Keith goes wandering

[Keith Jarrett]

8th February 2015 – Stoke up the Turkey

After last weekend’s success, a re-run was called for. End of decision making process! Buoyed by last Sunday’s little haul, I thought that I’d chance my arm again over at Liverpool Street. While the number of 315s and 317s is ever dwindling in my wants book, there’s still plenty to keep me out of mischief in the shape of 25*321 and 12*379 requiring attention.

After the dreaded tube journey to Liverpool Street (I’m sure the Northern Line will go belly up sooner or later and mess my travel plans up) I emerged into the daylight to be greeted by two of my required 317/6s – 653 and 655. One problem, they were both going nowhere fast although one round trip to Hertford East had been cancelled so that must have accounted for one of the two. Perhaps the other was the hot spare that AGA sometimes leave at Liverpool Street. Active 315s and 317s in the station did not correspond with my wants list but the same could not be said of the 321s which were unusually using platforms 9 and 10 rather than the sub-terrainean darkness that they normally inhabit at Liverpool Street. 321302 and friend 321330 looked like an attractive proposition for the first spin of the afternoon – 302 was on the list but a run to Stratford would not sort the 10 mile thingy out but I was reluctant to go further in case either of those inactive317s suddenly decided to earn their crust. So I was off at Stratford and almost straight back with 321304+364. 321364 was another on my list as being needed for 10 miles and the run up from Stratford to The Street would solve that problem. It was just over 21 years ago when I last rode on 321364 (and it was a winner then) from Liverpool Street to Ilford so it makes a welcome return to the haulage log.

The pack had been shuffled a little by the time I returned and 317658 was the next one out for Hertford East. I’d only ever had this unit once before when it was a Great Northern unit and I scored it as a winner between Finsbury Park & Alexandra Palace. As we left Liverpool Street, 317719 arrived and was due to work next to Chingford – that’s another 317 on the list. I needed to go to Edmonton Green with 658 to get the 10 miles on the clock but I elected to stay on to Turkey Street in order to scratch the shack there (and to reduce the fester at Edmonton Green. Things were definitely looking up as required 315821 passed me heading for Liverpool Street. At Turkey Street, dud 317513 was provided for the return journey but realtimetrains was starting to help me formulate a move as it seemed to imply that 317655 was coming out to play with a visit to Chingford. What’s more, if 317513 kept perfect time, I had a +1 across the platform at Hackney Downs for it followed by a +5 at St James Street for 317719 back to The Street. The +1 at Hackney Downs turned into a +3 but I was not complaining as 317655 showed up as I had forecast. 655 was another one that I had only had a single, short trip with back in its Great Northern days when numbered 317355. But clearing the obligatory 10 miles off of 655 would have to wait as I need to bail at St James Street for 317719 back into Liverpool Street. 317719 was another unit that I’d only ever had once before; a mere 24 years ago on 15 December 1990 from Liverpool Street to Seven Sisters when it was still numbered 317319. Just as 317719 was slowing for the Hackney Downs stop, I passed 315821 heading towards Chingford. That’s another one out to play and still wanted for 10 miles, although this time it was some silly decimal of a mile rather than something more substantial. I had to weave getting that one that into my plans as well. Nothing like a challenge! Anyway let’s finish the job in hand, namely knocking 317719 on the head so I stuck on to Liverpool Street.

I had been keeping half an eye on the mainline in case the West Anglia side ceased to produce (or shuttling back and forth to Tottenham Hale on 379s became the only option). There was not a lot to tempt me apart from the aforementioned 321302 which I still needed to finish off, 321319, 321362 and 315805 on the mainline. Making a mental note of their workings for a later move or two, I carried on scheming as to how I’d deal with 317655. Easy! Meet it coming in from Chingford. Slight problem, I could only get out to Hackney downs and Hackney Downs to Liverpool Street would still not clear it for 10 miles. All the same I boarded 315819 out to Hackney Downs for the +3 onto 317655 then the jigsaw was starting to fall into place. The +3 wander through the subway at Hackney downs seemed to be more like a +1 or +2 but we made it and clocked up a few more miles with 317655 back to Liverpool Street. On the way into Liverpool Street, we passed 315805 on its way out to Gidea Park but it would not be back for over an hour and a half. Probably no good to me but let’s file the information away just in case.

317653 was still firmly rooted to the spot at Liverpool Street and no clue what it might do later so I sort of mentally swore at it before blanking it out of my mind lest it distracted me. 317655 had about 15 minute turnaround before it headed out towards Hertford East. So I stretched my legs for a while at Liverpool Street before my third trip of the afternoon with 317655 to guess where? Hackney Downs of course and at last, 10 miles on the clock. At least 315821 would be easy as in theory it should be on the following stopping train to Enfield Town. Needing only a Bus Stop Bash to clear it for 10 miles meant that I need not go out into the wilders of outer North London. Instead, I could go to Stoke Newington for the +1.5 minute connection onto something back. I positioned myself at the front of 315821 at Hackney Downs in order to put me in pole position to leap over the footbridge at Stoke Newington. All worked to plan at Stoke Newington which incidentally was the second shack score of the day. I was greeted by the sight of 315803, which turned out to be my highest mileage 315, to take me back to Liverpool Street. A quick bit of thinking on the journey led me to wonder could I trap 315805 which would be coming back from Gidea Park in the near future. It all hinged on me making a +5 from platform 3 at Liverpool Street to platform 11. Regular bashers will know that Belly-Laugh Greater Anglia seem to regard Liverpool Street as one station despite having separate gatelines for each part of the station. It’s a right pain, having emerged onto the concourse from the low numbered platforms, only to have your ticket rejected by the gates on the high numbered platforms. “Seek Assistance” is the error message – most of the gateline staff know what the problem is but will anyone do anything about it.

Rant over. I made the +5 and had enough time to walk up to the front part of the pair of 315s that were about to depart. Dud 315828 and 315852 were my conveyance to Ilford for the +3 onto what I expected to be 315805 and partner. 315828 was yet another absentee from recent haulage logs, last featuring almost 30 years ago (14th July 1985, Rochford to Liverpool Street) although not needed for the magic 10 miles. Hordes of passenger boarded at Stratford branding paraphernalia that indicated they had decided to spend their Sunday afternoons worshipping at retail emporia. This influx put a comfortable +3 at Ilford down to a bit of a dodgy +1.5. But we made it as I had correctly positioned myself for the footbridge to cross over to the up lines. So leaving behind my highest mileage 315, I joined my lowest mileage member of the class. I only had one run with 315805 in the haulage log – 9th September 1984 from Rochford to Southend Victoria. At least the run back into Liverpool Street would heave 315805 over the 10 mile barrier. For the record 315805 was accompanied by 315835 for the trip – at least 835 was over 10 miles although I had not had since 14 July 1990. The run back into Liverpool Street was uneventful but thoughts were turning towards home so I made for the tube and surprisingly all work well with a sub one hour journey from platform 11 at Liverpool Street to my front door. Anything under an hour is good going but this time 51 minutes must have been a record.

Another successful afternoon (despite 317653’s feeble attempts at teasing me) with six more units cleared for 10 miles and two new stations scored. That little escapade leaves only four 315s still needed for 10 miles (813, 836, 848 and 850) and as can be imagined, most have not featured in the haulage log for many a year. I’m down ten 317s from AGA (not including any 317/7s that are running at present – any ideas which ones as I’ve lost track). So while I’m tied up next weekend, it won’t be long before I’m back hunting the last few 315s & 317s.

For the record, on the West Anglia side of things, I also saw 315804/808/845 and 317 654/668/885 working. And here are the moves from today. ….

321302+330 Liverpool Street to Stratford ---
321304+364 Stratford to Liverpool Street 321364 cleared for 10 miles
317658 Liverpool Street to Turkey Street Cleared for 10 miles, first time as 317/6, Turkey Street = new shack
317513 Turkey Street to Hackney Downs ---
317655 Hackney Downs to St James Street ---
317719 St James Street to Liverpool Street Cleared for 10 miles, first time as 317/7
315839 Liverpool Street to Hackney Downs ---
317655 Hackney Downs to Liverpool Street First time as 317/6
317655 Liverpool Street to Hackney Downs Cleared for 10 miles
315821 Hackney Downs to Stoke Newington Cleared for 10 miles, Stoke Newington = new shack
315803 Stoke Newington to Liverpool Street ---
315828+852 Liverpool Street to Ilford ---
315805+835 Ilford to Liverpool Street 315805 cleared for 10 miles

 

[Techniquest]

A very good afternoon on the WA, I still need 22 315s outright and doubt very much I'll get them any time soon!

 

[Kite159]

Sounds like a good day in Greater Anglia Metro land.

Did you get the semi-fast SWT from Wimbledon (as I noted it was work on the Windsor lines between Clapham & Waterloo meaning the main-line lines were open.

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Sunday 22nd February. Yet more West Anglia Capers

Having been otherwise occupied last weekend, I was not going to let this free Sunday afternoon go begging even though I managed to get out for a mid-week evening soiree a few days back. There was only one place to go – Liverpool Street as all the West Anglia trains should be 8-car operations on account of Football at White Hart Lane and there were also a few extra crowd buster trains in the timetable as well so more than double the number of units available compared to a normal Sunday. With my ever diminishing wants list, I had to give myself as many options as possible for making yet more inroads into that list.

Using a combination of the Northern & Central lines to get to Liverpool Street (units recorded in the table below), I arrived just in time to log a Hertford East service with 317507+672 preparing to depart. As these two did not match with my wants list, I stayed put. Further mismatches of 315839+849, 315835+845, 317656+661, 315824+830 and 315802+811 id nothing for me. My thoughts were rapidly going along the lines of twice as many units out, more than twice as many dud when 317649+666 rolled in from Chingford and were to form the next Herford East stopper. At last, something on the list! 371649 was one of those 317s that I had new many years ago out of Kings Cross and never caught up with again. The only entry prior today in the haulage log for 649 was 9 June 1990 from Kings Cross to Oakleigh Park when it was numbered 317349. Hackney Downs was good enough to get the requisite 10 miles on the clock. I’d been keeping an eye on the 379s even though they were not priority material on account of still needing one of them (007) for haulage rather than just topping up to 10 miles and also that after the football, many Lea Valley trains were stopping at Northumberland Park. Anyway 379007 had been noted heading off towards Stansted Airport with 379023 for company so I felt obliged to get to know 007 a bit better.

Back at Hackney Downs, I carried on observing proceedings with more pairs of duds about such as 317509+6678, 317660+891 and 317651+889. My thoughts turned to bagging that wretched 379 so back to Liverpool Street on the pairing of 315816+840. There, I was about to get on 379006+030 (yet more duds) when 379014 came in on its own before pairing up with 379019. As these were the only other 379s around, I figured that I could drop back one train and make 007 at Tottenham Hale coming back from Stansted. It seemed a pity that I’d miss out on Northumberland Park for the shack scratch though. Can’t win ‘em all. 379014+019 did the business of getting me to Tottenham Hale and in the process 019 was heaved over 10 miles. Then the penny dropped – the following pair of 317s (660+891) would stop at Tottenham Hale with a +3 onto 379007 and friend coming in from Stansted. The shack scratch was back on. That +3 turned into a +2 but thankfully few football-ites were taking advantage of the Sunday shack scratch so I easily clambered over the footbridge onto 379007+023. 379007 was brand new for me and enabled me to clear the class. 379023 was also needed for the required 10 miles so double bubble! The next unit to turn my attention to was 317884 which I seen arriving at Liverpool Street just before I had left for the 379 distraction session. By now 317884 would be headed for Chingford so not difficult to trap. But needing a reasonable run with it rather than the proverbial bus stop bash meant relying on a dodgy +2 at Liverpool Street off 379007+023 and then another +1 at Walthamstow Central. Otherwise, I had the prospect of heading up to Edmonton Green.

As the 379s trundled towards Liverpool Street, I made my way up to the front carriage to make sure that I had the best chance possible of the +2 onto the next Chingford departure. Easy1 I had exactly 2 minutes to switch from platform 4 to platform 6 and spot on time 317507/672 were grinding their way out of Liverpool Street. Perfect timekeeping along the way meant that the +1 at Walthamstow Central was on – I could have bailed short at St James Street but I would have been some ridiculous decimal short of the magic 10 miles with 317884. In the end it was more like a +2 at Walthamstow Central for 317884 which had brought along friend 317885 for company. I made for 884’s motor coach and took up my normal position for stock of that era – under the pantograph. The interior fabric said one thing – shabby. It was not overly dirty but just worn out, particularly the seats. 317885 turned out to be another unit that had not featured in the haulage log for a quarter of a century – I last had it on 7 January 1989 from Euston to Harrow & Wealdstone when it was numbered 317327. On that day it had 317333 (now 317889) for company. The 317s were relatively short-lived on the West Coast Main Line and that was the only run I had out of Euston with 317s.

Arriving back into Liverpool Street, I worked out that I had exhausted the West Anglia side of the equation so I transferred over to the Main Line side of the house. I’d seen one or two workings earlier in the afternoon but was not particularly impressed with what I had seen. In other words, more mismatches with the wants list. That failure to impress simply carried on and by now the rain had set in. I thought about heading straight home but then reconsidered that move. Both Thameslink (Brighton & Sutton services) and Southeastern (Hastings via East Croydon) were running into the Central side of London Bridge (platforms 10-15) so there were chances of something matching my wants list. And if all else fails, I’d have a Thameslink Sutton service to get me home. So I hopped on a bus over London Bridge just in time for a Brighton service. A pair of 319s is no good for me. So I thought about the next Sutton service (319423) but clocked 375802+830 arriving. Ah, a match with the wants list. No, not 830 which I had encountered enough times to push the mileage over the required 10 but 802 which I had only ever had a couple of times on London Bridge to Charing Cross trips. Forget 319423, East Croydon here we come. That was the first time that I had done 375s out of London Bridge to East Croydon. The rain was getting heavier so I vowed that I would not stay long at East Croydon – the next up Southeastern made sure that I did not as that rolled in with 375710+823. 375710 had been dealt with on my Orpington shuttle afternoon last December but 823 was similar to 802 – just a few London Bridge to Charing Cross bus stop bashes on the clock. London Bridge would easily clear that for 10 miles. After a swift run up through Forest Hill, my second 375 pairing of the day ran straight into London Bridge unchecked. But I just missed a Brighton bound service so if I was to score, I’d have almost half an hour to wait. Thameslink’s 319002 being signalled for departure towards Sutton was a more attractive proposition in the wet & cold. Also 002 was my lowest mileage 319 but with the trip ahead of me, it would no longer hold that dubious accolade – 319013 has now taken over that role. With 319002 remaining unrefurbished, the interior is in almost original condition save for FCC seat covers and advert frames over the Eddie Pond murals at the ends of the carriages.

I was pleased with the afternoon. Six more units cleared for 10 miles, an outright winner, a class cleared for haulage and a new shack. What will next week hold for me – more West Anglia capers perhaps? Or should I look at the Great Eastern Mainline first, given the number of 321s that I need?

To round off, here’s the moves -
51644+51722 Morden to Bank ---
92085/250/130/247 Bank to Liverpool Street ---
317649+666 Liverpool Street to Hackney Downs Cleared for 10 miles, first time as 317/6
315816+840 Hackney Downs to Liverpool Street ---
379014+019 Liverpool Street to Tottenham Hale 379014 cleared for 10 miles
317660+891 Tottenham Hale to Northumberland Park 317891 first time as 317/8. Northumberland Park = new shack
379007 Northumberland Park to Liverpool Street 379007 NEW + class cleared, 379023 cleared for 10 miles
317507+672 Liverpool Street to Walthamstow Central ---
317884+885 Walthamstow Central to Liverpool Street 317884 cleared for 10 miles, 317885 first time as 317/8
375802+830 London Bridge to East Croydon 375802 cleared for 10 miles
375710+823 East Croydon to London Bridge 375823 cleared for 10 miles
319002 London Bridge to St Helier ---

 

[Techniquest]

Congratulations on clearing the 379s, very much jealous as I've still 18 of them to go until I can claim that accolade!

Some very good bits of progress there for sure, should imagine the wants list looks a lot better now!

317s out of Euston, that must be quite some years ago as I've never heard of it happening in my years on the railway. Would be rather a good run there I bet, but then the 317/8s are still decent now. 317s on stoppers up the ECML, I always thought it had been 313s.

I reckon there's a good chance you'll be off to The Street on Sunday again, although that said if SET are running out of Bridge again it might be worth a look down that way again!

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Thursday 26th February. The Great Escape that wasn’t

I’d originally booked today off of work to do one of London Midland’s Great Escapes. However that plan went straight out of the window when news came through that a friend’s father had passed away and the funeral was going to be today. West Sussex was hardly convenient to pay my respects and then to dash off to partake of LM’s generosity.

Leaving home a little earlier than a working day, London Underground conveyed me to London Bridge. My first proper haulage of the day was 171723 paired with 171804 (London Bridge to East Croydon). 171723 was an outright winner; eight two car 171s down, two to go. One thing that I thought about trying to entrap after the day’s formal proceedings had concluded were the two Plastic Pigs that I still needed to clear for 10 miles. I built in some time into my schedule to observe most of the Pig workings at East Croydon and within about 20 minutes I had seen 442419 bound for Gatwick. Checking my diagram sheet, I noted that this working then went empty to Brighton, re-emerging for the evening peak. I let a pair of new 387s go in favour of a class 377 triplet of 377214+508+516 for the second leg of the journey to Three Bridges and 377508 duly cleared the 10 mile hurdle.

After the proceedings were over, I returned to three Bridges and had a couple of hours to spare before 442419 was due to come out to play following its middle of the day rest at the seaside. There was a slight problem in that there are two Gatwick Express trains in the late afternoon that start empty from Brighton so I’d have to ensure that I was at Gatwick to cover both of them. Albinos 387106+118 formed the first train out of Three Bridges that interested me so that was through to East Croydon for me. 387118 was a winner while the previous trip with 387106 was of the Bus Stop Bash nature. East Croydon’s station announcer was advising that Thameslink was in disarray following some operating problem north of the river but it was not long before 387112+119 appeared. Again one winner (387119) although 112 had yet to get 10 m miles on the clock. A trip to Gatwick would sort that.

I did not have long at Gatwick before 377215+506 appeared on one of those Thameslink workings that run into London Bridge low level. I was pleased to get 377506 as I’d only ever done a Mini Bus Stop Bash with that one [Ed: MBSB = less than one mile]. So it was back to East Croydon for me. The number of times I visit that place in a year would lead folk into believing that I like the place. I’m not so sure that’s an accurate representation of the truth. The next Thameslink south was a triple 377 with 377211+511+520. 377211 is one of the three original 377/2s to go over to Thameslink and it received First Capital Connect colours and logos proclaiming the start of 12-car operation on the Thameslink route. 377211 still retains those “speech bubbles” on its side. I was more interested in 377511+520 as both were under 10 miles with 520 being the other 377/5 that I’d only done a MBSB with on the previous trip.

There was around 20 minutes before the first of the empty Gatwick Express workings was due up from the south coast so not much time to go anywhere so I simply waited. I was rewarded as the first working showed up with 442403+442419. Making for 442419’s motor coach, I made myself comfortable as I wished to enjoy the ride up the main line; previous trips with 442s had been limited to East Croydon to Clapham Junction or on the South Western. But as we were leaving, what did I see arriving to take up the next northbound working out of Gatwick? None other than 442415, the only other 442 still needed for 10 miles! Anyway back to 442419, while the ride was generally smooth, it seemed rather clunky when the driver was notching up. I’m not sure what the tourists who’d paid a premium to travel on Gatwick Express thought of that. I couldn’t do a lot about 442415 as that would mean staying out for another two hours so that one will have to wait as I’m sure it won’t be long before I’m back down the Brighton Mainline.

To round off, I made my way home from Victoria via 377607+615 to Balham and LU’s Northern line to its southern terminus. Whilst inevitably I would have scored more on a Great Escape, given the day’s limitations, I still got something out of the day and was also able to pay my final respects to my friend’s father who I’d known for about 20 years. A grand tally of three winners and 10 units cleared for 10 miles was not bad for about 4-5 hours travelling. And 2015’s outright winner tally is now into double figures – there’ll be plenty more to come in the next few months.

In case you did not keep up [Ed: ”Yes, that means you, sitting at the back of the class!”], here’s today’s moves -

LU 51570 Morden to London Bridge ---
171723+804 London Bridge to East Croydon 171723 NEW & cleared for 10 miles
377214+508+516 East Croydon to Three Bridges 377508 cleared for 10 miles
387106+118 Three Bridges to East Croydon 387106 cleared for 10 miles, 387118 NEW & cleared for 10 miles
387112+119 East Croydon to Gatwick Airport 387112 cleared for 10 miles, 387119 NEW & cleared for 10 miles
377215+506 Gatwick Airport to East Croydon 377506 cleared for 10 miles
377211+511+520 East Croydon to Gatwick Airport 377511+520 cleared for 10 miles
442403+419 Gatwick Airport to Victoria 442419 cleared for 10 miles
377607+615 Victoria to Balham ---
LU 51588 Balham to Morden ---

 

[Techniquest]

Not a bad result at all, shame you didn't get to attack the LM empire after all but you sure had a bit of a clearout of your lists there!

Shame you couldn't get both of the 442s done and off the list but at least it should be easier to get next time.

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Not a bad result at all, shame you didn't get to attack the LM empire after all but you sure had a bit of a clearout of your lists there!

Shame you couldn't get both of the 442s done and off the list but at least it should be easier to get next time.

I'd still rather have been going at the LM empire.... There's still a reasonable amount of green stuff needed 33 DMUs and 45 EMUs required for 10 miles (of those 5 and 21 respectively are outright winners).

But as you say, that last 442 will appear sooner or later. I'll have to make sure that I'm ready for it and can make the necessary move to grab it. I'm bound to be on the Brighton Mainline hunting down my remaining Thameslink 377s and grabbing all those lovely new 387s.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Sunday 1st March – It was supposed to get tough!

Another Sunday afternoon, another visit to the Great Eastern lines. As long as I can keep up the attack on the wants list, then I’ll keep coming back for more. I still want a sufficient amount of stuff from the Great Eastern to make even Sunday afternoon visits worthwhile. There’s a potential three winning 317s to be had for starters (317501, 317710 & 317732) along with a reasonable number of other units (4x315, 10x317, 24x321) to be had. I had a plan B in case Liverpool Street turned out to be rubbish – defect to Kings Cross and see whether any GN 313s or 317s would come my way.

