Once again the ECML between Doncaster and York was closed (see the yellow line on the map below), but this time not at Colton Jn, but rather at Shaftholme Jn, rendering both the previous diversionary routes unworkable. While East Coast were being sensible and simply running via Leeds (the blue line), Grand Central were running on a novel diversionary route via Normanton (the orange line).
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| (Map based on OpenStreetMap; © OpenStreetMap contributors) |
Before I could go on the diversionary route, though, I had to get to either York or Doncaster. Unfortunately, the line between Sheffield and Doncaster was closed, so the easiest way to do it was to go to York, go to Doncaster, come back to York, and head home. To do it all in daylight, I started with the first train of the day from Coventry:
0837 Coventry to Birmingham New St, arr 0906
Headcode: 2C99, operated by London Midland using Desiro 350108*+350125
Distance: 19 miles
Because Saturday night and Sunday morning is used as maintenance time on the railways, the first train on a Sunday morning is comparatively late; not that an earlier one is really needed given the small handful of people on my train.
My initial plan had been to try and make a six-minute connection at New Street onto the first train of the day heading to York, in order to have some time in York. If everything had gone to plan, I would have changed once more in Derby for the once-a-day East Midlands Trains service thence to York, which because the Sheffield-Doncaster line was closed was diverted via Pontefract Baghill.
Unfortunately events conspired against me: we lost a few minutes on the way into Birmingham, pulling into the platform three minutes late. However, the signalman had only cleared us halfway down the platform - standard practice at New Street is to use the two halves of the platform separately, but on this occasion we were an eight-car train and wouldn't fit.
I was in the front coach, so I didn't notice this at first; all I noticed was that the doors didn't open. Then we heard "will the guard please contact the driver", presumably so he could ask "am I all on at the back?" The answer clearly having been no, we moved forward and stopped further down the platform.
The doors opened at 09:11, right next to the footbridge; I legged it up and across to platform 10, and ran down the stairs to find the 09:12 was down the other end of the platform. But it was too late; the doors had already been closed, and by the time I got to the back of the train it started to move off.
Having now lost all hope of having more than twenty minutes in York, I bought a sandwich to have for lunch on the train, and waited patiently for the 10:12 train to arrive.
1012 Birmingham New St to York, arr 1326
Headcode: 1S41, operated by CrossCountry using Voyager 220016+220027*
Distance: 168.75 miles
With no hope of going via Pontefract Baghill, I was instead condemned to more than three hours on a Voyager from Birmingham to York. Here we were subjected to the wrong kind of diversion: the train was diverted via Leicester, because of engineering works on the mainline between Birmingham and Derby, but I've been that way several times.
Instead of being interesting, it just made the journey to Derby over twice as long: just under 1 hour, 25 minutes for a journey that can take less than 35 minutes. Still a bit tired from the early start, I dozed off for a while.
The one good thing about this particular service was it was double the usual length. Normally CrossCountry only run four- or five-car trains on these long-distance services, but the engineering works south of Birmingham meant they had some spare, and so we ran with two Voyagers coupled together, which meant everyone could spread out a bit more; even when quite a crowd got on at Leeds there was still ample room.
Having eaten my lunch on the train, I disembarked at York and headed over to catch my Grand Central service south to Doncaster:
1352 (actual 1356) York to Doncaster, arr 1445 (actual 1451)
Headcode: 1A61, operated by Grand Central using Adelante 180114
Distance: 46 miles
With the ECML blocked, the East Coast service between Doncaster and York was reduced to hourly and diverted via Leeds. These left at 58 minutes past each hour; the diverted Grand Central service I got slotted in as the 13:52 departure. It was thus the first train to Doncaster for nearly an hour, and was thus quite busy.
Fortunately, I had anticipated this: since I was using a vaguely complicated combination of day returns, I had decided to book my tickets online to save the hassle at the ticket office. While doing so, I reserved seats for the two Grand Central services I was using. Since I was using an anytime day return York-Doncaster, it didn't oblige me to use those services, but it did get me a seat. I thus ended up with a good window seat on an otherwise nearly full train.
