15th March – The “Eric & Ernie” tour

15^th March – The “Eric & Ernie” tour

When the three days of tours was announced back in January, the Sunday was the only day which was appealing (as was the Friday, but I have no holiday left so it was a non-starter), mainly for the novelty of loco haulage via the Harrogate loop, plus some new track in the Leeds area.  It was meant to be a 56 leading but a couple days before hand the 56 was replaced with a 37, bit of a disappointment but these things happen.  Due to timings I would have to bail at Wakefield rather than staying on all the way to Morecambe, but it would hopefully be a good few hours “mini” tour.

The day began with a leisurely start, grabbing lunch from Greggs and breakfast from McDonalds before heading to Doncaster station, where the tour was going from platform 3, and on time the ECS arrived from south of the station.  Winner 47832 would be leading the Mk1 coaches with 37706 on the rear, I took my seat in a lightly loaded coach (this is effectively a positioning move) and the tour set off heading north towards York.  The first bit of unusual track it did was the Selby Canal curve (came off the ECML at Temple Hurst and turned left to join the Leeds – Selby line), and rejoined the ECML at Hambleton Junction.  The tour continued to York where it picked up some more passengers and waited time before heading towards Poppleton where due to the single track ahead, it had to wait for the 170 from Leeds to clear the line first.

37706 at Doncaster

47832 at Doncaster

Onto the single track line, passing all the many stations which have been closed, and many flooded fields, pausing at both Cattal & Hammerton for token exchanges, and again at Knaresborough, before the train continued towards Leeds, it was meant to go via the through line at Harrogate, but there was a 170 parked in the way so instead it went via platform 1, before carrying on towards Leeds.  This is a pretty line until it reaches West Yorkshire and the Leeds suburbs, a bit of a wait outside Leeds waiting for a platform before a quick reversal with 37706 taking charge for the trip towards Woodlesford, passing the Freightliner depot (lots of 70s), and into a goods loop, reversing near Stourton junction (where the loop comes to an end, giving access to a freight terminal).

The 47 was back in charge for the run back towards Leeds, taking the Whitehall curve and reversing beyond Whitehall Road Junction, to go into the Whitehall Road freight yard.  However an issue with signaling meant the train hadn’t cleared the section, blocking the main line towards Huddersfield (oops!)  A quick reversal back onto the main-line and another reversal back onto Whitehall curve to allow a 802 to continue its journey towards Liverpool.  The 37 was in charge for the run to Wakefield Kirkgate, where I alighted from the train, taking a couple photographs of it departing before having a walk towards Wakefield Westgate station.

The tour departs Wakefield

Purely as a time wasting move (also due to wanting to board my train to London at Leeds rather than at Wakefield), I purchased a ticket to Cross Gates, it was the same price as to Leeds, but there was a small potential of a bonus station revisit, assuming I could make a tight connection at Leeds.  The first train was my former foe 91114 leading DVT 82211 for the trip to Leeds, arriving into platform 8 and giving me a small chance as I headed over the footbridge towards platform 14, jumping onto 155347 working the Selby stopper just as the whistle was being blown.  I took this 155 to Cross Gates which clears another West Yorkshire station, and waited for the delayed service back, this was a 158 so I turned it down for there was a stopper from York due less than 10 minutes afterwards.  I was in luck as that stopper from York was winner 195127, not cleared for 10 miles, but gives it a good start.

Voyager at Cross Gates

Back at Leeds, I had time to pop to the shop for dinner before heading towards platform 6 where the LNER service from Harrogate was due.  I noted from the seat reservation levels, the rear 5 coaches were busy but the front 5 were unreserved, so I headed towards the front (also helps at Kings Cross, as less distance to walk).  Winner 800208 was leading winner 800209 (although considering I haven’t had any of the 5 coach 800/2s they were bound to be required!), no seat reservations were in place with announcements from the guard that the rear unit was busy the front unit was quieter so feel free to change units at Doncaster.

Other than that, it was an uneventful run towards London, other than going via the Hertford loop due to engineering works, and catching up with a stopper.  Arrival into Kings Cross was pretty much on time, giving me 40 minutes to head to Waterloo, which was easy  enough (Victoria 11025/11026 followed by Bakerloo 3235/3532, changing at Oxford Circus).  I got a nice seat on the 19:45 service towards Salisbury, with 159002 leading 158883 for the run to Grateley, followed by a walk home.