An uneventful journey by tube to Liverpool Street was only punctuated by the pleasure of scoring one of my few required 1992 tube stock sets (92301) on the Bus Stop Bash from Bank to Liverpool Street. A quick look at the West Anglia side of Liverpool Street reveal nothing of interest so undeterred by this lack of requirements, I trudged over to the Main Line side of the house, only to be confronted with newly repainted 315836. Screams of “WANT THAT!” went through my mind. I’d had three trips previously with 315836 but had still to amass the required 10 miles so this time I was determined to nail it. Thankfully a trip to Stratford would be sufficient to keep the mileage police happy. 315836 was wearing what is set to be the basis of the new Crossrail livery – all-over white with a blue skirt. It’s partner for the journey was 315858 which last featured in the haulage book way back on 30 December 1984 [Ed: that was coincidentally a Sunday also] when I had it all the way from Liverpool Street to Rochford.

At Stratford, there was a short wait for a pairing of 321335+443 back to Liverpool Street. Neither of these had shown up in the haulage log this millennium ( I last had then in 1997 and 1998 respectively)and both were still under 10 miles. The run back to Liverpool Street would look after 321335 but not 321443 which would need a little more attention. Back at Liverpool Street, I had a quick look around but there was nothing of interest on either side of the house so I opted for that second run with 321443 (and 321335) back out to Stratford. Just before we left the Street, 321353+321432 showed up on the Wickford shuttles. Do I sort 321443 out now once and for all or go for the other pair where 321353 was the offending item still on the wants list? 321443 won the day and I’d soon worked out the next sequence of workings for 321353+432. On the way out of Liverpool Street, I noted 317512 on an inbound service. So there was at least one required 317 working! A quick consultation of realtime trains identified the working (inbound from Hertford East) and I deduced that it would be off to Chingford next. I reckoned that I’d be able to bag it later on but the slight problem was I needed a reasonable run with it to heave it over 10 miles.

Back to 321335+443, an on time arrival at Stratford saw me dashing through one of the many subways at that location for a required 321360 (accompanied by 321309). This was good as it was helping me to firm up my plan to snare 317512 – I’d only ever had it once previously on 12 November 1984 when numbered 317316 from Kentish Town to Moorgate. I missed 317512 by about a minute at Liverpool Street but that did not matter too much. I boarded 315817 on the following Chingford service and while I could have gone all the way to Highams Park to intercept 317512, I stopped short at Wood Street so that I could score the shack. Alighting at Wood Street off of the dud 317, I realised that this was the last required shack on the Chingford branch. I had a good 10 minutes to wait before 317512 appeared with 317658 hanging on the back to keep it company. At Walthamstow Central, I passed the only 317 on the Hertford East/Chingford circuit that I had yet to identify. All I managed to see was 31788. But what was the last digit?

Things were falling into place though. As long as the 317 pair did not lose time to Liverpool Street, I had about six or seven minutes to transfer from the West Anglia side of the house over to the main line side in order to get me out to Stratford for my appointment with 321353+432 on their way back from Wickford. Things worked out well although a required 379 pairing (379025 was one of the culprits) did tempt me to stray. And despite all my criticism of AGA, they even turned out a required 321 to take me to Stratford (321323, paired with ex Silverlink 321421). Now, I had managed several rides with all of the Sliverlink 321s in years gone by so they do not get me excited in any way at all even with their new owners. By the time our train had arrived at Stratford, 321323 was now eligible to apply for membership of the Ten Mile Club . I had about ten minutes to wait for the required 321 to arrive back from Wickford and in that time I managed to resist temptation again. No, not a cream cake but this time London Underground were the offenders trying to tempt me onto 1992 tube stock winners - Central Line train rolled in with 92107 and 92260 in its formation. I remained focussed on the job in hand and was duly rewarded with another 321 requirement – the aforementioned 321353 (paired with 321432). These two duly returned me to Liverpool Street and allowed me a comfortable stroll to the opposite side of the house to view the offending 317 that I passed a while back at Walthamstow Central. “I’M HAVING THAT!” I shouted out silently. It was 317886 and would be on the next departure to Hertford East. A quick check of the wants list revealed that a spin out to Hackney Downs would sort the 10 miles out – I would have gone further if necessary to knock it off the wants list.

315855 returned me to Liverpool Street and London Underground took me homewards and I on that last trip, I reflected on the afternoon. Eight more AGA units cleared for 10 miles (1x315, 2x317 & 5x321) and a new shack as well. Seems pretty much the norm for an afternoon’s work. It’s going to be tougher soon unless lady luck comes out bashing with me every Sunday afternoon on the Great Eastern. But once the weekly blockages on the main line between Shenfield and Colchester finish at the end of March, there’ll no longer be any Wickford shorts so that’s 4 pairs of 321s less. In part replacement the 360s will make a reappearance and I still want several of those …. And to round off, the customary schedule of moves.

LU 51636 Morden to Bank ---
LU 92197+452+454+301 Bank to Liverpool Street 92301 NEW
315836+858 Liverpool Street to Stratford 315836 cleared for 10 miles
321335+433 Stratford to Liverpool Street 321335 cleared for 10 miles
321335+433 Liverpool Street to Stratford 321443 cleared for 10 miles
321309+360 Stratford to Liverpool Street 321360 cleared for 10 miles
315817 Liverpool Street to Wood Street Wood Street = New Shack
317512 Wood Street to Liverpool Street 317512 required as 317/5 and cleared for 10 miles
321323 Liverpool Street to Stratford 321323 cleared for 10 miles
321353 Stratford to Liverpool Street 321353 cleared for 10 miles
317886 Liverpool Street to Hackney Downs Cleared for 10 miles
315855 Hackney Downs to Liverpool Street ---
LU 92201+162+110+081 Liverpool Street to Bank ---
LU 51510 Bank to Morden ---

 

[Techniquest]

Wow that was a productive afternoon! Congratulations on the significant clearout there, considering it's a Sunday you did well. Scoring one of your few Central line requirements must have been quite a bonus too, although with those other ones you saw at Stratford, if it had been me I'd have gone chasing after them!

Did you not consider a Great Escape just for the afternoon today (final day of this round of them)?

I should imagine you'll be looking forward to the longer trips soon too, as it's only 4 weeks today until the clocks change again

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Wow that was a productive afternoon! Congratulations on the significant clearout there, considering it's a Sunday you did well. Scoring one of your few Central line requirements must have been quite a bonus too, although with those other ones you saw at Stratford, if it had been me I'd have gone chasing after them!

For me, mainline stock always take precedence over tube stock. I have to put up with tube stock as it is travelling around the smoke.

Did you not consider a Great Escape just for the afternoon today (final day of this round of them)?

I had considered it but I had things to do on Sunday morning so I could not give the Great Escape the justice that it deserves. I'd want to be out of the door at 06:00 and not back until at least 22:00. All those lovely LM units will have to take their turn in the queue. My priority this year will be stock that is over 30 years old - so I'm talking 313, 315, 317, 507 & 508 - and things like Pacers which have a relatively short life.

I should imagine you'll be looking forward to the longer trips soon too, as it's only 4 weeks today until the clocks change again

Indeed I am looking forward to the clocks going forward and the prospect of lighter evenings. However, impatience has got the better of me and I have a long distance jolly arranged for Friday the 20th - the first of 2015. Will of course report here once the final tally is sorted out.

 

[Techniquest]

Good call on the prioritising there, although I think we'll both be OK for now as there still hasn't been an announcement for the securing of an order to replace the 313s, 507s and 508s yet. Of course, that could happen tomorrow for all we know! I'm lucky that I only need 3 more 507s and 1 more 508, so it won't take as much effort to get them as the 11 GN 313s and 13 Southern 313s. Of course, I'll be after all the above later this year!

I'm very much looking forward to your trip report from that trip on the 20th, wherever it is to there is no doubt it'll be another excellent read as usual.

Fair enough on the light rail stuff, I am still toying with the idea of some heavy rail bashing instead of doing Metrolink trams at the weekend, given my needs in the Manchester area are still fairly high (16 Newton Heath 142s, 25 NH 150s and 5 Allerton 156s, let alone the 144s, 153s and 155s that visit the area!), but I am in need of covering the Metrolink network eventually! Hmm...

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Sunday 8th March – Keep on Emptying the Bins

With the continuing engineering work on the Great Eastern main line north of Shenfield, I thought that I’d give Liverpool Street another go in my quest to clear yet more EMUs for 10 miles. Leaving home slightly later than usual, London Underground transported me towards Liverpool Street without cause for complaint until I boarded the Central Line at Bank for the Bus Stop Bash to Liverpool Street. The consist contained 92321 which is one of the relatively few 1992 tube stock sets that I still need for haulage. Having got fed up of registering mini distances with 1992 stock , I decided to stay on past Liverpool Street in order to get a reasonable mileage with this set. I alighted at Stratford and noted that there was an up Southend Victoria due. “Not a prayer” I thought as I wandered through the subway . How wrong that thought proved to be! I was onto a winner with 321306 (partnered with 321341 for this afternoon’s outing). 321306 last featured in the haulage log on 21 July 1991 when I scored it new from Romford to Stratford – the short run into Liverpool Street would see the mileage creep over 10 and thus allow me to knock it off the wants list.

At Liverpool Street, I had planned to do a quick sweep of the West Anglia side – perhaps there might be a 317 of interest? But I was distracted by an all-blue pair of 315s. 315848+315861 were leaving in a few minutes and with 848 being one of only three 315s still needed for 10 miles, plans to check out the West Anglia side of Liverpool Street were put on hold for a bit. Neither unit had featured in the haulage log for some considerable time – 315848 was last encountered back in October 1995 while I had to go all the way back to July 1986 for my last recorded run with 315861 when I had it back from Rochford to Liverpool Street. The run out to Stratford would clear 315848 for 10 miles. At Stratford, I was contemplating my next move when a Central Line train rolled in with another of my required sets, 92408, in the consist. There was only one thing to do, take it to Liverpool Street to register a few miles with ‘408. I was working on the basis that should a required 321 or 315 follow me up to Liverpool Street, I could bag it later. Once back at The Street, I had a quick chance to see whether anything of interest had made an appearance on the West Anglia side but nothing so I hot footed it over to the mainline side. Right Move! 321342+347 were about to depart on a Wickford shuttle. Both were still under 10 miles and like so many 321s, a trip to Stratford would solve that conundrum. There was not a lot about at Stratford and still not having a winner on West Anglia, I elected for dud pair 321333+446 back into Liverpool Street to see I could find a required unit on West Anglia. No such luck!

So again, I took another look at the mainline “just in case”. And I was rather pleased that I did. Required pair 321313+359 were about to form the next Wickford shuttle – I had only ever had one run with 321313 and that was only a few miles when I had it new twenty years ago.. Going back to Stratford would clear 359 but it would take more to sort 313 out. The logical move would have been to stick with the pair to the next stop, Shenfield but there was a slight problem, 315813 was due out on the following stopping service. Being down to two 315s for 10 miles, I could hardly let it go! So I reluctantly bailed from 321313+359 at Stratford and waited for the 313s to follow. The 315s (813+827) duly appeared and I had the choice of going to Ilford for a safe +7 or Seven Kings for a +1 for the next train back. I opted to go for the Seven Kings leap, mainly because I still needed the shack. That +1 turned into a +3. No sweat! 315806+823 were my conveyance back towards Liverpool Street. I knew that the 321s immediately behind were no good so I thought that I’d stay on the 315s all the way to Liverpool Street. What I had not bargained for was drawing alongside another required set of 1992 tube stock at Stratford. I had a hasty leap across the platform at Stratford to score 92260 (full formation 92017/072/260/095) for the underground route into Liverpool Street.

