ash39's Trip Reports & Photos

[ash39]

10 hours of rattling around South Yorkshire bagged me 144 003 004 007 010 012 013 015 017 022 023, that's a lot of 144s.

Shame it took you so long to get 144010 the first time round

Sounded like a good day in South Yorkshire, and with the delay at Thorne North might mean some freebie Northern tickets for a future day trip somewhere

Indeed, I think CumbrianSausag was already thinking the same!

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Just caught up with this thread. The North East Rover looked to be an excellent few days despite strikes delays etc. The star of the show has to be the 90.

And the more recent excursions also seemed productive. Keep the reports coming!

 

[Techniquest]

An excellent evening in South Yorkshire, it has to be said, except for the issues in the Thorne area. What a Thorne in your side! Thorn North is a shack I've had over that, not many I can claim that fame on!

 

[ash39]

Thanks all. Not got any moves coming up for a while, but here's a fairly big one from earlier in the year that I never got round to uploading...

West Midlands Day Ranger 04/04/2017

Planned this move with a friend at the start of the year. We had two full days to spare so went through a myriad of options, the early favourite being chasing EMT HST's on an East Midlands 3-in-7 rover, but eventually we settled on a WMDR on the first day with a Cheshire Day Ranger on the second day, staying overnight in Crewe. The hotel was booked in advance to force us to commit to a plan!

Started with a 90 mile drive to Crewe, parking at the hotel we were booked into before walking to the station with the intention of catching the 0901 (maxing out the rover validity!) southbound towards Birmingham. In the car on the way over I'd noticed this was running around 15 late which threatened to throw the itenery we'd planned for the first half of the day out of the window. We arrived in good time and would have made the 0901 comfortably, but now the pressure was off we stopped at McDonalds for breakfast. Not being a regular here for breakfast, I controvertially decided against the famed sausage and egg McMuffin and got a bacon, egg and cheese bagel. Not bad at all to be fair.

I bought the rovers from the ticket office and we made our way to the platforms, the first surprise of the day being that the rovers operated the barriers correctly. It turned out sheep on the line was the official reason for the delay to our train. In the end a London Midland service going the same way was due to arrive at the same time, around 0920, so we opted for this to avoid the Voyager. 350237 became the first score of the trip, which we took to Wolverhampton.


350237 Wolverhampton 04/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

A short wait here for an ATW service got us double winners (always likely, we were both on 1 ATW 158) - 158820 & 158831 which we took to Smethwick Galton Bridge. We were making it up as we went along by this point, as the plan we drafted up to target station winners had gone out of the window due to the 20 min delay at Crewe.

The next hour or so was a bunch of leaps on 172's to tick off stations between Snow Hill and Smethwick.

172212 & 172219 Smethwick Galton Bridge to The Hawthorns (a massive 3/4 of a mile...)
172340 The Hawthorns to Langley Green
172343 Langley Green to Jewelery Quarter
172211 & 172217 Jewelery Quarter to Smethwick Galton Bridge.

From here we switched back to the low-level lines in order to pick up the rest of the plan for the day, which was to get over to Worcester for some GWR HST's. We took 350251 to New Street, where we should really have got some lunch seeing as it was nearly 1130 and we'd been on the go since 0600! Instead, we decided to attempt a ridiculous move to Bournville which, if it didn't come off, screwed up the rest of the day. We took 323205 out of New Street, losing a minute or two somewhere along the way, leaving a rather dodgy +2. We stayed on at Selly Oak, past the point of no return, got to the front of the train and prepared to run. Luckily we're quick and made it up the ramp, over the road bridge and back down the other ramp in just over a minute. We had just enough time at Bournville for me to notice the signs for nearby Cadbury World - I'd been wondering if Bournville had any link to the dark chocolate of the same name (you used to get them in tins of Roses). Obviously that's where the name came from then. Very quickly we were picked up by 323220 to take us back the way we came to University where we got back on plan, and joined busy 170509 to Worcester Foregate Street. Had to stand to Worcester, not the best journey of the day by a long way.

Finally we got some lunch from the row of shops on Foregate Street. I went for a meal deal from Tesco Express to eat on the next train, my mate went for a dubious looking BBQ chicken wrap from Jaqk's opposite the station. I'm told it was decent! After walking up what felt like an endless flight of stairs (the Bournville run catching up with us), we waited in the sun for the first of two HST's we hoped to catch. 43176 and 43197 became my first GWR HST's in the book, and in contrast to the previous journey, I had a nice empty mk3 to eat my sandwich in. We got off at Great Malvern, a nice station. Here we got our first surprise of the day, as one of London Midland's three Class 150's was on a Hereford to Birmingham service.


150105 Great Malvern 04/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

150105 took us back to Worcester, where we had a short wait for the next HST.


43035 Worcester Foregate Street 04/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

43035 leading 43018 were next up, which we took to Malvern Link to get the station. Another lovely well-kept station.


43018 Malvern Link 04/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

There were no more HST moves available to get for the next few hours, so we slowly made our way back towards Birmingham for the next main event of the day. We boarded 172213 & 172220 for a 22 mile run to Kidderminster, followed by 172344 to Cradley Heath and then 172215 & 172214 to Smethwick Galton Bridge. Amazingly I was still on zero duds for the day and the 172's had definitely been kind to us. My mate had had one of the 172's previously but was doing well on stations.

From Smethwick we retraced our steps from earlier in the day, this time taking 350266 into New Street. We had our eyes on a Five Guys burger for dinner, so walked to the big one in the Bullring (the one at New Street looked a bit cramped). I'd never had one before, but heard good things. It wasn't cheap at about £25 for 2 burgers, a large cajun fries and 2 refillable drinks but it was excellent. The fries were served in a large drinks cup but for some reason the guy prepping it also launched another scoop on once it was full - the amount of loose ones in the bottom of the bag was more than you'd get in a medium McDonalds portion! After polishing off the last of the food we refilled the drinks (obviously) and waddled off to Moor Street.

We were heading for Warwick to pick up the first of the evening loco-hauled services, but we had time to stagger the outbound journey so we did 172212 & 172219 (dud from earlier) to Tyseley, followed by 172335 & 172221 to Solihull.


172335 Tyseley 04/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

Finally, we took 168001 (dud for my mate, and he only had that one!) to Warwick Parkway, where the clock was showing 00:01 for some bizarre reason. 66504 passed on a Leeds-Southampton liner before 68010 the 'Oxford Flyer' took us to Birmingham Snow Hill. We could have got further on it but that tipped it over 20 miles and we quite fancied our chances of getting some more 172's in. 68010 cut a fine sight in the sun at Snow Hill.


