flymo
Established Member
During my recent 3 week visit to the UK I decided to splash out on a 7 day North East Rover to explore the delights that the North of England has to offer. At £87 for the 7 days I thought it was good value and started my journeys on August 2nd.
Day 1
0800 Newcastle - York (HST which was to be diverted somewhere between Doncaster & Grantham)
0940 York - Scarborough (Time for a look around Scarborough)
1208 Scarborough - Sheffield via Hull & Doncaster
1551 Sheffield - Newcastle via Doncaster (I wanted to come back via Leeds but as someone had nicked some cables around Moorthorpe or somewhere all trains around Moorthorpe area were heavily delayed)
1810 Newcastle - Metrocentre
Day 2
0912 Newcastle - Leeds
1102 Leeds - Ilkley
1151 Ilkley - Bradford Forster Sq.
1241 Bradford Forster Sq. - Shipley (Could have gone to Skipton but better chance of a seat on the Carlisle train)
1302 Shipley - Carlisle
1637 Carlisle - Newcastle
Day 3
0900 Newcastle - Doncaster
1042 Doncaster - Meadowhall (Had a look round the shops)
1241 Meadowhall - Barnsley (Just wanted to see Barnsley)
1401 Barnsley - Huddersfield (Cl 144)
1523 Huddersfield - Leeds via Halifax & Bradford Interchange (Cl 155)
1629 Leeds - York via Harrogate
1756 York - Newcastle Refurb HST
Day 4
0930 Newcastle - Middlesbrough
1055 Middlesbrough - Saltburn (Standing room only to Redcar)
1200 Saltburn - Bishop Auckland
1340 Bishop Auckland - Darlington
1412 Darlington - York
1459 York - Brough
1552 Brough - Leeds
1657 Leeds - York
1733 York -Newcastle Arrive via High Level Bridge 2 x Voyager split at Newcastle with rear 4 going on to Dundee
Day 5
0900 Newcastle - Doncaster (Could have got the 0930 but might as well hang around Doncaster station as Newcastle)
1053 Doncaster - Retford (0930 from Newcastle)
1203 Retford - Sheffield
1306 Sheffield - Leeds via Wakefield Kirkgate {a shadow of its former self} & Castleford
1448 Leeds - Sheffield via Moorthorpe
1611 Sheffield - Doncaster
1709 Doncaster - Newcastle
There endeth the trip as I had other plans for the last 2 days. I'm not really up for evenings on the rails so I kind of looked to finish around 6 to 7-ish most nights.
Anyway I was quite impressed with all the trains and all the TOC's, albeit only NXEC, XC, Northern and TPE. Of all the journeys only the Middlesbrough to Saltburn train was delayed (about 10 minutes due to so many people wanting to travel) with all the others running on time or within a couple of minutes either side. Only had to stand once, on that same train from Middlesbrough as far as Redcar where 80% got off.
Bits of the Rover area I never managed to get to that I wanted to included Whitby, Leeds - Huddersfield via Dewsbury and Cleethorpes. If I had done the other 2 days I would have done Whitby and Dewsbury but as Cleethorpes would have been by bus I might have given that a miss and gone to Gainsborough instead.
Best bits for me personally, the 155 on the Huddersfield - Leeds train via Halifax & Bradford and the refurb HST was a joy. The first trip deserves a mention because on the heavyish braking into York there was the nostalgic smell of those brake pads. Brings back so many memories that does.
Anyhow a great time was had, thoroughly enjoyed it and might even do it again next time.
Day 1
0800 Newcastle - York (HST which was to be diverted somewhere between Doncaster & Grantham)
0940 York - Scarborough (Time for a look around Scarborough)
1208 Scarborough - Sheffield via Hull & Doncaster
1551 Sheffield - Newcastle via Doncaster (I wanted to come back via Leeds but as someone had nicked some cables around Moorthorpe or somewhere all trains around Moorthorpe area were heavily delayed)
1810 Newcastle - Metrocentre
Day 2
0912 Newcastle - Leeds
1102 Leeds - Ilkley
1151 Ilkley - Bradford Forster Sq.
1241 Bradford Forster Sq. - Shipley (Could have gone to Skipton but better chance of a seat on the Carlisle train)
1302 Shipley - Carlisle
1637 Carlisle - Newcastle
Day 3
0900 Newcastle - Doncaster
1042 Doncaster - Meadowhall (Had a look round the shops)
1241 Meadowhall - Barnsley (Just wanted to see Barnsley)
1401 Barnsley - Huddersfield (Cl 144)
1523 Huddersfield - Leeds via Halifax & Bradford Interchange (Cl 155)
1629 Leeds - York via Harrogate
1756 York - Newcastle Refurb HST
Day 4
0930 Newcastle - Middlesbrough
1055 Middlesbrough - Saltburn (Standing room only to Redcar)
1200 Saltburn - Bishop Auckland
1340 Bishop Auckland - Darlington
1412 Darlington - York
1459 York - Brough
1552 Brough - Leeds
1657 Leeds - York
1733 York -Newcastle Arrive via High Level Bridge 2 x Voyager split at Newcastle with rear 4 going on to Dundee
Day 5
0900 Newcastle - Doncaster (Could have got the 0930 but might as well hang around Doncaster station as Newcastle)
1053 Doncaster - Retford (0930 from Newcastle)
1203 Retford - Sheffield
1306 Sheffield - Leeds via Wakefield Kirkgate {a shadow of its former self} & Castleford
1448 Leeds - Sheffield via Moorthorpe
1611 Sheffield - Doncaster
1709 Doncaster - Newcastle
There endeth the trip as I had other plans for the last 2 days. I'm not really up for evenings on the rails so I kind of looked to finish around 6 to 7-ish most nights.
Anyway I was quite impressed with all the trains and all the TOC's, albeit only NXEC, XC, Northern and TPE. Of all the journeys only the Middlesbrough to Saltburn train was delayed (about 10 minutes due to so many people wanting to travel) with all the others running on time or within a couple of minutes either side. Only had to stand once, on that same train from Middlesbrough as far as Redcar where 80% got off.
Bits of the Rover area I never managed to get to that I wanted to included Whitby, Leeds - Huddersfield via Dewsbury and Cleethorpes. If I had done the other 2 days I would have done Whitby and Dewsbury but as Cleethorpes would have been by bus I might have given that a miss and gone to Gainsborough instead.
Best bits for me personally, the 155 on the Huddersfield - Leeds train via Halifax & Bradford and the refurb HST was a joy. The first trip deserves a mention because on the heavyish braking into York there was the nostalgic smell of those brake pads. Brings back so many memories that does.
Anyhow a great time was had, thoroughly enjoyed it and might even do it again next time.