alexf380
Established Member
Very well done on finishing the HoW shacks, not much left to get in Wales for you now I assume?
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Juliano's World Frenzy/Tech's Trip Reports
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Techniquest
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Which is why you have to be prepared for it, and take plenty of supplies with you and stuff to do. Agreed as a general rule of thumb though, I'd prefer to keep on the move. Depends on the day, but if I want that shack score badly enough I'll make myself put up with the wait!
185143
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I'd advise you to start clearing some difficult ones-otherwise you will get to a point where all the shacks you need have a horrific fester!Needing two and a half thousand shacks means I won't have to do much of that type of planning for a few years yet
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Sound advice, thanks.
It makes perfect sense, although whether I ever actually do it is another matter.
Once the 68s arrive at TPE that'll change everything for me.
There'll be far fewer long distance treks and many more runs to Liverpool, Scarborough and Newcastle
47403
Established Member
Well I eventually caught up here, congrats on the last 313 and the HoW shacks, a real labour of love scratching them shacks.
The hotel manager and duty manager would be getting their necks rang if i had to endure the stupidity of those fire alarms every night. However they cant always be accountable for soneones stupiduty. Smoking in tbe room, christ, how hard is it to jump in a lift to reception and go outside for a ciggy.
Certainly seemed like London was kind to you all on the winner front. Thanks for sharing.
The hotel manager and duty manager would be getting their necks rang if i had to endure the stupidity of those fire alarms every night. However they cant always be accountable for soneones stupiduty. Smoking in tbe room, christ, how hard is it to jump in a lift to reception and go outside for a ciggy.
Certainly seemed like London was kind to you all on the winner front. Thanks for sharing.
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Blindtraveler
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On the siggy thing, not hard at all. Hotel in question has 2 lifts, both fast and responsive even at peek times. Ask Tech and he'll tell you how they leave the one in the block of flats where I live standing!
HMS Ark Royal
Established Member
Where they OTIS or PICKERING lifts? PICKERING tend to be a little faster when fully loaded I have found. Just finished catching up on everything I missed since I was sent on a delightful little holiday
and I liked each and every minute of the time spent reading itBlindtraveler
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Been anywhere nice good sir?
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Some of the most sound advice I've seen on this forum! Once you've done a +216 or higher once, all festers after that seem tame! I know young sir you've done worse on the S&C once, not through choice, but on a scheduled move at least 3.5 hours festering for a shack score takes some beating! I believe Kite and I have some epic festering on the Far North in May, Scotscalder is going to be fun, but at least I've experience of long festers now!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Sound advice, thanks.
It makes perfect sense, although whether I ever actually do it is another matter.
Once the 68s arrive at TPE that'll change everything for me.
There'll be far fewer long distance treks and many more runs to Liverpool, Scarborough and Newcastle
I don't blame you on those, 18 months to go or thereabouts I believe. I can see me booking a hotel in Huddersfield on a semi-regular basis when the 68s start the TPX runs! Maybe we should persuade TPX to permanently reserve two bays of 4 around tables in an end coach for the 68 Fan Club now
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Glad you enjoyed the reads, it does indeed take some dedication to the task to clear some of these shacks. I know Kite will agree with me on that one, and Blindtraveller will too after that lot in January in Central Scotland. If ever the weather was enough to put one off shack bashing, that was almost the case that day! Especially with that bus journey back afterwards, never been so glad to get out of the rancid weather!
Agreed on the idiots not being seemingly able to use their brains and go out for a smoke. It's not difficult after all, and as Blindtraveller rightly says they're quite reliable and quick lifts too. He's also correct that the lifts in his building are, shall we say, rancid and tiny with a replacement desperately needed. I'm still waiting for my promised 50% refund via a credit on my easyHotel account too, hence why I'm on the forum this morning. If they hadn't failed to deliver, I'd have been in London on a hardcore bash!
On a semi-related note, I've just paid out £20 for a year's subscription to RailMiles. I believe it was more like £11.50 or £12 last year, quite a jump in price. If that happens again next year I'll suddenly dump it. More so if the 502 Bad Gateway issues haven't been resolved, that I need to look at actually...
Thanks for the comments gang, I'm making a final decision on tomorrow's moves currently. I really should be doing that now and getting my online shopping sorted...