68010 Birmingham Snow Hill 04/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We decided to skip the second of the three 68's that were available to us, as we had the nod it was 68009 which neither of us required. Instead, we aimed for the third one and decided to get to Leamington Spa for a longer run on it. Again we staggered the journey to score a couple of stations and try our luck with units. We did:

168219 to Solihull
172220 and 172218 to Dorridge
168216 to Leamington Spa

I suffered similar luck to my mate in getting 168219 which is one of a small handful of 168's I previously had. Also interesting that 172220 had obviously swapped partners as it was with 213 earlier in the day.

A couple of freights passed whilst at Leamington, and the light was superb for photos.


66513 Leamington Spa 04/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

As we hoped from the list we'd seen, 68012 was on 1K54. We took it through to Smethwick Galton Bridge (for the third time today). We were going to go all the way to Kidderminster, but we'd had a mad idea to abandon the Cheshire Day Ranger on day two and head to Anglia instead. This meant an alarm clock of 0445 and a 3 hour drive, but given the rare opportunity for us both to have a day free, we decided to go for it. The late evening we had planned had to be curtailed to give us a decent chance of feeling fresh the next day, so we took the most direct route we could back to Crewe. We had a decent connection at Smethwick onto another ATW service, hoping to score another 158. Whilst waiting we saw 158820 heading the opposite way, one we had earlier in the day.


158820 Smethwick Galton Bridge 04/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We foolishly speculated that the one we were waiting on would probably be the other one we had earlier, and in doing so, jinxed ourselves. 158831 duly rolled in, but we took it anyway to Wolverhampton. From here, we endured 221135 to Stafford and then made a swift change onto 390136 to get us back to Crewe. We were back at the hotel for just after 2130. Other than wishing we'd booked a hotel somewhere further south or organised the whole thing a bit smarter, it had been a great first day.

Day summary 04/04/2017

350237 CRE-WVH
158820 & 158831 WVH-SBG
172212 & 172219 SGB-THW
172340 THW-LGG
172343 LGG-JEQ
172211 & 172217 JEQ-SGB
350251 SGB-BHM
323205 BHM-BRV
323220 BRV-UNI
170509 UNI-WOF
43176 & 43197 WOF-GMV
150105 GMV-WOF
43035 & 43018 WOF-MVL
172213 & 172220 MLV-KID
172344 KID-CRA
172215 & 172214 CRA-SGB
350266 SGB-BHM
172212 & 172219 BMO-TYS
172335 & 172221 TYS-SOL
168001 SOL-WRP
68010 WRP-BSW
168219 BSW-SOL
172220 & 172218 SOL-DDG
168216 DDG-LMS
68012 LMS-SGB
158831 SGB-WVH
221135 WVH-STA
390136 STA-CRE

16 new stations (Bournville, Cradley Heath, Dorridge, Great Malvern, Jewelery Quarter, Kidderminster, Langley Green, Malvern Link, Smethwick Galton Bridge, Solihull, The Hawthorns, Tyseley, University, Warwick Parkway, Wolverhampton, Worcester Foregate Street)

32 new units/locos (4x HST, 2x 68, 1x 150, 1x 158, 2x 168, 1x 170, 14x 172, 1x 221, 2x 323, 3x 350, 1x 390)

5 dud units/locos (1x 158, 3x 172, 1x 168)

Anglia Plus Day Ranger 05/04/2017

OK so this actually happened then. Up 0445, in the car for 0500 and after an F1-style fill up, on the way to Ely. The sat-nav estimate didn't look good for us catching the 0815 to Norwich, but that was the one we really needed to get. This would get us to Norwich in time for the 1005 68-hauled service to Lowestoft, hence the early start. It would mean we'd need to buy a single from Ely to Thetford as the Anglia Plus rover isn't valid until 0845. We'd also learnt that the ATW 67 out of Manchester wasn't running today, so the decision to bin the Cheshire Day Ranger was a good move.

The journey went well enough, apart from one T-junction which took about 15 minutes to get out of. We got to Ely at around 0800. Fortunately, there were two 'spaces' left in the station car park but they must rank amongst the tightest parking spaces I've ever seen. I had to get out before reversing in, as there'd have been no chance of getting out on both sides. We bought the tickets and tried to find breakfast, settling for a smoothie to keep us going until there was a better choice available, and then waited for the 158 (which we'd effectively raced accross the country). Unfortunately for me, it turned out to be 158865 which was a dud start to the day. Ely was a winning station though, and so was our first stop, Thetford


158865 Thetford 05/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We'd stopped here to wait for the following Cambridge to Norwich service, which left at 0853 and was valid on the rover. We'd noticed a Norwich Crown Point to Bounds Green move was running, which we'd assumed would be a DRS loco taking an AGA 90 for tyre turning which is often the case with these runs. I'd found a great angle for a going-away shot of the 90 on the footbridge but unfortunately, it was DVT 82112 behind 57007 and the DVT was nose first so all I got was a shot of a gangway door! Even more frustratingly, the 57 brought a 90 back from Bounds Green later in the day.

No idea why, but I had a feeling it would be 170202 from Cambridge, and it was. We took this through to Norwich, and saw 68003 in the sidings which meant it would be 68018 and 68019 on the set. We were hoping for 003, seing as the latter two would be working for TPE in the next couple of years. We decided to carry on without breakfast, and boarded newly painted 170270 to Brundall Gardens.


170270 Brundall Gardens 05/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We had 25 minutes to walk to Brundall, which we made comfortably. We heard winner 68018 long before it crawled around the curve into view.


68018 Brundall 05/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We stayed on to Oulton Broad North, seeing as I'd already done Lowestoft last time I was in this area. It was a 15 minute wait for the set to reach Lowestoft and come back, so we went and got some breakfast/lunch. Sadly it was too early for the chippy to be open, so we grabbed something from the Londis at the petrol station next to the station.

It wasn't long before Brutus was back to take us back to Norwich. This was a non-stop service but it's clearly a popular one as there were no tables free in the whole train. Rather than perch next to some strangers we plonked ourselves on the floor of the rearmost vestible and ate our lunch.

Back at Norwich we had no real plan but saw a required 153 heading back out the same way, so we took 153306 back to Brundall. None of the further out stations had a decent connection back. We had a luxury of two in 14 minutes coming back, and realised one of them was likely to be 170270 from earlier, so we sat at Brundall and waited to see what turned up. The first was indeed 170270, so we waited for the next. Unlucky for me, it was dud 153335, quite busy too but only a short hop.

We were now looking at getting some 90's, and happily for me 90006 and 90007 were in the platforms. 006 was one of my last four to get, so when we saw it was due to depart in ten minutes we jumped on, after an obligitory photo.


90006 Norwich 05/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We'd also seen required 90009 heading to London earlier in the day. Assuming it had stuck to diagram, it would be on its way back by now, so we got off at Diss to meet it. The service half an hour before it was running late, and was pulling into the platform at Diss at the same time we arried, so we ran over the footbridge to get on it. It was only when we set off back towards Norwich that we realised our mistake. We'd now have to wait at Norwich for over half an hour in order to get 90009 back out. As we'd hastily jumped on, we didn't know we got to Norwich we walked back to see dud (but low mileage at least) 90002 had pushed us there.

