lewisrday's little trip

[Lrd]

Are you ready for this? It’s gonna be a long one. That’s if I make it to the end. Here’s a bit of a back story to start things off.

I had a nine days leave booked off work from Sat 13th to Sun 21st July and by the 10th I still hadn't decided on what I was going to do, if anything. For ages I have the idea in the back of my head about doing an Interrail pass around Europe, I looked up the prices and checked ferry prices and decided I could do this, I started to plan, I made a rough plan (which I can upload if you want) of what I wanted to do, I started to go into more detail and plan a proper itinerary, I got to about day 4, had been up all night trying to work things out, then it came to me that it was just too risky, if something were to go wrong then I would be stranded somewhere and have no idea what to do, I stopped and went to sleep.I woke up the next morning and agreed with my previous mind that I couldn't go to Europe, I would have to research it more and go another time.

I still wanted to do something on my time off so started look at other options, another idea thats been at the back of my head was an All Line Rover around Great Britain so started to make a plan, I finished it, I even went as far as finding hotels/hostels for some nights and was almost about to book and pay for them but something stopped me, I shut the laptop down and went to sleep again.

I went to work on the Friday (12th), finished by shift at 2330 and got home about 0100 thanks to timings of the night buses. I was sat in my thinking about what I could do for the week. On Saturday I went to a BBQ in the evening, had a few drinks and got home about 2300 again, I looked over the plan I had made, confirmed timings and then checked the hotels/hostels and they all still had reservations available, so I went for it, booked and paid for three hostels/hotels, prepared all paperwork, sorted my phone, laptop and bag out and went to bed, again.

I wake up at 0630 on Sunday 14th, go to Southampton Central station, hand over £306.25 for a one week standard class All Line Rover and so it begins, I have complete freedom of the Great British Isles for seven days, I was ecstatic inside.

Day one will be posted soon. I am posting this on Day 4 of my ALR, somewhere between Carlisle and Barrow-In-Furness.

 

[IanD]

That's an interesting route.

I would have looked at taking advantage of the Ffestiniog to get back from pwllheli - or a bus to bangor from Porthmadog, it's a long old round trip on the train (but definitely worth it for the views in this weather!).

That looks like tight connection at Paddington too!

Looking forward to the rest.

 

[Lrd]

That's an interesting route.

I would have looked at taking advantage of the Ffestiniog to get back from pwllheli - or a bus to bangor from Porthmadog, it's a long old round trip on the train (but definitely worth it for the views in this weather!).

That looks like tight connection at Paddington too!

Looking forward to the rest.

Thanks for the suggestion about the Ffestiniog, will have a look tonight for other options.

The Paddington connection at Pad is off the sleeper, the WTT says it arrives slightly earlier and I'm guessing there's a bit of padding to get in even earlier.
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I haven't forgotten about this. Just back at work now but will get these cranked out on Wednesday.

 

[Techniquest]

Enjoyed it so far,looking forward to the rest And yeah,the sleeper into Paddington is usually early,not looked at your connection but you should be fine.Just plan a back up move in case!

 

[harry42]

Wow! Fantastic route. Although, I do think you should go to Coombes Junction Halt on the Looe Valley Line instead!

 

[Requeststop]

Wonderful and interesting posting and you are a man after my own heart. I'd love to do the ride but fear, I'll be totally exhausted at the end. Looking forward to more trip reports.

 

[Lrd]

They're on the way.

 

[dzug2]

Enjoyed it so far,looking forward to the rest And yeah,the sleeper into Paddington is usually early,not looked at your connection but you should be fine.Just plan a back up move in case!

If it's running late it's would be possible to get out at Reading and get the Bristol train here

 

[IanD]

Wow! Fantastic route. Although, I do think you should go to Coombes Junction Halt on the Looe Valley Line instead!

If it's running late it's would be possible to get out at Reading and get the Bristol train here

All academic now as he should be home (barring really serious delays).

 

[Lrd]

Yeah, the sleeper got in at 0500 ish, so had plenty of time to get the Bristol train.

 

[Lrd]

Day One.