185143
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Yup. 11.25 hours to be precise!
crispy1978
Member
I don't blame you on those, 18 months to go or thereabouts I believe. I can see me booking a hotel in Huddersfield on a semi-regular basis when the 68s start the TPX runs! Maybe we should persuade TPX to permanently reserve two bays of 4 around tables in an end coach for the 68 Fan Club now
Two good station pubs there as well to utilise as well!
Kite159
Veteran Member
Oh yeah, doing Craigendoran (exposed station on the north bank of the Clyde near helensburgh) during those January storms at the end of the month was scary with the hail smashing against the plastic of the waiting shelter
Tom had mentioned the price rises. This is due to increased costs after the Brexit vote caused the value of the pound to drop.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Aye I know, but still the increase seems extreme!
22/08/2016 - Tech's Canny Cambrian Trip
I won't lie to you all, I struggled to think of a suitable hashtag and trip title for this trip! My list of hashtags to use didn't feel appropriate somehow! For once, there is no reference this time, although the title will give a little hint as to what I was doing.
It's a return to the 0600 alarm for the first time in months, as I'm on the 0827 out of Hereford for once. The plan had originally been to seek winners and have a majorly de-stress trip, alas farces and exhaustion meant I didn't go to London after all. In the end, a return to ATW shack scratching was in order. Fishguard & Goodwick was the original plan, then the fares revealed going up the Cambrian was far cheaper and would reap more rewards. The fact I haven't been on the Cambrian for nearly 12 years also helped make the decision!
Sleep wasn't as good as it should have been, but I wake before the alarm and get checking texts and so on while I still have WiFi to use. Tech's Fuel of Champions is made, and 3 bottles of squash prepared, before leaving to join the Mercedes MCV for the first time in multiple weeks. I've also decided it's time to re-launch The Grand Plan, so I intend to buy healthy food during my supply raid in Morrisons. Long memoried readers will recall that the plan includes, but not limited to, shedding excess mass, hence the healthy food. It also means going back to sweetners and skimmed milk in my coffee! I re-plan my moves somewhat on the journey to town, so I now have two plans to work with. Which one I choose will depend partly on the booked +11 in Shrewsbury producing, partly on ATW's timekeeping and partly to impulse upon arrival at Welshpool!
Sandwich selection in Morrisons didn't appeal to me, and the coffee machine was out of order, so I instead source some sausage rolls for breakfast, keeping some for lunch. A large Pumpkin coffee keeps the tradition going, and as per the plan I get it with skimmed milk and sweeteners! 175111 does the honours of taking me to Shrewsbury, and 158823+158819 take me forward to winner shack Welshpool. Not much around here, Tesco is a 5 minute walk away, so I source a couple of beers for later, using the rest of the fester time to read more of the book I've been reading on my other ATW shack scoring missions. 158836 is another Super Dud [I only need 2 ATW 158s for Super Dud status - Ed] which takes me onward to winner shack number 2, Caersws.
A Texaco garage and Costcutter shop are about a 3 minute walk away, nothing much else of note. I return to the platform and try Felinfoel's Double Dragon, supposedly the "national ale of Wales" which, if it does represent Wales' brewing, means I hold it in about the same regard as the American beer I had in March. Slightly better than that thankfully, but not by much! More book reading of course too, then it's determined to be lunchtime as I approach 1200. 158837+158820 take me forward to winner shack number 3, Penhelig, after the split of course. More reading on the way and I've never been on the route beyond Dovey Junction in my enthusiast career so this is a first for me! Shame it's not a sunny day as the views would be so much better!
158827 arrives 5 minutes late to take me back to civilisation, and wahey my seat reservation is actually there on this move! On goes the phone charger while I enjoy the views, after we go inland the book comes back out as we join up with 158837 at Machynlleth. At 1459 I finally finish my book, and I look forward to starting the next instalment in the series soon! I toast this with a bottle of stout which left a lot to be desired. The weather is far better in Shropshire than it was on the coast, which is why I didn't do Dovey Junction after all. No matter, the remaining 27 Cambrian line shacks will be dealt with in due course, and I already anticipate doing some more of them in September!
