To Nottingham... and beyond!-22/04/17
I’d been planning this bash for a while, however not actually got round to it until today. I had arranged to meet a friend for the day too. I woke up shortly before my alarm at 06:25, mainly as a PNB was very urgently required! I did that then went downstairs for breakfast. I left the house just before 7AM for a lift to Birchwood station. I arrived to just watch the 07:04 Oxford Road service depart! This was going to completely screw up my plan, so my Dad gave me a lift to Piccadilly in plenty of time for the 07:49 Sheffield service. I was using a complimentary return ticket, issued as delay repay for a delay in January, which I received last week. 142003 was bouncing me to Sheffield this morning, with my friend joining me at Romiley. The bouncy ride over to Sheffield was very enjoyable, and we just missed (as planned) a Nottingham 158. Time to fester on the tram stop then! I need just one tram, 118.
Dud, dud, dud, dud, WINNER!! 118 PRODUCED! We boarded-the guard approached us to ask where we were going, to get the answer ‘errrr.....’. We were still at the platform-the driver mockingly made a PA announcement saying ‘make your mind up lads!’ We headed off at Granville Road, as we could easily walk back to the station, via McDonald’s for a celebratory breakfast! Winner 158859 produced for the 45 minute (or so) journey down to winner shack Ilkeston-with the Salisbury exile passing us at ChesVegas. We sat on the platform for around half an hour until 158788 arrived heading to Norwich. I asked the guard for permission to board (due to my Northern ticket) which was happily granted-my friend had an any TOC permitted ticket so he was fine.
The service was a busy single 158, with a few standees-however most of us could have probably found seats had we really tried. Arrival into Nottingham was punctual around 10 minutes later. We had a bit of time to kill so, after sourcing our tickets from the ticket office, we went to the Tesco Express outside and recharged our devices in the waiting room. We headed for the 12:45 SkegVegas train, formed of dud 156404 which we would take to Radcliffe. The guard made us aware that the train didn’t stop at Elton and Orston, which we obviously knew.
We had a 3 hour fester at Radcliffe-which went surprisingly quickly actually! Radcliffe turned out to be a nice little village-seemingly far more populated than the train service would lead you to believe! The free public loo was appreciated as well! A couple of other passengers joined us, looking rather confused-as they were expecting ticket buying facilities. A fairly busy, and dud 156411 arrived to take us two stops down the line to Aslockton. From here, we would have to walk to Elton and Orston-approximately 1.8 miles by rail, but 3 miles by road. We had 64 minutes to make the 58 minute walk. A word of warning-you find yourself walking down a grass verge at the side of the road for about 1 mile. The walk was pleasant enough-and we arrived at Elton and Orston with around 10 minutes to spare.
Dud 156470 arrived to take us to Bottesford, our final required station of the day. Two of my friends bailed at Elton and Orston, kindly making a rude gesture at us as the train approached. The guard looked amazed that four people were using the station-that’s for sure! We both went for a PNB and alighted at Bottesford-the least used station in Leicestershire. We were invited to change at Grantham by the guard-obviously we couldn’t travel from Elton and Orston to Nottingham direct, however as Grantham is a much easier shack to score than Bottesford, we politely declined the offer.
We had around 40 minutes at Bottesford-a nice sit down in the shelter was much appreciated! Quite a few people joined us to board dud 156497 to Nottingham, which wasn’t busy and we found an empty table with ease. The guard appeared and checked our tickets-passing a comment on the unusual origin! After Bingham, and the ticket had checked all tickets, he came back to us for a chat. He told us he was a basher and we had a good chat about shack scratching and rover tickets! He was a really nice guy, presumably a Boston guard?, as he said he wasn’t based at Nottingham. We said goodbye on the platform and we festered in the waiting room for 50 minutes, as we’d just missed the Northern service to Sheffield. Dud 158844 was busy in the front coach, but the rear coach was nearly empty. It was on this journey where things went a bit wrong...
We both got up after Dronfield for a PNB, and decided not to return to our seats, as we were practically in Sheffield. I would later come to regret that! Arrival into Sheffield was punctual and we had just over 20 minutes to kill. Another Supply raid was taken, and we boarded dud 142014 back across the Hope Valley on the 20:35 back to Piccadilly. Much like the previous train, the front coach was nearly empty-so we took a bench near the front of the carriage. The guard commenced a ticket check shortly after departure. Remember how I said I’d regret not going back to my seat? I’d left my tickets on the table! The guard asked for our tickets-my friend showed his, and as I was still looking for mine, he offered to return after Dore (as we were approaching). It was then when I realised my tickets were on the way to Leeds! The guard asked where I was travelling to-so I said Manchester, then Birchwood. He was, understandably, baffled why I hadn’t boarded the EMT 3 minutes earlier! I explained that I had a Northern complimentary ticket, and exactly where it was. I offered the fare but was told not to worry about it-plus another passenger said he’d seen me show a ticket to the guard on the Nottingham-Leeds train. The journey, very unusually, seemed to pass quickly. I thanked the guard again at Piccadilly, and he made sure I was ok getting back to Birchwood.
I boarded the 22:16 Preston service, formed of dud 185140 for a famous Occy Road leap, alighting very shortly later. I decided to wait for the 23:20 stopper, so I had about an hour to kill. Eventually,after my phone was fully charged, I boarded 142051+156472 for a nice bouncy ride home, which was busy, with several people standing after Deansgate-but not nearly as busy as the TPE looked. After sorting a brief interlock problem at Deansgate, we eventually thrashed away without further issues.
On the whole a very good day, with some annoying shacks cleared (but Aslockton and Elton and Orston not fully cleared thanks to my rules!). I’ve had this planned for a while, it was just actually getting round to doing it-plus tram 118 has been annoying me (and Kite159) as I’ve needed it for ages!
Shacks:4 (I’m counting Aslockton and Elton and Orston as half each)
Winners:1 (shocking luck as usual!)