As said before I woke up at 0630, no idea why I was up so early as the train wasn’t until 0925, oh well, all showered and ready to go and out the door by 0740, bus was due at 0755 and the Bluestar 18 service showed up on time and took me to the station arriving at 0815. I purchase my All Line Rover from the ticket office along with a reservation for the Down Highland Sleeper that night, up to Inverness. I buy some breakfast from Upper Crust and then plonk down on platform 1, the next train up to London being the 0855, five minutes before the train is due, we get a platform alteration, to platform 4, don't think I've ever left platform 4 heading towards London before so was a new move for me. We left a few minutes late at 0858 and get into Waterloo on time at 1042 after a fairly uneventful journey. Train was formed of a Class 444 and joined another 444 at Eastleigh from Portsmouth.

I head to the ticket office to acquire some more reservations for two sleepers later in the week, the clerk had a bit of trouble issuing them as I already had my ticket, he fetched some help and was all sorted, took about 10 minutes to get two seat reservations. I walk over to Waterloo East for the 1113 service to Gillingham via Woolwich, I opted to get this service as it means new track for me from Slade Green to Rochester. The train pulls in and is a 466+465 combo, I sit in the 466 at the front, we pull into Rochester at 1224 after another uneventful trip and I have a 20 minute wait until the 1246 to Ramsgate which is a 375, think it was a 12 car service, can’t remember. We get into Margate two mins down at 1350 which makes my connection a little tight, what was a 5 minute connection turned into a 3 minute and as I was at the front of the 375, I had to walk back along the platform to reach the subway, quick jog up the stairs and I just make onto a 395 heading to Ashford Intl. We pull away on time at 1353, as we pull into Ramsgate I see the 375 that I just got off at Margate sat in the platform opposite, so I could have had a cross platform change, even though National Rail told me to change at Margate. Just after leaving Ramsgate I have my ticket checked for the first time with no problems. The line from Faversham to Ashford via Margate and Canterbury West was all new track for me. We arrive into Ashford Intl on time at 1441 and I head over to Pumpkin and buy a Mango smoothie which was bloody lovely! I can see myself having lots of these over the week. The next service pulls which is another 375 with nameplate “Driver John Neve” forming the 1503 to Charing Cross which I take as far as Paddock Wood, I’ve already done this line before so it’s a bit boring. We arrive one minute late at 1530. I head over to platform two for the 1539 to Strood to get another new line. The departures boards are saying that everything is delayed and to listen to further announcements. I check NRE and there is no mention of any delays. 1539 comes and goes with an announcement now saying that the 1539 is delayed by 50 minutes due to a train fault. I couldn't be bothered to wait so I decide on a new plan.

I decide that I want a go on High Speed 1 and do some Overground bashing, so take the 1600 back to Ashford (I forgot to note the unit, probably a 375) where we arrived on time at 1624. A 20 minute wait for the 1643 High Speed service to St Pancras on board 395xxx. I do enjoy HS1 and thrashing around at 140mph but can’t wait to travel on something faster. We arrive at 1725, on time and I take a walk over to Euston. The last time I tried to take an Overground train from Euston I was thoroughly confused as I was looking for a dedicated Overground station (like the Underground) and didn't realize they left from the main stations platforms, I remember looking for signs and ended up walking to Euston Square station to try and find the Overground, luckily this was a few years ago and I’ve since learned. I check the boards and head down to the platform, 378208 (note that I’ve finally remembered to get a unit number) to Wembley Central, I did this to clear the Overground line as it takes a slightly different route to the WCML, after this move all I need is Harrow and Wealdstone to Watford Junction to finish off the Overground network. I head back to Euston arriving at 1850. The sleeping leaves at 2028, earlier than usual as we are going via the East Coast. I don’t wanna risk being delayed by going anywhere else so I head to Burger King for dinner, then to Sainsbury’s to get some supplies for later, mainly water as my first sleeper journey wasn’t my fondest of journeys, waking up all night either really hot or really cold and then waking up near Milton Keynes and really needing some water but the buffet counter and ran out, so this time I am going prepared.

