Back on the platform

[Kite159]

I'm pleased to say that I've never had a voyager between Banbury and Oxford so have just timed it for the GWR or, if more convenient, done the short walk across Bicester between North and Village. Neither are a huge hardship to be honest but it is a bit of a pain.

Short mile walk, making sure you can time it right as not all the services from Birmingham call at Bicester North

 

[palmersears]

Yeah I've actually been thinking about where to go next and the only places that came to mind for large volume winners are, as you say, the London termini and maybe Scotland? I have still got to eat into the Northern and Merseyrail stuff which I've earmarked a Cheshire Day ranger for trips around Manchester and Liverpool. Sheffield and Leeds are on the cards as well, purely to bag the 20s out on RHTT duty and because I keep being told that Leeds will keep me busy.

London, if you get a long day in (which is perfectly doable from Stafford), could easily net you 250 winners, if not more. Clapham Junction and London Bridge alone might get you near that. My first trip down there in 2016 produced 168 winners in just 7 hours, easily beatable with planning and more time.

I despised every single second of getting Merseyreail units. Long festers underground, absolutely no variation in stock types and almost nothing to really do to break the monotony save for a wee trip out to Bidston passed Birkenhead depot. On the plus side, it's one you can do when the weather is rubbish in January as most platforms underground are nice and warm.

 

[The_Train]

Seems like that was a fruitful visit to Reading there weren't many turbos kicking about there did you get to see the 2 turbos on the Basingstoke's

I logged 27 sightings and 16 of those were winners, the rest being repeats through the day. I picked up those on the Basingstoke turn. The 387s were certainly more prominent than the turbos

 

[The_Train]

London, if you get a long day in (which is perfectly doable from Stafford), could easily net you 250 winners, if not more. Clapham Junction and London Bridge alone might get you near that. My first trip down there in 2016 produced 168 winners in just 7 hours, easily beatable with planning and more time.

I despised every single second of getting Merseyreail units. Long festers underground, absolutely no variation in stock types and almost nothing to really do to break the monotony save for a wee trip out to Bidston passed Birkenhead depot. On the plus side, it's one you can do when the weather is rubbish in January as most platforms underground are nice and warm.

A long day to London is certainly doable. My concern now is the fact that very soon darkness is going to be falling at 4pm and that this is going to make larger stations with lots of platforms almost impossible to spot at into the evening time.

Good suggestion re Liverpool and that kind of works well with what I've said above

 

[03_179]

Looks like a superb day out mate.

387166 the last GWR 387 I need. That plus 302 on c2c and that's them all seen.

 

[The_Train]

I was surprised at how many of the 387s I saw in one outing but they seemed to be everywhere.

Glad I didn't do Reading today....sounds like it's been fun down there

 

[Skymonster]

Seems like the whole day in Biscuit Town was rather profitable in the end - good stuff. Next up will need to be London if you want to maintain the same rate of progress. Or for a cheaper but still very impactful day out Manchester and / or Leeds should both net you around 100+ (more if you note the Metrolink trams at Manchester Victoria) given how many Northern and Trans Pennine Express units you have to go at...

 

[The_Train]

Seems like the whole day in Biscuit Town was rather profitable in the end - good stuff. Next up will need to be London if you want to maintain the same rate of progress. Or for a cheaper but still very impactful day out Manchester and / or Leeds should both net you around 100+ (more if you note the Metrolink trams at Manchester Victoria) given how many Northern and Trans Pennine Express units you have to go at...

I'm currently thinking Sheffield and Leeds using the South Pennines Day Ranger, I'm just struggling to find a decent and cheap way of getting into that particular rangers area. Stockport seems to be my closest and most direct station in the area but it would be better if I could find a way from here to the relevant area for around a tenner

 

[03_179]

Have a look at https://www.splitticketing.com/ it might be of help

 

[The_Train]

Have a look at https://www.splitticketing.com/ it might be of help

I always do split ticketing. I use trainsplit for that and it's been handy in a good saving for my Donny trip and a superb saving for Reading. However, a trip from Stafford to Stockport (to get into the ranger area) is not throwing any significant savings at the monent

 

[palmersears]

A long day to London is certainly doable. My concern now is the fact that very soon darkness is going to be falling at 4pm and that this is going to make larger stations with lots of platforms almost impossible to spot at into the evening time.

Depends where you go. The likes of West Hampstead Thameslink (EMT/Thameslink), Marylebone (Chiltern), West Ham (c2c) and East Croydon (Southern/Thameslink) are all perfectly doable when dark, if a little cold.

