18 – 20th December, Kintore

18 – 20^th December, Kintore

Firstly I apologise for the lateness of this blog post, my mind has been all over the place recently and I haven’t been able to focus, secondary this trip only went ahead due to the DFT deciding to only offer fee free amendments for advance tickets (which would have been as much use as a chocolate fireguard as who knows when it will be allowed to travel for leisure).  Also it gave me a chance to meet up with a dear old friend who has been suffering in the last couple months.

 

18^th December

I had a hotel in Edinburgh booked up for the Friday (and Saturday) nights, and I managed to get a cheap split advance on the 18:30 service to Edinburgh.  Finishing work it was to the local station (getting a lift due to the rain) and onto Basingstoke with a triple 159, changing over to a pair of 444s for the run to Clapham Junction, where I touched into the oyster system and boarded an Overground service which unusually departed from platform 17 [rather than the usual platform 1].

 

Mind the Gap!

 

I took this 378 to Willesden Junction, where after a short fester took the 2^nd Euston bound service, another 378.  With time to kill I made my slow walk across to Kings Cross, where I waited for the service to get announced before boarding a 801 for the long run north.  It was quite busy on departure, at least in the coach I was in, and all was going well until Alnmouth where it lost a few minutes, before coming to a stop at Dunbar station, where due to a failed freight train (heading south) meant we were held for some very late running services to pass it going on the opposite line (using the crossover at Stenton).

 

In respect to the train manager, he kept us up to date and gave out refreshments, eventually the 4^th train passed us so we were on the way into Edinburgh running around 75 minutes late, arriving at the same time as the sleeper from Aberdeen rolled in!  I was thankful my choice of hotel was a couple minutes away from the entrance of the station so I was checked in and unpacked ready for the main event on the Saturday.

 

Sleeper arriving at Edinburgh

 

19^th December

 

I met up with my good friend and we visited Greggs for breakfast before heading to board the 09:30 Aberdeen train which is meant to be a booked HST… which had been replaced with a 170.  On the bright side we got seats in the declassified first class area at the front (to decrease the engine noise).  A very nice run towards Aberdeen arriving pretty much on time, allowing us to make a +5 connection to platform 6N for a 158 heading towards Inverness which took us to the network’s newest station, Kintore.

 

Kintore Station, Tick

 

A pleasant enough station with a good number of users, as we were ahead of schedule we took another 158 back to Dyce for a spot of lunch (sadly missed out as the place we were aiming for was closed).  A short wait before the next Montrose stopper arrived from Inverurie which took us to Portlethen as I needed the southbound platform where we got lunch from a nearby McColls before heading back to Aberdeen on a low mileage 158, which was just about pushed over 10 miles which was a bonus.

 

A HST passing Portlethen

 

Next train was a LNER service towards London, sadly not a required 800 but I managed to get a couple seats in the quiet coach, one without an engine underneath, for the run to Kirkcaldy.  The main event of the day was done, but when searching on RTT saw 2 of my last 4 158s needed for mileage floating around the Edinburgh area, a plan was formed.  One of them would be on the next Perth – Edinburgh service an hour (or so) later, which allowed me to head out to collect a pre-ordered pizza for dinner, and settled down in the waiting room to eat said pizza.

 

View of the North Sea

 

As expected low mileage 158728 rolled in from Perth to take us to Edinburgh, where we bid farewell and I headed for the same 170 from earlier in the day to take me to Gorebridge to intercept a northbound service formed of a pair of 158s, the rear unit was required for mileage so was cleared for ten miles by the time it reached Edinburgh.  Along the way I decided to check RTT again to see if there was any news on a 158 which was showing as allocated heading to Corkerhill depot in the early hours, more of a “I wonder if it will work one of those late evening Shotts line services formed of 158s”.  I was in luck as it was due to work to Edinburgh, before heading to Dundee for the night.

 

For lack of anything better to do, I headed back to the hotel to relax for an hour before returning to the station to catch a 385 for the run to West Calder, before the 158 arrived on the next stopper which returned me to Edinburgh.  I was happy as I had grabbed 4 out of my 5 remaining 158s for mileage needs, leaving just one more unit which was working north of Inverness.

 

20^th December

 

A late start for me as after a quick scan of RTT highlighted a couple required 385s out meant a trip to Linlithgow scored both of them, before heading back to the station.  For the first time I had booked a flight back to London (Gatwick), solely down to cost (£15 was hard to turn down, especially as Sunday fares were getting released late and were normally £45+).  Anyhow once back at Edinburgh it was a short walk to the North Bridge bus stop to catch a route 7 bus to the Newhaven area of the city, to meet up with my friend for some lunch.

