24th Jan – 29th Jan Trip

 24th Jan – 29th Jan Trip

I had some annual leave which needed to be used up by the end of April so I put in a request for a couple weeks off with many ideas of what to do, all coming together with a large holiday

24th Jan – Onwards to Cheshire

The first day of my trip, and the weather forecast looked a bit rubbish with the latest big storm hitting Ireland & Scotland (Northern Ireland was one option I was looking at for this trip but decided against it) with the day starting with 158884 & 159013 on a delayed 06:57 service from Grateley to London Waterloo.  Arrival into Waterloo was at 08:36 so it was a fast walk to the underground with Bakerloo set 3546/3299 taken to Marylebone with around 5 minutes spare before the next Birmingham train.  To mix things up I decided to head to Birmingham via Chiltern this time round, mainly to relax on the Mk3 coaches with 68015 up front, watching the countryside go by.

I arrived in Birmingham and after picking up a West Midlands Day Ranger I headed towards Birmingham New Street to take 730032 to Blake Street, intercepting winner 730025 (and dud 730033) on a Bromsgrove service, before the line fell over due to a fallen tree around Sutton Coldfield, with no sign of my last 730/0 nor 2 coach 196s I decided to head towards Cheshire to get ‘checked in’ into my accommodation, the shared house I’ve used countless times before, only to get rid of some weight from my rucksack.

68015 at London Marylebone

However, due to issues with the overhead wires falling down between Stafford & Wolverhampton I decided it would be a good chance to cover the Chase line on a 730 so it was onto a busy 730026 for the slow trip via Walsall towards Rugeley Trent Valley, a horrible station at the best of times (for it’s quite exposed to the elements).  It wasn’t the nicest of waits before 350106 & 350403 rolled in on the next LNR to Crewe, taking me to Crewe, picking up a Cheshire Day Ranger from the ticket office.

It was onto 390129 to take me to Runcorn (a service made busier due to no LNR running between Crewe & Liverpool for some reason), a short wait at Runcorn before winner 807006 rolled in from Liverpool to take me to Crewe where I had a short wait for the next TfW service for Manchester with dud 197045 leading winner 197031.  I decided to take these to Stockport, although had I been quick on my feet at Wilmslow, I might have been able to change platforms for a 67 hauled set heading south which was running a couple of minutes late.

390006 passing Rugeley Trent Valley

I did have a crazy idea to take a XC towards Stafford to mix things up, but that was cancelled so it was onto 390002 back to Crewe where I exited the station, making my way towards my accommodation via the large Tesco to grab some bottles of liquid (as I didn’t pack any big bottles due to weight/space limitations).  With my stuff dropped off, I returned to Crewe station before winner 807002 took me to Warrington Bank Quay on the Blackpool service, where I had a couple of options to heading back to Crewe, deciding to take a busy 197012 to Chester for 197104 back to Crewe where I was tempted to call it a day but decided to do one of the things on my “novelty” list and took 390050 to Stafford for a 45-minute wait.

Which sounded longer than it was, but due to the issues at Penkridge, a London – Crewe via Birmingham Pendo was sent via the Trent Valley line and arrived 30-odd minutes early (and it was pretty much empty).  390136 provided me some shelter from the cold wind before it set off towards Crewe, but going via Stoke on Trent (the novelty being a Pendo between Stafford & Stoke).  An empty train (it was following a LNR Stafford – Crewe service which took a lot of the passengers), a relaxing end to the first day.  On the way back to the accommodation I was in two minds about a walk on the Saturday, the cold wind was putting a question mark on my trip to the High Peak Trail.

25th January – Exploring the Trans Pennine Trail between Warrington & Altrincham

I decided to leave the High Peak Trail for another day so my backup plan was to walk the route of the former Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway from the Thelwall area of Warrington towards Altrincham which is now part of the long-distance Trans Pennine Trail (which runs from Southport towards Hornsea).  This walk had been on my list to do for a while as a potential Sunday idea (heck it was even my rough plan for the Sunday of this trip had the weather been better).

A later than usual start with 390135 taken from Crewe to Warrington Bank Quay to begin my walk.  The first section was following a path which runs alongside the north bank of the River Mersey, being careful to avoid some icy patches due to the temperature, crossing over the river at the Kingsway Bridge before taking the "Black Bear Park" path starting near Victoria Park and heading south west towards Latchford (going underneath an old railway bridge used by the old railway route.  This path comes to an end next to the Manchester Ship Canal near a handy Morrisons (which came in handy for a quick toilet stop and to grab lunch items).

