OK, here's this week's instalment.
Nothing too spectacular occurred and the report is a bit shorter than usual, but hopefully it'll hit the spot for some people.
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Next up was a rover enjoyed a bit later in the year than usual, it began on 10th of November 2001 and it was my third of the year.
This one was a solo move.
I say solo, but for the first two days I had company.
Around this time Virgin did an occasional special offer that was a Virgin only day rover that covered the whole of their network.
This was both very useful and a pain.
It was a pain because you were issued with a voucher which you had to fill in, up to two people could travel, but there was no proper ticket.
We did a couple of these moves and there were always problems.
Showing a guard a voucher with one name written on it, instead of two tickets, very rarely went down well.
It would appear Virgin ran these promotions without informing their staff.
Alternatively, the guards had received the information but hadnt read/digested it properly.
On one such trip we got so fed up of being hassled that we went to the ticket office at Birmingham New Street to get written clarification.
This we were given and the next time we got some grief we showed the guard the letter we had been given at New Street, to which he said They only gave you that to get rid of you.
Nice.
So you see, a useful product, but a right pain at times.
Anyway, I digress.
My mate was unable to do a full week, but was up for a couple of days Virgin bashing and so on the Saturday we set off and drove to Stockport.
The plan was that we would do one of these rovers on the Saturday and I would start my all-liner on the Sunday, with him coming along for part of the day on another Virgin only ticket.
The validity of this ticket meant that we were restricted to Virgin services, obviously.
This wasnt a great problem as they had the majority of loco hauled traffic, so it was to Manchester Piccadilly that we headed first, behind 87009.
We then went in a Southerly direction, travelling to Birmingham behind 47844.
87022 was then taken for a short run to International.
By this stage of our bashing careers winners were rare and so fewer, longer, runs were the order of the day.
Also, we wanted to get the best value from our ticket.
So, it was off to Londinium on 87005.
Sister 87030 was then enjoyed back out to International before yet another 87 (oh, how I miss 87s) in the shape of 87017 back to Stockport and the drive over the Pennines.
Here is "Black Douglas", a personal favourite of mine:
87030_2004.09.04_1_Crewe by philwood55013, on Flickr
On Sunday we repeated the previous days start, with my mate driving us to Stockport. 86206 was enjoyed to Birmingham, followed by 87010 to Coventry.
It was a Sunday but unusually, there were no Nuneaton drags.
This unhappy situation didnt prevent our enjoyment, though and it was 87026 that was next, to New Street.
My mate had to head home now, so I accompanied him to Stockport on 47741.
I, too, was heading home, but wanted to get a couple more haulages in so went to Stoke on 87008 before heading to Manchester on 90011.
I then finished the day with a run on 158798 to Leeds.
I began the next day by driving to Wakefield and leaving my car in the long stay car park. The first loco was 47853 and I did this to Birmingham for 86249 to International.
47814 then took me to Coventry, followed by 86245 to Euston.
A 158 mile run to Crewe was next on the agenda, with 87024 providing traction.
I immediately returned to London but did it in two stages, 47818 to Birmingham, then 87033 to the blocks.
I was booked on the Plymouth portion of the sleeper as I was going shunter hunting but had time to make my way to Paddington via Coventry.
87029 took me to the Midlands and 47750 was my steed for the run from there to Paddington.
47815 was the sleeper loco and I settled down in the rear coach to get a bit of shut eye.
The Plymouth shunter was 08663 and it was another winner.
I was really lucky in that I managed to get all the Laira gronks on these turns and never once had a knock back.
I was also lucky that the morning loco-hauled service back to London had one of my favourite engines, 57601, in charge.
I did Purple Ronnie all the way and then had some time to kill before the next booked loco out of Paddington.
I had decided to fill this time by having a run from Marylebone to Amersham as I needed the track. So I jumped on the underground and headed over to the station that had been proposed for closure just a few years before.
I did 165036 out and back before returning to Paddington and 47813.
I took this throughout to the services end at Plymouth and then did a HST forward to Penzance for a reunion with 47815.
Wednesday the 14th was unit day.
I hoped to get a couple of 312s and so Fenchurch Street was in my plans.
As usual I got there via a convoluted route, doing 47822 from Paddington to Reading, 170308 to Basingstoke (no Thumpers on that route by now, sadly) and CIG unit 1392 to Waterloo.
Here is 1392 in "preservation":
EMU 1392_2005.07.09_3_Lydney Jnc by philwood55013, on Flickr
From Waterloo I did the long and arduous walk to Waterloo East and took 465180 to London Bridge. 456018 then took me round to Victoria.
I did a quick out-and-back to Clapham Junction, 5821 was the outward unit and the much better CIG 1905 worked the inward leg.
I then did the underground to Fenchurch but my luck was out.
No 312s in sight.
I decided to make my way down the line so did 357035 to Upminster, but I had no luck there either.
I returned to London, doing brand new 357212 to Barking and 357207 into Fenchurch Street.
By now my own bed was calling me and so it was over to Kings Cross and 91012 to Wakefield and my car.
On Thursday I repeated my move of Monday by driving to Wakefield.
