An earlier start today as I want to be in the station in plenty of time for my train to Paris. I bring my case down to breakfast so that I can depart immediately.
The train back to Paris Bercy is pretty busy and we run more or less to time. As we are retracing our steps from Friday I half watch the countryside passing by whilst continuing to catch up with the soaps – largely listening rather than watching on a small screen.
Lamb Gare de Lyon 4.8.25
I have a lot of spare time and walk up to Gare du Lyon for lunch. Some very nice lamb. Like in Beziers I have great difficulty getting a second glass of wine. There appears to be something wrong in France as getting alcohol seems far more difficult. In both cases when I order I have some of the first glass left – which they try to remove – I paid for it, I want to drink it! Then the second glass turns up long after I have consumed the accompanying food. Have the French started disapproving of alcohol consumption or has the liver specialist a direct line to these people!
I then retrace my steps to Bercy Metro station and once again take Ligne 6. Prior to starting the holiday I researched our various metro trips and discovered that being August both main routes to Orly airport are closed for enhancement and so this is not a simple journey. At Place d’Italie I have to transfer to Ligne 7 and head to Villejuif Louis Aragon where at the end of the line I follow the signs to Tram 7 which can take me the airport.
From Villejuif Louis Aragon it takes about half an hour to reach Orly and the tram deposits me at T4 which is not helpful so I now have to follow a trail of signs for T1 which is where the flight departs. The signs eventually lead me to Orlyval which is providing only a shuttle between the T4 building and the T1-3 building as Ligne B at Antony is unavailable being one of those closed for works routes! It takes a few minutes and I am eventually in the right place – and a good three hours before the plane leaves.
The Vueling (allegedly BA but not – just code share) bag drop is at one end of T1. The plane will depart from D gates. Nowhere is it made clear that D gates are actually in T3. It is far from clear that there are really three terminals within the building and it is not clear to me why the nomenclature of three terminals is used as the signs imply you are “leaving” terminal 1 which I find disconcerting – it does not assist the casual traveller.
We load the plane and actually take off a couple of minutes early, arriving into Gatwick very early after a particularly short flight, much less than advertised. We are however at the gates in South Terminal which are as far away from immigration as it is possible to be. Ending up at these gates seems to be an ongoing experience down the years. The immigration hall is completely empty and I walk straight up to the passport scanning machine – which does not work and I have to go and see a man.
No luggage has been delivered in the baggage hall so I have to wait. Then down to catch the first Reading train which is not the one on my ticket but the very kind guard lets me travel home – as luckily it is the right half hour and will stop at Sandhurst.
A taxi takes me back to the station and here I have a real problem with SNCF. If you close the toilets because you are seeking to make station improvements then at least advertise the existence and location of the replacements. I understand that they might not have the same capacity but some travellers need those facilities. Not a single sign that I could see explaining where the temporary toilets might be. Luckily a member of staff was able to direct me – and she was only there looking for a passenger in need of assistance whom she could not find.
When planning the trip I paid little interest in the first trip today as I just needed to get from one branch line to the other branch line which commences at Nimes. So a TGV is great and I had no idea that the line runs almost along the edge of the Mediterranean between Adge and Sete with the Med on one side and the Etang de Thau on the other. In bright sunshine. A lovely trip. At one station we wait for a long time – but we are on time so it is built into the timetable, presumably for connections. At one station our departure has been announced after about 5 minutes and two people opposite realise they should have got off the train and make a rush for the door – they did not return so I assume disembarked.
Nimes Arena 3.8.25
In Nimes I have time to kill and therefore walk up Avenue Fuecheres which is tree lined and leads towards the older part of the town – dragging my case however makes it a relatively slow journey. At the top of the Avenue I find a Roman Arena – which I am advised is the most complete one in existence – I merely look at the outside . I return to close to the station and have lunch as I know getting a meal later in Clermont-Ferrand could well be difficult. The highlight is a proper steak tartare – which was excellent.
Steak Tartare Nimes 3.8.25
Then the cool of the station before the train appears on the display boards, picking up some food for dinner before we depart. Now I have to admit that I have a sneaking suspicion that I covered this line, southbound, on a night sleeper in 1976 on my Interrail – but as it was in the dark I did not see the scenery and so I will consider it a first traverse.
Scenery 3.8.25
This is known as la Ligne des Cevennes and it snakes north joining the line out of Clermont-Ferrand I used yesterday at Arvant. The unit is bi-mode but runs in diesel at all times (there is a short distance at each end which is electrified). The distance is around 148 miles and takes 4 and a half hours so around 33 mph today. Based on what I saw I thought the gorges and similar were more attractive than yesterday. But perhaps some of the time I was on the right side of the train today!
