Back at the start of the year, I set out a list of possible trips for the first few months of the year. The plan was to travel as much as possible before the long blockade descended and weekend travel became tricky. I turned back to this list this weekend as time crept on, and a combination of indecision, long working days and the Cheltenham Festival made booking to get to the East Lancs Diesel Gala all but impossible. One of these plans was a trip out to London the usual way, then back via the former London & South Western route out of Waterloo to Exeter. As it happened, I'd covered much of the route piecemeal on my Laverstock trip and when pottering around on a rover. However, I'd still not done the trip in it's entirety and thought it was worth another visit since my last excursion was marred by being consigned to the vestibule due to a busy train and a botched change at Salisbury.
Made the customary early trip up to London, with the ubiquitous Mr Spinks along for the ride. No firm plans on how to spend the time in London prior to the trip back, but had a few suggestions which we talked over during a fine breakfast on the way up. Good to be doing this bit of the journey in daylight and indeed in very promising weather. Settled on a plan to attempt to cover the new bits of Docklands Light Railway and then work back over a couple of South London branches. These were largely decided by Mr Spinks making a critical analysis of my Baker atlas and pointing out bits which hadn't been done! The first winning track of the day was scored entirely by accident however. Made a snap decision to do the Circle line via Kings Cross rather than Victoria to get to Tower Hill. This looked like a bad idea - there were more trains heading south than north at Paddington, but eventually we set off. Shortly after leaving Kings Cross the driver announced that due to a failed train on the District side, we'd be terminating at Moorgate. Speculated briefly about the bay platforms, before feeling the train lurch over crossovers to reach the bay platform. As we headed over to the through platforms for the next service to Tower Hill, noted a good few passengers still sitting patiently waiting on the terminated service! Soon arrived at Tower Hill, and after a brief detour to see the gateway at St. Olave's church, we headed for the recently reopened and remodelled DLR station at Tower Gateway.
We ended up waiting some time for a train from Tower Gateway, and noted some fairly strange manoeuvres at the junction with the Bank lines. Spent the time watching 357s departing from Fenchurch Street, before heading off. A fairly quick change at Shadwell onto a Woolwich train, then settled in for the always entertaining ride though the eastern fringe of the city and out into the wide-open spaces and towering buildings of Docklands. Soon heading out of King George V station and descending steeply into a deep tunnel which led us to the new terminus at Woolwich Arsenal. A quick grapple with Oyster readers before heading onto the mainline platforms. From here the plan was to head to London Bridge, hopped onto the next 376 and enjoyed the busy scenes as we made steady progress towards the capital. Disembarked and consulted the departure screens. The next plan was to cover one of the bits of track which came under Mr Spinks' scrutiny - the route to Ladywell via Lewisham. My trip to Hayes had used the direct line avoiding the station, so we made the brief trip out to the suburbs and enjoyed a few minutes wait in the sunshine before heading back, this time via the avoiding route. A quick bite to eat, then over to the terminal platforms to get the almost-circular service to Victoria via Crystal Palace. This covered the 'Down Sydenham Spur' - the flyover crossing the mainline and leading to Crystal Palace. I wasn't sure if I'd missed inking this track or hadn't done it - but for the sake of completeness and since Mr Spinks needed it, we did the train into Victoria via Balham.
We now made a fairly swift switch, back out to Clapham Junction then into Waterloo - with a brief stop to watch the multitude of services passing. Narrowly avoided catching a class 456 for the second time today, as these elusive units appeared to be lurking in the platforms we expected to use but (perhaps thankfully) were not the stock for our trains! Shopped for refreshments at Waterloo before making our way to the platform for our somewhat epic journey west. Once out of Waterloo we made rapid progress without stopping in the suburbs. The weather was bright and the sunshine through the windows was warm. I'll admit some drowsy moments as we sped through the countryside which seemed to be waking after a chilly winter. After Salisbury, things slowed and we made our way via the cruelly singled line, which has so much more potential than it was afforded by the bad planning of British Rail. Good loadings and busy little stations all the way along the route showed that the plans for an hourly service are surely well justified. The long trip west flew by as I enjoyed the quiet and calm of this route and had more than one little nap in the afternoon sunshine!
Disembarked well over three hours later at Exeter St. Davids and walked around the station trying to get our reluctant knees working again! Had a glance at the depot in the sunset and waited with a small clutch of Bradford City fans for the Crosscountry HST to roll in. After the stately progress on the L&SW route, the run up to Taunton felt very speedy. A quick change and then back into Highbridge on time. An interesting and varied day out with some new track, a variety of traction and some contrasting routes covered. This is exactly why I spend so much time on the rails.
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.
