cactustwirly
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Sounds like a awesome holiday!
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ash39's Trip Reports & Photos
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Kite159
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Sounded like a nice relaxing holiday 
ash39
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West Yorkshire Day Rover – Saturday 3rd March 2018
This was a very impromptu trip, arranged at around 11am the same morning. It made no sense at all, as Northern were on strike meaning their services were finishing at around 7pm. It was also freezing, but my mate and I both felt like a few hours out and about chasing units. To make it work, I drove to Woodlesford instead of the usual Garforth. No problems finding a parking space, or boarding the train itself (still have bitter memories of this station from the time I was left behind by a rammed 144001, when I still required it!). I went home on that occasion. Today my train was 144017, and very lightly loaded.
144017 Woodlesford 03/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
There was still a fair bit of snow on the ground from the huge snowfall earlier in the week. DV red 66009 was seen at Stourton, along with what looked like around half of the Freightliner Class 70 fleet at Midland Road. On arrival at Leeds I instantly spotted something that looked unfamiliar, a spotty 158. It was ex-Scotrail 158871, unfortunately it left pretty much as soon as I arrived. Unusually, we arrived into platform 15A instead of the more usual platform 17 due to the Sheffield-Leeds train being formed of a double 158, so there was no room for us.
A quick scan of RTT showed that 158871 was heading to Hebden Bridge, so it was possible to get it later in the day. I planned to go to Ben Rhydding to finally get it done. Dud 333010 would have taken me there, but the return would get me back to Leeds 2 minutes too late to catch the train to meet 158871! Instead I went for a beer.
Whilst enjoying my pint of Jet Black Heart, I realised that 158871 was dud from a Haymarket leap last October. Returning to the station around 45 minutes later, I reconsidered the idea of going to Ben Rhydding, this time on 333003. No sign of my last 333 (014). I decided to stick to my plan and took 158842 to New Pudsey, where I had a very chilly wait for 158871 and 158901 back to Leeds. I’ve never noticed on the few occasions I’ve used them in Scotland, but the carpets on the ex-ScotRail unit are hideous!
158871 & 158901 New Pudsey 03/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We were sent into platform 4 at Leeds, which is more commonly occupied by Class 333 EMU's. It certainly looked strange seeing a Scottish 158 in there.
158871 Leeds 03/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I checked again but there was still no sight of 333014 at Leeds. I decided to pick up something for tea from the footbridge, I quite fancied a pasty as I’d often been tempted by the smell when walking past The Pasty Shop, but had never tried one. Unfortunately, it was shut, as were Starbucks and Delice de France. A note attached to the closed shutters said the closure was due to the inclement weather, and they were hoping to reopen on Saturday morning. That obviously hasn't happened!
My mate was joining me in around an hour, parking in Leeds (so we can get home later) and starting on the 1815 Virgin service, which we knew was to be hauled by 90039. At this point I had no better option than to meet it at Wakefield and do it in both directions. Unfortunately, the next Virgin service hadn't yet arrived from the south, so the return would be delayed. I didn't know how long it would take to turnaround, so I decided to suffer a Voyager to Wakey.
To rub salt into the wound, it was dud 220024. There was also a man eating a pasty next to me. At least the shops were open at Wakefield, though the shelves at Greggs were barren. I went for a lukewarm steak and cheese roll, and went next door for an iced cortado from Costa. The barista queried my sanity given the weather outside, but I’m glad I went for it as it went down a treat.
I should have sat tight at Leeds and waited for the incoming Virgin service, as they turned it around in double quick time and it arrived at Wakefield whilst I was waiting. I stopped in my tracks when I saw DVT 82213 approach, as I’d seen it the previous day with last-required 91110. Thankfully, to save me launching my coffee at it, there’d been a loco swap overnight and 91103 was doing the pushing (ironically, my highest mileage one).
321901 and 144006 also passed through on Doncaster and Huddersfield services respectively, before 90039 arrived as hoped.
144006 & 90039 Wakefield Westgate 03/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
At just 8 minutes late on arrival at Leeds, 90039 had fared a lot better than most of the northbound services had been doing throughout the day. I hopped off to let the cleaning squad do their thing, and get a photo of the 90. A steam loco passed through one of the through platforms engulfing the whole place with steam, but I didn’t see what it was. I rejoined the set, this time in coach D. My mate boarded shortly after, looking a bit out of breath but we still had 7 minutes before departure so he needn’t have rushed!
90039 Leeds 03/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
The train was lightly loaded, we had a table seat (as I also had on the way up). Soon enough I was back at Wakefield for the second time in an hour. We watched the 90 leave, before 144020 and 153359 came through the centre road heading from Sheffield to Neville Hill (due to the strike). We headed to the waiting room on platform 2 which is always empty (as it’s so far from the footbridge now the station entrance has switched ends). I’m sure in the past it had been toasty warm but it wasn’t on this occasion, in fact it was barely warmer than outside.
There was a race on between an on time XC service heading for Newcastle, and a late running Virgin service. We wanted the Virgin one but would have to take whatever came first in order to make our connection at Leeds. They held the Voyager at South Kirkby Jn for the Virgin service, and I’m glad it worked out as 91108 was on the front, this move boosting it from 80 to 90 miles. I could have cleared it for 100 if I’d stayed on back to Wakefield again, but I think I’d have lost the will to live. We had the mk4 set with the experimental information screens at each end of the coach. Very useful they are too, showing local news, weather and connections at the next station.
We had to dash at Leeds to make our next train, as for some reason we’d been sent into platform 1 despite the more usual 6 and 8 being empty. Even from afar we could see our train was a pair of 185’s. Unfortunately both dud for both of us, 185122 and 185130. We took up a seat in the ballroom for the short run to Dewsbury. We could have made a connection at Huddersfield onto another TPE service but we’d chosen Dewsbury as there was a random Northern working from Rochdale, possibly the last Northern service running all day (certainly in the Leeds area). We had 20 minutes to wait so what better time to tick off something I’ve wanted to do for a while and visit the West Riding pub on platform 2. What a great place, much bigger than it looks from the outside and a huge beer selection. The choice was overwhelming so I went with a Beavertown Neck Oil as I knew I liked it, and it was excellent. All it lacks is an outside area on the platform for summer months.
We finished our drinks and made our way over for our ‘formed of two coaches’ service. We’d hoped for more than one unit making its way back to Neville Hill, but we just got 158791. At least it was a mileage requirement for both of us, and was the warmest train of the day!
We called everywhere en route, picking up a few people from each stop except Cottingley which was deserted. We had a slightly more comfortable connection at Leeds this time, onto what I knew was a winner 185 I’d seen earlier in the day. I saw it heading for Scarborough and calling at Cross Gates, but I would have had 45 minutes there and missed out on meeting 90039 at Wakefield. Happily when I checked its diagram I saw we already had its return working in our plan for the evening. Winner 185141 became my 46th of the class in the book, with 185139 on the rear where we sat. It was no more than a third full, we got a table to ourselves.
We had 15 minutes at Huddersfield. We passed the time looking at the various Northern units stabled all over the station, before retreating to the glass waiting room. Slightly warmer than Wakefield, but I was still glad to have four layers on. Some young ladies in the waiting room had much less on!
Huddersfield DMU sidings 03/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
185151 was our train back to Leeds. We had planned one more return to Wakefield before calling it a night, but the Cross Country service we needed to take us there never left Newcastle, so we had no more moves available. Therefore this was the final move, no winners at all for my mate! Just the two for me, but good winners to get and a more enjoyable evening than the numbers suggest.
Day summary:
144017 WDS-LDS
158842 LDS-NPD
158871 & 158901 NPD-LDS
220024 LDS-WKF
90039 WKF-LDS
90039 LDS-WKF
91108 WKF-LDS
185122 & 185130 LDS-DEW
158791 DEW-LDS
185141 & 185139 LDS-HUD
185151 HUD-LDS
No new stations
2 new units/locos: 1x 90, 1x 185
12 dud units/locos: 1x 90, 1x 91, 1x 144, 4x 158, 4x 185, 1x 220
Day mileage: 110 miles
This was a very impromptu trip, arranged at around 11am the same morning. It made no sense at all, as Northern were on strike meaning their services were finishing at around 7pm. It was also freezing, but my mate and I both felt like a few hours out and about chasing units. To make it work, I drove to Woodlesford instead of the usual Garforth. No problems finding a parking space, or boarding the train itself (still have bitter memories of this station from the time I was left behind by a rammed 144001, when I still required it!). I went home on that occasion. Today my train was 144017, and very lightly loaded.
144017 Woodlesford 03/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
There was still a fair bit of snow on the ground from the huge snowfall earlier in the week. DV red 66009 was seen at Stourton, along with what looked like around half of the Freightliner Class 70 fleet at Midland Road. On arrival at Leeds I instantly spotted something that looked unfamiliar, a spotty 158. It was ex-Scotrail 158871, unfortunately it left pretty much as soon as I arrived. Unusually, we arrived into platform 15A instead of the more usual platform 17 due to the Sheffield-Leeds train being formed of a double 158, so there was no room for us.
A quick scan of RTT showed that 158871 was heading to Hebden Bridge, so it was possible to get it later in the day. I planned to go to Ben Rhydding to finally get it done. Dud 333010 would have taken me there, but the return would get me back to Leeds 2 minutes too late to catch the train to meet 158871! Instead I went for a beer.
Whilst enjoying my pint of Jet Black Heart, I realised that 158871 was dud from a Haymarket leap last October. Returning to the station around 45 minutes later, I reconsidered the idea of going to Ben Rhydding, this time on 333003. No sign of my last 333 (014). I decided to stick to my plan and took 158842 to New Pudsey, where I had a very chilly wait for 158871 and 158901 back to Leeds. I’ve never noticed on the few occasions I’ve used them in Scotland, but the carpets on the ex-ScotRail unit are hideous!
158871 & 158901 New Pudsey 03/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We were sent into platform 4 at Leeds, which is more commonly occupied by Class 333 EMU's. It certainly looked strange seeing a Scottish 158 in there.
158871 Leeds 03/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I checked again but there was still no sight of 333014 at Leeds. I decided to pick up something for tea from the footbridge, I quite fancied a pasty as I’d often been tempted by the smell when walking past The Pasty Shop, but had never tried one. Unfortunately, it was shut, as were Starbucks and Delice de France. A note attached to the closed shutters said the closure was due to the inclement weather, and they were hoping to reopen on Saturday morning. That obviously hasn't happened!
My mate was joining me in around an hour, parking in Leeds (so we can get home later) and starting on the 1815 Virgin service, which we knew was to be hauled by 90039. At this point I had no better option than to meet it at Wakefield and do it in both directions. Unfortunately, the next Virgin service hadn't yet arrived from the south, so the return would be delayed. I didn't know how long it would take to turnaround, so I decided to suffer a Voyager to Wakey.
To rub salt into the wound, it was dud 220024. There was also a man eating a pasty next to me. At least the shops were open at Wakefield, though the shelves at Greggs were barren. I went for a lukewarm steak and cheese roll, and went next door for an iced cortado from Costa. The barista queried my sanity given the weather outside, but I’m glad I went for it as it went down a treat.
I should have sat tight at Leeds and waited for the incoming Virgin service, as they turned it around in double quick time and it arrived at Wakefield whilst I was waiting. I stopped in my tracks when I saw DVT 82213 approach, as I’d seen it the previous day with last-required 91110. Thankfully, to save me launching my coffee at it, there’d been a loco swap overnight and 91103 was doing the pushing (ironically, my highest mileage one).
321901 and 144006 also passed through on Doncaster and Huddersfield services respectively, before 90039 arrived as hoped.
144006 & 90039 Wakefield Westgate 03/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
At just 8 minutes late on arrival at Leeds, 90039 had fared a lot better than most of the northbound services had been doing throughout the day. I hopped off to let the cleaning squad do their thing, and get a photo of the 90. A steam loco passed through one of the through platforms engulfing the whole place with steam, but I didn’t see what it was. I rejoined the set, this time in coach D. My mate boarded shortly after, looking a bit out of breath but we still had 7 minutes before departure so he needn’t have rushed!
90039 Leeds 03/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
The train was lightly loaded, we had a table seat (as I also had on the way up). Soon enough I was back at Wakefield for the second time in an hour. We watched the 90 leave, before 144020 and 153359 came through the centre road heading from Sheffield to Neville Hill (due to the strike). We headed to the waiting room on platform 2 which is always empty (as it’s so far from the footbridge now the station entrance has switched ends). I’m sure in the past it had been toasty warm but it wasn’t on this occasion, in fact it was barely warmer than outside.
There was a race on between an on time XC service heading for Newcastle, and a late running Virgin service. We wanted the Virgin one but would have to take whatever came first in order to make our connection at Leeds. They held the Voyager at South Kirkby Jn for the Virgin service, and I’m glad it worked out as 91108 was on the front, this move boosting it from 80 to 90 miles. I could have cleared it for 100 if I’d stayed on back to Wakefield again, but I think I’d have lost the will to live. We had the mk4 set with the experimental information screens at each end of the coach. Very useful they are too, showing local news, weather and connections at the next station.
