Kite159
Veteran Member
Sounded like a good start of your Scottish trip Andy 
Welcome back to the reporting community
Welcome back to the reporting community
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Andy's Wanderings
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andyb2706
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A Wee visit to Scotland – Day Two
Tuesday 10th September: Well, my plan for last night of sorting out my moves for today kind of didn’t happen, so after a very good sleep as I never disturbed once during the night and was woken up at 7.30am by the alarm the first job was to get my first coffee of the day and then it was onto RTT to try and sort out my moves, with a couple of hours to have a look around Dundee and also to catch the awkward station of Springfield. After a few hours breakfast of boiled eggs and plain yogurt and peaches a plan was formed and here is hoping that it goes smoothly.
It has been raining during the night and it was still spitting on and off (and just because I was feeling lazy- Ed.) I decided to get the bus and with the stop just being on the other side of the road I was able to follow the progress of the bus on Google maps and didn’t have to leave the apartment until 2 minutes before the bus was due and was the No:30 service to Clovenstone and was fleet No:20 BT14 DKK a Volvo Hybrid bus. The journey took ages and it was only just over a mile. What didn’t help was that along South Bridge and North Bridge there was a bus lane but there was a large number of delivery Van’s and lorries parked in the bus lane making deliveries to the shops and caused pinch points.
On arriving at Edinburgh Waverley I had over 30 minutes until my first train of the day giving me enough time to get a bottle of water for the day and a cup of tea for there and then. Having a mooch around the station I get a few pictures of 158’s and 385’s as well as two Freightliner 90’s (90043 & 90046) and then it was onto my first trip on required 334030 to new shack of Livingstone North, where after crossing to the opposite platform I found that the trains were running a bit late back towards Edinburgh so I was able to get an earlier train which was also a required 334029 to take me to Uphall so through this the train I should have got from Livingstone North to Uphall I would now be getting it from Uphall to Edinburgh and also transpired to be a required 334011.
Back at Edinburgh my next train hadn’t arrived yet so chilled while waiting for required 170406 to take me on to the new shack of Edinburgh Gateway. Edinburgh Gateway is a new light station, what it is a “gateway” for I am still now the wiser. After a 10 minute wait my train arrives and it’s a grand slam train (which means I need it for sight, haulage, photo and taking me to a new station) so I board 170471.
On arriving at Ladybank I depart the train and head across to the opposite platform for my next train and have a +10. Just giving me enough time to look around the station and to think that this is the Scottish style station, the traditional Scottish station is always a joy to look at with the lovely buildings. It was soon time for my next train and yet another required 170404 arrived to take me one stop and a +35 so at Markinch I leave the train. With a +35 I leave the station and having consulted the map I headed to what was called the High Street, not an High Street as you would find in a large town but just a village main road, although I did call into the Co-Op and got a of Irn-Bru and a cracking biscuit they called a double biscuit which was two shortbread biscuit stuck together with a strawberry jam, topped with icing and a fruit jelly...... absolutely awesome!
Back at the station I still have s +15 to wait but when the train arrives it is yet another required 170396 which will take me to Dundee.
At Dundee I have a few hours to mooch around taking bus photos and at one point I found a Weatherspoon’s on the corner of a junction where I could drink a pint outside while still taking photos.
Back at the station I just have time to grab a tea before dud 170414 arrives to take me to my next and most difficult station of the day as there are few trains that stop there and my mode of transport to my following station is by bus so at Springfield I leave the train hoping the bus turns up and on time.
The bus at Springfield was only a minute late and was a Stagecoach Optare and it was a quick 8 minute journey to Cupar where a +15 for my train, which when it turned up was a nice surprise although they where duds Inter 7 City 43033 and 43164 for a five minute run to Leuchars which is my final station for the day and which also means all the stations Between Edinburgh and Dundee have now been visited.
At Leuchars there is a +15 and my train back to Edinburgh is a required 170411.
Another good day and looking forward to the next three days.
Tuesday 10th September: Well, my plan for last night of sorting out my moves for today kind of didn’t happen, so after a very good sleep as I never disturbed once during the night and was woken up at 7.30am by the alarm the first job was to get my first coffee of the day and then it was onto RTT to try and sort out my moves, with a couple of hours to have a look around Dundee and also to catch the awkward station of Springfield. After a few hours breakfast of boiled eggs and plain yogurt and peaches a plan was formed and here is hoping that it goes smoothly.
It has been raining during the night and it was still spitting on and off (and just because I was feeling lazy- Ed.) I decided to get the bus and with the stop just being on the other side of the road I was able to follow the progress of the bus on Google maps and didn’t have to leave the apartment until 2 minutes before the bus was due and was the No:30 service to Clovenstone and was fleet No:20 BT14 DKK a Volvo Hybrid bus. The journey took ages and it was only just over a mile. What didn’t help was that along South Bridge and North Bridge there was a bus lane but there was a large number of delivery Van’s and lorries parked in the bus lane making deliveries to the shops and caused pinch points.
On arriving at Edinburgh Waverley I had over 30 minutes until my first train of the day giving me enough time to get a bottle of water for the day and a cup of tea for there and then. Having a mooch around the station I get a few pictures of 158’s and 385’s as well as two Freightliner 90’s (90043 & 90046) and then it was onto my first trip on required 334030 to new shack of Livingstone North, where after crossing to the opposite platform I found that the trains were running a bit late back towards Edinburgh so I was able to get an earlier train which was also a required 334029 to take me to Uphall so through this the train I should have got from Livingstone North to Uphall I would now be getting it from Uphall to Edinburgh and also transpired to be a required 334011.
Back at Edinburgh my next train hadn’t arrived yet so chilled while waiting for required 170406 to take me on to the new shack of Edinburgh Gateway. Edinburgh Gateway is a new light station, what it is a “gateway” for I am still now the wiser. After a 10 minute wait my train arrives and it’s a grand slam train (which means I need it for sight, haulage, photo and taking me to a new station) so I board 170471.
On arriving at Ladybank I depart the train and head across to the opposite platform for my next train and have a +10. Just giving me enough time to look around the station and to think that this is the Scottish style station, the traditional Scottish station is always a joy to look at with the lovely buildings. It was soon time for my next train and yet another required 170404 arrived to take me one stop and a +35 so at Markinch I leave the train. With a +35 I leave the station and having consulted the map I headed to what was called the High Street, not an High Street as you would find in a large town but just a village main road, although I did call into the Co-Op and got a of Irn-Bru and a cracking biscuit they called a double biscuit which was two shortbread biscuit stuck together with a strawberry jam, topped with icing and a fruit jelly...... absolutely awesome!
Back at the station I still have s +15 to wait but when the train arrives it is yet another required 170396 which will take me to Dundee.
At Dundee I have a few hours to mooch around taking bus photos and at one point I found a Weatherspoon’s on the corner of a junction where I could drink a pint outside while still taking photos.
Back at the station I just have time to grab a tea before dud 170414 arrives to take me to my next and most difficult station of the day as there are few trains that stop there and my mode of transport to my following station is by bus so at Springfield I leave the train hoping the bus turns up and on time.
The bus at Springfield was only a minute late and was a Stagecoach Optare and it was a quick 8 minute journey to Cupar where a +15 for my train, which when it turned up was a nice surprise although they where duds Inter 7 City 43033 and 43164 for a five minute run to Leuchars which is my final station for the day and which also means all the stations Between Edinburgh and Dundee have now been visited.
At Leuchars there is a +15 and my train back to Edinburgh is a required 170411.
Another good day and looking forward to the next three days.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Edinburgh Gateway is meant to be the gateway to the airport for trains from Fife 
I assume you couldn't make the +1 at Springfield for the northbound evening train, unless you wanted a picture of the train departing.
I assume you couldn't make the +1 at Springfield for the northbound evening train, unless you wanted a picture of the train departing.
alexf380
Established Member
A good day on the coast, Andy! Bring on the next one.
North and South bridge traffic is really bad at pretty much any time of the day, I feel your pain.
North and South bridge traffic is really bad at pretty much any time of the day, I feel your pain.
andyb2706
Member
A Wee Trip to Scotland – Day Three
Wednesday 11th September 2019: Today, was going to be a more local day and staying around Edinburgh doing bus photography and a day on the trams so not much really to report on.
