3rd - 5th September – GBRF Overnight Tour & Scotland
When the details of the multi-day GBRf Railtour came out, originally in 2020 the only day which ticked my box as being interesting (for me personally) was the overnight leg. Although sadly the novelty of a 86 hauling a train from Bromsgrove was dropped due to pathing reasons, it was still a good plan. The Saturday I was undecided what to do, other than using up a SPT Daytripper scratch card I had at home which expired at the end of 2021.
Friday & Overnight Tour
I had a half day at work, so after finishing work and doing a couple bits at home (the luxury of a trip to the local dump to get rid of some hedge cuttings) I set off in my car to reach Andover and catching the 15:36-odd service towards Clapham Junction. At Andover I noticed the work to disconnect the sidings towards the “Switch” yard to put in a new run-round loop for the Ludgershall branch is moving along well. Along the way I was trying to decide what to do for the charter was due to arrive at Kensington Olympia around 19:00 so I would have 2 and a bit hours.
In the end I decided on a little walk, heading towards the River Thames from Clapham Junction, reaching it near “Planation Wharf” for a walk along the river bank on the south bank, pausing to watch as a Helicopter took flight from the London Helipad which meant a short detour inland before I rejoined the Thames Path, carrying on underneath the Battersea Railway Bridge (the one used by London Overground services on the West London Line), carrying along the path some more, passing some flats which I dare say would cost an arm & a leg to rent, let alone buy!
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| Battersea Railway Bridge and a Helicopter. |
My river walk ended at the Battersea (Road) Bridge, crossing over to the north bank for a walk along the A3220 road towards Chelsea (oh how very posh!), going via a path near the World’s End Health Centre, before walking through Brompton Cemetery (noticing how much detail went into some of the graves from the late Victorian times). After the peace of the cemetery it was back onto the road for the walk towards Kensington, passing Earls Court Underground station and the sad sight where the old Earls Court Exhibition Centre once stood.
Traffic was very bad leading up to the junction with the A4 road, passing a large Tesco before I continued heading north eventually reaching the side entrance of Kensington Olympia station, and getting let onto the platform to sit down after the 4 and a bit mile walk. Certainly wasted some time and was quite nice along the river bank and in the cemetery (as strange as that sounds). I relaxed, having dinner & making use of the toilets before the charter train was due to arrive.
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| Northern entrance to the Brompton Cemetery |
The train of Mk1 coaches arrived near enough on time, with a pair of 73s leading (73201 & 73136 in case anybody was wondering), although they didn’t last on the train for long as it went into the Acton Lane sidings (alongside the WCML near Willesden Junction) to get replaced with 86101. I had paid extra to upgrade to 1st class, and with the tour 3 years ago getting lucky with a table for 2 so extra nice, during the loco changed I was also lucky to have a view of the passing trains on the WCML during a gap in some freight wagons so it wasn’t that bad waiting for the 86 to get attached and back on the move.
It was a storming run behind the old 86, crossing over from the slow lines to the fast lines before Leighton Buzzard and towards Rugby via Weedon (which for me was a bit of a surprise as I would have expected it to go via Northampton). A brief pause at Rugby to allow a pair of voyagers to go in front, before the 86 continued towards New Street, pausing at New Street to pick up some more passengers, before it headed towards Tame Bridge Parkway where things went a bit wrong as it went into a loop in the Bescot area, due to waiting for a route conductor for Walsall – Rugeley and for trespassers. During the break we were paused alongside a 70 which I felt made for an interesting night time shot.
70817 in Bescot Yard
Eventually we got moving away from Bescot, passing the station (could swear there was some kids sitting on the platform edge itself, legs hanging over the edge because they are idiots), going via platform 3 at Walsall before a fast run towards Rugeley Trent Valley, slowing down at in the Rugeley Town area for an ECS from Trent Valley to clear the single track section. Once it joined the main line, the speed increased for another speed run towards Crewe, where the 86 gave way to 92032 for the slower run north.
86101 at Crewe
With the main event over, I settled down to attempt to get some sleep, drifting in and out (it didn’t help that the person sat opposite me had placed his rucksack underneath the table instead of a luggage rack overhead). We had some time at Carlisle before heading towards Scotland, going via Motherwell and towards Mossend, where the 92 gave way to a pair of 37s (37425 & 37407). This is when (I think) the announcement was made about the Norovirus outbreak (and I did notice there was a couple empty seats where there had been people earlier, but didn’t put two and two together, thinking they might have gotten off at Carlisle).
