9th – 12th October, a long weekend in Scotland
Making use of a booking which was transferred to this week from May time, sadly my timing wasn’t the best as it was around the time the guidance changed to avoid unnecessary travel within the central belt, but for the good of my mental health (which has been a bit down recently due to the uncertainly of the future) I decided to keep to my original revised plan. I just took extra precautions for the time in Glasgow and other areas.
The original idea for May time was to use the sleeper to Glasgow on the Thursday night, however with the sleeper currently without seated coaches (my money is on the seats never returning) I booked a cheap room in the Easy Hotel in Croydon and an advance on the 07:10 Avanti service on the Friday morning. Also I extended the trip to include the Sunday night in Glasgow returning to London around midday to give me a few extra hours. Sadly the sleeper when it costs nearly £200 for a basic room isn’t an option for my budget.
The Thursday
was simply a case of taking the 18:59 service from Grateley to Basingstoke,
changing onto a pair of 444s to Clapham Junction and jumping on the first
service towards East Croydon to check in for the night, first time using the
Easy Hotel for a fair while and it hasn’t really changed other than the front
desks. Any station name in italics was required for a photograph in case anybody is wondering.
9th October
An early start for the 06:03 service towards Cambridge formed of a low mileage 700 for the spin to St Pancras followed by a gentle walk to Euston via Sainsburys for breakfast, before boarding the 07:10 service for Glasgow Central. As I got my tickets via TrainSplit it allowed me to pick my own seat for the long journey and on departure from Euston I was the only passenger in coach E (only two other reservations in this coach, both from Preston). A short delay arriving into Glasgow Central (lost time due to late running freight trains), but thankfully I was sensible enough to build in some padding to counter-act any delays.
My first job was to pick up a Roundabout ticket from the TVM before heading via Tesco (lunch time!) to the low level platforms for a pair of 320s to Carmyle before having a gentle walk along the road to reach Mount Vernon, hardest part was at the very end as there wasn’t a crossing which I could see. Back on the trains with another pair of 320s to Kirkwood returning to Baillieston, changing platforms for the next Whifflet bound train to take me to Bargeddie, where a RHTT passed soon afterwards. I can remember doing this line the first time (for coverage, not stations) where it was a 156, back before it got wired up.
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| DR 98911 passes Bargeddie |
Anyhow a short wait at Bargeddie before another pair of 320s took me to Rutherglen for a short wait underneath the motorway before the next Larkhall train arrived to take me to Merryton returning a few minutes later to Chatelherault (I have memories of doing these stations the first time round when it was snowing). A short wait before the next Larkhall service rolled in which I took to Larkhall simply as a time wasting move before returning to Blantyre for a short (~15 minute) wait for the next train which I took to Anderston, returning to Glasgow Central on the next service a couple minutes later.
It was time for me to walk upstairs to board the next Paisley Canal train, which was a 380, to Hawkhead returning a few minutes later to Corkerhill, with the feeling that 380s on this short branch line are slightly over the top (compared to the 314s which used to run these services). A short wait in the drizzle at Corkerhill for a 318 to take me to Crookston to clear the line before it took me back into Glasgow Central, where I headed back to the low level platforms to board the next train towards Dalmuir which took me to Drumchapel returning towards Hyndland on the next service for a short wait before an Airdrie stopper arrived to take me to Coatdyke where darkness had fallen and I had a tight connection.
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| A 318 departs Crookston |
Thankfully I made the connection to the next stopper to take me to Blairhill for a short wait. Nothing exciting around these stations and other than a trip to a road bridge I didn’t explore. Next up was a 334 from Edinburgh which I took to High Street changing over to the opposite platform for the Springburn service to take me to Barnhill, returning a few minutes later on the same 318 to Queen Street, being impressed with the new station building and having a gentle potter towards the Euro Hostel via a couple shops for supplies for the morning.
Room on the 7th floor, upgrade to what was originally booked as it was an en-suite room, basic but functional, and it was good to get rid of some of the weight from my bag ready for an early start on the Saturday.
10th October
By early start I mean the 05:20 service towards Oban, surprisingly not a private train as there were 4 other passengers waiting for the 156, although I was the only passenger to alight at Garelochhead for a ~ 90 minute fester, so it was to a nice bench to relax before the sleeper made an appearance with one person alighting. Daylight rose around 07:15 allowing me a couple pictures of the loch itself before the next Glasgow bound service arrived to take me to Cardross (for this is the random Oban – Glasgow train which calls here, plus a couple other additional stations towards Glasgow).
