February 2013 - 6 day UK railtour - the fully illustrated story

[Tim R-T-C]

So a mere 3 and a half years after my 6 day UK railtour, I have finally gotten around to sorting through the photos and telling the full story.

So, to start with we need to go back to 2002 when between Lower and Upper Sixth form years I got a 7 Day All Line Rover and took my first solo holiday and rail exploration around Britain, getting as far afield as Exeter and Edinburgh. This extensively planned trip was named Operation Voyager (partly because the idea of travelling on the 22xs was actually quite exciting at the time). The next year I managed to get my parents to buy me a 14 Day ALR and a far more elaborate trip resulted, from Penzance to Thurso. The photos from these trips are all on film prints which are my next big project to start scanning and sorting.

So fast forward to 2013 and I am leaving my job at the time. I had accumulated a lot of overtime in the previous year due to short staffing, to the extent I had a full week's worth in the bag. I was expecting to be paid for these, but with only a few weeks to go the manager said Head Office wouldn't authorise this, instead I just had to take the time off. Now obviously my wife couldn't get an extra week's holiday from work, so I had a week to myself. Seeing a list of DIY chores starting to form (many of which I still have not done... ), I came up with the idea of revisiting my schoolday holidays and planning Operation Voyager 3.

I had drifted away from train watching when I went to Uni and only recently started making spotting trips again, mostly to Doncaster. In the past I was somewhat conflicted between straight forward spotting, photography and travelling. By now I was firmly a photographer (at least when in the UK) - my Platform 5 books are a log of trains I have photographed - no picture and it doesn't go in the book. My ultimate, but impossible goal being to photograph everything that runs in the UK, more realistic goals being to complete various classes and tick off at least one of every class and different livery.

So I started to plan the trip around photography, the main aim being getting myself to interesting locations with a variety of freight and passenger traffic that I couldn't see at home. I like unusual workings like everyone else, but I really enjoy photographing the everyday; elements that not everyone even notices, because in the future, they are often the most interesting to look back on. Already by 2016, so many workings, liveried and even some classes are now extinct since I photographed them just three years ago.

It soon became apparent that London would be the ideal epi-centre, with almost all of the main lines and different operators easily accessible and lots of interesting photo locations. So I didn't need an ALR at all, instead some travelcards for London and a mix of advance tickets and rovers would cover my trips and give some flexibility if needed. I did still fancy a ride on a sleeper though and bagging some 31x stock in Scotland, so I added this to the beginning of the trip.

Day 1 - Monday 18th February - Scotland

So with a backpack of clothes, my brand new Nikon D600 camera and a wallet full of train tickets, I stood at a pitch black Steeton & Silsden hoping that the driver of the Carlisle train would remember that S&S was a stop on the first train of the morning. Of course he remembered and I boarded the 158 for the beautiful run north along the S&C. I was surprised that there were a fair number of people aboard, all of whom seemed to be heading up to Carlisle and most, like me, connecting to the TPE service up to Glasgow.


87002 with 86101 at Carlisle by Timothy Young, on Flickr

While waiting for the northbound Desiro, I had time to enjoy the sight of the classic Westcoast veterans 87002 and 86101 when they were employed as ice-breakers for the northern part of the route - I don't imagine anyone foresaw them making a return to passenger service with Caledonian as they now have.


TransPennine 185147 at Glasgow Central by Timothy Young, on Flickr

While the ride up to Glasgow was unremarkable, it is rather amusing (to me) that it was on 185147, a unit which I thought was the one of the set I had yet to see and for several months one which I was tracking down to photograph. A reminder that I need to sort my photo archives more quickly.

From Central I went down to the low level platforms and out to Partick. An unremarkable station, but one of the busiest in Scotland with a varied through-flow of 318s, 320s and 334s in a mix of the new Saltire, First Scotrail and Strathcylde PTE colour schemes that certainly made for a non-stop hour of photography.


318267 on a Glasgow commuter service at Partick by Timothy Young, on Flickr


Strathclyde PTE liveried 334025 by Timothy Young, on Flickr

When planning the trip, the February date had me concerned about the weather, I was expecting anything from driving rain to snow when I was up in Scotland. Instead it turned out to be an incredibly warm and sunny day, I was just wearing a T-Shirt at one point. Unfortunately the bright sun did prove rather troublesome for photography, particularly at my next location.

