So, here's a trip report from the ALR I did from Monday 7th April to Sunday 13th April 2014. There may be discrepancies between times being working times and public times — I started recording this personally using working times, then at some point transferred them to railmiles which uses public times. A lot of this report was written long after the fact, so some of the details might have been lost in the depths of my memory, unfortunately. I just ended up too busy to finish it at first...
This report was written assuming minimal enthusiast knowledge, so I hope it's reasonably accessible to anyone just starting in the hobby. Others, feel free to skip over the boring bits ;)
I have finished the whole report, but will be posting it in stages as I add photos to each stage.
Planning
Since this write-up is now so long, I thought I'd better write a little about how I planned the trip!
I printed off the Project Mapping all stations TOCs map on a whole load of A4 sheets and laid them on a large table. I also had a copy of the TSO version of the public timetable, and of course, Realtime Trains, a site made by my friend from the same university, Tom Cairns.
Of course, being a lot of paper on a table, naturally it did attract some unwanted attention!
I discussed places to visit with my family and on Railforums. Once I had a reasonable idea, I tried to fit them all into seven days. It was not an easy task, but I felt reasonably happy with the end result.
I then visited Whitchurch ticket office to buy the tickets. Why Whitchurch? I'd heard good things about that ticket office, the person who runs it being an enthusiast, especially in comparison to Andover, which I've had plenty of first hand experience of, not much of it good. There is also more time between trains there than at Andover. When I first went, I bought the ALR, but the reservations for the services I had planned he couldn't figure out how to do.
I asked on Railforums, and armed with that information, went back in a few days to report back! Following those instructions, he managed, and chatting all the while, I eventually had a thick stack of reservations.
Day One — Monday
This day was designed around getting me to London in time for the sleeper. As such, I needed to have things to do *relatively* close to London, as well as a reasonable amount of padding should things go wrong. At the same time, it had to be interesting. The day unintentionally became an "unusual branch lines" day — one of the aspects aspects of the railway that I enjoy is seeing the more unusual local operations.
I was staying in Southampton at the time, so my plan was to wake up very early and get the first South West Trains service of the day from Swaythling into London Waterloo. I walked to the station — a nice, five-or-ten-minute walk from my term-time address. I caught the train (formed of 450034, 450017 and 450029, headcode 2B12, departing at 0500, due in 0634, actual arrival 0635 on plat 13), and I arrived at Waterloo almost on time. I was slightly irritated it wasn't a Class 444 instead of a 450 — both trains are in the "Desiro" family, built around the same time by the same manufacturer (Siemens), but 444s are more well-suited for longer journeys (with a more comfortable seating layout), and have power sockets in standard class if you know where to look — but it was still comfortable enough and it didn't get too busy, despite stopping at quite a few places along the way.
At Waterloo I cut through the subway concourse towards the Bakerloo line (after a little confusion about exactly which ticket gateline was for which). The rail-side gateline staff let me out without any question. I had decided not to try putting my ALR through any ticket barriers after hearing stories of them eating tickets that they shouldn't — I didn't fancy getting into an argument over the £315.50 ticket. Going into the Underground, after topping up my Oyster card, I payed using Oyster as London Underground isn't covered by the ALR, and I got on a Northbound train towards Queen's Park (front vehicle 3551, train number 235, trip number 1). It was surprisingly quiet at Waterloo, but got busier at Charing Cross. The Bakerloo line is worked by 1972 stock — the oldest deep-level stock on the system, and now (not at the time) the oldest stock on the whole London Underground. Current plans will have them going for many years to come! They do have incredibly comfortable seats, though, so I'm not complaining. I alighted at Marylebone and headed to the main railway station.
At this point I should explain that I had planned my trip using official minimum connection times so I could reclaim money for any delay that seriously affected my trip. However, minimum connection times for crossing London are notoriously long, so I arrived at Marylebone early enough to catch a train one earlier than planned — the 0703 Chiltern service to Aylesbury Vale Parkway. Great — this would give me time to go all the way to the end of the line rather than finishing at Aylesbury. One extra bit of line to tick off.
I passed through the London Underground gateline without incident, then (taking a small amount of time to look at the features of this unusual station as I passed through), I went up to the Marylebone gateline. The person had never heard of an ALR, but let me through after I explained what it was — he seemed rather intrigued that such a ticket existed!
