29th – 31st 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 2nd 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.
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