55013's Contemporary Trip Reports

[55013]

I had two aims for Saturday, one involved 465s and the other trams, which would bookend the day.

As with my trips to the Nottingham network I intended to go for required tram shacks and hope that the units I needed would appear along the way.

After a hearty breakfast it was 2552 that I took for the short run to East Croydon.
Another dud, 2543, then took me to Sandilands.
This was on a New Addington service and that was a branch I was saving for later.
Winner 2555 was next, to Beckenham Road.

A short wait followed before the same tram returned and was taken to Birkbeck (Tramlink).
I observed that there was a required NR station adjacent to this stop.
The cogs in my head got to work and a scheme was hatched.
I still needed one stop on the Beckenham line, so it was 2562 to Avenue Road for 2545 back.

I strolled round to Birkbeck and after a short wait boarded 455827 for a run up to the end of the line at Beckenham Junction.

EMU 455827_2017.02.11_1_Birkbeck by Phil Wood, on Flickr

The same unit was then taken all the way to London Bridge as it was time to move on to my 465 hunt.
First up was dud 465189 leading winner 465013.
These were taken to a new station for me, Eden Park.
By now it was snowing quite heavily, although bizarrely it was much warmer than it had been over the previous couple of days.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow:

EMU 465013_2017.02.11_2_Eden Park_& 465189 by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Another pair consisting of a winner and a dud was next, 465152 and 465028.
These were taken back to London Bridge where I sensed a pattern developing as dud 465197 pulled in leading needed 465154.
I took these throughout to Hayes whilst I gave some though to what to do.

I now needed just a couple of shacks on the Hayes branch so decided to get them out of the way.
Surely the pattern of one unrequired and one required wouldn’t continue.
I left 465154 and 465197 at Ladywell.
I was proved right in my guess that my run of mixed pairings wouldn’t continue.
This time both were dud!

I need the vast majority of 465s, like the 321s earlier in the week.

I decided to do 465011 and 465190 anyway, to Hayes and back to my last required station on the branch, Lower Sydenham.
The next pairing was even worse as it was dud for the day 465152 leading 465028.
I took these to Clock House.
It was business as usual then as winner 465188 put me out of my misery.
The dud on the rear was 465173.
These were taken to Charing Cross.

Required 465238 was soon whisking me out of there, paired with dud, as if it would be anything else, 465040.
This pair were my ride as far as Abbey Wood.
Time was now marching on and I still had more tram goals in sight.

A winner on its own, 465177, then took me to Greenwich where I swapped to the DLR for triple winners 155, 129 and 104, which took me to Lewisham.

Wonder of wonders, a pair of winning 465s rolled into the platform going to where I wanted to go.
465023 and 465243 were the mythical beasts in question and they were taken through to Hayes then back as far as Elmers End to enable me to ride in both.

From Elmers End it was trams all the way.
I had never done the New Addington line before and all of my remaining required Tramlink stops were along that branch, so that’s where I was headed.
First up was 2532 from Elmers End to Sandilands.
2540 was next, taking me all the way to the end of the line at New Addington.

By now it was well after dark and the weather situation had improved.
It was still quite mild and the snow hadn't settled.
I had six stops still to get and wanted to get them all tonight.

2540 was taken back as far as Addington Village.
I bailed here because I had seen a requirement heading towards Croydon and figured out I shouldn’t have too long to wait for it coming back.
I was proved right as my fester amounted to just ten minutes before 2536 came into view.
This was done to King Henry’s Drive.
I had a bit of a wait here before 2536 reappeared.

This had no sooner left the stop than another one of my wants came past on its way to New Addington.
With this in mind I bailed at Coombe Lane and headed back as far as Gravel Hill on 2563.
Once again I had chosen the right spot as my wait was just three minutes.

2544 was the tram in question and I took this to my penultimate Tramlink stop, Lloyd Park
2553 had the honour of taking me to my final shack, Fieldway.

So that’s that. All of the tramlink stops done, the first tram network to attain that status.
All that remained this evening was for me to head back to my hotel.
2547 took me from Fieldway to East Croydon and then a West Croydon loop service, utilising 2545, was used to get me to Wellesley Road.

