Rambling Roebuck... (Trip Reports)

[47403]

Top Read Mr Roebuck. Seemed like a canny day out on the Swindon and Crickdale Railway. I was even more shocked to hear that Rushton Shunter still exists. It was 97651 that was painted yellow and based at Gloucester? Sadly my memory fails me at the minute. Maybe it was 97653, I cant remember. plenty action for the red pen to be drawn in anger over the day too.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

03/07/2022 - Beyond the Boundaries


Being a Sunday, this was a later start. With Spoons being mediocre, I tried breakfast at Costa at Swindon Hauptbahnhof. And was pleasantly surprised - tasty sausage butty of decent quality, decent coffee.


My plans involved arriving at Taunton in time for the 11:08 'bus, so I had limited wiggle-room. A consultation with RTT whilst sat in the sun outside the Hauptbahnhof produced rather a good couple of hours.


First up was winner 802009, taken through all the way to Bridgewater. Here I doubled back, with dud 43022 and winner 43029 to a cheeky shack score at Highbridge and Burnham, then took winning pair 43005 + 43171 down to Taunton.


Outside for the bus here, and "47536" was the charabanc in question which took me to Bishops Lydeard. Here I had time for a wander round the station and museum, confirmed that the kettle on the other diagram was Odney Manor, which is a fine object but which I'd had previously in 1998 and therefore wasn't going to bother with, then went to drool over the beautiful and talented D7018, which was very much required, and was on the diesel diagram.


So I had a noisy and entertaining trip to the seaside and back again, through lovely scenery (including Wales across the Bristol Channel) and consuming a celebratory Classic Magnum at Minehead whilst the Hymek ran round.


From the sublime to the ridiculous next, as bus "47542" was 20 minutes late returning me to Taunton, putting the rest of the day's plans in jeopardy. These involved breaching the Event Horizon of the Septic and Solid Rover, and penetrating deepest, darkest Devonshire. I still had time, though, so went for it, purchasing the required return ticket.


Winning pair 802013+802018 took me competently to Exeter St Davids, then dud 166204 on the Barnstaple train took me most competently to a neat, tidy and obviously cared-for shack score at Crediton. Here, I waited 20 minutes for equally dud 150234, which did however score me both the required shack at Okehampton and the required track to reach it (great-auntie-penultimate bit of regular passenger track in England duly ticked off). The 150 then returned me safely to Exeter, where I considered my options again.


The first train northbound was winner 802105, and it would have been rude to refuse so a fast run was had to Tiverton Parkway. Coming up behind was another winner in 802102 which gave me the choice of a short leap to Taunton for the following Bristol train, or a plus 8 at Westbury for a pair of units coming up from Weymouth. The 802 was running to time, and I fancied a change so "went for it".


After turning right at Cogload Junction, I can confirm that the Fields of Athelney are indeed low lying, although no free birds were seen in flight on this occasion. Westbury was reached in darkness, but also in time for a connection to be made into winner/dud pair 165131+166216. These trundled me to Bath, and final winner
800309 on to Swindon.


A very pleasant day out…

 

[Techniquest]

Some beasty days out there, and good to see some positive reviews of the heritage line in Swindon. I have to confess, I keep forgetting it exists, but now I'll have to try and make a conscious effort to go and do it this year.

Also good to see you prefer the green IETs to the red ones!

 

[The_Train]

Some great reads there @D841 Roebuck and lots of red pen action to add to great days out!

 

[D841 Roebuck]

04/07/2022 - Wiggling my way Easterly by a convoluted route.


Monday started even later than Sunday, due to cheap singles from Swindon to Feltham not being valid until 10:30. So Breakfast at Costa was extended by a second coffee and soaking up the rays outside Swindon Station.


First eastbound train once my ticket was valid was formed of winner 800304, which ran me down to Reading. I had originally thought of walking through Windsor, but there were a couple of winners out on the Wokingham route, so I took winner 165116 as far as Wokingham on a Redhill Service, then dropped back for the following Waterloo service with winning 455860 and dud 455715.


