ash39's Trip Reports & Photos

Caught up again. Some more excellent reads again Ash, you done well there with winners and shacks. The 314 and 318s are a real throwback, some great noise off them too.365s in Scotland do look weird but I quite like the 365s, be nicer still with the jock rail livery adorned to them.
I always come home on the 21.00 when I'm up in that neck of the woods too, it's usually chocker when I get it mind.

A productive day in SPT land

The Daytripper is a very good ticket, brining you around Glasgow for a good price. This is a good report. The 318s on the Cathcart lines are to cascade 314s so they can cascade 380s to the Falkirk line.

Greater Manchester Rail Ranger – Friday 3rd August 2018

For a few months now, my mate had a couple of Northern delay repay ‘anywhere’ tickets burning a hole in his pocket. Despite not having a ‘use by’ date on them, I was certain that in the past they were only valid for 12 months from date of issue, so we hatched a plan to get them used them one Friday evening.

We met at Woodlesford, I had joked that he would turn up at 15:39 for our 15:40 train, and that’s exactly how it turned out. Very predictable! I was glad he showed up though, as he had our tickets, and I’d have missed out on winner 153370 leading 144010. It was strange seeing the unfamiliar sight of a GWR green 153 coupled to a very familiar 144.


153370 Leeds 03/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We had put ‘Stoke on Trent’ on our tickets. The plan was to get a GM day ranger when we got to Manchester, but it would be good to have the option to visit one of the stations outside of the rover area on the Stoke line, Congleton or Kidsgrove, if we had time.

Firstly, we had the chore of making our way to Manchester on a Northern-only ticket during the evening peak. We had a bit of a wait, but there was a Selby-Huddersfield service we could catch as far as Bradford Interchange to break up the journey. It was a winner for us both, 150136, so we wedged ourselves on.

After a pretty awful 20 minutes, we were pleased to get off.


150136 Bradford Interchange 03/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

A short while later, our Manchester bound train turned up. 158860 was a nice upgrade from the 150, and had very effective air conditioning! We also had 155344 on the rear, so it was nice and lightly loaded for most of the way.

I tried to buy our Daysaver tickets on arrival at Manchester Victoria, but failed when it was pointed out that it isn’t valid between 1600-1830. I knew there was a reason we always got the more expensive Wayfarer, but couldn't remember why. We decided to continue on our way to 'Stoke', but the only route we could think of using Northern only was to reverse at Salford. So, we took winner 150223 and 150117 out to Salford Crescent.

It became obvious that this wasn’t going to be a great plan. There was a 20 minute wait for a Piccadilly bound train, and the connections beyond that were not great either. We changed our minds, and took 142049 & 142047 one stop to Salford Central.

The idea was to get some food here, and then it would be almost 1830. We had no problem being allowed through the barriers with the tickets we had, I had expected to have to offer an explanation as to what it was. Also my mate had written the destination and date whilst we were on 144010 earlier from Woodlesford, and it was barely legible!

We grabbed some pretty uninspiring food from Tesco Express and made our way back over the road to the station. Our hopes of buying our Daysavers here were dashed again, as the man in the ticket office was on the phone. The barrier man let us back through again, and we decided to have a third try at purchasing them at Salford Crescent.

150224 and 153363 took us there. Again, I was expecting to have to explain the ticket, and there were two barrier staff this time, but again they just saw I had a card in my hand and buzzed me through. It might as well have been a Nectar card for how much attention they paid to it.

I finally got the tickets at the third attempt, and made my way back to the platform where my mate had waited. We took 150115 and 142026 to Oxford Road.

We realised in the fairly short time we had available we wouldn’t get many new stations, so decided to aim mostly for required units. We didn’t have to wait long for one, 156488 leading 158797. First time I can recall seeing a Northern 158 at Oxford Road/Piccadilly.

Piccadilly was where we headed. There was a Liverpool-Norwich service due shortly after us, which we was our plan B if the Northern service had been duds. We decided to still try our luck on this, as we could catch it to Stockport now we finally had our Daysaver tickets, and we always welcome the chance to try and whittle down our last few EMT 158’s.

It didn’t entirely work out, as we both have different requirements. 158799 and 158773 were dud for me, but my mate needed the latter so we got on anyway.

We spotted we had just enough time at Stockport to nip to Hazel Grove and back – which would at least give us both one shack for the day. Unfortunately that plan died pretty much straight away – the outbound service was delayed slightly and we wouldn’t make the connection.

There was an EMT service running back the other way shortly after we poured cold water on the Hazel Grove plan. The good news was we both knew we needed 158777, it’s a fairly distinctive number. The bad news? It was missing a friend, and was a rammed 2-car instead of pleasant 4-car.

It was also one of the smelliest vestibules I’ve ever had the pleasure of standing in. Winner or not, getting off at Piccadilly was a relief (though I felt like I needed a shower after that ordeal).

66516 came through shortly after arrival, giving me the opportunity to try a shot I’ve wanted to get for a while. Unfortunately I had my camera on the wrong setting, so the closer shots were all out of focus.


66516 Manchester Piccadilly 03/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We had to get back towards West Yorkshire now, and started off taking 156489 and winner 156455 to Salford Crescent.

