an extra 8 miles each way).
At Long Eaton, I took a seat on the Derby bound platform, relaxing before 158812 rolled in on the Crewe train. Making a change from the more usual 170 and first time I believe I’ve had a 158 on the route between Derby & Stoke on Trent. At Crewe station I headed back towards my accommodation via a takeaway to grab a burger meal box, consuming it in the lounge area and relaxing for an hour or so before heading back out to intercept a required 197.
158812 at Crewe Station by Kite, on FlickrBack at Crewe station I took a seat on 197118 (in standard plus to make the most of the nicer seats before you have to pay extra for them) on a quiet train because a voyager was running quite late it split at Crewe instead of Chester, which did soak up a lot of the waiting passengers, although the 197 did get delayed heading to Chester as a result (due to the longer signalling blocks), at Chester it ran into the back of 197122 to become my first 6 coach 197 service to take me to Flint, where the main footbridge is out of action as a new lift bridge is getting installed. Access to the opposite platform is via an existing footbridge close to the station, the main reason for heading to Flint is to avoid a long wait in Chester due to a slightly mismatched timetable and to avoid the risk of TfW swapping out my required unit for something else.
Anyhow, 15 minutes at Flint later and winner 197124 rolled in, not as busy as I was expecting it to have been as I took a seat in Standard Plus as it ran into the rear of 197019 at Chester for the final section to Crewe. My last currently active (as of the 29th October) 197 with just 2 more of the 3 coach units left and the 2-coach batch with the signalling equipment for the Cambrian so a nice result. A good thing I went for it on the Saturday as the unit sat on the depot at Crewe most of the day on the Sunday only coming out to form a 3pm service towards Holyhead, the one which avoided me the weekend before when it got swapped over for 120 at Swansea.
197124 at Crewe Station by Kite, on FlickrI alighted from the train at Crewe station, making my way back to the shared house, having a nice shower and relaxing for the remainder of the evening, thankfully the person whom couldn’t turn off the lights seemed to have disappeared as the house was quiet so I had a reasonable night sleep.
20th October – A West Midlands Day Ranger in the rain
Sadly, the weather had turned back to being a bit on the wet side, so walking was out of the option leaving me with some options. Engineering works in Liverpool had closed Lime Street High Level and there was no Merseyrail services via Hooton so heading towards Liverpool to hunt 777s was out. I did see if 230006 was floating around on the Wrexham – Bidston line but it wasn’t out (and a good thing I didn’t head that way as the services collapsed with a signalling issue at Wrexham). In the end I decided to head towards the West Midlands to see what 730s were floating around (although even that plan didn’t work as the southern section of the Cross City line collapsed due to overhead wire damage).
I checked out of the shared house, not sure when I will next be back, heading towards Crewe station via the Tesco at the garage for breakfast items and towards platform 5 where I gambled wrong on the way 220030 was positioned and ended up standing on a very busy service towards Birmingham New Street, being able to ID a Shrewsbury service departing as a 4 coach 196. On checking RTT I saw a Wolverhampton – London Avanti service was showing as a winner 805 so after grabbing some fresh air I headed back in the Wolverhampton direction on dud 730003 working the stopping service, which even featured a ticket check (which for West Midlands Train was quite rare).
730003 at Wolverhampton Station by Kite, on FlickrAfter checking the identity of another 196 from Shrewsbury (running quite late) and seeing a voyager being very cosy, I headed across to platform 4 for winner 805012 to roll in from the depot, taking a seat for the trip towards Birmingham New Street where my luck wasn’t with me in terms of 730s (only half hourly towards Lichfield today with nothing heading south due to the overhead wire damage) so I jumped onto a pair of Avanti voyagers (221102 & 221101) on an Euston service which departed right behind a late running LNR stopper (which itself was following a late running Birmingham International stopper), I was going to stay on to Coventry to see what the 196s were out on Nuneaton – Leamington services but bailed at Birmingham International (which turned out to be a good thing as the voyagers lost more time and would have missed both 196s). I headed back to Birmingham New Street on a busy 390152 before boarding dud 730045 leading winner 730043 on the next Lichfield service which took me to Blake Street.
A quick platform change at Blake Street and it was onto duds 730041 & 730005 back towards Birmingham New Street for the final time of the day, transferring to 350109 & 350368 working a Crewe service (which would normally be a Liverpool service had the line been open). For the second time of the day I had my ticket checked, the guard managing to get to the front coach by Wolverhampton. These 350s took me towards Crewe going on the slow lines north of Stafford, arriving into platform 7 giving me around 20 minutes to waste before winner 805005 rolled in with dud 805001 on the rear, easily getting a table seat near the front of 005 (which like with the 197s I’m now waiting for the rest to enter service).
805012 at Wolverhampton Station by Kite, on FlickrThis was a fast service calling only at Stafford towards London Euston so a good speedy run (although I really need to do a WCML Voyager farewell run at some point). Arrival into Euston was a few minutes behind schedule due to congestion around Milton Keynes, giving me just under an hour to reach Waterloo. As the sun was out, I decided to have a gentle stroll via my usual route, arriving just over 35 minutes later (which included a trip to a Co-Op for dinner to make use of some membership vouchers to get a £2 meal deal).
My final train for this weekend getaway was 159105 & 158886 working the 18:45 service for Salisbury, taking a seat in the front coach and relaxed for the journey to Grateley where I had a gentle walk home to get myself ready for the week ahead. An enjoyable weekend, shame the weather on the Sunday was a bit rubbish (I did have a plan to walk from Hayfield towards New Mills, but that will have to wait until next year now). More photos can be found on my Flickr, link is Here, thanks for reading
Kite159
Veteran Member
26th – 27th October, Weekend in South Wales
This was a bit of a late notice decision to book a weekend away in South Wales after finding accommodation for £38 in the Ebbw Vale area (with a couple other options a bit more expensive near Porth). After finishing a course for work (and doing a random linear hop trip on the Friday to score some 730s towards Milton Keynes), I was due to meet a good friend on the Sunday in Cardiff so decided to go away and book the accommodation.
26th October – Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal
The trip began with the 05:24 service from Grateley with 159106 doing the honours with the trip to Basingstoke, where after a gentle stroll I took 165104 to Reading (where I popped out of the station to grab something for breakfast). I know I could have started half an hour later as the XC voyager gave a barely official +7 connection into the Swansea train, but I decided it was better playing it safe (also the chance to grab something to munch on, rather than rushing around).
The 07:13 service to Swansea this morning was formed of a single 5 coach 800020, thankfully easy enough to grab a decent seat in the 2nd coach (running in reverse formation with 1st class at the front) when it rolled in with the run towards Cardiff Central. Had it not lost time at Bristol Parkway waiting for an ECS from the depot to get put ahead I might have been able to make a connection to a late running Manchester train at Newport to put myself ahead of plan, but that was pulling out as soon as the IET arrived. Anyhow I remained on board to Cardiff, changing to board a quiet 197109 on a Cardiff – Manchester starter (instead of a 67 hauled set) to take me to Cwmbran with revenue protection in force (and the new footbridge coming along well).
197109 departing Cwmbran Station by Kite, on Flickr
After swinging via Morrisons to pick up supplies for lunch my walk began heading along the road (and crossing what looked like an old railway bridge which used to be the old GWR route towards Blaenavon Low Level) I reached the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal. This part of the canal is incomplete in places (with parts being lost to modern development and modern roads), but has a solid towpath. I followed the towpath (and the road network where the towpath ceases to exist) heading towards Old Cwmbran, leaving the urban area behind and into some peaceful rural area with some lovely woodland (although the towpath was a bit slippery in places with wet leaves, but nothing that major).
Soon I reached Malpas Junction, in the shadow of the M4 and headed towards Newport town centre, following the canal and a cycle route to the banks of the River Usk in Shaftesbury Park, before doing a U-turn to head back on myself back towards the canal junction and started with the Crumlin Arm. The first mile was a steady climb with the M4 on the right-hand side before the canal headed underneath the motorway and I reached the remains of the Cefn Flight, also known as Fourteen Locks. A very steep climb (50 metres in 740 metres), I tip my hat to the cyclists attempting to ride up that climb.
Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal between Cwmbran & Newport (11) by Kite, on Flickr
Anyhow the road noise from the M4 in the far distance, peace had return as the canal headed towards Rogerstone (other than for one selfish cyclist whom basically shouted at people to get out of his way, like he owned the towpath). My walk along the canal continued leaving Rogerstone and towards Pontymister with some steep lanes leading from the canal towards the centre of the settlement (and the station). I continued heading towards Risca where there was another short gap in the canal before skirting round Crosskeys and reaching the end of the canal in Pontywaun. The canal previously continued towards Crumlin but the route has been lost to a road with no real evidence remaining.
The walk finished with a walk along the B4591 towards Crosskeys station, passing the remains of an old footbridge which looked like an old railway bridge (maybe something with the old Cwmcarn Colliery branch?) At Crosskeys station I saw a pair of 153s on a Cardiff train before 197019 rolled in on the next Ebbw Vale Town service to take me towards the terminus as I wanted to get checked in, a bit of new track as I hadn't been north of Crosskeys station since the line was redoubled towards Llanhilleth allowing for a half hourly service from Ebbw Vale.
153906 at Crosskeys Station by Kite, on Flickr
My accommodation was at the Kings Arms Guest House, around half a mile from the station, but up a large hill (as Ebbw Vale Town station is located at the bottom of the valley with the town situated high above it). I followed the rough route of the railway towards the former Ebbw Vale (low level) station before climbing up to the pub, getting checked in to drop off some weight from my bag before coming back down the hill to Ebbw Vale Town station for 153323 & 153906 on the next Cardiff service, which I took to Risca & Pontymister for some better photos (and a fast walk to Tesco for some supplies).
The next Newport service was in the hands of 197046 which took me towards Newport, crossing a small bit of the network for passenger train coverage (having covered that side of the triangle a couple times on railtours). At Newport it was a short walk to platform 2 to board a late running 800302 to take me to Cardiff Central where I braved the chaos of the city centre on a Saturday night to visit a Poundland to pick up a new Apple Lightning charger cable for my ancient iPod whose battery is slowly giving up the ghost (it will shout that less than 20% remain, only to jump to 60%+ as soon as it's plugged into charge).
Old railway bridge in Ebbw Vale (near former Low Level Station) by Kite, on Flickr (to put into context the climb, it was from the level of this photo to the top of this bridge)
I made it back to the station with a couple of minutes to spare, although the next Penarth train was delayed due to a 231-blocking platform 7, forcing a late notice platform change for 153926 & 153910 for the run to Penarth (solely to give me something to do, and to clear the branch for 153 coverage). In a way I got lucky because Penarth was reduced to 2tph today (I presume freeing up paths for long distance services diverted via Barry) to get a pair of 153s as the other 2 units on Coryton - Penarth services were single 153s!
Anyhow back at Cardiff Central and a short walk over to platform 1 to board a very busy 197007 which rolled in late from Swansea and formed the next Ebbw Vale service, the last to go direct towards Pye Corner (as the ones later all went via Newport). I took this to Llanhilleth for some better photos and to look at the new platform, returning to Newbridge on the same unit (sadly the Co-Op which used to be next to the station is long gone, I remember visiting there back in 2018 when I first visited this station).
My last train of the evening was another busy 197 with 197002 to take me to the end of the line, giving it a couple of minutes for the platform to clear before I made my way back up the steep climb to my accommodation (Strava quoted a climb of 85ft in just under half a mile). I was a bit wary when booking this place thinking that it was a pub and it could be loud until late, but when I got there around 21:15 the pub was all closed up (assuming it actually opened in the first place) so I had a decent night of sleep on a comfy bed. Certainly, a place I would use again, as I relaxed after an enjoyable stroll along the canal from Cwmbran in some beautiful sunshine, although I wished I had turned the fridge off as it was a bit loud at times!
197002 at Ebbw Vale Town Station by Kite, on Flickr
27th October – Taff Trail
The day began checking out of the pub and making my way to the Ebbw Vale Spoons for breakfast arriving just before 8am so it was a short wait for the pub to open up so I could have a nice breakfast before I made my way down the hill to the station to await the first train of the day with 197105 for the slow trip towards the Newport area before going direct to Cardiff Central (which for a Sunday is quite rare considering most of the Ebbw Vale – Cardiff trains go via Newport). As I had some time to kill before Jules would arrive from Hereford, I headed across to the high numbered platforms to take 231004 for the trip to Barry Island, having a gentle stroll back towards Barry to board the same train back to Cardiff Central, arriving into platform 8 (which I think is something I’ve not done before).
I met up with Jules as we popped out of the station to grab some lunch items before taking 231003 towards Taffs Well going nonstop via the city line (Ninian Park) due to engineering works at Cardiff Queen Street. Feels strange going along this route on something other than a sprinter, maybe the next time I visit the other Flirts might be in use, maybe even some of the trams we saw stabled at the depot at Taffs Well.
231004 at Barry Island by Kite, on Flickr
The walk began as we eventually found the exit to the station (the main exit is currently closed for I presume a new station building), going across the railway and alongside the depot for the 398s and picking up the Taff Trail. This is a long-distance path which runs from Cardiff towards Brecon, parts I’ve already done in the past. We picked up the path as it ran along the route of the former Rhymney Railway route towards Nathgarw where it met with the remains of the route of the former Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway, one of the many old railways lost to history in this part of the country. We stayed on the path towards the outskirts of Caerphilly where the route is lost to housing, doubling back to the junction area, crossing over the A468 and leaving Nantgarw behind as we headed towards the Treforest area skirting round Upper Boat & Rhydyfelin before dropping down, following a path alongside the busy A470 (on what looked to be an old slip road) heading towards Pontypridd via the Ynysangharad War Memorial Park reaching the station.
An enjoyable walk along mostly tarmac paths which were busy with other users, a good way to pass the time having a good social about life & other things. We reached Pontypridd with a few minutes to spare before 231007 rolled in to take us back towards Cardiff Central, popping out of the station to grab items for dinner before returning with Jules heading back to Hereford behind a 67. The train I was catching had changed a few times today, firstly it was cancelled outright before coming back as a Cardiff – London service, before that changed to a Cardiff – Bristol Temple Meads service before getting cancelled before finally coming back to being run in full! Confusing long-distance travel on GWR on Sundays!
Taff Trail (former Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway) between Nantgarw & Rhydyfelin (8) by Kite, on Flickr
800310 rolled into Cardiff and I managed to get a decent seat near the back of the train where it was quieter as it headed towards England, losing some time in the Swindon area due to congestion caused by late running services from the Temple Meads direction, and more time outside Reading before it headed into one of the higher numbered platforms with a large crowd waiting for it as two other long distance services had been spun at Reading due to being quite late.
The last train for this trip was 158883 & 158887 on the SWR service to Salisbury, I presume starting at Reading instead of Waterloo due to the paths being taken up by diverted Reading services, so a little bonus for me as it gave me a direct train back to Grateley rather than hanging around Basingstoke for 30 minutes. Anyhow this train took me home to Grateley, where I had a gentle stroll home, relaxing for the remainder of the evening after two enjoyable walks in some South Wales sunshine.
158883 at Reading by Kite, on Flickr
October had been a busy month for myself, the beginning of winter where long walks will get less due to the colder weather & shorter days, so far November is another busy month with a number of overnight trips & the HST tour to the East Lancs Railway. More photos from this weekend can be found on my Flickr *here*, thanks for reading.
This was a bit of a late notice decision to book a weekend away in South Wales after finding accommodation for £38 in the Ebbw Vale area (with a couple other options a bit more expensive near Porth). After finishing a course for work (and doing a random linear hop trip on the Friday to score some 730s towards Milton Keynes), I was due to meet a good friend on the Sunday in Cardiff so decided to go away and book the accommodation.
26th October – Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal
The trip began with the 05:24 service from Grateley with 159106 doing the honours with the trip to Basingstoke, where after a gentle stroll I took 165104 to Reading (where I popped out of the station to grab something for breakfast). I know I could have started half an hour later as the XC voyager gave a barely official +7 connection into the Swansea train, but I decided it was better playing it safe (also the chance to grab something to munch on, rather than rushing around).
The 07:13 service to Swansea this morning was formed of a single 5 coach 800020, thankfully easy enough to grab a decent seat in the 2nd coach (running in reverse formation with 1st class at the front) when it rolled in with the run towards Cardiff Central. Had it not lost time at Bristol Parkway waiting for an ECS from the depot to get put ahead I might have been able to make a connection to a late running Manchester train at Newport to put myself ahead of plan, but that was pulling out as soon as the IET arrived. Anyhow I remained on board to Cardiff, changing to board a quiet 197109 on a Cardiff – Manchester starter (instead of a 67 hauled set) to take me to Cwmbran with revenue protection in force (and the new footbridge coming along well).
197109 departing Cwmbran Station by Kite, on FlickrAfter swinging via Morrisons to pick up supplies for lunch my walk began heading along the road (and crossing what looked like an old railway bridge which used to be the old GWR route towards Blaenavon Low Level) I reached the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal. This part of the canal is incomplete in places (with parts being lost to modern development and modern roads), but has a solid towpath. I followed the towpath (and the road network where the towpath ceases to exist) heading towards Old Cwmbran, leaving the urban area behind and into some peaceful rural area with some lovely woodland (although the towpath was a bit slippery in places with wet leaves, but nothing that major).
Soon I reached Malpas Junction, in the shadow of the M4 and headed towards Newport town centre, following the canal and a cycle route to the banks of the River Usk in Shaftesbury Park, before doing a U-turn to head back on myself back towards the canal junction and started with the Crumlin Arm. The first mile was a steady climb with the M4 on the right-hand side before the canal headed underneath the motorway and I reached the remains of the Cefn Flight, also known as Fourteen Locks. A very steep climb (50 metres in 740 metres), I tip my hat to the cyclists attempting to ride up that climb.
Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal between Cwmbran & Newport (11) by Kite, on FlickrAnyhow the road noise from the M4 in the far distance, peace had return as the canal headed towards Rogerstone (other than for one selfish cyclist whom basically shouted at people to get out of his way, like he owned the towpath). My walk along the canal continued leaving Rogerstone and towards Pontymister with some steep lanes leading from the canal towards the centre of the settlement (and the station). I continued heading towards Risca where there was another short gap in the canal before skirting round Crosskeys and reaching the end of the canal in Pontywaun. The canal previously continued towards Crumlin but the route has been lost to a road with no real evidence remaining.
The walk finished with a walk along the B4591 towards Crosskeys station, passing the remains of an old footbridge which looked like an old railway bridge (maybe something with the old Cwmcarn Colliery branch?) At Crosskeys station I saw a pair of 153s on a Cardiff train before 197019 rolled in on the next Ebbw Vale Town service to take me towards the terminus as I wanted to get checked in, a bit of new track as I hadn't been north of Crosskeys station since the line was redoubled towards Llanhilleth allowing for a half hourly service from Ebbw Vale.
153906 at Crosskeys Station by Kite, on FlickrMy accommodation was at the Kings Arms Guest House, around half a mile from the station, but up a large hill (as Ebbw Vale Town station is located at the bottom of the valley with the town situated high above it). I followed the rough route of the railway towards the former Ebbw Vale (low level) station before climbing up to the pub, getting checked in to drop off some weight from my bag before coming back down the hill to Ebbw Vale Town station for 153323 & 153906 on the next Cardiff service, which I took to Risca & Pontymister for some better photos (and a fast walk to Tesco for some supplies).
The next Newport service was in the hands of 197046 which took me towards Newport, crossing a small bit of the network for passenger train coverage (having covered that side of the triangle a couple times on railtours). At Newport it was a short walk to platform 2 to board a late running 800302 to take me to Cardiff Central where I braved the chaos of the city centre on a Saturday night to visit a Poundland to pick up a new Apple Lightning charger cable for my ancient iPod whose battery is slowly giving up the ghost (it will shout that less than 20% remain, only to jump to 60%+ as soon as it's plugged into charge).
Old railway bridge in Ebbw Vale (near former Low Level Station) by Kite, on Flickr (to put into context the climb, it was from the level of this photo to the top of this bridge)I made it back to the station with a couple of minutes to spare, although the next Penarth train was delayed due to a 231-blocking platform 7, forcing a late notice platform change for 153926 & 153910 for the run to Penarth (solely to give me something to do, and to clear the branch for 153 coverage). In a way I got lucky because Penarth was reduced to 2tph today (I presume freeing up paths for long distance services diverted via Barry) to get a pair of 153s as the other 2 units on Coryton - Penarth services were single 153s!
Anyhow back at Cardiff Central and a short walk over to platform 1 to board a very busy 197007 which rolled in late from Swansea and formed the next Ebbw Vale service, the last to go direct towards Pye Corner (as the ones later all went via Newport). I took this to Llanhilleth for some better photos and to look at the new platform, returning to Newbridge on the same unit (sadly the Co-Op which used to be next to the station is long gone, I remember visiting there back in 2018 when I first visited this station).
My last train of the evening was another busy 197 with 197002 to take me to the end of the line, giving it a couple of minutes for the platform to clear before I made my way back up the steep climb to my accommodation (Strava quoted a climb of 85ft in just under half a mile). I was a bit wary when booking this place thinking that it was a pub and it could be loud until late, but when I got there around 21:15 the pub was all closed up (assuming it actually opened in the first place) so I had a decent night of sleep on a comfy bed. Certainly, a place I would use again, as I relaxed after an enjoyable stroll along the canal from Cwmbran in some beautiful sunshine, although I wished I had turned the fridge off as it was a bit loud at times!
197002 at Ebbw Vale Town Station by Kite, on Flickr27th October – Taff Trail
The day began checking out of the pub and making my way to the Ebbw Vale Spoons for breakfast arriving just before 8am so it was a short wait for the pub to open up so I could have a nice breakfast before I made my way down the hill to the station to await the first train of the day with 197105 for the slow trip towards the Newport area before going direct to Cardiff Central (which for a Sunday is quite rare considering most of the Ebbw Vale – Cardiff trains go via Newport). As I had some time to kill before Jules would arrive from Hereford, I headed across to the high numbered platforms to take 231004 for the trip to Barry Island, having a gentle stroll back towards Barry to board the same train back to Cardiff Central, arriving into platform 8 (which I think is something I’ve not done before).
I met up with Jules as we popped out of the station to grab some lunch items before taking 231003 towards Taffs Well going nonstop via the city line (Ninian Park) due to engineering works at Cardiff Queen Street. Feels strange going along this route on something other than a sprinter, maybe the next time I visit the other Flirts might be in use, maybe even some of the trams we saw stabled at the depot at Taffs Well.
231004 at Barry Island by Kite, on FlickrThe walk began as we eventually found the exit to the station (the main exit is currently closed for I presume a new station building), going across the railway and alongside the depot for the 398s and picking up the Taff Trail. This is a long-distance path which runs from Cardiff towards Brecon, parts I’ve already done in the past. We picked up the path as it ran along the route of the former Rhymney Railway route towards Nathgarw where it met with the remains of the route of the former Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway, one of the many old railways lost to history in this part of the country. We stayed on the path towards the outskirts of Caerphilly where the route is lost to housing, doubling back to the junction area, crossing over the A468 and leaving Nantgarw behind as we headed towards the Treforest area skirting round Upper Boat & Rhydyfelin before dropping down, following a path alongside the busy A470 (on what looked to be an old slip road) heading towards Pontypridd via the Ynysangharad War Memorial Park reaching the station.
An enjoyable walk along mostly tarmac paths which were busy with other users, a good way to pass the time having a good social about life & other things. We reached Pontypridd with a few minutes to spare before 231007 rolled in to take us back towards Cardiff Central, popping out of the station to grab items for dinner before returning with Jules heading back to Hereford behind a 67. The train I was catching had changed a few times today, firstly it was cancelled outright before coming back as a Cardiff – London service, before that changed to a Cardiff – Bristol Temple Meads service before getting cancelled before finally coming back to being run in full! Confusing long-distance travel on GWR on Sundays!
Taff Trail (former Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway) between Nantgarw & Rhydyfelin (8) by Kite, on Flickr800310 rolled into Cardiff and I managed to get a decent seat near the back of the train where it was quieter as it headed towards England, losing some time in the Swindon area due to congestion caused by late running services from the Temple Meads direction, and more time outside Reading before it headed into one of the higher numbered platforms with a large crowd waiting for it as two other long distance services had been spun at Reading due to being quite late.
The last train for this trip was 158883 & 158887 on the SWR service to Salisbury, I presume starting at Reading instead of Waterloo due to the paths being taken up by diverted Reading services, so a little bonus for me as it gave me a direct train back to Grateley rather than hanging around Basingstoke for 30 minutes. Anyhow this train took me home to Grateley, where I had a gentle stroll home, relaxing for the remainder of the evening after two enjoyable walks in some South Wales sunshine.
158883 at Reading by Kite, on FlickrOctober had been a busy month for myself, the beginning of winter where long walks will get less due to the colder weather & shorter days, so far November is another busy month with a number of overnight trips & the HST tour to the East Lancs Railway. More photos from this weekend can be found on my Flickr *here*, thanks for reading.
Kite159
Veteran Member
2nd & 3rd November – A Weekend in the North East
Another weekend getaway (making the most of my weekends off when I still can), this time heading towards the North East with accommodation sourced in Whitley Bay. A different hotel to one I’ve previously used in this area, but one of the cheapest which was reasonably close to a Metro stop & didn’t have any dodgy sounding “payment is via bank transfer” or “we will require a £100 cash deposit when checking in” restrictions a couple places south of the Tyne I found.
The idea, weather permitting, was to do some walking, with the idea from Bishop Auckland on one of the old railway lines heading north.
2nd November – Feeling fatigued in Newcastle
The trip began with the 05:24 service from Grateley and when I woke on the Saturday, I knew something was wrong with my body (I suspect it was simply the long week catching up with me) and I restricted the urge to go back to bed and made my way to the station for 159010 to Waterloo. In London I headed towards Kings Cross using the underground (3537/3240 to Oxford Circus & 11064/11063 to Kings Cross), without noticing that Arsenal were away to Newcastle in the kickball on the lunchtime kick-off with only an hourly LNER running between London & Newcastle.
My reserved seat was in coach C of 801206 on the 07:30 service to Edinburgh which was very busy with kickball fans, already on the booze, and singing various football related songs. I decided to simply bail at York to get away from the noise and instead take my chance on a 3 coach TPE service for Darlington (engineering works resulting in the Saltburn trains diverting to Darlington instead of going towards Middlesborough. Thankfully 185147 was lightly loaded and made a lovely noise on the fast run towards Darlington (it’s been a while since my last decent high-speed run on a 185). This service terminated in one of the south facing bays at Darlington, which could be the last time I use these bays considering the speed of process with the new platforms which will mean the trains from Saltburn no longer crossing the ECML.
185147 at Darlington by Kite, on Flickr
Stepping back a train didn’t cost me any time, all it did was reduce the fester as I popped out of the station to buy my day ranger and returned to take 158842 to Bishop Auckland where I decided against the walk towards Spennymoor, instead remaining on board the 158 to Newton Aycliffe where I did head out for a gentle stroll along the cycle path (signposted as Locomotion Way) which ran alongside the railway back towards Shildon, arriving earlier than expected to take 158842 back to Bishop Auckland for a 2nd time before alighting at North Road, which turned into a rush due to congestion in the town centre Boots when I purchased lunch.
It was onto a busy winner 801220 to take me to Newcastle, where I headed towards the Metro station, taking sets 4008 & 4036 for the trip towards Whitley Bay so I could get checked into the guest house, dropping off some weight before heading back out. 4023 & 4013 took me towards South Gosforth where I stepped back to 4031 & 4072 to Central Station. I did keep my eye out for any of my last couple of sub mile Metro Cars, although knowing my luck both 4017 & 4068 are long term out of use. Time to turn my attention to my little red pen as I managed to get a seat on a very busy 802215 to Durham, fighting to get off the train (knew I should have aimed for the XC instead!).
158842 at Shildon Station by Kite, on Flickr
20 or so minutes later, winner 801216 rolled in to take me back to Newcastle where I had a short wait before winner 801201 rolled in from Edinburgh which took me to Darlington, skipping Durham. A slightly late running 802213 returned me to Newcastle giving me a few minutes to make my way across to another platform to grab a seat on winner 801203 back to Durham. Leaving me with just the 2 of the LNER fleet to get, one was sitting on Heaton depot the other working services which didn’t go north of York, which considering the mostly hourly timetable wasn’t a bad score for the day (4 out of 6).
To make things better, I managed to catch a late running 800111 back to Newcastle to get back 15 minutes earlier than expected, and I headed to the Metro station to board the first train towards Whitley Bay with 4032 & 4015, making my way to the guesthouse where I collapsed into the comfy bed, unusual for a Sunday trip in not setting an alarm. I would wake up when my body wanted me to, even though I did get up a couple times in the night with the feeling of wanting to throw up but nothing actually coming up.
801201 at Darlington Station by Kite, on Flickr
3rd November – How the East was Won
I exited the accommodation around 8:30 on the Sunday morning, I would recommend the Melrose Guest House, decent beds and very quiet, and only 5 minutes from the metro station. Had I felt better I would have gone to the Spoons for breakfast but decided against food in an attempt to get my stomach to reset itself to flush out the bug. I missed a “St James” bound service at Whitley Bay in the hunt of a TVM which is hidden away due to building works, so it was onto 4016 & 4030 for the trip to Central Station via South Gosforth.
I had some time to kill at Newcastle station as the delay reaching meant I missed a southbound XC which I could have taken to Durham, instead I waited for winner 801217 to arrive from Darlington to take me to Alnmouth, which was probably the better option for some scenic views. In theory I could have bailed at Morpeth for a 40-minute wait for a southbound train, but I didn’t fancy hanging around Morpeth station as from memory the seating isn’t the best.
802205 at Alnmouth Station by Kite, on Flickr
Turning down a TPE for Newcastle, it was onto a very busy 801208 on a London service, being lucky to grab an unclaimed seat before the masses boarded at Newcastle, with this service taking me to Darlington giving me 30 or so minutes to waste, so I did have a little stroll out of the station just to pass the time. I returned to the station in good time with my fingers crossed as winner 801214 rolled in on an Edinburgh service to take me back towards Durham. My last LNER Azuma (woohoo!) for my little red pen, at least the next time I return to the North East (or even West Yorkshire) I don’t have to worry about LNER until their new units start arriving, whenever that will be.
At Durham, after a quick photo I headed under the subway to the southbound platform to board former Avanti 221114 leading 220017 on a XC service, which was quite easy to grab a seat for the run to York. I changed to board 180103 on a nonstop London service, getting lucky to grab one of the unreserved seats in the rear coach before the masses boarded, ending up full & standing, but after being on Hitachi units a lot in the previous 30 hours, I decided on a change from the bright red seats, even if it wasn’t a fast run due to catching up with the previous Edinburgh – London train a couple of times which was running late, with the 180 arriving into platform 9 at Kings Cross.
801214 at Durham Station by Kite, on Flickr
It took me around 5 minutes to get off the train (one issue with only having one passenger door in the leading coach) as I made my way towards the underground jumping onto 11027 & 11028 to Oxford Circus before 3259 & 3550 on what felt like a slow train (new driver?) to Waterloo, giving me a few minutes to board the 16:20 service for Andover with 159104 & 159002 on this busy service (it was the end of half term). At Andover the train terminated and customers transferred to replacement buses, there was a double decker for Sherborne school only with no other coaches in sight for the other passengers for Salisbury/Gillingham, but thankfully an unbranded Merc Sprinter minibus (EX02 BUS) was the transport for Grateley (and Tisbury) passengers. Felt strange travelling in this minibus as it had tinted windows, but at least I got to Grateley and walked home where I could relax after a successful weekend for my little red pen, not so for walking. I was feeling better compared to the morning and come the Monday was back to normal so just one of those short-term bugs I must have caught which is doing the rounds at the moment.
(My original idea was to drive to Andover on Friday evening after work and catch the train back to Grateley, that way my car would near the station to allow me to jump in and drive home. However during the week one of my back tyres got a puncture and I lacked the strength to break it free from the hub).
Another weekend getaway (making the most of my weekends off when I still can), this time heading towards the North East with accommodation sourced in Whitley Bay. A different hotel to one I’ve previously used in this area, but one of the cheapest which was reasonably close to a Metro stop & didn’t have any dodgy sounding “payment is via bank transfer” or “we will require a £100 cash deposit when checking in” restrictions a couple places south of the Tyne I found.
The idea, weather permitting, was to do some walking, with the idea from Bishop Auckland on one of the old railway lines heading north.
2nd November – Feeling fatigued in Newcastle
The trip began with the 05:24 service from Grateley and when I woke on the Saturday, I knew something was wrong with my body (I suspect it was simply the long week catching up with me) and I restricted the urge to go back to bed and made my way to the station for 159010 to Waterloo. In London I headed towards Kings Cross using the underground (3537/3240 to Oxford Circus & 11064/11063 to Kings Cross), without noticing that Arsenal were away to Newcastle in the kickball on the lunchtime kick-off with only an hourly LNER running between London & Newcastle.
My reserved seat was in coach C of 801206 on the 07:30 service to Edinburgh which was very busy with kickball fans, already on the booze, and singing various football related songs. I decided to simply bail at York to get away from the noise and instead take my chance on a 3 coach TPE service for Darlington (engineering works resulting in the Saltburn trains diverting to Darlington instead of going towards Middlesborough. Thankfully 185147 was lightly loaded and made a lovely noise on the fast run towards Darlington (it’s been a while since my last decent high-speed run on a 185). This service terminated in one of the south facing bays at Darlington, which could be the last time I use these bays considering the speed of process with the new platforms which will mean the trains from Saltburn no longer crossing the ECML.
185147 at Darlington by Kite, on FlickrStepping back a train didn’t cost me any time, all it did was reduce the fester as I popped out of the station to buy my day ranger and returned to take 158842 to Bishop Auckland where I decided against the walk towards Spennymoor, instead remaining on board the 158 to Newton Aycliffe where I did head out for a gentle stroll along the cycle path (signposted as Locomotion Way) which ran alongside the railway back towards Shildon, arriving earlier than expected to take 158842 back to Bishop Auckland for a 2nd time before alighting at North Road, which turned into a rush due to congestion in the town centre Boots when I purchased lunch.
It was onto a busy winner 801220 to take me to Newcastle, where I headed towards the Metro station, taking sets 4008 & 4036 for the trip towards Whitley Bay so I could get checked into the guest house, dropping off some weight before heading back out. 4023 & 4013 took me towards South Gosforth where I stepped back to 4031 & 4072 to Central Station. I did keep my eye out for any of my last couple of sub mile Metro Cars, although knowing my luck both 4017 & 4068 are long term out of use. Time to turn my attention to my little red pen as I managed to get a seat on a very busy 802215 to Durham, fighting to get off the train (knew I should have aimed for the XC instead!).
158842 at Shildon Station by Kite, on Flickr20 or so minutes later, winner 801216 rolled in to take me back to Newcastle where I had a short wait before winner 801201 rolled in from Edinburgh which took me to Darlington, skipping Durham. A slightly late running 802213 returned me to Newcastle giving me a few minutes to make my way across to another platform to grab a seat on winner 801203 back to Durham. Leaving me with just the 2 of the LNER fleet to get, one was sitting on Heaton depot the other working services which didn’t go north of York, which considering the mostly hourly timetable wasn’t a bad score for the day (4 out of 6).
To make things better, I managed to catch a late running 800111 back to Newcastle to get back 15 minutes earlier than expected, and I headed to the Metro station to board the first train towards Whitley Bay with 4032 & 4015, making my way to the guesthouse where I collapsed into the comfy bed, unusual for a Sunday trip in not setting an alarm. I would wake up when my body wanted me to, even though I did get up a couple times in the night with the feeling of wanting to throw up but nothing actually coming up.
801201 at Darlington Station by Kite, on Flickr3rd November – How the East was Won
I exited the accommodation around 8:30 on the Sunday morning, I would recommend the Melrose Guest House, decent beds and very quiet, and only 5 minutes from the metro station. Had I felt better I would have gone to the Spoons for breakfast but decided against food in an attempt to get my stomach to reset itself to flush out the bug. I missed a “St James” bound service at Whitley Bay in the hunt of a TVM which is hidden away due to building works, so it was onto 4016 & 4030 for the trip to Central Station via South Gosforth.
I had some time to kill at Newcastle station as the delay reaching meant I missed a southbound XC which I could have taken to Durham, instead I waited for winner 801217 to arrive from Darlington to take me to Alnmouth, which was probably the better option for some scenic views. In theory I could have bailed at Morpeth for a 40-minute wait for a southbound train, but I didn’t fancy hanging around Morpeth station as from memory the seating isn’t the best.
802205 at Alnmouth Station by Kite, on FlickrTurning down a TPE for Newcastle, it was onto a very busy 801208 on a London service, being lucky to grab an unclaimed seat before the masses boarded at Newcastle, with this service taking me to Darlington giving me 30 or so minutes to waste, so I did have a little stroll out of the station just to pass the time. I returned to the station in good time with my fingers crossed as winner 801214 rolled in on an Edinburgh service to take me back towards Durham. My last LNER Azuma (woohoo!) for my little red pen, at least the next time I return to the North East (or even West Yorkshire) I don’t have to worry about LNER until their new units start arriving, whenever that will be.
At Durham, after a quick photo I headed under the subway to the southbound platform to board former Avanti 221114 leading 220017 on a XC service, which was quite easy to grab a seat for the run to York. I changed to board 180103 on a nonstop London service, getting lucky to grab one of the unreserved seats in the rear coach before the masses boarded, ending up full & standing, but after being on Hitachi units a lot in the previous 30 hours, I decided on a change from the bright red seats, even if it wasn’t a fast run due to catching up with the previous Edinburgh – London train a couple of times which was running late, with the 180 arriving into platform 9 at Kings Cross.
801214 at Durham Station by Kite, on FlickrIt took me around 5 minutes to get off the train (one issue with only having one passenger door in the leading coach) as I made my way towards the underground jumping onto 11027 & 11028 to Oxford Circus before 3259 & 3550 on what felt like a slow train (new driver?) to Waterloo, giving me a few minutes to board the 16:20 service for Andover with 159104 & 159002 on this busy service (it was the end of half term). At Andover the train terminated and customers transferred to replacement buses, there was a double decker for Sherborne school only with no other coaches in sight for the other passengers for Salisbury/Gillingham, but thankfully an unbranded Merc Sprinter minibus (EX02 BUS) was the transport for Grateley (and Tisbury) passengers. Felt strange travelling in this minibus as it had tinted windows, but at least I got to Grateley and walked home where I could relax after a successful weekend for my little red pen, not so for walking. I was feeling better compared to the morning and come the Monday was back to normal so just one of those short-term bugs I must have caught which is doing the rounds at the moment.
(My original idea was to drive to Andover on Friday evening after work and catch the train back to Grateley, that way my car would near the station to allow me to jump in and drive home. However during the week one of my back tyres got a puncture and I lacked the strength to break it free from the hub).
Kite159
Veteran Member
7th November – 9th November, Trip to the North West
Originally when the 125 Group announced a railtour involving their HST set from Derby to the East Lancs Railway, I was going to head towards Derby via Birmingham in the morning and to come back on the same night, however I decided to start looking at accommodation options. Originally for just the Friday night but when I saw 2 nights in a shared house in Crewe was only a fiver more than a single night in a hotel, I decided to head up on the Thursday night after work. Only so the Friday morning wouldn’t be such an early start.
7th November – Onwards to Crewe
I finished work getting home to get changed and returned to Grateley station for the 16:59 service, which was being delayed due to the 158 from Gillingham having to wait for a late running Exeter train to pass it (I was surprised when I saw it depart towards Gillingham earlier in the day due to the poor timekeeping on the West of England line that day, normally it gets dropped to add some flexibility. (If a London train is more than say 10 minutes late it will get held at Gillingham for the Exeter train to pass it there, rather than delaying the next Exeter service which snowballs further down the line).
Anyhow it was onto 159005 & 158884, as I grabbed a seat in the 158 which was a lot quieter than the leading 159. Lost a few more minutes heading towards London, arriving around 10 minutes late, nothing that major as I headed to the underground to jump on the first available Northern line service, formed of a busy 51556 & 51531 (featuring passengers who board and simply stop in the doorway, rather than moving down inside the carriage to allow more passengers to board). This northern line service took me to Euston and a few minutes later I was in the main concourse, waiting for the inbound for the 19:07 Liverpool to arrive (as it had got caught up in earlier delays from Manchester).
DR 98970 passing Romsey Station by Kite, on Flickr
The Pendo arrived, emptied out and soon was announced for boarding as I made a bee-line straight for a table seat in coach G of 390151 as the train departed 6 minutes late, losing a bit more time as it was behind a service which called at Milton Keynes Central. This service is non-stop to Crewe (I was tempted with the voyager on the 19:03 service, but that called at both Tamworth & Lichfield as well as being short formed so I decided my WCML Voyager farewell will wait for another trip). I spent the time relaxing watching videos enjoying the high-speed run, arriving into Crewe around 10 minutes late, never recovering from the late start.
I exited the station, making my way to the accommodation, which for this trip wasn’t my usual place to stay (as that was unavailable), instead it was a room in a shared house on Nelson Street, around a 10-minute walk from the station (so broadly the same area). First impression was quite good as I emptied my rucksack and headed back out towards Crewe station as I wanted to take the Birmingham 805 service for the novelty of an 805 between Stafford & Wolverhampton. Back at the station and it wasn’t long before winner 805007 rolled in, with the front coach being empty as I settled down for the run towards Wolverhampton.
805007 at Wolverhampton by Kite, on Flickr
At Wolverhampton I had around 20 minutes to waste before 350111 rolled in from Birmingham on a Crewe service, bit busy at Wolverhampton but emptied out at Penkridge as once more I settled down, relaxing as the 350 went full speed on the fast lines north of Stafford arriving 10 minutes ahead of schedule (as it’s timed to use the slow lines as part of a 2 track timetable), I was tempted to hang around for the sleeper to come in for a photograph but decided against it and headed back to the shared house, which was very quiet in terms of outside noise.
8th November - The East Lancastrian Warrior
The day began with a little stroll towards the big Tesco in Crewe to grab some supplies before making my slow way to Crewe station to board the 09:10 service for Newark Castle, grabbing a seat on 170532 for the slow run towards Derby, looking out of the window at the passing scenery. At Derby I changed to board 158863 working a Matlock service to take me to Belper, one of those stations on my list to revisit as the previous time I visited it was for a few minutes as the timetable at the time had the Matlock trains passing between Duffield & Belper. It also had a nice Morrisons which I visited for some lunch items as well as having a little explore of the town centre area.
158863 returned me to Derby where the HST had already arrived from the Midland Railway Centre, with 43159 at the northern end and 43089 at the southern end. Based on the crowd at the first-class end, I decided it would be better to attempt for a seat in standard class as there was no seat reservations on this charter service. When the doors were released, I managed to grab an airline seat in the 2nd coach from the rear, enjoying the legroom as well as a view from the window. The train departed from Derby, going southwards instead of northbound (a fault with 43159), with an unexpected trip via Long Eaton & Toton yard with a fast run via the Erewash Valley line.
43089 at Derby Station by Kite, on Flickr
A further pick-up was made at Chesterfield with the train heading towards Sheffield, with a pathing stop at the southern end of the station before picking up a lot more passengers. The next section was very slow as it was booked to follow the all-stations stopper via Moorthorpe, crawling behind signal section to signal section, not really getting any sort of speed. It used the Hare Park line to head towards Wakefield Kirkgate (using the line bypassing platform 3) picking up some speed with the run towards Mirfield & Stalybridge with a nonstop run via Huddersfield. First time I’ve been in this area for a while and the scale of the works for the upgrades is quite impressive.
At Stalybridge the train picked up some more passengers (and dropped some off), as it headed towards Manchester, taking the Brewery curve with another pathing stop. Next stop was Castleton station where the train reversed in direction to access the north facing curve leading towards the East Lancs Railway, with a couple of pauses along the way with crossings before the HST passed Heywood and headed to Bury Bolton Street station where it completed its journey. I will need to return to the East Lancs Railway one of these days for coverage of the rest of the line towards Rawtenstall, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a tour to use the south curve when it comes back into use.
