The Various Random Mutterings of Kite

[alexf380]

It was pure blastin' doon earlier on, eh Kite?

I look forward to hearing how you got on in my neck of the woods!

 

[Kite159]

It was pure blastin' doon earlier on, eh Kite?

I look forward to hearing how you got on in my neck of the woods!

It was beautiful.

Currently heading away behind 43054
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
15th January – Oink!

The idea of today was to try and locate my last 2 442s before they disappear from the Gatwick Express duties, I had got some information at which services they were meant to be on, the good news is that both could be done within the zones, the bad news is that it would have involved a 20 minute connection from London Bridge to London Victoria at peak time (I’m guessing the quickest method would have been a SET to Cannon Street before a Circle/District line service to Victoria).

So for the first time of the year I walked to my local station to catch the 14:59 service, formed this afternoon of 159001 & 159016 which I took to Basingstoke before changing over to a semi-busy 444029 (I managed to get a table seat next to someone who wasn’t happy about having to move their bag, and I suspected wanted to get off at Woking as he got up and to stand by the door around Brookwood, however we sped through Woking as this service only calls at Clapham between Basingstoke & Waterloo, oops). Anyhow into the platform 7 loop at Clapham where I worked out I had around 5 options to get to Victoria to eyeball to confirm the service which would form the 18:30 ‘stopper’ to Brighton.

No sign of my last 10 (green) 377s or last 2 (green) 455s, and annoyingly a pair of dud 377s blocked the platform as the pair of 442s rushed passed, so it was onto dud 455832 for the trip to Victoria. The pair was spotted, and it wasn’t the one I was after, it had been a set swap and 419 wasn’t working that service but a Brighton service departing later on, but would be coming back from Gatwick to Victoria later. When I was on the “main-line” side, I spotted a “17” as the front unit of a pair of 6s (running joke as 4 of my last 10 Southern 377s are 377X17 as I need 117, 317, 417 & 617), so it was a quick dash over to the suburban platform to jump onto my last 377/6, 377617 attached with dud 377625 to Clapham Junction (as it was running the service which would then run fast to Sutton).

At Clapham, a quick check of RTT suggested I had 4 options to get to East Croydon in time to meet the inbound working of the 442 operated Brighton – London Bridge service which then would form the Eastbourne service (and then wouldn’t be seen again until Monday morning), first 2 were duds and keeping an eye on RTT suggested that the service which would form the 4th hadn’t even arrived by the time the 3rd service rolled in, I jumped onto a trio of busy (for it was peak time) dud 377413/377140/377467 for the nice run down to East Croydon.

A simple cross over from the P3/4 island to the P1/2 island, and as expected it was busy, but there was an absolute idiot who decided to ride his bike up the busy ramp, across the concourse and down the busy ramp to P1/2 (and into the waiting arms of a police officer who wanted a word with that prat) seriously riding a bike up/down those ramps at quiet times is an idiotic thing to do, but at peak time when the platforms are busy is at another level of being an idiot who deserves to spend a night in the cells for careless cycling. Anyhow mini rant over, and the London Bridge service came on the screens, formed of 10 coaches which is always a good sign, and in rolled dud 442424 with winner 442403 on the rear to take me to London Bridge.

Felt a bit strange rolling into London Bridge on a pair of 442s, but using the time well I worked out a plan to try and link in with 419 at Gatwick (which would be there around 20:15), my plan coming together to grab the 19:12 (or 19:14) Thameslink Brighton service to East Croydon, and then a Thameslink Gatwick terminator which would give me a +9 and be unusual in calling at Redhill, and in case that was running late I had another couple options to get to Gatwick in time, but in the meanwhile I had an hour or so to kill, so after checking if anything required was on the low-level platforms, it was to the high level platforms, via the TVMs but as they are South Eastern branded they won’t do BZ6 tickets, so a job for East Croydon later (as I didn’t fancy queuing up for the 10+ minutes at the ticket office). To platform 3 and the first service was a trio of 375s heading empty stock into Cannon Street (where I noted a required 375/9 was at the rear). Next up was winner 466009 leading duds 465173 & 465179, so it was to the slowest 56 chain journey over the river and into Cannon Street.

A quick jump across platforms and onto required 375908 leading duds 375911 & 375623 for the short trip back to London Bridge, with another repeat over to platform 3 and onto dud 376022 leading winner 376025 back to Cannon Street, with a brief break as the next departure which was required was another trio of 375s in 10 minutes, so it was onto dud 375817, 375918 & winner 375828 for another short hop to London Bridge, and a fast walk to the low level platforms to jump onto duds 377150 & 377469 working a Thameslink branded service to Brighton. Nice run to East Croydon, where I picked up my BZ6 – Gatwick ticket with no issue and headed back to platform 3, the Thameslink service to Gatwick was running a couple minutes late, so noting a rare combo of a trio of Southern 377/2s waiting as empty stock to the depot on platform 5, and a couple duds heading south before a pair of 387s rolled up. Leading was dud 387116 with required 387129 behind, so happy days another 387 into the book.

As expected for a Gatwick terminator, it was quite empty, emptied out a bit at Redhill, but I think I was the only person in the 2nd coach of 129 to enable a good interchange to platform 3/4 island to await for the Gatwick Express, the platform was quite busy with suitcases, so I positioned myself down towards the end of the platform, and spotted a pair of 442s, leading was dud 442423 with my final pig 442419 on the rear. Grabbing a seat in the motor coach and it was empty and there was still a massive crowd on the platform with suitcases, awaiting the regular Southern service which was a few minutes behind the Gatwick Express, not wanting to pay the ‘tax’ for the so called ‘premium’ service.

Anyhow my mission was complete, another class cleared before they start getting removed from service for the ‘luxury’ of a 387/2, no more airport leaps for a while, and into Victoria it was onto the first thing out of there, on a pair of 442s (~ 20:50 Brighton) to Clapham Junction, a lot busier was 442418 & 442405 to Clapham, where I went over to platform 9 to await the 21:27 departure to Yeovil Junction, nothing required stopped heading towards Woking, so it was onto 159004 & 158886 for the nice trip home. 158886 being my lowest mileage SWT 158 so the extra 68 miles (and 55 chains) more than tripled its previous total of around 18 miles, quite busy with Woking folk getting a fast back to that dreadful place but a nice relaxing trip afterwards.

