Kite159
Veteran Member
It's a balancing act, with limiting pictures on the posts for those on mobile data not having to download so much if they want to view.
Don't worry Keith, it isn't all 156 mileage, 73970 & several buses also feature
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The Various Random Mutterings of Kite
- Thread starter Kite159
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It's a balancing act, with limiting pictures on the posts for those on mobile data not having to download so much if they want to view.
Don't worry Keith, it isn't all 156 mileage, 73970 & several buses also feature
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RailUK Forums
Techniquest
Veteran Member
As always, an excellent read I have really got to go back to the WHL! Many congratulations on getting to sound the Class Clearance Cannon twice in one day!
I have really got to go back to the WHL! Many congratulations on getting to sound the Class Clearance Cannon twice in one day!
Kite159
Veteran Member
10th September – Onwards to the West Highlands, Day 2
On my original plan I had the Sunday down as “unit hunt”, but seeing as my final 158 was hiding up in Inverness and tram 255 wasn’t out to play (that app is amazing), I decided to head back to the west. If I was planning this trip again I would have had the move from Glasgow to Banavie today rather than on the Monday but hey-ho. The first Mallaig service on a Sunday is at 12:20, one of those summer extras which stops at the end of October, so after a lazy hour or so catching up with the forum I headed out into the cold Glasgow rain, swinging via Tesco for some lunch.
To kill time I headed to Glasgow Central Low Level with 318261 putting in a good performance (I couldn’t decide which EMU sounds the best when in the tunnels beneath the city) to Hyndland, a quick double back to Partick on 318270 before heading to Dalmuir via Yoker on 318251. It was raining and I was in the motor coach, lots of noise and wheel spin. A brief fester at Dalmuir before crossing over to the Singer lines with Edinburgh bound 334013/334016 stopping at all stations to Glasgow Queen Street low level, another lovely noise fest with the wheels trying to grip the wet rails.
A good thing I decided to get to Glasgow Queen Street 40 minutes before the 12:20 was due out, as it was already announced on the screens, front 4 carriages to Oban with rear 2 to Mallaig. 156485 & 156465 were the pair heading to Oban, with 156450 heading to Mallaig, as I managed to get a table seat with a decent view (as not all the table seats line up with the windows, there be a couple which give a view of plastic), and relaxed before departure. I had forgotten how bleak and beautiful Rannoch moor is, especially when the sky is all grey and moody with mist across the moor, I was in two minds which station to go for this afternoon.
Reversing at Fort William, I noted the 73 which would be working the sleeper later, before carrying on forking left at the junction to take the Mallaig Extension line, crossing over the swing bridge at Banavie giving the signaller a wave in the box before alighting at the short platform of Loch Eil Outward Bound. Basically a required stop for services due to it being a block post, but is the least used station in GB which all service trains call (so excluding request stops, or those once/twice a day ones). The tiny platform has a decent waiting shed, sadly no decent views of the loch was possible due to the outward bound centre opposite, although a view could be had from the level crossing, but it was raining so after a picture I returned to the safety of the shed
View of Loch Eil
Unsurprisingly I was the only person to board 156496 when it arrived from Mallaig, the guard shocked at there being a passenger at Loch Eil, a very good guard who did announcements in Gaelic at the end, sadly I didn’t make his day as I already had a ticket. I was in two minds wherever or not to do this next move, in the end decided it was worth the later finish due to having a later start in the morning (and in the great scheme of things made sense seeing what happened on Monday morning).
I alighted from 156496 after going back over the wilderness to reach the remote Rannoch station, not quite as remote as some stations on this line but the nearest village was a good 7 miles away down a little country lane. After listening to 56094 (I think) pulling away on a Fort William oil freight service I had a little explore, nothing of note around the area outside the station other than a hotel, on the island platform itself there was a tea-shop (closed this time of night), toilets & a decent waiting room, with tea/coffee/biscuits available on a honesty box system. A very relaxing place to spend an hour and a bit, with the station getting busier as time went on, a good place to spend a couple hours to get away from the modern world.
The sleeper was spotted snaking its way across the moor, with 73970 leading the Fort William portion of the sleeper tonight, OK it be technically a dud as I had it back in December also on the West Highlands, but that time a 66 was doing the work with the 73 being used to provide power to the carriages. I managed to grab a seat in the seated coach (a proper seated coach this time, no more grotty old Virgin Mk2 with 2+2 seating around tables) for the run back towards Glasgow, sadly darkness had fallen so there wasn’t much to look out of the window on.
An on-time arrival back at Glasgow, as I exited the carriage, listening to the 73 purring away in the tunnel, before exiting via the ticket barriers (which I was surprised were still in operation at 23:30 on a Sunday night), swinging via KFC for a late evening dinner. 2 more shacks into my book, making use of an otherwise quiet day, and allowing me to change my plan for the next couple days around.
I will leave you with a picture of a former Southern region electo-diesel loco at Rannoch
73970 at Rannoch
(I have added some more pictures to the album for Sunday https://www.flickr.com/photos/27666294@N02/albums/72157689190808375)
I forgot to mention when on the electrics my ticket was checked on every train other than the 380 from Carstairs to Carluke, good staff presence on those SPT electrics.
On my original plan I had the Sunday down as “unit hunt”, but seeing as my final 158 was hiding up in Inverness and tram 255 wasn’t out to play (that app is amazing), I decided to head back to the west. If I was planning this trip again I would have had the move from Glasgow to Banavie today rather than on the Monday but hey-ho. The first Mallaig service on a Sunday is at 12:20, one of those summer extras which stops at the end of October, so after a lazy hour or so catching up with the forum I headed out into the cold Glasgow rain, swinging via Tesco for some lunch.
To kill time I headed to Glasgow Central Low Level with 318261 putting in a good performance (I couldn’t decide which EMU sounds the best when in the tunnels beneath the city) to Hyndland, a quick double back to Partick on 318270 before heading to Dalmuir via Yoker on 318251. It was raining and I was in the motor coach, lots of noise and wheel spin. A brief fester at Dalmuir before crossing over to the Singer lines with Edinburgh bound 334013/334016 stopping at all stations to Glasgow Queen Street low level, another lovely noise fest with the wheels trying to grip the wet rails.
A good thing I decided to get to Glasgow Queen Street 40 minutes before the 12:20 was due out, as it was already announced on the screens, front 4 carriages to Oban with rear 2 to Mallaig. 156485 & 156465 were the pair heading to Oban, with 156450 heading to Mallaig, as I managed to get a table seat with a decent view (as not all the table seats line up with the windows, there be a couple which give a view of plastic), and relaxed before departure. I had forgotten how bleak and beautiful Rannoch moor is, especially when the sky is all grey and moody with mist across the moor, I was in two minds which station to go for this afternoon.
Reversing at Fort William, I noted the 73 which would be working the sleeper later, before carrying on forking left at the junction to take the Mallaig Extension line, crossing over the swing bridge at Banavie giving the signaller a wave in the box before alighting at the short platform of Loch Eil Outward Bound. Basically a required stop for services due to it being a block post, but is the least used station in GB which all service trains call (so excluding request stops, or those once/twice a day ones). The tiny platform has a decent waiting shed, sadly no decent views of the loch was possible due to the outward bound centre opposite, although a view could be had from the level crossing, but it was raining so after a picture I returned to the safety of the shed
View of Loch Eil Unsurprisingly I was the only person to board 156496 when it arrived from Mallaig, the guard shocked at there being a passenger at Loch Eil, a very good guard who did announcements in Gaelic at the end, sadly I didn’t make his day as I already had a ticket. I was in two minds wherever or not to do this next move, in the end decided it was worth the later finish due to having a later start in the morning (and in the great scheme of things made sense seeing what happened on Monday morning).
I alighted from 156496 after going back over the wilderness to reach the remote Rannoch station, not quite as remote as some stations on this line but the nearest village was a good 7 miles away down a little country lane. After listening to 56094 (I think) pulling away on a Fort William oil freight service I had a little explore, nothing of note around the area outside the station other than a hotel, on the island platform itself there was a tea-shop (closed this time of night), toilets & a decent waiting room, with tea/coffee/biscuits available on a honesty box system. A very relaxing place to spend an hour and a bit, with the station getting busier as time went on, a good place to spend a couple hours to get away from the modern world.
The sleeper was spotted snaking its way across the moor, with 73970 leading the Fort William portion of the sleeper tonight, OK it be technically a dud as I had it back in December also on the West Highlands, but that time a 66 was doing the work with the 73 being used to provide power to the carriages. I managed to grab a seat in the seated coach (a proper seated coach this time, no more grotty old Virgin Mk2 with 2+2 seating around tables) for the run back towards Glasgow, sadly darkness had fallen so there wasn’t much to look out of the window on.
An on-time arrival back at Glasgow, as I exited the carriage, listening to the 73 purring away in the tunnel, before exiting via the ticket barriers (which I was surprised were still in operation at 23:30 on a Sunday night), swinging via KFC for a late evening dinner. 2 more shacks into my book, making use of an otherwise quiet day, and allowing me to change my plan for the next couple days around.
I will leave you with a picture of a former Southern region electo-diesel loco at Rannoch
73970 at Rannoch(I have added some more pictures to the album for Sunday https://www.flickr.com/photos/27666294@N02/albums/72157689190808375)
I forgot to mention when on the electrics my ticket was checked on every train other than the 380 from Carstairs to Carluke, good staff presence on those SPT electrics.
Last edited:
Blindtraveler
Established Member
A nice relaxed sounding day there.
Very enjoyable it would seam.
Very enjoyable it would seam.
Kite159
Veteran Member
11th September – Onwards to the West Highlands, Day 3
Can anybody work out what is slightly odd with the below picture?
I will give you a clue, look at the time, the sleeper is meant to depart Dumbarton Central at 06:15, yep a lucky escape as it was running 2 and a half hours late at this point caused by an issue with a windscreen wiper blade. But I will reset the clock to around 07:20 when I woke up, I wanted to double check the time of the Oban/Mallaig service and noticed that the Fort William sleeper was running late, and got even later (as it got caught behind a stopping service from Edinburgh towards Glasgow).
