29th – 31st October – Lumo Trip to Edinburgh

 29^th – 31^st October – Lumo Trip to Edinburgh

 

I managed to get some of the cheap £19 each way fares for Lumo (heading to Edinburgh on the Saturday and returning on the Sunday), also securing a reasonable priced accommodation on the Saturday night a short walk from the station (so yes I might have saved money by booking something a bit further afield, I would have been out of pocket by paying for the bus fares).

 

Anyhow to the trains, on the Friday I had a “Red Pen” session based out of Liverpool Street to tick off some of the Overground units as well as some GA 720s.  Something for me to remember for the future is how fast they drop to single units, but it was a good evening.  I ended the night in the Easy Hotel in Croydon where I met up with Dan, ready for the main trip on the Saturday.

 

Saturday

 

It was a later start than usual for me as the Lumo departure to Edinburgh wasn’t until after 10am, so we took our time reaching the station (going via Sainsburys for some breakfast).  A 700 took us to St Pancras where we headed over to Kings Cross, with Dan going to get a coffee I went to get some fizzy pop from the nearby Tesco Express (used to be a Metro).

 

Back at Kings Cross, the ECS inbound for the Lumo was running late, and got changed from platform 10 to platform 0, and was very chaotic boarding and departed with a good number of passengers standing for the run to Newcastle.  As for the trains themselves, a better seat compared to the usual 80X seat, but it losses marks for having a pointless fixed armrest at the window, designed for use by kids.

 

The time we lost due to the late departure was made up by York as it carried on non-stop to Newcastle where the train emptied out (kickball at Newcastle), allowing for a more relaxing trip across the border into Edinburgh, arriving near enough on time.  After swinging via a KFC for a late lunch, I dropped Dan off at the bus stop for a bus back home and I headed back towards the station for I noticed 2 of my last trio of 3 coach 385s were on North Berwick services, so it felt like a good excuse to escape the city centre before the rugby finished.

 

Lumo 803001 at Edinburgh

 

Winner 385011 took me to North Berwick, where with 90 minutes before the next required unit (it was on a Dunbar service earlier and that swapped over with 011), so I did a little loop of some of the urban area before heading out towards the waterfront, exploring it before darkness arrived.  I returned back to the station was winner 385020 rolled in with another 385 and it was very busy when it arrived (first train for an hour, so I dread to think how busy it would have been on departure from Edinburgh!

 

This 385 took me back to Edinburgh where I exited the station to head towards my accommodation for the evening, the Scottish Hostel association “Central” hostel, just over half a mile from the station on the road towards Leith (dodging the tramworks).  The room was basic but perfectly functional for a place to stay for the night and I had an hour (or so) before heading back out into the Edinburgh night for a Glasgow Central service.

 

Getting away from the crowds at North Berwick

 

Arriving back at Edinburgh, I first of all confirmed that my last 3 coach 385 was on the Glasgow Central train (which it was) before buying a ticket to Livingston South and taking a seat on winner 385017 & another unit in front.  I was happy to get lucky that all my last trio of 3 coach units were gettable from Edinburgh today (considering they can also work out of Glasgow Central towards Lanark or Queen Street towards Stirling).  Sadly my last 4 coach unit disappeared after breaking down earlier in the day but I had a small hope that it might pop up on the Sunday (as well as my last 9 coach 800 as that disappeared towards Aberdeen on the 10:00 London – Aberdeen train so would be on a London train on the Sunday).

 

Anyhow, this 385 took me to Livingston South, where once more I had a little time wasting walk, and making a note that this is an area to return to one day as there is a couple interesting looking paths shown on the map.  Back to the station and onto a quiet 3 coach 385 back to Edinburgh where I had a gentle walk back to my accommodation and called it a night.

 

Future Tram Extension towards Leith

 

 Sunday

 

Sadly my original plan for today went into the bin due to the rain, for I was going to have a gentle walk on one of the old railway lines in the Edinburgh area, so it was onto the trams for a couple sub mile trams taken over a mile with a couple little runs.  Sadly my last 385 wasn’t showing as being out to play and that 800 was on the 2^nd departure from Aberdeen to London, getting into Edinburgh for the 14:30 service, but was still gettable and I had a rough idea on how to intercept it at Kirkcaldy after doing a trip via Glenrothes with Thornton.

 

Before heading on this trip my eyes were peeled to issues on the ECML where the inbound for my booked train was delayed in the Peterborough area for over 2 hours, so decided to ditch the trip to Fife to get the additional Lumo service which was put into the timetable at late notice to cope with overcrowding due to selling too many tickets.  Good thing I did jump on winner 803003 as the inbound for my booked train got spun at Newcastle.

 

Edinburgh Tram 256 departs Ingliston Park & Ride

 

I took a seat in the front coach (furthest from the platform entrance), being warned about the expected heavy loadings after Newcastle as the train headed towards London, around 4 passengers in the leading coach (including a lady who had clearly made herself at home on one of the table seats).  Nobody else boarded at Morpeth and maybe an extra couple passengers at Newcastle, I did get a bit worried when I saw a lot of passengers coming down onto the platform at Newcastle, but they headed to the opposite platform.

