An STP to Peterborough - Friday 28th June 2019
Part 1
I'd been considering my next move for a bit of time when I recalled how busy Peterborough seemed to be as we passed through on my recent trip to Anglia. So I made a last minute decision to head down that way a week or so ago and having secured some very nicely priced tickets it was off to the local once again. As this was all about the one place, it allowed me a later start than I would normally on a day out so it was to be dud for everything 350117 that would take me down to Nuneaton at just after 0830. The journey down the Trent Valley threw up the first winner of the day as
DR73947 was sat in the sidings just North of Lichfield station but that was my only joy (used to pick up the odd WMT winner at Rugeley but no such luck now it's mainly 350s). Nuneaton wasn't much kinder either with a couple of dud track machines being worked on in the sidings but I did think this luck was changing when the newest member of the WMT fleet pulled in to P1. Unfortunately though it was just 172002 which I'd spotted previously whilst it was say at Tyseley being refurbished - did allow me to grab a pic of it though....
172002 by
The_Train, on Flickr
I saw that as my cue to head over to P7 for my Stanstead bound unit and after spying a couple of dud sheds - 66545 and 66160 to be precise - it was over to 170106, yet another dud for everything, to offer that good old 170 thrash through to Peterborough. Despite it being a busy service, I was able to bag a seat and no-one seemed to want the seat next to me throughout the journey - must have chosen the wrong aftershave today. With little to see between Nuneaton and Leicester I immersed myself in my latest book - another one by David Baldacci, who I recommend to anyone who enjoys a thriller - but arrival into Leicester was met with an EMT HST set which only added to the list of duds already growing so early in the day. There was the usual plethora of locos in Leicester L.I.P with 50008 and 47813 on show along with the usual line of 56s which allowed me to nab
56060, the one I'd missed last time out. Not much else on show for the remainder of the journey but during our stops in the Leicestershire suburbs, a group of lads who looked to be heading off on their first lads holiday boarded in, shall we say, high spirits so it was away with the book and back to earphones in and music on until we arrived into Peterborough where I was able to spy 66780, 66732 and winner for sight
66707 sat in the GBRf yard. FLR 66516 was sat awaiting a path North as I stepped off the train but it was the 700 that caught my eye over in P2 so I had a wander across to chalk off
700109 which became my first of this class into the book
700109 by
The_Train
Having completed the 91s at the Crewe Open Day, these weren't of great interest to me (except for the awesome noise they make as they power up) but the LNER coaching stock was. Unfortunately the first rake I saw was fully dud but I did manage to see my first 800 in LNER livery as
800113 was ticked off as it arrived ECS from Retford before heading back
800113 by
The_Train, on Flickr
I decided to have a roam around to get my bearings and decide where to base myself and after picking up a lovely vanilla latte I ventured to the south end of P4/5.
700108 was the first success from this vantage point as it completed another working from Horsham, before I bagged a full rake of coaches. One of the units I'd not even considered when deciding to head to the southern end of the ECML was the 180s and having bagged 9 of the 14 at Donny last year, it was nice to see
180106 head into the book. Just 4 of these to go and it was quickly followed by a bonus success in the form of EMT
158857 working the Norwich to Liverpool diagram.
800103 became my first sighting of an Azuma with passengers aboard as it headed North and after 66782 crawled by I was able to chalk off another rake of coaching stock which had 82205 sat at the rear in its Flying Scotsman livery
82205 at Peterborough by
The_Train, on Flickr
I'm on the hunt for quite a bit of the HST Mk3s as well but there was little chance of nabbing any of those on the first one I saw as 43367 and
43302 powered the set quickly through P3 towards Kings Cross. Better luck with the next electric set as 91119 brought me yet another batch of required Mk4s but my luck with the sheds wasn't changing as 66773 became the next to go onto the dud list as it ground to a halt just inside the south end of the station where it remained for a good while. With the GB shed ticking over in the background,
800104 glided in with minimal fuss and noise (seriously, what fun is that?) before GWR 43010 and 43020 flew by. I initially thought it might have been an ECS move to Ely before I quickly remembered that Hull Trains had a set on loan. It wouldn't be the last time I saw this set working today!
This excitement was followed up by yet another dud shed, this time FLR throwing up 66529 on a Lawley Street to Felixstowe turn
66529 by
The_Train
Another Azuma, in the form of
800108, came and went and I caught sight of a dogbox arriving on the Lincoln shuttle so I ventured down to the other end of the platform only to find that it was dud 153318. To top this dud off no sooner had I made it down the opposite end, a 700 was arriving at the end I had vacated. So a quick wander was made to ID
700133 but I decided to head back to my new vantage point at the north end of the station from where I was able to see 66773 finally departing
66773 by
The_Train
It was also a nice place to view
800106 heading fast towards the capital to become the latest Azuma into the book before it was back to the dud sheds, this time courtesy of DB as 66128 passed by heading towards Scunthorpe
DB 66128 by
The_Train
More joy with the next set as 91124 powered another required set of coaches into P3 before 43308 and 43309 brought me the opposite as their set was dud
The LNER old guard stand strong at Peterborough by
The_Train, on Flickr
Another success for the 180s though as
180101 took my requirements of these down to just 3. Just maybe there would be a klaxons being sounded today.
800110 also found it's way into the book as well when it passed through fast....
800110 by
The_Train
....but still little luck with the sheds as 66051 became yet another dud. It used to be easy chasing these things when I required hundreds of them
DB 68051 by
The_Train
Another wander down the platform was required to grab
700142 - I guess this hobby can have some health benefits! A 20 minute run of duds was ended by the arrival of a set of Mk3s that were chalked off but more duds ensued after this, with the only interesting occurrence being an icon of BR being met by its predecessor
The old and the new by
The_Train
And talking of icons of BR it was
43290 which ended a lengthy run of duds when it arrived into P2 with 43295. My next winner came soon after as
700111 was next in the book before yet another HST was chalked off as
43296 and it's coaching stock also went into the book. Would have been nice to take a full set but 43312 was dud. There had been a steady flow of winners throughout the day thus far and that was continued when 43310 crawled through P3 with a service from Newark
LNER 43310 by
The_Train
This may well have been a dud but it's take of Mk3s certainly wasn't, and more importantly neither was it's partner as
43274 was marked off. The sheds, however, continued to be those I'd seen previously - being down to single figures from the FLR fleet does make things more difficult and that was proven when dud 66523 came by. A full rake of Mk3 duds with accompanying dud power cars for good measure were followed by another GB dud, in the form of 66776 which was heading to the new railport at Doncaster
66776 by
The_Train
I was going to try and get this report done in one go but I think I will take a break there having made a decent start in Peterborough with 21 all important winners to go with the good chunk of rolling stock I'd managed to add to them.