17th April – 20th April, Easter Weekend in Scotland

 17th April – 20th April, Easter Weekend in Scotland

I had a rostered long weekend at work and quite happily it landed on the Easter weekend, allowing a trip to Scotland with a railtour on the Saturday.

17th April – Onwards to Scotland & Chatelherault Country Park

Having finished work quite late on the Wednesday, my departure to Scotland wasn’t going to be mega early, instead it was onto the 06:59 service from Grateley with 158884, 159002 & 159007 on this quieter than expected service (I guess a lot of the London commuters had already finished for the easter break).  Into Waterloo near enough on time giving me a nice 80 minutes to get across to Euston for the 09:30 service to Glasgow Central with 390137 on this busy service (no standard premium today, 3 coaches for 1st class).

The train lost a few minutes along the way so arrival into Glasgow Central was around 6 minutes late, after spending the journey (after Lancaster area) looking out of the window as sunshine turned to rain.  At Glasgow Central I headed to the low-level platforms to jump onto 320401 & 320304 to take me to Hamilton Central where I made my way to my accommodation.  A place I’ve used before and whilst it is no where perfect (window blinds are rubbish) for £35 a night it’s hard to turn down in the current climate.

View from Train in the Lakes

After checking in, I had a few options to walk, as the rain had cleared up, deciding to head towards Avon Bridge to pick up a path within the Chatelherault Country Park.  Marked up as the “Mineral Railway Path”.  It followed the Avon Water in some lovely woodland, passing close to the remains of Cadzow Castle.  The path changed to the Hoolet Row Path where I needed to change plans as the path across the "White Bridge" was closed.  Some very steep climbs on this walk, both uphill & downhill as I headed up a particularly steep climb to the Riccarton Path leaving the Avon Water behind for a short distance before it dropped down to reach the river at the "Green Bridge".  I crossed over the Avon Water and climbed up the Millheugh Steps (made harder as the fence on the left-hand side had barbed wire making it harder to get a grip if required).

On the other side of the hill, I dropped down to follow the Avon Water once more towards a disused road to the Millheugh area of Larkhall.  Next up was a walk into Morgan Glen, underneath the disused Broomhall/Larkhall railway Viaduct, before climbing away from the gorge to reach the top of the viaduct (those steps were a killer!).  I followed the route of the old railway line towards Larkhall station, where I popped to the Co-Op to grab some food before 320304 & 320401 on a rare platform 1 departure all the way back to Glasgow Central.

Avon Water from the Footpath between the Chatelherault Country Park & Millheugh

Time to play with the subway as I headed towards St Enoch to go underground, keeping my eye on the 8 units out during off-peak times, linear hopping to West Street via Bridge Street with 302 & 306 before winner 311 rolled in on an "Inner" service (having seen it earlier at St Enoch) to take me to Partick.  One thing I will say is that it felt like the services dwelled at the stations for longer than they previously did, even at the quieter stations south of the river.

After visiting Morrisons for some supplies, I headed to Partick station before jumping onto 320413 & 318268 to take me to Hamilton Central for the second time that day, walking to the accommodation to rest my legs as they are not used to such climbs!  A beautiful walk, an area I will need to return to one of these days to do the path on the “South” side of the river.

318268 at Hamilton Central

18th April – Changing Plans in Clackmannanshire

When I went to sleep on the Thursday evening, the weather forecast was looking dry as I eventually decided on the old railway route from Alloa to Dunfermline, however when I woke up on the Friday the weather forecast had done a change with heavy rain coming in mid afternoon so once more that old railway line route went back onto my shelf (pretty sure it’s the 3rd time that has happened).  So, coming up with an alternative idea got me dusting of a shorter walk idea I researched which involved using a bus.

When I eventually made it out of bed, I headed to Hamilton Central station, purchasing my Central Scotland Rover from the ticket office and onto 320414 & 320312 on a service to Glasgow Central.  I headed across to Glasgow Queen Street via a couple of shops for supplies for breakfast before taking 385027 & 385001 all the way to Alloa (had the Aberdeen train been a HST I would have taken that to Stirling, but alas that was a 170).  At Alloa I had a short walk to the main bus stop area in the town centre before boarding the 2 hourly H2 bus route to Dollar.  My first experience with Midland Bluebird buses with fleet 2239 (a Volvo Wright Eclipse) for the nice run to Dollar via Sauchie & Tillicoultry with some beautiful views of the Ochil Hills.

43150 at Glasgow Queen Street

My walk today would take me along route of the former Devon Valley Railway which ran from Alloa towards Kinross.  The section from Alloa to Dollar (which I believe Aloe Blacc needed at one point) has been resurfaced as cycle route 767 and branded as "Devon Valley Way".  Once I had left the town centre (swinging via a Co-Op for lunch items) I picked up the route of the old railway, passing the former station and headed into the countryside.  Some nice views of woodland & the hills with the river Devon running on the left-hand side (although not a peaceful walk due to the A91 running alongside the path).

