25th - 27th October - Glasgow/SPT Daytripper Area (and London)

26^th October – A SPT Daytripper day

The SPT Daytripper is a scratch card ticket from the Glasgow area, covering a wide area for train & bus travel, for the price it is good value for money.  When I was throwing together a rough plan for this trip it was mainly to focus on platforms, but the shift changed to photos within the main idea (as there was a couple fixed moves at the end of the day).

The day began arriving into Glasgow Central on the sleeper, pretty much on time (maybe a minute or two late), which gave me time to warm up (as the seated coach has AC set for a Spanish summer, for it be freezing, made worse with the air vents for the AC being at arm level below the windows.  I grabbed some breakfast, picked up my daytripper from the ticket office and because I had planned for a short delay, I could take 156430 for the run to Kilmarnock for a photo, returning on the same unit to Kilmarus.  156456 & 156476 were up next to take me back the couple miles to Kilmarnock where they split up with only 156476 carrying on towards Stranraer.  I always forget how nice this line is, the run alongside the water around Troon before going into hills after Ayr.  I alighted from the 156 at Girvan, making a tight connection to 156510 working the opposite direction, which was good as I was an hour ahead of schedule (as I had planned not to have made that connection and have an hour in Girvan).

156 at Girvan

156510 took me northwards, back towards Ayr going via platform 4 and onwards to Troon, where I changed platforms for 380010 & 380021 to take me back towards Newton on Ayr, a short wait before 380003 rolled in from Ayr to take me to the quiet Prestwick International Airport station where I was the only person alighting with nobody boarding (a group did alight from the next train mind).  A short wait here before 380006 & 380018 rolled in to take me back the half mile to Prestwick Town, where it was another short wait (timed passed with the appearance of a rail cleaning machine) before 380018 & 380006 returned from Ayr to take me to Irvine, pushing 380006 over ten miles clearing the class (woohoo!).  380112 was up next to take me to Barassie where I had a short connection to board 380107 to Glengarnock, returning to Kilwinning on 380115, sadly it was a couple minutes late so missed the connection to the next Largs – Glasgow service, meaning it was onto 380015 for the run back to Glasgow Central.

View from the footbridge at Prestwick Town

No rest for the wicked as it was a short walk over to 156504 on the next Kilmarnock service which was fast to Dunlop for a platform score with 156439 taken back towards Barrhead changing over to 156474 on a stopper for a station photograph.  Time to grab some lunch before heading to the low level station for 320404 to take me to Carmyle where I made a tight connection but sadly like Mills Hill the week before the picture was a bit rubbish so I will need to revisit again for a photograph.   320416 was up next to take me to Dalmarnock where it was a short platform change onto 318266/318254 to Rutherglen, mainly as a time wasting move before boarding a late running 320314 bound for Milngavie.  I was expecting this service to be turned short due to late running, but to my surprise it was allowed to continue (with the service half an hour later cancelled).  I alighted at the platform score of Bearsden (sadly no bears were spotted in their den), with a short wait for 334035 to take me one stop up the line to Hillfoot returning to Westerton on the return of 320314.

A short fester at Westerton before 320416 rolled in to take me to Hyndland, followed shortly by 334035 to High Street and 320311 to Bell Grove, returning to High Street as a time wasting move on 334015 before boarding 318258 to Duke Street where I had a gentle walk along the road to Alexandra Parade to reboard 318258 when it returned from Springburn, two more platforms scored and it was back to Glasgow Queen Street, where I headed to the Euro Hostel to check myself in, getting a free upgrade from a basic room with shared bathroom to an en-suite room on the top floor, happy days! (Not bad for £18 a night when booking via the website directly).

I spy with my little eye...

After dropping off some from my bag, it was a case of swinging via Tesco for dinner before heading back to Glasgow Central, where I changed my idea of doing a fast to Kilwinning 380 to get a couple annoyances done, so it was onto a Largs bound 380011 to Johnstone returning to Paisley Gilmour Street on 380018 & 380006 before heading back towards Johnstone, but staying on one more stop to Milliken Park and a 25 minute fester.  There is a nice waiting shelter, and I was joined shortly by some 16-18 year old girls who decided it would be a good idea to start smoking when inside the shelter, selfish youngsters (at least if you are going to smoke, do it outside, it wasn’t like it was raining as this part of the country escaped the heavy rains which flooded other parts).

