Wales 24-30 July 2006

The Prologue

Though I've had some fairly intense bashing days and weekends, this remains my longest rail-themed trip. The idea grew out of three things. The first was a desire to visit some of the narrow gauge railways of Wales that I'd heard such a lot about. The second was curiosity about the remote nature of the lines that served the holiday resorts of the West Wales Coast. Finally I'd noticed during my endless timetable checks that are the life of a basher, that the last trains out of London and the first to North Wales were remarkably close together. Having missed the once-common phenomena of the slow night train, the type that was a normal train rather than a sleeper, this seemed like a chance for me to enjoy such a journey. I must acknowledge the writer Ian Marchant as some of the inspiration for this trip. His book, "Parallel Lines," is both an incredibly well-researched history of railways and a railway travelogue that makes you want to visit the same sights that he sees during his journeys. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in railways.

What ensued then was a couple of weeks of furious timetable checking, hotel booking, and acquisition of decent walking clothes, bags, maps etc. One week before the off, a national railway signallers strike was announced. Disaster! It would allow me to reach the first stop (Aberystwyth) and return from the last (Bangor) but not allow any travels between the two, ie, the bulk of the trip. With a heavy heart I looked at the various options for cancelling and refunding hotels and tickets, news about contingency plans being thin on the ground. Finally, with just about the minimum time left, the strike was called off.

Monday
And so it came to pass that I hoisted my giant rucksack onto my back on the evening of Monday 24 July 26 and set off for New Beckenham station. A taste of what the forthcoming week would be like came as I struggled on the tube and tried to find an unobtrusive corner for the bag in the pub at Paddington. The final train of the day to Swansea came at last and I squeezed on gratefully. I'd just settled down in my seat and propped the bag opposite – I'd got a cheap first class fare to give me a bit more space – when the conductor told me the air conditioning had failed in this coach and I'd be better off moving. It was a sweltering night but I thought I'd stick with it anyway now I was comfortable. Then suddenly it was decided that this train was out of order and we would all have to move to another one two platforms away. It was another 125 so at least there was still room even though all the seat reservations were in the original train. This was to be a journey like no other that I'd done. There was a curious atmosphere aboard this very late train as it tunnelled its way through the hot night air. It lacked the usual burble of conversation and I-Pods. It seemed strangely calm, probably because most people now seemed to be dozing. I'd heard that the old night trains could be hellish, full of noise and long stops, but this seemed like a great way to travel to me. For a railway fan this was helped by the announcement that we would be doing two engineering diversions that night. I guess if I'd been returning to Swansea and I had work in the morning it wouldn't have been the best news, but the later we arrived, the better for me, as it shortened the wait I'd have at Swansea for the first train out. This wait was not something I particularly relished as it would be just before sunrise and I had no idea what the conditions there were like. Our first diversion was to split off the main line after Swindon, then through the now-drowsy centres of Bath and Bristol (Temple Meads), before passing through seemingly endless sodium-lit container train sidings, then heading up the cross country route and arriving at Bristol Parkway the wrong way round, facing London again. Me and the driver changed seats then we headed off towards the Severn Tunnel, something not as easy to discern as in the day light at this time of day. The second diversion was to use the Vale of Glamorgan line to reach Bridgend instead of the mainline. So I missed one new line but clocked up another I guess. This had been recently re-opened to passengers, and although I'd been as far as Barry (and hope never to go there again), the rest was new. I tried to spot the newly opened stations, but they flashed past in the darkness. I was aware only of a shadowy coastline. So sometime after 3am, but a bit later than timetabled, we pulled into Swansea. My next train was at 4.30am.


Tuesday
The sky was still dark, though there were tinges of blue appearing. Being quite far west, the sun was still chasing us - doubtless in London the sun would be poking over the horizon by now. The early morning chill was not too bad, but I was glad of my jacket and the flask of coffee that I'd brought just for this moment I found a spot on the opposite platform and settled down. Swansea was a reasonably busy place even at that time. As we left the train, the cleaners and caterers moved in - our train was going to form the first service back to London at 5am. Then early straggling passengers started to arrive for the first trains. Finally a single coach Sprinter came in, the destination board stating Fishguard. Great.The Rosslare boat train that used to be a 125 between London and Fishguard is now a single car bus on rails. And hoardes of people got off, mostly heading for the 125 I had arrived on. So now instead of coming off the ferry, exhausted, and being able to relax in a comfortable spacious decent train and sleep back to London, you have to struggle for a manky seat on almost the crappiest train in the UK, and clamber off at Swansea in the middle of the night, wait to be allowed on the London train and try to snatch some rest if you can. Even worse at this moment was the fact that this was to be my train to Shrewsbury - and a comfortable seat was badly needed at this time of day. The cleaners descended and cleared it of lager cans. By the time they had finished the birds were singing and light blue streaks were expanding across the sky. At around 4.20 am I gratefully scrambled aboard and hoped that there would be room for my bag all the way to Shrewsbury.

Needless to say despite my best efforts my attempts to resist sleep were fruitless. I’d really wanted to enjoy the journey and see the scenery, but was only vaguely aware of the pale blue dawn getting lighter and lighter, and the starkly beautiful countryside every time I opened my eyes. Looking back it seems incomprehensible that I was on that train for 4 hours. It seemed to pass in no time at all and I must have missed so much. I will have to do this line again some day - perhaps tied in with some walking. The service was reasonably busy, especially when we joined the Marches Line. I was awake to see the famous hills at Church Stretton and got my first view of Shrewsbury as it built up around us. It’s clearly worthy of exploration as I can see various castle-like structures of interest. Finally we pass the biggest old-style signalbox I’ve ever seen as we cross the line curving in from Birmingham, and then we’re there. It’s a weird feeling knowing that a day passed while I was on trains, and hope that it won’t catch up with me later.

At Shrewsbury I find a faintly grubby café and have breakfast, tired but looking forward to the rest of the trip. I’m alarmed by the number of people waiting for the same train as I gather that the Cambrian Coast trains are usually 158s, ie, two or three coaches at most. As it turned out I needn’t have worried, it was a four-coach train that divided at Macyllenth, and at that point there are only a couple of stops to Aberystwyth. It was on this journey that I first appreciated that these are decent trains for longer journeys. They are as good as the nice new trains operating to the coast in the south and at points on the trip must have been doing 100mph. There are few stations on the route through Central Wales, though I’m guessing the place is not heavily populated. The countryside is pleasant enough though it’s a bit hot for me as I discover when we arrive at the terminus. Aberystwyth has a substantial station building, a testament to greater things in the past, and it’s nice to see that it’s been used for a restaurant rather than demolished and replaced with a portakabin like so many others. I head to the seafront guest house that I’m staying in tonight. It’s basic but clean and the owners are friendly. I just have time to change into clean clothes more suited to the warm weather and return to the station.

