It seems I’ve earned a day out on my own – where shall I go? I’ve been on the rails at Perth several times in the last couple of years – passing through as part of a longer journey, often in the dark… Let’s go and take a look at its magnificent station!
The 09.11 from Dunbar will be perfect – it’s 20 minutes late today, so I don’t need to hurry. At Waverley, I’ll board a train to Perth via the Forth Bridge and Ladybank. It’s running late too – I’ve time to see what is else is happening. The Royal Scotsman train is at platform 19: its passengers will have paid more than 100 times more than me for their trip – admittedly three days-worth – I wonder if they gained 100 times more enjoyment?
The Perth train arrived, very shortly after another arrival at the same platform, causing some confusion for waiting passengers. There have been problems today – a bridge strike, a broken down train, and the new ScotRail ticketing app is misbehaving… Nevertheless, my trip to Perth runs smoothly.
I’ll return by a different route, pausing at Stirling – again, a most attractive station – to take a short trip to Alloa and back. Closed in 1968, the 6.8 mile stretch to Alloa was reopened in 2008. Ten years later, electric trains began running, a through service between Alloa and Glasgow, with excellent connections at Stirling. In the most recent accounting period, over half a million passengers used its unassuming and functional modern terminus.
In addition to Alloa – Glasgow, a similarly-frequent electric service runs through Stirling between Dunblane and Edinburgh. One of the latter whisks me back to Waverley, where I’m just in time for a Dunbar service.
I haven’t mentioned the view from the train window – north of the Forth it’s a very pleasant and scenic journey – just under 200 miles in total, a most enjoyable day out!

Yes, both sides of the estuary! It was a TPE half-price sale offer, which we’d spotted back in January – and planned for a date when the daylight hours would be reasonably long. Quite the round trip too! From Crewe, we travelled to Manchester, for a TransPennine Express service to Hull, via Leeds. A bus ride from Hull took us across the Humber Bridge to Barton-on-Humber, for a quick walk to the shore at Barton Haven. There’s just time to walk the half mile or so for a few quick photos, and back to the railway station for our train to Cleethorpes.

What does one do in Cleethorpes? Fish and chips, of course, and excellent they were too! One or two more photos, then a slightly earlier train back to Grimsby, where our TPE Cleethorpes to Liverpool train would pick us up and take us back to Stockport – nicely in time for our intended train back to Crewe. A great day out – all the trains on time, everything gone precisely to plan!

Telford Steam Railway: 5619’s last appearance before withdrawal for its 10-yearly overhaul. I’ll go and take a look, though the weather isn’t promising. Everything’s grey today, on what will probably be my last rail-related outing this year… Visit ‘Last Day‘ on Geoff’s Rail Diaries for (grey) photos and a little more about the event.

Just two days after Christmas Day, the Moseley Railway Trust are holding a “Winter Warmers” event at their Apedale Valley Light Railway. Should be fun? Yes, it was! Visit “Winter Warmers” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries for an illustrated account of this enjoyable little outing.

Sunday 3 August: I’m on my way north. I need a break in the long drive, and the Tanfield Railway seems ideally placed, but I can’t stay long. Should have left home much earlier! Spend an hour with me at Tanfield on Geoff’s Rail Diaries

Last Thursday we were out for the day on a Northern Rail day rover ticket (£10 + vouchers). We visited Sheffield and York with our cameras, but didn’t have time at Leeds and didn’t leave the train at Bradford (yes, there are other Yorkshire cities; not all are now rail-served). For more on this interesting day out, visit ‘Sheffield and York‘ on Geoff’s Rail Diaries

It’s more than two months since we enjoyed this day out in South Wales. Today it’s too warm for outdoor activities, so I’m in the comfortable shade catching up on some loose ends, one such being this trip. So, here it is – visit “Three Valleys” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries, an illustrated account of our journeyings from Cardiff up the former mining valleys. The mines have all gone, but the railways are thriving – electrification, smart hi-tech new trains, new stations…

Wednesday 4 June: we’ve arrived at Crewe, by rail, to catch the sleeper to Inverness. We’re much too early, but delay (or cancellation) of the later train would have spelt disaster. So there’s time to kill: let’s see what can be done (while admiring the smart new red paint on the stairs!) with a hand-held camera and a high ISO setting…

… and Merthyr, and a trip to Treherbert: Wednesday 7 May. Last time I rode on a trains from Cardiff to Aberdare, there was still coal traffic on the branch (it didn’t last much longer), and we travelled in one of the dreaded ‘Pacers’ (it wasn’t that bad – but it was rather basic).
The lines up the valleys have since been taken apart and put back together, more or less, since that trip just nine years ago. We travelled on new electric trains, running mostly ‘under the wires’ but at times on battery power, through some very fine new stations (and some older ones). Truly a quality experience (even if the Treorchy schoolchildren were rather noisy! We should have caught a later train from Treherbert)
A full(ish) illustrated account will appear on Geoff’s Rail Diaries in due course; meanwhile, here’s a taster:

Clearing the backlog…
Saturday 29 March: A most enjoyable journey on the Welsh Highland, from Caernarfon to Porthmadog and back, in ‘Gold Service’ First Class seats in the Pullman observation carriage Gwyrfai. Visit Travelling in style on Geoff’s Rail Diaries for photos and a full account of a great day out