21st May – Visiting the Maritime (Falmouth) Line

 21^st May – A trip to the Maritime (Falmouth) Line

I had a handful of stations left on my list which needed to be revisited for some photos, all were on the Maritime Line, the name of the railway between Truro & Falmouth.  The weather looked to be good for some walks along the way so with a spring in my foot I drove to Salisbury station to take the 06:15 service all the way to Exeter St Davids where I had a 20 minute wait before taking a pair of 802s for the long run to Truro.

 

A short wait at Truro before a 150 rolled into the bay platform from Falmouth and I took a seat (sadly it was one of the few 3+2 seated examples GWR have) for the run to Perranwell station.  When I first visited this station back in 2015 it was a request stop, but at some point, it has lost that status.  I fired up maps and headed for a walk downhill towards a mixed used path on the trackbed of the former Redruth and Chasewater Railway route taking me underneath the wonderful Carnon Viaduct, where I had a pause to photograph the next Falmouth train passing over.

 

A 150 crossing the Carnon Viaduct, near Perranwell

 

After leaving the mixed used path I went up a very steep hill, before some other paths leading me over the railway line with an unexpected foot crossing, before walking back to the station on a path next to the road.  This is an area I wouldn’t mind returning to on another day for a better explore, but it was time to head all the way to Falmouth Docks on 150216, for another walk.

 

This walk took me towards Pendennis Point following the English Coast Path, some beautiful views of the water & cliffs, plus an old castle.  After circling the point, I headed along a coastal road towards Gyllyngvase Beach & Swanpool beach, before making my way back inland via a Co-Op for lunch before making my way to Penmere station.

 

Coastline around the Castle Beach area in Falmouth

 

I had a short wait at Penmere before 150216 took me to Falmouth Town, for a short wait before it returned to take me to Penryn with the unusual track layout, which allowed me to tick off England for station photos.  I headed away from the station in the 30-minute wait to try and get a photograph of the viaduct (probably needs longer to walk a bit further to a path which looks like it goes underneath the viaduct itself).  Anyhow I returned to the station to take another 150 for the run back to Truro where once more I had a little walk.

 

Penryn Station, Great Britain Tick for station photos.  What on earth will I do next?

 

This walk took me on a mixed used path following the route of the former Newham branch line, taking in a loop of the western part of the city.  A nice woodland path which has had some money spent on upgrading the path quality with stones.  This path came out in the Newham area of Truro, with the next leg being to follow the River via a Tesco for dinner towards the city centre.  I swung via Victoria Gardens to try and get a photo of the railway viaduct before returning to the station, to go back to playing with trains.

 

I was originally going to take the pair of 802s to Lostwithiel to step back to a HST 30 minutes later, but when I noticed the 21:25 Salisbury train was a single 3 coach unit, I decided to ditch Lostwithiel (one of those stations on my list where I want to revisit for some better photos, and for a little explore as from memory I only had 10 minutes at the station when I visited).  I stayed on the 802s for the run back to Exeter St Davids, exiting the station for some fresh(ish) air before returning to board the 20:25 service, which was a pair of 159s.

 

802016 departs Exeter St Davids

I was in coach 4 (of 6) and it was empty after Honiton, picking up a few other passengers along the way, but soon enough Salisbury was reached, and I had a relaxing drive home.  A successful day in Cornwall, no more stations on my list to revisit outright, so that challenge is complete.

 

What comes next? Well in terms of blogging a short break, the next few weeks I'm only using the trains as a means to visit places to walk somewhere else (Overton to Basingstoke, Mortimer to Basingstoke, Thames Path etc) and those don't make for good writing.  Neither do the reports where I head to London to hunt down any new units (or my last few South Eastern units for mileage).  So for the meanwhile just remember to stop, look & listen when you come to footpath crossings of railway lines, as you never know a voyager might be round the corner.

A voyager passing a foot crossing between Bramley & Mortimer

13th – 15th May - Powerful Pieman Panorama Weekend

 13^th – 15^th May - Powerful Pieman Panorama Weekend

When this tour from UK Railtours got announced a few months ago, it sounded interesting not just for me, but I reckon a good trip for my mum as an early birthday present. A day of looking out of the window at some lovely scenery in areas she hasn’t been before.  I also decided to go for the dining option, as a on the day surprise for her (as I was telling white lies saying we would be in standard).

 

Friday

I booked a 2-night stay in the Travelodge in Croydon, with the trip towards East Croydon being on a 159 to Basingstoke, followed by a pair of 444s to Clapham before a pair of 377s to East Croydon itself.  After we had something to eat from Wendys, we took a spin on a tram towards Combe Lane, where I failed to find the path towards the lookout area for a nice sunset view of London.

 

Woods near Addington Hills

 

Saturday

 

The day began with the second train towards London Victoria (we were aiming for the first, but we were running a couple minutes late due to a slow lift at the Travelodge).  At Victoria we transferred to the circle line to take us round the bend to Paddington before a TfL Rail 345 took us to Ealing Broadway (my mum wanted to try out a purple train).  I know this was more expensive than avoiding zone 1 by changing at Clapham then again at Shepherd’s Bush (or West Brompton) for LU to Ealing Broadway, but those are quite a bit slower.