A good evening with 8 new units into the book

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16th January – To the Borders

The main idea of today was for a nice relaxing weekend in Edinburgh to do the Borders line, at first I was thinking of doing a Central Scotland Rover, but decided against it as it wouldn’t be that cost effective for the time I would have in Scotland (really needs a good couple days), and with the cheap East Kilbride – Tweedbank tickets I decided to focus on getting those shacks down on the new Borders Line and also for track coverage.

Booking myself on via the East Coast as it was diverted via Sunderland, so the chance to get a PSUL move in at the same time with the curves from the Durham Coast line towards the King Edward Bridge to carry on towards Scotland without a reversal at Newcastle as well, booked onto the 08:00 departure which meant a return to the 05:27 departure to Waterloo, first time since the end of October for a nice early morning walk to the station, and after an unknown diverted Voyager roared passed, 159103 rolled in. My only 159 sub of 500 miles, so the nice run to Clapham takes it nearer to 500 miles, where I alighted crossing over. As it was rather freezing standing on platform 10, I decided to jump on the first thing heading into Waterloo, this was duds 455902 & 455903, where I quickly made my way across to Waterloo East to see if I could get lucky with a South Eastern service for a 61 chain leap to Charing Cross.

Straight away I was in luck as in rolled 376010 attached with dud 376001 to take me across the water to Charing Cross, and instead of following the signs to the underground I exited the station, crossed over the road and headed to a nearby Co-Op for a bite to eat for breakfast before going down some steps to reach the Bakerloo line, next service was due in 3 minutes so I decided to make a chance and jump on the Piccadilly line, so it to Piccadilly Circus on required 3549 & 3263, and heading to the Piccadilly line platforms as 145 & 214 rolled in to take me to a required shack in the shape of Arsenal. I crossed over to the other platform and a serviced formed of winners 178 & 195 took me to Kings Cross St Pancras, still with 25 minutes to kill, reduced to 22 by the time I come out of the underground system (not used to the Piccadilly line at Kings Cross).

I fired RTT up to see which platform the 08:00 would depart for (although with only one Virgin HST set in the station gave a big clue), being led by dud power-car 43314 with required 43308 on the back, I was in a good seat, right hand side in the direction of travel, a shame the power sockets were not working, the seat in front was reserved from Kings Cross to York, and then York to Edinburgh, and it was empty on departure of a train with a few football fans (a London team playing away to Newcastle). Nice enough non-stop run to York, and then afterwards coming off the main-line after Northallerton to go via Sunderland, which is a painfully slow route at times. Nice to look out of the window to see the snow and have a nice non-stop run around the coast but it did get a bit boring after a while, especially once passed Sunderland. Eventually we peeled over to the left and with a right turn onto the King Edward Bridge, so a couple new pieces of track scored (having done the reverse curves on a Scot Rail 156 and a Northern 142), train emptied out at Newcastle and it carried on for a nice non-stop run to Edinburgh Waverley arriving pretty much on time.

Job one was to get lunch and job two was to catch a bus towards Leith to get checked in to my guest house, the first was carried out via the Sainsburys local on the main steps out of the station towards Princes Street and to a bus stop for a route 25 double decker, Lothian Bus 907 to Leith, very close to the guest house I stayed in last time I was in this area in March 14 (opposite the park). Checked in and dropped stuff from my bag and I was back out on the street within 10 minutes for bus 916 to take me back to the station. Arriving a tad earlier than I had planned which allowed me to catch the 14:26 service to Tweedbank, formed of a pair of 158s, dud 158786 & 158740, as this called at Stow on the way down I was going to stay on to the end of the line to get the hourly Stow out of the way, however when we rolled into Shawfair I noticed the screen on the other side said the next northbound service was a couple minutes late, so I bailed at the crossover station.

Over the footbridge and to the other platform with time in hand as dud 158733 rolled in to take me back towards Edinburgh and back under the wires at Brunstane, one of the stations which has overhead wiring but sees no EMU service (I’m assuming the OHLE is there for a diversion route or the depot which is in that area?). Anyhow a basic side platform, with a nice orchard across the road, 15 minutes later required 158715 rolled in with dud 158736 on the rear, so making use of the 1st class area on the Inverness based 715 I gave my iPod a quick charge on route to Gorebridge, the last station before the long run south, so it wasn’t long before dud 158867 rolled in to take me to Eskbank with another brief fester.

158733 had returned from Edinburgh to take me all the way down south to Tweedbank, and it is a lovely line covered in snow, basic station at Tweedbank before changing ends of 158733 to head back up to Stow, on a double track section of the line where the trains are timetabled roughly to pass, and sees an hourly service, so it was an half hour wait in the snow (for it had started to snow) for 158867 to roll back in to take me to Galashiels. After a quick look around, being careful of the snow before heading back to the platform for 158867 to reappear (although the last time I had 867 prior to today was in May 14 when I had it from Motherwell to Cumbernauld before the EMUs took over), it was a nice run in the snow to my final shack on the Borders line at Newtongrange, with a quick visit to the nearby Co-Op for a supply raid.

158870 & 158733 rolled in to take me to Gorebridge, before 158734 appeared to take me back to Edinburgh Waverley itself, I had a couple options for a quick shack attack making use of my East Kilbride tickets, but with the weather being snowy I decided to stick to the city (a real shame there isn’t a one-day “Transport for Edinburgh” ticket which covers the stations within the city limits as well as buses & trams). Anyhow to the west facing bay platforms and the 2nd departure was required 158708 so to Haymarket, with a brief cross platform change to jump onto winner 170430 back for a quick change onto 156433 which was working a Glasgow Central via Shotts service, another 156 into the bag. A brief break with a couple duds before 170410 rolled up (it seems Glasgow Queen Street – Edinburgh services are ‘set-down’ only at Haymarket, is that so they don’t have to hang around for departure time if they are running early?). Back to Waverley where I didn’t have that long to wait before my first double 170 of the evening, dud 170403 leading winner 170420, and it was another fast turnaround at Haymarket to bag my last Scotrail 170/3 in the shape of 170394.

I think there must have been a break in departures as my next move was on dud 220007 back to Haymarket, with was a good move as 170457 soon fell, shortly followed by a pair of winners, 170453 & 170425 to Haymarket, which was shortly followed by required 170477 to Edinburgh Park, not the nicest of stations to get across platforms in a hurry as you need to exit via ticket barriers to change platforms (which I guess allows the bridge to be used by the public). It was either going to be a service back to Haymarket or a trip on the trams, but the trams weren’t needed as I jumped onto winner 158730 to Haymarket, confusing the guard with my Neilston – Tweedbank ticket. My wait at Haymarket wasn’t for long before another required 158 rolled up, 158720 to take me to Waverley for the last time of the night.

