There's a bus at 16:55 on Saturdays from Selby to Hensall (arr 17:21). Bit of a fester, but then train to Rawcliffe and walk/cycle to Snaith gets rid of 3 of the 4. Whitley Bridge probably best done by alighting there and walk/cycle back to Knottingley. So all four possible in one session, but you'll probably have to stay over...
That is one good idea to employ use of a bus, which would get all 4 done on the same day
Although it might be just as quick to get the 16:31 from Wakefield to Knottingley and ride to either Hensall (just under 7 miles) or Whitley Bridge (4.6 miles). Roughly an hour to do the ride in, and would save paying extra for a single to Selby & the bus (in which a folding bike might not be allowed on)
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Provisionally pencilled in for the 13th August, I've booked a refundable room at the Ibis Budget in Bradford, just in case the line is closed for engineering works
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8th April A Trip to the Sunshine Coast
The idea of today was to visit Greater Anglia land, mainly in the former First Great Eastern area and mainly on the Sunshine Coast line and the Braintree line. Tickets were purchased and picked up a couple days before (because the queue for the TVM at Grateley for the 8:59 service can be quite long especially in school holidays, so I normally try and pick up at least the night before). Anyhow as per normal the first off-peak London service was rather busy, formed this morning of 159002 & 159021, as I found a table seat in the leading coach of 021 as that 159 becomes a member of the 1000 mile gang (and 159002 comes within 200 miles of becoming a member of the 2000 mile club!).
Anyhow, the usual fester outside Waterloo to allow the 10:15 to clear the tracks and a right time arrival. I decided to head to Liverpool Street this morning via London Bridge on the Jubilee line; sadly it was duds 96019 & 96006 for the mile and 4 chain trip, then up to Moorgate on the Northern line, again duds 51645/51646, then to Liverpool Street on winners
21473/21474 working a Circle line service. Probably took a few minutes longer than going via Bank, but made a change. To the concourse of Liverpool Street where I noticed that the train I wanted to take, the 11:00 Norwich was cancelled
Bugger, I through to myself, but after a quick visit to the Tesco Metro outside the station to pick up an early lunch & some supplies, I fired up RTT to see what was happening to find large delays due to a trespasser around Manningtree area, so a quick check to find the next direct Clacton service which connects with the stopper to Walton on the Naze, although a quick check on RTT seemed to suggest that in theory I could do the entire line but it would mean making a very tight connection at Great Bentley (something like a +1) [which on my original plan I had down as an hour fester as I originally had the station down as a level crossing without noting the existence of a footbridge].
But first, a linear bash on winner
321331 to Shenfield, before dud 360112 took me to my first required shack of the day at
Chelmsford which must be one of the biggest (in terms of passenger numbers) stations to have only 2 platforms. Anyhow a 20 minute wait for a slightly delayed dud 360115 to roll in on the Clacton service, running 7 minutes late on arrival, but a nice speedy run cut that delay down to 2 minutes by the time it reached the interchange station at Thorpe-Le-Soken, where a quick crossing of the island platform as I took a seat on required
321364 working a stopper. A couple minutes for 115 to clear the tracks and the points to be set and we were away to
Frinton-On-Sea, from what I could see around the station is that it was a bit posh. The former platform still exists but not used since the line was singled (Im guessing). 15 minutes later and 321364 returned (and I wasnt expecting that!) to take me back onto the main-line, brief pause for 360115 to overtake before 321364 dropped me off at
Weeley.
An unstaffed station with a large footbridge, an old boarded up station house and some modern-ish housing nearby, didnt even have a TVM (or Permit to Travel machine), although the trains on this line are not DOO but I didnt see the guard walk through to check/sell tickets. The other unit on stopping duties was required
321447 so happy days as I took a seat to take me to
Kirby Cross, where the station signage is a bit battered and still have First Great Eastern logos (the sticker had fallen off). Two basic platforms with a Permit to Travel machine, with the only way to access the other platform is via a Barrow crossing on a public footpath, but according to a sign using that crossing was forbidden and that passengers must use the subway or footbridge. So I did the sensible thing in looking right and looking left before using the public footpath over the crossing, a case of silly signs.