43159 at Bury Bolton Street by Kite, on Flickr
I left the HST and made my slow way towards the Metrolink station boarding 3143 & 3146 for my first decent length run on Metrolink since January 2023 with the near 11 mile run towards Piccadilly, I headed to the main concourse at Manchester Piccadilly getting lucky as the 17:15 Pendo was delayed with a late arrival of another Pendo, allowing me to jump onto 390129 for the run to Stoke on Trent, spending the time thinking of potential options to grab a West Midlands Day Ranger for a little visit to the West Midlands for some 730s (or even a required 2 coach 196), but connections were rubbish at Rugby & also at Stoke on Trent (didn’t help that I hit the time of day where XC divert via Crewe due to an extra Northern stopper with LNR cancelling a Stafford train).
At Stoke on Trent I decided against heading towards the West Midlands, and instead jumped onto 350258 on the Crewe service to take me back to Crewe, where after swinging via the Tesco at the garage I headed towards the shared house to relax for the rest of the evening, catching up with the interweb and being lazy. An enjoyable little railtour, some nice scenery and some new track into my book with the connection from Castleton North junction towards the ELR and onwards to Bury, with a bonus of having an empty seat next to me all day and a seat with some decent legroom, rather than playing footsie with passengers sitting opposite on Mk2 coaches.
9th November – Sankey Valley Trail
The Sankey Valley Trail is the name given to a path which follows the route of the Sankey Canal, part of which is in water, other places it’s disappeared under modern developments. Running from the banks of the Mersey at Widnes towards St Helens via Warrington, it is one of the oldest canals in this country. I will admit it felt strange departing my accommodation in Crewe (had its faults but was quite reasonable, certainly a place I would use again) on a Saturday rather than the more usual Sunday, but as I had an event on the Sunday, I needed to be home on the Saturday night.
Anyhow after picking up a Cheshire Day Ranger from the ticket office, my eyes picked out the potential of a score of a 230 on the Wrexham – Bidston line as 230006 was showing as being out on the morning shift. What I didn’t see is that the first-round run got cancelled after arriving into Chester on 197006 forcing a quick change of plan (for there would be no point heading to Shotton to fester for that 230 to return from Bidston, assuming it would make it out for the 2nd trip). It was onto 197116 onto a Manchester service to take me to Earlestown station where my walk began.
331109 at Earlestown Station by Kite, on Flickr
The first section was following Earle Street to the west of the town centre to where the Sankey Valley Trail crossed the road, as I headed back on myself underneath the wonderful Sankey Railway Viaduct (also known as Nine Arches), one of the oldest railway viaducts in this country, even pausing for a 331 passing over the time. I followed the path as the restored section of canal started skirting around the edge of Vulcan Village, heading towards the WCML where the restored section ended. This part was very beautiful with the woods, the next part not so pretty in comparison as it ran close to the railway in fields (along a tarmac path).
I passed the remains of Winwick Lock, and went underneath the M62 heading towards Warrington, skirting between Dallam & Callands with the path changing sides with the occasional glimpse of old canal. I did make a wrong turn in one part as the signage was a bit rubbish, which turned out to be a good move as I ended up walking alongside the remains of the canal towards the former Bewsey Lock where the next section is restored (in holding water). I headed underneath the Warrington Central railway line just as an EMR 170 passed overhead, heading towards Sankey Bridges with a crossing of the busy A57, reaching the small settlement of Sankey Bridges where the Trans Pennine Trail joined the towpath (along with a lot of runners/joggers).
Sankey Canal in Newton-Le-Willows (8) by Kite, on Flickr
After crossing over the mothballed railway route from Warrington Bank Quay low level, I carried on leaving the built-up area of Warrington behind, with the glimpse of the River Mersey at a couple of points. I continued along the towpath giving way to runners coming in the opposite direction at some narrow points, reaching Fiddlers Ferry Boat yard where there is a lock connecting the canal to the River Mersey. Beyond a swing bridge the canal isn't restored and is quite overgrown as I passed the remains of Fiddlers Ferry Power Station. This section probably wasn't the nicest as there was a tall security fence on my left-hand side and tall weeds from the canal on the right hand side, felt like it was fenced in. I was glad when both the fence and the weeds disappeared allowing for a couple of photos of the cooling towers of the old power station before they disappear to the history books.
The canal returned to having water in it close to Widnes, as it went underneath the modern bridge carrying the A533 towards the Mersey Gateway Bridge, crossing over the canal on a modern swing bridge (so modern that it doesn't even appear on Google Maps or on my Strava map), picking up the towpath on the north side of the canal towards Widnes lock where the canal ended, meeting the Mersey. Re-joining the road network for a short section before detouring via the Victoria Promenade for a photograph of the Silver Jubilee bridge. After my photograph I headed via the roads and some footpaths to join the footpath which goes over said bridge, crossing the River Mersey & Manchester Ship Canal heading towards Runcorn with a bit of a fast walk near the end as I navigated the road network to reach Runcorn station, arriving just as a LNR service for Liverpool rolled in.
Silver Jubilee Bridge from the Victoria Promenade, West Bank, Widnes by Kite, on Flickr
A mostly enjoyable walk along that canal and parts where it no longer exists, one of these days I will do the northern section towards St Helens, but that will probably need to wait until next year. Anyway, it was onto 350260 leading 350410 as I got a decent seat in the former TPE unit, putting my phone on charge and relaxed for the fast run towards Lime Street, where after grabbing some lunch, I headed to the underground platform to see if I could get lucky with a winner 777. My luck wasn’t with me as it was dud after dud before sub-10-mile unit 777022 rolled in on a New Brighton service, which I took to New Brighton (also clearing that branch for 777 coverage), returning on the same unit back to Birkenhead North, changing over to dud 777009 to Manor Road.
Winner 777041 was on the next Liverpool service which I took to James Street, via the city centre loop, to push it over 10 miles, changing to the inbound platform for dud 777036 to Lime Street where my visit to Liverpool was at an end as I boarded 350122 on the semi-fast Birmingham service, making a big mistake in alighting at Wolverhampton at the same time as Wolverhampton vs Southampton had finished in the kickball, my idea of dashing out of the station to pick up supplies for dinner was put on hold as I watched a contest of “how many passengers can you squeeze onto a 4 coach voyager” special before 196104 took me to Birmingham New Street, going via Tame Bridge Parkway, mainly because platform 4 where the next direct service was due a couple of minutes afterwards was extremely busy.
This 196 took me to Birmingham New Street, where I popped out of the station to visit Tesco, the city centre being very busy due to the Christmas market. After my visit to Tesco, I headed back to the station to hunt down the next London Euston service, winner 807004. I got a decent seat in coach C which got quite busy on departure but did empty out at Coventry, the train losing some time along to Rugby due to the pair of 350s in front being late (they did look busy when it departed). This service was nonstop to London after Coventry, arriving a few minutes behind schedule due to congestion at the London end where it was 2 tracks in operation.
807004 at London Euston by Kite, on Flickr
At Euston, I alighted from the train, heading towards the Underground jumping onto 51676 & 51675 as the first available southbound Northern line service to Waterloo, and headed to board 159006 on the busy 20:50 service for Salisbury, managing to grab a seat near the front of the unit. 75 or so minutes later I had arrived at Grateley, the train emptying out somewhat at Basingstoke, and I had a gentle stroll home to relax for the rest of the evening before calling it a night.
An enjoyable weekend getaway, the HST tour was good fun on the Friday and I managed a good 14 and a bit mile walk on the Saturday. Thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr here.
Originally when the 125 Group announced a railtour involving their HST set from Derby to the East Lancs Railway, I was going to head towards Derby via Birmingham in the morning and to come back on the same night, however I decided to start looking at accommodation options. Originally for just the Friday night but when I saw 2 nights in a shared house in Crewe was only a fiver more than a single night in a hotel, I decided to head up on the Thursday night after work. Only so the Friday morning wouldn’t be such an early start.
7th November – Onwards to Crewe
I finished work getting home to get changed and returned to Grateley station for the 16:59 service, which was being delayed due to the 158 from Gillingham having to wait for a late running Exeter train to pass it (I was surprised when I saw it depart towards Gillingham earlier in the day due to the poor timekeeping on the West of England line that day, normally it gets dropped to add some flexibility. (If a London train is more than say 10 minutes late it will get held at Gillingham for the Exeter train to pass it there, rather than delaying the next Exeter service which snowballs further down the line).
Anyhow it was onto 159005 & 158884, as I grabbed a seat in the 158 which was a lot quieter than the leading 159. Lost a few more minutes heading towards London, arriving around 10 minutes late, nothing that major as I headed to the underground to jump on the first available Northern line service, formed of a busy 51556 & 51531 (featuring passengers who board and simply stop in the doorway, rather than moving down inside the carriage to allow more passengers to board). This northern line service took me to Euston and a few minutes later I was in the main concourse, waiting for the inbound for the 19:07 Liverpool to arrive (as it had got caught up in earlier delays from Manchester).
DR 98970 passing Romsey Station by Kite, on FlickrThe Pendo arrived, emptied out and soon was announced for boarding as I made a bee-line straight for a table seat in coach G of 390151 as the train departed 6 minutes late, losing a bit more time as it was behind a service which called at Milton Keynes Central. This service is non-stop to Crewe (I was tempted with the voyager on the 19:03 service, but that called at both Tamworth & Lichfield as well as being short formed so I decided my WCML Voyager farewell will wait for another trip). I spent the time relaxing watching videos enjoying the high-speed run, arriving into Crewe around 10 minutes late, never recovering from the late start.
I exited the station, making my way to the accommodation, which for this trip wasn’t my usual place to stay (as that was unavailable), instead it was a room in a shared house on Nelson Street, around a 10-minute walk from the station (so broadly the same area). First impression was quite good as I emptied my rucksack and headed back out towards Crewe station as I wanted to take the Birmingham 805 service for the novelty of an 805 between Stafford & Wolverhampton. Back at the station and it wasn’t long before winner 805007 rolled in, with the front coach being empty as I settled down for the run towards Wolverhampton.
805007 at Wolverhampton by Kite, on FlickrAt Wolverhampton I had around 20 minutes to waste before 350111 rolled in from Birmingham on a Crewe service, bit busy at Wolverhampton but emptied out at Penkridge as once more I settled down, relaxing as the 350 went full speed on the fast lines north of Stafford arriving 10 minutes ahead of schedule (as it’s timed to use the slow lines as part of a 2 track timetable), I was tempted to hang around for the sleeper to come in for a photograph but decided against it and headed back to the shared house, which was very quiet in terms of outside noise.
8th November - The East Lancastrian Warrior
The day began with a little stroll towards the big Tesco in Crewe to grab some supplies before making my slow way to Crewe station to board the 09:10 service for Newark Castle, grabbing a seat on 170532 for the slow run towards Derby, looking out of the window at the passing scenery. At Derby I changed to board 158863 working a Matlock service to take me to Belper, one of those stations on my list to revisit as the previous time I visited it was for a few minutes as the timetable at the time had the Matlock trains passing between Duffield & Belper. It also had a nice Morrisons which I visited for some lunch items as well as having a little explore of the town centre area.
158863 returned me to Derby where the HST had already arrived from the Midland Railway Centre, with 43159 at the northern end and 43089 at the southern end. Based on the crowd at the first-class end, I decided it would be better to attempt for a seat in standard class as there was no seat reservations on this charter service. When the doors were released, I managed to grab an airline seat in the 2nd coach from the rear, enjoying the legroom as well as a view from the window. The train departed from Derby, going southwards instead of northbound (a fault with 43159), with an unexpected trip via Long Eaton & Toton yard with a fast run via the Erewash Valley line.
43089 at Derby Station by Kite, on FlickrA further pick-up was made at Chesterfield with the train heading towards Sheffield, with a pathing stop at the southern end of the station before picking up a lot more passengers. The next section was very slow as it was booked to follow the all-stations stopper via Moorthorpe, crawling behind signal section to signal section, not really getting any sort of speed. It used the Hare Park line to head towards Wakefield Kirkgate (using the line bypassing platform 3) picking up some speed with the run towards Mirfield & Stalybridge with a nonstop run via Huddersfield. First time I’ve been in this area for a while and the scale of the works for the upgrades is quite impressive.
At Stalybridge the train picked up some more passengers (and dropped some off), as it headed towards Manchester, taking the Brewery curve with another pathing stop. Next stop was Castleton station where the train reversed in direction to access the north facing curve leading towards the East Lancs Railway, with a couple of pauses along the way with crossings before the HST passed Heywood and headed to Bury Bolton Street station where it completed its journey. I will need to return to the East Lancs Railway one of these days for coverage of the rest of the line towards Rawtenstall, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a tour to use the south curve when it comes back into use.
43159 at Bury Bolton Street by Kite, on FlickrI left the HST and made my slow way towards the Metrolink station boarding 3143 & 3146 for my first decent length run on Metrolink since January 2023 with the near 11 mile run towards Piccadilly, I headed to the main concourse at Manchester Piccadilly getting lucky as the 17:15 Pendo was delayed with a late arrival of another Pendo, allowing me to jump onto 390129 for the run to Stoke on Trent, spending the time thinking of potential options to grab a West Midlands Day Ranger for a little visit to the West Midlands for some 730s (or even a required 2 coach 196), but connections were rubbish at Rugby & also at Stoke on Trent (didn’t help that I hit the time of day where XC divert via Crewe due to an extra Northern stopper with LNR cancelling a Stafford train).
At Stoke on Trent I decided against heading towards the West Midlands, and instead jumped onto 350258 on the Crewe service to take me back to Crewe, where after swinging via the Tesco at the garage I headed towards the shared house to relax for the rest of the evening, catching up with the interweb and being lazy. An enjoyable little railtour, some nice scenery and some new track into my book with the connection from Castleton North junction towards the ELR and onwards to Bury, with a bonus of having an empty seat next to me all day and a seat with some decent legroom, rather than playing footsie with passengers sitting opposite on Mk2 coaches.
9th November – Sankey Valley Trail
The Sankey Valley Trail is the name given to a path which follows the route of the Sankey Canal, part of which is in water, other places it’s disappeared under modern developments. Running from the banks of the Mersey at Widnes towards St Helens via Warrington, it is one of the oldest canals in this country. I will admit it felt strange departing my accommodation in Crewe (had its faults but was quite reasonable, certainly a place I would use again) on a Saturday rather than the more usual Sunday, but as I had an event on the Sunday, I needed to be home on the Saturday night.
Anyhow after picking up a Cheshire Day Ranger from the ticket office, my eyes picked out the potential of a score of a 230 on the Wrexham – Bidston line as 230006 was showing as being out on the morning shift. What I didn’t see is that the first-round run got cancelled after arriving into Chester on 197006 forcing a quick change of plan (for there would be no point heading to Shotton to fester for that 230 to return from Bidston, assuming it would make it out for the 2nd trip). It was onto 197116 onto a Manchester service to take me to Earlestown station where my walk began.
331109 at Earlestown Station by Kite, on FlickrThe first section was following Earle Street to the west of the town centre to where the Sankey Valley Trail crossed the road, as I headed back on myself underneath the wonderful Sankey Railway Viaduct (also known as Nine Arches), one of the oldest railway viaducts in this country, even pausing for a 331 passing over the time. I followed the path as the restored section of canal started skirting around the edge of Vulcan Village, heading towards the WCML where the restored section ended. This part was very beautiful with the woods, the next part not so pretty in comparison as it ran close to the railway in fields (along a tarmac path).
I passed the remains of Winwick Lock, and went underneath the M62 heading towards Warrington, skirting between Dallam & Callands with the path changing sides with the occasional glimpse of old canal. I did make a wrong turn in one part as the signage was a bit rubbish, which turned out to be a good move as I ended up walking alongside the remains of the canal towards the former Bewsey Lock where the next section is restored (in holding water). I headed underneath the Warrington Central railway line just as an EMR 170 passed overhead, heading towards Sankey Bridges with a crossing of the busy A57, reaching the small settlement of Sankey Bridges where the Trans Pennine Trail joined the towpath (along with a lot of runners/joggers).
Sankey Canal in Newton-Le-Willows (8) by Kite, on FlickrAfter crossing over the mothballed railway route from Warrington Bank Quay low level, I carried on leaving the built-up area of Warrington behind, with the glimpse of the River Mersey at a couple of points. I continued along the towpath giving way to runners coming in the opposite direction at some narrow points, reaching Fiddlers Ferry Boat yard where there is a lock connecting the canal to the River Mersey. Beyond a swing bridge the canal isn't restored and is quite overgrown as I passed the remains of Fiddlers Ferry Power Station. This section probably wasn't the nicest as there was a tall security fence on my left-hand side and tall weeds from the canal on the right hand side, felt like it was fenced in. I was glad when both the fence and the weeds disappeared allowing for a couple of photos of the cooling towers of the old power station before they disappear to the history books.
The canal returned to having water in it close to Widnes, as it went underneath the modern bridge carrying the A533 towards the Mersey Gateway Bridge, crossing over the canal on a modern swing bridge (so modern that it doesn't even appear on Google Maps or on my Strava map), picking up the towpath on the north side of the canal towards Widnes lock where the canal ended, meeting the Mersey. Re-joining the road network for a short section before detouring via the Victoria Promenade for a photograph of the Silver Jubilee bridge. After my photograph I headed via the roads and some footpaths to join the footpath which goes over said bridge, crossing the River Mersey & Manchester Ship Canal heading towards Runcorn with a bit of a fast walk near the end as I navigated the road network to reach Runcorn station, arriving just as a LNR service for Liverpool rolled in.
Silver Jubilee Bridge from the Victoria Promenade, West Bank, Widnes by Kite, on FlickrA mostly enjoyable walk along that canal and parts where it no longer exists, one of these days I will do the northern section towards St Helens, but that will probably need to wait until next year. Anyway, it was onto 350260 leading 350410 as I got a decent seat in the former TPE unit, putting my phone on charge and relaxed for the fast run towards Lime Street, where after grabbing some lunch, I headed to the underground platform to see if I could get lucky with a winner 777. My luck wasn’t with me as it was dud after dud before sub-10-mile unit 777022 rolled in on a New Brighton service, which I took to New Brighton (also clearing that branch for 777 coverage), returning on the same unit back to Birkenhead North, changing over to dud 777009 to Manor Road.
Winner 777041 was on the next Liverpool service which I took to James Street, via the city centre loop, to push it over 10 miles, changing to the inbound platform for dud 777036 to Lime Street where my visit to Liverpool was at an end as I boarded 350122 on the semi-fast Birmingham service, making a big mistake in alighting at Wolverhampton at the same time as Wolverhampton vs Southampton had finished in the kickball, my idea of dashing out of the station to pick up supplies for dinner was put on hold as I watched a contest of “how many passengers can you squeeze onto a 4 coach voyager” special before 196104 took me to Birmingham New Street, going via Tame Bridge Parkway, mainly because platform 4 where the next direct service was due a couple of minutes afterwards was extremely busy.
This 196 took me to Birmingham New Street, where I popped out of the station to visit Tesco, the city centre being very busy due to the Christmas market. After my visit to Tesco, I headed back to the station to hunt down the next London Euston service, winner 807004. I got a decent seat in coach C which got quite busy on departure but did empty out at Coventry, the train losing some time along to Rugby due to the pair of 350s in front being late (they did look busy when it departed). This service was nonstop to London after Coventry, arriving a few minutes behind schedule due to congestion at the London end where it was 2 tracks in operation.
807004 at London Euston by Kite, on FlickrAt Euston, I alighted from the train, heading towards the Underground jumping onto 51676 & 51675 as the first available southbound Northern line service to Waterloo, and headed to board 159006 on the busy 20:50 service for Salisbury, managing to grab a seat near the front of the unit. 75 or so minutes later I had arrived at Grateley, the train emptying out somewhat at Basingstoke, and I had a gentle stroll home to relax for the rest of the evening before calling it a night.
An enjoyable weekend getaway, the HST tour was good fun on the Friday and I managed a good 14 and a bit mile walk on the Saturday. Thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr here.
Kite159
Veteran Member
15-17th November – A return to the North West
Originally this weekend I was going to head towards Hull on the Friday, hoping to do the novelty of a Northern service between Doncaster & Selby, with the Saturday being a disused railway line walk in the Hull area. With that line out of action due to a set of points at Selby I decided to cancel the hotel booking in Hull and instead booked a 2-night stay in the same shared house as I used the week before in Crewe. With 2 assessments in the week, I felt like I needed a little getaway, and I like using Crewe as a base due to the many options available (although this time of year some of the canal options can be ruled out due to potential of muddy towpaths).
15th November – “You are, Number 6”
I finished work at a decent time to allow me to take 159019 to Waterloo, changing to the underground with 51541/51540 on the first available Northern line service to Euston, where I headed towards the Holyhead train, with 805010 leading 805007 to take me to Chester, calling only at Stafford & Crewe. Nice and fast, the train getting very busy at Chester due to a TfW cancellation of the previous Holyhead service, but thankfully I alighted to transfer towards platform 2 to board a very busy 158827 for the short distance to Shotton. Judging by the platform screen this was meant to be a 6-coach formation so a bit of a downgrade in the number of coaches.
I had around 35 minutes to waste at Shotton before the next Wrexham Central service so I headed into the shopping area to waste some time, watching the heavy traffic due to roadworks before heading back to the station, taking a seat at the northern end. Winner 230006 rolled in on the next Wrexham train, so I climbed on board taking a seat near the rear (which was quieter than the front coaches) and had a nice little ride towards Wrexham Central. I do like the interiors of the Welsh 230s and I was happy to get number 6 into my book after it avoided me the previous Saturday.
230006 at Wrexham Central by Kite, on Flickr
As this service goes back north empty and the next departure from Wrexham Central wouldn’t be for another 3 hours (the next southbound service spins at Wrexham General and the following unit shunting to platform 3 at Wrexham General to form a Shrewsbury stopper), I had a gentle walk to Wrexham General, getting a bit lost along the way due to poor lighting. This time of night there is a couple of departures towards Chester within 15 minutes of each other, and I was expecting the unit from Birmingham to be busy (and hence was going to step back to the Wrexham – Liverpool service considering it made no difference with the connection at Crewe). I was surprised when 197007 rolled in (a set swap at Shrewsbury) with the area behind the drivers cab empty, easy enough to grab a seat on this delayed service to North Wales (which got delayed further awaiting a freight service to clear the single line section).
Onwards to Chester, where I decided against heading out to Tesco for dinner, instead headed towards platform 1 to await the arrival of 197110 on the shuttle, grabbing a seat near the front of the unit as it returned to Crewe. At Crewe it was a simply case of heading to the accommodation, via the Tesco garage for something to eat for dinner, picking up the keys from the low-down lockbox and getting into the same room I had the previous week. On arrival, I simply relaxed for the rest of the evening, looking at options for the Saturday based on the expected weather forecast being a bit damp in places. I was happy to get that 230 into my book, after it took a while to enter service as it was being used as a parts doner to keep the other 4 units running after Viva Rail went bust.
16th November – Little North Western & Trams
Working with the predicted weather forecast I decided to head towards Lancashire to do a short disused railway walk which had been on my radar to do, using the route of the former North Western Railway route towards Bentham, which the first section has been turned into a mixed-use path with access via a bus to Caton or Brookhouse. The day began with 390006 working an early morning Birmingham – Edinburgh service, departing Crewe around 07:10 with the smooth run to Lancaster, passing some heavy rain around Wigan.
In Lancaster, it was a short walk towards the city bus station to take the route 81 service run by Kirkby Lonsdale Coaches, heading to Kirkby Lonsdale, a route which looks like it will be worthwhile doing in full one of these days. The bus was a 22 plate Volvo Evora (fleet number 207), and handing over my £2 I joined the bus as it headed away from Lancaster city centre, towards the M6 and Halton. After Halton it crossed over the Lune to call at Caton and finally at Brookhouse where I alighted. A bus route which felt like it had a bit of timetable allowances as the driver stopped a few times along the way to wait for the correct departure point at the timing points. Anyway, after a quick photo of the bus my walk began.
Lonsdale Buses BV22 HBP in Brookhouse on a route 81 by Kite, on Flickr
The first section was along a narrow country lane towards the A683, picking up the route of the old railway line near the Bull Beck picnic site, and walking east to the end of the route where it joined the A683. I headed back on myself towards the picnic site and carried on towards Caton (having a little detour to visit the Co-Op). After Caton I crossed over the river Lune twice at the Crook O' Lune bridges, giving some nice views of the river before carrying on along the route of the old railway. Not much evidence of old railway line until I reached the remains of Halton railway station, the platform & building being used by a university club (I presume probably for rowing as the river was never too far away).
I soon reached the outskirts of Lancaster, going underneath the M6 & A683, passing the Holiday Inn, the path being quite busy with joggers. The next landmark was the Lune aqueduct carrying the Lancaster canal over both the old railway line and the river Lune as it made its way towards Carnforth. The next section was more industrial and soon I reached the end of the railway route at Green Ayre, heading towards the station via the roads & castle. An enjoyable stroll from Caton, some nice woodland in parts.
Remains of Halton Railway Station (North Western Railway) by Kite, on Flickr
The next southbound service was a TPE formed of 397008 where I was lucky to get a seat (advertising “First Class in coach E” but without saying which way round the train is seemed to be complete & utter pointless in my eyes). Anyhow this 397 took me to Preston where I made a tight connection onto former GA 156402 (now with Northern seat covers!) working a service to Blackpool South (as it had been a while since I last did this branch, also would be easier with the trams). At Blackpool South I had a short walk towards Waterloo Road tram stop for my least favourite tramway, no departure screens and a timetable of 4 trams per hour, on a busy Saturday afternoon just isn’t enough as I couldn’t board the first tram it was that wedged out.
15 minutes later, I managed to squeeze onto tram 12 to take me to Talbot Square and a short wait before tram 6 on a southbound service took me to North Station (where it sat for a good 5 minutes before departing). My last tram move was onto tram 8 to take me to Pleasant Street, the Blackpool seafront is a bit depressing these days with boarded up hotels. At Pleasant Street I headed back towards Blackpool North on foot as my hour ticket had nearly expired, and boarded 331111 working a Liverpool service to take me towards Wigan North Western.
Blackpool Tram 012 at Talbot Square by Kite, on Flickr
In Wigan I transferred to Wigan Wallgate, where I had a change of plan and instead of heading towards Headbolt Lane (to tick of platform 3), I boarded 769442 for the run to Southport for my first 769 of the year, sitting in the motor coach for the classic 319 motor noise with the slow run to Southport where I made a tight connection onto winner 777038 on the next Liverpool Central service which I took to Hall Road, pushing it over ten miles and hanging back for winner 777017 on the following service which I took to Liverpool Central, hanging back to take the same unit back north to Bank Hall to clear it for ten miles.
A swift cross platform change at Bank Hall saw me onto dud 777032 back to Sandhils and onto 777144 to Kirkby where I had previously seen a winner 777/1 heading towards Headbolt Lane. My first time at Kirkby station since the line was extended and part of the 3rd rail being pulled up. 777152 rolled in from Headbolt to take me to Liverpool Central, where I remained on board back to Kirkby to see the 4th unit on Headbolt Lane services today, which was winner 777146. Back to Liverpool Central, and remaining on board (sometimes doing metro units for ten miles is a pain in the rear end!), exiting at Kirkdale.
Dud 777144 took me back towards Sandhills, followed by dud 777032 to Moorfields. I was tempted to go after a winner 777/1 on the Ormskirk line but decided that could wait for another day. At Moorfields I made it to the Wirral line platform, with a couple of options, either something to Lime Street for a Pendo back to Crewe or a 777 towards Chester for a TfW service for Crewe. The first Chester service wasn’t needed (I was hanging back to see what was on the Ellesmere Port service) before 777043 rolled in, a unit I needed for mileage, so my original plan went into the bin and I headed to New Brighton!
777043 alongside 777015 at New Brighton by Kite, on Flickr
I crossed over the platform at New Brighton to board 777015 back towards the city centre (043 departed for the depot as it was the time of evening when Merseyrail drop from 4tph to 2tph). At Lime Street I headed to the mainline station, and towards a LNR for Birmingham. Sadly, this was also the time of night where the option of going via Chester was ruled out due to the 2-hour gap in Crewe trains, so it was onto a busy 350242 & 350116, making a mistake to sit in the /1 where in hindsight I should have walked to the front of the /2 for a potentially quieter journey.
Back at Crewe and I headed towards the shared house, going via a recently opened takeaway (“Get Smashed” for a very tasty cheese burger combo box, certainly a better burger (or in this case a triple burger) than from Tiger Bite. Certainly, a place I will return to the next time I’m in Crewe, whenever that might be (my trips next year so far have been paused until I find out what line of the roster I end up on and what my shift pattern/free days will be, hence why I’m trying to make the most of my weekends off when I still can. Anyhow after my very tasty burger I relaxed for the rest of the evening, looking at options for Sunday as my original walking idea seemed to be rained off.
17th November – Coventry Canal in Coventry
With the poor weather forecast in the Manchester area, I came up with many alternative ideas, eventually deciding on a canal walk from Bedworth towards Coventry as the weather forecast in that area was looking dryer until early afternoon. I departed from my accommodation and headed towards Crewe station (going via the Tesco garage for some breakfast) for a Liverpool – London service which called at Nuneaton. Due to engineering works in the Stafford area the first few services from Crewe were being diverted via Kidsgrove.
390009 rolled in from Liverpool and I managed to grab a seat in coach C with the train heading slowly towards Kidsgrove, I’m guessing there must have been some signalling issue as it was quite slow in places, losing nearly 10 minutes by the time the train reached Kidsgrove, not the first time I’ve been on a Pendo between Crewe & Kidsgrove (pretty sure in January 2020 when heading towards Stockport when I ended up on the last train towards Manchester). Anyhow passing Stoke on Trent without stopping was a nice oddity as the train headed towards Rugeley on the Colwich line, a line I haven’t done in a fair while. Arrival into Nuneaton was still around 10 minutes late, but that didn’t bother me as I had a 30-minute connection.
390009 at Nuneaton by Kite, on Flickr
I headed towards platform 1 to take a seat on 196004 on a Leamington Spa service for the short ride towards Bedworth where my walk began in some nice sunshine. The first section after leaving the station was the short section heading east along the B4029 to reach the Coventry canal (which skirts around the edge of Bedworth), dropping down onto the towpath which was a bit muddy in places but nothing that major. This section of the towpath was quite woody and was pretty as it headed towards Hawkesbury Junction where the Oxford canal joins, passing an old engine house.
After the junction I continued heading along the canal towpath, now tarmacked as it passed underneath the M6 and towards Longford, skirting close to the Coventry arena towards Little Heath. The canal's character changing from rural to urban (in terms of litter and noise of traffic) as it weaved towards Edgwick before going twisty for the last couple of miles before the canal ended at the basin close to the city centre.
Coventry Canal between Bedworth & Hawkesbury Junction (1) by Kite, on Flickr
The weather had changed from being sunny to being quite cloudy and as I made my way towards the city centre it did start to spit, as I detoured via the remains of the cathedral before making my way towards the station, the rain turning heavy in the last minute as I approached the building. I headed towards platform 2 to see what the other 196 was on the Nuneaton - Leamington services was today (turned out to be 002 so not needed), before boarding 390155 on the next non-stop London Euston service, easily grabbing a seat in coach G to give my phone a charge and relax.
The Pendo arrived earlier than scheduled which gave me hope to make an earlier train from Waterloo as I headed towards the underground, squeezing onto the first Northern line service (51717 & 51525) to take me to Waterloo for a short walk to board a busy 450005 on a Basingstoke terminator (engineering works at Winchester). This got quite cosy after Clapham Junction but did empty out at Woking. At Basingstoke it was a simply change to platform 1, only for a late notice platform change to platform 3 for 159019 & 158888 on a Salisbury service from Reading to take me to Grateley. A gentle stroll home and I could relax for the rest of the evening.
Bombed out remains of Coventry Cathedral (4) by Kite, on Flickr
An enjoyable weekend getaway, two nice walks. I’ve got no idea when the next time I will be back in the Crewe area on a long weekend, but my list of 777s have come down. As ever thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr. I’m not doing a post for my trip on the 23rd November as that was simply a red pen day in the West Midlands scoring various 730s plus another 2 coach 196. So I will leave you with Paddington
Paddington Statue in Salisbury by Kite, on Flickr
Originally this weekend I was going to head towards Hull on the Friday, hoping to do the novelty of a Northern service between Doncaster & Selby, with the Saturday being a disused railway line walk in the Hull area. With that line out of action due to a set of points at Selby I decided to cancel the hotel booking in Hull and instead booked a 2-night stay in the same shared house as I used the week before in Crewe. With 2 assessments in the week, I felt like I needed a little getaway, and I like using Crewe as a base due to the many options available (although this time of year some of the canal options can be ruled out due to potential of muddy towpaths).
15th November – “You are, Number 6”
I finished work at a decent time to allow me to take 159019 to Waterloo, changing to the underground with 51541/51540 on the first available Northern line service to Euston, where I headed towards the Holyhead train, with 805010 leading 805007 to take me to Chester, calling only at Stafford & Crewe. Nice and fast, the train getting very busy at Chester due to a TfW cancellation of the previous Holyhead service, but thankfully I alighted to transfer towards platform 2 to board a very busy 158827 for the short distance to Shotton. Judging by the platform screen this was meant to be a 6-coach formation so a bit of a downgrade in the number of coaches.
I had around 35 minutes to waste at Shotton before the next Wrexham Central service so I headed into the shopping area to waste some time, watching the heavy traffic due to roadworks before heading back to the station, taking a seat at the northern end. Winner 230006 rolled in on the next Wrexham train, so I climbed on board taking a seat near the rear (which was quieter than the front coaches) and had a nice little ride towards Wrexham Central. I do like the interiors of the Welsh 230s and I was happy to get number 6 into my book after it avoided me the previous Saturday.
230006 at Wrexham Central by Kite, on FlickrAs this service goes back north empty and the next departure from Wrexham Central wouldn’t be for another 3 hours (the next southbound service spins at Wrexham General and the following unit shunting to platform 3 at Wrexham General to form a Shrewsbury stopper), I had a gentle walk to Wrexham General, getting a bit lost along the way due to poor lighting. This time of night there is a couple of departures towards Chester within 15 minutes of each other, and I was expecting the unit from Birmingham to be busy (and hence was going to step back to the Wrexham – Liverpool service considering it made no difference with the connection at Crewe). I was surprised when 197007 rolled in (a set swap at Shrewsbury) with the area behind the drivers cab empty, easy enough to grab a seat on this delayed service to North Wales (which got delayed further awaiting a freight service to clear the single line section).
Onwards to Chester, where I decided against heading out to Tesco for dinner, instead headed towards platform 1 to await the arrival of 197110 on the shuttle, grabbing a seat near the front of the unit as it returned to Crewe. At Crewe it was a simply case of heading to the accommodation, via the Tesco garage for something to eat for dinner, picking up the keys from the low-down lockbox and getting into the same room I had the previous week. On arrival, I simply relaxed for the rest of the evening, looking at options for the Saturday based on the expected weather forecast being a bit damp in places. I was happy to get that 230 into my book, after it took a while to enter service as it was being used as a parts doner to keep the other 4 units running after Viva Rail went bust.
16th November – Little North Western & Trams
Working with the predicted weather forecast I decided to head towards Lancashire to do a short disused railway walk which had been on my radar to do, using the route of the former North Western Railway route towards Bentham, which the first section has been turned into a mixed-use path with access via a bus to Caton or Brookhouse. The day began with 390006 working an early morning Birmingham – Edinburgh service, departing Crewe around 07:10 with the smooth run to Lancaster, passing some heavy rain around Wigan.
In Lancaster, it was a short walk towards the city bus station to take the route 81 service run by Kirkby Lonsdale Coaches, heading to Kirkby Lonsdale, a route which looks like it will be worthwhile doing in full one of these days. The bus was a 22 plate Volvo Evora (fleet number 207), and handing over my £2 I joined the bus as it headed away from Lancaster city centre, towards the M6 and Halton. After Halton it crossed over the Lune to call at Caton and finally at Brookhouse where I alighted. A bus route which felt like it had a bit of timetable allowances as the driver stopped a few times along the way to wait for the correct departure point at the timing points. Anyway, after a quick photo of the bus my walk began.
Lonsdale Buses BV22 HBP in Brookhouse on a route 81 by Kite, on FlickrThe first section was along a narrow country lane towards the A683, picking up the route of the old railway line near the Bull Beck picnic site, and walking east to the end of the route where it joined the A683. I headed back on myself towards the picnic site and carried on towards Caton (having a little detour to visit the Co-Op). After Caton I crossed over the river Lune twice at the Crook O' Lune bridges, giving some nice views of the river before carrying on along the route of the old railway. Not much evidence of old railway line until I reached the remains of Halton railway station, the platform & building being used by a university club (I presume probably for rowing as the river was never too far away).
I soon reached the outskirts of Lancaster, going underneath the M6 & A683, passing the Holiday Inn, the path being quite busy with joggers. The next landmark was the Lune aqueduct carrying the Lancaster canal over both the old railway line and the river Lune as it made its way towards Carnforth. The next section was more industrial and soon I reached the end of the railway route at Green Ayre, heading towards the station via the roads & castle. An enjoyable stroll from Caton, some nice woodland in parts.
Remains of Halton Railway Station (North Western Railway) by Kite, on FlickrThe next southbound service was a TPE formed of 397008 where I was lucky to get a seat (advertising “First Class in coach E” but without saying which way round the train is seemed to be complete & utter pointless in my eyes). Anyhow this 397 took me to Preston where I made a tight connection onto former GA 156402 (now with Northern seat covers!) working a service to Blackpool South (as it had been a while since I last did this branch, also would be easier with the trams). At Blackpool South I had a short walk towards Waterloo Road tram stop for my least favourite tramway, no departure screens and a timetable of 4 trams per hour, on a busy Saturday afternoon just isn’t enough as I couldn’t board the first tram it was that wedged out.
15 minutes later, I managed to squeeze onto tram 12 to take me to Talbot Square and a short wait before tram 6 on a southbound service took me to North Station (where it sat for a good 5 minutes before departing). My last tram move was onto tram 8 to take me to Pleasant Street, the Blackpool seafront is a bit depressing these days with boarded up hotels. At Pleasant Street I headed back towards Blackpool North on foot as my hour ticket had nearly expired, and boarded 331111 working a Liverpool service to take me towards Wigan North Western.
Blackpool Tram 012 at Talbot Square by Kite, on FlickrIn Wigan I transferred to Wigan Wallgate, where I had a change of plan and instead of heading towards Headbolt Lane (to tick of platform 3), I boarded 769442 for the run to Southport for my first 769 of the year, sitting in the motor coach for the classic 319 motor noise with the slow run to Southport where I made a tight connection onto winner 777038 on the next Liverpool Central service which I took to Hall Road, pushing it over ten miles and hanging back for winner 777017 on the following service which I took to Liverpool Central, hanging back to take the same unit back north to Bank Hall to clear it for ten miles.
A swift cross platform change at Bank Hall saw me onto dud 777032 back to Sandhils and onto 777144 to Kirkby where I had previously seen a winner 777/1 heading towards Headbolt Lane. My first time at Kirkby station since the line was extended and part of the 3rd rail being pulled up. 777152 rolled in from Headbolt to take me to Liverpool Central, where I remained on board back to Kirkby to see the 4th unit on Headbolt Lane services today, which was winner 777146. Back to Liverpool Central, and remaining on board (sometimes doing metro units for ten miles is a pain in the rear end!), exiting at Kirkdale.
Dud 777144 took me back towards Sandhills, followed by dud 777032 to Moorfields. I was tempted to go after a winner 777/1 on the Ormskirk line but decided that could wait for another day. At Moorfields I made it to the Wirral line platform, with a couple of options, either something to Lime Street for a Pendo back to Crewe or a 777 towards Chester for a TfW service for Crewe. The first Chester service wasn’t needed (I was hanging back to see what was on the Ellesmere Port service) before 777043 rolled in, a unit I needed for mileage, so my original plan went into the bin and I headed to New Brighton!
777043 alongside 777015 at New Brighton by Kite, on FlickrI crossed over the platform at New Brighton to board 777015 back towards the city centre (043 departed for the depot as it was the time of evening when Merseyrail drop from 4tph to 2tph). At Lime Street I headed to the mainline station, and towards a LNR for Birmingham. Sadly, this was also the time of night where the option of going via Chester was ruled out due to the 2-hour gap in Crewe trains, so it was onto a busy 350242 & 350116, making a mistake to sit in the /1 where in hindsight I should have walked to the front of the /2 for a potentially quieter journey.
Back at Crewe and I headed towards the shared house, going via a recently opened takeaway (“Get Smashed” for a very tasty cheese burger combo box, certainly a better burger (or in this case a triple burger) than from Tiger Bite. Certainly, a place I will return to the next time I’m in Crewe, whenever that might be (my trips next year so far have been paused until I find out what line of the roster I end up on and what my shift pattern/free days will be, hence why I’m trying to make the most of my weekends off when I still can. Anyhow after my very tasty burger I relaxed for the rest of the evening, looking at options for Sunday as my original walking idea seemed to be rained off.
17th November – Coventry Canal in Coventry
With the poor weather forecast in the Manchester area, I came up with many alternative ideas, eventually deciding on a canal walk from Bedworth towards Coventry as the weather forecast in that area was looking dryer until early afternoon. I departed from my accommodation and headed towards Crewe station (going via the Tesco garage for some breakfast) for a Liverpool – London service which called at Nuneaton. Due to engineering works in the Stafford area the first few services from Crewe were being diverted via Kidsgrove.
390009 rolled in from Liverpool and I managed to grab a seat in coach C with the train heading slowly towards Kidsgrove, I’m guessing there must have been some signalling issue as it was quite slow in places, losing nearly 10 minutes by the time the train reached Kidsgrove, not the first time I’ve been on a Pendo between Crewe & Kidsgrove (pretty sure in January 2020 when heading towards Stockport when I ended up on the last train towards Manchester). Anyhow passing Stoke on Trent without stopping was a nice oddity as the train headed towards Rugeley on the Colwich line, a line I haven’t done in a fair while. Arrival into Nuneaton was still around 10 minutes late, but that didn’t bother me as I had a 30-minute connection.
390009 at Nuneaton by Kite, on FlickrI headed towards platform 1 to take a seat on 196004 on a Leamington Spa service for the short ride towards Bedworth where my walk began in some nice sunshine. The first section after leaving the station was the short section heading east along the B4029 to reach the Coventry canal (which skirts around the edge of Bedworth), dropping down onto the towpath which was a bit muddy in places but nothing that major. This section of the towpath was quite woody and was pretty as it headed towards Hawkesbury Junction where the Oxford canal joins, passing an old engine house.
After the junction I continued heading along the canal towpath, now tarmacked as it passed underneath the M6 and towards Longford, skirting close to the Coventry arena towards Little Heath. The canal's character changing from rural to urban (in terms of litter and noise of traffic) as it weaved towards Edgwick before going twisty for the last couple of miles before the canal ended at the basin close to the city centre.
Coventry Canal between Bedworth & Hawkesbury Junction (1) by Kite, on FlickrThe weather had changed from being sunny to being quite cloudy and as I made my way towards the city centre it did start to spit, as I detoured via the remains of the cathedral before making my way towards the station, the rain turning heavy in the last minute as I approached the building. I headed towards platform 2 to see what the other 196 was on the Nuneaton - Leamington services was today (turned out to be 002 so not needed), before boarding 390155 on the next non-stop London Euston service, easily grabbing a seat in coach G to give my phone a charge and relax.
The Pendo arrived earlier than scheduled which gave me hope to make an earlier train from Waterloo as I headed towards the underground, squeezing onto the first Northern line service (51717 & 51525) to take me to Waterloo for a short walk to board a busy 450005 on a Basingstoke terminator (engineering works at Winchester). This got quite cosy after Clapham Junction but did empty out at Woking. At Basingstoke it was a simply change to platform 1, only for a late notice platform change to platform 3 for 159019 & 158888 on a Salisbury service from Reading to take me to Grateley. A gentle stroll home and I could relax for the rest of the evening.
