The Various Random Mutterings of Kite

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Yeah I know
I'm so used to those seats that I found the GWR ones a bit hard, which I don't normally feel

Ah, now you’re beginning to see at least that the GWR HST Seats are junk.

 

[Kite159]

All I want for Christmas is...

...a new Red Pen

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

All I want for Christmas is...

...a new Red Pen

Um...why?

 

[Kite159]

Um...why?

Reasons will become clear when I get my logs all together and I post my unit scores from the past few days.

All I will say is 700s can certainly shift between London Bridge & East Croydon if not caught behind a service which calls at New Cross Gate/Norwood on the fasts

 

[Techniquest]

All I want for Christmas is...

...a new Red Pen

*makes note*

Just caught up with your trip reports Kite, while waiting for the rest of the household to wake up. Some enjoyable trips there, including a fair amount of track I haven't covered.

Congratulations on clearing Metrolink 100% which is something I'll eventually manage!

As for the 180 comment, I've made my views clear too many times on them things. However, my comment earlier this week still stands, which was "Aww, I'm so heartbroken!" with reference to the 180s being retired again from the GWML. Maybe this time they'll stay away!

 

[Cowley]

Well I’ve just had an epic time catching up with your various days out Kite. I must also agree with you and others about the price of tours. Actually about the price of everything these days really...
It’s been quite a year for you and great to read about it all.
Good luck for 2018 sir!

 

[Kite159]

Well I’ve just had an epic time catching up with your various days out Kite. I must also agree with you and others about the price of tours. Actually about the price of everything these days really...
It’s been quite a year for you and great to read about it all.
Good luck for 2018 sir!

Thanks Mr C

2017 isn't over for me yet, although today is a lazy day popping to Basingstoke for some shopping (need new shoes for work as my current pair are holey)

 

[TheAdelante]

Thanks Mr C

2017 isn't over for me yet, although today is a lazy day popping to Basingstoke for some shopping (need new shoes for work as my current pair are holey)

I must say it is very convenient how close the Festival Place is to the station!

I often nip in there if I am going to Reading, as I usually have a fifteen minute connection time.

 

[Kite159]

I'm surprised that the 12:20 Waterloo - Exeter/Bristol is coming up as formed of 10 carriages with the rear 4 carrying on to Bristol.

Although the 10:47 Salisbury - Waterloo was quite busy, must be the time of year when a lot more people are off work

 

[Kite159]

Jess (the Andover station cat) wants me to give a brief summary:


20/12

I finished work (OK, more of a case of getting kicked out of the building) at around midday so a weekday trip to London was on the cards, mainly to sample a 800 changing from diesel to electric before that option becomes slightly more expensive. Didn’t feel a thing other than the engines of required 800017 turning off once on the juice. Anyhow since I was in London at a decent time I decided to pay a visit to Orpington to get on the evening peak service which starts from platform 1, the bay platform on the ‘fast’ lines side of the station (a platform which only sees 2 departures a day, the first being an early morning all-stations stopper to Blackfriars)

376022 at Orpington

A fast run on a pair of 376s felt very strange (this service runs nonstop to London Bridge), however after the junction south of Lewisham the units crawled, but still another bay in the bag, with a busy 700143 taken to Croydon on a Littlehampton service (joining 700145 which I picked up during a short core fester earlier in the afternoon). Next up was getting some more 707s, with 707013 taking me round the Kingston loop to Twickenham, 707014 around the Hounslow loop to Putney before 707001/707002 from Richmond to Waterloo.

21/12

A trip to see my good friend Techni in Hereford-by-the-Ocean, via a few linear leaps, scoring platform 1 at Bristol Temple Meads in the process (certainly felt odd going non-stop to Bristol Parkway on a 150), the main event was for some 67 based haulage, with required 67014 being an unexpected tick in the book, even if it meant having an hour fester in Newport.