Travelling back to Central, I caught a train through to Holytown, primarily for the mix of freight traffic there. With the bright sun I was limited to the northbound platform and most of the freight trains were heading north, so the photos were somewhat limited, but a decent brace of 66 hauled trains came through and I can't complain.


66425 with 422 on the Tesco Express by Timothy Young, on Flickr


320320 working Milngavie to Lanark by Timothy Young, on Flickr


158717 on a Shotts line Edinburgh working by Timothy Young, on Flickr

There was also a mix of diesel sets on the Shotts line workings and 320s running down to Lanark, a routing that has now been discontinued with the Argyle line services now running via Shieldmuir instead. Amazing how quickly things become history.

With the interesting workings now gone, I took the Shotts route over to Haymarket, a scenic but slow run in the early evening sun. Arriving at Haymarket, I had a bit of time to photograph the units there before my target, the Fife Circle 67 arrived with a very worn out looking train of EWS Mark 2s


67007 at Haymarket by Timothy Young, on Flickr

With this gone I headed into Waverley, I had several hours to kill before my sleeper train so I wondered around the station for a bit, being caught unawares by a freight train, although fortunately able to react quickly enough to get a shot (which with some digital enhancement, didn't come out too badly).


66618 working Aberdeen to Oxwellmains by Timothy Young, on Flickr

It also gave me a good chance to learn about the camera's settings for night shots which have since become one of my favourite topics.


43206 with the evening Aberdeen to Leeds by Timothy Young, on Flickr

Fortunately, although noting that I was very early, the East Coast staff allowed me into the First Class lounge as a sleeper passenger, so I raided the complimentary drinks and snacks and borrowed a plug to pass a few hours with my phone and researching the next day on RTT (what I would have given for this info during my earlier spotting tours!), as well, of course, as some long calls home to reassure my wife that I wasn't wondering around the city in the dark.


90021 prepares to haul the Up Lowland Sleeper by Timothy Young, on Flickr

Eventually the Up Lowland sleeper arrived and I found my seat in the Mark 2 seated sleeper car 9809. The train ran to time, but I quickly realised it was going to be a very cold night. The door to the vestibule was not closing properly and it was pretty freezing in there. I have slept on the side of mountains in sub-zero temperatures, but that was the coldest I think I have ever been.

I remember walking around the coach when we arrived at Carstairs, I looked out of the coach door to find what appeared to be a completely deserted station, enshrouded in thick fog. Very eerie, I was very tempted to get off and photograph the train but was very concerned that I might get left there, so went back to my chair/bed.

I'm not sure how well I slept, I recall we spent some time at Preston and I watched the flickering lights on an arcade machine shining out of a platform café. Eventually we arrived into London and I watched the commuter stations flash past as we approached Euston, thus beginning day 2 of the trip...

(To follow when I finish sorting the pictures. Thanks for reading so far.)

 

[Kite159]

Very good read so far

 

[Cowley]

Nice bit of bedtime reading. The shot of the 86 and 87 at Carlisle was very evocative and brought back some nice memories. Take the 66 away and it could've been thirty years ago.
Looking forward to the next bit.

 

[roversfan2001]

Brilliant read so far, looking forward to the next section

Sent from my HTC Desire 530 using Tapatalk

 

[fishquinn]

I'm thoroughly enjoying this and it sounds like a great first day was had except the freezing sleeper coach!

 

[Iskra]

A great trip, and fantastic photo's- I'm looking forward to the rest.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Thanks for the comments, I'm editing the photos while writing assignments for my Dispensing Optician course, so I'll probably get one uploaded per week.

 

[Techniquest]

Wow what an epic trip down Memory Lane that was! I very much enjoyed the entire read, and the photos of course too. Some long-gone scenes and workings that have now changed significantly. The 67-hauled Fife Circle turn for one example, now in the hands of far more exciting 68s! 67007 remains as one of just 2 67s (67030 the other one) I need for haulage, so I'm a tad jealous of that.

Thoroughly looking forward to the next instalment when it's ready, and I have been reminded yet again to get some nostalgic trip reports out...

