going to England

[johnchisem]

Yep it is Carnforth, and you are correct about the reason for being tender first. The headshunt out of the depot is too short to bring a full set of coaches out so the two halves are joined on the Furness Goods Loop. Steam excursions are planned well in advance as you say, but please don't ask me about specific times as I only know what time the shunt off shed starts and an approximate guess at what time the pub will be reached at the end of the day (if at all!)

Unfortunately the UK network has been overrun by multiple units, may be more efficient etc but sadly lacking in any character in my opinion, but at least we still have a fairly decent railway system even if you can fly to the USA cheaper than buying a standard return between Yorkshire and London by Rail.

If Nikos or anyone else has time here in West Yorkshire there is a day rover ticket available for buses and trains (£5 adult £7.50 family) http://www.wymetro.com/TicketsAndPasses/WYDayRover.htm you can travel all day (after 9.30 on weekdays) and sample all sorts from Virgin and GNER mainline trains to nodding donkey railbuses on the locals. The class 333s on the Aire Valley line are not too bad and the new units on the TransPennine service are quite impressive, and glide up to Huddersfield unlike the class 40s which used to grunt like stink going up there!

John

 

[ricsee]

If you want to take photo's and have a good look at trains and rolling stock ect without problems (not be questioned or arrested ) read the information for trainspotters on the national rail site
link here
cheers ricsee

 

[AJ_Fox]

Let's keep this thread friendly, constructive and on topic please. Some posts have been moved.

AJ

 

[CoolMatty]

Good. Anyway. BidMod, is there any railways in your area that I might nothave visited? Then we can say we envy each other...
Do enjoy your stay in England (and hope you don't meet any of us British Trainzers )!

Matt

 

[BidMod]

There is only the WC mainline close to me, but it isn't too far to travel to Ravenglass, Haverthwaite, Tanfield or Keighley - they're all less than 2hrs away.

 

[CoolMatty]

Hmmm.... will have to get over there!

Matt

 

[ricsee]

Many thanks go to AJ fox for the promt action
ricsee

 

[johnchisem]

Hi Nikos, you seem to have disappeared! I hope that you haven't made it to Yorkshire and floated away! Any chance that you could let us know what you are considering doing?

John

 

[BidMod]

I think we may have slightly hi-jacked the topic

Hmmm.... will have to get over there!

Matt

I've looked, and keigley is actually only about 1hr 20min away from you (lets call it one and a half hours). I looked up the route on Google Maps using the information in your profile.

BidMod.

 

[smkiller]

London Victoria > Littlehampton via Horsham, then Littlehampton > Worthing > Victoria via Hove?

That station is either Angmering, Alderington, Aurndel or Amberly. (Alight at Amberly for the famous Chalkpit museam - Also has its own narrow gauge railway.)

IF you decide to do the Ford > Aurndel > Horsham > Crawley > Three Bridges route, you might want to note the nice array of Semephores, still in daily use, between Aurndel and Christs Hospital (Aka, the Mid Sussex line). Theres also a nice pub, if you fancy a nice view of the river Aurn and the line, nearby. Also, while you are at it, check out Aurndels micro-signal box!

(Ohh, my sister should be good to talk about this, she catches the train from Fishbourne to Billinghurst daily, so she'd know the route very well. I go the other way, Fishbourne to Havant/Bedhampton.)



IF you visit our remote part of Sussex, you may want to sample the beeches (Avoid selsey or the Witterings on a hot day -only reachable by bus, service 52/53 (The Circuit) for the Witterings or Service 60 (The Link) for Selsy, both you can use from Chichester Bus Station) or look at Chichesters Cathedral, or marvel at Brightons architechture. (Yes, Brighton is in EAST Sussex, not West, I know!)

Sorry WEN, some wrong info there.
The 'Mid Sussex Line' as you put it is actually the Arun Valley Line.
To get to Selsey, its Route 51, not 60, Route 60 takes you south to Bognor Regis via Pagham, and going north takes you to Midhurst.

Sam

 

[nikos1]

ok let me bring this thread back for one more question, would a scanner (for scanning railroad radio transmitions) be of any use or is it even legal to use?
made the mistake of buying a 1000 channel scanner so i need somthin to fill it up

 

[stagecoachdriverdave]

Ok, as someone who travels the UK a lot, I would like to correct a common misconception that many Americans think about the UK. The UK cannot be "done" easily. I live in Gloucestershire and it takes me half a day to travel 80 miles or less to Hampshire. As you have guessed, there is a lot of rail stuff out there. Let me give you some places to visit that are more within a few miles to Oxford. Dont get me wrong though, depending on time limits, it is possible to do it all in the UK, just dont expect to in under a couple of months!!

There is the Princess Risborough Railway just East of Oxford,
Near Oxford in a more Southeasterly direction is the Chosely and Wallingford Railway, you can take a local train from Oxford that connects at Chosely station,
There is Didcot which you know about of course, and there is plenty of mainline action between Reading and Didcot on the Oxford/southwest England Line.

I dont know for fact but I dont think UK rail workers go in for much radioing and I know its not a common thing for rail enthusiasts to do around here. I would suggest doing some research first.

Also, if you are into other Transport heritage in the area, theres the Oxford Bus museum, the Oxford Canal and Kidlington Airport.

Have fun

 

[driver32600]

visiting

There are two places i would suggest for a rail lover to visit,the first has got to be york railway museum and the heritage centre in the home of the railways "crew heritage centre" both a must