Trips in August 2023
4th
August – An afternoon spin to Portway Parkway
For my first trip for August I put in a half day holiday at work in order to visit the latest station in the Bristol area, Portway Park & Ride on the Severn Beach line, the trip starting with a fast drive home and walk to Grateley station to catch the 13:07 service towards Salisbury (a single 159). At Salisbury I had around 20 minutes to wait before the next Cardiff train, watching a 3 coach 166 roll in from Cardiff towards Portsmouth being rather cosy once it cleared Salisbury. I had a bit of luxury with a pair of 158s (747 & 760) for the run towards Bristol.
At Bristol Temple Meads I managed to make a connection to a late running Avonmouth service (165135) which I took to Portway Park & Ride. A reasonable number of passengers alighting, but I suspect most were residents where the new station is closer to their homes than Avonmouth or Sea Mills. The delay to the Avonmouth train caused the next Bristol bound train to also run late (all the single track) as I headed back towards Bristol on 166213.
165135 at Portway Park & Ride Station
For lack of a better idea, I jumped off at Lawrence Hill to walk towards Temple Meads going via Gaunts Ham Park before picking up the remains of the old railway line towards the floating harbour before walking alongside the water to reach Castle Park swinging via Tesco Express. A walk to waste some time before my next random unplanned move, which involved 800015 on the Great Malvern service. Solely for the slight novelty of an IET working a local stopping service on the line via Yate.
I took this 800 to Worcester Foregate Street, spending the time looking out of the window, and with time to kill decided to walk back towards Worcester Shrub Hill due to some undesirables hanging around Foregate Street. At Worcester Shrub Hill it was a short wait before 800018 rolled in from Foregate Street (the IETs swapped over as this was the time Oxford was blocked) to take me to Cheltenham Spa where I stepped back to board the next XC Bristol service. Thankfully a 5-coach voyager which was moderately busy, but I managed to get a pair of seats to myself, with the bonus of having a window.
800015 at Worcester Foregate Street
This is where things started to go wrong, as SWR had cancelled the last train from Salisbury towards London, so after arriving at Temple Meads it was a short wait before 166217 rolled in on the Portsmouth service. I got lucky to grab a seat in the former 1st class area (just for the extra comfort) for the run towards Salisbury, where I got a lift home, rather than waiting round to see if SWR would be bothered putting on replacement transport for the cancelled London train, or would they go down their usual route of “pay for a taxi yourself and we will eventually give you back the money” (assuming you could find a taxi who would be willing to leave the city centre area).
An enjoyable trip, until the end, but we did make use of the time to swing via a Tesco to get supplies for Sunday, so the drive home wasn’t all pointless. Portway Park & Ride visited, leaving Thanet Parkway to visit (although god knows when I will get round to visiting that station), as well as the novelty of an IET from Bristol to Worcester.
5th August – Buses to London
Originally my plan for today was to visit Thanet Parkway, with the idea of making use of the expense to reach that part of Kent to walk the old railway line route from Canterbury towards Whitstable, however the weather forecast was wet, wet & wet, so I parked that idea for Thanet into the sidings and came up with a crazy idea to reach London (well Kingston) by Stagecoach buses from Andover.
Another short notice change was that I was originally going to drive to Andover, but I decided to take the train (which in hindsight wasn’t the best decision). The rain held off for my walk from the railway station to the bus station where I had a couple of hours to waste before the first bus of my adventure to London, so I did a couple of local bus routes starting off with the route 9 towards the Floral Way housing area on a 20-year-old Optare Solo (47032). A quiet bus route (only runs every 2 hours which probably gives a reflection in how well used it is).
Stagecoach 47032 (KX03 KYV) at Andover Bus Station
Back at the bus station 25 minutes later and it was onto another Optare Solo (a 06 plate 47310) on the route 11 service towards the housing at Saxon Fields doing the round trip looking out of the window at the various styles of houses in a part of Andover I had never visited before. One crazy idea I had was to try and cover the various bus routes which operate in the Andover area, although something which seems to have gotten easier as Stagecoach no longer run some of the “C” prefixed village routes.
Anyhow still with time to waste before the first Winchester bus, it was back onto bus 47032 (I will say the seats on these older Solos are quite comfy), this time on a route 13 towards Picket Piece, returning to the bus station as a route 13a taking a different route (Colenzo Drive rather than Vigo Road). Anyhow back at Andover bus station once more, and after swinging via the toilets it was a case of joining the queue for the first route 85 to Winchester, being run with a 56 plate Enviro 400 (19079).
This bus is quite fast as once outside Andover town centre, it joins the A303 then the A34 (both dual carriageways). At the Winchester end it exits the A34 at Littleton running towards Winchester bus station via the suburbs (Weeke, Fulflood). At Winchester it was a short walk the bus stops on Broadway to catch the next route 64 (with bus 10889 (an Enviro 400)). This route is a popular half hourly service running towards Alton via New Alresford & Four Marks (following the route of the Watercress heritage line, which is something still on my list to try and do at some point).
Stagecoach (South) 10889 (YX67 VCA) at Alton Railway Station
Anyhow the bus arrived at Alton station where I changed onto the route 65 service (with an Enviro 200, 36839). The inbound was running late so I decided to hop onto the inbound service to Alton town centre for no reason other than to get out of the drizzle. This bus route took me towards Guildford, going via Bentley, Farnham before running fast along the A31 towards Guildford. The part of the route along the A31 gave some excellent views of countryside (in between the trees), and thankfully the late running was near enough made up by the time it reached Guildford.
My last bus using my Stagecoach South Gold day ticket, a bargain for £8 for the area it covers was the route 715 for Kingston Upon Thames (which has changed to Falcon buses from Stagecoach). This was a busy Enviro 200 (37409) going out of Guildford towards Ripley, Cobham, Esher before reaching Kingston Upon Thames, a few minutes late due to roadworks on the A3. Along the way the heavens absolutely opened, I was glad to be on the bus (the windows were closed rapid by other passengers). An enjoyable bus route as I switched from road to rail to meet up with a friend.
