anthony263
Established Member
This is only the 1st time I have written up a report on my day out bashing last time I did was over 2 years ago.
I started my day by getting up at 05:15, making myway downstairs for a shower, after which I decided to make myself some breakfast and a cup of coffee before watching Sky News.
After making sure that my camera batteries had some charge in them and packing my rucksack with a bottle of coca cola and 2 packets of walker cheese & onion crisps I set off leaving my parents house at 07:25.
I called in my local spar shop where i purchased a large breakfast roll for £1.20 (lovely) for a treat as I haven't had 1 from here since I finished University earlier this year.
I got passed by 1 of the Optare Solo's which First cymru recieved from their devon operations as a result of being awarded the contract for service 45/46 Bridgend - Heol Y Cyw - Pencoed - Llanharren - Talbot Green - Royal Glamorgan Hospital which Veolia Transport Cymru withdrew with very little notice.
Very unusual to see 1 of these working service 63/63B Porthcawl - North Cornelly - Cefn Cribwr - Bridgend, well makes a change to the usual darts particulary those horrible Marshal capital bodied darts that ave arrived from First Bristol and Slough.
Got passed by former Reading buses, MCW Metrobus E456 SON now with GM Coaches, on its way to work a school service to Porthcawl.
Anyways I eventually arrived into Pyle station at 07:50 shortly after a 175 had departed with the 07:45 departure to Cardiff Central. I got passed by a hst on its way to London Paddington at 07:55 before I get caught out as a Freightliner class 70 rolls passed at 08:05 heading towards Neath (I did get a shot of it on my phone as I had no warning that it was coming so couldnt get my camera out.)
Eventually 175105 pulls into the station at exactly 08:09 with a service to Manchester Piccadilly which I shall travel on to Bridgend. Shortly after departure I can feel 1751005 really power away as it starts the climb up stormy bank with the train eventually arriving into Bridgend at 08:16/08:17 as very quick run especially since the class 153's really struggle to keep to the timings on journeys between Pyle & Bridgend.
After making my way to the tickets barriers where I purchased a anytime return from Pyle to Bridgend for £3.10 as the conduter couldnt get through the train because of overcrowding. I then decided to have a wander down to the rhiw shopping centre to go to WH Smith to purchase a copy of the latest issue of Rail. After I bought that I decided to have a wonder along the new elevated walkway with runs along the river through Bridgend town centre and is worths a walk over especially at night where it is all lit up, I got to Bridgend Bus Station at 08:35 where I did a bit of bus photography with a few waves from drivers who know me.
I got back to Bridgend railway station at 09:05 where I purchased a valley lines day explorer ticket for £9.10 sadly you can no longer get any railcard discounts on this ticket. I then made my way over to platform 2.
Bridgend station is currently going through a major facelift including the installation of a new footbridge complete with lifts which will be installed at the Swansea end of teh station, work seems to be coming along well however the contracters have used a large part of the car park for the offices and to store equipments etc (Might be something to do why the station car parks at Pyle were so busy)
While sitting at Bridgend station I saw:
43127 & 43168 working the 09:10 departure to Swansea which was running about 3 minutes late, shortly after at about 09:16 a class 66 & 60049 rolled through with a empty steel slab train to Margam. Eventually 175106 rolled into the station at 09:24 with the train to Carmarthen and 175108 pulling in with the 09:25 departure to Manchester Piccadilly (I really do think all the trains need to be 3 or 4 carriages on this route s at least from Carmarthen as both trains were extrmely busy the Manchester especially.)
At 09:28 153312 rolls through empty heading towards Cardiff. At 09:35 there is an annoucement that the 09:42 train to Cardiff central via the Vale of glamorgan line was 7 minutes late because of delays leaving Cardiff on the prervious journey as I am waiting I note 150242 working the 09:34 departure to Swansea which calls at all the Swanline service and which was fairly busy. At 09:40 158837 rolls in with the 09:38 service to Cheltenham Spa which is 2 minutes late this is only my 2nd trip on 1 of the newly refurbished class 158's the other being back on 19th june this year.
As we are leaving Bridgend I see 2 class 150's rolling into platform 1A on arrival back at Cardiff Central these 2 class 150's will split with 1 working a Treherbert service which runs via the cityline instead of via Cardiff Queen Street and the other will work the 10:54 Cardiff - Fishguard Hbr service. I must say I like the new interiors on these units although I think the lighting is a bit too bright and does give you a headache after a bit. After arrival at Cardiff central I met up with 1 of my freinds before we proceded to platform 0 to get the 10:35 service to Ebbw Vale Parkway ( 1st time my rover has worked in the barriers)
150229 was our unit today and the unit actually was very quiet with our carriage empty apart from us and the good looking french girl sitting a few seats down who was having a very loud coversation in french much to our amusement. After a very good sprint along the south wales mainline and as we passed Alexander dock Junction I make a not of 66146 & 66092 sitting in the yard, I must also say the Ebbw Vale trains really have to slow down to cross off the mainline onto the Ebbw Vale branch.