After visiting Morrisons I picked up the Trans Pennine Trail which for this section followed the north bank of the Ship Canal (although no decent views of the canal due to trees), reaching the impressive Latchford Viaduct (now disused) and Latchford Locks which I used to cross over the canal to the Thelwall side, with a short walk along the road to pick up a path leading up a steep hill to the route of the old railway.

Latchford Locks on Manchester Ship Canal

The path quality was reasonable for the time of year, a bit muddy in places but nothing major.  It was a busy path in terms of other users as the sun had come out (and was quite a lovely day).  The woodland path skirted round Thelwall and towards open countryside, with a short detour required near the M6.  After the M6 it was towards Lymm passing to the north of the town with the Bridgwater Canal coming close at times.  No real evidence of the former stations (in terms of platforms).

After Lymm (and a path which felt like it was constructed using rubber mixed with tarmac as it was a bit bouncy) it was into the wilds of Cheshire, towards Dunham Massey.  A lovely section this in terms of being near silent, other than birds singing.  However, all good things come to an end as the path ended in the Broadheath area of Altrincham with an industrial estate along with some retail units.  I followed a couple of roads to reach Navigation Road station where my walk came to an end.

Trans Pennine Trail (former Warrington and Altrincham Junction Line) in Dunham Massey

It was time to play with some trains and I took a seat on 156429 working a train towards Chester, changing to Merseyrail to see if I could get lucky with a required 777 doing a series of linear hops towards Hamilton Square.  Eventually scoring 777019 on a massively late Chester service (as the Chester line had somewhat collapsed with at least 2 services getting turned back at Birkenhead Central).  Sadly, Merseyrail couldn't do their usual trick in running this service fast as it was following an Ellesmere Port service.

A bit dicey at the Chester end in terms of connection with a Crewe train, but thankfully I made the connection to a busy 197117 for the short run to Crewe where I decided to call it a night.  I headed to my accommodation via a burger place for a yummy burger (afterwards having a little stroll to Tesco to grab some supplies for the Sunday).  An enjoyable walk from Warrington towards Altrincham (and if anybody wanted to walk just the old railway line section, there is a bus stop located at the old railway bridge in Thelwall).

26th January – A Day of Diverts

With the weather being a bit on the wetter side today, I looked up ideas and saw that Avanti were diverting services via Bescot & Aston due to the Trent Valley line being closed, and that a few were calling at Rugby to allow use of a West Midlands Day Ranger.  This is something which had been on my list a couple times in the past, but for various reasons never happened.  Anyhow I headed to Crewe station to board 390126 on a London service for the trip to Rugby going towards Wolverhampton before heading towards Bescot at Bushbury Junction & Portobello Junction.  At Perry Barr junctions it carried straight on towards Aston and then used the freight link towards Stechford, re-joining the regular passenger network after Stechford station.  A nonstop run from Stechford towards Rugby followed (and yes it felt odd going fast through Coventry during the day).  I alighted at Rugby and decided to risk having a short walk as the rain wasn't due to arrive until midday.

Today's short walk was along the route of the former Grand Central line, which is split into two parts within Rugby.  I picked the Southern section, and after walking some roads picked up the path of the old line, passing the remains of the Grand Central station and heading south skirting the edge of Hilmorton before the path ending at Onley Lane.  I did a U-turn and headed back towards Rugby along the same route getting lucky as it only started to rain when I joined the road.  One old railway route in Rugby covered, just leaves the Northern section of the Grand Central route towards Newton plus the old Leamington route towards Birdingbury.

Platforms at the former Rugby Central Station

Anyhow I got back to the station, coming up with a plan to head to Coventry for a 196 to Leamington for something towards Birmingham that direction when I noticed looking at RTT some non-stop Birmingham Snow Hill – Worcester services and some diverted XC services going via Kidderminster due to the usual route via Bromsgrove being closed.  This is a diverted route which had been on my list for a while (even going as far as looking at costs of a city centre hotel to do it one night so my plan to go towards Leamington went into the bin as a busy 350119 & 350110 took me to Birmingham New Street.

I headed across to board 220011 & 220028 on a Plymouth service (which dwelled at Birmingham New Street for something like 25 minutes), easily getting a seat at the back of the train.  Originally, I was going to take this pair of voyagers to Gloucester but decided along the way to extend my ticket to Bristol Parkway to cover the south facing side of the Gloucester triangle on a XC service (something which I was hoping to do last year when Ashley Gate opened).  So, I ended up taking this pair of voyagers to Bristol Parkway of all places.

