Friday: West Wales, and Central Wales

A bright but chilly Friday morning saw me at Pembroke Dock station in time for the 07.09, a class 158 to take me to Carmarthen.  I haven't been to West Wales since the early 80s so I decided to do all three of the branches here.  From Carmarthen a 150 took me to Fishguard Harbour, the train split at Whitland with a single car 153 going back to Pembroke.  Unlike the pretty rural scenery of the rest of this region, the harbour here is modern and industrial - and at the time of my brief visit, totally devoid of cars, lorries, and train passengers.

The sunshine and cold wind continued as I changed trains at possibly the most out of the way station I will use on this ticket, Clarbeston Road.  This is a request stop so I had to ask the guard to let me off here, and signal the driver of the next train to pick me up.  Scenic delights included kites wheeling over the fields, and a wooded valley on the approach to Milford Haven with a swan nesting on the river below.

After Milford Haven I headed east, to Swansea.  Here there was a change of plan.  The provisional schedule had me heading for Cardiff from where I could catch the loco-hauled WAG Express to Chester on my way home.  However, in view of the wonderful weather I decided more scenery was called for, so instead I boarded a single car 153 for a long ride up the Central Wales Line to Shrewsbury.  Stunning scenery kept me entertained throughout this four hour journey, although the downside of this choice was that I missed out on the luxury of first class travel via Cardiff.

Following my long ride, a change at Shrewsbury saw me on a busy 175 headed for Holyhead, but I only stayed on until Chester.

At Chester I broke one of the prime directives of bashing:  Always catch the first train.  There was a late running 158 which was 100% loaded which I could have caught to Earlestown.  I rejected this and instead took the lightly loaded 175 which was my planned train.

I got away with it, and as we approached Warrington I could see the stock for the Liverpool service waiting on the line up from Walton Old Junction.  For some reason the journey planner recommends the long walk at Earlestown instead of the same platform connection at Bank Quay for this journey.  Mind you, I've been sat on the Liverpool train before now and we pulled out just as the arrival from Chester pulled in, and then we waited for it at Winwick, so maybe the Earlestown connection is wiser.

Journey	Dep. Sch.	Act.	Arr. Sch.	Act.	Train	Distance
Pembroke Dock - Carmarthen	07.09	07.09	08.25	08.23	158838	41m38ch
Carmarthen - Fishguard Harbour	08.46	08.46	09.47	09.44	153303 150235	41m18ch
Fishguard Harbour - Clarbeston Road	09.54	09.54	10.15	10.18	150235	15m15ch
Clarbeston Road - Milford Haven	10.28	10.27	10.57	10.54	175115	13m74ch
Milford Haven - Swansea	11.08	11.08	12.47	12.49	175115	71m45ch
Swansea - Shrewsbury	13.14	13.14	17.10	17.07	153367	121m60ch
Shrewsbury - Chester	17.24	17.26	18.20	18.20	175010	41m41ch
Chester - Warrington Bank Quay	18.49	18.52	19.18	19.18	175112	18m01ch
Warrington Bank Quay - Huyton	19.22	19.25	19.53	19.53	142032	13m75ch
Total						378m47ch

Thursday: Go West!

Off we go!  A lightly loaded 156 took me from Huyton to Wigan.  I was interested to note mast bases for the forthcoming electrification have appeared along part of the route.

Ah, now this is more like it.  Although I often grumble about Pendolinos (I don't really fit into a standard class seat, especially one of those ones with no window.) I have to say first class with a fried breakfast and free wi-fi is a fine way to travel.  About 50% loaded in first, I would guess, and once the Warrington reservation was a no-show I moved into a forward facing widow seat to enjoy the ride.  My apologies to the gentleman who sat in the rear facing window seat at Warrington, and then swapped to the aisle a couple of minutes later when I swapped to the window.

Next, a quick hop via the Victoria (rammed) and Bakerloo (lightly loaded) lines, to Paddington.  West of England services are in a mess due to engineering works beyond Castle Cary, which allowed me to catch a very lightly loaded HST on a Paddington to Castle Cary service to take me to Westbury.  The first class at seat service was suspended on this truncated service (Can't say I blame them, there were only three people in my carriage.) so I had to go and collect my coffee and cake from the buffet.  After the chaos of Reading (When it's all settled I'll have to go and do the "new" underpass.) we trundled on in glorious sunshine calling at minor stations such as Bedwyn - Exit from coaches A, B, C and D only.