380021 & 380010 rolled in eventually to take me to Paisley Gilmour Street, where I made a tight connection to a busy 320303 on a Wemyss Bay stopper to take me to Bishopton for a short wait for 380007 to take me to Cartsdyke returning east on 380019 to Langbank where I had a short wait at this quiet station (with has good views of the River Clyde and the lights of Dumbarton on the north bank) before 380022 rolled in to take me to Inverkip, returning a short time later to Port Glasgow which made Hamilton seem tame in terms of drunken behaviour by youngsters who couldn’t decide if they wanted the Wemyss Bay train or not (in the end departure was around 7 minutes down), a station which could do with having security.

Anyhow I took a seat in the motor coach of 318261 for the run to Wemyss Bay, this being one of the handful of trains which is booked to use platform 1 (rather than the more usual platform 2), and the first time I’ve seen a 318 operating these services.

Platform 1 at Wemyss Bay, Tick!

After a short turnaround it was back to Port Glasgow to await 380022 for the run to Gourock (bumping into Jack heading to his hotel in Cartsdyke after a day to Roy Bridge), this is one of the few services which is booked to use platform 2 at Gourock, as the preferred platforms are either 1 or 3, so it was another rare platform score.  Faced with an hour to wait before the next (and final) Glasgow bound train, I decided to go for a gentle walk towards Fort Matilda mainly for a station photograph as it would mean I wouldn’t have to return to these parts for station photos [although I wouldn’t mind revisiting again in the hours of daylight].

Platform 2 at Gourock, Tick

A nice time spent in the quiet at Fort Matilda before 380013 rolled in from Gourock to take me back to Glasgow Central, calling all stations, but thankfully the WiFi (and plug socket) was working well, and as this was one the last arrivals into Glasgow Central any passengers were told to use a side gate as the other entrances were locked up for the night.  Bit odd seeing the departure screens at Glasgow Central being blank, no more arrivals showing nor any departures, but the end of a successful day.

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27^th October – A Roundabout

After a good inverkip at the hostel (benefit of being on the top floor is the road noise is reduced), I was soon out and about, grabbing breakfast before heading to Glasgow Central purchasing a Roundabout.  Today was going to be unplanned but with a rough idea where to head for, as it was to platform 1 for an empty 380103 to take me to Williamwood where evidence of the long closed chord from the East Kilbride line is clear to see with an old bridge by the roadside.

Old Railway Bridge (Clarkston Chord)

I wasn’t around for long before 320303 rolled up to take me back one stop to Muirend where I changed platforms (after a couple pictures) before getting shocked when 314209 rolled in.  I wasn’t expecting to see a 314 out in this area on a Sunday, I was surprised with the 320 as I was picturing this line to be all 380s today.  A nice surprise as it meant a decent farewell to the 314s with the run to the end of the line at Neilston and the usual 25 minute wait before the same unit departs back to Glasgow, the unit returned from the turnback siding allowing passengers to take a seat, but it was a bit chilly, especially with the doors wide open.

314209 at Neilston

Soon the 314 departed getting up to some speed on the fast run towards Glasgow, and I decided to alight at Crosshill (annoyed that I could have probably bailed at Cathcart and had a fast walk to Kings Park), with a short wait before 380103 rolled in to take me to Burnside where I popped to a nearby Tesco for lunch before returning to the island platform for the 380 to return from Newton to take me back towards Kings Park.  A short fester here before 314209 popped up again to take me to Kirkhill where I decided to take a little walk to Cambuslang rather than hanging around for the 314 to return.  I decided to turn down a Motherwell bound service via Hamilton (for Blantyre) for 318252 to take me to Uddingston where I had a short fester before winner 385119 to roll in from Edinburgh to take me the 8 and a half miles back to Glasgow Central, annoyingly it now appears on my “sub 10 mile” list, but that will be a job for another day.

