Back on the platform

[_toommm_]

I get you now. I thought you meant that I wouldn't be able to trace the unit number from the coach numbers but I see what you mean now. I usually just input the coach number into SpotLog and it locates the unit number from that.

Finished my morning stint at Piccadilly and although I don't know winning numbers yet (I've gone old fashioned with pen and paper) there was plenty to see. Wasn't much at Longsight except for a gronk which I couldn't ID and a Mk5 set without a loco.

There's two or three sets there at the moment, but because the 68s haven't been transferred to TPE yet, they're still used for freight work, or are parked up somewhere (there's usually one or two just south of Crewe, going out towards Shrewsbury).

 

[The_Train]

There's two or three sets there at the moment, but because the 68s haven't been transferred to TPE yet, they're still used for freight work, or are parked up somewhere (there's usually one or two just south of Crewe, going out towards Shrewsbury).

There was 1 sat outside Arriva Traincare and I think there was 1 inside the depot as well but couldn't see what either were unfortunately

 

[palmersears]

Wasn't much at Longsight except for a gronk which I couldn't ID and a Mk5 set without a loco.

Gronk will be 08451.

 

[The_Train]

Gronk will be 08451.

Thanks mate. I've got to say, you live in a great area. Some lovely scenery between Stockport and Sheffield

 

[palmersears]

Thanks mate. I've got to say, you live in a great area. Some lovely scenery between Stockport and Sheffield

I do count my blessings some days. The stretch from after Chinley round towards Hope, with Mam Tor on the right, never fails to raise a smile, even in the depths of winter. Even the short section between New Mills South Junction and Chinley is half-decent as well. I'm working from home today so will probably have seen you from across the valley as you emerged from Disley tunnel.

 

[xotGD]

Assuming you are now in Leeds Mr Train, 66 due through at 15:27 eastbound on its way to from Rylestone to Hunslet...

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/R01374/2018/11/01/advanced

Most services from Rylestone are GBRF, but not this one.

 

[Oscar46016]

That reminds me, I still need to track down 59103 next time I'm in London. For such a small fleet they can take a long time to clear!

Edit:

59s head through at these times during your stay:

1335 Acton-Merehead 7C77
1425 Allington-Whatley 6V18
1530 Acton-Whatley 6C76
1615 Acton-Merehead 7C64
1640 Whatley-Dagenham 6L21

They tend to be fairly reliable runners, but the usual caveats apply.

Has anyone tried to get into Merehead Quarry - on Google Maps ( satellite view ) there seem to be about 7 locos plus some shunters.

 

[Strat-tastic]

Thanks Mr 403. Liking the suggestion of turning my phone into a dictaphone, never considered that before so I may give that a go tomorrow.

Spotlog has its own dictaphone

 

[Kite159]

Worth mentioning that one coach of the 144s matches the unit number (i.e. 144001 is formed of 55801 & 55824.

And the 333s are bit of a pain

 

[The_Train]

Assuming you are now in Leeds Mr Train, 66 due through at 15:27 eastbound on its way to from Rylestone to Hunslet...

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/R01374/2018/11/01/advanced

Most services from Rylestone are GBRF, but not this one.

Only just seen this but thanks for the heads up nonetheless. I did indeed see this pass through....the only freight through Leeds whilst I was there. It was FLR 66534 for anyone who is interested

 

[The_Train]

Spotlog has its own dictaphone

That's news to me......?

 

[The_Train]

Worth mentioning that one coach of the 144s matches the unit number (i.e. 144001 is formed of 55801 & 55824.

And the 333s are bit of a pain

I think I've managed to link the vast majority of coach numbers to units, just got a few where I think my eyes let me down.

The 333s are a bit of a pain unless the unit number is on your side so I can see what you mean there. They've got a good look to them though

 

[Strat-tastic]

That's news to me......?

Doesn't yours have the red record button?

 

[03_179]

It does take up memory on the phone so I record .. write shortly after ... then delete

 

[03_179]

The 333s are a bit of a pain unless the unit number is on your side so I can see what you mean there. They've got a good look to them though

Yep on my recent trip to Leeds the 331s bugged me regarding the numbers. I tried to get a photo of a vehicle number to tie up later in case.