Coming to the surface at Liverpool Street, I ran another check on the West Anglia side of the house. Still nothing to interest me! And there was only thing left on the mainline of interest, namely 321313+359 coming back in from Wickford. 321334+426 provided a suitable means of transport out to Stratford for my appointment with 321313+359. While waiting at Stratford, I witnessed a Central Line train with 92319 in the formation heading out of town. I figured that it would return fairly swiftly so that would allow me to grab it at Liverpool Street once I had dealt with 321313+359. Bang on time, the required pair of 321s appeared for an uneventful run back up the slow line to Liverpool Street. I made one final check of the West Anglia side (nothing) before going downstairs to await 92319 and friends to reappear. My estimate was pretty good and I was soon on the set 92319+202+242+005 with a winning 92319. As with earlier in the day, a Bus Stop Bash to Bank would be an insult so I opted to go through to Oxford Circus and make my way home from there via the Victoria Line and a change at Stockwell onto the Northern Line.

Despite a “nil return” from West Anglia, I was pleased with the afternoon, especially bagging two out of three 315s for 10 miles. Just one to go now, 315850 which has been absent from the haulage log for far too long! Add in five 321s cleared for 10 miles (14 to go) and three scores with 1992 tube stock, it was not a bad afternoon. I’d just like to get a few more 317s out of the way …. The eagle-eyed amongst you will note that the above write up notes four different 1992 tube stock sets as winners. Well, that’s what my wants list told me but when I got home and started entering things up, it turned out that 92319 was not a winner. I had managed to procure it last June after a Saturday Great Eastern Bash! Ah well, at least there’s another couple of miles on the clock! And finally, here’s the moves for the afternoon -

LU 51570+51571 Morden to Bank ---
LU 92173+028+116+321 Bank to Stratford 92321 NEW
321306+341 Stratford to Liverpool Street 321306 cleared for 10 miles
315848+861 Liverpool Street to Stratford 315848 cleared for 10 miles
LU 92079+408+262+011 Stratford to Liverpool Street 92408 NEW
321342+347 Liverpool Street to Stratford Both cleared for 10 miles
321333+446 Stratford to Liverpool Street ---
321313+359 Liverpool Street to Stratford 321359 cleared for 10 miles
315813+827 Stratford to Seven Kings 315813 cleared for 10 miles, Seven Kings = New Shack
315806+823 Seven Kings to Stratford ---
LU 92017+072+260+095 Stratford to Liverpool Street 92260 NEW
321334+426 Liverpool Street to Stratford ---
321313+359 Stratford to Liverpool Street 321313 cleared for 10 miles
LU 92319+202+242+005 Liverpool Street to Oxford Circus ---
LU 11085+11086 Oxford Circus to Stockwell ---
LU 51642+51643 Stockwell to Morden ---

 

[Techniquest]

Looks like another excellent Sunday! I also fared reasonably well on my first Sunday bash in a long time yesterday, of course the trip report will reveal all soon!

How many Central line 92 stock sets are you needing now then? Well done on getting down to just one more 315 to clear for 10 miles too, quite an achievement!

 

[Keith Jarrett]

How many Central line 92 stock sets are you needing now then? Well done on getting down to just one more 315 to clear for 10 miles too, quite an achievement!

After the exploits below, it'll be just 11 sub-sets to go. But I bet that they are all hiding in 11 different eight car units .....
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Sunday 15th March -A quick spin out east

I did not have the usual amount of time last Sunday afternoon for a full afternoon’s bashing on the Great Eastern/West Anglia lines. Also, given the recent successes, I was apprehensive as to whether there’d be any winners around unless I headed for the 379s. All the same I thought that if I did not go out, then there’d be no chance of eradicating anything from my wants list.

I thought that I’d adopt a slightly different approach this time around and sit at Hackney Downs for a while rather than waiting at Liverpool Street for something to come to me so it was a case of the first 317 (317509) from the Street to the Downs. Just as I arrived at the Downs, I passed 317653 heading back into London. “Hmmmm, that’s my last 317/6 for 10 miles” I muttered to myself. Only one thing to do; chase it back to the Street and ride with it until the clock tips over 10. 317719, the only working 317/7 was next up and that dropped me onto 317653 for a run out to Edmonton Green. After the longish wait, 317651 whisked me back to London. By now I’d seen all the 317s (and 315s) on the West Anglia side so I wandered over to the main line to see if there were any winning 321s.

I fell straight onto 321366 (partnered with 321359) for the standard run out to Stratford. 321314+352 showed up pretty quick heading back into London and while 352 was still needed for 10 miles; a single spin to The Street would not solve that little problem. So I resolved to go into The Street and come back out with the same pair. While sitting on 321314+352 (I was actually sat in winning 321352) at Liverpool Street, 321448 showed its ugly mug. This was the first time I had seen this one since it acquired its “pretty” demonstrator livery. As things transpired, this was the only other 321 out to play that afternoon which I needed. I could either finish the job with 321352 or have 321448 (and finish neither unit off) so I stuck with plan A and took 321314+352 back out to Stratford. I could have taken 321448 on the following train to Shenfield but that would have cost so I left it for another day.

Instead, I took a look at the Central Line to see whether I could find a winner there. Second train up and I was in business! I stopped off at Liverpool Street to make sure I had not missed anything but no I hadn’t. Back down to the Central Line and I gave myself 10 minutes to find a winner before heading home. I only needed eight of those 10 minutes to bank the second Central Line winner of the afternoon. Despite a lower rate of winners (1x317, 3x321 cleared for 10 miles and two 1992ts winners) than on some recent excursions, I was still content. As ever, here’s the final table of moves.

LU 51568+569 Morden to Bank ---
LU 92075+196+096+131 Bank to Liverpool Street ---
317509 Liverpool Street to Hackney Downs ---
317719 Hackney Downs to Liverpool Street ---
317653 Liverpool Street to Edmonton Green Cleared for 10 miles, first time as 317/6
317651 Edmonton Green to Liverpool Street ---
321359+366 Liverpool Street to Stratford 321366 cleared for 10 miles
321314+352 Stratford to Liverpool Street ---
321314+352 Liverpool Street to Stratford 321352 cleared for 10 miles
LU 92235+410+056+029 Stratford to Liverpool Street 92056 NEW
LU 92145+082+436+127 Liverpool Street to Oxford Circus 92082 NEW
LU 11053+11054 Oxford Circus to Stockwell ---
LU 51502+503 Stockwell to Morden ---

 

[Techniquest]

It was always going to happen eventually, lower number of scores compared to previous times. As long as the trips stay productive that's what counts. You're doing far better than me on the Central line, I've got 304 winners there to find!

As always an enjoyable read, I do wonder if the Great Eastern will be this Sunday's choice again!

 

[Kristofferson]

Are the 90s running on the GEML at weekends again?

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Friday 20th March – the first big one of 2015

With the alarm set for 05:15, that could mean only one thing – I’m heading out on the trains and not staying local! 05:15 is far too early for work day levitation for a nine to fiver like me but I’m more than content getting up at stupid o’clock to go playing trains. The underground did its usual efficient job of conveying me to Kings Cross despite the Victoria line being out of action due to overrunning engineering works. Despite this, I still had sufficient time at Kings Cross to get the booking office there to issue my day ranger ticket. Yes, I was feeling good as it was the first long distance trip of the year. I’d sort of set myself a target for the day – knowing the territory I was headed for, I said 10 but did nothing further to define that figure. Was that tem new haulages or ten units cleared for ten miles?

I walked up the platform, hoping to see one of the 91s that I still need for haulage (91103 and the similarly numbered 91130) or even as a consolation prize, any of the other 91s that still feature on the wants list in some way such as being below 100 miles or not had as a 91/1. But no, 91108 was today’s steed. More interesting though, was the 91 in the adjacent platform, 91124 in its new Virgin colours. That needed a photograph! After the photograph had been dealt with, I settled down for the long run north. We kept perfect time until we ground to a halt just south of York where we allegedly were awaiting a platform. That delay was pivotal in my plans as I had planned on staying with 91108 to Newcastle, reliant on a +3 that had been a doddle for the past few days. Picking up another couple of minutes delay I opted to bail at Darlington, especially as there was a pacer in the bay that I wanted a ride with. 142021 had only accumulated a Bus Stop Bash (Sheffield to Meadowhall) and thus was needed for 10 miles. I noted 142091 in the adjacent bay and figured that would be the next unit out – the latter was also short on mileage as I’d only ever had that once before on my West Yorkshire bash last August. 142021 bounced all the way to Thornaby where I bailed so that I could double back to Eaglescliffe for 142091. I was more than pleased when 142084 rolled around the corner as this was an outright winner although I would not sort the ten mile enigma in one go. Staying with 142084 for the short run to Eaglescliffe, I alighted and promptly scored the first new shack of the day. It appeared that a new ticket office or waiting room were under construction here although blue hoardings gave little away.

Within minutes, 142091 appeared and I boarded, destination Middlesbrough. Passing Tees yard was a bit of a let-down for me – I remember it as a busy place but it seemed to be mainly full of stored wagons and loco activity was limited to one distant 66. And since I was last there, Thornaby shed had been razed to the ground. All in all, very sad. But all too soon I was at Middlesbrough and faced with a choice – a winning 156459 heading for Whitby or 142093 which simply needed a mileage top up. 142093 last featured in the haulage book way back in 1989 (10 June 1989, Cross Gates to Leeds) but I opted for the 156 out to Nunthorpe, scoring the second new shack of the day. I had around half an hour before the next train back although within five minutes, I’d seen all of Nunthorpe. A winning 142019 was provided and I had the option of bailing at Middlesbrough to finish off the Darlington – Saltburn circuit or progressing further and dealing with 142019 for the requisite 10 miles. I went for the latter and travelled through to Hartlepool and racked up shack number three of the day. I had another pass of that sad place called Tees Yard; this time there were two derelict shunters on view – 08500 and 08711. Soon after leaving Thornaby, we passed 142088 which would form the next northbound train for Hexham via the coast. Good that’s another one on my wants list. Pressing on to Hartlepool, I wondered to myself “When was I here last?” “A long time ago” was all I could say in response. [Ed – 1 September 1987, Hadrian Whistlestop railtour.]

Scoring the third shack of the day, I observed the odd layout of Hartlepool station with only one curved platform along with a second disused one although the tracks seemed used – perhaps by the coal trains out of Tyne Dock. Soon the station announcements burst into life an long before it appeared, I could hear the sounds of a pacer squealing around the tight curves. I was pleased to see 142086 roll in as that was yet another 142 on the wants list. But there again, Heaton pacers were high on the wish list for today. Knowing that 142088 would be heading north, I had enough time to get back to Stockton with 142086. This was sufficient to heave that one over 10 miles. Stockton is of course full of railway heritage but my main concern was scratching shack number four of the day and awaiting the impending arrival of 142088. Bang on cue, 142088 showed up and I settled down for the lengthy journey up the coast to Newcastle. I could have jumped ship at Hartlepool for an unknown unit back but I’d more or less cleared out Middlesbrough and I thought that I might be able to catch up with whatever I miss later on. A 156 went whizzing by somewhere north of Hartlepool. “Probably want that,” I mused. Eventually we staggered into Newcastle and I was immediately confronted with a winner sitting in the station – 156451. That’s not a great surprise as before today’s frolics, I wanted eight Heaton 156s outright and a further three for 10 miles. But it was not due to leave for half an hour so time to photograph one of GBRf’s grey 66s, wander over to Sainsburys to restock on supplies and check out the two units on the Morpeth – Metrocentre shuttles. These were in the hands of 142025 and 156463. The former was an outright winner but the latter had been dud for over 25 years since I had it new on 28th December 1988 between Fareham and Southampton. I could have done a spin to Morpeth and back with 142025 but instead, I waited a few extra minutes for another outright winner in the form of 156451. This time, I struck out along the Tyne Valley to Prudhoe for ne shack number five. I had only seconds to dash over the footbridge at Prudhoe for another outright winner in the form of 142023 back to Newcastle via a short piece of required track. Instead of taking the standard route into Newcastle, namely via the King Edward Bridge, this service took the slightly longer route via the High Level Bridge so at long last I was able to erase Greensfield Junction to High Level Bridge Junction from my wants list. Today was definitely looking good.

Next up was winning 142025 having returned from its little bounce up the East Coast Main Line to Morpeth. I hopped on for the trundle down to Metrocentre and in the process, notch4ed up shack number six of the day. I returned back to Newcastle with 142025 but left it there, a few miles short of the requisite 10. I had the option of another trip to Metrocentre but instead decided to wait the additional few minutes for 156475, the unit that I had passed earlier on my way up from Stockton. This was my third winning 156 of the day and the trip to Prudhoe enabled me to clear it for 10 miles in the process. This time it was a far more leisurely wander over the footbridge for a dud 142016 back into Newcastle. I now had to think about getting into position for my booked train home so it was 91132 on the next southbound train to Darlington (the Transpennine 185 immediately behind was dud so no point in waiting). But first, before I left Newcastle, I had to endure the sight of required 142087 sitting in one of the bays. “Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!” There was simply nothing I could do about it. Next time, perhaps?

Arriving spot on time in Darlington, I had enough time to wander up to the south end bay to join a dud 142071 for the short journey out to Dinsdale. There were twin motives at play with this move; firstly to notch up shack number seven of the day and second to meet 142084 on its way back into Darlington. 142084 was still not over the 10 mile barrier so a third trip was required. Thankfully it was going straight back out again towards Saltburn and I need to be in Eaglescliffe in about ½ an hour! Perfect. The third trip of the day with 142084 saw the ten mile barrier breached for that particular unit. While waiting for my next train, I witnessed a pair if tea-making devices passing through, top and tailing their support coaches on a run from York to the North York Moors Railway. I was far more interested in the next train to come in, a Grand central HST with 43484 and 43467 providing power. I had had both of these power cars under their original numbers (43067 and 43084) but not with their 434xx numbers. Both were long term absentees from the haulage book; 43067 last featured on 8 February 1997 from Winchester to Basingstoke while 436084 had only ever featured once, on 10 June 1989 when I had it from Peterborough into Kings Cross. Welcome back. Grand Central had reserved my seat in a declassified first and given the Friday night loadings, I stuck to my allocated seat despite the fact that a crowd of raucous forty somethings getting in at York. I experience the worst timekeeping of the day – we were five late into the Cross! London Underground came up trumps and within 50 minutes I was indoors, exhausted after a great day out. Well, what of those ten thingies that I was hoping for at the beginning of the day? I had seven new units – the first time that I had this number of winners since my last Manchester leap in Autumn 2014 - and I managed nine more units cleared for 10 miles. Roll the two together and 11 units were either new or cleared for 10 miles. But equally the 10 could refer to the 10 different pacers tha I logged during the day. All that matters is that in difficult territory, I managed to mop up a reasonable haul in one day. But I need to go back, several times probably

To round off, here’s the moves for the day.

LU 51568+51569 Morden to Kennington ---
LU 51659+51660 Kennington to Kings Cross ---
91108 Kings Cross to Darlington ---
142021 Darlington to Thornaby Cleared for 10 miles
142084 Thornaby to Eaglescliffe New
142091 Eaglescliffe to Middlesbrough Cleared for 10 miles
156469 Middlesbrough to Nunthorpe New
142019 Nunthorpe to Hartlepool New, cleared for 10 miles
142086 Hartlepool to Stockton Cleared for 10 miles
142088 Stockton to Newcastle Cleared for 10 miles
156451 Newcastle to Prudhoe New, cleared for 10 miles
142023 Prudhoe to Newcastle New, cleared for 10 miles
142025 Newcastle to Metrocentre New
142025 Metrocentre to Newcastle ---
156475 Newcastle to Prudhoe New, cleared for 10 miles
142016 Prudhoe to Newcastle ---
91132 Newcastle to Darlington ---
142071 Darlington to Dinsdale ---
142084 Dinsdale to Darlington ---
142084 Darlington to Eaglescliffe Cleared for 10 miles
43467+43484 Eaglescliffe to Kings Cross First time numbered 434xx
LU 11055+11056 Kings Cross to Stockwell ---
LU 51591+51592 Stockwell to Morden ---
New shacks = Eaglescliffe, Nunthorpe, Hartlepool, Stockton, Prudhoe, Metrocentre

 

[Bodiddly]

Friday 20th March – the first big one of 2015

With the alarm set for 05:15, that could mean only one thing – I’m heading out on the trains and not staying local! 05:15 is far too early for work day levitation for a nine to fiver like me but I’m more than content getting up at stupid o’clock to go playing trains. The underground did its usual efficient job of conveying me to Kings Cross despite the Victoria line being out of action due to overrunning engineering works. Despite this, I still had sufficient time at Kings Cross to get the booking office there to issue my day ranger ticket. Yes, I was feeling good as it was the first long distance trip of the year. I’d sort of set myself a target for the day – knowing the territory I was headed for, I said 10 but did nothing further to define that figure. Was that tem new haulages or ten units cleared for ten miles?

I walked up the platform, hoping to see one of the 91s that I still need for haulage (91103 and the similarly numbered 91130) or even as a consolation prize, any of the other 91s that still feature on the wants list in some way such as being below 100 miles or not had as a 91/1. But no, 91108 was today’s steed. More interesting though, was the 91 in the adjacent platform, 91124 in its new Virgin colours. That needed a photograph! After the photograph had been dealt with, I settled down for the long run north. We kept perfect time until we ground to a halt just south of York where we allegedly were awaiting a platform. That delay was pivotal in my plans as I had planned on staying with 91108 to Newcastle, reliant on a +3 that had been a doddle for the past few days. Picking up another couple of minutes delay I opted to bail at Darlington, especially as there was a pacer in the bay that I wanted a ride with. 142021 had only accumulated a Bus Stop Bash (Sheffield to Meadowhall) and thus was needed for 10 miles. I noted 142091 in the adjacent bay and figured that would be the next unit out – the latter was also short on mileage as I’d only ever had that once before on my West Yorkshire bash last August. 142021 bounced all the way to Thornaby where I bailed so that I could double back to Eaglescliffe for 142091. I was more than pleased when 142084 rolled around the corner as this was an outright winner although I would not sort the ten mile enigma in one go. Staying with 142084 for the short run to Eaglescliffe, I alighted and promptly scored the first new shack of the day. It appeared that a new ticket office or waiting room were under construction here although blue hoardings gave little away.

Within minutes, 142091 appeared and I boarded, destination Middlesbrough. Passing Tees yard was a bit of a let-down for me – I remember it as a busy place but it seemed to be mainly full of stored wagons and loco activity was limited to one distant 66. And since I was last there, Thornaby shed had been razed to the ground. All in all, very sad. But all too soon I was at Middlesbrough and faced with a choice – a winning 156459 heading for Whitby or 142093 which simply needed a mileage top up. 142093 last featured in the haulage book way back in 1989 (10 June 1989, Cross Gates to Leeds) but I opted for the 156 out to Nunthorpe, scoring the second new shack of the day. I had around half an hour before the next train back although within five minutes, I’d seen all of Nunthorpe. A winning 142019 was provided and I had the option of bailing at Middlesbrough to finish off the Darlington – Saltburn circuit or progressing further and dealing with 142019 for the requisite 10 miles. I went for the latter and travelled through to Hartlepool and racked up shack number three of the day. I had another pass of that sad place called Tees Yard; this time there were two derelict shunters on view – 08500 and 08711. Soon after leaving Thornaby, we passed 142088 which would form the next northbound train for Hexham via the coast. Good that’s another one on my wants list. Pressing on to Hartlepool, I wondered to myself “When was I here last?” “A long time ago” was all I could say in response. [Ed – 1 September 1987, Hadrian Whistlestop railtour.]

Scoring the third shack of the day, I observed the odd layout of Hartlepool station with only one curved platform along with a second disused one although the tracks seemed used – perhaps by the coal trains out of Tyne Dock. Soon the station announcements burst into life an long before it appeared, I could hear the sounds of a pacer squealing around the tight curves. I was pleased to see 142086 roll in as that was yet another 142 on the wants list. But there again, Heaton pacers were high on the wish list for today. Knowing that 142088 would be heading north, I had enough time to get back to Stockton with 142086. This was sufficient to heave that one over 10 miles. Stockton is of course full of railway heritage but my main concern was scratching shack number four of the day and awaiting the impending arrival of 142088. Bang on cue, 142088 showed up and I settled down for the lengthy journey up the coast to Newcastle. I could have jumped ship at Hartlepool for an unknown unit back but I’d more or less cleared out Middlesbrough and I thought that I might be able to catch up with whatever I miss later on. A 156 went whizzing by somewhere north of Hartlepool. “Probably want that,” I mused. Eventually we staggered into Newcastle and I was immediately confronted with a winner sitting in the station – 156451. That’s not a great surprise as before today’s frolics, I wanted eight Heaton 156s outright and a further three for 10 miles. But it was not due to leave for half an hour so time to photograph one of GBRf’s grey 66s, wander over to Sainsburys to restock on supplies and check out the two units on the Morpeth – Metrocentre shuttles. These were in the hands of 142025 and 156463. The former was an outright winner but the latter had been dud for over 25 years since I had it new on 28th December 1988 between Fareham and Southampton. I could have done a spin to Morpeth and back with 142025 but instead, I waited a few extra minutes for another outright winner in the form of 156451. This time, I struck out along the Tyne Valley to Prudhoe for ne shack number five. I had only seconds to dash over the footbridge at Prudhoe for another outright winner in the form of 142023 back to Newcastle via a short piece of required track. Instead of taking the standard route into Newcastle, namely via the King Edward Bridge, this service took the slightly longer route via the High Level Bridge so at long last I was able to erase Greensfield Junction to High Level Bridge Junction from my wants list. Today was definitely looking good.

Next up was winning 142025 having returned from its little bounce up the East Coast Main Line to Morpeth. I hopped on for the trundle down to Metrocentre and in the process, notch4ed up shack number six of the day. I returned back to Newcastle with 142025 but left it there, a few miles short of the requisite 10. I had the option of another trip to Metrocentre but instead decided to wait the additional few minutes for 156475, the unit that I had passed earlier on my way up from Stockton. This was my third winning 156 of the day and the trip to Prudhoe enabled me to clear it for 10 miles in the process. This time it was a far more leisurely wander over the footbridge for a dud 142016 back into Newcastle. I now had to think about getting into position for my booked train home so it was 91132 on the next southbound train to Darlington (the Transpennine 185 immediately behind was dud so no point in waiting). But first, before I left Newcastle, I had to endure the sight of required 142087 sitting in one of the bays. “Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!” There was simply nothing I could do about it. Next time, perhaps?

