Peter C's Trip Reports

My thread for trip reports.

Contents

• Severn Valley Railway Autumn Diesel Gala 2019
• GWR IET Review
• #LastoftheHSTs - 18th May 2019
• Oxford - Didcot 175th Anniversary - 15th June 2019
• West Midlands Day Ranger - 12th September 2021
  • (and further photos from that day)
• London - 18th June 2022
• Birmingham and Leamington Spa - 16th August 2022
  • (and further photos from that day)

-Peter

Severn Valley Railway – Autumn Diesel Gala 2019 – Trip Report by Peter C

This trip report is the first one I’ve done really, using recordings of my journeys and bits of info I recorded throughout the day. I won’t put absolutely everything I did here, but I think a report of the services and trains would be interesting.


I went to the SVR Autumn Diesel Gala on the Saturday the 5th of October – not the quietest day, by far, but certainly quieter than other galas I’ve been to! The day had been planned to include 9 different services – involving quite a few changes – but this was alright as all of the changes (bar one, which I’ll explain later) were around 30 minutes long, providing plenty of time for a rest and preparation for the next train.

The first train I caught was the 1040 Kidderminster – Bridgnorth, hauled by Class 52 Western Champion. The below table is a very condensed version of my original recording of the journey – I recorded the speeds (some which I found quite worrying and hoped by speedometer was broken!) and times at points which weren’t stations as well.

(Please see the 1st table (file name 1.jpg) at the bottom of this post)

I found it quite interesting that we arrived at every station (bar Bridgnorth) 2 minutes late, and departed 1 minute late. The long wait at Hampton Loade was shortened by 2 minutes to allow for us to have an on-time departure of 1143. Somehow, between Hampton Loade and Bridgnorth, we managed to make up 2 minutes – meaning that the previous late running was not an issue really and didn’t cause problems at the end of the line and didn’t delay other services.

The 1040 arrived at Bridgnorth shortly before the 1202 Bridgnorth – Hampton Loade “Auto” service left, being hauled by Class 09 D4100 Dick Hardy. This short service cleared Platform 2 at Bridgnorth to allow for D1015 to run around the train and haul it back down to Kidderminster. However, I alighted at Highley. The recording I made of the journey back down is shown below:

(Please see the 2nd table (file name 2.jpg) at the bottom of this post)

I had an hour’s wait at Highley for the next train. I waited on the footbridge there and watched the 33-hauled service (33108 to be exact) shunt into the siding and for D1015 to depart before having a look around the Engine House and some lunch. It was not long before I was back on the platform and waiting for the 1335 Bridgnorth – Kidderminster train, hauled by Class 20 20189, to arrive. The service arrived relatively soon after I got back to the station, and the “Chopper” on the front was doing a good job at keeping to time. I got off the train at Arley, at around 1418, and waited for the 1410 Kidderminster – Highley service, hauled by 50049, to arrive. I know – it’s a bit weird to some – going one station along the line, only to turn around and go back the other way straight after! But I wanted to have a ride behind the GBRf 50 and the only way I could work out of doing this was through the funny plan I came up with.

Anyway. I sat around at Highley for what felt like ages. I arrived, 50049 shunted into the siding, and after 37688 came and went, and some more shunting, 50049 was ready to haul the train (of only 4 coaches, providing some fast station departures with the acceleration speed!). The service arrived at Kidderminster at around 1645, and I had some time there to have a butchers at the items for sale. The Fifty Fund had some very interesting items for sale, including replica resin nameplates – “Exeter”, one of the engines actually at the event, was being sold for £40! They looked good quality too. Should’ve bought one. ☹

I jumped on the 1710 Kidderminster – Bridgnorth service a few minutes before it left. I rode as far as Bewdley, and alighted, to hear an announcement playing for the 1721 Bewdley to Kidderminster train (which had originated at Highley at 1653). I panicked, forgetting it wasn’t my train, and ran up and over the footbridge (OK, maybe running was a bit over-the-top, it was more of a brisk run ) to get the train, which was hauled by 40106. My knowledge of diesel engines and the sounds they make led me to think it was a Class 20 on the front (20189 I thought) but when I got a seat I realised it was actually 40106! It turned out, however, that this meant that I would get into Kidderminster an extra half an hour earlier than planned, thus allowing more time to have another look at the items for sale.

Upon arrival at Kidderminster, I waited for the 1815 Kidderminster – Bridgnorth service, hauled by 37688. As I was walking down the platform to catch the train, I saw Class 50033 arrive. I make a point of this as the short connecting I mentioned at the very beginning of this report was going to be the connection between the 50 and the 37! The fact that the 50 was early in the end was something I found more funny than annoying, and I boarded my train.

Upon boarding, I realised that maybe sitting in the coaches filled with “proper 37 fans” wasn’t the best idea. Not to have a go at them (“bashers”? What do they call themselves? ), though! So I sat in the coach with the buffet. Priorities, people, priorities!

I arrived at Bewdley and the opportunity once again arose to go behind a new class of engine, this time being D8568 on the 1758 Highley – Kidderminster service. I took this opportunity and thought the engine was really good. I took some interesting photos (subjective opinion ) before boarding.

I arrived at Kidderminster for the last time that day and the day ended very much like it had started – going through the same entrance/exit and going round to the car park whilst D1015 was in the vague vicinity of the station (I understand that D1015 was in the station when I arrived, but it’s close enough!).



Thanks very much for reading this trip report. I wrote it on MS Word and so I don’t know what I’ll have put this under on the Forums – probably under my own little Trip Report thread. I hope you liked it, and if you have any questions, please ask them!


Thanks,


-Peter

Welcome to the trip reporting community!

Looks like you had a rather grand day, and some excellent taste in your diesels!

Techniquest said:

Welcome to the trip reporting community!

Looks like you had a rather grand day, and some excellent taste in your diesels!

Click to expand...

Thanks very much!

It was one of the best days I've had on the trains in many weeks. (There's only so much interest in getting on a GWR cucumber and sitting at Oxford or Didcot Parkway! )
I was quite interested to see the differences between the diesels and the various people who are interested in them. If I'm honest, I went to the gala thinking that a steam engine has more character than something like a 37, but I was somewhat swayed to think that a 37 has quite a bit of character as well! (mostly the noise they make. )

-Peter

Peter C said:

Upon boarding, I realised that maybe sitting in the coaches filled with “proper 37 fans” wasn’t the best idea.

Click to expand...

Peter C said:

I was somewhat swayed to think that a 37 has quite a bit of character as well! (mostly the noise they make. )

Click to expand...

See, it doesn't take long to appreciate the finer points of 37s! We'll get you in the front coach next time!

xotGD said:

See, it doesn't take long to appreciate the finer points of 37s! We'll get you in the front coach next time!

Click to expand...

I understand that now!
The time I sit in the front coach of a 37-hauled train will be the day that less than 50% of the occupants of said coach are consuming alcoholic beverages....!

-Peter

Nice first report, thank you! Assume your journey to the SVR was by car or of no significance?

[I visited Friday but I’m only 1/3 through typing it up. For every trip I create a Pages document. On the day I record actual events, thoughts and times in Notes. Then copy from Notes into the Pages Document and edit before copy-and-paste into the Forum.]

E759 said:

Nice first report, thank you! Assume your journey to the SVR was by car or of no significance?

[I visited Friday but I’m only 1/3 through typing it up. For every trip I create a Pages document. On the day I record actual events, thoughts and times in Notes. Then copy from Notes into the Pages Document and edit before copy-and-paste into the Forum.]