We had to dash at Leeds to make our next train, as for some reason we’d been sent into platform 1 despite the more usual 6 and 8 being empty. Even from afar we could see our train was a pair of 185’s. Unfortunately both dud for both of us, 185122 and 185130. We took up a seat in the ballroom for the short run to Dewsbury. We could have made a connection at Huddersfield onto another TPE service but we’d chosen Dewsbury as there was a random Northern working from Rochdale, possibly the last Northern service running all day (certainly in the Leeds area). We had 20 minutes to wait so what better time to tick off something I’ve wanted to do for a while and visit the West Riding pub on platform 2. What a great place, much bigger than it looks from the outside and a huge beer selection. The choice was overwhelming so I went with a Beavertown Neck Oil as I knew I liked it, and it was excellent. All it lacks is an outside area on the platform for summer months.
We finished our drinks and made our way over for our ‘formed of two coaches’ service. We’d hoped for more than one unit making its way back to Neville Hill, but we just got 158791. At least it was a mileage requirement for both of us, and was the warmest train of the day!
We called everywhere en route, picking up a few people from each stop except Cottingley which was deserted. We had a slightly more comfortable connection at Leeds this time, onto what I knew was a winner 185 I’d seen earlier in the day. I saw it heading for Scarborough and calling at Cross Gates, but I would have had 45 minutes there and missed out on meeting 90039 at Wakefield. Happily when I checked its diagram I saw we already had its return working in our plan for the evening. Winner 185141 became my 46th of the class in the book, with 185139 on the rear where we sat. It was no more than a third full, we got a table to ourselves.
We had 15 minutes at Huddersfield. We passed the time looking at the various Northern units stabled all over the station, before retreating to the glass waiting room. Slightly warmer than Wakefield, but I was still glad to have four layers on. Some young ladies in the waiting room had much less on!
Huddersfield DMU sidings 03/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
185151 was our train back to Leeds. We had planned one more return to Wakefield before calling it a night, but the Cross Country service we needed to take us there never left Newcastle, so we had no more moves available. Therefore this was the final move, no winners at all for my mate! Just the two for me, but good winners to get and a more enjoyable evening than the numbers suggest.
Day summary:
144017 WDS-LDS
158842 LDS-NPD
158871 & 158901 NPD-LDS
220024 LDS-WKF
90039 WKF-LDS
90039 LDS-WKF
91108 WKF-LDS
185122 & 185130 LDS-DEW
158791 DEW-LDS
185141 & 185139 LDS-HUD
185151 HUD-LDS
No new stations
2 new units/locos: 1x 90, 1x 185
12 dud units/locos: 1x 90, 1x 91, 1x 144, 4x 158, 4x 185, 1x 220
Day mileage: 110 miles
Kite159
Veteran Member
A productive day in West Yorkshire, that Scottish 158 looks odd attached to a Northern 158
87electric
Member
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- 27 Jan 2010
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- 1,023
Most enjoyable read there. Great photos from your Canon as well, the 90 at Wakefield Westgate in particular.
ash39
Established Member
- Joined
- 8 Feb 2012
- Messages
- 1,503
Indeed. Looks odd seeing 'Leeds via Bradford' displayed on a Scottish 158 as well!
Thanks!
ash39
Established Member
- Joined
- 8 Feb 2012
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- 1,503
That's what I thought, but thinking about it the livery is as equally obsolete as the other purple Northern ones. The interior seemed in decent nick (awful carpet excepted). It might stick around in that condition for a while.
I wonder if the ex-Scots will keep their different front snowploughs when they become Northernised.
I'm hoping to come across some of the ex-GWR 150's before they get repainted as well.
I wonder if the ex-Scots will keep their different front snowploughs when they become Northernised.
I'm hoping to come across some of the ex-GWR 150's before they get repainted as well.
ash39
Established Member
- Joined
- 8 Feb 2012
- Messages
- 1,503
West Yorkshire Day Rover – Saturday 31st March 2018
After a quick visit to the York Model Railway Show in the morning, I had a full afternoon/evening spare. I arranged to meet up with my mate later in the day, so I started from Woodlesford on the 1240 service to Leeds. 144002 was a welcome sight on this service, leaving just 144009 and 144023 under ten miles now. A couple of minutes earlier, required 158796 had flown through on a non-stopping service. I decided if nothing else of interest was at Leeds, I would take it back out on its next service. After a bit of a farce trying to buy a ticket from the kiosk on the footbridge (the woman in front in the queue was trying to find the cheapest way to get to Bath!), I eventually gave up and got served at the window on platform 1 instead. I decided to go for the 158, only making it with a couple of minutes to spare in the end. 158793 was taken to Wakefield Kirkgate.
I walked to Wakefield Westgate, via Greggs, and let 220026 and 321901 go before boarding 43367 and 43274 a few minutes later. The former was on 98 miles and the latter on a measly 10 miles, so it was a decent pair to get. My only previous journey on ‘Spirit of Sunderland’ was also a Wakefield-Leeds move!
I met my mate at Leeds, who was chuffed as he’d just come in on required ex-GWR 150101.
150101 Leeds 31/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
150106 was also in the station, but I saw a required pacer so that took priority. 142016 and 142068 were taken back to Wakefield Westgate. We rode in 142068, and it was a real state inside. A huge leak from the vestibule area meant we had to practically paddle our way to our bus seat of choice. All part of the charm.
We had an outside chance of making a late running Virgin service at Wakefield. I thought my mate was winding me up when he pointed to the loco that had just pulled into the station at the same time as us, but I turned my head to see 91110! We couldn’t make it over the footbridge in time, so I had to watch it leave. It was totally unexpected, as I'd been informed it was due to work an Edinburgh service. A set swap had obviously occurred at Kings Cross.
Annoyed at my near miss with my final 91, we then watched 66710 crawl through the centre road with some of the recently modified 'cut & shut' stone hoppers, before catching 144006 back to Leeds.
66710 Wakefield Westgate 31/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I had to get the 91, even though I was well and truly sick of Wakefield now, My mate had spotted 185133 which he required, so he headed for Dewsbury whilst I took 91110 to Wakefield Westgate to finally clear them, 9 months after I got my penultimate one! Just half a dozen left to chase to clear my self imposed target of 100 miles before they start to pass the baton on to the 80X units.
91110 Wakefield Westgate 31/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We would both be due back into Leeds around the same time, and I got back courtesy of 91102. The next train towards Harrogate was winner 150225, so we took this to Headingley. We had seen a couple of ex-First Great Western liveried 150s heading out this way, so hoped to meet one coming back. We didn’t, but dud 150118 had winner for both of us 153331 on the rear, so it was a good call to come out this way.
We both needed food so left the station at Leeds to go find something. Ended up in McDonald's, where I just about managed to order a quarter pounder meal. I’m not a technophobe by any stretch, but those new touch screen ordering systems confuse me no end. I hadn’t had McDonald from this store in many years, but it took me right back to when we used to walk here on school lunchtimes and get a milkshake and whatever else we could afford with our dinner money back in the early 2000’s. I’m not sure in hindsight why we didn’t go to the one on Briggate which was closer!
We took our food back onto the station, as we were going back up the Harrogate line again to meet another ex-GWR unit, 150129, coming back from Knaresborough. It was another 153, this time dud 153330, with a locked 155342 on the front. We boarded the quite busy 153 and walked through the gangway to get into the almost empty 155, which was shut down with no lights on. It was light enough to eat though, and by the time we departed 10 minutes later I had all but finished my meal.
We had a bonus move available if we bailed at Burley Park for a preceding service, as there were two trains leaving within 15 minutes of each other. We caught a glimpse of the inbound working for the second train as we left Leeds and it was a pair of 150s, one of which was another of the ex-GWR units. We reckoned it was 150106 which we had seen earlier in the day at Leeds, so we bailed at Burley Park. Always a pleasure to spend time here, and we enjoyed the sight of watching two drunks cross the tracks to get to the Leeds bound platform. Then we realised they would be on our train back from Headingley in 15 minutes or so...
150106 rolled in, with dud 150218 on the rear. It’s less than a mile to Headingley, but we got a seat by the doors next to a tiny black dog and its owner. The dog was somewhere between excited and terrified. The connection at Headingley was about a +4, and it can be dodgy here if a lot of people are trying to negotiate the stairs down to the underpass at the same time. We had no problems this time and made it to the other platform where a few minutes later 150129 rolled in as hoped. Thankfully the idiotic drunks boarded in the other carriage.
Back at Leeds again, a winner 142 was spotted so it had to be done. 142089 put me into single figures for Northern pacers, just 9 to track down before they start disappearing from October. We took it to Dewsbury, where my mate had already been earlier in the day when I did 91110 to Wakefield.
185129 took us back, a unit I’d only had from Leeds to Dewsbury previously. Doing it back the other way meant it was now cleared for 10 miles.
Unfortunately we'd not had time for a pint at Dewsbury this time, as we had one more trip to Wakefield to do. I had seen a pair of East Midlands Trains HST power cars heading south earlier in the day, and we both needed one of the power cars. The thought of going to Wakefield for the fourth time of the day was more palatable when I saw my favourite loco 91130 sat in platform 6. A guaranteed winner back helped as well.
Two of my aims for the day remained unachieved. The first was to get 90018 in the book, as I only had a couple of DRA-fitted 90’s left to get. I had read a forum post saying it was out, but unfortunately it ended up on the Newark terminating diagram and therefore wouldn’t be returning to Leeds today. A northbound set passed us just outside Leeds with a loco that looked more red than usual, and we briefly wondered if another 91110 situation had occurred, but couldn’t be certain.
My other aim was to get a photo of 91106 with its colourful decorative addition promoting the Great Exhibition of the North 2018. I was more successful with this aim, as it appeared shortly after we hopped off 91130 at Wakefield.
91106 Wakefield Westgate 31/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
In the end my mate never got his EMT power car ticked off. 142021 showed up a couple of minutes before it. It was a winner, and he still needed more of them than me, so he was on it quicker than you can say nodding donkey. It was dud for me, so I waited and joined winner 43073 and dud 43075 to leave Wakefield one last time.
We both saw the mk4 set we had seen entering Leeds pass us again going back south. From our respective trains, we both concluded it was definitely a 90, but most likely 90029 which neither of us required.
We were now making our way back to the cars at Woodlesford. After I eventually found the right platform (I expected it to leave from platform 17, as they nearly always do), my mate was stood by 144011 and it was ready to leave. It looked busy, but we struck lucky as dud from earlier 142089 had been added to the front. We ended up with a whole 142 to ourselves all the way out to Castleford!
An empty 142089 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
You may think we’d missed our stop at Woodlesford, but there was a plan in action. My mate had worked out 150101’s diagram for the rest of the day and selflessly agreed to pick it up on the last move of the day so I could get it too. Meeting it at Castleford meant not having to wait for it to reach Leeds, and we’d get back to Woodlesford earlier. The downside was spending around five minutes longer than either of us would have liked in Castleford. The slight delay to our train had done us two favours, firstly allowing me to catch it as I blindly wandered around Leeds station looking for it, and secondly cutting the wait at Castleford down to as long as it took 144011 and 142089 to vacate the entry path into the station.
Something had gone amiss, as it wasn’t 150101 that appeared from the darkness, but the unmistakable face of 144012. I’d had it earlier the same week when spending the afternoon in Harrogate with the kids. Always a treat to enjoy a ride on the posh pacer though, even if it did cost me my tenth winner of the day!
Day summary:
144002 WDS-LDS
158796 LDS-WKK
43367 & 43274 WKF-LDS
142016 & 142068 LDS-WKF
144006 WKF-LDS
91110 LDS-WKF
91102 WKF-LDS
150225 LDS-HDY
150118 & 153331 HDY-LDS
155342 & 155330 LDS-BUY
150106 & 150218 BUY-HDY
150129 HDY-LDS
142089 LDS-DEW
185129 DEW-LDS
91130 LDS-WKF
43073 & 43075 WKF-LDS
142089 & 144011 LDS-CAS
144012 CAS-WDS
No new stations
9 new units/locos: 1x HST, 1x 91, 2x 142, 3x 150, 1x 153, 1x 158
16 dud units/locos: 3x HST, 2x 91, 2x 142, 4x 144, 2x 150, 1x 153, 1x 155, 1x 185
Day mileage: 136 miles
After a quick visit to the York Model Railway Show in the morning, I had a full afternoon/evening spare. I arranged to meet up with my mate later in the day, so I started from Woodlesford on the 1240 service to Leeds. 144002 was a welcome sight on this service, leaving just 144009 and 144023 under ten miles now. A couple of minutes earlier, required 158796 had flown through on a non-stopping service. I decided if nothing else of interest was at Leeds, I would take it back out on its next service. After a bit of a farce trying to buy a ticket from the kiosk on the footbridge (the woman in front in the queue was trying to find the cheapest way to get to Bath!), I eventually gave up and got served at the window on platform 1 instead. I decided to go for the 158, only making it with a couple of minutes to spare in the end. 158793 was taken to Wakefield Kirkgate.
I walked to Wakefield Westgate, via Greggs, and let 220026 and 321901 go before boarding 43367 and 43274 a few minutes later. The former was on 98 miles and the latter on a measly 10 miles, so it was a decent pair to get. My only previous journey on ‘Spirit of Sunderland’ was also a Wakefield-Leeds move!
I met my mate at Leeds, who was chuffed as he’d just come in on required ex-GWR 150101.
150101 Leeds 31/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
150106 was also in the station, but I saw a required pacer so that took priority. 142016 and 142068 were taken back to Wakefield Westgate. We rode in 142068, and it was a real state inside. A huge leak from the vestibule area meant we had to practically paddle our way to our bus seat of choice. All part of the charm.
