Techniquest
Veteran Member
Hi all,
Can't be bothered putting up the Cheshire Day Ranger bash trip report from 1st January up yet, so let's start with the second bash of the year. I know it doesn't make much sense, but it's the way I'm doing it! Here we go then...
7th January 2013 - Brussels Bash, Day 1
It's finally here, my first solo bash into mainland Europe! Feels like quite the long time since I booked the trip back in October! Having spent a significant amount of yesterday packing and sorting out paperwork for the bash, it was finally sleep time around 0030. The alarm wasn't too welcome at 0630, but once I remembered what today was I flew out of bed unsurprisingly
A couple of toasted muffins and coffee for breakfast before getting the 0720 bus to Hereford. A 75 minute journey sees me arrive with plenty of time to get my Off Peak Return to Newport and a large coffee. £26 for the ticket to Newport, up from £24.50 last year. Knew I should have booked it the other day! Off we go though and it must be said the refurbished ATW MK3s are quite impressive. Very smart looking inside and out, and the plug sockets are a very welcome bonus! 67002 is discovered at Newport to be the 67 pushing the train today, and I pick up my tickets to London and get some Euros from the Post Office.
DSCN0011 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0015 by 43002, on Flickr
I gave up looking for Argos, but found Wilkinson and after much searching, I couldn't find a UK to Europe plug adaptor. After asking, I discover what I'm after is in the DIY section and I get one for £2.98. Still an hour to kill before the booked train to London Paddington, so it was time to do some spotting and a coffee from Upper Crust. That hour flew by in the end, and some more photos are got before my first HST of the year is had with 43139 and 43163 on the 1028 Swansea to London Paddington.
DSCN0023 by 43002, on Flickr
Bristol Parkway signals it to be lunchtime, so since it's been a good 5 hours since breakfast a sandwich and Cornish pasty from home are devoured and most delicious! The journey down the GWML has been a stormer as hoped too, excellent. Feeling so much happier on this bash than I was on Tuesday/Wednesday last week, to think I was going to cancel this one! The new depot to the west of Reading is really coming on fast, as are the new platforms at Reading. The whole remodelling of the area is coming on fast and looking impressive, several photos taken obviously, including some of the new OHLE that's going up to the east of the station.
DSCN0025 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0026 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0031 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0033 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0035 by 43002, on Flickr
We're nearly in London now, not been here for 3 months! Major brake-age near Slough, shame as we were charging along nicely! Airport Junction signals the need to hurry up and finalise preparations to alight, been a really enjoyable ride today, so much better than my last HST journey (see my trip report entitled The Big Bash Theory, the last day of it to find out why)! Now, will the Underground be working OK today?
DSCN0037 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0038 by 43002, on Flickr
To my amazement, it was with the Overground playing up today. 3341 takes me along the Oven Line (that is, the Bakerloo line) to Oxford Circus where I only end up spending 2 minutes before 12026 races up to Kings Cross St Pancras in just 4 minutes [although I have noted an error in my notebook, the departure and arrival bit of the move entry reads "1354, arr 1558". Oops... - Ed], making the journey from Paddington to Kings Cross St Pancras to be only 14 minutes. Would take me nearly 4 times that to walk it!
DSCN0039 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0040 by 43002, on Flickr
Check in is nice and easy with Eurostar, and after what felt like ages waiting in the waiting area, it's a long walk to coach 17! A few photos are got and it's onto the train. With so few Eurostar moves in my bashing career, it's almost unsurprising that it's a pair of winning 373s, 3224 and 3223, on the 1504 to Brussels Midi. Very happy with that! We leave bang on time, and at 1530 the last of HS1 I needed, the Ashford International avoider, is done. Just PSUL stuff to do now to clear the UK and Irish Rail heavy rail networks! Bring on the new track somewhere after Lille Europe (this train's only call), indeed it'll be my first track coverage in Belgium
DSCN0041 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0042 by 43002, on Flickr
A coffee is called for from the buffet car in coach 13 whilst we're in the Channel Tunnel, as it's still a long way to go and I've not much pop left. Before which, I'd noted 4 ex-Spanish 37s on Dollands Moor. Couldn't ID them but a welcome sight
Everything is incredibly expensive, more so than I'd expect, even a Kit Kat is £1.30. A can of Stella Cidre would have been lovely, but not at the mammoth £4.80! I was buying a 4 pack of cans of that for £3.50 at Asda at the time! A medium coffee will do, £2.20. The cup is about the same size as those on ATW, awfulness! I'll be stocking up somewhere before the return in Brussels then! Thoughts turn to where on Earth I'll get food from, as I'm rather hungry now. Bring on getting there I say, and at 1558 UK time we surface into France!
Fortunately, my phone has discovered a network, and updated the time accordingly. 1 hour or so to go, sadly all the new track today will be in the dark. I'll see it all on the way home though on Wednesday, so it's all good. Surprised how full coach 17 is, yet 14 to 16 were almost empty! The onboard magazine is looked at, and sometime after Lille I see a double deck train. Looks so strange to someone used to almost only UK stuff! We arrive bang on time into Brussels Midi's platform 2, naturally a photo is needed!
