27th August Heart of Wales, Day 2
Right where was I? Oh yeah having a nice lazy morning with breakfast in the guest house in Llanelli. My plan for this morning had changed (original plan had been for a bus move to Bynea, but as I managed to get that shack yesterday it meant I could head to Swansea on 150282 in order to walk to a nearby Tesco Express to grab some items for lunch (more as a just in case the Co-Op at Llandeilo is closed). The guard remembered me from yesterday and asked me which one today, which he made a note of.
Back onto 150282 for the fast run back out to Llanelli (after spotting a 150+158 combo on a Milford Haven service), reversing in the station to head back onto the Heart of Wales, nobody requested the first two stops, there was a close miss at Pontarddulais as a couple passengers were hiding in the shelter, the driver just noticed them before he accelerated away. The usual calls northbound with a moderate load (at least in my coach), the train started to climb as I followed the guard into the staff area behind the cab as the train came to a stop at shack 2500,
Sugar Loaf.
The guard was surprised as there was 2 passengers waiting (plus a dog) as I said see you in around 80 minutes as the 150 pulled away. Right then Sugar Loaf station, tiny platform with some steps leading up to a busy road where there was bugger all around, seriously how on earth did this station avoid getting closed in the 1960s? A nice footpath on a bridge led me over the railway with a little waterway running alongside the bridge for a quick photo before I headed back to the tiny platform, noting a little bus shelter and had a read through the recently added visitors book (yes I did sign it). I took a seat on the brick wall; sadly with that road behind it wasnt that peaceful to be able to zen out.
My time of isolation was soon ended with 150235 rolling in with 4 passengers alighting (looked like they were going hiking in the hills), 150235 joined 282 in the 10 mile club with the run back heading southbound, this was the only time I called at Sugar Loaf during this weekend, all the other times it was no requests (so odd that both times I requested the train it would have called there anyway!). Anyhow it wasnt a long wait before I alighted at
Ffairfach, waited for the train to clear the level crossing before heading for a little walk towards the small town of Llandeilo. Quite a few little shops, a lovely river crossing and a hill up towards the town centre (and then back down again), deciding that I had enough for supplies so I didnt visit the Co-Op before reaching the passing loop station at
Llandeilo.
The northbound platform had a little shelter but no seats (apart from a brick wall), so after my sandwich I headed off for a little walk to discover a lovely suspension bridge near to the station, to sit by the riverside for 10 minutes, sadly the angle of the sun meant attempts to get a photograph from the north side were washed out, but it was a peaceful place to waste some time before I recrossed the Kings Bridge and headed back along a little path to reach the station once more
For it was time for some Dog Box Thrash, with a reasonably loaded 153353 to take me back over the hills to reach the home of the World Bog Snorkelling Championships,
Llanwrtyd Wells. A nicely maintained station, one of the passing loops on this line and on a weekday sees a couple services pass here (barrow crossing at the northern end, however seeing as crews change and the driver has to phone the signal box there is no need to rush). Due to the time of day I decided it wasnt worth popping towards the town centre as nothing probably would have been open, so with an hour (and a bit), I took up a seat in the shade and carried on reading my book.
As expected the final train of the day was the return of 150282, which took me back to Llanelli, where my plans for an Indian for dinner didnt work out as a promotion I saw on a menu leaflet in the hotel (meal for one) had been stopped (I even went back to the hotel to drop off my bag to double check I had the right place). So dinner was instead a meaty pizza which was quite alright, a quick shower before packing my bags for the following morning for it was another early start.
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28th August Heart of Wales Day 3
The first train of the day from Llanelli towards the Heart of Wales was the 05:20 short service to Llandovery, which comes direct from Carmarthen, so unusually I was boarding a Heart of Wales service from the Swansea bound platform. This morning it was 150278 on the short service and unsurprisingly the service was empty heading north to terminate at
Llandovery. I noticed the little garage next to the station was open which was visited to pick up something cold, a newspaper & a sausage roll.
