Wednesday 28 February: a trip that was planned back in January. Northern Rail’s great ticket sale meant we could get from Carlisle to Crewe, via the Settle and Carlisle to Leeds, and along the Calder Valley line to Manchester, for just £3.50 each! On that basis, we can afford some luxury – first class seats from Crewe to Penrith, also for a bargain price – with breakfast thrown in. We’ll have the scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, please. And coffee – and orange juice… Just the job!
Travelling most of the day meant few opportunities for photos, except at Carlisle where we had a little while to wait before we could board our Leeds train. But what a great day out we’ve had!

Just published to Geoff’s Rail Diaries, an account of the rail-related aspects of my trip to Skye, via Kyle of Lochalsh and the Caledonian Sleeper from Crewe to Inverness. Visit There and back again for the full story and more photos.

Almost two weeks ago, I travelled on the sleeper from Crewe to Inverness, where I boarded the normal service train to Kyle of Lochalsh and Skye. This morning I arrived home again, after an “interesting” return trip – a departure from Inverness delayed by 194 minutes. Nevertheless I was home just an hour later than if it had left on time. The full story will possibly appear on “Geoff’s Rail Diaries” in due course; meanwhile, here are a couple of tasters.

Friday 26 January: we’re off to the Welsh coast, to see the rebuilt Barmouth Bridge – a remarkable bit of engineering and planning. We’re going by rail, a journey which suffers half-an-hour delay on the way back – leading to unanticipated bonuses at Machynlleth. Silver linings? This little cloud proved to have a golden lining!

There are more photos of the rail-related aspects of this outing and a couple of interesting video links on Geoff’s Rail Pages – visit The new Barmouth Bridge for the full story

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=261750&Y=314630&A=Y&Z=120

Just published to Geoff’s Rail Diaries – photos and an account of my journey from Kyle of Lochalsh to Dunbar on 13 January. Travel “South from Kyle” – now!

25 October: We’re exploring the railways of north-west England, using Northern Rail £10 day rover tickets. Trespassers in the south, signalling problems at Piccadilly and cancellations, not forgetting the limitations of tickets which are only valid on Northern Rail services, mean that our plans ‘A’ and ‘B’ have both fallen by the wayside. We’ll settle for a spur-of-the-moment plan ‘C’ – visit “Lunch in Southport” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries for the full story.

On 6 October, I had a ride from St Andrew Square in Edinburgh down the newly-extended tramway to Leith and Newhaven – and walked back, camera in hand. There’s a sample below; for the full story and photos, visit ‘Trams to Newhaven‘ on Geoff’s Rail Diaries – just published…

No, we haven’t morphed into wombles. Our trip to Liverpool and surrounding area on Wednesday was marked by some subterranean exploration, and a ride in what was once an underground train, entirely above ground. Visit “Overground Underground” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries for more on this most interesting day out.

We’ve spent the day exploring, in a fairly eccentric and unstructured way, the north-west of England, focusing (so to speak) on Liverpool and Merseyside. More to follow; here are a couple of tasters. The Liver building may be instantly recognisable, even when it’s hiding being more modern structures; the Water Street entrance to James Street underground station may be less well-known, but it was worth a visit with the camera.