Back on the platform

[The_Train]

And if you go to Liverpool on that ranger you could go all the way from Crewe too, yes it's a long journey at over 2 hours but I did the whole run in one go last week on a 319 and loved it! Some epic thrash in multiple places and it was a shame when it was over!

Don't forget there's 68s out of Liverpool too, the 1256 and 1356 out of Lime Street are currently booked 68s. First stop Lea Green and the MK5s are awesome.

I really must get on and do the trip report today...

Thanks Tech, I think I shall definitely be taking in another trip to Liverpool whilst I have these cheap ranger vouchers

I see that Mr Train has been fudging 66s over on the TOPS Requests thread

Hope you had a good day on the rails!

Haha, in fairness 2 of of the 3 I requested I did have noted down correctly - just wanted to make sure my eyes are still working. The other was one that nearly caught me out as it went through the low level at Tamworth while I was grabbing a pic of a loco on the high level. Bloody hard work is Tamworth

 

[Techniquest]

Oh I remember Tamworth from the days when I needed a mega-ton of stuff for sight. That's going back to when 350s were still really new...Pain in the rear Tamworth can be, but a breeze compared to the maze that is Waverley!

 

[palmersears]

Waverley is great for the step count, you just end up constantly walking round the place in a massive circle. By the time you've done a full lap all the units have changed and off you go again! Think the first time I went I ended up doing 12000 steps in three hours.

 

[The_Train]

Waverley is great for the step count, you just end up constantly walking round the place in a massive circle. By the time you've done a full lap all the units have changed and off you go again! Think the first time I went I ended up doing 12000 steps in three hours.

I definitely need to visit. Plenty of new sightings and I'll return an athlete

 

[The_Train]

Right guys, time to catch up on a few outings (mainly to the local).

On 24th September, I had to head into Nottingham (by car) but my journey took me past the tram lines at Radford Road and I spied 207 to get my Nottingham trams up and running. I would just like to assure everyone that I wasn't there for the trams

A trip to the local on day 1 of October yielded no winners but I had a little more luck a couple of days later when I visited to see 70000 "Britannia" come by with a rake of dud ECS. However, on the back was very much required D6851/37667 which was looking resplendent in its BR Green livery
70000 "Britannia" by The_Train
D6851 by The_Train

Unfortunately the visit of a steamer brought out the worst in a couple of enthusiasts who were hell bent on acting like this industry owes them. Firstly a guy got into an argument with the station security because he'd been asked (politely and correctly) to stand on the correct side of the yellow line before the worst thing I've seen since getting back into the hobby. With the loco stopper at the P5 signal it meant it was beyond the fencing at the end of the P3/4 island so instead of heading over to P5 for a photo a guy decided he would go beyond the fence, over the black nobbly things at the side of the fence, to get his photo. Truly disgusting behaviour by 2 guys of an age where you'd expect better but thankfully they both disappeared after the steam had gone (the one who went beyond the fence was escorted off the station). The hobby would be much better without these people who seem to think they can do what they want.

A week later, I was back at the local as I'd caught wind of the loan of 5 DB locos to DRS and had seen the move from Toton to Gresty that day. It was pathed through P5 so I set myself up on P4 but a monitoring of Traksy allowed me to dash over the bridge when I realised they were being sent into the goods loop
The railway transfer window is never shut..... by The_Train

Was a great sight to see the line of sheds appear, particularly as all of them still have their EWS livery. Unfortunately, only one was required amongst 66122, 66108, 66091, 66031, 66126.

A few days later I was walking back home when I noticed a Toton to Westbury working on RTT and it piqued my interest enough to take me onto the platform once again. Turns out it was the DB management train heading to Westbury for a meeting regarding the future of the class 59s with Freightliner having taken on the stone work down that area from DB. Dud 67015 was at the helm but it was my first sighting of this particular train so allowed me to nab the 3 coaches along with 82146. I had to head straight home after this but as I was walking home I was able to chalk off 66039 which headed through with a Trafford Park to Southampton intermodal. That was a nice little bonus!

24 hours later I was back having spotted a Portbury to Crewe working. Unfortunately due to problems at Portbury the unit that was planned for a drag North couldn't be moved so 47815 and 47813 made the move with just barrier coaches between them
47813 by The_Train

There was also a loco move from Stowmarket to Gresty Bridge and this turned out to be more duds unfortunately. Still, it's always nice to see and hear a growling 37 and despite it looking a bit grubby 37424 didn't disappoint as it hauled 57002 and 57003 back to base
37558 at Stafford by The_Train

There was nothing else left to report and this takes me to my next venture away from Stafford which I will hopefully return to post later today.

