11th – 13rd September – Norfolk & Midland Main Line

 11^th – 13rd September – Norfolk & Midland Main Line

This trip was another use of the Travelodge BOGOF deal with the idea for the Saturday being a trip towards Norfolk to tick off the Norwich bound platform at Shippea Hill and do some other odds & sods in that area, a plan which changed several times due to engineering works (i.e. Ely – Kings Lynn & Peterborough closed).  I was based in the Travelodge in Croydon due to the overnight Thameslink services making it easy enough to get to Kings Cross for a Cambridge bound train to intercept the Norwich train which called at Shippea, but even that plan got changed due to engineering works on the Thameslink core.

 

11^th September

 

Wanting an early night due to an early start on the Saturday, I decided to focus on my remaining SWR stations within Surrey & the Windsor line for photographs, a quiet evening making a couple tight connections to finish earlier than expected.  I believe it was the first time I’ve gone into the bay at Weybridge, but the suburban network of SWR is done for photographs.

 

I was on the 9^th floor of the Croydon Travelodge (one of the so called “Business floors”), although it wasn’t the best of nights due to several drunks coming in around midnight having an argument.

 

Footbridge & platform at Sunnymeads

 

12^th September

My alarm was set for 03:30 as I needed to be on the 04:10 train to London Bridge, there was a few passengers with suitcases on the opposite platform awaiting a train towards Three Bridges which was ‘delayed’ due to a late notice route change.  The 700 rolled in, nice and quiet in the rear first class area for a little tour of South London, going via Selhurst then Tulse Hill & Peckham to reach London Bridge, where I had a gentle walk across the River Thames and towards Liverpool Street station (for its only around a mile away by foot).

 

Breakfast was taken care off from McDonalds before boarding a 317 for a leap to Tottenham Hale via Stratford, where I changed for a pair of 379s for the run to Stansted Airport (judging by the platform displays there might have been at least 2 “745s” out formed of 12 coaches).  A short break at Stansted Airport and it was onto a 755 from platform 2 to take me to Shippea Hill where I was the only person alighting and nobody boarded.

 

One of the most famous least used stations in Britain

 

I had a choice of 3 (well 4) routes I could walk to get back to another station, either along the main A1101 road towards Littleport (for a bus to Ely), along the A1101 turning left to go via Prickwillow to reach Ely (which is the way I rode back a few years ago), walk towards Lakenheath village & to the station, or following the Hereward Way long distance path to reach Lakenheath station, going via the nature reserve.  I decided to pick the slightly longer route of the Hereward Way, mainly due to the nature reserve but also due to it being mainly off-road, it was around 9 miles (estimated) and I had around 3 and a half hours so I had time.

 

Exiting Shippea Hill station, crossing over the road and straight across into an overgrown patch with an old bridge over a ditch and onto an old road, mostly overgrown but has elements of the old surface ever now and again.  A better walking surface was reached with a farm and along a quiet residential road (Sedge Fen Road) carrying on onto another farm track, to re-join a quiet road (Newman’s Drove), passing a couple farms before turning off the road to follow a footpath along another farm track before going onto a grassy path towards the railway line crossing as a foot crossing called “The Drove”.

 

After the railway crossing it was a rough patch with weeds before the path cleared away, passing an old pumping station and plain walking along a well-kept path running alongside the Little Ouse River through the Nature Reserve, I could tell I was getting nearer the end when I saw other walkers, eventually reaching the road for a short section to reach Lakenheath station itself.  Served by 2 trains on Saturdays (one each way) and 3 each way on Sundays, needless to say I was the only passenger getting on the sole Saturday train towards Ely (and nobody getting off).  Even though I know GA doesn’t have any request stops at the moment I still put out my arm to request the train.

 

View from the Lakenheath Nature Reserve

 Overall other than a couple rough patches, an enjoyable walk, clocked in at around 9.2 miles, certainly more enjoyable than walking along the main-road to Littleport!  My feet was happy to get rested (annoyingly the Norwich bound platform at Lakenheath has 3 benches; the Ely bound side has nothing in the way of seating.  At Ely it was a short connection to board the next Norwich bound service to take me to Brandon, returning to Ely once more, this time to have some lunch from the nearby Tesco.

