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Day 598: Sunday 16/08/2026 into Monday 17/08/2026 unexpectedly. Harpenden to Southampton Central - £33.95 - Super Off-peak Return. St Albans City to Harpenden - £2.65 - Super Off-peak Return. Barnham to Billingshurst - £8.75 - Off-peak Return. Havant to Portsmouth Harbour - £2.90 - Sunday Out Return. CP Harpenden £4.10 (and an unexpected £12.10).
Total time today 1280 mins - time on trains 678 mins and time waiting 602 mins. A few track bits today and some near misses at the end.
I really have no idea what to call today. It was all going fine until the end when the wheels came off big time. Disappointed is an understatement.
In hindsight i guess i could have arrived at Harpenden an hour earlier to maximise opportuniy with the crossovers to/from Fast/Slow in use a tad south of the station. 2 crossovers and 2 opportunities essentially with the first one a double opportunity as we crossed from P3 onto the slows immediately upon departure. The first crossover was needed and its always good to get something into the book early doors. A quick return once at St Albans City, and whilst we did slow upon nearing Harpenden, it wasn't enough for the crossovers and we landed in P2. Possession therefore stopped earlier than planned. This is just the latest of examples where this has occurred, and this is certainly prefereable to over-running engineering. However from a collectors point of view it makes for some disappointments, and i think the MML serves up more than its fair share in this regard. I have a feeling i will still be plugging away somewhere on the line in 3 years time long after other lines have given up all their secrets. At this stage there is so much to look at still it really doesn't matter.
My intended chariot to East Croydon was cancelled, which started a bout of RTT queries as to how best could i get back on track - if at all. I knew i had built in to the schedule an hours wait, but surely not at the start?? In the end i chose a semi fast that would still get to my East Croydon on schedule (my original cancelled choice i think was a stopper) and all was well. Escept it wasn't and the connection was missed by a few minutes.
I seem to be concentrating on the Southern network of late and today would be no different from now on. I had bought a return to Southampton, just to be different i guess and the hourly 12 car to Portsmouth was what i would be travelling on. It was packed, but i did get a seat, and it gradually emptied as we mooched along stopping at most places along the way. Much like a few weeks ago i would be alighting at Barnham for another go on the Arun Valley line - this time up to Billingshurst. This leg was virtually devoid of passengers given the 4 car used, and there was a half hour dwell at Billingshurst where i could stretch my legs. The weather was warmer than expected and certainly quite a bit warmer than i could have expected at home. Not a problem at all and rather pleasant in fact. Having confused the rather enthusiastic employee directing all and sundry to the RRB, i had to explain (twice) i was not exiting the station but getting back on board. I am not sure i was believed until i actually did step back on board! Another crossover in the bag with the P1 return..
Cue another almost deserted trip back down to Barnham, which was another welcomed respite from the mobbed Southern Coastway. I forgot to mention that the 12 car inwards was split at Worthing with the front 4 going to Portsmouth and the rear 8 going to Littlehampton. Is this another station i need to revisit for front/rear variants or was it a one off. Its on my list to research, as is Portsmouth Harbour which also uses front/rear i found out later in the day.
So why was i going to Southampton Central today? Well, i still have to cover the tracks between Cosham Jn and Farlington Jn and so avoiding the tracks into Portsmouth from either direction. Not sure why this took so long but it did happen today. The return also covered track into P2 at Portsmouth & Southsea which leaves only 2 crossovers remaining, both of which are planned for my Isle of Wight trip in October. Not much remains in the area after that apart from one of the 4 crossovers at Havant, but i don't think its difficult that one - just at an awkward time of the day.
By the way i had to double back to Havant to get the errant track at Portsmouth & Southsea. Again not difficult i think, but just not that many instances. So, a good look at Portsmouth Harbour station in daylight for the first time, and i had had a nosey at the way down to both the Wightlink Cat berth and also the Gosport Ferry although i have no plans for that latter one currently. It really is built out onto the water... By this time i still had an hour to kill before i would be travelling back to Harpenden via Brighton. It did not take much internal persuasion to go have a cold one as part of that.
So, to the great disappointment...... I set off from Portsmouth at 20.13 and instead of arriving back at Harpenden at midnight 30, it took an extra five and a half hours plus before gaining the car!! Incidentally i was then glad i had the comfortable car not the jalopy. I made all the plans to avoid traffic, and then landed right in the rush hour despite this.