After picking up some supplies I headed down to the below ground platforms at Queen Street to re-board the seated coach being hauled by 73970 with a crazy idea at first of doing a linear hop, only to come to my senses after Dalmuir that “chances are this service will get looped to allow the faster unit to go ahead” so I decided to bail at Dumbarton Central, which was a good call at the units did indeed loop the sleeper when it was having an extended wait at the loop before Craigendoran Junction. Anyhow it was another 6-carriage service, with 156447 & 156458* heading to Mallaig (why did I have the feeling my last 156 would pop up at some point on the main part of the trip), with 156474 heading to Oban. I managed to get a table seat on this heavily reserved service and put my request into the guard, for it was time to request one of the stops!
Have I previously mentioned how beautiful this line is? Even in light rain it looked amazing, crossing over the moors to reverse at Fort William for a large passenger flow, both units are needed for the crowds heading to Mallaig even with the operational nightmare of every intermediate station being local door only, but great to see the line doing so well in tourist numbers. On route I passed 66737 hauling a freight service back east (I think it would have been the North Blyth service) at Upper Tyndrum, no doubt getting a better run without the sleeper. The line was slow going due to the signaller not issuing a long section token, instead having to stop at all the token exchange points to release the line behind us for the sleeper to enter.
Anyhow, back to the 156s, a few passengers at the first two stations, nothing at Outward Bound, as the train slowed to stop at the request stop of Locheilside, a little bus shelter on the platform awaited me for my hour fester for the bus (nothing on the side of the busy road to show it was a bus stop). After a quick wonder round to find the total of bugger all (3 houses nearby and that be your lot), it hasn’t even got a decent view of the loch for it was blocked by some trees.
Locheilside Station
Before anybody asks, yes that is the mobile house, and I know I left it unattended for a minute to allow me to dash across the road to grab that picture, showing a rather pointless (in my view) station. Anyhow I had a guess there was some road works on the road further back towards Fort William due to the vehicles heading towards Mallaig being in batches, at roughly the time the bus was due I took up a position by the side of the road keeping my eyes peeled for a bus with “Mallaig” on the front of it, eventually flagging down coach YX14 SEO working the Shiel Buses route 500 service from Fort William to Mallaig.
I handed over my £3.30 for a single to the 2nd next station, to a smiling bus driver on a lightly loaded coach, and sat back to watch the scenery from the road, catching a glimpse at Glenfinnan viaduct as the bus called to allow a couple passengers off (might be from the delayed sleeper) before carrying on for the long run, running mostly alongside the railway line, a couple times the line was on the other side of a loch but going by road gives a different angle to go “this area is beautiful” as myself and another passenger got off the coach at a hotel, for a short walk back up the road to reach Lochailort station. My first impression where of a lovely view as the railway line was quite high here
View from Lochailort Station
Anyhow back to the station, evidence of a former platform opposite, the remaining platform having a basic shelter plus some benches on, sadly the weather couldn’t make up its mind for my 90-ish minute wait here, sunny one moment, light rain the next with some heavy downpours thrown into the mix. The only other person I saw during this time was a postman, plus the passengers on the Jacobite steam services as both the Fort William bound service (running Tender First) passed followed an hour later by the afternoon Mallaig service.
Jacobite Steam Service passes Lochailort
Eventually I heard the sound of engines as I flagged down the return of 156458 & 156447 heading back to Glasgow, another disappointed guard that he couldn’t sell a ticket from Lochailor as I said the station I was getting off at, the last stop on the Mallaig extension line at Banavie, base camp for the next couple nights. A reasonable platform with a waiting shelter, overlooked by the sole remaining operational signal box on this line, but it had started to rain again, after getting my bearings I headed across the Caledonian Canal at the bottom of Neptune's Staircase (longest staircase locks in GB I believe), as I waited to cross the busy road I heard the swing bridge alarm sounding as a boat had just finished coming down the staircase and wanted both swing bridges to open to allow it to pass. What excellent timing as it allowed for this picture of the railway running into the canal
Banavie Swing Bridge in Operation
Anyhow, I crossed over the road and headed to “Chase the Wild Goose” hostel, located I would say a couple minute walk away, checked into the hostel, located the 8-bed dorm room I was in (accommodation in Fort William is expensive this time of year), dropped off my bag and removed some extra weight from my backpack, also making the bed to save a job for later. After heading back out I was disappointed as it was still raining, and quite heavy at times with that, my plan walk alongside the canal would have to be ditched for a bus move for the mile up the road, flagging down a Stagecoach service to Corpach working a route 47 service, with bus 47812 being my ride for the short run up to the next village, swinging via the Co-Op for something for dinner before heading down to the single platform at Corpach station to hide in the waiting shelter. A bit of a shame as it looked like the views would be excellent on a fine day.
It wasn’t too long before 156492 popped up to take me to Fort William where it terminated, for a nice easy cross platform interchange to board a familiar looking Mk2 coach being hauled by a very familiar looking 73/9. I ‘requested’ to the guard my stop (more of a “so he can look out for you getting off”), skipping Roy Bridge as I alighted at Tulloch. It was dark but looking at the map of what be around and it appears “not a lot” to be the answer, other than a hostel in the former station building. A couple benches were under the canopy with nothing much on the opposite platform, I sort of regretted leaving my jumper in my bag at Banavie as the temperature dropped, but I had a nice relaxing time sitting on the bench in near perfect silent, waiting for the 4th and final Mallaig bound service of the day to roll in.
Around the time the service was due I headed over the barrow crossing to the opposite platform with 156474 rolling in, the guard calling me mad as I settled down on a quiet service, back to Banavie, where I headed to the hostel for the first night’s kip, deciding to rejig my plan for the following day. I shall leave you with this picture of 156474 heading to Mallaig crossing over the Banavie Swing Bridge under the watchful eye of the signaller
156474 departs Banavie
Warning in advance, day 4 might feature a tractor
Can anybody work out what is slightly odd with the below picture?
I will give you a clue, look at the time, the sleeper is meant to depart Dumbarton Central at 06:15, yep a lucky escape as it was running 2 and a half hours late at this point caused by an issue with a windscreen wiper blade. But I will reset the clock to around 07:20 when I woke up, I wanted to double check the time of the Oban/Mallaig service and noticed that the Fort William sleeper was running late, and got even later (as it got caught behind a stopping service from Edinburgh towards Glasgow).
After picking up some supplies I headed down to the below ground platforms at Queen Street to re-board the seated coach being hauled by 73970 with a crazy idea at first of doing a linear hop, only to come to my senses after Dalmuir that “chances are this service will get looped to allow the faster unit to go ahead” so I decided to bail at Dumbarton Central, which was a good call at the units did indeed loop the sleeper when it was having an extended wait at the loop before Craigendoran Junction. Anyhow it was another 6-carriage service, with 156447 & 156458* heading to Mallaig (why did I have the feeling my last 156 would pop up at some point on the main part of the trip), with 156474 heading to Oban. I managed to get a table seat on this heavily reserved service and put my request into the guard, for it was time to request one of the stops!
Have I previously mentioned how beautiful this line is? Even in light rain it looked amazing, crossing over the moors to reverse at Fort William for a large passenger flow, both units are needed for the crowds heading to Mallaig even with the operational nightmare of every intermediate station being local door only, but great to see the line doing so well in tourist numbers. On route I passed 66737 hauling a freight service back east (I think it would have been the North Blyth service) at Upper Tyndrum, no doubt getting a better run without the sleeper. The line was slow going due to the signaller not issuing a long section token, instead having to stop at all the token exchange points to release the line behind us for the sleeper to enter.
Anyhow, back to the 156s, a few passengers at the first two stations, nothing at Outward Bound, as the train slowed to stop at the request stop of Locheilside, a little bus shelter on the platform awaited me for my hour fester for the bus (nothing on the side of the busy road to show it was a bus stop). After a quick wonder round to find the total of bugger all (3 houses nearby and that be your lot), it hasn’t even got a decent view of the loch for it was blocked by some trees.
Locheilside StationBefore anybody asks, yes that is the mobile house, and I know I left it unattended for a minute to allow me to dash across the road to grab that picture, showing a rather pointless (in my view) station. Anyhow I had a guess there was some road works on the road further back towards Fort William due to the vehicles heading towards Mallaig being in batches, at roughly the time the bus was due I took up a position by the side of the road keeping my eyes peeled for a bus with “Mallaig” on the front of it, eventually flagging down coach YX14 SEO working the Shiel Buses route 500 service from Fort William to Mallaig.
I handed over my £3.30 for a single to the 2nd next station, to a smiling bus driver on a lightly loaded coach, and sat back to watch the scenery from the road, catching a glimpse at Glenfinnan viaduct as the bus called to allow a couple passengers off (might be from the delayed sleeper) before carrying on for the long run, running mostly alongside the railway line, a couple times the line was on the other side of a loch but going by road gives a different angle to go “this area is beautiful” as myself and another passenger got off the coach at a hotel, for a short walk back up the road to reach Lochailort station. My first impression where of a lovely view as the railway line was quite high here
View from Lochailort StationAnyhow back to the station, evidence of a former platform opposite, the remaining platform having a basic shelter plus some benches on, sadly the weather couldn’t make up its mind for my 90-ish minute wait here, sunny one moment, light rain the next with some heavy downpours thrown into the mix. The only other person I saw during this time was a postman, plus the passengers on the Jacobite steam services as both the Fort William bound service (running Tender First) passed followed an hour later by the afternoon Mallaig service.
Jacobite Steam Service passes LochailortEventually I heard the sound of engines as I flagged down the return of 156458 & 156447 heading back to Glasgow, another disappointed guard that he couldn’t sell a ticket from Lochailor as I said the station I was getting off at, the last stop on the Mallaig extension line at Banavie, base camp for the next couple nights. A reasonable platform with a waiting shelter, overlooked by the sole remaining operational signal box on this line, but it had started to rain again, after getting my bearings I headed across the Caledonian Canal at the bottom of Neptune's Staircase (longest staircase locks in GB I believe), as I waited to cross the busy road I heard the swing bridge alarm sounding as a boat had just finished coming down the staircase and wanted both swing bridges to open to allow it to pass. What excellent timing as it allowed for this picture of the railway running into the canal
Banavie Swing Bridge in OperationAnyhow, I crossed over the road and headed to “Chase the Wild Goose” hostel, located I would say a couple minute walk away, checked into the hostel, located the 8-bed dorm room I was in (accommodation in Fort William is expensive this time of year), dropped off my bag and removed some extra weight from my backpack, also making the bed to save a job for later. After heading back out I was disappointed as it was still raining, and quite heavy at times with that, my plan walk alongside the canal would have to be ditched for a bus move for the mile up the road, flagging down a Stagecoach service to Corpach working a route 47 service, with bus 47812 being my ride for the short run up to the next village, swinging via the Co-Op for something for dinner before heading down to the single platform at Corpach station to hide in the waiting shelter. A bit of a shame as it looked like the views would be excellent on a fine day.
