So, Tuesday 14th was Valentine's day, and also my Birthday, a couple of days on i can say being 33 isn't that bad so far so anyone who has yet to reach that need not worry.
This week normally falls within a week of shows/rehearsals so i normally have to work, this year it falls on the Tuesday which is a day off.
I decided that a South Pennines Day Ranger would be the order of the day.
It's a little unexciting but it kept me occupied for the day.
The day didn't start off quite as planned, I had a delivery or presents from my considerably better half who is currently in Australia (where she is from) so felt I ought to open those. I subsequently didn't make the 0913 from Worksop (WRK) and traffic issues getting to the station car park which left me little time to "Platt Fog" which is the term i use for "Trying to buy a ticket at Worksop station" Sadly, the South Pennines Day Ranger "doesn't exist", "i must have made a mistake" and "i can have a Manchester ticket if i want" The 1013 arrived a little early so i had to leave my ticket purchasing attempt and board the train. Thanks to 'RingGo' i could pay for my parking after i got on the train. I ran for the train and the guard kindly waited. The 1013 from WRK to Sheffield (SHF) was full and standing, the train continued to Adwick via Meadowhall, I assume most people were for Meadowhall.
The guard made his way through the train slowly and got to me where i purchased a South Pennines Day Ranger and my extra ticket to get me to the boundary (SHF). Tickets supplied on A3 7GSM paper are not my favourite and i could see this was going to be a disappointment.
At SHF the ones in the know jumped off the train and onto the 1050 Leeds (LDS) semi fast service to get to Meadowhall a few minutes ahead of the train which has a 5 minute dwell time at SHF.
There was a high police presence on platform 2 at SHF and an out of service 222 sat there, not sure what had gone on but there were a couple of platform alterations from stuff that would normally (and was booked) from P2.
Time for a ham and cheese Panini and a bottle of water for a breathtaking £6 before catching the 1111 TPE Service to Manchester Piccadilly (MAN).
Again, almost full and standing but managed to get a fold sown seat outside the accessible loo.
Another chap who boarded at Sheffield had some form of ticket that apparently wasn't valid as the train didn't stop there so he couldn't get an excess. I sadly didn't catch the full story but something didn't seem quite right, he had to buy a single to MAN. TPE Seem to be very hot on Railcards and seat reservations which is good. My 8' squared paper Day Ranger already looked distressed and i had only had to get it out of my ticket wallet and unfold it the once.
At MAN the RPIs were out in force, it took 2 of them to work out that my poster sized ticket was valid and even then i think they accepted it and let me through not really knowing.
Due to the late start i was unable to do one small run that i had originally planned, so i took the 1218 Northern Electric service to Hadfield. The track beyond Hyde Junction i had not covered. I alighted at Hadfield and had a short walk around and bought a new puzzle book in Tesco Express to keep me occupied when i'm waiting for other people in rehearsals. I boarded the 1329 Service back to MAN. There was an announcement stating that the ticket machine had run out of tickets so the guard would not be able to sell tickets and advising people to purchase at their first opportunity. The guard didn't bother to check tickets that people had already purchased, for example at the manned stations of Hadfield and Glossop or from machines at other stations, i wonder if he couldn't be bothered.
My times were slightly out of sync due to my late start and not having time to do a short run so i had a little time to kill back at MAN before i needed to head across to Victoria (MCV). The QR Readers that must have cost as much as a small town at MAN don't actually read the new tickets yet and likely never will if we are honest. The VTWC gate operator had some choice words about the new tickets and i agreed with him. I caught 390141 (There is a number for you guys that like that sort of thing, i had to get one in) the 1415 service for Euston as far as Stockport and then onto the 1429 Northern service back to MAN.
It was tram time, and i managed (easily) to catch the 1454 Tram over to MCV.
At Victoria i bought another bottle of water and proceeded to look for information on the trains to confirm what RTT was telling me. There was a severe display board issue at MCV on that occasion, all of the main boards were showing a fault and recommending asking station staff who seemed to know very little. All of the platform boards were also showing faults and i had to tell a number of people that the Platform 1 train was very likely to be the 1526 to Leeds (Via Brighouse etc) which i duly boarded. 158755 was to be my ride for this part, I do spoil you with numbers.
The train was incredibly dirty with litter and just general dirt and sticky coffee residue on tables, it had stood at MCV since before i arrived and had clearly not been cleaned, of course Northern will happily tell me that they are cleaned at each Terminus. The front carriage was also very cold, i managed it until around Todmorden and then decided to move to another carriage which was much warmer, and cleaner. Maybe the cleaners didn't want to clean a cold carriage. At Dewsbury i noticed 158756 in the new livery going the other way which looked quite pleasant.