Bombed out remains of Coventry Cathedral (4) by Kite, on FlickrAn enjoyable weekend getaway, two nice walks. I’ve got no idea when the next time I will be back in the Crewe area on a long weekend, but my list of 777s have come down. As ever thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr. I’m not doing a post for my trip on the 23rd November as that was simply a red pen day in the West Midlands scoring various 730s plus another 2 coach 196. So I will leave you with Paddington
Paddington Statue in Salisbury by Kite, on Flickr
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29th November – 1st December – North West Weekender
Another short notice booking for a couple nights stay in Crewe, finding the place I’ve used a couple of times already in November was £60 for two nights was hard to turn down, considering I didn’t have any other ideas for the weekend other than maybe a day of 720 hunting on Greater Anglia. Making the most of my last couple weekends off before my days off will vary week by week.
29th November – London to Crewe via Blackpool?
I had a couple of options to reach Crewe, either going via the West Midlands if my last couple of 730/0s were floating around (or my last couple of leased 2 coach 196s), but nothing appeared to be out, leaving me with a crazy idea of doing the evening 807 service all the way to Blackpool North, solely to say I’ve done an 807 to Blackpool (for the lack of a better idea with the darker evenings). After completing my latest assessment, I got home, changed and back to the station for a busy 159020 & 158885 to take me towards Waterloo.
With time to kill I decided on a gentle stroll towards Euston arriving with plenty of spare time to allow for some people watching before heading down towards platform 16 where winner 807003 was waiting on the 17:05 service for Blackpool North. I got a nice table seat in coach H (the composite coach with part for Standard Premium) to allow me to watch some videos on the long journey north. All was going well until we had to make a special stop at Nuneaton to rescue passengers from a failed Manchester Pendo, meaning this train got quite busy.
807003 at London Euston by Kite, on Flickr
Thankfully it emptied out again at Crewe and the train continued heading north towards Preston, although the damage had been done and arrival at Blackpool North was 16 minutes late, cutting down the time I had to make a connection for something back towards Preston, jumping onto a York bound 195117 for the seemingly slow run back to Preston, a station which was its usual state of chaos with cancellations (both Northern & TPE) & delays (Avanti). I popped out of the station to visit the Tesco Express just to give me something to do before returning to board a Wolverhampton service (vice Euston) formed of a busy 390008 for the run to Crewe. At Crewe I exited the station (after allowing a crowd to clear the stairs first), heading towards the shared house on Nelson Street to get myself checked in (also known as opening the key box outside the front door to pick up the keys).
After sorting out my rucksack, I relaxed for the remainder of the evening, checking a couple of things for the Saturday (weather forecast, cancellations etc).
30th November – Rochdale Canal over the summit
Walking the gap in my Rochdale Canal coverage had been on my radar for a while, although the times I had it pencilled in was either wet & horrible, roasting hot or I had the day off due to blisters. I wanted to get it finished this year considering I walked from Littleborough into Manchester way back in October 2022 (and the section towards Hebden Bridge in February of this year). The weather forecast was looking promising as I headed out of the accommodation, a bit later than I had hoped so I skipped my usual detour to Tesco Express and headed direct to the station to catch 3900049 on a service which starts at Crewe (nice to have a private coach!)
At Manchester Piccadilly I headed towards Victoria on foot, swinging via a couple of shops to grab both breakfast & items for lunch, doing my usual following the tram lines from the city centre (not the quickest way but the safest way to avoid missing a turning in the back streets). At Victoria after a late running Headbolt Lane departed (nonstop to Wigan where it would terminate), 195001 & 195010 rolled in from Chester to take me into West Yorkshire & Hebden Bridge where my walk began.
156404 at Manchester Victoria by Kite, on Flickr
I picked up the canal towpath at the same point I left it earlier in the year and headed towards the town centre of Hebden Bridge, crossing over the canal at a lock near an aqueduct over the river Calder. The towpath quality in this part was quite decent, other than a couple of flood channels requiring use of a narrow wooden plank walkway. I soon left Hebden Bridge behind, going underneath the railway and onto a section where the canal runs alongside the river, separated by only the towpath. A very beautiful area as well with the naked trees.
The walk continued towards Eastwood and towards Todmorden, a place where quite a few dog owners haven't got the memo to clear up poo, based on how much dog poo was on the sides of the towpath. I soon reached the town centre where the towpath swapped sides via a lock alongside the A6033. This is where the quality of the towpath changed to being rougher (still a hard surface but bumpier) and wet with puddles as the canal started to climb, going underneath the railway twice as it headed towards Walsden and away from the urban area.
Gauxholme Railway Viaduct over Rochdale Canal by Kite, on Flickr
The canal follows the route of the railway (or should that be the other way round considering the canal was here first?) before it climbed away from the railway (which goes via a tunnel). I was glad when I reached the lock which said "welcome to the summit", with some beautiful views of the countryside as I headed to the place called Summit and the start of the downhill section heading towards Littleborough station. The walk was over when I reached a small car park near the station, the canal being completed. Some parts were better than others for both views & surface quality but a walk worth doing.
At Littleborough station I had around 10 minutes to wait before the next train towards Manchester (a Wigan service) so I had lunch as a busy 158759 rolled in from Leeds. It had managed to get ahead of a delayed semi-fast service at Milner Royd so had picked up the passengers of that service. Anyhow I took it to Manchester Victoria where I got lucky with a seriously late running Liverpool bound TPE service (one I had predicted would probably get spun at Victoria or even run nonstop due to being something like 50 minutes late at this point)
66770 passing Littleborough Station by Kite, on Flickr
Thankfully 802206 was running onward to Liverpool and I even got a seat in the leading coach for the slow run towards Liverpool. Thankfully a stopper from Manchester Airport was held for the 802 to pass in the Salford area (as that wouldn’t have been much fun following a stopper to the Huyton area), the train getting very busy at Newton-le-Willows & Lee Green to a point I was glad to escape at Lime Street, heading towards platform 10 to board winner 197030 on a Chester service (my original idea when I came up with it at Littleborough was to take a Chester service from Victoria and take this 197 into Liverpool) so I was ahead of my rough plan.
I was in two minds to take this to either Runcorn or all the way to Chester, deciding to bail at Chester as the next TfW service was running a couple of minutes late, allowing a quick cross platform dash to board a very busy 197007 (didn’t help that this was the first train in nearly an hour from Runcorn towards Liverpool due to LNR having a bad day). I bailed at Liverpool South Parkway (where it used the little used platform 4 on the ‘slow’ line side) and headed towards Merseyrail, taking 777005 to Liverpool Central to start a little Merseyrail hunt (seeing a required 777 on a Southport service).
197030 at Runcorn by Kite, on Flickr
To the Wirral line and I wasn’t around for long before winner 777021 rolled in on an Ellesmere Port service which I took all the way to Ellesmere Port (because even to Hooton wouldn’t have been enough to clear it for ten miles). Remaining on board I took this 777 back to Hooton, keeping my eyes peeled on the other services on Ellesmere Port & Chester, enjoying the late afternoon sun before calling it a day with 777018 from Chester, which passed a winner 777 at Eastham Rake (I had forgotten that Merseyrail had 7 units on Chester services at the moment). I bailed from 018 at Eastham Rake, waited for the next Chester service (777038) to take me to Bache where I had a nice 5-minute connection for winner 777029 to return from Chester to take me to Hamilton Square.
With delays on city bound services I headed towards the New Brighton bound platform to take 777011 out into the open at Birkenhead Park, with some light rain and 777039 taken to Birkenhead North where I managed to ID a couple more services before deciding to call it a day with dud 777030 back into the city centre and to a Lime Street which was a bit busy with multiple cancellations of services towards Crewe, with a large queue building for the next LNR service. So, I came up with an alternative idea and headed towards 158788 & 158812 on an EMR service to take me to Warrington Central where I had 20 minutes to stroll towards Bank Quay for a southbound Pendo.
158812 at Warrington Central by Kite, on Flickr
5 minutes of that 20 minutes was spent trying to get out of Warrington Central due to a revenue block (catching out those whom think paying the proper fare is optional and think a ticket to Warrington West is good enough to bypass the barriers). Eventually I escaped and made my way towards Bank Quay arriving with a couple of minutes to spare, only to see the London Pendo had been delayed at Wigan so I could have taken it a bit slower. A busy 390132 rolled in to take me to Crewe where I exited the station, heading to my accommodation via the nice burger place I used a couple weeks ago.
My day wasn’t quite over as after my burger and a short relaxation, I headed back towards Crewe station to board the 21:00 Holyhead service, grabbing a seat in the “standard plus” area of 197114 as it was a slow run due to following a late running voyager, getting completely rammed at Chester and continued into North Wales where I alighted at Prestatyn for a what was meant to be a 25-minute wait but was reduced to 15 minutes due to the delay. Thankfully it was worth the late-night trip as winner 197003 rolled in on the last train towards Crewe after spending the day on the Conwy Valley line. It attached to 197102 at Chester for the final section to Crewe.
197003 at Crewe by Kite, on Flickr
On arrival into Crewe, I headed back towards my accommodation to relax for the remainder of the evening, checking options for my walk as the weather was changing once more.
1st December - Biddulph Valley Way
The Biddulph Valley Way is the name given to the mixed-use path which runs along the route of the former railway line between Milton Junction on the (mothballed) Stoke – Leek line & Congleton which ran via the town of Biddulph. It had been on my list to walk a few times as a Sunday option but was ditched due to poor weather or engineering works at Stoke. The weather forecast today was rain until half nine then dry so I decided to gamble as I wanted to start December with a long walk.
After departing from the accommodation, I headed towards the railway station via Tesco, pausing at the bus stop outside the Crewe Arms hotel (now closed to the public to all reports). D&G Bus 102 (an Optare Solo) rolled in on the first route 38 service for Macclesfield, taking me towards Congleton via Sandbach & a couple other places, emptying out along the way. I alighted at the bus stop near Booth Street where my walk began. The first section was a path alongside the River Dane, taking me towards Congleton Park and to the start of the old railway line path near a council depot.
Dane River Walkway in Congleton (2) by Kite, on Flickr
The light rain which was with me at the start ended and it wasn't long before I took off my coat as I was getting warm, as I headed along the old railway route as it headed towards the Dane-in-Shaw Pastures, quite a wooded path. I headed underneath the WCML and the Macclesfield canal (a canal on my list to walk next year) with the path leaving Congleton behind, crossing into Staffordshire.
It was a nice rural path, busy at times with a reasonable hard surface. Some puddles but that was to be expected as it made its way towards Biddulph, skirting round the town centre and passing the remains of the station (the only station on this route still with platforms). The next settlement was Kynpersley & then Brindley Ford passing some flood protection works. The path was now within Stoke-on-Trent and headed towards the former Chatterley Whitfield Colliery.
Biddulph Valley Way between Congleton & Biddulph (5) by Kite, on Flickr
The path in this section was quite nice with the landscape as it headed towards the Whitfield Valley Nature Reserve where I paused for some lunch before continuing towards Ford Green, running alongside the Ford Green Brook for a short while, going underneath the A53 and passing Holden Lane Pools. The old railway line path itself ended at the former Milton Junction where it joined up with the mothballed line between Stoke & Leek. Mothballed but heavily overgrown with trees (reminded me a bit like the track which ran alongside the old railway walk from Frome towards Radstock).
After Milton Junction the path run alongside the old railway route to Birches Head Road where it ended at an old crossing, it looked like a path continued along the mothballed railway, which wasn't shown anywhere (looking at Google Maps Street view it might continue towards Leek Road). Anyhow I turned down the chance to explore this unmarked path to walk towards the Caldon Canal where I joined the towpath.
Remains of level crossing on the mothballed Stoke to Leek line at Birches Head Road by Kite, on Flickr
The Caldon Canal is a branch of the Trent & Mersey canal running from Etruria towards Froghall (where it met up with the Uttoxeter Canal) with a branch towards Leek. I had previously researched the section within Stoke on Trent in having a decent towpath surface (it turns more rural once outside the city limits but a canal which will need some research with the limited bus options at Froghall (twice a day on a bus route from Upper Tean/Cheadle to Leek run by a company called Aimee's whoever they are). Anyhow back to today as I joined the towpath with the sun out as the canal weaved its way towards Hanley Park (with a short detour via the roads due to a section being closed). Quite nice in places with woodland & older buildings. After Hanley Park the canal headed north dropping down some locks towards the Etruria Industrial Museum which sits at the junction where the Caldon canal meets up with the Trent & Mersey.
The last section of the walk was along the Trent & Mersey canal towards Stoke station, passing the yard where the former 460 coaches from the 458/5s are being stored (prior to getting scrapped I would imagine). I reached Stoke on Trent station with some time to spare before a London train was due so after visiting the toilets I watched as a late running 170 arrived to take a good crowd on the firs train towards Derby. 390016 rolled in and I got lucky to grab a pair of airline seats (all be ones with a view of plastic) in coach C for the run towards Euston, someone only joining me at Milton Keynes. The delay at Stoke meant by Milton Keynes it was behind a stopper for a short section where it ran along the slow lines delaying it further.
Caldon Canal, Stoke on Trent (31) by Kite, on Flickr
Arrival into Euston was near enough 15 minutes late as I headed towards the underground to jump on the first service (51503 & 51502) to take me to Waterloo to board the 17:20 service for Salisbury. Due to engineering works between Salisbury & Yeovil, the services at Waterloo had been retimed with the semi-fast trains departing at XX:45. This was formed of a busy 159016 & 159010 which took me to Hampshire, relaxing & getting ready for a busy week ahead. Two enjoyable walks this weekend, certainly my new phone got a good testing with the camera, even though having the fingerprint reader underneath the screen will take time to getting used to compared to having it on the rear. Photos can be found on my Flickr, for Saturday the link is here with Sunday’s photos here. Thanks for reading, I have no idea when my next blog post will be as this coming weekend is a couple of day trips with mum for some Christmas shopping and I’ve got a meeting next week which could be a good sign (all depends how the next few days pans out and if any concerns are raised with my whistle blowing technique)
I will leave you with a photo from earlier in the week with a 66 at Frome, a Shed within a Shed:
66512 passing Frome Station by Kite, on Flickr
Another short notice booking for a couple nights stay in Crewe, finding the place I’ve used a couple of times already in November was £60 for two nights was hard to turn down, considering I didn’t have any other ideas for the weekend other than maybe a day of 720 hunting on Greater Anglia. Making the most of my last couple weekends off before my days off will vary week by week.
29th November – London to Crewe via Blackpool?
I had a couple of options to reach Crewe, either going via the West Midlands if my last couple of 730/0s were floating around (or my last couple of leased 2 coach 196s), but nothing appeared to be out, leaving me with a crazy idea of doing the evening 807 service all the way to Blackpool North, solely to say I’ve done an 807 to Blackpool (for the lack of a better idea with the darker evenings). After completing my latest assessment, I got home, changed and back to the station for a busy 159020 & 158885 to take me towards Waterloo.
With time to kill I decided on a gentle stroll towards Euston arriving with plenty of spare time to allow for some people watching before heading down towards platform 16 where winner 807003 was waiting on the 17:05 service for Blackpool North. I got a nice table seat in coach H (the composite coach with part for Standard Premium) to allow me to watch some videos on the long journey north. All was going well until we had to make a special stop at Nuneaton to rescue passengers from a failed Manchester Pendo, meaning this train got quite busy.
807003 at London Euston by Kite, on FlickrThankfully it emptied out again at Crewe and the train continued heading north towards Preston, although the damage had been done and arrival at Blackpool North was 16 minutes late, cutting down the time I had to make a connection for something back towards Preston, jumping onto a York bound 195117 for the seemingly slow run back to Preston, a station which was its usual state of chaos with cancellations (both Northern & TPE) & delays (Avanti). I popped out of the station to visit the Tesco Express just to give me something to do before returning to board a Wolverhampton service (vice Euston) formed of a busy 390008 for the run to Crewe. At Crewe I exited the station (after allowing a crowd to clear the stairs first), heading towards the shared house on Nelson Street to get myself checked in (also known as opening the key box outside the front door to pick up the keys).
After sorting out my rucksack, I relaxed for the remainder of the evening, checking a couple of things for the Saturday (weather forecast, cancellations etc).
30th November – Rochdale Canal over the summit
Walking the gap in my Rochdale Canal coverage had been on my radar for a while, although the times I had it pencilled in was either wet & horrible, roasting hot or I had the day off due to blisters. I wanted to get it finished this year considering I walked from Littleborough into Manchester way back in October 2022 (and the section towards Hebden Bridge in February of this year). The weather forecast was looking promising as I headed out of the accommodation, a bit later than I had hoped so I skipped my usual detour to Tesco Express and headed direct to the station to catch 3900049 on a service which starts at Crewe (nice to have a private coach!)
At Manchester Piccadilly I headed towards Victoria on foot, swinging via a couple of shops to grab both breakfast & items for lunch, doing my usual following the tram lines from the city centre (not the quickest way but the safest way to avoid missing a turning in the back streets). At Victoria after a late running Headbolt Lane departed (nonstop to Wigan where it would terminate), 195001 & 195010 rolled in from Chester to take me into West Yorkshire & Hebden Bridge where my walk began.
156404 at Manchester Victoria by Kite, on FlickrI picked up the canal towpath at the same point I left it earlier in the year and headed towards the town centre of Hebden Bridge, crossing over the canal at a lock near an aqueduct over the river Calder. The towpath quality in this part was quite decent, other than a couple of flood channels requiring use of a narrow wooden plank walkway. I soon left Hebden Bridge behind, going underneath the railway and onto a section where the canal runs alongside the river, separated by only the towpath. A very beautiful area as well with the naked trees.
The walk continued towards Eastwood and towards Todmorden, a place where quite a few dog owners haven't got the memo to clear up poo, based on how much dog poo was on the sides of the towpath. I soon reached the town centre where the towpath swapped sides via a lock alongside the A6033. This is where the quality of the towpath changed to being rougher (still a hard surface but bumpier) and wet with puddles as the canal started to climb, going underneath the railway twice as it headed towards Walsden and away from the urban area.
Gauxholme Railway Viaduct over Rochdale Canal by Kite, on FlickrThe canal follows the route of the railway (or should that be the other way round considering the canal was here first?) before it climbed away from the railway (which goes via a tunnel). I was glad when I reached the lock which said "welcome to the summit", with some beautiful views of the countryside as I headed to the place called Summit and the start of the downhill section heading towards Littleborough station. The walk was over when I reached a small car park near the station, the canal being completed. Some parts were better than others for both views & surface quality but a walk worth doing.
At Littleborough station I had around 10 minutes to wait before the next train towards Manchester (a Wigan service) so I had lunch as a busy 158759 rolled in from Leeds. It had managed to get ahead of a delayed semi-fast service at Milner Royd so had picked up the passengers of that service. Anyhow I took it to Manchester Victoria where I got lucky with a seriously late running Liverpool bound TPE service (one I had predicted would probably get spun at Victoria or even run nonstop due to being something like 50 minutes late at this point)
66770 passing Littleborough Station by Kite, on FlickrThankfully 802206 was running onward to Liverpool and I even got a seat in the leading coach for the slow run towards Liverpool. Thankfully a stopper from Manchester Airport was held for the 802 to pass in the Salford area (as that wouldn’t have been much fun following a stopper to the Huyton area), the train getting very busy at Newton-le-Willows & Lee Green to a point I was glad to escape at Lime Street, heading towards platform 10 to board winner 197030 on a Chester service (my original idea when I came up with it at Littleborough was to take a Chester service from Victoria and take this 197 into Liverpool) so I was ahead of my rough plan.
I was in two minds to take this to either Runcorn or all the way to Chester, deciding to bail at Chester as the next TfW service was running a couple of minutes late, allowing a quick cross platform dash to board a very busy 197007 (didn’t help that this was the first train in nearly an hour from Runcorn towards Liverpool due to LNR having a bad day). I bailed at Liverpool South Parkway (where it used the little used platform 4 on the ‘slow’ line side) and headed towards Merseyrail, taking 777005 to Liverpool Central to start a little Merseyrail hunt (seeing a required 777 on a Southport service).
197030 at Runcorn by Kite, on FlickrTo the Wirral line and I wasn’t around for long before winner 777021 rolled in on an Ellesmere Port service which I took all the way to Ellesmere Port (because even to Hooton wouldn’t have been enough to clear it for ten miles). Remaining on board I took this 777 back to Hooton, keeping my eyes peeled on the other services on Ellesmere Port & Chester, enjoying the late afternoon sun before calling it a day with 777018 from Chester, which passed a winner 777 at Eastham Rake (I had forgotten that Merseyrail had 7 units on Chester services at the moment). I bailed from 018 at Eastham Rake, waited for the next Chester service (777038) to take me to Bache where I had a nice 5-minute connection for winner 777029 to return from Chester to take me to Hamilton Square.
With delays on city bound services I headed towards the New Brighton bound platform to take 777011 out into the open at Birkenhead Park, with some light rain and 777039 taken to Birkenhead North where I managed to ID a couple more services before deciding to call it a day with dud 777030 back into the city centre and to a Lime Street which was a bit busy with multiple cancellations of services towards Crewe, with a large queue building for the next LNR service. So, I came up with an alternative idea and headed towards 158788 & 158812 on an EMR service to take me to Warrington Central where I had 20 minutes to stroll towards Bank Quay for a southbound Pendo.
158812 at Warrington Central by Kite, on Flickr5 minutes of that 20 minutes was spent trying to get out of Warrington Central due to a revenue block (catching out those whom think paying the proper fare is optional and think a ticket to Warrington West is good enough to bypass the barriers). Eventually I escaped and made my way towards Bank Quay arriving with a couple of minutes to spare, only to see the London Pendo had been delayed at Wigan so I could have taken it a bit slower. A busy 390132 rolled in to take me to Crewe where I exited the station, heading to my accommodation via the nice burger place I used a couple weeks ago.
My day wasn’t quite over as after my burger and a short relaxation, I headed back towards Crewe station to board the 21:00 Holyhead service, grabbing a seat in the “standard plus” area of 197114 as it was a slow run due to following a late running voyager, getting completely rammed at Chester and continued into North Wales where I alighted at Prestatyn for a what was meant to be a 25-minute wait but was reduced to 15 minutes due to the delay. Thankfully it was worth the late-night trip as winner 197003 rolled in on the last train towards Crewe after spending the day on the Conwy Valley line. It attached to 197102 at Chester for the final section to Crewe.
197003 at Crewe by Kite, on FlickrOn arrival into Crewe, I headed back towards my accommodation to relax for the remainder of the evening, checking options for my walk as the weather was changing once more.
1st December - Biddulph Valley Way
The Biddulph Valley Way is the name given to the mixed-use path which runs along the route of the former railway line between Milton Junction on the (mothballed) Stoke – Leek line & Congleton which ran via the town of Biddulph. It had been on my list to walk a few times as a Sunday option but was ditched due to poor weather or engineering works at Stoke. The weather forecast today was rain until half nine then dry so I decided to gamble as I wanted to start December with a long walk.
After departing from the accommodation, I headed towards the railway station via Tesco, pausing at the bus stop outside the Crewe Arms hotel (now closed to the public to all reports). D&G Bus 102 (an Optare Solo) rolled in on the first route 38 service for Macclesfield, taking me towards Congleton via Sandbach & a couple other places, emptying out along the way. I alighted at the bus stop near Booth Street where my walk began. The first section was a path alongside the River Dane, taking me towards Congleton Park and to the start of the old railway line path near a council depot.
Dane River Walkway in Congleton (2) by Kite, on FlickrThe light rain which was with me at the start ended and it wasn't long before I took off my coat as I was getting warm, as I headed along the old railway route as it headed towards the Dane-in-Shaw Pastures, quite a wooded path. I headed underneath the WCML and the Macclesfield canal (a canal on my list to walk next year) with the path leaving Congleton behind, crossing into Staffordshire.
It was a nice rural path, busy at times with a reasonable hard surface. Some puddles but that was to be expected as it made its way towards Biddulph, skirting round the town centre and passing the remains of the station (the only station on this route still with platforms). The next settlement was Kynpersley & then Brindley Ford passing some flood protection works. The path was now within Stoke-on-Trent and headed towards the former Chatterley Whitfield Colliery.
Biddulph Valley Way between Congleton & Biddulph (5) by Kite, on FlickrThe path in this section was quite nice with the landscape as it headed towards the Whitfield Valley Nature Reserve where I paused for some lunch before continuing towards Ford Green, running alongside the Ford Green Brook for a short while, going underneath the A53 and passing Holden Lane Pools. The old railway line path itself ended at the former Milton Junction where it joined up with the mothballed line between Stoke & Leek. Mothballed but heavily overgrown with trees (reminded me a bit like the track which ran alongside the old railway walk from Frome towards Radstock).
After Milton Junction the path run alongside the old railway route to Birches Head Road where it ended at an old crossing, it looked like a path continued along the mothballed railway, which wasn't shown anywhere (looking at Google Maps Street view it might continue towards Leek Road). Anyhow I turned down the chance to explore this unmarked path to walk towards the Caldon Canal where I joined the towpath.
Remains of level crossing on the mothballed Stoke to Leek line at Birches Head Road by Kite, on FlickrThe Caldon Canal is a branch of the Trent & Mersey canal running from Etruria towards Froghall (where it met up with the Uttoxeter Canal) with a branch towards Leek. I had previously researched the section within Stoke on Trent in having a decent towpath surface (it turns more rural once outside the city limits but a canal which will need some research with the limited bus options at Froghall (twice a day on a bus route from Upper Tean/Cheadle to Leek run by a company called Aimee's whoever they are). Anyhow back to today as I joined the towpath with the sun out as the canal weaved its way towards Hanley Park (with a short detour via the roads due to a section being closed). Quite nice in places with woodland & older buildings. After Hanley Park the canal headed north dropping down some locks towards the Etruria Industrial Museum which sits at the junction where the Caldon canal meets up with the Trent & Mersey.
The last section of the walk was along the Trent & Mersey canal towards Stoke station, passing the yard where the former 460 coaches from the 458/5s are being stored (prior to getting scrapped I would imagine). I reached Stoke on Trent station with some time to spare before a London train was due so after visiting the toilets I watched as a late running 170 arrived to take a good crowd on the firs train towards Derby. 390016 rolled in and I got lucky to grab a pair of airline seats (all be ones with a view of plastic) in coach C for the run towards Euston, someone only joining me at Milton Keynes. The delay at Stoke meant by Milton Keynes it was behind a stopper for a short section where it ran along the slow lines delaying it further.
Caldon Canal, Stoke on Trent (31) by Kite, on FlickrArrival into Euston was near enough 15 minutes late as I headed towards the underground to jump on the first service (51503 & 51502) to take me to Waterloo to board the 17:20 service for Salisbury. Due to engineering works between Salisbury & Yeovil, the services at Waterloo had been retimed with the semi-fast trains departing at XX:45. This was formed of a busy 159016 & 159010 which took me to Hampshire, relaxing & getting ready for a busy week ahead. Two enjoyable walks this weekend, certainly my new phone got a good testing with the camera, even though having the fingerprint reader underneath the screen will take time to getting used to compared to having it on the rear. Photos can be found on my Flickr, for Saturday the link is here with Sunday’s photos here. Thanks for reading, I have no idea when my next blog post will be as this coming weekend is a couple of day trips with mum for some Christmas shopping and I’ve got a meeting next week which could be a good sign (all depends how the next few days pans out and if any concerns are raised with my whistle blowing technique)
I will leave you with a photo from earlier in the week with a 66 at Frome, a Shed within a Shed:
66512 passing Frome Station by Kite, on Flickr
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14th December – 19th December Day Trips
14th December – Farewell to the Tilting Voyager
A Saturday where I didn’t have anything planned due to being uncertain about the following week and what shifts I will get put on since completing training, as it turned out I was on an early morning shift on the Sunday which ruined out doing anything too late on the Saturday. It was also the last day Avanti were running voyagers on the West Coast Main Line, and having a farewell spin was something on my list since the autumn but was something I never got around to doing.
The day began with the 06:59 service from Grateley formed of 159019 to take me towards Waterloo giving me 45 minutes to stroll towards Euston for the 09:03 (odd) Holyhead train formed of 221106 & 221105 as I grabbed a seat in the middle coach of 221106 to relax with the fast run towards Crewe calling only at Stafford. Bit of a slow run-in places due to issues on the WCML but overall, it was a good way to say farewell considering the last run was a slow train to Birmingham. Along the way to Crewe, I had multiple ideas of what to do, chase down a 197 on a Llandudno service, chase down a 730 on the Cross City line or head into Liverpool for some 777 hunts.
221106 at London Euston by Kite, on Flickr
In the end I decided to keep things simpler, after watching a 4 coach 350 depart Crewe for Liverpool pretty much full due to overcrowding I hung back to board a busy 390134 to Runcorn for a short fester before winner 807001 rolled in from Liverpool. The theory of heading to Runcorn was I could have bailed at Crewe if the train was overcrowded, but I managed to grab a seat in the standard class area of coach H with ease (the difference with legroom with the newer units & the voyagers stands out, so much legroom on these Hitachi units). Anyhow the train only got busy at Milton Keynes (in terms of passengers standing), with the train losing some time due to the issues around Polesworth.
At Euston, after grabbing a photo of a steam train on “Polar Express” charter services I headed to the underground taking 51531 & 51556 to Waterloo and towards the 14:50 service at Waterloo. Not the 14:50 to Salisbury but the 14:50 to Reading for another mini personal farewell, this time to the 5 coach 458s as 458529 & 458535 were on a Reading service, could easily be the last time I have a 458 to Reading considering SWR are down to the last 4 units with the other 458s being converted to 4 coach units.
458529 alongside 165126 at Reading by Kite, on Flickr
Some nice speed sections on the Reading train, but also some slow sections due to the multiple stops. At Reading I headed over to platform 2 to board 165104 on a Basingstoke service, exiting the station at Basingstoke to grab some supplies for later in the week, before taking the 17:38 service back to Grateley with 158881 & 159006 where I relaxed for the rest of the evening before having an early night.
17th December – Visiting Ashington
The Northumberland Line reopened to passenger trains at the timetable change on the Sunday, all be with 2 of the 6 stations on the line opening on the Sunday (the others are in various stages of construction), so I decided to have a little trip to the North East to visit the two opened stations with a plan I put together on the weekend after getting seat reservations for Lumo. The day began with my old Basingstoke commuting train, the 07:27 to Waterloo with 159105, 159101 & 159016 with this service. Nonstop after Basingstoke is always a nice treat, even though it got caught up with some congestion at the London end of the journey.
After grabbing some breakfast, I headed to the former International Platforms at Waterloo to jump onto 458405 & 458411 for the run to Vauxhall, getting another 458/4 into my book for renumbering. 455863 & 455735 took me back to Waterloo where I had a gentle stroll towards Kings Cross, relaxing before 803005 rolled in empty from the sidings and I got my reserved seat, settling down for the run towards Newcastle, with the novelty of using the York avoiding line, but with a short delay for trains to go in front, including a late running LNER to Edinburgh (itself delayed by a large delay to the Aberdeen train).
803005 at London Kings Cross by Kite, on Flickr
Arrival into Newcastle was a few minutes late, as I exited the paid-area of the station to visit a pop-up tent to buy a Soft Azuma toy from a pop-up LNER sales stand, before taking 158860 all the way to Ashington, bit of new track from the junction with the North Blyth branch to Ashington itself (plus the various areas which have been redoubled to allow for the half hourly passenger service to run along any freight considering it has been a few years since the last time I was on a train on the Blyth & Tyne route (probably the last time being a Deltic railtour in September 2018). I exited the station at Ashington to have a walk towards the town centre area, mainly to pick up some more liquid.
Back at Ashington station it was onto 158859 for the run to Seaton Delaval, a station which is quite basic but has a well-used car park, as I had a little explore of the area close to the station before 158845 took me into Newcastle, which had quite a few delays to northbound trains due to an incident earlier in the day at Stevenage, but I exited the station to head into the city centre area to grab some dinner and waste time (discovering that Newcastle had a Wendys, yum yum).
158859 at Seaton Delaval Station by Kite, on Flickr
I ate my dinner at Newcastle station as 803005 returned from Edinburgh to take me back to London, my fear of it being massively overcrowded due to a cancelled LNER didn’t come to pass as I managed to grab my reserved seat (even if it was next to someone who kept picking his phone up, putting it down on the table before grabbing it 20 or so seconds later). The service lost time after Doncaster as it had caught up with a late running stopper from York so arrival into King’s Cross was around 20 minutes late. I guess in theory I could have probably made the 21:20 from Waterloo had I had good fortune with the underground but I decided against the rush and instead had a gentle stroll towards Waterloo, jumping onto 455739 & 455708 to Vauxhall, simply to intercept 458418 & 458401 heading towards Waterloo to get another 458 into my book.
After that little trip to Vauxhall, I relaxed before 159001 & 159005 rolled in to form the 22:20 service, which remained busy throughout in the front coach, and soon I was at Grateley where I had a gentle stroll home. An enjoyable day to visit a couple of new stations & a return to Lumo.
18th December – “Farewell to the Gold Card” Travelcard Day
My gold card was due to expire on the 20th December and I didn’t think it was worthwhile to invest in a replacement considering the only use it’s had since the end of August has been for Travelcards & a discount on oyster fares. I will simply buy myself a Network Railcard for future London trips where I will use a Travelcard. In addition, my good friend Jules was in London as well having returned from a holiday and it would be nice for another catch-up.
The day started again with the 07:27 service from Grateley with 159011, 159010 & 159021 to take me to London, a lot quieter compared with the Tuesday, I guess for some London city workers they had already broken up for Christmas as I had a private table all the way. Unlike the day before there wasn’t anything of interest running out of Waterloo for the next half hour so I had a gentle stroll towards Cannon Street (of all places) via the Thames Path. I was actually aiming for Liverpool Street but made a wrong turn near a big junction in the Bank area (oops!) Anyhow it was past 09:30 so my travelcard was valid so I jumped onto 465023 & 465018 for the slow run to London Bridge.
466036 at London Bridge by Kite, on Flickr
At London Bridge it was a short walk to platform 5 to board 700054 on a late running Luton service to take me to St Pancras, where I had another short stroll to Euston, taking a seat on a Tring bound 350256 & 350103 meeting up with Jules with the run to Harrow & Wealdstone, exiting the station to visit the Asda before returning to the station & boarding 730035 & 730018 back to Euston and headed to the underground with 51678 & 51677 on the first available train towards Tottenham Court Road, changing to the Lizzy line onto 345023 to Whitechapel & 345041 to Woolwich where I wanted to do some admin with my oyster card before we headed out towards the town centre and towards North Woolwich via the foot tunnel.
Time for a bus interlude with Arriva’s HA53 on the SL2 service towards Walthamstow, something which was on both our lists of things to do. An enjoyable run with this limited stop bus route heading from North Woolwich towards Gallions Reach, Barking, Ilford & finally Walthamstow Central station, where it terminated outside the closed bus station. A bit slow in places with traffic, but for me it ticks off another part of the Superloop network, just leaving the two routes from Bromley to do at some point. Anyhow it was to the station with 710104 taken to Bethnal Green before 710123 to Liverpool Street where we transferred to the underground.
710105 at Walthamstow Central by Kite, on Flickr
A Hammersmith bound service formed of 21534 & 21533 took us to Euston Square and a short walk to Euston station where we booked winner 807008 on a Liverpool service with the near 50 mile run to Milton Keynes Central, parting ways with Jules carrying on his journey back to Hereford via a pair of 350s to Rugby and myself back to London on 390107. Originally, I was going to head towards Liverpool Street to hunt down some 720s but when I saw a Northampton ‘fast’ service was showing as a 3-coach unit, I took a look, and after seeing 730046 working it, I decided that the 720s could wait for the novelty of both a fast run on a 730/0 and also a 730/0 to Northampton.
730046 was lightly loaded (which is no real surprise considering it gets overtaken by a London – Birmingham LNR service) as it headed towards Northampton, calling only at Watford Junction & Milton Keynes, going onto the slow lines around Bourne End. Due to the late running Birmingham train this service arrived into Milton Keynes 5 minutes ahead of schedule before carrying on to Northampton, terminating on platform 2. Certainly an unexpected trip to Northampton as I made my way across to platform 1 for a short wait for 350408 & 350237 to roll in on a late running Euston train, which I took to Milton Keynes Central, swapping to a busy 390122 for the final section into Euston, where for the second time of the day I headed to the underground to jump onto 51519 & 51518 to Waterloo.
730046 at Northampton by Kite, on Flickr
I was in two minds between going after a winner 701 or heading home, in the end the idea of heading home won as I boarded the 19:20 service with a busy 159003 & 159106 back home to Grateley, and a gentle stroll home to relax. I didn’t manage to make that much use of my travelcard but hey-ho those things happen. It was nice to catch up with Jules once more and to do the bus route from North Woolwich.
19th December – A trip to Sussex
A little trip to take mum out for the day, and I ended up deciding on a trip towards Sussex for lack of a better idea (and wanting a change of pace considering we needed to be home for around 6pm). The day began with a drive to Romsey and 158747 & 158750 to Southampton Central, getting delayed on the approach due to signalling issues. After exiting the station to grab some supplies we returned to board 387209 on a service for Brighton, the first time I’ve had a 387 from Southampton for the slow run towards Brighton, hitting into the idiotic situation where you can’t simply get from platform 1 & 2 towards the other platforms, instead you are forced to exit the station to re-enter it at another set of ticket gates. Whatever happened to putting passengers first?
Anyhow it was a short walk to the bus stop outside the station where the route 12X departs from, this limited stop service for Eastbourne (in hindsight I ought to have purchased tickets to Eastbourne instead of Seaford but hey-ho) with one of the newer buses, 714, doing the honours. A bit slow coming out of Brighton due to traffic but soon it was out along the coastal route towards Newhaven & to Seaford where we alighted at the library bus stop, swinging via Morrisons to waste some time before heading to the station.
Brighton Buses Bus 714 (Dame Gracie Fields, YY73 TLK) in Seaford by Kite, on Flickr
At the station it was a short wait for 377162 to roll in from Brighton to take a seat for the run back towards Brighton (I did have a crazy idea of changing at Lewes for something towards Three Bridges to take an Arun Valley line service but the Eastbourne – Victoria was cancelled). Thankfully the idiotic revenue barriers have disappeared allowing easy access to platform 2 to board 387129, this former Great Northern unit now complete with Southern stickers on the outside & route maps.
We took this 387 to Cosham, making a mistake in changing at Cosham instead of Fareham as the next GWR service (formed of 158745 & 158762) was busy with school kids heading home (the vast majority exiting the train at Fareham). Soon enough the 158s arrived at Romsey where we headed back to the car to drive home, the end of a little day trip to Sussex, and a little day trip in an area I haven’t been to for a while.
387129 at Brighton Station by Kite, on Flickr
Anyhow that’s it for my pre-Christmas rest day trips as it was back to work for me, working until Christmas Eve moving customers from point A to point B, occasionally via point C. For anybody still reading, have a good New Year
14th December – Farewell to the Tilting Voyager
A Saturday where I didn’t have anything planned due to being uncertain about the following week and what shifts I will get put on since completing training, as it turned out I was on an early morning shift on the Sunday which ruined out doing anything too late on the Saturday. It was also the last day Avanti were running voyagers on the West Coast Main Line, and having a farewell spin was something on my list since the autumn but was something I never got around to doing.
The day began with the 06:59 service from Grateley formed of 159019 to take me towards Waterloo giving me 45 minutes to stroll towards Euston for the 09:03 (odd) Holyhead train formed of 221106 & 221105 as I grabbed a seat in the middle coach of 221106 to relax with the fast run towards Crewe calling only at Stafford. Bit of a slow run-in places due to issues on the WCML but overall, it was a good way to say farewell considering the last run was a slow train to Birmingham. Along the way to Crewe, I had multiple ideas of what to do, chase down a 197 on a Llandudno service, chase down a 730 on the Cross City line or head into Liverpool for some 777 hunts.
221106 at London Euston by Kite, on FlickrIn the end I decided to keep things simpler, after watching a 4 coach 350 depart Crewe for Liverpool pretty much full due to overcrowding I hung back to board a busy 390134 to Runcorn for a short fester before winner 807001 rolled in from Liverpool. The theory of heading to Runcorn was I could have bailed at Crewe if the train was overcrowded, but I managed to grab a seat in the standard class area of coach H with ease (the difference with legroom with the newer units & the voyagers stands out, so much legroom on these Hitachi units). Anyhow the train only got busy at Milton Keynes (in terms of passengers standing), with the train losing some time due to the issues around Polesworth.
At Euston, after grabbing a photo of a steam train on “Polar Express” charter services I headed to the underground taking 51531 & 51556 to Waterloo and towards the 14:50 service at Waterloo. Not the 14:50 to Salisbury but the 14:50 to Reading for another mini personal farewell, this time to the 5 coach 458s as 458529 & 458535 were on a Reading service, could easily be the last time I have a 458 to Reading considering SWR are down to the last 4 units with the other 458s being converted to 4 coach units.
458529 alongside 165126 at Reading by Kite, on FlickrSome nice speed sections on the Reading train, but also some slow sections due to the multiple stops. At Reading I headed over to platform 2 to board 165104 on a Basingstoke service, exiting the station at Basingstoke to grab some supplies for later in the week, before taking the 17:38 service back to Grateley with 158881 & 159006 where I relaxed for the rest of the evening before having an early night.
17th December – Visiting Ashington
The Northumberland Line reopened to passenger trains at the timetable change on the Sunday, all be with 2 of the 6 stations on the line opening on the Sunday (the others are in various stages of construction), so I decided to have a little trip to the North East to visit the two opened stations with a plan I put together on the weekend after getting seat reservations for Lumo. The day began with my old Basingstoke commuting train, the 07:27 to Waterloo with 159105, 159101 & 159016 with this service. Nonstop after Basingstoke is always a nice treat, even though it got caught up with some congestion at the London end of the journey.
After grabbing some breakfast, I headed to the former International Platforms at Waterloo to jump onto 458405 & 458411 for the run to Vauxhall, getting another 458/4 into my book for renumbering. 455863 & 455735 took me back to Waterloo where I had a gentle stroll towards Kings Cross, relaxing before 803005 rolled in empty from the sidings and I got my reserved seat, settling down for the run towards Newcastle, with the novelty of using the York avoiding line, but with a short delay for trains to go in front, including a late running LNER to Edinburgh (itself delayed by a large delay to the Aberdeen train).
803005 at London Kings Cross by Kite, on FlickrArrival into Newcastle was a few minutes late, as I exited the paid-area of the station to visit a pop-up tent to buy a Soft Azuma toy from a pop-up LNER sales stand, before taking 158860 all the way to Ashington, bit of new track from the junction with the North Blyth branch to Ashington itself (plus the various areas which have been redoubled to allow for the half hourly passenger service to run along any freight considering it has been a few years since the last time I was on a train on the Blyth & Tyne route (probably the last time being a Deltic railtour in September 2018). I exited the station at Ashington to have a walk towards the town centre area, mainly to pick up some more liquid.
Back at Ashington station it was onto 158859 for the run to Seaton Delaval, a station which is quite basic but has a well-used car park, as I had a little explore of the area close to the station before 158845 took me into Newcastle, which had quite a few delays to northbound trains due to an incident earlier in the day at Stevenage, but I exited the station to head into the city centre area to grab some dinner and waste time (discovering that Newcastle had a Wendys, yum yum).
158859 at Seaton Delaval Station by Kite, on FlickrI ate my dinner at Newcastle station as 803005 returned from Edinburgh to take me back to London, my fear of it being massively overcrowded due to a cancelled LNER didn’t come to pass as I managed to grab my reserved seat (even if it was next to someone who kept picking his phone up, putting it down on the table before grabbing it 20 or so seconds later). The service lost time after Doncaster as it had caught up with a late running stopper from York so arrival into King’s Cross was around 20 minutes late. I guess in theory I could have probably made the 21:20 from Waterloo had I had good fortune with the underground but I decided against the rush and instead had a gentle stroll towards Waterloo, jumping onto 455739 & 455708 to Vauxhall, simply to intercept 458418 & 458401 heading towards Waterloo to get another 458 into my book.
After that little trip to Vauxhall, I relaxed before 159001 & 159005 rolled in to form the 22:20 service, which remained busy throughout in the front coach, and soon I was at Grateley where I had a gentle stroll home. An enjoyable day to visit a couple of new stations & a return to Lumo.
