26th – 27th October, Weekend in South Wales

 26th – 27th October, Weekend in South Wales

This was a bit of a late notice decision to book a weekend away in South Wales after finding accommodation for £38 in the Ebbw Vale area (with a couple other options a bit more expensive near Porth).  After finishing a course for work (and doing a random linear hop trip on the Friday to score some 730s towards Milton Keynes), I was due to meet a good friend on the Sunday in Cardiff so decided to go away and book the accommodation.

26th October – Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal

The trip began with the 05:24 service from Grateley with 159106 doing the honours with the trip to Basingstoke, where after a gentle stroll I took 165104 to Reading (where I popped out of the station to grab something for breakfast).  I know I could have started half an hour later as the XC voyager gave a barely official +7 connection into the Swansea train, but I decided it was better playing it safe (also the chance to grab something to munch on, rather than rushing around).

The 07:13 service to Swansea this morning was formed of a single 5 coach 800020, thankfully easy enough to grab a decent seat in the 2nd coach (running in reverse formation with 1st class at the front) when it rolled in with the run towards Cardiff Central.  Had it not lost time at Bristol Parkway waiting for an ECS from the depot to get put ahead I might have been able to make a connection to a late running Manchester train at Newport to put myself ahead of plan, but that was pulling out as soon as the IET arrived.  Anyhow I remained on board to Cardiff, changing to board a quiet 197109 on a Cardiff – Manchester starter (instead of a 67 hauled set) to take me to Cwmbran with revenue protection in force (and the new footbridge coming along well).

197109 departing Cwmbran Station

After swinging via Morrisons to pick up supplies for lunch my walk began heading along the road (and crossing what looked like an old railway bridge which used to be the old GWR route towards Blaenavon Low Level) I reached the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal.  This part of the canal is incomplete in places (with parts being lost to modern development and modern roads), but has a solid towpath.  I followed the towpath (and the road network where the towpath ceases to exist) heading towards Old Cwmbran, leaving the urban area behind and into some peaceful rural area with some lovely woodland (although the towpath was a bit slippery in places with wet leaves, but nothing that major).

Soon I reached Malpas Junction, in the shadow of the M4 and headed towards Newport town centre, following the canal and a cycle route to the banks of the River Usk in Shaftesbury Park, before doing a U-turn to head back on myself back towards the canal junction and started with the Crumlin Arm.  The first mile was a steady climb with the M4 on the right-hand side before the canal headed underneath the motorway and I reached the remains of the Cefn Flight, also known as Fourteen Locks.  A very steep climb (50 metres in 740 metres), I tip my hat to the cyclists attempting to ride up that climb.

Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal between Cwmbran & Newport

Anyhow the road noise from the M4 in the far distance, peace had return as the canal headed towards Rogerstone (other than for one selfish cyclist whom basically shouted at people to get out of his way, like he owned the towpath).  My walk along the canal continued leaving Rogerstone and towards Pontymister with some steep lanes leading from the canal towards the centre of the settlement (and the station).  I continued heading towards Risca where there was another short gap in the canal before skirting round Crosskeys and reaching the end of the canal in Pontywaun.  The canal previously continued towards Crumlin but the route has been lost to a road with no real evidence remaining.

The walk finished with a walk along the B4591 towards Crosskeys station, passing the remains of an old footbridge which looked like an old railway bridge (maybe something with the old Cwmcarn Colliery branch?)  At Crosskeys station I saw a pair of 153s on a Cardiff train before 197019 rolled in on the next Ebbw Vale Town service to take me towards the terminus as I wanted to get checked in, a bit of new track as I hadn't been north of Crosskeys station since the line was redoubled towards Llanhilleth allowing for a half hourly service from Ebbw Vale.

153906 at Crosskeys Station

My accommodation was at the Kings Arms Guest House, around half a mile from the station, but up a large hill (as Ebbw Vale Town station is located at the bottom of the valley with the town situated high above it).  I followed the rough route of the railway towards the former Ebbw Vale (low level) station before climbing up to the pub, getting checked in to drop off some weight from my bag before coming back down the hill to Ebbw Vale Town station for 153323 & 153906 on the next Cardiff service, which I took to Risca & Pontymister for some better photos (and a fast walk to Tesco for some supplies).