We decided to wait for 90009, there was plenty going on to kill the time with 66170 shunting in the yard next to the station. 37423 and 68003 in the sidings and 37425 and 37419 arriving from the coast. I also got a coffee as I'd not had one on the trip so far and the early start was catching up with me.

So finally, after the longest fester of the trip, 90009 pulled out of Norwich. We again got off at Diss, in order to get 90004 behind it (dud for me). We finally got to Ipswich, and having only ever been on a Friday or Saturday before, the yard appeared strangely empty apart from 66502 and 66416 and a few TTA wagons.

We'd now seen a list of all 90 allocations for the day, and my last two (005 & 010) were out of service so the next best thing would be 90008 which was on a measley four miles. We did see this at Ipswich but unfortunately it was London-bound. 90015 was on the next service back to Norwich and I had it on 72 miles, so with the opportunity to get it over 100, we hopped on.

It was now mid afternoon and we had to think about how to get back to the car. We planned to get the next 90 back from Norwich to Lowestoft, but when we arrived it wasn't there! There was a set on the arrival line at Crown Point which wasn't there when we left earlier, and it wasn't until later on the way home we found out that 90001 had failed with low power and had been sent back to depot. That meant the set that was due to form our service had been stepped up and already left. Once we saw the passengers waiting to board our train, we clicked we'd be getting back on 90015. Never mind clearing it for 100, it was now heading for over 150 and my highest Anglian 90!

We got off at Stowmarket for a +6 onto an Ipswich-Cambridge service. This turned out to be 170273, and we now had a decision to make. Fish and chips at Thurston (though Google wasn't showing opening hours which made it a risky choice), or a chinese takeaway at Elmswell. I had concerns about how quickly the chinese could prepare the food, and it was a longer walk from the station. With our Ely bound service only 30 minutes behind, we decided to go for the chippy and bailed at Thurston.

Walking out of the remote station, it looked very much like the chip shop we saw on Google maps had been demolished. It was not looking good, and I was slightly concerned having made the call to come here, but fortunately I was looking at the wrong side of the path and we found it hidden round the corner. It was huge inside, and a few people were waiting for orders, but we were efficiently served and back on the platform 5 minutes later. Which was fortunate as a liner was due though and we had to get accross the foot crossing first in order to get a good angle for a photo. Two for the price of one as well...


66952 Thurston 05/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

After letting the chips cool, we sat on the bench and ate them. A young girl kept crossing sides seemingly confused. Asked us which platform was the for Ipswich (the other side), but then asked which side for Bury St Edmunds. We still don't know where she was going, or if she ever got there, but she boarded our train, which was the last of the trip and another winner, 170271, back to Ely.


170271 Thurston 05/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

At Ely, even though we had a long drive back and should have got straight on the road, we just had to wait 10 minutes for a late running GBRf. 66706 was doing the honours. There were even more coming too, but we got on our way. We hadn't got far when we got stuck behind 3 very slow moving farm machines and a fairly long queue of cars. We spotted a potential farm road which would bypass them and hopefully get us in front of them. That didn't work out, the road shown on the sat nav was blocked by a metal gate. It was too narrow to turn round so we carried on around the loop, before getting stopped at a level crossing. We could see another pair of 66's approaching, the sky was a fantastic orange colour but we couldn't get our cameras out quickly enough before they passed - 66750 leading 66720 towards Whitemoor.

After clearing the crossing we carried on round our little detour, noting that not only would we probably end up back where we started, but we were now heading due south, exactly the opposite way to where we needed to go. We came to a manual gate crossing, which I jumped out to do, only to find it completely stuck shut. After a bit of fiddling my mate managed to do it, I went over and did the other side and waited for the car. As he cleared the crossing the light went red, so we had to wait for whatever was coming before I could close the gate (£1000 fine!). I got the camera ready, and it turned out to be our first unit of the day 158865, which would have been to Liverpool and back in the time since we last saw it. Probably the best photo of the trip, and unexpected!


158865 March 05/04/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

Despite our detour, we made it back to Leeds for 10pm. Great trip.

Day summary 05/04/2017

158865 ELY-TTF
170202 TTF-NRW
170270 NRW-BGA
68018 BDA-OUN
68019 OUN-NRW
153306 NRW-BDA
153335 BDA-NRW
90006 NRW-DIS
90002 DIS-NRW
90009 NRW-DIS
90004 DIS-IPS
90015 IPS-NRW
90015 NRW-SMK
170273 SMK-TRS
170271 TRS-ELY

5 new stations (Brundall Gardens, Ely, Oulton Broad North, Thetford, Thurston)

8 new units/locos (1x 68, 2x 90, 1x 153, 4x 170)

7 dud units/locos (1x 68, 4x 90, 1x 153, 1x 158)

 

[Kite159]

Some very good photos there

Plus a couple productive days

 

[alexf380]

Loved the photo of the 158 at the end, and a really good trip. Keep it up

 

[Techniquest]

Some utterly gorgeous shots in there! The GWR HSTs on my stomping grounds and the one of 68010 at Moor Street certainly being my favourites, I really must try those angles myself one day. You sure did well on my home turf, although I'm surprised you didn't know of the booked 150 on my local LM route. I've never done that takeaway your mate did in Worcester, good to hear it's worth a punt some time. Directly opposite Foregate Street station isn't it?

A mad idea to follow such a busy day in the Midlands, which sent me tripping down Memory Lane of similar days for me in the distant past, with a cross-country drive to Anglia! However it clearly worked out beautifully, and again some lovely shots. The chippy in Thurston is good to know about, as I need that shack and worth knowing for a meal break while over that way. Not that I plan to be over there for a long time yet, but cheers for the gen!

Two exceptionally enjoyable reads, as always!

 

[Blindtraveler]

Just caught up on your Outh Yorkshire, Midlands and Anglia trips. Nice work in Northern Pacerland sounds fun.
Too many 170s/168s the first Midlands day and again to many 170s 2nd, but really good reads otherwise,
which hotel did you use in Crewe?

 

[ash39]

I believe it was a Holiday Inn we stayed at in Crewe, about a 5 min walk from the station. Cheap. Would recommend!

 

[Iskra]

Fantastic photos

 

[ash39]

It's been a very quiet month for me moves wise. I had a week in Spain, followed by a short break to Chester with the family. This was by train, and resulted in me getting winner 175110 on the outbound journey. However the return was more interesting. I travelled back solo a day earlier than the others, as I had to get back to work the next day, so I took a slightly more interesting route home, enjoying another run on 67022 from Chester to Crewe. I then caught winner 390153 to Manchester for dud 185142 home - arriving at 2340.