We had an outside chance of making a late running Virgin service at Wakefield. I thought my mate was winding me up when he pointed to the loco that had just pulled into the station at the same time as us, but I turned my head to see 91110! We couldn’t make it over the footbridge in time, so I had to watch it leave. It was totally unexpected, as I'd been informed it was due to work an Edinburgh service. A set swap had obviously occurred at Kings Cross.
Annoyed at my near miss with my final 91, we then watched 66710 crawl through the centre road with some of the recently modified 'cut & shut' stone hoppers, before catching 144006 back to Leeds.
66710 Wakefield Westgate 31/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I had to get the 91, even though I was well and truly sick of Wakefield now, My mate had spotted 185133 which he required, so he headed for Dewsbury whilst I took 91110 to Wakefield Westgate to finally clear them, 9 months after I got my penultimate one! Just half a dozen left to chase to clear my self imposed target of 100 miles before they start to pass the baton on to the 80X units.
91110 Wakefield Westgate 31/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We would both be due back into Leeds around the same time, and I got back courtesy of 91102. The next train towards Harrogate was winner 150225, so we took this to Headingley. We had seen a couple of ex-First Great Western liveried 150s heading out this way, so hoped to meet one coming back. We didn’t, but dud 150118 had winner for both of us 153331 on the rear, so it was a good call to come out this way.
We both needed food so left the station at Leeds to go find something. Ended up in McDonald's, where I just about managed to order a quarter pounder meal. I’m not a technophobe by any stretch, but those new touch screen ordering systems confuse me no end. I hadn’t had McDonald from this store in many years, but it took me right back to when we used to walk here on school lunchtimes and get a milkshake and whatever else we could afford with our dinner money back in the early 2000’s. I’m not sure in hindsight why we didn’t go to the one on Briggate which was closer!
We took our food back onto the station, as we were going back up the Harrogate line again to meet another ex-GWR unit, 150129, coming back from Knaresborough. It was another 153, this time dud 153330, with a locked 155342 on the front. We boarded the quite busy 153 and walked through the gangway to get into the almost empty 155, which was shut down with no lights on. It was light enough to eat though, and by the time we departed 10 minutes later I had all but finished my meal.
We had a bonus move available if we bailed at Burley Park for a preceding service, as there were two trains leaving within 15 minutes of each other. We caught a glimpse of the inbound working for the second train as we left Leeds and it was a pair of 150s, one of which was another of the ex-GWR units. We reckoned it was 150106 which we had seen earlier in the day at Leeds, so we bailed at Burley Park. Always a pleasure to spend time here, and we enjoyed the sight of watching two drunks cross the tracks to get to the Leeds bound platform. Then we realised they would be on our train back from Headingley in 15 minutes or so...
150106 rolled in, with dud 150218 on the rear. It’s less than a mile to Headingley, but we got a seat by the doors next to a tiny black dog and its owner. The dog was somewhere between excited and terrified. The connection at Headingley was about a +4, and it can be dodgy here if a lot of people are trying to negotiate the stairs down to the underpass at the same time. We had no problems this time and made it to the other platform where a few minutes later 150129 rolled in as hoped. Thankfully the idiotic drunks boarded in the other carriage.
Back at Leeds again, a winner 142 was spotted so it had to be done. 142089 put me into single figures for Northern pacers, just 9 to track down before they start disappearing from October. We took it to Dewsbury, where my mate had already been earlier in the day when I did 91110 to Wakefield.
185129 took us back, a unit I’d only had from Leeds to Dewsbury previously. Doing it back the other way meant it was now cleared for 10 miles.
Unfortunately we'd not had time for a pint at Dewsbury this time, as we had one more trip to Wakefield to do. I had seen a pair of East Midlands Trains HST power cars heading south earlier in the day, and we both needed one of the power cars. The thought of going to Wakefield for the fourth time of the day was more palatable when I saw my favourite loco 91130 sat in platform 6. A guaranteed winner back helped as well.
Two of my aims for the day remained unachieved. The first was to get 90018 in the book, as I only had a couple of DRA-fitted 90’s left to get. I had read a forum post saying it was out, but unfortunately it ended up on the Newark terminating diagram and therefore wouldn’t be returning to Leeds today. A northbound set passed us just outside Leeds with a loco that looked more red than usual, and we briefly wondered if another 91110 situation had occurred, but couldn’t be certain.
My other aim was to get a photo of 91106 with its colourful decorative addition promoting the Great Exhibition of the North 2018. I was more successful with this aim, as it appeared shortly after we hopped off 91130 at Wakefield.
91106 Wakefield Westgate 31/03/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
In the end my mate never got his EMT power car ticked off. 142021 showed up a couple of minutes before it. It was a winner, and he still needed more of them than me, so he was on it quicker than you can say nodding donkey. It was dud for me, so I waited and joined winner 43073 and dud 43075 to leave Wakefield one last time.
We both saw the mk4 set we had seen entering Leeds pass us again going back south. From our respective trains, we both concluded it was definitely a 90, but most likely 90029 which neither of us required.
We were now making our way back to the cars at Woodlesford. After I eventually found the right platform (I expected it to leave from platform 17, as they nearly always do), my mate was stood by 144011 and it was ready to leave. It looked busy, but we struck lucky as dud from earlier 142089 had been added to the front. We ended up with a whole 142 to ourselves all the way out to Castleford!
An empty 142089 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
You may think we’d missed our stop at Woodlesford, but there was a plan in action. My mate had worked out 150101’s diagram for the rest of the day and selflessly agreed to pick it up on the last move of the day so I could get it too. Meeting it at Castleford meant not having to wait for it to reach Leeds, and we’d get back to Woodlesford earlier. The downside was spending around five minutes longer than either of us would have liked in Castleford. The slight delay to our train had done us two favours, firstly allowing me to catch it as I blindly wandered around Leeds station looking for it, and secondly cutting the wait at Castleford down to as long as it took 144011 and 142089 to vacate the entry path into the station.
Something had gone amiss, as it wasn’t 150101 that appeared from the darkness, but the unmistakable face of 144012. I’d had it earlier the same week when spending the afternoon in Harrogate with the kids. Always a treat to enjoy a ride on the posh pacer though, even if it did cost me my tenth winner of the day!
Day summary:
144002 WDS-LDS
158796 LDS-WKK
43367 & 43274 WKF-LDS
142016 & 142068 LDS-WKF
144006 WKF-LDS
91110 LDS-WKF
91102 WKF-LDS
150225 LDS-HDY
150118 & 153331 HDY-LDS
155342 & 155330 LDS-BUY
150106 & 150218 BUY-HDY
150129 HDY-LDS
142089 LDS-DEW
185129 DEW-LDS
91130 LDS-WKF
43073 & 43075 WKF-LDS
142089 & 144011 LDS-CAS
144012 CAS-WDS
No new stations
9 new units/locos: 1x HST, 1x 91, 2x 142, 3x 150, 1x 153, 1x 158
16 dud units/locos: 3x HST, 2x 91, 2x 142, 4x 144, 2x 150, 1x 153, 1x 155, 1x 185
Day mileage: 136 miles
Last edited:
Kite159
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ash39
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A nice little day trip in West Yorkshire
IIRC there was some issues around Barnsley on Saturday (around 3pm) so most likely the units got swapped over (I did notice a heavily delayed 158 due to run nonstop to Leeds).
Anyhow, is it me your looking for?
Ha, what time was that taken? My shot of it arriving at Leeds was just before 1430.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Around 16:40
ash39
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Merseyrail Saveaway – Tuesday 3rd April 2018
I was in Liverpool for a couple of days with the family, after we soruced some very cheap advance tickets and a £29 Travelodge. I had a couple of hours free on the second day to pick up a couple of shacks and do my first Merseyrail Saveaway. At just £4, I didn’t mind that I’d only get a couple of hours use out of it.
Winding back to the previous day, dud 185106 had brought us over from York on a nice quiet service. Just before lunchtime on the second day, I left them to go get their afternoon tea (which I wasn’t fussed for), and made for the 1127 Manchester Oxford Road service. I’d seen a pacer on a couple of these services the previous day, but unfortunately it was dud 156426 today. I was keen to get on regardless, as I had a tight plan to get as many new stations in as I could in the time I had. I took this service as far as West Allerton.
156426 West Allerton 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Things already went pear shaped after the first journey. The return which I had hoped to catch back the other way to Mossley Hill was delayed, meaning it would be tight but still possible. I got a few photos at West Allerton as the sun had come out for the first time since we’d been in Merseyside!
350127 West Allerton 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Something went badly wrong next. Myself and three others were waiting for this train, including a young child (and his parent!). It was twice announced as 'the train now approaching platform 2', and two trains could be seen approaching in the distance. The one approaching platform 4 looked like a 142/156 combination. I wondered if it was an ECS move but no, it had people on and it came to a halt. It was then that I realised the passenger information screens and announcements were incorrect and it had gone into platform 4. The guard could clearly see people were waiting on the other platform, but said nothing and quickly dispatched the train. The other train approaching was a TPE 185 which obviously sailed through at speed. Unimpressed, I figured I may as well still get Mossley Hill so I set off walking.
Google maps was saying I would arrive at 1212, which was vexing as the train I was aiming for was booked to leave at... 1212. Not prepared to run, I briskly walked the mile or so up the hill to Mossley Hill station. The reason I wanted this station in particular is because I’ve already used it previously in 2013, before I started recording moves properly. Stations such as these are starting to bug me, and I want to try and revisit them all before I reach 500 stations so the 500th is the actual 500th visited.
I made up 3 minutes en-route, and comfortably made the train. A nice result, winner ex-GWR 150108 leading winner 156472 for the journey back to Liverpool.
150108 Mossley Hill 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I got a meal deal from Boots and boarded an immaculate 319363 for a trip to Liverpool South Parkway. This made for a nice place to sit and eat my chicken & basil pasta pot, but it soon became apparent we weren't going anywhere. The service was cancelled due to 'overhead wire damage'.
My plan was now out of the window anyway, so I went for maximum stations in the time I had left. For the second time in just over an hour, I made a dash for platform 9, this time boarding winner 158773 to Liverpool South Parkway. It was about to leave, so I walked through to the front 2 coaches in order to ID it at the other end. The guard made good progress getting through the train and managed to check my ticket. Thankfully, I'd not accidentally bought a Merseyrail-only one like my mate did last year, and nearly got thrown off an EMT service! The front unit turned out to be dud 158847.
The family had finished their food and were now checking out Liverpool Cathedral. I said I'd make my way back to Liverpool, but I could get another station in without adding too much time, so I made my way to the Merseyrail platforms (further than I expected, and annoyingly two sets of barriers to negotiate) and boarded 507021 to Hunts Cross.
507021 Hunts Cross 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I could have gone straight back on the same unit, but there was a reasonable connection onto a Northern service which would get me back into the city around the same time. Annoyingly, this was 156426 from earlier.
The family were now walking back from the cathedral, and were slightly closer to Central than Lime Street, so rather than walk I got one more bonus move in, taking 508125 for the half mile hop to Liverpool Central.
We got back to the station in plenty of time for our train home, and I'd hoped to get a couple of moves in before our train back at 1912. A lot of services were still delayed and cancelled, and I didn't fancy getting stuck somewhere, so instead I took a couple of photos around Lime Street before 185121 took us home. An enjoyable couple of days.
350121 Liverpool Lime Street 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
319363 Liverpool Lime Street 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
390008 Liverpool Lime Street 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Day summary:
156426 LIV-WSA
150108 & 156472 MSH-LIV
158847 & 158773 LIV-LPY
507021 LPY-HNX
156426 HNX-LIV
507125 LIV-LVC
185121 LIV-YRK
5 new stations: Hunts Cross, Liverpool Central, Liverpool South Parkway, Mossley Hill, West Allerton
5 new units: 1x 150, 1x 156, 1x 158, 1x 507, 1x 508
4 dud units: 2x 156, 1x 158, 1x 185
Day mileage: 123 miles
I was in Liverpool for a couple of days with the family, after we soruced some very cheap advance tickets and a £29 Travelodge. I had a couple of hours free on the second day to pick up a couple of shacks and do my first Merseyrail Saveaway. At just £4, I didn’t mind that I’d only get a couple of hours use out of it.
Winding back to the previous day, dud 185106 had brought us over from York on a nice quiet service. Just before lunchtime on the second day, I left them to go get their afternoon tea (which I wasn’t fussed for), and made for the 1127 Manchester Oxford Road service. I’d seen a pacer on a couple of these services the previous day, but unfortunately it was dud 156426 today. I was keen to get on regardless, as I had a tight plan to get as many new stations in as I could in the time I had. I took this service as far as West Allerton.
156426 West Allerton 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Things already went pear shaped after the first journey. The return which I had hoped to catch back the other way to Mossley Hill was delayed, meaning it would be tight but still possible. I got a few photos at West Allerton as the sun had come out for the first time since we’d been in Merseyside!
350127 West Allerton 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Something went badly wrong next. Myself and three others were waiting for this train, including a young child (and his parent!). It was twice announced as 'the train now approaching platform 2', and two trains could be seen approaching in the distance. The one approaching platform 4 looked like a 142/156 combination. I wondered if it was an ECS move but no, it had people on and it came to a halt. It was then that I realised the passenger information screens and announcements were incorrect and it had gone into platform 4. The guard could clearly see people were waiting on the other platform, but said nothing and quickly dispatched the train. The other train approaching was a TPE 185 which obviously sailed through at speed. Unimpressed, I figured I may as well still get Mossley Hill so I set off walking.
