Iskra
Established Member
South Pennines the First- 18/06/15
Id decided on this trip as study leave had presented itself with a completely free day where, to be honest, I didnt want to revise for the one remaining exam that I had. It was Business Communication Systems, which is basically ICT with some dull Business related gubbins thrown in. It also happened to be incredibly easy (as I later proved by only revising on the morning of the exam and still finding the exam to be a bit of a gift). As a result, I saw no reason to not take advantage of this free day, and decided on a South Pennines Ranger. Of course, this was the night before I was going to do this and I needed to get to Leeds somehow! Leeds has a reputation with me for advances in that they tend to run out and get rather expensive quite quickly, however this time I went straight to TPE and bagged myself the student discount on top of my Railcard discount. This reduced to advance fare to £10.65 each way. Still a nice saving versus the £37.50 Off Peak Return!
It was a delayed early start in the morning as I set my alarm for 6am, woke up and fell asleep again! (This would then be repeated on the next SPDR spoilers!- Ed) I eventually rose again at 0635 and quickly made up my bag for the day and took myself a couple of provisions for the journey down as well as *groan* some business revision notes. It was out of the door at 0710 for the 0716 bus into Newcastle for a Metro formed of 4005 and 4055 to take me to Central. Now, on the previous night, Id made up an Excel spreadsheet of every unit/loco Id had since January 2014 in order to make it clearer which units were winners today and in the future. It came in quite useful as winner 185151 was waiting on the 0806 to Liverpool Lime Street. The doors were released at 0755 as I chose to disregard my pretty awful allocated seat (backwards, aisle) and headed for an unreserved pair in Coach B with extra legroom. It was a pretty busy run south until Leeds where it emptied out a fair bit. I continued on to Huddersfield where I intended to change for the 1011 to the Airport.
That was the plan, but with signalling problems around Victoria, my train was going to be diverted via Piccadilly so I jumped back on 185151. Just to clarify, the board said Calling at Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street and the guard announced before departure that the train was calling at Piccadilly. However, about two minutes after leaving the guard announced oh actually the problems been fixed so were going via Vic again. I had no reason to be at Manchester Victoria nor did I want to be there. So I was going to be stuck with traipsing my way over to Piccadilly. This was particularly infuriating. I sent a question to TPEs Twitter about this who told me to use the free bus, which unless I wanted to change, or go to Oxford Road where my ticket wasnt valid, was a little useless.
We arrived into Victoria at 1038, having sat outside the station for absolutely ages. I promptly made my way towards the exit when oh hello , we had a winning 142+150 combination on the next Leeds service! 142041 and 150274 were sitting dead in Platform 2 so I chose to wander away from the crowd and position myself next to 142041. At this point the PA system treated us to a white noise fest, blasting out pain inducing generic noise with a worker and one of those things that measures decibels standing under one of the speakers. It seemed that the railway was being deliberately irritating this morning! Id just been given a free headache with the compliments of the British Railway!The doors were then released on the 142 and only myself and another bloke took up the challenge with the rest of the crowd cramming into the 150. It was a nice fast run up to Rochdale where I stepped off to the sight of another winner, 158752, arriving in on a late running fast service back to Manchester. This was another quiet train, and we arrived back at Victoria around 30-35 minutes after Id left.
