Wednesday 29th March – Full of Eastern Promise
At last, the Spring Equinox has passed by and I have the chance to go bashing. While I do not totally rule it out, I am not keen on bashing in darkened hours. However, there are plenty of trips lined up for the coming months – the trip planning process has been in overdrive and most of the year is already worked out. Today is the first of those and productivity was not high on the agenda – the main objective was to get out of London and blow the bashing cobwebs out of my system with the added bonus of some decent company for at least part of the day.
Getting up about an hour earlier than a normal working day, I left home and made my way up to Morden tube where it fell to 1995ts 51619+51620 to take me northwards to Moorgate. Here I came to the surface and had the pleasure of S-7 21455+21456 for the Bus Stop Bash to Liverpool Street. 50 minutes after leaving home I was on the concourse of Liverpool Street station battling against the tide of early commuters and it was not long before I had located my good friend Rex. Within what seemed like seconds, our train was platformed and I was set to sample my first loco haulage of the year. 90001 Crown Point was to be our traction out of London and this particular machine, the former BBC Midlands Today, had only one previous entry in The Haulage Book many years back from Stafford to Crewe so was effectively required for the Great Eastern Main Line. As always, it was good to catch up with Rex and also served to pass the time although there was plenty of interest to see with two freights in Bow Yard, engineers trains around Shenfield as well as the steady procession of trains heading into London wedged out with wage slaves.
All too soon, it was time to bid farewell to 90001 as we had arrived at Ipswich more or less on time. Rex had a two main objectives for the day; to photograph the Harwich to North Walsham tanks and also to photograph as many Greater Anglia DMUs as possible. That’s not to say that there were not other items on his radar! Whilst Rex set about bagging Greater Anglia DMUs and Freightliner locos, I acquired an Anglia Plus one day rover and boarded the next northbound train with 90015 Colchester Castle bring up the rear. 90015 was another 90 that I’d never had before on the GEML and like 90001, it was a low mileage machine. But all too soon, I was alighting at Norwich as there were more important things to be had such as trains with diesel locos at the helm!
First train noted was the top and tail 37s and this provided a bit of a disappointment as the two locos turned out were 37405 and 37425 – I was hoping for 37423 to feature but it seemed to be banished to the naughty step behind the wall at Norwich. I’ll get it one day, perhaps? At least the Lowestoft turn produced winning 68s for me so I hot-footed it over to the blue-grey mark 2s and took my seat. Very soon 68003 Astute was fired up and seconds later, or so it seemed, the Cat was on its way out of Norwich, bound for the coast. Logic would dictate that I join the other bashers in going through to Lowestoft but apart from a slight inflation to 68003’s mileage account, there would be no other gains. Instead, I opted to bail short at Oulton Broad North for the first shack score of the year – yes, the year is 88 days old before KJ garners his first new shack of the year.
Oulton Broad did not look that interesting and as there was some drizzle in the air, I opted to stay close to the station and await the Cats’ return. 68019 Brutus was now leading with Astute hanging on to the rear and in contrast to my trip last year with the cats, I had no difficulty in securing a seat for the non-stop run back to Norwich – yes, I had secured a table to myself. The journey was advertised as non-stop and after a totally unremarkable journey, I soon found myself back in Norwich. Two red pens already but chances of any more would be slim, especially as 37423 was not out to play. All hopes of further red pen action hinged on whether my last Greater Anglia 170 was out to play. Rex was keeping an eye out for it at Ipswich but when I called him to check on his movements for the rest of the day, he gave me a negative on the 170. In fact he gave me a negative on most of my mileage requirements so things weren’t looking good for the rest of the day.
Rather than stand still, 90002 Eastern Daily Press grabbed my attention and I decided upon a quick spin to Ipswich with another low-mileage machine, clearing it for 100 in the process. I soon located Rex and he was about done with Ipswich and wanted to head to Norwich as he needed one of the Cats for photograph along with the non-performing 37423. Thankfully, I’d ascertained that while the 37 was not working, Rex could at least achieve his goal of observing it through his camera’s viewfinder. 90014 Norfolk and Norwich Festival was powering the next Norwich bound service, albeit a few minutes late. Rex and I jumped on and soon found a vacant table. As we sped northwards, Rex gave me a rundown of what he had seen – he got his tank train as well as ten different GA diesel units and helped me locate a couple of mileage needs should we have time later.
