ATW Alex 101
Established Member
So here is my first trip report! Here goes..
So it started a few weeks ago when fellow member Trainboy98 (Cal) told me on Facebook that he is coming up my way on the 29th and would I like to meet up (having met up twice before in London) so I said yes and we organised a plan and a little bash, including the Ellesmere Port-Warrington parliamentary which he wanted to go on.
So the day before, I headed off to Chester station to get our tickets for the next day. I was doing a little more before he arrived so I was using a different ticket. I also changed my tickets for my journey as explained in this thread. So I brought the following at the ticket office: Child Cheshire Day ranger, 2 Merseyrail Saveaways, 2 First Class child singles from Runcorn to Liverpool Lime Street, child single from Ellesmere Port to Warrington and a Child single from Warrington to Hough Green. The singles were for Cal and I would be using my Cheshire Day Ranger. The first class singles I will explain a little later on.
So I rose at 06:30 the next day and made it to Capenhurst for my first train of the day, the 07:17 to Chester. I was too tired and couldn't be arsed with the unit number sorry
. The journey was uneventful and I arrived into Chester around 10 minutes later. The next train I was going to take was the 07:53 to Runcorn, another parliamentary. 150 147 was doing the honours today, it said Helsby on one end and Ellesmere Port on the other so I presume it came from Ellesmere Port, went up the junction from Helsby and then reversed into Chester after the points were changed.
I boarded at 07:50 when the doors were unlocked and then I figured out that I was the only passenger aboard. The guard came through and checked my ticket before we departed and made sure I was going to Runcorn. It was a nice little journey, we trundled through Helsby but blitzed it at what seemed full pelt through Frodsham. We then jumped off the main line and took a left onto the rickety Halton Curve. It was a first for me, but I couldn't get any pictures as my camera just cannot take pictures out of windows. We pulled into Runcorn and only me got off but I was surprised at how the driver didn't hang around! As soon as I stepped off the doors shut and off it went!
I had a few hours left until Cal's train, the 10:55 to VT service to Liverpool Lime Street, which we were using first class (again, I will explain later on). I waited for the 08:25 London Midland service which I would catch to Crewe to do a bit of spotting. Sure enough 350 242 arrived and briskly went off. The guard scared the hell out of me after screaming "TICKETS FROM RUNCORN PLEASE" down the carriage. Other than that, around 20 minutes later we called into Crewe and straight to Pumpkin for some breakfast. I claimed the last bacon roll with some tea and with my bite card that came to something like £2.49 as the bacon roll was £1 with a hot drink. I had around about 2 hours here so I just took some snaps and had a look round.
So the time had passed and I caught the 09:57, which actually left 10:01 back to Runcorn and this was made up of 350 109. On this journey I witnessed a bit of a dispute going on next to me where a family had got on at Crewe without paying and then being very surprised that the guard would only issue them an anytime ticket, and they were refusing to pay the £45, but after the guard explained penalty fares and the rules and that they eventually gave in. The woman was talking about complaining and getting the difference in money back from London Midland, but she wont have any leg to stand on as she had boarded where ticket facilities are available. At Runcorn, I spent my time in the First Class lounge where the nice attendant asked what drink I would like so I had a tea and a coke as well as the smallest biscuit I have ever seen. The lounge was nice, especially for a small station like Runcorn. Now I will explain the reason behind the first class tickets. Basically when me and Cal met up in London in May, he paid for my pizza at Rayners lane Dominos even though I was going to pay for it, so thought I would treat us both to first class as a thanks. I boarded at coach K where he came after his trek from coach D and had a chat about our plan and I handed him his tickets. 20 minutes later we arrived into Liverpool and made a dash for it to Central to catch the 11:23 to Southport.
We ran it in 2 minutes and arrived with a few minutes to spare. I accidentally put my Cheshire Day Ranger in the machine rather than the saveaway and it had accepted it, which it didn't last time I put a Cheshire Day Ranger in the barriers at Central. We boarded the Southport train, consisting of 507 006 and took our seats for the next 47 minutes. Surprisingly, he had covered that line before and I hadn't, and he lives in Worthing! We passed through a multitude of stations and passed RAF Woodvale where I last went when I was with an Air Cadets unit. We had a few minutes spare at Southport so I took a few snaps. The next train out was next to our train we came in on.
