Iskra
Established Member
20/5/24 - Northern Day Ranger/Passenger Services over Unusual Lines
The excellent value Northern Newspaper offer has made a welcome return, so I thought I would use it to do some of the more local lines to me with infrequent services, which would also involve a lunchtime arrival a the seaside for some fish and chips. I worked out a nice itinerary, which would get 3 poorly-served routes in relatively quick succession.
It was a leisurely set off down to Meadowhall station at around 8am, where I got parked up in the overflow car park and exchanged my newspaper tokens and paper form for a £10 Northern Day Ranger at the ticket office. The weather was overcast but mild at this point, which I was happy with as if you're spending a lot of time on Sprinters, you don't want them too stuffy.
By the time I'd sorted my ticket it was around 0840, so I walked over to platform 3 and cheekily asked the guard of the 0844 to Sheffield if I could board, and they accepted. I think I was itching to get going at this point.
0844 Meadowhall - Sheffield. 158782
I got a seat with ease, and it was nowhere near as crowded as these trains are sometimes. As per usual, we crawled into Sheffield station.
I then sat in the waiting shelter adjacent to Platform 2 and had my morning coffee, before heading over to platform 1a. Some recent construction work has now finished at Sheffield station, and it now looks a bit odd. It's definitely better, but after a long period of construction hoardings and scaffolding, the freshly improved façade seems a bit alien. There's more glass, so cleaner lines and some slightly more premium and less prison-like steel seating.
At this point I'm sure some of you will have worked out where I was heading... A Transpennine Express service to Cleethorpes had been heavily delayed, so was due in on Platform 1b at a similar time to the daily Northern service to Cleethorpes via Brigg that I was awaiting. This was a recipe for confusion, but few if any punters fell into the trap. I did think that if the TP service was delayed further, our Northern service might have been swamped, so I was relieved when the TP turned up first. The Northern service was seemingly coming fresh from Sheffield depot, and it did duly emerge albeit a few minutes late- possibly impacted by the late running Transpennine service.
0954 Sheffield - Cleethorpes via Brigg. Northern 150222.
The benefit of a 150 straight off the depot was that it was spotlessly clean, which was a nice change. There were actually 20-30 passengers boarding, which I thought was healthy. Some were end-to-end passengers heading on their holidays to Cleethorpes, but the majority seemed to change at Retford for London services. Northern seem to be doing a better job of enticing passengers onto this service with advance tickets. For those who don't know, this service used to run on a Saturday-only basis, with three trains in each direction. Recently, Northern have abandoned the Saturday service and the service now runs Monday to Friday only, with one train per day in each direction, giving around an hour and a half in Cleethorpes before the return train, which is just about the right length of stay in my opinion
This train also has the benefit of running fast to Worksop and Retford, so is a bonus express service for regular passengers. It was interesting to see some classic locomotives and liveries on display at Worksop, including a 47 in faded Network South East and another in BR Large Logo blue. Gainsborough Central was looking in good shape considering its now paltry service, the guard did mention that they are hoping to restore the Sheffield-Gainsborough Central short workings in the future, which I think would be great for passengers, and passengers heading to Lincoln too would get their journeys sped-up once more. At Retford, there was quite a decent passenger turnover, both off and on so the loading remained reasonable. After Gainsborough, I saw quite a lot of deer at the lineside and the countryside was looking very vibrantly green and alive. At Brigg station, I noted that the waiting shelter has a payphone attached still- you don't see many of those around anymore. I also noted the new automatic level crossing- when I last did the trip just before Covid in March 2020, it was still crossing gates operated by a person, like you'd see on a preserved railway. It was then a pleasant trip onwards to Barnetby, with yet more deer sightings- maybe they should market this train as the deerstalker! From Barnetby, the train runs fast calling at Grimsby Town and Cleethorpes only and we did gain more passengers at Grimsby. As much as this bit of the line is a bit rundown, I do enjoy the mixture of old architecture, historical infrastructure and industrial decline, I find it interesting. Overall, it was a very pleasant run and I think Northern have done well to maximise this services appeal to as many groups as possible and speed up the end to end journey time. There is of course still room for improvement, and a second train per day would probably make the train a lot more useful for non-enthusiast day-trippers.