Stagecoach (South) Bus 37409 (YX65 PYB) at Kingston Cromwell Road Bus Station
The next few hours were spent pinging around the SWR network (I got a trio of 450s I required for renumbering) before we transferred to South Eastern for a spin to Bromley North, walking to Bromley South for the slight novelty of 375s calling at Herne Hill station (stepping back to a pair of 465s to Brixton). Sadly, this is where things went wrong as due to an incident (mild landslip) around Whitchurch, SWR had thrown the towel in with the diesels. No replacement buses, just the usual “pay for a taxi yourself, and we will give you the money back eventually” assuming you could find a taxi willing (and I dread to think how much the taxi fare would be from Basingstoke to Grateley).
Anyhow it was time to say farewell to Jules as I jumped on a pair of 444s for Basingstoke, where I transferred to the bus stop outside the station for a route 76 to Andover. When I was at the bus stop looking up what bus I would get, I needed to laugh when it was a little Optare Solo (14 plate 47924, so not one of those older models). Needless to say, with no trains running, it was extremely busy, leaving passengers behind at Basingstoke bus station. When it reached Andover, I got a lift home (the 2nd day ending with mum taxi service).
465189 at Bromley North
Other than the farce with the trains at the end, it was an enjoyable day. A bit different than the usual London day, seeing various parts of the countryside or towns I’ve either never visited or only paid a brief visit years ago.
6th August - The Pembroke Coast Express
When I saw this tour go on sale from Pathfinder, with a rare Salisbury start (used to be more common a few years ago when the Mk1 coaches were based at Eastleigh, before they shifted to Burton on Trent) I decided to treat my mum for a little day trip to Pembrokeshire. The day started with an easy drive to Salisbury and onto the train. 33025 & 33029 were the locos at the business end of the train (first time I’ve had haulage from 33s) with 47813 on the rear (for the reversal from Pembroke Dock).
33025 at Salisbury
One minor issue I have with Pathfinder is how they do the seating plan, with sitting everybody from station X into one coach, rather than spreading them out throughout the coaches, so one coach is busy when other coaches are empty until the final pick up. Legroom on the Mk2 coaches in standard class isn’t the best (it isn’t that much better in 1st class, doesn’t help that the seats are low to the ground). Anyhow the train departed towards Bristol picking up at various stations along the way (including a 15-minute pathing stop at Westbury allowing for photos). Within Bristol the tour took the Dr Days curve to avoid Temple Meads station, before another pick-up at Filton Abbey Wood before continuing towards South Wales.
The final pick-up was at Newport, where another longer stop was had due to early running (the train which the tour was meant to follow from Patchway was running late and was behind it). Another break from the warm coach with AC which wasn’t working the best (I will admit to preferring the Mk1 coaches on warmer days with windows which could be opened, just for fresh(ish) air.
33029 at Newport
Anyhow, after Newport the train continued heading west, passing Cardiff, Bridgend & Neath to take the Swansea avoiding line near Landore depot to carry on towards Gowerton, Llanelli and towards Carmarthen but using the bypass line to head towards Whitland. The train caused a bit of chaos in Whitland as it got delayed due to awaiting a late running train to come off the branch line so blocked the level crossing for 20-odd minutes. Soon enough the busy looking 150 came off the branch line and the tour continued towards Tenby where it paused to drop off passengers. After Tenby the train continued to Pembroke Dock, first time down this line for a good few years and I had forgotten how rural it got in places.
At Pembroke Dock, there was a short break for photos (including some idiots who went onto the tracks in front of the train to get photos) before the train headed back towards Tenby where we had an hour break when the train got watered (made easier as TfW had cancelled the next Pembroke Dock train, I know truly shocking that). Tenby had been on my list for a little explore (as when I visited the station in 2017 it was a case of swapping trains as they passed). It’s a lovely town with walls, castles & a beautiful beach, a place I wouldn’t mind coming back to again in the future.
Tenby Castle Beach & St Catherines Fort
Back on the train and it headed back towards Whitland then towards Swansea (using the Carmarthen avoider, required track in that direction as I had only done it heading towards Fishguard). The 47 ran into the station to allow the 33s to take over for the run back towards Salisbury, the only change to the route was going via Barry towards Cardiff. After Newport the train started to empty out as it carried on back towards Salisbury, clawing back the lost time due to running late behind the 47, which made some passengers happy as they were banking on making a 20-minute connection to the last Waterloo train (brave people).
An enjoyable day looking out of the window in a part of the country I hadn’t been to in a few years (2019 for Pembroke itself), and mum enjoyed her trip.
10th August – Onwards to Crewe once more
For my main ‘holiday’ for August I booked up a 4 night stay in the shared house in Crewe (yes it might have some flaws but for the price & location it is hard to beat). Due to my route home on the Monday I decided to treat myself to a fast Pendo as it was only 50p more than the 20:46 Crewe service and for that sort of difference it is worth paying extra in my eyes.
Anyhow I finished work on the Thursday, headed home, finished packing before heading to the station for the 17:59 service to Basingstoke, a busy 3 coach unit due to the previous London train running so late all stops after Salisbury had been ripped out. This 159 took me to Basingstoke where due to the reduced timetable due to the overtime ban, the next London train would have been the sprinters in 30 minutes time (which themselves were running late) so I headed over to platform 5 to take 165118 to Reading, turning down the first London Paddington train as it was very busy on the platform (and short formed to be a 5-coach unit rather than 9/10).
The next service was a pair of 387s from Cardiff for the nonstop run to Paddington, where I set of on foot towards Euston going via the North Carriage Drive of Hyde Park towards Marble Arch (sadly all enclosed for repair works). I went via the busy Oxford Street (passing all the various overpriced American candy shops which do a roaring trade by phantom customers). At Oxford Circus I headed north towards Great Portland Street station, following Euston road towards Euston.
All Souls Langham Place, London
It was onto a 9 coach Pendo (008) on the Preston train, calling at various stations along the way, overtaking the late running LNR Crewe train between Stafford & Crewe and unlike my previous trip to Crewe, this train was near enough on time. I exited the station at Crewe and made my way to the shared house, sorting out my bag for the next few days.
