Cactus' UK & European rail travels

[cactustwirly]

I would have been doing endless East Mids - Leicester runs if I'd gone for it yesterday - 8 return trips in total as I've discovered a decent fare for it.


Damn! I asked 185143 but he reminded me that he was at college so I just assumed that you would be too! Still, I had a rather successful day there with two class clearances (although I'm not sure one of them counts as a class) except the fact that the thing that had made me choose Manchester, a winner shovel on the Mancc diagram, didn't produce

Can you pm with that fare please

 

[cactustwirly]

Mini HST bash 22/10/17

I hate the Sunday timetable, it's just so awful (very slow services, mainly 222s).
I was looking through the timetables last night, and saw that I could get 2 HST sets with a risky +3 connection at Loughborough.
I got to the station at 1135, and purchased my ticket. I headed down to platform 2 to await my train.
Winners 43059 + 43046 took me 12 miles north to Loughborough.

IMG_20171022_114146 by litecactus, on Flickr

This service was surprisingly busy for a Sunday, since my connection at Loughborough was running 25L I was going to get an excess to East Mids Parkway, but the guard didn't come round.
Luckily the Leeds train made up 10 minutes, so I would have missed it anyway.

IMG_20171022_115706 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171022_120139 by litecactus, on Flickr

The wait was alright, but I didn't appreciate the artic weather conditions!

Eventually winners 43064 + 43073 turned up to take me back to Leicester, this train was really busy, I just about managed to get a seat (at the rear of the train in coach B!)

IMG_20171022_121334 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171022_122744 by litecactus, on Flickr

Not bad for only £3.85

 

[cactustwirly]

The VP185s do sound awesome!
I'm warming to the seats, much better than 150 seats and 390/Voyager seats, but no patch on the Grammer seats on GWR HSTs.

 

[fishquinn]

I'm certainly glad that you're warming to the seats although they're miles ahead of GWR HST seats.

 

[cactustwirly]

I'm certainly glad that you're warming to the seats although they're miles ahead of GWR HST seats.

The only problem with them is the lack of back support, which is why I like the Grammar seats so much, I also don't mind the 387 seats either.

 

[cactustwirly]

It all goes wrong! 28/10/17

This was supposed to be the same sort of thing, except going to East Midlands Parkway instead of Loughborough.
There was engineering works between Bedford and Leicester so trains were teriminating at Leicester.
The timing load for the 1146, and most of the Nottingham trains was for a HST, it's normally booked for a HST on Sundays.

Imagine the horror when I got to the platform and saw a bloody Meridian! A lot of expletives were said!
It was winner 222003 my second 222, and my first 7 car set.

IMG_20171029_113552 by litecactus, on Flickr

The journey wasn't too bad, Meridians are better than Voyagers, mainly because of the seats and ambience.
Meridians are a bit like voyagers, where their neither the best nor worst trains I've been on.

IMG_20171029_120411 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171029_120516 by litecactus, on Flickr

I had a 30 fester at East Mids Parkway, there isn't much to say, it was cold and boring. The sound of water from the nearby cooling towers was quite annoying!

IMG_20171029_122042 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171029_122546 by litecactus, on Flickr

Eventually dud powercar 43064 and winner 43043 took me back to Leicester.
This train was rammed and it wasn't a particularly fun journey.

IMG_20171029_123530 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171029_130002 by litecactus, on Flickr

I've got an exciting trip lined up in 2 weeks, and next weekend involves more mileage and maybe some turbo action!

 

[fishquinn]

Shame it wasn't a successful trip and hopefully it didn't cost too much.

 

[Kite159]

It would have been 003 not 013

Agreed about the sound of water at East Midlands Parkway getting annoying after a while

 

[Cowley]

Enjoyed reading that CW. Having listened to a few clips of VP185s on YouTube recently I’m beginning to feel that they sound a little bit old school..?

 

[cactustwirly]

Enjoyed reading that CW. Having listened to a few clips of VP185s on YouTube recently I’m beginning to feel that they sound a little bit old school..?