Reflecting on today, a couple new locos in my book, plus a bit of new track, main highlight was loco haulage via Harrogate, with a small bonus in getting a photograph of Cross Gates.  I should be back in that area mid-April, assuming the country hasn’t been locked down due to the virus.  On that note I shall leave you with this picture (if it loads this week) of a 333 outside Leeds, taken from Whitehall Road sidings.

A 333 near Leeds, taken from Whitehall Road sidings

Looking ahead, my plans have been put on the back burner due to the current virus in the UK, although at the time of writing I'm hoping TrainSplit will do away with the £10 amendment charge to change some advance tickets so I can change some tickets for Liverpool (early April) and a trip to Manchester (again in April), only losing out on a guest house in Blackpool on the Saturday night of that trip [was hoping to do the Dalesrail service to Hellifield].  I will probably still head to Hull this coming weekend, although the Saturday will be a "wing-it" day, but other than that my rail trips will be reduced until the end of the duration.

14th March – A South Yorkshire Day

 14^th March – A South Yorkshire Day

This trip came about when I booked up the Premier Inn hotel in Doncaster for a couple nights due to a BLS tour which was going to be announced for the Saturday.  When the tour got announced it didn’t really appeal, yes it featured some small bits of required track but it didn’t get my pulse racing so I decided to save my money and not do the tour, instead have a day in South Yorkshire to revisit stations for photographs.

The Friday was spent heading up to Doncaster via Grand Central (cheapest & fastest way), with some unit hunting in London scoring my last South Eastern 377 for mileage needs, plus giving some networkers some mileage boosts.  I do like the Grand Central 180s for the non-stop run (although after Doncaster it is a bit of a crawl towards Bradford!)  I located the hotel, checked myself in and relaxed for the evening, unusual for me to use the same hotel for two nights but it made a nice chance not having to repack my bag with clothes.

180102 (One of Julian's favourite units) at Doncaster ;)

Anyhow back to the Saturday, and a walk to Doncaster station for the 06:00 service for Lincoln, noting a 150 was working a Leeds stopper from platform 7, and a 158 was working a Sheffield stopper from platform 5.  Winner 195003 rolled in around 5 minutes late (good start for my experience with the new DOR run Northern!), this service unusually runs non-stop to Sheffield, doesn’t even call at Meadowhall, it even did the Kilnhurst chord (bypassing Swinton, although looking at RTT this wasn’t a booked move).  It was back on time after Sheffield when the train reversed to take me to the island platform of Darnall.

A 195 departing Darnall

The next train was running a couple minutes late, as 158867 rolled in from Retford to take me to Sheffield where it terminated (was meant to carry on to Nottingham), where my original plan had its first set-back as the next Sheffield – Leeds via Moorthorpe was cancelled (my original idea was to take this one to Bolton on Dearne for a 10 minute wait for the Sheffield – York service).  Before I could rethink my plan I headed to Superdrug to pick up something to eat for breakfast, and jumped on winner 195019 for the short hop to Meadowhall.  Crossing over to platform 2 to await the York service, this was formed of 144021 (running around as a 2 coach unit as the centre coach has been removed) for some classical pacer based bounce for the run to Thurnscoe where I popped to a nearby shop for some supplies (mainly as a time wasting move).

I returned to the platforms, and after playing with Google Maps, it suggested a couple bus moves which would not only allow me to get Bolton on Dearne, it would also put me slightly ahead of my plan.  158908 was up next to take me the couple stops to Bolton on Dearne, returning to Goldthorpe on 150273, didn’t need this station for a photograph (but I still took a couple extra), but it had a bus stop served by a couple buses towards Barnsley.  I turned down the first bus as it was a stopper as the X19 (Doncaster – Barnsley) service was behind it.  Stagecoach bus 27188 took me towards Barnsley Bus station, allowing me to explore a part of South Yorkshire I had previously not seen.  Barnsley looks a bit strange with the level crossing to the south being closed, and I made use of some spare time to grab lunch from a nearby Greggs before boarding a route 21 service (bus 26087) which took me to the village of Dodworth, alighting from the bus at the stop closest to the station and a fast walk to Dodworth station not to get caught out by the level crossing.

