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Sounds a good trip. Out of interest why did you need to revisit Reddish? Well done on covering the newly electrified Bolton line. I'm yet to do it on an EMU.
Reddish South, previously (in December 2015) I had boarded there (and alighted at Denton) so it needed to be revisited for alighting.
Reddish North is on my list of stations I've only done in one direction [or only used one platform] so probably later in the year to give me something else to do in between hunting old units for mileage or new units I will start popping out to those stations again.
I've only done Deansgate -> Bolton for the Bolton line wires, the line further between Bolton & the junction with the WCML needs covering (as does Salford Crescent - Manchester Victoria). It was a nice surprise, it certainly didn't hang around on the non-stop section from Salford towards Bolton.
The idea of this trip was to have a good day on the Heart of Wales line, plus some other oddities I needed to revisit around South & West Wales, having secured a decent priced room in Swansea (more of an “Air BnB” style spare room in a house) located around a 15 minute walk from the station, perfect for an early start on the Saturday for the first Heart of Wales service.
I finished work on the Friday and headed towards Grateley where the TVM was out of order, so it was to Salisbury on 159019 where I got let out of the barriers to pick up my tickets, both the tickets to Newport and the rover. A short wait on platform 4 as 165122 & 166220 rolled in for the long journey to Newport, as I took a seat in the former 1st class area of the 166 for a little bit of comfort. Bit of a farce around Westbury where the train sat outside the station for 10 minutes due to a signaller mistake. Anyhow once into Newport it was a short wait to see which service would arrive first, a pair of 80Xs to Swansea or the Tenby stopper (calls at all stations from Bridgend to Swansea, plus Llanharan).
175116 rolled in, which got quite busy at Newport and very busy at Cardiff, the pair of 800s rolled in alongside us at Cardiff Central but strangely the stopper went first (and hence delaying the 800s even more). It was a slow trip heading west but soon it was time for me to alight at Skewen, and with a quick walk to a nearby bus stop for a route 32 bus (44610) to take me one stop further up the line (not the fastest of bus routes as it does a large loop around a settlement known as Birchgrove, but saved me a walk). I arrived at Llansamlet with time to spare before 175008 rolled in to take me towards Briton Ferry for a couple reasons, the first was to have a nosey to see what work has been carried out around the former yard, the 2nd was because the Cardiff bound platform at both stations was a random platform score.
Anyhow my time at Briton Ferry wasn’t long before a loud 175006 rolled in which took me to Swansea, where I made my way towards the house where I was staying, not knowing it was located at the top of a steep incline (which I nicknamed the mountain). Very nice views from the bedroom window and a friendly host.
Day 2
I was not looking forward to my alarm at 03:45, but with the first of four trains on the Heart of Wales departing at 04:30, I didn’t have a lot of choice if I wanted to get all 10 stations I needed to revisit done on the same day. Needless to say, the 04:30 service formed of 153362 was quite empty for the run in the darkness to Garth (Powys) (thankfully the WiFi was working which was useful as the sun only started to pop out around Sugar Loaf).
The weather was sunny, but my heck was that wind cold. Garth had a shelter, but it didn’t help with the wind, it was a long hour fester before 153367 rolled up from Shrewsbury to take me back down the line to Pontarddulais, the train getting busier with every stop, but thankfully kept to good time as it allowed me to walk towards a bus stop near the Black Lion pub to catch a route X13 bus (47635, which was pretty much empty) a couple miles to a little village called Tycroes, where another short walk to an unmarked bus stop for a route 126 bus (42613) to take me the mile (or so) down the hill to reach Pantyffynnon.
I sat on a bench seat on the platform, before 153327 rolled in, firstly pausing at the signal box to the south of the station to take me the 8 miles to Llandeilo, where it was time for a supply raid at a nearby Co-Op and for a gentle potter down a hill to reach Ffairfach, where I took a seat in the shelter and had brunch. 153362 returned from Shrewsbury, a lot busier now than it was previously as I stayed on to Llangennech on the two-track section shared with the Swansea District Line. I walked to a nearby bus stop hoping to catch a bus which would have taken me closer to Bynea, but the bus was a no-show (was meant to be the ~ 13:50 service, I gave up waiting at 14:15, knowing that it was a 20-minute walk from the bus stop to the station and so didn’t want to risk it.
Change of plan time as I headed back to Llangennech station, sitting with beautiful scenery before 153367 returned from Cardiff to take me back towards the centre of the line to Llangammarch Wells for another hour fester, in a nice shelter in a peaceful little village. 153327 was up next which took me nearly to the end of the service to Bynea, where it was a roughly 75 minute fester, the sun had gone in and it was getting chilly, made worse as the shelter on the northbound platform had entrances on both sides, creating a wind tunnel effect, plus it had a bar seat which wasn’t the most comfortable. Anyhow the time passed (I tend to read magazines/newspapers/books during these long festers) before 153327 returned from Swansea to take me the 10 miles to Ammanford, where I headed from the station via a Co-Op for dinner, and to the little bus station for one final bus move of the day with another X13 service (63083) to take me a couple miles up the road to Llandybie, where I sat in the decent shelter to relax, getting visited by a couple policemen who had asked some kids to “move on” as the station was an anti-social behaviour hotspot.
Anyhow, the clearance bell rung when 153367 popped up to take me back to Swansea, clearing the Heart of Wales. My bed was very much welcomed after a long day!
Day 3
No rest for the wicked as I was back at Swansea station for the first Paddington service of the day formed of 800304 which took me to Newport, returning to Cardiff on a Milford Haven bound 175111 and heading back east to Severn Tunnel Junction on 166209. I crossed over to the island platform for a short fester before a Cheltenham bound 175109 rolled up to take me the 59 chains to Caldicot (When I saw the headlights I was half-expecting to see my last 175 I need for mileage as a kick in the teeth). My run of “9”s continued with 170109 spotted heading towards Nottingham.
A busy 150283 rolled up to take me back to Newport, as I stepped back a service to board 170117/170520 to Cardiff, unusually terminating on platform 0 at Cardiff Central [engineering works]. I got lost looking for the Tesco, not knowing it had moved (to a better location, as it’s closer to the station without any roads to cross), mainly to grab food before returning to Cardiff Central to board 800016 & 800023 for the run to Swansea, unusually going via Ninian Park. At Swansea I didn’t have long to connect with a Pembroke Dock bound 158838 which I stayed on for the majority of the journey to Pembroke.
It might seem mad doing the Pembroke Dock line on a Sunday, but due to my needs, the timetable on Sundays (where trains pass between Whitland & Carmarthen, instead of passing at Tenby) worked for me, also the trains didn’t hang around Pembroke Dock for 40-odd minutes like they do during the week. 20 minutes later 158838 had returned to take me back towards Kilgetty where I had around an hour fester, my original plan to head to the Co-Op was binned due to the shop being closed (must have been large enough to get affected by the Sunday trading hours). The hour passed without much of an issue as 142002 & 150278 rolled up on the next Pembroke Dock service which I took to Lamphey to clear the line and to clear South Wales. Around 30 minutes later the units returned from Pembroke Dock as I took a seat in the pacer for the run back towards Swansea, after Whitland I was the only passenger in the pacer for a very enjoyable fast run. At Carmarthen the 150 was detached with the pacer filling up for the run to Swansea, where I picked up something to eat from the little Nisa opposite the station and jumped on a route 25 bus (44575) to take me part-way up the mountain [more a case of right place right time]. The pacer was also a mileage score, as it was only previously on half a mile, it is now my highest Welsh 142 for mileage!
Day 4
With my backup for the Heart of Wales not being needed, it was a later start for me this morning as I checked out of the house and headed towards the station, picking up something to eat along the way, both for breakfast & for lunch. It was onto a private 150279 on a Fishguard Harbour service which used the Carmarthen avoiding line, just as I hadn’t been to Fishguard in ages. Back on the same unit to Carmarthen where I crossed platforms to board 175102 for the long run to Abergavenny (platform score and to see the stupidly tall temporary footbridge). 175115 took me back towards Newport before 800302 took me to Port Talbot Parkway (another platform score), returning to Cardiff Central on 175009.
A mini supply raid at Tesco followed before I returned to the station, turning down a pair of dud 800s on a Paddington service to grab a seat on a short-formed 158954 (judging by the screens it was meant to be 2 units with one detaching at Westbury) for the run back to Salisbury, as expected the train got very crowded at Bristol (and emptied out at Bath, with some more crowds boarding). At Salisbury it was a cross platform change to 158888 working the 18:47 Salisbury – Grateley service to take me closer to home, the end of a productive long weekend.
The Heart of Wales line takes some doing, brings back memories of August 17 when I stayed in Llanelli for a few days over the bank holiday weekend to focus on the line the first time round.
Only Welsh stations left to revisit are a dozen in the north.
Some really good nostalgia generated by your report for me, given South Wales used to be my stomping ground, so thanks for the memories! As always, an excellent read and many congratulations on re-clearing South Wales. I'm a little jealous as I enjoy memories from nearly 14 years ago, so excuse me while I re-live those days...
Some really good nostalgia generated by your report for me, given South Wales used to be my stomping ground, so thanks for the memories! As always, an excellent read and many congratulations on re-clearing South Wales. I'm a little jealous as I enjoy memories from nearly 14 years ago, so excuse me while I re-live those days...
Great outing that was Kite. 3:45am alarm calls are what commitment is all about. Pretty sure that if I did that I would spend all day riding on the first unit I boarded as i caught up on my sleep
Great outing that was Kite. 3:45am alarm calls are what commitment is all about. Pretty sure that if I did that I would spend all day riding on the first unit I boarded as i caught up on my sleep
A couple months ago I was trying to figure out what to do over Easter weekend, this was around the time the Saturday strikes on Northern had finished so Northern had become available once again, I eventually settled on Lincolnshire, firstly to grab a couple hard to get EMT stations, another attempt at platform 2 at Doncaster and to get the Northern stations on the Barton on Humber services, plus the Saturdays only Brigg line. I looked up options and formed a rough plan, with a hostel near Kings Cross for the Thursday night, and a guest house in Grimsby for the Friday night.
The Thursday I finished work and had a mileage building session in London, this time the main focus was on the Windsor line side of Waterloo as I needed a few 458 & 707s, and where the 707s might have a future with South Eastern, the future of the 458s are less certain. If any 455/456s shall pop up I would grab them as well, as well as my last 387/2 for mileage which was working a Southern branded Brighton – Victoria service later in the evening.
As per usual for this trips, here are the moves in a summary form:
Grateley – Basingstoke: 158883/159105/159017 (where I popped out to the ticket office to buy my Lincolnshire rover, getting it issued quicker than expected allowing me to catch the GWR service which was running a couple minutes late, saves a wedged out voyager!)
