185143-Trip Publishing Expected?

[185143]

(I used my very long PEP bash today well Tech!-2 reports in one day, and a third report won't be far away)

STP bash-24/02/17
I found out during my Saveaway on Tuesday that I needed to go to Carlisle on Friday (I can’t go into detail as to the main purpose of this trip I’m afraid-sorry!), as such I headed to the Virgin Trains website to look at fares. I wanted to head up early, and the 06:15 Warrington-Glasgow had a cheap(ish) advance on it. Heading south, the only train with advances at all appeared to the 21:26 Carlisle-Crewe service, which was promptly booked, along with a Carlisle PlusBus.

On arrival at Warrington Bank Quay-this was the same service I got drunk on last Friday heading to Glasgow for the record-I noted the train was running 6 minutes late, which is unusual for 1S34! I could hear Fishquinn screaming 100 miles away as a 221 rolled around the corner-something which I also did when I realised it was stalker 221102! About half of the seats were taken on this train-the busiest I’ve ever seen it. When we got to Preston, we were informed of a 20 minute delay as we were awaiting a driver who had been displaced in the previous day’s major disruption. Immediately after this announcement, we were informed that the onboard shop had now opened, and given a detailed description of everything for sale in said shop. Oh Virgin Trains, I know you too well...

I was travelling on my own this Friday, so therefore my beverage of choice was just diet coke-alcohol free this time (thankfully). The rest of the journey was uneventful, and the train arrived into Carlisle around 24 minutes late. I was glad to alight this Voyager, and headed off for a supply raid from B&M. I’d tweeted on the train asking for breakfast recommendations however I’d had no response. As such, I headed to Greggs for a hellfire Sausage and Omelette barm (none of this ‘breadcake’ or ‘cob’ stuff thanks! Greggs were advertising it as a ‘roll’, which I bet has caused confusion when someone walks in and asks for a ‘Sausage roll’, when they want a sausage barm!) I enjoyed a got chocolate with it, which was appreciated as Carlisle was absolutely freezing!

I boarded winner Stagecoach CNL Optare Solo 4966 on route 62, which I took for the full route up to Kingmoor Park and back towards the city centre. As I only had commitments from 2PM, I had (deliberately) given myself plenty of time for bashing! When we reached the Asda supermarket on the way back into the city, the driver got out of his cab and apologised to me and the only other passenger that he needed a PNB! The amusement of this was well worth the 2-3 minute delay it caused to be honest! Unfortunately, I got off at the wrong stop-I was expecting to intercept a 79 or X95, but got off about 3 stops too early. To make it worse, the bus advertised about 10 minutes after I bailed out, never showed up, so I had a 30 minute wait for the next 62, which was another winner Solo, 47952, which I travelled as far as Stanwix on. A short wait lead to a rather full Stagecoach West Scotland Enviro 300, 27816, turning up. I don’t particularly like the E300s, but they a change from Solos! I alighted at the market and a wander up the street for PNB was unsuccessful, however a hellfire sausage roll was sourced from an independent bakers-and I mean a proper sausage roll, not a sausage barm!

I boarded winner 47964 to Carlisle station via both the termini of the 61 route-Morton Park and Harraby East. I was on that solo for quite a while, and was happy to alight at Carlisle station for a PNB and a phone charge. It was onboard this bus I noticed something odd in the timetable-the fares section in particular. Stagecoach have two fare structures for Carlisle-you can buy a dayrider that just covers Carlisle city centre and its closest suburbs-which is the same kind of area as the PlusBus for £3.30 for an adult ticket or £2.20 for a child one. The Dayrider+ covers a larger (unspecified) area and costs ‘£7.30 for an adult or £4.40 for an adult’-oops! I tweeted a picture of this to Stagecoach CNL, who replied quite quickly commending me for spotting it, and asking me to DM them my home address as they were going to send me some kind of prize! (However, they remained very tight lipped about what said prize was!)

After a while on the station, I needed to leave for my prearranged commitment. This required another solo (lucky me!) So I boarded winner 47955 (I haven’t been on Stagecoach NCL before-does it show at all?) and headed out of the city centre. It was only a short ride before I alighted, arriving slightly early at the place I needed to be.

Around 2 hours later, I returned to the bus stop, where I was treated to an Enviro 200 (37107) back into Carlisle, alighting at the railway station once again. During the day, I’d had gen that winner 37425 was coming off Kingmoor and working the 17:37 Barrow service. I had planned to go up to Annan and win the shack, but the best connection to do that was at 19:17, giving just 12 minutes at Annan. Being bored of the large amount of Optare Solos in Carlisle, I decided to go for the 37. (I couldn’t get both 37425 and Annan). As such, I did a fill in move on First SE&Central Scotland’s 65478, which turned out to be an absolute beast! Sadly, I had to alight in Stanwix (again). I crossed the road and boarded fresh dud 47955 back to the Railway Station. I had about an hour to wait for 37425, so I bought a ticket-I’d decided on Corkickle which cost £7 for a railcard return, and returned to the waiting room for more charging. I headed over to Platform 4 at 17:25, just as 37425 rolled in from Kingmoor. The doors were released and we all boarded. The service was short formed, and well loaded, but hardly overcrowded. I was stood at the very rear door listening to the 37 idling, and 17:37 was rapidly approaching...