Upon arrival back in Norwich, I resisted the temptation to do any more Class 90 bashing and after a few ponderous minutes, I decided that in the absence of much else about, mileage need 153306 ought to be dealt with. Thus, for the first time in many a year, I headed up the Sheringham line – the last excursion to that neck of the woods was with an Anglia class 150. We were running a couple of minutes late so I decided against bailing at North Walsham as I knew it was a bit of a hike to the opposite platform. Instead I opted to bail earlier at Hoveton & Wroxham for another shack scratch. After 25 minutes, 156407 appeared to return me to Norwich and another quick rendezvous with Rex revealed that any interest for me would be limited to Class 90 action (and not even my lowest mileage one at that). Therefore, I swiftly returned to 156407 for another trip up the Sheringham line and this time, things were running to time, so I could attempt the North Walsham leap. The Railway Gods must have been on my side as RTT was showing the inbound working as running a minute late while we were on course for a two minutely arrival into North Walsham thus turning a dicey +3 into a more comfortable +6. In the event that +6 became a +7 and thus I had ample time for the crossover and of course secured another shack scratch in the process. It was 153306 coming back from Sheringham that returned me to Norwich.
The Railway Gods must have well and truly awoken from their slumbers as they managed to magic low mileage 153314 from nowhere for the next Lowestoft service. Before the doors were released, a dud 153322 was joined on, leading to my notebook recording 153314+153322 as the traction. Thankfully, this manoeuvre did not delay the departure and we left on time with me travelling in 153314 bound for the day’s final shack scratch – Cantley. On our way out of Norwich, I saw the 68s being awoken from the middle-of-the-day catnap and on their way out of the Crown Point Cattery and I duly alerted Rex – 68003 was the only 68 that he still needed to photograph apart from the latest deliveries. The fact that 153314 cleared for 10 miles was only marginal but still significant as that was my last Greater Anglia 153 to go past the ten mile barrier. I had a comfortable +11 at Cantley for my train back which was the Class 37s. Cantley is your standard East Anglian level crossing station although at the opposite end is an ungated barrow crossing. But what struck me was the excellent state of the station complete with a small boat on the Norwich bound platform full of hyacinths in full bloom – the aroma was rather strong! [Ed: Enough of matters horticultural, this is a railway forum!] Very soon the 37s were on the horizon and with the level crossing set in favour of the railway, 37405 breezed in leading three coaches with 37425 Sir Robert McAlpine/Concrete Bob bringing up the rear. I’d had 37425 in the days when it was a regular on the North Wales Coast but 37405 had only been had in its previous guise (37282) as a Lickey banker so ‘twas a renumber hit and also clearance for 10 miles was on the cards. Having clambered aboard, I sat back and hoped for a good run. I was not disappointed as the driver certainly knew how to handle the 37s and sitting in the front coach was pure entertainment to my ears.
Back in Norwich, I soon located Rex. He had some success in locating more Greater Anglia Diesel units as well as the required 68003 and even found the naughty step’s occupant – 37423. He was done with Norwich so we decided to drop back to Ipswich with 90003 one of my higher mileage 90s but before then, we witnessed the arrival of yet another 37 at Norwich as 37419 arrived, having run light from Crewe. Standing on the platform at Norwich, we could see no less than four Class 37s – not exactly an everyday sight in 2017 except at either DRS or Colas depots. With Rex’s data, I was able to identify another move so rather than take high mileage 90003 through to Ipswich, we bailed at Stowmarket for a 15 minute wait for an-ex Cambridge working which Rex had seen earlier in the day with a 156. That 15 minute wait metamorphosed into a 20+ minute wait but at least I was rewarded with low mileage 156416 for the run up to Ipswich – another Greater Anglia 156 successfully levered into the Ten Mile Club.
Upon arrival at Ipswich, while we had about ½ hour to wait for our assigned train home, the trip was effectively over as there were no more moves available. It fell to 90012 Royal Anglian Regiment to return us to Liverpool Street. Rex and I reflected on the day – all of Rex’s targets had been achieved and he managed a few bonuses along the way in the form of Royal Scotsman liveried 66746 and Freightliner’s recently named 66418 PATRIOT. It was not so good for me with no signs of my last Greater Anglia diesel unit (170206) and 37423 being consigned to the naughty step at Norwich. At least the red pen saw action with two class 68s and throwing in some ten milers into the mix plus with four shack scratches and it could have been a tlot worse. O, and as ever, Rex's company and observations were as welcome as ever.
Arriving into Liverpool Street, Rex espied a former Great Northern 321 that needed the attention of his camera so we bid each other farewell and I headed home courtesy of 1992ts 92087+92438+92204+92037 to Bank followed by 1995ts 51565+51566 onwards to Morden. It’ll be only a week before I hit the rails again – will I have any more success than on this trip?
