sftfan's Track Clearance Adventure

[sftfan1909]

Hi all. I've enjoyed reading trip reports on this thread for a while now and have been debating writing my own - I'd like to have a record of, and be able to look back on the things I've done in the past. I figured it's worth a try to have something to kill spare time with and who knows, I might enjoy it

My mission at present is to cover every line on the National Rail 'all stations route map' including any of the PSUL movements it shows - I will leave the rest of them until last unless I can fit them in. I try and fit in shacks where I can and in areas I've already got full route coverage for. I'd estimate that I have covered at least 50% of all NR track since my rail interest began in 2016. I'm based either in Barry or in Chippenham for my trips.

I'll start with something small I did today:

9th July 2019

For something to get out of the house, I chose to visit Fishguard today as it is one of a few routes in my home country I haven't covered yet (the others being Milford Haven, the line to Aberystwyth/Pwllheli and Shotton-Wrexham Central). I opted to catch the 1100 from Swansea, booked to skip Carmarthen and on the return leg run via the Swansea District Line.

I took to 143605 working the 09:18 to Aberdare this morning (all Welsh pacers are dud for me) arriving into Cardiff for a smooth connection onto 800313 working the 09:52 Swansea. It's been a while since I travelled west of Cardiff on a regular service so it was interesting to note how quiet the service seemed to be. I was a bit worried about making it to Swansea on time as I'd spotted reports of animals on the line between Bridgend and Cardiff when I woke up, but it had been cleared by the time I departed so I had a nice run to Swansea. 150262 and 142010 were sat together in platform 1 with the blind on the 150 showing 'Fishguard Hbr' but on closer inspection they were uncoupled, meaning it would be just the 142 forming my service today.

I was interested to find out how busy the 'boat train' would be down to Fishguard. There were a group of teens who were on some expedition or trip that boarded, along with a fair amount of ferry passengers, but there were few people who boarded or alighted at intermediate stations. It was a speedy ride down to Whitland, everything afterwards being new track for me. We stopped at the signal box just after Clarbeston Road before proceeding onto the Fishguard branch. Being mostly jointed track, it was a bouncy ride down the line, pausing briefly at Fishguard & Goodwick before arriving into Fishguard Harbour.

As the rest of the passengers set off to check in for the ferry, I began a short 7-8 minute walk down the road to Fishguard & Goodwick, surprisingly not attracting any attention from Stena Line staff or anyone else wondering why I was strolling back towards Fishguard. A quick visit to the café and I took a seat on the grit bin for a mild wait until 142010 rolled back in to take me onwards. Pausing at Carmarthen, I jumped out, making use of the 7-minute turnaround to visit the shop on the platform. I then got back on board to continue up to Cardiff...

...or so we were supposed to. Approaching Llanelli, we slowed down for the station before suddenly grinding quite violently to a halt. It was another 10 minutes before we got going and pulled into the platform at Llanelli, only to sit for another 5 minutes before getting turfed off - our train had a fault and couldn't go further. Really annoyingly, this meant I wouldn't get the Swansea District Line done today and I'll have to return.

Not the end of the world though, as we all waited for the 14:30 Manchester service, formed of 175004 which was surprisingly my first 2-car 175 of the year. A slower run via Swansea later and we pulled into platform 2. Lots of people crowded around trying to board the 175, right up against everyone who was trying to leave the platform. A short walk to p8 later and I boarded the 15:55 service back home, today formed of 150230.

It was a pleasant little jaunt to Fishguard and back instead of being stuck inside all day. It was a shame about the cancellation at Llanelli but at least I get some delay repay out of it.

 

[sftfan1909]

14th July 2019

A short trip with friends to Heathrow saw me getting my first 332s, as well as a 360, but more importantly clearing the tube and rail lines in the Heathrow area except for the main line connection.

15th July 2019

While searching for cheap coach tickets to have a bit of an interesting day out, I managed to get a return to London Victoria for just £8.8 and decided to use the day finishing off my last pieces of the Chiltern main line and the WCML.

My coach was to be the 05:40 departure from Chippenham so it was an early start to board for the 3hr 10 journey via Heathrow. It was a pleasant enough journey spent reading a book and cursing the constant M4 roadworks which never seem to stop!

