How difficult is it to arrive or leave at all timetabled platforms. 5 year project to achieve this.

[All platforms]

Day 569: Saturday 16/05/2026 - Bolton to Stockport - £2.75 - Off-peak Single. Stockport to Alderley Edge - £4.85 - Off-peak Return. Stockport to Manchester Piccadilly - £1.65 - Advance Single. Manchester Piccadilly to Stockport - £1.45 - Advance Single. Stockport to Stalybridge - £1.45 - Advance Single. Stalybridge to Manchester Victoria - £1.70 - Advance Single. Manchester Victoria to Stalybridge - £1.70 - Advance Single. Stalybridge to Bolton - £2.45 - Advance Single. Car Park - Grosvenor Street Bolton - free.
No new platforms or stations - and precious little track!! Edit: See below for a bonus platform

"Almost a donut"

Today was about possibilities not probabilities, but as ever, the main aim was to have a bit of fun along the way. Much of what remains to do in the Manchester and Stockport areas falls into the "may possibly happen as timetabled" category, but i fancied a mornings play and you never know what may happen along the way. A bunch of possibilities not givens essentially.

An earlyish start in Bolton and off to Alderley Edge via a stop in Manch Picc for some morning supplies with the possibility of using the crossover to the fast after leaving Stockport P1. Not sure why i even attempted it because i have not seen a service actually do this crossover though i gave up checking after about 30 looks. Thinking about this more i think the very occasional XC or VT service may be the better bet, and there are a few timetabled for tomorrow, but i am already promised elsewhere, so its a no go. Given free reign i would have been in London doing the connection between the main line and the Bromley North line at Grove Park which some say hasn't been used for 10 years!!

Back to Stockport and then back to Manch Picc in a 1 in 5 shot of leaving Stockport P4 and then onto the Fast line. There are 3 possibilities of doing this and i need them all but as most timetebled services do, it went SL all the way instead of course. This is just hit and hope i fear and is my 2nd failed attempt. Once back at Stockport it was time for (the expected) disappointment of not setting off on the Denton Flyer (of the once a week to Stalybridge fame) from P1 as is timetabled currently. About a 1 in 10 chance of that happening, but its always a treat to ride the line so with expectations set low from the start i just treated it this as a nice day out. Nice and leisurely too with no real waits or tight connections to burden the soul.

I did get one sliver of excitement with a P6 departure at Victoria back to Stalybridge via the crossovers, one of which i needed, but its hardly a rare bit of track. I have been checking my actual routing on RTT as i write this, as i can sometimes be surprised by the actual route taken, and so it is that i find that my return back to my start point of Bolton from Stalybridge actually scored me an unexpected bonus. We were almost 10 minutes late leaving Victoria as the unit developed a fault. We had already emergency stopped not far from Victoria, but nowhere near a signal. Much revving ensued and eventually we pottered down the hill and sat in P4 of all things for another few minutes. I had visions of the service being cancelled but we did struggle on with the engine in high revs at each door release at each station. Both P3 and P5 at Victoria entertained eastbound service whilst we sat in P4 going West, so a turnabout on normal running. And so, we set off from P4 and took the crossover to Line B which is not normally timetabled, for very much an unexpected win. Just goes to show - the most unexpected routing may happen because of an issue that could not be foreseen, and am sure nearly all of us have profited from that over the years. Thinking about it the TP service going East from P3 must have used the other crossover i needed , and the P5 service used the other other crossover i still need. Fancy, all 3 crossovers used at the same time pretty much..... Ok, so what's next? Nothing planned during the week but never say never on that one, as i want to look at a couple of things even nearer to home. Next weekend i will be back in Sussex on the Sunday, although i may have to recast my itinerary after a few RTT changes this last few days, and the Monday will be a smorgasbord of dotting here and there on the Bank Holiday which may well send the blood pressure soaring as i need to cover a lot of ground if its all going to go to plan. I see myself cutting one leg of this unless i have the devils own luck.

Edit: Perhaps not such a bad day after all as i have just checked, and realised that a P7f departure from Manch Picc at 8.37 means i also have a bonus platform in the bag. 1 added to the platforms done tally.

Bolton	Depart	5.54​	*****	NT			stations	platforms
Manchester Piccadilly	Arrive	6.15​	P13	NT	wait 27m		completed	completed
Manchester Piccadilly	Depart	6.42​	P11	NT
Alderley Edge	Arrive	7.13​	P2	NT	wait 19m
Alderley Edge	Depart	7.32​	P1	NT
Stockport	Arrive	7.47​	P4	NT	wait 22m
Stockport	Depart	8.09​	P4	NT
Manchester Piccadilly	Arrive	8.20​	P8	NT	wait 17m
Manchester Piccadilly	Depart	8.37​	P7f	NT				1
Stockport	Arrive	8.49​	P1	NT	wait 16m
Stockport	Depart	9.05​	P3a	NT
Stalybridge	Arrive	9.30​	P2	NT	wait 22m
Stalybridge	Depart	9.52​	P5	NT
Manchester Victoria	Arrive	10.07​	P5	NT	wait 53m
Manchester Victoria	Depart	11.00​	P6	NT
Stalybridge	Arrive	11.15​	P5	NT	wait 37m
Stalybridge	Depart	11.52​	P5	NT
Bolton	Arrive	12.43​	*****	NT

 

[Kite159]

A productive day track wise in Manchester.

 

[All platforms]

Day 570: Sunday 24/05/2026: Woolston to Portsmouth & Southsea - £6.95 - Sunday Out Return. Thames Branches Day Ranger - £18.30 - Valid all day at Weekends. Reading to Swindon - £22.35 - Super Off-peak Return. Reading to Didcot Parkway - £6.35 - Off-peak Return. Horsham to Three Bridges - £4.35 - Off-peak Return. Horsham to Three Bridges - £4.35 - Off-peak Return. Car Park: Garton Road Woolston and Hurst Road Twyford, both free.
Total time today 760 mins - time on trains 411 mins and time waiting 349 mins. A Track day, but just one new platform was also added.

"Sweating it out in the hot weather"

Time to don the "track track track" mentality once more and a 2 day trip in the broiling heat was in prospect as i set off in the pitch black on the way down to Southampton, and Woolston in particular. I do like to mix it up and for some reason the oddball starting stations for services during engineering works caught my eye and a fair few of those were in the plan with the attendant oddball crossovers my main goal of course. The first of these was at Woolston where there was a RRB already waiting as i arrived, though there was only myself and two others awaiting to board, although they both checked and rechecked it was leaving for Portsmouth & Southsea from platform 1 before boarding. Air conditioned comfort made light work of the outside conditions, and i am happy to report this was the case for all my travels over the next 2 days. Memories of commuting in the hottest of conditions came flooding back. No such thing as air conditioning anywhere near Manchester back in the good old days. Ha.

The ride to Portsmouth & Southsea was mostly in an empty carriage, and most enjoyable too. A few more boarded as we made our way, and as we arrived via P2 at Fratton i also scored a piece of track that had so far proved elusive, though i am not sure why as it surely wasn't rare. A succesful start then, and time to move on to Twyford for the main part of the days activities. Reading to Paddington still has many bits of track not yet travelled, and despite being timetabled, much of this is a bit like pulling teeth with frequent alterations made. Of course this can bring unexpected results occasionally, but not today. A case in point was the Slough West crossovers which promised to be in use all day, but certainly whilst i was around it wasn't, with the common Dolphin Crossovers being used instead to gain the Relief line with part of the fasts out of action East of there. The service i was on was a good 20 minutes late after being made to wait for a stopping service to preceed it, although we did get the use of many crossovers to eventually arrive in P1 at Paddington. 2 of these were new to me so some consolation i guess.

I had a long wait there, and it was stifling under all that glass so sought refuge by exploring further along Platform 1 and along the walking route to the Car Park which charges a whopping £33 or so if using this over 12 hours. Its quite the walk in station terms, and i am trying to think of anywhere else i have walked within the station environs quite so far previously. I can't think of any, but it passed the time, only being spoilt by there being nowhere to rest my weary legs. I did linger as it was slightly cooler in the dark, but did eventually emerge to check which platform i would be departing on. The in and out were both platform alterations so no real change there, but the wait was fruitful as i boarded the front carriage of 9 and into the air conditioned comfort once more. I would be travelling to Swindon as this service was planned to use P7 at Reading and then the crossover on the Festival Line to gain the Down Main. Cross Country use this a lot but not always, and the route can also change and not be used without warning, so i thought i would have a go with a Great Western service, and thankfully it worked out, but the price of the ticket still amazes med - £22.35 for a Super Off-peak Return with a railcard. I once again wonder if this is one of the most expensive bits of track in the country, especially as its only £6.35 to Didcot Parkway from Reading.

An expensive tick, but i guess they are all heading that way at this stage in the game. I did get to Didcot as my next out ands back, scoring 2 of the 3 crossovers at Tilehurst Jn as my reward. The 3rd of the trio is definitely the easier. I did get to hear an enormous amount of peeps and whistles at Didcot, and whilst nothing was in direct view, it sounded glorious and almost on top of me as i waited for my return chariot to Reading and then back to Twyford, before heading to my hotel in Horsham - a hotel i cannot really recommend despite is proximity to the station. Rundown and under staffed seem the kindest description. I don't think i have ever seen furniture more in need of a skip than what was in the bar area, which was where i was promptly emptied of more than a tenner for two small bottles of (admittedly very cold) bottles of Sol, the best of a very limited choice, there being no draft options. It should be said the staff i did see were more than up to the job however despite them wearing many hats.

Two trips to Three Bridges were left for the evening, the first of which was to arrive back into the full fat P4 at Horsham, which i did with a 8 Car Southern service on its way to Arundel. More engineering beyond that. That just leaves P3b as a possibility, but as discussed previously i am unsure if it ever gets used as such at the moment. As such i am keeping Horsham as incomplete for now. And on to the second trip to Three Bridges. A Thameslink service which would return from there after a small dwell. What i was expecting was it to use P2 at Three Bridges, and on the return use a not yet ticked crossover to gain the Down Horsham. However P1 was chosen instead for reasons unknown. And so to bed.