18th December – “Farewell to the Gold Card” Travelcard Day
My gold card was due to expire on the 20th December and I didn’t think it was worthwhile to invest in a replacement considering the only use it’s had since the end of August has been for Travelcards & a discount on oyster fares. I will simply buy myself a Network Railcard for future London trips where I will use a Travelcard. In addition, my good friend Jules was in London as well having returned from a holiday and it would be nice for another catch-up.
The day started again with the 07:27 service from Grateley with 159011, 159010 & 159021 to take me to London, a lot quieter compared with the Tuesday, I guess for some London city workers they had already broken up for Christmas as I had a private table all the way. Unlike the day before there wasn’t anything of interest running out of Waterloo for the next half hour so I had a gentle stroll towards Cannon Street (of all places) via the Thames Path. I was actually aiming for Liverpool Street but made a wrong turn near a big junction in the Bank area (oops!) Anyhow it was past 09:30 so my travelcard was valid so I jumped onto 465023 & 465018 for the slow run to London Bridge.
466036 at London Bridge by Kite, on FlickrAt London Bridge it was a short walk to platform 5 to board 700054 on a late running Luton service to take me to St Pancras, where I had another short stroll to Euston, taking a seat on a Tring bound 350256 & 350103 meeting up with Jules with the run to Harrow & Wealdstone, exiting the station to visit the Asda before returning to the station & boarding 730035 & 730018 back to Euston and headed to the underground with 51678 & 51677 on the first available train towards Tottenham Court Road, changing to the Lizzy line onto 345023 to Whitechapel & 345041 to Woolwich where I wanted to do some admin with my oyster card before we headed out towards the town centre and towards North Woolwich via the foot tunnel.
Time for a bus interlude with Arriva’s HA53 on the SL2 service towards Walthamstow, something which was on both our lists of things to do. An enjoyable run with this limited stop bus route heading from North Woolwich towards Gallions Reach, Barking, Ilford & finally Walthamstow Central station, where it terminated outside the closed bus station. A bit slow in places with traffic, but for me it ticks off another part of the Superloop network, just leaving the two routes from Bromley to do at some point. Anyhow it was to the station with 710104 taken to Bethnal Green before 710123 to Liverpool Street where we transferred to the underground.
710105 at Walthamstow Central by Kite, on FlickrA Hammersmith bound service formed of 21534 & 21533 took us to Euston Square and a short walk to Euston station where we booked winner 807008 on a Liverpool service with the near 50 mile run to Milton Keynes Central, parting ways with Jules carrying on his journey back to Hereford via a pair of 350s to Rugby and myself back to London on 390107. Originally, I was going to head towards Liverpool Street to hunt down some 720s but when I saw a Northampton ‘fast’ service was showing as a 3-coach unit, I took a look, and after seeing 730046 working it, I decided that the 720s could wait for the novelty of both a fast run on a 730/0 and also a 730/0 to Northampton.
730046 was lightly loaded (which is no real surprise considering it gets overtaken by a London – Birmingham LNR service) as it headed towards Northampton, calling only at Watford Junction & Milton Keynes, going onto the slow lines around Bourne End. Due to the late running Birmingham train this service arrived into Milton Keynes 5 minutes ahead of schedule before carrying on to Northampton, terminating on platform 2. Certainly an unexpected trip to Northampton as I made my way across to platform 1 for a short wait for 350408 & 350237 to roll in on a late running Euston train, which I took to Milton Keynes Central, swapping to a busy 390122 for the final section into Euston, where for the second time of the day I headed to the underground to jump onto 51519 & 51518 to Waterloo.
730046 at Northampton by Kite, on FlickrI was in two minds between going after a winner 701 or heading home, in the end the idea of heading home won as I boarded the 19:20 service with a busy 159003 & 159106 back home to Grateley, and a gentle stroll home to relax. I didn’t manage to make that much use of my travelcard but hey-ho those things happen. It was nice to catch up with Jules once more and to do the bus route from North Woolwich.
19th December – A trip to Sussex
A little trip to take mum out for the day, and I ended up deciding on a trip towards Sussex for lack of a better idea (and wanting a change of pace considering we needed to be home for around 6pm). The day began with a drive to Romsey and 158747 & 158750 to Southampton Central, getting delayed on the approach due to signalling issues. After exiting the station to grab some supplies we returned to board 387209 on a service for Brighton, the first time I’ve had a 387 from Southampton for the slow run towards Brighton, hitting into the idiotic situation where you can’t simply get from platform 1 & 2 towards the other platforms, instead you are forced to exit the station to re-enter it at another set of ticket gates. Whatever happened to putting passengers first?
Anyhow it was a short walk to the bus stop outside the station where the route 12X departs from, this limited stop service for Eastbourne (in hindsight I ought to have purchased tickets to Eastbourne instead of Seaford but hey-ho) with one of the newer buses, 714, doing the honours. A bit slow coming out of Brighton due to traffic but soon it was out along the coastal route towards Newhaven & to Seaford where we alighted at the library bus stop, swinging via Morrisons to waste some time before heading to the station.
Brighton Buses Bus 714 (Dame Gracie Fields, YY73 TLK) in Seaford by Kite, on FlickrAt the station it was a short wait for 377162 to roll in from Brighton to take a seat for the run back towards Brighton (I did have a crazy idea of changing at Lewes for something towards Three Bridges to take an Arun Valley line service but the Eastbourne – Victoria was cancelled). Thankfully the idiotic revenue barriers have disappeared allowing easy access to platform 2 to board 387129, this former Great Northern unit now complete with Southern stickers on the outside & route maps.
We took this 387 to Cosham, making a mistake in changing at Cosham instead of Fareham as the next GWR service (formed of 158745 & 158762) was busy with school kids heading home (the vast majority exiting the train at Fareham). Soon enough the 158s arrived at Romsey where we headed back to the car to drive home, the end of a little day trip to Sussex, and a little day trip in an area I haven’t been to for a while.
387129 at Brighton Station by Kite, on FlickrAnyhow that’s it for my pre-Christmas rest day trips as it was back to work for me, working until Christmas Eve moving customers from point A to point B, occasionally via point C. For anybody still reading, have a good New Year
Kite159
Veteran Member
January Day Trips
First of all, a belated Happy New Year. I’ve had some little day trips in January so far this year on my rest days from work.
6th January – Nailsworth & Randomness in Westbury
The short disused railway line from Nailsworth towards Stroud/Stonehouse had been on my radar for a while after it was recommended to me by a friend whom cycled it many moons ago, so I decided with the weather being suitable it would be a good chance to head towards Gloucestershire to have a little explore. Originally, I was going to head towards South Wales on the Sunday night, even booking a cheap Travelodge in the city centre but that idea was thrown on the back burner due to the rubbish weather on the Sunday with snow & rain.
The day began with the 07:27 service towards Basingstoke formed of 159106, 159004 & 159021 where I transferred to platform 5 for 165117 working the GWR stopping service to Reading and another short transfer across to 800019 on the next service for Cheltenham Spa which took me to Stroud losing a couple of minutes along the way due to congestion around Swindon. It was a short walk to a bus stop in the town centre near the Lloyds Bank where Stagecoach’s 37012 rolled in on a route 620 towards Tetbury
This was a lightly loaded bus as it headed away from Stroud towards Brimscombe, Burleigh & Minchinhampton. After the nice-looking town centre of Minchinhampton the bus headed towards Nailsworth on a route which featured some sharp bends as it dropped down into the valley. I departed from the bus at the small bus station in Nailsworth and headed towards the old station, picking up the mixed used path along the route of the former branch line.
Stagecoach Bus 37012 (YX63 ZTK) in Nailsworth on a route 620 to Tetbury by Kite, on Flickr
Finding the path was easy and it was flat, not the quietest due to running close to the A46 towards South Woodchester. Nice woodland though in places, the nicest section was closer to Stroud once the path headed away from the road. I had a little detour towards Stroud along the route of the old branch (which was a bit muddy in places due to all the recent rain, but just about passable). After reaching the end of that path I headed back on myself to re-join the main cycle path as it headed towards the A419, which was built over the route of the old railway.
The next section was along a cycle path close to the road but sheltered within trees, a few places were flooded as it headed towards Ryeford and onto a short section which was a bit overgrown crossing the canal and ending in Stonehouse. I will come back to this area at some point this year to walk the canal from Stonehouse towards Saul Junction on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, assuming I don't get diverted to another area of the country.
Anyhow it was back to the trains (after pretending to be one) with 800014 taken to Cheltenham Spa where everything towards Bristol was delayed due to flooding or other weather-related issues so I paid out for a single ticket towards Cardiff on TfW with 197012 for the trip towards Cardiff (gave me an excuse to clear another part of the network for 197 coverage, and to look out at some of the flooding)
197012 at Cheltenham Spa by Kite, on Flickr
Due to earlier flooding on the Great Western I decided to play it a bit safe and get back to Swindon, rather than risking getting delayed and missing the Weymouth train so once in Cardiff Central I headed out of the station (those new style ticket barriers which TfW have installed has the scanner in an unnatural place on the side of the barrier but I guess it is something which if you used them every day you would get used to the location). After grabbing supplies, I returned to grab an unreserved seat on 800021 & 800004 on the next London train back to Swindon where I had around an hour to kill before the Weymouth train so headed into the town centre for a gentle explore, just to waste some time.
I headed back to Swindon station, making my way across to platform 2 where 166202 had just been kicked into life after sitting in the bay for most of the day and I grabbed a seat in the former 1st class section at the front of the train for the trip towards Chippenham & Trowbridge via the Melksham line. After Trowbridge the train headed left at Hawkeridge Junction and towards Heywood Road junction where the line from Westbury joins up with the Westbury avoiding line, reversing at the junction to take the Westbury avoider and towards Frome. Just one of those novelty things which might not be repeated anytime soon once the Westbury remodelling is complete.
166202 at Frome by Kite, on Flickr
I had a short 15-minute fester at Frome until 800028 & 800020 rolled in from the Plymouth direction (seeing IETs under the roof at Frome looked so odd) and I managed to get a decent seat for the trip towards Reading calling at Pewsey & Newbury (although not like I could see much out of the window due to it being dark). The train arrived a couple minutes ahead of schedule at Reading allowing for a fast walk towards platform 1 where 165105 was on the next Basingstoke stopper, although I didn’t need to rush as this was delayed a couple of minutes for some unknown reason.
This 165 took me back to Basingstoke where I had a gentle walk towards platform 3 where the next Salisbury service was due to depart from (being swapped from platform 2 due to a late running Voyager). 159012 rolled in from London and was very quiet, hard to believe it was the 19:50 from Waterloo judging by how lightly loaded it was. Anyhow it was easy to get a seat for the last section to Grateley where I had a gentle walk home. An enjoyable day in Gloucestershire along with some randomness around Westbury.
14th January – Part 1 of the Tarka Trail.
The Tarka Trail is a long-distance path in North Devon, the parts I was interested in are the sections where it runs along routes of old railway lines (rather than the sections where it uses a mix of roads & footpaths). Running from Braunton towards Barnstaple, then towards Bideford and finally Meeth. I decided to split it into 3 parts, so today I decided to head west to make a start as the weather forecast was looking dry.
The day began with the 08:30 service from Grateley towards Exeter Central with 159008 & 159107 where I headed out of the station to grab some supplies from Sainsburys Local near the bus station (as the Co-Op on Queen Street is currently closed for refurbishment) before heading back to the station to board 166213 on the next Barnstaple train, sitting in the former 1st class area at the back of train and relaxing for the slow journey to North Devon.
166213 at Barnstaple by Kite, on Flickr
At Barnstaple itself I didn’t have long to make an unofficial connection to the next route 21 bus service bound for Westward Ho! Via Bideford & Fremington. A busy stagecoach double decker (fleet 15431), also seeing my first Stagecoach bus in the latest dark blue colour scheme. I alighted from the bus in Bideford, seeing an old Dennis Dart passing on another service before starting my walk. I crossed over the river Torridge on the Bideford Bridge, climbing a ramp to reach the old station which is now a heritage centre, after a couple of photos I headed north along the path, heading away from Bideford, with the path running close to the B3233 road so it wasn't the quietest. Some nice views of the water on the left-hand side as I continued towards Instow, passing the former station with the path moving away from the main road and into the wilderness with marsh land both sides.
This section was very nice for being quiet and gave some nice views of the river Taw. I continued along the tarmac path heading towards Fremington Quay with the former station now turned into a café with the path heading towards Barnstaple, running alongside the bank of the river Taw. I was toying with doing a little loop to the south of Barnstaple station along the route of the former Devon and Somerset Railway route (which used to head towards Taunton) but decided I wouldn't have time and that would have to wait until the day I return for the Braunton section.
Bideford Railway Station by Kite, on Flickr
After doing a little time-wasting loop, I returned to the station to board 150248 & 150246 on the next Exeter service, normally this is the train which would run all the way to Axminster but due to the Westbury works, GWR had split it at Exeter in order to send up fresh 158s (which would make it to Salisbury ECS). The front coach was empty after the first stop and I settled down to relax as darkness was falling. At Exeter St Davids it was a short walk from platform 6 to platform 1 to board 158760 & 158771 on the Axminster train, just for the novelty of the GWR service to Axminster (as maybe one day it might be an all-day thing if improvements are made to allow Axminster – Exeter to be half hourly, something I’m not holding my breath for.
158771 at Axminster by Kite, on Flickr
At Axminster I headed towards a nearby Co-Op to grab dinner before heading back to the station and onto 159004 & 159105 for the run back to Grateley, relaxing after a nice little day trip to Devon. It was an enjoyable walk along the old railway route.
15th January – Deviating from Fareham
What felt like a good idea the night before was a bit crazy in starting the day with the 05:20 from Grateley in an attempt to get my body ready for a run of 7 early shifts. It was onto 159104 & 159018 for the run to Woking where I randomly jumped onto 444014 on the service which starts from platform 6 as it has been a good few years since I last departed from this little used bay platform at Woking. I took that 444 to Brookwood which was a bit spooky standing around in peace & quiet, watching as the commuters started arriving on the London bound platform for the next train from Alton.
For me it was onwards to Ash Vale on 450041, 450078 & 450087, changing platforms to board 450097 & 450062 on the next London Waterloo service, taking a seat in declassified first class. What was unusual is this is a Waterloo service which goes via Staines taking a lot longer than the direct route via Woking, but scratches a little track itch at the Ascot end as it goes into platform 1 from the Bagshot line. The train started to fill up along the way towards London and I bailed at Staines for a short wait for winner 701031 to roll in from Windsor (having seen a pair of 455s from Reading looking rather busy). I took this 701 to Putney where I made a quick cross platform change onto 458416/458406 for the single stop to Barnes, just gets 458406 into my book as a /4.
458406 at Barnes Station by Kite, on Flickr
I noticed the new footbridge (with lifts) at Barnes was open as I transferred to platform 1 to board a busy 458405 & 458413 to Clapham Junction, deciding it would be best to leave London and jumped onto 444031 & 444005 on a Weymouth service to take me to Winchester, stepping back onto 450033 & 450100 on the next Portsmouth via Fareham service, to take me to Fareham where my walk began. My target today was the short Funtley Deviation line, built to bypass Fareham tunnel and something I was planning to walk last year when I did the old railway line from West Meon to Wickham but decided to call that walk short early due to tired legs.
After leaving the station at Fareham I headed along Gudge Heath Lane towards the Hill Park area of the town, where the walking trail along the former railway route begins. This was a bit muddy in places (as unlike the other walks I've done this month this wasn't a proper cycle path). Once away from the housing and into woodland it was quite nice, very peaceful. Soon I arrived at the village of Knowle, and going via some woods I ended up on Mayles Lane for the last section towards Wickham. My walk ending in the market square where it was a short wait before the next Fareham bound route 69 rolled in (Stagecoach's 19160) which dropped me off at the station roundabout.
Path along the route of the former Funtley Deviation line, Fareham (1) by Kite, on Flickr
At Fareham station, I decided on a random time-wasting leap to Porchester on 450101 before boarding 444012 for the run back towards Basingstoke, popping out of the station to grab some supplies from Sainsburys. My last train of the day was 159101 to take me back home to Grateley where I had a relaxing evening and an early night ready for the following week of work. A productive day with that random track in Ascot area (one of these days I will do an evening service which does the short section of track from platform 2 towards the Bagshot line, just to scratch that itch with my BLS hat on) plus doing the old railway route in Fareham. One of those small walks which had been on my list, leaving just the Hamble Rail Trail in that general area.
More photos can be found on my Flickr here, thanks for reading. Next blog should be at some point in the next few weeks involving many trains over a 6 day adventure.
First of all, a belated Happy New Year. I’ve had some little day trips in January so far this year on my rest days from work.
6th January – Nailsworth & Randomness in Westbury
The short disused railway line from Nailsworth towards Stroud/Stonehouse had been on my radar for a while after it was recommended to me by a friend whom cycled it many moons ago, so I decided with the weather being suitable it would be a good chance to head towards Gloucestershire to have a little explore. Originally, I was going to head towards South Wales on the Sunday night, even booking a cheap Travelodge in the city centre but that idea was thrown on the back burner due to the rubbish weather on the Sunday with snow & rain.
The day began with the 07:27 service towards Basingstoke formed of 159106, 159004 & 159021 where I transferred to platform 5 for 165117 working the GWR stopping service to Reading and another short transfer across to 800019 on the next service for Cheltenham Spa which took me to Stroud losing a couple of minutes along the way due to congestion around Swindon. It was a short walk to a bus stop in the town centre near the Lloyds Bank where Stagecoach’s 37012 rolled in on a route 620 towards Tetbury
This was a lightly loaded bus as it headed away from Stroud towards Brimscombe, Burleigh & Minchinhampton. After the nice-looking town centre of Minchinhampton the bus headed towards Nailsworth on a route which featured some sharp bends as it dropped down into the valley. I departed from the bus at the small bus station in Nailsworth and headed towards the old station, picking up the mixed used path along the route of the former branch line.
Stagecoach Bus 37012 (YX63 ZTK) in Nailsworth on a route 620 to Tetbury by Kite, on FlickrFinding the path was easy and it was flat, not the quietest due to running close to the A46 towards South Woodchester. Nice woodland though in places, the nicest section was closer to Stroud once the path headed away from the road. I had a little detour towards Stroud along the route of the old branch (which was a bit muddy in places due to all the recent rain, but just about passable). After reaching the end of that path I headed back on myself to re-join the main cycle path as it headed towards the A419, which was built over the route of the old railway.
The next section was along a cycle path close to the road but sheltered within trees, a few places were flooded as it headed towards Ryeford and onto a short section which was a bit overgrown crossing the canal and ending in Stonehouse. I will come back to this area at some point this year to walk the canal from Stonehouse towards Saul Junction on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, assuming I don't get diverted to another area of the country.
Anyhow it was back to the trains (after pretending to be one) with 800014 taken to Cheltenham Spa where everything towards Bristol was delayed due to flooding or other weather-related issues so I paid out for a single ticket towards Cardiff on TfW with 197012 for the trip towards Cardiff (gave me an excuse to clear another part of the network for 197 coverage, and to look out at some of the flooding)
197012 at Cheltenham Spa by Kite, on FlickrDue to earlier flooding on the Great Western I decided to play it a bit safe and get back to Swindon, rather than risking getting delayed and missing the Weymouth train so once in Cardiff Central I headed out of the station (those new style ticket barriers which TfW have installed has the scanner in an unnatural place on the side of the barrier but I guess it is something which if you used them every day you would get used to the location). After grabbing supplies, I returned to grab an unreserved seat on 800021 & 800004 on the next London train back to Swindon where I had around an hour to kill before the Weymouth train so headed into the town centre for a gentle explore, just to waste some time.
I headed back to Swindon station, making my way across to platform 2 where 166202 had just been kicked into life after sitting in the bay for most of the day and I grabbed a seat in the former 1st class section at the front of the train for the trip towards Chippenham & Trowbridge via the Melksham line. After Trowbridge the train headed left at Hawkeridge Junction and towards Heywood Road junction where the line from Westbury joins up with the Westbury avoiding line, reversing at the junction to take the Westbury avoider and towards Frome. Just one of those novelty things which might not be repeated anytime soon once the Westbury remodelling is complete.
166202 at Frome by Kite, on FlickrI had a short 15-minute fester at Frome until 800028 & 800020 rolled in from the Plymouth direction (seeing IETs under the roof at Frome looked so odd) and I managed to get a decent seat for the trip towards Reading calling at Pewsey & Newbury (although not like I could see much out of the window due to it being dark). The train arrived a couple minutes ahead of schedule at Reading allowing for a fast walk towards platform 1 where 165105 was on the next Basingstoke stopper, although I didn’t need to rush as this was delayed a couple of minutes for some unknown reason.
This 165 took me back to Basingstoke where I had a gentle walk towards platform 3 where the next Salisbury service was due to depart from (being swapped from platform 2 due to a late running Voyager). 159012 rolled in from London and was very quiet, hard to believe it was the 19:50 from Waterloo judging by how lightly loaded it was. Anyhow it was easy to get a seat for the last section to Grateley where I had a gentle walk home. An enjoyable day in Gloucestershire along with some randomness around Westbury.
14th January – Part 1 of the Tarka Trail.
The Tarka Trail is a long-distance path in North Devon, the parts I was interested in are the sections where it runs along routes of old railway lines (rather than the sections where it uses a mix of roads & footpaths). Running from Braunton towards Barnstaple, then towards Bideford and finally Meeth. I decided to split it into 3 parts, so today I decided to head west to make a start as the weather forecast was looking dry.
The day began with the 08:30 service from Grateley towards Exeter Central with 159008 & 159107 where I headed out of the station to grab some supplies from Sainsburys Local near the bus station (as the Co-Op on Queen Street is currently closed for refurbishment) before heading back to the station to board 166213 on the next Barnstaple train, sitting in the former 1st class area at the back of train and relaxing for the slow journey to North Devon.
166213 at Barnstaple by Kite, on FlickrAt Barnstaple itself I didn’t have long to make an unofficial connection to the next route 21 bus service bound for Westward Ho! Via Bideford & Fremington. A busy stagecoach double decker (fleet 15431), also seeing my first Stagecoach bus in the latest dark blue colour scheme. I alighted from the bus in Bideford, seeing an old Dennis Dart passing on another service before starting my walk. I crossed over the river Torridge on the Bideford Bridge, climbing a ramp to reach the old station which is now a heritage centre, after a couple of photos I headed north along the path, heading away from Bideford, with the path running close to the B3233 road so it wasn't the quietest. Some nice views of the water on the left-hand side as I continued towards Instow, passing the former station with the path moving away from the main road and into the wilderness with marsh land both sides.
This section was very nice for being quiet and gave some nice views of the river Taw. I continued along the tarmac path heading towards Fremington Quay with the former station now turned into a café with the path heading towards Barnstaple, running alongside the bank of the river Taw. I was toying with doing a little loop to the south of Barnstaple station along the route of the former Devon and Somerset Railway route (which used to head towards Taunton) but decided I wouldn't have time and that would have to wait until the day I return for the Braunton section.
Bideford Railway Station by Kite, on FlickrAfter doing a little time-wasting loop, I returned to the station to board 150248 & 150246 on the next Exeter service, normally this is the train which would run all the way to Axminster but due to the Westbury works, GWR had split it at Exeter in order to send up fresh 158s (which would make it to Salisbury ECS). The front coach was empty after the first stop and I settled down to relax as darkness was falling. At Exeter St Davids it was a short walk from platform 6 to platform 1 to board 158760 & 158771 on the Axminster train, just for the novelty of the GWR service to Axminster (as maybe one day it might be an all-day thing if improvements are made to allow Axminster – Exeter to be half hourly, something I’m not holding my breath for.
158771 at Axminster by Kite, on FlickrAt Axminster I headed towards a nearby Co-Op to grab dinner before heading back to the station and onto 159004 & 159105 for the run back to Grateley, relaxing after a nice little day trip to Devon. It was an enjoyable walk along the old railway route.
15th January – Deviating from Fareham
What felt like a good idea the night before was a bit crazy in starting the day with the 05:20 from Grateley in an attempt to get my body ready for a run of 7 early shifts. It was onto 159104 & 159018 for the run to Woking where I randomly jumped onto 444014 on the service which starts from platform 6 as it has been a good few years since I last departed from this little used bay platform at Woking. I took that 444 to Brookwood which was a bit spooky standing around in peace & quiet, watching as the commuters started arriving on the London bound platform for the next train from Alton.
For me it was onwards to Ash Vale on 450041, 450078 & 450087, changing platforms to board 450097 & 450062 on the next London Waterloo service, taking a seat in declassified first class. What was unusual is this is a Waterloo service which goes via Staines taking a lot longer than the direct route via Woking, but scratches a little track itch at the Ascot end as it goes into platform 1 from the Bagshot line. The train started to fill up along the way towards London and I bailed at Staines for a short wait for winner 701031 to roll in from Windsor (having seen a pair of 455s from Reading looking rather busy). I took this 701 to Putney where I made a quick cross platform change onto 458416/458406 for the single stop to Barnes, just gets 458406 into my book as a /4.
458406 at Barnes Station by Kite, on FlickrI noticed the new footbridge (with lifts) at Barnes was open as I transferred to platform 1 to board a busy 458405 & 458413 to Clapham Junction, deciding it would be best to leave London and jumped onto 444031 & 444005 on a Weymouth service to take me to Winchester, stepping back onto 450033 & 450100 on the next Portsmouth via Fareham service, to take me to Fareham where my walk began. My target today was the short Funtley Deviation line, built to bypass Fareham tunnel and something I was planning to walk last year when I did the old railway line from West Meon to Wickham but decided to call that walk short early due to tired legs.
After leaving the station at Fareham I headed along Gudge Heath Lane towards the Hill Park area of the town, where the walking trail along the former railway route begins. This was a bit muddy in places (as unlike the other walks I've done this month this wasn't a proper cycle path). Once away from the housing and into woodland it was quite nice, very peaceful. Soon I arrived at the village of Knowle, and going via some woods I ended up on Mayles Lane for the last section towards Wickham. My walk ending in the market square where it was a short wait before the next Fareham bound route 69 rolled in (Stagecoach's 19160) which dropped me off at the station roundabout.
Path along the route of the former Funtley Deviation line, Fareham (1) by Kite, on FlickrAt Fareham station, I decided on a random time-wasting leap to Porchester on 450101 before boarding 444012 for the run back towards Basingstoke, popping out of the station to grab some supplies from Sainsburys. My last train of the day was 159101 to take me back home to Grateley where I had a relaxing evening and an early night ready for the following week of work. A productive day with that random track in Ascot area (one of these days I will do an evening service which does the short section of track from platform 2 towards the Bagshot line, just to scratch that itch with my BLS hat on) plus doing the old railway route in Fareham. One of those small walks which had been on my list, leaving just the Hamble Rail Trail in that general area.
More photos can be found on my Flickr here, thanks for reading. Next blog should be at some point in the next few weeks involving many trains over a 6 day adventure.
Kite159
Veteran Member
I've got no idea if people are still reading these but hey-ho
24th Jan – 29th Jan Trip
I had some annual leave which needed to be used up by the end of April so I put in a request for a couple weeks off with many ideas of what to do, all coming together with a large holiday
24th Jan – Onwards to Cheshire
The first day of my trip, and the weather forecast looked a bit rubbish with the latest big storm hitting Ireland & Scotland (Northern Ireland was one option I was looking at for this trip but decided against it) with the day starting with 158884 & 159013 on a delayed 06:57 service from Grateley to London Waterloo. Arrival into Waterloo was at 08:36 so it was a fast walk to the underground with Bakerloo set 3546/3299 taken to Marylebone with around 5 minutes spare before the next Birmingham train. To mix things up I decided to head to Birmingham via Chiltern this time round, mainly to relax on the Mk3 coaches with 68015 up front, watching the countryside go by.
I arrived in Birmingham and after picking up a West Midlands Day Ranger I headed towards Birmingham New Street to take 730032 to Blake Street, intercepting winner 730025 (and dud 730033) on a Bromsgrove service, before the line fell over due to a fallen tree around Sutton Coldfield, with no sign of my last 730/0 nor 2 coach 196s I decided to head towards Cheshire to get ‘checked in’ into my accommodation, the shared house I’ve used countless times before, only to get rid of some weight from my rucksack.
68015 at London Marylebone by Kite, on Flickr
However, due to issues with the overhead wires falling down between Stafford & Wolverhampton I decided it would be a good chance to cover the Chase line on a 730 so it was onto a busy 730026 for the slow trip via Walsall towards Rugeley Trent Valley, a horrible station at the best of times (for it’s quite exposed to the elements). It wasn’t the nicest of waits before 350106 & 350403 rolled in on the next LNR to Crewe, taking me to Crewe, picking up a Cheshire Day Ranger from the ticket office.
It was onto 390129 to take me to Runcorn (a service made busier due to no LNR running between Crewe & Liverpool for some reason), a short wait at Runcorn before winner 807006 rolled in from Liverpool to take me to Crewe where I had a short wait for the next TfW service for Manchester with dud 197045 leading winner 197031. I decided to take these to Stockport, although had I been quick on my feet at Wilmslow, I might have been able to change platforms for a 67 hauled set heading south which was running a couple of minutes late.
390006 passing Rugeley Trent Valley by Kite, on Flickr
I did have a crazy idea to take a XC towards Stafford to mix things up, but that was cancelled so it was onto 390002 back to Crewe where I exited the station, making my way towards my accommodation via the large Tesco to grab some bottles of liquid (as I didn’t pack any big bottles due to weight/space limitations). With my stuff dropped off, I returned to Crewe station before winner 807002 took me to Warrington Bank Quay on the Blackpool service, where I had a couple of options to heading back to Crewe, deciding to take a busy 197012 to Chester for 197104 back to Crewe where I was tempted to call it a day but decided to do one of the things on my “novelty” list and took 390050 to Stafford for a 45-minute wait.
Which sounded longer than it was, but due to the issues at Penkridge, a London – Crewe via Birmingham Pendo was sent via the Trent Valley line and arrived 30-odd minutes early (and it was pretty much empty). 390136 provided me some shelter from the cold wind before it set off towards Crewe, but going via Stoke on Trent (the novelty being a Pendo between Stafford & Stoke). An empty train (it was following a LNR Stafford – Crewe service which took a lot of the passengers), a relaxing end to the first day. On the way back to the accommodation I was in two minds about a walk on the Saturday, the cold wind was putting a question mark on my trip to the High Peak Trail.
25th January – Exploring the Trans Pennine Trail between Warrington & Altrincham
I decided to leave the High Peak Trail for another day so my backup plan was to walk the route of the former Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway from the Thelwall area of Warrington towards Altrincham which is now part of the long-distance Trans Pennine Trail (which runs from Southport towards Hornsea). This walk had been on my list to do for a while as a potential Sunday idea (heck it was even my rough plan for the Sunday of this trip had the weather been better).
A later than usual start with 390135 taken from Crewe to Warrington Bank Quay to begin my walk. The first section was following a path which runs alongside the north bank of the River Mersey, being careful to avoid some icy patches due to the temperature, crossing over the river at the Kingsway Bridge before taking the "Black Bear Park" path starting near Victoria Park and heading south west towards Latchford (going underneath an old railway bridge used by the old railway route. This path comes to an end next to the Manchester Ship Canal near a handy Morrisons (which came in handy for a quick toilet stop and to grab lunch items).
After visiting Morrisons I picked up the Trans Pennine Trail which for this section followed the north bank of the Ship Canal (although no decent views of the canal due to trees), reaching the impressive Latchford Viaduct (now disused) and Latchford Locks which I used to cross over the canal to the Thelwall side, with a short walk along the road to pick up a path leading up a steep hill to the route of the old railway.
Latchford Locks on Manchester Ship Canal (2) by Kite, on Flickr
The path quality was reasonable for the time of year, a bit muddy in places but nothing major. It was a busy path in terms of other users as the sun had come out (and was quite a lovely day). The woodland path skirted round Thelwall and towards open countryside, with a short detour required near the M6. After the M6 it was towards Lymm passing to the north of the town with the Bridgwater Canal coming close at times. No real evidence of the former stations (in terms of platforms).
After Lymm (and a path which felt like it was constructed using rubber mixed with tarmac as it was a bit bouncy) it was into the wilds of Cheshire, towards Dunham Massey. A lovely section this in terms of being near silent, other than birds singing. However, all good things come to an end as the path ended in the Broadheath area of Altrincham with an industrial estate along with some retail units. I followed a couple of roads to reach Navigation Road station where my walk came to an end.
Trans Pennine Trail (former Warrington and Altrincham Junction Line) in Dunham Massey (3) by Kite, on Flickr
It was time to play with some trains and I took a seat on 156429 working a train towards Chester, changing to Merseyrail to see if I could get lucky with a required 777 doing a series of linear hops towards Hamilton Square. Eventually scoring 777019 on a massively late Chester service (as the Chester line had somewhat collapsed with at least 2 services getting turned back at Birkenhead Central). Sadly, Merseyrail couldn't do their usual trick in running this service fast as it was following an Ellesmere Port service.
A bit dicey at the Chester end in terms of connection with a Crewe train, but thankfully I made the connection to a busy 197117 for the short run to Crewe where I decided to call it a night. I headed to my accommodation via a burger place for a yummy burger (afterwards having a little stroll to Tesco to grab some supplies for the Sunday). An enjoyable walk from Warrington towards Altrincham (and if anybody wanted to walk just the old railway line section, there is a bus stop located at the old railway bridge in Thelwall).
26th January – A Day of Diverts
With the weather being a bit on the wetter side today, I looked up ideas and saw that Avanti were diverting services via Bescot & Aston due to the Trent Valley line being closed, and that a few were calling at Rugby to allow use of a West Midlands Day Ranger. This is something which had been on my list a couple times in the past, but for various reasons never happened. Anyhow I headed to Crewe station to board 390126 on a London service for the trip to Rugby going towards Wolverhampton before heading towards Bescot at Bushbury Junction & Portobello Junction. At Perry Barr junctions it carried straight on towards Aston and then used the freight link towards Stechford, re-joining the regular passenger network after Stechford station. A nonstop run from Stechford towards Rugby followed (and yes it felt odd going fast through Coventry during the day). I alighted at Rugby and decided to risk having a short walk as the rain wasn't due to arrive until midday.
Today's short walk was along the route of the former Grand Central line, which is split into two parts within Rugby. I picked the Southern section, and after walking some roads picked up the path of the old line, passing the remains of the Grand Central station and heading south skirting the edge of Hilmorton before the path ending at Onley Lane. I did a U-turn and headed back towards Rugby along the same route getting lucky as it only started to rain when I joined the road. One old railway route in Rugby covered, just leaves the Northern section of the Grand Central route towards Newton plus the old Leamington route towards Birdingbury.
Platforms at the former Rugby Central Station by Kite, on Flickr
Anyhow I got back to the station, coming up with a plan to head to Coventry for a 196 to Leamington for something towards Birmingham that direction when I noticed looking at RTT some non-stop Birmingham Snow Hill – Worcester services and some diverted XC services going via Kidderminster due to the usual route via Bromsgrove being closed. This is a diverted route which had been on my list for a while (even going as far as looking at costs of a city centre hotel to do it one night so my plan to go towards Leamington went into the bin as a busy 350119 & 350110 took me to Birmingham New Street.
I headed across to board 220011 & 220028 on a Plymouth service (which dwelled at Birmingham New Street for something like 25 minutes), easily getting a seat at the back of the train. Originally, I was going to take this pair of voyagers to Gloucester but decided along the way to extend my ticket to Bristol Parkway to cover the south facing side of the Gloucester triangle on a XC service (something which I was hoping to do last year when Ashley Gate opened). So, I ended up taking this pair of voyagers to Bristol Parkway of all places.
220011 at Bristol Parkway by Kite, on Flickr
The next northbound service was delayed a few minutes, departing behind a Worcester bound IET. Again, I got lucky in not only getting a seat, but it was one with an actual window (rather than a view of plastic) when 220004 & 220010 rolled in for the trip back to Birmingham going via Gloucester, Worcester Shrub Hill & Kidderminster. Back at Birmingham New Street and I headed across to board 390154 on a Preston bound service for the run towards Crewe (enjoying the legroom because the legroom on a voyager isn’t the best compared to a Pendo).
I got lucky as the Pendo arrived a couple of minutes early, allowing a fast walk across to platform 5 to board winner 197034 on a service running nonstop to Shrewsbury, another 197 into my book. At Shrewsbury I popped out of the station to visit Tesco Express for dinner, before taking 197111 back to Crewe on another nonstop journey (the 197s certainly fly on this section of the route). Anyhow once back at Crewe I headed towards my accommodation to get my rucksack sorted for the morning as it was time to relocate to East Yorkshire.
27th January – Onwards to Yorkshire… via Brigg.
For the second part of my holiday, I had booked a stay in a hotel in Hull, originally it was going to be one night with another relocation to Newcastle but I decided to stay in Hull for 2 nights, just to give me a day where I didn’t have to carry the mobile house. I departed from the shared house in Crewe after a good stay (it’s not perfect by any means but for the location and average price it is hard to beat) heading to Crewe station to board 197008 & 197111 on the first Manchester bound TfW service which called at Alderley Edge (which was a bit unusual). At Stockport I had 25-odd minutes so popped out of the station to visit the Co-Op in Edgeley to grab some supplies for breakfast.
After my supply run, I returned to the station to board 185128 & 185147 on the next TPE service towards Sheffield, with a few passengers heading to board the front unit ignoring the rearmost unit. I’m sure all of those passengers held valid tickets and not just a ticket from Stockport to Davenport or something else to bypass the barriers at Stockport. Anyhow these 185s took me across the valley of Hope which was looking beautiful as ever and deposited me at the rebuilt Dore & Totley station, where after a couple of photos I took 195130 from the new platform back towards Grindleford for a short wait before 195112 to Sheffield.
185147 departing Dore & Totley Station by Kite, on Flickr
As a time-wasting measure, I took 185139 & 185138 to Meadowhall, nearly getting caught out by short platforms (why did I think the Doncaster line platforms at Meadowhall took 6 coaches?), and returning to Sheffield on 150003 where I had a short wait on platform 1 to await the arrival of 150271 from the sidings to form the daily northern service to Cleethorpes via Brigg. A line I haven’t done on a passenger service in a while, and never on a 150 (as the Brigg line services were solid pacer when I did the stations). A quiet train from Sheffield, on a nonstop run towards Worksop picking up a good number of passengers, most alighting at Retford with half a dozen remaining on board for the run towards Gainsborough Central (where I made use of a booked dwell for a photo) before heading towards Cleethorpes. As I had time and the sun was out (all be with a cold wind) I headed for a little stroll along the seafront heading towards New Clee before doubling back via the roads to Cleethorpes, where things went a bit wrong. Anyhow it was my first time at Cleethorpes since platform 4 was brought back into use for some reason (it’s not like Cleethorpes is a busy station with 1.5 trains per hour). An area to return to once I research booked usage.
Anyhow, back to the trains, the 170 from Barton rolled in with announcements that the return service was cancelled due to a lack of staff. So rather than mess around with a replacement bus which might or might not turn up I cut my losses and jumped back onto 150271 to Grimsby Town to head towards a bus stop near the town hall for the route 250 to Hull. My original idea was to take the train to Barton (ticking off the branch for both 170 coverage and also as a “EMR” service) to walk over the bridge to Hessle (for a train to Hull).
185107, 170512 & 150271 at Cleethorpes by Kite, on Flickr
Stagecoach’s 26268 was on the next 250 service. It headed out of the suburbs of Grimsby towards Laceby, then a fast run along the A48 coming off the road to serve Keelby before heading towards Ulceby via Brocklesby & crossing the railway at the old station site. After serving Ulceby village (nowhere near the station) the bus headed towards Barrow Upon Humber and Barton Upon Humber, doing a loop of the town centre, pausing for a few minutes at the station. After resuming the bus headed towards the A15 to cross the Humber Bridge before heading towards Hull city centre via the suburbs, hitting school throwing out time to take a lot of school kids for what felt like 2 stops (something which probably would have taken them less than 10 minutes to walk). The bus terminated in the bus station, an enjoyable run and unexpected due to the cancellation of the train.
At Hull, I headed towards my accommodation, to get checked in (it was one of those places with more limited checking in times, and because I had plans for the evening I didn’t want to get caught out). A basic hotel (converted house from the looks of it) near the hospital, taking around 15 minutes to walk from the station, reasonable enough. After leaving the bulk of the weight from my rucksack I returned towards the Bus/Train station to grab something to eat from Tesco before heading towards platform 1 at Hull, something which since my last visit had been brought back into use (and mainly used by the hourly stopping services to Doncaster).
Stagecoach Bus 26268 (YM19 VRT) in Hull (layover area) (Passenger Side) by Kite, on Flickr
My original idea was to take the next stopper to Brough for a Hull Trains service to Doncaster, but sadly things went wrong again as the next stopper with 158795 was delayed inbound and hence was held for both a TPE & the Hull Trains service to depart first, before heading towards Doncaster running something like 25 minutes late. I decided to bail at Thorne North as I wanted some more photos of this station, for a wait in the cold before 158792 rolled in on the next Doncaster stopper to take me to Doncaster, where I had a short break before 800106 rolled in on the daily token LNER service to Hull.
I had a private coach on this 9-coach train for the short(ish) journey to Selby, ticking off coverage from Temple Hirst Junction towards Selby on a LNER service (linking up with the time I did a 800 from Selby to Hull in 2023). A short wait at Selby and it was back towards Doncaster on a lightly loaded 802303 for another wait, this time for 170473 on the next train towards Hull, which was unusual for Northern as it went via Selby rather than via Goole. Another small part of the Northern network covered on a Northern service, as I relaxed (annoyed that I had taken out my tablet as it would have come in handy to pass the time in the darkness) as the 170 made good process. At Hull I departed the station & headed back towards my accommodation to relax for the rest of the evening, getting lucky because half an hour later it threw it down. A mostly successful day with a couple more novelty services removed from my list.
28th January – A tour of Yorkshire
The main idea for today was to take the bus to Hornsea to walk the old railway line back towards Hull, on a day I wasn’t carrying around the mobile house, however the weather didn’t want to play ball with it being a tad wet so I dug out a plan B. The day starting with a gentle stroll from my accommodation towards the station, going via Tesco for some breakfast items and purchasing my East Yorkshire Round Robin ticket and boarding 155347 for the run towards Nafferton where I had a gentle little stroll into the village during the 30-minute fester, noticing a potential future walking idea towards Driffield. Anyhow 155347 returned from Bridlington to take me a couple stops to Hutton Cranswick, a station I needed some more photos considering when I did the stations the first time round the connection here wasn’t ideal (a case of dashing to the level crossing to get across the railway line during the short time the barrier went up).
155344 was up next to take me to Bridlington to terminate in the bay platform giving me time to pop to Tesco in the rain to grab a drink (and to waste some time). After my visit to Tesco, it was onwards to Scarborough on 170458 before taking 802219 on the next TPE service towards Manchester, felt strange being on an 802 on this slow line after last doing it behind 68s. I alighted from this 802 at York with a plan in my head to rope in the latest Northern 150 hybrid units, but first I had a gentle loop along the city walls. Although I couldn't do the section between Monkbar & Bootham Bar as that section was closed, so headed back towards the station via the impressive York Minster. A bit slippery in places due to the recent rain but was interesting with the old walls.
155347 departing Hutton Cranswick Station by Kite, on Flickr
Back at York station and feeling refreshed after that walk I boarded a quiet 185140 for the fast run towards Leeds and a short wait before winner 150007 rolled in on the next Knottingley via Wakefield service, nice and easy to get over ten miles with the nonstop run towards Wakefield Westgate where I had around 15 minutes to wait before winner 150008 followed on the next Sheffield stopper. Originally, I was going to take this towards Rotherham Central but it lost time at both Fitzwilliam & Moorthorpe (with no reasons given by the guard) so I bailed at Goldthorpe for 158792 on the next stopper back towards Leeds, alighting at Moorthorpe for a short wait before a busier than expected 150273 to roll in on the York train for a little trip via Pontefract Baghill.
