Kite159
Veteran Member
A good little day trip in the West Midlands 
-
Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
TC60054's Random Trips Out
- Thread starter TC60054
- Start date
- Status
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
TC60054
Member
Quick little trip out today, starting on 109 which turns out was my last (active) one for the year, so quite happy about that with just three Citylinks left to go for the year, a few more photo spots (hopefully!) down though I'll have to revisit Attercliffe on a day where it's a little less dull to try that one out again. Still not a fan of the new announcements though.
TC out.
TC out.
TC60054
Member
What's this, another trip report? 10/02/18.
The day started with me burying my head in the tram timetable. It's not the way I'd usually start one of my days out, but finally knowing at what time I needed to leave home, it was a walk for the 0851 tram into town, which eventually showed its face as 399204, which I wasn't entirely too pleased by, however we've got to put up with what we get given, and with five of the seven making an appearance in service the day before, there wasn't too much point in seeing if I could land a Duewag on the ex-Herdings that would follow us all the way from Gleadless. As booked, the 399 was broken, and after dropping a whole five minutes at one point with the 399 not actually activating any signals, we arrived into the station three minutes late, with 399202 following less than a minute behind - good thing I didn't try for that Herdings then!
The ticket machine up at the tram concourse was occupied by a gentleman who clearly had no idea what he was doing, and the first machine I tried using on the main concourse didn't seem to want to accept any kind of payments, however I finally managed to purchase my ticket and made my way onto platform 1 as my train, the 0921 Glasgow Central, was being announced. I died a little inside as it was announced as being formed of four coaches instead of five today, and stood in the empty, and leaking vestibule of dud 220013 as far as Wakefield Westgate. Again, I seemed to have signal for quite a large proportion of this journey, which once more greatly surprised me, and even more so by our right time arrival into Wakefield where I disembarked from a damp Voyager into a damp West Yorkshire, and made my way to the ticket office to purchase today's West Yorkshire Day Ranger.
I feel I should clarify my logic here. Sheffield booking office are notoriously bad with being pains when asking for unusual tickets, or a ranger that doesn't have Sheffield in it's validity, and my ticket to Wakefield was simply to cover me being able to use either route to and from Leeds, rather than limiting myself to just the Dearne Valley, or just the Barnsley line. I digress...
Ticket purchased and I was back on the platform ready for the arrival of dud 321902 to take me even further north to Leeds, where I'd have a six minute connection* onto a train to Bradford, which I later found was a booked cross platform. This made my life easier, as knowing we were coming into 13 let me see what was sat on platform 12, and as we arrived five minutes early, I died even more inside as dud 142025 was waiting on the platform opposite to take me to Bradford...on a Calder Valley fast. I do not envy anyone who was travelling to Manchester on this service!! Nevertheless, arrival into Bradford was prompt as I changed platforms, met up with a mate and boarded dud 150223 to take us back to Leeds. I was rather upset when I saw a /2 approaching, with myself hoping for a /1 as the only /2 I need being sat up in Kilmarnock, however when in Leeds made the connection onto the 1125 York service, formed today of part refurb 158755, which was taken as far as Micklefield. With a 30 minute connection in Micklefield once again on the cards, the decision was made to photograph some 185s, because that's something that I hadn't done in a while.
TransPennine Express 185140, Micklefield 10/02/18 by TC60054, on Flickr
The time soon went and 158909 arrived to once again return us to Leeds on a Huddersfield bound service, where it was once again a connection onto a Pacer as we boarded dud 142023 on the 1248 Sheffield, which was taken as far as the boundary station of Moorthorpe, for yet another long connection, this time of 40 minutes for the 1403 York service. I made sure to purchase and consume a hot drink from the buffet on the station, which was very nice indeed, before 144005 arrived to whisk us up to the "rare" shack of Pontefract Baghill, becoming todays first winner.
It was now approaching half 2 and I'd not eaten all day, so we located a Spoons which took an hour out of the day, before we finally made the decision of what to do next as we made our way to the winner shack of Pontefract Tanshelf, and after locating what looked like someone's house in the waiting shelter, boarded dud 142022 to the other Wakefield station, this time being Kirkgate.
