24th – 26th January, Another trip to Merseyside
This trip came about when the Branch Line Society announced
their latest tour in conjunction with Merseyrail, an early farewell to the
507/8s covering the 7 terminals of the Merseyrail network in 7 hours. It picked my interest as it covered the stock
interchange line (between James Street & Central), plus did the rarer used
platforms at West Kirby & New Brighton, the tour was reasonably priced,
with reasonable prices charged for hotels in the area (selecting on a place
near Bootle on grounds that it was close to the station) and the tickets from
London were standard price.
Originally the idea was to be home on the Friday night,
heading up to London on the Saturday, but I didn’t fancy the magical mystery
tour via Staines, so I ended up making use of a Travelodge sale to book a night
at the Travelodge in Hounslow, close to Hounslow Central LU station.
24th January – South Western Railway land
With the Friday evening in London, I had several ideas, in
the end deciding on a good clear-out of my remaining SWR stations within
London, plus a little trip towards Effingham Junction as I needed a couple
stations in that area, and it is slightly easier in the peak time (as off-peak
the connections at Effingham Junction are a bit poor).
The day began with the 14:59 service from Grateley (158880,
159004 & 159012), running a few minutes late, to take me to Basingstoke,
followed by 220027 for the run to Reading (managed to get a seat on this busy
voyager), where I made a tight connection to 800311 on the London bound to take
me to Paddington. It was down to the
Bakerloo with 3247/3547 taken to Waterloo (I had time to spare so didn’t bother
changing at Baker Street, besides I had a seat). Next up was over to platform 1 for a Dorking
bound service (455710/455851) to take me to Epsom, this is one of the peak-time
services which skips a couple stations between Raynes Park & Epsom, and I
believe the first time I’ve gone south from Ewell West, the previous times I’ve
come north.
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| A voyager at Reading |
At Epsom, I stepped back a Horsham bound service, to board a
Guildford bound Southern service (377302, 377325 & 377144) to take me to Bookham
where my planned linear fester of 5 minutes turned into 20 minutes due to
delays caused by congestion. Eventually
the Effingham Junction bound service (456023, 455905 & 455852) arrived to
take me the one stop to Effingham Junction, where due to the timetable having a
lot of padding arrived only 5 minutes late (timetabled to sit outside the
station to allow a fast Portsmouth train to pass). I managed to make the connection to the next
Waterloo via Cobham service (455708 & 455706) which took me to Oxshott.
Thirty minutes later, the next Waterloo bound service
arrived (455719 & 455714) which I took to Surbiton, where I bailed for the
sole reason for needing the toilet.
Unusually this service went into platform 2, but lost time due to being
stuck behind a late running stopper from Hampton Court, so I actually beat it
to Clapham Junction with the service from Basingstoke (450092, 450003 &
450072). At Clapham Junction I walked
over to the Windsor line side, awaiting the next Windsor service (707022 &
707029) to take me to Feltham, giving me a chance to look at the new
platform extensions over the former level crossing. 707021 & 707017 were up next to take me
back to Whitton, returning to Feltham on 455729 & 455854.
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| No more short platforms at Feltham, a few months ago this was a level crossing |
Next up was 707007 & 707008 to take me to Syon Lane
(with a long walk between platforms due to the old entrance being upgraded with
a lift), 707024 on its own back one stop to Isleworth, before 450099
& 450090 to Brentford and an extended fester before 707010 &
707025 took me to Hounslow, to complete SWR within the zones. A gentle walk towards Hounslow town centre
saw me swinging via a Tesco Express for some supplies, before checking into the
Travelodge. I was tempted to head back
out for a little jolly to Heathrow but decided against it as the temperature
was a bit chilly.
Overall a productive Friday, for station revisiting with my
camera, the weather was kind with no rain, the Travelodge is reasonable, a bit
of road noise but well located for the Piccadilly Line, with a few nearby bus
routes.
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25th January – Another day in Merseyside
The idea for today was to continue my station revisiting in
Merseyside, focusing on the Northern line plus the Northern services served by
DMUs which I couldn’t do a couple weeks ago due to engineering works. It was a later start compared to previous
weeks (booked on the 09:07 service from Euston), so I was out of the hotel for
around 07:00, a short walk to Hounslow Central station before taking a seat on
Piccadilly line set 173/242 for the run to Green Park, followed by
11061/11062 on the Victoria line to Euston.
At Euston I had time to visit Sainsburys to pick up breakfast, before
waiting for the Liverpool train to start boarding.
