How do you cope with the tiredness?

[basfordlad]

I love traveling on train but I find it can be ever so tiring ! How on earth do those who do a full day manage? Don't you get exhausted ?

I only do small trips and by lunch time I've had enough !!

 

[Lrd]

If traveling as a passenger then there is no reason not to get your head down and get a few power naps in.

Or lots of Red Bull's!

 

[dave87016]

Basfordlad , a few visits to a pub ( no more than 5 minutes walk ) from the station (s) for a beer and a game of pool does the trick for me and of course a busy station helps ( My pub and spotting suggestion thread for the North East Rover next month further down on this forum ) might have been a giveaway haha

 

[cambsy]

I do many 24 hour day trips using coach and trains, when I get tired just have a sleep or nap for usually hour during day and a couple of hours on coach home, walking around and staying on feet helps keep awake till on train etc when one can nod off, I would say just go with the flow and sleep when need to.

 

[Segedunum]

Having done such days where i've joined the 23:45 Seated Sleeper from London to Plymouth, then the 05:53 service from Plymouth to Reading the next morning, a full day of bashing, then a 21:15 to Exeter followed by the 01:06 sleeper back to London, the trick is merely to keep moving.

Only when i've sat down and nodded off have I felt particularly worse off. The trick is to not allow yourself to sleep, and if you need to, then leave it a tad later in the day. An hour's nap on that 21:15 train once we'd left Castle Cary or something like that was enough to sustain me until the 01:06 sleeper.

Helps being younger too, mind you

 

[noddy1878]

Depends on how I felt on the lead up to the trip but if I am not on my own I'm ok. I have quite an intense job so the trip is almost a rest in itself!. At the end of a long day I might get bit of sleep on the trip home. If I am on my own and am on short journeys I am ok also but long trips I do find myself drifting off!

 

[Kite159]

Mainly by drinking Pepsi Max keeps me awake on the long 05:27 departures, 00:59* arrivals (when the 23:40 Salisbury service actually runs west of Andover and isn't replaced by a bus)

 

[cactustwirly]

Lots of coffee, keeping active etc.

 

[Iskra]

I often start my trips very early and come back fairly late.

I find the worst part for tiredness to be late afternoon/early evening, mainly caused by being too excited to get a decent nights sleep the night before (is that bad?). Coffee and food helps me stay awake. I prefer not to waste my bashing trips by sleeping, but a decent nap followed by a black coffee will soon sort me out. A walk is also quite useful.

My main problems with trip tiredness comes from one thing: booze. But, it's a balance between enjoying yourself/being sleepy later. If it's free booze in 1st, it's very hard to say no, but sometimes I have to.

 

[507021]

Generally I take a flask of coffee with me, especially if it's an early start.

I'll always try and make sure I go to bed a bit earlier too.

 

[mrcheek]

lots and lots of coffee.

The advantage of travelling First Class on a 2 week ALR.

Of course, sometimes having to sleep is inevitable. Just try and make sure its not during the more scenic part of the journey

 

[47403]

Its normally the journey home when i flake out. Like many others, I did on the way home from my.last trip out. However i was on a bouncing bomb(142) home from Carlisle to Newcastle and that thing bounced me to sleep by Hexham, like a baby on its mams knee.

Plenty coffee helps, as does the potential for winners for sight and haulage, that kinda keeps me alert.

 

[Techniquest]

Coffee is my solution too, although it doesn't always work! Like Noddy my job can be pretty intense, so a long journey by train is actually quite relaxing and enjoyable.

Like 47403, by the time I'm heading home I'm usually exhausted, but then I have a tendancy to not sleep amazingly before a trip, especially if it's been highly anticipated for a while. I doubt I'll sleep too well tonight as I have a 6 day marathon bash starting in the morning. Tomorrow will be the easiest day of the 6 with not as much going on. I also don't eat much during my trips which doesn't help!

Unless I'm completely exhausted, I find it hard to sleep on a bus, train or plane. It has to be to the point of collapsing into sleep before I can do it!

 

[D6975]

When I was younger I used to do 7 day Freedom of Scotland rovers without accommodation, travelling on the internal sleeper each night, or nipping down to Carlisle for a couple of hours photting in the early hours before jumping on the Fort Bill sleeper. I would typically only get a couple of hours kip a day. Nowadays I can’t do such things and usually stay in Travel Lodge/Premier Inn or whatever and start off after breakfast, the exact time determined by the validity of the rover ticket I’m on. I now try to do longer moves, less hopping about, this gives you a much more relaxing day. If I do have an early start (05:46 off Barrow for example) then I try to have an early finish too, having a meal and a pint in a pub before retiring to bed before 10. Doing a travelcard in London can be very tiring, no really long runs, lots of walking between platforms and fighting the crowds at busy times. I usually give up about 4.30 ish and sit somewhere for the peak with a coffee and cake before setting off again sometime after 6pm.

 

[noddy1878]

When I was younger I used to do 7 day Freedom of Scotland rovers without accommodation, travelling on the internal sleeper each night, or nipping down to Carlisle for a couple of hours photting in the early hours before jumping on the Fort Bill sleeper. I would typically only get a couple of hours kip a day. Nowadays I can’t do such things and usually stay in Travel Lodge/Premier Inn or whatever and start off after breakfast, the exact time determined by the validity of the rover ticket I’m on. I now try to do longer moves, less hopping about, this gives you a much more relaxing day. If I do have an early start (05:46 off Barrow for example) then I try to have an early finish too, having a meal and a pint in a pub before retiring to bed before 10. Doing a travelcard in London can be very tiring, no really long runs, lots of walking between platforms and fighting the crowds at busy times. I usually give up about 4.30 ish and sit somewhere for the peak with a coffee and cake before setting off again sometime after 6pm.

Know what you mean about fighting the crowds. Can be very tiring and quite often I finish my London trips with an hour to spare for pint before the journey home. Problem is recently I have had to fight the crowds to maximise my chances to clear things as there is a higher chance that what i need is out!

 

[basfordlad]

This is probably why i only manage half day trips,

Am not really into getting certain trains or station, i just like traveling around seeing different areas etc

 

[trainmania100]

Its normally the journey home when i flake out. Like many others, I did on the way home from my.last trip out. However i was on a bouncing bomb(142) home from Carlisle to Newcastle and that thing bounced me to sleep by Hexham, like a baby on its mams knee.

Plenty coffee helps, as does the potential for winners for sight and haulage, that kinda keeps me alert.

Blimey I'm surprised anyone can sleep on a bouncing pacer it's like riding a bull

 

[507021]

Blimey I'm surprised anyone can sleep on a bouncing pacer it's like riding a bull

I've managed that before, as some members of this forum will know!

 

[47403]

Blimey I'm surprised anyone can sleep on a bouncing pacer it's like riding a bull

In fairness I had been up since silly o'clock and had been working like a mad many 4 days previous too.

 

[dave87016]

Back in the early 90's I slept on a 142 during the night Blackpool to man Airport and back to Preston whilst on a Rover to enable me to pass the time before getting a early train from Preston

 

[AJM580]

Timing the train keeps me alert - although not so easy when it gets dark. On long trips I'll chill out with a coffee and a good read when that happens