23rd February – A mostly unplanned spin to Greater Anglia

23^rd February – A spin to Greater Anglia

I have no idea what I was looking for on RTT when I noticed the 09:00 Cambridge – Ipswich service on Sundays was booked to use the platform 1 loop at Dullingham (where it had a book wait for a Cambridge service to pass), normally the only other booked use of this loop (where trains pass) is early morning on a weekday.  However with this knowledge in mind I formed a rough plan for a Sunday trip to Greater Anglia, the downside meant needing to be on the 07:10 service from Liverpool Street towards Stansted Airport for a Norwich service (alternative was something like the 06:55 from Kings Cross which calls everywhere, but that wasn’t running due to engineering works).

Liverpool Street, strangely quiet at 06:40 on a Sunday morning!

This early start from Liverpool Street on a Sunday limited options at where to stay, in the end I picked a hostel near Kings Cross (which as per the Saturday writings wasn’t the best nights).  The day began waiting for a route 205 bus service towards Liverpool Street (bus 12333) where I sourced breakfast from McDonalds before heading to board an earlier Stansted Airport service, 379011 & 379004 for a speedy trip to Stansted Airport, although along the way I discovered that due to overrunning engineering works between Ipswich & Stowmarket the first Ipswich – Cambridge & return services had been cancelled so my plan for the day went in the bin.  Ah well those things happen as some would say.

At Stansted I had a quick walk around to waste some time before winner 755336 rolled in, the only thing I dislike about these new units is the fixed armrest by the window, which for me is useless and would be so much better if they could be lifted out of the way, especially when the window sill is quite wide.  Anyhow with a quick plan with RTT on the way from Stansted I came up with a rough new plan, staying on this 755 all the way to Norwich, they certainly made light work of the line between Ely & Norwich and unless you are sat near the power carriage it is very quiet.

The Norwich Train at Stansted Airport

I decided to pick up some supplies for an early lunch, noting the changes to the little Co-Op shop on the station before boarding winner 755423 on the next Sheringham stopping service for the run to Sheringham, making use of the dwells at Cromer to grab some pictures of the station to allow me to tick both off, to save a job for another visit.  My rough idea when back in Norwich was to wait for the next Cambridge service to take it to Ely to head back on myself for Brandon & Thetford, however when the 755 arrived back at Norwich my eyes noticed that the next Shenfield service (engineering works) was formed of a 745.  A quick play on RTT and I threw together another new plan to recover a station I missed out on earlier, so it was onto winner 745007 for the speedy run to Stowmarket.  My first impression is that these things can certainly shift, interior wise pretty much the same as a 755 bi-mode, but with a buffet counter.

The Bond Electro-Flirt departing Stowmarket

Alighting from the 745 at Stowmarket, I crossed over the footbridge to board winner 755404 on the next Cambridge service to alight at Bury St Edmunds giving me time to grab something to eat from the Tesco (and also for something cold to drink as the water in my bag was quite warm) before heading back to board (winner) 755422 for the run to Ely, where once more my plans changed as the next Norwich service was showing as cancelled, so I decided to call it a day with winner 755409 for the run to Cambridge North, transferring over to 379003 & 379024 on the Liverpool Street semi-fast service (board at the start, better selection of seats).  I remained on these 379s to Broxbourne, changing over to a Stratford bound 317348 & 317340 as I fancied a trip on the Jubilee line (and had time to kill).

At Stratford, it was a battle through the weekend crowds to reach the Jubilee line with 96058/96109 taken to Waterloo, followed with 159002 & 158886 on the 18:45 Salisbury local service (was meant to be going on to Yeovil Pen Mill, but was cut back at Salisbury due to driver shortage, and I was impressed with the guard gathering number of passengers travelling beyond Westbury for rail replacement taxi/buses).

Once home, I had an early night as two long days without much sleep had taken my energy out (must be getting older), today wasn’t a waste as I got 5 more 755s plus a 745 into my book, along with revisiting a small handful of stations for photographs.  My idea for Dullingham loop will go back onto the “things to look into” pile.  I will leave you with a picture of a classical 37 hiding behind the wall at Norwich, because who doesn’t like a tractor?

37402, remembering the time last year it went to Windsor & Eden Central