Seems an apt title for the retrospective on Day 2. Day 2? Is that right?? It almost feels like I’ve been travelling across time zones and I’m jet lagged. Mind you, there used to be many “time zones” in the UK and it was the railway system that brought about a unified time in the country. But that’s another story.

So Day 2 kicked off in Brighton. And that’s pretty much, give or take, a fairly southern part of the country. And the aim was to head due north pretty much as far as I could in a day. I briefly made the most of the room upgrade by standing on the balcony to watch pretty wild waves crashing on to the south coast shores before a quick breakfast and making a quick 15 minute march up to station for the 07:44 Thameslink to London St Pancras. Originally, I had planned to take the 08:16 but decided on erring on the safe side. Plus I was awake again around 06:00 so no worries. Proved to be sensible.

Brighton station has a terminus feel to it and wasn’t particularly busy. At 12 coaches, the Thameslink train was sparsely populated, especially in First Class at the head of the train. The scenery out of Brighton all the way up to the M25 is lovely but it became clear that my decision to leave earlier, rather than later, was wise and the optimism, based on day one, that all trains would be on time, was mis-founded. Signalling problems led to a 20 min late running. I remained relaxed an it was nice to have time to pop in to the First Class LNER lounge at Kings Cross.

The lounge was a couple of steps up from GWR’s lounge at Paddington but still falls short of airline lounges. My 1C experiences on Avanti, GWR and LNER lead me to think that the train companies could up their game here. More on that shortly – but seriously, is there really a need to put up a notice telling 1C passengers not to take items (such as a pack of biscuits or small bottles of water) out of the lounge? I ignored it, irritated by the instruction, and sneaked out a bottle of water.

(now arriving in Carlisle – gosh I remember my rail rovers taking me up here 40 years or so ago…and there’s a few decent locos around!).

Exiting the LNER Kings Cross lounge presented a nice opportunity to view the platforms from an elevated level and reminded me of departure from Eurostar at Gare Du Nord in Paris. See pic on my Instagram account. Awaiting was the impressive Azuma train. First class was packed and fortunately I managed to find a better seat than originally designated. The journey up north is magnificent. Speed and scenery combined means that I didn’t make much headway on the list of things I want to do.

So, on to food. 10:00 departure. Service was lunch, not brunch, and served around 11. Dilemma as I was told there was only 1 food service per journey. At least until crew change at Newcastle!? Anyway, I got the super-sized sausage roll (one sachet of tommy k, so needed to ask for an extra which seemed to be a problem) and overcame the service challenges to arrive in Aberdeen not hungry.

However, the signalling challenges south of London had migrated north and we ran 21 minutes late up to Edinburgh. On board announcements suggested we would make the time up. We didn’t, so I missed the 19 min connection in Aberdeen. Oh well, it only added 40 mins to the journey and gave me the chance for a quick whizz around the granite city. Grey on grey. But I’m told it sparkles when the sun shines.

Third and final train of the day up to Inverness was sadly mostly in the dark and I arrived just after 8:30pm. The tally for the day – 685 miles in 12 hours. I think that categorises itself as an epic trip.

Inverness is the furthest north I have been in this country. It was quiet and small, divided by the exceptionally fast flowing river Ness, over which I had a lovely view from my (again) upgraded room. Thank you Accor All loyalty program. Dumped my bags and headed straight out for another 9pm dinner, a short walk across the bouncy pedestrian bridge, to a fabulous seafood restaurant, surprisingly run by an Cornish man. If I ever opened a restaurant, this is how I would run it.

If I start day one at 00:00 on the sleeper, then the figures are a little crazy – 5 trains, 21 hours of travel, 612 rail miles covering London-Penzance-Exeter-Salisbury-Portsmouth-Brighton. Not bad going. And all trains were bang on time! Today is not proving quite that way but as we speed up northwards on the Japanese/Hitachi built Azuma train, I’m hoping we pick the time up as I have a 19 minute connection time in Aberdeen. We are currently 20 minutes late but the last onboard announcement gave hope and we’re certainly hammering along now!

Parts of yesterday’s journey already feel like they were weeks ago! The expected Cross Country HST out of Penzance didn’t materialise and I was stuck on a 5 car Voyager class diesel that had seen slightly better days. All the same, the carriage was mostly empty for the 3 hour trip back along the route I’d missed in the night. The quiet carriage and beautiful scenery through Cornwall and Devon made for a very relaxing, stress free journey indeed. The complimentary 1st Class offering from Cross Country comprised a choice of sandwiches and it’s fair to say that it was acceptable. Unlike the coffee. Which was rank. But I’m spoilt at home with a baker wife who specialises in Sourdough (plug for www.Bake88.co.uk) and only settling for whole Italian bean/freshly ground coffee delivered by a semi-automatic. Nespresso doesn’t cut it for me so I guess expectations on-board should’ve been low (although I would say the offering on LNER was acceptable). Anyway, I digress.