There were three trams lined up at East Croydon; but by the time I got my camera out and set up one of them had moved off.
I still like the shot, though:

Croydon Tram 2538_2017.02.11_East Croydon_& 2561 by Phil Wood, on Flickr

 

[noddy1878]

Another couple of good reports. Congrats on clearing the Tramlink stops. I've not done the Heathrow Express on a good proper run (due to the cost) so have only done them in the tunnels. Good photos by the way.

 

[55013]

Cheers.
The cost has always put me off the HEX as well, so when I saw a decent(ish) deal I thought it was a good time to bite the bullet and get a load of them out of the way.

 

[Cowley]

That was an enjoyable read 013, like the photos too, especially the futuristic looking one of the 360 at Heathrow, it almost looks like an artists impression.

 

[55013]

Thanks!

Sadly there's a distinct lack of decent photos to accompany this, the final part:

Sunday was really more of a half day than a full one but some scoring could still be done.
I still needed three trams, so I decided to have a look and see if any were out.
I didn’t have long to wait as the first one I got, from Wellesley Road, fitted the bill nicely.
My mileage aims for trams are somewhat less ambitious than with mainline units.
I just like to get them for over one mile.
So when I boarded 2548 I stayed on until I was sure I had achieved that goal.
This meant I left it at winning shack from yesterday Lloyd Park.

Croydon Tram 2548_2017.02.12_Lloyd Park by Phil Wood, on Flickr

This proved to be a bit of a mistake as I had a massive fourteen minute wait for one back to East Croydon.
I could have gone one or two stops further.
Anyway, it was 2546 that produced.
As I was aboard 2546 I spotted one of my last two units heading towards Beckenham Junction.
This couldn’t be allowed to get away and it wasn’t.
2555 was thus engaged to get me out as far as I dared, which was Addiscombe.
I could possibly have gone a bit further but I didn’t want to miss it.
My wait wasn’t too bad and I was rewarded with 2559.
This was on a West Croydon service so I stayed on round the loop and bailed at East Croydon.

Now it was onto the mainline.
I had time to kill to before I needed to head home so it was a trip to Victoria and back.
Winner 377610, leading unrequired 377615, took me there and 377420, with dud from Friday 377106, took me back.

My intend train to St Pancras was now forty minutes away so I didn’t want to risk another Victoria move.
I therefore took the opportunity to have another look at the trams.
I only needed one for haulage (2565) but there were three that had been had for less than a mile, so one of them would do almost as nicely.
Once again, my wait wasn’t too arduous before mileage requirement 2556 rolled in.
Luckily this was another West Croydon service, so it was a trip round the loop and I was back where I started fifteen minutes before my intended train.

The stagger across London took forty minutes but at least I had compensation in the form of a required haulage, 700115.

When I had arranged these few days away I booked the hotel first as I spotted a deal that was too good to pass up.
Normally I come back on the Saturday but the extra night was just too cheap to turn down.
The problem came when I looked at getting home.
I couldn’t find a cheap enough seat on any train from Kings Cross, or even from St Pancras.
My decision was made for me when a found a first class seat for £43 from Euston to Manchester.
It meant suffering a Pendolino but at less the half the cost of anything else I decided to do it as a one off.

The EMU in question turned out to be a winner, 390148 and the journey wasn’t too bad considering, although I would have preferred the 67 and 91 combination that the East Coast was offering (at the time of booking I didn’t know the 67s would be dragging all the way from Kings Cross to Peterborough and even if I had there was no way I could predict which services would be HSTs and which would be hauled).
Most of the way North was covered very quickly with 390148 getting as much as eight minutes ahead of schedule before having to wait time at Stoke.
I had a plus fourteen for a TPE at Piccadilly and didn’t yet have a ticket, so I was pleased with the rapid progress.

