Final checkup of the schedule

 Now that the tour is almost certainly going ahead I've developed a handy daily itinerary comprising a table of information, mostly auto-generated from the main timetable spreadsheet, and a map of this leg of the tour.

 This is an example for one day:


The table: 

  • dep station: The standard shortform and name of the departure station (NCL=Newcastle). Useful when using online apps. 
  • At stations where the connection is over 45minutes any refreshments available are shown as: [c] coffee bar, [C] Cafe, [R] Restaurant, (ms) M&S Food, (p>) Pub outside
  • dep: Time in bold shows the departure time of the planned train
  • Twrds: Shortform of the destination of this train (NNT=Nunthorpe in this case). If underlined, like DON below, the train terminates there. The final line names the Hotel for the night with its phone number
  • Plat: The arrival platform and the departure platform
  • cars: Number of coaches forming the train. This can be an important factor when calculating time to make a connection because, for example, if arriving at the "wrong" end of a station to exit that platform, it can take a full 5 minutes to walk with luggage past 8 coaches to the exit.
  • class: First or second (My Rail Rover is First with Senior Railcard)
  • Rsrvd: n/a = No reservations available. Avail = Timetable shows reservations available but when booked I was sent a "Take any available seat" message. Actual reservations are highlighted in green.
  • Missed/Cancelled: Advisable action when the planned train is not available. Times in bold indicate that the planned train can still be caught (e.g. If the 14:17 from York in cancelled, the 15:17 will catch the 16:05 from Seamer.)  Times in () indicate arrival at final destination will be later than planned
  • Cancel: The date by which the hotel must be cancelled without charge.
  • Check-in: The latest time you may check-in at the hotel  
  • Dinner: Time that a table has been reserved for dinner.
The map:

  • Blue circles: Overnight stays
  • Red lines: Second class only
  • Yellow lines: First class available
  • Green dashes: Food available on the train
  • Little locomotives: Places where I'll change trains
Started packing the suitcase already!

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