Interesting ticket check on this journey – and implies a potential problem. Obviously we are eventually in a remote area but we have not gone that far when the tickets are checked. I now find that the barcode is NOT on the phone itself. I go through the menu items (there should be a single link to the current ticket in the app) and it will not display. The guard is understanding and eventually enough of a signal becomes available and the ticket displays. It strikes me that the app creators have not thought this through. Tickets in the UK are delivered as similar barcodes in pdf format and can be held on the phone locally without the need to access a remote server – travelling across Europe I would have expected something similar as being recognised as essential given how remote some lines must be.
84699 Clermont-Ferrand 3.8.25
Motive power between Nimes and Clermont-Ferrand was 84699 which is a dual mode unit but ran entirely under diesel power – even when overhead power was available throughout the journey. Alstom Coradia family with 242 units in service starting in 2013. They are widespread across France providing a decent ride – although today we did not experience much in the way of high speed – as the line has a lot of gradients and curves.
Arriving in Clermont-Ferrand there was an ancient diesel at an adjacent platform which was photographed – but precisely what it was doing I am unsure. I then retreated to my hotel, booked in with a cup of coffee and I find that Jackie has been watching the soaps since she returned. I now have great difficulty getting the Synology Drive to sync – the phone seems to work but the ipad – which is what I would like to use for the larger screen simply will not sync properly. So annoying.
After the induced panic of yesterday morning today was expected to be a relative oasis of calm – and in hindsight in most respects it was. However I had forgotten that SNCF have a devilish trick up their sleeves. They might call it a through train with a single reporting number and no connections but (and we have experienced this before in Corsica) it means nothing of the sort.
However before we get into that I have a continental breakfast and then have about three hours to kill so I go and sit on Voie H of Clermont-Ferrand station. I swear that at a station which has 9 platforms not a single train moved for at least 45 minutes at one stage during my wait – proving that there is huge capacity which simply does not exist on our railways. I cannot think of a 9 platform station in the UK which would see no movement for nearly an hour. I eat some lunch before my train is announced.
I know the line over the Central Massif (la ligne de l’Aubrac) is electrified so I am a little bemused when a diesel is the nominated train this morning at Clermont-Ferrand. It is heavily loaded (more or less full – partly due to it being the holiday season I suppose) and we proceed to Neussargues. Where we are all dumped out of the train onto the platform to await a train. Our train changes its destination from Beziers to Aurillac (another line which deserves a visit). Then a diesel pootles in from Aurillac, presumably heading for Clermont-Ferrand.
27895 Neussargues 2.8.25
Finally just in time our electric train trundles up the platform and there is a mad rush to the few doors. We scramble onboard, after just about everyone else gets off (because they do not want to make a return journey). Our nice electric surges off up-hill and I assume that the two diesel trains then head off to their destinations. Oddly the guard we had from Clermont-Ferrand remains with us for a large part of the journey. After checking my ticket earlier she and another passenger ensured I understood the need to change train at Neussargues – although of course it is theoretically a “through” train.
This line is known as either La Ligne d’Aubrac or La Ligne des Causses and the point of this trip is the scenic outlook. From Clermont-Ferrand to Neussargues it is mainly heavily wooded with river crossings passed far too rapidly to capture. Climbing to Neussargues my ears might have popped once but leaving the latter I think they then popped twice in rapid succession. The only seat I could find is facing backwards on the right side of the train and certainly for the hour after the change of train the wonderful landscapes are on the other side of the train. So I might have to go this way again. There are a couple of branch lines which deserve a visit in my view.
There are a number of highlights on the trip. Viaduc de Garabit was designed by Eiffel – but is not really visible from the train and not from the seat I had. A little later we pass close to Roquefort but bringing cheese back from France is not allowed at present. Finally we pass under the Millau viaduct which is an architectural wonder. Millau is also notable as a point where many of my fellow travellers leave the train – including the guard. Thereafter the train is largely empty. I suspect that the subsequent stations can be reached more speedily by the less direct routes. I am not sure anyone manages the entire trip with me.
Scenic route 2.8.25
By road it is 165 miles and I assume similar by rail. However it is 6 and a half hours – which is about 24 miles per hour. So it is a long slog. Of course there are numerous stops – but speeds are limited by curvature and gradients. However given that at least 2/3 of it from Clermont-Ferrand to Millau was largely full I am surprised that it is felt one train a day is adequate.
Viaduc de Millau 2.8.25
Some years ago we stayed in Carcassone and drove over the Viaduc de Millau as well as going across countryside to look at it. Today I managed to travel underneath it – the railway was here first. The service then passes through Roquefort although with only a single train a day it is not possible to leave the train and buy some.
Beziers is the end of the line for me and I had already decided that as the hotel is not immediately adjacent to the station that a taxi would be a good idea. As it turns out the town has something of a very large hill. No comments on the hotel as that was clearly a mistake.