I had noted 730 had been joined by 732 which was required, but the next Queen Street service had a required 170 on the back, so it was back to Haymarket on dud 170395 leading winner 170428 staying on the same platform for 158732 attached with dud 158730 to Edinburgh Park, where I exited the station to cross over to the Edinburgh Park stop on the trams. I’ve only previously had 2 out of the 27 trams, so the chance of a winner was quite good, as tram 263 rolled in to take me to Murrayfield Stadium with tram 270 back one stop to Balgreen with a fast crossing of the tracks to jump onto 276 to West End Princes Stret where I had a fast walk to the bus stop to catch bus 50 working a route 12 working, which dropped me off across the park at Leith, so it was a walk across Claremont park in the snow to reach my guesthouse for the night.

Anyhow Sunday will appear hopefully tomorrow, although apart from clearing the remaining Edinburgh Tram stops it was a red pen day going back and forward between Haymarket & Edinburgh

 

[Techniquest]

Another two excellent reads, ridiculously good for the books. I dread to think what your January mileage is going to be, far better than mine of course.

I do get a feeling you'll finish filling your books by the end of the year

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Congratulations on getting those pigs out of the way - one less class to worry about when you're in The Smoke now. Thankfully, in some ways, you did not have to do the London Bridge to Victoria leap as 20 minutes is very tight. The quickest way would probably have been Jubilee to Westminster and Circus/Destruct lines forward to Victoria. Doable but you would probably need to be lucky.

The Epic shack scratching seems to continue unabated - soon it's surely only going to be the Far North, West Highland and Cambrian lines left at the rate you're going!

 

[FQ]

Two excellent reads and as Tech said, both really did fill your book up! And they would have filled mine up too if I was there. Even the run from Kings Cross to Edinburgh

43308 will be mine soon!

 

[jayalongtheway]

Thanks for posting Kite, look forward to the next instalment.

 

[Kite159]

17th January – Edinburgh Weekend Part 2

A nice sleep in the guest house and I was out and about around 8:00 in the morning, walking to a nearby bus-stop for a route 34 bus, a double decker 565, and confusing the driver for my request for an Airport Day Ticket and wanting to pay with a note (as who has £9 in change?), my main task today was to clear the tram stops and coverage into the Airport itself so paying the airport tax. Anyhow it wasn’t long before I got off the bus outside Waverley station, and having just missed a tram headed to grab some breakfast from Sainsburys before heading to the St Andrews Square tram stop.

First up was winner tram 253 to take me to Bankhead with a fast turnaround at the platform saw me onto required 261 back one stop to Saughton. 10 minute break between trams (as they only operate every 12-15 minutes on Sundays), before dud 258 appeared to take me to the Gyle Centre stop opposite a large Morrisons, but it what another fast turnaround to get tram 265 into my book for another single leap back to Edinburgh Park Central as I passed the time watching a man in high viz inspecting the overhead wiring with a pair of binoculars, before tram 251 popped up to take me pass the depot and the site of the future Edinburgh Gateway station/tram-stop, and to Edinburgh Airport.

A quick crossing of the platforms to reboard 258 to my final stop at Gogarburn, which is in the middle of nowhere and only appears to serve the RBS headquarters. Tram 261 had returned to take me back to the Airport with required 268 back towards Haymarket, a productive couple hours, and every tram had a ticket check, 261 was well loaded heading to the airport full of people heading home/away. Anyhow I had RTT fired up ready to check movements into Waverley, with a brief 6 minute break before the first service of the day rolled up, the PIS had down “formed of 6 coaches” so I was expecting a pair of 170s, but in rolled required 158729 attached with duds 158732 & 158782 for the 1 mile 19 chain leap to Edinburgh. A quick platform change saw me grabbing 170474 back out to Haymarket, but with a good 20 minute gap before the next Edinburgh bound service, so I went out to the tram-stop.

Required tram 273 rolled in to take me to the island platform at West End Princes Street, where I noticed the day before a little Sainsburys Local which served me with lunch, before tram 276 taking me back to St Andrews Square, for a short walk back to Edinburgh to grab 170470 heading out to Haymarket, but with a required 158 spotted at Edinburgh which would be departing 10 or so minutes later it was back to Edinburgh on duds 170428 & 170395, to grab dud 170475 leading required 158741 back to Haymarket.

Next up was my first 334 of the weekend, with winner334033 to Edinburgh closely followed by required 170451 and dud 170420 back out to Haymarket, with a HST from Inverness due in 15 minutes I wasn’t going to do another hop, just in case any of my required power cars tipped up (after the first HST was dud), however when dud 158870 rolled in with required 158703 on the rear, I had the grab the Inverness based 158 to Edinburgh, with a fast walk as it stopped in the far end of platform 1 to platform 9 to jump on 220022 for the short trip to Haymarket. The HST was already in the platform, so I jumped on, with dud 43310 leading, and once at Edinburgh walked back to find winner 43367 on the back.

Brief break between required services, before winner 158710 joined the other 158s into my book attached with dud 170461, where I spotted a required 158 which had been sitting around most of the morning getting ready to form a Glasgow Central stopper departing in the next 45 minutes, however it clashed with an unknown HST bound for Dundee from Kings Cross, so I had to make a decision for later. But back to Haymarket, faced with a gap I jumped onto duds 170428 & 170395 (for the 2nd time of the day), before 334028 took me back to Haymarket to meet with another HST from Dundee (line towards Aberdeen was closed).

Across to platform 1 and in rolled required 43296 with dud 43299 on the rear, so another power-car into the book, with the potential of a pair of EMT power-cars for later as I had spotted the EMT hire-in set at Edinburgh earlier, and with the last 3 London bound departures being from the north and the next service from London heading to the north, the odds were that I would be going home in the EMT hire-in set. Anyhow, I had to make a decision, I decided to ditch the 158 and head to see what power-cars were on the Dundee bound service. Sadly it wasn’t worth it as both were dud, so I started to think about my finishing move, and with knowing that a required 170 would be forming the 14:59 departure from the Fife circle, I jumped onto dud 170470 back to Haymarket (as I didn’t have a lot of choice). I headed across to P2/P3 just to see what was coming back in, and a dud 170 was first followed by required 334020 and dud 334034 to take me back to Edinburgh with the required 170 rolling in on platform 1, but a 334 is good enough for me.