I have been looking to see if the Worthing P1 loop ever gets used where it expects to be passed by a following service, The answer is generally no, and timetabled events really do not need to be timetabled in the first place. However today it was due to dwell in p1 for over 7 mins and be passed by a non stop service during that time. Excvellent - what could go wrong. I did speak to the driver at Hove for a minute and he was as disbelieving as i was as to what actually transpired. You pull the slow moving train into a loop so as to allow the fast moving train not to slow down at all (or as little as possible) Cue signalling error - and i am going to call this as an error as they put us into P2 instead, whilst the through train sat at the signal behind us for a good 7 mins before someone made the decision to put the the through onto the loop and crawl through before disappearing again. Gutted and no need - both trains were delayed unnecesarily by 11 mins cumulatively when no delay at all would have occurred if common sense had been applied. This delay would cost me down the line with me missing my connection at Brighton.
Additionally, my train was terminating at Hove because an incident. What kind we were not informed, and not helped by me and others around me not really understanding what was being said. Nor did we see the guard during the journey despite disruption in the carriages by feral teenagers. The official reason posted after the event was disorder - which makes no sense whatsover to stop the service 5 mins short from its destination after nearly 2 hours. Whatever the reason this was not it especially as we were informed of the change of plans just 5 mins into the journey.
The rant continues, as another basic signalling error occurred upon arrival at Hove. By this time another through train was catching us and instead of putting us in P1 and allowing the through to pass in P2 as would be normal, we were instead deposited in P2, and cue confusiion as instead of stabling in P1 as it would do eventually, it had to run past the signals at Hove Jn and wait for the through train to use the P1 loop (not normally timetabled for any train by the way) before pulling back to P1 where we should have been put in the first place. The driver really was not a happy bunny. Any how thr upshot was i missed the opportunity for 2 very rare to predict track pieces, the second of which would have been fortuitous but right.
But the saga continues as because i couldn't get to Brighton for my intended service, i missed out on what turned out to be the last train of the evening to pass through the Thames core. To add insult to injury that service started from P8 and so used the only remaining track i need at Brighton and not usually planned so difficult to predict. The subsequent ones were either cancelled or diverted to London Bridge. Indeed i turned up with 3 minutes to spare and i had a decision to make. I jumped on with seconds to spare and then set about planning where best to bail. At this stage services were still showing as planned so took the decision to alight at Gatwick Airport. In hindsight it was the best i could have done as each subsequent train through the core was cancelled or diverted to London Bridge with no connecting Underground to St Pancras at that time either from there. Too tired to try and navigate an alternative so i stuck with my "only travel by train" guns and just waited it out. At least i was away from the elements.
The check-in desks were eerily quiet by 1am, and with no hassles from the gate people i could wander to/from the Station/Airport as needed. I did find a slumber point opposite the Gents where the seat configuration allowed some comfort and my hoodie i was carrying doubled as an emergency pillow after it became clear the core was being closed for "emergency repairs" and i could stop my platform vigil. Nevertheless it was doze rather than sleep. I had a wander again at 3am to find the check-in desks once again running at full tilt with lines of folk snaking up and down just like you would expect. The airport never got quiet at all, with stragglers still coming off flights which had arrived hours ago. I had another snooze or three before tranferring down to the platforms again and the first Brighton service (from) with the core now open again. Cue more snoozing as we made our way North and i alighted at Harpenden late enough i had to pay a Monday peak CP supplement before setting off.
I got as far as Birmingham before i had to have another snooze when hopefully J15/16 would be open again on the M6. This had been advised as far back as Luton. It was still closed and long delays (50 mins advised) from J14/15 so i just cut at J14 and made my way via some fast A roads up to Crewe and back on the M6. Apparently some folk were delayed hours and hours but i reckon my own diversion lost me only 45 mins or so. As it was i didn't arrive home much before 11am, but it could have been much later.
It has taken up to now to catch up with missed sleep but i am still returning to the rails on Saturday to have a look at the new track alignment and platform at Dore & Totley after taking Dore West to South Jn's new alignment in as well. Also a near completion at Sheffield with a planned for P2 pass through (P2b going North still required). Beyond that i will maybe have an early morning play at Crewe, but a much sought after crossover at Barrhead for 2 weeks commencing 29/08/2026 will also have to be attended to. Every day not Sunday for the 2 weeks. And then its actual holidays with a trip to the Okehampton area anticipated. Lovely...
Total time today 1280 mins - time on trains 678 mins and time waiting 602 mins. A few track bits today and some near misses at the end.
I really have no idea what to call today. It was all going fine until the end when the wheels came off big time. Disappointed is an understatement.
In hindsight i guess i could have arrived at Harpenden an hour earlier to maximise opportuniy with the crossovers to/from Fast/Slow in use a tad south of the station. 2 crossovers and 2 opportunities essentially with the first one a double opportunity as we crossed from P3 onto the slows immediately upon departure. The first crossover was needed and its always good to get something into the book early doors. A quick return once at St Albans City, and whilst we did slow upon nearing Harpenden, it wasn't enough for the crossovers and we landed in P2. Possession therefore stopped earlier than planned. This is just the latest of examples where this has occurred, and this is certainly prefereable to over-running engineering. However from a collectors point of view it makes for some disappointments, and i think the MML serves up more than its fair share in this regard. I have a feeling i will still be plugging away somewhere on the line in 3 years time long after other lines have given up all their secrets. At this stage there is so much to look at still it really doesn't matter.