 

[alexf380]

A great start to the holiday by the sounds of things. It's hard to believe that was only three years ago! One thing I do regret is not going out and experiencing the Fife 67s for myself. Indeed, my first bash was in the last weeks of their operation before conversion to 68s. I've only ever had 2x67s for haulage, Tech, so you're far closer to clearing them than I.

 

[fishquinn]

A great start to the holiday by the sounds of things. It's hard to believe that was only three years ago! One thing I do regret is not going out and experiencing the Fife 67s for myself. Indeed, my first bash was in the last weeks of their operation before conversion to 68s. I've only ever had 2x67s for haulage, Tech, so you're far closer to clearing them than I.

Which two?

 

[alexf380]

67002 on the WAG and 67030 on the Carstairs portion of the sleeper...twice!
It'll be difficult to get any more than half of the class now since so many are stored.

 

[55013]

Great stuff.
Some fantastic shots there.
I really like the SPT livery and find it a shame that it's slowly disappearing - there's still a few units carry it but I'm sure it'll be gone before 2017 is out.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Okay. Day 2.

So we arrived pretty much on time at about 0650 into London Euston behind 90026. I would have been happy to sleep in the coach for another hour or two, but everyone else cleared out almost immediately upon our arrival, so I slowly disembarked as well.


90026 at Euston on the Up Lowland Sleeper by Timothy Young, on Flickr

I wandered up to get some caffeinated breakfast, then back down the length of the Caledonian to see the light engine arrive to drag the set up to Wembley.

I had (rather meanly) hoped the Highland sleeper might be running late so I could get up somewhere north of Willesden to photograph it running through, but it was also on time, so I found one of the big empty platforms on the west side of the station to watch it come in, behind 90020 which I had seen the previous night in Edinburgh.


90020 arrives into Euston with the Highland Sleeper by Timothy Young, on Flickr

I had not planned much specific for Tuesday. Aware of the risk I could end up waking up still sat on a sleeper train somewhere in Scotland, I kept it simple and confined to a London Travelcard. I fancied some time at Clapham Junction and there was a steam engine working booked along the NLL late-morning that was of interest.

Firstly though I went up to Willesden Junction and along the North London Line to West Hampstead, walking across to West Hampstead Thameslink for some Midland Mainline action.


43073 on the tail of a Nottingham service by Timothy Young, on Flickr

Again the bright, directional sunlight proved very troublesome and I have had to do a lot of recovery work on the photos.


319214 departing West Hampstead Thameslink by Timothy Young, on Flickr

At the time I had not really photographed any EMT stock (subsequently I have cleared the EMT 43s almost entirely at Leeds and a good day at Nottingham) so the shots here have not been too much use retrospectively, but oddly the Thameslink trains have proven quite fascinating as at least three of the units photographed I have subsequently photographed in their new workings with Northern on the Liverpool & Manchester line. Given the number of 319s running for FCC, I couldn't have planned this much better if I had tried.

319376 on a Sutton working by Timothy Young, on Flickr

From West Hampstead I then took the North London Line up to Gospel Oak. This was certainly a revelation, the last time I had been in this area was with Silverlink and you wouldn't want to leave the train in some places without a police escort. Now the 378s are wide and open and the stations all feel very pleasant.


378234 departs Gospel Oak for Clapham Jct. by Timothy Young, on Flickr

It was a good morning for freight action, the highlight being a pair of Freightliner 86s on a special Daventry working.


86639 leads 632 on 4Z51 for Daventry by Timothy Young, on Flickr

I also got plenty of shots of the diesel 172s on the Goblin route, which like so much else from this week, are soon going to be history - although I think at the time that was still just a proposal.


67005 dragging 70000 Brittania on the NLL by Timothy Young, on Flickr

The working I had been waiting for arrived, 70000 Brittania being dragged from Southall up to the Nene Valley Railway. I'm not a massive steam fan, but seeing them on the mainline is always interesting, even if it is behind a class 67.

So with the afternoon freight pickings being rather slimmer, I travelled up to Highbury and Islington and down to the Victoria line, although finding time to photograph a 313 in the tunnel.


FCC 313134 at Highbury & Islington station by Timothy Young, on Flickr

At Victoria I grabbed some lunch and hopped on a 455 for Caterham, for Clapham Junction. During my younger spotting days this was definitely a mecca for me, with a seemingly non-stop cavalcade of trains. I hadn't been there properly in about 10 years and not with a good camera, so I planned to spend the afternoon there.


