31st – 2nd February, Staying Local (ish)

31^st – 2^nd February, Staying Local (ish)

The idea for this weekend was to stay local(ish) and focus on revisiting stations in this general area, no overnight trips nor any long distance services.

31^st January – Thames Valley Branches

I was down to only needing the intermediate stations on both Henley & Marlow branches, after knocking off the other stations over the last few months, originally I had the idea of doing these as part of a Thames Valley Day Ranger trip, but as my requirements for units is only one 802 plus several 345s I decided it probably wouldn’t be the best use, playing with the BR Fares website highlighted it would also be cheaper to do the branches on a day return, taking advantage of the peak time additional Maidenhead – Bourne End services (Henley is half hourly most of the day).

So to the trains, and a walk to Grateley, finding the TVM was broken (screen completely blank, like it lost power), so it was a case of buying my first ticket from the guard when they came round, with 158880, 159016 & 159003 for the run to Basingstoke.  Due to the issue with the freight train at Eastleigh, the XC service I would normally catch wasn’t running (Bournemouth – Manchester was cut back to running from Reading, likewise the Southampton – Newcastle services were running from Reading, with a rough hourly Bournemouth – Reading shuttle via Laverstock).  This meant a slightly longer fester at Basingstoke, which I made the most off by visiting the nearby Post Office to post a parcel.

It's the Bond Class 70, 007.  Licensed to haul.

Back at Basingstoke station and it was onto a busy 165110, the guard doing a ticket check before departure and throwing someone who didn’t have a ticket off (although no doubt that character probably boarded again, complaining about being fined already once that day).   At Reading it was a fast walk over to board 345022 for the run to Maidenhead which gave a tight connection to the Marlow train (165126) which I took one stop to Furze Platt.  It had been raining, and other than a little tip-down seat near the part-time ticket office, the seats were outside, with a little waiting shelter featuring a smoker (or something druggie smelling).  With 30 minutes to kill I had a little walk around, but mainly housing with a couple retail units, so spent the remainder of the time within the covered walkway, noticing a “no loitering” style sign.

The Marlow Donkey departs Furze Platt

The time passed and a busy 165116 arrived with the Bourne End service to take me one more stop along the line to Cookham for another short fester, although the light rain had returned so I didn’t go exploring (bit hard to see much in the dark anyway).  165116 returned from Bourne End to take me back to Maidenhead where I made a negative connection onto a Didcot Parkway bound service as it was running a couple minutes late, with 387145, 387146 & 387154 taken for the single stop to Twyford, where it was a gentle walk to the bay platform for the Henley train (which gets held for up to 4 minutes for the official connections in the evening peak).  165113 was on the branch today and it was taken a couple stops to Shiplake, returning 10 minutes later to take me back to Wargrave.  Both stations are basic, although I assume there used to be a barrow crossing at Wargrave due to having “Stop, look & Listen” boards.  Good to see some old-school signs at Shiplake, but sadly Wargrave is another station which lacks seats within the shelter (it also lacks TVMs so I dread to think how much lost revenue there is on this line with local flows).

Got to love old style signs

Half an hour later, 165113 returned to take me back to Twyford, with 345063 taken for the trip to Reading, transferring onto a busy 165117 working the next Basingstoke stopper (the declassified first class section seems to be a hidden secret), before 159019, 158887 & 159015 took me back to Grateley for a gentle walk home.  4 more stations revisited for photographs, which clears Reading – Paddington with branches, a lazy Friday evening trip.

165113 rests at Twyford

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1^st February – Portsmouth Direct Line & Oddities

The plan for today was to revisit some stations on the Portsmouth Direct Line, both for photographs and for platforms (as this line comes out of a day ranger area, I did it linearly over a couple visits the first time round in 2015).  Also it would give me a reason to revisit a couple stations which are on their own, to tidy up the map so to speak.  The day began with the 6:59 service to Basingstoke (159003) where I made a tight connection onto 165112 working towards Reading, changing over to 387159 for the run to Midgham.  This station is semi-awkward in that it has a level crossing with trains passing within a couple minutes of each other so there is no guarantee the barriers will raise between services.  Needless to say the barriers didn’t raise between services so I had roughly an hour here, and there isn’t a lot around (although I did have a relaxing 10 minutes sitting by the canal/riverside), but the sun was out and there is a lot of bench seats at the station.

Midgham, the least Used station in Berkshire?

Eventually 387152 returned from Reading to take me to Newbury, where I connected onto 800030 for the run back to Reading, where I exited the station to do a couple little jobs and get supplies for lunch, before I returned to the station to board 458536 & 458535 for the run to Ascot (sitting in the area behind the cab for the full sized table).  At Ascot it was a short walk over to platform 3 to board 450022 working the next Aldershot service to take me to a noisy Frimley (The A331 runs close by) and a thirty minute fester before 450090 arrived to take me to Aldershot, followed with 450126 to Guildford, where it was time to transfer to the direct line, being greeted with 2x 73s on a Network Rail test train.