142096 & 156420 were next, to Salford Central once again. We then were picked up by 150114 and 150138 on a Southport-Leeds service. We had planned to change once more at Manchester Victoria, onto a faster service via Bradford which we had earmarked as the train we would catch home. This service had actually been cancelled, so it was a good job we were already on a Leeds-bound train else we may have been in trouble.

Despite the other cancelled service, other than one lady who left at Rochdale, not a single person entered or left our coach all the way to Leeds. Nor did we see a guard! We were ready to get off 150138 by the time we reached Leeds though, after the best part an hour and a half on it.

142017 was our final unit back to Woodlesford. It might as well have been ‘The Party Pacer’ railtour, for I think we may have been the only two on board who weren’t intoxicated. Not a record-setting evening by any standards, but a good evening out.


Day summary:

153370 & 144010 WDS-LDS
150136 LDS-BDI
158860 & 155344 BDI-MCV
150223 & 150117 MCV-SLD
142049 & 142047 SLD-SFD
150224 & 153363 SFD-SLD
150115 & 142026 SLD-MCO
156488 & 158797 MCO-MAN
158799 & 158773 MAN-SPT
158777 SPT-MAN
156489 & 156455 MAN-SLD
142096 & 156420 SLD-SFD
150114 & 150138 SFD-LDS
142017 LDS-WDS

No new stations:
7 new units: 2x 150, 1x 153, 3x 156, 1x 158
18 dud units: 5x 142, 1x 144, 5x 150, 1x 153, 1x 155, 2x 156, 3x 158

Day mileage: 134 miles

A good evening trip to Manchester

I’d go as far as saying that short trip on 158777 from Stockport to Manchester ranks as my least favourite journey ever. Slightly beating that Voyager from Wakey to Leeds that was rammed when I was had my 1 year old with me after he wanted to grab a 90.

Nice report.

"It was strange seeing the unfamiliar sight of a GWR green 153 coupled to a very familiar 144"

It was pretty strange seeing it at Carlisle on Tuesday strengthening the service from Leeds.

Another good read Ash, last trip out in Manchester, I managed to stumble on a on an EMT 158+156 combo from Sheffield to Manchester, I know that's quite common but later in the same day, I was also fortunate to be in place for an EMT 158 +153 combo. Certainly a first not only for haulage but actually seeing such a combo.
It is weird seeing a GWR Green unit in Leeds, especially keeping a 144 company, there's another doing the Northern Circuit but it's painted white, some gonk even decided to put white numbers on its side too. Think it's been nicknamed Casper, thinks it 153363, which I see you had on your trip, unless Newton Heath, have given it a Northern Vinyls Wrap since then.
I certainly don't envy you being on Party Pacer.

47403 said:

Think it's been nicknamed Casper

Click to expand...

Unless a second unit is in all white, it was 153305. It was nicknamed Casper down here in Devon when it first made its appearance a couple of years ago.

20170621-Plymouth-153305 by Steven Booth, on Flickr

noddy1878 said:

Unless a second unit is in all white, it was 153305. It was nicknamed Casper down here in Devon when it first made its appearance a couple of years ago.

20170621-Plymouth-153305 by Steven Booth, on Flickr

Click to expand...

I stand corrected, thanks for confirming its identity. I saw it at Man Vic too

A nice little move.
It's interesting seeing those interlopers around; all too soon they'll all be in Northern livery and the novelty will be lost.
A few weeks ago, I was stood at Halifax when a Scotrail 158 arrived going to Manchester; departing the other way was a Northern 158, 153305 in its white get-up and a GWR green 153.
A colourful interlude

It isn't half strange seeing those green 153s in Northern land. I need to catch up on way too many of your reports to comment, but the most recent afternoon around Manchester sounded like a fantastic time. Now then, to page 4 we go...

A bit of housekeeping required before I get onto posting my latest 'proper' trips out.

Going back a while, but on Saturday 7th July I had a day out with the family in Hull. As we were also going for lunch at a cafe my wife fancied trying in Cottingham, I was able to tick off two new stations. Firstly we parked at Beverley, and took 158904 into Hull.

After a few hours there, back at the station I saw one of my last two Northern 158's - the ex-ScotRail 158870.


158850 & 158870 Hull 07/07/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We split our journey back to the car, taking 158850 to Cottingham, before returning to Beverley on 158784 a couple of hours later.


158784 Beverley 07/07/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

On the last leg, we passed my other required 158, 158861. If the timings had been slightly different I could have cleared them.

Fast forward a month to Saturday 4th August, and I found myself driving towards the Lake District at 7am. My family had caught the train over the previous day (I was at work), so I planned to meet them in Windermere. Rather than try and park in Windermere on a summer Saturday, I decided to get the train from Burneside.


156480 Burneside 04/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

156480 was dud, but the first time I had seen it in the RAF tribute livery. It was also rammed with tourists, perhaps parking wouldn't have been such a bad idea. Plenty waiting to go back the other way too, as you can see from the photo after alighting at Windermere.


156480 Windermere 04/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

The journey back later was on the same unit, which was just shuttling up and down the branch to Oxenholme all day.

Couple of more interesting moves to follow...

