These archived reports were
previously on the Rail UK thread, sorry for the lack of pictures.
1st – 3rd March, Spring has sprung (a
leak)
Friday
This was a bit of a short notice
decision to head to Birmingham as I was originally going to head towards
Plymouth for the novelty of something other than sprinters via Honiton, but
decided to randomly look up cost of accommodation, ending up in the Hatters
Hostel in Birmingham, a bit quieter than the Central Backpackers (well in terms
of outside noise, most of the noise was from party goers preloading on booze
before heading out to various nightclubs).
I decided to head via Reading, just
as a time wasting move, with the novelty of a non-stop 166 from Basingstoke to
Reading as it was running around 15 minutes late (even with several
announcements there was still some people who didn’t realise it wouldn’t be
calling at Bramley as the train sped through the station). I can’t
remember how long I spent at Reading before getting 802007 in my book as the
rear unit of a pair (802012 was at the front). Once into Paddington it
was a first as I used my contactless card at the barriers (my Oyster needed
more credit, and I didn’t have time to wait for a machine to become available,
besides it was evening peak so my railcard wouldn’t be of benefit). A
Bakerloo line service took me to Oxford Circus, where I managed to squeeze onto
a Victoria line service for the run to Highbury & Islington (little did I
know it was 11083/11084 which leaves me with just the one pair of Victoria line
stock for a mile).
A pair of 313s took me to Drayton
Park for a 10 minute fester before my last GN 313 for mileage rolled in, 313062
had avoided me on my previous trips to this area so I was glad it was finally
over the line (especially since it was on 9 miles already). Into Moorgate
with a Metropolitan line service taking me to Baker Street where I tapped out
and walked to Marylebone (where I made use of some spare time to top up my
Oyster to save a job on the Sunday). Chiltern was treating the travellers
of the 19:15 to Birmingham Moor Street to a 7-coach set (168219 & 168003),
the last couple times I’ve used this service it’s been a 4-coach. I took
a seat near the front (using the theory that most will board nearer the rear to
avoid a long walk), and it went well. I popped out for a few supplies
before returning on a Snow Hill leap on 172331 which was just about enough to
push it over 10 miles (which was a nice bonus).
Saturday
My area of attack today would be the
Cambrian line, some long festers but hey-ho, nobody say station revisiting
would be easy. The first service towards the coast was in the hands of
158827 featuring a seat reserved from Birmingham New Street to Smethwick Galton
Bridge (which made me laugh as it’s nearly as pointless as a Brighton – Hove
seat reservation on a GWR service I saw last year). All I can say is I made
use of the free WiFi to catch up with various bits as it was still dark
outside, returning to watching out of the window after reversing at Shrewsbury
for the nice run towards Machynlleth where it was terminating due to
engineering works towards Aberystwyth, it was a walk forward on the platform to
board another 158 for the run to Aberdovey, where after a quick photo it
was a quick walk back along the road to climb the steps at Penhelig
station, my theory being that the weather was meant to turn bad later on so I
wanted to get my walks done.
A busy 158 took me back to
Machynlleth where I had around 70 minutes to fester, so after the Birmingham
train departed I headed to a nearby Co-Op (in the garage opposite the station)
to pick up supplies for lunch. I took up a seat on the station to await
the next coast train to arrive from Birmingham which took me along the pretty
coastal route to Penrhyndeudraeth, the train getting busier as it went
on. I had around 90 minutes to walk across the bridge to reach my next
station but god it was windy as I walked towards the seemingly pointless Llandecwyn,
which had some nice bar seats in the modern bus shelter. During my fester
it had started to rain, rain which would remain for most of the day, as I was
joined by a walker and reboarded the 158 to take me back along the line to Llanaber,
local door only at the platform by the sea, and that sea was rough.
The seat in the shelter was rusted,
as was the shelter, although it was strong enough to support me as I sheltered
from the rain, watching as the waves crashing on the rocks below. My time
watching the sea ended as I flagged down and boarded another 158 (getting a tad
wet in the process) for the bus stop leap to Talybont. The rain
still was with me so once more I took shelter in a decent shelter, not a lot
else I could have done as I waited for the next southbound service to roll in,
to take me to Morfa Mawddach. My original idea was to walk back
across the viaduct to Barmouth for a quick supply raid for dinner, however I
couldn’t even see Barmouth across the water due to the mist. After a
potter around (finding some toilets) I returned to the shelter which would have
been good had it not been for the horizontal rain making the bench soaking wet,
there was a small patch right in the corner which was mostly dry so I sat
there, outside the wind. The wind soon hitting me as I headed to the
platform to flag down the train (nearly lost my hat!), I was thankful for the
warmth for the short run back towards Barmouth and to Dyffryn Ardudwy
which allowed me to say “mission complete”.
