Southern Day Part 7: Hastings is a nice place. With lots of buses. And trains to London.

On February 18th (long time ago now, I know!) I went out and bought a Southern DaySave. Took my life into my own hands. Not just a single or return, but a Southern day ticket! this is how it panned out...

After arrival in Hastings, I walked to the seafront with some opportunities for bus photos. Here are some of the best:

SN66VVM, an unbranded E400 MMC on 'The Wave' 100, usually run with branded MMCs

MV54BLU, An ex-Bluebird (Manchester area) Dart working Hastings - Ore rail replacement

Evening light on the seafront and GN12CMV runs a 'Hastings Arrows' 20 to Hollington

SV53DDU, a Dart, runs a 26 to Conquest Hospital. 

Well, it seems the 'Hastings Arrows' 22A and 'The Wave' 99 have swapped vehicles for the day! 'The Wave' GN61EVY works a 'Hastings Arrows' 22A to Hollington and 'Hastings Arrows' GN12CMX works a 'The Wave' 99 to Eastbourne!

With that short walk over, it was time to eat! 'The John Logie Baird' looked like a nice place to eat and Wetherspoons is always cheap, so I went there. A bus-loving human with a satisfied stomach then moved up to the Station. Having just missed a train to London, there was time for some more bus spotting at the main terminus, but (because it was dark) I couldn't get many good shots. There were some GAL commercial buses there for the rail replacement, but the best and most interesting photo is below.

WHAT? AN OLYMPIAN! Wow, I never expected that! R61LHK working rail replacements at Hastings Station

Shortly afterwards, I decided to go into the station to catch the 18:58 towards London Victoria. Freezing to death on the platform, the train finally arrived, 5 minutes after it was supposed to depart. A quick turnaround meant that, about 8 minutes late, we were on the move for the hour and a half journey back to East Croydon.

377136 arriving 5 minutes late into Hastings.

You won't find the 18:58 in the timetable though, as I believe it usually continues to Ore. After arrival in Croydon, it was a normal and very uneventful journey home, arriving at 22:30 - too late!

All in all, a great day!

Hope you enjoyed,

Jezza

Southern Day Part 6: Change, Change and Change again!

Sorry I'm so behind on these now!

On February 18th (long time ago now, I know!) I went out and bought a Southern DaySave. Took my life into my own hands. Not just a single or return, but a Southern day ticket! this is how it panned out...

After leaving Newhaven on the 15:04 train towards Brighton, Lewes was a good place to change for the train to where I was going next.

Another 313 - YES! This one only took me to Lewes though, where I changed

I was going to a seaside town next and then the train to Eastbourne pulled up! So, on the train and to the station... before Eastbourne? What? Yep, 'twas time for another change, at Hampden Park! Trains go to Hampden Park, then go one stop further to the end of the line (Eastbourne), where they reverse - taking 8 minutes - and then call at Hampden Park again, to take the line off to the right which continues all the way to Ashford. I really wish I could've gone to Doleham...

377450, my train towards Eastbourne, seen here at Lewes

At Hampden Park, it was time to change for the Hastings train

377124, the aforementioned Hastings train, with another service after arrival at Hastings

I believe it was Normans Bay where the platform was only long enough for 3 carriages... but Southern don't have any 3 carriage trains! Before it was time for me to eat, I had some important business to do... BUS SPOTTING! That'll have to wait until part 7 though...

Hope you enjoyed,

Jezza

Southern Day Part 5: Not what it may seem!

On February 18th (long time ago now, I know!) I went out and bought a Southern DaySave. Took my life into my own hands. Not just a single or return, but a Southern day ticket! this is how it panned out...

Newhaven. It's full of warehouses. It's all industrial. It's got 2 Stations (Harbour and Town) and a ghost station (Marine). Right? Nope. The Harbour and Town stations have something that I'm really in to at the moment, but we'll get to that later. Firstly, there's the well-known, abandoned Newhaven Marine Station, with its rusted (not-much-of-a) roof - the main reason I came. There's also an abandoned ferry terminal next to it, where ferries used to run to France from. (A great video of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTmumbrKohs). Except now it's demolished:

Trains to Seaford go left, but the branch to the right is where Newhaven Marine once stood.

But at least there was still one good reason... Take a guess - I'm obsessed with them at the moment!

If you said something that is short and red, you're right! Well, kind of - the Southern machines are green, but still...

The one working machine at Newhaven Harbour. The other had the 'Not In Use' light on

As I was walking to Newhaven Harbour (There was 15 minutes until the train and it was a 10 minute walk - I would probably be able to get another 3 pieces of paper from a short, green machine there too) I stumbled across a yard full of buses! At first I thought it was preserved buses, but after some research I've found out that it seems to be the depot of a company called either Victoria Coaches or Victoria Travel. It's very hazy, as they don't have a website and there is barely any information on them, but I think they're probably defunct now. Here is a selection of the best photos I could get without trespassing:

Believe this is a Leyland National 'Greenway', but not 100% sure. This actually has Victoria Coaches branding 

Something else to throw into the mix - a Seaford & District coach!

There really was everything there... A health and wellbeing bus? I think the rest of the buses need to go on here!

A Wrightbus and a Dart parked up, with a well-restored Scania peeping through

A seemingly neglected Wilts & Dorset branded Bristol VR

The only modern (ish) vehicles there - three coaches, one of which is branded for Victoria Travel

And finally, after a nice walk through Newhaven (not to offend anyone there, but it was the walk that was nice, not Newhaven :-P) It was time for another (not at all) clean, (but very) green machine at Newhaven Town!

Newhaven Town's only PERTIS machine.

