Now I'm living back in london, I haven't had any large trips of late other than travelling back and forth between York and King's Cross which despite it being what i find a boring journey until you reach south of Stevenage, is great for 91 haulage before they go.
Before the Football
The day started off from my home in Whitechapel where having gotten up at 6, I decided to plan the day ahead knowing I had to be at Loftus Road by 7pm to see my team (Newcastle United) take on QPR. This plan involved starting off at Whitechapel Over/Underground station and taking in Clapham Jcn, Waterloo East, London Bridge and more. Whilst I was back at home over summer, GatEx 387/2's had been introduced and 700's were now in regular service so seeing some of these for site was top priority.
As usual with my plans, i didn't follow it at all and instead headed for Bethnal Green station. Just a 3 minute walk away, it gave me plenty of time to get my gear packed before I left and leaving at 7:30 I was quickly at the station. The sun was just starting to rise and there was not a cloud in sight, the blistering temperatures forecasted by the Met Office looked like they were going to be true. I decided to stop here until 8:30 and in this time managed my last 315 for sight and all except 1 Greater Anglia 321 I needed for sight. Winner winner chicken dinner.
315802 was the packed commuter train which was going to take me to Liverpool Street but I managed to get on at the front set of doors to allow quick disembarkation at the terminus station. It was not Liverpool Street I used however, I decided to take the 10 minute walk to Bank and down the unique travelator to the Waterloo and City line platofrm. Masses of commuters exited the Bank bound trains but I had a carriage to myself to Waterloo, how many can say that on the Underground at 9am in the morning?
Exiting at Waterloo I headed for the next 455 to Clapham Junction and stayed there until 11. A Colas 70 (70802) passed through during this time as well as 2x73's on test trains. However, I was too busy trying to catch the 387/2's and cleared more than half the fleet for sight but my last SWT EMU for sight (455717) was nowhere to be seen. How I have spent so many hours at Clapham Junction without seeing it I will never know.
At 11 I deiced to get a train back to Waterloo and walk along the South Bank to Blackfriars. 458505, my first 458/5 for haulage took me back to Waterloo and I was very impressed with the upgrades these have had, they felt clean and spacious. Walking by the River Thames along to Blackfriars, I checked realtimetrains to see where the 700's were (I printed off the 700 diagrams in the morning). Rather predictably, the Thameslink line was at a standstill due to trespassers and signalling problems in the "core". I spent 30 minutes at Blackfriars seeing a total of 2 trains in that time before I gave up. The views from here over the River are outstanding so I was in no hurry to leave. Just as I was leaving, I took one look back along the platform and 700104 was coming round the corner forming a Bedford - Brighton service running extremely late. 1 down for sight, 114 more to go!
Walking past the Globe and Southwark Cathedral, I headed to London bridge, a station which had changed vastly since I was last here, each platform had security guards on the end of the platforms at the south end and I couldn't be bothered with any hassle so got on 376002 to Waterloo East. The Southeastern fleet is the worst for sight according to my books, probably as it is a line I have seldom travelled on so an hour here at least increased those numbers before I headed for Paddington. Unfortunately this involves travelling on the Bakerloo line train. Compared to the S7's which I use daily, these are so stuffy and worn out and definitely look like they have been running up and down for the last 45 years. According to the ever reliable Wikipedia, these will be running until the 2030's. Great.
My last call for the day was paddington although I would be travelling back here later. The sun which had shined constantly through the day had disappeared behind black clouds as i took cover under the canopy at Royal Oak station. I was there for 5 minutes when i realised no trains had been though, walking up to street level, I couldn't leave the station as police tape was running across the station building and no trains were running on the GWML or Underground. A man on the bridge was threatening to jump off, the few of us on the station were let out underneath the police tape to continue our journeys on alternative transport. I decided to walk to Paddington. The delays meant that the train i wanted to see (43002 in BR125 livery) was cancelled at Reading. Moire importantly though, the man survived the ordeal.
It was now 4 so I decided to head home and get a shower before leaving for the football later that evening. This meant going from West to East London, to go back West again shortly after but I didn't want to take my camera equipment to the match. At Edgware Road, I caught a Hammersmith and City line S7 back to Whitechapel, got a shower, got changed and headed back to Whitechapel station, on another H&C S7, back past Paddington and on to Wood Lane, a short walk from Loftus Road.
We won 6-0. 6. I'm not used to seeing Newcastle away in London and winning (Newcastle London away record before this match: 10 matches, 44 conceded W:0 D:0 L:10) A great end to a great day and the best I have ever seen us play. After the match I had 2 options, another trip on the H&C to Whitechapel or Central Line to Liverpool Street and Overground back from there. White City was the first station I came to so the Central Line it was and the always squeaky 1992 stock and 315802 (my first train of the day 14 hours earlier) and last train of the day got me home by 11.
Before the Football
The day started off from my home in Whitechapel where having gotten up at 6, I decided to plan the day ahead knowing I had to be at Loftus Road by 7pm to see my team (Newcastle United) take on QPR. This plan involved starting off at Whitechapel Over/Underground station and taking in Clapham Jcn, Waterloo East, London Bridge and more. Whilst I was back at home over summer, GatEx 387/2's had been introduced and 700's were now in regular service so seeing some of these for site was top priority.
As usual with my plans, i didn't follow it at all and instead headed for Bethnal Green station. Just a 3 minute walk away, it gave me plenty of time to get my gear packed before I left and leaving at 7:30 I was quickly at the station. The sun was just starting to rise and there was not a cloud in sight, the blistering temperatures forecasted by the Met Office looked like they were going to be true. I decided to stop here until 8:30 and in this time managed my last 315 for sight and all except 1 Greater Anglia 321 I needed for sight. Winner winner chicken dinner.
315802 was the packed commuter train which was going to take me to Liverpool Street but I managed to get on at the front set of doors to allow quick disembarkation at the terminus station. It was not Liverpool Street I used however, I decided to take the 10 minute walk to Bank and down the unique travelator to the Waterloo and City line platofrm. Masses of commuters exited the Bank bound trains but I had a carriage to myself to Waterloo, how many can say that on the Underground at 9am in the morning?
Exiting at Waterloo I headed for the next 455 to Clapham Junction and stayed there until 11. A Colas 70 (70802) passed through during this time as well as 2x73's on test trains. However, I was too busy trying to catch the 387/2's and cleared more than half the fleet for sight but my last SWT EMU for sight (455717) was nowhere to be seen. How I have spent so many hours at Clapham Junction without seeing it I will never know.
At 11 I deiced to get a train back to Waterloo and walk along the South Bank to Blackfriars. 458505, my first 458/5 for haulage took me back to Waterloo and I was very impressed with the upgrades these have had, they felt clean and spacious. Walking by the River Thames along to Blackfriars, I checked realtimetrains to see where the 700's were (I printed off the 700 diagrams in the morning). Rather predictably, the Thameslink line was at a standstill due to trespassers and signalling problems in the "core". I spent 30 minutes at Blackfriars seeing a total of 2 trains in that time before I gave up. The views from here over the River are outstanding so I was in no hurry to leave. Just as I was leaving, I took one look back along the platform and 700104 was coming round the corner forming a Bedford - Brighton service running extremely late. 1 down for sight, 114 more to go!
Walking past the Globe and Southwark Cathedral, I headed to London bridge, a station which had changed vastly since I was last here, each platform had security guards on the end of the platforms at the south end and I couldn't be bothered with any hassle so got on 376002 to Waterloo East. The Southeastern fleet is the worst for sight according to my books, probably as it is a line I have seldom travelled on so an hour here at least increased those numbers before I headed for Paddington. Unfortunately this involves travelling on the Bakerloo line train. Compared to the S7's which I use daily, these are so stuffy and worn out and definitely look like they have been running up and down for the last 45 years. According to the ever reliable Wikipedia, these will be running until the 2030's. Great.
My last call for the day was paddington although I would be travelling back here later. The sun which had shined constantly through the day had disappeared behind black clouds as i took cover under the canopy at Royal Oak station. I was there for 5 minutes when i realised no trains had been though, walking up to street level, I couldn't leave the station as police tape was running across the station building and no trains were running on the GWML or Underground. A man on the bridge was threatening to jump off, the few of us on the station were let out underneath the police tape to continue our journeys on alternative transport. I decided to walk to Paddington. The delays meant that the train i wanted to see (43002 in BR125 livery) was cancelled at Reading. Moire importantly though, the man survived the ordeal.
It was now 4 so I decided to head home and get a shower before leaving for the football later that evening. This meant going from West to East London, to go back West again shortly after but I didn't want to take my camera equipment to the match. At Edgware Road, I caught a Hammersmith and City line S7 back to Whitechapel, got a shower, got changed and headed back to Whitechapel station, on another H&C S7, back past Paddington and on to Wood Lane, a short walk from Loftus Road.
We won 6-0. 6. I'm not used to seeing Newcastle away in London and winning (Newcastle London away record before this match: 10 matches, 44 conceded W:0 D:0 L:10) A great end to a great day and the best I have ever seen us play. After the match I had 2 options, another trip on the H&C to Whitechapel or Central Line to Liverpool Street and Overground back from there. White City was the first station I came to so the Central Line it was and the always squeaky 1992 stock and 315802 (my first train of the day 14 hours earlier) and last train of the day got me home by 11.