 

Returning to Ely station after lunch, it was onto a pair of 158s on an EMR shuttle service to Thetford for a short wait before another 755 took me all the way to Norwich (I do like the 755s).  My original idea was to head towards Reedham, but I decided instead to head to Stowmarket on another 755 (engineering works between Stowmarket & Ipswich meant the hourly Norwich – Stowmarket services were interworking with the Cambridge services, which gave the novelty of a 755 running via Diss.  At Stowmarket I had a short rest before the next Norwich train rolled into platform 2 which I took to Diss, returning to Stowmarket, then remaining on the same train to take me to Cambridge, calling at all the stations.

 

An unusual visitor to Diss, a 755

 

It was time to say goodbye to Greater Anglia land (for I will be back in October time) as I made a tight connection onto a pair of 387s on a fast Kings Cross service, followed by a trip on the Northern line to London Bridge, and a triple 171 to East Croydon (for no reason other than the Brighton bound service which departed a couple minutes before this service was busy).  For me it wasn’t the end of the day and after a quick visit to grab some food from Sainsburys outside East Croydon station it was onto a Horsham bound 700 which due to engineering works went on the main “quarry” line, using the connection to the “Redhill” line between Earlswood & Salfords stations.  I alighted at Horley, before returning to Salfords followed by a pair of 377s to Earlswood, heading to Three Bridges, before 700155 took me back to East Croydon, allowing me to get a picture of the “pride” 700.

 

700155 at East Croydon

 

After that photo it was a case of returning to the hotel, having a shower and relaxing for the remainder of the evening before having a good sleep (no drunken idiots tonight).

 

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13^th September

I needed to revisit the EMR stations south of Leicester on the Midland Main Line, and these are easier to do on a Sunday due to the current timetable (i.e. 2 trains an hour between Kettering & Market Harborough at the start of the day, with the 2 trains an hour at Wellingborough being more balanced (can’t remember if it’s northbound or southbound that on a Saturday the 2 trains an hour run within 10 minutes of each other).

 

Anyhow, checking out of the hotel (and a visit to Sainsburys for breakfast), saw me heading towards London Bridge on a 700 for a Northern line service to St Pancras to board the first departure towards Nottingham.  Due to the train being a single 5 coach unit the first class area was declassified so I decided to sit in the posh seats for the long trip to Kettering, first time along this line (in daylight) for a while, the wiring from Bedford to Kettering looks complete.

 

Kettering itself was a bit of a building site with the platform canopies chopped back for the wiring, lots of scaffolding and a bit of a mess in general.  Next train took me to Market Harborough where the time I had was short due to the pair of units running late (caught behind a late running freight train) so I didn’t have time to explore this rebuilt station (on a new straighter alignment to allow non-stop trains to pass at a higher speed and longer trains to call without the need of SDO).  Next up was a HST to take me to Wellingborough, a station which has had a new platform built on a new slow line (previously it was 3 tracks at the station, now 4).

 

A HST departs Wellingborough

 

Another short wait before a 222 took me back towards Bedford, where I spent the next few hours revisiting some of the Thameslink stations I needed in the area (made harder as they were only half hourly today due to engineering works).  I finished the day with a HST into St Pancras, with all the Thameslink stations revisited for photographs.  I made my way towards Victoria via the Victoria line with a triple 377 towards Clapham for I had forgotten the Waterloo – Exeter trains got retimed to depart at XX:20 instead of XX:15, it only flagged up when I was looking for the connection to reach Basingstoke for the Reading – Salisbury service.

 

Needless to say I made a tight connection at Clapham to board the Exeter train to take me to Andover, where I did a loop via a pizza takeaway place before a double 158 took me the last stop back to Grateley.  So nice to have an hourly Sunday service back, makes my planning slightly easier.