Darkness had fallen by the time the 150 got back to York, giving me a chance to grab some supplies for dinner before one of my main goals for today, the novelty of the token daily LNER service to Middlesbrough. It was running a few minutes behind schedule due to delays on the southern section of the ECML as a mostly empty 800205 rolled in, I was in coach B with 3 other passengers, all which boarded at York. This Azuma ran nonstop towards Thornaby using the Northallerton avoiding line (not sure if I’ve done those on a passenger service before) arriving into Middlesbrough a couple minutes behind schedule. But the last of the current LNER token daily services had been complete.
800205 at Middlesbrough Station by Kite, on Flickr
As I had nearly an hour before the next TPE service back towards York so I jumped onto 156438 to Redcar Central. Not the best of ideas considering this area is quite dodgy at night in terms of feral youths hanging around causing trouble for any passengers waiting for trains. I just had a little stroll away from the station to get away from them before returning to board 185124 & 185118 with a good number of passengers walking past 118 to board the front unit even with half of it off the platform, I wonder how many of those actually had tickets or were getting a free ride knowing the guard would be restricted to the rear unit. Although I shouldn’t make any assumptions.
An hour or so later I alighted from the 185s at York giving me a nice connection into a Hull bound service formed of 170453, one of the northern 170s which still has 2+1 seating behind the cabs, just for that extra bit of luxury on this lightly loaded stopper where I had a crazy last-minute idea and bailed at Ferriby to have a walk towards the river bank for some night time photos of the Humber. After a couple of photos, it was back to the station for 155344 to take me one stop back to Brough finishing the day with 185148 to Hull. I made my way back to my hotel to relax for the rest of the night, sorting out my rucksack for the departure in the morning.
River Humber from North Ferriby at Night by Kite, on Flickr
29th January – Hornsea Rail Trail
As the weather was looking promising (mainly dry) I decided to do the walk along the Hornsea Rail Trail, which makes use of the route of the former Hull & Hornsea Railway line and is now part of the Trans Pennine Trail. After checking out of the hotel (certainly one I would use again if I ever need to stay in Hull and can arrive during check-in times) I headed towards the bus station to catch the East Yorkshire Route 24 service (with bus 20361, a Volvo Plaxton).
This headed out of Hull towards Longhill, then via some villages (such as Skirlaugh, Leven, Brandesburton & Catwick) to reach Hornsea. I stayed on to the end of the route near what looked like an old bus garage with this bus heading towards Beverley. My walk began with the first section being alongside the sea front towards the marker which makes the eastern starting point of the Trans Pennine Trail.
Trans Pennine Trail Marker at Hornsea by Kite, on Flickr
I passed the site of the former Hornsea station and followed the railway path out of the town, with a small gap where the route has been lost by modern developments but soon I was in the wilds of rural East Yorkshire with fields and not a lot else. Very peaceful and the path was mostly reasonable, a couple of places where it was a bit muddy due to the recent rain but nothing major. The good thing with this old railway line path is that some of the old stations still have their platforms in situ (although a couple the platforms were hidden by undergrowth).
The walk continued in the countryside, passing small villages like Great Hatfield, Whitedale & New Ellerby before reaching the outskirts of Hull and the Sutton area of the city. The peace had gone but the path was still reasonable with woodland. In the Stoneferry area I had a little detour along the route of the former Stoneferry freight line, before doubling back on myself back to the junction with the path going underneath the railway line towards Hull docks and turning quite industrial with the path ending with the A165.
Remains of platform at Sigglesthorne Station (2) by Kite, on Flickr
With the old railway line walk complete I followed the road network towards the city centre & the station, just having enough time to swing via Tesco to grab some late lunch before boarding 802304 & 802302 on the next Hull Trains service towards London Kings Cross, relaxing with my phone on charge, the coach I was in only getting busy after Grantham. All was going well until it hit London with some delays, losing around 20 minutes between Potters Bar & Kings Cross. As my feet were hurting after a long walk, I decided to head to St Pancras low level jumping on 700122 on a heavily delayed service towards London Bridge, and onto 466029, 465044 & 465018 on the first available South Eastern service towards Waterloo East.
After grabbing some dinner, I headed towards 159108 & 158890 at Waterloo on the 19:20 service (which to be expected for 5 vice 8 coaches for the first “super off-peak” train, it was quite busy). I took this service to Grateley to walk home, spending the rest of the evening sorting out my rucksack and doing some admin stuff after being away for nearly a week. A week spent being here, there & everywhere, doing novelty services. Old railway line walks & ticking off some more units, I got lucky with both those Northern 150s following each other from Leeds which made my life a bit easier. The only things I didn’t manage to do was an EMR service to Barton on Humber, walking the bridge & doing a TPE 802 from Leeds towards Selby but those can wait for a future adventure.
Thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr Here
24th Jan – 29th Jan Trip
I had some annual leave which needed to be used up by the end of April so I put in a request for a couple weeks off with many ideas of what to do, all coming together with a large holiday
24th Jan – Onwards to Cheshire
The first day of my trip, and the weather forecast looked a bit rubbish with the latest big storm hitting Ireland & Scotland (Northern Ireland was one option I was looking at for this trip but decided against it) with the day starting with 158884 & 159013 on a delayed 06:57 service from Grateley to London Waterloo. Arrival into Waterloo was at 08:36 so it was a fast walk to the underground with Bakerloo set 3546/3299 taken to Marylebone with around 5 minutes spare before the next Birmingham train. To mix things up I decided to head to Birmingham via Chiltern this time round, mainly to relax on the Mk3 coaches with 68015 up front, watching the countryside go by.
I arrived in Birmingham and after picking up a West Midlands Day Ranger I headed towards Birmingham New Street to take 730032 to Blake Street, intercepting winner 730025 (and dud 730033) on a Bromsgrove service, before the line fell over due to a fallen tree around Sutton Coldfield, with no sign of my last 730/0 nor 2 coach 196s I decided to head towards Cheshire to get ‘checked in’ into my accommodation, the shared house I’ve used countless times before, only to get rid of some weight from my rucksack.
68015 at London Marylebone by Kite, on FlickrHowever, due to issues with the overhead wires falling down between Stafford & Wolverhampton I decided it would be a good chance to cover the Chase line on a 730 so it was onto a busy 730026 for the slow trip via Walsall towards Rugeley Trent Valley, a horrible station at the best of times (for it’s quite exposed to the elements). It wasn’t the nicest of waits before 350106 & 350403 rolled in on the next LNR to Crewe, taking me to Crewe, picking up a Cheshire Day Ranger from the ticket office.
It was onto 390129 to take me to Runcorn (a service made busier due to no LNR running between Crewe & Liverpool for some reason), a short wait at Runcorn before winner 807006 rolled in from Liverpool to take me to Crewe where I had a short wait for the next TfW service for Manchester with dud 197045 leading winner 197031. I decided to take these to Stockport, although had I been quick on my feet at Wilmslow, I might have been able to change platforms for a 67 hauled set heading south which was running a couple of minutes late.
390006 passing Rugeley Trent Valley by Kite, on FlickrI did have a crazy idea to take a XC towards Stafford to mix things up, but that was cancelled so it was onto 390002 back to Crewe where I exited the station, making my way towards my accommodation via the large Tesco to grab some bottles of liquid (as I didn’t pack any big bottles due to weight/space limitations). With my stuff dropped off, I returned to Crewe station before winner 807002 took me to Warrington Bank Quay on the Blackpool service, where I had a couple of options to heading back to Crewe, deciding to take a busy 197012 to Chester for 197104 back to Crewe where I was tempted to call it a day but decided to do one of the things on my “novelty” list and took 390050 to Stafford for a 45-minute wait.
Which sounded longer than it was, but due to the issues at Penkridge, a London – Crewe via Birmingham Pendo was sent via the Trent Valley line and arrived 30-odd minutes early (and it was pretty much empty). 390136 provided me some shelter from the cold wind before it set off towards Crewe, but going via Stoke on Trent (the novelty being a Pendo between Stafford & Stoke). An empty train (it was following a LNR Stafford – Crewe service which took a lot of the passengers), a relaxing end to the first day. On the way back to the accommodation I was in two minds about a walk on the Saturday, the cold wind was putting a question mark on my trip to the High Peak Trail.
25th January – Exploring the Trans Pennine Trail between Warrington & Altrincham
I decided to leave the High Peak Trail for another day so my backup plan was to walk the route of the former Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway from the Thelwall area of Warrington towards Altrincham which is now part of the long-distance Trans Pennine Trail (which runs from Southport towards Hornsea). This walk had been on my list to do for a while as a potential Sunday idea (heck it was even my rough plan for the Sunday of this trip had the weather been better).
A later than usual start with 390135 taken from Crewe to Warrington Bank Quay to begin my walk. The first section was following a path which runs alongside the north bank of the River Mersey, being careful to avoid some icy patches due to the temperature, crossing over the river at the Kingsway Bridge before taking the "Black Bear Park" path starting near Victoria Park and heading south west towards Latchford (going underneath an old railway bridge used by the old railway route. This path comes to an end next to the Manchester Ship Canal near a handy Morrisons (which came in handy for a quick toilet stop and to grab lunch items).
After visiting Morrisons I picked up the Trans Pennine Trail which for this section followed the north bank of the Ship Canal (although no decent views of the canal due to trees), reaching the impressive Latchford Viaduct (now disused) and Latchford Locks which I used to cross over the canal to the Thelwall side, with a short walk along the road to pick up a path leading up a steep hill to the route of the old railway.
Latchford Locks on Manchester Ship Canal (2) by Kite, on FlickrThe path quality was reasonable for the time of year, a bit muddy in places but nothing major. It was a busy path in terms of other users as the sun had come out (and was quite a lovely day). The woodland path skirted round Thelwall and towards open countryside, with a short detour required near the M6. After the M6 it was towards Lymm passing to the north of the town with the Bridgwater Canal coming close at times. No real evidence of the former stations (in terms of platforms).
After Lymm (and a path which felt like it was constructed using rubber mixed with tarmac as it was a bit bouncy) it was into the wilds of Cheshire, towards Dunham Massey. A lovely section this in terms of being near silent, other than birds singing. However, all good things come to an end as the path ended in the Broadheath area of Altrincham with an industrial estate along with some retail units. I followed a couple of roads to reach Navigation Road station where my walk came to an end.
Trans Pennine Trail (former Warrington and Altrincham Junction Line) in Dunham Massey (3) by Kite, on FlickrIt was time to play with some trains and I took a seat on 156429 working a train towards Chester, changing to Merseyrail to see if I could get lucky with a required 777 doing a series of linear hops towards Hamilton Square. Eventually scoring 777019 on a massively late Chester service (as the Chester line had somewhat collapsed with at least 2 services getting turned back at Birkenhead Central). Sadly, Merseyrail couldn't do their usual trick in running this service fast as it was following an Ellesmere Port service.
A bit dicey at the Chester end in terms of connection with a Crewe train, but thankfully I made the connection to a busy 197117 for the short run to Crewe where I decided to call it a night. I headed to my accommodation via a burger place for a yummy burger (afterwards having a little stroll to Tesco to grab some supplies for the Sunday). An enjoyable walk from Warrington towards Altrincham (and if anybody wanted to walk just the old railway line section, there is a bus stop located at the old railway bridge in Thelwall).
26th January – A Day of Diverts
With the weather being a bit on the wetter side today, I looked up ideas and saw that Avanti were diverting services via Bescot & Aston due to the Trent Valley line being closed, and that a few were calling at Rugby to allow use of a West Midlands Day Ranger. This is something which had been on my list a couple times in the past, but for various reasons never happened. Anyhow I headed to Crewe station to board 390126 on a London service for the trip to Rugby going towards Wolverhampton before heading towards Bescot at Bushbury Junction & Portobello Junction. At Perry Barr junctions it carried straight on towards Aston and then used the freight link towards Stechford, re-joining the regular passenger network after Stechford station. A nonstop run from Stechford towards Rugby followed (and yes it felt odd going fast through Coventry during the day). I alighted at Rugby and decided to risk having a short walk as the rain wasn't due to arrive until midday.
Today's short walk was along the route of the former Grand Central line, which is split into two parts within Rugby. I picked the Southern section, and after walking some roads picked up the path of the old line, passing the remains of the Grand Central station and heading south skirting the edge of Hilmorton before the path ending at Onley Lane. I did a U-turn and headed back towards Rugby along the same route getting lucky as it only started to rain when I joined the road. One old railway route in Rugby covered, just leaves the Northern section of the Grand Central route towards Newton plus the old Leamington route towards Birdingbury.
Platforms at the former Rugby Central Station by Kite, on FlickrAnyhow I got back to the station, coming up with a plan to head to Coventry for a 196 to Leamington for something towards Birmingham that direction when I noticed looking at RTT some non-stop Birmingham Snow Hill – Worcester services and some diverted XC services going via Kidderminster due to the usual route via Bromsgrove being closed. This is a diverted route which had been on my list for a while (even going as far as looking at costs of a city centre hotel to do it one night so my plan to go towards Leamington went into the bin as a busy 350119 & 350110 took me to Birmingham New Street.
I headed across to board 220011 & 220028 on a Plymouth service (which dwelled at Birmingham New Street for something like 25 minutes), easily getting a seat at the back of the train. Originally, I was going to take this pair of voyagers to Gloucester but decided along the way to extend my ticket to Bristol Parkway to cover the south facing side of the Gloucester triangle on a XC service (something which I was hoping to do last year when Ashley Gate opened). So, I ended up taking this pair of voyagers to Bristol Parkway of all places.
220011 at Bristol Parkway by Kite, on FlickrThe next northbound service was delayed a few minutes, departing behind a Worcester bound IET. Again, I got lucky in not only getting a seat, but it was one with an actual window (rather than a view of plastic) when 220004 & 220010 rolled in for the trip back to Birmingham going via Gloucester, Worcester Shrub Hill & Kidderminster. Back at Birmingham New Street and I headed across to board 390154 on a Preston bound service for the run towards Crewe (enjoying the legroom because the legroom on a voyager isn’t the best compared to a Pendo).
I got lucky as the Pendo arrived a couple of minutes early, allowing a fast walk across to platform 5 to board winner 197034 on a service running nonstop to Shrewsbury, another 197 into my book. At Shrewsbury I popped out of the station to visit Tesco Express for dinner, before taking 197111 back to Crewe on another nonstop journey (the 197s certainly fly on this section of the route). Anyhow once back at Crewe I headed towards my accommodation to get my rucksack sorted for the morning as it was time to relocate to East Yorkshire.
27th January – Onwards to Yorkshire… via Brigg.
For the second part of my holiday, I had booked a stay in a hotel in Hull, originally it was going to be one night with another relocation to Newcastle but I decided to stay in Hull for 2 nights, just to give me a day where I didn’t have to carry the mobile house. I departed from the shared house in Crewe after a good stay (it’s not perfect by any means but for the location and average price it is hard to beat) heading to Crewe station to board 197008 & 197111 on the first Manchester bound TfW service which called at Alderley Edge (which was a bit unusual). At Stockport I had 25-odd minutes so popped out of the station to visit the Co-Op in Edgeley to grab some supplies for breakfast.
After my supply run, I returned to the station to board 185128 & 185147 on the next TPE service towards Sheffield, with a few passengers heading to board the front unit ignoring the rearmost unit. I’m sure all of those passengers held valid tickets and not just a ticket from Stockport to Davenport or something else to bypass the barriers at Stockport. Anyhow these 185s took me across the valley of Hope which was looking beautiful as ever and deposited me at the rebuilt Dore & Totley station, where after a couple of photos I took 195130 from the new platform back towards Grindleford for a short wait before 195112 to Sheffield.
185147 departing Dore & Totley Station by Kite, on FlickrAs a time-wasting measure, I took 185139 & 185138 to Meadowhall, nearly getting caught out by short platforms (why did I think the Doncaster line platforms at Meadowhall took 6 coaches?), and returning to Sheffield on 150003 where I had a short wait on platform 1 to await the arrival of 150271 from the sidings to form the daily northern service to Cleethorpes via Brigg. A line I haven’t done on a passenger service in a while, and never on a 150 (as the Brigg line services were solid pacer when I did the stations). A quiet train from Sheffield, on a nonstop run towards Worksop picking up a good number of passengers, most alighting at Retford with half a dozen remaining on board for the run towards Gainsborough Central (where I made use of a booked dwell for a photo) before heading towards Cleethorpes. As I had time and the sun was out (all be with a cold wind) I headed for a little stroll along the seafront heading towards New Clee before doubling back via the roads to Cleethorpes, where things went a bit wrong. Anyhow it was my first time at Cleethorpes since platform 4 was brought back into use for some reason (it’s not like Cleethorpes is a busy station with 1.5 trains per hour). An area to return to once I research booked usage.
Anyhow, back to the trains, the 170 from Barton rolled in with announcements that the return service was cancelled due to a lack of staff. So rather than mess around with a replacement bus which might or might not turn up I cut my losses and jumped back onto 150271 to Grimsby Town to head towards a bus stop near the town hall for the route 250 to Hull. My original idea was to take the train to Barton (ticking off the branch for both 170 coverage and also as a “EMR” service) to walk over the bridge to Hessle (for a train to Hull).
185107, 170512 & 150271 at Cleethorpes by Kite, on FlickrStagecoach’s 26268 was on the next 250 service. It headed out of the suburbs of Grimsby towards Laceby, then a fast run along the A48 coming off the road to serve Keelby before heading towards Ulceby via Brocklesby & crossing the railway at the old station site. After serving Ulceby village (nowhere near the station) the bus headed towards Barrow Upon Humber and Barton Upon Humber, doing a loop of the town centre, pausing for a few minutes at the station. After resuming the bus headed towards the A15 to cross the Humber Bridge before heading towards Hull city centre via the suburbs, hitting school throwing out time to take a lot of school kids for what felt like 2 stops (something which probably would have taken them less than 10 minutes to walk). The bus terminated in the bus station, an enjoyable run and unexpected due to the cancellation of the train.
At Hull, I headed towards my accommodation, to get checked in (it was one of those places with more limited checking in times, and because I had plans for the evening I didn’t want to get caught out). A basic hotel (converted house from the looks of it) near the hospital, taking around 15 minutes to walk from the station, reasonable enough. After leaving the bulk of the weight from my rucksack I returned towards the Bus/Train station to grab something to eat from Tesco before heading towards platform 1 at Hull, something which since my last visit had been brought back into use (and mainly used by the hourly stopping services to Doncaster).
Stagecoach Bus 26268 (YM19 VRT) in Hull (layover area) (Passenger Side) by Kite, on FlickrMy original idea was to take the next stopper to Brough for a Hull Trains service to Doncaster, but sadly things went wrong again as the next stopper with 158795 was delayed inbound and hence was held for both a TPE & the Hull Trains service to depart first, before heading towards Doncaster running something like 25 minutes late. I decided to bail at Thorne North as I wanted some more photos of this station, for a wait in the cold before 158792 rolled in on the next Doncaster stopper to take me to Doncaster, where I had a short break before 800106 rolled in on the daily token LNER service to Hull.
I had a private coach on this 9-coach train for the short(ish) journey to Selby, ticking off coverage from Temple Hirst Junction towards Selby on a LNER service (linking up with the time I did a 800 from Selby to Hull in 2023). A short wait at Selby and it was back towards Doncaster on a lightly loaded 802303 for another wait, this time for 170473 on the next train towards Hull, which was unusual for Northern as it went via Selby rather than via Goole. Another small part of the Northern network covered on a Northern service, as I relaxed (annoyed that I had taken out my tablet as it would have come in handy to pass the time in the darkness) as the 170 made good process. At Hull I departed the station & headed back towards my accommodation to relax for the rest of the evening, getting lucky because half an hour later it threw it down. A mostly successful day with a couple more novelty services removed from my list.
28th January – A tour of Yorkshire
The main idea for today was to take the bus to Hornsea to walk the old railway line back towards Hull, on a day I wasn’t carrying around the mobile house, however the weather didn’t want to play ball with it being a tad wet so I dug out a plan B. The day starting with a gentle stroll from my accommodation towards the station, going via Tesco for some breakfast items and purchasing my East Yorkshire Round Robin ticket and boarding 155347 for the run towards Nafferton where I had a gentle little stroll into the village during the 30-minute fester, noticing a potential future walking idea towards Driffield. Anyhow 155347 returned from Bridlington to take me a couple stops to Hutton Cranswick, a station I needed some more photos considering when I did the stations the first time round the connection here wasn’t ideal (a case of dashing to the level crossing to get across the railway line during the short time the barrier went up).
155344 was up next to take me to Bridlington to terminate in the bay platform giving me time to pop to Tesco in the rain to grab a drink (and to waste some time). After my visit to Tesco, it was onwards to Scarborough on 170458 before taking 802219 on the next TPE service towards Manchester, felt strange being on an 802 on this slow line after last doing it behind 68s. I alighted from this 802 at York with a plan in my head to rope in the latest Northern 150 hybrid units, but first I had a gentle loop along the city walls. Although I couldn't do the section between Monkbar & Bootham Bar as that section was closed, so headed back towards the station via the impressive York Minster. A bit slippery in places due to the recent rain but was interesting with the old walls.
155347 departing Hutton Cranswick Station by Kite, on FlickrBack at York station and feeling refreshed after that walk I boarded a quiet 185140 for the fast run towards Leeds and a short wait before winner 150007 rolled in on the next Knottingley via Wakefield service, nice and easy to get over ten miles with the nonstop run towards Wakefield Westgate where I had around 15 minutes to wait before winner 150008 followed on the next Sheffield stopper. Originally, I was going to take this towards Rotherham Central but it lost time at both Fitzwilliam & Moorthorpe (with no reasons given by the guard) so I bailed at Goldthorpe for 158792 on the next stopper back towards Leeds, alighting at Moorthorpe for a short wait before a busier than expected 150273 to roll in on the York train for a little trip via Pontefract Baghill.
Darkness had fallen by the time the 150 got back to York, giving me a chance to grab some supplies for dinner before one of my main goals for today, the novelty of the token daily LNER service to Middlesbrough. It was running a few minutes behind schedule due to delays on the southern section of the ECML as a mostly empty 800205 rolled in, I was in coach B with 3 other passengers, all which boarded at York. This Azuma ran nonstop towards Thornaby using the Northallerton avoiding line (not sure if I’ve done those on a passenger service before) arriving into Middlesbrough a couple minutes behind schedule. But the last of the current LNER token daily services had been complete.
800205 at Middlesbrough Station by Kite, on FlickrAs I had nearly an hour before the next TPE service back towards York so I jumped onto 156438 to Redcar Central. Not the best of ideas considering this area is quite dodgy at night in terms of feral youths hanging around causing trouble for any passengers waiting for trains. I just had a little stroll away from the station to get away from them before returning to board 185124 & 185118 with a good number of passengers walking past 118 to board the front unit even with half of it off the platform, I wonder how many of those actually had tickets or were getting a free ride knowing the guard would be restricted to the rear unit. Although I shouldn’t make any assumptions.
An hour or so later I alighted from the 185s at York giving me a nice connection into a Hull bound service formed of 170453, one of the northern 170s which still has 2+1 seating behind the cabs, just for that extra bit of luxury on this lightly loaded stopper where I had a crazy last-minute idea and bailed at Ferriby to have a walk towards the river bank for some night time photos of the Humber. After a couple of photos, it was back to the station for 155344 to take me one stop back to Brough finishing the day with 185148 to Hull. I made my way back to my hotel to relax for the rest of the night, sorting out my rucksack for the departure in the morning.
River Humber from North Ferriby at Night by Kite, on Flickr29th January – Hornsea Rail Trail
As the weather was looking promising (mainly dry) I decided to do the walk along the Hornsea Rail Trail, which makes use of the route of the former Hull & Hornsea Railway line and is now part of the Trans Pennine Trail. After checking out of the hotel (certainly one I would use again if I ever need to stay in Hull and can arrive during check-in times) I headed towards the bus station to catch the East Yorkshire Route 24 service (with bus 20361, a Volvo Plaxton).
This headed out of Hull towards Longhill, then via some villages (such as Skirlaugh, Leven, Brandesburton & Catwick) to reach Hornsea. I stayed on to the end of the route near what looked like an old bus garage with this bus heading towards Beverley. My walk began with the first section being alongside the sea front towards the marker which makes the eastern starting point of the Trans Pennine Trail.
Trans Pennine Trail Marker at Hornsea by Kite, on FlickrI passed the site of the former Hornsea station and followed the railway path out of the town, with a small gap where the route has been lost by modern developments but soon I was in the wilds of rural East Yorkshire with fields and not a lot else. Very peaceful and the path was mostly reasonable, a couple of places where it was a bit muddy due to the recent rain but nothing major. The good thing with this old railway line path is that some of the old stations still have their platforms in situ (although a couple the platforms were hidden by undergrowth).
The walk continued in the countryside, passing small villages like Great Hatfield, Whitedale & New Ellerby before reaching the outskirts of Hull and the Sutton area of the city. The peace had gone but the path was still reasonable with woodland. In the Stoneferry area I had a little detour along the route of the former Stoneferry freight line, before doubling back on myself back to the junction with the path going underneath the railway line towards Hull docks and turning quite industrial with the path ending with the A165.
Remains of platform at Sigglesthorne Station (2) by Kite, on FlickrWith the old railway line walk complete I followed the road network towards the city centre & the station, just having enough time to swing via Tesco to grab some late lunch before boarding 802304 & 802302 on the next Hull Trains service towards London Kings Cross, relaxing with my phone on charge, the coach I was in only getting busy after Grantham. All was going well until it hit London with some delays, losing around 20 minutes between Potters Bar & Kings Cross. As my feet were hurting after a long walk, I decided to head to St Pancras low level jumping on 700122 on a heavily delayed service towards London Bridge, and onto 466029, 465044 & 465018 on the first available South Eastern service towards Waterloo East.
After grabbing some dinner, I headed towards 159108 & 158890 at Waterloo on the 19:20 service (which to be expected for 5 vice 8 coaches for the first “super off-peak” train, it was quite busy). I took this service to Grateley to walk home, spending the rest of the evening sorting out my rucksack and doing some admin stuff after being away for nearly a week. A week spent being here, there & everywhere, doing novelty services. Old railway line walks & ticking off some more units, I got lucky with both those Northern 150s following each other from Leeds which made my life a bit easier. The only things I didn’t manage to do was an EMR service to Barton on Humber, walking the bridge & doing a TPE 802 from Leeds towards Selby but those can wait for a future adventure.
Thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr Here
xotGD
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barrowjack
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Yes, am still reading and enjoying your reports,
eastwestdivide
Established Member
Ditto. Still reading
D841 Roebuck
Established Member
Also still reading, and thoroughly enjoying your reports - and will hopefully have a walk along a bit of canal on Sunday at the BLS fixture at Guide Bridge... 
Iskra
Established Member
I'm still reading!
Those 185 front unit passengers might have been looking for a cheap first class upgrade instead
Yes, you need to watch the platforms at Meadowhall on 6-car formations, I can never remember whether it is front 4 or back 4 when I'm on them! It's also important to check they actually call at Meadowhall, as not all of them do which nearly caught me out once...
Some nice journeys done there. I also like the 2+1 seating on the Turbostars. A lot of people seem to still think they're first class so it can be peaceful even on busier trains.
Those 185 front unit passengers might have been looking for a cheap first class upgrade instead
Yes, you need to watch the platforms at Meadowhall on 6-car formations, I can never remember whether it is front 4 or back 4 when I'm on them! It's also important to check they actually call at Meadowhall, as not all of them do which nearly caught me out once... Some nice journeys done there. I also like the 2+1 seating on the Turbostars. A lot of people seem to still think they're first class so it can be peaceful even on busier trains.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Thanks for the comments
31st January – 3rd February Trips
After the Thursday was spent collecting my car from the garage where it had been fixed up following a nasty oil leak which involved needing a new cam belt, I was back out exploring.
31st January – Westerleigh to Bristol Walk
Back in 2022, I walked the old Midland railway path from Bristol towards Bath, now turned into a mixed used path, however I still had to cover the section of path from the junction station at Mangotsfield towards Westerleigh, with the section from Westerleigh to Yate still in use as a freight terminal. I had a couple of options to reach the starting point in Westerleigh, either using a bus (either the hourly 525 from Yate to Emersons Green or the infrequent 620 from Bath towards Stroud) or to walk the first section from Yate, I decided to walk considering connections to the 525 weren't the best.
Anyhow the day began with 15888 & 159012 on the 09:07 from Grateley to take me towards Warminster with 159012 detaching at Salisbury, a short wait at Warminster before 166206 rolled in on a Gloucester service which started at Warminster (all the better to grab a decent seat in the former 1st class area). This wasn’t the quickest as it dwelled at Bristol Temple Meads for around 20 minutes but eventually took me to Yate where my walk began.
The first section was along a slightly muddy footpath along the side of Yate Common before joining the northern end of a disused dual carriageway. The so called "Road to Nowhere" was built in the 1970s for a Yate bypass but costs spiralled and the project was ditched (now sees a second life as a filming location). I will admit it felt strange walking in the middle of a dual carriageway, just one of those weird senses.
The Road to Nowhere in Yate (disused dual carriageway) (2) by Kite, on Flickr
This road ended at Westerleigh Road on the south western corner of Yate with a short walk underneath the railway where I had the option of a footpath or risk walking along a road which lacks a pavement. In hindsight I should have risked it as the footpath turned out to be quite muddy near some fields, although it did involve a bridge underneath the main railway (plus a bridge at the start under the freight line). Thankfully I soon reached solid ground near Westerleigh itself and a shared used path towards the main road where the main railway line path began.
The first section (after crossing the freight line on a foot crossing) ran close to the freight line leading towards the M4 where the freight terminal ended and path moved onto the route of the old railway as I headed towards Bristol via the former Brandy Bottom Colliery (with some old history boards with the former buildings). The old railway line path came to a brief end where it meets the Bristol Ring Road (which was built on the route of the old railway in places), with a shared used path running alongside the dual carriageway for a short section before heading away and towards the former Mangotsfield Station.
Yate - Bristol Cycle Path along route of former Midland railway line near Emersons Green (11) by Kite, on Flickr
I had a couple of options here, either call it a day and find a bus stop for what seemed to be a slow bus going round the houses to reach the city centre or to carry on the path I've already walked. My decision was made when I remembered when I did this path there was a short section which was closed for rebuilding forcing a divert via housing estates. My walk continued towards Staple Hill and the tunnel (and old platform) then towards Fishponds & Lawrence Hill. A busy path with other walkers, cyclists plus runners.
After Lawrence Hill the path has a gap (I presume from the days there used to be a waste terminal which used the old track, maybe one day the gap will be plugged since that waste terminal is long gone). I put on an extra bit of speed on the roads before re-joining the path for the final section across the Floating Harbour channel and to Bristol Temple Meads where I just about made it onto 165102 on a Westbury stopper (and even got a seat in the former 1st class area). This 165 took me to Westbury where I had a short wait before 159008 rolled in from Yeovil Junction to take me to Salisbury where I popped out of the station to grab some supplies from the supermarket before returning to take 159007 & 158884 to Grateley.
59205 passing Westbury Station by Kite, on Flickr
A mostly enjoyable walk in Bristol, another walk I can take off my list, a good way to end January.
1st February - Sirhowy Valley & Taff Extension Walk
This is a walk which has been on my (large) list of things to do in South Wales for a while, although a couple times I had it pencilled in has been changed due to bad weather but today the forecast was looking promising. I booked accommodation near Dingle Road in Penarth which was quite reasonably priced for being close to Cardiff city centre. Anyhow the day began with 159008 on the first train from Grateley to take me to Basingstoke where I had a short wait before 165117 took me to Reading, where I discovered there was a new Sainsburys Local located a stones throw from the station entrance (which I suspect will come in handy for times where I've got time but not enough time to reach Tesco).
After returning to the station it was onto a quiet 800033 on a Carmarthen service (giving me an idea in how to do the disused railway walk from Llanelli to Crosshands involving a bus from Carmarthen, but something for the summer when days are longer). I settled down for an uneventful trip to Cardiff Central where I had a short wait before boarding 197115 on platform 0 on a Maesteg - Ebbw Vale service, grabbing a seat in the standard premium section of the train which was quiet. This service took me to Crosskeys where after a photo of the train my walk began.
197115 departing Crosskeys station by Kite, on Flickr
The first section was along roads to reach the start of the Sirhowy Valley Country Park, running alongside the Sirhowy River before climbing a steep hill to reach the car park. This was an old railway route which used to run between Nantybwch via Blackwood towards Risca, two sections seem to be walkable. Between Holly Bush & Blackwood plus the section I was on towards the settlement of Pontllanfraith where it had a junction up with the Taff Vale Extension Railway.
Back to Crosskeys as the path quality was quite good and views of woodland beautiful as the railway path ran along the "wrong" side of the river to serve Wattsville Cwmfelinfach, running close to Ynysddu & Wyllie before terminating at Gelligroes. The next section wasn't much fun as it ran alongside the A472 dual carriageway towards Maesycwmmer before the old railway line path resumed, now onto the remains of the Taff Vale Extension Railway, crossing close to Hengoed station on the Hengoed viaduct. The next section I had walked as a time wasting move when the 769s were operating in Wales so it was nice to come back to it.
Sirhowy Valley Country Park Trail (former railway line) between Wattsville & Cwmfelinfach by Kite, on Flickr
I had a little detour from the Taff Vale Extension line to walk part of the former Penallta Colliery Branch before doubling back on myself to carry on towards Tredomen and towards Parc Penallta. This was now part of cycle route 47 rather than old railway (as the tracks still exist as they served the former Cwmbargoed colliery). I will come back for a bigger explore of the large Parc Penallta site. After the mixed used path left Parc Penallta, it ran alongside the freight line towards Nelson & Trelewis. After Trelewis I crossed over the Taff Bargoed River towards Treharris, visiting a Co-Op for some more drink before dropping down a steep hill (one which multiple switch-backs) dropping to the River Taff and the Tram Road Side with a final dash near the end to reach the rebuilt Quakers Yard station (complete with new passing loop & second platform)
An enjoyable walk, mix of scenery and mostly a decent quality surface for the winter time. But it was now time to play with some trains, as since my last visit to South Wales, the 756s had started to be introduced on the Valley lines, working as “Tri-Mode” trains being powered by the new overhead wires plus diesel & battery power on the sections deemed too hard to wire up. First up was a trip to Merthyr Vale on 150282, returning south with a busy 150251 to Abercynon where I met up with my good friend Jules whom was out on a day trip to Cardiff. It wasn’t long before my first 756 rolled in with 756105 on the next Merthyr Tydfil service. Similar to the Greater Anglia Flirts, it was low floor and quiet.
150282 arriving at Quakers Yard Station by Kite, on Flickr
We remained on board the 756 during the turnaround at Merthyr Tydfil (scoring the new loop between Pentre-Bach & Merthyr Tydfil) and bailing at Abercynon for a short wait before winner 756111 rolled in on the service from Aberdare to take us to Cardiff Central, going via the city line (via Ninian Park). Due to engineering works Cardiff Queen Street was closed so everything was turning back at Cardiff Central. We headed towards platform 4 to board dud 197045 & winner 197028 on the next service towards Swansea, taking this pair of units to Bridgend turning down a 2-coach unit on a stopper from Swansea which did clear the platform at Bridgend for 197009 & 197111 to roll in from the Swansea direction to take us back to Cardiff Central.
Next up was a trip to Cogan (for me, Jules remained on board to Barry Island) on 150260 & 150262 where I had a walk up the hill towards my accommodation, located pretty much outside Dingle Road, a station which today was lacking trains. After checking into the guest house, I returned towards Cogan jumping onto 153922 & 150252 for a little time wasting spin to Cadoxton to meet up with Jules on 231004 for the run back to Cardiff Central, where we exited the station to grab some dinner items from Tesco.
756105 at Merthyr Tydfil Station by Kite, on Flickr
Lady luck was on my side today as when I looked earlier in the day 197123 was showing as staying in North Wales all day on Manchester – Llandudno services but it escaped Chester and made it on a service to Cardiff and was on the next departure towards Manchester allowing me to get it into my little book with a run to Newport, saying farewell to Jules who was hiding in the front of the train on the posh seats (which was a lot quieter than the rear coach!)
I had around 20 minutes to wait before winner 197126 rolled in from the Shrewsbury direction on the first day of service for this particular 3 coach unit (and my last 3 coach 197) to take me back to Cardiff Central where I made a tight connection to 153922 & 150252 on the next Barry Island train, which I decided to take to Barry Island (for the novelty of having a 153 to Barry Island). I remained on board to take the same pair of units back to Cogan, where I had a gentle stroll (up the hill) to my accommodation near Dingle Road station. Certainly, a place I would use again if the price was right, not perfect (the window blind didn’t want to stay fully down) but the room was quiet and had a comfy bed.
Entrance to Dingle Park, Penarth by Kite, on Flickr
2nd February – Exploring Hereford
A quieter day compared to the last couple of days with a later start, I was toying with walking towards Cogan to head towards Bridgend had that service been a 153 but that was a 150 so after checking out of the guest house, I headed towards the centre of Penarth passing many shops before reaching the station (this was more a time wasting move) for the first train towards Cardiff, formed of 231004 for the quiet journey to Cardiff Central, which was in a bit of a pickle due to a points failure near Swansea delaying services from the Swansea direction. Quite a few announcements for passengers wanting London to catch a service to Bath and change at Bristol Temple Meads.
Eventually 197103 made it through the chaos to attach to 197043 which was waiting on platform 2, it’s interesting to see how different TOCs cope with train attachments, some will attach first before releasing the doors. Others will release the doors first before closing the doors to allow the attachment to take place before re-releasing the doors. Anyhow eventually the train departed around 25 minutes late, but the front coach of 197043 was nice and quiet to enjoy the scenery for the run to Hereford where I was met at the station by Jules who was giving me a little guided tour of a couple old railways in the city.
Platform at Penarth Station by Kite, on Flickr
The first section was a walk towards the Widemarsh area of the city and the disused freight line which formally served a chicken factory, doing a little loop before heading towards the "Great Western Way" path which made use of the former GWR route which served Hereford Barton station. Once away from the urban area where parts of the line has been lost for modern developments, the route crossed the River Wye heading towards the Belmont part of the city.
This was a busy path with other cyclists, dog walkers & joggers and came out in some green space near the southern end, the cycle path moving away from the original route of railway to finish near Grafton. Along the way we saw a triple 158 leading a pair of 153s on an ECS service towards Cardiff. We doubled back on ourselves heading back towards the River Wye, before heading towards the city centre via the riverside path towards Bishops Meadow and the cathedral.
Hereford Cathedral (2) by Kite, on Flickr
After a visit to Morrisons I headed back to the station to board 802114 on the next London Paddington service, taking a seat in the rearmost coach (which only opened at Worcester Shrub Hill & Worcestershire Parkway) so it was nice and quiet until Oxford where it did fill up (hitting Oxford around the time when all the day trippers start heading home). The train did loss around 10 minutes along the way cutting my connection at Reading down to 5 minutes so I was thankful to have grabbed supplies in Hereford for dinner before transferring to 158881 & 158880 on a Reading - Salisbury service to take me to Grateley to end this little weekend getaway in South Wales (even if I didn't spend much time in South Wales on the Sunday). There is another short old railway line path in Hereford on my list to do, but that is a job for the summer so I can include more of the River Wye path on the section which gets a bit muddy this time of year.
3rd February – River Cole Greenway in Birmingham
Today was a walk which had been on my list for a while in the West Midlands, one which didn’t involve an old railway line nor a canal, but a path from the Marston Green area which was labelled as the River Cole Greenway, one of those urban paths which looked interesting. Anyhow the day began with 159006 & 158884 to London Waterloo with a gentle stroll to Euston to board 390104 on a Birmingham New Street service which was first stop Coventry. At Birmingham New Street I exited the station for a tram hunt (something which will be easier to do when it’s pay on board rather than buy before you board which is coming soon judging by the posters).
I ended up at Bull Street, and got lucky with winner tram 52 to take me to Soho Benson Road, along the way passing a sub mile tram, so I headed back towards the city centre on tram 41 to Five Ways for a short wait before sub mile tram 33 came back with the next Wolverhampton service. I prefer the seats on the newer trams as they are far more comfortable than the seats on the original batch of CAF trams. I took this tram to Bull Street to push it over a mile, walking back towards New Street station via Tesco for a lunch supply raid.
West Midland Metro Tram 52 at Soho Benson Road by Kite, on Flickr
221141 & 220015 took me (and Jules) to Birmingham International where we transferred to 730029 on the next Rugeley Trent Valley service to take it one stop to Marston Green where the walk began.
We exited the station heading towards the airport viewing area but before reaching that spot we turned right onto a path which follows the Hatchford Brook which turned into the Kingshurst Brook a short time later. This path let us towards Chelmsley Wood (and a massive Asda) and to Meriden Park where the brook met the River Cole. Ditching a plan to do a loop due to the path conditions looking muddy, we picked up the path on the south side of the River Cole (this is a section where there was a path on both the north & south sides), now into the Kingfisher Country Park.
The path quality was mostly decent, a couple parts were a bit rougher but nothing bad. I guess in hindsight we should have done the north bank as that passes the Babbs Mill Lake, but it was hard to picture this area being close to Birmingham city centre as it was quite peaceful (other than the passing planes coming into land at the airport). The walk continued in the green space staying close to the river but never too close for the path to be in danger of flooding as this was part of cycle network 53 (The Cole Valley Route as signposted). Originally, we were going to continue all the way towards Yardley Wood, but when we reached the Stechford area (and had lunch) we called it a day. The next section could wait for another trip but it was better than expected.
Meriden Park, Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham (3) by Kite, on Flickr
We headed to Stechford station and boarded 730009 for the run to Birmingham New Street, jumping onto a busy 730022 on a Wolverhampton stopper to Smethwick Galton Bridge before 172212 & 172333 for the tiny distance to The Hawthorns for a spot of tram hunting. Sadly, neither of our requirements were out so we called it quits and headed to Moor Street on 172003 & 172340 parting ways as I headed to Coventry on 390044 as I heard a required 196 was out on Leamington – Nuneaton services but didn’t know which one it was. 196006 was the first I spotted heading towards Nuneaton before winner 196005 rolled in on the Leamington Spa service, which is a good thing as it means I’ve cleared Coventry to Kenilworth for 196 coverage.
After popping out of the station at Leamington Spa to visit the nearby Morrisons (a store I hadn’t been to in years), I took the same 196 back to Coventry to get it cleared for 10 miles before boarding a busy 390010 to Birmingham New Street for a final meet up with Jules whom had been out 730 hunting. I hung back to ID the 196 coming into New Street from the depot in case it was a pair of 2 coach units, but it was a 4-coach unit. I suspect 196007 will simply have to wait until it’s operating on Oxford – Milton Keynes services along with 010 unless it randomly pops up when I’m in Birmingham in a couple weeks’ time.
196005 at Leamington Spa Station by Kite, on Flickr
My time in the West Midlands was at an end as I took 390006 for the run to London, thankfully getting a decent table in coach C (generally if I haven’t got a seat reservation, I will aim for the 11 coach sets as they have more unreserved seats for longer journeys). This lost time heading towards London so I played it safe and used the Northern line (sets 51547 & 51548 which were a bonus sub mile 95 stock pair) to Waterloo before boarding 159022 & 159010 on a service back to Grateley, having a gentle walk home to get my rucksack ready for another adventure with mum involving Manchester.
Summary of 4th Feb – 8th Feb
A couple of novelty services in the Manchester area with a TPE 397 on a Manchester – Preston service which was booked to go via Wigan, returning on a pair of 323s on the same route. The Saturday the weather was a bit rubbish at times, but I managed to walk the Belmont Railway path in North London which turned out to be a muddy mess of an overgrown path, not one I would recommend (Harrow & Wealdstone – Belmont). With a good Piccadilly line hunt afterwards. But sadly, all things come to an end and my time off work ended with going back to the work on the 9th February. Anyhow more photos can be found on my Flickr account Here, I shall leave you with a photo of a Sheffield tram:
Sheffield Supertram 122 near Station by Kite, on Flickr
31st January – 3rd February Trips
After the Thursday was spent collecting my car from the garage where it had been fixed up following a nasty oil leak which involved needing a new cam belt, I was back out exploring.