Arriving into Victoria a few minutes late, I took to the Victoria line for a short LU spin. I took 11084/11083 to Green Park, Piccadilly line units 121/134 to Piccadilly Circus and Bakerloo units 3450/3232 up to Marylebone. I was hoping to purchase my West Midlands day ranger here to allow me to continue to Warwick (my advance was as far as Leamington) but the queue was too long so I left it to board 168108 for the nice run up to Leamington Spa, scoring new track between the two Denham stations and through Bicester North, completing the CML for me.

I bought my day ranger and headed to the lovely garden to see some 68s while awaiting my service, the 11:32 for Stratford-on-Avon, today formed of dud 165017. At the time of writing I don't know where I'm taking this service to as I planned to make a -3 (GBTT) connection at the terminus but as this train is late I may bail at Stratford Parkway, I'll continue writing later

I chose to jump out at Stratford Parkway as I decided getting my planned train back up was more worthwhile than missing the connection - I will visit the terminus when I do the route via Whitlocks End. Anyway it was a short fester for 172331/172342 on a nice run up to Birmingham Moor Street, scoring the left hand side of the triangle with the CML. I took the short walk to Birmingham New Street and detoured via Tesco for some food before heading down for the 13:20 service to Rugeley, formed of 350120.

The line is nothing particularly special, although I was definitely silently judging a lot of my surrounding passengers, especially the loud group of girls messing about and getting worried about being caught fare dodging

anyway I soon arrived into Rugeley Trent Valley and jumped out for a quick photo before hopping back on board back to Walsall. Walsall was pleasant enough as I watched a 37 pass through light engine. I was surprised that my Wolverhampton-bound service was a 350 instead of a 323, but it was no matter as I boarded 350233 for a short run to Tame Bridge Parkway where I awaited the 15:20 service formed of 350101 back to New Street, clearing the direct line (not via Perry Barr.)

Rugeley Trent Valley

I had about 10 minutes to wait here as I was down by about 20 minutes on my original plan to do cross-city line shacks - I didn't realise my Rugeley-bound service was routed via Perry Barr and had to change my return journey to get the other line in, although it was no matter as I managed to fit Tame Bridge in instead. I took to the 323s: first up 323221 to Bournville, a shack requiring a long walk to change platforms which seems to be a common feature on this line. Next I took 323206 north to Five Ways before heading back south to Longbridge with 323207. I traversed the long bridge at Longbridge to reach 323217, taking it one stop to Northfield.

As I ascended the stairs from the subway onto the platform, 323204 was sat unloading passengers, so it was back to Longbridge for the novelty on travelling on two services due to depart at 16:52 after one another

I waited at Longbridge for 323240 to take me to the end of the line at Redditch, in the process clearing the branch from Barnt Green. A short look-around later and it was back on board to head back to Birmingham for the final time.
I strolled over to platform 1 to find 350239 sat ready to form the 18:33 Euston service which was showing as 'formed of 8 coaches' so I turned around and spotted 350128 pulling in behind the other 350. It released its doors allowing me to take a seat in the better subclass before locking them again to couple to 350239, unlocking the doors again afterwards. A slightly confusing process but it didn't matter too much. Departing a few minutes down we began our journey to Euston, during which I wrote this far in the report, which will be continued...

323240 at Redditch

...now: A nice run down to Euston was had, going via Northampton and Watford Junction to clear the last bits of the WCML for me between London and Manchester/Liverpool/Glasgow and the assorted branches

(I still need the section to Edinburgh but I don't really count that as WCML) Mission for the day complete, I took advantage of my 55 minute time frame in which to make it back to Victoria to have a short spin on my favourite tube line, the Victoria line, as noted below:

11093 + 11094 Euston - Warren Street
11081 + 11082 Warren Street - Oxford Circus
11051 + 11052 Oxford Circus - Green Park
11063 + 11064 Green Park - Victoria
11045 + 11046 Victoria - Pimlico
11034 + 11033 Pimlico - Victoria

Pimlico was my last Victoria line shack as I've had the other 15 previously, so glad to tick off a tube line also

Upon arrival back at Victoria I took a short walk to the coach station and awaited the 21:30 departure back towards Chippenham. I noticed a service on the departure board which has given me an idea for another long trip involving coaches but that will wait for another time.