 

More photos from the trip are available on my Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157715879787576/with/50346473946/

4th – 6th September – Lincolnshire Area Trip

 4^th – 6^th September – Lincolnshire

 

After last weekend where I revisited C2C land on the Friday and had a trip towards the New Forest on the Saturday it was back to long distance with a couple nights in the Nottingham Travelodge.  Another booking from the “Buy one get one free” promotion they ran in July, and a good excuse to revisit Lincolnshire using a modified plan from a trip I did have pencilled in for May time.

 

Friday 4^th September

 

I was booked on the 20:34 EMR service to Nottingham from St Pancras (first time leaving St Pancras on an EMR service since July 2018!) so with a few ideas to what to do in the few hours I had, I decided on heading towards East Grinstead which had regained its peak time extra services (all be it one-way as the Thameslink services return empty stock) which allowed me to linear hop some of the required stations for photographs (Woldingham, Lingfield & East Grinstead itself).  A sign of the reduced peak time demand is that the Southern services were 8 or 10 coaches rather than the usual 12 coaches, although the train I caught from Clapham Junction was busy until East Croydon.

 

Changing trains at East Croydon coming back and it was a case of jumping on the first available Thameslink service to take me to St Pancras where I managed to get my ranger from the EMR ticket office for the following day, and was successful in getting a table seat on the 222 towards Nottingham, a bit slow until Luton where the Bedford train in front pulled over to the slow lines allowing the 222 to go fast.  Emptied out a bit at Wellingborough but I did notice the Derby HST which departed a few minutes before this train was very lightly loaded (counted less than 10 passengers in the rear 4 standard class coaches).

 

At Nottingham it was a case of walking up a small hill to reach the hotel, not really a place I would recommend as for some reason it has two layers of windows, the outer ones are fixed with only a flap at the top (which couldn’t be adjusted as the handles had been removed) with the inner windows opening inwards.  It was warm within the room (even with the fan going), I dread to think what it would have been like a few weeks ago when the temperatures overnight were hot.  Also as usual for a city centre hotel it had a bit of outside noise from party goers from nearby pubs, but that is to be expected.

377 at East Grinstead

 

 

Saturday

 

The main day with a pigging early start (alarm was set for 4:30 but I was up before that) as I needed to catch the first train towards Grantham, to double back on the Grantham – Nottingham stopper in order to tick the Nottingham bound platform at Elton & Orston.  A walk towards Aslockton (turned south out of the station to reach the village of “Elton on the Hill” for a short section of walking along the main-road [mainly on the verge] before turning onto a footpath across several fields to reach the village of Whatton, and back on the pavemented road towards Aslockton station.

 

Least used platform in Nottinghamshire?

Some of the fields were better than others in terms of footpath marking some were simply a case of guessing where it went based on GPS and spotting a yellow top pole to mark a gap in a hedge, but there was a couple where the path was clearly marked out.  If I were to do the walk again I would turn right from Elton station as there appears on the map to be a path running along the bank of the River Smite which probably would mean less road walking, but never mind, I made it to Aslockton within 50 minutes which allowed me to catch an unit to Radcliffe to score that platform, with breakfast taken care of via the Co-Op before heading back to Nottingham on a pair of units bound for Liverpool, and a 45 minute wait until the next train towards the Lincoln direction.

 

That time passed and soon it was onto the 156 towards Lincoln, same guard who dropped me off at Elton earlier in the day and he was doing pre-boarding ticket checks (because where Nottingham has ticket barriers in the main building, it has 2 side exits (which look to be footpaths) plus the exit from the tram platform so the barriers are a bit pointless.  I took this unit to Collingham, changing platforms for a former GA 156 to Newark North Gate, returning to Hykeham for a short 10 minute wait until the next Lincoln train to take me to a busy Lincoln where all the platforms had trains on.

 

A 800 departs Lincoln bound for Peterborough

 

My next move was on a Northern 195 (quite busy) to Saxiby for a short wait until a Doncaster bound 156 took me to Gainsborough Lea Road in order to have a look at the new northbound platform which had been built to replace the older one to improve access & a better surface.  One thing I did notice when I was waiting is that the southbound platform has a good area where it is straight but the trains stopped on the curved section, I know it isn’t the best for passengers but why not stop the trains on the straight bit, until that platform gets modernised, hopefully the pretty little buildings on the ramp don’t get removed as they add a bit of character.