I must make a complaint about the poor tables on this unit which I felt were 2 small. We arrived into Ebbw Vale Parkway at 11:28 about 3 minutes early so I and my freind decided to go for a bit of a walk, we manged to get onto the footbridge which crosses over the line and I must admit I didnt expect the track to continue for a long as it did beyond the station to where it passes under the main road heading towards where the steelworks were and where trains will eventually continue to Ebbw Vale town centre.
After boarding the train back down to Cardiff we pass the old Junction for the Abertillery, branch where the trackbed seems to still be in place and clear. Someday I hope to perhaps see trains working down this branch again.
As we travel along the branch the train does start to fill up and we pass 150282 which is working the 11:35 Cardiff - Ebbw Vale parkway service. Arrival back into Cardiff Central was at 12:30 a good 5 minutes early. After this we decided to head to weatherspoons for lunch where we got a meal consisting of burger, chips and a drink for £3.99 which was lovely and makes a change from Burger King/Mc Donalds.
A trip to the Ian Allan shop was in order where we had a browse throug some of the books & magazines. We got back to central station at 13:45 where they are building anew booking office so the temporary booking office is now located next to the information desk. My ticket decided to not work in the barriers this time and I had to be let through by a member of staff. I decided to plan our next move when we saw 175002 working the 14:05 departure to Manchester Piccadilly which was very overcrowded including a lot of passengers standing. ( just goes to show how popular this route is.)
I did make a not that a few clas the class 142/143's have had a fresh coat of paint. I make a note of 158961 working the 14:30 service to Portsmouth Harbour, another route which I think should be worked by 4 carriage trains.
I still think that it was a shame the government cancelled the order of 11
new 4 carriage dmu's for this route as those 158's could have been re-formed back into 2 carriage sets and used on the Great Malvern - Weymouth & Cardiff - Bristol - Taunton routes to provide extra cpacity and services on those routes with 1 or 2 going to ATW to provide extra capacity on the Cambrian.
I made a not of the following while I was at Cardiff Central:
66206 working light engine heading towards Newport.
66161 working a steel train to Margam (We later passed this at Leckwith)
Freightliner 66619 seen parked up in the Riverside siding.
150247 with the 14:15 arrival from Taunton & Bristol Temple Meads.
142080 & 143607 working the 14:16 departure to Penarth.
143601 working the 14:20 departure to Coryton
Also made a note. of Loadhall liveried 50135 siting outside Pulmans rails depot at Canton
We decided to get 158821, which is another unit which has just been refurbished on the 14:20 service to Maesteg. Departure was ontime although teh train was very usy with not many spare seats, I overheard 1 woman saying that this was a brand new train, just goes to show that a good refurbishment can catch people out. We arrive into Pontyclun which is looking sorry for itself, mostly thanks to the local youth, I wouldnt mind seeing the branch line from Pontyclun to Beddau re-opened it would make a good light rail route.
we eventaually arrive into Maesteg at 15:13 about 2 minutes late and we see the railink liveried opatre solo which is operated by Lynfi coaches on service 904 to Caerau Park. Bridgend council have decided to withdraw the railink service from next January however some of the money saved will instead be used to fund inprovements to service 32/36 Cymmer - Maesteg - Llangynwydd - Bridgend with most journeys serving Maesteg railway station to connect with train services. rail tickets will also now be accepted on this route.
Most of the trains are timed to depart at exactly 15 minutes past the hour apart from this 1 which departs at 15:17, however the train was full with schoolchildren traveling to Garth. While on the way to Bridgend I get a phonecall fromy father saying that my brother needs a lift to his girlfreinds in Port Talbot and my mother who was still sick wasnt able to take him, so this totally screwed up the rest of my plan for the day as I had planned to get a train up to Rhymney then Treherbert befoire getting back to Cardiff Central where I planned to do a bit of night photography (Something I haven't really done at Cardiff cenral for 2-3 years)
So in the end I decided to bail at Bridgend nad get the 16:24 Milford Haven train to Pyle before walking home where I arrived at 16:57 after calling into the spar shop (I decided to make my brother wait as I was in a bad mood as a result of having to abort my planned dayout and which cost me a good bit of money.)
So That was my dayout which sadly didnt exactly go to plan as I had planned a much longer dayout.
I also noticed as well that a class 153 was being used on the Cardiff bay branch today.
I am planning another dayout soon, perhaps to London where I hope to get a bash on some class 319's and find out why a number of people like them so much and perhaps the last of the A stock on the MET.
