Great NRAS Rail Race Part 5

After reaching Inverness in the late summer morning sunshine, it’s time to think about the final part of my Rail Race, the breakfast onboard the Caledonian Sleeper will keep me going for a while, so I have 48 minutes here, hardly time for a look round. As the station clock counts it’s way to 9am the station is starting to fill with Scotland fans, many in national dress, heading down for the match in Glasgow with Macedonia a really great sight, and it’s a shame i din’t ask some of them to pose for me for a picture. Spirits are high and jovial with smiles all round, though my next train being only 3 coaches might be a bit full, fortunately I have a seat reservation.

The train departs Inverness bang on time, and until I reach Perth I’ll be travelling along the same stretch of line the sleeper train took on it’s journey northwards. We head through the breath taking scenery once more and the sun shines down. The coach around me is filled with the clinking of beer cans and bottles, laughter and the happy buzz of passengers chatting to one another. I chat with a gang of guys sat in the seats the other side of the aisle, who are on their way to the match, they offer me a beer, but say it’s a wee bit early, and tell them of my past 24 hours.

The journey passes quickly, and I may even have had a snooze at some point. Snoozing on trains is something of a speciality and people often fear missing their stop, I had years of experience so no chance of it happening to me

We arrive into Perth and I leave the train bound for Glasgow, wishing the guys all the best for the game later, with bottles raised and grins all round they wish me a safe  trip.

Again it’s not a long wait at Perth, I cross over to a bay platform where my train to Edinburgh will arrive, and a few minutes beforehand, the inbound service arrives. There’s only a few people on board and it remains that way all the way to Edinburgh.

After my arrival in Edinburgh I met up with a long time friend Becky, who had taken a slightly extended lunch break, and we grabbed some lunch. Becky recommended the pasty shop on the station (yes I am Edinburgh not Penzance) the pasties were excellent, washed down with a cuppa and a chat on the bustling Waverley station.

I’m starting to feel the effects of not getting much sleep on the Caledonian sleeper, but the spectacle of the scenery and the wonderful morning meant I spent most of my journey to Inverness hanging out of the window with the camera (hooray for proper trains)

Due to my limited time at Edinburgh, we headed over to the platform far too soon, then the doors were closing and as Becky waved me off, the voyager unit accelerated out of Waverley station. One benefit of the voyager though is the at seat 3 pin plugs, which allowed me to charge my laptop and mobile phone at the same time.

As we head along the east coast I grab a few pics as we skirt the coast as we head towards Alnwick.

Another view from the Voyager

View from the Voyager

So far my journey has been amazing, the only delay I had encountered was my train from Plymouth to Penzance which was late leaving Plymouth by only a few minutes but soon made back the time.

Many of you will know I love rail travel, and this journey has only made me want to do more, especially in Scotland, I’ve always had an affinity with the place, and seeing those amazing sights this morning has me planning another (yes I had started planning something before I left for this one) by rail you see some really amazing views.

My journey has been greeted with wonderful staff on all the rail companies, and the food on the Caldedonian sleeper was delicious, my first taste of haggis, accompanied by neeps and tatties, as well as the red currant and whiskey sauce, all for a bargain £5, washed down with some adnams ale. and a very generous chap who donated £10 to the fund after we shared a table in the lounge car on the Caledonian sleeper. When we switch on the news all we hear is doom and gloom, but if nothing else, my fund raiser has shown that people do still care, big time, my original target of £250 was soon broken by the generosity of people, some who only knew me though a friend’s posting in a forum, to long time friends and members of NRAS.

We’ve just left Alnwick, so are about 25 mins from Newcastle, the sun shines down, while cotton wool clouds drift by in the blue sky. The patchwork of fields range from gold to green and freshly ploughed earthy brown.

Another 125 this time at Newcastle

As we speed south towards Darlington, the sun continues to shine, since hurtling through Hungerford yesterday the sun has been a welcome accompaniment to my journey, making for some fantastic scenes this morning.

