Going International in the name of Trains - Friday 29th November 2019
Part 2 - Capital Gains
I arrived in the Welsh capital at around 20 past 1 in the afternoon meaning I had over 4 hours to chase down those Welsh pacers but it wasn't the squeal of a pacer that welcomed me, it was the sound of duds as a couple of 800s and a 175 headed into the dud book for the day. However, once I'd positioned myself at the Canton end amongst a gaggle of spotters (what is the correct term for a group of train geeks?), the winners soon started to find me.
150280 was first to be chalked off before the glorious sight of pacers started with
142085 and
142083. My TfW sightings had been restricted to the Crewe and Manchester areas previously so I was a little light on these so it wasn't too much of a shock to be hitting winners straight away but nevertheless it still a nice feeling to be ticking off more and more with each unit that arrives and that was the case with
150241 and
143604 which were next to be marked off. I'd been told that Cardiff could be a bit of a hotbed for DB sheds and this interested me considering the DB fleet is probably where most of my shed reuquirements lie but the first one to appear for me was dud 66076. There was no way I was letting this drag me down though and neither were the TfW pacers as
142072 soon got my winners back up and running and this was soon followed by
150284,
143616 and
143605 as the units flooded into Cardiff from all over the place. The 175s have generally been the TfW units I've had most success with outside of Wales so it was no surprise that these were the ones to throw up the most duds and a couple more were added to that list before
142069 and
142010 brought those required pacer numbers down even further. Something a bit different showed next though as Cardiff was treated to a couple of posh sprinters and I was treated to more winners, this time in the form of
158763 and
158747 before we were graced with a locomotive that isn't a shed - always a pleasure these days. Unfortunately it was dud 60062 working a Westerleigh Puma to Robeston Sidings tank train through the goods lines
DB 60062 by
The_Train
That may well not have been a winner but my next sighting,
150229 most definitely was. I'd got chatting to a couple of guys who were also about and they'd got onto the subject of ex GA class 170s heading for TfW. This was news to me but they also said that there was one roaming around on test and was due into Cardiff at some point but would be arriving at the opposite end of the station and returning back out the same way after a swift change of ends. I made a quick check on the maps to check for it in the vicinity and it turned out that if I'd just looked along the platform, I would have seen it as it was already in Cardiff. A quick turn of pace (I've still got it) allowed me to make it to the other end in time to see it was 170207, which I'd already seen previously during my stint around Norfolk/Suffolk. Ah well, always a novelty to see liveries in areas you wouldn't necessarily expect
Ex GA 170207 @ Cardiff Central by
The_Train
A slow stroll back to my position - it needed to be slow as I can only turn up the pace once a day - enabled me to chalk off
143607 which had arrived into the 'Valley platforms' and this was soon followed by
143601. My first sighting of a dogbox had been a dud, mainly thanks to the few I've seen at Crewe over the last 18 months but
153329 was anything but dud before it was time for more shed action as a Llanwern to Margam working transpired to be dud PD Ports 66109
PD Ports liveried 66109 by
The_Train
I'm a fan of DB turning out locos in new liveries but someone does need to tell their design team that there are other colours than blue! After the excitement of some loco action, it was back to the units and more importantly back to the pacers as
143614 was chalked off but 142072 made a return appearance to remind me that repeats would hit me with a vengeance as time ticked on
142072 by
The_Train
153353 was next in the book and those eagled eyed of you will have noticed the GWR HST in the picture of the PD Ports shed but these were definite duds 43097 and 43122. It was a HST replacement that would be my next winner as
800312 appeared and the soon to be replaced
142080,
143623 and
143608 also went into the book. I thought I might get to see a few more required IETs but not with the next pairing as 800032 and 800023 added to the growing number of duds for the day so I was becoming more and more reliant on the pacers to keep my winner numbers up -
142077,
142006,
142002 and
142074 all received the treatment in the space of 10 minutes before 143607 ended that run by making a duplicate appearance
143607 by
The_Train
166203 and
165132 made an appearance on the Taunton working and
150237 was also added to the winners list before 43122 and 43097 returned to the station, having had a brief rest, to get their next working underway. A raft of dud units came and went, although not all duds as
150251 broke that cycle, before it was time for a bit more locomotion but yet another dud DB trundled by as 66094 ventured off to Llanwern.
150253 was clearly not happy about me enduring these duds so it made an appearance before nearly 10 minutes went by with dud unit after dud unit - not helped, of course, by the fact that I was re-recording units that terminated at Cardiff and then went off to reverse and return to the station
One of the duds that did come by in this 10 minute period, however, was not a returning unit but yet another dud DB shed, this time 66158 not helping me at all. Whoever it was who said about Cardiff being fairly DB heavy was definitely not lying - just a shame that DB seem to enjoy leaving their fleet cluttering up the Toton depot
Not to worry too much about DB and their fleet, I was soon back to the winning units as
175011 started a run of winners whilst also bringing my 175 requirements down to just 4.
143606,
142082 and
143624 followed in a manic 2 minute period before
800303 was also chalked off. These were swiftly followed by
150264 and
150240 before another short run of duds followed whilst one of the local fellas whipped up the crowd with his excitement regarding a move from Crewe to Cardiff Canton. I started to picture steam or some classic diesel traction so I was slightly underwhelmed when one of the TfW LHCS sets appeared having failed earlier that morning and, having been fixed, was returning home ready for its evening outing. It wasn't all bad though, as the DVT
82306 was required as were all of the coaching stock but 67020, powering at the rear was a dud
82306 by
The_Train
With time approaching 4pm, the darkness was starting to set in and opportunities for pictures were dwindling. On top of this, lots of units were repeating by now - in fact I think I'd seen some of them 3 or 4 times by now. That said, winners were still showing themselves as
142075 was chalked off before
150262 and
150257 followed suit.
142081 also kept those pacer winners coming before
175004 further reduced my needs on the 175 class as I headed down to just 3 required. By now, the cold was setting in and this was not helped by the fact that I had a 30 minute spell where only
158766 was ticked off amongst many a dud but I was kept alive by the thought of those 37s which were still yet to come - not that a local had filled me with much confidence with his horror stories of units coming out on these 37 turns. Before that though, I did manage to nab a few more winners as
150255 and
150285 followed one another into the book as did
166201 and
165127 right before the main event as I heard that very familiar growl from Canton. Indeed, it was required
37418 hauling a rake of required coaching stock - unfortunately as I'd already used my turn of pace for today, I only managed to make it to the other end in time to grab a pretty naff pic as it launched itself out of Cardiff. Never mind, it was a nice one to see, hear and add to the list of winners and I knew there was still the possibility of the 2nd set coming out to play just before I headed home. Before that though, 66094 made another appearance as it headed back to Margam from Llanwern before
158962 was marked off.
153327 and
158821 headed into the book as did
142076 but it was the sight of dud 166220 arriving into Cardiff that caused me some alarm. The reason this concerned me so much was because it arrived on a working that I'd followed on RTT as I was sure it was the incoming working that would then become my steed back to Bristol - maybe I'd just followed the wrong service.......
