Although there's a world of difference comfort-wise between an ATW 143 and a Northern 142 with bus seats or ex-Merseyrail.
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2011 Blog.
- Thread starter 4SRKT
- Start date
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Although there's a world of difference comfort-wise between an ATW 143 and a Northern 142 with bus seats or ex-Merseyrail.
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R
RailUK Forums
I'll have to get down to Wales sometime, think a trip is in order after exams.
Pretty ****ed off missing my bash day yesterday, still I only lost £9.
Ivo
Established Member
But who's to say that Canton won't acknowledge your arrival and provide you with a 150? 
I have to say that, after Pembroke in February and now Monday, I really don't mind Pacers all that much any more.
I have to say that, after Pembroke in February and now Monday, I really don't mind Pacers all that much any more.
There's some kind of excellent day ticket in the Valleys for under a tenner. A couple of advances on the WAG from and to Crewe and you're set fair for a good day out!
Finish on the 27th May so after that I have the whole of the summer (unless I find a job). Will definately be having a day or two in Cardiff.
WestCoast
Established Member
It is possible, they appear on Manchester Victoria runs quite regularly.
Blindtraveler
Established Member
- Joined
- 28 Feb 2011
- Messages
- 10,544
and my god you get a good bounce between preston and blackpool! After the bordom of the voyager/185 from edb, its amazing, just like doin the pleasure beach a day early!
Now theres a thought - preservation of old br stock, pleasurebeach presents the paser experience! All they need is some nice jointed track, few sets a points and the odd hill!
Now theres a thought - preservation of old br stock, pleasurebeach presents the paser experience! All they need is some nice jointed track, few sets a points and the odd hill!
Normally check what is in the bays at York station when I'm passing through. Only seen it once, a 142 sitting in the sun on platform 7, Blackpool North on the display blind. Was very tempted but had other plans that day. later found out it was replaced at Leeds (good thing I didn't buy a ticket then).
Ivo
Established Member
Drimnagh Road
Member
I uploaded a few photos from the epic Tuesday here
4SRKT,
my last hour in Belfast was a bit all over the place. Went around to GVS on 8452 as you know, I was then faffing about whether to go back around to Central on 8457 or not, it prob would have been nice to get the fourth unit in.
I flagged it anyway in favour of the Crown, I decided there was no point in becoming desperate at this stage about 450s, when I've had years of opportunity to do them properly and never bothered because they were "units" (let me tell you I don't see them like that anymore).
In a way, this was a bad move. 8458 as you well know was on the 16:58 ex GVS. I subsequently found out when I got back to Dublin that I had 8458 on the Portrush branch in 2007, so had I known this on Tuesday - not sure why I didn't check my records before heading North - I definitly would have done 8457. Had I done 8457 it would have meant I had "haulage" on all the units that were out on the Larne line that day, 452, 453, 455, 457 and 458, even though I didn't actually travel with 8458 on the day if you know what I mean.
Went for pint in the Crown and was finished there about twenty five to six. Decided to walk up to Central, and picked up some grub from Subway beside the Crown. I then tried to find an off-licence so I could procure some bottles of Belfast as it is impossible to get down here and it's always handy to have a few bottles in the press. Where as Dublin has an off licence of some description - be it off licence, convenience store or supermarket every angle you look - Belfast appears to have zilch.
I ended up walking all the way down to Tesco's beside the Castle Court, got there about quarter to. Packed out the door, you could swear that there was a nuclear crisis and that people were panic buying. If I learnt one thing on Tuesday, it is to avoid the "self service" check outs at all costs. Basically, from a queue of approx 10 people in front of me, one in two had at least some problem at the check out and required assistance, dramatically slowing things down.
I scan my bottles no problem, click "pay" on the screen, credit card at the ready so I can make a quick transaction instead of wasting valuable seconds trying to get a crumpled 20 quid note in and have the machine spit it back out at you. Anyway, it comes up, "this product requires store assistance". I mean honestly, talk about going backwards.
Eventually somebody whom I only describe as a yoke comes up and starts hassling me about ID, I told her since I'm 25 I don't bring ID anymore. She then lectures me about the need to bring ID "in future", and Tesco's policies are bla bla bla, and then keys in her code to let the transaction continue. I noted that the screen said "does customer look 25", or something like that, she clicks "yes" and then walks off.
Was touching on 17:55 at this stage and still having to get to Central for a train that leaves in fifteen minutes. Ended up getting taxi from Donegal Square around to Central. I know the way to Central, and I know what route I would take normally. This taxi man however, well let me put it this way, if I was a taxi man I wouldn't have gone the way he did. Anyway, we drive straight into traffic and I knew this would be hit or miss for the 18:10, not the end of the world as there's the 20:10 but that's too late. Got out of taxi at 18:07, legged it across road. The ticket bert at the gate as expected muttered something about pushing it.
For people who don't know Central, the platforms are a long way from the building. Anyway, I did make it and boarded the train at 18:09. I uploaded a few photos here
4SRKT,
my last hour in Belfast was a bit all over the place. Went around to GVS on 8452 as you know, I was then faffing about whether to go back around to Central on 8457 or not, it prob would have been nice to get the fourth unit in.
I flagged it anyway in favour of the Crown, I decided there was no point in becoming desperate at this stage about 450s, when I've had years of opportunity to do them properly and never bothered because they were "units" (let me tell you I don't see them like that anymore).
In a way, this was a bad move. 8458 as you well know was on the 16:58 ex GVS. I subsequently found out when I got back to Dublin that I had 8458 on the Portrush branch in 2007, so had I known this on Tuesday - not sure why I didn't check my records before heading North - I definitly would have done 8457. Had I done 8457 it would have meant I had "haulage" on all the units that were out on the Larne line that day, 452, 453, 455, 457 and 458, even though I didn't actually travel with 8458 on the day if you know what I mean.
Went for pint in the Crown and was finished there about twenty five to six. Decided to walk up to Central, and picked up some grub from Subway beside the Crown. I then tried to find an off-licence so I could procure some bottles of Belfast as it is impossible to get down here and it's always handy to have a few bottles in the press. Where as Dublin has an off licence of some description - be it off licence, convenience store or supermarket every angle you look - Belfast appears to have zilch.
I ended up walking all the way down to Tesco's beside the Castle Court, got there about quarter to. Packed out the door, you could swear that there was a nuclear crisis and that people were panic buying. If I learnt one thing on Tuesday, it is to avoid the "self service" check outs at all costs. Basically, from a queue of approx 10 people in front of me, one in two had at least some problem at the check out and required assistance, dramatically slowing things down.
I scan my bottles no problem, click "pay" on the screen, credit card at the ready so I can make a quick transaction instead of wasting valuable seconds trying to get a crumpled 20 quid note in and have the machine spit it back out at you. Anyway, it comes up, "this product requires store assistance". I mean honestly, talk about going backwards.
Eventually somebody whom I only describe as a yoke comes up and starts hassling me about ID, I told her since I'm 25 I don't bring ID anymore. She then lectures me about the need to bring ID "in future", and Tesco's policies are bla bla bla, and then keys in her code to let the transaction continue. I noted that the screen said "does customer look 25", or something like that, she clicks "yes" and then walks off.
Was touching on 17:55 at this stage and still having to get to Central for a train that leaves in fifteen minutes. Ended up getting taxi from Donegal Square around to Central. I know the way to Central, and I know what route I would take normally. This taxi man however, well let me put it this way, if I was a taxi man I wouldn't have gone the way he did. Anyway, we drive straight into traffic and I knew this would be hit or miss for the 18:10, not the end of the world as there's the 20:10 but that's too late. Got out of taxi at 18:07, legged it across road. The ticket bert at the gate as expected muttered something about pushing it.
For people who don't know Central, the platforms are a long way from the building. Anyway, I did make it and boarded the train at 18:09. I uploaded a few photos here
voyagerdude220
Established Member
- Joined
- 13 Oct 2005
- Messages
- 4,263
I once caught a 142 (can't remember which one) on a very cold wintery morning in January IIRC, on a Blackpool to York working. I couldn't believe it when It rolled into Blackburn.. I was certain it was actually colder inside than outside.. (Temperature being slightly below freezing at the time)
Nice pics and write-up there DR. You've covered it more from the crank POV, which I don't usually go into much detail on. Plenty of gen on your site to tempt potential thumper veg over to Norn Iron before it's too late!
If you're ever in branch of Morrison's don't ever use the self-service tills there. They are just terrible and make the ones at Asda and Tesco look like seamless technology. I was once so cross about the inability of people in the queue to use them properly that I started a thread about them on another forum, and was so insulting about these people's lack of intelligence that I got banned from the site!
If you're ever in branch of Morrison's don't ever use the self-service tills there. They are just terrible and make the ones at Asda and Tesco look like seamless technology. I was once so cross about the inability of people in the queue to use them properly that I started a thread about them on another forum, and was so insulting about these people's lack of intelligence that I got banned from the site!
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
This is my first posting as I have just joined this site. I was recommended by a fellow contributor on MANCHESTER TRANSPORT.
Can anyone let me know the longest complete timetabled journey they have made where the train supplied was a Class 142 Pacer? Many years ago, I travelled on such a unit from Manchester to Llandudno in the days of British Rail.
Incidentally, I remember the Class 142 units being introduced on the Manchester Victoria - Oldham Mumps - Rochdale line and I used to commute from Dean Lane to Oldham Mumps six days a week. Public Relations staff were on board asking passengers for their opinions as to these new units. An old lady regular passenger curtly remarked that if she wanted to travel by bus, she would have done so, as these new trains looked like " Buses on the railway ".
Can anyone let me know the longest complete timetabled journey they have made where the train supplied was a Class 142 Pacer? Many years ago, I travelled on such a unit from Manchester to Llandudno in the days of British Rail.
Incidentally, I remember the Class 142 units being introduced on the Manchester Victoria - Oldham Mumps - Rochdale line and I used to commute from Dean Lane to Oldham Mumps six days a week. Public Relations staff were on board asking passengers for their opinions as to these new units. An old lady regular passenger curtly remarked that if she wanted to travel by bus, she would have done so, as these new trains looked like " Buses on the railway ".
The longest current one that I know of, is 06.56 Middlesbrough - Carlisle which is 3 hours exactly in duration. Still haven't been able to find any other as long as this in the current timetables
Although if the 143 on the Fishguard > Cheltenham were a regular occurence, the aching passengers going right through would have to endure 4 hours and 5 minutes on it.
Ivo
Established Member
We could always give it a try; come down to Cardiff for 10:30 and if a Pacer is waiting on Platform 4 to go west then give it a whirl! All the way to Fishguard and back, and on to Cheltenham. (And, if not, you can have your Pacer fix with a Valleys Explorer instead.)
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
I have made 4 jouneys from Manchester Victoria to Kirkby in the last fortnight(in order to change there to arrive at Blundellsands and Crosby, via Sandhills) and the outward journey in each case comprised a Class 142 with 2 x 3 bus seating that have top metal grab rails. The ride on each journey was very poor and it has been a very long time since I have travelled on such poor quality units with poor riding qualities. The last time that I endured such an uncomfortable ride was on the 108 bus from Macclesfield to Ashbourne ran by Clowes Coaches using ancient second-hand buses purchased from Arriva that had been repainted. This is 2011...are these Class 142 units here to remind everyone that the country is in a period of severe austerity and, as the saying goes, "keep calm and carry on".
3rd May. Another business trip. This time to our depot at Rochester in Kent, and I decided to take the following day off work to allow me to use the trip to and from London as a positioning move covered by the tickets paid for by my employer.
Life’s a bit tough at the moment, and worries are streaming through my brain all night as I try to sleep, mainly but not entirely work related after five consecutive days not in the office. Anxiety has become something of an occupational hazard lately, so a day doing something enjoyable and totally out of routine seems just the ticket. Or just the AP ticket. Or in fact just the six AP tickets. I woke at 06:30 having had very little sleep and got up to start the morning pre-school routine. Moving like a deep sea diver walking about on the sea bed I stumbled slowly around in a daze making cups of tea and warm milk, breakfasts for the kids, packed lunches, put out the bins etc. Luckily the superb HS1 service to Kent from St Pancras allows me to set out on a later (and cheaper) train than would previously have been possible, so I actually set off a few minutes later than I would have done if just doing the normal drive to work at Morley, and strolled to Shipley station for the 08:07 to Leeds. Once on board the 333 I start to feel better immediately. I’m on a train for goodness’ sake, and this is just about the only relaxant in life at the moment. The prospect of (apart from 5 or so hours at work this afternoon) non-stop bashing until 23:10 the following night is uplifting.
At Leeds I bail eagerly looking out for the expected EMT liveried HST on the 08:40 to the Cross. Sure enough the set’s there on platform 8, with EMT 43074 leading. Camera in hand I walk along the adjacent platform 9 to get the ‘bogie shot’ of the rear power car, but I can’t help noticing that it’s all gone quiet over there. As I get nearer I see the reason why. The power car is in East Coast livery, and is MTU engined 43206. A shame as I’d hoped for VP185s at both ends. Next slight cock-up is no coach F in the formation, so the reservation on my AP ticket is meaningless. Still, this could well be a good thing as I can now sit where I like and there are plenty of spare seats. No risk of being stuck next to some sweating oaf, or some obnoxious executive loudly and self-importantly intoning corporate banalities into a mobile ‘phone and looking sneeringly at my Quail Track Diagrams, despite not being important enough not to be on a cheap AP ticket himself! I spread out in a pair of airline style seats next to the bulkhead in the middle of coach E and promptly drop off. I’m awakened before Doncaster by a call from work, which provides reassurance that everything hasn’t collapsed there over the Bank Holidays, and then get the laptop out.
This is a great train, with no more than two thirds of the seats occupied so feeling spacious inside. If you had the advantage of being colourblind the EMT mk III may well be the nicest second class interior around these days. The weather is glorious and the journey through the sleepy, pastoral dullness of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire passes all too soon. At Little Bytham I notice for the first time in nearly 40 years of riding this line the remains of the M&GNJR embankment where it crossed over the ECML at right angles. I dozed off once again and woke at Hatfield for the run through the tunnels and into outer London proper. I love this section of line. It always gives me an almost childish sense of anticipation that we are approaching the metropolis, and is very reminiscent of childhood trips to the capital. Two minutes early at the Cross where I bought an Oyster card for later on, and then went over to St Pancras for the 11:25 to Faversham.
The 395 looked as sleek as last time, and left on time for the swift ride to Strood where I bailed. Incredible that I can now be in Strood at a time not much later than that which a couple of years ago would probably have seen me boarding a train at London Bridge for the long, drawn out ride through SE London and Kent. The announcement approaching Stratford International that you can only get away from that station by a shuttle bus to the real Stratford station, taking 10-15 minutes, was greeted by the head-scratching thought ‘what’s the point?’ in my mind. Strood was looking as singularly grim as ever on the 15 minute walk to the depot, and as I walked I adjusted my personal settings to work mode for the afternoon.
After a very productive afternoon of work I strolled back to Strood station for the 17:35 to Charing Cross. I rode with the 465 as far as Waterloo East where I bailed to meet my friend again for drinks in the excellent Charles Dickens pub. Beer still good and still all a standard price, but now £3.20 instead of £3 as in September. At about quarter to ten we left and walked to Southwark tube station where I touched in with the Oyster Card for the first time and took the Jubilee Line to Baker Street. After the ultra-modern station at Southwark with its idiot-proof platform edge barriers, it was a big contrast to use the Metropolitan part of Baker Street station, surely the most pleasing part of London Underground’s estate. Only a few seconds to wait before a C69 set arrived on a Hammersmith & City Line working two stops to Paddington. Across the bridge and down to the Lawn where I was a few minutes early for the Night Riviera on platform 1 and had to wait until the central locking lights came on just after 22:30 so I could board. The view across the Lawn to the line up of HSTs at the buffers produced a vivid recollection of my first visit to this station in 1978, and also my first ever trip on an HST, a seriously exciting experience at the time. 57605 is our loco tonight, hauling 4 sleeping cars and 3 seated coaches. 57604 had brought in the stock and was painted in a very pleasing GWR livery. Ironic that I should write this some 26 years after the huge uproar of which I was a vocal part when 50007 ‘Hercules’ was repainted in a similar livery and renamed ‘Sir Edward Elgar’. How strange to imagine a time when a non-standard livery could arouse such passion! Still, times and attitudes have changed and the green 604 with its GW-style brass name- and numberplates looked much better than 605 in its corporate FGW blue.
The value on this FGW sleeper has to be experienced to be believed. For £49 I had solo occupancy of a berth. The top bunk was folded away so it was the equivalent of first class on the Caledonian Sleeper. Included for this ludicrously small sum of money was a complementary hot drink and biscuits from the lounge car, plus a breakfast brought to the cabin the following morning. The contrast with the Caley is considerable, where for a higher fare (luck-of-the-draw bargain berths excepted) ‘breakfast’ consists of a piece of shortbread, and second class passengers have to run the ever-present risk of sharing with a hairy-arsed stranger. The lounge car is just an ordinary mk III open first though, rather than the luxury of the leather sofas in the mk IIf on the Caley. As I sat drinking tea in my cabin I watched the last HST of the day pull out on the 23:30 to Bristol and Cardiff, and decided that once I’d got my head out for the departure at 23:45, I’d turn in for the night. 57605 treated us to a rollicking start from Paddington, hurtling out over the points and off towards the Far West. I woke up briefly at Reading, which was handy because it allowed me to see which way we went towards Taunton (via the Desert).
My compartment was right over the bogie so the ride was worse than last time I used a sleeper. This meant that I woke at least three times in the night. Perhaps a more honest name for this service would be the Night Riviera Dozer. Still, it’s a lot of fun, and 305¼ miles of loco-haulage in the log, so who’s complaining really? The early morning ride through Cornwall was very pleasant and breakfast arrived just before Truro, with a teapot, real china cup and all on a proper tray. Loads of heads-out in the vestibule from Truro onward, drinking in the cool Cornish morning air and the evocative smell of burnt diesel. On time arrival at the Zance where I got a few snaps of the ‘snatcher taking a well earned rest at the blocks at platform 4. I went to a nearby Tesco for rations before returning to the station, where there was quite a lot of activity. A Supervoyager had arrived ECS at platform 3 to form the 08:28 to Glasgow Central (ouch), and a Voyager was pulling into platform 2 with the 08:19 arrival from Plymouth (next working the 09:40 to Manchester). The stock for the 08:44 to Paddington was next to arrive, meaning that there was now a train on all four platforms. The 08:28 left, and its place was taken on platform 3 a few minutes later by the 08:40 arrival from St Ives, formed of 150266 and running 2 minutes early. I took my seat on the 08:44, annoyingly stuck next to a pillar. Still, this was a £3 advance to Gunnislake, so I suppose I can’t complain, particularly as the FGW-only ticket enforces total Voyager-avoidance. At home I couldn’t get into Bradford and back on the bus for £3, never mind nearly 100 miles of pleasant and interesting train travel taking 3 hours! Passing Long Rock I was surprised to see that the 57 had propelled the beds to the depot for servicing while I wasn’t looking, rather than being released by the resident 08410. The grip on the HST was a very pleasant and friendly American chap, which was something of a novelty.
At Plymouth I transferred to platform 3 for 150238 on the 10:54 to Gunnislake. It’s at least a quarter of a century since I last went to Gunnislake, and I recall it being a very hard slog for the unit (a 2-car class 118 power twin IIRR) up to the end of the line. Certainly a 46 minute timing for a 15 mile journey is unusually slow, and I was interested to see how a modern, powerful DMU would deal with the climb. The journey to Bere Alston on the old LSWR main line was great, rattling along on jointed track at decent speeds. There are some monstrous engineering features though, particularly the spectacular bridge over the River Tavy, over a quarter of a mile long, which makes you wonder about the future of a line carrying a lightly-used 2-hourly service with an average speed of <20 mph once serious maintenance becomes an issue. From Bere Alston the line changes character completely. During the change of ends the driver strolled down to the groundframe which he unlocked with the token he’d obtained from a locked box at St Budeaux Victoria Road. No longer a main line alignment, from here on this is the ultimate West Country branch line. A slow meander high up on the side of a gorgeous green valley, before the train suddenly takes the high, weed-strewn viaduct at Calstock, a picture perfect village on the other side of the River Tamar, with an exquisite little station. To this point the line is just another miraculously surviving branch line, albeit a pretty special one. Immediately after leaving Calstock though things change. The line is cut into the side of an impossible looking hill, and winds and curls its way up severe gradients and reverse curves at a top speed of 15 mph and with frequent 10 mph restrictions. There is no other line like this anywhere in the country IMHO. Where else can you sit at the back of a 2-car DMU and get a good view of the side of the leading coach? The train has to stop twice at ungated crossings, adding to the effort, and this brutal slog takes every one of the booked 13 minutes to cover 2¾ miles. At the top a quick breather and photo op, before heading back down again, this time to the constant accompaniment of the sound of brake applications instead of a sustained Cummins roar. What a fantastic little line!
Back at Plymouth 150238 went back out wedged as the 12:39 to Penzance. Shortly afterwards a 150/1 came in on a terminating working from Cardiff. What is this fascination FGW seem to have with putting 150s on such long distance workings? Gunnislake, fine. Cardiff and Penzance, not so fine. There were simply not enough seats on the 2+2 configured 150238 for the Penzance custom, but OTOH the 3+2 seating on the 150/1 was unsuitable for such a long journey as Cardiff > Plymouth. Are these the original 25 year old seats (reupholstered) in the FGW 150/1s? They certainly look suspiciously that way to me.
Another reservations farce aboard the 12:55 Plymouth > Paddington, where coach B has become disabled access and seat 80 no longer exists, obliterated by a huge toilet. Again I can sit where I like and am treated to a display of commendable reasonableness from the grip dealing with a passenger with an AP ticket to London for the 16:00 working! The unfortunate passenger ended up having to buy a single to Totnes and spend over three hours there, but at least the grip didn’t make him pay the full £106 single fare to London. When I booked the £3.50 Gunnislake > Exmouth advance I’d assumed the core HST run would be Plymouth > Exeter, but when I got the ticket from the machine at Leeds the reservation was only to Newton Abbot, picking up the 13:13 Paignton > Exmouth Pacer there instead. A two-edged sword this. Obviously disappointing not to be able to do the sea wall at Dawlish in a train with openable windows, but OTOH the visibility from 142068 was excellent, and it’s 20 or so extra Pacer miles in the log. Festering time cut down as well, so on balance it’s OK. Bus seats though, which I hadn’t realised would be the case, and is not so nice on a long journey. I may enjoy pacers, but given that I returned from Exmouth back to Exeter Central straightaway with the same set on the 14:53 to Barnstaple, I ended up doing bus seats continually for an hour and three quarters. Given what I observed in the 150/1 at Plymouth, I’m starting to think FGW regard themselves as some sort of DMU seat preservation society. Come on First; not even buses have ‘bus seats’ any more! You of all companies should know this so let’s move with the times. The train to Exmouth was full of German schoolkids, who all bailed at Exeter Central to be replaced by…. an even larger party of German schoolkids! Quite what these kids thought of this crapulous train is anyone’s guess, but it was standing room only for people boarding at intermediate stations to Exmouth.
The train was very lightly loaded back to Exeter Central, where I had 14 minutes before the 15:30 to Waterloo. When I’d gone online to book this all the cheapest Exmouth > Waterloo advances at £15 had sold out for this train, which was a bummer. Next best was £23, but luckily I spotted that there was a first class advance, also for £23, and snapped that up instead. Certainly takes some of the sting out of the extra £8. Clearly ‘first class’ is a concept alien to whoever had diagrammed a bus seat 142 on the first leg of this journey from Exmouth, but the first class saloon in a 159 is very nice indeed. Hardly anyone riding in first on 159102 so I could take my pick of seats, which meant the fact that not all seats line up properly with the windows didn’t matter. Honestly, can we not get seats to line up properly even in first class?
Having left the London-bound LSWR main line at Bere Alston in the morning, it was nice to pick it up again for the return journey to Waterloo. It may be slower, but I reckon it’s more interesting than the Desert, and also cheaper and for me rarer (only done the section between Honiton and Salisbury once before each way). The weather having been very favourable all day it started to get rather overcast beyond Axminster, and the effects of limited sleep on the Night Riviera started to catch up with me. Pleasant dozing in the big comfy seat on and off to Salisbury was the result. Possibly a shame to waste a rare first class journey kipping, but it couldn’t be helped. I was awake at Yeovil Junction though and observed that the link line to Pen Mill was pretty shiny. What’s working over that then? At Salisbury we buffered up to the rear of another 159 from Bristol, and the first class section was no longer right at the front. A cold shudder of apprehension went through me and almost immediately my fears were realised as plebs began using our section as a thoroughfare between second class in the two units. How quickly one gets used to privilege no matter how small, and resents others intruding on it
After Salisbury our now 6-car unit bucketed along over several miles of jointed track between there and Grateley. It was quite an exhilarating run, but regular readers of these blogs will doubtless be disappointed if I don’t tediously point out that it wasn’t as good as a class 50 + mk IIs back in the ‘80s blah blah etc etc, so in the interests of consistency the 159 definitely wasn’t anything like as good as a class 50 hauling mk IIs would have been. More plebs at Andover, including one daring to sit in the vestibule outside the first class, like some sort of peasant peering through the gates at Versailles to watch Marie Antoinette stuffing herself. Tsk. Now in Hampshire I could feel the tractor beam of London drawing us in, and another great day drawing towards a close. We trundled under Battledown Flyover as though reluctant to enter Juiceland and London’s orbit, but ploughed relentlessly on to Basingstoke, Woking etc. Finally made it to Waterloo one down at 18:46 after hanging around outside the station for what seemed like ages.
I had deliberately booked onto the 20:03 from Kings Cross to Leeds rather than the 19:33, in case the train from Exeter was late leaving me stranded. The flipside of this cautious approach was that I now had ages to kill in London, which if I wasn’t careful would be spent standing and staring vaguely at the departure board at the Cross in the world’s most ill-thought-out queuing system. To kill some time I wandered around Waterloo for about 10 minutes taking photographs on what had turned back into a glorious evening. As another time killer I took the Waterloo & City Line to Bank to take the Northern Line onwards to the Cross, rather than a more direct route. This turned out to be a mistake as the Northern Line platform at Bank was already packed and the first train was showing as 3 minutes away. The second was 6 minutes after that, so if anything it would be even more packed, so I piled into the wedged train along with a right load of merchant bankers (rhyming slang? You decide) for 5 stops of hot, sweaty, claustrophobic discomfort. Upon arrival at the Cross I once again fell foul of the still unfamiliar layout underground and the Random Exit Generator put me out on Pancras Road this time, opposite the International entrance. I had loads of time and didn’t fancy the crush in the suburban section of Kings Cross, so I walked around the front to McDonald’s on York Way for a cup of tea. The usual collection of northerners was troughing burgers and chips as though this would be the last meal for a long time, but rather than join them I took my tea back to the concourse. I wandered around taking photos for a bit rather than give up the will to live staring at the boards. Why oh why can’t platforms be called at the Cross more than 15 minutes before departure? The station has one of the smaller concourses of London’s main termini, yet one of the largest number of Inter City departures, whose passengers typically turn up earlier and bring more luggage. It has always been like this at the Cross as long as I can remember; a slightly unnecessary downer at the end of all trips to the capital. 180105 on the 19:48 Grand Central to Bradford was worryingly poorly loaded. With 10 minutes to go I counted 50 passengers. People were still joining it at 19:40, but I’d be surprised if it left with more than 70 on.
Eventually platform 1 was called for the 20:03 and the usual disorderly scramble commenced as far as the newly installed obstacle of ticket barriers. I got a shot of 91116 at the head, and 67017 on thunderbird duties in the siding. It was clicking away to itself so must have been recently in use. I took my seat but on the other side of the aisle was a group of suited smart things with a PowerPoint presentation and using loads of managementspeak. I realised I’d spent the whole two days mercifully free of this curse, and now winced as they high-fived and talked about ‘taking things to the next level’ etc. I nearly burst out laughing when I glanced across at the laptop and realised that they were talking about sugar beet! These guys must be from the Sugar Beet Marketing Board or something! How do you take sugar beet ‘to the next level’ FFS? Sugar cane maybe? Or perhaps diversify root crop-wise into something really challenging like mangel wurzels? Using the power of my urbanite prejudice I predicted to myself that the high-fiving-farmers would alight at either Grantham or Newark, and sure enough Grantham was the spot, where I guess a top of the range Massey Ferguson with alloy wheels and cruise control was waiting in the car park.
No further noteworthy events as we plunged on through the darkness to Leeds, 5 minutes late following a slight farce at Peterborough. Back on time by Wakefield and rolled into Leeds 4 early at 22:29. A bit of a choker this as the previous Skipton working had just gone at 22:26, and now 27 minutes to wait until the 22:56. Or so I thought. The 22:56 was made up of a 153 + 158 + 142 combo, and 142087 was sitting at the blocks on platform 2C, with the other two units further down the platform and already coupled. After about 15 minutes of toing and froing the sets were finally coupled up. Northern Rail bungling a far cry here from the slick combining of sets seen earlier in the day by SWT at Salisbury. Even when coupled it was nearly 10 minutes before we were let on (into the Sprinters only, thereby denying Pacer veg a few extra miles). 22:56 came and went, and eventually an announcement came saying that the driver couldn’t get the brakes off and a fitter had been called. Maybe if the sets had been coupled together straightaway with the efficiency of SWT this fault could have been found 20 minutes before the scheduled departure time. Just a thought, but I have to say my experience of Northern Rail station staff at Leeds whenever anything goes wrong is uniformly poor. We left 10 down, and missed our path through the triangle at Shipley so were held before Guiseley Junction, eventually arriving at Saltaire 14 minutes late for a 14 minute journey.
This slight farce doesn’t matter in the scheme of things, nor does it detract from a great couple of days, but it’s very trying when there’s a fly in the ointment like this, the more so late at night when you’re exhausted and just want to get to bed.
Life’s a bit tough at the moment, and worries are streaming through my brain all night as I try to sleep, mainly but not entirely work related after five consecutive days not in the office. Anxiety has become something of an occupational hazard lately, so a day doing something enjoyable and totally out of routine seems just the ticket. Or just the AP ticket. Or in fact just the six AP tickets. I woke at 06:30 having had very little sleep and got up to start the morning pre-school routine. Moving like a deep sea diver walking about on the sea bed I stumbled slowly around in a daze making cups of tea and warm milk, breakfasts for the kids, packed lunches, put out the bins etc. Luckily the superb HS1 service to Kent from St Pancras allows me to set out on a later (and cheaper) train than would previously have been possible, so I actually set off a few minutes later than I would have done if just doing the normal drive to work at Morley, and strolled to Shipley station for the 08:07 to Leeds. Once on board the 333 I start to feel better immediately. I’m on a train for goodness’ sake, and this is just about the only relaxant in life at the moment. The prospect of (apart from 5 or so hours at work this afternoon) non-stop bashing until 23:10 the following night is uplifting.
At Leeds I bail eagerly looking out for the expected EMT liveried HST on the 08:40 to the Cross. Sure enough the set’s there on platform 8, with EMT 43074 leading. Camera in hand I walk along the adjacent platform 9 to get the ‘bogie shot’ of the rear power car, but I can’t help noticing that it’s all gone quiet over there. As I get nearer I see the reason why. The power car is in East Coast livery, and is MTU engined 43206. A shame as I’d hoped for VP185s at both ends. Next slight cock-up is no coach F in the formation, so the reservation on my AP ticket is meaningless. Still, this could well be a good thing as I can now sit where I like and there are plenty of spare seats. No risk of being stuck next to some sweating oaf, or some obnoxious executive loudly and self-importantly intoning corporate banalities into a mobile ‘phone and looking sneeringly at my Quail Track Diagrams, despite not being important enough not to be on a cheap AP ticket himself! I spread out in a pair of airline style seats next to the bulkhead in the middle of coach E and promptly drop off. I’m awakened before Doncaster by a call from work, which provides reassurance that everything hasn’t collapsed there over the Bank Holidays, and then get the laptop out.
This is a great train, with no more than two thirds of the seats occupied so feeling spacious inside. If you had the advantage of being colourblind the EMT mk III may well be the nicest second class interior around these days. The weather is glorious and the journey through the sleepy, pastoral dullness of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire passes all too soon. At Little Bytham I notice for the first time in nearly 40 years of riding this line the remains of the M&GNJR embankment where it crossed over the ECML at right angles. I dozed off once again and woke at Hatfield for the run through the tunnels and into outer London proper. I love this section of line. It always gives me an almost childish sense of anticipation that we are approaching the metropolis, and is very reminiscent of childhood trips to the capital. Two minutes early at the Cross where I bought an Oyster card for later on, and then went over to St Pancras for the 11:25 to Faversham.
The 395 looked as sleek as last time, and left on time for the swift ride to Strood where I bailed. Incredible that I can now be in Strood at a time not much later than that which a couple of years ago would probably have seen me boarding a train at London Bridge for the long, drawn out ride through SE London and Kent. The announcement approaching Stratford International that you can only get away from that station by a shuttle bus to the real Stratford station, taking 10-15 minutes, was greeted by the head-scratching thought ‘what’s the point?’ in my mind. Strood was looking as singularly grim as ever on the 15 minute walk to the depot, and as I walked I adjusted my personal settings to work mode for the afternoon.
After a very productive afternoon of work I strolled back to Strood station for the 17:35 to Charing Cross. I rode with the 465 as far as Waterloo East where I bailed to meet my friend again for drinks in the excellent Charles Dickens pub. Beer still good and still all a standard price, but now £3.20 instead of £3 as in September. At about quarter to ten we left and walked to Southwark tube station where I touched in with the Oyster Card for the first time and took the Jubilee Line to Baker Street. After the ultra-modern station at Southwark with its idiot-proof platform edge barriers, it was a big contrast to use the Metropolitan part of Baker Street station, surely the most pleasing part of London Underground’s estate. Only a few seconds to wait before a C69 set arrived on a Hammersmith & City Line working two stops to Paddington. Across the bridge and down to the Lawn where I was a few minutes early for the Night Riviera on platform 1 and had to wait until the central locking lights came on just after 22:30 so I could board. The view across the Lawn to the line up of HSTs at the buffers produced a vivid recollection of my first visit to this station in 1978, and also my first ever trip on an HST, a seriously exciting experience at the time. 57605 is our loco tonight, hauling 4 sleeping cars and 3 seated coaches. 57604 had brought in the stock and was painted in a very pleasing GWR livery. Ironic that I should write this some 26 years after the huge uproar of which I was a vocal part when 50007 ‘Hercules’ was repainted in a similar livery and renamed ‘Sir Edward Elgar’. How strange to imagine a time when a non-standard livery could arouse such passion! Still, times and attitudes have changed and the green 604 with its GW-style brass name- and numberplates looked much better than 605 in its corporate FGW blue.
The value on this FGW sleeper has to be experienced to be believed. For £49 I had solo occupancy of a berth. The top bunk was folded away so it was the equivalent of first class on the Caledonian Sleeper. Included for this ludicrously small sum of money was a complementary hot drink and biscuits from the lounge car, plus a breakfast brought to the cabin the following morning. The contrast with the Caley is considerable, where for a higher fare (luck-of-the-draw bargain berths excepted) ‘breakfast’ consists of a piece of shortbread, and second class passengers have to run the ever-present risk of sharing with a hairy-arsed stranger. The lounge car is just an ordinary mk III open first though, rather than the luxury of the leather sofas in the mk IIf on the Caley. As I sat drinking tea in my cabin I watched the last HST of the day pull out on the 23:30 to Bristol and Cardiff, and decided that once I’d got my head out for the departure at 23:45, I’d turn in for the night. 57605 treated us to a rollicking start from Paddington, hurtling out over the points and off towards the Far West. I woke up briefly at Reading, which was handy because it allowed me to see which way we went towards Taunton (via the Desert).
My compartment was right over the bogie so the ride was worse than last time I used a sleeper. This meant that I woke at least three times in the night. Perhaps a more honest name for this service would be the Night Riviera Dozer. Still, it’s a lot of fun, and 305¼ miles of loco-haulage in the log, so who’s complaining really? The early morning ride through Cornwall was very pleasant and breakfast arrived just before Truro, with a teapot, real china cup and all on a proper tray. Loads of heads-out in the vestibule from Truro onward, drinking in the cool Cornish morning air and the evocative smell of burnt diesel. On time arrival at the Zance where I got a few snaps of the ‘snatcher taking a well earned rest at the blocks at platform 4. I went to a nearby Tesco for rations before returning to the station, where there was quite a lot of activity. A Supervoyager had arrived ECS at platform 3 to form the 08:28 to Glasgow Central (ouch), and a Voyager was pulling into platform 2 with the 08:19 arrival from Plymouth (next working the 09:40 to Manchester). The stock for the 08:44 to Paddington was next to arrive, meaning that there was now a train on all four platforms. The 08:28 left, and its place was taken on platform 3 a few minutes later by the 08:40 arrival from St Ives, formed of 150266 and running 2 minutes early. I took my seat on the 08:44, annoyingly stuck next to a pillar. Still, this was a £3 advance to Gunnislake, so I suppose I can’t complain, particularly as the FGW-only ticket enforces total Voyager-avoidance. At home I couldn’t get into Bradford and back on the bus for £3, never mind nearly 100 miles of pleasant and interesting train travel taking 3 hours! Passing Long Rock I was surprised to see that the 57 had propelled the beds to the depot for servicing while I wasn’t looking, rather than being released by the resident 08410. The grip on the HST was a very pleasant and friendly American chap, which was something of a novelty.
At Plymouth I transferred to platform 3 for 150238 on the 10:54 to Gunnislake. It’s at least a quarter of a century since I last went to Gunnislake, and I recall it being a very hard slog for the unit (a 2-car class 118 power twin IIRR) up to the end of the line. Certainly a 46 minute timing for a 15 mile journey is unusually slow, and I was interested to see how a modern, powerful DMU would deal with the climb. The journey to Bere Alston on the old LSWR main line was great, rattling along on jointed track at decent speeds. There are some monstrous engineering features though, particularly the spectacular bridge over the River Tavy, over a quarter of a mile long, which makes you wonder about the future of a line carrying a lightly-used 2-hourly service with an average speed of <20 mph once serious maintenance becomes an issue. From Bere Alston the line changes character completely. During the change of ends the driver strolled down to the groundframe which he unlocked with the token he’d obtained from a locked box at St Budeaux Victoria Road. No longer a main line alignment, from here on this is the ultimate West Country branch line. A slow meander high up on the side of a gorgeous green valley, before the train suddenly takes the high, weed-strewn viaduct at Calstock, a picture perfect village on the other side of the River Tamar, with an exquisite little station. To this point the line is just another miraculously surviving branch line, albeit a pretty special one. Immediately after leaving Calstock though things change. The line is cut into the side of an impossible looking hill, and winds and curls its way up severe gradients and reverse curves at a top speed of 15 mph and with frequent 10 mph restrictions. There is no other line like this anywhere in the country IMHO. Where else can you sit at the back of a 2-car DMU and get a good view of the side of the leading coach? The train has to stop twice at ungated crossings, adding to the effort, and this brutal slog takes every one of the booked 13 minutes to cover 2¾ miles. At the top a quick breather and photo op, before heading back down again, this time to the constant accompaniment of the sound of brake applications instead of a sustained Cummins roar. What a fantastic little line!
Back at Plymouth 150238 went back out wedged as the 12:39 to Penzance. Shortly afterwards a 150/1 came in on a terminating working from Cardiff. What is this fascination FGW seem to have with putting 150s on such long distance workings? Gunnislake, fine. Cardiff and Penzance, not so fine. There were simply not enough seats on the 2+2 configured 150238 for the Penzance custom, but OTOH the 3+2 seating on the 150/1 was unsuitable for such a long journey as Cardiff > Plymouth. Are these the original 25 year old seats (reupholstered) in the FGW 150/1s? They certainly look suspiciously that way to me.
Another reservations farce aboard the 12:55 Plymouth > Paddington, where coach B has become disabled access and seat 80 no longer exists, obliterated by a huge toilet. Again I can sit where I like and am treated to a display of commendable reasonableness from the grip dealing with a passenger with an AP ticket to London for the 16:00 working! The unfortunate passenger ended up having to buy a single to Totnes and spend over three hours there, but at least the grip didn’t make him pay the full £106 single fare to London. When I booked the £3.50 Gunnislake > Exmouth advance I’d assumed the core HST run would be Plymouth > Exeter, but when I got the ticket from the machine at Leeds the reservation was only to Newton Abbot, picking up the 13:13 Paignton > Exmouth Pacer there instead. A two-edged sword this. Obviously disappointing not to be able to do the sea wall at Dawlish in a train with openable windows, but OTOH the visibility from 142068 was excellent, and it’s 20 or so extra Pacer miles in the log. Festering time cut down as well, so on balance it’s OK. Bus seats though, which I hadn’t realised would be the case, and is not so nice on a long journey. I may enjoy pacers, but given that I returned from Exmouth back to Exeter Central straightaway with the same set on the 14:53 to Barnstaple, I ended up doing bus seats continually for an hour and three quarters. Given what I observed in the 150/1 at Plymouth, I’m starting to think FGW regard themselves as some sort of DMU seat preservation society. Come on First; not even buses have ‘bus seats’ any more! You of all companies should know this so let’s move with the times. The train to Exmouth was full of German schoolkids, who all bailed at Exeter Central to be replaced by…. an even larger party of German schoolkids! Quite what these kids thought of this crapulous train is anyone’s guess, but it was standing room only for people boarding at intermediate stations to Exmouth.
The train was very lightly loaded back to Exeter Central, where I had 14 minutes before the 15:30 to Waterloo. When I’d gone online to book this all the cheapest Exmouth > Waterloo advances at £15 had sold out for this train, which was a bummer. Next best was £23, but luckily I spotted that there was a first class advance, also for £23, and snapped that up instead. Certainly takes some of the sting out of the extra £8. Clearly ‘first class’ is a concept alien to whoever had diagrammed a bus seat 142 on the first leg of this journey from Exmouth, but the first class saloon in a 159 is very nice indeed. Hardly anyone riding in first on 159102 so I could take my pick of seats, which meant the fact that not all seats line up properly with the windows didn’t matter. Honestly, can we not get seats to line up properly even in first class?
Having left the London-bound LSWR main line at Bere Alston in the morning, it was nice to pick it up again for the return journey to Waterloo. It may be slower, but I reckon it’s more interesting than the Desert, and also cheaper and for me rarer (only done the section between Honiton and Salisbury once before each way). The weather having been very favourable all day it started to get rather overcast beyond Axminster, and the effects of limited sleep on the Night Riviera started to catch up with me. Pleasant dozing in the big comfy seat on and off to Salisbury was the result. Possibly a shame to waste a rare first class journey kipping, but it couldn’t be helped. I was awake at Yeovil Junction though and observed that the link line to Pen Mill was pretty shiny. What’s working over that then? At Salisbury we buffered up to the rear of another 159 from Bristol, and the first class section was no longer right at the front. A cold shudder of apprehension went through me and almost immediately my fears were realised as plebs began using our section as a thoroughfare between second class in the two units. How quickly one gets used to privilege no matter how small, and resents others intruding on it
After Salisbury our now 6-car unit bucketed along over several miles of jointed track between there and Grateley. It was quite an exhilarating run, but regular readers of these blogs will doubtless be disappointed if I don’t tediously point out that it wasn’t as good as a class 50 + mk IIs back in the ‘80s blah blah etc etc, so in the interests of consistency the 159 definitely wasn’t anything like as good as a class 50 hauling mk IIs would have been. More plebs at Andover, including one daring to sit in the vestibule outside the first class, like some sort of peasant peering through the gates at Versailles to watch Marie Antoinette stuffing herself. Tsk. Now in Hampshire I could feel the tractor beam of London drawing us in, and another great day drawing towards a close. We trundled under Battledown Flyover as though reluctant to enter Juiceland and London’s orbit, but ploughed relentlessly on to Basingstoke, Woking etc. Finally made it to Waterloo one down at 18:46 after hanging around outside the station for what seemed like ages.
I had deliberately booked onto the 20:03 from Kings Cross to Leeds rather than the 19:33, in case the train from Exeter was late leaving me stranded. The flipside of this cautious approach was that I now had ages to kill in London, which if I wasn’t careful would be spent standing and staring vaguely at the departure board at the Cross in the world’s most ill-thought-out queuing system. To kill some time I wandered around Waterloo for about 10 minutes taking photographs on what had turned back into a glorious evening. As another time killer I took the Waterloo & City Line to Bank to take the Northern Line onwards to the Cross, rather than a more direct route. This turned out to be a mistake as the Northern Line platform at Bank was already packed and the first train was showing as 3 minutes away. The second was 6 minutes after that, so if anything it would be even more packed, so I piled into the wedged train along with a right load of merchant bankers (rhyming slang? You decide) for 5 stops of hot, sweaty, claustrophobic discomfort. Upon arrival at the Cross I once again fell foul of the still unfamiliar layout underground and the Random Exit Generator put me out on Pancras Road this time, opposite the International entrance. I had loads of time and didn’t fancy the crush in the suburban section of Kings Cross, so I walked around the front to McDonald’s on York Way for a cup of tea. The usual collection of northerners was troughing burgers and chips as though this would be the last meal for a long time, but rather than join them I took my tea back to the concourse. I wandered around taking photos for a bit rather than give up the will to live staring at the boards. Why oh why can’t platforms be called at the Cross more than 15 minutes before departure? The station has one of the smaller concourses of London’s main termini, yet one of the largest number of Inter City departures, whose passengers typically turn up earlier and bring more luggage. It has always been like this at the Cross as long as I can remember; a slightly unnecessary downer at the end of all trips to the capital. 180105 on the 19:48 Grand Central to Bradford was worryingly poorly loaded. With 10 minutes to go I counted 50 passengers. People were still joining it at 19:40, but I’d be surprised if it left with more than 70 on.
Eventually platform 1 was called for the 20:03 and the usual disorderly scramble commenced as far as the newly installed obstacle of ticket barriers. I got a shot of 91116 at the head, and 67017 on thunderbird duties in the siding. It was clicking away to itself so must have been recently in use. I took my seat but on the other side of the aisle was a group of suited smart things with a PowerPoint presentation and using loads of managementspeak. I realised I’d spent the whole two days mercifully free of this curse, and now winced as they high-fived and talked about ‘taking things to the next level’ etc. I nearly burst out laughing when I glanced across at the laptop and realised that they were talking about sugar beet! These guys must be from the Sugar Beet Marketing Board or something! How do you take sugar beet ‘to the next level’ FFS? Sugar cane maybe? Or perhaps diversify root crop-wise into something really challenging like mangel wurzels? Using the power of my urbanite prejudice I predicted to myself that the high-fiving-farmers would alight at either Grantham or Newark, and sure enough Grantham was the spot, where I guess a top of the range Massey Ferguson with alloy wheels and cruise control was waiting in the car park.
No further noteworthy events as we plunged on through the darkness to Leeds, 5 minutes late following a slight farce at Peterborough. Back on time by Wakefield and rolled into Leeds 4 early at 22:29. A bit of a choker this as the previous Skipton working had just gone at 22:26, and now 27 minutes to wait until the 22:56. Or so I thought. The 22:56 was made up of a 153 + 158 + 142 combo, and 142087 was sitting at the blocks on platform 2C, with the other two units further down the platform and already coupled. After about 15 minutes of toing and froing the sets were finally coupled up. Northern Rail bungling a far cry here from the slick combining of sets seen earlier in the day by SWT at Salisbury. Even when coupled it was nearly 10 minutes before we were let on (into the Sprinters only, thereby denying Pacer veg a few extra miles). 22:56 came and went, and eventually an announcement came saying that the driver couldn’t get the brakes off and a fitter had been called. Maybe if the sets had been coupled together straightaway with the efficiency of SWT this fault could have been found 20 minutes before the scheduled departure time. Just a thought, but I have to say my experience of Northern Rail station staff at Leeds whenever anything goes wrong is uniformly poor. We left 10 down, and missed our path through the triangle at Shipley so were held before Guiseley Junction, eventually arriving at Saltaire 14 minutes late for a 14 minute journey.
This slight farce doesn’t matter in the scheme of things, nor does it detract from a great couple of days, but it’s very trying when there’s a fly in the ointment like this, the more so late at night when you’re exhausted and just want to get to bed.
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Blindtraveler
Established Member
- Joined
- 28 Feb 2011
- Messages
- 10,544
fabby as ever! Must try that branchline and the FGW sleaper! H S1 is just great aint it? The KGX problems wil i fear get worse when eurika comes in and turn round times are shorter. good pacer comments, bet you cant wate for our 322s to stop late night DMU workings from leeds.
Sorry to hear your having a hard time, keep the chin up mate.
Sorry to hear your having a hard time, keep the chin up mate.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Sorry too to hear times are troubling for you, sounds like the trip was well needed!
Another fantastic read, thoroughly enjoyed reading the latest entry as always.
Another fantastic read, thoroughly enjoyed reading the latest entry as always.
Thanks chaps.
The trip was indeed much needed. Total relaxtion for more than 36 hours helps a lot. Much of the stress is to do with my wife's ongoing bad back situation, and I've been stressing about leaving her alone for prolonged periods just in case something happens. From that point of view having been away for two days without anything goibg wrong has proved a major lift This is just as well as I've a busy few months of travelling with work ahead, so lots of mileage and lots of opportunity to make it as interesting route and traction wise as possible
The trip was indeed much needed. Total relaxtion for more than 36 hours helps a lot. Much of the stress is to do with my wife's ongoing bad back situation, and I've been stressing about leaving her alone for prolonged periods just in case something happens. From that point of view having been away for two days without anything goibg wrong has proved a major lift
This is just as well as I've a busy few months of travelling with work ahead, so lots of mileage and lots of opportunity to make it as interesting route and traction wise as possible
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Blindtraveler
Established Member
- Joined
- 28 Feb 2011
- Messages
- 10,544
well keep blogging mate, and if we can help just yell
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Indeed, and I look forward to reading the next blog entries. Always a good balance of humour, fact and general interest which I've not managed in my own write-ups thus far.
Where will you be off to next then?
Where will you be off to next then?
Drsatan
Established Member
Previously 158s were used in Cornwall on Plymouth to Penzance stoppers in the days of Wessex Trains, along with the Cardiff to Taunton semi-fasts. Today 158s are also found on the Gloucester - Weymouth service. I would agree with you though that using 150s on Cardiff - Plymouth services is excessive given that they're not comfortable enough for such long journeys (although you could say the same about 142s used on Southport - Manchester Vic workings). Withdrawing the Cardiff - Taunton loco hauled service was a retrograde step for passenger comfort as far as I'm concerned!
18th May. An unexpected bonus bit of cranking was made possible by a short notice meeting near Edinburgh. Never wanting to miss out on using work trips as positioning moves I got my thinking cap on to come up with something to deliver plenty of interest while not requiring any annual leave to be used.
I’ve designated 2011 my Year of the Locomotive. “Twenty years too late!” I hear you call, and maybe you’re right. It just makes maxing out the loco-haulage more of a challenge if you have to do it in today’s environment, and I don’t want the year to pass without me having used every loco-hauled service going.
I worked at home for most of the morning before catching the 11:39 from Shipley to Leeds, going out through the barrier to collect some AP tickets for a work trip to Peterborough next week (very dull but will help with the loco-haulage total). On the way back in I got the inevitable ‘reject passback’ drivel, but the man at the barrier was so good-natured that I for once didn’t bust a blood-vessel. Onto the 12:12 to Scarborough running on time, and my reserved seat was next to an extremely pretty young woman in her mid-20s. The reserved seat opposite her was a no show, so I sat there ostensibly in order to prevent her having to move her bag, but actually so that I could engage her in conversation. She was as pleasant as she was attractive and the journey to York went in the blink of an eye. The ultimate antidote to the horror of riding in a 185!
At York I met my father and we went over to platform 11 for the 12:52 to Glasgow Central, soon to be the 12:52 to Edinburgh after East Coast’s savage pruning of its Glasgow offering. First loco of the trip 91121 rolled in and we boarded. The seat next to my reserved seat (AP) was luckily both free and unreserved, so my (priv holding) father was able to join me. I wanted him to go and sit in first class long enough to get and bring back a couple of freebie coffees, but he wasn’t playing ball! The journey was spent with the timetable playing ‘predict the exact minute at which southbound trains will pass’, at which my father is remarkably good.
On arrival on time at Edinburgh at 15:20 my father stayed at the station while I took our overnight stuff and my work laptop to the hotel and left it there. I returned in time for the 16:21 to Helensburgh, formed of a 6-car 334. This was quite an exciting moment. I’d never been to Bathgate since it reopened way back when, and I’d only ever gone to Airdrie before the line was extended to Drumgelloch. With the newly rebuilt stretch from Bathgate to Drumgelloch, you could say that I was getting three new lines for the price of one. Four in fact, as I’d never been from Craigendoran to Helensburgh Central either. This is unheard of in one journey these days.
Not many on leaving Waverley, but picked up a reasonable load at Haymarket and Edinburgh Park. From Newbridge it was all new to me, but pretty dull. Dullsville was the name of the game all the way to Airdrie I’m afraid, apart from a nice stretch alongside a reservoir. How can spending hundreds of millions of pounds be justified on opening a fourth line between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and then only running a half-hourly all stations service on it, by no means close to full even on the shoulder of the peak? By the time we got to Queen Street we were seriously bored, and to make it worse the train was wedged from there on. At least beyond Dalmuir the views across the Clyde were something worth looking at, and the train is semi-fast from Glasgow, but all the same we were glad to get off at Helensburgh, 124 minutes after setting off from Edinburgh, and vowing not to go that way again.
Fish and chips were bought from an unpromising looking yet excellent pizza and fast food joint across the main crossroads from Central station. Possibly not much help this, as every junction in Helensburgh is a crossroads, the town being laid on an almost perfect grid. The chips were chunky and fresh, although TBH the fish was nothing out of the ordinary. We strolled up the hill past increasingly affluent dwellings and got to Helensburgh Upper with 15 minutes to spare for the 19:04 West Highland working. A 4-car 156 came into view battling up the fierce gradient from Craigendoran, and we boarded the rear set for Fort William. From here the journey was…. well, it was the West Highland line, something close to perfection. The views over Holy Loch in the evening sunshine were gorgeous, yet by Garelochhead a relentless drizzle was causing visibility problems. This continued on and off to Ardlui, where we stopped to pass the southbound working. This should have been waiting for us in the loop, but nothing was there. Uh-oh. After a few minutes I went outside into the cool evening for some fresh air, but still nothing. Eventually the driver told us that it had hit a cow somewhere and it was delayed. What a bummer. We were heading for Rannoch to take the sleeper southbound, and we would only get an hour or so before sunset with that. Any delays would eat into the precious daylight. I asked the driver what would happen if we were seriously delayed, and he said they would let the sleeper out and pass us at Bridge of Orchy. Apart from missing the section between BoO and Rannoch, this would not be a disaster as we couldn’t fail to get back to Edinburgh. However, a further worry came when I looked at the Quail track diagrams and remembered the engineers’ loop at Gorton, between BoO and Rannoch. Would this be pressed into service if we were late but not late enough to make it worth letting the sleeper into the Rannoch > BoO full section? The idea of pulling into that loop and stopping, or seeing a 67 in it as we passed, froze my blood. How would I explain to my bosses how I had come to be stuck in Rannoch (or Fort William as I suppose we would have had to carry on to)? The last thing I want is for anyone to get the idea that I’m bashing on the firm. I had a meeting at 09:00 near Edinburgh Airport, but the earliest I could have been even in Glasgow the following day was 11:30! Too late for the meeting and 30 minutes after I was supposed to vacate the hotel in Edinburgh! This seemed potentially a move to total oblivion and no mistake.
The southbound working eventually came and went, with further hanging about by us until departure 25 minutes down. There were a couple of fellow bashers on board; I’d heard various snippets of conversation earlier involving such things as ‘pairs of 37s’, ‘tokens’ and ‘deltics’ so there could be little doubt. I approached them to ask (i) if there was any possibility of Gorton loop being used, and (ii) if the 67 would depart Rannoch as soon as we had arrived without giving us the few seconds we needed to cross the platform. One of them categorically assured me that neither of these would happen. With 2 minutes to go before Bridge of Orchy I was very reluctant to spend nearly an hour there in the rain, so I impulsively decided to trust him and stay on. We pulled away sharpish from BoO, so clearly we were not going to be held there for the sleeper. I was pretty jumpy for about 10 minutes, but then we roared through the clearly infrequently used Gorton loop and I relaxed. My Man Of Steel move appeared to have paid off. There was still the secondary risk that the skip would move off as we arrived, but it didn’t and we arrived 16 down and boarded the seated coach relieved and very pleased that we weren’t at that moment attempting to shelter from the rain at Bridge of Orchy station, just about the only building in PA36, mainland Britain’s second least populated postcode. I was in such a hurry to get on that I failed to take a photo of 67011, a badly wasted opportunity
My dad has never been on the sleeper before, despite being a priv holder and therefore able to do it for a song. He doesn’t get privs on the seated part though, so he had had to buy an advance from Rannoch to Edinburgh for £19.90, his first non-privilege ticket for forty-four years. This truly was an historic moment, and one I will not forget in a hurry! He was clearly impressed with the luxury of the seated coach, and more so when he went to take a look at the lounge car. We headed for the vestibules and got heads-out for mucho thrash and atmosphere for as long as we could. At Bridge of Orchy we unexpectedly passed 66723 on northbound alumina tanks. Despite having passed through the ‘industrial’ areas of West Yorkshire, the North East and the Central Belt to get here, the first and only freight we saw all day was here, in incredibly remote PA36! Round the horseshoe bend south of BoO was utterly spectacular in the setting sun. The mountain rearing up to the north was shrouded in mist and from down below unfathomably high. By Tyndrum Upper it was too dark, cold and wet, and we retired to the seats to while away the time by devising a normal-friendly tour of the Highlands utilising the sleepers for him to take my mum on. The journey is slackly timed and we pulled up a minute or two between each station, also getting a bonus by not doing the request stop at Ardlui (good: I’d seen more than enough of Ardlui that day!). By Helensburgh we were only 6 down and I fell asleep sometime after that. I awoke purely by chance just as we were about to take the Cowlairs north curve, required track for me and this the only train of the day to use it. Very lucky as my father’s views on sleeping over required track are very harsh, and this could potentially have sparked another quarter century or so of controversy less than seven weeks after the original Central Wales Line dispute was finally laid to rest. He reported that we had still been 6 down at Westerton, but now past Cowlairs the shackles were off. The skip had no problem with load four on a line fit for 100 mph running and we stormed through the night under the glow of a large full moon, and reached Edinburgh exactly on time at 00:50.
The Aberdeen portion was already in platform 11 with 90021 on the front. We passed through platform 10 without stopping, and crossed over into platform 7 where we bailed. 67011 then propelled its short rake onto the back of the Aberdeen and detached the lounge car and seated coach. 67004 arrived with the Inverness portion on platform 10 on while this was going on, and then pulled forward into platform 7 before propelling its portion onto the back of the Fort William sleeping cars. What a slick operation; we were most impressed. We walked briskly back to the hotel and were asleep by 01:30.
The alarm went off at 05:45 after a deep but inadequate sleep. Straight out of bed, kettle on, washed, shaved, got dressed, drank tea/coffee and left the room at 06:00. Checked out then walked to Waverley for the 06:32 Fife Circle working. 67007 was in charge of a rake that now included four mk IIfs in BR Inter City blue and grey as well as two in the expected EWS maroon. Very nice to get heads-out over the Forth Bridge, and the skip was good company along the Fife coastline. After Glenrothes there were still hardly any passengers on board, and we wondered why a six coach loco-hauled was following another 6-coach loco-hauled (0729 Glenrothes > Edinburgh) only 6 minutes behind. It seemed like overkill and by Dunfermline Queen Margaret there were still only enough people on board to justify a 2-car pacer. All this changed at Dunfermline Town, where hordes boarded, by Inverkeithing the train was wedged and I had to fight my way to the vestibule in order to bail. I said goodbye to my father who was so knackered he abandoned his tentative plans to do some more gricing in Scotland and went on for the 09:00 ECML working home as far as York.
I was picked up at Inverkeithing by a colleague who lives in Fife and brought to the depot. After the meeting he dropped me at Linlithgow station (about the same distance from the depot as central Edinburgh, and a lot easier drive) in time for the 15:03 to Queen Street. ScotRail 170s are no favourite of mine, but this one provided the venue for a welcome doze for half an hour, waking up as we arrived at Queen Street. I wandered leisurely over to Central, where I took some photos of the various units on display. I had a very late lunch in the shape of a dirty Burger King, and the time soon passed until we were allowed to board 390005 on the 16:40 to Euston. Horrible cramped conditions again, up against a pillar and unable to see out at all without craning my neck like an owl to see a 2” wide strip of glass just behind my right ear. Choosing a window seat when booking a seat on a Pendo is a real gamble. If you win the lottery and get a window it’s fine. If you don’t, an aisle seat would have been a better choice, especially if you are a claustrophobia sufferer. They should really call them ‘aisle’ and ‘non-aisle’ seats if they want to be totally up front.
With no chance of seeing the very pleasant views that I knew would be passing just on the other side of the panel of plastic and steel to my right, I got out the laptop and began to write this up. The journey to Carlisle seemed to pass very quickly, which of course it had done taking only 66 minutes for 102¼ miles, the upside of Pendolino travel. It was great to be wandering around Carlisle station for 20 minutes. In my early teens one of my greatest pleasures was to spend all day at this great and atmospheric station. The layout doesn’t seem to have been touched in all this time, and it was most nostalgic. True, the lines of 25s, 27s and a/c electrics stabled in the sidings opposite platform 1 are long gone, but Carlisle somehow seems to retain an atmosphere of those times when it seemed easier to love the railway. The large numbers of spotters clustered around the platform ends, looking as though they probably spend much of their time there as part of a community, certainly contributed to this impression.
Having taken a few photos of the dismal selection of trains on offer, I boarded 158907 forming the 18:16 to Leeds, and a real treat being my first full length run over the S&C for many years. While at Carlisle 66220 had come through on coal empties, and another one was waiting at London Road Junction as we passed. While pausing at Langwathby another shed came through, this time on Castle Cement tanks. Amazing to think that this now busy line was once seriously threatened with closure: imagine trying to path this lot down the WCML. Busy with freight that is; our 2-car 158 was no more than a quarter full. The track was in tip-top condition as we pottered along through ever better scenery along the Eden Valley to Appleby: this is the life! How lucky I am to have a job that facilitates such pleasures as this. More visual delights as we sailed across the top of the world to Settle and beyond. I was starting to flag by this stage though and was relieved when we pulled into Shipley dead on time at 20:35.
Plenty of loco-hauled action there over the two days. OK, a 91 is a bit lame, both in its own right and that of the stock it hauls (can’t lean out), but the other two were splendid, especially riding into the night behind 67011 in such wild and desolate surroundings.
I’ve designated 2011 my Year of the Locomotive. “Twenty years too late!” I hear you call, and maybe you’re right. It just makes maxing out the loco-haulage more of a challenge if you have to do it in today’s environment, and I don’t want the year to pass without me having used every loco-hauled service going.
I worked at home for most of the morning before catching the 11:39 from Shipley to Leeds, going out through the barrier to collect some AP tickets for a work trip to Peterborough next week (very dull but will help with the loco-haulage total). On the way back in I got the inevitable ‘reject passback’ drivel, but the man at the barrier was so good-natured that I for once didn’t bust a blood-vessel. Onto the 12:12 to Scarborough running on time, and my reserved seat was next to an extremely pretty young woman in her mid-20s. The reserved seat opposite her was a no show, so I sat there ostensibly in order to prevent her having to move her bag, but actually so that I could engage her in conversation. She was as pleasant as she was attractive and the journey to York went in the blink of an eye. The ultimate antidote to the horror of riding in a 185!
At York I met my father and we went over to platform 11 for the 12:52 to Glasgow Central, soon to be the 12:52 to Edinburgh after East Coast’s savage pruning of its Glasgow offering. First loco of the trip 91121 rolled in and we boarded. The seat next to my reserved seat (AP) was luckily both free and unreserved, so my (priv holding) father was able to join me. I wanted him to go and sit in first class long enough to get and bring back a couple of freebie coffees, but he wasn’t playing ball! The journey was spent with the timetable playing ‘predict the exact minute at which southbound trains will pass’, at which my father is remarkably good.
On arrival on time at Edinburgh at 15:20 my father stayed at the station while I took our overnight stuff and my work laptop to the hotel and left it there. I returned in time for the 16:21 to Helensburgh, formed of a 6-car 334. This was quite an exciting moment. I’d never been to Bathgate since it reopened way back when, and I’d only ever gone to Airdrie before the line was extended to Drumgelloch. With the newly rebuilt stretch from Bathgate to Drumgelloch, you could say that I was getting three new lines for the price of one. Four in fact, as I’d never been from Craigendoran to Helensburgh Central either. This is unheard of in one journey these days.
Not many on leaving Waverley, but picked up a reasonable load at Haymarket and Edinburgh Park. From Newbridge it was all new to me, but pretty dull. Dullsville was the name of the game all the way to Airdrie I’m afraid, apart from a nice stretch alongside a reservoir. How can spending hundreds of millions of pounds be justified on opening a fourth line between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and then only running a half-hourly all stations service on it, by no means close to full even on the shoulder of the peak? By the time we got to Queen Street we were seriously bored, and to make it worse the train was wedged from there on. At least beyond Dalmuir the views across the Clyde were something worth looking at, and the train is semi-fast from Glasgow, but all the same we were glad to get off at Helensburgh, 124 minutes after setting off from Edinburgh, and vowing not to go that way again.
Fish and chips were bought from an unpromising looking yet excellent pizza and fast food joint across the main crossroads from Central station. Possibly not much help this, as every junction in Helensburgh is a crossroads, the town being laid on an almost perfect grid. The chips were chunky and fresh, although TBH the fish was nothing out of the ordinary. We strolled up the hill past increasingly affluent dwellings and got to Helensburgh Upper with 15 minutes to spare for the 19:04 West Highland working. A 4-car 156 came into view battling up the fierce gradient from Craigendoran, and we boarded the rear set for Fort William. From here the journey was…. well, it was the West Highland line, something close to perfection. The views over Holy Loch in the evening sunshine were gorgeous, yet by Garelochhead a relentless drizzle was causing visibility problems. This continued on and off to Ardlui, where we stopped to pass the southbound working. This should have been waiting for us in the loop, but nothing was there. Uh-oh. After a few minutes I went outside into the cool evening for some fresh air, but still nothing. Eventually the driver told us that it had hit a cow somewhere and it was delayed. What a bummer. We were heading for Rannoch to take the sleeper southbound, and we would only get an hour or so before sunset with that. Any delays would eat into the precious daylight. I asked the driver what would happen if we were seriously delayed, and he said they would let the sleeper out and pass us at Bridge of Orchy. Apart from missing the section between BoO and Rannoch, this would not be a disaster as we couldn’t fail to get back to Edinburgh. However, a further worry came when I looked at the Quail track diagrams and remembered the engineers’ loop at Gorton, between BoO and Rannoch. Would this be pressed into service if we were late but not late enough to make it worth letting the sleeper into the Rannoch > BoO full section? The idea of pulling into that loop and stopping, or seeing a 67 in it as we passed, froze my blood. How would I explain to my bosses how I had come to be stuck in Rannoch (or Fort William as I suppose we would have had to carry on to)? The last thing I want is for anyone to get the idea that I’m bashing on the firm. I had a meeting at 09:00 near Edinburgh Airport, but the earliest I could have been even in Glasgow the following day was 11:30! Too late for the meeting and 30 minutes after I was supposed to vacate the hotel in Edinburgh! This seemed potentially a move to total oblivion and no mistake.