I was getting de ja vu from my last train-only WYDR, however boarded dud 158791 on the 1628 Leeds, where, as last time, it was rammed, however I managed to get one of the tip up seats in the vestibule for the run north. The toilet opposite was being well used, or at least it was until Sid managed to get himself trapped in the toilet. With several burley blokes and the guard not being able to get the toilet door to shift, Sid was left in the toilet until the carriage could be isolated at Leeds in an attempt to rescue him. Poor Sid..!
Our next move was the 1716 Goole, which cost me an extra fiver, as we arrived at Knottingley, and promptly left. After all, it seemed like a good idea to try and battle some of these lesser used shacks on this line, as some very expensive bog roll was purchased to permit us travel to the winner shack of Rawcliffe. Arrival and departure was prompt, and we were left with nothing but the sound of the M62, which passes right behind the station. It was rather dark and with only a 40 minute connection we decided not to venture too far from the station before returning to board 144020 once more on the run back to Leeds.
I spent the next 30 minutes at Leeds thinking about 185s, and being accosted by some clearly drunk lass wanting to know where the next train to Barnsley was because the train on platform 16 wasn't going there (there wasn't even a train there but the next train was the 2030 Sheffield via Barnsley), however mega dud 158790 was taken across to Sheffield on said working, once again slightly quieter than the usual atmosphere of 1L99 however still busier than the last time I used it (whereby there was only four other people on the entire train!), before returning to the tram stop upon arrival at Sheffield, where tram 111 was taken home, after a four minute dwell at the station to allow engineers to arrive with a seat and refit it. I'm now sure I've seen everything, however the new timetable still seems to be working, with arrival back at White Lane being on time.
TC out.
The day started with me burying my head in the tram timetable. It's not the way I'd usually start one of my days out, but finally knowing at what time I needed to leave home, it was a walk for the 0851 tram into town, which eventually showed its face as 399204, which I wasn't entirely too pleased by, however we've got to put up with what we get given, and with five of the seven making an appearance in service the day before, there wasn't too much point in seeing if I could land a Duewag on the ex-Herdings that would follow us all the way from Gleadless. As booked, the 399 was broken, and after dropping a whole five minutes at one point with the 399 not actually activating any signals, we arrived into the station three minutes late, with 399202 following less than a minute behind - good thing I didn't try for that Herdings then!
The ticket machine up at the tram concourse was occupied by a gentleman who clearly had no idea what he was doing, and the first machine I tried using on the main concourse didn't seem to want to accept any kind of payments, however I finally managed to purchase my ticket and made my way onto platform 1 as my train, the 0921 Glasgow Central, was being announced. I died a little inside as it was announced as being formed of four coaches instead of five today, and stood in the empty, and leaking vestibule of dud 220013 as far as Wakefield Westgate. Again, I seemed to have signal for quite a large proportion of this journey, which once more greatly surprised me, and even more so by our right time arrival into Wakefield where I disembarked from a damp Voyager into a damp West Yorkshire, and made my way to the ticket office to purchase today's West Yorkshire Day Ranger.
I feel I should clarify my logic here. Sheffield booking office are notoriously bad with being pains when asking for unusual tickets, or a ranger that doesn't have Sheffield in it's validity, and my ticket to Wakefield was simply to cover me being able to use either route to and from Leeds, rather than limiting myself to just the Dearne Valley, or just the Barnsley line. I digress...
Ticket purchased and I was back on the platform ready for the arrival of dud 321902 to take me even further north to Leeds, where I'd have a six minute connection* onto a train to Bradford, which I later found was a booked cross platform. This made my life easier, as knowing we were coming into 13 let me see what was sat on platform 12, and as we arrived five minutes early, I died even more inside as dud 142025 was waiting on the platform opposite to take me to Bradford...on a Calder Valley fast. I do not envy anyone who was travelling to Manchester on this service!! Nevertheless, arrival into Bradford was prompt as I changed platforms, met up with a mate and boarded dud 150223 to take us back to Leeds. I was rather upset when I saw a /2 approaching, with myself hoping for a /1 as the only /2 I need being sat up in Kilmarnock, however when in Leeds made the connection onto the 1125 York service, formed today of part refurb 158755, which was taken as far as Micklefield. With a 30 minute connection in Micklefield once again on the cards, the decision was made to photograph some 185s, because that's something that I hadn't done in a while.
