ash39
Established Member
- Joined
- 8 Feb 2012
- Messages
- 1,524
A new experience for me. Having done two trips to Ipswich since getting back into the hobby in 2012, the hire of 90034 and ex-Virgin Pretendolino mk3's tempted me back for a third. This time, rather than buying a direct ticket from York to Ipswich changing at Peterborough, I bought a ticket from York to Ely, where I planned to purchase an Anglia Plus Day Rover to allow me to continue on that service to Norwich and then see what I fancied from there. The plan being to sample a bit of Class 90 haulage, having only previously had 90006 and 90012 on Stratford-Liverpool Street runs.
It was early January when I booked the advance tickets, probably in a rush of eagerness to get out and enjoy some longer days. In reality, it was still mid-March and likely to be a bit chilly and miserable. I also overlooked the fact that the GEML was closed from Manningtree on this day, so no electric freight would be running and only six GA diagrams would be running. As if that wasn't enough, 90034 was confined to Crown Point depot due to it missing its DRA (a catastrophic oversight by someone there!) so that would certainly not be running. Not set up to be the best day out then!
Still, I was reasonably optimistic so off I went on the 0601 from York as far as Peterborough, shoved by 91113. I had picked up a cortado from Costa before boarding which was probably the only thing that kept me awake. 90009 was seen at Doncaster Wabtec, that's another that would definitely be off the adgenda then...
Swapped the 91 at Peterborough for East Midlands Trains 158780. This was taken through to journeys end at Norwich, arriving at around 0920 and with no actual plan from there on! Thanks to the Class 90 Electric Loco Group website (very good source of info), I learnt that the six 90's in operation that day were 90002, 90003, 90004, 90011, 90013 and 90015. I then decided I wanted to get a journey on them all in, and a decent photograph of each one, and preferably the DVT ends as well. Plus maybe try alighting at Diss and Stowmarket for some variety. The beauty of a rover, make it up as you go along!
At Norwich, 90011 was waiting to leave with the 0930 to Manningtree. Luckily, I managed to get a seat, so settled down for the 40 minute run to Ipswich. One down!
The 0930 to Mannintree by Flash_3939, on Flickr
On arrival at Ipswich, in the adjacent platform was the Pretendolino rake, well in a fashion. Various blue and white mk3's had been dropped in to replace vehicles, with National Express liveried 90015 on the end for good measure. For reasons I can't explain, I quite like a mixed rake of coaches!
82139 Ipswich 21/03/2015 by Flash_3939, on Flickr
Next up was 90013 which I took to Diss. A small station which reminded me a bit of Wakefield Westgate, in as much as it's a fairly small two platform station served fairly intensively by London expresses. A nice straight approach on both sides makes it decent for photography too. Here's 90013 a bit later in the day, with a rather spirited departure complete with sand!
90013 Diss 21/03/2015 by Flash_3939, on Flickr
90004 up next, for a relatively short hop back the way I came to Stowmarket. This was the last one of the GA 90's I needed a decent photo of, so I was pleased it was out. I got my shot a bit later at Ipswich. This was followed by freshly painted (back in service the previous day!) 90002 which I took back to Diss. Here it is approaching Stowmarket with 82152 leading;
82152 Stowmarket 21/03/2015 by Flash_3939, on Flickr
By now I had a decent idea on what was happening, and I wanted to try and pick up 90015 next, so I needed to get back to Ipswich. This meant another ride on 90013. Then I took 90015 as planned (in one of the ex-Virgin vehicles for some seat colour variety!) back to Diss. Due to the makeshift timetable, trains were arriving at Ipswich from Manningtree and sitting for around 25 minutes, so along with the 30 minute journey I was on board quite a while so I had my lunch at the same time.
From here I took 90004 again, back to Ipswich. I can't remember why now, but presumably to pick up the last required one for the day which was 90003. That was the lot ticked off, by 3pm! I took 003 all the way to Norwich, as I wanted to stretch the legs and see a bit of the city. As it turned out, I wasn't that impressed with Norwich (maybe I went the wrong way out of the station, I have a habit of doing that), so I was back at the station fairly quickly. My Peterborough train wasn't due to leave until 1857, so I did another run to Diss, leaving on 90003 as I'd arrived, and coming back on 90013 (third time of the day on that one!). Dusk had started to fall, so a few last pictures from Norwich were had.
90002 & 90011 Norwich 21/03/2015 by Flash_3939, on Flickr
90002 Norwich 21/03/2015 by Flash_3939, on Flickr
I picked up a few bits from the journey home and boarded 158812, full of Nottingham Forest fans coming back from the Norwich City match (another oversight there!) and endured the run to Peterborough, where I was uplifted by the sound of a GM engine approaching from the north. 67022 brought in a mk4 set off the Lincoln diversion, I was aware they were taking place but assumed it'd be all HST by this time of day.
67022 Peterborough 21/03/2015 by Flash_3939, on Flickr
A HST was what I got, 43302 leading 43251 for the lengthy run to York via Lincoln and the joint line. Shame it was so dark so I couldn't take in the diversion. Arrival back at York was just after 2300, a long day but very enjoyable! A useful six 90's cleared leaving just seven to get at some point - I definitely fancy another Anglia Plus before the 90's inevitably go in the next few years. Getting them all should be possible.
Summary:
0601 YRK-PBO 91113 BN09 82215
0738 PBO-NRW 158780
0930 NRW-IPS 90011 82118
1044 IPS-DIS 90013 82121
1117 DIS-SMK 90004 82136
1155 SMK-DIS 90002 82152
1217 DIS-IPS 90013 82121
1308 IPS-DIS 90015 82139
1417 DIS-IPS 90004 82136
1508 IPS-NRW 90003 82112
1630 NRS-DIS 90003 82112
1708 DIS-NRW 90013 82121
1857 NRW-PBO 158812
2052 PBO-YRK 43302 & 43251
Well done if you made it to the end! If you've not had enough, some extra photos can be found in an album here.
It was early January when I booked the advance tickets, probably in a rush of eagerness to get out and enjoy some longer days. In reality, it was still mid-March and likely to be a bit chilly and miserable. I also overlooked the fact that the GEML was closed from Manningtree on this day, so no electric freight would be running and only six GA diagrams would be running. As if that wasn't enough, 90034 was confined to Crown Point depot due to it missing its DRA (a catastrophic oversight by someone there!) so that would certainly not be running. Not set up to be the best day out then!
Still, I was reasonably optimistic so off I went on the 0601 from York as far as Peterborough, shoved by 91113. I had picked up a cortado from Costa before boarding which was probably the only thing that kept me awake. 90009 was seen at Doncaster Wabtec, that's another that would definitely be off the adgenda then...
Swapped the 91 at Peterborough for East Midlands Trains 158780. This was taken through to journeys end at Norwich, arriving at around 0920 and with no actual plan from there on! Thanks to the Class 90 Electric Loco Group website (very good source of info), I learnt that the six 90's in operation that day were 90002, 90003, 90004, 90011, 90013 and 90015. I then decided I wanted to get a journey on them all in, and a decent photograph of each one, and preferably the DVT ends as well. Plus maybe try alighting at Diss and Stowmarket for some variety. The beauty of a rover, make it up as you go along!
At Norwich, 90011 was waiting to leave with the 0930 to Manningtree. Luckily, I managed to get a seat, so settled down for the 40 minute run to Ipswich. One down!
The 0930 to Mannintree by Flash_3939, on Flickr
On arrival at Ipswich, in the adjacent platform was the Pretendolino rake, well in a fashion. Various blue and white mk3's had been dropped in to replace vehicles, with National Express liveried 90015 on the end for good measure. For reasons I can't explain, I quite like a mixed rake of coaches!
82139 Ipswich 21/03/2015 by Flash_3939, on Flickr
Next up was 90013 which I took to Diss. A small station which reminded me a bit of Wakefield Westgate, in as much as it's a fairly small two platform station served fairly intensively by London expresses. A nice straight approach on both sides makes it decent for photography too. Here's 90013 a bit later in the day, with a rather spirited departure complete with sand!
90013 Diss 21/03/2015 by Flash_3939, on Flickr
90004 up next, for a relatively short hop back the way I came to Stowmarket. This was the last one of the GA 90's I needed a decent photo of, so I was pleased it was out. I got my shot a bit later at Ipswich. This was followed by freshly painted (back in service the previous day!) 90002 which I took back to Diss. Here it is approaching Stowmarket with 82152 leading;
82152 Stowmarket 21/03/2015 by Flash_3939, on Flickr
By now I had a decent idea on what was happening, and I wanted to try and pick up 90015 next, so I needed to get back to Ipswich. This meant another ride on 90013. Then I took 90015 as planned (in one of the ex-Virgin vehicles for some seat colour variety!) back to Diss. Due to the makeshift timetable, trains were arriving at Ipswich from Manningtree and sitting for around 25 minutes, so along with the 30 minute journey I was on board quite a while so I had my lunch at the same time.
From here I took 90004 again, back to Ipswich. I can't remember why now, but presumably to pick up the last required one for the day which was 90003. That was the lot ticked off, by 3pm! I took 003 all the way to Norwich, as I wanted to stretch the legs and see a bit of the city. As it turned out, I wasn't that impressed with Norwich (maybe I went the wrong way out of the station, I have a habit of doing that), so I was back at the station fairly quickly. My Peterborough train wasn't due to leave until 1857, so I did another run to Diss, leaving on 90003 as I'd arrived, and coming back on 90013 (third time of the day on that one!). Dusk had started to fall, so a few last pictures from Norwich were had.
90002 & 90011 Norwich 21/03/2015 by Flash_3939, on Flickr
90002 Norwich 21/03/2015 by Flash_3939, on Flickr
I picked up a few bits from the journey home and boarded 158812, full of Nottingham Forest fans coming back from the Norwich City match (another oversight there!) and endured the run to Peterborough, where I was uplifted by the sound of a GM engine approaching from the north. 67022 brought in a mk4 set off the Lincoln diversion, I was aware they were taking place but assumed it'd be all HST by this time of day.
67022 Peterborough 21/03/2015 by Flash_3939, on Flickr
A HST was what I got, 43302 leading 43251 for the lengthy run to York via Lincoln and the joint line. Shame it was so dark so I couldn't take in the diversion. Arrival back at York was just after 2300, a long day but very enjoyable! A useful six 90's cleared leaving just seven to get at some point - I definitely fancy another Anglia Plus before the 90's inevitably go in the next few years. Getting them all should be possible.
Summary:
0601 YRK-PBO 91113 BN09 82215
0738 PBO-NRW 158780
0930 NRW-IPS 90011 82118
1044 IPS-DIS 90013 82121
1117 DIS-SMK 90004 82136
1155 SMK-DIS 90002 82152
1217 DIS-IPS 90013 82121
1308 IPS-DIS 90015 82139
1417 DIS-IPS 90004 82136
1508 IPS-NRW 90003 82112
1630 NRS-DIS 90003 82112
1708 DIS-NRW 90013 82121
1857 NRW-PBO 158812
2052 PBO-YRK 43302 & 43251
Well done if you made it to the end! If you've not had enough, some extra photos can be found in an album here.
hock:
Hopefully we'll see more of you in this sector of the forum in the coming months!