Basingstoke – Reading: 165110
Reading – London Paddington: 800301, took around 40 minutes or so for a required IET to pop, this also clears the 800/3s so until 800001/002 enter service my focus is solely on the 802s
Paddington – Waterloo: 3264/3544
Waterloo – Vauxhall: 707017/707010 (a good start with a pair of 707s on 9-odd miles)
Vauxhall – Clapham Junction: 455719/455871/456012 (another 456 into the TMC)
Clapham Junction – Richmond: 458531 & 458511
Richmond – Clapham Junction: 707028/707001
Clapham Junction – Waterloo : 455706/455732
Waterloo – Clapham Junction: 455732 & 455706
Clapham Junction – Twickenham: 458530 & 458818
Twickenham – Feltham: 707020 & 707022, where I popped out of the station for a short break, odd seeing the level crossing being closed
Feltham – Twickenham: 458524 & 458517
Twickenham – Chiswick: 707030 & 707024
Chiswick – Brentford: 707006 (for a tight connection over to the opposite platform)
Brentford – Clapham Junction: 707012/707021
Clapham Junction – Surbiton: 450031/450088/450545 (merely a positioning move)
Surbiton – Clapham Junction: 450102 & 450109 (which I saw earlier in the evening heading for Alton, must have been caught behind a late running service as it crawled towards Clapham, which meant my first option for Croydon had already cleared off)
Clapham Junction – East Croydon: 377123 & 377475
East Croydon – Victoria: 387203 & 387226 (only previous 203 on a Thameslink core leap when they were first introduced, last red 387)
Victoria – Kings Cross St Pancras: 11085/11086
At Kings Cross I headed towards the hostel, which was the Keystone Hostel, it was reasonable other than the person in the bunk below me returned around half midnight, turned the light on and spent the next 15 minutes sorting out their suitcase. A hostel I would use again if I needed an early start from Kings Cross/Euston as it’s pretty much opposite the entrance to the former Kings Cross Thameslink station.
Overall, a good session for new members of the TMC, my luck with the 458s wasn’t the greatest but hopefully next time more will fall.
19th April
An early alarm call for me as I was booked on the 05:55 LNER service towards Grantham, which was hauled by 91130 with 82226 on the rear, 90029 was sat on the opposite platform mocking me with its redness. Anyhow a quiet train (outside coach F) and it kept good timing for the run to Grantham, where I made my way across to platform 3 for the next Skegness bound service. I was making use of the regular Friday timetable being used today by EMT in these parts as I was the only person to alight from 156404 at Rauceby (on a Saturday this service skips this station). I had a quick walk around the area near the station (nothing much to shout about) before 158863 arrived in (which must have been visited during the night by some youths who were trying to express their artist side with spray cans’ (in the words of someone who was trying to defend graffiti artists)).
The 158 took me one stop back towards Grantham to Ancaster where I made use of the delay to the next Skegness bound service to pop to the Co-Op for something to eat & drink (for it was already getting warm). A busy 156406 rolled in, I managed to get a seat for the 6 mile trip to Sleaford (where due to the delay the 156 had lost its path on the single track section towards Heckington), as I crossed over to platform 2 to escape from the probable madness of the Skegness services (I dread to think what the later services would have been like for crowding). 153326 & 153311 took me onwards to Lincoln, where after a short potter around the city centre it was onto 222022 working a Leicester stopper to Swinderby, returning to Lincoln on 156403, this was merely a time wasting “random platform scoring” move before the Doncaster train.
I’ve had 3 previous attempts at scoring platform 2 at Doncaster, the first time I got bowled out by a failed freight train between Sleaford & Lincoln, the 2nd time the unit went into platform 5, as it would have done on the 3rd attempt had I attempted to do it (instead my plans changed). I took a seat on 153319 which emptied out after Gainsborough (and featured a couple who were trying to use some Northern advances to travel to Leeds and decided they didn’t want to get off the train at Gainsborough to wait for the 158 half an hour later and paid out for open tickets!) Anyhow the train slowed down as it approached the Doncaster area, my fingers were crossed as I felt the unit take the crossover and the chord to join the ECML for the run to Doncaster station, terminating into platform 2. After a brief walk around the station it was back onto 153319 for the run to Gainsborough Lea Road for a 5 minute fester for 158907 to Lincoln. 153381 was sat in platform 1 and was due to work the next Grimsby Town service, which is what I took to Grimsby Town, giving me roughly an hour to locate the guest house*, get myself checked in, loss some weight from my bag and get back to the station for the Northern dogbox. (*I say guesthouse, but it was more a converted house to give private rooms, where you had to ring ahead to be met by the owner, it was around a 15 minute walk from the station and was quiet, a bed for the night is all that I wanted).
Back to Grimsby Town station, and it was onto 153316 for the tiny leap to Grimsby Docks, where I had a fast walk along the road to New Clee, flagging down the return of 153316 for the run to Stallingborough. As I was on a Lincolnshire day ranger, this doesn’t cover the branch towards Barton, only the stations on the ‘main-line’, so these moves weren’t necessary the best. An hour and 15 minutes later (time passed when reading a book sat on a decent bench in the shade), 153316 returned to take me a couple stops along the line to Great Coates, where the shelter smelt like someone used it in the last few days as a toilet. 30 minutes later the dogbox was back once again to take me to Healing (which back in June 16 I had a fight with the gates when using the level crossing and needed some healing). A quick walk to a nearby Fish & Chip shop which was quite busy and I ordered my dinner, returning to eat a lovely pizza in the shelter, they didn’t hold back on the toppings. Anyhow 153316 returned from Barton which took me back to Grimsby Town, where I turned down a late running 185 as it wasn’t of interest. Back towards the guest house for a well needed shower and relaxation.
20th April
There is a bit of a quirk with the timetable for the Barton line, it is 2-hourly throughout the day but with an additional service in the morning which is what I was planning to make use off. Today probably wasn’t the best way to use a Northern freebie day ticket but as this area isn’t really covered by any day rangers, and to save buying multiple tickets I felt it was worthwhile. Anyhow I checked out of the guest-house and walked to a foggy Grimsby Town station for the 06:08 Barton on Humber service which was formed of 185136. Local door only and there was only two others on board (who sounded like they were going to Hull after a good night out in Cleethorpes), and it certainly felt odd calling at the likes of Healing on a 185. Anyhow I alighted at Barrow Haven for a short fester as the 185 turned around at Barton. A place I want to revisit again as there is a walk along the river bank (maybe tied in for a bus across the bridge).
185136 returned, and it was empty with someone boarding at New Holland, I alighted at Goxhill, popping across to buy some breakfast, returning to the opposite platform for 153316 for the hop to New Hollland, the former freight line towards the New Holland Grain Terminal(?) clearly hasn’t seen use in years due to the rust and having some bushes growing between the tracks. Nothing around the station so to speak, so it was a brief fester for 153316 to return, which I stayed on all the way to Cleethorpes, remaining on board for the run back towards Thornton Abbey (I had planned for EMT to run a Saturday service on the Friday which meant a later arrival, since I did the 3 stations on the mainline yesterday I had a bit of spare time).
I took a short walk along the footpath to view Thornton Abbey itself, although it was closed until 10am so a view from the gate would have to do. Back to the station and the dogbox returned, and it was busy this time. Back to Cleethorpes where I popped to Sainsburys for a meal-deal for lunch to have later during my next station fester. The first Sheffield bound service was formed of 144008 as I was lucky enough to grab one of the bays, the train losing a few passengers at Grimsby for the Newark train, it was a good run towards Barnetby, taking the ‘middle’ route at the junction, pausing at Brigg where a good dozen or so boarded, and it looked like a couple boarded but I was the only one to alight at the single platform Kirton Lindsey. Someone sent me a picture on twitter of this station during the olden days when it was double track, and it is hard to see where the old platform used to be (some stations where the line has been singled you can see evidence of the remains of the former platform, but there wasn’t anything here. Anyhow I took a walk to the main-road and to a nearby Co-Op to purchase something cold, mainly as a time wasting move as I had around 80 minutes before the next Cleethorpes bound service.
The station itself has a nice bench which was thankfully in the shade, and it was a relaxing fester returning to my book, mostly quiet, worth mentioning that there is a 2-hourly bus service towards Scunthorpe which could probably be used. Anyhow next up was 144006 to bounce me the 6 and a bit miles to Brigg, a reasonable sized town centre with a good range of shops, and a nice place to wonder round for an hour and a bit before I returned to the station to take up a seat in the shelter to continue with my book. 144006 returned from Cleethorpes which I took to Gainsborough Central, the train lost some time along the way (all 3 trains did, I guess heat related speed restrictions) so I had roughly 80 minutes to walk to Lea Road. Funny how even though millions was spent on providing a large footbridge, pretty much everybody used the barrow crossing. The town centre is reasonable, as I took a walk along the river front making my slow way towards Lea Road, and with a short wait before 158907 arrived to take me to Retford, where due to when I booked this trip, this was the cheapest option.
The fester at Retford high level wasn’t nice, the sun was shining directly onto the platform so there was hardly any shade, standing out front wasn’t much fun (all the smokers), eventually I found a waiting room nearer the London end, when it was warm it was a seat in the shade. I was booked on a stopper from York which had 82207 leading and 91128 on the rear, I took my seat in coach F, and the train emptied out at Peterborough. Nothing of note on the way to London, as I did my usual route to Waterloo (11025/11026 to Oxford Circus, 3261/3556 to Waterloo), a linear hop to Clapham Junction on 707019 & 707016 pushed another 707 over the ten mile line, with a couple trains towards Woking turned down before 159005 & 159102 took me to Grateley on the 21:27 service. A quick wash down and it was pretty much straight to bed as I was tired after a busy couple days.
I would say Lincolnshire is now cleared, but I need two more EMT stations which I hope to revisit next month, but 65 stations remain, that number decreasing next weekend hopefully with a trip to Scotland
Sounded like an good weekend in Lincolnshire with fantastic weather to boot would you happen to know what services that call within the zones are operated by red 387's
Sounded like an good weekend in Lincolnshire with fantastic weather to boot would you happen to know what services that call within the zones are operated by red 387's
Monday to Fridays, mainly Brighton - Victoria services in the evenings. They tend to work to Brighton as Gatwick Express branded services calling at Gatwick then a selection of stations towards Brighton, split up with one unit going ECS to Gatwick to work shuttles with the front 2 units working back as a regular southern service.
I couldn’t quite make up my mind where I would focus on today, in the end I decided to focus on Liverpool Street as there was 4tph of C2C services but the loss of the 3tph to Southend. As is usual for my mileage hunting trips for members of the ten-mile club, I will do it as summary.
Grateley – Basingstoke: 159010 (where it terminated due to engineering works around Wimbledon)
Basingstoke – Reading: 166204 (to be honest I was expecting a 2-coach 165, needless to say the AC wasn’t working)
Reading – Paddington: 800301 (Nothing else due for 25 minutes so I cut my losses)
Paddington – Baker Street: 3266/3549
Baker Street – Liverpool Street: 21005/21006
Liverpool Street – Stratford: 345009
Stratford – Liverpool Street: 90014 (DVT 82133 on the rear, on 8.1 miles now)
Liverpool Street – Stratford: 357203/357011
Stratford – Forest Gate: 315848/315826
Forest Gate – Stratford: 345010
Stratford – Liverpool Street: 321436/321437 (although I was gambling on making a connection at Liverpool Street, but this went into the West Anglia side, before going ECS to the depot)
Liverpool Street – Stratford: 357019/357029
Stratford – Liverpool Street: 315859/315854 (positioning move)
Liverpool Street – Stratford: 321443/321303
Stratford – Liverpool Street: 345016
Liverpool Street – Stratford: 321432/321331
Stratford – Liverpool Street: 357208/357002
Liverpool Street – Stratford: 357002/357208
Stratford – Liverpool Street: 357039/357001 (a pair I missed earlier due to a delay, with that I think I’ve spotted the majority of the services on the Great Eastern side, so time to shift over to the West Anglia side, working out a plan as I had already spotted a couple 317s I needed)
Liverpool Street – Tottenham Hale: 317502/317513
Tottenham Hale – Ponders End: 317672/317510 (I was originally going to stay on to Brimsdown which would have pushed 672 over the line, but it was 4 minutes down so wouldn’t have made the connection back)
Ponders End – Liverpool Street: 317658/317657
Liverpool Street – Hackney Downs: 315814
Hackney Downs – Liverpool Street: 315807 (both time wasting moves)
Liverpool Street – Tottenham Hale: 379011/379026
Tottenham Hale – Enfield Lock: 317344
Enfield Lock – Tottenham Hale: 317342/317881
Tottenham Hale – Brimsdown: 317672/317510
Brimsdown – Tottenham Hale: 317658/317657 (that covers the 4 pairs on Hertford East services, which nothing else of interest spotted, so it was to the Victoria line, swinging via Kings Cross to see what was on an Ely semi-fast, which turned out to be a 700, so I carried on to St Pancras
St Pancras – East Croydon: 700147 (mainly for the phone charge!)