 

A bit of delay around Darlington where the train caught up with a freight service, but it soon regained time, as well as a bit of delay around Doncaster but compared to the trip north, it was nice and quiet.  The train arrived pretty much on time into Kings Cross which was a bit of a miracle considering the delays to other services that day.  I headed towards Waterloo via the Underground to board a Salisbury stopper, little did I know about the events happening ~80 miles away in Wiltshire.

 

159007 never got to Salisbury :(

 

On Friday night after work I drove to Andover, solely down to wanting to avoid a gap from London to Grateley on Sunday night, the Lumo was meant to get in at around 20:20 which was a bit too tight to make it for the 20:45 Salisbury service, the next train to Grateley being the 22:20 [as the 21:20 doesn’t stop there].  Back on the Sunday the 159s were delayed at Basingstoke where passengers for stations beyond Andover were asked to alight there due to an incident, a 159 on an earlier train had collided with a pair of 158s at Fisherton Tunnel.

 

This was shocking news to hear, and thankfully there was no deaths or many serious injuries for it could have been a lot worse, I alighted at Andover where the train terminated, a station with a lot of passengers outside waiting for information (this time of night the station is unstaffed) and I walked to my car to drive home.  Anyhow as for Lumo, yes I would use them again if the price/timings were right.

22nd – 25th October – Exploring South Wales

 22^nd – 25^th October – Exploring South Wales

The idea for this trip came from Easy Hotel having a sale earlier in the year where if you booked 3 nights in a hotel the cheapest night was free, so I ended up with the Cardiff Easy Hotel for something like £80 for 3 nights, which would be used as a base for a trip to South Wales.

 

Friday

The day began with the 08:29 service from Grateley to take me to Salisbury where I got lucky as a GWR Cardiff service was running around 15 minutes late due to signalling issues at Romsey (for I was originally aiming for the Gloucester bound service from Southampton to change at Bristol Parkway).  I took a seat on the 166 when it rolled in for the trip towards Newport, having to feel sorry for the trolley host as I suspect some won’t buy hot drinks as there is nowhere to put them (no seat back tables with only small tables in the bays assuming they haven’t broken off).

 

I arrived into Newport, purchased my rover from the ticket office and went for a little walk to waste some time before the Holyhead train was due.  Sadly my timing at reaching the road bridge over the river was slightly late to miss a pair of 387s crossing the river on the railway bridge on a training run (caught the back-end of a red 387).  It was a nice little loop, but soon I was back at Newport station to await the Holyhead train, which had 67014 hauling the Mk4 coaches.

 

Railway Bridge over River Usk

 

It felt odd boarding a Mk4 coach in Wales, but other than Transport for Wales stickers it was pretty much untouched from East Coast days, even the little seat reservation displays were still showing reservations from the last service it worked for LNER [how hard would it be to have cleared those displays to all say “available”?]  For the journey towards Shrewsbury I sat in the front coach behind the loco and spent the time looking out of the window, but soon enough the trip was over and I alighted at Shrewsbury with around an hour wait before the next Southbound 67 would arrive.

 

Holyhead Train has now departed

 

So I went for another walk, doing a little loop alongside the River Severn before heading back to the station (via Boots to grab a late lunch).  The Cardiff bound train rolled in with 67008 giving it a push, this time I took a seat in the front coach which was quieter until Hereford where some loud college kids joined (all the rubbish noise being played out loud for the entire coach to listen to).  Thankfully most of those alighted before Newport returning peace to the coach for the final section into Cardiff Central.

 

My main aim for the rest of the day was to clear the stations I needed for photos on the Treherbert line (buses on Saturday), but first a required 769 was on the next Penarth train, which I took to Penarth returning on the same unit to Heath High Level which clears it for 10 miles (nice bit of fast running from Queen Street to Heath as well).  I crossed over to the opposite platform at Heath High Level jumping on a 150 back towards Queen Street, crossing over to platform 5 and jumping on the first train towards Trefforest for the sake of getting out of Cardiff.

 

A 769 at Penarth

 

I didn’t have long at Trefforest before the next Treherbert train arrived which took me to the crossing loop at Ystrad Rhondda, where I had a little walk towards Ton Pentre (something which would be a lot easier to do in daylight!).  This featured what appeared to be an old railway route (looking at old OS maps and a bridge), but I was glad to get to the station into the light.  The next Treherbert train arrived to take me to the end of the line, for a quick turnaround on the same unit to Dinas Rhondda, for a fast walk along a road to reach Tonypandy station (featuring some local chavs smoking drugs).  I took the next train one stop to Llwynypia to clear the line for station photographs, and a good thing as I noticed the next train had been cancelled giving a 90 minute gap before the next northbound train).  I didn’t have long at Llwynypia before my last train of the day arrived to take me back to Cardiff Queen Street.