31st January – Westerleigh to Bristol Walk
Back in 2022, I walked the old Midland railway path from Bristol towards Bath, now turned into a mixed used path, however I still had to cover the section of path from the junction station at Mangotsfield towards Westerleigh, with the section from Westerleigh to Yate still in use as a freight terminal. I had a couple of options to reach the starting point in Westerleigh, either using a bus (either the hourly 525 from Yate to Emersons Green or the infrequent 620 from Bath towards Stroud) or to walk the first section from Yate, I decided to walk considering connections to the 525 weren't the best.
Anyhow the day began with 15888 & 159012 on the 09:07 from Grateley to take me towards Warminster with 159012 detaching at Salisbury, a short wait at Warminster before 166206 rolled in on a Gloucester service which started at Warminster (all the better to grab a decent seat in the former 1st class area). This wasn’t the quickest as it dwelled at Bristol Temple Meads for around 20 minutes but eventually took me to Yate where my walk began.
The first section was along a slightly muddy footpath along the side of Yate Common before joining the northern end of a disused dual carriageway. The so called "Road to Nowhere" was built in the 1970s for a Yate bypass but costs spiralled and the project was ditched (now sees a second life as a filming location). I will admit it felt strange walking in the middle of a dual carriageway, just one of those weird senses.
The Road to Nowhere in Yate (disused dual carriageway) (2) by Kite, on FlickrThis road ended at Westerleigh Road on the south western corner of Yate with a short walk underneath the railway where I had the option of a footpath or risk walking along a road which lacks a pavement. In hindsight I should have risked it as the footpath turned out to be quite muddy near some fields, although it did involve a bridge underneath the main railway (plus a bridge at the start under the freight line). Thankfully I soon reached solid ground near Westerleigh itself and a shared used path towards the main road where the main railway line path began.
The first section (after crossing the freight line on a foot crossing) ran close to the freight line leading towards the M4 where the freight terminal ended and path moved onto the route of the old railway as I headed towards Bristol via the former Brandy Bottom Colliery (with some old history boards with the former buildings). The old railway line path came to a brief end where it meets the Bristol Ring Road (which was built on the route of the old railway in places), with a shared used path running alongside the dual carriageway for a short section before heading away and towards the former Mangotsfield Station.
Yate - Bristol Cycle Path along route of former Midland railway line near Emersons Green (11) by Kite, on FlickrI had a couple of options here, either call it a day and find a bus stop for what seemed to be a slow bus going round the houses to reach the city centre or to carry on the path I've already walked. My decision was made when I remembered when I did this path there was a short section which was closed for rebuilding forcing a divert via housing estates. My walk continued towards Staple Hill and the tunnel (and old platform) then towards Fishponds & Lawrence Hill. A busy path with other walkers, cyclists plus runners.
After Lawrence Hill the path has a gap (I presume from the days there used to be a waste terminal which used the old track, maybe one day the gap will be plugged since that waste terminal is long gone). I put on an extra bit of speed on the roads before re-joining the path for the final section across the Floating Harbour channel and to Bristol Temple Meads where I just about made it onto 165102 on a Westbury stopper (and even got a seat in the former 1st class area). This 165 took me to Westbury where I had a short wait before 159008 rolled in from Yeovil Junction to take me to Salisbury where I popped out of the station to grab some supplies from the supermarket before returning to take 159007 & 158884 to Grateley.
59205 passing Westbury Station by Kite, on FlickrA mostly enjoyable walk in Bristol, another walk I can take off my list, a good way to end January.
1st February - Sirhowy Valley & Taff Extension Walk
This is a walk which has been on my (large) list of things to do in South Wales for a while, although a couple times I had it pencilled in has been changed due to bad weather but today the forecast was looking promising. I booked accommodation near Dingle Road in Penarth which was quite reasonably priced for being close to Cardiff city centre. Anyhow the day began with 159008 on the first train from Grateley to take me to Basingstoke where I had a short wait before 165117 took me to Reading, where I discovered there was a new Sainsburys Local located a stones throw from the station entrance (which I suspect will come in handy for times where I've got time but not enough time to reach Tesco).
After returning to the station it was onto a quiet 800033 on a Carmarthen service (giving me an idea in how to do the disused railway walk from Llanelli to Crosshands involving a bus from Carmarthen, but something for the summer when days are longer). I settled down for an uneventful trip to Cardiff Central where I had a short wait before boarding 197115 on platform 0 on a Maesteg - Ebbw Vale service, grabbing a seat in the standard premium section of the train which was quiet. This service took me to Crosskeys where after a photo of the train my walk began.
197115 departing Crosskeys station by Kite, on FlickrThe first section was along roads to reach the start of the Sirhowy Valley Country Park, running alongside the Sirhowy River before climbing a steep hill to reach the car park. This was an old railway route which used to run between Nantybwch via Blackwood towards Risca, two sections seem to be walkable. Between Holly Bush & Blackwood plus the section I was on towards the settlement of Pontllanfraith where it had a junction up with the Taff Vale Extension Railway.
Back to Crosskeys as the path quality was quite good and views of woodland beautiful as the railway path ran along the "wrong" side of the river to serve Wattsville Cwmfelinfach, running close to Ynysddu & Wyllie before terminating at Gelligroes. The next section wasn't much fun as it ran alongside the A472 dual carriageway towards Maesycwmmer before the old railway line path resumed, now onto the remains of the Taff Vale Extension Railway, crossing close to Hengoed station on the Hengoed viaduct. The next section I had walked as a time wasting move when the 769s were operating in Wales so it was nice to come back to it.
Sirhowy Valley Country Park Trail (former railway line) between Wattsville & Cwmfelinfach by Kite, on FlickrI had a little detour from the Taff Vale Extension line to walk part of the former Penallta Colliery Branch before doubling back on myself to carry on towards Tredomen and towards Parc Penallta. This was now part of cycle route 47 rather than old railway (as the tracks still exist as they served the former Cwmbargoed colliery). I will come back for a bigger explore of the large Parc Penallta site. After the mixed used path left Parc Penallta, it ran alongside the freight line towards Nelson & Trelewis. After Trelewis I crossed over the Taff Bargoed River towards Treharris, visiting a Co-Op for some more drink before dropping down a steep hill (one which multiple switch-backs) dropping to the River Taff and the Tram Road Side with a final dash near the end to reach the rebuilt Quakers Yard station (complete with new passing loop & second platform)
An enjoyable walk, mix of scenery and mostly a decent quality surface for the winter time. But it was now time to play with some trains, as since my last visit to South Wales, the 756s had started to be introduced on the Valley lines, working as “Tri-Mode” trains being powered by the new overhead wires plus diesel & battery power on the sections deemed too hard to wire up. First up was a trip to Merthyr Vale on 150282, returning south with a busy 150251 to Abercynon where I met up with my good friend Jules whom was out on a day trip to Cardiff. It wasn’t long before my first 756 rolled in with 756105 on the next Merthyr Tydfil service. Similar to the Greater Anglia Flirts, it was low floor and quiet.
150282 arriving at Quakers Yard Station by Kite, on FlickrWe remained on board the 756 during the turnaround at Merthyr Tydfil (scoring the new loop between Pentre-Bach & Merthyr Tydfil) and bailing at Abercynon for a short wait before winner 756111 rolled in on the service from Aberdare to take us to Cardiff Central, going via the city line (via Ninian Park). Due to engineering works Cardiff Queen Street was closed so everything was turning back at Cardiff Central. We headed towards platform 4 to board dud 197045 & winner 197028 on the next service towards Swansea, taking this pair of units to Bridgend turning down a 2-coach unit on a stopper from Swansea which did clear the platform at Bridgend for 197009 & 197111 to roll in from the Swansea direction to take us back to Cardiff Central.
Next up was a trip to Cogan (for me, Jules remained on board to Barry Island) on 150260 & 150262 where I had a walk up the hill towards my accommodation, located pretty much outside Dingle Road, a station which today was lacking trains. After checking into the guest house, I returned towards Cogan jumping onto 153922 & 150252 for a little time wasting spin to Cadoxton to meet up with Jules on 231004 for the run back to Cardiff Central, where we exited the station to grab some dinner items from Tesco.
756105 at Merthyr Tydfil Station by Kite, on FlickrLady luck was on my side today as when I looked earlier in the day 197123 was showing as staying in North Wales all day on Manchester – Llandudno services but it escaped Chester and made it on a service to Cardiff and was on the next departure towards Manchester allowing me to get it into my little book with a run to Newport, saying farewell to Jules who was hiding in the front of the train on the posh seats (which was a lot quieter than the rear coach!)
I had around 20 minutes to wait before winner 197126 rolled in from the Shrewsbury direction on the first day of service for this particular 3 coach unit (and my last 3 coach 197) to take me back to Cardiff Central where I made a tight connection to 153922 & 150252 on the next Barry Island train, which I decided to take to Barry Island (for the novelty of having a 153 to Barry Island). I remained on board to take the same pair of units back to Cogan, where I had a gentle stroll (up the hill) to my accommodation near Dingle Road station. Certainly, a place I would use again if the price was right, not perfect (the window blind didn’t want to stay fully down) but the room was quiet and had a comfy bed.
Entrance to Dingle Park, Penarth by Kite, on Flickr2nd February – Exploring Hereford
A quieter day compared to the last couple of days with a later start, I was toying with walking towards Cogan to head towards Bridgend had that service been a 153 but that was a 150 so after checking out of the guest house, I headed towards the centre of Penarth passing many shops before reaching the station (this was more a time wasting move) for the first train towards Cardiff, formed of 231004 for the quiet journey to Cardiff Central, which was in a bit of a pickle due to a points failure near Swansea delaying services from the Swansea direction. Quite a few announcements for passengers wanting London to catch a service to Bath and change at Bristol Temple Meads.
Eventually 197103 made it through the chaos to attach to 197043 which was waiting on platform 2, it’s interesting to see how different TOCs cope with train attachments, some will attach first before releasing the doors. Others will release the doors first before closing the doors to allow the attachment to take place before re-releasing the doors. Anyhow eventually the train departed around 25 minutes late, but the front coach of 197043 was nice and quiet to enjoy the scenery for the run to Hereford where I was met at the station by Jules who was giving me a little guided tour of a couple old railways in the city.
Platform at Penarth Station by Kite, on FlickrThe first section was a walk towards the Widemarsh area of the city and the disused freight line which formally served a chicken factory, doing a little loop before heading towards the "Great Western Way" path which made use of the former GWR route which served Hereford Barton station. Once away from the urban area where parts of the line has been lost for modern developments, the route crossed the River Wye heading towards the Belmont part of the city.
This was a busy path with other cyclists, dog walkers & joggers and came out in some green space near the southern end, the cycle path moving away from the original route of railway to finish near Grafton. Along the way we saw a triple 158 leading a pair of 153s on an ECS service towards Cardiff. We doubled back on ourselves heading back towards the River Wye, before heading towards the city centre via the riverside path towards Bishops Meadow and the cathedral.
Hereford Cathedral (2) by Kite, on FlickrAfter a visit to Morrisons I headed back to the station to board 802114 on the next London Paddington service, taking a seat in the rearmost coach (which only opened at Worcester Shrub Hill & Worcestershire Parkway) so it was nice and quiet until Oxford where it did fill up (hitting Oxford around the time when all the day trippers start heading home). The train did loss around 10 minutes along the way cutting my connection at Reading down to 5 minutes so I was thankful to have grabbed supplies in Hereford for dinner before transferring to 158881 & 158880 on a Reading - Salisbury service to take me to Grateley to end this little weekend getaway in South Wales (even if I didn't spend much time in South Wales on the Sunday). There is another short old railway line path in Hereford on my list to do, but that is a job for the summer so I can include more of the River Wye path on the section which gets a bit muddy this time of year.
3rd February – River Cole Greenway in Birmingham
Today was a walk which had been on my list for a while in the West Midlands, one which didn’t involve an old railway line nor a canal, but a path from the Marston Green area which was labelled as the River Cole Greenway, one of those urban paths which looked interesting. Anyhow the day began with 159006 & 158884 to London Waterloo with a gentle stroll to Euston to board 390104 on a Birmingham New Street service which was first stop Coventry. At Birmingham New Street I exited the station for a tram hunt (something which will be easier to do when it’s pay on board rather than buy before you board which is coming soon judging by the posters).
I ended up at Bull Street, and got lucky with winner tram 52 to take me to Soho Benson Road, along the way passing a sub mile tram, so I headed back towards the city centre on tram 41 to Five Ways for a short wait before sub mile tram 33 came back with the next Wolverhampton service. I prefer the seats on the newer trams as they are far more comfortable than the seats on the original batch of CAF trams. I took this tram to Bull Street to push it over a mile, walking back towards New Street station via Tesco for a lunch supply raid.
West Midland Metro Tram 52 at Soho Benson Road by Kite, on Flickr221141 & 220015 took me (and Jules) to Birmingham International where we transferred to 730029 on the next Rugeley Trent Valley service to take it one stop to Marston Green where the walk began.
We exited the station heading towards the airport viewing area but before reaching that spot we turned right onto a path which follows the Hatchford Brook which turned into the Kingshurst Brook a short time later. This path let us towards Chelmsley Wood (and a massive Asda) and to Meriden Park where the brook met the River Cole. Ditching a plan to do a loop due to the path conditions looking muddy, we picked up the path on the south side of the River Cole (this is a section where there was a path on both the north & south sides), now into the Kingfisher Country Park.
The path quality was mostly decent, a couple parts were a bit rougher but nothing bad. I guess in hindsight we should have done the north bank as that passes the Babbs Mill Lake, but it was hard to picture this area being close to Birmingham city centre as it was quite peaceful (other than the passing planes coming into land at the airport). The walk continued in the green space staying close to the river but never too close for the path to be in danger of flooding as this was part of cycle network 53 (The Cole Valley Route as signposted). Originally, we were going to continue all the way towards Yardley Wood, but when we reached the Stechford area (and had lunch) we called it a day. The next section could wait for another trip but it was better than expected.
Meriden Park, Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham (3) by Kite, on FlickrWe headed to Stechford station and boarded 730009 for the run to Birmingham New Street, jumping onto a busy 730022 on a Wolverhampton stopper to Smethwick Galton Bridge before 172212 & 172333 for the tiny distance to The Hawthorns for a spot of tram hunting. Sadly, neither of our requirements were out so we called it quits and headed to Moor Street on 172003 & 172340 parting ways as I headed to Coventry on 390044 as I heard a required 196 was out on Leamington – Nuneaton services but didn’t know which one it was. 196006 was the first I spotted heading towards Nuneaton before winner 196005 rolled in on the Leamington Spa service, which is a good thing as it means I’ve cleared Coventry to Kenilworth for 196 coverage.
After popping out of the station at Leamington Spa to visit the nearby Morrisons (a store I hadn’t been to in years), I took the same 196 back to Coventry to get it cleared for 10 miles before boarding a busy 390010 to Birmingham New Street for a final meet up with Jules whom had been out 730 hunting. I hung back to ID the 196 coming into New Street from the depot in case it was a pair of 2 coach units, but it was a 4-coach unit. I suspect 196007 will simply have to wait until it’s operating on Oxford – Milton Keynes services along with 010 unless it randomly pops up when I’m in Birmingham in a couple weeks’ time.
196005 at Leamington Spa Station by Kite, on FlickrMy time in the West Midlands was at an end as I took 390006 for the run to London, thankfully getting a decent table in coach C (generally if I haven’t got a seat reservation, I will aim for the 11 coach sets as they have more unreserved seats for longer journeys). This lost time heading towards London so I played it safe and used the Northern line (sets 51547 & 51548 which were a bonus sub mile 95 stock pair) to Waterloo before boarding 159022 & 159010 on a service back to Grateley, having a gentle walk home to get my rucksack ready for another adventure with mum involving Manchester.
Summary of 4th Feb – 8th Feb
A couple of novelty services in the Manchester area with a TPE 397 on a Manchester – Preston service which was booked to go via Wigan, returning on a pair of 323s on the same route. The Saturday the weather was a bit rubbish at times, but I managed to walk the Belmont Railway path in North London which turned out to be a muddy mess of an overgrown path, not one I would recommend (Harrow & Wealdstone – Belmont). With a good Piccadilly line hunt afterwards. But sadly, all things come to an end and my time off work ended with going back to the work on the 9th February. Anyhow more photos can be found on my Flickr account Here, I shall leave you with a photo of a Sheffield tram:
Sheffield Supertram 122 near Station by Kite, on Flickr
Kite159
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Trips in February 2025
11th February – Tarka Trail, Part 2
Having walked the first section of the Tarka Trail back in January, I decided as the weather was suitable to head back towards Devon to walk the second section of the Tarka Trail, the section from Barnstaple towards Braunton along the route of the former Ilfracombe branch line. The day started with the 08:30 service from Grateley to take me towards Exeter Central with 159014 & 159101, an uneventful journey across the countryside. At Exeter Central I popped out to visit the recently reopened Co-Op store on the opposite side of the road to grab some lunch supplies before returning to the station to take 158768 towards Barnstaple.
Annoyingly the bus timetable for the buses for Ilfracombe is one of those shockingly bad links which sees the half hourly bus departing just as the train rolls in (only to sit in the bus station for 5 minutes) so rather than hang around for half an hour I began my walk, heading away from the station towards the town centre on the Long Bridge, taking some stairs to reach the quay side with the River Taw on my left hand side. Once away from the town centre area the views opened up as this good quality surface path runs close to the river for the first couple of miles. For a Tuesday it was still quite busy with other users, I suspect at weekends, especially in good weather, it would be very busy.
Tarka Trail between Barnstaple & Chivenor (former Ilfracombe branch line) by Kite, on Flickr
The views changed when the path reached Chivenor military base as the river disappeared to be replaced by a high security fence for the barracks before opening out again in the Wrafton area before reaching Braunton itself. The path disappeared for a short section within the town forcing a small detour alongside the River Caen. After re-joining the route of the old railway, I followed it north towards the fire station, finishing the walk at the Georgeham Cross bus stop. The route of the railway being lost until the Mortehoe and Woolacombe station area where it is walkable into Ilfracombe itself, but that is a walk for another day.
I was toying with doing a second walk once in Barnstaple on the short section of the Taunton to Barnstaple Line, but decided that could wait for another day when I was looking up bus options for the Ilfracombe section (which will probably use the 13:50 departure of the route 303 bus towards Willingcott, so I would have time to kill if doing it on a day trip). Anyhow back to today and it was a busy route 21B bus (Stagecoach's 15885) to take me back towards Barnstaple going via the town centre and finishing at the railway station, giving me time to pop to a nearby shop for some supplies.
Old railway wagon in Braunton by Kite, on Flickr
Back to the trains and it was onto 158768 for the trip back towards Exeter St Davids where it got swapped out for a 166, but that took some time so everybody jumped onto 150239 & 150248 on an Exmouth train up the hill to Exeter Central where I grabbed some dinner before walking back down the hill to St Davids as I had noticed the previous SWR service had been cancelled (and it makes more sense to board the train at the start for a better chance of a decent seat). This turned out to be a wise decision as 159012 & 159004 was quite busy from Exeter Central, not full & standing (at least in my coach) but still quite busy with not many available seats.
To be honest, had the GWR service to Axminster been a pair of 150s like it has been recently, I would have taken those to Axminster for the novelty factor of 150s at Axminster, but it was a 3 coach 158. A couple of hours later these 159s dropped me off at Grateley and I had a gentle stroll home to relax for the remainder of the day. A walk of two halves, certainly the section where it ran alongside the river was very beautiful, the section alongside the military base wasn’t.
12th February – To the Sunshine Coast!
Today I had decided I would head towards Essex, as it had been a few years since I last visited both the Harwich & Clacton branch lines, also it would be a good chance to make a start at trying to clear the platforms at Clacton on Sea. I can’t recall which platform I used back in 2014 but I know when I visited in 2021 to walk the coastal path towards Walton it used platform 2 (which seems to be the most commonly used).
The trip began with 159012, 159004 & 158884 on a busy peak time service into Waterloo, where I had a gentle stroll via the streets to reach Liverpool Street, just to waste some time before the 10:00 service to Norwich, which was in the hands of 755333, 755409 & 755408 which I took to Manningtree making the connection with 720532 working the Harwich Town branch line services. I was toying with jumping off at Harwich to have a little walk, but decided against it as I could do something involving the Essex Way path when the weather improves.
755333 at London Liverpool Street by Kite, on Flickr
I returned to Manningtree on the same unit, taking 745003 one stop south to Colchester for a short fester before winner 720137 took me to Clacton on Sea where I decided to have a little stroll along the seafront path towards Jaywick with some good views of the sea. At Jaywick I jumped onto the next route 4 bus operated by Hedingham & Chambers (sounds more like a law firm than a bus company, all be part of the Go-Ahead empire) with a double decker fleet 601 to Clacton town centre where it had started to drizzle.
After a little look in the town centre to waste some time, I headed back to the station to board 720525 & 720559 which were departing from platform 4, taking these units to Thorpe-le-Soken changing onto 720562 to Weeley as a time-wasting move before taking 720578 to Walton-on-the-Naze, remaining on the same unit back to Thorpe-le-Soken where I transferred to winner 720140 leading dud 720539 for the run to Colchester. Next up was 720110 on a Colchester Town service which I took into Colchester Town station, popping out to visit a nearby Sainsburys for some supplies.
Beach & Waterfront at Clacton on Sea (1) by Kite, on Flickr
Back to the trains and 720578 took me to Wivenhoe to complete the Colchester Town triangle, doubling back to Hythe on 720128 & 720557. Hythe is a station which has seen a boost in recent timetable changes now getting an all-day London service rather than just within the peaks, although it’s still a bit of a bleak station. 720101 rolled in on a peak time Walton train to take me to Alresford (for some better photos considering when I visited this station in 2016 it was pretty much a case of going up and over the footbridge due to having less than 5 minutes here. 720570 was up next to take me to Clacton on Sea where it terminated on platform 3.
I headed out towards the sea front to waste some time, before returning to the station to take 720570 back to Colchester where I stepped back onto winners 720112 & 720509 on a service from Colchester Town to Stratford, changing to the jubilee line (with 96064 & 96037) to Waterloo, finishing the day with 159011 & 159108 back to Grateley. An enjoyable little trip today, getting both platforms 3 & 4 at Clacton into my book, as well as doing the coastal walk towards Jaywick. Unusually when at Clacton in the evening I saw a pair of 755s stabled on platform 1, which I had no idea what they were doing there.
720570 at Clacton on Sea Station by Kite, on Flickr
20th February – A Day in Liverpool
Having arrived into Crewe on the Wednesday night, I had plenty of options for the Thursday, sadly the weather turned out to be a bit wet putting some of those options back on the shelf, eventually settling on a trip to Merseyside to see if I could get some more 777s into my book. But first I wanted a little trip to Wrexham to clear the southern section of the Wrexham – Bidston line for 197 coverage. The day began with 197006 on a Holyhead service from Crewe direct to Shotton for the long walk to the southbound platform at Shotton high level, arriving with time to spare before 197030 rolled in to take me to Wrexham Central.
I had a fast walk to Wrexham General, jumping onto 197115 for the short trip to Ruabon as a time-wasting move, and a little stroll as the weather was being dry. Next up was a late running service for Holyhead formed of 197051 & 197017 to take me to Chester, where I popped outside the station to buy my Saveaway and to make use of the toilets. Back on the station and I took 777032 for the long spin to Hamilton Square trying to ID anything heading south, arriving at the station as the fire alarm test was being carried out.
197030 at Wrexham Central (2) by Kite, on Flickr
After a short time, I jumped onto 777022 to take me to Birkenhead Park via the city loop before winner 777027 popped up on the next New Brighton service, which I took to New Brighton going via the city centre to ensure it was clear for 10 miles. I exited the station at New Brighton, heading down the hill towards Morrisons for lunch, arriving just as the heavens opened (getting quite wet on the walk back to the station). 777053 took me to Moorfields which was in a state of chaos due to issues on the Southport line twinned with a 777 deciding it wanted to be an oversized paper weight at Liverpool Central. Eventually winner 777037 rolled in on an Ormskirk service to take me to Town Green, where I returned to Sandhills on 777007.
I managed to get through the crowds (trains from Southport were terminating here and heading back north empty) to board 777142 on the next Headbolt Lane service to take me to Kirkby for a short wait before winner 777148 rolled in (this is the unit which decided to become the paperweight an hour ago, they must have gotten out the large hammer). I took this 777 to Liverpool Central, remaining on board back to Kirkdale to push it over 10 miles, returning towards Liverpool Central on 777029, where I decided to head towards New Brighton again as the sun had come out (and none of my last 5 units were showing as out). 777031 taking me to New Brighton where my walk began.
777142 at Kikrby Station by Kite, on Flickr
This was a cut back version of one of the walking ideas I had planned for today (it was originally going to start at West Kirby). I headed back towards the water front at New Brighton, picking up the promenade path (lots of benches) and headed towards the beach, passing the Marine Lake and Fort Perch Rock which I presumed guarded the mouth of the River Mersey. I headed south alongside the riverfront path with views of Liverpool docks on the opposite bank (as well as the new stadium of Everton kickball team). The river was quite rough with waves splashing over the wall at times on this busy path. I headed towards the Seacombe Ferry terminal and because I had time to kill carried on towards the docks joining the road near Alfred Dock. I need to research that Wirral Circular Trail as a future idea. I returned back towards the ferry terminal via the A554 road, a very industrial area.
It was time to do something which had been on my list of things to do for a fair while, and that is the ferry across the Mersey. It was the time of day the “River Explorer” cruise had stopped running and replaced with the “Commuter” service which runs straight across the river. Royal Iris of the Mersey sailed in with the departure to Liverpool Ferry terminal, giving some nice views of the waterfront. Once back in Liverpool city centre, I popped to a couple of shops before heading to James Street and jumping onto 777032 on a Chester service.
Liverpool Water Front from the Ferry by Kite, on Flickr
I was toying with doing the Avanti service to Wrexham, but that was running quite late due to various issues on the WCML so I decided to give that a miss, and head back to Crewe on a busy 197042, calling it a day and heading back to the shared house going via a couple of shops for supplies for the railtour on Friday. Mainly drinks. An enjoyable day out in Merseyside, getting 3 more 777s, leaving 4 active ones (plus 035) for future trips, topped off with a walk along the Mersey with the ferry.
21st February - The Chopper Quartet Tour
My first railtour of the year was the UK Railtours positioning move one-way tour from Preston towards Watford Junction, getting lucky with it falling on a long weekend. A later start than usual giving me time to meet up with Dan in his hotel to have breakfast before making our way to the station to await the late running tour to arrive from Preston. Eventually 43480 & 43468 (back-to-back) rolled in with the Mk2 coaches running 50-odd minutes late, thankfully the timings between Crewe & Stafford had quite a bit of pathing time built in (was scheduled to take 55 minutes to reach Stafford!) so by the time the train passed Stafford and headed towards the West Midlands it had clawed back a good portion of that late running.
The tour picked up in Wolverhampton before heading towards Bescot & Tame Bridge, going via Soho to pass Smethwick Rolfe Street before using the connection towards the Snow Hill lines passing the former Smethwick West station. A quick run towards Kidderminster for the final pick up before the train headed onto the Severn Valley Railway heritage line, running towards a wet Bewdley where we had a break. I headed into the town centre for a little explore before returning to the station to have my lunch.
43468 at Bewdley Station by Kite, on Flickr
The tour departed Bewdley back towards Kidderminster with 20048 & 20142 leading to the Kidderminster area where 20048 detached (not main-line registered) and 20007 & 20025 attached to be a triple headed service (with the 43 power cars on the rear I presume to provide power to the coaches). The tour headed towards Kidderminster for a set down, before carrying on towards Smethwick & Bescot. After Bescot it continued towards Walsall and onto the freight Sutton Park line then towards Nuneaton, joining the WCML for some fast(ish) running going via Northampton and having a good run towards Watford Junction, the last few miles was a bit slower due to catching up with a stopper from Milton Keynes.
Everybody alighted at Watford Junction and where most remained on platform 9 for the next London train (or headed to a northbound platform), myself & Dan headed to platform 10 to take a seat on 377702 on the next Southern service towards East Croydon for a more relaxing journey. I wonder if at any point in the brave new world of Great British Railways the “Set down” only restriction at Watford Junction on Avanti trains will be lifted to avoid all the threating announcements from platform staff about “not boarding the train now arriving on platform 9”, creating a hostile environment for tourists.
20205 at Watford Junction by Kite, on Flickr
The 377 took us to Clapham Junction where we said farewell with Dan heading towards Victoria and I jumped onto 455720 & 455861 to take me into Waterloo where I grabbed dinner before boarding 159001, 159003 & 158886 on the Exeter train, relaxing with the journey to Grateley, having a gentle stroll home and relaxing after a busy couple of days. More photos can be found on my Flickr Here including some from a walk between Hathersage & Grindleford on the Saturday.
Thanks for reading
11th February – Tarka Trail, Part 2
Having walked the first section of the Tarka Trail back in January, I decided as the weather was suitable to head back towards Devon to walk the second section of the Tarka Trail, the section from Barnstaple towards Braunton along the route of the former Ilfracombe branch line. The day started with the 08:30 service from Grateley to take me towards Exeter Central with 159014 & 159101, an uneventful journey across the countryside. At Exeter Central I popped out to visit the recently reopened Co-Op store on the opposite side of the road to grab some lunch supplies before returning to the station to take 158768 towards Barnstaple.
Annoyingly the bus timetable for the buses for Ilfracombe is one of those shockingly bad links which sees the half hourly bus departing just as the train rolls in (only to sit in the bus station for 5 minutes) so rather than hang around for half an hour I began my walk, heading away from the station towards the town centre on the Long Bridge, taking some stairs to reach the quay side with the River Taw on my left hand side. Once away from the town centre area the views opened up as this good quality surface path runs close to the river for the first couple of miles. For a Tuesday it was still quite busy with other users, I suspect at weekends, especially in good weather, it would be very busy.
Tarka Trail between Barnstaple & Chivenor (former Ilfracombe branch line) by Kite, on FlickrThe views changed when the path reached Chivenor military base as the river disappeared to be replaced by a high security fence for the barracks before opening out again in the Wrafton area before reaching Braunton itself. The path disappeared for a short section within the town forcing a small detour alongside the River Caen. After re-joining the route of the old railway, I followed it north towards the fire station, finishing the walk at the Georgeham Cross bus stop. The route of the railway being lost until the Mortehoe and Woolacombe station area where it is walkable into Ilfracombe itself, but that is a walk for another day.
I was toying with doing a second walk once in Barnstaple on the short section of the Taunton to Barnstaple Line, but decided that could wait for another day when I was looking up bus options for the Ilfracombe section (which will probably use the 13:50 departure of the route 303 bus towards Willingcott, so I would have time to kill if doing it on a day trip). Anyhow back to today and it was a busy route 21B bus (Stagecoach's 15885) to take me back towards Barnstaple going via the town centre and finishing at the railway station, giving me time to pop to a nearby shop for some supplies.
Old railway wagon in Braunton by Kite, on FlickrBack to the trains and it was onto 158768 for the trip back towards Exeter St Davids where it got swapped out for a 166, but that took some time so everybody jumped onto 150239 & 150248 on an Exmouth train up the hill to Exeter Central where I grabbed some dinner before walking back down the hill to St Davids as I had noticed the previous SWR service had been cancelled (and it makes more sense to board the train at the start for a better chance of a decent seat). This turned out to be a wise decision as 159012 & 159004 was quite busy from Exeter Central, not full & standing (at least in my coach) but still quite busy with not many available seats.
To be honest, had the GWR service to Axminster been a pair of 150s like it has been recently, I would have taken those to Axminster for the novelty factor of 150s at Axminster, but it was a 3 coach 158. A couple of hours later these 159s dropped me off at Grateley and I had a gentle stroll home to relax for the remainder of the day. A walk of two halves, certainly the section where it ran alongside the river was very beautiful, the section alongside the military base wasn’t.
12th February – To the Sunshine Coast!
Today I had decided I would head towards Essex, as it had been a few years since I last visited both the Harwich & Clacton branch lines, also it would be a good chance to make a start at trying to clear the platforms at Clacton on Sea. I can’t recall which platform I used back in 2014 but I know when I visited in 2021 to walk the coastal path towards Walton it used platform 2 (which seems to be the most commonly used).
The trip began with 159012, 159004 & 158884 on a busy peak time service into Waterloo, where I had a gentle stroll via the streets to reach Liverpool Street, just to waste some time before the 10:00 service to Norwich, which was in the hands of 755333, 755409 & 755408 which I took to Manningtree making the connection with 720532 working the Harwich Town branch line services. I was toying with jumping off at Harwich to have a little walk, but decided against it as I could do something involving the Essex Way path when the weather improves.
755333 at London Liverpool Street by Kite, on FlickrI returned to Manningtree on the same unit, taking 745003 one stop south to Colchester for a short fester before winner 720137 took me to Clacton on Sea where I decided to have a little stroll along the seafront path towards Jaywick with some good views of the sea. At Jaywick I jumped onto the next route 4 bus operated by Hedingham & Chambers (sounds more like a law firm than a bus company, all be part of the Go-Ahead empire) with a double decker fleet 601 to Clacton town centre where it had started to drizzle.
After a little look in the town centre to waste some time, I headed back to the station to board 720525 & 720559 which were departing from platform 4, taking these units to Thorpe-le-Soken changing onto 720562 to Weeley as a time-wasting move before taking 720578 to Walton-on-the-Naze, remaining on the same unit back to Thorpe-le-Soken where I transferred to winner 720140 leading dud 720539 for the run to Colchester. Next up was 720110 on a Colchester Town service which I took into Colchester Town station, popping out to visit a nearby Sainsburys for some supplies.
Beach & Waterfront at Clacton on Sea (1) by Kite, on FlickrBack to the trains and 720578 took me to Wivenhoe to complete the Colchester Town triangle, doubling back to Hythe on 720128 & 720557. Hythe is a station which has seen a boost in recent timetable changes now getting an all-day London service rather than just within the peaks, although it’s still a bit of a bleak station. 720101 rolled in on a peak time Walton train to take me to Alresford (for some better photos considering when I visited this station in 2016 it was pretty much a case of going up and over the footbridge due to having less than 5 minutes here. 720570 was up next to take me to Clacton on Sea where it terminated on platform 3.
I headed out towards the sea front to waste some time, before returning to the station to take 720570 back to Colchester where I stepped back onto winners 720112 & 720509 on a service from Colchester Town to Stratford, changing to the jubilee line (with 96064 & 96037) to Waterloo, finishing the day with 159011 & 159108 back to Grateley. An enjoyable little trip today, getting both platforms 3 & 4 at Clacton into my book, as well as doing the coastal walk towards Jaywick. Unusually when at Clacton in the evening I saw a pair of 755s stabled on platform 1, which I had no idea what they were doing there.
720570 at Clacton on Sea Station by Kite, on Flickr20th February – A Day in Liverpool
Having arrived into Crewe on the Wednesday night, I had plenty of options for the Thursday, sadly the weather turned out to be a bit wet putting some of those options back on the shelf, eventually settling on a trip to Merseyside to see if I could get some more 777s into my book. But first I wanted a little trip to Wrexham to clear the southern section of the Wrexham – Bidston line for 197 coverage. The day began with 197006 on a Holyhead service from Crewe direct to Shotton for the long walk to the southbound platform at Shotton high level, arriving with time to spare before 197030 rolled in to take me to Wrexham Central.
I had a fast walk to Wrexham General, jumping onto 197115 for the short trip to Ruabon as a time-wasting move, and a little stroll as the weather was being dry. Next up was a late running service for Holyhead formed of 197051 & 197017 to take me to Chester, where I popped outside the station to buy my Saveaway and to make use of the toilets. Back on the station and I took 777032 for the long spin to Hamilton Square trying to ID anything heading south, arriving at the station as the fire alarm test was being carried out.
197030 at Wrexham Central (2) by Kite, on FlickrAfter a short time, I jumped onto 777022 to take me to Birkenhead Park via the city loop before winner 777027 popped up on the next New Brighton service, which I took to New Brighton going via the city centre to ensure it was clear for 10 miles. I exited the station at New Brighton, heading down the hill towards Morrisons for lunch, arriving just as the heavens opened (getting quite wet on the walk back to the station). 777053 took me to Moorfields which was in a state of chaos due to issues on the Southport line twinned with a 777 deciding it wanted to be an oversized paper weight at Liverpool Central. Eventually winner 777037 rolled in on an Ormskirk service to take me to Town Green, where I returned to Sandhills on 777007.
I managed to get through the crowds (trains from Southport were terminating here and heading back north empty) to board 777142 on the next Headbolt Lane service to take me to Kirkby for a short wait before winner 777148 rolled in (this is the unit which decided to become the paperweight an hour ago, they must have gotten out the large hammer). I took this 777 to Liverpool Central, remaining on board back to Kirkdale to push it over 10 miles, returning towards Liverpool Central on 777029, where I decided to head towards New Brighton again as the sun had come out (and none of my last 5 units were showing as out). 777031 taking me to New Brighton where my walk began.
777142 at Kikrby Station by Kite, on FlickrThis was a cut back version of one of the walking ideas I had planned for today (it was originally going to start at West Kirby). I headed back towards the water front at New Brighton, picking up the promenade path (lots of benches) and headed towards the beach, passing the Marine Lake and Fort Perch Rock which I presumed guarded the mouth of the River Mersey. I headed south alongside the riverfront path with views of Liverpool docks on the opposite bank (as well as the new stadium of Everton kickball team). The river was quite rough with waves splashing over the wall at times on this busy path. I headed towards the Seacombe Ferry terminal and because I had time to kill carried on towards the docks joining the road near Alfred Dock. I need to research that Wirral Circular Trail as a future idea. I returned back towards the ferry terminal via the A554 road, a very industrial area.
It was time to do something which had been on my list of things to do for a fair while, and that is the ferry across the Mersey. It was the time of day the “River Explorer” cruise had stopped running and replaced with the “Commuter” service which runs straight across the river. Royal Iris of the Mersey sailed in with the departure to Liverpool Ferry terminal, giving some nice views of the waterfront. Once back in Liverpool city centre, I popped to a couple of shops before heading to James Street and jumping onto 777032 on a Chester service.
Liverpool Water Front from the Ferry by Kite, on FlickrI was toying with doing the Avanti service to Wrexham, but that was running quite late due to various issues on the WCML so I decided to give that a miss, and head back to Crewe on a busy 197042, calling it a day and heading back to the shared house going via a couple of shops for supplies for the railtour on Friday. Mainly drinks. An enjoyable day out in Merseyside, getting 3 more 777s, leaving 4 active ones (plus 035) for future trips, topped off with a walk along the Mersey with the ferry.
21st February - The Chopper Quartet Tour
My first railtour of the year was the UK Railtours positioning move one-way tour from Preston towards Watford Junction, getting lucky with it falling on a long weekend. A later start than usual giving me time to meet up with Dan in his hotel to have breakfast before making our way to the station to await the late running tour to arrive from Preston. Eventually 43480 & 43468 (back-to-back) rolled in with the Mk2 coaches running 50-odd minutes late, thankfully the timings between Crewe & Stafford had quite a bit of pathing time built in (was scheduled to take 55 minutes to reach Stafford!) so by the time the train passed Stafford and headed towards the West Midlands it had clawed back a good portion of that late running.
The tour picked up in Wolverhampton before heading towards Bescot & Tame Bridge, going via Soho to pass Smethwick Rolfe Street before using the connection towards the Snow Hill lines passing the former Smethwick West station. A quick run towards Kidderminster for the final pick up before the train headed onto the Severn Valley Railway heritage line, running towards a wet Bewdley where we had a break. I headed into the town centre for a little explore before returning to the station to have my lunch.
43468 at Bewdley Station by Kite, on FlickrThe tour departed Bewdley back towards Kidderminster with 20048 & 20142 leading to the Kidderminster area where 20048 detached (not main-line registered) and 20007 & 20025 attached to be a triple headed service (with the 43 power cars on the rear I presume to provide power to the coaches). The tour headed towards Kidderminster for a set down, before carrying on towards Smethwick & Bescot. After Bescot it continued towards Walsall and onto the freight Sutton Park line then towards Nuneaton, joining the WCML for some fast(ish) running going via Northampton and having a good run towards Watford Junction, the last few miles was a bit slower due to catching up with a stopper from Milton Keynes.
Everybody alighted at Watford Junction and where most remained on platform 9 for the next London train (or headed to a northbound platform), myself & Dan headed to platform 10 to take a seat on 377702 on the next Southern service towards East Croydon for a more relaxing journey. I wonder if at any point in the brave new world of Great British Railways the “Set down” only restriction at Watford Junction on Avanti trains will be lifted to avoid all the threating announcements from platform staff about “not boarding the train now arriving on platform 9”, creating a hostile environment for tourists.
20205 at Watford Junction by Kite, on FlickrThe 377 took us to Clapham Junction where we said farewell with Dan heading towards Victoria and I jumped onto 455720 & 455861 to take me into Waterloo where I grabbed dinner before boarding 159001, 159003 & 158886 on the Exeter train, relaxing with the journey to Grateley, having a gentle stroll home and relaxing after a busy couple of days. More photos can be found on my Flickr Here including some from a walk between Hathersage & Grindleford on the Saturday.
Thanks for reading
D841 Roebuck
Established Member
A most enjoyable read, as usual. Thanks for posting!
Kite159
Veteran Member
1st March - 3rd March Trips
1st March – Return to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal
My original idea for today was to head towards Leeds & Skipton to walk the section of the canal I need to explore in Yorkshire. But due to issues on the ECML with a reduced timetable (London – Leeds reduced to hourly) and damage to the overhead wires I swapped over to the WCML. 159104 took me to London Waterloo where I transferred to the Northern Line with 51666 & 51667 to Euston.
At Euston after grabbing some supplies for breakfast I headed to the 07:30 Glasgow service for the non-stop run towards Warrington on 390114 remaining on board to Preston, where I exited the station to grab some supplies for lunch, just to waste some time before the next Colne train. The south facing bays at Preston are not the nicest place to hang around for trains as they do lack seating, but I was kept busy with various movements before 150127 rolled in from Ormskirk to form the next Colne service, which was quite busy as far as Blackburn (I still say Northern should extend the Blackpool South – Preston trains to run to Blackburn to provide more journey options). I took this 150 to Brierfield where my walk began.
150127 at Brierfield Station by Kite, on Flickr
Last year I walked the section from Gargrave over the hill to Brierfield as it was a good stopping point (as the canal runs close to the railway here), so it was easy to pick up the towpath. Heading in a general Southern direction into some open land (although the sound from the M65 was never far away). The towpath quality was quite good, a couple sections were a bit ropey in terms of tree roots but nothing that bad. The towpath took me towards Burnley and the embankment over the town centre. I passed close to Manchester Road station before heading towards Burley Barracks crossing the M65 and reaching Gannow Tunnel.
The path from the canal up the hill was quite steep as I followed the path underneath a roundabout, picking the canal up at the western portal of the tunnel (and that was a steeper hill!). I followed the canal towards the Rose Grove area of the town with the canal diving underneath both the M65 and railway a couple times on a loop before running close to the motorway towards Hapton, which felt like a suitable place to end the walk considering the next train was 15 or so minutes away. After Hapton the railway & canal go separate ways coming together in Church around 6 miles away so that can be a job for another day. Certainly, a nice return to canal walking with a decent towpath.
150146 at Hapton Station by Kite, on Flickr
150140 rolled in from Colne to take me back towards Preston where I had a last-minute idea and bailed at Bamber Bridge. As I had some unfinished business with an old railway line path. I headed out of the station towards the A6 but before reaching the dual carriageway I turned onto what was called "Central Park". This was a nice woodland path (even with the sound of traffic) heading towards Walton-le-Dale before crossing the A6 on a footbridge, heading to pick up the route of the "Old Tramroad" path. This took me towards the route of the former East Lancashire Railway chord which used to run between Preston & Bamber Bridge. I had previously walked part of this old railway a couple years ago but branched off to the Tram Road.
On reaching the route of the old railway, I reached the site of Whitehouse Junction where a connecting line used to exist which headed towards the former Preston - Southport line. I took this old railway route towards Penwortham, doing an U-turn to head back on myself doing the third side of the triangle before resuming heading towards Preston. I was toying with doing a short section of the former Southport line but decided it would be too tight for timings (so that can be a job for another walk in the Preston area).