158890 at Salisbury
67014 at Hereford

22/12

Return from Hereford via another run on the Mk3s with 67014 pushing me to Newport for some festering, picking up a few 800s doing a Newport – Cardiff- Newport – Bristol Parkway leap, a 150 to Temple Meads with another 800 entering my book on a leap to Bath Spa, before heading back home, then after a short break onwards to Paddington, picking up another couple 800s (making it 8 winners today), with a bonus of a shiny and new smelling 387171.
One thing I noticed during my waiting at Newport is how far down Cardiff bound trains stop on platform 2, couldn’t they stop a bit closer to the footbridge as I reckon there is a good 30 metre gap between the stopping position and the steps, causing passengers to run from the seating area, and crowd around the front doors (picture taken from the stop marker for 2-4* coaches)
The long walk at Newport
387171 at Paddington

23/12

A Saturday where I didn’t have that much planned in stone, other than a wanting to recover some lines I haven’t been down in a while. My first fast 444 based action for many months from Basingstoke to Clapham, spotting a 377/2 heading to Milton Keynes [which looked a bit odd seeing as that route is normally in the hands of 377/7s or pairs of 377/2s]. A fast 377 to Sutton before a 455 to Epsom Downs, returning to Sutton for a spot of linear leaps with a 377/6 to Epsom, before a SWR 455 to Dorking, then finally a 377 to Horsham, spotting many new 700s in the sidings near the station.

A busy pair of 377s took me to Three Bridges, for a spot of linear hopping on 700s (the first to Gatwick, before another took me to London Bridge, these things can certainly shift). A trip to Tulse Hill via Queens Road Peckham (which felt odd going through those stations non-stop on a 700) returning after a short break, before a trip to Croydon to get 700122 into my book for a short wait before 700123 felt victim to my red pen back to London Bridge.

The day was finished by a trip to Hampton Court in the twilight, before heading home on a busy single 159.

455839 at Epsom Downs
455739 at Hampton Court

24/12

Another day without any real plan, but for the first Sunday in a while I drove to Andover (mainly for wanting a pizza in the evening), first thing on my plate was a trip to Richmond for a 378 from platform 3 (which I believe is only used by a small handful of 378s a daily, the most common platforms being 4 & 5 for the NLL services). Anyhow it was to West Hampstead for a short walk over to the Jubilee Line station for a spot of HST roar:
Unknwon HST passing West Hampstead

Anyhow, a trip to the end of the line at Stanmore, before returning to Wembley Park for a S8 to Rayners Lane for a short wait for some 1973 stock action on a stopping service (no district line, so some services of the Piccadilly line were running on the district line metals calling at the likes of Chiswick Park, certainly an odd experience getting overtaken. A S7 from South Kensington (scoring a crossover to the east of the station as all services were departing from the westbound platform) for an unsuccessful DLR hunting session.

A trip to Beckton was called for (the crossrail line around Custom House coming along quite nicely), before heading back to Canning Town then onward to Stratford then a trip to Epping was called for (like Stanmore I haven’t been to the far end of the Central Line since 2014 time), before getting caught out by a triple 357 from Stratford to Liverpool Street (mainly for a PNB, first time on a triple 357). Afterwards it was back to Waterloo for the 17:15 service to say farewell to the night

 

[TheAdelante]

Hi,

Nice trip! But were the HSTs on diverts - I didn’t know they went through Hampstead!

 

[Kite159]

Hi,

Nice trip! But were the HSTs on diverts - I didn’t know they went through Hampstead!

Paddington has been closed for the past few days due to various engineering works so GWR have been running a half hourly HST from Marylebone via Oxford to the likes of Swansea, Bristol & Plymouth

 

[TheAdelante]

Paddington has been closed for the past few days due to various engineering works so GWR have been running a half hourly HST from Marylebone via Oxford to the likes of Swansea, Bristol & Plymouth

Shame not from Waterloo, I could have got one from Basingstoke

 

[Dhassell]

Shame not from Waterloo, I could have got one from Basingstoke

Even if it had gone via Basingstoke, unlikely the doors would have unlocked.

 

[Kite159]

Even if it had gone via Basingstoke, unlikely the doors would have unlocked.

Depends, the last time the HSTs went via Basingstoke, reversing to head to Reading the doors were released as the Salisbury locals were cut back to Basingstoke to free up a path.

But it depends where the block is

 

[TheAdelante]

Even if it had gone via Basingstoke, unlikely the doors would have unlocked.

Every time I’ve done a HST from Basingstoke I’ve got on because everyone gets off and I get on via one of the doors opened.

