Techniquest
Veteran Member
Cheers, I'm hoping for at least a handful of winners, depending on the moves Lord BT and I make!
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Techniquest's Rolling Review of 2015
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Blindtraveler
Established Member
Well we've an afternoon in London so defo potential there for winners!
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Here we go gang, around 2 weeks earlier than expected but here is my final instalment of the Rolling Review 2015!
December 2015
The final month of the year was very quiet indeed, with no proper bashing until 14th December, with just a Ledbury to Hereford trip on 6th December before it (long story!) With my Mum's birthday taking up the first available Monday on the 7th, there could be no bashing. 14th December was therefore the first available slot, with the only other one being 21st December as my brother's birthday was on the 28th. Not a good month for cranking whatsoever as a result!
There was a very much unplanned revisit to Norm Land on the 11th, where two after-work drinks turned into a 4 pints and 1 bottle session over 3 hours! I was shocked to not wake up with a hangover, but it was good to have a catch-up with some people I'd not seen in months! The train brain was still engaged so don't worry, this visit to Norm Land hasn't messed me up! It was still possible to do one last major bash in 2015, and I joined Lord BT for a birthday bash on the 14th, as the day itself I was working. So it was to London using LM and Virgin, and we have a great time on the Tube and DLR before joining the Banbury set on the 1721 off Marylebone for some 68 thrash on a set with droplights. Phwoar to that run!
Sadly, due to being pretty much begged to come in (not much of an exaggeration at all!) on 21st December, that was the lot for December. One very quiet month for bashing as a result, but I intend to start 2016 with a bang, bring it on I say!
Winners: 13
Shack scores: 1
Mileage: 410 miles and 39 chains
Rail fares: £55.70
Bus fares: £8.20
Hotel ching: £20-ish (shared full cost with Lord BT)
General expenditure: £31.59
Total: £105.49
And now, an overview!
Move Of The Year:
Crikey wasn't this a hard decision, there were so many to choose from! A 92 on the Cally Insomnie, 37s on the Cumbrian Coast, 150132 on Halton Curve,390049 over Newton East Connecting Line and countless others. Obviously my MotY will be different to someone else's choice, after all it's a very much personal thing.
After flicking through the hundreds of moves in my moves book, I originally settled with 37402 Preston to Carnforth on 30th July 2015. The thrash up the WCML that morning was epic! Mind you I also have a massive fondness for the noise it made on 29th July 2015 out of Dalston (Cumbria), I've played that so many times on YouTube! The close second was 92018 on the Cally Insomnie.
However, that was before Tech's Anti Frothmas! I think most of you will know why I changed my mind already, but after the performance it put in there was one very clear winner! The accolade of Move The Year goes to, drum roll please:
68010 London Marylebone to Banbury, 14/12/2015
Spotting Highlight of 2015:
Another difficult one, but I've settled on finally finishing the 375s for sight. It took me something in the region of 11 years to do mind!
Bashing Highlights of 2015:
Another challenging one! There could be no one clear winner, so I've allowed myself multiple winners here:
- Finishing all shacks in the Kent Rover area
- Getting some awkward PSUL moves done
- 37s on the Cumbrian Coast, not to mention scoring winner 37s on service trains in 2015!
- Finishing (again!) the FGW (sorry, GWR!) 158s
- The excellent 10th Basherversary trip
- The Tyne and Tees Day Ranger
- Finally finishing the Tyne and Wear Metro for route coverage
- Clearing all DLR shacks
- Clearing everything but tram 005 in Blackpool (not including heritage stuff of course)
- The Yorkshire Byways tour for the amount of track scored, even though the ECML bits were boring!
- Covering the Borders Railway
Lowlights of 2015:
These could certainly be challenging to figure out, but include:
- Still needing FGW (sorry! GWR) 150s for haulage, albeit just two of them
- The adventures into Norm Land
- Still needing mainline routes (Hitchin Flyover, I'm talking about you!)
- The failure to make it back to Anglia and the East Midlands, and indeed Cornwall for that matter!
What's coming up next?
Of course, there has to be a look forward to 2016! Confirmed trips are just New York in March so far, but what an adventure that will be! There will no doubt be the once-a-year railtour in there somewhere, and plans are currently but certainly not limited to:
- SPT Roundabout, ideally at least twice
- SPT Daytripper
- Central Scotland Rover
- Anglia
- East Midlands
- An enormous clearout on light rail
- Kent Rover
- Southern DaySave, ideally at least twice
- Cheshire Day Ranger
- Merseyside
- North East Rover
- North West Rover
- London, ideally at least twice
A rather challenging list, and of course it is all subject to change, but most of it at least will be doable. There's certainly a nice bit of variety in there, and of course there will be West Midlands Daytrippers and WMDRs in there somewhere too. What gets managed will, of course, be discussed at length in my trip report thread!
Finally, let's end this with some stats!
2015's winners: 603
2015's shack scores: 302-ish (lost my YTD figure somewhere)
2015's new sights: I lost track but well over 160 of them!
2015's mileage: 12,894 miles and 4 chains
Moves in 2015: 781
Financial hit in 2015:
Rail fares: £1,491.79
Bus fares: £128.66
Air fares: £92.58
Coach fares: £35.70
Hotel ching: £716.48
Taxi ching: £25.65
General expenditure in 2015: £824.94
Total cost of bashing in 2015: £3,315.80
Yes, I did keep track of all the costs all year! So that was 2015, there's been amazing bits and there's been dire bits too. Even so, bring on 2016 and all the fun it shall bring our way!
Hope you enjoy the read all, bring on 4th January is all I can say right now!
December 2015
The final month of the year was very quiet indeed, with no proper bashing until 14th December, with just a Ledbury to Hereford trip on 6th December before it (long story!) With my Mum's birthday taking up the first available Monday on the 7th, there could be no bashing. 14th December was therefore the first available slot, with the only other one being 21st December as my brother's birthday was on the 28th. Not a good month for cranking whatsoever as a result!
There was a very much unplanned revisit to Norm Land on the 11th, where two after-work drinks turned into a 4 pints and 1 bottle session over 3 hours! I was shocked to not wake up with a hangover, but it was good to have a catch-up with some people I'd not seen in months! The train brain was still engaged so don't worry, this visit to Norm Land hasn't messed me up! It was still possible to do one last major bash in 2015, and I joined Lord BT for a birthday bash on the 14th, as the day itself I was working. So it was to London using LM and Virgin, and we have a great time on the Tube and DLR before joining the Banbury set on the 1721 off Marylebone for some 68 thrash on a set with droplights. Phwoar to that run!
Sadly, due to being pretty much begged to come in (not much of an exaggeration at all!) on 21st December, that was the lot for December. One very quiet month for bashing as a result, but I intend to start 2016 with a bang, bring it on I say!
Winners: 13
Shack scores: 1
Mileage: 410 miles and 39 chains
Rail fares: £55.70
Bus fares: £8.20
Hotel ching: £20-ish (shared full cost with Lord BT)
General expenditure: £31.59
Total: £105.49
And now, an overview!
Move Of The Year:
Crikey wasn't this a hard decision, there were so many to choose from! A 92 on the Cally Insomnie, 37s on the Cumbrian Coast, 150132 on Halton Curve,390049 over Newton East Connecting Line and countless others. Obviously my MotY will be different to someone else's choice, after all it's a very much personal thing.
After flicking through the hundreds of moves in my moves book, I originally settled with 37402 Preston to Carnforth on 30th July 2015. The thrash up the WCML that morning was epic! Mind you I also have a massive fondness for the noise it made on 29th July 2015 out of Dalston (Cumbria), I've played that so many times on YouTube! The close second was 92018 on the Cally Insomnie.
However, that was before Tech's Anti Frothmas! I think most of you will know why I changed my mind already, but after the performance it put in there was one very clear winner! The accolade of Move The Year goes to, drum roll please:
68010 London Marylebone to Banbury, 14/12/2015
Spotting Highlight of 2015:
Another difficult one, but I've settled on finally finishing the 375s for sight. It took me something in the region of 11 years to do mind!
Bashing Highlights of 2015:
Another challenging one! There could be no one clear winner, so I've allowed myself multiple winners here:
- Finishing all shacks in the Kent Rover area
- Getting some awkward PSUL moves done
- 37s on the Cumbrian Coast, not to mention scoring winner 37s on service trains in 2015!
- Finishing (again!) the FGW (sorry, GWR!) 158s
- The excellent 10th Basherversary trip
- The Tyne and Tees Day Ranger
- Finally finishing the Tyne and Wear Metro for route coverage
- Clearing all DLR shacks
- Clearing everything but tram 005 in Blackpool (not including heritage stuff of course)
- The Yorkshire Byways tour for the amount of track scored, even though the ECML bits were boring!
- Covering the Borders Railway
Lowlights of 2015:
These could certainly be challenging to figure out, but include:
- Still needing FGW (sorry! GWR) 150s for haulage, albeit just two of them
- The adventures into Norm Land
- Still needing mainline routes (Hitchin Flyover, I'm talking about you!)
- The failure to make it back to Anglia and the East Midlands, and indeed Cornwall for that matter!
What's coming up next?
Of course, there has to be a look forward to 2016! Confirmed trips are just New York in March so far, but what an adventure that will be! There will no doubt be the once-a-year railtour in there somewhere, and plans are currently but certainly not limited to:
- SPT Roundabout, ideally at least twice
- SPT Daytripper
- Central Scotland Rover
- Anglia
- East Midlands
- An enormous clearout on light rail
- Kent Rover
- Southern DaySave, ideally at least twice
- Cheshire Day Ranger
- Merseyside
- North East Rover
- North West Rover
- London, ideally at least twice
A rather challenging list, and of course it is all subject to change, but most of it at least will be doable. There's certainly a nice bit of variety in there, and of course there will be West Midlands Daytrippers and WMDRs in there somewhere too. What gets managed will, of course, be discussed at length in my trip report thread!
Finally, let's end this with some stats!
2015's winners: 603
2015's shack scores: 302-ish (lost my YTD figure somewhere)
2015's new sights: I lost track but well over 160 of them!
2015's mileage: 12,894 miles and 4 chains
Moves in 2015: 781
Financial hit in 2015:
Rail fares: £1,491.79
Bus fares: £128.66
Air fares: £92.58
Coach fares: £35.70
Hotel ching: £716.48
Taxi ching: £25.65
General expenditure in 2015: £824.94
Total cost of bashing in 2015: £3,315.80
Yes, I did keep track of all the costs all year! So that was 2015, there's been amazing bits and there's been dire bits too. Even so, bring on 2016 and all the fun it shall bring our way!
Hope you enjoy the read all, bring on 4th January is all I can say right now!
Blindtraveler
Established Member
I hope the Taxi ching doesnt alarm you too much? Much of it I feer was my fault but I guess flying up here om a Sunday and not wanting to spend for ever getting away from the airport must have been a factor, along with the positioning moves for the Newton Connecting bash?
Great writeup, its been a pleasure joining you on some of it. Low of the year for me was not getting Stranrar that day!
Great writeup, its been a pleasure joining you on some of it. Low of the year for me was not getting Stranrar that day!
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Taxi ching was actually quite reasonable, the hotel ching was more shocking!
Aye I'll never forget that TT read fail of mine!
backontrack
Established Member
Don't talk about insect prices. For me and other rail fans, it's the bee ching that's worst! 
You definitely had an amazing year! Loads of winners too!
Kite159
Veteran Member
Agreed there 
47403
Established Member
Well done mate, great write up, its amazing how much the funds for this hobby mount up, even with the likes of the cheaper advace tickets.
I'm sure that final figure spent, will pale into insignificance, when you consider what you've achieved, what you've seen for sight and cleared, there's no better feeling in this hobby than, when you've classed something, be it for sight or haulage. Think this years been good to us all on the loco hauled front and lad, you've been hauled by a helluva lot this year, add the shacks you've scratched and more to the point the enjoyment you've gained out of it, you've had a great year.
Lastly you and ofcourse many others too, have been a fountain of knowledge to many of us, on the trips and planning section, not least to me, especially when it came to confronting the merseyrail, the texts that day were invaluable, so many, many thanks indeed Lord Tram. I think you've had a good year, I sincerely hope you have an equally good, if not better 2016. That same sentiment goes out to absolutely everyone that frequents this forum.
Happy hunting folks
I'm sure that final figure spent, will pale into insignificance, when you consider what you've achieved, what you've seen for sight and cleared, there's no better feeling in this hobby than, when you've classed something, be it for sight or haulage. Think this years been good to us all on the loco hauled front and lad, you've been hauled by a helluva lot this year, add the shacks you've scratched and more to the point the enjoyment you've gained out of it, you've had a great year.
Lastly you and ofcourse many others too, have been a fountain of knowledge to many of us, on the trips and planning section, not least to me, especially when it came to confronting the merseyrail, the texts that day were invaluable, so many, many thanks indeed Lord Tram. I think you've had a good year, I sincerely hope you have an equally good, if not better 2016. That same sentiment goes out to absolutely everyone that frequents this forum.
Happy hunting folks
Last edited:
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I echo the sentiment about everyone having a good 2016, hopefully in 366 days' time we'll all start rounding up how great it's been!
Aye for what I got out of this year, I did exceptionally well and it's well worth every penny. I know 2016 will be expensive, as there's some monster trips on the way! You speak sense, I've had quite the variety this year both in terms of routes and motive power.
Aye for what I got out of this year, I did exceptionally well and it's well worth every penny. I know 2016 will be expensive, as there's some monster trips on the way! You speak sense, I've had quite the variety this year both in terms of routes and motive power.
Kristofferson
Member
- Joined
- 23 Nov 2012
- Messages
- 1,132
I think you may have had more value for money from your £3k than me [emoji23]
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Very fair chance there!
I'll be paying back a lot of 2016's expense for a long time mind...
47403
Established Member
I think you maybe right there Kris
, judging by your trip reports, some of those "posh" hotels looked pricey indeed but the views from the one in Cardiff looked fantastic. The missus deserves a bit extra luxury anyway and getting out and about together enjoying different towns and cities, whilst you partake in your hobby, kills two birds with one stone. Im sure the bank balance, will recover in due course.- Status