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55013's Contemporary Trip Reports

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47403

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Geordie Republic of Gateshead
Another great read with obligatory excellent pics. I've still yet to do the cats on the Cumbrian Coast. Never had the time to get over sadly.
Nice to see Haltwhistle, I haven't stood on that platform for years, I've stood on every platform of the shacks along the Tyne Valley, simply chasing the locos on DMU replacements or drags. This isn't my photo but this was a type of move(was actually on this one), I'd or my mates n I would've done to Haltwhistle or Bardon Mill for another loco coming back.
20171008_190537.jpg
Well I say all, only metro centre hasn't had me climbing on or off a loco hauled diagram. Not likely to happen nowadays, everything's changed since then, if a unit failed, theyd send a loco.to drag it, then the depot at the other end would fix it. Now they just cancel it. This is as about as exciting as it gets on the Tyne Valley, Scotrail 156s instead of Northern 156s or bouncing bombs(142s).
20180515_201528.jpg
My tip for you shack scratchers, if your gonna do the shacks on the Tyne Valley, make an effort to go to The Boat house pub right next to Wylam Station its a fine hostelry with many guest ales to erm suffer<:D
 
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Graham H

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An excellent second part there, although I noticed a couple of things:

It's Seaford, not Seaforth as you mention just above the Bishopstone photo (gorgeous shot!), it's a long way to Merseyside for the 313! ;)

You also apparently scored 313219 twice that afternoon!

So how does one obtain one of the best value tickets in the world now?

Possibly old news but having been unable to find the Southern day save for a couple of years I just idly googled having just read this and it seems its back but only available online although there is an option to pick it up at a station machine. Good news and relatively good value. Valid after 10am week days and some restrictions on coming out of London in the peak time too. Only valid in Southern services but apart from the Brighton line theres precious little else other than Southern services anyway (yes FGW does run a couple, SWT shares Southampton to Portsmouth and no doubt the pedants will mention the new cross London Thameslink service that reaches Littlehampton). Couldn't find a map to confirm the area covered and price is now £19.50
 

Graham H

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Possibly old news but having been unable to find the Southern day save for a couple of years I just idly googled having just read this and it seems its back but only available online although there is an option to pick it up at a station machine. Good news and relatively good value. Valid after 10am week days and some restrictions on coming out of London in the peak time too. Only valid in Southern services but apart from the Brighton line theres precious little else other than Southern services anyway (yes FGW does run a couple, SWT shares Southampton to Portsmouth and no doubt the pedants will mention the new cross London Thameslink service that reaches Littlehampton). Couldn't find a map to confirm the area covered and price is now £19.50

and just to add a little the Southern site also says Not between 16:15 and 19:15 Monday to Friday when boarding trains from East Croydon, London stations (Victoria, London Bridge and Clapham Junction). A previous (now closed in 2015) forum discussion queried if the 'From' should be 'At' as how would a non enthusiast punter be reasonably expected to know (or indeed care) whether a service at, say, Barnham had come from one of the mentioned stations as opposed to Brighton and in any case by the time these peak trains get that far south they are no longer busy anyway. In theory using my example, catching the 20:28 (19:05 from Vic) from Barnham westward is not permitted but the earlier 20:18 would be OK as its from Brighton. Not sure why East Croydon gets a mention unless its to reduce travel on the services using the West London route via Kensington Olympia. In fact my 19:05 ex Vic example leaves East Croydon after that 19:15 restriction so just adds to the potential ambiguity/confusion potential. Apologies for hijacking the thread but there doesn't seem to be one still open for the Day Save. Nice to know its back though.
 

Kite159

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Possibly old news but having been unable to find the Southern day save for a couple of years I just idly googled having just read this and it seems its back but only available online although there is an option to pick it up at a station machine. Good news and relatively good value. Valid after 10am week days and some restrictions on coming out of London in the peak time too. Only valid in Southern services but apart from the Brighton line theres precious little else other than Southern services anyway (yes FGW does run a couple, SWT shares Southampton to Portsmouth and no doubt the pedants will mention the new cross London Thameslink service that reaches Littlehampton). Couldn't find a map to confirm the area covered and price is now £19.50

The biggest gap on the Brighton Main Line appears to be Redhill towards Gatwick as the majority of those services are Thameslink, most of the Southern services bypass Redhill
 

Cowley

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Thanks.

I've a bit of a backlog to get through, so I might as well crack on with it.

The week after my trip to the industrial surrounds of Stanlow I was off to more visually pleasing climes.
I’d read earlier in the week that 68017 had been replaced on the Cumbrian coast.
Not only was the new loco required, it was once again a machine that isn’t destined for TPE.
That meant that it was at the very top of my vast needs list.

As usual; I wanted to get some new stations in, so decided on doing something a bit different to my last 68 chasing move.
I left home at 05.30.

The Settle & Carlisle line is one that I’ve done many times before, however most of the stations remained unvisited.
I’d fancied reducing my needs list for some time but never got around to it before today.
The plan was to rope a few in before getting the appropriate loco action.
It certainly helped that the weather was glorious.

My first unit of the day, formed of 153328 and 158906, was already stood in the platform when I pulled into the car park twenty minutes before its booked departure.
The service in question was the 07.14 to Leeds and the station was Ribblehead.
My run on the 153/158 combo was brief as I left them just five minutes after departure, at Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

158817 arrived just four minutes later and I was on my way to what became my favourite station visit of the day.
The idyllic surrounds of Garsdale saw my presence for just shy of an hour and a quarter.