 

A short walk from the station to locate the Easy Hotel, home for 3 nights and it was nice to be able to get rid of the weight from my bag and relax for the remainder of the evening.  It’s a standard Easy Hotel room, basic but functional, tiny bit of outside noise but nothing that major, located less than 5 minutes from Queen Street.

 

A 150 departs the basic Dinas Rhondda

Saturday

 

It was an early start for me, with a gentle walk from the hotel towards Cardiff Central, via a little Tesco Express to grab food for breakfast.  I was aiming for the Pembroke Dock service and I was surprised when a 158 rolled in from the depot for an extra bit of luxury for the slow trip west (calls at many stations along the way).  I put my request in to the guard for Narberth as daylight arrived for the scenic run west of Swansea, and soon I was alighting at Narberth to clear Pembrokeshire for photos.

 

With around an hour to wait for the next Carmarthen train I went for a little walk into the town centre to visit the old castle before heading back to the station for the next train back towards Whitland (another 158, which I can’t help think is slightly overkill for the Pembroke Dock branch!)  I had a short wait at Whitland before boarding a 175 bound for Milford Haven, an area on my list to have a decent look around one of these days (for my list is very long).

 

Remains of Narberth Castle

 

I remained on board the 175 as it turned around, and decided to alight at Clarbeston Road for a better photo.  Sadly this is an area of poor phone signal and where a couple footpaths on the OS map no longer seen to exist so my original idea of a loop went into the bin as I returned to the station to see the Fishguard train getting later & later (no phone signal to check RTT).  Eventually a pair of 153s rolled up which I took for the long trip to Fishguard Harbour.  A quick photo and I returned to the 153s for the run back towards Cardiff.

 

Or that was the plan, but randomly the train got terminated at Clarbeston Road (guard claimed there was a train fault) before they ran ECS to Carmarthen to go back into service.  I doubt Clarbeston Road has been that busy for a while as the next train arrived from Milford Haven, another pair of 153s.  I was lucky to get a half decent seat for it departed quite full, and it only got worse along the way in terms of overcrowding.

 

153921 at Clarbeston Road

 

Anyhow the 153s eventually got into Cardiff Central, something like 20 minutes late caused by extended dwells caused by overcrowding, and I was glad to get off it (along with most of the other passengers).  I popped outside to the nearby Tesco for something to eat before heading towards platform 0 to board the Ebbw Vale train, a 3 coach 170, where I took a seat in the former first class area at the front (bit of extra comfort).  This train was busy on departure but emptied out along the way as I took it to the end of the line at Ebbw Vale Town.

 

170206 departs Ebbw Vale Town

 

I set out on foot towards Ebbw Vale Parkway, going via a nature reserve near to the railway line, which gave some nice views of the area, arriving at Ebbw Vale Parkway just as the sun was setting.  This isn’t a station you want to be hanging around too late due to only having one exit (which I could see), but it was my last Welsh station needed for a photograph so mission complete.  I returned to Ebbw Vale Town on a late running northbound train in order to secure a decent seat in the former 1^st class area (aiming for one of the single airline seats).

 

As the run back towards Cardiff was in the dark, I spent the time watching a couple videos but soon Cardiff Central was reached and I headed over to the Valley Line platform to board a pair of 150s for the run to Radyr where they terminated due to engineering works.  I had a short wait before the same pair departed back towards Cardiff Central (just to mark off the crossover from platform 2 back towards Cardiff via Llandaf).  At Cardiff Central I crossed over to board a required 769 which I took to Ystrad Mynach.

 

A 5 minute connection over the footbridge and I was on a 150 for the run back towards Cardiff Queen Street, where I exited the station and went back toward the hotel, crashing out for the remainder of the evening.

 

Not the train to Taffs Well

 

Sunday

 

The original plan I had for today went into the bin on Saturday night when Transport for Wales announced what services they were pre-cancelling due to “Resource Availability” which was quite a lot for West Wales.  My original idea was to head towards the Heart of Wales but with that idea back into the file for another day decided to have a “wing-it” sort of day, based on doing some unusual track in the Cardiff area [engineering works had closed platforms 0 -2].

 

I departed from the hotel for a short walk to Cardiff Central with my eye on a “Cardiff Central – Cardiff Bay” service to get a microgrice of a crossover to head into Queen Street platform 2 from Central.  I had a private 150 for this service and when I arrived at Queen Street had a fast walk back towards Cardiff Central to board a Caerphilly train which was departing from platform 4 (another little crossover, my BLS hat was very much on this morning).

 

An unusual destination from Cardiff Central

 

At Caerphilly I changed ends and took the same unit back to Cardiff Central, crossing over to platform 3 for a busy 150 towards Hereford for a short break before once more returning to Cardiff on the same unit.  The 150 did make a nice noise at top speed on the long sections between stations.  At Cardiff Central I headed over to platform 6 to board the next Maesteg service (a 2 coach 170), taking a seat in the first class area for the run to Maesteg and remaining in the same area (but swapping sides) to return back to Cardiff Central.

