Trips on 25th & 26th November

 Trips on 25th & 26th November

25th November – Cardiff Valleys

I decided today would be a good day to return to Cardiff, taking my mum for a little day trip (gets her out of the house), although I didn’t really have much of a plan for what we would do in South Wales.  Anyhow I had booked tickets for the 07:30 train from Salisbury & 18:27 service from Cardiff and it was a cold start having to de-ice my car before the morning drive to Salisbury.  I got lucky with securing the last of the free parking spots near to the station (saves forking out the £5.30 SWR want for parking). At the station, after swinging via the ticket office to buy the rangers, we headed to the nice warm waiting room to await the GWR.

The GWR service for Cardiff was a couple of minutes late with 158748 leading 158760 for the 2 and a bit hour journey into Cardiff Central (little bit of luxury with 158s compared to the usual 3+2 seated Turbos).  The coach we were in only really got busy after Bristol Temple Meads (and that was probably due to it being the closest to the entrance steps) as the 158s headed into South Wales, arriving in Newport a few minutes early and into Cardiff Central near enough on time.  Along the way I formed a rough plan which involved a required 197 on a Carmarthen service & my last 231.  Unusually the 158s remained on the platform throughout rather than shunting clear of the station into the sidings to the west of the station.

158748 at Cardiff Central

 

My rough plan didn’t last long as I watched a late running 5 coach IET roll in from London for Swansea looking rather cosy before what RTT was showing as 197110 on a Crewe – Cardiff service (started at Crewe instead of Manchester Piccadilly) which would form the next Carmarthen service [the 2 coach 197 which was allocated earlier got shifted to work a Holyhead train].  A large crowd was building on platform 3 as the train from Crewe rolled in… 67015 with some Mk4 coaches.  Even the train staff for the next leg looked confused (“That’s not right”) and in the confusion I decided on an alternative plan, and we headed to platform 6 to jump onto 150284 on the next Aberdare train.

The original idea was to take that 197 to Bridgend to return to Cardiff going via the coastal route, but instead I was heading towards Aberdare, looking at the various overhead wiring (can’t help thinking the money saved in not wiring up everything will only come back to bite in 10+ years’ time when the batteries on the new trams need replacing).  This trip to Aberdare also allowed me to cover some of the upgrades to the track on the branch itself (a longer loop at Mountain Ash & a loop at the Aberdare end with a new ‘arrival platform’ under construction).  It was also nice to look out at the scenery of mountains.  Probably the last time I will come to Aberdare on a 150.

150284 at Aberdare

We remained on board the 150 during the turnaround at Aberdare as the train got very, very busy with passengers getting turned away by Pontypridd due to sheer overcrowding.  Both I & mum were glad to get off the train at Cardiff Queen Street and onto 153325 for the gentle trip to Heath Low Level.  There must have been signalling issues on the section between Queen Street & Heath junction as the train was very slow, so it was a quick walk between the Heath stations, just missing a 66 passing on a southbound freight service (grr) before winner 231003 rolled in on a Bargoed service.  The last of the 231s I needed to ride so a nice bonus that was it out and about today.

At Bargoed we remained on the same unit to take it all the way to Penarth, looking out of the window.  Although even this was a bit chaotic due to a Ystrad Mynach starter running late, which actually passed us when we were sitting on the platform at Ystrad Mynach meaning the next section was quite slow moving until that late running 231 in front had some stops ripped out after Caerphilly to give more of a gap.  This meant the train we were on was running around 5 minutes late which got further delayed waiting for that train in front to clear the single-track section at Penarth.  All the delays!

231003 at Penarth Station

At Penarth we headed out for a gentle walk towards the pier (going via “The Dingle”), exploring the pier itself before following the Wales Coastal Path towards Cardiff Bay.  I guess at one point there used to be a path which ran along the base of the cliffs at Penarth Head (shows on Google Maps but not on Open Street Map) which has since vanished due to the tides of time. We followed the marked path via housing before going towards Dingle Road station, jumping onto 231002 for the run to Cardiff Queen Street.

An enjoyable walk to the pier, although some of the hills were quite steep in places.  Anyhow we exited the station at Cardiff Queen Street, swinging via a Wetherspoons for dinner (The Central Bar) before mum headed towards Primark for some clothes shopping.  We returned to Cardiff Queen Street after a nice meal (in a noisy pub, but that was to be expected) jumping on the first train towards Central, ironically 231003 for the 3rd time.  At Cardiff Central we had a short walk towards platform 2, avoiding the massive crowd waiting on platform 1 for a 158 to attach to a pair of 153s for a Manchester service.

Northern side of the Penarth Pier (From Land)

Eventually 158748 & 158760 returned from the sidings, hearing Chandler’s Ford announced as a call on this service was a bit strange (engineering works between St Denys & Fareham), but we got a decent seat (near enough the same table seat we had in the morning) as the train headed towards Salisbury.  A bit of a delay between Bristol & Bath due to congestion but that was made up by Warminster so arrival into Salisbury was near enough on time.  We headed back to the car, having to de-ice it once more before a leisurely drive home.  I still need to sample a 231 at the northern end of the Rhymney line so a job for a potential future trip.

