19th – 20th February - A trip to East Yorkshire
The day after Storm Eunice hit the country and I was in two minds at the start of the week when the weather warnings went up to call this trip off, but in the end I decided to play it by ear to see what actually happened. The idea of this trip was to head towards Hull for the slight novelty of a Hull Trains 802 diverted via Goole, also it had been a few years since I last visited Hull.
Saturday
The day began with the 05:59 service towards Basingstoke, after checking the line had reopened following issues on the Friday, although the 159s were restricted to a 50mph speed restriction meaning it missed the connection at Basingstoke (the 159s were sat outside the station for a couple minutes waiting for the EMUs to depart, guess it was too hard for the signallers to route the 159s into platform 2 so any passengers could make the connection.
Passengers were told to board the stopper train as there was nothing showing as heading towards Waterloo, until the station staff changed their minds and said there was a faster train due shortly. This turned out to be another pair of 159s which took me towards Waterloo, all be it at 50mph. I was thankful I was booked on the 09:33-odd Leeds train from Kings Cross as it gave me that large cushion to cover for any delays.
Anyhow once at London, I headed to the Underground, with the usual Bakerloo line followed by the Victoria to Kings Cross St Pancras where I had a short wait before the 09:33 Leeds train was announced as boarding from platform 0 (dud 801222 it was). No real issues along the way other than going slowly around Welwyn which cost a few minutes, most of which were made up by the time it reached Doncaster. I alighted from the 801 at Doncaster and knowing that the next Hull Trains unit wasn’t needed, decided to board a Scarborough bound 170 which did a good impression of a clown car when it rolled into Doncaster (in terms of how many passengers alighted from it).
159013 at Basingstoke
I took this 170 to Hull, where I had a couple options due to the poor weather (my original idea of a walk went into the bin due to the rain). After swinging via Tesco for some lunch and the ticket office for my ranger I boarded a York bound 155 where I was going to take to York, but found out after Selby my 2nd last Hull Trains 802 was due to arrive from London (having previously spotted the other one heading towards London at Doncaster).
The Train Shed at Hull
Unusually this 155 went into platform 3 at a snowy Church Fenton (usual platform is platform 2), not sure if I’ve done that connection at the southern end of Church Fenton before on a railtour. It wasn’t long before the next Hull bound 155 arrived to take me back to Hull where I was in luck as 802304 was sitting on platform 7 with 305 detaching and heading to one of the carriage sidings next to Hull station. With some time to waste before this 802 would depart I headed into the city centre for a little walk, in the snow.
155346 departs Church Fenton
After returning to the station doing my best impression of a snowman, I took a seat on the 802 for the run to Brough, where with the sun out went for a small loop around the station to waste some time before the next Scarborough bound train arrived. Unusually this was a 158 (rather than a 170 as I was expecting) and I decided to take it to Driffield, with a tight 5-minute connection to the next southbound train. (Many years ago I had a good friend who lived in Driffield, I wonder what he is upto these days as we lost touch). This connection only increased as the next southbound 170 was running late.
158817 at Driffield
I took this 170 to Cottingham, where darkness has fallen. Due to the delay it wasn’t too long before a 155 rolled in from Bridlington to take me the final leg into Hull. I was happy that 802301 was sitting on platform 7 and had my fingers crossed it would remain there and not get swapped over with 305 (which was still sitting near the station). I popped to a nearby KFC to grab dinner (as I wanted something warm) and headed back to the station to take a seat on a very quiet 802301, and when it departed meant I could say Hull Trains, Tick.
802301 at Hull.
This 802 took me to Doncaster (where it felt strange going nonstop through Goole), where it did get busier, but for me I alighted and had a short wait before a slightly delayed 801210 rolled in from Leeds (always nice to get a winner on a booked train move). I decided to ignore my reserved seat on a busy table and grabbed a seat on an empty table which wasn’t reserved, just so I could sit back and relax when watching some TV on my tablet device.
The 801 arrived into Kings Cross pretty much on time, allowing me time to head across to St Pancras where I had a couple options, either a delayed Horsham train from Peterborough or a Three Bridges train from Bedford, both weren’t needed for mileage so I just took the Three Bridges train to take me to East Croydon, where I had a short walk to the Travelodge to get checked in for the night.
Sunday
I didn’t have much of a plan today, other than to do the slight novelty of an Azuma & a 387 via the Hertford loop as there was engineering works on the mainline via Welwyn. A quick play on RTT also highlighted that I could get both my last couple 5 coach 801s which would be a nice bonus.
After I checked out of the hotel, I headed towards East Croydon station (via Sainsburys for breakfast), and originally was going to head towards Victoria due to the underground works on the Northern Line (it was a Sunday morning, therefore Thameslink were terminating at London Bridge). However, this turned out to be a very busy 4 coach 377 (which was booked on the slow lines towards Clapham, following a stopper from Selhurst!) I decided to turn this 377 down for a 12 coach 700 for the run to London Bridge, followed by the Jubilee to Baker Street and a Hammersmith & City line service to Kings Cross St Pancras.
Trams!
The first service towards Stevenage was winner 801215 which was quite busy with kickball fans heading for the big game at Leeds, it was barely after 9am and they were already on the cans of lager. The run via Hertford East was quite nice (been a while since I was last on this route) but not the fastest due to power limitations of the overhead wires. Soon enough I was at Stevenage for a short wait, made longer due to being late, but soon enough dud 801102 rolled in with winner 801105 for company for the run back towards Kings Cross.
801215 departs Stevenage
With
55 minutes to kill before the next 387s towards Cambridge, I decided to do a
little walk, taking in some of the green spaces to the south of Kings Cross,
before returning to the station with a triple 387 on a nonstop run towards
Cambridge, unusually using the older route after Hitchin to overtake a late
running 700 on a semi-fast (the 700 was on the flyover, the 387s went via the
flat crossing to access the Cambridge line). Pretty sure that's the first time I've gone that way on a service train, only other time I can think I've used that connection is on the GN 313 farewell tour.
At Cambridge I had a short connection to take a 8 coach 700 on a stopper back towards Stevenage (had I had the time, I would have taken this stopper from Stevenage in order to tick off the crossover at the northern end of the station for a novelty move). This 700 took me towards Stevenage, where I had some time to waste before winner 801109 rolled in from Leeds. I was fully expecting to have to stand on this 5-coach unit, so I was pleasantly surprised that when boarding the 2nd coach from the front to have multiple options at where to sit!
A pair of 387 pass Stevenage when a 700 gets ready to depart
Back to London with my final 5 coach 801 into the book, and straight to the Victoria line for a train to Highbury & Islington for a 717 for the run to Finsbury Park as I noticed earlier in the day there was a low mileage unit on the Moorgate services. I was in luck with low mileage 717025 sitting on platform 1 ready to form the next Moorgate train (the Moorgate services were a bit of a mess today due to the engineering works). I took this 717 for the run to Moorgate to push it over ten miles and headed out of the station on a short walk towards Cannon Street.
717025 at Finsbury Park
It didn’t take me that long to reach Cannon Street (nothing towards Charing Cross today) where I jumped onto a pair of 376s just as they were due to depart, but sadly neither were needed. However, I did notice a low mileage 465 on the next Hayes train, which was due to follow these 376s, so I had a short wait at London Bridge for low mileage 465041 to roll in along with a friend, which took me to Lewisham.
City of London near Bank station
At Lewisham I had a couple options on how to get back to London Bridge, and I was in luck as the first of those options was low mileage 465002 along with friend which I cleared by New Cross so I decided to step back, where I noticed another low mileage 465 heading towards Chislehurst flying through the station. I weighed it up in my mind and decided to give chase. I took the next train towards London Bridge, before a couple options to reach Lewisham, sadly neither were needed, but soon I was at Lewisham for a short wait before 465151 rolled in (plus friend). It was cleared for ten miles by London Bridge taking me down to one more 465/1 (all the 465/0s are now cleared and where I did have one of the 465/2s they are in store and unlikely to come back.
To the underground with a Jubilee line taken to Waterloo which was in a state of chaos due to delays & cancellations due to the 50mph speed limit. I came up with the option of a Basingstoke stopper departing within the next couple minutes or to grab dinner. I choose dinner and a wait for a pair of 444s to roll in from Southampton direction. I was sensible and walked straight to the leading coach of 444001 (plus 003) which was nice and quiet, and settled in for the run towards Basingstoke.
As expected the trip was slow, before it crossed over from the fasts to the slows at Farnborough, at first I was thinking it was a special stop order, but there was soon reports of a tree in front where the 450s on the Basingstoke stopper had hit. The guard released the doors to allow passengers some fresh air and for those to make alternative means of transport. 2 and a bit hours later the train departed and after a brief stop at Fleet it was onto Basingstoke (where I did hear branches scraping against the train around Hook).
Only a mere 280 minutes late!
At Basingstoke it was a wait before a pair of 159s rolled in from the sidings to form the 23:06-odd departure, which I took back to Grateley where it eventually reached the station and I had a short walk home to get jumped on by my brothers dog who was on holiday with us for the couple days and was happy to see me. I was glad to get home, and onwards to bed. It had been a low trip back from London, but on the bright side I was on a comfortable 444 with my tablet watching some TV during the time the train was at Farnborough.
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