11th August – Leeds & Liverpool Canal Walk
The day started with a later than usual start, as when I looked at RTT when I woke up around 7am (body clock for you) the Crewe – Chester shuttle was a 2 coach 197 which I didn’t need so decided to relax before making my way to the station for the 09:23-odd Pendo to Liverpool (the first off-peak train to Liverpool). However, when I got to the station, I heard that the Chester train had 3 coaches, so my route changed and I took a seat on 197104 for the run to Chester, just to open my book on the 3 coach KitKat Carriers.
At Chester as I had 10 minutes before the next Merseyrail train I popped out via the temporary exit (the gateline area was being upgraded, hopefully being made larger with more gates) heading to the ticket office to buy a Saveaway ticket, just to save a job for when I reached Liverpool. After buying the ticket I headed via the temporary entrance and to platform 7 to board 508136 where I decided to have a last-minute change of plan and bailed at Bromborough Rake as there was a walk I wanted to do in this area (and it got me away from some youths being antisocial).
508136 departs Bromborough Rake
I exited the station, doing a U-turn to head on the opposite side of the footbridge to enter the beautiful Brotherton Park and Dibbinsdale Local Nature Reserve. An unexpected gem of woodland, going underneath the railway, following the Dibbinsdale brook to reach Spital Road, for a short section along Mill & Magazine Roads to reach a mixed used path which runs along an old freight railway line which served some industry units. I joined this path, making my way towards Port Sunlight where I joined 507028 for the run to Liverpool Central.
At Liverpool Central I popped out of the station to visit Sainsburys for lunch (and also the toilet as it made sense to visit as I wouldn’t know when the next toilet would be), before taking another 507 to Sandhills where my main walk began. Last April I walked from the city centre towards Sandhills on the start of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, so today I felt was a good chance to walk the next section from Sandhills towards Aintree via Bootle, Seaforth, Litherland.
Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Waddicar
I continued along the towpath, which was reasonable surface quality, bit narrow & low in places as it changed between industry, residential & rural. At Hancocks Swing Bridge I came away from the canal to do a little loop towards Fazakerley station, solely to cover part of an old railway route, going via some nice woodlands, although the railway path was a bit overgrown. My original idea was to finish the walk at Fazakerley station, but I decided to continue along the canal underneath the M57 and into some beautiful countryside. The canal towpath continued underneath the M58 reaching the village of Kennessee Green, which is where Maghull station is located.
An enjoyable canal side walk, as I made my way to the station, via a “One-Stop” shop to purchase much needed liquid supplies, and once at the station a visit to the WC was very much welcomed [only to wash my head as it was quite warm]. I had just missed a southbound train, but the next northbound was low mileage 777007 which I took to Aughton Park, forgetting how many steps there is between platforms here. Required 777008 took me all the way to Moorfields where I jumped onto 777001 before it got cancelled but continued to run towards Ormskirk (no idea what the fault was with that unit).
777001 at Moorfields
Due to the crowd, I decided to step back a service, jumping on 777007 to Liverpool Central, returning to board for the run to Maghull North, pushing this 777 over 10 miles. 777001 took me back towards Liverpool, where once more I returned north, this time to Kirkdale to push it over ten miles. There was one more 777 out which I couldn’t ID, but I decided enough was enough, heading back to Sandhills on 007, changing to board 508141 to Liverpool South Parkway, where I changed to a pair of 156s from the Warrington Central line to Edge Hill, changing once more for a 319 to Lime Street.
I had a short wait before 197112 rolled in to form the next Chester train, which unusually departs between the LNR & Avanti services, so I took this 197 to Runcorn, stepping back to take 390005 for the trip back to Crewe, where my day came to an end. An enjoyable walk (making the most of the changeable weather), nice bit of scenery in places.
12th August – Lancashire Ranger (in the changeable weather)
The weather forecast today was quite variable and changeable, so I decided to do a Lancashire Ranger for the first time in a couple of years. The day started with the 06:29-odd TfW service to Manchester which was formed of a pair of 153s (woof woof!) I took this service to Manchester Piccadilly, walking to Manchester Victoria to jump onto a Leeds bound 158 towards Todmorden.
My original idea was to walk the Rochdale canal from Todmorden towards Littleborough over the summit, but the weather was more wet than expected so that idea went into the pile to do another time. Instead, I took a pair of 195s to Hebden Bridge, changing to a busy Blackpool (not the best idea in hindsight!) bound 195 to Accrington where I decided enough was enough, stepping back to a much quieter former EMR 156410 on the stopper towards Preston (I’ve noticed since I was last in this area, the timetable has slightly changed making Pleasington a bit of a pain for anybody wanting to visit the stations (trains pass within a couple minutes of each other, not the easiest to get between platforms & a request stop to boot).
88010 passing Preston station
Anyhow I remained on board this 156 at Preston where it formed the next Ormskirk train, taking me all the way to Ormskirk where yet again I remained on board for the return to Burscough Junction. I was toying with the idea of taking a 777 towards Liverpool for a 50X to Southport, but the timings didn’t work out for a 769 due to various pre-planned cancellations creating a large gap in departures from Southport. So, at Burscough I had a gentle walk towards Burscough Bridge (swinging via the tesco for lunch items) for a busy 769 to Meols Cop.
My next walk didn’t go as planned as when I was midway between Meols Cop & Southport, it started to rain, not just a shower but heavy rain. Ah well it was always a gamble as I went over a footbridge near Southport station giving a view of the sidings which had a few Merseyrail units in (both 777s and older PEPs). The rain departed as fast as it arrived as I reached Southport and back onto 769424 for the run to Wigan Wallgate, and yes, I was sat in the motor coach for that classic motor noise.
