These reports first were posted on my Rail UK Forum thread, just posted together for future reference
1st June – Curley Weaver Tour
I booked on this tour as it did some required bits of baker track within the North West, although as it would be a long day I treated myself to first class non-dining, just for the larger & nicer seat & armrest.
It was an early start from East Croydon with the 05:10 service to St Pancras, 700123 was the unit and not one of my low mileage 700/1s. At St Pancras as I had around an hour to kill, I headed across to the Tesco Metro the opposite side of Kings Cross to grab supplies, which was a good move as the Sainsburys at Euston was a tad bare bones (I note the Boots appears to have closed as well, which might increase the number of customers). Anyhow the tour was departing from platform 16, with required 66083 leading the usual Mk1 coaches with a bright red & required 66078 on the opposite end.
Departure was on time, with the first pick up at Watford Junction, followed by a long run to Rugby going via Northampton, although if the train did anything unusual I couldn’t say because I went back to sleep! The train loaded up at Rugby with the remaining 3 seats at my table taken, although all 3 were a tad quiet. A run to Stafford for the final pick-up before heading towards Crewe making use of the goods loop between platform 11 & platform 12, carrying on heading north until the Acton Grange area where the train went into the low level lines to reverse just after Walton Old Junction to head into one of the sidings in the yard area (siding 5 I believe, all the other sidings had various coal wagons in various stages of life, I would imagine some of these wagons have been in this area for years and years).
With 66083 back in charge, it was a trip towards Latchford sidings (going via the yard), for a long reversal before 66078 took the tour in a westernly direction underneath the platforms at Warrington Bank Quay (spotting a 323 there just looked so out of place), passing Fiddlers Ferry and doing a couple loops (Ditton reception sidings and a siding in the Halewood area). A further reversal was made at Liverpool South Parkway to head towards the Freightliner terminal at Garston making use of the Garston chord (which had been out of use for a fair while). During an hour at the Freightliner terminal where the stock was watered, before setting back off, rejoining the passenger network around Speke junction for a fast run towards Runcorn before turning right to head towards Chester via the Frodsham chord.
Going via a goods line to the north of the station (opposite platform 7 line), a brief pause before carrying on the tunnels for another quick reversal to take the tour to Chester where we had around a 30 minute break. I note the WH Smiths at Chester has joined other station stores in charging £4.49 for a basic meal deal (I guess no competition as the other station cafes sell similar for £4.99, although if I was hungry I would have gone for the Cafe Express offering, paying 50p more but the sandwiches looked better. Anyhow, after passing some lightly dressed ladies heading for a night out, it was back to the tour and a trip towards Greenbank, turning left into the specially cleared Winnington branch, going to the network rail limit before the final reversal of the day with 66078 back in charge to head back towards the Mid Cheshire line for a short run turning right onto the Middlewich branch for a slow potter towards Sandbach.
The first set-down was at Crewe where a good number of folk alighted, and the tour set off back towards London. The Royal Mail/goods loop at Stafford was ditched due to late running and unusually after Stafford the tour was running on the fast lines, and due to a points failure the train crossed over to run on the bi directional northbound fast line between Tamworth & Nuneaton, that was certainly unusual. Normal side running was resumed at Nuneaton, but still in the fast line until north of Rugby (I dread to think how many Pendos the tour was holding up!). The train emptied out some more at Rugby as it went via the Northampton loop and the reception sidings north of Northampton, before rejoining the fast lines north of Wolverton for a fast run towards Watford (the slows were closed due to the Saturday night 2-track railway). A quick set-down at Watford Junction before the tour arrived into Euston a couple minutes late, but a lot earlier than the estimated timings when I booked up (originally wasn’t due into Euston until around 22:45).
It was down to the Northern line with 51683 & 51684 taken to Waterloo, where I could have aimed for the 21:20 but there wouldn’t be much point these days as that train doesn’t call at the Hampshire villages on Saturdays anymore. Instead after a brief look around at any potential options (never know one of my last half dozen 450s I need for mileage might randomly pop up), but nothing of interest so it was to the new 21:50 Salisbury service formed of 159006 for the fast run back to Grateley and a gentle potter home.
All in all, a good little tour, some baker track scored, probably some quail level track scored as well, along with 2 more 66s
I booked on this tour as it did some required bits of baker track within the North West, although as it would be a long day I treated myself to first class non-dining, just for the larger & nicer seat & armrest.
It was an early start from East Croydon with the 05:10 service to St Pancras, 700123 was the unit and not one of my low mileage 700/1s. At St Pancras as I had around an hour to kill, I headed across to the Tesco Metro the opposite side of Kings Cross to grab supplies, which was a good move as the Sainsburys at Euston was a tad bare bones (I note the Boots appears to have closed as well, which might increase the number of customers). Anyhow the tour was departing from platform 16, with required 66083 leading the usual Mk1 coaches with a bright red & required 66078 on the opposite end.
Departure was on time, with the first pick up at Watford Junction, followed by a long run to Rugby going via Northampton, although if the train did anything unusual I couldn’t say because I went back to sleep! The train loaded up at Rugby with the remaining 3 seats at my table taken, although all 3 were a tad quiet. A run to Stafford for the final pick-up before heading towards Crewe making use of the goods loop between platform 11 & platform 12, carrying on heading north until the Acton Grange area where the train went into the low level lines to reverse just after Walton Old Junction to head into one of the sidings in the yard area (siding 5 I believe, all the other sidings had various coal wagons in various stages of life, I would imagine some of these wagons have been in this area for years and years).
With 66083 back in charge, it was a trip towards Latchford sidings (going via the yard), for a long reversal before 66078 took the tour in a westernly direction underneath the platforms at Warrington Bank Quay (spotting a 323 there just looked so out of place), passing Fiddlers Ferry and doing a couple loops (Ditton reception sidings and a siding in the Halewood area). A further reversal was made at Liverpool South Parkway to head towards the Freightliner terminal at Garston making use of the Garston chord (which had been out of use for a fair while). During an hour at the Freightliner terminal where the stock was watered, before setting back off, rejoining the passenger network around Speke junction for a fast run towards Runcorn before turning right to head towards Chester via the Frodsham chord.
Going via a goods line to the north of the station (opposite platform 7 line), a brief pause before carrying on the tunnels for another quick reversal to take the tour to Chester where we had around a 30 minute break. I note the WH Smiths at Chester has joined other station stores in charging £4.49 for a basic meal deal (I guess no competition as the other station cafes sell similar for £4.99, although if I was hungry I would have gone for the Cafe Express offering, paying 50p more but the sandwiches looked better. Anyhow, after passing some lightly dressed ladies heading for a night out, it was back to the tour and a trip towards Greenbank, turning left into the specially cleared Winnington branch, going to the network rail limit before the final reversal of the day with 66078 back in charge to head back towards the Mid Cheshire line for a short run turning right onto the Middlewich branch for a slow potter towards Sandbach.
The first set-down was at Crewe where a good number of folk alighted, and the tour set off back towards London. The Royal Mail/goods loop at Stafford was ditched due to late running and unusually after Stafford the tour was running on the fast lines, and due to a points failure the train crossed over to run on the bi directional northbound fast line between Tamworth & Nuneaton, that was certainly unusual. Normal side running was resumed at Nuneaton, but still in the fast line until north of Rugby (I dread to think how many Pendos the tour was holding up!). The train emptied out some more at Rugby as it went via the Northampton loop and the reception sidings north of Northampton, before rejoining the fast lines north of Wolverton for a fast run towards Watford (the slows were closed due to the Saturday night 2-track railway). A quick set-down at Watford Junction before the tour arrived into Euston a couple minutes late, but a lot earlier than the estimated timings when I booked up (originally wasn’t due into Euston until around 22:45).
It was down to the Northern line with 51683 & 51684 taken to Waterloo, where I could have aimed for the 21:20 but there wouldn’t be much point these days as that train doesn’t call at the Hampshire villages on Saturdays anymore. Instead after a brief look around at any potential options (never know one of my last half dozen 450s I need for mileage might randomly pop up), but nothing of interest so it was to the new 21:50 Salisbury service formed of 159006 for the fast run back to Grateley and a gentle potter home.
All in all, a good little tour, some baker track scored, probably some quail level track scored as well, along with 2 more 66s
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7th June – The Road to Anglesey
This was meant to be the weekend where I would say “Transport for Wale, tick” but the Conwy Valley closing in March due to storm damage meant I had to change my plan for the Saturday. A BLS railtour popping up on the Sunday meant some more plans were made, and with me being a bit tight not to pay for Virgin fares from Crewe I booked up a cheap hostel near Euston station for the Sunday night.
Friday
The main goal of Friday was to visit the country’s newest station before sampling some classic BR traction to Northampton before heading towards Birmingham and the Central backpackers hostel, a quick plan was made in my head as I headed to Grateley station during a break in the poor weather with the 14:59 taken to Woking (158887, 159103 & 159008), stepping back to board 444017 & 444016 to Waterloo (both the stopper from Alton & Basingstoke weren’t required for mileage).
