The van we hired was a VW.
That, I'm afraid, is the limit of my knowledge - vans are not something I know a lot about.
Anyway, 2018 has had an interesting start.
My time has been filled with work, illness, holiday and trains, meaning opportunities to visit the forum have been few and far between.
Now I have the chance to catch up; so, without further ado, here’s my first move of the year.
During the latter half of 2017 I’d spent much of my time either chasing 91s for mileage or visiting required shacks on Northern rovers.
This had been great fun, but it had meant London had been a bit neglected.
The end of the PEPs is in sight and I wanted to get a few more winners in before they make their final journeys to the scrapyard.
I decided to make my trip down in a different fashion this time.
Going from Low Moor has several advantages; firstly it’s only two miles from home, secondly parking is free and thirdly Grand Central’s fares are much more attractive than VTEC’s.
The downside is the absence of 91 haulage but I’m hopeful that I can still achieve my aim of getting each one for a thousand miles using North East rovers.
Thus, I boarded 180114 at my local shack for the first GC service of the day from Bradford.
The journey was uneventful until the train came to a stop in the platform at Hornsey.
Adjacent to us was an empty pair of 313s.
At the other London bound platform was a further pair.
This pair was full and standing; what’s more the doors were open and people had evidently got back off and were walking up and down, many on their phones.
This looked ominous.
The inevitable announcement came – the unit next to us had brought the wires down.
Luckily only the down slow was affected but it was still causing a lot of problems.
Everything coming North had to use the fasts, meaning Kings Cross was full.
Trains could only enter on a one-out, one-in basis.
We were in a queue.
Fortunately, the wait wasn’t too bad and a run that had been several minutes early became a fifteen late arrival.
It could have been much worse.
I made my way to Liverpool Street on the underground, aboard
21021.
I’d been here chasing 315s numerous times over the last couple of years; however I’d always been after the TfL examples as I figured they were the most at risk ones what with their replacements already starting to appear.
Now I wanted to improve my London Overground figures.
I needed half a dozen of the seventeen they operate.
In addition, there were two mileage requirements.
As usual, a couple of new stations and some winning 317s wouldn’t go amiss.
It was winning start as
315812 was sat in the platform waiting for me, which was very obliging of it.
Not only that; the next departure was a pair which had a requirement and a low mileage unit on it.
315812 was taken as far as Hackney Downs, under ten miles but I planned to catch up with it again later.
My next targets were following so closely that I could see them arriving as I got off.
315812 was on a Cheshunt service, so was in platform 4 at Hackney.
315804 and
315813 were going to Chingford, which means platform 2 – they had no need to wait for 315812 to get going.
I, on the other hand, did have to get going and only just made it to platform 2 before the doors closed.
By the time I got to Chingford 315804 was over the ten-mile mark, but 813, like 812 before it, remained below that figure.
I had hoped to simply do the pair back out but alas they were ecs to the sidings.
Still, a least it was in the book.
315803 was my traction away from Chingford.
On my way out I’d spotted another wanted unit and a look on RTT and shown that I could make it with another visit to Hackney Downs, so that was where I alighted.
EMU 315803_2018.01.12_Hackney Downs by
Phil Wood, on Flickr
Sure enough
315805 arrived and I was on my way to Cheshunt.
Winner from earlier, but still wanted for a few more miles, 315812, hadn’t been forgotten.
I knew what it was working and that I could make it at Liverpool St if I did a fast service straight back.
315805 was safely ensconced in the ten-mile club, so no worries about having to do that again.
My ride back South was a pair of 317s, happily containing a winner, former Kings Cross stalwart
317340.
Less happily, the other unit was dud 317508.
I had just under half an hour to purchase supplies before I left Liverpool Street for the second time today aboard 315812.
Mileage goal accomplished I left it at Edmonton Green.
Once again, I had spotted something juicy and used RTT to establish a plan.
The fourth new 315 of the day was
315806.
This was following 812, so as soon as that had broached ten miles I got off.
Quarter of an hour later my LO 315 needs list fell to just two outright and two for mileage.
315806 was taken for the five and a bit miles to Cheshunt then all the way back to Liverpool Street.
EMU 315806_2018.01.12_Cheshunt by
Phil Wood, on Flickr
I’d enjoyed good fortune up until now and that continued as the train waiting to depart from the adjacent platform when 315806 pulled in was formed of two of the four I wanted, which was nice.
I stepped off 806 and straight onto
315808.
315807 was its companion and by the time the train reached Cheshunt both were well over ten miles.
315809 was now the only one I needed but I’d seen neither hide nor hair of it all day, so I decided now was the time to do some shack scratching.
315807 and 315808 were therefore taken back from Cheshunt to
Cambridge Heath
My good luck continued as it was the pair from this morning, 315804 and 315813, that I dropped on here.
It was possible to get 315813 over ten miles and do it to a winning shack, so that’s what I did.
White Hart Lane being the station in question.
Rather conveniently, it was a dud pair of 317s that were next, 317714 and 317888.
Why convenient?
Because it meant I could have a short run to another new station,
London Fields.
I was now down to three required stations on the Overground lines out of Liverpool Street and my plan was to get them in.
That changed, however, when
317709 and
317719 arrived.
I’m not daft enough to reject the opportunity of clearing them for ten miles, so did them first to the end of their run at Enfield Town, then back to Liverpool St as my day was coming to an end.
To ensure I ridden in both units I sat in 709 out and 719 back.
All that remained was for me to return home.
21398 was my underground ride.
Although I’ve had all the 180s, I still need numerous coaches from the ones that have recently transferred to GC from GWR.
Naturally I was hoping for one of these.
In keeping with the rest of the day my luck was in and it was 180102 that gave me a lift back to Yorkshire.
All in all, a very good day, leaving me just the one LO 315 to get, meaning I need four in total, plus two more for mileage.
None of the TfL ones that I need have been stored yet, so I might be able to get one or two more before they finally go.
Three winning 317s and the same number of new stations helped make it a most productive move.
.
Blackpool Tram 002_2017.12.30_1_North Pier
Blackpool Tram 015_2017.12.30_2_Waterloo Road
Blackpool Tram 006_2017.12.30_2_Pleasant Street_& 004
68013_2018.01.25_2_Solihull
DMU 172339_2018.01.25_2_Acocks Green
DMU 165010_2018.01.25_2_Small Heath
EMU 365510_2018.01.29_3_Kings Cross
EMU 365507_2018.01.31_1_Biggleswade_& 365522
EMU 313060_2018.01.31_2_Crews Hill_& 313134
EMU 313042_2018.01.31_Enfield Chase