Now really was time to go over to Piccadilly, and not being able to be bothered to walk, I joined another winner 150277 on the 1129 to Stalybridge. We left five minutes late as the signal wasnt clearing on the platform, narrowing my connection onto the TPE to Picc to basically 1 or 2 minutes. It was however a pretty pleasant, quiet journey with most folk leaving at Ashton. We arrived into Stalybridge to the sight of another winner (Were doing pretty well today!) 185148 arriving into the platform furthest from where I was. I wasnt going to let this one go as I absolutely legged it under the subway and actually managed to make it to the platform before the doors had even been released. This was a busy one, and I ended up sitting in the tip up seats by the toilet in Coach C. On arrival at Piccadilly, I decided on a quick Stockport leap so I headed for whatever was leaving first. Dud 221121 was about to leave on the 1207 to Exeter so that would do me alright! We arrived into Stockport shortly after and I headed under the subway and onto the other platform where a winning 390010 was arriving. I jumped on in Coach A and found a seat for the short journey back to Manchester. It was then over to clear one of the last bits of track on the ranger (My final bit on the ranger to do now is Castleford-Normanton) as I headed over for the 1234 to Rose Hill Marple formed of winner 142054 and dud 142027. A nice quiet journey on the line via Hyde which I hadnt done in around 2 ½ years! We arrived into Rose Hill at 1302, where there was a massive 20 minute wait before going back! I grabbed a few photos and just opted to sit in 142027 before we headed back to Manchester. Both times Id sat in the front unit and not had my ticket checked as we only had a guard and a driver so the back unit had to have the guard in it! As a result, there were definitely a few folk getting free rides between stations like Woodley and Hyde Central.
We were back into Manchester Piccadilly for 1400 as I decided to head over the Hope Valley. It was 20 minutes for the TPE so I just decided to board dud 323224 for a slow journey to Stockport, as it called at Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme en route. This narrowed the cold fester at Stockport a little, but it seemed like the journey was going to be a busy one indeed. And it was, as I spent the journey to Sheffield on board a winning 185105 sat in the tip up seats in Coach C again, charging my phone at the rather convenient plug under the seats! We arrived into Sheffield where I had a choice: Wait for the XC via Westgate to Leeds, or just head straight for the Northern via Kirkgate. I opted for the latter option as this service, the 1518 to Leeds, was in the hands of a winning 158793. It was a quiet journey apart from a couple making the odd choice to sit opposite me at a table. The train was basically empty even with free tables available but I didnt want to seem rude so I stayed put. However, they started to become quite irritating with papers being strewn on the table and tinny, leaky headphones being put on. I decided to just counter this by getting out my own notes and started revising some Business Coms. I also put my headphones on just to drown out their tinny leakfest. Yes, irritation made me revise
I bailed at Wakefield Kirkgate to join the Westgate train which was behind us. This was formed of mega mega Heaton dud 142016, but it was just a 72 chain run around a curve so I wasnt that bothered. The Leeds stopper from here was running late so I didnt have to dash for the 1610 to Leeds, formed of another dud 142068. However, this was a much more entertaining run on a bench seated ex FGW example as we absolutely flew through the 10 miles to Leeds! We went from 4 late to 2 early on arrival which just showed how much the driver must have been pushing the poor sod! On arrival at Leeds, I had 3hrs before my train home so I just shrugged to myself and clambered through the rush hour crowds onto a dud 185129 to take me back to Manchester Piccadilly. This service emptied out at Huddersfield so I got myself a table to charge my phone. The guard was a bit of a legend as he made comment to every passenger as he checked their tickets Stalyvegas? Our next stop Sir. I had Ooh youre organised arent you? Must be an old photo on that railcard though! as he gave me a cheeky wink, pointing out my 13 year old self on my railcard as it was the only passport photo I had handy at the time of issue. I was deposited on Piccadilly station at 1731 as I walked over to a winning 323237 on the 1738 to Crewe for another Stockport leap. It was busy on board, but we had few standees as we got rid of quite a few folk at Levenshulme.
It was a run under the subway to join dud 185131 on the late running 1753 to Manchester Airport. I did just end up standing on this journey, and we arrived back into Piccadilly a shade after 6. I then decided that a walk was in order as I aimed to join my train home at Manchester Victoria, the 1851 to Newcastle. I took my time and had a sit in the sun in Piccadilly Gardens, before heading into a Co-Op for some dinner for the journey home. It was then under the rather striking new concourse at Victoria and onto Platform 4 for 1840. We waited and waited as the departure time passed before dud 185132 eventually arrived in at 1901. Apparently the signal had failed outside the station so theyd had to pass at danger. No worries, I thought, and I found the entirety of Coach A to be empty and unreserved so I rocked up to a table to charge my phone (again) and sat back and ate my Moroccan chicken salad, along with a Thai Green Curry fajita for afters.
