5th & 6th December. Dawlish, Ivybridge & Nutbourne

A post lockdown return to the rails (again)

So the 4 week lockdown has ended, so after 3 nice walks in the Andover area (plus a trip to Salisbury in the rain to get some shopping) it was time to head back to the rails.

 

Originally this weekend would have been a long weekend staying overnight in Stockport, but due to the current restrictions where Stockport is in the highest level with hotels having to close that plan went into the bin.  After looking up various options I decided to head to Devon to get an awkward station done, but a walk along the Dawlish sea wall (which had been on my list of things to do for a while).

 

Nice to be back

 

5^th December – A trip to Devon

 

The day began with the 07:52 service from Grateley (car park had a mere 4 vehicles in) to take me to Sherborne, after an extended wait at Gillingham allowing me time to grab a photograph.  The next Exeter train was delayed (due to a late running Exeter – London service, such is the joy of the single track sections on the line west of Salisbury), so I missed my hopeful connection with a XC HST.

 

As the station was a bit cold I jumped onto a Paignton bound pair of 150s to take me to Newton Abbot where I had a short wait before a Cornwall bound 158 arrived to take me a couple stops to the awkward Ivybridge, annoyingly this 158 was before a late running Plymouth bound IET which I had wanted to take to Totnes to grab a photograph of that station.  I met up with a good friend who was down this neck of the woods on a holiday which made the time at Ivybridge go fast (made faster with the unusual event of having 2x IET sets changing drivers at the station).

Driver change in an unusual location

 

 My next move was on a Castle HST set to take us back to Newton Abbot for a short wait before a 143+150 combo to Dawlish, which is likely to be my final pacer move on the mainline in England as the GWR 143s are due to be retired at the end of this week, bounce no more.  Due to the works around Dawlish with the new wall being installed part of the footpath was closed meaning a walk along the road before joining the path at the first available point.

 

A couple things which jumped out at me when we walked along the wall is there is a large drop one side with no protection and the wall between the path & the railway isn’t the tallest, in the climate of health & safety overkill it was a refreshing change.  We managed to take a couple pictures of passing trains before reaching Dawlish Warren.  I would recommend walking the wall, although maybe wait until the works are complete so you can access it at the Dawlish station end.

 

Sprinters passing the Dawish sea wall

 

 

 

It was onto another pair of 150s to take us to Exeter St Thomas where my plan changed due to the next Waterloo train being cancelled from Exeter (started at Yeovil) [as I was going to walk to Exeter Central via the Tesco for some dinner supplies].  So it was a short fester at the forgotten Exeter station before the next Paignton train took me to Starcross, saying farewell to my friend before a short wait before the following train to take me to Exeter Central to grab some dinner supplies before a busy pair of 159s took me to Yeovil Junction, doubling back on the next service to Crewkerne for a short fester at this quiet station.

 

My last train of the trip was a 158+159 combo to take me direct to Grateley, and it was quite quiet onboard, like most of the trains have been.

 

An IET passing Starcross

 

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6^th December – Going Nutty

 

The idea for today was to revisit the handful of stations I needed in Hampshire, plus the couple on the line towards Chichester, having changed ideas from visiting East Sussex.  It was an early morning drive to Romsey to catch the delayed 08:38 service to Southampton Central where I had a 40-odd minute wait before the next Portsmouth stopper would depart (had it been warmer I would have wasted the time and walked across to Woolston, but it was quite cold, and the doors on the warm 450 were unlocked).

 

I took this 450 to the quiet Bursledon returning to Bitterne (which wasn’t so quiet) before the following stopper took me to the industrial Hilsea, where I returned to Cosham to board the next Southern service to take me to Havant, where I exited the station to have a short walk to Warblington, where I was surprised at how soon the barriers dropped for the train (it was a good 5 minutes before it was due).

 

Warblington station

 

The next Brighton train soon arrived which took me to Nutbourne, and I had a short walk along a nearby road to take me to Southbourne, arriving a bit earlier than expected allowing me to take the Portsmouth train from London to Portsmouth & Southsea for a short wait before a GWR Turbo took me to Portsmouth Harbour.  Another short wait before a 377 took me to Fratton (where in the process of trying to get a photograph of the new footbridge/life combo spotted some youths attempting to bypass the gateline by jumping the night gate.

 

Anyhow it was soon onto a 444 to take me to Hedge End, a station I will probably return to next year as there seems to be some interesting looking paths (judging by the map), but my time was short before the next train took me back to Botley, which featured some bored looking youths smoking/drinking in the waiting shelter.  Thankfully my time here wasn’t for long before the next train took me to Eastleigh, passing an old EMR HST and an old Northern 142 in the sidings to the south of the station.

 

When 2 units become 1 at Eastleigh

 

My time at Eastleigh was short and soon a very quiet 158 rolled in to take me to Romsey via Chandler’s Ford, where I shifted my car from near the station to a car park in the town centre (yes I’m lazy) in order to walk into the town centre to pick up a takeaway pizza (part treat, part needing something hot), before driving home, and relaxing for the remainder of the evening.

 

I am happy with the only SWR stations I need are Upwey near Weymouth plus 3 stations on the Salisbury – Exeter line, with the only station needed on the Havant – Brighton line being Fishersgate.  It was nice to get back on the rails after a month away, plans might change due to the restrictions as things are fast moving, i.e. if London goes tier 3 I will need to change my plans for that week between Christmas & New Year as I've got a couple hotels booked solely as rail replacement bus reduction services as my local line has no trains between Christmas Day & the 3rd January due to bridge works in Andover.