Woolston	Depart	7.47​	*****	SW			stations	platforms
Portsmouth & Southsea	Arrive	8.34​	P4	SW	wait 8m		completed	completed
Portsmouth & Southsea	Depart	8.42​	P4	SW
Woolston	Arrive	9.28​	*****	SW	drive +
Relocate to	*****	*****	****	*****	wait 97m
Twyford	Depart	11.05​	******	XR
Reading	Arrive	11.13​	P14	XR	wait 13m
Reading	Depart	12.26​	p13	GW
London Paddington	Arrive	13.17​	P1	GW	wait 79m
London Paddington	Depart	14.36​	P1	GW
Swindon	Arrive	15.33​	P4	GW	wait 10m
Swindon	Depart	15.43​	P1	GW
Reading	Arrive	16.10​	P10	GW	wait 10m
Reading	Depart	16.20​	P12	GW
Didcot Parkway	Arrive	16.32​	P1	GW	wait 20m
Didcot Parkway	Depart	16.52​	P2	GW
Reading	Arrive	17.05​	P11	GW	wait 4m
Reading	Depart	17.09​	P14	XR
Twyford	Arrive	17.34​	*****	XR
Relocate to	*****	*****	****	*****	Hotel
Horsham	Depart	20.35​	******	TL
Three Bridges	Arrive	20.52​	P2	TL	wait 32m
Three Bridges	Depart	21.24​	P3	SN
Horsham	Arrive	21.37​	P4	SN	wait 60m
Horsham	Depart	22.37​	P3	TL
Three Bridges	Arrive	22.54​	P1	TL	wait 16m
Three Bridges	Depart	23.10​	P1	TL
Horsham	Arrive	23.28​	*****	TL

 

[Western Sunset]

I'm probably reading this all wrong, but how does a rail replacement bus from Woolston arrive in plat 4 at Portsmouth & Southsea?

 

[All platforms]

Day 571: Monday 25/05/2026 - Three Bridges to Redhill - £4.25 - Off-peak Return. Borough Green & Wrotham to Otford - £3.95 - Off-peak Return. Luton Airport Parkway to St Pancras International - £10.05 - Super Off-peak Return. Newport (Essex) to audley End - £3.15 - Super Off-peak Return. Car Parking today - Three Bridges Road Three Bridges and Co-op Borough Green, both free. Luton Airport Parkway £3.80 and Chalk Farm Road Newport - free.
Total time today 557 mins - time on trains 97 mins and time waiting (and driving), a whopping 460 mins. A track day once more so no new platforms.

"Flitting from here to there"

The inevitable early start, and i was parked up at Three Bridges not long after 5am and my service was already waiting in P3. I had targeted a P3 departure North for some time, and RTT had switched which of the early services had this "honour" twice before today. I was only going one stop to the Airport, but the P3 start ensured a crossover onto the Up Slow, and so a successful (and brief) start. It got a bit muddy after this as i waited it out at the Airport which was just coming to life for the day. Services were disgorging increasing numbers of passengers with cases, and i took the time to more fully explore the space again including a brief visit to the North terminal. I was waiting for 7.00am going North via Redhill, but from P3. No such luck and it was changed last minute to P2, so no crossover today... I decided to cut this trip and returned instead to Three Bridges and set off to Borough Green earlier than anticipated. The rest of the day was taken over to crossovers linked to an engineering blockade and Borough Green & Wrotham was one of these, with services all day using P2 exclusively. Again i had a carriage to myself thouigh there were a few punters further back. I was going just one stop to Otford before returning and moving on again, this time North of the river Thames.

London Bridge to St Pancras was blockaded and so Thames Link services were terminating at both Low Level Platforms at St Pancras today, and so the Midland Junction crossovers were being used. I already had one of these so i focused on the B platform arrivals after parking up at Luton Airport Parkway. 2 Airports in one day then although it has to be said there is no shaded seating available here unless inside the station itself before the bridge to the platforms, which i wasn't happy with, but again the wonders of air-con brightened my mood and a trip down the lower end of the MML for the umpteenth time. We were held an unseasonably long time before being allowed to crossover but arrived bang on time nevertheless i think, so a planned delay.

Things are going nice enough and a thrash along some B Roads for the last 30 mins or so to Newport again had me smiling despite the perspiration. No air-con in the car for me, which will be rectified on Thursday as i will be switching to ensure this is available. Hopefully for next weekend as well. I get ahead....... One last hurrah and after parking up on a narrow country lane on the other side of the station (plenty of room to park) i departed Newport for the few minutes to Audley End and the crossover to P1 just before arrival there. That makes 11 successes and 3 failures this last couple of days which is acceptable odds i guess. A surprisingly easy journey home on a Bank Holiday Monday was the jam on the cake - or is it icing - you decide.

I will be back out on Thursday attempting one of the trickiest sections of track to pin down i have come across - namely the Slow Lines between Shawford and Eastleigh. It will be all smiles or all tears i think with no real middle ground being seen. At least there is a chance it will work unlike at other times. A few other snippets will be attempted too. I don't need to be there until 4pm so a leisurely start time for once. A busy few days in prospect after that too.

Three Bridges	Depart	5.25​	*****	TL			stations	platforms
Gatwick Airport	Arrive	5.31​	P1	TL	wait 94m		completed	completed
Gatwick Airport	Depart	7.05​	P7	TL
Three Bridges	Arrive	7.09​	*****	TL	drive +
Relocate to	*****	*****	****	*****	wait 78m
Borough Green & Wrotham	Depart	8.27​	******	SE
Otford	Arrive	8.35​	P1	SE	wait 32m
Otford	Depart	9.07​	P2	SE
Borough Green & Wrotham	Arrive	9.19​	*****	SE	drive +
Relocate to	*****	*****	****	*****	wait 117m
Luton Airport Parkway	Depart	11.16​	******	TL
St Pancras International	Arrive	11.56​	B	TL	wait 21m
St Pancras International	Depart	12.17​	P1	TL
Luton Airport Parkway	Arrive	12.38​	*****	TL	drive +
Relocate to	*****	*****	****	*****	wait 102m
Newport (Essex)	Depart	14.20​	******	LE
Audley End	Arrive	14.24​	P1	LE	wait 16m
Audley End	Depart	14.40​	P1	LE
Newport (Essex)	Arrive	14.42​	*****	LE

 

[All platforms]

I'm probably reading this all wrong, but how does a rail replacement bus from Woolston arrive in plat 4 at Portsmouth & Southsea?

As is usual for me my descriptive powers always seem to miss out something that may be considered important. In this case the rail replacement bus was waiting to transport those that arrived at Woolston from Portsmouth & Southsea on the incoming service, presumably to Southampton given the Woolston terminator.

 

[Western Sunset]

Ah, I can rest easy now in the heat; thanks. Good luck with the down slow at Shawford...

 

[All platforms]

Day 572: Thursday 28/05/2026 - Eastleigh to Winchester - £2.90 - Evening Out Return x2. Winchester to Southampton Central - £4.35 - Evening Out Return. Southampton Central to Eastleigh - £2.90 - Evening Out Return. Eastleigh to Micheldever - £5.05 - Evening Out Return. Car Park - Leigh Road CP Eastleigh - £5.80. Stations completed today 2. Total completed 2551. Platforms completed at completed stations 5880.

"Another attempt at the Down Slow at Shawford"

A challenging day in many ways starting with the frantic early morning chase for a new tyre that could be instantly fitted following a late night puncture the night before. I thought i had everything in hand leaving about 11.15am not needing to be in Eastleigh until 4pm. However, the traffic issues quickly mounted and i missed my first connection by about 10 minutes. As a result my attempt at the Down Fast (platform avoider) at Eastleigh has had to be postponed for another day. Its not a deal breaker as i would have been amazed if all had gone as planned, but it has resulted in a few wasted tickets.

According to RTT there are at least 6 evening services for 3 days during this week that purport to call at P3 at Shawford. We all know this is just a placeholder excercise, but it is rare that so many opportunities show up in such a short space of time. In theory the Fareham services are being chased down by Cross Countries to Bournemouth, and P3 gets chosen if they catch up by Winchester. It also gets used in other circumstances but very occasionally, and i haven't found a logic to this. I would have the opportunity to target 3 maybe 4 of these 6 this evening, but first there was the unfinished business of Micheldever, which almost miraculously has escaped my full attention despite many visits to Hampshire. First stop Micheldever then, albeit it would have to be a brief visit given the timings. An island platform with access from both sides of the tracks, and i was more than intrigued by the old sign on the side away from the station buildings that said that the exit would be closed during shunting operations. There is indeed an old such shunting line, but now overgrown, and the passenger level crossing gates remain firmly locked.

I waited all of 10 mins for the Fareham service and the first attempt of the Down Slow at Shawford, but we landed in P2. I was idly checking on RTT and at this time the Fareham and the associated XC services were all showing as being about 20 mins late, and this trend continued all evening as it happens. The trickiest element of the Down Slow segments was the arrival into P3 - far harder to arrive in P3 from another station than just wait it out at Shawford and see what turns up. The lateness meant i could have a bonus go at the arrival by taking the next to Winchester, and then returning. The stars were aligning as the boards showed the XC 2 mins behind the Fareham and i did indeed alight at P3 with heartfelt thanks to the Gods as i did so. It was exceptionally muggy by this time, even in the very light rain that had started but i was very much happy with the outcome. I had dithered a bit as to whether i should stay on the service and cover the slow line, but i think i made the right decision. By this time i had checked the previous days 6 potential services, and none of them had used the Slow, although i did see one of them has used the none timetabled crossover at Allbrook, and so using the slow but from about halfway.

I stayed at Shawford for the next service but that was P2 also and i decided to attempt something else, as i really wasn't equiped to wait there for the rest of the evening. Off to Southampton before heading North again after an hours wait on a Waterloo service that would be stopping at Eastleigh (most don't), and so use the crossovers from the fast to P1 and then back again before alighting at Winchester. I don't think these are particularly rare but i hadn't been able to find a suitable service on previous visits to the area. It was here i missed a trick for which i blame the patchy internet service on this line. Approaching Shawford i was checking to see if there was a likelihood of P3 being used again but it stubbornly refused to load, until we left Shawford, whereupon i kicked myself for not just chancing it as the late running Fareham did indeed call at P3. Bottoms.... Instead i turned at Winchester and tried for the last attempt of the day but the XC had got ahead and so P2 was used again.

4 from the 6 attempted then and i got 1 of the 2 that behaved as timetabled. If you had asked me whether it was worth it just to get a P3 Shawford arrival i would probably have said yes given how tricky it was, so i was glad i was able to get a few other bits and bobs too including 2 station completions. Back home in the morning after an early attempt at a Southampton bonus. Not enough time for that report just now as i am having an early night as i am returning to the West Midlands tomorrow for Pleck Junction and the 5 new stations in the area, as well as other local rarities culminating in a post midnight finish. I was glad of the air conditioning in the car this last 24 hours, but back to the jalopy tomorrow.