 

[The_Train]

Doesn't yours have the red record button?

View attachment 54774

Oh so that's what that button is for! I've seen it and considered what it was many times and now I know

 

[The_Train]

Thursday 1st November - A venture into the Northern Powerhouse

Part 1 - Marching into Manchester

It was an educational start to my day out as I found out that there are two 5:30s in a day. Previously I'd only ever seen 1730 but my phone was kicking me out of bed at 0530 on what was a dark and cold morning. A very hot shower later, my bag was packed with plenty of pens and having wrapped myself up in my new coat I was heading to the station. I'd sorted my return tickets for the Manchester leg of my journey previously so just needed to pop into the ticket office at Stafford to obtain my South Pennines Day Ranger ticket which was sorted without complication by a very helpful member of the team there and thus smooth process even allowed me time to grab a coffee on my way across to platform 5. I was welcomed by the sight of the flashing caution aspect at the end of platform 4, a surefire sign that freight was on route, and was soon faced with the sight of 86613 and 86610 hauling containers southbound. This was soon followed by the late running 350264 which would be my early morning power as I began my journey north with a short hop to Crewe although it was a pretty torturous journey thanks to one guy and his absolute bulls**t which he felt the need to share with the carriage. I won't bore you with the finer details but what I will say is that the bloke was a terrible liar.

Anyway, we were soon arriving into Crewe and I was able to ID 70020 which was awaiting departure out of Basford Hall. There was another 2 FLR 70s also waiting to haulage containers south but they were too far away to ID and I assumed they were probably duds as well. Thanks to the late arrival into Crewe my connection time was down to 8 minutes which gave me time to check out DRS 57307 which was sat in the middle road but not much time for anything else. However, I could hear the hum of another loco which transpired to be a loco hauled TfW set that was hauled by a 67 but I couldn't see the number thanks to the big wall at Crewe. I made a dash over the bridge and down to platform 6 where my Pendolino was waiting and stretched my hamstrings with a gentle jog to log dud 67020 but with time ticking I was unable to check out the DVT at the other end, instead I had to rush back across to the waiting Pendolino as time ticked towards departure time. I leapt onto 390010 for the first time and as I settled into a table seat I was able to log 175010 as my first winner for sight of the day. Within seconds the doors were closed and we were on our way with dud 158824 being the last Crewe station offered before we headed past the Heritage Centre where I was able to log the APT which I believe are 370003 and 370006 but there was also a loco out on show and would you believe it, 87035 was there in all her glory and I am finally able to log an 87 as a winner. With that excitement still in my veins I settled in for the journey through Cheshire, noticing the guy opposite me was a Northern worker - quite ironic that a Northern worker would choose to take a Virgin Trains service for his commute to work! The service got busier with each stop but that didn't stop me nailing 319372 at Stockport and then 323226 just outside of Stockport before we passed by a fairly quiet Longsight where there was 08451 on show along with a TPE Mk5 set. Arrival into Piccadilly immediately yielded reward as 150134 went into the book before TPE 185130 followed it. I decided to settle myself at the end of platforms 8/9 and was able to bag more 150s, this time 132 and 114 doing the honours as they worked together before I got to see what I assumed was a mythical Random Unit Generator up in Northern land as 142034 and 150122 headed off together. The 150s kept on coming and 150223 was chalked off but the 323s were proving more problematic as I hit a few duds early on having seen them on my previous trip to Crewe. The 185s were a different story though and I was finding some support thanks to TPE pairing some units up and after 185147 arrived by itself 185115 and 185126 also arrived as a pair to make it a quickfire TPE treble. Piccadilly was already offering not only a good variety of units but also plenty of variable operators and it was TfW's turn next as 175104 was my next winner before the first 156 of the day was sighted with 466 arriving into its destination.

