The Final Instalment of my 3 Day rover
Tuesday 1st May
A trusty trip into Glasgow was assured by Bus into Glasgow , however my plan had changed 3 times by the time I got into Glasgow.
I arrived at Glasgow Queen Street at around 10:40 thinking a move to Edinburgh on the 10:45 departure would start the day. Noticing the coffee shop , I decided to fill up on coffee before I set sail. Not plain sailing , as I looked round after purchasing my Coffee , the 10:45 was on its way.
Looked about , next one 11:00. So an idea popped into my head. I joined the 10:48 Glasgow Queen Street to Dunblane (2N49) and had a run in 158717 in de-classified First Class. Wasn't too comfy but none the less. Took that train to Croy. All going well so far.
At Croy I had a few minutes wait till 1R88 (11:00 Glasgow - Edinburgh) arrived. With Croy being on a bend its awkward to see Eastbound trains approaching but with luck there were trackmen at the West end of the station. Minutes later , the familiar 2 tone horn was heard and 170423 appeared round the corner. A swift scurry through to Edinburgh , virtually ontime.
By now I was in 2 minds what to do. Fife Circle or North Berwick. Nope , 12:03 for Dunblane (2P37) prevailed and turned up 170409. My plan now was to get to Alloa. After consulting the timetable , I found a change at Stirling was only about 5 minutes , but this included a walk over the (old) footbridge and the chance if there were problems I could blow the trip! Plans were revised and I picked up the 12:18 Glasgow Queen Street - Alloa service (2N69) formed of 170395.
Never took note of the area up to Stirling until we got there. A few minutes dwell time (I could have made the change here) and a fresh crew , we set sail for Alloa spot on time.
Having never noticed anything using the line prior to its reopening in 2008 , I thought to myself "The amount of times I travelled along the adjacent road and wondered when that line would get reopened" , funny that , was near 15 years ago since I'd thought that. Anyway , a fair pace along the line (Line speed 70mph) we zipped over a few level crossings on the way and continued into Alloa. Having checked the timetable , arriving at 13:13 and to depart at 13:41 there was plenty time to get some food.
Upon arrival , the handful of people on the train (including myself) alighted to a fairly pleasant Alloa (no disrespect to the locals). Wondering where to get some food , i nearly went A over T on finding an Asda literally 1 minutes walk from the station!. So , supplies loaded , I returned to the station and had a quick smoke before boarding 170395 on 2N60 to Stirling.
It was ironic sitting having my lunch on the train beside the former Buffet Car (for those that don't know , FSR's 170 fleet from 393 - 396 have buffet cars from the days when Hull Trains ran them from Kings X to Hull although they are not used in Scotrail).
After a swift gallop to Stirling I opted for the leap for the 13:55 to Dunblane (2P39) on ex Strathclyde 170475.
Upon arrival at Dunblane , I boarded 2N38 (170393) for Glasgow Queen St and headed home as I'd thing's to do.
That was day 2 , now for day 3.
Wednesday 2nd May
A slightly different day as I was joined by a friend for some touring about.
We headed from Glasgow Central on 156496 on the 11:05 Glasgow Central to Edinburgh via Shotts semi fast service (1Y80) , expected a 158 on this service but I was content.
After arrival at Edinburgh , a trip to Boots for a meal deal then onto 380107 for the gallop to North Berwick (12:43 dep , 2Y02)
A quick run down the ECML calling all stops and then a sedate run down the Branch from Drem. Now , for some reason it felt as if the train was crawling along to North Berwick , and it was smoother. Last time I did that branch was on a 305 which bounced and swayed and clickety clacked all the way down the branch. The 380 was a BIG difference and I still preferred when the 305's did that run!
Anyway , after a short turn around , smoke and leg stretch , 380107 returned on 2Y03 13:27 to Edinburgh Waverley. On the run back the conductor came through , very cheerfully asking for tickets. She seemed happy so I assumed she had just started. Around Longniddry a passenger opposite had forgot to get a ticket from the machine prior to boarding but the Conductor gave the passenger the benefit of the doubt. She put the hand held card reader on the seat beside me. I couldn't resist a joke and said "Oooh , a present for me? How kind" , She replied "You can keep it , it doesn't work" to which I just laughed and she headed off down the train again.
