Trips in July 2022
July
was a busier month than June for me, including a few more overnight stays plus a couple railtours to the North East.
2nd July (Carmarthen)
A daytrip to Carmarthen with my mum, a day of looking out of the window at the passing scenery as it was also a “IET on tour” trip with the GWR IETs diverted via Gloucester due to the Severn Tunnel being closed. At Carmarthen we ended up doing a little loop around the river to the Johnstown area of the town. As an extra bonus during the fester at Westbury, a pair of 47s arrived on a tour from the West Country, although hopelessly late, but they made a nice noise when they departed
47593 at Westbury
3rd July (West Byfleet – Hampton Court Walk)
Another
walk for me today, as I headed towards West Byfleet to walk along the
Basingstoke Canal to the junction with the Wey Navigation, before following
that canal towards Weybridge & the River Thames. I picked up the Thames Path and headed
towards Hampton Court, a mixed bag for views of the river as a bit of it was
behind trees, but the parts which were visible were nice
After reaching Hampton Court I headed towards Clapham Junction before revisiting Thornton Heath & Cheam for better photos, doing another short walk from Cheam to Belmont to cover the Epsom Downs branch on a 377, which a slight unusual combo of a 377/3 attached to a 377/6.
8th July (Trip to Doncaster)
I booked onto the Lackenby Looper railtour run by the BLS, which was starting from Doncaster. I booked up a room in a shared house roughly a mile from the station, as well as tickets on LNER (20:33 to Leeds). So, to kill time after arriving at London I took a spin on the Elizabeth Line from Tottenham Court Road to Paddington & back before heading towards Kings Cross.
I shouldn’t have rushed because the inbound of the 20:33 was running late, eventually departing London 35-odd minutes late, and only got later due to being a 91 hauled set instead of an Azuma. I had forgotten how badly the Mk4 coaches ride, bouncing more than a pacer with acceleration to rival a snail. Anyhow it eventually made it to Doncaster and located the house where I had a room. Cheap & cheerful was the order of the day, quite reasonable but was a bit warm, certainly better than paying Premier Inn £150 like they wanted for this weekend.
9th July - Lackenby Looper Tour
I headed towards Doncaster station going via Sainsburys for supplies, although I could have taken a bit longer as the ECS for the tour was late arriving at the station due to a failed freight train. Winners 70016 & 66955 took the tour for the first leg, where a couple bits were axed (going via Selby Canal & reversing into sidings at Thirsk). The tour went north, bypassing York on the avoiding line and towards Yarm for the final pick-up, before going into Tees Yard where the Freightliner locos were replaced by 60092.
Next destination was the Hartlepool 20” Pipe Mill, with 66010 heading the train into the site with 60092 hauling the train into the pipe mill itself for that extra bit of track. The next area the tour headed to was Lackenby Steel works, a bit of a sad site with part of the area being knocked down due to closures. The 66s detached from the train with an industrial loco being attached to one end for a slow trip onto the steel works site itself (passing a lot of old locos to reach the Beam Mill).
After the trip into the work site, 66010 had disappeared to get replaced by 66198 which was working in tandem with 60092 to take the tour to Middlesborough for an hour break. Enough time for me to pop to a Sainsburys for dinner items and doing a little loop towards the stadium area before heading back to the station, where 66010 had been replaced by another required DB 66, this time 66094.
The 66 took the train to the Network Rail boundary on the Skinningrove branch (part of the long freight line which starts from the Saltburn area). A very beautiful line in places where it runs close to the sea, 66198 was back in charge for the run back towards Middlesborough, reversing on the goods line near Grangetown Junction (near the former Grangetown station), with one final trip into the Redcar Ore Terminal, passing the sad remains of British Steel Redcar.
View from freight line towards Skinningrove
One final reversal with the train heading back out towards Middlesborough, taking the goods line around the back of the station before the first set-down at Yarm. After Yarm the tour did the dive-under to avoid the platforms at Northallerton for a run towards Thirsk & a busy York (for York races was on). A brief pause after York station for a Doncaster bound Azuma to pass, before the tour headed the same way to terminate at Doncaster, near enough on time.