 

This service went via Ninian Park and into platform 7 at Cardiff Central, very unusual seeing a 170 on the “Valley” platforms.  It was meant to go into platform 8 but there was a train blocking the way having been cancelled due to no staff.  My next move was onto a pair of 800s towards Swansea, where I took a seat in “standard premium” (the end coach with no engine underneath) and the pair split up with the 800 taken to Carmarthen (just to say I’ve covered Pembrey to Carmarthen on an IET, and to give me something to do.

 

A Maesteg Bound 170272 on platform 6 at Cardiff Central

 

At Carmarthen I had around an hour before the IET would depart, so I headed towards a Domino’s Pizza on a retail park around a mile away (as I fancied a pizza), returning to eat said pizza sitting on a bench on the platform with the soundtrack of the engines on the unit idling.  After my pizza I took a seat in the leading coach for the trip back towards Cardiff, the train getting busier after Swansea.

 

Arriving back at Cardiff Central (where it went via Ninian Park for the extra novelty factor), I headed back on foot back towards the hotel, going in a longer loop to take in a footbridge over the railway line in the student accommodation area.  I arrived back at the hotel where I relaxed for the remainder of the night, a good little day trying to avoid cancellations across the network.

 

A busy Carmarthen station

 

Monday

 

My final day in Wales, and after a quick scan of RTT highlighted no required 769s out (seemed only 1 had made it out, the same one I had on Saturday) so it was onto plan B, with a gentle walk towards Queen Street station waiting for the time where my ticket would be valid from, before catching the first train towards Grangetown, before a Bridgend bound 150 for a trip via the coast (which I always forget how nice it is after Barry).

 

Arriving at Bridgend and I got lucky with a late running pair of 153s on a Milford Haven train, which I took to Gowerton, solely to get some more pictures.  I was planning to do a little loop here, but it seems a path from the Swansea bound platform towards some housing has been fenced off, so I just did a smaller bit within the village dodging the rain which had arrived.  My next trip was on a busy 175 for Carmarthen with a short connection to the opposite platform for a Pembroke Dock bound 158 which was taken to Whitland.

 

153361 departs Gowerton

 

I didn’t have long at Whitland, before a 150 arrived from Fishguard Harbour which I took back towards Cardiff Central.  This was meant to go via the Swansea District Line but for whatever reason went towards Swansea and used the chord which went round the back of the former Landore HST depot (only thing on the depot that day was an old EMR 153 being used for Network Rail).  At Cardiff Central I crossed over to platform 1 to board a 165+166 combo on a Portsmouth train which I took to Newport in order to intercept the train from Holyhead.

 

Winner 67017 was pushing the Mk4 coaches back towards Cardiff Central for the final time of this trip, as I went back over to platform 3 to board another 166+165 combo, boarding in the front unit as it was quieter.  It remained quiet pretty much all the way to Salisbury, where I had a nice easy cross platform change onto a 158 to take me up the hill to Grateley.

 

67017 & Coaches at Cardiff Central

 

I was glad to get home, the end of my little Welsh trip.  Sadly all my plans didn’t work out and I will need to return towards the Heart of Wales line again, as well as to hunt down the remaining 769s I need, but those can wait until next year.

17th October – A trip to Exmouth

 17^th October – A trip to Exmouth

 

After a train-free Saturday for personal reasons, I decided to take advantage of the all day direct service from Grateley to/from Exeter due to engineering works (can’t remember if trains were running to Andover or to Basingstoke).  The plan was to head towards Exeter Central, taking the first Exmouth train to Exmouth before walking back towards Exeter along the Exe path.

 

The day began with the 08:35 service for the run towards Exeter Central, where I changed from the pair of 159s to a 166 for the run to Exmouth.  Seeing 166s in Exeter still looks strange to me, but the power socket allowed my phone a quick boost of electric before coming to the end of the line at Exmouth.  This is where I decided to change my plan from going straight towards the path back towards Exeter to doing a loop around Exmouth marina.

 

Beach at Exmouth

 

The first destination for me was the beach at Exmouth, passing a random dinosaur in a park, walking along the prom towards a slipway, quite nice to get some of the breeze from the water.  I did a loop around the marina following a path towards Shelly Beach, before heading back inland towards the Imperial Recreation Ground, where it was possible to stand on the sandbanks of the river due to the tide being out (very busy it was as well, but I suppose it’s a good place to take a dog for a run).

 

Back on dry land, I passed the station once more (the former 2^nd side of the platform now being used for the car park), heading along a footpath between the river and boatyard before joining the mixed use pathway for a short section before crossing the railway on a barrow crossing to reach a footpath which was sandwiched between the railway track (protected by a fence) and the river, quite narrow in places but very scenic

 

A narrow path between the water & railway

 

The footpath came to an end south of Lympstone as I joined the road passing what is called “The Rag” which gave good views of the river, before carrying on, swinging via the little beach at Lympstone and carrying on towards the railway.  This is where the map has changed because there is no access to the mixed use path from the footpath footbridge near the station, which forced me on a doubleback to cross the railway on the mixed use path footbridge (the access path which was shown on Open StreetMaps has been blocked off with “Private No Right of Way” signs (always a risk of that when using Open StreetMap in my eye, as it can show paths but actually they are private).