Virgin Trains Pendolino 390010 departing Manchester Piccadilly by The_Train

The winners were flowing freely now and 150116 kept this going before another pair of 185s went into the book, 185136 and 185124 getting the winner treatment this time. Anyone would think that I'd not seen many 150s before today as it seemed that every one was going into the book and 150129 was no exception and 185131 wasn't going to be outdone as it became the latest of the TPE stock to be chalked off. 150130 also joined the growing number of winners as did 319385 before 150102 took my number of 150 winners for the day into double figures. East Midlands Trains wanted in on the act so they sent me 185788 and 185846 to add to the book before we got a bit more Pacer action with 142038 putting in an appearance. Having chalked off the vast majority of LNWR 350 stocks very quickly at the local (where is 246???) it was nice to finally add a 350/4 to the collection as TPE 350404 passed through platform 14 on its way towards the Anglo-Scottish border. 142051 was the next Pacer to be bolded before 319382 and 150150 went into the book in quick succession. A pair EMT dud 158s passed through platform 13 but the next pairing was anything but dud as 150121 and 150141 entered the book. 185 winner number 8 for the day was next as TPE served up 185128 for me before 319384 kept the Northern numbers up and then shock horror I finally bagged a 323 winner at Piccadilly thanks to 323225. 185130 returned but brought with it winner 185122 so I was eating away at the 185s rather nicely so far and it appeared my luck had turned with regards to 323s as well as 229 was next to be marked off. I had now entered the final 30 minutes of my morning stint at Piccadilly and had hit 34 winners here so far. Things had quietened down with the 150s but that was soon to change as 150104 arrived, quickly followed by the pairing of 150203 and 150113. A 319 dud split broke this little 150 love in but it was soon back on when 150110 screeched into the station before even more noise came from a pair of pacers as 142011 and 142046 rattled their way to the buffers. Northern do love a good multiple of multiple units and this really helps someone trying to fill big gaps in his book of sights and it was 2 for the price of 1 again with 150106 and 150108 doing a tandem working before I was blessed with another double act in the form of 150142 and 156429. I was picking up a few duds now with a few of the earlier units already making their way back to Piccadilly but there was still time to bag another nice pairing with EMT 158s 785 and 812 passing through with a working towards Norwich. The next winner was to be the unit that I would ultimately make use of to travel on the next leg of my journey to Sheffield in the form of dud for sight 185126 and winner 185117 which meant I was down to the last few minutes of this stint at Piccadilly. The problem was that I knew there was a container train due on route to Trafford Park but it was making slow progress as it neared the station. I hung on and hung on as the clock ticked towards my departure time and was rewarded when DBC 66144 rumbled by having worked north from London Gateway. This left me around 60 seconds to briskly walk to my train and as I was pushing my luck already I entered by the first available door of 185117 meaning I had to do the sacrilegious thing of walking through first class to make it into cattle class and it was a good job I did as no sooner had I done this, we were being despatched. As I found my seat I was able to witness 82308 crawling into platform 13 with a TfW train but as we were leaving I had no way of checking out the 67 on the rear. However, a quick check with the TOPS thread on here has shown it to be the same set that I saw earlier in the day at Crewe when I missed the DVT so I did get to see both ends eventually.

And that is where we will leave part one with Piccadilly serving up 49 winners in a 90 minute spell and my day getting off to a solid start with 56 winners in the bag before even making it into Yorkshire. The big aim for Sheffield was to get a bit of Chopper in my life.....could anything stop me from this little pleasure? Check back for part 2 to find out

Edit: apologies for the lack of pics at Piccadilly. I usually try and grab a few from each place I visit but I must have been that busy with the pen and paper that pictures never came to mind

 

[Far north 37]

Thursday 1st November - A venture into the Northern Powerhouse

Part 1 - Marching into Manchester

It was an educational start to my day out as I found out that there are two 5:30s in a day. Previously I'd only ever seen 1730 but my phone was kicking me out of bed at 0530 on what was a dark and cold morning. A very hot shower later, my bag was packed with plenty of pens and having wrapped myself up in my new coat I was heading to the station. I'd sorted my return tickets for the Manchester leg of my journey previously so just needed to pop into the ticket office at Stafford to obtain my South Pennines Day Ranger ticket which was sorted without complication by a very helpful member of the team there and thus smooth process even allowed me time to grab a coffee on my way across to platform 5. I was welcomed by the sight of the flashing caution aspect at the end of platform 4, a surefire sign that freight was on route, and was soon faced with the sight of 86613 and 86610 hauling containers southbound. This was soon followed by the late running 350264 which would be my early morning power as I began my journey north with a short hop to Crewe although it was a pretty torturous journey thanks to one guy and his absolute bulls**t which he felt the need to share with the carriage. I won't bore you with the finer details but what I will say is that the bloke was a terrible liar.