Eastleigh	Depart	17.49​	*****	SW			stations	platforms
Micheldever	Arrive	18.10​	P1	SW	wait 11m		completed	completed
Micheldever	Depart	18.21​	P2	SW			1​	2​
Shawford	Arrive	18.34​	P2	SW	wait 48m
Shawford	Depart	19.22​	P1	SW
Winchester	Arrive	19.26​	P1	SW	wait 9m
Winchester	Depart	19.35​	P2	SW
Shawford	Arrive	19.39​	P3	SW	wait 80m		1​	3​
Shawford	Depart	20.59​	P2	SW
Southampton Central	Arrive	21.18​	P3b	SW	wait 61m
Southampton Central	Depart	22.19​	P1	SW
Winchester	Arrive	22.42​	P1	SW	wait 51m
Winchester	Depart	23.33​	P2	SW
Eastleigh	Arrive	23.45​	*****	SW

 

[Kite159]

It's an old oil terminal at Micheldever, now used by Network Rail occasionally to store rail vehicles (especially during autumn).

Good news with getting platform 3 at Shawford into your book

 

[All platforms]

Day 573: Friday 29/05/2026 - Woolston to Southampton Central - £6.00 - Any Return. Car Park Garton Road Woolston - free.
Total time today 33 mins - time on trains 17 mins and time waiting 16 mins. Just an out and back before returning home.

"An unexpectedly early return to Woolston"

Essentially i spotted an early morning opportunity at Southampton on a Southern Service as it would be unusually finishing its journey there in P1b and so using the crossover to get there. Upon arrival it immediately carried on to the sidings beyond the station to allow a SW London service to occupy P1 for a short while before returning to become a London service too, but this time via Worthing, and so i too boarded and returned to Woolston. An unusually trouble free home was in wait where i had business in the afternoon.

Woolston	Depart	6.14​	*****	SN			stations	platforms
Southampton Central	Arrive	6.22​	P1a	SN	wait 16m		completed	completed
Southampton Central	Depart	6.38​	P1a	SN
Woolston	Arrive	6.47​	*****	SN

 

[All platforms]

Day 574: Saturday 30/05/2026 - West Midlands Day Ranger - £23.95 - Valid all day at Weekends. Car Park - Wolverhampton £12.00
Total time today 882 mins - time on trains 445 mins and time waiting 437 mins. Stations completed today 5. Total completed 2556. Platforms completed at completed stations 5890.

"All the new stations"

Much of this week has been spent poring over the behemoth that is the spreadsheet i use to keep track of all relating to this project. Annoyingly i have found quite a few errors, thankfully all minor, but its has taken 3 full days to comb through and tweek it as i want. Still 1 undiscovered error to unearth, but that will now have to await for next week as this weekends activities now take precedence. However i want to update last weekends travels before then so here goes.

Saturday did not start particularly well. There are loads of car parks near Wolverhampton station, but the one way system can catch the unwary, and it took me a good 15 mins to find a place to park up that allowed me to stay more than 12 hours. When i did find one the price made me wince, but with time marching on i needed to make a decision. Having started here on many occasions albeit a few years ago i was quite surprised to find the 12 hour restriction. Oh well.

My mood was not helped when i did enter the station as my service to Walsall was showing as cancelled, so that is the 4th time an attempt at the Pleck curve (going north) has been thwarted - all for different reasons i think. This cost me a total of 3 pieces of track, although i was able to traverse one of these later in the day. It might have been 2 but my chosen service into Birmingham ended in P4c not P3b as timetabled. Attempting this was certainly better than twiddling my thumbs back at Wolverhampton as back there i had to go before boarding the service from Shrewsbury that now takes in Willenhall and Darlaston. I chose to alight at Darlaston first onto an almost deserted platform and only a handful of cars in the rather large car park. Only me and 1 other in my carriage too which i was surprised about. It was early Saturday but i had the place to myself and i went and had a full explore of the station environs. Early days but there was no evidence of this being a tenth as popular as the Ashington line - or indeed the Camp Hill line later on. The ticket machine was as exposed as it could be at the main entrance and must be devilishly difficult to see the screen in full daylight. I went to check, and it certainly defeated me - worse than cash machine screens in the sun! Bad planning. The platform had no such light issues.

A trip back to Willenhall next, and this seemed to be near civilisation albeit there was no real car park - and busier too. Darlaston was the more substantial station if that is the right phrase - wider platformns and better quality back screens as two examples. I did enjoy my time at each with early sunshine helping things along.

I decided to reverse again and carry on to Birmingham via Thame Bridge and a brief wait there before taking the LNWR service to Liverpool, but alighting at Stafford. This allowed me to traverse the crossover i needed before arriving at P3. An Avanti took me back to Birmingham before i attempted the Camp Hill line although i decided to go the more traditional way up to Kings Norton before doing so. The display boards there do not show the platform number for the Camp Hill services yet so you have to be a local to know that they arrive and depart from P4. I am sure it will get sorted but its been a few weeks now and surely it can't be all that difficult to put right. Its not like this service has suddenly been conjured out of thin air now.......

Far more activity on the three new stations, the first of which would be Kings Heath. Perhaps the lesser of the three stations in terms of footfall, nevertheless it was well frequented and i had time to explore properly. Just 15 stations left after today that i have yet to visit though a fair few more need completing still so i should savour these a bit more perhaps. Next up was Pineapple Road, named after the road just outside the station i guess, and a busy little station it was. The sun was out in force by now so but it had to wait for my next service where i would be alighting at Moseley Village, perhaps the busiest of all. With an M&S foodhall not far away this offered some relief from the unrelenting heat, and something ice cream based was sourced there. I think this is the best designed of the new stations too, and it would be no imposition to return if the opportunity arose. Another trip up to Kings Norton p4 before back to New Street. Very few unusual routings today at Birmingham, but i was more than satisfied with a haul of 5 new stations.

I still wan't finished as i had spotted an incoming Shrewsbury service that did threaten an unusual move, so it was up to Galton Bridge where shade was at a premium (well seated shade anyway) before returning to use the crossover at the end of the Tunnel just before the station and across the throat to settle in P10b. I do have most of New Street covered now, but the initial crossover in the tunnel was a tick. No rest for the wicked and onto a Bromsgrove service and another coast down the Lickey incline. The service was turning in P3 and returning from there and so using the crossover at the end of the platform to gain the line into Birmingham. No idea why this still remained, did it used to be unusual perhaps about 5 years ago? No matter its ticked now, with another one ticked at Longbridge where we diverted from the fast onto the slow to stop at the station. All that remained was another trip to Wolverhampton before relocating to Hednesford.

Still got quite a few late night offerings to negotiate and i thought i would get one of these under my belt, although it be a bit of a wait so i decided to get some proper food in me whilst waiting. It was the return into Hednesford i needed so i waited until almost 10pm before setting off. A crossover at Walsall was new to me and a duplicate of what would have been ticked early on, but another success was starting to offset that early disappointment. Then i was foiled by another swerve from the intended line into P3 at New Street but its an easyish win for another time this one.

The proverbial lively last train of the day nearly wasn't as the incoming from Shrewsbury just sat for almost 30 mins at Galton Bridge before eventually turning up to the relief of the many thronging the platform. That very much included me as it would be almost 2am before i would get back even if everything had gone to plan. All for the crossover just before Hednesford which is only normally only used by this service. A successful day and a trip to West Yorkshire on the Sunday awaited.

Wolverhampton	Depart	5.56​	*****	WM			stations	platforms
Birmingham New Street	Arrive	6.14​	P4c	WM	wait 58m		completed	completed
Birmingham New Street	Depart	7.12​	P3b	WM
Wolverhampton	Arrive	7.37​	P5	WM	wait 20m
Wolverhampton	Depart	7.57​	P4	WM
Darlaston	Arrive	8.07​	P1	WM	wait 38m
Darlaston	Depart	8.45​	P2	WM			1​	2​
Willenhall	Arrive	8.48​	P2	WM	wait 16m
Willenhall	Depart	9.04​	P1	WM			1​	2​
Birmingham New Street	Arrive	9.25​	P4c	WM	wait 9m
Birmingham New Street	Depart	9.34​	P4	LM
Stafford	Arrive	10.10​	P3	LM	wait 18m
Stafford	Depart	10.28​	P1	VT
Birmingham New Street	Arrive	11.07​	P1	VT	wait 15m
Birmingham New Street	Depart	11.22​	P9	WM
Kings Norton	Arrive	11.38​	P4	WM	wait 41m
Kings Norton	Depart	12.19​	P4	WM
Kings Heath	Arrive	12.25​	P1	WM	wait 45m
Kings Heath	Depart	13.10​	P2	WM			1​	2​
Pineapple Road	Arrive	13.11​	P2	WM	wait 12m
Pineapple Road	Depart	13.23​	P1	WM			1​	2​
Moseley Village	Arrive	13.27​	P1	WM	wait 42m
Moseley Village	Depart	14.09​	P2	WM			1​	2​
Kings Norton	Arrive	14.18​	P4	WM	wait 3m
Kings Norton	Depart	14.21​	P4	WM
Birmingham New Street	Arrive	14.43​	P11b	WM	wait 28m
Birmingham New Street	Depart	15.11​	P4b	WM
Smethwick Galton Drive	Arrive	15.19​	P3	WM	wait 42m
Smethwick Galton Drive	Depart	16.01​	P4	WM
Birmingham New Street	Arrive	16.10​	P10b	WM	wait 13m
Birmingham New Street	Depart	16.23​	P9m	WM
Bromsgrove	Arrive	16.54​	P3	WM	wait 8m
Bromsgrove	Depart	17.02​	P3	WM
Birmingham New Street	Arrive	17.34​	P12m	WM	wait 21m
Birmingham New Street	Depart	17.55​	P2b	WM
Wolverhampton	Arrive	18.13​	*****	WM	drive +
Food	*****	******	******	*****	food
Hednesford	Depart	21.55​	*****	WM
Birmingham New Street	Arrive	22.38​	P2b	WM	wait 8m
Birmingham New Street	Depart	23.46​	P3b	WM
Hednesford	Arrive	0.30​	*****	WM

 

[All platforms]

Day 575: Sunday 31/05/2026 - West Yorkshire Daysaver Train - £9.90 - Valid all day at Weekends. Wakefield Westgate to Doncaster - £7.45 - Off-peak Return. Car Park Low Moor - free.
Total time today 511 mins - time on trains 306 mins and time waiting 205 mins. A day for track so no new platforms or stations.

