UK rail trip – 2022
Day 17 – 19th April, 2022
Today I’m off to the National Railway Museum, in York. To save a walk to Stockport station, Christine offered to drop me off at the station. As I had a bit of a headache, I gratefully accepted this. Probably didn’t drink enough water after the several drinks I had the day before. I bid farewell to Steve. Thanks, Christine, for dropping me off at the station. I’ll probably see you in a couple of weeks or so! I boarded my Avanti West Coast Class 390 to Manchester Piccadilly.
It was a relatively full train, so I just opted to stand. It would only be for about ten minutes. It was just like old times, like catching the train to work every morning! Quite often, I could barely find a seat.
My train to York would be leaving from platform 14, which means walking over to the far side of the station by means of a moving footway and some stairs. But I had about 50 minutes before it left. So, I grabbed something to eat at the Burger King inside the station. A couple of bacon and egg muffins did the trick. Time to walk over to platform 14 for my train to York – a couple of class 185s.
Another trip on the Huddersfield Line. Following the line, much of the way, is the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. Four kilometres after passing through Greenfield station, the railway line, and the canal, plunge into the Standedge Tunnel. There are actually four tunnels – three railway (two single track, one double) and one canal. Only the double track tunnel and the canal tunnel are still in use, even though the two original single track tunnels exist. The Standedge Tunnel has a length of about 5,000 metres, taking the railway and canal under the Pennines. There is another fairly long tunnel, called the Morley Tunnel, which is between Dewsbury and Leeds. Not as long, but still just over 3,000 metres in length.
I arrived at York and headed to the Safestay Hostel, where I had previously stayed. I was checked in fairly quickly. I dropped off my stuff in my dorm room and headed off to the railway museum. Entry to the museum is free, but bookings still need to be made. A donation at the time is also encouraged, which I had no problem with.
There was so much more to see, besides the photographs I took. Some spaces were a little too confined, though, to get a decent angle. I could have spent a whole week here, but one must move on. I found dinner at the Windmill Inn again, before turning in. Had a bit of a cough and a runny note, which I put down to allergies and the drastically changing seasons which I’ve recently been subject to.
Leave a Reply