67022 Crewe 21/08/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

I finally had a proper session on the 25th, having had no winner stations in the month so far!

South Yorkshire Connect Plus - 25th August 2017

For the first time in what seems like ages, the sun was out for a a Friday evening post work move. I drove to Adwick, arriving just before 1455 and in time to board record holder (most journeys on a single unit) 322481 to Doncaster. I decided to let that go as I had some pasta to eat, and didn’t fancy carrying the tupperware box around all evening. Instead I waited until 1515 and took dud 142018 for the short run to Doncaster.

I had a few shacks planned for today, and was meeting up with my mate later on. I grabbed a coffee whilst I had the opportunity. Strangely my Starbucks account had ran completely dry – at first I thought the app was faulty but my balance was actually zero. I bought breakfast for four in Chester earlier in the week so I knew it was low but the chances of it landing on zero would have been incredibly slim, which makes me wonder if I owed money for the breakfast but the barista didn’t notice. Anyway, after topping up my account to pay for the coffee they’d already made, I went over to platform 3 to board 185116 for a positioning move to Meadowhall.

I then switched onto the Barnsley line and boarded a busy 144017 to winner station Chapeltown. If I’d been quicker and the station layout was kinder, I could have travelled straight back on a late running 144014. I couldn’t get over in time for it, so I had a walk around Chapeltown. It was a more built up area than I'd realised, and pleasingly it has an Asda right next to the station, so I popped in to use the toilets and browse the ale selection. Was tempted but didn’t fancy carrying a bag and couldn’t drink as I was driving again later on.

Low-mileage 144023 returned me to Meadowhall.


144023 Chapeltown 25/08/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

Unfortunately the 4 miles from Chapeltown to Meadowhall still wouldn’t be enough to clear it for 10 miles. Staying on to Sheffield would have cleared it, but there was no chance I was going to do that as I knew winner 142054 was on an Adwick to Manchester Piccadilly service. My mate was arriving on this service, but getting off to try his luck on a TPE behind it, so somewhat amusingly we passed each other briefly and I left on the train he arrived on. 142054 was in the bag.


142054 Sheffield 25/08/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

My mate arrived a few minutes after me on 185107, which would have been dud for me. We had a plan from here to bag a few stations we both needed, so we took dud 144012 to Woodhouse. This was quite a busy service as it was now just after 5pm. A woman at Woodhouse asked us which platform for Sheffield – we (correctly) sent her to the over the footbridge to the other platform but unfortunately for her she'd just missed one and faced an hour wait. Eventually after been bamboozled by a staff member who had clearly taken a shine to her, but got himself muddled up and kept telling her different times for the train (all of which appeared to be wrong), she trotted off to find a taxi instead!


142012 Woodhouse 25/08/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

Next up we took double duds 142090 and 144001 to Kiveton Bridge, and set off on a 1.2 mile walk to Kiveton Park in order to get both stations. Despite me already having had the pasta for an early tea, we passed a chippy on the way and couldn’t turn it down. I was just going to go for a bag of chips but the fishcakes looked good so I ended up purchasing one of those too. My mate went for battered sausage and chips.

We casually continued our walk, not realising until we got there that we actually cut it pretty fine for our train. The barriers came down on the crossing just after we crossed, lucky escape. It turned out I had 1838 in my head but that was the time at Kiveton Bridge not Kiveton Park!


142012 Kiveton Park 25/08/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

Fresh dud 142012 took us back towards Sheffield. We originally planned to leave at Darnall for a +1 back the other way to Shireoaks, but Shireoaks would have required an excess as the rover is only valid as far as Kiverton Park. I was feeling lazy after stuffing myself with chips so we stayed on to Sheffield. We had to come back and do Dore at some point so we figured we'd do Darnall on the same trip.

We got a drink from Whistlestop and weighed up our options for a Meadowhall leap. Traditionally, we always seem to get winners on these. However today there was clearly some kind of problem outside Sheffield, as everything was gradually losing time on the information screens, and then some changing to just ‘delayed’ which is never good. We expected a TPE service to arrive first but eventually 158851 rolled in, which was nicely poised on 7 miles so we took it to Meadowhall for me to clear it for 10 miles.

We were thinking of slowly making our way back to Adwick, by catching the delayed TPE service that we were expecting at Sheffield. This changed immediately though when we noticed the 158 next to ours in platform 3 was required for both of us 158909, which cleared the 158/9 sub class for me. We ran down the steps to board it, and were made to look silly for rushing as it proceeded to wait for another couple of minutes for a delayed service to cross in front of us on the other line.

We eventually left, making the connection onto our last chance of making the Adwick train we were aiming for (the 2026 Leeds stopper), a bit dodgy. To make matters worse we knew it was another winner, 158861. Unfortunately, we were held outside the station for a couple of minutes for a late running Cross Country service, so 158861 was leaving as we arrived. We were on platform 1B, and down the platform there was another 158 waiting to leave. It was 158904 which my mate needed, so again we ran for it before realising he was looking at the wrong train on the screens and it had 8 minutes before leaving. Second unnecessary run of the evening!

We got off the 158 at Meadowhall again, as it was going the wrong way for us. We were pretty much in the same position we were before, and had a choice of three trains back to Doncaster. The first was 142060, which was dud but only for a measley 0.36 miles between Deansgate & Manchester Oxford Road! My mate needed it, so we boarded. We now couldn't get the TPE service, but we could leave the 142 at one of the intermediate stations to get the Scunthorpe service that was around 15 minutes behind us.

We settled on Mexborough, arriving 7L at 2047. We saw an oddball TPE service heading the other way, Cleethorpes to Sheffield calling at all stations after Doncaster (including Rotherham Central). I'd never seen it before, and we should have been able to make it round the corner to Swinton and still make our train to Doncaster, but it was 2 minutes late, making a +4 into a dodgy +2. It then lost another minute, so we were now desperately hoping for a dud so we didn't have to risk the connection. Thankfully it was dud, and one of the final dynamic lines liveried units, 185121.

TPE from Mexborough


TPE from Mexborough by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We made our way back over the footbridge to wait for our penultimate train of the day, which was 144010. Ironically, after clearing them last month on our Freedom of North East rover, we both had our last 144's again today (we had mine, 144001, earlier in the evening).

We had a nervy wait outside Doncaster, I don't rememer ever having a clear run into the station from the Sheffield line, and our booked arrival time came and went. Our train to Adwick was at 2127, and it was now only 10 minutes away. Thankfully, we started to move and arrived 3L at 2119.

322481 was our train home, as I'd suspected when I saw it earlier! It was my seventh journey on this unit, and we sat in the pantograph coach for a noisy run back to Adwick.

