Techniquest
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How on Earth you manage to pretend to be interested in such dull tasks I'll never know! Credit to you for managing it though!
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Palmersears' Jaunts
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palmersears
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After 11 years together I've learnt that for every hour I spend in such mundanity is at least 2 hours I get to go and watch the football or on a jaunt. All about the compromise as they say!
palmersears
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Page 3?! Not on my watch, sonny!
No, not a reference to scantily clad ladies in that awful red top, but instead the fact I've slipped to page three of the Reports sub-forum. This homeowner malarky is far too time-consuming!
Since last we spoke I've had a couple of mini-trips (more of which later), but also had a little bit of success elsewhere. 150254 turned up at Piccadilly late last month, before I headed up to Leeds for a wedding at the excellent Northern Monk Brewery. The journey up produced 66183 at Ashburys, and then 144019 (Just 001 to go now) and 158901 at Leeds. To clear the head the morning after I wandered around the station for a while, and despite the lack of traffic still managed another couple of winners, namely 158872 and 333001. Last up was 158907 at Huddersfield, which takes my outstanding Northern 158s down to eight. Sadly I left just before the newly livered 158752 arrived (and then failed).
With work owing me a few hours I decided, on a whim, to head over to Crewe last Friday, with the main aim to see if I could pick up the Colas 56s on the North Wales RHTT. Arriving just after 1430 I did a quick sweep of the platforms, picking up 150227 (Just the 57 150s to go!) which had just arrived from Shrewsbury, but that was it, so I decided to head off to the landing area on the ramp outside the station and watch the comings and goings on the goods lines until the RHTT arrived in an hour or so.
A few duds trundled through, before 66192 arrived with some intermodal offerings, followed not long after by 66425, a rare DRS 66 for the logs. At this point I headed back across to the station proper, watched a few 390s fly through, before the decidely unhealthy 56087 and 56113 came coughing and spluttering through platform 12. Still, first Colas 56s in the book. Nothing of any further intrest was due through the station, so back to Salop it was to see 66568, 66707 and 92032. Rather staggeringly I've now seen 75% of the Freightliner fleet. The other FoCs are a way behind though, even with 66047 added on Thursday. Not sure why it was coming through Bredbury with the Hope Street empties instead of Hazel Grove, but I'll take it!
As discussed last time I was here, I'd intended to make yesterday a full jaunt to Liverpool. That was derailed slightly when I had to make an early morning trip to the doctors, but after that it was all aboard 323236 at Stockport for the 1043 to Piccadilly. A quick hop across to platform 14, only to discover the 1054 ex-Airport service was running late. This left it, and the proceeding TPE service, arriving at almost the same time. In the end the Northern 319 turned up first, the entire platform pilled on, so I hung fire and instead boarded 185112 which pulled in 20 seconds later. As the entire train decamped at Piccadilly I had a table to myself, and off we set for Liverpool.
Trafford Park provided a dud 66, however I was more interested in picking up the two newly transferred 319s now calling Allerton depot home. Sure enough 319218 and 319219 were occupying opposite ends of the depot, with 08834 in between. Both looked very forlorn, and I understand both are being used purely for parts, so they may not be around for long.
Once at Lime Street it was down to the low level, Day Saver in hand, and off to the Wirral line. 508103 was first up, taking me out to Bidston in order to get a look at what was on Birkenhead depot. That gave surprisingly little for 1200 on a Friday, with just 508111 and 508124 taking a rest, so after a 13 minute fester at Bidston (dud 150 came and went during my wait) it was back to Moorfields, changing here onto the Northern line, and a speedy trip up the hill to Kirkdale in order to get 508108, 508131 and 508140. It was here that, with ticket inspectors lurking, I checked the pockets for the Day Saver, and much to my despair found it gone. Thankfully I wasn't stopped, but did have to buy another one, doing so just in time to get down to the southbound platform for a dud 507.
Alighting at Sandhills, I recalled Tech's sage advice on Liverpudlians and their lack of regard for the smoking ban, so went to lurk at the far end of the island. Sure enough as I watched units come and go I must have been the only one not lighting up at some point! There was also the fair whiff of sewage, which was explained about an hour into my stay when three gents came up the stairs carrying a new toilet to replace the existing one. Didn't envy them having to fit that!
Units-wise it was a handful, nothing more. Duds came along at frequent intervals soon enough, so when 507025 rolled in after an hour or so I decamped to Lime Street.
Once here I just watched the world go by really. There's not much I can really say about sitting in a tunnel for 2 hours! The people of Liverpool are a fascinating bunch, and make excellent subjects for people watching. The winner was a gentleman who informed me he couldn't board his train until he'd completed 13 lengths of the platform...
And with that it was 1610, and time to head for 185124, which was likely to be rammed given the numbers on the platform. Thankfully 185108 had joined it as I arrived so whilst the masses all crammed into the unreserved unit I strolled to the front and snaffled an unreserved priority seat. As we set off a rather flustered John Prescott bumbled passed on his way to First Class, only to be told he was on the wrong service
Fair play though, he coughed up for a new ticket without a fuss.
All that leaves me with 13 Merseyrail units to find. I had hoped, perhaps unrealistically, that I'd get them all, but it wasn't to be. They will be cleared once the Wirral line renewal is done in June, perhaps visiting early doors one day armed with some gen, getting them done asap and then heading off to Acton Bridge for a bit of freight or something. They're certainly too few in number to warrant a full day of chasing.
No idea when the next jaunt will be now, but it wouldn't surprise me if it isn't until 2017 (which is only 8 weeks away!). I have three days off in January for my birthday, one of which I intend to use for a full day of nuber chasing (Glasgow/Edinburgh tickles the fancy), and then it's the London mega-spot in February. I had a thought to perhaps go via Peterborough, spending the Friday there to get VTEC, GC, Hull Trains and a decent bit of freight, before heading into London for the rush hour, hopefully West Hampstead to combined Thameslink and EMT stuff. Sure I'll form a full plan in due course.
No, not a reference to scantily clad ladies in that awful red top, but instead the fact I've slipped to page three of the Reports sub-forum. This homeowner malarky is far too time-consuming!
Since last we spoke I've had a couple of mini-trips (more of which later), but also had a little bit of success elsewhere. 150254 turned up at Piccadilly late last month, before I headed up to Leeds for a wedding at the excellent Northern Monk Brewery. The journey up produced 66183 at Ashburys, and then 144019 (Just 001 to go now) and 158901 at Leeds. To clear the head the morning after I wandered around the station for a while, and despite the lack of traffic still managed another couple of winners, namely 158872 and 333001. Last up was 158907 at Huddersfield, which takes my outstanding Northern 158s down to eight. Sadly I left just before the newly livered 158752 arrived (and then failed).
With work owing me a few hours I decided, on a whim, to head over to Crewe last Friday, with the main aim to see if I could pick up the Colas 56s on the North Wales RHTT. Arriving just after 1430 I did a quick sweep of the platforms, picking up 150227 (Just the 57 150s to go!) which had just arrived from Shrewsbury, but that was it, so I decided to head off to the landing area on the ramp outside the station and watch the comings and goings on the goods lines until the RHTT arrived in an hour or so.
A few duds trundled through, before 66192 arrived with some intermodal offerings, followed not long after by 66425, a rare DRS 66 for the logs. At this point I headed back across to the station proper, watched a few 390s fly through, before the decidely unhealthy 56087 and 56113 came coughing and spluttering through platform 12. Still, first Colas 56s in the book. Nothing of any further intrest was due through the station, so back to Salop it was to see 66568, 66707 and 92032. Rather staggeringly I've now seen 75% of the Freightliner fleet. The other FoCs are a way behind though, even with 66047 added on Thursday. Not sure why it was coming through Bredbury with the Hope Street empties instead of Hazel Grove, but I'll take it!
As discussed last time I was here, I'd intended to make yesterday a full jaunt to Liverpool. That was derailed slightly when I had to make an early morning trip to the doctors, but after that it was all aboard 323236 at Stockport for the 1043 to Piccadilly. A quick hop across to platform 14, only to discover the 1054 ex-Airport service was running late. This left it, and the proceeding TPE service, arriving at almost the same time. In the end the Northern 319 turned up first, the entire platform pilled on, so I hung fire and instead boarded 185112 which pulled in 20 seconds later. As the entire train decamped at Piccadilly I had a table to myself, and off we set for Liverpool.
Trafford Park provided a dud 66, however I was more interested in picking up the two newly transferred 319s now calling Allerton depot home. Sure enough 319218 and 319219 were occupying opposite ends of the depot, with 08834 in between. Both looked very forlorn, and I understand both are being used purely for parts, so they may not be around for long.
Once at Lime Street it was down to the low level, Day Saver in hand, and off to the Wirral line. 508103 was first up, taking me out to Bidston in order to get a look at what was on Birkenhead depot. That gave surprisingly little for 1200 on a Friday, with just 508111 and 508124 taking a rest, so after a 13 minute fester at Bidston (dud 150 came and went during my wait) it was back to Moorfields, changing here onto the Northern line, and a speedy trip up the hill to Kirkdale in order to get 508108, 508131 and 508140. It was here that, with ticket inspectors lurking, I checked the pockets for the Day Saver, and much to my despair found it gone. Thankfully I wasn't stopped, but did have to buy another one, doing so just in time to get down to the southbound platform for a dud 507.
Alighting at Sandhills, I recalled Tech's sage advice on Liverpudlians and their lack of regard for the smoking ban, so went to lurk at the far end of the island. Sure enough as I watched units come and go I must have been the only one not lighting up at some point! There was also the fair whiff of sewage, which was explained about an hour into my stay when three gents came up the stairs carrying a new toilet to replace the existing one. Didn't envy them having to fit that!
Units-wise it was a handful, nothing more. Duds came along at frequent intervals soon enough, so when 507025 rolled in after an hour or so I decamped to Lime Street.
Once here I just watched the world go by really. There's not much I can really say about sitting in a tunnel for 2 hours! The people of Liverpool are a fascinating bunch, and make excellent subjects for people watching. The winner was a gentleman who informed me he couldn't board his train until he'd completed 13 lengths of the platform...
And with that it was 1610, and time to head for 185124, which was likely to be rammed given the numbers on the platform. Thankfully 185108 had joined it as I arrived so whilst the masses all crammed into the unreserved unit I strolled to the front and snaffled an unreserved priority seat. As we set off a rather flustered John Prescott bumbled passed on his way to First Class, only to be told he was on the wrong service
Fair play though, he coughed up for a new ticket without a fuss.All that leaves me with 13 Merseyrail units to find. I had hoped, perhaps unrealistically, that I'd get them all, but it wasn't to be. They will be cleared once the Wirral line renewal is done in June, perhaps visiting early doors one day armed with some gen, getting them done asap and then heading off to Acton Bridge for a bit of freight or something. They're certainly too few in number to warrant a full day of chasing.
No idea when the next jaunt will be now, but it wouldn't surprise me if it isn't until 2017 (which is only 8 weeks away!). I have three days off in January for my birthday, one of which I intend to use for a full day of nuber chasing (Glasgow/Edinburgh tickles the fancy), and then it's the London mega-spot in February. I had a thought to perhaps go via Peterborough, spending the Friday there to get VTEC, GC, Hull Trains and a decent bit of freight, before heading into London for the rush hour, hopefully West Hampstead to combined Thameslink and EMT stuff. Sure I'll form a full plan in due course.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Sounded like a good day in Liverpool 
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I'm glad my advice came in handy, at least you were prepared for the nicotine addicts!
319218 and 319219 not being around for long is news to me, although to be fair I've not kept up to date with Northern 319 transfers. Thankfully they're dud from their Thameslink days!
A shame it wasn't as productive a day as you expected on MerseyRail, you'll know now how hard it was for me to get my last 507s and 508s!
319218 and 319219 not being around for long is news to me, although to be fair I've not kept up to date with Northern 319 transfers. Thankfully they're dud from their Thameslink days!
A shame it wasn't as productive a day as you expected on MerseyRail, you'll know now how hard it was for me to get my last 507s and 508s!
That was an interesting read. The guy walking up and down the platform 13 times intrigues me. I guess he must have to get there quite a long time before he's due to travel...
I've only been on the Merseyrail line once I think. I remember thinking it was pretty good.
I've only been on the Merseyrail line once I think. I remember thinking it was pretty good.
palmersears
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I'm going off what's been said in th Northern cascade thread further up the forum. They'll allegedly be farmed for parts and then scrapped.
