04/03/2020 - Tech's Oxfordshire Day Ranger 2020
Having gone out for the afternoon the day before, and finally hit the hay around 9pm, I had not expected to actually make it for a day out on this occasion after all. Once I woke naturally a little before
0530, it was time for a de-rance and breakfast. During this process, I decided it had to be done, I couldn't just stay in Hereford all day after all. So a little after 6am preparations were made, and I headed out to the Beryl Bay at Plough Lane for a high-speed ride to the railway station on a red-pen ride. I hit 12.2mph on that, which I was very happy with unsurprisingly. After checking what was on the
0643 to Paddington, which was dud
802113, I sat down to buy my e-ticket to Moreton-in-Marsh. As I still had 25 minutes to go before the
0709 to Birmingham departed, I ended up red-penning another Beryl bike on a circular-ish route. A new speed record was set, thanks to favourable traffic conditions, at
13.23mph which I was understandably very happy with! I still had 15 minutes, but that would do. It was then time for some tunes before I got one of the 'throne seats' on
170506+170631.
A coffee from home was fully enjoyed while I typed up the report from the previous afternoon's mini-farce of a trip, and I was in Worcester before I knew it. I had intended to start a book on that ride, but yeah that hadn't happened. A fast march from Shrub Hill station to Subway and back was done for a coffee, and I still had ages until departure on dud
800016 towards Oxfordshire. Only needing
800017 to clear the
800/0s, I was rather hopeful many
802/0s, my last two
802/1s, my last two GWR 165s and any number of 387s would be scored on this trip. I'd soon find out! The run to Evesham was filled with starting this trip report off, then chilling out for the remainder of the 77 minute ride to Oxford.
The guard finally made it to coach A after Moreton-in-Marsh, and £18 later I had my Oxfordshire Day Ranger. I then started my next book from Linwood Barclay, Never Look Away, but by now I was more focused on the trains than anything, so it was hard to focus much on reading. Especially with a need for a PNB and Oxford yards fast approaching, it was all eyes on the windows for a winner! A dud 165 and dud
802/1 were on the
0937 and
1001 respectively out of Oxford, so I decided the better option was to continue to Reading on
800016. The weather had been excellent in Hereford and Worcester, overcast in Oxfordshire! On the approach to Didcot Parkway, I noted
165121 which was my final 2-car GWR 165 to get, and noting it was likely to be on the
1037 Oxford-Didcot Parkway I was all set for a race back west out of Reading to go get it.
165113 would be the final 165 with GWR to get, would I find it today? Well, stay tuned and all will be revealed...
Naturally, much hunting for
165113 was done at Reading, and I got a Pret (at Heathrow prices!) while I hunted.
165112 and
165114 next to each other on the eastern bays taunted me, and I had noted
3 387s I needed out on Didcot services so I was already sorted there. The next fast to Didcot Parkway was in the hands of dud
800316. That 2-car 165 would be mine if I had my way! I had more than enough time off the 800 as it turned out, and winner
165121 was observed arriving before its long fester to do the
1104 to Banbury. Naturally, I took a photo and I was on in the warm ready and raring to go. Annoyingly the sockets weren't working but hey-ho, it was not yet an issue anyway.
Away we went eventually, and we got held at Didcot North Junction for a late non-stopper. Lunch was now my top priority, as the toast for breakfast and a protein bar just before Moreton in Marsh had worn off now. I found Sainsburys nearby once out of the station, and a bacon sandwich from there was absolutely heavenly. Once that was devoured I felt alive again! With the 165 done, I now wanted to get back to the action and fast. However the
1202 fast was dud
802113, which had been on the
0643 from Hereford, so instead I took Kite's advice and waited instead for
165133 to Didcot to try my luck on 387s instead.
Next few IETs were all dud, same for the 387s. However thankfully the
1306 was winning pair
387160+387156, and I was very glad to get out of the cold and wet! A check revealed a +2 was available at Tilehurst, which I easily made, and I joined double winners
387155+387161 on a leap to Cholsey. Now the scores on the doors were starting to look a lot more acceptable! Sadly, the pair back east were double duds
387163+387147, but you can't win them all. My next priority was a coffee while I got my walkage going on in the hunt for
165113 and of course
800017 or any 802s stopping in the Oxfordshire area.