We arrived early at Macclesfield and waited time.
Then we waited a bit more.
Some three minutes after we were booked to depart a Manchester bound Cross Country Voyager, running thirty-four minutes late according to RTT, sped through!
This was more than a bit annoying.
They had delayed the Pendolino in order to allow a very late service in front of it.
I’m sure the 390 would have been well out of the way if it had been allowed to go on time.
As the train pulled into Piccadilly I saw the 185 in, already wedged.
I had eight minutes.
I made a decision and ran to the TVM.
For five pounds extra I could get a first class single to Huddersfield and avoid the worst of the crush.
No contest.

That extra five pounds got me a seat, a cup of tea and a biscuit.
It was worth it.
New liveried 185123 was the traction and I took it to Huddersfield.
Unfortunately, I was going to Leeds.
I left first class and moved to the centre coach, which was by now much emptier and I managed to get a seat.
I was, of course, now using my m-card which is standard class only.
The move finished with 150276 from Leeds to Bradford where Mrs 13 was waiting to collect me.

In summary, a very enjoyable few days with fifty winners and twenty-three new shacks, encompassing mainline, London Underground and Croydon Tramlink.
Clearing all the Tramlink stops is particularly satisfying.

 

[rg177]

Sounds like an excellent few days.

Jammy git getting my last Northern 150/2 on your final move though

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[55013]

Sounds like an excellent few days.

It was most enjoyable, thanks.

Jammy git getting my last Northern 150/2 on your final move though

I would have preferred something a bit more comfortable

 

[Kite159]

Another couple of good reports. Congrats on clearing the Tramlink stops. I've not done the Heathrow Express on a good proper run (due to the cost) so have only done them in the tunnels. Good photos by the way.

If you book it in advance (45/90 days) than it can be cheaper than normal

----

Sounded like an excellent couple days there Mr 13, that last tram will fall when you least expect it

 

[FQ]

Sounds like an excellent few days, with some excellent photos! Ouch to the 14-minute tram fester though - that can't have been fun.

 

[Techniquest]

Ouch to the long fester on Tramlink, I've done 12 minute waits before now and they're bad enough! Congratulations on joining the club with clearing Tramlink for shacks though, and only needing 1 more tram there must feel quite good. It's going to take me forever to get them all it seems, last time I was there it was dud, dud, dud, dud, dud, ooh winner but can't do it now!

Certainly overall you did very well, the HEx carnet clearly was worth paying money for to need so few 332s. It's been way too long since I had a decent run on HEx, high time I changed that!

 

[45135]

Quite a bit of tram track bashed there (the BLS light rail maps turned out to be a handy reference, and inevitably B*ker for the main line bits). How do the 332s compare against their much cheaper Northern cousins?

 

[55013]

Thanks chaps.

Quite a bit of tram track bashed there (the BLS light rail maps turned out to be a handy reference, and inevitably B*ker for the main line bits). How do the 332s compare against their much cheaper Northern cousins?

That tram map from the BLS is invaluable, well worth the membership fee
As for the 332s, well the seats are much more luxurious than their Northern brethren, as you might expect for the price.
Other than that, they have more luggage space (again, something you would expect) and TVs that play the same three or four clips on a loop and get VERY annoying after you've done a few runs - although I don't expect they gave much thought to people doing repeated journeys!

 

[55013]

Last April my wife and I spent our wedding anniversary in the tropical climes of Portsmouth.
You may remember my trip reports from that holiday and the fact that one exhibit at Dockyard was closed.
This was the Mary Rose and we vowed to return and get it in before our annual ticket expired.
We both had a free weekend at the end of February and so the necessary bookings were made.
Obviously not a cranking trip but trains always feature if I have any say in these matters.
Which I do
I didn't manage to get many decent train photos on this move, I'm afraid - largely due to overcrowded platforms on Sunday.

We began on Saturday the 25th by leaving Wakefield on the 06.18 service, powered by nice low mileage 91129, which was taken throughout to Kings Cross.
Once in the capital it was over to Waterloo on that fancy underground network.
11065 was the set we sat in to Green Park where we changed to the Jubilee Line for 96091.