Merseyrail is odd and, to be honest, a little boring. It's own little isolate network means that I end up just sitting in a tunnel for ages watching stuff running round, with no variation in units. I was hoping to get it done on Friday so I don't have to go back!
He wasn't the most mobile of chaps either. Must have taken him a good 30 minutes before he could finally get on a Chester service.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
13 lengths of the platform before getting on the train? That's odd on numerous levels. I mean, why 13? Why not 3? Why not an even number? I dread to think what he'd do with walking the length of the country's longest single platform in Gloucester...
I feel normal after reading about him!
Fair enough on the 319s thing, I must get back onto that thread by the sounds of it.
I feel normal after reading about him!
Fair enough on the 319s thing, I must get back onto that thread by the sounds of it.
palmersears
Established Member
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- 20 Sep 2011
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- 1,487
11/11/16 - Back to where it all began
Back when I started my mad journey the first dedicated trip made was on a freezing April day to Doncaster. Today, with an impromptu day off, I decided to return to see if I could scratch off a fair number of the remaining numbers that elude me on the ECML.
It was therefore off to Stockport, ticket, massive cup of Earl Grey and some porridge in hand, and a place upon 158866, which was pretty lightly loaded. Tweets to Northern and XC were dispatched, but sadly neither 144001 nor 211138 were in the area. 221138, my last 221, has eluded me for months now, but today was even more frustrating at it was on Piccadilly-Bournemouth all day. Sod's law if I'd been in work I'd have seen it. I'll catch the bugger eventually!
We whizzed along, sun dazzling, and it almost prevented me from getting 66602 at Edale, nearing the end of its journey from Brentford to Tunstead. Arriving at Sheffield just in time for me to hop from platform 8 to 3B, 158792 was my chosen steed for the 35 minutes to Doncaster. A quick wee was had, before a seat in the front coach taken, opposite a lady who somehow got away with not having her 16-25 railcard, and a few seats away from 3 elderly chaps reminiscing about how you could buy half a shop's contents for £1. En route a couple of bonus winners, firstly 153331 at Meadowhall, chased not far behind by XC HSTs 43207 and 43303. Just two XC 43s to go now.
Nothing to be seen at Roberts Road, and we then sat outside Donny for 8 minutes awaiting our scheduled path into platform 4. When we did arrive 90029 was just setting off to London, with 82222 dragging it along. With that I did a sweep of the platforms (nothing to be had) and then settled in at the country end of platform 4 to see the comings and goings. Plenty of winning 43s, 91s and DVTs in the first hour of so, and so with a gap in traffic I set off to the adjacent shopping centre to pick up a Chromecast for the new TV that's arriving tomorrow, and then went up to the car park to see what was on Wabtec. It turned out there wasn't all that much of note. Carriages from 321411-417 were present, as was 37116 hauling Network Rail's DBSO 9708, but I couldn't see anything identifiable in the sheds.
Having spent far too long bumbling around the shopping centre I missed the two Hull Trains workings, but picked up the return workings a while later, which turned out to be very fruitful, as both 180109 and 180113 appeared, and in doing so completed the ToC for sight. I know there are only four of them, but a clearance is a clearance!
On the freight side of things, it was pretty quiet, with most workings skipping the station these days. Dud 66712 did scream through on the fasts at about 1230, but I did pick up 66126 and 66004 on northbound workings towards mid-afternoon. More VTEC locos and DVTs were ticked off, along with a couple of Grand Central winners, and as the sun began to slip away 08669 suddenly appeared from WABTEC pushing half of 465925 into the sheds. Given how little of Southeastern I've picked off yet I'm going to count that as a winner!
Half three arrived, and after 43047 arrived I decided it was time to head home. 185104 duly chugged in, and we commenced a stop-start journey back to Stockport. The world and his wife got on at Sheffield, so it got a little cosy, but nothing too bad. With it being dark I saw nothing at Hope sidings, sadly, but I'd wager what was there would have been dud.
An excellent day all told. Hull Trains cleared, Grand Central down to three (2x43s & a 180), whilst VTEC took a right battering, with just 4x43s, 2x91s and a solitary DVT left to find. XC HSTs down to two as well. Would have liked to get a few more Northern units, but sadly they were all elsewhere today.
After finding the trip to Liverpool a little boring (too much time underground) I found the groove again today. So much so that I'm going to see about another trip before the year is out. These Northern units are annoying me, so I might spend the day chasing them around, or do likewise with the London Midland units I need in and around Brum. Conversely I might give Wales a go if prices are acceptable. Either way, I'll be doing something.
Back when I started my mad journey the first dedicated trip made was on a freezing April day to Doncaster. Today, with an impromptu day off, I decided to return to see if I could scratch off a fair number of the remaining numbers that elude me on the ECML.
It was therefore off to Stockport, ticket, massive cup of Earl Grey and some porridge in hand, and a place upon 158866, which was pretty lightly loaded. Tweets to Northern and XC were dispatched, but sadly neither 144001 nor 211138 were in the area. 221138, my last 221, has eluded me for months now, but today was even more frustrating at it was on Piccadilly-Bournemouth all day. Sod's law if I'd been in work I'd have seen it. I'll catch the bugger eventually!
We whizzed along, sun dazzling, and it almost prevented me from getting 66602 at Edale, nearing the end of its journey from Brentford to Tunstead. Arriving at Sheffield just in time for me to hop from platform 8 to 3B, 158792 was my chosen steed for the 35 minutes to Doncaster. A quick wee was had, before a seat in the front coach taken, opposite a lady who somehow got away with not having her 16-25 railcard, and a few seats away from 3 elderly chaps reminiscing about how you could buy half a shop's contents for £1. En route a couple of bonus winners, firstly 153331 at Meadowhall, chased not far behind by XC HSTs 43207 and 43303. Just two XC 43s to go now.
Nothing to be seen at Roberts Road, and we then sat outside Donny for 8 minutes awaiting our scheduled path into platform 4. When we did arrive 90029 was just setting off to London, with 82222 dragging it along. With that I did a sweep of the platforms (nothing to be had) and then settled in at the country end of platform 4 to see the comings and goings. Plenty of winning 43s, 91s and DVTs in the first hour of so, and so with a gap in traffic I set off to the adjacent shopping centre to pick up a Chromecast for the new TV that's arriving tomorrow, and then went up to the car park to see what was on Wabtec. It turned out there wasn't all that much of note. Carriages from 321411-417 were present, as was 37116 hauling Network Rail's DBSO 9708, but I couldn't see anything identifiable in the sheds.
Having spent far too long bumbling around the shopping centre I missed the two Hull Trains workings, but picked up the return workings a while later, which turned out to be very fruitful, as both 180109 and 180113 appeared, and in doing so completed the ToC for sight. I know there are only four of them, but a clearance is a clearance!
On the freight side of things, it was pretty quiet, with most workings skipping the station these days. Dud 66712 did scream through on the fasts at about 1230, but I did pick up 66126 and 66004 on northbound workings towards mid-afternoon. More VTEC locos and DVTs were ticked off, along with a couple of Grand Central winners, and as the sun began to slip away 08669 suddenly appeared from WABTEC pushing half of 465925 into the sheds. Given how little of Southeastern I've picked off yet I'm going to count that as a winner!
Half three arrived, and after 43047 arrived I decided it was time to head home. 185104 duly chugged in, and we commenced a stop-start journey back to Stockport. The world and his wife got on at Sheffield, so it got a little cosy, but nothing too bad. With it being dark I saw nothing at Hope sidings, sadly, but I'd wager what was there would have been dud.
An excellent day all told. Hull Trains cleared, Grand Central down to three (2x43s & a 180), whilst VTEC took a right battering, with just 4x43s, 2x91s and a solitary DVT left to find. XC HSTs down to two as well. Would have liked to get a few more Northern units, but sadly they were all elsewhere today.
After finding the trip to Liverpool a little boring (too much time underground) I found the groove again today. So much so that I'm going to see about another trip before the year is out. These Northern units are annoying me, so I might spend the day chasing them around, or do likewise with the London Midland units I need in and around Brum. Conversely I might give Wales a go if prices are acceptable. Either way, I'll be doing something.
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Techniquest
Veteran Member
Glad you got your groove back!
Quite the clearout too, that's for sure. Standing around Doncaster in the cold can't have been at all fun though!
I'll be interested to know if the Chromecast is any good mind.
Quite the clearout too, that's for sure. Standing around Doncaster in the cold can't have been at all fun though!
I'll be interested to know if the Chromecast is any good mind.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Sounded like a productive day in Doncaster
palmersears
Established Member
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I think how much I enjoy a trip is directly linked to how many winners I see. If I come away with 25+ winners each time then it feel productive. Sitting in a tunnel for hours and coming away with 15 new sights is just not my bag. The variety in units/ToCs helps as well.
It was a bit chilly, but I quite enjoy just sitting and watching the world go by. The new platform 0 is almost ready (no idea when the official opening is scheduled for) and looks very nice I must say.
Chromecasts are excellent. Already got one for the TV in the living room, and once set up I can stream anything from my phone (Android), iPad or laptop (via Chrome) instantly. Whilst you don't get all the in built gubbins that Apple TV has I do find it easier to use. For £30 you can't go wrong really.
The issue with the Northern units is that most of them could feasibly be anywhere on the network on any given day. If I use Leeds as a base camp I should theoretically get the remaining 144, along with the 153s, 155s, 158s and 333s, but the 142s and 156s could be anywhere from Chester to Newcastle
Sounded like a productive day in Doncaster
Indeed! Most productive for some time. Thank you Kite
That was a nice read. I know I'm a bit more into my older stuff but I do enjoy reading about what's out there now. Great to think of 08669 still doing the job it was built for, I wonder what the oldest bit of stock it's ever shunted is and I wonder what was the newest? I bet it's quite an age gap...
palmersears
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It's looking a bit tired now I must say, but was still chugging gamely round the yard!
When I started this quest I had little time for, or knowledge of, the older stock around the country, be they preservation or still in employment. But as the year has gone on I've become far more intrigued by them. Might even see about getting a trip to the Severn Valley Railway in next time I go to Birmingham.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Good to know that on the Chromecast, something potentially worth investing in!
palmersears
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I'd definitely recommend one if you need a streaming device.
Exciting news reached me this morning that I have two days off before Christmas, the first of which is next Friday. I shall utilise this to go hunting units in Birmingham, as I still need 20 various London Midland units, and 9 Cross Country. I am determined to finally get 221138 this time, even if I have to wait all bloody day! I was contemplating the Northern units I need, but without a suitable rover offering I think Ill have to give that a miss at present.
The second day is a Wednesday in mid-December. No idea what that will be yet, but I doubt any advanced fares anywhere good are left at this stage.
palmersears
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25/11/16 - Would Crewe believe it!
A day off yesterday was originally due to be a roving day in the midlands to hunt down the last remaining LM units. I decided, however, to make use of the early morning to paint the bathroom floor instead. Rock and roll. With that done by 0930 I figured a wee Cheshire Day Ranger was a good bet for the rest of the day, so it was off to Hazel Grove and aboard a very cozy 156427 for the short 9 minute trip to Stockport. From here it was time for some 323 thrash to Crewe, 233 doing the honours. Giving the new wireless headphones a spin for the journey through the glorious Cheshire sunshine I was soon alighting onto platform 1, to be greeted by 153374 arriving from Derby. Two EMT 153s left to go.
A quick check of RTT suggested a few interesting moves through the station in mid-afternoon, so with an hour or so to spare I decided upon a trip passed Crewe EMD to see I I could add a few of the stored locos to the books. To platform 9 then, and the slightly unfamiliar sight of 175010 doing the Crewe/Chester shuttles for the day. Ambling passed the depot at an unusually slow speed allowed me to get a fair few 90s, as well as three further 60s. Just the 43 left to find!
Chester arrived, a bacon and egg wrap purchased and devoured, and a bonus of 508141 snaffled just as it pulled away back towards Liverpool. 12 Merseyrail units to go. From here I reckoned upon heading to Warrington Bank Quay, mainly to see what, if anything, was sitting at Arpley. As such it was on to 175109, on its merry way to Manchester Airport, and the 15-minute hop to the WCML. Little of interest at the station itself in the 10 or so minutes I was there, aside from perhaps 90028 & 90037 in the midst of a driver change. The new driver arrived armed with 5 litres of diet coke, clearly reckoning upon a long journey down to Daventry!
