The clouds give for atmospheric landscape views.
Some blue sky started to appear.
That was a seven and half hour journey. Arrived only slightly late.
To Glasgow
Tag: Thurso
Chester to the far north
First train, a transport for Wales train, which shuttles between Chester and Crewe, entirely in England.
Then onto the Caledonian Sleeper, due in at 2345 at Crewe, but arrives late. So make it to bed after midnight.
I wake up in the Highlands.
After a stop in the Sleeper lounge, it’s onto the far north line.
North to south
Another trip south by train, this time with bike. Arrived at the station to meet the train to Inverness. It was windy.
And sunny.
Getting on to the sleeper.
The sleeper was not taking its normal route meaning it arrived 40minutes later than normal. Much of the extra time was spent manoeuvring through London.
A ride through London taking 19 minutes to get from Euston to Paddington, five minutes of which was spent stationary at traffic lights.
Oh dear, the English and Union Jack Flags being inappropriately displayed in Didcot. Very disrespectful! What can be more disrespectful than cheap Chinese made flags looking scrawny and scruffy.
From bright sunshine and blue skies in the far north to cloud in the south.
The Far North, London, Moreton-in-Marsh, Oxford
A February far flung journey, starting in the north,
The downside to travelling this time of year is that it is dark for most of the journey, so not many views.
I had a really good nights sleep, waking up for breakfast in the buffet car.
Caledonian sleeper have added a new stop at Birmingham International. This looks potentially very useful. I saw the airport just after sitting down for breakfast.
No bike with me this time. I had an appointment in London within walking distance. The time to get there was pretty similar either by foot or public transport, so off I walked.
Then it was off to Marylebone Station, for my first ever visit. Also by foot.
Also first time I had seen the BBC buildings.
Things went a bit awry at this point. A goods train had broken down so the route was blocked.
Take a picture or filming shows how much the boards must flicker.
The intention is to get to Oxford to change trains. Eventually a train is provided with loads of carriages to enable taking all the passengers from the cancelled trains. The route to avoid the blockage involved travelling to Princess Risborough, the train then reversed heading to Bicester Village, where again it reversed, eventually arriving in Oxford.
At Oxford some of the tracks are sectioned off. There are no trains to Didcot, only rail replacement buses. This is why I went via Marylebone rather than Paddington.
Smooth onward journey to Moreton-in-Marsh.
After my appointment in Moreton-in-Marsh it’s back to Oxford in the dark.
Northwards in the sun
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The problem with catching the late afternoon train in autumn is that it’s dark. No views.
The ride from Euston to Paddington was less affected by the traffic lights than normal. As a result I managed to catch an earlier train to Reading.
Then on to Mortimer.
What a smooth journey, all the trains on time. No overcrowding. I had slept very well on the sleeper. A good journey.
And then……
On to the train at Reading to Manchester Piccadilly. It was rammed. Totally overcrowded.
Things started going really wrong and confusing as we went to Oxford. Announced that we would have to change trains. Then announced we would not have to change trains but we needed to go past Oxford into a siding and then come back. A long wait in the siding then back to the station. Then it was announced we would have to change trains after all.
There was a signal failure near Banbury.
We crossed Oxford Station and caught a train towards Hereford, changed at Worcester, heading to Birmingham. This was bad as now I was due to be in Manchester two hours late.
Change at Birmingham New Street. This is a very badly designed station. The signage is poor. Very confusing, The ugly side of architecture.
More delay due to trespassers on the track. The train had to go slow as a precaution.
The Premier Inn is a quarter mile from the station.
South by train – with a non-folding bicycle
First time traveling in a long while with a non-folding bike. The chief difference is that I had to book the bike on most of the trains, including the far north line and the sleeper.
A stunning train ride to Inverness.
The bike went into a room on a carriage for bikes and large luggage. Not sure about the way the bike is hung up.
Interesting ride, an impressive number of cyclists on route to work, some with no road sense. One, who was on my right, turned left across my path without looking or signalling.
Nice to be the fastest for a change. Faster than the bikes and the cars 🙂.
Some jeopardy getting onto the SWR train, as they don’t do bookings for bikes. Will I get a space?
It only required three trains to get from the north coast of Scotland to the south coast of England. Weather good all the way,
North
No window seat on the way to Paddington, so no photos.
Still had a four hour journey north and the sleeper breakfast is not sufficient. So..
Too much chatting to take pictures. I reach my destination only ten minutes late.
North to the south
Changed from the far north line to the sleeper at Inverness.
Not sure this breakfast looks appetising. It tasted ok. A few issues on the train. The lock on the cabin was not fully functioning, no pull out table in cabin, coffee machine in buffet car not working. There are some maintenance issues it appears.
Arrival in Euston is 20 minutes late due to work in the line. I had been forewarned by text.
Then headed back east
I witnessed an old couple falling over on the escalator just after getting on. while they were heading up. I was heading down. A woman at the top shouted for someone to hit the emergency stop. A hapless woman holding a dog appeared transfixed and unable to hit the button. After what appeared to be an age someone finally hit the button. Chaos. No staff about.
UK north coast to South coast and back a bit
The far north is a joy when the views are clear and the days are long.
The breakfast did leave me hungry.
15 mins of delay at Waterloo due to incoming train being late, there was an obstacle on the line.
I had to get myself into the front five carriages as the train splits at Bournemouth.
I am about to start my minor backtrack.
Insight 