This summary was first put on my old
Rail UK thread, archive from February 2019
But February made me shiver – summary
of February
The first trip was thankfully not
called off due to the snow as I was staying in the Travelodge near Stonebridge
Park (London Wembley I think its called) for an early start on the Saturday as
a positioning move for the positioning move. Anyhow the Friday evening
was spent in London knocking some more units over the 10-mile line before
retiring for the night for not the best of sleeps (next to the North
Circular). The Saturday was a 378 to Euston before a 390 on a fast run to
Lancaster before boarding the BLS “Positioning Move” tour, a one-way trip to
Bristol hauled by 47772 along the WCML to Stafford, heading towards
Wolverhampton taking the Oxley chord towards Shrewsbury before the Abbey curve
to head south towards Hereford & Bristol.
The main event was the Sunday, with
the tour heading from Bristol towards Liskeard via some loops, reversing after
the station with 47826 in charge for the ultra-rare connection to the Looe
branch and the run up towards Moorswater, before heading to Looe for a
break. Coming back it was back out of the branch and a run to Plymouth,
the stock turning around at the Laira triangle (something to do with 47826 being
low on power and not wanting to risk taking it over the hills). I left
the tour here as it continued towards the South Devon Railway, for I had
planned on the Friday to drive to Salisbury but the snow put that place to one
side. I got my first taste of the future with a pair of 802s on a fast to
Exeter service (scoring 802022) before a single 159 took me back home to
Grateley.
-----
The 8th February was another trip to
London for unit hunting for mileage (hey I need something to do before all that
lovely new stock starts to arrive), ending up in South Eastern land. The
Saturday was a random trip to Bristol, where I scored a pair of 802s on a Bath
– Bristol leap before getting one more 166 over the 10-mile line. The
main idea was scoring the new layout around Filton, before a random trip to
Pilning.
The 15th February was an overnight
railtour of the Thames Valley, and once again I ended up unit hunting, grabbing
a winner 802 before my final 171 for mileage (the 171s joining the 159s &
220s in my club where all the members are over 10 miles). Various other
units were scored in Southern land, before I made my way across to
Paddington. 37402 was leading & 37409 was on the rear of the tour,
the first destination was the soon to close Heathrow Express depot, before a
trip to Hayes & Harlington reversing in the bay before heading to Brentford
Goods. Maidenhead reversing siding & carriage sidings in a zig-zag
move to gain access to the Bourne End branch, before a visit to Henley and
finally a visit to wake up the queen at Windsor & Eden Central. The
tour arrived back at Paddington nearly an hour early, which allowed me to grab
a required 802 on a Slough leap.
The remaining of the day was spent
hunting units, ending the day on a busy 159 back to Grateley where my bed was
very much welcomed after a long day.
--
The 21st February I headed up to
London, another 800 fell before some more Networkers fell for 10 miles, saw me
ending up in Barnehurst. Back towards the centre of London with another
couple 377s falling, before 90042 continued my poor luck with Cally sleeper
locos, a free upgrade to a shared berth was taken for the run to
Carstairs. 90041 hauled me to Edinburgh where with knowledge that both
68s were dud, I made my slow way across to Glasgow picking up another trio of
required 385s (annoying 385018 for only 3 miles). The next few hours were
spent hunting Scottish units for mileage, plus getting 320420 in my book on a
Bellgrove – Dalmuir leap. Nearly got caught up in chaos caused by a
bridge strike in the Haymarket area, but it was my first Scotrail HST on the
15:50 Glasgow – Aberdeen (43012/43143) which is non-stop to Perth. A bit
slow after Perth due to signalling issues, but the main event was still to
come. A 170 took me to Broughty Ferry for a 50 minute fester before a 158 took
me to Barry Links, finishing the day with a walk to the hotel I selected.
Needless to say I was the only person who got off the train at the former least
used station in Britain (and I didn’t see anybody boarding).
The Saturday was an early start as I
walked to Golf Street for a private 158 to Balmossie, walking back to Monifieth
(this would be a good walk to do during the summer time as it’s along a
footpath overlooking the river mouth). Tayside covered it was back to
Glasgow on 43150/43183 for some more random unit hunting, this time focusing on
Glasgow Central high level, where probably my last 314 move was had with 314216
enjoyed on the fast run to Paisley Gilmour Street, before a voyager took me to
Newcastle. When I was booking this trip I was hedging my bets if Northern
were still going to be on strike, thankfully those strikes ended which allowed
me to take a 156 to Pegswood, a station I was aiming for in October but got
bowled out with a poorly 156. A hellfire pizza was had from a local
takeaway as I sat on a bench waiting for the 156 to return.
The Sunday was a BLS tour on the Tyne
& Wear Metro, the main draw for me was the depot avoiding line (plus the
disused bay platform at North Shields). 4030/4085 was on the tour as it
did various bits of the network (Pelaw reversing sidings, the siding near North
Shields, the disused bay platform, some more of the sidings next to the
ECML). The Manors curve was covered towards West Jesmond, before the
depot avoiding curve. This time I aimed for the sideways seats near the
centre of the train, just for the extra legroom. After the tour I was
shocked when a Hartlepool service was a 156+158 (was expecting a pair of 142s),
nothing else of interest popped up other than a pair of required metrocars for
mileage.
The Monday was an early start with
the 05:25(ish) LNER service to Darlington, followed by a 185 to Middlesbrough
(for the novelty of a 185 via Dinsdale), with a 156 to Saltburn, followed by a
142 to British Steel Redcar for a half-hour fester for a 142 back to
Saltburn. A trip to Redcar East followed by a low mileage 142 back to
Saltburn with a walk towards the pier, before returning with another 142 to
Middlesbrough with a 156 to Egton, returning to Battersby for a short fester
for the Danby Express for a private 142 on a fast to Danby. Back at
Middlesbrough I had time for one more trip to Saltburn returning to
Eaglescliffe for 180106 to Kings Cross, where it arrived 6 or so minutes early
(I think a 387 was delayed from Cambridge and the 180 got put in front of it at
Hitchin). I took a Victoria line service to Vauxhall, with a low mileage
707 to Clapham Junction which was in chaos due to a failed train. I got a
low mileage 450 to Woking followed by a triple Sprinter to Grateley arriving
just over an hour late.
So that was February, better weather
than expected, so some random numbers:
3887 miles covered
9 stations revisited
1 new loco (47)
10 new units (1x 320, 3x 385, 1x 800,
5x 802)
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