I upgrade to a first class ticket for the Vale of Rheidol Railway. It’s worth it as I don’t have to share the carriage with hundreds of screeching kids. I know that kids keep these places going but they ruin it for me and I’ve been looking forward to this. This railway was BR’s only narrow gauge railway and only post-1968 steam railway until privatisation came, and the signs of it being BR’s are everywhere. The No Smoking signs etc all date from BR and remind me of the trains I knew as a kid. The trip to Devil’s Bridge is fantastic. We travel along the side of a steep valley, granting a magnificent view of the countryside, snaking across high level crossings that are used only by farmers and winding around trackways that are hardly wider than the narrow track itself. I begin to appreciate the imperative for such railways. In such areas it just isn’t practical to get a standard gauge railway up the valley and narrow gauge is cheaper to run as well. It presented a way of getting goods (and later people) to and from remote communities. It’s a shame we haven’t used more imagination in railway construction, as use of narrow or light rail might well have been a way of preserving more of the rural network. They were particularly common in Wales for the slate mining industry and a fraction now survive. At Devil’s Bridge I look at the three layered bridge, the crossing having been rebuilt a few times, one above the other. It's weird to finally be standing in front of it. It's been nearly 30 years since I first saw a picture of it in a Ladybird book. As a family we were supposed to camp near here with a caravan-owning relative but it didn't come off and just my brother went. He sent us a postcard of the bridge and I longed to see it myself. And now here I am. After visiting the falls I have a drink and get back on the return train. I read about the clifftop railway in Aberystwyth itself and manage to get back in time to visit it. It’s not like the Hastings Cliff Lifts as it is rather higher. Hence it rises up the cliff then flattens out then rises once more, so tackling the incline in two stages. There are some lovely views of the bay from the top, and I walk along the coast for a bit wishing that I had time to linger. Some day I will just book a holiday for relaxing! After scrambling down the cliff I then have a proper look around the town. It’s a pleasant place, relatively chav-free, with plenty of interesting buildings – the university, an unusual church and some nice bridges over a sort of inland harbour to the south of the town. Despite being holiday time the town has a quiet but pleasant atmosphere. There are pleasing little pubs and chip shops, where I dine before returning to my guest house. I sleep well after feeling like had two days in one.

Wednesday
After a pleasant breakfast I head down to the station. It's another two coach 158, which appear to be the mainstay on this line, though I gather in happier times with through trains from Euston, 125s were not unknown. Judging by the loadings on the train from Birmingham on Tuesday I am sure that a London service would pay for itself. Oh well. I have to travel back to where the line splits at Dovey Junction. This is one of the remotest stations in the UK. Strictly speaking the line separates at Machynlleth and continues as two single bi-directional lines next to each other until Dovey Junction where they head off in different directions. The station exists only as a changing point between the two branches. There is no settlement served by it and though there is a footpath it doesn't connect it to a place as such. Yet I gather there is a local football team named after it - this is the sort of fact I love to discover! Though it's a nice day I think I'd be better off going to Machylleth to have a look around. This is not the best decision. The pack is very heavy and there is nothing in particular to see. I'm grateful to get on the train to Tywyn.

At Tywyn I am to travel on the Talyllyn Railway. This has an incredibly romantic story attached to it. Another slate railway, by the end of the second world war it was pretty much finished. Then one of the early conservationists, LTC Rolt visited and was forced to walk the track as no trains were running due to the derelict state of the infrastructure and the rolling stock. He pledged to do something. The railway was erroneously left in private hands at nationalisation and thus Rolt was able to get directly involved when the line's owner, Sir Hadyn Jones, died in the early 1950s. With an enthusiastic bunch of volunteers he managed to keep it going and ultimately turn it round so that 50 years on it is a successful tourist attraction. Rolt is an inspiring figure with his favour of the little man against the faceless state, the local against the global, and the distinctive against the anonymous. Ironically he was anti-nationalisation because it sought to give everything the same identity - something we now recognise as vital for the railway to run as a realistic concern in the car-crazy world. So I feel some weight of history as I board the little train - sadly I see neither of the original locomotives, which are still plying their trade up and down the line - and enjoy another splendid scenic trip through the lush countryside. The line ends at Nant Gwernol, where I wait for the return trip because there is little there. One stop back is Abergynolwyn where I have lunch, then finally back one more station to Dolgoch Falls, which is the main attraction along the route. I have a couple of hours to explore the paths that snake around the falls - sadly carrying the bloody pack all the way, which makes me feel as if I'm in the Army - before stopping for some tea. There are some lovely old road signs at the Falls, with stripey black and white posts, and I like to think that no-one has changed them rather than them being preserved for the sake of tourism. The first class upgrade on the return to Tywyn is worth doing again, 50p for space for the pack and some peace. I am already realising that I should have based myself in just in one or two places. Trying to do a weekend city trip multiplied by three and hauling a week's kit on my back just doesn't work!


The train to Fairbourne is late, but there's plenty of daylight. The route starts to get really pretty now as we hug the coast. The scouse bloke next to me suddenly jumps up and declares, "Porpoises!" but I can't really see them. At Fairbourne the line snakes along the coast in front of the foothills of Snowdonia and ruefully I realise this is another place I'd love to explore that's going to have to wait. It's quite a stroll to the Sea View Guesthouse but well worth it. The room is lovely, large with substantial windows giving a view of the coast round to the end of the peninsular. It's a balmy evening and I sit by the window for ages enjoying the breeze. There seems to be a small farm nearby as I can see horses, goats and sheep grazing a couple of gardens away. Eventually I decide to go and find some food. This is a difficult task! The landlord tells me the best way to the coast which is go further in the same direction, then head off down a narrow lane, cross under a beautiful railway bridge that just appears to grow out of the rock, then on to the beach. I walk along a concrete wall which I didn't know at the time was actually built as coastal defences during the war until I reach the Fairbourne and Barmouth Beach Railway - my destination for tomorrow - and head back inland. I pass several holiday camps and an unfriendly looking pub before finding a chip shop. I'm just in time as it is closing up as I order. Then I head back and enjoy the rare luxury of sleeping with the window open, watching the sky get darker and darker as pinpricks of light start appearing along the coast. I would really have liked to stay here. Being based at a mid-way point would have made more sense in retrospect.


Thursday
I have a peaceful night, though I'm aware of some heavy snoring (not my own!). It sounds as if it's in the room with me which is slightly unnerving but the atmosphere of the place is calm and welcoming, so I'm not alarmed by it. After breakfast I go down to the beach again and walk along to the Fairbourne Beach Light Railway. In terms of scale and scope this is along the lines of the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, and its main purpose is to get me to the Barmouth Ferry at the spit into the Mawddach estuary known as "the Bar". It's an enjoyable little bob over to Barmouth Harbour in a tiny boat. I have a quick look around, pausing to go to the RNLI museum and shop. I shall never understand why the RNLI is not government -funded, and buy a few bits and make a donation. Morbid though it it seems, I've often thought I'd like to leave them something in my will! Barmouth is okay, by no means the nicest seaside town I've been to but certainly not the worst. The main reason I'm there is to walk back across the wooden railway viaduct across the estuary. Unusually there is a footpath parallel to the railway track, and for a modest sum, you can walk the length of it back to Fairbourne. The views of the river and Snowdonia are fantastic. At the other end there is a station, Morfa Mawddach, where I cross the track, and note that the platform clearly served another track once that curved off to the left, and later I discover that this went to Wrexham, having joined various other branches en route, all sadly now gone. I get back to the guest house where I've been able to leave my pack in the front room. The landlord has told me they'll be shopping but will leave the door open - lovely to know such places still exist! He's back anyway, and we chat about the walk I've just completed. He's a bit of a railway fan too, and gets quite heated about the Beeching when I mention the rusting bit of branch line that I've just found. Vowing to return some day I heave my pack off to the station and grab some lunch from the shop before heading off to Harlech.


The town of Harlech is up on a hill next to the castle, and my hotel is on the opposite hill. It's not very nice. It's a huge place, and I would guess that a family have bought it cheaply and hope to refurbish it some day. All the fittings are dated and scuffed. The carpet and bedding is pocked with burns. The TV is awkwardly plonked on a stained cloth on a chest of drawers - I'm guessing that TVs were not standard in hotels the last time it was fitted out. When I switch the shower on water comes out of the ceiling behind me. The smell of sour milk in the lounge makes me want to heave - and that is going some! I think longingly of the place I've left behind but comfort myself with the thought that it's a short stay. I head back down the hill then up a long staircase to the castle, which was built by the English against Welsh insurrection in 1283. It's a magnificent monument with great views of the surrounding countryside. There is a good view of the station with a curious level crossing that crosses two roads. I look up the long straight track heading north and think about the rest of my trip, trying to put the hotel room out of my mind. After the visit I go to a neighbouring hotel for a meal and wish I was staying there instead. I almost contemplate swapping as it wouldn't cost much, but then think of heaving everything up the hill again. By the time I've been through the sand dunes to the beach and walked along the public footpath to the hotel, climbed up the path and had a couple of drinks, it's nearly 11pm anyway. I do sleep well so I don't have much longer to go.