On departure from Huddersfield, 10 minutes late, we absolutely crawled to Dewsbury. We were stuck behind a stopper from Manchester Victoria which was stopping at Mirfield etc, but thankfully it was shifted into the platform at Dewsbury to let us past. That didnt stop us going even slower though, as we limped into Leeds at 1957. It was a hasty departure at 2000 as we were stuck behind 2T96, an all stations except Church Fenton/Ulleskelf service which had left at 1956. This only delayed us further as we crawled into York at 2030, 24 minutes late. I feared that the 2032 Edinburgh would then be let past us here with us having a Northallerton call, but no such issue materialised as it was of course stuck behind us all the way from Leeds and was also running 15 late so we absolutely motored up the East Coast Mainline back to Newcastle, making up 2 minutes and arriving back at 2133, 22 minutes late.
My bus was at 2145, having missed the 2131, so instead of relying on the Metro I just ran through town for it, making it with around 5 minutes to spare.
A decent last minute trip indeed!
Total Mileage- 499mi 66ch
Total Cost- £40.88
Winners- 10
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And another!
South Pennines the Second- 23/06/15
Let us continue! Its time for the other SPDR which I did on Tuesday as a celebration of the end of my exams. This again was thanks to TPE still having Advance fares available to Leeds at £10.65 each way the night before. It was the same ritual as I nipped out into town quickly and also bought the SPDR from Newcastles ticket office. A seemingly unusual request for the clerk but she found it easily and £14.85 was duly handed over.
The next morning, it was another issue of having a 6am alarm, knocking it off and accidentally dropping off again! The moral of the story is, set your alarm for exactly when you need to be awake, not 20 minutes before. I was awoken by my Mam asking when I was intending to be out as it was 6:45. Bugger! My train was in just over an hour! It was a hasty breakfast as I joined a 0720 Arriva bus to the Haymarket for a Metro to the Central, formed of 4049 and 4011 this morning. I again positioned myself for an unreserved seat with some decent legroom, this time in Coach A, as my allocated seat was an aisle seat. The 0806 to Liverpool this morning was formed of a winning 185150 which I actually took to Huddersfield without reboarding
I wasnt sure what to do on arrival, so I just jumped on whatever was leaving first. This was the 1046 to Stoke, formed of winner 323229. This was the noisiest 323 Id even been on! It was a pretty entertaining 5 mile run to Stockport, as the guard also didnt have a clue where my ranger was even valid to, and he seemed surprised when I said it was only valid to Stockport. He said to me, to be honest mate, I wouldnt be bothered if you took this all the way to Stoke, Ive never even heard of the ticket! This follows from a previous experience on board a Hadfield service where the guard thought you could go to Derby and Nottingham on a SPDR! Arrival at Stockport was at 1054 where the 1056 to Manchester formed of a winning 390115 was pulling in at the same time. I leaped over to it, and it was bizarrely reverse formed! Coach U also happened to be pretty busy with not many seats remaining, especially as my experience of VT into Manchester has been that U/F have been near empty!
Passing the usual ticket check at Piccadilly, I joined a winning 150272 on the 1114 to New Mills Central. This took the faster, albeit rougher looking route to Romiley via Belle Vue and Brinnington. This had a nice +4 onto the service back to Manchester via the same route, too. I hopped over to the other platform at Romiley to the sight of a manual destination boarded 1420x1 approaching. Ah good! I thought. Thatll be 031 or 061, both winners! It was 142091. For f$%ks sake, I mumble to myself. A Heaton unit had strayed onto the New Mills circuit. Incredibly irritating but I wasnt in the mood for hanging around for the route via Hyde so I boarded anyway, and we arrived back into Manchester at 1200. I then decided to go have another crack at the Hope Valley, after spending it pushed in a foldup seat last Thursday! It was off to winner 221132 to Stockport as it was 20 minutes until the Cleethorpes TPE. I jumped into Coach D and it was like a sauna! The screens were scrolling along a message: Air conditioning not working in this coach. No reservations due to national failure. If you do not have a reservation please go to Coach B. Didnt fill me with much faith considering that no other train Id had that day had had any reservation issues! I put myself in Coach F for the short journey, taking the risk that Id not encounter anyone wanting my seat on the 7 minute journey!
