Myself, matt, Jim and Dennis met at 9.50 on New Street, bought tickets, took tickets back because the guy who issued them was clearly very thick. Eventually met Andrew on the platform about 10 mins late, caught train to Longbridge.
Took some photos of 323s and 220s, and got back on a train to BNS, where we decided to take a ride on the Midland Metro. Walked to Snow Hill, got Metro to Hawthorns, then a 150 back to Moor St. We had called Yorkie to tell him to meet Zoltan and then come over to Moor St, but Zoltan was delayed.
We left Moor St on the 150 before the one we had planned to get, in exchange for a longer stay at Stourbridge (after taking a 153 on the Junction - Town shuttle, and having the conductoress pose in the doorway for us!). Back at Stourbridge Junction onto another 150 to Stratford-upon-Avon. Then onto a 165 Chiltern service to London Marylebone, which got us to Leamington Spa, where we had a 2 min change for our Voyager to Coventry! Ran like mad through the underpass after having located ourselves at the doorway which would be closest to the staircase, got to the other platform just as the dispatcher was lowering his baton! But Zoltan bellowed and ran to the door, and we just got on!
At Coventry, we had nearly an hour to waste, so decided to go up to International to ride SkyRail. However, the Voyager was sitting around in Coventry for ages, because of a broken down freight train just ahead of us, so we had to abandon that plan (however Zoltan still took it and then presumably went on to Birmingham then home).
We took another 153 to Nuneaton, where Yorkie left us (and, I'm told, got to ride a HST home!). We then returned to Coventry (and saw brand-new-car freight traffic on the way), only to find chaos awaiting us. Due to a fatality between Milton Keynes and Rugby, and another broken down train at Rugby, and another incident, possibly a fire on a train, down the Leamington branch, there were terrible delays. Eventually, we were lucky enough to get on some MkIII's hauled by 90037 back to New Street.
Took some photos of 323s and 220s, and got back on a train to BNS, where we decided to take a ride on the Midland Metro. Walked to Snow Hill, got Metro to Hawthorns, then a 150 back to Moor St. We had called Yorkie to tell him to meet Zoltan and then come over to Moor St, but Zoltan was delayed.
We left Moor St on the 150 before the one we had planned to get, in exchange for a longer stay at Stourbridge (after taking a 153 on the Junction - Town shuttle, and having the conductoress pose in the doorway for us!). Back at Stourbridge Junction onto another 150 to Stratford-upon-Avon. Then onto a 165 Chiltern service to London Marylebone, which got us to Leamington Spa, where we had a 2 min change for our Voyager to Coventry! Ran like mad through the underpass after having located ourselves at the doorway which would be closest to the staircase, got to the other platform just as the dispatcher was lowering his baton! But Zoltan bellowed and ran to the door, and we just got on!
At Coventry, we had nearly an hour to waste, so decided to go up to International to ride SkyRail. However, the Voyager was sitting around in Coventry for ages, because of a broken down freight train just ahead of us, so we had to abandon that plan (however Zoltan still took it and then presumably went on to Birmingham then home).
We took another 153 to Nuneaton, where Yorkie left us (and, I'm told, got to ride a HST home!). We then returned to Coventry (and saw brand-new-car freight traffic on the way), only to find chaos awaiting us. Due to a fatality between Milton Keynes and Rugby, and another broken down train at Rugby, and another incident, possibly a fire on a train, down the Leamington branch, there were terrible delays. Eventually, we were lucky enough to get on some MkIII's hauled by 90037 back to New Street.