4th – 6th Feb, The Cwmbargoed Collier Weekend
Friday:
I was booked on my first Pathfinder railtour since March 2020 on the Saturday, so after considering options for accommodation I decided on paying an extra couple quid to get a Travelodge in Birmingham (Newhall Street) (rather than paying a little bit less to go to West Brom or Walsall).
The trip began with the retimed 17:33 service from Grateley, taking me straight to Waterloo, this train was quite busy due to being a connection from an Exeter train, but I managed to get a decent seat right at the back in coach 8 (of 8). This train got into Waterloo for around 18:50 so after going via the Tesco outside Waterloo I hung back to wait for the clock to strike 19:00 where “off-peak” began (which meant my railcard discount applied on the underground). I had the unusual sight of seeing 4 northbound Northern Line trains, all going to 4 different stations [Golders Green, High Barnet, Edgware and Mill Hill East].
Various destinations on the Northern Line at Waterloo
Anyhow a Northern line train took me to Euston, where I had a short wait before the 350s to Birmingham would arrive, sadly my luck a couple weeks ago with Desiro Roulette wasn’t with me today and the Birmingham Train was a pair of 350/2s (all that lovely 3+2 seating with no tables). I went to check the 19:46 Crewe train but that was also a pair of 350/2s, so I resigned myself to having an uncomfortable trip to Birmingham as I was in the front coach. A few minutes before departure the guard came over the PA to say that due to overcrowding First Class was declassified…
…I didn’t need to be told twice as I headed to the 1st class area, a little bit of comfort (at least I had a table in front of me which I could place my tablet to watch something). The train remained busy pretty much throughout in coach 2, of the people in the 1st class area a couple alighted at Leighton Buzzard but most remained until after Coventry. The train was on time arriving into Birmingham New Street giving me a couple extra minutes to get across to another platform to take a Pendo for the run to Wolverhampton.
A lovely 350/2 at Birmingham, all that 3+2 seating
Back last July I attempted to do the random TfW Rail service which goes via Bescot, but got bowled out when it went the ‘direct’ route to Birmingham both ways. I had my fingers crossed and when the route indictor at the platform end went “H” (which stands for “Heath” for the old railway route towards Heath Town). A 158 rolled in from Holyhead and set off for the gentle trip via Bescot Stadium & Aston to reach Birmingham New Street, a nice bit of a novelty on a 158 via unusual track.
A sight which will become more common come May, route set towards "Heath"
At Birmingham I headed towards the hotel, got myself checked in and relaxed for the remainder of the evening, to the best I could do (for there was a group of youngsters staying in a nearby room who were quite noisy when they returned in the early hours to carry on drinking).
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Saturday
The day of the tour, and with a gentle walk towards New Street going via Tesco to get supplies (for there wasn’t really a break from the train) and also breakfast from Tim Hortons, before I headed down to the platform where required 66013 rolled in with the usual collection of Mk1 coaches in various states of decay.
My seat was near the back, and sadly was by the door (which the bench is a good inch+ narrower) so not much room between myself and the lady I was sitting next to. The train departed New Street and headed towards Smethwick, taking the chord towards the Snow Hill Lines, couple more stops to pick up passengers at Stourbridge, Kidderminster & Worcester Shrub Hill before the tour carried on towards Cheltenham for another pick-up, before heading towards Gloucester, going via a goods loop before the station and via one of the non platformed lines.
66013 approaching Birmingham New Street
The tour continued towards Wales, going via a loop before Lydney, carrying on towards Chepstow and using the goods loop which goes behind the back of the platform at Severn Tunnel Junction, onto the relief lines all the way for one final pick-up at Newport. The train continued using one of the through lines at Cardiff Central and had a brief stop at Bridgend for anybody wanting an off-train break for 2 and a bit hours to alight, before continuing towards Port Talbot, using the freight “Ogmore Vale” line near Margam yard. A class 60 loco got attached to the rear of the train (required 60040) and the train continued using the goods loop at Port Talbot Parkway, reversing just beyond Baglan station near Briton Ferry.
The 60 was in charge for the next section as the tour went back towards Port Talbot, using the other goods line, to get it away from the mainline when the carriages were getting watered (for both the toilets & kitchen area). This took around 40 minutes to complete, which passed by before the train headed back towards Bridgend, going via the freight line again, picking up passengers and using the connection onto the Barry line to head towards Barry. This is where things went a bit wrong as the train paused for a while at Barry Docks station due to congestion caused by swans on the line near Grangetown. The tour got back moving, roughly 45 minutes late at the point, going via the loop before Grangetown before using the “Up Barry Relief” line after Grangetown to pass a couple 150s waiting for platforms to become available at Cardiff Central, to access the Valley line route via platform 4 at Cardiff Central.
After Cardiff Central the tour continued heading north on the Caerphilly Line, turning off before Ystrad Mynach onto the Cwmbargoed freight line. I can see there being a business case to reopen this line for passenger services once the freight dries up, for there are a couple reasonable sized settlements where the railway passes close by. After the residential area the train soon started climbing and the scenery turned very rural and beautiful, reminded me a bit like the Scottish lowlands in terms of bleak wilderness. The train came to a stop half a mile or so before the network rail boundary due to a landslip further ahead (safe enough to run a freight train over, but not a passenger train due to the remote area).
Views from the Cwmbargoed branchline
The 66 was back in charge for the run back down from the Cwmbargoed area, rejoining the main passenger line, going via the loop before heading towards Cardiff Queen Street & Central, carrying on towards the Barry Docks line, this is when I decided to head to the kitchen area to look at what hot food options were (for I was getting a bit hungry). I ended up with a steak pie which was quite tasty, although the Bubble & Squeak didn’t agree with my body as the taste of it remained with me throughout the evening. Anyhow back to the train as it reversed at the Network Rail boundary on the Barry Docks line, before going back towards Cardiff, but turning left at the triangle after Grangetown to go towards Ninian Park, where the train reversed for the final time, when on the connection with the main-line. This is where the class 60 detached and headed back towards Margam and the 66 was back in control.
Back towards Cardiff Central, going via the other through line and onto the relief lines, going via Pengam Sidings and back onto the reliefs for the first drop-off at Newport (where the train did seem to empty out quite a bit). I noticed there was an empty table seat in my coach so decided to make the most of it and relocated there (saying farewell to the couple I was with, giving them extra space as well). Remainder of the trip I spent reading a couple magazines I had with me (keeping an eye out for when the train went via loops at Lydney & Gloucester). I was glad when Birmingham New Street came to get a chance for a decent little walk, heading back to the hotel, being thankful I didn’t have to wait round for a tram or a replacement bus due to cancellations on the Walsall line.
An enjoyable little day trip, my first “track” railtour since March 2020, some new track covered for me, plus 2 winning locos.
Sunday
The
original plan for today was to do a West Midlands Day Ranger, to head out to
Crewe to catch a Pendo towards Rugby via a diverted tour of the West Midlands
(Trent Valley line was shut, so it would be going via Bescot & Aston to
bypass both Wolverhampton & New Street), however it didn’t go to plan.
I checked out of the hotel and did a little walk towards New Street, along the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal towards the city centre at Gas Street Basin, going via the Library tram stop to reach New Street station where I picked up my rover before heading towards the first departure of the day, a 350/2 towards Crewe. Or it would have been, had there not been an engineering works overrun closing all the lines at New Street for an extra hour and a bit. Eventually the train to Crewe was ready for boarding, but I decided against it owing to the fact it would arrive at Crewe after the last Pendo which called at Rugby which didn’t go via Birmingham had gone.
The "D" word featuring a lot at New Street
So with that rough idea in the bin, I got a refund for my day ranger due to the disruption and managed to get onto a 350/1 on the first Northampton service, which ran non-stop to Coventry. Surprisingly this wasn’t that busy, and soon it had arrived at Northampton, going into platform 4 where I had a couple options at the next London train. Either a fast pair of 350/2s which were starting at Northampton vice Birmingham which looked busy, or a quieter 350/2+350/1 combo on a semi-fast London service, needless to say I boarded the semi-fast service for the comfort of 2+2 seating, enjoying a private coach until Leighton Buzzard. It also featured a rarity on the southern part of the WCML, a ticket check, and yes the guard did catch at least 3 out without tickets who had boarded at Leighton!
390042 passing Northampton
Into Euston, and after swinging via Sainsburys for food, I headed to the underground where annoyingly my travelcard (which was purchased from one of the TVMs) failed to work from the word go (grr). A Victoria line service took me to Victoria where I was going for a trio of 377s on a Gatwick service, because due to engineering works around Purley there was an half hourly service towards Gatwick which went via Dorking, reversing at Horsham. However for the 2nd time of the day things didn’t go to plan.
Due to a tree down on the tracks near Ewell, the services had been cancelled, so with nothing better to do I popped over to the South Eastern side of Victoria to look for anything required for mileage, before coming back to see what was happening on the Southern side. Eventually a Gatwick train was announced for boarding, so I headed over to board a 377/7+377/6 combo, sitting in the front coach which was a lot quieter. The train departed but due to the signaller deciding to put the stopper in front of the train after the junction at Balham, it was a slow trip towards Dorking, where the train managed to loop the stopper and get up some speed on the run into Horsham, where it terminated due to being quite late.
377121 at Victoria
I hung back at Horsham as an empty trio of 377s arrived ECS from Victoria as that was meant to form the next London train, but I guess got cancelled due to lack of a driver, as the 377/6+377/7 combo returned from the sidings to the south of Horsham station to pick up its booked path back towards Victoria. This was a much better run, calling only at Epsom, with no stopper getting in the way until Mitcham area (where it caught up with a Thameslink. It even got into Victoria 5 minutes early, which gave me a better chance to making it to Paddington as a Staines crawl avoidance move. I did the long walk to the Victoria line platforms (making it past the crowd who don’t move along the platform) for a Victoria line service to Oxford Circus, followed by a Bakerloo to Paddington.
Railway Tracks crossing River Thames near Victoria
At Paddington I had around 10 minutes to spare before an Oxford service was due to depart, a 5 coach 802 which was already busy when I boarded it and left Full & Standing (Can’t help thinking that GWR should use 9 coach units on the Oxford trains on Sundays). This train gave me a +7 connection onto a XC service towards Basingstoke and where it lost a minute at Slough due to the overcrowding it was back on time as it approached Reading. The XC was on platform 8 with this train booked into P9 making it an easy cross platform change…
…However Platform 9 had a Bristol bound service sitting there for whatever reason, 5 minutes after sitting outside the station the signaller decided to route the Oxford train via platform 7, but the damage had been done, and by the time I got off the 802 the voyagers were accelerating away. So for a lack of a better idea I headed out of the station to do a little loop towards the Thames via Christchurch Park
River Thames from Reading Bridge
Back at Reading station and it was a short wait before a 165 rolled in from Basingstoke to take me towards Basingstoke (quite a busy train), where I had a short wait before a pair of 158s arrived from the Salisbury direction to take me home to Grateley. Thankfully this is the last weekend for a while where SWR are going on the slow tour of Staines, although there are a couple blocks Basingstoke – Woking coming up that I can see. The day was hard going at times, roughly 90 minutes at Birmingham waiting for something to happen (although part of me was hoping it would continue with ticket acceptance given to use Chiltern towards London for some hopeful 68 thrash). I managed to do part of what I wanted, which was the novelty of a fast train going via Dorking, all be delayed.
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