10th March – 14th March – Week in Scotland
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.
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| Gathurst Viaduct over the Leeds & Liverpool Cana |
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.
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| 158752 at Hindley Station |
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.
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| 323202 at Hazel Grove |
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.
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.
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| River Clyde from the David Livingstone Memorial Bridge, Bothwell |
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.
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.
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| Route of former Darvel Branch line between Galston & Hurlford (Chris Hoy Cycle Way) |
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.
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| 380103 at Ayr Station |
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).
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| Lochy Railway Bridge, Lochyside |
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.
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| 156467 at Mallaig Station |
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.
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?)
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| 397012 at Lockerbie Station |
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.
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.
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| Elton Reservoir, Bury |
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.
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| A 700 entering the loop platform 4 at Kent House (from a 700 on platform 1 loop) |
Thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr here.