DSCN0049 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0050 by 43002, on Flickr
Food is had in the form of a Super Bacon burger meal at Quick on Brussels Midi station for €7.70, very nice it was too! I choose the 1834 to Termonde (I think) and it's SNCB's 636, a local 2-car EMU, for the leap to Brussels Nord. I find the exit eventually but discover I've got the wrong one. Eventually I find the right streets for the route to my hotel, but still get lost and eventually find it after asking in a completely different hotel. It took me 40 minutes after getting off the train, but eventually I got to Hotel Albert and check in.
DSCN0051 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0053 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0055 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0056 by 43002, on Flickr
It's a rather basic hotel, just one twin socket and not even a kettle and tea/coffee facilities, surely a mandatory basic in 2013? It's a rather small room too, overlooking a busy-ish road. I check in with home, and struggle to understand any channel on the TV, so thankfully the WiFi is free (something I look for in every European hotel room, for easy keeping in touch via Facebook) and used extensively. I catch up with the paperwork from the day and research various bits and bobs for tomorrow. A very good day has been had, bring on the exploration of Brussels tomorrow!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Right then, let's get carried on with day 2 of this one next!
8th January 2013 - Brussels Bash, Day 2
After finally getting to sleep around 0245, I wasn't happy with the alarm at 0800! I turn it off and head back to bed for a bit more sleep. A bit turns into a lot, as when I randomly turn over and wake up later I find it's 1024! Epic failcakes! A good but quick shower is had and I'm off within 30 minutes.
DSCN0057 by 43002, on Flickr
Thankfully I don't get lost this time on my way to Brussels Nord, and after getting my Jump ticket for €6, I find somewhere to get a coffee. Clearly they've not heard of large cups over here, and I end up with a cafe latte for €2.20. Turned out to be quite nice mind, so well worth it. After all the water I've consumed in the last 18 hours, it was a welcome change! Down to the trams then, and I start with line 55, Rogier to Da Vinci. The honour of my first continental tram falls to 3113, and we head north towards Da Vinci.
DSCN0059 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0060 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0061 by 43002, on Flickr
There seems to be an absolute ton of lines to do [still not found out exactly how many - Ed] in Brussels, and I could have bailed at Bordet Station on the way back from Da Vinci, but I had no idea on times of trains or if my ticket was definitely valid anyway. So I continue south with 3113 all the way to Rogier on a 27 minute journey. With Line 55 out of the way, I move onto heavy rail, starting with Metro lines 2 and 6. 208 is my first Metro car to be travelled on with a leap from Rogier to Simonis Elisabeth.
DSCN0066 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0067 by 43002, on Flickr
Very much plastic seats with no padding or anything on these trains! We reach the end of the line in just 3 minutes, and I go downstairs to Simonis Leopald II where I pick up 235 on a leap to Beekkant, where I change for Metro line 5. During the wait, I devour the little biscuits that came with my earlier coffee, I've not eaten today and I'm therefore starving! 190 is up next on line 5 to Erasme, and we're there in just 13 minutes.
DSCN0068 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0069 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0070 by 43002, on Flickr
It's onto 155 for a full line trip from Erasme to Herrmann Debroux now, which looks like it'll take ages with all the stops but in fact took us just 36 minutes. Most of the trains on line 5 are of this sort, although I've seen at least one of the newer stock on this line too. Annoyingly the vending machine at Erasme wouldn't accept my coins, thankfully the one here at Herrmann Debroux does and I can finally have a drink that's cold and sweet. €2 for a 500ml bottle of Coke and €1 for a Mars bar, but they both went down so well! This Metro stock sounds alright to my ears, a bit of a cross between Bakerloo line trains and Class 314s to my ears.
DSCN0072 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0073 by 43002, on Flickr
Off I go on 190 next to Merode in order to clear line 1, and it's just a 9 minute leap to get there. I'm on the new stock on line 1 to Stockel, once I finally climb enough staircases to get to the right platform. 6237 is my carriage of choice and it's only 13 minutes to get to the end of the line.
DSCN0075 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0076 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0078 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0079 by 43002, on Flickr
The artwork on the walls alongside the platforms here at Stockel make for a rather different scene. I pick up some more drinks and supplies from a shop in the station for €3, then it's onto 6371 to Arts-Loi to get back onto lines 2 and 6. Not really noted much in the way of noise on these modern Metro trains, but the seats are no better than those on the other Metro stock. Up more stairs at Arts-Loi for a leap on 194 to Rogier. Here I decide it's time to deal with personal matters, then go outside the station to find somewhere to get some food. As it's 1500 by the time I arrived off 194, and I'd not eaten all day, I can be forgiven for this bellow of "MCDONALDS!" After noting it not far from the station, I charge down there as fast as I can for my usual meal, a quarter pounder with cheese meal. €7.30 for a large meal, but it was money so well spent! Back on the station I get on a line 6 train all the way to the end at Koning Boudewijn with 112.
