The dearth of decent railtour opportunities this summer has driven me to desperate measures! This weekend, having booked a couple of days of leave and not really planned much, I decided to get away. After wrestling with the trainline website came up with a plan - a trip to Sheffield today, on to Newcastle tomorrow and an epic trek back on Monday. Lots of opportunities to progress my target of covering Light Rail systems in the process and a couple of nights away in areas I don't get to see often. So, in fairly good weather I found myself zooming through familiar territory from recent weeks through the Midlands and Derby. A nice, relaxing trip with no great worry about getting anywhere by any particular time. Had planned my rambles on the Stagecoach Supertram network, but frequencies meant it wasn't desperate if this slipped a bit. Arrived at Sheffield and immediately made my way over the bridge to the tram stop to start my ramble.
I visited Sheffield soon after the tram network opened in 1995, and had a short run from the station to the City Centre. It was busy then with people eager to try the new form of urban transport, and it remained busy today, but seems to have become part of the fairly robust network here - with people happy to make journeys skipping between bus, tram and train as necessary. For someone who works in transport, a joy to see! Started with the southern branches of the network, soaring up into the hilly south west of the city via some impressive gradients and interestingly engineered viaducts. The network appears to cover a fair bit of open country or at least post-industrial land, and makes some quite spirited runs on open track at times. After terminating at Herdings Park, doubled back to cover the longer branch to the strangest name for a terminal station - Halfway.
Back into the city centre with far more people on board, but plenty of space and no feeling of overcrowding. Having not strayed into Sheffield much over the years, good to see a fairly bustling and pleasant central area. Hillsborough too had the feeling of a small town in itself and with the sun shining it was pleasant to wait at the tram stop after making the short run out to Malin Park, for my tram to Middlewood. Another reversal, back through the city and over the triangle of junctions at Ponds Forge. Here, the impressive but much maligned Park Hill flats tower above the line, currently derelict and awaiting regeneration - but still listed buildings despite their modern brutalism. We rose above the city again, passing the tram depot at Nunnery Square and eventually running alongside the freight-only railway which served as the western access to the mammoth Tinsley depot. Now closed, with a small freight terminal on it's site, there is little activity on what must have been an incredibly busy railway.
A final curve brings us to Meadowhall Interchange, where again bus, tram and rail meet at the local mecca for shoppers. Considered a train back, but confusion over ticket validity makes it easier to head for the next tram into the city centre. After a brief wander, time to check into my hotel for the night, relax a bit and enjoy the surroundings. Perhaps these unplanning weekend wanders are no bad thing after all...
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
