Birmingham- 07/03/15
Well, its time for another trip report. This time it was off to Birmingham for a very short bash indeed. The short time was down to the fact that this was meant to be a Supertram bash but I decided that a change of scenery would be nice, and that it would be good to get my foot in the door for the West Midlands as it’s basically uncharted territory for myself. The short time was also due to the poor connection off the 1603 ex Birmingham into Sheffield for Doncaster, where the only option is the all stations stopper via Rotherham which gets in at 1810. My train home also happened to be at 1810
. As a result, the final possible connection was the 1530 straight through to Donny, getting in at 1716 which gives a stonking great +54 there. But hey ho, it would be a chance to get some dinner and have a wander around so I stuck with it.
The day was off to a dodgy start as my alarm failed to wake me up at 0535! It wasn’t until 0600 that I actually woke up, and my bus was at 0629. Whelp. It was a very hasty start as I crammed in my breakfast and got ready for running out of the door at 0625 before legging it down the street for my usual vehicle of Optare Versa vintage (this time it was 5378) to take me to Grainger Street in Newcastle for 0650. 45 minutes until my train, so I took it slow and decided to have a laugh and see if Newcastle would issue a Network Daytripper to avoid taking up bashing time when I got there. Initially, it looked like this wouldn’t be possible but the clerk had a dig through and found the ticket! This was then bizarrely issued on blue stock (she really didn’t know what to put it in and initially picked up a 2T Railcard
) but I duly handed over my £6.40 and headed for Platform 4 where
220020 was waiting on the 0735 to Leamington Spa. This was set to be a rocky journey from the start as the 0645 Exeter was starting short at Derby, meaning that we were very busy on departure. This was also coupled with confusion surrounding reservations (as usual) where the system had completely failed and was simply telling people to sit in their reserved seats. All credit to the guard however who quickly came out with a reel of paper reservations and put them in the backs of the seats with this being all done by Durham. The train then continued to then become very full, and by York we were near bursting point. I also had to switch seats at Doncaster (changing from AP ticket to Off Peak Day R) so I feared having to stand Donny-Birmingham as it was so full. However, plenty of folk piled off at Doncaster and I headed down to Coach F where I of course found someone sitting in my reserved seat. ‘Well, I’m reserved in the aisle, are you fine sitting there instead’ ‘Erm no, not really.’ And that was that. The woman begrudgingly moved herself into the aisle and I plonked myself at the window as the train then filled up again after Sheffield. It was then again standing room only after Derby. I had also been keeping an eye on the time as I had my sights set on the 1039 to Wolverhampton, which was perfectly feasible with a 1027 arrival, but this was of course not to be as we were recorded as being 11 late through Tamworth. However, we were going full pelt from then onwards, and I started to gain some hope as we approached New Street at 1033. This wasn’t going to be easy considering that all I knew was that I had to get from 10A to 3B, but at 1034 I was on the platform and absolutely legging it onto the bridge and across the station.
I made it to
323208, working the 1039 all stations to Wolverhampton with about 3 minutes to spare. 2 minutes platform to platform, I was pretty proud of that! I took this service to Smethwick Galton Bridge from where I wanted to get Stourbridge Town crossed off. It was a pretty quiet journey with only one stop, and I was deposited at Smethwick GB at 1046. From here, it was a light jog up onto the high level platforms to await the 1052 to Worcester. It was starting to get out pretty pleasant as I slung my coat over my arm just as
172220 and
172215 pulled in. Nice! Two 172s scratched in one go! This was a pretty lightly loaded train once again, and I was finding the LM 172s to be pretty pleasant units as we wound our way around suburbia, past a couple of stabled Chilterns 68s, and onto the platform at Stourbridge Junction, arriving in at 1107. Now for something I’d wanted to do in ages, a 139! It was over onto the Town platform, where
139001 pulled in on the 1115 to the Town, and it was pretty well loaded! It was a pretty quirky little experience, and the ride quality was somewhat lively as we bounced our way through the 62 chains up the branch. It was a quick photo and back on board for the 1120 to the Junction, getting me back for 1123. It was now back to the 172s as I crossed platforms onto
172336 which was working the 1127 to Stratford Upon Avon. This gradually filled up as we got closer to Birmingham, but I was intent on bailing at The Hawthorns for a quick leap on the Trams. And I did just that, crossing over onto the Tram platforms and catching a Snow Hill service. I didn’t know how far I wanted to go, and I knew I still had a few things that I wanted to do on the mainline, so I just went to Handsworth Booth Street and back. It was a new
22 for the journey out, and an older
05 for the journey back. One thing I did notice was that the acceleration on the new trams seemed to be pretty quick, giving a pretty sprightly journey. As for the old ones, I just find the interior layout bizarre with the steps up onto the front section of seats. I was glad to catch one though as I’m not sure that the old trams have very long left!
It was back to The Hawthorns and onto
172342 which was working the 1207 to Dorridge. I decided to do the journey as far as Solihull before turning back and spending a couple of hours on the New Street lines. The journey through Birmingham was pretty pleasant, before heading through the Snow Hill tunnels and into Moor Street which is a very pretty station indeed. It was then on past Tylesley and into Solihull. The sun was now out in full and it was getting very warm indeed as I checked the time of my train back to Moor Street, which was to be the 1237 to Stourbridge Junction formed of
172332 which had me at Moor Street for 1247. I then questioned the idea of going back out on the 1255 Chiltern on 168219 but I opted not to bother as Chiltern will be getting a good bash in April, and there was plenty of new track to focus on. And with that, I left the station and attempted to locate New Street with minimal success at first. I ended up taking a circuitous route around the entrance to the Bullring and through a few dodgy looking side streets before ending up at New Street just in time for me to miss the 1301 to Liverpool, so I looked up the next Wolverhampton train. The 1305 to Shrewsbury? That’ll do! It was formed of
170502 and
170509 and was surprisingly well loaded as we proceeded to depart, calling only at Sandwell and Dudley en route.
350242 was then in my sights which was working the 1331 back to Birmingham, so it was a sprint over to Platform 4. Success! My first 350/2 had been bagged and so I was plonked back at New Street for 1349. I could see a Voyager headed for Euston across the platform, but I couldn’t see whether it had 1350 or 1358 as its departure time. Alas, it was 1350 and it was missed, so I went for the 1354 to London Euston formed of
350232 which called at Marston Green before Birmingham International where I intended to bail and head back. It was another busy train and a good view of the Airport was had before I jumped onto
158833 and
158839 which were working the 1409 to Aberystwyth/Pwhelli getting me back in with time for one last leap out of New Street to somewhere.
I fancied a couple more 323s so
323216 was taken out on the 1426 to Lichfield City/TV (I can’t remember) as far as Aston where I thought I had 2 minutes to cross platforms. However, Aston is a pain to change platforms (I think I confused it with Duddeston!) and I was left with a 10 minute fester instead before jumping on
323215 on the 1442 to Longbridge back as far as New Street. I technically could have gone to University but I fancied the idea of getting the 1503 Dundee back to Sheffield which was a double set, with more of getting a decent seat back. This was the case as
220032 and
221121 rolled in. 220032 had few reservations in and was practically empty in Coach J where I took my seat for the pleasant, sunny journey back through to Sheffield. We lost a few minutes approaching Sheffield, arriving back at 1622. I was now left with a choice. Hang around and get something later back to Donny, or leap on the first train and leave myself more time to get something to eat. I chose the latter option and I hopped on
158792 working the 1641 to Bridlington. This was a nice fast run, so fast that we seemed to be about 10 early on the approach to Doncaster as we sat around for ages before arriving in at 1710, still 2 minutes ahead.
It was off to the Frenchgate centre where I bought myself a salad and a fizzy water for £2.50 for the journey back and proceeded to have a wander around before nipping to the loo, as you do! But this particular cubicle had £15 chucked on the floor. I didn’t really know what to do with it, so once I was *finished* I headed for the customer service desk with cash in hand. It was unstaffed. It felt morally wrong to wander off with someone else’s cash but I was kind of running out of options with there being no staff in sight. I did however find a security guard who basically told me that it was better me keeping it as the chances of having someone come for it were slim and that it’d end up in the centre funds. He said that he admired my honesty and wished me a good day as I proceeded to then walk out of the centre with more money than I’d came in with which must be unusual :P
It was a short walk back to the station and a fester for the 1810 to Edinburgh, hauled by
91115. The service had only originated at Retford and as a result, it was very empty indeed. Few seats were actually reserved and the quiet theme continued through to Newcastle as night fell. We arrived into the toon at 1939, three minutes ahead, where I decided on a walk to the Tyne Bridge for the 1958 bus home. In this time, the traffic completely clogged up. It seemed unlikely that the bus would be here for a while so I walked into the centre for the 2015 bus from the Haymarket, but then I noticed my original intended bus approaching from behind as I was off into the distance. Bugger! I absolutely legged it to the next stop and somehow made it as we departed at 2011, 10 minutes late. Home for 2030. An exhausting day
Total Mileage: 506mi 19ch
Total cost for the day: £56.45