7th November – 9th November, Trip to the North West

 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

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

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

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

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

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).



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

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

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.

2nd & 3rd November – A Weekend in the North East

 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 – 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

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

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

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

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.  Class Cleared

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.

26th – 27th October, Weekend in South Wales

 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

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

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

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).



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!


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

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

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

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.

Trips on 18th – 20th October, Weekend in Cheshire

 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

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

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 Tissington Trail

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.



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

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

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

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 :)

Trips on 11th to 13th October

 Trips on 11th to 13th October

11th October – An evening out in London

The idea for this evening’s little trip to London was spotting that both my last C2C 720s were out on services which called at Upminster and were both gettable without requiring mad dashes between platforms.  As a bonus a winning GA 720 was also showing as out on a service from Southend calling at Romford which was timed nicely with the 2nd of the C2C services.

After finishing my work for the day, I headed towards Waterloo on 159015, 159017 & 159104 and headed to the Waterloo & City line for the ride to Bank on 65507 & 65508, first time in nearly 2 years since I used this underground line last (I wonder if TfL will ever reopen it at weekends).  At Bank I made my way towards the DLR platforms turning down the first service before a triple for Lewisham formed of sets 86, 41 & 46 where I needed 41 for a mile.  I took this set to Shadwell where I broke out the deckchair on the look out for any more of my sub mile DLR units, both the older type which are due to be replaced and the newer types, although I have no idea if some of the ones on my list are still active.

DLR Set 32 at Tower Gateway

With one eye on the time, I decided to call it a day with the next Tower Gateway service, getting lucky with sub mile unit 32 on the rear of set 90, with the three quarters of a mile trip to Tower Gateway being enough to push it over the mile mark, which was a nice little bonus.  Anyhow I headed towards Fenchurch Street, swinging via a Tesco Express to grab some dinner items, arriving just as a pair of 720s were rolling in empty from the depot.  I was glad when I saw it was winner 720606 was leading dud 720602 as I took a seat for the run to Upminster.  After transferring to platform 1 I boarded 357044 & 357322 to take me back towards West Ham for a short wait as winner 720608 rolled in with dud 720603 on the rear returning myself to Upminster where after a quick photo, I made my way across to platform 6 to board 710116 on the Romford service.

As I had around 20 minutes to waste before the next fast GA service, I decided to pop out of the station for a little stroll and a visit to the shop where I picked up a reduced to clear chilled pudding as I was still a bit hungry.  Anyhow back at Romford, my fingers were crossed as winner 720134 rolled in with dud 720576 on the rear which took me to Liverpool Street, another GA 720 into my book before I made my way back towards Waterloo going the quickest way I know, which is the Central line one stop to Bank (91139, 92204, 92406 & 91283) before the Waterloo & City line (65504 & 65503) to Waterloo (although not like it could take me anywhere else from bank lol!)

720608 at Upminster

The 19:50 service to Salisbury tonight was formed of 158880 running solo which did get quite cosy on departure, and extremely cosy after Clapham Junction.  After Basingstoke it did empty out as I headed home after a successful little evening in London.  I didn’t fancy hanging around London as the West of England line had somewhat fallen over with both the 20:20 & 21:20 services starting at Basingstoke.

12th October – A Cheshire Day Ranger in the rain

My original idea for this Saturday was either a walk along the disused railway from Warrington towards Altrincham and towards Cadishead Viaduct on the former Glazebrook East Junction to Skelton Junction line which Open Street Maps/Google Maps suggests is walkable.  The 2nd option was to walk the canal from Runcorn towards Warrington before following the route of the former Sankey Canal towards Earlestown.  Sadly, both ideas went back on the shelf with the adverse weather forecast which suggested heavy rain from the afternoon for there would be no point getting soaked.

