25th – 27th September – Lancashire Area

25^th – 27^th September – Lancashire Area

This weekend was the second last of my Travelodge BOGOF bookings, based in Manchester with the idea of heading into Lancashire to revisit some stations, using a plan I had for April time but revised taking into account the current timetable (Preston to Colne is 3 trains every 4 hours) and the fact I was in Manchester on the Saturday night (rather than Blackpool as was the plan in April).

 

This trip was booked up before the latest local lockdown restrictions were introduced meaning essential travel only for residents in the affected areas (although based on my experience, it was mostly getting ignored), so with taking extra precautions I decided to carry on with my plan, better than throwing the money down the drain.

 

Friday

For the first time (and probably not the last time) I was using a London – Manchester off-peak return valid only for London Northwestern & Transport for Wales (at £45 it’s quite good value as there is no afternoon peak restrictions).  I headed to Grateley for the 14:59 service which got delayed along the way due to signalling issues, eventually arriving into London at 16:34 so an outside chance of making the 16:46 from Euston was out of the window.

 

To make a change I took a route 68 bus from the Tension Way bus stop to Euston, crossing Waterloo Bridge and crawling towards Euston in heavy traffic.  At Euston I grabbed supplies, managed to get my ranger for the Saturday and waited for a pair of 350s to arrive from Birmingham which would form the 17:46 departure to Crewe.  The rear was a 350/2 but thankfully the front unit was a refurbished 350/1 where I got a table seat in the front carriage (estimated to be 15% full on departure from Euston).

 

Crossing the River Thames

 

Arrival at Crewe was a few minutes late (some issues around Leighton Buzzard area), which reduced the waiting time for the Manchester bound Transport for Wales service as a refurbished 158 arrived, and again it was lightly loaded for the trip into Piccadilly.  A long walk from Piccadilly took me to the Manchester Central branch of Travelodge, located between Salford Central & Manchester Victoria, security staff on the front door and I got given a room on the 6^th floor (labelled as “Business Floor”), at the end of the building.  Usual Travelodge room in terms of what it contained, bit of outside noise but that is to be expected from a city centre location.

 

158820 at Manchester Piccadilly after arriving from Milford Haven

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Saturday

 

It was another early start (this time the 05:37 service towards Clitheroe from Manchester Victoria), as I took my seat on the 158 (attached with a 153) for the long run to Clitheroe, exiting and waiting for the same pair of units to return to take me to Langho, returning on the next northbound service to Whalley.  With around 45 minutes to wait, I headed for a gentle walk into the village centre, via a Co-Op for breakfast before continuing to get a couple photos of the beautiful Whalley viaduct, going underneath the viaduct before a footpath alongside to return me towards the station with the 156+153 returning from Clitheroe.

 

Whalley Viaduct

 

I took these units a couple stations along the way to Ramsgreave & Wilpshire with an hour fester sitting on a bench in the shade (the +1 connection from Blackburn is very risky to attempt due to the path between platforms).  The time flew by but I was happy when a 150+153 arrived from Clitheroe to take me to Blackburn, changing platforms (and having my first ticket check of the day).  A few minutes later a 195 arrived from Blackpool to take me to Burnley Manchester Road (where there was a good number of passengers waiting for the infrequent Manchester service).

 

After getting lost and getting thrown out by a closed footbridge, I reached Burnley Central (lovely viaduct to the south of the station) before a 150 took me to Colne for a photograph, before requesting the stop of Pleasington which is quite a nice station.  A few minutes later a 158 arrived on the next Colne service to take me to Rishton where I decided to have a time wasting walk along the canal to Church & Oswaldtwistle (featuring station totems with “First” written on the bottom, so not changed from the days of First North Western!).

 

Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Burnley

 

Another 158 arrived to take me the one stop to Accrington, for a short wait before the next Preston service arrived (the same 158 as earlier, such a waste on a local stopping service).  At Preston the train terminated before it formed the next Ormskirk so I remained on board for the run to Croston and a 40 minute wait (long festers are made all the better with a decent bench).  The 158 returned from Ormskirk to take me to Preston where it randomly terminated in platform 1 instead of using one of the south facing bay platforms.