220011 at Bristol Parkway

The next northbound service was delayed a few minutes, departing behind a Worcester bound IET.  Again, I got lucky in not only getting a seat, but it was one with an actual window (rather than a view of plastic) when 220004 & 220010 rolled in for the trip back to Birmingham going via Gloucester, Worcester Shrub Hill & Kidderminster.  Back at Birmingham New Street and I headed across to board 390154 on a Preston bound service for the run towards Crewe (enjoying the legroom because the legroom on a voyager isn’t the best compared to a Pendo).

I got lucky as the Pendo arrived a couple of minutes early, allowing a fast walk across to platform 5 to board winner 197034 on a service running nonstop to Shrewsbury, another 197 into my book.  At Shrewsbury I popped out of the station to visit Tesco Express for dinner, before taking 197111 back to Crewe on another nonstop journey (the 197s certainly fly on this section of the route).  Anyhow once back at Crewe I headed towards my accommodation to get my rucksack sorted for the morning as it was time to relocate to East Yorkshire.

27th January – Onwards to Yorkshire… via Brigg.

For the second part of my holiday, I had booked a stay in a hotel in Hull, originally it was going to be one night with another relocation to Newcastle but I decided to stay in Hull for 2 nights, just to give me a day where I didn’t have to carry the mobile house.  I departed from the shared house in Crewe after a good stay (it’s not perfect by any means but for the location and average price it is hard to beat) heading to Crewe station to board 197008 & 197111 on the first Manchester bound TfW service which called at Alderley Edge (which was a bit unusual).  At Stockport I had 25-odd minutes so popped out of the station to visit the Co-Op in Edgeley to grab some supplies for breakfast.

After my supply run, I returned to the station to board 185128 & 185147 on the next TPE service towards Sheffield, with a few passengers heading to board the front unit ignoring the rearmost unit.  I’m sure all of those passengers held valid tickets and not just a ticket from Stockport to Davenport or something else to bypass the barriers at Stockport.  Anyhow these 185s took me across the valley of Hope which was looking beautiful as ever and deposited me at the rebuilt Dore & Totley station, where after a couple of photos I took 195130 from the new platform back towards Grindleford for a short wait before 195112 to Sheffield.

185147 departing Dore & Totley Station

As a time-wasting measure, I took 185139 & 185138 to Meadowhall, nearly getting caught out by short platforms (why did I think the Doncaster line platforms at Meadowhall took 6 coaches?), and returning to Sheffield on 150003 where I had a short wait on platform 1 to await the arrival of 150271 from the sidings to form the daily northern service to Cleethorpes via Brigg.  A line I haven’t done on a passenger service in a while, and never on a 150 (as the Brigg line services were solid pacer when I did the stations).  A quiet train from Sheffield, on a nonstop run towards Worksop picking up a good number of passengers, most alighting at Retford with half a dozen remaining on board for the run towards Gainsborough Central (where I made use of a booked dwell for a photo) before heading towards Cleethorpes.  As I had time and the sun was out (all be with a cold wind) I headed for a little stroll along the seafront heading towards New Clee before doubling back via the roads to Cleethorpes, where things went a bit wrong.  Anyhow it was my first time at Cleethorpes since platform 4 was brought back into use for some reason (it’s not like Cleethorpes is a busy station with 1.5 trains per hour).  An area to return to once I research booked usage.

Anyhow, back to the trains, the 170 from Barton rolled in with announcements that the return service was cancelled due to a lack of staff.  So rather than mess around with a replacement bus which might or might not turn up I cut my losses and jumped back onto 150271 to Grimsby Town to head towards a bus stop near the town hall for the route 250 to Hull.  My original idea was to take the train to Barton (ticking off the branch for both 170 coverage and also as a “EMR” service) to walk over the bridge to Hessle (for a train to Hull).

185107, 170512 & 150271 at Cleethorpes

Stagecoach’s 26268 was on the next 250 service.  It headed out of the suburbs of Grimsby towards Laceby, then a fast run along the A48 coming off the road to serve Keelby before heading towards Ulceby via Brocklesby & crossing the railway at the old station site.  After serving Ulceby village (nowhere near the station) the bus headed towards Barrow Upon Humber and Barton Upon Humber, doing a loop of the town centre, pausing for a few minutes at the station.  After resuming the bus headed towards the A15 to cross the Humber Bridge before heading towards Hull city centre via the suburbs, hitting school throwing out time to take a lot of school kids for what felt like 2 stops (something which probably would have taken them less than 10 minutes to walk).  The bus terminated in the bus station, an enjoyable run and unexpected due to the cancellation of the train.