At Feltham I bought a Travelcard, then took dud pair 458530+458504 to Clapham Junction via the Hounslow loop, as a need to get rid of some excess coffee took priority over hanging around for a winner! At the junction, I was originally aiming Croydon-wards, but the train was delayed. I also hadn't factored in yesterday that buying four cheap paperbacks from the second hand store at Bishops Lydeard meant I had to carry them round today. So I headed for my new Travelodge in the Docklands, but by a convoluted route designed to get me there after 3pm.


I therefore caught the first train into Victoria, which was duds 377703+377620, then went downstairs for a cut and cover dabble. This involved winners 21455/456 to Sloane Square, duds 21523/524 to South Kensington, winners 21515/516 to Gloucester Road and finally winners 21399/400 to Paddington.


I wandered around here, and eventually found the Liz Line, and some expensively cavernous new track. I took winner 345004 to Farringdon, winner 345047 to Whitechapel and finally winner 345062 to an entirely new shack at Custom House. Changing to the Docklands railway here, nice winning trio 076+083+015 took me to my Trodge for the night which was near East India tramshack.


After settling in, having a brew and shedding my rucksack I ventured out again. Winner/dud/winner trio 081+022+068 took me back to Custom House, where I rejoined the Liz Line, taking winner 345069 to a totally new shack at Woolwich, then fellow winner 345035 to the end of the line at the non-Filton version of Abbey Wood.


I then caught dud pair 465189+465186 round via Slade Green to a required shack at Crayford, followed by dud/winner/winner trio 465020+465182+466017 through to London Bridge.


I had a few minutes to spare here, so I went round for a look at HMS Belfast (where I lost my camera in 1974) from the bank, then joined winner/dud pair 377460+377160 to Purley, where the latter was detached, and on to a new shack at Whyteleafe.


I had 50 minutes to get across to Upper Warlingham, which is less than 10 minutes away, so a beer stop was had here. Then another winner/dud pair in 377435+377209 through to East Grinstead, which was required track beyond Hurst Green.


The same pair ran me back down the hill to East Croydon, where I stepped back to join dud/winner pair 377107+377456 back into London Bridge. I then headed back to my temporary home, via winner 700049 back to Abbey Wood, winner 345026 to Custom House, and finally dud/winner/winner 059/011/025 to East India.


Another decent day…

 

[Techniquest]

An absolutely productive and mixed day, certainly you did well considering the late start

 

[Kite159]

A couple decent days

 

[D841 Roebuck]

05/07/2022. Going home the faintly ridiculous way.

I got up moderately early, checked out of the Trodge and then ambled down to the local Italian restaurant, which I'd spotted the previous night advertising that it did breakfasts. And it certainly did, absolutely top notch Full English!

Ambling down to the DLR, dudwinnerdud combo 120/142/129 took me to Poplar, winnerdudwinner trio 115/153/122 on to Westferry and winnerwinnerdud troika 032/040/067 to Canary Wharf. Here, I went underground, but of the full-sized variety, scored the Liz Line shack and the boarded a winning 345023 through to another shack score at Tottenham Court Road, then reversed myself on winner 345055 as far as the last unvisited and open Liz Line shack at Liverpool Street.

Or should it be called Moorgate? Being nearer the back of the train I interchanged to Great Northern territory there, hoping for an odds-on-winning 717. Not a chance, one of the two duds, 717009, was waiting to take me to Highbury & Islington, whence 11013/014, an equally dud Victoria Line pair took me to Tottenham Hale. Fortunately, these were the last duds for several hours!

Next up was a positioning move northwards on 720549 as far as Cheshunt, then sister 720558 took me through to a winning shack at Harlow Town. A change here to a Stansted service, which was surprisingly(?) formed of elderly winning duo 317338+317343 which took me up to a spot of new track - the branch to Stansted Airport. This of course was also a new shack, and a fairly bland and miserable one to boot. This is typical of airport shacks - neither Elmdon nor Ringway (to give them their proper names) are places to linger, either.