 

[Kite159]

I've started doing a little bit of research into some of those lesser used bay platforms, some appear to be only booked use by a single train a day (Wolverhampton Platform 6, first Shrewsbury WM service), some by only one train a week (Hereford P4 with an Saturday only departure to New Street) and some which as far as I can tell with a quick search are not booked to be used by anything (Wellington platform 3)

Anyhow, it was a good tour today, shame both 67s were dud (although one was one of the first services I logged and the other dud on a Solihull leap from Moor Street).

 

[Kite159]

I forgot how much noise 365s make when at a good speed, the 387s just don't sound the same

 

[TheAdelante]

Will you be going to Kenilworth at some point after it opens? I’ve been reading through your reports and found out you’ve cleared all stations (congratulations btw) and thought of Kenilworth!

 

[Kite159]

Will you be going to Kenilworth at some point after it opens? I’ve been reading through your reports and found out you’ve cleared all stations (congratulations btw) and thought of Kenilworth!

I have a plan to visit Kenilworth pretty soon after it (eventually) opens, attempting to plan it to use one of the Sunday services which are due out of Leamington Spa P1 [the unit appears to shunt from P4 to P1 to allow another unit to use P4].

I've randomly decided to give myself a new challenge in bagging some of those lesser used bay platforms, trying to pick off the easier ones which don't require overnight stays.

 

[Kite159]

Some more rough summaries:

28th December

I was staying in Croydon tonight, so gave me an excuse to pay that little bit extra for a zone 1-9 card, with the idea of revisiting the outer reaches of the metropolitan line for the first time in quite a few years. A Chiltern 165 took me up to Rickmansworth where it was a short wait for a S8 to the single track Chesham branch (interesting to note the route posters at stations still have this service as being a shuttle, with a limited peak time through service, but as those posters still say British Rail they are quite old). A quick turn-around at Chorleywood (southbound platform has barriers, northbound is open) for another S8 to Amersham, scoring the centre platform, before returning towards Northwood for a trip to Watford (via Croxley). Another thing I noticed is that the track in the disused bay at Chalfont & Latimer is still in place, all be very rusty as it must be a good 5 years since that bay was last used by the shuttle service.

165028 speeds past Moor Park

I turned down a walk to Watford High Street, instead returned to Nortwick Park for the short walk to Kenton for some 378 action to Watford High Street, returning to Bushley where a tight connection was made onto a triple 350 heading to Euston (mixture between needing a PNB and it saved time, plus I couldn’t turn down a trip on the famous 350260 ) With nothing better to do, I headed over to St Pancras, where due to misreading the number on a Luton stopper (700119) I somehow also got the crossovers north of St Pancras into the book, returning on a RLU 700 into platform B to get the other side.

A trip to Paddington was up next where the next couple Reading stoppers were Turbos (one which looked like it was going to be cosy as it was a single 3-coach 165!), so to kill time I headed to Hammersmith, and returned to Paddington after a good run (just how high is that step at Westbourne Park?). It was worth the wait as a shiny 387161 entered my book for a run to Ealing Broadway, featuring a parachute (the reliefs were closed for Crossrail related works and the platforms on the mainline are not exactly level), another winner (387156) returned me to Paddington, the other part of these 8-car services were dud.

Next up was a trip to London Bridge, where I turned down the first couple Thameslink services to get rewarded with required 700137 for the fast run to Croydon, after checking into the hotel, I did a little spin on the town centre loop on a poorly sounding 2554.

29th December

My final railtour of the year was to the RIDC Melton site at Old Dalby, on the Pieman 2. Due to expected high demand Hertfordshire Rail Tours ran two tours to the site over 2 days, having to be done in the week between Christmas & New Year due to the busy nature of the site. I had a couple options to reach London Bridge, sadly the 2nd service was cancelled leaving me on a return of 700137 for the speedy run to zone 1, where I made my slow way to Euston via Kings Cross (there be a Tesco there, good for a supply raid).

My luck with scoring locos on the last few rail tours ran out, as dud 67018 was leading with 67005 on the other end, although 67018 was only in my book on a Moor Street – Solihull leap as it was one of the couple 67s I picked up when they worked on Chiltern services, with 67005 being a long term entry into my book before the beginning of time when I had it on my 2nd rail tour back in 2013 from Bristol to Salisbury. Anyhow I managed to avoid one of the narrow bench seats (sadly Hertfordshire Rail Tours don’t do “First Class Non-Dining” on some of their tours, its either standard class or first class dining, probably a trick they are missing) on the ancient Mk1 coach.