 

Anyhow back to the path, as I joined the main mixed use path (quite busy with cyclists out for a Sunday ride), a wooden path next to the railway, which passes the commando base (and as the gate of Commando station was open, I took a couple of photos of the platform knowing the Exeter train had only just departed so it should be quiet).  I carried on walking along the path, reaching Exton where I decided to have lunch sitting on the platform before heading back out on my feet.

 

158749 departs Exton station

 

At Exton village, the estuary trail moves away from being close to the river to the backroads, and even when the roads give way to the actual path, it didn’t give that many views of the river, as it was at the bottom of a small railway embankment.  Good views of a nature area mind, as I continued along the path before it came to an end south of Topsham.  I turned left to head towards the RSPB Bowling Green Marsh, doing a little loop of the reserve area (for no reason really), but sadly this is where a plastic clip on my bag broke so one of the straps came away.

 

I decided to cut the walk short at this point due to the broken bag (although to be honest I would probably have cut it short at Topsham due to the distance I had covered, the little bit at Exmouth added 3 miles, with various other shorter added parts).  I returned to the river front at what is called “The Goat Walk”, a narrow section of path next to the river, which was busy with visitors.  Anyhow I carried on towards Topsham station, along the river front, arriving with good timing for the next Exeter bound service (another 166).

 

Exe Estuary from The Goat Walk, Topsham

 

This 166 took me to Exeter Central, where with around 40 minutes before the next Salisbury train, I decided to pop out to a nearby Sports Direct to look for a replacement bag (as I like the style I had before hand due to the pocket layout), thankfully they had some of a similar design (but in purple instead of yellow, but hey-ho), better than nothing.  I returned to Exeter Central station, and waited for the next Salisbury service for the trip back towards Grateley.

 

I might not have completed my task in full (a job for another day to carry on from Topsham towards Exeter) but I had an enjoyable walk, certainly very beautiful in places (especially at parts of Exmouth where you could see & hear trains on the opposite bank near Dawlish Warren.  After the events on the Saturday it was nice to get some fresh air to allow some thinking to happen (trying to sort the mess of my head out).

7th – 10th October – Scottish Highlands Trip

 7^th – 10^th October – Scottish Highlands Trip

 

The idea for this trip was to clear my last handful of Scottish stations needed for photographs, all which were located on the Kyle line, also it was a chance to sample one of the berths on the Cally Sleeper, a trip which has been pushed back a few times due to that C word.

 

Thursday

The trip began on the 17:59 service from Grateley to Basingstoke on a 159 (my last trip on 159102 before its accident), changing at Basingstoke to a pair of 444s to take me towards Clapham Junction with the original idea being the West London Line to Willesden for an Euston train but due to an earlier train fault the Overground from Clapham towards Willesden wasn’t running, so instead it was onto a low mileage 378 to Surrey Quays (little bit of a bonus), stepping back to the service behind to take me & Dan to Highbury & Islington for a slightly delayed Victoria Line service to Euston.

 

At London Euston, we sat around waiting for the sleeper to start boarding, which itself was delayed due to some reason (I believe it departed around 30 minutes late, time made up along the way).  It was the first time in a Club Berth (the one with the en-suite cupboard), first impressions is that the corridor seems to be narrower than it was on a Mk3 and the rooms weren’t that big (with the only place to store luggage being underneath the lower berth, not ideal if you had anything bigger and were travelling as a couple).

 

The bed was quite comfortable, although took some time getting my body to angle over the safety bits (to stop someone rolling out).  I can see why people complain about the light ring being quite bright and being unable to be turned off (I’m someone who likes rooms to be dark as possible).  I had managed to book us into a berth in the middle of the carriage to avoid a noisy night from the wheels, but even in the middle of the carriage I could still hear the knocking.

 

Friday

I must have slept through, as soon we were heading out to the Lounge Card for a “Highland Breakfast” (full Scottish breakfast) which was very nice, as the train raced towards Inverness and actually arrived 30-odd minutes ahead of schedule (passing the LNER Azuma on the double track section closer to Inverness rather than in a loop).  Winner 66761 was on front with 73971 providing power for the coaches so nice to get a winning 66.

 

66761 at Inverness

 

Due to early arrival we decided to cross the road and into the Sleeper lounge to get our things together (and Dan to have countless coffee as that’s what he is fuelled by).  The original idea of a random trip to Wick & back was binned (something to do in the summer when both trips will be in daylight), so it was going to be a bus move towards Aviemore.  Before that I ended up doing a short walk alongside the River Ness to reach “Ness Islands” (which were quite scenic) before heading back towards the lounge.

 

Dan and I headed towards the bus station to catch the route X37 service towards Aviemore via Carrbidge & Grantown-on-Spey.  We had a private bus from Inverness towards Grantown, featuring a bit of fast running along the dual carriageway, and a nice scenic run from the bus windows.  At Aviemore we crossed over the footbridge to platform 3, for the Strathspey Railway, purchasing our tickets and taking a seat on this near 10 mile long heritage line being hauled by a steam engine.