The train was a Class 168 "Clubman" — Chiltern Railways's "premium" stock for stopping services (168111, headcode 2B06, due in Aylesbury 0802 and Aylesbury Vale Parkway 0820). This was a happy coincidence — I hadn't planned this! I plugged my phone in, but the power cut out about halfway through the journey. It was very comfortable and ran on time as far as Aylesbury, stopping in platform 2 — but then an announcement was made stating that there was a fault with the train! Fortunately, Chiltern must have had a spare unit nearby, as "Networker" 165006 was waiting in front (on the same platform) to take over on the short journey to Aylesbury Vale Parkway, leaving on time and arriving 0819, one minute early. I spoke to the driver when we got to Aylesbury Vale Parkway — he told me it was an engine failure. Very impressive that they managed to get a replacement unit out so quickly.
Aylesbury Vale Parkway station is a new station, and as such to my eyes appears a little soulless, something it has in common with many of the smaller new stations. However, I suspect that it will slowly but surely gain its own character and charm, obviously in a different way to older stations, but charm nonetheless. As it stands now, though, the platform itself looks very bare, with only a simple bus shelter along with exposed benches. I didn't get around to venturing into the station buildings, though, so maybe they are nicer. In any case, as part of East/West Rail works I suspect the station will have to be significantly rebuilt in some manner.
The Networker then formed the return working (2C25, leaving 0828 and arriving at Aylesbury 0832), which departed and arrived on time.
From an outsider's perspective at least, there's nothing too unusual about the Aylesbury to Princes Risborough line itself. It's a normal, if a little slow, branch line with a reasonably frequent service including through services to London linking two stations on different lines. However, it is the rolling stock that makes it unusual — the shuttle services are usually formed of a Class 121 "Bubble car", an ancient diesel railcar from the 60s, and as far as I know the last of the "first generation" British Rail diesel multiple unit trains left in ordinary passenger service. The Cardiff Bay branch had the second to last such service, but their Class 121 was given to Chiltern for spare parts after an irreparable engine failure and can now be seen at Aylesbury.
I had already asked the driver of the Networker at Aylesbury Vale Parkway whether the bubble car was running on that day. He had said he didn't know. The Bubble Car was due to already be in the platform when my train arrived, so I would be able to tell straight away. When the Networker pulled into Aylesbury, I initially caught a glimpse of the bubble cars I'd already seen parked up outside. I was excited for a moment, until I realised they weren't at the platform. As the train continued to pull in, however, I saw the bubble car, 121020, standing proud at platform 1.
I boarded the bubble car quite early due to the cold. As is required with all mainline stock, they have been fitted with a locking system for the slamdoors in order to stop people opening the doors when the train is moving. The guard left the door open for some time, allowing me to peek in the driver's cab. I was intrigued to see a rather large wheel in the centre of the console — I later determined that this was a handbrake. The train departed on time (2P28, departing 0847 and due in Princes Risborough 0904).
After arriving at Princes Risborough, I had my first major stroke of luck. After taking a few pictures of the bubble car and generally wandering lazily around the platform, watching an up loco-hauled service pass and wondering what to do to pass the time until my next train, I heard announced a very delayed down train. After a very quick deliberation, I (carefully!) ran over the footbridge. Unfortunately, the doors had already closed by the time I got there (the interlock lights had gone out), but the driver must have seen me coming and opened them again for me. It was this act of kindness that allowed me to completely reorganise my day and get a lot more done than was in my plan — so thank you, wonderful Chiltern driver!
It had caused me great annoyance when planning the trip that I was unable to get to the down loco-hauled service in time, so I had planned to get the up loco-hauled service back instead. I would then have needed to do a time-consuming cross-London transfer from Marylebone to Euston in order to get the St. Albans branch line in, then another from St. Pancras to Euston. However, catching this delayed train allowed me to pick up the loco-hauled down train at Bicester North.
So, I caught this Chiltern service (1U12, formed of 165008, scheduled to depart 0854 and arrive at Bicester North at 0913). It departed at 0907 and arrived at 0926, but as I said, this delay was in my favour.
At Bicester North, I had a bit of spare time before the next train I wanted, so I had a look in the shop — I felt like breakfast by this stage. However, the only food they sold had bacon, which I'm not too keen on, so I just bought a muffin and a drink. Outside, I headed for the only bench with a free space, and quickly realised why — there was a rather unusual-looking man listening to a portable radio. However, he was nice to talk to — he used to be a rail enthusiast himself, he told me — so we had a little chat before the train arrived.