I was heading up to Scotland and so obviously caught the 47 on 1V39, the 06.40 York Bristol, to Birmingham.
This was 47854.
I intended to catch an XC service to Edinburgh and was at New Street early enough to be able to go out and meet it at International.
The loco I did from there to Waverley was 86226.
The most memorable thing about this journey was that, when it arrived at International I noticed the rear coach was a half brake the wrong way round, so that the guards area was between the rest of the train and half a coach of seats. Knowing that this usually meant a quieter journey I headed there.
I didnt know just how quite it was going to be.
All the way to Edinburgh not a single other person came into the coach, not even the guard.
When I alighted at Edinburgh, marvelling at how tranquil it had been, I noticed that the other coaches were absolutely wedged!
Next up was some mega HST mileage. I was booked on the Inverness sleeper and the Kings Cross Inverness service reached the Highland capital about half an hour before my train was due to depart.
I still wasnt recording HSTs, so dont know what worked that service.
67028 was the sleeper loco and I was soon in the land of nod.
67028, on thunderbird duties at Doncaster:
67028_2014.04.19_1_Doncaster by philwood55013, on Flickr
Around this time there were a handful of 90s that had been renumbered into the 90/2 series. I cant remember why, something to do with special brake blocks I think, although I could well be wrong.
Anyway, it was one of these, 90221 (more usually 90021, of course), that took over from the Skip at Edinburgh.
This is 90021 having a wash and brush up between turns at Norwich in 2004:
90021_2004.07.07_2_Norwich by philwood55013, on Flickr
After reaching London I took EWS liveried 86261 to International for 86259 back.
I was booked into the Euston Travelodge and so I went and checked in before returning to the station and having a look at what was available.
The loco that grabbed my attention was RES painted 86254.
It was on a Manchester service and I calculated that I would clear it for a thousand miles if I took it all the way.
So I did.
And back again.
I then retired to my room for the rest of the night.
The next day was my last and it started with 90007, which I took to Crewe.
87030 was then enjoyed to Rugby before Freightliner hire-in 90146 was taken to Stafford.
Next up was 87020, a loco that I had a soft spot for as it had been my last 87 scored for haulage, way back in 1990.
I did North Briton from Stafford to Euston and then did the stroll over to Kings Cross for my train home.
This was 91026 and after bailing off it at Wakefield it was a drive home and another all-liner had bitten the dust.
As I said earlier, winners were now few and far between and this week had produced just two, 08663 and 67028, but it was still a great week and I particularly enjoyed my solitary journey through the Lune gorge and the Scottish Lowlands.
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There you have it. 18 down, 6 to go
Nothing too spectacular occurred and the report is a bit shorter than usual, but hopefully it'll hit the spot for some people.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next up was a rover enjoyed a bit later in the year than usual, it began on 10th of November 2001 and it was my third of the year.
This one was a solo move.
I say solo, but for the first two days I had company.
Around this time Virgin did an occasional special offer that was a Virgin only day rover that covered the whole of their network.
This was both very useful and a pain.
It was a pain because you were issued with a voucher which you had to fill in, up to two people could travel, but there was no proper ticket.
We did a couple of these moves and there were always problems.
Showing a guard a voucher with one name written on it, instead of two tickets, very rarely went down well.
It would appear Virgin ran these promotions without informing their staff.
Alternatively, the guards had received the information but hadnt read/digested it properly.
On one such trip we got so fed up of being hassled that we went to the ticket office at Birmingham New Street to get written clarification.
This we were given and the next time we got some grief we showed the guard the letter we had been given at New Street, to which he said They only gave you that to get rid of you.
Nice.
So you see, a useful product, but a right pain at times.
Anyway, I digress.
My mate was unable to do a full week, but was up for a couple of days Virgin bashing and so on the Saturday we set off and drove to Stockport.
The plan was that we would do one of these rovers on the Saturday and I would start my all-liner on the Sunday, with him coming along for part of the day on another Virgin only ticket.
The validity of this ticket meant that we were restricted to Virgin services, obviously.
This wasnt a great problem as they had the majority of loco hauled traffic, so it was to Manchester Piccadilly that we headed first, behind 87009.
We then went in a Southerly direction, travelling to Birmingham behind 47844.
87022 was then taken for a short run to International.
By this stage of our bashing careers winners were rare and so fewer, longer, runs were the order of the day.
Also, we wanted to get the best value from our ticket.
So, it was off to Londinium on 87005.
Sister 87030 was then enjoyed back out to International before yet another 87 (oh, how I miss 87s) in the shape of 87017 back to Stockport and the drive over the Pennines.
Here is "Black Douglas", a personal favourite of mine:
87030_2004.09.04_1_Crewe by philwood55013, on FlickrOn Sunday we repeated the previous days start, with my mate driving us to Stockport. 86206 was enjoyed to Birmingham, followed by 87010 to Coventry.
It was a Sunday but unusually, there were no Nuneaton drags.
This unhappy situation didnt prevent our enjoyment, though and it was 87026 that was next, to New Street.
My mate had to head home now, so I accompanied him to Stockport on 47741.
I, too, was heading home, but wanted to get a couple more haulages in so went to Stoke on 87008 before heading to Manchester on 90011.
I then finished the day with a run on 158798 to Leeds.
I began the next day by driving to Wakefield and leaving my car in the long stay car park. The first loco was 47853 and I did this to Birmingham for 86249 to International.
47814 then took me to Coventry, followed by 86245 to Euston.
A 158 mile run to Crewe was next on the agenda, with 87024 providing traction.
I immediately returned to London but did it in two stages, 47818 to Birmingham, then 87033 to the blocks.
I was booked on the Plymouth portion of the sleeper as I was going shunter hunting but had time to make my way to Paddington via Coventry.
87029 took me to the Midlands and 47750 was my steed for the run from there to Paddington.
47815 was the sleeper loco and I settled down in the rear coach to get a bit of shut eye.
The Plymouth shunter was 08663 and it was another winner.
I was really lucky in that I managed to get all the Laira gronks on these turns and never once had a knock back.
I was also lucky that the morning loco-hauled service back to London had one of my favourite engines, 57601, in charge.
I did Purple Ronnie all the way and then had some time to kill before the next booked loco out of Paddington.
I had decided to fill this time by having a run from Marylebone to Amersham as I needed the track. So I jumped on the underground and headed over to the station that had been proposed for closure just a few years before.
I did 165036 out and back before returning to Paddington and 47813.
I took this throughout to the services end at Plymouth and then did a HST forward to Penzance for a reunion with 47815.
Wednesday the 14th was unit day.
I hoped to get a couple of 312s and so Fenchurch Street was in my plans.
As usual I got there via a convoluted route, doing 47822 from Paddington to Reading, 170308 to Basingstoke (no Thumpers on that route by now, sadly) and CIG unit 1392 to Waterloo.
Here is 1392 in "preservation":
EMU 1392_2005.07.09_3_Lydney Jnc by philwood55013, on FlickrFrom Waterloo I did the long and arduous walk to Waterloo East and took 465180 to London Bridge. 456018 then took me round to Victoria.
I did a quick out-and-back to Clapham Junction, 5821 was the outward unit and the much better CIG 1905 worked the inward leg.
I then did the underground to Fenchurch but my luck was out.
No 312s in sight.
I decided to make my way down the line so did 357035 to Upminster, but I had no luck there either.
I returned to London, doing brand new 357212 to Barking and 357207 into Fenchurch Street.
By now my own bed was calling me and so it was over to Kings Cross and 91012 to Wakefield and my car.
On Thursday I repeated my move of Monday by driving to Wakefield.
I was heading up to Scotland and so obviously caught the 47 on 1V39, the 06.40 York Bristol, to Birmingham.
This was 47854.
I intended to catch an XC service to Edinburgh and was at New Street early enough to be able to go out and meet it at International.
The loco I did from there to Waverley was 86226.
The most memorable thing about this journey was that, when it arrived at International I noticed the rear coach was a half brake the wrong way round, so that the guards area was between the rest of the train and half a coach of seats. Knowing that this usually meant a quieter journey I headed there.
I didnt know just how quite it was going to be.
All the way to Edinburgh not a single other person came into the coach, not even the guard.
When I alighted at Edinburgh, marvelling at how tranquil it had been, I noticed that the other coaches were absolutely wedged!
Next up was some mega HST mileage. I was booked on the Inverness sleeper and the Kings Cross Inverness service reached the Highland capital about half an hour before my train was due to depart.
I still wasnt recording HSTs, so dont know what worked that service.
67028 was the sleeper loco and I was soon in the land of nod.
67028, on thunderbird duties at Doncaster:
67028_2014.04.19_1_Doncaster by philwood55013, on FlickrAround this time there were a handful of 90s that had been renumbered into the 90/2 series. I cant remember why, something to do with special brake blocks I think, although I could well be wrong.
Anyway, it was one of these, 90221 (more usually 90021, of course), that took over from the Skip at Edinburgh.
This is 90021 having a wash and brush up between turns at Norwich in 2004:
90021_2004.07.07_2_Norwich by philwood55013, on FlickrAfter reaching London I took EWS liveried 86261 to International for 86259 back.
I was booked into the Euston Travelodge and so I went and checked in before returning to the station and having a look at what was available.
The loco that grabbed my attention was RES painted 86254.
It was on a Manchester service and I calculated that I would clear it for a thousand miles if I took it all the way.
So I did.
And back again.
I then retired to my room for the rest of the night.
The next day was my last and it started with 90007, which I took to Crewe.
87030 was then enjoyed to Rugby before Freightliner hire-in 90146 was taken to Stafford.
Next up was 87020, a loco that I had a soft spot for as it had been my last 87 scored for haulage, way back in 1990.
I did North Briton from Stafford to Euston and then did the stroll over to Kings Cross for my train home.
This was 91026 and after bailing off it at Wakefield it was a drive home and another all-liner had bitten the dust.
As I said earlier, winners were now few and far between and this week had produced just two, 08663 and 67028, but it was still a great week and I particularly enjoyed my solitary journey through the Lune gorge and the Scottish Lowlands.
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There you have it. 18 down, 6 to go