Overall, a fantastic trip which I am glad I was able to pick up cheap fares for. Two main lines, (almost) three other lines and a tube line cleared as well as a few shacks. Next time I use the coach to London I will probably alight at Earls Court as it would save time by catching the tube instead of sitting through another half-hour of the crawl to Victoria, although I already have coach tickets for next week so will have to stay on until the end.

A dark Pimlico

 

[PeterY]

It sounds like you've had some great trips.

I did the Fishguard branch back in June. Pacer heaven along the jointed track .

I've nothing planned now until September.

 

[sftfan1909]

It sounds like you've had some great trips.

I did the Fishguard branch back in June. Pacer heaven along the jointed track .

I've nothing planned now until September.

I have indeed, I should have started writing a couple months ago to tell the story of my FONW rover

I agree that pacers definitely add character to many lines, it'll be a shame when they're gone especially since I've grown up with them

 

[Techniquest]

If your coach calls at Earls Court on the way into London, surely just bail there anyway? Coming back might be awkward though! Also worth noting I did just that last time I was in London, decided I'd had enough and alighted at Earls Court when we dropped someone else. Only thing is, I believe it was on Cromwell Road (near-ish the Premier Inn and easyHotel anyway) so it was quite a few minutes to Earls Court LU. Even for someone who walks fast like myself, it was nearly 10 minutes between coach and LU. If you plan to use Earls Court off the coach, I would recommend checking where it stops.

Certainly looks like you had a very productive time though!

 

[sftfan1909]

I plan to use Victoria coming back anyway, but on the way up I settled on asking the driver if jumping off at Earls Court was okay just to avoid getting into trouble in case they don't like it

Even if it is a 10 minute walk I think the time saving will be worth it considering I'm heading west anyway

 

[sftfan1909]

22nd July 2019

I booked coach tickets for today to have a day in London with a friend (TGW Bahn) and for the second week running take advantage of cheap National Express fares. Unlike last week where I caught the 05:40, today we caught the 07:30 so we wouldn't have to fork out lots of money on an anytime travelcard for just 40 minutes of peak time travel.

Our decision to use the coach instantly backfired on us as by the time we had arrived at the coach stop, 10 minuted prior to departure, it still hadn't left Bath! Taking a seat on the wall, we watched on the coach tracker as the delay increased, the coach finally leaving 50 minutes behind schedule. We departed Chippenham exactly an hour behind, putting our initial plan in the bin - we intended to bail early at Earls Court and head up to South Ruislip for the parliamentary West Ealing service.

Straightaway having one goal for today gutted was pretty annoying but I was more irritated by the lack of information by both our driver and the customer service team about why our coach was late. Oh well, there was nothing we could do so we carried on. Pausing at Reading, the driver announced he would be skipping Earls Court (

) and carrying on straight to Victoria. We crawled through Chiswick and Chelsea before arriving at Victoria just over an hour behind. We headed to Kings Cross for a short visit via 11046 + 11045 before continuing to Euston on 51710 + 51560. From Euston it was to South Kenton with 378221, then with 378209 to take us to Harrow & Wealdstone. 378206 picked us up for one stop to Kenton before we joined Bakerloo stock 3267 + 3457 down to Wembley Central.


London King's Cross

We were ahead of schedule slightly by this point so had a more leisurely connection onto 350118 to Euston. It was interesting leaving from the fast platforms as they came across fairly eerie and quiet. At Euston it was down to the Northern line with 51718 + 51616 taking us for a run down to Kennington. We crossed over back to the northbound Charing Cross platforms to wait for the service to arrive from around the loop before rejoining for a short run up to Waterloo. Then it was back onto the southbound platforms to board 51565 + 51566 down to Kennington, pausing in the platform for a few rounds of "this train terminates here" over the PA before the doors closed and we departed for the trip around the loop.

We enjoy the quiet of the loop for a few minutes before arriving back into Kennington and then heading up to Embankment, where due to a bit of misunderstanding we were trying to head to Victoria instead of our actual move to Elephant & Castle. It was back down to the tube with Bakerloo 3246 + 3451 taking us to the Zone 1 terminus of Elephant & Castle. Making the short walk to the NR platforms, we were looking for food options which were a bit scarce inside the little shopping centre, so we gave up and headed in to be greeted with all services being shown as "Cancelled"...