East Croydon – London Bridge: 700134
London Bridge – Baker Street: 96024/96063
Baker Street – Paddington: 3535/3241 (where a quick scan of the next few departures which would connect with a Basingstoke service picked nothing of interest)
Paddington – Reading: 800319 (making a cross platform negative connection onto)
Reading – Basingstoke: 221122 (where the plan was to grab something to eat, but due to lack of options it ended up being a KFC)
Basingstoke – Grateley: 159022
All in all, a productive bank holiday Monday with a few more units now into my ten-mile club. Anyhow have a picture of a level crossing at Enfield Lock
This weekend is another long weekend in Scotland, a Daytripper on Friday for mileage hunting before a weekly season ticket to the West Highlands, finished off with a trip back to London on Sunday night
Just a bit of a busy time this weekend then! Quite a productive little spin on Monday there, fair play. I don't have the patience to do mileage these days, so I tip my hat to you for having the determination to do so!
Just a bit of a busy time this weekend then! Quite a productive little spin on Monday there, fair play. I don't have the patience to do mileage these days, so I tip my hat to you for having the determination to do so!
I think I've beaten my record for longest delay at 3 hours and 25 minutes
But at least I was in a good seat
(And before anybody asks, no I didn't book the sleeper last night due to the rumours o the new stock, I was making use of the promotional season ticket compensation in Scotland and decided that LNER wanted too much money so booked on the sleeper to give myself a full day in Scotland
(And before anybody asks, no I didn't book the sleeper last night due to the rumours o the new stock, I was making use of the promotional season ticket compensation in Scotland and decided that LNER wanted too much money so booked on the sleeper to give myself a full day in Scotland
With the current additional compensation scheme Scotrail are running giving season ticket holders unlimited weekend travel across the Scotrail network, got my mind thinking about making use to revisit some more stations on the West Highland line, which turned into a long weekend due to LNER wanting £55+ for tickets from Edinburgh to London on the Sunday (compared to £45 for the sleeper), and management at work wanting everybody to take at least 4 days off during the quieter period of April.
I would head up to Edinburgh on the Thursday night sleeper, head across to Glasgow and have a general day of unit mileage hunting with a couple detours for lesser used platforms, staying overnight in Glasgow as my original plan had me departing on the 05:20 Oban service
Thursday
I finished work, headed home and was back out walking to the station (for I am an expert of getting everything packed the night before), deciding to go via Reading and once in London probably head across to South Eastern land out of Victoria before making my way towards Euston for the sleeper.
Grateley -> Basingstoke: 159008 & 159021
Basingstoke -> Reading: 166203
Reading -> Paddington: 802113 (my deckchair session only lasting ~ 20 minutes before this 802 arrived from Bristol I think, but another 802/1 in my book, 11 to go)
Paddington -> Oxford Circus: 3248/3565
Oxford Circus -> Brixton: 11037/11038
Brixton -> Victoria: 465006/465050
Victoria -> Bromley South: 377163 & 377514 (looks so odd seeing a Southern 377 this side of Victoria)
Bromley South -> Victoria: 377505 & 377510
Victoria -> Denmark Hill: 466041 & 465916
Denmark Hill -> Bickley: 700055 (the run to St Mary Cray would have pushed it into the TMC, however it would be a 20 minute wait before the next London bound service)
Bickley -> Orpington: 465050 & 465006 (another near 3-miles on a 465 which I had only previously had for a bus stop leap between Blackheath & Lewisham)
Orpington -> New Cross: 466021 & 465026 (nice nearly empty 466 as well)
New Cross -> London Bridge: 465161 & 465243
London Bridge -> West Hampstead Thameslink: 700012 (this was more of a phone charging move, something I shouldn’t need to worry about with the new sleeper stock)
West Hampstead Thameslink -> Farringdon: 700042
Farringdon -> Euston Square: 21325/21326, where I walked along the street, passing the large next taxi-rank, thinking to myself that changing at Kings Cross St Pancras is less of a walk.
The sleeper was boarding from platform 15, so after checking in (no free upgrades to a berth tonight), I walked to Watford High Street* to ID 90046 would be leading the sleeper to Carstairs, hence becoming my first class 90 over a thousand miles. Taking my seat in the busy Edinburgh seats (only 4 empty seats that I could see, and 2 of those were out of use due to someone being sick the previous night), usual variable temperatures but nothing out of the ordinary for the run to Carstairs.
(*OK not quite Watford High Street )
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26th April
Arrival into Carstairs was a few minutes early, but I couldn’t quite catch the loco which would be taking the Edinburgh portion onwards, as I went to the droplight to get some fresh air before returning to my seat for the run to Edinburgh, where after arrival I headed to see it was winner 90044 on the front, probably the last time getting a winner freightliner 90.
Anyhow, after a quick visit to Sainsburys for breakfast it was a quick visit to the TVM to pick up my weekly season ticket between Greenfaulds & Cumbernauld, and also a single to Croy, before heading out towards the 385s, striking it lucky straight away with 385118 & 385022 taken to Falkirk High, followed 15 minutes later with 385124 & 385004 to Croy where I had a 30 minute fester before the Daytripper scratch card became valid. My good luck continued with 385108 & 385027 taken into Queen Street, where I soon headed downstairs to begin my mileage hunt:
Queen Street -> Dumbarton East: 334003 & 334025 (003 was on ultra-low mileage for a leap between Hillfoot & Bearsden!)