Click to expand...

Oh yes - the journey there! Well - it wasn't eventful, bar the car stalling on a somewhat busy roundabout somewhere near Evesham I believe! Not the best start to the day, but it went alright from there.

That's pretty much how I typed mine up - I put it into Word, and then, once it was finished (using my notes in my notebook I carried around with me throughout the day), I put it on the Forum. Then the tables wouldn't work in the Forums so I put them in as images, but hey ho. You live and learn, hey?

Thanks for the nice comment. I have some older notes (from the #LastoftheHSTs event, 18.5.2019) which I could turn into a similar report. Maybe that would be of interest to people on here as well?....

-Peter

Go for it with the HSTs trip report, I'll be interested for sure. Hard to believe it's 5 months today since the last GWR HSTs on lC work!

In a break from the thread title, I have put together a small review of the GWR IET. It's all my opinion - no stats or figures. And you'll probably disagree with me on the seating:



Peter C’s Review of the GWR IET

After travelling on two different GWR IETs the other week (an unidentified 802 and then 800004), I decided it would be a good idea for me to make a “review” of these new units. Here goes!

In terms of appearance, the IETs aren’t bad. In fact, they look rather smart – the GWR green looks good on all the items of rolling stock which GWR have applied to them in my opinion. However – and this is a small gripe – the addition of the GWR logo onto the front of some units (on the yellow section of the nose) is unnecessary. The logo is clear throughout the unit and therefore having it in green on a yellow background is garish and spoils it.

Many others in the railway community have complained about the choice of doors used on the units. I don’t know the technical names of the types of doors used on units, but I do know that the type of door on the IETs is a sliding door and many railway enthusiasts (not “trainspotters”, railway enthusiasts) say that the units should have plug doors instead, thus making for a flush finish along the sides. Honestly, I couldn’t care less and I think it is a bit pointless getting worked up over small bits like doors (as some people do – not everyone, but some).
The grey doors offset the green well and the step for the door on the outside of the unit is clearly marked with a bright yellow band at the edge, therefore aiding those who need to use the step, which in my experience is most people. The handles inside the units in the vestibule areas are inset into the walls and are easy to get hold of when trying to get into the unit quickly so as to not hold others up. Overall – a very good experience boarding the unit, other passengers excluded.

When you board, you find yourself in the vestibule area, with the choice of going one way and finding the toilets or the other way and heading into the main seating section of the coach. Upon finding one’s self in the seating area, it is immediately noticeable that light green is a favourite colour of the design people at GWR. The green along the sides just underneath the luggage racks match the handles on the seats and they make for an inviting atmosphere. The seats use a grey moquette and they aren’t the best seats, but on the other hand they are not the worst seats “on the market” either. They’re alright.

The aforementioned green sections along the sides of the coach underneath the luggage racks are the sections where the modern computerised reservation system and screens can be found. Two lights (one for each seat) and two screens (again, one per seat) match up with easy-to-understand diagrams for which seat they refer to and they work well on packed services when they are working. However, I’d bet I’ve been on more IETs where the reservation system does not work. From this, I’d also bet that the reservation system is only implemented on busy services. The seats have the classic holes in them at the tops to insert reservation labels, though, so not all is lost from “the good old days” of the older rolling stock!

The ride quality of the 800s is pretty good. The ride from Charlbury to Oxford was very good, although a bit wobbly. But I’m assuming that was the trackwork. The train was fast out of every station and I can certainly see how they can cut journey times! The HSTs, as much as we love them, were slow snails in comparison to the IETs we have today. I would urge anyone who disagrees to take another ride on the IETs and see what I mean!

The seating layouts of the IETs are perfect for the journeys they are supposed to perform – long journeys on the GWML and then the more stopping-service-style services of, say, the Cotswold Line. 2+2 seating, with tables for 4 people each, are perfect. But there are too many seats where there is no good window view or a window view at all! Be warned – there are one or two seats in each coach where there is no window view at all – or even a window!

Overall, the IETs are very good units which perform the tasks required of them efficiently and more quickly than the stock before them. Because of this, and the aforementioned reasons, I will give them ratings as follows:

Appearance (outside): 8/10

Appearance (inside): 7/10

Seating: 7/10

Acceleration: 10/10

Overall score: 32/40 or 8/10


Thanks very much for reading.

-Peter

Techniquest said:

Go for it with the HSTs trip report, I'll be interested for sure. Hard to believe it's 5 months today since the last GWR HSTs on lC work!

Click to expand...

I will definitely be doing that! I'm still yet to type it up into a format similar to the SVR Trip Report (I want one style). I already have a small report I put together, though, which I may put up on here. It's been over 6 months now since they were on the GWML!

(Sorry for late response),

-Peter

After quite a while of looking for this thread, here we go - another report, about the #LastoftheHSTs event, 18th May 2019.


“Last of the HSTs” – 18 May 2019 – a trip report by Peter C

Seeing as we’re all in lockdown at the moment and we can’t go out riding on and spotting trains in the way we are used to, I thought now would be a better time than ever to get my day out to see the last of the HSTs written up. This is based on notes I made during and after the day, but I’ve added several bits of information from what I remember, spotting logs, and photos. Here we go!

The trip really began a few days before, with me finding the last day of HST operation on the GWML – 18th May. I didn’t plan much for the day, apart from where I’d go, which was unusual for me – normally, when I go to this sort of special railway event, I have a look at the timetables and plan the day to the minute in some parts where trains arrive and depart stations at close intervals, but due to the way the national network functions, with allocations being sorted on the day of the service, trying to find which services would have been HSTs and which were IETs was impossible.

The destination of the day was planned, however – the idea was to go down to Didcot Parkway and try and see as many of the HST sets which in service that day as possible. This seemed like a nice day out, and so I went with it. On the morning of the 18th, I went to Kingham to see 43162 and 43172 on the 1122 London Paddington – Great Malvern service, which was running 25 minutes late. This was due to signalling issues between Didcot and Oxford, and lead to the train being terminated short at Worcester Shrub Hill to make up time. I imagine there were several annoyed enthusiasts further up the Cotswold Line upon this decision being made!

There was quite a while between seeing the train going to Worcester and then boarding it coming the other way, so I went back home. At 1555, I was back at Kingham station, on Platform 2, ready to board what was supposed to be the 1435 Great Malvern – London Paddington. I have a record of the headcode of this Up service, it being 1P61, and I assume that it left Worcester Shrub Hill at around 1435, but I’m not too sure. Anyway – I boarded the service at Kingham, and rode it all the way down to Oxford. On the way, I spent my time reading the posts on the Rail Forums about what was happening with the various HSTs – 43002 was playing up throughout the morning, but was fixed by the time it was on 1B52, the 1045 London Paddington – Swansea service, according to my notes.

I arrived at Oxford in good time, and made my way down to the end of Platform 1 to watch the train leave. It sat there for a good while, and I had a good look at 43172. I think that day was the only time I’d seen that engine in particular, but I may be wrong. I took several photos on my phone (the only camera I have) and then filmed it leave around five minutes after a Voyager had arrived at Platform 4. I spent a while on the platform at Oxford, waiting for the next train of the day – 165126, working the 2L49 1637 Oxford – Didcot Parkway service. It was in the standard Networker Turbo colour scheme for GWR at the time – this being GWR green on the outside and FGW blue and pink on the inside. I assume it is still like it today.

