55013's Contemporary Trip Reports

[Kite159]

Sounded like a good little day in London, bar the usual Southern farce

 

[55013]

Thanks chaps.
The 0728 will certainly be a move of last resort in future!
I was expecting some Southern discomfort but it was still a bit annoying, although I do try and not get stressed out, just kick back and relax.

Anyway, here's day 2:

After an excellent night’s sleep (I know I’m in the minority on here but I do like the new Travelodge beds), I was down at the restaurant when it opened at 8am on Saturday, ready to hit the rails once more.
My first order of business was to get those tram shacks in and so it was onto winner from yesterday 2541, first for the short leg round to East Croydon and then immediately on to Mitcham Junction.
On the way a requirement passed heading the other way and I resolved to get it in, hopefully from a new stop.
I knew that that it was third in line behind 2541 and so when I boarded 2534 I made sure I kept an eye out for ones going towards Wimbledon.
My hopes were realised as I managed to make it to Waddon Marsh having just passed the second set.

No sign of my requirement yet as 2534 leaves Waddon Marsh:
Croydon Tram 2534_2016.08.13_Waddon Marsh by Phil Wood, on Flickr

2545 was captured and taken to Therapia Lane, meaning that I’ve now done ever tram stop between Wimbledon and Sandilands, which is nice.
What’s nicer is that 2545 was my 267th winner of the year, taking me below 100 requirements to reach my target, with four months still to do.
Nicer still, it was another winner, 2560 that took me back to East Croydon and the mainline.


My first Southern units of the day were 377602 and 377626.
In keeping with my preference for riding on both units in a set whenever possible I sat in 602 to Victoria and then 626 out to Clapham Junction.
My first plan was some groovy 456 action, but I was bowled.
After a wait that tested the limit of my patience not a single one showed its face, leading me to the conclusion that they don’t do much, if anything, at the weekend.
Not one to linger on failures I made my way over to the Windsor platforms and my next objective.
Prior to today I had only sampled a couple of 458/5s, from Clapham Junction to Waterloo and from there to Queenstown Road, then the same in reverse, so some longer runs were required.
Needing all bar four meant that winners were highly likely and so it proved.
458509 was first up, from the Junction into Waterloo and then back out to Barnes where I picked up 458531 to do the same two trips the other way.
A pair were next, doyen of the class 458501, now back in its original formation following its unfortunate fire incident, leading 458515.
I sat in the front unit to Waterloo in order to go in the one that would be the quietest back out.
Another new station was my destination and I bailed at Twickenham.
I was on a roll now and things got even better when another pair were added to my haulage record, 458505 and 458519.
These were done into Waterloo for the obligatory change of set, from 505 to 519, and a trip back to Clapham Junction.
Now it was another couple of runs on single units, with 458525 first up.
I did this into Waterloo and as it was pulling in I spotted a required sister about to leave on a Waterloo to Waterloo Via Hounslow trip.
RTT was consulted and I worked out where I could meet it, so it was out to St Margarets on 458525.
My calculations proved correct and my day’s 458 bashing came to an end with 458811, which I took back to the terminus.

458511 arrives at St Margarets:
EMU 458511_2016.08.13_1_St Margarets by Phil Wood, on Flickr

My 458 figures look much better now, although there’s still some way to go.

My thoughts were now turning to heading home and I decided to do it via a Sutton Loop service from Wimbledon.
So I headed out that way on 455911, however I had a bit of time so I stayed on board until Malden Manor as I never miss an opportunity to rope something new in
455736 did the honours from Malden Manor to Wimbledon and 319008 provided me with the last winner of the move, from there to St Pancras.

I was booked on the 19.04 from Kings Cross and was hoping for a nice low mileage 91 to finish my bonus weekend away.
Bowled!
Yet another HST.
I’m starting to feel persecuted now.
43319 and 43311 were the offending power cars, although they did their job adequately and arrival at Wakefield was on time.

DVT 82216 arrives at the Cross, included as I like it, particularly the way the light reflects off the tracks in the tunnel. Also, it 's better than the view behind me, which was 43319:
DVT 82216_2016.08.13_1_Kings Cross by Phil Wood, on Flickr

So a hat full of winners, both units and shacks, making it another excellent trip.
I’ve got more London jaunts lined up before the end of the year but I'm suffering Scotland withdrawal symptoms, so a Stratchclyde Daytripper may well figure as well.

 

[Kite159]

If you want 456 action at the weekend then look at the Sunday Hampton Court services as they are 6 coaches (either 455+456 or 456+456+456)

Sounded like a good little day in the south western part of the zones

 

[Kristofferson]

That's a cracking photo of the tunnel portal!

Great trip by the sounds of it, always good to have a change of scenery nice job on the shacks too!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Techniquest]

You sure did well there, well under 100 scores to go until you clear that target now. You have made me realise I need a lot in SWT territory, and that I need to make a start on dealing with that. More Moves Envy!

I'll take your haulage off 43319 from you happily as I need that one!

 

[55013]

I was pleased with my progress, I could get more scores in by a doing a series of short leaps, but I prefer longer runs so fewer scores is the payoff.

Interestingly, I've just realised that Therapia Lane was my 1000th shack, including closed ones such as Weymouth Quay, which is nice - it sounds better to say I've done over a thousand than to say I need two thousand five hundred and odd

That's a cracking photo of the tunnel portal!

Thanks. I like to look for something different, which is a bit difficult at Kings Cross, but it's not a view I've seen very often and I saw some potential and must admit I was pleased with the outcome.

If you want 456 action at the weekend then look at the Sunday Hampton Court services as they are 6 coaches (either 455+456 or 456+456+456)

Sounded like a good little day in the south western part of the zones

Cheers.
I'm rarely down that way on a Sunday, but I'll bare it in mind should the occasion arise.

 

[Kite159]

Shows the climb out of Kings Cross (unless it's a trick of the light)

 

[37038]

Shows the climb out of Kings Cross (unless it's a trick of the light)

Gradient is accentuated by the zoom slightly, its steep but no huge

Dips at 1 in 100 to about 50m in the tunnel where it passes beneath the canal then there's little over a mile uphill at 1 in 105

 

[45135]

Interestingly, I've just realised that Therapia Lane was my 1000th shack, including closed ones such as Weymouth Quay, which is nice - it sounds better to say I've done over a thousand than to say I need two thousand five hundred and odd

A milestone. This treatment takes too long

 

[55013]

Longer's better in this case, I reckon
What would I do if I no longer had anything to chase?

By the way, I'm looking forward to the report of your Scotland jolly.
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Well, there'll be no report from 45135 today.
I know this because he's been with me on a nice little bashing move.

We were ELR bound and our target was the beast that is 40135.
No chopping and changing trains, just 72 miles of split box whistler thrash.
Three round trips were done, the entire diesel diagram for the day.
That's all.
No winners but we had a good time and the 40 performed perfectly.

Beast:
40135_2016.08.21_1_Bury by Phil Wood, on Flickr

 

[45135]

You were right

It's just struck me that the mismatched headcode panels on 40135 look interesting if a little odd...

 

[47403]

Just caught up with your sojourns Phil(way behind trying to catch up with everyones), great reads again with some great pics too.

Loved the can i go to Nottingham? Seemingly switching to trip mode, what dates?.

Some fajrly productive trips. Congrats on clearing the 319s, have to agree too, gen less scores are very much sweeter, more like an unexpected bonus. 2 out 3 targets hit plus your 1,000th shack too. Not doing too shabby at all.

40135 looks well, would have been nice just chilling listening to a 40 thrashing round.

 

[FQ]

Sounds like a brilliant time there! Maybe you should convert to a tram lover as they seem to love you now . The whistler certainly looks odd with the different headcode panels!

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Congrats on clearing the 319s, have to agree too, gen less scores are very much sweeter, more like an unexpected bonus.

I've been out the last few days and have had the fortune of gen from a mate on two of them. But when you want so little off the real railway like I do in certain parts of the nations, you often need the gen otherwise you'd be spending all day chasing your tail while wondering what you've missed on the one diagram that you could not cover. But there again, on those two days when I did have gen, I had seven and six winners respectively. But on day three when my mate was tied up in meetings and away from the magic box all day, I managed 8 winners with three in a row! There's no rhyme nor reason to that. However, I was playing safe and not trekking halfway around the world for one pesky unit ....

There was a time when I'd clear the 319s every year but now they're moving away from Thameslink in their droves, I'm more likely to clear all the SWT 455s every year.

 

[55013]

40135 looks well, would have been nice just chilling listening to a 40 thrashing round.

40135 is a monster, one of my all time favourite locos.
I've had 777 miles off it at the East Lancs, not bad for a 12 mile line
I do like running days as well, they're so much more relaxed than galas and far, far quieter.

As for gen, like everything else in this game it's each to their own.
I may be daft but I'm not an idiot so I won't ignore it if I hear that my last member of such and such a class of unit is working when I'm in a position to capitalise.
I won't ask for it in advance, though.

Maybe you should convert to a tram lover as they seem to love you now .

I'm speechless

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At the start of 2015 I needed no fewer than thirty-seven stations that reside in the West Yorkshire Metrocard area (Darton is in South Yorkshire but is covered by the card), with two others having opened in the intervening twenty months.
Now, I was down to one.

The problem had always been that the one train an hour from Leeds would give me a forty-minute fester and that had always put me off, I don’t want to be sat on a platform when I should be on a train.
It occurred to me, however, that the answer is easy if you take it logically.
Do it from the Sheffield direction, easy to do as it’s also valid on a South Yorkshire Travelmaster.
So when presented with one of my short notice moves I had a look for a suitable local move.
I had ruled out Manchester as it was Gay Pride (nothing homophobic, just a crowd avoidance thing), so I settled on bumping up my haulage scores for the year in Sheffield.
This also gave me the chance to get that elusive shack in the book.

I had a move planned and made my way to Meadowhall with enough time to get a quick tram shack score in, doing dud 113 from Meadowhall Interchange to Fitzalan Square/Ponds Forge for 121 back.
En route I spotted new 201, 202 and 204 sat on Nunnery depot - something else to get in the future.

Now it was just a case of a ten minute wait for the infrequent York service, which arrived more or less on time worked by 144001.
I bailed at Moorthorpe and that was it, West Yorkshire has been conquered.
At least until Low Moor is open and as that is at the bottom of my road I don’t foresee too many problems getting it in fairly soon after the grand opening.

Proof is the bottom line for everyone:
DMU 144001_2016.08.27_1_Moorthorpe by Phil Wood, on Flickr

144021 was up next, taking me to Sheffield and my brief flirtation with heavy rail was over for the day.

My plan had been to clear the stops on the Meadowhall line, but winning traction is always a priority and so when 101 rolled in heading towards Halfway it had to be done.
I do enjoy the run up the hill after Granville Road and stayed on all the way to Manor Top.
I had cleared the Halfway & Herdings Park shacks back in January, so nothing new to get along there.
I don’t like to have a run without something new if I can help it so I stayed on board dud 117 from Manor Top to Castle Square.
I never originally intended to go any further that way than Fitzalan Square, but that’s not how it turned out.
Most of my requirements were on Halfway turns and so that’s what I ended up doing, going further up the Malin Bridge/Middlewood line to keep the shack scores ticking over.
As is usual with tram moves, I’ll just list them for a bit.
After 117 I did the following:

107 Castle Square – Park Grange Croft
103 Park Grange Croft – Cathedral

103 and still required 104 at Cathedral:
Sheffield Tram 103_2016.08.27_1_Cathedral_& 104 by Phil Wood, on Flickr

108 Cathedral – Park Grange
123 Park Grange – Cathedral (no choice, it terminated there)
115 Cathedral – Park Grange
106 Park Grange – West Street
121 West Street – Cricket Inn Road – at last a Meadowhall line shack.
Done to meet
110 Cricket Inn Road – City Hall
114 City Hall – Valley Centertainment
114 Valley Centertainment – Hyde Park
112 Hyde Park – Arena/Don Valley Stadium
110 Arena/Don Valley Stadium – University Of Sheffield
111 University Of Sheffield – Arbourthorne Road
115 Arbourthorne Road – Netherthorpe Road
And finishing on 121 from Netherthorpe Road to Meadowhall and my car.

I really like the hills on the Supertram network:
Sheffield Tram 121_2016.08.27_3_Netherthorpe Road by Phil Wood, on Flickr

In conclusion: Nine required trams, leaving me five to clear (102/104/105/118 & 125), eleven new shacks, including the much wanted Moorthorpe and a very enjoyable day out.
Going into September I need 76 winning haulages to achieve my aim, so it’s looking good.
Following Kite’s example I’ve included a couple of Paul Simon references

Oh, and "Centertainment" is one of the worse words ever inflicted on the English language!

 

[Kite159]

Sounded like a good day in South Yorkshire, next up you will be looking into any shacks required in that area

 

[55013]

It's certainly occurred to me

 

[Techniquest]

South Yorkshire has been on my list to deal with for too long as well, and as per usual 55013 has got me wanting to get up there as soon as possible!

Quite a clear out you were having there, I certainly need to visit again soon. Then again, I need to do Metrolink as a higher priority!

 

[55013]

At this time of year my decision on Manchester or Sheffield very much depends on the football fixtures when it comes to Saturday moves.

 

[Kite159]

At this time of year my decision on Manchester or Sheffield very much depends on the football fixtures when it comes to Saturday moves.

Don't really blame you there.

Stratford will be a no-go zone before & after West Ham home games, similar to how Finsbury Park is a no-go zone after Arsenal home games

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Mr 13,that was yet another fab read and well done on getting some of those awkward shacks in the book. I did South Yorkshire back in the early part of the year and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It's high on the list for a return trip but I will probably wait until the bent tram (118) returns to service.

 

[55013]

Don't really blame you there.

Stratford will be a no-go zone before & after West Ham home games, similar to how Finsbury Park is a no-go zone after Arsenal home games

It's not that I dislike football, far from it.
I just hate the crowds and the behaviour that some groups of fans seem to think is acceptable.

Mr 13,that was yet another fab read and well done on getting some of those awkward shacks in the book. I did South Yorkshire back in the early part of the year and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It's high on the list for a return trip but I will probably wait until the bent tram (118) returns to service.

Thanks.
Depending on circumstances I might get another visit in before the end of the year, however I don't know when 118 will appear, so that and the new 399s will have to wait a bit.

 

[Cowley]

I enjoyed reading that. The day out on 40135 looked great too. Not been on the East Lancs yet but going to do it in the next 12 months along with the Cumbrian Coast 37s hopefully, will try and take in the diesel diagram at the ELR too.
Luckily the missus likes 37s and nice scenery.
They always seem to know how to drive at the East Lancs if you know what I mean (going on the YouTube clips I've seen).
Trouble is it's a long way from where I live.

 

[55013]

The ELR is a nice line, I'm sure you'll enjoy it when you get round to visiting.
The drivers certainly know how to play to the crowd.
Of course, the traction helps a lot

 

[45135]

Congratulations on clearing West Yorkshire (so far). For a major challenge you could always go for North Yorkshire next.

 

[55013]

South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester will by higher on the list - cheaper day tickets

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As requested (well two people said they'd be interested), I've knocked out a quick summary of a trip to France and Italy from many years ago.
It's been more than a decade since this trip and my memory is a little fuzzy on some things, but it involved a lot of culture that I won't bore you with (too much), including the greatest sculpture I've ever seen, Michelangelo's David - simply stunning.
Anyway, on with the show.

It was back in 2005 when Mrs 13 and I embarked on an ambitious holiday to Italy.
The plan was this: We would start by catching the train to London and having a few hours there before heading over to Paris on the Eurostar and from there a plane to Rome.
We then had a couple of nights planned in Rome before moving on to a campsite near Florence.
After a few days there it was to be back to Paris by train, another couple of nights in the French capital and then home via London.
Dead easy, what could go wrong?
Lots, as it happens.

It turned out to be the best holiday we’ve ever had.

The holiday started in the same way as many an enjoyable move, by driving to Wakefield and leaving the car in the long stay car-park there.
91124 took us to the first of our three capitals and we spent a while visiting some previously unvisited tourist attractions (I can’t remember exactly which ones) before making our way to Waterloo.
This is where things started to go wrong.
First of all, the service that we were booked on was cancelled.
Never mind, we had given ourselves plenty of time and doing the one an hour later shouldn’t present too many problems.
As there were two trainloads of passengers on this service we rushed to get seats and I neglected to note down which 373 we were on.
The ride through Kent was pretty good and the tunnel was tunnel-like.

Once in France the train ground to halt.
After waiting a while there was an announcement – power supply problems meant everything was delayed.
Now we started to get nervous.
Eventually we started to move, but it was painfully slow.
We crawled along and arrived at Gare du Nord very late.
Despite everything, It was still possible to make our flight and so we belted outside to the taxi rank and we were soon on our way.

We explained our situation to the driver and he responded superbly, driving like a maniac through the streets of Paris.
We belted down backstreets, knocking over huge piles of cardboard boxes and causing angry market traders to leap out of our way as various fruits and vegetables were sent flying.
OK, that last sentence was made up, but it really was a scary drive, with us weaving in and out the traffic, ignoring red lights and mounting the pavement on more than one occasions as he cut corners.
I said he responded to our desperate pleas to get us to the airport on time, but it’s just possible he always drives like that

We hit the motorway with twenty minutes to go, we could see planes on a runway in the distance.
We might make it!
Then, I saw the signs that pointed to Charles De Gaul airport.
I looked at the driver and said “Beauvais?”
He looked across at me, shrugged and said “non”.

He dropped us off back at Gare du Nord about an hour later.
It had cost us sixty-five euros to end up back where we started.

Our hotel for the night was in Rome and we were in Paris.
Not an everyday problem.
We made our way over to Gare du Lyon station and enquired about trains to Italy.
It was Saturday evening and we were informed that the sleeper was fully booked but there was a service early Sunday morning and so that’s what we plumped for.
A further problem was that there were only first class seats left on the morning train.
As we actually wanted to spend some time in Rome we had no choice but to go for these.
Given the length of journey, it was probably a good idea anyway.

After purchasing our tickets we now had another issue.
We had nowhere to spend the night.
We began searching the streets of Paris for suitable accommodation.
All the time carrying our luggage, don’t forget.

Eventually we found a back street dive and got the last room they had.
This was on the top floor and required a ride in the most ramshackled lift I have ever had the misfortune to use.
Once in our room we went straight to bed as we were shattered and an early start was required next morning.
When we got into bed it sagged in the middle so badly that we both rolled there.
We were up the next morning before dawn, which did enable me to get a shot of Parisian rooftops in the breaking light.

Probably not the best photo of Paris you've ever seen:
001_The view from our hotel in Paris_11.09.05 by Ruth Wood, on Flickr

A quick march to Gare du Lyon was followed by several hours on TGV 4502, which we did to Milan where we had to change onto an Italian EMU, which was ETR 500 set 45.

A TGV:
French TGV 4502_2005.09.11_2_Paris by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Except for the hour or so we spent at Milan whilst we waited for our connection, we spent the whole day on the two trains, reaching Rome well after dark.

Our first order of business was to walk from the station to view the Coliseum, getting a few night shots that I was quite pleased with, before checking into our hotel about thirty hours late (obviously we had phoned and told them we were running a bit behind schedule).

Nocturnal history:
005_The Colosseum_Rome_11.09.05 by Ruth Wood, on Flickr

Out time in Rome had been substantially reduced but we still had a great day looking around what is probably my favourite city before heading up to Florence on Monday afternoon.
After that our week consisted of visiting numerous places, such as Pisa, by train – often loco hauled with class 464, 646 & 656 all featuring, although I never bothered to actually record them, other than by photograph.

646ers are beasts :
Italian 646.090_2005.09.14_4_Florence by Phil Wood, on Flickr

646.090 is dud, we did it from Pisa to Florence.

656ers a pretty good as well:
Italian 656.567_2005.09.14_1_Florence by Phil Wood, on Flickr

464s, less so:
Italian 464.153_2005.09.12_2_Florence by Phil Wood, on Flickr

Our return, which went exactly as planned this time, consisted of another ETR 500, this time set 43, from Florence to Milan with TGV 4506 taking us over the Alps and on to Paris.

4506:
French TGV 4506_2005.09.16_Milan by Phil Wood, on Flickr

We then had a couple of nights in Paris, in a hotel marginally better than the one we spent our first night in, before heading home.
I managed to record the Eurostar we took to Waterloo, it was 373021, obviously with 373022.
We finished off a fabulous holiday with 91121 from Kings Cross to Wakefield.
As I said at the beginning this turned into the best holiday we have ever had, one that’s not been surpassed to this day.

The adventure at the start helped make it, of that there’s no doubt, but the host of wonderful things we saw certainly contributed – Michelangelo’s statue of David being the breath-taking highlight and the Mona Lisa being the biggest disappointment.

 

[Techniquest]

That sure turned into quite an adventure! Ouch to the grim hotel, but no doubt considered better than sleeping on the station in the circumstances.

Certainly an amazing trip was had, that much is clear. The architecture will have been worth seeing, the art not so. Then again civil engineering and architecture is so much more my thing than art, although equally I'd prefer to spend more time on the rails personally and see more of the country than just the top/most popular sights.

Hours upon hours on a TGV must have been an interesting experience. I seem to recall First Class is quite nice on them, although I only have vague memories from 2002 or 2003 of a trip from Poitiers to Paris then Paris to Lille. I just remember being more than glad to get back to Dover and British soil, to the point that singing Rule Britannia would have been most appropriate!

 

[55013]

That sure turned into quite an adventure! Ouch to the grim hotel, but no doubt considered better than sleeping on the station in the circumstances.

At one time it did look like we would have to sleep rough, which would have added to the adventure.
Probably a bit too much, though

Certainly an amazing trip was had, that much is clear. The architecture will have been worth seeing, the art not so. Then again civil engineering and architecture is so much more my thing than art, although equally I'd prefer to spend more time on the rails personally and see more of the country than just the top/most popular sights.

It could be argued that good architecture IS art, certainly I love looking at great buildings (not necessarily aesthetically pleasing ones - see Stratford International station as an example) as much as I enjoy great works of art.
Portraits generally don't do it for me, although I can appreciate the skill involved (maybe that's why the Mona Lisa doesn't grab me) although Hans Holbein's "The Ambassadors" is brilliant - it was painted in the 16th Century and includes a skull that is distorted when viewed from the front but perfect when looked at from the side.
Marvellous.

Oh, and don't worry, we always see lots of the local area when we're on our jollies.

Hours upon hours on a TGV must have been an interesting experience. I seem to recall First Class is quite nice on them, although I only have vague memories from 2002 or 2003 of a trip from Poitiers to Paris then Paris to Lille. I just remember being more than glad to get back to Dover and British soil, to the point that singing Rule Britannia would have been most appropriate!

I don't know about interesting.
Apart from going through the Alps it actually got quite dull after several hours!

 

[FQ]

Shame about the major problems at the start but it sounds like a great time was had overall!

 

[55013]

It was the problems that made the holiday!