It was to the underground, with sets 65503 & 65504 took me to Bank via the Waterloo & City line, where I leapt onto the first available Central line service, formed of 91005, 92412, 92134 & 91101 for the 36 chain leap to Liverpool Street (enough to push 134 over the mile, but not 412 or 101, but every little helps as they say). Once back above ground it was towards the low numbered platforms at Liverpool Street to board the 17:03 Norwich service formed of 321351, 321312 & 321329, the 4 mile run being enough to push 351 over, but leaves 312 on 8 miles, but with the Central line move, every little helps.
This service was delayed by a couple minutes which ate into my connection time at Stratford as I boarded 317668 & 317348 for a slow run towards Tottenham Hale, where it got busy for the mile and a half run to Meridian Water. Due to a nearby festival the station was a lot busier than it would normally be (seems platform 4 should have been made wider as it took a couple minutes before the train pulled away due to the number of passengers blocking viewing angles), a functional station with large queues for the oyster card readers at the main exit, as I headed towards the island platform for the next southbound service.
This was meant to be the weekend where I would say “Transport for Wale, tick” but the Conwy Valley closing in March due to storm damage meant I had to change my plan for the Saturday. A BLS railtour popping up on the Sunday meant some more plans were made, and with me being a bit tight not to pay for Virgin fares from Crewe I booked up a cheap hostel near Euston station for the Sunday night.
Friday
The main goal of Friday was to visit the country’s newest station before sampling some classic BR traction to Northampton before heading towards Birmingham and the Central backpackers hostel, a quick plan was made in my head as I headed to Grateley station during a break in the poor weather with the 14:59 taken to Woking (158887, 159103 & 159008), stepping back to board 444017 & 444016 to Waterloo (both the stopper from Alton & Basingstoke weren’t required for mileage).
It was to the underground, with sets 65503 & 65504 took me to Bank via the Waterloo & City line, where I leapt onto the first available Central line service, formed of 91005, 92412, 92134 & 91101 for the 36 chain leap to Liverpool Street (enough to push 134 over the mile, but not 412 or 101, but every little helps as they say). Once back above ground it was towards the low numbered platforms at Liverpool Street to board the 17:03 Norwich service formed of 321351, 321312 & 321329, the 4 mile run being enough to push 351 over, but leaves 312 on 8 miles, but with the Central line move, every little helps.
This service was delayed by a couple minutes which ate into my connection time at Stratford as I boarded 317668 & 317348 for a slow run towards Tottenham Hale, where it got busy for the mile and a half run to Meridian Water. Due to a nearby festival the station was a lot busier than it would normally be (seems platform 4 should have been made wider as it took a couple minutes before the train pulled away due to the number of passengers blocking viewing angles), a functional station with large queues for the oyster card readers at the main exit, as I headed towards the island platform for the next southbound service.
During the fester a low mileage 317
passed, so it was change of plans time with 317881 & 317657 taken to
Tottenham Hale, before 317671 & 317501 took me to Liverpool Street,
671 was a nice bonus to add to the TMC. Once at Liverpool Street it was a short
walk over to board 317651 leading 317666 back to Tottenham Hale,
returning to Liverpool Street on 317662 & 317653. I wasn’t expecting to get
2 out of my last 4 317/6s for mileage today, as I headed to a busy Tesco Metro
for dinner & a couple bits for the Saturday morning (not wanting to trust
the Sainsburys at Euston as since Boots has closed it gets raided a lot more,
especially when WH Smiths hiked their meal deal price to £4.99!
Back to London Underground with 21075 & 21076 on a Metropolitan line service took me to Euston Square where I had a short walk towards Euston, before heading down to board the 19:54 for Northampton, formed of 319218, 319005 & 319217. I took a seat in the motor coach of 218 (which on departure from Euston had one other person in, who alighted at Watford), and it was an excellent run on a semi-fast towards Northampton, the motors singing loudly. It was a shame the journey came to an end at Northampton and I crossed the platform to board the next New Street service formed of 350254 & 350233 for the slow potter towards New Street.
Back to London Underground with 21075 & 21076 on a Metropolitan line service took me to Euston Square where I had a short walk towards Euston, before heading down to board the 19:54 for Northampton, formed of 319218, 319005 & 319217. I took a seat in the motor coach of 218 (which on departure from Euston had one other person in, who alighted at Watford), and it was an excellent run on a semi-fast towards Northampton, the motors singing loudly. It was a shame the journey came to an end at Northampton and I crossed the platform to board the next New Street service formed of 350254 & 350233 for the slow potter towards New Street.
Once at New Street, it was a slow walk towards the hostel, checking in and sorting my bags out ready for an early start on the Saturday, which might have featured a Voyager...
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8th June – Into Wales
I had a private room of 4 with light evidence of two other people (one sleeping bag on the bunk below me and a towel on the upper bunk opposite, my run of getting assigned the top bunk continues). There was no music from the clubs nearby (just the usual sound of cars), so all was good until around half one where the owner of the sleeping bag arrived, turned on the light and noisily sorted out a few bags when eating a packet of crisps. Hostels, don’t you just love idiots like that. I got my revenge by not being as quiet as I would normally be (although my leg going to sleep didn’t help things). Anyhow it was a short walk to New Street station via a busy McDonalds for breakfast, and towards the 05:30 service to Holyhead formed of 221116.
An enjoyable run in the rain via Stafford and Crewe (passing some of the locos gathered up for the open day), then towards Chester and Llandudno Junction, I alighted from the voyager at Bangor where I had a 10 minute connection to the next Chester bound service which was formed of a revinyled 158841 for the run back east to my first request stop of the day at Llanfairfechan. Not the quietest of stations due to being alongside the North Wales Expressway, but at least it has a decent shelter to get out of the rain for my 20 minute fester before 158835 arrived to take me over the bridge and onto the island, where I requested to stop at a station with a short platform, Valley. A reasonable number of folk alighted from the 158 here (and also a good number boarded going towards Holyhead), as I made use of the 20 minutes to walk to a nearby Spar to pick up bits for lunch later on.
I returned to the basic station of Valley to board the return of 158835 for the run towards Ty Croes and a 20 minute fester on the remote station (with a manually operated level crossing) with low platforms. 175009* was up next for an Anglesey style bus stop leap to Rhosneigr, where I had a 90 minute fester (*or the coaches currently pretending to be 175009). There wasn’t much around the station, the Chester bound platform had a little bench underneath a canopy but was exposed to the wind, the Holyhead bound platform had an old seat in a shelter, which is where I took resident for the fester, going over to the opposite platform around 15 minutes before the next service was due. I knew from watching the Holyhead bound service this would be a pair of 158s, and it was 158819 leading 158820 for the run back onto the mainland, requesting Penmaenmawr from the guard when they came round.
I had a private room of 4 with light evidence of two other people (one sleeping bag on the bunk below me and a towel on the upper bunk opposite, my run of getting assigned the top bunk continues). There was no music from the clubs nearby (just the usual sound of cars), so all was good until around half one where the owner of the sleeping bag arrived, turned on the light and noisily sorted out a few bags when eating a packet of crisps. Hostels, don’t you just love idiots like that. I got my revenge by not being as quiet as I would normally be (although my leg going to sleep didn’t help things). Anyhow it was a short walk to New Street station via a busy McDonalds for breakfast, and towards the 05:30 service to Holyhead formed of 221116.
An enjoyable run in the rain via Stafford and Crewe (passing some of the locos gathered up for the open day), then towards Chester and Llandudno Junction, I alighted from the voyager at Bangor where I had a 10 minute connection to the next Chester bound service which was formed of a revinyled 158841 for the run back east to my first request stop of the day at Llanfairfechan. Not the quietest of stations due to being alongside the North Wales Expressway, but at least it has a decent shelter to get out of the rain for my 20 minute fester before 158835 arrived to take me over the bridge and onto the island, where I requested to stop at a station with a short platform, Valley. A reasonable number of folk alighted from the 158 here (and also a good number boarded going towards Holyhead), as I made use of the 20 minutes to walk to a nearby Spar to pick up bits for lunch later on.
I returned to the basic station of Valley to board the return of 158835 for the run towards Ty Croes and a 20 minute fester on the remote station (with a manually operated level crossing) with low platforms. 175009* was up next for an Anglesey style bus stop leap to Rhosneigr, where I had a 90 minute fester (*or the coaches currently pretending to be 175009). There wasn’t much around the station, the Chester bound platform had a little bench underneath a canopy but was exposed to the wind, the Holyhead bound platform had an old seat in a shelter, which is where I took resident for the fester, going over to the opposite platform around 15 minutes before the next service was due. I knew from watching the Holyhead bound service this would be a pair of 158s, and it was 158819 leading 158820 for the run back onto the mainland, requesting Penmaenmawr from the guard when they came round.