Salvation was at hand in the shape of a Norwich train, with 755420 becoming the first of its sub-class to fall to my red pen, via a winning piece of track round the East to North curve back out from Stansted Flughafen, and to a winning shack at Cambridge North. Next winners up were a pair,
387104+387114 all the way through to the end of the line at my final new shack of the day, the nice old building at Kings Lynn. This was literally the end of the line, as it cleared my non PSUL track in England. So I celebrated with chips at the local bus station. (If I had any sense, for which I'm not noted, I'd have baled out of here on the 'bus to St Petersbog, but never thought of this at the time…)

Mind you, if I had baled out, I'd have missed the joys of winning pair 387204+387128 back to Ely. Here, I bought my four tickets home (single to Beeston, single thence to Long Eaton, Derbyshire Wayfarer and single from New Mills Central to Rochdale). These cost less than a single straight through, but more than a simple split at Nottingham. However it promised more fun than that, especially as a somewhat poorly (and dud) 156422 was reported leaving Norwich 40 odd minutes late on the Norwich to Liverpool.

So instead I joined winner 755416 on the ex Ipswich service to St Petersbog, then, after a wait, winner 800105 up to Grantham, speedily, and then a race for which one came first between 156422 and dud 158846, which returned from the seaside at Skeg Vegas to win the reward of taking me to Nottingham. A quick change here and 170532 (not a winner because I'd had both parts as the ends of 170632) to Beeston Hauptbahnhof, then winner 170618 (because I'd not had 170518) through to Derby.

A delay here for a late running and rather scruffy winner in 222019 up to Sheffield, then 195124 over to Manchester on the stopper.

Down to the tram, and was wending my way over to Victoria when inspiration struck. It was now 22:40, the last train to Rochdale was at 23:30, and the Oyster Bar was (sort of) enroute. Time for a pint of Taddies, then a peaceful trundle homewards with 150113+150132.

And where next? All being well on Saturday I'll be having a little Day Ranger in West Yorks, hopefully grabbing some of the eight shacks I need there, and looking out for any winners. And I believe the Spa Valley railway are having a gala in August which ought to produce some nice older winners, and let me clear the English track again if I go via Barking Riverside!

 

[Techniquest]

Well done on (for now!) clearing all the non-PSUL track! Certainly fair to say you had a very mixed and productive day.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

06/08/2022. A couple of hours in Manchester.

After a morning in Stretford confirming my mediocrity at the monthly quiz grand prix (and having an embarrassing mental block on the name of famous sculptress Barbara Hepworth, my answer of "that lass from Leeds who went to school with my Grandad" being rightly deemed as unworthy of a point) I decided to go home via a winner-grabbing route. So I walked up to Trafford Park Station, and caught dud mixed pair 150119/156420 into Oxford Road.

There was time here to confirm my newly-found penchant for Costa's coffee and sausage butty, before the winner fest (as promised by Real Time Trains) commenced.

First up were 331002 plus dud 331006 on a short move to Piccadilly on an airport service. Twenty minutes of listening to the ranting safety announcements ("for if ye crosseth the red line, ye have done evil in the sight of the Lord, and will be beset by a plague of locusts") was more than enough, before winner 156414 (which I assumed was dud, but actually looked up this time and discovered I needed) plus dud 158866 turned up on a Norwich train, and took me to Stockport.

I had a choice here, and declined a winning 331 on the Hazel Grove service in favour of an equally required 769448 on a Southport service, which I took through to Salford Crescent.

This connected nicely with dud 150005 on a Rochdale stopper, so I went to Castleton for a couple of beers on the way home.

A decent day, keeps the red ink flowing.

Next week, some shunters are out to play at Rowsley. I'm aiming to be there for some trundlage!

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Doing a spot of pondering about the week between Christmas and New Year.

A North-West Rover seems reasonable - two days of it used to get to and from Carlisle, whilst the other two more locally.

The Carlisle trip would be part of getting too and from Edinburgh, getting there on Wed 28th about 2pm, going out and back to score the Tweedbank line, checking in at hotel, then going across to Glasgow C via Shotts for a chippy tea, then the 2105 back to Waverley via the suburban loop PSUL bit.

Thurs 29th is pencilled in for a trip to the Bo'ness and Kinneil Gala, then home again.

The other two days I'm also thinking about preserved railways, but in search of scoring mince pies rather than rare locos or new track. So I scouted the Web for likely suspects, and found three.

One is the ELR, but that is not much use with a Rail Rover, and is in any case walkable to (if energetic) or the wheels on the bus may go round and round, and can be done on Boxing Day.