769424 departs Meols Cop Station
At Wigan, I swapped from Wallgate to North Western, and onto a late running 390138 to take me towards Preston, where I swapped to 156425 from one of the south facing bay platforms for the short hop to Bamber Bridge where I set out on foot (dodging another heavy shower due to hiding underneath trees) along the old railway line towards Preston, swapping to “The Old Tram Road” along the way (a lovely tree lined embankment). This took me to the closed bridge over the Ribble, and I headed along the riverbank to reach the old railway bridge crossing the river and into the Avenham Park area. Annoyingly the sun had decided to pop out when I was crossing the river meaning photos of trains crossing the river on the WCML bridge weren’t the best.
I carried on along the old railway line as it led towards a car park, and shortly reached Preston where I would board the rarest of trains, a Liverpool TPE which was running! (there had been a lot of cancellations to TPE services today). A quiet 397011 (in the front coach) took me towards Liverpool Lime Street, via St Helens Central (mainly for the novelty factor of covering this line on a TPE service). At Liverpool it was onto a busy 3 coach 331 on the next Manchester Airport stopper which I was originally going to take to Newton Le Willows to intercept a required 197 from Llandudno which was running around 5 minutes late, however when I saw that the 197 was stuck at Runcorn East I decided not to risk it and remained on board the 331 to Piccadilly (where the train pretty much emptied out to get replaced with new passengers for stations to the Airport).
397011 at Liverpool Lime Street
For lack of a better idea, I jumped on the next Scotland bound 397 (397009) for the run back towards Preston. Where after watching the departure screens showing more cancelled trains that were running, I popped out of the station to visit Sainsburys for some dinner items (sadly coming away with nothing as the shelves were a bit bared boned). I returned to the station to board a busy pair of 331s for a bus stop leap to Leyland. At Leyland I changed platforms and onto another busy train, this time a 319 on a Liverpool semi-fast (and yes, I sat in the motor coach lol). This 319 sang on the way to Huyton where I swapped to a 323 on the next Manchester stopper (no surprise that it was busy) to Newton-Le-Willows, stepping back to board a late running winner 197014 to Oxford Road (where it looped that 323).
I crossed over to platform 2 at Oxford Road to board a pair of 331s (same pair as I had earlier to Leyland) to Bolton to waste some time, passing up on a wedged out single 331 from Blackpool North and onto a pair of 3 coach 195s from the Lancaster direction for the run back towards Piccadilly (I always think these trains are strange in skipping Salford Crescent to allow passengers to change for Victoria). Anyhow once I was back at Piccadilly, I had some time before the next TfW service rolled in, so I headed to the shop to buy breakfast for Sunday morning before taking a 150 to Crewe on the 21:30 service.
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| 197014 at Manchester Oxford Road |
On arrival at Crewe, I headed towards the shared house, swinging via a pizza place (Tiger Bite this time) to pick up a pre-ordered pizza (although in hindsight this was too late for pizza, but I was hungry and wanted something warm). An enjoyable day, mostly dodging the showers with part of my Preston – Bamber Bridge route done [looks there is a path from Bamber Bridge heading south towards Buckshaw Parkway which I might link up with the remaining part of the Tram Road & old railway route].
13th August – Walking the Bridgwater Canal in rural Cheshire.
I had a few ideas of potential walks for today, some got dropped due to Northern being northern and pre-cancelling many trains the night before so when I left the accommodation in Crewe my main idea was to walk from Earlstown towards Runcorn via Warrington (Sankey Canal & St Helens Canal). The day started with the first TfW for Manchester with 67012 giving a good push with the novelty of going via Styal. The only time previous I’ve had this 67 for haulage was back in 2013 time when Chiltern ran a “London to Birmingham for 50p return” style promotion in the Evening Standard (if my memory is behaving).
67012 at Crewe
Anyhow at Piccadilly, the train arrived a few minutes ahead of schedule and I noticed the Chester train (pair of 156s with rear coach locked out of use) hadn’t departed so I dashed over to take a seat on 156455 for a late notice change of plan. Even when on this train heading towards Stockport I had multiple options, eventually deciding on bailing at Navigation Road to walk the Bridgewater canal towards Runcorn, carrying on with my walk I did back in April 2022.
After a short section of walking along Navigation Road itself, I joined the canal, and started to head west. The built-up area of Altrincham soon gave way to countryside with signs for the old railway line path towards Warrington (which was one of the options I was considering). The towpath varied in quality, probably not a walk to do during the height of winter as I suspect it would get muddy in places, as I continued reaching Lymm. There were a couple rain showers, nothing lasting too long thankfully.
Bridgewater Canal at Grappenhall
I continued underneath the M6 as the canal entered the suburbs of Warrington, changing from rural quietness to running alongside a busy road. After Stockton Heath the canal reached Walton where it went into a deep tree-lined cutting (near Walton Hall) before returning to rural countryside towards Moore & Daresbury. At Daresbury it passed the science park before going back into countryside with the railway close by before heading towards Preston Brook where the Trent & Mersey Canal joins up with the Bridgwater Canal near the M56.
After the junction, I continued towards Runcorn, going over the WCML (I dread to think how many times I’ve been underneath this canal in the last 10 years) before the towpath disappears due to housing & a marina. I continued via the roads to join back up with the canal for a short distance, reaching Cawley's Bridge where I decided to call it a day and headed towards Runcorn East station via some mixed used paths (following Google Maps). Annoyingly the shelters at Runcorn East have been removed for improvement walks meaning seats were extremely limited.
Tracks of WCML at Preston Brook (from Bridgewater Canal aqueduct)
Thankfully it wasn’t too long before winner 197044 rolled in on the Chester train, where I had a little time-wasting spin to Capenhurst & back, before boarding winner 197002 on the Holyhead train which I took to Flint. Returning to Chester on 197018 + 197021 to tick off 018. It was then onto a 158 to take me to Wrexham General where I headed towards platform 4 for 230007 on the next Bidston train. Yes, I had finally managed to catch a Welsh 230! Quite nice inside, bit bumpy on the faster sections north of Shotton but the doors take so long to open.