At Hull, I headed towards my accommodation, to get checked in (it was one of those places with more limited checking in times, and because I had plans for the evening I didn’t want to get caught out).  A basic hotel (converted house from the looks of it) near the hospital, taking around 15 minutes to walk from the station, reasonable enough.  After leaving the bulk of the weight from my rucksack I returned towards the Bus/Train station to grab something to eat from Tesco before heading towards platform 1 at Hull, something which since my last visit had been brought back into use (and mainly used by the hourly stopping services to Doncaster).

Stagecoach Bus 26268 (YM19 VRT) in Hull (layover area) (Passenger Side)

My original idea was to take the next stopper to Brough for a Hull Trains service to Doncaster, but sadly things went wrong again as the next stopper with 158795 was delayed inbound and hence was held for both a TPE & the Hull Trains service to depart first, before heading towards Doncaster running something like 25 minutes late.  I decided to bail at Thorne North as I wanted some more photos of this station, for a wait in the cold before 158792 rolled in on the next Doncaster stopper to take me to Doncaster, where I had a short break before 800106 rolled in on the daily token LNER service to Hull.

I had a private coach on this 9-coach train for the short(ish) journey to Selby, ticking off coverage from Temple Hirst Junction towards Selby on a LNER service (linking up with the time I did a 800 from Selby to Hull in 2023).  A short wait at Selby and it was back towards Doncaster on a lightly loaded 802303 for another wait, this time for 170473 on the next train towards Hull, which was unusual for Northern as it went via Selby rather than via Goole.  Another small part of the Northern network covered on a Northern service, as I relaxed (annoyed that I had taken out my tablet as it would have come in handy to pass the time in the darkness) as the 170 made good process.  At Hull I departed the station & headed back towards my accommodation to relax for the rest of the evening, getting lucky because half an hour later it threw it down.   A mostly successful day with a couple more novelty services removed from my list.

28th January – A tour of Yorkshire

The main idea for today was to take the bus to Hornsea to walk the old railway line back towards Hull, on a day I wasn’t carrying around the mobile house, however the weather didn’t want to play ball with it being a tad wet so I dug out a plan B.  The day starting with a gentle stroll from my accommodation towards the station, going via Tesco for some breakfast items and purchasing my East Yorkshire Round Robin ticket and boarding 155347 for the run towards Nafferton where I had a gentle little stroll into the village during the 30-minute fester, noticing a potential future walking idea towards Driffield.  Anyhow 155347 returned from Bridlington to take me a couple stops to Hutton Cranswick, a station I needed some more photos considering when I did the stations the first time round the connection here wasn’t ideal (a case of dashing to the level crossing to get across the railway line during the short time the barrier went up).

155344 was up next to take me to Bridlington to terminate in the bay platform giving me time to pop to Tesco in the rain to grab a drink (and to waste some time).  After my visit to Tesco, it was onwards to Scarborough on 170458 before taking 802219 on the next TPE service towards Manchester, felt strange being on an 802 on this slow line after last doing it behind 68s.  I alighted from this 802 at York with a plan in my head to rope in the latest Northern 150 hybrid units, but first I had a gentle loop along the city walls.  Although I couldn't do the section between Monkbar & Bootham Bar as that section was closed, so headed back towards the station via the impressive York Minster.  A bit slippery in places due to the recent rain but was interesting with the old walls.

155347 departing Hutton Cranswick Station

Back at York station and feeling refreshed after that walk I boarded a quiet 185140 for the fast run towards Leeds and a short wait before winner 150007 rolled in on the next Knottingley via Wakefield service, nice and easy to get over ten miles with the nonstop run towards Wakefield Westgate where I had around 15 minutes to wait before winner 150008 followed on the next Sheffield stopper.  Originally, I was going to take this towards Rotherham Central but it lost time at both Fitzwilliam & Moorthorpe (with no reasons given by the guard) so I bailed at Goldthorpe for 158792 on the next stopper back towards Leeds, alighting at Moorthorpe for a short wait before a busier than expected 150273 to roll in on the York train for a little trip via Pontefract Baghill.