It wasn’t too long before 156492 popped up to take me to Fort William where it terminated, for a nice easy cross platform interchange to board a familiar looking Mk2 coach being hauled by a very familiar looking 73/9. I ‘requested’ to the guard my stop (more of a “so he can look out for you getting off”), skipping Roy Bridge as I alighted at Tulloch. It was dark but looking at the map of what be around and it appears “not a lot” to be the answer, other than a hostel in the former station building. A couple benches were under the canopy with nothing much on the opposite platform, I sort of regretted leaving my jumper in my bag at Banavie as the temperature dropped, but I had a nice relaxing time sitting on the bench in near perfect silent, waiting for the 4th and final Mallaig bound service of the day to roll in.
Around the time the service was due I headed over the barrow crossing to the opposite platform with 156474 rolling in, the guard calling me mad as I settled down on a quiet service, back to Banavie, where I headed to the hostel for the first night’s kip, deciding to rejig my plan for the following day. I shall leave you with this picture of 156474 heading to Mallaig crossing over the Banavie Swing Bridge under the watchful eye of the signaller
156474 departs BanavieWarning in advance, day 4 might feature a tractor
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Blindtraveler
Established Member
Very nicely done good Sir and whilst your choice of accom doesnt appeal to me at all I do appreciate all to well the challenges of staying overnight in the West Highlands in the season.
Kite159
Veteran Member
12th September Onwards to the West Highlands, Day 4
I awoke after a decent nights sleep on the bunk bed and headed towards Banavie station with some time to spare before the first Glasgow bound service would arrive at around 07:17. As expected it was the return of 156474 after alighting from it the night before and as it has a 20 minute turnaround at Fort William it allowed me time to make a quick dash to the nearby Morrisons for something warm for breakfast, plus a newspaper & lunch for later (more of a just in case the shop at Spean Bridge was closed or didnt have much in the way of supplies).
On the opposite table sat a guardian of the door and would give evil looks to anybody who didnt close the little sliding door behind them, even slamming it closed, almost catching another passenger boarding (not the most pleasant of gentlemen, Ive come across a couple like that before on railtours who think leaving the sliding door open behind you is a crime worst than murder, even when someone is following close behind). Anyhow back onto the 156 as it made its way across the moor as myself and around 9 others alighted at the local door only shack of Corrour, it will be all downhill from here.
One of the most remote stations in GB, the nearest road being a good distance away, a station hotel/restaurant next to the passing loop (which I believe doesnt get used due to being manually operated), but quite frankly Corrour is my new favourite station, such beauty being so isolated. I had a quick walk to take a picture of the Corrour summit sign and a wonder around before heading back to the tiny island platform (which oddly must be one of the few platforms on this line which hasnt got a loose stone surface). Before I did this move I made sure the sleeper was actually on time this morning and thankfully there wouldnt be a repeat of the day before with a monster delay as I flagged down the loco
Corrour Station
Would I get lucky with the 73/9 getting swapped around in Edinburgh with a different one coming back to Fort William? Nope, for it was the return of the former 73117, otherwise known as 73970. Due to the tiny platform here at Corrour entry was via the guard door only for myself and another person (who was already at the station when the 156s arrived so probably someone who spent the night in the area), I put my request in to the guard as it was another request stop, back across the beautiful moor to reach Roy Bridge.
A basic single platform station, with disused former platform overgrown from when it used to be a passing loop, steps back up to a narrow road bridge for a little lane to join the main road (which was busy, please note dont try and walk along the road to the next station for the pavement runs out and you havent got verges to walk alongside), crossing over the River Roy to reach a little bus stop lay by, opposite a village hall and little shop. My next move was via a bus, thankfully no flagging down required as the bus starts its journey from Roy Bridge (and carries on to somewhere in Fort William), it was a Stagecoach Highlands route 41 service, formed of bus 47813 (so close to getting a dud bus!). I handed over my money for the short trip (around 2 and a bit miles) to reach the village of Spean, crossing over the River Spean and passing several tourist places plus a local Spar. I had a quick look to pass the time and came out with a nice cold bottle of pop before carrying on my short walk to Spean Bridge. A double platform station with a road bridge to get between platforms, and a restaurant in the former station building (which did look reasonable prices for food, with adverts of a selection of locally brewed ales on tap
), after a couple pictures I took up a seat on the platform [right hand side running here] to read the newspaper and a catchup with the internet.
156492/156499 rolled in from Mallaig forming the next Glasgow service as the services are timetabled to pass here, so it was only a short wait before a busy 156477 rolled in with 156496 along for the ride, no seat reservation labels were in place due to a printer fault at Glasgow, so all hell broke loose at Fort William for the usual large swap over of passengers as groups looked for their seats only to find them already taken, so having to be split up. Like the day before it was local door only at every station along the way to Mallaig, with the guard working hard to check tickets and grab any requests for the 3 tiny request stops along the way. Nobody wanted Locheilside as the train sped back up, as after crossing over a viaduct, I alighted at Glenfinnan station. One of the passing points on this route, but be warned if either train is longer than 3 carriages it blocks the barrow crossing. A quick wonder around the station with a couple old carriages in the car park used as restaurants I eventually located one of the entrances to the footpath back towards the viaduct (the other one is on the opposite platform, which I must have overlooked).
A strong word of warning, if you dont have decent footwear, stick to the road to reach the viaduct, the footpath is still in the process of being constructed so in places it is a muddy path with large stone steps both leading uphill and downhill. I took care as the stones were wet from the rain the day before (as thankfully it was currently dry but overcast), however the walk across the mountain was worth it for the views of the lochs and for the ultimate view of the wonder of engineering known as the Glenfinnan viaduct, in my view the best viaduct in Britain. I was in awe of this amazing feat (sorry if this sounds like a BBC 4 documentary)
Glenfinnan Viaduct from the path
Yes it was made of concrete, due to the remote nature of this area, crossing over the River Finnan, set back from the road and visitor centre with a lot of tourists once down from the Trail. Anyhow after swinging via the visitor centre for a postcard of the classic scene of the Jacobite steam train passing over (sadly lacking a flying Ford Anglia) I headed to the bus stop for the route 500 coach to Mallaig, once more in the hands of Shiel Buses as it was the same coach as the Monday (YX14 SEO) as I paid for a single towards Morar village.
Going by bus allowed me to spot the Loch Nan Uamh Viaduct which you pass over by train, plus the Morar viaduct, but are not really accessible by walking from the nearby station (sorry if this report feels very viaduct heavy, I promise a tractor features later). The bus/coach follows the A830 which hangs close to the railway line, passing some beautiful areas, plus tiny settlements. It goes via Arisaig village before going along a coastal route (which you wouldnt see from the line which goes inland) passing the Back of Keppoch & Portnaluchaig on the tight, twisty & hilly B8008, rejoining the main road for a few metres before diving off underneath the Morar railway viaduct up another tight & twisty lane as Morar village was reached and I requested my stop, near the station level crossing. There is a couple hotels nearby and rumours of a garage further up the road, but apart from that Morar hasnt got a lot.
If anybody is going on that bus, sit on the left hand side for the best views, on a clear day you can see lots of tiny islands, and was a worthwhile cost. Anyhow back to the trains! Morar station is a single platform with a level crossing at the Fort William end, a newspaper office is in the station building and there are a couple seats with decent cover, which came in handy as all of a sudden it started to rain, quite heavily for a few minutes. Anyhow eventually 156477 & 156496 returned from their afternoon break at Mallaig, watching as the driver has to open the front door first to operate the level crossing before returning allowing the guard to release their local door in the middle of the train to allow passengers to alight/board. I put my request in, with the guard making a note of it as I visited the toilet for a quick PNB before locating a seat, staying near the centre of the train due to the short distance.
My next stop was the request stop of Beasdale, a big step down to the basic platform. Featuring a little shed for a waiting room, and an old house which was boarded up. Next to the main road (with a bus stop for the route 500) and seemingly even more pointless than Locheilside, there are a couple hotels but at least a mile walk along a busy A830 (not much in the way of pavements on a 60 mph road) [although someone did alight from the next train looking for one of them, so it does have a use]. Anyhow this was probably one of my worst festers, mainly as the station is within a wood there is a lot of many many midges flying around trying to get a taste of Kite. It wasnt that nice, having to wonder round the platform to try and get some peace.
Eventually the next Mallaig train arrived to free me from the midges. 156474 had returned from Glasgow to take me to my final Scottish station, yes you heard right, Scotland was about to fall. 3 miles and 33 chains later I alighted at Arisaig, the most Westerly station in Britain, see it even says so on this sign:
Arisaig Station
Time for a celebration at the completion of my conquest of Scotland, as I had a walk down the hill to Arisaig village itself as I had spotted a little Spar shop earlier from the bus, mainly to pass the time with something cold to drink, before walking back up the hill (beware the hill is quite steep) to enter the station. A basic 2 platform station, barrow crossing at the Mallaig end, a decent waiting shelter as I took shelter from the light rain which had returned, watching as the station got busier with walkers returning from having a good walk, before 156474 returned from Mallaig. Once more I alighted at Banavie in the pouring rain, as I had a fast walk to The Lochy pub, getting dry and having a very lovely burger meal (I know, pushing the boat right out tonight!).
Sadly my plan was to catch the return of the 2nd Jacobite service crossing the Banavie Swing Bridge failed, although I could have easily made it as I was on the correct side of the level crossing, I didnt know how long it would take, however as I noted earlier in the day, the 2nd service wasnt the usual Black Five steam engine, but appeared to be 37518 (or 37516), which made a glorious noise accelerating away from the low speed curve at Banavie to head back to Fort William. I promised a picture of a tractor, and here it be:
37518 at Banavie
I returned to the hostel, soaking wet from the rain, I even paid £3 to rent a towel (which may or may not have been returned in the morning) in order to have a warm shower to wash away the blood, sweat & tears from a successful day. I shall leave you with this picture of a spotty 156492 arriving at Spean Bridge for no reason other than for it be spotty
156492 at Spean Bridge
I awoke after a decent nights sleep on the bunk bed and headed towards Banavie station with some time to spare before the first Glasgow bound service would arrive at around 07:17. As expected it was the return of 156474 after alighting from it the night before and as it has a 20 minute turnaround at Fort William it allowed me time to make a quick dash to the nearby Morrisons for something warm for breakfast, plus a newspaper & lunch for later (more of a just in case the shop at Spean Bridge was closed or didnt have much in the way of supplies).