Google maps was saying I would arrive at 1212, which was vexing as the train I was aiming for was booked to leave at... 1212. Not prepared to run, I briskly walked the mile or so up the hill to Mossley Hill station. The reason I wanted this station in particular is because I’ve already used it previously in 2013, before I started recording moves properly. Stations such as these are starting to bug me, and I want to try and revisit them all before I reach 500 stations so the 500th is the actual 500th visited.
I made up 3 minutes en-route, and comfortably made the train. A nice result, winner ex-GWR 150108 leading winner 156472 for the journey back to Liverpool.
150108 Mossley Hill 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I got a meal deal from Boots and boarded an immaculate 319363 for a trip to Liverpool South Parkway. This made for a nice place to sit and eat my chicken & basil pasta pot, but it soon became apparent we weren't going anywhere. The service was cancelled due to 'overhead wire damage'.
My plan was now out of the window anyway, so I went for maximum stations in the time I had left. For the second time in just over an hour, I made a dash for platform 9, this time boarding winner 158773 to Liverpool South Parkway. It was about to leave, so I walked through to the front 2 coaches in order to ID it at the other end. The guard made good progress getting through the train and managed to check my ticket. Thankfully, I'd not accidentally bought a Merseyrail-only one like my mate did last year, and nearly got thrown off an EMT service! The front unit turned out to be dud 158847.
The family had finished their food and were now checking out Liverpool Cathedral. I said I'd make my way back to Liverpool, but I could get another station in without adding too much time, so I made my way to the Merseyrail platforms (further than I expected, and annoyingly two sets of barriers to negotiate) and boarded 507021 to Hunts Cross.
507021 Hunts Cross 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I could have gone straight back on the same unit, but there was a reasonable connection onto a Northern service which would get me back into the city around the same time. Annoyingly, this was 156426 from earlier.
The family were now walking back from the cathedral, and were slightly closer to Central than Lime Street, so rather than walk I got one more bonus move in, taking 508125 for the half mile hop to Liverpool Central.
We got back to the station in plenty of time for our train home, and I'd hoped to get a couple of moves in before our train back at 1912. A lot of services were still delayed and cancelled, and I didn't fancy getting stuck somewhere, so instead I took a couple of photos around Lime Street before 185121 took us home. An enjoyable couple of days.
350121 Liverpool Lime Street 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
319363 Liverpool Lime Street 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
390008 Liverpool Lime Street 03/04/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Day summary:
156426 LIV-WSA
150108 & 156472 MSH-LIV
158847 & 158773 LIV-LPY
507021 LPY-HNX
156426 HNX-LIV
507125 LIV-LVC
185121 LIV-YRK
5 new stations: Hunts Cross, Liverpool Central, Liverpool South Parkway, Mossley Hill, West Allerton
5 new units: 1x 150, 1x 156, 1x 158, 1x 507, 1x 508
4 dud units: 2x 156, 1x 158, 1x 185
Day mileage: 123 miles
Last edited:
Kite159
Veteran Member
That picture of 390008 looks excellent, shame on the farce at West Allerton.
ash39
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West Yorkshire Day Rover - Wednesday 11th April 2018
A short evening session (no photos!) started with my mate driving us to Woodlesford station to catch 144017 into Leeds. We had no plan for the evening other than to try tick off a few more units. I knew required 142005 was due out of Leeds at 1856 but other than that we were going in blind.
We had a quick wander around the station but found nothing of interest. A pair of 185's rolled in on platform 16, but we both only required a few units so didn't expect a winner. Against the odds, my mate required front unit 185149 so we hopped on. I needed the facilities, but we were at the wrong end of the train. The train was ready to go, but we had enough time to jump out and board the rear unit. It turned out to be 185118, the only unit we both mutually needed! This left us both with 4 different units required.
We spotted 142005 heading into Leeds as I'd been informed. I could still get it, so we left the 185 pairing at Dewsbury and waited 20 minutes for the 142 to meet us. When we saw it approaching Leeds it was with a friend but it must have split upon arrival as the screen was showing 'formed of 2 coaches'. Fortunately 142005 was on the south end so it made no difference and sure enough 142005 turned up. 8 to go...
We took 005 to Deighton, where we could meet a Huddersfield-Wakefield service. After a brief moment thinking we might be stuck at Deighton for an hour (the screen was simply showing 'delayed'), we realised it was waiting for a delayed TPE service before leaving. 144002 eventually arrived around 7 late. We were going to head to Wakefield, but neither of us fancied bouncing all the way there on a 144 so we left at Mirfield.
Our attemps to get something other than a 144 failed, as 144022 was our next train. Only a short hop to Brighouse, where we decided to try The Railway Inn to pass our 30 minute wait. It was like an 80's timewarp, but very conveniently located and a decent selection of ales.
We could either get back to Leeds on the first train, or go via Halifax on the second. The first was 158872, which I was certain was very dud. I checked just incase, and found I was getting mixed up with 158842. 158872 was required! We boarded, giving me a 3-2 lead for the evening over my mate who didn't require it. More importantly I was now down to my last 2 Northern 158's, at least until the Scotish contingent head down south.
To mix things up we left at Dewsbury again to pick up a TPE service behind us. A good move, 185117 only had 7 miles prior so would clear 10 on the run back to Leeds.
We had a bit of time before our intended train back to Woodlesford, and my mate found a winner 158 so we did 158795 to Bramley for 155344 back.
The train to Knottingley should already have been in the station, but wasn't. It was showing as 2208 on the boards (3 late), but couldn’t work out how that information was being calculated as there was no train in the station. In the end, our train was formed of 158790, which arrived from York on a stopping service before forming the Knottingley service straight after. Not unusual to catch a 158 to Woodlesford, but quite rare to Knottingley.
144017 WDS-LDS
185149 & 185118 LDS-HUD
142005 DEW-DHN
144002 DHN-MIR
144022 MIR-BGH
158872 BGH-DEW
185117 DEW-LDS
158795 LDS-BLE
155344 BLE-LDS
158790 LDS-WDS
No new stations
3 new units: 1x 142, 1x 158, 1x 185
8 dud units: 3x 144, 1x 155, 2x 158, 2x 185
Day mileage: 58 miles
A short evening session (no photos!) started with my mate driving us to Woodlesford station to catch 144017 into Leeds. We had no plan for the evening other than to try tick off a few more units. I knew required 142005 was due out of Leeds at 1856 but other than that we were going in blind.
We had a quick wander around the station but found nothing of interest. A pair of 185's rolled in on platform 16, but we both only required a few units so didn't expect a winner. Against the odds, my mate required front unit 185149 so we hopped on. I needed the facilities, but we were at the wrong end of the train. The train was ready to go, but we had enough time to jump out and board the rear unit. It turned out to be 185118, the only unit we both mutually needed! This left us both with 4 different units required.
We spotted 142005 heading into Leeds as I'd been informed. I could still get it, so we left the 185 pairing at Dewsbury and waited 20 minutes for the 142 to meet us. When we saw it approaching Leeds it was with a friend but it must have split upon arrival as the screen was showing 'formed of 2 coaches'. Fortunately 142005 was on the south end so it made no difference and sure enough 142005 turned up. 8 to go...
We took 005 to Deighton, where we could meet a Huddersfield-Wakefield service. After a brief moment thinking we might be stuck at Deighton for an hour (the screen was simply showing 'delayed'), we realised it was waiting for a delayed TPE service before leaving. 144002 eventually arrived around 7 late. We were going to head to Wakefield, but neither of us fancied bouncing all the way there on a 144 so we left at Mirfield.
Our attemps to get something other than a 144 failed, as 144022 was our next train. Only a short hop to Brighouse, where we decided to try The Railway Inn to pass our 30 minute wait. It was like an 80's timewarp, but very conveniently located and a decent selection of ales.
We could either get back to Leeds on the first train, or go via Halifax on the second. The first was 158872, which I was certain was very dud. I checked just incase, and found I was getting mixed up with 158842. 158872 was required! We boarded, giving me a 3-2 lead for the evening over my mate who didn't require it. More importantly I was now down to my last 2 Northern 158's, at least until the Scotish contingent head down south.
To mix things up we left at Dewsbury again to pick up a TPE service behind us. A good move, 185117 only had 7 miles prior so would clear 10 on the run back to Leeds.
We had a bit of time before our intended train back to Woodlesford, and my mate found a winner 158 so we did 158795 to Bramley for 155344 back.
The train to Knottingley should already have been in the station, but wasn't. It was showing as 2208 on the boards (3 late), but couldn’t work out how that information was being calculated as there was no train in the station. In the end, our train was formed of 158790, which arrived from York on a stopping service before forming the Knottingley service straight after. Not unusual to catch a 158 to Woodlesford, but quite rare to Knottingley.
144017 WDS-LDS
185149 & 185118 LDS-HUD
142005 DEW-DHN
144002 DHN-MIR
144022 MIR-BGH
158872 BGH-DEW
185117 DEW-LDS
158795 LDS-BLE
155344 BLE-LDS
158790 LDS-WDS
No new stations
3 new units: 1x 142, 1x 158, 1x 185
8 dud units: 3x 144, 1x 155, 2x 158, 2x 185
Day mileage: 58 miles
Kite159
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Another pacer bites the dust of your red pen
ash39
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I've had a quiet April so far, with just the single move since the WYDR on the 11th. I got a new road bike last week, primarily to get into cycling to improve fitness, but it will also come in handy for ticking off remote stations with big service gaps.
To test out the new wheels, I swung by Church Fenton station on my way home from work on Friday 20th April. Boarded 144002 (again) on a York-Sheffield service to the next stop Sherburn-in-Elmet. I cycled back, arriving back at the car around 15 minutes after I left.
I'm planning to tick off the Knottingley-Goole and Scarborough-Hull stations with assistance from the bike over the coming months, depending on the success of my upcoming knee surgery.
To test out the new wheels, I swung by Church Fenton station on my way home from work on Friday 20th April. Boarded 144002 (again) on a York-Sheffield service to the next stop Sherburn-in-Elmet. I cycled back, arriving back at the car around 15 minutes after I left.
I'm planning to tick off the Knottingley-Goole and Scarborough-Hull stations with assistance from the bike over the coming months, depending on the success of my upcoming knee surgery.
Kite159
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ash39
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It’s been too long since my last proper trip. In fact, since ticking off Church Fenton & Sherburn-in-Elmet at the end of last month, I’ve only managed 4 moves. The first was a trip round the Harrogate loop to a beer festival near Burley Park station, taking 142094 and 144001 in both directions. Ironically this made 144001 my highest mileage 144, after being my last one for so long.
The only other move was on timetable change day, taking the opportunity to sample the new refurbished Northern Class 170.
I drove to Poppleton aiming to catch the 1935 to York, but due to a passenger being taken ill at Burley Park, there were two delayed services in front of it. I let winner 150102 go in order to take a chance on the next one which is usually a booked double 142, and so it was - 142090 leading mileage requirement 142025.
After a short bounce to York, and I had half an hour to kill so I grabbed a coffee and collected some advance tickets for my next 'proper' trip from the ticket machine. 170476 turned up as hoped for the return, what a stark contrast to the journey in!
Anglia Plua Day Ranger – Saturday 26th May 2018
The day began with my alarm ringing 0330, which was painful but I managed to drag myself up. The weather had been great for nearly a fortnight, and I was looking forward to heading to one of my favourite parts of the country. My booked train was the 0440 from York, a recent addition to the timetable. You know it’s too early when you see more people heading home from a night out than people starting their day. At least I'd collected my tickets earlier in the week, saving a few minutes. I arrived around 0430 to see 91130 sat waiting in Platform 6.
91130 York 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
The service was a lot busier than I expected, based on previous experience of the 0600 service. Not sure if it was down to the clear road ahead or an enthusiastic driver, but we were more than 5 minutes early in certain places.
A reasonable +17 at Peterborough, and winner 158866 was forming the next leg of my journey. I could have bought my rover on board from the guard and continued through to Norwich, but instead I bailed at Ely and bought it there. I took a trip to new station Cambridge North, out on a busy 387117 and back on 387104.
387104 Cambridge North 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We pulled into Ely as a Freightliner was pulling in with 66416 at the head. The driver left his loco, I assumed for a driver change, but then he returned shortly after with a drink and a newspaper! My winning streak continued as 158864 rolled in next, leaving me just seven East Midlands 158’s to go.
Due to my very early start, it was still only 0815. I spotted I could break my journey to Norwich at either Attleborough or Wymondham. I chose the former, Attleborough, a nice little station with a staggered platform and level crossing in the middle. I saw 170205 heading the other way, and made a note for later in the day, as I require most of the 3-car Anglia 170’s (all except 170202).
170205 Attleborough 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Happily, it was a 3-car 170 on the other Norwich-Cambridge diagram. 170204 was in bits in Scotland last time I was in Anglia due to an unfortunate level crossing collision, so I knew it was a winner without checking. I took this to Norwich.