26th November – Exploring Thamesmead & Overground Hunting

After doing quite a bit of research into various options (for I have lots of potential walking ideas for London) for today’s explore in London, I decided on an explore of Thamesmead.  This would take into part of the Green Chain Walk and the Ridgeway Walk (a path which runs along top of a sewer embankment).  The trip began with the 07:38(odd) service towards Waterloo formed of 159104 & 159101 which I took to Clapham Junction where it arrived ten minutes early (following an announcement from the guard saying the train would be held there until correct departure time).  I crossed over to platform 10 to jump onto 455721 & 455851 to reach Waterloo quicker before heading across to Waterloo East to jump on the first available train towards London Bridge which was 376017 & 376002 on a Hayes service.

At London Bridge, it was a short walk towards platform 2 to board 700025 on a Rainham service for the trip towards Abbey Wood where I exited the station to begin my little walk to explore the area.  First of all, I headed south towards the remains of Lesnes Abbey via part of the Abbey Woods (which I presume is the reason this area of London is called Abbey Wood).  Anyhow, I picked up the Green Chain Walk which headed north towards South Mere lake within Southmere Park.

Remains of Lesnes Abbey and Abbey Woods behind

I switched to the Ridgeway path for the grass section towards the River Thames going past the “RANG” railway with an old golf course on the northern side of the path.  This is where my plan massively changed as I headed back towards Crossway Park on the opposite side of the closed golf course to follow the Green Chain Walk towards the River Thames.  The next hour or so I did some exploring following various paths with various canals, with a loop of Birchmere lake.  Soon I reached the area underneath the Eastern Way flyover where I was earlier, before following the Ridgway path towards Plumstead, where I decided to end my walk due to the sky looking quite moody (that dark inky black colour).  An enjoyable little explore of a part of London I had never really visited before.

Anyhow it was to the trains (choo choo!) with 376009 & 376027 on the next Cannon Street service (playing South Eastern Metro Bingo, as you never know what might pop up).  The rain started by the time the train reached Charlton, so I remained on board to Cannon Street where a planned walk to Liverpool Street was ditched as I used the new(ish) entrance to Bank underground station near Cannon Street as well as the moving walkway linking the Northern & Central lines.  I jumped on the first available Central line service (formation 91265, 92152, 92428 & 91037) to Liverpool Street, where I popped to Tesco for something to eat as a late lunch before going to play with some 710s.

465916 on Plumstead Sidings

I had noticed that Tottenham were at home in the kickball, which normally means the Overground services are doubled up (as Sundays are normally single units), so with the game kicking off I spent the next couple of hours pinging back & forth clearing 5 out of the 6 AC only 710s I needed for ten miles (710118, 710122, 710110, 710108 & 710102).  Sadly 116 didn’t seem to be out (knowing my luck it was on the Romford – Upminster shuttle) so not a full house.  For the lack of a better idea (and to run away from Liverpool Street as the kickball had finished) I jumped onto 345046 to Stratford (engineering works in the Elizabeth line core so the 345s were starting from the high-level platforms at Liverpool Street).

At Stratford I turned down a 378 on the next Camden Road service and headed to the Central line, heading to Bond Street, stepping back at Holborn (first train being formed of 91067, 92092, 92116 & 91047 with the 2nd being formed of 91283, 92128, 92068 & 91183).  At Bond Street it was a short walk before jumping onto Jubilee line sets 96017/96066 to Waterloo.  This is where I decided it might be worth-while transferring my “sub mile LU” list to Google Keep from Excel as a potential idea for future trips to start trying to knock them down.

378255 at Stratford

Anyhow at Waterloo, I went via Tesco for some dinner items before heading to the station.  I wanted to investigate a pair of 450s on an Alton/Basingstoke service as RTT was only showing the rear unit (and I noticed earlier in the day 065 headed towards Farnham sidings).  I was lucky and 450065 was on the front (450001 on the rear) which I took to Clapham Junction, just enough to tick 450065 for renumbering (from a 450/5).  I was happy as it meant I no longer had to keep an eye out.  10 minutes of waiting at Clapham Junction (watching as a triple 387 crawled through on a Gatwick Express carrying 3 passengers, followed by a Southern service which was wedged out) before a very busy 159020 & 159006 rolled in.  I was lucky to grab one of the few empty seats in the leading coach, so I dread to think what it was like near the rear.

The train did slowly empty out with standing passengers in the front coach going by Basingstoke but when I alighted at Grateley the front 3 coaches were still quite busy (rear coaches looked a bit quieter).  I dread to think what the 17:20 to Salisbury would have been like as that was only a single 159 (according to RTT).  Anyhow I had a gentle walk home (sadly in the rain), before relaxing for the rest of the evening.  A good little day trip to London, exploring Thamesmead before hunting down some Overground units needed for mileage with the bonus of that 450.  More photos taken from this weekend can be found on my Flickr account, link is here Link.  Thank you for reading my random mutterings :)

450065 at London Waterloo