Friday
I head to Portmadog next. I'm going to the village of Portmerion first, an entire folly of a village which is most famous for being the location of 60s TV series, "The Prisoner". Minnifford is the nearest station, but I've already decided to go from Porthamdog so I can walk across the Cob. This is the artificial embankment created in the estuary of the River Glaslyn, to produce the harbour that eventually gave the town its name and its existence as the original port on the route from London to Dublin. This exhausts me because of the pack, and it's not that nice a walk either, because inevitably the embankment just just become another fast moving road which does not allow easy crossing for pedestrians at the other end. I am extremely grateful to reach Portmerion, where I eat a lot of ice cream and drink a lot of water! It's an interesting place, much smaller than it looks on TV. The best bit is the beach, where there is a boat shaped house that appears to grow out of the water and the quayside and the lighthouse-like lookout post. The hotel which features in the TV series extensively and is rather exclusive looking, and off limits to mere day trippers!


I head back to Minnifford, which is a junction with the famous Ffestiniog Railway, which I'm travelling on tomorrow, where I wait and watch the narrow guage trains until the real one comes to take me on. I go to Criccieth next, just to see the castle. I sit and have a cup of tea whilst waiting for the train and wonder at the plethora of pretty places along this coastline, looking forward to the end of the line, Pwllheli. Am I in for a shock! Pwllheli is a roughish town, scary looking pubs, big estate, etc etc. I'm staying above a pub which is not bad, but is not a holiday place, it's definitely more for overseas workers and the like. I do have a wander on the beach but my heart is not in it. Before the local yobs start clustering on the street outside I head back and for the first time, watch the TV all evening, not eating anything, and wanting to go to the bar below but just not comfortable there.

Saturday
I'm grateful to get away and decide to use my pass on a bus back to Porthmadog, the first train not being until nearly 10am. It's full of chavs who get off at the big holiday camp. The image of the row of baseball caps and tracksuits hanging up when they all get changed into kitchen staff overalls etc is quite an endearing one. Usually changing rooms are for changing into tracksuits! At Porthmadog I head to the Ffestiniog Railway. This time I don't have to cross the Cob. I upgrade to first, again partly for somwhere to put the pack and because there is a huge party of London scouts getting on! It's another fantastic trip through the mountains. The most interesting part is where a valley was flooded for a resevoir in the 1950s, cutting the line in half. The preservation society managed to operate the line until it had raised enough to build a loop to carry the line over and above itself and away from the valley. You can still see the old trackbed as you veer away from it.


By the time I reach Blaneau Ffestiniog, I've hit my first rainy day of the trip. It renders the pyramid-like lead waste heaps around the town even greyer than they really are. It's fascinating how slag heaps can be so spectacular! The rain holds off just long enough for me to reach the Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It's up a hill and along a dangerous road, not really suitable for pedestrians, like so much else these days, and it puts one family off entirely. I make it by climbing over some fences and doing some mild trespassing, as I am determined to get there. The museum has the obligatory fake Victorian shops, which I ignore, concentrating on the caverns themselves, which are amazing. The tough lives that men faced down here are almost beyond the modern imagination I suspect. There is something almost sacred in the atmosphere down here, especially in the flooded areas where the addition of underwater lights grant the caverns an incredible air of calmness. Up top I call Directory Enquiries for local cab firms, as I do not want to heave the pack back down to the station, the roads now being incredibly slippery. The cab is worth every penny and I am grateful to scramble aboard the "proper" train that arrives parallel to the Ffestiniog for Llandudno.


After two dodgy nights I am not looking forward to tonight, assuming that it will be English Chav heaven as is much of the North Wales coast. It's an easy journey to Llandudno, a large number of people getting on at Betws -Y-Coed, where buses to Snowdon link from, but surprisingly few at Llandudno Junction. A fantastic view of the Conwy Estuary greets me before we terminate at Llandudno, where a pleasant sight is to be seen. It's another Aberystwyth! It's clean and graceful, generally free of tossers, and with fanstastic views of the Great Orme, a geological feature that looms over the west end of the town. I find my guest house, but they have no record of the booking! Disaster. But all is not lost. They have a double room that has just been redecorated, not quite ready, but awaiting its first guest tomorrow. Hence it's free tonight. The owners are so friendly and accomodating and I feel very upbeat about the day as I head into town.


First stop is the Great Orme Tramway. This is fantastic, being pulled by cable through the streets at incredible gradients, before raeching a half-way station where you change for a second tram to take you right to the top of the Great Orme. Needless to say the views of the town between the Great and Little Ormes is amazing, but it's the incongruity of seeing a tram amongst the scenery that's entertaining. I work my way back down to the town, taking in a tiny church clinging to the side of the Orme and a cable car system which is not working today due to the high winds. I get drenched and wish I'd brought my as yet, untroubled waterproof trousers. Back in town I have a very pleasant walk along the front, almost to the Little Orme, before heading back for the inevitable fish n chips and heading back to the B&B. I check the train times en route and marvel at a)the generally low level of annoying people there and b)the fact that the station is clearly about a quarter of its original size. I imagine the crowds arriving in their thousands in the 1950s before cars and the Expressway blighted the coast here. Ahh.


Sunday
I leave my pack while I head back to the Great Orme to explore the ancient copper mine that has been unearthed there. Apparently it has thrown the accepted view of where the Bronze Age fits into human history because it pre-dates the mines from the middle east. You can explore it yourself with an audio guide, as many times as you like, which is great fun. Much more is waiting to be uncovered and I look forward to a return visit in a couple of decades! After that I find the cable car station, and enjoy an airborne ride down to the town. It's faintly alarming when you reach the end as it swoops down with some speed before two blokes grab it and let you out. Their wry grins make it clear that they have seen the look on my face a few times now! Before I head off I spy a Camera Obscura, something I've always wanted to see. It works by reflecting light via mirrors on to a projection table. By altering the arrangment of mirrors you change the angle of the view. The whole thing is housed inside a hut, the mirrors being in a turret like roof. With the doors closed the picture of the world outside projected on to the table is breathtaking, almost like looking at, for want of a better phrase, a living photograph! I'm glad that my trip to the town ends on a high, because the trip goes downhill from now on!



I get a bus to Bangor because the rail service on Sundays is so poor. Ideally I'd have gone to Holyhead, thus covering the whole North Wales line today, but there are, unbelievably, insufficient trains to reach there before the London train starts back. I look for a bus to Holyhead without sucess and can't help but think that my planning has been deficient here. Probably I was fed up by this point in the proceedngs! As Bangor is a cathedral and university city, I'm sure it will be a nice place, and I intend to head up to the Menai Straits to look at the bridges also. Wrong!!! The cathedral is tiny and closed. The town is run down and miserable. My maps are useless and I get hopelessly lost before calling a halt to it and heading for the station buffet, which is grubby but sells beer. Almost the final bombshell. There are delays caused by kids on the line at Chester (just RUN THEM OVER, they wouldn't do it again) and the London train (ie the one of just 3 that day) is cancelled. So I hung around in this pit of misery rather than going to Conway Castle or a better exploration of the Great Orme to drink crap beer, get lost and tired, then get crammed on to a 3 coach train with everyone off the Dublin ferry rather than a comfortable 8 coach first class seat. So enraged I slump into my seat and head for Crewe, not really able to enjoy what remains of the sea view over the Expressway, spitting blood at the notion of destroying it with a four lane road when there is a prefectly good two track railway all the way there, that is choosing to run hardly any trains today.



At Crewe I get a Pendolino back to Euston, where the final spoiler waits. The cab I have booked to take me home is 20 minutes late, the last thing I need just now. The driver doesn't even apologise, and expects me to be grateful that I am not one of the world's starving people when I say that I am tired and keen to be home. Though my last day has been a washout, I remember that I've enjoyed several packed days and completed some large chunks of the quest. A good result.



New lines this trip:



Barry to Bridgend

Bridgend to Swansea

Swansea to Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth

Dovey Junction to Pwllheli

Blaneau Ffestiniog to Llandudno

Bangor to Chester

Cornish Branches No.2: September 2005

This one originated partly from wanting to see more of Cornwall, partly from the need to do more branch lines and partly from a wish to go on the sleeper again, the future of which was in doubt at this time. As part of the re-franchising process, the DFT had requested that the applicant costed the sleeper separately, in my opinion, a cynical gesture to float the idea of abolition and to expose its cost to make it easier to do so. So I thought I'd better use it before it went. It looks as if plenty of others thought the same. A campaign was launched to save it and this led to increased use, just as with the Settle-Carlisle story. To my mind, over any long distance journey a sleeper makes perfect sense. You don't waste waking hours travelling, fall asleep at the wheel, or have to wait for internal flight check in procedures. You can accomplish a great distance without effort, get a drink on the move, and it's better for the environment. Indeed, travelling by sleeper is an entirely different experience to a normal train journey. There is a curious drowsy atmosphere on board and though it can be difficult to sleep the first time you travel this way, you are subsequently lulled to sleep by the motion of the train. In the event the sleeper was saved, partly because so many other people thought the same as me and used it before it was lost. The concessions were that the last Motorail service that used to run with the Sleeper in Summer was finally killed off - another retrograde step - and the "slipped coach" at Plymouth was abolished. Interestingly no-one mentioned scrapping the Scottish sleepers - surely nothing to do with Scotland being Labour's strongest constituency in the UK while South West England is that of the Liberal Democrats? Hmmm. To my mind the question should never have arisen. While even Greece is building new sleeping cars with more facilities, ours are 30 years old and threatened with the axe. The DFT say that there is no case for sleepers in a country as small as Britain, but with 5 hours to Penzance and 8 hours to Inverness from London, this is a nonsensical argument. As recently as the 1980s, we had a much bigger network - with sleepers from London to the South West, up both east and west coasts to Scottish and English cities, South and North Wales, AND a cross country NE to SW route - the biggest loss of all, as there is no satisfactory way of doing Inverness to Penzance now. Happy days.

So after work on the Thursday, instead of going home, I take a wander down Oxford Street to get something to read for the trip, then head to Paddington. I meet a friend who gets the train to Ealing there for the last hour at the station pub, then wait patiently for the sleeper to open for business, it having been there for some time. It's a curious feeling waiting for a train this late that isn't going home, though once somewhat more common - see the Wales bash!

I arrive at Penzance at around 8.30, having been woken at 7.30 with coffee. It's a strange feeling sitting on the berth waiting for your destination - like a private train almost. With a fantastic view on this occasion as you can see St Michael's Mount looming in the bay as you approach. Last time I was here I saw it shrouded in mist, but this time its beautifully clear and I'm going to visit too. After a really good breakfast in the cafe at the station, which I heartily recommend, I head off along the coastal path to Marazion, which passes the sidings where my recently vacated bed is now stored until this evening. This once had a station and the building is still in situ. At low tide there is a causeway you can use to get to the Mount but as the tide is in I have to get the ferry - of which there are a FLEET, this being such a big tourist attraction. I always enjoy boat trips, especially if they're a bit choppy and bracing, so I'm quite disappointed when the skipper pulls a cover over me and the dozen German visitors, the blue skies having suddenly been replaced by sheets of rain.


St Michael's Mount is a fascinating place. It's one of those strange corners of the country that seems to have a bit of everything - countryside, cliffs, beach, harbour - from afar it seems astonishing that so much is packed in there. There is a winding path up to the house perched on the top, which has been a monastery and a stately home in its history - and sadly this is the dullest part of the experience for me. I've come to realise that trips to houses, however impressive, are not for me. Castles, yes, even gardens. But not houses. From the gardens I can now see the causeway appearing as the tide falls, though sadly not in time for me to cross on foot.


Anyway this is about trains. I get the boat back to the mainland, and after a pasty for lunch, get the bus back to Penzance and jump on a train (err 158?) to St Erth, where the branch to St Ives terminates. It's a half hour wait for the train, a two coach Sprinter. But the trip is worth the wait. As we head through Carbis Bay, the beautiful coastal landscape starts to unfold around us. I haven't been to the Caribbean, but the view of St Ives is like that of pictures I've seen of the West Indies. There are almost white sands, azure blue seas and even palm trees. Even the sky is a deep blue today. The town is not overwhelming but very pleasant. It's an arty sort of place with winding streets leading up to an unusual sea front which hugs a peninsula. On one side is the harbour and on the other is the beach, surfers atop the white-tipped waves. Unfortunately I do encounter a few scummy elements, out of place here, and just hope THEY aren't getting the train for a change. When I do get it, it's incredibly crowded, and I can't help but think this is a woefully under-resourced service.

Back at Penzance I go to the neighbouring bus station to catch the bus to Land's End. Luckily the last return bus is at 8pm, so there is plenty of time to see this most famous of landmarks. It's an amazing place. The landscape is incredibly varied - rocky cliffs like jagged teeth, great lush green rolling sweeps of land down to the edge, the sea seemingly a different colour in every direction. And slap bang in the middle of it all, a load of stupid tacky shops selling all the usual tat that have nothing to do with the attraction except its name written across it. Luckily these are all closing, so I can enjoy the landscape unhindered. This is a lonely place, there is such a feeling of nothing between you and North America such a long way west. It's not quite the feeling I expected, certainly surrounded by so many people taking photographs of the sign pointing to London, New York, John O'Groats etc. Amusingly, the sign is inside an enclosure, and if you want to stand next to the sign inside it, you have to pay. Even though you can stand just outside it and be photographed for nothing. I should think they have fleeced a few rich tourists with this, whoever they are. I head back to possibly the most westerly bus stop on the mainland. The bus is about 15 minutes late but as my train doesn't go until 10 I'm not too bothered.

At the Penzance Wetherspoons I have the inevitable beer and burger, before heading back to the waiting overnight train. For this leg I have booked an ordinary seat on the basis that a) I will be tired and b) most people on there will want to sleep. Wrong!!! Given that it's only ten, this is just a late local train for many people. It fills up, and up, and up. There is a family of simpletons behind me eating the smelliest burger I've ever known, a symphony of beer cans opening every couple of minutes, and at every stop the conductor wakes me to check my ticket. Before we have reached Devon I crack and ask for a cabin. To my joy there is one spare and I willingly pay the upgrade. I'm asleep in minutes, and can only really remember waking up as we arrive at Paddington. Originally I'd intended to get off and get one of the first trains back home, it being 5am, before getting in my own bed. However I'm happy to sleep for the extra two hours you get in the sleeping car - sleeping in the station back home in London being a strange notion - and then by the time I get home I'm actually ready for the day, which is an unexpected bonus. A good trip, and I hope, not my last on the Cornwall sleeper.

New lines this trip:
St Erth-St Ives

Cornish Branches No.1: March 2005

This one started as a visit to the Bodmin and Whatsit railway in Cornwall. I thought it would be fun to go by sleeper as I'd never done this and always wanted to, so I booked through to Bodmin Parkway, leaving on Friday night and arriving VERY early, 6.45am in fact, on Saturday. Realising that being a Parkway, there would be little going on there, or in Bodmin itself at such a sensitive hour. Also I had four hours to the first train. I cancelled and booked all the way to Penzance instead. It didn't cost any more, it arrived at the somewhat more civilised time of 8.30am, and then I could get a train back to Bodmin at a more convenient time. I couldn't get a sleeper so booked on the ordinary coach.

