Final XC HST (1627 Plymouth - Leeds) 18/09

[Peterthegreat]

Had a short hop from Cheltenham to Birmingham. Nicely loaded, but between kings Norton and Birmingham new Street it seemed to run very slowly without any service in front of it (I believe). Any reason for that?

There were two trains immediately ahead an empty service (not shown in RTT) and a Bromsgrove to Litchfield service.

 

[HST274]

There were two trains immediately ahead an empty service (not shown in RTT) and a Bromsgrove to Litchfield service.

Ah that explains it. I did wonder what might've caused it. Overall nice experience with quite the fanfare as it left the station.

 

[OwenS]

'Tis a sad day

 

[GWHST107]

Was Francis Bourgeois on board?

Definitely not north of Bristol, potentially south of.

 

[Peterthegreat]

Arrived at Leeds.

 

[WesternLancer]

Made a spur of the moment decision to get to Tamworth and ride the service to Derby - very enjoyable. Busy with enthusiasts of course, but when I got on plenty of spare seats and in fact where a couple of empty tables for four in the carriage I boarded.

I have to say I was unimpressed by the volume of litter and empty bottles / overflowing bins on board, plus left on tables (not sure why people who like railways think that other people want to sit with their litter...), but to their credit in the Burton area an XC staff member - lanyard but not uniformed, came down collecting rubbish which of course improved things considerably, so thanks to that chap.

Really glad I made albeit a short run. Would have been nice to have joined it in daylight in the southwest of course.

Good atmosphere on board the carriage I was in, and no sign of incident reported earlier up thread having any lasting impact.

I noted at Tamworth security staff had been employed on the platform to keep people behind the yellow platform line, so I assume XC had paid for this due to concerns about possible behaviour issues, and announcements about enthusiasts needing to behave, which all seemed OTT given no apparent issue that I saw at the station. Might have been better for XC to have employed a few more people to litter pick the train and 'steward it' instead, if they were concerned.

The regular announcements on board pointed out the nature of the occasion in suitable style, so very well done to the crew who were staffing the train this evening.

Very much the end of an era.

Not to mention a daft decision to withdraw these expensively upgraded trains...

 

[Iskra]

Definitely a party atmosphere onboard but it was relaxed and I enjoyed my brief mini-railtour from Sheffield to Doncaster via Rotherham Central. The powercars looked stunning. Credit to Crosscountry for organising this and running it in an enthusiast-friendly manner

 

[Blindtraveler]

Does sound as if those who were able to partake have had excellent hospitality and service from cross country in pretty much all aspects. Cross country remain my favorite operator in some ways because they often do little understated things like this, more than once I've got on a rail replacement coach of theirs and found that the servery on board is stopped with refreshments

And now today they've clearly looked after a couple of hundred of enthusiasts between the southwest of England and West Yorkshire plus however many more they're going to look after again on the rail tour in a few days. Some YouTube videos of the various departures complete with multiple horns please people

 

[WesternLancer]

Definitely a party atmosphere onboard but it was relaxed and I enjoyed my brief mini-railtour from Sheffield to Doncaster via Rotherham Central. The powercars looked stunning. Credit to Crosscountry for organising this and running it in an enthusiast-friendly manner

Points v well made. Very much agree with all that!

 

[WesternLancer]

Does sound as if those who were able to partake have had excellent hospitality and service from cross country in pretty much all aspects. Cross country remain my favorite operator in some ways because they often do little understated things like this, more than once I've got on a rail replacement coach of theirs and found that the servery on board is stopped with refreshments

And now today they've clearly looked after a couple of hundred of enthusiasts between the southwest of England and West Yorkshire plus however many more they're going to look after again on the rail tour in a few days. Some YouTube videos of the various departures complete with multiple horns please people

Yes, any good pics of the service that anyone wants to post would be nice to see!

 

[Iskra]

Yes, any good pics of the service that anyone wants to post would be nice to see!