The main objective for the day was to hunt down my last 2 Anglian 90’s and 153’s. 90007 and 90009 were in the station, but neither required. I spotted 153314, which is required, but it was shut down and didn’t look to be going anywhere anytime soon. Instead of waiting around I decided to do an out and back to kill some time until the next 90-hauled sets arrived from Ingatestone (the line into Liverpool Street closed for the day, so they were turning back there). I boarded 156409 on a Sheringham service. Originally I was aiming for North Walsham but decided against the +3 as it looked like a bit of a walk to the other platform. I played it safe and left at Hoveton & Wroxham, which is definitely the first station I’ve been to with a smokehouse grill in the station building.
156409 Hoveton & Wroxham 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I couldn’t believe how busy this seemingly small station was, with around 30 people waiting to board the train by the time it arrived. 156422 did the honours back to Norwich, and I just about managed to find an aisle seat. This line is definitely ready for the extra capacity the new rolling stock will hopefully offer. Incidentally, GA have added stickers to windows of all their stock advertising the impending arrival of the new trains. This was a bit confusing on the 170's which also had another poster saying 'we are improving these trains' !
One of my wanted 90’s 90010 was spotted on Crown Point. It looked to be on the departure line rather than tucked in a siding but with nothing due off depot for the rest of the day, I could only assume it was a standby set. Unrequired 90015 was the new loco at Norwich, so I got a coffee from Starbucks outside the ticket barriers (amazingly my ticket worked, despite it dubiously saying 'valid for one journey only from Ely to Anglia Plus, rather than the usual rover format). My coffee was one of the best iced lattes I’ve had in a long time. However, it was at this point I realised the GEML services to Ingatestone were hourly not the usual half-hourly, so my chances of getting 90005 were also now slim (I had wondered why so many mk3 sets were at Crown Point). Not good news.
I went off in search of food, ending up at Norwich cathedral. It’s more impressive than I expected, and I’m glad I stumbled upon it. Unfortunately I was less successful finding some food I fancied, so ended up at Subway back near the station. 90002 was the next 90, so yet again I looked for another option. 170205 had returned from Cambridge and was about to leave, so I took it to winner shack Wymomdham.
170205 Wymondham 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I realised during the wait here that it would most likely be 170204 on the return. Wymomdham was a nice place to spend 20 minutes. There was a lovely Sunset Orange BMW M3 in the house next to the Norwich-bound platform. After enjoying my sub, I got a can of Pepsi from the station cafe before, as expected, 170204 rolled up to return me to Norwich. I’d managed to get twenty 170’s in the book before my first dud, mustn’t complain.
We came to a stop just before Trowse swing bridge. 90001 got the nod ahead of us to enter the station. I decided to catch this back out even though it wasn’t required, as I needed to get to Ipswich to see if 153309 was on the Felixstowe shuttle.
90001 Norwich 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
A nice run behind the pioneer 90 in a deserted ice cool mk3 coach, and phone almost fully topped up with charge, I got off at Ipswich to the unusual sight of 170206 sharing platform 3 with 360109 and 360116. There was a Norwich service due in at the same time as us, and the 360’s were blocking the view so I dashed over the footbridge to check if it was 90005. No luck, 90015 doing the shoving.
I’d assumed the 156 I saw in the bay platform was the Felixstowe train, so I boarded required 170206. It was going to Peterborough, and there was a reasonable connection at Stowmarket. Imagine my dilemma when 153309 rolled in showing ‘Felixstowe’ on the blinds. I should have got off, but it was nice and cool on the 170 so I stayed put.
I was surprised to find a large group of young enthusiasts at Stowmarket filming the 90’s and freight. 90007 took me back to Ipswich. My mate was texting me 'advice', and advised me to take the 153 to Westerfield rather than all the way to Felixstowe, as I could see a freight whilst I was there and then catch an ex-Lowestoft service back. This was a good idea in principle, but when I arrived the layout initially confused me. We arrived ‘wrong side’.
153309 Westerfield 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
After I'd got my bearings it became obvious – the only way to get onto the Felixstowe branch which is single track and just 50 metres or so from the station, is to be on the ‘wrong’ line entering the station. The Lowestoft direction was double track, so the train back would use the same platform. The train wasn’t showing on the screen, and when I checked RTT I realised my mate had stitched me up – the Lowestoft call is not a passenger pick-up! Luckily it was a nice place to spend 40 minutes, especially now the sun was out. I crossed over to get a photo of the freight. 66723 was at the helm.
66723 Westerfield 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I missed out on winner 156417, not the end of the world. Incidentally it did stop (with the crossing barriers still open), and then set off again once they'd closed. A strange one? Surprise 153309 came back to take me and one other passenger to Ipswich.
I now had to think about getting back home. I could either go via Cambridge or via Norwich. My advance was on the 1948 from Ely, but I could catch it from Norwich at 1857 if required. The next Cambridge service was dud 170270, so I went with plan B. I got a few pics at one of my favourite stations, never a dull moment.
86638 & 66512 Ipswich 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
321403 & 321328 Ipswich 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
90007 returned from Ingatestone to return me to Norwich.
Annoyingly, with my time drawing to a close, 153314 had returned and was about to leave on a Sheringham service. I could made it to Salhouse and back, but it was very tight for my booked train home. I was also tempted by 158785, another winner EMT unit. It was an hour ahead of my booked advance, but a check of RTT showed there was no move available to fill the hour at Ely (I wanted to do Cambridge or Waterbeach but couldn't make it work). In the end I decided to do nothing, and went to Brewdog for a couple of halves (Hazy Jane & Indie Pale Ale). I’m accidentally becoming a bit of a Brewdog tourist now, thankfully there aren’t as many as there are JD Wetherspoons!
Excellent beer consumed, I made my way back to the station hoping to find food on the way. I didn’t fancy a dodgy looking takeaway, and I ran out of options. There isn't a great deal of choice for a quick meal around Norwich station. Even most of the station vendors were packing up for the day. I ended up with a West Cornwall peppered steak pasty and a Frofee from AMT coffee (basically espresso milkshake). It hadn’t been the healthiest of days, but my step count was on course to reach 20,000 which is by far the highest since my knee op.
Winner 158852 was my unit for the long run to Peterborough – luck was definitely on my side with the EMT units today. It felt like a long journey, and the pasty filling was so hot it was possibly heated in some kind of nuclear chamber. I only just about finished it by Ely. Around half a dozen stored 365’s were in the sidings east of the station with fairly significant graffiti on the nearest ones
Eventually got to Peterborough, and immediately found I wouldn’t be getting my lowest mileage 91 back up the ECML. 91110 was heading for London. As was 90039 a few minutes later, which was a nice bonus in the setting sun (annoyingly, I'm sure there was more of a golden glow real life...)
90039 Peterborough 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
There was a chill in the air at Peterborough, jumper had to go back on. I was happy to see 91116 turn up, if only to get out of the breeze. After a nice run watching the sun go down at 125mph, I made a quick walk back to the car dodging the juiced-up racegoers (forgot it was York races weekend, station was carnage). Made it home in time to catch the Champions League final highlights, this year the winner was Gareth Bale.
91116 York 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
91130 YRK-PBO
158866 PBO-ELY
387117 ELY-CMB
387104 CMB-ELY
158864 ELY-ATL
170204 ATL-NRW
156409 NRW-HXM
156422 HXN-NRW
170205 NRW-WMD
170204 WMD-NRW
90001 NRW-IPS
170206 IPS-SMK
90007 SMK-IPS
153309 IPS-WFI
153309 WFI-IPS
90007 IPS-NRW
158852 NRW-PBO
91116 PBO-YRK
5 new stations: Attleborough, Cambridge North, Hoveton and Wroxham, Westerfield, Wymondham
11 new units: 1x 153, 2x 156, 3x 158, 3x 170, 2x 387
7 dud units/locos: 3x 90, 2x 91, 1x 153, 1x 170
Day mileage: 578 miles
If you enjoyed that, tomorrow begins my main trip of the year. It's 4 days long and in a place where I require almost everything!
The only other move was on timetable change day, taking the opportunity to sample the new refurbished Northern Class 170.
I drove to Poppleton aiming to catch the 1935 to York, but due to a passenger being taken ill at Burley Park, there were two delayed services in front of it. I let winner 150102 go in order to take a chance on the next one which is usually a booked double 142, and so it was - 142090 leading mileage requirement 142025.
After a short bounce to York, and I had half an hour to kill so I grabbed a coffee and collected some advance tickets for my next 'proper' trip from the ticket machine. 170476 turned up as hoped for the return, what a stark contrast to the journey in!
Anglia Plua Day Ranger – Saturday 26th May 2018
The day began with my alarm ringing 0330, which was painful but I managed to drag myself up. The weather had been great for nearly a fortnight, and I was looking forward to heading to one of my favourite parts of the country. My booked train was the 0440 from York, a recent addition to the timetable. You know it’s too early when you see more people heading home from a night out than people starting their day. At least I'd collected my tickets earlier in the week, saving a few minutes. I arrived around 0430 to see 91130 sat waiting in Platform 6.
91130 York 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
The service was a lot busier than I expected, based on previous experience of the 0600 service. Not sure if it was down to the clear road ahead or an enthusiastic driver, but we were more than 5 minutes early in certain places.
A reasonable +17 at Peterborough, and winner 158866 was forming the next leg of my journey. I could have bought my rover on board from the guard and continued through to Norwich, but instead I bailed at Ely and bought it there. I took a trip to new station Cambridge North, out on a busy 387117 and back on 387104.
387104 Cambridge North 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We pulled into Ely as a Freightliner was pulling in with 66416 at the head. The driver left his loco, I assumed for a driver change, but then he returned shortly after with a drink and a newspaper! My winning streak continued as 158864 rolled in next, leaving me just seven East Midlands 158’s to go.
Due to my very early start, it was still only 0815. I spotted I could break my journey to Norwich at either Attleborough or Wymondham. I chose the former, Attleborough, a nice little station with a staggered platform and level crossing in the middle. I saw 170205 heading the other way, and made a note for later in the day, as I require most of the 3-car Anglia 170’s (all except 170202).
170205 Attleborough 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Happily, it was a 3-car 170 on the other Norwich-Cambridge diagram. 170204 was in bits in Scotland last time I was in Anglia due to an unfortunate level crossing collision, so I knew it was a winner without checking. I took this to Norwich.
The main objective for the day was to hunt down my last 2 Anglian 90’s and 153’s. 90007 and 90009 were in the station, but neither required. I spotted 153314, which is required, but it was shut down and didn’t look to be going anywhere anytime soon. Instead of waiting around I decided to do an out and back to kill some time until the next 90-hauled sets arrived from Ingatestone (the line into Liverpool Street closed for the day, so they were turning back there). I boarded 156409 on a Sheringham service. Originally I was aiming for North Walsham but decided against the +3 as it looked like a bit of a walk to the other platform. I played it safe and left at Hoveton & Wroxham, which is definitely the first station I’ve been to with a smokehouse grill in the station building.
156409 Hoveton & Wroxham 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I couldn’t believe how busy this seemingly small station was, with around 30 people waiting to board the train by the time it arrived. 156422 did the honours back to Norwich, and I just about managed to find an aisle seat. This line is definitely ready for the extra capacity the new rolling stock will hopefully offer. Incidentally, GA have added stickers to windows of all their stock advertising the impending arrival of the new trains. This was a bit confusing on the 170's which also had another poster saying 'we are improving these trains' !
One of my wanted 90’s 90010 was spotted on Crown Point. It looked to be on the departure line rather than tucked in a siding but with nothing due off depot for the rest of the day, I could only assume it was a standby set. Unrequired 90015 was the new loco at Norwich, so I got a coffee from Starbucks outside the ticket barriers (amazingly my ticket worked, despite it dubiously saying 'valid for one journey only from Ely to Anglia Plus, rather than the usual rover format). My coffee was one of the best iced lattes I’ve had in a long time. However, it was at this point I realised the GEML services to Ingatestone were hourly not the usual half-hourly, so my chances of getting 90005 were also now slim (I had wondered why so many mk3 sets were at Crown Point). Not good news.
I went off in search of food, ending up at Norwich cathedral. It’s more impressive than I expected, and I’m glad I stumbled upon it. Unfortunately I was less successful finding some food I fancied, so ended up at Subway back near the station. 90002 was the next 90, so yet again I looked for another option. 170205 had returned from Cambridge and was about to leave, so I took it to winner shack Wymomdham.
170205 Wymondham 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I realised during the wait here that it would most likely be 170204 on the return. Wymomdham was a nice place to spend 20 minutes. There was a lovely Sunset Orange BMW M3 in the house next to the Norwich-bound platform. After enjoying my sub, I got a can of Pepsi from the station cafe before, as expected, 170204 rolled up to return me to Norwich. I’d managed to get twenty 170’s in the book before my first dud, mustn’t complain.
We came to a stop just before Trowse swing bridge. 90001 got the nod ahead of us to enter the station. I decided to catch this back out even though it wasn’t required, as I needed to get to Ipswich to see if 153309 was on the Felixstowe shuttle.
90001 Norwich 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
A nice run behind the pioneer 90 in a deserted ice cool mk3 coach, and phone almost fully topped up with charge, I got off at Ipswich to the unusual sight of 170206 sharing platform 3 with 360109 and 360116. There was a Norwich service due in at the same time as us, and the 360’s were blocking the view so I dashed over the footbridge to check if it was 90005. No luck, 90015 doing the shoving.