I boarded 165126 and went all the way down to Didcot, where I alighted and went down and under the tracks using the underpass to get to Platforms 2 and 3. One of the main things that I remember from the day was the sight of 43002 speeding past Platform 2 as I walked up the stairs – it all happened so quickly that I didn’t get a photo or video, and I didn’t know what it was working, but it really emphasised the speed and power of the Class 43s. I checked RealTime Trains when I got onto the platform and saw that it was working the 1L71 1429 Swansea – London Paddington service with 43198.

Throughout the couple of hours I spent at Didcot, I saw quite a few trains. I don’t know if they were “new” sightings or not, but I’ve made a list of them here:

• 387150
• 387156
• 80017
• 43185
• 43009
• 43002
• 43198
• 802019
• 387133
• 66614
• 802018
• 800014
• 387159
• 387146
• 800301
• 800007
• 800013
• 800311
• 800303
• DR73908
• 66083

So overall, quite a few sightings. 387133 was quite interesting – normally, the Didcot-London 387 services are worked by two Class 387s together, but this one was working the 2N50 1557 London Paddington – Didcot Parkway service by itself. I made sure to take a few photos of what was quite an interesting allocation (to me at least) .

I saw 43162 and 43172 on the 1815 London Paddington – Cheltenham Spa service at 1853. This was the second of two HSTs I saw at Didcot, and it made half of my Didcot HST sightings that day a set I’d already seen! But 1856 saw quite an interesting crossover of old and new, as either a Class 800/3 or Class 802 passed P2 at speed, crossing paths with the HST on P1. I returned to Oxford on the 1901 Didcot Parkway – Oxford service, formed of 165126 – the second time I’d been on this unit in one day. Unusual for me considering I normally don’t go on so many trains (4) in one day!

I went back to Oxford, where I alighted, watched 165126 enter the Down Carriage Sidings, and then waited for the 1822 London Paddington – Hereford service to arrive. This was to be the last HST along the Cotswold Line in normal passenger service, and was also therefore to be the last Down HST to leave Oxford. It was formed of 43009 and 43185, and was greeted by countless numbers of enthusiasts at the end of the platform. I didn’t film the event, but have since seen others’ footage of it and found it to be really something as the train left. The driver managed to find the horn quite easily as well, shall we say!

The service powered along the Cotswold Line, calling at Hanborough and Charlbury, as do most services, before calling at Kingham, where I alighted, at 1954. I filmed and photographed 43185 leave the station on what was quite a momentous occasion. I wasn’t the only one, either – there was another enthusiast at the end of Platform 2, also documenting the event.

I then watched 165111 arrive around two minutes later, with a service to either Oxford or London. I made sure to film and photograph that as well, having only seen a handful of Networker Turbos on the Cotswold line in recent months.

And so that concludes my report of the Last of the HSTs on the 18th May 2019. It was quite a day, and it’s hard to believe it was over a year ago now. Oh, how the world has changed! I hope you liked reading this – and if you have any comments/questions, please don’t hesitate to post/ask!

Thanks,

-Peter


=========
EDIT: I've also just realised that it was November when I last posted anything on here - where has the time gone?! I've got a few more days out I could probably write about, if anyone's interested. If you are, let me know!

I must confess surprise to see your thread pop up in notifications, so yes it had indeed been a while! I've not been on here much lately myself, to be fair.

It is shocking how long ago the last HST on long-distance GWR services was, I never thought I'd like the IETs too much as a replacement but they are decent trains.

I was on the same HST as you, just I was on it between Worcester Shrub Hill and Hereford. I wasn't going to bother, but I'm glad I did as I got to sample the atmosphere at my local station after arriving. I'm pretty sure the houses nearby would not have been impressed with the excessive use of the horn though!

Techniquest said:

I must confess surprise to see your thread pop up in notifications, so yes it had indeed been a while! I've not been on here much lately myself, to be fair.

It is shocking how long ago the last HST on long-distance GWR services was, I never thought I'd like the IETs too much as a replacement but they are decent trains.

I was on the same HST as you, just I was on it between Worcester Shrub Hill and Hereford. I wasn't going to bother, but I'm glad I did as I got to sample the atmosphere at my local station after arriving. I'm pretty sure the houses nearby would not have been impressed with the excessive use of the horn though!

Click to expand...

Haha! I thought that would happen. It's happened to me with various other threads several times.
I quite like the IETs too - the only thing being all the ones along the Cotswold Line seem to have gone from being a mix of 800s and 802s, so we got 5 and 9 car sets, when I've been spotting, they've all been 802s or 800/3s, meaning they're all 9 cars and get a bit, well, boring Sounds stupid, I know, but it gets a bit repetitive after a while.

I don't think a single enthusiast on that last Cotswold Line HST would be able to say they hated it with a straight face - I know exactly what you mean about the atmosphere. Oxford was like a mini celebration party to mark the end of the HSTs, and Kingham, whilst just the two of us enthusiasts were there, was still nice.

-Peter

Yeah I get where you're coming from with the lack of variety, although it's fair to say in Q1 2020 when I was actively chasing 800s into/out of Hereford I found plenty of 5-car sets. Usually the 1318 and 1518 Hereford-Paddington services, although I think they were booked 9-car with the amount of times I saw passengers looking coach K or similar.

Yeah it was an interesting experience to say the least on the HST, I put together a few clips, with the assistance of some free video editor, for the trip and put it on YouTube.

Ah OK - I know there are some 5-cars going around but I always manage to miss them on the Cotswold Line. Seen them plenty of times forming 10-car sets on the GWML, though.
That video looks really good - I went on the last three or four HSTs on the Cotswold Line and made sure to take photos and videos of things which would normally be considered really boring but as the trains were on their way out, I thought it was worth documenting them in some form.
That shot in the video near the beginning of your video of the FGW interior makes me miss them even more! I really quite liked that colour scheme.

-Peter

I've not made an trip reports since July, and, having read other peoples' threads, I thought I'd get back into it for the new year. I plan to get out and about a lot more in 2021 than in 2020 so hopefully I should have some interesting things to share!

Didcot-Oxford 175th Anniversary, 15 June 2019

The Oxford to Didcot line, part of the Cherwell Valley Line, opened in 1844. In June 1994, the 150th anniversary of the line's opening was celebrated with steam specials on the line using 5029 'Clun Castle' on regular shuttles between Oxford and Didcot, a sight which has not been replicated since. In June 2019, the 175th anniversary of the line's opening was celebrated with a bus service to a museum and a couple of railtours, one of which I believe just happened to be 'passing through', if you will. How times change!

I went to Didcot to see the celebrations for the anniversary on 15th June 2019 and I had a very enjoyable day overall. I started the day at Banbury, where I saw a Freightliner Class 70 and Class 66 combination on a freight service (70010 and 66559); quite a nice way to start the day, I thought, along with seeing 68014 on a London-bound service. I think the 68s are like a modern Class 37; they're loud enough and powerful enough to be a strong contestant in a 'best locomotives' competition! The two Freightliner locos were new sightings but the 68 was a 'dud', sadly. I've just got 68011 to see now before I've seen all five Chiltern-liveried 68s, so that's something I'm aiming to do in 2021.
I've got surprisingly little information regarding exact units I saw/rode on on the day in question; I don't know why. I boarded a GWR Class 165 which had arrived in from Didcot (or Oxford, I can't remember) in Platform 1, and was on my way. I was a bit confused as to when you should board a train which has just terminated and is to leave on another service: is there a certain time period people on here leave, or not? I waited for a few minutes after the train arrived before I boarded.