The 37s departed late, so the run towards Glasgow wasn’t the fastest (via the Kirkwood line) as it was caught behind a stopper, although the driver did make up for it by opening up in one of the tunnels before Glasgow City Centre, and soon enough Exhibition Centre had been reached, the end of the overnight section of the tour, and where I would alight. A good tour for me as all the locos were winners, with the unusual sight of being behind an 86 on the Chase line.
73201 arriving at Kensington (Olympia)
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Saturday
During the section waiting around at Mossend, I was using RTT to see if any of my last few 385s were floating about, making a list at the ones which were gettable. Also I checked for my last Scottish 158 needed for mileage as that was down in the Central Belt earlier in the week and ended Friday night in Glasgow so I had my fingers crossed that it would be out and about (always a small risk of it ending up in Glasgow, and going to Corkerhill depot to spend the day on maintenance).
I was in luck as it was due to work some Anniesland shuttles in the morning before it headed to the sidings north of Queen Street, so that was my first priority. Sadly due to the delay in reaching Exhibition Centre meant my original idea went into the bin as I jumped on the first service towards Glasgow Central (a pair of 334s), where I could still smell the gases from the 37s. I exited the station and headed towards Queen Street via a couple supermarkets, looking for something to eat for breakfast (and something cold to drink).
At Queen Street, I had a short wait before the unit returned from Anniesland, as it went in on top of a 385 so my fingers were crossed (just in case RTT was incorrect), doing a woohoo when I saw “710” at the end, as I took a seat on board after a little celebration photo (what were the odds of my final Inverness based 158 ending up working one of the only 158 operated services out of Glasgow on the Saturday I was visiting? I was expecting to have to pay out for a return ticket to Edinburgh then somewhere like Inverkeithing to get it into the book for over ten miles). Anyhow I took it out to Anniesland, returning on the same unit back to Glasgow Queen Street to get it over ten miles.
158710 at Glasgow Queen Street
I had a tight connection to make at Queen Street to the low level platforms, as I went the wrong way and ended up in the lift, but I still made the connection to a pair of 334s for a time wasting spin to Dumbarton Central & back (some nice views between Dalmuir & Dumbarton). This was merely to waste some time before boarding a pair of 385s for the run to Croy, the front unit needed for mileage. With some time to kill before another winner would arrive from Alloa, I had a little walk in the Croy area, looping on a couple mixed use paths towards a large looking Tesco, then a housing estate before returning to the station.
The next Glasgow service was an outright required 385 leading another low mileage 385, which I took back to Queen Street, exiting the station for a gentle walk across to Glasgow Central via a Co-Op for lunch supplies, before jumping on a 380 bound for Ardrossan Harbour for the nice speedy run towards Ayrshire (for I do like the line near Saltcoats, as it’s on my list to revisit for a walk in the future). At Ardrossan South Beach, I had a brief mask break by dashing towards the beach for some photos before heading back to the station to board a 6 coach service (and all 6 coaches were needed as it was a busy train!).
The pair of 380s arrived back at Glasgow Central, and I headed over to a TPE 397 which was needed and also called at Motherwell, so it would have been rude to turn it down, gets another unit into my book. At the building site of Motherwell station I exited and went in search of something to drink, eventually getting a bottle of 7Up from an Iceland and doing a small loop back to the station.
397009 departs Motherwell
Sadly a set-swap must have happened as the pair of units which rolled in on the Lanark bound weren’t the same pair it was meant to have been, so a bit disappointed as I took a seat for the run to Lanark, where for some unknown reason the trains have a 70 minute layover (at least both platforms are coming in use), and I headed over to the opposite platform to board a required 385 for the run back towards Glasgow.
At Motherwell I passed the next Lanark train, which was the 385 I wanted, so a quick play on RTT saw me changing at Cambuslang, a lot tighter than I had hoped due to being delayed by a late running Pendo, but I made it onto a 320 which was going via Hamilton to reach Motherwell again (change of scenery with some motor noise). I exited the station once more and did another little loop, this time going via a footbridge at the Glasgow end of the station before the long route to reach platform 2.
A 318 at Motherwell
Required 385002 rolled in along with another 385, and this took me back to Glasgow Central, the end of playing with trains for the time being as I headed towards the Euro Hostel for my £13 room (yes Thirteen Pounds, for a private room, abit with shared bathroom). Although I didn’t go straight to the Euro Hostel as I went via the river bank, but sadly there was no decent views of the railway bridge (as the Pride Pendo would be forming the 16:40 service to London, and I was hoping to get a photo of it across the river).