 

[The_Train]

Depends where you go. The likes of West Hampstead Thameslink (EMT/Thameslink), Marylebone (Chiltern), West Ham (c2c) and East Croydon (Southern/Thameslink) are all perfectly doable when dark, if a little cold.

That's interesting to know then. Maybe a trip to Clapham and London Bridge during daylight hours and maybe finish the day at one of the places you mention?

 

[palmersears]

I always do split ticketing. I use trainsplit for that and it's been handy in a good saving for my Donny trip and a superb saving for Reading. However, a trip from Stafford to Stockport (to get into the ranger area) is not throwing any significant savings at the monent

I've often had to do the reverse to get into ranger areas, I find a return to Stoke combined with a Northern only return using the 323 stopper a decent, if slightly slower, way of doing it. Doesn't always come up on split ticket sites, you'll need to do a bit of manual work, but the Northern tickets can be less than a fiver depending upon when you travel.

 

[palmersears]

That's interesting to know then. Maybe a trip to Clapham and London Bridge during daylight hours and maybe finish the day at one of the places you mention?

All going to depend upon how long you've got and what you want to do (clear as much as possible from a select number of TOCs over fewer sites, or take smaller chunks out of more operators over more sites). You can then come up with endless different plans.

I would suggest you go for the latter to keep things interesting and to avoid getting a bit chilly staying in one place too long. If you're going to do London Bridge and Clapham Junction then you probably don't need to do East Croydon and, to a lesser extent, West Hampstead.

 

[Kite159]

A good place to head within London when it be dark is Blackfriars, you should be able to grab many 700s there (plus if you time it right some peak time extra South Eastern stuff).

Plus the views of the Thames at night time are excellent

 

[The_Train]

Thanks @palmersears and @Kite159, London may be one for the new year now but I will revisit this information when I start to make more definitive plans.

In the meantime.......

Monday 15th October 2018 - Short but sweet at Stafford

A bit of RTT checking revealed an interesting move from Swanage to the East Lancs Railway due through the local on Monday. My research had lead me to believe it may be steam action in the form of 46223 Duchess of Sutherland so I decided to head across to have a gander. I'd also spotted a Wembley to Crewe light engine move and as these had been 92s in recent times I got to the station earlier than planned but was disappointed to find it to be dud 90043 and when dud 66710 followed this on containers from Trafford Park to Felixstowe I was wondering if this short visit was worth the cold and rain.....little did I know.

My luck turned and turned quite dramatically as the next freight action was headed by 66543 working a Ditton to Felixstowe freightliner and as the containers trundled through platform 4, 345051 was caught sneaking quite quickly through the fast lines as it was put through its paces between Crewe and Rugby. Next was what I'd braved the rain for and judging by the numbers at either end of the station my educated guess of steam was proving to be right (even station staff were there armed with their cameras - on their break of course!!) and with a burst of steam on the station approach excitement increased as LMS Princess Coronation Class 6223 (46223) Duchess of Sutherland appeared and was soon steaming through the station
46233 (Class 6233) Duchess of Sutherland passes Stafford by The_Train

That should have been it but there was now a Norwich to Crewe Electric move nearing the area so it was an easy decision to hang around as this had been Anglia 90s in the past. A dud FLR 70 (I think I've seen all of the active ones) came and went before it was indeed an Anglia 90 as winner 90008 arrived with a pleasant surprise in the form of 37605 in tow
Anglia liveried 90008 at Stafford by The_Train
DRS Class 37 37605 paused at Stafford by The_Train

66169 was also a success as it worked empty car wagons from Southampton back up to Halewood and then in a remarkable twist we were hit with a rake of 4 class 66s hauling 1 empty engineering wagon on the afternoon working from Toton to Crewe Basford Hall
A rake of 4 class 66s at Stafford by The_Train

GBRf 66765 was leading FLR 66603, dud FLR 66599 and another winning FLR, 66610 made up this rake and made it 9 winners at the local in the space of 90 minutes or so. Not a bad return if I do say so myself and one that also takes my 66 collection over the 200 mark to 203

 

[Kite159]

Has 37605 been on RHTT duties owing to how filthy it looks?

 

[47403]

Great read Mr Train, Very productive trip, all those IEPs would've been fair game for the book of sights of mine too.
Getting away to places, where you know your going score big time, is always a good feeling, especially when you see the figures afterwards.
Only problem is, you keep looking at the book of sights and you ask yourself, right where can I go next.

 

[The_Train]

Has 37605 been on RHTT duties owing to how filthy it looks?

I couldn't tell you what it's been doing but I can confirm that it was as grubby as I've seen a loco in a long time - the photo probably doesn't do its filth justice. I assume it had been 'piggybacked' onto the 90 movement to Crewe electric as a cost saving and path saving exercise?