I had planned to take a service back to MCV via Bradford but as i arrived at Leeds i saw that the 1715 VTEC Service was an 43 instead of the booked 91 so i thought i'd deviate from my plan and take that to Wakefield. The train was full and standing but i managed an unreserved seat at the back end of coach B so was close to 43274 (I only know it was this number as it was the Spirit of Sunderland) and i got to charge my phone a little on the way.
It was over the bridge and onto the 1733 back to Leeds which arrived promptly pulled by 91115 (I should charge for this).
I made a dash over from 6 to 16 at Leeds for the 1753 TPE Service heading to Manchester Airport, as far as Huddersfield (HUD). Full and Standing as expected though most did alight at HUD with me. I popped to the Head of Steam for Steak and Chips which was very nice indeed before making a decision on what to do next. I was a little tired and had considered a wait for the next SHF train to then take me onwards home but a colleague of mine had been in Liverpool and was catching the 1852 back as far as Alfreton (ALF) so i decided to take the 1856 TPE service to MAN which was busy but i managed to get a seat. I had a bit of a wander at MAN before catching the slightly delayed 1941 EMT service to Nottingham (NOT) as fas as SHF. Very quiet train at the front being a brace of 158s.
A quick hop over to platform 4A at SHF to catch the 2045 service to WRK to get to my car. I inadvertently showed the guard on that train my South Pennines Day Ranger and it was accepted, which was duly noted. We were delayed on arrival at WRK by the EMT Robin Hood Line service that was late running which has to enter the station, allow passengers to alight, tell everyone that has just got on thinking it is going straight back to Nottingham to get off again so it can run ECS up to Manton Colliery Sidings to reappear as if by magic on platform 1. This put this service 10L but luckily i had my car at WRK.
All in all a stress free (except the now expected Worksop Ticket Office Woes) pleasant day. none of my trains were delayed more than a couple of minutes, the Manchester to Sheffield EMT service left Manchester 5L minutes later but arrived at Sheffield only 1L. I'm disappointed with the paper tickets but i guess it is how it is going to be. I'm also once again disappointed with the staff at Worksop for not being able to issue a ticket. It is what i would consider one of the key criteria of being fit for the job, that and unlocking the waiting room when it is -4 outside which they refused to do last week as it was too cold to go out in it. Meanwhile the people on the platform (myself included) agreed it was too cold but could do very little about it. I'm fairly convinced that the chair that they sit on could do a better job at issuing tickets than they can.
This week normally falls within a week of shows/rehearsals so i normally have to work, this year it falls on the Tuesday which is a day off.
I decided that a South Pennines Day Ranger would be the order of the day.
It's a little unexciting but it kept me occupied for the day.
The day didn't start off quite as planned, I had a delivery or presents from my considerably better half who is currently in Australia (where she is from) so felt I ought to open those. I subsequently didn't make the 0913 from Worksop (WRK) and traffic issues getting to the station car park which left me little time to "Platt Fog" which is the term i use for "Trying to buy a ticket at Worksop station" Sadly, the South Pennines Day Ranger "doesn't exist", "i must have made a mistake" and "i can have a Manchester ticket if i want" The 1013 arrived a little early so i had to leave my ticket purchasing attempt and board the train. Thanks to 'RingGo' i could pay for my parking after i got on the train. I ran for the train and the guard kindly waited. The 1013 from WRK to Sheffield (SHF) was full and standing, the train continued to Adwick via Meadowhall, I assume most people were for Meadowhall.
The guard made his way through the train slowly and got to me where i purchased a South Pennines Day Ranger and my extra ticket to get me to the boundary (SHF). Tickets supplied on A3 7GSM paper are not my favourite and i could see this was going to be a disappointment.
At SHF the ones in the know jumped off the train and onto the 1050 Leeds (LDS) semi fast service to get to Meadowhall a few minutes ahead of the train which has a 5 minute dwell time at SHF.
There was a high police presence on platform 2 at SHF and an out of service 222 sat there, not sure what had gone on but there were a couple of platform alterations from stuff that would normally (and was booked) from P2.
Time for a ham and cheese Panini and a bottle of water for a breathtaking £6 before catching the 1111 TPE Service to Manchester Piccadilly (MAN).
Again, almost full and standing but managed to get a fold sown seat outside the accessible loo.
Another chap who boarded at Sheffield had some form of ticket that apparently wasn't valid as the train didn't stop there so he couldn't get an excess. I sadly didn't catch the full story but something didn't seem quite right, he had to buy a single to MAN. TPE Seem to be very hot on Railcards and seat reservations which is good. My 8' squared paper Day Ranger already looked distressed and i had only had to get it out of my ticket wallet and unfold it the once.
