This is a strange one. I thought it was going to be a difficult one to plan as I'm including a couple of lines with rare trains as well as coping with a wide area to cover, some of which have irregular services. But (aside from one miscalculation which I shall come to) it's a straightforward planning exercise. There are decent gaps between trains, meaning no horrendously long or impossibly short gaps. Some of East Yorkshire I can leave out - most of the line to Hull, the two lines to Scarborough and Doncaster to Goole - because I am undertaking a trip with a colleague to these lines on some future date.
It's a Friday when I set off as I need a weekday to cover some of the awkward days (Sunday services being almost non-existent in places as I discovered at New Year). Can't remember much about the first leg to York, except that I arrived at 10am, probably on a 225 going to Edinburgh as I invariably seem to get an Edinburgh train! A bit sick of coffee but quite thirsty I break a massive duck by giving in and having a beer in the station bar. Probably not a good idea.
At 11 a two coach Pacer takes me bumping to Sheffield via Pontefract - one of the two trains a week jobs. It's a slow way round but not a slow line. I wonder why it hardly has any trains and guage that it's probably due to the large number of coal trains I see. These are generally dedicated freight lines with the odd passenger train to prevent closure and to keep the drivers' knowledge alive. Pontefract is a miserable looking town and I can't see the castle, but as I'm due to pass through its two other stations this weekend I'm not too bereft. At Sheffield I have a short pause before the next leg so I have a look around. Right outside the station is a huge new fountain that heads down massive steps up to the main road. This road is practically a motorway and cuts rail travellers off from the city centre - nice! Later on I discover that the tram will take you past all this and I envisage that I will never try to find my way on foot now(!).
The next leg is to Wakefield Kirkgate. Such is the complexity of the Northern rail network that I've covered part of this leg on other occasions, but never the stretch between Barnsley and Kirkgate. I've come to the conclusion that the West Riding is a bit of a tatty place. There is rubbish dumped all along the railway. Carrier bags are hanging in every tree like strange alien leaves. Being a post-industrial landscape there are a lot of decaying buildings. It's a great shame because the countryside between the cities is beautiful, rather like the Valleys.
The next destination does not help this impression. Disembarking at Wakefield Kirkgate, you feel as if the train has stopped by mistake. I have never seen such a decaying station. Apparently Northern have tarted it up a bit, but which bit is not clear. The whole place is a mess, the once-impressive building dotted with broken windows, the platform walls and canopies like skeletons, and the yard to one side, amazingly still in use, is a hulk of rust. Trying to ignore the dodgy looking flats and seemingly closed pub as I exit, I walk into the town, this time managing to avoid the underpasses that I'm supposed to use. I have time to do a very rapid trip round the pleasant Cathedral then run for the next train to Westgate station. And here is the HUGE miscalculation. I noticed that there are through trains from Wakefield to Selby, that not only cover the link between the two stations, but then go via Huddersfield, Bradford and Leeds before covering the last stretch to Selby that I haven't done yet. I've actually done most of these lines already but am willing to do this epic voyage as it appears to fit in with the rest of the itineary without issue. But I've misread the timetable, the train gets to Selby a whole hour later than I thought and this obviously screws up all that comes afterwards. It doesn't dawn on me until I'm nearly at Leeds and realise it's a bit later in the day than I thought it would be. What's galling is that I ran for this bloody train too! No wonder the conductor gave me a funny look as well, who goes to Selby this way apart from me?! What's annoying is that the only new ground is the loop between the two Wakefield stations, and from Kirkgate it would have easy to get to Leeds then to Selby in half the time AND then kept to the day's plan. Oh well. It's nice seeing a new bit of line at Selby, it's a pleasant looking town with lots of stuff like signal boxes and bridges to see as we head over the river Ouse.
At Selby I have obviously missed the connection to Gilberdyke. I quickly study the timetables, trying to work out how I can salvage the situation, sadly not quickly enough to take advantage of the Hull train that comes in just after I reach Selby. It looks as if I can get to Brough, slightly further on and change for Goole there, and still make the rare service to Leeds via Pontefract. I have time for a quick walk around Selby up to the Abbey and back, no pubs near the station, which is unusual. The trip to Brough is pleasant, I've not seen East Yorkshire before, and the landscape has a beautifully desolate feel. I guess it's that east coast marshland again - it must be the Romney Marsh look that appeals to me again!
At Brough I want to go and look at the Humber, but my way is blocked by industrial buildings. Instead I have some chips and curry sauce, which somehow I've never sampled before, then head back to the station. I let a Sheffield train go because my one is a bit later. Big mistake. I've misread the timetable again! I will now miss the Goole to Leeds train, and there are no more. I resign myself to at least getting the Gilberdyke-Goole-Doncaster section completed, though it's a bit annoying that I will then have to pay for another ticket from Doncaster to Leeds. The train is pretty full, I sit next to some German-speaking youths who are as annoying as the home-grown ones, playing music at deafening volumes on their personal stereos. They go all the way to Doncaster and I assume they are heading to London.
At Doncaster the trains are running late, it being a bit of a bottleneck, and I take the chance to look around quickly. It's another 60s charmer, and the only way into town appears to be through a giant shopping complex attached directly to the station. Eventually one of the rare direct London to Bradford GNER 225s turns up and I clamber into a quiet coach that no-one is quiet in. Thankfully it's a short journey though I'm surprised by the number of stations between Doncaster and Leeds.
