10th – 12th December – Manchester & Sheffield
Friday 10th December – The Trip to Stockport
I had 2 nights booked in the Stockport Premier Inn, somewhere I haven’t stayed for a good few years, but for this weekend it was cheaper than the Travelodge at Stockport where I usually stay. Originally I was booked to travel to Stockport all the way from Basingstoke on a voyager, but due to the issues with XC that service got cut back to Birmingham instead of Manchester and where there was an option to reach Stockport it would involve boarding a late Pendo at Stoke (or Crewe) which was set-down only.
So after a quick scan for fares found that I could do that Pendo all the way from London to Stockport for £20 (splitting at Nuneaton) I requested a cancellation of the XC fare and decided to go via London. The downside of this cheap fare was an arrival into Stockport for 00:50! (Don’t worry I did give the hotel a ring to tell them I would be arriving very late). Anyhow the trip began with the 17:59 service from home, with the usual change at Basingstoke for a pair of 444s to London Waterloo. I did have a rough idea to waste the time and walk to Euston but it was either cold or wet (can’t remember which) so I used the underground to Euston.
Before using the underground I managed to get the staff at Waterloo to add my new gold card discount onto my oyster card for all those little savings do add up over time (this year I went for the Pevensey Bay – Pevensey & Westham season, a bit more expensive than Lapworth – Hatton, but came with free postage from the GWR website where I got some nectar points thrown in). At Euston it was a short wait before a required 5 coach 710 took me to Willesden Junction, where for the first time I exited the station. An area I wouldn’t mind having a look around in the daylight, for there seems to be a footbridge which goes across the WCML which could make for some interesting photos.
378257 in the bay platform at Willesden Junction
I returned to Willesden Junction, jumping up to Harlesden on a Bakerloo service before returning to Euston on a dud 710, and had some time waiting for the 22:00 Manchester to arrive (as the WCML was in a bit of chaos). Eventually the 390 which formed the 22:00 Manchester arrived around 22:10 and I managed to get my seat for the long run to Stockport, departing around 20 minutes late. However this train does have quite a bit of padding time between London & Milton Keynes so made up 10 minutes, before calling at all the intercity stations along the way (Nuneaton, Lichfield, Tamworth).
A Bakerloo Line service at Harlesden Station
This train is set-down only at all the stations after Nuneaton and unusually goes towards Crewe after calling at Stoke (little bit of new coverage for Avanti for me!). Felt odd going nonstop through Wilmslow on a Pendo but due to a lot of timetable allowances it arrived into Stockport 10 minutes early. I had a gentle walk towards the Premier Inn, getting checked into with my room being in the annex building. A reasonable hotel but not somewhere I would want to stay in the summer due to the lack of AC. Only issue I had with the hotel being the heating was either off or set for 27C (which is a tad warm for me!)
Saturday 11th December – Stockport Canal, Fallowfield Loop & Unit Hunts
The day was a social with some of my friends to have a pre-Christmas catch up, sadly one was working and another was feeling under the weather. My day began with a 769 from Stockport to Piccadilly; where we were due to meet up before jumping on a tram to Clayton Hall to start the walk.
The walk took us along part of the Ashton Canal to the junction where the disused Stockport canal branched off, now turned into a mixed use path. This took us through parts of Openshaw, going over the railway near Gorton station. We carried on reaching the end of the path near Gorton Reservoirs, before carrying on via Debdale Park along a path which ran near the lower reservoir before reaching the upper reservoir where the path gave good views of the body of water (and was very peaceful). We carried on rejoining the road network in the Fairfield area, meeting up with another friend at Fairfield station.
195106 at Fairfield Station
Now it was onto the Fallowfield Loop, a mixed used path built on the old railway line. The path was well used in places and was a good surface quality. We continued along the path crossing over some railway lines, going underneath the WCML at Levenshulme (where we were in two minds to carry on or to finish due to the forecast wet weather). We decided to carry on and it only started to drizzle nearer the end. The path around Fallowfield itself goes via the road but other than that short section it was traffic free (well other than lots of bikes).
Fallowfield Loop Info Board
We joined up with the Metrolink system at St Werburgh's Road and carried along with the walk on a path alongside the track to reach Chorlton where the walk came to an end and it was time for a late lunch. First pub we tried was the Spoons but they had a limited menu, so we tried a Green King pub called the Royal Oak and I had a lovely pie. We came out into the rain and after swinging via Morrisons for some supplies it was a tram to Deansgate Castlefield, stepping back to a tram into Piccadilly.
Metrolink Tram 3068 in the Chorlton Area
As my last low mileage 331 was due to be heading towards Blackpool from Hazel Grove, I jumped onto a pair of 150s to Stockport, saying farewell to another friend who was heading towards Stoke on a busy 323. A short wait at Stockport and the pair of 331s arrived with low mileage 331024 on the rear which I took to Salford Crescent pushing it over 10 miles (and hence clearing the Northern 331s for 10 miles). This is where I made a bit of a mistake for how I was going to hunt down my last couple reformed 150/0s (one needed outright, the other needed for mileage).