Arriving at Paddington at around 9, I found a decent pub there, a rarity on stations, called the Mad Bear and Bishop, and settled until I could board the train. I thought it was worth asking the attendant if there were any spare solo berths, and luckily there was, for a reasonable £30. I sat on the bed until about the train moved off, not really knowing what to do, then headed for the buffet car. It was almost empty, most people choosing to sleep I suppose, and I got very comfortable there, the combination of beer and the lateness of the day making me drowsy. At Reading we were entertained by the British Transport Police assisting a large slightly abusive besuited man off the train, but we were little delayed. We were hardly likely to be late, given that the train has over 8 hours to reach Penzance. I wonder how, given that it normally takes 5 hours, how the extra 3 are filled. I know it sits at Plymouth for an hour while they detach a couple of coaches, and it goes the long way round through Bristol, so I guess it must have a lot of stops and goes more slowly anyway. As we pass through Swindon I decide to wrench myself out of my comfy repose, as since I've paid for a berth, I ought to use it. Also, I am actually tired! Sleep takes a while to come but once it does I sleep well. It's an odd place to sleep until you get used to it.

I wake early and want the loo, and it's a new experience padding down the corridor (like a sort of compressed hotel!) to the WC and looking out as we fly across a very high viaduct - no idea where! At 7.30 I get up as they bring coffee round just before 8. It's only possible to have a perfunctory wash in the basin which I suppose is one of the downsides of the thing these days. In an ideal world these berths would be like miniature hotel rooms with a shower, tea and coffee making, and maybe even a TV or internet access. Maybe we'll see a new set of sleeper cars one day, though my hopes are not high. As we wind down to the final stop, St Michael's Mount is almost completely shrouded in mist as it homes into view, but I expect I'll be able to see it properly later. I have a small pang at the thought of not visiting it today, but I suppose it's not going anywhere. My mind turns to more mundane things when I get off the train. First, I'm sort of disappointed by the small scale of Penzance station. It has a high arch over the trainshed, but there seems to be so little there. I had been warned that Penzance was a much smaller city than I'd thought, and I suppose the station reflects that. It's not as if the place is a junction or the trains can even go any further! Secondly, I'm hungry and have a while before the train back to Bodmin. So I do a quick circular walk around the town. It's got a busyish shopping street, plenty of sailing clubs and the like, nice seafront pubs and restaurants, and the seemingly obligatory studios and galleries. Vowing to come back for a proper look, I head back and have a very good breakfast in a cafe on the station.

I board a Glasgow Voyager, not as full as they usually are because it's the start of the route, and enjoy a proper view of the Mount, the rising sun having scorched off the early morning mist. In this respect arriving by sleeper is a bit like going camping or caravanning, the morning feels more raw because you haven't slept in a bed, and it only perks up when the dew and mist vanish. It takes a surprisingly long time to reach Bodmin. From what I can tell by the burble of conversation, most people are heading for Truro, some way beyond my destination. At Bodmin Parkway I have less than half an hour to wait for the first train up to Bodmin General and nothing to do. I watch the B&W people arrive with the train and do the points etc, giving every impression of playing with a big trainset, once every boy's dream? I don't know what I was expecting, but unfortunately there is not much to do at Bodmin, and as the railway is one of the newer ones, no extensive bar with local ales or even a guide book, which is the one souvenir I like to collect. This is definitely one for the true enthusiast, an opportunity to see locomotives up close, photograph them etc, whereas I tend to like the museum aspect of preserved railways, and the chance to visit places they serve that otherwise I wouldn't be able to get to. I shall have to visit in a few years I think.

Wondering what else to do, I go back to Bodmin Parkway, having a token hang out of the window, and then decide to go to Looe. For three reasons. One, I've never been to a Cornish seaside resort, and they are quite distinctive landscapes. Two, Looe is divided into two by a river estuary with an arched bridge across the river mouth, which seems quite interesting. And three, the branch to Looe, is completely separated from the main line, the platform for it being at a right angle AND a different level, which is intriguing. I buy a ticket and wait for a train to Liskeard. A bloke in a pony tail asks me in a West Country accent if I've seen the Western go through yet. So I must look like an enthusiast, which I suppose I am of sorts, but I'm not keen! Got enough problems without being regarded as a trainspotter. What's worse is that I know what a Western is, and if he thinks I knew, he must have thought I looked as if I knew! Hmmm. Faintly interested in seeing the Western, though not enough to wait in the middle of nowhere all day, I get on the Exeter train that arrives (Sprinter I think) and head for Liskeard.

Having not been here before, I'm prepared to sprint if necessary, not knowing how far apart these platforms at different levels are. I needn't have worried, it being one or two steps down to the branch platform. You only really see the gradient change once you depart. The track loops round back on itself almost, under the viaduct carrying the main line, overcoming the height difference between the main line and the ground. Even more bizarre, it loops back again to a little used station, then reverses (the driver changes ends) before heading to Looe on the coast. On the main line you actually pass over it twice before it is actually pointing towards its destination. Why it's like this, who knows.

Looe is a pleasant little place, every bit the typical Cornish fishing village of myth. The houses tumble down the surrounding cliffs, the harbour is full of bobbing boats tied up, the sands are soft and golden and the seas blue. It helps that we are having a warm spell that makes it feel like summer, something of a contrast from the morning murk. I have a wander around, climbing the cliff path and wishing I could keep going rather than having to remember the train times, a common theme on my trips. One day I will actually base myself in an area and have the time to explore properly. Seeing as this was nearly two and a half years ago I can't remember much else of it. On the train back to Liskeard most of the passengers on the (same?) single coach Sprinter are the same ones who came down, which is unusual. I also remember that the train seemed to hug the river all the way back - almost next to it. Railways are often built in valleys because most of the civil engineering has already been done by nature, but this seems very close!

At Liskeard I pop across the road to a reasonably pleasant pub, in which most of the punters seem to have Southern accents and swear a lot, then get back on the train home - at this time, the longest waking train journey I've done. There's a few things to look for - the Tamar Bridge that marks the border between Devon and Cornwall, most notably. Of course I've already crossed it, but I was asleep. Now I get a chance to see this engineering miracle. It lives up to its reputation, and I would like to see it from a better vantage point some day. Then there is still one of my favourite stretches to cover - along the river Teign, then through the amazing sandstone tunnels at Dawlish, and the river Exe estuary - where you feel like you're skimming the water when the tide is in. And for any reading enthusiasts, this is all on a 125, which always seems like an old friend, I suppose because it was the state of the art train when I was 7, and I always wanted to go on it. Now it's commonplace to me, but I still like to see a 125 round the corner when I'm ready for home. And in a miraculous five hours, I'm 300 miles away from Cornwall and back home.

New lines this trip:
Plymouth-Penzance
Liskeard-Looe

Settle-Carlisle October 2004

This is an early one, before the days when the quest became simply a line-based business. It began as a day out on the Settle-Carlisle line, likely to be the most scenic rail journey in England. I then discovered that Settle was just a station on the way to Leeds which made it an even more adventurous trip. How it expanded beyond that I'm not sure now. It was originally going to be London-Leeds-Carlisle-London. I think when I noticed there was a line between Newcastle and Carlisle I thought it might be fun to do a big loop around the country, except that Leeds is right in the middle of that bit of England. Hence returning to the West Coast via Preston and thence south from there. Also, it was the week that the Pendolinos launched, so it seemed like a good excuse to have a go on one at the same time. An early epic for me, and all in one day - I hadn't started to build overnight stays in at this point.

I managed to get a reasonable single to Newcastle, and was looking forward to my first foray north of York. I don't quite know what I was expecting. North Yorkshire is beautiful, but I already knew that! Seeing a giant lineside arrow with a sign announcing "London-Edinburgh: Half-Way," was quite entertaining. Beyond that seeing Durham Cathedral and crossing one of the many Tyne bridges with their interesting different levels was something. I had about thirty minutes' wait at Newcastle to watch the world go by, I decided not to go into the city, vowing to return, and 3 years on, I've still only changed trains there!

The Carlisle train arrived, much to my surprise it was what I now know as a Pacer, though I'd have called it a bus on rails at any rate - which I gather it was it is, pretty much. The roughness of the ride didn't detract from the glorious scenery along the upper reaches of the Tyne, but it's a remarkably inappropriate train for a Cross Country service. It only gets full at the city ends of the route, and as this was before I-Pods took off, it's a peaceful trip. Aside from the non-stop groaning and squeaking of the body and the roar of the engines. We get every type of weather along the way, and although I'm not happy about this at first, I realise that it does allow me to see the landscape in all its varied glory over the course of the day.

At Carlisle I visit the small cathedral and wander back through the obligatory pedestrianised shopping centre before buying fish cake and chips. The fish cakes look great in the hot cabinet, or at least I think they do, thinking they are the tennis ball-sized things. What I'm served is more ordinary fish cakes. I see there is haggis on the menu but I gather that the tennis ball things are not that either - so I never do find out! Carlisle is interesting in that it's a border town - the first I've really been to. There is a curious mixture of accents and I realise that this must be what continental borders must be like - the gradual transition rather than the sudden change we tend to associate with crossing borders in the UK. Anyhow. The train to Leeds is almost an hour late before it's cancelled. Luckily the next one was an hour later, otherwise this could have been a bit disasterous, usually it's not exactly a clockface timetable over the Settle-Carlisle usually.

Finally we're off. It's a four coach Sprinter which is better than I was expecting. Most of the people on it appear to be on it for the sights too, at least until we get into the Leeds commuter belt. There's not much point me talking about the individual sights on the line, except of course for the magnificent Ribbledhead Viaduct that crosses the Ribble Valley, as it is famous even with people who don't know much about railways. All you need to say is that it ploughs through the best countryside that Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire have to offer. So I could drone on about the line's history instead. It was built, at great expense, by the Midland Railway, who were seeking their own route to Scotland to compete with the companies running over the more direct West and East coast routes. To this day it seems bizzare that they should have done so, as the areas covered remain to be sparsely populated and difficult terrain to build and maintain a railway in. I'm glad that they did though! It was almost inevitable that after the Beeching, the line's days would be numbered - chiefly because of the cost of maintaining Ribblehead Viaduct. All bar Settle and Appleby stations closed in 1970 and in 1983 BR announced its closure. Such was its reputation for breathtaking scenery that interest in the line started to revive. People travelled it just to see it before it went. And as a consequence, by 1989, the then-Conservative Transport Secretary refused BR's request. Since then the line has gone from strength to strength. Sightseers and walkers now make much use of the line. It's used for the increased number of coal trains that have followed the decline of oil and gas for electricity generation, keeping them off the busy West Coast line. West Coast passenger trains have also been diverted over the route whilst the main line has been refurbished. Volunteer groups have re-opened all the stations, incredibly not bulldozed but well preserved, and now run cafes, bookshops etc. It's a happy story amongst much that has been unhappy for the railways in recent times.

As we approach Leeds, I'm aware of how built up it has become, and am unprepared for the number of people struggling to get on the (late) class 158 train to Preston that I clamber on to. In Northern fashion an elderly lady talks to me about the Settle Carlisle trip and suggests other routes I might like to try. She is visiting her daughter in Preston who has moved there from Doncaster, and true to type makes a remark about being "over the border" when we stop at a Burnley station, ie the first stop in Lancashire! I think Trans Penine Express have just taken over from Northern Spirit and they have a long way to go.

At Preston I have a half hour wait for the train. It's a big station befitting a city of its stature and I like the big sign that states, "Welcome to Lancashire." I have time for a quick drink before catching the new Pendolino to London. For possibly the last time ever I am on an almost empty Virgin train. Because it's dark I can't appreciate the new bit of line I'm covering, though I can just about appreciate the tilt in action. I gather that the tilt works on this train better than BR's ill-fated APT. The APT mechanism tried to compensate for the brain's interpretation of the tilting action, which meant that the eye saw one thing but the brain experienced another, causing nausea. The new train allows the brain to deal with it by itself and thus doesn't give it a problem. It certainly seems to work, as I'm not aware of tilting at all, though I am aware of how fast the acceleration of the thing is, it shifting away from stops incredibly fast. It seems no time before we are back in London and I head for the tube to Victoria and home.

New lines covered this trip:

York-Newcastle
Newcastle-Carlisle
Carlisle-Leeds
Leeds-Preston
Preston-Tamworth-London

East Anglia 2003

This was my earliest bashing trip of any note. I bought an Anglia Rover, Anglia being the company for the Norwich and Norfolk/Suffolk local trains before it was replaced by the daftly-named One Railway. The whole trip was achieved in a day, East Anglia not being that far away from London.

Step one was to reach the western limit of the Rover area at Peterborough. I took a GNER 225 non-stop from London King's Cross. There was just a few minutes before the first connecting train, a single coach Sprinter that would take me into the heart of East Anglia. The first stop of note was at March in Cambridgeshire. This used to be a fairly significant junction for trains coming and going from all over East Anglia and Lincolnshire, but these days it's just a through station. You can get an idea of the former scale of the place from the number and shape of platforms there though. After this we cross the New Bedford River, a major part of the Fens drainage that prevents East Anglia returning to the sea. It's quite an impressive sight in terms of its width and depth, and the same goes for the girder bridge that carries us over.

Next stop is Ely and its magnificent cathedral. Because of the flat landscape you can see it for miles as you apparoach and depart the city. We then bump across the line that crosses counties from Cambridgeshire to Suffolk, passing through Bury St Edmunds where disappointingly little of the city is visible from the railway. Back on to the main East of England line as the overhead lines loom into view and we're at Stowmarket. This train continues to Harwich I think, but I clamber off here. Looking back, what's changed is that in those days I didn't really plan these days in anything like as much detail as I do now. This is partly a reflection of me getting used to the idea that everywhere does not have a train every 30 minutes like London, which took some getting used to. So I was actually quite lucky that I could get another train going north that quickly at Stowmarket. Some of the lines in this part of the world have an irregular service, so the day could have been a disaster.

This is an express to Norwich, at that time, one of the last loco-hauled regular services, a class 73 pulling mk3 coaches, and now in 2007 the only one, until the new Wrexham and Shropshire Company starts work. The main event of note was going to the loo and getting a quick eyeful of a lady who has forgotten to lock the door and is firmly enthroned. By the time we have sped to the capital of Norfolk it's lunchtime. I have a long gap until the next leg and no new journeys are available, so I get the train to Great Yarmouth, a trip I did in 2002, grab a sandwich and return, in time to get the 2 car 170 to Cambridge.

I notice we cross a swing bridge on the way out of Norwich. Can you imagine them leaving a swing bridge just outside Leeds or Manchester? The trip to Cambridge is across rural flatlands, and I am surprised by the length of the journey, though when you look at the map it is a longish route. I pass through Ely again, one of the couple of loop backs I will do today. Then we're in Cambridge, a station I am very familiar with as I have friends in the area, though interestingly I have never approached it from the north, and of course such a daft thing pleases me.

At Cambridge I just miss the Ipswich train, an unfortunate side-effect of not doing much pre-planning. Ironically it leave a couple of minutes late too. I probably went in the drab buffet (now a Marks Simply Food - no booze at Cmabridge at all now!) to wait the hour. I spot a vending machine on the platform Eventually I'm on a single coach Sprinter that is incredibly noisy for two reasons. One, it's full of schoolgirls, thankfully all of whom have gone by Newmarket. Two, some bit of the engine is thumping in a way that sounds like it needs an overhaul, and this goes all the way to the other end! Never mind. We then join the line from March and travel for the second time across to to the East of England line through Bury St Edmunds. This time I stay on through Stowmarket as I am going all the way to Ipswich.