Arriving in to Exeter, the most probable location for my daughter attending University this coming summer. On her behalf, I thought I would inspect the Weatherspoons that was within a few minutes walk of the station and popular with students. The impressive building was full, not just with students but also an older crew, looking more like myself in terms of hair colour and age – attracted by the real ale festival. Would this derail (pun intended) my plans? No. I am a man on a mission, so a swift pint (sadly nothing local) and I headed down the steep hill back to the station in time for the train to Salisbury. Again, this was a very bucolic route and extremely relaxing day dreaming looking out the window, which seemed to be matched by the slow/poor WiFi and/or network coverage. Salisbury was an agreeable station with good facilities and a nice curve to it (if you know what I mean?). With an hour to spare, and a half hearted aim to sample a local beer in each place where I have time, I headed out of the station to find a pub which usually isn’t very far away. 2 were on offer. The first had no real ale, despite the promise outside, and the second only offered the ubiquitous Doom Bar. The pub looked like it was just clinging on to life sadly but was livened up by a chat with one of the frequent customers who, it has to be said, had probably spent most of the day there. He was a nice chap and clearly the pub was important to him but the conversation with the bar lady laid out how hard times have been. No revenue, no wages. The pub makes money when the trains are running. The recent strikes have been another punch. As I left, the gentleman offered to pay for my pint. I thanked him and said no, but it was very kind. I would’ve bought him one were it not for the fact he already had a full pint lined up and I’m not so sure another one would’ve served him well!

On to Portsmouth and a very crowded ride in second class. On arrival, with 40 minutes to kill, I took a short walk out of the station. It was notable for 2 things. The horrific extension to a Grade 2 listed railway station built in 1847 and an incident at the ticket gate as Revenue Protection Officers had to try and stop someone who was literally trying to force his way through the barriers – and the verbal abuse that followed.

The final leg of the journey to Brighton took place in the dark which was shame as there were a number of places I wanted to see from the train having driven through the area before such as Littlehampton and Angmering. Pulling in to Brighton on time felt rewarding for a well planned and executed day! The dash was not over though as it was 8pm, I needed to check-in and then find a decent place to eat – with searches indicating last the food serving was 9pm in most places. Bombed down from the station to the Holiday Inn on the seafront and delighted to be upgraded to a seaview balcony room. It was a pretty wild night and briefly observed from the balcony the waves smashing on to the shore. Dump my stuff and dash to a decent looking gastropub a good 15 minute walk away – conscious that I’m sat on my bum for most of the day. Decent steak and french fries (not too much gastro about that, but done well all the same), a great local Sussex ale and some local cheeses to follow. Pretty cold heading back to the seafront but Brighton’s nightlife seems to be warming up.

Back to my room, check-in at home, then crash. Out for the count. Wake at 06:00, 15 minutes before my alarm was due to go off. A long distance day lies ahead.

Despite a schoolboy error in jumping on the first tube train at Wimbledon, and then not listening to the announcements, only to look up and see I was at Victoria, I arrived at Paddington in plenty of time for the 23:45 sleeper service to Penzance. I always love coming out of the tube station in to the station concourse, being greeted by IK Brunel’s stunning wrought iron arches and glazed roof, and the sleek high speed trains of GWR calling you to just jump on board and go somewhere. At night, the sight is even more impressive, lit up in orange and purple.

It was shortly after 10pm and at Platform 1, the night sleeper was already at the platform but not yet ready for boarding. My trainspotting teenage years came flooding back to me at the sight of two solid Class 57 locomotives topping and tailing the coaches, simmering. Ticking over. Pure diesel loco power in all it’s glory. Both decked out in GWRs splendid deep green. Ready to pull a scheduled mainline service and a maximum speed of 75mph. Tops!

The GWR lounge is a disappointment and not worthy of any time at all sadly and fortunately I only spend a few minutes before boarding is called and I waste no time in heading to Coach E, berth 21. The bunk is impressive, well thought out with space underneath the bed for a case, a slim wardrobe with 2 inbuilt clothes hangers and a well hidden sink. A towel and soap are provided, together with 2 bottles of water stowed in the wardrobe. Lighting to the berth has several levels. The bed is wonderfully comfortable although rather slim and I’m not exactly the widest person.