A short wait standing (as the seats were a tad wet), before fresh dud 321447 reappeared to take me to Thorpe-Le-Soken, with a walk across the platform to board dud 360102 (whose only appearance in my log file is ironically Thorpe to Clacton and back!). 360102 was quite busy (the next couple services were triple 360s), but I found a seat for the run to
Wivenhoe, with a short wait for 321447 to play catch-up to take me to
Hythe.
I didnt see much of Wivenhoe, but Hythe appeared to be two massive 12-coach curved platforms just before the junction where the Colchester Town branch comes away, a level crossing and a large Tesco next to the station. As I had 35-odd minutes I decided to head to Tesco to pass the time (not like I could do any train-spotting as nothing was due to go passed). Back to the station and witnessing some trespassers avoiding the level crossing barriers by going down the end of the platforms over the wooden pointed sleeper things), before 321447 rolled in, and any hope of making the +1 at Great Bentley went into the bin for an extended dwell time at Wivenhoe for a large pushchair (looked like it was large enough for 3 kids). By the time we rolled into
Great Bentley the other 321 had long gone (which was slightly annoying for 2 things, it meant I would have to come back to do Alresford, my original plan would have seen me probably make the connection [as I would have been on 321364] and be rewarded with a pair of required 360s.
From signs, it looked like the footbridge had recently been reopened after refurbishment and the platforms had been resurfaced however the only seating was in a locked waiting room area, so I had an hour fester, nothing much around the station itself, so I carried on reading my book before 321447 returned to take me to Colchester Town. A RPI had boarded to check tickets and there was a revenue block at Colchester Town as I alighted, with the RPI from the 321 writing up details next to a youngster (most likely a 16+ travelling on child tickets), and another RPI doing the same in questioning a 17 year old who was trying to pretend to be 15. The reason why I alighted at Colchester Town was for a spot of linear hopping as the next service from Colchester soon arrived, with winner
321350 leading dud 321360 for the 2 mile and 26 chain leap to Colchester in the bag [although it did push 321360 over that 10 mile mark].
The former Pretendolino set rolled in hauled by an unknown 90 (which I was ignoring as it was running fast to Liverpool Street), the next Liverpool Street service being from Ipswich and was a 12-coach service calling at most stations. In rolled dud 360114 leading 360103 with required
360108 on the rear, so I took a seat in the 360 (which unsurprisingly wasnt that busy as anybody wanting London would have got into the Loco hauled set before hand). 15 miles and 52 chains later I alighted at
Hatfield Peverel, which is a basic station with a handy concrete footbridge and long platforms, was still staffed as the ticket office person was looking a tad bored (only an hourly served shack during off-peak). A few services rushed passed before the Witham bound service rolled in. I suspect the evening Witham terminators are more for Chelmsford commuters, but extended to Witham to get them out of the way as duds 321440 & 321342 rolled into the rarely used platform 1.
My attention now switched to the Braintree branch, with formed of 12 coaches, please join the front 8 coaches coming up on the PIS, as busy winners
321330 &
321339 rolled in with dud 321443 on the rear, which was locked out of use at Witham due to short platform(s), and a guard joining the service. It was a nice run onto the single line to
Braintree Freeport, which is next to the shopping centre. As the trio of 321s departed for that little extra to Braintree itself, I had a look around watching as a couple idiots on bikes decided that it would be a great idea to ride their bikes on a busy platform with commuters heading home. 321443/321339/321330 returned with the leading 321 locked out of use and ending up way off the platform (hence why Im guessing for the guard to check the mirrors to give the go ahead for departure). This time I sat in 321330 to take me to
White Notley, the platform here being long enough to hold all 12 coaches, but there wasnt a lot else. An out of use Permit to Travel machine was about it, nobody else was around for the 20-odd minute wait before the next Braintree service rolled in.
Duds 321436, 321432 & 321425 took me the mile and a quarter to
Cressing, which like White Notley was nothing much to shout about, a little rural station with a level crossing (all it be with a small unmade car-park). A short wait (where I finally had my pasta salad which I purchased earlier at Hythe), before 321425/321432/321436 returned, like Freeport the front 321 was off the platform, and with the run to Chelmsford pushing all 3 dusty bins over the 10 mile mark.