The train is starting to get busy as folks on the East Coast head home from school, college or work. I’m quite surprised how full the First Class accommodation is as we head away from York, I’m now around 155 miles from the end of my journey. The complimentary drinks are brought round and I plump for another tea, while typing notes into my laptop.

This final leg is really racing by, updates via my mobile to Twitter start counting down the miles until I arrive back in Birmingham, the train is bang on time as we head past the crooked spire of Chesterfield, and down towards Derby.

Derby has changed quite a bit since I was last up this way, the station is getting a makeover and looking much better for it, new buildings have appeared on what used to be part of the old BR works, you remember when we actually made things here in the UK, like the Intercity 125 I was on down in the west country.

41 miles to go as we leave Derby, and a non stop run now to Birmingham, the train heads through Burton, past the large breweries either side of the line. At Tamworth we’re above the West Coast mainline, that late last night the Caldedonian Sleeper was hurtling along. As we hit the outer regions of Birmingham, we pass the old Metro Cammel works, again a remnant from our great engineering days and building of our own rail vehicles that are in use all over the world.

Outside the sun is still shining, a perfect end to a wonderful trip, we descend into the Derby tunnel as we make the final approach to New Street station, the dark and depressing hole in the ground that doesn’t reflect some of the wonderful improvements Birmingham has seen over the last 10 years. We arrive 4  minutes early, the guard announces that the train continues it’s journey down to Plymouth, and a sense of deja-vu comes over me as I leave the train.

Some 36 hours after I started my trip, I’m back in Brum, I’ve had a wonderful time and it’s all been worthwhile with over £500 being raised for NRAS.

Again I can’t express my thanks enough to everyone who donated, it was really touching and I thank you all for your kindness, generosity and support for my fund raiser.

Now.. these plans I have for my next trip…..

 

Great NRAS Rail Race Part 4

Day 1

After heading down the escalator from the main concourse I grabbed my ticket at Paddington and travelled the Circle line 4 stops to Euston Square, then made the short walk up to Euston station, phew it’s warm, you’d think I’d ran a marathon! The next leg of my journey would commence at 21.16, and was the part of the journey I’ve been looking forward to the most

As I waited at Euston I nipped into Boots to get some wet wipes to freshen up a little, as with my 3/4 length coat and a rucksack containing my laptop and a change of clothes I was a wee bit hot! Not wanting to look any more scary than I do already I got the wipes and freshened up a little at the toilets (30p!! so much for spending a penny!!) I waited while the train information for my next train appeared on the screen, and as soon as the platform info was added, I made my way to the platform and prepared to board the Caledonian Sleeper service to Inverness.

The Caledonian Sleeper

Every few coaches there was a member of the train staff with the details of the passengers in their section of the train. I approached the first member of staff, who told me I wasn’t on her list, and to make my way to the next one down. After a quick check I found my berth was in coach N and berth number 11. I boarded the service while other passengers took photo’s, hugged friends or family before heading off.  Once I’d found my berth I found it spotlessly clean, with crisp linen on both of the bunks, after taking off my coat the first thing I did was to turn the berth temp down to it’s lowest setting. I think I’m meltinnng….

The Sleeper berth

Another view of the berth

Shortly after I freshened up a little more in the berth, and before long the train was pulling out of Euston Station, on it’s long journey north via the West Coast Main line. I was feeling quite peckish by now, and had vowed before leaving on my journey that I wanted to sample the food onboard the sleeper. Shortly after departure the host (what they call the onboard attendant) came round and asked my preference of tea of coffee for breakfast, I had filled out the card for my breakfast and gone for the cooked option. While Charlie made himself comfy on the bed, I made my way to the lounge car for dinner.