I checked into my cheap room, (yes they are very basic, but functional for just a room, even though it does look like a prison cell!) And headed to the recently opened Premier Inn (which I had a lovely view of from my room), meeting up with my good friend Dan to have a little catch-up and a yummy burger from the restaurant attached to the hotel. After the catch-up I headed towards Queen Street station boarding a busy pair of 334s on a Helensburgh Central service (so busy that I was in the centre coach with 3+2 seating!).
The daylight was starting to fade along the way to Helensburgh, giving me some nice views of the river. At Helensburgh Central I had another gentle (ha!) walk up the hill to Helensburgh Upper, where I boarded a busy triple 156 for the run back towards Glasgow Queen Street, having a brief catch-up with Stu (Every Last Station), before saying farewell as he headed towards Aberdeen on the last HST and I headed back towards the Euro Hostel, and settled down for the remainder of the evening.
43136 at Glasgow Queen Street
Sunday
With no trains due to the ongoing issues with overtime payments, it was a day on the buses. Nice late start before a Stagecoach Route 4 bus took me & Dan to Kilmarnock, via the Glasgow suburbs before some speed on the A77 before it reached a run-down Kilmarnock bus station. At Kilmarnock we had a break before returning to the bus station, this time boarding a X76 service towards the bus station at Glasgow, this was a former Megabus double decker coach, and after calling at a few stops on the outskirts of Kilmarnock it joined the M77 motorway for the speedy run towards Glasgow (where it lost time stuck in the city centre traffic).
Certainly a nice little spin to Kilmarnock & back via two different routes, you see more of the countryside from a bus window in places. The next bus for us was a Glasgow Airport Express 500 service, a nice double decker bus with leather seats, although once again the traffic in the city centre impacted on journey time, especially with heavy loadings due to this route being only half hourly instead of the usual every 15 minutes.
River Clyde from M8 bridge in Glasgow
Eventually the bus reached the motorway and sped towards Glasgow Airport, and after some lunch I said farewell to Dan as he headed back towards Glasgow and I went to post security. The sole reason for flying was down to cost, the flight cost me around £28, and when I was looking Avanti were slow at confirming weekend timetables and as a rough guide something back towards London would have been at least £55 (and that would have been a slower service). I cleared security and due to arriving early I had some time to sit down and relax before the flight gate was called.
Purple Bus!
Gate 7B was the gate I needed to aim for, and it felt like it was the furthest possible gate from the main waiting area, as I hung back (I had an aisle seat assigned so there was no rush to board), taking a photo of the plane from the window. I boarded plane G-EZFI “Spirit of Bristol”, located my seat, being a bit naughty and putting my luggage in the overhead luggage rack rather than under the seat in front (it was empty and I doubt the cabin crew care). The plane took flight and just over an hour later landed at Gatwick Airport, with a short wait before the air-bridge was attached and doors opened.
Easyjet plane G-EZFI at Glasgow Airport
A reasonably fast walk through the corridors of the North Terminal to reach the shuttle train to the South Terminal and to the station, although sadly my original route was cancelled (was going to take the GWR service to Guildford for something to Woking), so it was a case of waiting for the first train to London. This turned out to be a late running triple 387 which had run non-stop from Brighton and was due to skip Clapham Junction, but it gave a connection at East Croydon for something from East Grinstead, so I decided it would be better to do that than waiting for the next train (which was delayed).
The triple 387 took me to East Croydon, where I joined a lot of passengers in changing over to platform 4 to board a 10 coach 377 service (woohoo comfy seats of a 377/3!) for the run to Clapham Junction. Due to engineering works there was a reduced frequency of services towards Basingstoke, so I had to board the stopper for a slow trip via Isleworth and Virginia Water (although not as slow as a 444, we actually arrived early at West Byfleet). At Woking 12 coaches became 8 for the slow trip calling everywhere to Basingstoke, but at least I had a bay of 6 to relax.
At Basingstoke I had a short walk over to platform 2 as a pair of 159s rolled in from the sidings to take me to Andover, where I had a relaxing drive home (via a garage to put some petrol in my car). The end of a busy and varied weekend, thankfully I seemed to have escaped the virus from the charter train, my last Scottish 158 is cleared for mileage as well as 5 more 385s.
159 at Basingstoke on the Salisbury Train
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