Sunset Beziers 2.8.25
I did however get some lovely shots of the sunset after dinner.
Having spent a week on a Seine cruise (covered on the main holiday blog) this is an add-on excursion which is intended to visit some of the scenic French lines. I have about a 20 minute walk first – because the adjacent Ligne C station is closed for summer engineering works. On my walk I note a small siding where a freight is loading or unloading by crane – almost in the centre of Paris – it is a different world!
First panic of the day comes when I have to grapple with Navigo (the ticket system) at Balard, the next nearest Metro station, which is at one end of Ligne 8. With a case in front of me to push through I miss the green go signal and cannot then get through the gates as it believes I am already the other side of the gate at this station. I eventually cheat by following a family through a wider gate I should have used in the first place. At La Motte Picquet Grenelle station I change trains and lignes and at this point I do wonder if I am trying to do too much. If they have lifts or escalators in France they cannot be bothered to tell travellers and getting up to Ligne 6 proves a challenge with a heavy case. Once there I deliberately choose to travel in the wrong direction as this line crosses the Seine adjacent to the Eiffel Tower. Much of Ligne 6 is above ground allowing views of parts of Paris from above.
26034 Paris Bercy 1.8.25
Changing platforms and reversing direction at Trocadero proves to be another weightlifting challenge. I had dressed for the initial damp weather seen outside the boat earlier. However the sun is now out and the temperature is rising, particularly under a lightweight rain proof coat! In this direction Ligne 6 crosses the Seine twice before I alight at Bercy. Emerging from the Metro the main station is invisible – although it should be in front of me – pavement works completely block my view of the station entrance. Once in the station I have an hour to wait and I eventually find a seat and buy lunch before the train is announced. Judging by the descending horde it will run full.
Loco hauled we wind through the Paris suburbs initially alongside the TGV lines from Gare de Lyon and soon we are progressing at a decent speed. I get the iPad and phone connected to the on board wifi. Accepting the defaults on the iPad gives me a map of our route and when updated shows the current train location. Our train runs quite a bit of the journey at 120mph according to the speedometer on my phone.
A ticket check is satisfied by my seat reservation as at this point I have not worked out how to get the barcode of the ticket to appear on the phone within the Interrail app. Later I do find out how to do it and I am a little surprised it was not requested. However it should be a single tap (current journey or similar) and should be stored on the phone (see Sunday).
It is around 215 miles to Clermont-Ferrand taking 3.5 hours implying an average of just over 60mph. We pass towns and farms – primarily a lot of dairy farming country – plus the odd sunflower field. There is not that much wine growing along this route – nor that much grain – there has been some but it does appear that most of the local harvest has been completed.
I keep an eye on Jackie’s progress homeward and she is about 30 minutes late into St Pancras. Apparently she had some helpful guidance to platform A where her Thameslink arrived late coinciding with her arrival on the platform. I could see the train recovering time as it heads towards Redhill where she finds the lift doors open in front of her. It is a tight connection and as the lift arrives at the departure platform so does the train and she gets home as planned.
We run slightly late at one point (about 5 minutes) but we are marginally early when we reach Clermont-Ferrand. A lift down to the station subway is welcome – although there is a huge queue and it takes at most three people and cases at once! That takes me down to the underpass and there is an escalator up to road level (I later find that there is also a lift).
Steak frites 1.8.25
My hotel is across the road. Soon booked in and in my room with dinner booked for 7:30 downstairs – a nice steak and chips and a carafe of wine which goes down very well after the busy day.
Notes:
As before my thanks to Real Time Trains for the material in the links.
Operations on the Day
After the usual shuffle from Sandhurst into Reading I now know that I have time to buy a ticket at the Excess window and make the connection into the Paddington train. Equally there is time at Liverpool Street to acquire some lunch before settling into the Aventra for trip to Marks Tey.
I have never previously used the Sudbury branch and nor have I previously encountered a class 755 Flirt bi-mode which is operating in diesel mode today. The lines heads largely northwards from Marks Tey to Sudbury mainly along the Stour valley. There has long been a preservation site at Chappel and Wakes Colne with one platform available to Anglia trains and the other used by the heritage railway. It is a pleasant run through the countryside. Sitting in the rear coach leaving either terminus however the short platforms require the passenger to walk forward before being able to disembark at the other terminal.
The power packs are in their own vehicle – but there is a corridor through to enable the other coaches to be accessed (or the exit as I discovered). Having the diesel engines located above the frames means that the adjacent vehicles are noisier – however the benefit is that the units sit lower and boarding is largely flat. They shake and rattle – about the same as a good condition Hampshire unit I would suggest – and other new units (class 196) are no different.