It was a less cold wait than last week at Stockport with only a few folk waiting for the 1228 to Cleethorpes, formed of a winning 185127. This time I was treated to an unreserved table for the journey to Sheffield, which gave me a decent view over the Hope Valley for once
Hebden Bridge is a very pretty station indeed with its period signage and generally very picturesque setting, as I had a wander around the station before joining a winning pair on the 1505 to Manchester Victoria, 153316 and 158815. I joined the 153 and sat back for the journey to Rochdale. We called only at Todmorden en route, and arrived there at 1523. I noticed that a gent had left the train there too and he had made me a little suspicious. Hed joined the 158 Id been on at Halifax and claimed hed got on the wrong train, wanting Todmorden. Fair enough, I suppose. But he, of course, changed at Hebden Bridge and ended up in Rochdale and left the station there. Wed had no ticket check from Hebden Bridge-Rochdale and no check there so I dont know what the hell he was actually doing. I swapped platforms to head back up to Todmorden and joined double winners 155345 and 153378 for the non-stop run there. This was a much thrashier run than the last 153, and the train produced quite some noise going through the tunnel between Littleborough and Walsden! This was a pretty short and sweet journey as I was deposited on the platform at Todmorden only 10 minutes later. Another station in a rather pretty setting as I swapped platforms to go through to Manchester Victoria, just in time for the peak time kicking off.
The stream of winners continued at 155347 pulled in on another fast service to Manchester, calling only at Rochdale. We even managed to run a little early into Victoria as I went over to the Huddersfield train in order to position myself at Piccadilly for a couple of Stockport runs. This was in the hands of a winning 156491 (One of those 156s where its a Heaton styled one but it never actually reaches Newcastle). The peak time was definitely starting to kick off as we left Vic well loaded but not full and turned right towards Ashton. Arrival at Stalybridge was a short time later as I aimed for the 1650 to Liverpool, but a late running 1643 to Southport was tempting me as it had a winning 156455 tacked on the back of dud 142062. However, this would mean Id need a re-jigging of plans so I stuck with the TPE, formed of double duds 185124 and 185128. I found a seat right at the front of the train as it pulled in all the way down the end of the platform, and we arrived into Picc to the sight of a platform choked with commuters at around 1709. It was a quick fight through the crowds and onto a waiting winner 390155 for the journey to Stockport. To my pleasant surprise, we had a waiting EMT to Liverpool on the opposite platform so I made a hasty dash under the subway to join a winning 158810 and dud 158788 back to Piccadilly.
I had time to do one more run then walk across to Victoria for the train home. A winning 323225 was pulling in on the 1746 to Stoke, so I joined that. It was truly jammed up, but I wasnt too fussed and let everyone else join first so I just ended up standing by the doors for the short, rather sweaty run back out to Stockport. A winning 390042 was in the other platform on the 1756 to Manchester, so it was other beeline run under the subway for that! Back into Piccadilly for 1805, so I took a very sunny walk across Manchester before picking up some dinner from the Co-op and heading into Victoria station where a dud 185124, thankfully running on time this time, got me back to Newcastle for 2111.
Of course, today had to have a sick twist to it, as I belted down into the Metro in order to connect with the 2123 bus home. I ran down the stairs only to lose my footing and collapse down the rest of them, jarring my right knee in the process. However, the slightly hardy Northern spirit in me showed as I hauled myself up, legs shaking with the shock, to be asked if I was alright and I responded with Whey aye, I think so! I can walk so thats a plus! In reality I was internally screaming with the pain and worrying that my knee was completely dislocated (likely not broken as i'd probably be dragging my right leg). On the plus side, I made my bus
Total Mileage- 513mi 27ch
Total Cost- £42.09
Total winners- 18
Sorry for the delayed response, I'm a bit behind on the trip-report reading front. A very interesting read, thank you!