I have been to Waterloo on the underground many times but was a bit surprised to find that I hadn't done it since I began recording such things, so I can put Waterloo (LU) in bold and italics, which is nice.
We arrived there just as a service to Portmouth was about to depart, so quickly leapt aboard the sadly dud 444014.
Not long after departure the guard announced that it would be quicker for people travelling to Portsmouth to leave this train at Woking as a service twenty minutes behind would arrive earlier due to the routes the respective trains would be taking.
Naturally; the prospect of an earlier arrival, not to mention potential winners, meant we did as suggested.
Eventually, after a wait that was somewhat longer than planned as our service was delayed by "a train fault", double winners 450567 and 450125 arrived and we were on our way.
The train was quite late leaving Woking but had made up all but about ten minutes by the time we arrived at the Harbour.
Shortly after reaching our destination 444014 pulled in, thus proving the guard right

450567, with 444014 arriving in the background:

EMU 450567_2017.02.25_2_Portsmouth Harbour by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Next up was the purpose of our trip, a visit to the Mary Rose.
It was magnificent and an attraction well worth visiting in my opinion.

After spending a few hours looking at the remains of the ship and literally thousands of artifacts we left the Dockyards and headed to our favourite eatery when in the area, the Hilsea Toby Carvery.
This was reached on winner 450010, which had dud 450123 for company.
After filling our stomachs it was to Fratton and our hotel on 450105.

We had finished with Portsmouth now and were heading home.
It was Sunday and engineering work really made it a pain finding a way to London without resorting to a replacement bus for part of the journey.
There were a couple of early trains via Eastleigh that ran throughout, but after that changes were required.
We decided to head for the first decent train and this produced a very nice winner, 444001.

As we headed toward Eastleigh the train began to fill up with people wearing red and white scarves, football shirts, etc.
It soon became quite cosy on board but we had seats so weren't too bothered.
We weren't too bothered until the guard announced that, due to a fault that the driver was unable to fix, the train would be terminating at Eastleigh.
Fabulous.
On the plus side, as we went past the erstwhile Eastleigh Works I spotted 66303, which means I've cleared the former Fastline 66/3s for sight.
Once at Eastleigh chaos descended.

Our 444 soon headed off empty to the depot, with the crowds looking wistfully at its receding tail-lights.

I had looked on the interweb and discovered that there was some sort of football cup final at Wembley and Southampton were involved.
444001 was supposed to meet up with a sister unit and this duly arrived but was already full and standing.
There were several hundred people on the platforms and only a handful could squeeze on.
We weren't in that number.
There was a single member of platform staff and he was trying his best, making an announcement to say that he had asked for through services to be stopped but this had been refused and that as he was the only person on duty nobody would be going anywhere if he was lynched.
To be fair, most of the people were in quite good humour (it was still several hours before kick off and they were in a cup final, after all).

My feeling was the next train, due an hour later, would be equally as wedged and so thought about alternatives.
A service from London was due but luckily a few minutes late, giving me time to get to a ticket machine and buy us a return to Southampton.
444012 appeared not long after I got back to the platform and we boarded and easily got a pair of seats.
This unit, if my reading of RTT was correct, would work straight back to Waterloo.
We weren't the only people who had come up with this plan and quite a few football fans boarded with us.

At Southampton a second 444 was added for the run back towards London.
Whilst I would normally have bailed and made my way down to see what the new unit was, there was absolutely no chance.
Southampton fans filled the platform when we arrived and crowded on the second the doors opened.

Doing the out and back was definitely the right move.
When the service arrived at Eastleigh, even with 10 coaches, there wasn't enough room for the assembled fans on the platform.
People that we recognised from our earlier time there could be seen running up and down the platform, desperate to get on.
They were then observed, with their earlier good humour now apparently gone, still on the platform as we pulled out.

The fans on board were very happy, however, and although very crowded the journey from now on wasn't bad at all, but then we did have seats.
Once at Waterloo my obvious first move was to identify the rear unit, so I made my way against the flow of chanting fans and identified winner 444041.