"A welcome return to West Yorkshire"

Today was woven around the afternoon use of the Down Passenger Loop at Hemsworth, but i have 2 other visits planned here, so i had no need to be up too early for once. Low Moor was my chosen start point and a trip into Leeds followed. There have been some track changes on the approaches to P4/5/6 since i visited in 2021 so i wanted to plug those gaps, and the first of these was a P5 departure onto Line D. I paused at new Pudsey for the following service as this was scheduled to use the 2nd crossover onto Line W at Bradford Interchange. Not particularly rare but something i wasn't chasing back in 2021. Even better was the crossover at Ripley Jn after the usual reverse and back up line W. Turning at Halifax i returned to Leeds and another sliver of track with a P6 arrival from Line C.

Now for the main purpose but first i had to get to Doncaster which i did on a GR service and an hours wait there upon arrival. Most trains from the South were delayed so i hoped this would not affect the use of the Loop. Digging earlier i realised the XC service planned to use the loop was doing so because of an earlier diversion, and the fact it was scheduled to stop at Wakefield Westgate. The dwell time in the loop was considerable so perhaps 2 services would pass us. They surely did (GC and GR) and i was very relieved as we slowed and crawled into the loop. Not sure you see long distance services looped like this too often but i was very pleased with the outcome. A good chat with the onboard host as we sat there.

I was going to go to Knottingley after this and whilst i did so, we would be omitting a stop at Wakefield Westgate due to a points failure. We routed into Kirkgate from a different direction, pulled past P2 there and then reversed into P3 before continuing. The return did the reverse of this and so i didn't get the promised use of Kirkgate and Westgate within a couple of minutes of each other, and of course the crossover to gain the Down as it was going to use P1 not P2. However i had spotted another piece of track it would surely have to use to gain the scheduled P13b berth. Namely continuing on the Down Midland to Line D before arriving. Not impossible to do this as per the timetable but quite awkward! Time to head for home after another successful day. I will be back in West Yorkshire tomorrow (Saturday) to continue the ticking off of track missed 5 years ago before heading off to Kent via a couple of moves at Surbiton. Its all go currently....

Low Moor	Depart	12.24​	*****	NT			stations	platforms
Leeds	Arrive	12.55​	P4b	NT	wait 18m		completed	completed
Leeds	Depart	13.13​	P5c	NT
New Pudsey	Arrive	13.24​	P1	NT	wait 34m
New Pudsey	Depart	13.58​	P1	NT
Halifax	Arrive	14.20​	P1	NT	wait 23m
Halifax	Depart	14.43​	P2	NT
Leeds	Arrive	15.16​	P6c	NT	wait 25m
Leeds	Depart	15.41​	P8	GR
Doncaster	Arrive	16.11​	P3a	GR	wait 66m
Doncaster	Depart	17.17​	P8	XC
Leeds	Arrive	17.59​	P15	XC	wait 25m
Leeds	Depart	18.24​	P13b	NT
Knottingley	Arrive	19.14​	P2	NT	wait 3m
Knottingley	Depart	19.17​	P2	NT
Leeds	Arrive	20.16​	P13b	NT	wait 11m
Leeds	Depart	20.27​	P5c	NT
Low Moor	Arrive	20.55​	*****	NT

 

[Kite159]

You were brave doing the last train on a Saturday night towards Hednesford from Birmingham.

I've done that Wakefield Kirkgate reversal on a Grand Central a couple of years ago, due to signalling issues somewhere I think.

 

[zero]

I was going to go to Knottingley after this and whilst i did so, we would be omitting a stop at Wakefield Westgate due to a points failure. We routed into Kirkgate from a different direction, pulled past P2 there and then reversed into P3 before continuing. The return did the reverse of this and so i didn't get the promised use of Kirkgate and Westgate within a couple of minutes of each other, and of course the crossover to gain the Down as it was going to use P1 not P2. However i had spotted another piece of track it would surely have to use to gain the scheduled P13b berth. Namely continuing on the Down Midland to Line D before arriving.

At the risk of embarrassing myself shouldn't this be line E?

 

[All platforms]

You were brave doing the last train on a Saturday night towards Hednesford from Birmingham.

I've done that Wakefield Kirkgate reversal on a Grand Central a couple of years ago, due to signalling issues somewhere I think.

I think you need a sixth sense to choose the right carriage on these occasions. 2 of them were quite raucous to begin with and i just plain avoided these at the time of boarding. Perhaps you can't always have this option but avoiding the rowdies is the default position i think.

 

[All platforms]

At the risk of embarrassing myself shouldn't this be line E?

Yup - Line E it is. Alphabetti spaghetti on my part.

 

[All platforms]

Day 576: Saturday 06/06/2026 - West Yorkshire Daysaver Train - £9.90 - Valid all day at Weekends. Oxshott to Surbiton - £3.55 - Evening Out Return. Surbiton to Weybridge - £3.55 - Evening Out Return. Car Park Fitzwilliam - free. Oxshott - £3.90
Total time today 591 mins - time on trains 319 mins and time waiting 272 mins. A brand new platform and some choice bits of track today.

"Another return to West Yorkshire"

Last week it was the UPL at Hemsworth. This week its the DPL, with the first Northern service from Leeds to Sheffield dwelling there to allow a GC and a GR to both pass. Free parking at the nearest station swayed my start point as Fitzwilliam and i had my first choice bit of track in the bag within minutes of starting. As said previously, Loops and through Lines have priority as i chase down the all track possibilities at this stage of the project, but especially in the North and the West Midlands platform ends and normal track bits also need to be targeted. Today i think has a bit of everything in the mix.

Once in Leeds the unit stopped in p12a and the oin board annoucement said another unit would be coupling before heading off to Carlisle (i think). We could stay on board, but i chose to make a dash for breakfast stuff, and was a bit non plussed when the boards said P12c when i had returned. The unit i had arrived on was still in p12a but then a 4 car arrived in p12c and then split. The unit in p12a then moved down the platform and joined with the front unit of that just split. I think the on board announcement had the right of it apologising for the rather unncessarily complicated way of doing things and the resultant lateness that had resulted. I chose to alight at Shipley, (and good job i did given the lateness) and returned to Leeds into P5c via line B. 2 rather small bits of track close to the platform were bagged in the process.

Next was a turn up to Keighley where the gates were unlocked to the heritage line up to Haworth, but nothing yet in the station and not much sign of life. This is a line i really do want to explore in the future so have deliberately not ventured onto the platforms there yet. I did go for a wander outside and returned to find an incredibe amount of smoke and excess steam being discharged in the heritage platforms as the first service puffed out in a cloud of its own making. Very impressive to my eyes at least.

I was off to the Forster Square version of Bradford station, and a first look at the new to me platform zero, which had been built since i was last here. It was raining pelters upon arrival and i decided to wait it out in the rather small waiting room area where very few seats remained unclaimed. It stopped before too long and i nipped round to one of the units there and snaffled the last duct tape roll on offer - something i have been meaning to stock up on for a while now. (The rumours that my jalopy is held together with this stuff is just plain vicious). I had thought that i could complete the station again by using P0, but fate intervened and we departed from P0b with another unit parked up in P0a. There is always something to do west of Leeds it seems and another return will be required. However track and a crossover was duly bagged, and a trip up to Ilkley where the appraoch crossovers also needed my attention.

P1 out and P2 in being the requirements, but somehow this took up more time than anticipated. In all this excitement i have neglected to mention the 2 crossovers at Shipley to gain the line into Forster Square in the first place, so that's another brace in the bag so to speak. With time in Yorkshire coming to a close all i then had to do was return to my starting point, and a whopping 4 hour drive down to Oxshott near Surbiton.

A testing journey but i arrived just in time to board the first of two engineering day services that would both be turning at Surbiton. It would have been two new bits of track, but having made a rather silly assumption it turned out it was the same one used twice. one in and one out in fact. There was a Surbiton/Woking shuttle in place every half hour today and departures would start in P1 and then cross right over to the Down Slow and remain there. The first of these crossovers is most certainly not timetabled ordinarily so i was very happy to get this one in the book. Perhaps i should have just started at Surbiton, but i was in the mood to stay outdoors as much as i could, and so adding a Oxshott/Surbton was no imposition.

A good amount of track as well as one new platform is a decent haul these days so i checked in at Ashford after a beer and had an early night, with my customary early start to allow for. Tomorrow would be a Kent/Sussex jaunt with more rare track and infilling the more normal stuff. Oh and a new station visited into the bargain - not many of those virgin stations left now.

Fitzwilliam	Depart	6.03​	*****	NT			stations	platforms
Bolton-on-Dearne	Arrive	6.27​	P1	NT	wait 18m		completed	completed
Bolton-on-Dearne	Depart	6.45​	P2	NT
Leeds	Arrive	7.31​	P12a	NT	wait 24m
Leeds	Depart	7.55​	P12c	NT
Shipley	Arrive	8.10​	P2w	NT	wait 8m
Shipley	Depart	8.18​	P1	NT
Leeds	Arrive	8.32​	P5c	NT	wait 21m
Leeds	Depart	8.53​	P4	NT
Keighley	Arrive	9.19​	P2	NT	wait 60m
Keighley	Depart	10.19​	P1	NT
Bradford Forster Square	Arrive	10.47​	P1	NT	wait 59m
Bradford Forster Square	Depart	11.46​	P0a	NT				1​
Ilkley	Arrive	12.16​	P1	NT	wait 5m
Ilkley	Depart	12.21​	P1	NT
Guiseley	Arrive	12.35​	P2	NT	wait 12m
Guiseley	Depart	12.47​	P1	NT
Ilkley	Arrive	13.01​	P2	NT	wait 9m
Ilkley	Depart	13.10​	P2	NT
Leeds	Arrive	13.38​	P1b	NT	wait 10m
Leeds	Depart	13.48​	P10b	NT
Fitzwilliam	Arrive	14.14​	*****	NT	drive +
Relocate to	*****	*****	*****	*****	food
Oxshott	Depart	18.30​	*****	SW
Surbiton	Arrive	18.41​	P2	SW	wait 4m
Surbiton	Depart	18.45​	P1	SW
Weybridge	Arrive	18.59​	P3	SW	wait 28m
Weybridge	Depart	19.27​	P2	SW
Surbiton	Arrive	19.46​	P1	SW	wait 14m
Surbiton	Depart	20.00​	P2	SW
Oxshott	Arrive	20.10​	*****	SW

 

[Kite159]

All the loops & crossovers in Yorkshire & Surrey

 

[All platforms]

Day 577: Sunday 07/06/2026 - Shepherds Well to Faversham - £8.70 - Off-peak Return. Battle to Hastings - £3.90 - Off-peak Return. Hastings to Pevensey & Westham - £5.85 - Off-peak Return. Hastings to Ashford International - £10.95 - Off-peak Return. Ashford International to Pluckley - £4.05 - Off-peak Return. Ashford International to Stratford International - £11.15 - Advance Single. Stratford International to Ashford International - £11.85 - Advance Single. Ashford International to Ramsgate - £4.45 - Advance Single. Ramsgate to Ashford International - £3.85 - Advance Single. Ramsgate to Birchington-on-Sea - £3.50 - Off-peak Return. Car Park Shepherds Well - free & Battle - £4.90.
Total time today 887 mins - time on trains 451 mins and time waiting 436 mins. Stations completed today 1. Total completed 2557. Platforms completed at completed stations 5895. 2 new platforms at Ashford!