Thanks
Yes, they sound like a cross between a Valenta Paxman and a MTU engine.
They also have a louder turbo, which gives them that scream sound at high speeds (just like the original engines)

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

The VP185s do sound awesome!
I'm warming to the seats, much better than 150 seats and 390/Voyager seats, but no patch on the Grammer seats on GWR HSTs.

GWR HST standard class I dislike very much! I can't sit on the Grammar seats comfortably for longer than forty five minutes to an hour. First class on those trains on the other hand is legendary.

IC125 seats are alright, but nothing special, I'd be appalled if I got an ex-EMT set on a VTEC working. I would be happy travelling on a 222 instead of a EMT HST (although I like the sound of a VP185, a bit like a modern day Valenta). OK, so I haven't actually been on an EMT HST but I have travelled on a GA Mark 3 numerous times.

As for Mallard seats however, XC HSTs and VTEC HSTs have wonderful seats, I would happily willingly sit on these trains in standard for three or four hours. And first class on these HSTs are brilliant too, almost as good as GWR.

Btw really enjoying these EMT reports, not done EMT in years, and I actually do mean years. Unfortunately IC action is rare for me, living in Surrey it means that the only way to get some Intercity action is to go somewhere with XC or GWR, or to get the train all the way up to London.

Looking forward to the turbo action - I've almost completed the GWR Turbos and I'm very excited to read some more reports around Twyford area again, I'm a regular to that area, I normally get Reading area day rangers.

 

[cactustwirly]

Home sweet home 04/11/17

This was the start of my reading week, so I arranged to go back home.
I booked the cheapest advances, so I was traveling early on a Saturday morning.
I got to the station at 0735, to await the 0753 Meridian for a non stop run to St Pancras.
Whilst I was waiting I spotted a 67 on a RHTT.
IMG_20171104_074019 by litecactus, on Flickr

Eventually winner 222007 arrived, this service was busy, and I had to extract a grumpy old couple to get to my reserved seat (they were hogging a table of 4).
IMG_20171104_075350 by litecactus, on Flickr

The journey wasn't very exciting, and we arrived into St Pancras 10L because we had to wait for a free platform.
IMG_20171104_090819 by litecactus, on Flickr
IMG_20171104_090959 by litecactus, on Flickr

I was hoping to get the 0927 from Paddington, for some unknown reason there was a reduced service from Paddington, therefore there was only 2tph to Twyford.
I was lucky with the tube trains, I didn't have to wait for any. I took the met line, then the Bakerloo, because the H&C was suspended from Edgware Road to Hammersmith.
I arrived at Paddington at 0928, damn I would have to wait 1/2 hour for the next Twyford train. So I got a coffee and a croissant and made my way to platform 14 for 166201 to take me to Twyford. I forgot how fun the turbos were! (and how annoying the PIS system is!)

After living in Leicester for a few months, I have got so used to living there that coming back to Twyford felt so weird!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Yay the Turbos are back!

Is that your first time hearing Janine because yes her welsh lilt and strict sounding voice irritates me too. “Do NOT try to board or leave the train when the doors are closing!”

Faye is much better (although that may be biased because I sort of know her personally)

 

[fishquinn]

From the photo you couldn't find that free platform at St Pancras so had to use an occupied one

 

[cactustwirly]

I'm such an Idiot: 06/11/17

Since I had the day free, I was going to use the opportunity to get a 800.
I came up with the idea of going to Swindon, at 1830 the night before, which was after the deadline for advances.
So I had to settle with Didcot instead.

I got the delayed 1113 from Twyford to Reading formed of 165102, I spotted 66065 on a stone train while I was waiting.

IMG_20171106_111508 by litecactus, on Flickr

At Reading I headed down to platform 9 to get the 1142 towards Didcot. Formed of winners 43017 & 43151

IMG_20171106_113855 by litecactus, on Flickr

I forgot how scenic the line was to Didcot, through the chilterns.
When we got to Didcot, I realised that the 800 was delayed by 20 minutes, so I had a nice 30 minute fester.