Another short fester in a dark
shelter as I flagged down 158825 for the long run back towards Birmingham, it
was quite busy until Fairbourne where I grabbed a table seat. At
Machynlleth it ran into another 158 for the run towards Shrewsbury where that
unit was detached and the train got busy as I decided to bail at Wolverhampton
for no reason other than wanting a break from some singing folk, it was onto a
voyager for the run back to New Street, where I grabbed food from a busy
McDonalds and walked back to the hostel, via sitting on a bench next to a
church to eat said food. I returned to find my room had been changed due
to a fault with the shower, which worked in my benefit as my replacement room
was cooler.
Sunday
It would be back to Wales today, with
a bit of unfinished business with the northern end of the Heart of Wales line,
so it was to New Street for a pair of 158s to Shrewsbury, calling at all the
stations between Wolverhampton & Shrewsbury where I had around a hour
fester, so I pottered into the town centre for some supplies & a general
look around, returning to the station to board the first (of two) southbound
services which unusually was heading to Carmarthen due to engineering works,
and with the number of passengers on platform 7 waiting for the train I was
dreading it if a single 153 popped up, but it wasn’t a 153, but a pair of 150s.
I was expecting an announcement to
stand back as the train would divide, but I was surprised when all 4 coaches
were open as I took my seat in coach 3 for a fast run towards Craven Arms
crossing over at the new crossover and onto the Heart of Wales line.
Sadly the rain from yesterday hadn’t gone away as the train called at a couple
of the request stops before I alighted at Llangynllo, and walked the
train pulling away, and to a hour fester, at a station where the village of
Llangynllo is around 1 and a bit miles away down a steep hill, and the only
things at the station is a couple houses, but thankfully a decent bench in a
shelter, as I sat listening to the rain, very peaceful it was until a genuine
passenger turned up.
Anyhow my time passed as a busy 150
rolled in from the south to take me back towards Shrewsbury and for a short
wait as a 153 was passed between services, as I took a seat in 153312 for the
novelty of a Welsh dogbox to New Street (also it was a lot quieter than the
158). Once at New Street it was over to Moor Street for a 168/1 for the
long run to Marylebone, a nice and fast run arriving pretty much bang on time,
allowing me to make a quick walk to the Bakerloo for a hop to Baker Street
followed by a Jubilee service to Waterloo, before boarding the 19:15 service to
take me back home to Grateley.
All in all a productive weekend, the
Cambrian line is done as is the Northern part of the Heart of Wales line
(everything north of Garth is done), although the weather was rubbish, but at
least it wasn’t snowing like it was this time last year!
----------------
8th March – A day in London
My last day of annual leave to take
of the 2018/19 holiday year, I was originally going to plan to head towards
Anglia land but the weather forecast looked troubling so I put that idea on the
backburner. With nothing else on my radar I decided on a trip to London
to try and recruit some more members to my Ten Mile Club (TMC). I was
thinking of trying out a 707 on the afternoon preview service but that didn’t
happen.
The 08:59 service formed of a busyish
pair of 159s took me to Basingstoke for a 166 to Reading where I broke out the
deckchair for a traditional wait for anything required heading towards London,
sadly like the last time I was at Reading for nearly 80 minutes before 802001
& 802014 popped up, the first 802 being required so a run to Paddington was
had. During my fester I was trying to decide which part of London I
should head, eventually deciding on South Eastern, so it was to Charing Cross
on a Bakerloo service. I got lucky with the first service from Charing
Cross as it featured 465042 on the rear, as I walked up to ID the other
two units in this 10 coach set. 465176 was leading with 466038
sandwiched in the middle. It was on a Sevenoaks stopper which ran fast to
Hither Green after London Bridge, which meant both 465s were now in the
TMC. A couple hops between platforms before another triple unit rolled in
from Sevenoaks, 465005 & 465245 were leading 466007 which gained
membership on the run to Waterloo East where I was going to intercept a 375 I
saw passing, however the appearance of 465009 put an end to that idea as
this unit needed a run all the way to Falconwood to enter it into the
TMC. (a lot of my Networkers are on tiny mileages between Charing Cross
& Waterloo East or Cannon Street & London Bridge).
465181 & 465247 took me back to
Lewisham, the next service was showing as cancelled so I cut my losses. A
few leaps between platforms at Lewisham (not helped as the screens were not
showing how many coaches services were being formed off), before 465161
popped up with 465038 on the rear on a Cannon Street service, the run wouldn’t
be enough, neither would popping back to London Bridge. However 465919
& 465923 were spotted working another service which needed a good run to
New Eitham to clear the 465/9 for membership. The rain was coming down
strong now as I crossed the footbridge getting lucky with a 6-coach working
from Gravesend which was fast to London Bridge, as it featured 466011 leading 465031.
I decided that was a good point to transfer across to the low level platforms
at London Bridge to have a look at the green units.
