jnjkerbin
Member
Here we go then, I've got some free time so may as well write this up in case anyone is thinking of doing a similar trip.
We'd been staying in Ludlow for the two nights before we went on this trip on holiday and stayed there for the rest of the week as a family (BTW if anyone is looking for a holiday cottage in Ludlow, I can strongly recommend this. It's only about 15 minutes walk from the station). Whenever we go on holiday I/we (it depends on what there is to do) try to do one day on the tracks.
It was my first time in the Welsh Marches (in fact my first time in the ATW operating area), so all of the units I mention below were new.
We left the house a little before 0800 to head to the station to get the 0817. Ludlow ticket office is very friendly (maybe something to do with it not being operated by ATW). We bought returns to Shrewsbury and more or less on time, 175005 pulls in and we get on. It's quite busy with some standees although two of us get a seat. The journey up through the hills around Church Stretton is really nice and surprisingly good (although the best was yet to come.) After a ticket check (so different from Southeastern
) and a run through of the trolley, with a jolly man selling things, we reach Shrewsbury on time where we go down to the ticket office to buy the Round Robin tickets. There's a slight hitch when, on re-entering the platforms, the barrier staff questioned the fact that the Round Robin Family Ranger said it was valid for only one adult - (this would be a recurring theme for the remainder of the day.) Nonetheless, they agree the ticket is the right price and are very nice about it and we head up onto the platform. While we were waiting for the Porthmadog train, I managed to get this not very good shot of a NR 97 heading around the Foregate Curve.
Shortly after, 170634 arrived into the bay platform with a service from Birmingham.
Then 158840 and another 158 (never got it's number
) arrived with our train to the Cumbrian coast. The fact the train reversed and was going to divide at Machynlleth caused confusion to some passengers and I was surprised to see that the coach was quite full. That said, the schools had just broken up so I guess quite a lot were heading for a day out by the sea. The guard came around to check tickets and again questioned our ranger but didn't really care. The journey towards the coast was quite pleasant and we stopped for a moment at Tallerdig to allow another train to pass and then arrived into Machynlleth a few minutes early. The 1 hour 15 minutes journey went surprisingly quickly and before long, after the departure of the Aberystwyth portion, we proceeded. I was surprised to see someone alight at Dovey junction and then we curved north.
The landscape got hillier as we ran along the estuary and our stop at Penhelig caused some concern for the students opposite us who thought they were at Aberdovey and so made for the doors but the train moved off too soon and they were carried on to the place they thought that they'd missed.
To be continued...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Ok, here we go with Part 2:
The run along the Cambrian Coast is probably more scenic than Dawlish and it's sort of surprising that people seem obsessed with this line's Devonish counterpart when this is much longer and probably more scenic. The train is not too slow until we slow down for the crawl over the Barmouth bridge which provides some lovely views inland. Most people have got off by the time we leave Barmouth and the journey onwards is uneventful and we glimpsed the village of Portmeirion across the estuary. It seems along the line, we stopped at just about every request stop there is. We passed under the Ffestiniog Railway at Minnford before continuing into Pothmadog where we can get off after 3 and a quarter hours on the same 158. Here, we had a 50 minute connection across Porthmadog made easier by the fact we arrived a couple of minutes early at 1243.
On leaving the station, there's a Tesco on the right which is useful if you need to pick up lunch and then continued along the main road, which was very busy with holiday makers to the Ffestiniog Railway station. The train was 10 coaches long (the longest of the day most probably - I think there was a coach group also making the journey) and our engine was to to be Merridon Emrys which coupled to our train a few minutes before departure.
We were sitting in one of the carriages that is split in two with open sides and we took up half and a pair of American ladies took up the other half. After checking with the guard that our ticket was OK to get straight on, we left on time for the scenic run across the causeway and up into the hills. I knew that on arrival at Blaenau Ffestiniog we had a 12 minute connection which should be alright. As we climbed up the hill we gradually got a little bit later and later which meant I began to worry about whether we'd be stuck in Blaenau for about 3 hours to wait for the next train. The scenery was really impressive although in some places it was quite woody so you couldn't see much. The impressive points on the line are the causeway leaving Porthmadog, the loop over yourself at Ddault, and going through the tunnel and emerging over the reservoir. Fortunately my worries about missing the train to Llandudno Junction come to nothing as we arrive in to Blaenau 4 minutes late although there is a slight wait while the guard unlocks the doors.
Nonetheless, a brisk walk over he footbridge brings us to 150256 forming the service up to Llandudno Jn today. We nip on and we're off just 1 minute late and run into the longest single track tunnel in the UK. It being a hot day, the windows are open and the noise of the 150's engines and the clattering and screeching through the tunnel is rather impressive. I quite like the 150s - they seem to have more character than some of the modern Electrostars and Desiros.