IMG_20171106_115628 by litecactus, on Flickr

It was boring, but Didcot is much better than East Midlands Parkway.
While I was waiting, I made a visit to the overpriced pumkin shop for a latte.

Eventually winners 800005 & 800006, took me back to Reading.

IMG_20171106_123328 by litecactus, on Flickr

The IETs are nice, but the seats are hard and the engine noise is noticeable, but not as loud as a 22x or 180. The are still quite fun to ride on.

IMG_20171106_123430 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171106_125103_01 by litecactus, on Flickr

165113 took me back to Twyford.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Ah. 113. My 165 stalker. Rather you than me.

I just wonder, you know the 800 you travelled in was two coupled together - the one you didn't go in, do you count that as being travelled on - is that now a dud, or does it not count? Because if travelling on two winner turbos it really annoys me because I have to hop off after one stop and then rejoin in the other train to score both units, which is risky because it could close its doors before I get back on!

 

[Kite159]

Sounded like a good little day out Catcus, I still need to get a 800 in the book.

Ah. 113. My 165 stalker. Rather you than me.

I just wonder, you know the 800 you travelled in was two coupled together - the one you didn't go in, do you count that as being travelled on - is that now a dud, or does it not count? Because if travelling on two winner turbos it really annoys me because I have to hop off after one stop and then rejoin in the other train to score both unicorns, which is risky because it could close its doors before I get back on!

*Imagines unicorns on the railway*

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I'm sorry that makes no sense.

 

[Kite159]

I'm sorry that makes no sense.

Autocorrect put unicorns down instead of units

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Autocorrect put unicorns down instead of units

GASP! Oops! Fixed.

 

[Cowley]

Excellent

 

[Cowley]

Good stuff Mr Wirly. Liking the photos

 

[cactustwirly]

Back to Uni 07/11/17

I was booked on the 1115 from St Pancras, I was supposed to be on the 0939 from Twyford and change at Slough.
However I couldn't be bothered to wait 20 minutes at Slough (to save 2 minutes) so I just got the 0919, which was a booked HST until September.
I saw the 0911 arrive (almost all shacks to Paddington) it was pretty busy.
The 0919 was the exact opposite, almost empty when it arrived.
It was supposed to be a nice fast run along the main lines, however it was delayed by 20 minutes because of a track circuit failure at Ealing.
I took the Bakerloo and Met lines to St Pancras and made it with plenty of time to spare.

Winner powercars 43066 & 43060 took me 100 miles north to Leicester.

IMG_20171107_105956 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171107_110209 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171107_122457 by litecactus, on Flickr

 

[cactustwirly]

Ah. 113. My 165 stalker. Rather you than me.

I just wonder, you know the 800 you travelled in was two coupled together - the one you didn't go in, do you count that as being travelled on - is that now a dud, or does it not count? Because if travelling on two winner turbos it really annoys me because I have to hop off after one stop and then rejoin in the other train to score both units, which is risky because it could close its doors before I get back on!

I count them both.
As with everything there's no set rules (you make them up yourself)
I have different rules for scoring shacks, the train only has to stop there, some people may class this as 'cheating'.

 

[cactustwirly]

A little bit of everything: 11/11/17

I started the day at Leicester, with the 0918 service towards Peterborough which was formed of winner 170518, I met up with Quinn and Nat onboard.

IMG_20171111_091052 by litecactus, on Flickr

The journey to Peterborough was ok, but a little boring.
At Peterborough we had an hour or so to kill so we headed to the Queensgate centre.
Back at the station a pair of 37s were spotted on a test train.

IMG_20171111_105847 by litecactus, on Flickr

We were getting the 1118 HST to Leeds, I was hoping for some VTEC powercars, unfortunately it was a hired in EMT set.
Winners 43045 and 43052 took us to Doncaster, diverted via Lincoln and Newark.

IMG_20171111_110910 by litecactus, on Flickr

The diversion via Lincoln is quite slow, the RRB from Peterborough to Newark is much quicker.

