18th – 20th September, Cumbria Coast & West Yorkshire

 18^th – 20^th September, Cumbria Coast & West Yorkshire

 

Back during the lockdown in March/April time I had to shift a hotel booking for the Ibis Budget in Bradford as at the time they weren’t doing refunds, only free date changes.  This weekend was the dates I randomly picked although my original idea for being in Bradford was completed last month (would have been revisiting the stations I needed in West Yorkshire) so I decided it would be a good chance to head towards the Cumbrian coast to revisit a handful of stations I need on that line (both for photos & platforms).

 

Friday

 

I was booked on the 19:48 Grand Central service to Bradford Interchange which gave me a couple hours to play with.  I had a quick play with Train Split and it threw me out an advance ticket from Andover to Waterloo with a 30 minute break at Fleet which would be a good chance to clear that station for a photograph.  I drove to Andover (for the Sunday was buses, so the idea was I could drive straight home after alighting from the bus rather than waiting for the train connection) and caught the 16:07 service towards Basingstoke (featuring a rare ticket check from the guard who caught out at least 3 others in the carriage).

 

At Basingstoke I had a 25 minute wait before the next stopper, interrupted by a 66 hauling a shiny new 701 towards Eastleigh (one of the new heavily delayed SWR trains for the metro services, first time I’ve seen one in the flesh) and another 66 hauling freight towards Southampton.  A triple 450 took me to Fleet where I had a 30 minute break in the sunshine (sadly nothing unusual passing) before another triple 450 took me all the way to Waterloo where I had time to grab some supplies before heading towards Kings Cross, going via London Bridge [South Eastern & Thameslink] to make a change from the usual Underground.

 

I arrived at Kings Cross, located the 180 and took my seat for the trip towards Bradford, emptied out at Doncaster (and Wakefield) before the tour of Yorkshire to reach Interchange, where it was a medium-length walk to the Ibis Budget where I got given a room thankfully not overlooking the main road, but overlooking an electric transformer which would hum every now and again.

 

A 66 passes Basingstoke bound for Southampton Docks

 

 

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Saturday

It was an early start (thankfully not as early as the previous weeks!) for a walk back across the city to reach Bradford Interchange (The Ibis is more suited for Forster Square).  I arrived earlier than expected allowing me to catch a required 195 to Hebden Bridge before a low mileage 195 arrived on the Blackpool service to take me to Bamber Bridge, which is normally a bit of a pain to visit due to the hourly services passing here (and it has a level crossing).  During my 30 minutes here I popped to a nearby Morrisons for breakfast & items for lunch before heading back to the station, seeing a 158 on a Colne stopper (which seem such a waste).  A 156 arrived from Colne to take me into Preston, where I had a short wait before another 195 took me all the way towards Barrow in Furness, meeting up with a good friend at Ulverston.

 

A Blackpool bound 195 departs Bamber Bridge

 

Changing over to a 156 to carry along the coast (which is a beautiful line) requesting the train to stop at Parton before heading back towards Sellafield (where I spotted one of the former Scottish 68s in plain blue colours).  Back up to St Bees before returning to Barrow, transferring onto a 195 to take us to Ulverston, where I got given a mini guided tour before returning to the station with a busy 195 to Dalton (local door only due to the large step).  Back to the sprinters with a 156 to Grange over Sands before the same 195 returned from Barrow to take me back to Preston.

 

Good views of the line hugging the coast at Parton

 

At Preston I visited a nearby KFC for dinner before returning to the station to await the next York train, a required 195 which took me to Accrington where I bailed to attempt a photograph of a passing steam engine tour before 150001 arrived from Blackburn to take me to Todmorden (when I saw the PIS say “formed of 3 coaches” I was expecting to see a 153 or even a 158).  The train lost a bit of time due to following the steam engine which was losing time, arriving into Todmorden around 20 minutes late.

 

 

I decided to call it a night and headed back towards Bradford on another 195 (same one I started the day with), and when I was at Bradford I saw a train towards Halifax (from Hull) was due so I randomly headed over towards that platform to see my last 155 I needed for mileage was at the front so it would be rude to turn it down for the spin to Halifax, returning to Bradford on the same pair of 155s to avoid a wait for an unknown service.  In the current climate it is better to play it safe than sorry in terms of late evening loadings.

 

155342 at Halifax

 

Once I was back at Bradford it was a gentle walk back to the hotel to relax for the remainder of the evening.

 

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Sunday

 

A day of no real plans, other than being on the 15:59 service from Bradford to London, so after checking out of the hotel, I headed towards Bradford Interchange to catch the first Manchester train of the day, expecting a 195 instead a 158 rolled up which made a change.  This 158 took me to Halifax where I spotted the Halifax – York service was a required 195 I bailed to tick off another 195 for the run to New Pudsey, returning to Bradford on the next Manchester service (a pair of 195/0s where the rear one was required, which goes onto my list of still being needed for 10 miles).

 

A York bound 195 departs New Pudsey

 

The first option was a pair of 150s from Huddersfield which were turned down for a pair of required 195s from Manchester, the slow run into Leeds wasn’t enough to push them over 10 miles, but the 9 and a half miles was a start.  At Leeds it was a quick change onto a Skipton bound 331 which was low mileage to take me to Shipley to intercept a dud 801 back to Leeds where I exited the station for a short break.  I knew from RTT the next LNER train to London was required so I did a random trip to Wakefield & back with a 331 followed by a 153+150 combo, to board 801223 to take me back to Wakefield.

 

"Welcome to the Skipton Train"

 

It was a bit sad seeing a pair of voyagers towards Penzance being lightly loaded (maybe 30 passengers on a service which pre Covid would have been busy), but my next move was to Knottingley on the same 153+150 combo I had earlier, more a time wasting move but always interesting to see all the various lines (and former lines) in the area between Wakefield & Streethouse.  A short stay at Knottingley before the same pair returned me towards Wakefield Westgate for a short wait for another required 801 rolled in from London to take me back to Leeds.

 

Dogbox at Knottingley

 

With nothing else I could really do working with the limited Sunday timetable, I decided to exit the station and head to a little Co-Op near the Travelodge to pick up items for dinner before heading back to the station to board a busy Blackpool bound 195 to Halifax (for it was required), intercepting one of the pairs of 195s I had earlier in the day which pushed 195017 over ten miles for the run back into Bradford Interchange, where I interchanged onto the 180 to take me back to London.

 

Mind the step onto the 180.

A quiet coach to start with, but after Doncaster it was busy, no spare pairs of seats which I could see, good to see it being busy as I do like a non-stop run on a 180 along the ECML.  Arrival into Kings Cross was pretty much on time (maybe a minute early) which allowed me to head to Waterloo quickly for the Weymouth train which due to engineering works went via Cobham to reach Guildford, where I changed onto the Andover coach, which in my mind was quite nice (in terms of legroom and interior comfort, coach YR20 BJZ from “Barnes Coaches” of Swindon).  It was very unusual spotting a 458 at Guildford; I guess it was working the Guildford – Alton services.

 

The coach ride back to Andover was peaceful & uneventful, nice speedy run along dual carriageways & the motorway, and it was a quiet drive home for me, the end of the weekend trip.  I've learned from the past it makes more sense using my car as it means not having to wait around for the train connection.