17:37 arrived! And nothing happened... 17:38 came and went, as did 17:39. At 17:40, the guard announced that there was a technical fault with the train, which a DRS Fitter was looking at, and we would be away shortly. By 17:50 I was worried for my connection as we still hadn’t moved. I couldn’t afford to miss the other 37 as I’d miss my booked train home...

Around 10 minutes later, the guard made another announcement. This time saying we were using the train on platform 2 instead. This was a 156... I’d get banned for life if I post any of the words I used after that announcement, I was SERIOUSLY annoyed at that! I went back over to the ticket office, where the clerk who sold me the ticket ended up serving me again. I explained the ticket was useless now as the train was half an hour late, and a ram-packed 156 instead of a required 37. The ticket was refunded no trouble, and I purchased a return to Annan instead, at the cost of £3.45. With just over an hour until the Glasgow via Dumfries train, I didn’t feel it was worth going back out on the buses-they would be winding down as it was post-6pm, plus I just couldn’t be bothered!

Therefore I returned to my second home-Carlisle’s waiting room and plugged my phone back in. I spent the hour feeling quite sorry for myself, and was tweeting a fair bit. One of my followers helpfully suggested (not knowing I’m underage) that I made the local ‘Spoons my waiting room! Suggestion duly noted for 2018...
After what felt like an eternity, I headed back to platform 4. As if to really rub it in, the 19:17 Glasgow service was formed of dud 156431! (I had it twice last Friday on my Stranraer bash-the second trip I can actually remember! The unit was already dud before then...) The journey to Annan was quite pleasant, albeit dark. It took around 20 minutes, where I alighted and crossed the footbridge to board the 19:48 southbound service. This was formed of winner 156507, which was nice! We arrived into Carlisle about 5 minutes late due to being held at Gretna Junction for a late running vomit comet heading to Brum.

I was in Carlisle at 20:16-my train home was just passing Rutherglen. Lucky me! After a PNB-necessitating a visit to both the chip shop and the station facility, I headed back to the waiting room for most of the next hour until my train home. This felt like a lot longer, as I was very tired at this point.

Dud 390128 arrived to form the 21:26 Crewe train, which had a group of BTP officers onboard for some reason-there was certainly no disorder, the train was nearly empty! In hindsight, going to Carlisle on Friday to go home for 7 hours before my train to Newcastle the next day was crazy! Although it was, on the whole, an excellent day!

Winner units:1
Winner buses:7
Winner shacks:1

 

[Kite159]

Sounded like a good day varied between trains (I shall make no mention of that 390 ) and buses.

Shame the 37s didn't work out but you got a Scottish shack out of the way

 

[Techniquest]

Ooh Berwick upon Tweed annoyed me for years too so I know how you feel! Same for Annan, I was rather annoyed my trip to score it got me a dud. A dud back to Carlisle wasn't welcome!

I'll not ask why you were in Carlisle short notice, and aside from the 37 not working out you managed to make the most of it!

 

[185143]

Ooh Berwick upon Tweed annoyed me for years too so I know how you feel! Same for Annan, I was rather annoyed my trip to score it got me a dud. A dud back to Carlisle wasn't welcome!

I'll not ask why you were in Carlisle short notice, and aside from the 37 not working out you managed to make the most of it!

Annan has been annoying me for a while too to be honest!

 

[FQ]

Scream I did when I read what you got north... Someone not in the know would probably suggest that you like 221s...

Sounds like a great trip to Carlisle, with a brilliant time there (I know what you did), and a rather eventful trip to Liverpool.

 

[185143]

The VSTP bash!-25/02/17

Oh dear. Well, that’s not exactly what I said, that was an expletive or two. Normally for me, when I wake up and have advances booked, the first thing I do is check my phone to check how the trains are running. I found my train on RealTime Trains by searching ‘LIV’ and ’06:12’. The 185 I had an advance from Manchester Victoria to Newcastle on had just left NORTHALLERTON. I sent a message to one of my twitter followers, who I’d arranged to meet, to say I had overdossed and missed my train, which he was fine about. A shame as I was looking forward to bashing the Tyne and Wear Metro-I went up on Megabus last year and loved it! I’ve been on the Metro before that but not for a full day’s bash. The tickets had been booked in TPE’s (crap) new app sale, costing an amazing £3.90 each way, which was less ching than Megabus wanted for that date! The tickets were so cheap as TPE offer a 50% discount to 16-25 railcard holders, and the sale was offering 50% off, and TPE allow railcards to be used in their sales (VTWC I’M LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU THERE!). It seemed a massive shame to waste such cheap tickets, however at least I hadn’t lost too much.