I was almost caught out when 221109 turned up without a partner, meaning it stopped far further north on the platform than I had bargained for, but snuck on just in time as we departed back towards Crewe. Sadly Arpley offered nothing but wagons. Lots and lots of wagons.
With that I was back at Crewe again, and briefly contemplated hopping aboard the LM 350 to Alsager in order to grab anything quirky at the back of the LNWR works, but my eye was drawn to some unusual lights approaching from the south. They looked nothing like any of the usual fare, and as they came closer I realised it was a couple of the new C2C 387s on test. Then serenely glided into platform 7 (certainly in contrast to the ATW 150 that arrived at platform 8 shortly after!). Wandering over for a closer look they revealed themselves as 387305 & 387306. The external display informed me they were doing all stops Euston to Milton Keynes, then Ramsgate, Dover and Folkestone! Both looks very nice, but what I managed to see of the interior suggests the seats look alarmingly thin
I remained at the end of platform 8 as the frothing anoraked masses were beginning to assemble at the end of platform 12, so something was clearly due soon. Indeed not five minutes later 37419 came chugging in, dragging 90009 to Crewe EMD. A bonus 90 for the books, and one very far from home!
The rare daytime sight of a 66 through the station proper caused a mass stampede as those on platform 12 had to make it across to platform 5 in time for 66552. I remained on platform 8, soaking up the last of the weak winter sunshine, and caught 56087 with new partner 56078 working the last few miles of the North Wales RHTT. At this point the interesting workings were beginning to dry up, and plans were made to head home. I did so via platform 2 in order to catch 73962 &73965 top and tailing a NR test train. Again the anoraks were caught out, having been watching the 56s blast away. Whilst the 73s were due in platform 2 for 15 minutes the change of ends happened in less than a minute before they were off away towards Derby.
With that it was off to home, firstly aboard 390126, then at Stockport 150110 took me back to Hazel Grove.
All told, a nice day. Variety instead of quantity, and it was nice to get the first 73s in the book alongside a number of other locos. The 387s were a right bonus as well.
Looking forwards I will be going to Birmingham next Wednesday see if I can get London Midland done, along with the XC 170s and bits and pieces of other stuff. Afer that 14 December will probably be Leeds if there's enough of my remaining units passing through.
2017 will kick off with a trip to Tamworth and/or Water Orton, followed the day after by Cardiff (I have to get back home the first night for wedding meal tasting!). I'm most excited however by February. I had planned to go down and do 48 hours bashing over a Friday to Sunday trip, however by happy coincidence I have to go down for work on the Wednesday, so I'll just stay down there from Wednesday until Saturday evening. I'll be based at Ilford, and with three days to utilise I'll hopefully get another major chunk of London done.
A day off yesterday was originally due to be a roving day in the midlands to hunt down the last remaining LM units. I decided, however, to make use of the early morning to paint the bathroom floor instead. Rock and roll. With that done by 0930 I figured a wee Cheshire Day Ranger was a good bet for the rest of the day, so it was off to Hazel Grove and aboard a very cozy 156427 for the short 9 minute trip to Stockport. From here it was time for some 323 thrash to Crewe, 233 doing the honours. Giving the new wireless headphones a spin for the journey through the glorious Cheshire sunshine I was soon alighting onto platform 1, to be greeted by 153374 arriving from Derby. Two EMT 153s left to go.
A quick check of RTT suggested a few interesting moves through the station in mid-afternoon, so with an hour or so to spare I decided upon a trip passed Crewe EMD to see I I could add a few of the stored locos to the books. To platform 9 then, and the slightly unfamiliar sight of 175010 doing the Crewe/Chester shuttles for the day. Ambling passed the depot at an unusually slow speed allowed me to get a fair few 90s, as well as three further 60s. Just the 43 left to find!
Chester arrived, a bacon and egg wrap purchased and devoured, and a bonus of 508141 snaffled just as it pulled away back towards Liverpool. 12 Merseyrail units to go. From here I reckoned upon heading to Warrington Bank Quay, mainly to see what, if anything, was sitting at Arpley. As such it was on to 175109, on its merry way to Manchester Airport, and the 15-minute hop to the WCML. Little of interest at the station itself in the 10 or so minutes I was there, aside from perhaps 90028 & 90037 in the midst of a driver change. The new driver arrived armed with 5 litres of diet coke, clearly reckoning upon a long journey down to Daventry!
I was almost caught out when 221109 turned up without a partner, meaning it stopped far further north on the platform than I had bargained for, but snuck on just in time as we departed back towards Crewe. Sadly Arpley offered nothing but wagons. Lots and lots of wagons.
With that I was back at Crewe again, and briefly contemplated hopping aboard the LM 350 to Alsager in order to grab anything quirky at the back of the LNWR works, but my eye was drawn to some unusual lights approaching from the south. They looked nothing like any of the usual fare, and as they came closer I realised it was a couple of the new C2C 387s on test. Then serenely glided into platform 7 (certainly in contrast to the ATW 150 that arrived at platform 8 shortly after!). Wandering over for a closer look they revealed themselves as 387305 & 387306. The external display informed me they were doing all stops Euston to Milton Keynes, then Ramsgate, Dover and Folkestone! Both looks very nice, but what I managed to see of the interior suggests the seats look alarmingly thin
I remained at the end of platform 8 as the frothing anoraked masses were beginning to assemble at the end of platform 12, so something was clearly due soon. Indeed not five minutes later 37419 came chugging in, dragging 90009 to Crewe EMD. A bonus 90 for the books, and one very far from home!
The rare daytime sight of a 66 through the station proper caused a mass stampede as those on platform 12 had to make it across to platform 5 in time for 66552. I remained on platform 8, soaking up the last of the weak winter sunshine, and caught 56087 with new partner 56078 working the last few miles of the North Wales RHTT. At this point the interesting workings were beginning to dry up, and plans were made to head home. I did so via platform 2 in order to catch 73962 &73965 top and tailing a NR test train. Again the anoraks were caught out, having been watching the 56s blast away. Whilst the 73s were due in platform 2 for 15 minutes the change of ends happened in less than a minute before they were off away towards Derby.
With that it was off to home, firstly aboard 390126, then at Stockport 150110 took me back to Hazel Grove.
All told, a nice day. Variety instead of quantity, and it was nice to get the first 73s in the book alongside a number of other locos. The 387s were a right bonus as well.
Looking forwards I will be going to Birmingham next Wednesday see if I can get London Midland done, along with the XC 170s and bits and pieces of other stuff. Afer that 14 December will probably be Leeds if there's enough of my remaining units passing through.
2017 will kick off with a trip to Tamworth and/or Water Orton, followed the day after by Cardiff (I have to get back home the first night for wedding meal tasting!). I'm most excited however by February. I had planned to go down and do 48 hours bashing over a Friday to Sunday trip, however by happy coincidence I have to go down for work on the Wednesday, so I'll just stay down there from Wednesday until Saturday evening. I'll be based at Ilford, and with three days to utilise I'll hopefully get another major chunk of London done.
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Kite159
Veteran Member
The numbers are coming down slowly
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Certainly doing very well, nice bonus of the 387s! 73s at Crewe must look a trifle odd though!
palmersears
Established Member
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30/11/16 - A right Midlands muddle
The intention today was to grab the remaining XC and London Midland units in and around Birmingham, as well as making further in-roads with the ATW 158s, and anything else quirky lurking in and around the Midlands. Having got up early to paint the bathroom floor, again(!), I finally left the house at 0755, having half resigned myself to missing the 0817 from Hazel Grove given the nightmarish trip that the A6 usually provides. The Gods must have been with me, however, as I sailed down, arriving in good time to catch 158773 to Stockport. There was momentary confusion amongst the masses as the station announcements declared the arrival to be the Northern service to Manchester Piccadilly, but given both services were heading the same way it didnt cause too much consternation.
Stockport arrived seven minutes later, and I popped down to the ticket hall to get my return to Stoke, along with the trusty West Midlands Day Ranger (my most popular ranger of the year, for those keeping tabs), arriving back on platform 2 just in time to see 221125 roll in. Seat taken in coach D, we crawled out of Stockport, sitting at Edgeley junction for five minutes to allow some Northern ECS to cross from the Hazel Grove branch, before powering away towards Macclesfield. A wonderfully crisp day zoomed by, even if the condensation stuck between the two window panes gave everything the appearance of being slightly foggy. Still, it was the best voyager journey yet with not even a hint of toilet.
Nothing of note between Stockport and New Street, and after yet another five minutes held outside the station I alighted to a very, very cold station. Met immediately by the first winner of the day, 170633, I did a quick sweep of the relevant platforms, finding nothing. XC tweeted me to inform me 221138 had passed through 50 minutes earlier on its way to Edinburgh, so yet again it escaped my grasp. At this point I noted the station was unusually quiet, with little coming or going, so I headed up to the concourse to find out why. Turns out the wires had come down at Smethwick almost immediately after Id passed through and as such most services were at a stand outside the station. Bugger.
As such I reckoned Id give it a couple of hours for New Street to sort itself out a bit, and instead headed over to Moor Street via the Bullring to see if I could chip away at the 172s and Chiltern stuff instead. Arriving to an empty station I took the opportunity to get hold of a hot chocolate and some rocky road, before heading to platform 1 for 172214/218 to take me to Tyseley. The depot caught me by surprise, and I missed any viewable numbers as a result, but I stuck to the plan of alighting at the aforementioned station heading up to the footbridge outside and using the binoculars to grab 170113 and 170507, as well as a few further dud 170s on the roads nearest the mainline. There were a number of units deeper into the depot that were obscured, so I wandered down to the entrance to Tyseley Locomotive Works and utilised the car park of the working mens club to pick up 150109 (my last London Midland 150) and 170515, as well as 230001, which had only arrived a few days earlier to begin mainline testing. I suppose technically thats a class (230s) and operator (still under Vivarail at present) cleared in one fail swoop, even if it does feel like a bit of a hollow victory, as with the 139s. 3783 was seemingly slap bang in the middle of the Loco Works, instead of the depot, which was slightly odd, and was kept company by 37263, 40118 and 50033. The rest of the locos were hidden away in sheds or behind neglected carriages.
Quite content with the haul from the depot I returned up the hill to Tyseley, and had 25 minutes or so here before the next service back to Moor Street. 165008 and 168215 were winners whilst I waited, before 172221 arrived to carry me back to Moor Street. Gen arrived courtesy of 37078xotTE regarding the location of my remaining requirements, the first of which was due back in New Street in 50 minutes, so I hung around long enough to catch 168108, 168113 and 172342, before ambling back through the Bullring to New Street, hoping the situation had improved.
Swinging via Leon for a delightful chicken club hot box I wandered down to the end of platforms 8/9 just in time to see 350241 arrive. Sadly that was about it really, as the station was still very sparse. ATW services were turning back at Wolverhampton, the LM 170s were nowhere to be seen, and the XC 170s were running a reduced timetable to ease congestion. I decided at this point to cut my losses and jumped on board the 1252 to Stanstead Airport, dud 170520 doing the honours, with Nuneaton the intended destination. Nothing spectacular was seen en-route, just 08484 on Washwood Heath. Nuneaton took far longer to arrive than I remember from previous journeys, but arrive it eventually did. I popped into the coffee shop for an earl grey and a trail bar, before taking up residence on platforms 4/5.
A quick glance at RTT had me gearing up for a fair few dud Freightliner 66s, but rather pleasingly the first one through was 66537, heading over the flyover from Felixstowe to Lawley Street. A couple of duds did then follow (there were 4 freight workings within 10 minutes of me arriving), followed by nothing for 20 minutes or so. Thankfully 170112 arrived during the brief freight hiatus, but that was the end of my luck with the XC units.
390s sped through at frankly terrifying speeds, before 90039 did likewise, hauling 90019 from Crewe down to Wembley. Attention then switched to platform 1, where the pleasant sight of a Colas 70, 70809, rumbled through. Only the second Colas 70 in the book, with the first coming at Hanwell back in July! I hope to rectify this come the February mega-bash to London. 66768 was next up 20 minutes or so later, snaking over the flyover rather splendidly on the way down to Felixstowe. Contrast this with the appallingly grubby 66007 and 66187 on the Macclesfield-Euston RHTT that blasted through not long after!