Because apparently there was a gas leak somewhere on the line, services were suspended so we took a u-turn and headed once again to the Bakerloo line for 3248 + 3449 to take us to Waterloo. Finally breaking free from the hot stuffy tube, we took to the hotter stuffier suburban SWR services by jumping on 456017 + 455732 + 455908 to Earlsfield. At this point we had an argument with the ticket barriers which decided to let us exit one platform and denied us entry to the other, as well as where we had just left. We were stuck outside the station but we hung around knowing that there should be a staff member manning the barriers. Luckily they soon emerged from thin air and we gained entry back on the platform

As we were now due to make some time-wasting moves around South London before catching up with a specific service from Streatham Hill, I wisely decided to check if said service was cancelled. Of course, the 1617 Streatham Hill - London Bridge was cancelled which meant the second main goal of the day fell apart - this service uses the Leigham spur to go straight to Tulse Hill. Luckily since we had spotted it early on, we were able to make a swift change of plans and head to the ECML, something we hoped to do anyway but decided against it while planning. We took 455859 + 455868 + 456005 past our intended stop at Clapham to Vauxhall, changing for Victoria line stock 11046 + 11045 to take us to Finsbury Park. The plan was to aim for a 717 but also to have a little time at either Harringay or Hornsey just to chill out in the heat. Settling on Harringay, we headed up by means of 313057 + 313061. We let a 717 go to wait 15 minutes for 313047 + 313048 back down south to Drayton Park, alighting for 313044 + 313052 to take us to Highbury & Islington. We needed to head to Waterloo for the 1736 Hampton Court service, but with only 5 minutes wait between services we couldn't resist one more shot at a 717.

Our fester was rewarded with 717013 for a short leap to Old Street, particularly satisfying for me as after I finally chased one down for the first time I leapt on only for it to get cancelled at the platform! Anyway it was then to the Northern line again for 51623 + 51719 taking us to the overcrowded Bank before a W&C spin via 65506 + 65505. Hurrying up to platform 2, we made our service with a minute to spare, formed of busy 455901 + 455720 which I took to Thames Ditton while my friend stayed on - I've been to Hampton Court so bailed for the shack. Rejoining the service a short while later, we headed to New Malden where we were able to catch a late running 456018 + 455704 + 455905 to Teddington. We had a very risky 3 minute connection at Strawberry Hill onto a Shepperton service that takes the top side of the triangle, so we were concerned when our service to Strawberry Hill was running 6 minutes late. Luckily it was able to catch up time by not spending a few minutes dwelling at Kingston (not Kings Norton!) so our connection was tighter than comfortable but still very possible. We positioned ourselves at the rear as 707026 + 707021 rolled in for the leap to Strawberry Hill. Walking quickly (I don't run for trains

) over the footbridge we had time to spare as 458520 + 458506 arrived to take us one stop to Fulwell. We'd planned to visit Hampton but because of the slight delay bailed early.

It was good to have at least one out of three (!) main things for this trip done, so our spirits were high as we hopped on 455914 + 455860 to take us back to Clapham Junction where we paused for a food break. To kill time before heading to Victoria, we took 450559 + 450089 to Wandsworth Town and 707028 + 707025 back. Finally we took 377609 + 377616 to Battersea Park and 377604 + 377601 to Victoria. A toilet stop later and it was to the coach station for the relatively quick journey back to Chippenham, arriving at about 23:45.

It was a hot day full of ups and downs but it was definitely very fun. It was a shame to miss out on two of the main services we wanted to do but it just gives me an excuse for my next London visit, which I very much look forward to

The Kennington Loop

23rd July 2019

I wrote the second half of the above trip report while I've been sat on my mini HST back to Cardiff, which deserves mention thanks to the disruption of services this evening. This service is currently running half an hour late while the 18:54 from Bristol to Cardiff was over 40 minutes late in leaving. That's not to mention the mass of people who joined the service thinking it was the Cheltenham, caused by a lack of communication at Bristol about which service was which. Still, could be worse; I could have been stuck with a noisy rude family on the run to Newport! Oh wait, I have been

 

[Techniquest]

I'm surprised you were allowed to do the loop at Kennington! Also, I have no idea where your delayed train to Strawberry Hill would have been booked to wait but I'm fairly certain it wouldn't have been Kings Norton. Just a few miles away...

 

[TGW Bahn]

Lol Kings Norton?

 

[sftfan1909]

Oops that's supposed to be Kingston

I'm surprised you were allowed to do the loop at Kennington!

