alexf380
Established Member
Indeed, you're making great progress in that part of the UK. Keep it up!
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Adrock's trip reports
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Techniquest
Veteran Member
Fantastic progress indeed on the Western!
adrock1976
Established Member
Day 5 – Some GWR bits and pieces and homeward bound 14 August
Being as today is my final day of this bashing trip, I would take things easy this morning with the intention of gradually making my way towards Crewe for the 20:09 ex London Euston – Glasgow Central via Birmingham. After checking out and some breakfast, it was the short walk to Cardiff Central for the 09:00 Plymouth via Weston-super-Mare formed of dud 150129 for the run to Bristol TM, spotting 66518 running light engine westbound at Cardiff and 66161 at Alexandra Dock on the approach to Newport. Having arrived at Temple Meads 6 minutes behind schedule, I switched my attention to the 10:03 Avonmouth which was to my surprise formed of required 166208 for a run to Montpelier (the pronunciation is not like the same placename in France, but like the ITV game show Catchphrase - “Say what you see”) having now visited all of the stations along the Severn Beach branchline. It was back to Bristol TM on the 7 minutes delayed 10:21 ex Severn Beach formed of dud 166214.
It was then onboard the 11:00 London Paddington formed of dud 43036+ required 43189 for a run to Bath Spa, returning back to Bristol TM on the 11:31 ex London Paddington – Paignton “Torbay Express” formed of dud 43132+ required 43187. Knowing that there was a required Sprinter on one of the Bristol Parkway – Weston-super-Mare diagrams having noted it earlier, it was onboard the 12:28 ex Bristol Parkway – Weston-super-Mare that was on the second diagram formed of dud 150234 for a short hop to Bedminster, returning back to Temple Meads on the 12:39 formed of as expected required 150108. Making my way to Platform 12 (having spotted 43207+ required 43366 on the 12:45 ex Edinburgh – Plymouth. I can easily get 43366 later on its way back or at some point in the near future) it was onboard the 5 minutes delayed on departing 12:49 London Waterloo via Salisbury formed of required 159016 for a run to Oldfield Park. It was back to Bristol TM on the 30 minutes delayed 13:24 ex Weymouth – Bristol TM formed of total dud 158957.
Knowing that I would have to start heading in the direction of Worcester so as to see which Class 150 would be on the 16:40 Hereford – Birmingham NS via Bromsgrove, I had an option of a short run to Filton Abbey Wood on a Cardiff bound train if it was required. I hopped onboard the 14:21 ex Taunton – Cardiff formed of required 158950 (odd coach 57751, as I had already had its matching partner 52751 the other day in 158951, having now completed both coaches of former 158751) for a short run to Filton Abbey Wood, then onboard the 7 minutes delayed 14:48 ex Southampton Central – Great Malvern formed of required 150238 to Worcester Foregate Street via Gloucester. As I ideally needed to have been a hour or so earlier to see which Class 150 was on the 14:49 Birmingham NS – Hereford, and due to my phone having gone on the blink while doing a software update, I could not remember which LM Class 170s I still require. It was over to the opposite platform for the 16:22 ex Hereford – Birmingham NS via Bromsgrove, formed of (what later turned out to be) dud pair 170508+633 for a run to Bromsgrove (the present day 2016 location. I have already scored the original 1840 location last year) as I was needing to answer the call of nature. The toilet at the station was locked out of use as the booking office had closed early (or not opened at all – unlikely for a Monday I believe), even though the normal hours are advertised as being open to circa 19:00. I did set off for a walk towards town, but decided to turn back and after picking up some provisions from the Co-op store, I had spotted a portaloo on the road that leads to the car park.
Having made use of the portaloo it was back to the station for the 17:43 ex Hereford – Birmingham NS formed of much to my surprise dud 170517, as I was expecting a Class 150. After arriving at Birmingham, it was over to Platform 4 for the 18:15 ex London Euston – Edinburgh Waverley via Preston formed of required 221142 (with me having already having had the odd coach from 221144 in October 2016) for a short run to Wolverhampton, spotting 390121 on the 18:45 ex Edinburgh Waverley – London Euston. I then boarded the 18:49 ex Bristol TM – Manchester Piccadilly formed of dud 221141 to Stafford, and the 19:10 ex Birmingham NS – Liverpool LS formed of required 350262 to Crewe. Having nipped out to the Tesco store at the garage at the junction of Weston Road, it was back to the station to observe 221109+104 on the 19:56 Holyhead and Wrexham General, 221106 on the ex Chester – London Euston, 390114 on 20:03 London Euston via Birmingham, 175010 on the 20:10 Carmarthen via Hereford, 153374 that would be on the 20:45 Derby, 350374 on the 20:10 Northampton via Stoke-on-Trent, 390153 on the 20:16 Liverpool LS, 350102 terminating in Platform 5 from Birmingham, and 158831 on the 20:23 Chester shuttle.
It was eventually onboard the 15 minutes delayed 20:09 ex London Euston – Glasgow Central formed of dud 390104 for the northbound run home, spotting 66102 and a couple more locos at Arpley Yard on the approach to Warrington BQ, 319365 on the Preston – Liverpool LS limited stop and 319369 on the Liverpool LS local at Wigan North Western. Arrival at Glasgow Central was at 23:33 (16 minutes behind schedule) which busted my connection with the 23:52 Glasgow Queen Street – What’s it called? Cumbernauld (bus replacement to Camelon and Falkirk Grahamston on Mondays to Thursdays late evenings due to the electrification project).
Conclusion
When I first planned this trip, the intention I had was to reduce my list of required Sprinters of which I have been successful in doing so. I did have a target of 20 in mind, of which I managed to cross (or delete) 19 of those. After doing an audit, I require (at the time of typing) 136 – not bad as I started 2017 with 198 and with a December 2017 target of double digits. Also, as I was requiring 8 of the Old Oak Common IC125 powercars, I managed to get 7 with only 43160 remaining, and 3 out of the 7 remaining Landore powercars. I did not get my 2 remaining Laira powercars, but at the time of typing this report, I know that 43033 will be one of my required Laira powercars that will be transferring to Scotland very soon (my other Laira powercar is 43017). I also managed to get my final Exeter based Class 143 as well. If someone said to me at the start of the trip if I would trade one Sprinter for 7 Old Oak Common powercars and my final Exeter based Class 143, I would have laughed and said that I would like to know if Aston Villa would win the European Cup again during my lifetime. Furthermore, I have also managed to score some tricky stations such as Pilning and Kings Nympton due to the level of service they receive, and have scored all along the M5 corridor between Birmingham and Exeter, and also completed the Worcester, Malvern, & Hereford Railway as well.
Being as today is my final day of this bashing trip, I would take things easy this morning with the intention of gradually making my way towards Crewe for the 20:09 ex London Euston – Glasgow Central via Birmingham. After checking out and some breakfast, it was the short walk to Cardiff Central for the 09:00 Plymouth via Weston-super-Mare formed of dud 150129 for the run to Bristol TM, spotting 66518 running light engine westbound at Cardiff and 66161 at Alexandra Dock on the approach to Newport. Having arrived at Temple Meads 6 minutes behind schedule, I switched my attention to the 10:03 Avonmouth which was to my surprise formed of required 166208 for a run to Montpelier (the pronunciation is not like the same placename in France, but like the ITV game show Catchphrase - “Say what you see”) having now visited all of the stations along the Severn Beach branchline. It was back to Bristol TM on the 7 minutes delayed 10:21 ex Severn Beach formed of dud 166214.
It was then onboard the 11:00 London Paddington formed of dud 43036+ required 43189 for a run to Bath Spa, returning back to Bristol TM on the 11:31 ex London Paddington – Paignton “Torbay Express” formed of dud 43132+ required 43187. Knowing that there was a required Sprinter on one of the Bristol Parkway – Weston-super-Mare diagrams having noted it earlier, it was onboard the 12:28 ex Bristol Parkway – Weston-super-Mare that was on the second diagram formed of dud 150234 for a short hop to Bedminster, returning back to Temple Meads on the 12:39 formed of as expected required 150108. Making my way to Platform 12 (having spotted 43207+ required 43366 on the 12:45 ex Edinburgh – Plymouth. I can easily get 43366 later on its way back or at some point in the near future) it was onboard the 5 minutes delayed on departing 12:49 London Waterloo via Salisbury formed of required 159016 for a run to Oldfield Park. It was back to Bristol TM on the 30 minutes delayed 13:24 ex Weymouth – Bristol TM formed of total dud 158957.
Knowing that I would have to start heading in the direction of Worcester so as to see which Class 150 would be on the 16:40 Hereford – Birmingham NS via Bromsgrove, I had an option of a short run to Filton Abbey Wood on a Cardiff bound train if it was required. I hopped onboard the 14:21 ex Taunton – Cardiff formed of required 158950 (odd coach 57751, as I had already had its matching partner 52751 the other day in 158951, having now completed both coaches of former 158751) for a short run to Filton Abbey Wood, then onboard the 7 minutes delayed 14:48 ex Southampton Central – Great Malvern formed of required 150238 to Worcester Foregate Street via Gloucester. As I ideally needed to have been a hour or so earlier to see which Class 150 was on the 14:49 Birmingham NS – Hereford, and due to my phone having gone on the blink while doing a software update, I could not remember which LM Class 170s I still require. It was over to the opposite platform for the 16:22 ex Hereford – Birmingham NS via Bromsgrove, formed of (what later turned out to be) dud pair 170508+633 for a run to Bromsgrove (the present day 2016 location. I have already scored the original 1840 location last year) as I was needing to answer the call of nature. The toilet at the station was locked out of use as the booking office had closed early (or not opened at all – unlikely for a Monday I believe), even though the normal hours are advertised as being open to circa 19:00. I did set off for a walk towards town, but decided to turn back and after picking up some provisions from the Co-op store, I had spotted a portaloo on the road that leads to the car park.
Having made use of the portaloo it was back to the station for the 17:43 ex Hereford – Birmingham NS formed of much to my surprise dud 170517, as I was expecting a Class 150. After arriving at Birmingham, it was over to Platform 4 for the 18:15 ex London Euston – Edinburgh Waverley via Preston formed of required 221142 (with me having already having had the odd coach from 221144 in October 2016) for a short run to Wolverhampton, spotting 390121 on the 18:45 ex Edinburgh Waverley – London Euston. I then boarded the 18:49 ex Bristol TM – Manchester Piccadilly formed of dud 221141 to Stafford, and the 19:10 ex Birmingham NS – Liverpool LS formed of required 350262 to Crewe. Having nipped out to the Tesco store at the garage at the junction of Weston Road, it was back to the station to observe 221109+104 on the 19:56 Holyhead and Wrexham General, 221106 on the ex Chester – London Euston, 390114 on 20:03 London Euston via Birmingham, 175010 on the 20:10 Carmarthen via Hereford, 153374 that would be on the 20:45 Derby, 350374 on the 20:10 Northampton via Stoke-on-Trent, 390153 on the 20:16 Liverpool LS, 350102 terminating in Platform 5 from Birmingham, and 158831 on the 20:23 Chester shuttle.
It was eventually onboard the 15 minutes delayed 20:09 ex London Euston – Glasgow Central formed of dud 390104 for the northbound run home, spotting 66102 and a couple more locos at Arpley Yard on the approach to Warrington BQ, 319365 on the Preston – Liverpool LS limited stop and 319369 on the Liverpool LS local at Wigan North Western. Arrival at Glasgow Central was at 23:33 (16 minutes behind schedule) which busted my connection with the 23:52 Glasgow Queen Street – What’s it called? Cumbernauld (bus replacement to Camelon and Falkirk Grahamston on Mondays to Thursdays late evenings due to the electrification project).
Conclusion
When I first planned this trip, the intention I had was to reduce my list of required Sprinters of which I have been successful in doing so. I did have a target of 20 in mind, of which I managed to cross (or delete) 19 of those. After doing an audit, I require (at the time of typing) 136 – not bad as I started 2017 with 198 and with a December 2017 target of double digits. Also, as I was requiring 8 of the Old Oak Common IC125 powercars, I managed to get 7 with only 43160 remaining, and 3 out of the 7 remaining Landore powercars. I did not get my 2 remaining Laira powercars, but at the time of typing this report, I know that 43033 will be one of my required Laira powercars that will be transferring to Scotland very soon (my other Laira powercar is 43017). I also managed to get my final Exeter based Class 143 as well. If someone said to me at the start of the trip if I would trade one Sprinter for 7 Old Oak Common powercars and my final Exeter based Class 143, I would have laughed and said that I would like to know if Aston Villa would win the European Cup again during my lifetime. Furthermore, I have also managed to score some tricky stations such as Pilning and Kings Nympton due to the level of service they receive, and have scored all along the M5 corridor between Birmingham and Exeter, and also completed the Worcester, Malvern, & Hereford Railway as well.
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Techniquest
Veteran Member
Very very nice work there, although a shame you had to suffer a 170 vice 150 on the way north. It's happened to me before too and the level of sadness that dawns on you when you realise you have a marathon journey on a Droner is awful. I did yesterday, granted, but I knew it was booked 170 on a Saturday and I had way too much to do to worry about it in all honesty!
adrock1976
Established Member
Is it just me, or do the Class 170s seem to struggle up the Lickey Incline? The engines sound like that they are about to cut out, give up, and go home.
adrock1976
Established Member
While I was in the middle of typing up the previous trip report, I had already had the tab in my desktop browser open on the "Frequently Requested Diagrams" thread, and cross checking with the 125 Group website, I was able to work out that all things being well, I should be able to land my final Crosscountry IC125 powercar (43366) that I had spotted at Bristol TM on the 12:45 ex Edinburgh - Plymouth the previous day. As this set works back from Plymouth to Leeds and overnights at Neville Hill depot, it starts from Leeds the next morning and runs to Plymouth, then to Glasgow Central and empty coaching stock to Edinburgh Craigentinny depot. I decided to take a punt by meeting the train at Motherwell (due 22:08) for the run to Glasgow Central with the extraneous variable that would depend upon the powercar behaving itself and not being swapped.
Below are the list of the moves:
320303 20:53 Barnhill - Glasgow QS
320315 21:22 Glasgow Central - Motherwell via Bellshill (I could have had an alternative option of the 21:27 from the low level, but I did not want to jinx myself as it arrives at Motherwell 5 minutes before the ICXC arrives)
43366+43207 22:08 Motherwell - Glasgow Central (15 minutes delay arriving GLC as the train was routed onto the slow lines at Polmadie depot, with the signallers asking the driver to check Eglinton Tunnel as there were reports of a flood)
320320 23:06 Glasgow Queen Street - Barnhill
I was successful in landing 43366, and have cleared all 10 powercars of the XC fleet.
Below are the list of the moves:
320303 20:53 Barnhill - Glasgow QS
320315 21:22 Glasgow Central - Motherwell via Bellshill (I could have had an alternative option of the 21:27 from the low level, but I did not want to jinx myself as it arrives at Motherwell 5 minutes before the ICXC arrives)
43366+43207 22:08 Motherwell - Glasgow Central (15 minutes delay arriving GLC as the train was routed onto the slow lines at Polmadie depot, with the signallers asking the driver to check Eglinton Tunnel as there were reports of a flood)
320320 23:06 Glasgow Queen Street - Barnhill
I was successful in landing 43366, and have cleared all 10 powercars of the XC fleet.
adrock1976
Established Member
As I do not normally post reports of local short trips due to me having practically having cleared all of the Scotrail fleet (apart from 170456, 156453, and 5 Class 158s), today was an exception. This is because I had identified engineering works taking place on consecutive Sundays during August, and also the 3 September as the track is being replaced between Finnieston and Rutherglen via Glasgow Central low level. An unusual feature of these engineering works is that the Balloch - destinations in Lanarkshire and Milngavie - destinations in Lanarkshire via Glasgow Central are curtailed to run Balloch - Milngavie via the left hand side of the triangle at Jordanhill that does not normally see regular passenger services. Although all of the electric fleet (until the Class 385s enter service) are dud, I took the chance to bash the track as there may not be any diversions for a long time in the future that uses that side of the triangle.
