Palmersears' Jaunts

Congrats on clearing the 365s, VTEC & XC 170s for your book of sights

Some excellent progress there! A shame you get to Cardiff just under 5 hours after I leave there tomorrow mind!

Have fun in Cardiff!

Good song by the way

Sounds like a highly successful evening there and I enjoyed reading about it.

Thank you for the kind words chaps, good to know some people still read my ramblings

Speaking of which...

23/06/17 - Brizzle Kicks

After returning home from Nottingham the night before (Having picked up 43081, 156403 and 158787 en-route) it was another early start on Friday, with the 0545 alarm call followed by a quick shower and the drive down to Stockport for the 0639 Milford Haven service. 175003 eventually rocked up 8 late, reasons unknown, and I took up residence in the half-full front carriage, snoozing until Crewe. As we rounded the curve 92023 and 92028 were in the holding sidings, and as we passed the DRS Depot I was met with a fine array of locos preparing themselves for the day ahead, with winners 57003, 68019 and 68021 all on the road outside. Inside was a bit trickier to fully survey, but nonetheless I did manage 66428, 66429, 68027 and a couple of the latest arrivals, 88005 and 88008. The grand sight of 37259 and 37422 firing up by the depot entrance rounded off a mega DRS haul. Absolutely nowt doing then really, so I settled back for the remainder of the journey to Shrewsbury, noting a couple boarding at Nantwich who had seemingly brought the entire contents of their home, including the dog, with them. They took seats in most of the first four rows, so I was relieved to be bailing at Shrewsbury 25 minutes later.

After a PNB in the ‘temporary’ toilets – some portaloos – the earthy rumble of the WAG was soon felt, sadly the last required ATW DVT had seemingly been swapped out as dud 82307 was up top. Thankfully it was pushed along by winner 67029, which looked mighty fine. I shared the penultimate carriage with 4 other people, losing a couple at Hereford. With the 175 I’d transferred off still over 10 late we caught it by Abergavenny, and as such ended up 6 late into Newport. A dull Cardiff eventually arrived, not before I’d caught 60020 on its way to Westerleigh with the tanks, and I arrived to take up residence at the usual spot by the London end of platforms 3/4 along with a couple of gentlemen waiting to photo some 43s. Armed with gen for all the required ATW units that were out and about I’d worked out they were all due through in the first hour or so, and thus spent a productive morning ambling the station picking them off, along with a couple of GWR 150s that cropped up:



A healthy bunch of winners in the bag I popped out of the station briefly for some M&S lunch, as well as to purchase returns to Ninian Park and Temple Meads. After forgetting that I’d not yet changed the pin number on my new debit card, thankfully remembering at the third attempt, I had all the food and tickets required, scrambled back up to the platforms and hopped aboard 150267 for the short trip passed Canton Depot to see if anything required was having a day off. No units, sadly, but I did get 08499 attached to 70806, with 70808 keeping them company one road over. Alighting at Ninian it was quickly under the bridge and up just in time for 150245 to take me back to Central again. My arrival was greeted by 43056 and 43175 top and tail a Paddington arrival, two more 43s to add to the winner’s enclosure.

Having ticked off all I could in ATW-land, and with a fair percentage of the day still to play with, I had decided upon a trip across to Bristol to see if anything GWR-related would be offered up, including two of the last three 158s I needed. 158955 was the steed of choice, boarding just as 70814 trundled through to Canton light engine and was well loaded. A pleasant journey in the lukewarm sun followed, as did a good number of 66s, including 66542 coming out of Wentloog, 66085 at East Usk and 66144 at Alexandra yard. Yet another Colas winner was also forthcoming as 70817 stood just outside the eastern end of the Severn Tunnel with the empty cement tanks. Despite my best efforts I couldn’t see anything on the Stoke Gifford IEP depot, having to instead make do with 08516 on Bardon Hill. Not quite an IET, but a winner all the same!

Temple Meads was drab, and surprisingly cold, making me glad of the fact I’d picked up a jumper at the last minute as I made my way out of the door in the morning. I settled in the usual spot, London end of platforms 5/7, got an earl grey on the go (I must try and remember that Starbucks do awful tea, sadly) and waited to see what was what. First winner was actually the SWT 159 heading out to Waterloo, but after that there was a steady if unspectacular set of winners presenting themselves:



The keen-eyed amongst you will note the 150/0 present which, coupled with 150002’s appearance back in January, again in Bristol, means the very small sub-class has been cleared. Needless to say the hunk of junk sat down for 25 minutes with a door fault.