I headed back towards the shared house after a very good railtour, bits of new track scored and 6 mainline locos into my book.
10th July – Walkies in Doncaster area!
I was trying to think what to do for a walk, eventually deciding on the day to head away from the shared house towards the Doncaster Lake (where I noticed the Travelodge did have a nice view of said lake), before heading towards the Bessacarr area of the city. I crossed over the ECML on a footbridge I must have been underneath many times (close to Loversall Carr Junction), where if I had a camera with a decent zoom, I could have spotted the derailed 66).
A LNER Azuma heading towards Doncaster near Loversall Carr Junction
After going via the Doncaster iPort Lakes I ended up on the trackbed of the former Dearne Valley Railway, which I followed this mixed used path to the end in the Balby area of Doncaster, following some roads to cross over the A1(M) to re-join the mixed used path on the former trackbed heading towards Edlington area. Another section of walking on the road due to the trackbed no longer existing, before re-joining it for a 3rd time for the walk towards the wonderful Conisbrough Viaduct, walking over the viaduct before coming down the hill to view the viaduct from a footpath.
I got a bit lost following the footpath before climbing up to re-join the old trackbed for the final section towards Conisborough station, where I had a short 15-minute wait before a 170 rolled in to take me to Doncaster, where the first order was to head to Sainsburys for some food & more drink (as I managed to drink nearly 3 litres of water on that walk!).
Required 801212 took me to London on my booked train, where I did an underground avoidance move (due to the heat) with Thameslink & South Eastern to Waterloo, before the 17:45 Salisbury train to take me home.
Conisbrough Viaduct from below
14th July – Heading to Crewe
I had a long weekend, based in my usual accommodation in Crewe (a shared house around a half-mile away from the station), so the Thursday evening was spent heading towards Crewe with a fast turnaround after finishing work. I got lucky as the 16:59 service from Grateley was delayed by around 30 minutes, which saved getting a lift to Andover.
After Basingstoke it was onto a pair of 450s on a semi-fast run towards London Waterloo, where I headed towards Euston, swinging via Sainsburys to get something to eat for dinner before heading down to see that I got lucky with a pair of 350/1s on the Crewe train.
2 and a bit hours later I had arrived at Crewe and walked to the shared house, getting myself checked in and making myself comfortable.
15th July – North Wales
An early start with the first train towards Chester from Crewe, an Avanti voyager, where I had a short wait before 67025 rolled in from Holyhead to take me towards Shrewsbury (non-stop after Wrexham). Sadly, the other 67 set had been replaced by a pair of 153s which was also starting at Chester, so it was back towards Chester on a busy 158 where I popped out of the station to locate Tesco for some supplies, getting a bit lost along the way as the location on Google Maps isn’t the best (takes you to the backdoor).
After my trip to Tesco, I returned to Chester to board a pair of 153s on the Holyhead train, which unusually go nonstop to Llandudno Junction, although rather oddly has to slow down to use the platform loop at Rhyl (unless the through line is out of use). The 153s kept to good time as they arrived at Holyhead, where I had a short turnaround before they returned to Bangor (where the train departed pretty much full & standing).
A 3 coach 175 was up next to take me back to Holyhead, to allow me to tick off the lesser used platform 3, before boarding an Avanti voyager to Flint, one of those stations I needed for a better photo. This is where I noticed the return of 67025 had been swapped over for a 175 (much to my annoyance as getting a 67 to Holyhead will have to wait for another trip). So, I came up with a new plan and bailed from a busy 2 coach 175 at Abergale & Pensarn and started to walk along the coastal path towards Rhyl.
197102 on a test run near Pensarn
In the Rhyl area, I looked up timings and decided to carry on the coastal walk to reach Prestatyn, a nice coastal path although at times the sea was hidden behind rocks. I arrived at Prestatyn with time to spare before a busy 3 coach 175 arrived from Holyhead (which should have been the 67 set!), this took me to Chester, where I changed to board a pair of 153s on the Wrexham General service, as one was needed as a 153/9 (and was a time-wasting move).