DSCN0080 by 43002, on Flickr
31 minutes after leaving Rogier, I'm there and I have to admit that was a lot quicker than I expected. Onwards next on a leap to Heysel to get to line 7 with 111, an insect leap with a journey time of just 1 minute! I look and I look and I look, but I can find no Metro line 7 at Heysel, so I check the map. Ahhhh, that'll be why, lines 3, 4 and 7 on the map are tram lines. Surprised I didn't notice that really. Oh well, might as well get started on it since I'm here, then I can head into town for some other Belgian traction! 4013 is the tram of choice on line 7 and we leave at 1620. Why I note the departure time here is important, I'll explain why in a moment.
DSCN0082 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0083 by 43002, on Flickr
Fortunately during the journey I was sat down all the way, which was important in one tunnel as we slammed to a halt very rapidly. I forgot line 7 doesn't go into town, that's line 3, and I'm on this tram for ages not remembering that. Oh well, I might as well stay on this line all the way around Brussels now then! I'm missing the evening peak in Brussels city centre, but there'll be other times for that. All the way to Vanderkindere I go then, and we finally arrive at 1718, 58 minutes after leaving Heysel. Got to be the longest time I've ever spent on a tram!
DSCN0084 by 43002, on Flickr
Since I'm down here, I might as well get on with tram line 4 too. So I eventually get a tram bound for Stalle with 3028 and it's just 15 minutes journey time. It's January, it's cold, it's dark, no way am I waiting for a different tram for another red pen move! I get 3028 back to Gare du Midi, I want to do some proper trains again now!
DSCN0085 by 43002, on Flickr
24 minutes on a tram which got very busy not that long after Stalle, and I'm back at Gare du Midi. By now, personal matters were hugely important, so a proper train with facilities was so welcome it was unreal! I get my first SNCB AM96 EMUs in the book with 506 and 519 on a leap to Brussels Central, continuing with a top and tailed IC train forward to Brussels Nord with 1908 and 1895. Must have been a train from two different places, surely for two locos? Nevertheless, it was my first double deck train so I couldn't resist going upstairs!
DSCN0087 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0088 by 43002, on Flickr
Very different stock going back to Brussels Midi, hauled by 2115
DSCN0091 by 43002, on Flickr
I have the need to get some more food again now, unsurprisingly, so I do a leap on tram line 4 to Rogier with 3018 for another visit to McDonalds. I get two cheeseburgers for €2, nothing more as I'm running out of funds to my dismay (€40 was supposed to be plenty!), but they were still very nom nom nom! 3089 is on tram line 25, and I'm on it for a leap to Robiano, which I'd earlier determined to be the closest tram stop to my hotel. Very happy to have got 3 locos in the book, shame I was towards the back as 2115 sounded mighty hellfire as it came in! Despite not starting very early, I did quite a bit all in. I return to the hotel, after finding it should have been the tram stop before Robiano, and I check in with home. Then it's onto Facebook, paperwork and general chilling out. Going to take ages to get all this into RailMiles, then it's hunting down mileage figures [still need them actually! - Ed] for this lot! With all the paperwork done, it's time to start winding down for sleep, need a good 'un with something like 420 miles of travelling to do tomorrow! Going to be hard to wind down though, I'm dead excited about getting more mileage in tomorrow, not to mention the 186mph running again, that was fun! Despite the fact I've had a great time, I'm keen to get my NREAs out again on my return to the UK. I miss knowing my classes, where to find them and most of all, I miss being able to understand what signs say! I could never live abroad, of that I'm sure as I'd always be homesick!
Day 3 to follow in due course, now it's time to add photos for day 1
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Right then, before bed beckons again let's finish this one. Which means I've then completed three trip reports this week, with two more to do fully and one to do two days on. Hmm, still a lot of work to do then! So let's fly!
9th January 2013 - Brussels Bash, Day 3
After finally getting to sleep around 0045, I wake at 0735 and find my phone is not charging properly, how lovely. Back to bed and up at the revised alarm time of 0930. Phone still not charging properly, grr! Turning it off and back on again tells me it's dropped to 35% not 67% as before! Strange thing that, somehow I get it charging again and it's de-rancifying time. Facebook is used again and everything is prepped before leaving at 1038. Down at Brussels Nord, I find an Oostende-bound IC train and it's thankfully a winner loco.
DSCN0092 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0093 by 43002, on Flickr
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DSCN0095 by 43002, on Flickr
1909 does me the honours of carting me down to Midi on the 1056 to Oostende, and I get some photos before going downstairs for some very late breakfast/right-time-lunch, as I'm incredibly hungry now. I spy Subway, and get a footlong turkey, cheese and BBQ sauce sub for €5.10. That leaves me with just 40c for my next European adventure, good thing I filled my bottles with water this morning then!
DSCN0096 by 43002, on Flickr
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It's time to head off to the Eurostar check in centre next, which is done in all of about 5 minutes. Plenty of time allowed and next to none needed! Time to update my notebook then, and that's all done by 1153. I still have forever until boarding commences and no money to buy a coffee to kill time, which is what I'd normally do in this situation. Bad times, especially since I've not had a coffee all day so far! After a while of being bored out of my skull, I conclude it's time for some banging tunes, having not had any on since 1750 on Monday! Boarding finally commences at 1237 and I don't believe my luck...
