January Day Trips

 January Day Trips

First of all, a belated Happy New Year.  I’ve had some little day trips in January so far this year on my rest days from work.

6th January – Nailsworth & Randomness in Westbury

The short disused railway line from Nailsworth towards Stroud/Stonehouse had been on my radar for a while after it was recommended to me by a friend whom cycled it many moons ago, so I decided with the weather being suitable it would be a good chance to head towards Gloucestershire to have a little explore.  Originally, I was going to head towards South Wales on the Sunday night, even booking a cheap Travelodge in the city centre but that idea was thrown on the back burner due to the rubbish weather on the Sunday with snow & rain.

The day began with the 07:27 service towards Basingstoke formed of 159106, 159004 & 159021 where I transferred to platform 5 for 165117 working the GWR stopping service to Reading and another short transfer across to 800019 on the next service for Cheltenham Spa which took me to Stroud losing a couple of minutes along the way due to congestion around Swindon.  It was a short walk to a bus stop in the town centre near the Lloyds Bank where Stagecoach’s 37012 rolled in on a route 620 towards Tetbury

This was a lightly loaded bus as it headed away from Stroud towards Brimscombe, Burleigh & Minchinhampton.  After the nice-looking town centre of Minchinhampton the bus headed towards Nailsworth on a route which featured some sharp bends as it dropped down into the valley.  I departed from the bus at the small bus station in Nailsworth and headed towards the old station, picking up the mixed used path along the route of the former branch line.

Stagecoach Bus 37012 (YX63 ZTK) in Nailsworth on a route 620 to Tetbury

Finding the path was easy and it was flat, not the quietest due to running close to the A46 towards South Woodchester.  Nice woodland though in places, the nicest section was closer to Stroud once the path headed away from the road.  I had a little detour towards Stroud along the route of the old branch (which was a bit muddy in places due to all the recent rain, but just about passable).  After reaching the end of that path I headed back on myself to re-join the main cycle path as it headed towards the A419, which was built over the route of the old railway.

The next section was along a cycle path close to the road but sheltered within trees, a few places were flooded as it headed towards Ryeford and onto a short section which was a bit overgrown crossing the canal and ending in Stonehouse.  I will come back to this area at some point this year to walk the canal from Stonehouse towards Saul Junction on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, assuming I don't get diverted to another area of the country.

Anyhow it was back to the trains (after pretending to be one) with 800014 taken to Cheltenham Spa where everything towards Bristol was delayed due to flooding or other weather-related issues so I paid out for a single ticket towards Cardiff on TfW with 197012 for the trip towards Cardiff (gave me an excuse to clear another part of the network for 197 coverage, and to look out at some of the flooding)

197012 at Cheltenham Spa

Due to earlier flooding on the Great Western I decided to play it a bit safe and get back to Swindon, rather than risking getting delayed and missing the Weymouth train so once in Cardiff Central I headed out of the station (those new style ticket barriers which TfW have installed has the scanner in an unnatural place on the side of the barrier but I guess it is something which if you used them every day you would get used to the location).  After grabbing supplies, I returned to grab an unreserved seat on 800021 & 800004 on the next London train back to Swindon where I had around an hour to kill before the Weymouth train so headed into the town centre for a gentle explore, just to waste some time.

I headed back to Swindon station, making my way across to platform 2 where 166202 had just been kicked into life after sitting in the bay for most of the day and I grabbed a seat in the former 1st class section at the front of the train for the trip towards Chippenham & Trowbridge via the Melksham line.  After Trowbridge the train headed left at Hawkeridge Junction and towards Heywood Road junction where the line from Westbury joins up with the Westbury avoiding line, reversing at the junction to take the Westbury avoider and towards Frome.  Just one of those novelty things which might not be repeated anytime soon once the Westbury remodelling is complete.

166202 at Frome

I had a short 15-minute fester at Frome until 800028 & 800020 rolled in from the Plymouth direction (seeing IETs under the roof at Frome looked so odd) and I managed to get a decent seat for the trip towards Reading calling at Pewsey & Newbury (although not like I could see much out of the window due to it being dark).  The train arrived a couple minutes ahead of schedule at Reading allowing for a fast walk towards platform 1 where 165105 was on the next Basingstoke stopper, although I didn’t need to rush as this was delayed a couple of minutes for some unknown reason.

