Whitnet Railways

GB RailRover – Day 6

2 June 202420 May 2024 by admin

800102 at Newcastle

Plan for the day

Quite often Sundays see routes disrupted due to engineering works and so it was important to find ways of using the day and also not getting held up – plus I have never been to Oban by train as far as I can remember. Which delivered this plan:

Plan Dep	Train No	Journey	Plan Arr	NRT Miles
08:45	1S03	Newcastle to Edinburgh	10:27	124.5
10:35	2Y14	Edinburgh to North Berwick	11:09	29.25
11:20	2Y13	North Berwick to Edinburgh	11:52	29.25
12:17	2K01	Edinburgh to Glenrothes with Thornton	13:14	30.75
13:20	2G02	Glenrothes to Edinburgh Haymarket	14:16	29.5
14:30	2Y45	E Haymarket to Glasgow C	15:59	47.25
18:21	1Y27	Glasgow Q St to Oban	21:24	101.5

Notes:
As before my thanks to Real Time Trains for the material in the links.

Operations on the Day

Having spent the night in Newcastle an Azuma soon has me back in Edinburgh; it is misty this morning so the views are not so good as earlier in the week. A very early plan for the week had me spending an additional night in Edinburgh to cover some local services – and this return allows those to be covered.

I leave Edinburgh in the direction from which I arrived as I am heading to North Berwick for a little section of new track down the branch line before re-visiting Edinburgh once again and I then take two trips over the Forth Bridge as I circumnavigate the Fife Circle – there are few trains around the circle during the week but are common at the weekend and so I cover the curve into Glenrothes-with-Thornton. This section re-opened to passenger traffic in 1989 with the station being constructed in 1992 with the oddity that the two platforms are both capable of bi-directional operation. A return visit to this area will be required from June 2024 when the branch to Leven is re-opened to passenger traffic but these are to be routed by the coastal route so not covering the west to north curve at Thornton Junction.

Dodge of the day when planning the detail was to detrain at Haymarket and consequently make a connection onto the next service without having to run around like a headless chicken – simply up to the concourse and down the other side – if I had thought about it I might even have had time for a cup of coffee but better safe than sorry!

I leave Edinburgh (Haymarket) for the last time on this holiday by another one of the routes to Glasgow – this time via Shotts which is less developed than the route via Bathgate take earlier in the trip. The train rolls into Glasgow Central and originally my plan was to use my time here to traverse the Glasgow subway and see the new trains currently being introduced.

However I will be arriving in Oban far too late to eat. The meal last night was poor – and I have not had a really decent meal since Inverness. A little review of restaurant possibilities throws up a branch of the Gaucho chain conveniently half way between Central and Queen Street stations! As it is mid-afternoon the absence of a booking is not a problem (earlier visits to Scotland had taught me that without a booking you can rapidly be turned away from many restaurants so care is needed). An excellent steak (far better than one in the Station Hotel Aberdeen) and a glass of Rioja are very welcome given my travels. I sit and reflect on how excellent most of the time keeping has been over recent days and a decent meal is far better than travelling around the Glasgow Subway – so another return visit is needed – also to cover most of the rail lines south of the Clyde.

Never having previously been outside a station in Glasgow it is a pleasant walk through the City Centre and the distance between the two main stations is perhaps less than anticipated.

A hugely disappointing event then happened. The unit for the Oban working is obviously standing on platform 5 for the 18:21 departure. The gates and announcement are made at about 18:19 – so there is a mad dash of passengers with a fair degree of luggage, bikes and so forth. And finally at 18:21 the train doors are opened. Given that there are signs indicating that doors will be closed 30 seconds prior to departure this treatment of passengers is simply wrong. There is mad panic as people scramble aboard and try to find seats. I guess incorrectly and sit on the “wrong” side of the train in the rush. Departure happens at 18:23.

Scotrail this is the second time today when doors open too close to departure time (the train to North Berwick being the other one). It cannot aid running off on time services and is far from best treatment for passengers. If you cannot ensure staff are in the right place to allow earlier door opening at terminals then you are not planning correctly.