The line is supposedly marketed as the “Gainsborough” line although I do not see much evidence of this on my journey. Historically known as the Stour Valley line it used to run beyond Sudbury to Shelford via Haverhill with the line beyond Sudbury closing in 1967. Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury. Historically for some years the marketing name was “Lovejoy” after the similarly entitled television programme which was filmed around Sudbury.
Once back at Marks Tey it is time to head back – first to Witham and the line to Braintree. As I progress I note that there has been significant new housing just about everywhere expanding the villages and small towns – and the new station of Braintree Freeport for the adjacent shopping village. A second branch covered for the first time. At Witham there is a longer connection and so I have time to find the ticket office (on the bridge) and acquire a ticket for my trip along the branch.
720135 Braintree 30.5.25
The historic route ran from Maldon via Witham and Braintree to Bishops Stortford and I do wonder if these days serving those destinations would be useful – particularly the connection into the West Anglia Main Line. I can see the point of an extension here – although I suspect some of the route has been built over quite a bit remains as pedestrian route.
The services here are not an isolated branch line workings but are to and from London Liverpool Street using class 720 units. The line was converted to electric on 31 October 1977. Braintree Freeport station was opened in 1999 although the adjacent shopping location is no longer known by that name (now Braintree Shopping Village).
That means that I can stay on the train on return to Shenfield for the last trip today. I travelled to Southend Victoria some time in the late 1970’s but never took the route from Wickford to Southminster along the Crouch Valley which is what I do today. This was also the riskiest change as the timed connection at Shenfield is a minute. My train arrives slightly early and I had positioned myself in the hope of being close to the stairs to the subway – not quite perfect but close enough and I am at the platform as the train rolls in.
The Wickford – Southminster line was electrified in 1986 so once again is currently operated with Class 720 Aventras. As with the other branches visited today it is largely single track with a passing loop at North Fambridge.
Noticeable from the train today is that a lot of land has been given over to the growing of vines with significant wine production now being derived in the area. This development has been relatively recent I believe.
Historically the line was retained to permit the operation of trains to carry nuclear fuel to and from the transhipment station at Southminster but the traffic has ceased and it looks as if all of the track is completely out of use.
The return journey is via Wickford, Stratford where I join the Elizabeth line where they announce that I should change trains at Whitechapel for Reading – so I leave my train but there are no Reading trains listed so I take the next one to London Paddington just in case there is a problem with services – but about 4 trains later a Reading service turns up and permits a connection into my train home.
Costs / Ticket Checks
After the bargains achieved on some of my earlier expeditions through Advance tickets, rangers and the like everything today was on either Off Peak or Super Off Peak tickets.
Sandhust – Sudbury off peak return: £40.60
Witham – Braintree Super Off Peak Return: £4.95
Shenfield – Southminster Super Off Peak Return: £10.70
A total of £56.25 and 284 miles which is 19.8p per mile – which is one of the highest costs per mile on these trips. Not the best bargain but there was a lot of trundling along the slower branches – I was a little surprised that the mileage total was actually that high.
Ticket checks on Greater Anglia were good – out of Liverpool St and along the Sudbury and Braintree branches. I was unable to buy a ticket before travelling from Shenfield to Southminster and on the return trip to Wickford I thought for a while I was going to get away with free travel – but a ticket check (and an immediate explanation and purchase) from the guard (plus a friendly chat) shortly before arrival at Wickford ensured that there was no free travel today.
Rolling Stock
All the stock on Greater Anglia has been introduced in the last few years and the bi-mode Flirts being used on the branch lines have had a few problems but have displaced older stock which is welcome in itself. This was my first (and quite short) introduction to the bi-mode units – however they are unlikely to be worked that hard. I plan to revisit the Suffolk lines at some point and a longer journey may give a better chance to evaluate them.
Otherwise it was Aventra class 720s which appear to have settled down as workmanlike commuter stock. Obviously they are blessed with 3+2 seating which off peak is not needed but no doubt there are peak services where they are heavily occupied. They also appear to be pretty nippy and able to maintain some timings – quite a few services were able to snip time off the schedule without appearing to be working too hard – so a general timetable improvement may be possible
Summary
One thing which stood out again today was the generally excellent timekeeping – odd minutes here and there but generally things were running and observing the planned times. This is on a pretty busy railway which even off peak has quite a few trains. new stock helps as it should be reliable and on a warm sunny afternoon the weather is not likely to be a contributing problem. However whilst I noted one train not on time whilst at Witham the overall service appeared to be running well.
A good day out even if it was slightly more costly than some of my expeditions.
The Helston Railway is the heritage line sited furthest west in the country. They have now preserved a section of line about 1 1/4 mile long between Prospidnick and Truthall Halt. Services commence at Prospidnick which is a couple of miles from Helston and the line runs towards Helston. The line used to run from the GWR main line Gwinear Road – the station closing with the branch on 5 October 1964. So the line was dormant for a long time.