This 165 took me back to Basingstoke where I had a gentle walk towards platform 3 where the next Salisbury service was due to depart from (being swapped from platform 2 due to a late running Voyager).  159012 rolled in from London and was very quiet, hard to believe it was the 19:50 from Waterloo judging by how lightly loaded it was.  Anyhow it was easy to get a seat for the last section to Grateley where I had a gentle walk home.  An enjoyable day in Gloucestershire along with some randomness around Westbury.

14th January – Part 1 of the Tarka Trail.

The Tarka Trail is a long-distance path in North Devon, the parts I was interested in are the sections where it runs along routes of old railway lines (rather than the sections where it uses a mix of roads & footpaths).  Running from Braunton towards Barnstaple, then towards Bideford and finally Meeth.  I decided to split it into 3 parts, so today I decided to head west to make a start as the weather forecast was looking dry.

The day began with the 08:30 service from Grateley towards Exeter Central with 159008 & 159107 where I headed out of the station to grab some supplies from Sainsburys Local near the bus station (as the Co-Op on Queen Street is currently closed for refurbishment) before heading back to the station to board 166213 on the next Barnstaple train, sitting in the former 1st class area at the back of train and relaxing for the slow journey to North Devon.

166213 at Barnstaple

At Barnstaple itself I didn’t have long to make an unofficial connection to the next route 21 bus service bound for Westward Ho! Via Bideford & Fremington.  A busy stagecoach double decker (fleet 15431), also seeing my first Stagecoach bus in the latest dark blue colour scheme.  I alighted from the bus in Bideford, seeing an old Dennis Dart passing on another service before starting my walk.  I crossed over the river Torridge on the Bideford Bridge, climbing a ramp to reach the old station which is now a heritage centre, after a couple of photos I headed north along the path, heading away from Bideford, with the path running close to the B3233 road so it wasn't the quietest.  Some nice views of the water on the left-hand side as I continued towards Instow, passing the former station with the path moving away from the main road and into the wilderness with marsh land both sides.

This section was very nice for being quiet and gave some nice views of the river Taw.  I continued along the tarmac path heading towards Fremington Quay with the former station now turned into a café with the path heading towards Barnstaple, running alongside the bank of the river Taw.  I was toying with doing a little loop to the south of Barnstaple station along the route of the former Devon and Somerset Railway route (which used to head towards Taunton) but decided I wouldn't have time and that would have to wait until the day I return for the Braunton section.

Bideford Railway Station

After doing a little time-wasting loop, I returned to the station to board 150248 & 150246 on the next Exeter service, normally this is the train which would run all the way to Axminster but due to the Westbury works, GWR had split it at Exeter in order to send up fresh 158s (which would make it to Salisbury ECS).  The front coach was empty after the first stop and I settled down to relax as darkness was falling.  At Exeter St Davids it was a short walk from platform 6 to platform 1 to board 158760 & 158771 on the Axminster train, just for the novelty of the GWR service to Axminster (as maybe one day it might be an all-day thing if improvements are made to allow Axminster – Exeter to be half hourly, something I’m not holding my breath for.

158771 at Axminster

At Axminster I headed towards a nearby Co-Op to grab dinner before heading back to the station and onto 159004 & 159105 for the run back to Grateley, relaxing after a nice little day trip to Devon.  It was an enjoyable walk along the old railway route.

15th January – Deviating from Fareham

What felt like a good idea the night before was a bit crazy in starting the day with the 05:20 from Grateley in an attempt to get my body ready for a run of 7 early shifts.  It was onto 159104 & 159018 for the run to Woking where I randomly jumped onto 444014 on the service which starts from platform 6 as it has been a good few years since I last departed from this little used bay platform at Woking.  I took that 444 to Brookwood which was a bit spooky standing around in peace & quiet, watching as the commuters started arriving on the London bound platform for the next train from Alton.

For me it was onwards to Ash Vale on 450041, 450078 & 450087, changing platforms to board 450097 & 450062 on the next London Waterloo service, taking a seat in declassified first class.  What was unusual is this is a Waterloo service which goes via Staines taking a lot longer than the direct route via Woking, but scratches a little track itch at the Ascot end as it goes into platform 1 from the Bagshot line.  The train started to fill up along the way towards London and I bailed at Staines for a short wait for winner 701031 to roll in from Windsor (having seen a pair of 455s from Reading looking rather busy).  I took this 701 to Putney where I made a quick cross platform change onto 458416/458406 for the single stop to Barnes, just gets 458406 into my book as a /4.

458406 at Barnes Station

I noticed the new footbridge (with lifts) at Barnes was open as I transferred to platform 1 to board a busy 458405 & 458413 to Clapham Junction, deciding it would be best to leave London and jumped onto 444031 & 444005 on a Weymouth service to take me to Winchester, stepping back onto 450033 & 450100 on the next Portsmouth via Fareham service, to take me to Fareham where my walk began.  My target today was the short Funtley Deviation line, built to bypass Fareham tunnel and something I was planning to walk last year when I did the old railway line from West Meon to Wickham but decided to call that walk short early due to tired legs.

After leaving the station at Fareham I headed along Gudge Heath Lane towards the Hill Park area of the town, where the walking trail along the former railway route begins.  This was a bit muddy in places (as unlike the other walks I've done this month this wasn't a proper cycle path).  Once away from the housing and into woodland it was quite nice, very peaceful.  Soon I arrived at the village of Knowle, and going via some woods I ended up on Mayles Lane for the last section towards Wickham.  My walk ending in the market square where it was a short wait before the next Fareham bound route 69 rolled in (Stagecoach's 19160) which dropped me off at the station roundabout.

Path along the route of the former Funtley Deviation line, Fareham (1)

At Fareham station, I decided on a random time-wasting leap to Porchester on 450101 before boarding 444012 for the run back towards Basingstoke, popping out of the station to grab some supplies from Sainsburys.  My last train of the day was 159101 to take me back home to Grateley where I had a relaxing evening and an early night ready for the following week of work.  A productive day with that random track in Ascot area (one of these days I will do an evening service which does the short section of track from platform 2 towards the Bagshot line, just to scratch that itch with my BLS hat on) plus doing the old railway route in Fareham.  One of those small walks which had been on my list, leaving just the Hamble Rail Trail in that general area.

More photos can be found on my Flickr *here*, thanks for reading.

14th December – 19th December Day Trips

 14th December – 19th December Day Trips

14th December – Farewell to the Tilting Voyager

A Saturday where I didn’t have anything planned due to being uncertain about the following week and what shifts I will get put on since completing training, as it turned out I was on an early morning shift on the Sunday which ruined out doing anything too late on the Saturday.  It was also the last day Avanti were running voyagers on the West Coast Main Line, and having a farewell spin was something on my list since the autumn but was something I never got around to doing.

The day began with the 06:59 service from Grateley formed of 159019 to take me towards Waterloo giving me 45 minutes to stroll towards Euston for the 09:03 (odd) Holyhead train formed of 221106 & 221105 as I grabbed a seat in the middle coach of 221106 to relax with the fast run towards Crewe calling only at Stafford.  Bit of a slow run-in places due to issues on the WCML but overall, it was a good way to say farewell considering the last run was a slow train to Birmingham.  Along the way to Crewe, I had multiple ideas of what to do, chase down a 197 on a Llandudno service, chase down a 730 on the Cross City line or head into Liverpool for some 777 hunts.

221106 at London Euston

In the end I decided to keep things simpler, after watching a 4 coach 350 depart Crewe for Liverpool pretty much full due to overcrowding I hung back to board a busy 390134 to Runcorn for a short fester before winner 807001 rolled in from Liverpool.  The theory of heading to Runcorn was I could have bailed at Crewe if the train was overcrowded, but I managed to grab a seat in the standard class area of coach H with ease (the difference with legroom with the newer units & the voyagers stands out, so much legroom on these Hitachi units).  Anyhow the train only got busy at Milton Keynes (in terms of passengers standing), with the train losing some time due to the issues around Polesworth.

At Euston, after grabbing a photo of a steam train on “Polar Express” charter services I headed to the underground taking 51531 & 51556 to Waterloo and towards the 14:50 service at Waterloo.  Not the 14:50 to Salisbury but the 14:50 to Reading for another mini personal farewell, this time to the 5 coach 458s as 458529 & 458535 were on a Reading service, could easily be the last time I have a 458 to Reading considering SWR are down to the last 4 units with the other 458s being converted to 4 coach units.

458529 alongside 165126 at Reading

Some nice speed sections on the Reading train, but also some slow sections due to the multiple stops.  At Reading I headed over to platform 2 to board 165104 on a Basingstoke service, exiting the station at Basingstoke to grab some supplies for later in the week, before taking the 17:38 service back to Grateley with 158881 & 159006 where I relaxed for the rest of the evening before having an early night.

17th December – Visiting Ashington

The Northumberland Line reopened to passenger trains at the timetable change on the Sunday, all be with 2 of the 6 stations on the line opening on the Sunday (the others are in various stages of construction), so I decided to have a little trip to the North East to visit the two opened stations with a plan I put together on the weekend after getting seat reservations for Lumo.  The day began with my old Basingstoke commuting train, the 07:27 to Waterloo with 159105, 159101 & 159016 with this service.  Nonstop after Basingstoke is always a nice treat, even though it got caught up with some congestion at the London end of the journey.

After grabbing some breakfast, I headed to the former International Platforms at Waterloo to jump onto 458405 & 458411 for the run to Vauxhall, getting another 458/4 into my book for renumbering.  455863 & 455735 took me back to Waterloo where I had a gentle stroll towards Kings Cross, relaxing before 803005 rolled in empty from the sidings and I got my reserved seat, settling down for the run towards Newcastle, with the novelty of using the York avoiding line, but with a short delay for trains to go in front, including a late running LNER to Edinburgh (itself delayed by a large delay to the Aberdeen train).

803005 at London Kings Cross

Arrival into Newcastle was a few minutes late, as I exited the paid-area of the station to visit a pop-up tent to buy a Soft Azuma toy from a pop-up LNER sales stand, before taking 158860 all the way to Ashington, bit of new track from the junction with the North Blyth branch to Ashington itself (plus the various areas which have been redoubled to allow for the half hourly passenger service to run along any freight considering it has been a few years since the last time I was on a train on the Blyth & Tyne route (probably the last time being a Deltic railtour in September 2018).  I exited the station at Ashington to have a walk towards the town centre area, mainly to pick up some more liquid.

Back at Ashington station it was onto 158859 for the run to Seaton Delaval, a station which is quite basic but has a well-used car park, as I had a little explore of the area close to the station before 158845 took me into Newcastle, which had quite a few delays to northbound trains due to an incident earlier in the day at Stevenage, but I exited the station to head into the city centre area to grab some dinner and waste time (discovering that Newcastle had a Wendys, yum yum).

158859 at Seaton Delaval Station

I ate my dinner at Newcastle station as 803005 returned from Edinburgh to take me back to London, my fear of it being massively overcrowded due to a cancelled LNER didn’t come to pass as I managed to grab my reserved seat (even if it was next to someone who kept picking his phone up, putting it down on the table before grabbing it 20 or so seconds later).  The service lost time after Doncaster as it had caught up with a late running stopper from York so arrival into King’s Cross was around 20 minutes late.  I guess in theory I could have probably made the 21:20 from Waterloo had I had good fortune with the underground but I decided against the rush and instead had a gentle stroll towards Waterloo, jumping onto 455739 & 455708 to Vauxhall, simply to intercept 458418 & 458401 heading towards Waterloo to get another 458 into my book.

After that little trip to Vauxhall, I relaxed before 159001 & 159005 rolled in to form the 22:20 service, which remained busy throughout in the front coach, and soon I was at Grateley where I had a gentle stroll home.  An enjoyable day to visit a couple of new stations & a return to Lumo.

18th December – “Farewell to the Gold Card” Travelcard Day

My gold card was due to expire on the 20th December and I didn’t think it was worthwhile to invest in a replacement considering the only use it’s had since the end of August has been for Travelcards & a discount on oyster fares.  I will simply buy myself a Network Railcard for future London trips where I will use a Travelcard.  In addition, my good friend Jules was in London as well having returned from a holiday and it would be nice for another catch-up.

The day started again with the 07:27 service from Grateley with 159011, 159010 & 159021 to take me to London, a lot quieter compared with the Tuesday, I guess for some London city workers they had already broken up for Christmas as I had a private table all the way.  Unlike the day before there wasn’t anything of interest running out of Waterloo for the next half hour so I had a gentle stroll towards Cannon Street (of all places) via the Thames Path.  I was actually aiming for Liverpool Street but made a wrong turn near a big junction in the Bank area (oops!)  Anyhow it was past 09:30 so my travelcard was valid so I jumped onto 465023 & 465018 for the slow run to London Bridge.

466036 at London Bridge

At London Bridge it was a short walk to platform 5 to board 700054 on a late running Luton service to take me to St Pancras, where I had another short stroll to Euston, taking a seat on a Tring bound 350256 & 350103 meeting up with Jules with the run to Harrow & Wealdstone, exiting the station to visit the Asda before returning to the station & boarding 730035 & 730018 back to Euston and headed to the underground with 51678 & 51677 on the first available train towards Tottenham Court Road, changing to the Lizzy line onto 345023 to Whitechapel & 345041 to Woolwich where I wanted to do some admin with my oyster card before we headed out towards the town centre and towards North Woolwich via the foot tunnel.