Charlie makes himself comfy

The lounge car is an unusual sight for a British train, as half of the coach has long leather sofa’s either side of the carriage, and near the food preparation area there are a number of tables and chairs for those who are eating onboard. despite getting to the lounge car quite soon after departure, there were already a number of passengers tucking into food, cheese boards, and bottles of wine, while those on the sofa’s nursed a beer or a dram. For many years I’d wanted to try Haggis, and tonight was going to be the night. I ordered Haggis, Neeps & Tatties, and a beer to wash it down (though this didn’t last until when my food arrived) The food onboard is very well priced, £5 for the meal, which is around the price you’d pay for a burger meal from some random on station food chain. The food on the sleeper is far more appetising and is served on proper plates and with proper cutlery, no paper plates and plastic forks here, I was told I’d have to wait a while for my order to be ready, as they were really busy that evening, despite this, the staff we all jovial and gave genuine service with a smile.

The staff member said that if I sat near the kitchen area he’d bring my food as soon as he could, so seeing an empty seat, I asked the chap already at the table if he’d mind if I joined him while waiting for my food. He said not at all, and I grabbed a seat and opened the beer, he said I looked like I needed it, and we started chatting, I told him about my fundraising trip, how RA affected folks, we also chatted about cycling, and over the years he’s cycled from Lands End to John O Groats and back to Manchester, as well as over the Pyrenees mountains. I said I doubt I’d ver be able to cycle such wonderful distances.  As we chatted my food was brought out and was beautifully presented on the plate. I tried my first forkful of haggis and…

it’s delicious!

After a few more forkfuls, the chap said that it would be even better with the sauce, and he grabbed it from one of the other tables for me. He advised me to try a little a first, which I did, before giving a more generous splash of redcurrant and whisky sauce over my meal, it’s a lovely companion.

After I’d finished we continued chatting, it turned out that he often uses the sleeper when his company has no fly periods, so he was well used to travelling onboard the service. As we approached Rugby, he said he was going to retire, after a day at work I don’t blame him, he paid for the wine he’d had and then came back and held out £10, he said he was donating to my fund raiser, I thanked him and asked if he was sure, he said of course and wished me good luck on the rest of my journey before I wished him a good night.

Throughout my journey I’ve met some wonderful people and the actions of his guy left me as astounded as the total that had been raised before I’d departed. Friends, folks from NRAS, bikers from the XRV.org forum, and the Cable forum as well as the police and security staff of SO17 at the Palace of Westminster. The generosity of them all has simply been astounding, so too has the generosity of the train operating companies, they really have made a difference to my journey.

As we head up the Trent Valley line towards Stafford (I think, it’s dark out there and the lights onboard make it difficult to see where about we are) I head back to my berth, change into my pajamas and settle down, shortly after we stop at Crewe.

Day 2

On leaving Crewe I managed to grab a little sleep, as I next remember peering out of the berth window and we were just leaving Carlisle, I manage to doze off again, and before long we were in Edinburgh Waverley it’s now 04.19 on day 2 of my journey. I hear the sounds of a diesel loco being attached for the un-electrified journey forward to Inverness. Next I remember we’re leaving Gleneagles it’s now 05.26, and it’s a lovely morning too good to stay in the berth, with spectacular scenery and wonderful morning, I decide to have a wash, get dressed and head to the end of the coach for some piccies of this wonderful place to wake up to.

Below are a few pics from this leg of the journey, my apologies for any image quality problems, but they were taken from the train window.

Blair Atholl

Sunrise

Sunrise 2

Amazing views

Sun kisses the top of the peaks

It was around the loaction of the pic above that I had my breakfast, a sausage, bacon and egg panini, yogurt, some orange juice and a few cups of tea (and some shortbread which I’ll save for later!) What a wonderful start to the day.

Finally right on time at 08.30 we arrive into Inverness, a lovely morning, and a journey from London that I won’t forget in a hurry, it really has been a wonderful experience onboard the Caledonian Sleeper, and First Scotrail should be thanked for the excellent service the staff onboard provide. Despite my lack of sleep, I feel so alive after the breathtaking scenery and the wonderful morning.

A quick few pics at the end of the line, and 48 minutes at Inverness before I start my journey back to Birmingham.

Caledonian Sleeper at Inverness

Inverness Station

My thanks must go to Theresa at First Scotrail for their kind donation of a berth for this leg of the journey, while I didn’t make the most of it (how could I with such a wonderful day and scenery) I’d like to thank them for such a wonderful experience onboard.