A 73/9 at Guildford

I was in for a nice surprise with the next Portsmouth bound service, my interest was picked when I noticed the headcode was a class 9 rather than the usual class 1, which meant the chance of some 442s, and it was correct with 442414 & 442403 arriving for the run towards Petersfield, some good motor noise, although it did loss time.  At Petersfield I had a short wait before 450117 & 450013 rolled in on the stopper to take me one stop to Rowlands Castle, changing over platforms to board 450085/450053/450104 on the next stopper back towards London, only for a couple stops to Liss.  I crossed over the footbridge to join 450075 & 450025 on the next Porstmouth & Southsea stopper to take me to Bedhampton, where I saw 313201 for the first time (since it turned blue) and joined 450013 & 450117 back one stop to Havant where I stepped back a service (allowed me to grab a couple photographs of 377s).

Diverted freight due to Eastleigh?

This was a bit of a gamble for the next fast service back towards London, thankfully it landed on a pair of 444s (rather than a triple 450), with 444015 & 444043 taking me back into Surrey in comfort, where I alighted at Haslemere transferring to 450118 & 450054 working the next stopping service, only to Milford, transferring to the opposite platform to await the next Haslemere service, the light was starting to die out and imagine my shock when a pair of 455s rolled in, when on earth did these start escaping to Haslemere!  455919 & 455871 were the pair on a day trip to take me back one stop to Witley where I had a 40 minute fester for the same pair of 455s back, a nice place to fester in the quiet.

455s on a day trip to Haslemere. How much I wanted to stay on after Woking for the fast to Clapham Junction run

455871 & 455919 returned from Haslemere to take me to Woking, where I transferred onto a full & standing 159012 & 159106 working the next Yeovil Junction “Via Bruton” service (a bit of a strange station to put in for a via point, I would imagine Via Westbury or even Via Frome would be a tad more helpful).  The 159s emptied out at Basingstoke (due to the issues at Eastleigh, Basingstoke was reduced to 2x sprinters an hour to London plus the 2x stoppers), and I got a seat for the remaining section to Grateley, walking home to relax for the remainder of the evening.

A productive day, I still have one station left on the Portsmouth Direct Line but that is easier to do on a Sunday, plus I finished the “Camberley” line and the Reading – Bedwyn line.

Oink Oink.  442410 & 442420 at Petersfield heading towards London

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2^nd February – North Downs Line

I needed a small handful of stations on the North Downs Line, including 2 of the 2-hourly Surrey ones; this line is slightly easier to do on a Sunday due to the passing points of the hourly Redhill stoppers, so ideal to do on a winters Sunday when daylight is limited.

The day began with 159015 & 159022 for the short trip to Basingstoke, where I confused the ticket office seller with a request for a North Downs Ranger, before boarding 158882 & 159010 for the run to Reading (where 5 coaches just about fits in platform 1).  It was time for a walk to Tesco for supplies for lunch and something cold to drink, before returning to Reading slightly ahead of schedule, allowing me to do a time wasting move to Blackwater on 165111 returning to Sandhurst on 165112 to have a look at the platform extensions coming along to allow the “tri-mode” 769s to operate, whenever they will eventually come.

Two generations of platform extensions at Sandhurst

The next Redhill service was in the hands of 165108 which I took for the trip to Gomshall,  a station which has changed since I was last here, gone was the barrow crossing & hut, replaced with a new footbridge with ramps, but being on the footbridge gives excellent views of the Surrey Hills.  The next Reading service arrived with 165101 to take me to Farnborough North, which like Frimley is next to the A331 but looks to have a nice river/canal-side walk between the two stations [I did look into doing that on the Saturday but the timings didn’t work out].  This is one station easier to visit on a Sunday as on a Saturday the trains pass here, and it is a controlled foot crossing.

View from the footbridge at Gomshall

Thirty minutes at Farnborough North, listening to the sound of traffic and 165107 arrived to take me back towards Surrey and to Chilworth (another level crossing station), not a lot around the station (although I did notice all the platform signs had “GWR” logos on, and the totem signs had been replaced at some-point).  It was a short wait before the next Reading stopper (where I noticed the level crossing alarm sounded like bells).  165112 arrived to take me one stop to Shalford to clear the line for photographs.

A Gatwick bound 165 speeds through Chilworth

After a quick walk around the station (local pub looked busy), it was onto 165101 for the run to Dorking Deepdene, crossing over to the opposite platform for 165107 to take me back to Guildford, where it was time to finish the Portsmouth Direct Line, and board a busy 450105 on the stopper to take me to Liphook, where it was a short fester before 444001 rolled in for some luxury on the Woking bound stopper.  I couldn’t help noticing the footbridge at Liphook could do with some TLC as it was a bit rusty and supported with scaffolding.

Some TLC needed at Liphook

Back at Guildford, it was over to platform 8 to board a busy 165108 for the run back to Reading, making a tight connection onto the next Salisbury service (158881 & 158890) for the run home to Grateley, getting home to relax for the rest of the evening.  Overall today was good, no real delays and the North Downs complete, along with the Portsmouth Direct Line (well Bedhampton to Guildford as I need to revisit Hilsea, but Hilsea can be done later in the year).