We again depart out through the north west districts of Glasgow which were visited earlier in the week and then take the line the north-west. So again I run past the northern edge of the River Clyde and it then passes alongside Gare Loch and Loch Long for an extended distance. The views then switch to the other side as are running along Loch Lomond, with a slightly different viewpoint to the road which is right on the edge of the Loch. At Crianlarich the line splits and we head off to the left and running close to the A85 Old Military Road and the River Lochy which we follow until we pick up the River Orchy which feeds Loch Awe. We then turn up to Loch Etive which we track to Connel Ferry, long replaced by a bridge, before running southwards and then north to run into the much simplified Oban station. We pass the Royal Scotsman train running away from Oban.

Oban is much reduced and my hotel resides on the former freight depot – but allows bags to be dumped before a drink in an adjacent public house.

Rolling Stock

The Azuma gave a good ride back across the border and the only real question is if they are worth what they have cost as they are expensive.

Scotrail units are not overly clean – hence some photos showing light streaks from the muck on the windows. Internally they are not too bad given the usage.

All generally in good order with class 156 units to Crianlarich and a single unit to Oban. Generally good loadings on most services – the early Azuma to Edinburgh was lightly loaded but to my slight surprise the train to North Berwick was well loaded as were the other local trains. It looked like the majority of passengers on the Oban service were actually going all the way with few leaving at intermediate stations. I remain of the opinion that ensuring trains can be accessed a few minutes before departure from the commencing terminal so that people can be seated before the journey commences is a good thing.

Ticket Checks

A little sparse today compared with some of the ticket checking undertaken earlier in the week by Scotrail – but still in evidence.

Summary

This turned out to be an excellent way to pass a Sunday avoiding any delays due to engineering. Inevitably wonderful scenery on the line to Oban – even being sat on the wrong side for the best of it. The evening sun lighting up the Highland hillsides beautifully.

GB RailRover – Day 3

1 June 202417 May 2024 by admin

I7C at Inverness for Aberdeen - 43021 — I7C at Inverness for Aberdeen – 43021

Plan for the day

The plan for today is to take the longest single working on the railway from Aberdeen to Penzance:

Plan Dep	Train No	Journey	Plan Arr	NRT Miles
08:20	1V60	Aberdeen to Penzance	21:36	785

Notes:
As before my thanks to Real Time Trains for the material in the links.

Operations on the Day

I finish having breakfast in the hotel and then check my train – it has been cancelled (it is later re-instated from Edinburgh south) but I have already missed a train to Edinburgh which would connect into the service – so a new plan was rapidly constructed – Cross Country themselves suggest an Edinburgh – London service and a Cross Country to Plymouth and local service to Penzance.

I work up a new plan:

Plan Dep	Train No	Journey	Plan Arr	NRT Miles
09:04	1B74	Aberdeen - Edinburgh	11:22	130.5
11:30	1E13	Edinburgh - York	13:54	204.5
14:44	1V62	York - Plymouth	20:49	372.50
21:17	1C92	Plymouth - Penzance	22:59	79.5

The through train is unique in the UK – the longest single train working and was always the centrepiece of the holiday – to join in Aberdeen and walk off in Penzance – a long day but staying on the move all day. So that has been ruined. And for no obvious reason I note that whilst Cross Country tout their service as covering 785 miles the NRT mileages for the spit I am following is 787. NRT mileages are adjusted to a quarter mile and I assume that explains the difference (NRT does not have a mileage table for Cross Country – that has to come from the individual routes and RealTime Trains do not seem to have mileage on all detailed train plans although their website does say they are on the majority).

When using the online planners even if you leave Aberdeen on the original through train you are told to change at Haymarket and catch a train down the West Coast and you get to the destination sooner than staying on it! And if I had stayed on the LNER service from Edinburgh to Kings Cross and then travelled west from Paddington I would have been earlier than my actual arrival. So Cross Country the service is slow and so no-one is actually recommended to use it from end to end!