We weren't, we just sat in the back carriage where it was quietest and the only other person didn't really care that we weren't standing to get off as we arrived. As long as there are no platform staff it's fine as I believe the loop's insured for passengers because the announcements on board when you're in it say it'll be arriving back in Kennington. If there are staff, it might be going into the siding so they chuck you off!

 

[Techniquest]

Fair enough, worth noting if I ever fancy getting properly back into scoring new track!

 

[PeterY]

I hope you didn't have a seat booked for the South Ruislip to Ealing train . When I did it, I was the only person on the train.
It's always a pain when plans go pear shaped, I always have a plan "B" .
I've always fancied doing the Kennington loop but never had the guts to stay on.

 

[sftfan1909]

I've done the loop three times now, I chickened out on my first attempt and then went straight back to actually do it

If my current idea holds up, I will be doing the West Ealing and the Streatham Hill trains in mid-August on my next weekday London trip which comes after I arrive in Euston on the sleeper from Fort William

 

[Kite159]

Other than the farce with the coach being delayed and the Southern service getting cancelled sounded like a productive day in London

 

[sftfan1909]

Later I'll post days 1 and 2 of my South Wales rover I'm currently doing

I received my sleeper tickets to/from Fort William yesterday. I'm planning on heading to Mallaig as well as visiting a couple shacks. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice about ticks? I'm not sure how likely getting bitten by walking on the side of the A830 is

 

[Cowley]

I'm wondering if anyone has any advice about ticks? I'm not sure how likely getting bitten by walking on the side of the A830 is

Yes. Avoid going into bushes to have a wee.
I found out that was a bad idea twice. Once in Scotland and once in Wales...
Just go behind a tree or wall if you’re caught short.

 

[sftfan1909]

Yes. Avoid going into bushes to have a wee.
I found out that was a bad idea twice. Once in Scotland and once in Wales...
Just go behind a tree or wall if you’re caught short.

I shall bear that in mind

 

[Cowley]

I shall bear that in mind

It wasn’t a fun experience. Especially the one I bought back from Wales that I didn’t notice for 24 hours.

 

[TGW Bahn]

Later I'll post days 1 and 2 of my South Wales rover I'm currently doing

I received my sleeper tickets to/from Fort William yesterday. I'm planning on heading to Mallaig as well as visiting a couple shacks. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice about ticks? I'm not sure how likely getting bitten by walking on the side of the A830 is

As long as you have your legs and arms covered you'll most likely be fine. They usually wait on ferns and low bushes around knee/leg height. Just be careful and wary.

 

[sftfan1909]

27th July 2019

Quick intro: I decided to use the period of the 27th - 3rd by doing an Explore South Wales rover, which allows me to mop up some shacks and also the Milford Haven branch which I've left undone for so long. It's pretty good value for 4 days with the area it covers, a lot of which isn't exactly South Wales I decided to use the two Saturdays, Monday and Wednesday for the rover to space things out and let me have two early starts. One Saturday would see me visiting [you'll find out after I write next Saturday's report] while the other involved some Heart of Wales line shacking. I planned to do [redacted] first but due to engineering works between Cardiff and Newport that messed up my plans, I swapped the Saturdays around. Which means:

Day One: The Heart of Wales Line

I walked to the station for the 07:18 service which was today formed of 142002 + 150237. I don't normally see a pacer + 150 combination on Saturdays so took a seat in the sprinter, hoping that the guard would not come round checking tickets so that I could simply buy my rover in Cardiff instead. Luckily he did not so it was down to the unpaid fares desk. The lady told me I would have to go to the actual ticket office which was a first for me as I've bought rovers from the unpaid fares desk perfectly fine before. It didn't matter as the ticket office sold me my ticket and it was back up to platform 6 for the 07:54 service to Milford Haven today. The engineering works closed off all platforms except 6, 7 and 8, the lines towards Newport and also the lines that run behind Canton. This meant that 175108 took the route via Ninian Park and the Leckwith loop, winning track for me I enjoyed the journey to Swansea, a route I don't travel particularly often, on a 175, a train I don't use particularly often. Soon enough we arrived into Swansea where I had just over 20 minutes to pop to Tesco and grab food. I realised when I picked up a water bottle that I'd left the house with one this morning, and I'd managed to leave it on the unpaid fares desk It didn't really matter in the end. I made my way back to the station and took a seat on 153353 on the 09:15 HoWL service, departing on time and running smoothly into Llanelli, reversing and then heading up the line. When requesting my stop, I was amused by being asked if I actually wanted to alight or just wanted to jump out, take a picture and then get back on again We stopped at every stop apart from passing Cynghordy, headed through the incredibly loud tunnel before slowing and stopping at Sugar Loaf.