Level crossing and old signal box at Dodworth

Although I shouldn’t have rushed as I had time to spare before 153317 & 153358 rolled in from Sheffield on the next Huddersfield service, which took me over the border to Denby Dale (this line has some wonderful views).  153363 & 153324 were up next to take me to Silkstone Common where I noticed on RTT the next Huddersfield service was still at Meadowhall, another check saw it still stuck there (it had broken down), so a quick search on Google Maps highlighted a “get out of jail” bus move, so it was a short walk to the bus stop next to the station for a route 21 route (bus 26085) to take me to the Market Place in Penistone.  A short walk from the village centre took me to Penistone station which allowed me to clear this station for a photograph (and to escape the line as the next northbound service was also cancelled).  153358 & 153317 returned from Huddersfield to take me to Elsecar where I had a short wait for the next Leeds stopper.

Nice views at Penistone

This was running a couple minutes late, as a busy 158797 rolled in to take me back one stop to Wombwell where thankfully the next Sheffield stopper was also running a couple minutes late, but this was a double edged sword as the connection at the next station wasn’t the best, I was worried that I fired up Google Maps to look up bus moves, but in the end 158782 recovered some time to Chapeltown with the next Huddersfield service being a couple minutes late, which allowed me to connect to 153317 & 153358 for the run to Barnsley, crossing over to join a busy crowd awaiting the next fast Sheffield service, formed of dud 195019 to take me to Meadowhall (but now over ten miles), I was lucky enough to get a seat on this busy service.  At Meadowhall I crossed over to await the next Doncaster stopper, formed of 150133 to take me to Conisbrough.

Not a lot around this station which I could see, but my time was short before 144019 rolled in with the next stopper to take me one stop to Mexborough, for a short wait (extended due to a late running TPE service) before 144018 rolled in.  Thankfully it had some recovery time and the delay was reduced to a minute after Doncaster as it bounced to Bentley, just giving me enough time to get across the tracks with the level crossing starting to flash as I had just cleared, certainly not a station to do with a tight connection.  This was my bonus station (due to being ahead of plan) as I returned to Doncaster with winner 331110, remaining on board for the turnaround (nice plug sockets coming in handy).

144018 departing Bentley

After a late running Azuma for Leeds departed, 331110 departed back towards Leeds, being cleared for ten miles with the run over the border to South Elmsall, returning to South Yorkshire with winner 331108 which took me to Adwick (which I guess at one point had more buses serving the station, considering it was shown as Adwick Interchange).  A nice heated waiting room (with comfy seats) was at this station which passed the time before low mileage 158909 returned from the freight line towards Hatfield to take me back to Doncaster, a nice little bonus.  This is where things went a bit wrong as the unit which was working the Scunthorpe services had broken down so the unit which would head to Adwick was being ‘stolen’ for the next Scunthorpe service, however this meant my connection at Thorne South was in doubt, especially when 144014 departed Doncaster it was 12 minutes late, the connection already gone by the time it rolled into Thorne South.

Although I was already making an alternative plan, the first plan of walking to Thorne North went into the bin due to the rain, but there was a Doncaster bound bus due, so it was a fast walk to a bus stop to await a double decker 37236, on a route 87A service to take me towards Stainforth village, and I alighted at the bus stop for the station.  A short walk took me to Hatfield & Stainforth station where I had a short wait before 144001 rolled in to take me to Althorpe for an hour fester (started to get chilly once the sun set).  144014 was up next which took me to Scunthorpe for a 25 minute fester before the same unit took me back to Doncaster, I was toying with the idea of heading to Sheffield & back but decided to call it a night, swinging via McDonalds for a Big Mac meal and heading to the hotel to relax for the remainder of the evening.

Reflecting on the day, I did everything I set out to do today for station revisits, even managing to get ahead of my plan and recovering from some cancelled/delayed trains by using buses.  My list of stations I need to revisit in South Yorkshire has been reduced to only a couple (Dore & Darton), both are slightly easier to do on other trips, whenever those will be.

144014 at Scunthorpe

7th & 8th March - The Hacienda tour & A short London day

 

7^th & 8^th March - The Hacienda tour & A short London day

When this tour first went on sale the details were limited at first, before the final details got released, it looked to be another good tour for the track gricer, doing various freight bits within Manchester, and after looking up timings I decided to book up, paying extra for 1^st class for a better seat (more legroom also helps).