 

The little buildings on the ramp access to the southbound platform

Former northbound platform at Gainsborough Lea Road

 

After a lunch break it was back to Lincoln on a required 195, before boarding a busy 156 towards Spalding for an hour wait for the same unit back to Lincoln (via an extended stop at Sleaford), Spalding is another station getting upgraded with new lift being installed along with platform 2 getting resurfaced, this line is meant to be getting a hourly service at some point (although pre Covid) so investment is good to see.

 

At Lincoln it was a short connection to another 156 to take me to Newark North Gate for the second time of the day, returning to Lincoln on a required 800, also allowing me to tick off another section of the LNER network for coverage.  Next up was a 156 to Sleaford returning to Ruskington before a low mileage 158 took me back to Sleaford (for I was at Sleaford a lot today!), for it was time to change to the Skegness line.

 

156 & 800 at Lincoln

 

The last Nottingham – Skegness service was busy in one coach, quiet in the other two coaches (for it was a 156+153 combo), I took these to Boston before returning to Sleaford on a pair of 156s, before the final train towards Boston with another pair of 156s (all be it the rear unit was locked out of use as it came from Lincoln) which I took to Heckington for a short wait for the final Nottingham train of the day, one which was on my list for a while as it uses the direct route towards Nottingham for a bit of a novelty.  I took a seat in the empty 153 (only a handful of passengers in the rear coach of the 156) for the trip towards Nottingham, getting some good engine noise on the ‘fast’ section of this line.

 

Heckington late night

 A sensible person would have called it a night, but not me as I headed towards the final Derby train to take me to Attenborough which normally during the day is a minute connection but this service gave a 20 minute wait for the final train from Matlock to take me to Beeston for a short wait before a HST to Nottingham.  I had to laugh as the 2 units I used to/from Attenborough were the same pair of units I had together earlier in the day from Radcliffe to Nottingham, having travelled to Liverpool & back.   Funny how the diagrams work out, but I was back at Nottingham, and walked back to the hotel to relax for the night after a busy day.

 

Midnight HST

 

Sunday

 

A more leisurely day using one of the “super off-peak” single tickets via Grantham, only because it was cheaper than an advance ticket via Leicester, I did a plan and got my seat reservations for the LNER services I was planning to use and checked out of the hotel via breakfast from the Co-Op at Nottingham station.

 

I had a choice of 3 services to reach Grantham, the first was a pair of 156s on the Skegness bound, but my focus was on my last 158 needed for mileage for it was 2nd in a long line of sprinters on platform 1 which is where the Peterborough train was due to depart from.  Thankfully the units didn’t split up so it was a pair of 158s on the Peterborough service allowing me to tick off 158785 for mileage needs (saves keeping my eyes out for EMR services around Manchester in the future).  These were non-stop to Grantham so time to relax on a slow line, all the foot crossings.

 

At Grantham I had a 40 minute wait before the next LNER service so I popped out of the station to visit the Morrisons for some lunch items before heading back with a pair of 5 coach 801s taken to Peterborough followed shortly by another required 801 to St Neots, where due to the Kings Cross rebuilding works the furthest point LNER were running to.  I popped outside (mainly for a mask break) before returning for a busy 700 to Arlesey, well busy in the rear half of the unit, quiet in the front half.

 

801s at St Neots

 

Another 700 took me to Biggleswade to clear the Great Northern stations for photographs before another one took me to Finsbury Park, I was going to jump off at Stevenage to take a 717 via the Hertford loop, to tick off the new platform 5, but we lost 20 minutes due to signalling issues so the connection was missed.  At Finsbury Park it was a short connection to board a 717 for the short run to Highbury & Islington, changing over to Oyster and a London Overground service all the way to Clapham Junction, busiest section was between Willesden & Shepherds Bush.  At Clapham I was running ahead of my schedule (solely due to not doing the Hertford service) so I took a triple 159 to Andover where I managed to get a lift home.  Hopefully next week with the timetable uplift my local station will regain an hourly Sunday service which will make my planning easier.