A quick visit to the first class lounge, which lost marks on not having any soft drinks available (only coffee/tea), but I did grab a couple packets of snacks and have a PNB. Heading back to the station and my theory was correct, it was the EMT-hire in set, which normally would go “oh no” as it lacks power sockets in standard class, but at the time of booking first class was cheaper than standard, so it was into coach M for me. Required 43054 was leading with 43081 on the back. Sandwiches were served on departure, I decided to have the Cheese and Carrot (rather than Salmon), with a couple snacks (popcorn & a cake), drinks shortly followed as I made good use of the free wifi to catch up with my emails & forum, listening to the sound of a EMT 43 thrashing away up front (and maybe yes I did have a bit of droplight standing, when looking at the more beautiful part of the ECML covered in snow)

The train was fully reserved from Edinburgh, and the platform at Newcastle was rammed, we were full and standing as we turned left after the King Edward Bridge to go on the slow and steady trip around the coast, and to be honest it was a bit of a drag, bit of stop start (seemed to got caught up with a delayed metro service to Sunderland, and a delayed pacer which we looped at Hartlepool, however it meant a 185 from Middlesbrough got put out in front so it was another slow trip eventually reaching York 25 minutes down. After a bit of very high speed running (very bouncy) it settled down to regular high speed, but sadly the 25 minute delay didn’t decrease by much (went down to 23 at one point) nor sadly did it loss any more time, as I knew my unofficial +25 from Kings Cross to Waterloo would have gone up in smoke.

Nice enough run anyhow, arriving 24 down, so it was to the Victoria line platforms and winners 11061/62 took me forward to Oxford Circus, with another pair of required 72 stock in the shape of 3247 & 3538 to Charing Cross, exiting via the stairs to avoid the crowds in the subway and entering Charing Cross from the road, giving me 3 options for a nano-leap to Waterloo East. Option 2 & 3 were dud (both pairs of 465s), so over to platform 5 to await the Tonbridge train to roll in. With a dark blue unit on the rear I was thinking it would be a /6 returned from being done up, but no leading was super dud 375918 with winner 375303 on the rear for the short leap to Waterloo East.

Across the footbridge and to Waterloo main, with around 6 options for a linear leap to Clapham, first up was a trio of 456s, all were dud, a couple pairs of 450s a pair of 444s working a Basingstoke stopper and a couple dud 455s, so with nothing of interest I boarded 159102 & 159105 working the 22:15 for the quiet trip back to Grateley, with a nice walk home. A good weekend in my book

Tram 261 dashing away from Saughton.

 

[FQ]

Another very productive day there! Vote EMT set though! Strange for it to get to Scotland though.

43296

Ok. You're just having it on now aren't you

 

[Blindtraveler]

Nice write up, thanks. Hope the grip wasnt too problematic about you Tweedbank Ticket? Edinburgh Park is of Course on a valid route on a Neilston Tweedbank journey and is an equally valid BOJ. Quite why you would is another thing!

 

[Kite159]

Nice write up, thanks. Hope the grip wasnt too problematic about you Tweedbank Ticket? Edinburgh Park is of Course on a valid route on a Neilston Tweedbank journey and is an equally valid BOJ. Quite why you would is another thing!

Seemed to go away happy once I mentioned Queen Street Low Level.

West Midlands on Sunday afternoon/Monday making use of the Chiltern cheap fare, main aim for Sunday will be the Midland Metro and the Monday being an anytime Daytripper to go 68 hunting and other unit hunting around the bat cave

 

[alexf380]

A braw couple of reads there, really enjoyed them!

 

[Kite159]

Blimey, how long does the 07:27 Salisbury to Waterloo sit at Clapham Junction this coming Sunday? (RTT is suggesting a 08:53 arrival and a 09:10 departure, with a further 18 minutes to Waterloo! Must be awaiting a path for 2-track running between Clapham & Waterloo, but isn't normally that bad

 

[Kristofferson]

Just caught up here, good stuff Kite! Can't believe how small your requirements list is - congrats on the 377/6s and the Borders!

 

[FQ]

Just out of interest, how many VTEC and EMT powercars do you need?

 

[Kite159]

Just out of interest, how many VTEC and EMT powercars do you need?

Currently I need 7 VTEC, 12 EMT (& 20 GWR + 2 XC)

 

[FQ]

Good luck at getting them! I need 3 VTEC, 3 EMT, 3 NR, 0 XC, 2 GC and 7 GWR.

 

[noddy1878]

Wow! Just had a mega catch up! You are flying at the moment. Doing really well!

 

[Kite159]

Mmm early morning cat

(This random post will become clearer once I get around to doing the report, lets just say I stayed overnight in Sutton Coldfield last night to target some chiltern cats)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
22nd January – A PEP talk

The mission of today was to clear my last 4 TfL Rail 315 to clear the class, so an evening peak will hopefully reduce those numbers, plus a potential of a PSUL movement. So a nice drive to Andover to link up with the 14:37 departure towards Waterloo, formed today of 158881, 159013 & 159015, so as usual I was sitting in the 158 (as it was emptier) for the nice enough trip to Waterloo, with the usual waiting around outside the station for a Portsmouth Harbour bound service to clear the signals. Down to the Waterloo & City line platform, to await the next departure for the long trip to Bank.

In rolled required 65507/08 so it was to Bank arriving today on the left hand side platform (heading towards Waterloo), a quick transfer to the Central line platform for the short hop to Liverpool Street, the next service was formed of all required 91033, 92246, 92212 & 91041, so another 4 lots of 92 tube stock in the book. Anyhow exiting to get to the main-line platform at Liverpool Street, I had a quick check to see if a certain 379 was floating around (although I wasn’t checking the front unit), before heading across towards platforms 16-18.

With the rain earlier in the day, the platform was a bit greasy, but after checking the next couple departures, I spotted a required 321 so it was to Stratford on 321325 leading dud 321340, before a short hop across the platform to grab my first trio of 360s, with dud 360112 leading, required 360118 was in the middle and dud 360103 was at the rear of this busy with school kids service. At Liverpool Street it wasn’t long before I spotted the first required 315, but it was due to depart after a required 321, so it was back to Stratford on 321318 leading 321306, before crossing over to a busy platform to await the next Shenfield stopping service, which I would take to its first stop at Ilford. Managed to get onto dud 315853 leading required 315860 for the nice speedy run to Ilford, to start my deckchairing.