There I have a half hour wait for the Felixstowe train. I think it was another single coach Sprinter but possibly it is electrified, so possibly it was a non-descript EMU - a 321 or something. This is double track but only for the huge amount of container trains going to and from the port. We pass a couple such trains and a sea of containers piled up like lego bricks before arriving at the minimal station in Felixstowe. I can see that the same thing has happened here as at many terminals - the large impressive station has been turned into a retail park and the line now stops far short of the original end of the line and has hardly any facilties at all. I suppose if it helps to keep lines open at all by lowering maintenance costs it's okay, but it is a shame. I'm too tired to look around so I get back on the return train, something I then felt reticient to do, but I'm keen to get home now.

At Ipswich I get on a London Express. Somebody talks loudly on their phone all the way home despite me glaring at them. Looking back it's sobering to think that this was quite rare in those days as they were still pricey to use. Now of course, someone's always on a mobile, with no regard for the other passengers. Why didn't I upgrade to the relative peace of first class? We arrive in London at Liverpool Street, and the notion that I performed a huge loop from King's Cross appeals to my sense of symmetry.

King's Cross-Peterborough
Peterborough-Ely-Stowmarket
Stowmarket-Norwich
Norwich-Cambridge
Cambridge-Ipswich
Ipswich-Felixstowe
Felixstowe-London Liverpool Street

Devon Branches Summer 2003

It now being over years since this trip, I cannot remember much about it. I do remember that it was a brilliantly hot sunny day but nothing of the journey down to Exeter remains with me. At St Davids I changed on to a two coach Sprinter down to Exmouth. Much of this line serves suburban Exeter and is thus fairly well used. It also passes through a station serving Lympstone Commando, which I gather is only used by training marines. I notice a line of them being drilled behind the perimeter fence next to the station.

At Exmouth I walk for a couple of miles through the shallow clear blue water lapping at the shore. If only I was more inclined to sit about on this beautiful beach. But as ever, I like to keep on the move. I stop for a drink at a pub that's been recommended to me, The Snooty Fox, then walk back to the station. The tide is now turning and see the waters of the Channel pouring back into the Exe estuary - the speed shows the sometimes fearful power of nature. Periodically I hear a train on the other side of the estuary, heading along the line at Dawlish, the red cliffs of which can be seen in the distance.

Exmouth station is now a single line terminus integrated into a manky 70s bus station, with the inevitable upgraded road now taking up much of the space that other platforms once occupied. Thankfully it's not a long wait for the Sprinter that takes me away again. It's going through Exeter to Barnstaple, so I stay on for the ride. It gets very full at Exeter with returning shoppers. This is a much more rural line and I doze gently in the heat of the afternoon while enjoying the view. Until 1970 the line continued to Ilfracombe on the North Devon coast. It was truncated because the cost of maintaining a bridge between Barnstaple and Ilfracombe was deemed too high. Another sad loss. It's now impossible to believe that the route to Ilfracombe would not now been have remunerative, as it is a possible holiday destination and most coastal services are generally well patronised in my experience.

I'm sitting next to an elderly lady who remarks on the crowds on the train, and then says, "Let's hope that don't want to go to Ilfracome." I'm so surprised that she seems to have been reading my mind that I just nod and smile. The chances are hardly anyone on the train of my age would know what she was talking about, so it's an odd thing to say to me. Anyway, at the sadly curtailed terminus the rail traveller is now treated to a circular walk through and out of an out of town trading estate and across a river into the town. Before the end came there was a Barnstaple Town station but this was on the other side of the fateful bridge. Barnstaple is a standard sort of middle England town, reasonably clean and tidy but nothing earth-shattering.

And the trail ends here. I have absolutely no memory of the rest of the day! I suppose it was back to Exeter St Davids. I could have travelled back via any of the three routes to London - Bristol, Newbury, or Salisbury.

London Paddington-Exeter St Davids
Exeter St Davids-Exeter Exmouth
Exmouth-Barnstaple

Dawlish 2 August 2003

Dawlish. It's one of those places that is synonymous with railways, like Crewe, or Doncaster. The Great Western main line to Plymouth and Penzance runs along the sea wall for a few miles at this point, providing the enthusiast with an excellent location for photography and spotting. It's also part of the myth of old-fashioned seaside holidays by rail, where the train literally delivers you to the beach, and the children still wave at travellers as they speed past above the sandcastles. Inspired by Nicholas Whitaker's "Platform Souls," I decide that it's time I visited this toffee tin lid of a town.

I get myself booked on to a direct train from Paddington for the following Saturday. At this time not well versed in the routes and timetables outside London, I'm not surprised when it takes what I know now is the long way round, via Swindon and Bristol. It's actually a Summer special that is going to Paignton, hence picking up from as many places as possible. Later I discover that the direct route is via Newbury, and most London trains DON'T stop at Dawlish. I remember being pleased to re-discover that there are these two routes to the West Country after all.

I enjoy the trip on the 125 immensely, as I've hardly been anywhere at this point in the quest. Finally seeing the sudden urban burst of Bristol, the sad ruined goods depot at Taunton and the distant cathedral at Exeter means a lot to me. These have all been mere words on a map or timetable until now, and suddenly, here I am, they exist! But it is the trip along the River Exe estuary that really impresses me. The tide is in, and it seems as if we are travelling over the water's surface. Apparently the line was built on the bank itself, but the ground began to move and was built up to strengthen it.

Eventually we veer away from the estuary as it pours into the sea, past a large camp site at Dawlish Warren. Camp sites by stations are rare, and I make a note of it as a possible future place to stay. Then we're on the sea front itself. The famous red cliffs start to appear, I spot a palm tree, and we're there. The station is underwhelming, but then many are, and I feel as if I've missed something. It's only when I get on to the beach that I realise what. It's chiefly the line to the west of Dawlish that has the legendary status. I can see the red cliffs curving into the distance, the line hugging the curves and poking in and out of tunnels. The train does indeed practically run on the beach, and yes - the kids still wave as they go past! It does feel faintly exhilarating to walk along the sea wall and have a train racing past a couple of feet away. I spot plenty of spotters, and there is plenty to spot. A refreshingly large number of services run along here.

I have a wander around the town, having a brief look around the town. There's not much to see to be honest, but I do go in the local museum and learn something about this fascinating seaside railway line. I already knew that the line is in an extremely hazardous place, the lineside equipment, the trains and even the ballast all being adversely affected by bad weather as the sea spray batters it continually. But I didn't know why such an unlikely location was chosen. Apparently Brunel wanted to build it as a showcase to show how nature could be conquered. It was originally broad gauge, vacuum powered and single track. Another line to Plymouth was built inland, via Tavistock, but good old BR severed the line at both ends, so now when the sea does its worst, Cornwall is cut off.

Eventually I decide that I will go to Newton Abbot, a couple of stops down, so that I can see the full sea wall, then stop at Exeter on the way back to see the cathedral. It's worth the change of plan. I get to travel through all the sandstone tunnels, see the lovely old fashioned sign welcoming us to Teignmouth just outside the station there, then along the estuary of the River Teign. Not as breathtaking as the Exe, but probably wider. Newton Abbot itself is unremarkable but I'm not here for sightseeing. I get on a Voyager to Exeter (new then!) which has Dot Matrix displays for reservations and personal stereos built into the seat arms, which even in 2003 seems terribly futuristic!

Exeter is a pleasant city, with a nice mix of old and new buildings, smart shops and cafes and a waterfront redevelopment that seems more natural than many I've seen. I'm surprised to learn that it has been voted the most clone-like city in the UK since, as it certainly didn't seem like that to me. The cathedral is one of the most impressive I've seen, with a fascinating clock that takes a while to work out how to read.

Not realising at this time that there is a faster route back to London than I one I come down on, I enquire about returning via the West of England line to Waterloo instead. I know this will not be quicker, but the bashing mentality is already kicking in, and I just see the chance to tick off a line. Little do I realise that the route back would have been new anyway, but I'll cover it a fair few times in years to come! The booking clerk very kindly alters the validity of my ticket to allow me to use it on a different route back for no extra cash.

The West of England line is single track all the way to Salisbury, and non-electrified west of Baskingstoke, so it's a three coach class 158 that conveys me home. It's a pretty trip along the south coast of Devon but I look with most interest as we arrive at Yeovil Junction. This is as far as I've been before on this route when I visited a friend in 1986 who moved here from school. He was a trainspotter and that was my one go at spotting as I waited for my train home. In those days it was a "proper" train hauled by a locomotive. Little did we know they would pretty much all be replaced by "units." Chard is a particularly irritating stop. There is no station there any more, yet we halt for about ten minutes to allow trains to cross. Err, surely that ten minutes could be used for a station stop? Welcome to the 21st century transport policy!

The journey back to London takes most of four hours, but I enjoy it. Finally seeing all these places I've known of for years come to life is daftly satisfying. I intend to do more of these trips...

East Anglia Coast & The Broads: March 2002

My first serious bashing trip of any note, where the object was purely to cross off lines. Unusually for my trips, I'd already seen most of these lines from other occasions - trip to the Norfolk Broads, holidays, and the like. But now I would actually be seeing them from the train. I was looking forward to a trip to the slightly mysterious Norfolk. The day began with the class 73/mk3 train to Norwich. I'd just got a job at the Hackney Citizens Advice Bureau, and as I was starting in two weeks, I scanned the rooftops as we passed through the area. Not encouraging, but that became another story!

At Norwich I boarded a two coach Sprinter - just about the first time I'd been on a train that short(!) and we headed off to the east and Great Yarmouth. Soon we began to pass through the flat marshy land that characterises the county of Norfolk. There are two routes to Great Yarmouth, one directly eastwards and the second that starts by heading south east towards Lowestoft. It then spurs off this line at Brundall and heads north east to Berney Arms station before joining up with the first line again. We don't stop at Berney Arms sadly. This is named after a nearby pub that is only reachable by foot, train - or boat! It is possibly the most remote station in the UK, and only a few trains stop there. One day I will return to visit this inviting sounding pub. How the line survives is a mystery to me. There is only that one stop and it is hardly served. It doesn't give rise to any extra connections or new journeys. Possibly it is purely because there is no other land route to that most distant of pubs. Finally we arrive at last remaining station in Yarmouth, there being three until the 1970s. This one was called Vauxhall I believe and served a nearby holiday camp. Now it seems to serve an Asda, though its long platforms hint at a more glorious past.

To get into the town you cross a giant arched girder bridge over the Yare estuary that looks as if it should be carrying a railway. I have a wander round the docks and a ruin of some description before finding the shops and getting some lunch. This is a grim town, though it was a booming resort once. I think it still sees a lot of holidaymakers though of course many of them head to warmer climes these days. Back on another Sprinter and off we go back to Norwich.

This time we take the direct route. However I now need to do the Lowestoft branch so I get off at Brundall where the junction is. This is a charming little station. It has two platforms to allow trains to pass, and each is either side of a level crossing. The crossing is still hand-operated by the signalman. Just a couple of hours from London but it feels like a few decades. I have a wander round and actually find that the village has another station - Brundall Gardens. The boatyard tells me that there is wealth here, so that explains how they've held on to both! Yet another Sprinter arrives and conveys me to Lowestoft.

The only point of note in the desolate wastes of the Fens is Reedham. There is a grand girder bridge crossing the river here. At the age of eleven, I spent a week on a school trip to the Broads, in a boat moored under this bridge. I would hear the trains rumbling across it and run up to have a longing look. Now I'm looking back at me looking back at me. The trains from that time have gone but the view is much as I remember it. Though what I didn't notice was the bleakness of the area. It seemed so lively when we were there, and yet I see nothing but marshy flats as we come off the bridge and continue south eastwards. I feel curiously melancholic about this new image of a place once known. How time plays tricks.

The next two legs pass through different ends of the same town - Oulton Broad. We stop at the North station, before a short distance to Lowestoft itself. The weather has been quite pleasant today, but by Lowestoft it has started to change for the worse. It's rather grey and cold by now. This suits the tone of this port town only too well. I make my way past takeaways and convenience shops, through vaguely interesting narrow streets, all rather run down, before arriving at the coast. There a millennium project set into the ground informs me that I am at the UK's most Easterly point and gives distances to London, New York etc. I did know this but had forgotten it in the mists of time. I have just enough money for a cup of tea at the most easterly cafe in the UK before heading back to the station.

By now the weather is really rough. As I walk through the docks the wind is howling and the boats moored there are heaving up and down, the water whipped up by the ferocious gale. It's quite alarming. Suddenly I see a huge old style BR sign on the side of a building. It's in the dark blue of the post-nationalisation Eastern Region. Knowing that there were two lines to the town until 1970, a second line running from Great Yarmouth along the coast, I assumed that I'd come across a relic of the other station. In fact, it was the existing station that I'd approached from a different direction. Now I gather another greedy developer wants to redevelop the area, cut the railway back and rebuild the station further away. Doubtless more car parking is part of the scheme. Why is it that even though it's cars that have helped to ruin town centres, development accommodates them while tolerating the relocation of stations that force rail travellers to walk further? Let's stick the cars out of town and bus THEM in.

I board a single coach Sprinter for Ipswich. We head through Oulton Broad South, where cruisers are bobbing around like fish in a waterfall. We plough through remote countryside as dusk falls, halting at a level crossing for some time and an unspecified reason. There is hardly anything out here until we reach the edge of Ipswich, and I really appreciate how urbanised my life is. And here my memory fails me. So many times have I travelled down this line back to Liverpool Street, that absolutely nothing sticks in my mind from it! On reflection, this could be considered the first of my wider ranging line bashing trips, the ones before this having been based pretty much exclusively in London and the South East.

Itinerary
London Liverpool Street-Norwich
Norwich-Berney Arms-Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth-Brundall
Brundall-Lowestoft
Lowestoft-Ipswich
Ipswich-London Liverpool Street

Me and trains - the purpose of the blog

I've always liked travelling on trains. I wouldn't describe myself as a train spotter (indeed I believe the quest I'm engaged in is called "line bashing"). I'm sort of interested in the different types of trains you see travelling around, in as much as one is interested in seeing anything that's different from the everyday, but ultimately it's the journey for me. As a child I loved standing on the local station, watching the lines curving away into the distance, thinking of all the places that they could take me to. Even now when doing my tedious commute to work I'm aware that the bit of track I'm on is joined to every other bit of track on the mainland (and I guess the Continent too now!) and it's a curiously liberating feeling. I know that roads take you away as well, but it's just not the same. Railways snake along in cuttings and tunnels, rush unseen through remote parts of the countryside, then burst into another place entirely, a world away from the one you left behind. Also the notion of experiencing the rows of figures in a timetable transforming into a real journey gives me a bizarre sense of satisfaction that I can't really explain!

This blog is my record of a "pointless quest" that I have been engaged in for some years. That is, to travel on every current passenger rail route in the United Kingdom by the time that I hit 40. The rules that I am following are not necessarily consistent. Broadly speaking I have to travel every bit of railway line that has a passenger service, even if it is just one a week. However I am ignoring the loops that join two lines to allow a couple of through trains a day (the single train from Birmingham New Street to Stratford or the Brighouse to Mirfield train that avoids Huddersfield) - though if I can do them, I will. The general rule of thumb is that if there are actual stations on a little-used route I will cover it (eg Pontefract to Goole).

I'm not sure when the quest developed. I started to make an effort to see some of the UK (by train!) in about 1998, and usually tried to use different routes there and back. Gradually the lines on the map began to "fill in" and I thought it might be fun to fill the lot in, and see a lot of nice places at the same time. Then eventually I decided to finish the quest and fill the lines in, then see the places later on. And now that I'm nearly there, I've decided a bit belatedly to start documenting my travels, just for my own memories.