 

Arlesey from the road bridge

 

Overall a successful weekend, my EMR station requirements to revisit for photographs is mostly focused on the Worksop line plus the mainline from Loughborough towards London. 

 

 More photos are available here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157715879787576

21st August - 23rd August - A Yorkshire Weekend

 21^st August - 23rd August - A Yorkshire Weekend

Using up some more ‘enforced’* leave from work, in addition to the BOGOF sale for Travelodge saw me book up a two night stay in Leeds city centre with the idea to focus on my required West Yorkshire stations (plus a couple on the outside in the South & in the North) with a trip towards Carlisle on the Sunday.

 

21st August

The Friday didn’t go all to plan, I made it to Kings Cross for my booked train to Leeds, only to end up going to York where it took 2 hours to clear the queue of trains around the Newark area due to a fallen tree (shame the driver/guard didn’t sign the route via Spalding to bypass the area with issues, making use of the diesel engines of the 800).  At York it was a short wait for a required TPE 802 to take me to Leeds, where I finished the day doing part of what was my original plan, in visiting the stations I needed towards Steeton & Silsden, before heading towards Wakefield on a required 331.

 

Overnight was in the Leeds Central Travelodge, one I won’t recommend as you might end up with a room overlooking the station at the eastern end, where you get a few train movements towards the depot, and the points are not the quietest.  At least I know for future, if I ever need to stay in Leeds city centre again.

 

91101 going nowhere at York

 

 (*enforced as we have been told we need to have used up 50% of the yearly entitlement by the end of September so I'm having the odd day here & there)

 

22^nd August

Bit of a bad start as the ticket office at Leeds doesn’t open until 6am, not much good when you want a 6am train and can’t buy the rover from the TVMs and the staff on the ticket gates were in a very anti-passenger attitude, “what do you want us to do about it”?  Ended up having to buy the cheapest single I could find in a hurry to bypass the barriers to try and get the ranger at another station with a ticket office.  The day when more ranger/rover products are available on TVMs will be the day I celebrate, also the day Leeds gets rid of its idiotic one way system (complete with shouting bouncers) will be a cause of celebration.

 

Back to the trains, it was a trip towards Ilkley, before heading towards South Yorkshire with Darton, before scoring a low mileage 158 from Wakefield Kirkgate to Leeds [via Westgate].  Next up was East Garforth, before scoring the temporary platform (minus) 1 at Leeds on a trip to Headingley (and back).  A complete random hired in GC 180 was up next to take me to Hebden Bridge (more for the novelty factor, but a complete “what the heck” moment when I saw that unit, but gave me a chance to sample declassified first class.  A 158 was up next to Walsden in the rain before returning towards Brighouse, then Mirfield before heading towards Marsden making use of additional calls by the Hull trains.  Back at Huddersfield before a trip towards Shepley, making a tight connection to take me back to Stocksmoor before a random walk back to Shepley (for the lack of something better to do).

 

A 802 passing Marsden

A pair of 153s took me back to Huddersfield (luxury compared to the 150s) before a required 802 took me to Leeds where I was going to head back to Huddersfield behind a 68 but my eyes caught my last 170 for mileage on platform 14 so my plans changed for a trip to Micklefield (in the pouring rain), before a 801 to Bradford Forster Square with a fast walk to Interchange for the final train to Halifax before a required 195 all the way back to Leeds.

 

One busy day but everything was done that I wanted to do, as I made my way back to the hotel dodging the drunks being turned away from the station as “there are no more trains tonight”, I suspect the taxi companies were busy.

 

An unusual sight for a Saturday with a 180 at Hebden Bridge

23^rd August

 

One advantage of staying in Leeds city centre is that it allowed me the chance to do the first Carlisle train, something you can’t do if you stay in Bradford due to the timings of the first trains from Bradford.  Towards the station for a busy 158 on the first service towards Skipton (calls everywhere from Shipley towards Carlisle, other than Long Preston which seemed to be a random station to skip), I alighted from the 158 at Armathwaite for an hour wait in the rain (thankfully there was a decent shelter) before the same 158 took me back towards Kirkby Stephen for another wait in the rain.