At MAN the RPIs were out in force, it took 2 of them to work out that my poster sized ticket was valid and even then i think they accepted it and let me through not really knowing.
Due to the late start i was unable to do one small run that i had originally planned, so i took the 1218 Northern Electric service to Hadfield. The track beyond Hyde Junction i had not covered. I alighted at Hadfield and had a short walk around and bought a new puzzle book in Tesco Express to keep me occupied when i'm waiting for other people in rehearsals. I boarded the 1329 Service back to MAN. There was an announcement stating that the ticket machine had run out of tickets so the guard would not be able to sell tickets and advising people to purchase at their first opportunity. The guard didn't bother to check tickets that people had already purchased, for example at the manned stations of Hadfield and Glossop or from machines at other stations, i wonder if he couldn't be bothered.
My times were slightly out of sync due to my late start and not having time to do a short run so i had a little time to kill back at MAN before i needed to head across to Victoria (MCV). The QR Readers that must have cost as much as a small town at MAN don't actually read the new tickets yet and likely never will if we are honest. The VTWC gate operator had some choice words about the new tickets and i agreed with him. I caught 390141 (There is a number for you guys that like that sort of thing, i had to get one in) the 1415 service for Euston as far as Stockport and then onto the 1429 Northern service back to MAN.
It was tram time, and i managed (easily) to catch the 1454 Tram over to MCV.
At Victoria i bought another bottle of water and proceeded to look for information on the trains to confirm what RTT was telling me. There was a severe display board issue at MCV on that occasion, all of the main boards were showing a fault and recommending asking station staff who seemed to know very little. All of the platform boards were also showing faults and i had to tell a number of people that the Platform 1 train was very likely to be the 1526 to Leeds (Via Brighouse etc) which i duly boarded. 158755 was to be my ride for this part, I do spoil you with numbers.
The train was incredibly dirty with litter and just general dirt and sticky coffee residue on tables, it had stood at MCV since before i arrived and had clearly not been cleaned, of course Northern will happily tell me that they are cleaned at each Terminus. The front carriage was also very cold, i managed it until around Todmorden and then decided to move to another carriage which was much warmer, and cleaner. Maybe the cleaners didn't want to clean a cold carriage. At Dewsbury i noticed 158756 in the new livery going the other way which looked quite pleasant.
I had planned to take a service back to MCV via Bradford but as i arrived at Leeds i saw that the 1715 VTEC Service was an 43 instead of the booked 91 so i thought i'd deviate from my plan and take that to Wakefield. The train was full and standing but i managed an unreserved seat at the back end of coach B so was close to 43274 (I only know it was this number as it was the Spirit of Sunderland) and i got to charge my phone a little on the way.
It was over the bridge and onto the 1733 back to Leeds which arrived promptly pulled by 91115 (I should charge for this).
I made a dash over from 6 to 16 at Leeds for the 1753 TPE Service heading to Manchester Airport, as far as Huddersfield (HUD). Full and Standing as expected though most did alight at HUD with me. I popped to the Head of Steam for Steak and Chips which was very nice indeed before making a decision on what to do next. I was a little tired and had considered a wait for the next SHF train to then take me onwards home but a colleague of mine had been in Liverpool and was catching the 1852 back as far as Alfreton (ALF) so i decided to take the 1856 TPE service to MAN which was busy but i managed to get a seat. I had a bit of a wander at MAN before catching the slightly delayed 1941 EMT service to Nottingham (NOT) as fas as SHF. Very quiet train at the front being a brace of 158s.
A quick hop over to platform 4A at SHF to catch the 2045 service to WRK to get to my car. I inadvertently showed the guard on that train my South Pennines Day Ranger and it was accepted, which was duly noted. We were delayed on arrival at WRK by the EMT Robin Hood Line service that was late running which has to enter the station, allow passengers to alight, tell everyone that has just got on thinking it is going straight back to Nottingham to get off again so it can run ECS up to Manton Colliery Sidings to reappear as if by magic on platform 1. This put this service 10L but luckily i had my car at WRK.
All in all a stress free (except the now expected Worksop Ticket Office Woes) pleasant day. none of my trains were delayed more than a couple of minutes, the Manchester to Sheffield EMT service left Manchester 5L minutes later but arrived at Sheffield only 1L. I'm disappointed with the paper tickets but i guess it is how it is going to be. I'm also once again disappointed with the staff at Worksop for not being able to issue a ticket. It is what i would consider one of the key criteria of being fit for the job, that and unlocking the waiting room when it is -4 outside which they refused to do last week as it was too cold to go out in it. Meanwhile the people on the platform (myself included) agreed it was too cold but could do very little about it. I'm fairly convinced that the chair that they sit on could do a better job at issuing tickets than they can.