 

Great NRAS Rail Race Part 3

Day 1

After a stretch of the legs, I grabbed a drink and a few pics, I head back to the front of the train to take my seat for the next leg of my journey to London Paddington. Everything has gone smoothly so far with all the trains on time and spotlessly clean. I grab a quick pic of what was the rear but is now the leading power car of the train. By the way I’m told that if you look carefully on the ballast (the stones that the track rests on) you can see one of the Mister Men! I had nothing to do with Mr Bump’s demise, though Charlie Mouse remained silent on the issue. Using amazing forensic computing power, I manage to zoom in for clues, and deduce that Mr Bump is in fact a paper cup!

Waiting for departure from Penzance

I grab the same seat I travelled down in, as it’s close to the main doors (and potential picture taking windows ) A quick sms sent off to twitter, and I grab another picture this time of the interior of the refurbished First Class accommodation.

Full coach view

It’s now 14.00 just under seven hours into my journey, and right on time we depart from Penzance, still affected by the Mizzle (I told you I’d use it more often!) but it was starting to brighten up a little. As the train heads towards London I recline the seat and watch the world go by, until we go through Saltash station and I make a quick dash to the window. So taking care that there wasn’t another train approaching I manage to get a pic from the train of the Royal Albert Bridge, which this year has celebrated it’s 150th year, a true testimony to the brilliant Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s engineering skills.

Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash

At Plymouth a few more folks join the first class accommodation, the one’s who sit nearest are American tourists who’ve been to Plymouth to sample some of it’s naval history. We leave Plymouth on time and continue the journey, it’s now 16.00 and the larger stations are filled with folks going home from work, Between Newton Abbot and Exeter, the line runs right alongside the sea, in the Dawlish area. The sea wall is a popular place for railway photographers, and you can see holiday makers walking along the footpath between the line and the sea. At this point I manage to grab some video footage, but until I’ve managed to rotate it, I’ll have to wait before including it in the blog.

We arrive in Exeter and the skies are brightening up, the weather forcast predicted a nice few days, but as yet I’ve seen no evidence of it. The train heads through Taunton, and now it’s the fast run to Reading, as we speed through the countryside I see Castle Cary whiz by while slurping some Earl Grey tea I’ve been supplied with along with some stem ginger biscuits. As we speed through Hungerford, the skies are a lovely shade of blue, and the sun is bathing the land so this is where it’s been hiding!

The train gets held outside Reading for a few minutes before we finally make it into the station, where we’re held for a few minutes, the guard apologises for the slight delay blaming it on the signalman for not being able to decide which train to allow to leave first (some things never change <smile>) Another HST leaves the platform opposite ahead of us, and shortly after we depart Reading and soon pick up speed. As we race through Maidenhead I wonder if NRAS HQ ia nearby and we overtake the train that left Reading before us. Not many pics on this leg I’m afraid, well until I reach Paddington that is.

Despite leaving Reading a few minutes late, we arrive in Paddington 4 minutes early, I sit and wait for everyone to get their luggage and leave before hauling myself off the train. It’s now 19.30 and I have about an hour and a half to get to Euston but first I have a mission before jumping onto the Circle line for the short trip to Euston.

I had a rendezvous here at Paddington, and try as I might I wasn’t able to find the character in question, so seeing two police officers nearby I approach them and ask where I might find him and was it OK to take a pic. With a big grin the officer pointed out where I could find who I was looking for, and said of course it was OK, but that I might have to zoom in as he wasn’t very big.

I found him, hidden away, not easy to spot and obviously a popular fellow as people had their pic taken with him. His battered suitcase and old brush hat, it was the bear who shares his name with the station.

Paddington immortalised in bronze

After getting my pic, I head back onto the main concourse to get the escalator down to the tube and jump on the Circle line service to Euston Square, I see the police officer who helped me out who gave a grin as I went past. Down onto the escalator and realise how warm it is, having been sat in an air conditioned coach and only getting into the brighter sunnier weather at Hungerford, I realise that my coat, rucksack isn’t the ideal thing to be heading towards the tube with, it’s a tad warm here!

