Since I seem to have gained a reputation for meet reports, here goes the report from the meet we had last Saturday. The people who were on for the remainder of the meet may wish to do a little filling in 
Hope you enjoy
The Gainsborough Central Parliamentary Meet took place on Sat 3rd September 2011 and was attended by myself (sellis89), Jordy, bb21, MattE2010, Mike395, Trentside, newbie babs and JoeGJ1984.
It could be argued the day didn’t get off to the best of starts. Having checked the departures from Dewsbury station about 08:30, everything was looking fine. Knowing a missed train or problems could lead to me not meeting the others at Sheffield due to the infrequency of most of the services we would be using, I made sure I arrived at the station in good time, at about 09:20 and walked into an unusually busy booking hall. A quick glance at the boards where everyone had seemingly gathered showed a lot of blue highlighting, denoting indefinitely delayed or cancelled services. I was aiming for the 09:37 service to Middlesbrough but at this point, the 09:07 to Newcastle was still showing as delayed. Having already got the tickets the day before, I headed across to the Leeds bound platform realising I could use whatever service turned up first.
I made haste across (as I hadn’t checked to see if there was a train waiting when I was in the booking hall) to find no train there but to see a train pulling in. It was the 09:07 service. The train was fairly empty on arrival and the guard released the doors. The cab door also opened and the driver got out and starting walking down the platform, at which point I noticed the red starter signal (very unusual for Dewsbury). It now became evident there was some signalling problem. I boarded the front coach of 185142 remaining standing at the door. The driver was at the signal phone for some time before returning and we departed, 27 minutes down, at 09:34, giving a blast on the horn as we SPADed the signal. Now under caution we crawled along the line and stopped at the next signal which we also had to pass at danger under authorisation. Soon after, we passed the men in orange and, as I was at the front, I heard the AWS “ding” signifying that we were now back on clear signals…woohoo! We accelerated to line speed and the remainder of the journey passed by without further incident and despite developing a nervous disposition from hearing the train horn so much(!) we arrived into Leeds at 09:49. I was now in Leeds earlier than intended and hopefully beyond the ensuing problems. (On an aside, it later transpired that the 09:37 bypassed Dewsbury and ran express to Leeds so I was lucky to get the train I did!)
Rather than wait for the XC to Sheffield at Leeds I decided to catch the 10:05 East Coast service to London Kings Cross and to alight at Wakefield Westgate. Arriving on platform 8 I walked the length of the train finding we were being propelled by 91109 ‘Sir Bobby Robson’ before boarding the last carriage, the quiet coach. The journey passed by fairly quickly but gave me a chance to make use of the 15 minutes of free WiFi
Leaving the train at Wakefield from the rear doors, I started to walk down the platform to where the XC train would be stopping. I expected it to be a Voyager but the 10:24 service to Paignton arrived on time in the form of a HST set, lead by 43207. Having not been on one of the XC HST sets for at least a couple of years, it was a nice change. It was fairly quiet and finding a seat was straightforward. The journey to Sheffield was pleasant and quiet and although we ended up running on yellows at one point, we arrived into Sheffield only a few minutes late. Having alighted I found the rear loco was 43304, before meeting the others who were waiting on the platform I arrived on having mostly arrived from Nottingham. We had a cross platform interchange for the TPE service to Cleethorpes which was formed of 185136. We managed to get seats in coach B fairly close together but after a couple of station calls, managed to arrange ourselves mostly round a couple of tables for the journey to Habrough (not Harbrough as a number of us were calling it, much to Jordys’ annoyance!)