I headed up to Walsall on the Friday night, but due to a poor week due to coming down with a mild fever, I was still recovering so was a case of straight to the hotel, after a nice run behind 68011 from Banbury to Moor Street and a refurbished 350126 on a semi-fast service.  Not the best of sleeps as I woke up around one in the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep (body was still messed up due to the fever).

68011 purring away at Birmingham Moor Street

7^th March - The Tour itself

Before heading to Walsall station I headed to the nearby Tesco for supplies, especially with a big bottle of water, and headed to board the next stopper from platform 2, getting lucky with a non-refurbished  350404 (handy table seat plug socket coming in handy as I forgot to plug my charger in overnight).  A standard trip via Aston to reach New Street where it terminated (attaches to another service from Rugeley to go to London), and with time to kill I headed up to the little waiting area around the toilets on the B end near platform 11 (using the USB sockets within the seats for another little charge when I looked up stuff on the internet).  With around 5 minutes to go before departure I headed down to platform 10 to await the arrival of the charter from the University direction, and running roughly on time it arrived with winner 66093 leading the usual Mk1 coaches, standard class leading with first class near the back.

I located my seat, an aisle facing backwards noting that the coach was lightly loaded (filled up at Stafford), said hello to the others on the table (all 3 weren’t very talkative), and the tour set off heading towards Bescot Stadium via Aston, before heading towards Stafford via the direct line between Walsall & Wolverhampton, but avoiding Wolverhampton.  Pausing in a loop for a few services to pass (including a freight train which was behind us) before the tour headed for the final pick-up in Stafford.  Next stop was a trip along the slow line towards Crewe, coming off to go via the yard and the chord giving access to the Nantwich line, as the tour continued into the loop where winner 66503 was attached onto the rear (yes a Freightliner 66).  With 66503 in charge, it was a trip passed the DRS depot and down to the Crewe station avoiding lines, using the Manchester Independent line to go underneath all the tracks to come out the other side, re-joining the passenger network south of Sandbach for a run towards Manchester, pausing in the goods loop at Stockport and in the goods loop at Longsight for pathing reasons before continuing towards Piccadilly.

The usual confused faces of passengers waiting for a train on platform 14 when a 66 hauled charter passes non-stop is usual, followed with Oxford Road, Deansgate before taking the chord to head towards Victoria and out towards the Northern depot, turning off onto the freight only branch towards Dean Lane (which I believe is the route trains for Oldham would use before that loop got handed over to Metrolink), going between the Northern depot (featuring a death-row of pacers plus various sprinters) before running alongside the Metrolink line and into the no-longer used waste terminal at Dean Lane (not a lot left other than rubble!).  The train got to the end of the line, just in front of the Metrolink stop block (one of a couple places I believe there is a physical connection between Metrolink & the outside world).

Tram 3036 heads towards Shaw passing Dean Lane

Anyhow 66093 was back in charge for the run back out to the passenger network, back via Victoria and out towards Salford, heading into the Brindle Heath Loop (around a mile from Salford), so the train could reverse into the waste terminal.  A brief pause before the train departed the terminal complex, finished the goods loop and was on the way to Bolton, where we were due a 45 minute break when the train got watered and cleaned, how very handy they seemed to have built a platform at Bolton for this purpose ;)

This was the first time outside Bolton station in the daylight for a while, and the first time I noticed was the rail replacement bus station, a proper little bus station (featuring three bays) solely for rail replacement buses (all locked up).  I popped to the nearby Morrisons for supplies for later on and generally relaxed for the break, before re boarding the train and heading back towards Manchester, passing Victoria once more and headed towards the loop beyond Brewery Junction to reverse into the Collyhurst Street siding (where a 09 shunter lives).  Part of the old line towards Oldham Road goods station I believe, the tour reversed to go to the Miles Platting Tarmac facility before back towards Collyhurst, reversing once more back to the loop beyond brewery junction.

Nice place to wait for a replacement bus!