TransPennine Express 185140, Micklefield 10/02/18 by TC60054, on FlickrThe time soon went and 158909 arrived to once again return us to Leeds on a Huddersfield bound service, where it was once again a connection onto a Pacer as we boarded dud 142023 on the 1248 Sheffield, which was taken as far as the boundary station of Moorthorpe, for yet another long connection, this time of 40 minutes for the 1403 York service. I made sure to purchase and consume a hot drink from the buffet on the station, which was very nice indeed, before 144005 arrived to whisk us up to the "rare" shack of Pontefract Baghill, becoming todays first winner.
It was now approaching half 2 and I'd not eaten all day, so we located a Spoons which took an hour out of the day, before we finally made the decision of what to do next as we made our way to the winner shack of Pontefract Tanshelf, and after locating what looked like someone's house in the waiting shelter, boarded dud 142022 to the other Wakefield station, this time being Kirkgate.
I was getting de ja vu from my last train-only WYDR, however boarded dud 158791 on the 1628 Leeds, where, as last time, it was rammed, however I managed to get one of the tip up seats in the vestibule for the run north. The toilet opposite was being well used, or at least it was until Sid managed to get himself trapped in the toilet. With several burley blokes and the guard not being able to get the toilet door to shift, Sid was left in the toilet until the carriage could be isolated at Leeds in an attempt to rescue him. Poor Sid..!
Our next move was the 1716 Goole, which cost me an extra fiver, as we arrived at Knottingley, and promptly left. After all, it seemed like a good idea to try and battle some of these lesser used shacks on this line, as some very expensive bog roll was purchased to permit us travel to the winner shack of Rawcliffe. Arrival and departure was prompt, and we were left with nothing but the sound of the M62, which passes right behind the station. It was rather dark and with only a 40 minute connection we decided not to venture too far from the station before returning to board 144020 once more on the run back to Leeds.
I spent the next 30 minutes at Leeds thinking about 185s, and being accosted by some clearly drunk lass wanting to know where the next train to Barnsley was because the train on platform 16 wasn't going there (there wasn't even a train there but the next train was the 2030 Sheffield via Barnsley), however mega dud 158790 was taken across to Sheffield on said working, once again slightly quieter than the usual atmosphere of 1L99 however still busier than the last time I used it (whereby there was only four other people on the entire train!), before returning to the tram stop upon arrival at Sheffield, where tram 111 was taken home, after a four minute dwell at the station to allow engineers to arrive with a seat and refit it. I'm now sure I've seen everything, however the new timetable still seems to be working, with arrival back at White Lane being on time.
TC out.
Kite159
Veteran Member
Agreed, that part of line from Knottingley towards Goole is quite expensive for the service levels. I can't remember much of Rawcliffe as I had a fast walk to the village centre to catch a bus to grab Snaith.
Sounded like a good little day trip to West (and east) Yorkshire, congrats on getting Baghill.
Sounded like a good little day trip to West (and east) Yorkshire, congrats on getting Baghill.
jayalongtheway
Member
- Joined
- 31 Oct 2015
- Messages
- 241
Techniquest
Veteran Member
You'd expect them to at least offer the quilted version for some of the fares...
TC60054
Member
Hugely successful day so far. In the last hour alone the red pen has been out no less than nine times (that’s more than every ten minutes!) with a further twelve M5000s having fallen today - that means I’ve hit the magical 100!
Now, one wonders if a +3 at Oxford Road is doable onto the 1538 Ordsall Chord...
Edit, last moment change of plan.
Now, one wonders if a +3 at Oxford Road is doable onto the 1538 Ordsall Chord...
Edit, last moment change of plan.
Kite159
Veteran Member
In theory it should be doable due to the track layout.