Back at Glasgow Central I had a tight connection onto a Kilmarnock bound 156499 to take me to Priesthill & Darnley where I crossed over (not the nicest of platform to platform changes here!) with 156435 taken one stop back to Kennishead, where I had a gentle walk along the road to reach Thornliebank as it will save a job for another day.  A busy 156514 rolled in from East Kilbride to take me to Crossmyloof where once more I set off on another gentle walk towards Pollokshields East via Pollokshields West (with its 3 totem poles!).  314209 returned me to Glasgow Central as I had another tight connection to board 380021 on the Gourock bound to take me to Paisley St James, sadly this is where things went wrong as I noticed on RTT the inbound TPE had been cancelled at Carlisle, so instead of bailing from 380101 at Hillingdon East for a half hour fester I took it to Glasgow Central to see what the boards were announcing as I was booked on a TPE service to Preston, then a Virgin service to London (mainly done on grounds of cost, and to say farewell to the 350s on TPE).

Train in the Pollokshields East area

After grabbing supplies from Tesco, I returned noticing that underneath the cancelled TPE it had “use Virgin trains for connections” which was good news for me as it saved messing around, so once the queue for the delayed 14:35 service cleared, I went towards the front for the 15:35 service and headed straight towards coach U to get a prime seat for the long run to London. 390151 would be the unit taking me south tonight.  It got quite busy after Carlisle and where it did empty out at Preston the people on my table were all in it for the long run, a nice fast run as well as this is fast from Warrington.  Slowed down a bit around Crewe due to a late running service from Liverpool (which was looped at Stafford), but overall an enjoyable run.

Due to engineering works the line around Surbiton was closed, so the fastest way home for me was to go via Reading (as half the Salisbury trains were starting at Basingstoke with nice connections to the XC, half were coming from London with frankly poor connections at Basingstoke), so it was to Euston Square (I still think it can be quicker going Euston – Oxford Circus – Paddington, even with the change at Oxford Circus), where I got lucky as the first train was Hammersmith bound 21409/21410 which took me to Paddington.  A quick scan of the platforms highlighted nothing of interest, so after grabbing something from Sainsburys is was to 165101 on an Oxford semi-fast, which was quite busy on departure.

"Say Mr Turbo, can you remember the HSTs?"

A good run to Reading, where it was a short wait before 165124 took me to Basingstoke and a short walk before boarding 159016 & 159014 to take me to Andover, where I drove home.  In the schemes of things I got lucky as the network had collapsed (the next Salisbury train was around half an hour late).  Once home, I sorted out my bag and had a relaxing half hour before bed, a successful weekend for both my platform & stations needed for photographs list.

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25^th October – The Rail to Glasgow

It was another Friday evening trip to London, once more I seeked out information on what services my last 3, 321s were working (along with a 317 which had returned to service after being modified), although my luck wasn’t in as only one of the 3 were out (but in a way lucky as the other 2 are the modified units so should be around a bit longer).

Due to issues outside Waterloo, the 14:05 from Andover was terminating at Basingstoke (159015), where it was a short wait for the next Waterloo bound service (the next Reading stopper had been cancelled, and I didn’t fancy waiting around for the XC as platform 4 looked very busy).  444005 & 444044 took me to Waterloo, where I was surprised it didn’t call additionally at Woking, but due to the limited platforms it did arrive around 15 minutes late, so my idea of swinging via Stratford went out of the window, instead it was to the Waterloo & City with set 65501/65502 taken to Bank, followed by 91271/92414/92106 & 91137 on the Central line to take me to Liverpool Street.

I wanted to check a couple services as they came from Ilford sidings, but they weren’t off interest, so it was to board 317884 leading 317506 for the run to Shenfield (didn’t expect to be scoring my last active 317 for mileage on the GEML!).  A short fester at Shenfield before I returned to Liverpool Street with 321434 leading 321332 & 321431 which clears my active 321/4 for mileage needs (448 escaped me, but as that hasn’t turned a wheel in service for months I’ve moved it to my long term out of use list).  A quick scan of the TfL Rail platforms flagged up winner 345047 which I took to Romford, for a short fester, jumping to Chadwell Heath on 315830/315851 returning to Romford on 315837 & 315839 before winner 345042 returned from Shenfield to take me to Liverpool Street.