DSCN0100 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0101 by 43002, on Flickr
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DSCN0104 by 43002, on Flickr
It's the same dang pair of 373s, 3223 and 3224, that I had on Monday! Mileage move on this one then, quite I won't be that far too half way to clearing these two when I get back to London! So unless the Underground provides a winner later, the only one today will have been SNCB's 1909! Not entirely amusing that. We leave 3 minutes early, and on our way out of Brussels I note a SNCB 373 I needed for sight, 3106, on a depot. Still plenty of 373s all in that I need mind! The amount of lines going here, there and everywhere just west of Midi station was mindboggling. The buffet car finally opens and a large Americano is £3, the same size as a small Costa coffee, just about! Even so, I go for it and phwoar, didn't I enjoy that a LOT! As they say, the first of the day is the best! 3007 is noted on a Eurostar service heading south at Lille Europe, another one I needed taking me to 7 more British 373s to see. 3 more SNCB and 11 more SNCF sets to get for sight, 21 all in then I make that. 6 are French lines only so I need to find out what they operate. I get the feeling another Eurostar bash is forthcoming [it was, but due to a fail with booking the right dates it's still forthcoming as of 24th March 2013! - Ed] in the near future!
I start regretting not noting all the trains I've seen on this trip, which was due to having nothing to mark them off in [after getting my Benelux Railways book, I really did regret it! - Ed] yet. Let's Fly by Styles and Breeze is on the MP3 player, my favourite tune for high speed journeys or indeed flying, so appropriate to have it playing, therefore, as we belt it through northern France! 1359 and we arrive at Calais-Frethun, 29 minutes after leaving Lille Europe. Just a few minutes until we leave the continent! 1406 and we're in the tunnel, England here I come!
DSCN0107 by 43002, on Flickr
16 minutes into the tunnel and I was amazed to see I still had a network on my phone! At 1427, we're back on British soil, or that is 1327 in UK time. 1349 and it's departure from Ebbsfleet International, I think I'd best start preparations for alighting! We arrive at 1408, so on my ticket we're 5 minutes late randomly, or 1 minute early according to the announcement earlier. One more photo then of the Eurostar before heading to passport control
DSCN0108 by 43002, on Flickr
With that swiftly done, it's time for the long walk to the Tube. 12047 takes me for another 4 minute ride along to Oxford Circus for 4550 forward on the Oven Line to Paddington in just 8 minutes. You may be wondering if they were winners after all, and I've only recently-ish got a new book with Tube stock in it to find out, but according to all the notes I've found thus far, yes they were winners. Ahh, Paddington, so nice to be back on familiar territory! Sainsburys is visited for a chicken and stuffing sandwich, prawn cocktail crisps and a bottle of Coke for just £3 on their meal deal. Very good it is too when you realise the sandwich on its own is £2.60, so I saved £1.40 all in! I have a craving for coffee again, to be fair only my second of the day, so it's off to Costa. A small Americano for £1.95 is sourced, and boarding commences for my HST to Newport at 1503. So the long walk begins up platform 5 to discover it's 43028 and 43152 on the 1515 to Swansea today, and I hunt my booked seat. I had heard there were issues in the Maidenhead area earlier, but it might have only been on the relief lines since we absolutely storm along the GWML as I hoped. We have no issues at all until Reading, where we're held for 59202 and 59002 going ahead of us on a Wiltshire-bound empty stone train! After Didcot, it's time to get the tunes on again for some more 125mph running! The sun's almost set by the time we near Swindon, had to get a photo
DSCN0110 by 43002, on Flickr
I fail to remember when I last got off a train, or on one, at Swindon but I do have some fond memories of such trips which I enjoy during the station dwell time and as we leave. Time to reflect on the last three days as I stare out of the window, as we're almost at the end of the trip. A stone train is noted at Wootton Bassett, possibly the first time I've noted one on that siding. I fill up my notebook with several lines of summarising the 3 days away, and I come to realise there's only one more train to go on before the end of the trip, before the lengthy bus journey home. All in all, it's been an absolute stormer of a trip, and tomorrow's going to be busy with trip report writing [ha! - Ed], photo uploading and entering moves into RailMiles. I tot up that I've spent £188.80 plus €6 on rail fares so far this year, which is good value for the mileage I've had so far! After Bristol Parkway I start getting everything ready to alight, Newport marks 368 miles and 61 chains (by my count at the time at least) of today's journey done, no wonder I'm starting to getting tired! 44 miles 34 chains to go on the train, totalling mileage for today to be 413 miles 15 chains, quite a bit then! For £99.50, 737 miles and 42 chains was had Newport to Brussels and back, incredibly good value for money! The 1704 to Manchester is seen as we cross the bridge over the river, close but no cigar! Bit of a boring fester it is then for the 1736 to Holyhead, at least it's not an hour's wait! To my surprise, it's a pairing of 175103 and 175104 on it tonight, shall try to get a photo of it at Hereford then.
The downside now though is that I'm not due to go anywhere on a train for ages, nothing booked whatsoever. Can't plan or book anything until Friday either, no money until then! Back to the tunes for the final leg of the adventure then, and we arrive into Hereford at 1825.
