heart-of-wessex
Established Member
Hello all,
I know its a bit late, a week late for that matter! I haven't had much time to do up the video and type this out until today.
Anyway to cut a long story short on how it began, I decided to go on a birthday trip as I do every birthday. Throughout the wee before I spent most my time at the office deciding where to go! After looking online, I see there was a diesel turn on the Swindon and Cricklade, a line I haven't been on yet, and saw also the new southern extension was opening on the 5th too, bonus!
Well that was a winner straight away, as it didn't cost much at all, £5 for a rover. The thing was the return from Trowbridge to Swindon and the bus fare on top soon added up. The other problem was getting on Thamesdown. I have no idea what a return is, and they only do exact change only!
So a new option came to mind that I forgot about, a wilts day rover at £6, and would use it to Swindon, and it is valid on all Thamesdown services.
So here is the birthday bash report:
It started at Trowbridge Manvers Street bus stop at 7am, waiting for the 0735 route 49 to Swindon Bus Station. The usual E400 double decker rolled in with 'Private Hire' on the front! Me, and my fiancee who wanted to come along for the railway, got on and got our wilts day rover then sat at the top. I forgot to take down the number of the E400 but I thought I'd take it once we got to the bus station.
At some of the stops there were some people who looked unsure weather to flag the bus down or not...I think the driver still had Private Hire on the front...ooops to those left behind!!!
We had a cracking run to Swindon. I love the 49 as it goes through a lot of scenic places like Avebury, facsinating place!
We got to Swindon Bus station around 20 minutes late somehow! Nature was calling and I dived into the loo, then went to McDonalds for breakfast/coffee. Then it occured I still didn't get the number of the E400!
After Maccy D's, we went to the Fleming Way bus stops and waited for the route 15A Haydon Wick service, which was formed of a Thamesdown '52 reg dart. We got on and I thought the ride was going to be trash, but was rather suprised when we moved the engine wasn't a Euro 3 spec, sounded more like the original Dart engine!! beast!! (getting fed up of Euro 3 SLFs with first down our way!)
We got off at Okehurst Way stop and walked to the railway, which on the map looked like a long walk but was only a 10-20min walk! We got near the railway and I heard a southern horn...was this the 73? It was a bit of a spin and win as there was no gen to which diesel it would be...but the horn ruled out alot of the stock! We saw a glimpse of the front...and it was the class 207 thumper! Woooop!
We got to Blundsdon station and got a rover ticket of £5, then went to stand by the engine room of the Thumper to take in the exhaust fumes pouring out (on idle!)
We got on in the motor coach of course and filmed it leading south towards the new extension...clagging nicely!!
The footage and cabride of the railway can be found in this thread:
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?p=610516#post610516
A good day out overall! There isn't much to see or do. Hayes Knoll isn't the best station for an hours fester, there is 2 farmhouses and a shed that you can look around in. There is currently no footpath that takes you down the short distance to Blunsdon either
When the thumper returned we were glad to get on, and vowed never to get off there again! (unless some intense service is in operation!) We was quite surprised at a 1915 timetable of the line on the wall, Blunsdon had a direct service to Exeter, Bournemouth and....Liverpool....LIVERPOOL!? Bloomin hell, can you imagine that nowadays!
We left a bit earlier than planned as it was getting a bit mundane, and the turnaround times were long for a DEMU service.
We got back to the Oakhusrt Way stop and got a '52 reg dart (number 100) back to Fleming Way. We were going to go to Oxford since, oddly, the wiltshire day rover is valid on the Route 66 to Swindon. An ALX400 was allocated to the 66, but I did a quick check on the times to get there and back, and there was a rubbish connection for the bus over to Chippenham, so that went out the window.
Instead we went to Highworth on a E300, which had Route 66 brandng on. In fact, all the stock on the Highworth route had 66 branding on!
At Highworth we got off the bus (number 22626) and went for a wonder. Why did we get off here? It was to see what the remains were of the old Highworth Station. We found what was the original part of the village (very pretty!) and it was evident on what was the old and new part of Highworth! We went round in circles and could not find anything at all, We later found out that the area was swallowed up by a housing estate, one that we were standing on.
Basically there was no evidence left, that was very saddening and dissapointing It is a shame that the railway will never be able to re-open for preservation to Highworth.
We got on a bus back to Swindon Bus Station on 36127, then went onto the next route 55 to Chippenham bus station. It was a good run and in fact we were in chippenham quicker than I thought! It is a shame that the seats are rubbish, the ones on the 49 are much better!
We then got on First Bus ALX400 32283 on the 234 to take us back to Trowbridge via Lacock and Melksham.
Overall it was a cracking day out, it really was a shame the thumper couldn't thrash much, but I did like the tunes it was making! I will have to come back when the extension to Cricklade is open, or maybe on the diesel gala day in October.
I would however urge some people to make an effort to turn up and get a ticket or buy something. It might be small but it really does need the funds for the extensions. Initially I thought £5 was a rip off, but in fact it was worth it. The staff were great and I know some of the money would go to the projects.
