“It's not an ‘obby, it's a lifestyle!” October 2019.
Day 15. 23rd October 2019
Yawn. (I seem to start quite a lot of reports with that word!) That wasn't the best night sleep I've ever had if I'm honest. Not really sure why as it was nothing to do with the accommodation but hey ho.
To The Solent!
I boarded the 07:13 (uggh. Far too early.) to Portsmouth and Southsea in order to catch the Hovercraft across the Solent. I had some unfinished business to deal with on the Isle of Wight. I'd gone down in June to do the Island Line stations and had a good day despite the diabolical weather. However I missed one. Smallbrook Junction. I was aware of the situation that it only has trains calling when the IoW steam railway runs but, as the calls were displayed on RTT, the NRE app and even SWR's own website, I didn't expect an issue. However the train went straight through! I obviously collared the guard over that and he told me they didn't stop unless the Steam Railway was running. When I mentioned the stops were even shown on SWR’s own website, he did admit that was rather poor! Anyway, that's in the past. Onto today.
444042 took me down to Portsmouth and Southsea where I alighted to await the Hoverbus. (Don't get too excited people, it doesn't actually hover...) Stagecoach's 36925 eventually arrived, after saying “7 mins" for a long time and took me down to the Hoverport. I headed across the Solent half an hour earlier than planned with “Island Flyer” doing the honours this morning. Apparently this is the only regular commercial hovercraft in the world. So that was something a little different. It surprised me last time I came across that we rocked like a boat, but I suppose it makes sense when you think about it. It's only a 10 minute crossing but quite an interesting experience if you've never done it before. We landed in Ryde and I headed over to the bus station.
Why the bus move? Well. When I came here last time, I was unaware of the ‘Spoons in Newport. So off on route 9 I go! Southern Vectis buses are rather expensive but apparently they don't receive any subsidy so all revenue (and profit of course) is from the fare box. Still, £3.50 for a single to Newport didn't seem any higher than on the mainland-though that's to encourage you to buy a day ticket for £4-5 on the mainland. The day ticket here costs £10. E400 1619 was my taxi to the pub this morning along a very scenic route to Newport. The Man in The Moon is a short walk from the bus station and produced a great breakfast as ‘Spoons usually do.
It was time to head back to Ryde, E400 1618 was my taxi to do so. I hadn't really thought of the IoW being as big as it actually is, I certainly wasn't expecting towns and busy(ish) dual carriageways! I headed back to Ryde Esplanade to await my train. I was surprised, and impressed, at how many of the Island Line+IoW Steam Railway rovers that were being sold. As a result of that when 483008 clattered in, it was quite busy! It's a short and lively ride to Smallbrook Junction where a large proportion of the passengers alighted.
Could I REALLY come all this way and make so much effort to visit the station that serves the Steam Railway then not go on it, on a pleasant day such as this? Nah. No chance! I'd booked my rover in advance (about 10 minutes before boarding the train!) As it's a couple of quid cheaper. You still have to go to the booking office and collect your ticket though, which is good. The idea of sitting in a Mk1 carriage showing an E-ticket to a BR era ticket inspector is just wrong on so many levels!
I don't do steam. I'm a diesel man, so I've no idea what class of loco was running. There was just the one train out and it was 41298. The train was absolutely rammed! It's former Southern Region compartment stock that runs and a good couple of carriages were completely booked out by a coach party. The train was already busy with people who'd come from Havenstreet, the main stop for the railway. I joined a family in the emptiest compartment I could find near the back of the train for the run up to Wootton, somewhere I'd already been through by bus. The scenery is lovely on this line, I'd highly recommend a visit. It felt like a decent length journey as well. There were old IoW network maps in the coaches-I couldn't believe how many lines there'd once been! I bailed at Wootton, along with most of the train to see the loco run round and of course get that all important picture of the station sign.
Before I boarded I went and found the conductor to inform him I wished to alight at Ashey. He took note of where I was sitting so the train could be stopped accordingly. There's not an awful lot at Ashey so I simply took a seat and waited for the kettle to return. It duly did, I made my intent clear and commenced the scramble to find a compartment. No standing room on these of course! I travelled up to Havenstreet, the centre of the line. Or, as it seemed today, the centre of the known universe! I couldn't believe how busy the place was! It's a Tuesday morning in mid October and they actually had to turn a couple of people away from the Wootton bound train. That's quite something.
I had a wonder round the shop and museum before returning to join the queue to board. No standing on the platform here! (Now, where have I heard that before...) The train arrived and a phenomenal number of people poured off onto the narrow island platform, North of 200 people easily. I boarded and somehow managed to get a private compartment for the journey back to Smallbrook Junction. We were a little late so the Shanklin bound train had gone, but I had a sole mission now. Get back to the mainland. I thanked the volunteers who were greeting people off the Island Line train and mentioned the issue I had in June. He told me I'd picked one of FOUR days that they weren't running. Ouch.
