It was Saturday afternoon and I realised we were at a loose end the following day with nothing planned. Time for a quick look on the Internet to find something to do. No inspiration was found so time to look at a few railway sites. It was discovered that it was diesel day on the East Lancs Railway. Number one son is consulted and he is a bit unsure but wants to come for a ride on some old diesels as this is somewhat difficult in 2010.
A check with Mrs Track Basher to see of she had anything planned and she had not also there was no motor racing this weekend. so time for a run out. A check of the timetable and it appears to be possible to travel to and from Abergavenny to Manchester then catch the tram to Bury. A double check of the times on www.nationalrail.co.uk and it was not that simple. Planned engineering work between Abergavenny and Hereford and no bus provided as a connection to the first train. The fallback position is to drive to Hereford. We have the making of a plan.
The Plan:
Sunday 04 July 2010
| Hereford | Dep | 09:43 | ATW |
| Manchester Pic | Arr | 12:02 | |
| Metrolink to Bury | | | |
| Bury Bolton St | Dep | 12:50 | 37109+20087 |
| Ramsbottom | Arr | 13:03 | |
| Dep | 13:24 | 45060 |
| Bury Bolton St | Arr | 13:37 | |
| Dep | 13:40 | 56097 |
| Ramsbottom | Arr | 13:53 | |
| Dep | 13:57 | 37109+20087 |
| Heywood | Arr | 14:29 | |
| Dep | 14:45 | 37109+20087 |
| Bury Bolton St | Arr | 14:58 | |
| Dep | 15:30 | 55022 |
| Ramsbottom | Arr | 15:43 | |
| Dep | 15:47 | 33108+D5054 |
| Bury Bolton St | Arr | 16:01 | |
| Dep | 16:04 | 47765 |
| Ramsbottom | Arr | 16:17 | |
| Dep | 16:38 | D444+50008 |
| Bury Bolton St | Arr | 16:51 | |
| Metrolink to Manchester | | | |
| Manchester Pic | Dep | 18:30 | ATW |
| Hereford | Arr | 20:54 | |
Sunday 04 July 2010
The hot weather of the previous day was not to be repeated and it was a mix of cloud, rain and sun. The drive to Hereford on Sunday morning was very quite and arrived 25 minutes before the train was due. After parking walked across to the station to discover the train was cancelled. On enquiring it appears that Network Rail had forgotten to open the signal box with the amended train service caused by the engineering work. The train was going to start at Shrewsbury. Back in the car as with the earlier that planned arrival we had 1 hour 20 minutes to reach Shrewsbury and still have time to catch the train at Shrewsbury giving the same arrival time in Manchester. Not ideal but better than sitting about for an hour and a half.
In the time we had been at Hereford that roads had got busier with them now being populated by Sunday drivers, trailers and caravans. The journey that should have taken an hour took an hour and 25 minutes, with an arrival time of 5 minutes after the train had departed. We could have waited an hour and a half at Hereford and caught the same train and saved burning 100 miles worth of petrol. Doh!
The rebuilt plan:
| Shrewsbury | Dep | 11:37 | ATW |
| Manchester Pic | Arr | 13:15 | |
| Metrolink to Bury | | | |
| Bury Bolton St | Dep | 14:16 | 37109+20087 |
| Heywood | Arr | 14:29 | |
| Dep | 14:45 | 20087 |
| Bury Bolton St | Arr | 14:58 | |
| Dep | 15:30 | 55022 |
| Ramsbottom | Arr | 15:43 | |
| Dep | 15:47 | 33108+D5054 |
| Bury Bolton St | Arr | 16:01 | |
| Dep | 16:20 | D444+50008 |
| Ramsbottom | Arr | 16:33 | |
| Dep | 16:54 | 47765 |
| Bury Bolton St | Arr | 16:51 | |
| Metrolink to Manchester | | | |
| Manchester Pic | Dep | 18:30 | ATW |
| Hereford | Arr | 20:00 | |
 |
| 37109 at Heywood. |
 |
| 50015+D444+50008 at Ramsbottom. |
We sit and wait the 55 minutes for the train to arrive better than an hour and a half at Hereford I suppose. The train arrived on time and was surprisingly busy for a Sunday morning. Arrival in Manchester is on time however slightly over an hour later than we had planned. The Metrolink was back in service again following a long period of engineering works. Purchasing a ticket appears to be challenging and a lady is determined to try and give me an all day bus ticket but I have no idea if this is valid to Bury and with a collection of revenue inspectors on the platform decline. I can afford the £5 for the two of us return. Number one son has mixed emotions when the tram arrives he wants to go one of the 3000 series trams but the one that arrives id a 1000 series one of the original ones. I am sure he is somewhere related to a magpie going for the bight new shiny objects. He is however was very pleased with the ability to see where we were going sat behind the driver. This is the first time he had been on a tram outside Blackpool.
On arrival at Bury I had a rough idea where the ELR station was so wandered round in the general direction. Then went round a corner to discover it was not where I though it was. Funny how your memory plays tricks on you in 20 years. Then felt rather stupid as one son pointed out the sign we are stood next to! A hasty re-plan of the moves are required as we are later than planned. A quick check and it is possible to start later in the plan and cover most of what we had intended. It had been a number of years since I have visited the East Lancs Railway and it has turned into a very well maintained and well presented. When I last visited it had the potential but this had been guided to fruition. If you have never been it is worth a visit and if you like diesel locos the diesel days do have a good selection of different traction.
A pleasant afternoon was spent changing trains sampling the different traction most of what we wanted to travel on was achieved.
All too soon it was time to head home with a run back on the Metrolink and train back to Shrewsbury to collect the car.
The day had not gone entirely as planned but was still very enjoyable. Nice to ride behind some old diesels again with thoughts of Deltics at York, 50s down the seafront at Dawlish, 33s on Crewe – Cardiff trains……………. An ironic moment was that one of the trains was operated by a triple headed class 50s 50015+50044+50008. The last time I was on a train hauled a triple headed Class 50 on the mainline it was 50033+50015+50008 two of the same engines!
Traction Log:
| Shrewsbury - Manchester Pic | 175007 |
| Manchester Pic - Bury (Metrolink) | 1026 |
| Bury Bolton St - Heywood | 20087+37109 |
| Heywood - Bury Bolton St | 20087 |
| Bury Bolton St - Ramsbottom | 55022 |
| Ramsbottom - Bury Bolton St | 33108+D5054 |
| Bury Bolton St - Ramsbottom | 50015+D444+50008 |
| Ramsbottom - Bury Bolton St | 47765 |
| Bury - Manchester Pic (Metrolink) | 1025 |
| Manchester Pic - Shrewsbury | 175111 |