But that ends this leg of my journey,

Again, thank you to First Great Western for their kindness upgrading me for my journey.

 

Great NRAS Rail Race Part 2

Day 1

My arrival in Plymouth was greeted with a grey fog hanging over the station, a local informed me it’s known as Mizzle, a term used in Devon and Cornwall for a combination of fine drizzle/rain and a thick mist or fog. It’s a nice word which I must start to use more often

Well I had 30 minutes to kill

The train down to Penzance arrived on time, and I boarded the refurbished Inter City 125 train (or HST) These trains originally entered service in the late seventies and were reliable workhorses across the UK, until new trains started to put them out of work. But that isn’t the end of the story, many of these trains were put into storage, and with the rise in passenger numbers and the unreliability of some of the trains that replaced them, you can now see fully refurbished HST’s across the UK. I have to say that the First Class accommodation on this First Great Western service was impressive, even my huge ass couldn’t fill this seat, and they had a nice reclining ability too.

Luxurious 1st Class seats

As we departed Plymouth and headed over the Royal Albert Bridge, I made a mental note to try and get a pic of it on the return leg, another advantage of the old HST’s is that you can still open the window on the coach doors which make it easier to grab a picture. As the train snaked it’s way south west, the Mizzle still hung over the landscape, in some of the more densely wooded area’s it made them look quite dark and creepy and ideal for some sort of Gothic horror film.

The Guard/Conductor/Train Manager or what ever they’re calling them these days, came round to check the tickets, I said I was an awkward one, he just laughed and looked at my priv ticket and carried on with a smile. Many of the stations aren’t able to accommodate the full length of the train, so regular announcements were made and the guard dashed between coaches ensuring the doors of coaches not at the platform weren’t able to be opened.

At Par the line to Newquay veers off the main line, having been to Newquay in the past it’s well worth a trip heading through some wonderful scenery.

Par station complete with semaphore signals

Between Truro and Redruth the sun tries to break through, but was largely unsuccessful and we’re soon back into the Mizzle which sticks with us all the way until Penzance, where it’s a little brighter. So the second leg of my journey comes to an end, it will be the same train use for the next leg to London Paddington, so a quick few pics, and a stretch of the legs before heading to the capital.

End of the line.

Penzance station with the sea in the background

I’d like to thank Lesley from First Great Western for their kind upgrade for my trip to First Class. It was very much appreciated.

 

Great NRAS Rail Race Part 1

Day 1

Up at 04.30 on a Tuesday morning, it’s been a long time since I did this. One of the problems of RA is getting moving first thing, and while it doesn’t affect me like it used to, I still need a bit of extra time.

As I head into Birmingham in the taxi, the roads are lovely and quiet, in a few hours time this journey time will double at least.

I arrive at Birmingham New Street station, and while it’s right in the city centre it really is a disgusting hole in the ground. Work has just started to improve the station, which is long overdue. Meanwhile the site at Curzon Street would make a wonderful place for a nice new station.

The unloved heart of the Midlands rail network

The first train on my journey

My first train is the 07.12 Cross Country Trains service to Plymouth, the train started it’s journey at Derby and arrives with plenty of time before departure. After getting a pic, I head towards the first class section which is at the rear of the train. After taking my seat and getting comfortable, I find that my mobile and laptop didn’t want to talk to each other. This is going to make the blog of the journey difficult. So I’ll have to rely on Twitter from my mobile.

Shortly after leaving New Street, a member of the onboard staff asks if I’d like some refreshment, never known to refuse a cup of tea (all those years of working for BR left an impact!) A nice hot cup of English Breakfast tea arrives along with a copy of the Times.

As we speed through the Birmingham suburbs, we first pass Bournville, home of chocolate makers Cadbury’s which this morning is the target of a take over by American food giant Kraft. How much more of our industry can be sold off? Is it any wonder this country is going down the pan. Where is the pride in these great British brands? HP sauce was taken over by Heinz, who soon moved production abroad, changing the taste, making the bottles smaller and charging more for it.  Now the great Cadbury brand could be swallowed up by some other massive company, and once they have it, who knows what they’ll do, but we can hazard a guess.

