13th October – Return to Chester
This is what happens when you book a non-refundable hotel room in Chester before the plans change, basically for my masterplan this weekend was going to be the Borderlands Line, starting off nice and early to do the connection from Wrexham General platform 3 towards Bidston. Anyhow after some playing with RTT I worked out a rough plan to do the PSUL move on the final train of the day which gave a nice connection at Wrexham for the final Chester service, hence freeing me up for the Saturday and making use of the 4th day on my “North Wales Rover”.
It was an earlier start (the reason will become clear later), with the 13:59 from Grateley for the short hop to Basingstoke on 159014 (which continues to march up my list of 159 mileage board now sitting at 4th for most travelled 159), one slight drama was the TVM was out of action so I couldn’t pick up my tickets (after I had a short walk the night before to find it out of service), so at Basingstoke it was past the RPI who watched me head to the TVM to pick up the tickets before returning giving me a smile (at dealing with someone who was honest). A short trip to Reading was up next on 166214 which allowed me to swing via the WH Smiths to purchase a newspaper & the latest issue of Today Railways (I really must set up a subscription for this magazine).
Next move was another unit which ended with a 4, this time 221134 for the busy run towards Banbury (I did have a reserve seat but it was one with gave a view of plastic so I got lucky and found an empty table seat in coach C which was “reserved from Southampton to Leamington” so happy days as I got comfortable for the fast trip, alighting at Banbury for a short wait before 168106 rolled in. Earplugs in to drown out the drone from the underpowered engines for the run to Birmingham Moor Street which surprisingly had the ticket barriers in operation (so it took extra time to get out of the station), but I had time on my hand as I walked to Tesco to pick up some items for dinner later on.
Onwards to New Street, where after making use of a 390 for a PNB, I messed up the location where the next ATW service would end up, meaning it was standing room only (a bit like on a 323 I saw on the opposite platform), I managed to get a seat after Wolverhampton thankfully [no seat reservation labels were put out]. It was another service which was an unadvertised Cambrian service, with 158839 continuing up towards Llandudno with 158825 forming a Shrewsbury – Aberystwyth service. Good news in a way as it means 158825 joins my list of ATW 158s which are cleared for 10 miles.
I now had 45 minutes to fester at Shrewsbury for the next Holyhead service, so I took up a seat on platform 4 to watch the comings & goings when reading my newspaper before having an internet catch-up session using the free WiFi from the coffee shop. The time flew by as the outline of a 67 was spotted in the distance with required
67015 rolling in on the Cardiff - Holyhead “WAG” service (it be on my wish list to do this service next year in 1st class to sample the meal), required DVT
82306 was on the rear which clears all 3 ATW DVTs. Anyhow it was easy to grab a table seat in the leading coach for the fast run to Chester, calling only at Wrexham General (giving me my first non-stop run via Gobowen as the previous times I’ve been on a charter along this route it has stopped at Gobowen due to the level crossing). A good run although as it was dark there was nothing to look out at (so back to read more of my magazine).
Once at Chester, I left the station to check into my lodgings for the night, scoring lucky with the location being a short walk from the station, checked in without issues, dropped off some stuff from my bag before returning the key to the front desk and heading out, with a crazy idea to change my plan. Basically my original revised plan for this evening was to intercept the North Wales loco hauled set to take me to Crewe for a 45 minute wait before the next Holyhead service to Shotton for a ride to Bidston, however with 67016 still on the North Wales set I decided to do something a little bit unusual (and something I had a silly idea of doing in January time when I’m staying in Birmingham overnight due to a railtour on the Saturday).
67015 at Chester-Le-Skip
I turned down the 67 to board a Voyager! (Can someone quickly check on Quinn in case he has collapsed in shock?
), mainly the daily voyager which turns left at Saltney Junction to head to Wrexham General (just to clear another short section of the Virgin WC network map on a Virgin service]. It was a poorly sounding 221104 for the short run, as I joined several other passengers in crossing over the footbridge to reach platform 3 to board 150213 which was heading to Shrewsbury (and was held back to allow passengers to make the connection). Microgrice of the southern end of platform 3 at Wrexham General to the main-line complete for a very vocal 150 to Shrewsbury where it terminated in platform 7 (I did have the outside chance of being able to pull off a connection at Ruabon but that was lost due to the late start from Wrexham).
221104 at Wrexham General
Another fester at Shrewsbury, although this one was only for 15 minutes before 175109 rolled in on a Holyhead service for a fast run back to Chester where it was due to sit for 25 minutes before continuing along the coast. However once at Chester we were told to get off as this unit was going out of service and to wait on platform 3 for another unit to come in with 175112 rolling in on a service from Manchester to take over for the busy run westwards. I alighted at the first station call at Shotton and walked up the stairs, along the path, over the Bidston bound platform, down the stairs, underneath the bridge and up a ramp to access the Wrexham bound platform. It isn’t the easiest of connections at Shotton [and I guess looking at the track it once had a barrow crossing?].
10 minutes later and a lightly loaded 150242 rolled in for the slow trip south terminating into platform 3 at Wrexham General, connection between the two lines, tick. I would say my final PSUL move as defined by the “PSUL” website but I noticed an entry for Soho North – Soho East with the once a week Wolverhampton – Walsall service which has been diverted via Soho rather than via Portabello (a job for November!). However for now another tiny section of passenger track covered, and with a short wait as 175102 rolled in which took me back to Chester for the final time of the day, terminating into platform 7 where it sounded like the driver was a bit keen and had a controlled collision with another 175 before the guard could open the doors so the few passengers on board could alight. A few minutes after leaving the station I was back at the hotel, to rest. Another 67 into the book was a bonus, the main treat was doing platform 3 at Wrexham General in both directions and the oddity of a Voyager to Wrexham.
150242 at Wrexham General