I got a lift to Manchester Victoria and decided to ask the guard of the next Newcastle service if I could board-to which the reply was obviously no. As such, I needed to decide what I was actually doing with my Saturday. I decided on a GM Rail Ranger, which given the terrible weekday restrictions on it, is quite poor value at £5.90. For the record Northern, if you’re reading, I used to use the GM Rail Ranger all the time pre-September 2014. Since then, this is the second GM Rail Ranger I’ve ever bought! And WHY can’t I use my railcard.??

Anyway, rant over, I boarded dud (fleet cleared) 3039 over to Piccadilly-my first Metrolink journey of 2017. Faced with the choice of many, many duds I went for the most logical choice: Starship thrash! After a supply raid, I boarded dud (class cleared) 323226 after meeting up with a couple of friends towards Hadfield. They bailed at Ashburys to go spotting, I stayed on to Broadbottom-or ‘Fat Arse’ as a friend in Glossop calls it! (I’ve borrowed that name from him of course...) I walked across the footbridge and took the opportunity to sort my bag out, and in doing so left my drink on the bench! It really wasn’t my day on Saturday...
I boarded 323228, the one I’ve cleared for 100 miles, back to Piccadilly with my friends joining me at Ashburys. From here, at a loss of where to go next, they decided they wanted to go spotting at Heaton Chapel, so we boarded 156423+150274 on a Buxton service. I intended to board the next Crewe service after we arrived at Heaton Chapel, however I forgot! As such, I stayed on the station with my friends until the 11:31 Hazel Grove service. We all boarded 142034 trailing 142045 for some much needed (and unexpected) pacer thrash! Another passenger onboard asked us about a steam train that was in the area earlier that day-which I knew nothing about, however my friends had been to Buxton to see it, so were able to supply the gen.

We had a 20 minute fester at Hazel Grove, as such I headed straight for the chippy. A bit early, but it’d do. A hellfire pie, chips and peas was sourced for £3, along with a drink for an extra 60p before heading back to the shack. My friends had stayed on the platform spotting, so I headed up to the platform end to join them, and see what the plan was. We were waiting for the pacers to return, which saw no complaints from me! After I’d finished my pie and chips, we headed over to the other platform. My friends had kindly decided it was my turn to get the brews in, which we did from the little kiosk on the Manchester bound platform. After doing so, one of my friends dropped his camera on the platform. He checked to see if it still worked, whilst we tried, and failed, to stop laughing at him. He told us it still worked, however when he filmed a 158 passing through, sheepishly told us he’d need a new lens, to yet more howls of laughter!

They were planning to head home after our visit to Hazel Grove, so two of us got off at Stockport, whilst the other lad stayed on to Manchester. We both went our separate ways at Stockport-my friend joining a Stoke stopper and me joining dud 175107 for a faster ride into Piccadilly, after I’d let a dud vomiter and a dud pendo depart. Whilst on this hippo, I got a text from another friend in Romiley which required me to meet him at around 4:30. Bearing this in mind, my choice from Piccadilly was reasonably limited. I boarded a Southport service, formed of double Heaton 142s, 015 and 02, to work out how far I could take them. I couldn’t get to Wigan as the trains back to Piccadilly were mostly severely delayed. I ended up bailing out at Deansgate, for a pair of 156s back to Occy Road. 156424 seems to haunt me, I certainly used to get it quite lot! I flagged the EMT service in favour of the ATW service to the Airport, as I’ve only done it a couple of times.

A reasonably busy WiFi enabled 175111 was forming the service, however most people got off and Occy Road and nearly everyone was off at Piccadilly. Unsurprisingly, no one boarded at the ORCATS raid that is East Didsbury and arrival at the Airport was on time. Needing to charge my phone, I flagged the all shacks 323 in favour of 185139 on a Middlesbrough service. This decision cost me my connection onto the 15:40 Sheffield service. I texted my friend to tell him I’d be late and boarded 142040 on the 16:03 Marple service. Somewhere in the Reddish area, I realised I needed a PNB, however the facility was unhelpfully locked out. This was rather annoying...

I met my friend on the platform at Romiley, and we waited for the 16:41 Manchester Piccadilly service. He wasn’t travelling but had nothing better to do. Imagine my annoyance therefore when bog-less 142040 bounced back in! After spending 20 minutes with my legs crossed, I arrived in Piccadilly and met up with a pal from Glasgow (I swear I’m not normally this popular!) We were chatting for a while until we both boarded 185130 on a Preston service, which was booked for a pair of 156s. The train was busy, with several people standing. The auto announcer said that the train was none stop Deansgate-Preston. Yet another friend appeared onboard and sat with us momentarily. He alighted at Deansgate with me as he had a GM Wayfarer. Flagging a +20 onto a Bolton service, we headed over to the other platform and joined 156444+156459 on an Occy Road terminater. I was relieved to see the DDA compliant facility actually worked onboard 156444 and practically lept into it!

There appeared to be some congestion at Oxford Road, as the Airport bound 319368 was sat on platform 4, which we took all the way to the Airport. Due to the approximate 10 minute delay, the same 319 left again practically straight away, so we remained onboard back to Piccadilly enjoying some motor thrash on the return journey. We were again undecided on where to go next, so we got on 3103 for the hop to Piccadilly Gardens for a supply raid. A short while later, we returned to the tram stop for 3049 back to Piccadilly which, nicely, rolled in just as we walked onto the platform!