For now here is my summary of these outings:

For Sight

Winners: 4
Coaching Stock Winners: 3
Tram Winners: 1
Classes completed: N/A
Sub classes completed: N/A
TOCs completed: N/A

 

[palmersears]

Some more nice bits and pieces there mate, admire the dedication of going all the way to Nottingham for a tram

I do wonder what goes through the minds of some 'enthusiasts' when you see them act the way they do. At the end of the day all they have to show for it is a photo of a train. It's certainly not worth risking your safety for, nor does it allow you to act like the rules don't apply to you.

 

[xotGD]

D6851 really does look the part. I saw it at Crewe a couple of weeks ago and just thought 'wow!'.

That prototype Class 70 looks quite a bit different to the rest of the class...

 

[433N]

Waverley is great for the step count, you just end up constantly walking round the place in a massive circle. By the time you've done a full lap all the units have changed and off you go again! Think the first time I went I ended up doing 12000 steps in three hours.

At the moment, I do a circuit or two a couple of times a week when I go into Edinburgh. Having just about cleared my 385s now (at least those in service), I'm going to be having to keep doing it for Azumas and the remaining ScotRail power cars if/when they enter service in any kind of numbers. Let's remember, it is not a true flat lap because you need to go up and down and up again to include platforms 8 and 9 !

 

[The_Train]

Some more nice bits and pieces there mate, admire the dedication of going all the way to Nottingham for a tram

I literally slowed traffic behind me as well so I could locate the number. It would have been 2 trams as well but I missed the first one because I couldn't locate where the numbers were

I do wonder what goes through the minds of some 'enthusiasts' when you see them act the way they do. At the end of the day all they have to show for it is a photo of a train. It's certainly not worth risking your safety for, nor does it allow you to act like the rules don't apply to you.

It's just crazy mate. It's not even like it's a loco that doesn't get seen much - I've seen this more than I've seen some modern locos. The other thing as well is that it sat in P5 (suspect a signaller error) for a good half hour whilst they pathed Voyagers and 350s around it through P6 so anyone could have easily made it across to P5 and got a reasonable photo from there. I'm just glad the staff dealt with him, although for me I'd argue he got off lightly as surely he could have been hit with a fine for trespassing

 

[The_Train]

D6851 really does look the part. I saw it at Crewe a couple of weeks ago and just thought 'wow!'.

That prototype Class 70 looks quite a bit different to the rest of the class...

Yeah I was really impressed when I saw D6851. They've done a great job on it.

Good point on the prototype 70. It also runs better than the rest of the class as well

 

[The_Train]

Going back in time - Thursday 17th October 2019

Having collected the Northern Autumn Rail offer vouchers I was now harmed with the potential for a day out on the Northern network for a tenner. So with that in mind and a trip to the NRM having been on my radar for a while, I decided to head up to York to make my first visit of the museum in over 20 years.

I headed out early to give myself time to sort out the ranger as I suspected the Stafford ticket office wouldn't help (it does say on the form that you have to take it to a station where Northern services call) and I'd need to head up to the ticket office at Crewe. This proved to be the case so I boarded winner for haulage 350377 to Crewe. It remained pretty dark for much of the journey (winter is here) but I was able to spy duds 68019 and 710107 outside the Arriva Traincare depot before we arrived into P11 at Crewe. As I was alighting, I noticed that the door control panel was open so I did my good deed for the day by advising platform staff of this which allowed them to sort with the guard before I made my usual trek at Crewe to check out the thunderbird. It was dud 57309 today so I quickly left it and headed to the ticket office where I was met by a very jolly member of staff who gave the impression of having not seen the Northern vouchers before but was quick at sorting me out with the ranger ticket. Armed with this I headed back onto the platforms but was only met with duds, including 57308
DRS 57308 by The_Train

