Couple of updates for you beautiful people starting with a couple of bonus sightings at the local both of which came without any intention of visiting said station. Firstly last Friday, I was driving to take the car to be cleaned (yes I'm lazy, I know) and the route to my favourite car cleaners takes me along station road and from here I noticed what looked like a track machine in the goods loop. However, as I slowed to see if I could see the number I noticed it was lacking cabs at each end - oooooo something different! Luckily the short stay car park at the front of the station was quiet so I found a space and ventured across to P5/6 and just as I got over there DCR
56091 had appeared and was being coupled up to, what turned out to be, a Railvac machine. There was nothing on RTT to suggest what this working was but further digging found it to be a Toton to Hoo Jct working which wasn't pathed into Stafford. I've seen 2 suggestions as to why it did make it to Stafford, one being the flooding in the West Midlands area and the other being that a run around was necessary to have the machinery at the right end of the train but either way it was a nice find for me
DC Rail 56091 by
The_Train
Then on the Monday just gone, after a brief illness had stopped me from maintaining my exercise routine, I was back out for a morning run. As it was my first in a couple of weeks and still feeling a little groggy I revised my route to shorten it slightly and that meant running parallel to the North station approach and my timings aligned for me to meet
70811 working the Mountsorrel to Carlisle ballast train - that takes my 70 requirements into single figures for sight.
Then the following day - the Tuesday just gone......
One final Northern Ranger - Tuesday 19th November 2019
Yes, that's right I decided on yet another venture into Northern land before the ranger offer comes to an end tomorrow. I'd narrowed my potentials down to a trip to Sheffield and another day of pacer chasing or heading to Doncaster on the hope that my final LNER HST would pass by.
@fishquinn gave me hope with a photo of 43318 at Doncaster last Saturday so my decision was made.
My plan was to get the 0848 from Crewe to Piccadilly instead of the 0916 which meant I needed an earlier start at Stafford to give myself time to get my ticket in the Crewe ticket office. My plan was therefore to get the earlier 0811 LNWR train to Crewe and after a little bit of rushing about I made it to the station in time to see that this train had been cancelled - OHLE problems the excuse of the day for LNWR who are truly awful at the moment. That left me with no option but to get the 0818, which was
350254, which would give me 12 minutes to get my ticket and get to P1. 12 minutes became 9 minutes by the time we arrived but my running came in handy and thankfully the ticket office was empty so I actually made it to the Manchester train with minutes to spare. No time for my usual roam around Crewe though so it was aboard
323228, a haulage requirement for the stopper to Manchester. I'd wanted to get the 0848 as it offered a -2 connection on to a Sheffield train and I was living in hope that the connection gods would help me......they didn't and as we were held at the junction with Ardwick I got to see 150210 heading off to Sheffield. The only bright point to our delay outside Piccadilly was that I got to pick off
142084 as it arrived off what I assumed to be the Rose Hill shuttle. This left me with an hour fester at Piccadilly and as the train shed seemed to be busy I decided to head down the platform and plonk myself down to see what came in. What did come in was a whole load of duds as my Northern requirements dwindle down and it was a good half hour before
156489 broke my duck. The VTWC debranding is certainly in full swing with the Pendolino's as the few I saw were all in their plain livery including dud 390119
390119 by
The_Train
Another thing I'd noticed was the amount of pacers that were about compared to the previous week when I wanted them to be there. Even the 0916 out of Crewe turned out to have 142061 on the back - if only I hadn't chased that unlikely connection eh?
142061 by
The_Train
I did get a bit of freight action before I went but it was very dud (it was actually the 2nd time I'd seen it today having had it go past me at Stafford) 66541
FLR 66541 by
The_Train
Not much luck with winners for sight at Piccadilly but I did increase my number of photographed units. It was a bitterly cold morning so I was glad to be heading back into the shed to find my steed for the trip to Sheffield and I can't deny that a smile swept across my face when I climbed down the stairs to P1 to see this lovely sight...
142017 by
The_Train
Yes, winner for haulage
142017 was to bounce me all the way along the Hope Valley to Sheffield. The journey was quiet, well except for the glorious screeching, until we reached Earles Sidings where dud 66607 was sat but it wasn't alone.
20906 was also sat there whilst in the midst of performing some shunting duties and that was most definitely a bonus winner. We arrived into Sheffield but I didn't have much time, in fact the only time I had was for a quick PNB and then to decide whether to take the Bridlington or Hull. 158908 was on the Bridlington but 144006 was on the Hull
158908 & 144006 by
The_Train
My mind was easily made up so it was on to the stopper to Hull for the jaunt to Doncaster and my first haulage on
144006. Not much to see along the way except for winning trams
104 and
125 at Meadowhall. There was plenty to see as we crawled into Doncaster with duds 66789, 66706, 66782 and 70815 all parked up. The West Yard was it's typical busy self but most of what was sat in there was blocked by a LNER set with 91132 sat at the front uncoupled from the rest. I was, however, able to see Colas
37116 through the windows of the dud coaching stock
91132 in Doncaster West Yard by
The_Train
By this time
@fishquinn had returned to this very thread to deliver the devastating news that 43318 would not be visiting Donny until long after I'd left. There was still plenty of other possible winners knocking about though and I got off to a strong start as
801105 went into the book. After seeing off a rake of dud Mk4s I ventured to the North end of the station to see what was on Wabtec and I found a sight that afforded mixed emotions.