Anyway, we were soon arriving into Crewe and I was able to ID 70020 which was awaiting departure out of Basford Hall. There was another 2 FLR 70s also waiting to haulage containers south but they were too far away to ID and I assumed they were probably duds as well. Thanks to the late arrival into Crewe my connection time was down to 8 minutes which gave me time to check out DRS 57307 which was sat in the middle road but not much time for anything else. However, I could hear the hum of another loco which transpired to be a loco hauled TfW set that was hauled by a 67 but I couldn't see the number thanks to the big wall at Crewe. I made a dash over the bridge and down to platform 6 where my Pendolino was waiting and stretched my hamstrings with a gentle jog to log dud 67020 but with time ticking I was unable to check out the DVT at the other end, instead I had to rush back across to the waiting Pendolino as time ticked towards departure time. I leapt onto 390010 for the first time and as I settled into a table seat I was able to log 175010 as my first winner for sight of the day. Within seconds the doors were closed and we were on our way with dud 158824 being the last Crewe station offered before we headed past the Heritage Centre where I was able to log the APT which I believe are 370003 and 370006 but there was also a loco out on show and would you believe it, 87035 was there in all her glory and I am finally able to log an 87 as a winner. With that excitement still in my veins I settled in for the journey through Cheshire, noticing the guy opposite me was a Northern worker - quite ironic that a Northern worker would choose to take a Virgin Trains service for his commute to work! The service got busier with each stop but that didn't stop me nailing 319372 at Stockport and then 323226 just outside of Stockport before we passed by a fairly quiet Longsight where there was 08451 on show along with a TPE Mk5 set. Arrival into Piccadilly immediately yielded reward as 150134 went into the book before TPE 185130 followed it. I decided to settle myself at the end of platforms 8/9 and was able to bag more 150s, this time 132 and 114 doing the honours as they worked together before I got to see what I assumed was a mythical Random Unit Generator up in Northern land as 142034 and 150122 headed off together. The 150s kept on coming and 150223 was chalked off but the 323s were proving more problematic as I hit a few duds early on having seen them on my previous trip to Crewe. The 185s were a different story though and I was finding some support thanks to TPE pairing some units up and after 185147 arrived by itself 185115 and 185126 also arrived as a pair to make it a quickfire TPE treble. Piccadilly was already offering not only a good variety of units but also plenty of variable operators and it was TfW's turn next as 175104 was my next winner before the first 156 of the day was sighted with 466 arriving into its destination.

