Returning to the Rails in the CV World

Returning to the Rails in the CV World

We all know the world has changed since February/March time when the CV arrived in this country forcing a lockdown for several weeks to protect the NHS from being overwhelmed, and other than a trip to Salisbury in June when I needed some shopping (and the car was being repaired due to a puncture) I had been sensible and stayed away from the rails.  Although with leisure travel being allowed from the start of July it was about time to spread my wings, with a couple short day trips to see what riding the rails in July 2020 was like.

11^th July – Southampton

My first “leisure” trip since March and it would be a (nearly) round trip from my home towards Southampton, where I would have a couple walks to break up the time.  First up was a triple 159 with 159102, 159015 & 159020 to take me towards Salisbury, it was slightly busy and I ended up sitting on a fold-down seat in the vestibule by the doors, although it could simply have been I picked a busy coach and the rest of the train was empty, or the fact it connected with a 2 hourly Salisbury – Exeter service meant it was busy.

Anyhow my time at Salisbury wasn’t for long as I made my way over to platform 6 for the Romsey via Southampton service, a service which only runs once every 3 hours (with an extra unit doing Romsey circulars), nearly getting knocked flying by a cyclist riding like the wind along the platform (some things never change) and I took a seat on 158881, the front coach on departure from Salisbury only had myself and that cyclist, picked up a few more passengers at Dean & Mottisfont and a few more at Romsey (noting the new signage since those stations transferred to SWR).  I alighted from the 158 at Redbridge where I needed a photograph, and after a quick walk around the station I headed out to the road.

444043 passing Redbridge

My original idea was to head to a footpath which crossed the M271, but that appeared to be blocked off, a path lost to time, retracing my steps I headed to the Redbridge Causeway, a flyover over the River Test to reach Totton, pausing a couple times on the pavement for photographs of trains before heading towards the station, doing a random path as a time wasting move in Totton.  My next train was 444030 & 444045 working the all station stopping service from Bournemouth to Southampton and the coach I boarded was empty for the short trip to Southampton Central.

A pair of voyagers crossing the River Test

 At Southampton I had a rough idea of a walking route towards St Denys area for a path alongside the River Itchen (sandwiched between the railway line & the river, sadly not the best for photographs due to bushes and a closely knitted fence), I went via the busy level crossing at Mount Pleasant before returning to the riverside path to reach Northam bridge, returning to the roadside to head towards the football ground (which was surrounded by tall steel walls), walking towards the level crossing at Chapel Road (over the freight line towards Southampton Eastern Docks), swinging via St Mary’s Church and a couple other bridges over the main line before returning to the station area.

166205 heading away from Southampton Central towards Northam

My next train was a pair of voyagers to Basingstoke, skipping Winchester was unusual, but I had a private coach on 221120 & 220014.  At Basingstoke it was a short wait before the next Salisbury train, which was 159019, 159016 & 159009, once more getting a private coach for the trip back to Grateley, where I walked home, the end of my first day back on the rails.

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18^th July – Onwards to Melksham

The following week I was back on the rails, this time I decided to head towards GWR land and revisit Melksham, stopping off along the way at Dilton Marsh for a walk to Westbury (as the connections at Westbury were a bit pants, and spending 55 minutes there wouldn’t have been fun).

The first train of this trip was 159019, 159018 & 159021 for the short run towards Salisbury, where I made the most of the connection time to visit Sainsburys for lunch, returning to the station with a last minute platform swap from P3 to P4 as an unexpected surprise with 158959 rolling in (the previous weekend when I was in Southampton, everything GWR spotted were 166s), nice bit of luxury for the trip to Dilton Marsh where unsurprisingly I was the only person to alight at the tiny platforms at this request stop.

 

158959 departs Dilton Marsh

The plan was simply, follow a little road before walking a footpath towards Westbury, the road side part was simple enough but I could tell something was wrong when I went onto the footpath and it was a tad overgrown in places, requiring use of my hands to push away some of the thorns.  I probably could have bailed onto another path, but I decided to carry on, crossing over the Westbury avoiding lines and turning away from the railway line as the path goes around the rear of the Westbury freight area.

Westbury Avoiding line

That was until I reached a gate which was blocked off by a large fence, forcing a double back to a gap in the fence going across a field, eventually reaching a foot crossing of the Westbury avoider line, which was locked closed, although I climbed over the gates, crossed over the line and exited onto the road, walking along the road to reach Westbury station, arriving 5 minutes or so before the service towards Swindon would depart, a bit of a close call, would have been easier sticking to the road side all the way.

165135 was working the Westbury – Swindon shuttles today as I took a seat for the run to Melksham the guard coming through after departure to make sure passengers were wearing masks (most alighted at Trowbridge).  Melksham a station which previously had a very limited service for a number of years, gained a regular (ish) service a few years ago, and I had around an hour to fester, so I went for a walk, reaching a footbridge over the River Avon for a riverside walk into the town centre, following it a bit further to cut back across the car park at Sainsburys, before heading towards a foot crossing over the single line swinging back towards the road side along a footpath, and returning to the station to await the return of the 165.

Melksham Station

I alighted from the 165 at Trowbridge, only because it was a same platform change rather than the high chance of changing platforms at Westbury.  The next train towards Portsmouth was showing as formed of 5 coaches, so I was surprised when in rolled winner 158747 leading 158950 for the run back to Salisbury, where due to the rubbish connections I decided to head for a little walk in Salisbury towards the Milford area returning to the station around 90 minutes later to board 159014, 159010 & 159002 back home.

River Avon near Harnham, Salisbury

None of the trains used were that busy, it was a nice little trip to Melksham, other than that overgrown & blocked footpath from Dilton Marsh to Westbury, certainly got 2 semi-awkward stations revisited which will make things easier for future.