Due to delays with northbound services, I took the same pair of 153s back to Chester (they would continue to Liverpool) and headed out of the station to do a little loop involving the River Dee & Shropshire Union canal. The riverside path started off well with good views of the river, but soon the river disappeared behind trees. The path took me round the side of the racecourse, and I continued to reach the connection between the River Dee and the canal, walking along the canal to reach Tesco (dinner break) and finally back at Chester station.
My last train of the day was a triple 153 on the Crewe shuttle, although this was held up outside Crewe station for 15 minutes. This was due to track issues (broken crossover) and needed to wait for a Holyhead train to depart before it could go into platform 9.
16th July – Cheshire
I had a few ideas what to do today, eventually I decided on doing a couple shorter walks rather than one long one. But first I headed towards Manchester on a pair of 3 coach 175s, before catching required 769450 for the run to Alderley Edge returning to Manchester on a 319. Sadly, my last Northern 769 wasn’t out on this Saturday, so I will look for it on my trip in August.
My next service was a busy 3 coach 175 on a North Wales train (pretty sure it was Llandudno), I took this to Frodsham where the first of my walks started. I headed towards the river Weaver to do a little loop on an island between the river & navigation, coming up to the Sutton Weaver swing bridge, before heading back along the road, pausing for a photo of trains crossing the Frodsham viaduct. After this I followed a footpath which followed close to the river Weaver, although it was quite overgrown in places (had to go into ‘bulldozer’ mode a couple times to force my way through. The river was quite nice in places as it was near the mouth.
After leaving the riverside path I followed another path passing close to the Helsby marshes and a nature reserve near the Manchester Ship Canal. I followed some more paths, including one which just ceased to exist (went across a field, meeting up with an access track for a wind turbine before just disappearing). I made it to Helsby station with a few minutes to spare before a pair of 153s rolled in from Chetser to take me to Runcorn, where I popped out of the station to visit a nearby Co-Op to get lunch.
66131 passes Winsford station
Back at Runcorn station, I had a short wait before a pair of 350s rolled in on the Birmingham train which took me to Winsford, one of those stations where I needed a better photo, and I had my second walk of the day. This was another walk involving the river Weaver, as I headed towards a riverside path for an enjoyable walk once outside the town area, as it went rural before a bit of industry. I carried my walk to reach the outskirts of Northwich, heading towards the station, swinging via a little independent shop for some cheap drink before a pair of 150s took me to Chester.
This is where my original rough idea went into the bin as I was going to head to Helsby again to catch the Ellesmere Port service to revisit Ince & Elton for some better photos but as usual that service got cancelled due to a staff shortage (which makes sense, best to keep the staff working services which are more useful). With some extra time to waste at Chester I headed over to platform 1 for a quadratic dogbox on the Crewe shuttles. It needed all 4 coaches due to the crowds waiting for it! I took this to Crewe (bit hard to take it anywhere else!), making a connection onto a late running pair of Avanti voyagers to Warrington, for I needed to be in Manchester for around 20:25 to intercept a certain TPE service.
153353 at Crewe on a Quad 153 lash-up
At Warrington Bank Quay I had a short wait before a 195 arrived from Chester, emptying out at Warrington, allowing me to get a decent seat for the run to Manchester Victoria, where I had a short tram hunt in case any of the newer trams were hanging around (saw a couple, but heading in the wrong direction), before I headed out on a slow walk towards Piccadilly swinging via Tesco & the Co-Op near the station (they had bottles of Pepsi Max for £1, and my water bottle was nearly empty).
I noticed when at Piccadilly, the ticket gates for platforms 1-5 were in use, but the ones for 6-9 were wide open (with contractors guarding the entrance to 10-12), such a pointless act considering you can simply walk through an open gate to access any of the platforms (bar the lesser used P12). I had a short wait before winner 397008 rolled in from Scotland, my last 397, so onwards to the Airport. I wasn’t expecting to get this unit earlier in the day as it was unallocated, but I checked around lunchtime to see it had ended up on a Scottish service (otherwise I would have had a nice early night, even getting a takeaway from one of the places between Crewe station & the shared house).