Sounded like a good day judging by your tweets
TC60054
Member
03/03
Yes, I know I'm still missing the previous weekend, truth be told I'm still a tad embarrassed at how it ended up, but nevertheless, it was half past five as I was walking up to the trams, this time up to Gleadless Townend as I went to wait for the 0550 ex-Herdings service. It's amazing the difference that the first tram being eight minutes earlier in the new timetable makes to me having to leave at 5 for a half 5 bus into town the last time I did this!! Tram 102 was the chariot for the three and a halfish miles into town through the snow, though still arriving punctually. No time to look at the trams though, as it was down to the trains as I boarded dud 222003, after spending a couple of minutes on the footbridge debating whether I'd rather take this or the adjacent 185 on a run down the MML. Onboard, it was much quieter than last time, even though the reservations decided not to download, but an uneventful run as far as Leicester followed. After Leicester, it was clear we were struggling, with the train not getting far past 100 at any point, and following the ex-Derby stopper from Bedford, into St Pancras for a ten minute late arrival.
With minimal time to waste, it was down to the tube, with the first moves being made on winning pair 11093/11094 as far as Oxford Circus. Here, a connection was made down to the Bakerloo once more, as winners 3244/3531 were taken to the Elephant & Castle (LU) with this move making the Bakerloo my first completed Tube line for track. I was now in a good mood as we made our way over to the mainline station of, erm, Elephant & Castle, where upon arrival we found two things;
1) Thameslink was down the creek without a paddle once again
2) There was zero passenger information. At all.
Eventually, a train actually called (even after a last minute platform alteration - literally!), and we boarded winner 700040 on a Sutton service, as far as Mitcham Junction. The wait here was short, as we made our way (the long way round, for some reason), onto the adjacent tram platforms to board 2564 the, erm, one stop down the line, to Beddington Lane, before hopping back onto 2548 as far as Waddon Marsh for a couple of photos, and then boarding 2536 into Croydon town centre, alighting at the required stop of Wellesley Road, before making our way to Wetherspoons for some food, and some more photos of the trams.
Eventually, our time in Croydon was over, as we made our way down to East Croydon and boarded winner 455801 to the winning shack of Balham, before heading down to my last two required (in their entirety) tube lines, the first of which being the Northern. Winners 51708/51546 were the "chosen" pair to be my first set of 95 stock, as we weaved our way around to Bank, (I'm sure I'd been there before but not according to the spreadsheet) before getting lost trying to find the "forgotten" tube line. Eventually, it was discovered as winning pair 65506/65505 were taken across to Waterloo, where it was back up to the Northern line to take winners 51619/51620 the excessively long distance to the end of the line at Edgware. A plan was formulated on this trip to compare the 95 stock to the very similar 96 stock, which sadly required a bus move, which was taken in due course, with the driver evidently suffering from a bout of road rage - mind you, if I had to drive around anywhere in London for a living, I probably would too!
We reached Canons Park station, as we went to board winners 96031/96006 - which thanks to my incompetence on my first trip to London meant that I now had three 96 stock half sets in the book. The pair were taken to West Hampstead where the trip down the road was taken to, erm, West Hampstead and onto 378223 as far as Gospel Oak. Whilst on this trip, the hard decision was made as to whether it was the 95 or 96 stock that was the most interesting, with the eventual conclusion being they were equally as good as each other, with the excessively similar Alstom traction packages (with just the traction equipment) making the decision far too hard to make. Also on this trip, whilst updating Railmiles, I found that this 378 was down as TOPS unit 998, which got me rather similarly excited at what was about to come - but not before the connection at Gospel Oak (which, for some reason I keep thinking is Goblin Oak), onto winner 172004. A quick decision was made as to what unit 1000 should become, and when factoring in the evening's plan with the tube closures, plus the better units, it was off the Turbo at Blackhorse Road, down to the Victoria line once again to take winners 11017/11018 to Seven Sisters. Unit 1000 was now in sight, as 315805 rolled in, and promptly rolled back out again, except this time with myself onboard. This was taken to Liverpool Street, for a quick walk across to Moorgate, and down to Great Northern, where in true GTR style, the service had flushed itself down the toilet once more. No matter, as winners 313029/313060 were taken back in time to the 1980s at the winner shack of Essex Road, before hopping onto 313048/313039 for the slog through to winning shack Winchmore Hill. The return units arrived relatively promptly on an eight minute connection, as 313031/313123 were taken back to Finsbury Park. I wasn't even aware GTR still had any 313/1s, and was rather amused by its original seating.