A short wait at Cardross before the next Helensburgh train arrived to take me to Craigendoran which I remember well from my previous visit when it was during a storm where I took shelter from the wind & rain in the shelter; thankfully today it wasn’t rainy allowing me a quick walkaround before returning to the single platform for the 334 to return from Helensburgh to take me to Dalreoch. I had a quick walk along the road to get a photograph of the following train from Balloch crossing the viaduct over the River Leven before walking fast back to the station for the next Balloch bound service, with a pair of 320s taking me to Alexandria for a short wait before returning to take me to Renton to clear the line.
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| A 334 crosses the River Leven |
Similar to the Friday with Larkhall I boarded the following train to take me to Balloch as a time wasting move (last time I was here was behind a 37 on an overnight railtour). Staying with the same train as I arrived I took them to the island platform of Dumbarton East for a short wait for the next stopper towards Springburn which I took to Bowling returning to Dumbarton East for a tight connection to an Edinburgh train to Dalmuir crossing over to board the next Dumbarton stopper to take me to Kilpatrick where I spent the next 45 minutes having a walk on the Erskine Bridge for some photographs of the River Clyde, sadly this is when the sun decided to make an appearance meaning I was shooting into the sun (the walkway on the western side was closed), but that is first world problems.
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| The Clyde |
I returned to the station to take the next train to Garscadden for a time wasting move before heading back to Yoker before the following service took me to Jordanhill for a short break before the next train towards Dalmuir took me to Scotstounhill for a tight connection to take me to Glasgow Central. It was time to head upstairs for a Carlisle bound 156 to take me towards Auckinleck which is a station which has an odd frequency, but a nice run after all the short hops I was doing in the morning. Gave me time to have some lunch for the short (30 minute) fester before the next Glasgow Central train to arrive from Carlisle, and once again it was pretty much empty and ran fast from Dunlop.
Back at Glasgow Central, and via the manual gates (the joys of using a Daytripper scratch card!) and onto a 385 on a Lanark train, which I took to Wishaw but not via Bellshill (direct to Motherwell from Uddingston) which was a first for me on a Scotrail service [might have done it years ago going in the opposite direction coming from Edinburgh via Carstairs]. A short wait at Wishaw before a pair of 385s arrived from Lanark and with the rear one being required I took these all the way back into Glasgow Central, this time going via Bellshill.
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| A 385 at Wishaw |
Back at Glasgow Central and it was a short walk to the opposite side of the station to board an Ayr stopper to take me to Howwood for no reason other than wanting some more photos of the station before a Largs train arrived to take me to West Kilbride for a 30 minute fester before the next Largs train (it was the time of day there is an additional service for Largs slotting in between the hourly service) took me to Fairlie where the daylight suddenly came to an end (like someone switching off a light). A short wait at Fairlie before the first unit returned from Largs to take me to Stevenston returning to Ardrossan South Beach for a time wasting move before the next Glasgow train arrived to take me to Lochwinnoch which like Howwood was simply a case of wanting more photos.
10 minutes later I was back on the move with a stopper from Ayr which took me all the way back into Glasgow Central, where I connected onto a Newton train to take me to Langside before another 380 arrived on a Cathcart circle service back to Glasgow Central to call it a night, for it had been a long time since 05:00! Dinner was via KFC and it was a strange feeling walking back towards the hostel passing all the closed pubs when they would normally be buzzing with activity, even going out after dinner to get supplies for the following morning felt strange, the city being so quiet.
11th October
This morning started off meeting my good friend Dan from a city centre Travelodge before heading towards the Buchanan Bus Station for the 08:30 departure of the Citylink Route 976 coach towards Oban. Operated by West Coast Motors and it was a very nice trip towards Oban, following the A82 road alongside Loch Lomond, then the A83 towards Inveraray before heading inland to join up with the A85 which roughly parallels the rail line for the run into Oban. Certainly a run I would recommend for some scenic views you wouldn’t otherwise see by train.