Below are the list of moves:
320307 14:28 Barnhill - Partick
334017+012 15:01 Partick - Anniesland
320317+318262 15:22 Anniesland - Garscadden
320309+318260 15:39 Garscadden - Anniesland
334033+021 16:03 Anniesland - Glasgow QS (walk to Central to collect tickets from the VT machine for my next trip, and to see if a required Pendolino was on the 16:38 London Euston via Trent Valley Railway as it calls at Motherwell. Sadly, it was dud, so went back to Queen Street)
320307 17:07 Glasgow QS - Barnhill
The only bits of difficult to get track I require in the central belt of Scotland is Gartsherrie - Garnqueen Junctions (the left side of the triangle from the Caledonian Railway main line to the Glasgow & Garnkirk Railway), the connection just east of Blairhill to Coatbridge Central (I remember trains being to and from Motherwell diverted this way and using Queen Street low level on Sunday engineering works whenever the Uddingston route was blocked), and the southern section of the City Union Railway between Bellgrove and Shields Junction.
Below are the list of moves:
320307 14:28 Barnhill - Partick
334017+012 15:01 Partick - Anniesland
320317+318262 15:22 Anniesland - Garscadden
320309+318260 15:39 Garscadden - Anniesland
334033+021 16:03 Anniesland - Glasgow QS (walk to Central to collect tickets from the VT machine for my next trip, and to see if a required Pendolino was on the 16:38 London Euston via Trent Valley Railway as it calls at Motherwell. Sadly, it was dud, so went back to Queen Street)
320307 17:07 Glasgow QS - Barnhill
The only bits of difficult to get track I require in the central belt of Scotland is Gartsherrie - Garnqueen Junctions (the left side of the triangle from the Caledonian Railway main line to the Glasgow & Garnkirk Railway), the connection just east of Blairhill to Coatbridge Central (I remember trains being to and from Motherwell diverted this way and using Queen Street low level on Sunday engineering works whenever the Uddingston route was blocked), and the southern section of the City Union Railway between Bellgrove and Shields Junction.
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Kite159
Veteran Member
Congrats on getting your final XC 43 and that hard to get bit of track. Annoyingly I'm up in Glasgow the weekend after it has finished
So many little bits and pieces in the Glasgow area which I need track wise
So many little bits and pieces in the Glasgow area which I need track wise
Techniquest
Veteran Member
170s struggle on everything that isn't a downhill run 
They really do struggle up the Lickey, even with the improved run-up they get now. Much more entertaining on a 150 or 153!
Congratulations on clearing the XC HSTs, and very nicely done on that track at Jordanhill. I need that myself, not a chance of getting up there for it before it finishes though. I'm amazed I hadn't heard about it until now though!
They really do struggle up the Lickey, even with the improved run-up they get now. Much more entertaining on a 150 or 153!Congratulations on clearing the XC HSTs, and very nicely done on that track at Jordanhill. I need that myself, not a chance of getting up there for it before it finishes though. I'm amazed I hadn't heard about it until now though!
adrock1976
Established Member
Intro
I had planned this trip a while ago when I became aware of the Linford Street curve in Battersea had been reconnected. This is the curve that connects the London & South Western Railway with the London, Chatham, & Dover Railway that was formerly used by the Eurostar trains from 1994-2007 when they relocated from Waterloo to St Pancras. I would be further concentrating on reducing my requirements (mainly the Class 455, 456, and 458 as they will be leaving in the next couple of years) of the L&SWR routes that operate out of Waterloo. It is noted that the spreadsheet that I had compiled late last year of the SWT requirements is not very pleasing on the eye - similar as to how Aston Villa have not really played much pleasing on the eye football and with not so pleasing on the eye results to match in recent years.
Today would be the last time that the Class 319s would be operating on the Thameslink route, and with 319440 and 443 both required I would be making an attempt to grab them. As I initially planned invoking an official doubleback along the High Wycombe route (I did not want to purchase a whole Class 390 Pendolino, nor have a 3 hour bus journey from the new town that is famous for stealing a football team from south of the Thames so as to buy a place in the league for the trek to Stanmore), I revised my plan slightly and decided to forego trying to reduce my Chiltern requirements. Of note, I would be basing myself at the Rest Up hostel along New Kent Road not far from Elephant & Castle for this trip.
Outward bound and warm up session 27 August
It was unusually a not so early start for me as it is a Sunday where the first southbound Virgin WC departure is around 09:00. After setting off to the bus stop along the main Springburn Road just after 09:00, it was on the 57 to Central Station to board the 10:38 Crewe departure, formed of dud 390013 for the run to Crewe. Observations were that 66602, 90036, 66301, 57302, various Class 68s and 37s, 57419+66932 hauling ballast machines in the London direction at Kingmoor, 57308 in the goods loop west of Platform 1 and 156448+142xxx in Platform 5 on a Newcastle departure at Carlisle, 150214+140 in Platform 2 at Lancaster, 185107+130 on an Edinburgh Waverley at Preston, 66040 in the London facing bay platform at Warrington BQ, and a clearly drunk geezer who had boarded at Preston (and appeared to look like a 1980s football casual) who had a couple of primary aged schoolchildren in tow dressed in football strips who miserably attempted to pick a fight with me. This started because I had looked behind be as I felt and heard a bang on the seat back, with the geezer saying to me "Have you got a rubber ducking problem?" (I have used Cockney rhyming slang here, as the actual words are unprintable). I briefly glanced across to see where the comment was coming from, with a further comment of "Yeah, you. What's your (insert expletive) problem?" As I could see the look in his eyes that he was intentionally looking for a physical fight, I did not respond. Another comment came along "Do you speak English? (Insert expletive) weirdo." This was followed by a couple of indecipherable and incoherent comments, but as he could see that I was not falling into his trap, the geezer and the two boys eventually cleared off at Warrington BQ.
Anyway, feeling happy that I had the upper hand by not responding, it was an uneventful run to Crewe. During the brief fester of 15 minutes or so, 350244 was in Platform 4, with a couple of Class 390s heading to Liverpool and Edinburgh. It was onboard the 14:01 ex Preston - Milton Keynes via Birmingham formed of dud 390118 for the run to Wolverhampton, then onboard the 14:41 ex Manchester Piccadilly - Bournemouth formed of dud 220007 for the run to Oxford, having declined the 16:00 Banbury - Oxford local as it was dud 165225. It is noted that after departure from Coventry, somebody had apparently used the (either good or very controversial) last minute reservation system that Arriva Crosscountry operate where you can reserve a seat up to 10 minutes before departure to reserve a seat before the train had reached Coventry, therefore booting out one of the members of a family group (they had paper ticket reservations, which matched the coach and seat numbers). It became apparent and obvious that the group had reserved the seats together, with the occupant and her child having refused to move as they had seemingly reserved it and was there first. I offered my seat to both, but the occupant was not moving, and as the leader of the family group had also declined which I can understand so as not to split the group up too much, as there were two primary aged schoolchildren among the members. It only became clear that as the occupant was alighting at Banbury, she had a go at the leader of the family group and mentioned that she was pregnant, which had never been mentioned in the first place. I am aware that hormones can be out of kilter with pregnant women, but she still sounded like one of these self-centered and obnoxious type of people. As today is a hot sunny day and from the earlier experience with the drunken geezer, it seems like the hot weather is bringing out the worst in people today. Both myself and the group were continuing to Oxford.
Observations at Oxford were that 166227 was on the 16:29 London Paddington, 165104+166221 were in the sidings north of the station, 221106+112 were on the 16:39 ex Bournemouth - Manchester Piccadilly (borrowed from Virgin WC), 165120 and 165105 in the sidings on the London side of the track north of the station, and 165125+168011 in Platinum 2 on the 17:11 London Marylebone.
It was over to Platform 1 for the 16:41 London Marylebone formed of the "Stars in their Eyes" Turbostars i.e the former Transpennine Express Class 170s that are now Class 168s with Chiltern. The pair in question were required 168322+ dud 326 for the run to Marylebone, scoring some new track between Oxford and Haddenham & Thame Parkway. Of note I had 326 in the summer of 2015 in its previous guise 170306 on a Stockport - Manchester Piccadilly run. Observations were that 68015, 68008, and 68011 were spotted at Wembley yard, and 68010+82303 was on the 18:02 Marylebone - Birmingham Moor Street. As required Class 319s 440+443 would be on the final northbound Three Bridges - Bedford due Blackfriars at 18:52, I would make my way there via the Bakerloo and District Lines of the London Underground, changing at Embankment. For simplicity, I have listed the moves below with requirements highlighted in bold.
3240+3548 Marylebone - Regents Park
3238+3552 Regents Park -Oxford Circus
3252+3546 Oxford Circus - Piccadilly Circus
3258+3559 Piccadilly Circus - Embankment
21417+418 Embankment - Temple
21390+389 Temple - Blackfriars
Making my way upstairs to the main station, my heart sank when I checked the screen as the 18:52 Bedford had been cancelled. This meant that there would be no more Thameslink Class 319s for me as they have all been withdrawn from service. Deciding upon what to do next, I nipped to the Tesco store nearby to purchase some provisions before settling upon shifting my planned moves 30 minutes later, as there were the odd one or two cancellations on the Thameslink route. It was onboard the 19:22 Bedford formed of required 700045 for a run to West Hampstead Thameslink, then 10 minutes or so later onboard the 19:49 northbound formed of required 700014 to Mill Hill Broadway. I made my way to the southbound platform on the fast lines for the 20:16 Sutton (Surrey) via Wimbledon formed of dud 700016. My original plan was to take this to Haydons Road, but the 21:20 Bedford had been cancelled. I did consider bailing at West Sutton, but glancing at the screens at each station along the route saw that it would be a 40 minute fester or so. In the end, I decided to continue around the loop via Sutton and Mitcham Junction and bail at Elephant & Castle arriving at 22:09 to bring the day’s proceedings to an end.
Overall, I had mixed fortunes today in that I have managed to score some new track, but the two required Class 319s did not want to work today. I could have done without the drunken geezer attempting to pick a fight with me, and also without a fellow passenger being obnoxious. I have also got a few more London Underground requirements reduced slightly.
Stay tuned for further installments.
I had planned this trip a while ago when I became aware of the Linford Street curve in Battersea had been reconnected. This is the curve that connects the London & South Western Railway with the London, Chatham, & Dover Railway that was formerly used by the Eurostar trains from 1994-2007 when they relocated from Waterloo to St Pancras. I would be further concentrating on reducing my requirements (mainly the Class 455, 456, and 458 as they will be leaving in the next couple of years) of the L&SWR routes that operate out of Waterloo. It is noted that the spreadsheet that I had compiled late last year of the SWT requirements is not very pleasing on the eye - similar as to how Aston Villa have not really played much pleasing on the eye football and with not so pleasing on the eye results to match in recent years.
Today would be the last time that the Class 319s would be operating on the Thameslink route, and with 319440 and 443 both required I would be making an attempt to grab them. As I initially planned invoking an official doubleback along the High Wycombe route (I did not want to purchase a whole Class 390 Pendolino, nor have a 3 hour bus journey from the new town that is famous for stealing a football team from south of the Thames so as to buy a place in the league for the trek to Stanmore), I revised my plan slightly and decided to forego trying to reduce my Chiltern requirements. Of note, I would be basing myself at the Rest Up hostel along New Kent Road not far from Elephant & Castle for this trip.
Outward bound and warm up session 27 August
It was unusually a not so early start for me as it is a Sunday where the first southbound Virgin WC departure is around 09:00. After setting off to the bus stop along the main Springburn Road just after 09:00, it was on the 57 to Central Station to board the 10:38 Crewe departure, formed of dud 390013 for the run to Crewe. Observations were that 66602, 90036, 66301, 57302, various Class 68s and 37s, 57419+66932 hauling ballast machines in the London direction at Kingmoor, 57308 in the goods loop west of Platform 1 and 156448+142xxx in Platform 5 on a Newcastle departure at Carlisle, 150214+140 in Platform 2 at Lancaster, 185107+130 on an Edinburgh Waverley at Preston, 66040 in the London facing bay platform at Warrington BQ, and a clearly drunk geezer who had boarded at Preston (and appeared to look like a 1980s football casual) who had a couple of primary aged schoolchildren in tow dressed in football strips who miserably attempted to pick a fight with me. This started because I had looked behind be as I felt and heard a bang on the seat back, with the geezer saying to me "Have you got a rubber ducking problem?" (I have used Cockney rhyming slang here, as the actual words are unprintable). I briefly glanced across to see where the comment was coming from, with a further comment of "Yeah, you. What's your (insert expletive) problem?" As I could see the look in his eyes that he was intentionally looking for a physical fight, I did not respond. Another comment came along "Do you speak English? (Insert expletive) weirdo." This was followed by a couple of indecipherable and incoherent comments, but as he could see that I was not falling into his trap, the geezer and the two boys eventually cleared off at Warrington BQ.
Anyway, feeling happy that I had the upper hand by not responding, it was an uneventful run to Crewe. During the brief fester of 15 minutes or so, 350244 was in Platform 4, with a couple of Class 390s heading to Liverpool and Edinburgh. It was onboard the 14:01 ex Preston - Milton Keynes via Birmingham formed of dud 390118 for the run to Wolverhampton, then onboard the 14:41 ex Manchester Piccadilly - Bournemouth formed of dud 220007 for the run to Oxford, having declined the 16:00 Banbury - Oxford local as it was dud 165225. It is noted that after departure from Coventry, somebody had apparently used the (either good or very controversial) last minute reservation system that Arriva Crosscountry operate where you can reserve a seat up to 10 minutes before departure to reserve a seat before the train had reached Coventry, therefore booting out one of the members of a family group (they had paper ticket reservations, which matched the coach and seat numbers). It became apparent and obvious that the group had reserved the seats together, with the occupant and her child having refused to move as they had seemingly reserved it and was there first. I offered my seat to both, but the occupant was not moving, and as the leader of the family group had also declined which I can understand so as not to split the group up too much, as there were two primary aged schoolchildren among the members. It only became clear that as the occupant was alighting at Banbury, she had a go at the leader of the family group and mentioned that she was pregnant, which had never been mentioned in the first place. I am aware that hormones can be out of kilter with pregnant women, but she still sounded like one of these self-centered and obnoxious type of people. As today is a hot sunny day and from the earlier experience with the drunken geezer, it seems like the hot weather is bringing out the worst in people today. Both myself and the group were continuing to Oxford.
Observations at Oxford were that 166227 was on the 16:29 London Paddington, 165104+166221 were in the sidings north of the station, 221106+112 were on the 16:39 ex Bournemouth - Manchester Piccadilly (borrowed from Virgin WC), 165120 and 165105 in the sidings on the London side of the track north of the station, and 165125+168011 in Platinum 2 on the 17:11 London Marylebone.
It was over to Platform 1 for the 16:41 London Marylebone formed of the "Stars in their Eyes" Turbostars i.e the former Transpennine Express Class 170s that are now Class 168s with Chiltern. The pair in question were required 168322+ dud 326 for the run to Marylebone, scoring some new track between Oxford and Haddenham & Thame Parkway. Of note I had 326 in the summer of 2015 in its previous guise 170306 on a Stockport - Manchester Piccadilly run. Observations were that 68015, 68008, and 68011 were spotted at Wembley yard, and 68010+82303 was on the 18:02 Marylebone - Birmingham Moor Street. As required Class 319s 440+443 would be on the final northbound Three Bridges - Bedford due Blackfriars at 18:52, I would make my way there via the Bakerloo and District Lines of the London Underground, changing at Embankment. For simplicity, I have listed the moves below with requirements highlighted in bold.