 

A short wait at Preston before the next Blackpool South train pulled in from the north, a single 156 which I took to Kirkham & Wesham for a short wait before a pair of 331s arrived from Manchester to take me to Layton.  Another pair of 331s on the Macclesfield bound took me back one station to Poulton-Le-Flyde, where I returned back towards Blackpool on another pair of 331s (all the 6 coach electric services!).

 

I passed the RPIs checking/selling tickets to join the queue for the Manchester Airport train before having a time wasting linear hop to Poulton-Le-Flyde to push them over 10 miles.  A short wait before a 319 bound for Liverpool rolled in to take me to the limited served station of Salwick.  Mainly as a time wasting move before the next Blackpool South train, also the previous time I visited this station I only had a couple minutes so no chance to have a look around.  Other than a handful of houses there isn’t much around the area so I spent the 30 minutes I had photographing passing trains.

 

One of the few EMUs to call at Salwick

 

The guard on the Blackpool South 156 looked shocked he had a passenger boarding at Salwick as I took a seat (making use of the WiFi and USB socket to back-up my photos and charge my phone) for the run to St Annes-on-the-Sea where I had an idea of a fast walk to put myself an hour ahead of my original plan.  After a visit to the nearby Sainsburys for dinner I returned to the station for the 156 to return from Blackpool South to take me to Moss Side for a short wait before a pair of 150s arrived from Preston to take me to Ansdell & Fairhaven.

 

After a couple photos it was a fast walk along the road to reach Lytham station with a few minutes to spare before the 150s returned from Blackpool South to return me to Preston, where it was a short connection onto a Birmingham bound Pendo for the short hop to Wigan North Western and a gentle walk across the road to Wigan Wallgate for a short wait before a pair of 150s arrived to take me to Appley Bridge to clear Lancashire, a bonus station move (as this was originally pencilled into a rough plan for December time).  A pair of 150s took me back to Wigan Wallgate (where they terminated before forming an all-station stopper via Swinton 15 minutes later), I decided to gamble on the Stalybridge train a few minutes after and got lucky for it was a pair of lightly loaded 156s going via Bolton.

 

I took these 156s to Salford Central, using my parachute to exit the train onto the low platform and having a gentle walk back to the hotel, getting lost along the way and forgetting my room number for the security guard (the problem of staying in many hotels, you learn the location of the room rather than the number), it was a long day but productive.

 

The new guard at Blackpool North

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Sunday

 

After a good night’s sleep, it was a short walk to Victoria to board the first train towards Clitheroe, this time taking it to Darwen.  A bit of an unusual route out of Manchester Victoria towards Salford Crescent as it didn’t go via the platforms at Salford Central instead went via Ordsall Lane Junction, I guess for route knowledge.  Anyhow I soon alighted at Darwen, but kept close to the station for the 20 minutes before the next southbound service which I took to Entwistle.

 

My original plan was to flag down the next northbound train and head back to Darwen as a time wasting move, but after watching the video from Mr Marshall I had an idea to follow the road towards the Wayoh Reservior, taking a footpath through the woods to get a picture of the wonderful Armsgrove Viaduct before swinging underneath the viaduct on an uneven path (sadly no decent views possible close up as the path is within woods).  Eventually the path reached the Entwistle Reservoir (where the car parks was quite busy with walkers).  Following the road back to Entwistle station and it was a short wait before the 153+156 arrived back from Clitheroe to take me back towards Bolton.

 

 

A tight connection at Bolton (one of the worse stations to get between platforms where it is reasonable to expect passengers interchanging) with a pair of 331s taken to Blackrod for a time wasting move, before another pair of 331s took me to Deansgate (as these terminated at Oxford Road), as I crossed the road for a pair of Metrolink trams to Piccadilly (toot!), grabbing some lunch from the nearby Co-Op before returning to the station to await the next train towards Sheffield.

 

Due to engineering works, the Sheffield stoppers were being sent via Hazel Grove instead of the more usual via Marple.  A 3 coach 195 was working this service and it arrived at Chinley around 12 minutes early, allowing me time to grab some photos before returning on the same train to Hope, returning to Stockport a few minutes later on another 195 (an upgrade on the 150s which would normally be running on this line, but the interior isn’t suitable for local stoppers in my eyes, especially when the guard ropes off most of the rear coach so they can do the doors.