We didn't fancy the underground so walked to our target for the day, the National Gallery.
There is a painting there that I really wanted to see, Hans Holbein's "The Ambassadors", as well as several Turner's including his painting of 50003 (That's "The Fighting Temeraire").

After spending several hours examining numerous masterpieces it was another walk, to Leicester Square, for a meal.
Then a further walk (to work off the meal!) from there to Kings Cross and our train home, which was worked by 91115, sadly already over the thousand mile mark.
We had a very good weekend; even the football related stuff didn't impede too much in the end, I got a good few winners and we enjoyed much culture and history.

 

[Cowley]

Very good plan getting a return to Southampton so that you had a seat. That was an interesting read (as it always is) 55013.
When I was a kid my uncle lived overlooking Southsea Common and we were watching the Mary Rose being lifted out of the Solent on the telly in his front room while taking turns watching it through binoculars through the window. At one point a part of the lifting jib snapped and it looked like it was all going to go very wrong but they managed to sort it and up it came eventually.

 

[Kite159]

Apart from the hassle with the failed 444 at Eastleigh sounded like a good little trip to see the Rose of Mary and some pictures

 

[Techniquest]

Quite a farce at Eastleigh on the way back north, but a bloody good plan that was to head to Central then come back.

Nicely done on the winners too, and gettng those 450s must have been quite a bonus. I'd have done the same as you, but equally I like 444s so would have been happy to stay on it in preference to 450s!

 

[55013]

Cheers lads.

Tech - I've moaned a bit recently about the numbers of 321s, 357s, etc, that I've had.
Well, my 450 numbers are the worst of the lot!
Prior to this move I'd only managed fifteen for haulage, with a measley three over ten miles.
I was always going to take a 450 if the chance presented itself.
I must admit, though, that I do like the 444s.

 

[Techniquest]

Fair enough, I need quite a few 450s myself but I just dislike going on foreign territory (SWT) so I just don't get them done!

 

[45135]

The Ambassadors is a great piece of art isn't it? It has to be seen 'in the flesh' to be fully appreciated.

 

[55013]

The Ambassadors is a great piece of art isn't it? It has to be seen 'in the flesh' to be fully appreciated.

Yeah, it's brilliant; nearly five hundred years old, as well.

For anybody that doesn't know what we're talking about, it's a painting that's loaded with symbolism, but is most famous for an anamorphic skull front and center - you can spend hours just looking at it from different angles.

Looking at it directly:
DSCN3146 by Ruth Wood, on Flickr

From a tight angle:
DSCN3144 by Ruth Wood, on Flickr

Genius!
I couldn't even get adequate shots of it using 21st Century technology.

 

[55013]

Mrs 13 headed to London on March the 4th.
The purpose of this was another demonstration in support of the NHS.
As usual, I fully supported her but didn’t go along for health reasons.
I had a couple of days annual leave to take before the new financial year starts in April.
Added to this, my wife was planning on having a day trip to Bridlington on Saturday the 11th.

Thus, the stars had aligned perfectly for me to do a move that I’ve thought about for a while – a four day in eight North East Rover.
I wanted to do this in order to up my 91 mileage.
With sixteen members of the class still below a thousand miles, I knew that going to London half a dozen times a year meant I would probably fail to get all thirty-one to that landmark.
A boost was needed.
In addition I wanted to get a few new shacks in.
The fact that I would come home each night went down well on the domestic front as well.

Saturday the 4th dawned with my wife getting up at 05 something and driving into Bradford to meet her fellow protestors and their booked coach.
I was planning on an early start as well but went back to sleep instead!
My enthusiasm was a bit lacking and I must admit I did contemplate not bothering.
In the end I decided to make my way out at 10am and drove to Bradford Interchange where I purchased my ticket.
This meant I was in the unusual position of having two valid tickets on my first journey – the rover and my M-card.

158872 was my ride to Leeds.
My intention was to cover the first 91 to Doncaster but I was slightly annoyed to find it was 91129, which had become the fifteenth member of the thousand mile club when we had done our Portsmouth trip the weekend before.