The journey was quite pleasant and having passed over the Keadby Bridge (aka the King George V Bridge) we approached the vast steelworks of the Scunthorpe area, with some of the chimneys possibly adding to the cloud cover! Whatever was coming out of the chimneys was being pulled in through the trains’ HVAC system giving the train a slightly odd odour for a little while. Before very long we arrived in Habrough, only a few minutes late. We were to still have 45 minutes here despite the delay and we alighted the train, which was just able to fit onto the platform. What we had been advised by Jordy previously was true, there really was nothing in the town and even the Spar shop had become a gun store… We made our way across the level crossing (a first for me crossing one by foot!) to the opposite platform where we were to catch our next train for Barton-on-Humber. Given the time we had, it gave us a time to chat amongst ourselves, muse that we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere and bb21 and Mike395 went to see what the bus service was like at the stop next to the station – almost parliamentary was the answer, with only 3 buses a day! The platform was unsurprisingly occupied only by us for most of the wait. Previous to our train arriving, we had a 185 pass through at speed heading to Manchester Airport and an East Midlands Trains 153 which arrived heading to Grimsby Town, also giving a good opportunity for a few photos as the sun was suited perfectly to the approaching train.
Not long after the crossing opened from the EMT service passing, our service arrived, a couple of minutes late, formed of Northern 153316. After probably surprising the (FTPE) guard with a record number of passengers boarding(!) we managed to get airline seats near the front of the service which was reasonably loaded. Soon after leaving Habrough we diverted off from the main line to join the Barton line before soon arriving at Ulceby, a station with an unusual layout having only a single platform on an otherwise double track line. After leaving Ulceby, we then diverted again from the freight line that we were sharing with the Barton line, and we were now on the line to Barton-on-Humber, most of which is jointed track giving the trademark sound as we went along. The journey took us through a couple more stations and a number of level crossings before we paused for a short while prior to New Holland station to collect the single line token from the signalbox. Soon after we passed the old branch line to New Holland Pier the Humber Bridge came into view through the trees and we arrived into Barton-on-Humber, a rather underwhelming station.
As the service was running late, we only had a short turn round time before taking the service all the way back to Cleethorpes. As everyone else left the train we were able to get seats round the two tables nearest the central partition, rather than being spread round the train. We departed Barton-on-Humber on time and headed back along the line from where we had previously been, stopping again at the signalbox just after New Holland to return the single line token where the signalman very quickly disappeared into the box to await the next service, some 90 minutes later. One thing I noticed during the journey along the line is the eclectic mix of semaphore and colour light signals with, in some cases, even a mix of semaphore home signals and colour light distants.
Arriving back into Habrough, we were now on new track as we headed for Cleethorpes stopping at all the stations en-route, of which there are many! As we pulled into Grimsby Town where there are electronic boards, we found that we were running a few minutes late…how, we had absolutely no idea! We left soon after and had a tour from the railway line of what Grimsby has to offer from Jordy…supermarket after supermarket! The service even called at the request stop New Clee shortly before arriving at our destination, where there were a few people who got on and off.
Arriving into Cleethorpes platform 2, we were able to see what our mode of transport would be for the actual Parly service – a Pacer, although it wasn’t entirely surprising. It was now about 14:40 and was well past lunchtime so we made headway to the local chippy! As we had only about 40 minutes before the Sheffield train left, half of us went to the local chippy while the others went to one further away from the station, in case there were large queues at one. We met back on the seafront where the weather was back to being something resembling summer and the sea was so far out, it was completely out of sight, with only sand to be seen as far as the eye could see, with a ship out on the sea in the distance.
With plenty time to spare we headed back to the station where 142087 was waiting for us. Some of us remained on the station concourse for a while, while others boarded the train. A quick photocall later and we were all boarded at the rear of the service. 15:20 came and the guard closed the doors and gave the driver the tip, but unusually got nothing back. It soon became clear, we couldn’t go due to a lack of interlock but we were soon moving after the guard went and gave the doors a bit of a push as it seemed one had got stuck. The journey originally saw us heading back along the line to Habrough although it was more bouncy than the last time. We joined the Gainsborough Central line after leaving Barnetby and called at Brigg and Kirton Lindsey, where a few people joined and/or left at each.
As we made our way to Gainsborough Central, we began to brake, which seemed to get stronger as we slowed down. As we came to a stop it became apparent we had just experienced an emergency stop 142 style – most certainly an experience and gives quite a lot of forward/backward movement as it jolts to a stop! We soon moved off none the wiser as to what caused it and arrived into Gainsborough Central where bb21, Mike395, Trentside and JoeGJ1984 left us for the walk to the towns Lea Road station for a connection onward to Lincoln. After the emergency stop, it made me realise that we had quite a good driver as the stops were all very smooth and relatively jolt free. Jordy then left us a little further along at Retford for the journey back south, leaving just me, MattE2010 and newbie babs for the remaining journey back to Sheffield.
Time for a few stats – Cleethorpes to Sheffield via Gainsborough Central is timetabled for 2 hours and 3 minutes and a total mileage of about 71.5, all on an uninterrupted journey on a 142! We continued to bounce along the line toward Sheffield, calling at various stations on the way. Soon after leaving Darnall, we were signal checked, unbeknown to me very close to Sheffield. We were waiting for a few minutes at the signal before being cleared and moving off and arriving into a slightly dull Sheffield at 17:20, 3 minutes early, so there is evidently some padding in the timetable.
We alighted the train and newbie babs headed off whilst me and MattE2010 went to find our connecting services. I was looking for the 17:21 XC service northbound and saw a Voyager sat across on the opposite platform. With the 17:21 showing as departing from platform 2, I assumed it was the platform… Heading across I clocked it was 220019, a Voyager I was after for mileage. After jumping on I realised it may be a good idea to check the platform boards…it was the Reading train…oops! I rejoined MattE2010 on the platform and after grabbing a quick photo opportunity of 220019 as it left, we headed across the bridge. By now it was past 17:21 but on seeing platform 2, the train hadn’t arrived. Me and MattE2010 went our separate ways and I headed to the platform where the service was just arriving…it was yet another HST! This time led in by 43384. I joined to find that although the platform was busy, the train wasn’t – evidently the extra coaches do make quite a difference – and I easily found a seat at a table for the journey back.
As we headed north, the skies seemed to get darker and by the time we arrived into Wakefield Westgate, we had hit rain, albeit nothing too heavy. The remaining part of the journey seemed to bear the trademark of loco hauled stock, with the train constantly surging and making the progress rather jerky. Thankfully we left the rain behind and passing up through Outwood, we arrived into Leeds. It took a little while to alight as some passengers didn’t seem to get the hang of the doors but we were eventually able to leave the train. The loco on the rear was 43321 as the train left on its journey up to Glasgow. I now just had a short wait until 185109 took me back to where I started the day, where, by now, the signalling problems had just about been resolved.
Again, thanks to everyone who was on the meet who made it another good and successful day
A few points of interest that I noted were that I managed to get two HST services (rather than Voyagers) completely without trying! Quite a feat I think. I can also understand why they can be the preferred option over the Voyagers, although I do still like the 220/221’s. Also, for anyone who thinks they are loud, they really aren’t and I’m sure there are many multiple units that are louder!
I think (possibly fear?!) that I have a new found respect for the 142’s as well after the lengthy journey on 142087 (which seemed oddly nicer than the 153 service we had previous to it, maybe it was less cramped at the place on the Pacer where we were sat
) and I can understand how people can fall asleep…all that swaying side to side makes you feel quite tired!!!
Pictures
1. 91109 'Sir Bobby Robson' leaves on the back of the service to London Kings Cross from Wakefield Westgate
2. One of the steelworks near Scunthorpe (really, the picture doesn't capture how bad it really was!)
3. The Cleethorpes bound platform at Habrough, as viewed from the Level Crossing
4. Northern Rail 153316 passes EMT 153326
5. Northern Rail 153316 pulls into Habrough on the Barton-on-Humber service
6. The Humber Bridge as viewed just after departing Barton-on-Humber
7. 185114 sits at a sunny Cleethorpes station before embarking on the journey to Manchester Airport
8. 142087 sits at a sunny Cleethorpes station before heading to Sheffield via Gainsborough Central
9. 220019 sits at Sheffield station on a service to Reading
10. COME BACK!!! 43321 on the back of the HST service to Glasgow Central departing Leeds
Hope you enjoy
The Gainsborough Central Parliamentary Meet took place on Sat 3rd September 2011 and was attended by myself (sellis89), Jordy, bb21, MattE2010, Mike395, Trentside, newbie babs and JoeGJ1984.
It could be argued the day didn’t get off to the best of starts. Having checked the departures from Dewsbury station about 08:30, everything was looking fine. Knowing a missed train or problems could lead to me not meeting the others at Sheffield due to the infrequency of most of the services we would be using, I made sure I arrived at the station in good time, at about 09:20 and walked into an unusually busy booking hall. A quick glance at the boards where everyone had seemingly gathered showed a lot of blue highlighting, denoting indefinitely delayed or cancelled services. I was aiming for the 09:37 service to Middlesbrough but at this point, the 09:07 to Newcastle was still showing as delayed. Having already got the tickets the day before, I headed across to the Leeds bound platform realising I could use whatever service turned up first.
I made haste across (as I hadn’t checked to see if there was a train waiting when I was in the booking hall) to find no train there but to see a train pulling in. It was the 09:07 service. The train was fairly empty on arrival and the guard released the doors. The cab door also opened and the driver got out and starting walking down the platform, at which point I noticed the red starter signal (very unusual for Dewsbury). It now became evident there was some signalling problem. I boarded the front coach of 185142 remaining standing at the door. The driver was at the signal phone for some time before returning and we departed, 27 minutes down, at 09:34, giving a blast on the horn as we SPADed the signal. Now under caution we crawled along the line and stopped at the next signal which we also had to pass at danger under authorisation. Soon after, we passed the men in orange and, as I was at the front, I heard the AWS “ding” signifying that we were now back on clear signals…woohoo! We accelerated to line speed and the remainder of the journey passed by without further incident and despite developing a nervous disposition from hearing the train horn so much(!) we arrived into Leeds at 09:49. I was now in Leeds earlier than intended and hopefully beyond the ensuing problems. (On an aside, it later transpired that the 09:37 bypassed Dewsbury and ran express to Leeds so I was lucky to get the train I did!)
Rather than wait for the XC to Sheffield at Leeds I decided to catch the 10:05 East Coast service to London Kings Cross and to alight at Wakefield Westgate. Arriving on platform 8 I walked the length of the train finding we were being propelled by 91109 ‘Sir Bobby Robson’ before boarding the last carriage, the quiet coach. The journey passed by fairly quickly but gave me a chance to make use of the 15 minutes of free WiFi
Leaving the train at Wakefield from the rear doors, I started to walk down the platform to where the XC train would be stopping. I expected it to be a Voyager but the 10:24 service to Paignton arrived on time in the form of a HST set, lead by 43207. Having not been on one of the XC HST sets for at least a couple of years, it was a nice change. It was fairly quiet and finding a seat was straightforward. The journey to Sheffield was pleasant and quiet and although we ended up running on yellows at one point, we arrived into Sheffield only a few minutes late. Having alighted I found the rear loco was 43304, before meeting the others who were waiting on the platform I arrived on having mostly arrived from Nottingham. We had a cross platform interchange for the TPE service to Cleethorpes which was formed of 185136. We managed to get seats in coach B fairly close together but after a couple of station calls, managed to arrange ourselves mostly round a couple of tables for the journey to Habrough (not Harbrough as a number of us were calling it, much to Jordys’ annoyance!)
The journey was quite pleasant and having passed over the Keadby Bridge (aka the King George V Bridge) we approached the vast steelworks of the Scunthorpe area, with some of the chimneys possibly adding to the cloud cover! Whatever was coming out of the chimneys was being pulled in through the trains’ HVAC system giving the train a slightly odd odour for a little while. Before very long we arrived in Habrough, only a few minutes late. We were to still have 45 minutes here despite the delay and we alighted the train, which was just able to fit onto the platform. What we had been advised by Jordy previously was true, there really was nothing in the town and even the Spar shop had become a gun store… We made our way across the level crossing (a first for me crossing one by foot!) to the opposite platform where we were to catch our next train for Barton-on-Humber. Given the time we had, it gave us a time to chat amongst ourselves, muse that we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere and bb21 and Mike395 went to see what the bus service was like at the stop next to the station – almost parliamentary was the answer, with only 3 buses a day! The platform was unsurprisingly occupied only by us for most of the wait. Previous to our train arriving, we had a 185 pass through at speed heading to Manchester Airport and an East Midlands Trains 153 which arrived heading to Grimsby Town, also giving a good opportunity for a few photos as the sun was suited perfectly to the approaching train.
Not long after the crossing opened from the EMT service passing, our service arrived, a couple of minutes late, formed of Northern 153316. After probably surprising the (FTPE) guard with a record number of passengers boarding(!) we managed to get airline seats near the front of the service which was reasonably loaded. Soon after leaving Habrough we diverted off from the main line to join the Barton line before soon arriving at Ulceby, a station with an unusual layout having only a single platform on an otherwise double track line. After leaving Ulceby, we then diverted again from the freight line that we were sharing with the Barton line, and we were now on the line to Barton-on-Humber, most of which is jointed track giving the trademark sound as we went along. The journey took us through a couple more stations and a number of level crossings before we paused for a short while prior to New Holland station to collect the single line token from the signalbox. Soon after we passed the old branch line to New Holland Pier the Humber Bridge came into view through the trees and we arrived into Barton-on-Humber, a rather underwhelming station.
As the service was running late, we only had a short turn round time before taking the service all the way back to Cleethorpes. As everyone else left the train we were able to get seats round the two tables nearest the central partition, rather than being spread round the train. We departed Barton-on-Humber on time and headed back along the line from where we had previously been, stopping again at the signalbox just after New Holland to return the single line token where the signalman very quickly disappeared into the box to await the next service, some 90 minutes later. One thing I noticed during the journey along the line is the eclectic mix of semaphore and colour light signals with, in some cases, even a mix of semaphore home signals and colour light distants.
Arriving back into Habrough, we were now on new track as we headed for Cleethorpes stopping at all the stations en-route, of which there are many! As we pulled into Grimsby Town where there are electronic boards, we found that we were running a few minutes late…how, we had absolutely no idea! We left soon after and had a tour from the railway line of what Grimsby has to offer from Jordy…supermarket after supermarket! The service even called at the request stop New Clee shortly before arriving at our destination, where there were a few people who got on and off.
Arriving into Cleethorpes platform 2, we were able to see what our mode of transport would be for the actual Parly service – a Pacer, although it wasn’t entirely surprising. It was now about 14:40 and was well past lunchtime so we made headway to the local chippy! As we had only about 40 minutes before the Sheffield train left, half of us went to the local chippy while the others went to one further away from the station, in case there were large queues at one. We met back on the seafront where the weather was back to being something resembling summer and the sea was so far out, it was completely out of sight, with only sand to be seen as far as the eye could see, with a ship out on the sea in the distance.
With plenty time to spare we headed back to the station where 142087 was waiting for us. Some of us remained on the station concourse for a while, while others boarded the train. A quick photocall later and we were all boarded at the rear of the service. 15:20 came and the guard closed the doors and gave the driver the tip, but unusually got nothing back. It soon became clear, we couldn’t go due to a lack of interlock but we were soon moving after the guard went and gave the doors a bit of a push as it seemed one had got stuck. The journey originally saw us heading back along the line to Habrough although it was more bouncy than the last time. We joined the Gainsborough Central line after leaving Barnetby and called at Brigg and Kirton Lindsey, where a few people joined and/or left at each.
As we made our way to Gainsborough Central, we began to brake, which seemed to get stronger as we slowed down. As we came to a stop it became apparent we had just experienced an emergency stop 142 style – most certainly an experience and gives quite a lot of forward/backward movement as it jolts to a stop! We soon moved off none the wiser as to what caused it and arrived into Gainsborough Central where bb21, Mike395, Trentside and JoeGJ1984 left us for the walk to the towns Lea Road station for a connection onward to Lincoln. After the emergency stop, it made me realise that we had quite a good driver as the stops were all very smooth and relatively jolt free. Jordy then left us a little further along at Retford for the journey back south, leaving just me, MattE2010 and newbie babs for the remaining journey back to Sheffield.
Time for a few stats – Cleethorpes to Sheffield via Gainsborough Central is timetabled for 2 hours and 3 minutes and a total mileage of about 71.5, all on an uninterrupted journey on a 142! We continued to bounce along the line toward Sheffield, calling at various stations on the way. Soon after leaving Darnall, we were signal checked, unbeknown to me very close to Sheffield. We were waiting for a few minutes at the signal before being cleared and moving off and arriving into a slightly dull Sheffield at 17:20, 3 minutes early, so there is evidently some padding in the timetable.
We alighted the train and newbie babs headed off whilst me and MattE2010 went to find our connecting services. I was looking for the 17:21 XC service northbound and saw a Voyager sat across on the opposite platform. With the 17:21 showing as departing from platform 2, I assumed it was the platform… Heading across I clocked it was 220019, a Voyager I was after for mileage. After jumping on I realised it may be a good idea to check the platform boards…it was the Reading train…oops! I rejoined MattE2010 on the platform and after grabbing a quick photo opportunity of 220019 as it left, we headed across the bridge. By now it was past 17:21 but on seeing platform 2, the train hadn’t arrived. Me and MattE2010 went our separate ways and I headed to the platform where the service was just arriving…it was yet another HST! This time led in by 43384. I joined to find that although the platform was busy, the train wasn’t – evidently the extra coaches do make quite a difference – and I easily found a seat at a table for the journey back.
As we headed north, the skies seemed to get darker and by the time we arrived into Wakefield Westgate, we had hit rain, albeit nothing too heavy. The remaining part of the journey seemed to bear the trademark of loco hauled stock, with the train constantly surging and making the progress rather jerky. Thankfully we left the rain behind and passing up through Outwood, we arrived into Leeds. It took a little while to alight as some passengers didn’t seem to get the hang of the doors but we were eventually able to leave the train. The loco on the rear was 43321 as the train left on its journey up to Glasgow. I now just had a short wait until 185109 took me back to where I started the day, where, by now, the signalling problems had just about been resolved.
Again, thanks to everyone who was on the meet who made it another good and successful day
A few points of interest that I noted were that I managed to get two HST services (rather than Voyagers) completely without trying! Quite a feat I think. I can also understand why they can be the preferred option over the Voyagers, although I do still like the 220/221’s. Also, for anyone who thinks they are loud, they really aren’t and I’m sure there are many multiple units that are louder!
I think (possibly fear?!) that I have a new found respect for the 142’s as well after the lengthy journey on 142087 (which seemed oddly nicer than the 153 service we had previous to it, maybe it was less cramped at the place on the Pacer where we were sat
) and I can understand how people can fall asleep…all that swaying side to side makes you feel quite tired!!!Pictures
1. 91109 'Sir Bobby Robson' leaves on the back of the service to London Kings Cross from Wakefield Westgate
2. One of the steelworks near Scunthorpe (really, the picture doesn't capture how bad it really was!)
3. The Cleethorpes bound platform at Habrough, as viewed from the Level Crossing
4. Northern Rail 153316 passes EMT 153326
5. Northern Rail 153316 pulls into Habrough on the Barton-on-Humber service
6. The Humber Bridge as viewed just after departing Barton-on-Humber
7. 185114 sits at a sunny Cleethorpes station before embarking on the journey to Manchester Airport
8. 142087 sits at a sunny Cleethorpes station before heading to Sheffield via Gainsborough Central
9. 220019 sits at Sheffield station on a service to Reading
10. COME BACK!!! 43321 on the back of the HST service to Glasgow Central departing Leeds
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