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So the plan for this one was initially to travel to Lympstone Commando then walk to Lympstone village. THe weather forecaste was grim. THankfully no rain but I wasn't 100% whether to do the walk in the end I chose not to. I'll wait until the wife is with me and theweather is a lot better.
Two days running a pre 5am alarm woke me. I'm getting too old for this stupic O'clock lark. A walk in to Croydon for my first train. WOW ... the 05:40 ran!
9R02 East Croydon to Farringdon 700141 non winner [12m 11ch]
Down to the Elizabeth Line. THat has really become the best way for me to get to both Paddington abd Liverpool Street. I was skeptical when it was being built but I like it.
1C70 Paddington to Exeter st. David's 800320 Winner [173m 34ch]
The weather was rather gloomy so I decided that the walk was not going to happen this time.
Exeter St. Davids has some nice touches to it but it does feel somewhat neglected. Some of the highlights for me are the murals on the walls of the staircase on platform 1. THey are pretty but look a little tired. On the overbrighe there is a automatic repetive announcement about holding hand rails etc. It's awful crackly, tinny and sounds like it is a throw back from the 1970s. GWR need to update it better still do away with it all together. It also prevents from hearing announcements about trains.
2F11 Exeter St. David's to Exmouth 158951 non winner [11m 18ch]
First Branchline today would be the Exmouth line. There are two trains an hour to Exmouth. One stops all stations (remember that Exon and Lympstone Commando are both request stops) and one that misses out the two request stops, St James' Park, and Polsloe Bridge. My outward trqin was the 'fast' one but the return was the all stations one.
Exmouth doesn't have a lot there save a small station building and a small shelter. When there doors opened on aarrival it was really busy with people getting on. THere is literally only a 5 minute turnround there so I had to grab a couple og photos and then reboard the train back to Exeter. On the return we DID stop at both request stops to allow people to get on.
2T14 Exmouth to Exeter St. David's 158951 non winner [11m 18ch]
Commando station does have a sign to not use it unless you are visiting the army camp but there are conflicting reports that say it is on a coastal path and people use it . Others say you can't use it.
Once back at St. David's I did have some time to grab food before my next train. Just outside the station there is a little shop that is worth a look. £4.99 for a sandwich, a 500ml water and a packet of crisps. Pretty good in my view. Also if you are a bit of a book lover there is a book vending machine at the station. How different. Time for the second branch line.
2K06 Exeter St. David's to Okehampton 150248 non winner [24m 65ch]
This is a new line for me and I was a little dismayed that the line is mostly through trees and doesn't really aloow a lot of views. Enroute Crediton is a well preserved station and I think I may have to revisit one day. Okehampton looks wonderful with is gree paintwork, flowerbeds and book shop. Of course I went in for a quick look. I had to be quick as I only had 10 minutes before my train returned. A purchase and donation and back on the train. I WILL return to Okehampton. The Dartmoor Railway was a heritage line and operated between 1997 and 2019 when it entered administration. Sad to think that he had a decent fleet of heritage trains. Will Network Rail take services beyond Okehampton in the future? I doubt it.
2R56 Okehampton to Exeter St. David's 150248 non winner [24m 65ch]
Back at Exeter St. David's I decided to catch the train to London that started at Exeter rather than one from Plymoouth or Penzance mainly to be able to get first choice of seat.
1A85 Exeter St. David's to Paddington 800024 winner [173m 34ch]
What should have been a lovely journey back was a bit of a headache - Literally. A family got on at Taunton and within seconds they were so loud people were leaving the carriage. When they got off ot all dialled down. Somehow we managed to pick up a delay around Catle Cary. Certainly no announccements were forthcoming. At Paddington we were to couple up to another unit. This was done with passengers on board which, for me, was not a good idea. People stumbledlso, a it took more than five minuted from the initial stop to opening the doors. So what shows on RTT as 2 minute delay it was more like six.
I do wonder what GWR's customer service policy is. Almost every time I have travelled with them (also the wife has as well), Paddington doseem to keep platforms allocations a secret until the last minute (Thank God for Traksy). The Gateline staff seem to think customers asking a questions or to open the barriers is some sort of trouble. On train announements are lacking. Going out to Exeter in the morning I had to go and hunt out the catering trolley! Overall it's not a great experience. When I do my trip to Penzance it will be interesting to see how they perform.
Once eventually through the barrier down to the Elizabeth Line. For being a weekeday 'rush hour' it wasn't uncomfortable and a decent amount of room.
9U33 Paddington to Farringdon 345021 non winner [3m 44ch]
I was trying to get back home as quickly as I could so I decided to walk up the escalator. Oh God I was knackered when I got to the Thameslink platform and it made me feel dreadfully old.
9J39 Farringdon to East Croydon 700110 non winner [12m 11ch]
That train arrives in to platform 6 at East Croydon which is brilliant as my next train was platform 5!
2M55 East Croydon to Selhurst 377708 non winner [0m 77ch]
At the end of two days I managed 1,379.68 miles. Excellent.