Once back into Edinburgh it was time to view the departure screens and pick our next chariot. 170396 was waiting for custom and as I had been on the other 3 , it was rude not to travel on it. So we headed off to Inverkeithing on the 14:19 Cowdenbeath service (2G27).
After arrival at Inverkeithing , a short wait was had for the 14:35 Ex Edinburgh for Perth (1L05) which we took to the northern boundary of the Rover ticket which is Markinch.
We then waited for the 15:32 back to Edinburgh (found the train was 10 late owing to Signalling problems. Our train arrived formed of 170408 on the 12:46 Inverness - Edinburgh service (1B31). It was argued over what caused the delay. My friend said it'd have been the signalling problems at Inverness , I said more likely to be owing to the Landslip the previous day at Aviemore! I won the arguement
Next move was hoping to get both Fife Circle loco hauled sets for a run but one of the loco's was needed to collect a failed 67 up north so the intended service was a Unit. Skip that (haha , 67 , skip , geddit? er noo.) we then decided to get the 17:08 Fife Circle to Inverkeithing. Now , had plans gone right , it would have been the 17:21 loco hauled to Inverkeithing , Unit to Burntisland and get the 17:08 coming back to Edinburgh. Soot on the face as the plan had backfired.
A trip on 2G13 (67017) was had to Inverkeithing then an extended wait at inverkeithing (1hr 15mins) was had. My friend took a glallop to Edinburgh and back.
18:45 arrived and shortly after the 67 appeared again (Same one , same headcode). We duly boarded for Edinburgh. Interestingly enough , its noted in the timetable that if you change at Inverkeithing off the loco hauled and get a unit , you arrive 15 mins earlier in Edinburgh. I couldn't work that out initially. Well , after a rumble over the Forth rail bridge (comically for the FORTH time
) I noticed the signal indicating the route into the Up Loop at Dalmeny was on the cards. There's one for the track bashers! Anyway , after a 10 minute wait in the loop and a 170 to overtake , we were on our way. Arrival at Edinburgh was bang on time.
Food was then consumed before a trip on 170418 on 1R83 , 20:00 Edinburgh - Glasgow via Falkirk.
Glasgow was reached ontime and then it was off for a quick pint or 2 then back home for a well deserved rest.
Hope you enjoyed reading this.
Tuesday 1st May
A trusty trip into Glasgow was assured by Bus into Glasgow , however my plan had changed 3 times by the time I got into Glasgow.
I arrived at Glasgow Queen Street at around 10:40 thinking a move to Edinburgh on the 10:45 departure would start the day. Noticing the coffee shop , I decided to fill up on coffee before I set sail. Not plain sailing , as I looked round after purchasing my Coffee , the 10:45 was on its way.
Looked about , next one 11:00. So an idea popped into my head. I joined the 10:48 Glasgow Queen Street to Dunblane (2N49) and had a run in 158717 in de-classified First Class. Wasn't too comfy but none the less. Took that train to Croy. All going well so far.
At Croy I had a few minutes wait till 1R88 (11:00 Glasgow - Edinburgh) arrived. With Croy being on a bend its awkward to see Eastbound trains approaching but with luck there were trackmen at the West end of the station. Minutes later , the familiar 2 tone horn was heard and 170423 appeared round the corner. A swift scurry through to Edinburgh , virtually ontime.
By now I was in 2 minds what to do. Fife Circle or North Berwick. Nope , 12:03 for Dunblane (2P37) prevailed and turned up 170409. My plan now was to get to Alloa. After consulting the timetable , I found a change at Stirling was only about 5 minutes , but this included a walk over the (old) footbridge and the chance if there were problems I could blow the trip! Plans were revised and I picked up the 12:18 Glasgow Queen Street - Alloa service (2N69) formed of 170395.
Never took note of the area up to Stirling until we got there. A few minutes dwell time (I could have made the change here) and a fresh crew , we set sail for Alloa spot on time.
Having never noticed anything using the line prior to its reopening in 2008 , I thought to myself "The amount of times I travelled along the adjacent road and wondered when that line would get reopened" , funny that , was near 15 years ago since I'd thought that. Anyway , a fair pace along the line (Line speed 70mph) we zipped over a few level crossings on the way and continued into Alloa. Having checked the timetable , arriving at 13:13 and to depart at 13:41 there was plenty time to get some food.