At Banbury, I saw the following units:
- 220011 ('dud')
- 168110 ('dud')
- 165006 (new sighting)

I left the train at Oxford, purely because I needed to buy an Oxford - Didcot 175th anniversary rover ticket to continue my journey. I'd bought a Banbury-Oxford return ticket at Banbury but assumed I couldn't buy the specific ticket I needed for the next leg of my journey from the ticket machines there.
I re-joined another unit shortly after buying my ticket, and continued down to Didcot. I don't know which unit it was, but it was definitely a GWR Class 165 or 166 of some description. Don't worry - the report will get more interesting soon!

I arrived at Didcot and my first thought was to go over to the railway centre via the underpass. There were a couple of engines running services on the site to join in with the special anniversary and it was really cool to see them (7903 'Foremarke Hall', from the GWSR, and 1450, from the SVR) running as most of my visits to Didcot have been on exhibition days. I'd seen both of these engines before so I suppose they were technically 'duds'.
My way of getting around the railway centre on this day was to walk down to one end, taking in the various things they have on display, before getting one of the two trains back to the other end of the site, crossing to the other side, and then taking a return journey on the other train (if that makes sense; Didcot Railway Centre has two running lines, one running down next to the mainline avoiding lines, which they call the 'mainline', and one running on the opposite side of the site, which they call the 'branchline'). Both trains were running using short coaching sets - 1450 was on a single autocoach and 7903 was on a two-carriage service. It was quite funny to see a large engine on such a small train!

The signalling centre area in part of the railway centre was a very interesting place to have a look around as the Swindon Panel Society have moved one of the panels from Swindon signal box to Didcot and restored it to self-contained working order. The members let you have a 'play around' with it, following their guidance, and you develop a really good idea of how the panel works.
The engine shed is also a really cool place to have a look around; being an original from 1932, it shows the environment in which engines were maintained by the GWR and the fact that it's still operational makes it even better! I was actually quite lucky when looking around the engine shed as a volunteer from the railway centre allowed myself and a small group of others to have a look in their maintenance shed to see the new 'Saint' - 2999 'Lady of Legend'. I'd seen the engine in November the previous year, in BR Black, but this time it was in GWR lined green. My photos aren't brilliant but I was more interested in seeing it with my own eyes than seeing it through a lens.
I also had a walk up to the top of the coaling stage track, which provides a really good viewpoint over Didcot Parkway and the railway centre.

By this point, the weather had got worse and I decided to head back to the station. There were a couple of trains I could take to get back to Oxford and Banbury, which left me with a conundrum; I knew 'Flying Scotsman' was due to pass through Oxford at the same time as one of the trains I could catch would arrive. This was quite a nice prospect but the weather won and so I took the next train back. It was very rainy and cold by the time the train arrived and I was very grateful of the vague warmth of a Networker Turbo after spending around thirty minutes on the platforms at Didcot
A couple of the photos I've shared with this post show the underpass at Didcot Parkway - one of them shows the posters put at stations along the line for the weekend, and the other shows some old FGW-style signage for the platform numbers.

At Didcot, I'd seen several units, but I only recorded 800008, which was a 'dud'. I recorded 800312 at Oxford, which was a new sighting. I didn't record any units at Banbury when I returned as I left the station straight away to get home.

I hope you enjoyed reading this - it's been quite fun going back through my archives and remembering what I did

-Peter

Thanks @ainsworth74 for unlocking the thread. It'll probably be at some point tomorrow that I'll share a report of my journeys around Birmingham yesterday.

-Peter

So - it's been just over eight months since I posted any kind of trip report on here. I think you can all guess one of the main reasons behind some of the long wait!
I'm hoping to get out and about much more on the railways during this year (even though there are only a few months left). Last year, despite going out to watch trains several times, I only went on one journey by train, and that was a simple journey to Didcot, in January!

This year so far, I've been on two journeys, so that's an improvement I suppose. The first was a fairly inconsequential journey to Didcot again, and I might put together a bit of a report on that at some point, but the much more interesting one is the more recent of the two - a jolly around Birmingham. Let's see if I can write a coherent account of it, shall we? (I've put the engine/unit numbers in bold to make the interesting bits with sightings in easier to find)


West Midlands Day Ranger, 12 September 2021

I'd known I'd be heading up to Birmingham for some months before the day actually happened. Family going to an event in Birmingham left me with the possibility of leaving later than they had on the Saturday and heading up there to meet them, so I did. The plan was to go up to Birmingham International on the Saturday, stay in a hotel overnight, and then return to Banbury the following morning.

However, upon looking at the GWR app, it turned out that there was a replacement bus service between Leamington Spa and Banbury - hardly the most enjoyable thing to do. What would normally be a forty-minute journey would become an hour's journey, probably longer - with forty minutes on what was likely to be an uncomfortable, slow, and boring coach (I think you can see I wasn't a big fan of this idea!). So, to avoid the extra twenty minutes, I thought, "It must be possible to go the 'long way around', i.e. going through Birmingham, down to Worcester, and down the Cotswold Line from there?"

So you can see that what was a simple there-and-back journey has become a more complicated affair already. Whilst looking at prices and times for trains up to Birmingham and down to Worcester, I realised this would give me a chance to do a couple of things I'd wanted to do for a while. One of these was the Stourbridge Town branch, and the other being a ride on a Class 323 (if possible). After planning the Stourbridge Town branch into my itinerary, I had a random thought to check whether a rover or ranger ticket might be available for the Birmingham area. I was in luck - the West Midlands Day Ranger was just what I needed!


After I'd decided to go for that ranger rather than the complicated system of individual tickets I'd planned, I started to plan a journey. The original plan involved a journey up to Crewe, down to Stourbridge, and then the Cross-City Line in there somewhere. However, by the Friday before the big weekend, I'd decided on a different plan involving a Class 68 as well as Stourbridge and the 323s. My plan was to head up to Smethwick Galton Bridge from Birmingham International on Sunday morning, before changing trains there and heading back into Birmingham Moor Street. I know I could have simply walked between New Street and Moor Street, but being able to change at Smethwick removed any problems arising from getting lost, etc. Plus - more trains!

I'd then wait at Moor Street for the 68, then head down to Leamington Spa before heading back up to Moor Street, then over to Stourbridge, do the branch there, and make my way back to New Street (via Smethwick Galton Bridge again ) to head down the Cross-City Line down to Bromsgrove and then Worcester. I'd then catch the train home to Kingham from there.

All seems like quite a simple plan really, doesn't it? It's quite basic, but looked fun. I asked on the forums about a week before the journey to see if there was any chance of a Class 68 appearing, and the answer was "probably not" due to the engineering works between Leamington and Banbury. So that meant a journey on a 168 - not bad (they're not bad trains in my opinion) - but not amazing.


Anyway. Enough of this rambling. Let's cut to the Saturday and go from there!

Got to Banbury with about ten minutes to spare, but I headed straight for the platforms. Whilst waiting for my train, 220025 and 220016 arrived, working 1O24 1527 Manchester Piccadilly - Bournemouth. 220025 wasn't a new sighting, but 220016 was, so that's not a bad start. It's been quite nice having these double-Voyager formations running through Banbury over the past year (I know they happened before 2020 but it's definitely increased in the year since) - makes it twice as easy to spot them all!

My train, 1M62 1547 Bournemouth - Manchester Piccadilly, arrived, with 221136 and 220009 providing the traction. 221136 wasn't a new sighting, and neither was 220009 for that matter. I boarded 221136 and went looking for a seat. It was one of those situations where the train wasn't full, but there was someone sat in every pair of, or set of four, seats; I didn't really want to go up to someone and ask them to move so I stood in the vestibule area for the journey. Not amazing, but the alternative was walking all the way down the unit for a seat and having to walk back.