Turning to my actual journey the trip down the East Coast of Scotland and across the Tay and Forth Bridges was one I had not previously taken so entirely new and the sun is shining so the countryside can be seen as we head south. I benefit from the luxury once again of I7C (HST) first class which is in good order although these sets appear not to have hugely reliable wifi – on a couple there is simply no signal and inevitably in the wilds of Scotland often no transmitter with which to connect even if it is working on the train. Never mind it is very pleasant to watch the world passing by and of course the crossings of the Tay and Firth of Forth are excellent.

Checking on the LNER train from Inverness I can see it was running late so hopefully giving me additional connection time – but we come to a stand having passed Haymarket and I watch the London train go past on the other line and we trail it into Edinburgh station only slightly late on platform 17 – but it is a long walk and I need to negotiate the gateline (which the rover ticket no longer works) followed by a mad rush to platform 2 before boarding – and I then have a long walk through to the first class.

LNER first class team are welcoming and I settle in a seat which is reserved from Newcastle onwards so know I will have to move – but at least I can see the coastline as we head south. I spend some time rechecking my options – and decide that I will leave at York and take the Cross Country service so sticking to the original route – but at the cost of at least an hour on arrival time. At Newcastle I move seats to one reserved from Edinburgh to London but has been empty all of the way and so it seems reasonable to sit there.

Lunch is taken and this solves the meal problem for the day – I had always been worried that finding anything to eat in Penzance tonight would be impossible.

Far too soon we are in York and at this point I am only about 15 minutes behind the train I originally planned to catch – but it is just passing Church Fenton as it powers to Penzance. It eventually arrives in Penzance about three minutes late.

Announcements and the number of passengers waiting at York imply the train will be well loaded – I find a seat but I can see people are standing and later in the journey first class is declassified – even though there are only three seats available and the catering facility is at the rear of the unit (first is at the front) and has no way of getting through the the train. Whilst reference is made to a previous service cancellation there cannot be many from north of Edinburgh who are now on this train to cause this level of overloading. I think it is Tiverton Parkway before the first class is reclassified.

The scenery on this section is dominated by the run along Dawlish – the third time recently and it remains magnificent and on the original plan I would have had the equally magnificent Northumberland coast on the same train.

The 1803 from Paddington leaves Plymouth on time but we are delayed at Bodmin Parkway and roll into Penzance a minute late – but nearly 90 minutes later than the original plan. The hotel is an uphill 10 minute walk and much to my surprise they have waited for me. I just want to have a bath and get to bed!

Rolling Stock

By a long way the best was of course Scotrail’s I7C in terms of comfort. Catering and comfort was not bad on the LNER service to York. Loading on the Cross Country is way beyond acceptable – and the Cross Country practice of allowing seat reservations to commence during the journey (which led to people, including me, constantly having to change seats as they were initially available) remains an unwanted “improvement” for most travellers. Cross Country definitively needs longer trains urgently. Adding a coach with a pantograph and a transformer which can feed the power to the tracks whilst under the wires (and on the third rail too) would be a huge expense but a good solution.

I did not use the first class into Cornwall – it was at the rear of the train and I could not face adding the inevitable walk back and then forwards at Penzance to the exit.

Ticket Checks

Oddly I am not entirely sure that LNER undertook a ticket check and Cross Country did before the train became overloaded. If GWR did it was pretty cursory.

Summary

Obviously a massive disappointment not to sit on a Cross Country Voyager for the entire day – in some senses! The route was traversed, a decent meal supplied by LNER and the obvious scenic sections remained. Having failed to use the train once it will not feature high in my priority list for the future – there remains much more of the National network to cover.

GB RailRover – Day 1 Part 2

1 June 202415 May 2024 by admin

Plan for the day

The plan for the first full day on the Railrover is to visit a new line from Edinburgh and then to go to Glasgow before heading for Inverness:

Plan Dep	Train No	Journey	Plan Arr	NRT Miles
07:40	2T64	Edinburgh (6) to Tweedbank	08:40	38.5
08:50	2T65	Tweedbank to Edinburgh (7)	09:48	38.5
10:08	2H19	Edinburgh (10) to Helensburgh C (2)	12:16	68
12:25	2H34	Helensburgh C to Dalreoch	12:38	8
12:51	2E73	Dalreoch to Balloch	13:02	5
13:08	2E56	Balloch to Westerton	13:41	15
13:53	2V37	Westerton to Milngavie	14:04	2.5
14:06	2V54	Milngavie to Glasgow Queen Street (9)	14:30	8.25
15:07	1H21	Glasgow Queen Street (7) to Inverness	18:26	180

Notes:
As before my thanks to Real Time Trains for the material in the links.

