Track bash May 2022

Day 6 (Friday)

Ebbw Vale to East Grinstead

Last updated 2022-05-27

Long day today.

I just missed the train going up the valley so had to wait for it to come back. This morning I can see that there's a rusty second track on the left side between Newbridge and Crosskeys. A chunk of it has packs of ballast sitting on it, meaning something is going on.

I also realized that I have the actual signalling information for the Ebbw Vale branch via the SimSig Newport simulation. Going up, there's PJ1934 at Crosskeys station, PJ1932 244 metres beyond the points - enough room to let a train reverse - then a fixed yellow PJ1920 approaching Ebbw Vale Parkway (the simulation predates the extension to Ebbw Vale Town; presumably this has been moved there). Going back, there's a distant signal PJ1929, then 200 metres to PJ1931, which in turn is 223 metres before PJ1932. About 35 metres before the points is PJ6921, a shunt signal to allow down trains into the platform (it clears automatically when PJ1931 clears).

From Wales, it's a sort of J-shape to Okehampton; this is another line that re-opened since last year's trip. Luckily, the train from Cardiff to Exeter stops at Weston-super-mare, allowing me to tick that off as well. The train to Exeter is a genuine HST, albeit with only four coaches. This is my only loco-hauled train in two years of rail travel (yes, I know there are arguments as to whether 43s are locos or DMU vehicles and I also note that the power cars have plaques stating they are class 255). The downside is that the seats are crammed in and there are almost no tables or power points; I've ended up using one of the three places set up for a wheelchair and companion as it has power sockets. At least the train has wifi. This will also be the second trip through the Severn Tunnel in two days. (A family with two pushchairs got on somewhere after Bristol, so I vacated the special area and, luckily, found a window table seat with power socket in another carriage, even if it meant facing backwards.

I had a little trouble deciding exactly what counts as "new" on the line to Okehampton. The line to Okehampton and Barnstaple branches off the main line just north of Exeter. It's single track to just before Crediton station, where it becomes double. Immediately after the station there's a level crossing and a signal box, followed by back-to-back crossovers. After that it's separate single lines to Okehampton and to Barnstaple, each with its own ELR, that run parallel for almost 5 miles before diverging. Since I've been to Barnstaple, should I count from the divergence, the crossovers, Crediton station, or what? Checking the Sectional Appendix, though, I find that the official boundary is the signal box. Speaking of which, our train, having called at Crediton, stops over the level crossing - stopping all the traffic - to collect the token for the Okehampton line.

After Okehampton, my other primary target is the lines from Weymouth to Castle Cary and to London, by far the longest of my target lines. The one extra bit I can manage is the curve between the two stations at Yeovil (the ex-LSWR Yeovil Junction on the line between Waterloo and Exeter and the ex-GWR Yeovil Pen Mill on the line between Bristol and Weymouth). I had expected there to be a shuttle service to meet the trains on the two lines, but in fact that's not the case. Instead, there's a very irregular service:

The route from Exeter to Yeovil is mostly single line. On alighting there, I was startled to see that the starting signal was showing a number 1 "feather", indicating that the train is turning left relative to the track it's on. I wondered for a short while whether it was going round the Yeovil curve, but the platform indicators listed stations on the main line, so obviously not. In fact the train did a zig-zag to the left just outside the station, so I presume the indicator is to remind non-stop trains, in particular, that the zig-zag is coming up and to slow down accordingly. There will be no route from that signal without a "feather"; it has a number 2 which obviously represents the curve.

Yeovil Junction is all up-to-date signalling using LED signal lamps. By contrast, Yeovil Pen Mill is still all semaphore signals with single line in all three directions. I only needed to go as far as Castle Cary, but had decided to continue to Frome and wait there for 15 minutes instead of Castle Cary for 45. At the one intermediate station - Bruton - there was an announcement that we would be witing there for a while, I think they said because the driver was contacting Control. I was becoming worried about missing the train at Frome, so packed everything up and went out to the platform. I guessed that I could risk a 10 minute wait but, as it was, the whistle blew after 5 and I hurriedly got back in.

As it was, the Frome to Weymouth train was itself 8 minutes late. It started from Great Malvern 10 minutes late, spent 12 minutes at Worcester instead of 1, was 24 late at Yate, and 20 late at Bristol Temple Meads. There it was supposed to pick up another two-car unit, which didn't happen, but meant the 17 minute stop could be reduced to under 3. As a result, it was 8 late at Frome but seems to be running just fine.

Routine run to Weymouth. Fish and chips on the beach. I hadn't realized there was a slightly earlier departure towards London and so got back to the station just after it left. It would have given me a bit more margin but wouldn't actually get me to my final destination any quicker. As it was, I didn't need that margin.

The Lymington branch train gets back to Brockenhurst at almost the same time as the next train to London (same time in the public timetable, 1½ minutes earlier in the working timetable). The guard told me that there was no point rushing because I wouldn't make it, but I am a believer in the maxim of "one train on the platform is worth two on the departure boards". When we got to Brockenhurst I was already at the front door of the train, which will stop nearest the footbridge. I climbed up the stairs, walked briskly along the footbridge, and descended to the platform. As I got there the doors beeped and closed. I noticed the guard looking towards me and then leaning into the train. The door lights came back on! I opened the door, waved my thanks, and got on. Two other people rushed through a gateway and dived through the closing doors, after which we left.

While this doesn't get me to the hotel any faster, it did give me 30 minutes at Southampton Central to wander around outside and look for anywhere serving coffee. Answer: no. There's a coffee stall in the station still open but they don't have decaf. In the absence of anything else, I return there and buy a chai latte (something I like anyway) for the train.

Today's trains table

Today's route table

New lines today

• Ebbw Vale branch Cardiff direction chord
• Weston-super-Mare loop
• Okehampton branch
• Yeovil to Castle Cary
• Yeovil to Weymouth to Southampton
• Lymington branch
• East Grinstead branch

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