Chiltern have in the past few years started running faster services — branded "mainline" — to Birmingham to try to take on Virgin. This is one of the very rare cases when the privatised railway does actually have competition — London Midland, Virgin and Chiltern, all operated by different companies, all heavily advertise their trains to Birmingham over two separate lines. Chiltern's services comprise locomotive-hauled coaching stock with a DVT (driving van trailer, basically a driving cab without an engine with a large luggage space in the rear) on the other end. The coaches are heavily refurbished with a rather nice interior featuring mostly table seats, free WiFi and other nice things like a buffet counter serving hot food. It really is luxury when compared to the relatively cramped-feeling Pendolinos, and it's easy to see why they sometimes seem to be a bit of a sore point for Virgin.
I boarded the train (1R15, hauled by 67012, due to depart 0932 and arrive Birmingham Moor Street 1042), which departed late at 0943 (delayed by the previous late-running train) and almost immediately went to sample the buffet counter. Unfortunately, the only food they served, once again, contained bacon. Do people in the Chilterns eat only bacon? I just had a Mars bar in the end. The train was very comfortable indeed. Chiltern also run a commuter-buster in the evening peak, which is loco-hauled but with an unrefurbished 1970s InterCity interior, regarded by enthusiasts as being a rather excellent interior. In my own opinion, though, this was even nicer than that was.
The train terminated at 0955 in one of the bay platforms of the lovely Birmingham Moor Street. In dramatic contrast to New Street, this is a bright, open station with lovely faux-1930s Great Western Railway decorations and signage. I was really impressed with the look of the station. I headed over to one of the through platforms to catch the next service, a London Midland service towards Kidderminster (2K17, formed of 172331, due to depart 1059½ and arrive 1128, actually departing at 1100). I alighted at Stourbridge Junction.
The Stourbridge Town branch is the second of this day's theme of unusual branch lines. At just 0.8 miles long, according to at least one Wikipedia editor it is claimed to be the shortest branch line in Europe. Connecting Stourbridge Junction and the national network with Stourbridge Town, it was originally built to link with the Stourbridge Canal, but now is solely used for passenger traffic, with no through services. Because of this unusual situation, it has been used to experiment with new types of small rail transport in the past — and the modern day is no exception. The Parry People Mover is a tiny single-car train designed to be energy efficient. It uses a flywheel to store energy on the way down, to use when returning up the steep branch. It is the only stock used on the Stourbridge Town branch now, and this is the only place the Parry People Mover is currently used.
I boarded the train that arrived (2P71, formed of 139001, due to depart at 1135 and arrive at 1138). It arrived into Stourbridge Town, where I planned to stop for lunch.
After walking through the bus station and into town, I went on the hunt for a place to have lunch. I found Buddy's Café down Victoria Passage. I recall it being reasonably nice, though I don't remember exactly what I had. After eating, I decided I wanted to explore some of Stourbridge's heritage. Stourbridge used to have a glass industry, so I decided to visit the Redhouse Glass Cone Museum. It was a reasonably long walk from town, about half an hour if I remember correctly.
It was a rather interesting museum, though with a rather pathetic audio guide that I quickly stopped using (it was light on the information and heavy on bad child actors). I took a photo of the glass Dalek they had for sale for my mum as she's a Doctor Who fan (unfortunately it was too expensive to buy and in any case too awkward to carry back).
I caught a National Express West Midlands 257 bus from outside the glass museum back to the bus station and walked into the railway station. I caught the shuttle back to Stourbridge Junction (2P94, formed of 139001, depart 1330 and arrive 1333). As I had some more free time, I decided to go via Worcester to see the array of unique semaphore signals.
So, I caught another London Midland service (2V28, formed of 172215 and 172216, due to depart at 1339 and arrive at Worcester Shrub Hill at 1408, actually arriving at 1409).
I got some pictures of the multitude of semaphore signals at this lovely station, and moved over to the other platform. I heard a signal move above my head and took a picture of that — turns out it's actually the last remaining example of a disc main signal with a calling on aspect, as far as I know. Quite an intriguing signal, and I didn't even realise it was anything odd at the time!
I caught the next train around the corner to the other Worcester station, Worcester Foregate Street — a First Great Western service (1V94, formed of 158960, due to depart at 1414 and arrive at Worcester Foregate Street 1417, actually departing 1417 and arriving 1419).
Worcester Foregate Street felt a lot more cramped, with a strange feeling of being particularly enclosed, perhaps caused by a combination of the relatively long station buildings, wide canopy and narrow platforms. I boarded the next train — another London Midland service, this time to Birmingham New Street via Bromsgrove, thus forming a loop (1M87, formed of 170505, due to depart at 1424 and arrive at Birmingham New Street 1511, actually arriving 1515). I didn't particularly mind them at the time, but in part due to riding on them for days on end in a separate trip around Scotland, I've learnt to absolutely loathe Turbostars — a small group of classes (170–172) built by Bombardier. Although I didn't feel that way at the time, I would now say they're my least favourite units, without a doubt. Maybe my opinion will change with time, who knows. I just dislike their uncomfortable seats, their incessant rattling, their door layout (best suited to commuter trains) and the irritating noises the underfloor engines make.