317506 departs Shenfield... Beep Beep Beep

A gentle walk to the underground platforms with 21061/21062 taken to Baker Street, where having discovered the next Bakerloo line service wasn’t for another 14 minutes, I returned to the sub surface line platform for a 8 minute wait for a Hammersmith & City line train to eventually roll in (21333/21334) for the slow trip to Paddington, where I barely made it onto dud 345027 for the run to Ealing Broadway, intercepting winner 345049 on the other diagram, so back to Paddington remaining on board for the run back to Ealing Broadway to push it over ten miles, returning to Paddington on 345027.  Bakerloo line time with 3256/3553 to Charing Cross, and a gentle walk to the mainline station with 375807 & 375820 getting a mileage boost to London Bridge, followed by a run to Orpington on 375620 & 375601, with a short wait before a stopper rolled in from Sevenoaks, as it featured two low mileage networkers I decided to jump on board an empty 466.  465156, 465020 & 466012  took me back to London Bridge, followed by 465036, 466008 & 466001 back to Charing Cross, the 466 getting a little mileage boost.

Due to ‘severe’ delays being reported on the Northern line, I headed to the Bakerloo platforms for 3533/3246 to take me to Oxford Circus, followed by 11093/11094 to Euston (full of delays from earlier issues), where I had a gentle walk over to platform 15 where the lowlander was departing from.  Winner 92043 was up front which put a cherry on the cake, it had been a while since my last required 92 loco, overall a successful day, another 321 bites the dust along with my last active 317 (missed out on 663 & 722, both are at Ely in storage).

92043 at Euston

23rd October – Gerry’s 313 Farewell Railtour

23^rd October – Gerry’s 313 Farewell Railtour

When this tour popped up as available for booking, I booked on it near enough straight away, just to say farewell to the 313s on Great Northern network, as it was a Wednesday  my original idea was to book into a hotel on the Tuesday night to avoid paying out for the full fat fare in the morning (as Grateley – London anytime costs quite a lot), however when my original search highlighted nothing of real benefit (£45 for anything reasonable) I looked into seeing how much the train fare cost, coming away being very surprised that I found some £8.50 advance tickets on the 06:57 service from Grateley which is probably the busiest trains into London (hence why it is 10 coaches), plus returning on the 18:50 service.  For those fares my idea of staying overnight disappeared.

The day rolled round and I was out of the house by 06:35, for a walk in the dark to the station along a busy road, and I took my position at the Salisbury end of the station as the train rolled in a couple minutes late formed of 158880, 158887, 159106 &159001, the rear of the last unit was off the end of the platform so it was entry via the 3^rd unit, but as those doors won’t be released until Basingstoke it is where to go for a better chance of a seat.  The train filled up along the way with my coach being full after Basingstoke where it was a non-stop run towards Waterloo (there is always something nice about running fast through Woking).  With time to kill before needing to be at Kings Cross, I walked over to Waterloo East to board 375619, 375910 & 375909 for the short hop to London Bridge, making my way over to the Thameslink platforms for 700121 to be up first, every little helps with the 3 and a bit mile run to St Pancras, followed by a very slow run to West Hampstead Thameslink on 700024 where due to a broken track near Hendon services were collapsing onto themselves so it was onto a full & standing 700012 back to St Pancras , where after a quick toilet visit I headed over to Kings Cross where the farewell tour was departing from.

313134 was leading 313064 for the tour, one of the driving coaches of 313064 had been done up in Network South East colours, with the centre coach saying “I’ve seen a lot, but my time us up, Thank you for the memories, 1976 – 2019”.  I had the choice of either the low back seats of the 313/1 or the high back seats of the 313/0, deciding to board the 313/1 sitting opposite a gentleman who I can only describe as part of a dying generation (very rude to anybody who was standing in the doors enjoying themselves, very racist & sexist and moaned about pretty much everything).

313064 at Kings Cross

Anyhow back to the tour, it was a nice run towards Welwyn Garden City, a bit slow at times due to following another stopping service, where there was a short photo/toilet stop at the station before the tour continued heading north, the motors making a nice noise on the fast run via Stevenage, slowing down at Hitchin to take the ‘old’ route to the Cambridge line (the crossovers, rather than the flyover), this was to allow a Thameslink service to overtake us, the idea was to go via the reception lines at Letchworth sidings, but that was rejected due to paperwork issues so it was non-stop to Royston for the first reversal of the day.

