SuperLuke2334's trip reports!

[Techniquest]

Despite things going pear-shaped, clearly it was a good time It sounds odd to me that someone experienced their first HST on the SVR, but a good way to try one Best sampled at full power at 125mph of course, but that's not really an option these days for most people!

Hopefully your Cardiff trip will go a bit more smoothly!

 

[SuperLuke2334]

I know, it's a bit mad isn't it! I don't know how I managed to avoid HSTs despite seeing them a lot!!

Cardiff trip has already happened.... just haven't had time to write up yet. That was jolly good day though too!

 

[Kite159]

At least you can still sample a HST in Scotland when the XC ones disappear and GWR examples are on stopping services

 

[SuperLuke2334]

That's very true, however it'll be a while before I get up there! I've got an idea of how to try them... but ill have to see!

 

[Techniquest]

I know, it's a bit mad isn't it! I don't know how I managed to avoid HSTs despite seeing them a lot!!

Cardiff trip has already happened.... just haven't had time to write up yet. That was jolly good day though too!

Ah fair enough, I read it as Cardiff was happening on this coming Friday. I might be down that way on Friday myself, depending upon what else happens in the meantime. A return to Manchester and its velodrome is mighty tempting after all!

 

[SuperLuke2334]

Ah fair enough, I read it as Cardiff was happening on this coming Friday. I might be down that way on Friday myself, depending upon what else happens in the meantime. A return to Manchester and its velodrome is mighty tempting after all!

I reckon you'll beat me on the 231s now, I've been beaten by a Tfw driver I know, and my quest didn't go all that successfully the other day!

 

[Techniquest]

I reckon you'll beat me on the 231s now, I've been beaten by a Tfw driver I know, and my quest didn't go all that successfully the other day!

That depends if I go after them or not! Friday has the possibility of combining my last 2 231s with a load of active travel, but I'm still deciding on that yet. I've got a craving to do some more velo riding, but all will be revealed on Friday night/Saturday. Not even I know what I'm doing yet, and I have plenty of ideas floating around!

 

[SuperLuke2334]

That depends if I go after them or not! Friday has the possibility of combining my last 2 231s with a load of active travel, but I'm still deciding on that yet. I've got a craving to do some more velo riding, but all will be revealed on Friday night/Saturday. Not even I know what I'm doing yet, and I have plenty of ideas floating around!

Well I don't intend on going down to Cardiff again this year, so I'll be trying my best to get them next year.

I do imagine you'll beat me still!

 

[SuperLuke2334]

And I am back again! The last trip report of the summer...

4/9/23 - Cardiff Valleys Part 2! And Cardiff doesn't want to get rid of me....

Thankfully this trip wasn't an early start....

When I go down to Cardiff, I usually get the 0902 off Hereford as it's a quiet train and Mk4! However, I was speaking to a driver I know... who said he was driving the 0945... so I wasn't going to miss an opportunity! 175105 was my chariot to Cardiff, so absolutely brilliant to have a good long last ride on the units. Having paid just under £2 extra for the ticket for that train, I rode that all the way down to Cardiff Central, where I alighted and had a good chat with the driver. (If the driver in question reads this, thanks very much ).

Arriving in Cardiff at around 10.55, a few minutes late due to being held at Newport, I went and caught the 1110 towards Barry Island, alighting at Barry to grab some photos of the 756s. I then hopped on the next service down to Barry Island, where we had a quick wander and my friend picked up some lunch. We then took the 1226 Barry Island to Pontypridd, as far as Cardiff Central, however it ran late and we missed our connection onto a 231 up to Gilfach Fargoed... so we changed the plan. (Yes, I know, 2nd trip in a row where the plan has changed!!!)

We caught the 1316 to Rhymney, formed of 231003, which was very welcome, as it had been excessively warm on the 150s. We took this all the way to Rhymney, and back to Hengoed, for a nice run of a FLIRT up the valley. A quick wander to the nearby Hengoed viaduct was most welcome, as the scenery was amazing. Heading back to the station, we noted 231005 heading south, yet another need, so we hopped on that to Ystrad Mynach.

Here we waited for 150241 to take us to Gilfach Fargoed. Yes, I know we went here last time, but I'd figured that at this time we could wait half an hour and have the novelty of getting a southbound train! They only run northbound off-peak, so getting a southbound was nice. I do think the driver of 231004 recognised us from last time, as she gave us some nice toots of the horn! We decided to take this to Heath High Level, as earlier, RTT said 231002 (another need) was following it. However much to our dismay... 231005 turns up again!!!! Turns out it got swapped at Cardiff on the last service for some reason.... That was annoying as it meant I only ticked off 2 more 231 needs!!

We had an hour in Cardiff then, which meant getting some food. Food acquired... we headed back to the station to find that my train, the 1825 to Chester, was showing as delayed.... There had been some earlier signalling problems at Hereford and Crewe, which had severely disrupted crew and trains. Minutes later... you guessed it... cancelled! 2nd time I try and get a 197 home from Cardiff, 2nd time cancelled! I will get it some day!!