Dumbarton East -> Dalmuir: 334007/334026
Dalmuir -> Hyndland: 318267 & 320305 (via Singer)
Hyndland -> Whifflet: 320412 (my original idea was to bail at Carmyle to attempt a tight +3, but it was running a minute or so behind)
Whifflet -> Motherwell: 318256/320301. I arrived in a scene of chaos with a TPE 350 stopped at the southern end of the main platform, for it to empty out and run towards a loop outside the station with a fault pan head. This caused a random move to Carstairs to be binned, delays on the Lanarks continued for most of the day
Motherwell -> Glasgow Central: 318270 & 320415 (lunchtime)
Glasgow Central -> Bellshill: 156433 (a 156 which I had only previously had on a Haymarket leap, almost tempted for a run to Shotts on 385018 to clear it for 10 miles, but the connection was a tad rubbish. Sadly my plan move to Lanark P2 got bowled out as the unit would be running fast to Motherwell.
Bellshill -> Glasgow Central: 158720
Glasgow Central -> Motherwell: 380109
Motherwell -> Lanark: 320306 & 320417
Lanark -> Shieldmuir: 320417 & 320306 (random platform score)
Shieldmuir -> Lanark: 320413 (into the lesser used platform 2)
Lanark -> Cambuslang: 320413
Cambuslang -> Rutherglen: 318250 & 320416
Rutherglen -> Cambuslang: 320318 & 320308
Cambuslang -> Larkhall: 318259 & 320321, using the lesser used platform 1, having been bowled out a couple times last year
Larkhall -> Hamilton Central: 320321 & 318259
Hamilton Central -> Hamilton West: 318263 & 320302
Hamilton West -> Hamilton Central: 334023 (purely as a time wasting move)
Hamilton Central -> Bridgeton: 320313 & 320310 (random platform score)
Bridgeton -> Glasgow Central: 318265
Glasgow Central (High Level) -> Newton: 385018 (a very odd experience with a 385 on the Newton circle, but clears a slight annoyance with my only 385 not in my TMC from February)
Newton -> Exhibition Centre: 320412
Exhibition Centre -> Rutherglen: 318250 & 320416 (claw back from earlier)
Rutherglen -> Hyndland: 320307 & 318252
Hyndland -> Glasgow Central: 320311
After leaving the 320, I headed towards the Euro Hostel to check in for the evening, this time going via their website directly for a single bed room (which for £18 a night was cheap), the room was very basis (which shared bathroom), however I complained that the plug socket was broken (looked like someone in the past had tried to fork a foreign plug into it), and got upgraded for that night to a room on the 7th floor (the more usual room with private bathroom & bunk bed).
Popping out to the nearby Tesco for a supply raid for the Saturday morning, before heading back towards Glasgow Central to intercept a 156 I saw earlier. Low mileage 156434 took me to Pollokshaws West (probably could have easily been a pair of 156s on this late night East Kilbride service), with 156506 taken back to Glasgow Central. A random idea of heading back out to Polloshaws on the next East Kilbride to intercept the return of 434 was binned because I needed to get some kip.
A very productive day for mileage needs, lady luck was on my side. Anyhow some pictures. As for terminal platforms, I believe I need P2 at Gourock [seems to be a couple services in the evenings which use it, but I can't remember much as the only time I visited was back in May 2014 where it was a short connection between services] & P1 at Wemyss Bay [seems to be the 11:57 Glasgow - Wemyss & 20:36 Glasgow - Wemyss which use it]
It was an early start and a gentle potter across the city to reach Queen Street for the first Oban train of the day, which was formed of 156500 (and for an extra bonus a 156 needed for mileage). I took my seat and relaxed using the WiFi to catch up with emails and stuff until dawn broke. I alighted from the 156 at Ardlui, as the staff changed trains to an inbound Glasgow service. 30 minutes (or so) I flagged down the sleeper, getting moaned at by the guard that I didn’t have a reservation, but he never came back for the cash for the fare (nor for a few others who boarded along the way). Anyhow it was 73969 leading which was required for haulage (only previously had it during the days of “Shed & ED” where a 66 did the hauling with the 73 providing power to the coaches).
A beautiful trip along the West Highlands as I alighted at Rannoch, crossing over to the opposite platform to wait for 156474 to arrive from Mallaig to take me back towards Upper Tyndrum. A walk in the rain followed taking me down the steep hill, and attempting to cross the busy road, before heading back up hill passing some sort of event to reach Tyndrum Lower. The reverse of a walk I did back in December 2016, at least it was light this time. 156500 returned from Oban to take me to Crianlarich, to board a reasonably busy 156492 & 156458 for the trip across the wilds of the moors to Roy Bridge for a rough 20-minute wait before 156446 & 156493 rolled in from Mallaig to take me back across the moors to a very wet Crianlarich, where it was time for me to pop down to a local Londis to grab some food, returning to the dry of the station for the next Oban service which was formed of 156500 again.
On the way towards Oban, the rain appeared to clear up and when I alighted at the seasonal Falls of Cruachan station I decided to take a gamble to walk the 3 miles back towards Loch Awe, which proved to be a good decision as the sun came out, allowing me to walk over the footbridge at Loch Awe station to reach a little loading stage to take a couple pictures of the loch, before heading to the station taking a little seat for the short time before 156500 returned from Oban, to clear the Oban branch, plus the West Highland line to Fort William, leaving a handful of stations on the Mallaig side. I alighted from the 156 at Dumbarton Central, and made a mistake in not walking across to platform 3 (or even catching the next train to Dumbarton East) as a low mileage 320 popped up on a Balloch bound service, which would only work one more trip towards Airdrie before going ECS to Bathgate depot.