On the opposite table sat a guardian of the door and would give evil looks to anybody who didnt close the little sliding door behind them, even slamming it closed, almost catching another passenger boarding (not the most pleasant of gentlemen, Ive come across a couple like that before on railtours who think leaving the sliding door open behind you is a crime worst than murder, even when someone is following close behind). Anyhow back onto the 156 as it made its way across the moor as myself and around 9 others alighted at the local door only shack of Corrour, it will be all downhill from here.
One of the most remote stations in GB, the nearest road being a good distance away, a station hotel/restaurant next to the passing loop (which I believe doesnt get used due to being manually operated), but quite frankly Corrour is my new favourite station, such beauty being so isolated. I had a quick walk to take a picture of the Corrour summit sign and a wonder around before heading back to the tiny island platform (which oddly must be one of the few platforms on this line which hasnt got a loose stone surface). Before I did this move I made sure the sleeper was actually on time this morning and thankfully there wouldnt be a repeat of the day before with a monster delay as I flagged down the loco
Corrour StationWould I get lucky with the 73/9 getting swapped around in Edinburgh with a different one coming back to Fort William? Nope, for it was the return of the former 73117, otherwise known as 73970. Due to the tiny platform here at Corrour entry was via the guard door only for myself and another person (who was already at the station when the 156s arrived so probably someone who spent the night in the area), I put my request in to the guard as it was another request stop, back across the beautiful moor to reach Roy Bridge.
A basic single platform station, with disused former platform overgrown from when it used to be a passing loop, steps back up to a narrow road bridge for a little lane to join the main road (which was busy, please note dont try and walk along the road to the next station for the pavement runs out and you havent got verges to walk alongside), crossing over the River Roy to reach a little bus stop lay by, opposite a village hall and little shop. My next move was via a bus, thankfully no flagging down required as the bus starts its journey from Roy Bridge (and carries on to somewhere in Fort William), it was a Stagecoach Highlands route 41 service, formed of bus 47813 (so close to getting a dud bus!). I handed over my money for the short trip (around 2 and a bit miles) to reach the village of Spean, crossing over the River Spean and passing several tourist places plus a local Spar. I had a quick look to pass the time and came out with a nice cold bottle of pop before carrying on my short walk to Spean Bridge. A double platform station with a road bridge to get between platforms, and a restaurant in the former station building (which did look reasonable prices for food, with adverts of a selection of locally brewed ales on tap
), after a couple pictures I took up a seat on the platform [right hand side running here] to read the newspaper and a catchup with the internet.156492/156499 rolled in from Mallaig forming the next Glasgow service as the services are timetabled to pass here, so it was only a short wait before a busy 156477 rolled in with 156496 along for the ride, no seat reservation labels were in place due to a printer fault at Glasgow, so all hell broke loose at Fort William for the usual large swap over of passengers as groups looked for their seats only to find them already taken, so having to be split up. Like the day before it was local door only at every station along the way to Mallaig, with the guard working hard to check tickets and grab any requests for the 3 tiny request stops along the way. Nobody wanted Locheilside as the train sped back up, as after crossing over a viaduct, I alighted at Glenfinnan station. One of the passing points on this route, but be warned if either train is longer than 3 carriages it blocks the barrow crossing. A quick wonder around the station with a couple old carriages in the car park used as restaurants I eventually located one of the entrances to the footpath back towards the viaduct (the other one is on the opposite platform, which I must have overlooked).
A strong word of warning, if you dont have decent footwear, stick to the road to reach the viaduct, the footpath is still in the process of being constructed so in places it is a muddy path with large stone steps both leading uphill and downhill. I took care as the stones were wet from the rain the day before (as thankfully it was currently dry but overcast), however the walk across the mountain was worth it for the views of the lochs and for the ultimate view of the wonder of engineering known as the Glenfinnan viaduct, in my view the best viaduct in Britain. I was in awe of this amazing feat (sorry if this sounds like a BBC 4 documentary)
Glenfinnan Viaduct from the path
Yes it was made of concrete, due to the remote nature of this area, crossing over the River Finnan, set back from the road and visitor centre with a lot of tourists once down from the Trail. Anyhow after swinging via the visitor centre for a postcard of the classic scene of the Jacobite steam train passing over (sadly lacking a flying Ford Anglia
) I headed to the bus stop for the route 500 coach to Mallaig, once more in the hands of Shiel Buses as it was the same coach as the Monday (YX14 SEO) as I paid for a single towards Morar village.Going by bus allowed me to spot the Loch Nan Uamh Viaduct which you pass over by train, plus the Morar viaduct, but are not really accessible by walking from the nearby station (sorry if this report feels very viaduct heavy, I promise a tractor features later). The bus/coach follows the A830 which hangs close to the railway line, passing some beautiful areas, plus tiny settlements. It goes via Arisaig village before going along a coastal route (which you wouldnt see from the line which goes inland) passing the Back of Keppoch & Portnaluchaig on the tight, twisty & hilly B8008, rejoining the main road for a few metres before diving off underneath the Morar railway viaduct up another tight & twisty lane as Morar village was reached and I requested my stop, near the station level crossing. There is a couple hotels nearby and rumours of a garage further up the road, but apart from that Morar hasnt got a lot.
If anybody is going on that bus, sit on the left hand side for the best views, on a clear day you can see lots of tiny islands, and was a worthwhile cost. Anyhow back to the trains! Morar station is a single platform with a level crossing at the Fort William end, a newspaper office is in the station building and there are a couple seats with decent cover, which came in handy as all of a sudden it started to rain, quite heavily for a few minutes. Anyhow eventually 156477 & 156496 returned from their afternoon break at Mallaig, watching as the driver has to open the front door first to operate the level crossing before returning allowing the guard to release their local door in the middle of the train to allow passengers to alight/board. I put my request in, with the guard making a note of it as I visited the toilet for a quick PNB before locating a seat, staying near the centre of the train due to the short distance.
My next stop was the request stop of Beasdale, a big step down to the basic platform. Featuring a little shed for a waiting room, and an old house which was boarded up. Next to the main road (with a bus stop for the route 500) and seemingly even more pointless than Locheilside, there are a couple hotels but at least a mile walk along a busy A830 (not much in the way of pavements on a 60 mph road) [although someone did alight from the next train looking for one of them, so it does have a use]. Anyhow this was probably one of my worst festers, mainly as the station is within a wood there is a lot of many many midges flying around trying to get a taste of Kite. It wasnt that nice, having to wonder round the platform to try and get some peace.
Eventually the next Mallaig train arrived to free me from the midges. 156474 had returned from Glasgow to take me to my final Scottish station, yes you heard right, Scotland was about to fall. 3 miles and 33 chains later I alighted at Arisaig, the most Westerly station in Britain, see it even says so on this sign:
Arisaig StationTime for a celebration at the completion of my conquest of Scotland, as I had a walk down the hill to Arisaig village itself as I had spotted a little Spar shop earlier from the bus, mainly to pass the time with something cold to drink, before walking back up the hill (beware the hill is quite steep) to enter the station. A basic 2 platform station, barrow crossing at the Mallaig end, a decent waiting shelter as I took shelter from the light rain which had returned, watching as the station got busier with walkers returning from having a good walk, before 156474 returned from Mallaig. Once more I alighted at Banavie in the pouring rain, as I had a fast walk to The Lochy pub, getting dry and having a very lovely burger meal (I know, pushing the boat right out tonight!).
Sadly my plan was to catch the return of the 2nd Jacobite service crossing the Banavie Swing Bridge failed, although I could have easily made it as I was on the correct side of the level crossing, I didnt know how long it would take, however as I noted earlier in the day, the 2nd service wasnt the usual Black Five steam engine, but appeared to be 37518 (or 37516), which made a glorious noise accelerating away from the low speed curve at Banavie to head back to Fort William. I promised a picture of a tractor, and here it be:
37518 at BanavieI returned to the hostel, soaking wet from the rain, I even paid £3 to rent a towel (which may or may not have been returned in the morning) in order to have a warm shower to wash away the blood, sweat & tears from a successful day. I shall leave you with this picture of a spotty 156492 arriving at Spean Bridge for no reason other than for it be spotty
156492 at Spean BridgeBlindtraveler
Established Member
#Alltheviaducts 
Scotland has fallen!!something tells me towel never got handed back!
Nicely done, dam those midges!
Scotland has fallen!!something tells me towel never got handed back!
Nicely done, dam those midges!
87electric
Member
- Joined
- 27 Jan 2010
- Messages
- 1,023
Quite a fantastic feat Kite. Deserving of fanfares and cannons!
Blindtraveler
Established Member
Bagpipes more like, this is the Scottish Highlands after all.
Keith Jarrett
Member
Kite
Huge congratulations on clearing Scotland - seems to have been an epic adventure and your meticulous planning seems to have paid off. Those bus leaps must have saved you many hours of festering! Banavie is a great place and good to know that the signalmen there are as friendly as ever.
As an aside, it appears that you currently have roughly double the number of shacks in the book that I have - not at all envious as I will get there sometime!
Well done - now I'm getting impatient to hear how you snared that last Scottish DMU so that you can well and truly say that ScotRail is clear - and Scotland too apart from that recalcitrant subway unit and Edinburgh tram. But those celebrations will be short-lived as you'll need to go back fairly soon for all those 385s .....
Huge congratulations on clearing Scotland - seems to have been an epic adventure and your meticulous planning seems to have paid off. Those bus leaps must have saved you many hours of festering! Banavie is a great place and good to know that the signalmen there are as friendly as ever.
As an aside, it appears that you currently have roughly double the number of shacks in the book that I have - not at all envious as I will get there sometime!
Well done - now I'm getting impatient to hear how you snared that last Scottish DMU so that you can well and truly say that ScotRail is clear - and Scotland too apart from that recalcitrant subway unit and Edinburgh tram. But those celebrations will be short-lived as you'll need to go back fairly soon for all those 385s .....
Blindtraveler
Established Member
Well I woant spoil Mr Kite's news but I know how this unit fell and it is indeed a gripping tail of suspence and Im sure will be told soon.