Services run every 5 minutes in the evenings, however only Ilford, Chadwell Heath & Romford sees the full 12 trains an hour service, as some of the other stations are skipped, 2 pair of dud sets & around 15 minutes later in rolled required 315836 with 315846 on the rear, 2 winners for the price of 1, happy days indeed as I boarded 846 for the run to Chadwell Heath. Not as nice to hang around as Ilford as the platform towards Shenfield is more exposed, but nice and quiet, as I festered. I think it was the 6th set which rolled in, with dud 315844 on the front but my heart jumped as my last 315, 315818 was on the rear. So it was to Romford with a smile on my face with my main task complete.

A brief wait at Romford before fresh dud 315860 rolled in with 315853, so this time taking a seat in 853 for the run back to Stratford (clearing both for 10 miles in the progress), and with an hour or so to kill before needing to catch the 19:25 London Overground service towards Romford to link up with the service from Clapham Junction. First option towards Liverpool street came up on the same platform, but was a “formed of 4 coaches” and in rolled dud 321417, still in London Midland colours, so it was over to the island platform to await the next service which was formed of 12 coaches. In rolled winner 360110 with required 360114 in the middle and with 360106 at the rear to make it a triple winner as it rolled into one of the platforms on the other side of the wall (so West Anglia side rather than the GEML side).

I spotted a required 317 which was due to depart towards Cambridge in 10 minutes, and a quick check of RTT suggested that it would give a nice +9 onto a Stratford bound service, so after checking a couple pairs of 379s, decided to board dud 317512 leading winner 317655 for the nice trip to the dump known as Tottenham Hale. How long has that Tesco Express been there on the eastern side of the station I thought to myself as I crossed over the footbridge to await the Stratford bound service, first up was a pair of dud 379s, followed up with dud 317667 & 317513 to take me to Stratford arriving as usual onto platform 11. A quick platform change saw me onto platform 1 to take a seat on dud 378224 for the short run to Hackney Wick, and a 6 minute wait before dud 378206 rolled in to take me back towards Stratford, where it ignored the usual platforms the 378s would head to (P1 & P2), and headed to P11, which I believe is the only service which is booked to use the connection from the NLL to the main-lines (before running empty back to the depot), although I would imagine in a few years time when the 378s start running up towards Angel Road, those crossovers will be used a lot more (Channelsea North Junction to Stratford Central Junction West from the PSUL site).

I worked out going by RTT I had 3 options to get back to Liverpool Street to get back to Waterloo, thankfully I didn’t need option 2 or 3 as the first service to roll in had winner 360120 on the front with dud 360113 on the rear (going very well today with my 360s). Once back at Liverpool Street, it was a short walk to the Central line where a service formed of duds 91131/92210/92194/91271 took me to Bank, and winners 65501/65502 to Waterloo (only 65503/504 left to clear the W&C fleet). Nothing much of interest floating around Waterloo, so after grabbing my rover for the next day from the ticket office, it was to 159021 & 159107 to take me back to Andover, the end of my little adventure.

Anyhow a couple pictures:
Ah 315818 we meet at last:


Future picture for a “name the station” contest? 321417 sits at Liverpool Street

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23rd January – A trip to South Yorkshire

Today’s aim was to get some shacks cleared in the South Yorkshire travelmaster area, so it was a return of the 05:27 service towards Waterloo, formed this morning of 159004, unusual in crossing over from the main-line side to the Windsor lines side after Clapham Junction to run pass Queenstown Road on the disused platform side, due to the main-line platforms at Waterloo being out of use for engineering works. With time to spare I headed across to Waterloo East, with 4 attempts at something required heading to Charing Cross, but sadly unlike the week before all 4 were dud, and so it was to Charing Cross on duds 465017/465008.

Heading via the Co-Op outside Charing Cross station (on route to the Bakerloo underground entrance) it was down to the island to await the next Bakerloo line service, formed this morning of dud 3558 leading winner 3258, to Oxford Circus with winning Victoria line set 11037/038 taking me forward to Kings Cross St Pancras, where I exited and went up stairs to the EMT platforms at St Pancras, to board the 07:57 Sheffield fast service formed today of dud 222013, my assigned seat wasn’t the best (view of plastic in a busy coach) so I shifted back one coach where most of the seats were available and got a decent table seat for the fast run up the Midland Main Line calling only at Leicester, Derby & Chesterfield on route with an on-time arrival around 2 hours later.

My first move was to head towards Doncaster to get the four shacks out to the east of Doncaster cleared, but before the TPE was due, I checked to see if anything of interest was sitting in the bays which would depart first, sadly the only thing which would have departed first was a dud 158, so it was to platform 1 to await the arrival of the Cleethorpes bound service, formed of dud 185115 which emptied out a lot at Sheffield allowing the grab of a table seat for the run to Doncaster, arriving pretty much on time (shock horror, a TPE on time!), so it was across to platform 1 and onto winning 158851 for the nice run to Thorne North. Nice 8 minute connection here at the north station before winner 142089 rolled in to bounce me back towards Doncaster to Hatfield & Stainforth.

Quite a large footbridge, but nothing compared to the large footbridge at Thorne South where I alighted from dud 142023 after boarding it a few minutes after arriving at Hatfield. Now I had a 15 or so minute fester, with nothing much around Thorne, I came up with an idea to take the next service back to Doncaster to double back with a +7 at Kirk Sandall, to avoid a 30 minute wait, so it was to spin the NRDMUG and in rolled dud 144008 to take me to Doncaster, to a station which was in a bit of chaos as the ECML south had come to a halt and was resuming with service running northbound quite late. In rolled a dud 144, but before I boarded I noticed a certain 321/9 rolling in from Leeds being my last 321/9 (and the Leeds bound stopper departs just as the stopper from Hull arrives) so ditching the 144 which eventually got moving 10 down (so the +7 wouldn’t have been made at the island), I took a seat on 321903 to the edge of the rover area at South Elmsall.