150236 at Sugar Loaf

Once the least used shack in Wales (an honour now taken by Dolgarrog,) it was obviously fairly quiet. Although it is right next to an A-road, traffic was light and I was able to have a short walk around without being disturbed. Before I knew it, 150236 was arriving to take me back down the line, the crews having switched at Llanwrtyd rather than Llandrindod. I took a seat once more to head down to Ammanford. I now had about 1 3/4 hours until my next train, so took my time walking through the quiet streets, reaching the village of Pantyffynnon before reaching Pantyffynnon station itself. There was nothing really there, so I had a look at the freight sidings before taking a seat and reading for an hour. I was very thankful that I had a book to spend the time reading or I think I'd have been driven mad! Eventually a dogbox pairing of 153303 + 153312 arrived which I boarded to head north again, this time to Llangammarch. Another station that only serves a small village (a recurring theme with this line ,) there wasn't much to look at so I immediately began my walk to Garth. The majority of the walk was down a lane that wound its way up and down the terrain with semi-regular traffic that I kept having to avoid. I passed some fields of very loud sheep and a few barking dogs were hiding somewhere inviting me to speed up. Soon, I arrived at an A road, where I then headed down another side street lined with houses, at the end of which was a small turning before I discovered Garth station, neatly tucked in behind the houses. I'd timed my walk decently as I only had 10 minutes to wait in the nice shelter before 153353 rolled back in to take me all the way back to Swansea. The guard was having a bit of a discussion with a large group of passengers on this service which I couldn't hear clearly, but by the sounds of it they wanted tickets to Llangadog when the guard was trying to tell them tickets to Llangennech. I changed onto 800025 (single today due to the engineering work) and took it to Bridgend, beginning my final walk of the day. I had been intending on completing the Maesteg branch for shacks but my plan was immediately in doubt as I watched the late-running northbound service cross over the bridge as I was passing underneath. However, I decided I could simply wait a bit longer at Wildmill to catch the northbound service from there instead of going to Bridgend first. With that in mind, I headed through the town and reached Wildmill, a basic shack with no interesting features.

Wildmill station

I had a little while to wait here and was grateful that no one else was around, as I didn't put it past the local youths to decide to loiter around. Unfortunately, I was proved right as three of them turned up, trying to get my attention while discussing various - probably illegal - things I didn't particularly want to hear about At this point I realised that because of the time of day I wasn't particularly fond of hanging around youth hotspots and chose to catch the southbound service to Cardiff and head home early. Ten minutes of ignoring later, 150281 turned up, as I silently celebrated leaving Wildmill behind and never having to return We slowly headed towards Cardiff, going via Pencoed loop (more minor track clearance) and then once more through Ninian Park, arriving into Cardiff in time for me to catch the 20:41 service home, formed of 150241.

It was a shame about postponing the Maesteg shacks to a future Valley Lines ranger, but it wasn't the end of the world as I was happy the main part of the day ran to plan.

Llangammarch station


Garth station

29th July 2019

Day Two: Milford Haven

Being a weekday, I was unable to start until 09:33 which is late by my standards! My service was formed of 143607 + 143605, providing a standard and uneventful run up to Cardiff before I changed for 175005 to take me via Swansea and into Gowerton. It's a fairly basic shack, nothing too special, and it wasn't too long before 175007 came in to take me back to Swansea. I walked over to platform 4 and took a seat at the front of 150252 to head back over the West Wales line, this time to Pembrey & Burry Port. This was a much nicer station, and after I headed to the co-op to get some food, I took a seat on the platform and enjoyed a nice half hour wait, seeing one of the short HSTs on driver training runs passing by.