To be continued
We'd been staying in Ludlow for the two nights before we went on this trip on holiday and stayed there for the rest of the week as a family (BTW if anyone is looking for a holiday cottage in Ludlow, I can strongly recommend this. It's only about 15 minutes walk from the station). Whenever we go on holiday I/we (it depends on what there is to do) try to do one day on the tracks.
It was my first time in the Welsh Marches (in fact my first time in the ATW operating area), so all of the units I mention below were new.
We left the house a little before 0800 to head to the station to get the 0817. Ludlow ticket office is very friendly (maybe something to do with it not being operated by ATW). We bought returns to Shrewsbury and more or less on time, 175005 pulls in and we get on. It's quite busy with some standees although two of us get a seat. The journey up through the hills around Church Stretton is really nice and surprisingly good (although the best was yet to come.) After a ticket check (so different from Southeastern
) and a run through of the trolley, with a jolly man selling things, we reach Shrewsbury on time where we go down to the ticket office to buy the Round Robin tickets. There's a slight hitch when, on re-entering the platforms, the barrier staff questioned the fact that the Round Robin Family Ranger said it was valid for only one adult - (this would be a recurring theme for the remainder of the day.) Nonetheless, they agree the ticket is the right price and are very nice about it and we head up onto the platform. While we were waiting for the Porthmadog train, I managed to get this not very good shot of a NR 97 heading around the Foregate Curve.
Shortly after, 170634 arrived into the bay platform with a service from Birmingham.
Then 158840 and another 158 (never got it's number
) arrived with our train to the Cumbrian coast. The fact the train reversed and was going to divide at Machynlleth caused confusion to some passengers and I was surprised to see that the coach was quite full. That said, the schools had just broken up so I guess quite a lot were heading for a day out by the sea. The guard came around to check tickets and again questioned our ranger but didn't really care. The journey towards the coast was quite pleasant and we stopped for a moment at Tallerdig to allow another train to pass and then arrived into Machynlleth a few minutes early. The 1 hour 15 minutes journey went surprisingly quickly and before long, after the departure of the Aberystwyth portion, we proceeded. I was surprised to see someone alight at Dovey junction and then we curved north. The landscape got hillier as we ran along the estuary and our stop at Penhelig caused some concern for the students opposite us who thought they were at Aberdovey and so made for the doors but the train moved off too soon and they were carried on to the place they thought that they'd missed
.To be continued...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Ok, here we go with Part 2:
The run along the Cambrian Coast is probably more scenic than Dawlish and it's sort of surprising that people seem obsessed with this line's Devonish counterpart when this is much longer and probably more scenic. The train is not too slow until we slow down for the crawl over the Barmouth bridge which provides some lovely views inland. Most people have got off by the time we leave Barmouth and the journey onwards is uneventful and we glimpsed the village of Portmeirion across the estuary. It seems along the line, we stopped at just about every request stop there is. We passed under the Ffestiniog Railway at Minnford before continuing into Pothmadog where we can get off after 3 and a quarter hours on the same 158. Here, we had a 50 minute connection across Porthmadog made easier by the fact we arrived a couple of minutes early at 1243.
On leaving the station, there's a Tesco on the right which is useful if you need to pick up lunch and then continued along the main road, which was very busy with holiday makers to the Ffestiniog Railway station. The train was 10 coaches long (the longest of the day most probably - I think there was a coach group also making the journey) and our engine was to to be Merridon Emrys which coupled to our train a few minutes before departure.
We were sitting in one of the carriages that is split in two with open sides and we took up half and a pair of American ladies took up the other half. After checking with the guard that our ticket was OK to get straight on, we left on time for the scenic run across the causeway and up into the hills. I knew that on arrival at Blaenau Ffestiniog we had a 12 minute connection which should be alright. As we climbed up the hill we gradually got a little bit later and later which meant I began to worry about whether we'd be stuck in Blaenau for about 3 hours to wait for the next train. The scenery was really impressive although in some places it was quite woody so you couldn't see much. The impressive points on the line are the causeway leaving Porthmadog, the loop over yourself at Ddault, and going through the tunnel and emerging over the reservoir. Fortunately my worries about missing the train to Llandudno Junction come to nothing as we arrive in to Blaenau 4 minutes late although there is a slight wait while the guard unlocks the doors.
Nonetheless, a brisk walk over he footbridge brings us to 150256 forming the service up to Llandudno Jn today. We nip on and we're off just 1 minute late and run into the longest single track tunnel in the UK. It being a hot day, the windows are open and the noise of the 150's engines and the clattering and screeching through the tunnel is rather impressive. I quite like the 150s - they seem to have more character than some of the modern Electrostars and Desiros.
To be continued
Last edited:
I feel like I definitely need to do the ffestiniog now! :P