Just a bit of advice, if you plan to do the tram network unless you want to go to the Airport but the city zone all day ticket for £4 because which means you can get to the stop before the airport. If you want to go to the airport the ticket would cost £9 which I got. Well all stops visited on the tram system and thirteen trams copped for haulage. I was not too impressed with their operations. They have a fleet of twenty-seven trams, I travelled on every tram that was operating at the time. The service should be every 3-7 minutes during the day. However on today a tram had to be taken out of service which meant the service ranged from every 7-28 minutes!! Now as I said, they have twenty-seven trams and out of them to run the planned service they require fourteen trams operating leaving thirteen trams on depot. Surely all those thirteen trams are not out of use? Surely if a tram in service has to be taken out of service one of those thirteen trams could be used?
A Wee Trip to Scotland – Day Four
Thursday 12th September 2019: After spending most of yesterday evening planning my moves for today coming up with two possibilities and then a third this morning all starting with the 0928 to Aberdeen which is shown on RTT as a 100mph diesel locomotive, could this be an Inter 7 City set? Well, no, however saying that it was required 170417 which I have now got for a grand slam.
I decided option two and travelled all the way to Aberdeen on it. It was an uneventful journey and managed to finish sorting renaming my photos from yesterday and now totals over 600 photos from the last two weeks to go on Flickr. Could do with retiring now as it’s becoming a full time job!
On arriving at Aberdeen there was a gluten of 158 units, many I still need for haulage. Definitely need a trip up this part of the UK for a few days to deal with them and the stations. Anyhow, today is planned and I have roughly 1.5 hours in Aberdeen so it was off to get some bus photos and on returning to the station found the services in chaos after a suspected track defect in the area of Arbroath, my next few journeys are on trains running between Aberdeen and Montrose so in theory it should not be affected but you never know what trains are stood where and where the train crew are. My train was at 1325 but while standing there I came up with an alternative if there should be any issues and could always do some of the stations on the Aberdeen to Inverness line.
However, a few minutes before my train was due to depart the whole line was re-opened so I boarded 158738 required for both sight and haulage and leaving only a couple of minutes down I was off to Stonehaven for a +23 and a train back towards Aberdeen. On leaving Aberdeen I notice two things, first a rake of Caledonian Mark 5’s in the sidings and secondly a billboard advertising that Aberdeen has three LNER trains to London a day, it makes me realise how lucky we are in Manchester as we have three trains an hour to London. During my trip to Stonehaven it becomes apparent that due to the track defect my train from Stonehaven has been cancelled which means the +23 would change to a +100 wait. I quickly decide to remain on the train to Montrose and during the journey it becomes apparent that more trains a subject to delay or cancellation and although I could still do all the stations between Aberdeen and Montrose it could be at the earliest, without any further delays or cancellations be 2044 before I get back to Edinburgh. I don’t want to be that late back into Edinburgh and the uncertainty of the trains running is an issue so I decide to make my way back to Edinburgh and spend a bit of time around there unit and shack hunting.
Okay, my days are always fluid and I never stick to a plan. But with good reason, on arriving at Montrose and waiting for the next train South that wasn’t due for another 24 minutes they announced the next train on platform 2 was the delay 1411 to Aberdeen running about 8 minutes late, this now pricks my interest and on checking it calls at Stonehaven with a Kings Cross train due 30 minutes later so I thought it may be worth a trip to get a new station and it was soon confirmed when required 170407 arrived on the service. Once I jumped on board I also discovered that there was a +2 at Stonehaven for the stopping service to Montrose which if I made it which would mean I would be able to get to Laurencekirk for a +5 for a train to Portlethen for a +4 back to Montrose, this could work fingers crossed.
Arriving at Stonehaven my next train wasn’t in the platform but could arrive any minute, having checked National Rail website for the station diagrams I knew if I positioned myself in the middle of the train I wouldn’t be too far from the subway and boy how I got that right!! The door I was ready to jump out of when they released had only come to a stop right opposite the entrance to the subway so a quick walk down the stairway and under the subway and just as I was going up the stairs onto the platform I heard the ding-ding of the doors being released for the train I wanted, as the train came into view the guards door was only right opposite the subway entrance I was coming up. This last hour the Railway Gods have been shining down on me as I board dud 158721 to take me to Laurencekirk. Can this be kept up for the next few trains? I’ll soon find out.
Well, so far so good, made it to Laurencekirk and within a few minutes I was on board dud 158738 heading back North to Portlethen, arriving on time I cross the footbridge to the opposite platform for a few minutes wait for my train to Montrose when required (for everything!) 158711 arrives to take me to Montrose. Now, if the services had been running as they should and no issues it would have taken me longer to do these four stations than it did, go figure that out.