An unusual view of a 700 heading towards Letchworth via the Hitchin Flyover, long train!

Back towards Hitchin, the units getting up some nice speed, rejoining the ECML and exiting after Stevenage to head onto the Hertford loop for a lunch break at Hertford North.  There was some confusion as the timings had the units going ECS into the sidings but the booklet mentioned “you can stay on for some rare track”.  I believe everybody was forced to alight for the trains to go into the sidings, but for me I had a gentle walk into the town centre, eventually ending up near to Hertford East station for a Tesco (also gave me an excuse to grab a picture of the station so I could tick it off my list).

Back to Hertford North station, and back on board for the run southwards towards Moorgate, via a photo stop at Alexandra Palace and via one of the lines at Hornsey depot, before a trip down the hole, a brief photostop before departing Moorgate for the last time on 313s and into the Hornsey Reversing Siding for a reversal over the flyover passing Finsbury Park for the last time (the driver was very horn happy) and into Kings Cross for the final time.  Felt like an end of an era when I alighted for the last time, but I didn’t hang around due to the crowds so this picture of the units at Moorgate will have to make do.

The final 313s at Moorgate?

 

With a few hours to kill before my booked train home, earlier in the day I asked for gen on my last few 321s, getting good news that 2 should be gettable outright, sadly another couple weren’t gettable (one was first stop Chelmsford, the other didn’t come out to play until half six).  So for me it was a fast walk to the sub surface line platforms to jump on the first available eastbound service, which happened to be 21033/21034 on a Met line service.  At Liverpool Street I made my way over to a Southend service which was 321317 leading 321343 for a short hop to Stratford, returning to Liverpool Street on 345008 to make a nice connection to 321439 leading 321427 for the run back to Stratford, where I had a quick break from the station and headed to the shopping centre for a toilet break.

15 minutes later, I returned with nothing in mind until I noticed heading towards Liverpool Street ECS on P5 was a low mileage 321, so I gave chase with 321446, 321308 & 321429 for the run to Liverpool Street, giving me time to board 321342, 321330 & 321425 for the run back to Stratford, not enough to push 330 over ten miles but meant it was on 8 miles so the next time will simply be a Stratford leap (sadly this service didn’t call at Shenfield).  A short wait at Stratford for any required 345s to be spotted heading towards London before I gave up and headed to North Greenwich on 96046 & 96001, I was pushing 90 minutes so needed to exit the system to avoid getting extra charges.  Besides it allowed me to take a picture of a big tent.

Nobody expected a picture of the O2!

Returning to the station (via the loos), and it was onto a rather busy 96054/96053 to take me to Waterloo, where it was a short wait for my booked train to arrive, for it was late heading inbound, but it was onto 159005 & 159001 where it departed pretty much on time, regaining the bulk of the late running by Woking.  Back to Grateley and a short walk home, the end of a nice day to celebrate the life of the 313s on Great Northern, for it won’t be the same travelling on the ECML without seeing the PEPS floating around

313064 at Herford North, goodbye!

Farewell old faithful.

18 -> 20th October - Manchester Trip

19^th October – A Greater Manchester Wayfarer Day

The idea of this weekend was to do some platform scratches within the GM Wayfarer area, if any required units for mileage popped up it would be a nice bonus.  I was overnight in the Stockport Travelodge, a place I’ve stayed a few times before for it be quite handy for the station (around a 5 minute walk), staying overnight in a room above a pub in South Stockport, near Davenport station.  Also I’ve recently finished going through my pictures taken over the last 6 years to make a note of what stations I need to revisit in order to take a photograph, yes it be a new challenge (just to beat off boredom).  If I remember correctly it is around 1050 stations I need to revisit for pictures, although the majority are in the ‘easy’ pile, i.e. not limited served, and heck around 200 are within Greater London.

It was an early start for the first Manchester service from Stockport, which is a Hazel Grove – Blackpool North service, and unsurprisingly it wasn’t that busy when 319383 rolled in to take me to Salford Crescent, which is where my plan could have gone one or two ways depending if the 319 was on time to go ahead of a Wigan stopper, thankfully it was on time (arrived a minute or so early) so I stepped back to board an empty 142014 for the short bounce to Swinton (Manchester).  In a way I was lucky with the weather as whilst it was a bit chilly it was dry, ideal for a gentle walk towards a certain station which only sees one train a day calling in each direction, Clifton.