Prospidnick Halt was bult part of the preservation effort and there is some hope of a small extension a short distance further north at some point in the future. Access to Prospidnick is via Trevarno Farm passing through the farmyard before it opens into a slightly untidy space. The track here has a coach with a booking office and a buffet and the intention is to build a station here adjacent to the parking. At the moment having bought tickets we walk across the viaduct over the road below to Prospidnick platform from where the service train departs.
There is an intermediate station at Trevarno which was the original starting point of the heritage services but now is only a request stop and we did not stop here in either direction, I suspect there is next to no parking but some items of stock are stored here with other items needed for the railway.
Our destination is the aforementioned Truthall Halt which is an exact replica of the original GWR Halt and is 1 3/4 mile from Helston. It originally reopened in 1905 and was reopened in 2017. There have been plans for further extension but these seem unlikely at present – planned to a new terminus closer to Helston but this requires a large viaduct to be restored – some clearance of the track bed has been undertaken.
Andrew Barclay loco 446 Kingswood
Our transport has a diesel engine at the Prospidnick end of two coaches with a driver position at the front of a former DMU vehicle at the Truthall Halt end of the train. It is a very gentle journey through the countryside between the two. There have been a couple of seasons of steam haulage in recent years but for the moment trains are being handled by “Kingswood” an Andrew Barclay locomotive from 1959, works no 446, although I am not sure if it is owned by the railway or not. A suburban coach and the dmu driving trailer make up the consist.
The journey takes about 10 minutes, then 15 minutes to change ends (and we change coach) and then ten minutes or so back. All of the volunteers around are very friendly and there are a few other passengers this morning – although not a large number. Operations are on a limited number of days in the year so we are lucky to have included a bank holiday Monday in our week away to permit travel.
It provides a vision of how preservation worked for a long time – just a short line and a quick hop there and back – even shorter than the early Bluebell I suspect. Modern preservation is hugely business driven simply through size whereas here it feels mainly down to volunteers, although I suspect that it has needed a decent source of money to achieve what is here. It will be interesting to see if the extensions can be achieved and if the steam locomotive overhaul can be completed and returned to service – big challenges for a small railway.
Many years ago I traversed the main lines through Essex and a little while back I traversed the missing lines in Southern Essex -today attention turns to the Northern part of Essex. The services used were:
Notes:
As before my thanks to Real Time Trains for the material in the links.
Operations on the Day
The service from Gatwick is a little late and egress at Reading is impeded by a bicycle. I have been unable to buy a ticket online and the guard seems not to want to sell tickets onboard so it is a mad dash to the excess ticket window where I soon have the main ticket for the day – a return to Harwich Town. Across the footbridge and an IEP into Paddington and then downstairs onto the Elizabeth line to London Liverpool Street.
The station here is so different from the one I remember from the the seventies – it is to me unrecognisable. I need a ticket office for another ticket – and it is impossible to find being hidden away on Platform 10. I am not sure why the operator feels the need to play “hunt the ticket office” – but it provides no signs directing all passengers to the machines. I have to ask the enquiry desk which ought to be the ticket office. The enquiry office feels relatively new – the concourse used to be far more open than it now feels.
In the ticket office I want a Sunshine Coast Day Ranger and the poor employee on the counter has obviously never sold one before (there is a sign saying he is under training). It takes time – but he gets there eventually. Lunch acquired I go and find the 11:00 departure for Norwich. This is one of the new Stadler class 745 units which boast level boarding and slopes up to / down from the bogie sets which are shared between two coaches. This is my first trip aboard one of these as they are relatively new. (The TOC went for complete fleet replacement at the last franchise renewal).
We shoot away from Liverpool Street and before long we are progressing at 100mph and the ride is very smooth. Internally they are well fitted and a trolley comes through from the front with food and drink before moving into the buffet car having been through the train. At seat power, although the usb socket did not work on the power point I used. Departure is slightly early according to my watch (we keep being warned about doors closing 30 seconds prior to departure) and we keep time through stops at Chelmsford and Colchester before I leave the service at Manningtree.
Here I join one of the other new fleet choices – a five car 720 – a fairly standard and late build Aventra. Five coaches are probably too many for the local service to Harwich Town – but beyond Parkestone Quay Harwich International I am travelling on new line. In 1976 a loco hauled boat train brought me to Parkestone Quay to catch the ferry to Hoek of Holland as the first step on a three week Interrail holiday – my entire annual holiday taken as a single holiday to maximise the value of the ticket. Parkestone Quay was later renamed and remains a substantial station although I feel custom is probably lower than in 1976. I find that there are still two daily sailings to on the route.