Kite159
Veteran Member
I suspect that Subway unit 122 will remain uncovered until the new Glasgow Subway stock starts arriving in a couple years time. I suspect (like 332014) it is long term stored being robbed of parts to keep the rest of the fleet running.
Kite159
Veteran Member
I will trying to think where to end it, and the most western station in GB felt like a suitable point
Kite159
Veteran Member
13th September Onwards to the West Highlands, Day 5
It was a lazy start to the Wednesday, having finished my mission the day before I had time on my hands, and a rough idea to go screw it, lets pay the £35 to do the steam service. After checking out of the hostel, I headed back towards the station, wanting to get a picture of a 156 crossing the swingbridge for no reason other than I just fancied the view
156474 crosses Banavie Swingbridge
Although this is where things went wrong as I missed the bus by going to the wrong bus stop, so I had a short walk to the small village of Caol to visit the Co-Op for something to eat before the next bus, which was another Shiel Buses service, a smaller bus working a N46, (registration YY17 GRK in case anybody was interested) which took me to Fort William, but alas by the time I reached the station the only walk-up seats on the morning service to Mallaig were either standing or in First Class, so that idea went out of the window (I could justify £35 but not £65, and fudge standing for the entire trip).
I decided to hang around as a very familiar looking 73 rolled in, oh yes 73970 had returned, and so with time to kill before the next service train to Mallaig would arrive, I headed out to do some mild exploring of Fort William, not going that far due to the weather not being the greatest, swinging via Morrisons for some lunch as an excuse to have a PNB (to avoid paying for the toilets at Fort William station). I spent the time having a good catch-up session using the station WiFi, noting that the crowds were growing for the Mallaig service.
Eventually I headed out onto the platform, as 156446 rolled in with 156445 on the rear; I managed to get a seat in 156445 which was slightly unusual for it had the green seats (which made a change from the purple seated 156s which normally run this route). Quite a reasonable load in both units for the excellent run across to Mallaig, calling at only Lochailort of the 3 request stops on route, on arrival at Mallaig after taking a picture of the units I headed out into the village itself, only for it to start raining again so I headed to a 2nd hand bookshop opposite the station to see if any of the books took my fancy.
Purchasing an old book on the history of my local line (interesting to see old pictures of the stations back in the olden days where everything was black & white, comparing to what is left behind). After another walk around I headed to the little waiting area, to relax and start to read one of the railway magazines I picked up in Fort William. With 20 minutes before departure I followed the crowds to the units, as I wanted both a seat on the right hand side in the direction of travel and a seat in 156446, both things I managed as most of the passengers headed to 445 as it was closer to the station building, which reminds me you would never guess this was a station from the outside
Mallaig Station
Another beautiful run back to Fort William, once more calling at Lochailort to pick up a couple passengers (probably the same couple which got off earlier), and with nothing better to do I headed back to Morrisons for a short supply raid, watching as the sleeper stock got reversed into the station. An hour or so later the sleeper was ready for boarding, as I took up my berth, dropping off my bag before heading towards the lounge car only to get kicked out due to the lounge car being reserved solely for First Class ticket holders, so I ended up (along with another person) in the seats.
Departure was on time, but by Spean Bridge darkness had fallen, so I returned to reading my magazines and relaxing (as you cant sleep on the jointed track), eventually I did the long walk to the rearmost carriage and headed to the land of sleep, not noticing the shunting around at Edinburgh. Farewell Scotland, see you in a couple days time
14th September Onwards to... Emerson Park
I awoke, went back to sleep, woke up again with the knocking with the delivery of the orange juice & shortcrust biscuit before getting ready to leave the sleeper when it rolled into Euston pretty much bang on time. Would I get lucky with a required loco at the front getting the 400 and a half miles from Edinburgh to Euston?
92014 sits at Euston
Nope, at least 92014 is now cleared for a thousand miles. Maybe I would get lucky tomorrow night with the sleeper back to Edinburgh, but for the meanwhile I had roughly an hour and a bit to kill as I wanted to be at Liverpool Street for the 09:30 Shenfield service, so after grabbing a bite to eat from Sainsburys I had a short walk across to St Pancras, heading into the depths of hell, more commonly known as the Thameslink platforms. The first southbound service was a dud 700/1 but next up was winner 700024 which took me the short distance to Farringdon, closely followed by winner 700040 to City Thameslink. Sadly my luck ran out and after 20 minutes of duds (in both directions) I jumped onto 700113 to Farringdon with 21521/21522 taking me to Liverpool Street.
I managed to get the TVMs to sell me an off-peak travelcard, having to change the time of travel to 09:35 to get it to show (as the default option was the anytime travelcard), before heading over to the 09:30 Shenfield service, which was formed of 7 coaches...
345009 at Liverpool Street
Yep I had finally got a 345 into my book, the honour going to 345009, hard seats, loud door buzzers but nice trains as people movers compared to the 315s. Anyhow, my plan was to take me to Goodmayes to grab a 315 service back to Liverpool Street for the 10:35 additional service, however that plan went out of the window when I passed another 345 heading towards Liverpool Street around Maryland, so a quick check on RTT identified that the 10:00 Shenfield was also a 345. 345009 was held up outside Ilford for an ECS to return to the depot after the morning peak so I bailed at Seven Kings.
315833 & 315850 put in a good performance back towards central London as I bailed at Forest Gate for a short walk over the temporary footbridge to reach the opposite platform for a short wait with 345010 spotted heading into London as the ECS for the 10:35 additional service (which was good as I knew it would be running). A couple minutes later 345008 rolled in to take me to Goodmayes, at the time I didnt realise it but somehow when I was doing a small audit of my stations visited sheet to travels log to get dates (blame Andy for the idea), I was shocked that Goodmayes had somehow been missed. Anyhow it was no real drama as it is safety into my book now
Next London service was in the hands of 315846 & 315852, which took me back to Maryland. Over the footbridge for a short fester before 345010 becomes my 3rd 345 into the book. This time I took it to Romford as I fancied a run to Upminster for some 357 action, with 315810 being the London Overground unit on the Romford Upminster line today. Once at Upminster I was shocked, the This service is operated by One platform sign had gone, replaced with a bog-standard PIS unit. A short wait on the C2C platform for the next Fenchurch Street service which was in the hands of 357018 taking me to West Ham, for a short fester for 357010 to Fenchurch Street itself, both fast runs on the first generation Electrostars. Previous in the day I asked for which 707s were out, both were dud from last week, but one of the 387s on the off-peak Hayes & Harlington shuttles was required so I worked out a rough plan of action.
A short walk to Tower Hill, and it was to Blackfriars first of all on 21375/21376, sadly my luck with 700s heading northbound wasnt the best so after a couple duds I called it a day and headed back to LU with 21391/21392 taking me to Embankment, with 3537/3241 putting in a lovely noise to take me to Paddington. I had a few minutes to kill before the next 387s would roll in, and as expected it was winner 387144 leading dud 387148 for the speedy run to Hayes & Harlington, where my original plan was to get onto the Turbo stopper from Oxford, but GWR were doing a Merseyrail and ripping out stops due to it being delayed, even though when it sped through Hayes it was 5 minutes early (and looking at RTT it sat outside Paddington for nearly 10 minutes waiting for its platform to become available!).
387148 & 387144 took me back to Paddington, 3256/3541 on the Bakerloo took me to Baker Street, making a cross platform move for an appointment with the fine doctor (Doctor Jubi), with 96001 & 96080 giving me a good doss of 96 stock motor noise for the fast run to Waterloo. I visited Tesco on Waterloo Road for a late lunch before boarding a busy 159014 working the 14:50 service, the end of my adventure for the time being, allowing me the chance to get my logs mostly up to date from my Scottish trip, my last big trip of 2017. I shall leave you with this picture of 315810 at Upminster:
315810 at Upminster
It was a lazy start to the Wednesday, having finished my mission the day before I had time on my hands, and a rough idea to go screw it, lets pay the £35 to do the steam service. After checking out of the hostel, I headed back towards the station, wanting to get a picture of a 156 crossing the swingbridge for no reason other than I just fancied the view
156474 crosses Banavie SwingbridgeAlthough this is where things went wrong as I missed the bus by going to the wrong bus stop, so I had a short walk to the small village of Caol to visit the Co-Op for something to eat before the next bus, which was another Shiel Buses service, a smaller bus working a N46, (registration YY17 GRK in case anybody was interested) which took me to Fort William, but alas by the time I reached the station the only walk-up seats on the morning service to Mallaig were either standing or in First Class, so that idea went out of the window (I could justify £35 but not £65, and fudge standing for the entire trip).
I decided to hang around as a very familiar looking 73 rolled in, oh yes 73970 had returned, and so with time to kill before the next service train to Mallaig would arrive, I headed out to do some mild exploring of Fort William, not going that far due to the weather not being the greatest, swinging via Morrisons for some lunch as an excuse to have a PNB (to avoid paying for the toilets at Fort William station). I spent the time having a good catch-up session using the station WiFi, noting that the crowds were growing for the Mallaig service.
Eventually I headed out onto the platform, as 156446 rolled in with 156445 on the rear; I managed to get a seat in 156445 which was slightly unusual for it had the green seats (which made a change from the purple seated 156s which normally run this route). Quite a reasonable load in both units for the excellent run across to Mallaig, calling at only Lochailort of the 3 request stops on route, on arrival at Mallaig after taking a picture of the units I headed out into the village itself, only for it to start raining again so I headed to a 2nd hand bookshop opposite the station to see if any of the books took my fancy.
Purchasing an old book on the history of my local line (interesting to see old pictures of the stations back in the olden days where everything was black & white, comparing to what is left behind). After another walk around I headed to the little waiting area, to relax and start to read one of the railway magazines I picked up in Fort William. With 20 minutes before departure I followed the crowds to the units, as I wanted both a seat on the right hand side in the direction of travel and a seat in 156446, both things I managed as most of the passengers headed to 445 as it was closer to the station building, which reminds me you would never guess this was a station from the outside
Mallaig StationAnother beautiful run back to Fort William, once more calling at Lochailort to pick up a couple passengers (probably the same couple which got off earlier), and with nothing better to do I headed back to Morrisons for a short supply raid, watching as the sleeper stock got reversed into the station. An hour or so later the sleeper was ready for boarding, as I took up my berth, dropping off my bag before heading towards the lounge car only to get kicked out due to the lounge car being reserved solely for First Class ticket holders, so I ended up (along with another person) in the seats.