 

I was a bit nervous as there was meant to have been a steam charter service due, but on RTT it was still sitting at Hellifield, but that stormed through when I was out in the car park looking for a good photo of the scenery, you win some, you lose some.  An empty pair of 158s took me to Carlisle where I got to sample my first 397s doing a linear hop to Oxenholme via Penrith before a 195 took me to Staveley before returning to Lancaster (scoring the link from platform 3 at Oxenholme heading south).

 

The masked Pendo took me to London, I was very lucky because my assigned seat was one which had a lovely view of plastic and was an airline seat, but I found an empty table which was ‘available if unoccupied’ to allow me to charge my devices and watch some things on my tablet.  On time into Euston which meant getting the 21:15 back home was easy.

 

Other than the farce on the Friday which cost me Settle, it was a good weekend, although my bed was very welcome after 2 noisy nights.

View from hotel window, great for spotting from the hotel room!

 *

View from near Armathwaite station

As always more pictures are on my Flickr account (starts from page 9) 

Link

 

 

August 2020 trips summaries

 August 2020 trips

A brief catch up of my various trips since the 2^nd August, as always there are more photos on my Flickr account.

2^nd August

Today was a social meet-up with “Every Last Station” as he was down in London, and we did some stations within South East London before heading out towards Kent with the stations between Swnaley & Sevenoaks visited, plus Dunton Green & Hildenborough.  We were surprised at how pretty the village of Shoreham is as we had a break there for some lunch before carrying on back towards London, finishing up with a tram move towards Wimbledon and a 345 to Reading, where I was staying overnight.  It was nice to have a catch-up with a good friend.

 

River in Shoreham

 

3^rd August

An early start from Reading saw me heading towards Kingham to intercept the morning Finstock Flyer which I took to Ascott Under Wychwood for the platform score.  An enjoyable walk across the fields to Charlbury before I headed to revisit the stations towards Worcestershire Parkway for some photographs, getting lucky at Pershore for a 68+66 movement towards Long Marston.

 

68 in Pershore

 

5^th August

 

A trip towards Ledbury to revisit some of the stations on that line which I had hoped to do in February but got bowled out with a signal failure, also a good excuse to meet up with another good friend for a little social catch-up, as it’s good to catch up in person after the last few months of lock-down.

 

New Measurement HST passing Malvern Link

 

6^th August

 

This trip got changed at the last minute due to the lock-down being introduced in Aberdeen, forcing a change of hotel to Dundee, but would be another social with another good friend.  My original plan was to go via Manchester to sample a new TPE 397 but that got changed to going via the ECML with a required 801 taken to York before a 800 taken all the way to Arbroath (featuring some diesel use due to a smoking hot Voyager at Darlington).  A 170 took us to Insch before a HST back to Aberdeen station before a 158 on a fast to Montrose before another 170 to Dundee.

 

Sadly the booked use of the loop next to platform 1 at Dundee didn’t happen as this service on RTT is meant to loop an Arbroath stopper and go into Platform 1 South.  The Premier Inn outside Dundee was used which gave some good views of the River Tay

 

River Tay at Sunset

 

7^th August

 

An early start for me as I headed to Dundee for the first train towards Carnoustie to take the 158 to Barry Links for the platform score, before a walk to Carnoustie heading back to Dundee via Broughty Ferry and breakfast in the Premier Inn.  A couple hours later we returned to the station for a required 800 to Stonehaven before heading back to Arbroath for a bus move to Dundee bus station before a bus across the Tay Road Bridge to Leuchars for a flymo to Cupar and a bus move to Springfield.

 

After giving the guard a shock that passengers wanted on at Springfield, it was one final linear leap to Ladybank for a HST from Inverness to take us to Edinburgh, where after dinner we crashed out in a Travelodge.