until EMR churned out 153319 for me to get my winners up and running for the day. This got things moving nicely and a quick wander down to the Chester bays yielded a 2nd winner as 150278 went into the book just as it was departing back to Chester before TfW did me well again as 175110 also got chalked off. A quick PNB and then a stop for a coffee (I wasn't making the same mistakes as the last time I went out on the Northern network) just in time to head onto dud for everything 323236 for the trip to Manchester. 66523 was sighted at Sandbach but it was one of a few duds I saw as we headed North before we entered Stockport where 67027 was sat at the head of a NR train which consisted of 4 required coaches and dud 67023 at the rear. The journey continued to throw up duds before we ventured into the Longsight area where 67010 went into the book as it sat at the head of a TfW LHCS set before I also got to add 397005 to the list of winners for the day. Arrival into Piccadilly quickly followed but my scout of the platforms only yielded duds so I ventured across to the through platforms for my next journey which turned out to be on dud for all 319378 for a short hop to Salford Crescent. Departure from Piccadilly finally gave a winner as 195115 crawled into P13 before I was also able to nab 195125 at Oxford Road. I jumped off at Salford Crescent for my first ever visit to the island platform but I only got to see a couple of dud 319s before 142046 and 142047 arrived to take me around the corner to Manchester Victoria. I jumped onto a well loaded 046 for the short run to Victoria where I alighted to connect to a Leeds service which turned out to be a busy 150133. Departure from Victoria allowed me to nab a couple of trams as 3010 and 3100 were chalked off. 150275 also went into the book as we left and that arrived and then not too much further I was able to grab 09009 which was sat in its usual place (where I'd missed it previously).

Our journey past Newton Heath allowed me to keep up the run of winners as 195113 was sat there and our arrival into Rochdale also threw up winners as 153331 and 158870 were say there together. My luck was definitely in as not long after departing Rochdale we met up with the tram network again and I grabbed 3097 as another winner but that would prove to be the final winner of the journey into Yorkshire. I didn't have much time at Leeds but it did give me enough time to see dud 91124 sat on the buffers with a rake of required coaching stock and also very much needed 82204 which leaves me just requiring 82230 to complete the LNER DVTs (someone tell me it's not sat in my kitchen cupboard with beans inside it?!?!?) There was no time to dwell on this now though as time was of the essence at Leeds but time favoured me as I got to see dud 68026 pushing 12811 out of the station
68026 & 185148 by The_Train

I was sweeping the bays for more dud units as time ticked down towards my next departure when a HST set appeared into P8. With just minutes to spare I was pacing up the platform frantically noting the numbers of the coaches between duds 43311 and 43251 but lo and behold they were all duds. It did help that my next steed was sat in bay P7 so as I completed my run along the HST I was next to 158759 which would haul me to York
158759 by The_Train

I took my seat as the only customer in the front carriage and suddenly felt very hungry so it was time to dig into my sandwiches. I did manage to put my food down as we headed past Neville Hill only for me to see more dud units. Just as my disappointment was setting in, I was suddenly perked up by the sight of 43061 parked up with a couple of required coaches. Just the one LNER HST to go now......

Nothing else to report on the trip to York so I spent time eating and making use of my new power bank to get some charge back into my phone. I alighted at York for the first time in many many years to yet more dud units but 170453 did at least produce the one winner. Across the way I could see a cat lurking so I ventured across to check it out but it was dud 68029
68029 stabled at York by The_Train

As I had less than 5 hours in York I decided to head straight across the bridge and across to the museum. I'm not going to detail what I saw at the museum as it's there for all to see but I will say that it was very enjoyable and time really flew by. It's great to see classic traction but I also enjoyed watching the videos of eras gone by and seeing the model layout used for signalling training. I can't help but feel that I missed out on some things as time really did get the better of me but it gives me an excuse to go back, especially now that 43002 is there. The important thing is that I got to spend a bit of time with my mate 87001 - probably my only disappointment to find it shoved into a corner! An enjoyable few hours came to an end quickly and I was once again back on the platforms at York where I positioned myself in readiness for some winners.......but they never came unfortunately, the only bright spot being a sighting of the lovely Grand Central livery on 180104
GC 180104 by The_Train

Dud 68020 was sat in the sidings at the south end of the station and was joined by dud 66305 but the disappointment of the duds was soon dispersed as I realised that 142051 and 144010 would be my steeds for the journey back to Sheffield. There was little to see on the way back, in fact we were in darkness by the time we arrived back into Sheffield as my pacer ride ended all too quickly
The legends keep working..... by The_Train

