In search of the yellow submarines / a tale of 59 units (part 2)
And so with a potential Coronavirus lockdown possibly looming, I decided to have one more crack at the Merseyrail system before non-essential journeys were outlawed. I reasoned that before we could travel again one or more units might be carted for for scrap so booked a night at the Premier Inn near Moorfields in Liverpool. I set off from Derby on Saturday morning with the intention of travelling around the network during afternoon, and then doing a bit more on Sunday morning. I'd prepared by listing the 14 507 / 508 units I still needed for sight, with the aim of making the checking-off process slightly easier.
EMR 221138 whisked me away from a very quiet Derby station, conveying me to Sheffield where 13 duds were noted.
AXC 220012
EMR 158847 158785 222017 222101
NOR 144001 144009 144011 150110 153373 158787 158843 170472
I had time to spare at Sheffield so schlepped over to McDonalds for breakfast before returning just in time to see EMR’s 158847 arrive from Nottingham attached to 158785. Both were about 25% loaded so rather than wait for TPE I boarded for the ride over to Manchester. The Hope Valley usually offers a few chances to note something, but sadly the line of Frieghtliner locos at Earles Sidings were this time obscured by a long row of EWS-branded wagons. Then Hazel Grove had dud 331006 while 150113, 150118 and 150211 were observed at an almost deserted Stockport. Longsight had duds 397005 and 68031 on the right, while opposite a little ray of sunshine came in the form of the first winner of the weekend - DRS
88008. The original plan was to spend some time at Picc but with the EMR service being so lightly loaded I decided to stay on all the way to Liverpool Lime Street and make a start on trying to catch some of the remaining Merseyrail units. While passing through Piccadilly P14 the following duds were noted.
AWC 390045 390127
EMR 153372 158806
TFW 150213 175108
TPE 185106
A little further along the Castlefields Corridor Metrolink trams 3032 and 3103 could be seen at Deansgate, but neither helped to fill the three remaining gaps I have in that fleet. A surprising sight at Irlam was green-painted steam engine Peckett 2027 / BNFL1 looking rather pristine (a recent arrival from Carnforth where it had been almost derelict for many years) while at Widnes I glimpsed EMR 153318 connected to 158, and the nose of a Short 330 airliner in scrapyard next to the station. Allerton depot, close to Liverpool South Parkway, was the next chance for a few winners and again it did not disappoint - it was nice to catch up with three of the newer members of the CAF electric fleet alongside some older stock.
NOR 156464 195128 319367 319370 319381 319385 323231 331003 331007
331022 331023 331027
Continuing on, Northern 150203 was actually platformed at South Parkway, while at Edge Hill glimpses were gained of AWC 390010, GBRf 60021 and 66742, COLAS 60085 and Northern
195025. Finally, before descending into the gloomy depths of the Merseyrail network I noted Avanti 390141, Northern 150138 and 323239, and TFW 158841 at Lime Street - all duds. Score for the day so far was five. My aim was to get a few of the remaining Merseyrail units I needed during Saturday afternoon, ideally raising the day's total nearer to double figures.
In search of the last 14
The £5.55 Saveaway is an excellently priced ticket, allowing unlimited travel across the entire Merseytravel network. With a paper ticket in hand (bought from the Northern ticket office to avoiding the deposit for the smartcard that Merseyrail would have sold me), I dropped down the escalators to the Wirral Line loop.
The first train on the boards was a Chester due in five minutes, so I waited eagerly to see what showed. Pretty soon a whoosh of air and clatter of wheels on rails signalled the arrival of a double unit with dud 508120 leading. I’d decided to move straight on so boarded without checking the rear unit, resolving to catch that at Liverpool Central. I had a mind to focus initially on the Northern Line so on alighting at Central I quickly strode back down the platform to check the other unit which turned out to be winner
508141.
One down on the first attempt, 13 to go – the mission had started well.
The first train north on the Northern Line was a Southport in the form of another double, led by dud 507011 but supported by winner
507016 which I immediately boarded.
Two trains, two new units for sight, 12 to go – going well so far!
I hopped off at Sandhills, just two stations along the line and the first one outside, to see what action ensued.
MER 507001 507013 507019 508124 508126 508131
Things weren’t going so well all of a sudden and when 507001, an old friend from the tour, arrived on a Ormskirk I decided to take a ride up past Kirkdale depot to see what was on the sidings. There were indeed quite a few units stabled and in the space of the 12 minutes I had before another southbound train was due I managed to note the following both on the depot and in service:
MER
507008 507018 507026 507027 508103 508110 508124 508126 508130 508134 508139
One out of 11 wasn’t a very good hit rate, but that one brought the total Merseyril units remaining for sight
down to 11. In fact, that one winner wasn’t even on the depot but was heading south so I rode 008 back to Sandhills were I set up again to monitor proceedings. Almost immediately I got there, two more winners appeared.
MER 507001 507008 507009 507010 507013 507019 507027
507032 508131
508143
Things were getting interesting but still challenging –
five Merseyrail winners in around an hour, only nine to go!
Sandhills was cold and blowy, and I decided to get myself up to Southport to see which units were stabled there. 507013 was the transport of delights for the half hour journey north. On the way duds 507005 and 507031 were noted at Bank Hall heading in the opposite direction, while most of the rest of the units that flashed past defied identification with the exception of dud 507018 near Birkdale. Finally Southport hove into view and I was disappointed to see the sidings that had been filled with units when the tour took place were this bereft of hardware. It seemed like the journey north had been a waste. However, hiding beside one of the platforms was dud 508136, with another unit at the ticket barrier end. I had 25 minutes before the next train south, so I checked out the other parked unit and was delighted to find it was winner
508108. And there was still enough time to go to Subway to get a footlong. Thank goodness I went to Southport!
Six down – eight to go!
The ride south revealed nothing but blurred numbers heading north and when the train stopped at Bank Hall I got off to walk over to Kirkdale, hoping to catch a few more units tucked into the depot lines. That turned out to be quite a good move as several more were logged either in service or on the depot:
MER 507001
507004 507014
507025 508131
508104 was one of plenty of duds. Not sure what the X in the window signifies - had it got the plague already?
Winner 507025 was on the reversing line adjacent to Kirkdale station (it had not been there an hour and a half earlier) while another winner 507004 had appeared outside the depot near the running lines.
Eight down – six to go!
Things were getting interesting now – I’d more than halved the remaining 14 needed for sight and it was still only around 15:00. I felt there was still the chance for more. I hopped back down to Sandhills on 508131 were I spent a rather fruitless hour watching a procession of duds come and go – and come and go...
MER 507001 507005 507009 507010 507018 507019 507026 507031 507032 508124 508126 508131 508143
It was getting pretty boring and I realised I must have seen all the units out to play on the Northern Line, so took 507005 to Liverpool Central with the aim of spending an hour or two on the Wirral Line. Four dud units passed at through Central before I’d had enough of the dark, the gloom and the cold:
MER 507003 507007 508120 508141
507003 took me under the Mersey to Birkenhead Hamilton Square, where I found a seat to monitor the bi-directional traffic. Going was tough but I was rewarded with two more winners on Chester services:
MER 507017 507020 507021 507023
507029 507030 508104 508112
508115 508117 508122 508123 508127 508140
Ten down – four to go! The winning post was getting tantalisingly close!!!
508122 - another dud at Hamilton Square. At least here trains pass in both directions, although the New Brighton / West Kirby lines are down a few steps.
I’m not a patient person and after around 45 minutes I jumped on 507007 bound for New Brighton, primarily with the aim of checking out whether there was anything outside Birkenhead North depot. I was initially dismayed to see only two units outside, but that quickly turned to delight as it became apparent that as well as dud 507015 was winner
507021.
Eleven down – three to go! Getting even closer!
New Brighton was sadly bereft of any stabled units I hoped might be there, so I almost immediately came back and set up camp at Moorfields to see what else was on the longer runs from Chester that I knew I hadn’t seen so far during the day.
MER 507003 507007 508120 508141
It was cold and gloomy – miserably so in fact, so I boarded 507003 again and went round part of the loop as far Liverpool Central. I resolved to spend a few minutes there because I knew there must still be trains out on Chester’s that I hadn’t seen (the round trip is about an hour and half). Then, when I’d had enough, the plan was to head back up to Moorfields and go to the hotel for a well-earned beer or two – or three. While I sat at Central a winner materialised pretty quickly, and I was just on the point of leaving (literally) when a special coloured unit that I knew I hadn’t seen before (Liverpool University) hove into view – it winner 13, 507002.
MER
507002 507021
507033 508112 508125 508128 508130 508138
Thirteen down – one to go! Close, but no cigar!
I’d totally had it. I was cold, tired and wanted a beer. I didn’t want to see another train. The winning post was tantalisingly within reach, but with at least two units visible and unidentifiable in Birkenhead depot and at least another one inside Kirkdale, I knew the chances of seeing that last unit was slim. I was pleased that I’d achieved so much, but at the same time was disappointed that I’d come so close but not quite completed the task in hand.
The twist in the tale…
With a couple of good IPAs and some hot food inside me thanks to a nice pub near Moorfields, I reflected more on the day. Getting 13 of the remaining 14 units needed for sight was an excellent result – better than had dared hope – but I reasoned that the remaining unit could be anywhere and the chances of stumbling across it on Sunday were slim. The idea of tramping all round the Wirral and Northern lines again looking for one unit that was probably inside a depot really didn’t appeal – I just wanted a relaxing Sunday and a pleasant trip home. Could I really be bothered? No. Should I just accept I still needed one and leave it at that? Yep.
As I lay on the bed in the hotel, pleasantly full of food and mildly inebriated, I started looking at the Merseyrail fleetlist on the internet. I had 60 units on my home-made list, but the web said Merseyrail had only 59. The discrepancy piqued my interest. A bit more research revealed one unit had been withdrawn several years before following an arson attack. The fire-damaged unit was 508118 and the one on my list that I still needed for was…? Quickly I checked the book – yes, it was 508118! Whoa! Another check on the web and yes, 508118 had been scrapped. So one became none and in fact 507002 – the very last unit I saw on Saturday afternoon before I gave up, one of only a small number in special colours – was actually the final extant Merseyrail unit I needed for sight. I had come so close to leaving five minutes before it passed through Central earlier in the evening but decided to hang on for one more unit. That decision of course meant
game, set and match – all of the Merseyrail units had been checked off, except for 777003 which was tucked inside Kirkdale depot and could not be seen.
Sunday morning I had a lay in, thankful I did not need to brave the Merseyrail network again. Avanti West Coast 390049 whisked me to Crewe around lunchtime, with
331103 being a winner for sight at Lime Street high level just before leaving Liverpool behind. I managed to check off blue Gronk
08790 at Edge Hill, then LSL’s blue
08780 at Crewe. I wasn’t up for waiting around and as EMR’s 158857 pulled out of Crewe transporting me towards Derby and home, I caught winners
73001 outside LSL and
67001 on the former LNWR depot. And that was that. A very successful trip and while it was enjoyable it was also tedious, especially the time spent in the below ground stations. The really good news is I don’t have to go back until the 777s are well up to strength.
