Kite159
Veteran Member
Agreed, even the ones with a 15 minute frequency. Will involve a bit of festering that be for sure
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Andy's Wanderings
- Thread starter andyb2706
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Agreed, even the ones with a 15 minute frequency. Will involve a bit of festering that be for sure
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alexf380
Established Member
Very much enjoyed reading about your Welsh adventure Andy, and congratulations of clearing your ATW pacers! Something I can only dream of at the moment.
Looking forward to your Edinburgh sesh later in the year.
Looking forward to your Edinburgh sesh later in the year.
47403
Established Member
A great read Andy, congrats on finishing the ATW 142's and you sure put a hole in them pesky 143's too.
I was cetainly reading with interest because Cardiff's a destination I intend to visit on my FoSS and them 142's and 150's you had, certainly interested me, as I need them for sight, so a bit of an insight for me. So many thanks for sharing.
I was cetainly reading with interest because Cardiff's a destination I intend to visit on my FoSS and them 142's and 150's you had, certainly interested me, as I need them for sight, so a bit of an insight for me. So many thanks for sharing.
Keith Jarrett
Member
Sounds like an excellent couple of days in the valleys. Seems like you are already putting many of us to shame with valley shacks although I suspect when tech come's back, he'll be along to tell us that he's got them all!
While i don't need that many Arriva units, the same cannot be said for shacks (and indeed track) so yet another place to visit sometime - if only there was not the two minor irritants called work and money!
While i don't need that many Arriva units, the same cannot be said for shacks (and indeed track) so yet another place to visit sometime - if only there was not the two minor irritants called work and money!
Kristofferson
Member
- Joined
- 23 Nov 2012
- Messages
- 1,132
Congratulations on the Arriva Pacers! Loved the read there
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I knew my ears were burning for a particular reason!
I cleared the Valleys shacks years ago, then the Ebbw Vale opened and I cleared them ages ago too. Then the new bits opened, so I only cleared them for the first time a matter of months ago. For the third time admittedly...
I'm about to read your reports Andy, just wanted to comment on that first
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
A top read squire, an excellent time had on one of my old well-trodden areas! Yeah patience is a virtue on some bits of it, but it's rewarding when you finish the lot!
Catching up! Well done on clearing the pacers! I don't personally have an issue with them, they have character! By the sounds of it you beating me on Valley shacks now! Makes me want to go back and have another go at them! I also actually need the Ebbw Vale extension that Tech has just reminded me of!
andyb2706
Member
These next two days I am going to spend time on the Midland Mainline chasing East Midlands Trains HSTs and Thameslink 319 units as well as their stations north of St. Pancras International all of which I have neglected in the past. The 319 units because of the talks over the last few years that a lot of them would becoming to Northern, now Northern have got the first batch I know where I stand and although a second batch is due in the next few years these have not been identified and what will become of the rest? Are Thameslink going to keep some as they are currently painting them into their new corporate livery? It would seem a waste of money to do that and only keep them until the 700s arrive. As to the HSTs I should be really chasing all the East Coast and Great Western Railway ones that I need as these are the ones with the less certain future so the most urgent, but that is for another trip. I still have nine months of the year left to knock them down to a reasonable number.
Day One
Okay, I may have stated my plans for the next two days, but Im still not too sure what I will be doing on what day! The choices are going to be on the spur of the moment and this starts as I leave the house. Anyhow, alarm goes off at 6am and I chamber out of my pit and head to the kitchen to get the kettle on for my morning caffeine fix while I go and have the 3 Ss....well, only two off them but that is as much detail as I am willing to give. After my ablutions are complete I return to the kitchen for a breakfast of a couple of crumpets ans my coffee while I prepare my lunch for the day. During this time I am trying to make my first decision of the day relating to my trip. Am I really lazy and drive into Manchester and park on a car park that I know is cheaper than the tram or do I drive to the tram stop and search the tram? So just turned 7am I open my front door and am hit by the fresh air for the first time today and my decision is made. I did neither, instead I took a twenty minutes stroll to the tram stop and so chose to be healthy (well thats not going to last!- Ed).
At Brooklands I purchase my ticket and only have a few minutes to wait for a tram to Deangate-Castlefield and taking Techniquest terminology a step further it was formed of a super super dud 3045 that will take me and then I changed onto dud 3077 to take me to Piccadilly, I have to say the new St. Peters Square tram stop doesnt seed to have come on too much since the last time I saw it.
At Piccadilly I call into Sainsburys to buy a bit of fruit (so much trying to be healthier today) and then find my next train to Sheffield is just over twenty minutes off so I decide to head off down to the end of the platform to record and photograph some of the train movements because I know for a fact if I stay at the concourse end it would be off to Greggs and seeing I have already had breakfast and have lunch prepared that would not be healthy. After a productive fifteen minutes of logging movements and photographing I head back along the platform as dud 185130 arrives to take me on to Sheffield. We leave on time and by the time we reach Stockport I is standing room only, okay it is during the rush hour but I can definitely see why TPE wants to keep the 185s, whenever they get their new trains, so that they can double up these services. The guard has got the eating set rather high too and seeing I have forgotten my headphones so no music or films for me today I think it may be time for a snooze.
On arriving at Sheffield I leave the train and find I have just short of twenty minutes to wait for a train to Leicester so after a photograph was taken of the train I had just for off and I logged everything that was on the station I make my way over to platform 8 where the train is waiting. On the way over there I see the tram line and think I need a day over here at some point to do the network and get rid of some of the stuff I need. Unfortunately I arrive on the platform with ten minutes to go and feeling peckish I go to Pumpkin for a tea.....and a bacon roll, oh well!! Im trying to do WeightWatchers so as long as I point it it may still be okay and anyhow I earned a couple of extra points this morning with walking to the tram stop. Back to the important matter and my first score of the day with 222005 taking me to Leicester with an on time departure. Passing through Derby I didnt know which way to look with the highlight being Europhoenix 37884 with numerous Network Rail locomotives logged as well.
On arriving at Leicester if I so wished I could of whizzed off on the 1026 to Nottingham, however they were formed of a pair of dud 43s so decided to give them a miss and having worked out the HST diagrams for the day and then eliminating the stupid oclock diagrams that would have seen me out until midnight I was left with five diagrams...now down to four. While I was waiting for the next HST service a couple of freights passed through Leicester, both were duds with 66067 on the Elstow Redland Sidings to Mountsorrel and 68011 on the Basford Hall to Mountsorrel service. The 1100 to St Pancras International arrives and is formed of two required engines in the form of 43081 and 43089 to take me one stop along the line to Market Harborough were I will have a 50 minute wait for my train back.
At Market Harborough I find that the HST service that I thought I would have missed by about 3 minutes, hence the 50 minute wait was running 7 minutes so it just gave me time to proceed to the opposite platform for the arrival of required 43064 and dud 43083 to take me back to Leicester.
At Leicester I left the train and would have had an hours wait for my next HST service so I decide to have a run out and only a couple of minutes wait required 222009 arrives to take me forward to what turns out my only new shack for the day in the form of Loughborough, were I have a fifteen minute wait while in that time a pair of 66 Freightliner engines roll through along with a stoneblower. A few minutes late required 156415 arrives to return me to Leicester, during the journey I spot the two locomotives mentioned earlier in the sidings at Mountsorrel.
With only ten minutes to wait for the 4th diagram to arrive I dont have long to wait for a required pair in the form of 43075 and 43046 to arrive to take me to Nottingham, having noticed earlier on a required 222 heading to Nottingham I only had a ten minute turn around before I was heading back to Leicester on needed 222104.
On arriving at Leicester I have a 15 minute wait for the next service to Nottingham so that I can pick up the 5th and final diagram and required 222018 arrives on take me forward. As we pass through Loughborough I notice a freshly painted and looking splendid 73970 coming out of Brush works heading north.
At Nottingham I have just under 20 minutes for the final diagram which is formed of a dud 43066 but also required 43055 and the plan was to go all the way to London on it.....for those who know me and my plans....well lets say they changed rather quickly. I had intended to head to London and spend the evening on Thameslink heading north from St Pancras International but it would have meant a late night and I was feeling tired and I still had tomorrow, so my plan changed and at Leicester I left the train and decided to head to Sheffield and back across the Hope Valley line. With only a few minutes to wait dud 222003 arrived and I boarded for the trip to Sheffield. During the journey I see the 73 again, in a siding waiting to head north so I check RTT and find it is heading to Derby.....my plans change again and I decide to bail at Derby and should have under 10 minutes to wait for the 73 to arrive and then I could board a service to Crewe and change at Stoke and arrive back at Manchester only 30 minutes later than via Sheffield, this sounds like a good plan.
So at Derby I bail and get a photograph of 37884 of Europhoenix which hasnt moved since I saw it this morning. I them started chatting to another spotter who was there waiting for a photograph of the same locomotive. While chatting another spotter approached who had just got off a train and advised us that the 73 we were waiting for was just round the corner but the driver was changing ends to head back south....swear words!!! Oh well at least I got a picture of the 37884 which looks splendid. So off to platform 2 for my train to Stoke which is formed of dud 153376 but it is a new service of track as I have never been along this section of railway at all. One thing that struck me was that how close the railway is to Uttoxeter racecourse.
The rest of the trip is full of duds, a ten minute wait at Stoke for dud 390128, however at the same time going to London was a required 390125....can we swap units!? With it still being daylight I do have one question as I noted something north of Longport. If you are heading towards Manchester on the right hand side is a shed with a siding and I saw what appeared to be the cab of a GBRF 66 on the floor, anyone have any idea what this is? Then with pure luck we arrived at Piccadilly and I went straight to the tram stop without braking stride and straight onto dud 3060 and as I crossed the threshold to beeper for the doors began, no that I call timing.
On the whole it hasnt been one of my normal mad cap days were Im rushing from one place to the next from dusk to dawn and it is still daylight, although rush hour when I reach Manchester but I have fully enjoyed it and am looking forward to tomorrow, whether I could have said that if I had continued with my original plan I could not say.
NEW SHACKS
Loughborough
NEW UNITS
43046, 43055, 43064, 43075, 43081, 43089, 156415, 222005, 222009, 222018, 222104.
NEW TRACK
Derby to Stoke-on-Trent
Day Two
Wide awake 90 minutes before my alarm is due to go off I decide on an early start so after staying in bed for another 30 minutes I get up and get ready to leave, first decision is either drive into Manchester or drive to the tram stop for the first tram....seeing I was in Manchester at rush hour last night the thought of the possibility of that made my mind up and it was a drive to the tram stop and after purchasing my ticket I only have a fe1w minutes to wait for the arrival of dud trams 3051 and 3054, so I board the latter tram for the journey into Manchester.
At Manchester Piccadilly I head off to Sainsburys for supplies and then Greggs for a bacon roll and coffee before heading to the platform were I have a choice of two trains, either the 0643 to Euston formed of dud 390117 or the 0700 to Euston formed of dud 390044, I decide on the 0643, although arrival time in London is not too different as mine went via Crewe with four stops while the 0700 was non-stop to Euston. Not much to report from the journey down and if I am honest about it I could have passed 3 IEPs and 6 Class 700s and I wouldnt have known as I dozed on the way down and in my defence the heating was on quite high on the train.
At Euston I head straight off to St Pancras International and I have to say the weather was beautiful and sunny, should get a few decent photographs today. On arriving at St Pancras I do something unusual and head for the northbound platform B, I usually always head south from here on platform A. I only have a few minutes to wait for my first cop of the day in the form of 319005, which is coupled to another good unit 319381 (which foolishly I did not get a ride on!!) I boarded 319005 and takes me to my first new shack of the day.
At West Hampstead Thameslink I leave 319005 and have a 12 minute wait for my next train to take me on, during that time I record quite a bit of Thameslink and East Midlands Trains passing through the station. The 0932 to Bedford eventually arrives about 7 minutes late and I board required 319453 to take me through to my next new shack, on passing Cricklewood depot it looks like they are all geared up for the arrival of the new units later this year as one of the servicing points.
At Hendon I leave the train and with not wanting to wait another 12 minutes plus I dash to the opposite platform and as I am heading down the stairs required 319006 arrives with a service to Sutton, I get on for a short hop to the next station, passing again the Cricklewood depot which has a couple of HSTs and 319s stabled up.
Cricklewood is my next cop of the morning and with only a nine minute wait I pick up the service I would have picked up if I had waited at Hendon and it was a pair of required units in the form of 319384 and 319438, so I climb aboard 319438.
At Mill Hill Broadway I transfer via the platform to 319384 to my next new station of the day (remember my rule for station bagging, I have to set foot on the station platform to bag the station and there must be a reason for getting off the train i.e. changing units, using the same unit but the unit has reached its destination and I am using the same unit on its next service or we will be stood at a station for a period of time).
I leave 319384 at Radlett and have a 9 minute wait for the next train which is formed of a dud 319445 to take me to its terminating station. At St. Albans City the train terminates and we all leave the train and my next train should be in 12 minutes time, while waiting I see 319005 from earlier head back into London minus 319381 which I failed to get a ride on and think I wont today now. The train I am waiting for arrives 7 minutes late but is well worth the wait as it is formed of 12 carriages 387 train so seeing I have only had haulage on 2 of these units I stand a good chance. And I am not wrong with 387125, 387123 and 387121 and all three are needed. So I board the rear unit 387121 and travel on that as far as Luton Airport Parkway where I transfer to 387123 via the connecting gangway and head for the front coach of this unit where I remain until I reach Leagrave when I transfer, again via the connecting gangway to 387125. Although I needed Luton Airport Parkway and Leagrave as shacks I thought it would be safer doing the transfer of units through the connecting gangway so will leave the station until a little bit later.
At Flitwick I leave 387125 and realise that the 319 unit have been put to bed for a little while as they do not seem to get up to this neck of the woods so I need to concentrate on getting the stations I require up this end of the Thameslink route before heading back to the 319 territory. I cross to the opposite platform for a 7 minute wait until a pair of 377s arrive with dud 377507 leading a required 377523, I board the rear unit for a ride to my next new shack.
At Leagrave I leave the train and a quick sprint, and I do mean a quick sprint to the opposite platform because within a minute I was boarding a required 387117 back to new shack of Harlington, another sprint across the platforms and within 3 minutes I am heading back south on required 377520 to Luton, where I was going to take a lunch break and go and grab some food off the station.
At Luton I find a subway and grab a sandwich and head back to the station formed of 2 Class 319 units and was due to depart in a minute, I decide to give it a miss because I wouldnt have time to see if I needed the unit and anyhow I can sit on the platform in the sun and eat my sandwich but I then notice the driver was only just ambling up the platform so I make a dash for it and am able to determine that the rear unit was a required 319446 but I still have no idea what the leading unit is so I jump on the rear unit as far as new shack Harpenden where I transfer to the leading unit and find it to be a dud 319214 which I remain on until my next new shack.
I leave the dud unit at Elstree & Borehamwood and have a 7 minute wait for a needed 319454 to take me to dud station St Albans City were after a 15 minute wait a pair of required 387 units arrive. I can only do one on this trip so I plump for 387126 and 387127 will have to wait for another time as I only want to go to my next required station on this train.
At Luton Airport Parkway I leave the train and have a 15 minute wait for my next train so I spend the time taking in a bit of the spring sun and fresh air while I wait and then my train arrives and is formed of required units 387116 and 387119. I board the latter as far as Sat Albans City where I transfer to the leading unit for the remainder of my journey to West Hampstead Thameslink.
At West Hampstead Thameslink I leave the train and wait for the 1409 to Sutton to take me to my next station which will mean that I have visited all the stations on the Midland Main Line between St Pancras and Leicester via Market Harborough. A dud 319005 arrives and takes me to Kentish Town where I leave the service and having reached my objective of the day the rest of the trip is just fun, although now it has turned 2pm I am starting to turn my mind to an earlier dart to get home at a reasonable time.
I have an 8 minute wait for my next train at Kentish Town to take me back to West Hampstead Thameslink in the form of required 319425, on leaving the train at Wet Hampstead Thameslink I have a 9 minute wait for a run to Hendon on board a required 319459.
On arriving at Hendon at 1438 I decide to start heading home and that my next train would take me through to St Pancras International and that turned out to be required 319008, from St Pancras International I take the 10 minute stroll along Euston Road to reach London Euston and notice the next train to Manchester is at 1540 so I wait on the concourse for the platform to be announced and then make my way to platform 2 to find my ride home is required 390040, what a successful day. Back in Manchester for 1745 I head down to the Metrolink for a dud 3019 to take me home.
Although the last two days have been shorter than my usual standard I found them very enjoyable and productive, both days I achieved the goals I set myself and am ready to go back and do it again.
Ill place my photographs for this trip on Flickr in a file that is going to be titled MML Rampage, please feel free to look at them, also please not that next week on Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th March will be part two of my 3CapitalsUK when I will spend 2 whole long days in London hopefully knocking of quite a bit of tube, DLR and National Rail Network stuff so you can follow me on Twitter with #3capitalsUK.
NEW SHACKS
Cricklewood, Elstree & Borehamwood, Flitwick, Harlington, Harpenden, Hendon, Kentish Town, Leagrave, Luton Airport Parkway, Mill Hill Broadway, Radlett, West Hampstead Thameslink
NEW UNITS
319005, 319006, 319008, 319384, 319425, 319438, 319446, 319453, 319454, 319459, 377520, 377523, 387116, 387117, 387119, 387121, 387123, 387125, 387126, 390040
Day One
Okay, I may have stated my plans for the next two days, but Im still not too sure what I will be doing on what day! The choices are going to be on the spur of the moment and this starts as I leave the house. Anyhow, alarm goes off at 6am and I chamber out of my pit and head to the kitchen to get the kettle on for my morning caffeine fix while I go and have the 3 Ss....well, only two off them but that is as much detail as I am willing to give. After my ablutions are complete I return to the kitchen for a breakfast of a couple of crumpets ans my coffee while I prepare my lunch for the day. During this time I am trying to make my first decision of the day relating to my trip. Am I really lazy and drive into Manchester and park on a car park that I know is cheaper than the tram or do I drive to the tram stop and search the tram? So just turned 7am I open my front door and am hit by the fresh air for the first time today and my decision is made. I did neither, instead I took a twenty minutes stroll to the tram stop and so chose to be healthy (well thats not going to last!- Ed).
At Brooklands I purchase my ticket and only have a few minutes to wait for a tram to Deangate-Castlefield and taking Techniquest terminology a step further it was formed of a super super dud 3045 that will take me and then I changed onto dud 3077 to take me to Piccadilly, I have to say the new St. Peters Square tram stop doesnt seed to have come on too much since the last time I saw it.
At Piccadilly I call into Sainsburys to buy a bit of fruit (so much trying to be healthier today) and then find my next train to Sheffield is just over twenty minutes off so I decide to head off down to the end of the platform to record and photograph some of the train movements because I know for a fact if I stay at the concourse end it would be off to Greggs and seeing I have already had breakfast and have lunch prepared that would not be healthy. After a productive fifteen minutes of logging movements and photographing I head back along the platform as dud 185130 arrives to take me on to Sheffield. We leave on time and by the time we reach Stockport I is standing room only, okay it is during the rush hour but I can definitely see why TPE wants to keep the 185s, whenever they get their new trains, so that they can double up these services. The guard has got the eating set rather high too and seeing I have forgotten my headphones so no music or films for me today I think it may be time for a snooze.
On arriving at Sheffield I leave the train and find I have just short of twenty minutes to wait for a train to Leicester so after a photograph was taken of the train I had just for off and I logged everything that was on the station I make my way over to platform 8 where the train is waiting. On the way over there I see the tram line and think I need a day over here at some point to do the network and get rid of some of the stuff I need. Unfortunately I arrive on the platform with ten minutes to go and feeling peckish I go to Pumpkin for a tea.....and a bacon roll, oh well!! Im trying to do WeightWatchers so as long as I point it it may still be okay and anyhow I earned a couple of extra points this morning with walking to the tram stop. Back to the important matter and my first score of the day with 222005 taking me to Leicester with an on time departure. Passing through Derby I didnt know which way to look with the highlight being Europhoenix 37884 with numerous Network Rail locomotives logged as well.
On arriving at Leicester if I so wished I could of whizzed off on the 1026 to Nottingham, however they were formed of a pair of dud 43s so decided to give them a miss and having worked out the HST diagrams for the day and then eliminating the stupid oclock diagrams that would have seen me out until midnight I was left with five diagrams...now down to four. While I was waiting for the next HST service a couple of freights passed through Leicester, both were duds with 66067 on the Elstow Redland Sidings to Mountsorrel and 68011 on the Basford Hall to Mountsorrel service. The 1100 to St Pancras International arrives and is formed of two required engines in the form of 43081 and 43089 to take me one stop along the line to Market Harborough were I will have a 50 minute wait for my train back.
At Market Harborough I find that the HST service that I thought I would have missed by about 3 minutes, hence the 50 minute wait was running 7 minutes so it just gave me time to proceed to the opposite platform for the arrival of required 43064 and dud 43083 to take me back to Leicester.
At Leicester I left the train and would have had an hours wait for my next HST service so I decide to have a run out and only a couple of minutes wait required 222009 arrives to take me forward to what turns out my only new shack for the day in the form of Loughborough, were I have a fifteen minute wait while in that time a pair of 66 Freightliner engines roll through along with a stoneblower. A few minutes late required 156415 arrives to return me to Leicester, during the journey I spot the two locomotives mentioned earlier in the sidings at Mountsorrel.
With only ten minutes to wait for the 4th diagram to arrive I dont have long to wait for a required pair in the form of 43075 and 43046 to arrive to take me to Nottingham, having noticed earlier on a required 222 heading to Nottingham I only had a ten minute turn around before I was heading back to Leicester on needed 222104.
On arriving at Leicester I have a 15 minute wait for the next service to Nottingham so that I can pick up the 5th and final diagram and required 222018 arrives on take me forward. As we pass through Loughborough I notice a freshly painted and looking splendid 73970 coming out of Brush works heading north.
At Nottingham I have just under 20 minutes for the final diagram which is formed of a dud 43066 but also required 43055 and the plan was to go all the way to London on it.....for those who know me and my plans....well lets say they changed rather quickly. I had intended to head to London and spend the evening on Thameslink heading north from St Pancras International but it would have meant a late night and I was feeling tired and I still had tomorrow, so my plan changed and at Leicester I left the train and decided to head to Sheffield and back across the Hope Valley line. With only a few minutes to wait dud 222003 arrived and I boarded for the trip to Sheffield. During the journey I see the 73 again, in a siding waiting to head north so I check RTT and find it is heading to Derby.....my plans change again and I decide to bail at Derby and should have under 10 minutes to wait for the 73 to arrive and then I could board a service to Crewe and change at Stoke and arrive back at Manchester only 30 minutes later than via Sheffield, this sounds like a good plan.
So at Derby I bail and get a photograph of 37884 of Europhoenix which hasnt moved since I saw it this morning. I them started chatting to another spotter who was there waiting for a photograph of the same locomotive. While chatting another spotter approached who had just got off a train and advised us that the 73 we were waiting for was just round the corner but the driver was changing ends to head back south....swear words!!! Oh well at least I got a picture of the 37884 which looks splendid. So off to platform 2 for my train to Stoke which is formed of dud 153376 but it is a new service of track as I have never been along this section of railway at all. One thing that struck me was that how close the railway is to Uttoxeter racecourse.
The rest of the trip is full of duds, a ten minute wait at Stoke for dud 390128, however at the same time going to London was a required 390125....can we swap units!? With it still being daylight I do have one question as I noted something north of Longport. If you are heading towards Manchester on the right hand side is a shed with a siding and I saw what appeared to be the cab of a GBRF 66 on the floor, anyone have any idea what this is? Then with pure luck we arrived at Piccadilly and I went straight to the tram stop without braking stride and straight onto dud 3060 and as I crossed the threshold to beeper for the doors began, no that I call timing.
On the whole it hasnt been one of my normal mad cap days were Im rushing from one place to the next from dusk to dawn and it is still daylight, although rush hour when I reach Manchester but I have fully enjoyed it and am looking forward to tomorrow, whether I could have said that if I had continued with my original plan I could not say.
NEW SHACKS
Loughborough
NEW UNITS
43046, 43055, 43064, 43075, 43081, 43089, 156415, 222005, 222009, 222018, 222104.
NEW TRACK
Derby to Stoke-on-Trent
Day Two
Wide awake 90 minutes before my alarm is due to go off I decide on an early start so after staying in bed for another 30 minutes I get up and get ready to leave, first decision is either drive into Manchester or drive to the tram stop for the first tram....seeing I was in Manchester at rush hour last night the thought of the possibility of that made my mind up and it was a drive to the tram stop and after purchasing my ticket I only have a fe1w minutes to wait for the arrival of dud trams 3051 and 3054, so I board the latter tram for the journey into Manchester.
At Manchester Piccadilly I head off to Sainsburys for supplies and then Greggs for a bacon roll and coffee before heading to the platform were I have a choice of two trains, either the 0643 to Euston formed of dud 390117 or the 0700 to Euston formed of dud 390044, I decide on the 0643, although arrival time in London is not too different as mine went via Crewe with four stops while the 0700 was non-stop to Euston. Not much to report from the journey down and if I am honest about it I could have passed 3 IEPs and 6 Class 700s and I wouldnt have known as I dozed on the way down and in my defence the heating was on quite high on the train.
At Euston I head straight off to St Pancras International and I have to say the weather was beautiful and sunny, should get a few decent photographs today. On arriving at St Pancras I do something unusual and head for the northbound platform B, I usually always head south from here on platform A. I only have a few minutes to wait for my first cop of the day in the form of 319005, which is coupled to another good unit 319381 (which foolishly I did not get a ride on!!) I boarded 319005 and takes me to my first new shack of the day.
At West Hampstead Thameslink I leave 319005 and have a 12 minute wait for my next train to take me on, during that time I record quite a bit of Thameslink and East Midlands Trains passing through the station. The 0932 to Bedford eventually arrives about 7 minutes late and I board required 319453 to take me through to my next new shack, on passing Cricklewood depot it looks like they are all geared up for the arrival of the new units later this year as one of the servicing points.
At Hendon I leave the train and with not wanting to wait another 12 minutes plus I dash to the opposite platform and as I am heading down the stairs required 319006 arrives with a service to Sutton, I get on for a short hop to the next station, passing again the Cricklewood depot which has a couple of HSTs and 319s stabled up.
Cricklewood is my next cop of the morning and with only a nine minute wait I pick up the service I would have picked up if I had waited at Hendon and it was a pair of required units in the form of 319384 and 319438, so I climb aboard 319438.
At Mill Hill Broadway I transfer via the platform to 319384 to my next new station of the day (remember my rule for station bagging, I have to set foot on the station platform to bag the station and there must be a reason for getting off the train i.e. changing units, using the same unit but the unit has reached its destination and I am using the same unit on its next service or we will be stood at a station for a period of time).
I leave 319384 at Radlett and have a 9 minute wait for the next train which is formed of a dud 319445 to take me to its terminating station. At St. Albans City the train terminates and we all leave the train and my next train should be in 12 minutes time, while waiting I see 319005 from earlier head back into London minus 319381 which I failed to get a ride on and think I wont today now. The train I am waiting for arrives 7 minutes late but is well worth the wait as it is formed of 12 carriages 387 train so seeing I have only had haulage on 2 of these units I stand a good chance. And I am not wrong with 387125, 387123 and 387121 and all three are needed. So I board the rear unit 387121 and travel on that as far as Luton Airport Parkway where I transfer to 387123 via the connecting gangway and head for the front coach of this unit where I remain until I reach Leagrave when I transfer, again via the connecting gangway to 387125. Although I needed Luton Airport Parkway and Leagrave as shacks I thought it would be safer doing the transfer of units through the connecting gangway so will leave the station until a little bit later.
At Flitwick I leave 387125 and realise that the 319 unit have been put to bed for a little while as they do not seem to get up to this neck of the woods so I need to concentrate on getting the stations I require up this end of the Thameslink route before heading back to the 319 territory. I cross to the opposite platform for a 7 minute wait until a pair of 377s arrive with dud 377507 leading a required 377523, I board the rear unit for a ride to my next new shack.
At Leagrave I leave the train and a quick sprint, and I do mean a quick sprint to the opposite platform because within a minute I was boarding a required 387117 back to new shack of Harlington, another sprint across the platforms and within 3 minutes I am heading back south on required 377520 to Luton, where I was going to take a lunch break and go and grab some food off the station.
At Luton I find a subway and grab a sandwich and head back to the station formed of 2 Class 319 units and was due to depart in a minute, I decide to give it a miss because I wouldnt have time to see if I needed the unit and anyhow I can sit on the platform in the sun and eat my sandwich but I then notice the driver was only just ambling up the platform so I make a dash for it and am able to determine that the rear unit was a required 319446 but I still have no idea what the leading unit is so I jump on the rear unit as far as new shack Harpenden where I transfer to the leading unit and find it to be a dud 319214 which I remain on until my next new shack.
I leave the dud unit at Elstree & Borehamwood and have a 7 minute wait for a needed 319454 to take me to dud station St Albans City were after a 15 minute wait a pair of required 387 units arrive. I can only do one on this trip so I plump for 387126 and 387127 will have to wait for another time as I only want to go to my next required station on this train.
At Luton Airport Parkway I leave the train and have a 15 minute wait for my next train so I spend the time taking in a bit of the spring sun and fresh air while I wait and then my train arrives and is formed of required units 387116 and 387119. I board the latter as far as Sat Albans City where I transfer to the leading unit for the remainder of my journey to West Hampstead Thameslink.
At West Hampstead Thameslink I leave the train and wait for the 1409 to Sutton to take me to my next station which will mean that I have visited all the stations on the Midland Main Line between St Pancras and Leicester via Market Harborough. A dud 319005 arrives and takes me to Kentish Town where I leave the service and having reached my objective of the day the rest of the trip is just fun, although now it has turned 2pm I am starting to turn my mind to an earlier dart to get home at a reasonable time.
I have an 8 minute wait for my next train at Kentish Town to take me back to West Hampstead Thameslink in the form of required 319425, on leaving the train at Wet Hampstead Thameslink I have a 9 minute wait for a run to Hendon on board a required 319459.
On arriving at Hendon at 1438 I decide to start heading home and that my next train would take me through to St Pancras International and that turned out to be required 319008, from St Pancras International I take the 10 minute stroll along Euston Road to reach London Euston and notice the next train to Manchester is at 1540 so I wait on the concourse for the platform to be announced and then make my way to platform 2 to find my ride home is required 390040, what a successful day. Back in Manchester for 1745 I head down to the Metrolink for a dud 3019 to take me home.
Although the last two days have been shorter than my usual standard I found them very enjoyable and productive, both days I achieved the goals I set myself and am ready to go back and do it again.
Ill place my photographs for this trip on Flickr in a file that is going to be titled MML Rampage, please feel free to look at them, also please not that next week on Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th March will be part two of my 3CapitalsUK when I will spend 2 whole long days in London hopefully knocking of quite a bit of tube, DLR and National Rail Network stuff so you can follow me on Twitter with #3capitalsUK.
NEW SHACKS
Cricklewood, Elstree & Borehamwood, Flitwick, Harlington, Harpenden, Hendon, Kentish Town, Leagrave, Luton Airport Parkway, Mill Hill Broadway, Radlett, West Hampstead Thameslink
NEW UNITS
319005, 319006, 319008, 319384, 319425, 319438, 319446, 319453, 319454, 319459, 377520, 377523, 387116, 387117, 387119, 387121, 387123, 387125, 387126, 390040
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Wow that was a good couple of days! Super productive, and I'll not lie to you, I'm more than a bit jealous!
Remind me nearer the day and I'll certainly following on Twitter, always a good read
Remind me nearer the day and I'll certainly following on Twitter, always a good read
Keith Jarrett
Member
An excellent read and a good haul of winners over the two days. Makes a difference to most folk who are cranking the 319s - you stayed away from the central London core and actually scored them out in the open. The Midland mainline as a whole seems to be sadly neglected on here by resident trip reporters - I wonder if the lack of reasonably priced rangers/rovers has anything to do with it?
There's the Thameslink Daysave but of course i'm pretty sure you've got to go to Narnia or something to get one
Expect a Thameslink/MML report from me in the future as it's down for my ALR.
Some excellent days out there Andy, plenty required units there for me too
I enjoyed that read. I'm hoping to get a day in the East Midlands in May but the Ranger is expensive. I also need to do what you've done with the Northern part of Thameslink for the shacks. I will probably wait until the 700s are about in numbers though. A good couple of days.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Several reasons will come to mind eventually, but a couple of them are:
- It's a right pain to get to from a large amount of the country. Hereford to Derby (for example) involves much 170 action (or worse, 170 and Voyager action!) to do it. Travel before 0900 and you'll get chung serious amounts to travel anywhere beyond Birmingham. Split tickets I hear you all bellow, yeah that's all fine and good if you're coming back the same day, but I'd be needing at least one overnight stay somewhere to make it worthwhile.
- As you point out, no rangers/rovers that don't need you to take out a big loan (OK, a slight exaggeration!) to afford them!
- There's also fares in general on EMT being unreasonable in my eyes. I forget the journey I looked up a while ago, but it was far more than would have been acceptable to me.
- Not to mention you get some right proper non-friendly crew on the East Midlands. Yes you get some great ones too, but not enough of them.
As for the Thameslink bit, the northern end takes forever to get to from this part of the country! Plus as rg177 says, you need to go to Narnia to get that Thameslink DaySave first! I wonder when the Southern one will go back to being bought online...
Kite159
Veteran Member
Travelling to Narnia is easy, but sadly the Thameslink daysave isn't available there, you need to travel to Charn for that 
Sounded like a good couple days on the Midland Main Line, congrats on clearing the shacks and getting a few required units along the way.
Sounded like a good couple days on the Midland Main Line, congrats on clearing the shacks and getting a few required units along the way.
Not for me! My wardrobe is so cluttered that I can barely get anything out of it, let alone go through it!
andyb2706
Member
Tuesday 29th March 2016
Well the alarm sounded at 5.30, thought I wasn’t in work today for a brief moment until I realised why it was set, so I crawled out of bed and made my way to the bathroom for a shower and freshen up. My bag was prepared the night e fore and all I needed to do was to put bottle of water and some fruit in my bag and I was ready for the off. The previous night I had pre-booked a parking spot in the multi-storey car park next to Sale tram stop. For turn up and go it is £8 per 24 hours so it wasn’t too bad when I booked from 0600 Tuesday to 0100 Thursday morning it was just £8. The reason I did this was that my train back tomorrow does not arrive back until 11pm which would mean I wouldn’t get home until about midnight if I walked from the tram stop, which I didn’t fancy and an added bonus was that when I left the house this morning it was tipping down with rain!
At the tram stop I purchased my single ticket to Manchester Piccadilly formed 3.60 and waited for my tram seeing I had just missed one. The PIS, was taking the PIS as it was originally saying the next tram was 24 minutes off with the possibility of a tram being missing, which would have made it tight to get some breakfast and my train to London. As is counted down it reached 18 minutes and then suddenly jumped down to 8 minutes.... phew, breakfast was back on. When the tram arrived it was double dud trams of 3057 and 3025, I got on the latter and started this log to pass the journey away.
On arriving at Manchester Piccadilly I head straight for Greggs after noting which platform I am on and trying to be healthy again I purchase a porridge and coffee for my breakfast. Luckily the lady gives me a cup holder which is a God send when trying to show my tickets to the Virgin lady on the platform. My stallion for the trip this morning is required 390103. First train of the day and a copy. I like it when that happens. I settle down in my seat noting that the seat next to me is reserved too and hoping that the person would not turn up. Then I overhear other passengers saying the same but pointing out that all the business bods will be heading to London today for the week with yesterday being a bank holiday....oh expletives!!! The journey was pretty uneventful, still trying to complete my logs from my last trip out on a dull and damp trip but that was only until we left Stoke heading for Nuneaton when the sun broke out and blue sky appeared, is this the start of a beautiful day? Well logging up passed the trip, with only 25 minute left I put my phone down to fully charge while I pear out of the window to eek if there is anything useful knocking around.
On arriving at Euston I set my stall out for the first part of the day and head off down to the tube station to knock off a few more Northern line units and stations, my first destination is to a station on the High Barnet branch that I could not do when was here in February due to the station being closed for refurbishment and my steed for the journey is required unit 51703, which takes me a few stops along the line to Tufnell Park, here I pop across to the opposite platform for an immediate return towards the city with another new red pen in 51629. At Camden Town I leave the train to start my run up the Edgware branch line with yet another required 51556. This could become a very boring read if I carry on in my normal vain up along the Edgware branch as all the trains were required and all brand new shacks so I will just list the trips below.
51556 Camden Town to Chalk Farm
51643 Chalk Farm to Belsize Park
51648 Belize Park to Hampstead
51603 Hampstead to Golders Green
51668 Golders Green to Brent Cross
51632 Brent Cross to Hendon Central
51672 Hendon Central to Colindale
51723 Colindale to Burnt Oak
51599 Burnt Oak to Edgware
At Edgware having completed the Edgware branch I have a change in the mode of transport to get to my next shack by taking only my second London bus which was LJ05 BVK of Arriva London Buses operating a 142 service
(Kind of ironic a bus operating a 142 - Ed) to Watford Junction but I only go as far as Stanmore which is a new shack for myself on the Jubilee Line. Again, here are my runs all units and stations are required.
96076 Stanmore to Canons Park
96033 Canons Park to Queensbury
96079 Queensbury to Kingsbury
96117 Kingsbury to Wembley Park
96120 Wembley Park to Neasden
96055 Neasden to Dollis Hill
96121 Dollis Hill to Willesden Green
96089 Willesden Green to Kilburn
96115 Kilburn to West Hampstead
96006 West Hampstead to Finchley Road
96046 Finchley Road to Swiss Cottage
96061 Swiss Cottage to St. John’s Wood
96103 St. John’s Wood to Bond Street
At Bond Street I bid farewell to the Jubilee Line leaving just one station being required and strangely enough that is Stratford. Of all the times I have been there it has always been by train, so It will have to be on me to do list for another time. It was now to pay a bit of attention to the Central Line which I proceed to at Bond Street. Again, below is a list of my movements
92070 Bond Street to Marble Arch
92140 Marble Arch to Lancaster Gate
91221 Lancaster gate to Queensway
91247 Queensway to Notting Hill Gate
92084 Notting Hill Gate to White City
92204 White City to East Acton
91265 East Acton to West Acton
91097 West Acton to North Acton
92412 North Acton to Hanger Lane
91043 Hanger Lane to Perivale
92222 Perivale to Greenford
At Greenford after completing a large section of the Western end of the Central Line I head to grab a couple of the GWR DMU’s for which I am totally lacking. I think that a two day GWR DMU/HST bash may be in order later on in the year. I consult the RTT to work out how to do the stations so that I have the least amount of time standing around waiting for the train to arrive so at Greenford I board required 165118 to take me to my first new shack on the branch line.
I leave 165118 at Drayton Green to score the shack and I only have 5 minutes to wait for the arrival of another new unit which is 165131 which I take to my next new shack of Castle Bar Park, from here I decide to have a 30 minute walk to my next new station on the line instead of waiting for a train.
I arrive at South Greenford having just missed what would have been a great photograph when I was approaching the station and saw 66108 on the 1329 Bicester COD to Didcot TC go across the bridge over the road. On the station I find I have a to wait 20 minutes for my train and when it arrived it was dud 165118 to take me to my next new shack.
At West Ealing I leave the train and have a 15 minute wait for a Heathrow Connect to take me to London Paddington as I am planning to head to my digs for the night and get checked in before heading out again and seeing I have only had haulage on one of the five Heathrow Connect units I should stand a good chance of a new one, while waiting of course I log anything that passes through but also watch the construction of the new west end bay platform which is to be used for the Greenford branch services as from the start of the Crossrail services to free up paths the Greenford branch service will be a shuttle service between West Ealing and Greenford only. Kind of reminds you of the very old films were you have proper branch line operations doesn’t it? Anyhow as the clock ticks on my train arrives formed of 360203…the only one I have been on! A one in five chance of that happening and it did…. typical!!
I log seven locomotives between Acton Main Line and London Paddington (this is not counting HST locomotives) and am amazed at the construction work going on in the area in connection with Crossrail and I suspect the IEP programme, talking of which I was wondering whether anything may have been visible at Old Oak Common (although I am not too sure whether anything is there) but unfortunately nothing was.
At London Paddington I make my way to the Bakerloo Line and board required 3238 to take me to Kilburn Park where a 3 minute walk and I am entering my hotel for the night. After checking in and paying for the night I unload anything I do not need, freshen up and head back out. This time I am going to walk to the next station along and in doing so as I exited the hotel I noticed a bus stop right outside the hotel and within a few seconds I saw a Borismaster approaching, that gives me an idea for later on… but more of that later. I walk to my new shack of Maida Vale and board 3239 to take me to London Waterloo.
At London Waterloo it was a bit of a fiasco. I planned to head to the furthest extremities that my Travelcard Zones 1-6 would allow at Feltham and work my way back in completing the stations that I needed on the Hounslow Loop, I thought of doing it this way because it was peak period and it may be easier jumping on and off trains heading back into London than out of London at this time. So I locate the 1720 to Reading formed of 450090 and 450105, both required units and board an already busy train. I was able to find a seat although others were standing and waited for departure. 1720 came and went and then two minutes after it was booked to depart they announced the train was cancelled and was going empties to the shed. I have never seen such a crowd of people getting off a train as frustrated, my next attempt is a Hounslow Loop train itself and I have to admit I forgot to log the details of the haulage all that I can remember was that they were required so I board this train and within a minute or two another announcement by the train crew that the train was going to be delayed for an unknown period of time due to a lightning strike, train number two for me to leave. I head back to the concourse and decide to change tact and ask a member of staff if any trains were leaving the station and he advised me that only trains heading towards Richmond and Reading were affected by the lightning strike - Surbiton!!! My new aim for now and I find a pair of 455 units in the forms off 455848 and 455909 waiting to take me on, both were required so I boarded 455909 as far as Clapham Junction where I then transferred to 455848 to take me to Surbiton.
At the new shack of Surbiton, I cross to the return platform and have only a +4 to wait for the arrival of duds 455706 and 455869 to take me to my next new shack of New Malden, here I have only a +2 to wait for required 455737 to take me to dud station of Wimbledon.
At Wimbledon I left the station to have some tea and returned half an hour later for a required 455917 working the 1852 to Hampton Court to take me to Berrylands where I have a +30 on a cold and damp platform for my next train, with plenty whizzing through but nothing stopping. Eventually required 455873 arrives which I travel on as far as Clapham Junction where my plan was to try and do some of the Hounslow Loop, unfortunately all the trains towards Hounslow and Twickenham where showing delayed due to earlier lightning strike so plan two steps up and it is over to the Southern platforms and I board the first train to London Victoria which is formed of three required 377 units and I choose 377474 to take me to London Victoria, on arriving I find the same three units are working a service to Littlehampton and Eastbourne in only seven minutes time so I swap units and sit in 377465 to take me back to Clapham Junction.
At Clapham Junction I decide to have a little play by doing a round trip between here and London Victoria so the first train to arrive was yet again three required 377 units so I board 377309 as far as Battersea Park, although I need Battersea Park for a station I transfer to 377409 via the walk through gangway and proceed to London Victoria, on arriving at Victoria I find that the same three units are working a service in twenty minutes (2050 to Dorking) so I hang on for that train and board 377325 to take me to my last new shack for the night.
At Balham I leave the train and have a +5 for the next service back to London Victoria which is formed of required unit 377156.
At London Victoria it is time to say goodnight to the trains and do something I had been planning since leaving the hotel. I proceeded outside of London Victoria train station and found the needed bus stop and within a few minutes LTZ 1648 Borismaster arrived on the No:16 service to Cricklewood Bus Garage. I Boarded the bus and made my way upstairs and sat at the front, I have to say if you sit straight the seats are not that comfortable and I had to sit at an angle to get comfortable but it was nice for once to see London from a bus instead of being underneath London on the Tube. We went past a lot of the top hotels and Marble Arch and I have to say if I lived in London I would not have a car as on the whole they have a fantastic public transport system and I believe that that is down to the fact that they have an elected mayor who has a whole range of powers. I hope this can be replicated in Manchester.
NEW SHACKS
Balham, Belsize Park, Berrylands, Bond Street, Brent Cross, Burnt Oak, Canons Park, Castle Bar Park, Chalk Farm, Colindale, Dollis Hill, Drayton Green, East Acton, Edgware, Finchley Road, Golders Green, Greenford, Hampstead, Hanger Lane, Hendon Central, Kilburn, Kilburn Park, Kingsbury, Lancaster Gate, Maida Vale, Neasden, New Malden, North Acton, Perivale, Queensbury, Queensway, St. John’s Wood, South Greenford, Surbiton, Stanmore, Swiss Cottage, Tufnell Park, Wembley Park, West Acton, West Ealing, West Hampstead, White City, Willesden Green.
NEW UNITS
3238, 3239, 51556, 51599, 51603, 51629, 51632, 51643, 51648, 51668, 51672, 51703, 51723, 91043, 91097, 91221, 91247, 91265, 92070, 92084, 92140, 92204, 92222, 92412, 96006, 96033, 96046, 96055, 96061, 96076, 96079, 96089, 96103, 96115, 96117, 96120, 96121, 165118, 165131, 377156, 377309, 377325, 377409, 377465, 377474, 390103, 455737, 455848, 455873, 455909, 455917.
NEW BUSES
LJ05 BKV Alexander Dennis (Volvo, B7TL), Arriva London, VLA 122
LTZ 1648 Wrightbus New Routemaster, Metroline, LT648
NEW ROUTES
Bus route 142 Edgware tube station to Stanmore tube station
Bus route 16 London Victoria train station to Kilburn High Road (bus stop X)
Camden Town to Edgware (Northern Line)
Stanmore to Baker Street (Jubilee Line)
North Acton Junction to Greenford (Central Line)
Warwick Avenue to Kilburn Park (Bakerloo Line)
Greenford to West Ealing Junction
*Day 2 to follow
Well the alarm sounded at 5.30, thought I wasn’t in work today for a brief moment until I realised why it was set, so I crawled out of bed and made my way to the bathroom for a shower and freshen up. My bag was prepared the night e fore and all I needed to do was to put bottle of water and some fruit in my bag and I was ready for the off. The previous night I had pre-booked a parking spot in the multi-storey car park next to Sale tram stop. For turn up and go it is £8 per 24 hours so it wasn’t too bad when I booked from 0600 Tuesday to 0100 Thursday morning it was just £8. The reason I did this was that my train back tomorrow does not arrive back until 11pm which would mean I wouldn’t get home until about midnight if I walked from the tram stop, which I didn’t fancy and an added bonus was that when I left the house this morning it was tipping down with rain!
At the tram stop I purchased my single ticket to Manchester Piccadilly formed 3.60 and waited for my tram seeing I had just missed one. The PIS, was taking the PIS as it was originally saying the next tram was 24 minutes off with the possibility of a tram being missing, which would have made it tight to get some breakfast and my train to London. As is counted down it reached 18 minutes and then suddenly jumped down to 8 minutes.... phew, breakfast was back on. When the tram arrived it was double dud trams of 3057 and 3025, I got on the latter and started this log to pass the journey away.
On arriving at Manchester Piccadilly I head straight for Greggs after noting which platform I am on and trying to be healthy again I purchase a porridge and coffee for my breakfast. Luckily the lady gives me a cup holder which is a God send when trying to show my tickets to the Virgin lady on the platform. My stallion for the trip this morning is required 390103. First train of the day and a copy. I like it when that happens. I settle down in my seat noting that the seat next to me is reserved too and hoping that the person would not turn up. Then I overhear other passengers saying the same but pointing out that all the business bods will be heading to London today for the week with yesterday being a bank holiday....oh expletives!!! The journey was pretty uneventful, still trying to complete my logs from my last trip out on a dull and damp trip but that was only until we left Stoke heading for Nuneaton when the sun broke out and blue sky appeared, is this the start of a beautiful day? Well logging up passed the trip, with only 25 minute left I put my phone down to fully charge while I pear out of the window to eek if there is anything useful knocking around.
On arriving at Euston I set my stall out for the first part of the day and head off down to the tube station to knock off a few more Northern line units and stations, my first destination is to a station on the High Barnet branch that I could not do when was here in February due to the station being closed for refurbishment and my steed for the journey is required unit 51703, which takes me a few stops along the line to Tufnell Park, here I pop across to the opposite platform for an immediate return towards the city with another new red pen in 51629. At Camden Town I leave the train to start my run up the Edgware branch line with yet another required 51556. This could become a very boring read if I carry on in my normal vain up along the Edgware branch as all the trains were required and all brand new shacks so I will just list the trips below.
51556 Camden Town to Chalk Farm
51643 Chalk Farm to Belsize Park
51648 Belize Park to Hampstead
51603 Hampstead to Golders Green
51668 Golders Green to Brent Cross
51632 Brent Cross to Hendon Central
51672 Hendon Central to Colindale
51723 Colindale to Burnt Oak
51599 Burnt Oak to Edgware
At Edgware having completed the Edgware branch I have a change in the mode of transport to get to my next shack by taking only my second London bus which was LJ05 BVK of Arriva London Buses operating a 142 service
(Kind of ironic a bus operating a 142 - Ed) to Watford Junction but I only go as far as Stanmore which is a new shack for myself on the Jubilee Line. Again, here are my runs all units and stations are required.
96076 Stanmore to Canons Park
96033 Canons Park to Queensbury
96079 Queensbury to Kingsbury
96117 Kingsbury to Wembley Park
96120 Wembley Park to Neasden
96055 Neasden to Dollis Hill
96121 Dollis Hill to Willesden Green
96089 Willesden Green to Kilburn
96115 Kilburn to West Hampstead
96006 West Hampstead to Finchley Road
96046 Finchley Road to Swiss Cottage
96061 Swiss Cottage to St. John’s Wood
96103 St. John’s Wood to Bond Street
At Bond Street I bid farewell to the Jubilee Line leaving just one station being required and strangely enough that is Stratford. Of all the times I have been there it has always been by train, so It will have to be on me to do list for another time. It was now to pay a bit of attention to the Central Line which I proceed to at Bond Street. Again, below is a list of my movements
92070 Bond Street to Marble Arch
92140 Marble Arch to Lancaster Gate
91221 Lancaster gate to Queensway
91247 Queensway to Notting Hill Gate
92084 Notting Hill Gate to White City
92204 White City to East Acton
91265 East Acton to West Acton
91097 West Acton to North Acton
92412 North Acton to Hanger Lane
91043 Hanger Lane to Perivale
92222 Perivale to Greenford
At Greenford after completing a large section of the Western end of the Central Line I head to grab a couple of the GWR DMU’s for which I am totally lacking. I think that a two day GWR DMU/HST bash may be in order later on in the year. I consult the RTT to work out how to do the stations so that I have the least amount of time standing around waiting for the train to arrive so at Greenford I board required 165118 to take me to my first new shack on the branch line.
I leave 165118 at Drayton Green to score the shack and I only have 5 minutes to wait for the arrival of another new unit which is 165131 which I take to my next new shack of Castle Bar Park, from here I decide to have a 30 minute walk to my next new station on the line instead of waiting for a train.
I arrive at South Greenford having just missed what would have been a great photograph when I was approaching the station and saw 66108 on the 1329 Bicester COD to Didcot TC go across the bridge over the road. On the station I find I have a to wait 20 minutes for my train and when it arrived it was dud 165118 to take me to my next new shack.
At West Ealing I leave the train and have a 15 minute wait for a Heathrow Connect to take me to London Paddington as I am planning to head to my digs for the night and get checked in before heading out again and seeing I have only had haulage on one of the five Heathrow Connect units I should stand a good chance of a new one, while waiting of course I log anything that passes through but also watch the construction of the new west end bay platform which is to be used for the Greenford branch services as from the start of the Crossrail services to free up paths the Greenford branch service will be a shuttle service between West Ealing and Greenford only. Kind of reminds you of the very old films were you have proper branch line operations doesn’t it? Anyhow as the clock ticks on my train arrives formed of 360203…the only one I have been on! A one in five chance of that happening and it did…. typical!!
I log seven locomotives between Acton Main Line and London Paddington (this is not counting HST locomotives) and am amazed at the construction work going on in the area in connection with Crossrail and I suspect the IEP programme, talking of which I was wondering whether anything may have been visible at Old Oak Common (although I am not too sure whether anything is there) but unfortunately nothing was.
At London Paddington I make my way to the Bakerloo Line and board required 3238 to take me to Kilburn Park where a 3 minute walk and I am entering my hotel for the night. After checking in and paying for the night I unload anything I do not need, freshen up and head back out. This time I am going to walk to the next station along and in doing so as I exited the hotel I noticed a bus stop right outside the hotel and within a few seconds I saw a Borismaster approaching, that gives me an idea for later on… but more of that later. I walk to my new shack of Maida Vale and board 3239 to take me to London Waterloo.
At London Waterloo it was a bit of a fiasco. I planned to head to the furthest extremities that my Travelcard Zones 1-6 would allow at Feltham and work my way back in completing the stations that I needed on the Hounslow Loop, I thought of doing it this way because it was peak period and it may be easier jumping on and off trains heading back into London than out of London at this time. So I locate the 1720 to Reading formed of 450090 and 450105, both required units and board an already busy train. I was able to find a seat although others were standing and waited for departure. 1720 came and went and then two minutes after it was booked to depart they announced the train was cancelled and was going empties to the shed. I have never seen such a crowd of people getting off a train as frustrated, my next attempt is a Hounslow Loop train itself and I have to admit I forgot to log the details of the haulage all that I can remember was that they were required so I board this train and within a minute or two another announcement by the train crew that the train was going to be delayed for an unknown period of time due to a lightning strike, train number two for me to leave. I head back to the concourse and decide to change tact and ask a member of staff if any trains were leaving the station and he advised me that only trains heading towards Richmond and Reading were affected by the lightning strike - Surbiton!!! My new aim for now and I find a pair of 455 units in the forms off 455848 and 455909 waiting to take me on, both were required so I boarded 455909 as far as Clapham Junction where I then transferred to 455848 to take me to Surbiton.
At the new shack of Surbiton, I cross to the return platform and have only a +4 to wait for the arrival of duds 455706 and 455869 to take me to my next new shack of New Malden, here I have only a +2 to wait for required 455737 to take me to dud station of Wimbledon.
At Wimbledon I left the station to have some tea and returned half an hour later for a required 455917 working the 1852 to Hampton Court to take me to Berrylands where I have a +30 on a cold and damp platform for my next train, with plenty whizzing through but nothing stopping. Eventually required 455873 arrives which I travel on as far as Clapham Junction where my plan was to try and do some of the Hounslow Loop, unfortunately all the trains towards Hounslow and Twickenham where showing delayed due to earlier lightning strike so plan two steps up and it is over to the Southern platforms and I board the first train to London Victoria which is formed of three required 377 units and I choose 377474 to take me to London Victoria, on arriving I find the same three units are working a service to Littlehampton and Eastbourne in only seven minutes time so I swap units and sit in 377465 to take me back to Clapham Junction.
At Clapham Junction I decide to have a little play by doing a round trip between here and London Victoria so the first train to arrive was yet again three required 377 units so I board 377309 as far as Battersea Park, although I need Battersea Park for a station I transfer to 377409 via the walk through gangway and proceed to London Victoria, on arriving at Victoria I find that the same three units are working a service in twenty minutes (2050 to Dorking) so I hang on for that train and board 377325 to take me to my last new shack for the night.
At Balham I leave the train and have a +5 for the next service back to London Victoria which is formed of required unit 377156.
At London Victoria it is time to say goodnight to the trains and do something I had been planning since leaving the hotel. I proceeded outside of London Victoria train station and found the needed bus stop and within a few minutes LTZ 1648 Borismaster arrived on the No:16 service to Cricklewood Bus Garage. I Boarded the bus and made my way upstairs and sat at the front, I have to say if you sit straight the seats are not that comfortable and I had to sit at an angle to get comfortable but it was nice for once to see London from a bus instead of being underneath London on the Tube. We went past a lot of the top hotels and Marble Arch and I have to say if I lived in London I would not have a car as on the whole they have a fantastic public transport system and I believe that that is down to the fact that they have an elected mayor who has a whole range of powers. I hope this can be replicated in Manchester.
NEW SHACKS
Balham, Belsize Park, Berrylands, Bond Street, Brent Cross, Burnt Oak, Canons Park, Castle Bar Park, Chalk Farm, Colindale, Dollis Hill, Drayton Green, East Acton, Edgware, Finchley Road, Golders Green, Greenford, Hampstead, Hanger Lane, Hendon Central, Kilburn, Kilburn Park, Kingsbury, Lancaster Gate, Maida Vale, Neasden, New Malden, North Acton, Perivale, Queensbury, Queensway, St. John’s Wood, South Greenford, Surbiton, Stanmore, Swiss Cottage, Tufnell Park, Wembley Park, West Acton, West Ealing, West Hampstead, White City, Willesden Green.
NEW UNITS
3238, 3239, 51556, 51599, 51603, 51629, 51632, 51643, 51648, 51668, 51672, 51703, 51723, 91043, 91097, 91221, 91247, 91265, 92070, 92084, 92140, 92204, 92222, 92412, 96006, 96033, 96046, 96055, 96061, 96076, 96079, 96089, 96103, 96115, 96117, 96120, 96121, 165118, 165131, 377156, 377309, 377325, 377409, 377465, 377474, 390103, 455737, 455848, 455873, 455909, 455917.
NEW BUSES
LJ05 BKV Alexander Dennis (Volvo, B7TL), Arriva London, VLA 122
LTZ 1648 Wrightbus New Routemaster, Metroline, LT648
NEW ROUTES
Bus route 142 Edgware tube station to Stanmore tube station
Bus route 16 London Victoria train station to Kilburn High Road (bus stop X)
Camden Town to Edgware (Northern Line)
Stanmore to Baker Street (Jubilee Line)
North Acton Junction to Greenford (Central Line)
Warwick Avenue to Kilburn Park (Bakerloo Line)
Greenford to West Ealing Junction
*Day 2 to follow
Last edited:
Kite159
Veteran Member
Quite a productive day
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Wow 
hock: To say that was a productive day is an understatement! Major clearout had, that's for sure, and I'm more than jealous, which I think you knew anyway!
Without a doubt a lot there I need still, including some of the shacks. Started well with 390103 being a score, and I concur it's nice to have a change and actually see London on a bus, rather than seeing its underground stuff. Someone asked me about that the other day actually, whether I found it scary (or something, I was trying to keep the attention on her words! ). I find it fascinating still, being underground while not all that far above you are more tunnels and/or all those buildings and people going from place to place!
hock: To say that was a productive day is an understatement! Major clearout had, that's for sure, and I'm more than jealous, which I think you knew anyway!Without a doubt a lot there I need still, including some of the shacks. Started well with 390103 being a score, and I concur it's nice to have a change and actually see London on a bus, rather than seeing its underground stuff. Someone asked me about that the other day actually, whether I found it scary (or something, I was trying to keep the attention on her words!
). I find it fascinating still, being underground while not all that far above you are more tunnels and/or all those buildings and people going from place to place!
Keith Jarrett
Member
That was good going in London with winning everything a plenty. I'm looking forward to reading about day 2's antics.
andyb2706
Member
Wednesday 30th March 2016
The alarm woke me at 0800 this morning and it felt so nice not getting up at the crack of dawn to go out on a Spotting trip, in fact I was so comfortable in bed I didn’t want to get out, but I must. The previous night I had purchased breakfast. I had two choices, pay £12.95 for a hotel breakfast or visit the Tesco Express across the road to get a porridge and banana. I chose the Tesco option so all I needed to do was boil the kettle. I have to say at this point I didn’t have a plan for the day so during breakfast and shower I had time to think things through and to come up with a plan for the day. Just Turned 09.15 I check out of the hotel and head to one of the many greengrocer shops to pick up some fruit for the day before heading to Kilburn Park tube station, the time is 09.26 so I purchase my off peak travel card and have a few minutes to loiter before I can get through the ticket barriers. One of my goals for today is to complete a couple of tube lines, which should be doable as there are a few lines already over half complete, again the moves are as follows.
3260 Kilburn Park to Edgware Road
3258 Edgware Road to Queens Park
3259 Queens Park to Kensal Green
378233 Kensal Green to Willesden Junction
3541 Willesden Junction to Harlesden
3247 Harlesden to Stonebridge Park
3237 Stonebridge Park to Wembley Central
378218 Wembley Central to North Wembley
3260 North Wembley to South Kenton
3533 South Kenton to Kenton
378202 Kenton to Harrow & Wealdstone
Seeing I have now reached the end of the Bakerloo Line I could either retrace my steps or transfer via bus to another tube line, it didn’t take me too long to decide and I headed out of the tube station to the bus stop outside which was a matter of a 30 second walk and had a couple of minutes to wait for the 140 service to Heathrow Central and LK12 ABO (Volvo, B9TL) from Healdstone & Wealdstone to Harrow bus station. On arriving at Harrow bus stop I head to the tube station and start my run on the tube again.
21007 Harrow on the Hill to Northwood
21082 Northwood to Northwood Hills
21062 Northwood Hills to Pinner
21008 Pinner to North Harrow
21067 North Harrow to Northwick Park
21039 Northwick Park to Preston Road
21097 Preston Road to Baker Street
3237 Baker Street to Regents Park
3361 Regents Park to Lambeth North
On arriving at Lambeth North I have now completed all the stations on the Bakerloo Line.
3265 Lambeth North to Elephant & Castle
51545 Elephant & Castle to Oval
51664 Oval to Stockwell
51725 Stockwell to Clapham North
51646 Clapham North to Clapham Common
51647 Clapham Common to Clapham South
51617 Clapham South to Balham
51501 Balham to Tooting Bec
At Tooting Bec I reached a milestone, maybe not as glamorous or unusual as it could have been but since keeping records Tooting Bec is now my 1000th recorded station that I have visited.
51724 Tooting Bec to Tooting Broadway
51566 Tooting Broadway to Colliers Wood
51570 Colliers Wood to South Wimbledon
51532 South Wimbledon to Morden
On arriving at Morden I have now visited all stations on the Northern line, so today both the Bakerloo and Northern lines had been completed in their entirety. Having happily completed my goal for today on The Tube it is now time to change tact and head off out of the station to bus stop A where I wait for the 93 service to Putney Bridge for a short journey to Morden Road Tram Stop (bus stop SL) and when the bus turned up it was LX58 CXK. The bus stop for the tram stop is just of the road bridge that goes over the tram line so less than a 30 second walk I was on the platform waiting for the tram. Over the Easter holidays trams were only running between Wimbledon and Reeves Corner due to engineering work on the East Croydon loop section, luckily I had not planned to that far. So I have a few minutes wait for my tram runs:
2542 Morden Road (TL) to Phipps Bridge
2557 Phipps Bridge to Belgrave Walk
2532 Belgrave Walk to Mitcham
2550 Mitcham to Mitcham Junction (TL)
On arriving at Mitcham Junction I leave Croydon Tramlink to play on the heavy rail network and knock off some of my required Southern Electrostars. My first move is a short hop to the next station on board required 377310 and alighted the train at Mitcham Junction, here I have two options either to get the next Thameslink service in 8 minutes or wait 20 minutes for the next Southern service and seeing when the Thameslink train arrived it was a pair of required 319 trains I boarded the rear unit which was 319220 to dud station Tulse Hill.
At Tulse Hill I decide to head away from London again and cross to the opposite platform for a Southern service to the new shack of Streatham Common which was formed of required 455841. At Streatham Common I remained on the same platform as only 7 minutes later another train was due and when it arrived it was yet again required unit 377602 which took me forward to my next required station of Selhurst.
At Selhurst I witnessed the incompetence of Southern Railways that hits the press, I crossed to platform 2 to head to my next required shack and 4 minutes before the train was due they announced it was re-platformed to platform 4, an elderly lady had just reached the top of the stairs so we all headed back down them again and headed to platform 4, which seemed strange as there was a gate in the way which was unlocked and the stairs up to platform 4 were unkempt. Anyhow we reach platform 4 with a couple of minutes to spare and just as the elderly lady reached the top of the stairs saying the train had been re-re-platformed to platform 2 again…as the train was arriving on platform 2!! Myself and the other passengers made it back to platform 2 but the elderly lady did not make it and as it was a eight car DOO train there was no way I could raise the issue with the driver. I tweeted Southern about the situation and especially the fact that they had left an elderly lady behind and all I got back was what seemed to be an insincere sorry, no “we are sorry about this incident it happened because…” just sorry. To be that is not a proper apology because there was no sense they had tried to find out the reasoning behind this incident. Anyhow I boarded a required 377456 to required shack Norbury where I change platforms and have a 9 minute wait for a West Croydon service to take me to my next required shack of Thornton Heath on required 455832.
At Thornton Heath I have a six minute wait for my next train which is formed of a pair of required 377 units so I board 377614 to dud station of West Croydon where I transfer to 377610 for the remainder of the journey to required shack Wallington where I leave the train. Here I have a 8 minute wait for my next train which is a service to Sutton and is also formed of 2 required 377 units so I figure out their return trip while on board 377126 which takes me to required shack of Carshalton Beeches where I cross to the opposite platform and wait for its return journey. When the returning units arrive I board needed 377468 to take me to my next new shack.
At Waddon I leave the train and cross to the opposite platform for a 10 minute wait for a Epsom Down service formed of required 377704 and 377705. I board the ormer and remain on board to Epsom Downs where there is only a 4 minute wait until its return journey, just long enough to transfer to 377705 for a trip to Belmont. At Belmont there should have been only a 9 minute wait for the next train back to Epsom Downs but it was running about 6 minutes late so there was a bit of festering time here with not much to do and when the train turned up h leading unit was a dud 377607 with required 377601 on the rear so I boarded the dud 377607 to new shack of Banstead where I waited for its return trip where I then boarded required 377601 as far as dud station of Sutton. Here I had a 2 minute wait for the 1822 to Horsham which was formed of a dud 377310 and required units of 377311 and 377143. I boarded 377143 here and remained on it until I reached required station of Cheam where I transferred via the platform to 377311 for the remaining journey to required station of Ewell East where there was a 20 minute fester before the start of my return trip to London to head off home, on time the 1847 to London Victoria arrives formed of required unit 455826, however I only remain on this train to new shack of Carshalton where there is a 22 minute fester due to the 1911 Thameslink service to St Albans running 9 minutes late but it was worth it because it was a needed 319002.
I only remained on this train for one stop and left it at new shack of Hackbridge with only a 6 minute wait for needed 455830 to take me forward to dud station of Balham, where after a 9 minute wait a pair of required 377 units arrived for a service to London Victoria so I board 377706 as far as Clapham Junction where I transfer via the gangway to 377708 as far as my final new shack of the trip.
At Battersea Park I leave the train and it is now dark and cold and am very glad it is getting towards the end of the day and the final Southern train does not disappoint when required 455829 arrives to take me to London Victoria where I then head straight for the underground and a required 11069 to take me to Euston.
At Euston I have just under half an hour until my train home, just enough time to get some tea from Leon and a coffee and cake from the Costa to have on the train home which was a dud 390005, oh well you can’t win every time and I don’t think I have any room to complain. Once back at Manchester my tram home was guaranteed to be a dud one and it was with 3009.
This has been two great days in London and still needing loads of stuff from the capital I can see another one of these trips…. maybe even later his year and my eyes have been opened to the option of the London Buses, which may also see me look more closely at buses throughout the country, as If I haven’t got enough to contend with rail vehicles! Well I never do things by halves. For now, that is the end of my report and look forward to future trips in the coming months which will include my 3 Capitals part 3 – Scottish Edition but before then I have another trip which I think is likely to be the East Coast to try and rattle off some of the Virgin Trains East Coast 43’s and 91’s seeing they are now living on borrowed time. Until then is goodnight from me (my tribute to a much loved comic Ronnie Corbett). Now it’s time to watch the four candles sketch.
NEW STATIONS
Balham (LU), Banstead, Battersea Park, Belgrave Walk, Belmont, Carshalton, Carshalton Beeches, Cheam, Clapham Common, Clapham North, Colliers Wood, Edgware Road, Ewell East, Hackbridge, Harlesden, Harrow & Wealdstone, Harrow on the Hill, Kenton, Lambeth North, Mitcham, Mitcham Junction (TL), Mitcham Junction, Morden, Morden Road (TL), Norbury, North Wembley, Northwick Park, Northwood, Northwood Hills, Phipps Bridge, Pinner, Oval, Preston Road, Regents Park, Selhurst, South Kenton, South Wimbledon, Streatham Common, Stockwell, Stonebridge Park, Thornton Heath, Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway, Waddon, Wallington.
NEW UNITS
2532, 2542, 2550, 2557, 3237, 3247, 3258, 3260, 3361, 3533, 3541, 21007, 21008, 21039, 21062, 21082, 21067, 21097, 51501, 51532, 51545, 51566, 51570, 51646, 51617, 51647, 51664, 51724, 51725, 319002, 319220, 377126, 377143, 377310, 377311, 377456, 377468, 377601, 377602, 377610, 377614, 377704, 377705, 377706, 377708, 378202, 378218, 378233, 455826, 455829, 455830, 455832, 455841
NEW BUSES
LK12 ABO, Volvo B9TL, Metroline, VW1248
LX58 CXK, ADL Trident 2 Optare Olympus, Go-Ahead London General, DOE20
NEW ROUTES
Bus service 140: Harrow & Wealdstone tube station (Bus Stop M) to Harrow bus stop (Bus Stop C)
Bus service 93: Morden Tube Station (Bus Stop A) to Morden Road Tram Stop (Bus Stop SL)
Kilburn Park to Harrow & Wealdstone (Bakerloo Line)
Baker Street to Elephant & Castle (Bakerloo Line)
Elephant & Castle to Morden (Northern Line)
The alarm woke me at 0800 this morning and it felt so nice not getting up at the crack of dawn to go out on a Spotting trip, in fact I was so comfortable in bed I didn’t want to get out, but I must. The previous night I had purchased breakfast. I had two choices, pay £12.95 for a hotel breakfast or visit the Tesco Express across the road to get a porridge and banana. I chose the Tesco option so all I needed to do was boil the kettle. I have to say at this point I didn’t have a plan for the day so during breakfast and shower I had time to think things through and to come up with a plan for the day. Just Turned 09.15 I check out of the hotel and head to one of the many greengrocer shops to pick up some fruit for the day before heading to Kilburn Park tube station, the time is 09.26 so I purchase my off peak travel card and have a few minutes to loiter before I can get through the ticket barriers. One of my goals for today is to complete a couple of tube lines, which should be doable as there are a few lines already over half complete, again the moves are as follows.
3260 Kilburn Park to Edgware Road
3258 Edgware Road to Queens Park
3259 Queens Park to Kensal Green
378233 Kensal Green to Willesden Junction
3541 Willesden Junction to Harlesden
3247 Harlesden to Stonebridge Park
3237 Stonebridge Park to Wembley Central
378218 Wembley Central to North Wembley
3260 North Wembley to South Kenton
3533 South Kenton to Kenton
378202 Kenton to Harrow & Wealdstone
Seeing I have now reached the end of the Bakerloo Line I could either retrace my steps or transfer via bus to another tube line, it didn’t take me too long to decide and I headed out of the tube station to the bus stop outside which was a matter of a 30 second walk and had a couple of minutes to wait for the 140 service to Heathrow Central and LK12 ABO (Volvo, B9TL) from Healdstone & Wealdstone to Harrow bus station. On arriving at Harrow bus stop I head to the tube station and start my run on the tube again.
21007 Harrow on the Hill to Northwood
21082 Northwood to Northwood Hills
21062 Northwood Hills to Pinner
21008 Pinner to North Harrow
21067 North Harrow to Northwick Park
21039 Northwick Park to Preston Road
21097 Preston Road to Baker Street
3237 Baker Street to Regents Park
3361 Regents Park to Lambeth North
On arriving at Lambeth North I have now completed all the stations on the Bakerloo Line.
3265 Lambeth North to Elephant & Castle
51545 Elephant & Castle to Oval
51664 Oval to Stockwell
51725 Stockwell to Clapham North
51646 Clapham North to Clapham Common
51647 Clapham Common to Clapham South
51617 Clapham South to Balham
51501 Balham to Tooting Bec
At Tooting Bec I reached a milestone, maybe not as glamorous or unusual as it could have been but since keeping records Tooting Bec is now my 1000th recorded station that I have visited.
51724 Tooting Bec to Tooting Broadway
51566 Tooting Broadway to Colliers Wood
51570 Colliers Wood to South Wimbledon
51532 South Wimbledon to Morden
On arriving at Morden I have now visited all stations on the Northern line, so today both the Bakerloo and Northern lines had been completed in their entirety. Having happily completed my goal for today on The Tube it is now time to change tact and head off out of the station to bus stop A where I wait for the 93 service to Putney Bridge for a short journey to Morden Road Tram Stop (bus stop SL) and when the bus turned up it was LX58 CXK. The bus stop for the tram stop is just of the road bridge that goes over the tram line so less than a 30 second walk I was on the platform waiting for the tram. Over the Easter holidays trams were only running between Wimbledon and Reeves Corner due to engineering work on the East Croydon loop section, luckily I had not planned to that far. So I have a few minutes wait for my tram runs:
2542 Morden Road (TL) to Phipps Bridge
2557 Phipps Bridge to Belgrave Walk
2532 Belgrave Walk to Mitcham
2550 Mitcham to Mitcham Junction (TL)
On arriving at Mitcham Junction I leave Croydon Tramlink to play on the heavy rail network and knock off some of my required Southern Electrostars. My first move is a short hop to the next station on board required 377310 and alighted the train at Mitcham Junction, here I have two options either to get the next Thameslink service in 8 minutes or wait 20 minutes for the next Southern service and seeing when the Thameslink train arrived it was a pair of required 319 trains I boarded the rear unit which was 319220 to dud station Tulse Hill.
At Tulse Hill I decide to head away from London again and cross to the opposite platform for a Southern service to the new shack of Streatham Common which was formed of required 455841. At Streatham Common I remained on the same platform as only 7 minutes later another train was due and when it arrived it was yet again required unit 377602 which took me forward to my next required station of Selhurst.
At Selhurst I witnessed the incompetence of Southern Railways that hits the press, I crossed to platform 2 to head to my next required shack and 4 minutes before the train was due they announced it was re-platformed to platform 4, an elderly lady had just reached the top of the stairs so we all headed back down them again and headed to platform 4, which seemed strange as there was a gate in the way which was unlocked and the stairs up to platform 4 were unkempt. Anyhow we reach platform 4 with a couple of minutes to spare and just as the elderly lady reached the top of the stairs saying the train had been re-re-platformed to platform 2 again…as the train was arriving on platform 2!! Myself and the other passengers made it back to platform 2 but the elderly lady did not make it and as it was a eight car DOO train there was no way I could raise the issue with the driver. I tweeted Southern about the situation and especially the fact that they had left an elderly lady behind and all I got back was what seemed to be an insincere sorry, no “we are sorry about this incident it happened because…” just sorry. To be that is not a proper apology because there was no sense they had tried to find out the reasoning behind this incident. Anyhow I boarded a required 377456 to required shack Norbury where I change platforms and have a 9 minute wait for a West Croydon service to take me to my next required shack of Thornton Heath on required 455832.
At Thornton Heath I have a six minute wait for my next train which is formed of a pair of required 377 units so I board 377614 to dud station of West Croydon where I transfer to 377610 for the remainder of the journey to required shack Wallington where I leave the train. Here I have a 8 minute wait for my next train which is a service to Sutton and is also formed of 2 required 377 units so I figure out their return trip while on board 377126 which takes me to required shack of Carshalton Beeches where I cross to the opposite platform and wait for its return journey. When the returning units arrive I board needed 377468 to take me to my next new shack.
At Waddon I leave the train and cross to the opposite platform for a 10 minute wait for a Epsom Down service formed of required 377704 and 377705. I board the ormer and remain on board to Epsom Downs where there is only a 4 minute wait until its return journey, just long enough to transfer to 377705 for a trip to Belmont. At Belmont there should have been only a 9 minute wait for the next train back to Epsom Downs but it was running about 6 minutes late so there was a bit of festering time here with not much to do and when the train turned up h leading unit was a dud 377607 with required 377601 on the rear so I boarded the dud 377607 to new shack of Banstead where I waited for its return trip where I then boarded required 377601 as far as dud station of Sutton. Here I had a 2 minute wait for the 1822 to Horsham which was formed of a dud 377310 and required units of 377311 and 377143. I boarded 377143 here and remained on it until I reached required station of Cheam where I transferred via the platform to 377311 for the remaining journey to required station of Ewell East where there was a 20 minute fester before the start of my return trip to London to head off home, on time the 1847 to London Victoria arrives formed of required unit 455826, however I only remain on this train to new shack of Carshalton where there is a 22 minute fester due to the 1911 Thameslink service to St Albans running 9 minutes late but it was worth it because it was a needed 319002.
I only remained on this train for one stop and left it at new shack of Hackbridge with only a 6 minute wait for needed 455830 to take me forward to dud station of Balham, where after a 9 minute wait a pair of required 377 units arrived for a service to London Victoria so I board 377706 as far as Clapham Junction where I transfer via the gangway to 377708 as far as my final new shack of the trip.
At Battersea Park I leave the train and it is now dark and cold and am very glad it is getting towards the end of the day and the final Southern train does not disappoint when required 455829 arrives to take me to London Victoria where I then head straight for the underground and a required 11069 to take me to Euston.
At Euston I have just under half an hour until my train home, just enough time to get some tea from Leon and a coffee and cake from the Costa to have on the train home which was a dud 390005, oh well you can’t win every time and I don’t think I have any room to complain. Once back at Manchester my tram home was guaranteed to be a dud one and it was with 3009.
This has been two great days in London and still needing loads of stuff from the capital I can see another one of these trips…. maybe even later his year and my eyes have been opened to the option of the London Buses, which may also see me look more closely at buses throughout the country, as If I haven’t got enough to contend with rail vehicles! Well I never do things by halves. For now, that is the end of my report and look forward to future trips in the coming months which will include my 3 Capitals part 3 – Scottish Edition but before then I have another trip which I think is likely to be the East Coast to try and rattle off some of the Virgin Trains East Coast 43’s and 91’s seeing they are now living on borrowed time. Until then is goodnight from me (my tribute to a much loved comic Ronnie Corbett). Now it’s time to watch the four candles sketch.
NEW STATIONS
Balham (LU), Banstead, Battersea Park, Belgrave Walk, Belmont, Carshalton, Carshalton Beeches, Cheam, Clapham Common, Clapham North, Colliers Wood, Edgware Road, Ewell East, Hackbridge, Harlesden, Harrow & Wealdstone, Harrow on the Hill, Kenton, Lambeth North, Mitcham, Mitcham Junction (TL), Mitcham Junction, Morden, Morden Road (TL), Norbury, North Wembley, Northwick Park, Northwood, Northwood Hills, Phipps Bridge, Pinner, Oval, Preston Road, Regents Park, Selhurst, South Kenton, South Wimbledon, Streatham Common, Stockwell, Stonebridge Park, Thornton Heath, Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway, Waddon, Wallington.
NEW UNITS
2532, 2542, 2550, 2557, 3237, 3247, 3258, 3260, 3361, 3533, 3541, 21007, 21008, 21039, 21062, 21082, 21067, 21097, 51501, 51532, 51545, 51566, 51570, 51646, 51617, 51647, 51664, 51724, 51725, 319002, 319220, 377126, 377143, 377310, 377311, 377456, 377468, 377601, 377602, 377610, 377614, 377704, 377705, 377706, 377708, 378202, 378218, 378233, 455826, 455829, 455830, 455832, 455841
NEW BUSES
LK12 ABO, Volvo B9TL, Metroline, VW1248
LX58 CXK, ADL Trident 2 Optare Olympus, Go-Ahead London General, DOE20
NEW ROUTES
Bus service 140: Harrow & Wealdstone tube station (Bus Stop M) to Harrow bus stop (Bus Stop C)
Bus service 93: Morden Tube Station (Bus Stop A) to Morden Road Tram Stop (Bus Stop SL)
Kilburn Park to Harrow & Wealdstone (Bakerloo Line)
Baker Street to Elephant & Castle (Bakerloo Line)
Elephant & Castle to Morden (Northern Line)
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alexf380
Established Member
Ah London.....wish it was me! A great couple of days there Andy, certainly filled the books anyhow. Really enjoyable read, too.
Really getting through those shacks Andy, an excellent read.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Another amazing day in London, I am very jealous! I suspect you might be of some of my moves today mind...
I'm certainly looking forward to the Scottish part of your 3 Capitals adventure, I hope you'll give us advance warning of when it is so I can follow the action on Twitter!
I'm certainly looking forward to the Scottish part of your 3 Capitals adventure, I hope you'll give us advance warning of when it is so I can follow the action on Twitter!
Keith Jarrett
Member
Andy, an equally impressive haul on day two. And good to hear that you ventured all the way down to the southern end of the Northern Line. Seeing that it rarely features in trip reports, I almost have come to the conclusion that most bashers actually believe the false rumours that fire-breathing, three-horned dragons still live in the tunnels near Morden!
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Keith, I've done the southern end of the Northern line in recent-ish times! Granted, only as far as Tooting this time mind...
andyb2706
Member
I'm already trying to plan another trip to London myself, still so much to do down there on the trains, tube, trams, DLR and buses!
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