DSCN0111 by 43002, on Flickr
It's not overly clear that it's a pair of 175s admittedly. I pop into Morrisons then to get some Irn Bru and Cadburys Buttons to tide me over until I get home for tea. Y877 PWT takes me home and I'm there by 2015. And so ends another epic bash. Still a lot of bookwork to do tomorrow, at least I have another day off before going back to work on Friday!
Which finally rounds off that trip report, as always questions, comments and constructive criticism welcome
Can't be bothered putting up the Cheshire Day Ranger bash trip report from 1st January up yet, so let's start with the second bash of the year. I know it doesn't make much sense, but it's the way I'm doing it! Here we go then...
7th January 2013 - Brussels Bash, Day 1
It's finally here, my first solo bash into mainland Europe! Feels like quite the long time since I booked the trip back in October! Having spent a significant amount of yesterday packing and sorting out paperwork for the bash, it was finally sleep time around 0030. The alarm wasn't too welcome at 0630, but once I remembered what today was I flew out of bed unsurprisingly
A couple of toasted muffins and coffee for breakfast before getting the 0720 bus to Hereford. A 75 minute journey sees me arrive with plenty of time to get my Off Peak Return to Newport and a large coffee. £26 for the ticket to Newport, up from £24.50 last year. Knew I should have booked it the other day! Off we go though and it must be said the refurbished ATW MK3s are quite impressive. Very smart looking inside and out, and the plug sockets are a very welcome bonus! 67002 is discovered at Newport to be the 67 pushing the train today, and I pick up my tickets to London and get some Euros from the Post Office.
DSCN0011 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0015 by 43002, on Flickr
I gave up looking for Argos, but found Wilkinson and after much searching, I couldn't find a UK to Europe plug adaptor. After asking, I discover what I'm after is in the DIY section and I get one for £2.98. Still an hour to kill before the booked train to London Paddington, so it was time to do some spotting and a coffee from Upper Crust. That hour flew by in the end, and some more photos are got before my first HST of the year is had with 43139 and 43163 on the 1028 Swansea to London Paddington.
DSCN0023 by 43002, on Flickr
Bristol Parkway signals it to be lunchtime, so since it's been a good 5 hours since breakfast a sandwich and Cornish pasty from home are devoured and most delicious! The journey down the GWML has been a stormer as hoped too, excellent. Feeling so much happier on this bash than I was on Tuesday/Wednesday last week, to think I was going to cancel this one! The new depot to the west of Reading is really coming on fast, as are the new platforms at Reading. The whole remodelling of the area is coming on fast and looking impressive, several photos taken obviously, including some of the new OHLE that's going up to the east of the station.
DSCN0025 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0026 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0031 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0033 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0035 by 43002, on Flickr
We're nearly in London now, not been here for 3 months! Major brake-age near Slough, shame as we were charging along nicely! Airport Junction signals the need to hurry up and finalise preparations to alight, been a really enjoyable ride today, so much better than my last HST journey (see my trip report entitled The Big Bash Theory, the last day of it to find out why)! Now, will the Underground be working OK today?
DSCN0037 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0038 by 43002, on Flickr
To my amazement, it was with the Overground playing up today. 3341 takes me along the Oven Line (that is, the Bakerloo line) to Oxford Circus where I only end up spending 2 minutes before 12026 races up to Kings Cross St Pancras in just 4 minutes [although I have noted an error in my notebook, the departure and arrival bit of the move entry reads "1354, arr 1558". Oops...
- Ed], making the journey from Paddington to Kings Cross St Pancras to be only 14 minutes. Would take me nearly 4 times that to walk it!
DSCN0039 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0040 by 43002, on Flickr
Check in is nice and easy with Eurostar, and after what felt like ages waiting in the waiting area, it's a long walk to coach 17! A few photos are got and it's onto the train. With so few Eurostar moves in my bashing career, it's almost unsurprising that it's a pair of winning 373s, 3224 and 3223, on the 1504 to Brussels Midi. Very happy with that! We leave bang on time, and at 1530 the last of HS1 I needed, the Ashford International avoider, is done. Just PSUL stuff to do now to clear the UK and Irish Rail heavy rail networks! Bring on the new track somewhere after Lille Europe (this train's only call), indeed it'll be my first track coverage in Belgium
DSCN0041 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0042 by 43002, on Flickr
A coffee is called for from the buffet car in coach 13 whilst we're in the Channel Tunnel, as it's still a long way to go and I've not much pop left. Before which, I'd noted 4 ex-Spanish 37s on Dollands Moor. Couldn't ID them but a welcome sight
Everything is incredibly expensive, more so than I'd expect, even a Kit Kat is £1.30. A can of Stella Cidre would have been lovely, but not at the mammoth £4.80! I was buying a 4 pack of cans of that for £3.50 at Asda at the time! A medium coffee will do, £2.20. The cup is about the same size as those on ATW, awfulness! I'll be stocking up somewhere before the return in Brussels then! Thoughts turn to where on Earth I'll get food from, as I'm rather hungry now. Bring on getting there I say, and at 1558 UK time we surface into France!Fortunately, my phone has discovered a network, and updated the time accordingly. 1 hour or so to go, sadly all the new track today will be in the dark. I'll see it all on the way home though on Wednesday, so it's all good. Surprised how full coach 17 is, yet 14 to 16 were almost empty! The onboard magazine is looked at, and sometime after Lille I see a double deck train. Looks so strange to someone used to almost only UK stuff! We arrive bang on time into Brussels Midi's platform 2, naturally a photo is needed!