I’d assumed the 156 I saw in the bay platform was the Felixstowe train, so I boarded required 170206. It was going to Peterborough, and there was a reasonable connection at Stowmarket. Imagine my dilemma when 153309 rolled in showing ‘Felixstowe’ on the blinds. I should have got off, but it was nice and cool on the 170 so I stayed put.
I was surprised to find a large group of young enthusiasts at Stowmarket filming the 90’s and freight. 90007 took me back to Ipswich. My mate was texting me 'advice', and advised me to take the 153 to Westerfield rather than all the way to Felixstowe, as I could see a freight whilst I was there and then catch an ex-Lowestoft service back. This was a good idea in principle, but when I arrived the layout initially confused me. We arrived ‘wrong side’.
153309 Westerfield 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
After I'd got my bearings it became obvious – the only way to get onto the Felixstowe branch which is single track and just 50 metres or so from the station, is to be on the ‘wrong’ line entering the station. The Lowestoft direction was double track, so the train back would use the same platform. The train wasn’t showing on the screen, and when I checked RTT I realised my mate had stitched me up – the Lowestoft call is not a passenger pick-up! Luckily it was a nice place to spend 40 minutes, especially now the sun was out. I crossed over to get a photo of the freight. 66723 was at the helm.
66723 Westerfield 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I missed out on winner 156417, not the end of the world. Incidentally it did stop (with the crossing barriers still open), and then set off again once they'd closed. A strange one? Surprise 153309 came back to take me and one other passenger to Ipswich.
I now had to think about getting back home. I could either go via Cambridge or via Norwich. My advance was on the 1948 from Ely, but I could catch it from Norwich at 1857 if required. The next Cambridge service was dud 170270, so I went with plan B. I got a few pics at one of my favourite stations, never a dull moment.
86638 & 66512 Ipswich 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
321403 & 321328 Ipswich 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
90007 returned from Ingatestone to return me to Norwich.
Annoyingly, with my time drawing to a close, 153314 had returned and was about to leave on a Sheringham service. I could made it to Salhouse and back, but it was very tight for my booked train home. I was also tempted by 158785, another winner EMT unit. It was an hour ahead of my booked advance, but a check of RTT showed there was no move available to fill the hour at Ely (I wanted to do Cambridge or Waterbeach but couldn't make it work). In the end I decided to do nothing, and went to Brewdog for a couple of halves (Hazy Jane & Indie Pale Ale). I’m accidentally becoming a bit of a Brewdog tourist now, thankfully there aren’t as many as there are JD Wetherspoons!
Excellent beer consumed, I made my way back to the station hoping to find food on the way. I didn’t fancy a dodgy looking takeaway, and I ran out of options. There isn't a great deal of choice for a quick meal around Norwich station. Even most of the station vendors were packing up for the day. I ended up with a West Cornwall peppered steak pasty and a Frofee from AMT coffee (basically espresso milkshake). It hadn’t been the healthiest of days, but my step count was on course to reach 20,000 which is by far the highest since my knee op.
Winner 158852 was my unit for the long run to Peterborough – luck was definitely on my side with the EMT units today. It felt like a long journey, and the pasty filling was so hot it was possibly heated in some kind of nuclear chamber. I only just about finished it by Ely. Around half a dozen stored 365’s were in the sidings east of the station with fairly significant graffiti on the nearest ones
Eventually got to Peterborough, and immediately found I wouldn’t be getting my lowest mileage 91 back up the ECML. 91110 was heading for London. As was 90039 a few minutes later, which was a nice bonus in the setting sun (annoyingly, I'm sure there was more of a golden glow real life...)
90039 Peterborough 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
There was a chill in the air at Peterborough, jumper had to go back on. I was happy to see 91116 turn up, if only to get out of the breeze. After a nice run watching the sun go down at 125mph, I made a quick walk back to the car dodging the juiced-up racegoers (forgot it was York races weekend, station was carnage). Made it home in time to catch the Champions League final highlights, this year the winner was Gareth Bale.
91116 York 26/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
91130 YRK-PBO
158866 PBO-ELY
387117 ELY-CMB
387104 CMB-ELY
158864 ELY-ATL
170204 ATL-NRW
156409 NRW-HXM
156422 HXN-NRW
170205 NRW-WMD
170204 WMD-NRW
90001 NRW-IPS
170206 IPS-SMK
90007 SMK-IPS
153309 IPS-WFI
153309 WFI-IPS
90007 IPS-NRW
158852 NRW-PBO
91116 PBO-YRK
5 new stations: Attleborough, Cambridge North, Hoveton and Wroxham, Westerfield, Wymondham
11 new units: 1x 153, 2x 156, 3x 158, 3x 170, 2x 387
7 dud units/locos: 3x 90, 2x 91, 1x 153, 1x 170
Day mileage: 578 miles
If you enjoyed that, tomorrow begins my main trip of the year. It's 4 days long and in a place where I require almost everything!
Andy Pacer
Established Member
Very interesting to read your report as I was also on a Greater Anglia Day ranger on Saturday. It seems we were in the same place on occasions and at least once on the same train!
Kite159
Veteran Member
Sounded like a productive day in Anglia land, yes Westerfield is an odd case at why it can't be made a passenger stop seeing as the trains stop there anyway for the level crossing. I believe the other platform is only used by a tiny handful of services, mostly on Sundays.
North Walsham is indeed a bit of a hike between platforms
North Walsham is indeed a bit of a hike between platforms
ash39
Established Member
- Joined
- 8 Feb 2012
- Messages
- 1,503
Sure I saw someone with a camera on the 156 I took to Hoveton & Wroxham... think it was the 0945 off Norwich? Hope you had an enjoyable day.
ash39
Established Member
- Joined
- 8 Feb 2012
- Messages
- 1,503
Cardiff & Valleys Day Ranger – Monday 28th May 2018
It felt like an age since we planned it, but the day had finally arrived. The main part of the trip would be a Freedom of Seven & Solent 3 in 7 day rover, but with an afternoon in Cardiff on the first day. My mate drove us to Pye Corner station, and we arrived ahead of schedule after a smooth run down taking around three hours. Instead of waiting for the Cardiff train, we took 150257 to Risca & Pontymister to meet the Cardiff train there. This was another winner, 150262.
150262 Risca & Pontymister 28/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We took this all the way to Cardiff Central. We spent a bit of time here watching for required units, I had my eyes firmly peeled for my last ATW 142 (142080). My mate needed 4 of them, but before long our patience ran out and we boarded 153327 to Cardiff Queen Street. We returned the same way on dud 142085 & winner 150217.
We made a bit of an error next – spotting another required 153 on one of the other City Line service, we took 153353 to Radyr. This was quite a slow move on the stopper, and with no reasonable connections at any of the intermediate stations (to wait for the same unit back), we had no option but to take it all the way. We slowly edged around Canton depot, where I spotted half a pacer. We both chuckled at the odd sight, before I realised it might be the one I need. It became less funny when we edged past and ID'd it as 142080. Certainly wouldn't be getting that unit today, if at all now! I turned my attention towards looking for my last handful of 143's instead.
We made our way to Queen Street, taking 150267 from Radyr to Cathys, where following shortly behind was 142076 to take us through to Queen Street.
Double winners next, 150230 leading 143624 to Cardiff Central. 142002 brought us back. We now were ready for tea, and Five Guys at Cardiff Bay was the target. It also gave us the opportunity to do the shuttle unit, which we had already seen from a distance and knew it was a 142. Neither of us required 142082, but it was the first time either of us had seen anything other than a 153 on this line.
We decided to split up at this point, my mate needed more units than me, whereas I had only seen two I needed and they'd both gone up the Valleys. Rather than do a series of short hops on unrequired units, I decided to venture out a bit further from Cardiff. I took 143602 from Queen Street, enjoying my delightful burger on board. I was unsure whether to bail at Aber or Llanbradach, but I rolled the dice and went for the latter. It was comfortable +3 or thereabouts in the end at Llanbradach. As hoped, winner 143614 lead 143609 'Sir Tom' for the return journey.
143614 Llanbradach 28/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I stayed on back to Queen Street, as I now had to switch lines to go catch another required one I had seen. I joined 142010 & 142083 on a Treherbert service. I'd never been beyond Radyr before, and the scenery was enjoyable. Unfortunately, I had to leave at Treforrest in order to safely make the connection with my required unit. I had 10 minutes to grab a bottle of Liptons Iced Tea from the local shop before returning to jump on 143605, leaving just 143616 (and 142080, preferably both halves...) to clear the Welsh pacers.
I only stayed on to Taffs Well, as I spotted a following service so figured I might as well tick off another shack. Dud 150259 was following.
150259 Taffs Well 28/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Rather than stay on the dud 150 all the way back to Central, I used it to get back to Radyr where winner 153323 was sat in platform 3 waiting to leave with the city line stopper.
I met back up with my mate at Cardiff Central, who had done well and got down to only 142073 to clear the Welsh 142's. We were finished with Cardiff, not wanting to burn out on the first day. As we had a bit of time before our train, we took the opportunity to pick up our Freedom of Severn & Solent rovers from the ticket office ready for the next day.
We made our way to the platform for the Ebbw Vale train and were surprised to find 175116 waiting for us. In reality, a 150 would have been preferable - it was way too hot on board, the air-con either broken or ineffective. Even so, we stayed on past Pye Corner to Rogerstone, a winner shack for my mate. I needed a photo too, as last time I came here last November it was pitch black and below freezing...
175116 Rogerstone 28/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Some youths were using the car park as a rugby/football court – but other than them and a couple of others who left our train, it was just us waiting for the Cardiff bound train. Not long later, winner 150236 arrived to take us back to Pye Corner and cap off an enjoyable first day.
Our hotel was just a few miles away in the 5-star resort of Magor, a conveniently located base for the next three nights. It was very cheap, and being located next to a service station meant a quick breakfast was in easy reach. The room was unremarkable, but fine for our requirements.
Day summary:
150257 PYE-RCA
150262 RCA-CDF
153327 CDF-CDQ
142085 & 150217 CDQ-CDF
153353 CDF-RDR
150267 RDR-CYS
142076 CYS-CDQ
150230 & 143624 CDQ-CDF
142002 CDF-CDQ
142082 CDQ-CDB
142082 CDB-CDQ
143602 CDQ-LNB
143614 & 143609 LNB-CDQ
142010 & 142083 CDQ-TRF
143605 TRF-TAF
150259 TAF-RDR
153323 RDR-CDF
175116 CDF-ROR
150236 ROR-PYE
4 new stations: Llanbradach, Risca & Pontymister, Taffs Well, Treforest
12 new units: 3x 143, 5x 150, 3x 153, 1x 175
11 dud units: 7x 142, 2x 143, 2x 150
Day mileage: 89 miles
Days 2, 3 & 4, where we venture much further afield, to follow!
It felt like an age since we planned it, but the day had finally arrived. The main part of the trip would be a Freedom of Seven & Solent 3 in 7 day rover, but with an afternoon in Cardiff on the first day. My mate drove us to Pye Corner station, and we arrived ahead of schedule after a smooth run down taking around three hours. Instead of waiting for the Cardiff train, we took 150257 to Risca & Pontymister to meet the Cardiff train there. This was another winner, 150262.
150262 Risca & Pontymister 28/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We took this all the way to Cardiff Central. We spent a bit of time here watching for required units, I had my eyes firmly peeled for my last ATW 142 (142080). My mate needed 4 of them, but before long our patience ran out and we boarded 153327 to Cardiff Queen Street. We returned the same way on dud 142085 & winner 150217.
We made a bit of an error next – spotting another required 153 on one of the other City Line service, we took 153353 to Radyr. This was quite a slow move on the stopper, and with no reasonable connections at any of the intermediate stations (to wait for the same unit back), we had no option but to take it all the way. We slowly edged around Canton depot, where I spotted half a pacer. We both chuckled at the odd sight, before I realised it might be the one I need. It became less funny when we edged past and ID'd it as 142080. Certainly wouldn't be getting that unit today, if at all now! I turned my attention towards looking for my last handful of 143's instead.
We made our way to Queen Street, taking 150267 from Radyr to Cathys, where following shortly behind was 142076 to take us through to Queen Street.
Double winners next, 150230 leading 143624 to Cardiff Central. 142002 brought us back. We now were ready for tea, and Five Guys at Cardiff Bay was the target. It also gave us the opportunity to do the shuttle unit, which we had already seen from a distance and knew it was a 142. Neither of us required 142082, but it was the first time either of us had seen anything other than a 153 on this line.
We decided to split up at this point, my mate needed more units than me, whereas I had only seen two I needed and they'd both gone up the Valleys. Rather than do a series of short hops on unrequired units, I decided to venture out a bit further from Cardiff. I took 143602 from Queen Street, enjoying my delightful burger on board. I was unsure whether to bail at Aber or Llanbradach, but I rolled the dice and went for the latter. It was comfortable +3 or thereabouts in the end at Llanbradach. As hoped, winner 143614 lead 143609 'Sir Tom' for the return journey.
143614 Llanbradach 28/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
I stayed on back to Queen Street, as I now had to switch lines to go catch another required one I had seen. I joined 142010 & 142083 on a Treherbert service. I'd never been beyond Radyr before, and the scenery was enjoyable. Unfortunately, I had to leave at Treforrest in order to safely make the connection with my required unit. I had 10 minutes to grab a bottle of Liptons Iced Tea from the local shop before returning to jump on 143605, leaving just 143616 (and 142080, preferably both halves...) to clear the Welsh pacers.
I only stayed on to Taffs Well, as I spotted a following service so figured I might as well tick off another shack. Dud 150259 was following.
150259 Taffs Well 28/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Rather than stay on the dud 150 all the way back to Central, I used it to get back to Radyr where winner 153323 was sat in platform 3 waiting to leave with the city line stopper.
I met back up with my mate at Cardiff Central, who had done well and got down to only 142073 to clear the Welsh 142's. We were finished with Cardiff, not wanting to burn out on the first day. As we had a bit of time before our train, we took the opportunity to pick up our Freedom of Severn & Solent rovers from the ticket office ready for the next day.
We made our way to the platform for the Ebbw Vale train and were surprised to find 175116 waiting for us. In reality, a 150 would have been preferable - it was way too hot on board, the air-con either broken or ineffective. Even so, we stayed on past Pye Corner to Rogerstone, a winner shack for my mate. I needed a photo too, as last time I came here last November it was pitch black and below freezing...
175116 Rogerstone 28/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Some youths were using the car park as a rugby/football court – but other than them and a couple of others who left our train, it was just us waiting for the Cardiff bound train. Not long later, winner 150236 arrived to take us back to Pye Corner and cap off an enjoyable first day.
Our hotel was just a few miles away in the 5-star resort of Magor, a conveniently located base for the next three nights. It was very cheap, and being located next to a service station meant a quick breakfast was in easy reach. The room was unremarkable, but fine for our requirements.
Day summary:
150257 PYE-RCA
150262 RCA-CDF
153327 CDF-CDQ
142085 & 150217 CDQ-CDF
153353 CDF-RDR
150267 RDR-CYS
142076 CYS-CDQ
150230 & 143624 CDQ-CDF
142002 CDF-CDQ
142082 CDQ-CDB
142082 CDB-CDQ
143602 CDQ-LNB
143614 & 143609 LNB-CDQ
142010 & 142083 CDQ-TRF
143605 TRF-TAF
150259 TAF-RDR
153323 RDR-CDF
175116 CDF-ROR
150236 ROR-PYE
4 new stations: Llanbradach, Risca & Pontymister, Taffs Well, Treforest
12 new units: 3x 143, 5x 150, 3x 153, 1x 175
11 dud units: 7x 142, 2x 143, 2x 150
Day mileage: 89 miles
Days 2, 3 & 4, where we venture much further afield, to follow!
Kite159
Veteran Member
A good day in the Cardiff area.
ash39
Established Member
- Joined
- 8 Feb 2012
- Messages
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Freedom of Severn & Solent – Tuesday 29th May 2018
After a reasonable sleep, we were up at 0730. A crossaint and iced cappuccino were purchased from Costa in the service station next door, and after a quick fuel fill up we were on our way to winner shack Severn Tunnel Junction. Unusually for us, we arrived around 30 minutes early! Parking all day was a reasonable £4.
A slight delay to the Cardiff-Portsmouth service meant it was now valid on our ticket (just...) - double winners started us off – 150234 & 158959. I’d never seen a 150 with plug sockets before, the GWR refurbishment certainly puts Northern & ATW’s 150’s to shame. The racket through the open windows going through Severn Tunnel soon reminded us what we were on though. We got off at Filton Abbey Wood. It wouldn't be the last we'd see of this unit, or station, over the coming days...
158959 Filton Abbey Wood 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
166208 was then taken through to the other side of Bristol, to third shack of the day Parsons Street. 168209 then took us back the other way to Bristol Temple Meads. This station had bugged me for a while - I'd visited on a work trip in 2014, a few months before I started properly recording my journeys. I was glad to tick it off properly.
We did have a plan for the day, but when we put together the plan we were working on the basis of starting form Newport, so we were ahead of schedule until now. We had time for one more bonus move, taking 150243 to Nailsea & Backwell. Both 150’s so far today were dud for my mate, despite him only having had the same two prior to today. Got to be honest, made me feel better about my last Welsh 142 being split in half and dumped in a siding!
A delay worked in our favour here, as we could now catch a Paington-Paddington HST back to Bristol rather than a unit. Though it made for a tight connection in Bristol, we both agreed the HST was the way to go. There’s a novelty to catching HST’s from small stations, it reminded us of waiting for East Midlands HST's at places like Langley Mill & Long Eaton.
Green 43004 was leading, and helpfully we didn’t have to worry about identifying the rear power car when we got off as it was Intercity Swallow liveried 43185.
43004 Nailsea & Backwell 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Once on the move, the train manager announced that due to the delay (which was now around 30 minutes), the service would now be running fast to Reading. This was fine for us, as we were planning to switch HST’s at Bristol anyway and we now had the assurance it would be held. On the way into Bristol we spotted 150234, which we had taken from Severn Tunnel Junction on our first move of the day. We thought it would be unlikely for all 5 cars to run to Portsmouth, so it had obviously split at Bristol.
We paced under the subway to platform 15 to board our ‘new’ HST. Even though we had power walked over and boarded pretty quickly, the doors were locked shortly after we boarded. There must have been some passengers with children or heavy luggage who would have unfortunately been left behind, not to mention any headphone wearing passengers who wouldn't have heard the announcements...
Obviously we had no idea what we were on, and it wasn’t until we alighted at Chippenham that we learnt it was dud 43176 leading winner 43030. To get a dud from the handful of GWR power cars I had previously ticked off is pretty bad luck, but I had three days to hopefully pick up some more.
We had a short wait here before 150219 took us to Trowbridge. The guard was surprised we’d already filled out the dates on our FOSS ticket for the next 3 days. We must not have looked like honest people!
Bailing at Trowbridge was a good move as following closely behind was 166213 to take us to Westbury. Westbury was another station I’d previously visited previously, but by car not rail. We had a while here, planned deliberately as we wanted to see what locos were in the yard. In the end we had even longer as our next train was 25 minutes behind schedule. With no real amenities to speak of nearby, we visited the station buffet, which wasn’t much of a buffet as it turned out. I settled for a flapjack to keep me going until something better could be found.
The heavens opened whilst we were here. We managed to see 66775, 66186 and 59002 come through the station, the 59 just in the nick of time before our HST arrived in the form of 43165 & 43164.
59002 Westbury 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We were originally meant to be going to Taunton, but not for the first time today the delay had worked in our favour as we now could make a reasonable connection at Castle Cary, where normally it would be a long wait for a return.
43164 Castle Cary 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
My mate spotted a sandwich van just outside the station entrance. He ordered a toastie, which made me a bit nervous. We have a standing joke that whenever he orders a panini when we're about to catch a train, it ends up taking so long we miss the train. He ordered my bacon roll for me, so I stood under the canopy on the platform to keep out of the rain - the sandwich van was busy and although it had an awning, there wasn't much space under it.
We were down to around 2 minutes to go when he finally showed up with the sandwiches. Relieved, we boarded 43028 & 43155 back to Westbury. It was a busy train, but we got a pair of backwards facing airline seats and ate our sandwiches en route. A solid 9/10 for the bacon roll, but not the quickest service!
We had a tight connection at Westbury, made worse because my mate had to dash to the front of the HST to check the power car. We had seen it pass us at Castle Cary but the distraction of the sandwiches meant we both forgot it.
Luckily there had been a platform change, and it was now cross platform rather than under the underpass. 158952 was ready to go, and it was the first internally refurbished GWR 158 I had seen. It looked nice but unfortunately we never sat down, as we followed the guard to the front of the train to alight at Dilton Marsh, which was local door only. At a guess the platform was no longer than 25m!
158952 Dilton Marsh 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Dilton Marsh is a request stop, but there were at least a dozen people waiting to board 166210. This time we stayed on past Westbury to Freshford. This was a lovely remote station, no civilisation in sight other than some impressive looking houses up in the hills. We spent the time looking at a mural someone had created in memory of their son. It was an interesting piece with coloured squares for each day of the year, with the colours representing treatment/physiotherapy that he had on those days. It was a fascinating story, but being the pedants that we are, we couldn't help noticing there were more than 365 squares...
Around 10 minutes later, 166206 arrived to take us back the way we came, this time bailing at Bradford-on-Avon. We planned a steady connection here onto a SWR service, but as we crossed to the other platform there was a late running GWR 158 about to leave. We jumped on without giving it much thought, before realising it was dud from the first trip of the day, 158959.
This didn’t turn out to be a bad move, as we arrived at Bath Spa ahead of our plan, and the plan from here was pretty open ended. We decided it’d be a good time to get to Swindon, and a few minutes after we arrived we were on our way there. My mate had his first IET experience, 800033 was paired with 800017. Swindon was also a required station, my 15th of the day.
We saw a bit of freight activity whilst waiting for our next train. 66198 was reversing with a set of steel wagons (driver on a walkie-talkie!), and 66507 came through on the middle road with an intermodal.
We decided a longer run was in order, to get us to a different area. To that end, and following the same ‘HST to a small station’ logic that applied to our Nailsea & Backwell move earlier in the day, we took 43086 & 43175 for 52 miles to Yatton.
We were due a dud 166 by now, having spent a bit of time on this line earlier in the day. Sure enough, blue 166209 was next up to take us to the next station down the line, Worle.
We now only needed Bedminster and Weston Milton to clear the intermediate stops between Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare. We took 166207, our sixth 166 of the day, down the single track line to Weston Milton.
We had time to get tea here, and walked to the nearby Sainsbury’s. We didn't know before we arrived, but Weston Milton is famous for having the slowest pelican crossing in the UK. Eventually, after the usual indecision I suffer when faced with vast selection of average food, a pot of spicy chicken pasta was chosen. I consumed it back in the shelter at the station, as it had began to rain again. It was pretty uninspiring and not particularly spicy. We saw a HST heading towards Weston-super-Mare, it looked odd on the single track section.
43131 Weston Milton 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We had an iffy plan to catch it back out on its return to London, but everything seemed to be delayed by a few minutes and it wasn’t clear which order things would move up & down the branch. In the end, winner 166211 showed up first heading back to Bristol, so we jumped on.
We both decided doing Bedminster to fill the gap would be a good idea, and there was a train leaving Temple Meads shortly after we arrived. Immediately we threw this plan out of the window, as we saw a green 150 on the next platform. Nothing remarkable about that, but when we walked around the corner we found it had three 153’s attached to the front of it! So, an absolute first for me, quadruple winners 153372, 153368, 153325 & 150244 ! We only just caught it, and didn’t know for certain where it was heading. It turned out it was going to Gloucester.
We had a potential connection at Yate, but we were running slightly late which made the connection precarious so we played it safe and left the train at Bristol Parkway.
Earlier in the day we were 90% sure we had seen a 3-car 150 pass us at speed heading towards Cardiff. We tried to follow its movements to see if we could catch it later in the day. It was due at Patchway in the next half an hour, so we took 158763, one of the three GWR 2-car 158’s, to Filton Abbey Wood.
A short leap on dud 166207 round the curve past the new Hitachi depot took us to Patchway, where if we were correct, a 3-car 150 would be joining us shortly. Our eyes hadn’t deceived us, 150001 was the unit we had seen earlier in the day. We jumped on, but didn’t fancy going back into Bristol again, so just took it back round the curve to Filton Abbey Wood. Even on the short journey, the unit showed one of its quirks as the guard tried to open the doors from the centre car, before realising there was no door release panel.
We were now planning our route home, but we still had time to get Yate after all. It was now an hour later, and this time the connection looked safe. 166204 took us to Yate. Rather than being a tight connection, it was return that was delayed this time, so we ended up with a +20.
We knew our train would be the the return working of the one we took out of Temple Meads earlier, but we didn’t know exactly which part of it would come back. We expected 150244 and maybe 153325, but it was actually the middle two 153’s which turned up. The train had been split into three. Pink 153325 made for a fetching sight arriving at Yate.
153325 Yate 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We were calling it a day now, and bailed at Bristol Parkway for a HST back into Wales. Dud 43188 leading winner 43097. It didn’t stop at Severn Tunnel Junction, but we took it to Newport to jump back on another service. With perfect timing, 66015 passed through on a steel train in the fading light.
175007 & 66015 Newport 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Same as the previous day, it was a winner ATW 150 to finish on, 150213, on Maesteg-Cheltenham service. Incidentally, this last train was the only train of the day that wasn't a GWR service.
We were back in the hotel before 10pm, and stuck the TV on for a bit whilst we worked out our itinerary for the next day. We knew we were heading for Devon, but the details were still being worked out. I let my mate do the planning whilst I got up to date with the trip report. It was turning out to be quite a task with so many moves. A successful day though, as you can see below!