 

We exited the station at Ealing Broadway to get some fresh air before returning to a busy platform for the charter train to roll in.  67016 was hauling the Mk2 coaches, and it wasn’t there for long before departing, near enough straight onto the first bit of required track for me, with the line via Acton yard (going behind the back of the platforms at Acton Main Line).

 

67016 arriving at Ealing Broadway

 

The route after Acton yard was up the incline towards the North London Line, before the charter took the Dudding Hill line towards the Hendon area, pausing before joining the fast lines on the Midland Main Line, and heading north.  Further pick ups were made at St Albans and Bedford, afterwards breakfast was served.  The train went on the fast lines north of Bedford (even overtaking a late running Corby 360 on the slow lines), to go into the goods loop the other side of Wellingborough station for some more standing for other trains to pass.

 

Back on the move, and onwards to Leicester, going via platform 1 and using a recently installed connection into the goods line after the station, carrying on via Loughborough to have a final pick-up at East Midlands Parkway (which did look like a reasonable number boarding).  The train continued into the Toton north yard area, where 66028 was attached to the front of the train, this 66 being back from away in Europe for many years (I believe).

 

After Toton, the journey continued north via Langley Mill, Chesterfield, using the Barrow Hill lines to bypass Sheffield to the old Rotherham station.  The train continued in Yorkshire to reach the Doncaster area, turning right on the curve leading south, and going via Belmont yard, passing the line-up of off-lease 91s.   next up was going via the platform at the Doncaster Royal Mail terminal, before joining the line towards Lincoln via Gainsborough.

 

Line of stored 91s at Belmont Yard

 

On the outskirts of Lincoln, the train took the Pyewipe curve to head towards Newark and to Nottingham, where we had a 2 and a bit hour break.  The fresh air felt good after being on the AC Mk2 coach for a good few hours, as we headed to the tram stop to take a tram all the way to Hucknall, returning on the same tram to Bulwell for a gentle walk alongside a river to reach Highbury Vale (a nice woodland path, just over a mile).

 

Nottingham Tram 208 at Bulwell

 

We returned back to Nottingham station via a Tesco to pick up a bottle of pop, and rejoined the train for the run back towards London.  67016 was in charge for the run into Toton area where the train reversed with required 67013 in charge for the run.  Dinner was served along the way, it was soup, followed by chicken then tart & cheese.  The train headed towards East Midlands Parkway dropping off passengers, then taking the sharp curve to the Melton Mowbray line, doing a couple more goods loops along the way.

 

Unlucky for some, 67013 at Nottingham

 

After Oakham the train headed right onto the Corby line to cross over the viaduct before waiting time north of Corby due to a 360 being in the platform.  After Corby the train was on the slow lines all the way, dropping off at Bedford.  Daylight was ending around Luton and had all but gone by the time the train reached St Albans.  Part of me was tempted to bail here at St Albans to get back to East Croydon earlier, but |I decided to stay on.  The train accessed the Dudding Mill line via the flyover in the Hendon area and used the goods lines at Acton Main Line (passing another charter).  It was a case of being so near but so far as the train waited 10 minutes before heading into Ealing Broadway on time.

 

Dinner, yum yum

 

We exited the station and re-entered it on oyster/contactless taking winner 345019 for the run into Paddington.  A busy Hammersmith & City line train followed to take us to Farringdon before a 700 to Blackfriars, just to show mum the river all lit up at night (one of my favourite night-time views in London).  Another 700 rolled up to take us to East Croydon, where we used the side entrance and headed back to Travelodge.  The end of a long day of looking out of the window at the scenery in beautiful weather.

 

River Thames at Night from Blackfriars Station

 

Sunday

 

The original idea for today was to head towards Southend to walk the pier (and use the pier railway), but the weather did a complete 180 to what was forecasted on Friday.  Instead of it being sunny it was wet & windy, not the sort of weather you want to walk the Southend pier in.  So, I put that plan on the backburner, and we checked out going to a nearby Spoons for breakfast.

 

After breakfast it was a case of doing a few random bits in London when avoiding most of the bad weather.  Tram to Elmers End followed by a busy pair of 465s from Hayes to Lewisham, a DLR to Limehouse for a pair of 357s to Upminster.  A 710 to Romford making a tight connection onto a pair of very busy 720s towards Liverpool Street (the coach we were in emptied out at Stratford).

 

376020 departs Elmers End

 

A bit of lunch before a pair of 710s to Chingford & back to Walthamstow Central for the Victoria line to Highbury & Islington for a 378 to New Cross Gate, where due to engineering works it reversed on platform 1 to return north.  We took this back to Canada Water for a Jubilee Line service to Baker Street followed by a long wait for a Bakerloo (turning down the first couple services due to being completely rammed).

 

 

66848 at London Liverpool Street

At Paddington we caught a pair of 802s bound for Plymouth via Bristol, which were quite busy throughout, this connected onto the last Reading – Salisbury service of the day (I try and avoid the 17:45 from Waterloo as that is only a single unit and is very busy throughout).  This 159 took us back to Grateley, to walk home, getting home before the rain returned once more.

 

A 802 at London Paddington

 It was an enjoyable weekend, sadly Sunday was a bit of a make it up as I went along sort of day due to the weather, but my mum enjoyed her weekend away :).