Dumbarton Central -> Dalmuir: 318263
Dalmuir -> Bellgrove: 320312 (last 320/3 for membership of the TMC, the one I should have boarded at Dumbarton)
Bellgrove -> Coatbridge Sunnyside: 320404 & 320417 (my original plan was to take it to Airdrie, but the next service back was showing as cancelled, and I didn’t fancy the +2 at Coatdyke, it’s on 9 miles now which is better than an Anderston – Glasgow Central leap it was previously on)
Coatbridge Sunnyside -> Partick: 334033 & 334020
Partick -> Garscadden: 320306 (positioning move, spotting another low mileage 318 going the opposite way which caused me to change my plan)
Garscadden -> Queen Street: 318268, a very fast walk followed from Queen Street to Central, made harder with having to use manual gates, but I made it within 8 minutes.
Glasgow Central -> Hamilton Central: 318250 & 320416
Hamilton Central -> Newton: 318264 (that 318 I saw at Garscadden)
Newton -> Hamilton Central: 334037
Hamilton Central -> Rutherglen: 320316 & 318266
Rutherglen -> Glasgow Central: 334037 (the last northbound service of the day).
I was quite pleased as after managing to intercept 264 meant I only now need one more 318 for mileage, with the bonus of another 334. After a busy day it was back to the hostel for a good sleep. Still a bit gutted that I didn’t bail from 263 at Dumbarton East as it would have meant 320404 gaining membership of the club, but hey ho, at least it should be easier to push over the line (with a Partick -> Glasgow Queen Street/Central leap)
I didn't know that any passenger services went into P2 at Lanark (I've only ever seen test trains use it) but having just looked at RTT, I see there are a couple which use it for no apparent reason (keep the rust off ?). I have occasionally seen rush hour strengthener units stabled on P1; which you might have thought would be an excellent use for P2 rather than have people do a mega trek down the platform all day to get on a train - but there you go, no reason to use logic.
Well done, on all your successes - but your going to be needing a few visits for those 385s, there's alot of them around now.
After a so-so night in the hostel (the heating was on but I couldn’t see any way to turn it down or even off as it was a warm night), but it was time to get out and about, sadly running a few minutes late so my original plan of a quick spin to Bellshill via Kings Park went into the bin. The main idea of today was to revisit Stranraer, somewhere I haven’t been to since May 2014 when I did Scotland for route coverage, briefly returning to that line in December 2016 for the intermediate stations.
Anyhow, with breakfast in hand I had roughly an hour or so to kill, so I decided to randomly take a look at a pair of 156s heading towards East Kilbride, just on the off-chance 156434 was still floating around, or even 156509. Lady luck was certainly shining as 156509 was leading 156511 which I took for a quick spin to Giffnock, returning to Pollokshaws West on 156507 & 156501 to step back to see what unit was coming up from Kilmarnock (and to ID the 3rd pair of units on East Kilbride services). A large smile appeared as 434 was leading the 3rd pair. A job for later, as sadly the connection at Glasgow Central was a bit on the tight side (and the run to Giffnock wouldn’t quite be enough). 156432 returned me to Glasgow Central where I made use of some time to grab lunch from Boots before heading over towards the Ayr train which is where I had my only real issue with my season ticket “you are a long way from Cumbernauld” said the gateline staff before I mentioned the compensation offer “I had forgotten about that”. I took a seat on 380102 for the nice run to Ayr, arriving in platform 1, the first time I’ve been to Ayr since the issues with the hotel reducing the length of the bays.
Across the temporary walkway to platform 3 and onto 156431 (quick pleased it was a refurbished unit), which was lightly loaded for the run towards Stranraer, a very beautiful and underrated line, but it must be a lonely job being in the Glenwhilly Signal Box as unlike the other signal box, that one looked quite remote. The 156 arrived into Stranraer where I wasn’t alone in making use of the station toilets when station staff topped up the 156’s megabog with water. The station itself is a sad sight, disused middle lines (which are rusty as anything) with a disused 2nd platform, it could probably do with being relocated a couple hundred metres towards the town centre, seeing as the old ferry terminal is long gone.
I changed ends for the run back to Ayr, and across to platform 1 where low mileage 380108 was waiting for me, as it took me back to Glasgow Central, as I managed to ID the next service to Ayr, smiling as it was my last 380/1 for mileage, a plan was formed, it would be a tight connection at Glasgow Central but I could pull it off. Once into Glasgow Central it was a quick walk across to the East Kilbride train formed of 156434 leading 156437 for the run back to Giffnock, changing over to the opposite platform for 156511 & 156509 to make their second appearance in my logs of the day. Somehow all the Scottish 156s were now in the TMC which is something I wasn’t expecting to see on this trip. I was at the front of 511 ready for a tight connection via the manual gates at Glasgow Central to jump onto 380116, noting a low mileage 380/0 on the blocks to form a Largs train. My last 380/1 for membership of the TMC was taken to Johnstone, returning to Glasgow Central on 380109, changing onto 380019 for a classical Paisley Gilmour Street leap.
Sadly no 314s buzzing around at the time (I think there was one on a Wembys Bay service earlier, plus one on a Motherwell semi-fast which sadly went to the depot as that would have been a fun run), and with news that my last 318 & 320s weren’t out, once 380102 took me back into Glasgow Central, I decided on another fast walk to Glasgow Queen Street. 8 minutes later I was at the gateline at Queen Street, and straight away noticed a low mileage 170 on an Alloa stopper, so onwards to Croy on 170450 leading 170434. My luck had run out with the 385s with 385106/385010 taken to Falkirk High, returning to Croy on 385012/385114, back to Falkirk High on 385003/385104 but finally getting lucky with winner 385045 & 385110 which I took back to Queen Street, noting the other unit on Alloa stoppers was a required 385. After grabbing some dinner I returned to Queen Street for some déjà-vu with 170450 & 170434 taken to Croy (this time sitting in 450), with a short wait before 385116 was ticked off with the run back to Queen Street.