Across the other side of the station for a 10 minute wait for the other 32X on the Leeds – Doncaster diagrams, I was crossing my fingers and toes and hoping for the best as I only needed one more 322 to clear the class, and in rolled winning 322483, woohoo I felt as I boarded this “Northern Electrics” service bound for Doncaster, a class cleared without really trying, back to Doncaster and onto another winner, this time 142050 to take me to Kirk Sandall, where a few minutes later fresh dud 158851 rolled in to take me back to Doncaster. I worked out I had the potential of 3 moves which I could use to take me back to Meadowhall in time for the Leeds bound stopper which called as Elsecar, the 2nd option would have been the same 185, and the 3rd a probable 158 from Scarborough, however neither was required as winner 142096 rolled in a few minutes late from Adwick forming a stopper to Manchester, so another 142 into the book which is always good.

Bouncing along via Rotherham I alighted at Meadowhall to cross over to the other side to await the next Leeds stopper, and in rolled dud 144018 to take me to the hourly served Elsecar where I didn’t have long to wait before dud 142086 rolled in to take me back to Chapeltown, where I spotted a Tesco Express located in a nearby garage, so I grabbed some lunch in the time I had, before heading back up the stairs to await the next Huddersfield bound service, formed of winner 144016. I was going to take this to Denby Dale, but decided to risk the +2 and alighted instead at Shepley which was a nice easy up and over a lane bridge to the other platform and dud 144005 rolled in to take me back the 10 and a bit miles to Dodworth. Staying on the platform as there wasn’t else much around before winner 144014 rolled in to take me back up to Denby Dale.

Wasn’t a long wait at the dale before fresh dud 144016 returned from Huddersfield to take me to Silkstone Common where it had started to rain, as I waited for 144005 to reappear from Sheffield to take me to the final shack on this section of line at Penistone, a crossing point with a nice waiting shelter but with two bars along the back wall to act as seating, which is rubbish seating, so I went back outside to look at the countryside before fresh dud 144014 appeared to take me back to Meadowhall. With some time to kill before needing to be back at Sheffield for my return journey, I looked at RTT to see what was floating around. Some good platform dashes between P1 & P3, but alas everything was dud, so I took the 2nd last option which was dud 185118 back to Sheffield (the last option was at the time running a few minutes late so didn’t want to risk it, but it was a dud 158+153 combo so nothing missed).

Sitting on platform 8 was winner 222001 for another fast run back to St Pancras, arriving a couple minutes late, but a nice run. I decided to do something different and head to the Thameslink platform (after checking on route to see what connection times were like) and boarded duds 377513 & 377510 for the run down to Blackfriars before going to the underground platform where a circle line service would arrive in 2 minutes… 4 minutes later it had changed to 1 minute before winner 21417/418 rolled in to take me to Embankment, with sadly only 2 options to get back to Waterloo East, and both were dud, so it was onto a busy 465025/465172 for the 61 chain leap across the river and to Waterloo, heading via Sainsburys for some food (as the queue in McDonalds was busy) before heading back up for the 22:25 which was meant to depart from P18.

In rolled 159013 at around 22:22, yep a single 3 car unit at a busy time of night at a station with reduced number of services, I managed to grab a table seat, but we departed full and standing, even in first class, leaving passengers behind. Looked like some bailed at Clapham Junction, but at Woking & Basingstoke the train emptied out a lot, still busy as it departed 3rd rail and onto the West of England line, but I wouldn’t have been happy if I couldn’t board the train at Waterloo and the next Salisbury wasn’t until 23:45. Anyhow getting home around 10 minutes late, but the end of a good day in Yorkshire, gaining a handful of new units and some more shacks.

Anyhow here be a random picture of 158851 running away to HMS Ark Royal land:

And I’ve forgotten where I took this picture:



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24th January – To Wolverhampton.. St George

The goal of today was to clear the stops on the Midland Metro, plus get some trams in the bag, making use of the Chiltern £15 off-peak return offer (£9.90 with my gold card) I decided to make it an overnight job to focus on unit hunting on the Monday. A nice walk to Andover Parkway, sorry Grateley (the car-park is currently closed at Andover to be extended upwards, so commuters are allowed to use Grateley as a car-park and take the train from here), picking up my tickets for the 08:39 towards Waterloo.

Formed this morning of 159002 & 159108 (with 159002 clearing the 1500 miles mark) I alighted at Clapham Junction for one big reason, as the 159s sit there for 15 minutes before taking an additional 20 minutes to cross over to the Windsor lines and into the high numbered platforms. A few duds later and I boarded 450123 & 450021 to Waterloo, crossing over to Waterloo East, where my run of duds continued as I got onto a set formed of 465006, 465037 & 466026 to Charing Cross. Picking up an early lunch on route to the Bakerloo entrance (so much quicker than going underground), with required 3551 attached with dud 3264 taking me forward to Marylebone, the 11:09 service was the first service the “Just Fifteen” tickets were valid on, and was sitting on platform 2.

I arrived around 11:00, thankfully the doors on the 11:09 hadn’t been released as it was being blocked in by the 11:05 to Oxford Parkway (a 168+172) so when the doors on super-dud 168219 were released I grabbed a table seat in the leading coach for a nice and fast run towards Moor Street, arriving on time, and with picking up a day-tripper for the day’s adventure from the ticket office, it was soon out to locate Bull Street tram stop, following the tram-tracks from New Street, and finding required (ok, I’ve only previously had tram 21 from the new Midland Metro trams so the odds that I would be getting some winners today) tram 26 was sitting at Bull Street, departure was in 10 minutes (or 25 minutes according to the PIS) so taking a hard seat at the front to count down the time before we set off, where I alighted at Soho Benson Road before doubling back on dud tram 21 to St Paul’s where a misread of the timetable meant a 15 minute wait for tram 21 to reappear to take me to Handsoworth, Booth Street, over to the other platform and tram 25 appeared to take me back the one stop to Winson Green, Outer Circle, with a 10 minute wait for tram 22 for my next Wolverhampton bound leap.

I alighted at Trinty Wauy crossing over with a fester for fresh dud 26 to return me to Kenrick Park with 25 popping up next for another mile spin to Lodge Road – West Bromwich Town Hall, wasn’t long to wait for tram 34 to take me back the 21 chains to West Bromwich Central. A few minutes later (trams every 15 minutes on Sundays, so there was some festering at stops) before my final new tram of the day, 23 rolled in to take me to Dudley Street, Guns Village, with 21 returning me to Dartmouth Street. Another wait and 26 returned for the 3rd time to take me to Black Lake which is a cross-over point by the timetable, so I was expecting a 15 minute fester, but instead got onto tram 22 for a miles move back to Trinty Way before another spiun on tram 34 to Wednesbury Parkway, passing the tram depot and the 3rd platform used for terminating services, wasn’t a long wait before tram 23 took me back Bull Street bound to Wednesday Great Western Street, outside the depot but not a lot else.

Next up was the return of 21 to Loxdale, but sadly tram 34 was running late and so the +1 at Bradley Lane was missed, so another 15 minute fester before tram 25 took me to The Crescent with 25 taking me back to Bilston Central. Tram 23 was next with the end in sight to take me to Priestfield it was another miles move on 25 back to Loxdale, before tram 26 (started the day on 26, finishing it on 26) took me to The Royal. Google Maps fired up to show me the way to the railway station, and it suggested a bus, so to a nearby bus stop for a slightly late running Arriva bus 2702 running a route 530 service to Wolverhampton Bus Station, with a short walk to the train station. First order of business was to check the identity of the stopper, which was a dud 323, which meant I would have to get onto the ATW towards international if the XC was dud.

The ATW wasn’t needed as in rolled winner 220034, leading me with 2 of the things left to locate, for a nice run to New Street, where I started doing some RTT bingo, a required 390 was sitting on platform to form an Euston service, but that wouldn’t get going for a while, so a few platforms hops before scoring my first winner with dud 323217 leading required 323201 to take me to Aston, where dud 170506 took me back, arriving slightly early and it was a dash across to jump onto 390152 as the whistle was being blown ready for the doors to be closed.

8 miles 18 chains later I was at Birmingham International with a couple options, first was a dud XC heading towards Coventry, 2nd was a London Midand service, formed of required 350130 & 350120 to take me back to New Street, 11 LM 350s left to locate, so happy days. Back to RTT bingo and the next service was a pair of 158s heading back to International, formed of dud 158827 with required 158818 on the rear, so it was back to the airport! A dud XC was up first, so I used the time to purchase my “nNetwork Day” ticket from the TVM to save me a job in the morning, before returning to the platform to await the Shrewsbury bound VT, which would most likely be a pair of voyagers (can’t really be a 390, unless they have put wires up without anybody noticing), and in rolled required 221142 with dud 221143 behind, so taking a seat on 142 it was a short ride back to New Street, and dud 323203 up the Cross City line to Wylde Green, the closest station to my hotel for the night, the Sutton Coldfield Travelodge.

I made the most of my 30 minutes free WiFi by making a rough plan for the morning’s cat hunt, which required me to be at Snow Hill for 06:55 at the latest for the first 68 move of the day, so a 06:13 start from Wylde Green, so a nice early night was required, can’t complain clearing all the Midland Metro shacks in around 3 and a half hours, would have been less if I hadn’t messed up a couple connections!

 

[Kristofferson]

Great stuff kite, can't believe how quickly you're getting through your required trains and shacks!

 

[FQ]

Congrats on the 315s and Northern 32Xs! Oh, and on the Midland Metro shacks (I did them all the day before you). I'm looking forward to reading about your next day in the Midlands!

 

[noddy1878]

Well done on clearing the 315s. You're certainly picking up the pace at clearing everything!

 

[Techniquest]

Finally caught up with your trip reports, as always some excellent reads. Jealous of the clearing of 315s, looks like I need to ramp it up next time I'm down!

 

[55013]

Some good stuff there, I particularly enjoyed your day around my neck of the woods.
You got Denby Dale, Shepley and Penistone in a week before I did and my parents live ten minutes drive from Denby Dale station!
Now that I'm nearly done with West Yorkshire shacks I think I'll be doing a few Travelmasters when I get the opportunity of a short day out.

Congratulations on clearing the 315s and 322s

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Just caught up with your recent antics - another few fine days out and about. Those 315s can be right annoying things to bag ....

 

[Kite159]

25th January - A weekday in the West Midlands

The idea of today was to go unit and loco hunting, as I needed 4 Chiltern 68s plus some other odds and sods (323s, 170s, 350s etc) which float around the West Midlands area, so after a good night in the Travelodge at Sutton Coldfield, it was an early start to catch the first southbound service from Wylde Green in order to get across to Snow Hill to get some cat tunnel thrash, sadly with the timings I couldn’t have a good run down to Solihull in order to get all 3 early morning Cats.

With my anytime “nNetwork” day pass purchased the day before I didn’t have to worry about finding it on the TVM if the ticket office was closed, so with a good 15 minute to spare I stood at Wylde Green watching empty stock heading up towards Lichfield/Blake Street/the Moon, spotting one of my last 3, LM 323s heading up to keep in mind. Duds 323206 & 323221 took me down to New Street where the barriers were in full operation this morning (with a couple passengers knocking at the guard’s door to purchase tickets on route), a short walk later I was reaching Snow Hill, passing the disused tram stop and down to platform 3 to await the first Loco hauled set from Kidderminster, important as this one (and the one following) only works one trip to London and one trip in the evening back to Kidderminster (whereas the 3rd set returns to Moor Street later).

New DVT 82305 rolled in with required 68012 on the back, so it was quickly on board next to the loco for a trip through the Snow Hill tunnel to Moor Street, and what a lovely noise it makes in the tunnel, back out and it was over the footbridge to the other platform to await the next Chiltern service to Snow Hill, and it was dud 165012 for the 70 chain trip, across to the other platform and dud DVT 82309 rolled in, this time with required 68013 on the rear, a tiny bit more busier this service, but still had the benefit of 68 tunnel noise to Moor Street.

My original plan was to catch the next London Midland 172 towards Smethwick Galton Bridge, but as 172332 was running a few minutes late I bailed at The Hawthorns to await diagram 3, and in rolled required DVT 82304 with dud 68014 on the rear, selective door opening at both The Hawthorns and Jewellery Quarter, and it was soon back to Moor Street, for a fast walk across to New Street to see what was heading to Hereford, it was a dud 170 so I let it go to walk across to the Cross City line platform and jumped onto a pair of duds (which emptied out quite well at New Street), 323209 & 323211 to take me to Selly Oak to intercept the return working of that required 323 I saw earlier on, and as predicted 323242 rolled in with 323220 in tow, where I got on (standing room only) for the short hop to University to await some DMUs, both XC and LM.

Next up was a pair of dud LM 170s, a dud XC 170 and countless dud 323s before a peak time extra rolled in (using help from the King of the West Midlands Techni who told me which services normally featured dog-boxes) with dud 150107 leading required 153364 so it was a trip back to New Street, with a short fester before required 170515 took me back out to University to await the late running service from Hereford which Mr Techni was on. 12 minutes (or so) late required 153354 rolled in attached to 170508, so meeting my good friend Techni on route to Glasgow with some time to spare before his magic bus. Annoyingly as we rolled in my last 2 ATW 158s departed heading towards Pwllheli & Aberystwyth so I knew they wouldn’t be back for a good few hours. However Techni had news that 68015 worked the service from Oxford Parkway this morning and so will be at Moor Street a bit later (and he was happy when I told him that 68014 should be coming back up, as he needed that one).

So it was to Moor Street, to await the arrival of the Loco, and after a bit of a panic when we saw a 168 on the platform, but misread the platform numbers and in rolled the 68. At the front was dud DVT 82301 but required 68015 was on the rear, so it was on board for the short trip to Solihull and a 40-odd minute fester for the return of 68014, which was spent catching up, before 68014 & DVT 82304 returned from Marylebone to take us to Moor Street, transferring onto dud (as are all 172s) 172345 for the leap to Snow Hill for a quick lunch break before heading towards Bull Street which was required track for Techni. After a while required tram 36 rolled in to take us to St Pauls, passing brand new 37, however it was on test, but was followed by required 32 for the short leap to Jewellery Quarter before 172212/172217 took us back to Moor Street.

I said goodbye to Techni as he made his way towards the bus stop/station and I headed to the Bat Cave, one eye on visiting those two new shacks on the Nuneaton line, with two options to get to Coventry in time for the hourly 153, the first was a dud XC, the 2nd was dud 390123, for a nice run to Coventry, where I exited the station to try and purchase my ticket. The TVM hadn’t heard of Bermuda Park (or Coventry Arena) and the ticket office wasn’t allowing a gold card discount to be applied (some reason those two stations haven’t been set up to be in the gold card area) so a return to Nuneaton with gold card discount was purchased from the TVM, and it was to the platform to await the 153.

In rolled my first LM 153, dud 153375 to take me up the line (where the guard found someone travelling on a railcard discounted ticket where the passenger didn’t have a railcard with them) for an unknown distance to arrive at Bermuda Park, quite a basic station, to get to the other platform you need to exit going down the embankment and underneath the railway next to a river and up either some long ramps or some steps), nothing much in the area apart from an industrial park, one other passenger got off the train with me and they got picked up by a taxi. It was a long 25-odd minutes, with a 70 roaring pass on route towards Nuneaton, before 153375 returned to take me to the other new shack on the line at Coventry Arena.

The station was in the shadow of the Rugby ground, and looked to have provisions for a queuing system (which seems strange as it will be closed after matches), next to a retail area (quite a few shops, large Tesco etc), I could either wait around for an hour for the return of 153375 back to Coventry or catch a bus as the area was in the Network West Midlands coverage. 10 minutes later I had passed the shops and into the little bus turnaround area, but I hadn’t gone far enough, so it was out onto the main-road to the bus stop to await a single decker bus working a route 20 service (bus 2175) to the bus station in Coventry, before transferring over to a route 11U double decker (bus 4768) to the railway station, total travelling time was around 45 minutes, so to be honest it would have been easier to wait around in the Arena Park Shopping area, or caught a bus towards Tile Hill/Canley area (although if someone is on a West Midlands Day Ranger, they can avoid the wait by going back to Nuneaton to catch a XC 170 towards New Street).

First up was a dud 350 on a stopper, which I allowed to depart to await the next Virgin service, and in rolled dud 221117 to New Street. Techni had spotted a required 323 earlier on at University, so I set about hunting it down, so it was to University on duds 170507 & 153364 to await the inbound working from Longbridge, the previous service had been cancelled and it had just hit 4pm, school turning out time as the platform got very busy and in rolled required 323243 which was a very tight squeeze, I was happy when it rolled into New Street and I could escape my 2nd last LM 323. I had information that my last Chiltern 68 was working the Banbury commuter set, which gave me a plan to intercept it at Bicester North, but before then, it was back to University on dud 170117, followed by required (and last XC 170/6) 170636 back to New Street.

A short walk took me to Moor Street, where I had an idea as the next Marylebone train has a short turnaround in Snow Hill, so I boarded dud 168005 to Snow Hill, where I managed to get a good seat (peak-time departure so I didn’t know if it would get busy), and it departed on time, getting a bit busy at Moor Street, but emptying out along the way, sadly it kept on losing time, so by the time it reached Leamington it was 10 down (and the connection was a +9), and so by the time we reached Bicester North we were 12 down and 68010 was in the platform the doors being slammed closed, pretty much no chance to make the connection (not to mention to purchase the required ticket), so bah humbug! Staying on until Marylebone so at least I’ve got a good run out of 168005, annoyingly it arrived into platform 4 behind another 168 so was a long walk to the barrier, and to the underground where dud Bakerloo sets 3253/3559 took me down to Waterloo, where I didn’t have a lot of options as the 19:50 towards Salisbury runs fast to Woking, so it was a case of getting a seat onto 159016 for a rare (for me) non-stop run through Clapham Junction and back to Grateley, a nice relaxing end to a busy (and long) day.

I must do another day like that again, to hunt down various units around New Street, plus my remaining LM DMUs and last LM 323. It was great to catch up with Techni again, on his home patch.

Anyhow some pictures:

68012 getting ready to depart Birmingham Moor Street:


10 minutes later 68013 is doing the same:


153375 departing Bermuda Park:


Darkening clouds in Warwickshire:


The home of Wasps, and some small football team:

 

[55013]

Looks like a good day, you can't beat a bit of cat thrash (unless it's one with nine tails!)

 

[Kite159]

Looks like a good day, you can't beat a bit of cat thrash (unless it's one with nine tails!)

One of my aims is to try and get a good long run on a cat

 

[55013]

Quite right too, my mates and I are planning on having another attempt at our aborted Christmas trip, so hopefully by the end of the month I'll have a couple of runs over a hundred miles in the bag

 

[FQ]

Sounds like a really funky day in the midlands! My dad would have been on 165012 that morning (getting off at Snow Hell) and would have been in the very front part of the unit, not above the engine.

Shame you didn't get 'Bagpuss' but there's always one to score next time!

 

[jayalongtheway]

Certainly been busy Kite, good stuff. Well done with the 315's.