My intended chariot to East Croydon was cancelled, which started a bout of RTT queries as to how best could i get back on track - if at all. I knew i had built in to the schedule an hours wait, but surely not at the start?? In the end i chose a semi fast that would still get to my East Croydon on schedule (my original cancelled choice i think was a stopper) and all was well. Escept it wasn't and the connection was missed by a few minutes.
I seem to be concentrating on the Southern network of late and today would be no different from now on. I had bought a return to Southampton, just to be different i guess and the hourly 12 car to Portsmouth was what i would be travelling on. It was packed, but i did get a seat, and it gradually emptied as we mooched along stopping at most places along the way. Much like a few weeks ago i would be alighting at Barnham for another go on the Arun Valley line - this time up to Billingshurst. This leg was virtually devoid of passengers given the 4 car used, and there was a half hour dwell at Billingshurst where i could stretch my legs. The weather was warmer than expected and certainly quite a bit warmer than i could have expected at home. Not a problem at all and rather pleasant in fact. Having confused the rather enthusiastic employee directing all and sundry to the RRB, i had to explain (twice) i was not exiting the station but getting back on board. I am not sure i was believed until i actually did step back on board! Another crossover in the bag with the P1 return..
Cue another almost deserted trip back down to Barnham, which was another welcomed respite from the mobbed Southern Coastway. I forgot to mention that the 12 car inwards was split at Worthing with the front 4 going to Portsmouth and the rear 8 going to Littlehampton. Is this another station i need to revisit for front/rear variants or was it a one off. Its on my list to research, as is Portsmouth Harbour which also uses front/rear i found out later in the day.
So why was i going to Southampton Central today? Well, i still have to cover the tracks between Cosham Jn and Farlington Jn and so avoiding the tracks into Portsmouth from either direction. Not sure why this took so long but it did happen today. The return also covered track into P2 at Portsmouth & Southsea which leaves only 2 crossovers remaining, both of which are planned for my Isle of Wight trip in October. Not much remains in the area after that apart from one of the 4 crossovers at Havant, but i don't think its difficult that one - just at an awkward time of the day.
By the way i had to double back to Havant to get the errant track at Portsmouth & Southsea. Again not difficult i think, but just not that many instances. So, a good look at Portsmouth Harbour station in daylight for the first time, and i had had a nosey at the way down to both the Wightlink Cat berth and also the Gosport Ferry although i have no plans for that latter one currently. It really is built out onto the water... By this time i still had an hour to kill before i would be travelling back to Harpenden via Brighton. It did not take much internal persuasion to go have a cold one as part of that.
So, to the great disappointment...... I set off from Portsmouth at 20.13 and instead of arriving back at Harpenden at midnight 30, it took an extra five and a half hours plus before gaining the car!! Incidentally i was then glad i had the comfortable car not the jalopy. I made all the plans to avoid traffic, and then landed right in the rush hour despite this.
I have been looking to see if the Worthing P1 loop ever gets used where it expects to be passed by a following service, The answer is generally no, and timetabled events really do not need to be timetabled in the first place. However today it was due to dwell in p1 for over 7 mins and be passed by a non stop service during that time. Excvellent - what could go wrong. I did speak to the driver at Hove for a minute and he was as disbelieving as i was as to what actually transpired. You pull the slow moving train into a loop so as to allow the fast moving train not to slow down at all (or as little as possible) Cue signalling error - and i am going to call this as an error as they put us into P2 instead, whilst the through train sat at the signal behind us for a good 7 mins before someone made the decision to put the the through onto the loop and crawl through before disappearing again. Gutted and no need - both trains were delayed unnecesarily by 11 mins cumulatively when no delay at all would have occurred if common sense had been applied. This delay would cost me down the line with me missing my connection at Brighton.
Additionally, my train was terminating at Hove because an incident. What kind we were not informed, and not helped by me and others around me not really understanding what was being said. Nor did we see the guard during the journey despite disruption in the carriages by feral teenagers. The official reason posted after the event was disorder - which makes no sense whatsover to stop the service 5 mins short from its destination after nearly 2 hours. Whatever the reason this was not it especially as we were informed of the change of plans just 5 mins into the journey.
The rant continues, as another basic signalling error occurred upon arrival at Hove. By this time another through train was catching us and instead of putting us in P1 and allowing the through to pass in P2 as would be normal, we were instead deposited in P2, and cue confusiion as instead of stabling in P1 as it would do eventually, it had to run past the signals at Hove Jn and wait for the through train to use the P1 loop (not normally timetabled for any train by the way) before pulling back to P1 where we should have been put in the first place. The driver really was not a happy bunny. Any how thr upshot was i missed the opportunity for 2 very rare to predict track pieces, the second of which would have been fortuitous but right.
But the saga continues as because i couldn't get to Brighton for my intended service, i missed out on what turned out to be the last train of the evening to pass through the Thames core. To add insult to injury that service started from P8 and so used the only remaining track i need at Brighton and not usually planned so difficult to predict. The subsequent ones were either cancelled or diverted to London Bridge. Indeed i turned up with 3 minutes to spare and i had a decision to make. I jumped on with seconds to spare and then set about planning where best to bail. At this stage services were still showing as planned so took the decision to alight at Gatwick Airport. In hindsight it was the best i could have done as each subsequent train through the core was cancelled or diverted to London Bridge with no connecting Underground to St Pancras at that time either from there. Too tired to try and navigate an alternative so i stuck with my "only travel by train" guns and just waited it out. At least i was away from the elements.
The check-in desks were eerily quiet by 1am, and with no hassles from the gate people i could wander to/from the Station/Airport as needed. I did find a slumber point opposite the Gents where the seat configuration allowed some comfort and my hoodie i was carrying doubled as an emergency pillow after it became clear the core was being closed for "emergency repairs" and i could stop my platform vigil. Nevertheless it was doze rather than sleep. I had a wander again at 3am to find the check-in desks once again running at full tilt with lines of folk snaking up and down just like you would expect. The airport never got quiet at all, with stragglers still coming off flights which had arrived hours ago. I had another snooze or three before tranferring down to the platforms again and the first Brighton service (from) with the core now open again. Cue more snoozing as we made our way North and i alighted at Harpenden late enough i had to pay a Monday peak CP supplement before setting off.
I got as far as Birmingham before i had to have another snooze when hopefully J15/16 would be open again on the M6. This had been advised as far back as Luton. It was still closed and long delays (50 mins advised) from J14/15 so i just cut at J14 and made my way via some fast A roads up to Crewe and back on the M6. Apparently some folk were delayed hours and hours but i reckon my own diversion lost me only 45 mins or so. As it was i didn't arrive home much before 11am, but it could have been much later.
It has taken up to now to catch up with missed sleep but i am still returning to the rails on Saturday to have a look at the new track alignment and platform at Dore & Totley after taking Dore West to South Jn's new alignment in as well. Also a near completion at Sheffield with a planned for P2 pass through (P2b going North still required). Beyond that i will maybe have an early morning play at Crewe, but a much sought after crossover at Barrhead for 2 weeks commencing 29/08/2026 will also have to be attended to. Every day not Sunday for the 2 weeks. And then its actual holidays with a trip to the Okehampton area anticipated. Lovely...
| Harpenden | Depart | 8.51 | ***** | TL | stations | platforms | ||
| St Albans City | Arrive | 8.56 | P1 | TL | wait 15m | completed | completed | |
| St Albans City | Depart | 9.11 | P2 | TL | ||||
| Harpenden | Arrive | 9.16 | P2 | TL | wait 22m | |||
| Harpenden | Depart | 9.38 | P1 | TL | ||||
| East Croydon | Arrive | 10.49 | P6 | TL | wait 56m | |||
| East Croydon | Depart | 11.45 | P3 | SN | ||||
| Barnham | Arrive | 13.25 | P2 | SN | wait 18m | |||
| Barnham | Depart | 13.43 | P3 | SN | ||||
| Billingshurst | Arrive | 14.11 | P1 | SN | wait 33m | |||
| Billingshurst | Depart | 14.44 | P1 | SN | ||||
| Barnham | Arrive | 15.13 | P2 | SN | wait 38m | |||
| Barnham | Depart | 15.51 | P2 | SN | ||||
| Southampton Central | Arrive | 17.03 | P3a | SN | wait 27m | |||
| Southampton Central | Depart | 17.30 | P3a | SN | ||||
| Havant | Arrive | 18.10 | P1 | SN | wait 29m | |||
| Havant | Depart | 18.39 | P2 | SN | ||||
| Portsmouth Harbour | Arrive | 18.59 | P3 | SN | wait 14m | |||
| Portsmouth Harbour | Depart | 20.13 | P5 | SN | ||||
| Hove | Arrive | 22.15 | P2 | SN | wait 19m | |||
| Hove | Depart | 22.34 | P2 | SN | ||||
| Brighton | Arrive | 22.38 | P1 | SN | wait 9m | |||
| Brighton | Depart | 22.47 | P6 | SN | ||||
| Gatwick Airport | Arrive | 23.24 | P4 | SN | wait 322m | |||
| Gatwick Airport | Depart | 4.46 | P1 | TL | ||||
| Harpenden | Arrive | 6.11 | ***** | TL |
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