I take a walk around the station and find the sleeper in platform one so take a seat at the top of the ramp with a view of the departure boards waiting for the platform to be announced, it got to about 2010 and I see a couple in Kilts head down to the platform, I wait to see if they get turned away but they didn’t come back so I head down myself (even though there was no platform on the boards) and see 90018 on the back, I found my coach, Coach H and take my seat, there are only about 8 reservations out, with no one next to me so I spread out. We depart a couple of minutes late, we moved a few feet when we came to an abrupt stop. We started again a few minutes later, as we passed the platform staff were all shrugging their shoulders to the guard. I see 90039 (I think it was 039, it was in DBS Red) taking the Lowland Sleeper into Euston. The guard came though checking tickets and told us that no one else would be joining this coach so we can spread out a bit. We head up to Wembley and into the freight terminal to turn around and head back south. I purchase a Whiskey from the buffet, which was the 18 year old Glenfidditch fruity thing, it was very nice, especially as we went through Camden Town with the people on the platform confused with this new train going through their station. After joining the East Coast Mainline, I attempt to get comfy and fall asleep before Peterborough. I wake up and check my phone thinking we had been going for hours but we had only just passed Grantham which was disappointing, I wake up again after York and go for a walk, we were stopped so I put my head out the window and could see a red signal up ahead (with me being in the front carriage at this point after the reversal at Wembley), the signal clears to a single yellow and we get going again to come to a stand at the next signal, I see the drivers cab light come on and the next thing I see is that we are pulling away, on a red signal, we pick up a bit of speed and the next signal is green so I gather it was a permitted SPAD so I head off back to bed. Many different sleeping positions later, I wake up just before Edinburgh where we arrive at 0415, I stick my head out again and see the 90 detach, with a 67 coming in and coupling up, we pull ahead a few metres and then depart at 0433. I head back to bed again and wake up south of Kingussie, after leaving Kingussie, I get changed in the toilet and have some Belvita breakfast biscuit things which are very nice. We pull into Inverness at 0840, a couple of minutes late which according to NRE was due to signaling problems in the Northallerton area which would explain the SPAD. I see that I was hauled by 67021 and head into the station.

Day two to follow.

 

[IanD]

I'd imagine any passengers waiting for the Northern Line at Camden Town would be surprised! I think you meant Camden Road.

How did the SE staff react to your ALR - I'm surprised they let you on if it doesn't say plus High Speed on it!

Good report so far

 

[Techniquest]

Sounds like quite a good trip so far, I doubt the Paddock Wood to Strood line is that interesting, I did it in the dark myself so don't know how scenic it is.

Looking forward to the next parts

 

[Lrd]

I'd imagine any passengers waiting for the Northern Line at Camden Town would be surprised! I think you meant Camden Road.

I can't remember, it was a while ago :P

How did the SE staff react to your ALR - I'm surprised they let you on if it doesn't say plus High Speed on it!

I was a little worried but had no problems at all, I was prepared to fight .
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Sounds like quite a good trip so far, I doubt the Paddock Wood to Strood line is that interesting, I did it in the dark myself so don't know how scenic it is.

I only went down to Kent as it is a bugger to do otherwise! With no rovers etc available apart from the 3 day one. I was hoping to get a fair bit ticked off down there but thanks to the delays and engineering works, it means I have to go back

 

[Techniquest]

Aye I had the same problem myself, took ages to get it all done!

 

[IanD]

I only went down to Kent as it is a bugger to do otherwise! With no rovers etc available apart from the 3 day one. I was hoping to get a fair bit ticked off down there but thanks to the delays and engineering works, it means I have to go back

Aye I had the same problem myself, took ages to get it all done!

I've booked three days in a couple of weeks to finish off Kent. I've done a bit but it looks like the Kent Rover is best for me, I'll take it at a leisurely pace so I can visit the Spa Valley, Sittingbourne & Kemsley and East Kent railways too. The Paddock Wood to Strood line looked quite interesting on the map/google but I could be wrong!

 

[trevwilliams]

The Strood to Paddock Wood line is a lovely line. Beautiful countryside. Its possible to cover the entire Kent Rover area in two days. I did it in 3 days starting fairly late in the day.

 

[IanD]

The Strood to Paddock Wood line is a lovely line. Beautiful countryside. Its possible to cover the entire Kent Rover area in two days. I did it in 3 days starting fairly late in the day.

I'm thinking I could do what I've got left in one hence I thought I'd add the preserved lines but the EKR are not helping much by timing their departures just 1 minute after an arrival from Dover and 1 minute before an arrival from Canterbury. I know they want people to hang around and spend money but I can't see that there's enough to keep you occupied for 59-61 minutes. Also thought I'd head down to Battle as I'm missing that bit too.

 

[crispy1978]

Great write-up so far - looking forward to reading the rest. Insanely jealous that people can do this. The chances of me doing it are pretty much zero unfortunately! My wife is pretty understanding about me doing a few weekends away with darts, but if I said I wanted a week off to go round as many train stations as possible, she'd think I'm mad!!

