Apart from the not-particually-nice characters on the hauled sets it sounds like a good time! I love how the guard told the lad about tractors when he dissed rail enthusiasts too!
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Iskra's Odysseys
- Thread starter Iskra
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Techniquest
Veteran Member
An amazing time clearly, and you wouldn't have been impressed with the 153s and 156s a couple of years ago, thankfully the refurbishment was a good job!
Surprised a period return is available for such a short distance from Chapeltown (congratulations on the move by the way, can't have been a pleasurable experience!) but good news that it is.
Your Anglia Plus is valid from Ely you know, could have saved a bit of money on the Advance
I don't follow the logic on only counting new coverage in daylight though.
As always, an excellent trip report. Any progress with planning your Swedish trip?
Surprised a period return is available for such a short distance from Chapeltown (congratulations on the move by the way, can't have been a pleasurable experience!) but good news that it is.
Your Anglia Plus is valid from Ely you know, could have saved a bit of money on the Advance
I don't follow the logic on only counting new coverage in daylight though.As always, an excellent trip report. Any progress with planning your Swedish trip?
Iskra
Established Member
The house move went surprisingly well considering it was December and a new build, so I can't complain.
Yeah, I found that out after I'd booked the advance, the map was a bit unclear. I'm mainly travelling to see the country as well as for the trains, so if I literally can't see it, it does defeat the point a little.
I've booked my first nights hotel, that is all for now. I land at 2200 and I've booked a hotel close to the airport, so nothing very ambitious in case there is a flight delay. I've got other trip booking priorities for the moment
Yeah, I found that out after I'd booked the advance, the map was a bit unclear. I'm mainly travelling to see the country as well as for the trains, so if I literally can't see it, it does defeat the point a little.
I've booked my first nights hotel, that is all for now. I land at 2200 and I've booked a hotel close to the airport, so nothing very ambitious in case there is a flight delay. I've got other trip booking priorities for the moment
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Fair game, making good progress then! Flying into Arlanda I assume? Hopefully with a better airline than Norwegian!
Iskra
Established Member
Yeah, I'm flying with Easyjet from Luton into Arlanda, which is a new route so it should be interesting. I've seen your comments regarding Norwegian previously- they seem incredibly cheap and sometimes you get what you pay for.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Agreed. It was a good way to find out first hand how they operate at least, and if other bashers are put off using them now as a result then it was worth it
Luton's a required airport for me, certainly it'll be worth a look. I want to get Heathrow done though, never been airside there.
Luton's a required airport for me, certainly it'll be worth a look. I want to get Heathrow done though, never been airside there.
Loco hauled trains and semaphores, you can't get better than that. Unfortunately it seems that you had a bit of problem with a few 'characters', it's probably the case that you were the passenger on the train that was the most comfortable in that situation as I'm sure you and everyone else on here feel more than comfortable on trains and know what to do if things do start to get a bit strange. Not so much fun for people who don't normally travel that way though.
I thought the guard who spoke to the showing off wally was a bit of a star.
I thought the guard who spoke to the showing off wally was a bit of a star.
Iskra
Established Member
Agreed. It was a good way to find out first hand how they operate at least, and if other bashers are put off using them now as a result then it was worth it
Luton's a required airport for me, certainly it'll be worth a look. I want to get Heathrow done though, never been airside there.
To be fair, having never used them I would give them a try myself on a short trip, but if I didn't like it I wouldn't use them again. I've seen them advertise £150 flights to the Caribbean, which is ridiculously cheap no matter how bad the service. Luton will be a new airport for me this time too. I've done Heathrow on a transatlantic, but I didn't see much of it as my connecting flight landed late so I rushed through it.
Yeah I did on this trip for some reason, but I've had a good run up to now of avoiding unpleasant folk, so I can't complain too much considering how much I travel and at least I only encountered them on short journeys on staffed trains.
That guard was amazing, and all the AGA staff I came across were fantastic too to be fair, all of them were very positive and polite. I keep meaning to send AGA a nice email about them, as I suspect they usually get more complaints than compliments.
It's good to do that sometimes. A few weeks ago I was on my way down to Exmouth when a load of young lads from the Marines got on at Exeter Central on their way to Lympstone Commando. They were really decent and respectful of everyone else and actually made the journey feel pleasant and safer in a funny kind of way.
I phoned the camp a couple of days later and the guy on the phone really appreciated being told that they were a credit to the camp and the country.
Iskra
Established Member
Birthday Bash- Scotland 1st and 2nd of Feb
I always plan a bash around my birthday, and the VTEC flat fare seat sale made my mind up about where I would be travelling for this one and allowed me get some unbelievably good value Advances bought.
As it always seems to be, it was an early start. It's much easier getting out of bed for a train trip though than work. 0400 was the required wake up time for today. I quickly packed my trip back and small suitcase as I would be overnighting on this bash, I did however omit to pack my phone charger which made things more interesting. I realised this by the time I'd reached Chapeltown station at 0500, but decided I wasn't going back now even though I probably would have had time. I got a free parking spot near the station at that time and sauntered down the dingy path to the station- the lights don't come on until just before the first train making it a slightly unnerving walk down to the platforms. Once there, I stood completely alone waiting for the first train of the day, which started a slightly convoluted journey to Leeds.
0529 Chapeltown (S.Yorks)-Barnsley. Northern 3 Car 144. Anytime Day Single (to Leeds) £10.30).
I wasn't really bothered what unit turned up as I was pretty cold by the time it arrived and it was only a short journey. I could see it was a 144 as it approached, which is definitely preferable compared to a 144, even better with it being a 3-car unit. This amounted to roughly one carriage per passenger at this time, but it did busy up a little before arrival at Barnsley, where the unit then heads back down to Sheffield.
I then had a boring wait at Barnsley to wait for a semi-fast service to Leeds.
0610 Barnsley-Leeds. Northern 2 Car 158.
Another quiet journey. I got a decent seat in a bay of 4 away from the axles, noticing some questionable cleaning as I sat down. It was about 50% loaded which I didn't think was bad at this time of day. Unusually, this service called at Normanton on the way into Leeds, which most semi-fast services omit. It was dark outside still so I saw very little as we passed the Freightliner depot.
0710 Leeds-Aberdeen. VTEC HST. 1st Advance £25.
A bargain ticket on one of my favourite services off Leeds, being guaranteed HST action to somewhere interesting. I sat down in K on one of a pair of individual seats facing eastwards for the best views, but at York I was turfed out by someone claiming it was theirs even though it had never had a reservation in it. I couldn't be bothered arguing over it so I just moved to M which was unreserved and basically empty, where I then got the exact same seat. As we passed Neville Hill, I noticed it was very busy with numerous HST's and units preparing for their days work. Also on show were a pair of 08's which I don't see often here when passing. A couple of VTEC managers were onboard as far as York, I don't know what they were doing, but it certainly wasn't helping the staff as they didn't appear with the drinks trolley until after York. A coffee was much needed as I'd already been on the go for over two hours by this point! At York a DRS 37 was present outside the Network Rail building and an 08 was spotted at the National Railway Museum. Breakfast was then promptly served and numerous rounds of toast offered, but I went for croissants instead. The breakfast was tasty and good quality, but the portion size was lacking and I think it was missing an item that's normally on there. I didn't really pay much attention to the views until Durham, where the cathedral is now surrounded by scaffolding, it was still a pleasant view as we entered the station though. There also appears to have been a platform extension at Durham, which I assume is in preparation for the arrival of the Class 800 'Azuma' train which will have more carriages in passenger service per train compared to the HST's and MK4 sets they will replace. At Newcastle, 67016 was acting as thunderbird. In stark contrast to Neville Hill, Heaton depot was completely empty as we were now firmly in the morning peak. As we progressed North of Newcastle, the morning's fog patches gave way to reveal blue skies after Berwick-upon-Tweed, allowing to take in the fantastic coastal views. On the approach to Edinburgh there were a Caledonian Sleeper 73 and a GBRF 66 present. At Edinburgh Waverly 67013 was on Thunderbird duty and an FL 90 was stabled, which I assume had been on one of the sleepers. There was a crew change at Edinburgh. At Haymarket, one of the Scotrail dispatchers briefly boarded to nab one of the complimentary newspapers which I found quite amusing. We were now on to the All Day Menu, which means more food and in my mind at least- justifies the consumption of alcohol. To this end, VTEC lamb stew and a bottle of Hop on Boad Ale were ordered. It was back into the fog as we crossed the Forth. I found it a bit unnerving not being able to see anything but cloud as we were suspended in midair by what seemed like nothing. As we reached the North shore, the fog cleared, revealing HMS Queen Elizabeth at Rosyth. Unfortunately the crew forgot about my stew, but eventually I did get one and it looked like this:
It was pretty tasty to be fair, this being the first time I'd had it. After Inverkeithing station I went for a window-hang as we powered Northwards to listen to the powercars at a relatively quiet part of the journey to avoid annoying any passengers. There was a rather larger oil rig being towed out to sea at Kinghorn, which looked impressive. As we crossed the Tay bridge, it was also being refurbished or repaired and was subsequently clad in netting and scaffolding. The journey was pleasant and scenic from then on, affording some great coastal views, but nothing noteworthy happened until Aberdeen, where a Colas 60 was spotted on a tanker train and a CS Class 73 was on a sleeper rake, which also contained the first new liveried CS coach that I've seen.
VTEC Powercar 43272 rests after a long journey
Aberdeen was still as grey, cold and windswept as the last time I visited it, so I simply had a quick leg stretching walk around the shopping centre attached to the train station and then chilled in Costa. I then went to the Scotrail ticket office to get a ticket for later in the day.
1439 Aberdeen-Stirling. Scotrail 170. STD Advance £5.
I quite like 170's, especially Scotrail ones as they have comfortable seats and big windows. A few oil workers joined this service and spent the journey getting drunk, but they didn't bother anyone so no worries there. Not long after leaving Aberdeen the engine in my carriage cut out, which vastly improved my journey. I do seem to be a bit of a curse to engines on trains that I've travelled on during recent trips. Unfortunately the driver managed to restart the engine at Arbroath. At Dundee I saw a Scotrail 68006 on a container train heading North. I think that's the first time I've actually seen one on a freight working. After Dundee, I was finally onto some new coverage until Perth, which covered one of my annoying gaps in Scotland and it was through a very pleasant part of the world. At Perth the train emptied out and then refilled again. I enjoyed the scenery down towards Stirling and even spotted a couple of deer.
1708 Stirling-Alloa. Scotrail 156. Std Off Peak Day Return Stirling-Alloa £3.50.
It was a short wait at Stirling for this service. I initially boarded the wrong unit as only one was continuing to Alloa. It's a pretty dull run to Alloa to be honest, with very little worth mentioning, but it was new coverage so had to be done. The line seems to terminate at a supermarket, where the train had a layover. I remained on board while the sunset outside and then returned to Stirling on the same unit.
1807 Stirling-Edinburgh. Scotrail 2x158.
I was absolutely freezing while awaiting this train and very happy when it appeared so I could warm up. It was dark so I saw very little of interest. I got off at Haymarket and then trekked to my Premier Inn for the night.
My Premier Inn was at Lauriston Place, Edinburgh. It was a very good, modern and quiet premier inn with very helpful staff. I didn't eat there, instead I went to a burrito place which was nice, filling and good value. I was absolutely exhausted by the time I got to my room so it was straight to bed.
Day 2
I'd set my alarm very early with the intention of catching the Scotrail Fife Circle class 68 working. But, when my alarm went off, I was having none of it and went back to sleep, I was after all on holiday. This wasn't a major problem as I've had 68's already this year and there are plenty of ongoing opportunities to get more. Instead I woke up at about 0900 and had a leisurely stroll down to Haymarket where I had another plan. First, I would need to get to Waverley so I jumped on to the first available train, which was a delayed working.
1009 Edinburgh Haymarket-Waverley. Virgin Trains Class 390.
This train appeared virtually empty and I perched at the end of the carriage for the short hop.
1024 Edinbugh Waverley-Tweedbank. Scotrail Class 158. Haymarket-Tweedbank Off Peak Day Return, £11.30
After Newcraighall, this was all new coverage for me, being a new build line. It was quite scenic, but not amazingly so and it's a bit bizarre to travel on a line that looks so crisp, new, clean and un-vandalised. I think it will look nicer in a few years once the vegetation has grown back a bit more. This train was doing a steady custom today, until Galashiels where the service all but emptied. There is very little of interest at Tweedbank, so it was straight back down the line for me so I could crack on with the new coverage.
Scotrail 158 at Tweedbank
1128 Tweedbank-Edinburgh Waverley
The train got really busy on the way back down in to Edinburgh. Conveniently, it pulled in right next to my next service.
1243 Edinburgh Waverley-North Berwick. Scotrail 4 Car class 380. Off peak day return £6.90.
I believe the class 380 is new traction for me. I quite liked the 380, nice and spacious inside. It also makes an interesting sound, quite similar to the 350. At Prestonpans we passed a stabled VTEC 91 Set. It was quite a drag getting out to North Berwick, but the scenery was quite nice and it was required coverage down the North Berwick branch so had to be done. The guard on this service was being trained, which was quite interesting to watch.
1327 North Berwick-Edinburgh.
I then got the exact same unit back, which busied up on the way back to Edinburgh.
It was then into the 1st class lounge to kill a bit of time and for a snack raid before my service back down South.
1600 Edinburgh Waverley-Doncaster. VTEC Class 91. VTEC 1st Advance £25.
It was a very nice run South as the light faded. I really do like the Dunbar-Morpeth stretch of the ECML. It definitely competes well with the Northern stretch of the WCML. Once again, I had the lamb stew, but I couldn't drink on this trip as I would be driving back from the station. This train ran fast until Newcastle, which I appreciated. South of Newcastle the catering offer was reduced due to staff shortages which upset a couple of customers, until they were given a bottle of wine!
At Doncaster it was a very simple cross-platform change onto a Northern service, I simply jumped on the first one in the direction of Sheffield.
1902 Doncaster-Sheffield. Northern 2 Car 158. Doncaster-Chapeltown Anytime Day Single £4.70.
This service provided me with some bonus unexpected new coverage as it went via Rotheram Central, gaining me the loop there which saves me doing it on a very slow stopping service between Sheffield and Wakefield.
1942 Meadowhall-Chapeltown. Northern 158.
Well a 158 was a pleasant surprise on this service which is normally firm pacer territory. I wasn't on for long so I just took one of the fold down seats in the vestibule.
And that was that, birthday bash done. Plenty of traction variety, a nice long HST trip, a few bits of new coverage over some annoying gaps and a little bit of new traction made it a worthwhile and enjoyable trip.
There is another report on the way, hopefully tomorrow which involves something a little bit different.
I always plan a bash around my birthday, and the VTEC flat fare seat sale made my mind up about where I would be travelling for this one and allowed me get some unbelievably good value Advances bought.
As it always seems to be, it was an early start. It's much easier getting out of bed for a train trip though than work. 0400 was the required wake up time for today. I quickly packed my trip back and small suitcase as I would be overnighting on this bash, I did however omit to pack my phone charger which made things more interesting. I realised this by the time I'd reached Chapeltown station at 0500, but decided I wasn't going back now even though I probably would have had time. I got a free parking spot near the station at that time and sauntered down the dingy path to the station- the lights don't come on until just before the first train making it a slightly unnerving walk down to the platforms. Once there, I stood completely alone waiting for the first train of the day, which started a slightly convoluted journey to Leeds.
0529 Chapeltown (S.Yorks)-Barnsley. Northern 3 Car 144. Anytime Day Single (to Leeds) £10.30).
I wasn't really bothered what unit turned up as I was pretty cold by the time it arrived and it was only a short journey. I could see it was a 144 as it approached, which is definitely preferable compared to a 144, even better with it being a 3-car unit. This amounted to roughly one carriage per passenger at this time, but it did busy up a little before arrival at Barnsley, where the unit then heads back down to Sheffield.
I then had a boring wait at Barnsley to wait for a semi-fast service to Leeds.
0610 Barnsley-Leeds. Northern 2 Car 158.
Another quiet journey. I got a decent seat in a bay of 4 away from the axles, noticing some questionable cleaning as I sat down. It was about 50% loaded which I didn't think was bad at this time of day. Unusually, this service called at Normanton on the way into Leeds, which most semi-fast services omit. It was dark outside still so I saw very little as we passed the Freightliner depot.
0710 Leeds-Aberdeen. VTEC HST. 1st Advance £25.
A bargain ticket on one of my favourite services off Leeds, being guaranteed HST action to somewhere interesting. I sat down in K on one of a pair of individual seats facing eastwards for the best views, but at York I was turfed out by someone claiming it was theirs even though it had never had a reservation in it. I couldn't be bothered arguing over it so I just moved to M which was unreserved and basically empty, where I then got the exact same seat. As we passed Neville Hill, I noticed it was very busy with numerous HST's and units preparing for their days work. Also on show were a pair of 08's which I don't see often here when passing. A couple of VTEC managers were onboard as far as York, I don't know what they were doing, but it certainly wasn't helping the staff as they didn't appear with the drinks trolley until after York. A coffee was much needed as I'd already been on the go for over two hours by this point! At York a DRS 37 was present outside the Network Rail building and an 08 was spotted at the National Railway Museum. Breakfast was then promptly served and numerous rounds of toast offered, but I went for croissants instead. The breakfast was tasty and good quality, but the portion size was lacking and I think it was missing an item that's normally on there. I didn't really pay much attention to the views until Durham, where the cathedral is now surrounded by scaffolding, it was still a pleasant view as we entered the station though. There also appears to have been a platform extension at Durham, which I assume is in preparation for the arrival of the Class 800 'Azuma' train which will have more carriages in passenger service per train compared to the HST's and MK4 sets they will replace. At Newcastle, 67016 was acting as thunderbird. In stark contrast to Neville Hill, Heaton depot was completely empty as we were now firmly in the morning peak. As we progressed North of Newcastle, the morning's fog patches gave way to reveal blue skies after Berwick-upon-Tweed, allowing to take in the fantastic coastal views. On the approach to Edinburgh there were a Caledonian Sleeper 73 and a GBRF 66 present. At Edinburgh Waverly 67013 was on Thunderbird duty and an FL 90 was stabled, which I assume had been on one of the sleepers. There was a crew change at Edinburgh. At Haymarket, one of the Scotrail dispatchers briefly boarded to nab one of the complimentary newspapers which I found quite amusing. We were now on to the All Day Menu, which means more food and in my mind at least- justifies the consumption of alcohol. To this end, VTEC lamb stew and a bottle of Hop on Boad Ale were ordered. It was back into the fog as we crossed the Forth. I found it a bit unnerving not being able to see anything but cloud as we were suspended in midair by what seemed like nothing. As we reached the North shore, the fog cleared, revealing HMS Queen Elizabeth at Rosyth. Unfortunately the crew forgot about my stew, but eventually I did get one and it looked like this:
It was pretty tasty to be fair, this being the first time I'd had it. After Inverkeithing station I went for a window-hang as we powered Northwards to listen to the powercars at a relatively quiet part of the journey to avoid annoying any passengers. There was a rather larger oil rig being towed out to sea at Kinghorn, which looked impressive. As we crossed the Tay bridge, it was also being refurbished or repaired and was subsequently clad in netting and scaffolding. The journey was pleasant and scenic from then on, affording some great coastal views, but nothing noteworthy happened until Aberdeen, where a Colas 60 was spotted on a tanker train and a CS Class 73 was on a sleeper rake, which also contained the first new liveried CS coach that I've seen.
VTEC Powercar 43272 rests after a long journey
Aberdeen was still as grey, cold and windswept as the last time I visited it, so I simply had a quick leg stretching walk around the shopping centre attached to the train station and then chilled in Costa. I then went to the Scotrail ticket office to get a ticket for later in the day.
1439 Aberdeen-Stirling. Scotrail 170. STD Advance £5.
I quite like 170's, especially Scotrail ones as they have comfortable seats and big windows. A few oil workers joined this service and spent the journey getting drunk, but they didn't bother anyone so no worries there. Not long after leaving Aberdeen the engine in my carriage cut out, which vastly improved my journey. I do seem to be a bit of a curse to engines on trains that I've travelled on during recent trips. Unfortunately the driver managed to restart the engine at Arbroath. At Dundee I saw a Scotrail 68006 on a container train heading North. I think that's the first time I've actually seen one on a freight working. After Dundee, I was finally onto some new coverage until Perth, which covered one of my annoying gaps in Scotland and it was through a very pleasant part of the world. At Perth the train emptied out and then refilled again. I enjoyed the scenery down towards Stirling and even spotted a couple of deer.
1708 Stirling-Alloa. Scotrail 156. Std Off Peak Day Return Stirling-Alloa £3.50.
It was a short wait at Stirling for this service. I initially boarded the wrong unit as only one was continuing to Alloa. It's a pretty dull run to Alloa to be honest, with very little worth mentioning, but it was new coverage so had to be done. The line seems to terminate at a supermarket, where the train had a layover. I remained on board while the sunset outside and then returned to Stirling on the same unit.
1807 Stirling-Edinburgh. Scotrail 2x158.
I was absolutely freezing while awaiting this train and very happy when it appeared so I could warm up. It was dark so I saw very little of interest. I got off at Haymarket and then trekked to my Premier Inn for the night.
My Premier Inn was at Lauriston Place, Edinburgh. It was a very good, modern and quiet premier inn with very helpful staff. I didn't eat there, instead I went to a burrito place which was nice, filling and good value. I was absolutely exhausted by the time I got to my room so it was straight to bed.
Day 2
I'd set my alarm very early with the intention of catching the Scotrail Fife Circle class 68 working. But, when my alarm went off, I was having none of it and went back to sleep, I was after all on holiday. This wasn't a major problem as I've had 68's already this year and there are plenty of ongoing opportunities to get more. Instead I woke up at about 0900 and had a leisurely stroll down to Haymarket where I had another plan. First, I would need to get to Waverley so I jumped on to the first available train, which was a delayed working.
1009 Edinburgh Haymarket-Waverley. Virgin Trains Class 390.
This train appeared virtually empty and I perched at the end of the carriage for the short hop.
1024 Edinbugh Waverley-Tweedbank. Scotrail Class 158. Haymarket-Tweedbank Off Peak Day Return, £11.30
After Newcraighall, this was all new coverage for me, being a new build line. It was quite scenic, but not amazingly so and it's a bit bizarre to travel on a line that looks so crisp, new, clean and un-vandalised. I think it will look nicer in a few years once the vegetation has grown back a bit more. This train was doing a steady custom today, until Galashiels where the service all but emptied. There is very little of interest at Tweedbank, so it was straight back down the line for me so I could crack on with the new coverage.
Scotrail 158 at Tweedbank
1128 Tweedbank-Edinburgh Waverley
The train got really busy on the way back down in to Edinburgh. Conveniently, it pulled in right next to my next service.
1243 Edinburgh Waverley-North Berwick. Scotrail 4 Car class 380. Off peak day return £6.90.
I believe the class 380 is new traction for me. I quite liked the 380, nice and spacious inside. It also makes an interesting sound, quite similar to the 350. At Prestonpans we passed a stabled VTEC 91 Set. It was quite a drag getting out to North Berwick, but the scenery was quite nice and it was required coverage down the North Berwick branch so had to be done. The guard on this service was being trained, which was quite interesting to watch.
1327 North Berwick-Edinburgh.
I then got the exact same unit back, which busied up on the way back to Edinburgh.
It was then into the 1st class lounge to kill a bit of time and for a snack raid before my service back down South.
1600 Edinburgh Waverley-Doncaster. VTEC Class 91. VTEC 1st Advance £25.
It was a very nice run South as the light faded. I really do like the Dunbar-Morpeth stretch of the ECML. It definitely competes well with the Northern stretch of the WCML. Once again, I had the lamb stew, but I couldn't drink on this trip as I would be driving back from the station. This train ran fast until Newcastle, which I appreciated. South of Newcastle the catering offer was reduced due to staff shortages which upset a couple of customers, until they were given a bottle of wine!
At Doncaster it was a very simple cross-platform change onto a Northern service, I simply jumped on the first one in the direction of Sheffield.
1902 Doncaster-Sheffield. Northern 2 Car 158. Doncaster-Chapeltown Anytime Day Single £4.70.
This service provided me with some bonus unexpected new coverage as it went via Rotheram Central, gaining me the loop there which saves me doing it on a very slow stopping service between Sheffield and Wakefield.
1942 Meadowhall-Chapeltown. Northern 158.
Well a 158 was a pleasant surprise on this service which is normally firm pacer territory. I wasn't on for long so I just took one of the fold down seats in the vestibule.
And that was that, birthday bash done. Plenty of traction variety, a nice long HST trip, a few bits of new coverage over some annoying gaps and a little bit of new traction made it a worthwhile and enjoyable trip.
There is another report on the way, hopefully tomorrow which involves something a little bit different.
Last edited:
Iskra
Established Member
Tuesday 14th February
...Today was a very special day. No, not Valentines day. 60163 Tornado was running the first timetabled steam services in England for 50 years. Much faffing had been required to secure a position on this train. I'd tried ringing Northern to get a reservation, but the person on the other end of the phone had never heard of the ticket I wanted, so I hung up and drove to my nearest staffed ticket office at Meadowhall, who sorted me out, but couldn't advise the correct restrictions on my ticket. After getting in touch with ATOC/RDG and Northern Customer Services, it was eventually established that I could use the ticket as I intended. Unfortunately, due to a meeting for work at lunchtime in Wakefield, I only had time to do one trip on Tornado and it would require a long day.
I stayed over in Leeds the night before, waking up at 0415. I then got a lift down to Leeds station. Leeds station is always interesting at this time of the day. I walked into the concourse to be greeted by a homeless person playing the piano, but the music they were playing was fantastic. If they did it during the day they would earn a fortune. Other than that, it was a mix of train crew and drunk students. A quick coffee was bought from McDonalds for £1.29 which is good value in my opinion. It was then over to the barriers which to my surprise actually accepted my ticket. All other rangers aren't valid until 0845 at Leeds, so I was expecting it to be rejected and then to have an argument with a jobsworth staff member. Not today though.
It was then over to the platform, where we waited and waited for some traincrew to turn up. Eventually they did.
0529 Leeds-Appleby. Northern 2 Car 158. Settle & Carlisle Day Ranger £15.
I got a window seat at a bay of 4 away from the axles, as I always aim for on a 158. This train actually had quite a few people on it. Despite it's ultimately obscure destination of Armathwaite, this is the first train of the day up the Aire Valley, serving Bingley, Keighley Skipton etc so it was quite popular with workers. At Skipton light started to peek through the clouds. Normally this train is a ghost train but today it was about 30% loaded, mainly with enthusiasts.
Appleby station was cold, busy and windswept when we arrived, with media, BTP and more Northern staff than I've ever seen before on the platforms. The main platforms waiting room was wedged out. I took a few photos, then I bought a coffee from a stall set up by the Friends of the Settle & Carlisle Line and then headed over to the waiting room on the opposite platform which was empty but I think I started a trend.
The Northern 158 disappears to serve the sprawling urban metropolis of Armathwaite, with Tornado seen in the background.
After a bit of a wait and with the platform now busying up, Tornado started to edge towards us, with plenty of wheelslip and the cold February morning accentuating the kettle's steam creating a dramatic appearance despite the low speeds.
Tornado reverses out of the sidings
The rake was formed of Tornado tender-first (thus restricted to 45mph heading Southbound), DBS 67029 Diamond Jubilee in silver livery, a uniform rake of 8 Anglia Mk2's and Tornado's Blood and Custard Mk1 Support coach. It was well organised by Northern, there were platform staff holding the carriage letters up to get people in the right places.
I got on board and found my seat. Once we started moving I swapped sides to sit in an empty seat for the better views on that side (left if you're heading South). The doors were stewarded and a few enthusiasts were denied their requests to film/record out of the droplights. A BBC crew were onboard filming and interviewing passengers and the atmosphere was very nice. I had an old couple opposite me who were Friends of the Settle and Carlisle line and were very nice. There was also a trolley service and volunteers handing out leaflets or selling guides to the line. The ride was very smooth and a number of people commented saying the same thing. It was very nice just to see steam going past the windows at a decent speed on the mainline on a crisp winters morning.
The fields, lanes and villages along the line were crowded with folk watching a photographing, Tornado was literally stopping the traffic in places. By Garsdale the stewards had relaxed a little bit and let me listen out of the window to the sound of a steamer climbing out of the station and over Ais Gill which is an unforgettable experience and a bit of a must if you can manage it. A kind staff member then said he'd look the other way if I stuck my head out as long as I was careful, by this point plenty of others were doing it anyway.
Leaving Garsdale
Crossing Ribblehead Viaduct
It was a cracking run, over one the most dramatic lines in the country for only £15 all day, so needless to say I was more than happy when we arrived into Skipton. Thanks to Northern/DB/Nemesis Rail/A1 Trust and the Friends of the Settle and Carlisle for a fantastic event,
After that, everything else seemed a little mundane.
I had a cross platform connection at Skipton for the 1017 to Leeds to meet my boss in Wakefield.
1017 Skipton-Leeds. Northern Class 333.
A girl on this train at Skipton commented how scruffy Tornado's rake looked, and how the class 333 was a 'nice train.' Well, I knew which one I'd rather be on, but I didn't say anything.
This train must have been going back to Neville Hill next as we landed on one of the through platforms at Leeds, which is quite unusual on an EMU.
I then crossed over to platform 12 for an XC service down to Wakefield Westgate. It was timed for a HST, but a Voyager Turned up instead. It didn't bother me though as it's only 10mins.
1111 Leeds-Wakefield Westgate. XC 221. Wakefield-Dewsbury Anytime Return £expenses.
After meeting my boss conveniently in the Costa at Westgate, it was then time to get some more value for money out of my Settle & Carlisle Day Ranger.
1247 Wakefield Westgate- Leeds. XC 221.
A 221 but again only a short journey, waiting for the VTEC service would have meant a wait in Leeds.
1316 Leeds-Hellifield. Northern 150+153 combo. Settle & Carlisle Day Ranger.
I went and sat in the 153 which being the furthest unit down the platform was completely empty. I really don't like 150's. I ended up taking this train as far as Hellifield to kill time before I would be meeting a friend in Skipton later on. At Hellifield an old lady was getting off behind me with some heavy shopping so I carried her bags off for her and then ended up walking her back to her house about 5 minutes down the road. Good deed for the day done. She had really heavy bags and her shopping trolley had broken. I then walked back up to the station, which is nicely restored and features a cafe serving hot food. I ordered a portion of chips. The cafe is owned by West Coast Railway Company and the walls are covered in pictures of old steam locomotives and memorabilia, so worth a visit for steam fans.
Hellifield Station
1444 Hellifield-Skipton. Northern 150.
At Skipton I had around an hour to wait, so I sat in the ticket office. The amount of people asking about the remaining steam services was incredible. After about 10mins an irate and unpleasant older lady came in and started shouting at one of the ticket clerks for 50minutes about the lack of information and wanting to know how to get on the steam trips. Her attitude was appalling and all the other customers were glaring at her. She was also selfishly blocking one of the two ticket windows, so there was quite a backlog of frustrated passengers. The poor ticket office clerk handled it very well, but I felt very sorry for her. On leaving I slipped her a £5er under her window and told her to get herself a drink. (Good deed no.2 of the day) I don't normally go around handling fivers out by the way, so don't expect one if you ever meet me!
My final service of the day was another 150 back into Leeds to go and watch the football.
1739 Skipton-Leeds. Northern 150.
Another 150. This one was a little busy and included some BTP heading back to Leeds after policing the Tornado event.
So a long day, but definitely worthwhile to get cheap steam on the Settle Carlisle line and also A1 is new traction for me too.
...Today was a very special day. No, not Valentines day. 60163 Tornado was running the first timetabled steam services in England for 50 years. Much faffing had been required to secure a position on this train. I'd tried ringing Northern to get a reservation, but the person on the other end of the phone had never heard of the ticket I wanted, so I hung up and drove to my nearest staffed ticket office at Meadowhall, who sorted me out, but couldn't advise the correct restrictions on my ticket. After getting in touch with ATOC/RDG and Northern Customer Services, it was eventually established that I could use the ticket as I intended. Unfortunately, due to a meeting for work at lunchtime in Wakefield, I only had time to do one trip on Tornado and it would require a long day.
I stayed over in Leeds the night before, waking up at 0415. I then got a lift down to Leeds station. Leeds station is always interesting at this time of the day. I walked into the concourse to be greeted by a homeless person playing the piano, but the music they were playing was fantastic. If they did it during the day they would earn a fortune. Other than that, it was a mix of train crew and drunk students. A quick coffee was bought from McDonalds for £1.29 which is good value in my opinion. It was then over to the barriers which to my surprise actually accepted my ticket. All other rangers aren't valid until 0845 at Leeds, so I was expecting it to be rejected and then to have an argument with a jobsworth staff member. Not today though.
It was then over to the platform, where we waited and waited for some traincrew to turn up. Eventually they did.
0529 Leeds-Appleby. Northern 2 Car 158. Settle & Carlisle Day Ranger £15.
I got a window seat at a bay of 4 away from the axles, as I always aim for on a 158. This train actually had quite a few people on it. Despite it's ultimately obscure destination of Armathwaite, this is the first train of the day up the Aire Valley, serving Bingley, Keighley Skipton etc so it was quite popular with workers. At Skipton light started to peek through the clouds. Normally this train is a ghost train but today it was about 30% loaded, mainly with enthusiasts.
Appleby station was cold, busy and windswept when we arrived, with media, BTP and more Northern staff than I've ever seen before on the platforms. The main platforms waiting room was wedged out. I took a few photos, then I bought a coffee from a stall set up by the Friends of the Settle & Carlisle Line and then headed over to the waiting room on the opposite platform which was empty but I think I started a trend.
The Northern 158 disappears to serve the sprawling urban metropolis of Armathwaite, with Tornado seen in the background.
After a bit of a wait and with the platform now busying up, Tornado started to edge towards us, with plenty of wheelslip and the cold February morning accentuating the kettle's steam creating a dramatic appearance despite the low speeds.
Tornado reverses out of the sidings
The rake was formed of Tornado tender-first (thus restricted to 45mph heading Southbound), DBS 67029 Diamond Jubilee in silver livery, a uniform rake of 8 Anglia Mk2's and Tornado's Blood and Custard Mk1 Support coach. It was well organised by Northern, there were platform staff holding the carriage letters up to get people in the right places.
I got on board and found my seat. Once we started moving I swapped sides to sit in an empty seat for the better views on that side (left if you're heading South). The doors were stewarded and a few enthusiasts were denied their requests to film/record out of the droplights. A BBC crew were onboard filming and interviewing passengers and the atmosphere was very nice. I had an old couple opposite me who were Friends of the Settle and Carlisle line and were very nice. There was also a trolley service and volunteers handing out leaflets or selling guides to the line. The ride was very smooth and a number of people commented saying the same thing. It was very nice just to see steam going past the windows at a decent speed on the mainline on a crisp winters morning.
The fields, lanes and villages along the line were crowded with folk watching a photographing, Tornado was literally stopping the traffic in places. By Garsdale the stewards had relaxed a little bit and let me listen out of the window to the sound of a steamer climbing out of the station and over Ais Gill which is an unforgettable experience and a bit of a must if you can manage it. A kind staff member then said he'd look the other way if I stuck my head out as long as I was careful, by this point plenty of others were doing it anyway.
Leaving Garsdale
Crossing Ribblehead Viaduct
It was a cracking run, over one the most dramatic lines in the country for only £15 all day, so needless to say I was more than happy when we arrived into Skipton. Thanks to Northern/DB/Nemesis Rail/A1 Trust and the Friends of the Settle and Carlisle for a fantastic event,
After that, everything else seemed a little mundane.
I had a cross platform connection at Skipton for the 1017 to Leeds to meet my boss in Wakefield.
1017 Skipton-Leeds. Northern Class 333.
A girl on this train at Skipton commented how scruffy Tornado's rake looked, and how the class 333 was a 'nice train.' Well, I knew which one I'd rather be on, but I didn't say anything.
This train must have been going back to Neville Hill next as we landed on one of the through platforms at Leeds, which is quite unusual on an EMU.
I then crossed over to platform 12 for an XC service down to Wakefield Westgate. It was timed for a HST, but a Voyager Turned up instead. It didn't bother me though as it's only 10mins.
1111 Leeds-Wakefield Westgate. XC 221. Wakefield-Dewsbury Anytime Return £expenses.
After meeting my boss conveniently in the Costa at Westgate, it was then time to get some more value for money out of my Settle & Carlisle Day Ranger.
1247 Wakefield Westgate- Leeds. XC 221.
A 221 but again only a short journey, waiting for the VTEC service would have meant a wait in Leeds.
1316 Leeds-Hellifield. Northern 150+153 combo. Settle & Carlisle Day Ranger.
I went and sat in the 153 which being the furthest unit down the platform was completely empty. I really don't like 150's. I ended up taking this train as far as Hellifield to kill time before I would be meeting a friend in Skipton later on. At Hellifield an old lady was getting off behind me with some heavy shopping so I carried her bags off for her and then ended up walking her back to her house about 5 minutes down the road. Good deed for the day done. She had really heavy bags and her shopping trolley had broken. I then walked back up to the station, which is nicely restored and features a cafe serving hot food. I ordered a portion of chips. The cafe is owned by West Coast Railway Company and the walls are covered in pictures of old steam locomotives and memorabilia, so worth a visit for steam fans.
Hellifield Station
1444 Hellifield-Skipton. Northern 150.
At Skipton I had around an hour to wait, so I sat in the ticket office. The amount of people asking about the remaining steam services was incredible. After about 10mins an irate and unpleasant older lady came in and started shouting at one of the ticket clerks for 50minutes about the lack of information and wanting to know how to get on the steam trips. Her attitude was appalling and all the other customers were glaring at her. She was also selfishly blocking one of the two ticket windows, so there was quite a backlog of frustrated passengers. The poor ticket office clerk handled it very well, but I felt very sorry for her. On leaving I slipped her a £5er under her window and told her to get herself a drink. (Good deed no.2 of the day) I don't normally go around handling fivers out by the way, so don't expect one if you ever meet me!
My final service of the day was another 150 back into Leeds to go and watch the football.
1739 Skipton-Leeds. Northern 150.
Another 150. This one was a little busy and included some BTP heading back to Leeds after policing the Tornado event.
So a long day, but definitely worthwhile to get cheap steam on the Settle Carlisle line and also A1 is new traction for me too.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Sounded like a couple good little trips to Scotland and a trip on the S&C
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Sounds like a nice little clearout in Scotland, filling these awkward gaps can be quite satisfying!
Sound like two great trips! I agree with you that the lamb stew is very tasty, having had it on an EMT hire in from Leeds to Kings Cross earlier this year. I don't think the platforms at Durham will have been extended for the 800s, as they've also got a 9-car maximum, like the HSTs/91s (which also have two locos or a loco and a DVT).
Kite159
Veteran Member
One of the platforms at Durham has been extended for the Azumas:
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/feeds...-durham-to-allow-for-longer-trains-from-2018/
DarloRich
Veteran Member
My birthday to
Good report. Not jealous at all. NOT. AT. ALL. JEALOUS. no.
( I had a trip from MKC to Shrewsbury behind Tornado for my birthday the weekend before)
Iskra
Established Member
Thanks all for the comments!
Absolutely, especially some of the harder ones!
Ah, the EMT hire in has more comfortable seats too! I believe the 800's have 26m carriages so will require longer platforms. I didn't know they were extending any platforms until I saw the new bit of platform at Durham. I thought they'd be able to just isolate the doors in any carriages that don't fit like other operators do.
Thanks for the clarification
Haha, well you will have had Tornado at higher speeds then on the mainline and not tender first, so I'm also jealous! What route did it take for that one? That's a cracking birthday present
Absolutely, especially some of the harder ones!
Ah, the EMT hire in has more comfortable seats too! I believe the 800's have 26m carriages so will require longer platforms. I didn't know they were extending any platforms until I saw the new bit of platform at Durham. I thought they'd be able to just isolate the doors in any carriages that don't fit like other operators do.
Thanks for the clarification
My birthday to
Good report. Not jealous at all. NOT. AT. ALL. JEALOUS. no.
( I had a trip from MKC to Shrewsbury behind Tornado for my birthday the weekend before)
Haha, well you will have had Tornado at higher speeds then on the mainline and not tender first, so I'm also jealous! What route did it take for that one? That's a cracking birthday present
Iskra
Established Member
UkRailtours- The Shoulder of Lune 18-3-17
The main reason I opted for this railtour was that it provided the opportunity to cover Clitheroe-Hellifield, which isn't easy to do from the East. It did mean an early start in order to get to Stafford though, but that is fairly normal for most railtours I travel on.
The day started with me driving to Chapeltown (S. Yorks)- not to be confused with Chapelton in Devon -for the 0538 into Sheffield. Unsurprisingly, a parking spot was easily found at that time in the morning. I'd pre-purchased a £42 Chapeltown-Stafford Off Peak Day Return valid via Stockport using £40 of delay repay money. Yes, I could have probably found a cheaper ticket, but I needed flexibility in case things went wrong as they can do on a railtour.
Waiting for my train, the first service of the day pulled into the opposite platform heading Northwards and I was surprised to see it had a few folk on it. A combination of nightworkers and drunks mainly.
0538 Chapeltown (S.Yorks)- Sheffield. Northern Class 144.
Very little to say about this leg as its only 10 minutes and 1 stop!
0611 Sheffield-Stockport. TPE 185.
I was surprised that quite a lot of people were on this train too, with a lot of East Asian students boarding with large suitcases who I assumed were heading home. It started to get light as we crossed the hill so I was able to enjoy some views.
0716 Stockport-Stafford. XC 220.
I was expecting this train to be rammed, as most XC trains seem to be, so I positioned myself so as to get in the first class section and pay for weekend first. As the train pulled in though, I was shocked to see it was pretty empty, so I boarded in standard and went to find my seat. I found my reserved seat but there was someone in the seat adjacent so I abandoned it and took up a free bay of 2 instead. The bay of 2 was reserved after Stoke though, so I made a move to share a table as we pulled in to Stoke. This turned out to be entirely unnecessary as the Stokers never materialised and the train remained fairly empty.
I had quite a bit of time to kill at Stafford, so I bought a Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha which is very nice, I then took up residence in the waiting room and people watched; the highlight being watching a group of about 20 scouts delay a Southbound Pendolino with elongated goodbyes and tardy boarding. If there was a team competition for how slow 20 people can board a train with 20 doors, they would have won it. Comfortably. Stafford is a really great place for killing time if you're a rail enthusiast. I then went and sat up on the bridge. Well not on the bridge, that would be dangerous and would attract a lot of attention. The bridge is like a long waiting room, complete with seats and has good views of the tracks below. The highlights here were a double headed DRS 66 contrainer train and a class 70 heading right under me on the way to Southampton with a container train which made the bridge shake. About 10 minutes before departure time I headed down to the platform. The train was announced over the tannoy as 'London Euston-Heysham Harbour,' which was quite evocative. It must have been some years since that was last announced at Stafford. The imminent railtour was even creating a lot of chatter amongst the normals on the opposite platform.
As it pulled in I ID'd the leading 67 as 67022. That was a semi-win for me. I believe I've had it before on the WAG express but I wasn't certain due to sunlight reflecting off the side of the loco from my viewpoint. So that cleared up any uncertainty regarding 022. I was quite surprised it was tnt 67's for this railtour as I didn't think they would be cleared for Clitheroe-Hellifield-Carnforth or even Bare Lane-Morecambe-Heysham. I quite like 67's though and they mean less trundling around at 75mph too.
0920 Stafford-Heysham Harbour. UKRailtours. TNT DB 67's.
I was in First Class non-dining for this one. Dining wasn't an option if boarding at Stafford and I wasn't that interested in it for today anyway as I had a cunning plan that involved a great chippy at Morecambe. Everyone in my carriage seemed to board at Stafford and some of my fellow travellers confirmed that 67008 was on the rear. That was a definite winner, so that was good news. It was really hot on board to start with, until me and the the couple opposite realised the heating switch was directly behind our heads and things slowly started to cool down to everyone's relief. Everyone at my table of 4 was very nice and which helped make the trip more enjoyable. Heading Northwards we took the Crewe independent lines which was a first for me. This took us right by the Freightliner depot.
Assorted Freightliner traction at Crewe
As we progressed Northwards the weather started to close-in and the rain started. We were held in a loop just North of Warrington station for a Pendo to pass. We then headed North again, turning off at Farington junction. At Blackburn I was on to winning track as we progressed to Hellifield. I was quite surprised just how long the section is between Clitheroe -which we went through non-stop- and Hellifield. I wish there was a regular service between Clitheroe and Hellifield, it would make the S&C and Yorkshire Dales so much more accessible from Manchester. The aforementioned section of line is very pleasant too. We were non-stop through Hellifield too, before diverging after Long Preston at Settle Junction towards Bentham. I've travellled this line a lot and it is definitely one of my favourites in terms of scenery. I was amazed how much quicker the journey felt without calling at all the small stations that the service trains do. We were early arriving at Bentham for a pathing/water stop giving us about 55 minutes here. Bentham is a nice market town with some amenities but it is a bit of a walk from the station. Thus, due to the driving wind and rain combination I nipped off the train for a leg-stretch and to take a quick photo from the overbridge only. Both locos were hanging well off the platform so I couldn't get a photo of those.
The train at a wet & wild Bentham
We then continued onto Carnforth, getting a good look into the WCRC yards. We were held at Carnforth for a late running southbound Pendo. We then joined the mainline and used a little used chord from Hest Bank to Bare Lane. We then arrived at Morecambe, where the weather had picked up a bit. I got off here as I didn't need the track to Heysham Port and as many readers will know, there is absolutely nothing at Heysham Port station. Instead, I went and sought out a great fish and chip shop, which was amazing as always. I then killed the rest of the time with a short walk to Costa for a coffee and cake to re-energise before heading back to the station. There are loads of eateries around Morecambe station so nowhere felt that busy and Morecambe has been redeveloped to an extent so it's also a lot nicer than it has been in the past. The Midland Hotel is now open again too.
67022 at Morecambe
Back onboard we departed at 1610. We were held at the junction just after Bare Lane for a double Voyager set to head Northwards. At Lancaster 37402 was on P5 with the Northern LHCS, we also overtook a 153 on P4. It was now a fast run down to Preston, 67008 leading and getting the opportunity to stretch her legs. At Preston we had a booked stop while TPE and VT services overtook and delayed us. It was then a fast run down to Warrington where we slowed. After Warrington we stopped, blocking the mainline for a while before setting off again, apparently due to a hot axle. Once again we took the Crewe avoiding lines, but unusually we travelled the opposite side of the yard this time. After Crewe it was an absolute storming run down to Stafford as dusk fell and I got a bit of sensible window-leaning in. We really flew down this stretch and Stafford was soon upon us. Apparently someone clocked this train at 103mph later on South of Stafford, which I can believe. We were a bit late and one of the gentlemen I'd shared the table with was from Darlington. He'd kindly offered me a lift to Sheffield should I need it, but I didn't.
1902 Stafford-Stockport. XC 220.
An uneventful run Northwards in the dark.
I had a short wait at Stockport for my next service.
1954 Stockport-Sheffield. EMT 2x158.
Being a Satuday night there were a few groups of drunks on this train, but I kept myself to myself and took up a bay of 4 to myself but near a couple of other lone passengers. The trolley whizzed through the train, with the attendant soon parking up her trolley and then locking herself in one of the intermediate cabs. The guard then whizzed though checking tickets and disappeared for the rest of the journey. Meanwhile, behind me one lad politely asked a drunk bloke where the toilet was. This then escalated to the point that the drunk bloke started yelling at the other guy and then started throwing punches at him, the (more) sober guy then started throwing punches back but he ended up bleeding from his eye before the drunk guys friends pulled the assailant away. Now I make no apology for not getting involved as I'm not prepared to risk my own safety over something so stupid. I checked the guys eye out so make sure he was okay- he was, there was no damage to his actual eye and it was only a minor wound to his face- and then I gave him a packet of tissues to clean himself up with. A nearby girl gave him some wet wipes too. There was then a debate amongst the passengers as to whether it should be reported or not. I took the opportunity to text BTP, expecting nothing to happen. However, on arriving at Sheffield BTP were waiting for the train and sorted the whole thing out. They were speaking with the offender when I left so hopefully he got nicked as it was an unprovoked assault.
2042 Sheffield-Chapeltown. Northern 144.
This service was full and standing when it left Sheffield. This wasn't just any old 144, it was my first ride on the 'E-pacer' which is refurbished to be 2020 DDA compliant and is internally refreshed to a very high standard- I was very impressed. Even more folk got on to this train at Meadowhall, which made it quite interesting when it came to my turn to alight at Chapeltown. The e-pacer then trundled off into the night towards Huddersfield.
So an interesting trip with some new track covered, winning haulage and some high speed loco-haulage. Oh and good fish and chips.
I've been a bit quiet on here recently, but I should be back with a vengeance over the next couple of months as I have a couple of more exotic trips coming up
The main reason I opted for this railtour was that it provided the opportunity to cover Clitheroe-Hellifield, which isn't easy to do from the East. It did mean an early start in order to get to Stafford though, but that is fairly normal for most railtours I travel on.
The day started with me driving to Chapeltown (S. Yorks)- not to be confused with Chapelton in Devon -for the 0538 into Sheffield. Unsurprisingly, a parking spot was easily found at that time in the morning. I'd pre-purchased a £42 Chapeltown-Stafford Off Peak Day Return valid via Stockport using £40 of delay repay money. Yes, I could have probably found a cheaper ticket, but I needed flexibility in case things went wrong as they can do on a railtour.
Waiting for my train, the first service of the day pulled into the opposite platform heading Northwards and I was surprised to see it had a few folk on it. A combination of nightworkers and drunks mainly.
0538 Chapeltown (S.Yorks)- Sheffield. Northern Class 144.
Very little to say about this leg as its only 10 minutes and 1 stop!
0611 Sheffield-Stockport. TPE 185.
I was surprised that quite a lot of people were on this train too, with a lot of East Asian students boarding with large suitcases who I assumed were heading home. It started to get light as we crossed the hill so I was able to enjoy some views.
0716 Stockport-Stafford. XC 220.
I was expecting this train to be rammed, as most XC trains seem to be, so I positioned myself so as to get in the first class section and pay for weekend first. As the train pulled in though, I was shocked to see it was pretty empty, so I boarded in standard and went to find my seat. I found my reserved seat but there was someone in the seat adjacent so I abandoned it and took up a free bay of 2 instead. The bay of 2 was reserved after Stoke though, so I made a move to share a table as we pulled in to Stoke. This turned out to be entirely unnecessary as the Stokers never materialised and the train remained fairly empty.
I had quite a bit of time to kill at Stafford, so I bought a Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha which is very nice, I then took up residence in the waiting room and people watched; the highlight being watching a group of about 20 scouts delay a Southbound Pendolino with elongated goodbyes and tardy boarding. If there was a team competition for how slow 20 people can board a train with 20 doors, they would have won it. Comfortably. Stafford is a really great place for killing time if you're a rail enthusiast. I then went and sat up on the bridge. Well not on the bridge, that would be dangerous and would attract a lot of attention. The bridge is like a long waiting room, complete with seats and has good views of the tracks below. The highlights here were a double headed DRS 66 contrainer train and a class 70 heading right under me on the way to Southampton with a container train which made the bridge shake. About 10 minutes before departure time I headed down to the platform. The train was announced over the tannoy as 'London Euston-Heysham Harbour,' which was quite evocative. It must have been some years since that was last announced at Stafford. The imminent railtour was even creating a lot of chatter amongst the normals on the opposite platform.
As it pulled in I ID'd the leading 67 as 67022. That was a semi-win for me. I believe I've had it before on the WAG express but I wasn't certain due to sunlight reflecting off the side of the loco from my viewpoint. So that cleared up any uncertainty regarding 022. I was quite surprised it was tnt 67's for this railtour as I didn't think they would be cleared for Clitheroe-Hellifield-Carnforth or even Bare Lane-Morecambe-Heysham. I quite like 67's though and they mean less trundling around at 75mph too.
0920 Stafford-Heysham Harbour. UKRailtours. TNT DB 67's.
I was in First Class non-dining for this one. Dining wasn't an option if boarding at Stafford and I wasn't that interested in it for today anyway as I had a cunning plan that involved a great chippy at Morecambe. Everyone in my carriage seemed to board at Stafford and some of my fellow travellers confirmed that 67008 was on the rear. That was a definite winner, so that was good news. It was really hot on board to start with, until me and the the couple opposite realised the heating switch was directly behind our heads and things slowly started to cool down to everyone's relief. Everyone at my table of 4 was very nice and which helped make the trip more enjoyable. Heading Northwards we took the Crewe independent lines which was a first for me. This took us right by the Freightliner depot.
Assorted Freightliner traction at Crewe
As we progressed Northwards the weather started to close-in and the rain started. We were held in a loop just North of Warrington station for a Pendo to pass. We then headed North again, turning off at Farington junction. At Blackburn I was on to winning track as we progressed to Hellifield. I was quite surprised just how long the section is between Clitheroe -which we went through non-stop- and Hellifield. I wish there was a regular service between Clitheroe and Hellifield, it would make the S&C and Yorkshire Dales so much more accessible from Manchester. The aforementioned section of line is very pleasant too. We were non-stop through Hellifield too, before diverging after Long Preston at Settle Junction towards Bentham. I've travellled this line a lot and it is definitely one of my favourites in terms of scenery. I was amazed how much quicker the journey felt without calling at all the small stations that the service trains do. We were early arriving at Bentham for a pathing/water stop giving us about 55 minutes here. Bentham is a nice market town with some amenities but it is a bit of a walk from the station. Thus, due to the driving wind and rain combination I nipped off the train for a leg-stretch and to take a quick photo from the overbridge only. Both locos were hanging well off the platform so I couldn't get a photo of those.
The train at a wet & wild Bentham
We then continued onto Carnforth, getting a good look into the WCRC yards. We were held at Carnforth for a late running southbound Pendo. We then joined the mainline and used a little used chord from Hest Bank to Bare Lane. We then arrived at Morecambe, where the weather had picked up a bit. I got off here as I didn't need the track to Heysham Port and as many readers will know, there is absolutely nothing at Heysham Port station. Instead, I went and sought out a great fish and chip shop, which was amazing as always. I then killed the rest of the time with a short walk to Costa for a coffee and cake to re-energise before heading back to the station. There are loads of eateries around Morecambe station so nowhere felt that busy and Morecambe has been redeveloped to an extent so it's also a lot nicer than it has been in the past. The Midland Hotel is now open again too.
67022 at Morecambe
Back onboard we departed at 1610. We were held at the junction just after Bare Lane for a double Voyager set to head Northwards. At Lancaster 37402 was on P5 with the Northern LHCS, we also overtook a 153 on P4. It was now a fast run down to Preston, 67008 leading and getting the opportunity to stretch her legs. At Preston we had a booked stop while TPE and VT services overtook and delayed us. It was then a fast run down to Warrington where we slowed. After Warrington we stopped, blocking the mainline for a while before setting off again, apparently due to a hot axle. Once again we took the Crewe avoiding lines, but unusually we travelled the opposite side of the yard this time. After Crewe it was an absolute storming run down to Stafford as dusk fell and I got a bit of sensible window-leaning in. We really flew down this stretch and Stafford was soon upon us. Apparently someone clocked this train at 103mph later on South of Stafford, which I can believe. We were a bit late and one of the gentlemen I'd shared the table with was from Darlington. He'd kindly offered me a lift to Sheffield should I need it, but I didn't.
1902 Stafford-Stockport. XC 220.
An uneventful run Northwards in the dark.
I had a short wait at Stockport for my next service.
1954 Stockport-Sheffield. EMT 2x158.
Being a Satuday night there were a few groups of drunks on this train, but I kept myself to myself and took up a bay of 4 to myself but near a couple of other lone passengers. The trolley whizzed through the train, with the attendant soon parking up her trolley and then locking herself in one of the intermediate cabs. The guard then whizzed though checking tickets and disappeared for the rest of the journey. Meanwhile, behind me one lad politely asked a drunk bloke where the toilet was. This then escalated to the point that the drunk bloke started yelling at the other guy and then started throwing punches at him, the (more) sober guy then started throwing punches back but he ended up bleeding from his eye before the drunk guys friends pulled the assailant away. Now I make no apology for not getting involved as I'm not prepared to risk my own safety over something so stupid. I checked the guys eye out so make sure he was okay- he was, there was no damage to his actual eye and it was only a minor wound to his face- and then I gave him a packet of tissues to clean himself up with. A nearby girl gave him some wet wipes too. There was then a debate amongst the passengers as to whether it should be reported or not. I took the opportunity to text BTP, expecting nothing to happen. However, on arriving at Sheffield BTP were waiting for the train and sorted the whole thing out. They were speaking with the offender when I left so hopefully he got nicked as it was an unprovoked assault.
2042 Sheffield-Chapeltown. Northern 144.
This service was full and standing when it left Sheffield. This wasn't just any old 144, it was my first ride on the 'E-pacer' which is refurbished to be 2020 DDA compliant and is internally refreshed to a very high standard- I was very impressed. Even more folk got on to this train at Meadowhall, which made it quite interesting when it came to my turn to alight at Chapeltown. The e-pacer then trundled off into the night towards Huddersfield.
So an interesting trip with some new track covered, winning haulage and some high speed loco-haulage. Oh and good fish and chips.
I've been a bit quiet on here recently, but I should be back with a vengeance over the next couple of months as I have a couple of more exotic trips coming up
Kite159
Veteran Member
Sounded like a good little railtour
Techniquest
Veteran Member
An excellent read, as expected, although it sounds like a long day. Good to know Morecambe has stuff to do
Sounds like a good tour there! It sounds like a rather eventful run back across the hope valley too - good on the BTP to appear as well.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
Haha, well you will have had Tornado at higher speeds then on the mainline and not tender first, so I'm also jealous! What route did it take for that one? That's a cracking birthday present
Out: Euston - MKC - Northampton - Rugby (water)- International - Aston - Bescot Stadium - Wolves - Shrewsbury
Back: Shrewsbury - Wolves - Walsall - Water Orton - Nuneaton - Rugby (water)- Northampton - MKC - Euston
The timings were slack so we only hit 75 once flying through Coventry. I have pictures of the day but they will be delayed until I get back into the house. Weather was awful but we had a great day out
Iskra
Established Member
Thanks for the comments guys.
16/4/17-20/4/17 An Arctic Adventure
This started with me finding a cheap flight to Stockholm in an easyjet sale and then escalated pretty rapidly from there to fill a few days holiday I'd accrued at work. I'd always wanted a trip to Scandanavia proper, having only been to Iceland before, so this gave me the chance for a quick look around while also getting-in one of the more interesting sleeper trains around at the moment.
16/4/17
I got up at a relatively civilised time with this being Easter Sunday. I then hailed an Uber via the app and made my way to the station in order to catch the 0925, on which I'd got a cheap advance.
On arriving at the station I asked if the 1st class lounge was open, but it wasn't with it being a Sunday. I wasn't really expecting it to be open, but it would have made a nice bonus. Walking over to P8 I noticed a large number of units were stabled all over the place, I'd never seen Sheffield station so full of trains due to a reduced service and I assume some engineering possessions.
0925 Sheffield-Luton. EMT 7-car 222. Advance 1st to Luton Airport PW £23.50.
This was a sparsely populated service initially, but it did fill up as we headed South stopping at every single station on the way, which made it a tedious journey, even more so when the couple behind me decided to talk extremely loudly all of the way. At Derby I saw a DCS 56 stabled and got a good view into the NR depot to see classes 08, 31, 37, 73 and a random 165. At Leicester there were more 56's, 37's and a random FCC 321. Finally just North of Wellingborough I saw a 59 and 66.
It's a bit of a bizarre quirk that from Sheffield, Luton Airport is one of the most easily accessible by rail after Manchester, as it's quite a distance really.
I was required to change at Luton onto a Bedford-Three Bridges service.
1144 Luton-Luton Airport PW. FCC 377.
I enjoyed my 3 minutes of class 377 first class greatly. It really is the most pointless first class going...
At Luton Airport Parkway it was very easy to find the airport shuttle bus, which I had to quickly buy a ticket for. It was a short journey to the airport. It had all been very efficient so far. It was then onto security, which again was extremely efficient. In fact, the most efficient British airport security I've ever been through. Luton Airport is currently being refurbished so the departure lounge is a bit chaotic. Think Dunkirk, 1940. Not enough seats, too many people in a small space, luggage strewn everywhere and some armed police forthrightly ejecting some trouble-causers. I quickly bought some toiletries to avoid having to do so in Sweden and then I went to Pret. Pret at the airport is the same prices as in a normal branch, so it becomes very good value, there were no spare seats inside so I had to perch on the only bit of bench available. I deliberately ate a lot from Pret as my hotel in Sweden was said to be in the middle of nowhere on tripadvisor so eating options were potentially limited.
Boarding was fairly civilised, I hadn't paid extra to choose my seat or get speedy boarding.
EZY2451 1730 London Luton-Stockholm Arlanda 2100. Easyjet A320. £56 return
I was one of the first on and greeted by a friendly hostess. My seat was an aisle seat which I was relatively happy with. The aircraft was clean and the colour scheme didn't hurt my eyes so this was already better than Ryanair. I slept/listened to music through the flight which seemed to go pretty quickly. As we made our approach the sunset was fantastic, with the sun reflecting off Swedish lakes making them look orange in the dusk.
Border control was efficient and first impressions of Arlanda airport were that it was clean and quite classy.
It was then out into the cold to look for my bus stop which turned out to be just over the road. After about 10 minutes the free shuttle bus arrived. Strangely, the door was on the wrong side, so I was required to walk in front of the bus to then board. My hotel was the first stop, where a lot of people got off, but as I only had hand-luggage I was first in the queue to check-in. I was greeted by a friendly Swede who spoke perfect English. Check-in was quick and she helped me with some basic Swedish. My room was basic, but clean and that's all I needed. On one wall was a picture of a Spitfire, although it was a Swedish Air Force version, I knew they had had Mosquitos but not Spitfires in their air force, so that was interesting. It had been a long day so bed was most welcome.
17/4/17
I woke up at 0530, to find it was fully light but very frosty outside. It was then down for my first Swedish breakfast. It was a fairly standard continental breakfast with cereals, yoghurts, meats, cheeses and breads available, nothing controversial about it at all. ...A lot better than Icelandic breakfast. Lots of coffee was had. I then checked-out and boarded the shuttle bus back to the airport, as that's where the train station is. I got off the bus and followed the signs for the station. Going down the escalators it was interesting to note that they have left the bare rock exposed from when they tunnelled down which I've not seen before. On reaching platform level, below the airport, there was a problem. This was Arlanda North, whereas I needed to be at Arlanda Central station. A suburban type train pulled in and the driver stepped out onto the platform so I asked her and she pointed me in the right direction. I had to go to the main part of the airport, called SkyCity, which is a vast lounge area with cafes and shops and a huge glass front looking out onto the runway and some ticket barriers leading to the train station. I'd arrived in good time so I sat in the lounge waiting for my train.
Nearer the time I headed through the barriers, where a homeless person was being refused entry. It was an underground single island platform and it felt more like a tube-station than a train station. My train then became delayed so two other trains instead came first, one was a LHCS intercity train and the other was a commuter train.
My pendletag (tilting train), SJ 2000 X Class.
0841 Arlanda Central-Sundsvall C. SJ 2000 X Class. Train 566. 1st Class.
The guard checked my ticket before I'd even had time to find my seat and then asked me if I wanted breakfast. This was first class on the equivalent of an advance ticket so it was relatively cheap. The seating was spacious and the windows lined up with the seats so the views were good. There was a lot of brown though in the design which was a contrast to the sleek modern external design, the decor was like being in a MK1. Still it was comfortable. The breakfast came in a cardboard box, which is never a good sign really, good job I'd already had one and this was merely a top-up. The most welcome bit was the coffee and the apple juice.
Swedish train breakfast.
It was a glorious day outside as we sped through the Swedish country side. Southern Sweden is a lot flatter than I'd expected. I'm also confident based upon my own observations that Southern Sweden has the highest proportion of horse-ownership per capita in the world. Out of the blue, I then saw a number of former Wagons-Lit coaches at an amusement park, not long after we passed what looked to be the Swedish railway musuem. As we approached Gavle- a large town and rail junction- the weather quickly changed from glorious sunshine to a blizzard. It was here that I saw my first Swedish freight locomotive. Any guesses?
Yes...
A class 66 :roll:
Not my photo- photo courtesy of Wassen.
Gavle looked like a cross between Venice and St. Petersburg, with it's river/canal bridges and splendid buildings. It was nice to see some snow having not had much over the winter in the UK, as we progressed there was soon a good covering. After about two hours of travelling I saw my first Swedish hill, which was an occasion to savour.
We arrived into Sundsvall C a little late but it didn't risk my connection. To change platforms I had to walk to the end of the platform and cross the level crossing with everyone else from my previous train.
1208 Sundsvall C-Umea Ostra. SJ. SJ 4-car X55.
This was a smart, modern regional unit of 4 carriages, but also had a bistro. It was a pretty comfortable unit, but very noisy when accelerating. I'd accidentally booked to the wrong station in Umea so when the guard came round I asked him if I was okay to continue to the central station, which he said was fine.
Umea is a small city on the East of Sweden, two thirds of the way up the country just off the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic.
Umea Central Station
It was very cold in Umea, although okay when the sun was out and thankfully it wasn't snowing. Umea is a nice little city, it does have a number of cultural attractions, but unfortunately they were closed with it being Easter Monday. I had a good walk around, including along the river for a while. I then did a supply raid in a convenience store to stock up for the next couple of days. I then got some tea, to keep things reasonably priced I went to a pizza place and got what I'm assured is a Swedish delicacy; kebab pizza. It was pretty nice and good value compared to many of the places I saw menus at.
To be continued.
16/4/17-20/4/17 An Arctic Adventure
This started with me finding a cheap flight to Stockholm in an easyjet sale and then escalated pretty rapidly from there to fill a few days holiday I'd accrued at work. I'd always wanted a trip to Scandanavia proper, having only been to Iceland before, so this gave me the chance for a quick look around while also getting-in one of the more interesting sleeper trains around at the moment.
16/4/17
I got up at a relatively civilised time with this being Easter Sunday. I then hailed an Uber via the app and made my way to the station in order to catch the 0925, on which I'd got a cheap advance.
On arriving at the station I asked if the 1st class lounge was open, but it wasn't with it being a Sunday. I wasn't really expecting it to be open, but it would have made a nice bonus. Walking over to P8 I noticed a large number of units were stabled all over the place, I'd never seen Sheffield station so full of trains due to a reduced service and I assume some engineering possessions.
0925 Sheffield-Luton. EMT 7-car 222. Advance 1st to Luton Airport PW £23.50.
This was a sparsely populated service initially, but it did fill up as we headed South stopping at every single station on the way, which made it a tedious journey, even more so when the couple behind me decided to talk extremely loudly all of the way. At Derby I saw a DCS 56 stabled and got a good view into the NR depot to see classes 08, 31, 37, 73 and a random 165. At Leicester there were more 56's, 37's and a random FCC 321. Finally just North of Wellingborough I saw a 59 and 66.
It's a bit of a bizarre quirk that from Sheffield, Luton Airport is one of the most easily accessible by rail after Manchester, as it's quite a distance really.
I was required to change at Luton onto a Bedford-Three Bridges service.
1144 Luton-Luton Airport PW. FCC 377.
I enjoyed my 3 minutes of class 377 first class greatly. It really is the most pointless first class going...
At Luton Airport Parkway it was very easy to find the airport shuttle bus, which I had to quickly buy a ticket for. It was a short journey to the airport. It had all been very efficient so far. It was then onto security, which again was extremely efficient. In fact, the most efficient British airport security I've ever been through. Luton Airport is currently being refurbished so the departure lounge is a bit chaotic. Think Dunkirk, 1940. Not enough seats, too many people in a small space, luggage strewn everywhere and some armed police forthrightly ejecting some trouble-causers. I quickly bought some toiletries to avoid having to do so in Sweden and then I went to Pret. Pret at the airport is the same prices as in a normal branch, so it becomes very good value, there were no spare seats inside so I had to perch on the only bit of bench available. I deliberately ate a lot from Pret as my hotel in Sweden was said to be in the middle of nowhere on tripadvisor so eating options were potentially limited.
Boarding was fairly civilised, I hadn't paid extra to choose my seat or get speedy boarding.
EZY2451 1730 London Luton-Stockholm Arlanda 2100. Easyjet A320. £56 return
I was one of the first on and greeted by a friendly hostess. My seat was an aisle seat which I was relatively happy with. The aircraft was clean and the colour scheme didn't hurt my eyes so this was already better than Ryanair. I slept/listened to music through the flight which seemed to go pretty quickly. As we made our approach the sunset was fantastic, with the sun reflecting off Swedish lakes making them look orange in the dusk.
Border control was efficient and first impressions of Arlanda airport were that it was clean and quite classy.
It was then out into the cold to look for my bus stop which turned out to be just over the road. After about 10 minutes the free shuttle bus arrived. Strangely, the door was on the wrong side, so I was required to walk in front of the bus to then board. My hotel was the first stop, where a lot of people got off, but as I only had hand-luggage I was first in the queue to check-in. I was greeted by a friendly Swede who spoke perfect English. Check-in was quick and she helped me with some basic Swedish. My room was basic, but clean and that's all I needed. On one wall was a picture of a Spitfire, although it was a Swedish Air Force version, I knew they had had Mosquitos but not Spitfires in their air force, so that was interesting. It had been a long day so bed was most welcome.
17/4/17
I woke up at 0530, to find it was fully light but very frosty outside. It was then down for my first Swedish breakfast. It was a fairly standard continental breakfast with cereals, yoghurts, meats, cheeses and breads available, nothing controversial about it at all. ...A lot better than Icelandic breakfast. Lots of coffee was had. I then checked-out and boarded the shuttle bus back to the airport, as that's where the train station is. I got off the bus and followed the signs for the station. Going down the escalators it was interesting to note that they have left the bare rock exposed from when they tunnelled down which I've not seen before. On reaching platform level, below the airport, there was a problem. This was Arlanda North, whereas I needed to be at Arlanda Central station. A suburban type train pulled in and the driver stepped out onto the platform so I asked her and she pointed me in the right direction. I had to go to the main part of the airport, called SkyCity, which is a vast lounge area with cafes and shops and a huge glass front looking out onto the runway and some ticket barriers leading to the train station. I'd arrived in good time so I sat in the lounge waiting for my train.
Nearer the time I headed through the barriers, where a homeless person was being refused entry. It was an underground single island platform and it felt more like a tube-station than a train station. My train then became delayed so two other trains instead came first, one was a LHCS intercity train and the other was a commuter train.
My pendletag (tilting train), SJ 2000 X Class.
0841 Arlanda Central-Sundsvall C. SJ 2000 X Class. Train 566. 1st Class.
The guard checked my ticket before I'd even had time to find my seat and then asked me if I wanted breakfast. This was first class on the equivalent of an advance ticket so it was relatively cheap. The seating was spacious and the windows lined up with the seats so the views were good. There was a lot of brown though in the design which was a contrast to the sleek modern external design, the decor was like being in a MK1. Still it was comfortable. The breakfast came in a cardboard box, which is never a good sign really, good job I'd already had one and this was merely a top-up. The most welcome bit was the coffee and the apple juice.
Swedish train breakfast.
It was a glorious day outside as we sped through the Swedish country side. Southern Sweden is a lot flatter than I'd expected. I'm also confident based upon my own observations that Southern Sweden has the highest proportion of horse-ownership per capita in the world. Out of the blue, I then saw a number of former Wagons-Lit coaches at an amusement park, not long after we passed what looked to be the Swedish railway musuem. As we approached Gavle- a large town and rail junction- the weather quickly changed from glorious sunshine to a blizzard. It was here that I saw my first Swedish freight locomotive. Any guesses?
Yes...
A class 66 :roll:
Not my photo- photo courtesy of Wassen.
Gavle looked like a cross between Venice and St. Petersburg, with it's river/canal bridges and splendid buildings. It was nice to see some snow having not had much over the winter in the UK, as we progressed there was soon a good covering. After about two hours of travelling I saw my first Swedish hill, which was an occasion to savour.
We arrived into Sundsvall C a little late but it didn't risk my connection. To change platforms I had to walk to the end of the platform and cross the level crossing with everyone else from my previous train.
1208 Sundsvall C-Umea Ostra. SJ. SJ 4-car X55.
This was a smart, modern regional unit of 4 carriages, but also had a bistro. It was a pretty comfortable unit, but very noisy when accelerating. I'd accidentally booked to the wrong station in Umea so when the guard came round I asked him if I was okay to continue to the central station, which he said was fine.
Umea is a small city on the East of Sweden, two thirds of the way up the country just off the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic.
Umea Central Station
It was very cold in Umea, although okay when the sun was out and thankfully it wasn't snowing. Umea is a nice little city, it does have a number of cultural attractions, but unfortunately they were closed with it being Easter Monday. I had a good walk around, including along the river for a while. I then did a supply raid in a convenience store to stock up for the next couple of days. I then got some tea, to keep things reasonably priced I went to a pizza place and got what I'm assured is a Swedish delicacy; kebab pizza. It was pretty nice and good value compared to many of the places I saw menus at.
To be continued.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Sounded like a good trip so far
I look forward to the rest
I look forward to the rest
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Apologies for the delayed comment, several threads would not load properly last night and this was one of them!
However, good things come to those who wait and this trip report certainly proved that.
Those tilting trains on SJ, are they actually any good? Comparable at all to a British Pendolino? That breakfast box looks awful, I wouldn't have bothered and would have had loads of coffee!
Luton sounds awful right now, but good to hear the buses are easy to find. Is the ching reasonable/value for money? I intend to get my first flight out of Luton one day and planning various bits and bobs well in advance.
Very much enjoyed the read so far and I look forward to the rest when it's ready
However, good things come to those who wait and this trip report certainly proved that.
Those tilting trains on SJ, are they actually any good? Comparable at all to a British Pendolino? That breakfast box looks awful, I wouldn't have bothered and would have had loads of coffee!
Luton sounds awful right now, but good to hear the buses are easy to find. Is the ching reasonable/value for money? I intend to get my first flight out of Luton one day and planning various bits and bobs well in advance.
Very much enjoyed the read so far and I look forward to the rest when it's ready
Iskra
Established Member
Thanks guys. Yeah I like the 66 in that livery too.
My next move was an interesting one. Due to not understanding Swedish geography and the Swedish rail booking engine being illogical, I was now going to head back towards Stockholm for an hour on a sleeper train, before getting a sleeper train back through Umea to head northwards If this happened in Britain I would have been mortified, but I was on holiday in this situation, so no worries really, after all, travelling on trains is what I was going for. This had come about because I put in the booking engine that I wanted to depart on a sleeper train on evening X, but the relevant sleeper train calls in Umea after midnight so technically day X+1, so in order to accommodate my request to set off on day X, it routed me on a random train on evening X that would provide a tenuous connection to the sleeper train that departed later that night. This was literally a massive waste of time, but oh well no worries, lesson learnt!
My next train was to depart from Umea Ostra (East) station. I wasn't confident on using Swedish buses so I got a taxi for the 5 minute journey.
Umea Ostra is architecturally a very interesting station.
Umea Ostra station- not my photo.
There is a comfortable waiting lounge on the upstairs of the station, where I read my book, charged my phone and watched the sunset. While this was happening, I then got an email from my phone from the Swedish train operator SJ informing me that my sleeper train later that night was going to be delayed. As departure time approached a small crowd of passengers gathered inside the station. To avoid the cold for as long as possibe, everyone seems to wait in the station building until the train is pulling into the platform.
2229 Umea Ostra-Ornskoldsvik C. SJ AB Night train. Train 91. SJ Rc6 with LHCS. 1092 SEK including following leg of journey.
A Swedish SJ Rc6 Locomotive- not my picture, courtesy of wikipedia.
This train was a Lulea-Gothenburg sleeper train and was very busy. I was in seated accommodation for this first part of the journey with it being only an hour journey. I've never been in the seated section of a sleeper before so didn't know what to expect, but it was quite comfortable and cosy really. Every seat appeared to be taken- the girl on the opposite pair of seats appeared to have paid for both seats and was using them as a sofa. My seat was by the window at a table of 4 so I felt a bit bad as I had to wake the guy next to me up in order to get off the train at my stop.
Originally I was only to be waiting at Ornskoldsvik for about an hour which I'd felt a bearable wait, however my next train was now showing a delay of two hours on the screens, so that was delaying me getting to bed until around 03:00 now, and I'd been up since 05:30 so I didn't really need this delay.
I walked down the covered walkway to the town centre to see what if anything was around. Everything in sight appeared to be closed and I didn't want to walk around at that time lugging my suitcase in literally freezing weather- it got down to -9 that night! So I ended up sitting on a wooden bench on part of the walkway that was over a motorway which had a plug for phone-charging while I waited and ate some of my provisions. I had a bit of a nap, but this was a public place in the early hours so it wasn't entirely comfortable. There were only a couple of other people around, who also appeared to be awaiting the Arctic Circle Express. A fun fact about Ornskoldsvik C station is that part of the platform and the railway line are built over a Ski jump, which I'm guessing is unique.
The ski jump. The sensation of hurtling towards an electrified railway line at speed is not one I fancy. Not my photo.
Watching the sceens, my train accrued another 30 minutes delay. The Southbound working was also showing heavily delayed and was now due at around 05:30. Shortly before its arrival a few more passengers arrived.