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| London Underground at dawn |
I took a seat in coach C on 390126, for this was booked on
the mobile version of the old Virgin Trains website which didn’t have a seat selector,
so it ignored my request for a table and put me into an airline aisle seat, and
relaxed for the speedy run towards Lime Street, the train getting busy at Crewe
due to a couple London Northwestern 350s running hopelessly late (I think one
ended up being turned at Stafford, the next at South Parkway and another at
Crewe). Arrival at Lime Street was
pretty much bang on time, allowing me time to pick up my lunch and also a
Saveaway (making sure I got it from the Northern ticket office to avoid having
to pay extra to put it on a smartcard).
First up was a TfW Rail service to take me to South Parkway,
158831, mainly to complete a bit more coverage of the TfW Rail network by TfW
services (I believe from memory the only major bit outstanding is Wolverhampton
to Crewe via Stafford), also this was to avoid overcrowding of the next stopper
(due to the 350 starting from South Parkway).
At South Parkway I decided to head over to the Merseyrail platforms and
took 507015 one stop to Hunts Cross, mainly for a time wasting move, before
150121 rolled in to take me to Hough Green.
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| A pair of 150s rush through Hunts Cross |
A nice gentle interchange here, and onto a couple minute
late running 150137 & 150144 to take me to Mossley Hill, where I
broke into a fast walk, dodging the various broken paving stones and walked to West
Allerton, these two stations are on that list of being underneath wires but
only served by DMUs. 150135 & 150148
were up next to take me to Halewood where my fester was extended due to
the next stopper running late (for it was held at Oxford Road for 10 minutes due
to the late running EMR service from Nottingham to depart first). A choice overheard comment that the train
“was crowded” from a group when 150131 rolled in (yes it was busy, but barely a
quarter full, they were unhappy the better seats had gone, leaving the airline
seats with little legroom). I bailed
from this 150 at Hunts Cross, making my way over to the Merseyrail platform,
where for ease of writing I will do my moves in a summary.
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| Station building at Aigburth |
Hunts Cross -> Aigburth, 508117
Aigburth -> Brunswick: 508124
Brunswick -> Seaforth & Litherland: 507019 (little mileage boost for this
sub mile unit)
Seaforth & Litherland -> Sandhills: 508120
Sandhills -> Kirkby: 508131
Kirkby -> Rainford: 150134 (where my fester was
extended due to the next Kirkby service running late)
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| Rainford Station |
Rainford -> Kirkby: 150275
Kirkby -> Rice Lane: 507004 (where I headed to the road
for another fast walk)
Orrell Park -> Maghull: 507025
Maghull -> Old Roan: 508126 (The little tesco
express nearby isn’t the easiest to reach!)
Old Roan -> Aughton Park: 507026
Aughton Park -> Town Green: 508115
Town Green -> Aughton Park: 508115
Aughton Park -> Moorfields: 507026
Moorfields -> Bootle Oriel Road: 507027
I left the network, to get myself checked into the hotel I
selected, it was quite reasonable inside (a bit of money has clearly been spent
on new carpets and other interior fittings), but the area wasn’t the nicest to
walk around. I had planned for 30
minutes, but it took me slightly longer as I wasn’t in any rush as I knew the
two low mileage units were due to come back north. Unlike the other lines which drop to 2tph
after around 7pm, the Southport line keeps 4tph until the close of play.
Bootle Oriel Road -> Freshfield: 508124
Freshfield -> Formby: 507027
Formby -> Hillside: 507019
Hillside -> Ainsdale: 508117
Ainsdale -> Birkdale: 507015 (last Merseyrail
served station to revisit!)
Birkdale -> Southport: 507012
Southport -> Meols Cop: 150116 (last Merseyside
Northern station to revisit, easier this time of night
Meols Cop -> Southport: 150273 & 150108
Southport -> Waterloo: 508123
Waterloo -> Hall Road: 508124
Hall Road -> Bootle Oriel Road: 508120
And on arrival at Bootle Oriel Road, it was a gentle walk
back to the hotel, where I put my phone on charge, backed up the many
photographs over WiFi, had a nice shower and relaxed for the remainder of the
evening. Reflecting on a very productive
day clearing Merseyrail and also the Northern stations covered by the Saveaway. 3 more units also were cleared for ten miles
which was a nice bonus.
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| Bootle Oriel Road, behind the lift tower is the overgrown North Mersey Line towards Aintree (and lines towards the docks) |
26th January – BLS Merseyrail Overground &
Underground Explorer
The day began with the first southbound service from Bootle
Oriel Road, formed of 507027 to take me to Liverpool Central, where I
discovered a Sainsburys Local located pretty much outside, so that saved me a
walk to Tesco Express. I headed to the
Wirral line platform, turning down the first couple services, boarding 507023
to take me to Birkenhead North, where the tour was starting from (using the
rarely used platform 1).
