21-MAY-2013
The mainline and narrow gauge railways share the same station.....but clearly not the same track at Blaenau.
And wonders of wonders the trains are timed to allow connections to be made, what will they think of next?
Lovely little engine brought in hoards of tourists who thankfully were met by coaches and did not share our train back to Llandudno Junction.
Out of interest this railway is included in the all line rail rover ticket so we could have travelled on it.
21-MAY-2013
There was more smoke from the ciggy than the engine!
Lovely smooth quiet engine, hardly made a sound as it ran round the train..
Merddin Emrys..
The oldest operating Double Fairlie on the railway. Named after the 6th century Welsh poet. The locomotive underwent a major rebuild in 1987/8. Returned to steam in 2005 and converted to coal firing during the winter of 2006/2007. The engine is currently in service and covered more miles in 2010 than any other FR locomotive.
21-MAY-2013
For the return journey to Chester from Llandudno Jnct, the train was formed by detaching the last two carriages of an arriving Holyhead bound train. As the previous Chester train had only just departed the number of passengers boarding at Llandudno Jnct was somewhat limited.
We had a carriage to ourselves with three persons in the other carriage. it got a little but not a lot busier as we picked up along the route.
Again very acceptable stock on the route. Impressed with our exposure to Arriva and can give them 8/10 overall for their efforts.
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Watch and learn Northern!
21-MAY-2013
The weather remained fine for the run back along the coast to Chester.
This is Colwyn Bay.
21-MAY-2013
Chester Station.
Didn't get to see to much of the station but it did seem a little like it has been cobbled together over time with little thought to integrating the additions into the existing facilities.
Todays miles so far were 280 taking the running total to 1904 miles
21-MAY-2013
Our first taste of Mr Branson's trains.
Virgin Voyager to get us the 21 miles to Crewe.
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Some people complain in railway circles about men in Orange jackets spoiling the photos...there's another set that leave luggage in peoples shots!!!!!!!!
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21 miles gets us to a running total of 2004 miles.
21-MAY-2013
That had been the plan for the day but as we had a reasonably early arrival we decied to make the most of the rover ticket and try another run out that night on the trains
London Midland to Wolverhampton was the choice.......but not a good one.
I have developed an aversion to these green and grey trains.
Only one working toilet in the 4 carriages and the first class compartment had less legroom than the Pacers on the Penistone line. Truely uncomfortable experience and so London Midland get the wooden spoon out of all the operators used
As they managed an on time arrival I will be generous and give the 4/10.....pretty poor
A Class 350 Desiro was hardly desirable
21-MAY-2013
We chose Wolverhampton as I had a yearning for a curry and it was a safe bet we would find one here....we smelt them but surprisingly never saw one and ended up embarrassingly in a Pizza Hut...it was a good pizza so alls well in the end.
Next stop was "the Posada" in Lichfield Street. A wonderful pub with a fine selection of real ales. it also has the ability to confuse old people as I tried to open the door to leave...trouble was it wasn't the door just a panel of similar design...it raised a smile or two with the locals.
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Having let a few London Midland trains pass.....I will not travel with them again....we had the delights of Wolverhampton by night as we waited for the Preston bound Virgin train to arrive.
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Luckily we realised we were on the wrong platform and thus had time to get over in time for its departure!!
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This got us back to Crewe with another 80 miles under the belt. 2084 miles is now the running total......will we make 3000 in the week??
21-MAY-2013
On arrival at Crewe we pulled in alongside the Northern Belle
This was returning from London having been on an excursion to the Flower show at Chelsea.
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Our hotel for the night was the conveniently located Crewe Arms, 50 yds from the station.
They heating was on full blast on a mild evening. Requests for it to be turned off in our rooms failed but in the process they managed to lose Geoff's room key. It was nowhere to be found as we returned that evening.
The rooms had mismatched numbers (just shabby)/ keys had mixed fobs/mine had a towel under the loo waste pipe to catch the leak/broken stays on windows/due to heat windows open but noisy youths and aircon packs made for a disturbed night.
This hotel gets the "London Midland" award of 4/10 and that is for the chatty and helpful receptionist on the desk and its convenience for the station.
Not the best evening on the trip then!
22-MAY-2013
Last two days now and this one is Aberdeen via Haymarket using Virgin upto Edinburgh then Scotrail again for the run to Aberdeen.
Virgin Rail.
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What a delight it was to travel on this service.....bacon roll to top off the hotel breakfast.....and a nice chicken salad for lunch washed down with a tumbler of red.
The steward on this service was excellent the best of the trip...chatting with the travellers, giving advice, and providing a very efficient catering service. this guy and the rest of the crew get 10/10. I know us Yorkies don't give 10 but he was a Sheffield lad so we stick together and he gets the full top marks.
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A Virgin Voyager is very similar to a Cross Country one even down to the electrically operated toilet doors. These have the same issue on both companies trains in that, every so often, a passenger can hit the alarm button by mistake when trying to lock the door.
As the really old grumpy one needed to go he was advised of the potential for this....it had already gone off a couple of times that day. Normally it goes off once and is ignored by the crew, only if it continues to do they respond.
One has to give Geoff some credit as the doors had hardly closed before the alarm went off and again and again and again and......5 times in total.
10/10 for the lady steward who responded immediately and "sorted him out".
So for the top class crew, good catering and the in journey entertainment...virgin are top dogs of the week 9/10 overall
22-MAY-2013
Virgin may have sneaked an extra 0.5 points if they had been on time as our plan allowed for us to go to Edinburgh to make the connection to Scotrail, but with a tight change and running a few minutes late we did the change at Haymarket. Another station that appears to be constantly under refurbishment.
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Haymarket is 241 miles from Crewe so our running total now stands at 2325 miles
22-MAY-2013
Scotrail provided another Class 170 for the run to Aberdeen.
No problems with it at all, ontime, not overcrowded, 1st class was very quiet, good trolley service to keep you fed and watered. 8/10
Halfway up the train "hit some debris on the line" which had the driver inspecting at the next stop. We could see no evidence on arrival in Aberdeen. So it will remain a mystery what we hit.
Miles to Aberdeen were 129 making the total now 2454 miles