A few minutes for time keeping before 66093 hauled the tour back towards Victoria and towards the Salford Hope Street Peak Stone facility (between Salford Central & Salford Crescent), another reversal and one final pass of Manchester Victoria, with 66503 hauling the train over the freight only Phillips Park line to re-join the passenger network at Ashburys for the run towards Guide Bridge, heading into the goods loop after the station for a reversal on the very rarely used east facing chord towards the Guide Bridge Avenue Sidings (Guide Bridge to Stalybridge line).  One more reversal (and awaiting for a late running TPE from Hull) before re-joining the passenger network, passing Guide Bridge, but turning left to take the line towards Denton and Stockport, going via platform 0, and onwards to Crewe, doing a random weave north of Wilmslow and also north of Sandbach (although that was to allow a Pendo to overtake).

Passing through Crewe station and into the down refuge siding for one final reversal with 66093 hauling the train into Crewe, where for me was the end of the tour.  Originally I was going to stay on until New Street and head back to London via LNwR, but earlier in the day decided to randomly check and bagged up a £40 same day advance on the Pendo from Manchester which would get me back in London 2 hours early, and considering my poor night I decided it was worth paying.  As usual the Pendo from Liverpool cleared the platform at Crewe before 390151 rolled in from Piccadilly, I found a table seat in a lightly loaded coach U, phone in on charge and set back to enjoy the speedy run to London, only slowing down near Hemel when we crossed over to the slow line due to the very hungry Pendo earlier in the day munching on the wires (must have been spending time with a 91 again!)  I think the train arrived a good ten minutes early, giving me time to pick up a travelcard for tomorrow, something to eat from Sainsburys before making my way towards West London.

My hotel was the Heathrow Central Travelodge, one I’ve stayed at before so knew I had a couple options, Piccadilly to Hounslow West for a bus, or train to Southall (or Hayes) for a bus.  The appeal of spending 45 minutes on the Piccadilly line didn’t appeal to me tonight so I went for the faster option, so it was 11077/11078 on the Victoria line to Oxford Circus followed with 3551/3266 to Paddington, where it was a short walk to board 345006 on the Hayes shuttle (Purple Train!).  at Southall I had a short wait for a route 105 bus to take me towards Cranford Avenue (Bus VH45272), checking into the hotel and I relaxed on the bed, before calling it a night.  At that time I would have only departed Cheddington had I stayed to my original plan, so God only knows what time I would have reached the hotel!

66503 at Bolton

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8^th March – A short London day

My original idea for today went onto the back-pile as I wanted a relaxed day, so I decided to do a couple stations which I haven’t had the chance to revisit for a photograph.  A nice late start with checking out of the hotel and walking to a nearby Tesco Express for supplies before boarding a H98 bus to Hayes & Harlington station, and purple train 345006 to Ealing Broadway, where I transferred to the Central line for the long trip to Stratford (91009, 92068, 92254 & 91043).

At a quiet Stratford I transferred over to platform 11 to board the next Hertford East service, with 317884 & 317345 taken to Brimsdown, with 317649 & 317348 taken back one stop to Ponders End, which clears Greater London for stations I need to revisit for photographs, next up was 317652 & 317654 for the long run to Ware to clear the Hertford East line.  A 15 minute fester at this single platform before the same pair of units returned, this time I sat in the declassified first class area for the run to Tottenham Hale.

 

Last London station I needed to revisit for a photograph

Changing over to the Victoria line, with 11012 & 11011 taken one stop to Blackhorse Road, timing it right to arrive a couple minutes before the first 710 was due.  The first Gospel Oak bound service wasn’t needed, but thankfully (for it was very wet), winner 710103 rolled in on the first Barking service, so onwards to Barking.  I decided it was a good time to start heading home (back was hurting), so it was a trip to West Ham on a busy 357024, followed by a busy Jubilee service (96008/96081) to Waterloo (all the tourists with massively oversized luggage!).  A Southampton bound 444004 & 444020 took me to Basingstoke to allow me to connect into the Salisbury service which was 159003 & 158888 to take me home.

Not the longest of Sunday trips, but I didn’t want to stay out too late and wanted to take it easy, I’m happy I’ve finally got round to doing that trio of GA stations, which clears GA for the “West Anglia” route.  I shall leave you with this picture of a plane coming into land at Heathrow taken in the morning.  Hopefully by next weekend I will be back to full strength for my trip to South Yorkshire.

Plane coming into land at Heathrow