This was the first CrossCountry train I'd been on, and I must say, it was a nice journey. Standing wasn't the best situation, but I didn't really mind. The best bit about going on the train for me is just being on the train, so I wasn't fussy! The only slightly-less-good bit was at Coventry, when a group of rather loud football fans got on. They took a while to move down the carriage but after they did, I was back to having 'my' bit to myself. Lovely.

The train got into Birmingham International only a few minutes late due to being held at Leamington Spa, and I suddenly realised I had no idea where I was going! I ended up following the stream of people who were also getting off the train up some stairs and ended up right by the ticket barriers. Went through them and met family members on the other side.

I expect there'll be plenty of people to disagree with me, but I think Birmingham International's quite nice in a way. That might be because I was arriving there on a Saturday evening, and it was very quiet after the passengers from my train had dispersed, but the high ceilings and spacious floorplan really are worlds away from what I've spent time at in Oxford!
Before leaving the station, I bought the ranger and ticket for Worcester to Kingham for the Sunday - I hadn't bought them at Banbury because I was conscious of the time.


So that's Saturday covered. One thing I forgot to mention was seeing 390047 outside Coventry, working 9M57 168 Preston - London Euston. A 'winner' for me as I've only seen a handful of Pendolinos. I also saw 390006 working 9P95 1743 London Euston to Preston - again, another winner.
No photos from the trains on Saturday, apart from this one of Birmingham International station itself:




Now we move onto Sunday. The day seemed to be getting off to a bad start before it had even really begun as when I looked at RTT that morning, it showed my train had been cancelled between Coventry and Rugby. I didn't read this properly, and thought it had said my train was cancelled entirely - silly I know!

Anyway: so I ended up looking for another train to take me into Birmingham. This ended up being quite lucky and interesting in a way - the new train I ended up on was actually the train I would catch to get from Birmingham New Street to Smethwick Galton Bridge. It was 1J13 0951 Birmingham International - Machynlleth, and was worked by two 158s on the day - namely 158827 and 158828 - both winners. Whilst waiting for them to turn up, I saw 350246 (2Y21 0902 Coventry - Birmingham New Street), 350266+350254 (I think at least one of these worked 5H03 0918 Birmingham International - Birmingham New Street), 350249+350101 (2Y06 0914 Birmingham New Street - London Euston) and, having boarded my train, 390005 (1B04 0905 Wolverhampton - London Euston). All of these were winners.


This pair of 158s was a pair of firsts for me. They were the first 158s I've been on, and it was the first Transport for Wales service I've been on too. The seats were actually quite comfortable, with plenty of legroom, which was good. The only problem was at New Street, when the cold air from the platforms came onto the train.
At New Street, I saw 390152 (1S50 1020 Birmingham New Street - Edinburgh), and 221121+220027 (1H26 1001 Birmingham New Street - Manchester Piccadilly). The 390 was a winner but the Voyagers weren't.
Speaking of New Street, it was here that the day started to change. We were late leaving, and my already tight connection at Smethwick Galton Bridge had suddenly become almost impossible. Couple to that someone asking me which train it was as I alighted (to be fair, they didn't know I was in a hurry), and then my lack of knowledge about how to get around that bizarre station, and you get a missed connection.

So - I've found myself at Smethwick Galton Bridge, having missed my train, and without a plan. I know I want to do Stourbridge, so I find the next train heading that way and board it - not before watching the train I supposed to be running in front of, 1H25 1000 Kidderminster - Leamington Spa, worked by 168113. It was quite funny to see the train I was originally supposed to be going for slowly working its way around the curve at the end of the platform!

The train I boarded to get to Stourbridge was 2V02 0927 Stratford-upon-Avon - Great Malvern, worked by 172336 (a winner). As we approached Stourbridge Junction, I noticed 68010, 68011, and 168109 in the sidings - 68011 was the only winner there. Having changed over to the right platform for the Stourbridge shuttle, I noticed 172344 on 2S06 1014 Great Malvern - Stratford-upon-Avon (a winner, and one which I'd see later on).

139002 (winner) arrived, and I must say that I think these are some of the best little units on the railway. Cute, bouncy, and just overall fun to ride on, they provided a good journey to Stourbridge Town and back. I think I even got to see George the Stourbridge Junction cat.


After that little bounce around, I saw 172219 (2C02 1126 Stourbridge Junction - Dorridge) and boarded it. It wasn't a winner, as I'd seen it before at Worcester Shrub Hill. I went over to Birmingham Moor Street, with the intention of heading down to Leamington Spa on a 168 to kill some time. The service was at the platform, in the form of 168002 (1H33 1237 Birmingham Moor Street - Leamington Spa), but I had a good twenty or so minutes before it left, so I popped over to WHSmith for something to eat.

Birmingham Moor Street is an absolutely wonderful station, but it's not a very nice place to be when you're struggling to find your ticket! My ranger was one of these larger paper things, and I was struggling to find it in my camera bag (which I had put all sorts in so as to not carry two bags). I was just about to buy another one at the booking office as I found it, and headed back through the barriers and onto the train. Hardly a nice experience!

The train was silent when I boarded. There were a couple of other people onboard but very few otherwise. I must admit to wondering whether I was in first class - and even looking up whether 168s had first class at all - because it was so nice. The seats were comfy, the tables were big, and they even had easy-to-reach power sockets. As the departure time approached, more and more people got on, and the area developed more and more of a smelly food smell - so I 'bailed' at Solihull and headed back into Birmingham. At least I can say I've had a ride on 168002 I guess!
On my journey out of Moor Street, I noticed 168110 in a siding outside the station. Not a winner.

At Solihull, I planned out the rest of my day. I'd end up sticking to this plan for the rest of the day, and it was quite good fun.
The idea was to head back up to Moor Street, go over to Smethwick, head back to New Street, and then go down to Bromsgrove. From there, I'd catch another train down to Worcester, and then go home from there.


The train back to Moor Street was 168214 (1R24 1231 Leamington Spa - Birmingham Moor Street). The unit over to Smethwick was 172220+172344 (2V08 1227 Stratford-upon-Avon - Worcester Foregate Street - see, I told you it would be coming up later!). After working out where to go to get to the right platform at Smethwick, I was on the platform with plenty of time and even got to see 221110 - my first AWC Voyager - on 5J53 1302 Barton Under Needword RSMD - Shrewsbury.

The train for New Street arrived in the form of 350237 (2A21 1322 Wolverhampton - Birmingham New Street). When I got to New Street, it was a much quicker change for the Cross-City Line than I'd been expecting. Up and over on the footbridge at one end and that was it! Onto 323218 (2O22 1403 Birmingham New Street - Bromsgrove - winner), from which I saw 221126 (1S47 1027 Plymouth - Glasgow Central - not a winner), and 172214+172218 (1V24 1400 Birmingham New Street - Hereford - winners which will be coming up again later!).


The train was a bit late in leaving New Street owing to a trespasser in the "New Street area", but we were out of the station a couple of minutes after that announcement.
Heading down the Cross-City Line, I saw 220006 (1M45 1049 Paignton - Birmingham New Street - winner, and another unit which will make another appearance) at University, 170103 (1M99 1245 Cardiff Central - Nottingham - winner) at Barnt Green, and then we were at Bromsgrove.