DSCN0049 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0050 by 43002, on Flickr
Food is had in the form of a Super Bacon burger meal at Quick on Brussels Midi station for €7.70, very nice it was too! I choose the 1834 to Termonde (I think) and it's SNCB's 636, a local 2-car EMU, for the leap to Brussels Nord. I find the exit eventually but discover I've got the wrong one. Eventually I find the right streets for the route to my hotel, but still get lost and eventually find it after asking in a completely different hotel. It took me 40 minutes after getting off the train, but eventually I got to Hotel Albert and check in.
DSCN0051 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0053 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0055 by 43002, on Flickr
DSCN0056 by 43002, on Flickr
It's a rather basic hotel, just one twin socket and not even a kettle and tea/coffee facilities, surely a mandatory basic in 2013? It's a rather small room too, overlooking a busy-ish road. I check in with home, and struggle to understand any channel on the TV, so thankfully the WiFi is free (something I look for in every European hotel room, for easy keeping in touch via Facebook) and used extensively. I catch up with the paperwork from the day and research various bits and bobs for tomorrow. A very good day has been had, bring on the exploration of Brussels tomorrow!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Right then, let's get carried on with day 2 of this one next!
8th January 2013 - Brussels Bash, Day 2
After finally getting to sleep around 0245, I wasn't happy with the alarm at 0800! I turn it off and head back to bed for a bit more sleep. A bit turns into a lot, as when I randomly turn over and wake up later I find it's 1024! Epic failcakes! A good but quick shower is had and I'm off within 30 minutes.
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Thankfully I don't get lost this time on my way to Brussels Nord, and after getting my Jump ticket for €6, I find somewhere to get a coffee. Clearly they've not heard of large cups over here, and I end up with a cafe latte for €2.20. Turned out to be quite nice mind, so well worth it. After all the water I've consumed in the last 18 hours, it was a welcome change! Down to the trams then, and I start with line 55, Rogier to Da Vinci. The honour of my first continental tram falls to 3113, and we head north towards Da Vinci.
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There seems to be an absolute ton of lines to do [still not found out exactly how many - Ed] in Brussels, and I could have bailed at Bordet Station on the way back from Da Vinci, but I had no idea on times of trains or if my ticket was definitely valid anyway. So I continue south with 3113 all the way to Rogier on a 27 minute journey. With Line 55 out of the way, I move onto heavy rail, starting with Metro lines 2 and 6. 208 is my first Metro car to be travelled on with a leap from Rogier to Simonis Elisabeth.
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Very much plastic seats with no padding or anything on these trains! We reach the end of the line in just 3 minutes, and I go downstairs to Simonis Leopald II where I pick up 235 on a leap to Beekkant, where I change for Metro line 5. During the wait, I devour the little biscuits that came with my earlier coffee, I've not eaten today and I'm therefore starving! 190 is up next on line 5 to Erasme, and we're there in just 13 minutes.
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It's onto 155 for a full line trip from Erasme to Herrmann Debroux now, which looks like it'll take ages with all the stops but in fact took us just 36 minutes. Most of the trains on line 5 are of this sort, although I've seen at least one of the newer stock on this line too. Annoyingly the vending machine at Erasme wouldn't accept my coins, thankfully the one here at Herrmann Debroux does and I can finally have a drink that's cold and sweet. €2 for a 500ml bottle of Coke and €1 for a Mars bar, but they both went down so well! This Metro stock sounds alright to my ears, a bit of a cross between Bakerloo line trains and Class 314s to my ears.
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Off I go on 190 next to Merode in order to clear line 1, and it's just a 9 minute leap to get there. I'm on the new stock on line 1 to Stockel, once I finally climb enough staircases to get to the right platform. 6237 is my carriage of choice and it's only 13 minutes to get to the end of the line.
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The artwork on the walls alongside the platforms here at Stockel make for a rather different scene. I pick up some more drinks and supplies from a shop in the station for €3, then it's onto 6371 to Arts-Loi to get back onto lines 2 and 6. Not really noted much in the way of noise on these modern Metro trains, but the seats are no better than those on the other Metro stock. Up more stairs at Arts-Loi for a leap on 194 to Rogier. Here I decide it's time to deal with personal matters, then go outside the station to find somewhere to get some food. As it's 1500 by the time I arrived off 194, and I'd not eaten all day, I can be forgiven for this bellow of "MCDONALDS!"
After noting it not far from the station, I charge down there as fast as I can for my usual meal, a quarter pounder with cheese meal. €7.30 for a large meal, but it was money so well spent! Back on the station I get on a line 6 train all the way to the end at Koning Boudewijn with 112.
