29th – 1st April Trips (Penzance & South Wales)

 29th – 1st April Trips:

29th March – Day Trip to Penzance

After completing all the platforms at Clacton I did some research into my log files to make a list of stations where I still need platforms, keeping things easier by only looking for terminal platforms (or bay platforms).  Penzance platform 4 featured on this list, a platform which was a bit awkward going by booked usage (although thankfully not at awkward as platform 1 at Clacton!).  There was a service on Saturday which was booked to use platform 4 (the one outside the main station building) which I could still get home from.

A later start than usual to the day (considering I didn’t finish work until after midnight on the Friday so it was never going to be a silly o clock start) driving to Salisbury and catching 166216 on a Bristol bound service to Westbury for a short wait before 802018 rolled in on an Exeter St Davids service.  I decided the best station to change from this train to a Plymouth train following would be at Taunton as it should be the same platform (rather than changing from P6 to P4 at St Davids).  A good decision as we easily got decent seats on 802110 before the masses boarded at Exeter St Davids, to take us across the South Devon banks to Plymouth.

The connection to the next Penzance train was quite tight, but we made it onto 158958, even getting a decent seat in the rear coach for the trip towards Penzance.  Pretty sure this is the first time I’ve had a 158 in Cornwall so a tiny bit of new track coverage for the class.  At Penzance we had a little stroll in the town area before returning to board 43098 & 43187 to St Erth for a trip to St Ives on 150263.  Connections from Penzance direction are quite frankly awful with the rear lights of the half hourly shuttle departing just as the train from Penzance rolls in.

158958 at Penzance

We remained on board 150263 for the run back to St Erth on a very busy service, crossing over to platform 1 at St Erth on the new footbridge (lifts are still to be installed from the looks of things) and onto 802012 for the run into Penzance, landing as booked into platform 4.  The rain had arrived as well as we crossed over to board 800006 on the next Cardiff bound train (something which disappears from the next timetable change) for the long journey back towards Exeter St Davids, darkness falling near Plymouth.

I had a bright idea to take 150234 to Exeter Central (it rolled in attached with another 150 from Barnstaple, but got split at St Davids with only 234 continuing up the hill to Central, terminating on platform 2, making the SWR service even later (as it seems the bay platform at Central is currently out of use).  I was glad not to have been on that 150 back towards Barnstaple as it was quite busy, 159008 & 159002 rolled in from London Waterloo running very late as it terminated on platform 1 at St Davids to go pretty much straight back out.

802012 at Penzance Station

We relocated towards the centre of the train at St Davids, which was quieter, for the journey back towards Salisbury where we left it as 002 was being taken off with an engine fault with another unit coming on to the rear.  We headed to the car park for the gentle drive home, yes, I know we could have used the train from Grateley in the morning however I didn’t want to bank on making the 5-minute connection at Penzance to risk getting stuck in Salisbury.  An enjoyable relaxing day to the South West, somewhere I haven’t been to for a couple of years.

31st March – Swiss Valley Way

This was originally going to be a little day trip to Carmarthenshire, but for whatever reason I decided on the Saturday to look at the prices of hotels in Cardiff, landing with the option of the Easy Hotel for £32 or a city centre Travelodge for £33.  I decided to pay the extra pound for the Travelodge as it was slightly better located for a random late-night move.  To be honest, £33 for a hotel in Cardiff city centre is a bargain in the current climate.

Anyhow it was an early start for me with 159002 & 159009 taken to Basingstoke with 165124 on a Reading stopper to take me to Reading where I had around 40 minutes to kill, so after popping outside the station for breakfast items, I relaxed in the waiting room before 800031 & 800032 rolled in on a Carmarthen service, splitting at Swansea with 800032 eventually heading to Carmarthen (sits at Swansea for 20-odd minutes, enough time to pop to Tesco to grab lunch!).  I love the section of line between Gowerton & Carmarthen, one of my favourites in the UK for the views of water.



At Carmathen, it was a short walk to the bus station to catch the First South Wales operated route 129 service (with bus 47685, a Wright StreetLite) bound for Ammanford.  Once outside the traffic of Carmarthen it was onto the A48 heading via Llanddarog, Porthyrhyd, Drefach, Cwm-Mawr & Tumble to Cross Hands where I alighted.  A nice little bus route with some decent scenery and surprisingly only £3 for a single (I was expecting it to cost more due to being Wales).  It was time to begin my walk, something I was hoping to have done in 2023, but put it off due to wet weather.

The Swiss Valley Cycle Way is a mixed used path which uses the route of the former Llanelly and Myndd Mawr Railway route.  From the bus stop near the library I headed along a road, passing a lovely cinema building and picking up the access path to the old railway line. Part of cycle route 47 so it was a decent tarmac path and straight away it headed towards some nice countryside views heading towards Tumble where part of the old line has been lost under modern developments and a section being closed due to trees being cut back.  Soon I had regained the route of the old railway, leaving Tumble behind and heading into the countryside, as the railway twisted & turned due to the hills.