Nothing of interest popped up
straight away, a low mileage 377/3 on an Epsom however that wasn’t leaving for
25-odd minutes, with a pair of 377s on a Cat-Tat service, low mileage 377615
leading 377705 on the fast run to East Croydon. I had spotted a required
455 on a stopper towards Coulston Town so once into East Croydon it was onto
377205/377212 for the short leap to Selhurst before 455821/455803 rolled
in, the run to Purley being enough for 803. I hung back for the 377s for
another pair of 455s which was 455843 & 455820 which I took to
Thornton Heath, the run wasn’t enough for 820 but I knew the next Victoria
stopper would be a pair of low mileage units (which I saw earlier at
Selhurst). It was onto 455810 & 455833 for the run
towards Victoria, where on the route I noticed a triple 387/2 passing which
looked like the rear two units were required and at Victoria when I noticed the
other unit was also required I pottered over to the TVMs to buy a BZ6 – Gatwick
ticket (thankfully the option has been restored!) to board 387223/387222/387226,
all 3 gaining membership into my TMC (leaving just 2 more red 387/2s plus the
hired in 387105 for the 387s which operate south of the river. My good
fortune continued as the next Victoria service was 387220 leading 387217
for a fast run to Victoria, as I enjoyed a private coach at the front of 220 as
I needed a fast getaway.
Once at Victoria I headed towards
London Underground deciding against the new improved tourist route to the
Victoria lines as I headed towards the sub surface lines as a circle line
service had just rolled in, which took me to Paddington, to allow me to rope in
my first 802/1 in the shape of 802102. At Reading it was to
Basingstoke on 220009 where I purchased a day return to Reading to fester
before 221124 took me back to Reading. This was my last XC voyager
to get for 10 miles (previously only had on a Southampton Central – Southampton
Airport leap) so saves a job at looking for it at New Street for whenever I’m
next in the area.
Back to Reading on 166202 followed by
a short delay for 159106 & 158884 back to Grateley, the end of a good day
for my TMC membership.
9th March – Rocking that Ferry across
the Dee
When news came out in the Branch Line
Newsletter that various places of the Merseyrail network were closing for
platform modifications for the new rolling stock and that one period was Rock
Ferry – Hooton, that got a mark in my diary as it potentially meant that the
bays at Rock Ferry would be in use (and in general the only public use are the
first trains of the day which would meant a couple hotel stays in that
area). I managed to get some decent priced advances for Virgin services
to Liverpool (09:07 there and 18:47 back) and had a rough idea to recover some
stations I ditched last year when the Borderlands line went down to 2-hourly
due to a lack of rolling stock.
Heading towards Euston I did some
linear hops to get some more SWR units in the book, as well as a 377 on a run
to Croydon. 390148 was the service to Liverpool which was busy due to the
seat reservation system not working, I ended up in coach C due to the table
seat I was on getting invaded by a family with young kids. At Lime Street
it wasn’t a long queue at the upstairs ticket office to pick up my Saveaway and
I hopped onto a 319 on a fast run to St Helens Central, just because they make
a nice noise. Back into Liverpool Lime Street as I made my way down to
the Wirral line, having a small mileage boost for a 507 before 507024 rolled in
to take me to Rock Ferry where it terminated into platform 4, and I went for a
walk to pass the time (as the timetable has one in, one out, so to score both bays
meant a 30 minute wait unless you got lucky to make the zero connection).
507017 appeared into platform 3 which I took to Hamilton Square with around 35
minutes to kill before heading towards Bidston.
Sadly lady luck wasn’t shining with
nothing matching my mileage needs list heading towards Liverpool, so I jumped
on a 508 for the trip to Bidston (via the city centre circle), where I had a
short wait before 150229 rolled in to take me into Wales as I alighted at Caergwrle.
Thankfully the rain hadn’t arrived so I walked along the road to Cefn-Y-Bedd,
although the youths drinking & smoking in the waiting shelter on the
northbound platform might have been another reason. The 150 returned from
Wrexham as I took it to Shotton, where I had roughly an hour to walk the tiny
distance across the bridge to reach the limited served Hawarden Bridge.
Seriously this station is a right old dump, looks like during works to install
wires for the platform information screens they couldn’t be bothered putting
tarmac on the trench, instead having loose stops, the shelters rival that of
those in the Plymouth suburban stations for being smashed up. Anyhow
150255 rolled up running late to take me to Bidston where I connected onto a
low mileage 508 (it missed the original connection and as TfW Rail pays out
after 15 minutes I put a claim in, getting £7.30 back [no idea where they got
that amount from]).
Back into Lime Street I hoped out to
Edge Hill on a pair of 150s pretending to be a 319, returning on a low mileage
319, and onto 390117 for the run to London. A few more units entered my
TMC (sorry Mr 13!) before 159002 took me home.
15th March – Another Friday afternoon
in London
I got finished from work and drove to
Andover for the 14:37 service towards London (159005/159107 & 159012), I
was originally going to bail at Woking but there were some issues on the
Portsmouth branch line which meant some delays. Instead I jumped off at
Clapham Junction and headed over to the suburban platforms as I knew a low
mileage 456 was coming up. 455738 was leading 455907 & 456015,
the run to Waterloo would clear the 456 for membership to the TMC, but the
middle 455 would require another run to Clapham Junction to gain
membership. At Clapham it was a short wait before another 10 coach set with
455912 leading 455704 & 456024 with both gaining membership
with a Wimbledon leap.