Operations on the Day

Today I have my first opportunity to travel the Borders line to Tweedbank closed in 1969 and re-opened in September 2015 and once we get off the Edinburgh main line the first few stations are close together. Noticeably the car parks along the line (and at many other Scotrail stations) are very full. As we get further along the line the stations are more widely spread and I know from driving through the Borders Country the much touted extension towards Carlisle passes through many sheep but no real conurbations which will provide traffic. A pity it was not constructed as electrified line and my understanding is that spare capacity for additional services is limited – but decent patronage.

Highlight on the return journey is to spot a deer in an adjacent field which seems unsure if it should runaway.

My next journey is westwards on the line to Helensburgh Central via Bathgate on a line previously either part closed or freight only which was reinstated in 2010 as an electrified line and now attracts significant passenger usage through the main Central Belt of Scotland. West of Glasgow it eventually joins the line to the West Highlands before reaching Helensburgh Central.

Retracing my steps slightly I am now going to visit a pair of branch termini – Balloch at the southern end of Loch Lomond and Milngavie where I suddenly realise that my incoming train does not form the outgoing connection which is pawing the ground awaiting a green signal at the other platform. I was already at the front pair of doors and walk around the end of the two trains and onto the rear doors of the unit which is ready to depart.

That was scary!

This runs through to Glasgow Queen Street Low Level and I ascend into the modern main station. Here I have time for a cup of coffee before joining an I7C (HST stock) for a train to Inverness. For the first time today I am in real comfort in some well maintained and recently updated rolling stock and with decent power these units are providing some real quality for travellers as we head up to the Highlands. This is very definitely the way to travel.

The line to Tweedbank is mainly agricultural as we get away from Edinburgh whilst even the Central Belt line via Bathgate is not entirely devoid of some open fields, although more industrialised than earlier. West of Glasgow the line runs along the Clyde river – largely mud on this tidal area but later in the week it will be passed covered with water. Once heading towards the Highlands the landscape starts changing significantly as we travel towards Inverness especially as we parallel the A9 for a large chunk of the journey and are typically moving faster than the road traffic as we traverse the Cairngorms National Park which covers the line from around Killiecrankie until a little way short of Tomatin. Lovely to watch the world go by!

Lunch was easily obtained when I first arrived at Edinburgh this morning and consumed whilst using the Bathgate line. Pre-planning meant that dinner was booked for the Mustard Seed in Inverness and this is located along the river front and is recommended. Many mussels and followed by an some excellent venison.

The four branch termini (Tweedbank, Helensburgh Central, Balloch (sadly the onward length Balloch Pier is long gone) and Milngavie have not previously been visited so quite a bit of new track covered today and one of the most interesting changes was Westerton where I caught a train once before and remember it being a little bit of a wasteland. It is now developed all around, with relatively modern developments showing a huge increase in residential development in the area.

Trains were generally all well used and time keeping was generally excellent throughout the day.

Rolling Stock

On the Borders line Class 170 with first class accommodation is used, although it was not clear that first class tickets are available and indeed there seems to be a war on first class on many journeys – one wonders why operators are so keen to forego revenue from first class (probably slightly warped view as I was travelling on a first class ticket ahead of a particular journey later in the week).

The electric operations are a variety of class 334, 318 and 320 units notably one of each of the latter two paired up and this must be deliberate to run the two types together for some reason. All workmanlike and varying degrees of dirt. Heavily used workhorses and nothing wrong with that.

The I7C units are a class apart of course and have the benefit of a lot of spare power (compared to the weight) to get trains moving rapidly and then to hold decent speeds on the main lines. Very comfortable seating and inevitably a snooze or two happened as we headed northwards.

