10th November – A 802 on Tour
Back in March, there was a block on the line between
Tiverton & Taunton for tunnel improvements, with most of the work done in
that block, but there was another block in November so the work could be
finished. I was going to do the little
trip back in March but decided against it and headed somewhere else, so I
decided to do the trip this weekend, mainly to sample something other than a
Sprinter on the section of line from Yeovil Junction to Exeter. After looking into fares I ended up booking
advances from Reading to Exeter (and vice versa).
I will admit since the May timetable change, getting to
Reading early on a Sunday morning is a lot easier, no more hanging around
Basingstoke for 45 minutes due to poor connections between trains from
Salisbury to the Reading shuttles, so it was a nice drive to Andover before
boarding 159022 on the first Salisbury – Reading service, non-stop to
Basingstoke and non-stop to Reading, even though I’ve done it a few times on
SWR units it still feels strange doing the line to Reading on a sprinter. At Reading I had time to head to a nearby
shop for some supplies before heading back to the station for the 09:30 train
to Plymouth.
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| 159022 hiding in plain sight at Reading |
This train was formed of 10 coaches, and I was very lucky as
winner 802020 rolled in with 802018
behind, this unit escaped me on Friday evening due to a set swap so nice to
craw it back, leaving me with just one more 802/0 to go to clear the GWR IETs
(no more festering around Reading!). I
took my seat in coach C for the relaxing trip towards Westbury, calling at
Newbury, a bit of a farce outside Castle Cary caused by a late running engineers
train blocking the platform so the service lost time before getting onto the
platform where passengers for Taunton & Tiverton were told to alight to
change for a bus. The lost time was
regained as it was due to sit at Yeovil Pen Mill for 20 minutes awaiting the
next Paddington service to clear the single track, another brief pause at
Yeovil Junction before it was full steam ahead to Exeter St Davids, clearing a
few stations for passing along the way.
Arrival into Exeter St Davids was on time, so it was a quick
trip to Exeter Central on 143621 & 143620, returning to St Davids mainly so
I could ID what unit was on the next Penzance service (as I need most of the
reformed 2 coach 158s, but it was a dud 802/0), so it was onto the original
plan of waiting for 150261 to arrive from Exmouth to take me to Teignmouth for
a station photograph (and also for a walk to the seafront for a seaside
picture).
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| Sadly the ice cream parlour was closed so no ice-cream by the seaside |
Back at the station it was a short wait before 150233
&150234 rolled in from Exmouth to take me to Torquay, which was another
station photograph, and another picture of the sea front (I can see why this
area is popular in the summer time). I
returned on the same pair of units one stop up the line to Torre (another station
picture needed), for a short wait before 143617 & 143618 bounced in to take
me to Paignton. Next year I will try and
do the steam railway beyond, but for now it was a case of returning on the same
pair of pacers to Newton Abbot where I had a little walk to the town centre for
some supplies for dinner later on.
Back at Newton Abbot it was a short wait for my booked train
back to Reading, the screens lied about the formation so it was a bit swap of
passengers when 802101 rolled in, a slight delay caused by a smoke alarm going
off in one of the toilets. I had to wait
to Exeter St Davids to claim my seat as it was reserved from Plymouth to Exeter
(but meant I could sit on the sea side of the train for the Dawlish
coast). A short delay at Exeter when the
train reversed but again due to dwell time along the way it regained right time
after Axminster, afterwards is where things went wrong as due to a points
failure around Westbury the train couldn’t go via Westbury and so went via
Frome for road replacement transport (although does mean I got the Frome loop
& Westbury avoider for IET coverage!).
Bit of a farce at Frome due to the computer saying “no” to releasing the
doors as it wasn’t a booked stop (and hence got confused), eventually the train
departed around 20 minutes late, pausing at Pewsey and Newbury.
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| Pacers at Paignton |
Due to a smoke alarm going off in the toilet again, the AC
went into failsafe mode and cut off, so the driver was going to attempt to
restart the train to get the AC working again, so for a minute it all went dark
inside. The unit from Bedwyn looped us
at Newbury (and GWR were quick to put on an additional Newbury Racecourse –
Newbury service for any Newbury passengers from Bedwyn), eventually the train
got going again but the damage had been done as it rolled into Reading around
40 minutes late (hello delay repay).
Thankfully the XC to Bournemouth was running late so it was
the next available train to Basingstoke, however I knew it was going to be bad
due to the crowding on the platform, made worse as 220034 rolled in with one
coach locked out of use due to faulty doors.
I decided to head to first class where I managed to get a seat before it
got swamped out with passengers (oh dear the Train Manager never got round to
collect my weekend first payment). It
regained enough time to give me a 5 minute connection at Basingstoke for 159022
back to Andover, where I had a nice drive home.
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| Torquay beach. |
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Friday & Saturday bits
On the Friday was a relaxing evening in London, where I cleared
345052 outright, plus got 3 out of my 5 remaining Heathrow Express units over
the 5 mile line, they are not the easiest to do due to the timetable within the
tunnels at Heathrow. I nearly got bowled
out with a delay into Basingstoke due to a late running 166 being held outside
Reading for a late running voyager, but somehow pulled off a minute connection
from platform 5 to platform 2 to avoid an hour and a bit delay home
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| It won't be the same when the 332s are replaced by 387s |
On the Saturday it was a very rare late start, as I decided
my body needed sleep, so once I woke up I decided on a little trip to Bedwyn
for some station photographs, grabbing Bramley, Theale with an hour wait in the
rain at Kintbury (nice shelter with a decent bench) before visiting Bedwyn
where I was foolish enough to go for a walk, eventually locating the footpath
leading to the turnback siding for an unusual picture of a 800.
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| A 800 in the turnback siding at Bedwyn, rain not included |
I returned back to Reading for a bit of idea shopping,
returning to a busy Basingstoke for some food before heading back home, where a
nice warm shower and lazy night in front of the fire awaited.
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