Arriving spot on time in Darlington, I had enough time to wander up to the south end bay to join a dud 142071 for the short journey out to Dinsdale. There were twin motives at play with this move; firstly to notch up shack number seven of the day and second to meet 142084 on its way back into Darlington. 142084 was still not over the 10 mile barrier so a third trip was required. Thankfully it was going straight back out again towards Saltburn and I need to be in Eaglescliffe in about ½ an hour! Perfect. The third trip of the day with 142084 saw the ten mile barrier breached for that particular unit. While waiting for my next train, I witnessed a pair if tea-making devices passing through, top and tailing their support coaches on a run from York to the North York Moors Railway. I was far more interested in the next train to come in, a Grand central HST with 43484 and 43467 providing power. I had had both of these power cars under their original numbers (43067 and 43084) but not with their 434xx numbers. Both were long term absentees from the haulage book; 43067 last featured on 8 February 1997 from Winchester to Basingstoke while 436084 had only ever featured once, on 10 June 1989 when I had it from Peterborough into Kings Cross. Welcome back. Grand Central had reserved my seat in a declassified first and given the Friday night loadings, I stuck to my allocated seat despite the fact that a crowd of raucous forty somethings getting in at York. I experience the worst timekeeping of the day – we were five late into the Cross! London Underground came up trumps and within 50 minutes I was indoors, exhausted after a great day out. Well, what of those ten thingies that I was hoping for at the beginning of the day? I had seven new units – the first time that I had this number of winners since my last Manchester leap in Autumn 2014 - and I managed nine more units cleared for 10 miles. Roll the two together and 11 units were either new or cleared for 10 miles. But equally the 10 could refer to the 10 different pacers tha I logged during the day. All that matters is that in difficult territory, I managed to mop up a reasonable haul in one day. But I need to go back, several times probably

To round off, here’s the moves for the day.

LU 51568+51569 Morden to Kennington ---
LU 51659+51660 Kennington to Kings Cross ---
91108 Kings Cross to Darlington ---
142021 Darlington to Thornaby Cleared for 10 miles
142084 Thornaby to Eaglescliffe New
142091 Eaglescliffe to Middlesbrough Cleared for 10 miles
156469 Middlesbrough to Nunthorpe New
142019 Nunthorpe to Hartlepool New, cleared for 10 miles
142086 Hartlepool to Stockton Cleared for 10 miles
142088 Stockton to Newcastle Cleared for 10 miles
156451 Newcastle to Prudhoe New, cleared for 10 miles
142023 Prudhoe to Newcastle New, cleared for 10 miles
142025 Newcastle to Metrocentre New
142025 Metrocentre to Newcastle ---
156475 Newcastle to Prudhoe New, cleared for 10 miles
142016 Prudhoe to Newcastle ---
91132 Newcastle to Darlington ---
142071 Darlington to Dinsdale ---
142084 Dinsdale to Darlington ---
142084 Darlington to Eaglescliffe Cleared for 10 miles
43467+43484 Eaglescliffe to Kings Cross First time numbered 434xx
LU 11055+11056 Kings Cross to Stockwell ---
LU 51591+51592 Stockwell to Morden ---
New shacks = Eaglescliffe, Nunthorpe, Hartlepool, Stockton, Prudhoe, Metrocentre

My stupid o'clock alarm call is at 04.00 so I can be ready for the 04.53 Inverness to Edinburgh Waverley via Aberdeen. Arriving at around 09.30, it gives me many options for mileage bashing. The pull of a 10 o'clock TPE to Manchester is almost too overwhelming ( First Group employee, free travel etc) and I normally jump on this to at least Carlisle. When I feel in the mood I will make my way to London via TPE and First Hull to pick up that night's sleeper back to Inverness. If I'm not in a hurry, I book a PRiV Solo on the Night Riviera @£27.25 (far cheaper than any London hotel) for a day train back to Reading and then a jaunt into South Wales. Back to Padd in time for a walk through the capital to pick up the Inverness Sleeper. Sadly, I will lose all this in April as I will become an Abellio employee. Still, there is East Anglia and the North to discover...................!

 

[Kite159]

My stupid o'clock alarm call is at 04.00 so I can be ready for the 04.53 Inverness to Edinburgh Waverley via Aberdeen. Arriving at around 09.30, it gives me many options for mileage bashing. The pull of a 10 o'clock TPE to Manchester is almost too overwhelming ( First Group employee, free travel etc) and I normally jump on this to at least Carlisle. When I feel in the mood I will make my way to London via TPE and First Hull to pick up that night's sleeper back to Inverness. If I'm not in a hurry, I book a PRiV Solo on the Night Riviera @£27.25 (far cheaper than any London hotel) for a day train back to Reading and then a jaunt into South Wales. Back to Padd in time for a walk through the capital to pick up the Inverness Sleeper. Sadly, I will lose all this in April as I will become an Abellio employee. Still, there is East Anglia and the North to discover...................!

Could be worst, you could have had National Express running the franchise, free travel in Essex

---

Keith, sounds like you had a busy day in the North East

 

[Techniquest]

I see your long-distance trips are back into play, must be nice to have escaped London for the day and go somewhere rather different!

Looks like it was a very productive trip all in, shame you couldn't get the 91s you wanted though. Unusual for GC to get to The Cross late in my experience, although it's been a rather long time since my last GC trip of any description now. Yes it is on the agenda before anyone asks!

Glad to see you enjoyed your trip on a Tyne and Tees Day Ranger, it is an excellent value ticket which I thoroughly enjoyed as should have been noticeable in my trip report from February. I can see it being sold a lot more during the next few years with more and more people doing 142s before they get withdrawn!

I take it more non-London trips will be coming your way in the next few months?

 

[Keith Jarrett]

I see your long-distance trips are back into play, must be nice to have escaped London for the day and go somewhere rather different!

I take it more non-London trips will be coming your way in the next few months?

Here's the next non-London trip (and there's another to write up already!)

3rd April 2015 – A Very Good Friday!

Being free all day, albeit at relatively short notice, I pondered how I could usefully use the day to its maximum. My initial thoughts centred around a southern Daysave ticket. But that was a waste of time when all I would be doing is searching for my remaining 171s and getting my last 313/2 for 10 miles (although I do need them all for renumbering as 3132xx). Then I uncovered a RTV on my desk – that would almost fund a trip up the Chiltern line to Birmingham and all I had to do was supply GBP 1.35 extra to make up the fare. Chiltern is one of the worst companies serving the Southeast if you were to look at my wants book. The die was cast!

Getting up rather early, I made my way to Marylebone and sought the necessary ticket from the ticket office. I was expecting the place to be heaving but was pleasantly surprised to find quite the opposite. It took the ticket office clerk three goes to issue my ticket – my paying part with a RTV seemed to wrong-foot him! Once he'd mastered the technique of part payments with RTVs, I had my ticket in my sweaty hands and made my way to the platforms to be greeted by the sight of 172103. YIPEE! That’s my last 172 for haulage. It had brought along 172104 for company as well as 168219 – the latter being winner number two in the bag already. So we are off. I note various 165s littered around Marylebone and wonder if any of them will make it up to Birmingham later in the day. Passing Wembley LMD, I get my first sight of Chiltern liveried 68s along with a DRS-liveried one. Progressing nicely, I soon reach High Wycombe where I leap off. I flag 168005 for the double-back to Beaconsfield but 165001+033 which followed up a few minutes later proved irresistible on account of needing just a short journey to clear each of them for 10 miles. So I found myself at Beaconsfield waiting for the next northbound train.

Great Western HSTs were plodding around on the Banbury diversions to keep me entertained while I was waiting for my next train. I was pleasantly surprised when a pair of 165s rolled in. Both were 3-car sets and what’s more I had two more winners in the shape of 165031+165039 to add to my book. Next stop was Bicester North, the first shack score of the day. Having a few minutes to wait for the next train, I had a quick look around. The widened platform on the up-side seemed a little odd and was there also a missed opportunity to put in a London facing bay? There was certainly enough space to do so but perhaps the powers that be opted not to do so, given the forthcoming diversion of some trains to Oxford via Bicester Town (or Bicester Village as it will be known when it reopens later this year). It was not long before 168110 +168111 rolled in heading north and without trying, I had lined up another winner – step forward 168111! This proved to be the only Chiltern train that I board where the loadings were such that not everyone could get a seat.

I stayed on board 168110+111 for the short ride to Banbury where our progress into the station was hampered by congestion. It seemed that the finely balanced timetable had been upset by one late running HST. It was around 25 minutes for the next train - this allowed me to grab a few shots of HSTs away from their normal operating sphere. I also noted 168003+214 heading south and hoped that the railway gods would look on me favourably by sending this pair of winners back in my direction later in the day. The arrival of 165025 heralded another winner for me. The logical thing to do would be to go to Leamington Spa with this unit (the train was bound for Stratford-upon-Avon) but a glance at the timetable showed that both this and the following Birmingham bound service had a common calling point of Warwick. A winning unit to a winning shack can’t be a bad thing! I had less than ten minutes in Warwickshire’s county town before the first loco haulage of the day.

68015 hauling the Chiltern slam door set was my escape card and in the process I managed winner number seven of the day - and it was not even midday yet! I felt like a kid seeing and playing with new toys every few minutes. The departure screens even notified passengers that it was a slam door train – nice touch by Chiltern. I took the Caterpillar-engined machine all the way through to Birmingham Moor Street. The Caterpillar engine certain sounds more work-like that the tinny yinging of the GM-engined locos that Chiltern have been using to hump their Mark 3 sets around. At Moor Street I left the Caterpillar to take all the local haulage cranks through to Snow Hill. I had other things to do and the first was equipping myself with the local rover ticket. I still need a fair amount of stuff that operates in and around Birmingham and it’s going to take many a trip to turn my wants list for the West Midlands into a blank piece of paper. But at least I could continue with the Wants List Reduction Programme! Apart from keeping an eye on Chiltern workings, I had no real idea where I was going to end up. First up was 172332 heading for Stourbridge Junction. Yet another one that featured on the wants list and a spin to Langley Green saw that sorted for 10 miles. 172331 acted as my “Get out of Jail Free Card”. Another one required for 10 miles so off we head back towards Birmingham. A quick calculation shows that I need to go as far as Spring Road before the mileage counter tips over 10 miles. However, I elect to stay on until Yardley Wood for a comfortable +3 for the next train back.

My reasons for staying on to Yardley Wood were twofold – one to score the shack and second to reduce the wait for something back. I was duly rewarded with a low mileage pair showing up 172218 partnered by 172334 – both under 10 miles. Smethwick Galton Bridge would sort that out. My wait at Smethwick was not long as 172212+172220 showed up, the former needing a nudge to get it over 10 miles. Passing through Snow Hill, I espied 168002+168109. Two more Chiltern winners but I had half an hour to kill As cross city trains were stopping at Bordesley, I decided that another shack score could be had with 172339 facilitating this move. After all of three minutes at Bordesley, 172215+172222 got me on the move again. Ideally, I would have liked to take this pair to The Hawthorns in order to clear both for 10 miles but I had an appointment with two winning 168s to think of so I bailed at Jewellery Quarter and returned with 172218+172334 which I had run into only an hour or so previously.