So after a +10 at Montrose I board duds 43139 and 43146 working to Glasgow Queen Street for a trip to the next new shack of Arbroath where with a +34 for my Edinburgh train. I still need all the awkward stations between Dundee and Arbroath and that will be for another trip but apart from them that’s all the stations between Edinburgh and Aberdeen completed.
You remember earlier I think I said I wanted an early finish, well it’s not quite happening yet. Having got back to Edinburgh I wanted to do a bit more but wanted some food and the original plan was to go and have a KFC in the restaurant, but then I saw required 170393 going to Dundee in 11 minutes time so I popped up to the KFC and there was no lines and was able to get an original 3 piece meal and was on the train with 4 minutes to spare the plan was to go to Inverkeithing to give me time to have the food but I enjoyed it so much I had it finished by the time I arrived at Edinburgh Gateway and on the spare of the moment I left the train and headed to the opposite platform and what a move with a +7 wait a pair of duds 43169 and 43033 arrive to take me back to Edinburgh, so this is the end of the day?
Wrong! It’s a nice sunny evening and I want more so checking everything on my way in and seeing we arrived 4 minutes early it meant I was able to snaffle a required 385012 working the 1934 to Glasgow Queen Street, now I could bail at Haymarket but it hardly seems worth it and the next stop is Edinburgh Park where I will have a +5 so decide to do that instead.
At Edinburgh Park I leave the train and head across to the opposite platform for the train back to Edinburgh with duds 334039 and 334021, so I decided I wanted another newbie so decided to bail at Haymarket and required 170434 arrived to take me to Edinburgh. That was going to be that but on the adjacent platform was a pair of required 385’s (112 & 038) going to Edinburgh so I may check them out before deciding whether to call it a day.
Yes it is now. It’s getting cold and dark and its turned 8pm. Time to head back and warm up with a nice cup of tea.
Wednesday 11th September 2019: Today, was going to be a more local day and staying around Edinburgh doing bus photography and a day on the trams so not much really to report on.
Just a bit of advice, if you plan to do the tram network unless you want to go to the Airport but the city zone all day ticket for £4 because which means you can get to the stop before the airport. If you want to go to the airport the ticket would cost £9 which I got. Well all stops visited on the tram system and thirteen trams copped for haulage. I was not too impressed with their operations. They have a fleet of twenty-seven trams, I travelled on every tram that was operating at the time. The service should be every 3-7 minutes during the day. However on today a tram had to be taken out of service which meant the service ranged from every 7-28 minutes!! Now as I said, they have twenty-seven trams and out of them to run the planned service they require fourteen trams operating leaving thirteen trams on depot. Surely all those thirteen trams are not out of use? Surely if a tram in service has to be taken out of service one of those thirteen trams could be used?
A Wee Trip to Scotland – Day Four
Thursday 12th September 2019: After spending most of yesterday evening planning my moves for today coming up with two possibilities and then a third this morning all starting with the 0928 to Aberdeen which is shown on RTT as a 100mph diesel locomotive, could this be an Inter 7 City set? Well, no, however saying that it was required 170417 which I have now got for a grand slam.
I decided option two and travelled all the way to Aberdeen on it. It was an uneventful journey and managed to finish sorting renaming my photos from yesterday and now totals over 600 photos from the last two weeks to go on Flickr. Could do with retiring now as it’s becoming a full time job!
On arriving at Aberdeen there was a gluten of 158 units, many I still need for haulage. Definitely need a trip up this part of the UK for a few days to deal with them and the stations. Anyhow, today is planned and I have roughly 1.5 hours in Aberdeen so it was off to get some bus photos and on returning to the station found the services in chaos after a suspected track defect in the area of Arbroath, my next few journeys are on trains running between Aberdeen and Montrose so in theory it should not be affected but you never know what trains are stood where and where the train crew are. My train was at 1325 but while standing there I came up with an alternative if there should be any issues and could always do some of the stations on the Aberdeen to Inverness line.