Due to the disruption, the 1855 Cardiff - Manchester was starting from Newport, so I quickly hopped on a TfW 170 to Newport (thankfully new haulage!!), and then picked up 67015 and HD01 at Newport. Not too dismayed as 67015 was required, and 197002 wasn't, but still would have been nice to have the 197. I got back to Hereford at about 2010.

So once again a lovely trip, I ticked off a few more things, and missed out on a few, but these things come with the hobby don't they!

I'll attach a few photos down below from the trip... and there are a few videos from my trips over on my YouTube channel, under the same name as this RF profile!

As always, thanks for reading, and I will see you in the next one... whenever that may be!

 

[Techniquest]

A shame that it didn't exactly go to plan, but it sure looked like you had fun I've also been to Cardiff this week, I wasn't planning to do so today but I will explain all in my own trip report thread

Good call on going for that 175, given you may not get another chance. I'm hoping I will have another good long journey or two on 175s, but that's all to play for in the coming weeks

You'd have had a 175 on the 0902 today, vice MK4 set, so it's a good thing you weren't booked on it today!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Sounds like you've been busy in Wales Luke, good for you I need to do another 175 Milford run before they go, I think. Last time I tried, I failed to get an excess on my Swansea ticket, was told to get one from the guard boarding at Llanelli, and then Lloyds Bank alerted me to fraud on my card, froze the card, and the guard turfed me off at Whitland!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

You'd have had a 175 on the 0902 today, vice MK4 set, so it's a good thing you weren't booked on it today!

I personally prefer them, so I'd have gladly taken his place

 

[SuperLuke2334]

Sounds like you've been busy in Wales Luke, good for you I need to do another 175 Milford run before they go, I think. Last time I tried, I failed to get an excess on my Swansea ticket, was told to get one from the guard boarding at Llanelli, and then Lloyds Bank alerted me to fraud on my card, froze the card, and the guard turfed me off at Whitland!

Wales is definitely an interesting country and I do love travelling around it. I haven't been west of Chester though so that's definitely on the to-do list!!

Just a shame the 231s quest didn't go entirely to plan... if they were all out I'd have gone to try and get them all!

 

[SuperLuke2334]

New trip report coming soon.... not too exciting, but its something!

 

[SuperLuke2334]

Well I am back... here's 2 notable events, big one later on.

26/9/23 - The adventures of the Single Line Hereford - Leominster

This one was decided on the spur of the moment. Back in September, there was engineering work on the Marches between Hereford and Leominster, and in the final week, they were single line running from Moreton-on-Lugg to Leominster... so I thought I'd run off in a break in college to get that ticked off! Getting the 1135 off Hereford, we headed north, running normally until Moreton-on-Lugg. Passing the level crossing, we stopped just after the crossover, where the driver swapped ends, and the pilotmen joined the train at the rear. We then reversed over the crossover, back over the crossing again and the crew changed ends a 2nd time. After what seemed like an eternity, we moved off in the correct direction, just on the wrong track. The line speed wrong-line was 50mph. We slowed for Marden AHB crossing, as it was being worked manually by NR. It was then fairly normal to Leominster, albeit much slower than usual, and very odd not travelling on the correct track! The return train was very normal, with the slow for Marden again, and stopping briefly at Moreton-on-Lugg once again to drop off the pilotmen. Well worth doing for potentially a once in a lifetime opportunity!

24/10/23 - All of the TfW 67s had for haulage!

Another decision on the spur of the moment... albeit I knew it would be coming my way. 67022 had been out of service for months, and being my last for haulage, I knew that I just had to go and pick it up. It was due to be on 1W19, but in order to catch it, I had to go down to Abergavenny to pick it up to be back to college in time. 197104 on the delayed 1V94 was my chariot down to Abergavenny, and new haulage too! I had just over half an hour to wait, but it did finally turn up, and it was fabulous to finally say I had had all of the TfW 67s for haulage!

 

[Techniquest]

Congratulations on getting the TfW 67s cleared, it's been a long wait for 67022! I think my mileage on it is just Solihull to Birmingham Moor Street, but it's been so long since I scored it that I'm wondering if maybe I had it on FGW Taunton stoppers/Weymouth summer extras way back then. Good gravy that's some nostalgia, let's not go there right now!

I too did the single line working thing through Dinmore Tunnels, I probably won't get to do it again either!

 

[SuperLuke2334]

Congratulations on getting the TfW 67s cleared, it's been a long wait for 67022! I think my mileage on it is just Solihull to Birmingham Moor Street, but it's been so long since I scored it that I'm wondering if maybe I had it on FGW Taunton stoppers/Weymouth summer extras way back then. Good gravy that's some nostalgia, let's not go there right now!

I too did the single line working thing through Dinmore Tunnels, I probably won't get to do it again either!

Thanks .

I'll do my trip report from yesterday later on.

 

[SuperLuke2334]

Later on appears to be over 2 weeks in my books !

1/11/23 - Exploring the Newport to Bristol area!

This is going to be a fairly short trip report.

I was intending to catch the 0902 from Hereford to get down to Newport to meet up with a friend, however the 0849 was running late, so I hopped on that to ensure I didn't miss my Newport connection.

The plan was to hop off at Severn Tunnel Junction, Patchway, Filton Abbey Wood, on the way to Bristol Temple Meads, spending an hour at each of the intermediate stations.

Arrival into Newport was over 15 minutes late at 0955. We hopped on the 1014 to Severn Tunnel Junction, formed of 800036. I must say, this station has got a ton of variety for passenger and freight, having seen RHTT trains, 756s on test and many other passenger trains!

We left Severn Tunnel Junction at 1126, heading for Patchway, of which the train was formed of 802002. Patchway is a fairly quiet station on the outskirts of Bristol, however it does see rather a heavy stream of traffic throughout the day, with many freight trains continually passing, as well as all of the London - South Wales trains.

Patchway was departed at 1238, with 800035 our chariot for the short journey to Filton Abbey Wood. Since it's upgrade a few years ago, Filton is a rather major station, and during the hour that we were there, saw a very large amount of passengers using the station. There was much less freight at Filton, however that was made up for by the many CrossCountry and regional GWR services that we saw.

Our final leg into Bristol Temple Meads was at 1344, formed of 800007. I do enjoy visiting Bristol Temple Meads, it's a fantastic station for both trains and architecture, and I always enjoy being there.

Now, of course, you can't go to Bristol and not try and get some more HST haulage ! This was potentially my last chance to get a GWR set before they get confined to the South. We picked up 43156 and 188, and headed back to Cardiff. I was originally planning to alight at Newport, however, yet again when I plan to get a 197 out of South Wales, it gets swapped or cancelled, and this time it was swapped for a 158!

I headed down to Cardiff to pick up 197004 for the journey home to Hereford. This was a really good journey, and finally managed to get a ride on one for over an hour! They're nice units, although I do think the ride leaves a little to be desired, they will serve the TfW network well for the years to come.

Overall, a positive and successful day out.

Next trip report below, as well as some photos from this!

 

[SuperLuke2334]

2nd trip report of the day! (I know right, what's going on?!!!)

18/11/23 - First time doing a West Mids Day Ranger!

This was a trip planned at very short notice (well for me at least!). I'd not done a West Midlands Day Ranger before so this turned out to be an interesting and very exciting day!

Starting from Hereford at 0840, we had 196002 and 004 to Birmingham New St. We even arrived 2 minutes early!

We then boarded 350409 and 350235 to Stafford (Yes we did sit in the /4, the /2 would have been unbearable!). This was a good experience, as I had not been on a 350 before (Yes I need to get exploring more!), however I had been on 450s and other Desiro units, so I knew sort of what to expect. I was seriously impressed by the acceleration on these units, however was disappointed that the ex-TPE first class area was not in its original form, as that would have been nice to try out.

We had all of 13 minutes at Stafford, before joining a very full 390046 back to Birmingham New Street. It was not the most pleasant journey I'd ever had, however it was nice to be on a Pendolino again, and of course, as luck would have it an unrefurbished one. I've not yet tried a refurbished one, so I cannot say whether I was disappointed or not. We were originally planning to go to Coventry, then down to Leamington Spa to pick up a 68/Mk3 set, however the Nuneaton-Leamington services had been cancelled due to a shortage of traincrew!

Alighting at New St, we took the short walk over to Moor Street to pick up a southbound service to still pick up the 68/Mk3. The 1243 off Moor Street was formed of 168005 and 108, a 7 car formation, which was lovely and quiet, it is good to see Chiltern running these longer formations when they can, it does help.

The journey was very smooth down to Leamington Spa, and we instantly changed for 68009 and AL01 back up to Moor Street. Luckily, we managed to grab seats in the former Business Class section, even though the train was very busy. The Chiltern Mk3 sets are a pleasure to ride in, and it was a very enjoyable journey.

Now here's where the fun starts....

We thought we'd get a 323 to Bromsgrove, to pick up a Hereford train there. We boarded this train, and got as far as Northfield before being told that we were going to stand here for a period due to a points failure. By this time, we realised that we would probably miss the connection, so we walked to get a bus back to Birmingham City Centre. Whilst on the bus, we realised that trains had started running again. We hopped off at Selly Oak Station, and got another 323 pair up to University, where we then picked up the 1556 to Hereford, formed of 172340.

Overall, a fantastic day and a brilliant experience of the ticket, which is excellent value for money. I have claimed delay repay on my ticket for the hour late that we were, so hopefully I get some amount back!

Attached below are some photos from the trip .

I hope you enjoyed reading, see you next time!

 

[Kite159]

A busy couple of days there with some variety on the WMDR trip

 

[SuperLuke2334]

A busy couple of days there with some variety on the WMDR trip

Thanks Kite, yes they were great days. Time constraints meant we couldn't do more on the WMDR, but I hope to do another at some point.