 

A 195 waits time at Chinley

 

At Stockport I crossed over to the opposite platform, and noting there was issues at Euston (as the Crewe – London train I was hoping to catch was starting from Stafford) decided to fire up NRE where I saw a good phrase of “ticket acceptance on Avanti West Coast”.  I took a seat on the next Pendo (which overhearing the guard had less than 50 passengers on between Wilmslow & Stafford, certainly coach U was pretty much empty).  I noticed during the dwell at Stafford the London Northwestern service I would have been on had it not been cancelled was a pair of 350/2s!

 

Arriving into London Euston, it was a short trip to Waterloo on the Northern Line before taking the next Exeter service to Andover for a 30 minute wait before the next Salisbury stopper (as Andover is a nicer place to wait around at than Basingstoke).  Getting home and it was time to relax & unwind after a busy weekend.

The calm before the storm?

18th – 20th September, Cumbria Coast & West Yorkshire

 18^th – 20^th September, Cumbria Coast & West Yorkshire

 

Back during the lockdown in March/April time I had to shift a hotel booking for the Ibis Budget in Bradford as at the time they weren’t doing refunds, only free date changes.  This weekend was the dates I randomly picked although my original idea for being in Bradford was completed last month (would have been revisiting the stations I needed in West Yorkshire) so I decided it would be a good chance to head towards the Cumbrian coast to revisit a handful of stations I need on that line (both for photos & platforms).

 

Friday

 

I was booked on the 19:48 Grand Central service to Bradford Interchange which gave me a couple hours to play with.  I had a quick play with Train Split and it threw me out an advance ticket from Andover to Waterloo with a 30 minute break at Fleet which would be a good chance to clear that station for a photograph.  I drove to Andover (for the Sunday was buses, so the idea was I could drive straight home after alighting from the bus rather than waiting for the train connection) and caught the 16:07 service towards Basingstoke (featuring a rare ticket check from the guard who caught out at least 3 others in the carriage).

 

At Basingstoke I had a 25 minute wait before the next stopper, interrupted by a 66 hauling a shiny new 701 towards Eastleigh (one of the new heavily delayed SWR trains for the metro services, first time I’ve seen one in the flesh) and another 66 hauling freight towards Southampton.  A triple 450 took me to Fleet where I had a 30 minute break in the sunshine (sadly nothing unusual passing) before another triple 450 took me all the way to Waterloo where I had time to grab some supplies before heading towards Kings Cross, going via London Bridge [South Eastern & Thameslink] to make a change from the usual Underground.

 

I arrived at Kings Cross, located the 180 and took my seat for the trip towards Bradford, emptied out at Doncaster (and Wakefield) before the tour of Yorkshire to reach Interchange, where it was a medium-length walk to the Ibis Budget where I got given a room thankfully not overlooking the main road, but overlooking an electric transformer which would hum every now and again.

 

A 66 passes Basingstoke bound for Southampton Docks

 

 

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Saturday

It was an early start (thankfully not as early as the previous weeks!) for a walk back across the city to reach Bradford Interchange (The Ibis is more suited for Forster Square).  I arrived earlier than expected allowing me to catch a required 195 to Hebden Bridge before a low mileage 195 arrived on the Blackpool service to take me to Bamber Bridge, which is normally a bit of a pain to visit due to the hourly services passing here (and it has a level crossing).  During my 30 minutes here I popped to a nearby Morrisons for breakfast & items for lunch before heading back to the station, seeing a 158 on a Colne stopper (which seem such a waste).  A 156 arrived from Colne to take me into Preston, where I had a short wait before another 195 took me all the way towards Barrow in Furness, meeting up with a good friend at Ulverston.

 

A Blackpool bound 195 departs Bamber Bridge

 

Changing over to a 156 to carry along the coast (which is a beautiful line) requesting the train to stop at Parton before heading back towards Sellafield (where I spotted one of the former Scottish 68s in plain blue colours).  Back up to St Bees before returning to Barrow, transferring onto a 195 to take us to Ulverston, where I got given a mini guided tour before returning to the station with a busy 195 to Dalton (local door only due to the large step).  Back to the sprinters with a 156 to Grange over Sands before the same 195 returned from Barrow to take me back to Preston.