168002+109 were winners from Moor Street to Solihull and I had only a few minutes before the next winner in the shape of Caterpillar 68010. The front coach seemed to be full of bashers although I heard one comment from one that by the end of the day he’d clear the loco for 1,000 miles. He must be dedicated! Back at Moor Street I was lucky enough to bump into 172215+172222 which I had deserted earlier. This time they were bound for Dorridge which suited me fine as I wanted to cover the next loco hauled working up from Marylebone. I was at Dorridge for about 90 seconds – enough time to leap over the footbridge and I was rewarded with 67013. Another winner! So back to Snow Hill and what did I see sitting in the bay platforms while passing through Moor Street? Only the pairing of 168003+168214; the Railway Gods had obviously taken my needs into account. But as they were not due out for a while, I elected for 172340 on the preceding stopping train to Solihull and thus clearing yet another 172 for 10 miles.. A few minutes later, my winning pair of 168s duly showed their face and I was on – to Warwick Parkway and another winning shack. Warwick Parkway seemed to be in the middle of nowhere and the access arrangements to the platforms seemed strange; the stairs were effectively wrapped around the lift shafts. I vowed to get the next train back towards Birmingham, whatever the traction. 165031+165039, repeats from earlier in the day showed up. There was not much point in my bailing at either Dorridge or Solihull as I understood there to be nothing of interest at either place for a while. So I went straight through to Moor Street again. Just after leaving Solihull, I passed 172342+172345 headed for Dorridge – both mileage needs so I simply had to get them. At Moor Street, 168110+168111 along with 172103 were waiting to form the next Marylebone service but all of these were dud and neither would they get me back to Solihull in time for the six-car 172.

Rescue came in the form of another 172 pairing, 172211+172217 which I took to Tyseley. A few minutes at this desolate station was plenty enough to wait for 172342+172345 returning from Dorridge. The game of yo-yo continued along the Snow Hill lines and this time I headed for The Hawthorns so that I could clear 172342 for 10 miles (I would have needed to stick on further to sort out 345 for the requisite 10 miles). I then picked a dud 172 (172339 again) for my return to Moor Street. I needed supplies and the conveniently located Tesco store provided suitable supplies. I was planning on getting the next Marylebone train back to London with 67008 but to my horror, I discovered that 67008 had sat down at Leamington Spa on the inbound journey. Now I had an hour to kill before the next train back to The Smoke. The arrival of 172211+172217 brought me back to reality – I still needed some mileage off of 172211 and had plenty of time to go to Smethwick Galton Bridge to deal with this unit. Expecting to walk straight into an elephant trap, I was pleasantly surprised to have 172216+172221 back. 172216 was still needed for 10 miles and I needed to go beyond Moor Street to knock it off of my list. The best option was to stick with it to Dorridge and get the next Marylebone train from here. Realising that I’d be back home an hour later than planned, I thought about sourcing additional supplies at Dorridge. Rather than the normal supermarket fayre that keeps me going on bashing trips, I seized the opportunity to grab some chips from the emporium almost opposite the station. 168107 +168218 rolled in on the Marylebone train and I settled down for the trek home, noting a rather dead 67008 (you rat) still occupying a platform at Leamington Spa. Arriving almost an hour later than planned in Marylebone, I made my home. I’ll certainly be contacting Chiltern for a partial refund on my ticket. In effect with the previous voucher, the railway industry will have paid me for that trip out.

Despite the setback towards the end of the day, I was very pleased with the results of the day. The highlights were
- 13 winners including three locos (67008 would have been the 14th winner of the day), particularly grabbing my last all-time 172;
- But even more impressive was over 20 units/locos cleared for 10 miles; and
- Not forgetting five new shacks!

As ever, I round off with the summary of the day’s moves

LU 51672+51726 Morden to Stockwell ---
LU 11066+11065 Stockwell to Oxford Circus ---
LU 3436+32?? Oxford Circus to Marylebone ---
168219+172103+172104 Marylebone to High Wycombe 168219 NEW, 172103 NEW (and 172s cleared)
165001+165033 High Wycombe to Beaconsfield Both cleared for 10 miles
165031+165039 Beaconsfield to Bicester North Both NEW
168110+168111 Bicester North to Banbury 168111 NEW
165025 Banbury to Warwick NEW
68015 Warwick to Birmingham Moor Street NEW (1st of class)
172332 Birmingham Moor Street to Langley Green Cleared for 10 miles
172331 Langley Green to Yardley Wood Cleared for 10 miles
172218+172334 Yardley Wood to Smethwick Galton Bridge Both cleared for 10 miles
172212+172220 Smethwick Galton Bridge to Birmingham Moor Street 172212 cleared for 10 miles
172339 Birmingham Moor Street to Bordesley ---
172215+172222 Bordesley to Jewellery Quarter ---
172218+172334 Jewellery Quarter to Birmingham Moor Street ---
168002+168109 Birmingham Moor Street to Solihull Both NEW
68010 Solihull to Birmingham Moor Street NEW
172215+172222 Birmingham Moor Street to Dorridge Both cleared for 10 miles
67013 Dorridge to Birmingham Snow Hill NEW
172340 Birmingham Snow Hill to Solihull Cleared for 10 miles
168003+168214 Solihull to Warwick Parkway Both NEW
165031+165039 Warwick Parkway to Birmingham Moor Street ---
172211+172217 Birmingham Moor Street to Tyseley ---
172342+172345 Tyseley to The Hawthorns 172342 cleared for 10 miles
172339 The Hawthorns to Birmingham Moor Street ---
172211+172217 Birmingham Moor Street to Smethwick Galton Bridge 172211 cleared for 10 miles
172216+172221 Smethwick Galton Bridge to Dorridge 172216 cleared for 10 miles
168107+168218 Dorridge to Marylebone ---
LU 3432+3239 Marylebone to Oxford Circus ---
LU 11083+11084 Oxford Circus to Stockwell ---
LU 51506+51507 Stockwell to Morden ---
New shacks - Warwick, Warwick Parkway, Bicester North, Yardley Wood, Bordesley

 

[Techniquest]

When I read you'd got Bordesley visited, my reaction was "You HORSE!"

I have no idea why I said that, but it was the immediate reaction I had when I saw you'd done the last shack in the West Midlands Daytripper area that I need!

Oh, and most of us local bashers tend to do Moor Street to Solihull and vice-versa (if on Daytrippers) or Moor Street to Leamington Spa (if on WMDRs), not just Moor Street to Snow Hill! Not that I haven't spent a lot of time going up and down that hill in the past to score 150s and 172s of course, and I've never had a loco-hauled train beyond Moor Street yet. I was meant to on January's Daytripper, even though it was just to Snow Hill, but I had a 168 vice 67-hauled Silver!

I haven't touched the Snow Hill lines for a few months now, instead I've pretty much always been on the Wolverhampton to Rugby since my last Daytripper. Now the 68s are coming to Birmingham regularly I'll be back over there when I get back onto a Daytripper, although that may not be for a while. I'll not go into that, not yet...

You've done exceptionally well there, certainly looks like you've enjoyed your trip to my local area! As always, an excellent read and I look forward to the next one when its ready

 

[Keith Jarrett]

When I read you'd got Bordesley visited, my reaction was "You HORSE!"

I have no idea why I said that, but it was the immediate reaction I had when I saw you'd done the last shack in the West Midlands Daytripper area that I need!

Oh, and most of us local bashers tend to do Moor Street to Solihull and vice-versa (if on Daytrippers) or Moor Street to Leamington Spa (if on WMDRs), not just Moor Street to Snow Hill! Not that I haven't spent a lot of time going up and down that hill in the past to score 150s and 172s of course, and I've never had a loco-hauled train beyond Moor Street yet. I was meant to on January's Daytripper, even though it was just to Snow Hill, but I had a 168 vice 67-hauled Silver!

I haven't touched the Snow Hill lines for a few months now, instead I've pretty much always been on the Wolverhampton to Rugby since my last Daytripper. Now the 68s are coming to Birmingham regularly I'll be back over there when I get back onto a Daytripper, although that may not be for a while. I'll not go into that, not yet...

You've done exceptionally well there, certainly looks like you've enjoyed your trip to my local area! As always, an excellent read and I look forward to the next one when its ready

Techniquest - or should it be Top of the Pops? - I am with you on Moor Street to Snow Hill insect leaps but apologies if I annoyed you with Bordesley. I do need Small Heath tough and will have to bag that sometime plus loads of other LM shacks on the Snow Hill Lines.

As threatened, I was out again over over Easter and here's the write up -

6th April 2015 – The Chiltern rerun

Thank goodness for Bank Holiday weekends! I was able to get out for a second trip over the Easter weekend and I felt that I had some unfinished business with Chiltern so that seemed the obvious place to go (again). The Good Friday trip left me needing one class 168 winner and I’d seen reports that it had been active on East Sunday so there was a degree of anticipation that it would still be around. Likewise I was given to understand that 67008 had been restored to full health following it’s “Hissy Fit” at Leamington Spa a few days back. There was also the prospect of another winning 68 over the two that I had scored a few days ago. And if nothing produced, there was always plenty of shacks still available to score.

London Underground conveyed me to Marylebone in their normal efficient manner. The mainline station contained a few 165s of interest but they did not seem to be moving for ages so it was time to get a quick shack score in the book – Out on 168003 to Northolt Park for 168002 back. I was pleased to see 168002 as that was still needed for 10 miles but the job was now done. 165028+165036 (the latter a winner) were next up and being first stop High Wycombe, that’s where I went. Then, as they say, “After the Lord Mayer’s Show, comes the dustcart”. There was absolutely nothing of interest for an hour. I had contemplated a leap up the line to get Saunderton as a shack scratch but I’m pleased I did not as the return trip was late and I would have missed my next haulage – my first blue 68, 68008. “Right Away Bicester North”. Yes, I certainly prefer the Caterpillars over the GMs.. It seemed that everything I wanted was placed very awkwardly. While at Bicester, I saw my last 168 head up to London and figured that it would follow the 67 back on the following Birmingham service. And there was over an hour to wait for the 67 so time for a fill in move. Part of Chiltern’s Bank Holiday timetable included a return trip from Marylebone to Bicester on one of the Shopping Village trains – I’d come up with 68008 and left Bicester with it, to Haddenham & Thame Parkway for another shack scratch. After traipsing over the footbridge I had 165015+165029 back to Bicester. 165015 was one of those which was just under the 10 mile barrier so that joined the 10 mile club by the time I arrived back at Bicester North. Then I had a wait of around 45 minutes for my next hit.

Thankfully the procession of diverted Great Western HSTs alleviated some of the boredom as well as watching the crowds heading for the Bicester Village shopping emporium. Given that it was mainly tourists of Middle Eastern origin, I did wonder why they trekked over 50 miles from their natural home (i.e. The Smoke) just to embark on a little retail therapy. Surely the hot and sweaty environs of Oxford Street would meet their needs? By hey ho, it gives Chiltern a load of extra dosh and also keeps Bicester bus drivers in a job ferrying them around. I digress. 67008 appeared bang on time and whisked me along the lines to Banbury. Under normal circumstances, I would have leapt straight across the footbridge for 68010 back to Bicester and see whether there was anything else out to play on Chiltern that tallied with my wants list. Instead, I had to give it a shot – 168108 was supposed to be half an hour behind and yes, it appeared as I had predicted so off to Leamington Spa with it (the paring was 168108 and 168215 for the record), The next suitable train back towards Chiltern’s heartland was a wedged vomit comet – thankfully 220017 was a winner and I had to endure it only as far as Banbury. There was a Chiltern DMU not far behind and 168214+168216 conveyed me onwards to Bicester North. If the vomit comet was wedged, this 168 pairing made the VC look lightly loaded. I’d been trying to figure out what the few 165s that I ‘d seen earlier in the day were up to and reckoned that I’d have about 10 minutes at Bicester for another winner. Rolling into Bicester, I was able to check the contents of the reversing siding and my calculations were correct!