"A fine jaunt in Kent with a touch of Sussex too"

Plenty of targets in Kent yet despite many visits over the last few years, and first today was one of those engineering one offs that pepper the calendar from time to time. The first service of the day to Faversham on the line from Dover was starting from Shepherds Well, and so a rare chance to do the crossover from a P2 start to gain the Up Line. I arrived in plenty of time to find quite a collection of folk already sat on the available seats - on the wrong side! Given how Shepherds Well is in quite a rural area this was a surprise especially aa there were so few cars in the car park. The board on the other side showed the next service as 08.0x so another surprise that not one of them had looked at it ot checked their phones. With 10 minutes to go i relented and given the news they crossed back over in dribs and drabs. The 8 car service arrived shortly after.

Another quiet early morning service - probably the ones i like the best, and an enjoyable trip to Faversham was more than welcome. Not quite sure why, but i do like the station at Faversham and all too soon i was reversing my route back to my start point. A great start to the day and this continued as i travelled the cross country route to Battle on narrow almost deserted country roads. The reason for relocating to Battle was similar to the situation at Shepherds Well, though Battle had a 30 minute shuttle service to Hastings and back all day not a one off. This proved to be a very lax timed service and dwell time was seen at each of the three intervening stations with a whopping 6 minutes at Crowhurst. I have just checked with RTT and my own timings differ significantly - for reasons unknown. RTT seem to show the intended timings but i can assure it left Battle 6 mins early at 10.39. So much so that whilst we paused at Crowhurst that i struck up conversation with the guard on the matter, and he insisted the 10.39/40 start at Battle was on his sheet/diagram so as to allow the incoming service to occupy the platform. All services were using P1 all day but RTT shows all departures from P2. Quite the puzzle really. No matter the how, i did traverse the crossover as we departed and so was 2 for 2 on the day.

Hastings however spoilt the run as Ashford bound services had reverted to the more usual P3 for these and not an all day use of P2 as was promised. Looking at the timings i can see why this reverted to P3, but in any event there was no point rushing over the bridge to catch the Eastbourne service given the return was not going to give me what i sought. Instead i took an earlier than intended service to Ashford and enjoyed the countryside on the way.

Before the start of the day it may well be that Ashford has more track requirements than any other station for me, and i was well overdue to try and whittle that down somewhat. Not that many bits and bobs that could be done on a Sunday as it happens, but i did take the opportunity to re-check some routings at this complicated station. I also need some P1/2 variants and immediately my eye was drawn to the 8 car sat just beyond my P1c arrival courtesy of Southern in P1b and P1a. Now, if a service is sitting at the very end of a platform, in this case P1a, it can surely be taken that it cannot start from P1b if it is going Westwards into London. It can surely arrive in P1b but as an 8 car it surely can't start back from there. There is probably an arcane rule i am missing with this, but i have followed common sense wherever possible to correctly identify the starting position/platform. So armed with this knowledge i fair scooted to the ticket office to take advantage of this and the extra time i had carved out, and got myself a bonus P1a departure with a return to Pluckley.

Once back at Ashford i waited it out for a specific service going to St Pancras from P6. This is because of the crossover immediately after the platform which was needed, with the bonus that i would be visiting Stratford International for the very first time. What a surprise i have to say. Firstly its enormous and with an hour to kill i was up and down the island domestic platforms before finding the one lift working today. I would not have enjoyed the walk up the multitude of stairs - possibly the most i have encountered, or likely to encounter given the paucity of new stations left on my list. The open space outside was also a surprise and the rest of my time there was spent having a poke around although i didn't go into Westfield Shopping Centre. I would probably have got lost given its size.....

Given the lack of International services i deem the station complete, although in the very unlikely event of them returning here i will add them back. Whilst i'm at this i have finally found the spreadsheet error i have been tangling with for the last 2 weeks and having combed through what remains i have decided to include 3 more stations as complete as there is little prospect of using the platforms needed in each case. I will amend the totals at the end of this post.
New Cross Gate: I have not seen any timetabled use of the fast platforms there whilst doing this project. If anyone knows of examples where they have been used please advise...
Clapham Junction: P8 is never timetabled and used as far as i can tell. There are very specific hoops that have to be gone through to use it even in an emergency according to documents i have unearthed, but again if anyone knows if it has been used in the last 5 years or so please advise...
Wickford: With the introduction of the new sets, P4 is now far too short to accommodate these, and the previous engineering use is therefore now a thing of history i think, so this too is now deemed complete as a station. Given my rules say use in passenger service, all 3 of the above can be graded in the rare as hens teeth category. Theoretically possible not in a month of Sundays.

Ok back to Sunday. Having returned from Stratford, i stayed on the Ramsgate service until err Ramsgate which took well over 90 minutes. It was on the post Stratford element that the carriage was inundated with a party of Spanish school kids and all seats were used, all the way to Ramsgate as it happens. I had the good fortune/misfortune (delete as appropriate) to be sat opposite a kid (12 perhaps) who proceeded to ask me very politely all manner of questions, some pertinent, some less so. The kids all seemed to swap seats with dizzying regularity apart from my stalker. One question i do remember which concerned the station at Sandwich, and why was it called that - they all found the name rather hilarious and i was able to relate a little about the Earl of Sandwich who made the name popular as a food item, but the town was there well before that. Quite exhausting........ Oh and one thing i noticed as it were after we all alighted, and that was that not one of them were doom scrolling on their phones, although one annoying kid had a proper camera and the flash kept going off every minute or so. Yes that was annoying to say the least.

They all legged it for the bus replacement, but i was waiting for the stopper, although both would be calling at Margate. I could have turned there but chose to turn at Birchington to maximise train time and minimise wait time without risking a dodgy platform change. Why was i doing this - to complete Ramsgate station with a P2 departure going North as it were and thus using the crossover to do so. Not unusual i don't think but one of those bits left over from previous visits. It seems to take ages to get anywhere in this part of the world and despite arriving at Ramsgate before 5pm it took until almost 10pm to return to Battle (via Birchington). The last win of the day was a P2c departure from Ashford and so using the crossover to gain the line to Hastings, as well as a final new platform. Whilst toing and froing at Ashford today i did identify 2 pieces of rusty track which i wasn't previously sure if they were used, but now i think i can reclassify them in my records as very unlikely to be used. (Routing in/out of P5/6 from the east essentially - both in and out take a specific route).

It was quite late when i got back to the hotel, but i needed to be up with the lark again as there was one more tricky bit of track to do first thing in the morning.

Stations completed given the 3 additions above is now 2560. Platforms completed at these completed stations is now 5917. Percentage of stations now fully completed is 98.61%. I may decide to consider other stations as complete in due course but for now the stations remaining is 36.

Shepherds Well	Depart	6.58​	*****	SE			stations	platforms
Faversham	Arrive	7.34​	P1	SE	wait 21m		completed	completed
Faversham	Depart	7.55​	P2	SE
Shepherds Well	Arrive	8.28​	*****	SE	drive +
Relocate to	*****	*****	*****	*****	wait 131m
Battle	Depart	10.39​	*****	SE
Hastings	Arrive	11.09​	P4	SE	wait 18m
Hastings	Depart	11.27​	P3	SN
Ashford International	Arrive	12.14​	P1c	SN	wait 16m
Ashford International	Depart	12.30​	P1a	SE
Pluckley	Arrive	12.37​	P1	SE	wait 9m
Pluckley	Depart	12.46​	P2	SE
Ashford International	Arrive	12.53​	P1b	SE	wait 47m
Ashford International	Depart	13.40​	P6	SE
Stratford International	Arrive	14.10​	P2	SE	wait 64m		1​	2​
Stratford International	Depart	15.14​	P3	SE
Ramsgate	Arrive	16.50​	P4	SE	wait 30m
Ramsgate	Depart	17.20​	P2	SE
Birchington-on-Sea	Arrive	17.37​	P1	SE	wait 13m
Birchington-on-Sea	Depart	17.50​	P2	SE
Ramsgate	Arrive	18.07​	P2	SE	wait 61m
Ramsgate	Depart	19.08​	P4	SE
Ashford International	Arrive	20.13​	P5	SE	wait 10m
Ashford International	Depart	20.23​	P2c	SN
Hastings	Arrive	21.10​	P2	SN	wait 16m
Hastings	Depart	21.26​	P4	SE
Battle	Arrive	21.45​	*****	SE

 

[All platforms]

Day 578: Monday 08/06/2026 - Slough to Windsor & Eton Central - £4.80 - Anytime Return. CP Stoke Gardens Slough - free.
Total time today is the shortest on record at 15 mins - time on trains 12 mins and time waiting 3 mins. And all for one connecting piece of track. Totals as yesterday...

"An early view of Windsor Castle"

It was barely out of my way back home, but the early start necessary to arrive in Slough about 5.15am was a bit brutal. I only just made it (again!) and was able to park up easily in a nearby street. The link from p2 to the Windsor line does get used as a first and last service of the day, but not always, and to do this you need an overnight somewehere - hence its super awkward to do for me living in the North West. Its something i have had my eye on for a few years to be honest, but the opportunity hasn't arisen till now, so despite the lack of sleep i was on this like a rash. There and back in 15 mins on a surprisingly well patronised brace of services. The link was traversed in a matter of seconds and i was back in my car before i knew it. Just the 2 stops on the way back to get some life back into my legs and refresh etc and was back home for 9.30 and a chance to catch up some sleep for a few hours. Very happy with my haul this last few weeks and i will be back out yet again in the Leeds area this saturday before again making the trek down south - this time to Southampton via a trip to Basingstoke. One of my daft all nighters with a double crossover at Winchfield on the last train out of Waterloo (to Southampton), and also promising to cover other choice bits of needed track. (01.05 ex Waterloo). Another very early trip back home afterwards. More on that after the event.