Time for a bus interlude with Arriva’s HA53 on the SL2 service towards Walthamstow, something which was on both our lists of things to do.  An enjoyable run with this limited stop bus route heading from North Woolwich towards Gallions Reach, Barking, Ilford & finally Walthamstow Central station, where it terminated outside the closed bus station.  A bit slow in places with traffic, but for me it ticks off another part of the Superloop network, just leaving the two routes from Bromley to do at some point.  Anyhow it was to the station with 710104 taken to Bethnal Green before 710123 to Liverpool Street where we transferred to the underground.



A Hammersmith bound service formed of 21534 & 21533 took us to Euston Square and a short walk to Euston station where we booked winner 807008 on a Liverpool service with the near 50 mile run to Milton Keynes Central, parting ways with Jules carrying on his journey back to Hereford via a pair of 350s to Rugby and myself back to London on 390107.  Originally, I was going to head towards Liverpool Street to hunt down some 720s but when I saw a Northampton ‘fast’ service was showing as a 3-coach unit, I took a look, and after seeing 730046 working it, I decided that the 720s could wait for the novelty of both a fast run on a 730/0 and also a 730/0 to Northampton.

730046 was lightly loaded (which is no real surprise considering it gets overtaken by a London – Birmingham LNR service) as it headed towards Northampton, calling only at Watford Junction & Milton Keynes, going onto the slow lines around Bourne End.  Due to the late running Birmingham train this service arrived into Milton Keynes 5 minutes ahead of schedule before carrying on to Northampton, terminating on platform 2.  Certainly an unexpected trip to Northampton as I made my way across to platform 1 for a short wait for 350408 & 350237 to roll in on a late running Euston train, which I took to Milton Keynes Central, swapping to a busy 390122 for the final section into Euston, where for the second time of the day I headed to the underground to jump onto 51519 & 51518 to Waterloo.

730046 at Northampton

I was in two minds between going after a winner 701 or heading home, in the end the idea of heading home won as I boarded the 19:20 service with a busy 159003 & 159106 back home to Grateley, and a gentle stroll home to relax.  I didn’t manage to make that much use of my travelcard but hey-ho those things happen.  It was nice to catch up with Jules once more and to do the bus route from North Woolwich.

19th December – A trip to Sussex

A little trip to take mum out for the day, and I ended up deciding on a trip towards Sussex for lack of a better idea (and wanting a change of pace considering we needed to be home for around 6pm).  The day began with a drive to Romsey and 158747 & 158750 to Southampton Central, getting delayed on the approach due to signalling issues.  After exiting the station to grab some supplies we returned to board 387209 on a service for Brighton, the first time I’ve had a 387 from Southampton for the slow run towards Brighton, hitting into the idiotic situation where you can’t simply get from platform 1 & 2 towards the other platforms, instead you are forced to exit the station to re-enter it at another set of ticket gates.  Whatever happened to putting passengers first?

Anyhow it was a short walk to the bus stop outside the station where the route 12X departs from, this limited stop service for Eastbourne (in hindsight I ought to have purchased tickets to Eastbourne instead of Seaford but hey-ho) with one of the newer buses, 714, doing the honours.  A bit slow coming out of Brighton due to traffic but soon it was out along the coastal route towards Newhaven & to Seaford where we alighted at the library bus stop, swinging via Morrisons to waste some time before heading to the station.

Brighton Buses Bus 714 (Dame Gracie Fields, YY73 TLK) in Seaford

At the station it was a short wait for 377162 to roll in from Brighton to take a seat for the run back towards Brighton (I did have a crazy idea of changing at Lewes for something towards Three Bridges to take an Arun Valley line service but the Eastbourne – Victoria was cancelled).  Thankfully the idiotic revenue barriers have disappeared allowing easy access to platform 2 to board 387129, this former Great Northern unit now complete with Southern stickers on the outside & route maps.

We took this 387 to Cosham, making a mistake in changing at Cosham instead of Fareham as the next GWR service (formed of 158745 & 158762) was busy with school kids heading home (the vast majority exiting the train at Fareham).  Soon enough the 158s arrived at Romsey where we headed back to the car to drive home, the end of a little day trip to Sussex, and a little day trip in an area I haven’t been to for a while.

387129 at Brighton Station

Anyhow that’s it for my pre-Christmas rest day trips as it was back to work for me, working until Christmas Eve, getting customers from point A to point B, occasionally via point C.  Have a good day :)