Anyhow with the 397s now all ticked off, I returned to Piccadilly on the next available train, a 319 working a stopper/semi-fast Liverpool service. At Piccadilly I made my way over to board a 2 coach 175 on the last train towards Shrewsbury, getting a seat with ease for the run to Crewe, where I headed to the shared house to relax for the rest of the evening.
17th July – West Midlands Metro Extension
My plan for this warm Sunday changed when news broke that the latest extension to the West Midlands Metro was due to open on Sunday, my original plan was to take a 350 to Alsager to walk back to Crewe via a couple disused railway line paths to Sandbach before following some footpaths to reach Crewe. I checked out of the shared house and headed towards the Tesco near the station for breakfast (I miss a Sainsburys Local which was located close to the shared house, but that closed earlier in the year).
I was going to take the first Birmingham train (a 350/2) to New Street (although part of me was tempted to bail at Tame Bridge Parkway for a canalside walk), but this ended up getting cancelled, along with the following 350 due to a lineside fire around Norton Bridge knocking out the signalling. So, it was onto a busy 4 coach voyager on a slow crawl towards Stafford on the slow line, before the voyager getting very busy at Wolverhampton. I stayed on to Birmingham New Street and headed towards the tram stop.
Over the next couple hours, I managed to tick off all the new trams currently in service (38-45, excluding 39 which I got earlier in the year), visiting all 3 new stops on the Edgaston Village extension. Meeting up with a couple friends along the way, before I headed to Birmingham New Street to make my slow way to London. Sadly, my luck ran out with the next London train being a pair of 350/2s, however I noticed the next Crewe – London train was running 10 minutes late, turning a minus 5 into a plus 5 at Rugby.
West Midland Metro Tram 43 at Edgaston Village
This connection was a bit of a risk considering the train from Crewe was a single unit and I know how crowded the Crewe – London, LNR services can get on Sundays. Thankfully it was a 350/1 and where it was busy when it rolled in, enough passengers alighted to allow me to grab a seat for the run to London Euston. As I had arrived around 45 minutes ahead of my original plan, I had time to walk to Euston Square for a nice Air-Conditioned Circle Line service to Paddington, changing over to a pair of 800s on the first available train towards Reading.
I did my usual trick to walk right to the front of the service, allowing me a choice of seats when the train manager making announcements that “there are plenty of seats up front, don’t all crowd round the first available door”). I took these 800s to Reading, changing to board a pair of 158s on the 17:12 Salisbury train, to take me home, to try and cool off (I would say have a shower, but at the time our bathroom at home was being modernised with a walk-in shower replacing the bath tub).
22nd July – London Afternoon
I was booked on the latest UK Railtours charter train on the Saturday, starting from Finsbury Park to head towards Boulby, I managed to get a reasonable priced hotel in the Premier Inn at Croydon, so I decided to take a half-day holiday from work to head to London on the 12:59 train from Grateley (a very tight turnaround at home, involving getting a lift from mum, I was originally aiming for the 13:37-odd from Andover, but I noticed before leaving work that was running quite late so predicted it was going to have the Andover call ripped out, a prediction which came true).
After arriving in Waterloo, forming a rough plan for ticking off some low mileage Networkers & Crossrail units, my first job was to head towards Stratford on the Jubilee Line, changing for a DLR service for the final leg to Stratford International (always an interesting route as it gives time to try and see where the tracks used to continue towards Hackney Wick in the days of the North London Line towards North Woolwich). After giving help to a tourist trying to get to Margate for the weekend, I touched into the oyster system at Stratford International to head to St Pancras on 395028, my last 395 needed for ten miles (with thanks to the blog post from Part Time Spotter).