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31 minutes after leaving Rogier, I'm there and I have to admit that was a lot quicker than I expected. Onwards next on a leap to Heysel to get to line 7 with 111, an insect leap with a journey time of just 1 minute! I look and I look and I look, but I can find no Metro line 7 at Heysel, so I check the map. Ahhhh, that'll be why, lines 3, 4 and 7 on the map are tram lines. Surprised I didn't notice that really. Oh well, might as well get started on it since I'm here, then I can head into town for some other Belgian traction! 4013 is the tram of choice on line 7 and we leave at 1620. Why I note the departure time here is important, I'll explain why in a moment.
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Fortunately during the journey I was sat down all the way, which was important in one tunnel as we slammed to a halt very rapidly. I forgot line 7 doesn't go into town, that's line 3, and I'm on this tram for ages not remembering that. Oh well, I might as well stay on this line all the way around Brussels now then! I'm missing the evening peak in Brussels city centre, but there'll be other times for that. All the way to Vanderkindere I go then, and we finally arrive at 1718, 58 minutes after leaving Heysel. Got to be the longest time I've ever spent on a tram!
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Since I'm down here, I might as well get on with tram line 4 too. So I eventually get a tram bound for Stalle with 3028 and it's just 15 minutes journey time. It's January, it's cold, it's dark, no way am I waiting for a different tram for another red pen move! I get 3028 back to Gare du Midi, I want to do some proper trains again now!
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24 minutes on a tram which got very busy not that long after Stalle, and I'm back at Gare du Midi. By now, personal matters were hugely important, so a proper train with facilities was so welcome it was unreal! I get my first SNCB AM96 EMUs in the book with 506 and 519 on a leap to Brussels Central, continuing with a top and tailed IC train forward to Brussels Nord with 1908 and 1895. Must have been a train from two different places, surely for two locos? Nevertheless, it was my first double deck train so I couldn't resist going upstairs!
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Very different stock going back to Brussels Midi, hauled by 2115
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I have the need to get some more food again now, unsurprisingly, so I do a leap on tram line 4 to Rogier with 3018 for another visit to McDonalds. I get two cheeseburgers for €2, nothing more as I'm running out of funds to my dismay (€40 was supposed to be plenty!), but they were still very nom nom nom! 3089 is on tram line 25, and I'm on it for a leap to Robiano, which I'd earlier determined to be the closest tram stop to my hotel. Very happy to have got 3 locos in the book, shame I was towards the back as 2115 sounded mighty hellfire as it came in! Despite not starting very early, I did quite a bit all in. I return to the hotel, after finding it should have been the tram stop before Robiano, and I check in with home. Then it's onto Facebook, paperwork and general chilling out. Going to take ages to get all this into RailMiles, then it's hunting down mileage figures [still need them actually! - Ed] for this lot! With all the paperwork done, it's time to start winding down for sleep, need a good 'un with something like 420 miles of travelling to do tomorrow! Going to be hard to wind down though, I'm dead excited about getting more mileage in tomorrow, not to mention the 186mph running again, that was fun! Despite the fact I've had a great time, I'm keen to get my NREAs out again on my return to the UK. I miss knowing my classes, where to find them and most of all, I miss being able to understand what signs say! I could never live abroad, of that I'm sure as I'd always be homesick!
Day 3 to follow in due course, now it's time to add photos for day 1
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Right then, before bed beckons again let's finish this one. Which means I've then completed three trip reports this week, with two more to do fully and one to do two days on. Hmm, still a lot of work to do then! So let's fly!
9th January 2013 - Brussels Bash, Day 3
After finally getting to sleep around 0045, I wake at 0735 and find my phone is not charging properly, how lovely. Back to bed and up at the revised alarm time of 0930. Phone still not charging properly, grr! Turning it off and back on again tells me it's dropped to 35% not 67% as before! Strange thing that, somehow I get it charging again and it's de-rancifying time. Facebook is used again and everything is prepped before leaving at 1038. Down at Brussels Nord, I find an Oostende-bound IC train and it's thankfully a winner loco.
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1909 does me the honours of carting me down to Midi on the 1056 to Oostende, and I get some photos before going downstairs for some very late breakfast/right-time-lunch, as I'm incredibly hungry now. I spy Subway, and get a footlong turkey, cheese and BBQ sauce sub for €5.10. That leaves me with just 40c for my next European adventure, good thing I filled my bottles with water this morning then!
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It's time to head off to the Eurostar check in centre next, which is done in all of about 5 minutes. Plenty of time allowed and next to none needed! Time to update my notebook then, and that's all done by 1153. I still have forever until boarding commences and no money to buy a coffee to kill time, which is what I'd normally do in this situation. Bad times, especially since I've not had a coffee all day so far! After a while of being bored out of my skull, I conclude it's time for some banging tunes, having not had any on since 1750 on Monday! Boarding finally commences at 1237 and I don't believe my luck...