So Newhaven is actually interesting! Don't go there for the sights, but it's got a kind of empty feel to it, which is quite nice on a sunny day. It's good for transport enthusiasts too, with two stations, three PERTIS machines (two working) and a yard full of buses!

Hope you enjoyed my review of Newhaven!

Jezza

Southern Day Part 4: NEVER plan a tight connection!

Sorry about the wait between posts, kind of forgot about this :-P

On February 18th (long time ago now, I know!) I went out and bought a Southern DaySave. Took my life into my own hands. Not just a single or return, but a Southern day ticket! this is how it panned out...

After a quick look at Worthing beach, time to walk back to the station! Except it wasn't a leisurely walk, it was more of a RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!! kind of walk. I had a 4 minute connection at Brighton for the Hastings train, so if I didn't catch this one, I wouldn't make the connection. Luckily, it was a few minutes late leaving Worthing. I just made it with about 1 minute to spare! Phew!

377128, the fairly fast train I caught from Worthing to Brighton. Sorry for the quality, couldn't get a photo at Worthing and had to run for my next train on Platform 8, all the way over the other side of the station!

The train was fairly fast, speeding through about half of the stations between Worthing and Brighton. As the train was pulling in to Brighton, I encountered lots of old Gatwick Express '442' units, including 442406 and 442413

I thought you were supposed to be in Ely?

As I arrived at Brighton, I sprinted for platform 8 and the train had just left... 30 seconds early (Bad for me, but amazing for Southern!). There was a train along to Newhaven in about 20 minutes, so I decided to reverse the plan and go from Brighton to Newhaven, then go to Hastings instead of going from Brighton to Hastings, then to Newhaven. It was a 313, finally! The first non-377 of the day!

313207 at Brighton, about to leave on the train to Seaford

313s are actually fairly nice trains and this one was heading for Seaford. Newhaven was my destination, for multiple reasons! Find out what happened when I got there in part 5!

Southern Day Part 3: Beachy Bognor to Waterside Worthing

On February 18th (long time ago now, I know) I went out and bought a Southern DaySave. Took my life into my own hands. Not just a single or return, but a Southern day ticket! This is how it panned out...

After a nice little trip to Bognor Regis, the next stop was... you guessed it, Wor... Barnham! The title misled you. Or did it?

377413 after dropping me back at Barnham, having just run a trip from Bognor Regis

After (obviously) a hot chocolate from the on-platform coffee shop (handily located on the platform for the London/Brighton trains), it was time for another 377 (377472) for a fairly long trip - about 30 minutes - to Worthing - the title kinda gave it away... right?

377472 on the Southern route towards Brighton.

Then, at Worthing, I only encountered one bus - on route 5, but I got a wave from the driver! Here it is, in lovely light:

The only bus I saw in Worthing (Route 5), with a wave from the driver!

So I ran down to the seafront and then there was a bit of drama... but you'll have to wait until part 4 to hear about that!

Southern Day Part 2: City to the Seaside

On February 18th (long time ago now, I know!) I went out and bought a Southern DaySave. Took my life into my own hands. Not just a single or return, but a Southern day ticket! This is how it panned out...

A busy 377430 going towards London Victoria (don't worry - not heading back yet!) took me to Barnham Station. Yes, Barnham. You've probably never heard of Barnham... well, now you have! No need to look it up, it's the station after Chichester on the lines towards London and Brighton. It's just a village, but is the place to go for trains to Bognor Regis if you can't get a direct one.

377430 arriving at Chichester with a London-bound train

So, after a 7 minute ride to Barnham, time for a 7 minute ride from Barnham on 377413! It actually turned out to be closer to 5 minutes, but it's better than having a really long journey like the first hour and a half!

377413, another Electrostar to take me down to Bognor Regis

And then I was there! I know 20 minutes isn't long for a whole section, but I'm splitting it into places I went. In Bognor Regis, I only encountered a few buses, but one was nice and I got a great photo!

YY66PFZ, a Compass Bus Enviro 200 standing near Bognor Regis seafront on... well, I'm not sure!

I went to the seafront, but you won't really want to see that I don't think! Find out more in part 3!

Southern Day Part 1: Southern's not too bad!

On February 18th (long time ago now, I know!) I went out and bought a Southern DaySave. Took my life into my own hands. Not just a single or return, but a Southern day ticket! This is how it panned out...

After a nice early start, I hopped on the c2c, Jubilee and Overground and made my way to Croydon. There are coffee shops in Croydon - the only good thing about it! Quite a wait there, but there was a train to catch, so I couldn't drink sitting in the coffee shop unfortunately. 377118 and another unit I didn't get the number of took me down to Horsham, where the train divided.

377118, the front of the dividing train, that took me to Chichester, before continuing to Portsmouth Harbour

I purposefully got in carriage 2 of 8 to be on the Portsmouth Harbour train, not the Bognor Regis part. After Horsham, the Portsmouth Harbour part of the train (that I was getting to Chichester) went pretty fast, calling at Barnham and Chichester before continuing, but the Bognor Regis train went all stations. I'd planned in a while at Chichester, so time to do some bus spotting! Here is a small selection of the best photos:

417DCD, a Stagecoach Enviro 200 with the numberplate from a PD3 on route 600 to Elmer

GX12DXR, a Stagecoach Enviro 400, by 'Chichester Cross' on 'Coastliner' route 700 to Portsmouth

SL64HXJ, a 'The Witterings' branded Stagecoach Enviro 200, by Chichester Cathedral - a great spot for photos!

GX11 AKP, an unbranded Stagecoach Enviro 400, on 'Coastliner' route 700 just opposite Chichester Cathedral.

Find out what happened next in part 2...