The next Newport service was in the hands of 197046 which took me towards Newport, crossing a small bit of the network for passenger train coverage (having covered that side of the triangle a couple times on railtours).  At Newport it was a short walk to platform 2 to board a late running 800302 to take me to Cardiff Central where I braved the chaos of the city centre on a Saturday night to visit a Poundland to pick up a new Apple Lightning charger cable for my ancient iPod whose battery is slowly giving up the ghost (it will shout that less than 20% remain, only to jump to 60%+ as soon as it's plugged into charge).



I made it back to the station with a couple of minutes to spare, although the next Penarth train was delayed due to a 231-blocking platform 7, forcing a late notice platform change for 153926 & 153910 for the run to Penarth (solely to give me something to do, and to clear the branch for 153 coverage).  In a way I got lucky because Penarth was reduced to 2tph today (I presume freeing up paths for long distance services diverted via Barry) to get a pair of 153s as the other 2 units on Coryton - Penarth services were single 153s!

Anyhow back at Cardiff Central and a short walk over to platform 1 to board a very busy 197007 which rolled in late from Swansea and formed the next Ebbw Vale service, the last to go direct towards Pye Corner (as the ones later all went via Newport).  I took this to Llanhilleth for some better photos and to look at the new platform, returning to Newbridge on the same unit (sadly the Co-Op which used to be next to the station is long gone, I remember visiting there back in 2018 when I first visited this station).

My last train of the evening was another busy 197 with 197002 to take me to the end of the line, giving it a couple of minutes for the platform to clear before I made my way back up the steep climb to my accommodation (Strava quoted a climb of 85ft in just under half a mile).  I was a bit wary when booking this place thinking that it was a pub and it could be loud until late, but when I got there around 21:15 the pub was all closed up (assuming it actually opened in the first place) so I had a decent night of sleep on a comfy bed.  Certainly, a place I would use again, as I relaxed after an enjoyable stroll along the canal from Cwmbran in some beautiful sunshine, although I wished I had turned the fridge off as it was a bit loud at times!


27th October – Taff Trail

The day began checking out of the pub and making my way to the Ebbw Vale Spoons for breakfast arriving just before 8am so it was a short wait for the pub to open up so I could have a nice breakfast before I made my way down the hill to the station to await the first train of the day with 197105 for the slow trip towards the Newport area before going direct to Cardiff Central (which for a Sunday is quite rare considering most of the Ebbw Vale – Cardiff trains go via Newport).  As I had some time to kill before Jules would arrive from Hereford, I headed across to the high numbered platforms to take 231004 for the trip to Barry Island, having a gentle stroll back towards Barry to board the same train back to Cardiff Central, arriving into platform 8 (which I think is something I’ve not done before).

I met up with Jules as we popped out of the station to grab some lunch items before taking 231003 towards Taffs Well going nonstop via the city line (Ninian Park) due to engineering works at Cardiff Queen Street.  Feels strange going along this route on something other than a sprinter, maybe the next time I visit the other Flirts might be in use, maybe even some of the trams we saw stabled at the depot at Taffs Well.

231004 at Barry Island

The walk began as we eventually found the exit to the station (the main exit is currently closed for I presume a new station building), going across the railway and alongside the depot for the 398s and picking up the Taff Trail.  This is a long-distance path which runs from Cardiff towards Brecon, parts I’ve already done in the past.  We picked up the path as it ran along the route of the former Rhymney Railway route towards Nathgarw where it met with the remains of the route of the former Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway, one of the many old railways lost to history in this part of the country.  We stayed on the path towards the outskirts of Caerphilly where the route is lost to housing, doubling back to the junction area, crossing over the A468 and leaving Nantgarw behind as we headed towards the Treforest area skirting round Upper Boat & Rhydyfelin before dropping down, following a path alongside the busy A470 (on what looked to be an old slip road) heading towards Pontypridd via the Ynysangharad War Memorial Park reaching the station.