Once we reach the first terminus of the day at Harwich Town it is time to retrace our steps and it is a pleasant run alongside the river Stour retracing our steps to Manningtree. The connection at Harwich is into another Norwich 745 service which takes me back to Colchester for the other branch lines. The London – Clacton service normally runs fast to Thorpe Le Soken but we are delayed with reported level crossing problems. I am now on the Sunshine Coast Line and appropriately the sun is out. The next terminus reached is Clacton-on-Sea where the large number of people emerging from the train have obviously chosen to spend the afternoon in the sun. Once again this service uses the class 720 units – it is reported that more units were ordered and delivered than are actually needed at present but so far none have been sub-leased. It is the same pair of units which I take back to Thorpe-le-Soken where I have a wait in the sun.
The Walton-on-the-Naze services run slow from Colchester stopping at all stations and a following Clacton service comes in at the other platform face enabling easy interchange. I join the Walton-on-the Naze service for the ride to my third terminus of the day and stay with the train as it returns to Colchester but taking the deviation via Colchester Town terminus before regaining the main line.
720554 at Colchester 28.2.25
So far so good and time for a cup of coffee to be acquired before boarding another 745 for a fast run to Stratford, ensuring I make use of the toilet facilities before disembarking. Passing through the new Beaulieu Park station at speed it is obviously not finished but is certainly looking like a station. Opening date is probably the December timetable. To my mind it is a little odd that a look has been put in the up line but not on the down line. There is a unit in the loop – I assume therefore that the timetable may already use it in preparation for opening. There was talk of this station when I lived in Chelmsford between 1982 and 1985 – so just 40 years later it is coming to fruition. I noted earlier that the bus depot and bus station at Chelmsford has been altered out of all recognition with blocks of flats now alongside the line.
At Stratford a change of train means I can connect into the Elizabeth line service to Paddington but as there are no direct Shenfield – Reading services I have to change again at Paddington and wait a few minutes before going further westwards. Day return tickets are not permitted on GWR services out of Paddington in the peak so it is a long slow journey down to Reading and then the usual Turbo back to Sandhurst.
Costs / Ticket Checks
Today the best pricing I could find was an Off Peak Day Return from Sandhurst to Harwich Town and the aforementioned Sunshine Coast Day Ranger. Total cost is £49.30 and 293 miles leads to 16.8 pence per mile – slightly more than some of my other excursions but there was a price rise last month so only slightly more expensive.
A reasonable number of ticket checks – outward on the Norwich service and again on the North Essex branches – where the loads allow a pretty full check.
Rolling Stock
I have already mentioned the 745 Stadler units. These generally allow level boarding – and a step emerges from the unit towards the platform so door opening “feels” a little slow because one can hear the step emerging but the door is not “opening”. It is deceptive because the doors then do open pretty quickly. To my mind a single door opening mid-coach on these units do not speed passenger flows – given the need to adjust height to allow for the bogies incorporating a second door each side would reduce capacity. At termini loading times are not important and at neither Chelmsford or Colchester did station stop times over run – we did suffer that at Crowthorne earlier in the day when our late train had to wait to load a wheelchair.
The class 745 units will certainly not clear a loaded platform quickly – the single doors may have flat loading but still limit passenger flow.
They certainly feel fleet of foot and run up to 100 mph easily. Norwich in 90 minutes is not in the timetable – but the units seem to be settled and reliable.
The Class 720 Aventras do not seem to have had the difficulties encountered in getting either the 345 or 701 units into service. On the branch line services off peak they have plenty of capacity – the seating is 3+2 through much of the sets making the gangway not very wide but they should certainly be capable of delivering competent services for many years to come.
Summary
A lovely sunny day, new rolling stock experienced and another 50 miles of thereabouts of previously untravelled track covered – a good day out.
Instead of a railway day out this month I decided to go to the biggest model railway exhibition. This post is going to come across as a complete moan – unfairly I suspect – most of the faults are mine.
It is about 40 years since I went to this main London show. My memory suggested it was held at Alexandra Palace but reading the history I find that it must have been at Wembley where it was held a few times in the 1980s. From where I live Alexandra Palace is hard to access, which is the main reason I have not been. It is about 35 miles – but a two hour car drive or four or five trains to get there – and in the latter case there is still the hill to ascend. So I drive – only to find that the satnav on the car will not fire up when I need it as I progress along the North Circular, not having been this way ever. At about the fourth attempt the satnav finally boots up correctly and I manage to get the destination input. Parts of the North Circular are now restricted to 40mph and once I come off we are only supposed to go at 20mph – has anyone worked out that this increases pollution and causes stress through delays?
And then at one point I realise I have been there before – Muswell Hill where ENOC operated one of the first London franchised bus services whilst I was with them and I visited the Muswell Hill terminus and travelled on the bus. That was also a long time ago!