Good thing I wasn't relying on the 1650 home, as it was already cancelled! Plans for food therefore cancelled and I join 175001 home with a stomach still raging! I'd best get used to this if The Grand Plan is to have a lasting effect, oh joy of joys! Overall though, it's been a good day and an excellent start to the clearing out of the Cambrian line shacks. All being well I shall have the plan for the next couple of them to fall done soon, as it involves bus moves. Newtown and Borth, preferably Dovey Junction too, are on the cards for September, but for now it's time for Tech's Mobile Disco to return on the 51 mile cruise back home. Good news is found in the monthly count of required shacks, not including Northern Ireland my UK shack requirements are now at 1,286 to get. This does of course include light rail and preserved lines, and the number was at 1,335 on 6th June 2016. Progress is therefore pretty grand!
So yeah, not an awful lot else to discuss, it was a case of get food and get the bus home. It's worth reminding you all that I'm not due to be on a bash next Monday, due to it being Bank Holiday Frothday, so there will be an approximate 2 week gap in trip reports.
22/08/2016 - Tech's Canny Cambrian Trip
I won't lie to you all, I struggled to think of a suitable hashtag and trip title for this trip! My list of hashtags to use didn't feel appropriate somehow! For once, there is no reference this time, although the title will give a little hint as to what I was doing.
It's a return to the 0600 alarm for the first time in months, as I'm on the 0827 out of Hereford for once. The plan had originally been to seek winners and have a majorly de-stress trip, alas farces and exhaustion meant I didn't go to London after all. In the end, a return to ATW shack scratching was in order. Fishguard & Goodwick was the original plan, then the fares revealed going up the Cambrian was far cheaper and would reap more rewards. The fact I haven't been on the Cambrian for nearly 12 years also helped make the decision!
Sleep wasn't as good as it should have been, but I wake before the alarm and get checking texts and so on while I still have WiFi to use. Tech's Fuel of Champions is made, and 3 bottles of squash prepared, before leaving to join the Mercedes MCV for the first time in multiple weeks. I've also decided it's time to re-launch The Grand Plan, so I intend to buy healthy food during my supply raid in Morrisons. Long memoried readers will recall that the plan includes, but not limited to, shedding excess mass, hence the healthy food. It also means going back to sweetners and skimmed milk in my coffee! I re-plan my moves somewhat on the journey to town, so I now have two plans to work with. Which one I choose will depend partly on the booked +11 in Shrewsbury producing, partly on ATW's timekeeping and partly to impulse upon arrival at Welshpool!
Sandwich selection in Morrisons didn't appeal to me, and the coffee machine was out of order, so I instead source some sausage rolls for breakfast, keeping some for lunch. A large Pumpkin coffee keeps the tradition going, and as per the plan I get it with skimmed milk and sweeteners! 175111 does the honours of taking me to Shrewsbury, and 158823+158819 take me forward to winner shack Welshpool. Not much around here, Tesco is a 5 minute walk away, so I source a couple of beers for later, using the rest of the fester time to read more of the book I've been reading on my other ATW shack scoring missions. 158836 is another Super Dud [I only need 2 ATW 158s for Super Dud status - Ed] which takes me onward to winner shack number 2, Caersws.
A Texaco garage and Costcutter shop are about a 3 minute walk away, nothing much else of note. I return to the platform and try Felinfoel's Double Dragon, supposedly the "national ale of Wales" which, if it does represent Wales' brewing, means I hold it in about the same regard as the American beer I had in March. Slightly better than that thankfully, but not by much! More book reading of course too, then it's determined to be lunchtime as I approach 1200. 158837+158820 take me forward to winner shack number 3, Penhelig, after the split of course. More reading on the way and I've never been on the route beyond Dovey Junction in my enthusiast career so this is a first for me! Shame it's not a sunny day as the views would be so much better!
158827 arrives 5 minutes late to take me back to civilisation, and wahey my seat reservation is actually there on this move! On goes the phone charger while I enjoy the views, after we go inland the book comes back out as we join up with 158837 at Machynlleth. At 1459 I finally finish my book, and I look forward to starting the next instalment in the series soon! I toast this with a bottle of stout which left a lot to be desired. The weather is far better in Shropshire than it was on the coast, which is why I didn't do Dovey Junction after all. No matter, the remaining 27 Cambrian line shacks will be dealt with in due course, and I already anticipate doing some more of them in September!
Good thing I wasn't relying on the 1650 home, as it was already cancelled! Plans for food therefore cancelled and I join 175001 home with a stomach still raging! I'd best get used to this if The Grand Plan is to have a lasting effect, oh joy of joys! Overall though, it's been a good day and an excellent start to the clearing out of the Cambrian line shacks. All being well I shall have the plan for the next couple of them to fall done soon, as it involves bus moves. Newtown and Borth, preferably Dovey Junction too, are on the cards for September, but for now it's time for Tech's Mobile Disco to return on the 51 mile cruise back home. Good news is found in the monthly count of required shacks, not including Northern Ireland my UK shack requirements are now at 1,286 to get. This does of course include light rail and preserved lines, and the number was at 1,335 on 6th June 2016. Progress is therefore pretty grand!
So yeah, not an awful lot else to discuss, it was a case of get food and get the bus home. It's worth reminding you all that I'm not due to be on a bash next Monday, due to it being Bank Holiday Frothday, so there will be an approximate 2 week gap in trip reports.
Blindtraveler
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You could reuse that hashtag for all future trips out that way maybe?
Just a thought, but cut down on the beers and you could go back to the normal milk etc again and not deprive yourself!
Good day by the sounds of it
Just a thought, but cut down on the beers and you could go back to the normal milk etc again and not deprive yourself!
Good day by the sounds of it
Sounds like a good time out! The cancellation of a train causing hunger reminds me of coming home yesterday. We were going to get lunch at 13:00 in Newcastle but we didn't have time due to our booked train to London being caped so we had to join the 13:15 and eventually ate lunch at Marylebone at 17:30!
crispy1978
Member
Sounds a good day out on a part of the world I've travelled on several times, and know fairly well and enjoy; once you get further up the line and on to the coast it's one of my favourite parts of the train network I've travelled on along with the Far North Line.
Looking forward to your reports further up the line in future trips!
Looking forward to your reports further up the line in future trips!
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Thanks all, your positive comments are more than welcome at the moment, the mood is a bit low at present as I deal with several things at once. Too much to go into here, safe to say that the brain's going at 1,000mph while it does its thing. Happy to discuss it off-thread, although be warned replies will be slow today.
FQ: Ouch! That really can't have been fun!
Crispy: I'm falling in love with the Cambrian too!
BT: I'm not ready yet to cut out the beer, baby steps are required. Skimmed milk and sweeteners vice whole milk and sugar is a start at least!
507021: Glad you enjoyed the read, my mileage should be close to 9,000 now!
FQ: Ouch! That really can't have been fun!
Crispy: I'm falling in love with the Cambrian too!
BT: I'm not ready yet to cut out the beer, baby steps are required. Skimmed milk and sweeteners vice whole milk and sugar is a start at least!
507021: Glad you enjoyed the read, my mileage should be close to 9,000 now!
Kite159
Veteran Member
No doubt you will get the others on the "shared" section in a couple weeks time, maybe with the 08:27 out of Hereford to Shrewsbury, 09:30 to Newtown (hour fester), 11:06 to Borth (35 minute fester), 12:41 to Dovey Junction (+5 connection) to Aberdovey for a 20 minute connection back to Machynlleth for a 15 minute wait for the 158 from Aberystwyth to join up (which I would count as a station visit as your train terminates there and you join another service)
Good to make a start on those shacks. I doubt I'll ever clear them (would take a day for me just to get there!). I need 1865 shacks in total! I have some easy wins to drop that number quickly though! Just need to get to some light rail networks.
185143
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I had aa clearout up there last week which went well, although due to 'ongoing operational challenges' I still need Aberech!
Had about two thirds of the Cambrian shacks now
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Had about two thirds of the Cambrian shacks now
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Kite159
Veteran Member
And with your rules, it will take longer as you can't employ the walking between nearby stations to strike two with one stone technique
Kristofferson
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Not a bad day out there, and a good read! Glad the Grand Plan is back in action - as long as you don't end up too deep in Normaldom eh
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Not a bad day out there, and a good read! Glad the Grand Plan is back in action - as long as you don't end up too deep in Normaldom eh
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Oh that bit doesn't get a look in on TGP! One thing that I'm not faffing around with at this time. Should be noted that I'm posting this while waiting for some bacon to cook in the oven
Next trip is this weekend, off to London for a major red pen fest. Hashtag will be #TechsHappyPlace and begins after work on Saturday. Not on my rota for Monday so I'm taking full advantage of that!
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