 

Steam Engine

 

The railway ran to just beyond Broomhill station where the engine ran round before stopping at the remote Broomhill, before heading back towards Aviemore, where we crossed back to board a reasonably busy HST for the run back to Inverness, stopping in one of the loops between Carrbridge & Inverness for a southbound 170 to pass.  At Inverness we walked to the Premier Inn by the river front (as where it was slightly more expensive than the branches located on the outskirts of the city, you didn’t need to take a taxi there).  Although the rain had started along the way to the hotel, as we checked into the room for 2 nights.

 

As Dan had some work to do, I headed out for a longer walk, taking in a loop towards Muirtown for a canalside walk (Caledonian Canal) towards the railway swing bridge at Clachnaharry to the sea lock.  I had good timing as an Inverness train was due to cross the bridge, but sadly my photo wasn’t the best.  After crossing back over I headed along a path towards the Merkinch nature reserve then towards Carmac Point (where the River Ness meets the Beauly Firth), this area had some nice views of the Kessock Bridge.

 

Kessock Bridge from South Kessock

 

After heading back to the road side, I headed back towards the hotel via South Kessock and close to the river, crossing over on Waterloo Bridge (waiting time to get a photo of a northbound train crossing the railway viaduct over the River Ness).  Back along the riverside and towards the hotel just as darkness had started to fall, and after dropping my walking bag back in the room, met up with Dan in the restaurant area for a Chinese Takeaway (the restaurant itself was closed due to staff shortages, so the manager had no issues with customers bringing in their own food).

 

With dinner consumed, I headed back out for a little loop (just to see the lights on one of the bridges over the river lit up), before heading towards the room for the night.  Not many trains featured today, but it was an enjoyable day never-the-less.

 

Ness Bridge, Inverness at night

 

 Saturday

 

It was a slightly later start to a Saturday trip than usual for me, as I was on the first Kyle train (featuring 2 coach groups!), so after getting some supplies from Tesco (for it was going to be a long day at rural stations) I headed to the station (where it was raining again).  I managed to get a good seat for the departure putting in my request to the guard as she came through checking tickets (and taking requests for any mad people like me).

 

My first request was the rural Achanalt station; although I was surprised when 2 other passengers got off as well (they headed towards a waiting car and headed away).  This is a station which serves half a dozen (or so) houses [which were all quiet during my stay at the station], nothing else other than a busy road.  I crossed over the barrow crossing to a field for a little walk towards the riverside just to waste some time before heading back to the shelter (featuring a wonderful Perch style seat), and spent the time listening to music and reading the latest Branch Line News on my tablet.

 

158704 departs Achanalt

 

The 2 hours I had at the station passed and before I knew it the next Kyle train had arrived, featuring Dan, as we had a little catch-up along the way to the request stop of Duirinish (I also managed to get a picture of the 2 sprinters passing each other at Strathcarron).  Sadly this is a station where I wished I planned my trip slightly better as I only had 25 minutes there and it looked like it had some good views of the loch.  Sadly the weather wasn’t the best for my fester, so I spent it mostly in the shelter waiting for the 158 to return from Kyle, however the forecast was meant to be better and the sun came out the closer we came to my next station (where I left Dan to carry on back to Inverness).

 

 

158704 passing 158710 at Strathcarron

I alighted at Strathcarron, and after a short walk along the road to a bridge over the River Carron, I headed in the opposite direction towards Attadale, mainly for a time wasting move but secondary for some better pictures from one of my favourite stations, solely for the views across the loch from the short platform.  I was expecting a hill to be in the way between the stations but wasn’t expecting it to be so steep on both sides!  I arrived at Attadale with around 5 minutes to spare, the only other passenger was a vlogger filming the station.

 

Oh the train is here, I was enjoying the views

 

Next station for me was Stromeferry which cleared all the Scottish stations for photos (woohoo) and with ~ 90 minutes to waste before the train returned from Kyle, I headed out for another walk, heading up the hill to the main-road, and headed towards the “Loch Carron Viewpoint”.  Where I had some good views along the way, from the viewpoint it was mainly of trees with the loch in the background (so a bit disappointing).  Heading back towards the station I swung towards the Storme Forest discovering a walk within the woods being signposted so with time to kill I decided to give it a go.

 

This was a walk better done in the summer time, not after it had rained as where the views were fabulous, some parts of the path were a bit slippery underfoot (wet rocks/mud), so I was a bit glad when I exited the forest onto a track back towards the car parking area.  After exiting the car parking area it was back towards the station, where my timing must have been good as a couple minutes after I arrived the rain started again, so taking shelter I waited for the train to return.