Birmingham New Street is a much-maligned station, and while I do agree that it is very dark and dingy, I won't go so far as saying that I find it an unpleasant station to be in. This could have something to do with the fact that I've only ever interchanged here — I don't recall actually leaving or entering the station before. In any case, it was a stark contrast to all the other stations sampled so far on the route — a 1960s monstrosity of a station, representing all that is wrong with a large portion of architecture in this time period. I must admit that some of the architecture at the time does in some sense appeal to me — but I find this tends to be the exception rather than the rule, and Birmingham New Street despite what I said earlier definitely doesn't come into the fondness category.
It was at this stage that my change of plans again improved my day. I was now able to sample the Midland Main Line on a more roundabout route back to London. This was another thing I had hoped for in my original plan but was not quite able to fit in. It was a relatively short connection given the size of the station, but when equipped with Realtime Trains on a phone and a little general railway knowledge, you can turn what would normally be a long and slow connection into a quick and speedy one, even if you don't know the area. I did not, however, have any time to stop and take pictures. So I took a CrossCountry service to Leicester (1L46, formed of 170114, due to depart 1522 and arrive at Leicester 1613, actually departing 1523 but arriving early at 1611).
CrossCountry is an interesting TOC — I like to think of their remit, as it were, as basically being "none of the above". That is, they run some of the services that don't seem to fit in any of the region-based TOCs, mostly due to their long distance crossing multiple generally-established boundary lines between operators. As such, they don't actually operate any stations — there are, however, a few stations that only they call at, operated by other TOCs. Their services are split into two groups — trains running along the main CrossCountry backbones (long-distance routes operated by Voyagers); and a few smaller, shorter routes formerly operated by Central Trains (Cardiff to Nottingham via Birmingham and Birmingham to Stansted Airport via Leicester). So anyway, this journey was on one of their smaller routes, so another Turbostar — grr!
Leicester station has a kind of pleasing symmetry to it. I've been there a few times now, and this always strikes me. Just two island platforms, with main through services running down the centre two lines, and stopping or terminating/branch services serving the outer two platforms. The only irritation was advertising banners blocking the view of the other platform — only really an irritation for enthusiasts!
After taking a few pictures and watching an HST pass (going the other way), I awaited my next train. Having not charged my phone for some time at this stage, I was secretly hoping for a Meridian. Besides, I'd been on a few HSTs by now, and was curious as to how the Meridian compared to its much-hated brother, the Voyager. I needed a stopping service, so also let a fast train to London pass by. Eventually, sure enough, an East Midlands Trains Meridian arrived to take me back (1B61, formed of 222017, due to depart 1632 and arrive at Luton Airport Parkway at 1731, actually departing 1633 and arriving 1739).
The Meridian was surprisingly nice given they're so closely related to Voyagers. They're very spacious, feel bright on the inside rather than the Voyager's general dullness, and the seats were not too bad either. It really goes to show how much difference a nice interior can make in the feel of a train. They also happen to be long enough, which is always an advantage.
I went to Luton Airport Parkway to change onto a then-First Capital Connect Thameslink service (this end of the line being somewhat fondly known as the Bedpan route, because it runs from Bedford to London St. Pancras). This end of the line is electrified, but the electrification is soon to spread to a much larger portion of the Midland Main line. The Thameslink route itself is being widely upgraded — currently most trains run from Bedford to Brighton through a central core in London and then under the Thames (hence the name), with some running in a loop via Sutton and others running via Sevenoaks. This is to change in a few years, with trains running to and from a variety of stations on various lines. All sounds very nice, but I do have some nagging doubts in the back of my mind as to the viability of this and the knock-on effects when things go wrong...
So I caught a train to St. Albans (alternatively known as St. Albans City) (2E11, formed of 319460 and 319459, due to depart 1740 and arrive 1751, actually departing 1743 and arriving 1754). The 319s are old units built in the late '80s with some character, being replaced in a frankly weird series of temporary stock changes and cascades first with 377s, then with 387s (both members of the Electrostar family by Bombardier), and ultimately with 700s (built by Siemens, somewhat controversially with no decent reason behind the controversy, as can be expected).