Back to Waterloo with 456022,
455726 & 455916, returning to Vauxhall to get the 456 into the TMC, linear
hopping to Earlsfield with 456019, 455712 & 455730, before a
run to Surbiton on 707017 & 707014, the 6 and a half mile run not
enough for the 707 but as it ran out of the zones I didn’t have much other
choice than to leave it for another day. After a PNB, it was back to
Clapham with a triple 450 lead by 450107 with 450124 & 450121
joining the triple for a short fester before 450090 arrived from
Basingstoke with 450042 for company.
At Waterloo, next up was another
triple unit with 450013 leading 450565 & 450097 which I took to
Clapham Junction, returning to Waterloo with 455906, 455917 &
456010, the run being enough for 906 but not quite enough for 917 but I had a
more important matter to deal with, as I headed to Paddington on a Bakerloo
service, before 387143 & 387170 took me to Ealing Broadway, which
cleared the GWR 387s for membership of the TMC. 345013 took me back to
Paddington where it was back to Waterloo changing at Baker Street (one of these
days I will time it to see if it is quicker changing for the Jubilee).
I leapt on the first service heading
out towards Vauxhall, sadly nothing of interest with 456023, 455854 &
455727 (456s are awful trying to ID from the set numbers in a hurry), but I was
rewarded a couple minutes later with 455717 & 455708 which would
gain membership of my TMC with a run to Raynes Park, making a tight connection
to 456001/455856/455910 for the run to Clapham, where I crossed over to
platform 7 with 450027 leading 450017 to Waterloo, returning to Clapham
on another triple 450 heading towards Basingstoke 450550/450547/450072,
sadly not enough for the leading 450 but every little helps. With my
final move of the day to Andover on the 21:27 (which overtook that triple unit
between Weybridge & Woking) which was 159103 & 158882.
Overall a productive few hours in SWR
land, certainly my list of requirements has decreased (a little bit).
16th March - The Somerset Strimmer
When this railtour became active last
year I booked on it straight away as it featured some required track, plus a bit
of semi-required. One of my earliest railway memories is visiting the
East Somerset Raillway in Cranmore probably 20 or so years ago with my parents
so it was a nice ‘revisit’. I was toying with the idea of picking the
tour up in London but in the end went for the cheaper option at boarding at
Reading (as it would allow me to grab some supplies). 159006 took me to
Basingstoke with 165124 taken to Reading as I headed out of the station for
said supplies and a gentle potter before returning.
Winner 59201 was leading the
tour of Mk2 coaches (yippee half-decent seats!) with 59206 on the rear, it was
a run towards Westbury, turning off to head towards Trowbridge to do a loop via
Avonmouth before heading towards the East Somerset Junction, passing Merehead quarry
and onto track which until a couple months ago looked like a forest. The
train terminated in the platform at Cranmore and after some re-watering of the
stock it set back beyond the ground frame to allow the steam engine to roll
in. LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 “46447” was the steam engine in operation
today as I was one of the lucky people who managed to board for the run to
Mendip Vale
I joined the guard van for the return
(more standing space) and decided to hop off at Cranmore West to have a look at
the various shunters & other bits under various stages of restoration,
before grabbing a shot of the steam engine heading back towards Mendip Vale,
and walking back to Cranmore station to have a sit down.
Once the steam engine had departed,
the tour train could come back in, with 59206 becoming my 3rd member of the
class for haulage as it did some reversals to do the departure & arrival
roads of Merehead quarry, it couldn’t do the full triangle due to a
weighbridge. Once it was back on the main-line it was back towards
Reading where I bailed, due to the weather being wet I grabbed a sandwich from
WH Smiths before 165125 took me to Basingstoke for a short fester (the
timetable had been changed due to the wind speed, however the speed
restrictions had been lifted which meant a lot of dwell time (as in the 159s
sat at Basingstoke for nearly 20 minutes and probably a good 3 minutes at the
other stations). 159016 & 159107 took me back to Grateley with
announcements by the guard that there would be taxis for any passengers
travelling towards Exeter!
Overall a nice relaxing day trip
railtour, having Mk2s had better seats but the sealed windows are not the best,
a couple new 59s ticked off in my book, and compared to some tours quite
reasonably priced (no hotel costs and only £6.30 for travelling costs)
17th March – A Sunday Day Trip to
Taunton
My last Sunday day trip was back at
the start of November when I went to the Isle of Wight so it was about time
after several Sundays at home to head out for a little day trip, and with XC
diverting via Westbury it was for some novelty based fun.
I drove to Andover for the 09:30(ish)
service to Exeter, which due to engineering works around Basingstoke departed
from platform 1 to use the crossover, 159010 & 159019 did the honours for
the run to Salisbury where I had a 30 minute fester before the first train
towards Bristol, which was also a first for me as it was 165134 leading 166207
which were my first Turbos south of Westbury. I managed to get a seat in
the former first class area of my last 166 for membership of the TMC (a Brucie
Bonus). The train got busy as time went on but emptied out at Bath (for
some running event), and carried on to Bristol Temple Meads.