Virgin Trains Pendolino 390010 departing Manchester Piccadilly by The_Train

The winners were flowing freely now and 150116 kept this going before another pair of 185s went into the book, 185136 and 185124 getting the winner treatment this time. Anyone would think that I'd not seen many 150s before today as it seemed that every one was going into the book and 150129 was no exception and 185131 wasn't going to be outdone as it became the latest of the TPE stock to be chalked off. 150130 also joined the growing number of winners as did 319385 before 150102 took my number of 150 winners for the day into double figures. East Midlands Trains wanted in on the act so they sent me 185788 and 185846 to add to the book before we got a bit more Pacer action with 142038 putting in an appearance. Having chalked off the vast majority of LNWR 350 stocks very quickly at the local (where is 246???) it was nice to finally add a 350/4 to the collection as TPE 350404 passed through platform 14 on its way towards the Anglo-Scottish border. 142051 was the next Pacer to be bolded before 319382 and 150150 went into the book in quick succession. A pair EMT dud 158s passed through platform 13 but the next pairing was anything but dud as 150121 and 150141 entered the book. 185 winner number 8 for the day was next as TPE served up 185128 for me before 319384 kept the Northern numbers up and then shock horror I finally bagged a 323 winner at Piccadilly thanks to 323225. 185130 returned but brought with it winner 185122 so I was eating away at the 185s rather nicely so far and it appeared my luck had turned with regards to 323s as well as 229 was next to be marked off. I had now entered the final 30 minutes of my morning stint at Piccadilly and had hit 34 winners here so far. Things had quietened down with the 150s but that was soon to change as 150104 arrived, quickly followed by the pairing of 150203 and 150113. A 319 dud split broke this little 150 love in but it was soon back on when 150110 screeched into the station before even more noise came from a pair of pacers as 142011 and 142046 rattled their way to the buffers. Northern do love a good multiple of multiple units and this really helps someone trying to fill big gaps in his book of sights and it was 2 for the price of 1 again with 150106 and 150108 doing a tandem working before I was blessed with another double act in the form of 150142 and 156429. I was picking up a few duds now with a few of the earlier units already making their way back to Piccadilly but there was still time to bag another nice pairing with EMT 158s 785 and 812 passing through with a working towards Norwich. The next winner was to be the unit that I would ultimately make use of to travel on the next leg of my journey to Sheffield in the form of dud for sight 185126 and winner 185117 which meant I was down to the last few minutes of this stint at Piccadilly. The problem was that I knew there was a container train due on route to Trafford Park but it was making slow progress as it neared the station. I hung on and hung on as the clock ticked towards my departure time and was rewarded when DBC 66144 rumbled by having worked north from London Gateway. This left me around 60 seconds to briskly walk to my train and as I was pushing my luck already I entered by the first available door of 185117 meaning I had to do the sacrilegious thing of walking through first class to make it into cattle class and it was a good job I did as no sooner had I done this, we were being despatched. As I found my seat I was able to witness 82308 crawling into platform 13 with a TfW train but as we were leaving I had no way of checking out the 67 on the rear. However, a quick check with the TOPS thread on here has shown it to be the same set that I saw earlier in the day at Crewe when I missed the DVT so I did get to see both ends eventually.

And that is where we will leave part one with Piccadilly serving up 49 winners in a 90 minute spell and my day getting off to a solid start with 56 winners in the bag before even making it into Yorkshire. The big aim for Sheffield was to get a bit of Chopper in my life.....could anything stop me from this little pleasure? Check back for part 2 to find out

Edit: apologies for the lack of pics at Piccadilly. I usually try and grab a few from each place I visit but I must have been that busy with the pen and paper that pictures never came to mind

Successful day so far the two class 70s at basford hall would of been 70005 and 70007.

 

[47403]

Ah Mr Train, I've been looking forward to this write up, I thought this was gonna be an epic outing for you and thus far, so it has proved.

See you managed to see my final Northern Starship too, 323225 is a serial avoider to me, I seriously thought it was knackered, each of the 3 times, id been in that neck of the woods, it wasn't in service, just idling itself or just bloody hiding in Longsight away from my prying eyes, so I'm glad someone's seen the damn thing move.

I have a slight feeling there could be big gains for the rest of this trip, here's hoping for your sake anyway. I must admit I did have a bit of a chuckle at your turn of phrase, your words not mine. The big aim for Sheffield was to get a bit of Chopper in my life.....could anything stop me from this little pleasure?


Joking aside, A great read so far and I hope you got what you were after, I look forward to the next instalment.

 

[433N]

Nice read and always a good variety at Piccadilly Circus.

Whilst Northern do 'love a good multiple of multiple units' reading around here suggests that they should be even more multipled.

Your one photo is of a pendo ... were you missing home ?

 

[55013]

Interesting stuff, as always.

47403 - I had a ride on 323225 yesterday; I was hoping for a 319.

 

[palmersears]

Good start train, always nice to read reports from my neck of the woods. Sadly Northern's love of multiple workings fades as winter sets in, short forms all over the shop at the moment.

Regards 350246, this was the one that decided it didn't like being confined to rails at Liverpool South Parkway last year and made a bid for freedom. I think most of it is currently at the depot in Northampton, with one carriage possibly still being repaired back in Germany. I could be wrong though.