 

Early morning at Barry Links

 

8^th August

 

An morning spin to Dunbar to score the new platform, before a TPE 802 towards Newcastle before I did some required stations in that area, a couple on the Tyne Valley line (with busy trains, should have been doubled up units with the reduced hourly stopper along this route), before a couple on the Durham Coast, including the recently opened Horden, and Chester Le Street on the ECML.  Overnight was in the YHA in the city centre, formally an Euro Hostel which I’ve used a couple times in the past.

 

In addition to the heavy rail, I took a Tyne & Wear Metro service to Gateshead Stadium in order to tick off the crossover heading back towards Gateshead, deciding to walk from Gateshead itself to the station , getting lost along the way.

 

Tyne Bridge (from Swing Bridge)

 

9^th August

 

Today was a little spin to Sunderland before a Grand Central service towards Thrisk (which went via Durham due to engineering works, for the novelty of a 180 along that route), before a pair of 185s to Yarm before returning towards Northallerton to catch a late running 801 to London.  Another 800 took me to Reading for a 165 to Basingstoke and an hour wait for a train to Andover, more a bus avoidance move.

 

A 801 at Northallerton

 

14^th August

 

Back on the rails with another long weekend, this time I was focused on the Chiltern line towards Bicester North, linear hopping along the way, before ending up heading to Tame Bridge Parkway to finish the West Midlands and a spin to Penkridge to get that station out of the way, certainly a productive day, although not the best of nights in the Travelodge outside Moor Street due to early morning buses.

 

A Pendo passing Tame Bridge Parkway

 

15^th August – Derbyshire

 

Working with the reduced EMR timetable for the local services in Derbyshire saw me heading to Derby on an early morning voyager before heading to Tutbury & Hatton, before focusing on the Matlock branch, using the gap in service to have lunch at Duffield (I was planning a bus move to Belper but the timings of the bus didn’t match what was on Google Maps).  Some busy trains on this line with tourists to Matlock Bath, and I was surprised at how many passengers boarded an afternoon service at Spondon.

 

After visiting the Matlock branch stations, it was a trip to Sheffield, working my way towards Langley Mill via Dronfield & Alferton, for a rare EMR service to Chesterfield followed by a HST to Sheffield (one of the former LNER sets).  A pacer took me to Bamford before a pair of 150s back to Dore for a short wait for a TPE service to take me back to Sheffield, before taking a voyager back to Birmingham, which due to engineering works went via Lichfield and lost time due to a northbound voyager having issues around Four Oaks.  The delay was just over 30 minutes after a short wait outside New Street so should get something back from XC.

 

37s passing Spondon

 

16^th August

 

Final trip of my backlog of rough reports was heading back home, going via Rugeley for my last couple stations in Staffordshire, getting unlucky with a pair of 350/2s (the 3+2 seated ones) for the run to Milton Keynes, for a stopper to visit Kings Langley & Apsley, before heading to Watford for a pair of 377s to Clapham Junction, followed by a couple linear hops to Woking, stopping off at Weybridge & Byfleet & New Haw, before a triple 159 took me home, the end of a successful weekend.  

 

A broken down 390 (looked like the wiper blade had come away) was causing a little bit of chaos at Watford Junction when I was there, with everything forced to use the fast lines, including a freight

 

390126 arriving at Watford Junction

1st August – Two Tunnels Greenway & Bristol Area

1^st August – Two Tunnels Greenway & Bristol Area

For my 1^st trip of August, I decided to head towards Bristol, but swinging via Midford to walk the Two Tunnels Greenway, a footpath/cycleway built on the former track bed of the Somerset & Dorset branch towards Bath.  Looking at the map it was a linear walk from Freshford station, over a hill to reach Midford village itself to join the path at the Midford viaduct.

 

The day began with a drive to Salisbury, parking up and heading to board the train towards Cardiff formed of 166213 for the run to Bradford on Avon (which was required for a photograph), 30 minutes later 166203 arrived on the stopper to take me to Freshford where I made sure to visit the toilet on the short journey.  Thankfully the weather was a bit overcast to cool it down after the heat of the previous couple days as I made my way towards Midford via the village centre (and a footpath) to reach a Byway from Pipehouse Lane which comes down near Midford Mill (avoids walking along the little country lanes).  Another footpath took me underneath Midford viaduct (although sadly the viaduct is within trees so no ability for a nice photograph). 

