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Midlands spotting

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mwnl

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I am due on a course in the midlands in a few weeks and may get a day out at a station doing some spotting. Was wondering where was best in the Midlands for sheer volume of trains as its a long time since I have been down there.
 
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ATW Alex 101

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birmingham new street, lichfield trent valley, stafford, coventry, nuneaton(good for freight).
Take your pick. If you want lots of trains birmingham new street is good
 

MidnightFlyer

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For freight Water Orton is good too - also a mix of 170s and Voyagers, though nowhere near as many trains passing through as New St etc. Its sparse service itself also makes getting there slightly tricky too, but worth it if you want peace from the public and people-free pictures.
 

ATW Alex 101

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For freight Water Orton is good too - also a mix of 170s and Voyagers, though nowhere near as many trains passing through as New St etc. Its sparse service itself also makes getting there slightly tricky too, but worth it if you want peace from the public and people-free pictures.

Do you see voyager at water orton, what route do they take?
 

MidnightFlyer

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Do you see voyager at water orton, what route do they take?

Any services to Derby and Yorkshire / the North East / Scotland run via Water Orton, so it's your hourly Plymouth-Edinburgh and hourly Reading-Newcastle trains (plus any HSTs on the former). They branch off immediately after the station for the Fast Line to Tamworth usually, though some run via Coleshill (but it's a PSUL move from there to Tamworth).
 

ATW Alex 101

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oh right ok, I didn't know that long distance cross country services ran through water orton, something to add to my bank of railway knowlage!
 

mwnl

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What about derby, nottingham or even leicester??

went to new street a while ago and its a creepy station late on i think??
 

MidnightFlyer

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I wouldn't say creepy, it's a bit grim, yes, but there's so much to see and do that I doubt you'll notice (or care) after a while.

Derby gets you 170s, Voyagers (and 222s), 156s and 158s, plus an occasional HST. Leicester generally gives all that, minus Voyagers but with regular HSTs; with Nottingham the same as LEI. I think freight is more common around Leicester, as a lot works into Toton, probably followed by Derby, then Nottingham. As for the stations themselves, there tends to be some shunting and movements in the yards around Derby station, but, as with Nottingham, it is fairly spread out. Leicester is quite compact with everything concentrated more or less on four lines. I would say Nottingham, then Derby, then Leicester would be my order of preference for stations to spend an extended amount of time on.
 

mwnl

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Thanks for all that, will update how it goes when I get the course dates through though its meant to be in next six weeks.
 

150001

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Birmingham Moor Street and Snow Hill also provide a good load of trains with Chilterns and a lot of Class 172s
 

Pen Mill

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Birmingham Moor Street and Snow Hill also provide a good load of trains with Chilterns and a lot of Class 172s
I think most if not all of what goes through Moor Street also goes through Tyseley where you can also see Voyagers which take the loop near Small Heath into New Street + there are a few freights too.You can see units stabled on Tyseley Depot from the platform (Take bins for these).
 
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