230007 arriving at Wrexham General
I took this 230 to Bidston, for a short wait before 507030 rolled in to take me to Liverpool Lime Street where my original idea was to jump onto something back to Crewe, but when I saw the Chester train was a 3 coach 175, I changed my plans (after checking RTT for connections). I believe this was the first time I’ve had a 175 out of Liverpool, the first & last time, very lightly loaded in the front coach as it arrived at Chester, and I had a short walk over to 197018 on the next Crewe train to take me back to Crewe.
An enjoyable day, a long canal walk in mostly rural countryside, followed by some trains, including the lesser spotted Welsh 230. The weather stayed mostly nice as well, felt strange returning to the shared house on a Sunday night, where I had a nice shower to wash away the sweat.
175112 at Liverpool Lime Street
14th April – Getting wet in Shrewsbury.
As forecasted the weather had turned a bit wet on the Monday morning. Originally I was going to take the 09:10-odd train from Crewe to Shrewsbury as that is meant to be a booked 67 but on the morning nothing was showing for it on RTT and with the train an hour earlier starting from Crewe I didn’t fancy a potential overcrowded 150, or paying extra for the stopper (as advance tickets on the day are available for the Manchester – Cardiff trains but not on the 3 coach 197 working the stopper).
I was up anyhow at my usual time of awakening (due to my body clock) so I headed out of the shared house and to Crewe station for the 08:10-odd service which was 175109 starting from platform 8. Maybe this will be my last ever TfW run service with a 175 (which is a shame because the 175s are nice trains, all be small), but as expected the front coach was lightly loaded (the rain not helping things as most passengers would have gone into the rear coach to avoid getting wet. It had been a good few years since I last did the line between Crewe & Shrewsbury so a trip down memory lane with the run to Shrewsbury.
175109 & 350261 at Crewe
The rain had thankfully slowed so I popped out of the station for some fresh air, some photos of buses and something to eat before returning, originally I was considering getting into London for around 17:30 to walk to Waterloo for the 19:20 home, but I was feeling low on energy so I changed my going home plan to get home earlier (was using a super off-peak return ticket from London to Grateley with departures between 16:00 – 19:00 blocked). I turned down an extremely busy looking 158 on the Birmingham semi-fast to board 196107 on the stopper, only to cover Shrewsbury – Wolverhampton for 196 coverage.
I took this 196 to Bilbrook, stepping back to take last running winner 196103 to Telford Central before winner 196110 for the run to Birmingham New Street. These trains would be better if they were fitted with armrests between the seats (and on the aisle side). Although legroom in the window seats is not the best due to the pole holding up the seat in front. Anyhow after grabbing some lunch from Boots I headed back to the under croft of the batcave to grab a seat on 350126 (which had 350247 for company), sitting near the front of the train where it was quieter on departure from Birmingham.
196110 at Birmingham New Street
A couple of hours later, after picking up some delays to the north of Northampton, the 350s arrived at London Euston, where I set off on foot towards Waterloo going the direct route via Holborn & Waterloo Bridge. It was onto the 15:20 SWR service towards Andover (a 8 coach 159+159+158 formation) for a 30 minute fester for 159103 to roll in from Basingstoke to take me the final few miles up the hill to Grateley, for a short walk home to relax for the remainder of the evening, making a start with my admin stuff.
19th August – Buses in Surrey
The day started a bit later than usual due to having a friend down from Medway staying in Andover Travelodge so it was a start from Andover for a 10 coach sprinter lash-up (159-159-158-158, not had one of those for a few years) to Basingstoke, changing to a very busy 2 coach 165 on the Reading stopper (this was a day XC were running a limited service due to protesting against some members of staff in Edinburgh losing some duties) which thankfully did empty out at Reading West (I presume there was some races at Newbury).
At Reading it was a short walk from the west bays to the east bays to jump on another busy 165, this time on a Gatwick service to take both of us towards Redhill. After a short walk towards Keats Avenue where the Metrobus route 100 started (housing estate), and it was onto bus 6626 (a Scania N230UB OmniCity, which had a lot of rattles). This bus was on a route 100 towards Maidenbower (a suburb of Three Bridges). Going via Salfords, Horley & Gatwick Airport before reaching Crawley bus station, an interesting route compared to going via the railway.
Metrobus bus 6062 (LV23 EEG) at Gatwick (North Terminal) Bus Station
We changed buses at Crawley onto a route 10 “Fastway” service towards Gatwick Airport, on one of the new hydrogen powered Wright GB Kite Hydroliner buses (6062) as my friend wanted to give them a spin. We took this to the North Terminal, changing to the south terminal via the inter-terminal shuttle train, and to the station catching a 700 to Redhill where we parted ways. I headed out of the station towards the bus station and towards the next route 32 service for Guildford. Operated by Compass Travel with bus YX23 OUO (an Enviro200) it was an enjoyable run going via Reigate, Dorking before some nice countryside towards Guildford.
At Guildford I headed towards the railway station to catch a Reading bound 165 towards Wokingham where I decided to jump off, walking into the town centre area to board a Reading Bus on a route 3 “Leopard” service (with gas powered bus 429, an Enviro300). This as the driver said was the slow route towards Reading, but when I was in the area, I decided to give it a little spin as it headed via Finchampstead, Arborfield & Shinfield to reach Reading town centre, terminating outside the railway station. Another one of the Reading bus routes ticked off my list.
Reading Buses Bus 429 (YN14 MXY) in Wokingham on a route 3
It was to the trains once more, with a 165 on the next Basingstoke service (thankfully not as busy as the morning train) before a triple 159 on the Exeter train to take me to Andover, for a gentle drive home. An enjoyable day trip to Surrey (and a nice catch-up with my friend). That hydrogen bus was a bit funky (electric buses have amazing acceleration) with some nice countryside on the 32.
20th August – Buses in South Hampshire
Another random bus focused day, this time in South Hampshire with my mum on a little day trip, the day starting with a drive to Romsey where I parked in one of the town centre car parks with a short walk towards the bus station (where the option on Sundays is either Southampton or Winchester). First up was a double decker (1647, an Enviro400) on the hourly route 4 service towards Southampton, going via North Baddesley & (don't call me) Shirley. All the suburbs, and an interesting route as it goes a route I would have never driven along.