 

Midford Mill

 

I joined the path across the viaduct, stopping along the way for some photos, especially with the former station at Midford and the Tucking Mill viaduct a bit further along the path.  The highlight for me was walking through the mile long Combe Down tunnel and the shorter Devonshire tunnel, but an enjoyable walk, even with some cyclists attempting to break the land speed record.  The path got busier as it reached Bath (and litter levels increased) as I carried along the path crossing the railway line and to where it comes to an end near the junction at the A36.  I carried on back to visit Oldfield Park station to catch a busy 166203 towards Bath Spa.

 

Oldfield Park

 

A short wait at Bath before 166219 arrived to take me to Keynsham where I visited a nearby Tesco before catching 166201 back to Bath Spa, with the return of 166203 taken to Bristol Temple Meads, changing onto a XC HST formed of 43207 leading 43301 for the gentle trip to Bristol Parkway where I exited the station (noting the barriers were wide open at both Temple Meads & Parkway).  I walked from Stoke Gifford towards Little Stoke, via a housing estate which gives access to the “Forty Acres” nature reserve, which is a different way to walking to Patchway station which limits use of the roads.

 

At Patchway it was a short wait before 800021 arrived from Cardiff to take me to Bristol Temple Meads, where it was time to switch to the Severn Beach line, with 165129 taken to Shirehampton for a short wait for the same unit to return from Avonmouth to take me to Sea Mills which is a lovely station next to the River Avon where a smaller river comes in, some excellent views of the river.  However my time was short before 166220 arrived to take me to Avonmouth itself where I had a short walk to a nearby Co-Op before returning to the station for 165129 to take me to St Andrew’s Road.  I had a photograph of this station from my previous visit in 2015 time, but wanted some more of the industrial landscape.

 

St Andrews Road

 

165129 soon returned from Severn Beach to take me to Stapleton Road (needed the southbound platform) and for my 3^rd walk of the day via the streets of Bristol to reach the Bristol to Bath path (which is on my list to do at some point) to walk towards Bristol Temple Meads, catching 166217 for the long run back to Salisbury, lucky enough the former first class area was available for passengers to use.  Once again the barriers at Temple Meads were wide open (just think of all that lost revenue from stations with no TVMs).  Back at Salisbury for a nice drive home, the end of a productive day, mixing walking with some station revisiting.

 

More pictures are on my Flickr account.  I would recommend walking the Two Tunnels Greenway for some interesting sights and the novelty of walking through those two long tunnels.

 

Inside Combe Down Tunnel

Photos on Flickr

Photos on Flickr

Afternoon all, over the last few weeks I’ve been sorting out my photographs taken over the last few years and putting them on Flickr for the chance someone might want to look at how such a station looked in 2016 compared to now. If anybody spots any photos which are named as being in the wrong location, or any spelling issues let me know and I can correct.

Links are:

August 2020 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157715365064017

July 2020 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157715046373496

March 2020 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714963156736

Jan – Feb 2020 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714962286696

Nov – Dec 2019 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714962959318

Aug – Oct 2019 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714961173771

May – July 2019 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714972710248

Feb – April 2019 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714960578236

Oct 18 – Jan 2019 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714960391536

July – Sept 2018 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714960673803

Jan – June 2018 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714960017583

August – Dec 2017 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714957907861

Oct 16 – July 2017 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714957119136

Oct 15 – Oct 2016 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714947211051

Pre October 2015 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714896258173

Also some random other albums of a railtour trip to Plymouth in July 2012: https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714891133796

A trip to the Settle & Carlisle line in June 2014: https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714962077287

Trip to the Cambrian Coast in September 2014: https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714909539988

A trip to Scotland in March 2014: https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714896759282

A week long trip to Scotland in May 2014: https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157714896913767