There are two car parks on the top of the hill on which the Palace sits and one lower down in the park grounds. Inevitably the top car parks full and there are no helpful signs telling those of us arriving to use the car park which you pass on the way up. I wonder what would it take to ensure that people did not have to drive around making the congestion worse through some proper signs and traffic management?
Thankfully there is a shuttle bus from the car park to the steps outside the hall – I am surprised someone has not managed to get it to the door. There are queueing lines not being used – but those arriving have to walk all the way around them – once the queue has gone open them up!
It is clearly busy (mid Saturday morning) and in retrospect the wrong time to arrive – I do not know if it is quieter in the middle of Sunday afternoon but I know this was not the right time.
Once inside the banks of viewers in front of the main layouts mean that getting the opportunity to see (particularly) Bournemouth West and Copenhagen Fields is not possible for me. Other layouts are not so bad and I get a chance to see most of them. Some excellent models, although in one or two cases I am disappointed that there is a lack of movement on the layout – it is something I feel that with an exhibition layout something should be moving. Fawley was notable for some ongoing shunting (Southampton Model Railway Society). Braughing and Standon was a nice looking layout too – only a single line but things were kept moving. In O gauge Hazlecombe had a lot of diesels ticking over – which also adds to the ambient noise.
I commence feeling a little odd and start worrying about food. The deli seems to have no sandwiches available and the queues at all food stands are long and they simply cannot cope with the numbers presenting. By this time I am getting depressed and whilst I manage to acquire a couple of books the crowds do not appear to be thinning.
So if I am going to go again – I need to consider the best time to visit and also be prepared with my own food. I rather think that arriving around 13:30, eating something and then going around the exhibition would mean I was not hindered by my diabetes. Also my left knee was complaining by the time I left – I cannot stand and walk for that length of time.
The final surprise is not that they charge for parking but that the first question asked by the machine is for you to input the time of arrival. I did so honestly but I wonder how many people put in something like 55 minutes earlier so they only pay for an hour (rather than the more typical three or four)?
Another railway day out with three odd pieces of track in my sights – the end of the Severn Beach branch line which I have never traversed, the platform route at Frome as I may or may not have covered it plus the cut off between Chippenham and Westbury through Melksham which I have covered when it was freight only with Melksham re-opening to passengers in 1985.
Notes:
As before my thanks to Real Time Trains for the material in the links.
Operations on the Day
Having had problems with GWR during my railrover last year (when I had originally hoped to visit Severn Beach) I was a little concerned at spending an entire day at their tender mercies but I am pleased to report that the day ran pretty smoothly with connections made and all plans executed.
To minimise the ticket costs my trains have to capable of stopping at Didcot Parkway so on the outward journey I actually change trains there but on the return journey the service I am using makes that call. Split Ticketing has not saved me very much today – and the surprise is that it is possible to save money by making such splits work.
The route to Severn Beach passes through the Avonmouth complex but the main sidings are clearly now disused and the only sign of freight is a stone working sitting in a siding on the outward journey which leaves whilst we are at the end of the branch taking the freight only route which I had traversed on a previous visit.
Severn Beach is definitely on the river Severn and dominating the view from the waterfront is the new Severn Crossing – the M4 road – which is central in the view. However “Beach” is going a little far – judging by the paw prints “mud” is a far more apposite description. I walk along the front and there are plaques recording a bathing pool and model railways and other accoutrements of the English seaside – this was once a popular destination in high summer. There are signs announcing a forthcoming miniature railway. There are no obvious track works at present so a 2025 opening looks optimistic – but who knows – it could all happen next week.
Reaching Severn Beach means that I believe I have now covered all regular passenger track in England south of the Midlands – certainly below a line drawn between the Thames and the Severn. There may be odd curves outstanding but they can be ignored for this purpose. Still a lot to cover further north but this gap is closed.
The return journey commences following the outward route with a run to Bathampton Junction where we turn left to follow the Avon Valley. We then continue to Westbury and turn westwards again for the run through Frome station (avoiding the avoiding line) and onto Castle Cary where I change platforms to head back to Westbury and then on the former freight only line through Melksham re-joining the main line at Thingley Junction.
Castle Cary Sign
The train terminates at Swindon where I catch the second London bound service as it has the requisite stop at Didcot Parkway.
Costs / Ticket Checks
These are slightly odd. A day return from Sandhurst to Didcot Parkway was £8.25 whilst the Day return from Didcot Parkway to Swindon was £10.95 whilst beyond that point it was all covered by a Heart of Wessex ranger for £17.30, total £36.70 and I covered 274 miles so 13.4p per mile. If I had had more daylight then I should probably have gone to Yeovil and back simply as I have not visited that line for a very long time.