An enjoyable walk along mostly tarmac paths which were busy with other users, a good way to pass the time having a good social about life & other things.  We reached Pontypridd with a few minutes to spare before 231007 rolled in to take us back towards Cardiff Central, popping out of the station to grab items for dinner before returning with Jules heading back to Hereford behind a 67.  The train I was catching had changed a few times today, firstly it was cancelled outright before coming back as a Cardiff – London service, before that changed to a Cardiff – Bristol Temple Meads service before getting cancelled before finally coming back to being run in full!  Confusing long-distance travel on GWR on Sundays!

Taff Trail (former Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway) between Nantgarw & Rhydyfelin

800310 rolled into Cardiff and I managed to get a decent seat near the back of the train where it was quieter as it headed towards England, losing some time in the Swindon area due to congestion caused by late running services from the Temple Meads direction, and more time outside Reading before it headed into one of the higher numbered platforms with a large crowd waiting for it as two other long distance services had been spun at Reading due to being quite late.

The last train for this trip was 158883 & 158887 on the SWR service to Salisbury, I presume starting at Reading instead of Waterloo due to the paths being taken up by diverted Reading services, so a little bonus for me as it gave me a direct train back to Grateley rather than hanging around Basingstoke for 30 minutes.  Anyhow this train took me home to Grateley, where I had a gentle stroll home, relaxing for the remainder of the evening after two enjoyable walks in some South Wales sunshine.

158883 at Reading

October had been a busy month for myself, the beginning of winter where long walks will get less due to the colder weather & shorter days, so far November is another busy month with a number of overnight trips & the HST tour to the East Lancs Railway.  More photos from this weekend can be found on my Flickr *here*, thanks for reading.

Trips on 18th – 20th October, Weekend in Cheshire

 Trips on 18th – 20th October, Weekend in Cheshire

Originally this weekend getaway was booked for a Pathfinder tour which got cancelled due to the class 40 loco becoming unavailable, but I decided to keep my booking for my usual accommodation in Crewe with lots of ideas in my head of things to do, all based on what the weather forecast was predicting.

18th October – “Delays, delays & more delays”

Just felt like it was one of those evenings where everything was delayed, starting with the 16:59 from Grateley formed of a busy 159009 & 158884 running around 10 minutes late due to the previous Exeter – London service running late (and having stops ripped out), losing some more time along the way into London so arriving around 20 minutes late (mainly caused by congestion).  After grabbing some dinner items from Sainsburys in the Sidings I headed towards the Underground for the Northern line where the platform was quite busy and screens was suggesting trains were turning back at Charing Cross due to some issue further along the line.

Plan Bakerloo time, with 3556 & 3250 taken to Oxford Circus for an unusual 5-minute wait for the next Victoria line service, just about squeezing onto 11010 & 11009 for the run to Euston, my original pick of trains to Crewe already departed so it was onto 390151 working a Manchester service, first stop Stafford.  Departed near enough on time, but soon lost time due to congestion and a late running Wolverhampton bound service calling at both Watford Junction & Milton Keynes being in front so by the time the Pendo passed Rugby it was around 12 minutes late.

158884 at London Waterloo

Still, I was sitting in comfort, watching some videos on my tablet as the Pendo increased speed after Rugby to call at Stafford around 13 minutes late looking likely to be a similar arrival time into Crewe, that was until the train reached the Basford Hall area and hit some congestion and managed to lose 17 minutes before rolling into Crewe just over 30 minutes late.  Hello delay repay I said to myself as I headed out of the station towards the shared house, making myself comfortable (after putting breakfast in the fridge for the morning as it was going to be an early start).  Worse thing about this stay was someone staying in another of the upstairs rooms going out for a smoke during the night but not turning off the hallway light when they returned.

19th October – Exploring the Tissington Trail

The Tissington Trail is the name given to a mixed used path which makes use of the route of the former Uttoxeter – Ashbourne – Buxton line, running between Ashbourne & Dowlow (a couple miles south of Buxton and now a quarry) sharing the first few miles with the High Peak Trail towards Cromford.  A walk I’ve been trying to do a couple of times this year but was either hit with poor weather or engineering works as reaching the starting point using public transport, the options are very limited with one bus a day in each direction (Monday to Saturday) with 2 buses each way on Sundays (Macclesfield – Chatsworth House).

