19th-21st May. I honestly dont know how Iv managed these past weeks. Iv been very low due to earlier happenings this year and money has been precarious to say the least. To be honest I shouldnt be spending any now but having most certainly driven myself half mad I decided I would go ahead with a long standing forum meet and rather than it turning into an out and back have some fun iether side of it. This mantra suffered an expected but never the less early and unwanted blow in the shape of a morning appointment with the 06:52 Virgin Super Vomit Comet to London, mersyfully only as far as Penrith where the more interesting (to anyone who iether likes or can at least appreciate buses) part of the trip got underway. As an aside to the above observation on this trains booked traction I would like to thank Alexf380 who's fiddling with VTWC's website a few weeks ago unearthed a couple of traction changes on the Scotland>Midlands>London Serket, the most exciting by far being the replacement of 10 coaches of 221 with 11 coaches of 390 on this service. I have the full list somewhere and will post it unless Sir Alex of East Lothian beats me to it!
The booked arrival time of 08:20 is unfortunat as it misses a number of bus connections and allows more than enough time to become totally bord out of ones mind and whilst I could/should have gone for TPE's 06:15 it means leaving home an hour earlier due to a gap in buses and I wanted a guaranteed power socket which given the scarcity of advances on any train today wasnt assured on the 350 which is a single unit during the week. I had also planned on consuming one of Virgin's bacon rolls but was asleap by Slateford so that never happened. The Stagecoach 508 Penrith to Windermere and occasional extention to Kendle departs at 20 past each odd hour from 09:20 onwards leaving me an hours festering. Notes updated amongst other things during this wate and nows maybe the time to express thanks to forum member Carl for popping me up a couple of Northern Tocans and to anyone else who has iether given me some or tried to get some since, Kite159 Im talking about you particularly here. Shout out also to Lord Quest of Herefordshire, I've found another WCML station to rival Watford Junction in the battle of most boring place in Virgin's empire to fritter away 60 minutes of your life! I've written before about Stagecoach Northwest's Explorer ticket, the milage and veriety of routes and vehicles you can cover on this is amazing for 11 quid (huge Hiya to Starmil for checking the current price for me late on Thursday) and today I was going to complete a route thats been open since 2011 when I started it as far as Pooly Bridge and ever since have been keen to do the rest as it follows Ulswater along to Glenridding before heading to Patterdale and over the Kirkstone pass. The fact that a bus does this run at all is grand as I assume it requires subsidy for much of the year although it does call and is timed at a number of tourist spots, pubs, campsites and hostels along its winding way.
6 years ago the route only went to Patterdale and was a coach seated Leyland Olimpian in both directions and was expecting an Opter Solo or E200 today given the longer route so wasnt disapointed when the latter turned up. Although the former would have been nicer. The vehicle worked hard and kept to time but was quite noizy however I still enjoyed the ride which ended athe bus/rail interchange. Very impressed to see a stagecoach Supervisor/customer host providing info, selling tickets with a machine which accepted cards and generally providing a good experience. Transport Scotland and the industry up North take note, it makes a major difference and should be introduced widely. I picked up a slightly anoying 15 minute delay here due to traffic and roadworks and this would have been more if it wernt for the above staff member assisting in getting the Lakes link 555 on its merry way to Lancaster in a brisk and timely manner. This service has featured in my travels for the last 3 years now and has since last time had new vehicles in the form offull ADL Intigral E400s with leather seats and uSB sockets. In my opinion these struggled and even on the top deck there was a lot of engine noize and effort where as the Scanias previously on the route coped better. Never the less the interior was nice but some clawing back of time would have been good but never the less I decided to have a stab at a Plus 7 in Lancaster Bus Station and won it, bording a tridant which by the internal trims etc was 1 of the last batch before the Inviro range took over. Whilst the seats could have done with attention by the upholsterers/trimmers we departed on time for the 1H20 trip to blackpool at 13:40, saving me a boring fester til 15:05. At a guess Id say the tridant seamed a bit more powerful than the inviro. The resort was busy with locals and visitors alike but the route and terminus of this service seams to keep it to time. Not a great deal more to say other than a lazy evening followed, my intentions of maybe going for a stroll ruined by one of Landlord Eddy's fantastic dinners!