1654 arrived, as did 158957 to take me back to Cardiff. Absolutely rammed, and with no aircon, it wasn’t the most pleasant of journeys, and the crisp Welsh air was most welcome by the time we arrived 6 late. Nothing new to be seen in the 15 minutes before 175112 pulled in, and as soon as I sat down I fell asleep, waking as we rattled through Nantwich. A quick hop across to platform 1 for 323236 to take me home, I was accompanied from Sandbach by a load of kids smoking weed at the end of the carriage. Guard nowhere to be seen, I fired off a text to the BTP who, fair play, were waiting at Stockport to meet the delightful young gentlemen and escort them to a waiting police van.

All told, a very good day. I now need just five ATW units, one of which, 142072 probably won’t see the light of day ever again, and made a solid dent in the GWR DMUs. I will need a trip to the South West-proper at some point to get the 143s and a number of the 153s, but I’m happy enough with where I’m at with GWR for now. Colas and DRS also took a sizable hit, with was an added bonus.

Next up is London on Monday. I get into Euston at 1605, so should be out into the capital for 1630. In my mind the loose plan is Bethnal Green, Highbury and Islington for the 378s that operate out of New Cross depot (as well as bonus freight) and then Clapham Junction. I may venture to Kings Cross if my last two Grand Central requirements are around as well. After that it’ll be Leeds a couple of weeks later to get the last few Northern units, before a Midlands trip to hopefully get the last XC 43, a couple of London Midland DMUs and then a prolonged fester at somewhere to get a few more Chiltern winners.

Sounded like a productive day in Cardiff & Bristol, picking up more locos for your book on route

In terms of tea on the railway, Upper Crust/Pumpkin do nice Twinings tea, Frothbucks isn't worth going to at all in my eyes! AMT Coffee in the subway at Bristol is also worth a punt, and the pub on platform 3 (if it's still there!) is a little expensive but worth a visit.

Good to hear BTP responded to your issue and caught the little buggers, last time similar happened to me they'd got to the station too late to catch them sadly.

Sorry to hear Bristol wasn't good for you after all, but ATW did you proud by the looks of it. Strange as it might seem, it's easier to read the coloured blocks thingies on a laptop than my mobile device. Next time I'll make more effort to zoom in!

Yes the WAG-Ex is good at catching up the 175 in front (you've got the privilege of getting Kite's last ATW unit for haulage for him by the way ) even if all is on time. There's also the long signalling blocks that don't help, stopping at Pontrilas box for a couple of minutes is not unheard of on that run while waiting for the 175 to get out of the way. It's a much better run northbound, as it doesn't piddle around following stuff.

Good progress made there, and I hope London did better for you!

Somebody's always getting in the way - 01/08/17

Life has been rather hectic recently, and I've hardly had time to think, let alone get a jaunt in. As I type this I recall I've not even detailed the trip to London a month ago, but as it was rather haphazard, and the number of winners rather lower than expected, I won't try and plumb the depths of my memory to bring you all the details.

Yesterday was designed to, finally, clear my remaining West Midlands requirements, which consisted of the final XC power car, three London Midland units and possibly a couple of others belonging to ATW and EMT if they fell right. As such it was aboard regular bouncy castle 142012 with the wife into Piccadilly, arriving in good time to get my West Midlands Day Ranger and some porridge before hopping aboard the deserted 0838 to Crewe, today formed of 323233. This is limited express after Alderley Edge, so got me in to Crewe at 0904, just in time for 390012 down to Stafford. First winners of the day were on the old LNWR site, with 73961 and 73963 bookending a test train. Further test train winnings were quickly spied, with 97302 and 97303 on Basford Hall.

Stafford arrived, and the usual plethora of retired gents littered both ends of platforms 3/4. A lot of froth on my arrival (not for me, clearly) as 70804 and 70806 throttled through towards Crewe, fairly coating the station in thick diesel fumes. From here it was 220022 down to The Bat Cave.

Gen on the final units wasn't yet forthcoming when I arrived at 11, so I decided to head for Bescot to see if I could chip away a little further at the remaining 66s. Without checking I hopped aboard a 170/153 combo for the crawl through the Birmingham suburbs. Alighting at a sunny Bescot I had chance to pick up the numbers from my steads, which were dud 170501 leading winner 153356! A fantastic piece of luck! I also managed to pick up a fair number of winners on Bescot yard, namely 66015, 66083, 66199, 66617 & 66951.