In hindsight, I was glad of that though. I wouldn't have done the IoW Steam Railway otherwise and that'd have been quite something to miss out on. Smallbrook Junction itself is unique in only existing to serve a heritage railway and secondly in having no access other than by rail. Not even Redcar British Steel can make that second claim as it does have access, just not to the public. 483008 (again) dropped in to take me up to Ryde Esplanade, almost certainly my last trip on the ’38 stock. If you've never been on the Island Line, it's something I'd recommend you do as it's so quirky and unique. I got the obligatory picture of the train leaving onto the pier (obviously) before heading over to the Hoverport. Solent Flyer took me back over to the mainland and, though not as bad as last time, the return crossing was also a bit on the rough side.
After a quick bus move to Portsmouth Harbour, I boarded 444045+444022 for the mega mileage leap to Portsmouth & Southsea. I'd returned across the Solent earlier than planned so I had plenty of time to bail here for a winner ‘Spoons. A swift pint was enjoyed in The Isambard Kingdom Brunel before returning to the trains. I was slightly early for my planned move so hopped onboard 450101+450126 for a run to Fratton. I put phone on the wireless charging point in 1st class which I was stood immediately outside. This baffled the guard as he hadn't seen me do it and wondered where this phone had just appeared from! Obviously I put him out of his misery and told him.
I was stood here for a few minutes before taking 158958 through to Salisbury. This was the first time I'd seen the line to Southampton in daylight and it's surprisingly scenic in places. Obviously once you get into Southampton itself the view becomes very industrial, very quickly. There's no easy way to make that look nice... we picked up a fair amount of people at Southampton Central, most of whom were seemingly avoiding going round and round as they bailed at Romsey. This was the first time I'd done the line from Romsey to Salisbury in daylight so it was nice to see it! I alighted at Salisbury and headed over to the Waterloo service. To the 159s!
159001 was already sat on the platform but the PIS was predicting a delay. Hmm... turned out the portion from Exeter was running late, this was formed of 159005. After a quick bang up the rear we were away. These things can certainly sprint! Again, another pleasant scenic trip was to be had before bailing at Overton which felt a lot further from Salisbury than I'd expected it to.
The next Westbound service was still fairly well loaded with 159105+158887+158880 doing the honours. I headed to Andover on this service in order to double back to get Whitchurch. Got to take advantage of peak frequency haven't you! The same guard who took me to Chandler’s Ford the previous night was working this service and he was keen to hear how I'd got on over on the Island. I bailed off 159002 a short while later and again crossed over to head West. This was another triple unit formed of 159004+158884 and an unknown Brother. A disaster happened on this train. As I was walking along, I could feel a wet patch on my trousers... (Nope. Not there!) An adult beverage had decided to explode it's contents into my bag! Grr! I did what I could with bog roll and emptied out the rubbish I didn't really need, but I knew I was still going to be a walking brewery for a day or two.
I bailed out at the celebrity shack of Grateley, though Lord Kite wasn't home. I spent the fester going over my plans and trying to keep warm! I worked out I'd have enough time for a Spoons move if I was fairly quick at Salisbury, so that was something at least. 159015+158890+159009 took me back to Salisbury for said Spoons.
Where to start... Oh dear. What a let down that was! I was greeted by signs informing you that there was a reduced menu due to an equipment failure. Fair enough I thought. Things happen. That was just the tip of the iceberg! I took a seat and looked at the menu. Wow. It had been decimated. Everything was on one side of A4! The only burgers were grilled chicken burgers. I'd quite fancied an Empire State Burger but that was obviously off the menu. I decided on a ham+cheese panini and opened the app... which despite having details of the reduced menu, had been switched off! Great... over to the bar and do it the old fashioned way. 10 minutes later I finally got served. For most of those 10 minutes there was just one person serving. If it hadn't been a required Spoons I'd have walked out for sure. I wasn't waiting long before my food arrived. A slightly burnt panini and... salad?? I questioned the lack of chips and was told, very apologetically, that the fryer was faulty so no chips. “did they not tell you at the bar?” Nope. I'd have ordered pizza if they did! I've since found out it's apparently been like that for weeks, so I look forward to hearing back from my complaint.
After one of the most disappointing meals I've ever had, I headed back up to the station and boarded 166212 to Romsey. Yup. It was time to go round and round! 158886 had the honour of taking me on the delightful journey round to St. Denys this evening. I bailed here in order to pick up 450005 towards Portsmouth, simple easy shack score that way. I took 450005 to Netley for a short fester. The stations on this line are... functional. They aren't particularly pleasant places to be at, just a simple 2 platform job with a couple of benches and a PIS Screen. Which is fine, just a little cold at this time of year! Next up was 450021 one stop back up the line to Sholing. I had a fairly long fester here as I was waiting for the unit I'd just alighted to return from Southampton. I was very grateful when it did so! This was the last service, so I'd be staying onboard until Fratton. Or... not. There was an ex Waterloo due about 15 minutes behind us at Fareham. That service also called at Portchester.
Easy decision! I left 450021 at Portchester in order to wait for the service behind, noticing a large floodlit area at some altitude above us. A quick look at the maps suggested this was part of motorway road work. Not just us M6/62 drivers that have to put up with that joy then! After a brief wait, 450108 dropped in to take me back to Fratton and bed.