A short wait at Bristol Temple Meads
before the Plymouth service arrived from Leeds, 43378 arrived with 43321 on the
rear (so after reversal 43321 was leading), it was a sliding door set and the
front coach was quite quiet (I think maybe half a dozen in there after
Bath). It was a good run back towards Westbury before heading down to the
main-line for some speed on the trip to Taunton. Once at Taunton I had
roughly 35 minutes to fester so I popped out of the station to head to
Morrisons, before returning. The auto announcements were a bit silly “this
train has 4 coaches, first class is in coaches 1 & 5”, as a pair of
voyagers rolled up, 220034 leading 220002 and the 2nd coach once more had
around half a dozen passengers in for the non-stop run to Bristol Temple Meads.
But this is where things went wrong
as the voyager an hour earlier decided to sit down between Bath & Bristol,
a storming run towards Westbury but congestion and a slow run, passing the very
busy platforms at Bath Spa at what felt like 5mph. Sadly in the
congestion the SWR unit got turned around at Westbury and disappeared from RTT
(didn’t show as cancelled) and when at Bristol it was showing as “On Time” one
moment with the next moment vanishing from the screens (there was a few
confused passengers asking the staff what happened to the train to Basingstoke,
how hard would it have been to leave it showing as cancelled so passengers knew
what was happening)?
It was onwards to Salisbury with
166217 & 165120, thankfully a 5-coach set as after Bath it was wedged out,
however it did mean a 50 minute fester at Salisbury (along with around 20 other
passengers) before the next Basingstoke service which was 159016/159107 which
took me back to Andover, the end of an easy day trip, and a revisit to a line I
hadn’t been along for a few months.
22nd March – A 67 on tour, day 1
Last year when I was at Euston I
noticed service alternations poster from Cally Sleeper which mentioned that on
this weekend services to Inverness were going via Aberdeen, I mentioned this to
Dan who came to the same conclusion that it would make a good farewell to the
old sleeper stock on a random jolly to Inverness via Aberdeen. I was due
to meet Dan at St Pancras from a HS1 train from Margate so had a few hours in
London to play with.
I headed to London, 159108 taking me
to Basingstoke, followed by 165117 to Reading and a delayed 802108 to
Paddington (this was from Hereford and due to delays it ran fast from Worcester
so was mostly empty, sadly it was a slow trip to Paddington as a Turbo from
Bedwyn was put out in front at Reading, but hey ho, a required 802 won the
day. Once into Paddington I headed towards Liverpool Street via Baker
Street, and tossed a mental coin to focus on the West Anglia side. The
first few departures weren’t of interest but an ECS to form an Overground extra
to Cheshunt was of interest as low mileage 317707 was leading 317723, so
to get this 317 into my TMC it was a trip to Edmonton Green, returning to
Hackney Downs on 315815 & 315816. The appearance of 816 meant
all my orange 315s are now over the line for my “Five mile club” (basically
reserved for classes which operate mostly within the London zones, other
classes are 376s & 378s).
At Hackney I had a couple hops
between platforms before a pair of GA 317s popped up with 317650 leading 317883,
and doing my brief fester spotting a low mileage 379 heading towards the
airport so I took a note when it was due back. At Liverpool Street a
triple Kings Lynn bound 379 was the first departure with 379007 leading 379006
& 379013, the run to Tottenham Hale was enough to put 013 into my
TMC (and spotting a pair of 317/5s heading to Stansted Airport!). The
next southbound service was a Stratford bound 317659/317509 which is
that odd service which goes into platform 12 at Stratford, anyhow that run
wasn’t enough for 509, so it was back to Tottenham Hale to push it over the
line.
Nothing else of interest was spotted
on platforms 3 and 4 of Tottenham Hale, other than a 317/5 bound for Kings Lynn
which was fast to Audley End after Tottenham Hale, max power 317!, a pair of low
mileage 317s were spotted passing Tottenham Hale from Broxbourne, before 379012
& 379021 returned from the airport, which meant I only need one more
379 to clear the class for membership (and probably easier to clear them on
Tottenham Hale leaps than it will be if they do head to EMT for Corby
electrics, first stop Luton Airport). After a crawl to Liverpool Street I
popped out to grab some dinner before returning to the pair of 317s I saw
earlier working a Cambridge train, however due to an issue further up the line,
this train was cancelled.
Back-up option was a Metropolitan
service to Farringdon followed by 700131 getting a small mileage boost
to St Pancras. I met up with Dan as we made our way towards Euston,
checking into a busy seated coach with winner 92018 up front, which I
think is my last Caledonian Sleeper liveried 92, which was a nice bonus as I
was expecting a 90.