I spent the time quietly sitting outside the station, observing and listening to the wildlife.
The (non-railway) highlight of the day being watching a red squirrel going about its business just thirty feet from where I was sitting. As he/she was scratching at the ground a cuckoo could be heard a few trees away.
Wonderful.

Red Squirrel_Garsdale_05.05.18_6 by Ruth Wood, on Flickr

All too soon other people began to arrive, making noise and causing the creatures to vanish.

Then it was back to railway matters with 158850 to Dent.
I had a lengthy wait here, in the event it was an hour and twenty minutes as the Carlisle train was running ten late.
Hoping for similar sights to the ones I’d experienced at Garsdale, I wondered away from the station.

The view down the valley is breath-taking but the highlight in terms of wildlife was not quite up there with a red squirrel.
It was a hare that was sat in the middle of the road when I walked around the corner.
Sadly, my sudden appearance frightened it and it bolted down the road and out of sight.

The reason the train was late was, according to the guard, simply the number of people squeezed on board.
It was 158906 & 153328 from earlier but, unlike then when I had been the only person on board, it was wedged when it reached Dent.
Luckily for me easily a couple of hundred assorted ramblers, boy scouts and other folk got off as I was getting on.
It was still fairly full; it must have been purgatory for people before the mass exodus.

My S & C shack scratching was now done for the day.
Some time was clawed back on the journey and Carlisle was reached just two late.
This was a relief as I only had twenty minutes before my train up the coast.

37402 was the beast pushing the 11.56 Barrow service.
An hour of 37 thrash was enjoyed before I bailed at new station number five, Harrington, home of the famous hump.

37402_2018.05.05_2_Harrington by Phil Wood, on Flickr

The loco I’d set out to get arrived bang on time twenty five minutes later.
This was 68003 and an enjoyable run was had back to Carlisle.

68003_2018.05.05_8_Carlisle by Phil Wood, on Flickr

I now had a choice.
68004 could be done to new shack Dalston or I could wait a few minutes for a Scotrail 156 that would be working a Newcastle service.
This could also be taken to a new station and might be on my needs list.
I decided that, as the Dalston leap may well feature on a future move with my mate 45135, I would go for the possible winner 156.

Unfortunately, 156514 was already cleared for everything.
It did, however, take me to the fine station at Haltwhistle.
Another unit already dud for everything, 156426, took me back to Carlisle.

DMU 156426_2018.05.05_Haltwhistle by Phil Wood, on Flickr


158817 was my last unit of the day, carrying me the 60 miles from Carlisle to my car at Ribblehead.
In a reversal of the situation at Dent earlier, as I left a mass of people squeezed on board.
I was glad to be off :)

Home was reached by 18.00.
Another very enjoyable day out had been completed
What a superb day out.
I’ve been really craving spending a year living up north around Manchester or somewhere nearby, just to do a few days like that.
Love the picture of the Red Squirrel too, I’m no animal expert but seeing that and also a Hare is a wonderful thing.
 

55013

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Thanks chaps.

A few comments;

47403 - I need 31200, so I'm jealous of that. The stations will be visited but the traction you had will be forever required.

Graham H- Thanks for the Southern Daysave update; I'd not really given one much thought, but I do still need two 313/2s, so a revisit needs to be undertaken.

Cowley - I love wildlife spotting. Rather than rush around trying to get loads of shacks in on a single visit I often prefer to spend time just sitting by myself, listening to the birds, looking at the local flowers and watching for various creatures.
It's most relaxing.
I managed a nice bit of flora and fauna observing yesterday - I did the "Diesel and Beer" event at the Worth Valley.
Although I was sat on the train; I managed to see a couple of deer, a Goldfinch and my favourite butterfly species -the Orange Tip.
A colourful array of lineside flowers added to a great day that I'll cover in more depth eventually.
 
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Cowley

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Really nice. I’m finding that it’s something I’m more and more interested in as I get older. There’s lots to learn re birds etc...
 

55013

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Me too; the more aged I become the more I notice the pleasant things around me.
I don't think I'll ever be a wildlife anorak or have a "needs list" but my Collins Complete Guide to British Wildlife is a handy tome to carry around.

What's that?
Trains?
Oh, OK.

A week on from my S & C adventure and I was on the rails once more.
Since the small amount of Merseyrail action I’d enjoyed a few weeks before I had been contemplating my relatively low figures for that area.
Most of the 507s and 508s had been had but many were low mileage and I needed stations the length and breadth of the network.

No long drive for me today; the move began at Low Moor with 144010 on the 07.10 service to Hebden Bridge.

Manchester Victoria was reached on 142070, which was paired with 158842.
142070 joined the hundred-mile club en-route.

The leg to Liverpool was on 185108.

Shortly after my Daysave ticket was purchased I was down to the depths of Lime Street.
The few visits that I’ve made to this area in the last couple of years have tended to focus on the Wirral Line.
Today I wanted to have a go at the Northern Line.
I’d done a few of the stations between Liverpool and Southport when Mrs 13 and I had holidayed in the area in 2014.
A few remained, as did all except Kirkdale on the Ormskirk and Kirkby branches.

The first unit was a low mileage one, 507019.
It remains under ten miles, though, as I only took it from Lime Street to Central in order to gain access to the Northern Line.

A nice winner was next.
508104 was on a Kirkby service.
Naturally that’s were I went as well.

EMU 508104_2018.05.12_1_Kirkby by Phil Wood, on Flickr

The same unit then took me back as far as Rice Lane.
This not only gave me a new station but ensured it had been taken for over ten miles.
Only one station on the short branch now remained; obviously that would be my next trip and it was dud for everything 507008 that took me there.