Like Llanfairfechan this was a noisy station, and the rain had sadly returned so I spent my 45 minutes here at Penmaenmawr hiding underneath the canopy on a decent bench, watching as the Bangor bound service got later and later, eventually the musical coach ensemble currently known as 175109 rolled in to take me back to Bangor where it had a short turnaround, made longer due to an incident which saw the unit returning on the main line rather than the platform loop (oops). I took a seat for the run to Llandudno Junction where I made a lucky connection onto a late running 175111 to take me to my final shack score of the day with Deganwy. A beautiful setting for a station, but my time was short as 175111 returned rapidly from Llandudno to take me back to the Junction, where another tight connection was made onto 158823 for a random linear hop to Colwyn Bay with a random platform score.
This is when my original plan went out of the window with the Conwy Valley being closed, so I had some time wasting moves to score some random platforms, so it continued with 221113 & 221106 taken the 10 miles to Rhyl (not a lot of takeup on the little railway round the lake as it looked like only a driver and a bored looking guard at the back on the little train), with 175111 (hello again) taken to Prestatyn. I made use of the connection to visit a nearby Tesco garage for some drink, before returning to Colwyn Bay on a busy 175004 (also known as 175109 without the centre coach), with 175115 taken to Shotton low level. I decided to walk to Shotton high level (not the nicest of connections) where a few minutes later 150240 took me to Wrexham General, with 158824 taken to reach England with Shrewsbury.
I had a couple options, either continue towards Wolverhampton and do something with the rest of the evening, or take another 158 for a spin to Welshpool for another random platform score. Needless to say it was back into Wales with 158834 taken for the near 20 mile spin to the island platform of Welshpool, where I crossed over for a short connection to 158825 back towards Shrewsbury for a long reversal for the run to Wolverhampton. I was expecting to see a pair of units, or joining up with another unit at Shrewsbury but it was 158825 on its own. Anyhow once at Wolverhampton I picked up a £2.50 evening day return to Coventry and also something to eat from the nearby Sainsburys. Judging by the number of security bobbins floating around there was something happening in the city so I decided to jump on 170516 for the run to New Street.
During the time of festering I noted the 21:20 towards Rugeley was a 323 (all be it a stopper both ways), before low mileage 350243 popped up with 350129 getting attached for the run to Birmingham International, followed by 350101 to Coventry. Nothing much around the station so it was onto one of the last trains of the night with 390126 taken back to New Street, as I fought my way off the train passing the Wolverhampton folk heading home (and wanting the last fast service). Anyhow once outside the station it was a slow walk back to the hostel where once again I was on my own until later on, but this time due to the noise from a nearby nightclub it wasn’t much in the way of sleep until around 1am. Thankfully no return of selfish prat as the other two folk were quiet when they arrived back.
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9th June – The Sunday Yicker tour
When this tour came out it looked interesting, both traction wise (31 one end, 33 the other end) plus covered some little bits of baker track I needed, although there would be some overlapping of the tour the previous week. Being in Birmingham meant I needed to board the first XC to reach Stoke (as the first train towards Crewe would just miss the connection), so after checking out of the hostel and swinging via the Tesco Express near Moor Street for some supplies (noting that the roads were closed due to a bike race so no waiting around for seemingly ages for the traffic lights to change). After my supply raid it was to New Street and down to the platforms where for the 2nd day running I would be departing on a 221. This time it was 221133 for the trip towards Stoke, which was uneventful other than being stuck behind a late running steam train towards Wolverhampton.
When this tour came out it looked interesting, both traction wise (31 one end, 33 the other end) plus covered some little bits of baker track I needed, although there would be some overlapping of the tour the previous week. Being in Birmingham meant I needed to board the first XC to reach Stoke (as the first train towards Crewe would just miss the connection), so after checking out of the hostel and swinging via the Tesco Express near Moor Street for some supplies (noting that the roads were closed due to a bike race so no waiting around for seemingly ages for the traffic lights to change). After my supply raid it was to New Street and down to the platforms where for the 2nd day running I would be departing on a 221. This time it was 221133 for the trip towards Stoke, which was uneventful other than being stuck behind a late running steam train towards Wolverhampton.
At Stoke, I crossed over to the
opposite platform to await the tour, as winner 37668 rolled in with 4
coaches and winner 31128 at the rear. I took my (horrid Mk1 bench) seat
and the train set off, first trip was to Stone junction where it reversed
beyond the signal to cross back over, doing a loop before Stoke, crossing over
after the platforms to do the up goods loop, crossing over to continue on the
down goods loop (it is a BLS tour after-all, very loopy). After Kidsgrove it
was via the goods loop before Alsager station, before continuing into Crewe to
reverse in the EMU stabling siding [seeing a Northern 323 stabled on platform 2
looked a bit odd].
A quick reversal back into Crewe station for a quick photo stop, before everybody was back on board for the run towards Sandbach and a trip along the Middlewich branch (ZZZzzzzzzz, although this time doing it towards Northwich, the 31 turned left to briefly join the Mid Cheshire line to pass Greenbank before turning right into my first bit of required track with the connection towards the WCML (this bit has bugged me for a while). After a brief pathing pause it was onwards to Warrington (unusually staying on the mains after Acton Grange), for another brief photo stop. After Warrington Bank Quay it was towards the Dallam Royal Mail terminal, where the 31 ended up in bay platform 3, the 37 hauling the set back into Dallam freight yard before the 31 regained control for the run via platform 2 & 1 at the royal mail terminal, rejoining the mainline for the run towards Wigan, using the goods loop which dives underneath the mainline south of the station. The train reversed after the Springs Branch area where new EMU stabling sidings are being built for all the new Northern EMUs.
37668 was back in charge for the run down to the Bickershaw headshunt, where evidence of the future wiring will be taking place. With the 31 back in charge it was back to the same position for another quick reversal to visit the remains of the Haydock branch (part of the former Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancashire Railway route from Glazebrook towards St Helens), with a long break (due to running early). Back on the move with the 31 making a nice noise as it rejoined the WCML briefly before taking the Ince Moss chord to join the line towards St Helens Central and towards Liverpool, regaining right time between Wavertree & Edge Hill with the train using the connection to go via Edge Hill platform 4 before crossing back over to go into Liverpool Lime Street platform 1.
A brief break (I wasn’t the only person making a quick walk to Boots for food) with a mini-tour involving the set going to the bay platform at Hunts Cross before returning to Lime Street, and back out towards South Parkway, going via the Garston chord to reverse for the final time, to rejoin the mainline via the Garston siding and a reception siding in the Ditton area before rejoining the mainline for the last time with a run towards Crewe, getting held around Weaver junction for a late running Pendo from Scotland to pass, time the train never got back, eventually arriving into Crewe around 6 minutes late. My highly hopeful +5 to a 350 for London looked like it had gone, but I wasn’t the only person doing a fast walk from P12 to P7 where the 350s were held awaiting the signal (late running 390 from Manchester). 350110 & 350113 were doing the honours as I took a seat in the 2nd coach, happy that I made this train because it was the final ‘fast’ service from Crewe (the next Crewe – Euston via Trent Valley calls everywhere after Rugby, had it been running).
2 and a bit hours later (the train only getting busy at Watford Junction after doing a weave at Milton Keynes Central to go into platform 5 from the north to allow a late running 390 to pass), the 350s arrived into Euston, and I had a short walk to the Exmouth Arms pub where I was staying for the night. Basically I was being a bit tight in not forking out for the fares Virgin were after, and with the connection at Crewe a doubt, the next service wouldn’t have arrived until 23:20 so going home would have been out of the question.
Anyhow, a good little tour, two more locos in my book, as well as some new baker track plus a lot more quail level track.
Some locos:
A quick reversal back into Crewe station for a quick photo stop, before everybody was back on board for the run towards Sandbach and a trip along the Middlewich branch (ZZZzzzzzzz, although this time doing it towards Northwich, the 31 turned left to briefly join the Mid Cheshire line to pass Greenbank before turning right into my first bit of required track with the connection towards the WCML (this bit has bugged me for a while). After a brief pathing pause it was onwards to Warrington (unusually staying on the mains after Acton Grange), for another brief photo stop. After Warrington Bank Quay it was towards the Dallam Royal Mail terminal, where the 31 ended up in bay platform 3, the 37 hauling the set back into Dallam freight yard before the 31 regained control for the run via platform 2 & 1 at the royal mail terminal, rejoining the mainline for the run towards Wigan, using the goods loop which dives underneath the mainline south of the station. The train reversed after the Springs Branch area where new EMU stabling sidings are being built for all the new Northern EMUs.
37668 was back in charge for the run down to the Bickershaw headshunt, where evidence of the future wiring will be taking place. With the 31 back in charge it was back to the same position for another quick reversal to visit the remains of the Haydock branch (part of the former Liverpool, St Helens & South Lancashire Railway route from Glazebrook towards St Helens), with a long break (due to running early). Back on the move with the 31 making a nice noise as it rejoined the WCML briefly before taking the Ince Moss chord to join the line towards St Helens Central and towards Liverpool, regaining right time between Wavertree & Edge Hill with the train using the connection to go via Edge Hill platform 4 before crossing back over to go into Liverpool Lime Street platform 1.
