Track bash May 2022

Day 2 (Monday 23rd May)

York to Newcastle

Last updated 2022-05-26

As explained on day one, I had two separate possible schedules for day 2 but eventually selected one.

Both options start with the Robin Hood line. It turns out to be best to go south to Nottingham, changing at Sheffield or Chesterfield (I eventually chose the latter), and then come back north to Worksop on the Robin Hood line. The hotel were happy enough to let me leave my suitcase there, so I'll pick it up on the way back.

Wires - or at least catenary supports - are going up between Colton Junction and Church Fenton. Presumably this is electrification from Leeds to York. The siding beside Retford platform 2 also has new-looking masts along it. The train from Chesterfield to Nottingham actually starts at Leeds, but earlier than we get there, and takes a different route via Wakefield Kirkgate rather than Westgate to get to Sheffield. I think I've already been on all of its route, but in any case it would have meant too early a start.

Announcement at Retford: "Please don't all stand at the same point on the platform waiting for the same door. If I catch too many people waiting at the same door, I have a sheepdog in the office and I'm not afraid to use it."

I'll travel on two of the three sides of the triangle where the line to Middlesborough comes off the coast line to Newcastle (I've been along one of those before). There's enough slack in my timetable to take a train from York to Hartlepool and then back to Middlesborough, meaning I'll use both the sides that I haven't been on before. But this means that I'll have no time to look around at Saltburn and, if the second of those trains doesn't run, I'm stuffed. After yesterday I decided not to take the chance.

I spend a bit of time wandering around York and get a toasted sandwich in a cafe for lunch. A brisk walk back to the hotel to collect my suitcase, then to the station just in time to grab a coffee (luckily there's no queue) and catch the train to Redcar. As we approach Middlesborough it's announced that Redcar station is too short for a 6-car train and so passengers in the rear two cars must move forward. What puzzles me is that, if the rear two cars are A and B, how come I'm in the front car which is E? At Redcar we all get out. The train has to run forward into a loop track to get out of the way of the Saltburn train, then come back again to start its return journey. Just as it starts moving I notice that it's got two golden spanners painted beside the driver's door, though they're from 2008 and 2013.

Unlike yesterday's termini, Salburn looks quite nice. The station has two long platforms; I don't understand why the Redcar train doesn't run all the way there. According to a photo caption at Retford, there used to be direct trains from King's Cross. There's also a branch from just before the station which, it turns out, goes half way to Whitby, and has a branch and its own signal box. As we're approaching the station, I notice that the starter signals are L210 and L211. When I get off, I ask the driver which box controls the area, because I don't recognize "L". "There aren't any "L" signals round here." Hmm, glad I'm not going back with him if that's his route knowledge. (Quail says it's Longbeck, which is two stations before Saltburn and has a full barrier level crossing.)

The town looks like the sort of place you could retire to and relax. I walk to the funicular. The east car is at the top and the west one at the bottom. The signs say it's still broken, so I just take some pictures at the top (I'm not walking all the way to the bottom and back with my case). Then someone turns up and unlocks the cabin. I watch and photograph as he pulls levers to make water start pouring into the tank under the car at the top. When it's clearly full, he diverts the water back into a pipe and then pulls more levers. The cars start to move and he stops them when they've opposite each other. So it's still not in service.

The bus from Saltburn to Whitby ought to be a theme park ride. It starts with a 1 in 4 (25%) Z-shaped descent to the beach; at each corner either the bus or other traffic can go, but not both. There's then a steep climb followed by a sharp turn into a narrow residential street. The whole trip is like that: even the flat bit by Sandsend involves sharp corners.

Fish and chips on Whitby Pier and then a beer at The Waiting Room inside the station. It was light enough to see the Esk Valley route for part of the way, but then it started raining heavily.

The address of my hotel in Newcastle is "23-29 Side". Not "Side Road" or "Side Lane" or even "Cheapside" (as in London). Just "Side". It's a steep downhill path from the station, so uphill tomorrow morning.

Today's trains table

Today's route table

New lines today

• Robin Hood line
• Middlesborough to Saltburn
• Grosmont to Middlesborough
• Thornaby to Sunderland

Day 1 Day 3 Back to the rail index. Back to Clive's home page.