EMU 507008_2018.05.12_2_Fazakerley by Phil Wood, on Flickr

I hung about at Fazakerley until 507008 returned.
The intention now was the four remaining stations on the line towards Southport.
507008 was left at Sandhills.

Mileage requirement 507002 soon arrived and whisked me to Blundellsands & Crosby.
When I got off it, 507002 was safely ensconced as the newest member of the ten-mile club.

Bootle New Strand was my next new station.
508114 took me there.

As I stepped off 508114 I spotted a required 508 leaving.
A plan was devised to get it in the book.
More new stations could be visited before I picked it up on its way back from Southport.

Freshfield was the first of these, thanks to a ride on 507015.
This 507 was another low mileage one; the ten mile mark being reached shortly before I got off.

507002 then reappeared to take me back towards Liverpool, but only as far as Hall Road.

Getting Hall Road in the book mean that I’d now cleared all the stations between Liverpool Central and Southport inclusive.
With the Kirkby branch having been roped in earlier, only the Ormskirk line remained for his part of the network.
My plan now was to meet my required 508, do that to Central, then start on that bit.

507009 was my chariot from Hall Road to Hillside.

EMU 507009_2018.05.12_1_Hall Road by Phil Wood, on Flickr

As expected, it was 508136 that took me from there to Liverpool Central.

Here things went a bit pear-shaped.
There was an announcement telling Ormskirk passengers to get on the next Southport service and change at Sandhills.
This was dud for the day 507015 and was wedged with a full complement of passengers for both lines.
I was squeezed into a corner of the vestibule for the, thankfully short, run.

Unfortunately, most of the people on board seemed to be for Ormskirk as there was a mass exodus at Sandhills.
The unit that was doing the deed had evidently been terminate short and was stood in the headshunt to the South of the station.

When it pulled in it was dud for everything and as it rapidly filled up with disgruntled punters I decided enough was enough; the Ormskirk line would wait for another day.
Apart from anything else, I will have to return for Maghull North when that opens; so I might as well do the whole lot then.
I decided to head home early.

508114 took me to Moorfields before low mileage 507012 proved to be my last Merseyrail electric of the day.
507012 stood at 2.10 miles prior to this.
The 47 chains to Lime Street did little to improve that situation.

As always, I had a plan lined up for getting home.
However; I was heading back earlier than intended which meant having to see what was available.
This proved to be 319364 on a Manchester Victoria service and was taken throughout.

The first service towards Bradford was the same unit I’d had coming over in the morning, 142070.
This was a Leeds via Brighouse train, so I bailed at Hebden Bridge to wait a few minutes for the following one from Preston.
158755 did this.

I knew that if I bailed at Halifax I would have a forty-minute wait for the hourly Low Moor train.
Thus, the fateful decision to stay on to Interchange and double back on myself was made.
As the train approached Halifax I checked on RTT, the train from Selby was running a few minutes late but I knew it was booked a few minutes in Leeds so should be OK.
Shortly after whizzing through Low Moor, passing my car in the car park, I checked RTT again.
The Selby – Huddersfield had been terminated at Leeds due to a train fault!
Blast.

My options now were limited.
Either I waited at Interchange for over an hour or I caught a bus.
One to Low Moor was considered but the route is long and winding and takes much longer than I would have liked.
Therefore, it was one home.
I had to cadge a lift from Mrs 13 in order to go and pick my car up later that evening.

All in all, not a bad day with a couple of winners, some mileage requirements and a hatful of shacks.
 
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55013

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The move following my Merseyrail trip was mine and 45135’s annual pilgrimage to the Severn Valley Railway Diesel Gala.

As usual there was a myriad of locos on show and our problem was deciding what to do and what we had to forego.

It may or may not have been possible to get everything by going very early and spending all day doing Kidderminster to Bewdley leaps; however, we prefer to get longer runs on fewer locos.

For us, red penning was top of the list, after that it was a case of getting a couple of runs in on our favourite types and fitting other machines in around them.
This time there were two locos that could be scored; in addition a Deltic, a Peak and a few 50s would fill the day nicely.

45135 drove and we arrived at Kidderminster in time to get fictitious liveried 50031.
This was obligatory because the visiting 66 was only doing one turn and it was an early run from Bridgnorth.

50031_2018.05.18_2_Kidderminster by Phil Wood, on Flickr

We could make a cross platform leap at Bewdley off the 50 and that’s what we did.
Winner number one, 66726 was in the book.

Here it is in the depot later:

66726_2018.05.18_2_Kidderminster by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Our second requirement was already on the back of this rake as it had worked the First Kidderminster – Bewdley of the day.
We were expecting it to be wedged so made sure we grabbed a bay in the front coach as soon as the train had emptied out at Kidderminster.
We then took it in turns to go and get some snaps of the loco at the front.
I’m sure it comes as no surprise when I say this was 88010.
88003 had been disappointingly quiet when we had done it last year.
The gen then was that it wasn’t well, so we were hoping for something better this time around.
It was better; just.
I absolutely love 68s, but I’m afraid their cousins the 88s just don’t cut it for me in the thrash department.

Once at Bewdley we had a painful choice.
We both really like Westerns and D1015 was on the next Kiddy working.

New & Old:
88010_2018.05.18_10_Bewdley_&amp; D1015 by Phil Wood, on Flickr

The problem, however, was that would get us into the dreaded Bewdley leap cycle that we wanted to avoid.
33108 is a very nice loco, although not quite up there with the Western, and was doing the next train to Bridgnorth.
The Crompton won the day.
We took this to the end of the line where be crossed over for a full line run behind 55019.


55019_2018.05.18_Bridgnorth by Phil Wood, on Flickr

50s are my second favourite class so I wasn’t too perturbed that it was 50035 on our next train.
Ark Royal was taken to Highley before we finished our day with a run back to Kidderminster on 45041.
The Peak was fanning like a good ‘un and made a splendid noise.

45041_2018.05.18_3_Kidderminster by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Once back it Kidderminster it was a case of sticking with tradition and visiting the chip shop across the road for some tea before we embarked on the long drive home.

Another excellent gala had been enjoyed.
 

55013

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Yesterday, Saturday the 26th of May, provided me with an opportunity to do a move I’ve fancied for a long time.
My wife was busy all day, it was another strike day on Northern and the KWVR were having one of their regular “Diesel & Beer” days with the loco that was top of my list for such an event.
Thus, the planets were perfectly aligned.
The loco in question was 25059 and it was due to make six round trips, starting at Oxenhope at 09.00.
I love 25s, a fact that is demonstrated by my mileage on 25059.
Prior to this move I was already over three figures and I’ve only ever had it on this 4-and-a-half-mile long line.
That’s a lot of runs.
It’s never enough, though :)
Like the line itself, this write up isn’t lengthy; there’s nothing much to report.
Five splendid round trips were enjoyed; with some excellent thrash from the loco and some lovely views of nature at its best.
Sadly, run number six didn’t happen as the loco, which had performed impeccably up to then, failed whilst running round at Oxenhope after trip number five.
The last trip was cancelled and I was home in time for tea.

Some shots:

Prior to the first trip:
25059_2018.05.26_01_Oxenhope by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Climbing out of Keighley:
25059_2018.05.26_06_Keighley by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Running round at Keighley later in the day:
25059_2018.05.26_09_Keighley by Phil Wood, on Flickr
 

507021

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Chester
Three excellent reports, '013.

I still need three Merseyrail shacks, including Maghull North. I'm hoping to visit them soon. :)
 

xotGD

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Yesterday, Saturday the 26th of May, provided me with an opportunity to do a move I’ve fancied for a long time.
My wife was busy all day, it was another strike day on Northern and the KWVR were having one of their regular “Diesel & Beer” days with the loco that was top of my list for such an event.
Thus, the planets were perfectly aligned.
The loco in question was 25059 and it was due to make six round trips, starting at Oxenhope at 09.00.
I love 25s, a fact that is demonstrated by my mileage on 25059.
Prior to this move I was already over three figures and I’ve only ever had it on this 4-and-a-half-mile long line.
That’s a lot of runs.
It’s never enough, though :)
Like the line itself, this write up isn’t lengthy; there’s nothing much to report.
Five splendid round trips were enjoyed; with some excellent thrash from the loco and some lovely views of nature at its best.
Sadly, run number six didn’t happen as the loco, which had performed impeccably up to then, failed whilst running round at Oxenhope after trip number five.
The last trip was cancelled and I was home in time for tea.

Some shots:

Prior to the first trip:
25059_2018.05.26_01_Oxenhope by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Climbing out of Keighley:
25059_2018.05.26_06_Keighley by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Running round at Keighley later in the day:
25059_2018.05.26_09_Keighley by Phil Wood, on Flickr
I was also out for the rat yesterday. A very enjoyable day.

Just a pity that the Ale failed to produce!
 

Cowley

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Love the 25. I seem to remember that one being one of the last of the early body shaped ones still on the mainline in 1987? Still looks like it could be parked up at Crewe or somewhere.
Re wildlife etc, this happened today and I thought you’d appreciate it.

My neighbour (Mark) turned up carrying the paddles for his dingy just now - he’s got a children’s dingy that he stuffs into his rucksack when he goes out.
He was floating around in the Exeter canal today drinking a pint outside the Double Locks Inn and watching a load of seagulls viciously attacking a hawk, well the hawk took quite a bit of it and then fell out of the sky into the water next to Mark, who then managed to fish it out with his paddle and put it on the side of the dingy.

83E948E4-396D-4ABE-87D8-EE05DF53F85E.jpeg
Here it is looking a bit freaked.
The red reflection underneath it makes it look a little bit like a phoenix. :lol:

He managed to get back and put it on the land where it flew off after a few minutes.
Unfortunately it’s talons had pierced the dingy and (the rather accident prone) Mark was only able to save his pint. And not the child’s dingy, or himself. ;)
 

47403

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Some very good trips out there. I must get my backside into gear and do the mersey rail again. In fact at least something a but rail related would be nice.
I wanted to.do the SVR Gala and had pencilled in some hols but before anything came to fruition, I got sent on a 4 day course from work, from the Tuesday to the Friday of that week and seen as i had my daughter at the weekend, my rough plan was put in the file marked B(in). I may try for the 50 fest later in the year. I've seen videos of the gala on youtube and it certainly looked a good gala again. Double warships looked a good move and 47712 looked resplendent in its jock rail jarmies.
25059 looks in good nick, shame about the failure later on in the day mind. 25059 was one of the few rats and I had drag a dead DMU (101)from Carlisle-Newcastle. It was a good little thrasher then. So i can easily say, there's a bit of move envy and certainly a move id have loved to been on too.
Though I wasn't on this one and this is not my photo, this pic of 25051 on a similar move to Newcastle albeit about 3 years before, was not uncommon at Newcastle Central.
2018-06-02-09-37-02.jpg
The 101s reliability issues saw them struggling big time. Seemed at least 1 would fail every couple of days and would be dragged round by a loco for the rest of the day, much to all the local bashers delight.
That hawk does look at bit bewildered Nick, I was laughing, thinking about your mate scrambling to save his pint, whilst abandoning ship.
 
