9th – 11th August – Intercity Tour Weekend & Coventry Canal

 9th – 11th August – Intercity Tour Weekend

When details of the Intercity North West Wanderer Tour came out, I was on the sleeper towards Aberdeen and decided it looked interesting so booked on it after securing accommodation in my usual shared house in Crewe (although this time the only option was the upstairs double room which I’ve only had once before).  A good thing I booked up on that Thursday evening as the tour was sold out by the end of the weekend.

9th August – Unexpected delay in the Basford Area

The trip began with the 17:59 service from Grateley with 159002 on this reasonably busy service to Waterloo, nothing eventful happening along the way other than some slow running around Clapham due to congestion.  At Waterloo I had a gentle stroll towards Euston to waste some time before my booked train to Crewe which tonight I had treated myself to the 20:43 Liverpool service.

Is it bad to have been surprised that the train was announced for boarding a good 20 minutes before departure?  This allowed for a gentle walk to get a seat in coach G of 390152 to settle down for the trip towards Cheshire, calling only at Milton Keynes along the way.   The train was delayed by a couple of minutes departing due to congestion caused by other services running late and did empty out a bit in Milton Keynes.  Nothing else unusual happened along the way until Stafford where it got caught up with some congestion due to signalling issues at Manchester but nothing major as it passed around 5 minutes late.

All was going well for the last section until the Pendo ran into some severe congestion in the Crewe area, losing 15 minutes in the last couple of miles in the Basford area before going into Crewe on the lesser used platform 12, but on the bright side the 18-minute delay did mean getting back 25% of my fare.  I exited the station in Crewe with blue lights flashing on the main street (with various “Road Closed” signs, as I walked via the back route towards the accommodation there was a strong smell of smoke in the air so I have no clue if anything caught fire.  Anyhow I made it to the shared house without further issue, getting the key to room 3, opening the small window to get some fresh air in.  Afterwards I sorted out my rucksack getting it ready for the day ahead, for me it had been a long day saying goodbye to everybody at work as I departed for my new adventure.

A Pendo at Crewe

10th August – North West Wanderer

My first experience with a tour run by Locomotive Services Limited with the Intercity brand (I had previously booked on a tour they ran to Stranraer but had to cancel when the day got changed when Network Rail were on strike).   After departing the house (after a so-so night due to the warmth) I swung via the big Tesco in Crewe for some supplies and made my way to the station where the stock had already arrived.  50050 was at the front of the Mk3 coaches (former Greater Anglia) (plus some Mk2 coaches for staff use) with 45118 on the rear (providing electric for the coaches I believe).  I was in coach C and after getting confused due to the coaches having two sets of letters, I found my seat next to some interesting gentlemen (one does YouTube videos, another acts as a booking agent for tours).  Refreshing to have a tour where the people on the table weren’t quiet or glued to their phone tracking the route on Open Time Trains.

50050 (D400) at Crewe

50050 was a winner for myself as it hauled the train along the West Coast Main Line calling at Warrington, Wigan & Preston before a fast run to Carlisle where there was a 45-minute (or so) break.  Since my last visit to Carlisle the Tesco close to the station has gone (along with the B&M) so the only real options for food was from a Boots.  Something for me to bear in mind for the future.  Anyhow I returned to the train to take my seat with 45118 now powering the train, a new class for myself.  The 2nd leg of the journey was a trip along the Settle & Carlisle line, a case of looking out of the window, at Hellifield the train headed right to head towards Blackburn running a few minutes early due to being in front of a late running service train.  After Blackburn the train continued to arrive at Preston where the class 50 was meant to come off with a class 40 added in its place but due to the failure of the 50, winner 40013 was attached to the front of the 50.

Since my last visit to Preston, a new Tesco Express seems to have popped out near enough outside the station which is quite handy to know if I’m ever in Preston on a day trip and need supplies.  Anyhow back to the train with 40013 now leading (another new class for my little book), I agreed with the gentleman who does YouTube with his suggestion of putting a microphone near the loco to broadcast the sound it makes into the coaches so passengers can hear the loco better.  The 3rd leg of the tour involved the class 40 heading back towards Blackburn & Hellifield with a pause before heading back towards Preston going via the Little North Western route.

40013 at Preston

Back at Preston, the 40+50 combo detached and headed back towards Crewe with the next locos caught up in congestion near Wigan caused by signalling issues so arrived quite late.  After splitting 37521 & 37409 attached to the southern end of the train for the next leg of the tour, departing Preston something like 50 minutes late, making up a bit of time along the way to Blackburn & Burnley, taking the curve towards Todmorden (and getting put ahead of a Wigan stopper) and towards Manchester Victoria passing the station via platform 6.  The charter passed a Clitheroe service at Salford Crescent giving it a clear run towards Bolton and Leyland (as Northern had cancelled a Blackpool stopper).  Arrival into Preston for the last time of the tour was still 40-odd minutes late with the 37s detaching and running light to Crewe with 20118 & 20132 attaching to the train on top of the 45.  Both the 20s (and 37s) are dud from various tours over the years.

The last leg of the tour was the 20s hauling the train back towards Crewe, calling at Wigan & Warrington arriving at Crewe around 30 minutes later than scheduled.  After a couple of photos (how I wish people would take a photo and move out of the way to allow others to take photos rather than just standing around waiting for the locos to depart).  I had a gentle stroll back to the shared house (where I’m not sure if the two people downstairs was on the same tour as they arrived shortly afterwards), I needed a quick shower due to the AC in my coach not being the best (got a bit sweaty) before relaxing for the rest of the evening.

