47403
Established Member
Day 1
The time has come, time to get away from work and chill, I needed this break and boy, don't you just hate waiting for that little trip to get away, the closer it gets the longer the days drag.
Anyway I'm up for 3am on Monday morning, my bodies saying, beeedddd, go back to bed but my heads going, yessss lets get ready and get outta here.
I do the 3 S's, then fill the flask, make some breakfast, wolf that before double checking everything and at 05.15 I'm in the taxi to Central Station, 05.23 Im stood on the South End of platform 3, noting 67003 is the thunderbird, awaiting a very much required(1 of my last 4 required red sheds) 66186 on the Tyne Yard-Pontland Burn coal, which conveniently, I'd been told the night before it was on and it duly arrived much to my delight within 5 mins of being there meaning I could now go for a peruse round WH Smiths and get a coffee.
Eventually I made my way over to platform 7 and shock horror 142088 is sitting there, however there's a jock rail 156 coupled to it, I walked beyond said bouncey castle and saw 1 5 6 4 5, is it 7, please be 457(my last jock rail 156 required for sight), in a second my hopes lifted, only to dashed equally as quick when I saw 8, close but no cigar, still 156458's still a winner for haulage.
The original plan was to go to Dumfries but 37409 had been replaced by 37402 and 37401 had duly been replaced by 423, both were winners and techniquest had informed me 402 was a bit of a beast, so I was looking forward to riding behind it, so lo and behold the Dumfries move was shelved. It's of no secret that I like either 156's or travelling on the Tyne Valley line, so I get a table seast(to myself) nearest the cab of the 156 for the first but equally as enjoyable first part of the trip. although when we left it was still dark, so I set about doing some bookwork, mainly checking to see if I've actually clicked some VTEC coaching stock, as usual I hadn't, I underlined a couple of cops from the previous week, 66623 and 66758 plus 66186 and afterwards, set about watching the world go by as people came and went at variuos parts of the journey to Cumbria.
I bailed at Carlisle to basically nothing, bar 158904, nowt round the back and nothing in the the North end bays until winning 37402 pulled in. I got a table seat in the back coach and listened to it thunder out of Carlisle, sweet jesus, what a departure, however the driver, much to my disappointment, only had a couple of flurries with the power handle in the DBSO, so it was rather a quite sedate blast over to Barrow, however leaving Harrington and again at Sellafield, he went for it, big style, that's more like it. Sellafield co-incidentally, was rammed with about 8 37's this morning, of which I got about 5, none required however.
Arrival into Barrow, I bumped into 37423, fresh from the 10.04 outta Preston, it's a winner but that's for the 14.36 to Carlisle,unfortunately, I wasn't waiting round for that, I was going down to Lancaster on the 12.10, I was hoping winner, 156429, that was parked up in the sidings, would form this, however it wasn't and the 12.10 was cancelled due to a train fault, Bollocks!!!! Not a great start and even better when dud, 156448 Bram Stoker, the creator of Dracula, pulled in on the next train outta there, now last outing, this unit surprised me, as it was my last HT 156 required for haulage, now its following me, guess you could say(cue drum roll) it's becoming a pain in the neck.
Anyway off we trot, down the other side but no less picturesque side of the Cumbrian coast, passing a recently tidied up Carnforth, I managed to note a few things, namely 57001 and my first 47 requirement since, well chasing the ones renumbered probably, with long standing requirement 47787 and a few bits of coaching stock, thank god for dictaphones. Into Lancaster and by now it's well after 1pm and I'm thinking, bait time, I scoff half my sarnies, a big packet of walkers spicy mix ups(highly reccommended by the way) and a mars bar, washed down with coffee from whats left in the flask on the train. I need to get to Preston and check into base camp, I walk over to platform 4 and on the opposite platform, arrives one of my required re-numbered pendos, oh happiness and more good news, winner 350405 gets the dubious honour of taking me to Preston, where after a good scout round taking numbers, cops aplenty too, I go find my base camp, The Ashwood Hotel, to check in. 500 yards later Im there, the land lady is very pleasant and on first impressions everything looks fine, the rooms nice and clean, plenty tea, coffe and milk and the bathrooms very nice too, all in all I'm very pleased indeed. The beds fine by me but wether the RailUk forums Trip and Planning Bed Grading Inspectors will approve I'm not sure
I dump my mobile house(holdal) off my shoulder and dump it in the wardrobe, taking my essentials in my havasack and after a quick coffee, I make back to Preston Station, to get over to Manchester, for a certain skip on the Loco hauled Llandudno turn, everyones told me it's 67014, so please god,it's not changed.