At Leeds I head for my hotel, a Travelodge in Vicarge Lane, getting lost in the process which always seems to happen to me in Leeds. It could be because the map I have seems to be missing half the road names and shows the major roads as far larger than they are which can be misleading in reality. I am on the look out for somewhere to eat in case the Travelodge cafe is not open. My room is huge, on the top floor and a bit cold because the heater isn't working. I can't be bothered to sort it out as it's not exactly freezing and there is an extra blanket. I go to the cafe to eat. There are some kids there that I am amazed they are serving, but then the bar staff look like nursery escapees anyway! I make the mistake of ordering a burger and onion rings. There is way too much of it and it is somewhat heavy on the fat. I decide that I have got to stop ordering these meals when I'm out and about. Having eaten the chips earlier I do not need to eat! It's just ritual and I have to resist it. It will save me money too! Also, I have to take more care choosing drinks if they don't the one I want - again, why make myself uncomfortable for the sake of ordering something? I do have a very comfortable night's sleep. Though the message about the food is rammed home when I order an (expensive) breakfast the next day, which is not brilliant and stays with me all day to say the least. All I wanted was coffee and toast, which I could have got anywhere on the way back to the station.
First leg of the day is York via Harrogate. This time it's a three coach Pacer. This is a pleasant trip, half of which I did in 2005 on my way to Fountains Abbey, and the other half is as pleasant as the first. North Yorkshire is a real breath of fresh air compared to the West Riding, the trackside debris disappearing almost as soon as we plunge out of the conurbation into the countryside. We pass through some gorgeous lush meadows over sweeping viaducts and one mammoth tunnel. I've never arrived into York from the north and it's nice to get a different view of the towering Minster. I notice the Scarborough line curving in from the east to join us under the wires, I didn't realise that it split from the main line so soon after York station.
At York I have the now inevitable early drink in the bar before catching the train to Selby. This is a curious shuttle like service, presumably there to make up for the fact that Selby lost some of its status when the main line was rebuilt away from it to avoid the "superpit" opened in the early 1980s. I'm sure that regular York-Hull services would make more sense though. There are some odd routes and timetables up here! At Selby I have time to actually visit the Abbey properly, it's fairly impressive and I'm pleased I made a point of doing so rather than stopping for the inevitable drink instead.
There are more people on the return York service than I expect, it being a somewhat long way round via Sherburn-in-Elmet and Church Fenton. I'm guessing this could be another coal line much of the time as Sherburn doesn't look like the busiest place in the world. Back at York I hop on to a Trans Pennine 185, crowded as ever, back to Leeds, a journey I am now very familiar with, but at least it's quick.
At Leeds I get on a train to Knottingley. Had I managed to do the Goole-Leeds stretch yesterday, this would already have been covered. This reverses at Castleford and takes me through the second of the three Pontefract stations. Knottingley is interesting only in that it seems to be the meeting point for a few freight lines, and I see a couple of coal trains shuffling around while I wait for the next leg. This is via the third Pontefract station to Wakefield Kirkgate and turns out to be on the same train that brought me to Knottingley, it has simply headed off in the Goole direction (the lines stretch away teasing me because I missed them yesterday!) and changed tracks before heading back. The countryside is a bit more rural on this route, though Wakefield spoils all that. I wait faintly nervously on the ruined Kirkgate for the return train to Leeds, it's not an environment that inspires confidence. The train back takes the non-stop route which is good. It's amazing how complex this little cluster of lines between Leeds, Wakefield and Knottingley is, with about four separate services running on them. Luckily I did the Castleford-Normation-Wakefield section in 2005 so no need to repeat it here. All three trains today are two coach Pacers.
Back at Leeds I check the timetables to find the best way to Sheffield where I'm picking up my home train from. The direct route is actually a stopping train; the indirect route is a Cross Country, so it's actually faster. Though there's no indication in the timetable because it only has one stop before Sheffield. Also I glean that the Cross Country service covers a tiny section of route between Fitzwilliamd and Moorthorpe that somehow I've missed until now. It's a Voyager train going to Bristol ultimately, though most of the passengers seem to be going to Sheffield like myself. Though the map suggested that there was only way from Wakefield to Sheffield, I only get conformation that we've covered the "missing" bit once we pass through the stations at either end of it. It's such a complicated network up here that you never know when a loop that doesn't appear on the map is going to appear!
As I'm writing this some weeks later, I remember little about the trip to London, except that it was my old favourite, a HST. I realise that I have managed to travel via every city in Yorkshire bar Hull during this bash, taking these as Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Halifax, Wakefield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster, Harrogate and York. Though it's only of interest to myself, it feels like a sort of daft achievment!
New lines added this trip:
York-Pontefract-Sheffield
Sheffield-Darton-Wakefield Kirkgate
Wakefield Westgate-Wakefield Kirkgate
Micklefield-Selby-Brough
Brough-Goole-Doncaster
York-Selby
Selby-Sherburn-York
Leeds-Castleford-Knottingley
Knottingley-Wakefield Kirkgate
Wakefield Kirkgate-Woodlesford-Leeds
Leeds-Wakefield Kirkgate-Sheffield
Saturday 24 March 2007
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