A short wait at Chelmsford before duds 321314 & 321430 appeared to take me to Shenfield (the PIS thinking that we were still at Clacton and the next station would be Thorpe). Across to platform 3 and onto winners
321356 &
321351 to take me to my final new shack of the evening at
Ingatestone. A short hop over the footbridge to await the next service from Ipswich (I believe), formed of 12 coaches, so it could have either been a trio of 360s or a trio of 321s. In rolled winners
360116 & 360121 with dud 360112 on the rear, so taking a seat in 121, I fired up RTT because I had spotted my last 2x 360s working from Clacton earlier (the ones I would have scored if that 11:00 service to Norwich hadnt been cancelled), a quick check seemed to suggest that they would be making their way back to Liverpool Street in 30 minutes time. I bailed at Shenfield to have a wait, keeping an eye out for any required units for a leap back to Stratford, but the only ones I spotted were required either ran non-stop through Shenfield (the trio of 321s from Norwich) or ran fast to Liverpool Street.
30 minutes later, the next service was due, and in rolled winner
360111 and dud 360105. My last 360 (360101) must have been detached at Clacton and went back to the depot), it would have been an amazing end of the day to clear another class outright (and without really trying). Back to Stratford sitting in 360111, where I went down to the Jubilee platforms for a spot of linear hopping in the open air platforms at West Ham & Canning Town, as I had a bit of time to kill before the 22:20. First up was
96092/96123 to West Ham, followed by a pair of duds,
96046/96011 was up next to take me to Canning Town, with a 3 minute wait before
96036/96121 to North Greenwich, where I noted the next starter from the O2 station was required which allowed me to take dud 96038 & winner
96101 to Canary Wharf before
96086/96051 (which was nice and empty) took me to Waterloo. 9 more 96-stock sets into my book, all be it on bus stop mileage, only many more left.
159106 was working the 22:20 to Salisbury, so taking a seat for the ride home, catching up with the forum on my tablet device. Thinking up a way to do Alresford, which is an annoying shack to do on a Sunday as its a -2 connection.
Anyhow some pictures:
Who else thinks a new sign is needed at Kirby Cross?
Passengers are not permitted beyond this point... unless using the public footpath or to cross over to the other platform!
An unknown DVT being pushed along at Hatfield Peverel
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9th April A trip mainly to West Yorkshire
Making use of a VTEC seat sale I picked up a couple cheap advance fares from Kings Cross to Leeds (and return) so todays plan was a trip to West Yorkshire, with some slight detours South and to the North. Sadly it meant a return to the 5:27 departure from Grateley to Waterloo (and also a return to the 23:40 departure from Waterloo to Grateley, so it was going to be one long day).
After a nice refreshing walk I arrived at the station to await the arrival of the first train of the day, which was formed this morning of 159004, unusually I wasnt alone on the platform waiting for the morning train, but as usual it was rather dead until Basingstoke [as passengers from Southampton change at Basingstoke as the first service from Southampton turns into a stopper after Basingstoke]. An on-time arrival into Waterloo where I headed out to Sainsburys for some supplies, heading back to have a look at the LU displays, noting that both Northern line & Bakerloo was at 5 minute frequencies, but the Jubilee line was every 3 minutes, so it was time for some 96 stock motor noise.
Although I started off heading in the wrong direction to Southwark on required
96033/96030, before a couple northbound dud sets and finally dud 96016 with required
96031 on the rear to take me to Baker Street, the platform screen doors are not the easiest to try and grab the set numbers from as the trains come in at some speed. To the metropolitan line platform, and required S8 set
21097/21098 took me to Great Portland Street, followed by S7 set
21413/21414 to Euston Square (working a circle line service). A dud S8 set followed, before a Hammersmith & City line service formed of required
21435/21436 for the bus stop leap to Kings Cross St Pancras.
A good way to kill the time before the 08:03 service as I arrived around 7:30, time to grab a newspaper from the little kiosk outside Kings Cross, before heading inside, away from the rain. The main-line platforms were rather empty, with just a Grand Central HST set and a single 91-Mk4s set. I didnt stand around the concourse waiting for the platform to be announced, instead walked the distance to the end of the platform to grab the number of the 91, before the platform was announced and I boarded the set being pulled by required
91102 with dud DVT 82216 bringing up the rear. Taking my seat as I settled down to relax, sadly the power sockets werent working, and it was a mostly busy service, arriving into Leeds pretty much on time.