Day summary:

144018 AWK-DON
185116 DON-MHS
144017 MHS-CLN
144023 CLN-MHS
142054 MHS-SHF
142012 SHF-WDH
142090 & 144001 WDH-KIV
142012 KVP-SHF
158851 SHF-MHS
158909 MHS-SHF
158904 SHF-MHS
142060 MHS-MEX
144010 MEX-DON
322481 DON-AWK

4 new stations: Chapeltown, Kiveton Bridge, Kiveton Park, Woodhouse
2 new units: 1x 142, 1x 158
13 dud units: 4x 142, 5x 144, 2x 158, 1x 185, 1x 322

Day mileage: 79 miles

 

[woodhouse122]

some good moves for a friday evening (including my local shack-woodhouse ) good idea missing ot the darnall stop as it's a bit dodgy in the evenings with the local chavs - i did it last saturday morning for the sheffield to cleethorpes via brigg train and at 8am in the morning it stunk of weed

 

[Kite159]

A good little evening spin in South Yorkshire

 

[Techniquest]

7 journeys on one MU being a record holder? Oh my that is nothing good sir! Check out this example of one of my most heavily used MUs:

153334
15 journeys in total, with 539mi 75ch travelled in 15h 23m.

25/07/2008 00:00 Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town
25/07/2008 00:00 Stourbridge Town to Stourbridge Junction
29/05/2010 15:57 University to Hereford
19/04/2011 17:14 Olton to Widney Manor
19/04/2011 17:38 Widney Manor to Acocks Green
16/09/2011 17:08 Tyseley to Dorridge
30/07/2012 15:49 Birmingham New Street to Hereford
11/03/2013 08:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
18/11/2013 19:23 Birmingham New Street to Hereford
28/04/2014 08:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
29/06/2015 17:55 Birmingham New Street to Hereford
08/02/2016 08:46 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
12/09/2016 08:46 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
14/07/2017 08:45 Hereford to Worcester Shrub Hill
28/07/2017 15:50 Birmingham New Street to Hereford

That being said, as I suspected, it was trumped significantly by this entry:

170516
21 journeys in total, with 877mi 63ch travelled in 21h 38m.

20/10/2007 00:00 Birmingham New Street to Derby
02/08/2008 00:00 Worcester Shrub Hill to Droitwich Spa
17/02/2009 00:00 Worcester Foregate Street to Hereford
11/04/2011 18:12 Worcester Foregate Street to Hereford
08/11/2011 08:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
21/05/2012 09:40 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
25/03/2013 17:45 Worcester Shrub Hill to Hereford
30/07/2013 11:49 Birmingham New Street to Hereford
28/04/2014 08:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
02/06/2014 08:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
01/12/2014 16:49 Birmingham New Street to Hereford
11/05/2015 08:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
27/09/2015 12:02 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
26/10/2015 18:49 Great Malvern to Hereford
08/02/2016 17:49 Birmingham New Street to Hereford
07/03/2016 07:34 Hereford to Worcester Foregate Street
03/08/2016 18:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
17/09/2016 17:40 Hereford to Worcester Foregate Street
19/09/2016 16:32 Worcester Foregate Street to Hereford
18/11/2016 16:40 Worcester Foregate Street to Hereford
27/11/2016 10:06 Hereford to Birmingham New Street

Lots of other examples but that will do! Enough showing off, although with that much off a single 170 is hardly showing off...

A rather productive evening for you in Yorkshire, good to know about the Asda right close by at Chapeltown as I need that shack. I trust the ale range was good? Most if not all Asda stores have seriously increased and improved their beer/cider range this year, and I've only just about finished going through the new range in my local store, took some time and money!

Good news on the chippy too, and as I need both of those shacks I think I may have to investigate it!

I've done that 185 stopper into Sheffield on my 2012 ALR, it's a little odd to do an all-shacks stopper on a 185!

 

[Blindtraveler]

Sounds like a good evening out, much more enjoyable than all Lord Quest's 170 journeys!

 

[ash39]

some good moves for a friday evening (including my local shack-woodhouse ) good idea missing ot the darnall stop as it's a bit dodgy in the evenings with the local chavs - i did it last saturday morning for the sheffield to cleethorpes via brigg train and at 8am in the morning it stunk of weed

We would have had a +1 at Darnall and it held as well, so maybe we should have got it out of the way whilst we had the chance!

7 journeys on one MU being a record holder? Oh my that is nothing good sir! Check out this example of one of my most heavily used MUs:

153334
15 journeys in total, with 539mi 75ch travelled in 15h 23m.

25/07/2008 00:00 Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town
25/07/2008 00:00 Stourbridge Town to Stourbridge Junction
29/05/2010 15:57 University to Hereford
19/04/2011 17:14 Olton to Widney Manor
19/04/2011 17:38 Widney Manor to Acocks Green
16/09/2011 17:08 Tyseley to Dorridge
30/07/2012 15:49 Birmingham New Street to Hereford
11/03/2013 08:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
18/11/2013 19:23 Birmingham New Street to Hereford
28/04/2014 08:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
29/06/2015 17:55 Birmingham New Street to Hereford
08/02/2016 08:46 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
12/09/2016 08:46 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
14/07/2017 08:45 Hereford to Worcester Shrub Hill
28/07/2017 15:50 Birmingham New Street to Hereford

That being said, as I suspected, it was trumped significantly by this entry:

170516
21 journeys in total, with 877mi 63ch travelled in 21h 38m.

20/10/2007 00:00 Birmingham New Street to Derby
02/08/2008 00:00 Worcester Shrub Hill to Droitwich Spa
17/02/2009 00:00 Worcester Foregate Street to Hereford
11/04/2011 18:12 Worcester Foregate Street to Hereford
08/11/2011 08:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
21/05/2012 09:40 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
25/03/2013 17:45 Worcester Shrub Hill to Hereford
30/07/2013 11:49 Birmingham New Street to Hereford
28/04/2014 08:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
02/06/2014 08:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
01/12/2014 16:49 Birmingham New Street to Hereford
11/05/2015 08:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
27/09/2015 12:02 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
26/10/2015 18:49 Great Malvern to Hereford
08/02/2016 17:49 Birmingham New Street to Hereford
07/03/2016 07:34 Hereford to Worcester Foregate Street
03/08/2016 18:49 Hereford to Birmingham New Street
17/09/2016 17:40 Hereford to Worcester Foregate Street
19/09/2016 16:32 Worcester Foregate Street to Hereford
18/11/2016 16:40 Worcester Foregate Street to Hereford
27/11/2016 10:06 Hereford to Birmingham New Street

Lots of other examples but that will do! Enough showing off, although with that much off a single 170 is hardly showing off...

A rather productive evening for you in Yorkshire, good to know about the Asda right close by at Chapeltown as I need that shack. I trust the ale range was good? Most if not all Asda stores have seriously increased and improved their beer/cider range this year, and I've only just about finished going through the new range in my local store, took some time and money!

