Ancient History with 55013

[55013]

OK, it might be a bit late in the day, with only a handful left, but I thought I would group my remaining old all-liner moves in one thread, so this is it

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a report of the all line rover I did in August 2002.
It was my third of the year and was, once again, a solo move.

This one began somewhat differently to my previous moves.
The rover itself started on the 23rd but I wanted to get into position in order to do the daily loco hauled service from Cardiff to Fishguard that had recently commenced.
I was booked to work a series of night shifts, finishing on the morning of Wednesday the 22nd.
I searched for something to get me down South and came up with a plan.
I looked on-line and found a Travel Inn that boldly stated the walking time from Didcot Parkway was 5 minutes (It’s now the Premier Inn – Oxford South), so I booked that, then I booked a seat on a cross country service from Wakefield to Didcot.

My night shift finished and I drove straight to Wakefield.
As tired as I was I didn’t sleep very well on the journey South.
It wasn’t too pleasant as the HST was wedged and it was very hot.
However, worse was to come.
I arrived at Didcot and set off towards my hotel.
5 minutes my foot.
It’s just over two and a half miles from the station to the hotel.
Roger Bannister couldn’t have done it in five minutes!
I had to walk along a very busy road, much of it without a pavement, with all my baggage, in very hot weather and I hadn’t slept properly.
I was fuming when I arrived and had to really hold my tongue as it would have been quite easy to have a go at the poor, innocent, receptionist.
After I returned home I did e-mail Travel Inn but never got a reply and when I checked it out a year or so later, it still informed the gullible that it was only five minutes’ walk from Parkway.
I noticed the last time I drove that way that there’s now a pavement along the full length.
Mind you, I’ve no intention of ever walking it again.

My problems didn’t end with my arrival at the hotel, however. I still had to make the journey in reverse.
I had to catch a HST to Cardiff in the morning.
The 37 hauled train left Cardiff at 10.35 and so my options were limited.
I pondered booking a taxi for the morning but, being a tight Yorkshireman and now having an idea how long the walk would be, I decided to get up a bit earlier instead.

The next morning I was waiting outside the dining room when they opened the doors (Well, I’d paid for breakfast, so wasn’t going to miss it). I had my coat on and my baggage with me.
As soon as breakfast was out of the way I was off on my route march to the station.
I had timed it just right and had only a few minutes to wait for my Cardiff bound tram.
No locos yet, but two HSTs.
That had to change and change it did. 37418 was the loco on 1B96, in fact I believe it was the loco for that turn pretty much all summer. I did the beast throughout to Fishguard and back to Cardiff, the return working being 1B97 13.35 Fishguard – Rhymney.
Next up was 150265 round to Bristol and yet another HST, to Plymouth.

37418 enjoying its retirement:
37418_2009.07.05_3_Ramsbottom_& 37248 by philwood55013, on Flickr

Naturally, the reason for my visit to Plymouth was to meet up with the up sleeper and this I duly did.
47815 was the loco, although this gave way to 47811 at Bristol.

I had booked a Travelodge in Ipswich for tonight, so a day on Anglia seemed like a good idea.
I mooched over to Liverpool Street from Paddington and did a Yarmouth service, hauled by 86217 to Norwich. I stayed on board and did 47714 to Yarmouth and back.
This was the first time I had done 47714 since I scored it way back in 1990.
Next up was 86209, which I took from Norwich to Colchester and then it was 86234 to Ipswich.
Once again, the hotel turned out to be a fair walk from the station.
Why doesn’t someone come up with some sort of on-line map, so that I can check these things in advance, that’s what I want to know.
Anyway, it wasn’t as far as the Didcot one but once checked in I decided to call it a day.

The next morning I continued with Anglia sparks, doing 86217 to Colchester, followed by a run to Norwich and back on 86215. Next was 86257 into Liverpool Street and then it was over to Paddington.
There was a class 180 unit stood in the station and I thought I would have a spin on that as I had never sampled one before. I found it a much more pleasant environment than a voyager.
I took this unit, 180103, out to Reading and came back on something much better still, 47811.

Next up was my usual Plymouth sleeper move and the loco for that was 47815.
The shunter in the morning was 08645 and I had now cleared my Laira gronks.
Very nice
Sadly, 57601 was not on the morning Paddington turn this time round, 47813 was.
I took this to London and headed over to Euston as West Coast electrics had been sadly neglected on this move so far.
I took 86245 out to Birmingham and then had a run to Wolverhampton and back on my old mukka 86254.
After this I went and checked into my hotel in the city centre and had (another!) early night.

The next day started with me doing 86401 to Euston, followed by a round trip to Crewe, on 90009 and 90012.

86401 at Crewe open day in 2005:
86401_2005.09.09_4_Crewe by philwood55013, on Flickr

Another round trip followed, this time to International, with 86212 out for 87009 back and then it was time for the Inverness sleeper.
90040 worked to Edinburgh and 67030 then became the first of two locos that I had on the 28th.
I had chosen to head up to Inverness as I thought it was about time I cleared the line to Wick and Thurso. I had a bit of time to kill before my intended train and so did 158724 to Dingwall for 158715 back. The unit on the Wick service was 158704 and I did this throughout both ways.
Joy of joys.
Anyway, it got the line in, including the bit to Thurso, and that’s what mattered.
When I returned to Inverness I was expecting the sleeper to be in the hands of 67030, so I was surprised to see 67007 bolted on the front.
No bad thing, though, as it, like 67030 before it, was a winner.

67007 at Fort William a couple of years later:
67007_2006.06.28_Fort William by philwood55013, on Flickr

My last day’s haulages began in the early hours of the morning when 67007 gave way to 90016 at Waverley.
I did this, naturally, to Euston and then spent most of the day on the West Coast.
I took 86260 out to International then had a quick run to Coventry and back on 87029 and 87025 before taking 87002 back to London.
87022 was then done to Crewe and a bit of diesel action followed. A Holyhead to Birmingham turn arrived behind 47799 and that just had to be done.
I did the royal loco to its destination and then headed home.

87008 took me to Euston and the customary walk to Kings Cross followed.
91107 then powered me back to West Yorkshire and the rover was over.
It was a move that had some high points, but also some lows as well and definitely wasn’t as enjoyable as some of the previous ones.
I don’t know if it was the lack of sleep, the annoyance at the hotel farce or what but I was now starting to feel that all-liners were coming to end for me.
Never again would I do three in a year, although I did still have a handful left in me.

 

[Techniquest]

Ooh, something to read on my commute to work! Just replying so far to say that I've been looking forward to reading these, and I aim to comment further later
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Just read that one, as usual a fantastic read! I always check the map for a hotel carefully, as I've had the same sort of issues in the past.

 

[55013]

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Just read that one, as usual a fantastic read! I always check the map for a hotel carefully, as I've had the same sort of issues in the past.

Thanks - they're getting shorter, though.
I check hotel locations scrupulously now!
Sadly I made the mistake of believing them.
I've just had a look and it now says "Didcot Parkway Train Station 3 miles", so at least it's correct these days (use of "Train Station" not withstanding)

 

[Techniquest]

Shorter aye but still a good insight into what was going on before I arrived on the scene. It's a good run to Fishguard with a 37, did it with 37419 and back some years ago and the driver wasn't too keen on the way there, made up for it on the return though!

 

[47403]

Great read again, especially for an ole nostalgic like me. Amazing how we took loco hauled travel for granted, fortunately there's a small increase in loco hauled workings, long may it continue.

 

[55013]

My next all-liner began on the 3rd of April 2003 and was without doubt the worst one I ever did.
Not because of the traction, I had some good stuff, but because I was very unwell.
I had a terrible chest infection that had laid me up the week prior to going and I seriously considered knocking the whole thing on the head.

If I hadn’t already bought my ticket, booked hotels and reserved my sleeper berths I wouldn’t have gone. No question.

As it was, things had improved slightly and I couldn’t face the thought of all that expenditure and planning going to waste, so off I went.
Each morning I awoke feeling slightly better than the last but as the day wore on I began to sound more and more like an 80 year old with a 60 a day Capstan Full Strength habit.

I began by doing my usual drive to Westgate long stay car park and then slumped in a seat on 91128 for the run to London. I had booked a hotel in Norwich so it was a day on Anglia for me.
I made me way over to Liverpool Street and boarded 86215, which I took to Ipswich.
I followed that up with a round trip to Colchester, using 86223 and 86221. Next up was more of the same, only with 86235 and 86217.

86235 at a time when I was feeling a bit healthier:
86235_2004.07.07_3_Norwich by philwood55013, on Flickr

By now I was feeling quite poorly and so decided to call it a day, I did 86221 to Colchester and then 86215 through to Norwich.
My hotel was only a few hundred yards from the station but it took my ages as I had to stop every few feet and get my breath back.

The next day began with the walk to the station and 86235 up to London.
This was the time of the service between Bristol and Brighton that used top and tail Fragonset class 31s and that was my goal for the day.
I did a HST from Paddington to Westbury and boarded the Brighton bound service there.
31602 was on the front, with 31468 on the rear.
I did the same pair, in reverse of course, back to Westbury and then caught a tram to Plymouth for the sleeper.

31602 at the SVR:
31602_2005.10.15_2_Kidderminster by philwood55013, on Flickr

The loco on the up was 47815 and I had that all the way to the blocks.

I made my way over to Euston and settled down on 87012 for a run to Crewe before doing 90002 back.
Next was a spin to International, using 86205 to the Midlands and 90011 back to London.
Once again my physical condition was causing me to find the whole thing less than enjoyable and so I retired early to my Travelodge opposite Euston station.

The next day was little better, in fact I only had four haulages.
My abode for the next two nights was a B & B near Warrington Bank Quay that I had used previously and so my original plan had been to gallivant up and down the West Coast all day.
There was no question of any gallivanting, though.
I did 87016 from Euston to Preston and then boarded sister 87023 for a trip South.
Well, South of Preston.
I bailed at Warrington and went and checked into my accommodation.
I realised, however, that 87016 was within striking distance of the magical thousand mile mark and, ill or not, I couldn’t let it go.
So I went out again and renewed my acquaintance with “Sir Francis Drake” – I refuse to recognise the name “Willesden Intercity Depot” .
I calculated that I had to do it to Watford Junction and so that’s where I bailed, heading straight back to Warrington on 87026.
It’s a good job I had that run on 87016 as I only had it once more, from Stockport to Manchester three weeks later.
That wouldn’t have got the 130 miles or so that I needed!

The next day began with me doing 90007 to Crewe. My plan was to cover the North Wales Coast turns.
Sadly these were no longer in the hands of my preferred 37s, but 47s would do the job almost as well.
There were three diagrams at the time and I covered two of them.
First, though, I had to get to Chester and I did this by having my first experience of the new order, 175010.
47789 was the first loco that I took and I did this through to Birmingham and then back to Llandudno Junction in order to meet my second steed, 47773.
I bailed off this at Crewe and had a run to Liverpool and back on 90009 before yet another early night, taking 87029 from Crewe to Warrington and my sickbed.

Anyone that hasn’t yet dozed off will have noticed I hadn’t been to Scotland yet, well that was about to change. I was booked on the Aberdeen Sleeper from Euston that night.
I left my digs in Warrington and had a déjà vu experience as my first loco was 90007 again.
This time I stayed on all the way to London before doing a couple of round trips to International, first on 86229 and 90012 followed by 90020 and 86260.
The sleeper loco was 90026 and that worked without problems to Edinburgh.

It was a pre-celebrity 67029 that worked forward from Waverley to the Granite City.
As usual when doing the sleeper to Aberdeen it was a case of stepping off that and straight onto the Kings Cross bound HST as far as Edinburgh. I did 91101 over to Glasgow Central and then did the walk to Queen Street (I was obviously feeling a bit better than I did in Norwich).

Eagle-eyed readers may well have noticed that this was my seventh day, but it wasn’t my last.
In the happy days before my lungs started playing up I had come up with a plan to extend my move and that meant finishing on the Inverness sleeper and having a day in London.

Anyway, I did 158734 from Glasgow to Perth and then 158718 through to Inverness.
67001 was the loco on the sleeper and that handed over to 90034 at Edinburgh.

67001 not at Inverness:
67001_2013.09.26_Cardiff by philwood55013, on Flickr

It was cheaper to pay for one of the bargain berths than it was to pay a supplement on a rover, so that was what I had done, meaning no worries about the validity of the rover expiring en-route.

When planning the move I was very aware that the “end of days” for West Coast electrics was upon us and so I had decided that the eighth day would involve several round trips to Milton Keynes before making my way home on the East Coast.
I started as planned and did 86228 out for 86233 back, then 87017 to the land of the Concrete Cows.
I was by now feeling like death and was totally fed up, so I made my way back to London on 86228 and headed over to Kings Cross.
I had booked a seat on the last Leeds service, but this was still several hours away, so I decided to see how much a single to Wakefield would be.
It was sixty six pounds. I remember that because it was so painful
Nowadays a walk-on fare kings Cross to Wakefield is a million pounds.
Probably.

Either way, I bit the bullet and made my way home on 91116.
So, I suppose one of them had to be my worst all-liner and that was it.

 

[Techniquest]

Ouch! I've had a chest infection at least twice in the past, maybe 3 times, and it is a very painful and nasty experience. So I reckon you were more than brave to take on an all-liner in that condition, although I'd have no doubt done the same!

 

[47403]

Bitter sweet all liner that, great read all the same, shame you didn't really get enjoy it.

 

[55013]

Ouch! I've had a chest infection at least twice in the past, maybe 3 times, and it is a very painful and nasty experience. So I reckon you were more than brave to take on an all-liner in that condition, although I'd have no doubt done the same!

Not brave. Tight and stubborn!
And quite possibly stupid.

Bitter sweet all liner that, great read all the same, shame you didn't really get enjoy it.

Thanks, I must admit it's the one all-liner that I've no happy memories of.
Still, there's a few locos in there that I'll never have again.
The illness cleared up but the haulages remain

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Undeterred by my previous experiences I was once again off on my solo travels in June 2003.
I began on the 26th by making my way to Cardiff, once again off a night shift.
This wasn’t actually a rover day and but I had failed to learn from my Didcot farce and so had decided to begin the move in Cardiff and had booked a hotel accordingly.
I started by doing 220033 from Wakefield to Bristol Parkway, followed by an HST to the Welsh capital.

My plan had been to cover the evening 37 hauled Rhymney commuter services, but I didn’t.
The hotel I was booked in was the IBIS near Cardiff Queen Street, but it was uncomfortably hot that day and I was knackered so I didn’t bother waiting around for the locos and walked to the hotel instead. Once there I just collapsed in a heap and didn’t emerge until the next day.

The first day started with me walking to Queen Street and doing the massive mileage into Central on 37422.
Then I left Cardiff.
I’d done a long Voyager journey, not to mention the HST, and booked a hotel in order to get just over half a mile of (mainly downhill) haulage off a 37.
Not my greatest achievement.

I made my way up to London on 180104 and then headed over to Euston as I was desperate to get something that didn’t look stupid in the book.
I took 87018 out to International and returned to the smoke on 86228.
Then it was goodbye to locos again.
I mentioned in one of my earlier reports that I had “recently” done Waterloo – Exeter on 159s and this was what I was referring to.
I did 159018 Waterloo to Salisbury for 159015 on to Exeter.
How I lamented the 50s.

It was then a HST to Plymouth for the up sleeper.
The loco tonight was 47811 and I got some decent diesel loco mileage at last, although I slept for most it.

The 28th proved to be a good day haulage wise.
I went to Liverpool Street for some Anglian sparky action and that rarely fails to please.
I took 86217 out to Ipswich, followed by the usual Colchester round trip, involving 86230 and 86215.
Next was something a bit different, a sign of things to come.
Anglia had hired in a Freightliner class 90 and I was in luck.
It was one of just two Skodas that I needed at this point, 90049, that produced at Ipswich.
(It took me another eight years to get my last one!)

90049 doing its usual job at Stafford in 2005:
90049_2005.06.03_1_Stafford by philwood55013, on Flickr

I fancied a bit of mileage and so took this through to London before returning North on 86217.
I bailed at Colchester and awaited another run on Skoda 49 which I knew should be next.
90049 turned up as booked and I took it to Ipswich before heading back to Colchester on 86242.
I finished the day by heading to Norwich on 86223 and then doing the same loco back to Ipswich, where my hotel for the night was situated.

The next day began with me doing 86217 to Liverpool Street and then heading over to Euston.
It was Sunday and I was looking for West Midlands drags.
I did 87018 to Nuneaton and thence to New Street on 47826.

47826 clagging through Stafford in 2005:
47826_2005.06.03_1_Stafford by philwood55013, on Flickr

It was ex First Great Western loco 47816 that took me back to Nuneaton.
After that I headed to Coventry, although I can’t remember how and my notes are sadly lacking.
What I do remember is what an eye opener Coventry was.
As I wandered around trying to find my hotel I stumbled across something that I had never seen before, or since.
I had a poorly printed map of Coventry that I was using to navigate my way to the hotel but had missed a turn or something and was a bit disconcerted to find myself in quite a dodgy looking area.
I was surrounded by concrete and roads, with not an item of greenery to be seen.
In the middle of an island situated in the centre of various subways were several recycling bins.
Plastics, cans, paper and weapons.
Wait, what?
Yes, they had a weapons bin!
That reassured me.

Anyway, the good citizens of Coventry allowed me to make my hotel unmolested and there I had my second surprise.
The place was full of Spaniards!
It was absolutely booked up solid with Spanish businessmen.
Talk about incongruous.
Everyone apart from me was Spanish.
I’ve nothing against Spaniards, of course, or indeed anybody, except possibly people that might need a weapons bin.
I just found it a bit odd.

I digress.
The walk back to the station the next morning was dead easy and I didn’t have to walk through any dubious areas, which was nice.
It’s just as well there was a shorter, quicker and less scary walk between the station and the hotel as I stayed there again the next night.

Oh yes, trains.
Pendolinos were now making inroads into the loco hauled West Coast services and so it was my intention to get some serious loco mileage in whilst I still could, so it was West Coast sparks all day.
My first move was blue repaint 86233, which I took to Euston.
I enjoyed 86245 to International and 87004 back to London.
I left Euston for the last time that day on 87011, which I did to Birmingham.
86233 was once again on the agenda and I did it to Wolverhampton and then back South as far as Milton Keynes. I then took 86260 back to Coventry and the day, not to mention the Month, was over.

As I checked my figures back at the hotel I realised that 86233 was now very much gettable for the thousand miles and so I decided to make that a priority.
I was delighted, therefore, when the first loco I saw in the morning was the very one I wanted.
A trip to Birmingham followed but that wasn’t enough and so I stayed on board 86233 for the run back to London.
Upon arriving at Euston my mileage off 86233 stood at 1041.34.
It still stands at 1041.34 as I never had it again, sadly.

86233 wasn’t the only loco that had caught my eye whilst totting up my figures, another of the previous days 86ers had been even closer to the thousand and so I now kept my eyes peeled for 86245.
It wasn’t at Euston when I arrived on 86233 and so I headed back to Coventry on 87017, then on to New Street behind 87014.
Then, there she was, 86245 arrived from the South and I leapt aboard. A trip to Wolverhampton left me on about 990 miles, so I hung around and did it back South to Coventry.
Like 86233, I never had it again.
In fact, that run on 86245 was the last class 86 powered service train that I ever had on the West Coast. Since then I’ve had 86622 on a railtour into Euston in December 2003, a few on Anglia before they finished there and 86101 when it had its brief fling with Hull trains and that’s it.

I wasn’t finished yet, though. EWS’ 90032 was next, heading towards Birmingham, and I took it to its destination and then back all the way to Euston.
I had a berth booked on the Aberdeen sleeper and my nocturnal power was 90017 to Edinburgh.

The next day saw me waking up behind 67026 on the way to Aberdeen.
Once there it was the short stroll across the platform and on to the Kings Cross HST, which as usual I did to Edinburgh.
I then did 91120 over to Glasgow before having a round trip to Preston on 90005 and 90013.
Then it was 158724 to Perth, where I picked up the sleeper from Inverness.
This was in the capable hands of 67030 and was done, naturally, to Edinburgh.

90027 replaced the skip and hauled the train through to London.

The 3rd of July was my last day and I was going to spend it once again doing West Coast sparks.
I took 90001 out to International for 87018 back. Once at Euston I spotted 87001, resplendent in BR blue and decided to do this as far as I could.

I worked out that I could do it to Preston for something back that would get me into Euston in plenty of time to make a Leeds bound 91 from Kings Cross, so that’s what I did.

At Preston I had time to wander forward and have a look at the impressive machine that had given me so many happy hours.
It was when I was stood there that I bitterly regretted not having a camera anymore and so the seeds of my initial foray into digital photography were sown.

By the time I did get a camera, this was the best shot I could manage of the beast:
87001_2007.03.18_York by philwood55013, on Flickr

Unlike the 86ers, I still had some West Coast 87 action to enjoy in the future, but not today.
It was 90012 that took me back to London and 91117 that I did home.

So that was what turned out to be my penultimate all-line rover.
Some good stuff had been enjoyed and it was definitely worthwhile, but the cross country loco-hauled services had finished in 2002, the dreaded pendolino revolution was underway and it was difficult to see how future moves could be filled.
Still, there was one more to come, but that was almost exactly a year away.

 

[Techniquest]

An absolute ton of AC loco mileage had there! A shame you didn't get to enjoy the Rhymney loco haulage, it was bloody good fun thrashing up the valley!

 

[55013]

Yeah, I know.
It shows the folly of starting a move straight from a night shift!
Seems like a good idea when planning, but that goes out of the window when you're walking about like something from the Walking Dead

 

[Techniquest]

Aye I know how that feels, I did a Manchester trip in 2005 after finishing work around 0200. Dropped off by the station with plenty of time to do the 0400 Swansea to Paddington and onwards from Newport up to Manchester. Great idea until around lunchtime when I fell asleep on an ex-MerseyRail 142 on the Rose Hill Marple branch, that was less than fun! Spent much of the journey home sleeping too to Newport too, after cutting the trip short a few hours early!

 

[55013]

Right, here goes with my last all-liner.
I had by this time invested in a compact digital camera, so the shots are from the move itself!
Not brilliant, but I was just getting used to digital photography back then.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This was a two man move, the first for a couple of years and we had decided to do it because there had been a bit of a temporary resurgence in loco haulage.
Electrics on the West Coast were still hanging on, although there were far fewer services now, we had Wessex Trains Brighton and Weymouth services and on our doorstep there were the top ‘n’ tail 37s on the Leeds to Carlisle turns.
All in all, we considered there was enough to make it worthwhile and so we were off.
This one began on the 1st of July; just 2 days shy of the first anniversary of the end of my previous one.

I began by making way to Wakefield and doing 150269 to Leeds where I met my mate.
The first proper move of the day was the Carlisle bound 37s and so we settled in for a run behind 37411 and in front of 37408.

Waiting for the off at Leeds:
37411_2004.07.01_2_Leeds by Phil Wood, on Flickr

For anyone unaware of these workings (and the Wessex Trains 31s), I believe the two locos worked in multiple, one on the front and one on the rear, using through wiring in the coaches.
This of course negated the need for a run round.

Once at Carlisle we hoped for an electric loco, but the service we had gone for produced a Pendolino, so we had to make a decision.
We could hang around for who knew how long or we could do the 37s back to Leeds.
It was no contest and so off we went, now with 37408 leading.

Once we got back to where we started we continued in a Southerly direction, but because it was already afternoon and we were still in West Yorkshire we didn’t wait for a 91 off Leeds, instead we took 321902 to Doncaster and picked one up there.
This was 91113 and we took it to Kings Cross.

We had sleeping accommodation booked on the Night Riviera and actually reached Paddington much earlier than originally planned.
We decided to fill the time by doing a bit of a track bash.
We took 166219 out to Slough and then scored the Windsor & Eton branch, out and back on 165123.
We returned to Paddington on 166203.

The sleeper was no longer the preserve of 47s.
The first of the 57/6s had been delivered the previous November (Not including 57601, which had been around for a while, of course) and they were now the order of the day on these services.
It was 57603 that powered us West that night.

57603 at Plymouth at 05:ridiculous
57603_2004.07.02_5_Plymouth by Phil Wood, on Flickr

We stayed aboard until Plymouth and then set off to Bristol as we were going for the aforementioned 31s.
It was an HST from Plymouth to Temple Meads.
There were two diagrams at the time, both, as already mentioned, requiring 2 locos.

First up was the Bristol to Weymouth and this had 31454 on the front and 31128 on the rear.
We did this throughout and then back as far as Westbury, where we bailed to connect with the other service.
This had “Wessex Pink” liveried 31601 on the front and the more conservatively dressed 31452 on the rear.

Pretty in pink:
31601_2004.07.02_5_Brighton by Phil Wood, on Flickr

We wanted to get a run in on a couple of MK1 EMUs and so nipped out to Polegate on 4-CIG 1859 and then did 3-COP 1411 to Gatwick for a last ever run on a Gatwick Express 73.
The 73s were supposed to have finished long ago, but the class 460 EMUs had proved to be as reliable as a 99p store carrier bag and so one or two EDs were out most days.
Today it was 73208 and we did this into Victoria.

From Victoria we headed over to Paddington for a bit more 57/6 haulage.
57602 was tonight’s traction and it left Paddington slightly late just after midnight.

The 3rd of July was a Saturday and there was something else to try that hadn’t been available on previous all-liners.
Class 67 haulage, but not just any old 67 haulage, these didn’t involve sleeping coaches.
2004 was the year of the Paignton hauled services.
Sadly these weren’t continued with, but they were great while they lasted and I managed to get many required skips on them that summer.
Not to mention 66162, but that’s a different story.

This was the first day of these services and the stock was coming from Old Oak Common.
What could possibly go wrong?
Well, something did.

Blissfully unaware of any problems, we bailed off 57602 at Plymouth and made our way to Newton Abbot on an HST, then it was fabulous 153 pairing (sarcasm) 153329/153369 to Paignton.

The train didn’t appear, the gen was that it hadn’t even left OC yet.
The talk among the cranks on the platform was that it had been knocked on the head.
Thankfully this proved to be just ill informed wibble and it eventually appeared.
The loco was 67016, a winner, and we took our seats on a very empty train.
We stayed on the Skip until New Street, passing the service we had hoped to make (67021 from memory) on the first Southbound service somewhere between Bristol and Birmingham.

We could still make the second service though and we did, though only just. We had to run over at New Street to make 67002, another winner, back to Bristol.

From Bristol it was back to Birmingham on 221132.
We did this because there were Nuneaton drags on.
These, too, had changed. They were now in the hands of 57/3s.
Also, they were dragging from Nuneaton through to Wolverhampton, rather than New Street.
We did 57310, a loco that I’d had many time in its previous guise as 47831, to Wolves and then winner 57307 from there to Nuneaton.

Lady Penelope, before she had surgery on her front:
57307_2004.07.04_2_Nuneaton by Phil Wood, on Flickr

We stayed on board this set and continued to Rugby, with 90013 now supplying the power.
90008 took us back to Nuneaton and handed over to 57310, which we took as far as New Street.

We had booked a Travelodge in Birmingham for the night and so made our way over there.
The Travelodge we had booked in was near Moor Street and so we mooched over there and disaster!
They had double booked our room.
Never mind, they had found us a place at a B & B miles out of town (without the breakfast). Just great!
We then had a massive argument with them about providing us a taxi.
They honestly thought that we should make our way, at our own expense, to a place we didn’t know, at night, because of their mistake.
We weren’t having that and stood our ground.
Eventually they relented and arranged taxis both to the B & B and back into Birmingham on the Sunday morning.

We half expected a taxi no-show in the morning, but thankfully that wasn’t the case and we were soon back on our travels.
The next day produced more drags and we left New Street for Nuneaton on 57312.
Once again we stayed on board to Rugby, this time with 90008 in charge.
It was a good move as one of the dwindling number of 87s, 87023 then arrived for the run to Nuneaton, where yesterday’s winner 57307 took over.
The 57s didn’t have a monopoly on the drags that day, though.
It was proper old school dragging back to Nuneaton, with 47826 doing the deed.
Even better, it was towing 87019.
This was a service that was booked to work only as far as Northampton and so we just had to do it throughout.
Unfortunately, we were then stuck at Northampton for a while, waiting for “Sir Winston Churchill”, as it still was, to take us back.

87019 right up at the end of the platform at Northampton:
87019_2004.07.04_2_Northampton by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Eventually we set off and, once again, 57307 worked forward from Nuneaton.

We were heading home for the night, which was easier said than done with all the engineering work.
We had to make our way across to Leicester and then head home via the Midland Mainline.
We left New Street on 158954.
This was a different unit to the current fGW 158954 and was comprised of 52786, 57786 and 52793.
We then did 221103 to Sheffield and I finished the day by heading to Huddersfield and a bus on 144005.

I started the 5th of July by having a brisk morning walk from home to Brighouse station and then doing 142096 from there to Leeds.
I met up with my mate and we boarded 91112 for a run to Kings Cross.
Today we hoped to get some more 87s and our luck was in.
Obviously we made our way to Euston from Kings Cross and were delighted to see 87007 on a Birmingham service.
We did this to International.
87015 was following us and so we did that to New Street.
Sadly our day was then spoiled slightly as we had to endure one of the dreaded Pendolinos, 390026, back to Coventry.
Why didn’t we do 87015 back? I don’t know, but my guess would be that we went to get something to eat and when we got back found that the Alstom abomination was in the platform.
Things then picked up as beast 87031 arrived and we took this to Birmingham and then all the way back to London.
We were doing our customary sleeper to Scotland that night.
We were doing this not just for the 67 but also because Scotrail had hired in a small group of 90s to work the North Berwick trains and it would have been rude to ignore that.

90028 worked the electric leg of the sleeper and 67017 took our portion on to Aberdeen.
An HST was immediately done to Edinburgh and then we were sampling some EWS Skodas.

There were two diagrams outside of rush hour and the move was to do one out of North Berwick, head back towards Waverley, bail at Wallyford for a few minutes and then retrace our steps on the other set.
First up was 90026, which we took all the way from Waverley to North Berwick.

Edinburgh's that way:
90026_2004.07.06_8_North Berwick by Phil Wood, on Flickr

We went back out on this to Wallyford and picked up 90029, which we did to the end of the line and back again.
We then took 90026 back to North Berwick before heading back out, but only as far as Drem, as we had decided to get a few photos.

We photographed 90029 heading to North Berwick and then picked it up as it headed back to the capital.

We would have like to have done more but we had an appointment with the up Inverness sleeper and so it was to the Highlands we headed next.
We did 170404 from Edinburgh to Haymarket, followed by the much better 156467 to Stirling.
170418 then took us through to our destination.

67024 was the sleeper loco and nothing noteworthy happened on the run from Inverness to Edinburgh.
Well if it did, I missed it.
90040 worked between the capitals.

And so the last day dawned. We had two plans for today and the first involved East Anglia.
We made our way to Liverpool Street and sampled 86246 out to Ipswich.
The first of the ex-Virgin 90s had started to migrate East and it was one of these, 90006, that we did to Colchester. After that it was 86238 to Norwich and 86227 to London.

Our second move was to get some thumper mileage in.
We did the underground to Cannon Street, 465191 to London Bridge and then the object of our chase, a DEMU. 205018 was the unit in question but we had a problem.
The weather was horrible.
There were gale force winds causing havoc all over the country and we were worried we wouldn’t be able to get home.
We decided to curtail our thumper chase and head home.
We bailed at Oxted and headed straight back to London Bridge on CIG 1708.

205018 at Oxted. Windy weather not visible:
DEMU 205018_2004.07.07_3_Oxted by Phil Wood, on Flickr

After that it was the underground to Kings Cross and 91110 then became the last ever loco of our 15 year long all-liner adventure.

So that was that, my last ever bashing based all-liner.
By the end of the year my wife to be had moved in to my house and things had changed forever.
I think I got the timing just right
My wife and I did a two week all-liner in 2006, but that had nothing to do with cranking, so it really was all over.
I wouldn’t have missed them for the world.

 

[Techniquest]

A most entertaining final ALR there, except for the hotel farce. Good on you for sticking to your guns, their fault their taxi cost!

I remember those North Berwick 90s, they were good fun! Never did the Paignton 67s as I hadn't quite found my feet with bashing, although by the following summer I was more than making up for it. But that's another story, something for the Nostalgia sector of the forum one day...

 

[55013]

Thanks.
It was 45135 that did this move with me and it was him that did most of the "negotiating" with the Travelodge manager.

It was a very good move and it's nice that, after a couple of relatively mediocre ones, my final all-liner proved to be very enjoyable.

 

[45135]

Almost makes me want to nip down to Donny and buy another all line rover, where they could sell such tickets in a hassle free manner without either denying their very existence or having to get most of the ticket office staff involved, if it wasn't for the ridiculous time restrictions on what used to be (and should still be) a true anytime, go anywhere ticket.

Well, that and the lack of spare time and money...

 

[47403]

Another cracking read. Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrreee!!!!

 

[55013]

Another cracking read. Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrreee!!!!

Well, if you insist

OK, so having run out of all-liners, I thought I would turn my reminiscing head in another direction and look back at some of the excellent trips out I had in days of yore.

What better way to start than with the outstanding event that was the “Inter-City Diesel Day”?
For a brief period there was a type of move that differed from the standard railtour.
These involved more than one rake of coaches and your ticket enabled you to get on and off at any station.
Much like a preserved line gala, but bigger and better

One such event was planned for the 21st of May 1989 and involved three (I think) rakes of coaches heading up and down the Midland Mainline hauled by a variety of exotic locomotives.

Five of us booked to go, four cranks and my brother who has no interest in trains but frequently joined us on our trips out around that time, purely for the laughs (oh, and the vast quantities of beer).

Anyway, somehow or other my brother had been persuaded to be the designated driver and so, with five of us crammed into his car we set off from Yorkshire earlier in the morning and headed to Leicester , which was the Northern hub of operations.

The first train we were hoping to get was the 07.40 to St Pancras.
This was booked a pair of 37s so we were a bit miffed when a single example, 37058, came into view.
The gen on the train was that 37066 was supposed to be its partner but had burst before departure.

We stayed aboard the tractor until Luton and then bailed for something a bit unusual.
The next Northbound service was down to be a pair of Cromptons!
33s on the Midland Mainline.
Excellent.
The train duly arrived with consecutively numbered 33021 & 33022 on the front.
A nice long haulage would have been nice, but we had something even bigger to get.
We bailed at Wellingborough in order to get one of the planned highlights of the day.

33021, with 33022 just visible, thrashing out of Wellingborough:
33021_1989.05.21_2_Wellingborough_& 33022 by Phil Wood, on Flickr

None of us had ever had a 56 at this time and so we were eagerly anticipating our first taste of grid action.
Unfortunately almost everyone else out that day had the same plan as us and so when 56017 arrived the train filled up to an uncomfortable level.
We ended up standing in the caged area of the brake vehicle, pressed up against the bars like convicts.
There was no way we were going to put up with this level of discomfort and so we decided to bail at Luton.
However, once again everyone else was of the same mind and so the train emptied there.
A quick decision was made and we leapt back on board.
Now the train was virtually empty and we could kick back and relax as the Romanian grid, which became a very early 56 withdrawal, powered us to London.
Not only were we on winning traction, it was a winning station.
My first ever visit to St Pancras and it was behind a grid.
Nice.


At St Pancras Deltic 55022, in green as D9000, was on display in the platform and so a look round the cab was in order, followed by a few shots of 56017 waiting to go back North and the 33s arriving back with their work for the day over.

56017_1989.05.21_St. Pancras_ by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Our next haulage was 47347, a loco that remains in service, although it now goes by the identity of 57004.
We did this out to Luton and bailed for the following train, which was due to have a pair of 20s on the business end.
Sure enough, 20145 & 20228, arrived as booked and we managed to struggle on board.
Once again, it was a wedge-fest and we ended up stood in the very rear vestibule.
Apparently, 20228 failed shortly after departure from Luton and worked, at best, intermittently between there and Wellingborough were we bailed.
We still had one massive engine to come – a 58.
As with the 56, this would be our first.

This was on the next Northbound working and so we headed back to Luton on newly dud 47347.

The original plan was for us to do the 58 back to Leicester and head home, but as is so often the way, the railway had other ideas.
The gen came through that 37066 had been battered into life and would be working the last round trip with 37058.
This was confirmed when the pair thrashed past us South of Wellingborough.

My brother was not for hanging around, but the rest of us were and so the pleading and bargaining began.
In order to get 37066 in we would need to fester at Wellingborough for an hour and a half.
He was not happy, but eventually he agreed.
So, when we reached Wellingborough we leapt from the 58, which was 58050, and ran down to get some shots before he changed his mind.

58050_1989.05.21_Wellingborough by Phil Wood, on Flickr

The fester was made easier by a visit to a local pub, although my unhappy sibling couldn’t drink, of course, so that just made his mood worse.

My main memory of Wellingborough that evening was of being dived bombed by bats as we stood on the platform at dusk.

Eventually, 37066 & 37058 arrived and we were on our way.

Arrival back home, after everyone else had been dropped off, was in the early hours.
I have never told my brother that we have all had 37066 several times since.

So, in summary: Nine winners, all of them big, two new classes, some winning track, a first visit to a major London terminus and a close encounter with some top wildlife.
All in all, one of the best days on the railway that I’ve ever had.

 

[Techniquest]

Immensely jealous of that day, even if I was only 4 at the time! Just looking at that photo of 56017 at St Pancras had my jaw drop, I can only imagine the racket it made as it left The Pan!

I've never heard or seen a 58 working (except on a DVD), let alone had one for haulage so obviously I'm jealous. The only 58s I've seen were those stored at Eastleigh and 58005 (I think) stored at Leicester in 2004/2005.

20s I've only ever had on preserved lines, which can't be even close to how awesome they must have sounded on the mainline. That said, sampling one getting thrashed through Greet Tunnel on the Gloucestershire-Warwickshire Railway isn't bad! I take it you've had 20228 in better health on the Barry Island line since this day?

Cromptons I have had on the mainline, even though it was just Worcester to Bristol Parkway on a Pathfinder tour. Not that I remember much about that experience to be honest!

I feel sorry for your brother in that situation, I hope you all got him some beer in on another occasion when he could drink!

 

[47403]

Well, if you insist

OK, so having run out of all-liners, I thought I would turn my reminiscing head in another direction and look back at some of the excellent trips out I had in days of yore.

What better way to start than with the outstanding event that was the “Inter-City Diesel Day”?
For a brief period there was a type of move that differed from the standard railtour.
These involved more than one rake of coaches and your ticket enabled you to get on and off at any station.
Much like a preserved line gala, but bigger and better

One such event was planned for the 21st of May 1989 and involved three (I think) rakes of coaches heading up and down the Midland Mainline hauled by a variety of exotic locomotives.

Five of us booked to go, four cranks and my brother who has no interest in trains but frequently joined us on our trips out around that time, purely for the laughs (oh, and the vast quantities of beer).

Anyway, somehow or other my brother had been persuaded to be the designated driver and so, with five of us crammed into his car we set off from Yorkshire earlier in the morning and headed to Leicester , which was the Northern hub of operations.

The first train we were hoping to get was the 07.40 to St Pancras.
This was booked a pair of 37s so we were a bit miffed when a single example, 37058, came into view.
The gen on the train was that 37066 was supposed to be its partner but had burst before departure.

We stayed aboard the tractor until Luton and then bailed for something a bit unusual.
The next Northbound service was down to be a pair of Cromptons!
33s on the Midland Mainline.
Excellent.
The train duly arrived with consecutively numbered 33021 & 33022 on the front.
A nice long haulage would have been nice, but we had something even bigger to get.
We bailed at Wellingborough in order to get one of the planned highlights of the day.

33021, with 33022 just visible, thrashing out of Wellingborough:
33021_1989.05.21_2_Wellingborough_& 33022 by Phil Wood, on Flickr

None of us had ever had a 56 at this time and so we were eagerly anticipating our first taste of grid action.
Unfortunately almost everyone else out that day had the same plan as us and so when 56017 arrived the train filled up to an uncomfortable level.
We ended up standing in the caged area of the brake vehicle, pressed up against the bars like convicts.
There was no way we were going to put up with this level of discomfort and so we decided to bail at Luton.
However, once again everyone else was of the same mind and so the train emptied there.
A quick decision was made and we leapt back on board.
Now the train was virtually empty and we could kick back and relax as the Romanian grid, which became a very early 56 withdrawal, powered us to London.
Not only were we on winning traction, it was a winning station.
My first ever visit to St Pancras and it was behind a grid.
Nice.


At St Pancras Deltic 55022, in green as D9000, was on display in the platform and so a look round the cab was in order, followed by a few shots of 56017 waiting to go back North and the 33s arriving back with their work for the day over.

56017_1989.05.21_St. Pancras_ by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Our next haulage was 47347, a loco that remains in service, although it now goes by the identity of 57004.
We did this out to Luton and bailed for the following train, which was due to have a pair of 20s on the business end.
Sure enough, 20145 & 20228, arrived as booked and we managed to struggle on board.
Once again, it was a wedge-fest and we ended up stood in the very rear vestibule.
Apparently, 20228 failed shortly after departure from Luton and worked, at best, intermittently between there and Wellingborough were we bailed.
We still had one massive engine to come – a 58.
As with the 56, this would be our first.

This was on the next Northbound working and so we headed back to Luton on newly dud 47347.

The original plan was for us to do the 58 back to Leicester and head home, but as is so often the way, the railway had other ideas.
The gen came through that 37066 had been battered into life and would be working the last round trip with 37058.
This was confirmed when the pair thrashed past us South of Wellingborough.

My brother was not for hanging around, but the rest of us were and so the pleading and bargaining began.
In order to get 37066 in we would need to fester at Wellingborough for an hour and a half.
He was not happy, but eventually he agreed.
So, when we reached Wellingborough we leapt from the 58, which was 58050, and ran down to get some shots before he changed his mind.

58050_1989.05.21_Wellingborough by Phil Wood, on Flickr

The fester was made easier by a visit to a local pub, although my unhappy sibling couldn’t drink, of course, so that just made his mood worse.

My main memory of Wellingborough that evening was of being dived bombed by bats as we stood on the platform at dusk.

Eventually, 37066 & 37058 arrived and we were on our way.

Arrival back home, after everyone else had been dropped off, was in the early hours.
I have never told my brother that we have all had 37066 several times since.

So, in summary: Nine winners, all of them big, two new classes, some winning track, a first visit to a major London terminus and a close encounter with some top wildlife.
All in all, one of the best days on the railway that I’ve ever had.

Im glad you did, top read again.

 

[55013]

Immensely jealous of that day, even if I was only 4 at the time! Just looking at that photo of 56017 at St Pancras had my jaw drop, I can only imagine the racket it made as it left The Pan!

I've never heard or seen a 58 working (except on a DVD), let alone had one for haulage so obviously I'm jealous. The only 58s I've seen were those stored at Eastleigh and 58005 (I think) stored at Leicester in 2004/2005.

I managed to get twenty five of the 58s for haulage. I need preserved 58016, so fingers crossed I might make it past the half way point

I take it you've had 20228 in better health on the Barry Island line since this day?

No! It's very much on my wants list.
It was only fairly recently that I found out about 20228 misbehaving that day (We were much too far back to have any idea what was happening at the front and there was no internet to fill us in when we got home).
I've searched online and it seems it did at least do some work between Luton and Wellingborough, but how much is unknown, by me at least.
I need to get it again to put that one to bed.

I feel sorry for your brother in that situation, I hope you all got him some beer in on another occasion when he could drink!

Oh, he's had plenty of beer over the years

Im glad you did, top read again.

Thanks.
There were other similar events we did that I'll try to cobble together a write up about.
It's just finding the time that's the problem.

 

[Techniquest]

Time to write up trip reports is always in short supply, I've had that problem many a time. These days I type it all up as I go alone in memo files on my phone, then copy-paste it all into the app and post it from there. Hence the lack of statistics in my trip reports, as processing moves etc doesn't usually get done until after the trip report goes up. I'm going to make an effort next week to add them to it though.

I too hope 58016 works a train eventually too, would be nice to see what I've missed out on.

 

[55013]

Right, my wife is stuck in traffic so I have a bit of time.
I’ve been searching through my old moves and found this corker from today’s date in history – the 27th of May 2000.

Actually, it was a two day bash and started the day before, Friday the 26th.

Myself and a mate started by heading down to Birmingham from Wakefield.
In those far off days of yore you could just turn up and buy an anytime return between the two places without having to consult your bank manager first.

47814 was the traction but that would be the last 47 we’d have that move.
We were going 37/4 chasing.

We purchased two days worth of rovers and immediately got down to the task in hand.
37420 was the first of several monsters we were going to get and we took this out to Bangor.

37420 might have been a monster, but 37412 was a bigger one and it was this that was next up.
We took it from Bangor to Crewe and back again.
Then back to Crewe once more.
You can’t have too much of a good thing, after all

You might think we were fed up of Tractors by now, but no.
37412 was taken off for a well earned rest and a drink and it was replaced by 37415.

We did this through to Birmingham, where it terminated.
The next part of the diagram was the overnight from International to Holyhead and so it set off ECS.
We followed it on 86247.

With the 27th being a Saturday, our next set of rovers were valid from midnight and so we had no worries, other than getting a decent bit of kip.

The first loco of the Saturday was, once again, 37420.
This was working one of the early hours services from the port to Birmingham and we stayed on throughout.

One of the reasons we were doing this move was that we had heard that there would be a “Ruggex” working on the Saturday.
This involved the privately owned (at the time) 37038, which was required.
The service would call at principle stations between Manchester and Cardiff.
It had to be done.

Obviously, the best way for us to get to our intended boarding point at Crewe was aboard 37420, so that’s what we did.

We spent a bit of time on Crewe chewing our fingernails and looking North.
The usual would it/wouldn’t it worries kicking in.
Our fears were allayed when 37038, in battered “Dutch” livery was observed coming off the Manchester line.

Here is 37038 a few years later:
37038_2010.10.30_04_Saltburn_& 37601 by Phil Wood, on Flickr

We enjoyed the NB 37 thrash to Shrewsbury and then caught a unit straight to Chester for some, guess what, 37 haulage.
I can’t remember if it was here that we met up with another mate (45135 of this forum) or later on, but either way it was another trip to Holyhead for us.

I was very happy that it was my favourite Syphon, 37429 that took us there.
We did the same beast back out again to Crewe.
The mate that I had come down with now headed home, but 45135 wanted a piece of 37038 action and I was more than happy to go along with him.

A unit was done to Shrewsbury and then an interminably long fester followed.
We were starting to worry that something had gone amiss when, lo! There she was.

37038 was, once again, thoroughly enjoyed and we bailed at Crewe as it was now time to make our way home.
The journey from there must have involved units and/or HSTs as I have no record of how we made it back to Yorkshire.
All in all, another fine move with a winning haulage and several hundred miles of 37 thrash under my belt.

 

[Techniquest]

Quite a beast of a day there! It seems like absolutely forever since we had a Ruggex in these parts, much longer since 37s worked them!

NB 37 haulage, nice. Only ever had one NB 37 not on railtours, 37670. Had a few on various tours, will never forget my first one, 37203

 

[55013]

Aye, it was an excellent move.
15 years ago today!
37038 still had its headcode boxes back then as well

 

[45135]

Looking at my moves book for the day, I started from Crewe (arriving by car, at a guess) and took 37415 to Chester on the (wedged) 1007 Birmingham New Street-Holyhead, then 37429 onward to Holyhead on the following 1220 ex-Crewe. I vaguely recall that the times of returning ruggexes were pretty much state secrets, the internet still being a bit of a novelty in 1990, hence the long fester at Shrewsbury waiting for those lights to appear around the corner.

Presumably I dropped you home after that, so no further units or HSTs had to be suffered that day.

 

[47403]

Quite a beast of a day there! It seems like absolutely forever since we had a Ruggex in these parts, much longer since 37s worked them!

NB 37 haulage, nice. Only ever had one NB 37 not on railtours, 37670. Had a few on various tours, will never forget my first one, 37203

Great read again, there was something special about a split box syphon on a passenger train, especially if it had the domino's too, it just looked a bit rarer, if that makes sense. Most of mine came on Summer Saturdays or when GD and TE, just randomly threw out whatever loco or two, to cover for the 143 replacements.
Totally agree about the prices, last time I done a overnighter at Crewe, many moons back, an Adults, anytime return from Newcastle cost me about £53, I went down via the Transpennine turn to Man Picc, EMU to Crewe. Done a bit spotting/bashing before returning home via WCML and Tyne Valley. I dread to think what a walk up price would be now.

 

[55013]

Looking at my moves book for the day, I started from Crewe (arriving by car, at a guess) and took 37415 to Chester on the (wedged) 1007 Birmingham New Street-Holyhead, then 37429 onward to Holyhead on the following 1220 ex-Crewe. I vaguely recall that the times of returning ruggexes were pretty much state secrets, the internet still being a bit of a novelty in 1990, hence the long fester at Shrewsbury waiting for those lights to appear around the corner.

Presumably I dropped you home after that, so no further units or HSTs had to be suffered that day.

Ah, that'll be it. Thanks.
Me and Gary must have bought singles from Wakefield to Brum, then.

Great read again, there was something special about a split box syphon on a passenger train, especially if it had the domino's too, it just looked a bit rarer, if that makes sense. Most of mine came on Summer Saturdays or when GD and TE, just randomly threw out whatever loco or two, to cover for the 143 replacements.
Totally agree about the prices, last time I done a overnighter at Crewe, many moons back, an Adults, anytime return from Newcastle cost me about £53, I went down via the Transpennine turn to Man Picc, EMU to Crewe. Done a bit spotting/bashing before returning home via WCML and Tyne Valley. I dread to think what a walk up price would be now.

Cheers.
I agree about split box syphons , it's a shame 37038 and its DRS chums have lost them.
They just don't have the same charisma as they used to.

 

[Techniquest]

Split box 37s are (or at least were) a special treat indeed, a clear indication they're not passenger locos and something special to enjoy!

I believe there's some split-boxes in preservation at least, 37109 if memory serves is. Really need some 37 haulage again!