 

[The_Train]

Great read Mr Train, Very productive trip, all those IEPs would've been fair game for the book of sights of mine too.
Getting away to places, where you know your going score big time, is always a good feeling, especially when you see the figures afterwards.
Only problem is, you keep looking at the book of sights and you ask yourself, right where can I go next.

Thanks mate, it was certainly a good day out. Certainly on par with Doncaster, and maybe slightly better just for the 2 'celebrity' hst power cars and the fact I got to ride behind a 68.

As you say though, these days out particularly ones which are overly successful just makes you want to get out to even more places. I was plotting my next outing on the journey home from Reading

 

[The_Train]

Just to bring everything up to date, a movement out of the Severn Valley Railway (and the fact we enjoyed some unseasonal warmth) yesterday attracted me back on the platform at the local. It didn't yield much but having seen DR77002 earlier in the day as I drove past the station, I was rewarded with the ex Kidderminster working as we got a bit of steam action in the form of 70000 Britannia heading to Crewe H.S.
BR Standard Class 7 70000 "Britannia" passing Stafford by The_Train

Immediately after the steam, we got the grime as 66051 and 66050 were diverted through Stafford working the Bescot-Bescot RHTT and it is safe to say that they are definitely in need of a good scrub
66050 working a RHTT through Stafford by The_Train

My 3rd and final winner of the day was provided by DB 66129 as it passed by with a rake of loaded car wagons destined for Southampton Docks. I wasn't going to hang around for long but as the weather was nice and I had my book with me, I hung around for a little while but my persistence was not rewarded this time as I was only given duds in the form of 66s, 70s and 90s.

Still another DB shed ticked off and a pleasant sight with the steam engine hammering through the station

 

[The_Train]

Now that I've taken the plunge and upgraded my trainlogger account, I'm also able to see how I'm doing by operator which is helpful in the respect of showing up areas I need to focus on. These are my results since starting up again on 30th May 2018:

(Key: Green = Completed, Orange = above 25%, Red = below 25%)

Freight Companies
Colas Rail - 8/47 - 17%
DB Cargo UK (DBC) - 111/326 - 34%
Direct Rail Services (DRS) - 52/124 - 42%
Freightliner - 112/170 - 66%
GB Railfreight (GBRf) - 57/140 - 41%
Mendip Rail - 4/8 - 50%
Network Rail - 6/31 - 19%

Loco Hire
Boden Engineering - 0/2 - 0%
DCR / BARS - 1/8 - 13%
Europhoenix - 7/14 - 50%
Hanson & Hall Rail Services Solutions - 1/1 - 100%
HNRail - 6/99 - 6%
Locomotive Services Ltd - 4/22 - 18%
Michael Owen Locomotives - 0/6 - 0%
Nemesis Rail - 0/13 - 0%
Railway Support Services - 4/22 - 18%
Riviera Trains - 0/2 - 0%
RMS Locotec (BARS) - 0/17 - 0%
UK Rail Leasing - 2/15 - 13%
West Coast Railways (WCR) - 7/69 - 10%

Passenger Companies
Abellio Greater Anglia - 3/273 - 1%
c2c - 0/80 - 0%
Caledonian Sleeper - 1/15 - 7%
Chiltern Railways - 19/78 - 24%
CrossCountry - 91/97 - 94%
Crossrail - 11/70 - 16%
East Midlands Trains - 57/124 - 46%
Eurostar - 0/74 - 0%
Gatwick Express (GTR) - 0/33 - 0%
Grand Central - 6/10 - 60%
Great Northern (GTR) - 0/119 - 0%
Great Western Railway - 136/336 - 40%
Heathrow Express - 0/14 - 0%
Hull Trains - 3/4 - 75%
LNER - 69/157 - 44%
London Northwestern Railway (WMT) - 77/93 - 83%
London Overground - 0/141 - 0%
Merseyrail - 0/59 - 0%
Northern - 43/436 - 10%
ScotRail - 0/387 - 0%
South Western Railway - 15/418 - 4%
Southeastern Trains - 1/392 - 0%
Southern (GTR) - 0/300 - 0%
TfL Rail - 0/43 - 0%
Thameslink (GTR) - 0/115 - 0%
Trafnidiaeth Cymru / Transport for Wales - 12/128 - 9%
TransPennine Express (First) - 8/74 - 11%
Virgin Trains (West Coast) - 76/76 - 100%
West Midlands Railway (WMT) - 71/91 - 78%

Summary
Clearly I've still got plenty of work to do in the southern areas. Hopefully that will change once I am able to plan a London trip. Merseyrail and Northern should improve when I do the Manchester/Liverpool trip which I intend to do this side of Xmas. Cross Country only requires 4 HST power cars and 3 class 170s - maybe the power cars will make an appearance at Leeds when I get up there.

