TC60054
Member
Already questioned it far too many times, Tech
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So todays rather made up day out. The aim was to do the route 36 between Leeds and Harrogate, and try and clear as many 333s as possible. This was halted slightly by the best news I'd recieved all week, but lets press on...
Starting the day on the 0711 tram, before being told that the rover we were using had morning peak restrictions which restricted use to before 0930
tram 110 was taking me forwards into the city to meet up with todays friends. After this had been done successfully, it was to Meadowhall - by tram. Tram 103 took us the short 38 chain journey around to Fitzalan Square, where we joined 106 across to Meadowhall, via the road bridge rollercoaster, which fortunately has returned largely to its original position - although there's quite a nice mark of missing ballast where the track should be..!A breakfast in a deserted Meadowhell later (the only time I enjoy being in the place - when its so blummin' quiet!) and the peak restrictions had been lifted! To celebrate, dud 153330 took us back to Sheffield on the 0933. Dogbox thrash!
Back to plan - we joined dud 158845 on the 0950 to Leeds, and after a quick run down the unit to avoid the gaze of some "friends" from college, the Perkins unit underneath roared into life and took us to Leeds - after an uneventful journey, arriving five minutes early.
Having been given the tip that 158844, my last two-car Northern 158 which had been avoiding me for quite some time, was working on Leeds to Huddersfield stoppers today, I was paying quite some more attention than usual to the 158s sat in Leeds as we arrived - and sure enough, the 1056 Huddersfield had dropped the one that I need. As such, with a few technical problems later, winner 158844 was the move forwards to Batley.
From Batley, it was time to return to Leeds and get on with the plan - the next Leeds was the 1118, which was sadly formed of dud 144022, and with that we bounced off to Leeds. With all the Dogboxes around, how the hell did I end up on this :roll: safely off the unit with a back still in one piece, it was through the barriers and time for the 10 minute walk to the bus station, where we joined Transdev 3622 BL65 YYV on the 36 to Harrogate. The job on these B5s was lovely, easy to see why people call this the country's most premier bus service. Shame that the B5 underneath the Gemini 3 body was rather gutless, as per usual...
In Harrogate, a photo stop ensued before returning to the trains - the 1315 Leeds was the unit from here, and after starting to regret the decision after a Pacer left on a York service, double duds 153301 & 155345 rolled in. What a pair this two made down the Harrogate line, really loud. Just what was needed - a sort of treble dogbox thrash. It even drowned out quite a large amount of jointed track - what a sound to anyones ears!
Back in Leeds, and a McDonalds later, it was time to get down to proper business - 333s. Needing only three but being with people who needed around 10, the reluctance was very slim to bash these units - good, solid units which serve the Airedale and Wharfedale lines well - I so need more mileage on them! Dud 333010 was first, taking this Skipton service up to Shipley, before alighting to take dud 333015 out over to Burley in Wharfedale, where dud 333002 was the chariot to Leeds. How I wished that I hadn't done so much on these lines before - I was starting to think that in the glory of others winning so much, I wouldn't win a single 333 today. That soon changed, after the obligatory run onto the Bradford from the Ilkley meant that winner 333006 was taking us back to Shipley, minus the really irritating announcements, where 333001 would further take us to Bradford Forster Square.
Checking the plan, I was worried why the Skipton was already on platform, but it seemed that 333006 was returning to Leeds ECS, and the unit for the Skipton would be a 322, and had been parked there 8 hours previous. Sure enough, a quick hop to Frizinghall was next on dud 322481, where a return on dud 333011 then ensued. From here on, it was a case of working out the location on the two units that had been monitored all afternoon - duds 333004 and 333016. The first move would be to Shipley, where, annoyingly, both units would be there at the same time. Focusing the efforts on 016, winner 333005 was taken forwards to Shipley, where a swap onto dud 333016 running quite late to Saltaire was taken, to return to Bradford and then to Menston onboard dud-for-the-day 322481.
After laughing at the world's most pointless ramp (leading to the footbridge...), it was time to join dud 333004 as the last 333 for the day, and another uneventful journey to Leeds meant that 158859 would go back across the border to Meadowhall on the last Nottingham of the evening. The smooth connection onto the tram at Meadowhall ensued, with tram 122 taking the honours, whilst avoiding and waving to everyone, because somehow everyone I knew seemed to be out today, and arriving to its final terminal of Cathedral a minute late. From here on, it was tram 125 around to the station (comes in saying Meadowhall and expects people for Herdings to get on...well then!) and then tram 103 for the four mile trip home. All in all, a good day, with just over 200 miles and 3 new units.
The memo file reveals that I'd have scored this lot:
