Trips on 13th, 18th & 20th March:
13th March – Isle of Wight
With engineering works at Basingstoke, I decided it would be a good time to head to the Isle of Wight, mainly to revisit 3 stations I needed for photos, but to try out the new rolling stock they had introduced late last year.
The day began with a drive to Romsey to pick up the 10:52-odd Portsmouth train, which was a 2 coach 165 which was quite busy (emptied out at Southampton though, allowing myself & mum to move to a better seat [one which had a window view!]. The 165 arrived into Portsmouth Harbour where it went in on top of a 444 for Eastleigh and we headed over to the ferry terminal.
Due to improvement works the usual area was closed, and the waiting area was a large tent. When the boat docked and emptied out, we were called forward via a side door accessing the boat via some steep stairs. Wight Ryder 1 was the boat on the shuttles today (with the other catamaran moored up in the harbour, and we decided to head up to the sunshine deck (which was a bit cold in the wind!)
Farewell Portsmouth
Due to congestion on the water, the catamaran was a couple minutes late in arriving at Ryde pier head, so I couldn’t get a picture of 484002 on the Shanklin train. My first impressions were positive, seating layout remains roughly the same as it was on the District Line (mostly longitudinal seats with a couple bays of 4), 4 single leaf doors and a nice motor noise. We took this unit to Lake where we exited the train for a gentle walk along the clifftop path, which gave some excellent views of the sea & cliffs further along the coast (in both directions). An extra bonus was doing the new loop at Brading as I was expecting the train to use the same platform both ways to avoid passengers using the temporary footbridge or barrow crossing.
On top of the cliffs between Lake & Shanklin
We arrived at Shanklin station with plenty of time before the next train, so a short break before it arrived. Next stop for us was Brading which I needed for a photo. I left mum sitting in the sunshine resting her legs and did a little walk. I crossed over the railway at the barrow crossing and followed a footpath which ran alongside the single track to reach a road bridge carrying a busy road. I returned towards the station via the road and the village itself, before going towards the Marshes. This is an area I will revisit as I believe you can walk along the old branch line towards Bembridge, at least in parts.
484002 heading towards Shanklin
I returned to the station, and we took the train back along the pier to Ryde Pier Head, catching the catamaran back towards Portsmouth. This time we remained inside but I noticed when the announcement that we were mooring up was a few minutes early, we moved towards the doors to attempt a connection to the GWR train (the original idea was to take a 444 to Eastleigh for a 158 to Romsey via Chandlers Ford).
Even with the 166 on top of a 444, we made the connection (along with several other passengers), and as a bonus got a seat in the former first-class area at the back of the train. A gentle train ride back towards Romsey, the train getting very busy at Southampton, the guard’s announcements were great, certainly made me laugh. At Romsey we headed towards a Fish & Chip shop to get dinner, eating them on a bench at Romsey station (couldn’t see any other benches), before I drove home. Along the drive home I noticed a beautiful sunset and felt the urge to pull over to grab a photo.
Sunset on another trip
A nice return to the Isle of Wight, the new rolling stock is very nice, and I look forward to returning later in the year when hopefully it will be more than just a hourly single unit going back & forth.
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18th March – A post work spin to Emsworth
In the morning I checked the excellent blog by the user called Part Time Spotter as he is kind enough to post allocations of various units, of which the Southern 313s is one of them. I needed 313216 for mileage and decided to check to see what services (if any) it was on, striking lucky as it was on a train arriving into Portsmouth around 19:45 departing back out towards Littlehampton. So, I decided to make a rough plan on RTT and have a post work spin, as I suspect the 313s will be gone by December, if not earlier.
I was torn between driving to Romsey and aiming for the 18:20 train or going from home. In the end I noticed I could make the 18:07 train from Romsey which gave a tight connection at Eastleigh to a Portsmouth train which would get me back an hour earlier. Leaving work, I dashed home to get changed (into a large dinosaur!) and grabbed my bag to get back on the road to Romsey. I arrived (and parked in the library car park around 17:45, so I checked RTT to see that I could make the 17:52 GWR service as it was a couple minutes late. Buying my tickets on the phone and I made it to the station with time to spare.
A 165+166 combo rolled in from Cardiff, as I took a seat in the former 1st class area of the 166 (makes for a more comfortable ride) and relaxed for the slow journey towards Fratton. I was going to change at Southampton for a Southern service but that was running quite late so didn’t want to risk it. At Fratton I changed over to the opposite platform and took a pair of 444s to Havant.
313213 at Fratton
The late running Southern service was next, but due to late running it was going to run fast to Chichester (after running nonstop from Southampton, which saved it all of minus 1 minute [started 15 minutes late, arrived at Havant 16 minutes late, but that’s putting passengers first). With that 377 no longer an option I took the following 313 on the Littlehampton stopper to Emsworth (the connection at Southbourne being a bit tight for comfort, especially the only access between platforms being a level crossing).