Departure was on time, but by Spean Bridge darkness had fallen, so I returned to reading my magazines and relaxing (as you cant sleep on the jointed track), eventually I did the long walk to the rearmost carriage and headed to the land of sleep, not noticing the shunting around at Edinburgh. Farewell Scotland, see you in a couple days time
14th September Onwards to... Emerson Park
I awoke, went back to sleep, woke up again with the knocking with the delivery of the orange juice & shortcrust biscuit before getting ready to leave the sleeper when it rolled into Euston pretty much bang on time. Would I get lucky with a required loco at the front getting the 400 and a half miles from Edinburgh to Euston?
92014 sits at EustonNope, at least 92014 is now cleared for a thousand miles. Maybe I would get lucky tomorrow night with the sleeper back to Edinburgh, but for the meanwhile I had roughly an hour and a bit to kill as I wanted to be at Liverpool Street for the 09:30 Shenfield service, so after grabbing a bite to eat from Sainsburys I had a short walk across to St Pancras, heading into the depths of hell, more commonly known as the Thameslink platforms. The first southbound service was a dud 700/1 but next up was winner 700024 which took me the short distance to Farringdon, closely followed by winner 700040 to City Thameslink. Sadly my luck ran out and after 20 minutes of duds (in both directions) I jumped onto 700113 to Farringdon with 21521/21522 taking me to Liverpool Street.
I managed to get the TVMs to sell me an off-peak travelcard, having to change the time of travel to 09:35 to get it to show (as the default option was the anytime travelcard), before heading over to the 09:30 Shenfield service, which was formed of 7 coaches...
345009 at Liverpool StreetYep I had finally got a 345 into my book, the honour going to 345009, hard seats, loud door buzzers but nice trains as people movers compared to the 315s. Anyhow, my plan was to take me to Goodmayes to grab a 315 service back to Liverpool Street for the 10:35 additional service, however that plan went out of the window when I passed another 345 heading towards Liverpool Street around Maryland, so a quick check on RTT identified that the 10:00 Shenfield was also a 345. 345009 was held up outside Ilford for an ECS to return to the depot after the morning peak so I bailed at Seven Kings.
315833 & 315850 put in a good performance back towards central London as I bailed at Forest Gate for a short walk over the temporary footbridge to reach the opposite platform for a short wait with 345010 spotted heading into London as the ECS for the 10:35 additional service (which was good as I knew it would be running). A couple minutes later 345008 rolled in to take me to Goodmayes, at the time I didnt realise it but somehow when I was doing a small audit of my stations visited sheet to travels log to get dates (blame Andy for the idea), I was shocked that Goodmayes had somehow been missed. Anyhow it was no real drama as it is safety into my book now
Next London service was in the hands of 315846 & 315852, which took me back to Maryland. Over the footbridge for a short fester before 345010 becomes my 3rd 345 into the book. This time I took it to Romford as I fancied a run to Upminster for some 357 action, with 315810 being the London Overground unit on the Romford Upminster line today. Once at Upminster I was shocked, the This service is operated by One platform sign had gone, replaced with a bog-standard PIS unit. A short wait on the C2C platform for the next Fenchurch Street service which was in the hands of 357018 taking me to West Ham, for a short fester for 357010 to Fenchurch Street itself, both fast runs on the first generation Electrostars. Previous in the day I asked for which 707s were out, both were dud from last week, but one of the 387s on the off-peak Hayes & Harlington shuttles was required so I worked out a rough plan of action.
A short walk to Tower Hill, and it was to Blackfriars first of all on 21375/21376, sadly my luck with 700s heading northbound wasnt the best so after a couple duds I called it a day and headed back to LU with 21391/21392 taking me to Embankment, with 3537/3241 putting in a lovely noise to take me to Paddington. I had a few minutes to kill before the next 387s would roll in, and as expected it was winner 387144 leading dud 387148 for the speedy run to Hayes & Harlington, where my original plan was to get onto the Turbo stopper from Oxford, but GWR were doing a Merseyrail and ripping out stops due to it being delayed, even though when it sped through Hayes it was 5 minutes early (and looking at RTT it sat outside Paddington for nearly 10 minutes waiting for its platform to become available!).
387148 & 387144 took me back to Paddington, 3256/3541 on the Bakerloo took me to Baker Street, making a cross platform move for an appointment with the fine doctor (Doctor Jubi), with 96001 & 96080 giving me a good doss of 96 stock motor noise for the fast run to Waterloo. I visited Tesco on Waterloo Road for a late lunch before boarding a busy 159014 working the 14:50 service, the end of my adventure for the time being, allowing me the chance to get my logs mostly up to date from my Scottish trip, my last big trip of 2017. I shall leave you with this picture of 315810 at Upminster:
315810 at Upminster
Kite159
Veteran Member
15th September Revenge of the Red Pen
I couldnt decide on the name for this report, it was either revenge of the red pen, taking care of business or Unfinished Sympathy, but hey-ho it was a return to Scotland for an East Coast divert and like before I had booked myself onto the seated sleeper on grounds of cost so I had an evening in London to waste. Now that Thameslink is fully 700 operated it would be a good time to head over with my red pen and hunt down some of them 700s, but I was being pulled towards Paddington for some 387 hunting as well, with a part of me wanting to have a couple hours on the DLR on the lookout for that annoying little 39.
The day began on the 15:59 service to Waterloo, which this evening was formed of 158888 leading 159014 & 159019 for the speedy run to the capital of England, getting some nice 158 based noise on the 90mph section, with a right time arrival allowing me to make use of the peak time subway (so much quieter in the subway than going via the main concourse) to head to the Bakerloo with 3547/3236 doing the honours for the 3 mile & 55 chain dash underneath the streets of London to reach Paddington, only to find the evening peak extras to Maidenhead pretty much non-existence due to staff shortages. It appeared the only 387s running were the half hourly Hayes shuttles, however all was not lost as the first Hayes service was dud 387152 leading winner 387150 for the run to Acton Main Line.
I forgot to mention on my previous report, one good thing to come out of the trip back from Hayes is that I scored the new dive under between Ealing & Acton, but that is of little importance as it was duds 387138 & 387153 back to Paddington, another 387 into my book though which is always a bonus as it means one less to hunt down when they get extended to Reading & Didcot next year. I was feeling a bit hungry so after swinging via Sainsburys it was to the Praed Street platforms with 21505/21506 taking me around the curve to Edgware Road, with 21515/21516 doing the honours to take me to Farringdon.
My favourite place to stand at Farringdon is on the footbridge at the northern end of the platforms, one with gives access to both Thameslink platforms, however that wasnt needed as the first southbound service which rolled up was required, so in traditional style for LU leaps, my next moves were as followed:
700041, Farringdon to City Thameslink
700001 to Farringdon
700046 to St Pancras
700016 to West Hampstead Thameslink
700040 to City Thameslink
700030 to Blackfriars
700043 to Farringdon (spotted it earlier on heading south towards Keithton[/b], a short break via the Tesco outside Farringdon
700038 to Blackfriars
700037 to St Pancras
700011 to West Hampstead Thameslink (this was a more I cant remember seeing that unit heading down to Brighton earlier move, previous idea was to take 037 to Hendon to waste time as most northbound services had been spotted previously)
700120 to St Pancras (First of the 2nd batch of FLUs)
700016 to Kentish Town (mainly as a I cant be asked walking to the LU platforms at St Pancras move)
The only other required 700 I saw out was 032 as that was departing City Thameslink when I was coming back down south. A good session leaving 6 out of the first batch of RLUs (that assuming all 46 have entered service), I understand London Bridge Brighton services are a good source of FLU 700s so I might head out there next time I have a hunting session. Anyhow it was nearly 23:00 so the last service being the busiest by far of the day with party goers heading home, I headed to the Northern Line platforms with 51546 & 51708 taking me to Euston, Charing Cross platforms for a short spot of hunting in case my last 95 pair just happened to pop up.
Sadly they didnt, so around 23:30 I exited LU and headed towards platform 1 where the sleeper was waiting. Previous in the day I received a phone call giving me both good and bad news, due to the Edinburgh seated coach having no heat or light we had been given upgrades to berths, sadly those berths were in the Glasgow portion (if only I had answered the phone earlier when at Paddington), with a connection to be made at Motherwell for a 380 via Carstairs to Edinburgh. The benefit would most likely be a 60 minute delay reaching Edinburgh and with nothing urgently planned in Edinburgh I was happy.
I wasnt happy when I walked to the front to see a familiar face, 92014!
92014 at Euston
Anyhow, I located my berth, thankfully getting a lower berth and had a decent kip, waiting up to the smell of lowland Lockerbie air, but that is a tale for another day...
I couldnt decide on the name for this report, it was either revenge of the red pen, taking care of business or Unfinished Sympathy, but hey-ho it was a return to Scotland for an East Coast divert and like before I had booked myself onto the seated sleeper on grounds of cost so I had an evening in London to waste. Now that Thameslink is fully 700 operated it would be a good time to head over with my red pen and hunt down some of them 700s, but I was being pulled towards Paddington for some 387 hunting as well, with a part of me wanting to have a couple hours on the DLR on the lookout for that annoying little 39.
The day began on the 15:59 service to Waterloo, which this evening was formed of 158888 leading 159014 & 159019 for the speedy run to the capital of England, getting some nice 158 based noise on the 90mph section, with a right time arrival allowing me to make use of the peak time subway (so much quieter in the subway than going via the main concourse) to head to the Bakerloo with 3547/3236 doing the honours for the 3 mile & 55 chain dash underneath the streets of London to reach Paddington, only to find the evening peak extras to Maidenhead pretty much non-existence due to staff shortages. It appeared the only 387s running were the half hourly Hayes shuttles, however all was not lost as the first Hayes service was dud 387152 leading winner 387150 for the run to Acton Main Line.
I forgot to mention on my previous report, one good thing to come out of the trip back from Hayes is that I scored the new dive under between Ealing & Acton, but that is of little importance as it was duds 387138 & 387153 back to Paddington, another 387 into my book though which is always a bonus as it means one less to hunt down when they get extended to Reading & Didcot next year. I was feeling a bit hungry so after swinging via Sainsburys it was to the Praed Street platforms with 21505/21506 taking me around the curve to Edgware Road, with 21515/21516 doing the honours to take me to Farringdon.
