West Mids Day Ranger - where should I go?

[snuk]

Hi all,

I'm thinking about buying a West Mids Day Ranger for the first time in at least 15 years.

My question is - where should I go to make the most of the day and the ticket?

The main things I would like to do is to travel on a Pendolino and to spend some time at Birmingham New Street.

Originally, I had been intending to catch a Virgin Pendolino from Nuneaton to Crewe but I just checked the Virgin network map and everythings completely different from when I last used them - hardly any Virgin trains stop at Nuneaton now as far as I can see (please do correct me if I am wrong).

I would be starting at Nuneaton hopefully not long after 9am and hoping to be back at Nuneaton for around 5.30pm.

Any advice, as always, greatfully appreciated.

Cheers,

Steve.

 

[eos]

West Midlands Day Ranger is NOT officially valid on Virgin Trains....

 

[t0ffeeman]

WMDR not valid on Virgin or XC last time I looked,

 

[eos]

http://nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/promotions/pr9cb0cc0a040004006ad8690e40c16f/details.html

Now valid on XC trains.

 

[yorkie]

This has been discussed many times on here before (including very recently).

If you want to use Virgin you are advised to show it to the guard and say something like "alright if I use this?" however it is likely they'll just accept it if you show it anyway.

NCoC states that if a train is restricted by operators it will be "stated on the ticket" this is not stated on a WDMR, so I'll let you draw your own conclusions on that!

Although it has been discussed many times here, and I can think of many posts by people who have said that Virgin have accepted a WMDR, I'm not aware of anyone ever having a problem using one on Virgin.

I'm sure Gordon would have refused to accept it though

 

[snuk]

Many thanks for the replies. I think if I follow the tips regarding the WMDR on Virgin Trains services I should be okay.

How long would it take me to complete the following route and should I anticipate any problems?

Nuneaton to Coventry (London Midland)
Coventry to Birmingham New Street (Virgin Trains)

Break at Birmingham New Street

Birmingham New Street to Crewe (Virgin Trains)
Crewe to Nuneaton (London Midland)

Many thanks,

Steve.

 

[Jordy]

Hi Steve

No idea what sort of timings you're looking at, but here is a sample!

Nuneaton 0930
Coventry 0953 (London Midland 153 via Bedworth)

Alternatively you could do this

Nuneaton 0903
Rugby 0918 (London Midland 350)

Rugby 0937
Coventry 0949 (London Midland 350 or 321)

then

Coventry 1002
Birmingham New Street 1027 (Virgin Pendolino)

Break at Birmingham New Street

Birmingham New Street 1201
Crewe 1256 (London Midland 350 direct)

Crewe 1333
Nuneaton 1501 (London Midland 350 via Stoke-on-Trent)

This is based on a weekday, today all of the trains in this plan ran on time. If you want me to look at anything else just ask

Cheers

Jordy

 

[snuk]

Many thanks for the info, Jordy.

It's been a while since I've travelled anywhere by train. Haven't been on VT since the Class 87 / Mark 3 (I think) days so was hoping to travel for as long as possible on a Pendolino, and possibly a Voyager as well, but Pendolino is the main one.

A few years ago, I would have travelled from Nuneaton to Crewe on VT but I think those days have gone, sadly.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but there doesn't seem to be as many VT services calling at stops in the West Midlands during the daytime these days?

Nuneaton appears to be a limited stop these days and Coventry only appears to have one route and New Street 2 routes, with one of those terminating at Wolverhampton?

According to my map, on VT's - I can go from Coventry to Rugby, Birmingham and Wolverhampton on a Pendolino - and then New Street to Crewe on a Super Voyager. So, I could go from Nuneaton to Rugby on LM, and then from Rugby to New Street or Wolverhampton on the Pendolino and then pick-up the Super Voyager to Crewe, and then depending on time, either come back the same or a similar way on VT - that is, change at Birmingham, Coventry or Rugby for Nuneaton - or if it's getting late - come straight back from Crewe to Nuneaton on LM.

I apologise if I've got anything wrong - my knowledge isn't that great these days - please feel free to correct me.

I would be leaving Nuneaton after 9am (due to the ticket restriction) but not long after. I would hope to be back in Nuneaton no later than 6pm.

Any suggestions greatfully appreciated.

Cheers,

Steve.

 

[92028]

You have many options and have the benefit of living within the area. I live in Liverpool and a few of us use the Ranger one or twice a month. Our programme next Tuesday will be Crewe/Smethwick GB/Stourbridge Jcn-Town-Jcn/Smethwick GB/Birmingham Intl/Northampton/Nuneaton/Crewe. We leave Crewe at 0949 and arrive back at 1731 with one hour breaks at Northampton and Nuneaton. As you can see we cover a great distance in eight hours. We combine a mix of spotting, photography and haulage for our day.

 

[snuk]

Many thanks for your reply, 92028.

I didn't realise it was possible to cover such a large area in a day.

I would stay out longer but I don't like being out too late.

The reason I am thinking about going to Crewe is that I have fond memories of a holiday in Prestatyn on the Chester to Holyhead line back in the mid-nineties when VT ran direct services from Nuneaton and Crewe is the farest I can go on the ranger.

Also, I would like a long journey on a Pendolino or Voyager and West Mids to Crewe as far as I know is the longest trip on a single service?

I used to work in Leamington for a short time back in the late nineties and used to commute from Nuneaton to Leamington every day via Coventry back when VT ran trains from Coventry to Bournemouth via Leamington - if I remember rightly it was only about 15 minutes from Cov to Leam but it was the highlight of my day.

Steve.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Does anyone have any suggestions/tips to make the most of my day? I'm open to ideas as you guys know the network better than me - my knowledge is seriously out of date.

My recent trips have been restricted to Nuneaton to Birmingham on CrossCountry.

 

[37401]

there great for getting some miles under your feet i did 242 miles on my last WMDR in 1 day too

 

[simonalexander05]

hey

Here's the route me and a friend took a few weeks ago:

Leaving Stafford at ~9am:

STA - CRE (LM Class 350/1)
CRE - WVH - (LM Class 350/2)
WVH - Shrewsbury (ATW Class 158)
Shrewsbury - WVH (WSMR Class 67/DVT/Mark 3 coaches)
Wolverhampton - Birminghamm Snow Hill (Midland Metro Tram)
BSW - Stratford-upon-Avon (LM Class 150)
Stratford-upon-Avon - Leamington Spa (Chiltern Railways Class 165)
LMS - COV (CrossCountry Class 220)
COV - NUN (LM Class 153)
(Numerous Pendolinos went through at speed!)
NUN - Lichfield TV (LM Class 350/1)
Lichfield TV - BHM (LM Class 323)
BHM - Walsall (LM Class 170 twinned with 153)
Walsall - BHM (LM Class 323)
BHM - BHI (LM Class 321)
(Airport AirLink) - leading to my standard of plane-watching! (the variety is nice...)
BHI - SGB (ATW Class 158)
SGB - BHM (LM Class 323)
BHM - Bourneville (LM Class 323)
Bourneville - BHM (LM Class 323)
BHM - STA (ATW Class 158 - unusual!)

Arrived back in stafford 23:30

...I like to get the most of my days out!

 

[Geezertronic]

For info, here is a map of the valid locations for the WMDR:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/manag...6ad8690e40c16f/areaMap/WestMidlandsRanger.jpg

Taken from:

http://www.railrovers.org.uk/