23rd March – Day 2
The heating in this coach was dodgy
as anything, one minute blowing up hot air, the next blowing out freezing cold
air, but the coaches are old so it’s something I should expect by now. I
suspect if the train wasn’t so busy the staff would have bumped everybody up to
a berth. Nothing unusual on the way to Edinburgh, as the 92 was replaced
by 67007 for the non-stop run towards Dundee, first time I’ve had a 67 over the
Forth Bridge and first time of passing Leuchers without stopping. At
Dundee I woke up with the noise of passengers transferring to buses, and
enjoyed a sun-rise for the non-stop run to Aberdeen where we went via platform
7 (little bit of track scoring) for a driver change.
Next stop on the sleeper tour was
Huntly were we had roughly an hour pathing stop, the guard local door was
opened on arrival and I wasn’t the only passenger making use of the break to
get some fresh air. The trains we were waiting for passed and we set off,
running non-stop to Inverness, with a bonus score of the new platform 2 loop at
Forres. The 67 was making a nice noise with some speed over the jointed
track, arriving into Inverness pretty much bang on time. It was now
breakfast time as we popped to Co-Op for both breakfast & items for lunch,
before making our way to the bus station.
We were booked onto the 11:10
Citylink M90 coach to Edinburgh, which was coach number 54123, and ran
semi-fast calling at Aviemore, Pitlochy, a park & ride near Perth plus a
couple other Park & Ride sites towards Edinburgh, the highlight being
scoring the new Forth bridge for travelling across (although sadly due to high
sides it’s hard to get pictures of the other bridges). We alighted a few
hours later near Queensferry Street near Princes Street, as I said farewell to
Dan as he caught a bus back home and I walked to Haymarket, bumping into an old
friend as I headed to Edinburgh Park on 334032 & 334033, the run
being enough for 032 to be removed from my list. Since when did the
barriers at Edinburgh Park operate on weekends I wonder?
385009 took me to Edinburgh, as I
grabbed something to munch on (and drink) before making my way across to 390130
working the London train, the plug sockets in coach E didn’t appear to be
working so I shifted to coach U where they were working (for some much needed
phone charge). Due to when I booked my ticket, the option of changing at
Crewe to board the service from Liverpool wasn’t showing, so I was on this 390
all the way to Euston, via Birmingham. The train was put onto the fasts
for the 2-track section which meant it arrived into Euston a good 10 minutes
early.
A northern line service took me to
Waterloo, where I grabbed a picture of a 50 tour arriving from Penzance before
taking a seat on 159103 for the trip back to Grateley, where I collapsed into
my bed after a relaxing day of travelling.
----------------
29-3-19
Tonight has
been a good little session, 3 more Orange 317s are now in the TMC (leaving just
two left to locate and annoyingly both were together, however both are around
the 8 mile mark so it will be easier with a Hackney leap). I intercepted my
final 379 for mileage which means I no longer have to keep my eyes out (also as
they are rumoured to be heading to future EMT for Corby electrics it is easier
getting them on Tottenham Hale leaps than to Luton (and a bit cheaper as well).
I can sense some more Tottenham Hale leaps coming up with 317s.
Sadly it seemed 387105 got swapped out during the day (it was showing as working a Southern Brighton - Victoria service) but I ended up with a couple more SWR units and a 377 during my brief stay at Clapham.
Anyhow summary of moves, bold means new member of the ten mile club, italic means it is still below that magic mark.
Andover -> Woking 159007/159009/159020
Woking -> Clapham Junction 450118 (could do with being a pair as it got quite busy with school kids at Weybridge)
Clapham Junction -> Waterloo - 707027/707029
Waterloo -> Bank - 65501/65502
Bank -> Liverpool Street - 91335/92434/92254/91087
Liverpool Street -> White Hart Lane - 317719/317891 (719 was on a sub mile leap so I took it to the best station for connections)
White Hart Lane -> Liverpool Street - 317888/317889 (888 was left on 9.9 miles after this move)
Liverpool Street -> St James Street - 317709/317892
St James Street -> Bethnal Green - 317714/317729 (made a pigs ear with the interchange)
Bethnal Green -> Hackney Downs - 315812/315808
Hackney Downs -> Seven Sisters - 317719/317891 (hello again 719)
Seven Sisters -> Tottenham Hale - 11017/11018
Tottenham Hale -> Liverpool Street - 379001/379029/379010 (All 379s cleared for 10 miles, the idea was originally going to head to Farringdon and then down to East Croydon to intercept what I had down as being 387105, but that triple 379 arrived a couple minutes early allowing me to make a dash for a pair of 317s)
Liverpool Street -> Hackney Downs - 317889/317888
Hackney Downs -> Liverpool Street - 317891/317719
Liverpool Street -> Bank - 91049/92130/92004/91139
Bank -> Waterloo - 65502/65501 (went from the opposite platform than usual)
Waterloo -> Clapham Junction - 456015/455735/455853 (where I got bowled by that 387 not popping up, but I saw a low mileage 377/1 heading into Victoria so I gave chase)
Clapham Junction -> Victoria - 377603
Victoria -> Clapham Junction - 377134/377328/377302 (where I took a moment to buy some food from Sainsburys outside the station)
Clapham Junction -> Basingstoke - 444035/444005 (mainly for the plug sockets under the table for a quick boost of electricity & also there was some dodgy looking characters hanging around Clapham)
Basingstoke -> Andover - 159015/158888
Sadly it seemed 387105 got swapped out during the day (it was showing as working a Southern Brighton - Victoria service) but I ended up with a couple more SWR units and a 377 during my brief stay at Clapham.