Anyhow at Southampton, it was a short wait before the next bus towards Gosport, a First Solent X5 (a Wright StreetLite (63297)). Once away from the city centre, it went via Woolston, Warsash, Tichfield, Fareham, Lee-on-the-Solent & finally Gosport. Not the fastest bus route from Fareham to Gosport (those are the ones which run along the busway) but some nice scenery of the coast and a busy bus. At Gosport we headed towards the ferry terminal to board the ferry across the water to Portsmouth Harbour (with Spirit of Gosport). Not the cheapest but something which had been on my list to do for a while.
Gosport Ferry Terminal
At Portsmouth, we had around an hour to wait before the next bus, so we headed into Gunwharf Quays in search of a Tesco for some lunch & a gentle explore. I was tempted with the open top bus route 50 but was put off with the cost (£5 for a journey taking 20-odd minutes, no wonder why it was very lightly loaded on a beautiful sunny day. It was onto the X4 for Southampton, another StreetLite (this time bus 63304), and unlike the Gosport bus this was a bit faster heading out of Portsmouth on the motorway towards Paulsgrove & Fareham.
The X4 & X5 route shares a bit in common between Fareham & Sholing, but they go different routes in places (serving different villages), so it was interesting to look out of the window at parts of Hampshire that I had never visited. At Southampton it was a short walk into the city centre before the next Bluestar operated route 1 for Winchester (An Enviro400, 1678) which was quite busy (all the shoppers heading home) heading away from Southampton city centre going north, reaching Chandlers Ford, Otterbourne & St Cross before going into Winchester bus station. An interesting route on the “back roads”, with large traffic queues on the M3 due to various road works.
First Bus 63304 (SN65 OLH) in Southampton City Centre
The last bus of the day for us fell to a Stagecoach operated route 66 (with Enviro200, 37413), another busy bus (with a few end-to-end passengers) going via Hursley, Abbotswood & Woodley. Arrival into Romsey bus station was near enough on time, and we walked back to the car before driving home, swinging via a takeaway for dinner. An enjoyable (and cheap) day trip in South Hampshire, originally, I was toying with heading towards Cambridge to sample the busway but decided that could wait for another trip as the following weekend was costing me quite a bit of money.
25th August – Positioning trip to Derby
When the BLS announced their latest tours at the start of August, originally, I was going to pass them up as I had plans for the bank holiday weekend. However, I decided to randomly look up the cost of accommodation in Derby for the Friday to Monday, spotting there was a few shared house style Air BnB places available so decided to take the plunge. The place I selected was near Peartree station, which would result in a ~ 30-minute walk to/from Derby station.
Due to the early start on the Saturday, I didn’t want to arrive too late on the Friday, so booked a half-day from work. Also due to the short notice booking, it was cheaper to use multiple flexible period returns to reach Derby as the advance tickets were more expensive (and I couldn’t quite decide what I wanted to do on the Monday). A fast turnaround at home meant I was on the 12:59 service from Grateley rather than the 13:59 I had originally planned for (one of the roads I use to commute had roadworks on during the week meaning a long detour, but they had finished earlier than expected allowing a rapido drive).
At Basingstoke I popped out of the station to visit Sainsburys for some supplies before returning to board a double voyager to Banbury (glad in a way I made the earlier train as the one an hour later was a single voyager). At Banbury it was a short wait for a busy 168107 to roll in from London to take me to Moor Street where I had a gentle walk to New Street to board winner 196101 on the first evening peak extra service for Shrewsbury, meeting up with a good friend along the way.
Ozzy the Bull at Birmingham New Street
We had a tight connection at Wolverhampton to the stopper, made a bit easier due to a late running XC, but also made harder due to that XC delaying the stopper by 8 minutes, eating into the 10-minute connection at New Street. The stopper was a 350/2 so we went into the former 1st class area for the extra comfort. At New Street, it was a fast walk towards 196102 on the next Shrewsbury train, boarding with a few minutes to departure into a near empty coach. Back to Wolverhampton where thankfully this time we had a longer connection before 196104 rolled in from Shrewsbury to take us back to Birmingham. 3 more of the 4 coach units into my book, even if Wolverhampton – Birmingham isn’t the most exciting of routes after a while.
I had a seat reserved on the Leeds train for my little XC HST farewell trip, so we had 40 minutes or thereabouts to waste, swinging via Tesco & Sainsburys before I decided to give a Tim Hortons burger a try. Where it was nice, it’s not in the same league as Wendys for burger quality. Anyhow back to New Street and 43007 (former 43207) rolled in with 43008 (43208) on the rear, the powercars in a retro livery so a few people taking photos, as it was a bit chaotic as the seat reservation system had failed and the lack of luggage space was telling with large suitcases taking up seats etc.
43008 (43208) at Derby
The HST took me towards Derby (calling at both Tamworth & Burton with more confusion with “that’s my seat” overheard, and to be honest I was glad to alight at Derby, grabbing a photo and starting my walk towards the Peartree area of the city going via the suburbs of Rose Hill & Normanton, locating the shared house and the key safe. I quickly dropped off most of my bag, checked to see if the fridge was working and headed to a nearby large Sainsburys passing the underserved Peartree station itself, mainly to grab some supplies for the Saturday tour as it didn’t have any breaks until Wakefield in the early evening. Although where the fridge was working, I don’t think it was working that well probably running higher than 5C, so I binned a few items I purchased on the Sunday, using a bottle of water.
The room itself was a converted living room, bed was quite comfy, but the plug sockets weren’t located in a good position. The biggest drawback were the window blinds but like most window blinds, hopeless at keeping out the light (gaps around the edges and being a lighter material). Fine for when it was a living room, not for a bedroom, also the windows were a bit tough to open at times, a gamble which sadly didn’t pay off.