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55013

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Thanks lads.

xotGD - I was pleased to see a nice turn-out.
The 25 seemed to me to be at least as busy as the steam service.
I noticed the lack of beer on the rat, although there seemed to be no such issue on the other train.
A diesel OR beer event :)

Cowley - I love that photo, what a magnificent bird.
Even bedraggled it looks dignified.
Kudus to your mate for saving it; I imagine it could have given him a nasty bite in its panic.

47403 - I only managed a couple of 25s in service, so I'm jealous of those you had.
 

55013

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I've been very busy lately.
Happily a lot of my time has been filled with train travel and I've a bit to catch up on, so here goes.

My wife is a compassionate soul.
Her best friend’s daughter is going through some teenage angst and has been using Facebook to have some discussions with Mrs 13 of the “don’t tell my mum” variety.
As she’s been struggling and looks to my wife for support she readily agreed when she was invited to spend a weekend at our house.
Did I want to be around when a stressed-out teenage girl was getting life lessons and pep-talks from my wife?
Hell no.

Thus; even though I already had my annual multi-day trip booked for June, I found myself heading to the capital for three days of train-based fun.
I decided to continue where I’d left off after our short break in April and booked a couple of nights in the Slough Travelodge.

Friday the 1st of June was my start date.
As it was a fairly late plan there were no cheap seats left on my train of choice, so I was obliged to go later, on the 09.16 from Leeds.
Had it been a single day out I would have forked out the extra cash and gone earlier, but as I didn’t need to be heading home in the evening I saw no problem in leaving a couple of hours later.

This proved to have two advantages, firstly I didn’t need to drive to Wakefield and leave my car in the far-from-cheap station car-park for three days and secondly, it turned out that the line was closed between Doncaster and Wakefield on Sunday the 3rd which would mean getting the car back would be a chore.

My day began with a bus ride into Bradford.
I didn’t fancy cramming myself into a two car DMU from Interchange so strolled over to Forster Square and began the move on 333012.

Leeds was reached in plenty of time for me to wander down and photograph the loco I would be having as it arrived on the previous journey.
As usual, I was hoping for a sub-thousand mile 91.
It wasn’t; in fact, it wasn’t a 91 at all – for the second time this year I was going to be pushed to London by 90029.

90029_2018.06.01_Leeds by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Once at Kings Cross it was straight down to the Circle Line and 21508 to Paddington.
There were a few targets for me on this move.
The inevitable shack scratching would feature; I wanted some 387s, especially the twelve that are due to be converted into Heathrow Express units and I wanted to bite the bullet and see if I could get some winning HSTs.
Although not a huge fan of them I've come to appreciate them a bit more over the years.
Somehow, I’d managed to have all bar thirteen of the power cars still in existence.
However, that number was bumped up to thirty-eight when I factor in ones I had before I could be bothered recording the details of my runs on them.
For geographical reasons many of my requirements are FGW machines.

Before all that, though, I still needed two 332s.
I strolled over the footbridge from the Hammersmith & City Line platforms and descended onto the Heathrow Express ones.
Right before my eyes stood one of my two wanted units.
Luckily, it had only just arrived.
This gave me time to re-mortgage my house, sell a kidney and buy a return ticket to the airport.
332009 was my first mainline winner of the move.

Just before the train entered the tunnels I spotted a pair emerging.
Leading was 332002 and the rear one was…..my last one!
I was most grateful for the on-board wi-fi as I perused RTT and worked out when it would be back at Heathrow Central.
That was where I left 332009, which had been paired with 332004.

I had found that I had exactly the right amount of time to have a round trip to Terminal 4.
As I still needed one 360/2 this was useful.
Especially when it turned out to be the one I wanted, 360202.
Nice.
Three of them, obviously including 360202, remain under ten miles but at least they’re all in the book.
Who knows what future is in store for them?
Having just cleared a sub-class it was now time to clear a class.

My last 332 also happened to be the doyen of the fleet, 332001.
I took this and 332002 to Terminal 5 then back to Paddington.

Job done:
EMU 332001_2018.06.01_Paddington by Phil Wood, on Flickr


Once at Paddington I went and purchased my 3-day Thames Rover.
As I understand it, the plan is for the first dozen FGW 387s (130 – 141) to be refitted with the necessary gubbins to take over from the 332s.
Several were already dud but some of those were below ten miles.
My luck remained good as the first 387 departure featured 387135.
This was working with 387149 and I took them to my first winning station, Goring & Streatley.
It was approaching Friday evening rush hour and Paddington was a place I wanted to be well away from when that kicked off.

387167 and dud 387153 were next, to Iver.

EMU 387153_2018.06.01_Iver by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Another unrequired unit, 387171 was on the rear of my train away from Iver.
Luckily, it had winner 387158 for company.
These were taken through to Reading.
I hung around for an hour or so in the hope of a required HST showing up heading towards the capital.
None did.

I was now tired and hungry, I still had one more thing I wanted to do so decided to take a pair of winning 387s to Slough.
Reading was left on 387144 and 387172.

When passing through Slough earlier I had observed the “Harry and Meghan Central” shuttle and it was a low mileage unit.
A round trip to Windsor would see it over the ten-mile mark.
165112 was the unit in question and was duly roped in.
After that it was a visit to the adjacent Tesco for some grub then a walk to my hotel to check in, phone my wife and have an early night.

I was more than pleased with day one, I went to sleep thinking about what day two might bring and what I wanted to achieve.
 
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Kite159

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Congrats on clearing the 332s, something which I (probably) will never get the honour of firing the CCC for due to 332014 being a Christmas Tree.

Nice bit of 387 based action as well :)
 

47403

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47403 - I only managed a couple of 25s in service, so I'm jealous of those you had.
No need to be jealous, I'm more than sure, you'd have had plenty I'd have loved to have roped in too. Wouldn't have minded a spin on 90029, been a while since I had a 90. 90019 was my last one, from Donny to Leeds. Talking of which, 90019 was actually allowed to bypass Leeds and made it to Newcastle last Sunday.

I wanted to bite the bullet and see if I could get some winning HSTs. Although not a huge fan of them I've come to appreciate them a bit more over the years.
Ditto, in the 80's and 90s, the zings were HATED, I dunno where the love for them suddenly appeared from? I actually prefer them now, to riding the blunts. My hatred of them really kicked in when they started replacing loco hauled turns on Summer Saturdays and the York-Plymouth turn, better stop writing this, I'm getting myself vexed again:{

This gave me time to re-mortgage my house, sell a kidney and buy a return ticket to the airport.
This had me creased. I'd heard it was expensive, obviously they weren't kidding

.Another cracking read, congrats on clearing the 332's and making inroads on the 387s, looking forward to the rest
 
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55013

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Thanks chaps.
The rest will have to wait, I'm afraid; mainly because I'm about to head up to bed and in the morning I head out for this years "official" multi-day move.
All being well I'll post part two next weekend :)
 

55013

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Well; I'm back from my break.
Now I can post the promised next instalment of an older adventure.
So here goes, part 2:

Saturday began with a fine breakfast and a visit to Tesco to make sure I had plenty of fluid to see me through the day.

Traction wise it was a winning start with two of the target twelve working together, 387137 and 387141.
These were done to Reading.
A pair that had been sampled the day before were next, 387153 & 387167.
Having travelled in 167 on Friday this was my chance to get a ride in 153.
I took them to Burnham

Winner 387173 followed.
This was working with mileage requirement 387132.
I rode in 387137 earlier so I wanted to do the same on 387141.
I’d looked on RTT and worked out I could meet them at Maidenhead, so that’s where I left 132 and 173.
Low mileage but I was hoping to pick them up again later.

The hoped for pair appeared and I was on board them as far as Taplow.

EMU 387137_2018.06.02_1_Taplow by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Reading was my next port of call; I reached there on double winners 387139 (another one of those wanted dozen in the bag) and 387143.

I still needed two stations on the Henley line; they were my next target.
The low mileage pair from earlier, 387132 and 387173, took me to Twyford.
This meant 132 was now over ten miles; 173 is still a bit short but that should be gettable for the foreseeable future.

Mileage requirement 165121 was working the branch today.
I took it as far as Shiplake.

DMU 165121_2018.06.02_2_Shiplake by Phil Wood, on Flickr

This is a pleasant station and I enjoyed my break here before the Turbo reappeared to whisk me back to Twyford.

Ordinarily I would have stayed on board to get the last station on the line done.
My priority, however, was those twelve Heathrow bound units.
With this in mind, I took a sabbatical from the Henley branch in order to do 387130 to Slough.
As a bonus, its companion was also a winner, 387152.

This was a linear move as the one behind also fitted the bill.
387131 was duly red-penned, working with dud 387145.
Ealing Broadway was where I took my leave of them.

Now it was back to Twyford, doing the moves I’d just done in reverse.
First, I went as far as Slough on 387143 & 387139; then I sat in 387152, still paired with 387130, to Twyford.

For the third time today; I boarded 165121.
This time I left it at Wargrave and that was the branch cleared.

After taking the 165 back to Twyford I headed to Reading on unrequired 387149 and 387135.
I still needed one of my priority units and it was waiting to work a London bound train.
This was 387138; naturally I took this, along with 387168, for a decent run, to Taplow.

I's good to know that I won't have to fork out for more Heathrow trips in future :)

The winners kept on coming, with 387150 the next to enter the haulage book.
Its compadre being dud 387164.
These were taken to Reading as I intended to hang around for a winning HST.

This didn’t happen because yet another required 387 put in an appearance.
387159 proved to be my last new member of the class today.
This was working with an unrequired sister, 387134.

Now I was determined to get a new HST in the book.
Power car 43093, in Old Oak Common Legends guise, wasn’t required but I took it anyway as I couldn’t see what was on the rear and I was fed up of waiting around at Slough.
I left this at Reading and observed the rear power car as being another dud, 43186.

Now it was time to fester for a bit.
A stream of HSTs came and went.
All dud.
During my sojourn I did manage to photograph 43172 “Harry Patch”, which was nice.

HST 43172_2018.06.02_2_Reading by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Eventually, I got my wish.
Unrequired 43158 was on the front but 43017 was proving power from the rear.

After that I decided to call it a day.
I was very pleased with my progress, with only two mileage requirements remaining from those first twelve.
Now to see what day three would bring.
 
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47403

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Top stuff again Mr 13. Plenty red pen action there, your certainly decimating those 387s, a winner zing and the Henley branch cleared too. Very productive day indeed. Looking forward to the rest
 

55013

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Thanks lads.
Here's part three.

My final day was Sunday the 3rd of June.
I was booked on a service from Kings Cross at 15.00 so had time to get a bit more done.

My main aim for today was the Marlow branch.
I’d done Marlow station when my wife and I had visit during April, but all the intermediate shacks were required.
Other stations could also be roped in, though.
Naturally, new units wouldn’t go amiss either.

No winning haulages on my first train, it was 387131 and 387145 that I took to Langley.
That was remedied with my next train, which was formed of double winners 387155 and 387151.
I originally intended to go for the branch on these but realised I would have a lengthy wait so stayed on them to Twyford in order to get them past ten miles.