I reached Tillicoultry where the old railway line route ended due to a missing viaduct over the river, forcing a detour on a path alongside the A908 before the old railway route came back from across a field and the cycle path returned to being woodland.  My walk continued skirting the edge of Fishcross and into Sauchie where once more a detour was needed due to the track bed being lost under developments, the path resuming nearer Alloa station before the old railway route headed towards the existing railway and the cycle path crossed over the tracks on a footbridge.  The freight line bypassing the platform at Alloa looks extremely rusty, I can't imagine much uses that line towards Dunfermline via Longannet (I wonder if that line will ever reopen to passenger trains similar to Leven).

View from Cycle Route 767 between Devonside & Fishcross

I was tempted to continue my walk towards Cambus to pick up what looks to be another old railway line path towards Menstrie to end in the town of Alva but decided that could wait for another day with one eye on the sky which was turning a bit darker.  So ending the walk at Alloa station, it was a short wait for 385018 to take me to Stirling, where I stepped back onto a busy 385109 on an Edinburgh service (annoyingly the posh seats were at the south end and I was at the north end which was a lot quieter).  The rain started soon after departing Stirling so my decision to cut the walk at Alloa I think was quite wise.

At Edinburgh for lack of a better idea I headed to 170393 on the next Tweedbank service to take me to Newcraighall where I got lucky to grab a photo of a 385 coming ECS from the depot, where I was again tempted to bail at Brunstane to walk the "Innocent Railway" path towards the city centre, but decided that could wait for another day (I've got so much in the Edinburgh area I could easily spend a week here walking).  170406 took me back to Edinburgh and I headed across to board 385116 on the last Scotrail service for Dunbar, one of those things which had been on my list to get a Scotrail service to Dunbar (I would imagine in the days where this was a 158 would have been good fun with the high-speed running).

    

I had another change of plan, based on the weather forecast and headed into the town centre to catch a X7 bus from East Coast Buses (fleet number 54) to take me towards Haddington via West Barns & East Linton where I alighted at the bus stop near Knowles Road to start my second walk of the day.  The Haddington Branch line closed in the 1960s branching from the ECML at Longniddry.  I soon picked up the start of the railway line path (with a small detour due to the A1 being built on the old route) I left Haddington and entered countryside, eventually the road traffic from the A1 died down to allow myself to listen to the birds and enjoy the woodland.

4 and a bit mile later I reached the ECML, and Longniddry station.  With time to kill I headed towards the village centre to visit a Co-Op to grab some dinner items before returning to the station and onto 385038 & 385042 to Edinburgh where I made a tight connection onto 385037 & 385022 to take me to Polmont in a random "follow Google Maps suggestion" where it would have gotten me to go back to Hamilton via Coatbridge Central.  I did see a 334 had escaped on the Cumbernauld services and had I not had such an early start on the Saturday I would have done it for the novelty factor, but instead hung back in the rain for 385107 & 385108 to take me to Glasgow Queen Street.

Former Haddington Branch Line (Cycle Route 76) in Haddington

It was a lot wetter in Glasgow than it had been in Edinburgh as I dashed to Glasgow Central, dodging various puddles and made it onto 320418 for the trip back to Hamilton Central, making my way to the accommodation to relax for the rest of the evening and to attempt sleep (one downside of this place is that there is a restaurant close by which has a ventilation system which doesn't shut off until around 23:30 so not ideal for wanting an early night).  Anyhow two enjoyable old railway line walks, and I didn't get that wet!

19th April - The Grangemouth Growler

The main event of this weekend was the latest SRPS railtour taking a 37 towards Ayrshire & towards Grangemouth on a tour which changed somewhat since I had booked it (in terms of starting an hour earlier and finishing 2 hours later, meaning I would need to bail before the end to get back to Hamilton), plus the Killoch branch getting refused in the week beforehand (although it did mean the tour having a 2 hour break in Ayr which personally I felt was better to give the chance of fresh air and to walk around).

The day began with the first train from Hamilton Central to Glasgow Central with 320315 & 318259 where I headed across to Queen Street and onto 385120 & 385111 to take me to Edinburgh, in theory I could have bailed at Linlithgow to catch the tour but decided to stay on to Edinburgh to grab some supplies for breakfast.  After breakfast I headed to the platform for 37403 to roll in from the Haymarket direction, locating my seat in a Mk2 coach of this short train.  Departure was on time as it headed towards the Edinburgh Suburban line, a line I’ve not done in daylight for a good few years and towards Slateford, heading towards Glasgow on the Shotts line.

