Thought I would share my recent trip to London, Newquay and Wakefield with you all. I don't jot down locomotive or unit numbers but I hope you enjoy it.
It all started on the 01/07/13 at Poole departing on the 16.07 service to London Waterloo which was 3 minutes down at Poole. The usual 444 EMU did the honours and I sat down in my first class seat. The trip to London was quite uneventful saw the usual class 08, 66 and 70's just before we got to Southampton. A couple of class 73's were seen at Eastleigh along with a few class 66 just past Eastleigh.
I soon arrived into London with the usual EMU's seen at Waterloo (class 444, 450, 455 and 458's). Had to travel to Queensway so got the Jubilee Line to Bond Street and Central Line to Queensway. I booked tickets to the Icebar (which I highly recommend) so back on the Central Line to Oxford Circus. I ended up by Tottenham Court Road so back on the Central Line once again.
Day 2 started with a trip to Newquay. I decided to walk to Paddington early to make full use of the first class lounge at Paddington. Was well worth the early start as the louge is very nice with complimentary refreshments freshly being bought out by the host twice whilst I was there. The usual array of HST's were at Paddington. I was booked on the 10.06 Penzance train as far as Par. The service was very busy in first class and the hosts soon came around offering drinks and snacks. We were around 6 minutes late departing Reading after being held outside for several minutes. I haven't been to Reading for several years and can't believe the transformation. Off we went down the Berks and Hants line and after a few drinks on the train we were soon at Exeter St. Davids around 3 minutes down due to once again waiting outside for a platform. There was a class 150 DMU waiting at Exeter ona local service but other than that seemed quite quiet. We soon departed and after around an hour found myself in Plymouth around 3 minutes but the train seemed to wait there ages before leaving (Is this normal at Plymouth?) Once again we left and on the final approach to Par where I left the train and crossed the platform for the local Class 150 to Newquay.
Day 4 of my trip started on the 10.13 class 150 service to Par the trip was uneventful on the branch line and found myself soon at Par ready for the cross platform transfer for the 11.07 HST service to London Paddington. The HST soon arrived and we were on our way. It was quite an uneventful journey and soon found myself at Paddington once again ready for the trip on the Circle Line service to Kings Cross St. Pancras. I was booked on the 16.05 service to Wakefield Westgate which produced a HST. I was quite surprised it was not a class 91. There was a class 67 on the blocks on the way out of Kings Cross. I decided to have a hours kip and woke up at Doncaster, 15 odd minutes we were in Wakefield where I departed.
Day 6 started at Wakefield Westgate waiting on the 10.16 service to Kings Cross which saw a class 91 in service. A class 91 on a Leeds service, a pacer on a local service and another pacer on a shunting move were seen at Wakefield before my service arrived on platform 1. Would be just my luck that the aircon wasn't working in coach E but there was free water handed out to passengers, this was warm though so the cold cans of lager I bought at the shop before I boarded proved very useful. Was soon at platform 1 at Kings Cross where the usual HST's and Class 91's were being prepared for service. I was then ready for the uncomfortable journey on the tube on the Piccadilly Line as far as Leicester Square to change to the Northern Line to Waterloo. I did this journey in 27 minutes and could of caught the 13.05 Southwest Trains service to Weymouth as far as Poole but decided to go to Sainsburys to pick up supplies so opted for the 13.35 instead. Soon I was leaving London on the Class 444 EMU. The train was held outside of Basingstoke and continued to be held up outside every station to Bournemouth. Apparently a delayed Crosscountry service from Manchester was to blame. Eastleigh soon arrived again going through non stop I noticed some class 57's (I presume) parked in the old Eastleigh Works (What are these doing there?). Bournemouth was soon upon us around 7 minutes late and I noticed the 15.22 10 coach London Waterloo service in platform 2 which hadn't departed yet which surprised me, the destination board app on my phone just said delayed, (Does anyone know why this was?) Another 14 minutes and I was back home in Poole after a brilliant holiday to some places I have never been. I hope you enjoyed my travels as much as I did. Sorry for any spelling or grammar error I typed this on my phone after a long day at work.
It all started on the 01/07/13 at Poole departing on the 16.07 service to London Waterloo which was 3 minutes down at Poole. The usual 444 EMU did the honours and I sat down in my first class seat. The trip to London was quite uneventful saw the usual class 08, 66 and 70's just before we got to Southampton. A couple of class 73's were seen at Eastleigh along with a few class 66 just past Eastleigh.
I soon arrived into London with the usual EMU's seen at Waterloo (class 444, 450, 455 and 458's). Had to travel to Queensway so got the Jubilee Line to Bond Street and Central Line to Queensway. I booked tickets to the Icebar (which I highly recommend) so back on the Central Line to Oxford Circus. I ended up by Tottenham Court Road so back on the Central Line once again.
Day 2 started with a trip to Newquay. I decided to walk to Paddington early to make full use of the first class lounge at Paddington. Was well worth the early start as the louge is very nice with complimentary refreshments freshly being bought out by the host twice whilst I was there. The usual array of HST's were at Paddington. I was booked on the 10.06 Penzance train as far as Par. The service was very busy in first class and the hosts soon came around offering drinks and snacks. We were around 6 minutes late departing Reading after being held outside for several minutes. I haven't been to Reading for several years and can't believe the transformation. Off we went down the Berks and Hants line and after a few drinks on the train we were soon at Exeter St. Davids around 3 minutes down due to once again waiting outside for a platform. There was a class 150 DMU waiting at Exeter ona local service but other than that seemed quite quiet. We soon departed and after around an hour found myself in Plymouth around 3 minutes but the train seemed to wait there ages before leaving (Is this normal at Plymouth?) Once again we left and on the final approach to Par where I left the train and crossed the platform for the local Class 150 to Newquay.
Day 4 of my trip started on the 10.13 class 150 service to Par the trip was uneventful on the branch line and found myself soon at Par ready for the cross platform transfer for the 11.07 HST service to London Paddington. The HST soon arrived and we were on our way. It was quite an uneventful journey and soon found myself at Paddington once again ready for the trip on the Circle Line service to Kings Cross St. Pancras. I was booked on the 16.05 service to Wakefield Westgate which produced a HST. I was quite surprised it was not a class 91. There was a class 67 on the blocks on the way out of Kings Cross. I decided to have a hours kip and woke up at Doncaster, 15 odd minutes we were in Wakefield where I departed.
Day 6 started at Wakefield Westgate waiting on the 10.16 service to Kings Cross which saw a class 91 in service. A class 91 on a Leeds service, a pacer on a local service and another pacer on a shunting move were seen at Wakefield before my service arrived on platform 1. Would be just my luck that the aircon wasn't working in coach E but there was free water handed out to passengers, this was warm though so the cold cans of lager I bought at the shop before I boarded proved very useful. Was soon at platform 1 at Kings Cross where the usual HST's and Class 91's were being prepared for service. I was then ready for the uncomfortable journey on the tube on the Piccadilly Line as far as Leicester Square to change to the Northern Line to Waterloo. I did this journey in 27 minutes and could of caught the 13.05 Southwest Trains service to Weymouth as far as Poole but decided to go to Sainsburys to pick up supplies so opted for the 13.35 instead. Soon I was leaving London on the Class 444 EMU. The train was held outside of Basingstoke and continued to be held up outside every station to Bournemouth. Apparently a delayed Crosscountry service from Manchester was to blame. Eastleigh soon arrived again going through non stop I noticed some class 57's (I presume) parked in the old Eastleigh Works (What are these doing there?). Bournemouth was soon upon us around 7 minutes late and I noticed the 15.22 10 coach London Waterloo service in platform 2 which hadn't departed yet which surprised me, the destination board app on my phone just said delayed, (Does anyone know why this was?) Another 14 minutes and I was back home in Poole after a brilliant holiday to some places I have never been. I hope you enjoyed my travels as much as I did. Sorry for any spelling or grammar error I typed this on my phone after a long day at work.
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