If you're ever faced with a £38 (or worse) Leeds-Newcastle return, get one of these instead at £31. It's most useful and comes with a lot of entertaining expressions from conductors/train managers: http://www.northernrail.org/tickets/dayrangers/Explore+the+North+East
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Nae bother, it's a frequent dash I make as the Vic-Staly train is often delayed a little.
Well my 0706 to Leeds was cancelled so plenty of surprises to come
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West Yorkshire Day Rover- 27/06/15
Its time for another impromptu trip out to Yorkshire courtesy of TransPennine Express
It was up at 0545, later than usual for my booked 0706 train as my Dad was off to work. I was dropped off at around 0635 as I made the usual slightly unattractive walk to the Central past the litter and vomit from the previous Friday night joys in Newcastle (probably overflow from the Bigg Market :P). But then as I walked through the empty Portico and glanced up at the boards above the ticket machines in my usual fashion, something caught my eye: 0706 LIVERPOOL LIME ST- CANCELLED. Bugger. I certainly wasnt hanging around for the 0806 so I headed to the ticket office who pointed me onto the 0722 to London for connections at York. A dubiously issued Day Rover was also bought here (upside down with the headings missing on season ticket stock!). I was pretty irritated as I would have preferred to have joined the 0655 to London and connected with my intended train at York. However, I didnt bother proposing this and went off to McDonalds for a Bacon wrap and a cuppa before returning at 0705 to the sight of a winning 43307 on the back of the 0722 to London Kings Cross! Bonus then. I didnt get the leading number, so if anyone could find the front Power Car number of 1Y16, the 0722 Newcastle-London Kings X then thatd be great! The journey south was quiet and far more pleasant than a 185. We hardly had any passengers in Coach B and the guard didnt bat an eyelid at me having a ticket for the TPE. Just an okay mate, thats fine. We were held outside of York for a while before arriving in at 0829, 2 minutes behind. This connected with the 0840 to Liverpool. However, for Liverpool passengers this would be a somewhat more frustrating compromise as instead of Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester this train called at Leeds, Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Staly, Pic and Oxford Road, Birchwood, Warrington and Liv SP before staggering into Liverpool! Everyone piled into the front carriage of a dud 185129 for some reason leaving me to enjoy some peace at the back. Again, the guard had zero issue with me using this service. I was keeping an eye on the clock as I was running 26 minutes later than intended on departure from York, but this stuck and I arrived into Leeds at 0905 so no compensation due.
In an attempt to claw back time, I legged it for the 0908 to Blackpool North (my intended connection from the 0840 TPE) which was formed of a dud 158754. For some reason, I found the seats to be less sunk and more comfortable than usual as I sourced a backwards facing pair which became forward facing at Bradford Interchange. The guard was a top bloke, very friendly and he even solved an issue with a woman whod left her keys in her flat back in Leeds. She held a Leeds-Blackpool return so she was let off at New Pudsey to go back without any further charge! I was glad to see that discretion was shown even when she offered to pay. I bailed at Hebden Bridge where I had an idea of doing something different, which was a bus across the hills to Keighley. This was the Route 500, operated by Transdev and this was why Id paid the extra 90p for a full Day Rover rather than a rail only one. The driver was rather puzzled by my odd looking ticket, but a short explanation and an uneasy uh ok from her was all it took for me to then source a seat for the 50 minute journey to Keighley.