 

[Kite159]

A productive few hours in Piccadilly

 

[Skymonster]

And that is where we will leave part one with Piccadilly serving up 49 winners in a 90 minute spell

This from the man who originally planned to stay at Stockport, where I suspect the count would have been nearer 30 Glad you made the right decision and the trip must almost be a dead certain for three figures now I'd have thought. Mind you, I do sometimes wonder if you're a bit too successful and the advice should be toned down a little

 

[47403]

Interesting stuff, as always.

47403 - I had a ride on 323225 yesterday; I was hoping for a 319.

Thanks for letting me know, very kind of you Sir. Unfortunately I've no immediate plans to be anywhere near. I like the 323s, as units go but no doubt you'd have been.hoping for a winner or low mileage 319 and got a dud Starship.

 

[The_Train]

See you managed to see my final Northern Starship too, 323225 is a serial avoider to me, I seriously thought it was knackered, each of the 3 times, id been in that neck of the woods, it wasn't in service, just idling itself or just bloody hiding in Longsight away from my prying eyes, so I'm glad someone's seen the damn thing move.

It was only seen the once. The one thing that is a bit of a pain about busy terminus stations is that it's difficult to keep an eye on what is working what, especially when nothing seems to arrive/depart on time. I've checked RTT for this one and my best guess is that 225 worked the Manc-Stoke turn when I saw it... suppose it's anyone's guess as to whether it remains on that but at least you know it's alive

I have a slight feeling there could be big gains for the rest of this trip, here's hoping for your sake anyway. I must admit I did have a bit of a chuckle at your turn of phrase, your words not mine. The big aim for Sheffield was to get a bit of Chopper in my life.....could anything stop me from this little pleasure?
View attachment 54817

Joking aside, A great read so far and I hope you got what you were after, I look forward to the next instalment.

I'm glad you enjoyed my choice of words. It wasn't actually intentional when I started to write it but it did make me chuckle when I realised it's alternative meaning

 

[The_Train]

Nice read and always a good variety at Piccadilly Circus.

Whilst Northern do 'love a good multiple of multiple units' reading around here suggests that they should be even more multipled.

Your one photo is of a pendo ... were you missing home ?

The variety up there is unquestionable especially for unit hunters. I can see the point of the regular travellers up there as quite a few services left with very little room left on them.

As for the pendolino pic, it must have given me that homely feeling. Maybe it was a 'please don't leave me' kind of feeling that made me take a pic of it

 

[The_Train]

Good start train, always nice to read reports from my neck of the woods. Sadly Northern's love of multiple workings fades as winter sets in, short forms all over the shop at the moment.

Regards 350246, this was the one that decided it didn't like being confined to rails at Liverpool South Parkway last year and made a bid for freedom. I think most of it is currently at the depot in Northampton, with one carriage possibly still being repaired back in Germany. I could be wrong though.

I certainly wouldn't enjoy commuting out of there every day. Just seemed like one big scrummage every time a train arrived, particularly when it came to the local stoppers.

Yeah I've been following 246s progress (I think a lot of spotters are waiting for it) but someone on here got my hopes up by saying 'their mate had seen it recently' but it would appear not. I assume that as this seems to be an ongoing concern for LNWR that it will be back or is it a case that it's been out for so long as LNWR aren't that bothered because the 350/2s are going at some point anyway?

 

[The_Train]

This from the man who originally planned to stay at Stockport, where I suspect the count would have been nearer 30 Glad you made the right decision and the trip must almost be a dead certain for three figures now I'd have thought. Mind you, I do sometimes wonder if you're a bit too successful and the advice should be toned down a little

That is why I always come on here with my plans. It's usually that little tweak that you guys do that makes my day that little bit more productive. That said with each successful outing I edge that little bit closer to where most of you are at in terms of chasing odd units/locos.....that's when you all really start to earn your money with the advice to me

 

[Skymonster]

I think your next trip needs to be to Barry Links, Teesside Airport or Breich

That said with each successful outing I edge that little bit closer to where most of you are at in terms of chasing odd units/locos

Out of curiosity I did check off your numbers against my requirements list... I think I would have made one winner - 142011. So be warned - make hay while the sun shines - you live in Britain and it won't last forever! Looking forward to reading part two Mr. Train - bearing in mind you can't beat a great big chopper in your... No, no, cut out the smutty imagination - in your book!!!