 

Loch Carron from  Strome Woods

 

The final Kyle – Inverness service was lightly loaded (less than 10 passengers in total), so I sat down and relaxed for the return towards Dingwall with darkness slowly falling.  I stepped back at Dingwall (for the want of a better photo of the station, although this is an area I wouldn’t mind revisiting one of these days as there seems to be some interesting looking paths).   After doing a loop I returned to the station for the final Wick – Inverness train of the night, another lightly loaded train which was slightly delayed.

 

At Inverness it looked like 2 passengers made the fast walk to the final southbound service of the night, but for me it was a trip towards a takeaway place for a pizza deal, eating said pizza in the hotel restaurant next to Dan who had completed his work for the evening.  After dinner we headed back to the room, to relax for the rest of the night, the end of a nice day on the Kyle line, clearing those last few stations for photos.

 

Sunday

 

To get back to London, I had 2 main options, either taking the direct London train which would take nearly 10 hours (calls pretty much all the stations towards Stirling & went via Carlisle) or heading to the airport to fly to Luton Airport.  As much as I like rail travel, nearly 10 hours on a 800 wouldn’t be much fun, unless you were in the posh seats), so we went for the flying option.

 

Sadly the bus timetable towards the airport wasn’t the best (2 hourly service) so we ended up taking a taxi (which Dan paid for).  Inverness Airport itself is small, security was cleared in minutes and there are 3 departure gates, so no long walk from the waiting area to a remote departure gate in some far off location.  The Easyjet to Luton was pretty much full and an hour or so after takeoff we had landed, and were heading towards the bus stop for the connecting bus to Luton Airport Parkway.

 

Easyjet G-EZWY at Inverness Airport

 

The bus was quite busy when it departed, as it headed towards Parkway station, the new light rail system looks good and will certainly be easier for passengers to use to link between the airport & the mainline station.  We turned down the first service to take a stopper towards Kentish Town, where we would transfer to the Northern Line to visit the new extension towards Battersea, stopping off along the way at Nine Elms before reaching Battersea Power Station Station ;)

 

After a short wait at the new terminus, it was back towards Waterloo as I said farewell to Dan who was heading back towards Luton, and I headed to board a Portsmouth service to take me to Guildford for it was another weekend of rail replacement buses between Guildford & Andover (woohoo!).  Like the previous time a couple weeks past, it was just organised chaos, from the sounds of things an Andover fast bus didn’t wait for the connecting train from London, but when the first Andover bus rolled up I boarded.

 

Entrance to Battersea Power Station (LU)

 

It might have been the stopper, but there was no guarantee the next fast bus 30 minutes later would actually run.  The coach lost a bit of time along the way due to traffic and congestion at Basingstoke (and also the detour it has to do due to a closed railway bridge in the Worthing area), but thankfully unlike a couple weeks ago it made it to Andover with time to spare for passengers to connect with the Exeter train.  A pair of 159s were my final train of this trip for the short distance to Grateley, nice and quiet in one of the rear coaches [as passengers tend to board at the first door they come across when they come up from the ramp).   I alighted from those 159s at Grateley and checking RTT if I caught that Azuma I would have just pulled into Kings Cross so flying was the much faster option.

 

159020 at Andover

1st – 2nd October, A trip to a wet Kent

 1^st – 2^nd October, A trip to a wet Kent

I apologise for the large gap between posts, I haven’t been in the right frame of mind to do my writings due to extra duties at work taking energy out of me.

This trip came across by having booked the Travelodge in Eastleigh last December time, but due to Hampshire going into level 4 after Boxing Day I was unable to use the hotel.  Due to Travelodge being unwilling to refund rooms which couldn’t be used, only allowing for a date change I originally changed it to April time before it needed shifting again, this weekend was the first Friday I found where it was reasonably priced (and not £40+)

 

The trip towards Eastleigh started with a very busy single 159 (standing in the vestibules style), which connected with a Southampton bound GWR service, which just happened to be my last GWR 158 I needed (getting very lucky considering most of the trains via Salisbury are Turbos these days).  It was lightly loaded for the trip to Southampton Central where I had a short wait before a 444 rolled in to take me to Eastleigh.

 

158745 at Southampton Centra

 

The Travelodge at Eastleigh is pretty much straight across the road from the station, and I got given room 313 (mmm PEP) which was at the rear of the hotel.  Usual Travelodge style of rooms, needed a bit of TLC and with some outside noise from a nearby pub, but I dread to think how noisy the rooms would be on the station side (as not only would you have the sound of doors opening/closing until the early hours but the main road).

 

Saturday

 

Sadly my luck with the weather ran out on this trip as I had planned a couple medium distance walks along a river from Canterbury area towards Chartham (I’m typing this without internet access so can’t check up on the name of the actual river), but with rain due to arrive my walking ideas went into the file marked “ideas for another date”.  Anyhow back to the trains, the main reason why I originally booked Eastleigh was to do a slight novelty service, a GWR Portsmouth – Brighton service to cover the east facing side of the triangle north of Hilsea.

