Definitely a good idea that,
@Cowley is a good gentleman
I also need to get back to Cornwall, it's been too long!
@Iskra Fair enough, I still talk about my best in-flight meal nearly 5 years later! Chicken tikka masala and rice with some peas, amazingly simple but awesome. Not much good to me now, admittedly!
As for the GCR, it looks like you had a great time. I will have to do it again one day when the link over the MML opens, I've not done GCRN yet and it feels more sensible to wait for the link to be available first.
I think I remember having an airline Chicken Tikka Massala with peas in it, the peas being the bit that made it memorable and yes it was decent. Which airline was it?
I was in two minds whether to wait for the full route, but it was the quality of loco's that swung it for me. There aren't that many 9F's around, so I thought I'd do it while I had the chance!
Great photos! The first and only time that I travelled on the Middleton Railway - which must be about 40 years ago! - I rode standing up in an unfitted 16 ton mineral wagon which had been equipped with tubular steel bars in the middle to hold on to. That was, of course, years before 'health & safety' was a thing. Must go back sometime!
Thank you! Your experience sounds better and probably more authentic too!
I've sampled a veranda at the North Norfolk Railway, right behind their Class 37. A very enjoyable experience!
Sounds like you had a good day out in Leeds.
Lovely stuff. I had a nice trip on a veranda with my dad on the Welshpool and Llanfair Railway last year. Smuts in the hair and everything!
Really must do the Middleton the next time I’m up that way. It looks really interesting.
I really didn't know there were so many verandas publicly available, it's certainly a selling point and a 37 with a veranda sounds like heaven!
Speaking of 37's....
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Pathfinder tours - The Cambrian Coast Express 21/4/23
It was a 4am alarm for this one, with a couple of hours of easy motorway driving down to Bromsgrove station in the Birmingham area. I'd left 3 hours for the journey in case of diversions, but I did it comfortably in 2. Bromsgrove is a great station for railtours, being just a few minutes from the motorway network and having a large and good value car park and some basic facilities.
The tour would be class 67 hauled from the Bristol area as far as Shrewsbury via Birmingham New Street. The rumoured 67 was 67007, which was a super dud and not in a colour scheme that I particularly like. However, I was to be royally spoilt by winner
67006 leading the stock into the station. I was happy it was a winner, and also happy it was my first royal locomotive as I was booked on a tour featuring two of the royal 67's later this year which was sadly cancelled, so this made up for that somewhat. It was nice to have immaculate locomotive and stock for the tour too. The coaches were the blue/grey Mk2's (plus a Mk1 kitchen car) and an interloper Anglia Mk2. I was in First Class non-dining for this one due to the length of the journey and the Mk2 first class is very comfortable indeed.
The run out to Shrewsbury in the rain was a little slow, but it was hardly the highlight of the journey anyway. The rain continued at Shrewsbury where colourful winners
37254 and
97302 (first class 97 for haulage for me too) were attached to the rear of the train.
The coaching stock then reversed so that 97302 would lead as it had the correct signalling equipment for the line, whereas the 37 does not, The scenery starts quite quickly after Shrewsbury, and I was mightily impressed. It has a feeling of the Lake District, although without the lakes and instead you run alongside rivers and at times narrow valleys. These then give way to impressive estuaries. The weather was slowly improving and at this point it was all adding to the atmospheric feel of the trip. Many photographers had braved the conditions, particularly around the stunning Barmouth bridge. These are some of mine taken from the train, with my camera remaining inside the train at all times.
Even midway down the train, the locomotives could be heard loud and clear even when seated in the saloon, so two cracking locomotives provided that really added to the enjoyment of the journey
The estuary's then finished and we had pure coast and castles for the rest of the journey but all still equally impressive. I took the tour all the way to the end of the line at Pwllheli, as it was all new coverage so this would save me ever needing to recover this line (although it was that good I might anway). At the terminus a DB staff member kindly took me a photo from the lineside:
I then took a brief video of some of the shunting which would put the 97 on the front for the journey back:
Subsequently, I grabbed the obligatory fish and chips (as did half the train). These were good value and decent although not top tier. I then went for a walk around, with storm clouds looming ominously. It's a pleasant enough town, with all the amenities you need after such a long journey, but there's not that much of interest to recommend that was achievable within the time allocated.
The journey back was improved immeasurably by the appearance of the sun as we paced along the coast, with tractor thrash echoing all around, this part really made the journey and the extremely long day all seem worthwhile.
Soon, we were treated to stunning views which didn't stop until the sun set. What a beautiful coast line this is:
After the very interesting Dovey Junction, we picked up a twenty minute delay due to the timetable being run out of sync and a service train occupying the single line section that we should have proceeded onto. However, this was ultimately inconsequential as there was enough padding in the journey that this delay was more than made up for in the end. With the sun set, the temperature dropped markedly and sadly the views we'd been treated to all day disappeared. The run from here was simply the reverse of the outward journey, with 67006 taking over at Shrewsbury for the return to Bristol via Bromsgrove. The drive home was a little frustrating due to the amount of roadworks and average speed cameras, but you don't mind it so much on the return leg as you are under less time pressure and aren't going to miss your train. I was back in Sheffield at 0130, and in bed for 0200. So a very long day, but one with stunning scenery, a pair of the finest locomotives around, 3 winning loco's and plenty of new line covered. Thanks must go to Network Rail, DB, Colas, Pathfinder and TFW for making this one possible and enjoyable
, I’d definitely be up for that.
