Recent content by chisj

It seems most/all of the loco-hauled services have their first stop outside the Helsinki region ticket zone - can anyone suggest an alternative ticket or are my only options Inter-rail / singles?

Ireland Stations Part 3 of 3: Another trip report I forgot to post Welcome to the third and final part of my travels around Ireland to complete the Irish Rail stations. Early o’clock bus to Dublin for 29014 out to Lexlip Louisa Bridge on the first Maynooth service of the day. Barriers in...

Part 2 Day 6 starts of, or rather day 5 ends, with required 92023 on the sleeper, 73966 working onwards to Kirkcaldy. Maybe I am acclimatising to the heat but Kirkcaldy feels quite cool at 5am; fortunately the waiting room is opened and I ponder the Metro crossword. “Sophisticated, urbane” and...

Wrote this in August but for some reason, forgot to post it until now. Hope you enjoy a little taste of summer now the weather is cold again and people are thinking of Christmas Part 1 My annual ‘big trip’ around GB; as usual, I aim to cover lots of loco-hauled turns while ticking off lines...

Ireland Stations: Part 2 The second weekend of three to complete my required Irish stations and this one is by far the dullest which is why I’ve been putting off writing it up. Anyway, let’s get started. Day 0 Getting in position today and after a half day in work, I jump on the Up Dublin...

Day 4 – Monday Early start for 2601/02 on the 0530 to Cobh, alighting at Fota as I continue to cover this line under the cover of darkness. Drop back at Littleisland on the return journey for the last miles into Cork with 2603. I was tempted to take the earlier non-stop service to Heuston but a...

Christmas, Easter, and Summer are 'names in a hat' for leave were I work right now, so I gain lots of brownie points by volunteering to work them all - the rest of the year becomes much easier. I've worked in other places though were the team leader acts like they are doing you some kind of...

Ireland Motivated by reading the trip reports on here, especially Kite’s recent achievement, I decided to concentrate on visiting some stations myself – although I would be playing in easy mode and “scratching shacks” in Ireland. To set the scene - Irish Rail has (by my count) 144 stations and...

Sleep Hotel indeed. On your own, hostels are much more economical than a hotel although they can be a pain somtimes. Day 8 – Midland Mainline HSTs (The final day) 0445 Acceptable bed time = silly alarm call. Part of me thinks I should’ve done a unit to Worksop and back then dossed in...

I made it off the train at Carlisle with all my possessions and there nobody was on the platform to laugh at the state of me so all in all, could've been much worse. Day 7 – Chilterns 0600 More or less living on energy drinks now; a pint in some dodgy rock bar to wind down last night seems...

Can't remember exactly what was on the menu at Liskeard, probably some cide. Day 6 – Cumbrian Coast 0513 Wake up after a rather restful night’s sleep and recognise Carlisle. 0514 On Carlisle platform barefoot hoping I remembered everything from the train as it pulls off. 0515 3724...

Real Time Trains really is a saviour when delays crop up, it almost encourages silly connection times when planning things. Day 5 – Pre-IEP VTEC Day 0500 Sleeper went via Bristol and Swindon; think I have done all the major routings now on this service. 0600 Contrary to the title, I am...

Day 4 – GWR Branch Lines 0700 159 020 on the first train west from Salisbury to Exeter St Davids. Practically empty train and great Wi-Fi so I throw on Spotify for the journey – Ulver’s latest for anyone interested. 0900 150 108 now out to Okehampton, it seems this line is going to be...

Day 3 – GWR HSTs 0615 Arrival into Euston very early, carriage covered in glow-sticks; presumably power failure rather than a midnight rave. Tempted to wake the guy from last night to see his reaction that he has drunkenly got a train to London but decide against it. 0635 Quick tube move...

Thanks for all the comments about the Cardiff Valleys trip, hope you are enjoying my latest ramblings. Day 2 – Central Scotland 0530 73968 taking me onwards, we leave late for reasons but skip the Kirkcaldy stop and are reasonably punctual into Dundee. 0630 Palindrome Voyager on the...