My first call of the day was to grab some lunch items from Sainsburys for later in the day (saves a job for later), before heading to the Bradford Forster Square Train, my first Arriva Rail North operated Northern service, and it was James Bond, winner
333007, a slight delay in departure caused by a passenger alarm being pulled, however I wasnt that fussed as I had a 20 minute wait at the first shack of the day at
Apperley Bridge. A lovely area for scenery, platforms split across an old road bridge with a large car-park, which meant a good 20+ passengers were waiting for the next Leeds train, formed of dud 333010, passing the other new station along the line which looked complete to me (cant be long until Kirkstall Forge opens).
At Leeds I had a couple options for the next service towards Sheffield, either grab the stopper all the way to South Yorkshire, or grab the semi-fast service to Wakefield and link up with the stopper at Wakefield. The stopper was a dud pacer (which smelt quite heavily of diesel), but the semi-fast was required
158849, and it would be rude to turn down a winning 158 for the near 14 mile run to Wakefield Kirkgate, From what it sounded like a fare dodger (who must have used Leeds as an interchange) was trying to avoid paying the fare and was about to be issued with an unpaid fares notice, before the station popped up. Needless to say they legged it
straight into a revenue block! A small fester at Wakefield, before super-dud diesel smelling 142056 appeared in all its glory for the bouncy ride to
Darton.
Technically now in South Yorkshire, but the West Yorkshire day ranger was valid here, beware if you have any tight connections as it is a good 5 minute walk between platforms (exit the station to walk down a road underneath a narrow bridge before walking up a footpath back up to the other platform), but a nice enough area and a busy platform, in which I used up the time for my lunch. The Leeds bound service was late which put my +4 at Normanton at risk (the back-up plan was to carry on and bail at Castleford for a Knottingley bound service to Pontefract), however with the delay to the last service meaning it had a delayed departure from Leeds, I had hope that even with dud 142067 running 7 minutes late I could make the +4 as the other service was 5 minutes late. We rolled into
Normanton and I made the dash across the island platform for a minute or so wait before dud 144021 rolled in becoming my latest 144 super-dud to take me back to Wakefield Kirkgate. Another hourly served shack knocked on the head, if only Glasshoughton would be that easy (but that looks like an hour fester with a +1 and a long walk between platforms).
A brief wait at Kirkgate for the arrival onto platform 3 from Knottingley, and it was another 3-coach 144, this time super-dud 144017, taking a seat in a bay as I relaxed, watching the driver taking a well-earned break (as the unit sits in the platform for a good 15 minutes before departing again). I decided to bail at another hourly served shack, this time at
Pontefract Tanshelf, which is basic station nothing much to shout about, but I was interested in the least used station in Pontefract, so I fired up Google Maps, and after a nice 18 minute walk via the town centre I arrived at
Pontrefract Baghill to await the 2nd (and last) York bound service of the day. An old station building boarded up, looked a bit more grander than Tanshelf, and surprisingly there was around 5 other passengers waiting to join, and even more surprisingly was the unit which rolled in to take me to North Yorkshire.
Dud 158861, yep a 158 rather than a 142 or 144, certainly a bit of luxury as I headed north, with a good fester at the first station to await for departure time before pausing again at Church Fenton before rolling into the island platform at
Ulleskelf. Good news for any drinkers as it appeared to be a nearby pub at the quite basic station (well what else would you expect for a station served by a mere handful of trains a day?). It has an island platform, but the platforms are at different levels with a barrier in the middle protecting the foot difference. A long disabled access ramp and a little bus shelter complete the station, as I settled down with my camera to take some pictures of passing diverted HSTs (and 185s, and anything else which rolled passed).
After a Kings Cross bound HST rolled passed, dud 142062 appeared to take me one stop down the line to
Church Fenton, for another 15 minute photo session before the next Blackpool North train was due, I was hopeful as I spotted a required 158 heading up towards York when at Ulleskelf, and in rolled required
158754 to take me the 5 miles to
Micklefield, and back into the rover area (so I could put my single Pontefract to Micklefield ticket away along with my day return from Church Fenton to Ulleskelf). Micklefield is pretty much a fester as units pass here and it looks to be a good few minutes to walk between the platforms, however I settled down to read my book and generally watch the world go by before the next train from Selby appeared.
Winner
155346 rolled in to take me down the line to
Cross Gates, which was a busy station, and the next York bound service was running late, so late that the +7 at East Garforth wouldnt have been made, so knowing that the next Blackpool bound service was a required 158/9, I decided to bail from dud 158759 at
Garforth to make the connection back to Cross Gates on required
158901. Over the road bridge and back down to watching the 185s rushing through thinking to myself I bet the next Selby stopper will be a 150, and in rolled super-dud 150277. No such issues with running late so I safety bailed at
East Garforth, my final shack between Leeds & York. A quick check of RTT suggested a potential linear hop to Leeds from a TPE, so I bailed from dud 144016, 47 chains later at Garforth, to await my first TPE under the new franchise, which was running late (so I could have bailed from that 144 at Cross Gates and grabbed a dud 158/9 back to Garfoth). Anyhow my first TPE service was dud 185115 for the 7 and a bit miles to Leeds, sadly I could only grab a seat on the left hand side so I didnt get the chance to see what was in the depot, and a quick change at Leeds to board the next Huddersfield stopper, even with slow moving people on the bridge.
Dud 158817 was on the stopper, to take me the one stop to
Cottingley with a 30 minute wait at a basic shack, the rain had started so I didnt have a look around. The next service would normally run to Manchester, but was being cut short today due to engineering works, but I was happy as winner
155343 rolled in to take me a few stops down the line to
Ravensthorpe, watching as a Grand Central 180 passed on route to Bradford, before hiding under the shelter from the rain (nothing much around Ravensthorpe in which to report). Dud 158817 reappeared from Huddersfield to take me one stop up the line to Dewsbury, where after a short wait super-dud 185145 rolled in to take me back to Leeds. I was happy as the line between York & Huddersfield was now clear of shacks, and after a detour via McDonalds to pick up dinner (so much easier with the self-service/order points where you get given an order number to collect from another point when it is ready, compared to the chaos at Waterloo).
The final Kings Cross bound service tonight was from bay platform 6, which did save a walk, dud 82205 was leading and dud 91125 was at the rear, I was in coach C, so had the benefit of people walking through to check is this seat reserved?, where from, instead of them walking to the unreserved coaches they played musical chairs, or hovered around waiting to grab seats unclaimed on departure. Anyhow a slightly unusual run down to Kings Cross, as we went into platform 4 at Doncaster, and turned to the right to run via the electrified depot lines, to rejoin the main-line south of the flyover towards Lincoln, so a bit of unexpected rare track. Nice enough run to Kings Cross arriving a couple minutes late, but as I had an hour and 15 minutes to get across to Waterloo, I decided to head to the Piccadilly line platform (because after-all the 1973 stock will be replaced first).
First up was a pair of duds, before winners
896/169 took me to Holborn, followed by winner
244 & dud 145 to Leicester Square, and
127/164 to Piccadilly Circus, where I changed to the Bakerloo line, but sadly luck wasnt with me, and after 5 dud sets in a row, I decided to jump onto 3255/3565 down to Waterloo, making use of the time to top up my oyster card and pick up a couple tickets for my future trip to the East Midlands, before boarding 159102 working the 23:40.
I found it a bit hard to try and stay awake, but I managed to keep alert to alight at Grateley to walk home, noticing that the cars in the car-park were all iced over (so I think a good call this morning to walk instead of driving). Back home, and it was pretty much straight to bed, needless to say after a couple of long days, all I had in my head for Sunday was to sleep in, cut the grass and do a few odds and sods around the house, a nice relaxing day in other words.
Anyhow some pictures:
The third station of Pontefract:
Magna Carta 800, staying very much away from Lincoln, on the York bound:
An unknown 158/9 on route to Hull...
185112 on route to somewhere in the North:
43306/43295 on route to Scotland:
185118-118 on route to Manchester:
A lovely picture of my rucksack, and another HST, this time 43315 & 43316 heading to London:
Church Fenton, quietest station with 4 through platforms? 142062 departing for Sheffield:
221120 is off somewhere in Scotland probably:
Whats black & orange and goes roar? A Grand Central HST:
Please stand clear from the edge of platform 1, fast train approaching: 66207
A Voyager from Reading:
The platforms at Micklefield... tight connections not advised:
155343 on route to Littleborough from Ravensthorpe:
).