Upon arrival , the handful of people on the train (including myself) alighted to a fairly pleasant Alloa (no disrespect to the locals). Wondering where to get some food , i nearly went A over T on finding an Asda literally 1 minutes walk from the station!. So , supplies loaded , I returned to the station and had a quick smoke before boarding 170395 on 2N60 to Stirling.
It was ironic sitting having my lunch on the train beside the former Buffet Car (for those that don't know , FSR's 170 fleet from 393 - 396 have buffet cars from the days when Hull Trains ran them from Kings X to Hull although they are not used in Scotrail).
After a swift gallop to Stirling I opted for the leap for the 13:55 to Dunblane (2P39) on ex Strathclyde 170475.
Upon arrival at Dunblane , I boarded 2N38 (170393) for Glasgow Queen St and headed home as I'd thing's to do.
That was day 2 , now for day 3.
Wednesday 2nd May
A slightly different day as I was joined by a friend for some touring about.
We headed from Glasgow Central on 156496 on the 11:05 Glasgow Central to Edinburgh via Shotts semi fast service (1Y80) , expected a 158 on this service but I was content.
After arrival at Edinburgh , a trip to Boots for a meal deal then onto 380107 for the gallop to North Berwick (12:43 dep , 2Y02)
A quick run down the ECML calling all stops and then a sedate run down the Branch from Drem. Now , for some reason it felt as if the train was crawling along to North Berwick , and it was smoother. Last time I did that branch was on a 305 which bounced and swayed and clickety clacked all the way down the branch. The 380 was a BIG difference and I still preferred when the 305's did that run!
Anyway , after a short turn around , smoke and leg stretch , 380107 returned on 2Y03 13:27 to Edinburgh Waverley. On the run back the conductor came through , very cheerfully asking for tickets. She seemed happy so I assumed she had just started. Around Longniddry a passenger opposite had forgot to get a ticket from the machine prior to boarding but the Conductor gave the passenger the benefit of the doubt. She put the hand held card reader on the seat beside me. I couldn't resist a joke and said "Oooh , a present for me? How kind" , She replied "You can keep it , it doesn't work" to which I just laughed and she headed off down the train again.
Once back into Edinburgh it was time to view the departure screens and pick our next chariot. 170396 was waiting for custom and as I had been on the other 3 , it was rude not to travel on it. So we headed off to Inverkeithing on the 14:19 Cowdenbeath service (2G27).
After arrival at Inverkeithing , a short wait was had for the 14:35 Ex Edinburgh for Perth (1L05) which we took to the northern boundary of the Rover ticket which is Markinch.
We then waited for the 15:32 back to Edinburgh (found the train was 10 late owing to Signalling problems. Our train arrived formed of 170408 on the 12:46 Inverness - Edinburgh service (1B31). It was argued over what caused the delay. My friend said it'd have been the signalling problems at Inverness , I said more likely to be owing to the Landslip the previous day at Aviemore! I won the arguement
Next move was hoping to get both Fife Circle loco hauled sets for a run but one of the loco's was needed to collect a failed 67 up north so the intended service was a Unit. Skip that (haha , 67 , skip , geddit? er noo.) we then decided to get the 17:08 Fife Circle to Inverkeithing. Now , had plans gone right , it would have been the 17:21 loco hauled to Inverkeithing , Unit to Burntisland and get the 17:08 coming back to Edinburgh. Soot on the face as the plan had backfired.
A trip on 2G13 (67017) was had to Inverkeithing then an extended wait at inverkeithing (1hr 15mins) was had. My friend took a glallop to Edinburgh and back.
18:45 arrived and shortly after the 67 appeared again (Same one , same headcode). We duly boarded for Edinburgh. Interestingly enough , its noted in the timetable that if you change at Inverkeithing off the loco hauled and get a unit , you arrive 15 mins earlier in Edinburgh. I couldn't work that out initially. Well , after a rumble over the Forth rail bridge (comically for the FORTH time
) I noticed the signal indicating the route into the Up Loop at Dalmeny was on the cards. There's one for the track bashers! Anyway , after a 10 minute wait in the loop and a 170 to overtake , we were on our way. Arrival at Edinburgh was bang on time.Food was then consumed before a trip on 170418 on 1R83 , 20:00 Edinburgh - Glasgow via Falkirk.
Glasgow was reached ontime and then it was off for a quick pint or 2 then back home for a well deserved rest.
Hope you enjoyed reading this.