The Grand Central diversion used several rare bits of track, two of which I hadn't previously covered. We headed south out of York, going straight on at Colton Jn, through Church Fenton, and straight on to Milford Jn. Here, rather than turning left and heading to Ferrybridge like I did last week, we continued straight on on the line to Castleford. This five-mile stretch of line is used by a handful of Transpennine Express services between Leeds and York as a diversionary route late at night, but I hadn't done it before and was glad to tick it off.
From Castleford we headed towards Normanton and Wakefield Kirkgate (marked K on the map). But just before Kirkgate station, we turned left at Turners Lane Junction, and took the "Turners Lane curve" round to Calder Bridge Junction. This is only scheduled for use by the 2330 Sheffield-Leeds service on a Friday night, but even that doesn't always use it. To get a train doing the curve in daylight was thus a real find.
So rare, in fact, that I wasn't even the only track-basher on the train - I spotted a couple of other people with railway atlases out, clearly intent on getting a train over the rare Turners Lane curve. (I was too shy to try and say hello...)
After the extra-rare track, from Calder Bridge Jn we started on the line to Knottingley, but turned off at Crofton West Jn and headed for the Leeds-Doncaster mainline, which we rejoined at Hare Park Jn. This is regularly used by a few Grand Central services, and I'd done it once before, but it's rare enough track nonetheless.
After nearly an hour plodding round these obscure railway lines, we eventually arrived in Doncaster. With nothing much else to do, I headed over to the other platform and waited for the next Grand Central service back to York, just half an hour away:
1519 (actual 1529½) Doncaster to York, arr 1616 (actual 1625½)
Headcode: 1N92, operated by Grand Central using HST 43465+43484
Distance: 46 miles
Unfortunately an earlier broken down train near Kings Cross had caused some congestion, and our train was running about 10 minutes late by the time it got to Doncaster.
When it arrived, I was glad to see it was an HST, rather than an Adelante: the Adelante from York had been a bit cramped, while this HST was rather more spacious. Grand Central have not heavily refurbished their HST carriages, and they retain their original seats, generously spacious and low-backed for good visibility. What's more, the window seat I'd reserved was on the opposite side of the track, so I got the other view going back.
Otherwise, the journey back to York was much the same; we had to follow a slightly delayed East Coast service to Leeds as far as Hare Park Jn, but once we peeled off to retrace our steps round the Turners Lane curve and back through Castleford there were very few other trains in the area, with Castleford geting just one train every hour.
After nearly an hour we made it back to York, where I had just under fifteen minutes before heading back south again. This time, platform 3 at York was rather emptier, so I hoped the train wouldn't be too cramped...
1640 York to Birmingham New St, arr 1950
Headcode: 1V66, operated by CrossCountry using Voyager 221122*+220021
Distance: 168.75 miles
As it happens I needn't have worried: once more we had a double Voyager, with nine carriages to spread out in. I found a seat with plenty of legroom in the quiet coach and settled down for the three-hour trek back to Birmingham. While Leeds looked fairly pretty in the late evening twilight, by the time we got to Sheffield it was completely dark outside.
I thus resigned myself to getting some work done, and succeeded in finishing off a few loose ends of mathematics that I'd been meaning to do for a few days. Even so, the journey back dragged on, not helped by a (booked) nine minute stand at Leicester to let an East Midlands Trains service overtake.
After a seemingly interminable trip, we arrived back into New Street. My next train to Coventry would have been the 20:04 CrossCountry service, but the platform was quite busy and I couldn't face any more time on a CrossCountry Voyager, so I waited for the next Virgin Pendolino:
2010 Birmingham New St to Coventry, arr 2030
Headcode: 1B81, operated by Virgin Trains using Pendolino 390011
Distance: 19 miles
After the all-too-familiar run from Birmingham to Coventry, I arrived back in Coventry after a 467.5 mile round-trip, on which I spent nine hours on trains (twelve hours from first train to last train). It was a lovely sunny day of track-bashing, though a rather long one - but worth it for the rare Turners Lane curve.
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