stephenjubb said:
in general if you are doing fully loaded 4 pannier self supported touring and going on a train do you leave your gear on the bike when boarding the train or do you take the panniers off (and take them on as luggage) and then put the bike on the train?
In addition in relation to the above has anyone got the train from york to glasgow?
any info appreciated for my upcoming tour to scotland
cheers
steve jubb
I defy you to board a train with all four panniers on without getting a hernia or upsetting a lot of folk trying to get on or off the train.
There's several stages to getting your bike onto the train:
Establish where you need to stand on the platform by asking station staff. This saves a sprint to the far end of the train if you find yourself ill positioned by choosing a random spot.
I'd demount the panniers as getting your bike onto the train and maneuvering it into the bike bay can be a nightmare if:
- The bike bay is equipped with 'sky hooks' to suspend your bike by the front or rear wheel.
- The bike bay is a narrow tunnel that can barely accommodate two bikes and definitely not a bike with panniers
Some trains e.g. the HST 125 and the electric 225 trains have large bays where storing the bike with panniers is easy if you can avoid getting the hernia when lifting the bike and bags en masse onto the carriage.
I usually throw the panniers on board, climb over them with the bike then recover the panniers and store them next to the bike once I've secured it using the facilities that are present in the bike bay.
Getting off the train - providing it's not a 125 or 225 involves getting the panniers next to an exit early enough to be first by the eit then recover bike and wait for the train to stop. Throw out bags then retreive bike.
I've not done York to Glasgow but I've done Leeds - Edinburgh, York - Inverness, Newcastle - York...why do you ask?