37403 at Edinburgh Waverley

After Holytown the train headed right to pass Mossend and onto the connecting line to join the Bathgate route near Coatbridge going towards the city centre via Shettleston, turning left onto the City Union line heading towards Cardonald and Paisley.  The train visited several loops along the way (some planned, some "on the day" bonuses) reaching Ayr where we had the break.  I jumped onto 380110 on a platform 2 departure from Ayr to take me to Prestwick Town where I walked back towards Ayr via the coastal path.  Along the way I crossed the tracks leading towards Ayr Harbour, looking extremely rusty.  The last section of my stroll took me along the banks of the river Ayr to the railway viaduct crossing over the river (after pausing for a photo of a 380 arriving into the station) and back to Ayr station via Morrisons for lunch/dinner items.]

Back on board the charter and winner 66749 hauled the train back north (again via various loops), turning left after Irvine onto the single-track chord towards the Largs line, a line I had forgotten how beautiful it is.  The 66 reached Largs for a short break before 37403 took over for the run towards Ardrossan, making use of the freight line after Hunterston, bypassing the platforms at West Kilbride & South Beach.  The tour headed back towards Glasgow causing a bit of chaos with delays to passenger services taking the City Union line back towards Bellgrove & towards Springburn & Croy.



After Falkirk Grahamston the tour headed onto the Grangemouth branch, heading towards the gates at the Ineos refinery, before heading back towards the junction, passing a 385 which had arrived from Glasgow.  After the reversal with 37403 back in charge an announcement was made about an extra stop being made at Linlithgow (for the tour would head towards Tweedbank with the first official set-down being at Shawfair), I decided to make the most of this additional set-down (and so did a few others), even if it meant a 30-minute wait at Linlithgow for a very busy 385107 & 385108 back to Glasgow Queen Street.

I crossed over to Glasgow Central and onto 318259 & 320315 to take me back to Hamilton Central where I was arriving a good 90 minutes earlier than expected, giving me time to relax with a shower & to sort my rucksack out.  An enjoyable tour, nice to head to Largs again (I must revisit that area to have a decent explore of the town).  Good company on the table I was sat at as well, which does make a difference.

66749 at Largs Station

20th April – Heading home “The Scenic Route”

When I was relaxing on the Saturday night, I had a crazy idea for the Sunday with the timings working out quite well.  After checking out of the accommodation I headed to Hamilton Central for the last time of this trip and onto the first Glasgow bound train with 318263 & 318264 (I will miss the 318s when they eventually get replaced as the seats are ever so comfortable).  I made the trip to Queen Street and onto a busy 385114 & 385110 to take me to Edinburgh where I didn’t hang around for long before boarding 801225 on the 10:30 service to London Kings Cross, grabbing a decent seat on the left-hand side for the scenic section of the ECML.  (The WCML was closed at both London & Glasgow).

At Newcastle, I had time to kill before the next train towards Hartlepool, so after grabbing lunch items from Sainsburys I relaxed before 156469 rolled in from Carlisle, looking very busy.  Thankfully a lot of the passengers alighted at Newcastle, leaving behind many empty containers of alcohol and I headed towards Hartlepool going the “scenic way” (for the Durham coast route has better scenery than the main ECML).  The next southbound platform ticked off (something I was hoping to have done last October time before coming down feeling unwell) and a good thing I headed down an hour ahead of my original idea as the following service was cancelled!

156469 at Hartlepool

I headed out of the station, heading towards the marina (with a Premier Inn overlooking the water), picking up a coastal path near the South Pier to take me towards Seaton Carew for some more lovely seaside views.  Had the next Nunthorpe train not been cancelled I would have caught that to Stockton for some better photos but hey-ho.  Now for the main event of this little idea with the Sundays only northern service linking Hartlepool & Darlington, making use of the east facing side of the junction after Stockton (with Thornaby heading west).  My last section of the Northern network to cover on a Northern train (excluding the Manchester Airport avoiding line which is shown on the network map but as far as I can tell has no booked Northern usage anymore).

158859 rolled in from Hartlepool to take me towards Eaglescliffe, under a massive new footbridge under construction (for a brand-new car park I believe).  A short while later 180106 rolled in from Sunderland and I managed to grab an unreserved seat in the rear coach (meaning I didn’t need my seat reservation for York – London on the following LNER).   I relaxed for the fast run to Kings Cross, the 180s might be flawed underneath but the passenger interior is so much nicer than an Azuma.

180106 arriving at Eaglescliffe Station

Arrival into Kings Cross was near enough on time giving me time to stroll across to Waterloo, being joined with a good friend for the first section (towards Holborn) with my last train of this trip being the 18:45 service to Salisbury with 158888 & 159007 to take me to Grateley where I headed home to relax for the rest of the evening doing some admin stuff on the laptop before getting ready for a run of 6 late shifts.  Anyhow thanks for reading, as always more photos can be found on my Flickr Here.

I won’t be doing something for the 27th April, but that involved a long-awaited return to the River Avon path in Bath, walking from Oldfield Park towards Keynsham and getting my last 730/0 into my little book on the Monday.  Scary to think it’s nearly May!