And with that it was 1554, and 350112 pulled in to transport me back to Stoke. Very lightly loaded, I took up a seat on the right hand side (mainly to catch 350246 at Rugeley) and settled in as the darkness descended. I did briefly contemplate going home via Crewe, but decided Id had enough at this point, and alighted at Stoke to catch 220020 which followed some 15 minutes later. Seats were all taken, so I sat in the vestibule at the rear, nodding off almost as soon as we left (much to the amusement of the ladies on the opposite side!) and waking up just as we slowed to pass through Edgeley junction. Hopping across to platform 0 at Stockport for 150228, which was held for over 7 minutes for the late running Nottingham service. I never really understand this, as even in leaf fall season a 7 minute head start is more than ample for the stopper to be clear of Hazel Grove high line junction before the 158 gets to it.
All in all, a mixed day. Disappointed not to get a good deal more of the 170s, but Nuneaton turned out to be far more productive than I reckoned upon. Thats just the way things go when theres disruption, but it does mean yet another trip to Birmingham will be required, as Ive got 7 XC units and 12 LM units to find still.
Next up is Leeds a week on Wednesday I think, see if I can track down 144001 as well as the remaining 153s, 158s and 333s. Hopefully 221138 might show its face as well. That will be it for the year then!
The intention today was to grab the remaining XC and London Midland units in and around Birmingham, as well as making further in-roads with the ATW 158s, and anything else quirky lurking in and around the Midlands. Having got up early to paint the bathroom floor, again(!), I finally left the house at 0755, having half resigned myself to missing the 0817 from Hazel Grove given the nightmarish trip that the A6 usually provides. The Gods must have been with me, however, as I sailed down, arriving in good time to catch 158773 to Stockport. There was momentary confusion amongst the masses as the station announcements declared the arrival to be the Northern service to Manchester Piccadilly, but given both services were heading the same way it didnt cause too much consternation.
Stockport arrived seven minutes later, and I popped down to the ticket hall to get my return to Stoke, along with the trusty West Midlands Day Ranger (my most popular ranger of the year, for those keeping tabs), arriving back on platform 2 just in time to see 221125 roll in. Seat taken in coach D, we crawled out of Stockport, sitting at Edgeley junction for five minutes to allow some Northern ECS to cross from the Hazel Grove branch, before powering away towards Macclesfield. A wonderfully crisp day zoomed by, even if the condensation stuck between the two window panes gave everything the appearance of being slightly foggy. Still, it was the best voyager journey yet with not even a hint of toilet.
Nothing of note between Stockport and New Street, and after yet another five minutes held outside the station I alighted to a very, very cold station. Met immediately by the first winner of the day, 170633, I did a quick sweep of the relevant platforms, finding nothing. XC tweeted me to inform me 221138 had passed through 50 minutes earlier on its way to Edinburgh, so yet again it escaped my grasp. At this point I noted the station was unusually quiet, with little coming or going, so I headed up to the concourse to find out why. Turns out the wires had come down at Smethwick almost immediately after Id passed through and as such most services were at a stand outside the station. Bugger.
As such I reckoned Id give it a couple of hours for New Street to sort itself out a bit, and instead headed over to Moor Street via the Bullring to see if I could chip away at the 172s and Chiltern stuff instead. Arriving to an empty station I took the opportunity to get hold of a hot chocolate and some rocky road, before heading to platform 1 for 172214/218 to take me to Tyseley. The depot caught me by surprise, and I missed any viewable numbers as a result, but I stuck to the plan of alighting at the aforementioned station heading up to the footbridge outside and using the binoculars to grab 170113 and 170507, as well as a few further dud 170s on the roads nearest the mainline. There were a number of units deeper into the depot that were obscured, so I wandered down to the entrance to Tyseley Locomotive Works and utilised the car park of the working mens club to pick up 150109 (my last London Midland 150) and 170515, as well as 230001, which had only arrived a few days earlier to begin mainline testing. I suppose technically thats a class (230s) and operator (still under Vivarail at present) cleared in one fail swoop, even if it does feel like a bit of a hollow victory, as with the 139s. 3783 was seemingly slap bang in the middle of the Loco Works, instead of the depot, which was slightly odd, and was kept company by 37263, 40118 and 50033. The rest of the locos were hidden away in sheds or behind neglected carriages.
Quite content with the haul from the depot I returned up the hill to Tyseley, and had 25 minutes or so here before the next service back to Moor Street. 165008 and 168215 were winners whilst I waited, before 172221 arrived to carry me back to Moor Street. Gen arrived courtesy of 37078xotTE regarding the location of my remaining requirements, the first of which was due back in New Street in 50 minutes, so I hung around long enough to catch 168108, 168113 and 172342, before ambling back through the Bullring to New Street, hoping the situation had improved.
Swinging via Leon for a delightful chicken club hot box I wandered down to the end of platforms 8/9 just in time to see 350241 arrive. Sadly that was about it really, as the station was still very sparse. ATW services were turning back at Wolverhampton, the LM 170s were nowhere to be seen, and the XC 170s were running a reduced timetable to ease congestion. I decided at this point to cut my losses and jumped on board the 1252 to Stanstead Airport, dud 170520 doing the honours, with Nuneaton the intended destination. Nothing spectacular was seen en-route, just 08484 on Washwood Heath. Nuneaton took far longer to arrive than I remember from previous journeys, but arrive it eventually did. I popped into the coffee shop for an earl grey and a trail bar, before taking up residence on platforms 4/5.
A quick glance at RTT had me gearing up for a fair few dud Freightliner 66s, but rather pleasingly the first one through was 66537, heading over the flyover from Felixstowe to Lawley Street. A couple of duds did then follow (there were 4 freight workings within 10 minutes of me arriving), followed by nothing for 20 minutes or so. Thankfully 170112 arrived during the brief freight hiatus, but that was the end of my luck with the XC units.
390s sped through at frankly terrifying speeds, before 90039 did likewise, hauling 90019 from Crewe down to Wembley. Attention then switched to platform 1, where the pleasant sight of a Colas 70, 70809, rumbled through. Only the second Colas 70 in the book, with the first coming at Hanwell back in July! I hope to rectify this come the February mega-bash to London. 66768 was next up 20 minutes or so later, snaking over the flyover rather splendidly on the way down to Felixstowe. Contrast this with the appallingly grubby 66007 and 66187 on the Macclesfield-Euston RHTT that blasted through not long after!
And with that it was 1554, and 350112 pulled in to transport me back to Stoke. Very lightly loaded, I took up a seat on the right hand side (mainly to catch 350246 at Rugeley) and settled in as the darkness descended. I did briefly contemplate going home via Crewe, but decided Id had enough at this point, and alighted at Stoke to catch 220020 which followed some 15 minutes later. Seats were all taken, so I sat in the vestibule at the rear, nodding off almost as soon as we left (much to the amusement of the ladies on the opposite side!) and waking up just as we slowed to pass through Edgeley junction. Hopping across to platform 0 at Stockport for 150228, which was held for over 7 minutes for the late running Nottingham service. I never really understand this, as even in leaf fall season a 7 minute head start is more than ample for the stopper to be clear of Hazel Grove high line junction before the 158 gets to it.
All in all, a mixed day. Disappointed not to get a good deal more of the 170s, but Nuneaton turned out to be far more productive than I reckoned upon. Thats just the way things go when theres disruption, but it does mean yet another trip to Birmingham will be required, as Ive got 7 XC units and 12 LM units to find still.
Next up is Leeds a week on Wednesday I think, see if I can track down 144001 as well as the remaining 153s, 158s and 333s. Hopefully 221138 might show its face as well. That will be it for the year then!
Kite159
Veteran Member
Sounded like a good day, bar issues with the wiring, who let a 91 loose around Birmingham?
Techniquest
Veteran Member
All in all a grand time, considering the disruption you still managed to do well.
The trek to Nuneaton is mind numbing so I'm glad it's not just me who dislikes it!
The trek to Nuneaton is mind numbing so I'm glad it's not just me who dislikes it!
Shame about the major disruption at Smethwick but you had a great day anyway by the sounds of it! Lucky your service didn't get caught in it, that's for sure. You've seen 230001 before me - something that is very surprising due to its proximity to me compared to you! Hopefully I'll see it while passing Tyseley tomorrow. I don't like the slog to Nuneaton either but it's much better than Leicester to Peterborough!
palmersears
Established Member
- Joined
- 20 Sep 2011
- Messages
- 1,487
Sounded like a good day, bar issues with the wiring, who let a 91 loose around Birmingham?
Took me a wee while to work out what you were on about there!
It just seems to go on forever. You wind around curve after curve, it just never seems to end. And then to compound matters you end up in Nuneaton
I doubted myself when I first clapped eyes on 230001, as it was nestled in amongst derelict carriages and locos from the 'museum' next door. Then I saw the semi-lime green livery it currently sports and that confirmed things!
Moving to today, I had no fewer than four winners, which I haven't managed in Manchester since 8 July! We started with 142026, which was my trusty steed from New Mills Central to Piccadilly. With a quiet day at work, I got gen from the forum that three of my Northern needs were in and around town over the course of the day. Firstly it was down to Deansgate just before lunch for 156469, before I had a nice walk down to Oxford Road after work for 156481, arriving ECS from Preston, and then 142093 on an Airport-Southport run. Down to just 34 Northern units required now, most of which are probably trundling around the North East.
To finish, I wish to ask a question. With a full day of spotting penciled in for 19 January, I am in somewhat of a quandary as to where to go. Options are as follows:
- Bristol
- Cardiff
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
Neither Cardiff or Bristol are worth of spending a full day there I tentatively surmise(?), so possibly do Cardiff then head across to Bristol for the afternoon?
Glasgow or Edinburgh is a longer amount of time spent getting there, but I could get a good 6 hours in, which would allow me to get a fair amount crossed off. Part of me wants to attack Scotland over a number of consecutive days though to really maximise the potential number of winners.
Anywhere else I may have missed? Ideally needs to be an early morning departure from Manchester/Stockport and then arriving back at 2100ish.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
A nice bit of work in Manchester, considering how little that regularly visits the city you need.
19th January, I think your Cardiff and Bristol trip would work well. Possibly though, spend a short time in Newport as well for freight? Not sure what comes through there these days though. Given reasonably priced fares, what I would after some research:
Cardiff for a couple of hours, Newport possibly for freight assuming RTT suggests any will be through. Onwards to Bristol Temple Meads for a couple of hours. Up to Birmingham New Street for a couple of hours too then home.
19th January, I think your Cardiff and Bristol trip would work well. Possibly though, spend a short time in Newport as well for freight? Not sure what comes through there these days though. Given reasonably priced fares, what I would after some research:
Cardiff for a couple of hours, Newport possibly for freight assuming RTT suggests any will be through. Onwards to Bristol Temple Meads for a couple of hours. Up to Birmingham New Street for a couple of hours too then home.
palmersears
Established Member
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- 20 Sep 2011
- Messages
- 1,487
The end is nigh – 9/12/16 to 22/12/16
Since last we spoke I have had a very productive final month of 2016 given I haven’t actually ventured further than Salford, all courtesy of the very helpful boys (and girls?) of the TOPS request thread. We start on 9 December when, with a couple of hours to kill between the end of work and the office Christmas meal (A dull affair set-menu affair at James Martin’s restaurant, not recommended), I hopped around Manchester’s numerous stations grabbing a few winners. Firstly it was off to Victoria for 153317, providing added capacity on a Leeds service, before catching the tram across to Piccadilly to finally lay to rest the haunting ghost of 221138. It has been eluding me for months on end, so to stand on platform 5 and cast my eyes over the number as it pulled in was hugely satisfying. No time to rest however! Instead it was up to a bitterly cold platform 14, for a quick hop along to Oxford Road, where 156438 stood silent as it waited the 50 or so minutes before working up to Blackpool North. With an hour or so spare I headed into the Arndale for a spot of retail therapy, before again hitting the tram from Market Street round to Deansgate in the nick of time to see 156444 nearing the end of its journey from Lime Street to Oxford Road.
The next working week began in much the same vein. The semi-regular trip from Salford Central to Crescent to pick up the loco on the Peak Forest to Hope Street path was restored as I got word 66093 was doing the honours. Usually I get off at Salford Crescent and head back via Deansgate if the light engine on 0O29 is required, or if not head back to Central and wander back to the office. As the former was a dud I headed back towards Central, but for reasons unknown decided to stay on until Victoria for a change. The spotting gods must have been looking down today as, quite by chance, I alighted just in time to happened upon the vaguely-recently livered 158752 pulling in to platform 1 from Leeds. Got to love the unplanned winners!
The Wednesday was a day off and, with the kitchen table painted, I headed off into New Mills to run a few errands. Three different lines run through New Mills; the Buxton line through Newtown on one side of the valley, the Marple-New Mills Central line on the other side, and the Hazel Grove-Chinley line in the middle (joining with the Central line at New Mills South Junction). All three can be seen at various points around the village/town, and I stopped at the latter, just by the Swizzles sweets factory, in order to catch 60044 running light-engine back to Peak Forest, having dropped off some wagons for repair at Lostock works. That was followed shortly afterwards by 66025 on the daily Peak Forest-Hope Street working. The latter was supposed to be fellow requirement 66131 according to my gen, but a winner is a winner, regardless of the number.
16 December was a nightmare journey in as signalling problems at Ashburys meant my intended 0835 arrival at Piccadilly was actually 0910. Needless to say I look forward to seeing my free single ticket to anywhere on the Northern network arrive in late-2018. Our tardiness did allow me to snaffle 158828 filling in for a 175 on a Piccadilly-Milford Haven run, which was a silver lining I suppose. The return journey home was much more straightforward, and complimented nicely by the addition of 156463 to the winners’ enclosure, it standing at Piccadilly to carry me to Disley before I ran the rest of the way home.
19th and 20th of December saw one winner apiece, namely 158903 at Victoria and 66131 at Hope Street, whilst yesterday I had the pleasure of witnessing the Northern Belle pass through Salford Central on its way from Preston to Derby. Doing the honours on the back was dud 68016, whilst the front was manned by 68023. I let out a wee smile when it was held at a red, for this meant the awesome roar of ‘Achiilles’ was unleashed shortly afterwards as it powered away towards Victoria. The hen party on board waving like the Queen was also a rather amusing sight!
To round off 2016 the good folk at Northern were kind enough to send out 142025 for my commute into work today, which was nice of them, and I have just returned from a rather cold Salford Central, where I’ve spent the last 45 minutes waiting around for 142095, then 153307, and finally 142064.
With 2016 now done in terms of sightings I thought a little review as to my progress might keep me entertained, and help to document what the priorities for 2017 will need to be. I must say when I started in February this year I didn’t think I’d have done half as well as I have, and it’s been a really refreshing addition to my life pootling around the country spotting. It did border on obsessive at points, but thankfully a month or two off when purchasing the house allowed me to forget about it all for a while, and I returned with just the right amount of vigour about a month or so ago.
I’ll do an operator-by-operator breakdown, with figures correct as of today (I hope!). Percentages are completed, thankfully, not remaining!
Colas – 14 of 50 (28%)
A rather unassuming start to the review, with a slightly disappointing 14 sightings for 2016. A number of these, particularly the 37s, were gathered in one job lot when I had a good look at Network Rail’s sheds at Derby during April, and again in July. A smattering of other sightings, including 70809 most recently whilst at Nuneaton last month, but I hope for further progress here when I hit the West Country in January, then Acton/West Ealing in February.
Highlight: 56087 & 56113 on the North Wales RHTT in October. A glorious autumnal day, with Crewe bathed in sunshine, seeing these two rumble through was delightful.
DB Cargo/DBS – 221 of 377 (59%)
The mainstay of my freight-spotting diet, the red/maroon army have thrown up winners on almost every trip I’ve been on this year, be it at Bescot during a West Midlands Day Ranger, Acton Bridge whilst on the way to football, or rattling passed them on a 390 during my countless trips to and from Euston. The vast majority of the 60s are ticked off, thanks mainly to a trip to the graveyard at Toton in July, and I need less than 30 of the 66s. The main area of focus here is the 92s, of which I’ve seen a whopping one (92019 at Crewe back in June), but given the sheer number of units still remaining overall I will just be picking things off as part of other trips at this stage. I do need to see about a plan to get the last two 325s, 006 & 016, in the book; that might be one for an evening at Crewe when the weather improves.
Highlight: Discovering Peak Forest. Right on the doorstep, in relative terms, but a place I’d never even knew existed before beginning this quest. Not only has it provided me with a good number of winners, but it’s also set against a stunning backdrop of scenery which makes me extremely grateful to live where I do. Indeed it’s really made me focus upon spending more time in this environment as life progresses, instead of auto-piloting into an office wearing a suit every day for the next 60 years.
DRS – 47 of 122 (39%)
Slightly skewed figures here, as it includes the yet-to-be-delivered 88s, but it’s still one of the lesser-spotted FoCs on the list. I’ve got 12 of the 68s, spread almost evenly across freight and passenger assignments, and a large number of the WCML thunderbirds. The gaps really are in their 66 fleet, and the 37s.
Highlight: The Gresty Bridge open day in July; a really good morning out, with some pristine locos of all varieties being enjoyed by all ages and walks of life. Yes there were some over-zealous attendees wanting the perfect photo at all costs, but in the main it was £10 very well spent.
Freightliner – 133 of 175 (76%)
The green and yellow brigade are almost down to the bare bones now in terms of remaining locos required and, as with DBC/DBS, winning locations have stretched the length and breadth of my travels around the country. I’ve waded through the wastelands surrounding Basford Hall to get the 47s and demic 90050, walked countless miles from Leeds city centre to Midland Road to catch 47830, and lost count of the number of times I’ve wandered down to Deansgate of a lunchtime to see what was on the light engine move to Trafford Park. I cleared the (working) 86s in September, as well as the 90s in September, and just 70013 eludes me for the 70s. Indeed I only need 31 of the 66s now as well. Again, if we get some winners during trips then great, but I’m not on targeted trips yet, unless 70013 ventures into Manchester, then I might have to leave work post-haste!
Highlight: A late summers evening after work stood waiting for the train home after a very, very long day and seeing 86608 tick through to help me clear the class (save for the ones at Booths being scrapped). It was that moment these weird gentle giants became my favourite loco.
GBRF – 34 of 108 (31%)
Whenever I look through my records I can never seem to recall when I’ve seen a GBRF loco, save for the two 73s at Crewe last month. I clearly must have, given there’s 34 in the book (or trainlogger, to be precise) but they just don’t seem to have generated any lasting images in my mind. Perhaps my memory is failing at the grand old age of 28?! Sightings appear to have come all over the shop, from Wembley to Doncaster, Leeds to Edge Hill, but I have it in my mind they are far more prevalent in the east of the country? If so perhaps a day at Peterborough might help, but in reality the requirements through there ToC-wise are so slim it’s probably not worth it.
Highlight: Given I only remember the two 73s from Crewe two weeks ago, probably that!
Mendip Rail – 1 of 8 (13%)
This will be brief! Just the one winner, 59002 at Southall in July. Workings seem to focus around Acton however, and my trip there in February will hopefully take in 4 or 5 Mendip workings, so this figure should improve soon.
Highlight: Absolutely nothing.
AGA – 83 of 247 (34%)
The vast majority of winners here were collected at Bethnal Green during my mammoth day visit to the capital back in June. Most of the requirements centre on the fact I’ve got nothing of the DMU fleet, for which I may need to plan in a day or so around East Anglia in the spring/early summer. In terms of EMUs, needs are split fairly equally between the 317s and 321s, with just a smattering of the 360s and 379s left. Base camp for my mega-spot in London in February is Ilford, so hopefully this will allow me to bag a rather large number of outstanding units.
Highlight: Spotting at Bethnal Green in June when the rather splendid air show passed over en-route to Trooping the Colour. Certainly caught the interest of the TfL Rail driver on the platform as well!
Arriva Trains Wales – 68 of 128 (53%)
Considering I’ve yet to get any of their 14x fleet I don’t think I’m doing too badly with ATW. The 175s were cleared back in June, 175004 the last to fall, whilst I continue to pick off any new 15x’s that venture up to Piccadilly or Crewe. Always a nice bonus to grab whatever 67 is working the North Wales LHCS, even if they aren’t strictly part of the ATW numbers. I imagine the aforementioned 14x’s will be annihilated when I venture to Cardiff and Bristol on 19 January, and I hope to pretty much clear ATW by the time I’ve finished.
Highlight: The charming trip from Bidston to Shotton aboard 150257 in June, weaving through lovely open countryside. Sadly I got my timings wrong and ended up spending what felt like days in Shotton itself, but that’s another story!
c2c – 24 of 80 (30%)
Not many of the 357s in the winners enclosure in relative terms, and again most of these were pilfered at Bethnal Green in June, when luckily c2c were on divert into Liverpool Street. A Brucie bonus of 387305/306 on a test run from Wembley to Crewe in November, during which I got a good nosy around the interior, but in reality still some way to go with these lot.
Highlight: The 387s at Crewe, particularly when juxtaposed with the ATW 150 in the adjacent bay!
Caledonian Sleeper – 7 of 15 (47%)
I’ll keep this brief, as personally I struggle to class CS as a true ‘ToC.’ I need all their 73s, and 92033. Needless to say none of these are top of the list of priorities, but I might get a couple whilst up in Scotland at the beginning of February.
Highlight: None spring to mind.
Chiltern – 34 of 81 (42%)
Chiltern winners have tended to come in clusters, mainly centred on days when I’ve been in Birmingham chasing London Midland units. A fairly even spread of winners between the 165s and 168s, whilst it does also help that I’d got the TPE 170s that subsequently transferred down to become 168/3s. I’ve pencilled in some time at Marylebone when in London in February, and I also need to get up to Aylesbury to catch the bubble before it dies a lasting death.
Highlight: Not strictly Chiltern I suppose, but getting a semi-thrash ride from Moor Street to Leamington courtesy of 68014 back in September was rather bloody good.
Cross Country – 90 of 96 (94%)
You can almost split winning locations in two for XC. All but four of the 22x’s were snaffled in Manchester, with the vast majority of the 43s and 170s coming in Birmingham. I finally tracked down the elusive 221138 on Friday last week, after months of near misses, which just leaves me with 2x43s and 4x170s to find now!
Highlight: Either seeing 43285 & 43304 power away from New Street back in May, or finally getting hold of 221138 last week. Think the latter just sneaks it.
East Midlands Trains – 92 of 114 (81%)
As I get to EMT I’m trying to cast my mind back to what, if any, the pattern has been with them. The 158s are cleared, and mainly picked up in and around Manchester, but the remainder appear to have been gathered during dedicated trips to Nottingham and Derby in April/May. I continue to chip away at the 153s, seemingly picking one up every time I visit Crewe(!), but I still need a good few 43s, along with 3x222s and a couple of 153s and 156s. I’m planning a stop at West Hampstead during the London bash, mainly for the Thameslink stuff, but if I strike lucky I may get those 43s and 222s down as well.
Highlight: Spending a Saturday morning, hungover, at Nottingham in May picking off numbers. My friends lived just over the road, we’d had quite heavy night, but standing in the early morning sunshine picking off winners was seemingly just the tonic for the previous night’s gin and tonic! Even if the station staff did ask me if I was lost and/or needed a taxi home!
Eurostar – 11 of 86 (13%)
Now firstly, I’m very cautious about believing the number on trainlogger for the Eurostar fleet. This doesn’t excuse the laughably low number of winners, but I’m not sure if the ones sent for scrap at Kingsbury are still included. I hope not for the sake of the log! Needless to say I very, very rarely get any of these in the book, and when I do it’s only the London end of whatever is sat in St Pancras when I pass through. I am rectifying this with a few hours at Stratford International during the London mega-spot, and I would like a proper trip through the Chunnel to Belgium at some point. Hopefully the lure of chocolates and beer can convince the good lady of the house to attend with me.
Highlight: I do remember a late summer’s evening with the sun falling upon the Eurostar platforms in a spectacular fashion; however I’m not sure if there were any winners included. Either way that is all I can recall!
Gatwick Express – 20 of 40 (50%)
I protest in vain that this number was far higher, as many of the 442s now awaiting their fate at Ely were spied by my very eyes in June. Sadly they are now considered ‘off lease’ so I’m back down to the 50% mark. Of the 11 387s on their roster that I’ve spotted, only 5 have actually been on a GatEx service, with the rest either on the BedPan with TL, or testing on the WCML. Fun fact!
Highlight: Whisper it quietly, but I rather enjoyed watching the 442s flying through when at East Croydon. Weird beast, for sure, but it’d be a shame to seem them scrapped altogether.
Grand Central – 8 of 11 (73%)
I do love the livery of GC. When not caked in dirt it looks sleek and vaguely mysterious. Indeed they were often the highlight of my trips to Doncaster, where all but one winning sighting has come. I still need two 43s and 180114, and fingers crossed I might get them during my time at Finsbury Park during the London mega-spot.