A ten minute wait sitting on the wall at Bicester was quite pleasant in comparison to standing on a heaving, super cosy 168! 165027+165035 rolled in and the mass scramble ensued – it appeared that all the Bicester Village shoppers had decided that London was calling. It’s surprising though just how many people a five-car 165 can accommodate. Luckily, for me, few people made it to the front carriage. 165027+165035 were the traction and the former was a winner. I had time to research the workings of the remaining units that I’d seen. While I could identify two, the third proved impossible as I reckoned the set must have split at some point in the day (they don’t tend to use 6 car 165s on the Gerrards Cross stoppers). Both of the units I had fixes on were ahead of me bound for Marylebone and my calculations told me that if I took 165027+165035 through to Marylebone, I’d bump into them on consecutive workings. Getting to the first was reliant on making a cross-platform -1 at Marylebone. That did not prove to be a problem as our trainload of shoppers absolutely hammered it from High Wycombe and was four early into Marylebone despite a check outside the station. 165010 was sitting in the opposite platform and was a winner. My plans had been to go to Denham (shack score) for an unknown unit back to West Ruislip (shack score) and onto High Wycombe with a second winner for the first thing back.

I boarded 165010 on the Gerrards Cross service and with the business done (winner in the book and cleared for 10 miles) I alighted at Denham and crossed the footbridge for an for an unknown back. 165006 turned out to be that unknown and was a winner! I had two choices – stick with 165006 all the way to Marylebone and clear it for 10 miles or bail out at West Ruislip for another winner (165020) and probably add to the list of units needed for 10 miles. I played safe and went through to Marylebone and decided to call it a day.

While not reaching the telephone number scores of the Good Friday outing, I was nevertheless pleased with my efforts - particularly eight more winners as it's not every trip that I go and bag that number of winners ... I have certainly punched a hole in my Chiltern requirements now although admittedly I still need five 165s outright along with a further seven for the 10 mile accolade. I only need a couple of 168s for 10 miles now that the 168s have joined that elite set of classes that I have cleared and I only need two 172s for 10 miles. I’ll be back soon!

As ever, I round off with a list of the day’s moves and for once, no Bus Stop Bashes!

LU51628+51629 Morden to Stockwell ---
LU 11083+11084 Stockwell to Oxford Circus Cleared for 10 miles
LU 3263+3440 Oxford Circus to Marylebone ---
168003 Marylebone to Northolt Park ---
168002 Northolt Park to Marylebone Cleared for 10 miles
165028+165036 Marylebone to High Wycombe 165036 NEW & cleared for 10 miles
68008 High Wycombe to Bicester North NEW, cleared for 10 miles
68008 Bicester North to Haddenham & Thame Parkway ---
165015 Haddenham & Thame Parkway to Bicester North Cleared for 10 miles
165029 Haddenham & Thame Parkway to Bicester North ---
67008 Bicester North to Banbury NEW, cleared for 10 miles
168108 Banbury to Leamington Spa NEW, cleared for 10 miles. Class cleared
168215 Banbury to Leamington Spa ---
220017 Leamington Spa to Banbury NEW, cleared for 10 miles
168214 Banbury to Bicester North ---
168216 Banbury to Bicester North ---
165027 Bicester North to Marylebone NEW, cleared for 10 miles
165035 Bicester North to Marylebone ---
165010 Marylebone to Denham NEW, cleared for 10 miles
165006 Denham to Marylebone NEW, cleared for 10 miles
LU 3258+3461 Marylebone to Oxford Circus ---
LU 11015+11016 Oxford Circus to Stockwell ---
LU 51631+51632 Stockwell to Morden ---
New shacks - Northolt Park, Haddenham & Thame Parkway, Denham

 

[Techniquest]

Very impressive indeed, good to see you managed to get that 67 in after all, especially good since the 67s will be leaving Chiltern soon enough!

You're doing better than me on Chiltern's 165s, although I hope to be changing that next time I'm down that way. Always an aim for 2016 if it has to be though!

I'm not really that annoyed about Bordesley, it's just a pain in the neck to get done with such a limited service! I might be lucky and book the right Saturday off next time to get it done

 

[Kristofferson]

Cracking trip up and down the Chiltern line - not one I'm familiar with, but would like to experience. No doubt the 67s will be gone by the time I get round to it!

 

[Kite159]

Agreed, the Chiltern 168s are easy enough to get on a West Midlands daytripper going back/forward between Moor Street & Solihull (or between Leamington/Warwick if you have the add-on), the 165s are a bit harder to try and get.

My theory is probably to try and get them on a 1-9 travelcard on a weekday running between Harrow on the Hill and the Chiltern stations in Zones 7-9, add in a BZ ticket to say High Wycombe to catch any 165s travelling out that way which don't call at any of the stations within the zones.

Sounds like you had a busy day

 

[Keith Jarrett]

10th April 2015 – A Wild Goose Chase

Buoyed by my recent successes in the haulage market and in particular my last three trips out of London, I planned to go in search of the last SWT unit that I needed to ride on, 158885. Friday would be a good day to do that as in theory most of the 158s should be in traffic. One of the perks of holding a SWT season ticket is the six free weekend passes (Friday Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays) so the hunt would cost me absolutely nothing.

I had a good feeling about the day as the previous evening, I had met a friend for a few drinks in Croydon and had a few hits on the way down there. 375304 was a most notable winner on a Blackfriars to Dover train (my last 375) – OK, I could only do a Bus Stop Bash to Elephant and Castle as I was supposed to be on the following pair of 387s which turned up winner 387107 along with 387108 which I cleared for 10 miles. So setting off from home earlier than a normal work day, I made my way to Wimbledon by bus as there was no suitably timed Thameslink. From there a pair of 455s took me up to Clapham in order to observe the first 158 working – 158883. Close! The plan was to go and look at the pair of 456s on the Clapham Junction to Guildford vis ascot train but those plans soon went out the window when 450545 and friends went through towards Waterloo. At that point in time I had cleared 126 of the 450s for 10 miles so having a fix on my last one could not be turned down. So I chased it into Waterloo on the next available train, a pair of 455s.

I hadn’t appreciated the relatively short turnaround afforded to some mainline trains at Waterloo as despite me arriving at Waterloo minutes after the inbound working of 450545, it was already being prepared for departure once I had located the platform. But at least I had in the bag. In theory, I only needed to go to Clapham Junction to register the required 10 miles but opted to go through to Woking. I had a good half hour before any 158 workings were due. Fill in moves were few and far between then I spotted the chance to get Worplesdon station as a new shack so out on a 450 triple , enough time to wander over the footbridge and then board a pair of 455s to get me back to Woking.

The next 158 workings entailed a 10 car diesel working on the down followed minutes later by an up train with a single 158. The up train showed up first but no 158s here so that meant the down train was my way out regardless. Even if it did not have 885 in the formation, it was the best way to get further west to cover the Salisbury 6’s and the Lymington turns. I got close again number-wise with 158884 in the 10 car formation but close is useless. Twenty minutes later I was in Basingstoke waiting for the next train to Southampton – a pair of 44s duly showed up and whisked me further west. Passing Eastleigh, there were a pair of Colas 70s parked behind the station – something to look at later on perhaps. At Southampton I had only a few minutes to wait for two out of three of the Salisbury 6’s. Dud and dud. So onwards to Brockenhurst to view the Lymington158 which was yet another dud, 15887 this time. So back to Southampton to see the last Salisbury 6 – 158880. So where was 158885? Answers on a postcard.

I took 158880 anyway as I wanted to investigate those Colas 70s at Eastleigh. A short while afterwards and 70808 and 70809 had been photographed along with a116134 in its obsolete EWS livery with DB stickers. But I did not want to dwell at Eastleigh as there were other targets for the day – green 456s. That meant accessing the Guildford to Ascot services so I journeyed up via Basingstoke and Woking and picked up the first one at Ash Vale – I had fallen into the 450 working so I went the short distance to Aldershot where in the adjacent platform I found 456007+456021. Good, 021 was needed for a photograph. Two more left to find so rather than wait, I decided to go for a ride – well I had free travel for the day – and score some more shacks. Bagshot was first in the book for 456009+456011 back to Camberley (shack score). 456022+456023 appeared to take me back to Bagshot – 456023 was the second of three photo needs. Things were looking up! I went back to Aldershot to avoid the 450 and promptly fell into 456001+456008. 456001 was the final green 456 needed for a photo so now it’s only red one I want. I went to Frimley for another shack score. 456022+023 took me back to Aldershot. Time was progressing and I could not stay out too much longer so thoughts turned towards home.

The logical route would have been up via Woking and Surbiton to Wimbledon but that sounded too logical so I hopped on 456009+011 for a second ride but this time all the way to Ascot. Here the plan was to take the next train all the way to Clapham Junction and fall into my normal train home from work. I, along with everyone else waiting at Ascot, was surprised when, contrary to the information being peddled by the platform announcements and indicators, the train came in short-formed four-vice-eight While I had never sampled a single four car 458 before, I could tell that this was going to be a bit cosy. A bit too cosy in fact! A check of my phone revealed an alternative way home. Stick with8007 to Virginia Water, swap for a Weybridge train and then pick up a sailing from Woking Pier. At Virginia Water, I had a short wait for 458531 down to Weybridge for a +1 onto a Woking – Waterloo stopper which rolled in with 5725+5852. I took this through to Wimbledon and caught the train home with 319428+319451.

OK, I did not have a huge number of successes to clock up but at least I had another go at getting my last SWT unit (until the 707s arrive), I scored four more shacks, I cleared my last 450 for 10 miles, photographed another couple of 70s and bagged my last green 456s for photo. Here is the full set of moves for the day as not all were specifically identified in the text.

5869+5909 Wimbledon to Clapham Junction
5727+5872 Clapham Junction to Waterloo
450111+545+549 Waterloo to Woking
450016+118+122 Woking to Worplesdon
5717+5912 Worplesdon to Woking
158884+889,159007+012 Woking to Basingstoke
444016+039 Basingstoke to Southampton Central
444030 Southampton Central to Brockenhurst
444005 Brockenhurst to Southampton Central
158880 Southampton Central to Eastleigh
444014 Eastleigh to Basingstoke
159012+019 Basingstoke to Woking
450034+558 Woking to Brookwood
450074 Brookwood to Ash Vale
450091 Ash Vale to Aldershot
456007+021 Aldershot to Bagshot
456009+011 Bagshot to Camberley
456022+023 Camberley to Bagshot
456007+021 Bagshot to Aldershot
456001+008 Aldershot to Frimley
456022+023 Frimley to Aldershot
456009+011 Aldershot to Ascot
8007 Ascot to Virginia Water
458531 Virginia Water to Weybridge
5725+5852 Weybridge to Wimbledon
319428+451 Wimbledon to St Helier
Milestones
450545 Cleared for 10 miles
444039 Cleared for 100 miles
New Shacks
Worplesdon, Bagshot, Camberley, Frimley

 

[Techniquest]

Congratulations on getting your last 375 in the book, bet you started to think it would never happen!

Shame about not being able to find 158885, I am jealous you got 158884 as that's my last SWT DMU to get. Still plenty of 450s, 455s and 458/5s to get yet mind!

 

[Kite159]

The 159-159-158-158 quad monster, even SWT DMUs can become 10-car units

This is when you would have spotted 158885 down Southampton, but pretending to be a FGW unit

I was lucky and it came to me at the start of the year at Romsey, although 444017 is proving harder to get in the book.

(I will probably be in your part of the world on Sunday with the aim of clearing the Thameslink Sutton loop)

 

[Techniquest]

I'm also down Keith's way, sort of, on 17th May. I'm planning on only passing through on a Southern DaySave mind, but that could easily change yet!