Back onto 150278 to eat said sausage roll before the unit departed, as I requested my last stations on the southern part of the line,
Llangadog. One of the stations on this line which is a request stop one direction, but a required stop the other due to a level crossing, nothing of note around Llangadog (other than some buses), so I took a seat in the nice waiting shelter for the 1st proper northbound service, which was formed of another 150 who wanted membership of the 800 chain club, 150250.
Making use of the onboard WiFi, I pulled up Google Maps with the route I was going to walk; the 1st of 3 walks today. The 150 was mostly empty, picking up more passengers as it went along, with a nice 20 minute wait at Llanwrtyd for a delayed southbound service (issues with signalling between Llandrindod & Knighton). Carrying on heading north onto a line I havent travelled on [north of Builth Road] since the August bank holiday weekend in 2014 so it was nice to recover the northern part. Anyhow I had requested for the train to pause at
Knucklas. The station is on a hill overlooking the village and just after a lovely viaduct (which if I hadnt planned to walk I probably would have gone to get a picture off).
Anyhow the 1st walk of the day was along the B4355 for around 2 and a half miles to reach the town of Knighton, pausing to make use of some public toilets. The walk itself is OK; youve got to keep your head on with several corners, to hear for traffic, I was glad when I reached the pavement section. Swinging via a Cost Cutter to purchase some items for lunch (a Spar is also available), before carrying on to walk into England, to reach
Knighton station.
Tower in Knighton
A pretty little station, the northern most passing loop on the line, as I took up a seat after a couple photographs (remember all pictures are available at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/27666294@N02/albums/72157688397563945 ) to await the next southbound service which was a busy 153353, as I had to make a decision which way round to do the two stations north of Llandrindod, in the end deciding to exit from the 153 at the very beautiful
Dolau. The platform is awash with various colours from flowers, with a comfortable waiting shelter giving lots of history into this tiny little station (which hasnt got a lot around it)
153353 at Dolau
Around 30 minutes later, a busy 153312 rolled in, not that many empty seats on this 153 as I headed back northbound, back into England, and getting ready for another walk as I alighted at
Hopton Heath. Nothing much around the station (houses and some industrial units), but to avoid a walk back to Bucknell there does appear to be a bus move on weekdays (Arriva Bus route 740 bound for Knighton, departs Green at 13:17 for a 10 minute run, giving Adam an idea if he needs these two stations). Like before it was another gentle walk in the sun along the B4367, a few hills but they mostly balanced out, but another one to keep your ears open and switch sides of the road as required. Worth noting that it is about the same distance to walk to Bucknell as it is to Broome from Hopton Heath, with Bucknell having a little garage shop & pub.
Just over an hour later I reached
Bucknell station, taking up a seat on a bench in the shade (for the sun had made an appearance), taking off my boots and shorts (fear not I had some leggings on which helps my legs when I do these crazy walks). It was peaceful waiting for the sound of the level crossing to sound to warn me of the approaching return of 153312 to take me back down the line, returning into Wales and to
Pen-Y-Bont. Another station with evidence of a former 2nd platform and with not a lot around (apart from a busy sounding road), so with 95 minutes to fester, I took up a seat in the sunshine and relaxed.
The time flew by, as I soon gathered up my random thoughts and waited as 153353 returned from Swansea, to take me to the remote
Llangynllo, where myself and two other gentlemen alighted (nobody boarded and this being the first time of the day the train called. A couple houses next to the station, but that is everything, the village is a good 2 miles away, down a little country lane, passing underneath Pye Corner bridge (suddenly I was back in Newport!). Turning onto the B4356 for another countryside B-road walk (unlike the other two walks this road was quiet), but the walk back uphill in the sun to reach the few houses next to
Llanbister Road was hard going. I was glad when the totem pole was spotted, as like others there is nothing much around, the place of Llanbister being 5 miles distant.
But good news, the station is operated by Wales & Borders Trains
Old sign at Llanbister Road Station
I would add that these was the only time Ive been on a train which called here, but the final move on Tuesday had the 153 calling at both these remote shacks for someone to board. Anyhow I was expecting 150250 to return, but in fact it was 150242 which did mean another member of the club (another unit only previously in the book on Cardiff leaps), and with darkness falling I made good use of the Wi-Fi heading back towards Llanelli, where it was a cheese burger & chips for dinner from the little takeaway because I was hungry.