Nothing exciting about the outward route, picking up at Watford, Bletchley, Bedford & Kettering, doing a little weave south of Leicester and pausing briefly in the goods lines at Leicester station for a crew change, before continuing at a snails pace for those passengers to spot the various 56s in the yard near Leicester, before heading towards Melton Mowbray to reverse onto the Old Dalby Test Track, heading first towards the depot at Asfordby, passing a few 345s being stored there for various tests, before reversing onto the new(ish) connection back onto the former Midland Railway route towards Nottingham for the run through countryside underneath the wires, reaching the end of the wires before reaching the end of the route a few miles south of Nottingham (lots of new houses popping up in this part).

A final reversal, with 67005 in charge for the run back south, pausing around the site where a 46 was crashed into a nuclear flask back in the 80s, before returning to the main-line, pausing briefly at Melton Mowbray station before going into the long goods loop to the east of the station to wait for a 170 to drone past, before carrying on via Oakham, turning right onto the line towards Corby, the countryside covered in snow (and some of the fields were flooded), allowing me to cross another station off in my list of “passed through without stopping”. The train emptied out at Kettering, as the 67 set off heading south, this time sticking to the goods line (heading north in the morning the train was put onto the fast lines after Bedford), undertaking a HST at Wellingborough before losing track after the tunnel.

Nothing else of interest heading south, a brief wait north of Bedford to allow a 700 to clear out of the way of platform 1, to return towards Bletchley (passing many tiny remote stations), then south to Euston. Sadly I forgot to read the timetable so I had an extra 30 minutes at Waterloo (the 19:20 is all stations Basingstoke – Salisbury during the week, but not on Saturdays and SWR were running a Saturday timetable this week), before returning home on the 19:50.



30th December

My final trip of the year was to London, with a couple little trips to score a couple bay platforms, one tends to see more trains during peak times, and the other is a seemingly pointless bay which sees one service departing a week. Anyhow it was an unwelcome return to the 05:27 service to take me to Waterloo, where I headed to Kings Cross for a run on a semi-fast 387, calling at those stations north of Hitchin for only the 2nd time, forgetting how nippy the 387s are.

Anyhow after a short spotting session at Huntingdon (a couple unknown 91 pushed services southbound, the EMT hire in from Hull, a XC HST hire-in from Skipton [caught me off guard], plus a couple other Great Northern services before the 365 arrived ECS from Peterborough, pausing at the signal south of the station, to reverse into the bay platform (for there is no access to it from the south, the weekday service to/from Huntingdon terminates on platform 3, and shunts over to platform 2 via a trip further along the ECML). The reason for the starter was the previous Peterborough – Kings Cross service runs fast after Biggleswade, and it was 365532 giving me some vocal delights, racing a HST south of Stevenage, nearly pulling ahead before having to stop at Knebworth (sadly the doors were already closed and locked when the 365 rolled into Stevenage, otherwise I would have jumped across to save a bit of time).

365532 at Huntingdon

I alighted at Finsbury Park (impressed that both services featured ticket checks from the “passenger host” (or whatever they are called on Great Northern), who also gave advice to a family at which way to go in London to reach some tourist place. Next up on my list was a trip to Cockfosters, returning to Oakwood where I was going to catch a bus, however the appearance of required set 174 meant my bus trip was put on hold for a return to Cockfosters [which also meant I had covered all 3 platforms]. Back to Oakwood, and a route 377 bus took me to Enfield Town station, for a spot of 315 action to Seven Sisters before the Victoria line took me to Walthamstow Central where I made use of a 18 minute wait before the next London bound service to visit the toilets at the bus station & to pick up lunch from a nearby Tesco Express.