Once off the PEPs for the last time today, it was once more back down underground to take winners 11049/11050 through to Kings Cross St Pancras, where some crossover gricing moves were about to take place on the sub-surface. 21055/21056 were taken to Euston Square, running off the eastbound platform, whilst on the return 21406/21405 were taken back into the westbound platform. And as if like that, it was up to Thameslink, which was running slightly better by this time, with winners 700027 and 700036 were scored on a leap to City Thameslink and return.
Since it was now nearing the end of the day, two final moves were made, with 11085/11086 being taken across to Euston, to bid farewell to my mate, and then it was up to me to make my way back to St Pancras.
I was weighing up the options in my head - I could do a trip on LO up the Watford DC, and back before making the tube, but that would put me back into Euston at 2035, with my train from St Pancras being at 2056, and with it being the last of the day I couldn't afford to miss it, so I gave myself another three options.
1) Walk - this was quickly discounted as I still had almost an hour before the train
2) Northern line
3) Victoria line.
Weighing up my haulage requirements as I went back underground, I made my way to the 95 stock and boarded winners 51554/51555 back to KCSP, wasting the next fifty minutes before boarding dud 222006 to head back home. In hindsight, since I usually use the half an hour or so before the train arrives into St Pancras to get some food but I wasn't actually hungry, I could've made a couple of leaps to and from Euston on the tube to bag a few more winners, but hindsight is a wonderful thing and of course this didn't happen.
We arrived into Sheffield three minutes late, which meant that my new +3 from train to tram had vanished, however following an attack up at Herdings the previous night, I managed to board tram 119 for the four miles back to White Lane stop, on a Birley Lane short - wonderful! Home and in bed a whole 12 minutes earlier - what could be better.
Tata for now!
Yes, I know I'm still missing the previous weekend, truth be told I'm still a tad embarrassed at how it ended up, but nevertheless, it was half past five as I was walking up to the trams, this time up to Gleadless Townend as I went to wait for the 0550 ex-Herdings service. It's amazing the difference that the first tram being eight minutes earlier in the new timetable makes to me having to leave at 5 for a half 5 bus into town the last time I did this!! Tram 102 was the chariot for the three and a halfish miles into town through the snow, though still arriving punctually. No time to look at the trams though, as it was down to the trains as I boarded dud 222003, after spending a couple of minutes on the footbridge debating whether I'd rather take this or the adjacent 185 on a run down the MML. Onboard, it was much quieter than last time, even though the reservations decided not to download, but an uneventful run as far as Leicester followed. After Leicester, it was clear we were struggling, with the train not getting far past 100 at any point, and following the ex-Derby stopper from Bedford, into St Pancras for a ten minute late arrival.
With minimal time to waste, it was down to the tube, with the first moves being made on winning pair 11093/11094 as far as Oxford Circus. Here, a connection was made down to the Bakerloo once more, as winners 3244/3531 were taken to the Elephant & Castle (LU) with this move making the Bakerloo my first completed Tube line for track. I was now in a good mood as we made our way over to the mainline station of, erm, Elephant & Castle, where upon arrival we found two things;
1) Thameslink was down the creek without a paddle once again
2) There was zero passenger information. At all.
Eventually, a train actually called (even after a last minute platform alteration - literally!), and we boarded winner 700040 on a Sutton service, as far as Mitcham Junction. The wait here was short, as we made our way (the long way round, for some reason), onto the adjacent tram platforms to board 2564 the, erm, one stop down the line, to Beddington Lane, before hopping back onto 2548 as far as Waddon Marsh for a couple of photos, and then boarding 2536 into Croydon town centre, alighting at the required stop of Wellesley Road, before making our way to Wetherspoons for some food, and some more photos of the trams.