159021 on a Waterloo to Salisbury working by Timothy Young, on Flickr

Certainly the volume of trains does not seem to have diminished at all, although variety is somewhat lessened since the slam door era. The few hours here added yet more to my list of quickly historical photographs:


458023 lead by 014 heading for Waterloo by Timothy Young, on Flickr

I didn't realise at the time that the 458s were due for a major overhaul (only earlier this year I realised that the 458/0s were losing their front end, along with the 460s), but fortunately I rather liked the look of the Juniper sets so I photographed quite a lot of these, meaning that I managed almost half of the class before their rebuild.


GatEx 442408 passing Clapham Junction by Timothy Young, on Flickr

The 442s were at the time quite a new sight on the Gatwick Express, the 460s having only been withdrawn the year before. Again, I got quite a few shots of these, giving me half of the fleet in total (although only one of the retained sets I need, meaning I better hope some of the nutty LHCS plans come into operation for the rest).


456001 heading into London Victoria by Timothy Young, on Flickr

I recall, from my childhood spotting trips in London, the 456s with their oddly grey front panels, seemed to be glued to the 455s and it was very unusual to see one on its own. I'm not sure what working this was on, but it was the only 456 I saw all day so perhaps an unusual working for the class, all of which are now running for South West Trains.

I spent about three hours at Clapham Junction and realised I was seeing the same units returning from wherever they had been, so I decided to transition over to the Southeastern region. Unfortunately this would be my biggest mistake of the whole trip as, while looking out of the Waterloo bound train, a 73 top and tailed test train came rolling by.


73207 at Clapham Junction on a test train by Timothy Young, on Flickr

I managed a quick shot through the window, but missed the 73 on the rear (believed to be 73205) and by the time I arrived at Waterloo, realised that there was no way I was going to be able to catch up with the 73s for a photo. I still kick myself over this as it was probably the last chance I would get to photograph an unrebuilt 73 on the mainline.


465015 departs Waterloo East by Timothy Young, on Flickr

At Waterloo I crossed over to the East platforms for a few shots with the quite remarkable Shard building under construction and providing a nice backdrop. From there down to London Bridge and some 376s which I don't think I had ever seen before. One of those classes which snuck in under the radar, probably as everyone was watching the last of the slam-door stock being withdrawn. Same thing that happened to the 456s, making their first appearances during the last days of the Class 50s from what I have read.


376013 and 377519 at London Bridge by Timothy Young, on Flickr

I spent a little time there, but the station was quite busy and workings pretty much all Electrostars and Networkers. A rather surely train dispatcher came up and told me that I was allowed to spot, but not take photographs. Normally I would have called them on their nonsense, but my early start on Monday and lack of sleep on the Caledonian were taking their toll, so I hopped a Thameslink train up to St. Pancras and found my hotel near to Kings Cross.

I was staying at the Kings Cross Tune hotel, worked out a lot cheaper for the three nights I was there than the nearby Premier Inns or Travelodges. I collapsed into bed not long after 6, ready for a very early start on the Wednesday...

It had been an unambitious day in travelling terms, but thanks to my happiness to photograph otherwise mundane multiple unit workings, one that in retrospect helped me capture a lot of now extinct scenes.

 

[fishquinn]

Rather annoying about the EDs but it sounds like you had a good time! The guy at London Bridge at the end of the day sounds totally ridiculous though - why make up your own rules?

 

[Techniquest]

Quite a nice look back at history there, thanks for sharing

 

[55013]

Once again, some great shots.
I particularly like the 458 and the one of the 313.

 

[AnthonyRail]

enjoyable read. hope theres more.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Thanks for all the comments.

Yes still four days worth to go, but I need to process and label the photos first and given that I didn't record the RTT pages for the days, this means trawling through the NRT working timetable to ID which workings I can. Wednesday was a big one so might take a couple of weeks.

 

[Cowley]

I enjoyed reading that eating my lunch whilst being stared at by my customers dog. Thanks for sharing it. (I'm not sharing this sandwich though)

 

[Kite159]

Another good day

 

[StripeyNick]

Great read so far.