315817 was in charge on the run to Liverpool Street, running fast after St James Street (felt strange going non-stop through Clacton & Hackney Downs) due to engineering works. Bus route 78 took me the short distance from Liverpool Street to “Minories” (another bus route ticked off [heh], where I got lost looking for Fenchurch Street station, thankfully I had time in hand [also the backup option of a Shoeburyness service which overtakes the Southend service] so I took up a seat behind the cab on 357201 (with 357021 leading) for the long trip to platform 4 at Southend Central [having covered platform 1 a few months ago]. Strangely RTT was suggesting that eastbound services were weaving via platform 2 at Leigh-On-Sea, but must be a bug as it was via the regular platform 3 [platform 2 is used as a terminating platform, like at Laindon, for peak-time short services]. Although I was hoping for a little bonus microgrice doing a weave, but it wasn’t to be.

A short break at Southend Central before another pair of 357s took me to Barking, where my assumption that platform 3 was used throughout the day was proven to be completely wrong. I had assumed it was used by terminating services from Hammersmith, before they returned 6 or so minutes later, to save blocking the main platform with a terminating service, but it appears not to be the case as the Hammersmith & City line services terminate in platform 2 [one of the few platforms where doors open both sides] before heading to reverse in the sidings to the east. I suspect it gets used more during peak times with services getting turned there, so one to keep an eye out for.

Another trip on a 357 took me to Limehouse for an unsuccessful DLR hunt (one day unit 39 will fall), keeping an eye on 357s for any 357/3s I need for renumbering [noting that I saw one earlier in the day], which took me to West Ham for the return working of 357325 from Southend. Another short DLR hunt, took me to Prince Regent [inspecting the Crossrail works at Custom House station], before heading to Paddington via Canning Town & Baker Street. The first 387 service I saw was dud so I jumped onto my first Heathrow Connect 360/2 service for the first time since March 16, it was quite busy [only 3 stopping services an hour from Paddington towards Hayes, with 2 of those carrying on towards Reading, although the Heathrow Connect runs 3 minutes in front of a pair of 387s so probably not the best of timetable planning as the passengers jump on the 360).

I took my parachute for a run to Southall, probably first time stepping down onto platform 1, sadly the loo on the 360 was locked out of use, the toilets at Southall being closed and the toilets on 387156/387145 being locked out of use [I guess the RPIs have been out and about again], so I bailed at Ealing Broadway to make use of the toilet [I refuse to pay to use station toilets at the likes of Paddington]. Nothing of interest on the Central line [on the off-chance 91177 would randomly pop up], but I was rewarded with winners 387167 & 387163 taking me back to Paddington, my last winners of 2017. With time to kill I decided to head to Elephant & Castle on a Bakerloo set, transferring to the Northern Line with a short hop to Kennington, as I couldn’t quite remember if I have ever done the connections from the Charing Cross branch to/from Morden, so decided to get them into my log once and for all. Swinging via McDonalds for dinner before boarding my final train of 2017, which was the 21:20 Waterloo – Yeovil service, formed of 159005 & 159108 for the speedy run back to Grateley.

And with that I will leave you with this picture of 360204 closing its doors at Ealing Broadway, closing time for me on my 2017 travels as every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
360204 at Ealing Broadway

A monthly & review of the year will be coming up later on

 

[Cowley]

Nice. As I think I said the other day it’s been very enjoyable (almost emotional ) reading about your exploits this year. Looking forward to seeing what you get up to in 2018.
Happy New Year from Devon Mr Kite ...

 

[Iskra]

I was contemplating the Pieman trip. Should have done it as it would have been two winning 67's for me, bad luck for you though! Nice reports and happy new year!

 

[Kite159]

Looking back over a Long December

The 12th month of the year, always a busy month for me due to having time off work due to the kitchens closing for winter break, although this year I didn’t have a long trip to Glasgow to look forward to, nor any mad unit hunts as in previous years.

The month began with a trip to London, picking up a couple 700s before my first trip on a pair of 800s to Reading, which is where I returned to a day later for “The Christmas Brush” tour from the Branch Line Society, which featured 47s top and tailing the usual coaches on a little trip from Reading towards Paddington via some loops and South Greenford, back out towards a siding the other side of Didcot before heading to Westbury, returning to Paddington after a couple reversals and going via Ascot picking up a couple bits of track. The Sunday was a trip to Southern land, revisiting some branches (Tattenham Corner, Caterham, Uckfield), plus scoring some bay platforms at Oxted & Kingston.