With that gen did arrive for 170512, which I duly picked up back at the bat cave to clear the LM DMU fleet. The final LM unit I require is 350252, which I've chased for over a year now. Yet again it evaded me as it worked on the Tring/Euston services all day. This is quickly turning into my version of Kite's 390128!

With that I decided to head back to Stafford for a wee bit of freight. 221125 did the honours and I spent three hours of so dodging showers as the freight whizzed through. Winners were 66718, light engine from Longport to Hams Hall, followed a while later by 37884 clagging through with 319370 in tow sporting full Northern livery. A lot made of the new scheme, but I quite like it. Will be a bugger to keep clean though. Final winner arrived just as I was boarding 350112, with 47746 on its way from Carnforth to Southall.

I did also pick up 37218 on my way back passes the LNWR site to cap a very successful little day out. Sadly the XC power car wasn't out to play, and 350252 is just taunting me, but I only need that to clear LM now.

I type this aboard 158791 as I'm out hunting Northern winners in Sheffield and Leeds today!

350252 will eventually fall for you

Congratulations on getting down to just one more MU with LM to score! Quite a few scores across the board, and I'm glad to see things are ticking over nicely, even if life is getting in the way a fair bit!

Hope Sheffield and Leeds were good to you

When your luck is in... - 02/08/17

With a semi decent haul in the midlands on Tuesday, Wednesday was either going to be Yorkshire or Liverpool. After dropping the car off for his MOT i still had both options open to me timings-wise, but as it was a nice day I plumped for the former and, as such, made it to New Mills Central in time for the 0916 to Sheffield, today the relatively luxury of 150119, which had been on the Hope Valley all week. Nothing of any note on the 50 minute journey, save for the usual stunning scenery, and we eventually arrived a few minute late after getting stuck behind the Hope-Walsall stone, which was inexplicably let our right in front of us.

I'd fired off some requests for gen on remaining requirements, but it hadn't been supplied as I arrived. I knew my luck would be in for the day though as I alighted and ambled down to the bay platforms to find 144001 waiting to head to Adwick. Last 144 in the book, an excellent start to the day.

I then had a ponder. Stay at Sheffield, hoping my requirements were due this way, or head to Leeds. Was almost a coin toss to be honest, but when 158791 rolled in to for the next Express to Leeds my mind was made up, and off we went. Another fairly benign 50 minutes later, save for 66512 & 66547 on Midland Road, and a slightly damp Leeds arrived. The luck had followed me from Sheffield, as 142078 was just departing as I arrived, leaving just the one 142 to find in the North.

At this point gen did arrive for the last few units. The last Northern 156 was still messing about on Carlisle-Newcastle runs, so was out of reach, the last 142 was, Sod's law, back in Manchester for the day, and timings meant I'd just miss the one outstanding 158. Thankfully the others were gettable, albeit spread over a number of hours, so I headed over to platforms 1-5 to await my two remaining 333s. I hadn't asked for gen on these, figuring they did be out at some point, and was rewarded with the immediate sighting of 333007 setting off to Skipton. A brief excursion to platform 11 to see 60001 roll through with the oil tanks (just 14 left to find), before another fester back over at 1-5, broken up with a trip to Pret for soup and cake.

Eventually 333012 rolled in, clearing the second class of the day, and to celebrate I headed for a muffin and some tea, waiting on platform 11 again for 158909, which duly arrived from Blackpool North. My final planned winner of the day wasn't due for an hour, so I headed into the city centre for a spot of shopping, returning just in time to find 155346, fresh from its 16 month refurb, pulling in from Victoria. I had a quick look around as it emptied, they've done an ok job given they've only spent £25 on it, but give it another month or so and it'll be tatty again. Still, third class of the day cleared.

With nothing further doing, and in need of a fairly quick return home to pick up the car, it was aboard 158902 back to Sheffield, then back onto 150119 again for the 50 minutes back to Central.

All in all 10 more winners in the book is good going anywhere above Birmingham these days, and to clear three classes is excellent. I wonder if Friday will hold more of the same?

What's up, Doc? - 04/08/17

After a solitary day at work I was off again on Friday, with the first port of call the hospital to get word on my hip. The star of this week, 150119, was in charge of transporting me to Piccadilly, before 319363 to East Didsbury. On a slight side note, the number of announcements made on these is utterly mind numbing. By the time destination, calling point, use of cigarettes, minding the gap and reporting suspicious items has been mentioned I think everybody has lost the will and/or zoned out completely.