No time to worry about this though as it was getting close to the time that the 2nd set of LHCS should be heading off Canton and I could definitely see lights that resembled those on the front of the beasts that are 37s. Even a group of local scrotes who had obviously enjoyed their first taste of beer weren't going to distract me from this as 37421 appeared with 3 of the 4 coaches being required for sight. Unfortunately the loco was a dud for sight but it didn't make the spectacle any less as it powered out of the station and into the winter night
37421 by
The_Train
With time ticking, it was time to dash over (well under) to where my steed home was waiting and my fears were confirmed as
166220 was sat there waiting to head to Taunton via Bristol. It appeared that a Paddington train which usually arrives and departs before the Taunton train was delayed and a lot of the Paddington folk were panicking that the 166 was their train home. It was a very well loaded service pretty much all the way to Bristol so it was earphones in for me as we headed back towards the border. We were soon back in the West Country and I was soon in a Costa for a large vanilla latte to not only warm my hands up but to also warm my insides up. I had a quick roam around after heading back on to the platforms but I was enjoying the coffee far too much to be worrying about trains and with little time left before my next departure I decided to relax a little bit. 4 of my journeys today were planned as HSTs and so far I was out 1 from 3 actually being a HST set of some sort - surely XC weren't going to let me down again? They didn't as
43321 and
43378 became my penultimate haulage of a very long day, both being winners for haulage to boot. A late arrival into Bristol was never really recovered and it seemed to be quite slow progress, particularly around Cheltenham where a quick check on the maps showed us being held whilst GWR conducted an ECS move. By the time we arrived into New Street my final connection at Tamworth was starting to feel a bit pushed but with a quick turnaround that wouldn't be a problem. The quick turnaround never happened, in fact we were notified that we were to be held at New Street awaiting the late arrival of another XC service to allow those on there with connections to Leeds to still board our train. Good for those wanting to connect to Leeds but not so good for those of us with connections before Leeds - to be fair to XC it was announced that anyone with connections at Tamworth for onward journeys up the WCML would have tickets accepted on a train destined for Crewe - I think it is the VTWC one but I decided to stay on to Tamworth knowing I had a back up connection at just after 10pm. I'd have been interested to see whether my split tickets - Cheltenham-Tamworth/Tamworth-Stafford - would have been well received on a train heading from Birmingham to Stafford via Wolverhampton and not going near Tamworth though! We did eventually get moving though and after no more delays, we pulled into Tamworth not so long afterwards meaning I missed my connection by around 10 minutes meaning my penultimate ride on a Virgin Trains Pendolino was now my final ride on one as my back up was a LNWR service. Unfortunately my arrival into Tamworth was met by departure boards showing my backup train as cancelled - it was moving when I'd checked RTT whilst sat at Birmingham but appears that it reached Rugby and no further. LNWR trying their best to become the new Northern again! I was now down to the final train of the day as my only option to get home but that was another hour away and its departure time had come and passed without movement from Euston. I tried my best to get the staff at Tamworth to arrange me some transport home but that fell on deaf ears....
Me - "come on mate, it was meant to leave Euston 10 minutes ago and hasn't moved. It will definitely be cancelled at some point"
Staff - "sorry but until it shows as cancelled we can't do anything"
At least they had left the waiting room on P1 open so I ventured in there to find some warmth and thankfully some food in my bag. As I was munching on that a quick check on RTT showed a bit of freight action incoming so I stepped outside as did the other gent in the waiting room. It was only a dud 70 but I was more surprised to have bumped into another spotter at 10pm on a freezing winter evening. In the end I was glad I did as I suddenly found myself roaming the low and high levels to see quite a good number of freight trains over the next hour or so. I found out he had driven from Derby to spend a few hours until 11pm watching the late evening freight action that Tamworth offers and does so quite regularly on a Friday evening. I definitely commend his dedication to the locomotive hunt. Unfortunately for me all of the locos were duds but I was grateful for the company at a time when I had planned to be in the warmth of home and after he departed I was relieved to see that the final train had departed Euston and was winding its way up the WCML. The member of staff I spoke to earlier walked past me looking smug - no words needed to be exchanged, he knew he'd won that little battle
It was actually a pair of 350s, 350377 and 350117, that rolled in but neither were required for haulage so I jumped aboard 117 for the jaunt back to Stafford and with the time getting on for midnight and having left my house around 18 hours earlier, I finally found my way home and to my bed after a pretty epic day.
For Sight
Winners:
84
Coaching Stock Winners:
19
Tram Winners:
0
Classes completed:
323
Sub classes completed:
N/A
TOCs completed:
N/A
For Haulage
Winners:
6
Total Mileage:
336 miles 72 chains
Classes completed:
N/A
Sub classes completed:
N/A