We then boarded and the train whisked us away towards Liverpool again. The journey was the same again, but enjoyed seeing some things, including a Stena Line across the Mersey. We bailed at Moorfields and boarded a New Brighton train (can't recall the time) 507 028 was on this one and this was another line I hadn't done either! (Callum hadn't been on either though) Again this was a nice little journey and had around 10 minutes until the train turned around back to Liverpool.
We had a look outside and Cal took a few pictures and then we boarded to Hamilton Sqaure where we changed for an Ellesmere Port train, which again I didn't get the time of, but I got the number of, 507 033. We were going to Ellesmere Port to show Cal around where I live (but not my house, just the area
) and to get some food. He asked about the road bridge and was surprised it was called the Westminster bridge! 
We went across the road and we went into a great Little Cafe called the Express Cafe, run by a Greek bloke. The locals love it as do I. We ordered our meals, both had all day breakfasts with Hash browns and drinks. We paid and went out and I showed Cal around town and explained the situation behind the boarded up McDonalds and KFC and then went into the market and had a look round, including the 'Weed shop' as it's known as they sell stuff like rizzlas for cannabis and grinders and bongs with that sort of stuff and then the 50p sweet shop where we brought some sweets. He said that Ellesmere Port is better than Worthing! We walked back to the station and awaited our train, the 16:04 to Warrington 'parly'. It came around 10 minutes until departure time and nobody got off. We noticed as it was coming in that the lights were on red. Sure enough 150 113 came in to take us to Warrington.
Around 8 other people were on the train, which was quite surprising! 1 was Northern staff though. Me and Cal sat at the front and looked out the front through the internal door to the cab as the driver had opened it to get out and probably forgot to shut it. Along the sprinter went and called at the usual with nobody getting on or off (Stanlow & Thornton, Ince and Elton, Helsby) until we arrived at Helsby where a good number of pax were getting on at places like Frodsham and Runcorn East. The guard was talking to us about the event that was happening on the 6th July (Helsby-Hooton 150 excursion) and sat and chatted with us. I asked if we can have an itinerary for the journey as a little souvenir, especially as it's quite a way from where Cal lives. He was more than happy to issue one, and then it was onwards to the terminus for this train today, after a 5 minute delay being held up for a 175 to pass, and probably to join the WCML. We arrived and again, the train didn't hang about but the driver and guard waved goodbye.
We forgot the time and decided to take our time, to walk to central in 7 minutes (silly me ) and we went into the lift to the subway and I had one of my immature moments and decided to jump as the lift reached the bottom and Cal s*it himself, telling me about he was trapped in a lift after his mate did it 
. So it was when I looked at my phone that I realized the time so we walked quickly to Warrington Central and as we walked under the tracks, a 156 went over and didn't think it was our train, until we got into the station to see we had missed it by a matter of seconds. That was Callum's Warrington Central-Hough Green single useless. We looked at the time and there was an EMT service due in around 20 minutes as it was slightly delayed. I was ok because I was on a Cheshire day ranger, but Cal needed a new ticket so I purchased a single to Liverpool South Parkway (£2.20) and from South Parkway we would use the Saveaway's. We waited, very tired at this point, and the train came, slumped ourselves down and let the train whisk us away. 158 777 was today's unit, with an UID on the back. After the guard came, I realized I would have only had to purchase a Widnes-Liverpool South Parkway single, as the WAC-Hough Green would have been valid on our train up until Widnes.
We arrived into Lime Street for the second time today and then I proceeded to go down the train and pick up the reservation tags (I collect them) and then when I had finished, we went to the doors and they shut and we were locked in!! Along with a few others slow at getting off! We were just laughing at this point, but the cleaner apologized (one of the other cleaners had been locked out of the train). Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to Cal, he was due out on the 17:48 back to Euston, so we said goodbye and said we need to organize another meet (we also talked about making a forum meet like this )
Off I went to Central and took the next train going to any one of Little Sutton or Capenhurst. The former. I fell asleep a bit and then alighted at Little Sutton where my dad was waiting to pick me up. Overall I had a very fun day, covered some good line, showed my mate costa del Ellesmere Port and had a generally good time!
Thank you for reading my first trip report, and please feel free to leave your comments/criticisms below
until next time...
So it started a few weeks ago when fellow member Trainboy98 (Cal) told me on Facebook that he is coming up my way on the 29th and would I like to meet up (having met up twice before in London) so I said yes and we organised a plan and a little bash, including the Ellesmere Port-Warrington parliamentary which he wanted to go on.
So the day before, I headed off to Chester station to get our tickets for the next day. I was doing a little more before he arrived so I was using a different ticket. I also changed my tickets for my journey as explained in this thread. So I brought the following at the ticket office: Child Cheshire Day ranger, 2 Merseyrail Saveaways, 2 First Class child singles from Runcorn to Liverpool Lime Street, child single from Ellesmere Port to Warrington and a Child single from Warrington to Hough Green. The singles were for Cal and I would be using my Cheshire Day Ranger. The first class singles I will explain a little later on.
So I rose at 06:30 the next day and made it to Capenhurst for my first train of the day, the 07:17 to Chester. I was too tired and couldn't be arsed with the unit number sorry
. The journey was uneventful and I arrived into Chester around 10 minutes later. The next train I was going to take was the 07:53 to Runcorn, another parliamentary. 150 147 was doing the honours today, it said Helsby on one end and Ellesmere Port on the other so I presume it came from Ellesmere Port, went up the junction from Helsby and then reversed into Chester after the points were changed.
I boarded at 07:50 when the doors were unlocked and then I figured out that I was the only passenger aboard. The guard came through and checked my ticket before we departed and made sure I was going to Runcorn. It was a nice little journey, we trundled through Helsby but blitzed it at what seemed full pelt through Frodsham. We then jumped off the main line and took a left onto the rickety Halton Curve. It was a first for me, but I couldn't get any pictures as my camera just cannot take pictures out of windows. We pulled into Runcorn and only me got off but I was surprised at how the driver didn't hang around! As soon as I stepped off the doors shut and off it went!
I had a few hours left until Cal's train, the 10:55 to VT service to Liverpool Lime Street, which we were using first class (again, I will explain later on). I waited for the 08:25 London Midland service which I would catch to Crewe to do a bit of spotting. Sure enough 350 242 arrived and briskly went off. The guard scared the hell out of me after screaming "TICKETS FROM RUNCORN PLEASE" down the carriage. Other than that, around 20 minutes later we called into Crewe and straight to Pumpkin for some breakfast. I claimed the last bacon roll with some tea and with my bite card that came to something like £2.49 as the bacon roll was £1 with a hot drink. I had around about 2 hours here so I just took some snaps and had a look round.
So the time had passed and I caught the 09:57, which actually left 10:01 back to Runcorn and this was made up of 350 109. On this journey I witnessed a bit of a dispute going on next to me where a family had got on at Crewe without paying and then being very surprised that the guard would only issue them an anytime ticket, and they were refusing to pay the £45, but after the guard explained penalty fares and the rules and that they eventually gave in. The woman was talking about complaining and getting the difference in money back from London Midland, but she wont have any leg to stand on as she had boarded where ticket facilities are available. At Runcorn, I spent my time in the First Class lounge where the nice attendant asked what drink I would like so I had a tea and a coke as well as the smallest biscuit I have ever seen. The lounge was nice, especially for a small station like Runcorn. Now I will explain the reason behind the first class tickets. Basically when me and Cal met up in London in May, he paid for my pizza at Rayners lane Dominos even though I was going to pay for it, so thought I would treat us both to first class as a thanks. I boarded at coach K where he came after his trek from coach D and had a chat about our plan and I handed him his tickets. 20 minutes later we arrived into Liverpool and made a dash for it to Central to catch the 11:23 to Southport.
We ran it in 2 minutes and arrived with a few minutes to spare. I accidentally put my Cheshire Day Ranger in the machine rather than the saveaway and it had accepted it, which it didn't last time I put a Cheshire Day Ranger in the barriers at Central. We boarded the Southport train, consisting of 507 006 and took our seats for the next 47 minutes. Surprisingly, he had covered that line before and I hadn't, and he lives in Worthing! We passed through a multitude of stations and passed RAF Woodvale where I last went when I was with an Air Cadets unit. We had a few minutes spare at Southport so I took a few snaps. The next train out was next to our train we came in on.
We then boarded and the train whisked us away towards Liverpool again. The journey was the same again, but enjoyed seeing some things, including a Stena Line across the Mersey. We bailed at Moorfields and boarded a New Brighton train (can't recall the time) 507 028 was on this one and this was another line I hadn't done either! (Callum hadn't been on either though) Again this was a nice little journey and had around 10 minutes until the train turned around back to Liverpool.
We had a look outside and Cal took a few pictures and then we boarded to Hamilton Sqaure where we changed for an Ellesmere Port train, which again I didn't get the time of, but I got the number of, 507 033. We were going to Ellesmere Port to show Cal around where I live (but not my house, just the area
) and to get some food. He asked about the road bridge and was surprised it was called the Westminster bridge! We went across the road and we went into a great Little Cafe called the Express Cafe, run by a Greek bloke. The locals love it as do I. We ordered our meals, both had all day breakfasts with Hash browns and drinks. We paid and went out and I showed Cal around town and explained the situation behind the boarded up McDonalds and KFC and then went into the market and had a look round, including the 'Weed shop' as it's known as they sell stuff like rizzlas for cannabis and grinders and bongs with that sort of stuff and then the 50p sweet shop where we brought some sweets. He said that Ellesmere Port is better than Worthing! We walked back to the station and awaited our train, the 16:04 to Warrington 'parly'. It came around 10 minutes until departure time and nobody got off. We noticed as it was coming in that the lights were on red. Sure enough 150 113 came in to take us to Warrington.
Around 8 other people were on the train, which was quite surprising! 1 was Northern staff though. Me and Cal sat at the front and looked out the front through the internal door to the cab as the driver had opened it to get out and probably forgot to shut it. Along the sprinter went and called at the usual with nobody getting on or off (Stanlow & Thornton, Ince and Elton, Helsby) until we arrived at Helsby where a good number of pax were getting on at places like Frodsham and Runcorn East. The guard was talking to us about the event that was happening on the 6th July (Helsby-Hooton 150 excursion) and sat and chatted with us. I asked if we can have an itinerary for the journey as a little souvenir, especially as it's quite a way from where Cal lives. He was more than happy to issue one, and then it was onwards to the terminus for this train today, after a 5 minute delay being held up for a 175 to pass, and probably to join the WCML. We arrived and again, the train didn't hang about but the driver and guard waved goodbye.
We forgot the time and decided to take our time, to walk to central in 7 minutes (silly me
) and we went into the lift to the subway and I had one of my immature moments and decided to jump as the lift reached the bottom and Cal s*it himself, telling me about he was trapped in a lift after his mate did it . So it was when I looked at my phone that I realized the time so we walked quickly to Warrington Central and as we walked under the tracks, a 156 went over and didn't think it was our train, until we got into the station to see we had missed it by a matter of seconds. That was Callum's Warrington Central-Hough Green single useless. We looked at the time and there was an EMT service due in around 20 minutes as it was slightly delayed. I was ok because I was on a Cheshire day ranger, but Cal needed a new ticket so I purchased a single to Liverpool South Parkway (£2.20) and from South Parkway we would use the Saveaway's. We waited, very tired at this point, and the train came, slumped ourselves down and let the train whisk us away. 158 777 was today's unit, with an UID on the back. After the guard came, I realized I would have only had to purchase a Widnes-Liverpool South Parkway single, as the WAC-Hough Green would have been valid on our train up until Widnes. We arrived into Lime Street for the second time today and then I proceeded to go down the train and pick up the reservation tags (I collect them) and then when I had finished, we went to the doors and they shut and we were locked in!! Along with a few others slow at getting off! We were just laughing at this point, but the cleaner apologized (one of the other cleaners had been locked out of the train). Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to Cal, he was due out on the 17:48 back to Euston, so we said goodbye and said we need to organize another meet (we also talked about making a forum meet like this
)Off I went to Central and took the next train going to any one of Little Sutton or Capenhurst. The former. I fell asleep a bit and then alighted at Little Sutton where my dad was waiting to pick me up. Overall I had a very fun day, covered some good line, showed my mate costa del Ellesmere Port and had a generally good time!
Thank you for reading my first trip report, and please feel free to leave your comments/criticisms below
until next time...
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