Whitehouse Junction (North) on the former West Lancashire Railway in Preston by Kite, on Flickr
After grabbing some food from Tesco, I headed to the station and onto 802217 working the next Manchester Airport service, where due to engineering works in the Salford area these were getting diverted via Wigan North Western. A busy train (didn’t help that Preston – Manchester was reduced to 2tph both running within 5 minutes of each other) but gave me the chance for the novelty of a 802 via Wigan North Western and onto the Chat Moss line at Parkside Junction (the route taken by TPE services when they first switched over to electric units).
At Manchester Piccadilly it was a short walk to board 390137 on the next London Euston train, the service which goes via Crewe, giving some nice speed with the nonstop run from Stafford to London, where I headed to the underground taking 51656 & 51657 to Waterloo, heading across to the 20:50 service which was showing on RTT as a single 158, knowing I had the option of the 21:20 service to fall back onto had it been massively overcrowded, but to SWR credit they made Woking & Basingstoke pick up only to ease overcrowding and I easily got a seat on 158882 for the run to Grateley.
An enjoyable day with 2 different walks, nice weather for it as well.
2nd March – Bure Valley Path
Today was a sort of day where the last few trains were fixed due to a reduced timetable on Sundays on the Lowestoft – Ipswich line, so I decided on an explore of the Bure Valley path. This a mixed used path which runs alongside the Bure Valley heritage railway in Norfolk, along the route of the former East Norfolk Railway. The day began with 159104 & 159001 on the first train from Grateley to take me towards London Waterloo, detouring via Staines & Isleworth and losing time along the way so I had to walk fast to reach Blackfriars in time for the next Cambridge service which was 700147.
In hindsight I could have changed at St Pancras to head across to Kings Cross for a nonstop service, but I was comfortable in the rear declassified first class section and I know from experience how busy the Cambridge fast services can be on Sundays (especially when there was nothing from Liverpool Street to Cambridge). This nearly backfired when the train lost 30-odd minutes sitting at Finsbury Park waiting for the driver to take it forward to Cambridge, oddly without any stations ripped out between Stevenage & Cambridge even with the delayed stopper getting held back (resulting in the return journey departing late).
700147 at Cambridge Station by Kite, on Flickr
Anyhow at Cambridge I had time to pop outside the station for lunch from Sainsburys before boarding 755413 for the long-ish trip towards Norwich, I do like the Greater Anglia Flirts. At Norwich I had time to pop outside the station to visit Morrisons for some supplies (and to waste time) before taking 755331 to Hoveton & Wroxham station where my walk began.
I picked up the start of the path alongside a busy Wroxham station as it ran on top of the embankment for the first short section before dropping down to run alongside the narrow-gauge track (with a fence between railway & path). Some lovely countryside with woodland as I headed towards Aylsham, only one negative with this path is having to cross the A140 (Aylsham bypass) on the flat with no traffic lights. Certainly, a walk I would recommend as it ends close to Aylsham station, near a Tesco and the start of the longer disused railway path leading towards Norwich.
Spitfire on Bure Valley Railway between Hoveton & Coltishall by Kite, on Flickr
Anyhow I returned to Norwich on the X41 run by Sanders Coaches, with bus 543, a 74 plate Volvo Evora on a fast run along the A140 towards Norwich, terminating in the bus station. I had a gentle stroll towards the railway station as daylight was slowly giving way to darkness and to waste time jumped onto 755405 with a run to Cantley for some better photos, returning to Norwich on 755331 on a service from Great Yarmouth. I didn’t hang around Norwich for long before boarding 755401 on a fast Lowestoft service, calling only at Oulton Broad North. This is one of those random services which is booked to use platform 4 at Lowestoft, which it thankfully did.
After a couple of photos of use of this rare(ish) platform I returned onto 755401 for the slow run towards Ipswich, changing over to 745005 on the next London bound service to take me a couple of stops to Colchester where I had around half an hour to wait for 720558 & 720587 to arrive to take me to Clacton on Sea, where my reasonably priced Travelodge was for the night. When I first came up with the idea of doing Lowestoft platform 4, I was considering staying in Ipswich as where it was possible to get back home the same night, it would have been late. However, when I did some searching, I noticed the Clacton branch of Travelodge was the same sort of price it got me thinking to do an awkward platform at Clacton.
755401 at Lowestoft Station (Platform 4) by Kite, on Flickr
Anyhow, these 720s took me to Clacton on Sea and 10 minutes later I was at the hotel, getting myself checked in and relaxing for the rest of the night (once the ventilation in the pizza takeaway underneath my room shut down). An enjoyable little day, even if it nearly all went wrong at Finsbury Park.
3rd March – How the Clacton was One
I know, I should keep to my day job, rather than writing puns. Anyhow a bit of a short day today as my car was due for its annual service & MOT in Winchester. It was an early start checking out of the hotel on this freezing cold morning, walking back to Clacton station & boarding the 06:10 service to Walton-on-the-Naze which departs from the lesser used platform 1 at Clacton on Sea. This platform seems to only get used by this particular train with a random use on a Sunday morning, so a bit of a crazy idea to stay overnight in Clacton to do it.
But then I am a bit crazy as I took a seat on a quiet 720101 for the run to Thorpe-Le-Soken arriving onto platform 2 (another random crossover into my book), leaving me on a quiet cold station as another 720 rolled in from Walton before 720121 & 720564 rolled in from Clacton to take me to Colchester where I stepped back onto dud 720507 and winner 720115 on the next London train from Ipswich (which only cost me a couple of minutes due to the calling pattern).
720101 at Clacton on Sea Station (Platform 1) by Kite, on Flickr
I took these 720s to Stratford, going nonstop through Shenfield on a 720 felt strange. At Stratford I changed to the Jubilee line with 96022 & 96043 taken to Waterloo, where after grabbing a late breakfast, I took a seat on 159001, 159016 & 158884 on the 08:50 service for Salisbury to take me to Grateley where I had a gentle stroll home, sorted out my rucksack before heading out on the road to get my car serviced (and MOTed).
During the time my car was in the garage I headed on a random trip to Branksome (as you do), with a gentle stroll towards Bournemouth beach (as it was beautiful sunny weather) via the gardens & Branksome Chime/Wood, being in position for a pair of 458s to pop up on a service to the depot from Wimbledon (at first, I was expecting it to be a 455). Anyhow more photos from these short trips can be found on my Flickr account Here. I will leave you with a photo from the beach. Thanks for reading.
Branksome Dene Beach, Poole (4) by Kite, on Flickr
1st March – Return to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal
My original idea for today was to head towards Leeds & Skipton to walk the section of the canal I need to explore in Yorkshire. But due to issues on the ECML with a reduced timetable (London – Leeds reduced to hourly) and damage to the overhead wires I swapped over to the WCML. 159104 took me to London Waterloo where I transferred to the Northern Line with 51666 & 51667 to Euston.
At Euston after grabbing some supplies for breakfast I headed to the 07:30 Glasgow service for the non-stop run towards Warrington on 390114 remaining on board to Preston, where I exited the station to grab some supplies for lunch, just to waste some time before the next Colne train. The south facing bays at Preston are not the nicest place to hang around for trains as they do lack seating, but I was kept busy with various movements before 150127 rolled in from Ormskirk to form the next Colne service, which was quite busy as far as Blackburn (I still say Northern should extend the Blackpool South – Preston trains to run to Blackburn to provide more journey options). I took this 150 to Brierfield where my walk began.
150127 at Brierfield Station by Kite, on FlickrLast year I walked the section from Gargrave over the hill to Brierfield as it was a good stopping point (as the canal runs close to the railway here), so it was easy to pick up the towpath. Heading in a general Southern direction into some open land (although the sound from the M65 was never far away). The towpath quality was quite good, a couple sections were a bit ropey in terms of tree roots but nothing that bad. The towpath took me towards Burnley and the embankment over the town centre. I passed close to Manchester Road station before heading towards Burley Barracks crossing the M65 and reaching Gannow Tunnel.
The path from the canal up the hill was quite steep as I followed the path underneath a roundabout, picking the canal up at the western portal of the tunnel (and that was a steeper hill!). I followed the canal towards the Rose Grove area of the town with the canal diving underneath both the M65 and railway a couple times on a loop before running close to the motorway towards Hapton, which felt like a suitable place to end the walk considering the next train was 15 or so minutes away. After Hapton the railway & canal go separate ways coming together in Church around 6 miles away so that can be a job for another day. Certainly, a nice return to canal walking with a decent towpath.
150146 at Hapton Station by Kite, on Flickr150140 rolled in from Colne to take me back towards Preston where I had a last-minute idea and bailed at Bamber Bridge. As I had some unfinished business with an old railway line path. I headed out of the station towards the A6 but before reaching the dual carriageway I turned onto what was called "Central Park". This was a nice woodland path (even with the sound of traffic) heading towards Walton-le-Dale before crossing the A6 on a footbridge, heading to pick up the route of the "Old Tramroad" path. This took me towards the route of the former East Lancashire Railway chord which used to run between Preston & Bamber Bridge. I had previously walked part of this old railway a couple years ago but branched off to the Tram Road.
On reaching the route of the old railway, I reached the site of Whitehouse Junction where a connecting line used to exist which headed towards the former Preston - Southport line. I took this old railway route towards Penwortham, doing an U-turn to head back on myself doing the third side of the triangle before resuming heading towards Preston. I was toying with doing a short section of the former Southport line but decided it would be too tight for timings (so that can be a job for another walk in the Preston area).
Whitehouse Junction (North) on the former West Lancashire Railway in Preston by Kite, on FlickrAfter grabbing some food from Tesco, I headed to the station and onto 802217 working the next Manchester Airport service, where due to engineering works in the Salford area these were getting diverted via Wigan North Western. A busy train (didn’t help that Preston – Manchester was reduced to 2tph both running within 5 minutes of each other) but gave me the chance for the novelty of a 802 via Wigan North Western and onto the Chat Moss line at Parkside Junction (the route taken by TPE services when they first switched over to electric units).
At Manchester Piccadilly it was a short walk to board 390137 on the next London Euston train, the service which goes via Crewe, giving some nice speed with the nonstop run from Stafford to London, where I headed to the underground taking 51656 & 51657 to Waterloo, heading across to the 20:50 service which was showing on RTT as a single 158, knowing I had the option of the 21:20 service to fall back onto had it been massively overcrowded, but to SWR credit they made Woking & Basingstoke pick up only to ease overcrowding and I easily got a seat on 158882 for the run to Grateley.
An enjoyable day with 2 different walks, nice weather for it as well.
2nd March – Bure Valley Path
Today was a sort of day where the last few trains were fixed due to a reduced timetable on Sundays on the Lowestoft – Ipswich line, so I decided on an explore of the Bure Valley path. This a mixed used path which runs alongside the Bure Valley heritage railway in Norfolk, along the route of the former East Norfolk Railway. The day began with 159104 & 159001 on the first train from Grateley to take me towards London Waterloo, detouring via Staines & Isleworth and losing time along the way so I had to walk fast to reach Blackfriars in time for the next Cambridge service which was 700147.
In hindsight I could have changed at St Pancras to head across to Kings Cross for a nonstop service, but I was comfortable in the rear declassified first class section and I know from experience how busy the Cambridge fast services can be on Sundays (especially when there was nothing from Liverpool Street to Cambridge). This nearly backfired when the train lost 30-odd minutes sitting at Finsbury Park waiting for the driver to take it forward to Cambridge, oddly without any stations ripped out between Stevenage & Cambridge even with the delayed stopper getting held back (resulting in the return journey departing late).
700147 at Cambridge Station by Kite, on FlickrAnyhow at Cambridge I had time to pop outside the station for lunch from Sainsburys before boarding 755413 for the long-ish trip towards Norwich, I do like the Greater Anglia Flirts. At Norwich I had time to pop outside the station to visit Morrisons for some supplies (and to waste time) before taking 755331 to Hoveton & Wroxham station where my walk began.
I picked up the start of the path alongside a busy Wroxham station as it ran on top of the embankment for the first short section before dropping down to run alongside the narrow-gauge track (with a fence between railway & path). Some lovely countryside with woodland as I headed towards Aylsham, only one negative with this path is having to cross the A140 (Aylsham bypass) on the flat with no traffic lights. Certainly, a walk I would recommend as it ends close to Aylsham station, near a Tesco and the start of the longer disused railway path leading towards Norwich.
Spitfire on Bure Valley Railway between Hoveton & Coltishall by Kite, on FlickrAnyhow I returned to Norwich on the X41 run by Sanders Coaches, with bus 543, a 74 plate Volvo Evora on a fast run along the A140 towards Norwich, terminating in the bus station. I had a gentle stroll towards the railway station as daylight was slowly giving way to darkness and to waste time jumped onto 755405 with a run to Cantley for some better photos, returning to Norwich on 755331 on a service from Great Yarmouth. I didn’t hang around Norwich for long before boarding 755401 on a fast Lowestoft service, calling only at Oulton Broad North. This is one of those random services which is booked to use platform 4 at Lowestoft, which it thankfully did.
After a couple of photos of use of this rare(ish) platform I returned onto 755401 for the slow run towards Ipswich, changing over to 745005 on the next London bound service to take me a couple of stops to Colchester where I had around half an hour to wait for 720558 & 720587 to arrive to take me to Clacton on Sea, where my reasonably priced Travelodge was for the night. When I first came up with the idea of doing Lowestoft platform 4, I was considering staying in Ipswich as where it was possible to get back home the same night, it would have been late. However, when I did some searching, I noticed the Clacton branch of Travelodge was the same sort of price it got me thinking to do an awkward platform at Clacton.
755401 at Lowestoft Station (Platform 4) by Kite, on FlickrAnyhow, these 720s took me to Clacton on Sea and 10 minutes later I was at the hotel, getting myself checked in and relaxing for the rest of the night (once the ventilation in the pizza takeaway underneath my room shut down). An enjoyable little day, even if it nearly all went wrong at Finsbury Park.
3rd March – How the Clacton was One
I know, I should keep to my day job, rather than writing puns. Anyhow a bit of a short day today as my car was due for its annual service & MOT in Winchester. It was an early start checking out of the hotel on this freezing cold morning, walking back to Clacton station & boarding the 06:10 service to Walton-on-the-Naze which departs from the lesser used platform 1 at Clacton on Sea. This platform seems to only get used by this particular train with a random use on a Sunday morning, so a bit of a crazy idea to stay overnight in Clacton to do it.
But then I am a bit crazy as I took a seat on a quiet 720101 for the run to Thorpe-Le-Soken arriving onto platform 2 (another random crossover into my book), leaving me on a quiet cold station as another 720 rolled in from Walton before 720121 & 720564 rolled in from Clacton to take me to Colchester where I stepped back onto dud 720507 and winner 720115 on the next London train from Ipswich (which only cost me a couple of minutes due to the calling pattern).
720101 at Clacton on Sea Station (Platform 1) by Kite, on FlickrI took these 720s to Stratford, going nonstop through Shenfield on a 720 felt strange. At Stratford I changed to the Jubilee line with 96022 & 96043 taken to Waterloo, where after grabbing a late breakfast, I took a seat on 159001, 159016 & 158884 on the 08:50 service for Salisbury to take me to Grateley where I had a gentle stroll home, sorted out my rucksack before heading out on the road to get my car serviced (and MOTed).
During the time my car was in the garage I headed on a random trip to Branksome (as you do), with a gentle stroll towards Bournemouth beach (as it was beautiful sunny weather) via the gardens & Branksome Chime/Wood, being in position for a pair of 458s to pop up on a service to the depot from Wimbledon (at first, I was expecting it to be a 455). Anyhow more photos from these short trips can be found on my Flickr account Here. I will leave you with a photo from the beach. Thanks for reading.
Branksome Dene Beach, Poole (4) by Kite, on Flickr
D841 Roebuck
Established Member
The usual interesting and high quality report from your travels.
You've reminded me that I've not visited Brierfield or Hapton (probably two of the closest unvisited stations to my home). Must get round to them soon...
You've reminded me that I've not visited Brierfield or Hapton (probably two of the closest unvisited stations to my home). Must get round to them soon...
Kite159
Veteran Member
Hapton looked to be a nice little village when I walked through it from the canal to the station.
Kite159
Veteran Member
10th March – 14th March – Week in Scotland & Other Bits
As I needed to use up the last few days of annual leave before the leave year reset at the start of April, I decided to have a trip to Scotland as it had been a good few months since my last trip north of the border.
10th March – Leeds & Liverpool Canal & North West
Before heading to Scotland, I decided to have a day in the North West, staying overnight in Birmingham. The trip beginning with a trip to London Waterloo with 158881, 159022 & 159019 before having a gentle stroll to Euston for the 09:30 Avanti service for Glasgow with 390152 on the first stop Warrington speed run. I alighted from the train at Wigan North Western where I began the first walk of the week, heading towards Wigan Pier and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.
I picked up the towpath and headed in a north west direction, crossing underneath the railway line towards Headbolt Lane. I passed the stadium used by both the Wigan rugby & kickball teams as the built up area slowly gave way to countryside. I went underneath the Southport - Wigan line near Standish as the walk turned out to be quite nice with the woodland along a decent quality towpath, running close to the River Douglas.
Gathurst Viaduct over the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Gathurst by Kite, on Flickr
I reached Gathurst going underneath the railway and the M6, following the route of the railway towards Appley Bridge then into some more countryside reaching Parbold where the decent quality towpath came to an end as I reached a bridge claiming it was the border to Lancashire. I continued along the path, still reasonable as it was dry but probably not something to walk during the depths of winter as the canal moved away from the railway on a section, I'm pretty sure I rode my little bike along in 2015 when I visited Hoscar station.
Countryside gave way to urban area and the solid towpath returned as I reached Burscough, passing the branch for Rufford and going underneath the Ormskirk - Preston railway line, reaching the end of today's walk at the A59 bridge. After a visit to Tesco for some supplies, I headed to Burscough Bridge station before boarding 769450 to Hindley, returning to Wigan Wallgate on 769424. Hindley looks different these days with the overhead wires in place.
158752 at Hindley Station by Kite, on Flickr
Back at Wigan I crossed over to North Western to board 331019 on one of the few peak time additional fast services to Manchester Victoria, running nonstop to the Manchester Victoria area where it waited 5 minutes for a platform to become available. I was tempted with the novelty of a 323 from Manchester Victoria towards Eccles on a peak time Liverpool service, but decided that could wait for another day as I jumped onto a busy 150103 to Salford Crescent then onto 323228 & 323205 to Manchester Piccadilly heading across to platform 1 for the next Hazel Grove train.
The overhead wires to Hazel Grove have come into regular use when Northern used to run a Hazel Grove – Blackpool train with 331s. Since those trains were changed to Manchester Airport the wires have returned to being used by a handful of EMU services to Hazel Grove (as the daytime Hazel Grove terminators are usually 150/156s as they interwork with Buxton services). Anyhow 323202 was in charge for the Hazel Grove service, taking this service to Hazel Grove, mainly for the novelty of having a 323 to Hazel Grove. With 25 minutes to waste before the next train towards Manchester I decided to have a random walk towards Woodsmoor, heading towards the hospital then a mixed used path which came out next to the station, something I will need to return to when it's daylight as it looked like nice with woods.
323202 at Hazel Grove by Kite, on Flickr
Anyhow back to the trains with 150148 & 150150 taking me the short distance to Stockport where I made an unofficial connection onto 390123 on a Euston via Crewe service to take me to Stafford where I popped out of the station to visit the large Tesco for some dinner & other supplies before 390104 took me to Birmingham New Street where the lack of anything better to do I headed towards the Travelodge in Newhall Street to get myself checked in and to relax before heading back out for another novelty which had been on my list for a while.
I headed back towards Birmingham New Street, heading towards platform 3 for the 23:21 stopping service to Coventry. Thankfully not as busy as I had feared (I suspect anybody for Coventry will have boarded the late running Euston service). 730033 took me to Coventry arriving at Midnight with the novelty factor of having a 730 between Birmingham International & Coventry in my book. I returned to Birmingham New Street with 390153 on a late-night Wolverhampton service, and headed back to the hotel to rest.
730033 at Coventry by Kite, on Flickr
A successful first day of my holiday, another section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal walked with some novelties crossed off my list.
11th March – Scotland Day 1
I guess in hindsight I should have tried to have a later start today (owing to not getting back to the hotel until 1am) but I’m a crazy fool as I was out of the hotel and to Birmingham New Street for 390137 working an Edinburgh service to take me towards Carlisle (I always enjoy looking out of the window in the Lake district). I was toying with taking a Northern service towards Dalston to walk the mixed used path (Caldew Cycleway) back towards Carlisle but decided that could wait for another trip and waited for 397012 to roll in on the next TPE service to Glasgow Central (which for me clears the section between Carstairs & Motherwell for 397 coverage).
At Glasgow, I picked up a Roundabout and after having a good think (always dangerous that!) I jumped onto 385022 on either a Lanark or Edinburgh service (can’t remember) to take me to Uddingston where I began a short walk. I decided to head towards the main road to pick up cycle route 75 which ran alongside the railway for a short section before picking up the rough route of the former Glasgow, Bothwell, Hamilton and Coatbridge Railway route, although the first section was built over. I passed the site of the former Bothwell station (although no evidence remains other than a sign saying "This is the site of Bothwell Station" giving information about the area. I continued along the path to reach the site of the former viaduct over the Clyde (Craighead Viaduct), making my way via some housing estates to reach the Dr Livingstone bridge over the Clyde.
Passing the birthplace (somewhere to visit on another day) I headed towards Blantyre station, jumping onto 320414 & 318257 to take me to Hamilton Central where I headed to my usual accommodation to get checked in and to get rid of stuff from my mobile home before heading back out to the station and onto 320311 & 318259 to Hyndland, stepping back to 334021 & 334020 on a fast service to Dumbarton East where I began my second walk of the day, something which had been on my list for a while but got rained off on multiple occasions.
River Clyde from the David Livingstone Memorial Bridge, Bothwell (1) by Kite, on Flickr
I picked up cycle route 7 which made use of the route of the former North British Railway line with a small detour due to modern developments (running alongside the A82). Soon I reached the section where the cycle path runs alongside the existing railway, passing a Travelodge before the path picked up the route of the former Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway route (which closed in the 1960s when this area was wired up). I passed the remains of the L&DR Bowling station before picking up the "Bowline" path which crosses both the railway & Bowling Basin on the canal.
This is where the cycle path leaves the route, I took running close to the river towards "The Saltings" in Old Kilpatrick, passing the flooded remains of Old Kilpatrick station. I headed along a path following the Dalnottar Burn up a steep flight of steps to reach the access path for the cycle/walking route over the Erskine Bridge before making my way to Kilpatrick station to relax before 320310 took me towards Partick where I headed out to the nearby Morrisons for dinner & other supply items. An enjoyable walk in some nice weather.
334021 alongside the Cycle Route 7 path between Dumbarton & Bowling by Kite, on Flickr
After visiting Morrisons I headed to the subway, getting lucky to score sets 316, 301 & 303 before calling it a night, headed back upstairs at Partick station to jump onto 334029 on a service to Motherwell going via Whifflet (which for me was a bit of a novelty). Sadly, the connection at Motherwell wasn’t held as the 334 was running 5 minutes late (and to get between platforms at Motherwell is a pain in the rear end), so I headed out of the station for a little walk before taking 318265 & 318266 for the short hop to Hamilton Central, heading to my accommodation and relaxing for the night (after sorting out my stuff as I just dumped it on the bed earlier).
12th March – Railways in the Kilmarnock area
Sometimes it is hard to actually decide on what walk to do, especially in Scotland where I’ve got quite a few old railway line & other paths on my list. In the end I decided today I would head towards Kilmarnock to walk a couple old railway line paths in that area. The day began with a busy pair of 320s (320315 & 320418) for the run to Glasgow Central where after grabbing some breakfast I headed towards 156436 & 156508 on a Carlisle service to take me towards East Ayrshire. On arrival into Kilmarnock, I had a stroll towards the bus station to catch a route 1 bus towards Galston (heading to Priestland). This was in the hands of one of the SP Energy Networks branded Volvo 7900E, 76002.
I headed south in the town towards the route of the former Darvel Branch line, part has been converted into a mixed used path with the branding "Chris Hoy Cycle Way". A nice easy stroll in some lovely countryside towards the town of Hurlford where the branch line used to join up with the main line towards Carlisle with the town having its own station. After swinging via a Co-Op I headed towards the bus stop on the main road for another route 1 bus (runs every 15 minutes) with bus 76001 back to Kilmarnock bus station where after visiting the toilet I started with my second walk of the day.
Route of former Darvel Branch line between Galston & Hurlford (Chris Hoy Cycle Way) (17) by Kite, on Flickr
After a stroll in the town, I picked up the route of the former Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway route towards Irvine (and Dalry). The first section was alongside some sidings which were put back in a few years ago for freight trains before the built up area disappeared and I was back into countryside, skirting round the edge of Knockentiber & Springside (where there used to be a junction). After a section where the route of the railway has been lost, I picked up the path towards Irvine, crossing over the Broomslands Busway to the north of Dreghorn.
The old railway path ended on the outskirts of Irvine, the route being lost under developments with the cycle path now following the route of Annick Water towards Milgarholm Park where that river meets with the River Irvine. My original idea was to maybe carry on with the mixed used path all the way towards Kilwinning but my legs were starting to say they had enough, especially with needing to a detour away from the river side due to the path being closed. I headed towards Irvine station arriving with time to spare before 380103 rolled in to take me towards Ayr. An enjoyable stroll in the countryside along a decent quality path.
380103 at Ayr Station by Kite, on Flickr
I decided to have a change of plan (back to my original idea for today) considering the timing was right and it was onto 156430 for the very scenic ride to Stranraer, as it had been a good few years since I visited this part of Scotland. After some photos I took 156430 back to Ayr, transferring to 380021 & 380110 on the next Glasgow Central service, although it was dark before the train got that far (at least it gives me an excuse to revisit this part of Ayrshire again).
At Glasgow Central, it was a short wait before 320414 & 318257 took me to Hamilton to end the day, relaxing after an enjoyable day with two more old railway paths removed from my list.
13th March – Return to the West Highlands
An early start for me as I made an unwise decision to head towards Hamilton West station without noticing the Sainsburys there didn’t open until later and with a points failure causing issues I had to dash to make it onto 320305 for the run to Cambuslang where I stepped back to get a photo of the sleeper passing, before taking 385015 to Glasgow Central, arriving with plenty of time to make my slow way to Queen Street and towards the Mallaig & Oban train, for today I was having a more lazier (in terms of walking) day and returning to Mallaig for the first time in a while.
The service was formed of units 156457, 156467 & 156477 with 156457 heading towards Oban at Crianlarich. A feast for the eyes with the run towards Fort William where I left the train and headed on a short walk along the route of the Great Glen Way. Heading away from Fort William skirting round the edge of Inverlochy on the footpath section close to the river, rejoining the cycle path near the old castle and railway viaduct crossing over River Lochy (with a footbridge alongside the railway viaduct).
Lochy Railway Bridge, Lochyside by Kite, on Flickr
I followed Kilmallie Road towards the Caol shore, walking along the coastal path alongside the beach, with some amazing views of the water. The path met up with the Caledonian Canal near Corpach and after walking to the sea loch I headed past the station and towards the main A830 road to await the bus to Mallaig, a service I'm sure a few station visitors have used in the past to get between some of the stations on this line. It was onto the route 500 service operated by Shiel Buses (coach K55 SBL) for the scenic run towards Mallaig the beautiful section being near Arisaig where it took the coastal route.
At Mallaig I had time to kill before the departure towards Glasgow so I headed for a little stroll picking up the "Circular Walk" for a short section heading to Mallaigvaig & King's Way for some beautiful views of the harbour from the hills. After dropping back to main road, I headed towards the station via the Co-Op to grab supplies for dinner before waiting for the doors on 156467 & 156477 to get released. Since my last visit to Mallaig, Scotrail has swapped from using platform 1 to platform 2 at Mallaig, so it was a big platform related tick when I took a seat to relax for the scenic run back towards Fort William.
156467 at Mallaig Station by Kite, on Flickr
The train ran into 153305 at Fort William to form a 5-coach set back across the moors towards Crianlarich where it was joined with 156462 from Oban. Needless to say, I relocated to the 153, the seats are slightly more comfortable if you avoid a table seat as those table seats have little legroom. Due to the length it ran nonstop from Dumbarton Central which does clear a small bit more of track for 153 coverage, who knows if the 153s will run to Mallaig this year.
153305 at Crianlarich by Kite, on Flickr
Anyhow it was a fast walk across the city centre to make it onto 318270 on a service to Hamilton, arriving 30 minutes earlier than I was expecting giving me time to sort my rucksack out ready for another early start for the Friday. An enjoyable day for my eyes, the West Highland line is so pretty.
14th March – Old Railways of Bury
It was time to depart Scotland, heading back south via Manchester. I checked out of my accommodation, whilst it’s not perfect (the window blinds are a bit rubbish at blocking out the light and the heating was quite variable) it’s decent enough with a comfy bed. To the station at Hamilton Central and onto 320417 & 320403 for the trip to Glasgow Central where after grabbing some breakfast I made my way towards 397012 on a TPE service for Liverpool for one of those novelty services which goes via Whifflet, bringing back memories of when I did this move in reverse in April 2018 to score the curve between Whifflet & Holytown, seems so long ago.
Easy enough to grab a seat on this 397 as it went as booked via Whifflet, rejoining the usual route at Wishaw for the run towards Lockerbie where I alighted for some better photos and a short wait before 802209 rolled in from Edinburgh for the novelty of a TPE 802 on the WCML. I took this busy 802 to Bolton where I alighted to a sea of announcements threatening all sorts of things if anybody should dare board that TPE, probably only rivalled to Watford Junction at creating a hostile environment for passengers with pointless set-down only stops (I support keeping Bolton strictly as Pick-up only heading northbound, but what harm will it do to allow passengers to board at Bolton heading towards Manchester, all the long distance passengers are already on board?)
397012 at Lockerbie Station by Kite, on Flickr
I exited the station, heading across to the bus station, eventually locating the correct departure gate for the Bee Network Route 480 service for Bury via Holcombe Brook. This former Stagecoach bus (fleet 36784) was quite busy heading away from Bolton via Tonge Moor and Bradshaw before heading up a steep hill towards Side of the Moor, giving some nice views. I alighted from the bus in Greenmount near the start of the Kirklees Trail which makes use of the route of the former Bury – Holcombe Brook line.
This was quite a decent stroll along the path, some lovely woodlands as it made its way towards Tottington and towards Bury, crossing over the Irwell on a viaduct where the path came to an end. A walk soundtracked to the sound of steam trains running on the East Lancs Railway. The next section I followed the riverside path towards the town centre area, before picking up the route of the former Liverpool and Bury Railway. This section was called the Daisyfield Greenway which came to an end with a detour via the Elton Reservoir (which felt like a decent place to pause for lunch). After lunch I continued with the route towards the site of the former Radcliffe Black Lane station along a section which was a bit rough in places.
Bury - Holcombe Brook railway viaduct over the River Irwell in Bury by Kite, on Flickr
The path quality improved as it became the Bradley Fold Cycleway with another detour required near Bolton County Football Club, before picking up the route of the old railway near Darcy Lever, crossing a valley on a viaduct (all enclosed) and the path coming to an end near the A666 on another former railway viaduct. I headed towards the station via a footbridge near Lever Street and was toying with extending the walk towards Lostock with the path which runs alongside the railway, but the train I would have likely connected into was cancelled so that plan went into the bin. Nether the less, it was good to have completed this route from Bury to Bolton, two more old railway line paths removed from my list.
At Bolton station, it was a short wait before 331028 & 331017 rolled in from Blackpool to take me to Piccadilly, where I made a connection with 390009 working a fast Pendo to Euston going via Stoke. This lost time at the London end of the route with congestion in Watford. I had a quick stroll across to Waterloo to jump onto 159022 on the 19:50 service to Salisbury to finish the day and trip to Scotland. An enjoyable holiday.
Elton Reservoir, Bury by Kite, on Flickr
15th March – London Day
Not a lot to mention other than scoring both loops at Kent House on diverted Thameslink services which were booked to pause in the loops (without releasing the doors) for South Eastern services to pass which was a random spot when looking at RTT. Plus getting a couple more 720s into my book as well as a couple more DLR units over a mile. A lazy day trip in London to get myself ready to return to work on the Sunday.
A 700 entering the loop platform 4 at Kent House (from a 700 on platform 1 loop) by Kite, on Flickr
Thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr here.
As I needed to use up the last few days of annual leave before the leave year reset at the start of April, I decided to have a trip to Scotland as it had been a good few months since my last trip north of the border.
10th March – Leeds & Liverpool Canal & North West
Before heading to Scotland, I decided to have a day in the North West, staying overnight in Birmingham. The trip beginning with a trip to London Waterloo with 158881, 159022 & 159019 before having a gentle stroll to Euston for the 09:30 Avanti service for Glasgow with 390152 on the first stop Warrington speed run. I alighted from the train at Wigan North Western where I began the first walk of the week, heading towards Wigan Pier and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.
I picked up the towpath and headed in a north west direction, crossing underneath the railway line towards Headbolt Lane. I passed the stadium used by both the Wigan rugby & kickball teams as the built up area slowly gave way to countryside. I went underneath the Southport - Wigan line near Standish as the walk turned out to be quite nice with the woodland along a decent quality towpath, running close to the River Douglas.
Gathurst Viaduct over the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Gathurst by Kite, on FlickrI reached Gathurst going underneath the railway and the M6, following the route of the railway towards Appley Bridge then into some more countryside reaching Parbold where the decent quality towpath came to an end as I reached a bridge claiming it was the border to Lancashire. I continued along the path, still reasonable as it was dry but probably not something to walk during the depths of winter as the canal moved away from the railway on a section, I'm pretty sure I rode my little bike along in 2015 when I visited Hoscar station.
Countryside gave way to urban area and the solid towpath returned as I reached Burscough, passing the branch for Rufford and going underneath the Ormskirk - Preston railway line, reaching the end of today's walk at the A59 bridge. After a visit to Tesco for some supplies, I headed to Burscough Bridge station before boarding 769450 to Hindley, returning to Wigan Wallgate on 769424. Hindley looks different these days with the overhead wires in place.
158752 at Hindley Station by Kite, on FlickrBack at Wigan I crossed over to North Western to board 331019 on one of the few peak time additional fast services to Manchester Victoria, running nonstop to the Manchester Victoria area where it waited 5 minutes for a platform to become available. I was tempted with the novelty of a 323 from Manchester Victoria towards Eccles on a peak time Liverpool service, but decided that could wait for another day as I jumped onto a busy 150103 to Salford Crescent then onto 323228 & 323205 to Manchester Piccadilly heading across to platform 1 for the next Hazel Grove train.
The overhead wires to Hazel Grove have come into regular use when Northern used to run a Hazel Grove – Blackpool train with 331s. Since those trains were changed to Manchester Airport the wires have returned to being used by a handful of EMU services to Hazel Grove (as the daytime Hazel Grove terminators are usually 150/156s as they interwork with Buxton services). Anyhow 323202 was in charge for the Hazel Grove service, taking this service to Hazel Grove, mainly for the novelty of having a 323 to Hazel Grove. With 25 minutes to waste before the next train towards Manchester I decided to have a random walk towards Woodsmoor, heading towards the hospital then a mixed used path which came out next to the station, something I will need to return to when it's daylight as it looked like nice with woods.
323202 at Hazel Grove by Kite, on FlickrAnyhow back to the trains with 150148 & 150150 taking me the short distance to Stockport where I made an unofficial connection onto 390123 on a Euston via Crewe service to take me to Stafford where I popped out of the station to visit the large Tesco for some dinner & other supplies before 390104 took me to Birmingham New Street where the lack of anything better to do I headed towards the Travelodge in Newhall Street to get myself checked in and to relax before heading back out for another novelty which had been on my list for a while.
I headed back towards Birmingham New Street, heading towards platform 3 for the 23:21 stopping service to Coventry. Thankfully not as busy as I had feared (I suspect anybody for Coventry will have boarded the late running Euston service). 730033 took me to Coventry arriving at Midnight with the novelty factor of having a 730 between Birmingham International & Coventry in my book. I returned to Birmingham New Street with 390153 on a late-night Wolverhampton service, and headed back to the hotel to rest.
730033 at Coventry by Kite, on FlickrA successful first day of my holiday, another section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal walked with some novelties crossed off my list.
11th March – Scotland Day 1
I guess in hindsight I should have tried to have a later start today (owing to not getting back to the hotel until 1am) but I’m a crazy fool as I was out of the hotel and to Birmingham New Street for 390137 working an Edinburgh service to take me towards Carlisle (I always enjoy looking out of the window in the Lake district). I was toying with taking a Northern service towards Dalston to walk the mixed used path (Caldew Cycleway) back towards Carlisle but decided that could wait for another trip and waited for 397012 to roll in on the next TPE service to Glasgow Central (which for me clears the section between Carstairs & Motherwell for 397 coverage).
At Glasgow, I picked up a Roundabout and after having a good think (always dangerous that!) I jumped onto 385022 on either a Lanark or Edinburgh service (can’t remember) to take me to Uddingston where I began a short walk. I decided to head towards the main road to pick up cycle route 75 which ran alongside the railway for a short section before picking up the rough route of the former Glasgow, Bothwell, Hamilton and Coatbridge Railway route, although the first section was built over. I passed the site of the former Bothwell station (although no evidence remains other than a sign saying "This is the site of Bothwell Station" giving information about the area. I continued along the path to reach the site of the former viaduct over the Clyde (Craighead Viaduct), making my way via some housing estates to reach the Dr Livingstone bridge over the Clyde.
Passing the birthplace (somewhere to visit on another day) I headed towards Blantyre station, jumping onto 320414 & 318257 to take me to Hamilton Central where I headed to my usual accommodation to get checked in and to get rid of stuff from my mobile home before heading back out to the station and onto 320311 & 318259 to Hyndland, stepping back to 334021 & 334020 on a fast service to Dumbarton East where I began my second walk of the day, something which had been on my list for a while but got rained off on multiple occasions.
River Clyde from the David Livingstone Memorial Bridge, Bothwell (1) by Kite, on FlickrI picked up cycle route 7 which made use of the route of the former North British Railway line with a small detour due to modern developments (running alongside the A82). Soon I reached the section where the cycle path runs alongside the existing railway, passing a Travelodge before the path picked up the route of the former Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway route (which closed in the 1960s when this area was wired up). I passed the remains of the L&DR Bowling station before picking up the "Bowline" path which crosses both the railway & Bowling Basin on the canal.
This is where the cycle path leaves the route, I took running close to the river towards "The Saltings" in Old Kilpatrick, passing the flooded remains of Old Kilpatrick station. I headed along a path following the Dalnottar Burn up a steep flight of steps to reach the access path for the cycle/walking route over the Erskine Bridge before making my way to Kilpatrick station to relax before 320310 took me towards Partick where I headed out to the nearby Morrisons for dinner & other supply items. An enjoyable walk in some nice weather.
334021 alongside the Cycle Route 7 path between Dumbarton & Bowling by Kite, on FlickrAfter visiting Morrisons I headed to the subway, getting lucky to score sets 316, 301 & 303 before calling it a night, headed back upstairs at Partick station to jump onto 334029 on a service to Motherwell going via Whifflet (which for me was a bit of a novelty). Sadly, the connection at Motherwell wasn’t held as the 334 was running 5 minutes late (and to get between platforms at Motherwell is a pain in the rear end), so I headed out of the station for a little walk before taking 318265 & 318266 for the short hop to Hamilton Central, heading to my accommodation and relaxing for the night (after sorting out my stuff as I just dumped it on the bed earlier).
12th March – Railways in the Kilmarnock area
Sometimes it is hard to actually decide on what walk to do, especially in Scotland where I’ve got quite a few old railway line & other paths on my list. In the end I decided today I would head towards Kilmarnock to walk a couple old railway line paths in that area. The day began with a busy pair of 320s (320315 & 320418) for the run to Glasgow Central where after grabbing some breakfast I headed towards 156436 & 156508 on a Carlisle service to take me towards East Ayrshire. On arrival into Kilmarnock, I had a stroll towards the bus station to catch a route 1 bus towards Galston (heading to Priestland). This was in the hands of one of the SP Energy Networks branded Volvo 7900E, 76002.
I headed south in the town towards the route of the former Darvel Branch line, part has been converted into a mixed used path with the branding "Chris Hoy Cycle Way". A nice easy stroll in some lovely countryside towards the town of Hurlford where the branch line used to join up with the main line towards Carlisle with the town having its own station. After swinging via a Co-Op I headed towards the bus stop on the main road for another route 1 bus (runs every 15 minutes) with bus 76001 back to Kilmarnock bus station where after visiting the toilet I started with my second walk of the day.
Route of former Darvel Branch line between Galston & Hurlford (Chris Hoy Cycle Way) (17) by Kite, on FlickrAfter a stroll in the town, I picked up the route of the former Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway route towards Irvine (and Dalry). The first section was alongside some sidings which were put back in a few years ago for freight trains before the built up area disappeared and I was back into countryside, skirting round the edge of Knockentiber & Springside (where there used to be a junction). After a section where the route of the railway has been lost, I picked up the path towards Irvine, crossing over the Broomslands Busway to the north of Dreghorn.
The old railway path ended on the outskirts of Irvine, the route being lost under developments with the cycle path now following the route of Annick Water towards Milgarholm Park where that river meets with the River Irvine. My original idea was to maybe carry on with the mixed used path all the way towards Kilwinning but my legs were starting to say they had enough, especially with needing to a detour away from the river side due to the path being closed. I headed towards Irvine station arriving with time to spare before 380103 rolled in to take me towards Ayr. An enjoyable stroll in the countryside along a decent quality path.
380103 at Ayr Station by Kite, on FlickrI decided to have a change of plan (back to my original idea for today) considering the timing was right and it was onto 156430 for the very scenic ride to Stranraer, as it had been a good few years since I visited this part of Scotland. After some photos I took 156430 back to Ayr, transferring to 380021 & 380110 on the next Glasgow Central service, although it was dark before the train got that far (at least it gives me an excuse to revisit this part of Ayrshire again).
At Glasgow Central, it was a short wait before 320414 & 318257 took me to Hamilton to end the day, relaxing after an enjoyable day with two more old railway paths removed from my list.
13th March – Return to the West Highlands
An early start for me as I made an unwise decision to head towards Hamilton West station without noticing the Sainsburys there didn’t open until later and with a points failure causing issues I had to dash to make it onto 320305 for the run to Cambuslang where I stepped back to get a photo of the sleeper passing, before taking 385015 to Glasgow Central, arriving with plenty of time to make my slow way to Queen Street and towards the Mallaig & Oban train, for today I was having a more lazier (in terms of walking) day and returning to Mallaig for the first time in a while.
The service was formed of units 156457, 156467 & 156477 with 156457 heading towards Oban at Crianlarich. A feast for the eyes with the run towards Fort William where I left the train and headed on a short walk along the route of the Great Glen Way. Heading away from Fort William skirting round the edge of Inverlochy on the footpath section close to the river, rejoining the cycle path near the old castle and railway viaduct crossing over River Lochy (with a footbridge alongside the railway viaduct).
Lochy Railway Bridge, Lochyside by Kite, on FlickrI followed Kilmallie Road towards the Caol shore, walking along the coastal path alongside the beach, with some amazing views of the water. The path met up with the Caledonian Canal near Corpach and after walking to the sea loch I headed past the station and towards the main A830 road to await the bus to Mallaig, a service I'm sure a few station visitors have used in the past to get between some of the stations on this line. It was onto the route 500 service operated by Shiel Buses (coach K55 SBL) for the scenic run towards Mallaig the beautiful section being near Arisaig where it took the coastal route.
At Mallaig I had time to kill before the departure towards Glasgow so I headed for a little stroll picking up the "Circular Walk" for a short section heading to Mallaigvaig & King's Way for some beautiful views of the harbour from the hills. After dropping back to main road, I headed towards the station via the Co-Op to grab supplies for dinner before waiting for the doors on 156467 & 156477 to get released. Since my last visit to Mallaig, Scotrail has swapped from using platform 1 to platform 2 at Mallaig, so it was a big platform related tick when I took a seat to relax for the scenic run back towards Fort William.