Day summary:
150234 & 158959 STJ-FIT
166208 FIT-PSN
166209 PSN-BRI
150243 BRI-NLS
43004 & 43185 NLS–BRI
43176 & 43030 BRI–CPM
150219 CPM–TRO
166213 TRO–WSB
43165 & 43164 WSB-CLC
43028 & 43155 CLC-WSB
158952 WSB–DMH
166210 DMH-FFD
166206 FFD-BOA
158959 BOA-BTH
800033 & 800017 BTH-SWI
43086 & 43175 SWI-YAT
166209 YAT-WOR
166207 WOR-WNM
166211 WMN-BRI
153372, 153368, 153325 & 150244 BRI-BPW
158763 BPW-FIT
166207 FIT- PWY
150001 PWY-FIT
166204 FIT- YAE
153325 & 153368 YAE-BPW
43188 & 43097 BPW-NWP
150213 NWP-STJ
20 new stations: Bath Spa, Bradford-on-Avon, Bristol Parkway, Bristol Temple Meads, Castle Cary, Chippenham, Dilton Marsh, Freshford, Filton Abbey Wood, Nailsea & Backwell, Parsons Green, Patchway, Trowbridge, Severn Tunnel Junction, Swindon, Westbury, Weston Milton, Worle, Yate, Yatton
32 new units/power cars: 10x HST, 6x 150, 3x 153, 3x 158, 8x 166, 2x 800
7 dud units/power cars: 2x HST, 2x 153, 1x 158, 2x 166
Day mileage: 303 miles
After a reasonable sleep, we were up at 0730. A crossaint and iced cappuccino were purchased from Costa in the service station next door, and after a quick fuel fill up we were on our way to winner shack Severn Tunnel Junction. Unusually for us, we arrived around 30 minutes early! Parking all day was a reasonable £4.
A slight delay to the Cardiff-Portsmouth service meant it was now valid on our ticket (just...) - double winners started us off – 150234 & 158959. I’d never seen a 150 with plug sockets before, the GWR refurbishment certainly puts Northern & ATW’s 150’s to shame. The racket through the open windows going through Severn Tunnel soon reminded us what we were on though. We got off at Filton Abbey Wood. It wouldn't be the last we'd see of this unit, or station, over the coming days...
158959 Filton Abbey Wood 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
166208 was then taken through to the other side of Bristol, to third shack of the day Parsons Street. 168209 then took us back the other way to Bristol Temple Meads. This station had bugged me for a while - I'd visited on a work trip in 2014, a few months before I started properly recording my journeys. I was glad to tick it off properly.
We did have a plan for the day, but when we put together the plan we were working on the basis of starting form Newport, so we were ahead of schedule until now. We had time for one more bonus move, taking 150243 to Nailsea & Backwell. Both 150’s so far today were dud for my mate, despite him only having had the same two prior to today. Got to be honest, made me feel better about my last Welsh 142 being split in half and dumped in a siding!
A delay worked in our favour here, as we could now catch a Paington-Paddington HST back to Bristol rather than a unit. Though it made for a tight connection in Bristol, we both agreed the HST was the way to go. There’s a novelty to catching HST’s from small stations, it reminded us of waiting for East Midlands HST's at places like Langley Mill & Long Eaton.
Green 43004 was leading, and helpfully we didn’t have to worry about identifying the rear power car when we got off as it was Intercity Swallow liveried 43185.
43004 Nailsea & Backwell 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Once on the move, the train manager announced that due to the delay (which was now around 30 minutes), the service would now be running fast to Reading. This was fine for us, as we were planning to switch HST’s at Bristol anyway and we now had the assurance it would be held. On the way into Bristol we spotted 150234, which we had taken from Severn Tunnel Junction on our first move of the day. We thought it would be unlikely for all 5 cars to run to Portsmouth, so it had obviously split at Bristol.
We paced under the subway to platform 15 to board our ‘new’ HST. Even though we had power walked over and boarded pretty quickly, the doors were locked shortly after we boarded. There must have been some passengers with children or heavy luggage who would have unfortunately been left behind, not to mention any headphone wearing passengers who wouldn't have heard the announcements...
Obviously we had no idea what we were on, and it wasn’t until we alighted at Chippenham that we learnt it was dud 43176 leading winner 43030. To get a dud from the handful of GWR power cars I had previously ticked off is pretty bad luck, but I had three days to hopefully pick up some more.
We had a short wait here before 150219 took us to Trowbridge. The guard was surprised we’d already filled out the dates on our FOSS ticket for the next 3 days. We must not have looked like honest people!
Bailing at Trowbridge was a good move as following closely behind was 166213 to take us to Westbury. Westbury was another station I’d previously visited previously, but by car not rail. We had a while here, planned deliberately as we wanted to see what locos were in the yard. In the end we had even longer as our next train was 25 minutes behind schedule. With no real amenities to speak of nearby, we visited the station buffet, which wasn’t much of a buffet as it turned out. I settled for a flapjack to keep me going until something better could be found.
The heavens opened whilst we were here. We managed to see 66775, 66186 and 59002 come through the station, the 59 just in the nick of time before our HST arrived in the form of 43165 & 43164.
59002 Westbury 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We were originally meant to be going to Taunton, but not for the first time today the delay had worked in our favour as we now could make a reasonable connection at Castle Cary, where normally it would be a long wait for a return.
43164 Castle Cary 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
My mate spotted a sandwich van just outside the station entrance. He ordered a toastie, which made me a bit nervous. We have a standing joke that whenever he orders a panini when we're about to catch a train, it ends up taking so long we miss the train. He ordered my bacon roll for me, so I stood under the canopy on the platform to keep out of the rain - the sandwich van was busy and although it had an awning, there wasn't much space under it.
We were down to around 2 minutes to go when he finally showed up with the sandwiches. Relieved, we boarded 43028 & 43155 back to Westbury. It was a busy train, but we got a pair of backwards facing airline seats and ate our sandwiches en route. A solid 9/10 for the bacon roll, but not the quickest service!
We had a tight connection at Westbury, made worse because my mate had to dash to the front of the HST to check the power car. We had seen it pass us at Castle Cary but the distraction of the sandwiches meant we both forgot it.
Luckily there had been a platform change, and it was now cross platform rather than under the underpass. 158952 was ready to go, and it was the first internally refurbished GWR 158 I had seen. It looked nice but unfortunately we never sat down, as we followed the guard to the front of the train to alight at Dilton Marsh, which was local door only. At a guess the platform was no longer than 25m!
158952 Dilton Marsh 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Dilton Marsh is a request stop, but there were at least a dozen people waiting to board 166210. This time we stayed on past Westbury to Freshford. This was a lovely remote station, no civilisation in sight other than some impressive looking houses up in the hills. We spent the time looking at a mural someone had created in memory of their son. It was an interesting piece with coloured squares for each day of the year, with the colours representing treatment/physiotherapy that he had on those days. It was a fascinating story, but being the pedants that we are, we couldn't help noticing there were more than 365 squares...
Around 10 minutes later, 166206 arrived to take us back the way we came, this time bailing at Bradford-on-Avon. We planned a steady connection here onto a SWR service, but as we crossed to the other platform there was a late running GWR 158 about to leave. We jumped on without giving it much thought, before realising it was dud from the first trip of the day, 158959.
This didn’t turn out to be a bad move, as we arrived at Bath Spa ahead of our plan, and the plan from here was pretty open ended. We decided it’d be a good time to get to Swindon, and a few minutes after we arrived we were on our way there. My mate had his first IET experience, 800033 was paired with 800017. Swindon was also a required station, my 15th of the day.
We saw a bit of freight activity whilst waiting for our next train. 66198 was reversing with a set of steel wagons (driver on a walkie-talkie!), and 66507 came through on the middle road with an intermodal.
We decided a longer run was in order, to get us to a different area. To that end, and following the same ‘HST to a small station’ logic that applied to our Nailsea & Backwell move earlier in the day, we took 43086 & 43175 for 52 miles to Yatton.
We were due a dud 166 by now, having spent a bit of time on this line earlier in the day. Sure enough, blue 166209 was next up to take us to the next station down the line, Worle.
We now only needed Bedminster and Weston Milton to clear the intermediate stops between Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare. We took 166207, our sixth 166 of the day, down the single track line to Weston Milton.
We had time to get tea here, and walked to the nearby Sainsbury’s. We didn't know before we arrived, but Weston Milton is famous for having the slowest pelican crossing in the UK. Eventually, after the usual indecision I suffer when faced with vast selection of average food, a pot of spicy chicken pasta was chosen. I consumed it back in the shelter at the station, as it had began to rain again. It was pretty uninspiring and not particularly spicy. We saw a HST heading towards Weston-super-Mare, it looked odd on the single track section.
43131 Weston Milton 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We had an iffy plan to catch it back out on its return to London, but everything seemed to be delayed by a few minutes and it wasn’t clear which order things would move up & down the branch. In the end, winner 166211 showed up first heading back to Bristol, so we jumped on.
We both decided doing Bedminster to fill the gap would be a good idea, and there was a train leaving Temple Meads shortly after we arrived. Immediately we threw this plan out of the window, as we saw a green 150 on the next platform. Nothing remarkable about that, but when we walked around the corner we found it had three 153’s attached to the front of it! So, an absolute first for me, quadruple winners 153372, 153368, 153325 & 150244 ! We only just caught it, and didn’t know for certain where it was heading. It turned out it was going to Gloucester.
We had a potential connection at Yate, but we were running slightly late which made the connection precarious so we played it safe and left the train at Bristol Parkway.
Earlier in the day we were 90% sure we had seen a 3-car 150 pass us at speed heading towards Cardiff. We tried to follow its movements to see if we could catch it later in the day. It was due at Patchway in the next half an hour, so we took 158763, one of the three GWR 2-car 158’s, to Filton Abbey Wood.
A short leap on dud 166207 round the curve past the new Hitachi depot took us to Patchway, where if we were correct, a 3-car 150 would be joining us shortly. Our eyes hadn’t deceived us, 150001 was the unit we had seen earlier in the day. We jumped on, but didn’t fancy going back into Bristol again, so just took it back round the curve to Filton Abbey Wood. Even on the short journey, the unit showed one of its quirks as the guard tried to open the doors from the centre car, before realising there was no door release panel.
We were now planning our route home, but we still had time to get Yate after all. It was now an hour later, and this time the connection looked safe. 166204 took us to Yate. Rather than being a tight connection, it was return that was delayed this time, so we ended up with a +20.
We knew our train would be the the return working of the one we took out of Temple Meads earlier, but we didn’t know exactly which part of it would come back. We expected 150244 and maybe 153325, but it was actually the middle two 153’s which turned up. The train had been split into three. Pink 153325 made for a fetching sight arriving at Yate.
153325 Yate 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
We were calling it a day now, and bailed at Bristol Parkway for a HST back into Wales. Dud 43188 leading winner 43097. It didn’t stop at Severn Tunnel Junction, but we took it to Newport to jump back on another service. With perfect timing, 66015 passed through on a steel train in the fading light.
175007 & 66015 Newport 29/05/2018 by Flash 3939, on Flickr
Same as the previous day, it was a winner ATW 150 to finish on, 150213, on Maesteg-Cheltenham service. Incidentally, this last train was the only train of the day that wasn't a GWR service.
We were back in the hotel before 10pm, and stuck the TV on for a bit whilst we worked out our itinerary for the next day. We knew we were heading for Devon, but the details were still being worked out. I let my mate do the planning whilst I got up to date with the trip report. It was turning out to be quite a task with so many moves. A successful day though, as you can see below!
Day summary:
150234 & 158959 STJ-FIT
166208 FIT-PSN
166209 PSN-BRI
150243 BRI-NLS
43004 & 43185 NLS–BRI
43176 & 43030 BRI–CPM
150219 CPM–TRO
166213 TRO–WSB
43165 & 43164 WSB-CLC
43028 & 43155 CLC-WSB
158952 WSB–DMH
166210 DMH-FFD
166206 FFD-BOA
158959 BOA-BTH
800033 & 800017 BTH-SWI
43086 & 43175 SWI-YAT
166209 YAT-WOR
166207 WOR-WNM
166211 WMN-BRI
153372, 153368, 153325 & 150244 BRI-BPW
158763 BPW-FIT
166207 FIT- PWY
150001 PWY-FIT
166204 FIT- YAE
153325 & 153368 YAE-BPW
43188 & 43097 BPW-NWP
150213 NWP-STJ
20 new stations: Bath Spa, Bradford-on-Avon, Bristol Parkway, Bristol Temple Meads, Castle Cary, Chippenham, Dilton Marsh, Freshford, Filton Abbey Wood, Nailsea & Backwell, Parsons Green, Patchway, Trowbridge, Severn Tunnel Junction, Swindon, Westbury, Weston Milton, Worle, Yate, Yatton
32 new units/power cars: 10x HST, 6x 150, 3x 153, 3x 158, 8x 166, 2x 800
7 dud units/power cars: 2x HST, 2x 153, 1x 158, 2x 166
Day mileage: 303 miles
Kite159
Veteran Member
A very productive day in the FOSS area
47403
Established Member
FINALLY I've caught up with this thread. Some excellent reading there ash.
Shame about that required bouncing bomb being in half on Canton. However you seem to have more than made up for it. You've certainly had some very.productive days.
The FoSS is an excellent Rover, thoroughly enjoyed mine when I done one and wouldn't mind doing another, after reading your trip report. Hope it opens the barriers, only place mine worked the barriers was Newport and I sincerely hope you dont get the numpty on the barriers i did at Southampton.
Looking forward to reading the rest.
Shame about that required bouncing bomb being in half on Canton. However you seem to have more than made up for it. You've certainly had some very.productive days.
The FoSS is an excellent Rover, thoroughly enjoyed mine when I done one and wouldn't mind doing another, after reading your trip report. Hope it opens the barriers, only place mine worked the barriers was Newport and I sincerely hope you dont get the numpty on the barriers i did at Southampton.
Looking forward to reading the rest.
Dhassell
Member
- Joined
- 22 Mar 2015
- Messages
- 1,011
Sounds like a good day in Cardiff and a good start to the FoSS! Welcome to my local area of Weston as well :P
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