Anyhow summary of moves, bold means new member of the ten mile club, italic means it is still below that magic mark.
Andover -> Woking 159007/159009/159020
Woking -> Clapham Junction 450118 (could do with being a pair as it got quite busy with school kids at Weybridge)
Clapham Junction -> Waterloo - 707027/707029
Waterloo -> Bank - 65501/65502
Bank -> Liverpool Street - 91335/92434/92254/91087
Liverpool Street -> White Hart Lane - 317719/317891 (719 was on a sub mile leap so I took it to the best station for connections)
White Hart Lane -> Liverpool Street - 317888/317889 (888 was left on 9.9 miles after this move)
Liverpool Street -> St James Street - 317709/317892
St James Street -> Bethnal Green - 317714/317729 (made a pigs ear with the interchange)
Bethnal Green -> Hackney Downs - 315812/315808
Hackney Downs -> Seven Sisters - 317719/317891 (hello again 719)
Seven Sisters -> Tottenham Hale - 11017/11018
Tottenham Hale -> Liverpool Street - 379001/379029/379010 (All 379s cleared for 10 miles, the idea was originally going to head to Farringdon and then down to East Croydon to intercept what I had down as being 387105, but that triple 379 arrived a couple minutes early allowing me to make a dash for a pair of 317s)
Liverpool Street -> Hackney Downs - 317889/317888
Hackney Downs -> Liverpool Street - 317891/317719
Liverpool Street -> Bank - 91049/92130/92004/91139
Bank -> Waterloo - 65502/65501 (went from the opposite platform than usual)
Waterloo -> Clapham Junction - 456015/455735/455853 (where I got bowled by that 387 not popping up, but I saw a low mileage 377/1 heading into Victoria so I gave chase)
Clapham Junction -> Victoria - 377603
Victoria -> Clapham Junction - 377134/377328/377302 (where I took a moment to buy some food from Sainsburys outside the station)
Clapham Junction -> Basingstoke - 444035/444005 (mainly for the plug sockets under the table for a quick boost of electricity & also there was some dodgy looking characters hanging around Clapham)
Basingstoke -> Andover - 159015/158888
----------
30th March - Ye Olde Black Friar tour
I booked onto this tour when it first got announced as it had some bits and pieces within London I needed, mainly little connections, plus another attempt at visiting Angerstein Wharf (as the first time failed due to a broken track within that area). It was a walk (in daylight!) to the station for the 05:59 service to take me to Woking, 159006 doing the honours, a short session at Woking got me 450099 & 450559 into my TMC with the run to Clapham (with a couple other services IDed for potentially later on). A short session at Clapham before low mileage 455869 popped up, now around half-way to the magic mark with the run to Waterloo. Grabbing some supplies before I headed to the underground with 51577/51588 taken to Embankment followed by 21525/21526 to Blackfriars, the starting point of today’s tour.
Winner 73128 was leading the London Transport 4TC set with 73109 on the rear, I was in the rear coach (featuring an annoying wheel flat). The first destination of the tour was Hayes, setting off towards Denmark Hill, going via Lewisham and then down the branch. With 73109 in charge it was back towards central London, going via the Ladywell spur to run to platform 10 of London Bridge (little connection between the sets of lines scored). Another short break and reversal before 73128 was back in charge for a highlight (for me anyhow) with a trip to Bromley North, however we missed the path due to congestion so went into platform 2, with 466017 departing from platform 1 just as we arrived. Annoying because I need platform 1 and that 466 would have been entered into the TMC with a trip to Grove Park & back, but the connection from the branch to the main-line was now ticked off.
I booked onto this tour when it first got announced as it had some bits and pieces within London I needed, mainly little connections, plus another attempt at visiting Angerstein Wharf (as the first time failed due to a broken track within that area). It was a walk (in daylight!) to the station for the 05:59 service to take me to Woking, 159006 doing the honours, a short session at Woking got me 450099 & 450559 into my TMC with the run to Clapham (with a couple other services IDed for potentially later on). A short session at Clapham before low mileage 455869 popped up, now around half-way to the magic mark with the run to Waterloo. Grabbing some supplies before I headed to the underground with 51577/51588 taken to Embankment followed by 21525/21526 to Blackfriars, the starting point of today’s tour.