Slough	Depart	5.30​	*****	GW			stations	platforms
Windsor & Eton Central	Arrive	5.36​	Single	GW	wait 3m		completed	completed
Windsor & Eton Central	Depart	5.39​	Single	GW
Slough	Arrive	5.45​	*****	GW

 

[Kite159]

Busy as always

 

[All platforms]

Day 579: Saturday 13/06/2026 Sunday 14/06/2026 - West Yorkshire Daysaver Train - £9.90 - Valid all day at Weekends. Leeds to Knaresborough - £7.70 - Off-peak Return. Basingstoke to Winchester - £5.85 - Evening Out Return. Basingstoke to Overton - £4.30 - Off-peak Return. Southampton Central to London Waterloo - £6.70 - Advance Single. London Waterloo to Southampton Central - £9.75 - Advance Single. Car Park - Fitzwilliam - free. Basingstoke - £5.50. Southampton Central - £4.90.
Total time today 861 mins - time on trains 417 mins and time waiting 444 mins. Another day dedicated to track only.

"Who knew about the Knaresborough Bed Race shuttles?"

A third visit to West Yorkshire in 3 weekends although todays visit will be a bit shorter than the others. I had pencilled in another trip along the Hemsworth Up Loop visit to start with on the chance last weekends move didn't work out as planned, but as it did work out i had an extra 30 mins in bed and made my way into Leeds a little later accordingly. A more ordered trip up to Shipley followed, and on time this week too on the same positional move as least week. The 8.13 return was scheduled to cross from Line C to Line E before landing in P15..... but it went nowhere near Line C and used Line A instead and ended up in p3. If the 2 crossovers had been used i would be down to my last 2 crossovers at Leeds apart from bits and bobs near the through line that i don't think ever get used. No matter, i will try again.

It was the unusual track at Knaresborough and Harrogate today that was my main thrust and it was to Knaresborough i went next on the York route. For some reason there was a 30 minute shuttle between the two stations for the key part of the day. It was only when i arrived at Knaresborough did the reason become apparent. Today was Knaresborough Bed Race day! and a shuttle service was augmenting the usual service. There were at least half a dozen platform staff in evidence at each station to funnel punters in/out the platforms though when i visited it was at the beginning of these extras. P2 at Knaresborough in/out with the return crossing back over and P1 at Harrogate so using the crossover to gain this. Rare use indeed with the Knaresborough crossover by all accounts being super rare. I was accordingly super pleased when it all worked out as planned. I did wander up to the high street whilst waiting and did see bed no 41 being pushed up the hill there presumably to its start point. Knaresborough is stuffed full of steep gradients, - and pubs by the many i saw whilst there. I do like the old crossing gates adjacent to the station too. I got back to Leeds via the LNER Azuma service from Harrogate and ticked off another morsel near the 2021 p4/5/6 changes at Leeds. Pity about the line C to E move not working out , but i have got loads of stuff in the area of late.

Time to move on. I would be travelling to Southampton, but i realised there were 2 other opportunities at Basingstoke i could attempt as it wouldn't be too much of a detour. The first of these was a Bournemnouth bound XC service that woud be using P1 at Basingstoke and then reverting to the FL immediately after. I am heartily sick of the delays that afflict (or seem to) these services, as planned moves just evaporate into the ether, and so it was today with a last minute alteration as the platform was needed for the Woking shuttle. A wasted ticket then as i decided to go for my 2nd opportunity an hour earlier given this change. It would have been tight to get my intended Southampton service if all had gone to plan, but by no means impossible. Bah... So off to Overton, though i could have gone further before returning, but i remembered io had previously done this station as it was getting dark, and i had another opportunity to have a look around in full daylight - which i duly did. it was err.... quiet despite the car park being well patronised.

The return did however behave as planned and we landed in P2 back at Basingstoke, and another very rarely used crossover had been bagged. I do hold my breath when attempting crossovers on any 4 track stretch. Of all the many many types of track available, it is the 4 track stuff that vexes the most, with quite a poor hit rate unfortunately. It doesn't seem to matter which line of 4 track it is, and i can see i am going to have to give these more of my attention than i have so far. An extremely good example of this inexactitude came to light later on. Speaking of which it was time to transfer again, this time to Southampton less than an hour away.

The 21.00 to Waterloo was, in theory going to add another crossover to the tally after Barnes, as today was an engineering divert day again going via Virginia Water. In retrospect the move made no sense logically, so i am not too disappointed as i had to be at Waterloo in any event. I was pleasantly surprised to see the low cost of the 2 hour journey was just £6.75. Perhaps less surprised to see just how bustling Waterloo was post 11pm with the M&S on site not closing till 1am demonstrating this vibrancy. A spot of people watching ensued whilst i awaited the penultimate service of the evening going back to Southampton. Fascinating.....

This very late service was another engineeering special - one that was going to be affected by at least 3 different ones, the first of which was the exit from Waterloo where we went from P17 right onto the Reversible (Line 1) and wrong way all the way to Queenstown Road and for me a hard to get crossover to gain the line. This was my last new bit of track today/tonight, which proved to be a frustration given there were another 4 on offer. RTT had showed me this last minute change by this time, as the routing had changed from the 3 crossovers needed to go from the Down Slow to Up Slow at Winchfield which had been in place for weeks now and what had prompted this late night extravegance in the first place. Oh yes, another 4 track no go.... This service was sparsely populated and we eventually arrived post 3am after losing time from 2 unexpected stops. I don't do many late night trips like this, but i did enjoy the adventure, which would have been so much more worthwhile if all had gone to plan. I did have a snooze or two on the journey into London and i stopped halfway back home for an hours kip, but travelling so early in the daylight made things a little easier than it othewise would have been. So little traffic going North compared to going South when i get up early. An early night here is definitely on the cards now. Perhaps there was more to say than i have, but i now need to refresh myself and start again, as no future trips are yet planned, and this is prime time for me. Do i persevere with Hampshire/Yorkshire, or do i do something more unexpected?? Hmmm.

Fitzwilliam	Depart	6.49​	*****	NT			stations	platforms
Leeds	Arrive	7.16​	P9b	NT	wait 33m		completed	completed
Leeds	Depart	7.49​	P9b	NT
Shipley	Arrive	8.05​	P2w	NT	wait 8m
Shipley	Depart	8.13​	P1	NT
Leeds	Arrive	8.26​	P3b	NT	wait 40m
Leeds	Depart	9.06​	P0a	NT
Knaresborough	Arrive	9.50​	P2	NT	wait 26m
Knaresborough	Depart	10.16​	P2	NT
Harrogate	Arrive	10.27​	P1	NT	wait 6m
Harrogate	Depart	10.33​	P3	NT
Leeds	Arrive	11.05​	P6	NT	wait 15m
Leeds	Depart	11.20​	P10	NT
Fitzwilliam	Arrive	11.45​	*****	NT	drive +
Relocate to	*****	*****	*****	*****	food
Basingstoke	Depart	17.39​	*****	SW
Overton	Arrive	17.47​	P2	SW	wait 38m
Overton	Depart	18.25​	P1	SW
Basingstoke	Arrive	18.31​	*****	SW	drive +
Relocate to	*****	*****	*****	*****	wait 150m
Southampton Central	Depart	21.01​	*****	SW
London Waterloo	Arrive	22.57​	P18	SW	wait 128m
London Waterloo	Depart	1.05​	P17	SW
Southampton Central	Arrive	3.14​	*****	SW

 

[All platforms]

Day 580: Saturday 20/06/2026 - Warrington Bank Quay to London Euston - £19.60 - Advance Single. London Z1-6 Day Travelcard - £11.00 - Off-peak. London Victoria to Ashford International - £9.45 - Advance Single. Ashford International to Wye - £3.65 - Off-peak Return. Ashford International to Boundary Zone 6 - £18.30 - Off-peak Return. Car Park - £4.40 Warrington Central.
Total time today 839 mins - time on trains 389 mins and time waiting 450 mins. Stations completed today 1. Total completed 2561. Platforms completed at completed stations 5921.

"A different approach today"

In truth, the itinerary this weekend made it quite awkward to use the car as i normally would, and it probably turned out to be a less expensive trip because of this. I may do more of these going forward, but it all depends where i want to end up for the night. So, a more leisurely start time than normal and i wandered into Bank Quay about 5.45am to find my intended train was cancelled. Thanks Avanti.... and just like that 3 targets were toast before i could board a train. I forgo a Crewe Up Through, a Stafford Up Through, and a crossover at Lichfield North Jn if you must know, although i would retrieve one of these later. The info from the onboard announcements on the following Avanti was first class and we were advised to alight at Crewe and wait for yet another Avanti, so as to avoid going via New Street. The way this was explained was first class, so i was less disgruntled than i had been when i boarded, and was pleased to retrieve a Stafford Up Through as we went non stop to Euston, save for one at Milton Keynes.

So, an hour behind by this time i made my way to Clapham Junction by way of Willesden Junction, and cast about for a service stopping at Wandsworth Town leaving from P6. It turned out there were a few today, and wondered if Ascot was one of the reasons for extra services given the very particular attire many were wearing on the platform. Now, P1 at Wandsworth Town is one of my problem platforms. Normally just one a day about 10ish of a weekday evening stops there, but frequently still uses P2 instead, and i have been unsuccessful so far in all my attempts. Maybe today would be different - and so it was, with all stoppers using the outer platforms, and the non stop ones passing through the inner ones.. It was with no small relief that i finally placed this in my completed list, and just one fast platform at Brent Cross West now remains in London, apart from the engineeering only P1 at Earlsfield. All the returns into Clapham Junction should be using P4 via the crossover just beforehand, But i am starting to think this is just a timetabling joke with a zero hit rate for months for this on RTT and as is usual P3 was being used. I may have to treat this particular crossover as a bit of unobtainium, along with others previously identified as such.

As i had planned for a couple of goes at this, i decided to cut my losses here to get myself back on schedule before heading off to London Bridge. Something else i had spotted was the track from P6 Norwood Junction was going to be used a few times today and stay on the slow all the way to P6 at East Croydon. My bad luck again to choose the one that didn't do this move of the three promised. I did wait for the next one to see if it might happen but with nothing happening there i cut my losses again by transferring to Victoria via East Croydon. Oh dear - 2 successes and 4 fails so far today.

Time to get to Ashford to redress that imbalance. I have got far too many targets here, so this weekend i wanted to make some inroads into that, so a trip down to Ashford and a little bit of a surpise by arriving in P2b which is one of two remaining platforms here. Go me, and a trek over to P5 and onto a Ramsgate service for one stop to Wye where i took shelter in the shade for a few moments before crossing over and returning back to Ashford, and all the way across the multitude of lines into P1 - quite the number of crossovers..... The last crossover was needed, and long looked for, so a happy man headed off to my hotel for a wee respite and some food.