I had around 40 minutes to kill at Sheffield which I did by continuing to chase those Northern units and was rewarded with the sight of 142039 which took my Northern 142s down to 12 required. I need to go through them and see which of those 12 are still in service that would be my final winner for sight at Sheffield but I struck gold when I saw that 142003 and 142041 would be my ride back across to Manchester. That's pacers from York to Manchester - what more could anyone want? The darkness ensured there would be little to see on the way home so I was left with the choice of sticking my earphones in or listening to a couple of uni student chatting about their recent sexual escapades - safe to say that I chose the former and enjoyed some new music as I continue to broaden my musical horizon. Manchester came all too soon (actually we were late but I don't mind extra time on a pacer) and it was time to leave the Pacers behind as I spent 10 minutes checking out the units under the shed at Piccadilly. Unfortunately they were just duds so it was to 323229 for my haulage back to Crewe and the end of my love affair with Northern for this outing as it was over to LNWR and dud for everything 350251 to take me back into the Midlands and to complete a fantastic but long day out!

For Sight

Winners: 61
Coaching Stock Winners: 27
Tram Winners: 3
Classes completed: N/A
Sub classes completed: N/A
TOCs completed: N/A

For Haulage

Winners: 10
Total Mileage: 245 miles 41 chains
Classes completed: N/A
Sub classes completed: N/A

 

[palmersears]

Another productive day roaming around the North mate! A revisit of the NRM is on my list as well, think I last went with my grandad when I was 10. I'm nearly 32...

 

[The_Train]

Another productive day roaming around the North mate! A revisit of the NRM is on my list as well, think I last went with my grandad when I was 10. I'm nearly 32...

That's about the same sort of timescale as me then. I'm 34 and I'm pretty sure I was at primary school when I last visited.
I'd definitely recommend it. Depending on what you want to do I'd give yourself between 2 and 4 hours to get around. The lower end of that would be suitable if you just wanted to look at locos and list numbers but if you want to maximise the exhibits and check out demos and talks they do through the day then 4 hours will fly by.

One thing I did find a bit strange about it was the area that is full of memorabilia and 'railwayana' type items. It really had the feel of walking into a storage facility as opposed to an area to look at things within a museum. I can only imagine that they simply have that much stuff to display that they had to do it that way to get everything on show

 

[palmersears]

One thing I did find a bit strange about it was the area that is full of memorabilia and 'railwayana' type items. It really had the feel of walking into a storage facility as opposed to an area to look at things within a museum. I can only imagine that they simply have that much stuff to display that they had to do it that way to get everything on show

You're not the first person to mention this when discussing the NRM. A lot of people I've spoken to reckon it's down to cost, with management tightening the purse strings and cutting a lot of the exhibitions back.

I've been contemplating calling in en route to Scotland, but it's an overnight job up there for my last remaining units and I've no real burning desire to do that until the clocks go forward again. Think I'll try and get to a few heritage railways instead before the year is out.

 

[Techniquest]

Definitely a productive time on Northern there! Not done the NRM since 2005 or 2006, and that has reminded me of a very long overdue mission to put my MiniDV footage into a digital format to share with the world. Now 43002 is there, I have a reason to return!

 

[The_Train]

1024 to CDF 1122 (HST short set)

Are you sure that this (2U10) is a HST short set? Can't see this working in the allocations thread.

 

[Kite159]

Sounded like a good trip

 

[Mills444]

Are you sure that this (2U10) is a HST short set? Can't see this working in the allocations thread.

Yes I see that some of the are not listed in the allocations thread however I do not believe they are updated to the correct versions because a couple of the D&C working shown on their I cant see on RTT.

Ps I am Highley confident that barring any falitures a Castle will be on U10 as the last time I can remember a turbo on TAU-Card was in early February.

 

[Techniquest]

Are you sure that this (2U10) is a HST short set? Can't see this working in the allocations thread.

This is the 0916 from Taunton? If so yes it is normally a mini HST. And if you're lucky and the 0915 Paddington to Cardiff is cancelled you'll get put on the mains and not the reliefs. Which does provide for a much more fun ride!

 

[Mills444]

Yes it is.

 

[The_Train]

Thanks @Mills444 and @Techniquest.

I've actually done a bit of working out on this and a Friday trip is actually appealing to me slightly more as there is a later XC HST working out of Bristol which calls at Tamworth and avoids the need to change in the bat cave. I'd come up with the following:

0653 STA-TAM 0714 (Pendolino)
0750 TAM-BRI 0939 (1V44 - HST)
1221 BRI-CDF 1322 (2U14 - SHORT HST)
1800 CDF-BRI 1853 (2C87 - SHORT HST)
1930 BRI-TAM 2119 (1E73 - HST)
2135 TAM-STA 2158 (Pendolino)

I've got the short HST info from the allocations thread on here so I'm (now) aware that this could be incorrect - if anyone can confirm it would be appreciated.

