European Railroad Discussion > London to Edinburgh '23

All aboard at King’s Cross for London North Eastern’s 9:25 Azuma service to Edinburgh. A comfortable train, a fast ride up to Newcastle—then, down came the pantographs and from HST to rural ramble over what I presume was the historic Newcastle & Carlile (whose route out of Newcastle still completely baffles me) right across England to Carlile before turning back north up the old Caledonian. A week later and it’s back “up” to London via the East Coast on First Group’s Lumo service, much faster but decidedly cramped—especially captive to giggling football yobs. Max those passenger-miles, for sure, but E’burgh to London four hours flat ain’t too shabby. 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/23 08:55 by kurtarmbruster.

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Rambling through Haltwhistle...the great wide open...Waverly!

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kurtarmbruster Wrote:
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> All aboard at King’s Cross for London North
> Eastern’s 9:25 Azuma service to Edinburgh. A
> comfortable train, a fast ride up to
> Newcastle

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I'm very surprised you found the class 800s comfortable. I find then painful with too much underfloor noise and a choppy, agitated ride. I certainly agree that they are fast, acceleration when on electric mode is Ferrari-like but as a replacement for the HST and the IC225 I think they are a huge disappointment.

LNER would normally run up the ECML from Newcastle to Edinburgh but you were clearly diverted over the Tyne Valley line to Carlisle, and then up the WCML to Edinburgh.  Today, trains to Carlisle cross over the river Tyne and pass through Dunston and the Metrocentre before reaching Blaydon and then westwards to Carlisle.  When I was younger they instead headed west out of Newcastle and remained on the north side of the Tyne until crossing Scotswood Bridge and then to Blaydon etc.  That route closed in 1982.  My parents had a holiday home at Haltwhistle - you can see the caravan park from the train shortly after coming through Whitchester tunnel.

Lumo is a relatively new operator.  They operate standard class only services on the ECML whereas LNER offer both standard and first class.

Thanks, Geordie. I'm not getting how the train turned west after leaving Newcastle--I don't remember re-crossing the Tyne after our initial crossing (reversing direction south, then crossing over onto the Carlile line), which I assume was necessary to get us on a westward heading. Clearly I'm missing something!

kurtarmbruster Wrote:
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> Thanks, Geordie. I'm not getting how the train
> turned west after leaving Newcastle--I don't
> remember re-crossing the Tyne after our initial
> crossing (reversing direction south, then crossing
> over onto the Carlile line), which I assume was
> necessary to get us on a westward heading. Clearly
> I'm missing something!

The train would indeed have re-crossed the Tyne before turning west toward Carlisle. It would not be necessary to reverse from Newcastle station because there is a second bridge over the Tyne to the east of the one normally used by your train. if you did not notice the train reversing, that's what happened -- the train effectively turned in a circle.

Either way, your train would have joined the line to Carlisle at King Edward Bridge South Junction, on the south side of the river.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/23 01:02 by railsmith.

kurtarmbruster Wrote:
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> Thanks, Geordie. I'm not getting how the train
> turned west after leaving Newcastle--I don't
> remember re-crossing the Tyne after our initial
> crossing (reversing direction south, then crossing
> over onto the Carlile line), which I assume was
> necessary to get us on a westward heading. Clearly
> I'm missing something!

Here's a diagram. The ECML approaches Newcastle via Low Fell. Normally an Edinburgh train would cross the Tyne on the King Edward Bridge. If the train didn't reverse then it would have turned right at KEB South Junction and crossed the Tyne on the High Level Bridge entering the station from the North. You would then have left heading south across the King Edward Bridge, turning right under the ECML onto the Tyne Valley Line through Dunston and Metro Centre.

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Thanks very much for the information, folks, this is most helpful. I enjoyed this diversion, getting to see more beautiful countryside and ride an historic line, too. Cheers!