Having started late I didn’t want to wait around, so I decided to get a new shack in.
My plan was just to get one station on the Harrogate loop, then come back to Leeds for 91s.
155345 leading 153363 took me to the first required station on the line Weeton.
All the ones within West Yorkshire were obviously dud.

155345 leads 153363 away from Weeton:
DMU 153363_2017.03.04_2_Weeton_& 155345 by Phil Wood, on Flickr

A slightly interesting pair followed – 153301 leading 155347.
The 153 was, of course, half of the original 155301, meaning this was the last member of the class paired with half of the first.
Well, I found it interesting!

At this point I had second thoughts.
I was on the Harrogate loop so why not just crack on and get more shacks out of the way?

A new plan decided upon, I left the first and last at Horsforth for a short wait.
150273 and 150222 were the power to Harrogate before I re-joined 153363 and 155345 for a run to Pannal.
My second trip of the day on 155347 and 153301 followed when I took them to their destination, Knaresborough.

Don't worry, I was on a crossing and they weren't due out for fifteen minutes:
DMU 153301_2017.03.04_3_Knaresborough_& 155347 by Phil Wood, on Flickr

After a wait that wasn’t too arduous I boarded them again for the third and final time, taking them less than two miles, to Starbeck.
A fairly rapid transfer of platforms was required here but I made it just as 142089 and 150145 were pulling to a stop.
At this point I completely forgot Kite’s recent comments about my next new shack.

I bailed at Cattal with several minutes before the service back the other way was due.
Plenty of time to stroll over to the other platform.
Well, no.
The crossing gates remained closed to both road vehicles and pedestrians.
I had to stand and watch my intended train arrive and leave from the wrong side of the tracks.

OK, never one to dwell on such things I had a bit of a wonder around but saw nothing of interest so decided to fire up my phone map and walk to the next station on the line.
Unfortunately, I had spent so long exploring the wilderness that the ETA was well after the next train was due to depart.

Oh well, it wasn’t too bad weather wise so I made my way back to station, making sure I was on the right side, and had half an hour sat enjoying the peace and quiet.
I eventually escaped Cattal, on the same 142/150 pairing I had arrived on.
These were taken to my next target, Hornbeam Park.
There were now now only two stations on the line that I needed, one of which has the same crossing set-up as Cattal.

I pondered what to do.
Well, the weather wasn’t a problem and there’s no time like the present.
150273, still paired with 150222, was taken to Hammerton.
This time I was expecting a fester and so went for a nice country walk before getting back in time to board the same two 150s.

150222 and 150273 arrive at Hammerton:
DMU 150222_2017.03.04_3_Hammerton_& 150273 by Phil Wood, on Flickr

The one remaining requirement, Poppleton, would give me another lengthy wait if done from this side and I was all festered out.
That would have to wait until later in my rover.
The 150s were taken all the way back Leeds before 158855 was utilised to take me back to Bradford and my car.

So, in the end my 91 mileage was unchanged but a few stations that had been annoying me for a while had been captured.
Despite my reluctance to get out of the house rather than having a lazy day I was pleased with the way it went, even the festers gave me to the chance to get some fresh air and enjoy a bit of walking.

 

[Kite159]

A good session on the Harrogate loop, shame you couldn't do the walk from Cattal to Hammerton to hit two stations at once.

Beware with Poppleton as it is another manual level crossing, but a lot easier to visit from the York direction (+15 IIRC)

 

[Techniquest]

Ooh I haven't done a FoNE since 2007! I look forward to reading the rest of the trip report once it's ready. Good work getting those shacks in, Hammerton is required here as is Poppleton. I really must make an effort to get them done...

 

[alexf380]

A good, lazy start to the rover. I look forward to hearing of the 91 bashing. Best of luck!

 

[Keith Jarrett]

FoNE? Last rover that I'd have you down for but I'm sure that if day 1 is anything to go by, you'll have an epic time if the first gentle day is anything to go by. Your words of wisdom for dealing with all those shacks on the Harrogate loop will be safely filed away.

FoNE is something that I need to do again but it'll not be in 2017 as I have already made too many
plans to be else where,.

 

[55013]

Thanks again chaps.
Keith - I think that sometimes it's easy for me to ignore things that are close to home and go off in search of something more exotic. This move has been at the contemplation stage for a while and now seemed to be the perfect time.

Anyway, here's what I did today - at least I didn't go to London!

Today was day two of my North East rover and it turned out to be a bit like the curate’s egg.

I drove to Bradford Interchange where I was greeted with the day’s first disappointment – my intended train to Leeds was cancelled, due to either signalling problems or a points failure depending on if you believe the station PIS or RTT.

Eventually I was on my way aboard 158752.
I now had less than five minutes at Leeds to make the Kings Cross service I was going for.
Luckily I made it and was pleased to see it was sub thousand mileage machine 91114.
When I left “Durham Cathedral” at Doncaster it was still under the thousand, having reached the somewhat frustrating total of 998.68.
My plan now was to cover the next Edinburgh service.
This stopped at a couple of required stations North of Newcastle and if it was a low mileage loco would be done to one of those.

It was very nice 91132 that produced so I took it for a run of just shy of one hundred and thirty miles, to Morpeth.
91132 remains someway short of the magic mark but this run certainly didn’t hurt.
I could have stayed on to Alnmouth but that would have meant a longer fester, finishing with a voyager.
One of these I could have coped with but not both!

As it was, I was intending on covering the next Morpeth to Metrocentre service.
I was hoping for a coach and/or mileage requirement but 156455 let me down on both.

156455 at Morpeth:
DMU 156455_2017.03.09_2_Morpeth by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Whilst at Morpeth 91127 had gone through heading South.
Imagine my surprise when my 156 pulled into Newcastle and 91127 was stood in.
It’s a mileage requirement so I started to go over to see what was occurring.
Unfortunately, it started to move before I got there.

Then I heard the announcement – due to the overhead wires coming down at Retford, East coast services would be subject to Delays and cancellations.
Blast!
A southbound VTEC HST arrived, followed shortly after by the 91 I had originally planned on doing.
Both of these remained in the platform.

The announcements were not encouraging.
Neither would be going yet and nobody could say when they would be on the move.

What to do?
I’m not a masochist so decided to cut my losses and head for home.
A TPE was due to leave so I boarded it.
It was 185126 and at least the coach I sat in meant that I’d cleared it.

I expected it to be wedged with people desperately trying to make their way South but surprisingly that didn’t happen, at least until York, and the journey was fairly decent.
People at York were being told to make their way to London via Manchester so it did fill up a bit there, but even then I’ve been on much more crowded TPE services between Leeds and Huddersfield.

My arrival into Leeds coincided with the start of the rush hour and I wanted away from there as soon as possible.

There was a 150 about to depart on a Manchester Victoria via Bradford service but it was literally overflowing with folk so I decided to give it a miss and do a Skipton service instead.
This was 333008 and I obviously took it as far as Shipley where I picked up 333005 on an ex Ilkley train to Forster Square.

After that it was a walk across to my car at Interchange and an arrival home somewhat earlier than planned.

Two 91s nearer my target, one new shack and a 185 cleared for all coaches, not as productive as I would have liked but it could have been a lot worse.
Still, I hope they've fixed those wires by tomorrow!

 

[Kite159]

Good thing you escaped when you did, plus a new ECML shack.

Mmm 156 high speed thrash

 

[rg177]

Shame about the disruption cutting your day short.

Also 156455 is a very unusual appearance up north, we seem to be seeing a fair few Allerton machines around these days!

 

[FQ]

I've got a 4 in 8 North East coming up this month too, but my aims will certainly be a lot different to yours!

A shame about the connection at Cattal on the first day, but it sounds like you had a good one anyway. The disruption must have been really annoying on day 2 as well, but at least you got a couple of milkfloats that you needed for 1000. Having had 68011 at 999.75 before clearing it I can see your frustration with 91114 - Hopefully it'll appear for you later in the rover!

 

[Techniquest]

Surprised Kite didn't comment on your getting 91114!

A most frustrating day, definitely, but at least you got something out of it!