This week has been a rail-filled one with family and friends, with the first a trip to York on Tuesday 25th, and a second a trip to Edinburgh on Friday 28th.
Both trips started at my local station, Alnmouth (for Alnwick), accessed by using the car as travelling with my young family.
Parking on both days was easy with ample availability of spaces on both days. On the day of the York visit, I used the Northern car park, and paid the £1.90 all day fee via the RingGo app on my phone, whilst on Friday, I changed to use the Northumberland County Council car park paying by cash at the (very heavy frosted) ticket machine for £1.50 for 24hrs. In both cases the respective systems worked really well, and parking was straightforward.
A very uneventful arrival at the station on both days; smooth sailing!
Trip to York (25.2.25)
A little trip to York with my family plus another family group to visit the National Railway Museum and the fantastic WONDERLAB within, if you are doing the NRM, a visit to the WONDERLAB is worth doing in my opinion, with plenty to keep my not-especially-train-enthused children entertained for ages.
For me as the ‘big kid’, a look around the roundhouse was enjoyable, but with very few photos without the family in! A token one showing the tired wheels on ‘Agenoria’ will have to suffice I’m afraid!
The trip to York and back was hard to fault in any respect; the train towards York was slightly late arriving at Alnmouth, but the passenger information systems were working well to communicate the delay. Once aboard, everything was again uneventful, the train was well loaded with most seats taken from quick observation of the carriage I was riding in, and was similarly well loaded on the return trip.
The CrossCountry trains in both directions were clean and comfortable for the trip, again a no complaint and uneventful trip.
Happy day out all around and well done to CrossCountry Trains!
Trip to Edinburgh (28.2.25)
The trip just finished at time of writing was a longer day spent in Edinburgh mainly for a full day at Edinburgh Zoo, with an arrival at Alnmouth well before 07:30, meaning a quick trip to the catering van on the southbound side near to the waiting room.
The lovely lady in the catering van said that this is her final few days there before she leaves Alnmouth Station to take a long break; I would like to wish her well for tge future being a long standing resident of the station.
Upon entering Waverley with some time to spare, a few obligatory snaps were taken
Again, it was a very uneventful and smoothly running day with regards the train & bus trip to Edinburgh Zoo today, the trains were very clean, and with again just a few minutes late running at certain points resulted in a very successful trip for our family day out.
Well done to Transpennine Express for such a great service, and also to Lothian buses for running the excellent 26 bus from Princes Street to Edinburgh Zoo, which at £10.50 for a family day ticket is excellent value, with a very frequent service along the route too.
Summary
Overall, both days stood as impressive in my view by how smoothly and efficiently both days just ‘worked’ and there was no hassle or stress attached. Well done to all involved and I’ll be certainly aiming to go by rail again with my family, perhaps on a bigger adventure too!
The Northumberland Coast Loop 