Strathclyde Daytripper – Thursday 12th October 2017
I was surprised to find reasonable advances for this trip just two weeks prior to the day. I was initially looking into spending one of my last days off of the year in London but it was actually cheaper to head north. The alarm sounded just before 0530, and after a quick breakfast I made my free parking area of choice, arriving at 0607 leaving plenty of time for the stroll to the station to catch the 0639 service to Edinburgh.
In the end I had even more time, as my train was 4L leaving Doncaster, and down to 6L at Hambleton Jn. I watched 91117 arrive and depart with the 0630 to Kings Cross, slightly annoying as I’ve only had a measly 20 miles logged on it. I went and purchased a pumpkin spice latte for the journey and made my way over to platform 9. I noted 150275 in new Northern livery in the Harrogate bay, annoyingly leading winners 142037 and 150211. A slight irony in calling 150275’s livery ‘new’, as it’s now been 18 months since the franchise changeover but the pace of change has been so pedestrian that it’s still a novelty to see one.
I was about to line up a photo of 150275 when I realised it was 0640 and the train wasn’t far away. Straight away I knew it wasn’t 91110, my last required one, when I saw the flash of red on the front. I was more than happy with my 91130 though, my favourite 91. It was also sub-100 miles so this would bump it up nicely.
We were still 4L leaving York. My itinerary on the ticket booking had me down as arriving EDB at 0921 and catching the 0945 to Glasgow Queen St, but I saw no reason why I couldn’t make the 0930 service if we arrived in Edinburgh on time. Coach B was almost empty, and my reserved seat B39 had a chunky pillar obstructing the view so I moved to B51 and made a note for next time. It’s been a while since my last 91 journey under the cover of darkness, and I forgot how enjoyable it is watching the sparks fly up front. It reminded me of a great non-stop run I had between London and York on 91127 in March 2015.
The darkness gave way to a fantastic pink sunrise just before Darlington. A fair few people were waiting to board here, but unlike York, coach B stops way up the platform away from the entrance, so people without reservations tend to board the middle of the train. We were back on time by Newcastle, where I saw my last Cross Country HST power car 43357 leaving for Plymouth. At least I knew it was out and about. Strangely there was no thunderbird at NCL, but 67006 was at Heaton, perhaps for fuel as there was nothing visible on Heaton apart from a couple of Grand Central HST’s.
We slowed for the curve at the now infamous Morpeth. It was a lot busier on the southbound platform than when I got stranded for an hour and a half back in July! We arrived in Edinburgh 2L at 0921, and I casually walked over to platform 20 for a shot of my inbound train.
91130 Edinburgh 12/10/2017 by
Flash 3939, on Flickr
I felt I still had enough time to make the 0930 from platform 11, but being a relative novice when it comes to the regional services around Waverley I went through the barriers towards the Haymarket facing bay platforms before I realised that 11 was not one of them. Obviously the barriers then wouldn’t let me back through so I asked for assistance. The assistance from the lady on the gateline was best described as laboured. She also insisted I move back, but I'm not sure why as the barriers opened towards her. Very odd. I found platform 11 round the corner but there were two 170’s and only the top one was forming the 0930, so I quickly shuffled up the platform and boarded winner
170428 in the nick of time.
The journey seemed to drag, and although we kept time all the way, we were held outside Queen Street which ruined my chances of making the Anniesland shuttle which was a 158 in the old ‘Barbie’ livery. I eventually found the ‘travel shop’, which was actually outside the station. Daytripper purchased, I was actually still ahead of time so pondered my next move. I could have had 156512 on the second Anniesland shuttle diagram but I thought it was a dud, before realising it was 514 I’d had. For some reason I always seem to think there's 112 156’s rather than 114.
I made my way to the low level platforms, but having just missed a Balloch service there was a 10 minute wait for the next westbound service, so I crossed to the other side and took double winners
334005 and
334039 to first winner shack of the day,
High Street. A quick cross to the other side, passing a revenue block on the footbridge, allowed me to catch the service I would have waited for at Queen Street. It was another pair of 334’s, formed of
334008 and
334009. I took these back through Queen Street to
Charing Cross.
334009 Charing Cross 12/10/2017 by
Flash 3939, on Flickr
I then filled my boots with a series of quick hops, taking
334011 (yes another one) to
Partick, followed by
318262 and
318253 to
Hyndland, then finally a 320 -
320301 to
Anniesland. I’m a big 320/321/322 fan so it was good to get my first one. And why not start from the beginning??
Then I got back to my original plan, and caught
320305 through to the end of the line at
Balloch.
320305 Balloch 12/10/2017 by
Flash 3939, on Flickr
I didn’t want to get the same unit back down the branch, especially as I’d just comfortably cleared it for 10 miles, so I went for some chips for lunch as it was now 1200 exactly. The chippy directly opposite the station didn’t open until 1600, but luckily there was another one a short walk away. I’d had a long standing joke with my wife and friends about having a battered mars bar on my bucket list, so I took the opportunity to try one. It felt right that it was to be in Scotland! I also got a small fish and chips, which gave me a bit of a conundrum as logically you’d eat the sweet after the savoury but I wanted to experience the mars bar whilst it was hot, so I did it in reverse. The mars bar was great, but sickly. The fish and chips didn’t look or smell the best but were actually decent.
With almost perfect timing as I almost finished my lunch sat on a wall, the incoming Balloch terminator arrived. I was surprised to see a pair as 320305 had been almost empty earlier. I was even more surprised to see a mixed pair of
318264 and
320310, as I didn’t know the units could work in multiple together.
I finished the last of the chips on board, before bailing at
Dumbarton Central. I had my eye on the West Highland Line service which I assumed would be at least a pair, as they split to serve Oban and Mallaig, but it was even better as triple winners
156477,
156465 and
156496 rolled in.
I took these one stop to
Helensburgh Upper, where I ID’d the rear unit which I didn’t manage to see before boarding. Interestingly, it was a trio of obsolete Barbie liveried units.
Helensburgh Upper is a lovely little single track station, with a real rural feel to it despite not being too far from Glasgow. A large sign tells you you’re at the gateway to the West Highland Line, which made me even keener to do the sleeper up this way to Fort William at some point. I started my walk to Helensburgh Central, realising on the way why it’s called ‘Upper’, as it’s situated on a whopper of a hill. I was glad I hadn’t done this move the other way around!
Helensburgh Central featured three consecutively numbered 334’s – 026 to 028. 334027 was stabled, whilst
334026 and
334028 would be my next move, taking me to
Dalreoch. I had a short wait here before
320311 and
320304 came off the Balloch branch to take me to
Westerton.
320311 & 320304 Dalreoch 12/10/2017 by
Flash 3939, on Flickr
I made my first mistake here, making an accidental -1 onto a delayed Milngavie service which I thought was a Dalmuir service. I was indending to head back the way I came to either Drumry or Drumchapel. At least another branch would be ticked off for coverage, as there was no point bailing at Bearsden or Hillfoot for the same units back, so I stayed on 334003 and 334021 to the end of the line at
Milngavie.
I left the train here, as I wanted a drink and it was only a 15 minute wait for a different unit back. Fortunately I was on the ball and noticed the information screens were showing ‘delayed’ for the next service, and sure enough after consulting RTT the inbound service had been cancelled, so I hopped back on, happy to count Milngavie as a station score as it was now a different service.
I wanted to head towards Glasgow Central to try and sample a Class 314 and complete my aim for the day of sampling every EMU in the area (except a Class 380 as I’d experienced these previously). The service I was on was heading via Queen St, so I got off at Westerton (again), the whole round trip up the branch taking just 15 minutes. 66736 passed as we pulled in with the Fort William Alcan tanks.
318250 was up next, which I took to Partick as this was also going via Queen St. Finally
320412 and
318255 took me to Glasgow Central (low level).
As well as the 314's, I also wanted to get some more 156’s in the book. I decided to do this first, taking
156432 to
Dunlop. I was disappointed not to see any tyres. I was actually in two minds whether to get off at all, we were 3L which threw my theoretical connection into jeopardy, but even more of a concern was the fact that service I planned to meet hadn’t appeared to have left Kilmarnock on RTT. I bailed anyway, and made my way over the road bridge to the other side. I saw headlights in the distance which was a welcome sight. Not sure what went on with RTT but
156434 appeared more or less RT to take me to
Barrhead.
The platform layout at Barrhead allowed me to get a shot of my train leaving next to the one I was about to board, which is a bit unusual.
156434 & 156494 Barrhead 12/10/2017 by
Flash 3939, on Flickr
156494 was next, to fantastically named
Crossmyloof. Some kids inexplicably came down the platform ramp and crossed the tracks, only to leave the station again from the other platform. Absolutely idiotic not to mention pointless behaviour, a few of their friends watched on in horror before walking over the road bridge to meet them on the other side.
I had around ten minutes here, which was about nine too many, but soon dud 156434 pulled in. Pleasingly it had hooked up to a friend at Glasgow Central and winner
156496 was on the back. The extra coaches were needed too, as this was the busiest train I’d been on all day, spending the 3 miles to
Giffnock wedged against the door.
I’d come to Giffnock to buy some dairy free Almond Baileys for the wife’s birthday, which is only available in a select few stores in the UK (it’s more widely available in America). Giffnock is actually a nice station especially with the autumn colour. If I’d had my skates on I could probably have made it to the shop and back in time for the next Glasgow train, but I didn’t bother rushing. I was back with 20 minutes to spare, and noted I could head further towards East Kilbride and make a +3 at Clarkston, but the connection went down to a +1 due to a delay so I didn’t want to risk it. I was actually pleased to see dud from earlier 156432 arrive, plan aborted!
156432 Giffnock 12/10/2017 by
Flash 3939, on Flickr
As expected, the same pair I caught from Crossmyloof returned me to Glasgow, having done the full run to East Kilbride and back. I had a +8 at Glasgow for what I hoped would be my first 314, but due to a crawl into the station this was down to a +6. Coupled with the peak crowds and a useless scratchcard ticket which doesn’t operate barriers, I was slightly up against it but made the Neilston-bound service with a minute or so to spare. I was hoping to see an SPT carmine and cream liveried unit, so I was happy with the pairing of
314202 (in C&C!) leading
314304. I was originally heading for Mount Florida as I liked the name, but bailed at
Crosshill instead for a quick cross platform change onto another carmine & cream unit,
314215, which I took back the way I came to
Pollokshields East.
314215 Pollokshields East 12/10/2017 by
Flash 3939, on Flickr
I’d now got my head around this line, it couldn’t be better for ticking off units and shacks with its 15 minute service frequency and island platforms. Next up was carmine and cream (OK, maybe they’re not that rare after all)
314205 to
Queens Park.
I needed to start heading back for my train back to Edinburgh. My final move on this line fell to
314213 which took me back to Glasgow, where we pulled in next to 314203. Maybe next time.
314203 & 314213 Glasgow Central 12/10/2017 by
Flash 3939, on Flickr
I grabbed a meal deal from Boots before walking up to Queen Street. My return advance was from Croy to York (bet they don’t sell many of those), and to break up the slog over to Edinburgh I boarded
156467 to final winner shack of the day,
Croy. I always think of the Scottish 156’s as being in the 500+ series, so it was ironic that my 8 winners were all in the 400 series. My phone was down to 2% at this point, probably partly down to the frantic refreshing of RTT earlier when I thought I was about to get stranded at Dunlop. Bailing at Croy was a nice little move, as there was no risk of missing my connection as it was stuck behind. Just three minutes later
170401 appeared from the darkness, complete with lovely working plug sockets to get some much needed power into my phone.
I wasn’t quite done yet, as I would be arriving into Edinburgh 70 minutes before my train back to York. Interestingly this is the itinerary Virgin gave me, but the ticket was presumably valid on any Croy to Edinburgh service as the only service printed on the ticket under ‘only valid on the follwing’ was the 2100 to York. I prefer to be on the safe side with connections, especially onto the final train of the day, so I stuck to the itinerary. There was time for a Haymarket leap though, and I left 170401 there in favour of double winners
158712 and
158871.
Those were the 36th and 37th winners of the day, not a bad haul at all though it was to be expected with so many requirements in the area. I still had an hour to kill so I visited Brewdog Edinburgh. I never knew how hilly this part of Edinburgh was, after walking up what must have been over 100 steps I reached the bar on Cowgate and had a balf of Gun Blitz. It was a sour beer with a sensible 3.5% ABV. Rather nice too. The bar was pretty busy, so I opted against another half and made my way back to the station. There was just enough time for a quick shot of 92010 stabled in position to haul the evening’s sleeper, before grabbing a Costa and boarding my HST which was headed up by 43316. This had recently been paired up with one of my last three VTEC power cars, but I wouldn’t find out for three hours whether or not that was still the case!
Annoyingly we reversed out of Newcastle over the high level bridge, meaning the mystery power car was now at the front. I was in coach F so after Northallerton I made my way down to to coach B, noting that coach D was completely empty and there were probably less than ten people in standard. I spent the last few miles by the vestibule window as I always do on this service, waking myself up for the walk back to the car.
Unfortunately, the icing on my cake was not to be, as it was dud 43319 up front. Still an excellent day out all round, and I'm already looking at when I can go back up to crack on with more of the Strathclyde shacks.
Day summary:
91130 YRK-EDB
170428 EDB-GQS
334005 &
334039 GQS-
HST
334008 &
334009 HST-
CHC
334011 CHC-
PTK
318262 &
318253 PTK-
HYN
320301 HYN-
ANL
320305 ANL-
BHC
320310 &
318264 BHC-
DBC
156477,
156465 &
156496 DBC-
HLU
334026 &
334028 HLC-
DLR
320311 &
320304 DLR-
WES
334003 &
334021 WES-
MLN
334021 & 334003 MLN-WES
318250 WES-PTK
320412 &
318255 PTK-GLC
156432 GLC-
DNL
156434 DNL-
BRR
156494 BRR-
CMY
156434 &
156492 CMY-
GFN
156492 & 156434 GFN-GLC
314202 &
314204 GLC-
COI
314215 COI-
PLE
314205 PLE-
QPK
314213 QPK-GLC
156467 GLQ-
CRO
170401 CRO-HYM
158712 &
158871 HYM-EDB
43316 & 43319 EDB-YRK
20 new stations:
Anniesland, Balloch, Barrhead, Charing Cross, Crosshill, Crossmyloof, Croy, Dalreoch, Dumbarton Central, Dunlop, Giffnock, Helensburgh Central, Helensburgh Upper, High Street, Hyndland, Milngavie, Partick, Pollokshields East, Queens Park & Westerton
37 new units: 8x
156, 2x
158, 2x
170, 5x
314, 5x
318, 6x
320, 9x
334
8 dud units/locos: 2x HST, 1x 91, 3x 156, 2x 334
Day mileage:
612 miles