The bus was a comfortable Wright Streetlite, and it seemed a bit less plastic like than our own examples back home with no tacky leather seating or wood effect flooring. It was just comfortable! The journey was a sharp ascent out of Hebden Bridge as we climbed and climbed out of the town and onto the country roads with some pretty breath-taking views. It was also incredibly surprising that there were bus stops plonked on windswept moorland In the middle of nowhere too! We then descended into Oxenhope and proceeded to twist around a few sharp bends before becoming very busy as we stopped at Haworth. Soon enough, we were arriving into Keighley Bus Station, a shade after 1100 and it was now time to source the railway station! This was a relatively short walk to the outskirts of town across a couple of roads where I arrived to the sight of a departing Leeds service. Guess I was joining the Bradford one then! I headed to a very sunny end of the platform to await a winning 333007 on the 1114 to Bradford Forster Square which I took to Shipley. The air conditioning was blasting which was also very welcoming as it was really starting to get quite warm. It was a short pleasant journey down to Shipley where most of us left the train for the 10 minute fester for a Leeds service.
There was quite a crowd here for the Leeds train, but again all it took was a walk down the platform for a quieter carriage. This was another winner, 333015 which made easy work of the 10 miles to Leeds where the upcoming stations of Apperley Bridge and Kirkstall Forge looked to be making at least some progress. We arrived in a stonking 6 minutes early at Leeds so I had a chance to dash over to dud 150275 working the 1156 to Huddersfield. I had a rather impolite gentleman (not a young one either!) sat behind me who not only flicked pasty crumbs directly onto me instead of brushing them off, but he then asked me for the arrival time into Huddersfield which I duly gave only to be blanked (I do believe that thanks is the appropriate word!). I wasnt actually sure where to bail, I could do a +4 at Deighton onto the Wakefield train, or I could have a bit more fun and scratch a few shacks in the area and have a potential for a good few winners in the process. The latter option was taken and I bailed at new shack Batley for a +7 which became a +9 back to another new shack Morley. A winning 144008 turned up and it was heaving! Some folk left the train but I just ended up leaning on the front set of doors for the 3 mile journey where we were greeted by another crowd on the platform at Morley. The train left completely heaving down the aisles, not a pleasant trip! Thankfully, I was off at Morley anyway and over the bridge to await the 1234 to Manchester Victoria. This was a winning 158753 and it was near enough empty for the (intended) journey to Mirfield. However, on departure from Dewsbury I decided to do a last check on RTT of the Grand Central service I was going to change onto at Mirfield. It was cancelled, despite showing as running 10 minutes ago so I canned the idea of Mirfield and continued to Brighouse instead where we arrived 5 minutes early for some reason. It was a short wait here for a winning 153363 to take me on the 1311 to Leeds as far as Bradford Interchange. This arrived at Brighouse at 1302 due to not having to wait for the Grand Central to move first so we spent a while sat at the platform first. It seemed a little weird only being a single carriage train, as my experiences of 153s have generally been of them tacked onto 155s or 158s! At Halifax it became quite busy before I bailed for the free bus over to Forster Square at Bradford.
The bus put me at Forster Square for 1350 where my only reach choice was the 1400 to Leeds as the Ilkley train had just left. It was however a continuation of the winning streak as 333010 pulled in to work the service which remained fairly lightly loaded throughout. I perused a copy of the local Telegraph and Argus which reminded me of our own local paper, where some of the stories are truly, err monotonous. We were into Leeds early again at 1421 where I saw the chance to position myself for the other bus move of the day as the 1426 to Skipton, formed of another winner 333009 was waiting on the opposite platform. This was totally wedged in the back carriage, but as usual empty up front so I headed up front for the journey to a new shack, Steeton and Silsden. I could then catch a bus here to Ilkley but I wasnt really sure where to catch it from so I just walked out to the main road where I saw the bus stop and the approaching bus. Bugger! I wasnt sure of legging it across as it was a fast, albeit not too busy single carriageway. I took the risk when a gap emerged and flagged down the bus which was of Wright Solar vintage. This was the Route 765 from Keighley to Ilkley and it was still quite a scenic run! It was mainly fast running on country roads, but we took a few deviations and picked up a few walkers en route and also passed through the village of Addingham which looked very picture postcard like. Definitely worth a walk through in the future me thinks! We got stuck in some traffic outside of Ilkley before arriving there at 1537.
The train was the 1538 Leeds formed of a winning (of course
I took the latter option as it put me back at Leeds rather than leaving me to find options for what to do from Wakefield. I walked to Platform 13B to the sight of a winning 322481 working the 1621 to Doncaster where I sat in the very first bay of seats with them actually aligning with the windows! It was a nice fast run to Outwood where we seemingly crawled to Wakefield Westgate, arriving in 5 minutes late. A freshly (from Tuesday) dud 155347 pulled in for the short run on the 1644 to Huddersfield as far as Kirkgate where I had a sharpish walk under the subway for the Leeds train which ended up being delayed until 1653 anyway. It was back to the winners as it was a winning 158860 for the slower journey to Leeds over some winning track. We picked up a fair few drinkers at Normanton so the silence was broken and the headphones went on for the rest of the way, where we arrived into Leeds at 1725, back on time. I then intended to head to Bramley for both a shack scratch and a try on one of the Wright Streetcars that run between Leeds and Bradford. It was a winning 158844 working the 1735 to Huddersfield via Brighouse for the 4 miles to a rather depressing Bramley where I turned the wrong way out of the station, only to have to retrace my steps up the bank to the main part of the town to a temporary bus stop where a funny looking Streetcar was soon approaching. For those not aware, the Wright Streetcar is like a compromise between a tram and a bus where the driver is segregated off at the front and a customer host (disinterested woman reading Hello! Magazine) does the ticket checking. It was a pretty slow, uninteresting run through suburbs like Thornbury and Stanningley before arriving into Bradford Interchange. It was however a unique experience using such a bus, and Id recommend it if not just for a short run for the novelty value (It was possible to leave the bus about 3 minutes walk from New Pudsey station).
I then looked at my options in terms of trains and I jumped onto a winning 150110 for the journey to New Pudsey. I was intending to go through to Leeds but getting in at 1845 would flatten any further options as itd maybe be possible to meet my train home at Huddersfield but thatd be a risky move requiring a train running fast nearly straight away. I instead opted to jump off at the aforementioned New Pudsey for a +2 onto a dud 158851 back to Bradford Interchange. Now was a more appropriate time to do my final journey on the Rover, joined a winning (lots of these today it seems!) 158843 on the 1852 to Leeds. It was a much quieter journey than on the 150, and we arrived back into Leeds at 1911. Time for dinner as I headed to Boots and picked up whatever reduced food I could find (A sandwich, a wrap, pasta salad and water for £3.45, thatll do!) before heading to Platform 12D for the 1943 back to Newcastle. This was a dud 185128 but I sourced an empty table easily. However, we didnt move until 1955 as the points had jammed which pathed a service from Hull straight into us! It was stuck straddling across the points so we had to wait for them to clear before departing. In traditional fashion, we were joined by screaming yelling drunks at York as far as Durham where they all left to have some more drinks! We arrived into Newcastle at 2121, 8 minutes late where I awaited a lift home. There were sadly delays on the roads due to a bloke being struck down by a car (the roads around the bars in Newcastle are busy and very dangerous, especially for someone less than sober, and drinkers often do just wander into traffic). Heres hoping he was alright but he looked to be knocked out in the road when I passed.
A decent day however on both the unit and shack front!
Total Mileage: 389mi 72ch (of which 178 was on the Rover)
Total Cost: £35.03
Total Winners: 14, and 5 shacks.
Wow, a very successful day.
Agree about the stupid peak restrictions.
I'm planning a similar bus trip from Hebden bridge on a WYDR, but catching the KWVR at Oxenhope for something a little different (although I have used that line loads). I hear good things about the scenery on the route 500.
Is a WYDR valid on Grand Central anyway, most rovers aren't??
Agreed about the Airedale lines being some of the best in West Yorks, although shockingly I haven't done the Wharfedale line yet.
(well New Street to Cheltenham Spa being XC only)
hock:
