LEY TRavels

A trip on the WCML with Virgin Trains

2009-10-19T18:40:00.009+01:00

I’ve wanted to travel on the West Coast Main Line ever since its £9 billion upgrade was finally completed, late and massively over-budget. What fascinated me the most was not so much the thrice hourly London Euston-Birmingham and London Euston-Manchester journeys Virgin Trains introduced as a result, but the end-to-end journey time between the two points furthest apart on their line: Euston and Glasgow Central. Typically, the time taken to travel between the two stations is now a shade over 4½ hours, though the best attained is the 1630 weekdays departure northbound, which calls at Preston only and manages the fastest-ever journey time of 4:10. This equates to an average speed of 96.3mph and from December comes down to four hours and 8 minutes.

Thanks to the nice people at Virgin Trains, I was recently given the opportunity to undertake a return trip between Euston and Glasgow, for the purposes of this blog. I opted to travel on trains that offered the Breakfast and Evening Meal menus. Having travelled for the first time aboard a Virgin Trains' Pendolino during the 2005 LEYTR Railrover with m’colleague, I was staggered to see that every item of food and drink is completely free of charge to those travelling first class. Having grown up on the other side of the country, where Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) and now National Express East Coast (NXEC) operated my Anglo-Scottish train service, the only gratuities those travelling in first class were afforded comprised biscuits, Pretzels, fruit, tea/coffee and bottled water.

It's incredible to think that the London terminal shown here can be linked with Glasgow Central in just 4:10.

As a leisure traveller on Britain’s rail network, I am quite happy to travel the longer way round if it means I’ll enjoy my journey more. As I see it, for the additional money paid to travel first class, the more freebies you receive the better. If you live in Grantham and want to travel to Edinburgh on business, quite frankly my requirements won’t feature and you’ll consequently pay NXEC ’s fare for a direct train journey between the two places and simply appreciate what you’re offered for free while travelling in first class.

Of course gluttony was not my sole reason for undertaking this journey on Thursday 15 October. I’ve only travelled on a Pendolino twice: firstly a return trip between Euston-Manchester Piccadilly that formed part of our Railrover trip and secondly a single trip between Euston-Birmingham New Street in March 2008. I particularly enjoyed the ambiance within the first-class carriages, with their airline-style narrow windows and free radio channels. Bringing things up-to-date, free wi-fi is now offered to first-class passengers, so too are free papers on weekdays, along with the Breakfast and Evening Meal menus.

A statue of the Robert Stephenson, son of famed George Stephenson. Robert was chief engineer for the London & Birmingham Railway and was responsible for building the main line into Euston back in 1833. His statue stands in Euston Square.

I remember reading Barry Doe’s column in RAIL a few months ago in which he promoted rail travel exceptionally well over all other modes. Unlike a plane, coach, bus or private car, train travellers can be incredibly productive with their time; they can leisurely stroll around the carriage; can stop off en route (with the correct type of ticket) to meet friends or take in an impromptu meeting; can make phone calls and connect to the Internet; can decide to make a last-minute trip with seconds to spare and generally do not have to travel miles outside of towns and cities to board their service.

Having been given the ‘green light’ for my expedition, I visited the excellent NXEC website to look at ticket options to get me to London. My northbound Virgin Trains service departed Euston at 0930, so I’d need to arrive in King’s Cross right slap-bang in the middle of commuter time. This would mean cheap, advance-purchase tickets would not be available. I was right. After the 0610 ex Peterborough, the next 7 NXEC departures only offered a Standard Single fare of £43 as the cheapest; by contrast, setting my alarm to sound at silly o’ clock in order to catch the 0610 (first non-stop service of the day) would see me only be charged £9.35.

Looking at returns back to Peterborough later in the day, I was very pleased to see that NXEC’s 2200 ex King’s Cross was showing a £9.35 single, too. I think it’s worth pointing out that £9.35 is currently the cheapest Advance Single NXEC offer and has been at this level for almost two years. Consequently, I booked both tickets and effectively paid £18.70 for a day return fare between Peterborough and London, or 12.3p per mile. Exceptional value.

What first struck me was the hive of activity there was to be found at Peterborough station shortly before 0600. The city famous for its ‘Posh’ football team, its celebrated nineteenth century poet John Clare and having produced the co-founder of Rolls Royce, seemed to be experiencing a mass exodus of people travelling to London. Commuters here have two train services from which to choose: First Capital Connect’s (FCC) stopping trains and NXEC ’s direct services. Obviously, the latter’s services transport you to London in around 50 minutes and so are that little bit more expensive (about £2k more p/a for a season ticket), though first and last departures aren’t as early and late as FCC’s.

The 0610 is NXEC’s first of the day, and this morning was formed of a Class 91 that had travelled empty from the company’s Bounds Green depot in North London. The train was on Platform 2 ready and waiting long before I made it onto the platform with a good fifteen minutes to spare before departure. The nine-car train was very well loaded, too, so I was shocked that with less than four days to go before I booked my tickets for today, a £9.35 fare was still offered.

We departed punctually and arrived into London King’s Cross three minutes ahead of schedule, at 0657. I now needed to walk to neighbouring Euston station, further west along the busy and congested Euston Road. I’ve made this journey on a few occasions but never timed it. I comfortably arrived at the ticket hall in Euston 12 minutes after leaving my train at King’s Cross. I’d not realised the close proximity Euston has with King’s Cross, and especially St. Pancras International, which is even nearer. The localities of the three terminal stations does lend itself to some quarters in the rail industry who believe that a high-speed rail terminal in central London could be based underground and linked directly to all three stations. Throw in a few travelators and this could cut interchange times by at least half.

Something else you don't get free on other operators' services: spirits. Here is my first gin & tonic of the day - a double measure being as standard on Virgin Trains. You'll notice the clever product placement - their V-Mix indian tonic water.

There was some confusion initially over the tickets I’d come to collect from Virgin Trains at Euston. The ticket clerk who initially dealt with my request seemed a little agitated and refused point-blank to make eye contact throughout our brief discussion. With no tickets to be found, he sent me to the main station reception, where the chap manning the desk therein would presumably look in the same place as my clerk had been looking to see if he could spot something the first chap couldn’t. Happily, all was sorted in the end and the tickets were handed over.

With over two hours until my 0930 train to Glasgow, I made haste to the First Class Lounge located on the first floor of the main station concourse. It was here, back in 2005, that m’colleague and I had chosen to undertake a Top Gear-style race from Basingstoke. I’d opted to stay on the then-named Virgin Cross Country service we’d boarded in Bournemouth to Reading, where I’d change onto a First Great Western ‘Adelante’ to Paddington and then Metroline’s Service 205 bus to Euston. M’colleage had other ideas; he caught a South West Trains' service to Waterloo and then the Northern Line to Euston, where annoyingly he beat me to our rendez-vous point – the First Class Lounge – by seconds. He tells a slightly different story to mine: that he’d been there ‘literally hours’, but I know a breathless LEYTR Editor when I see one, nonchalantly sipping a gin and tonic while trying to hide his burn-out at having ascended the steps at a fair old lick!

And what a difference the First Class Lounge continues to make to the rest of the station! It’s undergone a massive re-vamp since 2005, reopening in May this year, and looks a lot brighter, lighter and more airy. With the time being 0730, light breakfast nibbles were on offer: three large trays, each offering a pastry of some sort: mini butter croissants, mini pain au chocolats and mini fruit croissants. Tea, coffee, orange juice and hot chocolate were also on offer and it was a case of simply helping yourself. I picked up a copy of The Times and sat in front of a huge flat-screen TV watching BBC Breakfast.

Virtually everyone in the lounge was male – a good 50% of them were in pin-stripe suits, too, catching up with the news of the day over a coffee before their train took them north-west for a meeting or two. By comparison, I was dressed in jeans (Levi 501s – thought I ought to make the effort!), had no laptop, no briefcase full of important documents, and had surrounded myself with as many freebies as looked plausible.

Having started my third cup of tea of the day and having read that WH Smith had posted very good trading figures for the last year (their first store opened in Euston), word reached me that the later, more expensive NXEC trains arriving from Peterborough were, well, not arriving, since there had been a ‘major signal failure’ in North London and delays of an hour were being experienced. Not in a very long time had I been so pleased of sleep deprivation the night before!

The first WH Smith store was founded here at Euston. The station currently boasts two examples.

Shortly before 0900 I left the opulence I’d called home for the past ninety minutes and headed into Euston Square to take some photos of the station entrance. On the last occasion I’d had time here, one of the new air-conditioned ‘S Stock’ Tube trains was ‘parked’ on the lawn, showing off its modern credentials. I remember reading that the order placed for 191 of these trains (or 1,395 individual carriages) was the largest-ever order for rolling stock made in the UK. They’re due to roll out from next year, replacing all Underground trains on the Metropolitan, District, Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines.

Platform 12 stables my Pendolino: 39023 'Virgin Glory'.

Back to my journey and around twenty minutes prior to departure the platform for my train was announced. The journey passengers here have to make to their chariots is not a pleasant one. Narrow, dull surroundings and an undercover platform don’t make for a good comparison to adjacent St.Pancras International, or even King’s Cross. The exterior of Euston station is very unimposing. Not so, prior to its renovation during the 1960s, when the dominant Doric Arch stood proudly before the station entrance. Only cost precluded developers from moving it to another site in the area - £12k to demolish compared with £190k to move and re-erect. It was therefore knocked down and dumped in canals in the area.

Having passed through the ticket checks and onto my platform I walked the full length of Platform 12 and took some photos of trains stabled here. I even managed to get a Pendolino to yawn for me!

The penultimate time I left from here was during the 2005 LEYTR Railrover when we both boarded the First ScotRail Sleeper to Fort William. I was allocated the first birth in the first carriage of the 13-car train, hauled to Edinburgh by an EWS Class 90. Had much changed I wondered? To be honest I had no idea – it was over 5 years ago. Acting as a reminder to that very enjoyable week-long holiday, the Sleeper train was visible, stabled in the easternmost platform.

I hadn’t been given a reserved seat and so chose to sit in Coach G on an individual seat, facing forwards. All tables had been laid with a china mug sat on a small plate-cum-saucer, with a selection of cutlery wrapped in a napkin, along with a condiment container and menu. The menu was dated September-November 2009 and detailed all meals offered, even those not available on certain trains.

The Breakfast Menu consisted of fresh orange or grapefruit juice, selected cereals, items from the Bakery Basket and then one of the main breakfast dishes: Great British Breakfast, vegetarian breakfast, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, fresh fruit bowl and three different types of hot breakfast roll. On the rear of the menu was the drinks list and while alcohol wasn ’t available on trains offering the Breakfast Menu, everything else was. My 0930 departure was the last northbound train of the day to offer the Breakfast Menu. In total 4 departures to Scotland exEuston serve breakfast: 0547, 0730, 0830, 0930, with 4 departing north from Birmingham New Street: 0617, 0719, 0820, 0920. Southbound trains offering breakfast are all departures up to 0840 and also the 0940 ex Glasgow.

The arrangement on all tables in first class is identical to this. Very welcoming.

The 0930 ex Euston is booked to attain a journey time of 4:31 to Glasgow Central and calls at Warrington Bank Quay, Wigan North Western, Preston, Lancaster, Penrith, Carlisle and its scheduled arrival at Glasgow Central is at 1401. The fastest section appeared to be the first, between Euston–Warrington: 182 miles in 104 minutes, equating to an average of 105mph – and we almost achieved this, though unfortunately pulled into Warrington 1 minute late at 1115. We’d slowed while passing Stafford bang on time at 1045, though slowing again at Crewe at 1101, when we were booked to pass two minutes earlier.

By now I’d had some toast, orange juice and a very nice cup of tea. I remember not too long ago that ‘train tea’ used to taste dire and that it was always more hygienic to drink left-handed out of the cup for fear of catching some nasty disease. Nowadays – and for some time – crockery is spotless, cutlery glistens and UHT milk has been banned on virtually all trains offering first-class meals and drinks. During the Railrover 5 years ago, I can’t remember drinking any tea made with generic UHT milk; instead that stuff in tiny cartons beginning with M was used – still UHT but without the nasty taste it leaves. I ordered the Great British Breakfast almost as soon as we’d departed Euston. A member of crew walked through first class asking everyone which option they’d like. The breakfast itself wasn’t as substantial as I’d been hoping, though I did turn down the tomato in favour of additional bacon.

Free-range and Fairtrade items are used extensively throughout Virgin’s menu and they should be congratulated for this. While many of us are guided by price – more so now than a few years ago – Virgin have remained true to their brand and carried on regardless. I understand Stagecoach chief executive Brian Souter, whose company holds a 49% stake in Virgin Trains, has been keen for Virgin to adopt the rationalisation measures his rail companies have introduced and that thus far this has been resisted. It would be so easy to purchase the cheapest bacon and sausages for use in its Breakfast Menu, just to save a thousand pounds or two a year, but this wouldn’t be reinstated as quickly as it was lost.

First class feels that little more exclusive inside a Virgin Trains service. The company still offers everything from its menu completely free to first-class ticket holders.

We had a crew change at Preston, with a Preston crew leaving us for a mixture of Scottish and Lancastrian accents. We were 5 minutes late leaving Preston (1200) and ran our latest by Penrith – 6 minutes. This was the first time the train manager made reference to a delay, apologising for any in convenience this may have.

By now the crew was busy offering items from the Light Bites Menu: either a coronation chargrilled chicken roll or a Wensleydale and caramelised carrot roll, followed by either a Chocolate Indulgence slice or seasonal fresh fruit. I opted for the chicken roll and Chocolate Indulgence slice. Both were very nice indeed; the chicken had the edge in the taste stakes; the chocolate slice tasted like a generic chocolate chip-infested sponge. Both were very nice though. Since the Breakfast Menu had left the train with the first crew at Preston, alcohol was now on the menu and the drinks trolley was soon passed through. It seems almost unnatural to choose absolutely anything in sight, though I soon got over my apprehension and asked for a gin and tonic. All Virgin’s spirits come in double measures; again, as with the free-range and Fairtrade breakfast items, it would be so easy to half the spirit bottles to save a couple of grand a year, but Virgin has resisted. I suspect such large quantities can be ordered at excellent prices and that halving the quantity may not halve the price.

Breakfast was very tasty though not as substantial as I was hoping.

Visitations by the drinks trolley and the tea and coffee jugs were very frequent indeed throughout the rest of the journey. The staff were all pleasant and polite and seemed genuinely contented in their work. Meanwhile, we were meandering through the eastern outreaches of the Lake District after passing north of Lancaster – with John Shaw/Travellers Choice’s yard immediately to the east of the WCML at Carnforth. For much of the rest of the route, the line is hugged by the M6 motorway and the speed my Class 390 ‘Pendolino’ is travelling at is only now truly understood. That said, it is this section that sees the average speed of 105mph between London-Warrington reduce to the overall average of 88.8mph for this specific journey (401.25 miles in 271 minutes), although the scenery makes up for the reduction in speed. We were still travelling at almost 20mph faster than vehicles on the M6 are permitted.

At this point I tried to detail on my trusty notepad my overall thoughts of the service thus far. Initially, the Virgin employee in the ticket hall hadn’t been as helpful as he could have been and I had the impression he’d just wanted to get rid of me to the main station reception. I wasn ’t expecting eye contact, though it is often a sign that you’re at least engaging properly with the person you’re speaking to. The First Class Lounge had been excellent – relaxing and pleasant. The boarding procedure had been faultless and Virgin can’t really be blamed for the perceived dowdiness of Euston’s boarding gates. I wasn’t actually welcomed to my seat and only spoke with a member of crew when asked what breakfast option I’d like. First-time travellers in first class won’t know the procedure and it wasn’t explained to me about the options available in the menu, though I soon spotted what to do.

Crew members regularly patrolled the carriages and announcements were clear, if a little rushed at times. I hope residents in Warrington really appreciate the service they now receive – next stop London at 105mph, every hour, is effectively what they have. I know it’s been a long time coming and that problems still occur on the line with Network Rail struggling to get to grips with the upgraded route, but it is a truly excellent service between these two points. Should High Speed 2 get the go-ahead, average speed is likely to be around 186mph, meaning this would potentially see Euston–Warrington in 59 minutes (though Warrington won’t feature on HS2).

In what seemed like no time at all, though the equivalent of two feature-length movies, we were slowing on our approach into Glasgow Central station. Our 1401 arrival was beaten by two minutes, though only as far as the train was concerned; the doors weren’t unlocked for another minute, making the time precisely 1400 as the first passengers stepped on the platform. I felt a strange sensation: refreshed yet incredibly bloated through the quantity of food I’d gorged. I wandered against the tide of passengers to the ‘blunt’ end in order to photograph the train with the easternmost canopy that forms part of Glasgow Central’s impressive train shed basking in glorious autumnal sunshine.

39023 on Platform 2 in Glasgow Central. The sunshine had stopped. Clouds had gathered but any rain forecast held off.

Having walked onto the station concourse, I realised that I hadn’t actually been to Glasgow Central station before. I’d not really thought about it until now. The station itself is very grand, and recently been awarded the prestigious title of 2009 Major & Overall Station of the Year Award at the National Rail Awards ceremony held on 17 September. The station dates back to July 1879 when it was opened by the Caledonian Railway. Today, the station is the busiest outside of London, handling over 21 million journeys every year. The ease at which access is gained to/from the main city centre streets is what impressed me most about the place. You can clearly see the main platforms from the adjacent streets, and access is relatively straightforward since ticket barriers have not yet been installed.

Very impressive - Glasgow Central is certainly not as unassuming at London Euston!

The other aspect of the station that immediately struck me was the number of places served from here. Local suburban First ScotRail trains depart from all platforms, including the low-level ones, while NXEC and Virgin’s long-distance routes are also thrown into the mix. Add to this the First ScotRail sleeper services and the station must boast one of the most extensive lists of places served in the UK.

My return service departed at 1640, though I spent my time productively, photographing the station from many angles from the city centre streets, as well as having a ride on the Glasgow Underground, also known as the Clockwork Orange. A write-up of this particular part of the day will appear separately.

One of the ‘downers’ of the day was the realisation there was no First Class Lounge for Virgin passengers at Glasgow Central. I remember vividly m’colleague and I making use of the one at Manchester Piccadilly, and witnessing down below stars of TV show Emmerdale posing for photos with adoring fans on the concourse.

However, we were permitted to board the train twenty minutes before departure and I headed towards what was now the ‘sharp’ end for a similar shot though on Platform 1 this time, and with the sun’s position altered slightly. I think the Pendolino must have been a little tired as it was mid-yawn as I took the photo.

A yawning Pendolino - 390 014; perhaps it was trying to capture the dead phesant on the front?

Also in the photo is a dead pheasant, stuck to the windscreen. Its carcass must have travelled well over 400 miles since it was stuck to the London-facing end of the train, i.e. that which had not been travelling head-on into the wind and any birds that may have got trapped in the vacuum. I’ll admit to not having spotted it when I took the photo, nor did I spot it while stood on the platform.

My return journey to London Euston would take thirteen minutes longer than my northbound equivalent. At 4:44 additional stations were included: Motherwell (pick-up only), Oxenholme and Milton Keynes. We glided out of Glasgow Central punctually and headed south. I’d wanted to sit on the right-hand side of the train, but the low sun would have meant I’d either have to put up with it glaring into my face or I’d need to pull the blind almost all the way down, so I chose to sit on the left-hand side and witness the same scenery as that I’d been photographing when heading north.

Within what seemed like seconds, a member of crew approached me and asked if I’d like the hot or cold option from the Evening Meal Menu. As with the northbound menu requirement, the crew member assumed I knew what the situation was with regard to food on board, when many simply won’t have grasped this; some may not even have had time to read the menu. I’m in no way criticising the time length of time taken before being approached, but a little more explanation of my options would have been better. The Evening Meal Menu offers either pie & mash, curried winter vegetables and rice, a coronation chargrilled chicken roll or a Wensleydale and caramelised roll. The latter two featured on the Light Bite Menu. For dessert, the choice was between cinnamon cheesecake with rhubarb glaze and this week’s selection of cheese and biscuits, followed by fruit.

As I’d realised was now customary, the drinks trolley and tea/coffee flasks were brought round on numerous occasions in addition to the above. I opted for a white wine initially. Having left Motherwell, the main course was served – pie & mash was my choice and by far the best meal of the day. Excellent. As with breakfast, only the best ingredients had been used and British beef was guaranteed. I’ve eaten pie & mash on a few occasions (I’m not a great lover) but this was the best I’d ever tasted. A friend literally exists on pie & mash from shops in the East End of London and he claimed that I couldn’t rate that I’d sampled on board Virgin Trains as the best until I’d been to one of those; but since I haven’t, I’m happy to put on record that Virgin Trains' pie & mash is the best I’ve tasted.

The best meal of the day - pie and mash.

It went very well with the white wine, as did the selection of cheeses – two large chunks of white and red cheese on Scottish oatcakes were brought out. No information was given as to the type of cheese offered. Both were very nice indeed though. I do remember partaking of the Evening Meal Menu from Manchester Piccadilly back in 2005 and that a more substantial choice was offered, including Belgian chocolates and wine from fluted glasses. Virgin alter their menus every three months or so to keep the ideas fresh; who knows, the Brie and red grape sandwiches I sampled five years ago might be back on the menu by Christmas?

It was getting dark outside now and rather selfishly my thoughts turned to my connection back in central London. My 1640 train was to form the 2124 arrival at Euston and I then had 36 minutes before my 2200 NXEC train departed King’s Cross for Peterborough. Having timed my walk betwixt both termini to be a conservative 12 minutes earlier in the day, I was prepared to tolerate an arrival time of 2145, or a delay of up to a maximum of 21 minutes. In the event I had nothing to fear as we arrived into Euston 7 minutes early – and this despite leaving Milton Keynes 1 minute late.

Back to the journey and as darkness fell I didn’t feel too hard-done-by not sitting on the right of the train, facing the west. The speed at which you travel is somewhat lost in the dark on a train, though I always feel conversely it’s accentuated on a bus or coach. My first-class carriage, Coach H, acted as the Quiet Coach throughout the journey and conformed well, mainly since there was only a maximum of five people in it at any time during the journey. A few glasses of white wine later and I was feeling very merry indeed.

I tried to compare train travel with that offered by budget airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet. Both have compelling cases for attracting different types of patronage. Budget airlines can link Glasgow with central London in less than an hour, though check-in can add significant time onto the duration, while airport parking continues to be extortionate. Add to this that most airports bearing the name of a major city aren’t actually in that city at all (or nowhere near the centre of it!) and a transfer by surface transport adds further time. You have worries about lost luggage, strict guidelines about liquids on board planes and delays as a result of inclement weather to deal with.

On rails, there is no check-in, no maximum allowance for luggage, no 20-mile transfer to the terminal, no need to hand your luggage to a conveyor belt, and in thick fog trains generally travel at the same speed as when all is clear. Budget airlines do offer very inviting advance fares – the best I could find using the Virgin Trains website for the return journey I made was £87 each way; on the day, a turn-up-and-go (Anytime) ticket costs £399 return. Quite a difference! Even adding an outrageously-priced sandwich at 30,000 feet and the add-ons from paying by credit card and having luggage for the hold, budget airlines do not charge anywhere near this amount for a comparative journey. That said, it is impossible to just turn up at an Luton Airport an hour before a plane leaves for Glasgow and ask for a ticket. If this could take place, I wonder at what price this ticket would be pitched?

Commuters who want to clear their emails before they reach the office would never choose the plane over the train: there is no Internet connection in the clouds – in fact mobile phones must be switched off during take-off and landing and a flight of less than 1 hour’s duration is too short for any meaningful work to be undertaken on a battery-operated laptop. No sooner have you turned it on than you’re preparing to land and need to stow it under your seat. Rail commuters rightly criticise train operators for the levels at which they increase their season ticket, though in reality, they offer very good value when compared to driving into a major city and adding parking costs on top.

I’m lucky that my daily commute is a total of 3.2 miles and can be done easily on a pedal cycle. But then I don’t earn the sort of wages to be able to afford an Anytime First return on Virgin Trains to Glasgow from Euston.

The Scottish crew left my train at Preston and was replaced by London-based employees, two of which – both Asian ladies – were the most polite and courteous I encountered during today’s services.

The last hour or so of my journey was what I call “clear-up time”, when those working on board the train spend an eternity replacing cutlery and crockery with fresh examples. Though on this particular journey, all items were removed from all tables, save the condiment container and place mats. Having thought about it, something similar happened as we approached Glasgow this morning. It may well be Virgin policy to remove everything only to re-lay it before the next journey, even if it’s within an hour of arrival at the terminus.

My southbound journey of 401.25 miles from Glasgow Central to London Euston was booked to take 4:44, averaging 84.8mph, whereas this was increased to 86.9mph as a result of our early arrival – still some way to go to beat the maximum average speed of 96.3mph attained by the 1630 ex Euston on weekdays. That will have to be a journey to do, perhaps next year. We’re considering a 2010 LEYTR Railrover you know!

As I mentioned earlier, our arrival into Euston at 2117 – seven minutes ahead of schedule – meant I easily made my 2200 NXEC HST back to Peterborough. I jokingly text a friend to say that I’d “come down to earth with a bump” while onboard what he describes as a ‘tram’ – my NXEC HST at King’s Cross. The standard-class seating within all NXEC’s trains, be they Class 91s or ‘trams’, is excellent – the Mallard upgrade scheme was much-needed and the foresight of erstwhile GNER has paid dividends for comfort and style – especially when compared to standard-class seating in other train operating company’s HSTs. Having travelled 802.5 miles in relative solidarity, weighted on hand-and-foot, with everything being free of charge, while undertaking one of the fastest-ever railway journey times between London and Glasgow, my crowded carriage to Peterborough was quite a shock!

A selection of cheeses, Scottish oatcakes, butter, grapes and a tea - you don't get this for free in NXEC's first-class carriages!

In terms of average speed, 94.2mph was attained by my last train of the day: 72.25 miles in 46 minutes to be precise, faster than the two Virgin Trains I’d just travelled on, though importantly not over comparative sections. Peterborough is the first stop for most NXEC trains leaving London (94.2mph), while Warrington Bank Quay is for most Glasgow trains leaving Euston (105.0mph). And it’s thanks to the recent upgrade of the West Coast Main Line that the comparative gap has widened considerably. I said I wanted to sample the benefits of the £9 billion upgrade and I believe I did. Being able to ‘nip’ to Glasgow in less time than it takes a National Express coach to travel between London and Lincoln is very impressive indeed. The copious amount of free food and drink was incidental, though very much welcome.

As we exclusively revelated on Sunday, the media still comments about poor performance on Virgin’s West Coast rail franchise, despite the £9bn upgrade of the route. That may be a thing of the past. Virgin has just recorded its best-ever performance of 93.3% of trains ontime – the highest since it took over the West Coast rail franchise in March 1997 and average performance over the last three months is over 90%.

The ambience in Virgin's first-class coaches is very nice. The company's red livery is not extended to the decor.

Long may Virgin Trains continue to provide such an excellent service in the way and manner they’ve carved out! (GL)

SVBM Summer Open Weekend

2009-09-01T13:18:00.000+01:00

"What is it about wrapping a hard-boiled egg in sausage meat and breadcrumbs that suddenly makes it Scottish?"

With the answer to this and a couple of less important posers at the forefront of our minds, the LEYTR did sally forth to Scotland, during which time we'd attend the annual Scottish Vintage Bus Museum (SVBM) rally on the second of its two open days.

We chose to travel to Edinburgh from Hull. Being fairly stingy when it comes to travel, we'd been downhearted back in June when we booked our overnight accommodation in Scotland's capital city, that the most obvious modes of transport were either not forthcoming with suitable journey options that best-fitted our three days away, or those that purport to offer fares from £1 were in effect offering single fares 2,500% greater!

So good old dependable National Express it was. If we were going to be stung for a few quid, it might as well be for travel in a coach and not a Scania/Enviro400! The route linking Hull with Edinburgh is one of the best I've travelled on to date. I enjoy Service 534 for a few reasons: the loadings are not as heavy as, say, London-Bristol; the service is operated by 'Scotland's Driving Force' - Park's of Hamilton, who provide at least modern, air-conditioned (if not very clean!) coaches; and the route takes in areas of England that other NX services do not frequently call. Beverley, for example, only has this solitary coach service since March, when NX curtailed all its Service 562 journeys at Hull.

Hull really has come on leaps and bounds over the past few years. Its Paragon Interchange - despite recent reports of errors in Braille signage - really is excellent, with the initial teething problems reported over its forthcoming departures screens seemingly fixed now. Stagecoach has ensured a decent number of cascaded vehicles now operate here to reduce its fleet's average age - especially apt in this, its historic year.

Some Braille signage translated this sign as Bay One Deft!

From Hull, our coach travels direct to Beverley, calling at the minster-town's bus station. You can't cover this section of route by any other scheduled coach service, nor the section hereafter to York. One of the previous occasions I'd travelled aboard Service 534, a short-cut was utilised just north of York station, that saw the driver lower the vehicle's suspension in order for us to squeeze under a very low bridge. No such excitement today, with our Glaswegian driver opting to stick to the more traditional trunk route.

As I'd expected, Park's of Hamilton had provided us with a fairly new vehicle - a Volvo B12B with Plaxton's Panther C49Ft body, registered LSK 506, being new to them in September 2006. While the climate control was excellent and the leather trim a welcome sight, the vehicle interior's cleanliness lead a lot to be desired! The dirt wasn't a case of the driver choosing not to thoroughly clean the coach out last night while overnighting at the hotel in Hull, more a case of a very long-overdue deep clean needed!

As predicted we were very lightly loaded throughout, travelling to Thirsk thence to Middlesborough, Sunderland and Newcastle. Here a mid-journey refreshment break is taken and for security reasons, through passengers are turfed out into the elements while the coach is locked. We wandered to the nearby train station for a nosey, but there was nothing out of the ordinary therein, so meandered back having a game of 'spot as many Go North East liveries in 2 minutes as you can!'

Seen here during the mid-journey refreshment break in Newcastle.

The most popular section of Service 534 is between Newcastle and Edinburgh and from here we were our busiest with about thirty soles aboard. I dozed off at this point and awoke in the Restalrig suburb of Edinburgh, en route to the city's bus station, just off Princes Street. The last time I travelled aboard Service 534 it was double-manned throughout and additionally operated via Hull Docks. It would appear the service is now wholly one-manned and the Hull Docks extension was removed in 2008 due to low patronage and increased security.

As with all occasions we visit Edinburgh, we'd booked into the Heriot-Watt University at Riccarton, to the far-west of the city, which necessitates a trip aboard one of Lothian's excellent bus services. We generally catch Service 25, which is Plaxton President/ADL Trident-operated, running to a ten-minute frequency. Today was no different and having tendered the exact fare for a day ticket (a very reasonable £3), we took a seat in readiness for the 35-minute journey.

Absolutely spotless - Lothian Buses once again surpassed our expectations.

In my opinion, Lothian Buses is the last-remaining large bus fleet that operates in a manner that is both traditional and yet adaptive to the current market trends. Their extensive network of radiating bus services, operating to high frequencies are typical of today's way of doing things, yet their vehicles are absolutely spotless inside. Each bus is mopped out each night (even Trent Barton do not do this), the interior fluorescent casings are removed each month and cleaned and all evidence of graffiti is removed. Our bus - an 04-reg - actually smelt new inside. Quite phenomenal.

Having dumped our things in our rooms forming part of the Heriot-Watt University, set in the opulent surroundings of well-landscaped grounds with the northern tip of the Southern Uplands clearly visible, we returned to the city centre to have a nosy around. It's fair to say that Princes Street is a right old mess at the moment, being closed for some months while work is underway to build the city's new tram network. Having said this, and considering the Edinburgh Festival and its Fringe were in full-swing, congestion was minimal, it has to be said. Our journey times throughout our long weekend were typical to those stated in Lothian's publicity and not once did we find ourselves in excessive congestion.

Somewhere amongst the JCBs and traffic bollards is Princes Street.

Sunday saw is travel into the city centre again in order to catch the 0955 First ScotRail train service to Dunfermline Town, where we would ascend the hill into the town centre and catch one of the free buses laid on by the SVBM to transport us to their premises, within the M90 Commerce Park at Lathalmond.

There are a number of ways those basing themselves at the Heriot-Watt University at Riccarton can travel to Dunfermline, though on a Sunday the options are much-reduced! Stagecoach in Fife operate a very handy hourly service from Riccarton to Inverkeithing via the Ferrytoll and Edinburgh Airport, though annoyingly not on Sundays. It would mean a trip into central Edinburgh then.

Lothian offer two services into the city centre at weekends: Services 25 and 34, which both operate along the arterial Calder Road, with Service 25 continuing to the city centre via Gorgie and Service 34 heading southwest to Slateford before bearing northeast to the city centre via Shandon and Fountainbridge. We caught the 0900 departure on Service 25 with a view to catching First ScotRail's 0955 to Dunfermline Town for 1030. This was duly caught and was formed of a Class 170 'Turbostar', namely 170459.

We made haste northwest towards the Forth Bridge, which we crossed on the 'up' line with a speed restriction imposed. This caused us a few minutes' delay by the time we'd arrived at Dunfermline Town. From here, it's a steady walk uphill to the town centre. The Scottish Vintage Bus Museum's (SVBM) free shuttle service operated half-hourly at 00 and 30 from outside the town centre fire station. Our vehicle arrived just as the heavens opened. We were to travel aboard WG 9180, a Leyland Titan TD7 in W Alexander's livery. A ride aboard this vehicle is one of the main reasons I make a religious pilgrimage to the SVBM at least bi-annually: where else could you ride on a vehicle like this? It doesn't visit Showbus, Cobham, Fleetwood or North Weald. Many of its historic sisters that were operating the shuttle services likewise do not travel very far afield.

This lowbridge Leyland Titan TD7 was the vehicle in which m'colleague travelled to the rally two years ago.

The other reason why I enjoy the SVBM open weekend so much is the location of the site. Sure enough, its address - the M90 Commerce Park - conjures up images of a dodgy-looking industrial estate with e-coli vans serving what purports to be red meat at the road side, but up here in Bonnie Scotland, things are a little different. If there was an award for the most picturesque setting for an industrial estate, that of the M90 Commerce Park at Lathalmond would surely win.

The bus ride from central Dunfermline to the site takes about 10 minutes and necessitates a fairly steady climb, during which the Rennies depot is passed on the left. With the exception of some old-looking deckers in Stagecoach livery in the yard, there are no other openly noticeably signs that one of the 'big five' is in charge. One of the timetables Rennies produces is identical to that Stagecoach provide throughout the UK, although its colours are different and nowhere is the 'S-word' mentioned.

Plenty of modern vehicles attend, including this patriotic Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini, operated by First.

The entrance for the rally today was £6. Money very well-spent in my opinion. Once in the grounds, it was as it is at any other bus rally really, everyone disperses into the crowd and you 'do your own thing' (caravanners say this a lot!). As with 2007, so many vehicles turned up, some were double-parked meaning a photo was impossible. Owing to the nature of the site and where the vehicles are parked, some are always in shadow, or your photo is always taken directly into the sunlight. The trade stalls are held within the large building at the top of a mound to the north of the site, named the Bus Station. A large number of stalls were in attendance this year and it was nice to see a few same faces manning them. I made a good contact at one of the stalls as I handed over £17.25!

One of the SVBM's collection is this Alexander M-type-bodied Seddon Pennine, which has links to the LEYTR area as it used to operate Anglo-Scottish services calling at Stamford and Grantham! Back in 1976 the SBG was removing seats for additional legroom - this is C42Ft

There are tours running to nearby localities throughout the day, plus the half-hourly shuttle service to Dunfermline and the internal service, which is provided by a plethora of vehicles. Despite the large number of vehicles attending, and the relatively few tours operating, the organisation leads a lot to be desired. A bus would pull up and no announcement would be made of its destination. The internal services would carry a board in their windscreens, but no other route would. Was it the tour as scheduled or was it a Dunfermline? The cry of its destination was only heard after a few minutes. To complicate matters further, some of the Dunfermlines had duplicates, too, which when added to the mix caused further uncertainties.

As ever, the Lothian collection was present and turned out in a manner befitting the current operation.

Perhaps those in charge of dispatch should visit the twice-yearly Lincolnshire Vintage Vehicle Society bus rally, which is a model of how departures should be run.

As ever the day lived up to my expectations and I made a couple of not-so-cheap purchases and added a further three to my tie collection.

We caught the 1515 shuttle back to Dunfermline and then went in search of its bus station. A relatively new one has been built near Queen Anne Street, replacing that which backed onto Carnegie Drive, under the shopping centre. It seemed very impressive. Timetable information was most forthcoming for an un-manned site (on Sundays). Rather than wander back to the train station, we opted to catch the 1555 Service 80C, which would drop us off outside. It was our first Stagecoach journey of the jaunt and the vehicle's interior was equally as clean as can be found within the confines of Lothian's fleet; the only difference was that the saloon heaters were stuck on hot and we started to bake.

A livery I've not seen before is worn here - a kind of Scottish Citylink-style but with Strathtay lettering.

Four minutes later and we were outside cooling down. Trains back to Edinburgh operate not as you'd expect and are sufficient to ensure numerous passengers (tourists) stand on the wrong platform. The frequency is roughly hourly and yet alternate journey times take almost three-times as long as the others. Why? Well as I've coined it, the 'Fife Loop' is the culprit. Trains operating the clockwise loops travel as directly as possible between Edinburgh and Dunfermline, then north to Kirkcaldy on the coast and back south to Edinburgh, crossing the Forth. In this direction, travel from Dunfermline to Edinburgh takes 1:30. Trains operating the anti-clockwise loop manage a 37 minute journey time. The 1626 First ScotRail service is a clockwise loop, so more 'metals' for your money!

Having arrived in Edinburgh at 1756 we went for a spot of lunch before visiting the Vue cinema within the Omni complex to watch the re-make of The Taking of Pelham 123. A write-up will appear in due course.

We returned aboard Lothian's Service 34 at 2255, being used was a Volvo B9TL/Wrightbus Eclipse Gemini, though the least said about this journey the better!

Our chariot for the 0908 Riccarton-Ferrytoll service, provided by Stagecoach's Dunfermline depot. It's a shame this service doesn't operate on Sundays.

The following morning, by way of a change, we utilised Stagecoach in Fife's handy link from Riccarton to the Ferrytoll and caught the 0908 Service 747. Again, the saloon heat was stuck on hot as we awaited our departure time. The heavens had opened, too, which didn't cause us alarm until the windscreen wipers ceased operating. The driver tried everything and with only us on the bus I was wondering what the drill would be. Dunfermline depot (who operate the service) isn't exactly just down the road. During a phone conversation with the depot, the driver was presumably told to pummel the dashboard with his fist! As he was smacking the dashboard for all his worth, I remember turning my head in disbelief! The things people will try. Astonishingly, it worked and the wipers of 34729 (SP05 ELH), an ADL Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer resumed operation! It really was a miracle - and something for those who drive this type of vehicle to bare in mind!

Stagecoach operate four buses an hour into Edinburgh using these extended Scania tri-axle, 56-seat buses. They're generally allocated to Services 53 & 55 during the day.

We carried on, passing the Royal Bank of Scotland's HQ at South Gyle and diverting into Edinburgh Airport where a fair number boarded. These vehicles have diddly-squat luggage provision, which needs addressing if the amount brought on by three Japanese tourists is anything to go by. We appeared lucky, too, as we passed some vehicles working Service 747 that were Optare Solos!

My favourite sign of the past month: a question mark is missing after 'gear'; 'remembered' is underlined to the left; 'its' is missing an apostrophe; and 'the' is missing between 'and' and 'handbrake'. Car drivers not sure of the concept of leaving a car in gear as a fail-safe should the handbrake faulter need to be told in which gear they need to leave their car - no point selecting 1st if pointing downhill!

The bus heads north to Queensferry and then over the Forth Road Bridge to the Ferrytoll Park & Ride site. Here we alighted with a view to catching the 1025 Stagecoach in Fife Service 55 to Edinburgh, hoping it to be formed of one of the 57-reg, tri-axle integral Scania K270UB6 commuter buses, seating 56 people with high-back leather seats. This duly arrived, formed of 24009 (SP57 CNX). It was a very enjoyable ride, though the advertised free WiFi wasn't working.

24009 approaching the turnaround point at the Ferrytoll Park & Ride site. Over 3,800 departures a week call here.

Having ticked another box, we alighted a few minutes late at Edinburgh bus station. Today's journey, in for 1105, was the first that saw a decent volume of traffic and associated congestion. We had plenty of time though as our coach back to Hull didn't leave until 1230 and when it arrived it did so in Park's of Hamilton livery. We were treated to LSK 495, a Volvo B12M/Jonckheere with sunken central toilet and continental door. Unfortunately, the driver was what I describe as 'a minimalist', doing the absolute bare minimum for his passengers.

A clue to the company who covers Service 534 is given in this photo, taken at Newcastle during our mid-journey refreshment break.

The southbound trip is virtually identical to the north but in reverse. We had a break at Newcastle where we were turfed off, and again sauntered to the city centre but opted for Greggs this time over the train station. It was a quieter run back than coming in terms of passenger volume. We were bang on time though at all stages, actually pulling into Hull's Paragon Interchange a few minutes ahead of our 1955 scheduled arrival.

We didn't manage to answer our opening question (thanks, Al Murray), though we did consider purchasing a deep-fried Mars Bar while away. Interestingly, its saturated fat content is seven-times one of one of those eggs, draped in tartan just because of sausage meat and breadcrumbs! (GL)

LEYTR's Top 'n' Tail

2009-08-09T21:15:00.002+01:00

It had been in the pipeline for some months; a trip linking the two extremities on mainland Britain: John o' Groats to Land's End. But how to do it in our own, special, inimitable way? What was to be the LEYTR crutch? Researching the possible journey options for the greatest dissection of our island possible soon presented the 'angle' we would take:

John o' Groats to Land's End in a manner befitting the current financial downturn, i.e. as cheaply as possible. Time away from our respective employers and offices meant that a caveat was additionally placed upon our strapline: speed. Consequently, the LEYTR Top 'n' Tail jaunt would be done as cheaply and as quickly as possible.

One thing that specifically struck me about other people's John o' Groats to Land's End trips is that virtually all that have been written up only tell half the story. The publicised 874 mile trip forms only one part of a round-robin journey from the valiant traveller's home. He, she or they need to first get to whichever extremity they're to commence from and to then return home from its counterpart location. Our trip aims to cover all of this - with the to/from journeys being made in the same spirit as the main leg, i.e. as quickly and as cheaply as possible.

Day 1 - Saturday 20 June 2009

And so it was that I found myself at a friend's house in Lincoln. I'd travelled there the evening before so that both he and I could be correctly positioned for the day's initial journey, a trip to Scunthorpe by bus: a brand-new Scania/Enviro400 operated by Stagecoach in Lincolnshire to be precise. Service 100 only commenced operation in May 2006 and yet last month the hourly frequency outgrew the Alexander ALX300-bodied MANs that had been operating the route, being replaced with these new Enviro400s. The route forms part of Lincolnshire County Council's InterConnect network of services, which incidentally celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

Brand-new Scania/Enviro400 seen in Scunthorpe, having worked the second northbound journey of the day.

We boarded 15507 (FX09 CZW) in Lincoln's City bus station, which formed the 0835 journey to Scunthorpe via Gainsborough. The Enviro400 body, while looking stylish and progressive from the outside, does not have an interior that emulates the same in my opinion. There's far too much rattling and banging for my liking - to think the bus is merely weeks old, too!! The ride comfort is okay though and the special InterConnect livery Stagecoach is starting to apply to its vehicles operating InterConnect services looks very striking (even if it does resemble a Cadbury's Cream Egg wrapper)!

The route is operated by Stagecoach's Gainsborough depot. Unlike Scunthorpe and Lincoln depots, Gainsborough has a few services that conform to the EC Drivers' Hours Regulation and so it made operational sense to take-back all diagrams in readiness for the new vehicles arriving (Lincoln depot did operate one diagram on the service).

We kept to time throughout on this relatively quiet Saturday morning and despite the sunny weather at all times, alighted in Scunthorpe to a heavy downpour.

While Stagecoach may be the dominant operator in Scunthorpe, small independant Hornsby can still be seen in the town, now operating four main service, some of which jointly with Stagecoach.

Our next service was another operated by Stagecoach - their recently improved Service 350, linking Scunthorpe-Barton on Humber-Hull and re-branded FastCat. The service had been hourly with East Yorkshire operating one of the three diagrams. Now, Stagecoach believe that patronage was such that it would double the frequency to half-hourly, though East Yorkshire did not increase their diagram, continuing to operate one vehicle (of the 6 now deployed) to similar timings as before. Stagecoach purchased some new MAN/Enviro300s and an agreed brand and livery was adopted. At the end of March, the FastCat was born.

The Humber FastCat can easily be spotted here. There are many references to cats in the branding and advertising.

The livery is pretty awful - sentiments we understand that are shared by Les Warneford, Stagecoach Bus MD, but you certainly can't argue that the bright orange livery with grey claw marks is striking. East Yorkshire has offered a dedicated vehicle to the route, a Volvo B7RLE/Wrightbus Eclipse Urban, and it too is painted in the orange FastCat livery. Unlike the old 350 timetable, it is now impossible to know which journeys are operated by each operator. Stagecoach's Hull depot now also operates journeys on the service, being allocated two diagrams. This has never occurred before, with Service 350 historically being a RoadCar service.

Stagecoach, EYMS and North Lincolnshire Council have joined forces to ensure publicity is visible at all stops. Every single bus stop flag along the route (even those at far-flung rural outposts) have FastCat-branded flags.

The old departure time was xx10 from Scunthorpe, with the new half-hourly departures at xx15 and xx45. We caught the 1145 and were pleasantly surprised at how quiet it was. A Saturday in Scunthorpe bus station isn't always the most enjoyable place to be, and with Hull being such a pull for youngsters in the area, I had prepared myself for a chav-fest aboard the bus. It was not to be. I suspect, though, that the xx15 departures past each hour would be busier on account of people not liking change and preferring to catch the journey most similar to that which operated before.

We wound our way along the A1077, diverting via Winterton and Wintringham until Barton on Humber. After passing through the town's market place, we called at the rail interchange. A Class 153 operates two-hourly from here to Cleethorpes via the Barton Line and Service 350's timings in both directions coincided with the arrival and departure times of the train. Now they do not. We understand, though, that a much greater connection time has been welcomed by the Friends of the Barton Line who believe that the old connection time (5 minutes) was too tight.

From here it was over the world's one-time longest single-span suspension bridge into the East Riding of Yorkshire (but not for long) before entering Hull.

This is the 'view' passengers have as they cross the second longest single-span suspension bridge in the world - the underside of the FastCat's contravision claw all over the window.

Stagecoach successfully bent the Humber Bridge Board's (HBB) arm into offering a discount to PCVs operating stage-carriage services across the Bridge. They did so only by threatening to completely withdraw the only direct service linking Grimsby and Hull though. There was much uncertainty for regular passengers on both sides of the Humber for many months until, eventually, a breakthrough was made in 2007. Very few operators object to paying a fee to cross the Humber Bridge, but most are angered at the difference in price a bus is made to pay over a car. Currently cars pay £2.70 and PCVs pay £10.60. We understand numerous operators wouldn't regularly object to the toll increase (forcing a public inquiry each time - at great cost to the HBB) if the fee a PCV paid was, at most, double that paid by a car. On other bridges throughout the UK, this is very often the case.

From Hull we sampled our first-ever trip aboard a Megabus vehicle from the city. A full write-up of this journey will appear in another media sometime soon.

Once in London, we visited the Montagu Pike Wetherspoons pub in Soho (two 2-course meals and drinks for under £20 in zone 1!) before taking a steady walk to Victoria train station where we would meet the third and final member of our trio. Once convened, we headed to the coach station for the 2300 Service 588 to Inverness.

Both m'colleague and I are big fans of Wetherspoons - here's one of the cheapest places to eat in central London, the Montagu Pike. This hostelry also acted as my local for a couple of years.

National Express officially measure this route to be 581.4 miles in length and it therefore makes it their second-longest coach service in the UK. With the equivalent journey by train equating to more than double the on-the-day fare NX offer (ironically it's NX who also calculate the train fare, too!), it fitted well within our remit. Bruce's Coaches operate the service now, taking over from Rapsons not long after Stagecoach purchased the group. Rapsons used 04-reg Volvo B12Ms with Jonckheere bodies; Bruces prefer VDL/Bovas, though on our journey a tri-axle Scania/Levante was working, with its rear-end adorned in a contravision blue cross, signifying the Scottish flag.

Bruce's Coaches' tri-axle Scania/Levante C53Ft - very comfortable thanks to the additional leg room. The coach is seen here at Keele Services, the first of two short stops en route to Inverness.

Normally, NX's tri-axle Levantes have 61 seats (the twin-axle versions have the standard 49 seats), though we were very impressed to see that Bruce's versions have only 53 seats yet measure 14.2m in length. Consequently, the leg room was very good indeed. We all commented well into the journey just how much difference a little more space makes a lengthy journey like this. We had two drivers who would between them take us to just beyond Glasgow, by which time it would be Sunday morning. Both work part-time for Bruces and one was ex. Stagecoach, implying he'd driven the service before, to which we understood to mean during Rapsons days. One even though he recognised yours truly. We had a brief discussion about whether this was fame or infamy. We never did get an answer!

At precisely 2300, FJ58 AKK departed. We had no one to board at Golders Green so headed off up the A41, by-passing Brent Cross, to the M1.

Day 2 - Sunday 21 June 2009

Day 2 dawned for us somewhere along the M1, as we headed north to the temporary coach stop near Milton Keynes, at which all National Express coach services are calling while their dedicated Coachway undergoes refurbishment. Timings aboard Service 588 seemed a little tight: we left VCS punctually and didn't stop once until Milton Keynes and yet were 5 minutes late! From here we progressed north, leaving the M1 for the M6 and had our first break of the journey at Keele Services just after 2am.

30 minutes later we departed, and followed the M6 through Greater Manchester and Lancashire to our first official stop since Milkton Keynes: Penrith. We were a minute or two late here but it didn't seem to phase our drivers. We didn't stop then until Glasgow, where we were timed to arrive at 0715 and depart fifteen minutes later. In actual fact, we both arrived and departed at 0730. Megabus give a straight 8 hours travelling time on its direct, overnight London-Glasgow services; NX offer 30 minutes more and yet call via Golders Green, Penrith and Lockerbie.

11.33am at Inverness bus station. Our driver unloads everyone's luggage in glorious sunshine.

As we were leaving Glasgow, one of our driving duo alighted with his overnight bag; we presumed he lived nearby and would walk the rest of the way home. Our second driver took us about 10 miles up the road towards Stirling before pulling off the motorway and onto a bridge to swap drivers with a chap who'd come from the Bruce's depot by red van. We continued northbound, passing through Stirling and Perth and onto the picturesque section of the A9 towards Inverness.

By now there were only 10 people on the coach and we all reflected on what an enjoyable journey it had been. There had been no problems with any of the passengers, the drivers had been great, their announcements pretty good, the coach comfort very impressive and the spaciousness resultant in the additional leg room was terrific. Fares appear to start at £22 single if booked online and while Megabus offers some of its seats for £1, they're incredibly difficult to find on its equivalent services - plus a change of coach at Edinburgh is required, the leg room is worse and you never know what type of vehicle is going to transport you over 500 miles.

The additional leg room that passengers aboard NX's Anglo-Scottish Scania/Levantes have. Very nice.

We all agreed that National Express definitely still have the edge on Anglo-Scottish coach journeys, especially those taking place overnight. Would they operate them the way they now do had Megabus not come along as a wake-up call? That's another question!

We arrived in Inverness 2 minutes early at 1133 and after some nice shots of our home for the past 12.5 hours, we headed to the city's Wetherspoons. From within, we devoured three very large all-day breakfasts and quaffed a fair amount of liquid. It was soon time to let it all settle while we travelled for a relatively short 3:15 journey to Wick, curtest of Stagecoach' Service X99.

I've travelled aboard this new-ish service on three occasions now and have noted alterations to its operation since last November. Initially, brand-new Volvo B7Rs were used, though due to there being no toilets on board (an end-to-end Thurso-Inverness journey is around 4 hours), they were replaced with ageing Scottish Citylink-liveried Volvo B10Ms. Today's 1415 departure was formed by a Scottish Citylink-liveried Volvo B12B/Plaxton Paragon. Equipped with climate control, 53102 (SV08 GXN) was a much welcome sight. Very similar to our 2005 Railrover, the temperature was starting to rise and, despite heading to the Far North, there's nothing worse than sitting in your own juices aboard a badly ventilated coach.

Off we go again: time for a 3:15 journey to Wick aboard this Stagecoach in Caithness (Thurso depot) vehicle - not that you'd know it from the livery of another operator it displays.

Our service was the only one on a Sunday that extends to Scrabster, where passengers can catch a ferry to the Orkneys and Shetland. I was pretty sure that the 35 passengers on board weren't all going to the very end, with a few alighting en route, and around 25 remaining as we approached Wick. The X99 has been re-numbered since the summer timetable was introduced last month. Initially numbered 25X, this service now only operates 'shorts' to Tain; the extensions northbound are all numbered X99, probably to distinguish the journeys better. On a Sunday, the X99/25X timetable is a seven-vehicle working, with Thurso providing 3 coaches and Tain depot 4. Ours was a Thurso working.

The route between Inverness and Wick is completely different by road to that by rail. The road (A9) stays close to the coast, whereas the railway meanders inland for much for the furthest section north. We arrived in Wick punctually and made our way to our overnight accommodation.

We'd booked rooms in a Wick b+b and one in Penzance. We were to have two overnighters, thus keeping the b+b bill down. Our Wick establishment was a 10 minute walk from the town centre, during which we passed the shortest street in the world, Ebenezer Place. Despite a road sign pointing us in this direction, and naming the No. 1 Bistro that occupies the only property along said street, it wasn't immediately noticeable to us. See what you think:

By sheer fluke, we'd booked to be in the second-most northerly town on the mainland on the longest day of the year. Tonight's official lighting-up time, according to a local Wick paper, was 2223. In actual fact, we staggered home from the country's most northerly Wetherspoons (I've made many a visit to The Alexander Bain in the past couple of years) at 2300hrs and it wasn't what you'd call especially dark then!

Tomorrow though, Day 3, would see this merry prelude end and the main journey commence: John o' Groats to Land's End in 31 hours and 5 minutes, being undertaking as quickly and as cheaply as possible by public transport.

Day 3 - Monday 22 June 2009

There's nothing worse than having to get up with the milkmen at silly o' clock in the morning to start an historic trip! Our first bus of the day was thankfully at a reasonable hour - 0845hrs, from Wick rail station, taking us to John o' Groats. In the past 4 years, I've made this specific journey on three occasions and each time the journey has thrown up something interesting. The first time, back when m'colleague and I undertook our 2005 LEYTR Railrover, the chap driving Rapsons' Service 77A mis-charged us the fare for their Rover ticket and we saved a couple of quid; the second time in Febraury, my friend and I travelled aboard a full-sized coach with National Express trim and a huge hole in the back where the toilet and servery used to be. On this occasion, our driver was from Kent and spent 27 years living in Scunthorpe - in the heart of the LEYTR area!

Our first vehicle of the day: Stagecoach in Caithness Service 77, seen here parked outside Wick rail station.

It was quite a revelation - so too was the Kent stuff, since one of we intrepid three lives there, too. Our vehicle was a full-sized coach again - a Dennis Javelin/Plaxton Profile, 27054 (SY51 EHX), still wearing the overall dark blue Rapsons livery and bearing both Rapsons and Stagecoach fleetnames. It featured 2+3 seating (C70F) and had just come off a school run. The driver of Service 77 (on this occasion we caught the slightly more direct journey, compared to the once-daily Service 77A) was based at Thurso and explained how recently, in a bit to improve the frequency of various services in Caithness, Stagecoach had allocated a large amount of what was traditionally operated Wick depot work to Thurso, which sees a lot of empty running in the mornings and evenings.

The only 'person' that paid on the journey was a tray containing 10 loaves of bread. This was put onto the bus at the Somerfield stop in Wick, with the baker paying the bread's fare with instruction to drop the haul off at the John o' Groats Post Office on his way back. Everyone else travelled free.

We arrived at John o' Groats bus terminal in light drizzle on time at 0940. En route, the driver's offside windscreen wiper stopped working, but with a small amount of manual adjustment, he set it right. 2+3 seating really is awful for any journey carrying people over 5-feet tall. Having wandered around the tourist areas located nearby, and having had our photo taken under the historic sign post on top of a concrete plinth, we went to board our next vehicle - the first of this historic trip.

"Surely you want 'LEYTR' on the sign?" said the guy taking the photo. That would be going just too far - "The working title of the jaunt will be sufficient," said we!

This was the 1025hrs Stagecoach in Caithness Service 80 to Thurso, operated on this occasion by 27588 (SN56 AXS), an integral ADL Enviro with B60F seating arrangement - yes, you guessed it, 3+2 seating. Obviously, if the alternative was for these services to cease operating if they couldn't be combined with school runs in the daytime peaks, having to contend with this rather cramped and particularly uncomfortable seating is a small price to pay for the ever-expanding network of local bus services in the area, which appears to have grown since Stagecoach came to town last year.

3+2 seating on this integral ADL Enviro300, seen here as we alight in central Thurso.

Our stopwatch was started the second we pulled away - 2 minutes late at 1027hrs. We were scheduled to arrive at Land's End the following day at 1722hrs, totalling 30:57, but with our 2 minute late departure, could this be shaved to a mere 30:55?

As with Service 77/77A, I've travelled on this route on three occasions now; this, the latest, offered the best views of Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of land on the mainland. The bus passes through the tiny village of Dunnet but the road to the historic outcrop is a further couple of miles by road.

You can't get any more northern than this - Dunnet Head, with a large dollop of cotton wool on top.

Our journey did look as though it would run into trouble after only 15 minutes, as the photo below shows.

Luckily, our Nottingham-born and bred driver (where are all the Scots drivers?) chose to do the only sensible thing with a trio of long-distance travellers on board, and that was to mount the ornamental grass verge to pass. Well done him! We were all impressed. We were a couple of minutes late arriving in Thurso, alighting on Sir George's Street at the time we should've arrived at the town's rail station, 1130. Not to worry though as our next journey wasn't until 1305hrs.

Having visited the most northerly Tesco for supplies and following the wander to the 99p shop in the town centre that sells microwaves (sadly, not for 99p!), we headed to the rail station in the drizzle. This stands at the top of Lovers Lane - at the foot of which is the town's bus depot. When I visited here last November, the Rapsons signs were still in evidence, now it's Stagecoach everywhere - except, weirdly, on the buses - some of which continue to only bare Rapsons fleetnames; others have both Stagecoach and Rapsons and others have just Stagecoach names (generally these are the ones in Stagecoach corporate swirls).

Stagecoach's bus depot in Thurso. Until last November, Rapsons names still were shown on the sides of the buildings; they can still be seen on almost all the buses.

I assured my companions that this particular train journey on the Far North Line would be very quiet indeed. We had seat reservations that accompanied our online advance ticket purchases, but I was confident they weren't really needed. How wrong I was!

For on the platform, as our Class 158 approached, were over 25 people. On board - and the train had only called at Wick - virtually all seats were taken, including those we had reserved. Shearings had booked a coach load of people onto the train from Wick to Golspie, for reasons unknown, and their driver had apparently told them to "sit in any reserved seat". What he should've said was "your seats are reserved and you can identify these over those that have been reserved for the other passengers as your surname has been written on your reservation slip".

158725 stands at Thurso station, just before the game of musical chairs inside.

The conversation I had with a gaggle of over-60s as I asked them to move from our seats was just surreal. Asking politely had no effect; the guard seemed completely lacking in the areas required to marshall the situation, and so diplomacy was ignored as I virtually ordered them to move. It worked (take note United Nations!). Having realised I was legitimately invading their airspace, the people sat in our reserved seats buggered off somewhere else. The completely ludicrous logic of these people in sitting where they did still baffles me to this day.

All that was needed was for the Shearings driver to have conveyed with much more accuracy what the situation was, and for the First ScotRail guard to ensure - prior to the train's departure from Wick - that the coach load were sat in their reserved seats that corresponded to their surnames, and none of this unpleasantness would've happened. As ever, it was down to the little people to sort out - successfully.

Rant over and we were now aboard 158725 and from what you've read above, our Plan B to sit in first class legitimately (there is no first-class fare on the Far North Line, thus occupying first class is perfectly okay) was scuppered as it was full of yet more Shearings people. However, it was a very nice, scenic trip (that got a lot better after Golspie!) and didn't seem to drag on as long as it has done in the past when m'colleague and I made two trips along the route during our 2005 LEYTR Railrover.

Neither of the two I was travelling with had been on the Far North Line before and the journey certainly represented a box ticked for them. On reflection though, I'd still prefer to travel between Wick/Thurso and Inverness by coach over train; the fare is cheaper and the journey time is quicker. Both offer equally dramatic scenery though completely different sorts. You see a lot more of the sea by road and more of the fascinating villages en route.

Inverness was our tightest connection of the entire jaunt: 5 minutes. We were due in at 1648 and out on a connecting Class 170 'Turbostar' at 1653, or so we thought. The dashing around wasn't really needed as the 1653hrs First ScotRail departure was actually timed at 1656. Yet again people were sat in our reserved seats, though a mild pleasantry got them to shift on this occasion. We departed on time with a heavy load aboard 170394 and made good progress along the Highland Main Line, south to Edinburgh. It's not far south of Inverness that a lengthy 1:60 climb is undertaken for quite some time to reach the highest point a railway on the National Rail network - just over 1,500 feet at Drumochter Pass.

Compared to the '158' we'd just been on, this '170' was much gutsier and handled the steep inclines very well. The comfort was excellent, though the air conditioning poor.

First ScotRail's trains travelling south of Inverness along this route do so to either Glasgow or Edinburgh. The journeys bifurcate at Perth and it was here, on our Edinburgh-bound train, that Glasgow passengers had to change. This saw the load reduced somewhat, as we headed off to the Fife coastline at Markinch, and south through Kirkcaldy and over the Forth Rail Bridge and finally onto Edinburgh. It's always a fascinating experience, crossing the Firth of Forth by rail. I remember asking my comrades how long it'd take to complete painting the bridge; none of them fell into the trap I was expecting them to as the both read this blog!

There wasn't complete carnage on the streets of central Edinburgh as we'd been told to brace ourselves for, what with the building of the city's tram network. It was decidedly calm along Princes Street. We'd arrived at 2029hrs as booked and the city centre was dying down, so perhaps that's why things seemed so calm. To my regret and - soon after - eternal shame, I found myself in the queue at a McDonalds, purchasing a perfectly-formed tiny burger in an equally tiny and perfectly-formed sesame seed bun. From the fast-food establishment (that's curiously started painting all its outlets a organic green colour - we weren't fooled!) it was only a couple of minutes to the city's bus and coach station.

It was from here that we were booked on the UK's longest coach service - National Express' Service 336, linking Edinburgh with Penzance daily. The service has been operated by First Devon & Cornwall for many years (possibly by Wessex before that) and it was a fortnight ago that I learned the company had been unsuccessful in the latest round of tenders, losing 5 contracts from its bases at Camborne and Penzance - the 336 is one such contract, passing to Bruces Coaches.

We didn't know any of this at the time and at 2115hrs boarded an all-white Volvo B12M/Plaxton Paragon C49Ft in readiness for our 2130hrs departure. The vehicle, despite its lack of livery, was a First-owned vehicle and had operated NX services since new. It carried contravision boards on both sides - in the slots were signs stating 'National Express', though I assume equally easy could they show 'First', should the vehicle be needed for their own work. Specifically, our steed for next 18.5 hours was 20532 (WV52 HVF).

M'colleague and I have travelled on the 336 before, from Edinburgh to Birmingham, so I knew that there was no point getting bedded down for the night as there'd be a 30 minute break at Glasgow from 2230-2300. Having loaded around 20 people there, we left punctually, bound for Penzance and into Day 4.....

Day 3 draws to a close here in Glasgow, where we take our last proper break until around 4pm the following day when we arrive in Penzance.

Day 4 - Tuesday 23 June 2009

Today is the most straightforward day of our historic jaunt, between John o' Groats and Land's End, for this was the day we sat on a coach until 4pm. It was a bog-standard coach, too: First Devon & Cornwall's 20532 (WV52 HVF), a Volvo B12M/Plaxton Paragon C49Ft. I had the foresight to have a look at the coach's odometer as we were stationary in Edinburgh, prior to us departing - it showed 442,358km - I'd imagine this is its second time round the clock. I would look again as we alighted in Penzance. Core-to-core, earth to the moon measures 384,403km, meaning on its second time round, this coach had been the equivalent distance of the moon and back almost twice

Despite its high mileage, she was in pretty good shape. The acceleration from a standstill was as good as any modern, i-shift-fitted Volvo, and the small steering wheel found in this vehicle type seemed to assist the drivers in the vehicle's overall manoeuvrability.

While the coach seemed in good mechanical condition, the leg room for such a lengthy journey was very poor indeed. Compare this shot with the one I took while aboard Bruces Coaches' tri-axle Scania/Levante.

We left the action in Part 3 somewhere not too far south of Glasgow when midnight struck. We called in at Hamilton and then Carlisle and then down towards Preston and Manchester. We had a particularly early first 'comfort stop', at Southwaite Services. We arrived at 0105 and were told to be back after 30 minutes. To our astonishment, our drivers, Eddie and Mark, just bailed out, leaving the engine running, all interior and exterior lights on and their personal possessions in full view. Wow. They must have been hungry.

Their announcements were very accurate and included some interesting phrases I've never heard made before over public address systems in coaches. My favourite was "We expect you as individuals to...." generally followed by ".... be back on board at the time we state". Back to the longest scheduled coach journey in the UK, and following our departure from Southwaite Services I remember falling asleep, with Preston being a very hazy blur. We omitted Salford University and despite a seemingly excellent run, were 10 minutes late by Manchester Central and even more at Manchester Airport! Quite a few alighted here, showing how useful the service is for those wanting to catch the first flights of the day from here.

We then we operated to Keele Services for our second 'comfort stop'. We all quipped that two nights earlier, we had our first 'comfort stop' of the jaunt on the tarmac on the other side of the M6 heading north aboard the tri-axle Scania/Levante bound for Inverness.

Keele Services at 0515hrs.

Again, both drivers just disappeared - they were always the first off the coach - and returned seconds before our departure. On each occasion they undertook a head count to ensure they weren't going to leave anyone behind, but I found it fascinating how the vehicle was only ever turned off in bus/coach stations, even if it was for a minute and yet kept running at motorway service areas for thirty minutes or so.

Birmingham Central was the half-way point and I think it's fair to say that we were all feeling rather chipper, despite it being 0645. Dawn was breaking and the daylight is a natural tonic to the overnight traveller. Another 'comfort stop' at Strensham Services was on the cards en route to Bristol, where yet again Eddie and Mark were the first off and last back on. By now traffic was building and the service stations were becoming progressively busier.

Strensham Services at 0810hrs.

You could be forgiven for thinking that by Bristol, you're almost there. I mean, they all speak like they're from Cornwall round there, don't they? You'd be wrong. We arrived in Bristol at 0910 and yet it would be another 6:50 before we reached Penzance. If you're not averse with the West Country, it takes ages to travel anywhere on account of the lack of motorways there. Our coach also operated through all the towns, cities and other tourist areas, additionally increasing the journey time.

When m'colleague undertook the 336 service a few years ago, he said that by Bristol he seriously contemplated leaving the service early, such was his boredom. We were a little fed up though the scenery was changing and I think we were all looking forward to completing the main element of the jaunt later on this afternoon.

Plymouth at 1230hrs.

From Bristol we travelled through Taunton to Exeter, where we had another short break, then onto Plymouth and then Truro though a whole host of smaller localities en route. We hardly deviated off the main roads though. Truro seemed like the nicest place along this section of route. As we were backing-off the stand in said town, a First driver heading northbound told our crew that there'd been a bad accident at Redruth and to go a different way. This we did but the traffic was awful. It got worse in Camborne, by which time we were over 20 minutes late.

Truro at 1430hrs.

Our drivers left us here and were relieved by a solitary chap who took us forward to Penzance via St. Ives. The bus station in St. Ives will certainly test Bruces Coaches' drivers if they're to use tri-axle Scanias on the 336 when they take over operation of the service soon! I'd never been to St. Ives before and did a mini 'double-take' at the three-point turn required on a cliff edge to negotiate the bus station. So many questions: "How safe *really* is this manoeuvre?" "What happens if a car is parked here, the owner nowhere to be seen?" "What if another bus is making use of the bus station?" Whether it was divine intervention or not, we had an empty bus station and a clear approach so we had no accessibility issues. We were still at least 20 minutes late though.

It was clear by now that this would have an effect on our journey time. We had planned an end-to-end time of 30:57, but thanks the our driver from John o' Groats to Thurso leaving 2 minutes late, could shave this to 30:55. Unfortunately this would not be attainable now as we had planned to catch the 1630 First Devon & Cornwall Service 1 to Land's End. We planned for the worst and assumed we'd not arrive for that time.

As it turns out we arrived at 1632, having completed 19 hours and 2 minutes aboard Service 336. We'd done it though. Tomorrow would see us undertake a trip aboard the UK's lengthiest bus service in terms of end-to-end journey time. We were getting quite a taste for this sort of thing! The odometer of the coach now read 443,454km, meaning we'd travelled *precisely* 1,036km or 681.02 miles. Beat that! Though taking 19 hours and 2 minutes, our average speed was a very disappointing 35.8mph. Still it's more civilised than walking the distance as some people do!

Precisely 681.02 miles after we left Edinburgh we arrive at Penzance - 32 minutes late.

With our arrival being at the time it was, the 1630 bus to Land's End had gone. We chose to visit the b+b we'd booked to dump our things and make for the next departure at 1740, Service 1A. This duly arrived in the form of First Devon & Cornwall's 34753 (A753 VAF), a Leyland Olympian/ECW, new to Western National in 1983. What a beast! Quite different to the coach we'd called home since last night! It was dirty, looked and sounded rough and gave an outrageous ride, but what a ride!

"It was held together by the rust mites holding hands", but what a ride - First's Service 1A to Land's End is thoroughly recommended!!

The scenery as you climb out of Penzance is excellent. The narrow roads, the overhanging trees, the hairpins and the awkwardness as you meet a similar vehicle coming the other way can only be very stressful for the drivers of this route, but superb for the traveller. I've never been to Land's End before - and Penzance only once during our 2005 LEYTR Railrover - so this was quite a surprise. It was a route sure to wake up any sleepy traveller.

A good example of what we encountered aboard Service 1A - this 1:7 gradient with a blind, single-track bend. Unfortunately, travelling into the sun prevented me from taking photos of the hair-pin bend, even narrower roads and a tricky situation when we met another bus heading in the opposite direction.

We arrived at Land's End precisely at 1832 hours, when the stopwatch was stopped. We'd done John o' Groats to Land's End in exactly 32:05, precisely 1:08 longer than we'd planned. It was an excellent journey though, we all thoroughly enjoyed it. We arrived a little too late to have a similar photo taken to that we'd posed for at John o' Groats just over 32 hours ago.

That was something else we were all suffering with: we'd mention something we'd done during the jaunt but we'd spend ages contemplating whether this thing had occurred either today, yesterday, Sunday or Saturday. You lose all concept of time undertaking this type of trip.

Our last journey of the day was aboard First Devon & Cornwall's Service 300, an open-top service, returning via an almost-identical route to that we'd travelled on from Penzance. Our chariot was 38000 (D700 GHY), a Volvo B10M Citybus/Alexander RV, new to Badgerline in 1987. It handled the hills and the hairpin better than our outward Leyland Olympian!

Ex Badgerline Volvo Citybus now an open-topper. We played an interesting game of 'chicken' with the foliage while sat on the top deck. The branches always won :-(

And that was it. The summer's evening and view across the bay couldn't have been better as we tucked into fish 'n' chips and then a drink or two in Wetherspoon's most southerly freehouse, The Tremenheere.

The Tremenheere is to Land's End what The Alexander Bain is to John o' Groats. Cheers!!

This wasn't the end though - we had to get back home, and that took place on Day 5.....

Day 5 - Wednesday 24 June 2009

We left the action at the end of Day 4, successfully arriving at Land's End, having completed the main segment of the trip in 32:05 precisely. It was now time for home, but we opted to travel to London taking in England's longest bus service. We'd bagged its coach equivalent yesterday, and so it felt only right to dream up an itinerary that encompassed First's Jurassic Coast Service X53, that links Exeter with Poole in 4:40, or 280 minutes. It's the lengthiest bus route in terms of its end-to-end journey time, though it is pipped to the post when compared with Stagecoach's Service X5 for mileage covered.

We had an enjoyable breakfast at the b+b in Penzance town centre, where we resided overnight, and jumped aboard the 0717 First Great Western train service bound for London Paddington, though we were to alight at Exeter. The last time I'd departed from Penzance by train was during the 2005 LEYTR Railrover and today I got one of my travelling companions to replicate a photo of me in the same spot as that which m'colleague had done in 2005, and comparing the two now, I'm pleased to report I've lost weight (and a little hair!).

FGW's 43094 leads our Penzance-London formation, seen here as we alighted at Exeter St. David.

I think First's train livery really suits its Class 43 High-Speed Trains (HSTs), in fact, the livery suits all EMU, DMUs and locos I've seen wearing it. It's not too in-your-face as the Stagecoach variant for its HSTs is, and the bright pink pulse lines contrast well with the deep blue. The journey from Penzance to Exeter is no walk-in-the-park. It's not just down the road, as the uninitiated Cornish and Devonian traveller would assume. The journey time was 3:16, with our arrival in Exeter St. David being at 1054hrs.

The journey is also particularly spectacular, with very impressive views from the edge of the Cornish coastline and the very picturesque Dawlish Sea Wall within Devon. There aren't many main rail lines permitting frequent HST-hauled trains that see the route used hug to the coastline as much as this one. Then, no sooner have you left the seemingly innocuous station of Saltash, it's time to grab your camera and lean out of one of the windows for one of the most impressive shots that can be taken on our national rail network - crossing the Royal Albert Bridge into Plymouth.

The Royal Albert Bridge - now 150 years old. Our HST curves to enter the bridge heading east from Saltash towards Plymouth.

The month previous, the bridge had celebrated its 150th anniversary. Built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1859, the bridge is regarded as one of the most spectacular in the world. Its unique design makes it immediately recognisable and it is undoubtedly the gateway to Cornwall. It has its own webcam (click here), too. We were lucky to be ensconced in the Quiet Coach at the very rear of the train and so were able to capture the rake of Mk3s curving towards the portal. It's one of my favourite shots and I even managed a little bit of video recording thanks to my digital camera.

Today was the start of the mini heat-wave that ended June and kicked-off July and it was getting very warm indeed. The air conditioning aboard the HST was very good. 43094 was at the front of our eight-car formation, with 43012 at the rear. As they glided our train out of Exeter St. David, I must say I was a little disappointed at how un-intercity-like the new MTU41 engines fitted to virtually all HSTs make them sound. Time was - not too long ago - when standing on the platform as an HST departed actually made you deaf for a spilt second as rear locomotive screamed out the station. That was when their motive power was supplied by their original Valenta engines; all but those operated by Grand Central and Network Rail's test trains have the new MTUs installed, which are lacklustre by comparison.

The walk up hill to Exeter city centre was no joke. It was becoming very hot indeed and we were all heavily laden with our ruck sacks. Once we'd reached the Snowdon-like summit, we went straight to a 'greasy spoon' cafe for sustenance. I found a particularly good vantage point for photographs outside and was impressed at the turnout of the Stagecoach vehicles here.

With 20 minutes or so to go before our next epic journey was due to commence, we wandered to the bus station where we were greeted with a queue at our stand of about 80 people. "We could have problems here" I remembered thinking to myself. Upon further inspection, there were a lot of young people with luggage in the queue and I didn't expect the X53 to attract that kind of clientele. I'd expected a fairly long queue of people with blue rinses and no intention of paying.

I was right, after the 15-meter-long Trathens Volvo B12T and its traditional 12-meter duplicate had taken all those dwelling at our bus stop to London, with the exception of we three fare payers, the rest were of retirement age. The fare aboard the X53 was excellent value - £6, which also doubled-up as a rover ticket for all First services in the area. Our vehicle was 37585 (HX08 DHY), one of the nearly-new Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Geminis.

Here is one of seven similar 58-reg Volvo B9TLs with Wright Eclipse Gemini bodies that work England's longest bus route.

We departed Exeter virtually on time and made our way along the trunk routes - passing though the wonderfully named village of Beer - before heading off the beaten track down narrow roads with steep gradients (it started to remind me of the Penzance-Land's End route) to Seaton. We clung to the coast more now, travelling through Lyme Regis, Bridport and eventually we spotted Portland Bill on the horizon. It wasn't too much longer after this that we dropped down into Weymouth. A couple of years ago, m'colleague and I visited this town to attend a bus rally therein. We made numerous journeys in the area aboard some of the historic buses and coaches that were providing free rides - my favourite was aboard a Mk1 Leyland National to Portland Bill itself. I'd grown up travelling on these vehicles and I was one of the only ones volunteering to travel on this over more historic half-cabs on the same run.

It was an excellent - if hectic - day. Today saw an equally hectic seafront at Weymouth; there were buses galore, mixed in with all the traffic. Fairly generous timings are given to the X53 at its easterly end, and I could now see why. We had our solitary driver changeover in Weymouth, just before reaching the sea front, and then it was off to Poole via Wareham. Traffic into Poole was particularly bad and we lost a good 15 minutes, not arriving until 1740 - almost 5 hours since we'd boarded.

One of our party, who had an early start back at work the following day, bailed out at Poole rail station and caught a much faster (and expensive) train to central London. Those of us remaining 'til the death, spent just over an hour in Poole before catching the last London-bound National Express coach departure of the day at 1900.

Service 035 is operated by Transdev Yellow Buses (Bournemouth Transport) on behalf of NX and they have a couple of different vehicle types. We travelled on 323 (FJ07 DWA), a Volvo B12B/Caetano Levante with seemingly inoperable climate control. Boy did it get uncomfortable travelling the extended route to London via Portsmouth! We had a full load by the latter and even sleeping was becoming an arduous task, what with the beads of sweat being produced by my and my fellow passengers' bodies.

It got very warm aboard this coach until the driver finally managed to get the climate control working less than an hour before the end of our 3:20 journey.

Then suddenly our mute driver (no announcement of any sort) seemed to jump into life and had a fiddle and the climate control started to work. Why hadn't he done this while waiting his departure time at Poole? He was not partitioned from the rest of the saloon, so was sat in his own juices like the rest of us! It was a very poor journey if I'm honest - an opinion shared by the remaining 'Top 'n' Tailer' sat next to me.

We were both glad to be off the coach once we'd entered London Victoria Coach Station Arrivals, a few minutes before our scheduled arrival time of 2220.

Was it really from this coach station that 4 days earlier - almost to-the-hour, we'd left bound for Inverness? It seemed like a lifetime ago, while at the same time only yesterday!

We caught a Tube to King's Cross - a very desolate Tube! - and boarded with plenty of time the last National Express East Coast departure of the day, the 2330 to Leeds, dropping off only at all its stops en route - the first of which being Peterborough at 0023. The train was formed of 43296 (leading) with 43313 at the rear.

This was to be our last journey that forms part of the LEYTR Top 'n' Tail. What a trip!!

Now technically in Day 6, we'd arranged a lift from Peterborough station back to Lincoln, from where the jaunt had started. It wasn't until much later on the sixth day that I finally made my own way home.

We've not mentioned in depth is the costs incurred. We said from the start that this jaunt would befit the current economic climate and we believe we conformed superbly. We spent two overnight stays in b+bs (Wick & Edinburgh), totalling £52.50 and each incurred only £32.65 in bus, coach and rail fares. This latter figure was so low because the National Express coach journeys were free of charge for us since we ran our idea by the now stricken company, who were more than happy to permit us travel for free as they rather enjoy our blog!

Many thanks to National Express for permitting us to utilise their network of coach services in order to make this five-day adventure total under £90 - including accommodation. (GL)

The 2005 LEYTR Railrover

2009-05-24T14:50:00.005+01:00

Transport Minister Andrew Adonis may have had civil servants plan his five-day jaunt around the country using a Railrover to coincide with meeting friends and chatting to those within the industry, but we at the LEYTR chose to travel around as much of the country by train as was possible in seven days, aiming to make the most of our first-class Railrovers by timetabling our trip to coincide with trains offering this accommodation (and the free food went down well, too).

We planned our trip when the light nights were at their peak and had an excellent week - the latter becoming perhaps a little too humid for us both if we're honest. Read the full account below. It had been serialied in five parts on the main LEYTR blog.

25 June 2005 and we find ourselves in Golders Green bus station in north-west London. TfL has always been anti-photographer here, so I stood capturing a few shots from outside the confines of the bus station while m'colleague chose to tuck into his pork pie :-)

This now really is a 'blast from the past': RMs on Service 13. Many of Sovereign's RMs allocated to this route were referred to as Dartmasters on account of their Dennis Dart engines. Service 13 was one of the last 5 routes to lose RMs in 2006.

We stayed at the Ifor Evans Hall in Camden Town for the night - a basic room but for £25 a night in Zone 2, including an all-you-can-eat breakfast, it was a cracking deal. We regularly stay over in student accommodation when the universities are closed.

Having dumped our things we caught the Northern Line to South Wimbledon where, en route to the Croydon Tramlink stop, I showed m'colleague where ITV's police drama The Bill is filmed.

The Croydon Tramlink in its original red and white livery. The new colour scheme being applied to the trams now under direct TfL control is vastly different.

We returned via Elmers End and the DLR before a few pints at the Head of Steam pub (now more aptly called the Doric Arch) adjacent to Euston station before heading back.

26 June was Day 1 proper and we made good use of our first-class Railrovers by availing ourselves of the first-class lounge at King's Cross station. We travelled on GNER's Highland Chieftain (dep 1200) right the way through to Inverness, where we arrived in glorious weather bang on time at 2008hrs I seem to remember.

"City of Kingston upon Hull" resting upon a punctual arrival at Inverness. I took a similar shot in February at this time, though in complete darkness. The train was the same but the livery wasn't!

Having spent the night in a very good b+b, 27 June dawned with a trip to the Far North using a ScotRail Class 158 to the terminus at Wick.

The early morning sunshine illuminates Inverness station's concourse as we board this ScotRail Class 158 to Wick. ScotRail's had two re-brands since this photo was taken!

M'colleague jumped off at the most northerly rail junction on mainland Britain - Georgemass Junction - to take photos while I remained in the train, travelling to Thurso before reversing back to Georgemass and thence to Wick.

Journey's end: Wick station, the very end of the line. Both Wick and Thurso's stations look identical, even down to the mural of a steam train inside.

The journey was not quite what I'd expected, largely because the scenery isn't as dramatic as that south of Inverness and that it takes around 4.5 hours to reach Wick. The then Scottish Citylink coach service was almost an hour faster, though we had first-class Railrovers so were sticking with the train. ScotRail's Class 158s generally have first-class compartments, though there is no first-class fare north or west of Inverness, so standard-class ticket holders could legitimately sit in first class. This isn't well publicised, obviously, and we had the entire compartment to ourselves in both directions.

Wick boasts the UK's most northerly Wetherspoons pub - The Alexander Bain - which is where we found ourselves eating lunch.

After an enjoyable lunch, we caught a Rapsons (remember them?!?!?!?!) bus to the most northerly settlement in Great Britain, John o' Groats. I seem to remember the driver of Service 77A incorrectly issuing our rover ticket and we gained about a pound each.

After a few photos at John o' Groats, we caught another Rapsons service to Thurso - this time it was a decker, a Bristol VR no less, and one that caught our eye as it was new to Eastern Counties. Services 77A and 80 run to precisely the same timetables today as they did four years ago.

We left Thurso aboard a ScotRail Class 158, back on the rails and in first class.

We arrived in Inverness about 20 minutes before our Caledonian Express sleeper service to London Euston. I'd never been on a sleeper train before and so took plenty of photos. We both sampled the incredibly expensive lounge car as we passed through the very dramatic scenery around Newtonmore, Kingussie, Aviemore etc.

The first-class Railrover permits free travel aboard all sleeper services but does not afford a private birth. From memory we paid £27 each. We received complimentary papers and breakfast the following morning.

28 June dawned for me as we flew through Watford, en route to Euston. Upon arrival we caught a bus (Service 205) to Paddington where be jumped on a First Great Western HST to Cardiff.

We forwent first-class travel to sample Class 37 traction up the Rhymney Valley and back before another First Great Western HST to Bristol Parkway and a Virgin XC Voyager to Temple Meads.

We caught our one and only Pacer of the trip from here to Avonmouth where we overnighted before an early Sunday morning trip to Cheddar Gorge by bus.

29 June 2005 was our Day 4 and it started very early (for a Sunday) and the temperature was already very high in the centre of Avonmouth. The previous day's temperature hit 30C and was very awkward at times. We both got sunburnt while stood at Rhymney station for an hour awaiting another Class 37-hauled train, only to find we were to be conveyed back to Cardiff by Class 156!

We caught a First bus into the centre of Bristol, where we awaited another First bus service, this time route 672, which took a very circuitous route to its terminus at Cheddar Gorge. The route took-in some very, very narrow roads and some impressive gradients, which made it even more impressive that a simple Dennis Dart was allocated to the run!

With only an hour's connection at Cheddar Gorge, we did as much as could be done in the time and heat and an ice cream or two later we were back at the bus stop awaiting our next First bus service to Wells. From memory we caught Service 126 bound for Weston Super Mare, alighting at Wells where the temperature was still outrageously warm. We both took solace in the Tesco that was opposite the bus station purely for the much-welcome air conditioning.

Our next bus (you'd not know we had first-class Railrovers in our pockets!) was again operated by First and was Service 29 to Taunton.

We alighted at the rail station there and caught a Virgin CrossCountry train that theoretically left 90 minutes before we arrived; however, thanks to signalling problems earlier in its journey, we weren't waiting long at all. We caught the train to Exeter St David, where we swapped to another Virgin XC Voyager, continuing to its Penzance terminus. It was on board this train that we heard the most sycophantic announcement imaginable from the chap in the buffet car as he left the train mid-route. He thanked us all for our company and said how much he enjoyed the stories we'd shared with him and how he very much looked forward to meeting us all again.

We had a few hours in Penzance, though with Sunday bus timetables, found it impossible to visit Land's End. We instead chose to take a ride to Mousehole and back aboard a First minibus Service 6.

What a route! Wow! Streets so narrow even a Beaver-bodied Mercedes-Benz minibus struggled to negotiate. A bonus was that we were able to legitimately use out First Day Tickets that we'd purchased a good few hundred miles away earlier in the day in Avonmouth!

We were then to board the Cornish Riviera sleeper service to London Paddington. This is the only sleeper service in the UK not to be operated by ScotRail, though First as a company has cornered the market since it owns both ScotRail and Great Western (who operates the Cornish Riviera). The births, from memory, cost a couple of pounds more than the ScotRail sleeper and the complimentary breakfast was less substantial! That said, it really is a great way to travel from the far south-west to central London.

During the journey we were both asked to sign a petition against the withdrawal of the service, since First were then claiming the train was running at a loss and were after removing it. The staff who crew the trains (two operate at any one time) only staff the sleepers so were very conscious that their jobs were in the firing line should a full withdrawal be made. We both added our names to the petition and it was a year later I remember seeing that First had given the Cornish Riviera a reprieve.

Part 4 starts on Platform 1 in Paddington Station, where our Cornish Riviera train had arrived 90 minutes before we were required to disembark. It's a strange and slightly uneasy feeling, asleep in a carriage on Platform 1 as the morning peak is starting to ensue. Today was 30 June 2005 and our Day 5. We had today and two more days to go, using our All-lines first-class Railrover ticket. Today was also the day both editors parted company.

Going it alone: m'colleague disappears to Warwick while I travel by Class 450 to Portsmouth.

I chose to stick to the schedule and made my way by Tube to Waterloo Station, where I caught a South West Trains (SWT) service to Portsmouth and then onto the Isle of Wight. M'colleague - having spent much of yesterday with me on buses - was in dire need of substantial yet complimentary food - so planned an impromptu trip up the West Coast Main Line (WCML) to the West Midlands and back c/o Virgin West Coast, where he sampled the opulent free food to which those travelling first class are entitled.

I'd never been to the Isle of Wight before and at Portsmouth Harbour paid my return trip on the Wightlink FastCat to Ryde - receiving a 34% discount thanks to my Railrover!

The Wightlink FastCat - fast but expensive!

I had plenty of time to take photos of the unique Island Line train service operation on the island, using 1938 London Underground stock. Many are very critical of SWT, choosing not to retire trains that are 72 years old, and to make the required investment in newer vehicles; personally, I think they fit in well on the island - they look just the ticket for the tourists, while also offering suitable journeys for the island's commuters in that area. Although they are outdated Tube trains, they are operated in full accordance with the National Rail guidelines and offer everything you'd expect any other train service in Great Britain to do.

Ryde Esplanade Station

This train was built in 1938 and spent much of its first life working Bakerloo Line Tube trains until retirmement came in the form of the Island Line.

Having subsequently caught one of the trains from Ryde Esplanade to the terminus at Shanklin, I had an hour before catching my first-ever Southern Vectis bus to Yarmouth. My bus was Service 7A destined for Ventnor and was a service we'd planned to catch as it skirted virtually all the south and south-west of the island before I alighted at the stop nearest Yarmouth's ferry terminal.

Today was nice - the temperature was a few degrees shy of 30C and the cool breeze felt on the crossing from Yarmouth to Lymington was very welcome indeed. A return from anywhere on the mainland to anywhere on the Isle of Wight is possible on any service crossing the Solent. So Portsmouth-Ryde and Yarmouth-Lymington is possible. This was something we'd not been able to get confirmed prior to the trip I seem to remember, though I had it confirmed verbally on the day.

Taken at Yarmouth, this Wightlink Ferry gets ready to sail to Lymington.

M'colleague had planned to meet me at Lymington Pier, where he arrived on one of the historic slam-door Class 421 electric trains used on the service. It was one month before we visited that SWT had chosen to keep the Class 421s on the Lymmington Branch due to its self-contained nature and had set about renewing them so that they were able to continue operating post-November of that year when all slam-door emus had to be removed from service. A few months ago we learned that SWT plan to remove the Class 421s altogether by the end of the year, which would bring to an end over half a century of slam-door operation on this route.

The historic Class 421 electric multiple unit named Freshwater. This and its sister train are now the only remaining slam-door trains operating on the National Rail network.

We caught 1497 Freshwater to Brockenhurst Station where the service terminates. We then had a short hop aboard an SWT Class 450 to Pokesdown, where we stayed overnight at a b+b.

Day 6 started with what Top Gear were to copy from us: we left Bournemouth aboard a Virgin Cross Country Voyager and parted company at Basingstoke to have a race to the first-class lounge at Euston Station. I formed the Clarkson opinion that remaining on the Voyager to Reading and then onto a Class 180 Adelante into Paddington then a Service 205 bus to Euston would be the quickest way. M'colleage (Hammond/May combined) said this was quite frankly ridiculous and the quickest was was to alight at Basingstoke onto a SWT service to Victoria and to catch the Underground to Euston.

Thanks to problems entering Reading, I now had plenty of time to take photos thanks to a missed connection.

I would have won had it not been for the 5 minute wait to be allocated a platform at Reading. Everything else went like clockwork. In typical Top Gear fashion, m'colleague had not managed to take a sip from his first buckshee gin & tonic when I burst through the door, a little flustered.

They are now regular performers in the LEYTR area, running for Hull Trains along the ECML. In 2005 I took my first trip on one - a Class 180 Adelante, between Reading-Paddington.

Service 205 at Euston Station (just before the sprint to the first-class lounge)

We had an hour to kill here before catching a Virgin Pendolino Class 390 to Manchester Piccadilly and back. I'd never been on a Pendolino before and in 2005 they were relatively new. Very little remodelling of the WCML had taken place by then and yet the journey seemed very smooth and efficient. While in Manchester, we spent our hour looking down at the melee from the confines of the first-class lounge, equipped with its mini bar and fridge.

Today was my first-ever trip on a Pendolino. Very impressive!

Our return trip to Euston took place soon after 1700hrs and we were treated to wine and Belgian chocolates in addition to the three-course feast. It is outrageous that Virgin can offer everything edible for free and yet GNER that was offered only free juice/water, fruit/cookies. NXEC have actually got worse!

Back in Euston and very impressed with the journey, the surreptitious tilting on bends, the food and the on-board hospitality, it was back to the first-class lounge to await our third sleeper service: this time Euston-Fort William.

This was our traction from Euston to Edinburgh: an electric Class 90 loco. North of Edinburgh the lines are not electrified, so diesel power is required thereafter.

Day 7: M'colleague and I had spent our third overnight journey aboard a First ScotRail sleeper train from Euston to Fort William. Initially hauled by an electric Class 90, the train's 13 carriages were split in the wee small hours at Edinburgh Waverley to form three onward services: to Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William, hauled by either Class 37 or 67.

My slightly unusual perspective of the West Highland Line. Class 37s are no longer used to haul the sleeper services in Scotland.

My private birth was the first in the leading carriage as we departed Euston - a sublime position for photos out of the carriage window, of both the loco and the seemingly endless carriages behind - but not very comfortable for sleeping since the proximity to the coupling meant I was in for a very jerky ride.

This was one of the reasons why I didn't feel like getting up too early as we progressed northbound along the West Highland Line in what can only be described as amazing scenery. I did get up and join m'colleage in "fotting" the scenery about half an hour before our arrival at Fort William. The complimentary breakfast was up to the same standard as that we'd enjoyed at the start of Day 3, though there were no complimentary news papers I seem to recall. Undertaking this type of week-long jaunt, where you aren't basing yourself to a specific location for anymore than 9 hours, means you do miss out on both local and national news stories. Admittedly, I just forked out 35p for a paper at the Tesco opposite Fort William station but the advertised complimentary copy would have been nicer touch though.

We started with 13, now we're down to 3 - carriages that is. I'm stood at the very back of our Class 37-hauled Caledonian Sleeper train as we approach the terminus, Fort William, in the rain.

This was my first visit to Fort William and it was raining. We didn't have long before we had to catch a Scottish Citylink coach service to Inverness in order to catch a ScotRail service to Aberdeen and then onto another for Edinburgh. In 2005 Citylink was a wholly-owned subsidiary of ComfortDelGro, with no input from Stagecoach and so - unlike my most recent experiences on their services - the advertised Citylink coach service was operated by just that: a Scottish Citylink-liveried vehicle with reclining seats and on board toilet. Quite a contrast to a bog-standard, toiletless, rigid-seated, Stagecoach-liveried Volvo B10M that conveyed us betwixt the two localities last February.

This was the scene in 2005; in 2009 this service (now numbered 919), despite continuing to be promoted as a Citylink service, is operated by a generic Stagecoach Volvo B10M that has fewer internal features than this ageing ex National Express Expressliner!

The coach service got very busy I seem to remember with ad hoc patronage very high. The views of Loch Ness were excellent and we'd positioned ourselves on the correct side of the coach so we could take this in. The rain had stopped by Inverness, which had been our most-used station throughout this Railrover jaunt, making three departures from here.

No sign of Nessie: we did keep a watchful eye out though!

Having travelled up to Inverness via the Highland Line, we chose to travel to Aberdeen via Elgin and the north-east coast. It was a nice enough journey though nothing like that via Kingussie and Blair Atholl! We had very little time in Aberdeen before out next service to Edinburgh departed. M'colleage, having learned that the first Volvo B7Rs purchased by Stagecoach were being deployed on Service 10 linking Inverness with Aberdeen, shot out of the station to try and catch one of these vehicles. He managed it and with a good minute to spare before our Class 170 left for Scotland's capital city. It was also at this point that I realised my memory card on my digital camera had been filled!

We were delayed upon arrival into Edinburgh and it looked as though we'd miss out connecting GNER high-speed service to Newcastle and onward connection to Sunderland. We arrived at precisely the same time the GNER service was due to leave though were happy to be informed via the public address system that those wishing to catch the GNER service to London et al had a few minutes to get to platform 1 where it would be waiting.

It wasn't waiting, it had gone. We were one of the first to leave the train and one of the first to get to platform 1 where we were greeted with just empty tracks. Of course I could now start a rant about how in good old BR days the train would have waited and we'd not have to wait 90 minutes for the next one. But, having travelled all over the country during the past week, all our connections had been met and we were still in possession of first-class Railrovers, so availed ourselves of the facilities located in the first-class lounge. We had the entire place to ourselves. After 7 days I'd become rather tired of chocolate chip cookies, complimentary tea and fruit, but nonetheless forced myself to consume even more.

When we did eventually board what was the last southbound GNER departure from Edinburgh to Newcastle, we deliberately sat in coach A. The reasoning for this was so that m'colleage could smoke. Signs had been placed throughout the train telling passengers that from the end of July that year, GNER would operate a strict no-smoking policy on all its trains. Two years later, though not known to any of us at that time, it would be extended nationally to cover any structure with two or more sides!

The last train we used our Railrovers on was a Pacer for travel from Newcastle to Sunderland. We waited an eternity for a taxi to take us from Sunderland station to the b+b we'd booked along the seafront in Roker.

To summarise our Railrover experience, it is something that anyone interested in public transport should undertake. Obviously it helps if at least one of those travelling has more than just a vague understanding of Britain's railway network, but it is not a fundamental requirement. Throughout our travels we'd been to many places in England and Scotland and honed our itinerary to take-in special workings (Class 37-hauled services to Rhymney) as well as journeys that either one or both of us had yet to made (Thurso by train, a trip on a Pendolino), not to mention sleeper services where, for the price of a reasonable b+b, travellers can get from A to B very efficiently and ensure very little time is wasted, should you be on a tight schedule.

The parallel between Lord Adonis' recent Railrover experience and ours is that we both did them to further our knowledge of the network. Be you a novice, a hard-core rail enthusiast or the Minister of State for Transport, it's something that cannot be anything other than beneficial.

The End.

The LEYTR Railrover experience has been uploaded to the LEYTRavels blog, devoid of individual parts; it can be accessed there in its entirety in one entry. (GL)

N.B. For those interested in how we returned to Lincolnshire from Roker, we spent 2 July travelling the Tyne & Wear Metro system and on 3 July I caught one of those new-fangled Megabus services from Newcastle to Meadowhall and then Transpennine Express train, while m'colleague caught a National Express Butlins special coach service direct from Sunderland to Skegness. Some photos of the T&W Metro can be seen below.

It may not look like a light rail train but the Shields Ferry plays an integral part of the Metro system, permitting travellers to travel between North and South Shields quicker than travelling around the river by Metro.

Our at-a-glance 7-day Railrover itinerary

Day 1, 26 June 2005
London King's Cross - Inverness (GNER HST)

Day 2, 27 June 2005
Inverness - Wick (First ScotRail Class 158)
Wick - John o' Groats (Rapsons Service 77A)
John o' Groats - Thurso (Rapsons Service 80)
Thurso - Inverness (First ScotRail Class 158)
Inverness - London Euston (First ScotRail Sleeper Class 67/90)

Day 3, 28 June 2005
London Euston - Paddington Basin (Metroline Service 205)
London Paddington - Cardiff Central (First Great Western HST)
Cardiff Central - Rhymney (Arriva Trains Wales Class 37)
Rhymney - Cardiff Central (Arriva Trains Wales Class 156)
Cardiff Central - Bristol Parkway (First Great Western HST)
Bristol Parkway - Bristol Temple Meads (Virgin Cross Country Voyager)
Bristol Temple Meads - Avonmouth (Wessex Trains Pacer)

Day 4, 29 June 2005
Avonmouth - Bristol city centre (First Bristol bus service)
Bristol city centre - Cheddar (First Service 672)
Cheddar - Wells (First Service 126)
Wells - Taunton Station (First Service 29)
Taunton - Exeter St. David (Virgin Cross Country Voyager)
Exeter St. David - Penzance (Virgin Cross Country Voyager)
Penzance - Mousehole - Penzance (First Service 6)
Penzance - London Paddington (First Great Western Sleeper Class 57)

Day 5, 30 June 2005
Paddington - Baker Street (Underground - Hammersmith & City line)
Baker Street - Waterloo (Underground - Jubilee line)
London Waterloo - Portsmouth Harbour (South West Trains Class 450 Desiro)
Portsmouth Harbour - Ryde Harbour (Wightlink FastCat)
Ryde Esplanade - Shanklin (Island Line LT 1938 stock)
Shanklin town centre - Yarmouth Pier (Southern Vectis Service 7A)
Yarmouth Pier - Lymington Pier (Wightlink Ferry)
Lymington Pier - Brockenhurst (South West Trains Class 421/7)
Brockenhurst - Pokesdown (South West Trains Class 450 Desiro)

Day 6, 1 July 2005
Pokesdown - Bournemouth (Wilts & Dorset 'more 2')
Bournemouth - Reading (Virgin Cross Country Voyager)
Reading - London Paddington (First Great Western Class 180 Adelante)
Paddington Basin - Euston (Metroline Service 205)
London Euston - Manchester Piccadilly (Virgin West Coast Pendolino)
Manchester Piccadilly - London Euston (Virgin West Coast Pendolino)
London Euston - Fort William (First ScotRail Sleeper Class 90/37)

Day 7, 2 July 2005
Fort William - Inverness (Scottish Citylink Service 198)
Inverness - Aberdeen (First ScotRail Class 158)
Aberdeen - Edinburgh (First ScotRail Class 170 Turbostar)
Edinburgh - Newcastle (GNER Class 91)
Newcastle - Sunderland (Northern Rail Pacer)

Bold type denotes sections covered by the All-lines Railrover.

The New Lincoln - London Train Service

2008-12-15T23:59:00.003Z

SKEGNESS - LINCOLN - LONDON - LINCOLN - SKEGNESS

Please click on any photo for a larger version

It was back in the early 1980's that I last travelled on what was a through train from Cleethorpes to King' Cross, on which I did a short trip from Lincoln St Mark's station to Grantham. The train consisted of a class 47 hauling Mk2 air conditioned carriages. Despite objections from the public and in Parliament, it was withdrawn and last ran on 16 May 1993. Since then, Lincoln has been without a through train to the nation's Capital.

One of the promises made by Stagecoach if they gained the franchise for East Midlands Trains, was to provide a through service from Lincoln to London. They duly created a Monday to Saturday service between Lincoln and St Pancras via Nottingham which commenced today (15 December), with one trip to London in the morning and a return in the evening.

So it was that both the LEYTR Editor's (myself and Graham) set out to travel on the very first trip, Graham driving from Cleethorpes and me having a very early start on the 0520 Stagecoach service 6 bus from Skegness. Thankfully all went to plan and it allowed me 10 minutes to make my way from the bus station to the railway station to get the 0708 to St Pancras on arrival at Lincoln.

I'd pre-booked our tickets on 20 November (ironically through the National Express East Coast website!), Advance Single tickets costing £32 each (exactly half the walk on fare).

There was just enough time to get a photograph of 222012 at Lincoln before boarding. On the platform, were the Town Crier, the press and various railway officials there to see off the very first departure. The train runs to Lincoln from Nottingham empty to work the service.

A few "teething troubles" from the start as we were instructed to ignore the seat reservations - even more necessary in one carriage due to there being no heating. We soon found a place, the BBC cameraman sat a few seats behind and a group of trainee Conductors apparently on route learning on a nearby table. An interior photo (complete with Graham's reflection!) can be seen below.

Still in darkness, we departed from Lincoln, the conductor announcing "Welcome aboard this historic first service from Lincoln". As we enjoyed our complimentary coffees (one of the perks of travelling in first class), we were each offered a complimentary Celebrations sweet by one of the EMT managers travelling on board.

The first scheduled stop is Collingham. Platforms here being short, passengers alighting were asked by announcement to move to the leading carriages - this also applied to Newark Castle. We then progressed to Nottingham. Another announcement informed us that there might be a slight bump as we were joining onto another train (222007). There appeared to be a few minutes delay before we got under way, now consisting of 10 carriages. Just before departure another announcement was made that passengers for Beeston needed to be at the front of the train, again due to short platforms.

After Trent Junction, we soon passed the site of the new East Midlands Parkway station. Work on this was well in progress. It was supposed to have been open with the introduction of the winter timetable yesterday, but this has been delayed, and it is now hoped it will be open for early 2009.

After calling at Leicester, we progressed down the Midland Mainline. By this time I was feeling a bit hungry, so ordered a bacon baguette. The conductors on the route appear to have to multi-task and I duly placed my order. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure if we'd got any sandwiches on board but duly went off to check returning about 10 minutes later. The bacon didn't taste particularly nice, but I was impressed by the customer service!

The toilet was rather impressive. Clean, and as well as the usual items, were sterile toilet seat wipes and hand cream!

After the stops at Market Harborough, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford and Luton Airport Parkway, we approached St Pancras and watched a Eurostar departing. Arrival at our destination was at 1010, just 10 minutes later than the scheduled time.

Trying to get a shot of Eurostars from the station itself is not easy, but I did manage to get this one.

We left St Pancras and had a ride on a bendibus to Hyde Park Corner to visit a German Christmas Market there. al as cowded as the one at Lincoln, we enjoyed a mulled wine and a German smoked sausage each, and decided to have a brief trip on one of the remaining two routes operated by Routemasters.

Whilst waiting, I noticed over the road what appeared to be a distinctive building which I initially assumed to be the surface remains of one of the many disused stations on the London underground. Further researches have revealed this to be the original entrance to Hyde Park Corner station when access to the platforms was gained by lift. This was replaced by escalators and closed in the early 1930's and is now a Pizza restaurant.

The first Routemaster we saw was 627 DYE, new to London Transport in November 1963. It is illustrated on the left whilst working the service 9 from The Albert Hall to Aldwych.

Next was 650 DYE, new in July 1963, and wearing a silver livery for the Queen's Jubilee in 1977.

Once under way, there was a lucky opportunity to photograph 562 CLT, new in April 1963, picking up at Green Park on a service 9 to The Albert Hall.

Reaching the terminus at Aldwych, chance to get a quick photo of the Routemaster on which we travelled, ALD 913B, younger than those we'd previously seen, being new to London Transport in June 1964. It is seen outside the Warldorf Hotel along with a traditional red telephone box!

Service 15 is the other route operated by Routemasters. Here we saw WLT 324, new in July 1960, is seen on its way from Tower Hill to Trafalgar Square. In the background is the church of St Mary le Strand.

Waiting for a bus at the Strand gave us the opportunity to see 218 CLT, new in December 1962, on a service 9 to the Albert Hall.

We made our way to Oxford Street, this time on a modern Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied double-decker, and walked around some extremely busy shops. One of the smaller ones, which sold a wide range of items from luggage to hats also had, under a glass counter, a rather odd looking substance in a packet labelled "Skunk - intoxicating and legal"!

With the failing light, crowds and traffic, trying to photograph anything in Oxford Street proved a challenge although did manage to get this one of Mercedes bendibus BX04 MYF on a service 73 from Victoria to Seven Sisters.

Suitably tired after walking around several hours, we adjourned for a pint at the Montagu Pyke on Charing Cross Road, a surprisingly quiet Wetherspoons establishment. Next it was another bendibus ride, this time to take us to Euston to visit the Doric Arch, a railway themed pub. Just time before to get one quick photo of LX06 ECE at Euston bus station on a service 68 to West Norwood.

The walls inside the Doric Arch pub are decorated with all manner of maps and railway ephemera.

And a very large model of steam locomotive 92004 on a shelf.

We walked back to St Pancras taking a few minutes to admire the extensive work which had been done rebuilding and cleaning the extensive train shed.

A quick check of the departure board saw the through train to Lincoln lusted, although no indication as to whuch platform it went from.

A large number of passengers gathered to board the departures to Derby, Sheffield and Lincoln, and it was 10 minutes before the booked departure time of 1830 the platform number appeared on the indicator and we were allowed to board.

It was again formed of two class 222 units, with 008 at the rear and 015 leading, the latter to run through to Lincoln. Curiously "Derby" was the destination stated on the blind!

Making our way out of London, we were once again treated to complimentary coffee and also a glass of wine. Normally EMT only allows one glass per person, but due to their being few passengers in our section, we were allowed an additional one each! The conductor appeared to be responsible for catering as well as ticket checks - it would be interesting to see how they cope if it gets busy and any passengers also require meals. Although these are on the menu, no mention was made by announcement of their availability. Scheduled stops were at Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester (where we saw the interesting sight of a Cross Country Voyager unit on a local Peterborough to Birmingham New Street service!), Loughborough and Beeston. At Nottingham, 222008 was detached and we continued with stops at Lowdham, Newark Castle (where we blocked the level crossing a few minutes due to the length of the train) and Collingham. Arrival at Lincoln was at 2129, just 4 minutes late.

The train returns as the 2140 to Nottingham calling at Newark Castle and Lowdham. After watching it depart, I wearily made my way to the uphill part of Lincoln for a couple of pints in The Peacock, whilst waiting the 2300 Stagecoach service 6 bus to Skegness. I arrived back home 25 past midnight, tired but thankful I had the opportunity to travel on the first EMT trains between Lincoln and St Pancras.

Skegness-Lincoln-Grantham-Claypole-Newark-Lincoln-Skegness

2008-04-19T23:00:00.010+01:00

SKEGNESS - LINCOLN - GRANTHAM - CLAYPOLE - NEWARK - LINCOLN - SKEGNESS

Please click on any photo for a larger version

As has been the case the past few days, it was a cold start to my journey which began on the 0600 Connect 6 service from Skegness to Lincoln. Working this was Stagecoach Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini 16940 (FX06 AOB). An uneventful trip, and I was to be the solitary passenger until we picked up a couple of people on he outskirts of Lincoln. This was good news as I was secretly hoping we'd arrive earlier than the timetabled 0738 so that I could connect with the Connect 1 service to Grantham at 0735. The following 0805 departure would only have given me a very tight 5 minute connection at Grantham!

I had no cause for worry as we encircled the bus station, I noticed the 0735 was not in the stand. After about 10 minutes I was getting somewhat anxious that it still hadn't appeared just as Alexander-Dennis Trident 2 / Alexander-Dennis Enviro 19121 (FX07 CLV) arrived. Passengers alighted and those at the front of the queue were ready to board as it pulled away up to the next stand! A girl in front told another that she used the bus every day and it was always late. Happily, sister vehicle 19122 (FX07 CLY) pulled up to form our service and we departed at 0748, 13 minutes late.

Travelling upstairs I had a good view of the surrounding countryside. After Waddington we passed Mike Gallagher's premises where are stored a number of vintage buses. Sadly, this suffered at the hands of a young arsonist last year, and a number of vehicles were destroyed including an ex-Lincolnshire Road Car Bristol FLF, the last LRCC example in the UK, the burnt remains of which can be seen in the photograph below.

Continuing towards Grantham, we caught our one and only glimpse of the sun and passed sister Enviro 19124 (FX07 CME) on a Grantham to Lincoln run.

Once in Grantham, we encountered Centrebus Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Pointer SN55 DVC on town service 1 to Alma Park.

Arrival at Grantham bus station was at 0900, just 5 minutes late leaving me with 30 minutes for my connection. For the intervening time I had a walk to the railway station. Engineering work meant that there were no train services to Skegness or Nottingham, being replaced respectively, by buses to Sleaford and Grantham.

Grand Central have been experiencing some problems with their HST fleet and, as a result, with one out of action, have hired a rake of carriages and two class 67 (020 & 026) operating in lieu of an HST set. I was fortunate enough to be at Grantham to see it pass through whilst working the 0757 London King's Cross to Sunderland with 67026 leading.

Time to return to the bus station to catch the Stagecoach service 602 to Newark. This was to be the very last day this route was operated as it was to pass to Centrebus the following Monday. Working it was one of the few MCW's still with the company, 15954 (POG 490Y), which was new to Travel West Midlands in 1982.

Fortunately, the driver had left the engine running and pulled into the stop 5 minutes early, so giving everyone a welcome break from standing in the cold. I took my place upstairs at the front as we made our way out of Grantham through Gonerby and then joined the A1 for a spirited run, until turning off to reach Long Bennington.

I alighted at the village of Claypole, and having helped an old lady board, had just enough time to take a photograph of 15954.

I had some time to spare so had a walk to the church dedicated to St Pete r which dates from the 13th Century.

Time then to walk to the level crossing with the East Coast Main Line. Originally Claypole had a station at this location, although this closed to passengers on 16 September 1957. The original signal box has also long since gone, replaced by a rather unimpressive modern brick structure. One point of interest is that it still retains the original Great Northern Railway name board!

I was surprised how busy this minor road was, and the level crossing barriers came down several times in the few minutes I was there, shortly before National Express East Coast trains passed through at speed.

The Hull Trains loco-hauled set is what I was actually waiting for, and this day was its last booked working as it was on standby the following two weeks. The video below shows heritage 86101 at the rear as it passes through Claypole on the 0934 King's Cross to Doncaster.

I made two mistakes before I set off in my haste and tiredness. I'd taken the faulty camera instead of my main one. It works ok but the screen is broken, so for the day I was "shooting blind" not knowing what the results were until I got home and downloaded them. The second was forgetting to pick up my itinerary and timetables I'd printed out the day before.

I was rather concerned that I'd not seen the 602 to Grantham at 1039 (it was 1100 by then), particularly as this was working the service I was to catch to Newark and, should it have not run, I would have been stuck in Claypole. If I had my timetable, I would have realised that only services which call at Stubton go over the level crossing (one a day each way). This became apparent when I walked back to the village and saw a sign - clearly the bus turned right in the village and had gone direct down this road to Dry Doddington! Phew - what a relief!

Heading to the Wheatsheaf pub, a young lad passed me and said "Good Morning". Must admit I was somewhat aghast at such a polite child, and took the opportunity to ask him where the bus went from and he told me to wait in front of the village hall.

Unfortunately, the Wheatsheaf was closed, so I doubled back to the other pub (The Five Bells) for a pint and to sit somewhere warm. Whilst Claypole is not a big village, it does at least have a few amenities in the form of the two pubs, a small shop and a hairdresser!

It was then time to wait for the bus, 15954, on which I would travel back to Newark. Just chance to get a photograph of it outside the village hall.

Arrival at Newark was on time, and I had 30 minutes for my connection to Lincoln. 15954 went into the depot.

It was replaced by Mercedes / Optare Prisma 23952 (R201 YOR) which is seen in the depot just before it departed on the 1225 service 602 to Grantham.

Also in the depot were two withdrawn MCWs, 15983 (POG 584Y) and 15966 (POG 520Y).

Another MCW, 15949 (POG 480Y) departed on the 1230 service 29 to Southwell.

Also seen at Newark was Veolia's Transbus Enviro SJ56 GCF.

My return to Lincoln was on Optare 47463 (FX07 LJC)

The 1300 service 46 is the last through service to Lincoln of the day, and we set off exactly on time. Although the two locations are only 18 miles apart, we were not due into Lincoln until 1425, as the service spends much time away from the main road to serve Witham St Hugh's and Swinderby.

The temperature appeared to have dropped and I spent the time between buses photographing anything of interest. Amongst these were Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Pointer 2 34185 (W185 DNO), having recently been transferred from Skegness deopt, on a service 29 to Skellingthorpe.

Also seen was Enviro 19072 (MX56 FTE), which was new to Greater Manchester South, on a 66 to the Birchwood Estate.

One of the diminishing number of vehicles in Road Car/Superbuzz livery, Dennis Dart SLF / East Lancs Spryte 33217 (V517 XTL), departs on the 631 to Sleaford. This was also one of the last 631's as the service was renumbered 31 on the following Monday.

I had planned to travel back on the 1455 service 10 to Mablethorpe and return to Skegness from there. However, the cold and tiredness got the better of me, so I opted to take the 1500 Connect 6 back to Skegness on which was Volvo B7TL / East Lancs Gemini 16944 (FX06 AOF). Predictably, whilst most people formed a queue, the youths decided to congregate towards the front to barge on. I've found a way to combat this by keeping as close behind the person in front as possible!

I travelled in the warm seat at the back of the lower deck. Back in Skegness it was time for a pint and then write up this blog!

PW

Part 5: Stockport-Manchester-Birmingham-Wragby-Skegness

2008-03-18T23:00:00.000Z

STOCKPORT - MANCHESTER - BIRMINGHAM - WRAGBY - SKEGNESS

Please click on any photo for a larger version

Following breakfast, we left the hotel and made our way to Stockport by way of the 192. En-route we saw Trent/Barton Optare Excel 262 (Y262 DRC) working the 1015 Skyline 199 service from Manchester Airport to Buxton.

My Co-Editor was catching the train back and I had plenty of time to spare so had a walk with him to the railway station at Stockport. This was one of two stations in Stockport, previously known as Edgeley. The other, Tiviot Dale closed as long ago a 2 January 1967. Despite much redevelopment, fragments survive as does a tunnel beneath Lancashire Hill, from where the line continued beneath the present massive viaduct carrying the Stockport - Manchester main line. There was at one time talk of extending the Manchester Metrolink by way of this trackbed, but sadly the tunnel was made unstable by the building of a nearby motorway even if the scheme had gone ahead. An excellent archive shot of a train emerging from the tunnel approaching Tiviot Dale station can be seen here.

Sadly, time did not permit the walk to see the remains of the railway, so instead I took a few photographs of vehicles at Stockport. First seen was Stagecoach Meredes Benz Vario / Plaxton Beaver 42569 (R446 YNF) on a service 309.

Next seen was MAN / Alexander 22228 (X228 BNE) on a 192.

Also on a 192 was Enviro 19014 (MX06 XAO).

I took a 192 to Manchester and alighted near to Piccadilly station, mainly to take a look at the former Mayfield Railway Station. Whilst there, noted was 18033 (MX53 FLN), a Transbus Trident 2 with Plaxton President body, on a service 219 to Ashton.

Manchester Mayfield Station was closed to passengers on 23 August 1960. Since then it has seen use as a parcels depot, and a film location, notably for The Last Train. Unfortunately the building also suffered due to arsonists in 2005. It is still connected to the main line near Piccadilly Station, albeit the rails have long since been lifted. There has been talk of reopening it to provide additional capacity (for more information, please see here).

One remarkable surviving artefact is in one of the windows where "MAYFIELD STATION" can just be made out (I've enhanced the photo to hopefully make this clearer).

Leaving Mayfield, I made my way back to London Road, here seeing Stagecoach MAN / Alexander 22156 (S156 TRJ). In the background is the bridge which carries the railway line between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Oxford Road.

Further along London Road, Metrolink Tram 1005 approaches Piccadilly Station.

Also noted on London Road was this gem, in particular the sign which reads "ENQUIRY DELIVERY SHIPPING CARTAGE & GOODS AGENTS OFFICE" - a remarkable survivor and, I suspect, links back to when the original London Road (now Piccadilly) railway station once handled goods. I particularly like the finger pointing to define the entry! The picture is a little deceptive as only the front of the building is in tact - see here for another perspective!

Taking a less than direct route to Chorlton Street, I passed Piccadilly Gardens and noted First Manchester's Volvo B9TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini 37307 (MX07 BVC) on an X34 service to Leigh, route branded "The Spinning Jenny".

After an inadvertent albeit interesting foray into the China Town district, I found my way back to Portland Street where I coincidentally managed to photograph Magic Bus tri-axle Leyland Olympian / Alexander RH 13653 (J925 FPS). This was new to Hong Kong Buses, then registered EW 9357 and subsequently appears to have gone to Stagecoach Bluebird in Aberdeen.

With 30 minutes or so to kill at Chorlton Street, I set about photographing anything that looked to be of interest. Firstly was Rossendale Transport's Volvo B7RLE / Wright Gemini Eclipse 153 (PO53 0BP) on an X46 to Rochdale. Rossendales website (click here) is also worth a look as a section for enthusiasts includes a fleet list.

Another interesting vehicle was Lancashire United (Transdev) Volvo B7TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2765 (PO55 PYP), route branded for "The Lancashire Way" on an X41 to Accrington.

Also seen was Megabus Neoplan 50129 (SV54 ELO), which was new to Stagecoach Bluebird in 2005.

Also seen arriving was East Yorkshire's Levante 61 (YX07 HJC) on the 0830 service 390 from Hull DOcks to Manchester.

I boarded my coach, the National Express service 325 to Birmingham and we departed exactly on time at 1250. The vehicle was Veolia's YR52 VFB, a Scania with Van Hool Alizee body - sadly not the Scania PB I was hoping for. I chose my seat towards the front of the lightly loaded coach to avoid a screaming baby towards the rear - not that it made much difference as it was that loud! The driver announced the toilet was out of action having been damaged by passengers on the inward route - happily I didn't need to use it.

First calling point was Manchester Airport (retracing my steps from two days earlier). Here was Stagecoach 17655 (V155 OFT), a Dennis Trident 2 with Alexander ALX400 body on a service 105 to Manchester.

Hayton's Scania / Berkhof YN06 TFY was also noted on the 1115 National Express service 325 from Birmingham to Manchester.

The following stop was at Stoke-on-Trent - unfortunately I wasn't ideally positioned to get a photograph, so did one of some vehicles parked up through the opposite window.

The lack of the toilet meant a 10 minute unscheduled stop at the Stafford services, happily allowing me time to get a photograph of the coach.

Even with the brief delay of the toilet stop, we managed to arrive a few minutes early at the Coach Station in Birmingham. This was my first visit to the temporary premises which replace the now demolished Digbeth Coach Station, closed in November 2007.

The interior of the Waiting Area in Birmingham Coach Station. A new coach station will open in 2010.

Amongst the vehicles there was Go Northern's 7081 (Y781 MFT), a Volvo B10M-62 / Plaxton Paragon, which was working the 1000 National Express service 531 from Plymouth to Newcastle.
Also seen was East Yorkshire Motor Services Levante 66 (YX07 HJJ) on the 1125 National Express service 322 from Swansea to Hull.

I joined the 339 on its long cross-country journey from Westward Ho! to Grimsby on which was First Devon & Cornwall Volvo B2M / Plaxton Panther WK52 SVV. As per usual, we left with every seat taken.

One thing that did surprise me was the route taken from the Coach Station which went past the former Curzon Street Railway Station, the very first station to open in Birmingham.

At Leicester, the majority of passengers alighted leaving the rest of us to spread out and enjoy the refreshment break, also allowing me time to get a quick photo of the coach.

Wragby was reached in good time, and I had a well earnt pint, then returned home to Skegness - coincedentally back on Stagecoach 16940, the very first vehicle I had set out on five days earlier!

(PW)

Part 4: Stockport-Manchester-Stockport

2008-03-16T23:00:00.001Z

STOCKPORT - MANCHESTER - STOCKPORT

Please click on any photo for a larger version

A nice leisurely start to the day, suitably refreshed after a sleep and sustained courtesy of a "Full English", the LEYTR Editor's made their way to Manchester by way of the frequent Stagecoach service 192 between Stepping Hill Hospital and Manchester. Good views could be gained from the front seat of the top deck, and amongst the vehicles observed at Stockport was Enviro 19020 (MX06 XAZV) heading in the opposite direction.

After enjoying the scenic delights of the McVities biscuit factory and Longsight, on arrival at Manchester , we loitered in the centre of Manchester on this rather cold morning photographing anything of interest. Firstly, Mayne's Scania N113/Northern Counties G115 SBA. Mayne's was the remaining oldest company in the city having been established in the 1920's, and was purchased by Stagecoach in 2007. Consequently, we were glad to get a photo of a vehicle still in the original operating livery.

Also seen was a First Manchester Bendibus 12006 (YN05 GYD), a Scania N94UA with Scania AB58D body.

Making our way to Victoria Railway Station, we passed the Shudehill Interchange where First's Optare Solo 40331 (ML02 OGA) was working the circular service from Victoria Station to Oxford Road Station.

Manchester Victoria dates from 1844 and the imposing façade, built by William Dawes in 1909, still lists the many places served by the respective railway companies, as diverse as Scotland and Ireland, to the more local Bury (now served by Metrolink) and Fleetwood (closed to passengers on 18 April 1966).

Having established where the free Vintage Bus Service departed from, we had a short wait. In the meantime, Arriva's DAF/Ikarus Y37 KNB passed on an M10 from Brookhouse.

Our vintage service was operated by Leyland Titan PD3/4 / East Lancs. TTD 386H, a vehicle new to SELNEC in November 1969 wearing Bolton Corporation livery. It is seen below after arrival at the Museum, a journey which only took around 15 minutes.

There was a special event taking place at the Greater Manchester Museum of Transport, namely the Spring Transport Festival taking place over the weekend. This meant a number of vehicles could be seen at the front. Amongst these was ex-SELNEC 1700 (YDB 453L), a Seddon Pennine IV with Seddon DP20F body, new in October 1972. I recall such vehicles many years ago operating the free service between Manchester and Piccadilly Railway Stations!

Another vehicle of interest was TRN 481V an immaculately preserved ex-Ribble Leyland Atlantean / ECW, dating from 1980.

A general view of the vehicles on display at the front of the Museum.

The publicity poster advertised over 150 stalls selling transport ephemera, and we certainly were not disappointed by what we found! My co-Editor added to his extensive tie and book collection and I purchased a couple of photographs from another stall of Lincolnshire Road Car vehicles!

Ironically, I found one stall selling various transport signs amongst them being this one with a local connection to me!

Photographing the internal exhibits proved to be rather challenging, particularly as they were so closely parked together. Amongst them was DB5070, a Tilling-Stevens TS6 dating from 1925.

Also of interest was Manchester TNA 520, a Leyland PD2 with Burlingham body dating from 1958.

Not only buses are displayed, but also an extensive collection of transport ephemera including this assortment of bus stop signs.

Another item of interest was this Yelloway sign.

Also on display, a large collection of models in North Western Road Car livery.

And also an authentic North Western poster, interestingly featuring an Alexander Y type bodied vehicle.

Return to Manchester was on ex-Wigan Corporation HEK 705, a Leyland PD3A/2 with Massey body dating from 1961. Some video footage of it working an earlier departure can be seen below.

Having returned to Manchester, we called at the impressively dome refreshment room at Victoria Station, and thence briefly called into a nearby Lloyds bar for some refreshment. Must admit to being rather disconcerted by seeing doormen working on a Sunday afternoon!

After a brief tram ride, We then used what remaining daylight was left to photograph anything of interest, initially Metrolink tram 1004 at Piccadilly Gardens on its way to Bury.
At Mosley Street we saw Magic Bus (also owned by Stagecoach) 15183 (M683 TDB), a tri-axle Dennis Dragon transferred from Stagecoach Kenya in 1998.

At St Peter's Square, amongst vehicles noted was Arriva's M217 AKB, an East Lancs-bodied Dennis Dart which had worked a service 99 from Sale. In the background is the Library Theatre built in 1934.

Making our way to Chorlton Street, we encountered one of the vehicles which had been attending the event at the Museum, very much within its former territory. Ex-Greater Manchester PTE 8551 (ANA 551Y), a Leyland Atlantean with Northern Counties body dating from 1982.

Also seen at Portland Street was Finglands Volvo / Alexander 1743 (N743 VBA).

We eventually reached the site of the former Chorlton Street Coach Station, much rebuilt and on Monday 25 March 2002 it reopened as Manchester Central Coach Station, a vast improvement on the former dark and dismal place. I took a quick photograph below, the nearest vehicle being Go Northern's 7084 (Y784 MFT), a Volvo B10M-62 with Plaxton Paragon body working the 1530 service 380 from Liverpool to Newcastle-upon-Tyne (rather ironic as I'd travelled from there the day before!).
In the interests of saving a walk, we noticed the Transpeak service was due at 1700, which meant just a few minutes wait. Unfortunately, it was running around 10 minutes late and eventually we boarded Volvo B10M/Plaxton 60 (R960 RAU) and enjoyed the unusual luxury of a table on the short trip to Stockport! We also faced a slight diversion due to a gun being fired at a car in Longsight closing the main route (which is what delayed the service on its inward journey).

At Stockport bus station, there was just enough light to photograph a group of Stagecoach vehicles beneath the impressive viaduct which carries the main railway line between Manchester and Stockport. Opened in 1842, it has 27 arches, is 111 feet high, and was built using eleven million bricks.

Having had a good day and now somewhat tired, we adjourned to find the Wetherspoons. It was further from the bus station than I thought (possibly due to us taking a less than direct route). I was less impressed to find that where we needed to be involved climbing three flights of stairs! Luckily, my colleague being younger and fitter took it in his stride as can be seen below!

Suitably watered, we called for a pizza, then returned to the hotel by way of the 192. A brief rest at the hotel bar before retiring to our respective rooms to get some sleep before the return trip home the next day.

(PW)

Part 3: Seaburn-Sunderland-Gateshead-Newcastle-Carlisle-Manchester-Stockport

2008-03-15T23:00:00.002Z

SEABURN - SUNDERLAND - GATESHEAD - NEWCASTLE - CARLISLE - MANCHESTER - STOCKPORT

Please click on any photo for a larger version

With plenty of time to travel to Newcastle, I made my way to the carriage for breakfast. I was wary of the fact that this may be the very last time I would enjoy this facility as the carriages have been sold. The owner initially placed them on ebay, but after not reaching the reserve price, they were (according to staff) sold privately. They will be removed and the place will be redeveloped into a larger hotel. With this in mind I took one last photo with Stagecoach Volvo B10M-55/Alexander 20135 (P135 SCN) passing on an E2 to South Shields.

I took the E1 service to Sunderland at 1010 on 21002 (M902 DRG). Unlike the previous day of bright sunshine, it was rather overcast and the drizzle was starting to annoy me, so I opted to take the next available service, the Go North East X2 "Red Arrow", to Newcastle at 1045. On this was Mercedes Citaro 5275 (NK07 KPG). Unfortunately, I did not get chance to obtain an external photograph, but did get one of sister vehicle 5276 at Sunderland the previous day.
Although I did manage to get an interior shot of the Citaro.

I cannot say this is one of the most scenic runs I have ever been on - indeed, Washington was by far the most depressing looking place I have ever seen! Road works at Gateshead meant my arrival was 5 minutes late. I then took the opportunity to get a few photos at Gateshead Interchange, one of which being of Fo North East DAF/Wright 8245 (NA52 BVB) route branded "The Crusader".
As with Sunderland, Gateshead had vehicles in a wide variety of colour schemes, although I still maintain my reservations about buses in pink!
My trip then took a rather unusual turn (as per plan). I spent the next 20 minutes photographing the multi-storey car park at Gateshead. The reason for this is its claim to fame as being featured in the 1971 film Get Carter with Michael Caine in the lead role of Jack Carter.
The connection with this film has made this building an icon and many refer to it as "the Get Carter Car Park". It dominates the area and is due for demolition during April 2008. Whilst photographing the building, a Parking Attendant gave me a lot of information. He also mentioned that as well as Get Carter, it was a location for an episode of The Bill.

It's pending demise was one of the main reasons for my visit. Interestingly, the normal option of demolition using explosives has been ruled out due to the Metro passing beneath, so it will be taken down in stages.

I set about doing a few comparison shots. In one scene, Carter confronts Cliff Brumby (played by Bryan Mosley) at the top of the car park which Brumby is converting into a restaurant. Ironically that was the original intention in real life although this never transpired. The screen grab on the left is inside the restaurant, which I photographed the exterior of from ground level.
Two other comparison shots from the film on the left, and my present views on the right

For more information and comparison shots, please visit the Get Carter Tour.

I decided to walk to Newcastle as this would give me more opportunity for photos. Luckily this was the correct choice as I managed to get one of Go North East bendi-bus NK51 OLU.
Also seen was "Fab 56" route-branded NK54 NVD.
Trying to get photographs on the Tyne Bridge proved to be rather a challenge, mainly down to fast flowing traffic in the foreground. Luckily, after a few failed attemts with a 4x4 and a few articulated lorries in front of the pictures, I managed to get one of Arriva's DAF/Plaxton S705 KFT.
Also seen was Go North East Scania NK56 KHM.
Looking in the opposite direction, Go North East Mercedes Citaro NK07 KPO heads into Newcastle on an X2 from Sunderland.
The bridge also gives a fine vantage point of the Tyne and two of the other bridges. In the foreground is the Swing Bridge and in the distance the High Level Bridge. This carries the East Coast Main Line and a road on the lower level.

It was also one of the locations used in the film Get Carter.

Proceeding into Newcastle, I made my way to the railway station. Opposite this is the O'Neill's pub which was also used as a location in Get Carter. At this time it was named the Vic & Comet (nicknamed the "Spit & Vomit")!

At the railway station I noticed a gathering of enthusiasts at the end of the platform. This is usually a sign that something interesting is likely to appear. I opted to visit the toilet first, this turned out to be a mistake as I found a charter train stood in the platform when I returned! It was Pathfinder Tours "Choppington Changer" railtour from King's Cross to York using a variety of motive power. I was in time to see Fast Line 56303 haul it out.

I also managed to get a few minutes of video footage (sorry about the shakes!)

Leaving the station, I slowly made my way to Eldon Square. Amongst the vehicles seen on the way was Go North East Dennis Trident/Plaxton President 3890 (NK51 UCT) on a service 327 to the DFDS Ferry Terminal. In the background is the 134ft tall Grey's Monument.
At Blackett Street was Stagecoach ADL Enviro 400, 19157 (NK07 HAX).
At the same location, was Go North East 3804 (V804 EBR) with "Coaster" route branding.
Proceeding to Haymarket Bus Station, Arriva Scania/East Lancs B15103 (N283 NCN) departed on an X3 to Blyth.
Just a year old, the Eldon Square Bus Station opened on 18 March 2007. I had some difficulty finding the pedestrian access to this initially, but once located was rather impressed at this modern building.
Seen arriving at Eldon Square Bus Station was Go North East Dennis SPD/Plaxton 8223 (X223 FBB), the yellow route branding looking very bright and a reminder of the good old days of the Tyne & Wear PTE yellow livery!
It was soon time to progress, and I boarded the 1445 service 685 for the trans-England trip to Carlisle. This is jointly operated by Stagecoach and Arriva, the full trip taking just over two hours. A scheduled break of a few minutes at Hexham Bus Station enabled me to take a photograph on the vehicle I was using, Volvo B10M-55/Alexander 20474 (R474 MCW), new to Burnley & Pendle in 1997. It was an enjoyable run across England even if not quite as scenic as I had hoped. At Carlisle I was greeted with rain and light was failing, so made photography rather challenging. A variety of Stagecoach vehocles were parked up at the bus station.
Arriva use route branded coaches on the 685 route.
Also noted was Selwyn's DAF/Van Hool YJ54 CFD on the 533 National Express service from Glasgow to Wrexham.
After checking at the National Express office that my service was on time, the toilets there were out of action, so meant a walk to the nearby shopping centre in the rain.

On return, I did not have long to wait for the 538 National Express service from Aberdeen to Manchester Airport to appear, on which was Trathens Neopolan LSK 815. I took my seat upstairs and with a lighter than expected load of passengers had little difficulty in finding somewhere to sit. We departed exactly on time and then progressed down the M6 in the pouring rain, and had a 20 minute stop at Tebay services which gave me a good opportunity to get a photograph of the coach. Internally, the ride was very comfortable but unfortunately the temperature was very warm. The driver had switched the heater off at Tebay at the request of the passengers, but the blowers remained switched off throughout the trip making it akin to travelling in a sauna!

I was quite relieved to reach Manchester Airport 10 minutes early and get some fresh air. Checking the Trent 199 "Skyline" timetable, the next service was due to depart at 2045. In the event, Optare Excel 264 (Y264 DRC) departed 10 minutes late.

Alighting at Stockport, I walked from the bus station to Wellington Road to catch one of the frequent service 192's which would drop me off outside the hotel. At least it would have done had I not have missed the stop and ended up two miles further down the route! Thankfully a helpful local and a driver made sure I got off at the right stop when I ended up travelling back!

After a hot bath, I adjourned to the hotel bar meeting up with co-Editor Graham who had travelled up from London by train. Having retired to our respective rooms after some much needed liquid refreshment, I was a little put out by noise coming from the room above. Creaking floorboards, loud voices and something dropped which made my floor shake), I had no alternative but to confront the manager. Happily I was relocated in a quiet room on the floor above, so meant doing a flit in the early hours. A much better room, although the tap water came out looking like milk!

(PW)

Part 2: Seaburn-Sunderland-Grangetown-Sunderland-Seaburn-South Shields-North Shields-South Shields-Roker-Seaburn

2008-03-14T23:00:00.002Z

SEABURN - SUNDERLAND - GRANGETOWN - SUNDERLAND - SEABURN - SOUTH SHIELDS - NORTH SHIELDS - SOUTH SHIELDS - ROKER - SEABURN

Please click on any photo for a larger version

Waking up with a slightly sore head from my session at the bar the previous night, I had my full English Breakfast in one of the historic carriages. 102 "Rosalind" was built by the South East & Chatham Railway in 1921.
After a brief walk around the city, I took the Stagecoach service 11 to Grangetown where a bridge provided a good view of the railway to Middlesborough, and I managed to get a shot of Grand Central's 43067 leading the 1230 Sunderland to King's Cross.
Back in the city centre, a very good variety of vehicles could be seen. Most colourful of all were the various route-branded Go North East vehicles.
I then took a brief ride on the Tyne & Wear Metro to St Peter's station where I saw Grand Central's 43065 leading the ECS after working the 1127 King's Cross to Sunderland. It is seen below crossing the bridge over the River Wear as it approaches St Peter's station.
Also viewable from this vantage point was the Wearmouth Bridge. Amongst the many vehicles crossing this was Leyland Olympian/ECW CWR 510Y. This was new to West Riding Automobile Services in 1982. In its long career it has worked for Highland Country/Rapsons, and is currently with Tees Valley.
I also had an opportunity to photograph Metro 4025 on its way to Newcastle Airport.
Leaving St Peter's I called briefly at the Monkwearmouth Station Museum. Sadly, it does not have as many interesting exhibits as it did prior to its refurbishment.
Walking to the bus stop, I managed to get a quick photo of Stagecoach MAN/Alexander 22727 (T727 OEF) on a service 4 to Doxford Park.
After locating the bus stop near to the Stagecoach depot, I had an amazink stroke of luck. I had not managed to get a photo of the Stagecoach Leyland Lynx 29629 (K629 YVN) in service, when suddenly it turned up on a service 24 to Seaburn - where I was headed! So not only did I manage to get my photo but also had a ride on it as well! It is seen below at Seaburn on its return run to Thorney Close.
For the next stage of my trip, I boarded Stagecoach Dennis Dart/Alexander Dash 32788 (P788 WVK) on an E2 to South Shields. We encountered heavy traffic at Whutburn down to traffic lights and additional traffic on the school run. After picking up a lot of pupils, we headed along the coast. Unfortunately, our driver had a brief lapse of memory and we followed the E1 route as far as Marsden before turning to regain the correct E2 route. This, and the traffic delays earlier, meant arrival at South Shields Market was 17 minutes late. I made my way to the pier for a trip on the ferry, something I do every time I am in the area. One of the ferries, The Shieldsman was there, with a notice detailing its withdrawal from service in November 2007 and the fact that it is currently for sale.

The ferry crossing itself is only a short one, lasting all of 6 minutes, and costs just £2 return. It was an enjoyable trip, albeit a little chilly up on deck!
After returning to South Shields, a walk alongside the Tyne for a short distance gave a very good view of the DFDS ship "Queen of Scandinavia", which was loading up ready for its evening sailing to Amsterdam. Capable of 21 knots, it has capacity for 1,760 passengers.
I then took a look around the historic riverside with its cobbled streets and fine buildings.
Heading back to the bus station, I came across these rather novel sculptures!
Time to head back, this time on the 1731 Stagecoach E1 to Roker, on which was Dennis Dart SLF/SDL 35187 (NK56 FCA). I called for a brief pint at the Roker Hotel, then walked back down the coast to Seaburn, taking a photo of the Roker lighthouse on the way.

(PW)

Part 1: Skegness-Lincoln-Laceby-Hull-York-Sunderland-Seaburn

2008-03-13T23:00:00.005Z

SKEGNESS - LINCOLN - LACEBY - HULL - YORK - SUNDERLAND - SEABURN

Please click on any photo for a larger version

As it was nearing spring, dawn was breaking as I awaited Stagecoach Volvo B7TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 16940 (FX06 AOB) on the 0520 service 6 from Skegness to Lincoln. At one time this run took very few passengers, but is now starting to get some regulars who use it to travel to work.

Normally, I'd travel into the bus station at Lincoln to connect with the service 3, but the schedule means that the two services just miss each other, so meant alighting at the County Hospital for a 10 minute connection. Stagecoach Volvo B7TL/East Lancs Vyking 16909 (FX53 TXC) duly appeared and we departed on time. A rather cold run to start with as the heaters took some time to generate heat on this cold morning. This particular service tends to get extremely busy with pupils travelling to Grimsby College and by the time I reached Laceby, was almost full.

I had 37 minutes to waite for my connection. Happily it was a bright morning as, since my last visit, the bus shelter appears to have been removed so I would have had no protection from the rain! Hough's Bova GLZ 6555 arrived and collected a group of waiting school children. Shortly after, Stagecoach Volvo B10M-55 / Plaxton Paladin 20285 (R725 RPY) appeared on 0730 Hull to New Waltham. A little later, sister vehicle 20282 (R722 RPY) appeared to take me to Hull Interchange. Clearly the early start was taking its toll as I awoke to find we had just crossed the Humber Bridge!

A 26 minute connection at Hull allowed me time to take a few photographs of vehicles, and take a look around the new Interchange, a vast improvement on the old bus station.Next came my first ever ride on the East Yorkshire X46 at 1005 to York, on which was Volvo B7TL/Plaxton President 662 (YX51 AYA) wearing a special livery to advertise Hull Trains. After Beverley, we made our way to Pocklington passing sister vehicle 704 (YX55 DHL) on the 1000 X46 York to Hull.
With 90 minutes at York, I spent some time photographing the local bus scene. The most striking of these were the bendi-buses, one example (YK06 EKT) is shown below. First have 12 of these Volvo B7LA's with Wright Streetcar AB42D bodies in service.
Whilst First are the main bus operator in the city, there was also a good variety of other operators to be seen. Yorkshire Coastliner's Volvo B7TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 408 YK55 ATV was noted on the 0957 service 845 from Bridlington to Leeds.
With time now progressing, I made my way to the railway station where I saw Network Rail's 86902 which is used for de-icing the overhead wires along the East Coast Main Line.
Checking the departure boards, I noticed that my Grand Central train service to Sunderland, due at 1322, was not listed. I felt a bit awkward asking their rivals at the enquiry desk of its whereabouts, and was told that it was cancelled. National Express East Coast were honouring tickets, which was no use to me as I was going to buy a £20 First Class Single to Sunderland on the train, and would have meant purchasing the NXEC equivalent at £46! Alternatively, it meant a long wait until the next Grand Central service at 1847. Fortunately, having checked the National Express timetable outside, I found that a 426 coach service (London to South Shields) was due to call there at 1440, and was a much better option. Veolia's Volvo B12B/Plaxton Panther FJ55 XBB arrived with several empty seats, so I reached the Interchange at Sunderland just 2 hours later, and 4 hours earlier than if I had waited for the next Grand Central Service.

I adjourned to the nearby Wetherspoons for some food and drink before taking the Stagecoach E2 service to Seaburn on which was Volvo B10BLE/Alexander ALX300 21138 (R238 KRG).

Accommodation for the next two days was at the Pullman Lodge Hotel, an appropriate choice for the transport theme as it has a number of old Pullman Carriages incorporated into the building which also contains some authentic railway signs.

Reception itself is inside one of the carriages, and having obtained the key, my room turned out to be what looked like a small flat - and very nice it was too. The remainder of the evening was spent in the Pullman bar, sadly me being the only customer most of the time.

(PW)

Skegness-Horncastle-Lincoln-Grantham-Newark-Mansfield-Doncaster-Grantham-Skegness

2008-02-25T23:00:00.035Z

SKEGNESS - HORNCASTLE - LINCOLN - GRANTHAM - NEWARK - MANSFIELD - DONCASTER - GRANTHAM - SKEGNESS

Normally I would have opted for the 0520 service 6 from Skegness, but for the sake of a lie in, chose to risk the 0600 and a very tight connection at Lincoln.

Departure was punctual on board Stagecoach 21212 (FX05 GXK), which looked immaculate having only been repainted into Stagecoach livery a few days previously. All was well until 5 miles on when we reached the outskirts of Burgh-le-Marsh. Here we faced a diversion around the village due to the centre being closed whilst the roads were being resurfaced. This is the only service which, on Mondays to Fridays, does not work through to Lincoln, and passengers have to change vehicles at Horncastle Market. Place. The diversion earlier meant we arrived just in time to make the connecting service. Curiously this was not stood waiting as usual which was rather disconcerting. Eventually Stagecoach 33218 (V518 XTL), a Dennis Dart SLF with East Lancs Spryte body (one of the few still in Road Car yellow Super Buzz livery) appeared. The driver apologised saying that the first bus he took at the depot had "run out of petrol"! I'm not sure how long it has been since the company had petrol-engined vehicles, but suspect that it at least goes back to the 1960's and the OB Toastracks!

Departing at 0657, 7 minutes late, making up time was never going to be easy as this service tends to get very busy with people travelling to work. Sure enough we were held up by people paying with large denomination notes, although thankfully the traffic lights at the bottom of Lindum Hill in Lincoln, were green and we had a through run instead of the usual delay.

I made my way down the bus as we approached the bus station to ensure I was the first off, then had a hasty walk across to the National Express 447, driven by the other LEYTR Editor! Stagecoach 53004 (GU 52 WTA), a Volvo B12M with Plaxton Paragon body, was on this morning. An easy trip to Newark bus station followed, where work was being carried out to resurface one side, this meant turning around inside the depot compound. To avoid the road works on the A1, we travelled via Bingham to reach Grantham. Arrival was a few minutes late, but I would still make my connection with the service 602 with no difficulty.

Having not been to Grantham bus station a few months, I had not realised that the public toilets there have been closed permanently since last November. A notice on the door indicated where the nearest ones were, although not being that familiar with the town, meant relatively little. Happily I managed to find them close to the Grantham Tourist Information centre, about 5 minutes walk from the bus station.

I was now going to retrace part of my journey to Newark, the reason for this being to take a ride on the Stagecoach 602 (Grantham - Newark) service before it is withdrawn in April. On this was one of the last remaining ex-Road Car (originally Travel West Midlands) MCW's, 15981 (POG 582Y).

Departure was punctual at the booked time of 0930 as we slowly made our way through the town centre and passing what is now a Chiropractic Clinic, and formerly a grocers shop which was the birthplace of Baroness Margaret Thatcher on 13 October 1925.

Progressing out of Grantham, we passed beneath the East Coast Main Line.

Continuing along the B1174, the village of Great Gonerby is reached and the impressive spired church of St Sebastian comes into view.

For a few miles, the 602 route follows the A1.

Leaving the A1, we head towards Long Bennington where the 13th century church of St Swithun's can be seen, partly obscured by trees.
There followed a number of minor roads. This turned out quite an experience as these are less than ideal roads for an MCW, and I found myself airborne on a number of occasions! Eventually the village of Dry Doddington was reached, with the leaning tower of St James church is very much evident.
We passed through Claypole and encontered the ECML again. The village once had a station here, this being closed to passengers on 16 September 1957. We were held up at the level crossing for a National Express East Coast train, with 82228 leading the 0905 Leeds to King's Cross.

The delay at the level crossing was to cost me. My 8 minute connection was looking very unlikely as there were further hold ups with traffic lights and road works in Newark. Arrival at the bus station was late enough for me to see my connecting service 29 heading off to Southwell! At least I managed to get a photograph of MCW 15954 (POG 490Y) as it departed.
Fortunately, I had just 25 mintutes to wait for the Stagecoach service 29A at 1055 to Mansfield (which I was intending to catch at Southwell had I made my connection). On this was Volvo Olympian / Alexander RL 16482 (N132 AET). As with the National Express coach earlier, we had to turn around in the depot compound which luckily gave me a chance to photograph MCW 15983 (POG 584Y) in the depot.
At Southwell we encountered Leyland Olympian / Alexander RL on the 1050 service 29 from Mansfield to Newark.
Entering Mansfield, I noticed "Great Central Way", a reminder that many years ago the town was once served by this company, as well as the Midland Railway.

Mansfield is one of the few locations in England where the Bristol VR can still be seen, apparently providing transport between the town centre and a local college. My first glimpse of one was as we neared the bus station. Unfortunately I did not get near enough to it to get the registration or a decent photograph, and it! A full fleet list for Johnson/Redfern can be seen here.
I visited the railway station and recalled how, in the early 1980's, I'd first visited there with my Late father when the station was closed and the line open to freight only. Happily, it reopened in 1995 and the Midland Railway building has been restored and returned to railway use.

Whilst there, East Midlands Trains liveried 153355 arrived with ex-Northern Rail liveried 153310 on the 1237 Mansfield Woodhouse to Nottingham.
I had a lot more luck with another Redfern VR. Ex-Yorkshire Traction OWE 857R, which I managed to get a few shots of on my way back from the railway station and at the bus station.

At the bus station I recorded the many and varied vehicles there. Stagecoach is the main operator in the town.

Other operators came in all shapes and colours!

After 90 minutes, it was time to continue my journey. I was booked on the National Express service 322 which originated from Birmingham and was bound for Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Go Northern's Volvo B10M-62 / Plaxton Paragon 7081 (Y781 MFT) arrived, and with not many on board, we departed spot on time. Indeed, this was somewhat better than those on the 310 from Birmingham to Bradford as the Scania PB, YN05 WJM, was receiving the attention of Scania fitters and eventually managed to reverse in a poorly condition into the bus stand!

Making our way out of Mansfield I was surprised to see a Hunts (of Alford) YJ07 DWK heading in the opposite direction!We called at Woodhall services for the booked refreshment break, a very welcome 50 minutes. After taking a photo of the coach on which I was travelling, I made my way over the bridge. Here I also saw sister Go Northern vehicle 7083 (Y783 MFT) on the opposite run on the 322. Also there, was Veolia / Dunn Line Levante FJO7 DWF, which was on the National Express service 425 from South Shields to London.

We continued to Doncaster and soon encountered heavy traffic. Fortunately, the bus lane prove to be invaluable as we sailed past a long row of static traffic, arriving at the Interchange a couple of minutes early.

I had a little bit of time at Doncaster, so passed the time taking a few photographs at the railway station. Luckily I managed to see one of the newly repainted National Express East Coast class 43's, 43300 on the rear of the 1400 King's Cross to Aberdeen. Unfortunately the rest of the train was still in GNER blue! Not quite as bad as one that passed through later which was a random mixture of both liveries! It reminded me of 40 years ago when BR were going through the transition of having maroon carriages to blue and grey!
Return was by way of Hull Trains Class 222 Pioneer 222104 "Sir Terry Farrell", which departed a few minutes later than the booked 1615, although we regained the lost time on reaching Grantham. I alighted there and returned back to Skegness on East Midlands Trains 156411, still resplendent in its former Central Trains green!

PW

Part Three: Heriot Watt University-Edinburgh-Dunfermline-Lothalmond-Dunfermline-Edinburgh-Heriot Watt University

2007-08-19T23:00:00.007+01:00

HERIOT WATT UNIVERSITY - EDINBURGH - DUNFERMLINE - LOTHALMOND - DUNFERMLINE - EDINBURGH - HERIOT WATT UNIVERSITY

Please click on any photo for a larger version

After a good sleep, it was time for breakfast. The dining hall was quite busy, but a very pleasant surprise awaited in that we could pick and choose what we wanted (or as much as you could physically get on a plate!). When in Scotland - forget about cholesterol, so three pieces of fried bread, two bacon, two hash browns, two slices of square sausage an egg, toast and fresh bap - that would set me up for the day!

It was then time to get Lothian Buses service 25 into the city at 0858 on which was Dennis Trident / Plaxton President 635 (SK52 OGT). Unfortunately it showed all the signs of being yet another wet day.

We planned to take the train (actually cheaper than the Citylink coach) to Dunfermline, so went to Waverley station and purchased our tickets from the machine - a cheap day return at £4.80. Unfortunately, I only had a £20 note and all my change came in £1 coins.The train, 170461, departed on time at 0955 and we settled back for the journey over the Forth Bridge. It was also breaking new ground for me as, hitherto, I had never travelled over the Fife loop. There are two stations in Dunfermline, Town and St Margaret's, the latter being some distance from where we needed to catch the bus to the SVBM, so we opted for the former. Arrival was on time at 1029, and I made my way up the platform to photograph the train.

Someone on the train had worked out we were going to the SVBM and pointed us vaguely in the direction of the stop for the free bus (the Fire Station). Not particularly far, but meant walking up some rather steep hills. I'm not fond of walking up these (I'm built for comfort, not speed), so at several stages Graham found himself having to wait for me to catch up! Once in town there was some confusion as to where we needed to be - to save walking round I asked a friendly taxi driver and he pointed us in the right direction. We arrived having just missed Leyland Leopard / Alexander T bodied, RMS 400W, wearing Midland Bluebird livery.

As Graham went to find a cash point, I travelled up to the museum before him. Thankfully the rain had stopped and there was signs of the weather clearing a little. The 1100 free service turned out to be former Southdown Leyland Tiger, GUF 727, ironically owned by someone in Market Rasen in Lincolnshire!

This was packed, so I let it go and just waited a few minutes until WG 9180, a Leyland Titan TD7, in a very smart Alexander's blue livery, appeared.

The sunken gangway on the right of the upper deck was an interesting change as we departed at 1114, me having gained the upstairs front seat. A nice bus, but struggled up the hills even though it was quite lightly loaded.

Heading into Dunfermline was an AEC single decker, NWS 358, looking superb in Northern livery. I so wished that I'd waited as I particularly would have loved to travel on this (remember them from when I lived in Perth). Graham was the lucky enough to get a trip to the SVBM on it!

After arriving at Lathalmond, the location of the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum, I was in my element. This was my second visit there and for me, it was largely a day of nostalgia - one vehicle in particular, Leyland Royal Tiger BMS 222, brought the memories flooding back - and, was the very type of vehicle that first got me seriously interested in buses four decades ago when I lived in Perth! It was in the summer of 1967, one such example in the Alexander Midland fleet was employed on the service 39 to Muirton Toll House. The central entrance made it unusual from all the other buses, and as a kid it was great to be able to sit at the front next to the driver!

The other thing that interested me were the many liveries - when we moved up from Liverpool to Perth, my parents asked what colour I was hoping the buses to be. I replied "blue" which, to their amazement turned out to be true as Perth was in Alexander Midland territory!

It was the bright yellow and cream Northern vehicles that always captured my imagination then, going to exotic (!) locations such as Blairgowrie.

Another fond memory I have is of McLennan's vehicles which used to park opposite our house in Dunkeld Road, looking smart in their blue and white livery. The company was represented at the SVBM by preserved DGS 625, a Leyland Tiger with McLennan C39F body, new to the company in 1951.

Also present, although sadly not being used on the services, was my favourite coach, the Alexander M type. This also has connections to the LEYTR area as in the era the Scottish Bus Group provided services between London and Scotland via the A1, would have called at Grantham and Stamford.

Having missed out on a trip on NWS 358, I spotted Leyland Tiger Cub OSC 711, looking superb in its Fife red and cream livery, about to work a trip to Dunfermline. Dating from 1961, thus as old as I am, but unlike me, it managed to achieve some very good speeds. The restoration work on this is fantastic and the detail was fascinating - even down to the antimacassars with the Fife logo - although I suspect the Velcro by which they were attached was a bit of an anachronism! I also smiled at the notice on one of the sliding windows which read "Smokers are requested to sit to the rear of this point"!

Meeting up with Graham again later, we had a trip to Dunfermline and back on SCS 335M, an Alexander AY bodied Leyland Leopard, wearing the striking Western SMT black and white livery.

Indeed, the Y type body, once ubiquitous in Scotland, appeared in many liveries.

It was also good to see the Eastern Coach works represented by this Lodekka.

And also by this FLF, HGM 335E in Stagecoach livery.

One thing I was not expecting to see was an ex-East Yorkshire vehicle! AEC Bridgemaster WAT 652, which was the last to be built with the distinctive Beverley Bar domed roof.

Having walked around for several hours photographing each vehicle (some more than once), my feet were aching, so I made use of the internal bus service on which was Bristol MW / ECW coach, HDV 639E, wearing Bluebird livery - although was actually new to Western National in 1967.

The ground was rather waterlogged from the heavy rain of the previous day and unfortunately a fire engine and brand new Rapsons decker, SV07 CVA, had the indignity of having to be towed out of the mud!

After a great day, we returned on the last bus to Dunfermline, on which was Leyland Titan TD5, DSG 169, new in 1942, and wearing blue SMT livery.

Following close behind was Leyland Olympian SSA 5X in Northern Scottish livery.

Once back in Dunfermline, we opted to have a drink at a pub we visited previously on our first trip to the SVBM - very much of a "local" pub as it turned out, as it went rather quiet briefly when the inmates heard our English accents. There was no other pub available, so we made our way back to the station to catch the train back to Edinburgh at 1827. This was a longer trip back as it was actually heading in the opposite direction on the circuit - no matter, as it meant we could cover previously untravelled metals on the "Fife Loop" and the next southbound train with a shorter journey would have got us back later. Bizarrely, the train which turned up was 170478, which was originally with Hull Trains and still retained that company's moquette on the seats.

It took 93 minutes to get back to Edinburgh, and our second crossing over the Forth Railway bridge, with an excellent view of the nearby Forth Road Bridge.

At Edinburgh it was time for another pub visit. Exploring the back streets we found a decent looking establishment where Graham had a pint of Old Peculiar (he decided he wasn't keen on it after drinking half a pint!) and I had some pint of an obscure German lager. Unfortunately, the process of ordering took longer than the drinking!

Graham was getting hungry, but my stomach had been playing up for the past two days, so we ended up (as a last resort, I emphasise) at McDonalds - at least it was cheap! By way of a contrast, I suggested we have a drink at the former railway hotel over the road. The Caledonian Hotel, once adjoined Princes Street Station, the Caledonian Railway's station in Edinburgh (which closed in 1965) as opposed to the present Waverley which was owned by the North British Railway. The hotel is now owned part of the Hilton group - and we made our way through the revolving doors to the Caley Bar which was well stocked with many brands of whiskey. Sadly, it has been extensively modernised and retains very little of the authentic look of the railway hotel, although several watercolours on the walls were of railway subjects. Not surprising was the prices, £3.75 for my pint of Tennants and over £5 for Graham's vodka and coke! That being said, complimentary snacks were provided and we had another round - well you only live once! Quite what the other clientèle thought of us, I really didn't care. My boots and trousers were somewhat muddy from the SVBM and I had a Tesco carrier bag for my spare batteries!

Time then to return to the hotel, at 2223, again on Lothian buses 635! Again a slow journey back, and arrival just after the bar shut at Heriot Watt Oh well, I needed an early night anyway as I had a long journey ahead of me!

PW

Part Two: Stockport-Manchester Airport-Glasgow-Edinburgh-Heriot Watt University

2007-08-18T23:00:00.004+01:00

STOCKPORT - MANCHESTER AIRPORT - GLASGOW - EDINBURGH - HERIOT WATT UNIVERSITY

Please click on any photo for a larger version

After a good night's sleep, I got up early at 0545 and enjoyed a long soak in the bath - until I dozed off and found all the water had drained away that is! I made my way downstairs and outside for a quick smoke, returning to reception to hand in my key. I mentioned I didn't have time for breakfast, but the friendly lady receptionist pointed out that the cereals were all there and to help myself. I had about 20 minutes until the bus, so happily tucked into some muesli and toast and some glasses of orange juice. My co-Editor phoned from his room enquiring if I was up, and was rather surprised at my reply that I was already downstairs! He joined me a few minutes later and managed to have a small bowl of cereal and wrapped up two slices of toast to eat whilst waiting at the stop for the bus!

The Trent / Barton Skyline service 199 was due at 0710 from the stop opposite the hotel, and Optare Excel 263 (Y263 DRC) arrived punctually and took us on a speedy trip to Manchester Airport via Stockport. The next stage would be on the National Express service 538 at 0805, which started at Manchester Airport and ran through to Aberdeen, and we would travel on this as far as Glasgow. A brief walk around the airport found no shops open, and Graham was amused to see 185120 stood at the railway station there, bound for Cleethorpes, where he had set out from less than 24 hours before!

Waiting outside for our coach to arrive, we noted Haytons Volvo / Plaxton, YN55 WSO, and Scania / Berkhof, YN06 TFY, on the 0715 service 244 from Manchester to Newquay.

Also seen was Go North East Volvo / Plaxton, 7086 (JCN 822) on the 0700 service 380 from Liverpool to Newcastle.

Our coach, LSK 815, a Neoplan double-decker in the Trathens fleet, turned up and we managed to procure both the front seats of the upper deck for our journey. Departing at 0807, two minutes late, we made our way to central Manchester, passing the Royal Northern college of Music, arriving at Chorlton Street at 0829. The driver announced we would not be leaving there until 0900, so leaving Graham on board, I made good use of the time calling at the toilet, shop, and photographing a few vehicles to pass the time, amongst which were Megabus, PX07 EAC, on route M11 to London.

Also seen was Burnley & Pendle's Volvo B7TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini, 2762 (PJ05 ZWK), in a smart black, silver and red livery with route branding "Witch Way".

We departed at 0859, making our way out of Manchester to our next scheduled stop at Bolton bus station where plenty of activity could be seen in term of buses, mainly operated by First.

Our next scheduled pick up / drop off point was at Carlisle, reached via the M61 and thence the M6, and overtook Daimler / Northern Counties VTC 503M, new to Greater Manchester PTE in 1983, but now used for transport by the Hagfold Morris Dancers!

The further north we progressed, the heavier the rain became, and the more glad I was to have a waterproof coat! Tebay services was reached at 1045 where the booked 20 minute stop was extended to 35 minutes, allowing time to photograph the coach.

There was time to purchase a few snacks, ignoring the ubiquitous expensive restaurant, I opted for the shop which sold a large variety of cheeses, pies, etc., and came out with a Blencathra Pie packed with meat (£3.29) and a Pork and Stilton with ginger chutney pie (£1.49) - so I ate all the pies, and very nice they were too! Selwyns DAF / Van Hool, YJ05 PWE, had arrived for a refreshment break whilst working the 0645 National Express service 533 from Liverpool to Glasgow.

We departed at 1120 and continued north up the M6, now in pouring rain, to Carlisle, departing from the bus station there at 1208, 18 minutes late. We were further delayed by works on the M6 and crossed the border into Scotland at 1237 during a mini monsoon! The scenery became more mountainous and the rain became heavier. The place names also became sillier, Ecclefechan being one example! Starting to doze now as the forward view was impossible with condensation and rain, suddenly the driver announced that we were passing Lesmahagow - quite why, we never established as there was no stop there nor, as far as we could tell, was there any cause for celebration!

Hamilton bus station, our next stop, was reached at 1352, and we remained there until 1359, now running 29 minutes late. This was almost certainly going to mean that we would miss our connection - although, happily, services between Glasgow and Edinburgh are reasonably frequent so did not cause us much concern.

More time was lost as we approached Glasgow, with heavy traffic caused in part by a sign indicating that a lane was closed when it actually wasn't, and a broken down car. We eventually reached the Buchanan bus station at 1502, 67 minutes late. So late in fact, that the booked 20 minute break for passengers travelling onwards, was dropped.

We called at the cafe in the bus station for a tea and refreshments, and I braved the rain for a few minutes to have a smoke and take a photograph of one of Stagecoach's bendi-buses.

Buchanan Street bus station is one of the largest in the UK. The photo below shows First SA52 DVR, a Volvo B7L with East Lancs Nordic EH55/40F body, departing from this location.

Not too far away was the location of one of Glasgow's railway termini. Buchanan Street railway station, long since obliterated under modern development, was closed in 1966. Some excellent photographs of it when open and the location as it is now, can be seen here.

The fun started when we tried to catch a Motorvator service. Stagecoach had acquired this firm in July 2004, and operated in direct competition with the Scottish Citylink service. From September 13th, 2005, Stagecoach and Citylink ran the Glasgow - Edinburgh services on a joint basis (more details here). So it was we had to use the Citylink 900, the downside being that we were unable to use our Stagecoach staff passes on this so ended up each paying the £4.60 single fare. The first coach we waited for was packed to capacity, so we let this one go and instead caught the 1600 service (departing at 1602). Parks of Hamilton Volvo / Plaxton, LSK 879, was on this well used run. Arrival at Edinburgh's St Andrew Square bus station was at 1722, just four minutes late.

Exiting the bus station, I paused briefly to light up a cigar. The matches I'd purchased from the bar at the hotel in Stockport were clearly not the best as the lit end broke off and nearly set light to Graham! We adjourned to the public bar of the Balmoral Hotel called NB's. I'd discovered this on a previous jaunt, and it's rather upmarket and also does has live jazz performances some nights. On the previous occasion, we were told to find a seat and our drinks would be brought over to us, along with these were complimentary snacks. No such luxury on this occasion as I waited several minutes whilst the staff were busy preparing fancy cocktails, and eventually got the drinks - no snacks being offered. The one thing that hasn't changed are the high prices - £3.20 for a pint of McEwans for me and £4 for a bottle of Kronenberg Blanc for Graham!

The bar itself is a part of what was once the North British Hotel, once owned by the railway company who constructed the railway to Edinburgh at nearby Waverley.

Tempus fugit, so time to make our way to our accommodation for the next two nights, courtesy of the Heriot Watt University, some 8 miles from the city centre. As previously researched before we set out, Lothian Buses service 25 was the easiest way and the stop a short walk from NB's. At 1819 we caught Dennis Trident / Plaxton President, 586 (X586 USC). Traffic was very heavy and progress very slow out of the city centre, and although scheduled to take 40 minutes, our arrival at the University was not until 1903.

The rain had at least eased off, and we called at reception for the two pre-booked rooms and paid the balance - £32 per night each and the rooms were en-suite. The building where they were located involved a very long walk (although we found shortcuts later) and on the way noticed Leyland Olympian / ECW, A658 OCX, in Mexborough & Swinton livery, in a car park. We assumed this was an entrant in the SVBM, although it failed to materialise the next day.

The rooms were small, but clean and comfortable, even though, as Graham remarked, were akin to prison cells! No television was a definite down point, so we opted to go utilise the restaurant facilities there as they were still open until 2000hs, and only made it with 5 minutes to spare! My sausage casserole with chips and carrots came to just under £6, a little on the expensive side. Luckily, we did manage to find a bar within the complex with Tennants at a more reasonable £2.30 a pint. Several pints later and several vodka and cokes Graham, we adjourned to our respective rooms hoping, but not expecting, that the breakfast in the morning, for which we were issued vouchers at reception, would at least be decent.

PW

Part One: Skegness-Ingoldmells-Manchester-Stockport

2007-08-17T14:36:00.009+01:00

SKEGNESS - INGOLDMELLS - MANCHESTER - STOCKPORT

Please click on any photo for a larger version

Some months ago, both the Lincolnshire & East Yorkshire Transport Review Editors, had devised a plan which, as Baldrick in Blackadder would say, was "As cunning as a fox who has just been appointed professor of cunning at Oxford University." The idea was basically, to travel to Scotland to photograph the remaining vehicles in the Strathtay fleet before they were repainted into Stagecoach corporate livery, as the company, along with Lincolnshire Road Car, had been taken over as a part of the Yorkshire Traction Group by Stagecoach on December 14th, 2005. To ensure as comfortable a journey as possible, this was to be done using one of the National Express Neoplan double deck coaches, but these were temporarily withdrawn at the time so the plan was shelved. Their reintroduction into service meant the plan was back on, although this time was amended slightly include a visit to the annual Open Weekend at the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum.

The original idea, involved a rather complex run via Peterborough, Milton Keynes, Northampton and Gatwick Airport and overnight to Birmingham and Manchester, was ditched to save a day and allow a nice late start using the more direct National Express 664 (Butlins to Preston) service from Butlins to Manchester. Graham similarly dropped his ambitious plan to make his way to Stockport using local bus services, and opted to join me on the 664, travelling down on from Cleethorpes using local buses and, thanks to late running, had a very tight connection!

Skegness was in chaos as in the early hours, a serious fire had taken place on the seafront destroying several buildings. It also meant the road along the seafront was closed and bus services were diverted. This made Roman Bank (the A52) even busier than normal.

By way of a change, we opted to catch the coach from Butlins, so travelled on Stagecoach in Lincolnshire's service 5 at 1328, on which was Volvo Olympian 16394 (N394 LPN). A good start to the trip, having a vehicle with dual-purpose seating, and also saved having to negotiate security at Butlins as it dropped us off inside the complex. We'd spotted our coach on the 664 heading up earlier, so knew it was reasonably on time - quite unusual as the 664 is one service which tends to regularly run late.

We made our way to the coach departure point where only a few passengers were waiting as, at this time, the main changeover day at the camp was on a Saturday. As we arrived, Clynnog & Trefor's Volvo / Plaxton KSV 361 departed on the 662 National Express service to Liverpool, the driver giving me a friendly wave as I took a photograph!

Our coach, Traveller's Choice, Volvo / Plaxton PN06 KLJ was parked up next to Rowell (of Prudhoe) Bova, T234 SBB, which was working the 663 service to Newcastle.

Boarding our coach, we were surprised to find it seated around 70 passengers - using a 3+2 arrangement, but at the expense of reclining seats and a toilet - hardly an ideal vehicle for National Express work!

With only some 20 passengers on board there was plenty of room so, we chose our seats towards the back - although moved closer to the front later as I could here music being played from someone's mobile phone from the back of the coach, something I did not wish to listen to for hours on end. We departed on time at 1440, but thanks to heavy traffic along Roman Bank again, progress was extremely slow. We turned off at the town centre, as the driver was hoping to reach the coach stop at Skegness via the sea front, unfortunately not being aware that road was closed due to the aforementioned fire, we ended up doubling back and rejoining Roman Bank, albeit a little closer to the coach stop! As we arrived, Rowell's T234 SBB was just departing - despite the fact this departed from Butlins 20 minutes before us! With no passengers to pick up at Skegness, we called at the coach stop and departed immediately at 1510, 20 minutes late. Making our way out of town by the A158, we encountered another hold up at Burgh-le-Marsh where a new by pass is being constructed and single-lane working was in force at the new junction. We made our way to the M180 by way of the A1028, A16 and the A18, passing Humberside International Airport at 1625, and, on the M18 running immediately behind Rowel's T234 SBB. This left us at Ferrybridge at 1713 where the 663 service is booked a refreshment stop, leaving us to continue along the M62. There were a few comments from passengers at the back puzzled as to why we didn't follow, but another passenger told them we'd be stopping at another services. We then found ourselves in heavy rush hour traffic on the outskirts of Leeds, which luckily did not last long.

We reached the Hartshead Moor services at 1741 for a refreshment break, departing there at 1800.

After returning to the M62, we were a little surprised to find ourselves leaving the motorway only to turn off at junction 22 onto the A672, and pulled into a slip road where we stopped at 1819. No announcements being made, left us wondering if the coach had broken down - fortunately, it transpired that this was the point where the drivers changed, the other driver arriving by car. We eventually got under way with the new driver, leaving the other to go drive off in the car, at 1833, although quite why this changeover couldn't have more sensibly been done at Hartshead Moor, is a mystery.

Continuing along the M62 we passed the well known landmark of Stott Hall Farm which famously stands between the east and westbound carriageways. A well known myth is that this was due to the original farm owner refusing to sell their land, but in reality this was partly due to the land beneath the farm being unsuitable and also that it could more easily be bypassed using this method.

Leaving the motorway, we made our way to Oldham, and Graham looked at me in disbelief when I told him there was a railway station there called Mumps! At the very modern and smart Oldham bus station, we were definitely very much in First Bus territory judging by the number of their vehicles present. We dropped off a few passengers and departed at 1852, 32 minutes late, and progressed towards Manchester's Chorlton Street coach station where we alighted at 1917, still 32 minutes behind schedule.

Making our way to Piccadilly where some live musicians were playing, we walked around several minutes trying to find the bus stop for the service 192, which would take us to the hotel just the other side of Stockport. We were not waiting long before Stagecoach in Manchester's Alexander Dennis Trident / Alexander Dennis Enviro 400, 19002 (MX06 XAA), arrived. A large number of people boarded, so we opted to let this one go, only waiting a few minutes for sister vehicle 19003 (MX06 XAB), departing at 1942. We caught up with 19002 not long after, only to be overtaken by it again as we collected more passengers. Eventual arrival was at 2026, the stop conveniently being outside our hotel.

Two single rooms at £29 each was very reasonable, and they were clean and comfortable, although not en-suite. This didn't matter a great deal as the bathroom and shower rooms were just down a corridor and we would be leaving early in the morning. Downstairs, a wedding reception was taking place, so we went to the adjoining bar where I enjoyed three pints of Robinsons beer, brewed in Stockport. As it was too late for food at the hotel, I was getting rather hungry. There were no takeaways nearby, so I left Graham to retire to his room whilst I nipped over the road to a garage and purchased an all day breakfast sandwich at £3.19! I returned to the hotel, and had another pint before returning to my room to have my sandwich and watch some tv.