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| Retirement party for 508134! |
I was in coach A, and other than coach letters it was a free
for all, so I ended up in the aisle seat of a bay (giving both myself and the
quiet person sat opposite legroom). Soon
to be retired* 508134 and 507001 were the two units heading out on tour today.
(*this unit run out of time before needing an exam, which isn’t being
authorised by Merseytravel due to the 777s, today was the last day in service). The train departed heading towards Liverpool,
the first stop being Lime Street to pick up remaining passengers, before a
spirited run towards Chester, pausing at Hooton for a photo stop (also for a
pathing stop as it had caught up with the previous Chester service). Onwards to Chester, where it was a visit to
the toilets and a reversal back to Hooton, before another reversal saw the
train head to Ellesmere Port, the doors not being released due to limited time
allowed.
507001 was leading the train back towards Hooton, and then
for a nice non-stop run towards the city centre, and after the tunnel under the
Mersey took the connection towards platform 2 at James Street, and continued
towards Liverpool Central via the Stock interchange line, a little highlight
for me. A brief pause on platform 2 at
Liverpool Central, before it was a trip to Hunts Cross, crossing over before
the station to use platform 2 (on the main-line, rather than the bay), before
another quick reversal before going underneath the city and out to Kirkby.
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| 508134 at Liverpool Central Platform 2 |
Another quick reversal at Kirkby, and it was a trip to the
Sandhills reversing siding and a run to Southport, where we caught up with the
previous Southport bound service around Freshfield. A well earnt lunch break was had at Southport
before it was back onto the units for a trip back towards the Sandhills
Reversing Siding and a trip to Ormskirk to complete the Northern Line. Back towards Liverpool and as the tour train
was put out in front of a Hunts Cross service at Sandhills junction which meant
some confusion during the reversal at Liverpool Central to head back to James
Street and onto the Wirral lines, and onward to West Kirby using platform 2. Another reversal took the tour back to
Birkenhead North, pausing beyond the station to reverse, passing the station
once more to head to New Brighton (using platform 1). One final reversal saw the tour arrive back
at Birkenhead North, into platform 1, pretty much 7 hours after departing.
When I booked this trip, I decided to book on the 19:47
service to Euston, mainly because it was cheaper than the 18:47 service, and
mainly because the 18:47 service didn’t really give a nice connection to a
diverted 159 (IIRC it gave 16 minutes, which is doable if the train is on time,
but would mean a fast walk, sadly going via Reading wasn’t an option as the
connection at Basingstoke was poor). With
being on the 19:47 it gave me a chance to see what units was floating around on
the Chester/Ellesmere Port services, so it was a busy 507007 to Hamilton
Square, where I noticed a low mileage 507 on the Ellesmere Port bound, working
out it would be clear for ten miles with Green Lane to Lime Street, so it gave
me some flexibility. Onwards to James
Street (via the loop) on 507029, followed by another spin around the loop on
508128 before 507030 took me to Rock Ferry where I had a +3 to board low
mileage 507009 for the run to Lime Street, taking me needs to 3x 507
& 4x508s, as I’m back in the area in April hopefully it should narrow some
more of these down before they get retired.
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| 507001 at Southport |
Anyhow, back to Lime Street, it was time for some dinner,
before boarding a lightly loaded 390044 for the run back to London, it only
really got busy at Crewe. At Waterloo I
decided not to mess around with Thameslink tonight, and went straight to the
underground with 51702/51508 taken to Waterloo, where I made use of some spare
time to pick up some tickets for future travels (with the appearance of one of
those TVM scammers who “needs a couple quid” to get home [where they bring up
the ticket they want in the hope someone gives them money, only to cancel the
transaction to pocket the money], sadly mate I don’t think a 1-6 travelcard at
23:15 is the most wise ticket to try and select. At least be blunt and ask for money, rather
than trying to scam it from other people.
Anyhow rant over, and the units for the 23:47 arrived, with 159107 &
159102 taking me home, arriving around 01:38 due to the service going via Staines,
and also being that oddity which calls at Farnborough & Fleet.
Needless to say on the Monday, I was a bit of a zombie in
the afternoon when at work, the tour was worth it for the novelty of going
non-stop through many of the Merseyrail stations, plus the non-preferred
platforms and the stock interchange line on a cheap railtour. Also a nice way to say an early farewell to
the old Merseyrail stock before they slowly disappear when the new stock comes
into full service.
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| Not the best time to be arriving home on a work-night! |
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