Eventually, our time in Croydon was over, as we made our way down to East Croydon and boarded winner 455801 to the winning shack of Balham, before heading down to my last two required (in their entirety) tube lines, the first of which being the Northern. Winners 51708/51546 were the "chosen" pair to be my first set of 95 stock, as we weaved our way around to Bank, (I'm sure I'd been there before but not according to the spreadsheet) before getting lost trying to find the "forgotten" tube line. Eventually, it was discovered as winning pair 65506/65505 were taken across to Waterloo, where it was back up to the Northern line to take winners 51619/51620 the excessively long distance to the end of the line at Edgware. A plan was formulated on this trip to compare the 95 stock to the very similar 96 stock, which sadly required a bus move, which was taken in due course, with the driver evidently suffering from a bout of road rage - mind you, if I had to drive around anywhere in London for a living, I probably would too!
We reached Canons Park station, as we went to board winners 96031/96006 - which thanks to my incompetence on my first trip to London meant that I now had three 96 stock half sets in the book. The pair were taken to West Hampstead where the trip down the road was taken to, erm, West Hampstead and onto 378223 as far as Gospel Oak. Whilst on this trip, the hard decision was made as to whether it was the 95 or 96 stock that was the most interesting, with the eventual conclusion being they were equally as good as each other, with the excessively similar Alstom traction packages (with just the traction equipment) making the decision far too hard to make. Also on this trip, whilst updating Railmiles, I found that this 378 was down as TOPS unit 998, which got me rather similarly excited at what was about to come - but not before the connection at Gospel Oak (which, for some reason I keep thinking is Goblin Oak), onto winner 172004. A quick decision was made as to what unit 1000 should become, and when factoring in the evening's plan with the tube closures, plus the better units, it was off the Turbo at Blackhorse Road, down to the Victoria line once again to take winners 11017/11018 to Seven Sisters. Unit 1000 was now in sight, as 315805 rolled in, and promptly rolled back out again, except this time with myself onboard. This was taken to Liverpool Street, for a quick walk across to Moorgate, and down to Great Northern, where in true GTR style, the service had flushed itself down the toilet once more. No matter, as winners 313029/313060 were taken back in time to the 1980s at the winner shack of Essex Road, before hopping onto 313048/313039 for the slog through to winning shack Winchmore Hill. The return units arrived relatively promptly on an eight minute connection, as 313031/313123 were taken back to Finsbury Park. I wasn't even aware GTR still had any 313/1s, and was rather amused by its original seating.
Once off the PEPs for the last time today, it was once more back down underground to take winners 11049/11050 through to Kings Cross St Pancras, where some crossover gricing moves were about to take place on the sub-surface. 21055/21056 were taken to Euston Square, running off the eastbound platform, whilst on the return 21406/21405 were taken back into the westbound platform. And as if like that, it was up to Thameslink, which was running slightly better by this time, with winners 700027 and 700036 were scored on a leap to City Thameslink and return.
Since it was now nearing the end of the day, two final moves were made, with 11085/11086 being taken across to Euston, to bid farewell to my mate, and then it was up to me to make my way back to St Pancras.
I was weighing up the options in my head - I could do a trip on LO up the Watford DC, and back before making the tube, but that would put me back into Euston at 2035, with my train from St Pancras being at 2056, and with it being the last of the day I couldn't afford to miss it, so I gave myself another three options.
1) Walk - this was quickly discounted as I still had almost an hour before the train
2) Northern line
3) Victoria line.
Weighing up my haulage requirements as I went back underground, I made my way to the 95 stock and boarded winners 51554/51555 back to KCSP, wasting the next fifty minutes before boarding dud 222006 to head back home. In hindsight, since I usually use the half an hour or so before the train arrives into St Pancras to get some food but I wasn't actually hungry, I could've made a couple of leaps to and from Euston on the tube to bag a few more winners, but hindsight is a wonderful thing and of course this didn't happen.
We arrived into Sheffield three minutes late, which meant that my new +3 from train to tram had vanished, however following an attack up at Herdings the previous night, I managed to board tram 119 for the four miles back to White Lane stop, on a Birley Lane short - wonderful! Home and in bed a whole 12 minutes earlier - what could be better.
Tata for now!
Kite159
Veteran Member
A valid day in London
- Status