The Magical Clifton Station

First time I’ve seen this station in daylight (the last two times I’ve been here has been in darkness) and it is a bit unloved, but quite nice to relax with some bird song.  Eventually the Stalybridge train rolled up, 150271 & 150274 on the honours, and needless to say I was the only passenger boarding and other than a confused looking lady who got off before reboarding (thinking it was Salford) nobody alighted.  I had a decision to risk a minus 1 at Ashton Under Lyne or hang back for half an hour, looking up RTT highlighted a couple late running TPE services which would mean the Manchester Victoria shuttle would most likely be held back a couple minutes so I decided to take the chance to stay on after Victoria to alight at Ashton Under Lyne.  A good decision for later as 150137 rolled in to take me back to Manchester Victoria, this was quite surprising as this service should be two units as they divide at Stalybridge to form the Denton flyer, maybe Northern would see sense and instead split that pair of 150s from earlier...

Nope, it was back towards Ashton and on for the next mile to Stalybridge where the train went into platform 2 (little crossover scored).  The 150 departed towards Stockport with the next Victoria service cancelled (much to the annoyance of the driver & guard who were stuck at Stalybridge with no unit!).  I jumped on a quiet 185141 for the run to Manchester Piccadilly where after a visit to the Sainsburys for breakfast, I headed towards platform 14, jumping on 150128 & 150131 for the hop to Oxford Road, noticing the next train was the Liverpool (via Chat Moss) stopper so it was a change of plan time as I hung back to board a busy 323239 to Earlestown making a 4 minute connection for a Leeds train for the mile back to Newton Le Willows, 142030 & 142038.  (I probably have got my friend Dan mouth watering at the idea of a nice fast run on a pair of pacers as I think these are semi-fast after Victoria).  Funny how I was at Newton Le Willows last weekend, alighting from a brand new 802, but this week was a pair of pacers.  I hung back a few minutes for the Crewe stopper formed of 319373 to take me to Patricroft.

Not a lot around this station, so it was back to Earlestown on 323236 (still feels strange seeing 323s in this part of the network), and I had a mildly fast walk to the Leeds train formed of 156461 which took me to Rochdale, a nice bit of speed along the way.  I walked to platform 4 to board the stopper which was formed of 150209 & 153351 to take me to Mills Hill where in my rush to cross over the temporary footbridge didn’t get a decent picture of the station with 150206 & 153358 taken back to Rochdale before a late running service from Blackburn with a wedged out 142011 taken back to Victoria.  142049 & 142034 took me to Salford Central (needed for a photo) before 150146 & 158859 took me to Salford Crescent before 319371 rolled in on the opposite platform to take me to Piccadilly where I had a short walk to board 150222 for the run towards the Peak District at Buxton.

The main reason for coming to Buxton was to recover the scenic line; the second reason is that there is an hourly service which uses platform 1, so with half an hour I headed to the town centre where I could swear there used to be a Co-Op, but either my memory is playing games or the store has closed since I was last here, so it was to Greggs for lunch, before heading back to the station to board 150141 & 150110 on platform 1.  These units took me to Davenport where I exited the station, walking to the pub I was staying to check myself in, and dropping off some weight.

150s at Buxton

I exit the pub and crossed over the road to board bus 12209 on a route 192 (Hazel Grove Park & Ride to Piccadilly) bus to Stockport, where I boarded 319383 for the leap to Heaton Chapel (needed for a picture), 150126 & 150101 took me a mile to Levenshulme before 150222 returned from Piccadilly to take me to Stockport.  A short fester before 150271 & 150274 took me to Cheadle Hulme before 323233 rolled in to take me to Bramhall where I had a half hour fester before 323227 rolled up to take me to Piccadilly.  I decided to go off-plan (as I was going to head towards Reddish North) but earlier in the day I saw a low mileage 158 working to Chester so I decided to intercept it at Rochdale, so it was to Metrolink with tram 3112 taken to Piccadilly Gardens followed by a walk to Market Street for tram 3113 to take me to Victoria (no direct trams from Piccadilly towards Victoria today due to the Bury line being closed).

