ALR Trip Help & Advice

[Gizmogle]

Not really an ALR, but more an ALR style trip. You get the point anyway.

The first three days will be a little bash around North Wales with my Mum. She wants to do the Cambrian Coast Express and the railway to Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Tuesday 5th August
_Arr|Dep_
xxxx|0836 Buxton
0919|0942 Stockport
1046|1128 Shrewsbury
1322|1927 Aberystwyth
1959|xxxx Machynlleth

Wednesday 6th August
_Arr|Dep_
xxxx|1005 Machnylleth
1240|1532 Pwllheli
1552|1610 Porthmadog
1725|1754 Blaenau Ffestiniog
1820|xxxx Betws-y-Coed

Thursday 7th August
_Arr|Dep_
xxxx|1220 Betws-y-Coed
1250|1407 Llandudno Junction
1613|1633 Manchester Oxford Road
1730|xxxx Buxton


Now, the next part of the plan is mine and Dan's (LittleRedTrain) big Scotland and Wales bash. We've not really planned much of it yet, so first, I'm going to post a list of things that we would like to do.

Scotland - Jacobite, Inverness - Kyle of Lochalsh, Wick & Thurso, Strathspey Railway, Fife Circle Services (if they're using 67s), Stranraer.
Wales - We have sorted apart from Rhymney which is on rail replacement at the time.
England - York-Scarborough (Steam Train), Whitby & North Yorkshire Moors railway, Cumbrian Coast (inc Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway), WSMR, Gloucester/Hereford/Cheltenham/Worcester area, National Railway Museum, Shildon Railway Museum, Lincolnshire area.

And here are a couple of random day of plans that we've managed to get together.

Just a general idea of London Underground Coverage that we need. Not really a plan as such.
Saturday 16th August
Waterloo - Elephant & Castle
Elepant & Castle - Stockwell
Stockwell - Brixton
Brixton - Green Park
Green Park - Cockfosters
Cockfosters - Finsbury Park
Finsbury Park - Walthamstow Central
Walthamstow Central - Blackhorse Road
Blackhorse Road - Barking
Barking - Upminster
Upminster - Monument
Monument - King George V
King George V - Canning Town
Canning Town - Beckton
Beckton - Poplar
Poplar - West India Quay
West India Quay - Monument
Monument - South Kensington (Anti-Clockwise)
South Kensington - Richmond
Richmond - Turnham Green
Turnham Green - Acton Town
Acton Town - Heathrow

We're thinking of a day covering bits of East Anglia before heading to Euston to catch the sleeper.
Sunday 17th August
_Arr|Dep_
xxxx|2008 London Euston
0954|xxxx Fort William

Monday 18th August
_Arr|Dep_
xxxx|1020 Fort William
------JACOBITE------
1225|1410 Mallaig
------JACOBITE------
1600|1737 Fort William
2129|xxxx Glasgow Queen St

No idea what we're doing this day yet.
Tuesday 19th August
Acommodation at Glasgow

Again, no idea yet.
Wednesday 20th August
Acommodation at Dundee

We're getting the sleeper from Inverness, but don't know what we're doing beforehand yet.
Thursday 21st August
_Arr|Dep_
xxxx|2038 Inverness
0743|xxxx London Euston


Now, we've got a little break here to rest and eat and stuff...

Wednesday 27th August
_Arr|Dep_
xxxx|0828 North Camp
0900|0911 Reading
1048|1055 Cardiff Central
1315|1327 Fisguard Harbour
1359|1407 Whitland
1451|1510 Milford Haven
1601||1656 Carmarthen
1817|1916 Pembroke Dock
2133|xxxx Swansea

Most of the valley lines covered.
Thursday 28th August
_Arr|Dep_
xxxx|0855 Swansea
0925|0949 Bridgend
1015|1017 Maesteg
1039|1042 Bridgend
1114|1119 Barry
1125|1156 Barry Island
1332|1338 Merthyr Tydfil
1359|1421 Abercynon
1446|1522 Aberdare
1553|1606 Pontypridd
1643|1647 Treherbert
1731|1734 Radyr
1813|1815 Coryton
1829|1842 Cardiff Queen Street
1846|1919 Cardiff Bay
1923|1935 Cardiff Queen Street
2023|2055 Tir-phil
2147|xxxx Cardiff Cenral

Now, we did have a plan for this day, but Dan lost it. Well done.
Friday 29th August
Whoops...

This is our "planning" so far. So any advice or help is much appreciated. As we're not really restricted to a week, it gives us more time to rest and then bash again. So we may well do a couple more days than this.

I really do apologize for the giant mess that this is!