The following weekend (8th) was another trip to London on the Friday to pick up some 707s, but the rest of the evening wasn’t the best for my red pen, as I decided to cut my losses with a pair of 800s back to Reading. The Saturday was a trip to Manchester where I did better than I expected in picking up all 6 of my remaining Metrolink trams to clear the system (which means the only trams I have left are the 7 new ones in Sheffield, plus 3x metro units on the Tyne & Wear Metro), the rest of the day was spent pottering around scoring my remaining bay platform at Stalybridge, plus part of the new layout at Bolton. The Sunday was yet another trip to London, in the snow, nothing unusual with a nice run on a 700 from London Bridge to Streatham via Sutton, revisit to Chessington South and a nice run on a 377/7 to Harrow to pick up my first “London North Western” branded service on a heavily delayed 350. A nice bonus was a 92 stock on a semi-required move due to heavy delays, pesky snow.

A rare Friday spent at home on the 15th, before a couple railtours, with an early morning trip to Banbury to pick up “The Jolly Grid” for a trip to Trafford Park with a 66 turning into a 56 at Bescot, a dud 60 hauled the train back to Longsight, where it was a nice little potter in the fading light via the new curve west of Manchester to swing to Toton via Chesterfield, with another 66 taking me to Tamworth where I made a connection to a XC service to York, for a HST onwards to Newcastle to get some sleep.

The tour on the Sunday was to celebrate 10 years of Grand Central, and to say farewell to their HSTs, so it was a trip from Newcastle towards Doncaster via a couple freight bits along the way, a trip to Doncaster Roberts Road for some 66 spotting before a short break at Sheffield, with a quick trip to Barrow Hill before heading towards Stockport, then via Denton towards Rochdale into Bradford, then back out towards York via Castleford and a trip up to the Selby line, with another HST back to London (lots of HST action this weekend).

My Christmas break started at midday on the Wednesday which was a good excuse to head to London, picking up another 800 along the way, a couple more 700s with a fast run from platform 1 at Orpington on a pair of 376s, before hunting down 4 more 707s, this time on decent runs. The Thursday was a trip to Hereford for a pre-Christmas catch up, scoring a 67 on the WAG and probably having my final HST via the tunnel. The Friday was a good day where I picked up 8 more 800s, plus a shiny new 387.

The Saturday was a trip to London, heading to Epsom Downs to revisit the line, before heading to Horsham, and then back towards London Bridge with some good 700 mileage, including a trip to Tulse Hill via Peckham Rye to explore that part of South London. Another pair of 700s entered my book (they are slowly falling along the way) before a trip to Hampton Court finished the day. A return to London on the Sunday, mainly to recover some of the LU lines, but first a trip to Richmond for a 378 from platform 3 (as it appears I’ve never had a 378 out/in of Richmond) to West Hampstead with a trip to Stanmore, back to Wembley Park then to Rayners Lane for some 73 stock action to South Kensington with a S7 onwards for an unsuccessful DLR hunt. A trip to Epping was in order before the light started to fade away on Christmas Eve.

A little trip on the 27th December, but only to Basingstoke to do some various bits and pieces which I couldn’t do in Andover, having a nice lazy day, before a busy few days, with a trip to zones 7-9 on the Thursday, just to recover those lines, before a trip to Hammersmith before picking up a couple more 387s, and another 700 on route to Croydon for a stay in the Easy Hotel, to be honest not my first pick of accommodation in Croydon anymore. My final tour of the year on the 29th December with a pair of 67s taking me to the Old Dalby test track, on a tour unlikely to be repeated any time soon due to the paperwork required to gain access to that site (so cue Pathfinder announcing a tour there next year).

My final day on the rails was on the Saturday, where my first duty was a trip to Huntingdon to tick off the lightly used bay platform, before visiting Cockfosters twice (although I couldn’t turn down the random appearance of one of my last 7x 73 stocks to put my TFL requirements as 10 [6x 73 stock, 2x 95 stock, 1x 92 stock, 1x DLR] which is a nice place to end the year on. A trip to Enfield Town and Walthamstow for some 315 based noise (and 2 more London bus routes for my side bus based project), with a nice run on a pair of 357s to Southend Central, picking up platform 4 before heading back to London for another unsuccessful DLR hunt, intercepted by picking up a 357/3 for renumbering. A trip to Southall for some 387 hunting picked up my last winners of the year with 387163 & 387167 taking that honour (350246 took it in December 16, a quad of 92 stock in 2015 & a pair of 450s in 2014). The ‘honour’ of my final train of the year fell to 159005 & 159108 (159001 in 2016, 159103 in 2015 & 159006 in 2014).

Overall a busy month for me, which is mainly the reason for having a lazy day on new years eve, to recharge my batteries.

Looking ahead to January sees a trip to Manchester, mainly to grab the bay platforms at Wigan Wallgate & platform 4C at Preston [easier to grab when engineering works are on as both otherwise see limited use, although it be a day featuring a lot of Voyager mileage. A catch-up with Mr J in Birmingham before my 1st tour of the year (Severn Aggregator) for a couple branch lines, before a trip to Aberdeen on the sleeper, swinging via the rebuilt Forres before a 1st class trip from Inverness to Edinburgh, for something in the city. Another railtour finishes the month for me with the Thames Trumper. Most likely a Thames Branches Rover will feature on the 2nd January to go 387 & 800 hunting, plus other day trips to London to try and make small indents in my requirements.

Monthly totals

33 new units (5x 387, 7x 700, 8x 707, 13x 800), plus 1x 357 for renumbering
6 new locos (2x 47, 1x 56, 2x 66, 1x 67)
8 new ‘Light Rail’ stuff (1x 73 Stock, 1x 92 stock, 6x Metrolink trams)
Miles covered: 5184 miles

End of 2017 Totals

169 Units
62 Locos
304 New Stations Visited
388 required Trams/LU/DLR scored
53109 Miles (an increase of 400 miles over my 2016 figure)

Highlight of the year – Got to be stepping off 150242 at Roman Bridge on the 9th October
Lowlight of the year – 30 minutes at Hope on the Borderlands line

Anyhow, must dash:


Happy New Year

Thanks for reading, if indeed you are still reading

 

[Dhassell]

It has been a cracking year for you Kite! I look forward to see what plans you have for next year now you don't have to go chasing around for stations all around the country!

 

[Kite159]

I was contemplating the Pieman trip. Should have done it as it would have been two winning 67's for me, bad luck for you though! Nice reports and happy new year!

It was a good relaxing day trip, although I suspect you would had to have stayed overnight somewhere on route, unless you paid out for a peak-time fare (or got cheap advances) from the Chapel

 

[Kite159]

Anyhow my first trip of 2018 was to sample what turned out to be an ultra slow South Eastern service from Waterloo to Tonbridge (took an hour to reach Sevenoaks!), to score the normally peak-time only bay platform (4) at Tonbridge [had an half-hourly service today due to the various engineering works at London Bridge], back to London via Bat & Ball for some more 700 action, before a trip to Mill Hill East.

In the afternoon my red pen came out to play with the GWR 387s, picking up 8 winners, plus a couple more 800s, before heading home [via an hour fester at Basingstoke due to poor connections, the return service being a 10-car service, not what I would have expected on New Years Day].

---

The Tuesday (aka my last day of freedom before returning to work), it was another 387 hunt, although I got lucky with the first service being required, it only broke down so 387170 escaped. I managed to pick up a required 387, covering all of the diagrams so headed to Liverpool Street for a spot of 345 hunting (as I was under the impression a lot more were out to play), only to be bailed by the next 6 departures being all 315s.

My last move was on a fast required 387 to Reading before a 165 to Basingstoke then finally a busy-but-plenty of seats triple 159 back home.

The net result of the past few days is that I've got my Electrostar requirements down to a mere 6 units, of which 2 haven't yet arrived

 

[Techniquest]

Finally caught up! Very far behind with the forum, I woke up an hour early today so used the time wisely.

As always, excellent reading. How 2018 will top 2017 I have no idea, you did so well!

 

[noddy1878]

Absolutely awesome year! So much cleared! I looked at the Pieman tour too. Didn’t need the locos but the route obviously was required!

 

[Kite159]

I note that on Easter Monday the northern end of the WCML is closed (hence why the sleeper is going via the ECML and into Queen Street), I wonder if TPE will do what they have done in the past and extend some Newcastle 185s to Edinburgh to cater for some of the Manchester traffic (rather than said passengers having a bus ride to Carlisle or a probably busy 156 via Dumfries)

Any other tours lined up for you Noddy?