Have added you on Flickr

 

[Trainfan344]

Nice read. Only point is the slight confusion with your 90s. Your post says you had 90020 from Scotland to London but then 90020 is seen hauling the Highland sleeper in! I think you meant 90026 in your post. Otherwise keep up the good work!

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Nice read. Only point is the slight confusion with your 90s. Your post says you had 90020 from Scotland to London but then 90020 is seen hauling the Highland sleeper in! I think you meant 90026 in your post. Otherwise keep up the good work!

Thanks, fixed that.


I remembered that somewhere I had kept a log of all the units/locos I travelled behind on this trip, I wonder what ever happened to that...?

 

[Tim R-T-C]

So, work, college work and the fact I had 196 photos to edit and label has made this a long time coming.... but..... Day 3:

My main aim for the day was to head out West and do some Great Western spotting. Back in my youth, trips to my Grandad's in Gloucester routinely involved spending plenty of time at the station there, seeing the 43s turn from Intercity into various iterations of privatised colours, but since then I had spent little time on this network. My main aim was to spot the Adelante units - I had completed the Hull Trains and Grand Central sets, but missed out on the Northern operations.

Researching the trip in advance, I discovered a handy little station called Tilehurst just west of Reading that would allow for easier photography than the busy Reading and would include the services, including many freight trains, heading for the Southern region. This station was conveniently accessible with a Thames Branches Day Ranger from London as well, but this was not valid until 0930.

Being apparently something of a masochist, rather than enjoying the lie-in this offered, I realised that I could bag the entire morning Chiltern line LHCS collection in a one hour interval and more research identified West Ruislip as a good spot for shooting these sets at speed.

Then being apparently something of a masochist with a thing for sleeper trains I awoke myself at some ungodly hour of the morning to catch an early tube train through to Paddington to grice the morning sleeper.

Day 3 - London West - 20th February 2013


57605 prepares to return the Riviera to Old Oak Common by Timothy Young, on Flickr

57603 was at the blocks with 605 waiting to work the ECS. I shot a couple of HSTs but didn't hang around, instead hopping on a tube up to Marylebone and a local train to West Ruislip.


Central Line 1992 Stock departs West Ruislip by Timothy Young, on Flickr

A fascinating little station with the end of the Central Line providing some unusual architecture. It served me well, no-one showed any interest in me stood around at the end of the platform in a permanent drizzle, which fortunately never become rain.


82304 with 67015 on the Banbury set by Timothy Young, on Flickr


67014 on the up Kidderminster working by Timothy Young, on Flickr

All of the sets presented with Chiltern liveried 67s, making for a nice collection and yet another series of photos from the trip which are now history.

At some point during my time waiting between trains and browsing RTT I discovered another test train working on the Southern region. Hoping it would be the 73s I was cruelly deprived of, I worked out an intercept route to meet the train at Vauxhall.


67012 at London Marylebone by Timothy Young, on Flickr

Heading back down to Marylebone, I snapped a quick shot of one of the 67s in the platform then hurried on to the tube. I arrived at Vauxhall and after sprinting up to the platform just caught..... a pair of 57s:


57306 leads 305 past Vauxhall station by Timothy Young, on Flickr

Not quite what I wanted, but not a bad catch I guess. I photographed a few units running in to Waterloo and realised I had never actually spotted from Vauxhall before, so that was a thing. An unrebuilt Juniper was my last picture there and another inadvertent history piece.


458023 at Vauxhall heading for Waterloo by Timothy Young, on Flickr

Then it was back on the tube again to Paddington and running into the ticket office to buy the rover (not sure why I didn't buy it first thing?) and hopped on an HST for Reading.

Unfortunately (for everyone else on the train) some signalling issue meant that we crawled slowly out of Paddington and past Old Oak Common and Acton Yards. I perched myself in a vestibule and bagged a nice selection pictures as we slowly drifted past the yards. (Window open, but I was firmly inside the car - not going to risk my new camera by sticking it out of the window!).


Old Oak Common shunter 08483 by Timothy Young, on Flickr


59001 in the Acton Yard by Timothy Young, on Flickr

Arrived at Reading to a quick pair of freights before catching an Oxford stopper to Tilehurst.


