26th & 27th February – A trip to Greater Anglia Land

 26^th & 27^th February – A trip to Greater Anglia Land

 

The idea of this weekend’s trip was to head towards Greater Anglia land, staying overnight in the Ipswich EasyHotel with the main idea doing the limited service from Harwich International towards Ipswich (as I had only ever done it towards Harwich, also would be nice to tick off a bit more of the network for “755 coverage”.

 

Although in hindsight the weekend I picked wasn’t the best to hunt down 755s due to a lot of engineering works, basically the only trains running at Norwich were the London intercity units, everything else was buses.  Oops!

 

Saturday

 

The trip began with a drive from home to Andover, to avoid using the replacement buses, and a fast run into Waterloo on a single 159, where it arrived around 10 minutes early due to padding.  It was straight towards the underground with the Jubilee line taken to Stratford where I had a short wait before a pair of 720s rolled in towards Southend, which I took to Shenfield as it was winners 720551 & 720525.

 

A couple minutes at Shenfield and the next train rolled in towards Clacton which was a 322 & 321, needless to say I sat in the motor coach of the 322 for some classic motor noise (with windows open), my original idea was to bail at Chelmsford but I decided to stay on to Colchester as I was enjoying the noise.  A short wait at Colchester and a 745 rolled in from London to take me to Ipswich where I exited the station in order to purchase my Anglia Plus ranger, noticing that the ticket office at Ipswich has shifted from where it was last year.

 

"This is the Northern service to Doncaster-on-Sea"

 

I had a couple options for my next move, and it was onto winner 755326 on a Peterborough service, keeping my eyes peeled to ID the unit which would form the Cambridge train, this wasn’t needed so I stayed on the Peterborough unit to Ely, changing over to a busy pair of 387s for the single stop to Waterbeach, where I began my walk.

 

Today’s walk was from Waterbeach towards Cambridge, via the River Cam, before a little explore of Cambridge, although my original idea was changed a few times during the course of the walk.  The path alongside the river was a bit narrow in places but was reasonably busy with other walkers & cyclists, plus the river was busy with rowers.  I remained on the riverbank, crossing over to the opposite side on a footbridge to the south of Cambridge North, doing a loop to come back on myself after going via Stourbridge Common to reach Ditton Meadows.

 

Baits Bite Lock on River Cam

 

My little walk continued to Coldham’s Common, before making my way along the streets to reach the enclosed footbridge (Charter Bridge) which crossed over the tracks at the northern end of Cambridge station.  Does it say something about the local area when most of the railway bridges are either enclosed or have massively high walls?

 

Anyhow I made it to Cambridge station, an area on my list for another explore at some-point and had a short wait before a 3 coach 755 rolled in from Ipswich to form the next Ipswich train, it was quite busy from the start as I took it to Stowmarket (my phone getting a much needed boost of electricity).  I had a tight connection to board a Norwich bound train (wasn’t alone in making this connection as a few others clearly not wanting to suffer a replacement bus from Ely did likewise).  The next northbound Norwich wasn’t needed, but I took it to Diss anyhow, doing a little loop to cross between platforms without using the footbridge (well it wasted 15 minutes).

 

A 720 heads towards Cambridge North

 

Back at Diss station and it was a short wait before another 745 rolled in to take me to Ipswich, where I changed onto winner 755424 which was working the Felixstowe branch today (slightly overkill in my eyes).  I took this to Felixstowe & back to Ipswich where darkness had fallen, a short wait before winner 745107 rolled in on the next London train which I took to Colchester, having a long walk along the platform from platform 5 to platform 3 (why can’t all London trains at Colchester use the same platform?) as a pair of 720s had rolled in from Clacton.  The front unit wasn’t needed but winner 720576 was on the rear, so it was onwards to Witham.

 

I popped to a nearby Morrisons at Witham for dinner items before returning to the station with a 720 on a Harwich International service which I took to Manningtree, getting a bit of a shock when 755412 rolled in on the Harwich Town branch line.  I knew they worked this branch, but I wasn’t expecting to see one today (was expecting it to either be a 720 or a 321).  I took this 755 to Harwich Town for a short turnaround before heading back to Harwich International, where I changed over to the bay platform with winner 755416 on the train towards Halesworth (would have been Lowestoft).  It was a bit sad seeing the line-up of 379s stored on the long siding beyond platform 1 towards Dovercourt, hopefully they will find use with another operator sooner rather than later.

 

755416 at Harwich International

 

The 755 towards Ipswich was quite quiet in terms of passenger loading as it whizzed towards Ipswich, taking the Manningtree north curve to join the mainline, I always forget how fast these bi-mode units are when on AC.  Anyhow once at Ipswich and with nothing else of interest floating around, I decided to call it a night and head towards the Easy Hotel, relaxing for the remainder of the day.

 

Sunday

 

My original plan for the Sunday changed from walking the Gipping Valley Path towards Needham Market as I reckoned that would be a path best suited for the spring/summer time due to the potential of mud, so after looking at the map I decided to have an explore of Felixstowe, a town I’ve been to a couple times but never left the station area.

 

As the first train towards Felixstowe wasn’t until nearly 10am, I decided to have a little walk after leaving the hotel, heading in a northernly direction towards Christchurch Park which was quite scenic with trees.  I carried on heading north passing a large playing field for a school and across some fields to reach Westerfield station, and relaxed before the first train towards Felixstowe was due.

 

Christchurch Park, Ipswich

Winner 755330 rolled in from Ipswich to take me towards Trimley, where I started my 2^nd walk of the day, taking in some woods before reaching a cliff which overlooked the freight port (all the shipping containers!).  I carried on, going across a foot crossing of the railway by the port gates where I spotted a shunter.  I carried on with my walk, crossing over the busy A14 road and into Felixstowe itself, swinging via a Morrisons for lunch.

 

I carried on taking in a couple paths and went via Langer Park to reach the site of the disused Felixstowe Beach station, where only the former platform remains on the freight line towards the port.  After a photo stop at the old station I reached the sea front for a walk alongside the seaside to reach the pier.  Only part of the pier is open to the public most of it is closed off due to being unsafe but made for a good photo (although only away from the sun, as it was quite bright).

 

Felixstowe Beach from Felixstowe Pier

 

 

After the pier, I made my way towards the town centre, then towards the current Felixstowe station, where I had a short wait before 755330 rolled back in from Ipswich to take me towards Ipswich, where I noticed the next train towards Shenfield was a pair of 321s so I popped out for another walk (wanted to clear 100km on my Strava app for the month), so I did a little loop of the River Orwell using the road one way coming back via the River Path.

 

755330 at Felixstowe station

 

Back at Ipswich again, for the last time of this trip I was going to wait for the next 745 but I noticed a former Northern 321 on the next semi-fast service, so I felt it wrong to turn down a fast run on an original 321, especially on the fast section towards Colchester. Needless to say, I was sitting in the motor coach with all the windows open (well it was a hot day) and enjoyed the motor noise as the driver wasn’t holding back.  I alighted from the pair of 321s at Witham for a short wait before a 745 arrived to take me to Shenfield.  I felt boarding a 745 at Witham was more of a novelty than at Colchester, but alas it wasn’t needed.

 

I took this 745 to Shenfield where it went into platform 4, where due to engineering works the line was closed towards London, so down the narrow stairs and out of the sidegate to join the queue of passengers for the fast buses towards Newbury Park.  Eventually I was at the top of the queue and was invited onto a “Central Connect” double decker, where I decided to sit near the rear on the lower deck.  The bus departed and headed along the dual carriageways to reach Newbury Park LU station, where I headed down to the busy platform to wait for the next Central line service for London.

 

A 745 at Shenfield

 

Thankfully this service started at Newbury Park so was quiet in the rear coach (would imagine the front coaches were busier), I alighted at Stratford (where due to the kickball at West Ham ending, it got very busy), and headed towards the Jubilee Line for the run towards Waterloo, a slow run due to severe overcrowding in the rear coaches, where it took 4 attempts to close the doors at North Greenwich.  Although severe overcrowding was to follow me as I headed towards the next train towards Andover, and even though there was still 20 minutes before departure it was getting busy.

 

The single 159 departed Waterloo rather full, and it only got worse at Clapham Junction.  Nonstop to Basingstoke where a handful of passengers alighted but those were soon replaced by more people boarding, where it remained full & standing all the way to Andover where it terminated.  I headed towards my car, swinging via a pizza place and drove home.

 

 

A Central Line service departs Newbury Park

 

A nice weekend trip, not so much action for my red pen but even with the limited services running I still ticked off a few of the GA Stadler units.  Felixstowe is a nice little town, has a nice beach and certainly a place on my list to revisit again (maybe working in a trip with the ferry from Harwich).

19th – 20th February - A trip to East Yorkshire

 19^th – 20^th 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.Hul

 

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 2^nd 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 2^nd 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.

13th February – Station revisiting in Kent

 13^th February – Station revisiting in Kent

I decided today would be a good day to resume my station revisiting challenge to revisit stations I’ve previously visited but have no photos of (plus some stations where I do have photos, but they are not the best).  The majority of my station needs are in Kent (plus some in Cornwall and on the Isle of Wight) so with a rough plan in hand, which was changed throughout the week taking into account the never-ending weekend engineering works in Kent.  I had previously put the challenge on hold for the winter months where days are short and temperatures can be low.

 

When I first did the plan, it was to take into account that I did have a hotel booked in Chatham later in March for a weekend trip, but that trip got cancelled due to needing to free up the Saturday to take my car for its MOT.  Anyhow the first train of the day was a triple 159 from Andover which took me to Waterloo, arriving a good 10+ minutes early due to timetable padding (caused by the 2-track operation timetable).  After getting some food from Tesco I headed towards Waterloo East and turned down a couple trains (noticing that a couple Hastings trains were single units), before the Ramsgate via Dover train arrived.

 

Annoyingly this was a pair of the high density 3+2 seated 375/9s (luck of the draw), which I took to Sandling, making a connection to the next London train to take me to Westenhanger, where I had a little walk via a couple footpaths, going underneath the HS1 line before walking alongside it, sadly my timing with a Eurostar service wasn’t the best as it passed when I was behind hedges.  I needed to rush at the end due to the timing as it took longer than expected, but I made it to Westenhanger, doing a long walk because whereas the Folkestone bound platform can easily take 8 coaches, the Ashford bound platform can’t, so the SDO is limited to front 5 coaches, even though the entire train fits.

 

Platforms at Westenhanger station

 

Next train was a pair of 375s which was taken to Folkestone West for no reason other than wanting to step back to the Dover Javelin which was behind it to take me to Dover Priory.  At Dover I changed over to the opposite platform to take a seat on the London Victoria train for the run towards Bekesbourne, which is the station where the hourly trains pass at, so I had planned an hour fester here (well after doing a walk in the local area).  I decided to change my mind and walked along the road towards Adisham instead, not the nicest of roads to walk, but it wasted some time.

 

At Adisham I took the next Dover train to Kearsney where once more I had a little walk, this time heading to the Abbey Gardens, which had a nice lake, but I was soon back at the station to take the 375s to Selling, where my plans changed for 2 reasons.  Firstly, the footpath I was considering taking was closed for bridge works, but secondary because the rain had finally arrived.  Selling has one of those waiting shelters which can only be described as a waste of metal for it was useless against the rain due to having a large gap at the top.  Anyhow soon enough the next train arrived, and I was surprised when it turned out to be a pair of 465 Networkers out on a day trip to the coast.

 

Platforms at Kearsney Station

 

 

I took these 465s to Canterbury East, for a short wait before a delayed pair of 375s arrived to take me to Faversham, where a gamble didn’t pay off as another pair of 465s on a Victoria fast had been delayed and I was expecting them to go out first to tick off Sittingbourne, but the 375s went out in front, meaning I had to ditch Newington (which is where the fast 465s passed the stopper on the short 4 track section).

 

A Dover bound pair of 465s depart Canterbury

 

I alighted from the Victoria fast train at Rainham (in the rain), where I couldn’t help noticing that where the main ticket office building on Platforms 0/1 had working ticket barriers, there was a wide open gate from platform 2 (where I did notice a few passengers crossing over the bridge to use).  Next up was another 395 to take me to Sittingbourne where I had a nervous few minutes as the next Dover train was getting later & later, cutting down my connection at Teynham from a comfortable +12 to a shaky +4.

 

Thankfully I made that connection via the footbridge onto the pair of 465s from Dover, which I remained on until Longfield.  A wait in the rain before the next Dover train arrived to take me back a couple stops to Sole Street, the last station I was revisiting on this trip.  A short wait in the rain before a final couple of 375s to take me back towards Victoria, but due to engineering works were diverted after St Mary Cray towards Chislehurst.  I think there was some issues with points as the train lost a bit of time here as it crossed over to the slow lines just beyond Chislehurst station to follow a stopper (I guess in the timetable it would have used the fast lines to cross over before Hither Green).

 

No trip to Kent is complete without a Javelin Photo

 

 

This delay meant I had missed a connecting Southern service at Victoria, so I jumped on the first train towards Clapham and when at Clapham popped out to visit the little Sainsburys for something to eat for dinner before a pair of 159s arrived to take me back towards Andover.  Although in a way I’m glad I was delayed as the Salisbury train I missed was a single unit, and that could have been a bit cosy.

 

A successful day in Kent, it was nice to be back out with my camera to revisit stations, the end is in sight with rough plans made for the remaining stations, engineering works dependent.

 

Dover station

12th February – A day trip to London

 12^th February – A day trip to London

 

When I was putting together my rough plan for February I misread the dates of a rugby match in Cardiff as I was originally going to be heading to Cardiff for a spot of 769 hunting, a bit of walking and hopefully the novelty factor of the afternoon 387 operated service back towards Bristol.  As the rugby was on, I decided to push that idea back and for lack of a better idea decided to head to London to do another canal walk along with some other bits & pieces.

 

The day began with the 06:59 service from Grateley, all the way into Waterloo on a single 159 which got quite busy at Basingstoke and was rather cosy at Woking.  At Waterloo I headed towards the Bakerloo line with a Bakerloo service to take me to Paddington where I had a couple options on how to reach Hayes & Harlington, deciding to take the 387s on the GWR service, solely to make use of the plug sockets to give my phone a little boost of electricity.  At Hayes, after a quick toilet break (better to have it at the start then get caught short along the way), I exited the station and headed towards the Grand Union Canal.

 

I joined the canal towpath and headed along the canal towards Southall, going over the Brentford goods line as it passes underneath a road bridge at what is known as Brunel’s Three Bridges (road over canal over railway).  I continued along the canal towpath reaching the Hanwell locks where the canal gave way to the River Brent, which was followed towards Brentford, going underneath the M4, & the Piccadilly Line near Boston Manor station.

 

 

Grand Union Canal at Windmill Bridge (Three Bridges)

Piccadilly Line viaduct

The path continued as the river reached Brentford itself, where I continued along the path to reach the River Thames (the path around Brentford is a bit jumpy in places due to construction work and parts which have closed for private moorings).  Once I reached the River Thames I followed the Thames Path heading towards Kew Bridge, passing both the islands of Lot’s Ait & Brentford Ait as I reached Kew Bridge, where I said farewell to the river (at some stage I will be back in this area on the South Bank).  I headed towards Kew Bridge station which was busy due to the kickball at the nearby Brentford football ground, quite a lot of police around as well.

 

At Kew Bridge station, a pair of 450s rolled in, which I took a single stop to Chiswick (making use of the toilet), where I exited the station to join a footpath which followed roughly alongside the railway line towards Barnes Railway Bridge, passing Barnes Bridge station and I continued along another footpath, doubling back via a Sainsburys local for lunch before reaching open ground at Vine Road Recreation Ground, which exited onto a road which has level crossings on both sides.  After a quick photo of a Kingston loop service I headed towards Barnes Common to reach Barnes station itself.  This is another area on my list to revisit as Barnes Common nature reserve looked quite nice.

 

455908 heading towards Mortlake near Barnes station

 

Next up for me was a pair of 458s to Wandsworth Town where once more I exited the station to head towards the River Thames, solely to tick off another part of the Thames Path, passing underneath Wansdworth Bridge (which was all wrapped up), reaching  the limited served Plantation Wharf Pier Riverboat stop (weekday peak times only I believe).  This is the area where last September I started from when I walked from Clapham towards Kensington Olympia on the day of the GBRF tour.

 

I headed away from the river back towards the railway line near Clapham Junction, but took a footpath called “Tours Passage” which runs alongside the railway line back towards Wandsworth Town, going via the roundabout which has the large advert structure within it.  I reached Wandsworth Town station to board a pair of 455s to take me towards Queenstown Road Battersea to simply step back to a pair of 458s behind as where I had a photo at Queenstown Road, it was a bit poor.  The 458s behind took me to Vauxhall where I headed to the Victoria Line to start playing with some trains, although the Victoria Line was quite slow to reach Kings Cross, kept stopping along the way like it had caught up with a train in front which was heavily delayed.

 

Sprinter in the sunshine

 

Anyhow at Kings Cross I headed towards the suburban platforms as the Moorgate 717s were running from this station today, the first towards Stevenage wasn’t needed so I gave that a miss to await the next service which was a low mileage 717022, annoyingly it was on 4 and a bit miles so the run to Alexandra Palace wouldn’t be enough so I took it to the edge of Zone 6 at Hadley Wood (the Welwyn trains pass each other between Alexandra Palace & New Southgate on Saturdays).  A short wait at Hadley Wood and I got lucky with a low mileage 717009 coming the other way.  I took this to Hornsey, where I will admit to getting confused why only the front 5 coaches are opened as both platforms can take all 6 coaches.

 

Next up was a little time wasting leap to Alexandra Palace giving 717013 a little boost, not enough to clear it for 10 miles but every little helps.  My luck ran out with another 717 (001) on the next London train which I took to Kings Cross, aiming to board the first of the evening’s Great Northern branded Peterborough semi-fast services (fast to Biggleswade) for I wanted to tick off Huntingdon to Peterborough for both 387 coverage and also 700 coverage (as I’ve only ever had 365s between those 2 stations for the “Great Northern/Thameslink” services.  I was a bit shocked when this turned out to be a 8 coach 700, so I turned it down to head back towards 717001 to take to Finsbury Park.

 

802304 passes Hornsey

 

The next Thameslink for Three Bridges rolled in on platform 2, which was low mileage 700138 which I took to Blackfriars, not enough to push it over ten miles but like with that 717 earlier, every little helps.  Another 700 took me back north to St Pancras where I had a slow walk over to Kings Cross, where a pair of 387s was on platform 10 to form the next Peterborough semi-fast.  I walked along the platform noticing that the coaches got quieter as I went along, and after a photo boarded the front coach which I had all to myself.

 

387124 at Kings Cross

 

The 387s departed, first stop Biggleswade and it was a nice speedy run, although went onto the slows at Knebworth and caught up with a late running Peterborough stopper, but still an enjoyable run as I always forget how far apart Huntingdon & Peterbrough actually are.  Anyhow at Peterborough I had a short walk to board the 700 on the next stopper back towards London and after checking RTT for any potential options at Stevenage (both LNER services were 91s) I sat down in the rear First Class area, getting surprised with a RPI check, before I relaxed for the run to Finsbury Park.  Had this service gone via London Bridge I would have done my usual move to London Bridge for something South Eastern to Waterloo East, but there was engineering works meaning Thameslink services were going on a little tour of South London.

 

I had a short wait at Finsbury Park for a Victoria Line service to take a service to Oxford Circus, followed by a Bakerloo to Waterloo, where I swung via Tesco to grab some food before boarding a single 159 on a Salisbury service which was full & standing on departure from Waterloo and only got busier at Clapham Junction.  Can’t help thinking SWR should remove the Woking call on these trains to get rid of any Woking passengers as they have lots of alternative services, or at least make it Pick-up only.

 

159107 at London Waterloo

 

Anyhow I made it back home at Grateley, followed by another short walk to get home, to relax and get myself ready for another busy day on the Sunday.

4th – 6th Feb, The Cwmbargoed Collier Weekend

4^th – 6^th Feb, The Cwmbargoed Collier Weekend

 

Friday:

 

I was booked on my first Pathfinder railtour since March 2020 on the Saturday, so after considering options for accommodation I decided on paying an extra couple quid to get a Travelodge in Birmingham (Newhall Street) (rather than paying a little bit less to go to West Brom or Walsall).

 

The trip began with the retimed 17:33 service from Grateley, taking me straight to Waterloo, this train was quite busy due to being a connection from an Exeter train, but I managed to get a decent seat right at the back in coach 8 (of 8).  This train got into Waterloo for around 18:50 so after going via the Tesco outside Waterloo I hung back to wait for the clock to strike 19:00 where “off-peak” began (which meant my railcard discount applied on the underground).  I had the unusual sight of seeing 4 northbound Northern Line trains, all going to 4 different stations [Golders Green, High Barnet, Edgware and Mill Hill East].

 

Various destinations on the Northern Line at Waterloo

 

Anyhow a Northern line train took me to Euston, where I had a short wait before the 350s to Birmingham would arrive, sadly my luck a couple weeks ago with Desiro Roulette wasn’t with me today and the Birmingham Train was a pair of 350/2s (all that lovely 3+2 seating with no tables).  I went to check the 19:46 Crewe train but that was also a pair of 350/2s, so I resigned myself to having an uncomfortable trip to Birmingham as I was in the front coach.  A few minutes before departure the guard came over the PA to say that due to overcrowding First Class was declassified…

 

…I didn’t need to be told twice as I headed to the 1^st class area, a little bit of comfort (at least I had a table in front of me which I could place my tablet to watch something).  The train remained busy pretty much throughout in coach 2, of the people in the 1^st class area a couple alighted at Leighton Buzzard but most remained until after Coventry.   The train was on time arriving into Birmingham New Street giving me a couple extra minutes to get across to another platform to take a Pendo for the run to Wolverhampton.

 

A lovely 350/2 at Birmingham, all that 3+2 seating

 

Back last July I attempted to do the random TfW Rail service which goes via Bescot, but got bowled out when it went the ‘direct’ route to Birmingham both ways.  I had my fingers crossed and when the route indictor at the platform end went “H” (which stands for “Heath” for the old railway route towards Heath Town).  A 158 rolled in from Holyhead and set off for the gentle trip via Bescot Stadium & Aston to reach Birmingham New Street, a nice bit of a novelty on a 158 via unusual track.

 

A sight which will become more common come May, route set towards "Heath"

 

At Birmingham I headed towards the hotel, got myself checked in and relaxed for the remainder of the evening, to the best I could do (for there was a group of youngsters staying in a nearby room who were quite noisy when they returned in the early hours to carry on drinking).

 

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Saturday

 

The day of the tour, and with a gentle walk towards New Street going via Tesco to get supplies (for there wasn’t really a break from the train) and also breakfast from Tim Hortons, before I headed down to the platform where required 66013 rolled in with the usual collection of Mk1 coaches in various states of decay.

 

My seat was near the back, and sadly was by the door (which the bench is a good inch+ narrower) so not much room between myself and the lady I was sitting next to.   The train departed New Street and headed towards Smethwick, taking the chord towards the Snow Hill Lines, couple more stops to pick up passengers at Stourbridge, Kidderminster & Worcester Shrub Hill before the tour carried on towards Cheltenham for another pick-up, before heading towards Gloucester, going via a goods loop before the station and via one of the non platformed lines.

 

66013 approaching Birmingham New Street

 

The tour continued towards Wales, going via a loop before Lydney, carrying on towards Chepstow and using the goods loop which goes behind the back of the platform at Severn Tunnel Junction, onto the relief lines all the way for one final pick-up at Newport.  The train continued using one of the through lines at Cardiff Central and had a brief stop at Bridgend for anybody wanting an off-train break for 2 and a bit hours to alight, before continuing towards Port Talbot, using the freight “Ogmore Vale” line near Margam yard.  A class 60 loco got attached to the rear of the train (required 60040) and the train continued using the goods loop at Port Talbot Parkway, reversing just beyond Baglan station near Briton Ferry.

 

The 60 was in charge for the next section as the tour went back towards Port Talbot, using the other goods line, to get it away from the mainline when the carriages were getting watered (for both the toilets & kitchen area).  This took around 40 minutes to complete, which passed by before the train headed back towards Bridgend, going via the freight line again, picking up passengers and using the connection onto the Barry line to head towards Barry.  This is where things went a bit wrong as the train paused for a while at Barry Docks station due to congestion caused by swans on the line near Grangetown.  The tour got back moving, roughly 45 minutes late at the point, going via the loop before Grangetown before using the “Up Barry Relief” line after Grangetown to pass a couple 150s waiting for platforms to become available at Cardiff Central, to access the Valley line route via platform 4 at Cardiff Central.

 

After Cardiff Central the tour continued heading north on the Caerphilly Line, turning off before Ystrad Mynach onto the Cwmbargoed freight line.  I can see there being a business case to reopen this line for passenger services once the freight dries up, for there are a couple reasonable sized settlements where the railway passes close by.  After the residential area the train soon started climbing and the scenery turned very rural and beautiful, reminded me a bit like the Scottish lowlands in terms of bleak wilderness.  The train came to a stop half a mile or so before the network rail boundary due to a landslip further ahead (safe enough to run a freight train over, but not a passenger train due to the remote area).

 

Views from the Cwmbargoed branchline

 

The 66 was back in charge for the run back down from the Cwmbargoed area, rejoining the main passenger line, going via the loop before heading towards Cardiff Queen Street & Central, carrying on towards the Barry Docks line, this is when I decided to head to the kitchen area to look at what hot food options were (for I was getting a bit hungry).  I ended up with a steak pie which was quite tasty, although the Bubble & Squeak didn’t agree with my body as the taste of it remained with me throughout the evening.  Anyhow back to the train as it reversed at the Network Rail boundary on the Barry Docks line, before going back towards Cardiff, but turning left at the triangle after Grangetown to go towards Ninian Park, where the train reversed for the final time, when on the connection with the main-line.  This is where the class 60 detached and headed back towards Margam and the 66 was back in control.

 

Back towards Cardiff Central, going via the other through line and onto the relief lines, going via Pengam Sidings and back onto the reliefs for the first drop-off at Newport (where the train did seem to empty out quite a bit).  I noticed there was an empty table seat in my coach so decided to make the most of it and relocated there (saying farewell to the couple I was with, giving them extra space as well).  Remainder of the trip I spent reading a couple magazines I had with me (keeping an eye out for when the train went via loops at Lydney & Gloucester).  I was glad when Birmingham New Street came to get a chance for a decent little walk, heading back to the hotel, being thankful I didn’t have to wait round for a tram or a replacement bus due to cancellations on the Walsall line.

 

An enjoyable little day trip, my first “track” railtour since March 2020, some new track covered for me, plus 2 winning locos.

 

Sunday

 

The original plan for today was to do a West Midlands Day Ranger, to head out to Crewe to catch a Pendo towards Rugby via a diverted tour of the West Midlands (Trent Valley line was shut, so it would be going via Bescot & Aston to bypass both Wolverhampton & New Street), however it didn’t go to plan.

I checked out of the hotel and did a little walk towards New Street, along the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal towards the city centre at Gas Street Basin, going via the Library tram stop to reach New Street station where I picked up my rover before heading towards the first departure of the day, a 350/2 towards Crewe.  Or it would have been, had there not been an engineering works overrun closing all the lines at New Street for an extra hour and a bit.  Eventually the train to Crewe was ready for boarding, but I decided against it owing to the fact it would arrive at Crewe after the last Pendo which called at Rugby which didn’t go via Birmingham had gone.

 

The "D" word featuring a lot at New Street

 

So with that rough idea in the bin, I got a refund for my day ranger due to the disruption and managed to get onto a 350/1 on the first Northampton service, which ran non-stop to Coventry.  Surprisingly this wasn’t that busy, and soon it had arrived at Northampton, going into platform 4 where I had a couple options at the next London train.  Either a fast pair of 350/2s which were starting at Northampton vice Birmingham which looked busy, or a quieter 350/2+350/1 combo on a semi-fast London service, needless to say I boarded the semi-fast service for the comfort of 2+2 seating, enjoying a private coach until Leighton Buzzard.  It also featured a rarity on the southern part of the WCML, a ticket check, and yes the guard did catch at least 3 out without tickets who had boarded at Leighton!

 

390042 passing Northampton

 

Into Euston, and after swinging via Sainsburys for food, I headed to the underground where annoyingly my travelcard (which was purchased from one of the TVMs) failed to work from the word go (grr).  A Victoria line service took me to Victoria where I was going for a trio of 377s on a Gatwick service, because due to engineering works around Purley there was an half hourly service towards Gatwick which went via Dorking, reversing at Horsham.  However for the 2^nd time of the day things didn’t go to plan.

 

Due to a tree down on the tracks near Ewell, the  services had been cancelled, so with nothing better to do I popped over to the South Eastern side of Victoria to look for anything required for mileage, before coming back to see what was happening on the Southern side.  Eventually a Gatwick train was announced for boarding, so I headed over to board a 377/7+377/6 combo, sitting in the front coach which was a lot quieter.  The train departed but due to the signaller deciding to put the stopper in front of  the train after the junction at Balham, it was a slow trip towards Dorking, where the train managed to loop  the stopper and get up some speed on the run into Horsham, where it terminated due to being quite late.

 

377121 at Victoria

 

I hung back at Horsham as an empty trio of 377s arrived ECS from Victoria as that was meant to form the next London train, but I guess got cancelled due to lack of a driver, as the 377/6+377/7 combo returned from the sidings to the south of Horsham station to pick up its booked path back towards Victoria.  This was a much better run, calling only at Epsom, with no stopper getting in the way until Mitcham area (where it caught up with a Thameslink.  It even got into Victoria 5 minutes early, which gave me a better chance to making it to Paddington as a Staines crawl avoidance move.  I did the long walk to the Victoria line platforms (making it past the crowd who don’t move along the platform) for a Victoria line service to Oxford Circus, followed by a Bakerloo to Paddington.

 

 

Railway Tracks crossing River Thames near Victoria

 

At Paddington I had around 10 minutes to spare before an Oxford service was due to depart, a 5 coach 802 which was already busy when I boarded it and left Full & Standing (Can’t help thinking that GWR should use 9 coach units on the Oxford trains on Sundays).  This train gave me a +7 connection onto a XC service towards Basingstoke and where it lost a minute at Slough due to the overcrowding it was back on time as it approached Reading.  The XC was on platform 8 with this train booked into P9 making it an easy cross platform change…

 

…However Platform 9 had a Bristol bound service sitting there for whatever reason, 5 minutes after sitting outside the station the signaller decided to route the Oxford train via platform 7, but the damage had been done, and by the time I got off the 802 the voyagers were accelerating away.  So for a lack of a better idea I headed out of the station to do a little loop towards the Thames via Christchurch Park

 

River Thames from Reading Bridge

Back at Reading station and it was a short wait before a 165 rolled in from Basingstoke to take me towards Basingstoke (quite a busy train), where I had a short wait before a pair of 158s arrived from the Salisbury direction to take me home to Grateley.  Thankfully this is the last weekend for a while where SWR are going on the slow tour of Staines, although there are a couple blocks Basingstoke – Woking coming up that I can see.  The day was hard going at times, roughly 90 minutes at Birmingham waiting for something to happen (although part of me was hoping it would continue with ticket acceptance given to use Chiltern towards London for some hopeful 68 thrash).  I managed to do part of what I wanted, which was the novelty of a fast train going via Dorking, all be delayed.