A combination of split ticketing and making use of the Halloween vouchers on trainpal has allowed me to get the cost down to around £50 which isn't bad for a reasonably lengthy XC journey. Just building up the confidence to check my bank balance now to see if I can stretch to it

 

[xotGD]

1800 CDF-BRI 1853 (2C87 - SHORT HST)

Why not do the 67 as far as Newport for the HST forward???

 

[The_Train]

Why not do the 67 as far as Newport for the HST forward???

Is that 1W96 1716 out of Cardiff?
I will be on an Off Peak Day RTN between Brizzle and Cardiff so I assume I'd be ok to break my journey at Newport?

 

[fishquinn]

Is that 1W96 1716 out of Cardiff?
I will be on an Off Peak Day RTN between Brizzle and Cardiff so I assume I'd be ok to break my journey at Newport?

That's the one.
No break of journey restrictions on that ticket so doing the 67 to Newport for the HST forward would be fine. If you'd rather get some 37 haulage then (assuming it's a 37 as booked and is on time) you'd be able to do the 1701 from Cardiff as far as Caerphilly (arriving at 1721) for the 1725 back from there to Cardiff, getting in at 1743.

 

[Techniquest]

Or, if the honourable gentleman would like to do both 37s, and I'd sure he would, then the move me and Kite (and me and noddy1878) did a while back was:

1701 Cardiff Central-Heath High Level
Approximately 9 minutes there, so plenty of time for a photo/watch it leave and change platforms
Back to Central, normally a single 150, based on my experience
I think there's then about 10 minutes if not slightly more for the next 37
1746 Cardiff to Caerphilly

Why Caerphilly? Good photos can be got from the footbridge and it's not a long wait for a train back. You also get the noise of the 37 opening up even more as it leaves the platform under the road! Oh, and you'd get even more Pacer action

Also, do not forget TfW have evening restrictions on Off Peak tickets. 1601-1829 or thereabouts, please do check first.

The workings you've chosen for GTi HSTs were indeed as booked when I was last in the area a good few weeks back, although obviously this is subject to change on the day. I'm seeing mention of an Off Peak Day Return Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff Central in there, which reminds me to mention two things:

1) I don't know how relevant it is, but the fare to Cardiff Queen Street and Cardiff Bay *should* be the same as to Central. Might be worth considering in case there's the fancy to pop 'up the hill' to Queen Street or do the 153 shuttling to/from Bay.

2) That fare is valid via Bristol Parkway too, which may or may not be of much use but hey, a spin on an IET may be desired!

More importantly, it looks like you'll have a long but fun day!

 

[Kite159]

Why not do the 67 as far as Newport for the HST forward???

I would imagine boarding the service at Newport will most likely mean standing room only with commuters heading back towards Bristol Temple Meads.

----------

I agree with Mr J, bailing from the first 37 at Heath to head back to Cardiff gives a reasonable connection time for the 2nd 37, and less chance of getting bowled out when the next unit gets held out outside Central or gets re-routed via platform 8. Or if there are RPIs at Caerphilly

 

[fishquinn]

I was thinking less at going after the 1746 37 and more getting on the 1800 HST as per the original plan. Going for the other 37 would probably be best on a Central-Heath-Central move (or Central-Caerphilly-Queen Street) but for the 1800 HST bailing at Heath just loses mileage.

 

[Techniquest]

Depends if the good sir is really all that bothered about mileage really. Not all of us bother, I've logged all my journeys this year but not bothered noting mileage. Too much of a chore in my eyes.

 

[xotGD]

Depends if the good sir is really all that bothered about mileage really. Not all of us bother, I've logged all my journeys this year but not bothered noting mileage. Too much of a chore in my eyes.

One mile of thrash beats 100 miles of stagger!

BTW I'm passing through Stafford this afternoon- first time in years!

 

[fishquinn]

One mile of thrash beats 100 miles of stagger!

Agreed, Central to Heath isn't exactly the most entertaining stretch you can get on the 37. If you don't think of it in mileage terms then go for the extra time of 37 thrash. My move the one time I did the 37 (just one set at the time) was Central to Bargoed.