 

[Max]

If you're interested in visiting the NYMR, our PRIV fares are very reasonable. The all-line ticket between Pickering and Whitby is half price at £10 and acts as a rover for the whole day. We operate an intense timetable Monday-Saturday during August, and a limited timetable on Sundays (see www.nymr.co.uk). The Scarborough Spa Express is pretty expensive, and the scenery on the Scaborough-York line is, in my opinion, fairly average. However, if you're interested, times and prices can be found here.

 

[Gizmogle]

Well, Dan's a kettle ned lol. I don't think that the £30 is that bad for it though.

I've done the line before, and it's not fantastic. But still, doing it on a steam train would be rather awesome

Cheers for the info.

 

[Craig]

If you're interested in visiting the NYMR, our PRIV fares are very reasonable. The all-line ticket between Pickering and Whitby is half price at £10 and acts as a rover for the whole day. We operate an intense timetable Monday-Saturday during August, and a limited timetable on Sundays (see www.nymr.co.uk).

Are there any plans to run out to Battersby again this year?

 

[Max]

Are there any plans to run out to Battersby again this year?

Battersby runs generally only take place during Gala weekends and on special services. I presume the next occurance will be during the Autumn Gala although there could be some specials before that.

 

[djw1981]

Fife Circle doesn't go over to 67 (or 57) until December. You can of course combine a Jacobite trip with a short hop across Sky from Mallaig to Kyle, then catch the Kyle-Inverness train to save having to backtrack via the Central Belt.

 

[metrocammel]

Fife Circle doesn't go over to 67 (or 57) until December. You can of course combine a Jacobite trip with a short hop across Sky from Mallaig to Kyle, then catch the Kyle-Inverness train to save having to backtrack via the Central Belt.

And I'm sure Florence the guard will give you PRIV on the Jacobite if you ask her nicely.

 

[me123]

67s on the fife circle? First I've heard of them...

Anyway, Gizzy, welcome back . Glasgow to Dundee's regular and pretty fast (1hr20-1h30) so if you're doing that in a day, you can throw in some line bashing easily.

You could get the suburban Glasglow lines done (I don't know about coverage in Glasgow for yourself) or you could go via Inverness and Aberdeen (again, fairly frequent) to get yourself some more Highland coverage. As for Stranraer, well it's a nasty bugger to cover! IIRC, there's only about 4 trains per dayand they're timed to connect with ferries mostly; some via Kilmarnock and some via Paisley. If you got an early start, you could easily do Kilmarnock, some subruban Glasgow routes and up to Dundee quite easily. I'd personally recommend Gourock due to the high frequency.

Dundee to Invernesss allows you to cover the Kyle line and back but NOT the line up to Wick and Thurso: IIRC you'd need to start at Inverness in the morning if you want to do that in one day. So, may I suggest for your Glasgow portion (a very rough plan; you can decide what you want to do in the middle):

Glasgow - Stranraer: d0713
Stranraer-Kilmarnock: d1000
Killie-Glasgow: a1234 (SO a1227)
[ad lib Glasgow Coverage]
1941 GLC-Inverness (change at perth) or 1936 EDB-INV (no change)

Overnight accommodation in Inverness

0714 INV-Wick
1237 Wick-Inverness
-------------------------
1712 INV-ABD
To EDB or GLA

Gets some pretty difficult lines done! Of course, I don't know how rigid your sleeper reservations and hotel reservations are ATM. You could stay in Inverness after coming from Wick and possibly do some of the Kyle line by changing at Dingwall. Or you could get the sleeper from ABD instead, thus getting the lovely Aberdeen-Inveness line done.

Just a wee suggestion: I understand that it may not fit into your plans but it gets Stranraer and Wick done over two days.

 

[Jord]

67s on the fife circle? First I've heard of them...

LOL

Where the hell have you been...

A FSR driver has told me it's doubtful about the 67s now or at least that's the rumour going round all the drivers.

Hope this helps.

 

[me123]

In Glasgow, nowhere near sheep (Sorry, couldn't resist...)

Having said that, I'll probably end up in Aberdeen uni for the next 5-6 years

 

[djw1981]

Oh dear.......All my friends who studied there are well a bit odd as a result......

Due to the rolling stock gap between the new Kilmarnock services, increased Bathgate frequency and Caledonian Express (via Shotts) this autumn, and the additional 2 paths across Forth Bridge due to SAK opening, FSR are looking to use a loco hauled train in the peak - 57/67 due to the FSR conditions. Probably running Millerhill-Millerhill in both peaks.

 

[me123]

No pressure to pass my exams then

Anyhoo, ta for the 57/67 gen: it'll give me another reason to finally go round the circle at Fife

 

[Jord]

In Glasgow, nowhere near sheep (Sorry, couldn't resist...)

Having said that, I'll probably end up in Aberdeen uni for the next 5-6 years

So you'll be moving up here then?

Shame...