3240+3548 Marylebone - Regents Park
3238+3552 Regents Park -Oxford Circus
3252+3546 Oxford Circus - Piccadilly Circus
3258+3559 Piccadilly Circus - Embankment
21417+418 Embankment - Temple
21390+389 Temple - Blackfriars
Making my way upstairs to the main station, my heart sank when I checked the screen as the 18:52 Bedford had been cancelled. This meant that there would be no more Thameslink Class 319s for me as they have all been withdrawn from service. Deciding upon what to do next, I nipped to the Tesco store nearby to purchase some provisions before settling upon shifting my planned moves 30 minutes later, as there were the odd one or two cancellations on the Thameslink route. It was onboard the 19:22 Bedford formed of required 700045 for a run to West Hampstead Thameslink, then 10 minutes or so later onboard the 19:49 northbound formed of required 700014 to Mill Hill Broadway. I made my way to the southbound platform on the fast lines for the 20:16 Sutton (Surrey) via Wimbledon formed of dud 700016. My original plan was to take this to Haydons Road, but the 21:20 Bedford had been cancelled. I did consider bailing at West Sutton, but glancing at the screens at each station along the route saw that it would be a 40 minute fester or so. In the end, I decided to continue around the loop via Sutton and Mitcham Junction and bail at Elephant & Castle arriving at 22:09 to bring the day’s proceedings to an end.
Overall, I had mixed fortunes today in that I have managed to score some new track, but the two required Class 319s did not want to work today. I could have done without the drunken geezer attempting to pick a fight with me, and also without a fellow passenger being obnoxious. I have also got a few more London Underground requirements reduced slightly.
Stay tuned for further installments.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Bad news on the 319s getting cancelled, plus getting some new track into your book on the way to London via Oxford Parkway.
adrock1976
Established Member
Class 455, 456, and 458 clearout and other bits 28 August
Being as today is a holiday Monday, this meant that I could start anytime before 09:30 to take advantage of the Travelcard being at the Off Peak rate all day. After a reasonable nights sleep and after having had some breakfast, I set off not long after 08:30 for the short walk to Elephant & Castle tube station, noting some clever artwork at the bus stop that had a poster to attempt a boycott of the upcoming TLV cultural event that is due to be held in London for a few days in September.
As today was also a scorcher, I decided against attempting the Bakerloo Line and switched my attentions to the Northern Line instead. Having made my way to the southbound platform, I declined the first train as it was dud, then hopping on the second train to arrive formed of required 51627+626 for the short hop to Kennington. It was over to the northbound Charing Cross branch platform to board required and mismatched 51722+644 to take me the one stop to Waterloo. Having had a flash of insight of creativity and realising that of the Underground lines, I have yet to record the trains that operate The Drain i.e the Waterloo & City Railway, which was initially part of the London & South Western Railway and British Rail before transferring to London Underground in 1994. I made my way to the platform to board required (obviously, as all 10 sets are required) 65507+508 to Bank, then letting the train go to wait for the next one to arrive. I returned back to Waterloo on 65510+509.
Making my upstairs to the main station, I had a look at the big screens and having worked out a couple of linear hops to score required stations heading in the Middlesex and Windsor/Reading direction, I started off by wandering over to Platform 22 (Platforms 20 to 24 were the former Eurostar platforms) and would score some new track in the process as I have never arrived or departed from those platforms before. Furthermore, as my intention is to mainly concentrate on Class 455s, 456s, and 458s and for easy readability, I have listed the days moves below similar as for linear hops on London Underground with requirements highlighted in bold. I would like to mention that some big gaps late on in the day were due to engineering work not being finished on time, and for the Wimbledon & Sutton Railway section of the Thameslink route, the service had started to thin out slightly.
Here are todays moves:
450096+124 09:14 Waterloo - Putney
455918+728 09:36 Putney - Barnes
458517+503 09:48 Barnes - Ashford (Middlesex)
455729+705 10:19 Ashford (Middlesex) - North Sheen
455721+708 10:44 North Sheen - Upper Halliford via Richmond
455741+903 11:34 Upper Halliford - Kingston
455713+905 12:12 Kingston - Sunbury
455726+868 12:35 Sunbury - Hampton Wick
455910+730 13:02 Hampton Wick - Kempton Park via Kingston
455853+911 13:37 Kempton Park Teddington
Then 281 bus to Fulwell
455703+741 14:21 Fulwell - Hampton
455918+728 14:40 Hampton - Fulwell and 15:22 Richmond - Mortlake (R70 bus between Fulwell and Richmond)
As I have had all 8 diagrams that are on the Shepperton via Kingston route, I decided to score the stations either side of Twickenham so as I do not have to come this way again.
455853+911 15:42 Mortlake - Strawberry Hill
455708+721 16:08 Strawberry Hill - St Margaret's (Middlesex)
455910+730 16:19 St Margaret's (Middlesex) - Twickenham
458508+530 Twickenham - Putney
458518+516 16:41 - Putney - Clapham Junction
I had a wander over to the London, Brighton, & South Coast Railway side on the possibility that there may be required green Class 455s, but the first two ex London Victoria were dud, so returned to the L&SWR side with the trains starting to run haywire.
455750+712 17:11 (actual departure time) Clapham Junction Waterloo (arrived into Platform 20 at 17:23)
456018+455701+455919 17:32 (delayed 30 minutes) Waterloo Stoneleigh (departed Platform 24)
456012+455710+455901 18:33 (delayed 15 minutes) Stoneleigh - Epsom
377708 19:04 Epsom - Cheam
377601 19:22 Cheam - Epsom
455919+455701+456018 19:37 (delayed 8 minutes) Epsom - Raynes Park
455863+907 20:12 Raynes Park Wimbledon
This was where I decided to switch to the Wimbledon & Sutton Railway
700026 20:28 Wimbledon - Tooting
700030 20:41 Tooting - West Sutton
700041 21:18 West Sutton - South Merton
700028 21:52 South Merton - St Helier
Then walked to Morden South via London Road
700046 22:25 Morden South - Haydons Road
700025 22:44 Haydons Road - Wimbledon Chase
700028 22:59 Wimbledon Chase - Elephant & Castle via Wimbledon arrive 23:33
Overall, I have managed to make inroads into reducing the red Class 455 and 456s today, which is not too bad considering it was a holiday Monday with engineering works and line closures.
Stay tuned for the next installment.
Being as today is a holiday Monday, this meant that I could start anytime before 09:30 to take advantage of the Travelcard being at the Off Peak rate all day. After a reasonable nights sleep and after having had some breakfast, I set off not long after 08:30 for the short walk to Elephant & Castle tube station, noting some clever artwork at the bus stop that had a poster to attempt a boycott of the upcoming TLV cultural event that is due to be held in London for a few days in September.
As today was also a scorcher, I decided against attempting the Bakerloo Line and switched my attentions to the Northern Line instead. Having made my way to the southbound platform, I declined the first train as it was dud, then hopping on the second train to arrive formed of required 51627+626 for the short hop to Kennington. It was over to the northbound Charing Cross branch platform to board required and mismatched 51722+644 to take me the one stop to Waterloo. Having had a flash of insight of creativity and realising that of the Underground lines, I have yet to record the trains that operate The Drain i.e the Waterloo & City Railway, which was initially part of the London & South Western Railway and British Rail before transferring to London Underground in 1994. I made my way to the platform to board required (obviously, as all 10 sets are required) 65507+508 to Bank, then letting the train go to wait for the next one to arrive. I returned back to Waterloo on 65510+509.
Making my upstairs to the main station, I had a look at the big screens and having worked out a couple of linear hops to score required stations heading in the Middlesex and Windsor/Reading direction, I started off by wandering over to Platform 22 (Platforms 20 to 24 were the former Eurostar platforms) and would score some new track in the process as I have never arrived or departed from those platforms before. Furthermore, as my intention is to mainly concentrate on Class 455s, 456s, and 458s and for easy readability, I have listed the days moves below similar as for linear hops on London Underground with requirements highlighted in bold. I would like to mention that some big gaps late on in the day were due to engineering work not being finished on time, and for the Wimbledon & Sutton Railway section of the Thameslink route, the service had started to thin out slightly.
Here are todays moves:
450096+124 09:14 Waterloo - Putney
455918+728 09:36 Putney - Barnes
458517+503 09:48 Barnes - Ashford (Middlesex)
455729+705 10:19 Ashford (Middlesex) - North Sheen
455721+708 10:44 North Sheen - Upper Halliford via Richmond
455741+903 11:34 Upper Halliford - Kingston
455713+905 12:12 Kingston - Sunbury
455726+868 12:35 Sunbury - Hampton Wick
455910+730 13:02 Hampton Wick - Kempton Park via Kingston
455853+911 13:37 Kempton Park Teddington
Then 281 bus to Fulwell
455703+741 14:21 Fulwell - Hampton
455918+728 14:40 Hampton - Fulwell and 15:22 Richmond - Mortlake (R70 bus between Fulwell and Richmond)
As I have had all 8 diagrams that are on the Shepperton via Kingston route, I decided to score the stations either side of Twickenham so as I do not have to come this way again.
455853+911 15:42 Mortlake - Strawberry Hill
455708+721 16:08 Strawberry Hill - St Margaret's (Middlesex)
455910+730 16:19 St Margaret's (Middlesex) - Twickenham
458508+530 Twickenham - Putney
458518+516 16:41 - Putney - Clapham Junction
I had a wander over to the London, Brighton, & South Coast Railway side on the possibility that there may be required green Class 455s, but the first two ex London Victoria were dud, so returned to the L&SWR side with the trains starting to run haywire.
455750+712 17:11 (actual departure time) Clapham Junction Waterloo (arrived into Platform 20 at 17:23)
456018+455701+455919 17:32 (delayed 30 minutes) Waterloo Stoneleigh (departed Platform 24)
456012+455710+455901 18:33 (delayed 15 minutes) Stoneleigh - Epsom
377708 19:04 Epsom - Cheam
377601 19:22 Cheam - Epsom
455919+455701+456018 19:37 (delayed 8 minutes) Epsom - Raynes Park
455863+907 20:12 Raynes Park Wimbledon
This was where I decided to switch to the Wimbledon & Sutton Railway
700026 20:28 Wimbledon - Tooting
700030 20:41 Tooting - West Sutton
700041 21:18 West Sutton - South Merton
700028 21:52 South Merton - St Helier
Then walked to Morden South via London Road
700046 22:25 Morden South - Haydons Road
700025 22:44 Haydons Road - Wimbledon Chase
700028 22:59 Wimbledon Chase - Elephant & Castle via Wimbledon arrive 23:33
Overall, I have managed to make inroads into reducing the red Class 455 and 456s today, which is not too bad considering it was a holiday Monday with engineering works and line closures.
Stay tuned for the next installment.
James Wake
Member
- Joined
- 30 Aug 2013
- Messages
- 952
Excellent read in the area where I work, I work at Fulwell Bus Garage, which operate the 281 and is opposite the bus stop that you likely picked up the R70. I hope you had Boundary Zone tickets out to Ashford, Upper Halliford, Sunbury and Kempton Park as they are all not in the zones.
Keep the great reads coming!
Keep the great reads coming!
adrock1976
Established Member
I had all the ticketing arrangements already sorted before setting out on the trip.
Furthermore, it does seem strange that the stations beyond Hampton are outside the zones as it is a short run to the end of the line at Shepperton, and they were once part of historic Middlesex. For comparison, the stations to Tattenham Corner and Caterham on London, Brighton, & South Coast Railway metals are within the zonal system, even though they have remained in Surrey.
Last edited:
Keith Jarrett
Member
Nice to see you travelling around my part of the world (the Wimbledon loop) even if you did get one of my few required 700s (41).
Keep up the fab reports!
Keep up the fab reports!
James Wake
Member
- Joined
- 30 Aug 2013
- Messages
- 952
I agree, there are a lot of people who want to see the rest of the Shepperton branch on Oyster and in the travelcard zones.
adrock1976
Established Member
More Class 455 + 456 hunting, and failed attempt at Linford Street curve 29 August
Having briefly checked online to see how the trains were running today from Waterloo as the engineering works had overran, according to the Real Time Trains website the Southeastern services that would be diverted via the Linford Street curve had appeared to have been cancelled. Cross-checking with the Southeastern to Waterloo Mainline thread in the UK Rail Discussion section of the forum, that was definitely the case. Similar for the Chessington South services being cancelled too. After having had breakfast, I made my way to the southbound Northern Line platform so as to concentrate on that in the meantime. The intention was to first hop along to South Wimbledon then head to Waterloo changing at Kennington, and then to check The Drain. I had another thought that although I would need to nip briefly north of the Thames (this would be riding my luck, as on three previous occasions when I have dashed across to the opposite side of the Thames to chase after or grab something, it has not worked out well) as I had gen on my final Class 365 being in service and also being on one of the schedules that calls at Finsbury Park at lunchtime. I would return south of the Thames to resume hunting for Class 455s and 456s.
As much of the morning session was spent hunting required Northern Line trains, with a brief Waterloo Vauxhall run then a dash north to Kings Cross via Liverpool Street, for simplicity and easier readability I have listed the moves below with requirements highlighted in bold:
51558+559 Elephant & Castle Clapham Common
51575+576 Clapham Common Clapham South
51561+562 Clapham South Balham
51549+550 Balham Tooting Bec (here I let a dud set go, as I knew I would most likely meet it again heading north)
51615+614 Tooting Bec Tooting Broadway
51661+662 Tooting Broadway Colliers Wood
51545+544 Colliers Wood South Wimbledon
51648+647 South Wimbledon Kennington (this was the dud set I declined at Tooting Bec)
51674+673 Kennington Waterloo
Making my way over to The Drain, I hopped onboard the first train which was required 65505+506 for the run to Bank. I returned to Waterloo on the next train which was required 65502+501. I then made my way upstairs to the main station to see if any Class 455/456/458s were required and having spotted one in Platform 17 on the 11:58 Windsor & Eton Riverside it was onboard 458520+531 for a short run to Vauxhall. I did not want to go too far being as there was still disruption combined with me needing to get to Kings Cross. I made my way over to Platform 7 to board required pair 455855+718 that was on the slightly delayed 12:03 ex Guildford via Cobham to return to Waterloo, arriving at 12:10.
Making my way once more to The Drain I let the first train go as it was dud from yesterday. I hopped on the second train which was formed of required 65503+504 to Bank, and being as the next train was dud from earlier on and the third being the dud I had let go at Waterloo (I think there are 4 trains in service during the off peak period), I switched to the Central Line to board required 91217+ duds 92140+230+ required 91333 for the short run to Liverpool Street. As the clock was ticking, I could not do many linear hops, but I had time to take a required train halfway to Barbican on dud 21084+083, then onwards to Kings Cross on required 21057+058.
After making my way up to street level and heading towards Platform 11 for the 13:22 Peterborough departure, it was onboard required 365520+ dud 503 for a run to Finsbury Park, finally clearing the Class 365s (with the obvious exception of 526 as that was withdrawn after the Potters Bar accident in 2002), and spotting 67028 in the headshunt at Kings Cross just after departing. I went to get something cold and wet from the station store just past the exit and to the left and hung around to see if any of my remaining first batch of Class 387s was on the 13:43 Kings Cross (I require 7). Unfortunately, it was dud, so having decided to avoid a hike at Kings Cross, it was downstairs to the Victoria Line to let 4 duds in a row go before boarding required 11019+020 straight to Oxford Circus. It was then to the opposite platform face for a Bakerloo Line train formed of required 3253+ dud 3545 straight to Waterloo.
Having made my way upstairs to the main station, there were still a few cancellations and delays, but there was some good news in that the Chessington South services had been restored. It was over to Platform 1 for the 14:24 Dorking via Epsom formed of dud 455856+ required 455850 for a run to Worcester Park, then over to the London platform for the 14:57 ex Dorking Waterloo formed of required pair 455862+742 for a bus stop bash to Motspur Park. Having made a note that the 15:01 Guildford had a required pair of 455s, it was onboard the 15:09 Chessington South formed of required pair 455714+860 for a run to Chessington North, and returning to Malden Manor on the same train due at 15:40. It had appeared that the 15:17 ex Waterloo Chessington South departure had been cancelled as I did not see the train heading south at all (if running to time, they pass between Malden Manor and Tolworth), which was confirmed when the platform screen changed from it being displayed to Correction flashing up, with it having disappeared. Of note, there is not a great deal of suitable bus moves or walking routes to go between the stations along this branch or to cut across to the mainline from here or at Chessington North.