AR(All round, sight and haulage)Winner 319362 whisked me off to Wigan, for my maiden voyage on a 319, have to say, I like them, not as much fun as the starships but fun none the less. From Wigan 350401 speeds me off to Manchester Oxford Road, where I'll veg a bit to see what's coming and going, I'd no sooner bailed the 350, when 66542 was copped on a liner presumably off or to Trafford Park, countless others of NH's finest went into the cop book too, I was waiting for the Norwich-Liverpool 158's to debunk to Piccalilly, when 66596 got added to the cops list too. Winners 158855/158847 were taken for the short hop to Piccalilly, to be in place for the 16.50 Llandudno turn, whilst vegging and copping one here and there, the set duly arrived and departed with my penultimate required skip 67014, result!!
, big big thanks to fishquinn and the many others who'd informed me this was on, glad they never saw the need to change it, just 013 to find now.
I made my way over to Platform 14, it was rammed, with those going home, many departed on the train before but on arrival the platform was rammed again, we boaeded and the train was chocker and even more rammed at when we stopped at Oxford Road, fortuntely, I got in the front coach vestibule by the window and stayed there, with the window down, enjoying AR winner, 67014 's noise, working away at the front, many bailed at Newton le Willows and Earlestown, where a guy got on with his bike, ramming my legs with the front wheel, without an apology at first. the apology, did arrive but not until I sarcastically said, oh, it's ok mate I've got other legs in the bag, I was then treated to him, dragging whatever was on his chest and spitting it out the window, i wanted to throw him and his bike out that very same window, still I bet his mothers pleased how he turned out :roll::roll:
I left Bob Carol Gee's best mate and his bike at Warrington. Firstly I was in need of a ciggy and secondly, some food, it took me a while but after trooping into Warrington for a chippy, noting that the locals have a fondness for the combo of grey sweat pants and parker coats, now I'm no Gok Wan but sorry folks, it aint a good look at all, I didn't find a chippy or see the shop that sells an abundant supply of sweat pants and parkers but much to my relief I found McDonalds, firstly I used the loo and ordered an XL big South African burger with bacon with fries and a coffee, the coffee, through nothing but sheer greed, I nearly took the skin off the roof of my mouth by attcking the coffee with a big gulp, in about 10mins flat the food was demolished to a pile of crumbs, it actually took longer to order an recieve than it took to eat:roll::roll: and hastily made my way back to the Station.
I hadn't considered what to do next, so I waited to see what materialised, 92032 ran light through the station and duly copped whilst pondering my next move. AR winner 390129 made my mind up, quick spin to Preston before sampling one more bit of 319 action between between Preston and Wigan.
I bailed 390129 and straight over the bridge onto a waiting AR winner 319363 back down to Wigan, before bailing that through the subway and onto another AR winner 319382 back to Preston. By this time, its about 9pm and after my 3am start, Im admitting to myself, that I'm starting to flag very quickly, however as I'm about to make headway up the ramp out of Preston Station towards base camp, two dogboxes on platform 5 spark into life, hang on, what they doing? I walk up the ramp to the departure screen and see they're on the Barrow turn, so it's across the bridge and camp myself on the rear dogbox, they're both winners 153331 and 153363 and enjoy some DBT up to Lancaster, for a 20 minute fester before winner 390112 ends whats been a tiring but excellent first day.
The time has come, time to get away from work and chill, I needed this break and boy, don't you just hate waiting for that little trip to get away, the closer it gets the longer the days drag.
Anyway I'm up for 3am on Monday morning, my bodies saying, beeedddd, go back to bed but my heads going, yessss lets get ready and get outta here.
I do the 3 S's, then fill the flask, make some breakfast, wolf that before double checking everything and at 05.15 I'm in the taxi to Central Station, 05.23 Im stood on the South End of platform 3, noting 67003 is the thunderbird, awaiting a very much required(1 of my last 4 required red sheds) 66186 on the Tyne Yard-Pontland Burn coal, which conveniently, I'd been told the night before it was on and it duly arrived much to my delight within 5 mins of being there meaning I could now go for a peruse round WH Smiths and get a coffee.
Eventually I made my way over to platform 7 and shock horror 142088 is sitting there, however there's a jock rail 156 coupled to it, I walked beyond said bouncey castle and saw 1 5 6 4 5, is it 7, please be 457(my last jock rail 156 required for sight), in a second my hopes lifted, only to dashed equally as quick when I saw 8, close but no cigar, still 156458's still a winner for haulage.
The original plan was to go to Dumfries but 37409 had been replaced by 37402 and 37401 had duly been replaced by 423, both were winners and techniquest had informed me 402 was a bit of a beast, so I was looking forward to riding behind it, so lo and behold the Dumfries move was shelved. It's of no secret that I like either 156's or travelling on the Tyne Valley line, so I get a table seast(to myself) nearest the cab of the 156 for the first but equally as enjoyable first part of the trip. although when we left it was still dark, so I set about doing some bookwork, mainly checking to see if I've actually clicked some VTEC coaching stock, as usual I hadn't, I underlined a couple of cops from the previous week, 66623 and 66758 plus 66186 and afterwards, set about watching the world go by as people came and went at variuos parts of the journey to Cumbria.
I bailed at Carlisle to basically nothing, bar 158904, nowt round the back and nothing in the the North end bays until winning 37402 pulled in. I got a table seat in the back coach and listened to it thunder out of Carlisle, sweet jesus, what a departure, however the driver, much to my disappointment, only had a couple of flurries with the power handle in the DBSO, so it was rather a quite sedate blast over to Barrow, however leaving Harrington and again at Sellafield, he went for it, big style, that's more like it. Sellafield co-incidentally, was rammed with about 8 37's this morning, of which I got about 5, none required however.
Arrival into Barrow, I bumped into 37423, fresh from the 10.04 outta Preston, it's a winner but that's for the 14.36 to Carlisle,unfortunately, I wasn't waiting round for that, I was going down to Lancaster on the 12.10, I was hoping winner, 156429, that was parked up in the sidings, would form this, however it wasn't and the 12.10 was cancelled due to a train fault, Bollocks!!!! Not a great start and even better when dud, 156448 Bram Stoker, the creator of Dracula, pulled in on the next train outta there, now last outing, this unit surprised me, as it was my last HT 156 required for haulage, now its following me, guess you could say(cue drum roll) it's becoming a pain in the neck.
Anyway off we trot, down the other side but no less picturesque side of the Cumbrian coast, passing a recently tidied up Carnforth, I managed to note a few things, namely 57001 and my first 47 requirement since, well chasing the ones renumbered probably, with long standing requirement 47787 and a few bits of coaching stock, thank god for dictaphones. Into Lancaster and by now it's well after 1pm and I'm thinking, bait time, I scoff half my sarnies, a big packet of walkers spicy mix ups(highly reccommended by the way) and a mars bar, washed down with coffee from whats left in the flask on the train. I need to get to Preston and check into base camp, I walk over to platform 4 and on the opposite platform, arrives one of my required re-numbered pendos, oh happiness and more good news, winner 350405 gets the dubious honour of taking me to Preston, where after a good scout round taking numbers, cops aplenty too, I go find my base camp, The Ashwood Hotel, to check in. 500 yards later Im there, the land lady is very pleasant and on first impressions everything looks fine, the rooms nice and clean, plenty tea, coffe and milk and the bathrooms very nice too, all in all I'm very pleased indeed. The beds fine by me but wether the RailUk forums Trip and Planning Bed Grading Inspectors will approve I'm not sure
I dump my mobile house(holdal) off my shoulder and dump it in the wardrobe, taking my essentials in my havasack and after a quick coffee, I make back to Preston Station, to get over to Manchester, for a certain skip on the Loco hauled Llandudno turn, everyones told me it's 67014, so please god,it's not changed.