We might have passed each other on the 7th July

Lots of tourists waiting for the 156

Kite159 said:

We might have passed each other on the 7th July

Lots of tourists waiting for the 156

Click to expand...

I'm so behind with reading everyone's reports - I need to have a read through and see where you got to on that day.

South Yorkshire Connect Plus - Friday 24th August 2018

A very small post work move, but a nice one as I finally 'completed' a county. I needed to collect something from Meadowhall, and as I had time, I drove to Thorne North and caught the train from there.

As it was only around £1 more for a rover than a return ticket, I got the rover, so I could do a couple more moves if I felt like it.

144017 did the honours of collecting me from Thorne North. I could have stayed on all the way to Meadowhall, but managed to make a tight connection at Doncaster onto winner Cross Country 221132.

This obviously skipped Meadowhall, so I had a walk around Sheffield station to see if anything of interest was present. The best I could manage was sub-10 mile 142086, which I took to Meadowhall to clear for 10 miles.

The return was done in the same fashion, starting with 144011 & 153363 to Sheffield, followed by 185104 & 185144 to Doncaster, and finally 144002 to Thorne North, where I grabbed my camera from the car and waited for 5 minutes to get my station photo - South Yorkshire done!


158853 Thorne North 24/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

Day summary:

144017 TNN-DON
221132 DON-SHF
142086 SHF-MHS
144011 & 153363 MHS-SHF
185104 & 185144 SHF-DON
144002 DON-TNN

1 new station: Thorne North

1 new unit: 1x 221

7 dud units: 1x 142, 3x 144, 1x 153, 2x 185

Day mileage: 68 miles


Tyne Tees Day Ranger – Saturday 25th August 2018

Despite living just over thirty miles from Northallerton, the southern limit of this rover, this was the first one I had ever done. My mate had a free day, I was only free after lunchtime. We looked at almost every option, but due to the Northern strike action, this was the only worthwhile afternoon out we could find.

I left the house just after 12 noon, thinking I’d easily make the 1308 TPE service at Northallerton. It was tighter than I hoped, on a quiet run it could easily be done in 50 minutes. In the end I only had ten minutes to pay for my parking (easier said than done, with the daft machine which requires your registration number). I obviously had to buy my rover too, but the queue at the ticket office was at least 4 deep. I couldn’t miss the train or the plan for the afternoon would be gone, so I boarded 185106 and hoped to buy the ticket on board.

No guard made their way through the train before I left at Thornaby. I bought my ticket there, despite the office staff trying his best to talk me out of it due to the strike.

My mate had already been out and about earlier in the day. The plan was for me to board his train at Thornaby, heading towards Middlesbrough. Rather than wait almost half an hour for it to arrive, I looked to see if I had any other options. I witnessed a poorly looking 66094 chug through on a Scunthorpe-bound steel train, leaving a trail of oily-smelling blue fumes in its wake. Unfortunately I was on the wrong platform for a photo, the 66 taking the avoiding line next to the eastbound platform.

In terms of my options to fill the time, there wasn’t very much. There was a dodgy looking zero connection at Stockton, a required shack, but missing it would ruin the rest of the day. Instead, I took the service I would have met there, formed of two high mileage pacers 142094 and 142064, into Middlesbrough. 142094 now just 9 miles away from being my first pacer over 100 miles, it could still happen!

I took a couple of shots at Middlesbrough whilst waiting for my mate to arrive. 156483 and 156484 were heading down to Whitby. 484 was required, but it wouldn’t be back for a good while.

My mate arrived on 156452. The only Northern service either of us had seen all day that wasn’t a pair, but there was enough space on board to afford us a table to ourselves. We had a plan to get a couple of required stations on this line then head to Darlington, as there was an Aberdeen-bound LNER HST with a required power car for both of us. As I only need three, it was worth chasing.

We then had a rethink, as my mate worked out we could almost clear the line from Middlesbrough to Saltburn with a bit of walking. Unfortunately we’d miss the HST, but it was a good plan. To start with, we left the 156 at Longbeck.

We then walked on the lineside path, which was a tad bumpy and overgrown in places but a nice half mile walk, to the penultimate station on the line, Marske. Lovely views from the footbridge here, the sea in one direction and the industrial skyline of Middlesbrough in the other.


156452 Marske 25/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

156452 soon arrived to take us back the way we came. Almost too soon – we casually thought we had plenty of time but it arrived just a minute or two after us. A couple of girls and a dog also joined the service, but other than that the two stations at Longbeck and Marske didn’t seem to be very heavily used. The casually dressed stand-in guard didn’t bat an eyelid, despite seeing us around 20 minutes ago on the outbound leg.

We left this train at delightful South Bank, just outside Middlesbrough and deep inside the heavily industrialised area of the town. We had a panic moment when we saw our intended next train, which should have been an easy +10, hadn’t moved on realtimetrains since Thornaby. Considering the next two trains at the station were due to be formed by that unit, we were a bit concerned.

Thankfully, it was an error. The train was 4 late at Middlesbrough, but was on its way. We didn’t see another soul the entire time we were at South Bank, other than a silver Mitsubishi truck patrolling one of the industrial compounds.