47703 was sat on show, great as a winner but not so great in seeing the condition it's now in considering how it's looked in previous lives
47703 at Wabtec by
The_Train
Another winner quickly followed as
180110 took my 180 needs down to just 2 - I'd not really considered this class in my planning but would be a bonus clearance if the remaining 2 would also pass through. A secondary plan for the HSTs was to grab photos of as many of these beautiful beasts as possible and that started when dud 43316 flew through the fasts
43316 by
The_Train
I'd had a quick check on RTT as I arrived into Doncaster and I have to say I was pleased to see the number of freights due through today. Quite a number of them were already on the move as well - maybe a few loco winners would make up for the lack of my final HST. The first of these came through quite soon after I'd arrived as dud 66728 hauled containers towards the new(ish) terminal at Iport
GBRf 66728 by
The_Train
More newbie stock was sighted soon after as
195126 was ticked off before more dud freight came by in the form of 66057. Better luck followed thanks to a track machine as
DR75402 visited platform 0 for a quick reverse before
331104 was also chalked off as it arrived from Leeds. A nice run of winners soon came to an abrupt end though as a multitude of dud units, Mk4 sets and locos passed by
EWS liveried 66116 by
The_Train
I decided to try and change my luck by wandering down to the south end of platform 4, noticing a good number of spotters down this end. My move worked as the next freight working was a Hedon Road Siding to Belmont Yard and was headed by the fantastic sight of winner
60059
60059 by
The_Train
801104 was the next into the book to keep the Azumas ticking over before
801205 made it a quickfire double. Unfortunately this lead me back to the duds but I was eventually saved by by the sight of
142013 arriving from Sheffield
142013 by
The_Train
802206 was a special entry into the book as it worked a test run from Hull to Peterborough in readiness for its entry into service for TPE
802216 by
The_Train
43319 and 43274 came by with a full rake of required coaching stock before
153315 was also added to the list of winners. This seemed to spark a nice run of winners as
800111 was chalked off and this newbie was followed by an old timer as
142071 also found it's way into the book.
801207 completed this little run of successes to boost my numbers nicely for the day. As ever, this run of winners had to be followed by duds and that's how it proved until
180102 ventured through, becoming my penultimate 180 winner for sight and leaving me just 105 to find. With time ticking away and the darkness setting in I though that might be my final winner at Doncaster as more duds came by and that little bit of hope I'd clung to that there might be a change in scheduling allowing me to nab that final HST all but gone as more dud HSTs came by including 43251
LNER power car 43251 by
The_Train
However, one final HST set did come through and even though the power cars were no use to me, a good percentage of the coaches did get added to the list of winners for the day. By this time I was really feeling the cold so I had a wander back over to P3 in readiness for my haulage back to Sheffield but before I could think of that
801109 and
801102 came by to finish off my time at Donny nicely. And then to top things off,
142039 became the latest winner for haulage to take me back down to Sheffield. With the darkness well and truly set in there was little chance of seeing anything outside so I enjoyed the bounce whilst reading my book pretty much all the way and we were soon back into the Steel City
142039 by
The_Train
As before, my schedule didn't afford much time at Sheffield and I was soon climbing aboard my next haulage which consisted of winner for haulage
156480 and dud for all 142046. I still took a seat on the pacer, partly because most people seemed to head towards the 156 (don't know why) and mainly because, well, why wouldn't I? Even though we were ready for an on time departure from Sheffield, it was announced that the signaller was holding us to allow a late running TPE service to get ahead of us. We never recovered and a late arrival into Piccadilly meant I had limited time to scour the platforms (only found duds anyway) before I was onto 323228 for the 2nd time today for the jaunt back down to Cheshire. My plan was to jump on the 2119 LNWR service at Crewe to take me home but, shock horror, it's departure time from Liverpool had come and gone with no movement. As we pulled into Crewe I was bracing myself for a lengthy fester until suddenly a VTWC Voyager pulled alongside us on the approach. At first it didn't register and then I recalled the Glasgow-Brum service that should have left Crewe 4 minutes earlier - surely my luck wasn't in and a late running train would save me? A quick check on RTT showed it was indeed that train and suddenly, having been quite slumbersome on the way to Crewe, I was alert and up ready to get the doors open and dash across the platform to P5 to jump aboard the late running
221116 and make it home a lot earlier than my schedule had allowed.
Disappointing not to achieve the ultimate goal of finding that final HST. I might be relying on this becoming one that heads across to EMR now. However, a decent number of winners was had and inadvertently I enjoyed plenty of pacer fun so all in all it was a good, but cold outing. Summary is below:
For Sight
Winners:
22 on Donny outing & 2 @ Stafford previously
Coaching Stock Winners:
15
Tram Winners:
2
Classes completed:
N/A
Sub classes completed:
N/A
TOCs completed:
N/A
For Haulage
Winners:
7
Total Mileage:
230 miles 75 chains
Classes completed:
N/A
Sub classes completed:
N/A