Anyhow the day began with the former Scottish 170416 on the first EMR service from Crewe (making use of the former 1st class area for a little bit of extra comfort) which took me towards Derby and I headed outside the station to catch the High Peak operated route 114 service for Ashbourne with bus 806 on a lightly loaded service via Derby city centre (where the two other passengers whom boarded with myself at the station alighted) for a little trip via some small villages such as Quarndon, Kedleston & Cross o' th' Hands) only picking up another passenger on the outskirts of Ashbourne itself.  Arrival was met with some damp weather as I headed towards the Sainsburys to grab some lunch items before having a little explore of Ashbourne before High Peak’s bus 292 (a little Solo) rolled in on the daily route 441 for Buxton (there is a more frequent route 442 towards Buxton which goes a different route from Ashbourne)

Hulleys of Baslow Bus 9 (MX09 AOF) outside Ashbourne Bus Station on a route 110

Along the way the rain did clear up, being replaced with fog and part of me was tempted to bail out and carry on to Buxton but in the end, I decided to risk it alighting from the bus opposite the Duke of York pub in the small settlement of Pomeroy where my walk began with a short footpath across a slightly muddy field to reach the old railway line route (saved a walk along the busy A515).  When I reached the old railway line, I headed towards Buxton to walk to the end at Dowlow before doubling back towards Hurdlow with the mist lifting and sun coming out.  Yes, the path was a bit wet in places, but nothing that major (and I was expecting puddles due to the rain).  After Hurdlow I continued the walk towards Parsley Hay where there was a bike hire place and the line splits with the High Peak trail heading towards Cromford and Tissington trail continuing south.

The path quality was good as it headed towards some absolutely beautiful scenery in a very rural area.  I passed the old signal box at Hartington as the path continued mostly heading south towards Alsop En Le Dale & Newton Grange, pausing for lunch with a beautiful view.  The path skirted round the edge of Tissington, crossing over the A615 on a modern bridge with the last couple miles not having such beautiful views as it headed away from the Peak District towards Ashbourne finishing with a tunnel with the path ending near the town centre a short walk away from the bus stops.  A walk I would recommend, just a shame reaching it by public transport is very limited, no wonder why the many car parks along the way were busy.

View from the Tissington Trail

Annoyingly I had hit the gap in afternoon trains on the Derby – Crewe line, so would have had a 90-minute wait had I gone direct to Uttoxeter as I was originally toying with, instead I boarded the Trent Barton operated “Swift” route (bus 737) on the more direct bus towards Derby, terminating at the bus station.  I had a gentle stroll towards the railway station, jumping onto a busy 170115 for the run to Long Eaton, seeing as I purchased a ticket to Long Eaton this morning from Crewe, I might have well made use of it for an extra 8 miles each way).

At Long Eaton, I took a seat on the Derby bound platform, relaxing before 158812 rolled in on the Crewe train.  Making a change from the more usual 170 and first time I believe I’ve had a 158 on the route between Derby & Stoke on Trent.  At Crewe station I headed back towards my accommodation via a takeaway to grab a burger meal box, consuming it in the lounge area and relaxing for an hour or so before heading back out to intercept a required 197.



Back at Crewe station I took a seat on 197118 (in standard plus to make the most of the nicer seats before you have to pay extra for them) on a quiet train because a voyager was running quite late it split at Crewe instead of Chester, which did soak up a lot of the waiting passengers, although the 197 did get delayed heading to Chester as a result (due to the longer signalling blocks), at Chester it ran into the back of 197122 to become my first 6 coach 197 service to take me to Flint, where the main footbridge is out of action as a new lift bridge is getting installed.  Access to the opposite platform is via an existing footbridge close to the station, the main reason for heading to Flint is to avoid a long wait in Chester due to a slightly mismatched timetable and to avoid the risk of TfW swapping out my required unit for something else.

Anyhow, 15 minutes at Flint later and winner 197124 rolled in, not as busy as I was expecting it to have been as I took a seat in Standard Plus as it ran into the rear of 197019 at Chester for the final section to Crewe.  My last currently active (as of the 29th October) 197 with just 2 more of the 3 coach units left and the 2-coach batch with the signalling equipment for the Cambrian so a nice result.  A good thing I went for it on the Saturday as the unit sat on the depot at Crewe most of the day on the Sunday only coming out to form a 3pm service towards Holyhead, the one which avoided me the weekend before when it got swapped over for 120 at Swansea.

