A trip to the top of the shopping centre car park you can see from the north end of the station might generate a look at what is inside Wabtec.
BTW it might be Darlo v Stockport in conference north next season. It will be like the old days!
If only I'd seen this whilst I was there! I was trying to get a decent view for the number of a LO unit that was just inside Wabtec, but alas it wasn't to be. If I'm ever back there again I'll pop up and see what's what.
I wish you the best of luck with promotion, just a shame we won't be meeting in the football league were we both should be, but for some chronic off-field mismanagement!
As for today, what a lovely trip out:
01/04/16
After the first decent night's sleep since the tooth removal I was up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning, meandering down to Hazel Grove in good time to renew the monthly pass before hopping aboard a dud 150 for the short trip to Stockport. Watching a healthy crowd board the 09:22 parliamentary service to Stalybridge (No April Fools, I assure you!), I then changed onto my first service with the sparkly new TPE franchise. Sadly they forgot to wash the dud pair of 170s that arrived on the 09:28, one covered in what looked to be manure, whilst the lead DMU had half a nature reserve caught on the front. Most uninspiring (partcularly when the train manager then spent 5 minutes on the tannoy drearily reading some management propaganda out about how fantastic the new franchise was going to be!). Nonetheless I grabbed a window seat in the front coach, and settled in for the trip back passed Hazel Grove (which always annoys me!) to Doncaster. A bonus sighting was also picked up along the way,
66622 sitting at Hope sidings.
Sheffield soon appeared, as did the first Meridian for sight,
222017, as well as my first 144 in the shape of
144009, and another voyager to add to the collection,
220004. By this time the peppermint tea flask had already been drained, and the Easter egg consumed, both somewhat prematurely given they were supposed to last all morning! As we approached today's final destination further 66s were spied,
66729, 66776 &
66778.
Needless to say Donny was bloody freezing, as I remember from previous fleeting visits. I quickly took up residence upon the most northerly bench on platform 4, and settled in for what I hoped would be a good day of sightings. I quickly realised I'd need to move further up the platform if I actually wanted to see anything going into platform 1, as the building works for the new platform 0 blocked the view. Gah. With that I decamped to leaning against a lampost further up, swigged upon my Starbucks peppermint tea (a bargain at £1!) and let the games begin.
As you'd expect, for the first hour or so everything was a winner. Plenty of VTEC stuff, the Northern 144s, 158s and my first 321 were all ticked off, along with more XC voyagers. It was also a nice surprise to find the fast stuff on the through platforms was easy enough to pick off, with most having to pass under double-yellows to inadvertently aid my eyes. They must have known I was coming!
Following this were the first Hull Trains 180s for the cause, before I also cottoned on to the fact that most of the Northern stuff was now on return workings, and could be ignored. One exception was
322481 from Leeds. At this point egg and cress sandwiches and a hot chocolate were consumed, and I wandered down to the southern end of the station to get the EMT working which had just arrived,
153321.
Freight was thin on the ground, with a bloody dud 67 the first non-passenger service through. After that I did clap eyes upon
66149 running light-engine south,
66760 &
66770. The latter was the cause of much excitement amongst a handful of photographers, one of whom almost ran off the end of the platform to get a shot of it leaving. Most odd, but each to their own.
Perhaps the most curious spot of the day was
91106, which arrived all on its lonesome at lunchtime. It was, after a short trip out north and back, in the furthest line west, and subsequently met by the charming
8853, who manfully shunted it off towards the back of the yard. I have absolutely no idea why, as it looked and sounded perfectly healthy upon arrival. Routine maintenance? Answers welcome.
By this point it was gone two, I was starting to pick up a few dud VTECs that had passed me northwards to Leeds earlier in the day and who were now returning south and, in all honesty, I was beginning to get a little cold and tired. I thus headed for platform 3B, and a dud 158 from earlier in the day which carried me to Sheffield. Here I had a short wait (utilised to purchase more hot chocolate) for a dud pair of 158s to take me to Stockport, so took the opportunity to spy another couple of 222s and some other bits and pieces. A surprisingly quiet service arrived from Nottingham, so I again snaffled a window seat in order to get a superb view of Mam Tor as we settled outside Edale behind a late running Manchester stopper. Made me consider for a second jacking work in and becoming a farmer.
All in all a superb day, certainly the database looks a lot healthier now! I anticipate another day off towards the latter part of the month, so will have to ponder where that should take me.
43058
43060
43208
43251
43302
43305
43306
43307
43308
43309
43312
43313
43317
43318
43320
43423
43484
44293
59905
66135
66149
66599
66622
66729
66747
66760
66770
66776
66778
73111
75302
82200
82202
82204
82208
82213
82214
82216
82217
82218
82223
82224
82226
91101
91102
91104
91105
91106
91107
91108
91112
91114
91115
91116
91117
91120
91125
91128
142023
142068
142079
144003
144005
144006
144008
144009
144010
144013
144016
153321
158790
158796
158842
158843
158844
158848
158860
180102
180110
180111
220002
220004
220021
220023
221130
222005
222017
222102
321901
322481