 

A Lighthouse

 

After lunch, we caught the Lothian Airlink 200 service to Edinburgh Airport, where I said farewell once more, before heading to the security area passing with no issues, and a short wait in the terminal building to find out which gate the flight to Gatwick would be departing from.  The gate was announced and lucky for me it was near to where I was standing so easy enough to queue up before boarding the EasyJet service (plane G-EZRY) for the swift flight to Gatwick Airport.  After departure I swapped from my free aisle seat to a window seat on an empty row to give me some good views of the clouds and the sunset.  First time I have flown since coming back from the Isle of Mann in 2016, and whilst the interior isn’t that luxurious it was suitable for the flight time, seats were more comfortable than on an Azuma.

 

Endless Sky

 

The plane landed in the North Terminal at Gatwick, so after a long walk I arrived at the terminal shuttle train, catching one of the shuttles to the South Terminal and a fast walk to the main station, to board a slightly late running Southern service to Clapham Junction, touching out before boarding a Weymouth bound pair of 444s to take me to Basingstoke (this was the time where SWR were only running the diesels to Basingstoke due to staff shortages).  My luck was in and a Salisbury stopper hadn’t been cancelled and was due to depart a few minutes after I had arrived, which took me home, followed by a gentle walk home.

 

It was a nice trip, good to get Kintore visited and to see my good friend before we were all locked down again.

 

Colourful Bus

12th December – The Only Way is Braintree/Southminster

12^th December – The Only Way is Braintree/Southminster

 

This was another trip I threw together within the last couple weeks as I did have a plan to head towards Yorkshire, staying in Bradford overnight with the hope of clearing Northern for station pictures, but hotels have to close in tier 3 so a change of plan was needed.  To avoid wasting the advance ticket to Bradford I shifted it to the 2^nd January (for the lack of a better idea for a day trip).  After looking at potential options I noticed this weekend Greater Anglia had no engineering work taking place so after a quick play with RTT a plan was thrown together to allow me to revisit a couple of the Essex branchlines.

 

The day began with the 05:24 service from Grateley (it felt like a good idea at the time to save on the cost of a hotel!); this took me all the way into Waterloo, where I made my way across to Liverpool Street (Northern line to Tottenham Court Road for a 6 minute (!) wait for a busy Central line (seemed to be running every 5 minutes this morning).  My first Greater Anglia train of the trip was a dud 745 on a Norwich service which took me to Chelmsford, before a former Northern 321 (and another 321) took me the short leap to Witham, where I changed onto the branch line platform for a single 321 to the remote Cressing (which had people waiting for it both ways!), doubling back to a quiet White Notley.

 

The quiet White Notley

 

30 (or so) minutes later (thankfully White Notley had a nice bench under cover as it was a bit damp), another pair of 321s arrived to take me to the shopping centre station of Braintree Freeport, where I had a gentle walk towards the main station, via Tesco for some lunch supplies and also by the entrance to the Flitch Way (a path towards Bishop Stortford which mostly runs along the old railway formation, something to go onto my “to-do” list at some point.  Next up for me was on another pair of 321s which took me to Shenfield, changing over to the Southend branch for a service to Wickford changing over to the Southminster line.  I spotted a former Northern 322 working a London service, which looks a bit out of place!

 

"Welcome aboard this Northern Electrics service to London Liverpool Street"

 

The unit on the Southminster train took me to a wet Burnham on Crouch, for a short wait before it returned to the remote Althorne.  A short wait before the 2^nd unit on this branch line took me to the end of the line at Southminster, for a short turnaround before heading back towards North Fambridge, the passing loop on this otherwise single track line so a 40 minute wait.  I noticed on the “onward travel connections” map there was a round trip possible so I had a time wasting walk via a couple slightly muddy footpaths (probably not the best idea considering what the weather has been like for the last couple days!), a foot crossing of the line before returning to the station via the road.  I did notice another poster advertising a riverside walk towards Althorne (which looking at the map continues towards Burnham) which also goes onto my to-do list as it looks interesting.