0044 actually (0310) Ornskoldsvik C-Narvik. SJ AB Night train. Arctic Circle Train. Train 94. SJ Rsc 6 & LHCS
The rush to board
This train had been delayed due to a problem with the rolling-stock. I was due to be in a 3-bed couchette. I boarded at my coach and was greeted by a friendly (and it has so be said, very good-looking) hostess who spoke perfect English. She explained that there had been a double booking, so the train was delayed while they added another coach to the train. She was very apologetic. Then she explained that I was to be in the extra coach, which was a little more dated than the rest of the carriages, but instead of the three passengers sharing one cabin, we had been given a 3-bed cabin each instead. I was very happy with this. What great customer service too, firstly I can't imagine British sleeper operators just adding another coach to rectify their mistake and then giving us a cabin each was very nice of them too! The cabin was cosy, with three beds arranged on top of each other down one side and a sink in the corner opposite the door. Each bed had a plug socket and there was some netting for storing belongings in. The top bunk was made up. Being used to British sleepers where you sleep quite low down, the top bunk seemed very high indeed. It even came with a kind of horizontal seatbelt thing that stopped you falling out- a fantastic invention. Needless to say, after the very long day, I slept like a log. It helped that I was high up and in the centre of the coach away from the bogies, which made for the best nights sleep I've ever had on a sleeper train.
18/4/17
I was awoken at 0900 by an announcement in Swedish. But I did recognise one work that seemed to be said quite a lot. Bus. The British cynic in me, travelling on a heavily delayed service, feared the worst. Not a rail replacement bus? I pressed the 'call host' button. Within two minutes the announcement was repeated in English. The connecting bus to some national park was going to wait for the delayed train was the announcement. I pressed the 'call host' button again to cancel it. Quite a few people got off at that station. I then went for a shower, which had been pointed out to me upon boarding the night before. Yes, a shower on a train, what a novelty! Towels were even provided. It was very clean inside. Immaculately so. If anything it was too clean. The reasons for it being so immaculate soon became apparent. It hadn't been used. The reason? The water was absolutely freezing. I assume the train somehow gathers in the snow accumulations from the surrounding landscape, the friction warming it to the point that it melts just enough to actually flow through the pipes and then it trickles out on to you via the shower head. Also, the logistics of showering on a swaying train with no handles provided while using one hand to hold the shower head are quite an experience. So, it is for good reasons that I've never had a shower on a train before this one. I did really need a shower though, so it was just about worth it.
Next it was down to the restaurant car for a coffee to warm up. I was greeted by another friendly host. I asked her- 'pratar du Engelska' and of course she spoke better English than me, like nearly all Swedes. I ordered a coffee. She explained that because the train was delayed all hot drinks were free. I could also have a sandwich or a cake too. I was becoming increasingly impressed with the SJ customer service. I wasn't actually hungry so I just enjoyed two coffees while sitting in the restaurant car and watching the landscape go by. Now inside the Arctic Circle, it looked like this:
I saw a couple of wild reindeer from the windows. The next stop was Kiruna, which is the only town of any significance in the area until Narvik. Kiruna hosts the huge Iron Ore mine that keeps the economy of the area going and is the main reason for the existence of the railway line, which hosts vast iron-ore trains too. At Kiruna their is a freight depot. The engine then does a run-round and you head back out the way you entered before branching off towards Narvik at a triangle junction.
Now the scenery up to this point had been different to England, but hardly breath-taking. This is where things start to change dramatically and the line becomes a 'must-travel' in my opinion. You start by winding through Swedish uplands and frozen lakes.
We then started to head in and out of a few snow storms.
We then started calling at stations a lot more frequently, and the dwell times were horrendous with parties of 10+ getting off unloading all their ski equipment at the ski resorts we were stopping at. At the one before the Norwegian border, Norwegian customs boarded and took a long time to walk the length of the train. I don't really know what they were looking for as they just walked through my coach without stopping. Some cleaners also boarded to start cleaning the berths and they were stressing due to the train being late. During this stop I took a quick picture of a 3-bed couchette.
3-bed couchette. Note the height of the top bunk.
We now started passing down the side of stunning Fjords and down some serious gradients. I managed to get a quick shot of this new suspension bridge being built which I thought was quite interesting.
Suspension bridge under construction during a snow shower.
We arrived into Narvik a couple of hours late.
To be continued (again).
My next move was an interesting one. Due to not understanding Swedish geography and the Swedish rail booking engine being illogical, I was now going to head back towards Stockholm for an hour on a sleeper train, before getting a sleeper train back through Umea to head northwards
If this happened in Britain I would have been mortified, but I was on holiday in this situation, so no worries really, after all, travelling on trains is what I was going for. This had come about because I put in the booking engine that I wanted to depart on a sleeper train on evening X, but the relevant sleeper train calls in Umea after midnight so technically day X+1, so in order to accommodate my request to set off on day X, it routed me on a random train on evening X that would provide a tenuous connection to the sleeper train that departed later that night. This was literally a massive waste of time, but oh well no worries, lesson learnt!My next train was to depart from Umea Ostra (East) station. I wasn't confident on using Swedish buses so I got a taxi for the 5 minute journey.
Umea Ostra is architecturally a very interesting station.
Umea Ostra station- not my photo.
There is a comfortable waiting lounge on the upstairs of the station, where I read my book, charged my phone and watched the sunset. While this was happening, I then got an email from my phone from the Swedish train operator SJ informing me that my sleeper train later that night was going to be delayed. As departure time approached a small crowd of passengers gathered inside the station. To avoid the cold for as long as possibe, everyone seems to wait in the station building until the train is pulling into the platform.
2229 Umea Ostra-Ornskoldsvik C. SJ AB Night train. Train 91. SJ Rc6 with LHCS. 1092 SEK including following leg of journey.
A Swedish SJ Rc6 Locomotive- not my picture, courtesy of wikipedia.
This train was a Lulea-Gothenburg sleeper train and was very busy. I was in seated accommodation for this first part of the journey with it being only an hour journey. I've never been in the seated section of a sleeper before so didn't know what to expect, but it was quite comfortable and cosy really. Every seat appeared to be taken- the girl on the opposite pair of seats appeared to have paid for both seats and was using them as a sofa. My seat was by the window at a table of 4 so I felt a bit bad as I had to wake the guy next to me up in order to get off the train at my stop.
Originally I was only to be waiting at Ornskoldsvik for about an hour which I'd felt a bearable wait, however my next train was now showing a delay of two hours on the screens, so that was delaying me getting to bed until around 03:00 now, and I'd been up since 05:30 so I didn't really need this delay.
I walked down the covered walkway to the town centre to see what if anything was around. Everything in sight appeared to be closed and I didn't want to walk around at that time lugging my suitcase in literally freezing weather- it got down to -9 that night! So I ended up sitting on a wooden bench on part of the walkway that was over a motorway which had a plug for phone-charging while I waited and ate some of my provisions. I had a bit of a nap, but this was a public place in the early hours so it wasn't entirely comfortable. There were only a couple of other people around, who also appeared to be awaiting the Arctic Circle Express. A fun fact about Ornskoldsvik C station is that part of the platform and the railway line are built over a Ski jump, which I'm guessing is unique.
The ski jump. The sensation of hurtling towards an electrified railway line at speed is not one I fancy. Not my photo.
Watching the sceens, my train accrued another 30 minutes delay. The Southbound working was also showing heavily delayed and was now due at around 05:30. Shortly before its arrival a few more passengers arrived.
0044 actually (0310) Ornskoldsvik C-Narvik. SJ AB Night train. Arctic Circle Train. Train 94. SJ Rsc 6 & LHCS
The rush to board
This train had been delayed due to a problem with the rolling-stock. I was due to be in a 3-bed couchette. I boarded at my coach and was greeted by a friendly (and it has so be said, very good-looking) hostess who spoke perfect English. She explained that there had been a double booking, so the train was delayed while they added another coach to the train. She was very apologetic. Then she explained that I was to be in the extra coach, which was a little more dated than the rest of the carriages, but instead of the three passengers sharing one cabin, we had been given a 3-bed cabin each instead. I was very happy with this. What great customer service too, firstly I can't imagine British sleeper operators just adding another coach to rectify their mistake and then giving us a cabin each was very nice of them too! The cabin was cosy, with three beds arranged on top of each other down one side and a sink in the corner opposite the door. Each bed had a plug socket and there was some netting for storing belongings in. The top bunk was made up. Being used to British sleepers where you sleep quite low down, the top bunk seemed very high indeed. It even came with a kind of horizontal seatbelt thing that stopped you falling out- a fantastic invention. Needless to say, after the very long day, I slept like a log. It helped that I was high up and in the centre of the coach away from the bogies, which made for the best nights sleep I've ever had on a sleeper train.
18/4/17
I was awoken at 0900 by an announcement in Swedish. But I did recognise one work that seemed to be said quite a lot. Bus. The British cynic in me, travelling on a heavily delayed service, feared the worst. Not a rail replacement bus? I pressed the 'call host' button. Within two minutes the announcement was repeated in English. The connecting bus to some national park was going to wait for the delayed train was the announcement. I pressed the 'call host' button again to cancel it. Quite a few people got off at that station. I then went for a shower, which had been pointed out to me upon boarding the night before. Yes, a shower on a train, what a novelty! Towels were even provided. It was very clean inside. Immaculately so. If anything it was too clean. The reasons for it being so immaculate soon became apparent. It hadn't been used. The reason? The water was absolutely freezing. I assume the train somehow gathers in the snow accumulations from the surrounding landscape, the friction warming it to the point that it melts just enough to actually flow through the pipes and then it trickles out on to you via the shower head. Also, the logistics of showering on a swaying train with no handles provided while using one hand to hold the shower head are quite an experience. So, it is for good reasons that I've never had a shower on a train before this one. I did really need a shower though, so it was just about worth it.
Next it was down to the restaurant car for a coffee to warm up. I was greeted by another friendly host. I asked her- 'pratar du Engelska' and of course she spoke better English than me, like nearly all Swedes. I ordered a coffee. She explained that because the train was delayed all hot drinks were free. I could also have a sandwich or a cake too. I was becoming increasingly impressed with the SJ customer service. I wasn't actually hungry so I just enjoyed two coffees while sitting in the restaurant car and watching the landscape go by. Now inside the Arctic Circle, it looked like this:
I saw a couple of wild reindeer from the windows. The next stop was Kiruna, which is the only town of any significance in the area until Narvik. Kiruna hosts the huge Iron Ore mine that keeps the economy of the area going and is the main reason for the existence of the railway line, which hosts vast iron-ore trains too. At Kiruna their is a freight depot. The engine then does a run-round and you head back out the way you entered before branching off towards Narvik at a triangle junction.
Now the scenery up to this point had been different to England, but hardly breath-taking. This is where things start to change dramatically and the line becomes a 'must-travel' in my opinion. You start by winding through Swedish uplands and frozen lakes.
We then started to head in and out of a few snow storms.
We then started calling at stations a lot more frequently, and the dwell times were horrendous with parties of 10+ getting off unloading all their ski equipment at the ski resorts we were stopping at. At the one before the Norwegian border, Norwegian customs boarded and took a long time to walk the length of the train. I don't really know what they were looking for as they just walked through my coach without stopping. Some cleaners also boarded to start cleaning the berths and they were stressing due to the train being late. During this stop I took a quick picture of a 3-bed couchette.
3-bed couchette. Note the height of the top bunk.
We now started passing down the side of stunning Fjords and down some serious gradients. I managed to get a quick shot of this new suspension bridge being built which I thought was quite interesting.
Suspension bridge under construction during a snow shower.
We arrived into Narvik a couple of hours late.
To be continued (again).