I then made my way to Maidenhead on 387168 & 387138.
There should have been a DMU in the platform when I alighted from the electric units, but there wasn’t.
The PIS showed the next Marlow was cancelled due to a signal failure.
Blast.
The doors were still open on the 387s I‘d just got off, so a rapid re-boarding was made.
This time I was on them as far as West Drayton.

A look on RTT revealed that the next Marlow was also cancelled.
As it’s only an hourly service; I would have to get those stations another day as I was now out of time.
I decided to see if I could get another new HST power car in the book instead.
Duds 387134 & 387159 were my ride from West Drayton to Slough where I had a short wait before the next West-bound HST.

Unfortunately, there were no winning Trams for me today as the train was in the hands of 43097 and 43188.
Nevertheless, I took them to Reading.
I wasn’t done with winning units, though.
Earlier in the day I had spotted another required pair of 387s and worked out how to meet them after the HST.
For the third time today I got on 387138/387168, this time riding them from Reading to Twyford.
Here I met my final new pairing of the move, 387169 and 387157.

EMU 387157_2018.06.03_1_Reading by Phil Wood, on Flickr

I sat in the latter to Reading, then the former all the way to Paddington because it was time to head home.

Being a Sunday the Circle Line was closed for engineering work and I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get across London.
3454 took me to Oxford Circus on the Bakerloo Line.

I’m not that into LU sets and only do them when travelling between NR stations (Waterloo & City ex class 482s excepted), also I can only ever be bothered to record the set I actually go in.
This means that I haven’t had many, so it was a surprise when dud 11072 proved to be my Victoria Line ride to Kings Cross/St Pancras.

I had a while at Kings Cross and, like Barrowjack, I observed the Jurassic Park stuff, although I missed the beast that he photographed.
Instead I saw this:

T-Rex_2018.06.3_2_Kings Cross by Ruth Wood, on Flickr

Due to engineering work the line was closed between Doncaster and Wakefield.
This meant that Leeds services had to go via Hambleton curve and into Leeds from the East.
So they would all be HSTs
I was, as ever, in the hunt for sub thousand mile 91s.
Thus, I had booked on the 15.00 Kings Cross – Edinburgh as far as York.
Sadly, my hopes for a low mileage 91 were dashed as it was 91115 proving the traction.

Once at York I crossed over and boarded 158752 on a Preston service.
This was taken through to Bradford Interchange where Mrs 13 was waiting to collect me.

All-in-all a very good bonus weekend; with twenty-two winning 387s, one required HST, both the Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect units cleared and eight new stations visited.
All because of some teenage angst and my wife’s willingness to help out.
 
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55013

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A mere four days after returning from London I was back out, this time on my own doorstep.
When I saw the gen that the Scarborough Spa Express was to be hauled as far as York by a rather large freight engine I immediately booked a day off work.
The date was Thursday the 7th of June.

I made my way to Brighouse aboard 142018.
Here I met my mate Steve and we joined the hoards of cranks waiting to get some unusual haulage in.
West Coast had ensured a pay-on-the-day coach was available and for a fee of ten pounds a decent run could be had.

1Z25 arrived a few minutes early, giving plenty of time for those that had done it from Hebden Bridge to alight and all the people getting on to do so.

This was the cause of all the fuss:

70811_2018.06.07_1_Brighouse by Phil Wood, on Flickr

It was a very enjoyable run, with the loco making plenty of noise and getting up to a nice speed before we were halted by a signal check just short of Kirkgate.
As far as I know, this was the first ever passenger working of a Colas 70.
Steve and I took it through to Wakefield Kirkgate, where a huge number of folk were waiting to get on.
It had been full and standing from Brighouse in the POTD coach, so it must have been very uncomfortable after Wakey; the number of people who bailed was far exceeded by those getting on.

47804 was coupled, dead, inside the 70.

70811_2018.06.07_2_Wakefield Kirkgate by Phil Wood, on Flickr

After a few photos we walked up to Westgate and did 91113, sadly not a low mileage loco, to Leeds.
Here we parted company.

The return of the SSE was to be worked by a different loco, 70805, but my wife and I were busy that evening so I had to flag it.
45135 of this parish managed to cover the evening turn, although he missed 811 due to work.

I had taken a day off, so wanted to make the most of it.
I did a couple of local trips, including a low mileage 185, 185135, which joined the ten mile club when I took it from Leeds to Dewsbury.
Just 185139 to go now to have them all in that illustrious club.
I had seen a former Great Western 150 in the morning at Low Moor and calculated its workings for the day so I made sure I went home on it.
It was 150102 and by riding in 57102 it joined the ranks of those Northern units cleared for all coaches.
I was back home well before Mrs 13, so no loss of brownie points :)
June had gone swimmingly so far and I still had my big move of the month to come....
 

55013

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It was a good day to finish a very good move.
I was a bit peeved to miss the stations, but unlike missing traction at least I'm pretty sure that they'll still be in the same place on a future move :)
 

55013

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Once a year my wife and I take separate holidays.
She generally heads to her favourite spot in Bridlington and I go to my favourite spot - the railway.
We usual do this around June as that sits nicely between our April and September holidays.
This year the first day of my move was Monday the 11th of June.
I was heading to London and my targets were EMUs, EMUS and more EMUS.
Also, one or two new station visits would be nice.

I started at Wakefield Westgate and was booked on the Skipton to Kings Cross service.
As this goes a little later than my train of choice I had time, once I reached Wakefield in my car, to make my way to Leeds for it.

322485 was my first traction of the week and I was on the platform at Leeds in plenty of time to view my London service arriving from North Yorkshire.

It should come as no surprise when I say I was hoping for a low mileage 91.
Equally unsurprisingly, it wasn’t one.
91106 was today’s disappointment.

Once at the Cross I made my way over to St Pancras and headed downstairs for my first winner of the move.
This was 700149 and I used it to get to East Croydon.
I was going to be in the capital for four days; I had two nights booked at my favoured Croydon Central Travelodge and a third at a different one just outside the zones.

My aim was to fill my book with units that work on the former Southern Region.
The biggest attraction for me was a class of unit that I’d yet to experience.
Nearly new, but with an uncertain future; I had to get a few in.
These were the SWR class 707s and there was no way I would leave London without a few in the book.
Thus, I went from East Croydon to Victoria aboard 377415 and 377124.
I did this so that I could change from one set to other and then head back out to Clapham Junction.

Once I’d left the 377s I made my way over to the Windsor Line platforms and waited for my first 707.
It wasn’t a long wait.
707025 was the first member of the class in my book.

EMU 707025_2018.06.11_1_Waterloo by Phil Wood, on Flickr

I took it into Waterloo where I only had to stroll across the platform to get my second and third ones.
These were 707023 and 707022.
I went in the former as far winning shack number one, Hounslow.

Next up was 707014, on its own.
This was sampled as far as Vauxhall where I left it in order to re-join the pair from earlier, which I knew would be right behind.

On this occasion making sure I travelled in 022.
Four 707s rode in, three of them for over ten miles.
I was happy with my start.
The next couple of departures were 707014 and 22/23.

I had seen a few others about and had spent the journey on 14 working out a plan.
There was time to have a quick spin on the Waterloo and City Line for some 482 action.
I’d only had one recorded run before, when I’d done 482509/482510 a few months earlier.
There was some disappointment, therefore, when it was the same pairing that pulled into the platform shortly after I arrived.
On my previous visit I had sat in 509, so at least I now had the chance to ride in its conjoined twin.
There was no great hurry to get to Waterloo; so, I rejected another run on it and waited at Bank.

I had time to get a quick snap:
EMU 482509_2018.06.11_Bank by Phil Wood, on Flickr

At least I knew the next one would be a winner.
This time it was 482503 and 482504.

Once back at Waterloo I made my way back upstairs and an appointment with another pair of winning 707s.
These were 707029 and 707003.

Another new station beckoned, this time it was Whitton.
It was also time for a different class, one that I also had my eye on for this trip.
Required 458513, leading dud 458530, took me back to Waterloo.

Now it was back to the theme of the day.
Not only were 707030 and 707008 added to the day’s tally, they also provided me with my first domestic run from one of the former Eurostar platforms.

My first run on a 707 had been fairly short and I hadn’t forgotten it.
Now I had the chance to edge it a bit closer to membership of the ten-mile club.
Not only could 30 and 8 join that club, the swap from one set to the other could be done at another new station.
This was Barnes Bridge.
When 707025 arrived, I was somewhat surprised to see it had been joined by 707021, which was nice.

My idea now was to leave this set at Putney.
The intention was to meet 707003 and 707029 on their way back from Windsor.
The reason for this was that I wanted a ride in 003.
However, on this occasion my calculations were amiss, it was 458533 and 458520 that arrived to take me to Clapham Junction.

Here I met up once more with 707008 and 707030, for the same reason that I’d gone after 3 and 29.
This time my working out was accurate and I managed to get a seat on 707008.

It was now well into rush-hour and it was time for me to start my winding journey to the hotel.
I could get there via a new station, with a couple of winning units.
458522 and 458524 provided the traction and Hampton Wick was the destination.
455s 5920 and dud 5724 then enabled me to make the five-mile trip to Wimbledon.

EMU 455920_2018.06.11_Wimbledon by Phil Wood, on Flickr

After reading about how other contributors approach shack scratching I decided before I went to count how many stations I had only boarded or alighted at.

That number was just over fifty, so I’ve decided to reduce that total whenever possible.
Now I had the chance to get one off that list.

When I had done my first ever trip on Croydon Tramlink there had been work going on at Wimbledon, so I’d been forced to walk to Dundonald Road and pick up my first tram there.
I’d never revisited the stop; thus, I’d never alighted there.
That was put right with a quick trip out on 2535.

I crossed over and returned to Wimbledon on 2549.
I then did the same tram all the way to Wellesley Road, reflecting on a very successful day.
Only, I didn’t.

When 2549 arrived at Therapia Lane the driver announced that there were overhead wire problems and we would be terminating there.
The entire tram emptied and people milled about.
The PIS was saying there would be nothing Croydon bound for the foreseeable future.
What to do?
Many people made their way to a nearby bus stop.
Not me.
I looked on Google Maps.
Two miles to my hotel.
A walk it is, then.

I’ve done many scenic walks in my life.
Therapia Lane tram stop to Croydon Central Travelodge is not one of them.
Even the bit through Wandle Park was marred by a gang of youths with two of their number arguing furiously.

Once in the centre I went to Sainsbury’s for some supplies before going to the hotel, checking in, phoning my wife and having an early night.
 

47403

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Some more good reading there, I tried and failed to get a day off for the Colas 70 on the Scarboro Spa Express and for the other Day when 33207 was on. Up until the day before the Colas 70 was diagramed to work.it, i was unaware there was part fares to be had. If i'd known, i'd have participated long before, the 47s obviously being a major draw.

Four days in London, I'd imagine, will be a time to fill your boots. Certainly seems a lot of 707's out n about since i was last in the Capital.
 
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