Cheers,
James.
I know its a bit late, a week late for that matter! I haven't had much time to do up the video and type this out until today.
Anyway to cut a long story short on how it began, I decided to go on a birthday trip as I do every birthday. Throughout the wee before I spent most my time at the office deciding where to go! After looking online, I see there was a diesel turn on the Swindon and Cricklade, a line I haven't been on yet, and saw also the new southern extension was opening on the 5th too, bonus!
Well that was a winner straight away, as it didn't cost much at all, £5 for a rover. The thing was the return from Trowbridge to Swindon and the bus fare on top soon added up. The other problem was getting on Thamesdown. I have no idea what a return is, and they only do exact change only!
So a new option came to mind that I forgot about, a wilts day rover at £6, and would use it to Swindon, and it is valid on all Thamesdown services.
So here is the birthday bash report:
It started at Trowbridge Manvers Street bus stop at 7am, waiting for the 0735 route 49 to Swindon Bus Station. The usual E400 double decker rolled in with 'Private Hire' on the front! Me, and my fiancee who wanted to come along for the railway, got on and got our wilts day rover then sat at the top. I forgot to take down the number of the E400 but I thought I'd take it once we got to the bus station.
At some of the stops there were some people who looked unsure weather to flag the bus down or not...I think the driver still had Private Hire on the front...ooops to those left behind!!!
We had a cracking run to Swindon. I love the 49 as it goes through a lot of scenic places like Avebury, facsinating place!
We got to Swindon Bus station around 20 minutes late somehow! Nature was calling and I dived into the loo, then went to McDonalds for breakfast/coffee. Then it occured I still didn't get the number of the E400!
After Maccy D's, we went to the Fleming Way bus stops and waited for the route 15A Haydon Wick service, which was formed of a Thamesdown '52 reg dart. We got on and I thought the ride was going to be trash, but was rather suprised when we moved the engine wasn't a Euro 3 spec, sounded more like the original Dart engine!! beast!! (getting fed up of Euro 3 SLFs with first down our way!)
We got off at Okehurst Way stop and walked to the railway, which on the map looked like a long walk but was only a 10-20min walk! We got near the railway and I heard a southern horn...was this the 73? It was a bit of a spin and win as there was no gen to which diesel it would be...but the horn ruled out alot of the stock! We saw a glimpse of the front...and it was the class 207 thumper! Woooop!
We got to Blundsdon station and got a rover ticket of £5, then went to stand by the engine room of the Thumper to take in the exhaust fumes pouring out (on idle!)
We got on in the motor coach of course and filmed it leading south towards the new extension...clagging nicely!!
The footage and cabride of the railway can be found in this thread:
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?p=610516#post610516
A good day out overall! There isn't much to see or do. Hayes Knoll isn't the best station for an hours fester, there is 2 farmhouses and a shed that you can look around in. There is currently no footpath that takes you down the short distance to Blunsdon either
When the thumper returned we were glad to get on, and vowed never to get off there again! (unless some intense service is in operation!) We was quite surprised at a 1915 timetable of the line on the wall, Blunsdon had a direct service to Exeter, Bournemouth and....Liverpool....LIVERPOOL!? Bloomin hell, can you imagine that nowadays!
We left a bit earlier than planned as it was getting a bit mundane, and the turnaround times were long for a DEMU service.
We got back to the Oakhusrt Way stop and got a '52 reg dart (number 100) back to Fleming Way. We were going to go to Oxford since, oddly, the wiltshire day rover is valid on the Route 66 to Swindon. An ALX400 was allocated to the 66, but I did a quick check on the times to get there and back, and there was a rubbish connection for the bus over to Chippenham, so that went out the window.
Instead we went to Highworth on a E300, which had Route 66 brandng on. In fact, all the stock on the Highworth route had 66 branding on!
At Highworth we got off the bus (number 22626) and went for a wonder. Why did we get off here? It was to see what the remains were of the old Highworth Station. We found what was the original part of the village (very pretty!) and it was evident on what was the old and new part of Highworth! We went round in circles and could not find anything at all, We later found out that the area was swallowed up by a housing estate, one that we were standing on.
Basically there was no evidence left, that was very saddening and dissapointing
It is a shame that the railway will never be able to re-open for preservation to Highworth.We got on a bus back to Swindon Bus Station on 36127, then went onto the next route 55 to Chippenham bus station. It was a good run and in fact we were in chippenham quicker than I thought! It is a shame that the seats are rubbish, the ones on the 49 are much better!
We then got on First Bus ALX400 32283 on the 234 to take us back to Trowbridge via Lacock and Melksham.
Overall it was a cracking day out, it really was a shame the thumper couldn't thrash much, but I did like the tunes it was making! I will have to come back when the extension to Cricklade is open, or maybe on the diesel gala day in October.
I would however urge some people to make an effort to turn up and get a ticket or buy something. It might be small but it really does need the funds for the extensions. Initially I thought £5 was a rip off, but in fact it was worth it. The staff were great and I know some of the money would go to the projects.
Cheers,
James.
