Christmas Holiday trips
I was off work between the 22nd December & 3rd January when both my sites closed up for Christmas, so I decided to have a few day trips to London, mix between walking, new units hunting & mileage building on other units, depending on the weather (as some days were a bit on the wet side).
22nd December
The temperature had dropped, with frost on the ground/car, I walked to the station, starting with the 08:59 service, which I took to Basingstoke changing over to a pair of 444s for the run into Waterloo. At Waterloo I headed to the Bakerloo Line towards Edgware Road, exiting the station to start my walk along the Paddington branch of the Grand Union canal, finishing off the area I left in November time.
The path quality was good as it changed from commercial buildings around Paddington basin, to residential, a bit of rural before industrial use around the Willesden area, a couple decent views of the Great Western Main Line, plus of the Crossrail depot. An enjoyable walk along the canal, seeing parts of London you wouldn’t otherwise see by train (or even bus).
Edgware Road Station, edgy
At Harlesden I left the canal, passing the station and walked along the side streets towards Stonebridge Park, crossing over the busy North Circular and entering the “Brent River Park”. A mixed used path which follows the River Brent in a northerly direction towards an industrial area of Wembley, I joined onto the road network to head towards Wembley Stadium station carrying on to join a footpath which ran near a school before reaching a footbridge over the WCML.
Overground over the Canal
This bridge has been on my radar for a while as I wasn’t sure what it would be like, would it give good views of the WCML or will it be encased in a cage with high walls to prevent idiots throwing things onto the tracks below. Thankfully (for photo wise) it was open to allow for some decent photos, the best location being near the Watford DC line bridge where the DC line dived underneath the WCML tracks. I carried on reaching Wembley Central station, and after a visit to Tesco & the toilet I headed down to play with some trains.
A Pendo passing a 350 going over the Overground
I jumped on the first southbound train to Stonebridge Park (because Wembley Central is horrible to hang around at), jumping on the next Bakerloo service to Willesden (after IDing a northbound service). The next 30 minutes was spent bouncing between the platforms on the hunt for my last couple active 710/2s, after seeing all the 8 units out, I jumped onto a 378 for the run to Gospel Oak, jumping to Upper Holloway on the first train so I could visit a nearby Tesco to get some more to drink.
Winner 710273 was up next which I took to Leyton Midland Road, returning to South Tottenham on the next train. I spent 20-odd minutes at South Tottenham to ID the remaining units out, but neither were needed, so I exited the station and had a short walk to Seven Sisters station, jumping on a pair of 710s to Hackney Downs (this trip was done when I was still under the impression that 710131 existed, but wasn’t all wasted because I was also keeping an eye out for 710272 as the dual voltage units do work out of Liverpool Street as well).
Mind The Step at Willesden
After a short wait at Hackney Downs I took a service to Bethnal Green which had a nice bench seat allowing me to keep an eye out for anything returning towards London, also for any required 345s on the Shenfield services. Sadly my luck wasn’t in so I took another pair of 710s to Liverpool Street, jumping on a 345 for the long run to Romford, solely to ID the unit on the Upminster shuttle, but that was 710112. I decided to take it anyway to take me to Upminster, changing over to a pair of 357s for the run to West Ham, solely for a change of scenery (not like I could see anything from the window!).
At West Ham it was a short trip on the Jubilee to Canada Water, where I decided to jump on a New Cross bound 378 and onto a trio of networkers to London Bridge, changing over to board another trio of networkers to Waterloo East, giving a small mileage boost to a 465 along the way (every little helps). My final train of this trip was a pair of 159s on the 20:20 Exeter service, taking me back to Grateley with a short walk home. Not the best of days for my red pen with only a 710 falling, but the morning walk made up for it.
27th December
After a few days with my family, it was back onto the rails starting with the 07:27-odd service to Basingstoke (engineering works between Basingstoke & London). The GWR Reading train I was going to catch was cancelled giving me an extra 20 minutes to play with in Basingstoke so I went to get some breakfast from Sainsburys before the next 165 to Reading. A pair of delayed 802s took me to Paddington where I decided against looking out for 345s at Paddington instead headed towards Kings Cross.
Engineering works meant the Moorgate services were starting at Kings Cross and my luck was in with the first Welwyn train being required 717010 which I took to Hadley Wood pushing it over ten miles, getting lucky with a low mileage 717007 (Bond, Moorgate Bond) back to Kings Cross. During my fester at Hadley Wood I picked up some extra tickets, I got lucky with the first LNER service being a pair of winners, 800203 & 801108 for the run to Stevenage (last minute set swap from a dud 9 coach 801). The next southbound was also showing as a pair of required units so I did a time wasting leap to Hitchin, scoring a low mileage 8 coach 700 in the process pushing it over ten miles.
717010 heading out of the zones at Hadley Wood
Back to Stevenage before getting a pair of required 800/2s for the run back to Kings Cross, where I had a short break for lunch, before returning to Stevenage on a required 9 coach 801. Another low mileage 700 was following so I took that to Letchworth Garden City which pushed it over ten miles. After a short walk around Letchworth I returned towards Stevenage for another required 9 coach 801 back to Kings Cross, where I gave a small mileage boost to 717009 with the run to Palmers Green. Sadly the next unit back wasn’t needed (it wasn’t the one I was thinking it was). I ended the day with a required 717 which I took to Kings Cross, just under 5 miles so not cleared for ten miles but it’s better than nothing.
Nobody expected a photo of a 180 ;)
As the Sub surface line was in a state of delays, I headed onto the Victoria line to Oxford Circus, followed by a long 8 minute wait for a Bakerloo service to Paddington. A 9 coach 800 took me to Reading (where I was glad to have caught an earlier train as everything was getting delayed due to going on the relief lines between Southall & Slough). A short wait at Reading before a 165 took me to Basingstoke, where I changed onto a pair of 159s for the service back to Grateley.
An enjoyable day, nice bit of walking around Letchworth with some more LNER azumas ticked off, Stevenage to London is more fun than Wakefield to Leeds!
"Welcome onboard this C2C service to Newbury"
31st December
My final trip of the year started earlier than expected when I managed to get some dirt cheap advance tickets, starting with the 07:27 London train, a triple 159 which was empty in the coach I sat in (in the middle of the train). This train arrived into London around 08:45 so to waste some time before off-peak started, I headed out for a little walk along the River Thames. After reaching the Thames, I started from the Hungerford Railway Bridge heading towards Vauxhall, going underneath Westminster Bridge, carrying on to reach the Vauxhall area.
The riverside path is diverted away from the river front due to works for the new sewer so it was onto the road, returning towards the river at Vauxhall Bridge where I continued to Pimlico underground station, arriving just as the clock hit half 9.
Nice clock tower next to somewhere which generates a lot of hot gas
I took the Victoria line to Oxford Circus changing onto a Central line service to Liverpool Street where I decided to have a little hunt for some 345s, but first a required 720 was on a Southend service which called at Romford. I spent the next few hours going up and down the line between Liverpool Street & Brentwood, with a little detour to Barking to rope in a low mileage 357. I got very lucky with my requirements as I managed to score 7 of the Purple Trains [plus 4x 720s and a 720 for mileage] so quite a good day on the Great Eastern.
357006 at Barking... Woof
After I got into Liverpool Street for the last time, I decided to have a little walk to Moorgate (mainly for a mask break) and the streets were quiet and I headed down the Northern City Line platforms. The first 717 wasn’t needed but the 2nd service was a low mileage unit (717024) which I took to Bowes Park, returning to Highbury & Islington on another 717. I swapped to the East London line, jumping on a 378 to take me round the corner to Dalston Junction.
Once more my luck was in, as sitting in one of the bays on the next departure was a low mileage 378 (154), which was cleared for mileage by Wapping (with the bonus novelty of going nonstop through Shadwell. I gave it another 20 or so minutes keeping my eye on both northbound & southbound trains before taking another 378 to New Cross on a time wasting large loop to get back to Waterloo East.
Platforms at New Cross Station
As an extra bonus the first Cannon Street train was a low mileage 465 which would be cleared for ten miles by London Bridge, where I had a short wait before joining a pair of 375s for the leap to Waterloo East, before making my way to Waterloo for my final train of 2021, 159004 leading 159011 on the 21:20 service to take me back to Grateley. Farewell 2021, my red pen has been busy today and the year ended a lot better than 2020 did!
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