Heart of Wales line

 July 12

 

All today's trains ran OK but no onboard food or drink available.

 Cardiff Central is rather swish

 I now know where yabadabado comes from: Welsh for departures

 My 2-coach train approaching with my hotel behind station

 

 Barry Dosks

 Severn estuary near...

 ...or is it Bristol Channel?

 Welsh was invented by an ink manufacturer: almost all it's words are longer than English

 Train to Swansea only takes 30min but is the last one with first-class until Saturday The first properly reserved seat of the tour. 1 down 6 to go.

 At the ticket barrier there's a passenger not being let off the station because her ticket says London to Swindon, not Swansea!!!  

This is the Heart of Wales line. Google the website. 31 stations in 4hrs, 16 are request stops.

 Just boarded. It's just 1 coach. 

There's a remarkable number of seats in here, especially considering it has a driver's cab at each end, a loo and an area for bicycles or other large items.

I'll travel backwards to first stop, Llanelli, where it reverses.

 There were only 3 or 4 of us on the train at 14.35. Now we're leaving 2 mins late after about 20 just got on.

 Llandybie

 Ffairfach request stop more getting off

 River Towey

 Driver and his mate need something in the cabin

 Llandovery

 Two more disembarked.  I may be the only  passenger now

 A40 again

 Crossing the Cynghordy viaduct

 Footpath over the hill,  we go through tunnel. There are 6 tunnels

 Hills near Llanwrtyd

 Llanwrtyd. Another hut the driver needs

 River Irfon

 River Wye

Near Builth Road Station it smells very agricultural here.

 Llandrindod, the biggest place since Swansea

 The driver needs to do this at most stations.

We were going only 5 or 10mph in some places and my train app now tells me that the next train will terminate half way. So our driver may have been reporting on the state of the track. Maybe rails are buckling in the heat?

 Knucklas

  We're still in Wales but the hills are English

 3 or 4 more passengers at Knighton and we're back in England

 Two nights here in Shrewsbury, but the restaurant has a private party - even though they accepted my table reservation - so I'll have to go elsewhere

 Tonight's food and drink was a large pork pie and a pint in the Three Fishes just round the corner from the hotel. It could have been a proper meal but tonight is the chef's night off

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