Winner 73128 was leading the London Transport 4TC set with 73109 on the rear, I was in the rear coach (featuring an annoying wheel flat). The first destination of the tour was Hayes, setting off towards Denmark Hill, going via Lewisham and then down the branch. With 73109 in charge it was back towards central London, going via the Ladywell spur to run to platform 10 of London Bridge (little connection between the sets of lines scored). Another short break and reversal before 73128 was back in charge for a highlight (for me anyhow) with a trip to Bromley North, however we missed the path due to congestion so went into platform 2, with 466017 departing from platform 1 just as we arrived. Annoying because I need platform 1 and that 466 would have been entered into the TMC with a trip to Grove Park & back, but the connection from the branch to the main-line was now ticked off.
Everybody back on board for the long
run with 73109 going back onto the main-line, via the Lee Spur for a spirited
run via Mottingham and Crayford coming back towards central London via Abbey
Wood and Charlton, taking the freight line of Angerstein Wharf for one of the
lines, getting further than before which was good. 73128 was back in charge,
back towards Charlton (where the train paused to switch back to electric mode),
and onwards towards Dartford & Gravesend, carrying on onto the Medway Valley
line (doing some speed as well). A brief pause at Paddock Wood before carrying
on towards Redhill, however after Tonbridge the train came to a stop. 73128
decided it wanted to pretend to be a 47 and broke down, with 73109 pushing from
the rear, firstly on diesel before switching over to electric. Eventually we
arrived into South Croydon, crossing over into platform 4 to reverse to head
towards Tattenham Corner, arriving into platform 3.
The train staff tried their best to get 73128 back working but it wasn’t to be, so 73109 pushed the train back towards Purley, using the little used connection to arrive onto platform 4, before a nice run towards Herne Hill via Norwood Junction, I decided to bail here, not only was my back hurting from the horrid Mk1 coach seats, but other than a couple little minor bits there wasn’t anything else. The first Victoria service was a pair of 465s both already over the line, so I will summarised my remaining moves:
Herne Hill -> West Hampstead Thameslink – 700011 (would have been cleared at Kentish Town, but I stayed on to West Hampstead as it would have been the same Sutton train, also gave me the option of a Three Bridges or escaping on the NLL)
West Hampstead Thameslink -> London Bridge – 700126
London Bridge –> Purley Oaks – 377605 & 377706 (taken to Purley Oaks to intercept the next northbound service as 703 was floating around earlier)
Purley Oaks –> East Croydon – 377708 & 377702
East Croydon –> Purley Oaks – 377703 & 377626 (all the 377/7s now in the TMC)
Purley Oaks -> London Bridge – 377607 & 377601 (A nice surprise, only one more 377/6 left to locate for the TMC and that is already at 9 miles so if it pops up on a stopper it won’t take that long to do
London Bridge -> Waterloo East - 465922 & 465933 (2 units which were on sub mile leaps so a small boost)
Waterloo -> Clapham Junction – 455873 & 455865 (another Red devil bites the dust)
Clapham Junction -> Woking - 450548 & 450041 (one of the 450s I saw earlier in the day, the other I missed due to going to Croydon on those 377s)
Woking -> Basingstoke – 450569 & 444017 (first time having a 444+450 combo)
Basingstoke -> Grateley – 159103 & 159005
Overall a rather good little tour, a couple required 73s plus some little odds & sods in London.
The train staff tried their best to get 73128 back working but it wasn’t to be, so 73109 pushed the train back towards Purley, using the little used connection to arrive onto platform 4, before a nice run towards Herne Hill via Norwood Junction, I decided to bail here, not only was my back hurting from the horrid Mk1 coach seats, but other than a couple little minor bits there wasn’t anything else. The first Victoria service was a pair of 465s both already over the line, so I will summarised my remaining moves:
Herne Hill -> West Hampstead Thameslink – 700011 (would have been cleared at Kentish Town, but I stayed on to West Hampstead as it would have been the same Sutton train, also gave me the option of a Three Bridges or escaping on the NLL)
West Hampstead Thameslink -> London Bridge – 700126
London Bridge –> Purley Oaks – 377605 & 377706 (taken to Purley Oaks to intercept the next northbound service as 703 was floating around earlier)
Purley Oaks –> East Croydon – 377708 & 377702
East Croydon –> Purley Oaks – 377703 & 377626 (all the 377/7s now in the TMC)
Purley Oaks -> London Bridge – 377607 & 377601 (A nice surprise, only one more 377/6 left to locate for the TMC and that is already at 9 miles so if it pops up on a stopper it won’t take that long to do
London Bridge -> Waterloo East - 465922 & 465933 (2 units which were on sub mile leaps so a small boost)
Waterloo -> Clapham Junction – 455873 & 455865 (another Red devil bites the dust)
Clapham Junction -> Woking - 450548 & 450041 (one of the 450s I saw earlier in the day, the other I missed due to going to Croydon on those 377s)
Woking -> Basingstoke – 450569 & 444017 (first time having a 444+450 combo)
Basingstoke -> Grateley – 159103 & 159005
Overall a rather good little tour, a couple required 73s plus some little odds & sods in London.
March in Numbers
4485 miles covered
4 new units scored (4 x 802)
5 new locos (2x 59, 2x 73, 1x 92) plus 1 steam engine
12 stations revisited
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