MisterSheeps
Member
I have done this once before, long ago under good old BR, and, say what you will about them, the trains were on time. This time was different ... a Northern service, 21st July, 10:10 Kendal to Lancaster, nice & reliable, friendly guard sold the tickets, (the ticket machine at Kendal failed to deliver promise to pay 'tickets'). Changed for a Manchester to Barrow (11:03 from LAN), arrived, sat there, started, stopped, engine stopped, started, more dithering ... 20 minutes then it was cancelled, 195 'Pride of Cumbria' departed passengerless northbound.
4 minutes later, a Pendolino arrived, so we changed direction, and, apart from a leisurely dawdle from Penrith to Plumpton, ok run to Carlisle, for a long wait (enlivened by an Azuma that RTT said came from / went back to Heaton, and the Colas logs, which filled the station with a nice pine smell
) until the 14:08 along the coast, which we got to Maryport for a look at the Senhouse (Roman fort) museum (interesting, inc the phallic symbols 
). Then things started to go wrong ... the 16:38 to Whitehaven ran only to Workington (no cafés or pubs near the station, an arriving 156 was shunted into the bay in front of another, whereupon the female driver was berated by the male driver of the now trapped one on break ... huh, blame the signaller!). The 17:57 was 15 mins late, it's guard was changing trains at Whitehaven, should have passed at St Bees, so ours into the bay, everyone off while it reversed then back into the through platform ... now 25 mins late. This meant we missed the 19:45 out of Barrow ('Pride of Cumbria' was in the sidings!), and the 20:45 was cancelled (the last train that could have connected with the last train from Lancaster & thence Kendal). So we got the 21:45 out of Barrow, got off at Grange, and a fortuitous Stagecoach bus to Kendal.
In short, the trains now seem so unreliable that doing this circuit seems a precarious adventure. Not sure if you can get delay repay or alternate rail arranged taxi if stranded part way round to get you home. But, it's a wonderful journey!
4 minutes later, a Pendolino arrived, so we changed direction, and, apart from a leisurely dawdle from Penrith to Plumpton, ok run to Carlisle, for a long wait (enlivened by an Azuma that RTT said came from / went back to Heaton, and the Colas logs, which filled the station with a nice pine smell
) until the 14:08 along the coast, which we got to Maryport for a look at the Senhouse (Roman fort) museum (interesting, inc the phallic symbols ). Then things started to go wrong ... the 16:38 to Whitehaven ran only to Workington (no cafés or pubs near the station, an arriving 156 was shunted into the bay in front of another, whereupon the female driver was berated by the male driver of the now trapped one on break ... huh, blame the signaller!). The 17:57 was 15 mins late, it's guard was changing trains at Whitehaven, should have passed at St Bees, so ours into the bay, everyone off while it reversed then back into the through platform ... now 25 mins late. This meant we missed the 19:45 out of Barrow ('Pride of Cumbria' was in the sidings!), and the 20:45 was cancelled (the last train that could have connected with the last train from Lancaster & thence Kendal). So we got the 21:45 out of Barrow, got off at Grange, and a fortuitous Stagecoach bus to Kendal.In short, the trains now seem so unreliable that doing this circuit seems a precarious adventure. Not sure if you can get delay repay or alternate rail arranged taxi if stranded part way round to get you home. But, it's a wonderful journey!
The locally available Northern booklet 'Coast, Lakes, Dales & Fells' has a few bus services, rare example of joined up thinking. Agree about the early start needed!