Hospital took longer than expected, owing to another X-ray, but the eventual diagnosis of a torn cartilage, cyst, bulge of the ball of the hip joint AND early onset arthritis was, oddly, a relief. Operation duly scheduled for end of September, meaning I'll be laid up for 6 weeks after that, so they'll be a definite lack of trips in Autumn! I eventually got out at 0930, and had two options; Liverpool again, or Doncaster. I really, really cannot face the underground festering required for Merseyrail when the weather is nice, so instead it was an Uber to Stockport, and then aboard the mismatched pair of 158778 & 156406 for the run to Sheffield for the second time in a week.

Nothing doing here, so it was straight aboard 158796 for the run to Donny. Picking up 66777 on Roberts Road depot as we approached, I alighted to find 47826 & 57313 top and tail some West Coast rail stock, heading down to Norwich from Carnforth, which was a lovely bonus. My plan today was to clear the last two Grand Central entries, as well as hopefully two of the four remaining Northern units. Any freight winners would be a bonus, I need so few 66s in relative terms that they are almost at the stage where they'd need planned journeys as well!

Gen arrived fairly early, allowing me to plan the afternoon around that. However a spanner was duly thrown into the works when the remaining 142 needed decided it'd had enough for the day and sat down at Sheffield. I left that problem to work out later, and headed up to the shopping centre car park to pick up anything quirky hidden in the back of Wabtec works. Sadly all i got was 47703 in a right sorry state.

Back to the station it was freight all the way for the next hour or so, with numerous workings trundling through. Winners came in the form of 66090 on a Dollands Moor - Scunthorpee empty steel run, and 66736 from Doncaster Decoy to North Blyth. Indeed the latter was almost my downfall, as I only just managed to catch on towards the end of seeing it amble through that 43480 was tearing passed on the up fast, catching the briefest of glimpses. Enough of one to get the number though, and clear the Grand Central 43s in the process.

With a couple of hours to kill I popped in to Sainsburys to get lunch, and returned to settle in the sun and plan how I could get my last Grand Central unit and make it back to Sheffield in time for the two Northern winners required. I eventually worked out I would need 180114 to be bang on time at 1723, which it was (class and TOC cleared!), allowing me to then immediately jump on 142019 from platform 5 to get the stopper to Sheffield. This needed to arrive bang on time, which, surprisingly, it did. This allowed for a quick sprint down to 6B, for 158905, clearing the Northern 158s at last.

As I boarded 185123 I was slightly disappointed that the final 142 wasn't going to fall due to its earlier fault, but then, low and behold, there it was in the sidings as we pulled away towards Dore. Finally, after 18 months, the Northern 142s are cleared, and I need just 142072, freshly back in to service in Wales, to clear the class outright.

All in all, another good day. A class and a TOC cleared, the Northern 142s and 158s done, leaving just a solitary 156 and the 319 that caught fire at St Helens to find, and some bonus 66s as well. Only 69 of them to go as well.

As referenced above, trips will be severely limited after September, so I am hoping for a couple of big ones before then. I really need to get back up to Scotland, which might be early September for a day or two, and maybe a day in London to focus on the last 315s and 317s, as well as the last Great Northern units. After that it'll likely be 2018 before I get out and about again

That list of ailments was almost longer than the list of stops on the 1720 Crewe to Swansea via Llandrindod!

I kid, of course. The eyebrows certainly raised when I read that, jeepers you've got it right proper rough at the moment!

Which 319 caught fire at St Helens? Can't say I've heard of that, although I don't keep track much to be honest.

Many congratulations on clearing 3 classes in one day up in Leeds, quite the achievement! Getting down to just 1 more 142 to find to clear them too is quite impressive as well, you got your last ones far quicker than I did, 142003 was a pain in the proverbial for years then it fell by random chance at Cheadle Hulme of all places after what I was believe was 3 years of admittedly occasional trips to the North. It still annoys me by not being gettable for haulage, when I did regular trips to Liverpool it would be buffer blocking at Lime Street. Anywhere else it produces now, I just can't make it work to get it before heading south again. One day it may well fall, although I know full well I'll never get all 18 of my final 142s for haulage.

Anyway, enough of me rambling. Congratulations on clearing Grand Central, although it came close there! Very productive time overall there, and I suspect your downtime in Q4 2017 is going to drive you mad!

Techniquest said:

Which 319 caught fire at St Helens? Can't say I've heard of that, although I don't keep track much to be honest.

Click to expand...

It was 319431, http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?p=3079720.

Sounds like you have made some good progress lately!

Get well soon

Techniquest said:

That list of ailments was almost longer than the list of stops on the 1720 Crewe to Swansea via Llandrindod! [emoji38]

I kid, of course. The eyebrows certainly raised when I read that, jeepers you've got it right proper rough at the moment!