We’re now passing the site of the former Rover car plant, now just an empty site of levelled bricks, the whole area looks eery I grew up not too far from here, and to see the Longbridge area without the sprawling factory site leaves a massive hole in the community and almost gone is the world renown image of Birmingham’s proud manufacturing heritage.

Once past Longbridge we’re out into the lush green fields and we’re soon heading down the Lickey incline, in years gone by this formidable incline posed a challenge to trains, but now the modern fleet simply take it in their stride.

First Class Seating on Cross Country

It’s at this point that I’m offered breakfast, I decide to have another cup of tea (well.. it’s good for you!) and the bacon and mushroom flatbread. It arrived steaming hot, on a small flower shaped wooden tray, I tuck in and enjoy it, it certainly better than something I could have grabbed from a burger chain on the station beforehand.

Charlie browses the menu while I read the paper

Charlie often accompanies me on journey’s he’s sort of become my travel mascot. As the train stops at Cheltenham I’m quite surprised at the number of passengers in First Class, obviously making use of the power points to power the multitude of laptops who’s keyboards you can hear clattering away. The train pulls into Bristol Temple Meads station on time, and I’m surprised when there isn’t a crew change, in days gone by the guard and driver would be replaced here, looks like this crew head all the way to Plymouth.

The journey continues, First class is largely empty after Taunton, and after leaving Exeter as we get closer to Plymouth, there seems to be a noticeable fog resting on the landscape.

As we approach Dawlish, we head along the coastal sea wall, the tide is in and the fog and gloom don’t seem to dampen the spirits of those walking alongside on the walkway. Sorry for the poor quality of this next pic, modern trains aren’t ideal for grabbing pictures from.

The tide nestles against the sea wall

At Totnes the sun tries to penetrate the mists and does a reasonable job of it until shortly after we’re back ito the mist again, in some of the wooded area’s next to the line it looks quite spooky. A few more cups of tea have been consumed in the meantime.

The sun tries to make an appearance

We arrive into Plymouth on time, and the first part of my journey ends here, I only have a 20 minute wait until my train to Penzance.

My journey with Cross Country Trains ends

I’d like to thank Cross Country Trains for their generous donation to my trip by upgrading me to first class. I’d also like to thank the crew onboard for the great service.

 

Great Rail Race Update

I’ve just been notified that Cross Country Trains have kindly upgraded me to first class, for the two journeys I will be making with them. I would like to thank Cross Country trains for their generosity.

Over the weekend the online total has now reached a staggering £461, again I’d like to thank everyone who has donated, for your generosity in these difficult economic times.

 

Nras Great Rail Race Update

I really am overwhelmed this evening, a good friend Sherri and the Security and Police of SO17 at The Palace of Westminster have donated a huge £101 towards my rail race this evening.

The total now is an incredible £421 and £80.95 in gift aid.

 

NRAS Great Rail Race Update

There’s been a few more donations, and the total so far is an amazing £310! there’s also gift aid to the value of £78.13 too.

I’m so overwhelmed with the generosity of everyone who has contributed.

Only a few days to go until I start the voyage.. Camera batteries checked, lens cleaned, laptop case dug out, all the paperwork for the trip ready to go too.

Best dig out some posh gear as i’ll be in first class too.

 

NRAS Great Rail Race Target Hit!

Amazing!

As of 2pm this afternoon my £250 target has been hit. I’d like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who has donated.

 

NRAS Great Rail Race Update

Another update for you all.

I’ve just had notification from Val at NRAS HQ that First Great Western have kindly upgraded me to first class on both legs of my journey with them. Which is from Plymouth to Penzance, and the Penzance to London Paddington leg.

So my thanks go to First Great Western for their very generous donation.

Also the current JustGiving total is at an amazing £213! I really can’t express my thanks enough to everyone who has donated to the fundraiser.