A quick time wasting move to Bellgrove and back was had with 334001 & 334030, before 385114 & 385012 was taken to Haymarket for 170403 to take me to Inverkeithing and a 30-odd minute fester, earlier at Queen Street I noted a low mileage 170 heading towards Dundee where it would form an Edinburgh service, which was too good to turn down. At Inverkeithing I saw 170420 (I wonder who needs that ) and a HST (Yes I turned down a HST for a 170!), before 170419 rolled in from Dundee to take me to Edinburgh for the first time today. It was now around 22:40 so time to call it a night and head across to platform 7 where the sleeper was meant to be boarding (having noticed the part from Glasgow running around 20 minutes late due to a late start from Glasgow and getting stuck behind a stopper)...
Due to large signalling issues the ECS was still between Carstairs & Kirknewton, and eventually rolled in a couple hours late with 92014 on the head of the new shiny Mk5 coaches, ooo shiny. After a quick few photos of the new seated layout we were told that check-in was ready and we were allowed to board. A brief review of the Mk5s
As I posted in the Mk5 discussion thread I was impressed, although there was a few little faults, the megabog talked loudly that the door was opening and closing & the lights above the windows were a bit bright (thankfully those lights were turned off after departure). The seats have good legroom, and where the fixed armrest by the window is annoying, it is needed as there isn’t any ledge, instead the vents for the AC are there. Personally I would avoid seat 7A in the future as it has vents at feet-level which pushes out cold air. The USB sockets & power sockets are useful, however I felt like the back of the seats could have done with some nets added to allow someone to charge their phone and have it placed without needing the table folded down.
The safes are a good idea; however in practice I suspect few passengers will actually use it (good place to store glasses and the “emergency information” cards, and that is where the little packs of eye-mask/earplugs were located. Overall the seats are firm, but reasonable to sleep in, the nice feature of having folding wings at the top allowed me to support my head.
Anyhow the Glasgow portion eventually arrived, eventually the two halves met but there was a delay (someone mentioned the line being blocked around Berwick), eventually the sleeper got going along the ECML, with the usual route via Camden to reach Wembley where 92023 was quickly put on the rear to haul the sleeper into Euston, arriving around 10:27, so nearly 3 and a half hour late. Not the best starts of the new stock, but hey-ho, at least I should get my £45 back.
29th April – London
My original plan to try and get some 319 based noise was binned, so my first job was to grab brunch before making my way across to Victoria, the idea was to spend a few hours in Southern land due to the fact that they don’t split services for off-peak services (so 455+455s & 10 coach 377s). It was a case of seeing what popped up, how far I needed to go and what else popped up.
Euston -> Victoia: 11047/11048
Victoria -> Gipsy Hill: 377406/377310/377314 (a good start with a triple low mileage 377)
Gipsy Hill -> Tulse Hill: 455814 & 455803
Tulse Hill -> Blackfriars: 700007
Blackfriars -> East Croydon: 700145
East Croydon -> Kenley: 455806 & 455830
Kenley -> Purley: 455822 & 455810 (annoyingly I didn’t have 822 down as being low mileage on my google keep list, but it was ultra low mileage)
Purley -> Honor Oak Park: 455829 & 455837
Honor Oak Park -> Surrey Quays: 378135
Surrey Quays -> Queens Road Peckham: 378144
Queens Road Peckham -> London Bridge: 455835 & 455809
London Bridge -> Norwood Junction: 377311/377322/377102 (I needed a PNB)
Norwood Junction -> West Croydon: 377313/377304/377438 (where someone tried to steal my ‘overflow’ bag (nothing major inside other than a bottle of water, my coat & some biscuits)
West Croydon -> Streatham Common: 455825 & 455820
Streatham Common -> Carshalton Beeches: 455840 & 455828
Carshalton Beeches -> Wallington: 377613/377608
Wallington -> Sutton: 377611/377616 (which is my final 377/6 for membership of the TMC!, my plan to head to Cheam was thrown in the bin due to a delay of an Epsom bound service)
Sutton -> Norwood Junction: 377306/377305/377118 (leaving 305 on 9.5 miles, hence why I had wanted to go to Cheam)
Norwood Junction -> Anerley: 378137
Anerley -> Norwood Junction: 378141 (time wasting move)
Norwood Junction -> Wallington: 455831 & 455841 (skipped Waddon)
Wallington -> Ewell East: 377342, 377324, 377429 (where I crossed over to the opposite platform to wait 10 minutes for that triple to return from Epsom)
Ewell East -> Carshalton Beeches: 377429/377324/377342 (I was originally going to bail at Sutton, however the next move was running late)
Carshalton Beeches -> Sutton: 377118/377305/377306 (claw back from earlier)
Sutton -> Tooting: 455826/455816 (I was going to stay on to Streatham to see what was following from Selhurst, but lost time outside Wimbledon, first time for me on a 455 from Sutton to Wimbledon
Tooting -> Herne Hill: 700042
Herne Hill -> Blackfriars: 465185 & 466015 (one of the fast services from Beckenham Junction, the 466 was empty)
Blackfriars -> Embankment: 21383/21384
Embankment -> Waterloo: 51635/51636.
And once at Waterloo, I had my usual scan of the platforms to see if I could get any 444s or 450s on linear hops to Woking or Basingstoke, but nothing popped out, so it was onto the 19:20 formed of 158886, 159021 & 159104 to take me home to Grateley, followed by a slow potter home.
Overall, my little London session went alright, 8 more green 455s in the TMC with mileage boosts for 4 more. 10 more 377s with a few other units now over the line, I think my next trip will feature South Eastern.
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This coming bank holiday weekend will probably be mileage hunting in London on the Saturday, probably a lazy day on the Sunday with a Thames Valley Branches for the Monday for 802 hunting
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April in figures
5240 miles covered
7 new units scored (5x 385, 1x 800, 1x 802)
1 new loco (90)
43 stations revisited (60 to go )
Another Scottish long weekend will feature in May (385 hunting mainly), a trip to the East Midlands to hopefully clear my last 4 EMT stations, a 2-day trip to Yorkshire to clear some odds & sods in that area (need to make a start with the Knottingley - Goole line at some point)
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