150252 at Pembrey & Burry Port

Soon enough dud 175111 turned up, which then took me via Carmarthen, heading down to Clarbeston Road before diverging onto new track, before reaching the end of the line at Milford Haven and leaving me with just the Swansea district line to go to clear South Wales for track. I celebrated by walking around the town for about two minutes before deciding it was a tip and I didn't like it (sorry if you live in Milford Haven!) I sat back down on the 175 and continued to read. What felt like a while later, we finally got moving again and this time I alighted at Clunderwen. I had taken a fair risk by not finding the guard, who had already seen my rover, to let her know I wanted to alight here, but luckily plenty of people wanted the train to stop so I was able to jump out. Changing platforms involves heading towards the main road, crossing the bridge and then going back down again, so it does take a couple minutes. I arrived to find that the next Milford Haven train was running 7 minutes late, which may not sound like a huge problem but I was planning on attempting to walk between Haverfordwest and Johnston, a walk which Google Maps was already telling me I didn't have enough time for even if the train was on time. On the bright side, I had the joy of newly TFW'd 175002 for the journey back down the line. Stupidly, I pressed forward with my plan by alighting at Haverfordwest and swiftly heading out of the station. I'd memorised the route which was simple - follow one A-road to a roundabout and then follow another one the rest of the way. I set off around 16:15 and had until 17:28 to make it to Johnston station.

175002 at Haverfordwest

It was raining, it was noisy and it was utterly boring walking down the side of a road seeing barely anything except constant traffic for over an hour. I was exhausted by the time I reached Johnston village four miles after leaving Haverfordwest, but the end was not in sight for I had to continue walking to find the station. Eventually sighting it, I walked slowly down the ramp into Johnston and glanced at the PIS which said "Cardiff Central 17:21" and to my horror the current time was 17:20:30!!! There was one other person on the platform which I stepped onto just as the 175 was pulling in. I got massively lucky here - it turned out I had both 17:21 and 17:28 written on my phone and looked at the wrong one Glad I had narrowly avoided another long wait, I remained on board all the way through to Cardiff and headed over to platform 7, hopping on 150257 for a short leap to Grangetown before 142081 pulled in to take me home for 2029.

T'was a short but productive day. Tomorrow (at time of posting) will be day 3, which will take me to the likes of... well, I won't spoil it

 

[Andy Pacer]

Sounds great, and some inspiration as I'm also doing an Explore South Wales this weekend (Friday to Monday).

 

[sftfan1909]

Sounds great, and some inspiration as I'm also doing an Explore South Wales this weekend (Friday to Monday).

Have a good time

 

[Techniquest]

I have to admit, the dogs inviting you to hurry up really made me chuckle!

Certainly been a very productive rover so far, I'm looking forward to seeing what else you get up to. Pencoed loop, despite many MANY journeys in South Wales in the mid 2000s, is a bit of track I never got. Leckwith Loop, however, I did too many times to count!

 

[Kite159]

Hope you've got good walking boots for the various walks, some a bit extreme for even me when I was doing stations the first time round! If you think Wildmill is dodgy, wait until Sarn

 

[heart-of-wessex]

Very interesting read! (Not read it until now so gone from start to end) would like to do a station bash with someone else who is doing it, much more interesting.

I still need most the H-o-W stations, Sugar Loaf done, Llandridnod on a tour and Ammanford also on a tour which stopped there for an hour (reasonable time on platform for me to count it).

As for Kennington loop, like many I've done it once no problem and I've gone with others who wasnt sure if they can so I've gone with them to show you can.

As for Wildmill that sounds like an unpleasant experience! I cant remember what it was like as it was a good 12 years ago, don't remember seeing youths about but equally thinking the area didn't seem that good.

I did walk between two shacks, cant remember if it was Wildmill to Sarn or Sarn to Tondu. Involved going through some park, through some hedges and over a small waterway to get between the two as a shortcut

 

[sftfan1909]

@Kite159 To be fair at least walking doubles my productivity and helps kill the time inbetween services

@heart-of-wessex Out of the lesser served shacks I have done so far, most of them I haven't done alone so I haven't been bored stiff

While I'm here, thank you everyone who has taken the time to read what I'm writing. I write these for myself as well as others but I'm happy I can at least provide some of you with entertainment in the process Day 3 of my rover was today so I'll probably write it up tomorrow morning

 

[Andy Pacer]

@sftfan1909 did you have problems opening the gate at Llangammarch?

 

[sftfan1909]

@sftfan1909 did you have problems opening the gate at Llangammarch?

