Tale of my All Line Rail Rover 2011

[duffman82]

On request of HST Power and Techniquest I've written about my ALR

Its my first travel story/Dairy so I apologise for spelling or errors enjoy!

Day 1 of my all line Rail Rover 23.05.11

I started off my trip very excited for the first time out on an all line rail rover, So i woke up especially early at my home because i couldn’t handle the excitement! I walked to my local station Kirkdale to catch my local train service the good old Merseyrail. So officially the rover had begun! The first unit of my travels around the United Kingdom was a good old 507. I am used to travelling on these trains for the 20 years on this earth so it wasn’t a new experience but it was still the first train of the trip so i was opmistic, the unit specifically was 507007.

This took me to Moorfields where i connected into another Merseyrail unit around the loop to Liverpool Lime Street which was 508108. I took the huge escalators up to the main train shed of Liverpool Lime Street. I was meant to depart on the Virgin Trains 08.48 service as far as Stafford, however due my early arrival in Lime Street we decided to take the 08.04 London Midland service to Birmingham New Street. Once again 350 are usual units for me due to being placed at the University of Wolverhampton during the University year so it wasn’t a new unit for me but you’ll hear this line alot until i reach south of Birmingham!

The unit specifically was 350121. I cannot fault the 350/1 at all i find them to be excellent units, enjoyable to travel on, comfortable and very nice looking desiro’s, However for there cousins the 350/2 ‘s i have no love. After a nice journey i arrived into crewe were i decided to get off since i was over 40 mins ahead of plan and after leaving the house overexcited i was quite thirsty so after a nice cuppa i was recharged and jumped onto a Virgin Voyager as far as Wolverhampton. The unit which was 221113 was very busy so i was unfortunately stood by the door for the most of the journey.

Soon Later i was greeted with the familiar view of my university town Wolverhampton were i decided a quick trip to my halls of residence to say hi to my university mates was in order. I was greeted at halls with a bacon butty and a cuppa which went down well! After my brief visit to my old pals i was back on the rails with (unfortunately) 350260, it was only until Birmingham which was a bonus.

After my travel through the dull west midlands scenery i arrived in the huge metropolis of Birmingham at the infamous Birmingham New Street. Again not new stomping ground for me but it was the beginning of the new lines for me on the trip! It begun with 221140 on a trip to reading, It took the camp hill line (correct me if i’m wrong) onto the Chiltern Main Line where it stormed through to Banbury where we hit a snag.... a tree branch on the line between Banbury and oxford which kept the train held at Banbury for 25 mins! But after it was cleared we were on our way on the line to Reading which was new treading ground for me! It was nice scenery to oxford and from oxford i was greeted by the didcot rail centre on my right, I was amazed by it’s size and thought i must pay a visit soon! After a high speed stint on the GWML we were greeted into the bay of platform 7. I stepped off the voyager to be amazed by the size of Reading Station, It was a huge station with mounds and mounds of HST’s!

I was literally in the station only 10 mins and had saw over 6 HST sets pass through i was amazed and i have to say they look amazing in FGW dynamic lines. After a few minutes there i boarded an infamous HST set of 43032 on the rear and 43168 on the front. I literally window hanged the majority of the route, it was brilliant watching the 165,166 and 360’s just look like stone as the mighty HST showed them who is boss .

Once arrived into Brunel’s Masterpiece of Paddington i went to the ticket office and purchased my sleeper supplement for the First Great Western Night Rivera! I also purchase a All Zone Travelcard and had a trip to London Marylebone. This was to pick up a timetable to check the Loco Hauled Services on Chiltern! I then had a bus journey to Kings Cross to pick up a tube to the Land of Cockfosters, I mainly did this as a joke for some friends who were amazed by the stations name, Fair to say the picture of me at Cockfosters by the sign made there week! (It was only Monday lol).

I then made my way across London on the tube back to the terminal of Marylebone to pick up the 18:06 Loco Hauled to Banbury. It was formed of ex WSMR loco 67015 and a mixture of ex virgin coaches and old BR MK3’s and a bright blue Chiltern DVT! I window hanged it out of Marylebone but the weather wasn’t looking great so i didn’t do much more on that set! I bailed off at Bicester North so i could grab the second Loco Set formed fully of Ex WSMR stock and loco ! I got to sit in declassified first class for this journey and got to say it was very comfortable. Bit of a downer i never did WSMR first class when it actually ran! (I did however travel standard during WSMR operation and it was very pleasant indeed!).

I got to Banbury and again made my way back to reading. And to mix it up i got a Juniper 458 (013/015) to waterloo instead of another HST to Paddington. For my first trip on a juniper i was surprised that they were on the tip of the platform at reading so without platform lengthening the addition of another car will restrict them at reading! This journey was in the dark so i didn't catch much but again it was a new line to clean off the list so i was pleased!

I then got the tube over to Paddington to see the greatness of the Night Riviera on the departure board at Paddington with 57 Pendennis castle sitting in the platform having brought the stock in. The loco on top was 57602. I was amazed by the sleeper train looked really busy and the staff were very helpful in showing me to my berth and showed me how it all worked with the lights etc. I set all my stuff down and then went to the longue car and sat down had a few drinks and crisps before departing for the night to my berth! Day One Complete! To be Continued........

 

[transportphoto]

Wow, very good account! Keep it up!

 

[HST Power]

A very good account indeed. I enjoyed reading it!

 

[Lee_Again]

Good stuff. Keep it coming.

 

[Techniquest]

Thanks for sharing duffman82, and for spelling my username correct at the top of the post!

Kirkdale, that's the last stop before Southport (when heading north) isn't it? Went there in February.

Sounds like day 1 was full of variety and was a success. I know only too well the feeling of being over-excited the night before a big trip out, I was certainly like that on Monday. I dread to think what I'll be like when I do my first All Line Rover in August!

Hope you'll share more of your trip report with us, which considering it was your first one was done well

 

[duffman82]

Thanks for sharing duffman82, and for spelling my username correct at the top of the post!

Kirkdale, that's the last stop before Southport (when heading north) isn't it? Went there in February.

Sounds like day 1 was full of variety and was a success. I know only too well the feeling of being over-excited the night before a big trip out, I was certainly like that on Monday. I dread to think what I'll be like when I do my first All Line Rover in August!

Hope you'll share more of your trip report with us, which considering it was your first one was done well

It's Birkdale your thinking of there! Kirkdale is the station before the junction of the Ormskirk and Kirkby lines!

Yeah Day 1 was very exciting and again is just the start I should have day 2 up today at some point, been quite busy as of late!

I'm sure you'll love your ALR i sure did

 

[Techniquest]

Glad to hear you're doing/have done day 2, I'll be having a look in a minute to see if it's up. Birkdale, ah yes that sounds right. I know I went through Kirkdale in February too, cheers for the clarifying on the location

If I don't enjoy my ALR, I'll be shocked. I'm already well excited and I've 7 weeks to go yet! The grin on my face when I buy it is going to be massive!

 

[anthony263]

looking forward to reading more. Should be doing an all line rover in early september, was supposed to have done it back at the begining of june but job hunting has taken priority. Anyway hope you continue having a good time on your ALR and thank you for taking the time to post this thread.

 

[duffman82]

Thanks for Your responses on Day 1, I've finally written day 2, sorry for the lateness :P


Well coming into day 2, i had a very comfortable night on the sleeper, for my first trip i was very impressed. Bed was very comfortable and the room wasn’t too cramped, I loved the little package of razor, flannel, ear plugs, ear bud and eye coverer all this included in the price was brilliant. I woke up around St Erth and then a knock on the door and i get my microwave bacon butty and lovely cup of tea and a smile from my sleeper steward which was nice to wake up to! I then packed up all my stuff into my backpack and window hanged from Long Rock TMD to Penzance and was greeted by the lovely scene of Penzance bay and a beautiful sun shining!

I arrived into Penzance station and i finally accomplished a feat i aimed for years.....I made it to Penzance! It was a very nice station and was bigger than i thought (But having HST’s running to it i suppose it has to be big. I went down to the end of Platform 4 to see the class 57 that brought me to Penzance, took a photo then wondered over to the cafe known as Sullivan’s and once again had 2 home cooked bacon butties which were much better than the FGW sleeper one so it filled a huge gap! Walked around the town for an hour then across the harbour took a few photo’s and whilst at the harbour i noticed my 10am FGW HST come across the bay and good timing as well because my camera battery was nearly dead (Thank god for on train plugs!). So i ventured over to Penzance station to be greeted by a wonderful HST. (43024 on the rear and 43141 on top). So i got on coach nearest the buffet and put my camera on charge then departed for the city of Plymouth for another HST.

The trip was ok to Plymouth very nice scenery, Highlight has to be crossing the Royal Albert Bridge such an brilliant master piece of engineering, window hung across the bridge and got a brilliant video for my collection. I then arrived at Plymouth not new area for me but another HST greeted me here for my trip up to Bristol Parkway, it was the XC HST with 43285 on the rear and 43301 on top. Did the usual window hang on the Dawlish coast once again best place to window hang on the south coast.

I got to Bristol Temple Meads [BRI] were i saw a Network Rail test train with top tail 31’s on it, then as we were leaving BRI we were chased out by a 158 and a FGW HST it was quite a sight to see and just as we were curving round to Bristol Parkway we saw another XC HST past. Once i arrived at Bristol Parkway saw quite a few HST’s pass through until my one to Cardiff Central arrived (43128 on top, 43124 on rear), the train was surprisingly busy so i basically window hanged most of the route to Cardiff and i have to say Severn Tunnel is very long! But after coming out the welsh side of the border the driver was really going for it and i had to say it was fun burning off 170’s and 66’s . I arrived in Cardiff with 15 min’s to spare for the WAG Express with 57313 on top. I got to see in come into central from canton which was a interesting site! I boarded a good old mark 2 and travelled all the way to Crewe behind the beast! Not however without a window hang run through at Hereford, which was quite unimpressive because he slowed through the platform :/.

On arrival at Crewe i had a two min connection into a Liverpool Lime Street Pendo so i quickly took a photo and strolled across the platform to see my Ppendo awaiting me and after a quick shoot home i was back in lime st and back on the Merseyrail to Kirkdale and that was the end of day two!

 

[Techniquest]

A nice bit of variety there, must ask though, is that cafe near Penzance station? I don't have definite plans to end up there off the sleeper in August, but I suspect I will and a decent bacon roll would go down beautifully and fill the time before the next Paddington HST (45 minutes or an hour I think) quite well.

As for the WAG-Ex through Hereford, it is booked through platforms in both directions, as the through roads are slower than the platform roads.

Sounds like you had fun on day 2

 

[duffman82]

A nice bit of variety there, must ask though, is that cafe near Penzance station? I don't have definite plans to end up there off the sleeper in August, but I suspect I will and a decent bacon roll would go down beautifully

The cafe is Literally right outside in a small cabin. Got to say it was wonderful, would recommend it highly !

 

[linesider]

Really enjoyed reading about your travels,its something i would love to do one day.

 

[Desiro360]

Very good story so far, I'm looking forward to seeing the next part of it.

 

[Anon Mouse]

The cafe is Literally right outside in a small cabin. Got to say it was wonderful, would recommend it highly !

Thats a great little cafe, had a fantastic breakfast there a few years ago!

 

[Techniquest]

Thanks, most handy. Any cost gen? They may be good, but if they're too expensive I'll pass!

 

[duffman82]

Thanks, most handy. Any cost gen? They may be good, but if they're too expensive I'll pass!

It was about £4 for 2 butties and a cuppa so not bad!

 

[Techniquest]

Not too bad at all, thanks!

 

[duffman82]

I've Finally got round to updating sorry for the long wait !

With Day 3 looming i had a very nice long sleep in my bed and awoke at 7am had a nice shower and made my way on the Merseyrail to Liverpool Lime Street from Kirkdale. At Lime street i boarded the 07.43 East Midlands Train 158’s and took them to Sheffield (158863 + 158788). Train was pretty busy all the way to Sheffield but i was glad i got a table seat with a window so i looked out the window most of the way saw the 11 car pendolino in Edge Hill Depot. After my journey I arrived at Sheffield at 09.34 i then wondered over to Platform 5 for the 09.54 Crosscountry HST. I was very Surprised to see on the departure board it actually stated it was a HST! My HST arrived and it was my set from the day before 43285 on the top and 43301 on the rear.

After a new stretch of line for me having both visited Sheffield and Derby but never traveled between them! On arrival at Derby i recorded the HST set depart and awaited the 10.40 XC 170 to Nottingham which turned out to be 170117! I peered out the window at the derby technical center and the various 31's on the right of the train. And the various 222's on the left side of the train! Then i arrived into the station at Nottingham and i was surprised because i thought it would be a lot bigger station!

I then saw another magnificent HST set that i would be travelling on in the plaftorm oppisite the XC 170 i got off! I photo'd the set at both ends and took a few photos of the station, then boarded the 11.28 service to London St Pancras with 43046 on the London end and 43054 on the Nottingham end, I set on the coach by 054 and awaited departure to the capital. It was a nice comfortable trip on IC70's seats and had nice stints of window hanging along the Midland Main Line at Leicester, Bedford and into St Pancras.

After clearing another route off my to do list i arrived into the bustling station of St Pancras International to the view of another HST set and Several Eurostar sets. After a brief stint of being confused and lost in St Pancras Shopping Cen.... I mean station. A friendly BTP officer pointed me in the direction of the Southeastern High Speed Platforms. I set foot onto pioneer unit 395001 on my trip to Ashford International. I have to say they are very clean and comfortable units and the speed was very apparent and had a smooth trip to Ashford.

I arrived at Ashford International to see a Eurostar speed past on the avoiding line, i was impressed by the speed they do! I then crossed over to Platform one to get my first ride on a 171, 171728 was the exact unit to give me the first trip on one. The route from Ashford to Brighton is a long one but it one that could be electrified to displace the use of the 171's on it but again another new line for me!

We arrived in Brighton 2 hours later to the views of 313's, 319's, 377's, 442's and a SWT 158 on a FGW service. I was impressed by the huge roof at Brighton station it had an old feel to it. I left the station and took the Number 7 Bus to the Marina. The day was a brilliant day to visit the seaside town of Brighton because the weather was very sunny, which prompted me to buy an ice cream . I had a nice walk along the pier then a bite to eat to grab the 37 bus back to Brighton Station, I was hoping for a 442 back to London Victoria but was greeted by a 8 car 377 with 377449 on the top. The next annoying point was on the journey up to Victoria i counted 10 442 passing in the opposite direction :/. On arrival at Victoria I jumped a bus across the Capital to London Euston to board the 21.15 Caledonian Sleeper.

I was travelling up to Aberdeen on this Sleeper with 90029 on top so i stepped on board put my stuff into the cabin and set off to the lounge car to have a few drinks and a burger, met a nice couple from Essex who were travelling to Fort William after eating my meal i went back to the cabin and put my head down for the night.

To be Continued...

 

[anthony263]

nice look forward to hearing about the rest of your little adventure

 

[duffman82]

I woke up to Day 4 with an alarm and a sudden stop i peered out the window to the very dull looking Aberdeen station at 7am. So i Panicked and quickly got dressed and saw after being 3 coaches behind the 90 at Euston, I was at the rear of a 6 coach set which was topped by 67009. I saw a HST set on Platform 5 which would form the 07.43 service to London Kings Cross having originally planned to stay in Aberdeen till 10pm and get the 10pm HST but having thought i could do more trips in Bonny Scotland i bailed onto this service formed of 43334 and 43257 and headed toward the Scottish Capital.

I was very shocked to see that most of the train was reserved so after trawling through the train I located a seat that was reserved from Edinburgh and plonked myself down. Due to a quick change at Aberdeen I walked up to the Buffet car and ordered myself two bacon sandwiches and a cuppa tea and took them back to my seat and scoffed them down and they were very good for a buffet bacon butty! I was then awarded with should amazing views of the coast which i had to window hang out of and I also window hung the two famous Bridges the Tay and Forth Bridges got some excellent video footage also!

After seeing a plane take off from Edinburgh Airport over the HST we entered Haymarket station to the Views of Various Scottish EMU's which was a first for me. We then continued through the tunnel and entered the huge station of Edinburgh Waverley, We passed a north bound HST and entered the north end of the station were i disembarked to the Building site that the station was. After a wander round the station i found the 90 that hauled my sleeper from Euston the day before in the bay next to my train which would take me over the Bathgate Line the new ScotRail Satire Liveried 332012.

After a nice trip over the Bathgate Line i arrived into Glasgow Queen Street Low Level and then made my way up to the main terminus took some photos and saw the 12.21 Oban service depart and then made my way into the city centre for a look whilst making my way to Glasgow Central. Once i found the terminal i hopped into McDonalds to grab myself 20 nuggets and fries and coke (I was very hungry after no food since my Bacon Butty on the East Coast HST) walked to the main platforms with nuggets in hand and boarded the 13.00 service to Ayr which i would only take to Paisley Gilmour Street and it was formed of 380111, My first trip on a 380! I thought it was very similar to the 350's but i have to say they are very nice and clean units.

I arrived at Paisley Gilmour Street for a train to Gourock which was at 13.20, I was hoping for a 318 but i was greeted to 380012. I arrived at Gourock and noticed a small ferry was in which went to Helensbrough so i decided to have a trip on it. With my trip to Helensbrough on the ferry complete i jumped back to shore and walked to Helensbrough central and jumped the next 334 back to Glasgow Central, where after a manic run i just missed the 16.40 Pendo to Euston so i was unfortunately ended up on a 185 to Preston and it was crammed so they headphones went in and i daydreamed back to Preston and then i jumped a 142 back to Liverpool Lime Street and then a 508 back to Kirkdale.

To be Continued.......

 

[Techniquest]

A rather varied couple of days there, I know the feeling with just missing a Virgin service out of Glasgow, I missed one by not much at all on day 4 of my ALR. It meant I got my first 185 out of Glasgow though, so I can't complain.

Looking forward to reading the rest of your adventure!