 

[IanD]

Great write-up so far - looking forward to reading the rest. Insanely jealous that people can do this. The chances of me doing it are pretty much zero unfortunately! My wife is pretty understanding about me doing a few weekends away with darts, but if I said I wanted a week off to go round as many train stations as possible, she'd think I'm mad!!

Tell her you're playing darts

 

[Blindtraveler]

my better half is the opposit, we are saving up to do a first class 7 day one!

 

[Lrd]

Day 2

I check my phone and see that I have full signal, which means that I get better phone signal up in the highlands than I do on the Bournemouth Mainline. I pop over to WH Smiths for breakfast and drinks for later and head over to the gates. We soon board 158xxx for the 0900 to Kyle, I attempt to be smart and head for the front carriage but soon find every seat to reserved, turns out being for one large group of pensioners, I find a seat in the rear carriage and we are soon on our way. The train empties out by Muir of Ord and I end up with a table to myself for the rest of the journey. At Strathcarron there is a Network Rail 150 (or 950 to precise) in the opposite platform. We pull in to Kyle on time after an uneventful journey apart from the scenery, didn't realise something could be so pretty, it puts the Settle to Carlisle line to shame.

I end up getting lost round Kyle, I followed everyone else into the town and had a look around, my main priority was to find the bus stop so I knew where to go later on. There was a yellow bus shelter with 'Hitrans' written on it and no info about the 51a bus. I go for another look with the help of Google Maps but nothing shows, I walk back to the bus stop and a Stagecoach bus pulls up, I ask where the 51a departs from and the driver told me it would be that stop. There was no mention of Stagecoach anywhere in the town. I take a seat on the benches opposite the stop to charge my phone up from my laptop. An old looking bus pulls up and the driver jumps off, closes the doors and disappears up to Morrison’s. I have no idea what it is apart from the fleet number being 20922 and the reg number being R922 XVM but it looks a load of fun and I hope it's my bus. The bus was due to leave at 1335, the driver turned up before and I board. We leave on time, with me and one other group on board, we have a good run through Skye, which looks amazing, we get to Armadale at 1430ish and I'm straight into the ticket office, £4.50 less off and I'm making my way over to the ferry.

I board the ferry and take a look around, it was the MV Coruisk, she has a rather unusual design with vehicle linkspans on either side and one at the aft and the passenger decks are all over the place. Inside is very nice and is fitted out to a nice spec with plenty of seating, outside is the usual plastic seats. We leave on time at 1440, the crossing was very smooth and a decent amount of passengers on board, most of which appear to be foot passengers. We arrive into Mallaig at 1507, the gangway is picked up by a shipboard crane and attached into place, I say gangway, it is more of a ramp, I am used to using these ramps due to work but can't see the old dears liking to have to use them on a regular basis.

I take a short walk through Mallaig to the train station and check the platform to see two 156s waiting, we are not due to leave till 1605 so I pop into the chippy in the station for cheesy chips and fishcake for £4.50, the chips weren't great but the fishcake made up for it. I wait in the concourse with everyone else as I see the seagulls eyeing me or rather, my chips, up. We hear the engines roar into life and everyone piles through the double doors to the locked train, I dawdle behind getting the rear unit number (156485) but as I am walking forward to get the front unit, the doors are unlocked and I jump on instead, I will get the unit number later on (famous last words, as I never remember to check). We leave on time at 1605 and are due to Glasgow Queen Street at 2119. I settle down for the ride and enjoy the sights, we pull into Fort William and I see the sleeper stock on another platform, there is a 37 next to us called 'Fort William', is that a permanent feature? We pass the Class 66 that decided on an early retirement by resting on the side of a loch. At Crianlarich, another train joins on the back of ours for the run to Glasgow, presumably from Oban. We pull into Ardlui and see another double 156 heading the other way, the crew swap trains. I don't remember much of this journey towards the end as I fell asleep, I just remember waking up somewhere near Dalmuir and see we are 10 minutes late. We arrive into Glasgow Queen Street at 2130, 11 down. I take a short walk to the Euro Hostel on Clyde Street. It was a very basic room but it was clean, cheap and I wasn't sharing with anyone else so was very happy. I end up falling asleep watching 'I Now Pronounce Chuck and Larry'.

Very enjoyable day, one more day in Scotland and then it's time to head south in to England.

 

[Blindtraveler]

excillent! Good to know theres a chipper by that station and that the bus does run. A bit of a challenge if you got bowled on that circle!