I still had one more opportunity on a late night out and back to London on a near non stop return to Charing Cross. So, the full use of the Up Fast line at Tonbridge, which is far trickier to achieve than one might think, and this scratches my urge to get as many of these as i can this year. Through lines and Loops are main targets as can be seen from my successes of late and this will hopefully continue. I did manage to get 40 winks here and there in an almost empty brace of trains, and even had time to get some fresh air at Charing Cross at the midpoint but i ended the day with 4 wind and 4 fails. I suspect tomorrow will be better in this regard. A good nights sleep in air conditioned room awaited me and a 24 hour bar on arriving back was most welcome, with a cold one being eagerly consumed.

Warrington Bank Quay	Depart	6.43​	*****	VT			stations	platforms
Crewe	Arrive	6.59​	P5	VT	wait 24m		completed	completed
Crewe	Depart	7.23​	P5	VT
London Euston	Arrive	9.14​	P6	VT	wait 16m
London Euston	Depart	9.30​	P9	LO
Willesden Junction	Arrive	9.44​	P3	LO	wait 19m
Willesden Junction	Depart	10.03​	P5	LO
Clapham Junction	Arrive	10.22​	P1	LO	wait 14m
Clapham Junction	Depart	10.36​	P6	SW
Wandsworth Town	Arrive	10.38​	P1	SW	wait 35m		1​	4​
Wandsworth Town	Depart	11.13​	P4	SW
Clapham Junction	Arrive	11.15​	P3	SW	wait 13m
Clapham Junction	Depart	11.28​	P15	SN
London Bridge	Arrive	12.13​	P12	SN	wait 117m
London Bridge	Depart	14.10​	P11	SN
West Norwood	Arrive	14.12​	P5	SN	wait 91m
West Norwood	Depart	15.43​	P4	TL
East Croydon	Arrive	15.46​	P6	TL	wait 26m
East Croydon	Depart	16.02​	P4	SN
London Victoria	Arrive	16.19​	P12	SN	wait 36m
London Victoria	Depart	16.55​	P4	SE
Ashford International	Arrive	18.30​	P2b	SE	wait 27m
Ashford International	Depart	18.57​	P5	SE
Wye	Arrive	19.02​	p2	SE	wait 19m
Wye	Depart	19.21​	P1	SE
Ashford International	Arrive	19.27​	*****	SE
Food	*****	*****	*****	*****	food
Ashford International	Depart	23.20​	*****	SE
London Charing Cross	Arrive	0.26​	P6	SE	wait 13m
London Charing Cross	Depart	0.39​	P6	SE
Ashford International	Arrive	1.35​	*****	SE

 

[All platforms]

Day 581: Sunday 21/06/2026 - Ashford International to Westenhanger - £4.85 - Off-peak Return. Ashford International to Tonbridge - £4.50 - Advance Single. Tonbridge to Ashford International - £4.15 - Advance Single. Ashford International to London Bridge - £8.50 - Advance Single. London Z1-6 day Travelcard - £11.00 - Off-peak. London Euston to Crewe - £19.95 - Advance Single. Crewe to Warrington Bank Quay - £10.65 - Any Single. Car Park - £4.40 - Warrington Central.
Total time today 695 mins - time on trains 440 mins and time waiting 255 mins. Stations completed today 1. Total completed 2562. Platforms completed at completed stations 5934.

"Successes at Ashford and Clapham"

Opportunities at Ashford presented themselves today with all lines closed apart from those into and out of P1/2. A great start then as i boarded the early service to Ramsgate from P2, and we trickled along the slow line, which has long eluded me. All services in and out would be using this today from the East, and the bonus, (though an inevitable one) was the use of the crossover at Willesborough to gain the Down Main. Most satisfying. I alighted at Westenhanger and revisited the area for 20 mins before returning to Ashford and on to Tonbridge. An excellent start Unfortunately we arrived about 10 mins down into Tonbridge and i missed my intended return by about 10 secs, so had an unexpected hours wait before returning.

When i did get back to Ashford i did so via the crossover at Ashford West, and then proceeded down the Up Main before crossing over to P2 at the last minute. Looking at the track map for Ashford i see now that this was to ensure that as far as was possible the routing of the incoming and outgoing services did not overlap. In hindsight i missed a trick by then not getting a service into P1 from the east, as i would have scored another needed crossover. However my itinerary was tight today abd i was already an hour down by this time.. However it did get better later on as i departed Ashford from P2a on a trip to London bridge, and thus completed the station in the process. 13 different variants i counted. Another most welcome win after yesterdays disappointments.

If there was lots to do at Ashford before this weekend, there is more thasn this at both London Bridge and Clapham Junction, and it is very welcome to score anything at these stations at this late stage. After careful checking on RTT i did get myself back in the running time wise with a nifty turn at Deptford before returning to London Bridge and a late crossover into P3 for another success. With the core closed today Thameslink were using P2 and P4 to terminate their services and when they did other services had to change platforms of course. Still not done it was a move to Clapham Junction next, and two very interesting moves which should be happening all day with Stratford services using both P1 and P2. Lots of random early cancellations here and as i arrived both platforms were being closed as there was a failed train somewhere near Shepherd Bush. I was booked on the 16.45 from Euston, but i could afford to linger at CJ to see if anything might resolve itself. It did eventually albeit with more random cancellations and so the promised service every 10 mins turned out to be anything but. However the failed train appeared to have mixed things up in other areas and platform alterations made guessing which to use on an incoming service made it tricky. So tricky i never did do this before i had to cut and run, but i did get an outgoing one from P2 right at the death. Incoming into P2 is a first/last service thing that works 4 days in 5 - mostly, so can still be done, but the outgoing has to use the crossover to gain the p3 line before crossing directly to the P1 line so this late move was by far the harder of the two to achieve. One other point to note was that all incoming services to P1 were crossing to the Down Latchmere Curve before the Junction and not last minute. Very much another bonus here. A hugely successful day with all bar one targhets achiever and 3 unexpected bonuses more than offset this. All that remained was to get some shuteye on the way back up North, which i promptly did.

The travelling to/from London via train was better than the car (in the summer heat anyway) but i was very much tied to cheap advance singles so was less flexible than perhaps i would be otherwise. With the ability to have full days out dwindling as more gets ticked, i may consider doing a few more like this. It all depends on where i have to be and what time kind of thing i guess. I have 2 or 3 more weekends/overnights in the planning stage, but i rarely venture too far in the school holidays so by mid July i will cut back (unless more unobtainium stuff presents iteslf) and perhaps spend more time on updating the website. The first of these promises to be a trip up to Scotland, as i see Stirling P6 and the many crossovers needed to gain the line up to Perth is available on the Sunday (and the Sunday after that i believe) with 5 opportunities on each of the 2 days. Two further trips to London after that in quick succession which should include P4 at Brent Cross West if all goes to plan.

Ashford International	Depart	8.05​	*****	SE			stations	platforms
Westenhanger	Arrive	8.14​	P2	SE	wait 22m		completed	completed
Westenhanger	Depart	8.36​	P1	SE
Tonbridge	Arrive	9.18​	P2	SE	wait 60m
Tonbridge	Depart	10.18​	P3	SE
Ashford International	Arrive	10.53​	P1b	SE	wait 24m
Ashford International	Depart	11.17​	P2a	SE			1​	13​
London Bridge	Arrive	12.08​	P8	SE	wait 9m
London Bridge	Depart	12.17​	P2	TL
Deptford	Arrive	12.23​	P2	TL	wait 9m
Deptford	Depart	12.32​	P1	SE
London Bridge	Arrive	12.37​	P3	SE	wait 21m
London Bridge	Depart	12.58​	P12	SN
Clapham Junction	Arrive	13.45​	P14	SN	wait 9m
Clapham Junction	Depart	14.34​	P1	OG
Imperial Wharf	Arrive	14.37​	P2	OG	wait 15m
Imperial Wharf	Depart	14.52​	P1	OG
Clapham Junction	Arrive	14.58​	P1	OG	wait 6m
Clapham Junction	Depart	15.04​	P1	OG
Imperial Wharf	Arrive	15.08​	P2	OG	wait 18m
Imperial Wharf	Depart	15.26​	P1	OG
Clapham Junction	Arrive	15.30​	P1	OG	wait 12m
Clapham Junction	Depart	15.42​	P2	OG
Willesden Junction	Arrive	16.01​	P4	OG	wait 3m
Willesden Junction	Depart	16.04​	P1	OG
London Euston	Arrive	16.18​	P9	OG	wait 27m
London Euston	Depart	16.45​	P12	LM
Crewe	Arrive	18.53​	P11	LM	wait 20m
Crewe	Depart	19.13​	P12	VT
Warrington Bank Quay	Arrive	19.30​	*****	VT

 

[Kite159]

A productive few days

 

[All platforms]

Day 582: Sunday 28/06/2026 - Lockerbie to Preston - £19.20 - Lumo Fixed. Preston to Lockerbie - £27.50 - Advance Single. Gleneagles to Dundee - £7.15 - Anytime Single. Dundee to Edinburgh - £3.95 - Advance Single. Car Park - Lockerbie and Gleneagles - both free.
Total time today 599 mins - time on trains 411 mins and time waiting 188 mins. No stations completed today, though i did try.

"The new Lumo service from Stirling" before "more Perth disappointment"

The rationale for this weekend was centred around moves at Stirling tomorrow, and the rest was built around that, and the decision was made for certain when i realised the new Lumo service from Stirling had a nice anomaly built into the timetable on one of its Sunday services. And so i found myself stood on the platform at Lockerbie late morning and looking forward to sampling a Lumo service for a good hour and a half. I have got used to the chances of something super rare being a case of too good to be true, but for once the plan came to fruition, and we slowed right down on the Carlisle approach and crossed over at Carlisle North Jn and into P1 before dwelling there for around 10 mins. Excellent. The good news continued on departure as we eventually regained the Up with the third crossover being the important one for me at the far end of the bridge over the M&C, and Newcastle Goods Lines. Its been a good while since i looked at Carlisle, and there is still work to do here which i very much look forward to. I don't delve too deep into stock/Units but surely Lumo have some of the old EM IET's, the ones with the double seats...... Turning at Preston, it was back to Lockerbie on quite a full TP service, before heading North in the car once more, this time to Gleneagles.

I think P3 at Perth is my nemesis platform. Of everything i have attempted, researched and studied, this has been the most frustrating. It does get timetabled but most of the time and, (by their own admission) Perth does what suits Perth, and not what is timetabled. This wouldn't be so bad if you could see where everything did end up, but its one of those stations that does not report back platforms so no luck with RTT etc. Tigertrains can work if you are looking at what is on the boards a few minutes before arriving/departing, but you have to do this in real time which is very limiting. No surprise then that my Gleneagles departure did not end as planned as a Perth P3 arrival.

The driver had a few minutes to spare and we had a chat about this situation, and he brought in one of the station supervisors for a minute. The upshot is that very little is a shoe in at P3 - apart from maybe the 20.10 arrival on a Saturday. RTT shows this as a P6 arrival but have been verbally told it more often than not ends up in P3. Some of the early starters do use P3 as planned but not that many, so its a bit pot luck i'm afraid. Pushing my luck somewhat, i also found out that again, most of the time the Saturday afternoon in and out (14.10 and 15.25) also used P3 on a frequent basis, but i myself have been unlucky with those too. I was dying to ask about P4 going Northwards (LNER), but it was clear i was outstaying my welcome so thanked all profusely and moved on. It was only 2 minutes of time i think but i was very grateful for this quick chat.

So, disappointment, but also some new info which may help in another attempt - whenever that may be. Time now to get myself across to Dundee and await the last XC of the day into Edinburgh. Whilst there the Sleeper service arrived before this, which consisted of 2 sleeper cars, the lounge car, and the seated portion which had many empty seats. Slightly surprised as this was the last station before Edinburgh where it would join with the other 2 highland sleeper services. Always good to see this in action and reminded me i also need to revisit this service.

A bit of a wait at Dundee for the XC units, and the reason this was chosen was it was scheduled to crossover after Haymarket P1 all the way across the tracks and into P9 and thus using 2 as yet untravelled crossovers to do so. Lovely trip down in a carriage all to myself on an advance ticket costing me the princely sum of £3.95 - a handsome bargain that. We duly did the crossovers and with only a few more targets trackwise in Edinburgh, this was a great end to the day. Barely 5 minutes to my hotel for the evening which i thought very reasonable for sub £70, and the chance for a nightcap too, as is my want. Something a bit different again today, and i even had chance for a proper bite to eat for tea, not just supermarket fare. Tomorrow would be even better than today......

Lockerbie	Depart	11.43​	*****	LF			stations	platforms
Preston	Arrive	13.24​	P4	LF	wait 41m		completed	completed
Preston	Depart	14.05​	P2	TP
Lockerbie	Arrive	15.36​	*****	TP	drive +
Relocate to	*****	*****	*****	*****	food
Gleneagles	Depart	19.29​	*****	SR
Perth	Arrive	19.44​	P7	SR	wait 67m
Perth	Depart	20.51​	P2	SR
Dundee	Arrive	21.11​	P4	SR	wait 80m
Dundee	Depart	22.31​	P1	XC
Edinburgh	Arrive	23.35​	*****	XC

 

[All platforms]

Day 583: Monday 29/06/2026 - Edinburgh to Perth - £14.90 - Off-peak Return. Stirling to Alloa - £3.10 - Anytime Return. Linlithgow to Dunfermline Queen Margaret - £8.55 - Anytime Single. Dunfermline Queen Margaret to Inverkeithing - £2.85 - Anytime Single. Inverkeithing to Dundee - £7.95 - Advance Single. Dundee to Arbroath - £7.15 - Anytime Return x2. Dundee to Linlithgow - £16.55 - Anytime Single. Car Park - Gleneagles (continued) - free, and Strawberry Bank Linlithgow - free.
Total time today 879 mins - time on trains 397 mins and time waiting 482 mins. Stations completed today 2. Total completed 2564. Platforms completed at completed stations 5943.

"A wonderful day in Perthshire and Fife"

It is not often that a plan comes to fruition in its totality, but today was one of those rare days. It was also just about the perfect weather for it and at a time of the year when daylight is in abundance. All in all, this is what makes the effort worthwhile. In essence, I can't recall a more perfect day - and there have been some pearlers....

A very short walk just before 6am from the hotel to the station where i would be catching one of the first services up to Stirling. A perfect trip in perfect sunny weather, and not too hot at all. I had time on arrival to garner a few supplies before checking the boards to see if all was going to plan this morning. Four crossovers at the North end of the station was my goal this morning, and the first of these was done on the first service to Alloa. A shuttle service between Stirling and Alloa was in operation today woth all services using P9. This allowed the rarely used crossover from P9 to the Down Kincardine to be used for all Alloa bound services today, and i was on the first of these. Just an 8 minute journey each way with a short pause inbetween, and in no time at all it seemed i was back on the platform at Stirling eagerly checking the boards again. Yes, it was happening... four instances today (i think it was 4) of P6 being used for Northbound services, and thus using the crossovers to regain the down main. I did overhear two drivers discussing engineering works being the cause, but don't have any details. Not to worry, it happened, and i was on the second of todays services to traverse this also rarely used routing. Another pause at Perth before returning South to pick up the car at Gleneagles. Wonderful stuff.

The Car Park at Linlithgow was full as i suspected it might be, but casting about locally there was an open slot nearby the station and i snapped this up. No parking restrictions either! I got a slightly earlier than planned ride into Edinburgh before heading off to one of very few Scottish stations left in my to do pile. The Fife circle has taken ages to do (for many reasons), but today was the day to finish this off with a trip to the long named Dunfermline Queen Margaret. No BR style totem signs here unusually, but with not enough time to go exploring, i elected to cross the bridge to await the return instead, although i would be alighting at Inverkeithing and pause there for a while. In truth i was going to Dundee to await the afternoon assault on perhaps my second most awkward platform remaining, namely P1s there. Always timetabled, but sporadically used is perhaps a kind way to describe the actuality, but with the new summer timetable there was more than a glimmer of hope. As i had so much time to kill before my main attempt, i decided to have a go at the lesser opportunity by travelling to Arbroath earlier than planned to catch the service back which promises faithfully everyday it will use P1s from the North. It does sometimes, but not enough to make a specia trip out of it, but as usual today we just pottered into P1 the normal way. Not displeased really as this was just a time wasting move in essence, and once back at Dundee the platform boards were all aligning to make my next move North an excellent one. Freight in P4 and the train behind mine terminated in P1n. A bit of a nervous wait before the points moved and the box was showing U - which meant we would be using P1s AND using the Up Through Line to boot. Just a short piece of track, but enough to get us past the blocker in P1n. I am sure this has worked out for many in the past, but the last 2 years it really hasn't worked as planned - probably due to the freight service not being where it should be. Another big Scottish weight off my mind then as we trundled past the blocker and up to Arbroath for the second time. There was a third attempt on the return, which remarkably also worked, and there i was 3 years later than the first attempt with 2 P1s platform wins in less than 2 hours.

Dundee still hadn't given its all as i departed there from a most unexpected bonus platform of P3f. This was the service going to Glasgow via the Fife Circle, so for folk wanting the Thornton Juntions from the North, that is currently a good service to go for. The real win however on this service - which was very quiet by the way, was the use of the track between Dalmeny and Winchburgh Stations and associated crossovers. For me in previous years this was a bit of unobtainium due to its late night rarity, and the fact it didn't use the last of the crossovers preferring to go bang road to Linlithgow before reversing to Edinburgh, although good for novelty value i would wager. This is a much longer section of track than i had realised taking the chunky end of 6 mins to traverse - and in daylight. A great end to the day before returning home although it was 1am before the key to the latch was turned. More unusual Scottish track to do so i will be back a few times yet, but a very successful foray. I will be out tomorrow all day which has a super late finish as i return to London and the Brighton Main line after a brief Midlands hors d'ouvre to whet the whistle.

Edinburgh	Depart	6.04​	*****	SR			stations	platforms
Stirling	Arrive	6.55​	P2	SR	wait 30m		completed	completed
Stirling	Depart	7.25​	P9	SR
Alloa	Arrive	7.34​	Sgle	SR	wait 6m
Alloa	Depart	7.40​	Sgle	SR
Stirling	Arrive	7.48​	P9	SR	wait 22m
Stirling	Depart	8.10​	P6	SR
Perth	Arrive	8.40​	P2	SR	wait 15m
Perth	Depart	8.55​	P4	SR
Gleneagles	Arrive	9.09​	*****	SR	drive +
Relocate to	*****	*****	*****	*****	wait 79m
Linlithgow	Depart	10.28​	*****	SR
Edinburgh	Arrive	10.50​	P14	SR	wait 28m
Edinburgh	Depart	11.18​	P16	SR
Dunfermline Queen Margaret	Arrive	11.18​	P2	SR	wait 17m
Dunfermline Queen Margaret	Depart	11.35​	P1	SR			1​	2​
Inverkeithing	Arrive	12.11​	P1	SR	wait 69m
Inverkeithing	Depart	13.20​	P2	SR
Dundee	Arrive	14.25​	P3	SR	wait 69m
Dundee	Depart	15.34​	P4	SR
Arbroath	Arrive	16.01​	P2	SR	wait 26m
Arbroath	Depart	16.27​	P1	SR
Dundee	Arrive	16.42​	P1	SR	wait 24m
Dundee	Depart	17.06​	P1s	SR			​	​
Arbroath	Arrive	17.21​	P2	SR	wait 77m
Arbroath	Depart	18.38​	P1	SR
Dundee	Arrive	18.54​	P1s	SR	wait 20m
Dundee	Depart	19.14​	P3f	SR			1	7
Linlithgow	Arrive	20.43​	*****	SR

 

[Kite159]

A busy couple of days in Scotland. The units Lumo are using on the Stirling services are the former East Midlands intercity units. I must have got lucky the other week with the HST from Aberdeen using the loop at Dundee to loop a terminator from the Aberdeen direction. £70 isn't bad for Edinburgh city centre these days

Btw isn't the code for Lumo West Coast something like LF rather than LM (which is London Northwestern & West Midlands)

 

[Rover]

Still enjoying reading about your travels All Stations, really fascinating, thanks for sharing your ups and downs.

 

[Andy Pacer]

Far more activity on the three new stations, the first of which would be Kings Heath. Perhaps the lesser of the three stations in terms of footfall, nevertheless it was well frequented and i had time to explore properly. Just 15 stations left after today that i have yet to visit though a fair few more need completing still so i should savour these a bit more perhaps.

Quite intrigued by this, so you only have 15 stations still to visit? That's really good going! Im up to about 83% now and its getting trickier.