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It's the same dang pair of 373s, 3223 and 3224, that I had on Monday! Mileage move on this one then, quite I won't be that far too half way to clearing these two when I get back to London! So unless the Underground provides a winner later, the only one today will have been SNCB's 1909! Not entirely amusing that. We leave 3 minutes early, and on our way out of Brussels I note a SNCB 373 I needed for sight, 3106, on a depot. Still plenty of 373s all in that I need mind! The amount of lines going here, there and everywhere just west of Midi station was mindboggling. The buffet car finally opens and a large Americano is £3, the same size as a small Costa coffee, just about! Even so, I go for it and phwoar, didn't I enjoy that a LOT! As they say, the first of the day is the best! 3007 is noted on a Eurostar service heading south at Lille Europe, another one I needed taking me to 7 more British 373s to see. 3 more SNCB and 11 more SNCF sets to get for sight, 21 all in then I make that. 6 are French lines only so I need to find out what they operate. I get the feeling another Eurostar bash is forthcoming [it was, but due to a fail with booking the right dates it's still forthcoming as of 24th March 2013! - Ed] in the near future!
I start regretting not noting all the trains I've seen on this trip, which was due to having nothing to mark them off in [after getting my Benelux Railways book, I really did regret it! - Ed] yet. Let's Fly by Styles and Breeze is on the MP3 player, my favourite tune for high speed journeys or indeed flying, so appropriate to have it playing, therefore, as we belt it through northern France! 1359 and we arrive at Calais-Frethun, 29 minutes after leaving Lille Europe. Just a few minutes until we leave the continent! 1406 and we're in the tunnel, England here I come!
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16 minutes into the tunnel and I was amazed to see I still had a network on my phone! At 1427, we're back on British soil, or that is 1327 in UK time. 1349 and it's departure from Ebbsfleet International, I think I'd best start preparations for alighting! We arrive at 1408, so on my ticket we're 5 minutes late randomly, or 1 minute early according to the announcement earlier. One more photo then of the Eurostar before heading to passport control
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With that swiftly done, it's time for the long walk to the Tube. 12047 takes me for another 4 minute ride along to Oxford Circus for 4550 forward on the Oven Line to Paddington in just 8 minutes. You may be wondering if they were winners after all, and I've only recently-ish got a new book with Tube stock in it to find out, but according to all the notes I've found thus far, yes they were winners. Ahh, Paddington, so nice to be back on familiar territory! Sainsburys is visited for a chicken and stuffing sandwich, prawn cocktail crisps and a bottle of Coke for just £3 on their meal deal. Very good it is too when you realise the sandwich on its own is £2.60, so I saved £1.40 all in! I have a craving for coffee again, to be fair only my second of the day, so it's off to Costa. A small Americano for £1.95 is sourced, and boarding commences for my HST to Newport at 1503. So the long walk begins up platform 5 to discover it's 43028 and 43152 on the 1515 to Swansea today, and I hunt my booked seat. I had heard there were issues in the Maidenhead area earlier, but it might have only been on the relief lines since we absolutely storm along the GWML as I hoped. We have no issues at all until Reading, where we're held for 59202 and 59002 going ahead of us on a Wiltshire-bound empty stone train! After Didcot, it's time to get the tunes on again for some more 125mph running! The sun's almost set by the time we near Swindon, had to get a photo
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I fail to remember when I last got off a train, or on one, at Swindon but I do have some fond memories of such trips which I enjoy during the station dwell time and as we leave. Time to reflect on the last three days as I stare out of the window, as we're almost at the end of the trip. A stone train is noted at Wootton Bassett, possibly the first time I've noted one on that siding. I fill up my notebook with several lines of summarising the 3 days away, and I come to realise there's only one more train to go on before the end of the trip, before the lengthy bus journey home. All in all, it's been an absolute stormer of a trip, and tomorrow's going to be busy with trip report writing [ha! - Ed], photo uploading and entering moves into RailMiles. I tot up that I've spent £188.80 plus €6 on rail fares so far this year, which is good value for the mileage I've had so far! After Bristol Parkway I start getting everything ready to alight, Newport marks 368 miles and 61 chains (by my count at the time at least) of today's journey done, no wonder I'm starting to getting tired! 44 miles 34 chains to go on the train, totalling mileage for today to be 413 miles 15 chains, quite a bit then! For £99.50, 737 miles and 42 chains was had Newport to Brussels and back, incredibly good value for money! The 1704 to Manchester is seen as we cross the bridge over the river, close but no cigar! Bit of a boring fester it is then for the 1736 to Holyhead, at least it's not an hour's wait! To my surprise, it's a pairing of 175103 and 175104 on it tonight, shall try to get a photo of it at Hereford then.
The downside now though is that I'm not due to go anywhere on a train for ages, nothing booked whatsoever. Can't plan or book anything until Friday either, no money until then! Back to the tunes for the final leg of the adventure then, and we arrive into Hereford at 1825.
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It's not overly clear that it's a pair of 175s admittedly. I pop into Morrisons then to get some Irn Bru and Cadburys Buttons to tide me over until I get home for tea. Y877 PWT takes me home and I'm there by 2015. And so ends another epic bash. Still a lot of bookwork to do tomorrow, at least I have another day off before going back to work on Friday!
Which finally rounds off that trip report, as always questions, comments and constructive criticism welcome
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