So - it's been just over eight months since I posted any kind of trip report on here. I think you can all guess one of the main reasons behind some of the long wait!
I'm hoping to get out and about much more on the railways during this year (even though there are only a few months left). Last year, despite going out to
watch trains several times, I only went on one journey by train, and that was a simple journey to Didcot, in January!
This year so far, I've been on
two journeys, so that's an improvement I suppose. The first was a fairly inconsequential journey to Didcot again, and I might put together a bit of a report on that at some point, but the much more interesting one is the more recent of the two - a jolly around Birmingham. Let's see if I can write a coherent account of it, shall we? (I've put the engine/unit numbers in bold to make the interesting bits with sightings in easier to find)
West Midlands Day Ranger, 12 September 2021
I'd known I'd be heading up to Birmingham for some months before the day actually happened. Family going to an event in Birmingham left me with the possibility of leaving later than they had on the Saturday and heading up there to meet them, so I did. The plan was to go up to Birmingham International on the Saturday, stay in a hotel overnight, and then return to Banbury the following morning.
However, upon looking at the GWR app, it turned out that there was a replacement bus service between Leamington Spa and Banbury - hardly the most enjoyable thing to do. What would normally be a forty-minute journey would become an hour's journey, probably longer - with forty minutes on what was likely to be an uncomfortable, slow, and boring coach (I think you can see I wasn't a big fan of this idea!). So, to avoid the extra twenty minutes, I thought, "It must be possible to go the 'long way around', i.e. going through Birmingham, down to Worcester, and down the Cotswold Line from there?"
So you can see that what was a simple there-and-back journey has become a more complicated affair already. Whilst looking at prices and times for trains up to Birmingham and down to Worcester, I realised this would give me a chance to do a couple of things I'd wanted to do for a while. One of these was the Stourbridge Town branch, and the other being a ride on a Class 323 (if possible). After planning the Stourbridge Town branch into my itinerary, I had a random thought to check whether a rover or ranger ticket might be available for the Birmingham area. I was in luck - the West Midlands Day Ranger was just what I needed!
After I'd decided to go for that ranger rather than the complicated system of individual tickets I'd planned, I started to plan a journey. The original plan involved a journey up to Crewe, down to Stourbridge, and then the Cross-City Line in there somewhere. However, by the Friday before the big weekend, I'd decided on a different plan involving a Class 68 as well as Stourbridge and the 323s. My plan was to head up to Smethwick Galton Bridge from Birmingham International on Sunday morning, before changing trains there and heading back into Birmingham Moor Street. I know I could have simply walked between New Street and Moor Street, but being able to change at Smethwick removed any problems arising from getting lost, etc. Plus - more trains!
I'd then wait at Moor Street for the 68, then head down to Leamington Spa before heading back up to Moor Street, then over to Stourbridge, do the branch there, and make my way back to New Street (via Smethwick Galton Bridge again
) to head down the Cross-City Line down to Bromsgrove and then Worcester. I'd then catch the train home to Kingham from there.
All seems like quite a simple plan really, doesn't it? It's quite basic, but looked fun. I asked on the forums about a week before the journey to see if there was any chance of a Class 68 appearing, and the answer was "probably not" due to the engineering works between Leamington and Banbury. So that meant a journey on a 168 - not bad (they're not bad trains in my opinion) - but not amazing.
Anyway. Enough of this rambling. Let's cut to the Saturday and go from there!
Got to Banbury with about ten minutes to spare, but I headed straight for the platforms. Whilst waiting for my train,
220025 and
220016 arrived, working 1O24 1527 Manchester Piccadilly - Bournemouth. 220025 wasn't a new sighting, but 220016 was, so that's not a bad start. It's been quite nice having these double-Voyager formations running through Banbury over the past year (I know they happened before 2020 but it's definitely increased in the year since) - makes it twice as easy to spot them all!
My train, 1M62 1547 Bournemouth - Manchester Piccadilly, arrived, with
221136 and
220009 providing the traction. 221136 wasn't a new sighting, and neither was 220009 for that matter. I boarded 221136 and went looking for a seat. It was one of those situations where the train wasn't full, but there was someone sat in every pair of, or set of four, seats; I didn't really want to go up to someone and ask them to move so I stood in the vestibule area for the journey. Not amazing, but the alternative was walking all the way down the unit for a seat and having to walk back.
This was the first CrossCountry train I'd been on, and I must say, it was a nice journey. Standing wasn't the best situation, but I didn't really mind. The best bit about going on the train for me is just being on the train, so I wasn't fussy! The only slightly-less-good bit was at Coventry, when a group of rather loud football fans got on. They took a while to move down the carriage but after they did, I was back to having 'my' bit to myself. Lovely.
The train got into Birmingham International only a few minutes late due to being held at Leamington Spa, and I suddenly realised I had no idea where I was going! I ended up following the stream of people who were also getting off the train up some stairs and ended up right by the ticket barriers. Went through them and met family members on the other side.