DBC locos are still to be eaten away at but relatively happy with the progression of the FLR stocks even though it seems the 66/6s are eluding me a little bit. I was a little bit disappointed by the percentage of successes with GBRf as I'd felt I'd ticked a few of these off but it's all been mainly sheds and I need to work through their 60s and 73s of which I've seen none, plus the 92 stocks.

So all in all, still plenty of work ahead of me but a steady start to proceedings

 

[Skymonster]

You didn't go out for 710261 earlier this morning then?

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/K91061/2018/10/19/advanced
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/K91062/2018/10/20/advanced

 

[Mills444]

That's very impressive Mr Train totals for some one still quite new to the scene.
Doing well on the cross rail 345's considering you have not been to London yet

 

[Skymonster]

...but relatively happy with the progression of the FLR stocks even though it seems the 66/6s are eluding me a little bit...

The Freightliner 66/6s are geared for 60mph maximum speed to work heavy haul (mainly aggregates, oil, cement, previously coal etc) and are allocated to the Heavyhaul pool DFHH. The FLR 66/4s, 66/5s and 66/9s are mainly in the DFIM, DFIN and XFIM intermodal pools (container traffic) which run at higher speeds. You won't see a 66/6 on your part of WCML that often because to an extent the flows aren't there, and they are also a bit too slow to fit in with the rest of the traffic. Most likely to see 66/6s in our region on services from/to places like Hope Cement Works (Sheffield-Manchester line)

 

[Skymonster]

Cross Country only requires 4 HST power cars and 3 class 170s - maybe the power cars will make an appearance at Leeds when I get up there.

Cross Country HSTs do indeed serve Leeds but mainly earlier / later in the day - so if you want to catch them make sure you check the diagrams on the 125group website.

 

[The_Train]

You didn't go out for 710261 earlier this morning then?

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/K91061/2018/10/19/advanced
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/K91062/2018/10/20/advanced

I most certainly did not go out to see this
These moves should only be allowed to happen during the day

 

[The_Train]

The Freightliner 66/6s are geared for 60mph maximum speed to work heavy haul (mainly aggregates, oil, cement, previously coal etc) and are allocated to the Heavyhaul pool DFHH. The FLR 66/4s, 66/5s and 66/9s are mainly in the DFIM, DFIN and XFIM intermodal pools (container traffic) which run at higher speeds. You won't see a 66/6 on your part of WCML that often because to an extent the flows aren't there, and they are also a bit too slow to fit in with the rest of the traffic. Most likely to see 66/6s in our region on services from/to places like Hope Cement Works (Sheffield-Manchester line)

Ah yes that would explain it then. My numbers were boosted last week as 2 were part of the rake of 4 sheds that passed through on route to Crewe. Other than that it was 2 at Stafford back in June (I wasn't logging service details then so couldn't tell you what they were doing) and then the other was the one at Small Heath being loaded with aggregate. I will have to chase these ones down then instead of waiting for them to come to me

 

[The_Train]

My next outings will be a planned visit to the local (hopefully on Monday) to see what is next to go on the cars....hopefully an opportunity to nab another 92. This will be followed by a trip to the mecca of my youth, Crewe, for an afternoon appointment which I am sure will allow me a little bit of time at the station afterwards to see what I can pick up.

My next day outing will be Sheffield/Leeds, mainly to have a look at the 20s on RHTT and also to see what all this fuss about Leeds is all about For this I am looking at the South Pennines Day Ranger (£23.80) as the cheapest option but I need to get to Stockport/Manchester to activate this which is costing in the region of £20 for a return from Stafford. Anyone have any better suggestions for this?

After this it will be the Manchester and Liverpool outing using the Cheshire Day Ranger but I've put this back to towards the end of November (thanks to @palmersears suggestion of doing it in the cold because of the nature of the Merseyrail setup)

 

[The_Train]

I've often had to do the reverse to get into ranger areas, I find a return to Stoke combined with a Northern only return using the 323 stopper a decent, if slightly slower, way of doing it. Doesn't always come up on split ticket sites, you'll need to do a bit of manual work, but the Northern tickets can be less than a fiver depending upon when you travel.

I've literally only just seen this post, sorry mate. I'd thought about the cheap Northern stopper but couldn't get it to come up on trainsplit but I will do some manual checks on that as you suggest. Cheers