Three ticket checks during the day mainly on the branch line services from Severn Beach, on the service to Castle Cary and shuttle between Westbury and Swindon.
Rolling Stock
The surprise was the 158 on the service between Westbury and Swindon. Otherwise the main line services were all IETs and 165s on the branch line services as might be anticipated. Odd minutes late here and there through the day but generally close to time and certainly managed to return home on time.
Summary
For the mile or so of completely new track it felt expensive but such is life. For the overall journey reasonable value – the cost of Didcot Parkway – Swindon seems particularly out of kilter compared with the rest of the day.
Notes:
As before my thanks to Real Time Trains for the material in the links.
Operations on the Day
Final day of gallivanting around the West Midlands picks up some significant uncovered passenger track – which have been added to national network since my map shows some as freight only. The outward journey is pretty standard and as I have been this way a few times I settle down to do some reading. Oddly I may not have previously travelled from Wolvercote Junction to Aynho Junction before this week – I am in two minds over counting it as new track as I am pretty confident I have been that way before – but after traversing it numerous times this week it is now definitely covered!
On my reference map however the line from Ashton to Lichfield Trent Valley (TV) is new track and indeed my map only shows a passenger service to Lichfield City with the extension to Lichfield TV being re-instated in 1988, although since 1992 only one platform is used. The route continues onward for non-passenger services.
I am a little surprised to find a small café at Lichfield TV station – very busy in the mornings as there is some rush hour traffic into London but at this time of day it is very quiet. I have a cup of coffee in an attempt to keep warm as I have a lengthy wait and the light is too poor to try and photograph trains speeding by on the fast lines.
It is only a few minutes along the line to Redditch Trent Valley (TV) from where I take the Chase Line back into Birmingham. The section from Rugeley TV to Walsall re-opened finally in 1998 but at the time of my map was solely non-passenger. We roll through some pleasant countryside then through the built up areas of Walsall and onwards to Birmingham New Street once again. So that completes the new track on the rail network.
Now it is time to make up for Sunday’s nonsense. I wander out of the station and the first tram to pass is not in passenger service. After a few minutes it is possible to jump aboard the next tram and take the extension to Edgbaston village (which is relatively newly opened in 2022 compared with some of my journeys). I rejoin the tram for the trip to Wolverhampton station which marks the newest extension in 2023. The maps on the trams still show the route to the former terminus at Wolverhampton St George’s, although certainly the timetable makes no reference to it – so whilst still open it is not served! I wonder if it is retained for the intended future expansions which are being constructed.
All zone fare for the trams (off peak) is £5 and amazingly they have a conductor on each service – obviously assisting the passengers as well as taking payments. There are ticket machines at each tram stop but apart from one outside Grand Central all the others I see are sheeted over and not in use. It is not clear to me if that is permanent or not.
At Wolverhampton after a decent wait a Cross Country rolls into the station and I can join it for the trip back to Reading. Once again we are covering known track so I read on the way back and everything runs pretty smoothly to get back once again at a reasonable hour.
Costs / Ticket Checks
National Rail have a somewhat difficult to find page covering Rangers and Rovers and the Heart of England can be found there – there is reference to a map but incredibly no link. A more useful source is railrover.org which is the starting point of my activities. The relevant page has a diagrammatic map of the routes covered.
So a little summary of my week of travelling. A total of 2,108 miles using three main operators – Cross Country, GWR and West Midlands with cameo appearances from SWR, EMR, North Western and TfW. This excludes mileage using trams. The majority of services were running on time with significant late running from TfW suffering from “attachment issues”, Cross Country where I believe an earlier signalling failure had delayed staff and West Midlands which aborted a trip to Lichfield TV.
Direct ticket costs were £129.30 for a season ticket from Sandhurst – Oxford (no railcard discount on that of course) and £95.20 for the Heart of England Rover (after railcard discount), a total of £224.50. Obviously the Sunday trip to Birmingham was just mileage and achieved nothing (but in other circumstances could have done so). However a lot of formerly untravelled lines around Birmingham have now been visited and that can only be good.
Overall therefore 10.66 pence per mile which I reckon is pretty cheap. None of the days were particularly long given that light was going by the end of the afternoon and overall not much waiting around on platforms (about the longest was Lichfield Trent Valley and Reading). Overall pretty successful and a tribute to the railway staff who, by and large, are determined to deliver on time regular operations.
Rolling Stock
West Midlands stock appear to be the dirtiest externally – the windows were never clean. Cross Country was also a little mixed. Heaviest loaded trains definitely Cross Country – but I was not largely travelling in the rush hour. West Midlands frequencies are good – with decent length trains – which in a number of places were longer than the platforms.
Summary
A good way to spend a quiet week in January – travelling over some new track and seeing the current much higher level of service being delivered to railways in the Midlands for not huge sums of money.