I expect there'll be plenty of people to disagree with me, but I think Birmingham International's quite nice in a way. That might be because I was arriving there on a Saturday evening, and it was very quiet after the passengers from my train had dispersed, but the high ceilings and spacious floorplan really are worlds away from what I've spent time at in Oxford!
Before leaving the station, I bought the ranger and ticket for Worcester to Kingham for the Sunday - I hadn't bought them at Banbury because I was conscious of the time.
So that's Saturday covered. One thing I forgot to mention was seeing
390047 outside Coventry, working 9M57 168 Preston - London Euston. A 'winner' for me as I've only seen a handful of Pendolinos. I also saw
390006 working 9P95 1743 London Euston to Preston - again, another winner.
No photos from the trains on Saturday, apart from this one of Birmingham International station itself:
Now we move onto Sunday. The day seemed to be getting off to a bad start before it had even really begun as when I looked at RTT that morning, it showed my train had been cancelled between Coventry and Rugby. I didn't read this properly, and thought it had said my train was cancelled entirely - silly I know!
Anyway: so I ended up looking for another train to take me into Birmingham. This ended up being quite lucky and interesting in a way - the new train I ended up on was actually the train I would catch to get from Birmingham New Street to Smethwick Galton Bridge. It was 1J13 0951 Birmingham International - Machynlleth, and was worked by two 158s on the day - namely
158827 and
158828 - both winners. Whilst waiting for them to turn up, I saw
350246 (2Y21 0902 Coventry - Birmingham New Street),
350266+350254 (I think at least one of these worked 5H03 0918 Birmingham International - Birmingham New Street),
350249+350101 (2Y06 0914 Birmingham New Street - London Euston) and, having boarded my train,
390005 (1B04 0905 Wolverhampton - London Euston). All of these were winners.
This pair of 158s was a pair of firsts for me. They were the first 158s I've been on, and it was the first Transport for Wales service I've been on too. The seats were actually quite comfortable, with plenty of legroom, which was good. The only problem was at New Street, when the cold air from the platforms came onto the train.
At New Street, I saw
390152 (1S50 1020 Birmingham New Street - Edinburgh), and
221121+220027 (1H26 1001 Birmingham New Street - Manchester Piccadilly). The 390 was a winner but the Voyagers weren't.
Speaking of New Street, it was here that the day started to change. We were late leaving, and my already tight connection at Smethwick Galton Bridge had suddenly become almost impossible. Couple to that someone asking me which train it was as I alighted (to be fair, they didn't know I was in a hurry), and then my lack of knowledge about how to get around that bizarre station, and you get a missed connection.
So - I've found myself at Smethwick Galton Bridge, having missed my train, and without a plan. I know I want to do Stourbridge, so I find the next train heading that way and board it - not before watching the train I supposed to be running in front of, 1H25 1000 Kidderminster - Leamington Spa, worked by
168113. It was quite funny to see the train I was originally supposed to be going for slowly working its way around the curve at the end of the platform!
The train I boarded to get to Stourbridge was 2V02 0927 Stratford-upon-Avon - Great Malvern, worked by
172336 (a winner). As we approached Stourbridge Junction, I noticed
68010,
68011, and
168109 in the sidings - 68011 was the only winner there. Having changed over to the right platform for the Stourbridge shuttle, I noticed
172344 on 2S06 1014 Great Malvern - Stratford-upon-Avon (a winner, and one which I'd see later on).
139002 (winner) arrived, and I must say that I think these are some of the best little units on the railway. Cute, bouncy, and just overall fun to ride on, they provided a good journey to Stourbridge Town and back. I think I even got to see George the Stourbridge Junction cat.
After that little bounce around, I saw
172219 (2C02 1126 Stourbridge Junction - Dorridge) and boarded it. It wasn't a winner, as I'd seen it before at Worcester Shrub Hill. I went over to Birmingham Moor Street, with the intention of heading down to Leamington Spa on a 168 to kill some time. The service was at the platform, in the form of
168002 (1H33 1237 Birmingham Moor Street - Leamington Spa), but I had a good twenty or so minutes before it left, so I popped over to WHSmith for something to eat.
Birmingham Moor Street is an absolutely wonderful station, but it's not a very nice place to be when you're struggling to find your ticket! My ranger was one of these larger paper things, and I was struggling to find it in my camera bag (which I had put all sorts in so as to not carry two bags). I was just about to buy another one at the booking office as I found it, and headed back through the barriers and onto the train. Hardly a nice experience!
The train was silent when I boarded. There were a couple of other people onboard but very few otherwise. I must admit to wondering whether I was in first class - and even looking up whether 168s had first class at all - because it was so nice. The seats were comfy, the tables were big, and they even had easy-to-reach power sockets. As the departure time approached, more and more people got on, and the area developed more and more of a smelly food smell - so I 'bailed' at Solihull and headed back into Birmingham. At least I can say I've had a ride on 168002 I guess!
On my journey out of Moor Street, I noticed
168110 in a siding outside the station. Not a winner.
At Solihull, I planned out the rest of my day. I'd end up sticking to this plan for the rest of the day, and it was quite good fun.
The idea was to head back up to Moor Street, go over to Smethwick, head back to New Street, and then go down to Bromsgrove. From there, I'd catch another train down to Worcester, and then go home from there.
The train back to Moor Street was
168214 (1R24 1231 Leamington Spa - Birmingham Moor Street). The unit over to Smethwick was
172220+172344 (2V08 1227 Stratford-upon-Avon - Worcester Foregate Street - see, I told you it would be coming up later!). After working out where to go to get to the right platform at Smethwick, I was on the platform with plenty of time and even got to see
221110 - my first AWC Voyager - on 5J53 1302 Barton Under Needword RSMD - Shrewsbury.
The train for New Street arrived in the form of
350237 (2A21 1322 Wolverhampton - Birmingham New Street). When I got to New Street, it was a much quicker change for the Cross-City Line than I'd been expecting. Up and over on the footbridge at one end and that was it! Onto
323218 (2O22 1403 Birmingham New Street - Bromsgrove - winner), from which I saw
221126 (1S47 1027 Plymouth - Glasgow Central - not a winner), and
172214+172218 (1V24 1400 Birmingham New Street - Hereford - winners which will be coming up again later!).
The train was a bit late in leaving New Street owing to a trespasser in the "New Street area", but we were out of the station a couple of minutes after that announcement.
Heading down the Cross-City Line, I saw
220006 (1M45 1049 Paignton - Birmingham New Street - winner, and another unit which will make another appearance) at University,
170103 (1M99 1245 Cardiff Central - Nottingham - winner) at Barnt Green, and then we were at Bromsgrove.
Bromsgrove was a bit more windswept than I was expecting, but still an alright station. Whilst there, I saw:
- 43239+43303 (1V56 0908 Edinburgh - Plymouth) - both winners, and my first XC HST!
- 170114+170116 (1V06 1316 Nottingham - Cardiff Central) - both winners
- 172004 (1M12 1402 Hereford - Birmingham New Street) - another unit which we'll see again
- 67023+67027 (070O 1340 Derby RTC - Westbury Up TC) - neither winners, as I'd seen them a month or so before at Kingham
My train turned up in the form of
170506 (1V25 1500 Birmingham New Street - Hereford). This is one of the units currently with WMR but in EMR purple, so to be able to not only see it but also ride on it - probably for the only time in this area - was great. Interesting how the service was operated by WMR, using an EMR-liveried unit, with a London Midland interior!
Just outside Bromsgrove, I saw
170636 (1M67 1345 Cardiff Central - Nottingham) and
220006 (1V57 1442 Birmingham New Street - Paignton).
My plan had been to carry on on 170506 to Great Malvern, but the train was terminated at Worcester Shrub Hill due to lack of crew or similar. As we approached the station, I noticed
172102 in the sidings; not a winner unfortunately but nice to see it. I spent a while sat on the platform, and watched
166218 (2T43 1547 Worcester Foregate Street - Bristol Temple Meads - winner), complete with what looked like a crack on the front arrive and depart, before
800314 (1W03 1345 London Paddington - Hereford) turned up. I'd not noticed this service when looking on RTT, but it would allow me to not only kill some time whilst waiting for my train home, but also to see Great Malvern properly. I'd seen it from the train window a couple of years ago, but not since.
So I jumped on that, and headed over to Great Malvern, where I saw
172214+172218 (1M14 1554 Hereford - Birmingham New Street - neither were winners now after seeing them at New Street). My train home was
800022 (1P73 1658 Great Malvern - London Paddington), which I rode all the way down to Kingham. At Malvern Link, I saw
172004 (1V26 1600 Birmingham New Street - Hereford) again, and then
800018 (1W04 1546 London Paddington - Hereford), although I didn't make a note of the location. (The way I find out which units were on services I didn't note the number for is to make a note of the service, and then ask on the forums afterwards - but this means I lose the information about where I saw the particular unit. There's a list at the end of this post of the other various units I saw but don't know the location for).
And that's that! A lovely day spent out-and-about, doing some lines I've always wanted to do. Hopefully you found it interesting - if you did, I might make a quick report about my Didcot journey earlier on in August.
Now - as I mentioned above, there are some sightings from Sunday where I've got the number and service, but not the location. Here's a list of those, just for completeness:
- 323220+323243 - 2P06 0927 Redditch - Litchfield Trent Valley (winners)
- 172003+172007 - 2C04 1226 Stourbridge Junction - Dorridge (winners)
- 323209+323241 - 2P22 1327 Redditch - Litchfield Trent Valley (winners)
- 323203+323212 - 2G23 1342 Bromsgrove - Birmingham New Street (winners)
- 323204 - 2P24 1357 Redditch - Litchfield Trent Valley (winner)
- 800004 - 1P69 1531 Hereford - London Paddington (not a winner)
- 800010 - 1W47 1446 London Paddington - Great Malvern (not a winner)
Thanks very much for reading. This has taken quite a while to put together so I hope it's somewhat coherent
I'll post more pictures in following posts.
-Peter