I think I remember trying to open it the wrong way at first

 

[sftfan1909]

Thursday 1st August

I had two different ideas for day 3 of the rover. The first was to visit the four lesser-served shacks between Swansea and Port Talbot and the second was to visit the three between Newport and Hereford. However, after my planned journey over the Swansea district line fell apart a few weeks prior, I re-made my plan to include another attempt.

So it was to the 0933 again, this time with 142082 + 143602 getting the extra 7 miles and 14 chains to Cardiff Central. It was running late already yet the guard waited a few minutes at both Barry Docks and Cadoxton for some reason, delaying it further and lowering my +9 at Cardiff. The connection was made with no problem however and the 1004 was being worked by 175110 which was duly taken for the run to Swansea. I awaited the doors for my train to be released; while I was there the Fishguard service shut its doors and the interlock light on the back coach stayed lit, which was missed by the dispatcher. After a few minutes the doors were opened and closed again before it finally set off.

Soon enough an unhealthy-sounding 153312, dud from the Heart of Wales day, departed and took me one stop to Llansamlet, a basic shack which I was glad to leave on my only walk of the day, towards Skewen. I took it leisurely, actually taking longer than Google Maps suggested I would which is a first for me. I arrived at Skewen in good time for 142010 to bounce in on the 1203 to Llanelli. Strangely the two kids who alighted at my door asked me to push the button to open it from the outside, as if the one inside didn't exist! I took the 142 back to Swansea. My preferred food option here is to walk down to Tesco which is not too close but close enough that I made it back in plenty of time for the 1240 service, which as it happened was delayed. I had plenty of time at Carmarthen for my connection though so I was not concerned.


Skewen station

Dud 175111 turned up to take me to Carmarthen, where it was a short wait on the platform before 142080 arrived from Fishguard. I took a seat with abysmal legroom to head towards Llanelli, this time without any emergency brake applications, and then forward through Bynea and Llangennech before turning right and taking to the SDL. Rejoining the main line at Briton Ferry, I silently celebrated completing my track clearance in the rover area. It was then a fast run to Cardiff from Port Talbot before I changed for the next Ebbw Vale service. It was a short change because all I had to do was stay sat on the 142

A slow run later (the Ebbw Vale branch is my least favourite of the Valley lines,) we arrived into Rogerstone. I had planned to go to Risca & Pontyminster but as we were a few minutes down I bailed early. The PIS described the Bridgend service as being formed of 2 coaches. Would it be a 150? Possibly a 158? No, it was 153303 and 153327 which took me by surprise. They made easy work of the run back to Cardiff where there was an announcement to remind passengers that it was the Bridgend service. However we then arrived at platform 0 complete with loud announcements that it was the Ebbw Vale train. It left late back east, which was probably confusing for those travelling towards Bridgend.

There was disruption at Cardiff because the earlier Chester service had been cancelled as the train had failed. The 1630 Portsmouth left late and from the wrong end of platform 2. Soon 175010 arrived on the 16:50 Manchester, with two peak-time train loads attempting to cram into two carriages! I managed to get a seat for the run to Pontypool & New Inn. It amazes me how so many people are incapable of waiting a few minutes for another, less-packed Newport train and instead take seats away from those travelling further. Anyway I only had around 25 minutes to wait at Pontypool for 67012 to arrive with the WAG and carry me one stop north to Abergavenny. The train was getting later as it went as there was a guard being trained on the service, but I didn't mind as at least she was cheerful.


DVT 82307 at Abergavenny

I perched on the opposite platform, reached via a much more reasonable footbridge than the temporary one previously there. 175115 then arrived to take me down to Cwmbran where I had a short wait for 175105 to take me for a longer run towards Ludlow. I decided to travel this far up the line to see if it was as boring as I remembered it to be. However it was actually quite a nice run north. I decided my opinion was probably based on the fact that I did this journey twice in the dark at the extreme ends of the day

Ludlow was reached and I walked over the footbridge to await my service south, the peace only being broken by a group of youths biking down the stairs and making a racket. First in the fleet 175001 was to earn the mega miles south to Cardiff where the honours passed to 142069 to take me home for 10pm. A productive day and probably my favourite of the rover.


37025 at Cardiff Central

 

[Techniquest]

Certainly looks like a fun day was had, glad your journey up my local route was good!

Surprised you don't like the Ebbw Vale line, I like it. Been a long time since I last did the Valleys, might be time to revisit them!