The Portsmouth train rolled in and a large smile as it was 313216 which I took all the way to Portsmouth & Southsea where it terminated on top of a 450. I had two options to get back to Romsey, the first was a pair of 450s for a tight (but official) connection at Eastleigh, or a 166+165 combo all the way. Had the London train been a 444 I might have considered it, but I decided to sit on a bench reading the latest Branch line newsletter, which continued once I got onto the 166 (going for the former 1st class area once more).
My mission complete, 313216 at Portsmouth & Southsea
An hour later I had arrived back at Romsey, having a gentle walk back to my car and a drive home. I was happy I no longer have to keep my eyes peeled for that 313 whenever I return to the Brighton area.
166202 at Romsey
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20th March – Medway Valley Walk
The idea for this Sunday was to revisit some of the stations I needed for photographs on the lower end of the Medway Valley line. Although at first, I was worried my legs would be painful after walking 18.4 miles on the Saturday (mainly around the Winchester area as my car needed a MOT), but they seemed fine. The day began with the 07:37 service from Grateley to Waterloo, a bit slow at the London end as it weaved first to the slow lines after Wimbledon, then right across to the Windsor lines after Clapham.
At Waterloo I headed to Tesco to grab some supplies for lunch as I had plenty of time before my next train, a pair of 375s towards Tonbridge. At Tonbridge I changed platforms to board the Strood train, the usual 3 coach 375, which I took to the rural Beltring station, where I started my walk.
375304 departs Beltring Station
The first leg involved a dead-end lane which turned into a path leading to a dual carriageway (A228), thankfully there was a roundabout so the vehicle speeds weren’t that high, then onto the riverside footpath which I followed towards Yalding, pausing for a few minutes to try and grab a photo of a 375 going over the railway bridge. At Yalding it was a short road section (on pavements), as I swung via the station for some photos, before heading back to the river path.
I continued along the river path heading towards Wateringbury, once more going away from the river for some photos of the station. Back on the river path I ignored the signposted “Medway Valley Walk” as that went inland to avoid a marina (which was only for a quarter of a mile). I carried on passing the Teston Bridge Country Park which was busy with other people out enjoying the weather. After a road the path got a bit bumpy in places mixed up with some mud but nothing that major as the mud sections could be bypassed carefully. Although I was a bit thankful after the Barming area (at Kettle Bridge) the path turned into nice smooth tarmac.
River Medway
The next settlement I reached was East Farleigh, so once more I had a little detour for some station photos before returning to the river path for the last section towards Maidstone. The last section was the busiest in terms of users of the path which is always good to see. I carried on in Maidstone reaching the area where the Maidstone East line crosses the river, as the path on the western bank comes to an end (it resumes on the eastern bank after the railway bridge, a job for another trip). I swung via Maidstone Barracks station for a couple photos (noticing how busy the northbound platform looked), before carrying on towards Maidstone West, my final station of this walk.
I arrived with around 10 minutes to spare before the next Tonbridge train (the trains pass each other here, so there was a bit of a queue for the single TVM). 375310 rolled in from Strood to take me towards Tonbridge and I was happy to get sat down. My original idea for today was to get an extra ticket from Paddock Wood to visit Headcorn, for an hour fester, but decided that could wait until my Kent trip around Easter time.
375304 heading towards Tonbridge near Nettlestead
Back at Tonbridge and I had a short wait before a Folkestone – London service (turning down a Hasting – London train) which took me to Sevenoaks as I wanted to do a bit of a novelty of a 700 from Sevenoaks towards Orpington (the line at Swanley was closed), however due to signalling issues at Orpington the next couple departures had been cancelled between Oprington & Sevenoaks. With nothing better to do I jumped on the next pair of 375s from Hastings (which were reasonably busy) to take me to London Bridge, hanging back to see if either of the following services were of interest, but alas neither was.
I jumped on a pair of Networkers from Hayes to take me to Waterloo East, where I noticed the 17:45 Salisbury stopper was going to be a single 159, I decided to aim for the 17:20 Salisbury “semi-fast” (would be Exeter but for engineering works). This was a reasonably loaded pair of 159s which I took to Andover, to have a 30-minute wait on the station bench in the sunshine. Although my peace was disturbed by a pair of voyagers passing on diversion [Winchester area was closed].
I think I made a good call in going for that earlier train as the single 159 rolled in, looking quite busy, I would imagine it would have been full & standing from Clapham. I took this single 159 the final leg back to Grateley and walked home. An enjoyable 12-odd mile walk along the bottom end of the Medway Valley, some lovely scenery along the way. The end is in sight for my list of stations needing to revisit for photos.
Excellent report
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