However, a few minutes before my train was due to depart the whole line was re-opened so I boarded 158738 required for both sight and haulage and leaving only a couple of minutes down I was off to Stonehaven for a +23 and a train back towards Aberdeen. On leaving Aberdeen I notice two things, first a rake of Caledonian Mark 5’s in the sidings and secondly a billboard advertising that Aberdeen has three LNER trains to London a day, it makes me realise how lucky we are in Manchester as we have three trains an hour to London. During my trip to Stonehaven it becomes apparent that due to the track defect my train from Stonehaven has been cancelled which means the +23 would change to a +100 wait. I quickly decide to remain on the train to Montrose and during the journey it becomes apparent that more trains a subject to delay or cancellation and although I could still do all the stations between Aberdeen and Montrose it could be at the earliest, without any further delays or cancellations be 2044 before I get back to Edinburgh. I don’t want to be that late back into Edinburgh and the uncertainty of the trains running is an issue so I decide to make my way back to Edinburgh and spend a bit of time around there unit and shack hunting.
Okay, my days are always fluid and I never stick to a plan. But with good reason, on arriving at Montrose and waiting for the next train South that wasn’t due for another 24 minutes they announced the next train on platform 2 was the delay 1411 to Aberdeen running about 8 minutes late, this now pricks my interest and on checking it calls at Stonehaven with a Kings Cross train due 30 minutes later so I thought it may be worth a trip to get a new station and it was soon confirmed when required 170407 arrived on the service. Once I jumped on board I also discovered that there was a +2 at Stonehaven for the stopping service to Montrose which if I made it which would mean I would be able to get to Laurencekirk for a +5 for a train to Portlethen for a +4 back to Montrose, this could work fingers crossed.
Arriving at Stonehaven my next train wasn’t in the platform but could arrive any minute, having checked National Rail website for the station diagrams I knew if I positioned myself in the middle of the train I wouldn’t be too far from the subway and boy how I got that right!! The door I was ready to jump out of when they released had only come to a stop right opposite the entrance to the subway so a quick walk down the stairway and under the subway and just as I was going up the stairs onto the platform I heard the ding-ding of the doors being released for the train I wanted, as the train came into view the guards door was only right opposite the subway entrance I was coming up. This last hour the Railway Gods have been shining down on me as I board dud 158721 to take me to Laurencekirk. Can this be kept up for the next few trains? I’ll soon find out.
Well, so far so good, made it to Laurencekirk and within a few minutes I was on board dud 158738 heading back North to Portlethen, arriving on time I cross the footbridge to the opposite platform for a few minutes wait for my train to Montrose when required (for everything!) 158711 arrives to take me to Montrose. Now, if the services had been running as they should and no issues it would have taken me longer to do these four stations than it did, go figure that out.
So after a +10 at Montrose I board duds 43139 and 43146 working to Glasgow Queen Street for a trip to the next new shack of Arbroath where with a +34 for my Edinburgh train. I still need all the awkward stations between Dundee and Arbroath and that will be for another trip but apart from them that’s all the stations between Edinburgh and Aberdeen completed.
You remember earlier I think I said I wanted an early finish, well it’s not quite happening yet. Having got back to Edinburgh I wanted to do a bit more but wanted some food and the original plan was to go and have a KFC in the restaurant, but then I saw required 170393 going to Dundee in 11 minutes time so I popped up to the KFC and there was no lines and was able to get an original 3 piece meal and was on the train with 4 minutes to spare the plan was to go to Inverkeithing to give me time to have the food but I enjoyed it so much I had it finished by the time I arrived at Edinburgh Gateway and on the spare of the moment I left the train and headed to the opposite platform and what a move with a +7 wait a pair of duds 43169 and 43033 arrive to take me back to Edinburgh, so this is the end of the day?
Wrong! It’s a nice sunny evening and I want more so checking everything on my way in and seeing we arrived 4 minutes early it meant I was able to snaffle a required 385012 working the 1934 to Glasgow Queen Street, now I could bail at Haymarket but it hardly seems worth it and the next stop is Edinburgh Park where I will have a +5 so decide to do that instead.
At Edinburgh Park I leave the train and head across to the opposite platform for the train back to Edinburgh with duds 334039 and 334021, so I decided I wanted another newbie so decided to bail at Haymarket and required 170434 arrived to take me to Edinburgh. That was going to be that but on the adjacent platform was a pair of required 385’s (112 & 038) going to Edinburgh so I may check them out before deciding whether to call it a day.
Yes it is now. It’s getting cold and dark and its turned 8pm. Time to head back and warm up with a nice cup of tea.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Certainly been a busy few days up in Scotland for you, but most productive too!
Kite159
Veteran Member
Lucky connection on the Aberdeen line, shame it was a Flymo instead of a HST in the morning
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