 

[Lrd]

Day 3
I woke up at 0615 after a comfortable sleep, I shower, repack my bag and walk out the room just before 0700, I was aiming to leave at 0645 to allow enough time to check out, buy breakfast and get to Queen Street. As I am walking to Queen Street, I realise that I am going to miss the train, I end up running and get to the gateline to see the 0710 to Inverness pulling away, woops. I was meant to be heading up to Wick and Thurso and staying in Inverness, I go outside the station and see what I can do. I see that the next Wick train doesn't get in to Wick until 1800 and the last service back south to Inverness leaves at 1600 and I have a room booked in Inverness so have to get back there. I walk to McDonalds to have some breakfast and use their free WiFi to replan my day. I decide that I want to stay in Scotland and start looking at my maps to see what lines I need. I end up on planning to go Dundee out via Haymarket and Dunfermline and back via Kirkcaldy, Edinburgh, Carstairs and then Inverness via Aberdeen so I can have a lay-in in the morning instead of getting the 0440ish back south.

I walk back to Queen Street and catch the 0830 to Haymarket via Falkirk High, formed of 2x3 car 170s. We arrive on time at 0914, a short wait for the 0923 to Cowdenbeath which is 170396 and I take it as far as Dunfermline Queen Margaret. This was my first time across the Forth Rail bridge which was a nice surprise. We pull in to Dunfermline 5 mins late at 0959 and I wait for the 1024 to Glenrothes with Thornton which is expected to leave at 1027 according to the boards, we do indeed leave at 1027 with 170426 doing the honours. Spoke to the guard during the journey and he informs me that the train doesn't terminate but carries on around the loop to Kirkcaldy, which was useful info. We pull into Kirkcaldy at 1101, I got lost looking for the subway to the other platform, didn't realise you had to go outside the station to get to it, luckily the 1104 is delayed by 8 minutes otherwise I would have missed it. We leave Kirkcaldy at 1113 on an East Coast HST led by 43320. We are into Dundee just before 1200. I was going to head straight back south to Edinburgh but I realised I could get more lines by going via Perth and there happened to be a 1213 formed of 170406 sitting waiting for me. We get to Perth at 1235. I notice that Perth is a huge station with lines going all over the place but there is something odd, the distinct lack of passengers, I could see four other people, one of which was staff, how odd? I head back towards Edinburgh one more time on board 158702 on the 1302 as far as Haymarket, we arrive at 1417 and then I'm straight back out again on the delayed East Coast HST led by 43205 at 1442. We get to Aberdeen on time and I have a few minutes spare to go to Pumpkin to get a Mango smoothie, mmm. I head for my next train which was 2x158 and a 170 with only the 170 going all the way to Inverness. I take a short walk to the Inverness Tourist Hotel to check in, I dump my things and go for walk, I end up eating chips by the lake. I have an early night as I'm back up again at 0530 ish.

Another nice day, enjoyed the short trips and changing trains to get fresh air, rather than sit on one train for a few hours. Tomorrow, we head towards Birmingham.

 

[Blindtraveler]

if I've got my dates correct, I was also on the 08:30x GLQ from Falkirk to Waverley. Can you confirm the day that was? Great report, loving it!

 

[Lrd]

It would have been Tuesday the 16th of July.

 

[Blindtraveler]

then we were on the same train although cant remember which portion I was in mind.

 

[philjo]

Interesting report.

I'm on the Glasgow sleeper tonight, doing a Highland rover (4 days in 8).
I had wanted to do the Mallaig-Kyle ferry/bus route but the connections did not work for me.
Southbound, the Direct Kyle-Armadale bus that connects out of the 09:00 from Inverness does not run on Saturdays (the dayI needed to do it).
In the summer the train to Mallaig runs 20 minutes later (presumbaly to fit in the Jacobite) so it no longer connects with the ferry that connects with the direct bus to Kyle to get there in time for the last train to Inverness!
The only way I could get it to work on a Saturday was to stay in Fort William (to use the 08:30 train from FTW) or use the Jacobite off the sleeper.

So instead I will stay in Oban 2 nights then back to Glasgow & have a £10 advance single Glasgow to Aberdeen to use the rover onwards from there.

 

[Searle]

I got lost at Kirkcaldy as well when I was there. A very odd station, didn't look like a station at all! I ended up eating fish and chips by the river in Inverness too!

An enjoyable report too, I look forward to the next reports

 

[Lrd]

then we were on the same train although cant remember which portion I was in mind.

That is a very strange feeling, it's amazing how close you get to someone without even knowing they are there.