 

Good views of the line hugging the coast at Parton

 

At Preston I visited a nearby KFC for dinner before returning to the station to await the next York train, a required 195 which took me to Accrington where I bailed to attempt a photograph of a passing steam engine tour before 150001 arrived from Blackburn to take me to Todmorden (when I saw the PIS say “formed of 3 coaches” I was expecting to see a 153 or even a 158).  The train lost a bit of time due to following the steam engine which was losing time, arriving into Todmorden around 20 minutes late.

 

 

I decided to call it a night and headed back towards Bradford on another 195 (same one I started the day with), and when I was at Bradford I saw a train towards Halifax (from Hull) was due so I randomly headed over towards that platform to see my last 155 I needed for mileage was at the front so it would be rude to turn it down for the spin to Halifax, returning to Bradford on the same pair of 155s to avoid a wait for an unknown service.  In the current climate it is better to play it safe than sorry in terms of late evening loadings.

 

155342 at Halifax

 

Once I was back at Bradford it was a gentle walk back to the hotel to relax for the remainder of the evening.

 

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Sunday

 

A day of no real plans, other than being on the 15:59 service from Bradford to London, so after checking out of the hotel, I headed towards Bradford Interchange to catch the first Manchester train of the day, expecting a 195 instead a 158 rolled up which made a change.  This 158 took me to Halifax where I spotted the Halifax – York service was a required 195 I bailed to tick off another 195 for the run to New Pudsey, returning to Bradford on the next Manchester service (a pair of 195/0s where the rear one was required, which goes onto my list of still being needed for 10 miles).

 

A York bound 195 departs New Pudsey

 

The first option was a pair of 150s from Huddersfield which were turned down for a pair of required 195s from Manchester, the slow run into Leeds wasn’t enough to push them over 10 miles, but the 9 and a half miles was a start.  At Leeds it was a quick change onto a Skipton bound 331 which was low mileage to take me to Shipley to intercept a dud 801 back to Leeds where I exited the station for a short break.  I knew from RTT the next LNER train to London was required so I did a random trip to Wakefield & back with a 331 followed by a 153+150 combo, to board 801223 to take me back to Wakefield.

 

"Welcome to the Skipton Train"

 

It was a bit sad seeing a pair of voyagers towards Penzance being lightly loaded (maybe 30 passengers on a service which pre Covid would have been busy), but my next move was to Knottingley on the same 153+150 combo I had earlier, more a time wasting move but always interesting to see all the various lines (and former lines) in the area between Wakefield & Streethouse.  A short stay at Knottingley before the same pair returned me towards Wakefield Westgate for a short wait for another required 801 rolled in from London to take me back to Leeds.

 

Dogbox at Knottingley

 

With nothing else I could really do working with the limited Sunday timetable, I decided to exit the station and head to a little Co-Op near the Travelodge to pick up items for dinner before heading back to the station to board a busy Blackpool bound 195 to Halifax (for it was required), intercepting one of the pairs of 195s I had earlier in the day which pushed 195017 over ten miles for the run back into Bradford Interchange, where I interchanged onto the 180 to take me back to London.

 

Mind the step onto the 180.

A quiet coach to start with, but after Doncaster it was busy, no spare pairs of seats which I could see, good to see it being busy as I do like a non-stop run on a 180 along the ECML.  Arrival into Kings Cross was pretty much on time (maybe a minute early) which allowed me to head to Waterloo quickly for the Weymouth train which due to engineering works went via Cobham to reach Guildford, where I changed onto the Andover coach, which in my mind was quite nice (in terms of legroom and interior comfort, coach YR20 BJZ from “Barnes Coaches” of Swindon).  It was very unusual spotting a 458 at Guildford; I guess it was working the Guildford – Alton services.

 

The coach ride back to Andover was peaceful & uneventful, nice speedy run along dual carriageways & the motorway, and it was a quiet drive home for me, the end of the weekend trip.  I've learned from the past it makes more sense using my car as it means not having to wait around for the train connection.

11th – 13rd September – Norfolk & Midland Main Line

 11^th – 13rd September – Norfolk & Midland Main Line

This trip was another use of the Travelodge BOGOF deal with the idea for the Saturday being a trip towards Norfolk to tick off the Norwich bound platform at Shippea Hill and do some other odds & sods in that area, a plan which changed several times due to engineering works (i.e. Ely – Kings Lynn & Peterborough closed).  I was based in the Travelodge in Croydon due to the overnight Thameslink services making it easy enough to get to Kings Cross for a Cambridge bound train to intercept the Norwich train which called at Shippea, but even that plan got changed due to engineering works on the Thameslink core.

 

11^th September

 

Wanting an early night due to an early start on the Saturday, I decided to focus on my remaining SWR stations within Surrey & the Windsor line for photographs, a quiet evening making a couple tight connections to finish earlier than expected.  I believe it was the first time I’ve gone into the bay at Weybridge, but the suburban network of SWR is done for photographs.

 

I was on the 9^th floor of the Croydon Travelodge (one of the so called “Business floors”), although it wasn’t the best of nights due to several drunks coming in around midnight having an argument.

 

Footbridge & platform at Sunnymeads

 

12^th September

My alarm was set for 03:30 as I needed to be on the 04:10 train to London Bridge, there was a few passengers with suitcases on the opposite platform awaiting a train towards Three Bridges which was ‘delayed’ due to a late notice route change.  The 700 rolled in, nice and quiet in the rear first class area for a little tour of South London, going via Selhurst then Tulse Hill & Peckham to reach London Bridge, where I had a gentle walk across the River Thames and towards Liverpool Street station (for its only around a mile away by foot).

 

Breakfast was taken care off from McDonalds before boarding a 317 for a leap to Tottenham Hale via Stratford, where I changed for a pair of 379s for the run to Stansted Airport (judging by the platform displays there might have been at least 2 “745s” out formed of 12 coaches).  A short break at Stansted Airport and it was onto a 755 from platform 2 to take me to Shippea Hill where I was the only person alighting and nobody boarded.

 

One of the most famous least used stations in Britain

 

I had a choice of 3 (well 4) routes I could walk to get back to another station, either along the main A1101 road towards Littleport (for a bus to Ely), along the A1101 turning left to go via Prickwillow to reach Ely (which is the way I rode back a few years ago), walk towards Lakenheath village & to the station, or following the Hereward Way long distance path to reach Lakenheath station, going via the nature reserve.  I decided to pick the slightly longer route of the Hereward Way, mainly due to the nature reserve but also due to it being mainly off-road, it was around 9 miles (estimated) and I had around 3 and a half hours so I had time.

 

Exiting Shippea Hill station, crossing over the road and straight across into an overgrown patch with an old bridge over a ditch and onto an old road, mostly overgrown but has elements of the old surface ever now and again.  A better walking surface was reached with a farm and along a quiet residential road (Sedge Fen Road) carrying on onto another farm track, to re-join a quiet road (Newman’s Drove), passing a couple farms before turning off the road to follow a footpath along another farm track before going onto a grassy path towards the railway line crossing as a foot crossing called “The Drove”.

 

After the railway crossing it was a rough patch with weeds before the path cleared away, passing an old pumping station and plain walking along a well-kept path running alongside the Little Ouse River through the Nature Reserve, I could tell I was getting nearer the end when I saw other walkers, eventually reaching the road for a short section to reach Lakenheath station itself.  Served by 2 trains on Saturdays (one each way) and 3 each way on Sundays, needless to say I was the only passenger getting on the sole Saturday train towards Ely (and nobody getting off).  Even though I know GA doesn’t have any request stops at the moment I still put out my arm to request the train.

 

View from the Lakenheath Nature Reserve

 Overall other than a couple rough patches, an enjoyable walk, clocked in at around 9.2 miles, certainly more enjoyable than walking along the main-road to Littleport!  My feet was happy to get rested (annoyingly the Norwich bound platform at Lakenheath has 3 benches; the Ely bound side has nothing in the way of seating.  At Ely it was a short connection to board the next Norwich bound service to take me to Brandon, returning to Ely once more, this time to have some lunch from the nearby Tesco.

 

Returning to Ely station after lunch, it was onto a pair of 158s on an EMR shuttle service to Thetford for a short wait before another 755 took me all the way to Norwich (I do like the 755s).  My original idea was to head towards Reedham, but I decided instead to head to Stowmarket on another 755 (engineering works between Stowmarket & Ipswich meant the hourly Norwich – Stowmarket services were interworking with the Cambridge services, which gave the novelty of a 755 running via Diss.  At Stowmarket I had a short rest before the next Norwich train rolled into platform 2 which I took to Diss, returning to Stowmarket, then remaining on the same train to take me to Cambridge, calling at all the stations.

 

An unusual visitor to Diss, a 755

 

It was time to say goodbye to Greater Anglia land (for I will be back in October time) as I made a tight connection onto a pair of 387s on a fast Kings Cross service, followed by a trip on the Northern line to London Bridge, and a triple 171 to East Croydon (for no reason other than the Brighton bound service which departed a couple minutes before this service was busy).  For me it wasn’t the end of the day and after a quick visit to grab some food from Sainsburys outside East Croydon station it was onto a Horsham bound 700 which due to engineering works went on the main “quarry” line, using the connection to the “Redhill” line between Earlswood & Salfords stations.  I alighted at Horley, before returning to Salfords followed by a pair of 377s to Earlswood, heading to Three Bridges, before 700155 took me back to East Croydon, allowing me to get a picture of the “pride” 700.

 

700155 at East Croydon

 

After that photo it was a case of returning to the hotel, having a shower and relaxing for the remainder of the evening before having a good sleep (no drunken idiots tonight).

 

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13^th September

I needed to revisit the EMR stations south of Leicester on the Midland Main Line, and these are easier to do on a Sunday due to the current timetable (i.e. 2 trains an hour between Kettering & Market Harborough at the start of the day, with the 2 trains an hour at Wellingborough being more balanced (can’t remember if it’s northbound or southbound that on a Saturday the 2 trains an hour run within 10 minutes of each other).

 

Anyhow, checking out of the hotel (and a visit to Sainsburys for breakfast), saw me heading towards London Bridge on a 700 for a Northern line service to St Pancras to board the first departure towards Nottingham.  Due to the train being a single 5 coach unit the first class area was declassified so I decided to sit in the posh seats for the long trip to Kettering, first time along this line (in daylight) for a while, the wiring from Bedford to Kettering looks complete.

 

Kettering itself was a bit of a building site with the platform canopies chopped back for the wiring, lots of scaffolding and a bit of a mess in general.  Next train took me to Market Harborough where the time I had was short due to the pair of units running late (caught behind a late running freight train) so I didn’t have time to explore this rebuilt station (on a new straighter alignment to allow non-stop trains to pass at a higher speed and longer trains to call without the need of SDO).  Next up was a HST to take me to Wellingborough, a station which has had a new platform built on a new slow line (previously it was 3 tracks at the station, now 4).

 

A HST departs Wellingborough

 

Another short wait before a 222 took me back towards Bedford, where I spent the next few hours revisiting some of the Thameslink stations I needed in the area (made harder as they were only half hourly today due to engineering works).  I finished the day with a HST into St Pancras, with all the Thameslink stations revisited for photographs.  I made my way towards Victoria via the Victoria line with a triple 377 towards Clapham for I had forgotten the Waterloo – Exeter trains got retimed to depart at XX:20 instead of XX:15, it only flagged up when I was looking for the connection to reach Basingstoke for the Reading – Salisbury service.

 

Needless to say I made a tight connection at Clapham to board the Exeter train to take me to Andover, where I did a loop via a pizza takeaway place before a double 158 took me the last stop back to Grateley.  So nice to have an hourly Sunday service back, makes my planning slightly easier.

 

More photos from the trip are available on my Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157715879787576/with/50346473946/

4th – 6th September – Lincolnshire Area Trip

 4^th – 6^th September – Lincolnshire

 

After last weekend where I revisited C2C land on the Friday and had a trip towards the New Forest on the Saturday it was back to long distance with a couple nights in the Nottingham Travelodge.  Another booking from the “Buy one get one free” promotion they ran in July, and a good excuse to revisit Lincolnshire using a modified plan from a trip I did have pencilled in for May time.

 

Friday 4^th September

 

I was booked on the 20:34 EMR service to Nottingham from St Pancras (first time leaving St Pancras on an EMR service since July 2018!) so with a few ideas to what to do in the few hours I had, I decided on heading towards East Grinstead which had regained its peak time extra services (all be it one-way as the Thameslink services return empty stock) which allowed me to linear hop some of the required stations for photographs (Woldingham, Lingfield & East Grinstead itself).  A sign of the reduced peak time demand is that the Southern services were 8 or 10 coaches rather than the usual 12 coaches, although the train I caught from Clapham Junction was busy until East Croydon.

 

Changing trains at East Croydon coming back and it was a case of jumping on the first available Thameslink service to take me to St Pancras where I managed to get my ranger from the EMR ticket office for the following day, and was successful in getting a table seat on the 222 towards Nottingham, a bit slow until Luton where the Bedford train in front pulled over to the slow lines allowing the 222 to go fast.  Emptied out a bit at Wellingborough but I did notice the Derby HST which departed a few minutes before this train was very lightly loaded (counted less than 10 passengers in the rear 4 standard class coaches).

 

At Nottingham it was a case of walking up a small hill to reach the hotel, not really a place I would recommend as for some reason it has two layers of windows, the outer ones are fixed with only a flap at the top (which couldn’t be adjusted as the handles had been removed) with the inner windows opening inwards.  It was warm within the room (even with the fan going), I dread to think what it would have been like a few weeks ago when the temperatures overnight were hot.  Also as usual for a city centre hotel it had a bit of outside noise from party goers from nearby pubs, but that is to be expected.

377 at East Grinstead

 

 

Saturday

 

The main day with a pigging early start (alarm was set for 4:30 but I was up before that) as I needed to catch the first train towards Grantham, to double back on the Grantham – Nottingham stopper in order to tick the Nottingham bound platform at Elton & Orston.  A walk towards Aslockton (turned south out of the station to reach the village of “Elton on the Hill” for a short section of walking along the main-road [mainly on the verge] before turning onto a footpath across several fields to reach the village of Whatton, and back on the pavemented road towards Aslockton station.

 

Least used platform in Nottinghamshire?

Some of the fields were better than others in terms of footpath marking some were simply a case of guessing where it went based on GPS and spotting a yellow top pole to mark a gap in a hedge, but there was a couple where the path was clearly marked out.  If I were to do the walk again I would turn right from Elton station as there appears on the map to be a path running along the bank of the River Smite which probably would mean less road walking, but never mind, I made it to Aslockton within 50 minutes which allowed me to catch an unit to Radcliffe to score that platform, with breakfast taken care of via the Co-Op before heading back to Nottingham on a pair of units bound for Liverpool, and a 45 minute wait until the next train towards the Lincoln direction.

 

That time passed and soon it was onto the 156 towards Lincoln, same guard who dropped me off at Elton earlier in the day and he was doing pre-boarding ticket checks (because where Nottingham has ticket barriers in the main building, it has 2 side exits (which look to be footpaths) plus the exit from the tram platform so the barriers are a bit pointless.  I took this unit to Collingham, changing platforms for a former GA 156 to Newark North Gate, returning to Hykeham for a short 10 minute wait until the next Lincoln train to take me to a busy Lincoln where all the platforms had trains on.

 

A 800 departs Lincoln bound for Peterborough

 

My next move was on a Northern 195 (quite busy) to Saxiby for a short wait until a Doncaster bound 156 took me to Gainsborough Lea Road in order to have a look at the new northbound platform which had been built to replace the older one to improve access & a better surface.  One thing I did notice when I was waiting is that the southbound platform has a good area where it is straight but the trains stopped on the curved section, I know it isn’t the best for passengers but why not stop the trains on the straight bit, until that platform gets modernised, hopefully the pretty little buildings on the ramp don’t get removed as they add a bit of character.

 

The little buildings on the ramp access to the southbound platform

Former northbound platform at Gainsborough Lea Road

 

After a lunch break it was back to Lincoln on a required 195, before boarding a busy 156 towards Spalding for an hour wait for the same unit back to Lincoln (via an extended stop at Sleaford), Spalding is another station getting upgraded with new lift being installed along with platform 2 getting resurfaced, this line is meant to be getting a hourly service at some point (although pre Covid) so investment is good to see.

 

At Lincoln it was a short connection to another 156 to take me to Newark North Gate for the second time of the day, returning to Lincoln on a required 800, also allowing me to tick off another section of the LNER network for coverage.  Next up was a 156 to Sleaford returning to Ruskington before a low mileage 158 took me back to Sleaford (for I was at Sleaford a lot today!), for it was time to change to the Skegness line.

 

156 & 800 at Lincoln

 

The last Nottingham – Skegness service was busy in one coach, quiet in the other two coaches (for it was a 156+153 combo), I took these to Boston before returning to Sleaford on a pair of 156s, before the final train towards Boston with another pair of 156s (all be it the rear unit was locked out of use as it came from Lincoln) which I took to Heckington for a short wait for the final Nottingham train of the day, one which was on my list for a while as it uses the direct route towards Nottingham for a bit of a novelty.  I took a seat in the empty 153 (only a handful of passengers in the rear coach of the 156) for the trip towards Nottingham, getting some good engine noise on the ‘fast’ section of this line.

 

Heckington late night

 A sensible person would have called it a night, but not me as I headed towards the final Derby train to take me to Attenborough which normally during the day is a minute connection but this service gave a 20 minute wait for the final train from Matlock to take me to Beeston for a short wait before a HST to Nottingham.  I had to laugh as the 2 units I used to/from Attenborough were the same pair of units I had together earlier in the day from Radcliffe to Nottingham, having travelled to Liverpool & back.   Funny how the diagrams work out, but I was back at Nottingham, and walked back to the hotel to relax for the night after a busy day.

 

Midnight HST

 

Sunday

 

A more leisurely day using one of the “super off-peak” single tickets via Grantham, only because it was cheaper than an advance ticket via Leicester, I did a plan and got my seat reservations for the LNER services I was planning to use and checked out of the hotel via breakfast from the Co-Op at Nottingham station.

 

I had a choice of 3 services to reach Grantham, the first was a pair of 156s on the Skegness bound, but my focus was on my last 158 needed for mileage for it was 2nd in a long line of sprinters on platform 1 which is where the Peterborough train was due to depart from.  Thankfully the units didn’t split up so it was a pair of 158s on the Peterborough service allowing me to tick off 158785 for mileage needs (saves keeping my eyes out for EMR services around Manchester in the future).  These were non-stop to Grantham so time to relax on a slow line, all the foot crossings.

 

At Grantham I had a 40 minute wait before the next LNER service so I popped out of the station to visit the Morrisons for some lunch items before heading back with a pair of 5 coach 801s taken to Peterborough followed shortly by another required 801 to St Neots, where due to the Kings Cross rebuilding works the furthest point LNER were running to.  I popped outside (mainly for a mask break) before returning for a busy 700 to Arlesey, well busy in the rear half of the unit, quiet in the front half.

 

801s at St Neots

 

Another 700 took me to Biggleswade to clear the Great Northern stations for photographs before another one took me to Finsbury Park, I was going to jump off at Stevenage to take a 717 via the Hertford loop, to tick off the new platform 5, but we lost 20 minutes due to signalling issues so the connection was missed.  At Finsbury Park it was a short connection to board a 717 for the short run to Highbury & Islington, changing over to Oyster and a London Overground service all the way to Clapham Junction, busiest section was between Willesden & Shepherds Bush.  At Clapham I was running ahead of my schedule (solely due to not doing the Hertford service) so I took a triple 159 to Andover where I managed to get a lift home.  Hopefully next week with the timetable uplift my local station will regain an hourly Sunday service which will make my planning easier.

 

Arlesey from the road bridge

 

Overall a successful weekend, my EMR station requirements to revisit for photographs is mostly focused on the Worksop line plus the mainline from Loughborough towards London. 

 

 More photos are available here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/157760463@N05/albums/72157715879787576