 

Passing Dusty Bins at North Fambridge

 

The 321 returned from Southminster to take me to Battlesbridge for one more double back to South Woodham Ferrers in the pouring rain, thankfully it wasn’t too long to wait before the other 321 arrived to take me back to Wickford, clearing the line.  Crossing over to the London bound platform to board a pair of units from Southend to take me to Billericay for a 20 minute wait (nice waiting room with a sofa) before another pair took me to Shenfield where I bailed onto a pair of 360s from Colchester for what will likely be my last trip on a 360 from Shenfield towards Stratford.

 

At Stratford it was a short wait to the Jubilee line platforms for a 5 minute wait before the first departure (I boarded in the front carriage and that got busy after Canada Water).  Talking about Covid, is the wearing of masks optional in Essex? (Solely based on the percentage of those not wearing a mask because “the virus only kills old people”, quoting some youngsters which I overheard).  Anyhow at Waterloo and a case of boarding the first train towards Basingstoke, which was a Wareham bound pair of 444s, fast to Basingstoke after Clapham (speedy!), swinging via the nearby KFC for dinner before boarding an Exeter bound pair of 159s to Andover, solely to waste time and to have a look at the bridge strengthening works.

 

Back at Andover station it was a short wait before the stopper rolled in from Basingstoke to take me the final 6 (and a bit) miles to Grateley, the end of another trip.  I was going to have a farewell to the 332s on Heathrow Express, but the timings didn’t work out as I didn’t want to stay out too late (the days a couple years ago when I was younger and could do the 05:25 service to London, do something before heading home on the 23:40 are gone.  As for station requirements for photographs, for Greater Anglia land it is down to Marks Tey, a few on the Clacton/Walton branch, Dovercourt plus a couple on the Ipswich – Lowestoft line, which with any luck will be visited on the 23^rd/24^th December.

 

A foot crossing of the Southminster branch near North Fambridge

5th & 6th December. Dawlish, Ivybridge & Nutbourne

A post lockdown return to the rails (again)

So the 4 week lockdown has ended, so after 3 nice walks in the Andover area (plus a trip to Salisbury in the rain to get some shopping) it was time to head back to the rails.

 

Originally this weekend would have been a long weekend staying overnight in Stockport, but due to the current restrictions where Stockport is in the highest level with hotels having to close that plan went into the bin.  After looking up various options I decided to head to Devon to get an awkward station done, but a walk along the Dawlish sea wall (which had been on my list of things to do for a while).

 

Nice to be back

 

5^th December – A trip to Devon

 

The day began with the 07:52 service from Grateley (car park had a mere 4 vehicles in) to take me to Sherborne, after an extended wait at Gillingham allowing me time to grab a photograph.  The next Exeter train was delayed (due to a late running Exeter – London service, such is the joy of the single track sections on the line west of Salisbury), so I missed my hopeful connection with a XC HST.

 

As the station was a bit cold I jumped onto a Paignton bound pair of 150s to take me to Newton Abbot where I had a short wait before a Cornwall bound 158 arrived to take me a couple stops to the awkward Ivybridge, annoyingly this 158 was before a late running Plymouth bound IET which I had wanted to take to Totnes to grab a photograph of that station.  I met up with a good friend who was down this neck of the woods on a holiday which made the time at Ivybridge go fast (made faster with the unusual event of having 2x IET sets changing drivers at the station).

Driver change in an unusual location

 

 My next move was on a Castle HST set to take us back to Newton Abbot for a short wait before a 143+150 combo to Dawlish, which is likely to be my final pacer move on the mainline in England as the GWR 143s are due to be retired at the end of this week, bounce no more.  Due to the works around Dawlish with the new wall being installed part of the footpath was closed meaning a walk along the road before joining the path at the first available point.

 

A couple things which jumped out at me when we walked along the wall is there is a large drop one side with no protection and the wall between the path & the railway isn’t the tallest, in the climate of health & safety overkill it was a refreshing change.  We managed to take a couple pictures of passing trains before reaching Dawlish Warren.  I would recommend walking the wall, although maybe wait until the works are complete so you can access it at the Dawlish station end.

 

Sprinters passing the Dawish sea wall

 

 

 

It was onto another pair of 150s to take us to Exeter St Thomas where my plan changed due to the next Waterloo train being cancelled from Exeter (started at Yeovil) [as I was going to walk to Exeter Central via the Tesco for some dinner supplies].  So it was a short fester at the forgotten Exeter station before the next Paignton train took me to Starcross, saying farewell to my friend before a short wait before the following train to take me to Exeter Central to grab some dinner supplies before a busy pair of 159s took me to Yeovil Junction, doubling back on the next service to Crewkerne for a short fester at this quiet station.

