The local can still surprise - Monday 26th November 2018
Having been very good to me during my first 6 months back in the game, the local had suddenly dried up of late. That hasn't deterred me from the odd visit and this day proved to be one of the better ones of recent times. It was early evening when I arrived and with Mondays sometimes throwing up surprises following loco changes over the weekend, I settled into the 4pm freight rush but without luck in the early exchanges. The first hour comprised of 4 dud sheds and a very dud 70007 before FLR
66594 rolled through working containers north to Trafford Park having come up from the docks at Southampton. I thought this might be a turn in luck but a couple of dud FLR 70s put paid to that until another Freightliner shed was chalked off with
66514 working a Ditton-Felixstowe turn. It was getting cold by now and I was ready to throw the towel in (even 92043 didn't put an appearance in as the car run was cancelled) but there was one move from Wembley keeping me interested so I engrossed myself in my book during the 'quiet hour' between 1800 and 1900 with just 325004 running a test to Rugby and dud 66517 actually being able to drag my eyes away from my book. But just before 1900 and with icicles dangling from my eyelids I could hear the grumble of a 68 crawling through the goods line, so I knew this was worth the wait even if it turned out to be a dud.
68009 showed it's face but it quickly became apparent she wasn't alone and it turned out that she had Chiltern liveried 68015, TPE liveried 68030 and DRS liveried 68004 for company as they worked from Wembley to Gresty Bridge. Unfortunately, the other 3 were duds, but it was still a great sight
68s passing through Stafford by
The_Train
I also have a video of their departure which I will add to the thread once I've figured out how to do so haha.
That was it for that outing as the cold had truly bitten into me so it was homeward bound feeling happy to have a seen a lovely foursome of masterful engineering.
Chasing an Eastern Star - Friday 30th November 2018
I had originally planned to drive to Nottingham the previous day but had been unsure about access to the platforms without a ticket. I did email EMT to try and address this but as of this moment, I am still awaiting a response. On this basis, I decided to travel on train instead for an afternoon/evening around the East Midlands. The day started with a journey to Tamworth aboard LNWR
350118 which was a winner for haulage if not for sight. I'd been keeping an eye on RTT and we were due to arrive into Tamworth minutes before a bit of action on the high level platforms so there was no time for the standard 350 photo at Tamworth and it was a case of battling the crowds to get to platform 3 just in time to see DB
66160 pass by working Bescot to Toton before
60091 also trundled through with a working to Kingsbury having travelled from Lindsey Oil Refinery
DB class 60 60091 passing Tamworth station by
The_Train
A good return considering I was only at Tamworth for around 15 minutes before I was heading into the East Midlands on
170101, another winner for haulage. I'd braced myself for Wetmore Sidings but then managed to miss most of what was in the row of locos (most were the 08s/09s I'd seen last time I went past) but I did catch
20904 which was trying to hide amongst the gronks. It had been a good opening but the chaotic scenes at Derby gave an insight into what would prove to be a day of disruption on the MML. These issues were soon forgotten as we moved off Derby and went past the Network Rail depot where there was a plethora of locos sat around. More 20s went into the book as
20189 and
20142 were sat together and then my first yellow DVT was chalked off thanks to
82129 before another gronk went into the book, this time
08588 doing the honours. There was also a Colas 37 sat in there but was just far enough away to avoid capture but still I was more than happy with the start I'd made to this outing. My arrival into Nottingham was met with
158810 and
158864 and soon after
156470 and
153368 also went into the book. It quickly became apparent that this place would require a lot of roaming and that's what was needed to bag my first Meridian of the day as
222102 made it into the Midlands albeit very late thanks to signal failure south of Luton
EMT 'Meridian' 222102 and XC 170519 seen at Nottingham by
The_Train
I'd not eaten too far into the 156 class so it was nice to see
156403 as it worked a Newark to Matlock stopper and
156498 arrive in swift succession before my first sighting of a HST for the day allowed me to mark down duds 43058 and 43048 but it also allowed me to get more coaching stock into the book
EMT 156403 leaves Nottingham by
The_Train
The winners were arriving at a steady pace and
156406 added to the list before
158773 arrived to join dud 158863 which had arrived ECS to make the 1157 ex Norwich to Liverpool service a 4 carriage affair from Nottingham onwards.
156405 also went into the book before I received a response from
@Skymonster, who I'd asked for advice regarding the East Midlands area. His advice of 'I wouldn't bother' (these might not be his exact words) was read just as I heard a thunderous growl heading from the Eastcroft direction and was surprised to see Colas
70805 arriving with another loco in tow
Colas Rail 70805 pulls into Nottingham by
The_Train
The other loco also turned out to be a winner, but not just any winner, it was the "Fearless"
50050 which, after a quick cab change, then took the lead to power out of Nottingham as they headed towards Barnetby sidings
50050 and 43058 at Nottingham by
The_Train
50050 "Fearless" departs Nottingham by
The_Train
Following this excitement, there was a little run of duds before more 156s were chalked off -
415 and
408 this time around.
158799 was the next unit into the book before we were blessed with more loco action as it was RHTT time with
56090 and 56105 working Sandiacre to Toton
Colas Rail 56105 heading into Nottingham by
The_Train
Things were getting a bit hectic around the station by now and pretty much all of the MML services expected over the previous couple of hours had been cancelled. This was scuppering my end of day plans to grab a HST ride to Leicester on my way home so I was having to keep a close eye on RTT. There was still enough at Nottingham to just about keep me interested and
156401 was soon heading into the book, along with
153376. That said, even though it was a very busy station, in terms of footfall) there didn't seem to be a continuous coming and going of trains (probably not helped by the MML issue) and lots of trains were departing full and standing particularly the local stopper to Leicester which meant this was never an alternative option.
158780 was yet another unit to arrive empty and depart with an overcrowding issue before I had more luck with the 156s as
156413 took me to within 4 of completing the EMT 156 units. However, that wasn't going to be happening today as I'd found that the 1712 to St Pancras was running and as much as the 1745 I'd planned to catch was still showing as active, I'd easily worked out that it would either depart very late or be cancelled as there was no incoming set that could actually provide the service. On this basis the 1712 became my choice of escape even though it was pathed as a 222 set and I'd miss out on the HST ride. Before this though, there was more loco action due through and soon enough the Immingham to Ratcliffe Power Station turn was passing through with dud 66788 at the helm before another dud, in the form of 60100, arrived for a crew change working the Humber Oil to Kingsbury run
DB class 60 60100 pauses at Nottingham by
The_Train
The incoming stock of my route out of Nottingham was now delayed so this gave me time to chalk off a Northern unit as
158795 arrived working a service to Leeds. I'd also caught sight of the crowd awaiting the now delayed 1712 service and it was a little bit off putting so I'd started to consider whether to jump on the XC service to Birmingham and to spend a bit of time at Derby on route home. A quick PNB gave me the necessary thinking time and I decided to head across to platform 7 and decide whether to cram on dependent on what unit actually turned up. My mind was made up not so long later as a sound we all love was heard and a HST set showed it's face with dud for sight, winner for haulage
43047 leading the way into Nottingham and winner for everything 43044 leading us back out and I can say 'us' as I somehow found myself ideally positioned for quick boarding and managed to grab myself a table seat (I had to share with an excited group heading for a night out in Leicester but could have been a lot worse). Not to forget that all of the coaching stock on this set being logged as winners made it a decent end to my time at Nottingham and despite some slow progress we soon made it to Leicester
EMT HST power car 43044 at Leicester by The_Train
No sooner had I watched the HST I'd travelled on depart, another one arrived being lead by dud 43046 and there was another set of coaching stock to chalk off along with the power car at the rear which turned out to be winner
43073. Whilst grabbing what I'd realised was my first drink since my morning coffee (hazelnut praline latte from Costa is unreal by the way), 66602 passed through with another 66/6 not far behind as dud 66613 worked a Dagenham to Earles Sidings in the Hope Valley turn. A bonus at Leicester was that track machine
DR73118 was sat in the sidings and with the issues on the MML slowly being solved, I also got to see another HST set but unfortunately it turned out to be the set powered by 43058 and 43048 which I'd seen earlier in the day....I think this is my first set of coaching stock duds. A couple of dud 170s came and went before I hopped on
170106, another haulage winner, for the trip to Nuneaton where there was slim pickings. A couple of dud sheds passed through along with another FLR 70 - if FLR could loan some of these off Colas that would be nice
I was able to grab
153364 as it worked the WMT shuttle between Nuneaton and Coventry - just 18 of the WMT units to find now! DR73930 was sat in the sidings as it had been when I visited in September and with little else going on I jumped on
350113 to add this to the winners for haulage today. I was going to take this all the way home but for no reason other than I could, I bailed at Tamworth and waited for the evening Pendolino for the final leg of the journey which turned out to be
390114 and made it a full set of haulage winners for the day. I didn't hang around at Stafford as I was cold, tired and hungry so it was straight home and another venture completed.
Who doesn't like Mondays? - Monday 3rd December 2018
The previous Monday had not been too bad with a few new 66s and the rake of 68s passing through so I decided to repeat it on the Monday just gone. Yet again, it took an hour to get going as the opening period was littered with dud sheds and 325004 still working test runs to Rugby. But it was to be the favourite working from Toton to Crewe that got things going as GBRf
66770 was at the helm of a rake of empty engineering wagons. It was a working from Norwich to Gresty Bridge that had caught my eye today and after a few more duds it was a lovely pairing of DRS 37s and even though they both have the same livery there was a clear contrast between their colourings (I will let you guess which one had been on RHTT duty). The glorious sight was made even better as both locos were required so it was a nice feeling to mark off
37716 and
37405, nearly as nice as the feeling when listening to them depart
DRS Class 37 37716 at Stafford with 37405 by
The_Train
DRS Class 37 37405 at Stafford by
The_Train
I hung around a little bit longer, mainly in the hope of a winning 66/6 being on the Bow Depot to Tunstead turn but no such luck as dud 66619 (I'd seen it previously sat at Earles Sidings on my trip to Yorkshire recently) lead it through. That was enough for me to call it a day and that brings us nicely up to date with my outings so I will complete with and quick summary of these 3 outings
Sight Summary
Winners:
38 (62 including coaching stock)
Classes completed:
N/A
Sub classes completed:
N/A
Haulage Summary
Winners:
7
Total Mileage:
141 miles
Classes completed:
N/A
Sub classes completed:
N/A
The Glasgow trip planned for this week has been delayed due to the threat of some bad weather this week (not really materialised as always). I currently have it planned for next week but will know better later when I do a check of my financial situation.