Bromsgrove was a bit more windswept than I was expecting, but still an alright station. Whilst there, I saw:

• 43239+43303 (1V56 0908 Edinburgh - Plymouth) - both winners, and my first XC HST!
• 170114+170116 (1V06 1316 Nottingham - Cardiff Central) - both winners
• 172004 (1M12 1402 Hereford - Birmingham New Street) - another unit which we'll see again
• 67023+67027 (070O 1340 Derby RTC - Westbury Up TC) - neither winners, as I'd seen them a month or so before at Kingham

My train turned up in the form of 170506 (1V25 1500 Birmingham New Street - Hereford). This is one of the units currently with WMR but in EMR purple, so to be able to not only see it but also ride on it - probably for the only time in this area - was great. Interesting how the service was operated by WMR, using an EMR-liveried unit, with a London Midland interior!
Just outside Bromsgrove, I saw 170636 (1M67 1345 Cardiff Central - Nottingham) and 220006 (1V57 1442 Birmingham New Street - Paignton).

My plan had been to carry on on 170506 to Great Malvern, but the train was terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill due to lack of crew or similar. As we approached the station, I noticed 172102 in the sidings; not a winner unfortunately but nice to see it. I spent a while sat on the platform, and watched 166218 (2T43 1547 Worcester Foregate Street - Bristol Temple Meads - winner), complete with what looked like a crack on the front arrive and depart, before 800314 (1W03 1345 London Paddington - Hereford) turned up. I'd not noticed this service when looking on RTT, but it would allow me to not only kill some time whilst waiting for my train home, but also to see Great Malvern properly. I'd seen it from the train window a couple of years ago, but not since.

So I jumped on that, and headed over to Great Malvern, where I saw 172214+172218 (1M14 1554 Hereford - Birmingham New Street - neither were winners now after seeing them at New Street). My train home was 800022 (1P73 1658 Great Malvern - London Paddington), which I rode all the way down to Kingham. At Malvern Link, I saw 172004 (1V26 1600 Birmingham New Street - Hereford) again, and then 800018 (1W04 1546 London Paddington - Hereford), although I didn't make a note of the location. (The way I find out which units were on services I didn't note the number for is to make a note of the service, and then ask on the forums afterwards - but this means I lose the information about where I saw the particular unit. There's a list at the end of this post of the other various units I saw but don't know the location for).


And that's that! A lovely day spent out-and-about, doing some lines I've always wanted to do. Hopefully you found it interesting - if you did, I might make a quick report about my Didcot journey earlier on in August.

Now - as I mentioned above, there are some sightings from Sunday where I've got the number and service, but not the location. Here's a list of those, just for completeness:

• 323220+323243 - 2P06 0927 Redditch - Litchfield Trent Valley (winners)
• 172003+172007 - 2C04 1226 Stourbridge Junction - Dorridge (winners)
• 323209+323241 - 2P22 1327 Redditch - Litchfield Trent Valley (winners)
• 323203+323212 - 2G23 1342 Bromsgrove - Birmingham New Street (winners)
• 323204 - 2P24 1357 Redditch - Litchfield Trent Valley (winner)
• 800004 - 1P69 1531 Hereford - London Paddington (not a winner)
• 800010 - 1W47 1446 London Paddington - Great Malvern (not a winner)

Thanks very much for reading. This has taken quite a while to put together so I hope it's somewhat coherent
I'll post more pictures in following posts.

-Peter

West Midlands Day Ranger, 12.9.2021
Photos from the day.




The forums can't upload the photos from Great Malvern, so I'll try and upload them to Flickr and put a link here (if I remember).

-Peter

A busy day in the West Midlands

Thank you @Cowley - this is going to be a bit of an interesting one to try and write up, so here goes.


A-bit-of-a-day out in Wembley, 18 June 2022

Some family were attending a concert in Wembley last night, and so we went by train from Oxford Parkway to Wembley Stadium. The plan was rather simple - train there, spend the evening in Wembley, train home. There was a slight issue, though - the concert finished at 2230, and the last train home to Oxford Parkway from Wembley Stadium was at 2316: after this, there was a train home to Banbury, which would have allowed us to get somewhat closer to home than staying in Wembley, but hardly ideal. Anyway - foreshadowing over!

The train there was quite a simple affair really - Oxford Parkway is a really simple station, with a nice-enough station building, and two long platforms. I don't have any photos, but imagine a windswept car park and platforms with only one shelter one each, and you've got the idea.
Our train into London was formed by 165xxx+165xxx (1Y33 1311 Oxford - London Marylebone). I had been hoping for a Class 168 instead, as I much prefer the interior and seats on one of those, but there wasn't really anything I could do! The train into Wembley went well - it got busier and busier as we approached the capital, with a lot of people getting on at High Wycombe, but it was far from unpleasant.

Upon getting to Wembley, it was quite simple - off the train, up some stairs, and there you are - on one of many roads which form the only-mildly-confusing vague Wembley Stadium/Park area. To be fair, it was a fairly straightforward walk from the station to the stadium, considering none of my group had ever been around there before. We spent some time in Wembley, looking at a couple of shops, and then it was time for those going to the concert to head in. Those of us not going in spent the rest of the evening in Wembley - apart from one point where we went for a quick ride on the Underground into central London, to have a go on the Elizabeth Line. Of course trains had to come in at some point

Wembley Park was so amazingly busy when we got there to try and get a train into Farringdon. I got an Oyster card as I hadn't got one yet and figured it'd make things easier now and in the future - turns out the machine issued a special Elizabeth Line one, so that was pretty cool. After then fighting through the crowds to get to the Metropolitan Line (a line which I'd never been on before, so again another thing to add to the 'pretty cool' list), we got on the train and headed into Farringdon:


I'd completely forgotten that the sub-surface lines at Farringdon are right next to Thameslink, so it was a nice surprised to see a Class 700 as well (I think it might be the first one I've seen actually). Turns out it was 700xxx (9O57 1622 St Albans - Sutton (Surrey)). We made our way to the Elizabeth Line after that - we almost went down via the lifts but I think not doing that was the better option because it meant we got to see the Elizabeth Line entrance from street level - it's brilliant!

The escalators down to platform level were really quite long, and I'm not a massive fan of long escalators, but I survived. I realise why people say the Elizabeth Line is so cool now - just look at how big this all this:


It was great fun on the train - really smooth and quick. My only problem was that the seats were a bit harder than I'd been expecting, but they weren't uncomfortable because of it. The train itself was 345xxx (9Y40 1645 Abbey Wood to London Paddington).

I make no secret on the Modelling section of the forums that the GWR is my favourite of the 'Big Four' railway companies - and it was for this reason that I was quite excited to be able to visit Paddington after a few years. It's such an amazing piece of architecture - and all centred around trains. The entrance from the Elizabeth Line part of the station underground onto the GWR station is really nice in its own right - it's got a touch of class to it, most certainly.


Before heading back around to Baker Street to change for the Metropolitan Line back up to Wembley Park, we stopped at Paddington and got a drink. Whilst we were there, we saw a few different trains - including a couple of Heathrow Express-liveried Class 387s, which I'd not seen before.

For those of you who are interested, here are the numbers of those trains (I'll add in any missing ones when I find out what they are):
802022 (1G25 1728 London Paddington - Cheltenham Spa)
802001 (1D34 1720 London Paddington - Oxford)
800312 (5W29 1720 North Pole IEP Depot - London Paddington)
802107 (5P28 1718 London Paddington - North Pole IEP Depot)
387164+187163 (2N58 1727 London Paddington - Didcot Parkway)

From the main concourse, we went down to the sub-surface lines:


And from there, we caught a Circle Line train to Baker Street. The Circle and H&C Line platforms there are really cool, being I believe part of the oldest section of the Underground:


It's a really easy connection from the Circle/H&C onto the Met at Baker Street - just up one corridor and you're on the northbound platform. Something which I was wondering, though - at Baker Street, there's a bay platform next to the northbound through platform. I think the through platform is slightly curved, but the bay platform is really wiggly, for want of a better term: could anyone explain why? Apologies - I don't have any pictures (or any pictures of the rest of the trip, unfortunately).

So - from Baker Street, we headed up to Wembley Park, made our way through all the crowds, and then went and got a bite to eat (after queueing outside for a good ten-to-twenty minutes, it was so busy!). After the concert ended, we met up with the others from our group who'd been, then went to Wembley Stadium station to catch our train. This is the point at which it becomes less fun, and more annoying.

We got to the station, and understandably there were different queues for different destinations - one for Marylebone, a couple for some other places, then one for Oxford and Oxford Parkway. We joined this queue, and bumped into some family members who, whilst not part of our group in going to the concert, had also been and were now trying to get home to Oxford, from where they would be picked up to go home.

Our queue didn't move for a while, then moved a few times quite quickly. The Marylebone queue was moving a lot quicker than ours - I assume because there were more trains going into Marylebone than Oxford. Eventually, we got onto the bridge which spans the tracks at Wembley Stadium station. Those who know the station will know that it is formed of two platforms, with a road bridge (well, sort of pedestrianised bit I suppose) going over the top. The queueing system in place went onto the bridge. Whilst on the bridge, we could hear a train at one of the platforms underneath. I'm fairly sure people were let on, but I can't quite remember. This was around the time that our train, 1T72 2305 London Marylebone - Oxford, was supposed to be in the station, so we assumed it was ours.

We stood around for what felt like a long time, waiting for our queue to be called and for us to be let onto the train. It was lightly raining by this point, it was cold, and we were all packed into this queue made up of all these portable metal railings. The staff seemed to be doing nothing for our queue. I checked RealTime Trains (a godsend, honestly, at this point), to find that the train which was in the station was, in fact, ours: and, that it had left. We were stranded - no train back to Oxford Parkway to get to the car to drive home. I believe that some people from another queue made a bit of a mad dash onto the platform, then staff stopped people from getting down there. There was the equivalent of a two-coach Class 165 in our queue - assuming all seats were taken and no-one was standing, so it wasn't unreasonable of us, in that moment, to assume that the train wasn't full and that we were just being kept up on the bridge.

Half an hour passed, with no information. At around 2345, a member of staff came up to us, and, in a manner which I can only describe as being that of someone saying, "well it's not my fault, this is your issue now, sorry mate", told us that there were no trains home to Oxford, and that our best bet would be to get the next train, which was for Banbury, and either get off at Bicester North or Banbury and organise our own road transport home. This member of staff seemed to find it amusing that people were stranded and that people were angry, which didn't help matters at all.

We were let down onto the platform. On our way, we passed a group of people, including the aforementioned family member we bumped into in the queue, who were being held in what looked like the railway equivalent of a cattle dock next to the top of the stairs down to the platform: they had been called for Bicester, and figuring that was their best bet of getting home, went for it. We mentioned as we passed that we were going to Bicester, causing people in that group to get a bit agitated and end up being let onto the platform with us (though I think they would have been let onto the platform anyway).

Once we were on the platform, we spoke to a really helpful member of staff - the only helpful member of staff - who explained that the problems were caused by the signaller sending a train out in the wrong sequence, meaning things were thrown into the air a bit. I think he also mentioned that the train for Oxford was short-formed, meaning people for other intermediate destinations could board but then there wasn't enough room for us, but I'm not quite sure.

Before getting onto the platform, we were told that taxis would be organised to pick people up at Bicester (and I think at Banbury, but again I'm not quite sure). Sure enough, when we got to Bicester, taxis were waiting. However, after speaking to two or three, it turned out that they'd either been supposedly pre-booked, or weren't sent by Chiltern Railways at all, and were just sat there on their break. Luckily, my group managed to get two taxis to take us all to Oxford Parkway, from where we drove home. The relatives we met at Wembley had joined the same train as us, but went all the way to Banbury, from where they got a lift home. We finally returned home an hour-and-a-half after we were supposed to, after having gone through quite a degree of stress, anger, and frustration which could have, at least it seemed to us 'in the dark' yesterday evening, been quite easily avoided.

The helpful member of staff at Wembley Stadium told us that we would be able to claim from Chiltern the cost of the taxis, and perhaps even the cost of the tickets - though I'm not 100% sure how we might go about all that, so I'd be very grateful for any advice, probably in the Fares Advice section?

Thanks for reading - apologies for it being such a long post, but I wanted to explain it all. I have sent Chiltern a message on Twitter (as this was the easiest way for me to voice my concerns at the time in the small hours of this morning) but they don't staff that account over the weekend, so I await a response at the beginning of next week!

-Peter

You aren’t a Harry Styles fan then?

Sounds a shambles, but at least you were able to catch a train in vaguely the right direction and make it home from there.

I’d start by claiming delay repay for all your tickets on the Chiltern website and then writing/emailing them separately about the taxi- did you keep the receipt?

It’s quite poor that they don’t staff their Twitter at all over the weekend on a fairly sizeable and important network.

Well I admit it here and now, no, I'm not a massive fan of his music :Lol:
Thanks @Iskra - we got a receipt from the taxi driver (one for each taxi home) when we got to Oxford Parkway, so that's something. One person bought all the tickets for the group on their phone so I'll be sure to tell them to claim delay repay.
It is poor, most certainly - there were tweets put out, it seems, last night describing the queueing situation in place at Wembley Stadium, but then there were no updates about trains leaving or arriving or anything. Couple that with the less-than-helpful, and even at a couple of points rude, staff, and you create an atmosphere which has definitely put me off doing something like that again!

-Peter

Sounds as bad as the queuing system at Cardiff after large events.

I've never been to Cardiff, but I dread to think how bad it must be - Wembley was enough thanks!

-Peter

Hanging around in the West Midlands and making the place look untidy, 16 August 2022
(or, "a study of how we're comparatively spoiled on the Cotswold Line")

I had the opportunity to go up to Birmingham the other week - the plan wasn't to spend ages there, but whilst family were going shopping, I decided to have a ride on the trains. There wasn't really a lot I could do in the given time, but I decided I'd visit those magnificent views of Leamington Spa and see what wonderful sights I could see...

The journey started at Banbury - I only realised once we got there that I'd not actually been to the station in at least a year, so it was nice to not only be back in the area, but also to be catching a train somewhere (for only the second time this year). Upon arriving, the first thing to do was to get the tickets for the journey; returns to Birmingham Moor Street, and then my return from Moor Street to Leamington Spa (the idea being that all of us would go up to Birmingham, then the rest would go off shopping and I'd go down to Leamington Spa and back in the meantime). It was easier than I'd been expecting, but it still took a while to get it all sorted and as we walked past the ticket office (we used the ticket machine) there was quite a queue of people waiting to buy their own tickets.

Onto the platform - and I'd forgotten quite how grubby bits (well, a lot) of Banbury station are! There are places which are worse, I'm sure, but you could tell it needed a bit of work. We ended up on platform one to begin with:


We then moved over to platform two, for our train to Birmingham. Platform three got busier and busier, as people arrived for the 1O08 0727 Manchester Piccadilly - Bournemouth service (worked by 220007+221130). I'm pretty sure that train was delayed for some reason: this would go on to become a theme for our day - trains which were late. Not by a lot, but late enough that you got a bit bored waiting!
I also saw 165118, which arrived whilst we were waiting, working the 2M24 0910 Didcot Parkway - Banbury service. It was pretty much empty, from what I remember. I'm not a massive fan of the 165s really; I find there are very few seats which give enough legroom!
221140+221125 also made an appearance, working the 1M30 0730 Bournemouth - Manchester Piccadilly service. Seeing this pair of double Voyagers had rather got my hopes up that our train would also be long enough to give plenty of seats - though this was wishful thinking...

Shortly before our train arrived, 165032 showed up, working the 1U15 0841 London Marylebone - Banbury service. There are a lot of things I'd rather do than have to go all the way from London to Banbury on one of those but I'd expect relatively few people do such a journey on that service?
A freight service also showed up just before our train - I didn't quite catch the numbers of the engines working it, but one of them was the pink ONE Class 66:


Finally, our train showed up and, to my dismay, it was a humble Class 168, with four carriages. I'm more than happy to be corrected on this one, but I must be missing for an inter-city railway to have services formed of so few carriages? I quite like a 168 - they're decent units and when I was in Birmingham last year, the 168s I had a ride on were the nicest trains I went on all day - but is Chiltern doing so badly that four coaches is all they can manage? I saw a few other services later on which were shorter than I'd have expected - hence the alternative title of this trip report. At least the humble Cotswold Line gets a minimum of five coaches on its inter-city services, and often nine!

Our train was 168110, working the 1R90 0910 London Marylebone - Birmingham Moor Street service. We all piled on, and for the second time in as many trips from Banbury, I was stood up for the whole journey (the first having been when I went to Birmingham in September last year, on a CrossCountry service to Birmingham International). I enjoy travelling by train - I find it a particularly fun and relaxing experience - but it's a bit annoying when you get on the train only to find that you'll be standing for the forty-or-so-minutes it takes to get to Birmingham, and any attempts to move further down are hampered by the fact that some chap is stood in the thinnest bit of the aisle next to the toilet with his bike!

I've not been on the trains a lot this year, but my recollection from previous journeys is that train travel is normally quite a smooth affair - as in, you're not bouncing around all over the shop. I didn't expect the level of wobbling about that we got on the train up to Birmingham, that's for sure! I want to say it was around Fenny Compton - it might have been later on in the journey - but there was one point where, just as I was shuffling about a bit to get more comfortable leaning against the partition thing in the doorway, the train made a quick and quite pronounced "hop" (or bounce, or similar sort of thing) to one side: it was at that point that I discovered I'm a little bit taller than the doors on a 168 and that the box which sits above the door is quite a solid object!

After the ever-so-joyous ride into Birmingham, it was nice to finally arrive (and I mean "finally" - the last stretch on the viaduct into Moor Street seemed to take forever) and to be able to see the wonderfully-restored 1930s-condition Moor Street again. I absolutely love what they've done with Moor Street and I think it's been done really well, particularly with all the signage for the platforms being done in the GWR style of old as well.
The plan now was to get a bite to eat, and then for me to head off to Leamington Spa. There are three places in Moor Street station where you can get a bite to eat; WHSmith, the Centenary Lounge, and another place, the name of which escapes me now. We went into the Centenary Lounge (I assume it's so named to fit in with the 1930s styling of Moor Street, given the GWR's centenary year was 1935), and I must say, the work they've done in there is absolutely amazing. I'd not been before but I'd love to go back:


It was soon time for me to be heading off, and so I made my way back over to the trains. Another small issue, though - I knew which platform my train was going from, and so I'd assumed - not knowing the area all that well - that I'd be getting the same 168 that I'd just arrived on, back out again. However, the departure boards said my train was formed of two coaches: looking down the platform, just after the 168, there was a little 165. At least it wouldn't be a long journey on one of them, I suppose.

My train was the 2L40 1134 Birmingham Moor Street - Leamington Spa service, worked by 165010. I got on at the first door I got to, and plonked myself down in one of the seats with a bit more legroom. After speaking to a fellow passenger, it turned out it wasn't just me who was a bit confused about whether the service was formed of both the 165 and the 168, or just the 168. I know the boards in the concourse said two coaches, but when on the pretty-much-empty platform, I could quite easily see how for someone not particularly "clued-up" on trains, it could be quite confusing.
As we left, it turned out I'd sat on the right side to get a good view of Tyseley depot as we went past:


Possibly the highlight of this ride down to Leamington Spa was seeing 68008 working the 1R91 1010 London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street service - I quite like the 68s but I've only managed to have the one ride behind one.
Having looked at RealTime Trains, I knew we were supposed to be held in Dorridge Up Passenger Loop for a few minutes to let another service pass: I think we must have been running early, because we got there and had to sit in the loop for quite some time before a Voyager sped past (specifically, 221126, working the 1V85 0835 Newcastle - Banbury service). What surprised me was how far the branches from the trees poked out: they were scraping along the side of the train as we slowed down for the stop in the loop. They didn't make a particularly pleasant noise, either!

We eventually got to Leamington Spa. My original idea had been to go out to the front of the station to see the art-deco station building, but I changed my mind whilst walking down the platform to get to the underpass, and decided to just head for platform two for my train back up to Moor Street. I ended up hanging around near a couple of older gentlemen who, it turned out, were there to see some interesting trains come through: I hadn't realised that there was anything special due, but I hung around and ended up seeing, amongst other more mundane units, 37601 (working 0Z37 1047 Derby R.T.C.(Network Rail) to Westbury Down T.C.) and 66177 (working 4O21 0915 Trafford Park Euro Term to Soton W Docks Berth 109):


It was soon time to head back to Birmingham, and so I boarded my train (I didn't make a note of which one it was, but I'm pretty sure, having looked online, that it was the 1G27 1137 London Marylebone - Birmingham Snow Hill service) and got back to Moor Street for just-gone half-past-one. We went and got a bite to eat somewhere else, before making our way back as a group to Moor Street for the train home: the 1H64 1612 Birmingham Snow Hill - London Marylebone service (which, it turned out, would be worked by another single 168, in the form of 168216). Whilst Moor Street is a lovely station, I'll admit it has a couple of flaws: one of which, being the thinner platform towards the Snow Hill end of platform one. We ended up stood there for what felt like a very long time for our train, in the now-ever-so-slightly-soggy-and-also-quite-muggy weather, as a couple of West Midlands services came through on both our platform and platform two. I don't know why our train didn't leave Snow Hill on time, but when it arrived there was quite a large group of people on the platform at Moor Street who wanted to get on, so it was standing time once more.

Me and my group were stood until I think Leamington Spa: enough people had left the train that there were now some free seats, and for the last fifteen-or-twenty minutes we could sit down. It was just as we were getting closer to Banbury that the sky got darker and darker:


And as we arrived at Banbury, we found ourselves in the beginning of a thunderstorm. We ran off the train, around the puddles on the platform (with varying degrees of success), and into the station building, up and over the tracks, and then down and out into the car park - and thus ended our little day out.

I've got some more photos to share, so I'll add them in a post after this. I've not put loads of trainspotting details in this; I've not quite made sense of my notes from the day yet! I'll add some more details on that topic if I ever properly figure it all out.

Thanks for reading.

-Peter

Hanging around in the West Midlands, 16 August 2022
Photos from the day.




-Peter