26th August - The Humber Super Snipe
My alarm went off around 5am as I picked up my breakfast items from the fridge and headed out of the shared house, going towards Derby station going a different route, passing the railway works at Litchurch Lane (spotting some part completed 730s in the open-air section). So spooky seeing Derby station being quiet with the next departure not being for another 90 minutes (on a Matlock service, due to the latest RMT strike). Dud 66003 was leading as I found my seat and settled down for the trip towards Chesterfield where a further pickup was made before the train headed on the Barrow Hill line, going via a siding before going into the sidings behind Woodhouse station for the first (or many) reversal of the day.
Winner 66244 was now powering the train as it headed towards Worksop, making a final pick up at Retford, doing the loop beyond the station before carrying on towards Gainsborough Central & Brigg. Another loop was done on the Brigg line, after-all it was a BLS tour, all the random loops! After passing Barnetby the tour headed towards the Immingham Sorting Sidings, an area which has changed massively in recent times in terms of tracks getting ripped out and being remodelled.
66003 at Derby Station
The first (of many) loco changes happened here with winner 66124 dropping onto the rear to reverse a short distance before the train headed towards the “workshop road”, where some more locos got put onto the back, winner 66034, dud 66150 & 66003 all powering with 66124 dead in tow. This triple headed 66 took the train back out of Immigham, back towards Barnetby, using one of the goods lines to the south of the station before heading towards Scunthorpe, using the freight lines to bypass the station itself. The tour continued towards the Doncaster area, where it took the South Yorkshire Joint line after Kirk Sandall coming to a stop at St Catherine Junction to the south of Doncaster. This is where the 3 locos which were powering the train dropped off as the train reversed towards the Decoy Up Yard (via Low Ellers Curve).
The train covered a couple of the sidings in this area, before returning to the St Catherine Junction area where it took the curve to the “down” side of Doncaster, going via the yard area and some more goods lines before joining the ECML for the run towards Hambleton where it took the curve from South to West before carrying on towards Milford Junction on the Pontefract Baghill line. Another reversal took the train back towards the Selby line (going via the sidings) before heading into the Gascoigne Wood sidings.
321443 stored at Gascoigne Wood
Another loco change during the reversal at Gascoigne Wood with 66188 attaching to 66244 to haul the train back towards Milford Junction, taking the line towards Castleford and carrying on towards the Stourton Arrival Line on the outskirts of Leeds (near the Freightliner depot). 66188 + 66244 got replaced with a pair of Freightliner 66s, 66615 + 66616 which hauled the train towards the Whitehall Curve to reverse back towards Stourton, for another reversal to gain access to the “Depot West Shunt Neck”.
Next reversal took the train towards the Stourton Cemex Terminal where 70001 & 70015 attached to that end of the train (with 66124 being dead in tow). Back towards the shunt neck before joining the mainline with the 70s powering the train towards Wakefield Kirkgate & the freight line at Dewsbury Railway Street [which gives access to Dewsbury Blue Circle works]. The 70s detached with 66124 hauling the train further towards the headshunt. One further reversal took the train back towards Wakefield Kirkgate going via the remains of Healey Mill yard, where we finally had a break!
Dewsbury Arm of Calder & Hebble Navigation (from railway bridge)
It was nice to get some fresh air and to have a decent walk after 12 hours of being on the train, I headed towards Sainsburys for some supplies before heading towards the Calder to walk part of the Calder & Hebble Navigation via Fall Ings lock where it turns into the Aire and Calder Navigation. I returned towards Wakefield via a path alongside the Calder itself (not like there was much to see due to many trees). I passed the impressive looking Chantry Chapel of St Mary the Virgin on the Chantry Bridge reaching Wakefield Kirkgate in good time. Although I shouldn’t have rushed as the genny van on the charter train had derailed within Knottingley depot, so it was delayed coming back to Wakefield, with no genny van so no toilets and limited lighting.
The wise decision was made to axe the remaining parts of the tour (missing out on Booths in Rotherham & Sheffield Carriage Sidings) to run direct towards Derby, so everybody got back on board with 66161 hauling the train up the curve to Wakefield Westgate (all strange seeing it dark and locked up) with 66105 taking charge for the run back towards Derby pausing at Sheffield for a toilet break. After Sheffield the tour continued back to Derby (the lights were going slowly dimmer as time went on in the coach I was in) as it set down at Chesterfield and arriving at Derby.
66105 at Sheffield
I had a gentle walk back towards the accommodation, going a similar route as the night before, where after sorting out my bag I crashed out for the evening. It had been one long day sat on that charter train [would have been better in my eyes to have dropped some of the bits around Doncaster and headed into Doncaster for a ~ 30-minute break]. A good day for my red pen with 10 locos being scored, with some bits of track (at both Baker & Quail level). Shame it ended the way it did but at least they kept the show on the track getting back roughly on time.
27th August - The Garsdale Growler
The 2nd day of the BLS tour weekender, this time thankfully with a later start than on the Saturday (a more leisurely 08:45-ish start). I headed towards the station swinging towards the city centre, going towards a Sainsburys Local on Boyer Street, in the California part of the city for some lunch, also via a McDonalds (boo) for breakfast [in hindsight I should have left the house 30 minutes earlier to hit a Spoons for a better breakfast, but hey-ho].
At the station, I located my seat on the train with 37401 & 37425 up front, with 67005 on the rear to provide train power due to the lack of a Generator coach [due to the incident the night before at Knottingley]. It was a different coach than the day before and the seats were very low to the ground (meaning legroom wasn’t the best), I just don’t like the seats on Mk2 coaches, they are better than the bench seats found on the old Mk1s but if you gave me the choice between a Mk2 seat or a 700 seat, I would probably go for the 700 seat.
37425 arriving into Derby Station
Anyhow, rant about seating over, the train departed Derby, heading towards Chesterfield for a pick-up before taking the Hope Valley line (been a few years since I did that line in daylight), carrying on towards Stockport (where it used one of the non-platform lines next to P4) before going towards Denton & Manchester Victoria. Arrival time into Manchester was earlier than expected allowing time for some photos & fresh (ish) air. I would say the train filled up quite well after Manchester with only a few empty seats.