66528 with the Theale to Hope cement empties by Timothy Young, on Flickr

Tilehurst was even more perfect than I had expected. Lovely quiet station, no-one noticed me at all stood at the platform end for about four hours. Good sight lines and a great selection of passing traffic, a seemingly unending stream of HSTs along with the odd 180, CrossCountry Voyager and a selection of 66 hauled freights. Nothing unusual but some good solid bagging in what was now rather nice weather.


180104 passes Tilehurst by Timothy Young, on Flickr


66589 on a Leeds to Southampton Freightliner by Timothy Young, on Flickr


165112 at Tilehurst by Timothy Young, on Flickr


FGW 43139 at Tilehurst Station by Timothy Young, on Flickr


43174 lead by 010 heading West by Timothy Young, on Flickr

This was supposed to be a 70 operated service, but instead produced one of Freightliner's recently acquired ex-DRS 66s,


Newly aquired by Freightliner, 66420 at Tilehurst by Timothy Young, on Flickr

Unfortunately I hadn't brought any food along with me, so decided to head back to Reading. I had been planning to explore some of the other route options the ticket gave me, including Reading West, but careful trawling of RTT showed nothing of particular interest there, so after grabbing a pizza-style Subway sandwich (weird recollection there - Reading station was the first place I ever had a Subway, back on my original 2002 or 2003 tour, so I just had to go and have one in memory) I hopped on a slow train through to Ealing Broadway, to keep up the GW HSTs and add in some Heathrow Express traffic too.

43071 heading for London Paddington by Timothy Young, on Flickr


59202 running light engine through Ealing Broadway by Timothy Young, on Flickr

My first of now several visits to Broadway, the fast line platform was open at the time making photography easier. It was already getting dark by the time I got there, but managed a few decent shots - including this of 332005 which has retrospectively completed the 332 fleet for photos.


Heathrow Express sets 332005 and 004 by Timothy Young, on Flickr

Now completely dark, I went back to Paddington. I had considered travelling up some of the branch lines on the evening, but tiredness and ennui with Turbostars meant I didn't bother, instead heading to the tube platforms to go back to Kings Cross.

Now this is where I had the biggest surprise when sorting through my photos of this trip. I never really had much interest in the London tube system until recently and when planning this trip I hadn't expected to use the tube for anything but travel. More recently I have spent some time tracking down the remaining D Stock trains on the District line, but thought I had completely missed out on the C Stock. Imagine my amazement when I discovered that I had three shots of C Stock sets at Paddington station. Not entirely sure why I took these, I think I was playing with the night photography settings more than anything else. I certainly didn't know that the C Stock was on its last legs or I am sure I would have taken more. Still it was exciting to find these and know that I did at least get a couple of pictures:


C Stock 5605 on a Hammersmith line service by Timothy Young, on Flickr


C Stock set 5606 at Paddington by Timothy Young, on Flickr

From Paddington I went back to Kings Cross to head to my hotel, to find the station in chaos. OLE failure in Cambridgeshire had isolated the capital from the rest of the ECML, at least the electric trains and the station was nearly deserted of trains.


London Kings Cross deserted at rush hour by Timothy Young, on Flickr


43317 in East Coast colours at Kings Cross by Timothy Young, on Flickr

It was all rather too busy and lacking in trains for me to hang around so I soon retired back to my hotel, to recharge for another early sleeper train spotting start the next morning...

 

[Cowley]

Great report and photos Tim, interesting to see how much has changed in quite a short period of time. It's funny that you took some photos of the C stock and then forgot about it, it's often the everyday mundane stuff that later on become the things that you're glad you witnessed.

 

[Kite159]

Great to see how much Tilehurst has changed, now with wires & a new footbridge.

 

[AnthonyRail]

Great report, pictures are great. Hoping to do all line rover in September.

 

[rg177]

That's some damn good shots there and indeed the C Stock brought back a memory. I remember festering at Earls Court back in April 2014 to score my only C Stock move i'll probably ever have, down to Wimbledon...

 

[noddy1878]

Not sure why I missed this all before but as others have said this is enjoyable! Its a side of the hobby I have done less and less as red pen fever sets in! Some really really good photos.

 

[cactustwirly]

Sounds like a good trip on my local patch, brought back some memories of the old Reading station and the C stock