Been a while since my last update but I have done quite a bit! More or less after my trip to Leeds my wife and I started our holiday together. It was to be a bit of everything and we were going to be staying in Britain. The bulk of our stay would be in Kent and half the travel would be by train by using a Kent 3 Day Rover. This gave us the flexibility to both drink and gave us discount on places we visited by using 2 for 1 offers.
We set up base in Canterbury and were about 15 minute walk to Canterbury East station. On the first day my wife said I could try and cover as much route as possible (whilst she did her own thing) and the remaining two days would see us go on route that was left and spend more time off the network! Most stops saw us visit Cask Marque pubs (mostly Wetherspoons) as well!
Day 1
The first day saw us head to Faversham for a change of train to Rochester. We had a wonder round here before heading to Gravesend. We had a lunch here before heading back to Strood for a train to Padock Wood on the Medway Valley line. It was at this point my wife did her own thing! I then headed west to Sevenoaks and then onto Swanley. I then doubled back a bit to Otford before the slow trip inland to Ashford. Here I met my wife and we went for some dinner.
After dinner she headed home whilst I headed to Sittingbourne via Swanley. The whole point of the late trip to Sittingbourne and then up to Sheerness on Sea was so I could get both curves to Sheerness completed. Glad its done but it was now 2132 and I was at Gillingham and needed to get home. By the time I returned it was gone 2300 but I had completed a lot of track and grabbed a fair few winners. This was by far going to be my most intense day of the week.
Day 2
We headed to Faversham once again and then headed east to Margate. What a hole! We didn't discover this straight away as we headed round to the Turner Art building (I think thats what it's called!). Not my cup of tea but nevertheless. Afterwards we started to wonder round Margate. We decided very quickly that was not the best idea and headed back to the station. We headed back to Canterbury via West station and spent some more time there (making use of the 2 for 1) at some museums. We then went back to Canterbury West and headed down to Ashford before heading to Folkestone for dinner. It was then onto Dover Priory before heading straight up to Faversham and onto Herne Bay for a visit to the Wetherspoons. After this it was back to Canterbury. Another late day with the same service as yesterday to Canterbury!
Day 3
Today would see us go back to Dover for a visit to the Castle and the War Time Tunnels. Great place. After this I needed a couple of bits of track to do in Kent. This saw me catch the 1532 Dover Priory to Ramsgate via Minster and then return to Dover. This got the rarely used curve in near Minster. My wife had headed to Whitstable whilst I did this so I headed up to meet her. After a visiting 3 pubs here (nice place) we headed back to Canterbury for an early night (back by 2100!).
Thursday!
We had planned a day trip to France and went by Eurotunnel. It was quick and easy. It literally was drive on and off in no time. Spotting the rear locomotive was easy as i drove past it. The front was a little trickier and required an email to Eurotunnel (but the replied promptly with the answers I needed for both the out and return journeys). I managed to spot a fair few Eurotunnel locomotives as we left Folkestone so was pleased. But when we arrived at Coquelles I couldn't believe it! I spotted loads on the depot and then 7 of the 8 stored Class 92 locomotives! Brilliant! Photos were taken from the train. Not great but passible. It was then off the train and on into France (we ended up going to Belgium but that really wasn't far at all). On the way, whilst passing the massive freight yards by the motorway I spotted two Eurocargo 66s. One was an old EWS loco and the other a newer Eurocargo ordered one (with air con unit on top). Luckily the one i could see the number for was the old EWS one!
A great day and a few more Eurotunnel locos spotted on the way home!
Saturday
On our way back home we called into Spa Valley Railway. It was one of their Diesel and Steam timetables. We had 33056 out and 47493 (Steam) back. Great little line two winners for haulage. Also managed to visit the cab of the 33 and had a great chat with the driver.
A nice week away. My wife was good enough to let me complete Kent for all lines (except the HS1 to classic connections). So all I need to do now is get the South Eastern trains themselves and the Suburban London lines they run on. That should be easy enough at Key locations on a London Travelcard. The trip on Eurotunnel was great (and so easy) and the week nicely rounded off on a heritage railway!
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