anthony263
Established Member
A report from my afternoon out to Pembroke dock and back.
Started out by my alarm clock going off at 07:45 so it was out of bed for a quick shower and then breakfast before leaving my house and getting the 08:37 bus to Porthcawl which was worked by one of First Cymru's low floor plaxton darts which was built before Plaxton became Transbus.
After visiting some freinds in Porthcawl I boarded the 09:45 service X2 to Bridgend arriving at 10:15 after we were held up by some traffic outside the bus station.
I made my way to Bridgend railway station to have my railcard sorted out after it had become rather faded ad teh nice lady at the booking office sorted it out quickly. I then bought a return ticket to Pembroke Dock and sat in the cafe on platform 2.
150259 arrived early at 10:44 with a Maesteg service however things were not well as the train coming from Maesteg which should have left Bridgend for Cardiff/Cheltenham was running 20 minutes late.
Shortly before 11:00 150255 made an appearance but was held outside the station awaiting the 11:00 FGW service to London to depart. Shortly after the hst left 150255 rolled into platform 2 and by now the service was only going to run to Cardiff. Once 150255 was in the platform 150259 set off now only running as far as Tondu to avoid any further delays.
The hst to Pembroke Dock arrived slightly late at 11:12 and we departed at 11:14 with the train being very well packed witha lot of the passengers heading for Saundersfoot or Tenby as well as a lot for Swansea.
Seems the olympic events has put off some people from visiting Cardiff although I doubt those in Swansea will complain too much since it means more people visiting Swansea.
I took a look out of the droplight at we passed over the Lougher viaduct before returning to my seat and looking out of the window. The weather by now was turning nasty so good job I packed my coat.
Arrivial into Pembroke Dock was on time at 14:15 and I made my way to the shops however the local bakery shop has closed down since my last visit back last summer. (Not happy
)
So I visited Woolworths (Yes there does seem to be at least one still open
and purchased some sweets for my journey back to Bridgend.)
I then took some pics of the hst at Pembroke Dock before boarding it at 14:35 and decided to watch some Top Gear on the Volo TV. While I was onboard heading back to Bridgend I noticed a good couple of railway enthusiasts onboard including I believe one or two members on this forum.
We arrived into Swansea at 17:19 so there was time to have a look at the new look station now that the work has been completed and I then re-boarded the train and while we were approaching Neath I remebered there was a service X1 to Bridgend from outside Port Talbot Parkway station at 17:55 which meant I could get that I walk from Pyle cross and get home at 18:30 rather than at 18:55 if I had got the 18:30 service 63B from Bridgend.
So I got off at Port Talbot Parkway station at 17:47 and made my way quickly top the bus stop outside the station where I was greeted with the site of a mercedes-benz minibus working on service X1 (Yipee
) so a ride on that was very much enjoyed although the oap's didnt look too impressed.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I will upload pics from today up later tonight or tommorow morning
Started out by my alarm clock going off at 07:45 so it was out of bed for a quick shower and then breakfast before leaving my house and getting the 08:37 bus to Porthcawl which was worked by one of First Cymru's low floor plaxton darts which was built before Plaxton became Transbus.
After visiting some freinds in Porthcawl I boarded the 09:45 service X2 to Bridgend arriving at 10:15 after we were held up by some traffic outside the bus station.
I made my way to Bridgend railway station to have my railcard sorted out after it had become rather faded ad teh nice lady at the booking office sorted it out quickly. I then bought a return ticket to Pembroke Dock and sat in the cafe on platform 2.
150259 arrived early at 10:44 with a Maesteg service however things were not well as the train coming from Maesteg which should have left Bridgend for Cardiff/Cheltenham was running 20 minutes late.
Shortly before 11:00 150255 made an appearance but was held outside the station awaiting the 11:00 FGW service to London to depart. Shortly after the hst left 150255 rolled into platform 2 and by now the service was only going to run to Cardiff. Once 150255 was in the platform 150259 set off now only running as far as Tondu to avoid any further delays.
The hst to Pembroke Dock arrived slightly late at 11:12 and we departed at 11:14 with the train being very well packed witha lot of the passengers heading for Saundersfoot or Tenby as well as a lot for Swansea.
Seems the olympic events has put off some people from visiting Cardiff although I doubt those in Swansea will complain too much since it means more people visiting Swansea.
I took a look out of the droplight at we passed over the Lougher viaduct before returning to my seat and looking out of the window. The weather by now was turning nasty so good job I packed my coat.
Arrivial into Pembroke Dock was on time at 14:15 and I made my way to the shops however the local bakery shop has closed down since my last visit back last summer. (Not happy
)So I visited Woolworths (Yes there does seem to be at least one still open
and purchased some sweets for my journey back to Bridgend.)I then took some pics of the hst at Pembroke Dock before boarding it at 14:35 and decided to watch some Top Gear on the Volo TV. While I was onboard heading back to Bridgend I noticed a good couple of railway enthusiasts onboard including I believe one or two members on this forum.
We arrived into Swansea at 17:19 so there was time to have a look at the new look station now that the work has been completed and I then re-boarded the train and while we were approaching Neath I remebered there was a service X1 to Bridgend from outside Port Talbot Parkway station at 17:55 which meant I could get that I walk from Pyle cross and get home at 18:30 rather than at 18:55 if I had got the 18:30 service 63B from Bridgend.
So I got off at Port Talbot Parkway station at 17:47 and made my way quickly top the bus stop outside the station where I was greeted with the site of a mercedes-benz minibus working on service X1 (Yipee
) so a ride on that was very much enjoyed although the oap's didnt look too impressed.--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I will upload pics from today up later tonight or tommorow morning