For some charging time, we decided to take 220008 to Stockport, which wasn’t too busy. We quickly returned to Manchester Piccadilly onboard dud 323227, as I am a big fan of 323s but don’t get to travel on them very much these days. We checked that there were no winners at Piccadilly, which there weren’t, so we returned to Stockport on 323228, which was dud for the day. This train was rather busy, and I spent most of the journey waiting for the toilet! Alighting at Stockport, after we got bored of waiting for a winner for me, we boarded dud 390049, running about 45 minutes late. Onboard this train, we were talking about DOO (I’m not having my thread taken over by a DOO argument, so I’m not sharing my opinion of it). Whilst talking about this, another passenger asks if we work on the railway, and introduces himself as a GTR Southern driver... We certainly got the impression that he’d had an interesting year!

We decided to make our way home when we returned to Piccadilly. My friend boarded the 20:49 Buxton service, whilst I boarded the 21:11 TPE York service, formed of 185145 which we were promised would arrive into Stalybridge at 21:26 ‘If we were all good’! I’m happy to report that we were all well behaved and we arrived on time. 185140 arrived 25 minutes later to take me back to Birchwood. The observant amongst you will notice I was travelling on a GM Rail Ranger, Birchwood being one stop outside. The ticket office at Stalybridge was closed, the machine doesn’t issue tickets from other stations, the guard never appeared and the ticket office at Birchwood was shut, so this issue was never resolved...

I know this report is a bit late! Kind of reflects my journey on 390049 really... I’ve not done that many longer trips lately, and I thought this had already been posted.

 

[185143]

A wee trip to Scotland-18th March

Taking advantage of the TPE seat sale yet again, I decided to head for some annoying Scottish shacks. Thankfully I didn’t miss my train this time! I left for Wigan North Western at around 07:00-giving me time to get my ticket from Carlisle (and a bacon butty) as I arrived very early.

Dud (obviously-I cleared the TPE fleet ages ago) 350405 arrived to take me to Carlisle. I was rather concerned to see this as I am convinced this unit is jinxed! Whenever I have a problem on TPE 350s, it is ALWAYS this one! I’ve been on it when the pantograph exploded at Occy Road, I just missed it at Preston one time and it was involved in a fatality at Euxton Balshaw Lane and I had to be evacuated from it at Heald Green a while ago as the OHLE had to be isolated due to a tree being on it! Thankfully the train didn’t explode or kill anyone and the journey was uneventful-aside from the usual grim weather over Shap!

Arrival into Carlisle was on time at 09:10 and, very annoyingly, no winners were due out until my 11:15 Glasgow via Dumfries services. I went to B&M for a supply raid and spent a long time in the waiting room! I managed to dig out an old ‘drivers eye view’ video of the Chat Moss-pre electrification. Worth a watch if you have a spare hour or so. Due to the length of time I’d been waiting, I was very unhappy to see double duds 156432+156436 roll up for the hour or so to Kirkconnel. The hour long fester here seemed to go very slowly indeed!

Winner HMS McScotrail 156478 returned to take me back to Sanquhar. Brodies seem to have done a good job with this unit-I wouldn’t have known that was the 156 that went swimming if I didn’t know the unit number! I alighted at a lovely looking Sanquhar after about 5 minutes and crossed over to the other platform for a 45 minute fester, muttering some swear words when I saw my phone percentage and realised I’d forgotten my power bank! The fester again when quite slowly until winner 156500 arrived to take me to Dunlop. I got talking with some passengers who boarded at Auchinleck who (unsupringly) couldn’t get their heads around the idea of shack scratching-which was interesting! I was expecting some friends to join me at Kilmarnock, but due to a misunderstanding they met me at Dunlop instead. I alighted and ran up onto the footbridge where my friends were stood, to film the train leave.

We all went for a wander into the village and had a supply raid from a post office we found. The half hour fester went very quickly and we all boarded winner 156434 for the journey to Glasgow, pausing on Glasgow Central approach to let a couple of other units in ahead of us. I had around an hour until my train home-the 17:09 Manchester Airport service, so I went spotting to waste a bit of time, whilst my friends went to Partick to see the Cally Sleeper ECS.

My friends returned after I had boarded dud 185141 back to Wigan North Western-so I went and stood by the door until the train departed. This journey really wasn’t great. The train was well loaded, but no one was standing until Carlisle where the train massively emptied out. Just before Lockerbie, I went for a PNB and found, not unusually for a 185, both bogs were locked out. Yay...

I was relieved, in more ways than one (!) To arrive at Wigan North Western after what felt like the longest journey in the world. It’s been a while since I’ve had a longer journey on a 185, and I’d forgotten just how unsuited to longer distance work they are. I’d take a Voyager from Glasgow over a 185 any day! But at £2.75 for an advance single I can’t complain too much..