The second is the KWVR, which I thoroughly like and would probably have a trip to anyway.

The third is a bit of a wildcard. Ravenglass. If the weather is dry and clear this would be rather hellfire, wet and windy it could be hell on earth. Plus, they've got a new loco since I last visited (Whillans Beck), whilst I've not sampled River Esk for over 40 years. Very, very tempted - and if the weather is bad I could use the rover on a trip to Leeds and back with 68s or 802s. Or even go to the football on Monday 2nd (Barrow v Rochdale)

Would welcome alternative suggestions, though.

 

[Kite159]

Just remember there is an overtime ban on that week so some services might get cancelled on the day.

But sounds like some good plans, the XC via the Sub is certainly an interesting route. Hopefully you can get somewhere reasonably priced in Edinburgh for a hotel

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Just remember there is an overtime ban on that week so some services might get cancelled on the day.

But sounds like some good plans, the XC via the Sub is certainly an interesting route. Hopefully you can get somewhere reasonably priced in Edinburgh for a hotel

Thanks for the tip re overtime bans.

And also - thanks for your "Potterings" blog, which is a source of inspiration for possible days out combining visiting a couple of new shacks linked by a walk along a waterway or other interesting path. Rufford and Croston via the canal towpath is an obvious one, and I'm looking at others...

 

[D841 Roebuck]

01/12/2022. Cheating!


It all started with waking up in the small hours, and checking Real Time Trains. I'd noticed that pairs of dogboxen had started working into Manchester from South Wales, and some had been required for trundlage. My 4am check on 01/12/22 suggested that such a pair were booked to come up early, and due out of Piccadilly at 10:31. Further potential moves and possible shack scores were identified, and a provisional plan made.


This involved breakfast at Spoons, so 8:15 am found me eating sausage and egg muffin and drinking coffee at the local branch, before tram 3110 took me up the hill to Rochdale Station.


Three car 158754 soon appeared on a Wigan train, and rolled me smoothly to Salford Crescent, passing a snoozing 09009 at Miles Platting.


Here, my first winner appeared as scheduled a few minutes later, winner 331021 and dud friend 331002 taken down to Piccadilly, passing what I think was 70017 (but might have been 70007) at Oxford Road.


At Piccadilly, the dog boxes unsurprisingly hadn't arrived yet, but weren't too far behind time. So I eventually joined the throng and squeezed aboard, with winning pair 153329+153369 supplying a reasonable amount of noise, possibly all the way to Crewe although I dozed off after passing 68022 at Longsight and didn't wake up until after Sandbach.


Next up were winner 153972, with dud 153323 on the shuttle to Chester, passing various defunct electrics at the shed and a couple of new units (197003 and 197024) enroute.


I had time here for a shack-scratching fill in move, so 150149+150141 were taken for a trip to Cuddington, which looks neat and well cared for, and has useful foot crossings rather than the modern day ugly footbridges a la Barnetby. 150148 soon disturbed the rural ish idyll to take me back to Chester, 60076 being passed enroute with its freight.


Next move was the other way, with oddly mixed pair of dud+winner 150258+158841 taking me down to Wrectum General, passing a couple more sight scores in 197008 and 197102 enroute.


The plan here was for a spot of 67 haulage back to Chester, but other winners were about so I eschewed the pleasures of dud 67012, instead enjoying up-from-the-valleys-and-on-its-jolleys winner 150281 in to Wrectal Catalogue and then back out to Shotton, for the traverse to the low level platforms.


(to be continued)

 

[railfan99]

03/07/2022 - Beyond the Boundaries

... then took winning pair 43005 + 43171 down to Taunton.


Outside for the bus here, and "47536" was the charabanc in question which took me to Bishops Lydeard. Here I had time for a wander round the station and museum, confirmed that the kettle on the other diagram was Odney Manor, which is a fine object but which I'd had previously in 1998 and therefore wasn't going to bother with, then went to drool over the beautiful and talented D7018, which was very much required, and was on the diesel diagram.


So I had a noisy and entertaining trip to the seaside and back again, through lovely scenery (including Wales across the Bristol Channel) and consuming a celebratory Classic Magnum at Minehead whilst the Hymek ran round.


From the sublime to the ridiculous next, as bus "47542" was 20 minutes late returning me to Taunton, putting the rest of the day's plans in jeopardy...

On my holiday from Australia, I too enjoyed travelling on the West Somerset Railway.

A contentious, subjective comment but of the heritage railways I've travelled on in England (eight IIRC), it's the winner.

Please travel on it to support it - a return fare at GBP30 may not be regarded by everyone as cheap, but it's the longest such example in the UK, and the scenery as noted above by my learned friend is attractive.

Who knows, 7828 'Odeny Manor' may be a winner for you as it was for me. (I also had modified design steam loco 9351).

 

[D841 Roebuck]

On my holiday from Australia, I too enjoyed travelling on the West Somerset Railway.

A contentious, subjective comment but of the heritage railways I've travelled on in England (eight IIRC), it's the winner.

Please travel on it to support it - a return fare at GBP30 may not be regarded by everyone as cheap, but it's the longest such example in the UK, and the scenery as noted above by my learned friend is attractive.

Who knows, 7828 'Odeny Manor' may be a winner for you as it was for me. (I also had modified design steam loco 9351).

I agree re the West Somerset being, all in all, the best for a full day out in England. If you only have time for a shorter run the KWVR is excellent, as are the Swanage and North Norfolk lines.

If you're slightly mad north-by-northwest, like me, the delightful whinsicality of the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch miniature line would also appeal...

 

[Techniquest]

I agree re the West Somerset being, all in all, the best for a full day out in England. If you only have time for a shorter run the KWVR is excellent, as are the Swanage and North Norfolk lines.

If you're slightly mad north-by-northwest, like me, the delightful whinsicality of the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch miniature line would also appeal...

Absolutely agreed with the RHDR, it's quite a quirky line and definitely worth doing

I haven't done the North Norfolk or KWVR, so I can't comment there but I don't remember a whole ton about the Swanage line. It can't have been that good!

West Somerset is definitely good, I haven't been in a long time but I hope to revisit eventually.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

01/12/22 (continued)

We left matters just after I'd walked downstairs at Shotton. 10 minutes or so later, dud 158834 led winner 158820 into the station, the pair taking me back to Chester. It then occurred to me to have a leap to Bache on 507004 on the off chance that 508122 (last one of the old Merseyrail stock I need) turned up on the return.

No chance this time with 507023 turning up, so it was off on duds 175005+175008 as far as a required shack at Helsby (another pleasant station with a fine old signal box) then dudboxen 153367+153935 back to Chester.

Bache bash 2 then happened, with equal lack of success (507007 out, 507009 back), then it was time for another new shack, but in the dark, with 150123 taking me to Greenbank.

The train back from here was a few minutes late, and a dull stay was not helped by a couple of youths persistently kicking their ball onto the track and retrieving it. A fellow passenger reported them to the BTP and I agreed to back him up if required, but heard nothing further until after dud 150137 partnered with required EMR exile 156402 had taken us all back to Chester. He then rang me to enquire where I was, which was halfway to Bache again, courtesy of 508112, and in no mood for idiot-herding.

Bache bash 3 was also a failure, with 507004 reappearing to return me to Chester, then my required train through to Manchester (and a meeting with a required unit at Piccadilly) was cancelled, so I hit Costa for a brew + butty, then joined 195111 on the next train to Leeds, which stopped on the way at Rochdale, intending to call it a day.

However, RTT showed a Newcastle TPE service a few minutes behind, so I bailed out for winner 802210 through to Manchester Victoria instead, called in for a couple of beers at the pub then had the joys of treble duds 159003+159019+159010 to take me to Rochdale, a kebab and home.

Not a bad day at all, in the end.


03/12/2022

A couple of days later, I had another trip - out and back to Trafford for my monthly quiz (finished towards the back of the field, as usual). As the 331 gods were aligning quite nicely according to RTT, I did some mucking about on the way back.

The gory details of the day were as follows:
Dud 195102 into Victoria.
Free bus to Oxford Rd, then156460 to Irlam.

Irlam has some old railway stuff on display, including veteran a Peckett saddle tank (works No.2027).

Dud pair 156427+156412 to Trafford (served only every two hours these days, with Northern blaming this on the Covid rather than the Boogie).

Quiz as above, then dud-for-48-hours 156402 plus 150149 to Oxford Rd

Winner/Dud 331024/331023 to Piccadilly.

Duds 331015/331012 back to Oxford Rd.

Double winners 331030/331028 to Piccadilly.

Winner/dud 331018/331017 to Salford Crescent.

Dud 150136 back to Rochdale.

The moral of the story is that bashing on a Saturday on the Castlefield corridor is even more unpleasant when Christmas Markets are on in Manchester…

 

[Kite159]

159s in Manchester, well I never

Hasn't Trafford Park (along with a few others on that line) been roughly 2 hourly for ages, even before Covid came around.

Agreed about Christmas markets bringing out lots of extra passengers, some might have even drunk a bit too much

 

[Techniquest]

I think the beers got to him a bit and he wrote 159 instead of 195

Certainly some productive times there, at some point I must return to Manchester for a serious red penning spree. Not in this horrenous weather mind!

 

[D841 Roebuck]

159s in Manchester, well I never

Hasn't Trafford Park (along with a few others on that line) been roughly 2 hourly for ages, even before Covid came around.

Agreed about Christmas markets bringing out lots of extra passengers, some might have even drunk a bit too much

I think the beers got to him a bit and he wrote 159 instead of 195

Certainly some productive times there, at some point I must return to Manchester for a serious red penning spree. Not in this horrenous weather mind!

Yeah, OK, they were 195s...

Although I have travelled on all the 159/1s (apart from 101) in the Manchester area years ago when they were numbered 1588xx

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Doing a spot of pondering about the week between Christmas and New Year.

A North-West Rover seems reasonable - two days of it used to get to and from Carlisle, whilst the other two more locally.

The Carlisle trip would be part of getting too and from Edinburgh, getting there on Wed 28th about 2pm, going out and back to score the Tweedbank line, checking in at hotel, then going across to Glasgow C via Shotts for a chippy tea, then the 2105 back to Waverley via the suburban loop PSUL bit.

Thurs 29th is pencilled in for a trip to the Bo'ness and Kinneil Gala, then home again.

The other two days I'm also thinking about preserved railways, but in search of scoring mince pies rather than rare locos or new track. So I scouted the Web for likely suspects, and found three.

One is the ELR, but that is not much use with a Rail Rover, and is in any case walkable to (if energetic) or the wheels on the bus may go round and round, and can be done on Boxing Day.

The second is the KWVR, which I thoroughly like and would probably have a trip to anyway.

The third is a bit of a wildcard. Ravenglass. If the weather is dry and clear this would be rather hellfire, wet and windy it could be hell on earth. Plus, they've got a new loco since I last visited (Whillans Beck), whilst I've not sampled River Esk for over 40 years. Very, very tempted - and if the weather is bad I could use the rover on a trip to Leeds and back with 68s or 802s. Or even go to the football on Monday 2nd (Barrow v Rochdale)

Would welcome alternative suggestions, though.

Plans firmed up a bit for next week, now that the actual days trains are running seem to have settled down.

The current version of the plan is:
Mon 26th: Mince pies at the ELR.
Wed 28th: Cheap Trodge sourced in Glasgow that night, so a trip up, probably via Dumfries cos there's a nice connection at Carlisle and I've not been that way for years, book in and dump bag, maybe a bit of unit hunting in the roundabout area, possibly a run to Edinburgh via the sub line if the PSUL service is running (and the train back is running!)
Thurs 29th - to Linlithgow for a bus to the Bo'ness Gala, then home
Friday 30th - use 3rd day of Rover to get to Keighley, for another mince pie.
Sunday 1st - More mince pies at the ELR
Monday 2nd - finish off the rover, see what's running and chase the odd winner...

 

[xotGD]

That looks like an excellent plan.

A nice combination of the old and the new. And mince pies!

 

[D841 Roebuck]

That looks like an excellent plan.

A nice combination of the old and the new. And mince pies!

I'm actually not that fond of sweet mince, but I was having a look at the various locos rostered for the services, and 5643 (ELR Mon 26th), 45212 (KWVR Fri 30th) and 34092 (ELR Mon 1st) are all required for haulage...

 

[xotGD]

I'm actually not that fond of sweet mince, but I was having a look at the various locos rostered for the services, and 5643 (ELR Mon 26th), 45212 (KWVR Fri 30th) and 34092 (ELR Mon 1st) are all required for haulage...

I can't get enough mince pies -I've been eating them since early November!

I wouldn't have minded going to Bo'ness, since 37025 is required. Maybe in the summer, or perhaps it might head south for a gala in Yorkshire or Lancashire.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

I can't get enough mince pies -I've been eating them since early November!

I wouldn't have minded going to Bo'ness, since 37025 is required. Maybe in the summer, or perhaps it might head south for a gala in Yorkshire or Lancashire.

37025 scored on 21/06/85 from Achnasheen to Dingwall

37403 scored on 01/08/87 (Glasgow QS to Dumbarton)

47643 scored on 29/04/06 at Bo'ness (my only previous visit)

However I ought to score something at Bo'ness next week as none of the four 60's I've sampled previously belong to GBRF...

 

[NorthWestRover]

37025 scored on Tuesday 16th August 1983 from Georgemas Junction to Thurso and return.

Pretty cool day all round - 37114 from Inverness to Georgemas Junction and back. 37261 Inverness to Garve and 37035 back. Then 26043/037 and 26042/034 from Inverness to Keith and back. Unfortunately, day topped and tailed with Duffs 511 and 555 (aaaggghh!) overnight on the Highland Main Line North and South respectively.

 

[xotGD]

I know that 37025 was easy to get, but it never appeared when I was up North.

I tried to get it when it was working the Rhymney line, but was bowled out. I arrived in Cardiff to be told that it had failed earlier that day and both loco hauled diagrams were worked by Pacers. Annoyingly, I had delayed my trip by 24 hours for a work commitment that ended up being cancelled.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

I know that 37025 was easy to get, but it never appeared when I was up North.

I tried to get it when it was working the Rhymney line, but was bowled out. I arrived in Cardiff to be told that it had failed earlier that day and both loco hauled diagrams were worked by Pacers. Annoyingly, I had delayed my trip by 24 hours for a work commitment that ended up being cancelled.

Oof. That's poor luck...

In July 1998, I was on holiday in Devon. Sneaked out to Paignton and Exeter a couple of times, and 025 appeared to have gravitated down there on its jollies as well, appearing randomly with short goods workings. Apparently during its spell down there it managed to be called up to rescue a broken HST, which it dragged into Penzance - making it AFAIK the only loco to have worked Service (not Special) trains into both Penzance and Thurso

(158741 was also down in the SW on loan for a bit, and shares the same distinction, but cannot claim to be a loco)

 

[D841 Roebuck]

55y
27/12/22 - The Red Pen Twitches Into Life

24 hours later than planned (it was raining hard in Rochdale on Boxing Day) I finally ventured out, strolling into town and boarding the 'bus to Bury. (Memo to bus driver - the USB thingies for phone recharging at your seat work better when switched on.) Strolling thro arrived at Bolton Street, where a quick glance into the station confirmed that the rostered engine was there.

I fought my way in past the detritus of Santa's Groto, and found a seat at the front of the train. A six coach rake of Mark 1s provided a decent load for ex-GWR
tank 5643, which dealt with them extremely competently on its run up to Rawtenstall (during which I dealt extremely competently with my complementary mince pie, which was well filled and tasty).

I ventured out into the drizzle to watch the loco run round and have a drink, then settled back in the new front coach for the run back down to Bury and then a pretty entertaining run up the bank to Heywood, with the loco making plenty of noise and working hard.

I'd checked my phone and realised that it made sense to leave here and jump on a bus back to Rochdale, the walk down the road to the bus stop being enlivened by a fox trotting across the road just in front of me.

Then a swift bus ride back to Rochdale and a pub lunch of Rag Pudding, Chips and Peas, accompanied by a chocolate-and-coconut flavoured stout (new beer scored, although I don't bother recording them). Then deja-vu set in with a vengeance, with three fellow passengers from the ELR coming into the pub for food and, ten minutes or so later, me calling in a local shop for some coffee and running into two separate groups of people who had joined the bus back from Heywood after me.

A pleasant half-day out, a nice winning loco and decent grub.