Given that both were explored in the same day, it makes sense that this Exploring the East Coast follows on the from the last. This Exploring the East Coast had me starting at the least used station in Tyne and Wear, Manors, before continuing into Newcastle itself and then visiting the oddly underserved Chester-Le-Street.

Having headed to Newcastle and stayed the night following LNER’s inaugural service from Kings Cross to Middlesbrough, I had most of the day before I was due to catch another relatively new service back to London that evening. Taking the opportunity to do some exploring, I looked at my options and opted first to head north, to explore the East Coast Mainline (ECML) stations of Morpeth and Cramlington, along with the communities they serve.

Earlier in November I headed up to Darlington on an LNER service with the intention on nipping up the Bishop Auckland branch and visiting the National Railway Museum’s second site, Locomotion at Shildon. Unfortunately, what I didn’t take into account was forgetting to check the opening hours, finding out on arrival that Locomotion is closed on Monday and Tuesdays. My trip was on a Tuesday…

Just as we all thought there was some semblance of order to this series of blogs and vlogs with me heading further and further north from Peterborough, I decided to mix it all up a bit and head to London to do the six most southerly stations on the East Coast Mainline (ECML). From the bustle of the terminus of King’s Cross, via the busy commuter station at Finsbury Park to the suburban stations of Harringay, Hornsey, Alexandra Palace and New Southgate, this section of the ECML is very varied with plenty to see and do.

For episode three of Exploring the East Coast, I once again decided to head north and tick off the next two stations beyond Newark, the Nottinghamshire town of Retford and the South Yorkshire railway town that is Doncaster.

a couple of years away, East Midlands Railway (EMR) has needed additional rolling stock to fill the gap. Whilst the introduction of class 360s on the new EMR Connect services has helped by freeing up some class 222 Meridian’s, four former Hull Trains class 180s have been sourced to fill that gap for a couple of years.