ronik24
Proud Earthling
Originally Posted April 2007
Hi,
Itinerary for April 13:
Birmingham New St dep 5:20 (Virgin Trains VT "Voyager" -> Holyhead)
Bangor arr 7:49
Bus to Caernarfon
Caernarfon dep 10:45 (Welsh Highland Railway WHR NGG16)
Rhyd Ddu arr 11:50
Rhyd Ddu dep 15:25 (WHR NGG16)
Caernarfon arr 16:30
Bus to Bangor
Bangor dep 18:04 (Arriva Wales AW 175)
Crewe arr 19:44
Crewe dep 20:15 (VT "Voyager")
Birmingham arr 21:58 (actual time, 45 min. delay due to rerouting via Nuneaton)
Early morning Birmingham New Street
Arrived at Bangor, Wales, with my Voyager
An Arriva Wales 175
Now I went by bus (of course double decker) to Caernarfon
Fetching the morning newspaper
Now to the newly rebuilt (track to Porthmadog should be finished by 2009) Welsh Highland 2' narrow gauge railway:
http://www.welshhighlandrailway.net/index.asp
My Welsh Highland Railway rake arrived from Dinas at about 10:25
The backbone of steam traction form four Beyer-Garratt NGG16s from South Africa, in 1958 the last steam locos built by Beyer Peacock.
Here Nr. 138 "Mileniwm" can be seen in front of Caernarfon castle
Finished taking water
Now I took the 10:45 train to the summit and current terminal Rhyd Ddu
After just five minutes walk from the station you can find the most prominent photo spot. One of the two photographers told me that he came into this region for 25 years and never had such beautiful weather - well, it was Friday the 13th! ;D
Often in the background: Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales, with a rack railway on the other side
The 12:20 returns from Rhyd Ddu
No problem to walk to the next spot
Further down the valley lies Lake (Llyn) Cwellyn, the white spots are of course sheep
Highland-impressions
Learn a bit Welsh...
Gorse in bloom will be my constant companion on this spring journey
All trains should have been steam-hauled that day, but with only one steamer operational one train had to be pulled by diesel
However, this diesel - also from South Africa - doesn't look bad in the landscape either
A must: sheep portraits
Highland-creeks clear as glass and the 13:55 departure from Rhyd Ddu
The steam train comes closer from the distance before 15:00
Double trouble
Since the last train pair was diesel-hauled and the sky became hazier I took the steam train back down
Sooo sweeeeeet! ;D
This time I had to change at Crewe, a few impressions:
A northbound Virgin Pendolino
This class 350 (Desiro for electric overhead wire) had a few technical difficulties and blocked the platform, which resulted in some confusion
Three EWS 66s came by
Hightech-Pendolino in narrow old surroundings
Shortly later my Voyager to Birmingham arrived at the same platform, but I didn't know yet about the upcoming delay. Between Stafford and Wolverhampton there was a overhead wire failure and the line was blocked, so the train had to be rerouted to Birmingham via Nuneaton (passengers for Wolverhampton took busses from Stafford). However, crisis management was really exceptional, train staff friendly and informative as on all my trips and 45 minutes delay are not at all bad for spontaneous rerouting - central European (former) state railways could really take an example here.
Hi,
Itinerary for April 13:
Birmingham New St dep 5:20 (Virgin Trains VT "Voyager" -> Holyhead)
Bangor arr 7:49
Bus to Caernarfon
Caernarfon dep 10:45 (Welsh Highland Railway WHR NGG16)
Rhyd Ddu arr 11:50
Rhyd Ddu dep 15:25 (WHR NGG16)
Caernarfon arr 16:30
Bus to Bangor
Bangor dep 18:04 (Arriva Wales AW 175)
Crewe arr 19:44
Crewe dep 20:15 (VT "Voyager")
Birmingham arr 21:58 (actual time, 45 min. delay due to rerouting via Nuneaton)
Early morning Birmingham New Street
Arrived at Bangor, Wales, with my Voyager
An Arriva Wales 175
Now I went by bus (of course double decker) to Caernarfon
Fetching the morning newspaper
Now to the newly rebuilt (track to Porthmadog should be finished by 2009) Welsh Highland 2' narrow gauge railway:
http://www.welshhighlandrailway.net/index.asp
My Welsh Highland Railway rake arrived from Dinas at about 10:25
The backbone of steam traction form four Beyer-Garratt NGG16s from South Africa, in 1958 the last steam locos built by Beyer Peacock.
Here Nr. 138 "Mileniwm" can be seen in front of Caernarfon castle
Finished taking water
Now I took the 10:45 train to the summit and current terminal Rhyd Ddu
After just five minutes walk from the station you can find the most prominent photo spot. One of the two photographers told me that he came into this region for 25 years and never had such beautiful weather - well, it was Friday the 13th! ;D
Often in the background: Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales, with a rack railway on the other side
The 12:20 returns from Rhyd Ddu
No problem to walk to the next spot
Further down the valley lies Lake (Llyn) Cwellyn, the white spots are of course sheep
Highland-impressions
Learn a bit Welsh...
Gorse in bloom will be my constant companion on this spring journey
All trains should have been steam-hauled that day, but with only one steamer operational one train had to be pulled by diesel
However, this diesel - also from South Africa - doesn't look bad in the landscape either
A must: sheep portraits
Highland-creeks clear as glass and the 13:55 departure from Rhyd Ddu
The steam train comes closer from the distance before 15:00
Double trouble
Since the last train pair was diesel-hauled and the sky became hazier I took the steam train back down
Sooo sweeeeeet! ;D
This time I had to change at Crewe, a few impressions:
A northbound Virgin Pendolino
This class 350 (Desiro for electric overhead wire) had a few technical difficulties and blocked the platform, which resulted in some confusion
Three EWS 66s came by
Hightech-Pendolino in narrow old surroundings
Shortly later my Voyager to Birmingham arrived at the same platform, but I didn't know yet about the upcoming delay. Between Stafford and Wolverhampton there was a overhead wire failure and the line was blocked, so the train had to be rerouted to Birmingham via Nuneaton (passengers for Wolverhampton took busses from Stafford). However, crisis management was really exceptional, train staff friendly and informative as on all my trips and 45 minutes delay are not at all bad for spontaneous rerouting - central European (former) state railways could really take an example here.
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