Highlight: Seeing 180107 blast through Hornsey in June. Lovely evening, and the sight of this coming round the bends from Ally Pally was excellent.
Great Northern – 88 of 128 (69%)
I find GN a bit odd, truth be told. A weird fleet, with the 313s clearly dying a slow and painful death, the 317s and 321s battling manfully on towards their demise (still seemingly more comfortable than the 387s!), and the 365s throttling around like a teenager with ADHD. Most of the winners here came during a lovely summers evening at Hornsey when in London for work, save for their recently arrived 387s, a number of which I’ve seen working under their previous employers. Still a good old chunk to go, but as with GC, hopefully knock most of them out during a peak-time visit to Finsbury Park.
Highlight: Being told to leave Finsbury Park. Weird choice, I hear you cry, but it meant I went to Hornsey, which provided excellent high-speed bend negotiating viewing, as well as the 700s stabled at Hornsey depot. Bonus.
Great Western Railway – 79 of 293 (27%)
Given the amount of time I’ve spent this year sat at Acton Mainline or Ealing Broadway my initial reaction to this figure was to cry foul play on behalf of trainlogger. However when you then consider I’ve yet to even see any of the 153s and 158s, and have one solitary 150 in the book, you begin to understand why I’ve not even got a third of the way through. The 165s and 166s are almost done, just a handful remain for each, so it’s really the older end of the DMU spectrum I need to focus upon, along with masses of 43s. I hope to make serious inroads when I visit Cardiff and Bristol in January, followed up with Acton/West Ealing in February, but I’m aware a visit to the depths of Devon might be needed to get the 143s.
Highlight: 43002, resplendent in its Inter-City livery, at Paddington. Stumbled upon it completely by chance back in May, but what a fine looking thing it is.
Heathrow Connect – 4 of 5 (80%)
All gathered during a day at Acton in May, only 360201 now eludes me. Again, February at Acton awaits for that one, we hope.
Highlight: Utterly impossible to pick given the sheer number to choose from….
Heathrow Express – 12 of 14 (86%)
Two left here, with just 003 & 014 remaining from the 332s.
Highlight: Oh gosh, erm, how about... Nope, nothing.
Hull Trains 4 of 4 (100%)
Be gone with you, Hull Trains, for you are cleared! Achieved at Doncaster in November with the capture of 180113, a minor victory was celebrated. They’ll probably get a few more 180s in soon, but fingers crossed it’s the ones I’ve already cleared elsewhere!
Highlight: Being in exactly the right place on the platform at Donny to see the number of 180113 roll to a stop right in front of me and clear the ToC. Small victories and all that!
London Midland – 163 of 175 (93%)
Part of me is surprised I’ve got so far with LM, but then when you think about how often I’ve been up and down the WCML, as well as two dedicated trips to Birmingham, then I suppose it all adds up. I was hoping to clear them when I travelled to Birmingham last month, but the wires coming down at Wolverhampton put pay to that, so I will need to return, probably early in the New Year, for the remaining 12 units needed. Cleared the 139s, obviously!
Highlight: Speaking of 139s, I did chuckle to myself when I saw 139002 sat mere yards from the lovely dry, warm shed at Stourbridge Junction during an absolute monsoon back in September. They have a certain charm to them, almost like a toy car, and you could almost feel the sadness exuding from the poor sod as he got drenched.
London Overground – 49 of 96 (51%)
I always seem to forget about London Overground when I venture to London to spot. They almost act as a novel distraction when I’m at Willesden or Clapham, but I really do need to pay them more attention. Looking at the records I have cleared their 172s- all captured at Willesden during a weekend GOBLIN blockade- as well as most of the 315s and 317s. The 378s missing are nearly all from the bunch working out of New Cross, so hopefully I can pick some of them off when at Clapham Junction, again during the London mega-spot.
Highlight: Probably getting all the 172s in one go. If I recall correctly they were lined up in near perfect number order as well!
Merseyrail – 47 of 59 (80%)
I really, really do not like hunting Merseyrail units. The trip across to Liverpool is dreary, the best places to spot are underground, and it’s almost all self-contained so there’s no variation. I’m therefore bored within an hour of arriving, and never fully commit to getting as many units as I can. Thankfully there’s no point returning until the major works are done in June 2017, so I get some rest bite. It’s going very near the bottom of 2017 priorities.
Highlight: None, I hate it all. With a passion.
Northern – 316 of 338 (93%)
Firstly a note that the above overall figure does include the three 319s that are currently at Wolverton, but which will be making their way to Allerton in the New Year. Other than that my needs list consists of six 142s, 144001, three 153s, 155346, two 156s, four 158s and two 333s, which I think is pretty bloody good. Yes Northern stock has been the staple of my spotting diet given my location and commute, but to have cleared the 150s, (working) 319s and 321-323s is still good going in my book. A couple of trips to Leeds have certainly helped, and I’ll be looking to head back over there early in the New Year to grab the remaining stock that operates over that side of the Pennines. Also looking forward to seeing what other castoffs from the South we end up getting. We are the NORTHERN POWERHOUSE after all…
Highlight: Difficult to pick really. The summer evenings spent at Piccadilly after work, the trips to Leeds, endless lunchtimes at Deansgate or some 323 thrash to and from Crewe are all potentials. I think clearing the 150s completely by chance whilst at Deansgate back in July probably wins though.
Scotrail – 0 of 298 (0%)
Ha, 0%! Love it. In my defence, the nearest I’ve ventured to any part of the Scotrail route is probably Lancaster, so I’ve not even had the chance to get a winner here. Action is to be taken though, as I shall be in Scotland from 1630 on Friday 3 February until 1130 on Sunday 5 February to see about making my first Scotrail spotting trip a bloody good one!
Highlight: N/A
South West Trains – 114 of 372 (31%)
Not doing too badly considering I’ve had one trip to Bournemouth and back, and half a trip at Clapham Junction (I say half as I was mainly focusing on Southern units). I’ll no doubt need a trip out to the branches at some point, and lord knows if I’ll ever get the Isle of Wight units, but I do hope to focus upon SWT more when the London mega-spot takes me back to Clapham Junction in February. Indeed if GTR are still at war with their employees I could be camping out exclusively on the SWT/LO side. Would love to get the newly arrived (and newly grafittied!) 707s in the book as well.
Highlight: The very first trip where I began recording sightings was from Waterloo to Bournemouth aboard 444022. Mainly a highlight as I had Percy Pigs, but we’ll overlook that.
Southeastern Trains – 10 of 367 (3%)
Now this is daunting. Over 350 units to go with SE, a ToC I’ve paid little attention to thus far, what with all the work going on at London Bridge. I do intend to begin making inroads during the February mega-spot, but I’m under no illusions this will be a very long slog. The 10 I’ve got so far have all come at Victoria.
Highlight: None, it’s been a pitiful attempt at SE thus far.
Southern – 112 of 293 (38%)
Back in the days when Southern actually ran trains and had a vaguely content workforce I spent a very busy evening at Clapham Junction, almost getting repetitive strain injury I was scribbling winners that quickly. Add to that a morning at East Croydon and I’m actually quite pleased with progress thus far. A trip out to get the 313s will obviously be required, but I hope the rest will be chipped away further during the mega-spot. I just cross all my digits there isn’t a strike on…
Highlight: The evening at Clapham Junction. Never have I written so much in the space of three hours. I was genuinely exhausted by the end of it, but the number of winners was immensely satisfying.
Tfl Rail – 25 of 44 (57%)
The rag-tag bunch of 315s are almost within my grasp, I can feel it. Like the LO 315s I snaffled all the winners thus far during that afternoon at Bethnal Green, and hopefully with base camp over that way in February I can cross off most, if not all, of the remaining 19 units.
Highlight: See c2c.
Thameslink – 47 of 131 (36%)
Another ToC where they almost seem to pass me by. I’ll have used them to get elsewhere, but I’ve only had about an hour of dedicated TL spotting time, during a trip to the marvellous north-London backwater of Hendon. Frankly I’m surprised I’ve got up to 47! Indeed a good number of that 47 are the 8 700s I spotted whilst at Hornsey in July. West Hampstead Thameslink is on the agenda for the mega-spot though, so hopefully I can get up towards the 100 mark by the end of that.
Highlight: The spaceship-esque glow of the 700s in the dusk whilst at Hornsey depot. They looked like they’d just been beamed down from another planet!
TransPennine Express – 61 of 61 (100%)
I have a weird affection for TPE. The 185s are seemingly the unwanted child of the railway family, chastised already as unsuitable for anything once they’ve done their work with TPE. Plus the new livery looks swish. Needless to say this was the first ToC cleared upon commencing my quest, a fairly easy feat given the sheer number of workings through Manchester every day. Indeed all but one of the fleet was spied at Piccadilly, the exception being 185106. This is significant however; as the aforementioned was the last unit required to clear the class and, as with all good spots, was totally unplanned. I’m looking forward to the ‘new’ stock arriving over the course of the next year or so, hopefully it’ll give me something new to hunt down during commuting!
Highlight: The unexpected sight of 185106 rolling to a stop right in front of me in May as I waited for my 150 back to Hazel Grove, thus clearing the ToC and class in one go. Proper result.
Virgin Trains (West Coast) – 76 of 76 (100%)
Another ToC to be cleared during 2016, again thanks to my frequent trips up and down the WCML, coupled with working in and out of Piccadilly. Looking back I cleared all but one of each class relatively quickly, before spending weeks hunting down the final two. 390115 finally arrived as I departed Crewe in June after an evening of spotting, just catching a glimpse of the number as we rounded the curve back towards Sandbach, whilst 221113 took until July, again caught at Crewe.
Highlight: The unexpected arrival of 221113 at Crewe. The station was heaving as the frothing masses were awaiting a pair of 37s on a railtour, and were almost baying for blood when the 221 came in and delayed its arrival for 5 minutes. I on the other hand was absolutely delighted to have the 221 in the bag and, knowing the 37s were duds, managed to escape before the station descended into chaos.
Virgin Trains (East Coast) – 87 of 94 (93%)
Not much left to get over on the east coast either now. Two days at Doncaster, one back in April and one in November, have seen to most of the locos and DVTs, with just 4x43s, 2x91s and a DVT left. Often I’ve been left frustrated when days at Leeds failed to produce a single VTEC winner, but the latest Doncaster trip threw up winner after winner to help bring the numbers down. I may be able to tick the remainder off when I visit Finsbury Park in February, but I might need the help of somebody with access to the magic box to see when the final 7 are passing through.
Highlight: The wonderful autumnal day spent at Doncaster last month. Cold day, but glorious sunshine, which made the fact almost everything that flew threw was a winner even more pleasurable.
And that’s the lot for 2016. Factor in a few other bits and pieces (Shunters, steam locos, preservation stock etc) and overall I’ve clapped eyes on 2261 winners for 2016, as well as visiting a number of new stations, lines and cities. It really has been an enjoyable 11 months, and I hope 2017 is just as productive. Whether this is the case remains to be seen given I have a wedding in April and potentially a new job to hunt for soon after, but we shall see!
Summary:
26 Locomotives (shunters)
516 Locomotives
4 Locomotives (DC electric)
89 Locomotives (AC electric)
596 DMUs
102 DEMUs
687 EMUs
193 EMUs (3rd rail)
4 Steam Locomotives
44 DVTs & DBSOs
Classes cleared:
139
175
185
220
221
230
322
323
390
Operators cleared:
Hull Trains
Transpennine Express
Virgin West Coast
Merry Christmas all, here's to more successful spotting in 2017
Since last we spoke I have had a very productive final month of 2016 given I haven’t actually ventured further than Salford, all courtesy of the very helpful boys (and girls?) of the TOPS request thread. We start on 9 December when, with a couple of hours to kill between the end of work and the office Christmas meal (A dull affair set-menu affair at James Martin’s restaurant, not recommended), I hopped around Manchester’s numerous stations grabbing a few winners. Firstly it was off to Victoria for 153317, providing added capacity on a Leeds service, before catching the tram across to Piccadilly to finally lay to rest the haunting ghost of 221138. It has been eluding me for months on end, so to stand on platform 5 and cast my eyes over the number as it pulled in was hugely satisfying. No time to rest however! Instead it was up to a bitterly cold platform 14, for a quick hop along to Oxford Road, where 156438 stood silent as it waited the 50 or so minutes before working up to Blackpool North. With an hour or so spare I headed into the Arndale for a spot of retail therapy, before again hitting the tram from Market Street round to Deansgate in the nick of time to see 156444 nearing the end of its journey from Lime Street to Oxford Road.
The next working week began in much the same vein. The semi-regular trip from Salford Central to Crescent to pick up the loco on the Peak Forest to Hope Street path was restored as I got word 66093 was doing the honours. Usually I get off at Salford Crescent and head back via Deansgate if the light engine on 0O29 is required, or if not head back to Central and wander back to the office. As the former was a dud I headed back towards Central, but for reasons unknown decided to stay on until Victoria for a change. The spotting gods must have been looking down today as, quite by chance, I alighted just in time to happened upon the vaguely-recently livered 158752 pulling in to platform 1 from Leeds. Got to love the unplanned winners!
The Wednesday was a day off and, with the kitchen table painted, I headed off into New Mills to run a few errands. Three different lines run through New Mills; the Buxton line through Newtown on one side of the valley, the Marple-New Mills Central line on the other side, and the Hazel Grove-Chinley line in the middle (joining with the Central line at New Mills South Junction). All three can be seen at various points around the village/town, and I stopped at the latter, just by the Swizzles sweets factory, in order to catch 60044 running light-engine back to Peak Forest, having dropped off some wagons for repair at Lostock works. That was followed shortly afterwards by 66025 on the daily Peak Forest-Hope Street working. The latter was supposed to be fellow requirement 66131 according to my gen, but a winner is a winner, regardless of the number.
16 December was a nightmare journey in as signalling problems at Ashburys meant my intended 0835 arrival at Piccadilly was actually 0910. Needless to say I look forward to seeing my free single ticket to anywhere on the Northern network arrive in late-2018. Our tardiness did allow me to snaffle 158828 filling in for a 175 on a Piccadilly-Milford Haven run, which was a silver lining I suppose. The return journey home was much more straightforward, and complimented nicely by the addition of 156463 to the winners’ enclosure, it standing at Piccadilly to carry me to Disley before I ran the rest of the way home.
19th and 20th of December saw one winner apiece, namely 158903 at Victoria and 66131 at Hope Street, whilst yesterday I had the pleasure of witnessing the Northern Belle pass through Salford Central on its way from Preston to Derby. Doing the honours on the back was dud 68016, whilst the front was manned by 68023. I let out a wee smile when it was held at a red, for this meant the awesome roar of ‘Achiilles’ was unleashed shortly afterwards as it powered away towards Victoria. The hen party on board waving like the Queen was also a rather amusing sight!
To round off 2016 the good folk at Northern were kind enough to send out 142025 for my commute into work today, which was nice of them, and I have just returned from a rather cold Salford Central, where I’ve spent the last 45 minutes waiting around for 142095, then 153307, and finally 142064.
With 2016 now done in terms of sightings I thought a little review as to my progress might keep me entertained, and help to document what the priorities for 2017 will need to be. I must say when I started in February this year I didn’t think I’d have done half as well as I have, and it’s been a really refreshing addition to my life pootling around the country spotting. It did border on obsessive at points, but thankfully a month or two off when purchasing the house allowed me to forget about it all for a while, and I returned with just the right amount of vigour about a month or so ago.
I’ll do an operator-by-operator breakdown, with figures correct as of today (I hope!). Percentages are completed, thankfully, not remaining!
Colas – 14 of 50 (28%)
A rather unassuming start to the review, with a slightly disappointing 14 sightings for 2016. A number of these, particularly the 37s, were gathered in one job lot when I had a good look at Network Rail’s sheds at Derby during April, and again in July. A smattering of other sightings, including 70809 most recently whilst at Nuneaton last month, but I hope for further progress here when I hit the West Country in January, then Acton/West Ealing in February.
Highlight: 56087 & 56113 on the North Wales RHTT in October. A glorious autumnal day, with Crewe bathed in sunshine, seeing these two rumble through was delightful.
DB Cargo/DBS – 221 of 377 (59%)
The mainstay of my freight-spotting diet, the red/maroon army have thrown up winners on almost every trip I’ve been on this year, be it at Bescot during a West Midlands Day Ranger, Acton Bridge whilst on the way to football, or rattling passed them on a 390 during my countless trips to and from Euston. The vast majority of the 60s are ticked off, thanks mainly to a trip to the graveyard at Toton in July, and I need less than 30 of the 66s. The main area of focus here is the 92s, of which I’ve seen a whopping one (92019 at Crewe back in June), but given the sheer number of units still remaining overall I will just be picking things off as part of other trips at this stage. I do need to see about a plan to get the last two 325s, 006 & 016, in the book; that might be one for an evening at Crewe when the weather improves.
Highlight: Discovering Peak Forest. Right on the doorstep, in relative terms, but a place I’d never even knew existed before beginning this quest. Not only has it provided me with a good number of winners, but it’s also set against a stunning backdrop of scenery which makes me extremely grateful to live where I do. Indeed it’s really made me focus upon spending more time in this environment as life progresses, instead of auto-piloting into an office wearing a suit every day for the next 60 years.
DRS – 47 of 122 (39%)
Slightly skewed figures here, as it includes the yet-to-be-delivered 88s, but it’s still one of the lesser-spotted FoCs on the list. I’ve got 12 of the 68s, spread almost evenly across freight and passenger assignments, and a large number of the WCML thunderbirds. The gaps really are in their 66 fleet, and the 37s.
Highlight: The Gresty Bridge open day in July; a really good morning out, with some pristine locos of all varieties being enjoyed by all ages and walks of life. Yes there were some over-zealous attendees wanting the perfect photo at all costs, but in the main it was £10 very well spent.
Freightliner – 133 of 175 (76%)
The green and yellow brigade are almost down to the bare bones now in terms of remaining locos required and, as with DBC/DBS, winning locations have stretched the length and breadth of my travels around the country. I’ve waded through the wastelands surrounding Basford Hall to get the 47s and demic 90050, walked countless miles from Leeds city centre to Midland Road to catch 47830, and lost count of the number of times I’ve wandered down to Deansgate of a lunchtime to see what was on the light engine move to Trafford Park. I cleared the (working) 86s in September, as well as the 90s in September, and just 70013 eludes me for the 70s. Indeed I only need 31 of the 66s now as well. Again, if we get some winners during trips then great, but I’m not on targeted trips yet, unless 70013 ventures into Manchester, then I might have to leave work post-haste!
Highlight: A late summers evening after work stood waiting for the train home after a very, very long day and seeing 86608 tick through to help me clear the class (save for the ones at Booths being scrapped). It was that moment these weird gentle giants became my favourite loco.
GBRF – 34 of 108 (31%)
Whenever I look through my records I can never seem to recall when I’ve seen a GBRF loco, save for the two 73s at Crewe last month. I clearly must have, given there’s 34 in the book (or trainlogger, to be precise) but they just don’t seem to have generated any lasting images in my mind. Perhaps my memory is failing at the grand old age of 28?! Sightings appear to have come all over the shop, from Wembley to Doncaster, Leeds to Edge Hill, but I have it in my mind they are far more prevalent in the east of the country? If so perhaps a day at Peterborough might help, but in reality the requirements through there ToC-wise are so slim it’s probably not worth it.
Highlight: Given I only remember the two 73s from Crewe two weeks ago, probably that!
Mendip Rail – 1 of 8 (13%)
This will be brief! Just the one winner, 59002 at Southall in July. Workings seem to focus around Acton however, and my trip there in February will hopefully take in 4 or 5 Mendip workings, so this figure should improve soon.
Highlight: Absolutely nothing.
AGA – 83 of 247 (34%)
The vast majority of winners here were collected at Bethnal Green during my mammoth day visit to the capital back in June. Most of the requirements centre on the fact I’ve got nothing of the DMU fleet, for which I may need to plan in a day or so around East Anglia in the spring/early summer. In terms of EMUs, needs are split fairly equally between the 317s and 321s, with just a smattering of the 360s and 379s left. Base camp for my mega-spot in London in February is Ilford, so hopefully this will allow me to bag a rather large number of outstanding units.
Highlight: Spotting at Bethnal Green in June when the rather splendid air show passed over en-route to Trooping the Colour. Certainly caught the interest of the TfL Rail driver on the platform as well!
Arriva Trains Wales – 68 of 128 (53%)
Considering I’ve yet to get any of their 14x fleet I don’t think I’m doing too badly with ATW. The 175s were cleared back in June, 175004 the last to fall, whilst I continue to pick off any new 15x’s that venture up to Piccadilly or Crewe. Always a nice bonus to grab whatever 67 is working the North Wales LHCS, even if they aren’t strictly part of the ATW numbers. I imagine the aforementioned 14x’s will be annihilated when I venture to Cardiff and Bristol on 19 January, and I hope to pretty much clear ATW by the time I’ve finished.
Highlight: The charming trip from Bidston to Shotton aboard 150257 in June, weaving through lovely open countryside. Sadly I got my timings wrong and ended up spending what felt like days in Shotton itself, but that’s another story!
c2c – 24 of 80 (30%)
Not many of the 357s in the winners enclosure in relative terms, and again most of these were pilfered at Bethnal Green in June, when luckily c2c were on divert into Liverpool Street. A Brucie bonus of 387305/306 on a test run from Wembley to Crewe in November, during which I got a good nosy around the interior, but in reality still some way to go with these lot.
Highlight: The 387s at Crewe, particularly when juxtaposed with the ATW 150 in the adjacent bay!
Caledonian Sleeper – 7 of 15 (47%)
I’ll keep this brief, as personally I struggle to class CS as a true ‘ToC.’ I need all their 73s, and 92033. Needless to say none of these are top of the list of priorities, but I might get a couple whilst up in Scotland at the beginning of February.
Highlight: None spring to mind.
Chiltern – 34 of 81 (42%)
Chiltern winners have tended to come in clusters, mainly centred on days when I’ve been in Birmingham chasing London Midland units. A fairly even spread of winners between the 165s and 168s, whilst it does also help that I’d got the TPE 170s that subsequently transferred down to become 168/3s. I’ve pencilled in some time at Marylebone when in London in February, and I also need to get up to Aylesbury to catch the bubble before it dies a lasting death.
Highlight: Not strictly Chiltern I suppose, but getting a semi-thrash ride from Moor Street to Leamington courtesy of 68014 back in September was rather bloody good.
Cross Country – 90 of 96 (94%)
You can almost split winning locations in two for XC. All but four of the 22x’s were snaffled in Manchester, with the vast majority of the 43s and 170s coming in Birmingham. I finally tracked down the elusive 221138 on Friday last week, after months of near misses, which just leaves me with 2x43s and 4x170s to find now!
Highlight: Either seeing 43285 & 43304 power away from New Street back in May, or finally getting hold of 221138 last week. Think the latter just sneaks it.
East Midlands Trains – 92 of 114 (81%)
As I get to EMT I’m trying to cast my mind back to what, if any, the pattern has been with them. The 158s are cleared, and mainly picked up in and around Manchester, but the remainder appear to have been gathered during dedicated trips to Nottingham and Derby in April/May. I continue to chip away at the 153s, seemingly picking one up every time I visit Crewe(!), but I still need a good few 43s, along with 3x222s and a couple of 153s and 156s. I’m planning a stop at West Hampstead during the London bash, mainly for the Thameslink stuff, but if I strike lucky I may get those 43s and 222s down as well.
Highlight: Spending a Saturday morning, hungover, at Nottingham in May picking off numbers. My friends lived just over the road, we’d had quite heavy night, but standing in the early morning sunshine picking off winners was seemingly just the tonic for the previous night’s gin and tonic! Even if the station staff did ask me if I was lost and/or needed a taxi home!
Eurostar – 11 of 86 (13%)
Now firstly, I’m very cautious about believing the number on trainlogger for the Eurostar fleet. This doesn’t excuse the laughably low number of winners, but I’m not sure if the ones sent for scrap at Kingsbury are still included. I hope not for the sake of the log! Needless to say I very, very rarely get any of these in the book, and when I do it’s only the London end of whatever is sat in St Pancras when I pass through. I am rectifying this with a few hours at Stratford International during the London mega-spot, and I would like a proper trip through the Chunnel to Belgium at some point. Hopefully the lure of chocolates and beer can convince the good lady of the house to attend with me.
Highlight: I do remember a late summer’s evening with the sun falling upon the Eurostar platforms in a spectacular fashion; however I’m not sure if there were any winners included. Either way that is all I can recall!