142019 South Bank 25/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

142019 & 142026 turned up. We already knew this pair as my mate had seen it earlier in the day. He also needed the former, now it made sense why he was so keen to go to Redcar! It was a good plan, but as the service had been delayed it would now have a quicker turnaround at Saltburn, meaning we had around 20 minutes to do a ... 20 minute walk.

Still made sure I got my photo at Redcar Central. I had actually visited this station before in the late 90’s. No record of the traction sadly, but I have a vivid memory of boarding a Northern Spirit transpenninexpress liveried Class 158 (presumably changing at Middlesbrough).

We set off on our walk to Redcar East. As with the previous walk from Longbeck to Marske, it made no difference which direction we did it in. We decided to do it the way we did so we were walking into the sun, rather than have the sun on our backs. We made it fairly comfortably in the end, 142026 now leading after the reversal at Saltburn.

We had a much longer run this time, all the way to Darlington. A delightful man with no teeth sat opposite us, letting the two young boys he had with him run up and down the length of the train annoying everyone around them. He seemed more concerned with his can of larger than the children. He was either their grandparent or time had been very unkind to him. Either way, the peace gods had no mercy and they stayed with us all the way to Darlington.

My mate had to get back home for a family event. We jumped on 185136 to another new shack, Chester-le-Street. My mate was parked here, so off he went back down the A1. I had a nice +5 onto 185133 back south.

It was only just after 5pm, so I was planning to stay out a few more hours yet. The weather had turned a bit from earlier in the day, with intermittent showers and cooling temperature. Luckily I had the foresight to pack a jumper. I was heading for Darlington to meet 91121, one of the four I still need to clear 100 miles. I had a bit of time though and broke my southbound journey at Durham, onto 91120.

Ten minutes later, after a failed attempt to buy a coffee at the Costa kiosk (no ice), 91121 arrived as hoped. I got caught out like I always do at Darlington – I always aim for coach B on LNER services, mainly for the quiet coach but also gives the opportunity for a photo at the other end. At Darlington you need to be around 100m up the platform from where the barriers are, otherwise it comes sailing past at speed!

Earlier, I had worked out taking this to Alnmouth would clear it for 100 by about half a mile. Unfortunately Alnmouth is outside the rover boundary, so I’d have needed an additional ticket. I also wanted some food having not eaten since I left home, so I left 91121 at Newcastle on a still measly 66 miles.


91121 Newcastle 25/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

I quickly nipped out of the station to Greggs and Starbucks for a tuna crunch baguette and iced caramel macchiato respectively, before making my way back over to the station. I had an hour or so until my train back to Northallerton, but I had a gut feeling about the ex-Aberdeen HST. Before that though, a Deltic was heard, smelt and finally spotted (in that order!) facing south out of platform 4. It was about to leave, otherwise I may have been tempted to try and get a part fare and claim my first winner of the day.

I didn’t have to wait much longer though. My gut feeling turned out to be fruitful - winner 43296 arrived into the same platform the Deltic vacated a few minutes earlier, and I promptly boarded. It was non-stop to Darlington but I didn’t mind. Just 43299 and 43318 now required to finish the LNER HST’s finally.

I narrowly missed a delayed 91 straight back from Darlington. I could probably have just about made it but I couldn’t ID the 91, and it was unlikely to be a sub-100 mile loco (the only one I didn’t know the whereabouts of was 91108). Instead, a few minutes later I boarded an XC HST formed of 43378 and 43304. Neither were required, but it saved me taking a 185 all the way from Darlington to Newcastle.


43304 Durham 25/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

I left at Durham, as there were two TPE services following shortly behind. The first was a pair surprisingly, 185126 and 185104. As they were pretty quiet, I decided to get on. Without realising immediately, I ended up sitting in the same seat I sat on in 185104 the previous day between Sheffield and Doncaster!


185126 & 185104 Newcastle 25/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

A short wait before 91105 took me back south a final time. It was an all-stops service from Edinburgh to Doncaster, infamous for being rather rowdy after York when the races have been on. I was impressed with the guard who not only made announcements to warn of this, but then offered for people travelling through to Doncaster to move into first class at York, as it was almost empty. I was expecting to have to buy a Darlington-Northallerton ticket as the rover isn’t valid via the ECML route, he didn’t ask to see a ticket at all.


91105 Northallerton 25/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

A good day out, after a quiet month or two it definitely reignited my interest.

Day summary:

185106 NTR-TBY
142094 & 142064 TBY-MBR
156452 MBR-LGK
156452 MSK-SBK
142019 & 142026 SBK-RCC
142026 & 142019 RCE-DAR
185136 DAR-CLS
185133 CLS-DHM
91120 DHM-DAR
91121 DAR-NCL
43296 & 43311 NCL-DAR
43378 & 43304 DAR-DHM
185126 & 185104 DHM-NCL
91105 NCL-NTR

1 new power car: 1x HST

19 dud units/locos/power cars: 3x HST, 3x 91, 6x 142, 2x 156, 5x 185

6 new stations: Chester-le-Street, Longbeck, Marske, Redcar Central, Redcar East, South Bank

Day mileage: 282 miles

A good couple days

Nice report. A couple of similar moves to when I cleared stations on the Saltburn branch. I took exactly the same walks as you did. The other one I did was British Steel Redcar to Redcar Central.

A couple of very good days, you've given me one or two ideas.