A short hunt before a visit to Pret, just in case, was made but no positive results. So after sourcing my coffee there was much walking around and flagging dud after dud after dud. There were
802/0s I needed out, but they were all on West Country services which was no help to me. In any case, it's just as well, as I found
165113! After getting a photo, and confirmation it was on the
1600 to Redhill, I kept my options open but it was all duds, and I ended up at Burger King. That meal, despite it only being just under 4 hours since that bacon sandwich, really sorted my appetite out!
Thankfully, the
1600 was indeed the service I needed and £4.60 later I had my e-ticket. That is, once I found a spot on platform 4 where the GWR app loaded the payment page, ooh I was getting wound up by that! Bang on time, winner
165113 took me to Wokingham. At long last, I had got my last GWR Turbo, no more would I need to hunt them! As I had done it without seeking gen first, I was unsurprisingly very proud too, much more satisfied for sure. The AC unit made more noise than the 165 mind, and after alighting I did have a big beaming smile going on. That mission was finally done!
Winner
458522 led dud
458507 on a non-stop run back to Reading, and it was time to get a hunt going on. I noted too Reading depot were starting to kick out 387s, but I suspect most of my needs will be on the Maidenhead shorts. Only one way to find out of course! Not much of interest really otherwise, except for getting to just 1 more
802/0,
802004, required before I clear the GWR IETs for sight. Double winners
387162+387157 were then joined on the ultra-express Paddington-Didcot Parkway, which calls only at Reading. It's fair to say we absolutely stormed it up the Down Relief, linking to it from platform 8 via (I believe!) the Festival Chord. It's taken me a long time to get that bit!
The next pair back out of Didcot to London were, to my surprise, double winners
387152+387145 for a leap to Cholsey. Happier days were forthcoming too, as the next pair of 387s to Didcot were dud
387164 and winner
387142. Wow I was doing really well on the GWR Electrostars today! I didn't know for sure what my next move would be, but as I was expecting at least one winner on the
1820 Paddington-Didcot I decided the sensible option was to join dud
800315 for a thrash along the Up Main to Reading. Especially as it was suggested the next stopper was a single 387, and the diagram I'd seen a solo Electrostar on earlier was a dud 'un so best not get bowled...
It seemed my luck was now out, as not only was a pair of required 387s I couldn't keep track of on RTT earlier on the
1756 Paddington-Reading, and then off to depot, but the Paddington to Banbury IET was
802110, one of my last two
802/1s! I was not having a lot of luck now...Oh, and the 12-car working off depot earlier, that I had successfully followed? Well it turned out only
387171 on the very rear of the
1820 from Paddington was required. Guess what? It was detached at Reading!
I figured I might be able to make that 802 on its way back from Banbury, and while I could easily get it back from Oxford to Reading I'd then miss the last train of the day to Hereford. I'd make it back to Great Malvern, at
2310, but of course the only option onwards would be taxi or walk. Neither would be an option, so that 802 escapes for another day. I ended up feeling rather defeated, my luck on the IETs was disgraceful on this trip with none had and all of the winners on moves I couldn't make. The 387s were now all options that were no good to me too, so what to do next?
I discovered the
1923 to Ascot, which turned out to be dud
458536 and winner
458508. I took these for a short ride, and by now all I wanted was my bed. The coffee I'd had at Didcot was doing nothing for me, only my bed was appealing, getting more winners was no longer of interest. Coming back from Winnersh Triangle, I had the same 458s as earlier in the day, duds
458522+458507. A supply raid was definitely needed ahead of the long journey home, as even that Burger King meal had worn off now. I was starting to rather dread the weekly weigh-in in the morning, so much so I was seriously considering cancelling it this week!
A good fast march to Sainsburys got made, and I came away with a packet of meat, a loaf of bread in the Yellow Sticker Club and some Wagon Wheels Teacakes to sample. Certainly by no means a healthy selection! Back on the station there was one small bonus prior to my departure home, which was getting
387167 for sight on a Newbury service. That cleared the GWR 387s for sight, and only
802004 remained to be seen to clear the TOC for sight. Until the 769s eventually enter service that is of course, whenever that will actually be!