20132 at Crewe

An excellent tour featuring some class BR locos doing some decent length (and speed) with a day of looking out of the window at the scenery.  The staff were friendly doing litter runs and ensuring people were safe.  I did notice when at Preston when I logged onto the station WiFi I was picking up “Greater Anglia WiFi” from the coaches (although I didn’t check if it actually worked).  The coaches were quite nice being 1st class, although legroom was a bit tight at times, probably could do with both the seats & table being raised a few inches to create more legroom as they were quite low to the ground.

11st August – Exploring the Coventry Canal between Tamworth & not Atherstone

The original idea for today was to walk the Coventry Canal between Tamworth & Atherstone, I was toying with a bus move from Lichfield to Fradley but the first southbound LNR was retimed to run 10 minutes later from Stafford so the connection would be very tight.  Although I almost bailed on that idea to do a simple day return to Liverpool to rope in a couple winning 197s between Crewe & Chester due to the predicted hot weather.

Anyhow I returned to my original idea (as I was nice and comfy in bed), leaving the shared house heading to Crewe station, swinging via the Tesco garage to grab breakfast, heading to platform 12 to board the 09:52 service to London with a large crowd building for it as the empty units arrived from the depot late with 350236 leading 350263 & 350241 for a 12-coach special (all the lovely 3+2 seating!)  I managed to grab a seat in the former 1st class area of 236 for the trip to Tamworth where my walk began.  

The first section was a stroll alongside the A513 crossing over the river Anker and underneath the XC route.  After going underneath, the railway arches I headed towards the Glascote area of the town (along the B5000 road) picking up the Coventry canal deciding instead of heading towards Atherstone to head towards Fradley with the theory that the sun would be mainly behind me as it was already getting warm.



The towpath along the first section was quite reasonable as it headed south going underneath the A5 and over the river Tame to reach Fazeley (where the canal towards Birmingham branches off).  After Fazeley the canal started to head north-west with the towpath turning a bit more rural and peaceful as it headed away from the general Tamworth area into countryside towards Hopwas and into Hopwas woods (which was an unexpected beautiful gem).  My walk continued leaving behind the woodland skirting round the settlement of Whittington with the WCML running close in some places with the towpath being quite variable in quality.

I continued the towpath in the blazing sun towards Huddlesford where the former Lichfield Canal branched off (part restored) with the first section being used for mooring (reminds me a bit of the Somerset Coal Canal near Dundas aqueduct).  This is also the area where the Coventry Canal goes underneath the WCML and passes a busy pub.  The next section of the canal took me towards Streethay Marina (going underneath the railway line between Lichfield & Burton).  A short section where the canal ran alongside the busy A38 followed (this was the worse section both for noise and also towpath quality) before the canal diverted away from the dual carriageway to run close to the railway line (with the peace broken by a diverted voyager accelerating).  I was on the last section as I went underneath the A38 and into the settlement of Fradley, reaching the access point at Bridge Farm Lane where I started a walk earlier in the year (with Fradley towards Rugeley).

Coventry Canal in Hopwas Wood

I made it to Fradley with around 10 minutes to spare before the next bus for Lichfield, which itself was running around 5 minutes late with the tracking so I followed Bridge Farm Lane and a cycle path towards a Co-Op to grab both a meal deal for lunch and for some more liquid before waiting for the Diamond Buses route 12E service to Lichfield (with bus 30992) for the short journey to Lichfield Trent Valley station.  An attempt to grab a photograph of a passing voyager on the high-level platform was ruined by someone dashing in front of myself to wave at the driver to try and get them to blow the horn, but seeing 730s on the CrossCity line platform felt so out of place.  The next London train was delayed by 10 minutes to the south of Stafford as I hid (along with many other passengers) underneath the railway bridge on the platform for some shade.  The PIS was suggesting it was going to be a single 350 (with the following one due to be a pair of 350/2s as they were departing north when I arrived at the station).

The good news is the PIS was incorrect and the London train was the usual pair of 350s, the bad news is that it was another pair of 2s (350266 & 350242) as I managed to get a seat in the former 1st class area to put some charge into my phone and to relax for the journey to London (time I spent reading various bits I needed to do for Monday and my first day in my new job).  The train remained 10 minutes late throughout so it was a fast turnaround at Euston fighting against the stampede as the train was announced a minute or so after the train had arrived.  As I had just over an hour, I had a gentle stroll towards Waterloo before catching the 18:45 service for Salisbury with 158880 leading 159007 on a hot service (failed AC).  These sprinters took me to Grateley where I had a relaxing walk home to relax for the rest of the day after getting my new rucksack ready for the 07:27 on the Monday morning which is going to be my commuting train for the next 6-8 weeks as I start my training (back to school I go, lol).



It was an enjoyable (if a bit hot at times) stroll along the Coventry canal, the last sections can be walked using trains rather than needing a bus which is always a bonus as they can be pushed back to next year (working on the assumption the £2 bus fare cap won’t survive beyond December and bus fares go back to being high & a complete mystery (in some cases).  Anyhow thanks for reading, going to be a bit harder keeping these blog posts up to date going forward due to work (no being able to type it up at work when on an extended lunch break), but I will try my best.  More photos can be found on my Flickr, thanks for reading