At Manchester Victoria I had a short wait before 158906 rolled in to take me to Rochdale, but sadly my luck wasn’t in as it wasn’t 158789 rolling in but 158842 (I believe the former Scottish unit ended up heading towards Blackpool), you win some, you lose some as I took this 158 back to Victoria, changing onto 150127 to Salford Crescent.  For some time wasting I took 150131 & 150128 to Deansgate (mainly for a picture) returning to Salford on 319381 before 156469 took me to Bolton.  The reason for heading to Bolton is that I had news that my last Northern 153 for mileage was working the next Rochdale service, so it would be rude to turn down the former GWR 153380 attached with 150119.  I took this pair of units to Salford, stepping back to board 319386 for the run to Oxford Road, with winner 195115 rolling in a couple minutes behind, so it was a trip to the Airport.

Not a lot around the Airport, so with confirming the Liverpool service was a dud 195, I boarded 319371 on a fast service back to Piccadilly, fighting my way through the crowds to reach a busy Buxton bound 150222 for the run back to Davenport and a gentle walk to the pub.

In terms of units, not the best of days, a 153 for mileage plus a 195 outright (sadly my last 185 was sitting on the depot, and last 3 pacers weren’t in the area, doubt I will get those 3 before they get withdrawn), but for my platforms it looks better for Greater Manchester, getting Clifton out of the way was the main aim as it means I don’t have to stay in Stockport if Macclesfield is cheaper.  Overall I was impressed with the pub room, hardly any outside noise, plus the rooms were quite nice inside, certainly a place I would probably consider staying again.

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20th October – Manchester Sunday

Due to where I was staying being on the main route 192, I had an earlier bus journey into Manchester city centre then to wait around for the first train, so after checking out and making my way to the bus stop for a short wait before bus 12110 rolled up.  I was smart enough to have purchased my wayfarer from Oxford Road the night before, so no issues with getting on the bus for the 35-odd minutes into the streets around Piccadilly.  Not the fastest of bus routes but fast enough due to the quiet streets (I would imagine at peak time this bus would take ages).

A rough idea I had was to head towards the Hope Valley, but my eyes caught on a low mileage 319, one which I turned down the day before and after a mental coin toss decided to board 319374 for the run to Gatley for a photo, before 319382 returned me to Piccadilly, saves having to chase that 319 down later in the day (which was good as it ended up getting cancelled when it reached Liverpool).  At Piccadilly I headed over to platform 1 where the next Sheffield stopping service was getting ready to board, taking a seat in 142058 (which was leading 150114), and to be honest I had forgotten how nice the Hope Valley is for scenery, even outside Manchester via Marple.  Anyhow I remained on board this pacer + sprinter combo to Hope to score the platform.  Nearly getting knocked flying by some prats on bikes that couldn’t push their bikes to the gate at the bottom of the footbridge (and the funny thing is those cyclists were in the car park for ages after the train had gone so it wasn’t like they were in a hurry).

I'm very Hopeful of having a good view

A nice peaceful time before 142028 bounced in from Sheffield, I managed to get a decent seat (for it did get busy after Romiley), but I bailed at Reddish North to score the Manchester bound platform.  A gentle walk out of the station to a nearby bus stop for a delayed route 203 bus (fleet 11267, looked very new), which took me towards Piccadilly via Belle Vue (another slow bus route, but it got me there).

At Manchester Piccadilly I have a couple free hours before my booked Pendo back to London, so after a quick scan of the platforms highlighted nothing of interest, it was to Oxford Road on 158773 & 158813 with the main idea to intercept a 195 from Barrow (which turned out to be not required), however sitting in the bay platform was a low mileage 319 which would be cleared for 10 miles by Salford, so I took a seat on 319378 for the run to Salford Crescent, leaving me with just the one Northern 319 to track down.  A late running service from Blackpool caught my eye as 156426 rolled in, completely wedged out.  I was lucky to get on board for the trip to Oxford Road for due to the Sunday cancellations there were only 3 trains an hour from Bolton towards Manchester.