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| Oban Harbour |
We had around 45 minutes in the town which was enough to get lunch before boarding the first departure of the day from the station (which passes the first train from Glasgow around Tulloch), this attached with another couple units and I wasn’t alone in heading to a working toilet for the run towards Helensburgh Upper where I said a brief farewell to Dan as he carried on to Dumbarton and I walked down the hill to reach the (busy) waterfront before heading to Helensburgh Central for a 334 to Dumbarton Central, meeting up with Dan again for the run to Partick.
We said another farewell as he headed off towards Garrowhill on a replacement bus service and I headed to the subway for a spin on the clockwork orange to St Enoch, walking to Glasgow Central to board a service towards Wemyss Bay to revisit Hillington East before heading back to Glasgow Central to jump on some diesels, for all the Scotrail stations under wires have been revisited (woohoo!).
A pair of 156s on an East Kilbride service took me to Hairmyres for a short wait for the same pair of units to return to take me to the hourly served Thorntonhall before another pair took me to the end of the line at East Kilbride where darkness had started to fall. I remained on board for the run into Glasgow Central where I decided on a time wasting move on a XC voyager to Motherwell (slap me for I boarded a XC service without a seat reservation! Thankfully social distancing was easy on this service for I was alone in coach B!).
At Motherwell I got lost trying to locate access to platform 3 (a station currently being rebuilt) to board a 320+318 combo on a fast back to Glasgow Central going from platform 3 for some lovely motor noise on a service which was pretty much empty. At Glasgow I called it a night, grabbed some food before heading to the hostel to relax for the remainder of the evening
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| Thorntonhall Station from bridge |
12th October
It was an early start for me as I checked out of the hostel (seriously for £18 a night for a private room for a place less than 5 minutes from Glasgow Central is a bargain, my “go-to” place to use when in Glasgow, plus if you ask nicely you can get a room which gives views of the station! I reached Glasgow Queen Street and boarded an Anniesland stopper to take me to Gilshochill in the rain; a short walk later took me to Summerston for a short wait for a pair of 158s to take me to Kelvindale for a short wait for the units to return for the tiny leap to Maryhill.
I timed my moves on this line to make use of the random Oban – Glasgow service which calls additionally at some of these stations so it was a short wait before a 156 arrived to take me one stop to Possilpark & Parkhouse for a short wait before the 158 returned from Anniesland to take me into Queen Street, the Glasgow area had been completed so I was quite happy, and with a few hours to play with until my booked train back home I fired up RTT to search if any required 385s were floating around.
First up was a pair of 385s on an Edinburgh via Cumbernauld, where the rear unit was low mileage, and the run to Robroyston would be enough to clear it for 10 miles, with a tight(ish) +3 for the next Glasgow service which I took to Springburn, noticing some work being carried on the little used platform 4 (maybe bringing it up to a better standard so it gets used more often allowing 6 coach services to run on the Springburn – Dumbarton Central stoppers? Not sure if 6 coaches fit in platform 3).
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| A 385 in platform 3 at Springburn |
Anyhow it was onto that 318 for the run to Queen Street low level before heading up to the high level to board a pair of 385s on an Alloa service as 385042 was needed, before a pair of 385s to Falkirk High (noticing the car park had half a dozen cars in) before returning to Queen Street with a short walk over to Glasgow Central via a Tesco Express to board a Shotts semi-fast service to get 385029 into my book, and they certainly are a big improvement over a 156, even with the dwell at Shotts!
At Edinburgh I got lucky as the 385 went into platform 12 and my booked Azuma was going from platform 6, so no long walk this time, and it was a required 801 (208 if anybody is interested) which I took to York, crossing over to one of the south facing bay platforms to take a seat on the stopper (I was using a “TrainSplit” special to cut the cost, as even though that 801 runs non-stop and looked mostly empty [other than one coach] it would cost a lot more. First time in a good few months I’ve had a 91 for pushage (91105) on the stopper to Stevenage.
At Stevenage it was a case of crossing the platform to board a 700 bound for Brighton, taking a seat in the rear end for the run to London Bridge for a pair of networkers to Waterloo East, walking across the road to reach a triple sprinter on the 19:20 service to take me home, the end of an enjoyable trip, one I certainly needed to give me a boost to my wellbeing for Scotland is beautiful.
One thing I
did notice was there was no ticket checks so I suspect there are a lot of
tickets being sold to the first station as means to bypass the barriers, i.e.
Glasgow Central to Cardonald/CrossmyLoof etc. Anyhow more photos are in my Flickr album for October Click Here
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