A pair of 156s took me to Manchester Victoria (which I was going to carry on to one of the stations between Victoria & Rochdale) but a set swap meant I decided to ditch that move as it would have been a bit tight. Eventually winner 150003 rolled in which I decided to take to Hall i' the' Wood as a time wasting move due to a gap in services back towards Manchester, I returned to Salford Central on 150002 as the connection at Manchester Victoria was a bit tight, although I could have easily made the connection as low mileage 150005 departed 10 minutes late, and was very busy. I ended up standing in the vestibule area behind the cab of the /2 centre coach, but at least for now the Northern 150s are done [until they decide to create more 3 coach hybrids to work on those lines which can only take 3 coach trains due to short platforms].
I took this 150 to Bolton where the next Piccadilly bound train was cancelled so I took 150004 for the run to Victoria. I took a sub mile tram to Exchange Square where I decided to walk to Market Street, scoring one of the new trams on a Piccadilly terminator, sadly not cleared for a mile but hey-ho, I had a required 397 coming from Scotland. I headed to platform 13 for a short wait before winner 397012 arrived which I took to Manchester Airport, returning to Piccadilly on a pair of 331s (solely because they were the first available train back towards Piccadilly).
For my final train of the evening, I took a seat on a pair of 150s on a Buxton train, ignoring a 4 coach voyager on a Birmingham service, sitting right at the front of the unit. This plan worked as I had a comfortable run to Stockport with the voyager rolling in alongside the 150s which looked completely wedged out, standing down the aisles and in the vestibules. Anyhow I soon walked back to my hotel, a bit of an issue with my key card not working was resolved pronto and I turned in for the night. A good social day with a decent walk done (I would recommend the Fallowfield Loop for anybody if they want a nice walk), plus the bonus of some of my last few Northern units being ticked off. Only Northern units left now are a handful of 769s.
Sunday 12th – Sheffield
I managed to get a cheap advance booked on an LNER train from Doncaster to London, so my destination was Doncaster, but unlike previous trips where I’ve headed to Doncaster using a Northern freebie single ticket via unusual routes I was keeping things simple today and was going to use the Snake X57 bus route before it got withdrawn in early January.
My day started with checking out of the hotel and having a walk to the station, where I managed to get a TPE only single to Manchester and boarded a single 185 for the run into Piccadilly. The bus would depart from the bus stops at Chorlton Street, but as I had time I decided to go via the canal tunnel (something I was going to do in the summer, but the tunnel was closed for filming). I came away from the canal towpath and headed towards the bus stop for a wait.
Rochdale Canal Tunnel
The 09:30 bus arrived a couple minutes late, and there were 3 passengers on board from Manchester, 1 of those got off before Glossop with a couple more boarding at Glossop. It was a nice bit of motorway speed along the M67 (going via Hyde bus station); I do like a good bus route as it gives a chance to see parts of the country you wouldn’t otherwise see by rail. After Glossop the bus went onto the “Snake Pass” route which headed towards Sheffield.
View from Bus across Snake Pass
The bus turned off to run alongside a reservoir leading towards the Derwent Dam viewpoint before doing a large U-turn back to the A57 and carried on towards Sheffield (picking up a family at a bus stop opposite the Ladybower Inn). The bus entered Sheffield and made its way towards the bus station, where thankfully the toilets were free as I needed to visit them after an enjoyable bus route. Shame it’s getting withdrawn due to low passenger numbers, would have been a good route to do during the summer time when it wasn’t so cloudy.
Hulleys of Baslow Bus
I now had around 3 hours to kill before needing to catch a train to Doncaster, so decided to walk along the towpath of the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal which headed towards Meadowhall (it was either the canal path or the “Five Weirs Walk” alongside the River Don). The towpath was a bit muddy in places but was an enjoyable walk, especially in the areas it ran close to the tram track. I reached Meadowhall and with time to kill did a little loop to exit the station at the Tyler Street exit and back via the Travelodge. The former railway line route is on my list of things to do (Blackburn valley Trail), but that will be next year I reckon.
Meadowhall bound Tram from the canal towpath
Back at Meadowhall and I managed to get a cheap (£2 I think) advance booked on the day for a Scarborough train, which turned out to be a 170 where I took a seat in the former 1st class area for the run to Doncaster. With time to kill at Doncaster I popped out to the Sainsburys to pick up some drink (as my water was nearly out), this wasted some time before I returned to the station and waited for the train from Newcastle. This was a pair of 5 coach 801s and from the looks of things most of the reservations were loaded in the rear unit, as I boarded the front unit to find it very lightly loaded. In direct comparison to a 5 coach 800 which went before hand from Harrogate which looked very busy.
150273 departs Meadowhall
I took a seat in the composite coach with one other passenger in standard class (looked like there was more in First class), but it was a day where the ECML wasn’t behaving itself and there was signalling issues around Newark. At one point we were something like 12th in a queue of trains north of Newark, so it was very stop-start for the next 90 minutes. Eventually the train paused at Peterborough before running nonstop to Kings Cross. I didn’t hang around Kings Cross for long and did a fast walk to the underground changing from the Victoria line at Oxford Circus getting lucky with trains both times (just rolling in as I reached the platform).
It was onto a 159/158 combo on the 18:45 service (I think) for the run home to Grateley, where I ended up with a home cooked pizza as I didn’t have enough time in London to pick up food. An enjoyable day, a nice bus route, shame about the 90-odd minute delay in reaching London but those things can’t be helped (my view on that would have been different had the coach been busy mind).
159011 at Waterloo
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