West Country Location Advice

[thomas379]

I'm planning to travel from London to Bristol Parkway tomorrow, and looks like on my return journey I'll have some time to burn. I'm from the Anglia area, so almost everything that way will be required photo/haulage.

I'm considering stopping off at either Reading, Didcot or Swindon for some spotting before heading home.

Looking at the cost of a Rover ticket for the area, it looks like I won't get my moneys worth (leaving Bristol Parkway at 1300ish), so planning to use my Bristol Parkway -> Paddington ticket and splitting the journey. I've looked at RTT, and it looks like most of the freight will follow me, but equally well it wouldn't be the first time I've missed something obvious!

Any suggestions of how to make the most of my journey would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[30907]

I assume you have a flexible ticket.

You could change at Didcot and break your journey at one of the local stations to Tilehurst, which will get you the XC Voyagers and Southampton container freights.

I think I would opt to return via Temple Meads and Westbury, which gives you 165s, 158s and some freight - including the stone traffic heading towards Reading. NRE says it's valid.

Others may be able to suggest where to stop off (Reading West would pick up both lots of traffic, but I don't know how good it is).

 

[thomas379]

I assume you have a flexible ticket.

You could change at Didcot and break your journey at one of the local stations to Tilehurst, which will get you the XC Voyagers and Southampton container freights.

I think I would opt to return via Temple Meads and Westbury, which gives you 165s, 158s and some freight - including the stone traffic heading towards Reading. NRE says it's valid.

Others may be able to suggest where to stop off (Reading West would pick up both lots of traffic, but I don't know how good it is).

Thank you, that has given me some excellent food for thought.