At Oxford Road, I stepped back to board 185138 to Piccadilly, returning to Oxford Road on 158852 &158780 before heading back to Piccadilly on a late running 350405, just time wasting leaps.  At Piccadilly for the final time I headed to Boots for some food before heading over to join my booked train back to London, the last London train before the advance fares jump (even when booking as soon as the tickets become available, there is a notable jump in fares after the 14:15 service.  390155 would be my ride back to London where it was an uneventful trip, I think arriving pretty much on time.

With some time to kill before the next Andover train (I guess in theory I could have rushed for the 16:45 service), I headed to Highbury & Islington on 11079/11080 making a connection onto 378142 for the run to Rotherhithe, 378213 took me forward to Surrey Quays followed by 378140 to Clapham Junction, where after tapping out I jumped onto 444044 & 444013 for the run to Basingstoke as due to engineering works the diesels were turning back at Andover so it was a train of unknown length, and I didn’t fancy standing on a single 159 to Basingstoke!  A short fester at Basingstoke before 158886 & 158881 arrived to take me the final 18 and half miles to Andover, where after swinging via the local pizza shop I drove home.

Overall a successful weekend for my platform requirements, Greater Manchester is now complete, just need to revisit some of the stations for pictures, but that is a job for next year.

Pacer at Reddish

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18^th October - The Road to Stockport

The Friday was another day in London and another at Liverpool Street as I attempted to make a dent into my low mileage 321s, this time I was armed with gen to create a rough idea, sadly a couple of the units were first stop Chelmsford so were written out (after all you can’t use Oyster at Chelmsford!), but I decided to focus on those unmodified sub 6 miles units (as they will probably get redrawn first).  Like with previous weeks I was going via Reading, but this time I was aimed with news of a required 802 on a service from Bedwyn.

After driving to Andover, I managed to catch a late running semi-fast service, formed of 159004 & 159104 to take me non-stop to Basingstoke (where it had its stops at Woking & Clapham ripped out afterwards), a short wait before 165106 rolled up to take me to Reading where I made use of some time to buy something from Boots in the old station before heading to board winner 802002 from Bedwyn. It was held back for a late running service from Bristol to storm through without stopping, but regained the time due to these services still being timed for 90mph turbos (it was around 5 minutes early before getting held at Airport Junction for a Heathrow Express).

Once at Paddington it was a short walk to the Bakerloo platforms for 3254 & 3541 to take me to Baker Street before 21025/21026 on the Metropolitan line to Liverpool Street (in all fairness there is not much in the timings due to the slowness of the services from Hammersmith to Baker Street).  At Liverpool Street I went to ID an unknown service before boarding winner 345044 for the run to Ilford, not enough to push it over 10 miles but 7 and a bit miles was slightly better than 4 miles to Stratford.  315851 & 315819 took me back to Liverpool Street, where I had a gentle walk over to board 321402 leading 321314 & 321410 for the run to Shenfield, returning to Liverpool Street on a non-stop service with 321440, 321344 & 321337.

Trains at Liverpool Street

I headed out of the station to get something from Tesco, before returning for 321361 & 321365 to take me to Stratford to allow me to intercept 345044 from earlier to take it over the ten mile line with the run to Liverpool Street followed by a little hop to Stratford on 321434 & 321338, not enough to push this 321 over ten miles but puts it on 8 so every little helps.  Back to Liverpool Street on 321438 & 321429 where I headed over to the Central Line with 91199/92174/92118/91167 taken to Tottenham Court Road (due to many delays on LU lines), with 51662/51661 taken to Euston on the Northern Line.

With time to kill at Euston, I headed to the DC line platforms with winner 710267 taken for the 3 miles to Kilburn High Road, returning to Euston on another winner in the shape of 710261, although both will go on the “sub 5 mile” list, it killed hanging around Euston for 45 minutes.  My booked train was just started to be boarded with 390011 boarded for the fast(ish) run towards Stockport, making an additional call at Nuneaton [did someone at Milton Keynes mix Manchester up with Liverpool again?].  A bit of slow running where it arrived around 15 minutes late, so it was first stop Travelodge, dumping my bags and having a nice shower.

Overall a good little evening, one more 345 into my book, 2 more 321s over ten miles with a 3^rd given a mileage boost, could have been better but could have been worse.

345044 departs Ilford