My favourite place to stand at Farringdon is on the footbridge at the northern end of the platforms, one with gives access to both Thameslink platforms, however that wasnt needed as the first southbound service which rolled up was required, so in traditional style for LU leaps, my next moves were as followed:
700041, Farringdon to City Thameslink
700001 to Farringdon
700046 to St Pancras
700016 to West Hampstead Thameslink
700040 to City Thameslink
700030 to Blackfriars
700043 to Farringdon (spotted it earlier on heading south towards Keithton[/b], a short break via the Tesco outside Farringdon
700038 to Blackfriars
700037 to St Pancras
700011 to West Hampstead Thameslink (this was a more I cant remember seeing that unit heading down to Brighton earlier move, previous idea was to take 037 to Hendon to waste time as most northbound services had been spotted previously)
700120 to St Pancras (First of the 2nd batch of FLUs)
700016 to Kentish Town (mainly as a I cant be asked walking to the LU platforms at St Pancras move)
The only other required 700 I saw out was 032 as that was departing City Thameslink when I was coming back down south. A good session leaving 6 out of the first batch of RLUs (that assuming all 46 have entered service), I understand London Bridge Brighton services are a good source of FLU 700s so I might head out there next time I have a hunting session. Anyhow it was nearly 23:00 so the last service being the busiest by far of the day with party goers heading home, I headed to the Northern Line platforms with 51546 & 51708 taking me to Euston, Charing Cross platforms for a short spot of hunting in case my last 95 pair just happened to pop up.
Sadly they didnt, so around 23:30 I exited LU and headed towards platform 1 where the sleeper was waiting. Previous in the day I received a phone call giving me both good and bad news, due to the Edinburgh seated coach having no heat or light we had been given upgrades to berths, sadly those berths were in the Glasgow portion (if only I had answered the phone earlier when at Paddington), with a connection to be made at Motherwell for a 380 via Carstairs to Edinburgh. The benefit would most likely be a 60 minute delay reaching Edinburgh and with nothing urgently planned in Edinburgh I was happy.
I wasnt happy when I walked to the front to see a familiar face, 92014!
92014 at Euston Anyhow, I located my berth, thankfully getting a lower berth and had a decent kip, waiting up to the smell of lowland Lockerbie air, but that is a tale for another day...
Blindtraveler
Established Member
Leaving us in such suspense. Nice reports from those few days Sir!
Kite159
Veteran Member
16th September The feeling of making the wrong turn
Carrying on from last night, I awoke for the train stopped, thinking nothing much of it I returned to sleep for another short nap before reawakening to find the train still stopped, and a quick look out of the window to see Lockerbie, for the 92 had got as far as Lockerbie before coming to a stop due to a person hit by the early morning Glasgow Euston service (that one which goes round the Cathcart circle I believe). Eventually we got moving again, only to come to a stop at a 4 track section with a 57 thunderbird undertaking the sleeper only for us to pass it again when it wasnt required to rescue that 390.
Running around 90 minutes late, the 92 was pushing on making a lovely noise as I undertook some external observations of the beautiful scenery of the lowlands before the Edinburgh seated passengers were asked to move to the seated coach (which was freezing cold and had no lights, but was quite refreshing after doing the long walk to the rearmost coach for the split at Carstairs, with 90042 coming past, sadly another dud from a sleeper move last year when heading to Inverness, the split happening and causing chaos due to blocking the platform for a Ayr bound 380 service before a speedy run towards Edinburgh, hence covering the 2nd side of the carstairs triangle on another class of loco.
The driver must have wanted to finish as it sped through the little stations on route, speeding past Haymarket and terminating into Edinburgh roughly 90 minutes late, so it was time for a quick swing to Sainsburys for a bacon sandwich meal deal before heading down to the station to see what was floating around. The previous day I asked where my final DMU was hiding and I got good news that it finished the day in Perth so it had a good chance of appearing in Edinburgh, with a rough idea of heading to do the Fife circle with wanting to revisit Glenrothes with Thornton as it was another station I wasnt quite happy with how Ive marked it into my book.
Sitting on platform 17 was a 158 forming the 09:20 to Cowdenbeath, a certain 158 which I had spotted at least 3 times before, the 1st last December when I arrived into Edinburgh to do the stations towards West Calder only for it to disappear to Perth, 2nd time in January when it was on the Fife Circle, only to break down, and in April when it was buffer blocking at Edinburgh, but finally 158707 has fallen. Not only my last 158 for haulage, my last Scottish unit (until those 385s start entering service next year) and final DMU, a cause of celebration. But first I had to attempt to get the god awful Virgin East Coast TVMs to sell me a day return to Glenrothes, which after it attempted to sell me two singles before I noticed it had defaulted to returning the following day, I returned to the platform and jumped on board, job done.
158707 at Edinburgh
Onwards to North Queensferry, where I said farewell to the unit and headed for a little walk down a hill to be amazed at the views of all 3 bridges across the Fife at this point, my original plan was to walk across the Forth Road Bridge, but that can be put on hold for another day, but I suspect for the good views of the rail bridge you need to be on the road bridge due to the sheer scale of the bridge.
Forth Rail Bridge
I walked back up the steep hill to return to the station with 158727 taking me onwards to Glenrothes with Thornton, an odd unit as I first had this one logged on a trip in April 14, but as a Northern machine. Not sure if that was a mistake of my logs back then or Northern hired in a Scottish 158, if it was a mistake then it means 727 is now cleared for 10 miles as the other entries had been Haymarket leaps. Anyhow it was onto the odd station of Glenrothes with Thornton, odd in having 2 platforms but serving two different routes (a bit like Worcester Foregate Street), with the vast majority of services using platform 1, with platform 2 only getting used by a handful of services which use the north curve. The 158 has to pull forward to a signal further up the track to reverse before returning to the station, which was quite far from Glenrothes itself, but near Thornton village.
Sadly my luck ran out with the appearance of one of Dans favourite machines, 170457, which took me around the inner circle with the unit getting busier as time went off and I thankfully bailed at Inverkeithing to get away from the droning (and of the football fans). A short wait before ex-SWT 158786 rolled in to take me back to Edinburgh, itself getting cleared for 10 miles as I took a seat in the former 1st class area. After checking the app it appeared that tram 255 wasnt out to play today so I wasted some time doing a spot of light shopping before meeting up with Dan (BT) for a good chat about random stuff, being joined by Alex as we sat out of the way on platform 1.
Eventually we headed over to platform 8 (I think), where some Mk4 coaches were for my first trip with a 91 since April time. 91120 was at the Haymarket end with DVT 82206 on the rear, as I grabbed my seat reservation in a very lightly reserved coach F to join some others from the forum in 1st class, before the trip began, heading in a westerly direction back towards Carstairs. A bit slow as the 91 caught up with the Shotts stopper but gained speed as I covered the 3rd side of the Carstairs triangle on a 3rd class of loco on the same day (not many people could probably say that). Arrival into Carlisle was roughly on time after a storming run, with myself getting lucky as the guard didnt have a ticket machine when he walked through checking tickets so I got away without paying for weekend First.
But do you ever get the sense you have gone in the wrong direction?
91120 at Carlisle
The main point of this trip on this very lighly loaded service was to do a 67 drag across the Tyne Valley, with required 67003 kicking into life and getting attached to the front of the 91 for a slow trip heading eastwards, running into Newcastle where the 67 was detached before the 91 took over for the fast run south, calling at Durham, Darlington & York before dashing south, overtaking a delayed service from Leeds between Newark & Retford (I think it was booked to loop it at Newark itself), before carrying on south.
A right time arrival at Kings Cross meant I had roughly an hour to play with, so I headed to the Piccadilly Line platforms (seeing as the Piccadilly is my main source of required LU stock), as usual the service frequency was a bit odd with trains bunched together then nothing for a few minutes. After a few duds, required 218 rolled in heading north with 239 in tow to take me to Caledonian Road, before returning to Leicester Square on 112/247, noting that all the southbound Northern line services were heading to Morden at roughly 5 minute frequency.
After a couple duds, I called it a night and jumped onto 51661/51662 to Waterloo, exiting LU and heading over to the diesels with 159107 & 159013 forming the 23:40 Salisbury service this service (a nice double set so the 2nd carriage was nice and quiet with all the drunks boarding the rearmost coaches). A good run back to Grateley and a nice walk home saw the end of my latest Scottish trip, the highlight being that 158, sadly my poor luck with Caledonian Sleeper locos continues, but that 67 made up for it.
67003 & 91120 at Carlisle
Carrying on from last night, I awoke for the train stopped, thinking nothing much of it I returned to sleep for another short nap before reawakening to find the train still stopped, and a quick look out of the window to see Lockerbie, for the 92 had got as far as Lockerbie before coming to a stop due to a person hit by the early morning Glasgow Euston service (that one which goes round the Cathcart circle I believe). Eventually we got moving again, only to come to a stop at a 4 track section with a 57 thunderbird undertaking the sleeper only for us to pass it again when it wasnt required to rescue that 390.
Running around 90 minutes late, the 92 was pushing on making a lovely noise as I undertook some external observations of the beautiful scenery of the lowlands before the Edinburgh seated passengers were asked to move to the seated coach (which was freezing cold and had no lights, but was quite refreshing after doing the long walk to the rearmost coach for the split at Carstairs, with 90042 coming past, sadly another dud from a sleeper move last year when heading to Inverness, the split happening and causing chaos due to blocking the platform for a Ayr bound 380 service before a speedy run towards Edinburgh, hence covering the 2nd side of the carstairs triangle on another class of loco.
The driver must have wanted to finish as it sped through the little stations on route, speeding past Haymarket and terminating into Edinburgh roughly 90 minutes late, so it was time for a quick swing to Sainsburys for a bacon sandwich meal deal before heading down to the station to see what was floating around. The previous day I asked where my final DMU was hiding and I got good news that it finished the day in Perth so it had a good chance of appearing in Edinburgh, with a rough idea of heading to do the Fife circle with wanting to revisit Glenrothes with Thornton as it was another station I wasnt quite happy with how Ive marked it into my book.