Up at 5 next morning for the 06:11 Preston train, newly bought Northern rover in hand. I needed a TPE Pre Lan single also but the computer was playing up and no time to buy at Preston and no grip later on so it was never purchased. First train of the day was a loveley 158 with orrigional cumfy seats, if we could install these or keep them then we could stop having multiple whats the best/worst seating and why are we fitting ironing bords threads and revert to endless discussions on the future use of 442s! Northerns vast expertees with 158 aircon was also on show with the system working fantastically on both this and the other 158 of the day plus Crossover reported fridge like conditions on the S and C so it is doable, I wish Scotfail would bliddy well do it. Unit also sounded very healthy and we sang along to preston where I promptly cambe back down to earth with a bang as 70 odd minutes of Deziro milage was booked next, broken only by a short interlude at Lancaster to change from the electric 4 car version to the deeezol 3 car one, buying coffee and water on the way. Highlight of this was being able to charge my phone so this should give you a notion of what these moves were like. I had however arranged to meet Starmil on the TPE service and we enjoyed a gossip all the way to Barrow, interupted at regular intervals by the auto announcer. At BIF the 37 was loading pax for the 08:45 to Carlisle and we took seats in the front coach along with Yorkie for a 7 plus hour performance of Loco music and talk ranging from railways to education via all sorts! By Carlisle the train was full including some very attractive young ladies off to Jin festival, nice to talk to you girls! Arrival was 5 up and we were joined by JakeF and Crossover and off we went again, a wonderful way of spending a day with the weather improving as we went south, it having worsened on the way up. IanXC joined us at Barrow and a huuuuuuuuuuuge party of walkers borded at Kents Bank making us full again. Thanks to the forum for laying on a veriety of nibbles and drinks which kept us well sustained. Back to seats again, I only really got sick of the one Id been sitting in at Carnforth so it was no real hardship to go for a toilet break and a session of standing at the droplight enjoying our hard working engine thrashing away on the WCML. The plan at Lancaster was to walk along the old alignment to Morcolm but I didnt fancy that so took a seat on the P2/3 Island instead and was treated to a notch7 Pacer departure to Leeds, a shed on what I think was flatbeds thundering Northwards and the contented humming and rumbling of the 37 on the other side. Spoiled a bit by the 350s and suchlike in the way and a late pendo with a wheel flat but all forgiven by the arrival of the 16:52 to Morcom which was a dogbox! The same guard who had worked down from BIF took us out on the short journey with excillent sound effects and I wated on the platform for the rest of the crew to arrive. They appeared about the same time as the 153 and Jake left us and we wandered off into town.
The idea had been to have fish and chips on the seafront but it was deamed to windy so Yorkie and Starmil headed off to get them, Ian went to Morrisons and Crossover and I went to the pub. A swift whisky later and we all drifted back to the station where I demolished my dinner on the platform before joining the 19:08 to Leeds, formed of a 3 car 144 and a dogbox locked out. This is possibly the time to advise those of a sensative nature that my love of pacers is fast developing into a full blown obsession, due entirely to the fact that some only have a year left and that the ROSCOs have now ruled out large scale EPacer refurbishments so realistically we only have til 31/12/2019 to appreciate them. When I learned by accident that this turn was booked 14x on a Saturday all thoughts of returning to blackpool for a relaxing evening were replaced by near manic checking and rechecking of NRE to make sure I wasnt bowling myself out! A late night, an RRB and 3 far from pieceful journeys with a pile of druncan idiots was all awating me but the rollercosted jointed track and thrashfest plus of course great company over the little Northwestern made up for it. Would have arrived early had it not been for a red on the approach and a lengthy trundle to the far end of the platform. On the bridge we scattered with some heading to Huddersfield, Yorkie and Ian to their repsective homes and I on the 21:35 Calder Valley stopper for a nice purkins 158 Raw through to Manchester with a healthy, and mainly ****ed up load throughout. Thanks to Ian for hanging around to ensure I borded this, the scrum on the platform could have ended badly. Having done my good deed for the day and woken up a young girl who had borded at Tod and gone to sleap I swapped the boozed up enhabitants of the 158 for an even greater number of same on the station where Northern were coping admirably with a very busy night which included a take that concert, the usual Saturday night mob and for good measure a few more sleapy pax from the wrong side of the Penines. I had booked various assistance through Northern for this weekend and was particularly glad this one didnt go wrong as it allowed me to get over for the 2323 Preston all shacks service formed by a 142 on the back and god know what on the front, to tired to care TBH! Qualitty thrash on every startup and despite huge numbers aboard a fantastic lady grip who delt with everything amazingly. Manchester and Northern have the edge on big events compared to Scotrail IMO in terms of staff keeping calm and relaxed. To be fare though Scotrail cope well with the Rugby lot. Realised in my sleapy stuper that I hadnt had the dubious pleasure of the route out of Vic towards Salford Cresc before so doing it on a mandatory move was a little bonus. Not a great deal else to report other than the expected RRB back to Blackpool, a service bus with leather seats and excillent driver who clawed back the delays picked up on the journey from Manchester. Only other thing to mentio today was that it was a 150 on the fron of that pacer. A marithon bash for sure and I was asleap seconds after hitting the pillow at 2am but soooooooooooooo worth it! Thanks to Yorkie for his orgonisational skills and to all for great company.
You always know youve had a good day when your body feels like a sack of Balast the next morning but it was nothing a painkiller or too for slight dodgy sleaping position and broken 142 seat induced backake plus a hot shower and shave couldnt sort out. Following the above treatment with a breakfast of fruit, yogart, full English, Tost, orrange juice and 2 pots of coffee saw me right as rain again by 10am and having packed up and bid a fond good by to Eddy and his domestic godesse general assistant Jane at the Staymor Guesthouse I headed for North station, the intentio being to get the pic of seats on one of the first trains of the day, the 11:11 Blackpool York. The moment I stepped onto the concourse I knew that following my gut instinkt and departing in the Afternoon would have been far wiser. The 2 vice 3 car 158 working the service simply fanned the flames of the situation and we left needless to say very well loaded, but yet again with working air conditioning! If riding on an advance I'd have been off at Preston again but I had concluded that the Weekend rover was far better value despite my choice of routes North being very limmited on Sundays and it also offered an un misable opportunity to bash the S and C for the firt time in over 2 years and since its recent reopening. The downside of course was the recovering in the reverse direction on my moves last night from Todmordan to Settle via Leeds and the increasingly wedged conditions on the service from blackpool. This was not helped by the expected regular load from Preson plus a huge intake of pax from the caped Coln Stopper. Creddit to the grip though as he made an announcement appologising, providing information and advice followed by a further one shortly after saying controll were supporting him where possible. Many had to get off and back on again to allow those alighting safe passage but time was allowed for this and the guard again went above and beyond at Burnley by announcing to a wheelchair passenger that he knew she needed assistance and would get to her soon, a job doubtless made easier when 50 Percent of the pax got off to go to the football! After departure the driver really opened her up and arrival at Bradford was spot on and time maintained through to LDS. Another example of fantastic service by Northern here to add to the many others experienced this weekend. Well done, it makes such a huge difference to the passenger experience and my only real and ongoing chritisism is the doors/locks/keys/bolts obsession (fettish)? at Blackpool North which staff claim is for our benifit but I fail to see how the resulting scrum to bord a train which has been sitting there for ages and all the associated aggro and anxt especially for flustered irregular/uncertain travelers, and those with kids/disabilities/lots of luggage or whatever is in the least bit benificial, even less so if the service departs late as a direct result which is not uncommon.
Northern now had 1 final chance (which the took fully)) to impress me on the 13:57 to Carlisle which I borded after saucing a light lunch and something cold in boots, unsure if the excillent Friends Of The Settle To Carlisle opperated trolley would be aboard (it wasnt) and if it took card/Android payments. I'll admit to alternatly dozing and listening to various things most of the way despite the wonderful soundtrack of the purkins engines on this 3 car unit but at Lazonby I packed everything away in order to pay full attention to the newly rebuilt section in the Armathwate area which is so smooth and so fast and in all totally different to how it used to be that Im counting it as new track (cue much heated debate on this subject according to your own rules of bashing). One thing we will im sure all agree on though is that this marvelous piece of engineering is both a positive step for the route but will along with the timetable padding be invaluable in the winters when poor weather up the top will be somewhat compensated for by this new ability to go a bit faster on the last lap into the border city. We reached it today 8 up and along with a very healthy load (time for an additional service on summer/school and Bank Holiday Sundays me thinks ) I bailed and strolled over to a very sunny P1 for what I was almost convinced would be a 221 on the 17:02 to Edinburgh but was to my shear delight am 11 car 390! Lots of spare seats on this both according to the TM but the end of bash wearyness had set in now and I couldnt be bothered hunting for one that was both quiet and with a socket so made the choice (wrongly as it happens) between a school party of early teens and a nearly entire coach of foreigners with badly behaved ferile young kids in tow for a noizy 1h15 ride north., I would at least have got a few laughs out of the school party! Waverley was busy on arrival but not packed out as it so often is at this time on a Sunday so a quick trip from P9 to the Princes Street exit, followed by a very slow assent due to 2 out of 3 escalaters once again being out of service (Kite159 I'll blame you for this as youve been around whilst Iv been away) and a 10 minute wate for a bus. Managed to forget that due to roadworks the service was on diversion and didnt notice till the terminus but the driver ran me back 2 stops and 5 minutes later I was locking the door against the world and flopped on the sofaafter a long, diverse and enjoyable 3 days on the roads and railways of the North of England, an area which with the acception of Manchester I have a real soft spot for. Thats almost certainly it for a bit now but keep an eye out just in case, do let me know if you want some company on a cheep day out and as ever thanks for reading.
) done that I remembered that the Cotswalds line remained ungryced between Morton in Marsh and the main drag up the GwML into Paddington, this itself was a good couple of years ago! Fast forward to the end of Feb whilst bashing GA LHCS and Yorkie was expressing a desire to cover the route by HST whilst it was still possible to do so. Low and behold less than 24hrs after returning home from that trip I was signing myself up for another one, with my innitial idea being to start from here in a near identical way to my London trip a month ago, taking the VTEC 91/MK4's to Glasgow and then onwards to London by National Express. I would then do a London Hereford circular return journey, out via Newport and back via Eavshom/Oxford, finishing Newport to Hereford in the Process and clearing up another long required piece of line. However, a change in work arrangements put paid to this and with the aid of multiple split advances, a large quantity of cafeen and an early start I instead borded the 06:15 departure, the first Southbound WCML working of the day from EDB.