My final journey of the day, all the way through to Hereford, was dud
800319. Two sandwiches got made and devoured by the time we reached Didcot Parkway, and with some tunes on I perked up somewhat. That wouldn't last of course, this train doesn't reach Hereford until
2258, so I'll be ready to crash before then. So, overall, despite the feeling defeated for a couple of hours, how did I feel the day went?
Well, I can't really complain *too* much about the results. All GWR Turbos cleared, lots of fresh air and some light exercise, and quite a few new sights. A good number of 387s scored, no longer does my GWR 387 requirement list look so embarassing. My 802 requirements, however, are far too numerous for my liking. That
802/1 really got me frustrated it must be said, and the lack of any IET scores all day really annoyed me. Two more 458s in the metaphorical book took me to 10 more to get, but they've not been looked after and I've no desire to really rush for them. A shame as I used to really like the 458s!
So, overall, it could have been a lot worse, and for the next time I've made several notes with that Banbury IET and the 387s. If it wasn't clear, I was really wanting to hurry up and get the 387s all done now! Those teacake things, really nice! By the time we'd reached Charlbury, the likes of Cosmic Gate's Fire Wire and Rob Zombie's Dragula had really got me pumped up and ready for the long journey home. Dragula was heard in an episode of The Flash some months ago, in a battle scene, and as a direct result I love playing it when I really need to rally the spirits and keep going. Fire Wire, more particularly from about halfway through it, certainly does similar, and I moved soon onto Kernkraft 400 - Zombie Nation. Which did remind me I needed to find Storm's Time To Burn next, and some Nightcore wouldn't go amiss. Yes, a rather strange mix, but I really don't care, I love my slightly odd taste in music!
If my data signal had been more reliable in Reading earlier, I'd have had all this lot playing and I'd have been well bouncy. But no, like when I visited Bristol the other week my data signal barely loaded even a basic website just when I needed it to behave. One may just learn to get some music downloaded to his phone for the next time...
802021 vice a 9er IET on the
2058 from Worcester, noted at Honeybourne, made me glad I hadn't made special effort to do the
1758 Paddington to Worcester Foregate Street after all. Of course, I wish I had, so I could have got home sooner, and it dawned on me I'm on the
1950 Paddington to Hereford later this month too, but at least I didn't miss a score on it after all.
Evesham, and a 81 minute journey awaited me. Getting closer, getting closer, I had to remind myself, a good sleep would soon be mine. Arrival at Worcester Foregate Street signalled a return to home territory, and I was on countdown for the final stretch. By now, I'd been on the move for almost 15 hours, and I was thinking it might have to be a relatively relaxed day at home for my second day off this week. As much as earlier in the journey I had wanted to get back to the 387s soon, I think I'd now had my fill of the railway for a while.
Which reminded me, it was only 18 days until I was due to be back on the railway anyway, on positioning moves for the Iceland trip. Maybe I'll leave the railway alone until then...I finally got to totting up my kilometre-age on the Beryl bikes, and I now see why my thighs were killing me last Friday when I went back to work. I'd known I'd done a fair bit of riding on 27th February
2020, but my notes tell me I'd done a whopping
37.01km. A very approximate piece of mental arithmetic puts that at over 22 miles! The day before had been
31.13km, the two days prior to that were just under 15km each too! I've taken it much easier than that since then though, but by cripes no wonder the legs were screaming at me. Of course, as I'd only done 3.7km of riding on this trip a ride up to Plough Lane was pretty much mandatory! It's not really any quicker getting home overall, as I have to walk back from Plough Lane, but yeah, one last red-pen move of the day just had to be done!
As I edit this on 05/03/2020, I can add that I did indeed have a high-speed ride homewards on a winner bike. Would have been quicker if the traffic lights had been in my favour at one junction...I also had my weekly weigh-in, after a light breakfast and after a 2.88km intense ride. Despite my concerns, it was a rather surprising result with the numbers all better than expected. If that wasn't motivation to keep at it then I don't know what is...
No trip report next week as I have a very important dental appointment and I'm not going to want to go anywhere...
) and it was clearly a bit 'meh' for you as well. Maybe one in Hereford would create a bit more excitement? 
Oh and I still want that tour of Hereford and Malvern at some point 