 

My last train of the trip was a 158+159 combo to take me direct to Grateley, and it was quite quiet onboard, like most of the trains have been.

 

An IET passing Starcross

 

-----------------------------------------

 

6^th December – Going Nutty

 

The idea for today was to revisit the handful of stations I needed in Hampshire, plus the couple on the line towards Chichester, having changed ideas from visiting East Sussex.  It was an early morning drive to Romsey to catch the delayed 08:38 service to Southampton Central where I had a 40-odd minute wait before the next Portsmouth stopper would depart (had it been warmer I would have wasted the time and walked across to Woolston, but it was quite cold, and the doors on the warm 450 were unlocked).

 

I took this 450 to the quiet Bursledon returning to Bitterne (which wasn’t so quiet) before the following stopper took me to the industrial Hilsea, where I returned to Cosham to board the next Southern service to take me to Havant, where I exited the station to have a short walk to Warblington, where I was surprised at how soon the barriers dropped for the train (it was a good 5 minutes before it was due).

 

Warblington station

 

The next Brighton train soon arrived which took me to Nutbourne, and I had a short walk along a nearby road to take me to Southbourne, arriving a bit earlier than expected allowing me to take the Portsmouth train from London to Portsmouth & Southsea for a short wait before a GWR Turbo took me to Portsmouth Harbour.  Another short wait before a 377 took me to Fratton (where in the process of trying to get a photograph of the new footbridge/life combo spotted some youths attempting to bypass the gateline by jumping the night gate.

 

Anyhow it was soon onto a 444 to take me to Hedge End, a station I will probably return to next year as there seems to be some interesting looking paths (judging by the map), but my time was short before the next train took me back to Botley, which featured some bored looking youths smoking/drinking in the waiting shelter.  Thankfully my time here wasn’t for long before the next train took me to Eastleigh, passing an old EMR HST and an old Northern 142 in the sidings to the south of the station.

 

When 2 units become 1 at Eastleigh

 

My time at Eastleigh was short and soon a very quiet 158 rolled in to take me to Romsey via Chandler’s Ford, where I shifted my car from near the station to a car park in the town centre (yes I’m lazy) in order to walk into the town centre to pick up a takeaway pizza (part treat, part needing something hot), before driving home, and relaxing for the remainder of the evening.

 

I am happy with the only SWR stations I need are Upwey near Weymouth plus 3 stations on the Salisbury – Exeter line, with the only station needed on the Havant – Brighton line being Fishersgate.  It was nice to get back on the rails after a month away, plans might change due to the restrictions as things are fast moving, i.e. if London goes tier 3 I will need to change my plans for that week between Christmas & New Year as I've got a couple hotels booked solely as rail replacement bus reduction services as my local line has no trains between Christmas Day & the 3rd January due to bridge works in Andover.

31st October & 1st November – A trip into Southern diesel land

 31^st October & 1^st November – A trip into Southern diesel land

No overnight stays for me this weekend, home both nights (with a lazy day on Friday), originally I was going to have the Sunday off as a day of rest, but due to the announcement on Saturday that lockdown was returning I decided to head out, as I am see more days of rest happening in the next 4 weeks (especially if the weather remains poor).  It was time to switch my focus away from the north, and to the south where the majority of my required stations for photographs were located (in England).

 

31^st October – Coastways

 

The idea of today was to linear hop along the south coast, with an early morning drive to Romsey, having to park in a council run car park due to the inability to pay for parking at the station car park unless you used “RingGo” (a company I do not trust).  An empty 166 rolled in from Westbury to take me to Fareham, going via Eastleigh for the novelty factor (engineering works in the Southampton area), where I did some linear hops to Porchester, then to Cosham, before a longer trip to West Worthing, walking back to Durrington on Sea before the next London train took me to East Worthing.

 

A 30 minute break allowed me time to visit a nearby Tesco Express for some supplies before returning to the trains with another 377 taken to Southwick before a busier unit took me to Brighton, changing over to platform 8, linear hopping to Moulsecoomb where it started to rain, before a 313 took me one stop to Falmer before another 377 took me to Pevensey & Westham (via Eastbourne, where I managed to get a couple photos).  A delayed service to Ore from London was following close behind the Brighton – Ore service which I took to Cooden Beach before a 171 took me to Ham Street.