Winner units:3
Winner Shacks:3

 

[FQ]

Oversleeping again? You're making it a habit . Shame you couldn't get to Newcastle, but the day in Mancc sounds rather good. Ouch to your friend breaking his camera lens - they're not exactly cheap to replace! Typical pacers with no working toilets. Rubbish rolling stock, that's what it is

Sounds like a good time in Scotland there, except the 185 back. It's much better than a 221 though, no matter what you say

 

[Techniquest]

The visit to Manchester wasn't very productive but very social! Getting those Scottish shacks in must have felt rather rewarding after all that festering!

 

[185143]

I'd have preferred the ride home from Scotland on a 507 to that 185 Quinn! The day in Manchester was alright-not nearly as good as what was planned though! And how dare you say such a horrible thing about Northern's premier traction!

 

[Kite159]

Mmm 156 thrash

 

[cactustwirly]

I'd have preferred the ride home from Scotland on a 507 to that 185 Quinn! The day in Manchester was alright-not nearly as good as what was planned though! And how dare you say such a horrible thing about Northern's premier traction!

Exeter's premier traction are far superior than Northern's!

I think you mad to waste your time shack scoring for hours at a time!

Sounds like a good time in Manchester though!
(I agree voyagers are better than 185s)

 

[Techniquest]

No. No. Just no. A 507 from Glasgow to Manchester would be insanely tortuous! I'd prefer a 185 on it, and I speak from having done a 185 on that journey on an ALR years ago. Never again...

 

[noddy1878]

What's wrong with 185s. Decent units I reckon, just two carriages too short!

 

[Techniquest]

The 185s are fine, just they're not exactly comfortable when you do Glasgow to Manchester in one go! At the time, if I'd known the 390 would be leaving only a few minutes later (it had arrived very late from London), I'd have waited for it!

 

[Kite159]

The question is, which one will Jamie visit first...

Low Moor or Ilkeston

As for 185s on Glasgow - Manchester, that was my first taste of TPE back in May 14 thundering up the WCML [before a 220 from Manchester all the way to Bristol for a 158 forward to Salisbury!]

 

[185143]

The question is, which one will Jamie visit first...

Low Moor or Ilkeston

As for 185s on Glasgow - Manchester, that was my first taste of TPE back in May 14 thundering up the WCML [before a 220 from Manchester all the way to Bristol for a 158 forward to Salisbury!]

I know the answer to that-and I'm fairly sure Crossover does too. I won't spoil the surprise however!

You have my sympathies on that long 185 journey!

 

[TC60054]

Glasgow to Manchester on a 185 is one of my best 185 journeys!

 

[185143]

‘Mmm, 156 thrash’-25th March

The day started when I awoke at around 05:30-I’m used to going out bashing tired but this was even worse than usual! I had planned a bash around the East Midlands for today-but I was given some Northern Family & Friends £7 day tickets in the week, and bearing in mind Ilkeston is to open soon (at the time of the bash) I decided my planned bash would be flagged.

I set off for Manchester Victoria at around 06:10, arriving about 25 minutes later. I met up with Zachally at Manchester Victoria, who had arrived on the tram. We sourced the tickets and both remembered that McDonald’s upstairs had closed down. BOO! As there were no direct Northern trains running between Manchester and Leeds-and the Rail Replacement between Todmorden and Halifax managed to take LONGER than the First Caldervale 590 (!) We decided to speak to the guard on the TPE Newcastle service, who was more than happy for us to travel. A very lightly loaded (has anyone ever said that about a 185 before!) 185128 was doing the honours this morning, and I got a reply from the Northern tweetdesk. I was after my last Northern 142, 142022 and my last Northern 156s-156481 and 156484. I was told that 142022 was on exam at Heaton depot, which was very irritating. I was also told that 156484 was between Darlington and Middlesbrough and 481 was at Barrow! Not helpful! To make it just that little bit worse, I was told 156484 was going onto the Esk Valley line...

I spent much of the journey frustratedly muttering swear words at RealTime Trains, but eventually got a plan. We arrived into Leeds on time, where I said goodbye to Zachally who was going EMU bashing around West Yorkshire. I boarded dud 158906 back to New Pudsey as a fill in move before heading to York. I was sat in the rear coach trying to remember what was special about 158906, when it suddenly entered my mind. USBs in the other coach! The wifi didn’t want to play, annoyingly, and it was a nice ride back to New Pudsey. After around a 10 minute fester, the York train arrived-formed of ‘refurbished’ dud 158752 with its uncomfortable seats. I was glad to get off at York some 45 minutes later that’s for sure! I said hi to a TPE Dispatcher I know, and went to speak very very nicely with the guard of a TPE Newcastle service to see if I could travel to Darlington-the GC about 40 minutes later was no use to me, and I’m far too tight to pay a VTEC fare to Darlington!

The guard was happy for me to travel, so I boarded dud 185115 for the dull 30 minute journey to Darlington-winning the track Northallerton-Darlington in the Northbound direction. The train was again very lightly loaded, however quite a few people boarded at Northallerton. I alighted at Darlo to await the 09:51 Middlesbrough service, which was formed of 142021-with the famous rhyming Middlesbrough guard onboard! I’ve never been on his train before! I soon learnt I was on an (absolutely rammed!) ‘train to the seaside, calling at Dinsdale, Allens West, Eaglescliffe, Thornaby, Middlesbrough next...’-you get the idea!

It was quite a relief to get off at ‘Boro-that is until I saw the crowds waiting on the platform for the Whitby train! The 10:28 service to Whitby, formed of winner 156484 left Middlesbrough full and standing-with the guard joking to people boarding at James Cook that it was ‘luggage racks only’! I alighted at Nunthorpe, where I had a 40 minute fester-some of which was used on a supply raid in the local Spar shop.

156479 arrived to form my service to Hexham, which I would be taking to Newcastle-after some confusion as to which platform it would be departing from, I got onboard-and was the only person onboard leaving Nunthorpe. Oh how that soon changed! Most seats were taken from Middlesbrough, all were taken by Stockton. The people who wedged me out on my table were really friendly, and kind of (eventually!) Managed to get their heads around the fact that I was heading back to Manchester on a train to Hexham! By Hartlepool, the train was full and standing. I’ve only done the Durham coast line a couple of times, and I’d forgotten how scenic it actually is! (Ignoring the description of pretty much every stop I was given by the people sat with me-it begun with ‘S’ and ended in ‘hole’!)

I had considered bailing at Sunderland for the metro-however I didn’t as I was meeting a friend in Newcastle for a drink-and only had half an hour before my train to Carlisle as it was. Plus, I don’t think I would have managed to alight at Sunderland anyway. We were held outside Newcastle to let a late running VTEC HST arrive before us, and apparently a 91 had just arrived from Edinburgh-so there was a fair bit of congestion at the barrier. Sticking to the Geordie stereotype-we left the station and headed straight across the road to Greggs! A nice meat and potato pie and a coke were sourced and we stood outside in the sun (yes, seriously!) Outside Newcastle Central eating our food and arranging to meet when I return to the ‘Toon in May for my last Metro shacks.

I said goodbye and returned to the station to catch winner McAbellio 156456 over to Carlisle, which felt like a real slog-although I didn’t know at the time how far it was. If I thought the Tyne Valley was a long drag-I was starting to become seriously tired at that point, far worse was about to come! After a 30 minute break in Carlisle, during which a present for Mum was sourced, I boarded 156481-my last Northern 156-on the 15:25 to Preston. I was intending taking this all the way down to Preston! I ended up sat opposite a Northern driver as far as Maryport, so the conversation for the first hour or so was very much railway focused-and we both discussed our views on the DOO dispute, which took up a lot of the journey-as that topic always does when it is mentioned! We said goodbye at Maryport, where quite a few people alighted, and I tried to settle in a bit-without much success! I’ve not done this line on a unit (except 142060 Workington-Lancaster) since the 37s started running-and I intend to keep it that way in future! The journey was largely uneventful-with the exception of our arrival into Flimby. There were no requests to stop from onboard, and no one on the platform waiting to board. This is, until lots of toneage comes from the unit and the brakes slam on. Two people waiting on the other side had decided, right at the last minute, to run across the track-in front of the moving train-to get over to the Southbound platform and board it. The driver had a strong word with them-and when they decided to get abusive with the driver, the guard came up to see what was going on. The driver filled him in on the incident and the guard refused them travel. Some people!

The rest of the journey was, thankfully, uneventful. The train got busy at Barrow, and I had to be woken up at Silverdale! As I stood up to alight, I instantly recognised a 37 basher who’d been sat behind me all the way from Barrow! (Completely unknowingly) We had a quick chat and alighted at Carnforth. My phone had died by this point, so I headed over to the micropub in the station who kindly let me use a plug-accompanied by a drink or two of course! After about half an hour, I headed back to the station and onto winner 144016 t’Leeds. One hellfire bouncy ride later, I arrived in Leeds around 1 hour and 50 minutes after I boarded. I had to rush over to dud 144021 on the 21:26 Huddersfield stopper.

Whilst onboard I learnt that the 22:15 Manchester Victoria ‘p*sshead express’ had been cancelled, and there was no other Northern alternative that would get me home. Whilst speaking to the guard, who was very helpful despite her non-existent knowledge of the rail network on the correct side o’ t’Pennines, Y961 XBU (As I discovered in Liverpool a couple of days later) and a couple of others approached the guard with the same problem. We were told to speak to the TPE Staff at Huddersfield, who told us to speak to the guard on a TPE service. A delayed Manchester Airport service formed of 185147 arrived a few minutes later, and the guard was more than happy for us to board. The journey to Manchester was rather unpleasant-we were all exhausted and I had a couple of young children sat at my table who had far too much energy and volume for half ten on a Saturday night!

