17th August – Return to the Conwy Valley (Part 1)

17^th August – A return to the Conwy Valley (Part 1)

The Conwy Valley line runs from Llandudno to Blaenau Ffestiniog, and is quite scenic, however it is prone to flood damage, having planned this trip back last October for it to fall aside when the line was replaced by buses, and as part of my trip to North Wales in June, but the line was closed.  It is a line which will always feature high for me as it was the line I finished the challenge the first time round when I alighted from the 150 at Roman Bridge on a Monday morning in October 2017.  Sadly this time I won’t be able to clear Wales with the trip as Dolgarrog is temporary closed due to the platform being damaged in the storms earlier in the year.

The day began where the Friday ended, at the Walsall Travelodge, as I made use of the nearby Tesco Extra for supplies & breakfast before heading towards the station and onto the 06:33 stopping service to Birmingham New Street (I was hoping for the 06:38 semi-fast service, but that was running around 20 minutes late), the 06:33 forms from the “Walsall Express”, the PSUL service from Wolverhampton which goes the direct route to Walsall (06:10 Wolverhampton to Walsall), something which is on my “to-do” list at some point.  Needless to say when 350236 rolled in, it was rather empty, a slow and steady trip to New Street where I had a few options for a potential linear hop, my eye falling on low mileage 323222 on the next Wolverhampton stopper, so it was onwards to Wolverhampton to await the Welsh train.

158838 rolled in, and I managed to get a decent seat on a busy service (lots of families heading out for a day-trip), nice speedy run towards Shrewsbury where it crashed into 158828 continuing along the line towards Wrexham for a quick reversal at Chester before heading along the North Wales coast route, the train emptying out at Rhyl, but I remained on a little bit further to alight at Llandudno Junction where I had around 20 minutes before the next Conwy Valley service rolled in from Llandudno.  This was formed of 150235 and was quite busy for the scenic run towards  Llanrwst,  passing the current platformless Dolgarrog.

No Platform for Old Men

Nothing of note around Llanrwst station, as I set about on a gentle walk into the town, picking up lunch from the Co-Op before carrying on my slow walk towards North Llanrwst station, the passing loop on this line and the southbound passenger information system was a bit broken as it kept on announcing the next train would be the 10:54 to Blaenau Ffestiniog which has already been and gone.  Still better than the endless security announcements at Hope, with time to spare I took a seat and relaxed, flagging down the return of 150235 and requesting the beautiful Glan Conwy, one of my top 6 stations just for the views of the river.

View from Glan Conwy

I had around an hour to fester here, so after going for a walk around the area I returned to a nice bench, watching the weather with dark clouds rolling in from the south, will the sprinter return before the rain starts?  Yes it did, as 150235 returned to take me back towards North Llanrwst for a platform score and I had another gentle potter around the town centre, making my slow way towards the Watling Street bus stop, trusting the timetable information on the website to be correct rather than the printed timetables on the bus stop.  Thankfully the website was correct as bus YJ15 AFZ rolled in on an X19 service, and other than me there was one other passenger and it was non-stop along the main-road to the Tal-y-Cafn Hotel stop.  A short walk along the road took me to Tal-Y-Cafn station itself, where I took a seat on the platform (after a quick explore) to carry on with my magazine, flagging down 150235 once more.

It was back to Llandudno Junction for a short fester before low mileage 175113 rolled in on the Holyhead bound, I saw this unit earlier on but lost tracking of it (it was on a Birmingham service, so must have been swapped over at Shrewsbury because 175s to Birmingham are quite rare).  Neither the less I was happy as it meant the class was cleared for mileage, no longer need I keep an eye out at Manchester for the Hippos.  Anyhow I took this 175 to Bangor where I had around 35 minutes to fester, so I popped down towards the town centre to a large Asda for items for dinner before returning to the station for 175111 to take me back towards Shrewsbury where I noticed the Cambrian line had fallen over somewhat (this service carried on to Cardiff with a service from Welshpool being the next Birmingham service, at the time was running around 30 minutes late).

However someone within TfW control decided to cancel that service at Shrewsbury and insert a new “Shrewsbury – Birmingham International” service using an unit which would detach from the next Aberystwyth service, so for me it was good news as it meant an empty unit, not so good news for any passengers from Aberystwyth who would be delayed and have to head to Birmingham on a 170 stopper.  Anyhow it was onto a modified 150229 for some good speed towards Birmingham New Street, some Telford folk being unhappy at being caught by the guard without a ticket for their trip to Wolverhampton and being charged the full fat anytime fare with no railcard discounts (evil laugh!).

Once at New Street I had a couple ideas, the first was a jolly up the Chase line because on Saturday evenings there is a couple trips to Rugeley Trent Valley which are in the hands of 323s (normally solid 350).  But first it was a trip to Hednesford on 350241 for a random platform scratch before 323217 rolled in to take me to the end of the line at Rugeley Trent Valley, the motor noise being very nice on the fast section, and a bit of a novelty as I’ve only previously had 170s along this line (other than a couple charter services).

A 323 at the wrong Trent Valley Station!

Anyhow, a gentle turnaround at Rugeley Trent Valley before 323217 headed back towards Birmingham and I bailed at Walsall to walk back towards the hotel, the end of a good day in North Wales.  In theory when Dolgarrog does re-open I can do it on a day trip from home to reduce the cost

16th August – A London Day

16^th August – A London Day

I was off work for the next week (and a bit) on some annual leave, having hit the rails on the Thursday afternoon to revisit Shawford & Hook for some random platform scratches (after the week I had at work, I needed to escape and Shawford common allowed me to do so).  I was staying overnight in the Walsall area so I had a good few hours in London, deciding to ask for info on my last few SWR unit needs, more for the last few 450s (which can work away from London, or work peak time additional services spending off-peak in Clapham yard).

So when I awaited on news, I headed towards the station with a busy 159022 &159012 taken to Basingstoke, for 165116 to Reading,  my eyes were mainly fixed on a couple late running services from the West Country (as more likely to be 802s), but before they arrived winner 802003 rolled in from Bedwyn.  Along the way I got some news, and it was quite good because 3 out of the 4, 450s were working Basingstoke/Alton services [calls at Surbiton], with the 4^th due to work a peak time service calling at Clapham later in the evening.  Plus I got info on my last couple 458s but my last 707 was “on depot”.  So along the way into Paddington I made up a rough plan of attack.

At Paddington it was straight towards the Bakerloo line with 3243/3541 taken to Oxford Circus, where I changed to 11009/11010 to take me to Victoria, for no reason other than to have a look to see if there was anything of interest floating around, sadly not as I took 377208 & 377474 to Clapham Junction (passing a low mileage 377 heading towards Victoria & a 455 also heading towards Victoria, so I made a note of their inbound workings to have a look at what services they would form to try and allow me to intercept).  At Clapham Junction, it was a short walk across to platform 7 before a triple 450 from Alton arrived, 450001 leading 450016 with 450108 on the rear.  450108 is the unit I had the night before on a Winchester – Shawford leap, little did I know at the time how those extra 3 miles would come in handy as it meant it was cleared for 10 miles around the Vauxhall area.

Talking about Vauxhall, that is where I was heading next, after walking across to the former International platforms to board 458529 & 458507, the mile being enough for 529, and I returned to Waterloo on the next inbound service, this being 455864/455853/456021, and I headed across to where a triple 450 from Alton was arriving, and I was happy because 2 out of my 3 requirements featured, and both those 2 were low [one on a Clapham leap, the other on a Vauxhall leap!].  I took a seat on 450122, 450020 & 450114 for the non-stop run to Surbiton, returning back to Waterloo on 450037 & 450005.  Had this pair of 450s called at Clapham I could have intercepted my last 458 as it headed towards Windsor but alas couldn’t be helped.  During the trip to/from Surbiton I worked out a rough plan of action for those Southern units I saw, so it was a short walk across the bridge to Waterloo East, jumping on an unknown 6 coach service, little did I know 466006 was leading 465045 and 006 was on 9-odd miles so the leap to London Bridge was enough to clear it for mileage (happy days!).

At London Bridge I headed across to the Thameslink platforms, the first southbound service wasn’t of interest, the next was heading to Rainham, the third was also of little interest but I decided to take it anyhow (as the 4^th would give a tight connection at Croydon), so it was onwards to Norwood Junction on 700129, changing to 455804/455831 to East Croydon (a shot in the dark, the 455s actually beat the 700 into Croydon due to congestion!)  I headed across to platform 1 and awaited the service from Brighton which as expected featured 377108 & 377145 for the run to Clapham Junction, and a short walk across to the Windsor lines side for 455718 & 455708 to take me to Richmond to intercept the service from Windsor.

I had my fingers crossed as 458505 rolled in with 458501 on the rear, the run to Waterloo needed for my final 458 for mileage (I also think 501 was my last 458 to get for haulage outright a couple years ago when I had it on a Vauxhall leap).  During the time I asked about 319s on London North Western services and got some good news as 2 out of the 3 were gettable, but to waste some time I headed across to Waterloo East with a busy 465162 being given an extra mile to London Bridge and 466022, 465901 & 465906 taken back to Charing Cross, where I headed to the Northern line with 51718/51616 took me the mile & a half to Euston with some time to spare before the first of the evening 319 operated services.

The 16:04 (ish) to Tring was formed of 319216, 319220 & 319005 so a run to Harrow & Wealdstone was needed for the 319, sitting in the motor coach (overhearing someone attempting to make a telephone conversation but was complaining about the noise, surely if they had sense they would move to another coach).  At Harrow & Wealdstone [seems the building is getting refurbished] it was across to platform 6, the first service was a pair of 377/2s which were of no interest, followed by a single unit from Tring, I was happy as it was low mileage 350257, I even managed to get a seat!  Back to Euston and once more I headed across towards Victoria with 11039 & 11040 doing the honours, time was more limited this time as I had a couple minutes to spare before boarding 455807 & 455844, the run to Wandsworth Common would just be enough to push 844 over ten miles (by a mere 3 chains!), so that is where I headed, making a connection onto 455842 & 455828 back towards Clapham Junction where I had around 5 minutes to head across to platform 7, extended by around 5 minutes due to congestion.

My fingers were crossed again as the triple unit from Poole rolled in, 450101 was on the front, 450554 was on the rear and 450558 was in the middle, happy days.  The run to Clapham was enough for this 450, which was lucky as the next service was fast outside the zones, but at the start I didn’t think I would get all 4 of the buggers, so I was in a very happy mood, no longer need I keep an eye out along the way to London.  At Waterloo I noticed something had gone wrong as the Wimbledon suburban platforms were empty of trains (and busy with commuters), a train had broken down around the Earlsfield area causing a lot of delays, oops!

Spot the Train...

Anyhow, I headed across to the former international platforms once again, this time in the hunt of that 707 which had come out to play working Hounslow loop services and I took a seat on 707015 & 707018 for the run to Clapham, enough to clear it for ten miles, clear the class with an uncertain future for mileage and also nearly clears SWR outright, just a 442 for mileage (and i don’t believe 442409 has re-entered service yet).  At Clapham I headed across to the Southern side and jumped on 377125 & 377433 to take me to Balham, more of a time wasting move to board a Milton Keynes bound 377201 & 377212 to Harrow & Wealdstone; the service would be cut back at Watford Junction due to issues further along the line.  I was glad I did it this way rather than going back via Euston as the next Tring stopper was cancelled.  The triple 319 from Tring was delayed somewhat but eventually rolled in with 319433 leading 319441 with 319219 on the rear, just leaves me with 214 for the London North Western fleet.

I arrived to find Euston in a state of chaos (it was the day there was wiring issues around Rugeley, not helped by the trespassers), so I leapt on the first northbound service, which was a Crewe (via the Trent Valley) bound 350370, and was only joined by 2 other passengers in the front coach!  At Rugby I changed platforms and awaited a Crewe via Birmingham service formed of a busier 350113 to take me to Birmingham New Street to await the last ‘semifast’ to Walsall service [the following services would all be stoppers], this worked from Wolverhampton and the inbound service was late, eventually 350108 appeared to take me to Walsall running fast to Tame Bridge Parkway via Aston.

A gentle walk took me to the Travelodge in Walsall, where I checked in, put my devices on charge, had a shower, sorted my bag out [good thing with being in a hotel for 2 nights is being able to dump some weight], and headed in for the night.  A little bit noisy from the road, but not as bad as some hotels (and at least with the AC I could keep the window closed).  Overall a very successful day in terms of my mileage requirements.

10th August – A day in the South Wales Valleys

10^th August – South Wales Day

The main aim for today was to do a few little bits on a list I created last year, mainly little novelty microgricing moves, hunting for some Welsh Pacers needed for mileage, and some platform scores.  I had a rough plan in mind, but it was very fluid in what my moves would be.  I woke up and drove to Salisbury station, noting the price for the car park had increased since the last time I was here (although that would have been in September last year), arriving with time to spare to walk to Sainsburys for a bacon sandwich and to get my ranger, mainly to save a job when I got to Cardiff.

The 07:30 to Cardiff Central service this morning was formed of 158951 for some sprinter-based noise, making someone unhappy when I took up my reserved seat on a heavily reserved coach (something which will be lost when the Turbos take over), huffing to another seat.  Anyhow an uneventful trip towards Cardiff, the train getting busy at Bath, but nothing mega busy, arriving into Cardiff Central pretty much bang on time, noting the march of the wires.  At Cardiff Central I made a tight connection onto 150284 for the run to Cathays, my first modified Welsh 150 (plug sockets, new toilet, door buzzers, auto announcer), for a break in the rain at the university station before 142082 & 143616 came bouncing around the corner to take me to Pontypridd where they terminated into the bay platform, a nice bonus low mileage 143 for a required move.

Lesser used platform at Pontypridd

I crossed over to platform 2 to board an empty 143609 working towards Merthyr, which used the crossover at the northern end of the station for a single stop to Abercynon where I made a tight connection to a busy 150236 to take me back to Pontypridd, to step back a service to board 150260 (bonus low mileage 150!) to take me back towards Cardiff Central.  What is unusual is this is one of the few services from Treherbert which turns right after Radyr and goes nonstop via the City Line, for the novelty of a fast run via that line.

Once the unit arrived at Cardiff Central, it was a quick scan of the comings & goings, noticing a low mileage 142 heading towards Penarth, but my focus was on the next Maesteg service which I saw earlier in the day at Newport, as 143606 rolled in for the fast run towards Pencoed, where I crossed over to the opposite platform for a busy 175005 to get fuller & fuller at the other stops, where it pretty much emptied out at Cardiff Central, not many passengers going all the way to Holyhead today.  Sadly due to the delay in getting across to platform 6, I missed the first option, but at this point the Valleys were in a bit of chaos due to some fallen branches, with the next Bargeod bound service starting from platform 7 (I believe 4 trains in a row were cancelled towards Penarth!).

143608 & 150252 were the unusual Pacer+Sprinter combo which took me towards Lisvane & Thornhill where I made the most of delayed southbound service to score this station on a minus 2 connection, a couple minutes later 143602 & 142074 rolled in, running a few minutes late.  It got later as it headed back towards Cardiff Central, where it was announced as running fast to Penarth, with a short delay waiting for the new driver.  Going non-stop through Dingle Road was very unusual.  I only needed to stay on to Grangetown to push the 142 over the ten-mile mark, but I decided to remain on board to avoid trying to intercept it later.  I changed unit and headed back to Cardiff Central, which was still a bit in chaos with delays, but better than it was.

End of the line at Penarth

My next plan was to head towards Barry Island, as I needed the new track layout at Barry (where a 3^rd platform was added a few years ago), so it was a nice bonus to get low mileaged 142073 (the pacer which came back from the dead) to the end of the line at Barry Island, doubling back to Barry Docks for a late running 150284 back towards Barry, where I was expecting for an announcement that it would turn back at Barry instead of heading towards Island (as it was 6 minutes late at this point), so I was surprised when it headed towards Barry Island, to return 5 minutes later with the next Barry Island service waiting for it to clear the single track terminus.

I stayed on 150284 all the way to Radyr, in sensing a chance to grab a platform at Waun-Gron Park without a thirty-minute wait (as the trains are timetabled to pass here), as the next Radyr bound service was 10 minutes late heading towards Coryton.  It was onto 142085 for the 2 and a bit mile run to Waun-Gron Park giving me around 5 minutes to get across to the opposite platform (overlooking an disused dump), with 143614 back to Radyr where a tight connection to a northbound service was made with 150236 taken to Pontypridd, for I had spotted a low mileage 142 heading towards Aberdare earlier when in the Barry area.

A late running 150 came and went before 142010 returned from Aberdare to take me to Cardiff Queen Street, where I made a cross platform change onto a busy 143624 to Llanishen, where I stepped back a train (in the pouring rain) for 142080 to Llanbradach (featuring some smoking youths in the shelter).  150260 & 142083 took me back one stop to Energlyn & Churchill Park, before 142006 took me to Ystrad Mynach, this was one of my key moves as the return of this service runs non-stop from Ystrad Mynach to Cardiff Central, a jollified ECS service.  The guard was surprised to get someone boarding the service who wanted Cardiff!

And the Heavens Opened

That was a good run heading back to Cardiff, a few more “stations passed without stopping” ticked off, with some confused looking faces at Caerphilly, but all good things must come to an end as it eventually reached Central, attached to another unit (before going empty to the depot, goodnight 142006).  I noticed the next Portsmouth service was a 2-coach 158, I checked my list and it was one of the reformed 158s (as 158960 & 158961 have been split up), 158769.  I asked the guard nicely if I could board the train (as I was booked on the one an hour later) and he said “no problem” which was very nice of him.  The train got busy after Bristol & Bath, remaining busy with standees until Warminster, I was in the airline seat with the random half-fixed table.  A couple hours later the unit arrived into Salisbury where I alighted and drove to Tesco for dinner before driving home, the end of a successful day in South Wales.

My target was 5 units for mileage, I was happy with getting 6 (leaves 1x 142, 2x 143, 2x150 & 1x175 for the Welsh fleet), I did most of the platforms I wanted to scratch, plus the other oddities, so other than the rain & wind it was a good day :)

The return of 158769

(Post Script, on the Sunday I was hoping to do another ‘Devon Roundabout’ with my parents, but due a points failure around Wilton junction, it didn’t happen as we were around an hour and 20 minutes late into Exeter, changing trains at Honiton, even the backup option of going clockwise was binned.  On the bright side I got to sample a 158 from Exeter to Plymouth)

The future for the South West

9th August – Dodging the Rain at Alton

9^th August – Dodging the Rain at Alton

With the weather being a bit on the rubbish side, I was nearly going to stay home, especially with a later than usual finish from work.  However, I decided it would be a good chance to dust off a rough plan I created last year to tick off the loop at Bentley, usually trains use platform 1 as they pass at Farnham [before the double track branch towards Alton reduces to single track], but there is a couple trains a day booked to pass at Bentley.  And I haven’t been down the branch in daylight for years (when I did the stations it was dark), so would be nice to head down that way again.

I dodged the rain showers in walking to Grateley station for the 15:59 service, arriving a few minutes before another sudden downpour, the previous Exeter – Waterloo service was cancelled at Salisbury due to a train fault, so the local stopper was calling additionally at Clapham Junction, and was busy with 159011, 158883 & 159008 rolling in to take me to Basingstoke.  In a way I was glad because when I was driving home I was toying with the idea of driving to Andover to catch the 15:38 service, but that would have been a wasted trip, as the train got full at Andover.

Anyhow I bailed at Basingstoke, watched as a late running Southampton – Newcastle voyager got put behind the stopper, before boarding 450009, 450033 & 450545 from Poole for the short run to Farnborough (Main) for a platform score, before 450117, 450019 & 450099 rolled in from Basingstoke to take me the one stop to Brookwood, getting a nice low mileage 450 was a bonus.  I dodged the waterfall in the subway at Brookwood heading to the opposite platform for the next Alton train, formed of 450104 & 450012 to take me to Aldershot.  I popped out of the station returning to board the following Alton service formed of 450078, 450077 & 450037 which did the loop at Bentley as booked, and also went into platform 2 at Alton (both platforms can only take 8 coaches so the rear unit was adrift, reminds me of Southminster when triple units work in the peaks but only double units fit at the terminus platform.

Old Sign at Aldershot, I can remember when Grateley had one of these

When I was at Aldershot, I saw a low mileage 450 working Farnham – Guildford stoppers, and it was too good of a chance to turn it down, so I headed back to Bentley on 450012 & 450104 for a short fester before 450037, 450077 & 450078 took me one stop up the line to Farnham.  Worth noting the track into the old oil terminal were rusty as anything, that hasn’t seen anything for a couple years at least.  A few minutes later 450008 rolled in to take me to Aldershot, taking me down to 4 of the 450s for mileage (of which 3 are on ‘Clapham’ leaps, the 4^th on 9.7 miles).  I was going to get one of those 4 for an extra mile with a linear hop to Ash Vale [also as a platform score as I need the northbound platform] but sadly 450114 got cancelled at Aldershot due to a tree deciding it wanted to become fire wood and fell down on the line towards Ascot.

Annoyingly that train getting cancelled means I have to rejig a rough plan, but never mind, it was back to Woking on 450022, 450095 & 450091 for a 25-minute fester for 159016 & 159005 to take me back to Grateley, where I wasn’t lucky with random downpours as I got caught out by one when half-way home.  Overall a good little spin to Alton & back, I did my main job with my BLS hat on with the loop at Bentley, getting two more 450s was a bonus, but better than having an evening at home.

Bentley (Hampshire)