Which 319 caught fire at St Helens? Can't say I've heard of that, although I don't keep track much to be honest.

Many congratulations on clearing 3 classes in one day up in Leeds, quite the achievement! Getting down to just 1 more 142 to find to clear them too is quite impressive as well, you got your last ones far quicker than I did, 142003 was a pain in the proverbial for years then it fell by random chance at Cheadle Hulme of all places after what I was believe was 3 years of admittedly occasional trips to the North. It still annoys me by not being gettable for haulage, when I did regular trips to Liverpool it would be buffer blocking at Lime Street. Anywhere else it produces now, I just can't make it work to get it before heading south again. One day it may well fall, although I know full well I'll never get all 18 of my final 142s for haulage.

Anyway, enough of me rambling. Congratulations on clearing Grand Central, although it came close there! Very productive time overall there, and I suspect your downtime in Q4 2017 is going to drive you mad!

Click to expand...

Steady now, a list of ailments that long would see you in serious trouble!

As Dhassell notes, it was 319431 that turned into a mobile marshmallow toaster. First day in service as well...

Dhassell said:

It was 319431, http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?p=3079720.

Sounds like you have made some good progress lately! [emoji38]

Click to expand...

Thanks! Slow and steady wins the race and all that.

Kite159 said:

Get well soon

Click to expand...

Many thanks, Kite. It'll be a good few weeks of rest and rehab, but hopefully might then allow me to go running again, which would be nice.

I think I've identified two further days before the op that will be useful to me. I've found surprisingly cheap tickets to Reading on one of them, which will be a nice change, whilst the other is looking like being Cardiff and Bristol again, see if I can finally clear ATW. I was hoping to get to London or Scotland, but both are rather expensive at present.

Reading between the lines - 8/9/17

For the first time in over a month it was time for a wee trip out. I say wee, it was due to last 16 hours, but still. Up at 0550, it was a short drive down to Stockport for the 0651 to Stafford, 390127 doing the honours today. I swear this used to go via Stoke, but now is via Crewe, which is always preferable from a spotting perspective as it gives me a chance to see what's on Basford Hall. Not much needed now, admittedly, but the first winner of the day was still sought, 66518, which takes me to just eight Freightliner 66s. We sped onwards, picking up 66302 on the Tesco Express as we slowed for Stafford. A quick up and over to platform 4 where 350374 arrived to take a fair number of people down to Birmingham. Not a journey that excites much, so I settled down to continue my German lessons as the midlands came in to view.

Bat cave arrived, and after a PNB is was down to platform 10 for 220002, not well loaded for a XC service, and I settled in for the journey down to Reading. I was hoping to pick up a couple of Chiltern winners on the way down, alas nothing doing, so first winning unit was 165121 as we arrived at Oxford. After that it was a swing round Didcot curve and towards Reading, with winners 387157 & 387158 spied on Reading depot.

Alighting at Reading for the first time ever I had a wander round to get my bearings, picking up 165101 in the process, as well as 57604 & 57605 bringing the sleeper stock back to Old Oak Common. The former had disgraced itself on the way to the southwest the previous night, was rescued by the latter, which then also failed and had to be rescued by a 59, so the pair were both heading back home with their heads hung in shame. Bonus for me though, as it clears the GWR 57s. Luck was also with me as I was heading down to platform 8 just in time to see 800003 pull in on test. It hung around long enough to have a decent look at the interior. Looks ok, however the seats look very thin for an intercity train. Will be intrigued to try them out in October when they hopefully enter service. Testing was also going on with the 707s, and 707009 partnered by 707010 pulled in mid-morning.

With that I settled in at the London end of platforms 8/9 to observe the comings and goings. Having seen the future of intercity travel I did love seeing the 43s as they powered away west and, whilst I don't think the world will end when they eventually retire, I do think they'd should be celebrated for the sterling service they've provided. Noted during the morning were the following:

43149
43186
165111
165130
165132
166212
166219

With that news arrived. I'd fired off a few hopeful gen requests for some London units, and they'd been answered. After forming a rough plan an off peak return was purchased, and it was aboard 166220 for a blast to the capital. Hayes and Harlington threw up 387154, the West Coast Rail depot saw 57314, and West Ealing produced 387151.

From Paddington it was across to Kings Cross via the H&C, arriving to hoard of tourists at platform 9 & 3/4. After battling passed them I managed to add 387109 to the log, leaving just four Great Northern units to find on another day. It was then down to St Pancras low level, and a bonus of 700022 taking me down to Farringdon, where it was a Met line service across to Liverpool Street.