 

[djw1981]

As the old joke goes, the 2 best things about Aberdeen are the southbound carriageways of the A90 and A93......

 

[me123]

You're forgetting the Aberdeen-Dundee line there

 

[Gizmogle]

The travel lodges are all booked, so there's no changing those.

Cheers for the info I'll have Dan read it later, as I'm clueless when it comes to Scotland

 

[me123]

It'll be dificult to do all the way to Wick if you've not got a night in Inverness, Gizzy, I'm afraid. The line speeds are very slow ATM and it's about four hours each way!

However, you can easily go to Stranraer and back (allbeit early in the morning!) from Glasgow and Kyle of Lochalsh shouldn't be difficult from a Dundee base. (You could got DEE-Perth-INV-Kyle-INV for the sleeper?). And, as I said before, EDB and GLQ to ABD are at least hourly throughout the day so some Central Belt coverage would be relatively easy!

 

[Gizmogle]

So Inverness - Wick and Thurso wouldn't be possible in a day?

 

[Craig]

So Inverness - Wick and Thurso wouldn't be possible in a day?

You should be able to do it on the day you get teh sleeper from Inverness. An early start though.

0648 DEE - PTH 0714
0805 PTH - INV 1026
1039 INV - WCK 1457 (Via Thurso)
1551 WCK - INV 20:05 (Via Thurso)

 

[djw1981]

The Inverness (northbound) connection is very dodgy. HML trains are often delayed. I was sure you could use the NB sleeper as a normal service but it appears not....

 

[me123]

On top of that, you wouldn't want to risk missing the SB sleeper which is the last train of the day: I know you've got over half an hour but on single track lines delays can easily be magnified. I suppose your sleeper's booked as well, but if not you could easily make that an extra day coming SB on the Cheiftain to KX; of course, that requires an additional overnight in Inverness which may be costly and you may not have enough "boxes" for that...

 

[Gizmogle]

Both sleeper trips are indeed booked with berths, so we won't want to be missing those.

I've got a feeling that our connection was over 40 minutes for the SB sleeper.. Is that not enough?

 

[djw1981]

Depends how long you are delayed....... Since both are FSR services, they could do the hotel and flight thing, but more likely a hotel and send you down on the Highland Chieftain next morning. Just make sure you make the guard on the Wick-Inverness service that you are going for the sleeper.

 

[Gizmogle]

Hmm...see, we reallllly don't want to be missing that sleeper connection.

But we really want to get Wick and Thurso. I mean, what's the point in going to Scotland if you don't get the far north line!

 

[djw1981]

Te proble is your decision to overnight in Dundee though.. You really need to start the day in Inverness to catch the earlier train up the Far North Line to guarantee making teh sleeper.

 

[me123]

^I agree with djw. Dundee's got a really good service; half hourly to Aberdeen and hourly to Glasgow and Edinburgh alternately. You could get that line done no problem at all (and as proof; even I've done it ).

Obviously, if it's booked there's no unbooking (presumably there'd be a surcharge/deposit at the very least) but basing yourself in The Capital Of the Highlands would have been a better move. Nevertheless, it is possible albeit with tight timings! I personally wouldn't try it, but then again I'm boring so maybe you're up for the adventure?

*DISCLAIMER: me123 takes no responsability for a missed sleeper *

 

[Gizmogle]

Actually...it's our last day in Scotland. So we have a break before we do anything else.
So I guess it's not a huge deal if we miss it and they send us out then next day. Would we still have our berths and everything?

How likely would it be that we'd miss it?

 

[djw1981]

They'd probably put you on the NXEC Highland Chieftain which leaves early morning, to Kings cross, arr mid afternoon, IIRC - the next available train. You have allowed the minimum transfer time for Inverness (5min) so you should be ok with getting overnight accommodation etc if there is a problem as FSR run both trains. As I say this is my opinion though
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

How likely would it be that we'd miss it?

Watch LDB every evening and make a graph!

 

[LittleRedTrain]

Te proble is your decision to overnight in Dundee though.. You really need to start the day in Inverness to catch the earlier train up the Far North Line to guarantee making teh sleeper.

Unfortunately all the rooms I could find in Inverness were about £30 more than one in Dundee, which restricted our choices somewhat.
All of our accommodation bookings are non-flexible, and the sleepers are Bargain Berths as well, so not possible to change.

Anyone know how reliable the connection is from the Down Fort William Sleeper to the Jacobite? Will the Jacobite wait for the sleeper to arrive?

 

[djw1981]

Um no. But IIRC the first Down train from Glasgow (1212 ex Fort William) arrives Mallaig at 1334, well in advance of the 1410 departure of the Jacobite from Mallaig (and it cant leave until your train arrives in Mallaig due to the single track...)..so you can always do one leg on the Jacobite.