A full carriage is dedicated to a bar and I enjoy a quick Cornish St Austell ale – well, when headed for Rome! The bar is relatively quiet. In fact, the whole train seems quiet. Almost as if this is a service few people know about – or really want to take (more so perhaps at this time of the year). I have no interactions with any fellow passengers I do see, other than 1 rather anxious later who knowingly jumps right in front of me as I am about to order my beer, expressing her frustration there are no other staff around and she needs her cabin allocating. Now. The lady behind the bar apologises, no issue to me with 45 mins or so still to go, and confirms the coach and berth number to flustered passenger. I assume she is tired and desperately needs to sleep. I am thirsty but not necessarily desperate for a beer.

A few minutes before departure, I walked to the front of the train ready to enjoy the full throttle of what is a refurbished Class 47 and, years ago, I had surely been hauled by. It doesn’t disappoint and is simply thrilling. I could have spent the whole night standing there and listening to it. The movement and power of the train seem more real, more authentic, under diesel (and, I presume, steam – although I have to confess that steam is not my thing). Health and safety considerations put a quick stop to the thrill of having the window down as the train powers along – the cabin attendant asks me to put it up at which point the window locks. The moment has gone, so I head back to my cabin.

I am a fairly light sleeper and if conditions are not right, then I struggle to fall asleep. As much as the rhythm and sound of the train can be a bit hypnotic, and there is a certain pleasure to sleeping on a train (similar to the lie-flat experiences on a plane), I do struggle to sleep and it’s probably around 03:00 when I manage drift off for a few hours, waking just outside of St Austell, or was it Totnes?

Station signage and planters at St Austell live up to the Riviera feel and are in stark contrast to the last station platform view I had of Reading! At 07:00, the cheery cabin attendant brings me a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich served on a nice tray. I can’t knock it but I had rather hoped for a freshly cooked slice of bacon rather than a microwaved roll in a packet. Still, it did the trick.

Arrival in to Penzance is bang on time and we’re greeted by sunny skies and a wonderfully misty view of St Michaels Mount. The shower facility in the arrivals lounge is great and after a quick turnaround, I head out of the small station, across an unwelcoming car park and through high fencing passing bin storage areas, to a rather unattractive concrete path squeezed in between the tracks and the sea. Still, it is nice enough and I have a quick WhatsApp video call with my daughter who is enjoying 40C in Laos! Travellers of the World unite! Well, at least I got to show her some sunny skies and a palm tree or two (although apparently there is debate as to whether they are palm trees or not! Horticulture is not really my thing, so I’ll leave it as it is, acknowledging this might be an inaccurate description). After a quick walk around the town as it was waking up, the sun started to disappear behind cloud cover. I did manage to sit in some degree of warmth and have a bacon and egg sandwich before the start of my first full day on the rails – kicking off with the 0925 to Exeter. I was rather hoping this was going to be an old HST.

Since returning to the UK nearly 5 years ago, I’ve been re-igniting my interest in trains and train travel, remembering the fun I had cruising up and down the rails on various rovers when I was a teenager. Whilst many aspects of the experience have changed, the basic joy is still the same – effortlessly (mostly) gliding through the country, reading a newspaper or book in peace, day-dreaming out of the window and, for me, an injection of energy through the sheer power of a train, whizzing (more on that in a future post…) between places, building itineraries and devising challenges such as “what is the furthest distance I can cover in a day” etc.

Travel had of course been curtailed during COVID and then, with a change in my job from one that included global travel to one that saw virtually none, I was almost bound to my home office. A trip in to Central London became something to look forward to and plan. It was then that the idea of an all line rail rover took root in my mind and I put up a large scale map of the country’s rail network on my wall to inspire me and plan for a 7 day all line rover.

A further change in my job, or, more particularly 3 months of impending gardening leave, has given me the perfect opportunity. And in what better way to consider the next steps in my career, tidy up my CV and LinkedIn profile, catch up with some friends around the country and read some inspiring books – than in First Class! Oh and time to pursue an interest in telling the stories of my travels in a blog!

3,200 miles in 7 days – that’s around 450 miles each day, starting with the GWR Riviera Night Sleeper from Paddington to Penzance, a crazy day taking me from Brighton to Inverness on 3 trains (685 miles, 10 hours, 1 tight connection…is it possible??!) and a logistically challenging trip around Wales (necessitating one bus ride to complete a loop…boooo!).