I started my day by getting up at 05:15, making myway downstairs for a shower, after which I decided to make myself some breakfast and a cup of coffee before watching Sky News.
After making sure that my camera batteries had some charge in them and packing my rucksack with a bottle of coca cola and 2 packets of walker cheese & onion crisps I set off leaving my parents house at 07:25.
I called in my local spar shop where i purchased a large breakfast roll for £1.20 (lovely) for a treat as I haven't had 1 from here since I finished University earlier this year.
I got passed by 1 of the Optare Solo's which First cymru recieved from their devon operations as a result of being awarded the contract for service 45/46 Bridgend - Heol Y Cyw - Pencoed - Llanharren - Talbot Green - Royal Glamorgan Hospital which Veolia Transport Cymru withdrew with very little notice.
Very unusual to see 1 of these working service 63/63B Porthcawl - North Cornelly - Cefn Cribwr - Bridgend, well makes a change to the usual darts particulary those horrible Marshal capital bodied darts that ave arrived from First Bristol and Slough.
Got passed by former Reading buses, MCW Metrobus E456 SON now with GM Coaches, on its way to work a school service to Porthcawl.
Anyways I eventually arrived into Pyle station at 07:50 shortly after a 175 had departed with the 07:45 departure to Cardiff Central. I got passed by a hst on its way to London Paddington at 07:55 before I get caught out as a Freightliner class 70 rolls passed at 08:05 heading towards Neath (I did get a shot of it on my phone as I had no warning that it was coming so couldnt get my camera out.)
Eventually 175105 pulls into the station at exactly 08:09 with a service to Manchester Piccadilly which I shall travel on to Bridgend. Shortly after departure I can feel 1751005 really power away as it starts the climb up stormy bank with the train eventually arriving into Bridgend at 08:16/08:17 as very quick run especially since the class 153's really struggle to keep to the timings on journeys between Pyle & Bridgend.
After making my way to the tickets barriers where I purchased a anytime return from Pyle to Bridgend for £3.10 as the conduter couldnt get through the train because of overcrowding. I then decided to have a wander down to the rhiw shopping centre to go to WH Smith to purchase a copy of the latest issue of Rail. After I bought that I decided to have a wonder along the new elevated walkway with runs along the river through Bridgend town centre and is worths a walk over especially at night where it is all lit up, I got to Bridgend Bus Station at 08:35 where I did a bit of bus photography with a few waves from drivers who know me.
I got back to Bridgend railway station at 09:05 where I purchased a valley lines day explorer ticket for £9.10 sadly you can no longer get any railcard discounts on this ticket. I then made my way over to platform 2.
Bridgend station is currently going through a major facelift including the installation of a new footbridge complete with lifts which will be installed at the Swansea end of teh station, work seems to be coming along well however the contracters have used a large part of the car park for the offices and to store equipments etc (Might be something to do why the station car parks at Pyle were so busy)
While sitting at Bridgend station I saw:
43127 & 43168 working the 09:10 departure to Swansea which was running about 3 minutes late, shortly after at about 09:16 a class 66 & 60049 rolled through with a empty steel slab train to Margam. Eventually 175106 rolled into the station at 09:24 with the train to Carmarthen and 175108 pulling in with the 09:25 departure to Manchester Piccadilly (I really do think all the trains need to be 3 or 4 carriages on this route s at least from Carmarthen as both trains were extrmely busy the Manchester especially.)
At 09:28 153312 rolls through empty heading towards Cardiff. At 09:35 there is an annoucement that the 09:42 train to Cardiff central via the Vale of glamorgan line was 7 minutes late because of delays leaving Cardiff on the prervious journey as I am waiting I note 150242 working the 09:34 departure to Swansea which calls at all the Swanline service and which was fairly busy. At 09:40 158837 rolls in with the 09:38 service to Cheltenham Spa which is 2 minutes late this is only my 2nd trip on 1 of the newly refurbished class 158's the other being back on 19th june this year.
As we are leaving Bridgend I see 2 class 150's rolling into platform 1A on arrival back at Cardiff Central these 2 class 150's will split with 1 working a Treherbert service which runs via the cityline instead of via Cardiff Queen Street and the other will work the 10:54 Cardiff - Fishguard Hbr service. I must say I like the new interiors on these units although I think the lighting is a bit too bright and does give you a headache after a bit. After arrival at Cardiff central I met up with 1 of my freinds before we proceded to platform 0 to get the 10:35 service to Ebbw Vale Parkway ( 1st time my rover has worked in the barriers)
150229 was our unit today and the unit actually was very quiet with our carriage empty apart from us and the good looking french girl sitting a few seats down who was having a very loud coversation in french much to our amusement. After a very good sprint along the south wales mainline and as we passed Alexander dock Junction I make a not of 66146 & 66092 sitting in the yard, I must also say the Ebbw Vale trains really have to slow down to cross off the mainline onto the Ebbw Vale branch.