156467 at Mallaig Station by Kite, on FlickrThe train ran into 153305 at Fort William to form a 5-coach set back across the moors towards Crianlarich where it was joined with 156462 from Oban. Needless to say, I relocated to the 153, the seats are slightly more comfortable if you avoid a table seat as those table seats have little legroom. Due to the length it ran nonstop from Dumbarton Central which does clear a small bit more of track for 153 coverage, who knows if the 153s will run to Mallaig this year.
153305 at Crianlarich by Kite, on FlickrAnyhow it was a fast walk across the city centre to make it onto 318270 on a service to Hamilton, arriving 30 minutes earlier than I was expecting giving me time to sort my rucksack out ready for another early start for the Friday. An enjoyable day for my eyes, the West Highland line is so pretty.
14th March – Old Railways of Bury
It was time to depart Scotland, heading back south via Manchester. I checked out of my accommodation, whilst it’s not perfect (the window blinds are a bit rubbish at blocking out the light and the heating was quite variable) it’s decent enough with a comfy bed. To the station at Hamilton Central and onto 320417 & 320403 for the trip to Glasgow Central where after grabbing some breakfast I made my way towards 397012 on a TPE service for Liverpool for one of those novelty services which goes via Whifflet, bringing back memories of when I did this move in reverse in April 2018 to score the curve between Whifflet & Holytown, seems so long ago.
Easy enough to grab a seat on this 397 as it went as booked via Whifflet, rejoining the usual route at Wishaw for the run towards Lockerbie where I alighted for some better photos and a short wait before 802209 rolled in from Edinburgh for the novelty of a TPE 802 on the WCML. I took this busy 802 to Bolton where I alighted to a sea of announcements threatening all sorts of things if anybody should dare board that TPE, probably only rivalled to Watford Junction at creating a hostile environment for passengers with pointless set-down only stops (I support keeping Bolton strictly as Pick-up only heading northbound, but what harm will it do to allow passengers to board at Bolton heading towards Manchester, all the long distance passengers are already on board?)
397012 at Lockerbie Station by Kite, on FlickrI exited the station, heading across to the bus station, eventually locating the correct departure gate for the Bee Network Route 480 service for Bury via Holcombe Brook. This former Stagecoach bus (fleet 36784) was quite busy heading away from Bolton via Tonge Moor and Bradshaw before heading up a steep hill towards Side of the Moor, giving some nice views. I alighted from the bus in Greenmount near the start of the Kirklees Trail which makes use of the route of the former Bury – Holcombe Brook line.
This was quite a decent stroll along the path, some lovely woodlands as it made its way towards Tottington and towards Bury, crossing over the Irwell on a viaduct where the path came to an end. A walk soundtracked to the sound of steam trains running on the East Lancs Railway. The next section I followed the riverside path towards the town centre area, before picking up the route of the former Liverpool and Bury Railway. This section was called the Daisyfield Greenway which came to an end with a detour via the Elton Reservoir (which felt like a decent place to pause for lunch). After lunch I continued with the route towards the site of the former Radcliffe Black Lane station along a section which was a bit rough in places.
Bury - Holcombe Brook railway viaduct over the River Irwell in Bury by Kite, on FlickrThe path quality improved as it became the Bradley Fold Cycleway with another detour required near Bolton County Football Club, before picking up the route of the old railway near Darcy Lever, crossing a valley on a viaduct (all enclosed) and the path coming to an end near the A666 on another former railway viaduct. I headed towards the station via a footbridge near Lever Street and was toying with extending the walk towards Lostock with the path which runs alongside the railway, but the train I would have likely connected into was cancelled so that plan went into the bin. Nether the less, it was good to have completed this route from Bury to Bolton, two more old railway line paths removed from my list.
At Bolton station, it was a short wait before 331028 & 331017 rolled in from Blackpool to take me to Piccadilly, where I made a connection with 390009 working a fast Pendo to Euston going via Stoke. This lost time at the London end of the route with congestion in Watford. I had a quick stroll across to Waterloo to jump onto 159022 on the 19:50 service to Salisbury to finish the day and trip to Scotland. An enjoyable holiday.
Elton Reservoir, Bury by Kite, on Flickr15th March – London Day
Not a lot to mention other than scoring both loops at Kent House on diverted Thameslink services which were booked to pause in the loops (without releasing the doors) for South Eastern services to pass which was a random spot when looking at RTT. Plus getting a couple more 720s into my book as well as a couple more DLR units over a mile. A lazy day trip in London to get myself ready to return to work on the Sunday.
A 700 entering the loop platform 4 at Kent House (from a 700 on platform 1 loop) by Kite, on FlickrThanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr here.
D841 Roebuck
Established Member
Elton Reservoir may indeed be a pleasant picnic spot in spring, but it a thoroughly unpleasant thing to have to run round in a February sleet storm...
Rover
Member
Thanks for posting, a really good read and nice photographs.
Kite159
Veteran Member
I was toying with doing the path which ran alongside the outside, but decided that could be done when I visit Bury to walk the old canal towpath towards Bolton direction
Kite159
Veteran Member
21st – 23rd March – Trip to the North West
This idea came about when an idea popped into my head the previous Monday when walking along the canal in Wigan to randomly search to see if my usual place in Crewe was available for a long weekend, although little did, I know it would be my last time (as since my stay I’ve received a message saying they are selling the house due to rising costs & issues with cleaners, so no more biscuits).
21st March – A Canal Sandwiched between Two Railways
The day started with the 05:20 service from Grateley with 159104 & 159105 taking me to Waterloo, where I had my usual stroll towards Euston arriving with time to spare before taking 390117 on the 07:30 service for Glasgow, losing time on the outskirts of Euston due to signalling issues. I took this Pendo to Preston where I had a bit of a fast walk to the bus station to catch the Blackburn Bus Company’s Route 152 service. Branded as “Hotline” with bus 512 (Enviro 200). This bus took me away from Preston going via Higher Walton, Hoghton towards Blackburn. After a driver change in Blackburn it was towards Rishton, Clayton-Le-Moors & Altham to where I alighted on the outskirts of Padiham near the Shuttleworth Mead Business Park where my walk began.
I picked up the start of the Padiham Greenway, a mixed used path making use of the route of the former Great Harwood Loop, passing by the business park heading towards the town centre where I hit an issue as the viaduct over the river Calder was closed (and from the looks of it, had been closed for a while). With another footbridge closed over the river at the Memorial Park I had to do a large detour towards the town centre (although making the most of it by going via Tesco for lunch). After getting across the river I headed back towards the route of the greenway, walking to the opposite end of the viaduct before heading towards the path away from Padiham towards Rose Grove, climbing up a steady gradient.
Padiham Greenway in the Padiham Memorial Park by Kite, on Flickr
The path came to an end near the M65 so I switched to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal to walk a short section I had walked earlier in the month towards Hapton, this time staying on the canal as it made it's curving way across the countryside with some lovely views but it did feel a bit exposed. The towpath quality was quite variable along this section, changing from tarmac to grass, to dried mud & loose stones. The sound of traffic from the M65 was never too far away as I passed the remains of Clough Bank farm (good time to pause for lunch) and soon the wilderness gave way to urban of Clayton-Le-Moors,
The canal headed south, underneath the motorway into another area of countryside before reaching Church and the halfway marker, this is when I decided to end the canal path, heading via the roads towards the Hyndburn Greenway path which passed close to the station before running alongside the railway towards Accrington Station. After a detour via the large Tesco I continued along this path as it picked up the route of the former East Lancashire Railway route towards Bury. One of those paths I randomly discovered when looking at the maps.
Half-Way Marker on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Church by Kite, on Flickr
Once it was outside the built-up area, this path was beautiful with woodland. Although walking up the Baxenden Bank wasn't the best idea as it was quite steep in places (especially in areas where bridges had been removed at road crossings). The path came to an end with the remains of Baxenden Station and a narrow path taking me towards the A680 road where I had three options of either a bus towards Accrington, a bus towards Rochdale or a bus to Manchester. I went for the Blackburn Bus Company run X41 "Red Express" with bus 1869 (a Wright Eclipse).
A busy bus as it headed towards Haslingden & Ramsbottom before picking up the M66 for a short distance before being forced to detour due to the motorway being closed, heading via Whitefield. This bus terminated at the Shudehill Interchange, one of those routes I would love to do one of the afternoon peak services which goes nonstop to Ramsbottom via the motorway, although the fast Burnley bus goes the same way (WitchWay).
Hyndburn Greenway (Former East Lancashire Railway) in Baxenden (7) by Kite, on Flickr
I had a gentle stroll from the bus station towards Piccadilly station, jumping on 390119 to take me towards Crewe, where I noticed I had misplaced my phone charging cable (I suspect I pulled it out of my bag without noticing when getting something else out) which was a bit annoying as this time of night options were quite limited. I was toying with doing the Avanti service to Wrexham but that was cancelled beyond Crewe so that gets ditched (again!) and I headed to the shared house going via the big Tesco in Crewe to buy a new cable which didn’t cost the earth.
Once at the accommodation, I sorted my rucksack out and relaxed for the evening. A nice enjoyable stroll in East Lancashire, another section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal done as well as two short old railway line path. The weather forecast for the Saturday wasn’t looking promising for a hopeful walk in the Peak District so I came up with an alternative idea.
22nd March – Trip to North Wales
The day began with 805008 on the first train to Holyhead from Crewe, grabbing a seat in the driving coach for the benefit of not having an engine underneath (makes for a quieter ride) as I headed into North Wales for the first time in a while (at least in daylight), looking out of the window on the speedy run. A quick turnaround at Holyhead and I was heading to Llandudno Junction on the same train for a short wait before 197049 rolled in from the Conwy valley line which I took to Deganwy for a random revisit (such a lovely station for views), stepping back onto 197124 from Manchester to take me to Llandudno itself.
I swapped over to 197049 once more (with the guard checking tickets before boarding, mainly to get any request stops onto his list), grabbing a decent seat before the masses boarded at Llandudno Junction as I headed towards Blaenau Ffestiniog for the first time since 2021, and such a beautiful line, full of changing scenery from the river, to the trees & after the tunnel into the slate wilderness of Blaenau Ffestiniog itself. As the train arrived a few minutes early, I decided to dash to the nearby Co-Op for some supplies.
197049 at Blaenau Ffestiniog Station (2) by Kite, on Flickr
Returning to 197049 sitting on the opposite side I had another enjoyable looking out of the window trip towards Llandudno Junction where I decided to change my plans as the forecast heavy rain seemed to had changed, so jumped onto 197115 for the run to Abergele & Pensarn to begin a little stroll. Back in 2022 (time flies!) I walked the coastal path from Abergele & Pensarn towards Prestatyn. This time I headed west, along the coastal path, the sound of traffic from the North Wales Expressway never too far away, heading towards Llanddulas, then towards Old Colwyn and finally Colwyn Bay. A couple steep climbs along the way due to the layout of the land but some beautiful coastal views on a sunny day. The section from Colwyn Bay towards Llandudno will need to be done on another day. I headed towards the station, jumping onto 197121 working the next service to Holyhead, grabbing a seat in the standard premium area of the train (for that bit of extra comfort), taking the 197 all the way to Holyhead and remaining on the same unit back to Chester. I was toying with taking it towards Shrewsbury but decided against it owing to the time of day and that it would likely be dark by the time the train departed Wrexham.
I did have a look at a couple of 777s on Liverpool services on the off-chance a required unit was out, before making my way across to platform 1 to board a busy 197001 & 197011 on the Crewe shuttle, to take me to Crewe where the rain had begun. I headed to my accommodation via a pizza takeaway, spending the time listening to the rain and relaxing. An enjoyable day looking out of the window in North Wales, along with a lovely coastal walk.
Seafront in Old Colwyn (13) by Kite, on Flickr
23rd March – Return to the Coventry Canal
To be honest I had several ideas of walks I could have done today, ranging from old railways in Patricroft to canals. In the end, keeping one eye on not wanting a late finish and the replacement buses, I decided to head towards Staffordshire to make a return to the Coventry Canal. A later than usual start for me on the Sunday as I departed the shared house (for what turned out to be the final time) making my way to the station via Tesco Express for some breakfast.
The first southbound LNR service was a 12-coach service with 350238 leading 350241 & 350250 for this triple 350/2 goodness, although not like I had much choice where to sit as I needed to be in the front unit for the short platform, but I was in the former 1st class area for that bit of extra comfort compared to the 3+2 seating. Soon I was at Atherstone to begin my latest section of the Coventry canal, quite easy to get to the canal as it runs very close to the station at this point.
350250 departing Atherstone Station by Kite, on Flickr
Once on the canal I headed underneath the A5 & the railway, into the countryside. Dropping down a flight of locks towards the Bradley Green area, the railway never being too far away at this point with the towpath being reasonable, a bit wet in places but nothing major (although not one I would want to do during the winter months). I headed underneath the WCML once more, entering the large village of Polesworth, famously the station being served by 1 train a day due to the WCML upgrade work removed the footbridge. One of those stations which I reckon if it was served hourly would generate extra custom as the village is quite large and close to the station (not like one of those stations situated half a mile away down narrow country lanes).
Anyhow the canal skirted round the edge of the village and towards the scenic Pooley Country Park, going underneath the M42 heading towards Alvecote with the sound of steam trains (which I presume weas coming from the direction of the railway at Statfold Country Park). Countryside gave way to the Tamworth urban area (Amington & finally Glascote) where I met up with the point I joined the canal last August, near a branch of the "Tamworth Co-Op" which I grabbed some late lunch from. My original idea for this walk was to include some of the paths in Tamworth but with one eye on the time I headed direct to the station & the bleak southbound platform.
A 390 crossing the Coventry Canal near Polesworth by Kite, on Flickr
I positioned myself nearer the northern end of the platform, away from the masses at the southern end as 350266 rolled in with 350259 in the middle and 350242 on the rear. I got lucky with getting a seat in the former first-class area of the middle unit of another triple 350/2. Anyhow these triple set took me towards Euston where I headed to the underground (due to it being quite wet) with 51600 & 51601 to Waterloo where I headed towards a busy 444030 on a Poole train to take me to Basingstoke. This turned out to be a very wise decision as the replacement buses for Salisbury were very oversubscribed to such a degree the 17:15 replacement coach departed 10 minutes early due to being full, and that was before the official connection train arrived from London. The coach was from Barnes (of Swindon), BU18 YMH and was reasonable. A fast run along the M3/A303 to Andover where I got met by mum as we headed to a local fish & chip shop for some dinner before heading home.
An enjoyable weekend away in Crewe, some nice walking in the sunshine as I got myself ready for a week of late shifts. As ever thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr.
This idea came about when an idea popped into my head the previous Monday when walking along the canal in Wigan to randomly search to see if my usual place in Crewe was available for a long weekend, although little did, I know it would be my last time (as since my stay I’ve received a message saying they are selling the house due to rising costs & issues with cleaners, so no more biscuits).
21st March – A Canal Sandwiched between Two Railways
The day started with the 05:20 service from Grateley with 159104 & 159105 taking me to Waterloo, where I had my usual stroll towards Euston arriving with time to spare before taking 390117 on the 07:30 service for Glasgow, losing time on the outskirts of Euston due to signalling issues. I took this Pendo to Preston where I had a bit of a fast walk to the bus station to catch the Blackburn Bus Company’s Route 152 service. Branded as “Hotline” with bus 512 (Enviro 200). This bus took me away from Preston going via Higher Walton, Hoghton towards Blackburn. After a driver change in Blackburn it was towards Rishton, Clayton-Le-Moors & Altham to where I alighted on the outskirts of Padiham near the Shuttleworth Mead Business Park where my walk began.
I picked up the start of the Padiham Greenway, a mixed used path making use of the route of the former Great Harwood Loop, passing by the business park heading towards the town centre where I hit an issue as the viaduct over the river Calder was closed (and from the looks of it, had been closed for a while). With another footbridge closed over the river at the Memorial Park I had to do a large detour towards the town centre (although making the most of it by going via Tesco for lunch). After getting across the river I headed back towards the route of the greenway, walking to the opposite end of the viaduct before heading towards the path away from Padiham towards Rose Grove, climbing up a steady gradient.
Padiham Greenway in the Padiham Memorial Park by Kite, on FlickrThe path came to an end near the M65 so I switched to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal to walk a short section I had walked earlier in the month towards Hapton, this time staying on the canal as it made it's curving way across the countryside with some lovely views but it did feel a bit exposed. The towpath quality was quite variable along this section, changing from tarmac to grass, to dried mud & loose stones. The sound of traffic from the M65 was never too far away as I passed the remains of Clough Bank farm (good time to pause for lunch) and soon the wilderness gave way to urban of Clayton-Le-Moors,
The canal headed south, underneath the motorway into another area of countryside before reaching Church and the halfway marker, this is when I decided to end the canal path, heading via the roads towards the Hyndburn Greenway path which passed close to the station before running alongside the railway towards Accrington Station. After a detour via the large Tesco I continued along this path as it picked up the route of the former East Lancashire Railway route towards Bury. One of those paths I randomly discovered when looking at the maps.
Half-Way Marker on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Church by Kite, on FlickrOnce it was outside the built-up area, this path was beautiful with woodland. Although walking up the Baxenden Bank wasn't the best idea as it was quite steep in places (especially in areas where bridges had been removed at road crossings). The path came to an end with the remains of Baxenden Station and a narrow path taking me towards the A680 road where I had three options of either a bus towards Accrington, a bus towards Rochdale or a bus to Manchester. I went for the Blackburn Bus Company run X41 "Red Express" with bus 1869 (a Wright Eclipse).
A busy bus as it headed towards Haslingden & Ramsbottom before picking up the M66 for a short distance before being forced to detour due to the motorway being closed, heading via Whitefield. This bus terminated at the Shudehill Interchange, one of those routes I would love to do one of the afternoon peak services which goes nonstop to Ramsbottom via the motorway, although the fast Burnley bus goes the same way (WitchWay).
Hyndburn Greenway (Former East Lancashire Railway) in Baxenden (7) by Kite, on FlickrI had a gentle stroll from the bus station towards Piccadilly station, jumping on 390119 to take me towards Crewe, where I noticed I had misplaced my phone charging cable (I suspect I pulled it out of my bag without noticing when getting something else out) which was a bit annoying as this time of night options were quite limited. I was toying with doing the Avanti service to Wrexham but that was cancelled beyond Crewe so that gets ditched (again!) and I headed to the shared house going via the big Tesco in Crewe to buy a new cable which didn’t cost the earth.
Once at the accommodation, I sorted my rucksack out and relaxed for the evening. A nice enjoyable stroll in East Lancashire, another section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal done as well as two short old railway line path. The weather forecast for the Saturday wasn’t looking promising for a hopeful walk in the Peak District so I came up with an alternative idea.
22nd March – Trip to North Wales
The day began with 805008 on the first train to Holyhead from Crewe, grabbing a seat in the driving coach for the benefit of not having an engine underneath (makes for a quieter ride) as I headed into North Wales for the first time in a while (at least in daylight), looking out of the window on the speedy run. A quick turnaround at Holyhead and I was heading to Llandudno Junction on the same train for a short wait before 197049 rolled in from the Conwy valley line which I took to Deganwy for a random revisit (such a lovely station for views), stepping back onto 197124 from Manchester to take me to Llandudno itself.
I swapped over to 197049 once more (with the guard checking tickets before boarding, mainly to get any request stops onto his list), grabbing a decent seat before the masses boarded at Llandudno Junction as I headed towards Blaenau Ffestiniog for the first time since 2021, and such a beautiful line, full of changing scenery from the river, to the trees & after the tunnel into the slate wilderness of Blaenau Ffestiniog itself. As the train arrived a few minutes early, I decided to dash to the nearby Co-Op for some supplies.
197049 at Blaenau Ffestiniog Station (2) by Kite, on FlickrReturning to 197049 sitting on the opposite side I had another enjoyable looking out of the window trip towards Llandudno Junction where I decided to change my plans as the forecast heavy rain seemed to had changed, so jumped onto 197115 for the run to Abergele & Pensarn to begin a little stroll. Back in 2022 (time flies!) I walked the coastal path from Abergele & Pensarn towards Prestatyn. This time I headed west, along the coastal path, the sound of traffic from the North Wales Expressway never too far away, heading towards Llanddulas, then towards Old Colwyn and finally Colwyn Bay. A couple steep climbs along the way due to the layout of the land but some beautiful coastal views on a sunny day. The section from Colwyn Bay towards Llandudno will need to be done on another day. I headed towards the station, jumping onto 197121 working the next service to Holyhead, grabbing a seat in the standard premium area of the train (for that bit of extra comfort), taking the 197 all the way to Holyhead and remaining on the same unit back to Chester. I was toying with taking it towards Shrewsbury but decided against it owing to the time of day and that it would likely be dark by the time the train departed Wrexham.
I did have a look at a couple of 777s on Liverpool services on the off-chance a required unit was out, before making my way across to platform 1 to board a busy 197001 & 197011 on the Crewe shuttle, to take me to Crewe where the rain had begun. I headed to my accommodation via a pizza takeaway, spending the time listening to the rain and relaxing. An enjoyable day looking out of the window in North Wales, along with a lovely coastal walk.
Seafront in Old Colwyn (13) by Kite, on Flickr23rd March – Return to the Coventry Canal
To be honest I had several ideas of walks I could have done today, ranging from old railways in Patricroft to canals. In the end, keeping one eye on not wanting a late finish and the replacement buses, I decided to head towards Staffordshire to make a return to the Coventry Canal. A later than usual start for me on the Sunday as I departed the shared house (for what turned out to be the final time) making my way to the station via Tesco Express for some breakfast.
The first southbound LNR service was a 12-coach service with 350238 leading 350241 & 350250 for this triple 350/2 goodness, although not like I had much choice where to sit as I needed to be in the front unit for the short platform, but I was in the former 1st class area for that bit of extra comfort compared to the 3+2 seating. Soon I was at Atherstone to begin my latest section of the Coventry canal, quite easy to get to the canal as it runs very close to the station at this point.
350250 departing Atherstone Station by Kite, on FlickrOnce on the canal I headed underneath the A5 & the railway, into the countryside. Dropping down a flight of locks towards the Bradley Green area, the railway never being too far away at this point with the towpath being reasonable, a bit wet in places but nothing major (although not one I would want to do during the winter months). I headed underneath the WCML once more, entering the large village of Polesworth, famously the station being served by 1 train a day due to the WCML upgrade work removed the footbridge. One of those stations which I reckon if it was served hourly would generate extra custom as the village is quite large and close to the station (not like one of those stations situated half a mile away down narrow country lanes).
Anyhow the canal skirted round the edge of the village and towards the scenic Pooley Country Park, going underneath the M42 heading towards Alvecote with the sound of steam trains (which I presume weas coming from the direction of the railway at Statfold Country Park). Countryside gave way to the Tamworth urban area (Amington & finally Glascote) where I met up with the point I joined the canal last August, near a branch of the "Tamworth Co-Op" which I grabbed some late lunch from. My original idea for this walk was to include some of the paths in Tamworth but with one eye on the time I headed direct to the station & the bleak southbound platform.
A 390 crossing the Coventry Canal near Polesworth by Kite, on FlickrI positioned myself nearer the northern end of the platform, away from the masses at the southern end as 350266 rolled in with 350259 in the middle and 350242 on the rear. I got lucky with getting a seat in the former first-class area of the middle unit of another triple 350/2. Anyhow these triple set took me towards Euston where I headed to the underground (due to it being quite wet) with 51600 & 51601 to Waterloo where I headed towards a busy 444030 on a Poole train to take me to Basingstoke. This turned out to be a very wise decision as the replacement buses for Salisbury were very oversubscribed to such a degree the 17:15 replacement coach departed 10 minutes early due to being full, and that was before the official connection train arrived from London. The coach was from Barnes (of Swindon), BU18 YMH and was reasonable. A fast run along the M3/A303 to Andover where I got met by mum as we headed to a local fish & chip shop for some dinner before heading home.
An enjoyable weekend away in Crewe, some nice walking in the sunshine as I got myself ready for a week of late shifts. As ever thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr.
Kite159
Veteran Member
29th – 1st April Trips (Penzance & South Wales)
29th March – Day Trip to Penzance
After completing all the platforms at Clacton I did some research into my log files to make a list of stations where I still need platforms, keeping things easier by only looking for terminal platforms (or bay platforms). Penzance platform 4 featured on this list, a platform which was a bit awkward going by booked usage (although thankfully not at awkward as platform 1 at Clacton!). There was a service on Saturday which was booked to use platform 4 (the one outside the main station building) which I could still get home from.
A later start than usual to the day (considering I didn’t finish work until after midnight on the Friday so it was never going to be a silly o clock start) driving to Salisbury and catching 166216 on a Bristol bound service to Westbury for a short wait before 802018 rolled in on an Exeter St Davids service. I decided the best station to change from this train to a Plymouth train following would be at Taunton as it should be the same platform (rather than changing from P6 to P4 at St Davids). A good decision as we easily got decent seats on 802110 before the masses boarded at Exeter St Davids, to take us across the South Devon banks to Plymouth.
The connection to the next Penzance train was quite tight, but we made it onto 158958, even getting a decent seat in the rear coach for the trip towards Penzance. Pretty sure this is the first time I’ve had a 158 in Cornwall so a tiny bit of new track coverage for the class. At Penzance we had a little stroll in the town area before returning to board 43098 & 43187 to St Erth for a trip to St Ives on 150263. Connections from Penzance direction are quite frankly awful with the rear lights of the half hourly shuttle departing just as the train from Penzance rolls in.
158958 at Penzance by Kite, on Flickr
We remained on board 150263 for the run back to St Erth on a very busy service, crossing over to platform 1 at St Erth on the new footbridge (lifts are still to be installed from the looks of things) and onto 802012 for the run into Penzance, landing as booked into platform 4. The rain had arrived as well as we crossed over to board 800006 on the next Cardiff bound train (something which disappears from the next timetable change) for the long journey back towards Exeter St Davids, darkness falling near Plymouth.
I had a bright idea to take 150234 to Exeter Central (it rolled in attached with another 150 from Barnstaple, but got split at St Davids with only 234 continuing up the hill to Central, terminating on platform 2, making the SWR service even later (as it seems the bay platform at Central is currently out of use). I was glad not to have been on that 150 back towards Barnstaple as it was quite busy, 159008 & 159002 rolled in from London Waterloo running very late as it terminated on platform 1 at St Davids to go pretty much straight back out.
802012 at Penzance Station by Kite, on Flickr
We relocated towards the centre of the train at St Davids, which was quieter, for the journey back towards Salisbury where we left it as 002 was being taken off with an engine fault with another unit coming on to the rear. We headed to the car park for the gentle drive home, yes, I know we could have used the train from Grateley in the morning however I didn’t want to bank on making the 5-minute connection at Penzance to risk getting stuck in Salisbury. An enjoyable relaxing day to the South West, somewhere I haven’t been to for a couple of years.
31st March – Swiss Valley Way & Playing in the Valleys
This was originally going to be a little day trip to Carmarthenshire, but for whatever reason I decided on the Saturday to look at the prices of hotels in Cardiff, landing with the option of the Easy Hotel for £32 or a city centre Travelodge for £33. I decided to pay the extra pound for the Travelodge as it was slightly better located for a random late-night move. To be honest, £33 for a hotel in Cardiff city centre is a bargain in the current climate.
Anyhow it was an early start for me with 159002 & 159009 taken to Basingstoke with 165124 on a Reading stopper to take me to Reading where I had around 40 minutes to kill, so after popping outside the station for breakfast items, I relaxed in the waiting room before 800031 & 800032 rolled in on a Carmarthen service, splitting at Swansea with 800032 eventually heading to Carmarthen (sits at Swansea for 20-odd minutes, enough time to pop to Tesco to grab lunch!). I love the section of line between Gowerton & Carmarthen, one of my favourites in the UK for the views of water.
197018 at Carmarthen Station by Kite, on Flickr
At Carmathen, it was a short walk to the bus station to catch the First South Wales operated route 129 service (with bus 47685, a Wright StreetLite) bound for Ammanford. Once outside the traffic of Carmarthen it was onto the A48 heading via Llanddarog, Porthyrhyd, Drefach, Cwm-Mawr & Tumble to Cross Hands where I alighted. A nice little bus route with some decent scenery and surprisingly only £3 for a single (I was expecting it to cost more due to being Wales). It was time to begin my walk, something I was hoping to have done in 2023, but put it off due to wet weather.
The Swiss Valley Cycle Way is a mixed used path which uses the route of the former Llanelly and Myndd Mawr Railway route. From the bus stop near the library I headed along a road, passing a lovely cinema building and picking up the access path to the old railway line. Part of cycle route 47 so it was a decent tarmac path and straight away it headed towards some nice countryside views heading towards Tumble where part of the old line has been lost under modern developments and a section being closed due to trees being cut back. Soon I had regained the route of the old railway, leaving Tumble behind and heading into the countryside, as the railway twisted & turned due to the hills.
Some beautiful woodland mixed with some views of the valley and of Pontyberem (itself used to be served by a freight line from Kidwelly I believe). The cycle path eventually was shifted away from the route of the original railway as it reached the Llanelli and Myndd Mawr Railway heritage line. Seeing 315856 stored alongside a couple of unknown Island Line 483s was quite an unusual sight. Also, on display were 142006, 143606, 143607 & 143612 for some pacer goodness.
143612 at the Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway by Kite, on Flickr
I continued along the old railway as it once again turned very rural, heading towards Horeb and skirting the edge of a couple reservoirs dropping down towards Llanelli, skirting round the edge of the town before coming to an end near the Sandy Water Park. My walk continued for the short distance via the housing area & Home Bargains to reach the station, which has changed massively since my last visit with a new footbridge with lifts getting installed and the old bridge being removed. A very enjoyable walk in some beautiful countryside.
After a short rest, 800011 rolled into the station to take me towards Cardiff Central, not attaching to another unit at Swansea for some reason and hence it looked very busy on departure from Cardiff as it was time to play with some trains, but first I headed towards my hotel to get checked in, to lose some weight from my rucksack and to grab dinner. Making use of RTT I managed to get 756115 in with the run to Abercynon, 756106 back to Radyr for 756104 to Quakers Yard solely to get some better photos of the rebuilt station (considering my last visit I pretty much arrived as the train was rolling in).
756104 at Quakers Yard Station by Kite, on Flickr
756110 rolled in to take me towards Cardiff Queen Street, where to waste some time, I headed to Cardiff Bay on 150254, an area still under construction with the 2nd platform. I decided to have another gentle stroll rather than being sensible and taking the 150 back to Queen Street for something to Central. This stroll was alongside the road back towards Cardiff Central, passing the replacement buses for the works at Grangetown. At Cardiff Central I had a short wait before boarding 197126 on a late-night Carmarthen train (the one which goes via the Swansea District Line) for the run to Bridgend for a short 30-minute wait, I guess in hindsight I could have stayed on to Pyle as it looked there was some single-track working happening with Port Talbot bound trains running along the “up” line towards Margam. Random late night track work.
197122 rolled in a couple minutes late (allowing an IET to depart Bridgend) as I got a seat in the Standard Premium area for the fast run back towards Cardiff Central, but before reaching the station it headed onto the Leckwith Loop and via Ninian Park to reach Cardiff Central for some late-night random track work. Arrival was a couple minutes before midnight and I was in the hotel soon after (thinking to myself it was a pound worth spent), I got lucky in the hotel getting a room at the rear of the building, overlooking an office block, so it was very quiet, allowing me to sleep.
1st April – Into the Valleys
I must have needed that sleep as I didn’t wake up until 9am, onto a day where I didn’t really have a fixed plan. This area of South Wales has a lot of old railway line paths & other paths. Some shorter than others (and require buses to reach the ends). After looking at RTT for any potential scores with 756s I headed out of the hotel, heading towards Queen Street via Tim Hortons for a breakfast wrap and onto winner 756102 to Abercynon where I began my first walk of the day, heading towards the River Cynon and a mixed used path which runs sandwiched between the river & railway line.
After an industrial area the path opened up as it followed the route of the river with some nice woodland. I continued along the path towards Penrhiwceiber where there was a link towards the station, and then towards Mountain Ash where there was another link path towards the station. As I had time I continued towards the town hall, looping back on myself via the town centre of Mountain Ash, grabbing some food from Iceland before heading to the station, the passing point on the Aberdare line. Winner 756112 rolled in to take me to Aberdare, where I remained on board to take this unit to Trefforest, changing over to 756106 for the run to the rebuilt Dinas Rhondda to have an explore of the rebuilt second platform on the Trehertbert line.
756111 at Mountain Ash Station by Kite, on Flickr
After a little explore, I took 756105 back one stop to Porth to begin my second walk, heading towards Trehaford via the "Fach Trail", before picking up the Richard Griffiths Tramroad Walk, a walk along the route of an old tramroad towards the Barry Sidings Countryside Park. A path I didn't know existed until I saw my good friend Jules, walk it a couple weeks ago and he praised it. It was very beautiful with views, before heading towards Pontypridd where after doing a little loop I ended up at the station and onto 150208 for the run towards Cardiff Central on what could potentially be my last 150 in Pontypridd.
At Cardiff Central I headed across to the London train formed of 800036 & 800004 for the run towards Reading, unusually running via the loop at Wantage costing around 5 minutes, but as the next Basingstoke train had been cancelled the +8 connection didn’t matter. After relaxing on platform 15, it was onto 165109 on the next Basingstoke service (points issues into the bay platforms by all accounts), and at Basingstoke onto 158882, 159014 & 159106 to take me to Grateley to end my little Welsh getaway.
View from the Richard Griffiths Tramroad Walk in Trehafod by Kite, on Flickr
An enjoyable couple of days in Wales, a long walk on the Monday followed by a couple shorter walks on the Tuesday, as well as getting some more of the Tri-Modal 756s into my little book. As ever thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr, although spread between the March & April albums.
And for the first time in what feels like ages, I've caught up!
29th March – Day Trip to Penzance
After completing all the platforms at Clacton I did some research into my log files to make a list of stations where I still need platforms, keeping things easier by only looking for terminal platforms (or bay platforms). Penzance platform 4 featured on this list, a platform which was a bit awkward going by booked usage (although thankfully not at awkward as platform 1 at Clacton!). There was a service on Saturday which was booked to use platform 4 (the one outside the main station building) which I could still get home from.
A later start than usual to the day (considering I didn’t finish work until after midnight on the Friday so it was never going to be a silly o clock start) driving to Salisbury and catching 166216 on a Bristol bound service to Westbury for a short wait before 802018 rolled in on an Exeter St Davids service. I decided the best station to change from this train to a Plymouth train following would be at Taunton as it should be the same platform (rather than changing from P6 to P4 at St Davids). A good decision as we easily got decent seats on 802110 before the masses boarded at Exeter St Davids, to take us across the South Devon banks to Plymouth.
The connection to the next Penzance train was quite tight, but we made it onto 158958, even getting a decent seat in the rear coach for the trip towards Penzance. Pretty sure this is the first time I’ve had a 158 in Cornwall so a tiny bit of new track coverage for the class. At Penzance we had a little stroll in the town area before returning to board 43098 & 43187 to St Erth for a trip to St Ives on 150263. Connections from Penzance direction are quite frankly awful with the rear lights of the half hourly shuttle departing just as the train from Penzance rolls in.
158958 at Penzance by Kite, on FlickrWe remained on board 150263 for the run back to St Erth on a very busy service, crossing over to platform 1 at St Erth on the new footbridge (lifts are still to be installed from the looks of things) and onto 802012 for the run into Penzance, landing as booked into platform 4. The rain had arrived as well as we crossed over to board 800006 on the next Cardiff bound train (something which disappears from the next timetable change) for the long journey back towards Exeter St Davids, darkness falling near Plymouth.
I had a bright idea to take 150234 to Exeter Central (it rolled in attached with another 150 from Barnstaple, but got split at St Davids with only 234 continuing up the hill to Central, terminating on platform 2, making the SWR service even later (as it seems the bay platform at Central is currently out of use). I was glad not to have been on that 150 back towards Barnstaple as it was quite busy, 159008 & 159002 rolled in from London Waterloo running very late as it terminated on platform 1 at St Davids to go pretty much straight back out.
802012 at Penzance Station by Kite, on FlickrWe relocated towards the centre of the train at St Davids, which was quieter, for the journey back towards Salisbury where we left it as 002 was being taken off with an engine fault with another unit coming on to the rear. We headed to the car park for the gentle drive home, yes, I know we could have used the train from Grateley in the morning however I didn’t want to bank on making the 5-minute connection at Penzance to risk getting stuck in Salisbury. An enjoyable relaxing day to the South West, somewhere I haven’t been to for a couple of years.
31st March – Swiss Valley Way & Playing in the Valleys
This was originally going to be a little day trip to Carmarthenshire, but for whatever reason I decided on the Saturday to look at the prices of hotels in Cardiff, landing with the option of the Easy Hotel for £32 or a city centre Travelodge for £33. I decided to pay the extra pound for the Travelodge as it was slightly better located for a random late-night move. To be honest, £33 for a hotel in Cardiff city centre is a bargain in the current climate.
Anyhow it was an early start for me with 159002 & 159009 taken to Basingstoke with 165124 on a Reading stopper to take me to Reading where I had around 40 minutes to kill, so after popping outside the station for breakfast items, I relaxed in the waiting room before 800031 & 800032 rolled in on a Carmarthen service, splitting at Swansea with 800032 eventually heading to Carmarthen (sits at Swansea for 20-odd minutes, enough time to pop to Tesco to grab lunch!). I love the section of line between Gowerton & Carmarthen, one of my favourites in the UK for the views of water.
197018 at Carmarthen Station by Kite, on FlickrAt Carmathen, it was a short walk to the bus station to catch the First South Wales operated route 129 service (with bus 47685, a Wright StreetLite) bound for Ammanford. Once outside the traffic of Carmarthen it was onto the A48 heading via Llanddarog, Porthyrhyd, Drefach, Cwm-Mawr & Tumble to Cross Hands where I alighted. A nice little bus route with some decent scenery and surprisingly only £3 for a single (I was expecting it to cost more due to being Wales). It was time to begin my walk, something I was hoping to have done in 2023, but put it off due to wet weather.
The Swiss Valley Cycle Way is a mixed used path which uses the route of the former Llanelly and Myndd Mawr Railway route. From the bus stop near the library I headed along a road, passing a lovely cinema building and picking up the access path to the old railway line. Part of cycle route 47 so it was a decent tarmac path and straight away it headed towards some nice countryside views heading towards Tumble where part of the old line has been lost under modern developments and a section being closed due to trees being cut back. Soon I had regained the route of the old railway, leaving Tumble behind and heading into the countryside, as the railway twisted & turned due to the hills.
Some beautiful woodland mixed with some views of the valley and of Pontyberem (itself used to be served by a freight line from Kidwelly I believe). The cycle path eventually was shifted away from the route of the original railway as it reached the Llanelli and Myndd Mawr Railway heritage line. Seeing 315856 stored alongside a couple of unknown Island Line 483s was quite an unusual sight. Also, on display were 142006, 143606, 143607 & 143612 for some pacer goodness.
143612 at the Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway by Kite, on FlickrI continued along the old railway as it once again turned very rural, heading towards Horeb and skirting the edge of a couple reservoirs dropping down towards Llanelli, skirting round the edge of the town before coming to an end near the Sandy Water Park. My walk continued for the short distance via the housing area & Home Bargains to reach the station, which has changed massively since my last visit with a new footbridge with lifts getting installed and the old bridge being removed. A very enjoyable walk in some beautiful countryside.
After a short rest, 800011 rolled into the station to take me towards Cardiff Central, not attaching to another unit at Swansea for some reason and hence it looked very busy on departure from Cardiff as it was time to play with some trains, but first I headed towards my hotel to get checked in, to lose some weight from my rucksack and to grab dinner. Making use of RTT I managed to get 756115 in with the run to Abercynon, 756106 back to Radyr for 756104 to Quakers Yard solely to get some better photos of the rebuilt station (considering my last visit I pretty much arrived as the train was rolling in).
756104 at Quakers Yard Station by Kite, on Flickr756110 rolled in to take me towards Cardiff Queen Street, where to waste some time, I headed to Cardiff Bay on 150254, an area still under construction with the 2nd platform. I decided to have another gentle stroll rather than being sensible and taking the 150 back to Queen Street for something to Central. This stroll was alongside the road back towards Cardiff Central, passing the replacement buses for the works at Grangetown. At Cardiff Central I had a short wait before boarding 197126 on a late-night Carmarthen train (the one which goes via the Swansea District Line) for the run to Bridgend for a short 30-minute wait, I guess in hindsight I could have stayed on to Pyle as it looked there was some single-track working happening with Port Talbot bound trains running along the “up” line towards Margam. Random late night track work.
197122 rolled in a couple minutes late (allowing an IET to depart Bridgend) as I got a seat in the Standard Premium area for the fast run back towards Cardiff Central, but before reaching the station it headed onto the Leckwith Loop and via Ninian Park to reach Cardiff Central for some late-night random track work. Arrival was a couple minutes before midnight and I was in the hotel soon after (thinking to myself it was a pound worth spent), I got lucky in the hotel getting a room at the rear of the building, overlooking an office block, so it was very quiet, allowing me to sleep.
1st April – Into the Valleys
I must have needed that sleep as I didn’t wake up until 9am, onto a day where I didn’t really have a fixed plan. This area of South Wales has a lot of old railway line paths & other paths. Some shorter than others (and require buses to reach the ends). After looking at RTT for any potential scores with 756s I headed out of the hotel, heading towards Queen Street via Tim Hortons for a breakfast wrap and onto winner 756102 to Abercynon where I began my first walk of the day, heading towards the River Cynon and a mixed used path which runs sandwiched between the river & railway line.
After an industrial area the path opened up as it followed the route of the river with some nice woodland. I continued along the path towards Penrhiwceiber where there was a link towards the station, and then towards Mountain Ash where there was another link path towards the station. As I had time I continued towards the town hall, looping back on myself via the town centre of Mountain Ash, grabbing some food from Iceland before heading to the station, the passing point on the Aberdare line. Winner 756112 rolled in to take me to Aberdare, where I remained on board to take this unit to Trefforest, changing over to 756106 for the run to the rebuilt Dinas Rhondda to have an explore of the rebuilt second platform on the Trehertbert line.
756111 at Mountain Ash Station by Kite, on FlickrAfter a little explore, I took 756105 back one stop to Porth to begin my second walk, heading towards Trehaford via the "Fach Trail", before picking up the Richard Griffiths Tramroad Walk, a walk along the route of an old tramroad towards the Barry Sidings Countryside Park. A path I didn't know existed until I saw my good friend Jules, walk it a couple weeks ago and he praised it. It was very beautiful with views, before heading towards Pontypridd where after doing a little loop I ended up at the station and onto 150208 for the run towards Cardiff Central on what could potentially be my last 150 in Pontypridd.
At Cardiff Central I headed across to the London train formed of 800036 & 800004 for the run towards Reading, unusually running via the loop at Wantage costing around 5 minutes, but as the next Basingstoke train had been cancelled the +8 connection didn’t matter. After relaxing on platform 15, it was onto 165109 on the next Basingstoke service (points issues into the bay platforms by all accounts), and at Basingstoke onto 158882, 159014 & 159106 to take me to Grateley to end my little Welsh getaway.
View from the Richard Griffiths Tramroad Walk in Trehafod by Kite, on FlickrAn enjoyable couple of days in Wales, a long walk on the Monday followed by a couple shorter walks on the Tuesday, as well as getting some more of the Tri-Modal 756s into my little book. As ever thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr, although spread between the March & April albums.
And for the first time in what feels like ages, I've caught up!
xotGD
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Going all the way to Penzance just to yellow-pen a platform shows dedication above and beyond the call of duty!
Kite159
Veteran Member
I hadn't been to Penzance in many a year so was nice to look out of the window again.
xotGD
Established Member
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I've only been once. In 1976! While I didn't yellow-pen all of the platforms at Penzance, I did get the crossover from the mainline to the branch at St Erth on the way back to St Ives on a through dmu working.