The train continued heading towards Bolton, going via platform 3 to access the Blackburn line, passing north of Darwen for pathing due to the single track. After Darwen it paused in the platforms at Blackburn for food supplies to get loaded for the buffet, before continuing towards Hellifield (where it used a goods loop). Onto the Settle & Carlisle line for the run towards Ribblehead where it reversed (propelled) into the Ribblehead Virtual Quarry, covering both lines.
View near Ribblehead
After Ribblehead the train continued with a brief pause at Appleby for a pick-up before heading towards the Carlisle area. I would say the 37s sounded amazing, but I was at the opposite end of the train so couldn’t really hear it. As a little bonus the train used the connection towards the WCML at Upperby, reversing on the goods loop to access Carlisle station itself.
I headed out of the station on a fast walk towards the large Sainsburys near the Castle as that closed at 16:30 on Sundays [train arrived at 16:00 so Tesco & most of the other places in the city centre were closed]. I managed to get items for dinner & other supplies before making my way back towards the station via the city walls. A bright red 92029 was now attached to the train replacing the 37s and with everybody back on board it took us on a fast run towards Preston for a photo stop.
92029 on BLS Garsdale Growler at Preston Station
After Preston, the 92 continued heading along the WCML, going into the loop alongside the southbound platforms at Warrington Bank Quay where 92029 was replaced with winner 60024. This 60 continued along the WCML towards Crewe, where it got replaced with dud 60015 for the next section, going via Stoke on Trent and Uttoxeter to arrive at Derby. The end of a good relaxing railtour as I walked towards the shared house for the last time.
60015 on BLS Garsdale Growler at Derby Station
28th August – Walking the Walsall Canal
For the bank holiday Monday, I had multiple ideas of what I could do. Part of me was tempted to head towards Nottingham to see if either of my last couple 170s needed for mileage were out (2 of the former Southern units reformed & renumbered back to the original formation), but only 1 was showing as out, with the first service being that Skegness service which is nonstop to Sleaford from Nottingham (thanks but no thanks). The trams were split in two due to engineering works, so I decided to leave Nottingham for another day.
In the end, I dusted off a walking plan I made earlier in the week, based on fare clusters to reduce costs [i.e., Banbury – Walsall is the same price as Banbury – Birmingham] to do part of the Walsall Canal from Sandwell & Dudley to Walsall. I left the shared house, headed towards the large Sainsburys for breakfast before gaining access to Peartree (as access to the platforms is blocked by locked gates where you need to use the intercom to gain access to reduce the risks.
Platforms at Peartree Station
Anyhow I was the only passenger to board 170504 on the Newark train when it rolled in for the short hop to Derby where I made a connection into 43008 leading 43007 on the XC to Plymouth for another chance to say farewell to the XC HSTs. Much better than the Friday night in terms of experience. These took me to Birmingham New Street where I changed over to a TfW service (formed of a single 158) to Sandwell & Dudley where my walk began. I headed towards the canal, making the mistake of trying to do a shortcut along the towpath on the north side of the canal (very overgrown in places to access the Wednesbury Old Canal at Pudding Green Junction.
The first section was a bit overgrown in places, but the towpath did eventually improve as it went via the industrial units, at Ryder's Green Junction where the Walsall Canal begins, I carried along the Wednesbury Old Canal, now very much overgrown (as this section isn’t used), onto the Ridgacre Branch crossing the Black Country New Road (which blocked the canal when it was being built). I continued along the Ridgacre Branch, going underneath the tram line, reaching the end of the section which has water in (the canal used to continue a lot further, but has been taken over by buildings/roads).
A West Midland Metro Tram crossing the Ridgacre Branch of the Wednesbury Old Canal, near Black Lake
I returned towards Ryder’s Green Junction, going via the road network (as it was quicker than following the canal), and started with the Walsall Canal as it headed towards Tipton & Wednesbury. The views changing along the way, along with the towpath. Soon I reached the section I walked along previously when I walked the Tame Valley canal, going underneath the tram line and continuing back onto ‘new’ coverage. A lot of evidence of the older branches which branched off this canal, along with older quays (which has mostly been filled in, but the bridges remain). There was no evidence of the canal seeing use by boats, either moving or moored up (other than a couple of British Waterways barges on the remains of the Ocker Hill Branch).
The canal went a bit rural before it ran alongside the Black Country New Road near Darlaston with all the road noise from a busy dual carriageway. Thankfully the road noise didn’t last for long as the canal parted ways from the road as it went over the railway line (the Bescot/Walsall – Wolverhampton route), where I did a little detour along the overgrown remains of the Anson Branch line, before returning to the Walsall canal.
Walsall Canal in the Darlaston area
The canal carried on, going underneath the M6 and into Walsall itself. I carried along until the Walsall town branch, branched off, passing my first actual narrowboat (all be underwater) with a couple more engineering barges. I reached the town wharf (near the Premier Inn) and made my way towards the station. The canal was reasonable overall, not one to walk during winter due to the changeable nature of the towpath. At the station the next train was 350238 on the stopper, and to be honest I was glad to get moving as I felt unsafe being on the station, all the anti-social behaviour.
I spent the time heading towards Birmingham both with my phone on charge (making use of the former 1st class area) and making up a rough idea on how to get back home. In the end I decided enough was enough as the tiredness from the last few days had woken up and once in Birmingham, I headed towards Moor Street to board 168004 to Banbury, changing over to 165122 on the stopper towards Didcot (I didn’t fancy my chances with the next 4 coach voyager).
165122 at Banbury
At Didcot I changed to a 9 coach 802 for the short run to Reading, before a busy 165134 to Basingstoke before finally onto a 5 coach 158+159 formation on the next shuttle to Salisbury (engineering works at the London end meant the stoppers were run as a shuttle today). When I was at Basingstoke the voyager I was avoiding rolled in, looking extremely busy so I was glad to have avoided the potential standing (or at worse, potential squeeze at Banbury). I took the sprinters home, relaxing for the rest of the evening and having an early night to play catchup with my sleep (so nice to be back in a room where it was pitch black with no light leaking through the blinds).
Overall, a busy month, more photos taken throughout the month can be found here: Flickr Link. Have a good day :)