395028 arrives at Stratford International
A short wait at Chislehurst before the next Charing Cross service which had low mileage 466013 on the rear, this took me to London Bridge, where I changed over to board a busy pair of 465s which featured 465922 for the nonstop run to Grove Park, which used platform 3, a first for me (seems the half hourly Orpington extras use the fast lines to Grove Park before crossing over to the slow lines beyond the station). I returned north to Hither Green, before taking a busy pair of 376s I saw heading towards Charing Cross at London Bridge as low mileage 376014 was on the rear.
466019 departs Grove Park Station
The run to New Eltham was more than enough for this 376 as I returned to Hither Green on the next London train (another pair of 376s). Next up was a trio of networkers to take me to Petts Wood where I exited the station to visit the nearby Morrisons for dinner, before returning to take a pair of 376s one stop to Orpington. A short wait before low mileage 376005 rolled in from Sevenoaks which I took all the way to London Bridge, another 376 pushed over the line.
Time to switch over as I took a 700 a few stops to Farringdon, changing over to board low mileage 345060 for the run to Paddington on the Elizabeth Line, where I had a short wait before my last outright required 345 was due to depart on a Heathrow train. I took 345041 to Hayes & Harlington to clear it for ten miles, returning to Paddington on another 345, and back towards the core platforms for a run out to Woolwich on the first available train. I had a short wait at Woolwich before my last 345 I needed for mileage rolled in, 345019. I took this to Farringdon, sounding the air horns of another class clearance.
345019 at Custom House Station, Class cleared for 10 miles
I decided to pop outside the station at Farringdon to head to a nearby Tesco as I was still a bit hungry, which turned out to be a good idea as when I returned the first available East Croydon train was a sub-mile 700013, for a little bonus. At East Croydon I exited the station, heading to the Premier Inn to get myself checked in (getting a room on the 7th floor, but annoyingly overlooking the entrance so not the quietest due to all the smokers). I didn’t make it to Barking Riverside, which was the only downside of the day, but getting some more South Eastern units over ten miles, plus clearing my Elizabeth Line units was more worthwhile in my eyes.
23rd July - The Fighting Cocks Flyer Tour
An early start as I grabbed some supplies from Sainsburys before taking a 700 from East Croydon to Finsbury Park, arriving with time to spare with the tour train already on the platform. A very purple 67007 was on the front (first time for me having the former sleeper loco in England) with mostly Mk2 coaches. I was in standard class near the rear of the train, saying hello to those on my table. The tour departed on time and headed along the ECML doing a couple unusual bits along the way (via platform 4 at Welwyn Garden City and the goods loop at Grantham).
An extended dwell in Doncaster, as it was booked to come away from the mainline around Loversall Carr Junction to go to Doncaster via the route used by the EMR services from Lincoln. That route was unavailable due to the derailment a couple weeks back, so the charter went straight into the station forcing a couple LNER services to use platform 8 instead of platform 4. After Doncaster the train went away from the wires to head towards Knottingley then Ferrybridge, doing a little weave at Church Fenton before the York avoider.
67007 at Finsbury Pak
After the York area, the 67 put on a good bit of speed as it headed towards Northallerton, taking the freight line to bypass the platforms by using the dive-under. It continued towards Tees Yard where it paused in the yard with the 67 getting detached with required 60066 getting put on the front and dud 66103 on the back (pretty sure 66103 was the first ever 66 I had, back in 2013 time when it worked a steam tour from Shrewsbury to Bristol due to delays on the outward journey).
The tour continued using the goods line behind Middlesborough station, and the goods line behind South Bank station, before heading towards the freight only line towards Boulby Potash Mine. A line I did part of a couple weeks previously, but this time the train went right at the junction and carried on all the way into the Potash Mine, making it to the buffer stops. After the trip to the Potash Mine, it was back towards the mainline around Saltburn, for a run towards Middlesborough where the option was given to have an hour break where the train went off to Tees Yard to get watered.
I headed towards Sainsburys and did a little loop towards the Transporter Bridge during my hour at Middlesborough before the train rolled back in from the sidings, now with 67007 back on. 66103 hauled the service towards some sidings near Darlington station, where for whatever reason the train departed half an hour late, time it didn’t really get back for the run back towards London.
Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge
Along the way south it went via the Selby canal curve (mainly to get out of the way to allow service trains to pass), plus a couple loops along the way (including the goods loop at Newark Northgate). Sadly, it didn’t make back much of the lost time so by the time it reached Finsbury Park (getting delayed further due to following a Moorgate stopper pretty much all the way from Potters Bar), the last direct train to East Croydon had gone. I took an 8 coach 700 into Kings Cross for a short walk across to St Pancras to take a late night 12 coach 700 service which went on a little crawling tour of South London, via Tulse Hill & Selhurst.
Eventually I reached East Croydon (didn’t fall asleep and end up in Brighton!), but sadly to make things worse, the side entrance was closed up, meaning it was a case of dodging the drunks by the main station entrance, I was glad to get back to the hotel room.
24th July – Marston Vale Line… On a Sunday?
My original idea for this Sunday was to have a gentle walk along the Thames Path from Wandsworth to Richmond, but when I saw that the Marston Vale line had trains running (to support a festival in Bedford) I decided to change my mind to head towards Bedfordshire instead (mainly for the novelty of the Marston Vale on a Sunday).
I will admit I did hit snooze on my alarm deciding to start an hour later, checking out of the hotel and swinging via Wendys for a breakfast (mmm Bacon), before heading to the station for a busy pair of 377s to Clapham Junction for a 377 towards Watford Junction. My original idea was to catch the next 350 service towards Bletchley, but I noticed that was a 4-coach unit with the previous train cancelled, I decided to jump on a Pendo to Milton Keynes, which judging by reports that the Northampton train left passengers behind at London was a good decision.
A short wait at Milton Keynes before heading to Bletchley on a busy pair of 350s (well the rear unit was busy; I didn’t see what the front unit was like as the connecting door between the units was locked. At Bletchley it was a longer wait than expected as 230004 was late from the depot, so departed around 10 minutes late with a reasonable load. I took this 230 to Milbrook in order to have a little walk towards Stewartby, taking in the path which goes around Stewartby lake.
I arrived at Stewartby with time to spare before required 230003 rolled in which I took to the nothing station at Kempston Hardwick. Needless to say, I was the only passenger on the station for the short wait before 230003 returned from Bedford to take me to Fenny Stratford where I had another change of plan. Originally, I was going to take a walk along the canal to Leighton Buzzard but decided to do a walk around a couple of the lakes, after visiting a nearby Iceland to grab extra drink.
230003 departs Kempston Hardwick
The first lake was the Mount Farm Lake, near the stadium, before I headed towards the large Caldecotte Lakes, doing a loop round both the north & south lakes, originally, I was going to call it a day at Bow Brickhill, but as I had time on my side, I carried on returning to Fenny Stratford, before heading into Bletchley. I made the connection to a pair of 350/1s from Birmingham (ironically the same pair I had a few hours earlier from Milton Keynes), even getting a table seat for the run to Watford Junction.
Caldecotte Lake
Due to the heat (and time) I decided on an Underground avoidance move using a 377 to Clapham Junction, followed by a 159+158 service which got delayed due to a door fault. Bravo to the staff on that service for keeping the service running, as I suspect it could have easy to have cancelled the service at Woking to run it back ECS, but they kept it going, even with an extended dwell at Basingstoke to allow the next Exeter service to overtake. Eventually I got back to Grateley around 45 minutes late, the end of an enjoyable weekend, God knows when my next railtour will be, they are just getting too expensive, taking into account any accommodation or travel needs.
29th July – Barking Riverside
This trip was to visit the new station at Barking Riverside, something I had hoped to do the Friday before, but got carried away with my mileage requirements on South Eastern/Elizabeth Line. Although the journey towards London was delayed due to the stopper departing Salisbury 15-odd minutes late and being rather full due to the previous London train being quite late and having stops ripped out. This unit got to Basingstoke, and I had a 20-minute wait before the next London train rolled in, a busy pair of 159s from Exeter (which amazingly were nearly on time, considering the large delays on the West of England line).