AR(All round, sight and haulage)Winner 319362 whisked me off to Wigan, for my maiden voyage on a 319, have to say, I like them, not as much fun as the starships but fun none the less. From Wigan 350401 speeds me off to Manchester Oxford Road, where I'll veg a bit to see what's coming and going, I'd no sooner bailed the 350, when 66542 was copped on a liner presumably off or to Trafford Park, countless others of NH's finest went into the cop book too, I was waiting for the Norwich-Liverpool 158's to debunk to Piccalilly, when 66596 got added to the cops list too. Winners 158855/158847 were taken for the short hop to Piccalilly, to be in place for the 16.50 Llandudno turn, whilst vegging and copping one here and there, the set duly arrived and departed with my penultimate required skip 67014, result!!
, big big thanks to fishquinn and the many others who'd informed me this was on, glad they never saw the need to change it, just 013 to find now.I made my way over to Platform 14, it was rammed, with those going home, many departed on the train before but on arrival the platform was rammed again, we boaeded and the train was chocker and even more rammed at when we stopped at Oxford Road, fortuntely, I got in the front coach vestibule by the window and stayed there, with the window down, enjoying AR winner, 67014 's noise, working away at the front, many bailed at Newton le Willows and Earlestown, where a guy got on with his bike, ramming my legs with the front wheel, without an apology at first. the apology, did arrive but not until I sarcastically said, oh, it's ok mate I've got other legs in the bag, I was then treated to him, dragging whatever was on his chest and spitting it out the window, i wanted to throw him and his bike out that very same window, still I bet his mothers pleased how he turned out :roll::roll:
I left Bob Carol Gee's best mate and his bike at Warrington. Firstly I was in need of a ciggy and secondly, some food, it took me a while but after trooping into Warrington for a chippy, noting that the locals have a fondness for the combo of grey sweat pants and parker coats, now I'm no Gok Wan but sorry folks, it aint a good look at all, I didn't find a chippy or see the shop that sells an abundant supply of sweat pants and parkers but much to my relief I found McDonalds, firstly I used the loo and ordered an XL big South African burger with bacon with fries and a coffee, the coffee, through nothing but sheer greed, I nearly took the skin off the roof of my mouth by attcking the coffee with a big gulp, in about 10mins flat the food was demolished to a pile of crumbs, it actually took longer to order an recieve than it took to eat:roll::roll: and hastily made my way back to the Station.
I hadn't considered what to do next, so I waited to see what materialised, 92032 ran light through the station and duly copped whilst pondering my next move. AR winner 390129 made my mind up, quick spin to Preston before sampling one more bit of 319 action between between Preston and Wigan.
I bailed 390129 and straight over the bridge onto a waiting AR winner 319363 back down to Wigan, before bailing that through the subway and onto another AR winner 319382 back to Preston. By this time, its about 9pm and after my 3am start, Im admitting to myself, that I'm starting to flag very quickly, however as I'm about to make headway up the ramp out of Preston Station towards base camp, two dogboxes on platform 5 spark into life, hang on, what they doing? I walk up the ramp to the departure screen and see they're on the Barrow turn, so it's across the bridge and camp myself on the rear dogbox, they're both winners 153331 and 153363 and enjoy some DBT up to Lancaster, for a 20 minute fester before winner 390112 ends whats been a tiring but excellent first day.
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, his advice on the day was priceless, not to mention his patience, so I'd like to take this time out to say thanks for the info mate, many others shared info too and my debt of gratitude to you all too.
rolled in, did I get on, did I hell, in fact I swore at it, I let the tin can bounce away without me on it, taking instead another AR winner 150119 coupled up to dud 156469, now thats more like it, sure the train god was extracting the water sending 142051
