palmersears
Established Member
- Joined
- 20 Sep 2011
- Messages
- 1,485
As an avid browser to the forums for a number of years I am hugely impressed with the number members who traverse the length and breadth of the country (and indeed further afield) on various outings. Whilst not a rail aficionado by any stretch of the imagination I do enjoy a bit of casual spotting whilst on my travels, be it the daily commute from Hazel Grove to Piccadilly, when visiting friends dotted around the country, or when travelling to watch my beloved Stockport County in some of the footballing backwaters that are associated with part-time football.
The reason for my thread stems from an indirect challenge being laid before me by my partner. Returning on the final train home one Friday after a few drinks I was wittering on to her about the impending Northern and TPE franchise changes, and clearly not the slightest bit interested she, in an attempt to shut me up, snapped "If you love trains that much why don't you go and find them all?!"
So that is what I'm going to (try and) do
I have taken the list of locos (diesel and electric), DEMUs, DMUs and EMUs from abrail. I am only really interested in 'spotting' each unit/loco number- carriage/coach/wagon numbers are of no real interest. If I travel on a unit, great, but equally if I simply see them parked up at a depot etc then that will be grand.
I'm under no illusions that this will be a bit like the old analogy of painting the Forth Bridge, and that progress will be slow, particularly as impending life events (house buying and a wedding to name but two) will get in the way, but it will be a nice way of spending the random days off I get more productively. I am quickly ploughing through traffic to/from Piccadilly, but jaunts to Crewe and Bournemouth via London have also helped, all of which I will document as soon as I can. Once I have played catch-up with reportings I will try and do frequent updates, but I envisage as I get towards the dregs at Piccadilly I will be restricted to updating whenever I get out and about elsewhere.
To finish, I'd like to ask as a starter for ten for advice as to potential 'strategies' to help in my quest? Do I focus any days out on major hubs (New Street, York, Leeds, Bristol etc), or rove around? Where should I be looking to go for freight?
Let the jaunting begin!
The reason for my thread stems from an indirect challenge being laid before me by my partner. Returning on the final train home one Friday after a few drinks I was wittering on to her about the impending Northern and TPE franchise changes, and clearly not the slightest bit interested she, in an attempt to shut me up, snapped "If you love trains that much why don't you go and find them all?!"
So that is what I'm going to (try and) do
I have taken the list of locos (diesel and electric), DEMUs, DMUs and EMUs from abrail. I am only really interested in 'spotting' each unit/loco number- carriage/coach/wagon numbers are of no real interest. If I travel on a unit, great, but equally if I simply see them parked up at a depot etc then that will be grand.
I'm under no illusions that this will be a bit like the old analogy of painting the Forth Bridge, and that progress will be slow, particularly as impending life events (house buying and a wedding to name but two) will get in the way, but it will be a nice way of spending the random days off I get more productively. I am quickly ploughing through traffic to/from Piccadilly, but jaunts to Crewe and Bournemouth via London have also helped, all of which I will document as soon as I can. Once I have played catch-up with reportings I will try and do frequent updates, but I envisage as I get towards the dregs at Piccadilly I will be restricted to updating whenever I get out and about elsewhere.
To finish, I'd like to ask as a starter for ten for advice as to potential 'strategies' to help in my quest? Do I focus any days out on major hubs (New Street, York, Leeds, Bristol etc), or rove around? Where should I be looking to go for freight?
Let the jaunting begin!