I was quite happy that only one shack remains on the Heart of Wales, and that I had a later start on the Tuesday, so after packing up my stuff it was a nice sleep.
29th August Heart of Wales Day 4
After checking out of the guest house, it was a walk via the Premier Foods shop to pick up something cold before heading to the station, crossing the footbridge at Llanelli for the last time in probably a fair while (as I need nothing in South/Mid Wales). The first service of the day this morning was another sub-10 mile unit, as 150241 made its first appearance into my haulage log for this report. Like yesterday this was a quiet unit on departure, picking up passengers as time went on.
The Llandovery service was passed at Llandeilo, and the first southbound service was passed at Llanwrtyd. I was staying on the unit until nearly the end of the line, my final Heart of Wales line shack. Entering England at Knighton and via Shropshire as I alighted at
Broome. I couldnt believe it, but the line had been done!
150241 departs Broome
If I remember correctly I had 45 minutes, worth noting there appears to be a bus move towards Craven Arms, but only runs on Mondays & Thursdays. Some industrial units around the station but not a lot else, so I took up a seat to read the newspaper I picked up earlier, noting that the weather this morning was the complete opposite, mainly being slightly wet (so I got very lucky with the weather being beautiful on Monday). Anyhow eventually I flagged down my final train on the Heart of Wales with 153312 taking me to Llandrindod Wells, back over the temporary speed restriction around Dolau. An on time arrival allows me 20 minutes to dash towards Tesco for some supplies before returning to the station for a busy 153303 to roll in from Swansea.
My original plan was to bail at Church Stretton, however the 153 was held at the junction with the main-line for around 10 minutes for a late running Holyhead service to pass, which meant the 153 was around 14 minutes late into Craven Arms. I decided to bail at Craven Arms instead of Church Stretton as the connection would have been a +1, so after kicking some smoking youngsters out of the waiting shelter (at least smoke out in the open), I took a seat and relaxed.
66502 at Craven Arms
Heading to Llanelli this afternoon was my old foe, 175003 (at least it will gain membership of the club), I managed to get a seat on the busy 175 which oddity didnt call at Cwmbran. I was originally going to bail at Hereford to say bonjour to Mr Techniquest, but he was stuck at work due to a power failure (Asda forgot to put a 50p into the electric meter), so I remained on board all the way to Cardiff, where for the last few minutes dragged. Eventually Cardiff Central was reached, but I had no time other than to head towards platform 2 where 158959 was waiting working the next Portsmouth Harbour service, featuring working AC but both disabled toilets were locked out of use.
An uneventful run back, being put ahead of the HST doing a weave into the slows after Cardiff for a couple miles before weaving back over to the fasts (I was expecting to see the HST roar past us), the train getting extra busy at Bristol & Bath where it was standing down the aisles [when I went to the toilet, the rear coach still had empty seats!], lost a few minutes due to dwell times (A massive shame the DMU order got cancelled a few years ago, 4-car 172s with interiors of 168s would have been great for this route). Anyhow with one eye on the clock we rolled into Salisbury at 17:44 which would give me 3 minutes to get to whatever platform the 17:47 Waterloo was on, platform 2 so it must have been held at a reversing point (as I believe the unit which forms the 17:47 is the rear unit from the 15:50 Waterloo Yeovil).
We regret the 17:47 London Waterloo service has been cancelled due to a shortage of trains (cue the guard & driver looking confused and quickly getting on their phones). Basically due to the overrun at Waterloo, services were all over the place, however a few minutes later the service was uncancelled with spare 159006 being kicked into life and arriving from the depot. As it rolled through the former platform 1 to reverse and return into platform 2, departing around 15 minutes late. Better than an hour delay (or even a 30 minute delay if control decided to put in additional stops into the 18:20), anyhow I made it home at a decent time to relax, unpack and make a start with my logs.
In summary, I was quite pleased my plans worked out, the Heart of Wales line has fallen, leaving just 49 stations left to board/alight at, the end is in sight. I will leave you a picture of a 153 departing a rural Powys station
153353 at Llangynllo
158885 at Salisbury
A bottle of South Western Railway Water