Gatwick Express – 20 of 40 (50%)
I protest in vain that this number was far higher, as many of the 442s now awaiting their fate at Ely were spied by my very eyes in June. Sadly they are now considered ‘off lease’ so I’m back down to the 50% mark. Of the 11 387s on their roster that I’ve spotted, only 5 have actually been on a GatEx service, with the rest either on the BedPan with TL, or testing on the WCML. Fun fact!
Highlight: Whisper it quietly, but I rather enjoyed watching the 442s flying through when at East Croydon. Weird beast, for sure, but it’d be a shame to seem them scrapped altogether.
Grand Central – 8 of 11 (73%)
I do love the livery of GC. When not caked in dirt it looks sleek and vaguely mysterious. Indeed they were often the highlight of my trips to Doncaster, where all but one winning sighting has come. I still need two 43s and 180114, and fingers crossed I might get them during my time at Finsbury Park during the London mega-spot.
Highlight: Seeing 180107 blast through Hornsey in June. Lovely evening, and the sight of this coming round the bends from Ally Pally was excellent.
Great Northern – 88 of 128 (69%)
I find GN a bit odd, truth be told. A weird fleet, with the 313s clearly dying a slow and painful death, the 317s and 321s battling manfully on towards their demise (still seemingly more comfortable than the 387s!), and the 365s throttling around like a teenager with ADHD. Most of the winners here came during a lovely summers evening at Hornsey when in London for work, save for their recently arrived 387s, a number of which I’ve seen working under their previous employers. Still a good old chunk to go, but as with GC, hopefully knock most of them out during a peak-time visit to Finsbury Park.
Highlight: Being told to leave Finsbury Park. Weird choice, I hear you cry, but it meant I went to Hornsey, which provided excellent high-speed bend negotiating viewing, as well as the 700s stabled at Hornsey depot. Bonus.
Great Western Railway – 79 of 293 (27%)
Given the amount of time I’ve spent this year sat at Acton Mainline or Ealing Broadway my initial reaction to this figure was to cry foul play on behalf of trainlogger. However when you then consider I’ve yet to even see any of the 153s and 158s, and have one solitary 150 in the book, you begin to understand why I’ve not even got a third of the way through. The 165s and 166s are almost done, just a handful remain for each, so it’s really the older end of the DMU spectrum I need to focus upon, along with masses of 43s. I hope to make serious inroads when I visit Cardiff and Bristol in January, followed up with Acton/West Ealing in February, but I’m aware a visit to the depths of Devon might be needed to get the 143s.
Highlight: 43002, resplendent in its Inter-City livery, at Paddington. Stumbled upon it completely by chance back in May, but what a fine looking thing it is.
Heathrow Connect – 4 of 5 (80%)
All gathered during a day at Acton in May, only 360201 now eludes me. Again, February at Acton awaits for that one, we hope.
Highlight: Utterly impossible to pick given the sheer number to choose from….
Heathrow Express – 12 of 14 (86%)
Two left here, with just 003 & 014 remaining from the 332s.
Highlight: Oh gosh, erm, how about... Nope, nothing.
Hull Trains 4 of 4 (100%)
Be gone with you, Hull Trains, for you are cleared! Achieved at Doncaster in November with the capture of 180113, a minor victory was celebrated. They’ll probably get a few more 180s in soon, but fingers crossed it’s the ones I’ve already cleared elsewhere!
Highlight: Being in exactly the right place on the platform at Donny to see the number of 180113 roll to a stop right in front of me and clear the ToC. Small victories and all that!
London Midland – 163 of 175 (93%)
Part of me is surprised I’ve got so far with LM, but then when you think about how often I’ve been up and down the WCML, as well as two dedicated trips to Birmingham, then I suppose it all adds up. I was hoping to clear them when I travelled to Birmingham last month, but the wires coming down at Wolverhampton put pay to that, so I will need to return, probably early in the New Year, for the remaining 12 units needed. Cleared the 139s, obviously!
Highlight: Speaking of 139s, I did chuckle to myself when I saw 139002 sat mere yards from the lovely dry, warm shed at Stourbridge Junction during an absolute monsoon back in September. They have a certain charm to them, almost like a toy car, and you could almost feel the sadness exuding from the poor sod as he got drenched.
London Overground – 49 of 96 (51%)
I always seem to forget about London Overground when I venture to London to spot. They almost act as a novel distraction when I’m at Willesden or Clapham, but I really do need to pay them more attention. Looking at the records I have cleared their 172s- all captured at Willesden during a weekend GOBLIN blockade- as well as most of the 315s and 317s. The 378s missing are nearly all from the bunch working out of New Cross, so hopefully I can pick some of them off when at Clapham Junction, again during the London mega-spot.
Highlight: Probably getting all the 172s in one go. If I recall correctly they were lined up in near perfect number order as well!
Merseyrail – 47 of 59 (80%)
I really, really do not like hunting Merseyrail units. The trip across to Liverpool is dreary, the best places to spot are underground, and it’s almost all self-contained so there’s no variation. I’m therefore bored within an hour of arriving, and never fully commit to getting as many units as I can. Thankfully there’s no point returning until the major works are done in June 2017, so I get some rest bite. It’s going very near the bottom of 2017 priorities.
Highlight: None, I hate it all. With a passion.
Northern – 316 of 338 (93%)
Firstly a note that the above overall figure does include the three 319s that are currently at Wolverton, but which will be making their way to Allerton in the New Year. Other than that my needs list consists of six 142s, 144001, three 153s, 155346, two 156s, four 158s and two 333s, which I think is pretty bloody good. Yes Northern stock has been the staple of my spotting diet given my location and commute, but to have cleared the 150s, (working) 319s and 321-323s is still good going in my book. A couple of trips to Leeds have certainly helped, and I’ll be looking to head back over there early in the New Year to grab the remaining stock that operates over that side of the Pennines. Also looking forward to seeing what other castoffs from the South we end up getting. We are the NORTHERN POWERHOUSE after all…
Highlight: Difficult to pick really. The summer evenings spent at Piccadilly after work, the trips to Leeds, endless lunchtimes at Deansgate or some 323 thrash to and from Crewe are all potentials. I think clearing the 150s completely by chance whilst at Deansgate back in July probably wins though.
Scotrail – 0 of 298 (0%)
Ha, 0%! Love it. In my defence, the nearest I’ve ventured to any part of the Scotrail route is probably Lancaster, so I’ve not even had the chance to get a winner here. Action is to be taken though, as I shall be in Scotland from 1630 on Friday 3 February until 1130 on Sunday 5 February to see about making my first Scotrail spotting trip a bloody good one!
Highlight: N/A
South West Trains – 114 of 372 (31%)
Not doing too badly considering I’ve had one trip to Bournemouth and back, and half a trip at Clapham Junction (I say half as I was mainly focusing on Southern units). I’ll no doubt need a trip out to the branches at some point, and lord knows if I’ll ever get the Isle of Wight units, but I do hope to focus upon SWT more when the London mega-spot takes me back to Clapham Junction in February. Indeed if GTR are still at war with their employees I could be camping out exclusively on the SWT/LO side. Would love to get the newly arrived (and newly grafittied!) 707s in the book as well.
Highlight: The very first trip where I began recording sightings was from Waterloo to Bournemouth aboard 444022. Mainly a highlight as I had Percy Pigs, but we’ll overlook that.
Southeastern Trains – 10 of 367 (3%)
Now this is daunting. Over 350 units to go with SE, a ToC I’ve paid little attention to thus far, what with all the work going on at London Bridge. I do intend to begin making inroads during the February mega-spot, but I’m under no illusions this will be a very long slog. The 10 I’ve got so far have all come at Victoria.
Highlight: None, it’s been a pitiful attempt at SE thus far.
Southern – 112 of 293 (38%)
Back in the days when Southern actually ran trains and had a vaguely content workforce I spent a very busy evening at Clapham Junction, almost getting repetitive strain injury I was scribbling winners that quickly. Add to that a morning at East Croydon and I’m actually quite pleased with progress thus far. A trip out to get the 313s will obviously be required, but I hope the rest will be chipped away further during the mega-spot. I just cross all my digits there isn’t a strike on…
Highlight: The evening at Clapham Junction. Never have I written so much in the space of three hours. I was genuinely exhausted by the end of it, but the number of winners was immensely satisfying.
Tfl Rail – 25 of 44 (57%)
The rag-tag bunch of 315s are almost within my grasp, I can feel it. Like the LO 315s I snaffled all the winners thus far during that afternoon at Bethnal Green, and hopefully with base camp over that way in February I can cross off most, if not all, of the remaining 19 units.
Highlight: See c2c.
Thameslink – 47 of 131 (36%)
Another ToC where they almost seem to pass me by. I’ll have used them to get elsewhere, but I’ve only had about an hour of dedicated TL spotting time, during a trip to the marvellous north-London backwater of Hendon. Frankly I’m surprised I’ve got up to 47! Indeed a good number of that 47 are the 8 700s I spotted whilst at Hornsey in July. West Hampstead Thameslink is on the agenda for the mega-spot though, so hopefully I can get up towards the 100 mark by the end of that.
Highlight: The spaceship-esque glow of the 700s in the dusk whilst at Hornsey depot. They looked like they’d just been beamed down from another planet!
TransPennine Express – 61 of 61 (100%)
I have a weird affection for TPE. The 185s are seemingly the unwanted child of the railway family, chastised already as unsuitable for anything once they’ve done their work with TPE. Plus the new livery looks swish. Needless to say this was the first ToC cleared upon commencing my quest, a fairly easy feat given the sheer number of workings through Manchester every day. Indeed all but one of the fleet was spied at Piccadilly, the exception being 185106. This is significant however; as the aforementioned was the last unit required to clear the class and, as with all good spots, was totally unplanned. I’m looking forward to the ‘new’ stock arriving over the course of the next year or so, hopefully it’ll give me something new to hunt down during commuting!
Highlight: The unexpected sight of 185106 rolling to a stop right in front of me in May as I waited for my 150 back to Hazel Grove, thus clearing the ToC and class in one go. Proper result.
Virgin Trains (West Coast) – 76 of 76 (100%)
Another ToC to be cleared during 2016, again thanks to my frequent trips up and down the WCML, coupled with working in and out of Piccadilly. Looking back I cleared all but one of each class relatively quickly, before spending weeks hunting down the final two. 390115 finally arrived as I departed Crewe in June after an evening of spotting, just catching a glimpse of the number as we rounded the curve back towards Sandbach, whilst 221113 took until July, again caught at Crewe.
Highlight: The unexpected arrival of 221113 at Crewe. The station was heaving as the frothing masses were awaiting a pair of 37s on a railtour, and were almost baying for blood when the 221 came in and delayed its arrival for 5 minutes. I on the other hand was absolutely delighted to have the 221 in the bag and, knowing the 37s were duds, managed to escape before the station descended into chaos.
Virgin Trains (East Coast) – 87 of 94 (93%)
Not much left to get over on the east coast either now. Two days at Doncaster, one back in April and one in November, have seen to most of the locos and DVTs, with just 4x43s, 2x91s and a DVT left. Often I’ve been left frustrated when days at Leeds failed to produce a single VTEC winner, but the latest Doncaster trip threw up winner after winner to help bring the numbers down. I may be able to tick the remainder off when I visit Finsbury Park in February, but I might need the help of somebody with access to the magic box to see when the final 7 are passing through.
Highlight: The wonderful autumnal day spent at Doncaster last month. Cold day, but glorious sunshine, which made the fact almost everything that flew threw was a winner even more pleasurable.
And that’s the lot for 2016. Factor in a few other bits and pieces (Shunters, steam locos, preservation stock etc) and overall I’ve clapped eyes on 2261 winners for 2016, as well as visiting a number of new stations, lines and cities. It really has been an enjoyable 11 months, and I hope 2017 is just as productive. Whether this is the case remains to be seen given I have a wedding in April and potentially a new job to hunt for soon after, but we shall see!
Summary:
26 Locomotives (shunters)
516 Locomotives
4 Locomotives (DC electric)
89 Locomotives (AC electric)
596 DMUs
102 DEMUs
687 EMUs
193 EMUs (3rd rail)
4 Steam Locomotives
44 DVTs & DBSOs
Classes cleared:
139
175
185
220
221
230
322
323
390
Operators cleared:
Hull Trains
Transpennine Express
Virgin West Coast
Merry Christmas all, here's to more successful spotting in 2017
Kite159
Veteran Member
Excellent summary.
You better get your pens out when at Hyndland for those Scottish units
You better get your pens out when at Hyndland for those Scottish units
- Status