I must make a complaint about the poor tables on this unit which I felt were 2 small. We arrived into Ebbw Vale Parkway at 11:28 about 3 minutes early so I and my freind decided to go for a bit of a walk, we manged to get onto the footbridge which crosses over the line and I must admit I didnt expect the track to continue for a long as it did beyond the station to where it passes under the main road heading towards where the steelworks were and where trains will eventually continue to Ebbw Vale town centre.
After boarding the train back down to Cardiff we pass the old Junction for the Abertillery, branch where the trackbed seems to still be in place and clear. Someday I hope to perhaps see trains working down this branch again.
As we travel along the branch the train does start to fill up and we pass 150282 which is working the 11:35 Cardiff - Ebbw Vale parkway service. Arrival back into Cardiff Central was at 12:30 a good 5 minutes early. After this we decided to head to weatherspoons for lunch where we got a meal consisting of burger, chips and a drink for £3.99 which was lovely and makes a change from Burger King/Mc Donalds.
A trip to the Ian Allan shop was in order where we had a browse throug some of the books & magazines. We got back to central station at 13:45 where they are building anew booking office so the temporary booking office is now located next to the information desk. My ticket decided to not work in the barriers this time and I had to be let through by a member of staff. I decided to plan our next move when we saw 175002 working the 14:05 departure to Manchester Piccadilly which was very overcrowded including a lot of passengers standing. ( just goes to show how popular this route is.)
I did make a not that a few clas the class 142/143's have had a fresh coat of paint. I make a note of 158961 working the 14:30 service to Portsmouth Harbour, another route which I think should be worked by 4 carriage trains.
I still think that it was a shame the government cancelled the order of 11
new 4 carriage dmu's for this route as those 158's could have been re-formed back into 2 carriage sets and used on the Great Malvern - Weymouth & Cardiff - Bristol - Taunton routes to provide extra cpacity and services on those routes with 1 or 2 going to ATW to provide extra capacity on the Cambrian.
I made a not of the following while I was at Cardiff Central:
66206 working light engine heading towards Newport.
66161 working a steel train to Margam (We later passed this at Leckwith)
Freightliner 66619 seen parked up in the Riverside siding.
150247 with the 14:15 arrival from Taunton & Bristol Temple Meads.
142080 & 143607 working the 14:16 departure to Penarth.
143601 working the 14:20 departure to Coryton
Also made a note. of Loadhall liveried 50135 siting outside Pulmans rails depot at Canton
We decided to get 158821, which is another unit which has just been refurbished on the 14:20 service to Maesteg. Departure was ontime although teh train was very usy with not many spare seats, I overheard 1 woman saying that this was a brand new train, just goes to show that a good refurbishment can catch people out. We arrive into Pontyclun which is looking sorry for itself, mostly thanks to the local youth, I wouldnt mind seeing the branch line from Pontyclun to Beddau re-opened it would make a good light rail route.
we eventaually arrive into Maesteg at 15:13 about 2 minutes late and we see the railink liveried opatre solo which is operated by Lynfi coaches on service 904 to Caerau Park. Bridgend council have decided to withdraw the railink service from next January however some of the money saved will instead be used to fund inprovements to service 32/36 Cymmer - Maesteg - Llangynwydd - Bridgend with most journeys serving Maesteg railway station to connect with train services. rail tickets will also now be accepted on this route.
Most of the trains are timed to depart at exactly 15 minutes past the hour apart from this 1 which departs at 15:17, however the train was full with schoolchildren traveling to Garth. While on the way to Bridgend I get a phonecall fromy father saying that my brother needs a lift to his girlfreinds in Port Talbot and my mother who was still sick wasnt able to take him, so this totally screwed up the rest of my plan for the day as I had planned to get a train up to Rhymney then Treherbert befoire getting back to Cardiff Central where I planned to do a bit of night photography (Something I haven't really done at Cardiff cenral for 2-3 years)
So in the end I decided to bail at Bridgend nad get the 16:24 Milford Haven train to Pyle before walking home where I arrived at 16:57 after calling into the spar shop (I decided to make my brother wait as I was in a bad mood as a result of having to abort my planned dayout and which cost me a good bit of money.)
So That was my dayout which sadly didnt exactly go to plan as I had planned a much longer dayout.
I also noticed as well that a class 153 was being used on the Cardiff bay branch today.
I am planning another dayout soon, perhaps to London where I hope to get a bash on some class 319's and find out why a number of people like them so much and perhaps the last of the A stock on the MET.
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