Well here's Day 1 of Scotland!
Central Scotland Rover Day 1
So, the week started with a double helping of Scotland. I'd planned this out early in September, with the cost of the tickets coming to around £62 for the three days, plus the absolute stonking value £24 Central Scotland Rover on top! The first day started slightly later than the others, and a bus journey was required! I joined a Volvo B9TL Decker on the 0623 to Newcastle Haymarket (Bus 6110, Route 309 for anyone wondering) which got me into Newcastle for around 0640. I had ages to kill, so I popped into McDonald's for a tea and Bacon Wrap. At £2.38, not bad at all! I made my way to the station for 0725 with me joining dud
221120 on the 0735 to Glasgow Central through to Edinburgh Waverley. This was to be my only run of the week actually seeing the coast in daylight, so I made sure that I was at least slightly alert to see the scenery before we powered inland, arriving into the Scottish capital at 0902, 2 minutes behind schedule. It was then off onto on the ScotRail terminus platforms onto a winning
158724 on the 0918 to Cowdenbeath. This first part of the day was mainly focused on shack scratches south of Dunfermline on the west side of the Fife Circle, as well as all the shacks up on the coastal side. In essence, everything except Cowdenbeath, Cardenden and Lochgelly. They could wait for another trip. The aforementioned winning 158 was taken over the Forth and into Dunfermline Queen Margaret, which has the honour of being the longest station name in the UK! (Unless of course, you count the longer version of Llanfairpwll
) The sun was just breaking through as I bailed at Queen Margaret, and joined double winners
158719 and
158786 for the run back south to Rosyth, where I had a quick swap of platforms in order to join another winner in the form of
158869 to Dunfermline Town. That was the three shacks done on the this side of the loop, so it was off down to no. 4, North Queensferry.
Fresh dud
158724 did the honours, and I enjoyed some brief views of the Forth Bridge from the north side before a winning
158730 rolled in to take me to Aberdour. The first run I’d had in ages on one of Haymarket’s finest sunken seated units, and it wasn’t particularly pleasurable as I took a seat and sank straight through into the base! This was also a very dodgy +1 according to the GBTT, but in reality it was an only slightly less dodgy +3 according to the WTT. However, we were 2 late into Aberdour so I was slightly worried but alas, fresh dud
158869 was only just appearing around the corner to take me back down to Dalgety Bay. This was a very quiet station indeed for some reason, so I took a look around before joining fresh duds (units starting to repeat a lot now!)
158786 and
158719 up to Kinghorn. 786 is a strange one, having ATW seats and SWT first class seats, which are incredibly uncomfortable! Their shape meant that the seat base was rock hard and totally sunk! Blast from the past really
And with that, I bailed at Kinghorn and was instantly taken aback by how pretty it was! I had 15 minutes so a very quick stroll ensued right down onto the beach before I ran back up the hill onto a winning
158738 to Burntisland, and that was all of the Fife shacks completed apart from the most northerly ones! Dud
170426 appeared for the run up to Kirkcaldy, where I took advantage of the declassified first class compartment to give my phone a quick charge.
Duds
158786 and
158719 made their third appearance as I took them back south to Inverkeithing, in the hope of a winning unit onwards to Haymarket. Alas not, as dud
170414 appeared for the run. Very busy it was too! On arrival at Haymarket, it was time for a different line of attack as I headed west on dud
170452 to Falkirk High, in order to join double duds (groan)
170472 and
170393 onwards to another winning shack in the form of Croy. At least 393 had plugs! Another dud in the form of
170476 took me through to Lenzie, where I then retraced my steps backwards in order to position myself for the evening’s bashing moves on the line through Falkirk Grahamston. A winning
158731 took me back to Croy, where it was sadly repeating duds
170452 and
170393/170472 through to Falkirk High and Polmont respectively where I had quite a chunky fester in order to join dud
170477 on the Dunblane service as far as Camelon. A thoroughly uninspiring shack it was too! Eventually, dud
170471 rolled in to take me back to Grahamston where my next line of attack was Dunblane. Of course, the simple way to do this would be to join winning
170461 through to Dunblane. However, I could see more chances for some winning units, so I bailed at Larbert. Sadly, this move didn’t pay off as dud
158708 took me up to Stirling. However, a winning
170475 was working the peak time service to Arbroath, so I took that through to Dunblane where
170461 was waiting to take me back south again. Double the winners in the same time
I bailed at Camelon for the second time as I knew that we’d have a working in behind us terminating at Falkirk.
This paid off as a winning
156437 rolled in for the short 1mi 23ch hop to Grahamston where I contemplated joining a winning 170478 to Camelon again, but I instead opted for a winning
170434 to Linlithgow, again taking advantage of the declassified first class, giving my phone a much needed charge! Now this gave me a chance to cover some unusual track again as a winning
170429 appeared to take me to Dalmeny. Linlithgow-Dalmeny direct, quite convenient eh? This was a good move as after a chilly 15 minutes waiting (technically I could have changed at Inverkeithing but the margin was quite tight thanks to a delay) a winning
68007 appeared! I plonked myself in the tired looking front carriage and stood in the vestibule as we powered into the up passenger loop, before continuing on our merry way into Waverley for 1928. And that was the bashing done! I picked up some supplies from Sainsbury’s and awaited a winning
221126 on the 2002 to Newcastle. First Class this time too! Very nice considering the packed nature of the service. It was a peaceful journey as I was offered tea, kettle chips and shortbread for the run south before settling in for the evening, arriving back at Newcastle at 2135.
Day 1 complete!
Total Mileage: 451mi 76ch
Total Winners: 14+13 shacks
Total Cost: £36.59
hock: