Back on the platform

[The_Train]

Oh dear, don't they have coats, jumpers, thinsulate hats and gloves, even scarves in the North West and Staffordshire.
You'll be fine. Palmersears, sure youve suffered colder nights at Edgeley Park on a wet miserable Tuesday night.

The tropical micro-climate we enjoy means that we don't need all of that in Staffordshire

 

[47403]

I've been to Stafford mate and it was so cold this Geordie had to roll down the sleeves on my shirt

 

[DavidGrain]

My next trip to Edinburgh will be in January and I can assure you that the rain is warmer in summer than it is in winter.

 

[The_Train]

Right time to crack on and get everything up to date. I'd left my last report with an unsuccessful trip to Nuneaton which is summarised below:

DBC - 66170, 66051, 66050, 90036, 90018
GBRf - 66731, 66759, 66710, 66742, 66737, 66767
LNWR - 350122, 350101, 350375, 350128, 350126, 350374, 350129, 350120, 350117, 350101, 350108, 350121
Colas - 70815, DR73936
FLR - 66513, 66955, 66565, 90048, 70003, 66516, 66545, 66561, 66603, 70002, 90042, 90044, 70010, 70015, 66592, 66951
AXC - 170110, 170105, 170639, 170106, 170398, 170107, 170117, 170101, 170103,
VTWC - 390008, 390117, 390046, 390016, 390115, 390112, 221107, 221142, 390045, 221116, 221118, 221114, 221104
WMT - 153356
CS - 92014

There were other VTWC stocks that went past but they are not the easiest to ID at Nuneaton.

After this poor effort, I was back at the local on the 12th as I'd spotted a move from Bo'ness which grabbed my attention as I'd hoped for something special. However, it was a simple ECS move being lead by a shed but it was a winner thanks to DBC 66122. I had a few days away but boredom took me back on the 15th November for a few hours of evening freight fun. It was dud galore to begin with but it was to be the Berkeley flasks that would offer some light within the darkness of another winter evening with winner 68005 working with dud 68017. This sparked a little bit of good fortune and it was the Toton to Crewe working that bagged me another shed winner with 66758 heading into the book before DR98904 became the latest track machine to be chalked off. Straight after this came another winner as 66057 worked a Crewe Electric to Bescot working alongside dud 66093. We were blessed with the glorious sight of dud 37884 passing by and my hopes of seeing a different 92 on the cars was quashed as 92014 remained due to issues with the planned changeover earlier in the day.

An appointment in Sutton Coldfield the following day tempted me towards Tamworth in the afternoon. Arriving just after 1400 I was met with an immediate winner as 66187 passed by working ex Burton to Cardiff Tidal but it was slow going until 37884 showed it's face again but this time hauling 321418 to its new home in Scotland. Not long after this we had all sorts of sub class klaxons going as my long wait for 350246 came to an end to complete the 350/2s and also all of the LNWR 350 fleet. Just 9 of the 350/4s left to complete the class! A triple header of winners was completed thanks to a steel working on the high level as 60015 came by as it worked out of the West Midlands on route to Immingham but that would be all until 1700 came around and 88001 became my 6th of the 88 fleet to enter the book, leaving me just 4 to find. I hung around for another hour but literally nothing happened so I decided to cut my losses and head back to the warmth of the car for the drive back home.

The previous Sunday had seen me bag a 66 sat at Stafford working a Penkridge to Crewe engineers train and the same working was there as I drove past again the Sunday just gone. This time it was 66588 at the helm which was a nice little bonus. Monday of this week had seen confirmation of the changeover of 92s on the cars so I decided to get this checked out but I had to contend with a raft of dud sheds first including 66737 which I'd managed a poor photo of at Nuneaton so spied my chance to grab an improved one as it was held in the goods line
GBRf 66737 at Stafford by The_Train

I was then thrown another nice surprise thanks to a working from Wembley to Crewe Electric which happened to be dud 90048 hauling Caledonian Sleeper liveried 92028, which had been pencilled in for the cars until it was found to have issues that required a trip to Crewe. A few more duds filled the gap as I waited for the car train and this proved to be worth the wait as 92043 put in an appearance to become my 8th winner of the class
GBRf 92042 at Stafford by The_Train

Summary of this collection of outings:

Sight Summary

Winners: 30
Classes completed: N/A
Sub classes completed: 2 - FLR 70/0 & LNWR 350/2

Haulage Summary

Winners: 2
Total Mileage: 72 miles
Classes completed: N/A
Sub classes completed: N/A

I may have one more 'big' outing left in me for this year. That was looking to be definitely the Cheshire Day Ranger to get out to Manchester and Liverpool and anywhere else that would be worthwhile on the Ranger. However, @47403 has thrown a trip to Scotland into the mix and having checked times and prices it seems more than doable so watch this space.

I am also now on the lookout for worthwhile places to visit that are within a reasonable driving distance (and offer reasonably priced parking nearby) from Stafford if anyone has any suggestions? I'm basically looking to replace my little jaunts to the local with cost effective trips out elsewhere considering the local is becoming more hard work with each visit

 

[xotGD]

May I suggest Toton as a driving destination. Plenty of stored stuff for you to fudge(!!!), passing freight to see and phot and free to park. You could also call in at Derby on the way home.

 

[47403]

Congrats on clearing the LNWR 350's Mr Train. The locals still throwing a few winners your way at least, Better than nowt at all.
Glad I've inspired you to maybe go to Scotland. If you decide to go, let us know, I'm sure we can pass on some hints on where to look and go.
On driving trips, Toton bank side maybe a decent enough trip but You'll need a decent set of bino's. You could always park up and tram into Nottingham Station and rope in some EMT stuff too.
A trip in the car to Preston perhaps, there's plenty Northern Units and those elusive TPE 350s.

 

[palmersears]

What do you class as a reasonable drive, Train?

A quick glance at the map, and taking into account what you've achieved so far, I'd suggest somewhere like Nottingham, Leicester or Derby/Chesterfield for starters. All will get you plenty of EMT stuff and a few other bits and pieces as well. Nottingham has some bonus DB 60s trundling through as well.

 

[The_Train]

May I suggest Toton as a driving destination. Plenty of stored stuff for you to fudge(!!!), passing freight to see and phot and free to park. You could also call in at Derby on the way home.

That's a good suggestion actually and I would only need to take a glance at the yard and then message someone for a list of everything listed there and it's job done

Is it easy to get to and safe to park the car in the area?

 

[The_Train]

Congrats on clearing the LNWR 350's Mr Train. The locals still throwing a few winners your way at least, Better than nowt at all.
Glad I've inspired you to maybe go to Scotland. If you decide to go, let us know, I'm sure we can pass on some hints on where to look and go.
On driving trips, Toton bank side maybe a decent enough trip but You'll need a decent set of bino's. You could always park up and tram into Nottingham Station and rope in some EMT stuff too.
A trip in the car to Preston perhaps, there's plenty Northern Units and those elusive TPE 350s.

Thanks Mr 403, I think the local will always throw up a winner or 2 but it has to be timed well. As an example I caught wind of a move from the East Lancs Railway to Butterley yesterday just as it passed Norton Bridge so I had to dive into the car and was able to nab 40145 and 40012 as they went through the station approach which was a nice bonus.

As for the other locations you mention, Toton may have to wait until I get some Binos then....if Santa is reading this and he could send some my way that would be great I do need to eat further into the EMT units as Leicester helped with the Meridians but not much else so Nottingham would be a good option. Preston would certainly help with ticking off more Northern units..do Pacers tend to go through there? How regular are the 350/4s pathed as well?

 

[The_Train]

What do you class as a reasonable drive, Train?

Anything that doesn't cost more than a tenner in fuel really and can be reached within say 90 minutes so that I can just go for a few hours here and there. The reason I've thought about this is that when I'm bored I will jump in the car and go for random drives so I thought I might as well actually make use of a journey out instead of just driving.

A quick glance at the map, and taking into account what you've achieved so far, I'd suggest somewhere like Nottingham, Leicester or Derby/Chesterfield for starters. All will get you plenty of EMT stuff and a few other bits and pieces as well. Nottingham has some bonus DB 60s trundling through as well.

Those are all the sort of places that come to mind to be honest. Leicester is somewhere I did so would probably leave that for the time being but the others are interesting. Nottingham sounds interesting particularly if I catch a 60 as well....is it a busy station for units? I've also got Barrow Hill down as a place to visit which I could link with a visit to Chesterfield even though it would be a Saturday.

Also, is Acton Bridge worth a visit these days? I know a lot of what passes through there would pass my local but there seems to be a few moves that come from the north and terminate at Crewe.

 

[palmersears]

Those are all the sort of places that come to mind to be honest. Leicester is somewhere I did so would probably leave that for the time being but the others are interesting. Nottingham sounds interesting particularly if I catch a 60 as well....is it a busy station for units? I've also got Barrow Hill down as a place to visit which I could link with a visit to Chesterfield even though it would be a Saturday.

Also, is Acton Bridge worth a visit these days? I know a lot of what passes through there would pass my local but there seems to be a few moves that come from the north and terminate at Crewe.

You'll get plenty of EMT action at Nottingham, lots of 153s, 156s and 158s, as well as a good offering of the 222s and HSTs. Throw the occasional Northern 150/158 and XC 170s in the mix and it'll certainly pass a few hours. The 60s go through at 1000, 1310 and 1700, and if you go fairly soon you'll get the Colas 56s on RHTT duty. I'd be tempted to combine it with a quick trip to Toton to be honest. Park at Toton Park and Ride, have a walk down to Toton Bank, then get the tram into Nottingham. A tram takes 30 minutes(ish) and a return cost me £4.something last time I went.

Acton Bridge is ok, but given you've cleared the 350s and 390s all you'll be doing is looking at freight mainly. There will be a fair percentage of workings that pass through which don't reach Stafford, mainly the Drax workings to/from Liverpool and the binliners to/from Runcorn, as well as modal stuff which terminates at Crewe and sometimes a few quirky bits going down to the DRS depot, but given the station is in the arse-end of nowhere, with no facilities (there is a decent pub nearby though) I would save this one for the summer months.

 

[47403]

You could also travel to Wigan North Western, roughly an hour n a halfs drive away, from Stafford.

There's plenty Northern Units going into Wigan Wallgate, just stand on the southern most end of the bay platform at North Western and you can pick em off, as they go in and out, there's also the Northern 319s going to Liverpool and up to Preston, not to mention them 350/4s to and from Manchester Airport.

 

[CHAPS2034]

Preston would certainly help with ticking off more Northern units..do Pacers tend to go through there? How regular are the 350/4s pathed as well?

Pacers there too and anything the Northern random DMU unit throws up. Also 319s and 158s. The 350/4 are hourly in each direction northbound and south. I think on Friday some of the diagrams are 2x350s.

Wigan has also been suggested - they will have the same 350/4s and more 319s (more than Preston as some terminate there from Lime St) plus the Northern DMU stuff going into Wallgate next door as someone has already said.

Preston is under cover; Wigan less so.

Cheers
CW

 

[The_Train]

You'll get plenty of EMT action at Nottingham, lots of 153s, 156s and 158s, as well as a good offering of the 222s and HSTs. Throw the occasional Northern 150/158 and XC 170s in the mix and it'll certainly pass a few hours. The 60s go through at 1000, 1310 and 1700, and if you go fairly soon you'll get the Colas 56s on RHTT duty. I'd be tempted to combine it with a quick trip to Toton to be honest. Park at Toton Park and Ride, have a walk down to Toton Bank, then get the tram into Nottingham. A tram takes 30 minutes(ish) and a return cost me £4.something last time I went.

Acton Bridge is ok, but given you've cleared the 350s and 390s all you'll be doing is looking at freight mainly. There will be a fair percentage of workings that pass through which don't reach Stafford, mainly the Drax workings to/from Liverpool and the binliners to/from Runcorn, as well as modal stuff which terminates at Crewe and sometimes a few quirky bits going down to the DRS depot, but given the station is in the arse-end of nowhere, with no facilities (there is a decent pub nearby though) I would save this one for the summer months.

I'd thought of doing the Toton/Nottingham trip today but other things took precedence and with the weather being a bit naff I decided to delay it. May replan for Thursday - is the trip to Toton bank worthwhile even without bino's?

 

[The_Train]

You could also travel to Wigan North Western, roughly an hour n a halfs drive away, from Stafford.

There's plenty Northern Units going into Wigan Wallgate, just stand on the southern most end of the bay platform at North Western and you can pick em off, as they go in and out, there's also the Northern 319s going to Liverpool and up to Preston, not to mention them 350/4s to and from Manchester Airport.

Pacers there too and anything the Northern random DMU unit throws up. Also 319s and 158s. The 350/4 are hourly in each direction northbound and south. I think on Friday some of the diagrams are 2x350s.

Wigan has also been suggested - they will have the same 350/4s and more 319s (more than Preston as some terminate there from Lime St) plus the Northern DMU stuff going into Wallgate next door as someone has already said.

Preston is under cover; Wigan less so.

Cheers
CW

Thanks for the info regarding the North West area guys, it certainly seems like a worthwhile exercise even if it's just to clear up those 350/4s.

Do either of you have experience of parking around Preston and/or Wigan?

 

[The_Train]

Glad I've inspired you to maybe go to Scotland. If you decide to go, let us know, I'm sure we can pass on some hints on where to look and go.

I can't seem to shake this Scotland idea you've placed into my mind. What sort of plan of action would I be looking at as I assume it won't be worthwhile to simply sit at Glasgow Central for hours on end?

 

[47403]

Get to Glasgow Central, go up to Motherwell on the Lanark train, where you'll.pass Polmadie again. From Motherwell get the Cumbernauld train and go up to Whifflet to pass Mossend Yard, you'll pass the DRS Depot just outside Motherwell Station and may see the 68s on the Fife circle trains stabled there.
You could also go down to the low level at Glasgow Central and go to Hyndland, it's an Island Platform but you'll make hay scoring units there. From Hyndland you can get to Queen St Low Level and go to up to Queen St main. Where you'll score plenty more stuff.
A ride up to Paisley Gilmour Street will take you past Corkerhill depot.

Also remember when travelling up, you know about Crewe but theres iWarrington Yard on your right, their maybe stuff stabled there, at Wigan keep your eyes peeled too for 319s, on the left hand side parked to go to Liverpool.just before Wigan, on your right is a track machine stabling point, sometimes theres an 08 there too.
Preston, depends which platform.you go in but there should be some Northern units to view. Lancaster, theres a bay platform on your left hand side at the North end of the platform you go into. There maybe a 142 or 156 parked there. Obviously at Carlisle, it depends what platform you go in. Theres bays to your left and right at the south end that may have Northern units in. Theres two to your right at the North end too, that may also have a jock rail 156 in too. Oops, nearly forgot just before Carlisle on your right is Upperby, there maybe a track machine parked up and just before you get into Carlisle station to your left is Wapping, sometimes theres a track machine or a test train parked there. North of Carlisle is Kingmoor Depot and Kingmoor Yard both on the left and on the outskirts of Glasgow on your right is Polmadie, where if your lucky, you may collar the sleeper locos, maybe even a 73/9, a 57 and an 08.
You should fill your boots at all them.
Sorry if you know about them on the way up. Just thought I'd put it in there anyway. Anything else I've missed I'm sure the lads on here will come up with the answers but if I can help more, just ask away.

 

[palmersears]

I'd thought of doing the Toton/Nottingham trip today but other things took precedence and with the weather being a bit naff I decided to delay it. May replan for Thursday - is the trip to Toton bank worthwhile even without bino's?

Toton without binoculars isn't really worth it, to be honest. Most things are too far away to see with the naked eye.

Regards Scotland, I've no idea on cost but if you're after sheer weight of numbers then I would go for Glasgow Central, Hyndland, a bit of time at Queen Street (it's not that busy and soon gets a bit boring) and then head over to Haymarket, getting the train home from there. Will see you get a good 150+ winners, if not more.

 

[433N]

A ride up to Paisley Gilmour Street will take you past Corkerhill depot.

Point of order.
A ride to Paisley Canal will take you past Corkerhill. A trip to either will take you past Shields.

 

[47403]

Point of order.
A ride to Paisley Canal will take you past Corkerhill. A trip to either will take you past Shields.

Am I mixing up my depots? My apologies if I am.

 

[The_Train]

Get to Glasgow Central, go up to Motherwell on the Lanark train, where you'll.pass Polmadie again. From Motherwell get the Cumbernauld train and go up to Whifflet to pass Mossend Yard, you'll pass the DRS Depot just outside Motherwell Station and may see the 68s on the Fife circle trains stabled there.
You could also go down to the low level at Glasgow Central and go to Hyndland, it's an Island Platform but you'll make hay scoring units there. From Hyndland you can get to Queen St Low Level and go to up to Queen St main. Where you'll score plenty more stuff.
A ride up to Paisley Gilmour Street will take you past Corkerhill depot.

Also remember when travelling up, you know about Crewe but theres iWarrington Yard on your right, their maybe stuff stabled there, at Wigan keep your eyes peeled too for 319s, on the left hand side parked to go to Liverpool.just before Wigan, on your right is a track machine stabling point, sometimes theres an 08 there too.
Preston, depends which platform.you go in but there should be some Northern units to view. Lancaster, theres a bay platform on your left hand side at the North end of the platform you go into. There maybe a 142 or 156 parked there. Obviously at Carlisle, it depends what platform you go in. Theres bays to your left and right at the south end that may have Northern units in. Theres two to your right at the North end too, that may also have a jock rail 156 in too. Oops, nearly forgot just before Carlisle on your right is Upperby, there maybe a track machine parked up and just before you get into Carlisle station to your left is Wapping, sometimes theres a track machine or a test train parked there. North of Carlisle is Kingmoor Depot and Kingmoor Yard both on the left and on the outskirts of Glasgow on your right is Polmadie, where if your lucky, you may collar the sleeper locos, maybe even a 73/9, a 57 and an 08.
You should fill your boots at all them.
Sorry if you know about them on the way up. Just thought I'd put it in there anyway. Anything else I've missed I'm sure the lads on here will come up with the answers but if I can help more, just ask away.

I knew of a few of those depots/sidings you mentioned but certainly not all of them and definitely not which side of me they will be on. This sort of information has been invaluable on my previous outings and this will be equally so, so thanks very much.

I will start to see if I can get a day planned then. Currently to obtain the cheapest tickets, I can be into Glasgow Central by 1033 or 1115 with a direct return at 1740 or a multiple change return at 1840. I suppose the key part of this is whether this gives me enough time to get around and make the trip worthwhile as my previous plan for Scotland had been to plot an overnight stay up there?

 

[The_Train]

Toton without binoculars isn't really worth it, to be honest. Most things are too far away to see with the naked eye.

Regards Scotland, I've no idea on cost but if you're after sheer weight of numbers then I would go for Glasgow Central, Hyndland, a bit of time at Queen Street (it's not that busy and soon gets a bit boring) and then head over to Haymarket, getting the train home from there. Will see you get a good 150+ winners, if not more.

I thought that would be the case re Toton so I will give that a miss for now. Might still make use of the park and ride there though as I've never been on a tram in Nottingham and I guess parking will be a nightmare around Nottingham Station.

Thanks for the info regarding a Scottish trip. Not sure I can get Haymarket into this trip as it would be an extra cost as the cheap option (and the daytripper) seems to revolve around me travelling to and from Central

 

[The_Train]

Just out of interest is Nottingham now one of these penalty fare zone stations and barriered, therefore causing an issue to me if I'm driving there and not actually travelling?

 

[47403]

I thought that would be the case re Toton so I will give that a miss for now. Might still make use of the park and ride there though as I've never been on a tram in Nottingham and I guess parking will be a nightmare around Nottingham Station.

Thanks for the info regarding a Scottish trip. Not sure I can get Haymarket into this trip as it would be an extra cost as the cheap option (and the daytripper) seems to revolve around me travelling to and from Central

There's more than enough time. Do about 45mins at Central get your bearings, find the Lanark train, then ride out to Motherwell and Whifflet.
Only takes roughly 15mins at most to get to Hyndland and maybe the same to get to Paisley Canal or Gilmour St and Motherwell. You could just ride up to Coatbridge or Whifflet and come straight back just to pass Mossend Yard twice, then go back to Glasgow Central and Hyndland to get to Queen St. Alternatively you could walk to Queen St from Central. I always get lost doing the walk, so I just use the low levels out to Hyndland and go to Queen St Low level that way and go up to the main.
An hour n a half at Central will do wonders for you, things will start to repeat, so thats when an hour at Queen St will be a good move. Plus if your on the platform at Central at Peak, Shields Road and Corkerhill will clear out stuff and double up to bolster the peak services.

 

[433N]

Just my (maybe ill-informed) opinion but I think if you want the huge number of winners, you are going to need the trip to Haymarket.

What I would say is that many routes out of Glasgow do take a while to return. I just checked a Hyndland-Edinburgh-Hyndland (334) service and it takes (as near as da****) 4 hours to return. Even the main E&G would require 2 hours (1h 50 mins actually if you want to be pedantic) to spot the 8 diagrams. I must admit that I'm not very devoted to chasing stuff down and my interest is mainly in photographing, but there are 318s that I still don't have ; they are tricky little gits since they scurry around the low levels. Even looking at a straight Dalmuir-Motherwell-Dalmuir (probably 313/320) diagram would be 2 hours for a return at Hyndland - and some diagrams are far more complicated than that.

So if you are just Glasgowing then I'd say you might with 47s itinerary realistically (using wild guesstimates) get 25 x 156s , 5 x 158s , 25 x 380s , 25 x 314/318/320s , 25 x 334s, 12 x 385s/365s , 10 x 170s a few pendos and voyagers and 350/4s.

Glasgow is hard work. Two stations, both with upper and lower levels. Cross-city diagrams. As a (vaguely) local, I'd say it's hard to just sit and binge but I understand that many are built of sterner stuff than me.

The trip past Mossend can be frustrating. The number of locos is pot-luck and often they can be blocked by freight either waiting or forming trains. For most of the day, any 86s are blocked behind a 325 or two in the holding sidings and train windows are often frustratingly dirty up here. Motherwell, depending on time of day (between 11 and 3) you might well get the 2 Spotrail 68s poking out of the buildings, other than that there may be 1 or 2 other (DRS) locos but probably no more.

 

[433N]

^^^
Interestingly my Bowlderized version of a mildly naughty word got electronically Bowlderized.

I should have, of course, just hyphenated and written dash-it. Digital Mary Whitehouse just didn't like the last 4 letters of the word what I wrote.

 

[03_179]

Taken some of these nuggets of info as I am going to try a Scotland Trip sometime in 2019 (without SWMBO)

 

[palmersears]

I personally wouldn't waste valuable time pootling around the Glaswegian suburbs looking at depots and yards. Most of the stuff you would see at Mossend and Motherwell are locos that will, at some point, make their way to other parts of the country that are more accessible to you. Spending an hour going past them isn't going to reap the same rewards as an hour at Central, Queen Street or Hyndland, or taking a trip across to Haymarket for a few hours. I have no idea as to your anticipated arrival/departure times, train, but I assume you'll be there from about 10 until 6? 3 hours is all you need at Central, then go out to Hyndland (all the low-level traffic from Central & Queen Street passes through here and it's only a 15-minute journey) before going to Queen Street high level for a bit, and then finish off at Central for the evening peak. All of these are covered by the Strathclyde Roundabout ticket which will set you back £7, and means you can happily pop back and forth through barriers as required.

That said, the above viewpoint is based upon the fact that my mindset is very much 'Get there, maximise the amount I can possibly see, and then move on.' I'm not overly interested in new routes (added bonus, but nothing more), haulage or the like, I just want to spot everything as quickly and effectively as possible. That's just my competitive nature and I've happily spent 3 hours straight at Central squeezing every last drop out of potential winners instead of using up an hour to go to depots and yards that might only throw up two winners.

I fully understand it's a bit more laid back for others, that's the beauty of the hobby. Depends what you're in it for, train.

 

[47403]

Each to their own but I get itchy feet and like to move around and add stuff to the haulage lists too.
Down to the individual I suppose. I'd definitely reccommend Hyndland.

 

[The_Train]

Thanks for all of the tips regarding Scotland guys, as ever it gives me plenty of food for thought in my planning.

As sightings are my priority at the moment I think I am probably working more like @palmersears in that I like to get somewhere, plonk myself down and tick off winners galore before moving on when repetition kicks in. As this trip will be time limited as the cheapest tickets offer only fixed trains to catch I think the trips out to depots would be too risky in that I might nab a few winners but would ultimately miss out at some of the stations.

That said, I will certainly need more than this visit to ScotRail land so I will still be looking at the overnight stay I have as a must do for next year which will allow me the time to get around the depots (and across to Haymarket) so @47403 and @433N your advice won't be wasted