I took this service to Clapham Junction, changing over to a pair of 455s to Vauxhall for a Victoria line service to Blackhorse Road, arriving with a couple minutes to spare for the next Barking Riverside train. After Barking where the new track begins, I certainly felt the curve as the train ran into Barking Riverside, an area I wouldn’t mind returning to due to having a footpath near the riverside which looks like it will be interesting for views. However, as darkness was setting that will need to wait for another day. I returned to Barking on the same 710, changing over to a pair of 357s for the run into Fenchurch Street on a “I’ve got an hour to get to Waterloo, so let’s waste some time” style move. I walked to Tower Hill for a District line service to Blackfriars. A 700 took me to London Bridge followed by a pair of 376s to Waterloo East, after swinging via Tesco for something to munch on, I settled down on the 22:20 service back to Grateley.
710269 at Barking Riverside
Not the longest of trips in London but allowed me to tick off Barking Riverside station.
30th July – Basingstoke Canal Walk
Due to the late finish on the Friday I decided to have a later start on the Saturday, starting with the 09:59 service. Thankfully SWR weren’t involved in the driver strike action on other operators (which did force a change of plan for a walk). I took the 09:59 service to Woking changing over to board a pair of 450s to Ash Vale. After a quick visit to a nearby Tesco Express I headed towards the towpath of the Basingstoke Canal, noticing that the water level was lower than usual (lack of rain) and started my walk.
This walk took me along the towpath, passing Aldershot camp, Fleet, some lovely rural areas before reaching the Odiham area. The only negative with the towpath is that some areas were quite narrow due to bushes, but the towpath quality was good. Anyhow around Odiham I turned away from the canal to head towards Hook station, getting a bit lost along the way due to a footpath no longer existing.
I arrived at Hook with a couple minutes to spare before the next pair of 450s rolled in to take me one stop to Basingstoke. I collapsed on the seat, enjoying the AC, all be for a few minutes. At Basingstoke I changed platforms to take the next Salisbury stopper back to Grateley, where I relaxed for the remainder of the evening.
31st July – Southend
The last day of July, and it was another trip with mum. Back in May we were planning to head to Southend after a railtour, but that got rained off, so today felt like a good time to head that direction as the weather was dry. The day started with the 07:37 service to take us to London, the usual Sunday morning crawling after Wimbledon as the service had to fit in alongside the stoppers due to the two-track timetable.
At Waterloo, we headed towards the Jubilee line for the run to Stratford, before a short wait to board a 5 coach 720 for the run towards Southend Victoria. Unusually it didn’t use the dive-under at Shenfield as the train sped towards Southend, even featured some RPIs getting tickets. At Southend Victoria, we got a bit lost trying to find the entrance to the Sainsburys to grab lunch, before walking towards the pier, paying the entrance fee for a “Walk & Ride” ticket, to walk the 1.3 miles along the pier. An enjoyable walk with views of the water underneath and the passing train, although oddly it was only running 1 train back & forth every 30 minutes (which felt a bit low for the Summer Sunday).
We waited at the Pier End station for the train to return, it was the older 1980s era diesel train (Sir William Heygate) with the 2 modern battery trains stabled at the other station. Needless to say, with only 2 trains an hour the train was quite busy, but soon it reached the Shore station. After we exited the pier railway station, we had an ice-cream before heading towards the Cliff Lift. Sadly, the Cliff Lift wasn’t operating on this day, so it was back towards a normal lift to take us to the top of Tower Hill, and a short walk to Southend Central.
A pair of 357s arrived to take us towards Liverpool Street, where we headed to the sub surface platforms for a busy Hammersmith train (not as busy as a Met line service with all the kickball fans heading to the cup final at Wembley). This underground service took us to Paddington, where we boarded the first available train to Reading, a 5 coach 802 for Oxford. It was reasonably busy when it departed but emptied out at Slough, at Reading we headed to the nearby Wendys for dinner before returning to the station for the 17:12 Salisbury train to take us to Grateley, the end of a nice trip to Southend.
Southend Pier Railway Sir William Heygate on pier
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