Nene Valley Railway
June 10th, 2009Once again I fancied a trip on the trains at the Nene Valley Railway, so I organised a day out for the Plus Group which incorporated some sightseeing, some walking, some real ale and some good food, not to mention both steam and diesel traction drawing the trains that transported us between the various stops. I organise this day under the guise of a group day out, but truth be told its just an excuse for me to indulge my, some would say slightly sad, fascination with rail travel which I have had since I was a kid.
We started this time at Wansford which is the main NVR station, and our first train was diesel drawn, taking us to Ferry Meadows where had time for a cup of coffee and a gingerbread man before hopping back onto the train (steam this time) to join the late-risers (aparently a good evening was had the night before and some were suffering..). Quick change of platforms and back onto the diesel drawn train back towards Peterborough stopping at Orton Mere. Each train has its own bar carriage which was quickly sought out, and bottled real ales were served, albeit rather frothy ones.
Orton Mere was our lunch stop, with a meal at a pub which is about 25 mins walk from the station - the food was pretty good here, and well worth the walk. The walk back to the station was along the river, and was very pleasant due to the good weather which somehow we had managed to be blessed with. On to Peterborough then, and the end of the line. Travelling in first class carriages for this trip - the ones with a corridor down one side and compartments with sliding doors. I have memories of these carriages from when I was young - we never actually travelled in the compartments, but used to stand with my dad in the corridor for part of the trip instead and considered this a bit of a treat!
In Peterborough there is (a short walk from the station) a floating bar and chinese restaurant. The bar sells such a selection of real ales as you would ever wish to find on a sunny Sunday afternoon, and while most stayed to sample some of these, I went with a few others for some retail therapy into the City, and straight to the Lush shop, returning just in time to meet the beer drinkers to head back to the station.. Stephen had very kindly saved me some of his beer - which after the brisk walking back from Lush was extremely refreshing and very much appreciated!
Back onto the train, and staying on until the end of the line at Yarwell Junction via a long tunnel, we watched the engine uncouple from the carriages, drive to the points where it swapped tracks and headed back past the carriages to hook up at the other end. The kids with us decided to run to try and beat the train down to the other end, stupidly I seemed to think it was a good idea too, but didn’t quite make it all the way before running out of energy - I really do need to get fitter!
Last trip of the day was back from Yarwell to Wansford after which we all adjourned to a another pub in Peterborough for the rest of the evening.
A really good day out which was made even better by the good weather we had, and this time no thunderstorm to soak us all at the end of the day like there was last year. There really is something special about train travel for me, especially with the older engines and carriages - I guess its all a bit of childhood nostalgia really. I would probably lose my fascination fairly quickly if I was a regular rail commuter for work, but I am very glad that I don’t have that worry!