197124 at Crewe Station

I alighted from the train at Crewe station, making my way back to the shared house, having a nice shower and relaxing for the remainder of the evening, thankfully the person whom couldn’t turn off the lights seemed to have disappeared as the house was quiet so I had a reasonable night sleep.

20th October – A West Midlands Day Ranger in the rain

Sadly, the weather had turned back to being a bit on the wet side, so walking was out of the option leaving me with some options.  Engineering works in Liverpool had closed Lime Street High Level and there was no Merseyrail services via Hooton so heading towards Liverpool to hunt 777s was out.  I did see if 230006 was floating around on the Wrexham – Bidston line but it wasn’t out (and a good thing I didn’t head that way as the services collapsed with a signalling issue at Wrexham).  In the end I decided to head towards the West Midlands to see what 730s were floating around (although even that plan didn’t work as the southern section of the Cross City line collapsed due to overhead wire damage).

I checked out of the shared house, not sure when I will next be back, heading towards Crewe station via the Tesco at the garage for breakfast items and towards platform 5 where I gambled wrong on the way 220030 was positioned and ended up standing on a very busy service towards Birmingham New Street, being able to ID a Shrewsbury service departing as a 4 coach 196.  On checking RTT I saw a Wolverhampton – London Avanti service was showing as a winner 805 so after grabbing some fresh air I headed back in the Wolverhampton direction on dud 730003 working the stopping service, which even featured a ticket check (which for West Midlands Train was quite rare).

730003 at Wolverhampton Station

After checking the identity of another 196 from Shrewsbury (running quite late) and seeing a voyager being very cosy, I headed across to platform 4 for winner 805012 to roll in from the depot, taking a seat for the trip towards Birmingham New Street where my luck wasn’t with me in terms of 730s (only half hourly towards Lichfield today with nothing heading south due to the overhead wire damage) so I jumped onto a pair of Avanti voyagers (221102 & 221101) on an Euston service which departed right behind a late running LNR stopper (which itself was following a late running Birmingham International stopper), I was going to stay on to Coventry to see what the 196s were out on Nuneaton – Leamington services but bailed at Birmingham International (which turned out to be a good thing as the voyagers lost more time and would have missed both 196s).  I headed back to Birmingham New Street on a busy 390152 before boarding dud 730045 leading winner 730043 on the next Lichfield service which took me to Blake Street.

A quick platform change at Blake Street and it was onto duds 730041 & 730005 back towards Birmingham New Street for the final time of the day, transferring to 350109 & 350368 working a Crewe service (which would normally be a Liverpool service had the line been open).  For the second time of the day I had my ticket checked, the guard managing to get to the front coach by Wolverhampton.  These 350s took me towards Crewe going on the slow lines north of Stafford, arriving into platform 7 giving me around 20 minutes to waste before winner 805005 rolled in with dud 805001 on the rear, easily getting a table seat near the front of 005 (which like with the 197s I’m now waiting for the rest to enter service).

805012 at Wolverhampton Station

This was a fast service calling only at Stafford towards London Euston so a good speedy run (although I really need to do a WCML Voyager farewell run at some point).  Arrival into Euston was a few minutes behind schedule due to congestion around Milton Keynes, giving me just under an hour to reach Waterloo.  As the sun was out, I decided to have a gentle stroll via my usual route, arriving just over 35 minutes later (which included a trip to a Co-Op for dinner to make use of some membership vouchers to get a £2 meal deal).

My final train for this weekend getaway was 159105 & 158886 working the 18:45 service for Salisbury, taking a seat in the front coach and relaxed for the journey to Grateley where I had a gentle walk home to get myself ready for the week ahead.  An enjoyable weekend, shame the weather on the Sunday was a bit rubbish (I did have a plan to walk from Hayfield towards New Mills, but that will have to wait until next year now).  More photos can be found on my Flickr, link is here, thanks for reading :)