21st – 23rd May (Manchester & Birmingham)

21^st – 23^rd May

21^st May – The road to Birmingham (via Banbury)

 

The post lockdown relaxation of restrictions had reached the 3^rd stage meaning that hotels were open again in England for leisure stays, so after nearly 5 months at sleeping in my own bed I was a bit happy that I got to stay in a hotel again.  My first stay would be in the Easy Hotel in Birmingham, a place I’ve stayed at a couple years ago and is in a handy location for the Birmingham stations.

 

The original idea for this weekend was to head towards the Cambrian coast, to visit a certain recently opened station, but engineering works put a stop to that plan, so my revised idea for this weekend trip was to head into North Wales on the Saturday, although that plan got put on the risky side when I looked at National Rail Enquires to find that the Conwy Valley line was closed at the southern end (North Llanrwst - Blaenau Ffestiniog) due to flooding.  With the forecast on Friday in that area being very wet I had to come up with an alternative idea, ending up with Manchester and an old style unit hunting day.

 

I made up my decision late on Friday night when I saw the first Blaenau train had been cut back to North Llanrwst so decided to head to Manchester instead, pushing my rough plan for North Wales back until September time (date pencilled in my diary).  In the end it might have been the wrong decision as the Conwy Valley line did reopen for the 2^nd train (the one I would have caught) but hey-ho.

 

Anyhow back to the Friday, unusually for me I got a lift to Banbury station from some family members who were heading out for a weekend getaway of their own (Braunston area).  This saved me some money as it meant I only had to get an off-peak return from Banbury to Birmingham plus singles on Sunday.  A303, A34 then M40 to reach Banbury, no real traffic hold-ups other than some slow moving traffic on the outskirts of Oxford, and it was good timing as I got dropped off outside Banbury station as a pair of voyagers were departing, meaning I had around 10 minutes before the next Kidderminster bound Chiltern service would arrive.

 

Normally a Kidderminster Chiltern service would mean loco haulage from a 68, but on the reduced timetable this one is booked to be a 168.  No idea if was actually booked to be a 3 coach 168 (considering it’s the 18:15 from Marylebone), but with the WCML issues it was slightly overcrowded when it rolled in.  I was lucky to get a seat behind the cab for the run towards Birmingham, where I decided to stay on to Smethwick Galton Bridge, heading to the low level platforms for a Welsh 158 into New Street.

 

A Chiltern 168 departs Smethwick Galton Bridge heading towards Kidderminster

 

At Birmingham New Street, I exited the station, swung via Tesco Metro (getting a shock as the layout in that store has changed since I was there last) before heading to the Easy Hotel, getting checked in, putting the AC on and relaxing.  It was nice to be back in a hotel bed again (even if there were some noisy neighbours, but you will get that at any hotels).

 

22^nd May- Manchester area

As I mentioned earlier, I decided that with the poor weather it wasn’t worth the risk of heading to North Wales to find that the Conwy Valley line would remain closed, so decided on heading to Manchester instead, with my little red pen in hand.

 

The day began with the 06:57 XC service towards Stockport; this one goes via Crewe but under the current timetable doesn’t actually call at Crewe (or Wilmslow), so arrived at Stockport around 10 minutes ahead of schedule!  I headed out of the station to buy my GM Rail Ranger from one of the TVMs (noticing that the little Sainsburys located opposite the station still hadn’t reopened, I would imagine that one will never reopen).  Anyhow back on the platforms my first move was a single EMR 156 to Manchester Piccadilly, making use of the function on RTT which gives allocations for Northern units which allowed me to make a rough idea as the next train towards Windermere was a required 195.

 

I took this busy unit along the Chat Moss line to reach Wigan North Western, alighting to cross the road to Wigan Wallgate and taking a pair of 150s to Appley Bridge, originally I was going to take them only to Gathurst, but the next train from Southport was running 10 minutes late giving me a 10 connection into my first taste of a 769 bi-mode (an old Thameslink 319 with a couple diesel engines bolted underneath the driving coaches to generate electricity for the motor).

 

A 769 arrives into Appley Bridge

 

It was a bit on the strange side sitting in the motor coach, hearing the usual 319 motor noise, but not being underneath wires (or over 3^rd rail), but soon the unit had reached Bolton (where the diesel engines gave way to running on the overhead wires).  My original idea was to catch the next Southport service back towards Gathurst (clearing units for 10 miles can be annoying at times, especially when Bolton to Wigan Wallgate is 9.8 miles), but due to the late arrival that connection was missed.  A quick look at RTT saw the next Hazel Grove service was formed of a required 331 (attached with something not needed) which I took to Oxford Road before taking a required 195 to Manchester Airport (it was quite busy when it arrived at Oxford Road, I shall note in future to try and board these at Piccadilly where the train did empty out).

 

At the Airport I looked at potential options for my next move, seeing that the next service from Barrow toward the Airport was also a required 195, decided to head back to Piccadilly on a Chester bound 175, hanging back before a 2 coach 195 rolled in from Barrow.  Needless to say it looked rather full, but emptied out allowing me to head back to the airport, returning once more to Piccadilly on a 175 to return to the airport an hour later with another required 195.  This time I remained on the 195 to take me back towards Heald Green where I popped to a nearby Tesco Express to grab lunch before heading once more to the airport, this time on the 323 working the Crewe stopper.

 

A pair of 185s pass Heald Green

 

The reason for returning to the airport was to chance my luck with the Carlisle bound 397 which had rolled in, getting lucky with it being required so I took a (dreadful) seat for the run to Piccadilly.  Next up was a low mileage single 331 which I took to Bolton (slightly busy), where I witnessed a couple idiotic youths on bikes deciding they didn’t want to push their bikes towards the lift, instead jumping on to ride towards the lift, weaving through the crowd, including an idiot who decided to press the button to close the door as she was leaving the train.

 

I was sensible and hung back until the crowds to climb the stairs before I went up them to cross over to platform 1 for a recently reformed 3 coach 150 (a 150/1 with a coach from a 150/2 inserted in the middle to create a  hybrid unit).  This 150 took me to Hall I’ th’ Wood station (a station I last visited a couple years ago around 23:40!).  I had a short connection before another 150/0 rolled in to take me to Manchester Victoria, where you can taste the exhaust gases when you leave the train.  Heading over to platform 1 to take a seat on a pair of 195s working the next Leeds service, as both were required, and both cleared for mileage by the time I reached Rochdale.

 

However this is when things started to go wrong as the next pair of units from Leeds was running late due to an issue around Halifax, but I hung back as it was another required unit, although it meant my rough plan changed (as I was going to head back to Rochdale on another 150/0), instead I boarded a pair of 331s on the Preston stopper to Salford Crescent, before boarding a 769 for the run to Cheadle Hulme, before returning to Salford on another 769.

 

A pair of 331s at Manchester Victoria

 

My next move was with a required 331 working a Hazel Grove – Blackpool service (along with another 331), which I took to Horwich Parkway, for a short wait before the next Hazel Grove service arrived, another pair of 331s (this time neither required), these took me back to Piccadilly where I called an end of the day, visiting a nearby KFC for dinner before heading back to Piccadilly to catch the 20:27 XC service to Birmingham (as RTT was showing this as a pair of voyagers, whereas the 21:27 was only a single voyager).  However where it was a pair of voyagers, the rear one was locked out of use due to staff shortage.

 

I got an unreserved seat in the leading coach to have my dinner, before it got slightly busy with people for Stoke (as the timetable has 3tph from Manchester to Stoke, all 3 within 15 minutes of each other).  After Stoke it had emptied out in the leading coach for the trip back to Birmingham New Street, spent relaxing after a busy day.  At Birmingham I headed straight back to the hotel, to relax and unwind.  15 required units scored today which was a good result (even with 1 of the 15 still being needed for mileage).

 

A 397 passes Salford Crescent

23^rd May

 

A quieter day pottering around the West Midlands area was my rough idea for today, so after checking out of the hotel, swinging via Sainsburys (noticing that both the sandwich packet designs had changed, as well as the cost going up to £3.50 for a meal deal [but now includes more options]), before heading to Birmingham Snow Hill for a bit of a novelty service.

 

The first Stratford upon Avon train on a Sunday departs Snow Hill and runs non-stop to Stratford Parkway (via Whitlocks End), doesn’t even call at Birmingham Moor Street.  Looked like there was 3 passengers on the service as it departed Snow Hill for the gentle run towards Stratford Upon Avon, where I had a brief break (at one stage my plan for today was to walk from Stratford towards Honeybourne via the old railway line, but the weather forecast wasn’t the best so I decided to ditch the plan for a later date).

 

A 172 at Stratford Upon Avon

 

Anyhow, it was a short break before a Chiltern 168 arrived into the “bay” platform (I believe platform 1 is currently out of use due to a track fault), this took me to Warwick, where I stepped back for a pair of 168s for the short trip to Leamington Spa, returning 10 minutes later on another 168 for the run into Moor Street.  I said my farewell to Chiltern and headed to New Street, where I took a single 323 (quite busy) for the run to Blake Street (lack of a better idea).  I crossed over to the opposite platform for a pair of 323s for the long run to Longbridge.

 

I guess the full length of the Barnt Green platform used to get used in the day of DMUs with some stairs to exit, but since it got wired many years ago the trains stop further along the platform due to the track layout, with the former stairs gated off (replaced with a long ramp)?  Anyhow it does has a nice station building, which I had a quick look at before heading to the northbound platform to take another single 323 (why on earth are West Midlands Railways running single units on a Sunday where it’s half hourly, with football on at Villa Park?)  It got quite busy by the time I exited at University to have a look at the construction site for the new station building.

 

It will be interesting to see University station when the new station building is built

 

Next train was a single 2 coach 170 from Worcester, which again was busy, but thankfully I was only on to New Street, where I took a pair of 350s to Birmingham International (originally I was going to take a Pendo to Coventry, but as the inbound was running so late it got spun at Birmingham International.  Whilst I was at International I noticed a pair of Welsh 158s using platform 3, which looked odd (as I’ve only seen them using either platform 1 or 5), before a pair of voyagers arrived (which were delayed due to the Pendo departing in front).  I managed to get a table seat in the 2^nd coach from the rear for the speedy trip towards Hampshire, nothing unusual happening along the way; until I reached Basingstoke where it went via platform 3 [normally uses either platform 1 or 2].

 

 

A short wait at Basingstoke (in the rain) before a busy single 159 rolled in on the Andover terminator (engineering works beyond Andover), a case of people being lazy and not walking down the aisle as I managed to get a seat at the front).  At Andover it was onto replacement coaches, with 3 coaches running.  The first was direct to Gillingham, the 2^nd was direct to Salisbury (then I assume Gillingham), the 3^rd was a stopper.  I boarded the stopper coach, and there was only one other passenger for the run back to Grateley.  I was the only person alighting but it looked like someone else boarded (I saw a car rushing down towards the car park when walking back to the main road, for the same car to return a couple minutes later).

 

First Rail Replacement Coach of the year

 

I got home, and relaxed after a little day, for it was nice to be able to stay in a hotel once again, just for the feeling of a different bed and to look at something different when you wake up.