Some beautiful woodland mixed with some views of the valley and of Pontyberem (itself used to be served by a freight line from Kidwelly I believe).  The cycle path eventually was shifted away from the route of the original railway as it reached the Llanelli and Myndd Mawr Railway heritage line.  Seeing 315856 stored alongside a couple of unknown Island Line 483s was quite an unusual sight.  Also, on display were 142006, 143606, 143607 & 143612 for some pacer goodness.

143612 at the Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway

I continued along the old railway as it once again turned very rural, heading towards Horeb and skirting the edge of a couple reservoirs dropping down towards Llanelli, skirting round the edge of the town before coming to an end near the Sandy Water Park.  My walk continued for the short distance via the housing area & Home Bargains to reach the station, which has changed massively since my last visit with a new footbridge with lifts getting installed and the old bridge being removed.  A very enjoyable walk in some beautiful countryside.

After a short rest, 800011 rolled into the station to take me towards Cardiff Central, not attaching to another unit at Swansea for some reason and hence it looked very busy on departure from Cardiff as it was time to play with some trains, but first I headed towards my hotel to get checked in, to lose some weight from my rucksack and to grab dinner.   Making use of RTT I managed to get 756115 in with the run to Abercynon, 756106 back to Radyr for 756104 to Quakers Yard solely to get some better photos of the rebuilt station (considering my last visit I pretty much arrived as the train was rolling in).



756110 rolled in to take me towards Cardiff Queen Street, where to waste some time, I headed to Cardiff Bay on 150254, an area still under construction with the 2nd platform.  I decided to have another gentle stroll rather than being sensible and taking the 150 back to Queen Street for something to Central.  This stroll was alongside the road back towards Cardiff Central, passing the replacement buses for the works at Grangetown.  At Cardiff Central I had a short wait before boarding 197126 on a late-night Carmarthen train (the one which goes via the Swansea District Line) for the run to Bridgend for a short 30-minute wait, I guess in hindsight I could have stayed on to Pyle as it looked there was some single-track working happening with Port Talbot bound trains running along the “up” line towards Margam.  Random late night track work.

197122 rolled in a couple minutes late (allowing an IET to depart Bridgend) as I got a seat in the Standard Premium area for the fast run back towards Cardiff Central, but before reaching the station it headed onto the Leckwith Loop and via Ninian Park to reach Cardiff Central for some late-night random track work.  Arrival was a couple minutes before midnight and I was in the hotel soon after (thinking to myself it was a pound worth spent), I got lucky in the hotel getting a room at the rear of the building, overlooking an office block, so it was very quiet, allowing me to sleep.

1st April – Into the Valleys

I must have needed that sleep as I didn’t wake up until 9am, onto a day where I didn’t really have a fixed plan.  This area of South Wales has a lot of old railway line paths & other paths.  Some shorter than others (and require buses to reach the ends).  After looking at RTT for any potential scores with 756s I headed out of the hotel, heading towards Queen Street via Tim Hortons for a breakfast wrap and onto winner 756102 to Abercynon where I began my first walk of the day, heading towards the River Cynon and a mixed used path which runs sandwiched between the river & railway line.

After an industrial area the path opened up as it followed the route of the river with some nice woodland.  I continued along the path towards Penrhiwceiber where there was a link towards the station, and then towards Mountain Ash where there was another link path towards the station.  As I had time I continued towards the town hall, looping back on myself via the town centre of Mountain Ash, grabbing some food from Iceland before heading to the station, the passing point on the Aberdare line.  Winner 756112 rolled in to take me to Aberdare, where I remained on board to take this unit to Trefforest, changing over to 756106 for the run to the rebuilt Dinas Rhondda to have an explore of the rebuilt second platform on the Trehertbert line.

756111 at Mountain Ash Station

After a little explore, I took 756105 back one stop to Porth to begin my second walk, heading towards Trehaford via the "Fach Trail", before picking up the Richard Griffiths Tramroad Walk, a walk along the route of an old tramroad towards the Barry Sidings Countryside Park.  A path I didn't know existed until I saw my good friend Jules, walk it a couple weeks ago and he praised it.  It was very beautiful with views, before heading towards Pontypridd where after doing a little loop I ended up at the station and onto 150208 for the run towards Cardiff Central on what could potentially be my last 150 in Pontypridd.

At Cardiff Central I headed across to the London train formed of 800036 & 800004 for the run towards Reading, unusually running via the loop at Wantage costing around 5 minutes, but as the next Basingstoke train had been cancelled the +8 connection didn’t matter.   After relaxing on platform 15, it was onto 165109 on the next Basingstoke service (points issues into the bay platforms by all accounts), and at Basingstoke onto 158882, 159014 & 159106 to take me to Grateley to end my little Welsh getaway.

View from the Richard Griffiths Tramroad Walk in Trehafod

An enjoyable couple of days in Wales, a long walk on the Monday followed by a couple shorter walks on the Tuesday, as well as getting some more of the Tri-Modal 756s into my little book.  As ever thanks for reading, more photos can be found on my Flickr, although spread between the March & April albums.