Good news on the chippy too, and as I need both of those shacks I think I may have to investigate it!

I've done that 185 stopper into Sheffield on my 2012 ALR, it's a little odd to do an all-shacks stopper on a 185!

Some impressive figures there, not sure I'd fancy spending the best part of a full day on 170516 though

322481 only has 30-odd miles from the 7 journeys I've done on it. Just always seems to show up when I do Adwick-Doncaster.

Yes the ASDA in Chapeltown seemed to have a huge selection of ales - not sure why? It definitely seemed to have more than my local ASDA.

 

[Kite159]

21 logged trips with a 170?

I've logged 53 trips with 159004 covering 2625 miles

 

[ash39]

I've never set foot on a Class 159 !

 

[FQ]

A great few reports as usual with some excellent photos.

21 logged trips with a 170?

I've logged 53 trips with 159004 covering 2625 miles

Not sure if it counts because it's a loco but I've had 56 runs on 68014 totalling 2111.5 miles! Next closest 68 to that number of runs is 011 with 39 runs, then 008 with 38 runs, then 012 with 37, 010 with 33, 013 with 29, 015 with 25 and then 009 with 24 runs.

For units I think my most travelled one would be 168001 with 20 recorded runs.

 

[37038]

A great few reports as usual with some excellent photos.


Not sure if it counts because it's a loco but I've had 56 runs on 68014 totalling 2111.5 miles! Next closest 68 to that number of runs is 011 with 39 runs, then 008 with 38 runs, then 012 with 37, 010 with 33, 013 with 29, 015 with 25 and then 009 with 24 runs.

For units I think my most travelled one would be 168001 with 20 recorded runs.

Only averaging 37.75mi per run with 68014.

Think I'm averaging 217.6mi per run with 37259 with just shy of 2k on the clock

 

[FQ]

Only averaging 37.75mi per run with 68014.

Think I'm averaging 217.6mi per run with 37259 with just shy of 2k on the clock

Mostly made up of Leamington to Birmingham and Banbury to Birmingham runs me thinks. Still, it's better than my average mile per run for 68017 - 1 run at 1.25 miles

 

[Techniquest]

Some impressive figures there, not sure I'd fancy spending the best part of a full day on 170516 though

322481 only has 30-odd miles from the 7 journeys I've done on it. Just always seems to show up when I do Adwick-Doncaster.

Yes the ASDA in Chapeltown seemed to have a huge selection of ales - not sure why? It definitely seemed to have more than my local ASDA.

Could be your local store is still due to expand their craft beer range, although from what I can tell most stores are done now. All the ones I've been to have been at least. Might be difficult to do it in Carlisle and Leith for two examples as the layout isn't conducive to expanding the range. I spend too much time shopping in Asda stores around the country

Thankfully some of that mileage on 170516 has been had when it's been tagged onto a 153 so I've not had to suffer too much droning action!

 

[ash39]

Derbyshire Wayfarer – Friday 15 September 2017

It’d been three weeks since my last rail journey of any description, and the first of September, so I was ready for an evening out! I managed to sort out a half day at work, and drove to Meadowhall station. I wasn’t sure I’d get a space but managed to find one very close to the platform, saving a walk from the overflow car park which extends quite far towards the M1. Despite using Meadowhall many times, it was the first time I’d parked at the station and I was a bit disorientated initially! I eventually worked out where I was and headed to the ticket office to purchase an off peak return to Sheffield.

I was planning to wait for the first winner as I was about 50 minutes ahead of schedule, but didn’t have to wait long as immediately 142091 rolled in. Very happy with that. I decided to go for a beer in Sheffield to kill half an hour, and then stick to my original plan. I’d also wanted to visit the Brewdog here for some time so it seemed a good opportunity. Unfortunately there was nothing new I fancied on the menu but I settled for a pint of Hop Fiction which went down a treat. I made my way back to the station, cutting it a bit fine in the end, arriving with two minutes to spare for the 1437 Norwich service, which was formed of winner 158862 and dud 158774. I was happy with 774, as it was only in the book due to a Manchester Piccadilly-Oxford Road leap. I took these to winner shack Alfreton.


158862 Alfreton 15/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

I had a short wait here for another pair of 158’s, another dud/winner combo of 158856 and 158780. This was a fairly busy train for the time of day, so I took a seat in the rear vestibule of 780. The highlight of the 10 mile trip being a young lad trying the door, before heading back where he came, only to re-appear a few minutes later. He seemed very keen to get through the door, though I did tell him that wasn’t a great idea as it was the end of the train. It turned out he was trying to find the guard to get the code for the wi-fi, with some desperation! I left the train at Chesterfield.

Following shortly behind was 222022, my second 222 in the book. It was busy but I managed to find a table seat opposite someone for the run back to Sheffield, taking the opportunity to put a bit of charge on my phone.


222022 Chesterfield 15/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

I got a coffee here whilst waiting for my next move. I had a fair wait, but couldn’t see a better move available. My mate was meeting me at 1700, and I'd purchased his Wayfarer so couldn’t go off plan! I was expecting a 142 on the Sheffield-Manchester service I was aiming to catch, so I was disappointed to see 150218 arrive with the inbound service. Even more so as it was dud, and to rub it in further I’d just seen required 142086 pull off the stabling point to form a Doncaster service. I stuck with the plan regardless, and decided to stay on as far as Hathersage, despite Bamford having a shorter connection, as there was a freight due through in the 10 minutes I’d be there. Unfortunately it got held up and I couldn’t get a photo before dud 142021 pulled in to return me to Sheffield.

I met my mate as planned, and we squeezed onto sardine can (and dud) 142046 to winner station Dore & Totley.


142046 Dore & Totley 15/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We’ve aimed to do this one a couple of times on our evenings in South Yorkshire, so it was good to get it ticked off. Dore is am unusual station, single bi-directional platform, with two main lines to Chesterfield opposite. We sat in the sun for around ten minutes for our delayed EMT service back, which was also rammed as it was short formed. I wasn’t complaining too much as it was required 158770. We stayed on at Sheffield, where it emptied out and promptly refilled with a different set of people. We were pleased to bail at Dronfield, not least because we’d done some research and seen there was a highly rated chippy opposite the station. We made our way over, even set foot in the door, but there was a queue about ten people deep, and we’d never have been served in time (our +20 had slipped to a +10 due to the delay on the EMT service), so begrudgingly we left and made our way back to the station.

Dud 158784 took us further along the line to Chesterfield, where we had twenty minutes to find food. The options were very limited, even the Burger King had closed down. We encountered a couple of very drunk women stumbling around town asking people why they weren’t smiling. We ended up going to Greggs, getting a chicken tandoori baguette and a chicken bake (accidental double chicken!). On the way back to the station we saw the women again, stumbling into a taxi office.

We took 222002 from here down to Derby. We had a number of options available on the rover but not many of them have great connections. It was also starting to fall dark. We wanted an EMT 153, and our plan had us taking one to Long Eaton but it was delayed, seemingly stuck at Matlock according to RTT. We boarded Cross Country 170112 instead, but noticed the EMT service had started moving again so quickly got back off as the whistle was blown!


222013 & 170108 Derby 15/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

My mate had previously had 153311 and 153312 as a pair twice, on two separate occasions, so I was fully hoping they’d show up again just for amusement value (plus I needed both!). In the end, it was 153381 leading, with 153311 on the rear. It’s funny how it falls sometimes, but luck definitely wasn’t on his side with EMT 153’s!

We left the train at Long Eaton. We’d worked out a plan to make our way back to Sheffield which potentially would give us three HST moves. We had twenty minutes before the first one, so we grabbed a chocolate bar from the convenience store opposite the station. Long Eaton didn’t seem like the sort of station that a HST would stop at. Winner 43054 rolled in.


43054 Long Eaton 15/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We were expecting first class to be on the south end but it wasn’t. The guard told us to board through first and walk down the train. It was fairly empty and we found a table seat with no problems. Unfortunately we picked a coach where someone was coughing/choking/sneezing themselves to death (it was hard to tell which), so we were glad it was only a few miles back to Derby!

This train continued to Sheffield, but we had time to kill so we made our way down to ID the rear power car, which was due 43052. There had been a 56 and 37 stabled at Derby when we passed earlier, which were now joined by 47848. I can’t think of another time I’ve seen three different classes of loco stabled at one station, especially with a combined age topping 100 years old!


37800 & 47848 Derby 15/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We had worked out that the booked Cross Country HST had been likely swapped for a Voyager today (someone had posted XC HST workings in the TOPS request thread and this service wasn’t on there). Instead, we took third 222 of the day 222006 to Chesterfield. I really like 222’s, I’m not sure what makes them so different from Voyagers but the seats and warm white lighting make the interior a much nicer place to be. They somehow feel less cramped too.

At Chesterfield, it seemed half the town’s teenagers were heading into Sheffield for a night out. I was surprised how much busier than Derby it was. There was a race on, as the phantom HST Cross Country service was slightly delayed and due into platform 1 at the same time as our Leeds bound EMT service. In fact the information screens said exactly the same, both trains were headed for Leeds calling at Sheffield and Wakefield Westgate. We wondered why they couldn’t put one train into platform 3 instead to prevent a delay. It was the Voyager that showed up first, proving us right for avoiding it. Everyone piled on, clearing the platform, but we then saw some headlights snaking into the station from the south. The HST was still showing platform 1 on the info screens, but it was coming to a halt in platform 3!

We ran under the underpass, but the doors were being closed as we reached the top of the stairs, it seemed like they were attempting the record time for HST dispatch. We managed to board by reopening a door (and quickly closing it), and we’d noted that the leading power car was winner 43046. We think what happened at Chesterfield was the station staff expected everyone for the north to board the Cross Country, so didn’t announce the platform change or arrival of the EMT service.

At Sheffield, we watched the HST leave and noted the rear power car was another dud, 43059. I was expecting better than 50% success with the EMT power cars as I need plenty! We had a choice of three trains between 2130 and 2140 to get us back to Meadowhall. One was a TPE service, but the two 185s in the station were in the wrong place. 185122 was in a south facing bay, and 185136 was in the centre road. 185122 shunted out of the bay to form the Cleethorpes service, this was no good for either of us but happily 150222 was forming the 2140 to Huddersfield. Required for me and sub-10 miles for my mate. Depsite the guard announcing we may be held up, we got away ahead of the TPE service as we would be taking the curve towards Barnsley at Meadowhall.

Unfortunately, due to roadworks on the M1 necessitating an unwanted diversion through Tankersley, it took over an hour to get home, arriving at 2300 exactly.

Day summary:

142091 MHS-SHF
158862 & 158774 SHF-ALF
158856 & 158780 ALF-CHD
222022 CHD-SHF
150218 SHF-HSG
142021 HSG-SHF
142046 SHF-DOR
158770 DOR-DRO
158784 DRO-CHD
222002 CHD-DBY
153381 & 153311 DBY-LGE
43054 & 43052 LGE-DBY
222006 DBY-CHD
43046 & 43059 CHD-SHF
150222 SHF-MHS

7 new stations: Alfreton, Chesterfield, Derby, Dore & Totley, Dronfield, Hathersage and Long Eaton
12 new units/power cars: 2x HST, 1x 142, 1x 150, 2x 153, 3x 158, 3x 222
8 dud units/power cars: 2x HST, 2x 142, 1x 150, 3x 158

Day mileage: 171 miles

 

[Kite159]

Sounded like a good day

 

[alexf380]

An area containing a good few requirements for myself, so I may recycle a few of those moves at a later date.

A really good read as well :P

 

[Techniquest]

Quite a nice lot of scores going on there all in, it must be said. Picking up an HST at Long Eaton is certainly unusual, or at least it was in my HST bashing days!

 

[ash39]

Tyne Valley Diversions – Saturday 16th September 2017

After a most enjoyable Friday evening in Derbyshire, I was back out again the following day. Instead of doing the drag in both directions as I did last October, this time I was travelling up on the 1053 HST service and returning on the dragged service, meeting up with a few fellow forum members. The day started well with news that 67003 was on dragging duties. Also the Newcastle thunderbird was 67028 so either way I would be getting my tenth 67 in the book, clearing a third of the class.

I parked in the long stay car park at York due to an event taking place near my usual parking area. £7 all day isn’t cheap but it’s reasonable compared to the weekday tarrif. I was a bit early at York so I had a walk around the station. 222016 arrived from London, not one I can remember seeing the previous day on EMT teritory. I noticed Starbucks had started pumpkin spice latte season, signalling the end of summer! I got one, and made my way over to platform 9 to wait for my HST.

Low mileage 43206 was leading, a good start to the day! It was very busy but I found my reserved seat thankfully vacant, and asked the woman in the aisle seat if I could squeeze in. I enjoyed my coffee and finished my trip report from the previous day.

Approaching Newcastle over King Edward bridge, we passed a southbound Voyager before racing 67003 dragging 91119 into the station. We were neck and neck all the way to a stand, stopping in platforms 2 and 3 respectively.

Arrival in Carlisle was 9 early at 1329. I walked to what was now the front of the train, and was delighted to find winner 43317. Only three VTEC power cars to go now!


43317 Carlisle 16/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

I spent the next couple of hours taking pictures, nipping out for a chip butty during a quieter spell. I was originally planning to head to Gretna Green for a winner station, but I turned down 156508 and decided to stay put and photograph the northbound 91 drag. I was also tempted by required 142068 on a Tyne Valley service, but it wasn’t stopping until Haltwhistle, which would mean I’d be away for an hour and a half, plus the ticket was a bit pricey at £8.50 return.

A selection of photos - weather best described as 'changeable'! :


390154 Carlisle 16/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr


185104 Carlisle 16/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr


68026 Carlisle 16/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr


37402 Carlisle 16/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr


390153 & 66150 16/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr


66047 Carlisle 16/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr


91113 Carlisle 16/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr


156454 Carlisle 16/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr


91120 Carlisle 16/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr


390157 & 91120 Carlisle 16/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr


67003 Carlisle 16/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

67003 was bolted on to 91120 around 15 minutes before departure. I then joined the group in coach M for the stagger across the Tyne Valley behind a Northern stopper. I sat with Blindtraveller and Alexf380 as far as Newcastle, good to meet you both! The first class service was excellent, the food trolley came down shortly after Carlisle and I bagged an egg sandwich, washed down with a coke from the drinks trolley which was following behind. I didn't venture from my seat, but other than the seven of us it seemed to be fairly lightly loaded.

Alex and Blindtraveller left us at Newcastle to go pacer chasing before their bus back across the border (I was slightly envious!). Another passenger boarded and had one of the odd seats that were left in our group, so we moved to another bay of 6. There was an unusual amount of people in the vestibule next to the DVT, and they didn't look like they would be travelling with bikes. We never did work out what was going on there, but they moved down the train at some point.

I sat with Starmill & Kite159 for the rest of the journey, and it has to be said 91120 felt extremely quick after the 67! 120 was on 96 miles prior to today so it was another good result, now comfortably clearing 100. I forgot how violent the lurching shove up the back feels when being pushed by a loco nine coaches away, I usually sit in coach B in standard which I think masks the sensation. Another food run was done, thanks to the change of crew at Newcastle. I was still fairly peckish as I'd only had the chips in Carlisle & the egg sandwich all day, so I tried the other item on the menu, the duck wrap, which was much better than I expected. Would recommend!

One of our group left at Durham (regrettably I forget their username, apologies if you're reading!). The remaining seat in our bay of 4 was reserved from Darlington, and a lady with two fairly large dogs was waiting on the platform. Thankfully the opted to sit somewhere else and didn't ask for us to shuffle around again.

Arrival back in York was just after 2030, where the rest of the group and I left the train (except Kite who still had almost 5 hours to go!). It was nice to have the car a few yards away from the platform rather than walk back to the racecourse for a change. Was home before 2100.

Day summary:

43206 & 43317 YRK-CAR
67003 CAR-NCL
91120 NCL-YRK

No new stations
2 new locos/power cars: 1x HST, 1x 67
2 dud locos/power cars: 1x HST, 1x 91

Day mileage: 283 miles

 

[Blindtraveler]

It was great to meet another Pacer enthusiast, dare I suggest its starting to become fassionable to like Pacers?

Sounds like a nice little festering sesh in the bashing temple of the North, I love that station!

 

[ash39]

It was great to meet another Pacer enthusiast, dare I suggest its starting to become fassionable to like Pacers?

Sounds like a nice little festering sesh in the bashing temple of the North, I love that station!

I'd say we're a rare breed but more fool everyone else!

Carlisle is great, especially on diversion weekends. There aren't many places I can spend a couple of hours just watching the comings and goings but Carlisle, Doncaster and Ipswich are the exceptions.

 

[ash39]

A skip on local turf - Sunday 24th September 2017

Upon reading that 67028 would be working 1A40 1616 Leeds to London Kings Cross due to a 91 failure the day before, a plan for an impromptu quick move was thrown together. I was busy in the morning and the evening, but I could just about make it work. The chance of a second winner 67 in 8 days was too much to turn down. My mate was also able to nip out for it, and we arranged to meet at Leeds.

I set off for Garforth just after 1500, leaving myself a comfortable amount of time for the 1548 Blackpool North service. I purchased a day return to Wakefield Westgate for £5.40, which is only a couple of quid cheaper than a West Yorkshire Day Rover but there was no reason to buy one as I had to head straight home after.

My mindset was any winners other than the 67 would be a bonus, and as my Northern 158 requirements stood at 7 from 45, I didn't hold out much hope for the first move. I saw a 3-car unit approaching in the distance, which meant only 753 or 757 would do. It appeared to be purple, which ruled out refurbished white liveried 158753. It was indeed 158757 though, which was a bit of a result to say the least!

It was already 4L at Garforth, and the driver seemed to struggle putting power down pulling away from Cross Gates. We also got held outside Leeds, and I was getting a bit anxious as it was now around 1605 and I wanted to get a photo of the 67 before we left. Thankfully we only stopped for about 30 seconds, and I made my way down the platform. Annoyingly, 321902 had parked itself right in front of the shot I wanted, so I had to cross the bridge and make do with a same platform shot. This was the best I could manage.


67028 Leeds 24/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

321902 would be following us out at 1622, so I left it at that and made my way to Coach E where my mate had text me to say he'd found a seat. It was a busy train, but he'd bagged the northernmost set of airline seats. Unfortunately I'd boarded on the southernmost set of doors, meaning I had to squeeze through the crowds people stowing luggage etc to get to the seat.

We were soon away, albeit slowly, and were afforded a nice view of 67028 being put through its paces through the cuves around Whitehall Juntion. We never really seemed to gather much momentum, and it was 5L by the time we reached Wakefield Westgate (it would eventually arrive into Kings Cross almost an hour late). Any hopes of making the +2 onto the Sheffield-Leeds train were quashed, as we saw a 158 pass us as we slowed for the station stop.

91115 was the poorly loco on the rear.


91115 Wakefield Westgate 24/09/2017 by Flash 3939, on Flickr

We sat and watched 321902 follow us in from Leeds, before enduring a Voyager move back to Leeds. A full and standing Edinburgh bound Voyager to boot, but at least it was winner 221122. Nothing much to say about this leg of the journey other than it was a bit grim! If we'd waited for the next Leeds train we'd have both missed our onward trains home and been an hour later getting back.

I had a +15 onto my Garforth train. The Voyager had deposited me on Platform 9D which was also where my next train was leaving from, which was useful but I decided to go get a coffee anyway and see what my mate was catching home (142087, dud for both of us). A short while later my 158 rolled in, and just to put the icing on the cake it was winner 158816, meaning I had a clean sweep of winners and down to five Northern 158's to go!

A most enjoyable and very fortuitous set of moves, and I was back home three hours after I left.

Day summary:

158757 GRF-LDS
67028 LDS-WKF
221122 WKF-LDS
158816 LDS-GRF

No new stations
4 new units/locos: 1x 67, 2x 158, 1x 221
No duds

Day mileage: 34 miles