Darkness had fallen by the time the 150 got back to York, giving me a chance to grab some supplies for dinner before one of my main goals for today, the novelty of the token daily LNER service to Middlesbrough.  It was running a few minutes behind schedule due to delays on the southern section of the ECML as a mostly empty 800205 rolled in, I was in coach B with 3 other passengers, all which boarded at York.  This Azuma ran nonstop towards Thornaby using the Northallerton avoiding line (not sure if I’ve done those on a passenger service before) arriving into Middlesbrough a couple minutes behind schedule.  But the last of the current LNER token daily services had been complete.

800205 at Middlesbrough Station

As I had nearly an hour before the next TPE service back towards York so I jumped onto 156438 to Redcar Central.  Not the best of ideas considering this area is quite dodgy at night in terms of feral youths hanging around causing trouble for any passengers waiting for trains.  I just had a little stroll away from the station to get away from them before returning to board 185124 & 185118 with a good number of passengers walking past 118 to board the front unit even with half of it off the platform, I wonder how many of those actually had tickets or were getting a free ride knowing the guard would be restricted to the rear unit.  Although I shouldn’t make any assumptions.

An hour or so later I alighted from the 185s at York giving me a nice connection into a Hull bound service formed of 170453, one of the northern 170s which still has 2+1 seating behind the cabs, just for that extra bit of luxury on this lightly loaded stopper where I had a crazy last-minute idea and bailed at Ferriby to have a walk towards the river bank for some night time photos of the Humber.  After a couple of photos, it was back to the station for 155344 to take me one stop back to Brough finishing the day with 185148 to Hull.  I made my way back to my hotel to relax for the rest of the night, sorting out my rucksack for the departure in the morning.

River Humber from North Ferriby at Night

29th January – Hornsea Rail Trail

As the weather was looking promising (mainly dry) I decided to do the walk along the Hornsea Rail Trail, which makes use of the route of the former Hull & Hornsea Railway line and is now part of the Trans Pennine Trail.  After checking out of the hotel (certainly one I would use again if I ever need to stay in Hull and can arrive during check-in times) I headed towards the bus station to catch the East Yorkshire Route 24 service (with bus 20361, a Volvo Plaxton).  

This headed out of Hull towards Longhill, then via some villages (such as Skirlaugh, Leven, Brandesburton & Catwick) to reach Hornsea.  I stayed on to the end of the route near what looked like an old bus garage with this bus heading towards Beverley.  My walk began with the first section being alongside the sea front towards the marker which makes the eastern starting point of the Trans Pennine Trail.

Trans Pennine Trail Marker at Hornsea

I passed the site of the former Hornsea station and followed the railway path out of the town, with a small gap where the route has been lost by modern developments but soon I was in the wilds of rural East Yorkshire with fields and not a lot else.  Very peaceful and the path was mostly reasonable, a couple of places where it was a bit muddy due to the recent rain but nothing major.  The good thing with this old railway line path is that some of the old stations still have their platforms in situ (although a couple the platforms were hidden by undergrowth).

The walk continued in the countryside, passing small villages like Great Hatfield, Whitedale & New Ellerby before reaching the outskirts of Hull and the Sutton area of the city.  The peace had gone but the path was still reasonable with woodland.  In the Stoneferry area I had a little detour along the route of the former Stoneferry freight line, before doubling back on myself back to the junction with the path going underneath the railway line towards Hull docks and turning quite industrial with the path ending with the A165.

Remains of platform at Sigglesthorne Station

With the old railway line walk complete I followed the road network towards the city centre & the station, just having enough time to swing via Tesco to grab some late lunch before boarding 802304 & 802302 on the next Hull Trains service towards London Kings Cross, relaxing with my phone on charge, the coach I was in only getting busy after Grantham.  All was going well until it hit London with some delays, losing around 20 minutes between Potters Bar & Kings Cross.  As my feet were hurting after a long walk, I decided to head to St Pancras low level jumping on 700122 on a heavily delayed service towards London Bridge, and onto 466029, 465044 & 465018 on the first available South Eastern service towards Waterloo East.

After grabbing some dinner, I headed towards 159108 & 158890 at Waterloo on the 19:20 service (which to be expected for 5 vice 8 coaches for the first “super off-peak” train, it was quite busy).  I took this service to Grateley to walk home, spending the rest of the evening sorting out my rucksack and doing some admin stuff after being away for nearly a week.  A week spent being here, there & everywhere, doing novelty services. Old railway line walks & ticking off some more units, I got lucky with both those Northern 150s following each other from Leeds which made my life a bit easier.  The only things I didn’t manage to do was an EMR service to Barton on Humber, walking the bridge & doing a TPE 802 from Leeds towards Selby but those can wait for a future adventure.

Thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr *Here*