By TPE to Tynemouth
A Tyneside trip
© Geoff’s Rail Diaries 2018
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
14 May 2018
My friend had spotted a “Club 55” offer from TransPennine Express. “It’s only on for a couple of weeks, but we ought to take advantage…” At £21 for destinations in the north of England - less 20% for our railcards - it was too good to miss. So we’re up at the crack of dawn, on this day of cloudless blue skies, to join Arriva’s 8.15am from Nantwich. We’ll walk through the centre of Manchester to catch the 9.51 from Victoria (9.12 from Liverpool Lime Street). The class 185 units are reasonably quiet and comfortable for the 150-mile trip (though soon to be superceded by hauled/ propelled stock), taking just under two and a half hours. We’re not going to hang around Newcastle Central though - we’re off on the Metro, via Longbenton and Monkseaton to Whitley Bay (still an attractive station) and Tynemouth (magnificent!). The fish and chips on the wall overlooking the North Sea were pretty good too. We’d had ideas of crossing the Tyne on the Shields ferry, but time was beginning to get the better of us. After a walk beside the river
to North Shields, we were back on the Metro, arriving at Monument with time to take a look at Grey Street, before returning to Central in nice time for the 16.06 to Manchester (and Liverpool). We needn’t have worried - a late-running southbound departure delayed us by ten minutes, so that we crossed the King Edward bridge beside a long train of new-looking biomass wagons. We’d made up the delay by the time we were back in Manchester - there’s even time for a refreshment stop on our way back to Piccadilly… More photos of our trip (the sea, Grey St etc) at http://geoffspages.blog/2018/05/16/no- fog-on-the-tyne/ 
Those wagons... Whitley Bay Whitley Bay Whitley Bay Whitley Bay Whitley Bay Tynemouth Tynemouth Tynemouth Tynemouth Tynemouth Front ends at Central 16.06 to Liverpool HST arrival Voyager departure Classic Central Reminder of pre-grouping days Departure for Hexham HST departure