Why Westbury?  Well, according to a trawl through my records, I've never actually travelled the last half mile of this journey, from Westbury East Loop Jn to Westbury North Jn.  This is probably just an omission in my notes, but I'm doing it today just to be sure.

Here's my train from Paddington leaving Westbury after I alighted. I just managed to march to the front in time to get the number of the lead power car before it headed off.

Just time for a swift pint of Wadworth 6X in the Railway Inn...

... before returning to the station to find the "New Measurement Train", a short High Speed Train set full of test equipment and engineers.

And the next leg of the journey was in a hot and crowded 158 to Newport via Bristol. Leaving Westbury 5 minutes late left me with a bit of a worry as I had a five minute connection ahead, but fortunately a prompt reversal at Bristol meant we were 1 early into Newport.

Now, a last bit of HST luxury as I head to Swansea.  This time, the trolley came round with my freebies as we trundled westwards under what was now a fairly heavy overcast, the sunshine having run out back at Westbury.

I must say, I'm beginning to understand why first class fares are so high.  Once again, I'm in a carriage with about three other people - Someone has to pay the cost of hauling all this fresh air up and down the line.

It was raining when I got to Swansea, (Does this increase or decrease the chances of me catching measles?) so straight on to a 150 for the last leg of today's journey.  Luxury no more, as we rattled up the hill out of Swansea, and on through the splendidly rugged coastal scenery.  Things get more and more rural the further west one goes, and by the time we'd reversed at Carmarthen and turned left at Whitland we were on a single line railway where the train has to stop to check the level crossings are clear before crossing the road.

The end of the line is Pembroke Dock, a little one-platform station who's main attraction is the Good Beer Guide listed Station Inn, where I enjoyed a pint and an excellent liver and bacon dinner.

	Dep. Sch.	Act.	Arr. Sch.	Act.	Train	Distance
Huyton - Wigan North Western	07.06	07.07	07.30	07.28	156466	14m1ch
Wigan North Western - Euston	08.09	08.10	10.12	10.13	390118	193m71ch
Euston - Oxford Circus					13011
Oxford Circus - Paddington					3445
Paddington - Westbury	11.06	11.06	12.31	12.31	43040 43170	95m43ch
Westbury - Newport (via Bristol Temple Meads)	13.10	13.15	14.26	14.25	158955	54m48ch
Newport - Swansea	14.31	14.33	15.43	15.40	43151 43144	57m43ch
Swansea - Pembroke Dock	16.00	16.00	18.19	18.10	150252	73m06ch
Total						487m41ch

Ticket

There's no going back now, I've bought the ticket!  I must say this was something of an anti-climax.  The most expensive train ticket I've ever bought, you'd think it'd be a golden pass or something, not just a boring old standard issue card.  Not even a free plastic wallet!

Introduction

I'll be setting off soon on a seven day All Line Rover on the UK's railways, and I hope to chronicle my travels as I go, thanks to free wi-fi plus my recent acquisition of a 3G Data Dongle.

My vague list of objectives includes

• A visit to John O'Groats because although I've done the railway to Wick and Thurso, I've never actually been to the touristy location at the "End of the Country".  And I visited Land's End a few years ago.
• A visit to the railways of West Wales, because I haven't been there since the early 80s.
• An attempt to sample some of the few remaining loco-hauled services available around the country, including 90s in East Anglia and 67s on Chiltern Railways and in Wales.
• Possibly a tiny piece of required national network track.
• Just maybe a good few miles of required narrow gauge track.

Let's see how many of these I achieve!

Let me warn you that this will not be a touristy exploration of the country, nor an evocative description of out of the way places in the style of the fascinating Round The North We Go.

No, in order to get my money's worth out of the expensive rover ticket I will be spending most of each day on the trains, and any time off railway property will be confined to a brief search for sustenance and/or accommodation.

Except for John O'Groats of course.