A brief break (I wasn’t the only person making a quick walk to Boots for food) with a mini-tour involving the set going to the bay platform at Hunts Cross before returning to Lime Street, and back out towards South Parkway, going via the Garston chord to reverse for the final time, to rejoin the mainline via the Garston siding and a reception siding in the Ditton area before rejoining the mainline for the last time with a run towards Crewe, getting held around Weaver junction for a late running Pendo from Scotland to pass, time the train never got back, eventually arriving into Crewe around 6 minutes late. My highly hopeful +5 to a 350 for London looked like it had gone, but I wasn’t the only person doing a fast walk from P12 to P7 where the 350s were held awaiting the signal (late running 390 from Manchester). 350110 & 350113 were doing the honours as I took a seat in the 2nd coach, happy that I made this train because it was the final ‘fast’ service from Crewe (the next Crewe – Euston via Trent Valley calls everywhere after Rugby, had it been running).
2 and a bit hours later (the train only getting busy at Watford Junction after doing a weave at Milton Keynes Central to go into platform 5 from the north to allow a late running 390 to pass), the 350s arrived into Euston, and I had a short walk to the Exmouth Arms pub where I was staying for the night. Basically I was being a bit tight in not forking out for the fares Virgin were after, and with the connection at Crewe a doubt, the next service wouldn’t have arrived until 23:20 so going home would have been out of the question.
Anyhow, a good little tour, two more locos in my book, as well as some new baker track plus a lot more quail level track.
Some locos:
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10th June – Recruiting some more members
of the Ten Mile Club
An original idea might have been to leave the hostel in the early morning and have a little spin to Enfield Town to score the lesser used platform 3, but I decided I would try and get some more sleep and do that the next time I’m on a weekly travelcard (most likely in August). Due to a shortage of plug sockets in the room my decision for the Monday morning was based on what trains had plug sockets, which narrowed down the options, in the end landing on the 700s. The weather today was absolutely rubbish, and I got a tad wet walking from the pub near Euston to St Pancras, arriving a little bit later than I had hoped (if I arrived early I would have purchased my Highlands Rover from the ticket office to save a job for later in the week).
Anyhow, like my mileage days in London, a summary of my moves:
St Pancras -> London Bridge: 700005
London Bridge -> East Croydon: 700046 (for a rough 30 minute fester walking between the platforms)
East Croydon -> London Bridge: 700124 (the idea was to head across to South Eastern but before I did, the next Croydon bound service appeared)
London Bridge -> East Croydon: 700149
East Croydon -> Clapham Junction: 377439 & 377412
Clapham Junction -> London Victoria: 377468 & 377127 (where I paused for some lunch
London Victoria -> Gipsy Hill: 377321, 377103, 377310
Gipsy Hill -> Queens Road Peckham: 455836 & 455846
Queens Road Peckham -> Wandsworth Road: 378143 (spotting 59202 passing)
Wandsworth Road -> Peckham Rye: 378138
Peckham Rye -> Clapham Junction: 378139
Clapham Junction -> East Croydon: 377469 (both were positioning moves, this 377 was busy as it was bound for Brighton)
East Croydon -> Clapham Junction: 377468 & 377127 (finishing the job from earlier!)
Clapham Junction -> London Victoria: 455827 & 455831
London Victoria -> Norbury: 455831 & 455827 (well it would be rude not to finish the job with 827)
Norbury -> Balham: 377613 & 377625
Balham -> London Victoria: 377448 & 377466 (I must have misread the service as I had this down as a low mileage 377/3, this run left 466 on 9 miles so it only felt right...
London Victoria -> Clapham Junction: 377466 & 377448
Clapham Junction -> East Croydon: 455814 & 455807 (one of those services which has been on my “to-do” list for a while as it goes fast lines nonstop to Croydon, shame about the rain meaning the windows had to be closed
East Croydon -> East Dulwich: 455822 & 455801 (a nice surprise from a required move as I would have taken it to Selhurst to intercept a low mileage 455 returning from Epsom Downs
East Dulwich -> Streatham Common: 455821 & 455817
Streatham Common -> London Victoria: 455841 & 455819 (woohoo a double mileage requirement)
London Victoria -> Clapham Junction: 377440, 377429 & 377458 (another 377/4 is over the line)
Clapham Junction -> London Waterloo: 455740, 455730 & 456022
London Waterloo -> Basingstoke: 442420 & 442410 (Mmm 442 motor noise on the line they were built for)
Basingstoke -> Grateley: 158884, 159003 & 159107
An original idea might have been to leave the hostel in the early morning and have a little spin to Enfield Town to score the lesser used platform 3, but I decided I would try and get some more sleep and do that the next time I’m on a weekly travelcard (most likely in August). Due to a shortage of plug sockets in the room my decision for the Monday morning was based on what trains had plug sockets, which narrowed down the options, in the end landing on the 700s. The weather today was absolutely rubbish, and I got a tad wet walking from the pub near Euston to St Pancras, arriving a little bit later than I had hoped (if I arrived early I would have purchased my Highlands Rover from the ticket office to save a job for later in the week).
Anyhow, like my mileage days in London, a summary of my moves:
St Pancras -> London Bridge: 700005
London Bridge -> East Croydon: 700046 (for a rough 30 minute fester walking between the platforms)
East Croydon -> London Bridge: 700124 (the idea was to head across to South Eastern but before I did, the next Croydon bound service appeared)
London Bridge -> East Croydon: 700149
East Croydon -> Clapham Junction: 377439 & 377412
Clapham Junction -> London Victoria: 377468 & 377127 (where I paused for some lunch
London Victoria -> Gipsy Hill: 377321, 377103, 377310
Gipsy Hill -> Queens Road Peckham: 455836 & 455846
Queens Road Peckham -> Wandsworth Road: 378143 (spotting 59202 passing)
Wandsworth Road -> Peckham Rye: 378138
Peckham Rye -> Clapham Junction: 378139
Clapham Junction -> East Croydon: 377469 (both were positioning moves, this 377 was busy as it was bound for Brighton)
East Croydon -> Clapham Junction: 377468 & 377127 (finishing the job from earlier!)
Clapham Junction -> London Victoria: 455827 & 455831
London Victoria -> Norbury: 455831 & 455827 (well it would be rude not to finish the job with 827)
Norbury -> Balham: 377613 & 377625
Balham -> London Victoria: 377448 & 377466 (I must have misread the service as I had this down as a low mileage 377/3, this run left 466 on 9 miles so it only felt right...
London Victoria -> Clapham Junction: 377466 & 377448
Clapham Junction -> East Croydon: 455814 & 455807 (one of those services which has been on my “to-do” list for a while as it goes fast lines nonstop to Croydon, shame about the rain meaning the windows had to be closed
East Croydon -> East Dulwich: 455822 & 455801 (a nice surprise from a required move as I would have taken it to Selhurst to intercept a low mileage 455 returning from Epsom Downs
East Dulwich -> Streatham Common: 455821 & 455817
Streatham Common -> London Victoria: 455841 & 455819 (woohoo a double mileage requirement)
London Victoria -> Clapham Junction: 377440, 377429 & 377458 (another 377/4 is over the line)
Clapham Junction -> London Waterloo: 455740, 455730 & 456022
London Waterloo -> Basingstoke: 442420 & 442410 (Mmm 442 motor noise on the line they were built for)
Basingstoke -> Grateley: 158884, 159003 & 159107
Thankfully the rain had a brief break
allowing me to walk home without getting too wet, where I sorted my bags, had
food and relaxed. Overall a good day with 16 more units over the line, even if
I didn’t end up touching South Eastern! Anyhow after a good day I’m down to 13x
Southern 377s (4x 1s, 3x 2s, 4x 3s & 2x 4s) & 6 of the green 455s to
try and recruit into my Ten Miles Club. Next weekend is another long weekend
trip, this time to the Highlands where with any luck I will be saying “Scotland,
Tick” at some point on Monday.
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A trip to the Highlands, 14th – 18th
June
Background
The plan for this long weekend has changed over time, but the main idea remained the same, a couple days in Inverness, then shifting over to Fort William, the idea to revisit the remaining Highland stations, the sleeper to Inverness on the Thursday night with the Friday spent for the 2 stations on the Kyle line, Saturday for the Far North, Sunday a coach to Fort William with 2 of the Mallaig line stations, with the remaining triple on the Monday, overnighting in Glasgow the Monday night with a lazy day on the Tuesday (a hotel + Virgin was cheaper than the sleeper).
Although things didn’t get off to the best of starts, as you might have already seen in previous posts, I finished work on the Thursday, popped to Tesco to get some supplies and was a couple miles away from home when a lorry coming the other way knocked a branch of a tree into the middle of the road forcing vehicles to do emergency stops, I stopped without hitting the car in front but sadly the van behind couldn’t manage it, and managed to write off my little car (RIP DA11). I was hoping to get home and catch the 17:59 service to London as that would give me an hour & a half to ‘mess around’, with the backup option of the 18:59. I didn’t get home until around 19:15 when the recovery truck driver kindly dropped me off (as annoyingly it was the same day my parents had flown away for a long weekend somewhere hot).
Physically I was fine (although the day after my arm & shoulders were sore), but mentally it was stressful, shocked & slightly depressed. After food I did some research and some sums in my head, basically if I postponed the trip the next time wouldn’t be until October time and as some of the festers at rural Scottish stations were long, I decided to get back on track with a single to Inverness, sort of a farewell to the HSTs on LNER, and at least I could get back on track with only losing out on the Kyle line, which is something which can be done on a Saturday in September/October.
14th June – The long track to Tain
I got up and walked to the station, in-between showers and it was a busy 159014 & 159108 which took me to Basingstoke, where I changed to 165116 for the trip to Reading, striking lucky with the first Paddington bound service which was winner 802114 for the speedy trip to Paddington. 21351/21352 working a circle line service took me to Kings Cross St Pancras, where it was a quick exit to LU and across to Kings Cross. I was a good 50 minutes ahead of myself (damn you 802114 for popping up so early
, however I noticed the
11:03 Leeds service was an Azuma, so taking a short walk over spotted it was
winner 800110 I jumped on board.
It was a busy Azuma, but I found a pair of airline seats in the composite coach for the run to Doncaster, changing for the ex-11:30 Kings Cross - Edinburgh semi-fast service (the 11:06 London – York stopper had been cancelled). Due to points issues around Potters Bar this service was delayed with a XC arriving first which mopped up a few of the York passengers who were floating around Doncaster. 91119 rolled in with DVT 82222 on the rear, I managed to find a seat reserved to Newcastle which was left empty, swapping to the quiet coach after Newcastle for the nice bit of the ECML.
The Intercity 225 has arrived
Background
The plan for this long weekend has changed over time, but the main idea remained the same, a couple days in Inverness, then shifting over to Fort William, the idea to revisit the remaining Highland stations, the sleeper to Inverness on the Thursday night with the Friday spent for the 2 stations on the Kyle line, Saturday for the Far North, Sunday a coach to Fort William with 2 of the Mallaig line stations, with the remaining triple on the Monday, overnighting in Glasgow the Monday night with a lazy day on the Tuesday (a hotel + Virgin was cheaper than the sleeper).
Although things didn’t get off to the best of starts, as you might have already seen in previous posts, I finished work on the Thursday, popped to Tesco to get some supplies and was a couple miles away from home when a lorry coming the other way knocked a branch of a tree into the middle of the road forcing vehicles to do emergency stops, I stopped without hitting the car in front but sadly the van behind couldn’t manage it, and managed to write off my little car (RIP DA11). I was hoping to get home and catch the 17:59 service to London as that would give me an hour & a half to ‘mess around’, with the backup option of the 18:59. I didn’t get home until around 19:15 when the recovery truck driver kindly dropped me off (as annoyingly it was the same day my parents had flown away for a long weekend somewhere hot).
Physically I was fine (although the day after my arm & shoulders were sore), but mentally it was stressful, shocked & slightly depressed. After food I did some research and some sums in my head, basically if I postponed the trip the next time wouldn’t be until October time and as some of the festers at rural Scottish stations were long, I decided to get back on track with a single to Inverness, sort of a farewell to the HSTs on LNER, and at least I could get back on track with only losing out on the Kyle line, which is something which can be done on a Saturday in September/October.
14th June – The long track to Tain
I got up and walked to the station, in-between showers and it was a busy 159014 & 159108 which took me to Basingstoke, where I changed to 165116 for the trip to Reading, striking lucky with the first Paddington bound service which was winner 802114 for the speedy trip to Paddington. 21351/21352 working a circle line service took me to Kings Cross St Pancras, where it was a quick exit to LU and across to Kings Cross. I was a good 50 minutes ahead of myself (damn you 802114 for popping up so early
, however I noticed the
11:03 Leeds service was an Azuma, so taking a short walk over spotted it was
winner 800110 I jumped on board.It was a busy Azuma, but I found a pair of airline seats in the composite coach for the run to Doncaster, changing for the ex-11:30 Kings Cross - Edinburgh semi-fast service (the 11:06 London – York stopper had been cancelled). Due to points issues around Potters Bar this service was delayed with a XC arriving first which mopped up a few of the York passengers who were floating around Doncaster. 91119 rolled in with DVT 82222 on the rear, I managed to find a seat reserved to Newcastle which was left empty, swapping to the quiet coach after Newcastle for the nice bit of the ECML.
I had originally planned to bail at
York, but decided to remain on board to Edinburgh, firstly to say farewell to
the 91s north of York, secondary to grab some supplies during a 15 minute break
at Edinburgh, thirdly because it was due to terminate in platform 5 at
Edinburgh and lastly because I know from previous trips the Inverness HST has a
good turnover of passengers at Edinburgh so it would probably be easier to grab
a good seat. 91119 ran into platform 5 as expected, and I got some supplies
before heading across to platform 8 where the HST was running late, eventually
43257 & 43296 rolled in, emptied out and I managed to get a good table seat
in the 3rd coach for the enjoyable run towards Inverness (such beauty). The
time the HST lost on the route to Stirling was mostly regained, but was lost
again as it went into the loop at Moy for a late running Scottish HST to pass.
Arrival at Inverness was around 10 minutes late in the end, nothing too major as I picked up my rover and went to check into the hostel (next to the bus station) to dump the mobile house & other bits before heading back towards the station for the Tain train, formed of 158711 for the hour or so trip north to Tain (for a random platform scratch), returning to Inverness on the same unit, darkness only falling around 22:30 when the unit was around Invergordon
Arrival at Inverness was around 10 minutes late in the end, nothing too major as I picked up my rover and went to check into the hostel (next to the bus station) to dump the mobile house & other bits before heading back towards the station for the Tain train, formed of 158711 for the hour or so trip north to Tain (for a random platform scratch), returning to Inverness on the same unit, darkness only falling around 22:30 when the unit was around Invergordon
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15th June – “This is a request stop”
I was a bit glad it was a later alarm than the previous couple Saturdays, but still quite early at 6am, as I wanted to get some supplies from the Co-Op in Inverness before heading towards the Far North, it was quite warm so I needed some drink for my bag as well. Anyhow that was done as I made my way to the station where low mileage 158709 was sat on platform 6 with “Wick” on the train display however platform 5 was being announced as the train to Wick (also confusing for tourists is that, that train was also open (but not running). It was low mileage 158709 on the Wick train, the wrong platform was being announced. It was a good run north (some good scenery along the way), but I was the only person alighting from the train at a chilly Dunrobin Castle, releasing the parachute for the step to the platform.
A very peaceful station, and an enjoyable fester until 158705 rolled in to take me 25 miles in a rough southern direction to once again being the only person alighting or boarding at Culrain, where I had a gentle potter back across the river, on the footbridge next to the viaduct to reach Invershin, where I took up residence in the little waiting room, feeling like the only person around. Around 5 minutes before the train was due I moved to the further end of the platform to give the driver a chance to see me (as this is a station where the only time I’ve stopped is when I alighted back in May 17). 158713 was up next, to take me further north to reach Kinbrace (once again I was the only person to alight at this quiet station).
I was a bit glad it was a later alarm than the previous couple Saturdays, but still quite early at 6am, as I wanted to get some supplies from the Co-Op in Inverness before heading towards the Far North, it was quite warm so I needed some drink for my bag as well. Anyhow that was done as I made my way to the station where low mileage 158709 was sat on platform 6 with “Wick” on the train display however platform 5 was being announced as the train to Wick (also confusing for tourists is that, that train was also open (but not running). It was low mileage 158709 on the Wick train, the wrong platform was being announced. It was a good run north (some good scenery along the way), but I was the only person alighting from the train at a chilly Dunrobin Castle, releasing the parachute for the step to the platform.
A very peaceful station, and an enjoyable fester until 158705 rolled in to take me 25 miles in a rough southern direction to once again being the only person alighting or boarding at Culrain, where I had a gentle potter back across the river, on the footbridge next to the viaduct to reach Invershin, where I took up residence in the little waiting room, feeling like the only person around. Around 5 minutes before the train was due I moved to the further end of the platform to give the driver a chance to see me (as this is a station where the only time I’ve stopped is when I alighted back in May 17). 158713 was up next, to take me further north to reach Kinbrace (once again I was the only person to alight at this quiet station).
20 minutes later I flagged down the
return of 158709 for the run to Golspie where I had a potter into the
village centre and a walk along the beach front, enjoying the sunshine, making
my slow way back to the station for 158722 for the short run back north to Brora,
to tick off the Far North line. Another little potter around the area, before I
returned to the station to carry on reading my book before 158713 returned from
Wick to take me back south with me bailing at Muir of Ord to pay a visit to a nearby
takeaway for a cheese burger meal, before 158712 took me for the last 13 miles
back into Inverness.
Not wanting to end the day yet, I headed to Nairn on a random platform scratch with a busy 158711 on a Huntly terminator (the line from Huntly towards Dyce was closed this weekend), the next Inverness bound service was shown as formed of 4 coaches, which I had down as “a pair of 158s” so I was very surprised when it wasn’t a pair of 158s, but 43141 leading 4 classic coaches and 43144 on the other end for the relaxing trip to Inverness.
Not wanting to end the day yet, I headed to Nairn on a random platform scratch with a busy 158711 on a Huntly terminator (the line from Huntly towards Dyce was closed this weekend), the next Inverness bound service was shown as formed of 4 coaches, which I had down as “a pair of 158s” so I was very surprised when it wasn’t a pair of 158s, but 43141 leading 4 classic coaches and 43144 on the other end for the relaxing trip to Inverness.
I returned to the hostel to find a
full house in the room, and went straight to sleep
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16th June – Is that the Loch Ness Monster?
The Sunday was always going to be a quiet day, a coach trip to Fort William and some festering before the first Glasgow – Mallaig service appeared. I was booked on the 11:15 departure of the Scottish Citylink route 919 coach bound for Fort William (which is valid on the Highlands Rover, you just need to pay £1.50 to reserve a ‘seat’)). With a late start it meant I could stay in the hostel room for longer, and chill out, eventually coming out into the day to potter around Inverness, making my way back towards the bus station where coach “K700 SBL” was waiting.
Boarding started around 11:00 and I got a seat near the back, deciding to sit on the left hand side (because looking at the map that gives the better views), I would say around 25 were on the bus as it left Inverness following the A82, the coach emptying out along the way (the bulk alighted at Drumnadrochit which seems to be the hub of Loch Ness tourism), with some more alighting at Fort Augustus, with only one other passenger carrying on towards Fort William, passing the wonderfully named Loch Lochy.
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16th June – Is that the Loch Ness Monster?
The Sunday was always going to be a quiet day, a coach trip to Fort William and some festering before the first Glasgow – Mallaig service appeared. I was booked on the 11:15 departure of the Scottish Citylink route 919 coach bound for Fort William (which is valid on the Highlands Rover, you just need to pay £1.50 to reserve a ‘seat’)). With a late start it meant I could stay in the hostel room for longer, and chill out, eventually coming out into the day to potter around Inverness, making my way back towards the bus station where coach “K700 SBL” was waiting.
Boarding started around 11:00 and I got a seat near the back, deciding to sit on the left hand side (because looking at the map that gives the better views), I would say around 25 were on the bus as it left Inverness following the A82, the coach emptying out along the way (the bulk alighted at Drumnadrochit which seems to be the hub of Loch Ness tourism), with some more alighting at Fort Augustus, with only one other passenger carrying on towards Fort William, passing the wonderfully named Loch Lochy.
2 hours after departing Inverness,
the coach pulled into the Fort William travel interchange, where it was
raining, and I had roughly 3 hours to wait. The rain had a short break as I
went for a walk to the end of the high street, returning to the station, to
relax and made use of the WiFi to catch up on various bits, as the heavens
opened, and the 1st steam train returned from Mallaig (a lot of tourist
minibuses appeared at the same time to take the tourists to other places).
Eventually a pair of 156s arrived, where it was split up with only (a busy)
156458 carrying on towards Mallaig, as I put my request in, the guard was
surprised as it seemed like hardly anybody requests Locheilside
To be honest, I can’t blame him, as other than a handful of houses (all with cars outside) the station serves nothing in general; there aren’t any decent views of the Loch due to trees. Anyhow my time here was short as I flagged down 156450 for the trip back a couple stops to Corpach, where I popped to the nearby Co-Op for dinner, and enjoyed the view for an hour and a bit, I will admit this is where my original plan kinda failed as I built this around staying in the same hostel in Banavie as a couple years ago, which would have been a canal side walk. Anyhow a quiet 156458 returned from Mallaig to take me the 3 and a bit miles back into Fort William, where I walked to the hostel for the night.
To be honest, I can’t blame him, as other than a handful of houses (all with cars outside) the station serves nothing in general; there aren’t any decent views of the Loch due to trees. Anyhow my time here was short as I flagged down 156450 for the trip back a couple stops to Corpach, where I popped to the nearby Co-Op for dinner, and enjoyed the view for an hour and a bit, I will admit this is where my original plan kinda failed as I built this around staying in the same hostel in Banavie as a couple years ago, which would have been a canal side walk. Anyhow a quiet 156458 returned from Mallaig to take me the 3 and a bit miles back into Fort William, where I walked to the hostel for the night.
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17th June – On how the West
(Highlands) was won
A good night in the hostel (didn’t hear the majority of the folk leaving at various points during the early hours to go walking in the hills), and I made my way back towards the station and for a mild supply raid at Morrisons (breakfast was calling), before heading to the platform where 156458 had been joined with 156478 [which I assume was part of the evening Glasgow – Mallaig service]. As like with a couple years ago, a pair of 156s towards Mallaig meant it was local door only at every station, including the request stop of Lochailort which is where I was alone in alighting.
The weather this morning was variable, rain mixed with sunny spells, thankfully it was mainly sunny for my ~ 90 minutes at this remote station, flagging down the return of 156478 & 156458 from Mallaig to take me back one stop to Glenfinnan, where the first steam engine was nearly in the platform, you couldn’t hang around the Fort William bound platform as the steam engine needed to pull forward over the barrow crossing to allow the rear to clear the track for the 156s to continue towards Glasgow.
A good night in the hostel (didn’t hear the majority of the folk leaving at various points during the early hours to go walking in the hills), and I made my way back towards the station and for a mild supply raid at Morrisons (breakfast was calling), before heading to the platform where 156458 had been joined with 156478 [which I assume was part of the evening Glasgow – Mallaig service]. As like with a couple years ago, a pair of 156s towards Mallaig meant it was local door only at every station, including the request stop of Lochailort which is where I was alone in alighting.
The weather this morning was variable, rain mixed with sunny spells, thankfully it was mainly sunny for my ~ 90 minutes at this remote station, flagging down the return of 156478 & 156458 from Mallaig to take me back one stop to Glenfinnan, where the first steam engine was nearly in the platform, you couldn’t hang around the Fort William bound platform as the steam engine needed to pull forward over the barrow crossing to allow the rear to clear the track for the 156s to continue towards Glasgow.
With around 90 minutes to kill, I
decided to go for a little walk, following a route taken a couple years ago,
via the forest and underneath the railway to climb into the hills. The path has
been improved in places, but it was still muddy and rough, however the rough
path was worth it for the views over the loch and also coming over the last
hill coming down with a beautiful view of the viaduct. One of these days I will
return with my decent camera, to try and capture “1440 Fort William to Mallaig”
as it passes over the viaduct for a postcard picture.
Anyhow with the walk complete, it was
back towards the station, arriving just as the rain returned, and for the
slightly late running 156500 & 156476 for the run 22 miles towards Mallaig
to reach Morar, where I had hoped to said “Scotland, Tick” but the
events of Thursday meant that has to wait, but it does mean “West Highlands
Line, Tick”. A sudden downpour happened when I was in the shelter (had it been
nice I would have walked to the famous silver sands beach of Morar, but after
watching the steam engine pause at the station so the driver could brave the
rain to operate the level crossing, I headed towards a little garage to wait
for a bus. A route 501 turned up first (vehicle YJ14 BBK) which was a private
bus all the way into Mallaig, where I visited the Co-Op for supplies for
dinner.
The main reason for the bus trip to Mallaig was the ability to grab a prime seat for the return working, so when the doors were released I grabbed a seat with good views in 156500 (with 156476), and for the first time I did the full run to Glasgow in one sitting (other than a gentle fresh air break at Crianlarich for when 156450 appeared from Oban). Words can’t describe how great this line is, beautiful in places, bleak in others.
The main reason for the bus trip to Mallaig was the ability to grab a prime seat for the return working, so when the doors were released I grabbed a seat with good views in 156500 (with 156476), and for the first time I did the full run to Glasgow in one sitting (other than a gentle fresh air break at Crianlarich for when 156450 appeared from Oban). Words can’t describe how great this line is, beautiful in places, bleak in others.
5 and a bit hours after setting off
from Mallaig, the triple 156 arrived into Queen Street, where I had a quick
walk to the Euro Hostel to check in, and loss the mobile house (and other
bits), before heading towards Glasgow Central for 320307 to take me to
Bridgeton. There was method in heading to Bridgeton, because the next Dalmuir
service went via Anniesland and so would clear a certain former 321 for 10
miles straight away, with my fingers crossed it had stayed on diagram, I was
happy when winner 320418 rolled in along with 318270 for the run towards
Dalmuir (where it went to the depot), the class clearance cannon sounding once
more.
334001 & 334008 took me back towards Anniesland where I had hoped the last shuttle to Queen Street high level was a low mileage 158 (the run to Queen Street wouldn’t have cleared it for 10 miles, but the 5 and a half miles would have been welcome), however that 158 headed to Dundee with 170430 sent in its place, arriving a couple minutes late for the final Motherwell bound service to have departed, and waiting 15 minutes for the next 334s didn’t appeal. Back into Queen Street and a slow walk to the hostel, where a private room felt luxurious after a few nights in shared rooms.
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18th June – Bits and bobs around Glasgow
A late start this morning, with details of workings for some of my last Scottish EMUs I need for mileage (excluding the 385s), 3 out of the 4 were gettable, the 4th was sitting on the depot to return for the evening peak. Out of those 3, I had only one chance before it went onto Ayr fasts, so after a shower and breakfast it was to Glasgow Central with 380014 taken to Paisley Gilmour Street for a short wait for 380004 to arrive from Ardrossan Harbour and straight over the 10 mile line.
Once back into Glasgow Central, it was a slow walk over to Glasgow Queen Street to intercept 334005 & 334022 for the run to Hyndland to clear another class for 10 miles (I still can’t believe my luck last month when 4 out of the 5 fell within the space of 30 minutes). At Hyndland it was a short wait for a Helensburgh bound 334009 for the run to Dalmuir; however I noticed it the night before it seems the Helensburgh bound fast services now run via Singer, with the Edinburgh bound services carrying on going via Yoker. I suspect it’s due to pathing, but a nice little novelty with 334007 & 334033 returning us (for I was with Mr Dan) to Partick, followed by 334016 to Glasgow Central.
It was time to say farewell to the class 314s, as I suspect the next time I’m back in Glasgow the number of services they operate would have reduced to zero, so it was onto the anticlockwise Cathcart loop service to Glasgow Central, saying farewell with 314205 joining the 10 mile club, sadly 2 of the class got scrapped before they had the chance to join, but it was nice to say farewell to the class on a service where I had my first experience of the class.
334001 & 334008 took me back towards Anniesland where I had hoped the last shuttle to Queen Street high level was a low mileage 158 (the run to Queen Street wouldn’t have cleared it for 10 miles, but the 5 and a half miles would have been welcome), however that 158 headed to Dundee with 170430 sent in its place, arriving a couple minutes late for the final Motherwell bound service to have departed, and waiting 15 minutes for the next 334s didn’t appeal. Back into Queen Street and a slow walk to the hostel, where a private room felt luxurious after a few nights in shared rooms.
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18th June – Bits and bobs around Glasgow
A late start this morning, with details of workings for some of my last Scottish EMUs I need for mileage (excluding the 385s), 3 out of the 4 were gettable, the 4th was sitting on the depot to return for the evening peak. Out of those 3, I had only one chance before it went onto Ayr fasts, so after a shower and breakfast it was to Glasgow Central with 380014 taken to Paisley Gilmour Street for a short wait for 380004 to arrive from Ardrossan Harbour and straight over the 10 mile line.
Once back into Glasgow Central, it was a slow walk over to Glasgow Queen Street to intercept 334005 & 334022 for the run to Hyndland to clear another class for 10 miles (I still can’t believe my luck last month when 4 out of the 5 fell within the space of 30 minutes). At Hyndland it was a short wait for a Helensburgh bound 334009 for the run to Dalmuir; however I noticed it the night before it seems the Helensburgh bound fast services now run via Singer, with the Edinburgh bound services carrying on going via Yoker. I suspect it’s due to pathing, but a nice little novelty with 334007 & 334033 returning us (for I was with Mr Dan) to Partick, followed by 334016 to Glasgow Central.
It was time to say farewell to the class 314s, as I suspect the next time I’m back in Glasgow the number of services they operate would have reduced to zero, so it was onto the anticlockwise Cathcart loop service to Glasgow Central, saying farewell with 314205 joining the 10 mile club, sadly 2 of the class got scrapped before they had the chance to join, but it was nice to say farewell to the class on a service where I had my first experience of the class.
From the oldest EMUs in Glasgow to
the newest, with a pair of 385s on an Edinburgh via Shotts semi-fast, dud
385016 was leading winner 385028 for the run to Bellshill (probably
won’t be the last time I do a Bellshill leap on a 385), short platforms with
only the front 5 coaches being released. The first Glasgow bound service was a
dud 385 so I decided to take a seat, which was worthwhile as winner 385030
popped up to take me back to Glasgow Central for the last time of the day.
A final supply raid, before I joined 390122 for the long run to Euston (I always forget how beautiful the Lakes are, as the majority of the time I travel on this bit of line is during the night behind a 92). The train was delayed into Euston by around 10 minutes, caught up in some congestion, and with the SWR strike on my original idea of catching the 19:50 was changed to the 20:20 service, which gave me roughly an hour to get to Waterloo. As I had been on a Pendo for the last 4 and a half hours, I decided to get some fresh(ish) air with a walk to St Pancras, services were delayed due to an earlier train fault in St Albans, but low mileage 700024 was the first southbound service which I took to Blackfriars (being very slow), the next London Bridge service was a 700/0 which was already over the line, with low mileage 700152 following (every little helps they say).
At London Bridge the first available Charing Cross service was a pair of 376s which won’t of interest, but the next service was a nice low mileage triple networker 465908, 466001, 466043, every little helps again as they say. At Waterloo East it was a short walk across to Waterloo to board a busy Salisbury service with 159003 leading 159104 &158885 to take me home, getting a lift due to the heavy rain. The start of the trip didn’t go as planned, but I recovered to complete the remaining of the days. Hopefully I will get some money back from the insurance due to missing the sleeper.
I suspect the next time I’m in Glasgow on a SPT Daytripper, a trip to Gourock might feature...
A final supply raid, before I joined 390122 for the long run to Euston (I always forget how beautiful the Lakes are, as the majority of the time I travel on this bit of line is during the night behind a 92). The train was delayed into Euston by around 10 minutes, caught up in some congestion, and with the SWR strike on my original idea of catching the 19:50 was changed to the 20:20 service, which gave me roughly an hour to get to Waterloo. As I had been on a Pendo for the last 4 and a half hours, I decided to get some fresh(ish) air with a walk to St Pancras, services were delayed due to an earlier train fault in St Albans, but low mileage 700024 was the first southbound service which I took to Blackfriars (being very slow), the next London Bridge service was a 700/0 which was already over the line, with low mileage 700152 following (every little helps they say).
At London Bridge the first available Charing Cross service was a pair of 376s which won’t of interest, but the next service was a nice low mileage triple networker 465908, 466001, 466043, every little helps again as they say. At Waterloo East it was a short walk across to Waterloo to board a busy Salisbury service with 159003 leading 159104 &158885 to take me home, getting a lift due to the heavy rain. The start of the trip didn’t go as planned, but I recovered to complete the remaining of the days. Hopefully I will get some money back from the insurance due to missing the sleeper.
I suspect the next time I’m in Glasgow on a SPT Daytripper, a trip to Gourock might feature...
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21st & 22nd June – Return to the
Esk Valley
This is one of the trips I had planned for last October, but got pushed back due to the strike action (I ended up escaping to Edinburgh for the Saturday in order to revisit Breich before returning for Tees-Side Airport), the plan getting revised due to grabbing a couple stations back in February along with Redcar British Steel allowing me to head home on the Saturday rather than having an overnight stay in Middlesbrough. When booking tickets I was quite surprised to get a £19.50 LNER+ connections fare on the 20:00 HST to Darlington for a pacer across to Middlesbrough, certainly cheaper than the last time I headed to Middlesbrough on a Friday night!
21st June
Due to the SWR strike, the timings from Grateley had been shifted to XX:33, and annoyingly didn’t really connect into the GWR service at Basingstoke, so without wanting to spend half an hour in Basingstoke it was all the way to Waterloo on the 14:33 service formed of 159022/159107 & 159105, the units only getting busy at Woking. I had news on the location of 2 of my last 3, 317s needed for mileage, excluding 506 which is at Kilmarnock (however I understand 317663 is on the broken step and probably won’t be back).
Once into Waterloo, it was down to the Jubilee line with 96023 & 96006 taken to Stratford for a short fester, noting a couple services heading away from London as potential to intercept coming back, but nothing really of interest popped up heading towards Liverpool Street until low mileage 345022 popped up to double to 8 miles, sadly it would have been a tad tight connecting at Stratford back to Liverpool Street had I stayed on board for the return, so it will have to wait for another trip. I transferred to the low numbered platforms (after a visit to Tesco to find it a tad empty) for a short wait (noting that some road-track machines were being stored at the buffer stock end of platform 1 with some temporary buffers forcing LO services to stop further up the platform, I bet some commuters weren’t happy with the extra walk!
This is one of the trips I had planned for last October, but got pushed back due to the strike action (I ended up escaping to Edinburgh for the Saturday in order to revisit Breich before returning for Tees-Side Airport), the plan getting revised due to grabbing a couple stations back in February along with Redcar British Steel allowing me to head home on the Saturday rather than having an overnight stay in Middlesbrough. When booking tickets I was quite surprised to get a £19.50 LNER+ connections fare on the 20:00 HST to Darlington for a pacer across to Middlesbrough, certainly cheaper than the last time I headed to Middlesbrough on a Friday night!
21st June
Due to the SWR strike, the timings from Grateley had been shifted to XX:33, and annoyingly didn’t really connect into the GWR service at Basingstoke, so without wanting to spend half an hour in Basingstoke it was all the way to Waterloo on the 14:33 service formed of 159022/159107 & 159105, the units only getting busy at Woking. I had news on the location of 2 of my last 3, 317s needed for mileage, excluding 506 which is at Kilmarnock (however I understand 317663 is on the broken step and probably won’t be back).
Once into Waterloo, it was down to the Jubilee line with 96023 & 96006 taken to Stratford for a short fester, noting a couple services heading away from London as potential to intercept coming back, but nothing really of interest popped up heading towards Liverpool Street until low mileage 345022 popped up to double to 8 miles, sadly it would have been a tad tight connecting at Stratford back to Liverpool Street had I stayed on board for the return, so it will have to wait for another trip. I transferred to the low numbered platforms (after a visit to Tesco to find it a tad empty) for a short wait (noting that some road-track machines were being stored at the buffer stock end of platform 1 with some temporary buffers forcing LO services to stop further up the platform, I bet some commuters weren’t happy with the extra walk!
The news was correct as a Broxbourne terminating service was formed of 317510 leading 317661 the 6 miles to Tottenham Hale taking it over the line, with a short 15 minute fester (making use of the new footbridge just for the novelty) before 317337 rolled in from Cambridge with 317345 on the rear to clear the former Great Northern 317/3s for mileage. At Liverpool Street it was a fast walk across to a triple 321 for Walton-on-the-Naze & Colchester Town which was late departing due to congestion. 321427 & 321365 getting an extra 4 mile boost to their mileage total (both still under 10 miles), with 321406 along for the trip. Annoyingly this service went into 10A, so it was a bit of a hike back to platform 9 for a pair of refurbished 321s with 321304 leading 321301 to Liverpool Street, sadly missing a connection with a Southend service, but the next service was 321322, 321310 & 321331 which I took back out to Stratford, an extra 4 miles onto both 304 & 322 (both now on 8 miles), with 301 & 310 pushed over the line.
Time was pushing on, so it was back
to Liverpool Street on 321364 & 321307, with a metropolitan service taken
to Kings Cross St Pancras (21083/21084), where I had a walk to the Tesco Metro
near Kings Cross to grab dinner (plus some supplies for the morning as I
noticed not a lot would be open around Middlesbrough). Back to Kings Cross and
it was towards the 20:00 LNER service to Sunderland, with low mileage 43299
leading 43306 (which means I’m down to only one more LNER 43 for 10 miles), I
had a private table seat in a lightly loaded coach F, until around the
Stevenage area where a large family suddenly appeared (I suspect from First
Class where they probably tried to blag a free upgrade). Anyhow fast to York,
then to Darlington, probably the last time I will be on a fast HST to York from
Kings Cross. An oddity at Darlington was using the loop next to platform 4a due
to a pacer sitting at that end of the platform.
From a HST to a Pacer as 142050 was
on the last Middlesbrough service of the night, for some nice pacer based
noise. Once at Middlesbrough I noticed the main entrance has finally reopened
which came in handy as it’s a shorter walking route to the Travelodge where I
was staying the night. It was a reasonable stay, nothing out of the ordinary.
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22th June – Into the Valley of the Esk rode the 156
An early start with a 06:00 alarm, as I swung via McDonalds for a breakfast muffin (all the better now I’ve learnt you can remove the egg!), picking up my rover and deciding to board a private 156483 for the semi-fast run to Nunthorpe (called at James Cook only, with an operational stop at Gipsy Lane), mainly to visit the little Spar shop next to the station for some supplies. I returned to the station with 156483 sitting on the opposite platform ready to work a service towards Newcastle as low mileage 156438 rolled in for the run via the beautiful line to Castleton Moor.
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22th June – Into the Valley of the Esk rode the 156
An early start with a 06:00 alarm, as I swung via McDonalds for a breakfast muffin (all the better now I’ve learnt you can remove the egg!), picking up my rover and deciding to board a private 156483 for the semi-fast run to Nunthorpe (called at James Cook only, with an operational stop at Gipsy Lane), mainly to visit the little Spar shop next to the station for some supplies. I returned to the station with 156483 sitting on the opposite platform ready to work a service towards Newcastle as low mileage 156438 rolled in for the run via the beautiful line to Castleton Moor.
Thankfully the weather today was
quite nice, for a gentle 2-mile potter across a bridleway to reach Commondale,
some of the views in this area were very nice, and a lot of sheep which run
away. It was a nice 50 minutes sat in the sunshine at Commondale, nice outdoor
bench, not a lot of noise from traffic due to the rural location, a pleasant
way to spend time. 156438 returned from Whitby to take me one stop down the
line to Kildale where I had another long-ish fester, so after a walk
around the local area (not a lot there), it was to the shelter where a nice
bench was made use of to relax, again quite peaceful.
I was expecting the next Whitby service to be cosy (due to the beautiful weather) and when 156438 returned from Middlesbrough I was not wrong, as it was quite heavily loaded, I managed to grab a seat which was being used to store a backpack, for the run towards Glaisdale which clears the line, and a little potter around the area (noting that the toilets had been reopened). After returning to the station it was another relaxing sitting in the sunshine fester (I think I might have caught it a bit too much as my head was red). 156438 returned from Whitby, this time mostly empty as it took me back to Middlesbrough, where I noticed the third Whitby train had been cancelled (with replacement buses showing), so a lucky escape. No wonder why the Danby Express looked busy.
I was expecting the next Whitby service to be cosy (due to the beautiful weather) and when 156438 returned from Middlesbrough I was not wrong, as it was quite heavily loaded, I managed to grab a seat which was being used to store a backpack, for the run towards Glaisdale which clears the line, and a little potter around the area (noting that the toilets had been reopened). After returning to the station it was another relaxing sitting in the sunshine fester (I think I might have caught it a bit too much as my head was red). 156438 returned from Whitby, this time mostly empty as it took me back to Middlesbrough, where I noticed the third Whitby train had been cancelled (with replacement buses showing), so a lucky escape. No wonder why the Danby Express looked busy.
After grabbing lunch & and some
drink from a nearby Tesco, it was back to the station, with the Whitby
cancelled, I decided it was worth a trip to Saltburn, via Longbeck for a random
platform score. 142050 did the honours dropping me off at a platform which has
seen better days for it was a tad rotten in places. 25 minutes later 142067
rolled in to take me the final couple miles to Saltburn, where I had a little
walk towards the seafront, and ended up riding the Saltburn Cliff Lift down the
cliff to the pier to have a gentle walk to the end of the pier (and no my next
project won’t be “All the Piers!”). There was a bit of a queue to head back up,
with some working out in my head saw me miss one service because I wanted to
scratch the other side, also being the first in allowed me to be at the window
end to capture the incline. £1.10 each way is a tad steep, but worth it for the
novelty factor of a cliff lift.
Back to the main rails, and back at Saltburn station with 142091 taken to Middlesbrough for a trip to Tesco for dinner for later, before returning with low mileage 156449 taken to Thornaby, before 142050 took me to Dinsdale for a random platform score, 15 minutes later 142050 returned to take me back to Thornaby with 142070 taken to Eaglescliffe, on what could probably be my final pacer in the North East. No prizes at guessing why I was alighting at Eaglescliffe as 180103 came rolling into the platform, my reserved seat was in a coach where the power sockets didn’t seem to be working (and the reservation labels were all blank) so I sat in the leading coach, it was a tad warm (AC didn’t seem to be working as efficiently as it should), but it was nice and quiet for the speedy run to London (well until Retford where the train sat for around 10 minutes due to points issues, and then crawled as it had caught up with a HST on a stopper from Leeds which called at Newark, Grantham & Stevenage. Arrival into Kings Cross was around 21 minutes late giving me roughly an hour to get across to Waterloo.
I headed across the road to St Pancras, tapped in and headed to the low level platforms just as 700150 had rolled in from Luton, every little helps with the run to London Bridge, followed by 465920 & 465907 to Waterloo East, another mile into the book for these units, as I tapped out 20 minutes after tapping in, although that did give me around 35 minutes to kill, so after picking up some tickets for future trips, I hung around waiting for the diesels to arrive on the 22:20 [had the strike not been on, I would have aimed for the 21:50 service]. 159103 & 159104 took me back to Grateley, noting much of note other than the guard kicking out a group of slightly drunken Ascot goers from first class.
Overall, I’m down to 29 stations, 15 to alight at, and 14 to board at. The North East is complete, one of these days I will return to Whitby to do the bus move to Saltburn (or even Scarborough). Next weekend sees a return to Wigan, with hopefully the final odds & sods within Lancs falling into place.
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