From here, my plan was to walk to St. Albans Abbey, catch the branch line to Watford Junction and take a train from there back into London proper. My walk to St. Albans Abbey was suggested by Google Maps, and delightfully involved a lovely riverside walk on a mud path through the woods. Very surprising and a much-needed change of scenery in this day packed with trains! St. Albans Abbey was another station that seemed to feel rather sorry for itself, though it did at least have a few more shelters than Aylesbury Vale Parkway! The train arrived — a 321 of a small group owned by London Midland that pretty much stay just for this branch, although admittedly they do operate peak time services on the main line. I caught the train (2F36, formed of 321417, due to depart 1832 and arrive at Watford Junction 1848).
The branch is rather peculiar. It feels woefully neglected, and looks to continue this way for the near future as various light rail plans have been scrapped for the time being. I must say it didn't seem underused — there were a reasonable handful of people on the train — but surprisingly few given the proximity to London. This neglected feeling is not helped by amusingly out-of-date maps of the London area on the walls — it's absolutely amazing, very few places of active use on the railway network are neglected in this way. The train ambled slowly through the countryside before eventually reaching Watford Junction. It must be mentioned that if the Watford DC lines happened to arrive into this side of the station, the Abbey line could be a very different story — an extension of the direct London Overground service to London would not have been surprising in this case. As it is, the branch can only dream of direct services to anywhere besides Watford Junction. Even its platform at Watford Junction seems like they've tried to hide it — it's around the corner slightly and away from the main cluster of platforms that forms the rest of the station.
I watched the trains pass as the light started to fade, before catching a London Midland service to Euston (2Y18, formed of 350119 and 350242, due to depart at 1859 and arrive at 1918, actually arriving at 1923). The 350 is the AC cousin of the 450 that started the day, and is a very similar unit. This odd familiarity was a nice end to a very good day.
But of course, this isn't the end — it's now time for the much-hyped sleeper! I was to travel on the Highland Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness. This was the first sleeper I'd been on since becoming a rail enthusiast, and only the second I have memory of (I believe I went on some sleepers on the continent when I was very very young, but I have almost no memory of them). But first, to make use of the Virgin first class lounge. Although I can never remember the rules, I have a feeling that sleeper customers are only supposed to be let in if they have first class tickets, but this rule is often unenforced during quiet periods. As it was tonight, and after a short chat with the staff on the desk, I was let in. As far as the few first class lounges I've visited go, Euston's seems to be reasonably good — free snacks and drinks, with a reasonable view of all the passengers below standing on the poorly-used packed concourse. Euston irritates me — the station was rebuilt in the 60s to have a nice wide open space for people to circulate. Then they went a stuck a whole bunch of shops and restaurants in the way, and now the place is an absolute mess. This is further exacerbated by a lack of general waiting area and the fact that trains are often announced relatively late, so people are standing on the concourse waiting for a platform. But anyway, I digress — the first class lounge is what I've come to expect from rail first class lounges, obviously not a patch on that at airports, but neither is (usually) the ticket price!
While in Euston, I realised that I would need to charge my phone on the sleeper and I had misremembered the description of the compartments. Fortunately I did double check on my phone, realised my error, popped into one of the shops and bought myself a European plug adaptor, which just happens to fit well enough into shaver sockets ;)
When the train was ready, I boarded the sleeper. I was welcomed by a friendly enough but not particularly welcoming member of onboard staff. This is something I'll touch on more later. I had been unable to book a solo compartment, so I was to be sharing a compartment with a stranger — something I was slightly apprehensive of. But I needn't have worried — the man I was sharing with was also quite young, and seemed rather friendly (but understandably kept himself to himself). I dumped my stuff on the bed for the moment, grabbed my phone and Quail maps, and headed straight for the lounge car. There were no free tables but the very comfortable sofas were free. I ordered a lovely plate of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties, along with a whisky and coke, which all came on a tray. I had previously learnt that I liked Haggis while in Scotland (the other sleeper journey I mentioned had something to do with that, incidentally), so this was a welcome return of that delicious food.
I slept reasonably well, but not as deeply as I would normally, due to a combination of excitement about finally getting going on the trip proper, and the fact that I'm really not used to sleeping on trains.
The train and the ambience, especially of the dining car, was all wonderful. I like the Mk 3 sleeping cars, I think they're very well-designed, and the Mk 2 dining car's refurbishment is excellent. I really hope they only improve on it with the new stock, rather than ruining it all with these rather concerning themed nights.
(Sleeper details: First Scotrail 1S25, hauled by 90018 until Edinburgh, then 67004 on the rest of the journey to Inverness, due to depart 2115 and arrive in Inverness at 0836, actually arriving 0831).