 

A 313 departs Falmer

 

Another break (although the poor weather meant I was more restricted to the shelter) before the same 171 returned from Ashford to take me to Rye where I managed to connect with the next Ashford train (which lost around 7 minutes between Bexhill & Hastings) allowing me to head back towards Appledore for another 30 minute break, listening to the rain coming down.  The 171 returned which took me to Bexhill (originally it was going to be Cooden Beach but I got that earlier in the day).

 

A 171 at Rye

 

A short break before I was back on the electrics with a Victoria service taken to Eastbourne where it attached with another unit to take me to Polegate for a short wait before a Brighton service took me all the way into Brighton, where I popped out of the station to dash to a nearby Tesco for more supplies, this time for dinner, before returning to Brighton station for a short leap to Hove before a fast walk along the streets to reach the bleak Aldrington station to catch a delayed Littlehampton service, arriving into Lancing.

 

A couple minutes later the Southampton train arrived to take me to Goring By Sea, followed by another short wait before the next Littlehampton service took me to Angmering before the next train took me to Chichester for a short wait before an empty unit for Southampton arrived from London to take me to Cosham, where I changed onto a 165+166 combo to head back to Romsey, once more going via Eastleigh.  I made use of a few minutes dwell at the station to grab a couple photos.

 

Thames Turbos at Eastleigh

 

I arrived at Romsey, for a quiet drive home, ending the day an hour earlier than I had expected due to making that connection at Rye.  A good day (other than the wet weather, making looking out of the window a bit hard at times), certainly my list of stations on the coastway lines have come down.

 

------

 

1^st November – Uckfield & Edenbridge

 

For my final day trip for at least a month (assuming leisure travel is allowed again at the end of the 4 weeks period), I decided to head towards the Uckfield line, as I could tick off the stations I needed from Purley towards Edenbridge (on the Tonbridge line) as well.

 

First time in a while it was a pair of 159s on the 07:36 service from Grateley taking me to Clapham Junction, where thanks to it arriving a few minutes early due to the Sunday timetable (timed for a 2-track railway) I made a connection to a triple 377 on the next East Grinstead service which took me to Oxted, slipping on the rails.  Slightly funny with the display in the coach I was in was telling passengers about a closure of the lines into Victoria which happened back in February!

 

A short connection at Oxted before the 171 arrived from East Croydon which took me to Buxted for a short wait before returning to take me to Eridge (where I note a new path is being built to create step-free access).  Another short wait at the home of the Spa Valley Railway before a pair of 2 coach 171s arrived to take me to the end of the line at Uckfield, returning me back to Crowborough for an hour fester (where I visited a nearby Sainsburys, deciding it wasn’t worth attempting to visit the Tesco as I had a picture it would be busy).  Returning to the station I was treated with a pair of 73s passing working a RHTT.

 

A pair of 73s passing Crowborough.

 

The 171 returned from Uckfield to take me to Edenbridge Town where I had a gentle walk along the road to reach the other station in Edenbridge, with a 377 taken to Nutfield for another short wait before the 377 returned to take me to Godstone for another short wait before the other 377 on Reigate – Tonbridge services returned from Tonbridge to take me to Redhill where I had a tight connection from platform 0 to platform 2 to reach a Thameslink service to take me the one stop to Merstham.

 

A 700 departs Merstham

 

Another short 30 minute wait before a low mileage 700 arrived from Three Bridges to take me to East Croydon, changing over to a trio of 377s from East Grinstead (the same trio I had earlier in the day) to Clapham Junction, where I jumped onto a triple 450 to Woking (mainly for the novelty of terminating in platform 1 due to engineering works), before a pair of 159s took me to Andover for another short fester (I prefer waiting around at Andover than Basingstoke as it’s more peaceful).  My final train before lockdown was a pair of 158s from Reading which took me the 6 and a half miles to Grateley for a gentle walk home.

 

Overall a successful day revisiting stations for photographs, another part of the Southern network cleared.  With any luck come 2^nd December the lockdown will be relaxed to allow leisure travel as the next 4 weeks are going to be hard for me mentally, especially if the weather is crap.

 

Walking in the countryside in the warm summer months where the ground is dry is different to walking in the countryside with a strong chilly breeze and rain, where the ground is muddy in places.  I just need to try and get a few things which were booked up cancelled or rearranged.  For the meanwhile, try and keep safe and hopefully the lockdown will only last 4 weeks.  Although I might need some bread from the Sainsburys in Salisbury at some point ;)