Just published to Geoff’s Rail Diaries, an illustrated account of Wednesday’s Northern Rail outing, Visit “The Southport Avoider” – now!
Category: Railways…
…and trams, traction engines, buses, ships, boats, canals and other transport subjects
From Princes Street to Wallgate Street
Busy days!
Saturday 16 November: off to Edinburgh, on the train from Crewe.
Sunday: an ice-cold start on the Forth’s shore at Newhaven and Leith, then up Leith Walk (on foot, of course) for a brief spot of tourism in Edinburgh’s old town.
Monday: another frosty morning. This time we’ll use the old railway track to Scotland Street, and we’ll visit Calton Hill and the National Museum of Scotland. A full day wouldn’t have done justice to the museum, and we’ve only got a couple of hours before our train for home.
Tuesday: a day off, and an hour or so of fresh air down by the Severn, where the bridge is looking good in the late-afternoon light.
Wednesday: away at the crack of dawn for a rail exploration of parts of Lancashire, which doesn’t quite go according to plan. We miss a train in unexpected fashion in Wigan, before finding ourselves (briefly) in Blackburn and Clitheroe.
(further photographic exploration to follow)
Lanky Lines
Wednesday 9 October: we’re having a day out on a Northern Rail day rover, exploring (mostly) lines in Lancashire – via Wigan and Preston to Blackpool, for a walk along a blustery prom, then out to Colne on a soon-to-be-history class 142 railbus. There are some showers around – quite hefty ones inland, over Pendle Hill – but we’re lucky, we don’t get wet. We head for home via Todmorden and Manchester, where the walk from Victoria to Piccadilly provides the opportunity of a well-earned (!) pint.
For a few more rail – and tram – photos, visit “Another Northern Day” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries.
Wandering around the West Midlands
At last! We had a great day out about three weeks ago, exploring the area by rail (and, of course, having lunch). For a full and illustrated account of our exploration, visit “West Midlands wandering” on Geoff’s rail diaries
Lunch at Ledbury
Tuesday 10 September: a day out using a “West Midlands Day Ranger” (just £18 with an old buffers’ card). We’re taking a roundabout but interesting route to the Herefordshire town. First stop is Stourbridge, for a ride on the Parry People Mover, and we pause for a while at Great Malvern, where the station’s ironwork is worth a look. Finally, Ledbury (“Junction for Poetry”) provides us with an excellent pub lunch and equally good beer to wash it down with.
We return homewards via Barnt Green, where a ride on the short line to Redditch takes us through pleasant countryside, but we don’t hang about at the new town’s station (it’s not a patch on Telford Central, despite having electric trains). The return trip takes us to a crowded New Street, and an equally crowded (it thins out along the way) electric train to Rugeley, a line whose electrification was completed relatively recently. Time for a photo or two here, before returning to Shropshire on three more trains, connecting perfectly at Stafford and Wolverhampton. Fifteen journeys on thirteen separate trains (if the “People Mover” counts as such), every one on time. Great fun!
Last (Manx) Post: GLMR
After our visit to the Great Laxey Mine Railway, we’ll be heading for the ferry and home. This visit, to a railway significantly smaller than those we’ve seen so far, was just the thing for our last morning on the Isle of Man. Visit “Laxey: the GLMR” to find out more…
Manx trams galore
Just published to Geoff’s Rail Diaries, photos of the many and various trams we encountered and travelled on during our stay on the Isle of Man. Visit “Manx Electric Railway” – now!
Clip-clop
…the sound of the horse trams in Douglas, Isle of Man. For more photos of this year’s somewhat-limited operations, visit “Horsepower” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries
The high point of the trip
…was, of course, the visit to Snaefell summit on the Snaefell Mountain Railway. We also saw the SMR tramcars at Laxey the previous day, and on the Saturday when we visited the Laxey Mines Railway (still to come…). Visit “Snaefell Mountain Railway” on Geoff’s Rail Pages for the pictures and more on the line.
“Uphill to the sea”
That’s what the Groudle Glen publicity tells us about this little Manx 2ft-gauge line. For photos and an account of our visit there on 24 July, go to “Groudle Glen” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries.
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