The southbound working eventually came and went, with further hanging about by us until departure 25 minutes down. There were a couple of fellow bashers on board; I’d heard various snippets of conversation earlier involving such things as ‘pairs of 37s’, ‘tokens’ and ‘deltics’ so there could be little doubt. I approached them to ask (i) if there was any possibility of Gorton loop being used, and (ii) if the 67 would depart Rannoch as soon as we had arrived without giving us the few seconds we needed to cross the platform. One of them categorically assured me that neither of these would happen. With 2 minutes to go before Bridge of Orchy I was very reluctant to spend nearly an hour there in the rain, so I impulsively decided to trust him and stay on. We pulled away sharpish from BoO, so clearly we were not going to be held there for the sleeper. I was pretty jumpy for about 10 minutes, but then we roared through the clearly infrequently used Gorton loop and I relaxed. My Man Of Steel move appeared to have paid off. There was still the secondary risk that the skip would move off as we arrived, but it didn’t and we arrived 16 down and boarded the seated coach relieved and very pleased that we weren’t at that moment attempting to shelter from the rain at Bridge of Orchy station, just about the only building in PA36, mainland Britain’s second least populated postcode. I was in such a hurry to get on that I failed to take a photo of 67011, a badly wasted opportunity
My dad has never been on the sleeper before, despite being a priv holder and therefore able to do it for a song. He doesn’t get privs on the seated part though, so he had had to buy an advance from Rannoch to Edinburgh for £19.90, his first non-privilege ticket for forty-four years. This truly was an historic moment, and one I will not forget in a hurry! He was clearly impressed with the luxury of the seated coach, and more so when he went to take a look at the lounge car. We headed for the vestibules and got heads-out for mucho thrash and atmosphere for as long as we could. At Bridge of Orchy we unexpectedly passed 66723 on northbound alumina tanks. Despite having passed through the ‘industrial’ areas of West Yorkshire, the North East and the Central Belt to get here, the first and only freight we saw all day was here, in incredibly remote PA36! Round the horseshoe bend south of BoO was utterly spectacular in the setting sun. The mountain rearing up to the north was shrouded in mist and from down below unfathomably high. By Tyndrum Upper it was too dark, cold and wet, and we retired to the seats to while away the time by devising a normal-friendly tour of the Highlands utilising the sleepers for him to take my mum on. The journey is slackly timed and we pulled up a minute or two between each station, also getting a bonus by not doing the request stop at Ardlui (good: I’d seen more than enough of Ardlui that day!). By Helensburgh we were only 6 down and I fell asleep sometime after that. I awoke purely by chance just as we were about to take the Cowlairs north curve, required track for me and this the only train of the day to use it. Very lucky as my father’s views on sleeping over required track are very harsh, and this could potentially have sparked another quarter century or so of controversy less than seven weeks after the original Central Wales Line dispute was finally laid to rest. He reported that we had still been 6 down at Westerton, but now past Cowlairs the shackles were off. The skip had no problem with load four on a line fit for 100 mph running and we stormed through the night under the glow of a large full moon, and reached Edinburgh exactly on time at 00:50.
The Aberdeen portion was already in platform 11 with 90021 on the front. We passed through platform 10 without stopping, and crossed over into platform 7 where we bailed. 67011 then propelled its short rake onto the back of the Aberdeen and detached the lounge car and seated coach. 67004 arrived with the Inverness portion on platform 10 on while this was going on, and then pulled forward into platform 7 before propelling its portion onto the back of the Fort William sleeping cars. What a slick operation; we were most impressed. We walked briskly back to the hotel and were asleep by 01:30.
The alarm went off at 05:45 after a deep but inadequate sleep. Straight out of bed, kettle on, washed, shaved, got dressed, drank tea/coffee and left the room at 06:00. Checked out then walked to Waverley for the 06:32 Fife Circle working. 67007 was in charge of a rake that now included four mk IIfs in BR Inter City blue and grey as well as two in the expected EWS maroon. Very nice to get heads-out over the Forth Bridge, and the skip was good company along the Fife coastline. After Glenrothes there were still hardly any passengers on board, and we wondered why a six coach loco-hauled was following another 6-coach loco-hauled (0729 Glenrothes > Edinburgh) only 6 minutes behind. It seemed like overkill and by Dunfermline Queen Margaret there were still only enough people on board to justify a 2-car pacer. All this changed at Dunfermline Town, where hordes boarded, by Inverkeithing the train was wedged and I had to fight my way to the vestibule in order to bail. I said goodbye to my father who was so knackered he abandoned his tentative plans to do some more gricing in Scotland and went on for the 09:00 ECML working home as far as York.
I was picked up at Inverkeithing by a colleague who lives in Fife and brought to the depot. After the meeting he dropped me at Linlithgow station (about the same distance from the depot as central Edinburgh, and a lot easier drive) in time for the 15:03 to Queen Street. ScotRail 170s are no favourite of mine, but this one provided the venue for a welcome doze for half an hour, waking up as we arrived at Queen Street. I wandered leisurely over to Central, where I took some photos of the various units on display. I had a very late lunch in the shape of a dirty Burger King, and the time soon passed until we were allowed to board 390005 on the 16:40 to Euston. Horrible cramped conditions again, up against a pillar and unable to see out at all without craning my neck like an owl to see a 2” wide strip of glass just behind my right ear. Choosing a window seat when booking a seat on a Pendo is a real gamble. If you win the lottery and get a window it’s fine. If you don’t, an aisle seat would have been a better choice, especially if you are a claustrophobia sufferer. They should really call them ‘aisle’ and ‘non-aisle’ seats if they want to be totally up front.
With no chance of seeing the very pleasant views that I knew would be passing just on the other side of the panel of plastic and steel to my right, I got out the laptop and began to write this up. The journey to Carlisle seemed to pass very quickly, which of course it had done taking only 66 minutes for 102¼ miles, the upside of Pendolino travel. It was great to be wandering around Carlisle station for 20 minutes. In my early teens one of my greatest pleasures was to spend all day at this great and atmospheric station. The layout doesn’t seem to have been touched in all this time, and it was most nostalgic. True, the lines of 25s, 27s and a/c electrics stabled in the sidings opposite platform 1 are long gone, but Carlisle somehow seems to retain an atmosphere of those times when it seemed easier to love the railway. The large numbers of spotters clustered around the platform ends, looking as though they probably spend much of their time there as part of a community, certainly contributed to this impression.
Having taken a few photos of the dismal selection of trains on offer, I boarded 158907 forming the 18:16 to Leeds, and a real treat being my first full length run over the S&C for many years. While at Carlisle 66220 had come through on coal empties, and another one was waiting at London Road Junction as we passed. While pausing at Langwathby another shed came through, this time on Castle Cement tanks. Amazing to think that this now busy line was once seriously threatened with closure: imagine trying to path this lot down the WCML. Busy with freight that is; our 2-car 158 was no more than a quarter full. The track was in tip-top condition as we pottered along through ever better scenery along the Eden Valley to Appleby: this is the life! How lucky I am to have a job that facilitates such pleasures as this. More visual delights as we sailed across the top of the world to Settle and beyond. I was starting to flag by this stage though and was relieved when we pulled into Shipley dead on time at 20:35.
Plenty of loco-hauled action there over the two days. OK, a 91 is a bit lame, both in its own right and that of the stock it hauls (can’t lean out), but the other two were splendid, especially riding into the night behind 67011 in such wild and desolate surroundings.
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Ivo
Established Member
I didn't realise you did all that! I should have come up with a game like "Guess the Time" myself :roll:
Where's your Homeric account of your trip then? Or will it take so long to write and refine that it will only be published posthumously, like The Silmarillion?
KWVR Diesel Gala today, which was fun despite the crappy weather for much of the day. I didn't drink anything because my usual cranking/boozing companion is in Northern Ireland today. First time I haven't done a Gala 'gonzo' which was a bit weird, but a relief at this time of day when normally the first traces of hangover would be starting.
My mate had an interesting time on the Larne line. Only time for two out and backs to Carrick before his flight (he was in NI with work yesterday). He took a 450 on the 10:12 to Carrick, then got the gen that the 80 was out. Took it back to Central at 11:30 from Carrick, and back out again on the 12:12. He says it was unbelievably noisy and over-revving, and one of the power cars died around Jordanstown amid clouds of smoke. The other PC battled on to Clipperstown. The intention had been to get the set back to Central on the 13:00 CS > CL, and then substitute a 450. It was failed at Clipperstown though with a doors failure! The 13:00 was cancelled and he had to get the 13:30 450 class, which left him to catch the last train he could get to Sydenham for the airport and still be in time to check in. This train (14:12 to Bangor) was then cancelled as well! No idea why, but I texted him the Airport Bus gen and he just managed to get in there in time.
KWVR Diesel Gala today, which was fun despite the crappy weather for much of the day. I didn't drink anything because my usual cranking/boozing companion is in Northern Ireland today. First time I haven't done a Gala 'gonzo' which was a bit weird, but a relief at this time of day when normally the first traces of hangover would be starting.
My mate had an interesting time on the Larne line. Only time for two out and backs to Carrick before his flight (he was in NI with work yesterday). He took a 450 on the 10:12 to Carrick, then got the gen that the 80 was out. Took it back to Central at 11:30 from Carrick, and back out again on the 12:12. He says it was unbelievably noisy and over-revving, and one of the power cars died around Jordanstown amid clouds of smoke. The other PC battled on to Clipperstown. The intention had been to get the set back to Central on the 13:00 CS > CL, and then substitute a 450. It was failed at Clipperstown though with a doors failure! The 13:00 was cancelled and he had to get the 13:30 450 class, which left him to catch the last train he could get to Sydenham for the airport and still be in time to check in. This train (14:12 to Bangor) was then cancelled as well! No idea why, but I texted him the Airport Bus gen and he just managed to get in there in time.
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Ivo
Established Member
I remember reading that NIR had failed to meet the Delay Repay requirements for April on two lines: Larne and Portrush. Any guesses why? :cry:
As for my account, I had so little access to my laptop given the near-total lack of power points on the move - and using the hostel for sleep and not my computer for the most part! - that it isn't even close to be doing done. It will take a few days... 
As for my account, I had so little access to my laptop given the near-total lack of power points on the move - and using the hostel
4SRKT Your post about Gorton loop got me looking into it. Apparently it's not accessible to passenger trains because, like at Corrour, it's operated by ground frames at each end. There's no electricity at either location to operate the mechanism. (The station lights at Corrour are powered by a wind turbine.) All other loops on the WHL are sprung/automatic ones that the train can just pass over, whereas at Gorton/Corrour the train would have to stop and allow the guard to get out and operate the levers. Then reset them when the train's in the loop, then operate the other side, then reset it when the train's out. Hence they're hardly used at all, maybe occasionally by engineers' road-rail vehicles when they have to get out of the way but that's about it.
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