The day trip began with the 05:24 service to Waterloo with 159022, followed by a quick leap to Vauxhall on 458416 & 458401 to get 401 into my book for renumbering.  Annoyingly the Sainsburys outside Vauxhall station doesn’t open until 8am so I had to wait until I got to Euston (where it was a case of hunting down the sandwiches as the shelves had been moved around) with 11076 & 11075 on the Victoria line.  After grabbing breakfast supplies, I headed towards the 07:30 Glasgow service formed of 390135 for the nonstop run to Warrington Bank Quay where I decided to have a little stroll as the weather was dry.

I exited Bank Quay station, turning south and climbing onto a footbridge which crossed the low level lines and followed the path towards the bank of the River Mersey with the disused transporter bridge.  I followed the footpath alongside the river via the industrial area heading towards Sankey Bridges.  I picked up the route of the Trans Pennine Trail where it leaves the St Helens/Sankey Canal, going via some woodland before crossing the River Mersey heading towards the railway bridges and the remains of the Runcorn & Latchford Canal.

Warrington Transporter Bridge

After following the Trans Pennine Trail towards the Wilderspool area of the town, near the former Walton lock linking the Runcorn & Latchford Canal with the Manchester Ship Canal I headed via a park area and had a fast walk back to Bank Quay station to purchase my Cheshire Day Ranger and managed to get a seat on a Manchester Piccadilly bound 197108 which was on time approaching Manchester but somehow lost 10 minutes in congestion around Oxford Road.  After I popped outside the station to grab lunch from the Co-Op, I returned to take a seat on winner 197119 on the next service towards South Wales.  This 197 took me to Crewe where for a little time-wasting spin, I took 331011 on the next Northern stopper to Sandbach with 331018 back to Crewe.

At Crewe once more, I headed across to platform 11 to await the next Chester bound Avanti service for both my first experience of an 805 on diesel (previously only ever having them on electric) and because both 805004 & 805013 were winners.  I took these units to Chester where I headed across to platform 7 for a little spin on Merseyrail trying to determine my route home, trying to avoid 9 coach Pendos as I didn’t have any sort of seat reservations (and the extra 2 coaches on a 11 coach Pendo are handy)

331011 at Sandbach

As it was Autumn, there was 7 diagrams on Chester services meaning instead of the usual 5-minute turnaround the services were there for around 12 minutes (personally something I think Merseyrail should do all year round to aid time keeping).  The first available Merseyrail service was winner 777053 which I took to Bromborough Rake, before realising my mistake in that Bromborough Rake isn’t the nicest to get between platforms in any sort of hurry!  Anyhow the next Chester was showing as a dud and I decided to jump on 777010 to Spital which has a nicer platform to platform change (keeping my eyes on both northbound & southbound services).  The next Ellesmere Port service was winner 777051 which I took to Ellesmere Port and back to Spital to clear it for 10 miles as the next southbound Chester was an unknown.  Sadly, not a winner as it was 777008 which I took to Eastham Rake to ID the 7th unit on Chester services (another dud) and headed for a gentle stroll towards the car park just as the heaven’s opened.

I returned to the platforms at Eastham Rake to take 777009 to Chester, managing to get a seat on 197012 working the next Manchester Airport service to Warrington Bank Quay where I decided to gamble on the next nonstop London train having some seat availability.  It was running a few minutes late but nothing major as 390137 rolled in and I grabbed a pair of airline seats, settling down to watch some videos as well as watching the rain thundering down.  This Pendo took me to London nice and fast arriving around 15 minutes late due to congestion on the southern section of the WCML.

390154 at Warrington Bank Quay

The weather in London couldn’t have been any more different to what I left behind in Warrington and with time to kill I had a stroll towards Waterloo arriving in time to board 458415 & 458410 on a Weybridge service to get another 458/4 into my book for renumbering.  I alighted at Vauxhall, jumping on the first available service from platform 7, which was 455742 & 455852 back to Waterloo before making my way across to platform 7 to take a seat on 159017 working the 20:50 service.  Bit of an earlier than expected finish today but that early start had caught up with me.