Not a bad day out that Ash, especially on a strike day and you roped in a winner zing. Good read too.
I keep promising myself one day.,I'll actually get a Tyne Tees Day Rover but riding on a 142 anywhere is a repulsive thought, unless it's for something decent back, ie Cumbrian Coast or meeting up with a required loco for sight.
That's not a slight on you in anyway shape or form by the way Ash, that just me hating the 142s.

Another great report Ash, really enjoyed reading that

Thanks all. Time to bring this thread up to date again...

Tuesday 28th August, I had a day in London prior to a family holiday. I managed to sneak a few moves in whilst down there.

First up, 91115 took us to London. 800201 and 800202 were both in York on test/training runs, the former posed nicely next to the 91 in the bay for an 'old vs new' shot.


91115 & 800201 York 28/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

After dumping the suitcase at our hotel, and having some lunch, we walked up to Caledonian Road & Barnsbury and bought some travelcards, before taking winner 378211 to Stratford.

We then took a Jubilee Line tube to North Greenwich. After checking out the Emirates Air Line, we then took a DLR to winner shack Shadwell, followed by 378149 to Shoreditch High Street.

We were there for some cake my wife wanted to try. They were also giving out flavoured water outside the station which was a nice bonus on what was quite a hot day!

Travel back to the hotel was courtesy of 378216, changing at Highbury & Islington for a Victoria Line tube back to Kings Cross.

After the kids were asleep, I nipped back out for a couple of hours to make use of the travelcard. First up, 700016 took me from St Pancras to Denmark Hill.


378154 Denmark Hill 28/08/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

Next, Southeastern 465154 & 465007 took me to London Victoria (yes, somehow I still needed Victoria!).

I headed out to Clapham Junction on 377455 & 377464, then into Waterloo on 456023, 455741 & dud 455713. My first 456, strange looking things they are.

London Waterloo East was then ticked off, 376010 & 376031 took me from there to London Bridge.

Made my way back to the hotel via a series of Thameslink leaps, first up 700109 to Blackfriars, 700102 to Farrington, and finally 700045 to St Pancras.

Not bad for an unexpected evening out.

Day summary:

91115 YRK-KGX
378211 CIR-SRA
378149 SDE-SDC
378216 SDC-HHY
700016 STP-DMK
465154 & 465007 DMK-VIC
377455 & 377464 VIC-CLJ
456023, 455741 & 455713 CLJ-WAT
376010 & 376031 WAE-LBG
700109 LBG-BFR
700102 BFR-ZFD
700045 ZFD-STP

6 new stations: Denmark Hill, Highbury & Islington, London Victoria, London Waterloo East, Shadwell, Shoreditch High Street
15 new units: 2x 376, 2x 377, 3x 378, 1x 455, 1x 456, 2x 465, 4x 700
2 dud locos/units: 1x 91, 1x 455

Day mileage: 218 miles


West Midlands Daytripper – Monday 10th September 2018

A memorable day for me, as I started a new job after over a decade with my previous company. I would be based in the Midlands for my first week, and naturally my thoughts quickly turned to trying to squeeze in some 68 haulage. I was let home earlier than expected (to go check in at my hotel), so despite planning to take it easy on the first night, I headed straight back out.

Handily, the closest station to where I was staying was a required one - Five Ways. It also had a staffed ticket office, so I was able to purchase my West Midlands Daytripper (excellent value at £6.70). A train was already approaching as I made my way over the footbridge, and I crammed onto winner 323242 along with what seemed like half of the population of Birmingham.

Less than a mile later, I was at Birmingham New Street. I spotted an orange 170 paired with 153371 leaving platform 7, and with a bit of investigation, found I could meet it at Tame Bridge Parkway later in the evening. It was working a Birmingham-Rugeley shuttle all evening. It was worth chasing as I needed all 7 153’s currently allocated to WMR.

I was well ahead of schedule (that I had originally drafted up for the Tuesday evening). I didn’t even expect to make the first of the three loco-hauled services. Now, if I got my skates on and made it over to Moor Street quickly enough, I could even head south and meet it at Solihull. Thankfully, though perhaps defeating the point of having them, the barriers at Moor Street were wide open and I made it onto the platform 3 minutes before the Solihull service, which was showing as ‘formed of 4 coaches’. In my admittedly limited experience of using LM/WMR services on this line, I was expecting a pair of 172’s, so naturally I was very happy to see winners 170634 and 153334 turn up!

It was busy, but I managed to plonk myself at a table of four in the 153. It emptied out at Acocks Green, and even more at Solihull, where I also left. A few moments later, my first loco of the evening arrived, and happily it was a winner – 68011.


68011 Solihull 10/09/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

I could have taken this to Snow Hill and taken a unit straight back through the tunnel to Moor Street, but I was hungry and needed dinner. After bailing at Moor Street, I had around an hour to pick up a Five Guys before the next 68 was due.

Suitably stuffed, I made my way back to Moor Street, somehow getting lost in the Selfridges building. Lucky I wasn’t in a rush, and made it in plenty of time for another winning loco, 68015, leaving just 68008 and 68014 required from the Chiltern batch. This gave me a bit of a problem though, as there was nowhere suitable to bail from this set. Rowley Regis was possibly doable, as there was a delay to the service going the other way. It was also a required station, so I left the 68 at Rowley Regis.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t done any research, and the bridge at Rowley Regis was up a large slope, which was too busy to run up. I missed the delayed return service by about 20 seconds, meaning I had 15 minutes here. At least I got my station photo, 172333 doing the honours. It wouldn’t be the last time I’d see this unit on this particular evening.


172333 Rowley Regis 10/09/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

Dud 172217 took me back to Birmingham, a bit annoying as the service I narrowly missed was a pair and the rear one was definitely required. I had just enough time to get back to Moor Street to meet the final 68 of the day, a +3 connection. Amazingly, I completed a clean sweep, DRS blue 68008 being the third winner 68 of the day.

There’s usually a nice connection off this service at Smethwick Galton Bridge onto an ATW service into New Street, a move my mate and I did in April 2017. I had my eye on doing this again, as my ATW 158 numbers are terribly low. Unfortunately, on this occasion that service was delayed 30 minutes, so I had no real option than to make do with a short run on the 68, leaving at The Hawthorns.

A short wait before winner 172333, photographed at Rowley Regis earlier, picked me up to take me back into Birmingham.

I made my way back over to New Street station, picking up a bottle of water before heading down for the 2057 service to Walsall, where I was planning to meet the 153 I’d seen earlier in the day, coming back from Rugeley. The first surprise was the service was a 323 rather than a 350 as expected, but also behind it in the same platform was a 170 & 153 combination. I thought I’d got my planning wrong, but it was actually a different pair.


153356 Birmingham New Street 10/09/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

Rather than head all the way to Tame Bridge Parkway, I took the option that was in front of me – 153356 & 170515 were taken to University, where I had a +4 onto winner 323241 back to Birmingham.

I could have left at Five Ways, but couldn’t be bothered walking the 20 minutes or so back to the hotel, so I suffered a bus back up Hagley Road to my hotel.

Day summary:

323242 FWY-BHM
170634 & 153334 BMO-SOL
68011 SOL-BMO
68015 BMO-ROW
172217 ROW-BMO
68008 BMO-THW
172333 THW-BMO
153356 & 170515 BHM-UNI
323241 UNI-BHM

2 new stations: Five Ways, Rowley Regis
10 new locos/units: 3x 68, 2x 153, 2x 170, 1x 172, 2x 323
1 dud unit: 1x 172

Day mileage: 40 miles

Another couple of inspiring reports - great stuff.

Good couple of sessions there ash. Particularly jealous of the cat moves. Been far too long since I had one for haulage. Cracking pics and read as usual.

A good couple days

47403 said:

Good couple of sessions there ash. Particularly jealous of the cat moves. Been far too long since I had one for haulage. Cracking pics and read as usual.

Click to expand...

Funny you should say that, I hadn't realised at the time, but they were my first 68's I'd had this year! Last ones were 68003 & 68030 in December last year on the token TPE service they ran to Manchester Airport and back, which I'm glad I did now as it will probably turn out to be the only ever TPE service using the mk3 stock (what a waste that is, but that's for another thread).

The temptation was there to try and get 68014 ticked off whilst in the area, but with no gen to work with I decided not to try and find the proverbial needle in the haystack and went for pure numbers instead, as you will now read about below...


West Midlands Daytripper – Thursday 13th September 2018

I had lacked motivation to leave the hotel on the two previous evenings, but was back out for my last night in Birmingham. This time I went straight to Five Ways from work, cutting out the walk to the hotel and back and saving me a good half an hour or so in the process. This time I headed away from Birmingham to pick up some more required stations, starting on double winners 323219 and 323209 to Selly Oak.

I hadn’t realised the West Midlands 323’s ran in pairs in the peak, and decided to make hay whilst the sun shined. 323206 and 323240 were taken back the other way to University,


323206 Selly Oak 13/09/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

I switched direction again here, jumping on 323202 and 323216 to Kings Norton.

I saw one of the three WMR 150’s, 150107, pass through on a Hereford-Birmingham service. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to Birmingham before it was due to head back out again. Would have been a bonus to get that ticked off, but it would have to wait for another day.

Another pair, but just the one winner this time, 323217 & 323241 arrived to pick me up from Kings Norton. I had longer run this time, over 9 miles to the other side of Birmingham, alighting at Aston.


323204 Aston 13/09/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

I chose Aston as there was a Wolverhampton-Walsall service following shortly behind. This was formed of 350129, which I took to Tame Bridge Parkway. I was hoping the Rugeley-Birmingham stopper would have a 153 on it again, and I was in luck...


153371 Tame Bridge Parkway 13/09/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

153371, the one I missed out on Monday, was paired with dud 170515. There was also an exact same combination arriving heading the opposite way towards Rugeley, with double winners 153364 & 170516 on it.

I boarded the Birmingham service, and started trying to work out how I could get the other pair later in the day. I had longer than expected to do this, as we had an emergency brake application shortly after leaving Tame Bridge Parkway, but were on the move towards Birmingham again 5 minutes or so later.

The light was starting to fade, so I decided to go and pick up some food. I opted for a stir fry from Wok to Walk on New Street. It seems cheap at first glance but by the time I’d added a few ingredients and a drink it came to £11!

The box of noodles was unbelievably hot. Rather than waste time waiting for them to cool down, I decided to make the most of my ticket and keep moving. I needed a longer run, and there was an ATW service to Birmingham International which would do nicely. I was hoping for a pair, but annoyingly I got there to discover single dud 158820.

With little other option, I decided to do it anyway, as there was a good connection onto a Virgin service back again. Or at least there looked to be, but we ended up leaving 2 late and then crawling for most of the way, making it a bit precarious. Noodles still too hot after 20 minutes, I closed the box back up and shuffled over the footbridge to be greeted with the approaching headlights of winner 390122.

I was finally able to enjoy the noodles, and I settled in for an almost 40-minute stagger through Birmingham, to winner shack Sandwell & Dudley. I’m not sure what was in front of us, but we lost a lot of time approaching Birmingham and didn’t seem to be at line speed on the way to Sandwell & Dudley either.


390122 Sandwell & Dudley 13/09/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

Dud from earlier 350129 took me back to Birmingham again. I should have realised it would be the same unit coming back, but I had to get back to Birmingham on this train regardless, and at least this journey cleared it for ten miles so not a completely pointless move.

The reason I had to be back in Birmingham? I had worked out the 153/170 pair I saw at Tame Bridge Parkway earlier in the evening would be forming the 2100 to Hereford, and my calculations were proved correct. So, I finished the evening the same way I did three days earlier, this time taking 153364 & 170516 to University, for winner 323222 back.

A quick beer in the Brewdog next to the station, before catching the bus back to the hotel once again. A nice dent made in my 323 numbers, well over halfway to clearing them after that session. Also, tracking down half of the 8 WMR 153's in two days far exceeded my expectations!


Day summary:

323219 & 323209 FWY-SLY
323206 & 323240 SLY-UNI
323202 & 323216 UNI-KNN
323217 & 323241 KNN-AST
350129 AST-TAB
153371 & 170515 TAB-BHM
158820 BHM-BHI
390122 BHI-SAD
350129 SAD-BHM
153364 & 170216 BHM-UNI
323222 UNI-BHM



5 new stations: Aston, Kings Norton, Sandwell & Dudley, Selly Oak, Tame Bridge Parkway
13 new units: 2x 153, 1x 170, 8x 323, 1x 350, 1x 390
1 dud unit: 1x 158, 1x 170, 1x 323, 1x 350

Day mileage: 61 miles

Well they certainly were a couple of productive evenings out! Must make a mental note of that noodle place if I ever happen to be down that way again, sounds lovely. I'll start saving for them now!

Think of it like Subway for noodles and you're pretty much there!

Thankfully the bill was covered by my employer on this occasion, but I would go there again!

A productive evening for your red pen. I just keep thinking those 323s look odd with the grey bottom parts

London Zones & Watford Junction Day – Saturday 30th September 2018

Another week working away, but I’d lacked motivation to head out in the evenings. Originally, I was going to be working the Saturday too, but my schedule changed. In the meantime, the family had booked to go on the Warner Brothers Studio Tour in Watford, travelling down by train. As I was only around 100 miles away, I drove to meet them so I could give them a lift back the next day. Naturally, I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to head into London for half a day...

We stayed in the Holiday Inn Express next to the station on the Friday night. It was the third different hotel room of the week for me, but definitely the best view. Our fifth floor room was perfectly positioned for an unobstructed view of the north end of the station. A few freights and many EMU's passed through, but the highlights were 92033 on the highland sleeper followed by 90043 on the lowland just after midnight.


90043 Watford Junction 28/09/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

Breakfast was served from 0730, so my plan was to catch the 0759 Euston service. All went to plan, and after a quick walk to the station I got my travelcard from the machine and made my way to the platform.

350126 was my first unit of the day. Watford Junction was also a required station. I had a nicely optimised, productive plan for the day, which would get me 25 new stations by the time I had to be back at Watford at around 1530. What could go wrong?

92028 overtook us on the way into Euston, running slightly late with the southbound highland sleeper.


Racing the Sleeper by Flash 3939, on Flickr

90016 was on the blocks at Euston, meaning for the first time that I can remember, I’d seen all four Caledonian Sleeper services in one day.

This is where things started to go pear shaped. The entrance to Euston Square tube station was closed. No signs were in place, so I carried on walking along Euston Road to Great Portland Street station, which was also closed. I should have checked beforehand, but it transpired the Circle line was closed for planned engineering works. Chances of making it to Paddington in time for 0842 service I was aiming for were now zero, so I decided to walk and work out how to get back on plan when I got there.

I arrived at around 0855. The delay was the least of my worries though, as my phone had turned off. It had been turning itself off randomly earlier in the week, but I ran some updates which seemed to fix it. This time I had a real problem though, as it wouldn’t turn back on, just kept getting stuck in a loop on the startup screen.

I didn’t even have any means of recording my journeys, so had to buy a single biro from WH Smiths (99p!). Then I purchased an Iced Caramel Macchiato as I was parched from the walk from Euston, but also because I needed the napkins to write on...

It was a bit of a shambles at this point. My plan originally had me working my way around London in an anti-clockwise loop, before returning to Watford in the afternoon. The main reason for heading to Paddington was to sample my first GWR 387’s, so I pressed on with this, boarding 387143 & 387131. I tried putting my phone on charge to see if it could persuade it out of the loop it had got stuck in, but to no avail. I bailed at Hayes & Harlington.


387131 Hayes & Harlington 29/09/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

At least my camera still worked.

I had no idea how long it would be until the next train the other way, I was just hoping for the best. As it happened, 360205 was just arriving, so a quick run over the footbridge and I was moving again. I had no means of checking my sheet, so didn’t realise 205 was a winner at the time, leaving just 202 & 204 from the 360/2’s to clear the small sub-fleet.

I noticed on the PIS there was a service not far behind, so I left at Southall. 387162 & 387172 were the following service, another two ticked off. I figured I’d best go back to the car to collect my work phone, as I’d need to left my wife know when I was back in Watford and arrange where to meet.

I bailed from the latest set of 378’s at Ealing Broadway. I already scored the station a couple of years back, but I figured out it was my quickest route back to Watford. Not that it was particularly quick at all, but it looked the easiest on the map. First up, I took the tube to Shepherds Bush. This was also a dud station, I got it on a work trip in early 2017, but needed a photo so at least there was some value in it.


378201 Shepherds Bush 29/09/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

378208 took me to Willesden Junction, where I changed onto 378231 for the run to Watford.

I hadn’t known at the time that they were both duds, I might have lost the will to live if I had. The journey to Watford is painfully slow, but without a timetable I didn’t know if it was worthwhile bailing at Wembley Central or Harrow & Wealdstone for a faster service. In the end, I stuck with it and at least scored a new bit of route coverage, the small loop between Bushey & Watford Junction via Watford High Street.

I retrieved the phone from the car, forgetting that it was out of charge so I was actually still no better off. I needed power, and couldn’t remember if the 350/1’s had sockets under the tables like the TPE 185’s did before refurbishment. Boarding winners 350247 & 350122 gave me the answer – no they don’t.

After a non-stop run to Euston, I walked down towards Kings Cross and visited Costa, to at least get a bit of charge into the phone so I could at least be contactable. Being an entry level Samsung, it wasn’t equipped with quick charging so I only managed to get 6% into it before losing patience and moving on, but I had at least told the wife what had happened and arranged a time to meet. I was itching to get moving again, so went down to St Pancras Thameslink and boarded another dud 700031, to winner shack Herne Hill.

Not far behind were Southeastern 465046 & 465038, which I took to West Dulwich, a very nice leafy part of the world. It was fortunate I had a few minutes before the return, as it’s not the quickest cross-platform change.


465038 West Dulwich 29/09/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

465005 & 465175 were then taken all the way to journeys end at Victoria. Still not managed to find a unit with sockets fitted to add some more charge to the phone!

I decided a good use of my remaining time would be to do some Clapham Junction leaps, first up on solo 377603 (which had sockets!), returning on trio 377424, 377436 & 377462 (which didn’t). I went back out again on 377402 & 377145, working out from this little sub-session that only the 377/6’s appear to have plug sockets.

I was still a bit early for my planned train back, an East Croydon-Milton Keynes Southern service. I was looking for another option and found a good one – 378209 was taken to Kensington Olympia, where I used possibly the grimmest toilet facilities I’ve come across anywhere on the UK network (or in the UK, period).


378223 Kensington Olympia 29/09/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

Shortly following behind were consecutive-numbered units 377206 & 377207 on the East Croydon-Milton Keynes service. I had one more option left, having managed to get on RTT briefly using the excellent Southern wifi. I bailed from the 377’s at Harrow & Wealdstone.


377207 Harrow & Wealdstone 29/09/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

All that was left to do then was to jump onto a closely-following 350231 to finish the day.

Once I got the moves added to my spreadsheet, I thought I’d not done too badly considering the fiasco I had. The real kick in the teeth though? When I got home, my personal phone had run itself totally flat from trying to restart itself. It was on 90% battery when it died, so it took most of the day to drain. When I plugged it in and tried to switch it on it worked absolutely fine...

Day summary:

350126 WFJ-EUS
387143 & 387131 PAD-HAY
360205 HAY-STL
387162 & 387172 STL-EAL
378208 SPB-WIJ
378231 WIJ-WFJ
350247 & 350122 WFJ-EUS
700031 STP-HNH
465046 & 465038 HNH-WDU
465005 & 465175 WDU-VIC
377603 VIC-CLJ
377424, 377436 & 377462 CLJ-VIC
377402 & 377145 VIC-CLJ
378209 CLJ-KPA
377206 & 377207 KPA-HRW
350231 HRW-WFJ

8 new stations: Harrow & Wealdstone, Hayes & Harlington, Herne Hill, Kensington Olympia, Southall, Watford Junction, West Dulwich, Willesden Junction
22 new units: 4x 350, 1x 360, 8x 377, 1x 378, 4x 387, 4x 465
3 dud units: 2x 378, 1x 700

Day mileage: 103 miles

Other than phone related issues sounded like a good day, hope the studio tour was good as well

Btw the rear first class area on a 700 has plug sockets and is standard class, and depending on service used sometimes the front area is also standard