At Cleethorpes, it was off to Papa's Fish & Chip restaurant on the pier. These were amazing. £12, but this was essentially my breakfast, lunch and dinner:
I then walked back to the station, for a nice pint at the pub on the station. I like this pub, it's award-winning, clean and has good beer. I had a Pint of Sharp's Sea Fury which was fantastic. Then, it was time to head back to the train:
1320 Cleethorpes-Sheffield. Northern 150222.
Unsurprisingly, it was 150222 to take me back to Sheffield. Again, the train was reasonably loaded. This time I sat on the solo seats by the disabled toilet, and managed to get quite comfortable. I happily dozed on the way back in the slight glow of sunshine through the window and feeling very content after my beer and good food. I was woken only by a stream of vegetation coming through the hopper window that a fellow passenger had opened, but once a healthy pile of leaves had accumulated, they sensibly closed it. Back on the edge of Sheffield, we passed the Supertram depot, and I noted the rusty-looking tracks of the Deepcar Branch, before we crawled into Sheffield after arriving a little early. One of the pleasantest, most peaceful journeys I've had for a while this one.
1540 Sheffield-York. Northern 150211.
Another infrequent service was conveniently timed to depart around 30 minutes later. This service is Sheffield-Rotherham Central-Swinton-Moorthorpe-Pontefract Baghill-Church Fenton-York, with three return journeys per day. Once again, it was over to Platform 1a for a class 150 unit fresh from the depot.
Again, this was a lovely clean unit and not overly busy with passengers, so it was a pleasant ride. We did drop a bit of time on the approach to Meadowhall and while weaving around the scrapyards of Rotherham, but ultimately we made up our time before York. Another pleasant journey, although I would say that Pontefract Baghill station, is looking a bit rundown.
On arrival at York, it was noticeable how busy York was compared to everywhere else I'd been so far. I had the option here of turning back and heading home, or continuing on to do a third unusual line. With the sun now out, I opted to continue. Once again, I didn't have too long to wait for my next service.
1745 York-Gilberdyke. Northern 155342.
I was happy with my decision to continue, as it's a long time since I've been on a 155 and I don't encounter them much these days, but I did in my youth in the West Yorkshire area. This was probably the busiest train I was on all day and unfortunately a loud, obnoxious group of women who'd been on a day-trip to York from Hull decided to sit around me and shout at each other. The noise-cancelling headphones were deployed and although I'd planned to travel to Brough to change trains there, I opted to spend less time on this train and alight at Gilberdyke instead. I suppose that flexibility is one of the best thing about ranger tickets.
Gilberdyke in the evening-sun turned out to be a great choice as, as well as being generally pleasant and peaceful, it sees quite a few trains passing through, which breaks up the time.
1915 Gilberdyke-Goole. Northern 158905.
This was a pleasant brief run to Goole, for my next unusual service.
1943 Goole-Leeds. Northern 150269.
The Goole-Knottingley section of this line sees three passenger services each way per day. I was one of only two passengers on departing Goole, with there being five staff on board due to route-learning. I'd forgotten just how rural and quaint this line is, and there's some nice looking places on it so I may be back to explore further in the future. My fellow passenger rose to alight at Snaith, and I was certain I was going to have the accolade of having the train to myself from here, but I was bowled as another passenger replaced him at Snaith, and we picked up another passenger somewhere else before Knottingley. At Knottingley, I saw a class 50 on the depot, which was unexpected. I alighted at Castleford for my connection onto the Hallam Line.
Castleford has seen a lot of investment recently and has gained extra services. However, it's a bit of a disappointment currently. None of the information screens were working, which is confusing now it has additional passenger services all shooting off in different directions, and some of them do vary which platform they use to the same place. The giant, ugly new footbridge is also functionally problematic as it's proven popular with the local birds, so it's absolutely covered in excrement, which is both unhygienic and just gives off a really poor impression of the place. The current state of the station is a great shame as it has had a lot of recent investment and it has the best trains service that it has had for years.
Inbetween giving out platform information to passengers on request from RealTimeTrains, a GBRF Class 60 hauled freight train came through the station. I don't see too many class 60's these days, so I filmed it:
2052 Castleford-Meadowhall. Northern 195020.
Overall, an excellent value day-out and relaxing day on the rails refreshing myself over some of the obscure routes on my doorstep. I've got to give all the Northern staff I encountered credit for being really friendly and helpful when needed.
The excellent value Northern Newspaper offer has made a welcome return, so I thought I would use it to do some of the more local lines to me with infrequent services, which would also involve a lunchtime arrival a the seaside for some fish and chips. I worked out a nice itinerary, which would get 3 poorly-served routes in relatively quick succession.
It was a leisurely set off down to Meadowhall station at around 8am, where I got parked up in the overflow car park and exchanged my newspaper tokens and paper form for a £10 Northern Day Ranger at the ticket office. The weather was overcast but mild at this point, which I was happy with as if you're spending a lot of time on Sprinters, you don't want them too stuffy.
By the time I'd sorted my ticket it was around 0840, so I walked over to platform 3 and cheekily asked the guard of the 0844 to Sheffield if I could board, and they accepted. I think I was itching to get going at this point.
0844 Meadowhall - Sheffield. 158782
I got a seat with ease, and it was nowhere near as crowded as these trains are sometimes. As per usual, we crawled into Sheffield station.
I then sat in the waiting shelter adjacent to Platform 2 and had my morning coffee, before heading over to platform 1a. Some recent construction work has now finished at Sheffield station, and it now looks a bit odd. It's definitely better, but after a long period of construction hoardings and scaffolding, the freshly improved façade seems a bit alien. There's more glass, so cleaner lines and some slightly more premium and less prison-like steel seating.
At this point I'm sure some of you will have worked out where I was heading... A Transpennine Express service to Cleethorpes had been heavily delayed, so was due in on Platform 1b at a similar time to the daily Northern service to Cleethorpes via Brigg that I was awaiting. This was a recipe for confusion, but few if any punters fell into the trap. I did think that if the TP service was delayed further, our Northern service might have been swamped, so I was relieved when the TP turned up first. The Northern service was seemingly coming fresh from Sheffield depot, and it did duly emerge albeit a few minutes late- possibly impacted by the late running Transpennine service.
0954 Sheffield - Cleethorpes via Brigg. Northern 150222.
The benefit of a 150 straight off the depot was that it was spotlessly clean, which was a nice change. There were actually 20-30 passengers boarding, which I thought was healthy. Some were end-to-end passengers heading on their holidays to Cleethorpes, but the majority seemed to change at Retford for London services. Northern seem to be doing a better job of enticing passengers onto this service with advance tickets. For those who don't know, this service used to run on a Saturday-only basis, with three trains in each direction. Recently, Northern have abandoned the Saturday service and the service now runs Monday to Friday only, with one train per day in each direction, giving around an hour and a half in Cleethorpes before the return train, which is just about the right length of stay in my opinion
This train also has the benefit of running fast to Worksop and Retford, so is a bonus express service for regular passengers. It was interesting to see some classic locomotives and liveries on display at Worksop, including a 47 in faded Network South East and another in BR Large Logo blue. Gainsborough Central was looking in good shape considering its now paltry service, the guard did mention that they are hoping to restore the Sheffield-Gainsborough Central short workings in the future, which I think would be great for passengers, and passengers heading to Lincoln too would get their journeys sped-up once more. At Retford, there was quite a decent passenger turnover, both off and on so the loading remained reasonable. After Gainsborough, I saw quite a lot of deer at the lineside and the countryside was looking very vibrantly green and alive. At Brigg station, I noted that the waiting shelter has a payphone attached still- you don't see many of those around anymore. I also noted the new automatic level crossing- when I last did the trip just before Covid in March 2020, it was still crossing gates operated by a person, like you'd see on a preserved railway. It was then a pleasant trip onwards to Barnetby, with yet more deer sightings- maybe they should market this train as the deerstalker! From Barnetby, the train runs fast calling at Grimsby Town and Cleethorpes only and we did gain more passengers at Grimsby. As much as this bit of the line is a bit rundown, I do enjoy the mixture of old architecture, historical infrastructure and industrial decline, I find it interesting. Overall, it was a very pleasant run and I think Northern have done well to maximise this services appeal to as many groups as possible and speed up the end to end journey time. There is of course still room for improvement, and a second train per day would probably make the train a lot more useful for non-enthusiast day-trippers.At Cleethorpes, it was off to Papa's Fish & Chip restaurant on the pier. These were amazing. £12, but this was essentially my breakfast, lunch and dinner:
I then walked back to the station, for a nice pint at the pub on the station. I like this pub, it's award-winning, clean and has good beer. I had a Pint of Sharp's Sea Fury which was fantastic. Then, it was time to head back to the train:
1320 Cleethorpes-Sheffield. Northern 150222.
Unsurprisingly, it was 150222 to take me back to Sheffield. Again, the train was reasonably loaded. This time I sat on the solo seats by the disabled toilet, and managed to get quite comfortable. I happily dozed on the way back in the slight glow of sunshine through the window and feeling very content after my beer and good food. I was woken only by a stream of vegetation coming through the hopper window that a fellow passenger had opened, but once a healthy pile of leaves had accumulated, they sensibly closed it. Back on the edge of Sheffield, we passed the Supertram depot, and I noted the rusty-looking tracks of the Deepcar Branch, before we crawled into Sheffield after arriving a little early. One of the pleasantest, most peaceful journeys I've had for a while this one.
1540 Sheffield-York. Northern 150211.
Another infrequent service was conveniently timed to depart around 30 minutes later. This service is Sheffield-Rotherham Central-Swinton-Moorthorpe-Pontefract Baghill-Church Fenton-York, with three return journeys per day. Once again, it was over to Platform 1a for a class 150 unit fresh from the depot.
Again, this was a lovely clean unit and not overly busy with passengers, so it was a pleasant ride. We did drop a bit of time on the approach to Meadowhall and while weaving around the scrapyards of Rotherham, but ultimately we made up our time before York. Another pleasant journey, although I would say that Pontefract Baghill station, is looking a bit rundown.
On arrival at York, it was noticeable how busy York was compared to everywhere else I'd been so far. I had the option here of turning back and heading home, or continuing on to do a third unusual line. With the sun now out, I opted to continue. Once again, I didn't have too long to wait for my next service.
1745 York-Gilberdyke. Northern 155342.
I was happy with my decision to continue, as it's a long time since I've been on a 155 and I don't encounter them much these days, but I did in my youth in the West Yorkshire area. This was probably the busiest train I was on all day and unfortunately a loud, obnoxious group of women who'd been on a day-trip to York from Hull decided to sit around me and shout at each other. The noise-cancelling headphones were deployed and although I'd planned to travel to Brough to change trains there, I opted to spend less time on this train and alight at Gilberdyke instead. I suppose that flexibility is one of the best thing about ranger tickets.
Gilberdyke in the evening-sun turned out to be a great choice as, as well as being generally pleasant and peaceful, it sees quite a few trains passing through, which breaks up the time.
1915 Gilberdyke-Goole. Northern 158905.
This was a pleasant brief run to Goole, for my next unusual service.
1943 Goole-Leeds. Northern 150269.
The Goole-Knottingley section of this line sees three passenger services each way per day. I was one of only two passengers on departing Goole, with there being five staff on board due to route-learning. I'd forgotten just how rural and quaint this line is, and there's some nice looking places on it so I may be back to explore further in the future. My fellow passenger rose to alight at Snaith, and I was certain I was going to have the accolade of having the train to myself from here, but I was bowled as another passenger replaced him at Snaith, and we picked up another passenger somewhere else before Knottingley. At Knottingley, I saw a class 50 on the depot, which was unexpected. I alighted at Castleford for my connection onto the Hallam Line.
Castleford has seen a lot of investment recently and has gained extra services. However, it's a bit of a disappointment currently. None of the information screens were working, which is confusing now it has additional passenger services all shooting off in different directions, and some of them do vary which platform they use to the same place. The giant, ugly new footbridge is also functionally problematic as it's proven popular with the local birds, so it's absolutely covered in excrement, which is both unhygienic and just gives off a really poor impression of the place. The current state of the station is a great shame as it has had a lot of recent investment and it has the best trains service that it has had for years.
Inbetween giving out platform information to passengers on request from RealTimeTrains, a GBRF Class 60 hauled freight train came through the station. I don't see too many class 60's these days, so I filmed it:
2052 Castleford-Meadowhall. Northern 195020.
Overall, an excellent value day-out and relaxing day on the rails refreshing myself over some of the obscure routes on my doorstep. I've got to give all the Northern staff I encountered credit for being really friendly and helpful when needed.
Last edited:
