Andy's Wanderings

[Kristofferson]

Finally caught up on the last few trips!

Tech's 9% mistake is now legendary in the bashing world by the sounds of it I'm surprised you got Rob to try Carling at all!

As expensive as your night in London was, those tube line clearances were so worth it!

Thanks for the reads


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[Kite159]

Another productive day! The thames link trains from the core to Easy Croydon currently take an eternity as they drag themselves through south london! It's really painful!

Agreed, around 30 minutes to cover 10 miles. Roll on next year when London Bridge is finished and services start running fast

 

[andyb2706]

My final day of the February Frenzy, and okay those among you who are observant will say it is not February, technically you are right. However my excuse is that I started these trips in February and had it not been for my blunder on Saturday night February Frenzy would not have happened.

This morning I wake up naturally half an hour before my alarm is due to go off, so after a shower and shave and a couple of hours earlier than the day before I head off to Sale Water hoping for one of the remaining eight trams that I need, I should have been so lucky as dud 3029 arrives to take me towards the city, I leave the tram at Firswood as I had noticed that the following tram was only a minute off and was still hoping. I need to hope more as dud 3111 turned up which I took as far as St. Peter’s Square for a tram to Piccadilly and within a few minutes a tram for Ashton turned up but was also formed of dud 3062.

At Piccadilly I do not have time to get any breakfast and decide to get it on the train as I have a de ja vu moment from yesterday when I notice that the 0835 to Euston was dud but the 0830 to Milford Haven was formed of required 175102 which I took as far as Stockport, at Stockport I only have a few minutes to wait for dud 390013 arrives which is surprisingly busy in my opinion. I do not have that fortune of finding a table where I can plug in my phone and laptop to carry out some reports and log work, luckily the guy on the table in front of me departs the train at Macclesfield and I waste no time in moving into his nice warm seat…happy days!

Arriving at Euston I realised I have formed a ritual and head off for a PNB before beginning my day properly, my plan was to join the Northern line to Moorgate and then pick up the Metropolitan/Circle/Hammersmith and City lines to London Liverpool Street but I hear an announcement that due to signalling failure on the Northern lien there was a limited and severely delayed service in operation, well a quick change of plan and diverted to the Victoria line for a good bash down to Oxford Circus and I knocked off a couple more half sets in the form of 11047 from Euston to Warren Street where I then transferred to 11048 as far as Oxford Circus. I transfer to Central line and cleared another six two car sets (93212, 93056, 91231, 91107, 93036, 93134) by changing at each station to Liverpool Street.

At London Liverpool Street, my plan was to knock off another five 379 units before heading off onto the 321 units. So, my first port of call where platforms 1 -6 and immediately spot a pair of 379’s with a dud 379001 and a required 379023 working a service to Stansted Airport so I board the required unit for a trip to Tottenham Hale and when I arrive I cross over to the opposite platform for a service back to London Liverpool Street, due to a signalling fault the trains to London were being delayed, great! Do I need to re-plan the rest of my day? Anyhow the next train to London arrives only 8 minutes late, which is not bad as it was originally saying it was 13 minutes late and also it was a required 317670 so back to London I went.

On my arrival back to London Liverpool Street there was a pair of dud 379’s about to leave for Stansted but sat on the next platform was a pair of required 379’s working the next service 15 minutes later so the plan was to take the first unit as far as Tottenham Hale and then transfer to the other unit as far as Bishop Stortford, so I settled into 379015 as far as Tottenham Hale and then transfer to 379022 for the trip to Bishop Stortford. During the trip to Bishop Stortford I realise it is only another 10 minutes to Stansted Airport which is a required shack, so sod it I stayed on board and on.

At Stansted Airport, I pick some lunch up and watch trains come and go as none of them are required at the moment, I was beginning to think I was going to really struggle and was about to admit defeat and travel on a dud when a pair of required units arrived in the opposite platform so I board 379014 as far as Stansted Mountfitchet (I love that name – Mountfitchet, it sounds like a name out of Blackadder – Ed.) and transfer by the internal gangway to the other unit 379011 as far as the new shack of Harlow Town where I leave the train and cross to the opposite platform and wait for the 1443 service to Bishop Stortford, by the way by now everything seems to have settled down from the earlier signalling issues. I am lucky because when the train arrives it is another required unit in the form of 317654 which I take as far as new shack Harlow Mill.

At Harlow Mill I have 18 minutes to kill until the 1504 to Cambridge arrives and it was a red pen unit in 379024 that turned up on time. I only do a short hop to the cool named station of Stansted Mountfitchet where with only a 3-minute fester it was a quick rush to the opposite platform for required 379002 to return me to Harlow Town where after a 11-minute fester I picked up a dud 317664 to take me to the new shack of Sawbridgeworth. I thought the 3-minute turn around was tight earlier, here it turned out to be just 1 minute!! Due to the train I arrived on being a few minutes late, but I managed it and a required 317884 took me back to Harlow Town, where with a leisurely +14 I waited for a service to my next new shack, when the train arrived it was formed of a pair of required 317 units so I boarded 317514 as far as Roydon, where I transferred to the front unit via the platform, another new shack in my book and boarded 317511 as far as Broxbourne. Here I have 6-minutes to wait for a required 317672 to arrive which I take as far as new shack of Waltham Cross with a +7 for a needed 317512 to Cheshunt followed by another +3 for required 317653 to take me to my next new shack.

At Enfield Lock I leave the train and I question has finally been answered that I have been wondering about for years. Where are the Greater Anglia 317’s? as there never seems to be that many in London Liverpool Street, I now know and having a load of fun grabbing them. I have a 16-minute fester here for my next train and start thinking about planning to return to London Euston to head home and while stood there 3 x 379’s speed through the station with two of them (013 and 018) being required units. The original plan was to head back to Liverpool Street and have a play on the underground while heading back to Euston, however seeing these two units has me thinking again. After consulting RTT I discover the 3 x 379 units will form the 1737 from London Liverpool Street to Cambridge calling at Tottenham Hale, Bishops Stortford plus others afterwards so the only way I could do it is to go through to Bishops Stortford and get the 1830 back to London Liverpool Street which would be pushing it to do a bash on the LU and get some dinner, hmm…. dilemma. My train arrives only a minute late and is booked into London Liverpool street at 1730 which would give me time to get to the 1737 Cambridge service so I board required unit 317658 as far as Brimsdown where I transfer via the platform to the second required unit 317663 which takes me back to London Liverpool Street, unfortunately we are held outside Liverpool Street for a good few minutes and do not arrive into the station until 1735, two minutes to fight through the rush hour crowd around to the platform that the 1737 was on, with 30 seconds to spare I jump on the dud unit and walk through to the required 379013 and I have decided to only go as far as Tottenham Hale and I will pick up the other unit on some other day. It doesn’t take long for me to realise I needn’t have rushed as we ended up leaving 4-minutes down.

At Tottenham Hale I leave the train and during the trip I have come up with an alternate idea to my underground bash. Instead of going into London Liverpool Street I could always do the Victoria line from Tottenham Hale to Euston if time is getting tight, I will see what arrives at the main line station over the next few minutes, and I don’t have long to wait when a required pair of 317’s arrives in the form of 317649 that I take as far as Cheshunt before transferring to 317505 to take me to Harlow Town. It is now decided I am going to do the Victoria line from Tottenham Hale as the time is getting on so I board a dud 379022 as far as Tottenham Hale where I leave the station for the London Underground.

Down om the underground at 1850 I have a bit of time to play around so I let the first train go which is a pair of duds but when the next train arrives it is formed of a pair of required units so I board 11025 as far as Seven Sisters where I transfer to 11026 to the next station which is Finsbury Park where I leave the train and wait for the following one which is only 2-minutes behind. When that train arrives, it is also a pair of required units so I go with 11065 as far as Highbury & Islington and then transfer to 11066 to Kings Cross St. Pancras where the following train is a pair of required half units I must sacrifice one as the next stop is Euston so I board 11059 to take me back to Euston.

At Euston I head for some dinner and now being fed up with burgers I go to Leon (I’ve not had a Leon meal in ages – Ed.) and purchase a Chargrilled Chicken and Chorizo with fried rice and salad….it was stunning. I also bought a bag of popcorn for the train, now normally I am not a big fan of popcorn but just really fancied some. When I went to board the train, I was stunned to see it was 390115, the same unit on the same train I got home last night. I settled into my seat and ate the popcorn while typing this report and I have to say I really enjoyed the popcorn as well, will try some again from there.

This is my last report for February Frenzy and I have had an enjoyable six days with a mixture of pure spotting, real ale and melodramas. Today’s results are new track between Bishop Stortford and Stansted Airport, 34 new red pens and 11 new shacks. Role on my next trip.

 

[Kite159]

Congrats on a productive day is that everything cleared towards Stansted airport from the south now?

 

[Techniquest]

Wow that was quite the hectic day! Nothing compared to my day yesterday mind...

Some good results there it must be said, and I really need to make an effort to get the 379s cleared. They're nice units after all!

 

[andyb2706]

Congrats on a productive day is that everything cleared towards Stansted airport from the south now?

Hi Kite, I still need a few shacks along the main line towards Stansted plus the Hertford East branch. As to units there is still quite a few 317's and 379's needed.

 

[andyb2706]

Today was a last-minute decision because I had been on nights and was all dependant on if I had a quite night, which I did. Then I had an internal ongoing battle as to whether to do the Midland Metro (for which I need every single tram and all but 2 stops), Nottingham Express Transit (still require 13 trams and 16 stops) or Sheffield Supertram (requiring 15 trams and 37 stops) the argument went on for ages!

Anyhow, one thing I did know was that I would have to get my backside into gear if I was going to go anywhere and it was not until I was on my way to the tram stop I decided to head to Sheffield as it was the cheapest option. At Sale Water Park I decided to pay and extra pound and get a day travelcard just in case I saw 3112 knocking around and I could do an emergency divert to pick it up at some point. After purchasing the ticket I had about a 7 minute fester for my tram to Deansgate-Castlefield, while waiting for my tram 3111 was heading to the Airport, when my tram arrived it was a dud 3062.

On arriving at Deansgate-Castlefield I had only a minute to wait for 3062 to arrive on the service to Ashton, on departure 3113 arrived on a service in the opposite direction, I’m sure Metrolink are teasing me.

At Manchester Piccadilly I had just under a 20-minute fester for my train to Sheffield so I had a mooch around and to go and be nosey and see how the modernisation of Greggs was going, it still looked like it was going to have a small shop front which will still mean queuing outside, but we will have to wait and see when it re-opens beginning of next week. Back on the station a dud 185131 arrives to take me to Sheffield. I find myself a table seat and settle down for the journey while working on my logs from my trip last month to Great Anglia, nearly up to date.

At Sheffield, I ignore any of the trains there and head straight for the tram stop and dud 102 arrives to take me to my first required stop where I disembark at Castle Square for a four-minute fester and the arrival of my first required tram 120 to take me to my next new shack of West Street, on the journey there though I did see 399201 going in the opposite direction on a driver training run. I disembark the tram at West Street and have a couple of minutes for a dud 123 to arrive to take me onto my next new shack.

At The University of Sheffield stop after eight minutes required 118 arrives to take me to my next new stop, I decide to skip a stop and remain on it to Shalesmoor, where with a 7-minute fester I hop to the opposite platform where dud 114 takes me back towards Sheffield to required shack of Netherthorpe Road with a quick dash to the opposite platform and straight on to required 109 to head off towards Malin Bridge but only as far as Langsett/ Primrose View with a couple of minutes to wait for required 108 to take me on as far as Bamforth Street, here there is a 6-minute wait for required 113 to take me to Hillsborough Interchange, this is a busy junction!! Not just for the trams but the road traffic too! I only have a few minutes to wait for dud 122 to arrive to take me towards Middlewood.

At Hillsborough Park, I leave the tram and with no PIS (more on the PIS at the end!) I was in the dark as to when the next tram was, however the stop was right outside a butty shop that did hot roast pork and stuffing butty, but I didn’t have any cash on me, but across the road was a NatWest, result! So, money withdrawn, butty bought and okay, it was alright but nowhere near the best hot pork butty I’ve ever had. After a 13-minute fester here dud 121 arrived to take me to my next stop of Leppings Lane, here I notice a Costa and was so tempted to get a coffee but decide against it and wait for 5-minutes for the next tram which was required 110 to take me to the end of the line.

At Middlewood I leave this tram and let it head off without me hoping that the next tram would also be of the required variety to take me back towards Sheffield city centre, and it was with 107 arriving a few minutes later to take me back to Hillsborough Interchange so that I could do the line to Malin Bridge.

Back at Hillsborough Interchange my craving for a coffee is too overwhelming and I dive into the Costa right at the tram stop, after the purchasing of a Mocha I cross to the other platform and wait for required 105 to take me to Malin Bridge. On arriving I decide to save a bit of time I would walk back the short distance to Hillsborough Interchange, on returning I can no longer hold off from a PNB so start hunting for a public toilet and end up at the Hillsborough Barracks shopping centre and find a Morrison’s for the loo. I have to say it is a good use of the old military barracks with its turrets and impressive buildings, the only fault is that during this time I did see trams 116 and 119, both required for haulage and I only hope I manage to catch up with them both later on.

After being suitably refreshed I head back to the stop at Hillsborough Interchange and a dud 123 takes me to my final required stop West of the Sheffield city centre, at Infirmary Road I leave the tram and have a couple of minutes wait for dud tram 122 to take me back through the city centre and on to the required stops East side of the city centre.

At Cricket Inn Road, I leave the tram and cross to the opposite platform with a five minute wait for required 118 to take me to Hyde Road where a quick dash across to the opposite platform for a dud 121 to take me through to Attercliffe with a seven minute fester until my return trip to Woodbourn Road on board dud 122. At Woodbourn Road I have another seven minutes to wait for a tram to take me to near enough the end of the line and it is dud 107 and leave the tram at Tinsley – Meadowhall South and wait for the same tram to return to take me to my next new shack of Carbrook. On arriving I see a dud 114 going to Meadowhall and know that will be next tram, however watching the tram I had just got off I realise it is only a short walk to my final stop on the yellow line so to save some time I decide to walk to the next stop.

On arriving at Valley Centertainment the next tram going in the opposite direction to which I was wanting to travel had arrived and was a required tram and seeing this was my last stop on the yellow line I decided to let the next dud tram to the city to go and waited for the next tram which was the required 111 to take me to the dud stop of Ponds Forge, where I board a dud 105 for the start of my run along the blue/purple lines trying to knock off the shacks along these two lines.

At Park Range Croft, I leave the tram and cross to the opposite platform for a return run to Park Range on dud 120. From here I board dud 119 after an eight minute wait to Manor Top and with a seven minute wait a required 112 arrives to take me to Gleadless Townend, while waiting here for my next tram either towards Halfway or Herding Park a required 117 arrives at the opposite platform so with a mad dash across I board the tram for a trip to Hollinsend and cross to the other platform for dud 106 to take me to Herding Park, with this service only being half hourly I was trying to figure out how to do the two stops in the shortest possible time, unfortunately according to Google Maps it was a 13-minute walk to Leighton Road so I wouldn’t be able to make it in time for the next one, however I went for it and did it in four minutes, can’t figure out what Google Maps was up to!

So, at Leighton Road I had 2-minutes to wait for dud 106 to take me back to Gleadless Townend, now having completed the purple line as well I only had the blue line to deal with. During this time I also looked at the route of the tram to Halfway and it looked a nice route so decided that the tram I got on now I would travel on through to Halfway so I could see the route in daylight. The tram arrived and was a dud 113 to take me through to Halfway. Arriving at Halfway I expected the same tram to take me back but it drew forward for another tram to arrive in the form of dud 103, the tram immediately departed and before I knew it we had passed right through the first two stops so I ended up getting off at Beighton, which was quite fortuitous as a PNB was required which I was able to carry out at Crystal Peaks shopping centre, while there I also ended up spending a bit of money on a new Kindle! I left the shopping centre at the opposite side I had entered it so that I Could pick up a tram at new shack Crystal Peaks to take me back towards Halfway so I can pick up the missed shacks from earlier on board dud 104.

Now, my comment on the PIS. Totally unreliable as the trams never turned up when the PIS said they would, trams would disappear and then reappear, it would be better without them! So going off the information with a pinch of salt I figured out to get the rest of the stops I needed I wouldn’t be heading off home until turned 10pm and today was going to be a long day which I wasn’t really looking forward to but while I was here I had to complete the stops so I tried to figure out with Google Maps if there was enough time to walk between stops without missing the next tram, more on this later.

I left 104 at required shack Westfield and with only a 3-minute fester (and a change of crew, which seems to be done in a hap-hazard way around this section of line, although there must be method behind the madness – Ed.) and re-boarded the dud 104 on its return working as far as Waterthorpe with only a 5-minute wait for dud 117 to take me to my next required shack of Moss Way, here there was only another 5-minute wait for dud 119 to take me to Donetsk Way and after a 10-miute fester dud 105 arrived to take me to Hackenthorpe.

I now do my first walk between stops to save a bit of time and arrive at Birley Moor Road where with a 5-miute fester another dud 109 to take me to my next required shack of Birley Lane which appears to be in the middle of nowhere and a long walk to the next stop so I have a 10-minute fester for the next tram which was dud 112 to take me to Birley Lane. The next tram is another 10-minutes off and seeing that the walk to the next stop which is dud Gleadless Townend I decide to walk it and turned out to be a good move because before the next yellow line tram turned up a purple line tram arrived in the form of dud 120 to take me back to Sheffield station.

I arrive at Sheffield station just before 8pm and could pick up a dud 185124 to take me back to Manchester, success!! 37 new shacks and 12 new trams.
Arriving back Manchester Piccadilly, I head off down to the Metrolink and board a dud 3044 to take me to Deansgate-Castlefield to pick up my Airport tram…. read on, this is where the day falls down majorly and is embedded on my memory for the rest of my life. We left Deansgate-Castlefield without any issues but on arriving at Cornbrook a group of very loud girls get on the tram, this I could deal with as it is all friendly banter, then we get to Trafford Bar and a few lads get on who the girls know, still not too bad however it is not long before there is an incident behind me which I didn’t see but involved one of the lads and a “lady” (terms, I use in a very loose way with what was about to occur!! – Ed.) This “lady” knows the youths in some way but an argument commences with the use of very foul language, threatening behaviour and a very uncomfortable environment, give the girls due they did try and quite the lad down but this “lady” was having none of it and continued to goad him, by Barlow Moor Road I have had enough, and although only one stop to mine I leave the tram and wait the 12-minutes for the next tram (BIG mistake!!- Ed.) While waiting I observed more anti-social behaviour occurring when a couple of yobs where smashing the glass out of one of the advertisement boards on the opposite platform, so a private message was sent to Metrolink about the incident, well it can’t get any worse, can it? The tram going in the opposite direction arrives and departs towards Manchester with only a minute showing for my next tram, which dragged out, in the meantime the tram that was going to Deansgate-Castlefield had come to a stand not too far down the track, after 10-minutes of that tram not moving and no movement in my tram I contact the customer service and find out that at the road junction just down the road a car driver has decided to take their car onto the track so I decide to go and see because no trams where moving and what a sight!!

Arriving at the scene the car had done a grand job! He was about 60 metres from the road junction stuck on the track between the two lines and was apparently going nowhere soon, after taking this in I notice something else, two other cars had been involved in a road accident, one with a smashed in front, the second was a write off as the front was bent in a downwards direction and the back was smashed in with a wheel missing and one of them had had an argument with a traffic light post which was now at a 30 degree angle. I remained there for about an hour where I ended up chatting to a couple of locals and two police cars and an ambulance attended the scene. After just over an hour I decide I have to figure another way home and it wasn’t an option to walk from Barlow Moor Road to Sale Water Park as it was across the tram viaduct and then unlit footpaths, then a solution came to me. As you may remember I bought a travelcard this morning so ended up getting directions to walk to St. Werburgh’s Road where I picked up dud 3050 to take me to Cornbrook and after a 2-minute fester dud 3060 arrived to take me to Dane Road which put me the right side of the Mersey and a 20-minute walk along lit roads to get me to Sale Water Car to pick up my car, while waking past the stop at Sale Water Park a tram was stuck there and the driver looked very bored.

It was a brilliant day until I got back to Manchester it then took me just short of 3 hours to get myself home.

 

[Kite159]

Good day on Sheffield trams, harsh on getting caught up with the delay heading back to Sale

 

[rg177]

Sounds like a good day on the Trams.

I can empathise with the car related days having spent 27 minutes waiting for a Rochdale bound tram at St Peter's Square last night!

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[Techniquest]

Holy moly that was a productive day! Well done on clearing Supertram for shacks, and not many trams left to go either I believe.

Extreme ouch to the massive series of farces on the way home mind! Never come across such problems on Metrolink fortunately, but in cold conditions such as I suspect it will have been at that time of night I don't envy you!

As always a top read, and I really MUST remember that about Crystal Peaks. I am surprised you didn't visit the Spoons for your PNB right next to Hilsborough tram stop! Your report, much like the discussion in the Twitter chatter group, has really made me want to get to Sheffield asap for some serious Supertram bashing! I must look into that actually for early April...

 

[fishquinn]

A great time in Sheffield and the experience in the evening sounds interesting...

 

[noddy1878]

Sounded like a good day on the trams in Sheffield! It's something I need to do too! What a farce getting home though! At least you were able to get home in the end!

 

[andyb2706]

SVR Diesel Gala Day 1 – Thursday 18th May 2017
Firstly, I hadn’t planned on doing a report as I seem to have very little time, but after meeting with Tech on Day 2 of the gala (no - I do not have a TARDIS! – Ed.) and with his question about where my trip reports I thought I would try and produce some. In my defence, Tech did get a glance at my diary with a query about Techs plan for the August trip he was shocked how packed my diary was. So here I go with pre-day one into day one.

Wednesday 17th May, after finishing work this evening at 7pm I was straight in the car, with tunes playing, heading for the M62 and M6 down towards Bridgnorth. Having avoided the M60 50mph crawl for the implementation of the “Smart Motorway” rubbish I felt pretty smart of myself... that was until I found out they had started on the M6 with the same type of road works for the so called “smart motorway”. Once beyond this section the run to Bridgnorth was good, nice clear motorways (yes, we are talking about the same M6! – Ed.) and then once I left the motorway it was through the beautiful Shropshire countryside with its quaint and picturesque country houses. Arriving at Bridgnorth I park in the SVR car park and my car will not be moved for five days and crossed the road to check in to The Georg pub, my digs for the duration. Once unpacked and ready it was off up to The Railwayman’s Arms on the station to meet up with some friends from the WLA and a couple of pints including a very nice pint of Ludlow Gold (I think that was what it was called, although not too sure now – Ed.) After a pint or two I bid goodnight and went to get ready for day 1 of the gala.

My alarm was set for 7am but I woke naturally at 6.30am, the first train from Bridgnorth was not until 9.35am. A nice decent time for relaxing couple of days I hope. After freshening up it was off to breakfast and a glance at the news and before I knew it it was time to get ready to head to the station for the first train of the morning armed with my ticket and timetable.
My first traction of the weekend was one of the stars of the show with the DB Cargo 60100 arriving on the rear of the train that should have been hauled by 47828 but was in fact hauled by 50007 (apparently, the paint hadn’t dried in time for 47828 to put in an appearance today! – Ed.) and you could tell that the return working was a star move because the train arrived from Kidderminster full and standing and not many left the train, however, everybody who were waiting at Bridgnorth were able to board the train. This does not bode well for Saturday seeing it is only Thursday and it is already busy. The train stays standing room only Hampton Loade where I thought it was going to ease off a bit as people piled off, but no, as they piled of to get 45060 the people who piled off 45060 piled on to 60100, oh well it kind of reminds me of rush hour public transport in London. At Highley there is another mass exodus of people to wait for 66771 to head in the other direction once we have left the station and the train was now more comfortable for the remaining of the journey to Kidderminster.

At Kidderminster, I have a +14 for my next trip which is a short hop to Bewdley on board required double header 73107 and 33035. Originally these had been planned as top ‘n tailed but luckily they had a change of mind and had it as a double headed train which meant it made two for the price of one. While waiting for the departure time I was finally able to get to see in the flesh D1062 in its new blue livery and with being a member of the Western Locomotive Association I must say it looked superb and the photo I took is now already my desktop photograph. On arriving at Bewdley I have to wait while they shunt the Bewdley shuttle between platforms, this year they decided to have the through trains using the island platform which was a very good idea by the team at the SVR as it made it easier to change trains. Anyhow, once they shunted the Bewdley shuttle over I boarded required 50031 which looked magnificent in the Inter City livery, the last time I saw this engine was 12 months ago at the diesel gala last year on an open day for the diesel depot. It had only just been painted into the Inter City livery and was awaiting its number and decals to be added.

Back at Kidderminster it was time for a trip on an old friend and boarded dud (and I don’t care) D1062 for a trip to Arley, as we arrived at Bewdley D9551 was stood waiting for us to arrive so that it could proceed towards Kidderminster. I’d never seen a Class 14, or more commonly known as a “Teddy Bear” and was looking forward to it.

At Arley there was a quick swap of platforms for 50008 which returned me to for what was supposed to be the star of the show DRS brand new Class 88. I was able to position myself in the lead coach at the connecting doors and had a great view of the class 88 approaching the train so the time came for the train to depart and 88003 started to move and after a few minutes there were rumblings…... unfortunately that was not from the 88, it was from the passengers as there was no noise coming from the engine and although I had originally planned to go all the way through to Bridgnorth with it I decided to bail at Highley, a lot of people did not last that long and towards the end of my trip you came to the feeling that the 50 on the back was doing some of the work. Also it was announced that the planned runs the Class 88 was supposed to do on the Saturday was cancelled because there was no DRS driver for it.

At Highley I decided to spend a bit of time here and pick up the train I would have picked up at Bridgnorth. To pass a bit of time I decided to have a run on the shunter and brake van that had been brought up from Bewdley and was running in the sidings at Highley, so D2957 was now in the book and what a joy it was. The noise from this little diesel was immense and put the Class 88 to shame. Back at the station and it was time for my next trip and it was time for the “Teddy Bear” D8568 back to Kidderminster for a +13 for the Clayton D9551 for a full run of the line back to Bridgnorth.

At Bridgnorth I have a bit of time to kill before heading back to Highley for the Beer and Burgers event that the SVR was holding so just before 1900 I was back at Bridgnorth for required 33108 to Highley for a very good evening, the return trip was hauled by now dud D9551.

I have to say the highlights of the day was not what I expected it to be I had thought it was going to be the Class 88 but in reality it was the “Teddy Bear” (D9551) and “The Clayton” (D8568) and I loved these two engines and will have more time on these over the gala.

Back at Bridgnorth it was off to The Railwayman’s Arms on the station and a pint of two of Exmoor Gold and a catch up with fellow WLA members before heading off to bed for the night.

 

[Techniquest]

Wow your red pen saw a lot of us on Thursday! hock:

That burger and beer thing sounds ridiculously good value and I hope they do it again next year. Maybe just make it a beer tent and an adjoining burger stand at Kidderminster if nothing else, preferably to takeaway and watch the money roll in!

 

[fishquinn]

Sounds like a good first day there. Shame the 88 wasn't as good as you hoped.

 

[Kite159]

A busy day for your red pen

 

[noddy1878]

That was a good read! Multi day galas are good if you can do them. Less rushing arounf and more time behind certain locos! Looking forward to reading the rest!

 

[Cowley]

That was a good read! Multi day galas are good if you can do them. Less rushing arounf and more time behind certain locos! Looking forward to reading the rest!

It was a good read Andy and it seems like it was a good weekend for all (barring the occasional cock up).

 

[andyb2706]

SVR Diesel Gala Day 2 – Friday 19th May 2017

Day 2 of the gala and after scoring 9 on the first day I was proceeding through the locomotives at a fair rate of knots, but I still had a way to go to completing them all. This morning there was news of the Class 88, it was poorly and doing hardly any of the work, which made sense from the experience I had with it yesterday so I will have to give them another chance at some point.

After breakfast, I headed off to the station waiting to hear from Tech as to what train he was going to be on. My first train is on dud 50008, which I originally had yesterday but I needed to get it to get towards the south end of the line. While travelling down Tech gets in touch saying he was on 47828 at Kidderminster to head north and when he was advised I was on 50008 the plan was for Tech to leave 47828 at Bewdley and join me for a trip on 50008 to Kidderminster…..however, where I’m concerned nothing runs to plan. Not long after Tech left Kidderminster I received another text saying 47828 sounded like hellfire and he wanted to stay on the 47 for a bit longer, seeing I needed 47828 as it was not out yesterday because the paint hadn’t dried I had no objection to bailing off 50008 at Bewdley. On arrival of 47828 I boarded and met up with Tech to spend a few hours travelling back and forth knocking off locos. After consulting the timetable we decided to get off the 47 and Arley and scurry to the other platform to pick up the Teddy Bear, although this was not required I had no objections to the run as I really enjoyed the roar of its engine for such a small locomotive it is a beast so we boarded D9551 for a trip back to Bewdley to pick up one of the two Peaks, it was a winner for the pair of us but Tech wasn’t too bothered by it because of past experience so we boarded 45041 and by the time we got to Arley Tech was trying to figure out if we could get the second Peak before he had to head home as 45041 had been a revelation to him.

At Arley we both scored double winner as 20205+20189 for a trip to Bewdley, Tech was happy as these two locos had let him down at a gala that he attended at the Blue Bell railway. Back at Bewdley I copped a 50 in the form of 50007 for a hop to Arley, again Tech was happy as this too was a required engine of him. From here for the next few moves were all duds for myself and I was just racking up the mileage. At Arley we boarded dud 33108 and we both commented on how all the engines today have sounded hellfire and the owners have done them proud. The original plan had been to bail at Bewdley to pick up D1062 for a run to Arley to then pick up 60100. But we noticed there was a +2 at Kidderminster for 66771, and although I needed it myself I had plans to pick it up later but this was Tech’s only chance we decided to stay on 33108 back to Kidderminster to pick up the 66 and the added bonus of having the 33 going through the tunnel, however, D1062 for some reason was running 9 minutes late and by the time we were approaching Kidderminster the 66 had already pulled out of the station.

So with a bit of time to kill we headed to the station pub and got a pint each to take away and added for pair of duds 73107+33035 for a hop to Bewdley where we were able to pick up dud 60100 back to Kidderminster, on arriving back at Kidderminster myself and Tech briefly went our separate ways. Tech wanted 88003 and I wasn’t too bothered with this one after my experience yesterday and the train was packed. I had my next move lined up already, in the meantime Tech returns from his jaunt on the 88003 and like me (and many others – Ed.) wasn’t that impressed with the loco. After a brief chat, it was time for our final farewell as Tech had to head off home. It wasn’t long until I was boarding my next trip, one which I had been trying to figure out how to fit this in for most of the day. It was a double header train formed of the Teddy Bear and the Clayton!!!!! This had to be done and by God I was not disappointed I had a big smile fixed to my face for the remainder of the day, it was kind of sad when I had to leave it at Arley but I still had locos to chase. At Arley I boarded the now dud 50007 to head back to Kidderminster.

On arriving Kidderminster, the train was a bit late as they had not recovered from the delay caused by D1062 earlier and I did notice there was no sign of the loco I was waiting for which was to take out the stock I had just arrived on. I was beginning to get slightly worried and my fears didn’t go away when they dropped a dud 33 onto the train, although it did not remain long as the 33 was just shunting around the station throat and soon left the platform, not long after that a member of staff went flying past and said something to one of the other passengers that he knew, on quizzing my fellow passenger the member of staff that had flown past was the driver of the 50 that I had just arrived on and he was also the driver for the train out that I was waiting for and he had just been advised that his engine was still sat on the shed waiting for him to go and fetch it, he was not in a happy mood and it was quite understandable that he wasn’t happy. About 10 minutes later the loco arrived and I boarded for the trip to Bridgnorth behind required 31271, we left at 1708, 7 minutes down but had there been someone present to bring the locomotive onto the train we would have got away on time and still the train driver was not happy, you could tell with the thrash and use of the horn, which made the punters quite happy though.

This was a prelude to how eventful this trip to Bridgnorth was going to be! As we progressed north the sky became darker and menacing clouds started to roll in and then somewhere in the distant we heard a rumble, kind of dismissed it slightly after a momentary thought but then a few minutes later we observed a flash of lightening and a rumble of thunder. This went on for about 20 minutes with vertical rain at times and by the time we arrived at Hampton Loade the ground was white and looked like a winter scene but it was hail stone the size of garden peas.

At Bridgnorth the plan had been to immediately transfer to the Clayton and head back to Bewdley, but my plans changed as the following train was the second Peak that I required so after a 40 minute fester 45060 left with me on board as far as Arley to transfer to required 66771 for the trip up to Kidderminster and the end of the day and a few beers in The Railwayman’s Arms.

 

[noddy1878]

The double headed Teddy Bear and Clayton sounded like absolute Hellfire.

 

[37038]

Note the 88 had a small issue thursday which resulted in the engine effectively derating itself to protect itself from damage. Once this problem had been overcome it was fine.

I believe 50008 assisted at times earlier in the journey but remember the engine RPM rises a reasonable amount when ETH-ing a train too. Not to the point of full whack obviously...

 

[fishquinn]

Sounds like a good second day was had there apart from the weather towards the end, although that does sound brilliant too.

 

[andyb2706]

Note the 88 had a small issue thursday which resulted in the engine effectively derating itself to protect itself from damage. Once this problem had been overcome it was fine.

I believe 50008 assisted at times earlier in the journey but remember the engine RPM rises a reasonable amount when ETH-ing a train too. Not to the point of full whack obviously...

Afraid not, the Cls 88 was in the same state the following day as they did not have the computer with them to do the work they needed, just ask Tech what he thought of it and everyone else who was there on the two days it ran.

 

[andyb2706]

SVR Diesel Gala Day 3 – Saturday 20th May 2017

Day 3 of the gala is just to mop up any final locomotives that I needed. My first trip is on dud 47828 to head south as far as Arley where I transferred to required 55022 (which is masquerading as 55018 for some unknown reason – Ed.) for a run back to Bridgnorth to pick up D9551 Teddy Bear to take me back to Kidderminster. Journeys started to be delayed due to a signal failure between Bewdley and Kidderminster. To cause less delay they ended up cancelling some of the Bewdley shuttles, luckily for me it was not the diagram involving one of the Class 73.

Eventually on arriving at Kidderminster I had a short wait for my penultimate locomotive in the form of 73965, which had been poorly for the last two days so I was lucky to get it on the Bewdley shuttle. On arriving at Bewdley there was a short wait for my final need and 47192 arrived to take me through to Bridgnorth. From here I closed the gala with three trips between Bridgnorth and Kidderminster on 55020, 45060 and finally armed with a chippy supper D1062 to take me back to Bridgnorth and a couple of pints from the stations pub.

 

[Techniquest]

I thought 88003 was incredibly dull when I had it on the Friday. The 68s were hailed as the best new class in a long time, the 88s however I feel will go down in history as the least interesting new class in a very long time!

You sure had a good couple of days on the SVR, there can be no doubt of thatr!

 

[fishquinn]

A good final day by the sound of it!

I thought 88003 was incredibly dull when I had it on the Friday. The 68s were hailed as the best new class in a long time, the 88s however I feel will go down in history as the least interesting new class in a very long time!

You never know - they might sound brilliant on AC!

 

[andyb2706]

I wanted to head off to the smoke today and put a dint into my London requirements but fancied a change from my recent Underground bashing so thought I would spend a bit of time getting some 700's, plus I felt like a bit of photographing of public transport as well.

So, at 6.30m I left my car at Piccadilly station and made my way to the station, via Greggs of course! After purchasing some breakfast I boarded dud 390130 for the trip down to London, on the journey down the weather improved greatly and by the time of my arrival it was sunny so a walk across to St. Pancras was in order and before entering the station a few bus photos were taken and will be appearing on Flickr when I get round to it. Before heading down to the Thameslink platforms I did a once over of the main station an copped a handful of Eurostar sets for sightings and a Javelin unit as well. After not long of a wait required 700005 arrived to take me one stop along the line where the train was terminating.

At Kentish Town I disembarked from the train and was going to board the next Bedford train, however it turned out to be a dud 319 (thought they had all been withdrawn from service – Ed.) So I decided to wait for the next train which transpired to be required 319423 and boarded, one thing I have noticed and that is the 319's seem to have had their Thameslink decals removed.

While stood in West Hampstead Thameslink station a 700 pulled into the opposite platform so I darted off the 319 across the island platform and got on required 700007 for a trip back towards London which I remained on until Blackfriars where I have a +7 to get across to the opposite platform when I required 700106 pulled in to take me as far as St. Albans City where I left the station to the bus stops outside for about 15 minutes and photos of the buses were taken, on returning to the station I waited for the next Luton train which was required 700029.

After a visit to the interchange outside of Luton train station for 20 minutes I was back on the station and got on required 700114 to take me to the end of the line for Thameslink trains at Bedford and headed into the town to find some lunch and just so happened to go past the bus station so after a slight delay while photographing lunch was purchased before heading back to the train station. Yet another required unit in the form of 700105 as far as Luton Airport where a PNB was needed and then on board needed 700101 back to St. Pancras International, where I waited for the next available required train when 700036 arrived for a short trip to Blackfriars where with a 12 minute wait needed 700104 for the slow trip to East Croydon.

At East Croydon, I leave the station armed with my camera and am in photo heaven. A great location for pictures of buses, trams and trains and before I know it nearly an hour has passed before I decide to go hunting more units with my next train being 377516 to Three Bridges where after a +12 a service formed of three required units arrive working a service to London Bridge, so I board 377110 to as far as Gatwick Airport where I transfer to 377429 to Mertsham and then 377118 for the final leg back to East Croydon.

After a +7 at Easy Croydon a service to Littlehampton arrives and again, like before it was formed of 3 required 377 units so I firstly board 377436 to Gatwick Airport where I transfer to 377437 as far as Haywards Heath passing Three Bridges depot and scoring a couple more 700’s that where in the sidings and then at Haywards Heath I moved onto 377102 to Burgess Hill.

BY the time I arrived at Burgess Hill it was time to start thinking about heading back to London and the trip home so having checked RTT I knew I did not have long to wait for a Thameslink service back to London, hoping it would be a required unit and I was not disappointed when 700031 arrived to take me back to St. Pancras International, where after a ten minute stroll I boarded dud 390001 at Euston for the 2000 back to Manchester Piccadilly.

With 18 red pens for the day and 41 new sights for the day and not counting the photos I’ve got it was a very productive and enjoyable day and has made me look forward to the next time I will be down in London to knock more of my large list of requiremnets.

 

[Kite159]

Sounded like a good day, hope some of the pictures of buses turn out fine

 

[Techniquest]

Any particularly interesting bus routes noted in Luton, Bedford and St Albans? Sometimes you can discover some really useful bus links for journeys that by train would take ages. Watford to Luton via St Albans with, I believe, Arriva was one I noted last time I was there, and they also have a route that goes all the way to Harlow. Potentially interesting and worth a ride, particularly as I believe the 724 to Harlow is operated with Citaros and they are hellfire!

That was one sea of red in your trip report there, without checking I can tell you for a fact I'd have needed most of those if not all of those 700s. Many congratulations on such a fantastic result, I hope my little spin to London next week can yield a similar scoring spree!

 

[andyb2706]

A Wee visit to Scotland – Day One

Monday 9th September: Having only just returned from an unplanned FoNE I am setting off for a trip that has been planned for a while. Basing myself in Edinburgh for five days I am planning to visit towns and cities a bit further North on a couple of days.

The alarm goes off at 5.30am and came to the realisation that the nights are drawing in as it is still totally dark outside. The last time I was up at this time was for work a few weeks ago and then there was some daylight still at this time. Anyhow, everything was prepared last night so all I needed to do was get up, have a freshen up and a brew and then freed the neighbours cats. A bit of bad planning on our part I usually make sure I am local when they are away so as to be able to look after the three amigos as they look after my flat while I’m away. That’s the neighbours, not the cats.

Once all the chores were done, just wished I could have spent a bit more time with the 3 amigos. I left the flat at 6.30am, with my back pack and my back pack on wheels, which I was a bit consciously aware of the noise from the wheels and the time in the morning so I didn’t hang around. Arriving at the tram stop I only had a few minutes for the tram to take me to Victoria with dud 3118 which is all decorated up with the Pride flag as it was Manchester Pride over the August bank holiday. After an uneventful journey to Victoria I just had time to visit Gregg’s for a breakfast before making my way to the platform for the train to York. I had checked when I got up which service was the Nova 3 working on, unfortunately it was the service an hour earlier and there was no way I was going to rush from home to try and get that. Anyhow, I had my first experience on that train only last week between Seamer and Malton. So a dud 185109 and I was able to get a table and finally catch up with my London logs from a few weeks ago. It wasn’t a bad journey as there was only myself and another gent at the table so we were able to spread a bit. Apart from the journey between Huddersfield and Leeds when all the seats were full and standing room was at a premium, but after leaving Leeds the train got quite again.

On arriving at York I had a +48 as there was supposedly required 91 on the service. Due to late arrival of my train from Manchester it turned out to be a +40 instead but more than enough time to grab a cup of tea and totally miss a unknown steam engine to boot, a few minutes later than it should have been my train to Edinburgh arrived and turned out not to be what I was led to believe was on the train but dud 91120. I found an airline style seat in the quiet coach listening to an audio book and even though I had my headphones in I could still hear this guy on his phone in the quiet coach all the time until he got off at Durham. What an inconsiderate plonker! The remainder of the trip was pretty decent, more work done on the London trip and I had even been able to start on last weeks FoNE logs as well. But I decided to leave the last hour of the trip to figure out my moves for the afternoon as I could not check in until 3pm at the earliest. So movements planned and I wasn’t too far from Edinburgh now so I just sat back and relaxed for a little.

On arriving at Edinburgh I had a +14 until my first train so just enough, and barley enough for a personal needs break and to grab a cold drink and of course my first drink in Scotland could be nothing else but an Irn-Bru could it! (that was not alcoholic), which reminds me I was going to bring a hip flask of Whisky….damn!!

I was going to have a good afternoon and had trips planned all the way up to 4pm when I would go and check in and drop off my additional bag and prep for the evening. So I boarded 385104, I would like to point out that this was my first 385 ever for haulage so everything this afternoon is required unless otherwise stated, which was operating the 1221 to Dunblane but I was only travelling to my first new station for the day of Camelon where I had a very tight +3 for the train back, however if I did not make that train wouldn’t have long to wait for the next train but that would mean I would miss what was going to be my second new station and it didn’t help that the train I was on had lost a couple of minutes on route, so as my train was pulling into the station my +3 was pulling in on the opposite station and I had a little lad with his nan in front of me waiting to get off the train and of course I couldn’t be mean enough to push in front of the little lad who wanted to open the doors to get off. But with all that I still made it, but only just as boarded my +3 the door alarms started to go I made it by a hairs whisker and was on board 385119 which was going to Edinburgh for a short hop to my next new shack of Falkirk Grahamston where with a + 13 I waited for the Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh all stations train which was formed by 385120 to take me as far as Linlithgow.

On arriving at Linlithgow I cross to the opposite platform where I have a +7 and from here for a few trips I don’t have to double back on myself for a while which will be nice. 385118 arrives to take me one stop along the line to bag Polmont, where after a +4 I board 385106, I now notice these trains are running in 7 carriage formations of a 385/0 and 385/1 I decide to where I can carry on grabbing the 385/1 as they are the ones I started on and with having an additional bag I didn’t want to be hopping from one unit to another , so onto my next new station of Falkirk High (sorry, but it sounds more like a name of a school than a railway station!), here I have a +10 while I wait for and board 385109 which has 385030 coupled to it to take me again one stop along the line as far as Croy for a +12 where a get my first 385/0 for haulage as a pair arrived in the form of 385025 and 385045, with the latter being my steed for the trip to my next new station of Bishopbriggs.

At Bishopbriggs I have to platform hop on a +5, to head back along the line onboard 385035 to my final new station on this run of Lenzie. On arriving there I have one of my longest waits of +18 for a train to Glasgow Queen Street. The only reason I am heading to Glasgow is that the piece of track between Bishopbriggs an Cowlairs West Junction is needed for travelling on. Arriving at Glasgow Queen Street I have another +18 wait for a train back to Edinburgh and am amazed at how much lighter Queen Street station is now with the new station front. Should be even better when the work is completed. While there I spotted the 1508 to Inverness formed of 43164 and 43130. The locos where in the Inter 7 City livery, which in my opinion seems to show the dirt very quickly with 4 mark 3 coaches, all still in the First GWR blue livery and still with the slam doors, hoping to have a go on these sometime over the next few days. I recorded its departure and the driver was very careful with the acceleration, the little kid in me was hoping for some thrash.

My trip back to Edinburgh is on board 385108 which is with 385015, if I had only one bag with me I would have bagged both units by swapping over at some point during the journey but I decided to remain on the 385/1 and helped me to be able to do a large selection of this report.

After arriving at Edinburgh Waverley I google my walk to my Air BnB only to find it was about a 20 minute walk. By the time I got there I was sweating like a pig but the apartment is fabulous and I will enjoying staying there. The owner met me and pointed out that there was a bus stop across the road should I want to take a bus back into the city centre instead of walking it. After a quick visit to the local Co-Op and a freshen up I downloaded the Lothian bus app and bought a day ticket for £4 for the rest of the evening and headed out and only had to wait 30 minutes for my Number 30 bus to Clovenstone as far as Waverley station and it was fleet No: 29 BT14 DLE a Volvo BRLH 7900H/Volvo BRLH bus.

On arriving back at Waverley station I nip into Sainsbury’s to some food before heading to the platform to do the stations along the North Berwick line, with only 15 minutes until the next train to North Berwick I board another 385 (again, unless otherwise stated they were all required units), which was 385014 coupled with 385036. While I waited for the train to depart, and even after we departed it gave me sufficient time to plan my station stops. To begin with it seemed I would not be able to get all six tonight without staying out to some silly time but after remembering I had the all day Lothian bus ticket I was able to figure out a way to cover all the station, so to begin with I remained on 385014 as far as Longniddry where I had a +9 with a platform swap when I boarded 385042 which was coupled with 385013 for a couple of stops hop to Wallyford with a +8 and another double back to board 385041 which was coupled with 385008 for a trip to Drem where there was a +21 for my next train, although it was a little bit longer because there was a late running London to Edinburgh train they got past first. The train arrived and I boarded 385008 which was coupled to the dud 385041 for a trip to Prestonpans where there should have been a +13 but due to the lateness of my train that had been cut to a +10 but while I waited 66109 passed through on the 1610 DBC from Grangemouth to Tee Dock and 43316 & 43314 passed in the other direction on a London Kings Cross to Stirling service before my train arrived which was formed by 385013 and dud 385042 to take me to the end of the line at North Berwick.

At North Berwick I switch units and for the first time have a dud 385 in the form of 385042 to take me to my final station on the North Berwick line of Musselburgh. From here I could wait another hour for a train back to Edinburgh but in my research I found that the railway station is a few minutes’ walk from Queen Margaret University Hospital where I can pick up the No:30 only 14 minutes after my train arrives at 2106 that will get me back to the bus stop right outside my apartment for 2131, I would still be waiting for a train if there wasn’t this bus service!

All in all a bloody good day. With 14 new shacks scored and 15 new class 385 units. Tomorrows plan is to go further North, something I would not have done if I had not been staying over and it will either be a trip to the Dundee area or even Aberdeen. Not sure yet, I will hit Train Planning Preparation Mode when I get back to the apartment.