The plan here was to do a sweep of the platforms and then await my next anticipated winner, but as I completed the fruitless task I was met with 345010. With time to kill I thought it rude not to have a spin out to Stratford. Thoughts are that they're decent units. Colour scheme is a winner in my eyes, and the announcements appear to have been tweaked from earlier reports. I walked the full length of it and the layout makes sense, but sadly the seats are utterly dreadful. I know people won't be doing overly lengthy journeys aboard these, but even a Shenfield to Stratford would leave me very uncomfortable. Stratford arrived, I alighted, and crossed to platform 5 for a 6 minute wait until 315839 pulled in to clear the class and TfL Rail in the process.

Back to Liverpool Street, and again onto the Met line for a quick sprint back to St Pancras. Here it was up to the EMT platforms, and the sight of 43043 chugging away as it prepared to head off to Nottingham. It departed, with the space left filled by 222019. Its arrival sounded the second class clearance cannon of the day, and leaves just one 43 and a 153 to clear EMT.

Off back to Paddington, with the service pattern on the tube meaning I went Met line to Baker Street then the Bakerloo to Paddington. A sweep of the platforms threw up 43133, 43194, 166202 & 387155, and it was then aboard 43146+129 for a nice bit of HST action back to Reading.

Reading once more, and after a bit of lunch away from the station it was back to my previous spot, with plenty more to add to the winners enclosure. 43016, 43041, 43063, 43071 & 43160 took the required GWR HSTs down to just five now, whilst the arrival of 165118 leaves just one of their 165s to find. With 166203 & 166211 showing up I could fire off the class clearance cannon for a third time in a day, and I also got the bonus of a couple of SWR units, 450123 & 450567 in the book.

And with that 1915 arrived, as did 220008 to take me on the long slog back home. Darkness was quickly falling, but I did manage to pick up 70813 on Hinksey yard. It was pitch black by the time the Bat Cave arrived, but the 7 minutes here did quickly allow me to alight and marvel at the glorious sight of 350252 which, after eluding me for over a year, final falls to clear the 350s and London Midland. Rejoice, for I never need look at a 350 ever again, nor spend any time in the Bat Cave.

And that was that as I arrived back at Stockport at 2215.

A thoroughly excellent day. Four classes cleared, London Midland and TfL Rail done, and a further chunk taken out of GWR.

I'm off again in a couple of weeks, but as of yet no plan has been formed. In terms of units I only really need to go to Scotland, London, Exeter, Cardiff/Bristol or Norwich, none of which I can do justice to in a day when I need to be back for early evening, so I'll either try an East Midlands day ranger to get the two EMT units and then go looking for freight, or just sit at Acton Bridge and see if anything interesting turns up.

A very successful day for your spotting

I thought I'd heard a lot of cannons sounding recently!

A most productive spin to Reading but the second half went beautifully for you, clearing things like the 350s must have been rather satisfying. There really isn't much left to get outside the South East by the sounds of it!

Techniquest said:

I thought I'd heard a lot of cannons sounding recently!

A most productive spin to Reading but the second half went beautifully for you, clearing things like the 350s must have been rather satisfying. There really isn't much left to get outside the South East by the sounds of it!

Click to expand...

Merseyrail needs finishing off, which I'd conveniently forgotten about, so thatcould be a go-er for next Friday. That aside it's mainly London and Scotland. I'm not sure I'll make it to the South West to get the 143s before they finish, but the rest should be doable. I also have one final XC 43 to track down as well.

Just caught up with this palmersears, By God, you have battered that book of sights, the number of classes you have cleared, is staggering.

Great reading and I'm taking an interest in the London moves, with an impending London mission.

As for the new 345's, I've yet to see one but I've already nicknamed them Irons

an iron by Michael Barrass, on Flickr class 345 by Michael Barrass, on Flickr

I'm sure you can see the similarities.

Good luck with the future op too.

22/09/17 - Muddling round in the midlands

The final trip before the hip op (indeed I type this to you having been home recovering for just over 24 hours) and it was to be an early start/early finish job in order to prepare for the wife's birthdays weekend.

As such it was to Stockport for the 0513, and 390115 duly rolled in 3 minutes late for the run down to Nuneaton. With the mornings now dark until 6ish there was nothing of noted spotted on the way, save for the novel experience of passing through Wilmslow non-stop for the first time. Nuneaton arrived, and with the sun yet to peak over the horizon it was mighty chilly! I ambled over to ASDA for supplies, and then returned to settle for a bit of freight action, firing off some gen requests as well to see if anything required was out and about.

Plenty of intermodals screamed through over the course of the next couple of hours, none of the 66s were required, and with the sun now warming me nicely I decided to head across to Leicester to have a butchers at the depot there. As such an off-peak return was purchased, and 170101 was boarded for a venture in to more new territory. A pleasant if uninspiring 20 minutes later Leicester arrived, and I ventured off to have a look at the semi scrap yard that is Leicester L.I.P, scattered with a miriad of 37s, 56s and 58s in various states. 21 of them were new cops, added to the log, but I won't bore you with numbers.

At this point I had planned to stay at Leicester for a while to see if the last EMT 43 was out to play, but word reached me that it was having a day off. The same informant did bring better news elsewhere, so it was instead back to Nuneaton, again aboard 170101, and then quickly across on to 350374 for the 8 minute journey back up the WCML to Tawmorth. I took up residence on the grit box on platform 3, basking in the strong late-morning sun, and observed the comings and goings, again with little success. I minded not however, as eventually 43321 rumbled in with 43366 bringing up the rear. A momentous occasion which sees Cross Country added to the list of TOCs now cleared, and leaves me with just 7 43s left to get.

After that is was another couple of hours of casual freight watching. Two winners were a bonus, 66539 screeching through on an intermodal from Crewe to Felixstowe (just six 66s left to clear the green army), and then 60100 from the steel terminal in Wolverhampton through to Immingham which takes me down to twelve remaining 60s.

And before you knew it 1608 arrived, as did 350121 to take me to Stoke, and then 220023 to Stockport in time to get home and get the pizza made for the wife!

Quality over quantity for the day, but it was fantastic to get Cross Country cleared at last, and it was nice to get out for one final trip before a month of house rest.

I'm not doing any dedicated trips now for a good 6 weeks, certainly until the crutches are gone, but we are off to see family friends in Leamington Spa in a month, so I might get a few more Chiltern winners in then if the spotting stars align for me!

Congrats on clearing XC

Hope the operation was a success and you have a speedy recovery

Congratulations on clearing XC, and I echo Kite with wishing you a speedy recovery. Before you know it you'll be back out and about clearing the last of the lot! It still surprises me how much you've got in such a short time, bearing in mind some of us took years to get this far.

Love the referring to Freightliner as the Green Army, that term means something very different to me and my group of non-railway mates. I'd explain but it's a long story!

Thanks chaps! I'll be climbing the walls by the end of next week I imagine, so will have to console myself with planning if my trips for the rest of 2017 whilst I wait for the all clear to shed the crutches. I'm thinking of a couple of days in London as I've not been for ages now, and also Scotland again. Whether I want to brave that in mid-winter is debatable though...

That's nothing...You should try a super early ferry from Belfast to Stranraer in super cold conditions in January...It was enough to make my work conditions feel tropical!

Slightly more realistic would be an all-nighter around London in the middle of winter. Certainly tough but compared to the trip from Belfast it's like going to the spa...

Ooh, or board an HST with no heating on it throughout on a cold January evening. Or indeed board the sleeper out of Edinburgh for a leap across to Glasgow when the ETS hadn't been hooked correctly, when it was warmer on the station than it was on the train...

Point being that I've been there and done it, it can be done but it isn't fun!

20/10/17 - The 90s in Nuneaton

So, three weeks on from the op, and with one crutch now shed, it was time for a wee trip out. We were to meet friends in Birmingham in the evening, and the wife was working all day, so I decided upon a nice amble down to the Midlands, going early to avoid the crowds and hopefully catch quieter services to stretch the leg out and all that.

For the first time in a month it was to New Mills Central for the leaf fall altered 0736 to Piccadilly, formed today of a very warm 142001 and partner in crime 142028. Both rammed as always (I've no idea how the overcrowding will be combatted on this line going forwards without some serious platform extensions) and with leaf fall in full flow we slid our way into Manchester 5 late.

Tickets picked up for the wife she headed off to work, and I, with no real plan, got a cheap single to Crewe and a West Midlands Day Ranger, hopped across to Smiths for a new notepad, and then managed to board 175106 for a nippy run down to the WCML-proper.

Alighting it took an age to get the lift up, across and down to platform 5, but still in plenty of time for 350111 to roll in from Liverpool South Parkway. I was prepared to let it go if it was busy, but it was absolutely dead, and I secured a table seat with no bother. First winner of the day arrived shortly there after, 345014 sat on Crewe LNWR after its arrival for mainline testing the night before. The run down to the bat cave was uneventful after that, I managed to get my shoe off and rest my leg on the seat opposite (with the guard's permission!) and could keep it that way until the dreary surroundings of central Birmingham arrived.

I let everyone else off, then hopped down onto the platform and wondered of what to do with the 6 hours I had to waste. Initial thoughts were a hop to Leamington Spa for potential work on remaining Chiltern requirements, but the next voyager down the way was rammed, and I didn't fancy the hobble to Moor Street in the rain. As such it was a trip up to the concourse for porridge from Starbucks and then back down in good time for the 1052 to Leicester, formed of 170521, and a trip to a Palmersears hotspot, Nuneaton. Very quiet service again, indeed I had a carriage to myself almost, and the 30 minute journey was spent napping, mainly!

Once at a cold and bright Nuneaton I traversed the lifts from island to island to make use of the toilet and visit the cafe for supplies, then set up camp in the middle of platforms 4/5, shielded from the wind and rain, but still with views out across all the lines. After that it was the usual mixture of freight, no gen on any potential winners so it was the good old "see what turns up when" style of spotting from days before RTT and TOPS request threads.

A couple of intermodals rumbled through, before the first winners of the day trundled in, 66058 and 66185 either end of the WCML RHTT. Both suitably filthy (some kind soul had washed the loco numbers on the ends though!) they caused great delight to a watching small child as they departed with a toot. The next couple of hours were steady yet fruitless, nothing beyond the standard intermodal stuff really, and I broke for a cup of tea at 1415.

Rehydrated I was back on my increasingly chilly bench 30 minutes later for a mini rush, with 8 workings coming through in just over 30 minutes. A very productive half hour it was too, with 66230 (empty steel to Margam), 66722 (discharged oil tanks back to Immingham) and 66725 (Hams Hall to Felixstowe intermodal) all winners, as well as 90020 on a test run from Crewe to Wembley after its recent visit to Crewe IEMD. Its arrival was a significant one, as it enabled me to pull out the class clearance cannon for a welcome firing, the 90s are now a thing of the past!

By this point in proceedings I was a bit tired, indeed I am amazed I survived so long, and as such I decided to head back to base before rush hour. A slightly cosy 170521 appeared again, and it was back to New Street for a rather long walk to our apartment with my friend. I console myself with the fact that my sore hip will be healed no doubt by today's visit to Cadbury World...

All in all, a cracking little trip. 90s done, only 16 DBC sheds to get now (57 overall), and a bonus 345 as well.

Plans for the rest of the year are beginning to form, but are still dependant somewhat upon the recovery rate of the hip. All being well I will be off to Scotland for a day in mid November, and also Cardiff/Bristol in early December to see if I can finally get ATW done and get a bit of 800 action as well. A Saturday in London wouldn't go amiss either if tickets are cheap enough.

Sounds like a highly productive time at Nuneaton. Congrats on clearing the skodas - how did you get the ones out of view at Crewe IEMD and 90050 (although I think that one may still be in view at Basford Hall)?

fishquinn said:

Sounds like a highly productive time at Nuneaton. Congrats on clearing the skodas - how did you get the ones out of view at Crewe IEMD and 90050 (although I think that one may still be in view at Basford Hall)?

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I spent a whole afternoon last November wandering around the various little vantage points on either side of the depot, as well as going passed on the Crewe-Chester shuttle and somehow managed to get all of them, just!

90050 is indeed still visible on Basford Hall, but only if you get right up close through the undergrowth. Not something I want to do again in a hurry...

Been nearly 11 years since my last spotting session at Nuneaton! Many congratulations on finishing the 90s.

Sounds like the recovery is going rather well!

Techniquest said:

Been nearly 11 years since my last spotting session at Nuneaton! Many congratulations on finishing the 90s.

Sounds like the recovery is going rather well!

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Thanks Tech! Recovery is hard to judge really. Flew round Birmingham all weekend without a care in the world, including Cadbury World(!), but now think I'm paying the price for that as today has been more of a challenge. A reminder I'm not yet a month off the operating table and need to take it easy.

I had a dream I was on the Caley Sleeper last night (I blame the drugs!) so had a wee look at prices for that for the end of November and they're still quite reasonable. Tempted to do the 1155 to Euston on a Friday after what is hopefully my final sign off from my surgeon, do a day in London and then get the sleeper up to Glasgow for a full day in Scotland on the Saturday, heading back from Edinburgh at 1800ish. Always wanted to do the sleeper, but will have to see if the hip is up to the overnight trek north by that point.

Sounds like a good idea