An uneventful journey to Grateley, where I finished the trip with a gentle stroll home, to relax after sorting my bag out ready for another day trip on the Sunday.

13th October – An unexpected return to North Camp

The idea for today was to head towards South Wales to take a trip on the Treherbert line as I hadn’t been on that line (in daylight) for a while.  Also to score off the new platform at Treherbert which at the time I believed only saw use on Sundays (since checking RTT it seems platform 1 is in use for the majority of services with the original platform 2 only being used at the start/end of the day when services go ECS to the sidings.  Also, the plan was to have a trip via Barry as the mainline was closed for works.

The day started with the 07:37-odd service from Grateley with 159022 & 159106 taken to Andover where I stepped back for 158890 on a Reading service for the trip to Reading where I planned to make a connection onto a Swansea service (which RTT was suggesting was a 5-coach special).  When I got to Reading the GWML had fallen over due to a points failure at Slough meaning services from London were delayed or cancelled, so after having a quick walk to Tesco Express for some supplies I decided on a little plan B to waste some time and jumped onto an Ascot bound 450050 to take me to Ascot (where it arrived onto platform 2).  One of these days I will get round to doing the peak time services which does the connection into Platform 1 from the Bagshot line (and from platform 2 at Ascot towards Bagshot).

450050 underneath the footbridge at Ascot

Anyhow I changed onto 450078 working a service for Guildford (with such a brilliant timetable which saw the Reading train departing just as the train from Guildford arrived!) as the Bagshot line is another line I hadn’t travelled on since before Covid stuck.  My original idea was to take this service towards Ash to change onto a stopper to Reading but that stopper had been cancelled so I bailed at Ash Vale for a gentle walk to North Camp, a place I wasn’t expecting to visit today!  A reasonably busy 165104 took me back towards Reading on a semi-fast service giving me just over thirty minutes to waste before the next Swansea service.

The next Swansea service was formed of 800007 & 800021 and I easily managed to grab a seat in the front coach for the fast run towards South Wales where my plans for a little tour of Barry  or Treherbert were put on ice as I worked out it would be possible to grab my last 3 active 197s with a trip to Hereford so I alighted from the 800s at Newport, changing to a busy platform 4 for the Holyhead service formed of winner 197117 to take me to Abergavenny where after looking at the construction of the new footbridge I did a little loop around the local roads, just to pass the time before dud 197120 rolled in.  Looked like it swapped over with 197124 at Swansea, ah-well those things happen as I took this 197 to Hereford where I exited the station for another gentle stroll to pass the time.

New footbridge & lifts under construction at Abergavenny Station

I returned to Hereford station with a busy platform as winner 197125 rolled in, full & standing as I ended up standing near the drivers cab with the aisle & vestibules pretty much full, I think everybody got on at Hereford but passengers at the stations towards Newport were left behind as you couldn’t fit anymore passengers on board.  I was glad it was a 3-coach unit rather than the 2-coach unit which was due an hour later!  Anyhow this service took me back to Newport and I was glad to take a seat on the next London Paddington service which was formed of 387157 & 387142 on the Sunday afternoon Welsh Electrostar working.  It only really got busy after Didcot with a couple of passengers asking where was 1st class (it doesn’t exist on this service) so I was glad to change at Reading.

My last GWR service of the day was the late running Basingstoke shuttle formed of 165127, not as cosy as the TfW service but still quite busy on departure from Reading running late because the Sunday timetable simply doesn’t work.  Anyhow I took this 165 to Basingstoke where I relaxed in the waiting room until 159010 rolled in from Waterloo on a Salisbury stopper to take me back to Grateley.  A good day for mileage (and 387 based fun) with 2 more 197s into my book.  Considering I was around 3 hours late into Newport due to the issues earlier on I didn’t do that badly.

Unexpected Voyager in the platform area...

As always, thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr, although not as many this week as previous weeks due to not walking that much.