Sitting on platform 17 was a 158 forming the 09:20 to Cowdenbeath, a certain 158 which I had spotted at least 3 times before, the 1st last December when I arrived into Edinburgh to do the stations towards West Calder only for it to disappear to Perth, 2nd time in January when it was on the Fife Circle, only to break down, and in April when it was buffer blocking at Edinburgh, but finally 158707 has fallen. Not only my last 158 for haulage, my last Scottish unit (until those 385s start entering service next year) and final DMU, a cause of celebration. But first I had to attempt to get the god awful Virgin East Coast TVMs to sell me a day return to Glenrothes, which after it attempted to sell me two singles before I noticed it had defaulted to returning the following day, I returned to the platform and jumped on board, job done.
158707 at EdinburghOnwards to North Queensferry, where I said farewell to the unit and headed for a little walk down a hill to be amazed at the views of all 3 bridges across the Fife at this point, my original plan was to walk across the Forth Road Bridge, but that can be put on hold for another day, but I suspect for the good views of the rail bridge you need to be on the road bridge due to the sheer scale of the bridge.
Forth Rail BridgeI walked back up the steep hill to return to the station with 158727 taking me onwards to Glenrothes with Thornton, an odd unit as I first had this one logged on a trip in April 14, but as a Northern machine. Not sure if that was a mistake of my logs back then or Northern hired in a Scottish 158, if it was a mistake then it means 727 is now cleared for 10 miles as the other entries had been Haymarket leaps. Anyhow it was onto the odd station of Glenrothes with Thornton, odd in having 2 platforms but serving two different routes (a bit like Worcester Foregate Street), with the vast majority of services using platform 1, with platform 2 only getting used by a handful of services which use the north curve. The 158 has to pull forward to a signal further up the track to reverse before returning to the station, which was quite far from Glenrothes itself, but near Thornton village.
Sadly my luck ran out with the appearance of one of Dans favourite machines, 170457, which took me around the inner circle with the unit getting busier as time went off and I thankfully bailed at Inverkeithing to get away from the droning (and of the football fans). A short wait before ex-SWT 158786 rolled in to take me back to Edinburgh, itself getting cleared for 10 miles as I took a seat in the former 1st class area. After checking the app it appeared that tram 255 wasnt out to play today so I wasted some time doing a spot of light shopping before meeting up with Dan (BT) for a good chat about random stuff, being joined by Alex as we sat out of the way on platform 1.
Eventually we headed over to platform 8 (I think), where some Mk4 coaches were for my first trip with a 91 since April time. 91120 was at the Haymarket end with DVT 82206 on the rear, as I grabbed my seat reservation in a very lightly reserved coach F to join some others from the forum in 1st class, before the trip began, heading in a westerly direction back towards Carstairs. A bit slow as the 91 caught up with the Shotts stopper but gained speed as I covered the 3rd side of the Carstairs triangle on a 3rd class of loco on the same day (not many people could probably say that). Arrival into Carlisle was roughly on time after a storming run, with myself getting lucky as the guard didnt have a ticket machine when he walked through checking tickets so I got away without paying for weekend First.
But do you ever get the sense you have gone in the wrong direction?
91120 at CarlisleThe main point of this trip on this very lighly loaded service was to do a 67 drag across the Tyne Valley, with required 67003 kicking into life and getting attached to the front of the 91 for a slow trip heading eastwards, running into Newcastle where the 67 was detached before the 91 took over for the fast run south, calling at Durham, Darlington & York before dashing south, overtaking a delayed service from Leeds between Newark & Retford (I think it was booked to loop it at Newark itself), before carrying on south.
A right time arrival at Kings Cross meant I had roughly an hour to play with, so I headed to the Piccadilly Line platforms (seeing as the Piccadilly is my main source of required LU stock), as usual the service frequency was a bit odd with trains bunched together then nothing for a few minutes. After a few duds, required 218 rolled in heading north with 239 in tow to take me to Caledonian Road, before returning to Leicester Square on 112/247, noting that all the southbound Northern line services were heading to Morden at roughly 5 minute frequency.
After a couple duds, I called it a night and jumped onto 51661/51662 to Waterloo, exiting LU and heading over to the diesels with 159107 & 159013 forming the 23:40 Salisbury service this service (a nice double set so the 2nd carriage was nice and quiet with all the drunks boarding the rearmost coaches). A good run back to Grateley and a nice walk home saw the end of my latest Scottish trip, the highlight being that 158, sadly my poor luck with Caledonian Sleeper locos continues, but that 67 made up for it.
67003 & 91120 at Carlislealexf380
Established Member
Scotland, tick!
A very nice position to be in, good Sir. It was good to finally put a face to the name and I hope you enjoyed the rest of your journey home.
A very nice position to be in, good Sir. It was good to finally put a face to the name and I hope you enjoyed the rest of your journey home.
Kite159
Veteran Member
It was nice to meet you as well Alex, to put a face to the person who wasted a day of an ALR due to being hungover
A few bits and bobs
17th September was another day of diversion, this time on a GWR HST (43189 & 43097) working from Paddington towards South Greenford, then up towards the Chiltern line, turning left to go via Oxford Parkway, pausing briefly at Oxford for a crew change before carrying on to Swindon before running non-stop to Bristol Temple Meads (via Bath). A meal in the nearby Wetherspoons before joining a massively overcrowded 159 (159014) where due to several cancelations it was the first train heading south from Westbury towards Salisbury in nearly 4 hours.
Got what I would like to call “ram-packed” after Trowbridge where it started to leave passengers behind, first time I’ve been on a 159 where 1st class got declassified. It joined up with a pair of units from Exeter, and when it pulled away at Grateley both those units looked very busy as well.
22nd September was a trip on HS1, getting very lucky with 4 out of my last 7 395s falling on required moves, mainly to revisit Halling on the Medway Valley as the previous time I visited it was on a photo-stop on a 395 tour the previous year. Coming back to London I got my final S7 pair into the book with a move from Farringdon to Baker Street, followed by 707006 & 707007 on a linear hop to Clapham Junction before the 21:27 service back to Grateley
395012 at Strood -
S-stock 21547 at Baker Street -
707007 & 707006 at Clapham Junction
I think now I'm down to 3x 395s I will put requests in for what services they are running to try and work out a rough plan as I know a few units only tend to do one service during the peaks, running fast from Stratford to Ashford (i.e St Pancras to Broadstairs)
A few bits and bobs
17th September was another day of diversion, this time on a GWR HST (43189 & 43097) working from Paddington towards South Greenford, then up towards the Chiltern line, turning left to go via Oxford Parkway, pausing briefly at Oxford for a crew change before carrying on to Swindon before running non-stop to Bristol Temple Meads (via Bath). A meal in the nearby Wetherspoons before joining a massively overcrowded 159 (159014) where due to several cancelations it was the first train heading south from Westbury towards Salisbury in nearly 4 hours.
Got what I would like to call “ram-packed” after Trowbridge where it started to leave passengers behind, first time I’ve been on a 159 where 1st class got declassified. It joined up with a pair of units from Exeter, and when it pulled away at Grateley both those units looked very busy as well.
22nd September was a trip on HS1, getting very lucky with 4 out of my last 7 395s falling on required moves, mainly to revisit Halling on the Medway Valley as the previous time I visited it was on a photo-stop on a 395 tour the previous year. Coming back to London I got my final S7 pair into the book with a move from Farringdon to Baker Street, followed by 707006 & 707007 on a linear hop to Clapham Junction before the 21:27 service back to Grateley
395012 at Strood -
S-stock 21547 at Baker Street -
707007 & 707006 at Clapham JunctionI think now I'm down to 3x 395s I will put requests in for what services they are running to try and work out a rough plan as I know a few units only tend to do one service during the peaks, running fast from Stratford to Ashford (i.e St Pancras to Broadstairs)
alexf380
Established Member
It was nice to meet you as well Alex, to put a face to the person who wasted a day of an ALR due to being hungover
Booo!
Blindtraveler
Established Member
I like the new thread title!
Nice writeups there and loveley once again to have some visiters in my part of the world.
Nice writeups there and loveley once again to have some visiters in my part of the world.
I must say Kite that since I've been following your trip reports this Scottish one has probably been my favourite so far. Partly due to the fact that I love it up there and partly due to the way it was written up.
A couple of things:
Well done on the 158 clearance (something I know I'll never do) which on top of all the other recent clearances (including all the Scottish stations, (which I told my other half about when I read it and she did at least have the decency to look pretty impressed by) has clearly made it some year for you (the best yet maybe?).
I loved the three classes around three different sides of the Carstairs triangle, there's something very satisfying about that.
Also, the b&w photo of the Forth Bridge is a stunner. The last time we were up there, hmm - probably in 2013, there was no new road bridge obviously, but we camped in the van right underneath 'The Bridge' for a couple of nights (stealth camping) in South Queensferry and I remember eating my breakfast and watching 170s trundling back n forth (1) overhead.
Actually we walked up to Dalmeny station and caught one into Edinburgh for a stroll around the city, it was the Fringe Festival and we watched some street performers and then caught another one back (2).
I like the new thread title. It hasn't gone unnoticed and did make me chuckle.
(1) Dan probably would've bought his breakfast up at that point.
(2) And dinner too...
A couple of things:
Well done on the 158 clearance (something I know I'll never do) which on top of all the other recent clearances (including all the Scottish stations, (which I told my other half about when I read it and she did at least have the decency to look pretty impressed by
) has clearly made it some year for you (the best yet maybe?).I loved the three classes around three different sides of the Carstairs triangle, there's something very satisfying about that.
Also, the b&w photo of the Forth Bridge is a stunner. The last time we were up there, hmm - probably in 2013, there was no new road bridge obviously, but we camped in the van right underneath 'The Bridge' for a couple of nights (stealth camping) in South Queensferry and I remember eating my breakfast and watching 170s trundling back n forth (1) overhead.
Actually we walked up to Dalmeny station and caught one into Edinburgh for a stroll around the city, it was the Fringe Festival and we watched some street performers and then caught another one back (2).
I like the new thread title. It hasn't gone unnoticed and did make me chuckle.
(1) Dan probably would've bought his breakfast up at that point.
(2) And dinner too...
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Blindtraveler
Established Member
Of all the quality traction crossing the bridge you comment on the dullest! Rode on it too grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. You are most sensible dumping yourself plus van where you did for a few nights, I know the spot and aplawd you for not shelling out frothstival prices for the limmited campsites, the largest of which is 3 mins drive from me at Silvernows.
Haha. It was pretty awesome actually, I remember watching the kids (we had four with us that time) walking the dog on the beach and just thinking how amazing it was to be there looking up at it.
I do like camping somewhere amazing for nothing...
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