As I had appeared to have hit some further disruption and cancellations, my luck was in as the 16:12 ex Waterloo was running, which was formed of dud 456003+ required 456021+ dud 455902 for a (formerly) Surrey type bus stop bash to Tolworth. Making my way to the main road, some more luck was in as I had noticed that I had a choice of bus routes to cut across to the mainline. I settled upon the K2 that runs between Hook (the one in Surrey, not the well known one in Hampshire) and Kingston for a run to Berrylands station, arriving there 15 minutes or so before a train was due. Of note. Berrylands station has a frequency of every 30 minutes, with trains timetabled to pass each other within a few minutes of each other assuming everything is running on time.
It was onboard the slightly delayed 17:00 Hampton Court formed of dud pair 455856+850 for a run to Thames Ditton, returning to New Malden on the same train due at 17:29. It is noted that again there is not much in terms of bus services at Thames Ditton as the frequency seems to be irregular with no pattern in particular. Furthermore, although the poles are Transport for London style, they are green rather than red. After alighting at New Malden, it was over to the southbound platform for the 5 minuted delayed 17:49 ex Waterloo Waterloo via Richmond formed of required 455722+ dud 455740 for a short run under and round to Norbiton. As there was a huge crowd of passengers on the London via Wimbledon platform, I rapidly made my way over as the information screens had become stuck due to a fault and was displaying trains from a couple of hours ago. Of note, there is an automatic gateline for each platform, therefore I would recommend scoring this station on a linear hop when the normal service pattern is running, as the opposite gateline would interpret a paper Travelcard (and possibly Oyster PAYG) as a passback. I was let through manually though, so all was well in the end.
It was eventually onboard the 8 minutes delayed 18:00 Waterloo via Wimbledon formed of dud pair from earlier 458520+531 for the run to Earlsfield. I had originally intended to bail at Wimbledon and switch to the Thameslink route, but it was not possible to make the 18:18 Sutton departure due to the delay. Similar to Norbiton, Earlsfield is better to do on a linear hop as it has an automatic gateline for each platform. For some strange reason and especially for this time of day and with it being a normal working day, the gateline was not staffed hence how the paddles were all set in the open position. Having made my way to the southbound platform, it was onboard the 18:32 Woking local all stations formed of required triple set of 456020+456016+455872 for the short run to Wimbledon. It is noted that the platform staff were doing manual announcements as the automated information system had developed a fault, with the screens displaying trains from earlier that have already departed or been delayed or cancelled, with the automated announcements being well and truly out of sync.
It was over to Platform 9 for the 10 minutes delayed 18:47 Sutton formed of required 700038 for the run to Sutton. Having checked the screens and having noticed that the 19:19 ex London Victoria Epsom Downs had been cancelled, I decided to hang around for a short while (until around 19:40) just to make sure that the 19:56 Epsom Downs is actually running. When I was confident that it was running, it was on the 280 bus to Belmont station via the main Brighton Road with the journey time being between 5 to 7 minutes. Having made my way to the platform with 12 minutes to spare, it was onboard the 20:00 Epsom Downs formd of required 377622 for the short run to Banstead and back to Sutton on the same train due at 20:17. It was then a 10 minute or so fester before hopping onboard the 20:37 Luton via Wimbledon formed of required 700011. It was my intention to bail at Sutton Common, but as the 21:00 ex Luton Sutton had been cancelled and with the next train due at 21:30, I decided to forego scoring that station as I did not fancy a 45 minute fester with the possibility that the next train may get cancelled. I decided to remain onboard to Wimbledon and to see if I could get any more required Class 455 and 456s.
Having made my way to Platform 8, the 20:58 Shepperton were a dud pair of Class 455s, therefore I declined those. Next up was the 21:10 Epsom formed of required pair 455874+711 for a run to Motspur Park. The 21:19 ex Chessington South was dud, so declined that and decided to go for a wander to the convenience store to get something cold and wet plus a light snack, while listening out for the level crossing barriers coming down as there would be a train due a few moments later. On the way back to the station, I heard the level crossing sequence starting so I sped up over the footbridge to the platform to see which direction a train was approaching. It was onboard the 20 minutes delayed 21:15 ex Epsom formed of fresh duds 455711+874 (there had appeared to have been a train swap at Epsom, which explained an empty coaching stock move I saw before nipping to the convenience store) for a run to Raynes Park. It was over to the adjacent Platform 2 for the delayed 15 minutes 21:28 Waterloo via Wimbledon formed of required pair 455916+908 to Wimbledon, departing ahead of the ex Epsom train I had alighted from.
As I had spotted some Class 455s in Platform 8 on a Woking local having just departed as I stepped onto the platform, I decided to have a roll of the dice and take a punt on grabbing those on the way back by meeting them at Surbiton that is if they are returning to Waterloo in passenger service. The first train that would be calling at Surbiton was the 50 minutes delayed 21:22 Hampton Court formed of required pair 455870+864 for the run to Surbiton. After letting the next few departures to Waterloo go, it was the 23:12 ex Guildford via Cobham (according to the RTT website) that required 455738+737 that did the honours in taking me to Waterloo, going Downstairs to the Bakerloo Line to hop onboard required 3235+ dud 3556 to Lambeth North, then on required 3260+ dud 3562 to Elephant & Castle to bring the days action to an end.
Overall, despite me not able to do the Linford Street curve today, I have another chance tomorrow, plus I managed to press on with grabbing required Class 455 and 456s, and have also cleared all the Class 365s as well.
Stay tuned for the final installment.
Having briefly checked online to see how the trains were running today from Waterloo as the engineering works had overran, according to the Real Time Trains website the Southeastern services that would be diverted via the Linford Street curve had appeared to have been cancelled. Cross-checking with the Southeastern to Waterloo Mainline thread in the UK Rail Discussion section of the forum, that was definitely the case. Similar for the Chessington South services being cancelled too. After having had breakfast, I made my way to the southbound Northern Line platform so as to concentrate on that in the meantime. The intention was to first hop along to South Wimbledon then head to Waterloo changing at Kennington, and then to check The Drain. I had another thought that although I would need to nip briefly north of the Thames (this would be riding my luck, as on three previous occasions when I have dashed across to the opposite side of the Thames to chase after or grab something, it has not worked out well) as I had gen on my final Class 365 being in service and also being on one of the schedules that calls at Finsbury Park at lunchtime. I would return south of the Thames to resume hunting for Class 455s and 456s.
As much of the morning session was spent hunting required Northern Line trains, with a brief Waterloo Vauxhall run then a dash north to Kings Cross via Liverpool Street, for simplicity and easier readability I have listed the moves below with requirements highlighted in bold:
51558+559 Elephant & Castle Clapham Common
51575+576 Clapham Common Clapham South
51561+562 Clapham South Balham
51549+550 Balham Tooting Bec (here I let a dud set go, as I knew I would most likely meet it again heading north)
51615+614 Tooting Bec Tooting Broadway
51661+662 Tooting Broadway Colliers Wood
51545+544 Colliers Wood South Wimbledon
51648+647 South Wimbledon Kennington (this was the dud set I declined at Tooting Bec)
51674+673 Kennington Waterloo
Making my way over to The Drain, I hopped onboard the first train which was required 65505+506 for the run to Bank. I returned to Waterloo on the next train which was required 65502+501. I then made my way upstairs to the main station to see if any Class 455/456/458s were required and having spotted one in Platform 17 on the 11:58 Windsor & Eton Riverside it was onboard 458520+531 for a short run to Vauxhall. I did not want to go too far being as there was still disruption combined with me needing to get to Kings Cross. I made my way over to Platform 7 to board required pair 455855+718 that was on the slightly delayed 12:03 ex Guildford via Cobham to return to Waterloo, arriving at 12:10.
Making my way once more to The Drain I let the first train go as it was dud from yesterday. I hopped on the second train which was formed of required 65503+504 to Bank, and being as the next train was dud from earlier on and the third being the dud I had let go at Waterloo (I think there are 4 trains in service during the off peak period), I switched to the Central Line to board required 91217+ duds 92140+230+ required 91333 for the short run to Liverpool Street. As the clock was ticking, I could not do many linear hops, but I had time to take a required train halfway to Barbican on dud 21084+083, then onwards to Kings Cross on required 21057+058.
After making my way up to street level and heading towards Platform 11 for the 13:22 Peterborough departure, it was onboard required 365520+ dud 503 for a run to Finsbury Park, finally clearing the Class 365s (with the obvious exception of 526 as that was withdrawn after the Potters Bar accident in 2002), and spotting 67028 in the headshunt at Kings Cross just after departing. I went to get something cold and wet from the station store just past the exit and to the left and hung around to see if any of my remaining first batch of Class 387s was on the 13:43 Kings Cross (I require 7). Unfortunately, it was dud, so having decided to avoid a hike at Kings Cross, it was downstairs to the Victoria Line to let 4 duds in a row go before boarding required 11019+020 straight to Oxford Circus. It was then to the opposite platform face for a Bakerloo Line train formed of required 3253+ dud 3545 straight to Waterloo.
Having made my way upstairs to the main station, there were still a few cancellations and delays, but there was some good news in that the Chessington South services had been restored. It was over to Platform 1 for the 14:24 Dorking via Epsom formed of dud 455856+ required 455850 for a run to Worcester Park, then over to the London platform for the 14:57 ex Dorking Waterloo formed of required pair 455862+742 for a bus stop bash to Motspur Park. Having made a note that the 15:01 Guildford had a required pair of 455s, it was onboard the 15:09 Chessington South formed of required pair 455714+860 for a run to Chessington North, and returning to Malden Manor on the same train due at 15:40. It had appeared that the 15:17 ex Waterloo Chessington South departure had been cancelled as I did not see the train heading south at all (if running to time, they pass between Malden Manor and Tolworth), which was confirmed when the platform screen changed from it being displayed to Correction flashing up, with it having disappeared. Of note, there is not a great deal of suitable bus moves or walking routes to go between the stations along this branch or to cut across to the mainline from here or at Chessington North.
As I had appeared to have hit some further disruption and cancellations, my luck was in as the 16:12 ex Waterloo was running, which was formed of dud 456003+ required 456021+ dud 455902 for a (formerly) Surrey type bus stop bash to Tolworth. Making my way to the main road, some more luck was in as I had noticed that I had a choice of bus routes to cut across to the mainline. I settled upon the K2 that runs between Hook (the one in Surrey, not the well known one in Hampshire) and Kingston for a run to Berrylands station, arriving there 15 minutes or so before a train was due. Of note. Berrylands station has a frequency of every 30 minutes, with trains timetabled to pass each other within a few minutes of each other assuming everything is running on time.
It was onboard the slightly delayed 17:00 Hampton Court formed of dud pair 455856+850 for a run to Thames Ditton, returning to New Malden on the same train due at 17:29. It is noted that again there is not much in terms of bus services at Thames Ditton as the frequency seems to be irregular with no pattern in particular. Furthermore, although the poles are Transport for London style, they are green rather than red. After alighting at New Malden, it was over to the southbound platform for the 5 minuted delayed 17:49 ex Waterloo Waterloo via Richmond formed of required 455722+ dud 455740 for a short run under and round to Norbiton. As there was a huge crowd of passengers on the London via Wimbledon platform, I rapidly made my way over as the information screens had become stuck due to a fault and was displaying trains from a couple of hours ago. Of note, there is an automatic gateline for each platform, therefore I would recommend scoring this station on a linear hop when the normal service pattern is running, as the opposite gateline would interpret a paper Travelcard (and possibly Oyster PAYG) as a passback. I was let through manually though, so all was well in the end.
It was eventually onboard the 8 minutes delayed 18:00 Waterloo via Wimbledon formed of dud pair from earlier 458520+531 for the run to Earlsfield. I had originally intended to bail at Wimbledon and switch to the Thameslink route, but it was not possible to make the 18:18 Sutton departure due to the delay. Similar to Norbiton, Earlsfield is better to do on a linear hop as it has an automatic gateline for each platform. For some strange reason and especially for this time of day and with it being a normal working day, the gateline was not staffed hence how the paddles were all set in the open position. Having made my way to the southbound platform, it was onboard the 18:32 Woking local all stations formed of required triple set of 456020+456016+455872 for the short run to Wimbledon. It is noted that the platform staff were doing manual announcements as the automated information system had developed a fault, with the screens displaying trains from earlier that have already departed or been delayed or cancelled, with the automated announcements being well and truly out of sync.
It was over to Platform 9 for the 10 minutes delayed 18:47 Sutton formed of required 700038 for the run to Sutton. Having checked the screens and having noticed that the 19:19 ex London Victoria Epsom Downs had been cancelled, I decided to hang around for a short while (until around 19:40) just to make sure that the 19:56 Epsom Downs is actually running. When I was confident that it was running, it was on the 280 bus to Belmont station via the main Brighton Road with the journey time being between 5 to 7 minutes. Having made my way to the platform with 12 minutes to spare, it was onboard the 20:00 Epsom Downs formd of required 377622 for the short run to Banstead and back to Sutton on the same train due at 20:17. It was then a 10 minute or so fester before hopping onboard the 20:37 Luton via Wimbledon formed of required 700011. It was my intention to bail at Sutton Common, but as the 21:00 ex Luton Sutton had been cancelled and with the next train due at 21:30, I decided to forego scoring that station as I did not fancy a 45 minute fester with the possibility that the next train may get cancelled. I decided to remain onboard to Wimbledon and to see if I could get any more required Class 455 and 456s.
Having made my way to Platform 8, the 20:58 Shepperton were a dud pair of Class 455s, therefore I declined those. Next up was the 21:10 Epsom formed of required pair 455874+711 for a run to Motspur Park. The 21:19 ex Chessington South was dud, so declined that and decided to go for a wander to the convenience store to get something cold and wet plus a light snack, while listening out for the level crossing barriers coming down as there would be a train due a few moments later. On the way back to the station, I heard the level crossing sequence starting so I sped up over the footbridge to the platform to see which direction a train was approaching. It was onboard the 20 minutes delayed 21:15 ex Epsom formed of fresh duds 455711+874 (there had appeared to have been a train swap at Epsom, which explained an empty coaching stock move I saw before nipping to the convenience store) for a run to Raynes Park. It was over to the adjacent Platform 2 for the delayed 15 minutes 21:28 Waterloo via Wimbledon formed of required pair 455916+908 to Wimbledon, departing ahead of the ex Epsom train I had alighted from.
As I had spotted some Class 455s in Platform 8 on a Woking local having just departed as I stepped onto the platform, I decided to have a roll of the dice and take a punt on grabbing those on the way back by meeting them at Surbiton that is if they are returning to Waterloo in passenger service. The first train that would be calling at Surbiton was the 50 minutes delayed 21:22 Hampton Court formed of required pair 455870+864 for the run to Surbiton. After letting the next few departures to Waterloo go, it was the 23:12 ex Guildford via Cobham (according to the RTT website) that required 455738+737 that did the honours in taking me to Waterloo, going Downstairs to the Bakerloo Line to hop onboard required 3235+ dud 3556 to Lambeth North, then on required 3260+ dud 3562 to Elephant & Castle to bring the days action to an end.
Overall, despite me not able to do the Linford Street curve today, I have another chance tomorrow, plus I managed to press on with grabbing required Class 455 and 456s, and have also cleared all the Class 365s as well.
Stay tuned for the final installment.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Congrats on clearing the 365s and putting a large dent in your SWR 455s & 456s 
adrock1976
Established Member
Linford Street second attempt and homeward bound 30 August
Being as today is my final day before heading back north, I revised my morning plans as I had intended to score Seer Green & Jordans (does not matter which direction it is scored from on Mondays to Saturdays, as it is around 30 minutes between trains heading in opposite directions. However, Sundays have the trains timetabled to pass each other within a minute of each other here), plus invoke the official doubleback between Gerrards Cross and the Denham stations before heading to Aylesbury via High Wycombe. As I had failed in my attempt to cover the Linford Street curve due to overrunning engineering works yesterday, I would forego the Seer Green & Jordans and the Denham Stations part so as to have a second and final attempt at scoring the Linford Street curve.
After breakfast and having checked out, it was the short walk to Elephant & Castle stopping off at the main station to purchase the Sevenoaks ticket, as the diversions were definitely running today. Walking round the corner to the Underground, it was to the northbound Bakerloo Line platform to board required 3534+ dud 3251 to Lambeth North, then to Waterloo on dud 3553+ required 3299. Having first checked The Drain to see if the first train departing was required, I more or less immediately made my way upstairs to the main station as it was dud and did not want to waste too much time. It was over to Platform 22 for the 09:27 Dover Priory formed of required 375702+710+ dud 806 for the non stop run to Sevenoaks via the Linford Street curve (scoring the Platform 1 track at Vauxhall as well), Denmark Hill (where the drivers changed over), Lewisham, and Orpington. It was initially a slow crawl until after the train weaved across to the fast lines between Hither Green and Grove Park, then began to speed up. 66207 was spotted at Hither Green, with 66182 spotted at Chislehurst hauling EWS Construction open wagons heading south. It was over to Platform 1 for the 10:19 ex Ramsgate Waterloo formed of required pair 375715+607 where everything seemed to run smoothly until the train had a brief pause north of Chislehurst Junction before proceeding until it came to a halt just north of Hither Green after weaving across to the slow lines. After a few minutes, the driver announced that due to a trespass incident in the Denmark Hill area, the train would be diverted to Cannon Street. Likewise, the train proceeded along to Cannon Street avoiding Lewisham, arriving at 10:53 (was due at Waterloo at 11:14).
Having exited the station for some fresh air and to gather my thoughts on what to do next, I decided to forego fitting in the Princes Risborough Aylesbury section of track and would have another run to Sevenoaks and return to Waterloo so as to cover the Linford Street curve in the opposite direction, in the event the power for the third rail electrification system may get disconnected again when the works at Waterloo station are complete. Of note, it was only a couple of pounds extra for another Sevenoaks return ticket compared to the Princes Risborough Aylesbury return fare. After checking online to see which train would meet the Waterloo diverters, my luck was in that the 11:20 Tunbridge Wells via Lewisham and Grove Park local all stations would arrive Sevenoaks at 12:10, meaning that I could meet the 12:19 ex Dover Priory Waterloo. I decided to first take the 11:14 Gillingham (Kent) via Woolwich Arsenal to Lewisham on the chance that there would be a required 465/466 for the front portion of the train, but unfortunately it was dud pair 465042+465003. As I did not want to walk back along the platform I decided to take this to Lewisham, spotting 66524 hauling ballast wagons near where the London, Brighton, & South Coast Railway line diverges (possibly Spa Road Junction). It was a hokey-cokey style interchange from Platform 4 to Platform 2 as there are 2 separate automatic gatelines for Platforms 3+4 and 1+2. It was onboard the 11:34 ex Waterloo Tunbridge Wells via Grove Park formed of required 466026+ dud 465015+ required 466025 for the run to Sevenoaks.
Making my way over to Platform 1 for the 12:19 ex Dover Priory Waterloo, the first bit of good news was that the train was running. It was soon onboard required pair 375823+810 for the non stop run to Waterloo via Orpington, Lewisham, Denmark Hill (driver change), and Linford Street curve. After the train had weaved across to the slow lines between Grove Park and Hither Green, there was a slight sigh of relief when it took the diverging route via Lewisham after a slight pause just past Hither Green, and I could totally relax when the train passed Nunhead station, meaning that after the driver changeover at Denmark Hill, the Linford Street curve was on in the London direction. Again, the train was routed via Platform 1 at Vauxhall, with me having griced that track in both directions. Arrival at Waterloo was 4 minutes early at 13:10 into Platform 22. After nipping out to the Tesco store along Waterloo Road to pick up some provisions, it was downstairs to the northbound Bakerloo Line platform. Having let the first train go as both halves were dud, it was onboard the second train formed of required pair 3531+3267 to Oxford Circus, then on required 3536+ dud 3250 to Regents Park, and dud pair 3563+3248 to Marylebone as time was against me to have let that go.
It was upstairs to the main station to board the 14:06 Oxford formed of required 168214 (the proper Clubman and not the former Class 170 Turbostars) for the run to Oxford. The automated announcement for Bicester Village/Town/London Road/whatever the branding is was both in English and most likely Mandarin. It was noticeable that the train had emptied out a fair bit with a few passengers boarding at Oxford Parkway for the short run to Oxford, arriving 2 minutes early at 15:08. Of note, my intention was to hang about for the 15:39 ex Bournemouth Manchester Piccadilly but as I had arrived a couple of minutes early, I had spotted the 15:13 ex Southampton Central Edinburgh Waverley via Solihull and Leeds, and was formed of required 220034 which I took to Banbury. Soon after alighting, 66134 was hauling Range Rovers southbound, 168112 was on the 15:39 ex Birmingham Moor Street Marylebone limited stop, and 172104 was in Platform 4 that would be on the 15:48 Marylebone local.
I then hopped onboard the 15:42 ex Marylebone Birmingham Snow Hill formed of required Clubman 168217 for the short run to Leamington Spa, then to Coventry on the 16:14 ex Bournemouth Manchester Piccadilly (that I would have picked up at Oxford had I not made the 15:13 Southampton Edinburgh) formed of dud 221131. Having checked the 16:42 Nuneaton shuttle, I declined that as it was dud 153354 (I require 153364 to clear the London Midland fleet). I also declined the 16:42 ex London Euston Edinburgh as that was dud 390151, with my remaining option being the 16:50 ex London Euston Birmingham NS. Although this was dud 350125, I hopped on this for the run to Birmingham so as to get closer to the bit of the PSUL track I need to cover while it is still daylight.
Having declined the 17:31 ex Paignton Manchester Piccadilly as that was dud, it was onboard the 17:36 Liverpool LS formed of dud 350260 for the run to Penkridge. The previous time I have been on a train that called at Penkridge was back in 1989 when on a Birmingham or Wolverhampton Stoke-on-Trent which was a Class 310, and also called at Barlaston and Wedgwood. Around 30 minutes later, it was onboard the 7 minutes delayed 18:29 ex Birmingham NS Liverpool LS formed of dud 350265 for the run to Crewe via the PSUL bit of track via Searchlight Lane Junction (the new alignment of the slow northbound track between Little Bridgeford Junction and Lower Heamies Junction around the Norton Bridge area north of Stafford). I exited the station to search a takeaway place where you could sit in along Nantwich Road for something to eat, then along to the Tesco store at the garage at Weston Road junction to pick up something cold and wet before heading back to the station. I boarded the 20:09 ex London Euston Glasgow Central via Birmingham formed of dud 390049 (I require 042 of the 9 coach sets) for an uneventful run back to Glasgow with the only notable thing being a chap who alighted at Oxenholme had a large portable loudspeakers even bigger than a 1980s style ghetto blaster. As darkness fell, I made a start on typing up part of this trip report having more or less completed the first 2 days. After alighting at Glasgow Central with a surprisingly on time arrival at 23:17, it was a walk over to Queen Street to hop onboard the 23:34 ex Dumbarton Central Springburn formed of (all of the Scotrail electric fleet are dud) 318266 for the run to Barnhill.
Overall, I had achieved the most vital aspect of this trip in that I managed to score the Linford Street curve in both directions. As mentioned previously, even though I was unable to get the Class 319s on the final day of operation on the Thameslink route, I have cleared the Class 365s and have made a large dent into reducing my red Class 455/456 requirements. I do still have a lot of the Class 450s, but those are not being withdrawn from service in the near future as they are still being retained. Ironically, although 1988s finest the Class 442s will be returning back to London & South Western Railway metals and used on service types what they were designed for, I do not require any of those as I cleared the class in December 2015 when they ran on the London Victoria Gatwick Airport and Brighton services. The London Midland 153364 still eludes me though.
Being as today is my final day before heading back north, I revised my morning plans as I had intended to score Seer Green & Jordans (does not matter which direction it is scored from on Mondays to Saturdays, as it is around 30 minutes between trains heading in opposite directions. However, Sundays have the trains timetabled to pass each other within a minute of each other here), plus invoke the official doubleback between Gerrards Cross and the Denham stations before heading to Aylesbury via High Wycombe. As I had failed in my attempt to cover the Linford Street curve due to overrunning engineering works yesterday, I would forego the Seer Green & Jordans and the Denham Stations part so as to have a second and final attempt at scoring the Linford Street curve.
After breakfast and having checked out, it was the short walk to Elephant & Castle stopping off at the main station to purchase the Sevenoaks ticket, as the diversions were definitely running today. Walking round the corner to the Underground, it was to the northbound Bakerloo Line platform to board required 3534+ dud 3251 to Lambeth North, then to Waterloo on dud 3553+ required 3299. Having first checked The Drain to see if the first train departing was required, I more or less immediately made my way upstairs to the main station as it was dud and did not want to waste too much time. It was over to Platform 22 for the 09:27 Dover Priory formed of required 375702+710+ dud 806 for the non stop run to Sevenoaks via the Linford Street curve (scoring the Platform 1 track at Vauxhall as well), Denmark Hill (where the drivers changed over), Lewisham, and Orpington. It was initially a slow crawl until after the train weaved across to the fast lines between Hither Green and Grove Park, then began to speed up. 66207 was spotted at Hither Green, with 66182 spotted at Chislehurst hauling EWS Construction open wagons heading south. It was over to Platform 1 for the 10:19 ex Ramsgate Waterloo formed of required pair 375715+607 where everything seemed to run smoothly until the train had a brief pause north of Chislehurst Junction before proceeding until it came to a halt just north of Hither Green after weaving across to the slow lines. After a few minutes, the driver announced that due to a trespass incident in the Denmark Hill area, the train would be diverted to Cannon Street. Likewise, the train proceeded along to Cannon Street avoiding Lewisham, arriving at 10:53 (was due at Waterloo at 11:14).
Having exited the station for some fresh air and to gather my thoughts on what to do next, I decided to forego fitting in the Princes Risborough Aylesbury section of track and would have another run to Sevenoaks and return to Waterloo so as to cover the Linford Street curve in the opposite direction, in the event the power for the third rail electrification system may get disconnected again when the works at Waterloo station are complete. Of note, it was only a couple of pounds extra for another Sevenoaks return ticket compared to the Princes Risborough Aylesbury return fare. After checking online to see which train would meet the Waterloo diverters, my luck was in that the 11:20 Tunbridge Wells via Lewisham and Grove Park local all stations would arrive Sevenoaks at 12:10, meaning that I could meet the 12:19 ex Dover Priory Waterloo. I decided to first take the 11:14 Gillingham (Kent) via Woolwich Arsenal to Lewisham on the chance that there would be a required 465/466 for the front portion of the train, but unfortunately it was dud pair 465042+465003. As I did not want to walk back along the platform I decided to take this to Lewisham, spotting 66524 hauling ballast wagons near where the London, Brighton, & South Coast Railway line diverges (possibly Spa Road Junction). It was a hokey-cokey style interchange from Platform 4 to Platform 2 as there are 2 separate automatic gatelines for Platforms 3+4 and 1+2. It was onboard the 11:34 ex Waterloo Tunbridge Wells via Grove Park formed of required 466026+ dud 465015+ required 466025 for the run to Sevenoaks.
Making my way over to Platform 1 for the 12:19 ex Dover Priory Waterloo, the first bit of good news was that the train was running. It was soon onboard required pair 375823+810 for the non stop run to Waterloo via Orpington, Lewisham, Denmark Hill (driver change), and Linford Street curve. After the train had weaved across to the slow lines between Grove Park and Hither Green, there was a slight sigh of relief when it took the diverging route via Lewisham after a slight pause just past Hither Green, and I could totally relax when the train passed Nunhead station, meaning that after the driver changeover at Denmark Hill, the Linford Street curve was on in the London direction. Again, the train was routed via Platform 1 at Vauxhall, with me having griced that track in both directions. Arrival at Waterloo was 4 minutes early at 13:10 into Platform 22. After nipping out to the Tesco store along Waterloo Road to pick up some provisions, it was downstairs to the northbound Bakerloo Line platform. Having let the first train go as both halves were dud, it was onboard the second train formed of required pair 3531+3267 to Oxford Circus, then on required 3536+ dud 3250 to Regents Park, and dud pair 3563+3248 to Marylebone as time was against me to have let that go.
It was upstairs to the main station to board the 14:06 Oxford formed of required 168214 (the proper Clubman and not the former Class 170 Turbostars) for the run to Oxford. The automated announcement for Bicester Village/Town/London Road/whatever the branding is was both in English and most likely Mandarin. It was noticeable that the train had emptied out a fair bit with a few passengers boarding at Oxford Parkway for the short run to Oxford, arriving 2 minutes early at 15:08. Of note, my intention was to hang about for the 15:39 ex Bournemouth Manchester Piccadilly but as I had arrived a couple of minutes early, I had spotted the 15:13 ex Southampton Central Edinburgh Waverley via Solihull and Leeds, and was formed of required 220034 which I took to Banbury. Soon after alighting, 66134 was hauling Range Rovers southbound, 168112 was on the 15:39 ex Birmingham Moor Street Marylebone limited stop, and 172104 was in Platform 4 that would be on the 15:48 Marylebone local.
I then hopped onboard the 15:42 ex Marylebone Birmingham Snow Hill formed of required Clubman 168217 for the short run to Leamington Spa, then to Coventry on the 16:14 ex Bournemouth Manchester Piccadilly (that I would have picked up at Oxford had I not made the 15:13 Southampton Edinburgh) formed of dud 221131. Having checked the 16:42 Nuneaton shuttle, I declined that as it was dud 153354 (I require 153364 to clear the London Midland fleet). I also declined the 16:42 ex London Euston Edinburgh as that was dud 390151, with my remaining option being the 16:50 ex London Euston Birmingham NS. Although this was dud 350125, I hopped on this for the run to Birmingham so as to get closer to the bit of the PSUL track I need to cover while it is still daylight.
Having declined the 17:31 ex Paignton Manchester Piccadilly as that was dud, it was onboard the 17:36 Liverpool LS formed of dud 350260 for the run to Penkridge. The previous time I have been on a train that called at Penkridge was back in 1989 when on a Birmingham or Wolverhampton Stoke-on-Trent which was a Class 310, and also called at Barlaston and Wedgwood. Around 30 minutes later, it was onboard the 7 minutes delayed 18:29 ex Birmingham NS Liverpool LS formed of dud 350265 for the run to Crewe via the PSUL bit of track via Searchlight Lane Junction (the new alignment of the slow northbound track between Little Bridgeford Junction and Lower Heamies Junction around the Norton Bridge area north of Stafford). I exited the station to search a takeaway place where you could sit in along Nantwich Road for something to eat, then along to the Tesco store at the garage at Weston Road junction to pick up something cold and wet before heading back to the station. I boarded the 20:09 ex London Euston Glasgow Central via Birmingham formed of dud 390049 (I require 042 of the 9 coach sets) for an uneventful run back to Glasgow with the only notable thing being a chap who alighted at Oxenholme had a large portable loudspeakers even bigger than a 1980s style ghetto blaster. As darkness fell, I made a start on typing up part of this trip report having more or less completed the first 2 days. After alighting at Glasgow Central with a surprisingly on time arrival at 23:17, it was a walk over to Queen Street to hop onboard the 23:34 ex Dumbarton Central Springburn formed of (all of the Scotrail electric fleet are dud) 318266 for the run to Barnhill.
Overall, I had achieved the most vital aspect of this trip in that I managed to score the Linford Street curve in both directions. As mentioned previously, even though I was unable to get the Class 319s on the final day of operation on the Thameslink route, I have cleared the Class 365s and have made a large dent into reducing my red Class 455/456 requirements. I do still have a lot of the Class 450s, but those are not being withdrawn from service in the near future as they are still being retained. Ironically, although 1988s finest the Class 442s will be returning back to London & South Western Railway metals and used on service types what they were designed for, I do not require any of those as I cleared the class in December 2015 when they ran on the London Victoria Gatwick Airport and Brighton services. The London Midland 153364 still eludes me though.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Good news on getting the flyover in, I think it is getting used again at Christmas time.
153364 will fall eventually for you
153364 will fall eventually for you
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Quite the impressive haul there all in, congratulations on clearing the 365s and the curve. Been dud here since 2006!
adrock1976
Established Member
While I was planning bashing trips for this month, I originally intended to take a spin north of Inverness this week so as to see if I could get my three remaining Inverness based Class 158s, and to do the South Pennines trip at the end of the month. Midweek, as Scotrail ran a promotion of free Off Peak Day Returns, I managed to bag some for north of Inverness later in September. This meant that I have switched the planned bashing trips the other way round. It was while I was searching online for fares to Hebden Bridge (extortionate, even with splitting at Preston and using the “Via Burnley” routed fares) and Manchester (bargain basement without splitting at Preston) that Duran Duran’s “A View to a Kill” came on the tranny, which was the theme tune of the 1985 James Bond movie of the same name that featured the final time that Roger Moore portrayed the Bond character. This is partially connected to my Northern Rail requirements as the first entry in the first column of my spreadsheet of Northern Rail requirements also happens to contain the three digits assigned to the Bond character, and with the class being 1985s finest i.e. 142007. Anyway, as both the required Pacers and the Class 158 columns on my spreadsheet have moved very little during 2017, my strategy for today is to attempt to reduce both the required Pacers and the Class 158s today, with me moving around the ranger area as need be. Also, as the Class 158s are mainly found east of the Pennines and also on the Blackpool North – York services, I would mainly be concentrating on Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway metals, plus if 180109 happens to be out today, I will attempt to grab that.
It was an early rise and having noted that the revised and replacement for the number 10 which is now the 87 departs 5 minutes earlier at 05:13 compared to previously, I decided to try it out as I did not have any luggage with me. In one of my previous reports (I think it may have been the Severn & Solent or the South Wales), I made reference to how the bus services were altered in that the section of the 10 from south of the Clyde only runs as far as Buchanan Bus Station, with the Auchinairn – Glasgow replaced by the 87 which terminates at the bus station. The 57 that departs from my bit at 05:25 is too close for the 05:40 Glasgow Central – London Euston as it arrives at Central Station at 05:38. Anyway, the 87 arrived 3 or 4 minutes behind schedule to take me to the bus station, having clawed back a couple of minutes (due to arrive at the bus station at 05:23) to arrive at the bus station at 05:25. Making my way to Central Station via West Nile Street and Gordon Street, I reached the Virgin Trains ticket machine just before Platforms 1 and 2 at 05:33, and collected the tickets to and from Manchester from that machine. This was a useful exercise for future reference, as if I am laden with luggage, I will either book a taxi or set off just before 05:00 and walk to Central Station if booked on the 05:40 departure.
Having noted that dud 221105 was on the 05:50 London Euston via Birmingham and dud 220022 on the 06:00 Plymouth via Leeds and Birmingham, it was onboard the aforementioned 05:40 London Euston via Trent Valley Railway formed of dud 390153 for the run to Preston. Observations included (bearing in mind that I was not properly awake yet) 90047 (I think it was – it was just starting to become dawn) was at Carstairs for the Edinburgh portion of the sleeper, 66717, 66021, 66095, 37558, and various 57s were at Kingmoor, 57212 and 57xxx was in the goods loop west of Platform 1 at Carlisle, 185128 was on the Oxenholme – Windermere shuttle, 158855 (required, and marked for later) was spotted at Fylde Junction on a York – Blackpool North, 319380, 350403 on the 07:58 ex Manchester Airport – Glasgow Central, and 390002 on a northbound run were spotted at Preston. When I quickly glanced up the ramp to the booking office, I had noticed that there was surprisingly no queue at all, so decided to strike while the iron was hot and picked up the South Pennines Day Ranger without any difficulty at all.
It was then onboard the 08:13 ex Blackpool North and Barrow-in-Furness – Manchester Airport formed of dud pair 158117+140 for the run to Salford Crescent, deciding to bail there after spotting a required Class 150 at Bolton having arrived off a Clitheroe departure. Having also spotted a required Class 150 on the 08:52 Southport via Atherton, I marked that for later on, before boarding the slightly delayed 08:51 ex Clitheroe – Manchester Victoria formed of dud 153332+ required 150223 for the run to Victoria. After checking the next couple of westbound departures and with them being dud, my attention switched to Platform 2 for the 09:16 Leeds via Halifax limited stop, which lo and behold was formed of dud 150278+ required 142007 with this being no longer my first entry of required Pacers on the spreadsheet. While onboard 1985s finest machine, I was working out online where to bail while doing my best to avoid the very poor complementary shower (there was some water intermittently dripping in from the roof), and decided upon Sowerby Bridge as there are a couple of trains heading westbound without too much of a long gap.
Making my way to the Manchester platform, it was onboard the 10:08 formed of dud 150147 for the run to Hebden Bridge. Having declined the slightly delayed 10:20 Leeds via Halifax as it was dud, I hopped onboard the 10:34 ex Blackpool North – York formed of required and spotted from earlier 158855 for a run to Halifax. As the 10:54 Manchester Victoria was dud, I declined that to hop onboard the 11:06 ex Manchester Vic – Leeds formed of required 158796 for a run to Bradford Interchange, and returning back to Halifax on the 5 minutes delayed 11:26 ex York – Blackpool North formed of required 158793. The 11:49 York was dud, so instead hopped along to Hebden Bridge on the 11:54 ex Leeds – Manchester Vic formed of dud 158757. The 12:11 Leeds via Dewsbury was dud, so hung about for the 12:20 Leeds via Halifax formed of dud 155342 for a run to Halifax. Next up was the 12:39 ex York – Blackpool North which was dud, therefore declined that and hopped onboard the 12:48 York formed of required 158859 for a run to New Pudsey. It is noted that I am now starting to gradually make my way towards Selby as 180109 is gettable for me this afternoon heading south on a Hull – London Kings Cross departure, after posting in the TOPS request thread earlier on.
During the fester here at New Pudsey and knowing that 158855 that I had earlier would be on the 13:14 ex York – Blackpool North, I made use of the time to look at the network map of Northern Rail so as to work out which ticket would get me from Leeds to Selby, and onwards to Doncaster, consulting the BR Fares website, the 1996 version of routes that were deemed reasonable in British Rail days, and the Routeing Guide for any official doublebacks so as to avoid the extortionate and rip off fares that are set by Stagecoach/Virgin Trains East Coast. Meanwhile, the 13:30 ex Leeds – Manchester Vic was dud, so declined that and found a reasonably priced fare and booked that online. I hopped onboard the 13:43 ex Huddersfield – Leeds formed of required 144019 for a Yorkshire style bus stop bash to Bramley. As I did not see any machines here to collect the tickets I booked around 10 minutes or so ago, I returned back to New Pudsey on the 13:59 Manchester Vic formed of dud 150222.
Having collected the tickets from the machine, it was onboard the 14:12 ex Blackpool North – York formed of required 158906 for the run to Leeds. I had a couple of options here to get me to Selby, which were the 14:38 ex Manchester Piccadilly – Hull or the 14:52 Selby local all stations. I decided upon the 14:38 which was formed of dud 185147, and just after departing, it would have made no difference as the 14:52 in Platform 7 was recent dud 144019. Having spotted 66729 at Gascoigne Wood on the way to Selby, I went for a wander around the town after alighting before heading back to the station to board the 15:46 ex Hull – London Kings Cross formed of required 180109 for the droning sound of the engines between Selby and Temple Hirst Junction on the run to Doncaster. As I had a couple of options regarding which direction to head in (either Sheffield or Leeds via Wakefield Westgate), I checked the screens and decided to head over to Platform 8 to see what was on the 16:14 ex London Kings Cross – Leeds. I hopped onboard this train as it was formed of required 91132+ dud 82204 deciding to head to Leeds rather than bailing at Wakefield Westgate. This would mean that I could see what was on the 16:44 Wakefield Westgate – Huddersfield via Wakefield Kirkgate (I was expecting a dud Class 150), which was a required Pacer.
Upon arrival at Leeds, I had spotted 82213+90029 that would be on the 17:15 London Kings Cross departure. In my determination not to let that required Pacer slip away from me, I checked the screens for the first departure to Huddersfield. Making my way to Platform 16 with a few seconds to spare, it was onboard the 16:53 ex Middlesbrough – Manchester Airport formed of a very heavily loaded and required 185130. During the 20 minutes or so at Huddersfield, I was working out how to fit in the required Class 150 that I spotted earlier on that was on the Southport – Manchester Airport via Atherton. Having done that, it was onboard the 17:31 Wakefield Westgate via Wakefield Kirkgate formed of as expected required 142037 for a run to Mirfield. I made my way over to the 1980s ‘temporary” style platform via the road below the railway line, spotting 66140 hauling some laden flatbed trailers in the Leeds direction. I hopped onboard the 17:50 ex Leeds – Manchester Vic via Hebden Bridge calling all stations, formed of dud pair 142036+158793 for the run to Manchester Victoria with the train getting busier after Todmorden.
I made my way over to Platform 3 for the 19:10 ex Huddersfield – Wigan Wallgate via Bolton formed of dud 142062 for the run to Salford Crescent, arriving there a few minutes behind schedule. Hoping that I had worked out that the 19:26 Southport – Manchester Airport via Atherton was right and not made any errors or the trains being swapped over, my workings out turned out to be true when it appeared with dud 150204+ required 150271 that I had spotted earlier on at this very location, which I took for the run to Oxford Road arriving around 5 minutes or so behind schedule after being held at Castlefield Junction to let a freight train proceed ahead. At Deansgate, 66505 was hauling containers most likely to Trafford Park.
After alighting at Oxford Road, I quickly hotfooted it along to the Tesco store to pick up some provisions before hotfooting it back to the station and to Platform 2 for the 19:49 ex Manchester Airport – Blackpool North, formed of dud pair 156424+ refurbished 156444 for the run to Preston. There was a slight delay just before and after Salford Crescent, and after departing Bolton the train was running 8 minutes behind schedule. There appeared to be an excellent decision by the signallers as the train was routed into Platform 3 at Preston rather than Platform 1 as is normally the case. This of course made it easier for passengers who were travelling to points north of Preston, so as to avoid negotiating the footbridge or the underpass. It was onboard the 20:53 ex London Euston – Glasgow Central formed of dud 390112 for an uneventful run, arriving at Glasgow Central on schedule at 23:17. I made my way over to Queen Street for the 23:34 ex Dumbarton Central – Springburn formed of dud 318267 for the run back home to Barnhill.
Overall, I managed to get the column of required Northern Rail Class 158s moving, of which I now require 14, and also a few Pacers as well of which I require 19 Class 142s and 7 Class 144s. I have managed to get my final Hull Trains heap of junk that is the Class 180s, however, I still require 180104 that is with Great Western assuming that it is still with them and has not been transferred to one of the Open Access operators yet.
It was an early rise and having noted that the revised and replacement for the number 10 which is now the 87 departs 5 minutes earlier at 05:13 compared to previously, I decided to try it out as I did not have any luggage with me. In one of my previous reports (I think it may have been the Severn & Solent or the South Wales), I made reference to how the bus services were altered in that the section of the 10 from south of the Clyde only runs as far as Buchanan Bus Station, with the Auchinairn – Glasgow replaced by the 87 which terminates at the bus station. The 57 that departs from my bit at 05:25 is too close for the 05:40 Glasgow Central – London Euston as it arrives at Central Station at 05:38. Anyway, the 87 arrived 3 or 4 minutes behind schedule to take me to the bus station, having clawed back a couple of minutes (due to arrive at the bus station at 05:23) to arrive at the bus station at 05:25. Making my way to Central Station via West Nile Street and Gordon Street, I reached the Virgin Trains ticket machine just before Platforms 1 and 2 at 05:33, and collected the tickets to and from Manchester from that machine. This was a useful exercise for future reference, as if I am laden with luggage, I will either book a taxi or set off just before 05:00 and walk to Central Station if booked on the 05:40 departure.
Having noted that dud 221105 was on the 05:50 London Euston via Birmingham and dud 220022 on the 06:00 Plymouth via Leeds and Birmingham, it was onboard the aforementioned 05:40 London Euston via Trent Valley Railway formed of dud 390153 for the run to Preston. Observations included (bearing in mind that I was not properly awake yet) 90047 (I think it was – it was just starting to become dawn) was at Carstairs for the Edinburgh portion of the sleeper, 66717, 66021, 66095, 37558, and various 57s were at Kingmoor, 57212 and 57xxx was in the goods loop west of Platform 1 at Carlisle, 185128 was on the Oxenholme – Windermere shuttle, 158855 (required, and marked for later) was spotted at Fylde Junction on a York – Blackpool North, 319380, 350403 on the 07:58 ex Manchester Airport – Glasgow Central, and 390002 on a northbound run were spotted at Preston. When I quickly glanced up the ramp to the booking office, I had noticed that there was surprisingly no queue at all, so decided to strike while the iron was hot and picked up the South Pennines Day Ranger without any difficulty at all.
It was then onboard the 08:13 ex Blackpool North and Barrow-in-Furness – Manchester Airport formed of dud pair 158117+140 for the run to Salford Crescent, deciding to bail there after spotting a required Class 150 at Bolton having arrived off a Clitheroe departure. Having also spotted a required Class 150 on the 08:52 Southport via Atherton, I marked that for later on, before boarding the slightly delayed 08:51 ex Clitheroe – Manchester Victoria formed of dud 153332+ required 150223 for the run to Victoria. After checking the next couple of westbound departures and with them being dud, my attention switched to Platform 2 for the 09:16 Leeds via Halifax limited stop, which lo and behold was formed of dud 150278+ required 142007 with this being no longer my first entry of required Pacers on the spreadsheet. While onboard 1985s finest machine, I was working out online where to bail while doing my best to avoid the very poor complementary shower (there was some water intermittently dripping in from the roof), and decided upon Sowerby Bridge as there are a couple of trains heading westbound without too much of a long gap.
Making my way to the Manchester platform, it was onboard the 10:08 formed of dud 150147 for the run to Hebden Bridge. Having declined the slightly delayed 10:20 Leeds via Halifax as it was dud, I hopped onboard the 10:34 ex Blackpool North – York formed of required and spotted from earlier 158855 for a run to Halifax. As the 10:54 Manchester Victoria was dud, I declined that to hop onboard the 11:06 ex Manchester Vic – Leeds formed of required 158796 for a run to Bradford Interchange, and returning back to Halifax on the 5 minutes delayed 11:26 ex York – Blackpool North formed of required 158793. The 11:49 York was dud, so instead hopped along to Hebden Bridge on the 11:54 ex Leeds – Manchester Vic formed of dud 158757. The 12:11 Leeds via Dewsbury was dud, so hung about for the 12:20 Leeds via Halifax formed of dud 155342 for a run to Halifax. Next up was the 12:39 ex York – Blackpool North which was dud, therefore declined that and hopped onboard the 12:48 York formed of required 158859 for a run to New Pudsey. It is noted that I am now starting to gradually make my way towards Selby as 180109 is gettable for me this afternoon heading south on a Hull – London Kings Cross departure, after posting in the TOPS request thread earlier on.
During the fester here at New Pudsey and knowing that 158855 that I had earlier would be on the 13:14 ex York – Blackpool North, I made use of the time to look at the network map of Northern Rail so as to work out which ticket would get me from Leeds to Selby, and onwards to Doncaster, consulting the BR Fares website, the 1996 version of routes that were deemed reasonable in British Rail days, and the Routeing Guide for any official doublebacks so as to avoid the extortionate and rip off fares that are set by Stagecoach/Virgin Trains East Coast. Meanwhile, the 13:30 ex Leeds – Manchester Vic was dud, so declined that and found a reasonably priced fare and booked that online. I hopped onboard the 13:43 ex Huddersfield – Leeds formed of required 144019 for a Yorkshire style bus stop bash to Bramley. As I did not see any machines here to collect the tickets I booked around 10 minutes or so ago, I returned back to New Pudsey on the 13:59 Manchester Vic formed of dud 150222.
Having collected the tickets from the machine, it was onboard the 14:12 ex Blackpool North – York formed of required 158906 for the run to Leeds. I had a couple of options here to get me to Selby, which were the 14:38 ex Manchester Piccadilly – Hull or the 14:52 Selby local all stations. I decided upon the 14:38 which was formed of dud 185147, and just after departing, it would have made no difference as the 14:52 in Platform 7 was recent dud 144019. Having spotted 66729 at Gascoigne Wood on the way to Selby, I went for a wander around the town after alighting before heading back to the station to board the 15:46 ex Hull – London Kings Cross formed of required 180109 for the droning sound of the engines between Selby and Temple Hirst Junction on the run to Doncaster. As I had a couple of options regarding which direction to head in (either Sheffield or Leeds via Wakefield Westgate), I checked the screens and decided to head over to Platform 8 to see what was on the 16:14 ex London Kings Cross – Leeds. I hopped onboard this train as it was formed of required 91132+ dud 82204 deciding to head to Leeds rather than bailing at Wakefield Westgate. This would mean that I could see what was on the 16:44 Wakefield Westgate – Huddersfield via Wakefield Kirkgate (I was expecting a dud Class 150), which was a required Pacer.
Upon arrival at Leeds, I had spotted 82213+90029 that would be on the 17:15 London Kings Cross departure. In my determination not to let that required Pacer slip away from me, I checked the screens for the first departure to Huddersfield. Making my way to Platform 16 with a few seconds to spare, it was onboard the 16:53 ex Middlesbrough – Manchester Airport formed of a very heavily loaded and required 185130. During the 20 minutes or so at Huddersfield, I was working out how to fit in the required Class 150 that I spotted earlier on that was on the Southport – Manchester Airport via Atherton. Having done that, it was onboard the 17:31 Wakefield Westgate via Wakefield Kirkgate formed of as expected required 142037 for a run to Mirfield. I made my way over to the 1980s ‘temporary” style platform via the road below the railway line, spotting 66140 hauling some laden flatbed trailers in the Leeds direction. I hopped onboard the 17:50 ex Leeds – Manchester Vic via Hebden Bridge calling all stations, formed of dud pair 142036+158793 for the run to Manchester Victoria with the train getting busier after Todmorden.
I made my way over to Platform 3 for the 19:10 ex Huddersfield – Wigan Wallgate via Bolton formed of dud 142062 for the run to Salford Crescent, arriving there a few minutes behind schedule. Hoping that I had worked out that the 19:26 Southport – Manchester Airport via Atherton was right and not made any errors or the trains being swapped over, my workings out turned out to be true when it appeared with dud 150204+ required 150271 that I had spotted earlier on at this very location, which I took for the run to Oxford Road arriving around 5 minutes or so behind schedule after being held at Castlefield Junction to let a freight train proceed ahead. At Deansgate, 66505 was hauling containers most likely to Trafford Park.
After alighting at Oxford Road, I quickly hotfooted it along to the Tesco store to pick up some provisions before hotfooting it back to the station and to Platform 2 for the 19:49 ex Manchester Airport – Blackpool North, formed of dud pair 156424+ refurbished 156444 for the run to Preston. There was a slight delay just before and after Salford Crescent, and after departing Bolton the train was running 8 minutes behind schedule. There appeared to be an excellent decision by the signallers as the train was routed into Platform 3 at Preston rather than Platform 1 as is normally the case. This of course made it easier for passengers who were travelling to points north of Preston, so as to avoid negotiating the footbridge or the underpass. It was onboard the 20:53 ex London Euston – Glasgow Central formed of dud 390112 for an uneventful run, arriving at Glasgow Central on schedule at 23:17. I made my way over to Queen Street for the 23:34 ex Dumbarton Central – Springburn formed of dud 318267 for the run back home to Barnhill.
Overall, I managed to get the column of required Northern Rail Class 158s moving, of which I now require 14, and also a few Pacers as well of which I require 19 Class 142s and 7 Class 144s. I have managed to get my final Hull Trains heap of junk that is the Class 180s, however, I still require 180104 that is with Great Western assuming that it is still with them and has not been transferred to one of the Open Access operators yet.
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Iskra
Established Member
A very good day. I would have definitely gone for 90029 over a pacer though!
Kite159
Veteran Member
Must have missed the update the first time round. Sounded like a varied day in Northern Land with many winners for your red pen. Congrats on getting free tickets to Inverness in that Scotrail giveaway
adrock1976
Established Member
Having managed to bag some of the free returns of the Scotrail promotional offer with those being for north of Inverness, my main reason for those was that although there is very little of the Scotrail fleet that I require (until the Class 385s come on stream), this would give me a spin to the North Highlands and would enable me to tick off some of the farthest away stations. The last (and one and only) time I covered the track north of Dingwall was back in either 1994 or 1996 (I would have to dig out the tickets to find out which year it was I remember it being the North Highland Rover) on an Inverness Wick run. I have recently covered the Kyle of Lochalsh arm back in 2014 on a Glasgow Mallaig Armadale (Skye) Kyleakin Kyle of Lochalsh Inverness Glasgow circular day trip. Furthermore, I would be revisiting the Kyle of Lochalsh arm in a couple of days time too.
After having got some provisions from the nearby Tesco store across the road from me the previous day, it was an early rise just after 05:00. My first mission after getting dressed was to prepare the flasks of tea which took a good half hour (I do it the proper way i.e. warm the teapot first, then the flasks, make the tea, let it steep, then transfer to the flasks with the remaining tea left in the teapot transferred to a mug so as I have a morning tea before setting off), and to gather the provisions together into a backpack. Having had tea and got everything together, I set off just before 06:15 for the short walk to Barnhill station to board the 06:24 Dumbarton Central, formed of 320322 to Glasgow Queen Street.
It was around a half hour fester before boarding the 07:10 Inverness, formed of 170417. Of note, the train was lightly loaded after Stirling and Perth, which I had a chance to relax the best I could after Blair Atholl, listening to the unmistakeable and distinctive sound of the hellfire screaming of Valenta engines in the IC125 powercars while going over the Pass of Dummochter.
Hold on a minute...
I must have had a deep power nap here with my mind going back to when I first covered this line back in 1994, when I picked up the Highland Chieftain at Stirling for a run to Aviemore. Reality of 2017 soon began to bite, as I must have reached the summit due to the air conditioning giving a cold icy blast which must have woke me up. I realised that it was not an IC125 with the original Valenta engines, but a Class 170 Turbostar confirmed with the whining and droning sound of the engines having seemingly struggled with the gradients. To help eliminate some of the sound of the engines, I decided to have a listen to The Clash for the remainder of the journey to Inverness. On the approach to Inverness, observations were that 60076 was coupled to Tarmac wagons, a Class 57 at the depot, 67022 coupled to the sleeper coaches in Platform 2, 158723+789 in Platform 4 on the Edinburgh Waverley departure, and 158703 in Platform 6 on the 10:5x Kyle of Lochalsh.
It was over to Platform 5 for the 10:41 Wick formed of 158709 which I took to the request stop of Scotscalder. After arriving at 14:03, I set off for the walk to Halkirk by going north along the country lane next to the station until I came to the end (a staggered junction), then turned right along another country lane for a couple of miles until reaching the end at Bridge Street. Taking a right turn, it was over the river and a few moments later I reached Sinclair Street where I saw 2 bus stops opposite each other at 15:20 or thereabouts. Having worked out which side of the road the bus departs from to take me to Georgemas Junction, it happened to be the side of the road without the shelter, and it was now light drizzle.
The Stagecoach 82 arrived more or less on schedule at 15:50 to take me the short run along to the A9 at Georgemas. It was a short walk along the A9 to the station where it was a 10 minute or so fester before the 16:18 Inverness via Thurso arrived, with me hopping back onboard 158709 for the run to Thurso and back before continuing to Inverness (the showers were starting to become slightly heavier now, hence how I had the run to Thurso rather than hanging around almost another 30 minutes for the train to return. After alighting at Inverness, it was over to Platform 3 for the 20:10 Stirling (normally Glasgow Queen Street, but terminating Stirling due to engineering works between Polmont and Stirling via Falkirk Grahamston, and Larbert and Greenhill Junction) formed of 170455 (so close to landing my final Scotrail Class 170 one digit below the one that I require, and according to the Northern Unit Refurbishments thread, that is one of the various Class 170s that will be transferring to Northern Rail).
Arrival at Stirling was into Platform 9, so I might have unintentionally scored a microgrice there. I made my way to the station forecourt to await the replacement bus (the operator being Gibsons of Renfrew), and although it departed 10 minutes behind schedule, it arrived slightly ahead of schedule at Glasgow Queen Street arriving at 00:05. I returned home on the 57 that was due at 00:15 at West Regent Street, as the bus stops immediately outside the station are closed due to the redevelopment works.
Although I did not land anything required (bearing in mind that was not the intention), I felt that it was a worthwhile exercise in helping eliminate one of the tricky North Highland stations in terms of Scotscalder being quite a hike from the nearest main road or bus stops. I will be saving both Altnabreac and Forsinard for another time if a similar promotion happens in the future, which I am considering hiring a bicycle to do both.
After having got some provisions from the nearby Tesco store across the road from me the previous day, it was an early rise just after 05:00. My first mission after getting dressed was to prepare the flasks of tea which took a good half hour (I do it the proper way i.e. warm the teapot first, then the flasks, make the tea, let it steep, then transfer to the flasks with the remaining tea left in the teapot transferred to a mug so as I have a morning tea before setting off), and to gather the provisions together into a backpack. Having had tea and got everything together, I set off just before 06:15 for the short walk to Barnhill station to board the 06:24 Dumbarton Central, formed of 320322 to Glasgow Queen Street.
It was around a half hour fester before boarding the 07:10 Inverness, formed of 170417. Of note, the train was lightly loaded after Stirling and Perth, which I had a chance to relax the best I could after Blair Atholl, listening to the unmistakeable and distinctive sound of the hellfire screaming of Valenta engines in the IC125 powercars while going over the Pass of Dummochter.
Hold on a minute...
I must have had a deep power nap here with my mind going back to when I first covered this line back in 1994, when I picked up the Highland Chieftain at Stirling for a run to Aviemore. Reality of 2017 soon began to bite, as I must have reached the summit due to the air conditioning giving a cold icy blast which must have woke me up. I realised that it was not an IC125 with the original Valenta engines, but a Class 170 Turbostar confirmed with the whining and droning sound of the engines having seemingly struggled with the gradients. To help eliminate some of the sound of the engines, I decided to have a listen to The Clash for the remainder of the journey to Inverness. On the approach to Inverness, observations were that 60076 was coupled to Tarmac wagons, a Class 57 at the depot, 67022 coupled to the sleeper coaches in Platform 2, 158723+789 in Platform 4 on the Edinburgh Waverley departure, and 158703 in Platform 6 on the 10:5x Kyle of Lochalsh.
It was over to Platform 5 for the 10:41 Wick formed of 158709 which I took to the request stop of Scotscalder. After arriving at 14:03, I set off for the walk to Halkirk by going north along the country lane next to the station until I came to the end (a staggered junction), then turned right along another country lane for a couple of miles until reaching the end at Bridge Street. Taking a right turn, it was over the river and a few moments later I reached Sinclair Street where I saw 2 bus stops opposite each other at 15:20 or thereabouts. Having worked out which side of the road the bus departs from to take me to Georgemas Junction, it happened to be the side of the road without the shelter, and it was now light drizzle.
The Stagecoach 82 arrived more or less on schedule at 15:50 to take me the short run along to the A9 at Georgemas. It was a short walk along the A9 to the station where it was a 10 minute or so fester before the 16:18 Inverness via Thurso arrived, with me hopping back onboard 158709 for the run to Thurso and back before continuing to Inverness (the showers were starting to become slightly heavier now, hence how I had the run to Thurso rather than hanging around almost another 30 minutes for the train to return. After alighting at Inverness, it was over to Platform 3 for the 20:10 Stirling (normally Glasgow Queen Street, but terminating Stirling due to engineering works between Polmont and Stirling via Falkirk Grahamston, and Larbert and Greenhill Junction) formed of 170455 (so close to landing my final Scotrail Class 170 one digit below the one that I require, and according to the Northern Unit Refurbishments thread, that is one of the various Class 170s that will be transferring to Northern Rail).
Arrival at Stirling was into Platform 9, so I might have unintentionally scored a microgrice there. I made my way to the station forecourt to await the replacement bus (the operator being Gibsons of Renfrew), and although it departed 10 minutes behind schedule, it arrived slightly ahead of schedule at Glasgow Queen Street arriving at 00:05. I returned home on the 57 that was due at 00:15 at West Regent Street, as the bus stops immediately outside the station are closed due to the redevelopment works.
Although I did not land anything required (bearing in mind that was not the intention), I felt that it was a worthwhile exercise in helping eliminate one of the tricky North Highland stations in terms of Scotscalder being quite a hike from the nearest main road or bus stops. I will be saving both Altnabreac and Forsinard for another time if a similar promotion happens in the future, which I am considering hiring a bicycle to do both.
Kite159
Veteran Member
I remember Scotscalder quite well, when my +30 turned into a +120 due to the northbound 158 getting caught up in delays, at least I had a nice grassy bank and BT Wi-Fi from the house on the station to keep track of that 158.
I wonder how you will get Altnabreac into the book?
I wonder how you will get Altnabreac into the book?
adrock1976
Established Member
Having had an early rise just after 05:00 and doing the same preparations as the other day, I set off just before 06:10 for the walk to Springburn station to board the 06:23 Falkirk Grahamston formed of 170425 for the run to Camelon. It was over to the opposite platform for a short fester before boarding the 07:11 ex Edinburgh Waverley Dunblane formed of 170458 for the run all the way to Dunblane. I then hopped onboard the 07:43 ex Glasgow QS Inverness formed of 170454 for the run to Inverness, spotting on the approach 60022 in Platform 2 all by itself with no sleeper coaches to be seen, 158789+759 in Platform 4 on the Edinburgh Waverley departure, and 158709 in Platform 6 on the Kyle of Lochalsh which I would be meeting up with soon.
Making my way over to Platform 5 for the 10:41 Wick, it was onboard 158702 (one digit out for one of my 3 required Inverness Class 158s) for the run to Muir of Ord. It was around a 15 minute or so fester before boarding the 11:19 Kyle of Lochalsh which was formed of 158709 (again, one digit out for one the 3 required Inverness Class 158s) for the run to the penultimate stop and request stop of Duirinish. Of note, this train was heavily reserved and loaded from Dingwall as there were 2 separate tour groups that had booked on this service. One of them (from going by the reservation labels) was Lochs and Glens, and the other coach was Newmarket Holidays. I settled for the tip up seat in the vestibule, as I would be returning back the same route and on the same train anyway.
After alighting at Duirinish, I had a very brief wander before returning to the shelter on the platform (there was some heavy showers, but now turned to light drizzle). One of the signs I had spotted at the level crossing was that there is a bull that roams around, and as I was wearing a red jacket, I did not want to find out if it was a bull that has got out of bed on the wrong side today. A short while later, it was onboard the return of 158709 on the 13:54 Inverness for the run to Conon Bridge, possibly the shortest amount of useable platform and possibly the second longest unusable area of platform. Around 15 or so minutes later, it was onboard the 16:15 ex Invergordon Inverness formed of 158720 for the short run to Beauly for another 15 or so minute fester for the 16:45 ex Wick formed of 158712 to take me to Inverness.
It was over to Platform 3 for the 17:14 Aberdeen formed of (and my second meeting of) 170454 for a run to Nairn, having spotted the sleeper coaches in Platform 2 coupled to 67022. After having had a wander around town, it was back to the station for the 18:28 ex Inverness Aberdeen formed of 158703 for the run to the 1863 and present day site of Forres. There is evidence of the works for the soon to be resited station, as can be demonstrated by the footbridge that has recently been installed to the north of the present station and a roadway from the main road to what will be the station car park. Of note, by looking at the map of the local area outside the present day station entrance, the resited station will be behind and to the right of the wall of the former Aberdeen platform on a much straighter alignment with 2 side platforms.
I returned to Inverness on the slightly delayed 19:11 ex Glasgow Queen Street Inverness (this is the train that runs via Dundee and Aberdeen) formed of 170429+158732. Having had a brief wander around town, it was back to the station for the 20:15 Stirling formed of as I suspected 170429. There was a delay waiting for the northbound train to pass at Carrbridge, with the delay having busted the connection at Perth (which would not be held) for passengers who were travelling to Edinburgh and recommended to use the replacement bus from Stirling to continue their journey. Arrival at Stirling was 12 minutes behind schedule at 23:22 but fortunately, the replacement bus to Glasgow was already there and had not disappeared without passengers. Again, the operator was Gibsons of Renfrew, and although having departed 10 minutes or so behind schedule, it arrived at Glasgow Queen Street slightly ahead of time at 00:05. I made my way to the bus stop on West Regent Street for the 57 that was due at 00:15 to take me home.
Again, although nothing that I required produced and as I was not intending to keep a lookout for requirements, I have ticked off another request stop in the Highlands, plus I have managed to visit Forres before the station is relocated in the very near future. Furthermore, with the exception of Euxton Balshaw Lane and Leyland, I have visited all of the stations between Warrington Bank Quay and Dingwall on a direct north-south axis. I will have one more trip to the Kyle of Lochalsh line next month before the clocks revert to GMT.
Making my way over to Platform 5 for the 10:41 Wick, it was onboard 158702 (one digit out for one of my 3 required Inverness Class 158s) for the run to Muir of Ord. It was around a 15 minute or so fester before boarding the 11:19 Kyle of Lochalsh which was formed of 158709 (again, one digit out for one the 3 required Inverness Class 158s) for the run to the penultimate stop and request stop of Duirinish. Of note, this train was heavily reserved and loaded from Dingwall as there were 2 separate tour groups that had booked on this service. One of them (from going by the reservation labels) was Lochs and Glens, and the other coach was Newmarket Holidays. I settled for the tip up seat in the vestibule, as I would be returning back the same route and on the same train anyway.
After alighting at Duirinish, I had a very brief wander before returning to the shelter on the platform (there was some heavy showers, but now turned to light drizzle). One of the signs I had spotted at the level crossing was that there is a bull that roams around, and as I was wearing a red jacket, I did not want to find out if it was a bull that has got out of bed on the wrong side today. A short while later, it was onboard the return of 158709 on the 13:54 Inverness for the run to Conon Bridge, possibly the shortest amount of useable platform and possibly the second longest unusable area of platform. Around 15 or so minutes later, it was onboard the 16:15 ex Invergordon Inverness formed of 158720 for the short run to Beauly for another 15 or so minute fester for the 16:45 ex Wick formed of 158712 to take me to Inverness.
It was over to Platform 3 for the 17:14 Aberdeen formed of (and my second meeting of) 170454 for a run to Nairn, having spotted the sleeper coaches in Platform 2 coupled to 67022. After having had a wander around town, it was back to the station for the 18:28 ex Inverness Aberdeen formed of 158703 for the run to the 1863 and present day site of Forres. There is evidence of the works for the soon to be resited station, as can be demonstrated by the footbridge that has recently been installed to the north of the present station and a roadway from the main road to what will be the station car park. Of note, by looking at the map of the local area outside the present day station entrance, the resited station will be behind and to the right of the wall of the former Aberdeen platform on a much straighter alignment with 2 side platforms.
I returned to Inverness on the slightly delayed 19:11 ex Glasgow Queen Street Inverness (this is the train that runs via Dundee and Aberdeen) formed of 170429+158732. Having had a brief wander around town, it was back to the station for the 20:15 Stirling formed of as I suspected 170429. There was a delay waiting for the northbound train to pass at Carrbridge, with the delay having busted the connection at Perth (which would not be held) for passengers who were travelling to Edinburgh and recommended to use the replacement bus from Stirling to continue their journey. Arrival at Stirling was 12 minutes behind schedule at 23:22 but fortunately, the replacement bus to Glasgow was already there and had not disappeared without passengers. Again, the operator was Gibsons of Renfrew, and although having departed 10 minutes or so behind schedule, it arrived at Glasgow Queen Street slightly ahead of time at 00:05. I made my way to the bus stop on West Regent Street for the 57 that was due at 00:15 to take me home.
Again, although nothing that I required produced and as I was not intending to keep a lookout for requirements, I have ticked off another request stop in the Highlands, plus I have managed to visit Forres before the station is relocated in the very near future. Furthermore, with the exception of Euxton Balshaw Lane and Leyland, I have visited all of the stations between Warrington Bank Quay and Dingwall on a direct north-south axis. I will have one more trip to the Kyle of Lochalsh line next month before the clocks revert to GMT.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Sounded like another productive day in the Highlands, I did something similar with those short platform shacks making use of the 3 trains inside 40 minutes
Good to hear the rebuild of Forres going well, that will be one to revisit next year somehow (probably try and build in a trip on the sleeper to Aberdeen as I want to do my final route of the Cally sleeper) [but that will depend on how many days holiday I can escape Christmas with, depending on when the kitchens close]
Good to hear the rebuild of Forres going well, that will be one to revisit next year somehow (probably try and build in a trip on the sleeper to Aberdeen as I want to do my final route of the Cally sleeper) [but that will depend on how many days holiday I can escape Christmas with, depending on when the kitchens close]
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adrock1976
Established Member
I had originally planned this bashing trip for next week so as to tie it in with a conference I will be attending. As I have something on the Thursday that I cannot get out of, and as it is my birthday on Sunday 8th, my partner was kind enough to let me do this trip. My main aim is simple in that I will be attempting to reduce my requirements of British Rail stock built. I would start off with the East Midlands Day Ranger, Heart of Wessex Day Ranger, and would do various bits in London. While I am in the Midlands, I will attempt to fit in the station score of Polesworth, and will finally get round to covering the Princes Risborough - Aylesbury section of the mighty Great Western Railway metals, and maybe have a go at getting off the mark with the Heathrow Express Class 332s.
It was an early rise for me at 04:30 and booked the taxi online the previous night for 05:15 as I had luggage. I arrived at Glasgow Central station around 05:30, and while making my way to Platform 2 for the 05:40 London Euston via Trent Valley Railway, 220023 was on the 06:01 Plymouth via Leeds and Birmingham, and knew that my connecting train at Preston would be dud 221111 as that was on the 05:50 London Euston via Birmingham. It was onboard the 05:40 formed of dud 39123 for the run to Preston, with there being no loco at Carstairs for the Edinburgh portion of the sleeper. 66139, 37359 (unsure as it was not daylight yet), and various Class 68s were at Kingmoor, 57304 was in the goods loop at Carlisle, and the Class 185 on the Windermere shuttle had not yet arrived at Oxenholme.
After alighting at Preston, my first mission was to get a copy of the Lancashire Evening Post for the token for the Northern Rail £10 offer. Observations at Preston were that 350404 was on the 07:58 ex Manchester Airport-Glasgow Central, 150277+134 was on the 08:10 Blackpool South commencing service, 185114+115 was on the 08:13 ex Blackpool North and Barrow in Furness - Manchester Airport, and 390125 was on the 08:15 Glasgow Central. Of note,as it was the Northern Rail RMT strike, activity at Preston was quieter today. It was onboard the 08:17 ex Glasgow Central - London Euston via Birmingham formed of the aforementioned dud 221111 for the run to Crewe.
It was onboard the 09:01 London Euston via Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford formed of dud 350106. As there was a 10 minute delay to the departure while waiting for a member of traincrew, the Derby train departed first, and to rub salt into the wound, it was a required dogbox. Would I meet it later on? Wait and see.
Having bailed at Stoke-on-Trent, I got some copies of the local rag the Stoke Sentinel for more Northern Rail tokens. As my intention was to get to Derby, I was an hour behind my planned schedule. I decided to see what was on the 10:02 ex London Euston - Crewe and was rewarded with required 350107 for a run to Kidsgrove. Of note, there were no SOT - Manchester local trains due to the strike. It was back to SOT on the 10:15 ex Crewe - London Euston formed of required 350374, then onboard the 10:33 ex Crewe - Derby formed of dud 153357.
After some thought, I decided that I would not let the required dogbox from earlier slip away from me, and ditched the train at Uttoxeter. It was over to the opposite platform for the 11:07 ex Derby - Crewe formed of as expected required 153385 for the run to Longton. It was finally to Derby on the 11:39 ex Crewe formed of required 153374, arriving at Derby 7 minutes ahead of schedule at 12:21.
I made my way to Nottingham on the 12:40 ex Cardiff Central formed of required 170113. 50008, 37603, 31233, 73138, 73951, and the New Measurement Train were spotted soon after departure. After arriving at Nottingham, I had a look to see what powercars would be on the 13:32 London St Pancras departure, and was rewarded with required 43093+ dud 081 for a run to Leicester, spotting 66775 at Barrow-upon-Soar.
My strategy was that if any trains heading to Stansted Airport were required, I would take it to Stamford so as to meet the Birmingham train. Likewise if any were heading to Birmingham on the local stations departures I would take it to either South Wigston or Narborough. I would also be keeping an eye out for Sprinters on the Ivanhoe Project Phase 1 and IC125s heading north.
I would like to mention that I am making a slight change in structure of the report just for one day only in that as I am simply grabbing anything that is required and there being no unusual workings or track covered, I will have the next paragraph of observations with the times, with the second paragraph that follows being a summary of moves similar to linear hops on London Underground, with requirements highlighted in bold.
Observations
66623 - Wigston Junction light engine towards London 14:50
43049+064 - 15:00 Leicester -St Pancras
170104 - 15:18 Leicester-Stansted Airport
47848+47813+37800 Leicester Yard
66765 - hauling containers towards London at Syston 16:30 approx
66610 - hauling Hope VTG cement northbound Sileby 17:00
66024 - containers towards Peterborough at Syston 16:30
43066+076 - towards Nottingham at Syston 16:30
66753 - Barrow-upon-Soar 17:35 approx
Moves
170637 14:18 Leicester-South Wigston
170398 14:43 South Wigston- Leicester
156404 15:26 Leicester-Sileby
156415 16:07 Sileby-Syston and 16:34 Syston-Barrow-upon-Soar
158812 17:05 Barrow-upon-Soar - Leicester
43081+083 17:25 Leicester- East Midlands Parkway (to attempt to grab 43066+076 as both were required, but this move half backfired as the train was routed onto the relief lines between Leicester and Sileby due to a signalling problem, resulting in a 5 minute delay on arrival at EMP)
158854 17:52 East Midlands Parkway-Leicester
43064+049 18:32 Leicester- Beeston
222012 19:11 Beeston- Leicester
170522 19:48 (delayed 6 minutes) Leicester- Coleshill Parkway
170114 20:38 Coleshill Parkway - Nuneaton
(The 21:14 Nuneaton- Coventry was dud 153334, so no loss from earlier)
350127 21:00 (5 minutes delayed) Nuneaton-Atherstone
After searching for a takeaway for something to eat, I made my way to the Red Lion hotel to check in and settle for the night.
Overall, despite me switching plans slightly at the start, I landed a couple more East Midlands Class 153s that I had not expected to do so. I have also scored a few EM IC125 powercars, and with me having never been on a train that has been timetabled to call at the Ivanhoe Project stations in Leicestershire, I have ticked off all three in one fell swoop.
It was an early rise for me at 04:30 and booked the taxi online the previous night for 05:15 as I had luggage. I arrived at Glasgow Central station around 05:30, and while making my way to Platform 2 for the 05:40 London Euston via Trent Valley Railway, 220023 was on the 06:01 Plymouth via Leeds and Birmingham, and knew that my connecting train at Preston would be dud 221111 as that was on the 05:50 London Euston via Birmingham. It was onboard the 05:40 formed of dud 39123 for the run to Preston, with there being no loco at Carstairs for the Edinburgh portion of the sleeper. 66139, 37359 (unsure as it was not daylight yet), and various Class 68s were at Kingmoor, 57304 was in the goods loop at Carlisle, and the Class 185 on the Windermere shuttle had not yet arrived at Oxenholme.
After alighting at Preston, my first mission was to get a copy of the Lancashire Evening Post for the token for the Northern Rail £10 offer. Observations at Preston were that 350404 was on the 07:58 ex Manchester Airport-Glasgow Central, 150277+134 was on the 08:10 Blackpool South commencing service, 185114+115 was on the 08:13 ex Blackpool North and Barrow in Furness - Manchester Airport, and 390125 was on the 08:15 Glasgow Central. Of note,as it was the Northern Rail RMT strike, activity at Preston was quieter today. It was onboard the 08:17 ex Glasgow Central - London Euston via Birmingham formed of the aforementioned dud 221111 for the run to Crewe.
It was onboard the 09:01 London Euston via Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford formed of dud 350106. As there was a 10 minute delay to the departure while waiting for a member of traincrew, the Derby train departed first, and to rub salt into the wound, it was a required dogbox. Would I meet it later on? Wait and see.
Having bailed at Stoke-on-Trent, I got some copies of the local rag the Stoke Sentinel for more Northern Rail tokens. As my intention was to get to Derby, I was an hour behind my planned schedule. I decided to see what was on the 10:02 ex London Euston - Crewe and was rewarded with required 350107 for a run to Kidsgrove. Of note, there were no SOT - Manchester local trains due to the strike. It was back to SOT on the 10:15 ex Crewe - London Euston formed of required 350374, then onboard the 10:33 ex Crewe - Derby formed of dud 153357.
After some thought, I decided that I would not let the required dogbox from earlier slip away from me, and ditched the train at Uttoxeter. It was over to the opposite platform for the 11:07 ex Derby - Crewe formed of as expected required 153385 for the run to Longton. It was finally to Derby on the 11:39 ex Crewe formed of required 153374, arriving at Derby 7 minutes ahead of schedule at 12:21.
I made my way to Nottingham on the 12:40 ex Cardiff Central formed of required 170113. 50008, 37603, 31233, 73138, 73951, and the New Measurement Train were spotted soon after departure. After arriving at Nottingham, I had a look to see what powercars would be on the 13:32 London St Pancras departure, and was rewarded with required 43093+ dud 081 for a run to Leicester, spotting 66775 at Barrow-upon-Soar.
My strategy was that if any trains heading to Stansted Airport were required, I would take it to Stamford so as to meet the Birmingham train. Likewise if any were heading to Birmingham on the local stations departures I would take it to either South Wigston or Narborough. I would also be keeping an eye out for Sprinters on the Ivanhoe Project Phase 1 and IC125s heading north.
I would like to mention that I am making a slight change in structure of the report just for one day only in that as I am simply grabbing anything that is required and there being no unusual workings or track covered, I will have the next paragraph of observations with the times, with the second paragraph that follows being a summary of moves similar to linear hops on London Underground, with requirements highlighted in bold.
Observations
66623 - Wigston Junction light engine towards London 14:50
43049+064 - 15:00 Leicester -St Pancras
170104 - 15:18 Leicester-Stansted Airport
47848+47813+37800 Leicester Yard
66765 - hauling containers towards London at Syston 16:30 approx
66610 - hauling Hope VTG cement northbound Sileby 17:00
66024 - containers towards Peterborough at Syston 16:30
43066+076 - towards Nottingham at Syston 16:30
66753 - Barrow-upon-Soar 17:35 approx
Moves
170637 14:18 Leicester-South Wigston
170398 14:43 South Wigston- Leicester
156404 15:26 Leicester-Sileby
156415 16:07 Sileby-Syston and 16:34 Syston-Barrow-upon-Soar
158812 17:05 Barrow-upon-Soar - Leicester
43081+083 17:25 Leicester- East Midlands Parkway (to attempt to grab 43066+076 as both were required, but this move half backfired as the train was routed onto the relief lines between Leicester and Sileby due to a signalling problem, resulting in a 5 minute delay on arrival at EMP)
158854 17:52 East Midlands Parkway-Leicester
43064+049 18:32 Leicester- Beeston
222012 19:11 Beeston- Leicester
170522 19:48 (delayed 6 minutes) Leicester- Coleshill Parkway
170114 20:38 Coleshill Parkway - Nuneaton
(The 21:14 Nuneaton- Coventry was dud 153334, so no loss from earlier)
350127 21:00 (5 minutes delayed) Nuneaton-Atherstone
After searching for a takeaway for something to eat, I made my way to the Red Lion hotel to check in and settle for the night.
Overall, despite me switching plans slightly at the start, I landed a couple more East Midlands Class 153s that I had not expected to do so. I have also scored a few EM IC125 powercars, and with me having never been on a train that has been timetabled to call at the Ivanhoe Project stations in Leicestershire, I have ticked off all three in one fell swoop.
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