IMG_20171111_123439 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171111_131951 by litecactus, on Flickr

The original plan was to get the stopper to Sheffield (to score the intermediate shacks) however this turned out to be a crappy 142, so it was flagged.
We took winner 185118 to Meadowhall (my first 185!)

IMG_20171111_140110 by litecactus, on Flickr

We then caught winner 158844 to Sheffield.

IMG_20171111_140757 by litecactus, on Flickr

But god are the northern 158s crap, the interior is just in such a state! The EMT 158s are so much nicer!

We had an hour to kill, so me and quinn went off to score Dronfield as a shack.

Winner 222004 took us to Chesterfield

IMG_20171111_144254 by litecactus, on Flickr

Winner 158906 took us north to Dronfield, which is a very nice station.

IMG_20171111_145428 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171111_150248 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171111_150251 by litecactus, on Flickr

Um it went a bit wrong from here, due to a fatality at Langley Mill our Nottingham bound 158 was terminated at Chesterfield (formed of winner 158845 btw)

We then caught winner 222005 to Derby

IMG_20171111_154020 by litecactus, on Flickr

Winner 170109 took us to Nottingham

IMG_20171111_160043 by litecactus, on Flickr

Which gave us a tight +4 connection onto our planned HST back to Leicester.
We made it, thank god! It was formed of winner powercars 43089 and 43081


IMG_20171111_162836 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171111_165849 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171111_170030 by litecactus, on Flickr

We were using a slight loophole, so the cost was only £17.90

 

[fishquinn]

Thanks for an excellent day with a couple of decent trams thrown in too.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Is it just me or is there this guy who seems to follow you to loads of the stations - in the pics

 

[cactustwirly]

Is it just me or is there this guy who seems to follow you to loads of the stations - in the pics

It's probably nat67 or fishquinn (I was with them for the day)

Just worked out that we travelled 263 miles!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Oh I see! Yeah that didn't occur to me - I kept seeing the same guy in a blue jacket on your flickrlivestream and thought: "It looks like he's following him!"

200 odd miles is a great achievement for one day, congrats!

 

[cactustwirly]

These Stations are annoying... 15/11/17

EMT serve a lot of Awkward stations, with different difficulty levels. The stations I was trying to get were of a medium level. Where they are only served by a select few trains a day.

I worked out I could score 4 (Rolleston, Bleasby, Thurgarton & Burton Joyce) of these stations using the 1439 Newark to Matlock service.

I was originally going to do this on Saturday, but I changed my mind at the very last minute.

I caught the 1226 stopper from Leicester formed of winner 156498. I chose the stopper because I wouldn't have a tedious wait at Nottingham.

IMG_20171115_122354 by litecactus, on Flickr

The journey was quite slow. I do like the EMT 156s, they have my 2nd favourite type of seat, and the train was mostly clean and tidy.

IMG_20171115_122643 by litecactus, on Flickr

After a 15 minute dwell at Nottingham the train proceeded through mostly flat countryside, with a non stop run to Newark Castle.

IMG_20171115_135142 by litecactus, on Flickr

I had a 50 minute fester here, so I had a walk round town. Newark is very quaint and it reminds me of Ludlow, but a bit flatter.

I had a walk round the Castle aswell.

IMG_20171115_141915 by litecactus, on Flickr

I headed back to the station to get winner 156470 on the Matlock stopper.

IMG_20171115_143337 by litecactus, on Flickr

I can see why some of the shacks recieve a poor service, they appear to only serve very small settlements

Anyway I arrived back in Nottingham on time, and headed for the 1530 HST back to Leicester
Luckily it was formed of winners 43047 & 43048

IMG_20171115_151453 by litecactus, on Flick

IMG_20171115_151716 by litecactus, on Flickr

IMG_20171115_152022 by litecactus, on Flickr

Which means that my EMT HST requirements are now in the single figures (only 8 left!)

I think the Skeggy line shacks will require a lot of creative thinking!