We said goodbye in Manchester, as Y961 XBU had to rush over to Victoria to get the Chat Moss stopper. I headed for platform 14 and boarded dud (obviously) 156425 for the bus stop move to Occy Road. Stood at the back of the train staring at the Northern map-the extent of the day’s travels hit me. The guard commented ‘That was a very long sigh mate!’ (I just wanted bed at that point). I told the guard I’d been all over the Northern Network, to which he replied that he had just worked a Sheffield, so he’d covered some distance. The ‘I win’ moment came when I said I’d been to Newcastle! I had about 25 minutes at Occy Road before the 23:20 Cheshire Lines stopper, so I made use of the plugs in the cafe during this time. The train arrived at around 23:10, I was at the rear of the train as that is always the least busy on CLC stoppers, especially on a double unit. 156488 (because I clearly haven’t had enough 156 mileage today!) and a 150 arrived. I was hoping for a 142, so was very disappointed! I’d been talking to the guard of this service at Lime Street the night before, and had told him what I intended to do. He asked me how I’d got on, so I filled him in on the day. The train (thankfully) kept to time, and I got back to Birchwood just under 30 minutes later. All in all it was a good day-but I wouldn’t be in a hurry to do it again!

Winner units:4

 

[alexf380]

A very long, yet enjoyable day. Something different to the usual "intense bashing" you read of on these forums.

 

[Kite159]

Sounded like a good day to grab your last 2 Northern 156s with a decent run on both

 

[Techniquest]

Wow that was a long day! Very productive mind to get those pesky winners in, and what a ton of variety!

 

[185143]

A wee adventure-1st April

The day started pretty much as usual for an 06:4X departure, awake at around 05:30 and into Dad’s car for the journey to Wigan North Western. I hoped today, the first anniversary of this TPE (and Northern) franchise would go a lot better than day 1 of TPE! (I went Sheffield Supertram bashing-my train to Sheffield was cancelled, and the return train was also cancelled! I was sent to Sheffield interchange to await a rail replacement-which never turned up, and in fact was sat there for so long that a member of EMT Staff came over to the interchange and put us on the EMT service, as people had gone back to the station to complain the bus hadn’t shown up). Thankfully this day did go better-I purchased an Edinburgh plusbus as it’s cheaper than the day ticket on the trams, more so with a railcard, met a friend who was going to Lancaster to go 37 bashing and we boarded 350409 on time at 06:43. I had booked this trip in the TPE New app seat sale, so along with my 16-25 railcard, this had cost me £8 for a return from Wigan to Edinburgh!

The guard appeared fairly quickly, and ran into a problem with a passenger a few rows up from us. He had booked an advance ticket to Newcastle, and was sat in his reserved seat but had failed to collect his ticket. He had also forgotten his railcard! He was fairly quick to offer to ‘pay the difference’-however the guard explained it didn’t work like that, and he would have to buy a full new ticket. Once he understood why this was, he agreed to buy a ticket to Carlisle and pick up his advance there (despite the guard making it very clear that the advance wasn’t valid as he didn’t have his railcard-I’ll make no comment about the issue of the passenger starting short at Carlisle on said advance either...)

Aside from the PA going nuts at Oxenholme, ‘This train is for Edinburgh, and will be calling at...’ was fine, but it then proceeded to read the list of stations at around 10 times the normal speed! The rest of the journey was uneventful-aside from losing a few minutes at Lockerbie to assist a wheelchair passenger-and the near constant popping of bottles opening from the hen party in the half of the carriage behind me!
I stopped off in Subway for breakfast, a mega melt going down very well. After making a wee joke on twitter-at Scotland’s expense-that there was no deep fried option available, I headed to St. Andrew Square to just watch an Airport bound white elephant depart. Damn. I’d end up chasing that all morning! Winner 262 was boarded to York Place, where another tram departed! I ended up staying on 262 back to Haymarket-I’ve had all the shacks on the Edinburgh Trams, so it’s purely about winning the trams now. From Haymarket, I took winner 253 back to St. Andrew’s Square-using the excellent Lothian Buses app to see winner 255 was about to depart York Place. 255 soon arrived-I was going to go back to Haymarket, as it’s a good connection there, however a quick glance at RTT revealed that a VTEC Tram to Aberdeen was at platform so I stayed on the tram to film it passing. Thankfully I didn’t get bowled by a crappy 170 and I managed to film the tram, from a tram!

The app suggested I would be able to stay on to Saughton-so I did! I picked up a very warm 272 back to Haymarket, where I got a ticket for later and had a PNB. I did a move more commonly done on a 334 next-winner 259 to Edinburgh Park Station, for a very short fester before winner 261 back to Bankhead. I got in touch with some friends I was meeting later, who hadn’t left Glasgow as planned, so were not on the plan I’d been sent. I planned to meet them at Haymarket once I’d had all of the trams I needed that were out. 270 was won on the bus stop bash back to Edinburgh Park station, before winning 271 back to...you’ve guessed it-Bankhead! 256 was the latest to fall to the red pen, this time I stayed onboard to Gyle Centre. Because of the Lothian Buses app, I knew exactly which trams were out that I still needed, so formulated a wee plan in my head to get them.

Clearly I’m crap at that as I boarded fresh dud 253 (that was planned) to intercept 267...which left Edinburgh Park Station just as I arrived! All wasn’t lost however, as I knew winner 266 was right behind, so I went back to my new most frequently used tram station (Bankhead) to wait for it. 266 entered the book for the leap to Edinburgh Park Central. Dud 259 was taken back to Bankhead for dud 262 to Ingliston Park and Ride-the last stop before Lothian Buses rob tourists blind....err.... I mean before Airport zone fares apply. For anyone that doesn’t know-these White Elephants are not only slower than the bus service from the City Centre to the Airport, but more expensive too! (I’m Edinburgh Trams biggest fan-can you tell?)

The guard (or whatever they are classified as-I don’t actually know) was the same guard as was on 262 at the start of the day. We had a bit of a chat, and he wished me luck in getting 267 (I was planning on intercepting it immediately at Ingliston P&R). The next tram to arrive was.... 266! GRR! This meant 8 minutes on the platform, and time was running out! 267 did of course form the next service, which I took back to Haymarket. After a trip across the road for a deep fried pizza supper (yum!) I met my friends on the platform-just as winner 43314 pulled in running 25 late! The service was rather busy, but we were happy to stand-and I’d be lying if I said the window stayed down! I’m slightly (ok-very) ashamed to admit that this was my first HST of the year...

We left the HST at Waverley-the first time I’ve ever done so (I’m not helping myself am I...). My friends went off to source onward tickets (they had Glasgow-Edinburgh returns I think) and McDonald’s-nearly missing our train in the process, dud 380106 to Drem. (I’ll make this even worse and admit that I was on winner track from the Junction down to the Borders Railway onwards!)

My friends were staying at Drem spotting for a couple of hours, whilst I boarded winner 380101 to North Berwick. I was told ‘It’s a nice wee single track branch line’(-which it certainly is!) After a short wait, the train departed back towards Edinburgh, this time depositing me at Longniddry. A couple of HSTs roared through in the 30 minute fester here, however winner 380103 was nice to see as a PNB was fairly urgently required! This 380 dropped me off at Prestonpans-ScotRail shack number 200! A supply raid was had in the local co-op before 380106 returned to take me to celebrity shack Wallyford. This 30 minute fester was err... interesting! A hen party were travelling to Edinburgh, however only half of them were out of the taxi! Therefore they missed the train, and the peaceful 30 minute fester I had envisaged was shattered...

The group found my T-shirt with the entire London Underground map on it ‘amazing’ (not my words!)-we actually managed a decent natter before the train, and some of them actually seemed to understand the concept of shack scratching! (Once I’d explained it a few times that is!) The weather turned unpleasant and it started to rain, so we all had to cram into the shelter-which was a bit of a squeeze! 380101 returned to offer the opportunity for a much needed PNB. The hen party wished me good luck in getting the rest of the UK’s shacks and I wished them a good night as I alighted at the next winner shack Musselburgh.

Not much happened here-except for the Highland Chieftain roaring through of course! My friends got back in touch to say they were taking the 17:15 back to Glasgow. They boarded at Haymarket, heading towards Waverley-and supplied me with the gen that it was winner 170410. 380103 had to take me back to Waverley first, which it did without trouble. I met my friends again we took the 17:15 Glasgow Queen Street service. I was booked on the 18:13 Manchester Airport service, so my plan was to get the tram back to Waverley. Much of the Haymarket leap was spent arguing about DOO (for a change when I come across someone with different views on the matter than I!). On alighting, however, a VTEC HST was approaching bound for the Cross! Shove the trams then! Double winners 43277+43309 were taken back to Waverley where I had a 55 minute fester before the train home.

If anyone from TPE is reading, only releasing the doors 10 minutes before departure on an intercity service isn’t really very good! As expected, I put another 209.5 miles onto 350409 for the journey back to Pieland. My friend who went 37 bashing joined me again at Lancaster, and the journey back seemed to pass quickly, was quite pleasant and very cheap! (£4 again).

Winner Shacks:6
Winner Units:3
Winner Trams:10
Winner Locos:3

 

[Kite159]

That app sounds useful to get if it tells you the ID of the trams out to play

Sounded like a bargain of the day for the Wigan - Edinburgh tickets

 

[185143]

That app sounds useful to get if it tells you the ID of the trams out to play

Sounded like a bargain of the day for the Wigan - Edinburgh tickets

267 wasn't tracking properly-it tracked where the tram was, but not the fleet number. The app works for buses too-click on the bus/tram and it tells you the fleet number.

 

[Kite159]

I'm only thinking that I'm in Edinburgh in a couple weeks time, I could get the App to see if any of my last 4 trams are out and about

 

[Techniquest]

Ooh that app sounds bloody useful!

A most productive day all in there, well done on 200 Scottish shacks!

 

[185143]

I'm only thinking that I'm in Edinburgh in a couple weeks time, I could get the App to see if any of my last 4 trams are out and about

Are you ever *not* on the other side of the country??
Which trams do you need btw?

 

[Kite159]

are you ever *not* on the other side of the country??:d
which trams do you need btw?

254; 255; 260; 277

 

[alexf380]

A very useful app it certainly Is! And a lovely day was had riding around on my local train set as well