 

[Liam L]

The route from Kings Norton to New Street is very twisty and turny following the canal....and as a result, has quite a severe speed limit.

May have been following a cross city stopper. Highest speed on that section is 60mph if I remember correctly.

 

[Trainguy34]

Here's it's schedule for the upcoming days judging by RTT.

19th - 26th September: Neville Hill.
26th September: XC Farewell Railtour (Leeds - Swanage - Bournemouth - Swanage - Leeds)
27th September: Neville Hill - Laira
28th Spetember: Laira Depot
29th September: Laira - Plymouth - Blackpool North - Plymouth - Laira.
30th September: Laira Depot
1st October: Laira Depot
2nd - 8th October: Laira Depot

Edit: I had no idea about this thing to Blackpool North, does anyone know why or if I could get tickets?

 

[43055]

Here's it's schedule for the upcoming days judging by RTT.

19th - 26th September: Neville Hill.
26th September: XC Farewell Railtour (Leeds - Swanage - Bournemouth - Swanage - Leeds)
27th September: Neville Hill - Laira
28th Spetember: Laira Depot
29th September: Laira - Plymouth - Blackpool North - Plymouth - Laira.
30th September: Laira Depot
1st October: Laira Depot
2nd - 8th October: Laira Depot

Edit: I had no idea about this thing to Blackpool North, does anyone know why or if I could get tickets?

Believe it is a staff charter.

 

[Trainguy34]

Believe it is a staff charter.

Ah, annoyingly it's not at a weekend as then I mightve been able to catch a glimpse.

 

[WesternLancer]

View attachment 143124View attachment 143123View attachment 143122

Thanks - very nice to see that selection. Great pics!

 

[Peter C]

I was in the right place at the right time yesterday afternoon, and managed to go down to Plymouth station to see this one leave. We don't have XC HSTs round the Cotswolds, so this was the first (and last!) one I've seen in service - and it was great to see the special liveries on the powercars as well. Here's a photo I got of the rear one just before it went under the bridge I was by.




-Peter

 

[james60059]

A couple of shots from Tamworth last night, I had orignally planned to go to Coleshill Parkway as I had seen it was booked that way but made the decision to go to Tamworth instead as with the late running, I guessed it would go the more direct line via Lea Marston - which of course it did. Incidentally I did hear that there was a "couple" of enthusiasts at Coleshill Parkway waiting for it.

 

[occone]

I thought I'd share a photo I took less so of the train itself but just to show the appreciation everyone had for the star of the show.

Overall there must have been hundreds of enthusiasts at Temple Meads, everyone being really polite and taking turns to have their photo in front of the train.

 

[WesternLancer]

Nice

A couple of shots from Tamworth last night, I had orignally planned to go to Coleshill Parkway as I had seen it was booked that way but made the decision to go to Tamworth instead as with the late running, I guessed it would go the more direct line via Lea Marston - which of course it did. Incidentally I did hear that there was a "couple" of enthusiasts at Coleshill Parkway waiting for it.

Nice pics - I would have been waiting on the platform behind the train as you took those. Thanks for posting.

 

[WesternLancer]

T

I thought I'd share a photo I took less so of the train itself but just to show the appreciation everyone had for the star of the show.

Overall there must have been hundreds of enthusiasts at Temple Meads, everyone being really polite and taking turns to have their photo in front of the train.

That captures the occasion very nicely!

 

[170UTD]

Slightly off topic, but 43007 + 43008 with set XC02 moves Neville Hill to Laira today.
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:K40166/2023-09-27/detailed#allox_id=0

 

[gray1404]

29th September: Laira - Plymouth - Blackpool North - Plymouth - Laira.

Do we have any details on the timings?

 

[HamworthyGoods]

29th September: Laira - Plymouth - Blackpool North - Plymouth - Laira.

Do we have any details on the timings?

I understand this is no longer going ahead.

 

[gray1404]

I understand this is no longer going ahead.

Thanks for letting us know.

I was planning on seeing it go through the Preston/Wigan area on Friday if it was running.