Ticket Checks

I found Edinburgh rather strange – a ticket was needed to get through the barrier off of the sleeper but joining the train to Helensburgh later did not mean passing through barriers as I recall. On train the trip on the Class 170 there were ticket checks on the train and the same was true on all of the electric services where the checking was regular. Given that there are often two units coupled on these services I have to assume that both units are each carrying revenue staff which means three people on a train – a long way from Thameslink services!

Summary

An excellent day – not the best of weather but that matters little when on a train and it improved in the Highlands. The excellent time keeping and rail activities made it all straightforward with little worry or concern. A solidly boring and reliable railway today.

GB RailRover – Day 1 Part 1

1 June 202414 May 2024 by admin

92018 – at the head of sleeper train at London Euston

Plan for the day

My railrover ticket commences on Tuesday 14 May but there is a well known easement on railrovers allowing departure on a sleeper train on the day prior to commencement, so although I have to get myself to London Euston on another ticket it will be valid for the sleeper berth I have booked for tonight.

The plan for overnight is:

Plan Dep	Train No	Journey	Plan Arr	NRT Miles
23:45	1S26	Euston to Carstairs	06:15	400
06:40	1B26	Carstairs to Edinburgh (11)	07:30

Notes:
As before my thanks to Real Time Trains for the material in the links.

Operations on the Day

My initial journeys are not covered by the Rover – I have to get from home to London Euston so take the 20:40 Sandhurst to Guildford (2O90) and then the 21:15 Guildford to London Waterloo (1P72) and the Northern line. Buying the right ticket proves impossible as neither guard has the right sort of machine to produce a ticket allowing TfL travel. So I buy a ticket to Waterloo and then use my Oyster card which needs topping up – so debits my account with £20 – it all adds up.

SWR have a points problem at Woking and a freight train waiting a driver at Clapham Junction which leads to a significantly late arrival, although it is questionable if I would succeed with a delay/repay claim. The train unusually uses the Windsor Line Shed (the old International station) and terminates in platform 23 so we snake across numerous points to reach this destination – and it will depart as a train to Reading.

The sleeper is sitting on platform 1 at Euston and is ready to board once I get to the station. I find my cabin (sole occupation) and dump my bags before heading back to the club car for a glass of red wine and coffee. I return to the cabin by departure and try to sleep but the noise seems oppressive and I can sleep on most trains! After nearly 30 minutes we rumble to a halt – at Watford Junction. Hmmm.

I settle down again and this time sleep for about an hour and overall I reckon I get around five and a half hours, with the alarm going off at 06:20 shortly before breakfast – ordered last night is delivered to the berth.

As the linked times reveal there appears to be plenty of slack in the booked times as we are running late at one point and yet easily recover to arrive on the working time which is a chunk earlier than the public times.

Rolling Stock

Class 92 top and I assume tailed as the one at the rear at Euston took my portion onwards to Edinburgh after the train was split at Carstairs – I woke to find the train at rest there – and so it was an early awakening. It was light and so I could watch the world pass by as we headed in to the capital city.

This is the relatively new Mark V coaching stock which had a torrid time at introduction and on which I believe a lot of money has been spent to achieve decent service quality since delivery. Certainly having slept reasonably well and not been uncomfortable I did not have a problem. Trying to sort out one or two things between bags is not easy given the limited space but all essential needs are met and the noises seemed less of a problem once we were running smoothly.

There was water on the floor of the toilet, source not immediately obvious and some of the initial clunking noises did not give the right impression, although not preventing sleeping once I became used to them. I did not find the bar stools in the club car at all comfortable. Service was generally friendly and it is a convenient way to get from the south to Scotland.

Ticket Checks

Absolutely none – the sleeper berth booking was checked a couple of times by the sleeper staff as it is bought separately from the all line rover but the physical ticket was not checked at all.

Summary

Well apart from the delays into Waterloo a very solid start to the rail rover – ending up in the right place at the right time, breakfast consumed and ready for the day ahead.