 

To do this service required being on the first service from Eastleigh towards Southampton, which got delayed due to an ECS XC move from the depot blocking platform 2 (so the 444 had to go via platform 3).  I took this service to St Denys where I crossed over to the Portsmouth bound platform to catch a 450 for the run to Fratton, where I would have around 6 minutes to wait for the Brighton train.  I was expecting to see a 166 but was surprised when a 158 rolled up for a semi-fast run towards Brighton (well until the Worthing area where it goes behind a 313 stopper).

 

Sunrise over Fratton

 

Arriving at Brighton I had around 25 minutes to wait before the next Lewes service, so I popped to Tesco near the station doing a small loop coming back via some back streets for no reason other than to waste some time.  I returned to the station to board a pair of 313s on the Lewes shuttle (football strengthening, only calls at Falmer on the way to Lewes due to short platforms).  At Lewes I headed towards the Eastbourne bound platform for a 377 to take me towards Collington.

 

I could have picked from a few of the stations between Eastbourne & Ore to change to the 171, but picked Coillington just to get some better photos of the station from my previous visit a few years ago.  A short wait at Collington before a 171 rolled in from Eastbourne as I headed towards the declassified first class area at the very rear (4 coach units don’t fit anywhere after Ore towards Ashford so it tends to be quieter).  The rain started near Rye which would remain with me most of the day as it rolled towards Ashford where it terminated.

 

To waste some time (I had planned on a little walk at Ashford before the next Canterbury bound service) I jumped on a pair of 375s to take me to Pluckley for a short wait before another pair took me back to Ashford where I had a cross platform change onto a pair of 377s to take me towards Sturry.  With 30 minutes to waste before the next London service I headed for a little loop (in the rain) due to the shelter on the platform having some youths who were smoking so it was either standing around in the rain or going for a walk.

 

377518 departs Sturry

 

I returned to the station for another pair of 377s to take me back towards Chartham for a short fester before returning towards Canterbury West.  I exited the station at Canterbury West and did something foolish considering the weather; I walked in a western direction towards Canterbury East for a photo before heading back towards Canterbury West (yes I was soaked!)  I made it back with a minute or so to spare before the first pair of 377s returned from Ramsgate to take me to Chilham where once more I crossed platforms before heading back towards Canterbury West (for this station looked like it has a shelter, it’s the sort which leaks and has no seat).

 

This time at Canterbury I did another loop to a nearby Sainsburys Local before returning to a busy station (quite a few passengers waiting for the High Speed service a few minutes after the Victoria stopper from the looks of things, and I was surprised at how many tourists were floating around even though the weather was very wet.

 

Canterbury Westgate

 

The next pair of 377s took me back to Ashford where I had a short connection to a Charing Cross train which took me towards Staplehurst where with another 30 minute break I did another little walk (I was already soaked, what more harm could the rain do).  After returning to the station it was another pair of 375s to take me to Paddock Wood where I had a delayed 375 from the Medway Valley to take me to Tonbridge where they held the connection to the Redhill train.  This 377 took me to Redhill (big suprise!) where I had a couple options.  It was either a 377 on the stopper towards Clapham Junction for a pair of 159s towards Basingstoke (as SWR reduced the timetable so the Salisbury stoppers were starting from Basingstoke, the last connection from London being the Exeter train), or a GWR service to Guildford where I could change to Woking for a pair of 444s towards Basingstoke.

 

I decided to take the 165 as the London train looked busy, and this is where things went a bit wrong as the line south of Guildford had flooded so there was nothing heading north (must have happened after I boarded the 165).  I arrived at Guildford which was in a bit of chaos with nothing showing towards Woking for 40+ minutes so a quick bit of thinking on the outskirts highlighted a possible rescue with staying on the 165 to North Camp giving me around 14 minutes to walk towards Ash Vale for a train from Alton, which connected with a Basingstoke stopper at Brookwood, which would have got me back home at the same time, but with the cost of not popping out to KFC at Basingstoke.

 

The 165 arrived into North Camp and I sprung out of the station towards the level crossing waiting for it to cross as another 165 arrived from Reading, and to my surprise the barriers rose so I managed to get across the tracks before the Reading train had even departed (guess it’s timed for the slower 769s so the 165s hang back at stations).  This gave me an extra couple minutes for a walk I’ve done a couple times in the past, straight along the road to reach Ash Vale, where I arrived with 5 minutes to spare.

 

A busy pair of 450s arrived from Alton to take me 1 stop to Brookwood, where I crossed over to the opposite platform (avoiding some flooding in the subway), I noticed the pair of 159s go past and they looked quite busy, as a pair of 450s rolled in to take me towards Basingstoke.  At Basingstoke I crossed over to await a 159 to arrive from Salisbury where it would have a short turnaround before heading back towards Salisbury.

 

Didn't think I would end up here!

I took this 159 back to Grateley, where I headed home, where the nice hot shower never felt so good after getting out of my soaked clothes (even my bag was soaked throughout.  It was a nice little trip to Kent, exploring a bit of Canterbury, shame about the weather but I guess you can’t always get nice weather.

 (On the Sunday, due to no trains on my local line, I did a local area walk as the weather was a lot nicer, although my backup bag isn't as nice to wear)