Back on the platform

[The_Train]

Wow! Just read your reports for your trip to Donny! Good going. Reminds me of when I got back into this hobby 8 years ago! Everywhere was winner after winner! Once I had exhausted that it was a haulage game! As others have said, Manchester is worth a look at definitely. As is Leeds (and that would require a lot of walking around!). In London, Clapham, London Bridge and Stratford are best for filling that book of sights. Barking is also worth a mention as you'll see the 357s (and handful of 387s) that c2c have. You'll also get a few London Overground units there. An hour or two would probably see you get most of what is out if you do it in the rush hour windows.

West Ham/Barking for a morning or evening peak has a very high chance of getting you almost all of c2c. I did one 3 hour stint from 4-7 on a summers evening and got all but three of the 357s and all the 387s. Possibly one of the easiest TOCs to clear in the country I would wager.

Agreed

I would say West Ham (or even Limehouse) will be better than Barking as it is only 2 tracks there, and you won't get any pester S7s blocking your view with the layout of Barking. You can recover the 172/0s with an hour (or so) at South Tottenham

Thanks for the tips regarding the southern region guys. I will definitely revisit your ideas when planning the trip.

Are there any suggestions regarding type of tickets I should be looking out for that may make the day more cost effective?

 

[The_Train]

If you're looking to come to Anglia land, you'll see most of the 156 fleet in and around Norwich and Ipswich, The 153s tend to stick to the same branches, but one unit spends all day on the Sudbury - Marks Tey line (which is outside the rover area). 170s work mainly Norwich - Cambridge and services between Ipswich, Cambridge and Peterborough. Ely sees a fair bit of freight, including the Colas turns from Hoo jn - Whitemoor. Cambridge is good for emus as there's a mix of 317, 387, 700 plus the odd 365.

Sounds like a day ranger is definitely a must for the Anglia region then as there are more places to visit than I first thought. Thanks for the info

I've just finished reading about your Yorkshire day and wow, what a monster read that was! Very many winners to be had, and congrats for passing the 200 mark in one day. You need to get yourself up to Scotland one of these days. Tonnes to be had up here!

It was a monster to write as well
Scotland is on the list but I think I may save it for when funds allow for an overnight stay. Maybe one for next summer now as I am lead to believe that the sun makes an appearance for a couple of days in summer up there?

 

[Kite159]

Get a travelcard, as you don't have to worry about maximum journey times

 

[The_Train]

Get a travelcard, as you don't have to worry about maximum journey times

Perfect, sounds good. Thanks mate

 

[The_Train]

Right guys, as there is nothing on tv tonight I've decided to start initial planning for my next outing which is now confirmed as Reading and at the moment is looking like being early October so I'm using Tuesday 2nd October as a draft date at the moment. The main aim is to eat into the GWR stuff as I've got none in the book as of yet and Moor Street became an extra option to clear some of the Chiltern stocks.

My initial itinerary is probably stretching Reading out a bit too much which is why I thought I'd come to the experts for some help. Said itinerary is as below:

OUT
0710 Stafford-Birmingham New Street 0750
Walk to Moor Street
0955 Birmingham Moor Street-Banbury 1039
1055 Banbury-Reading 1140

RTN
1915 Reading-Stafford 2128

TICKETS
Stafford-Leamington Spa (Anytime Day Rtn)
Leamington Spa-Banbury (Off Peak Day Rtn)
Banbury-Reading (Off Peak Day Rtn)

Obviously these tickets offer a certain amount of flexibility as there are no advances so what are the best ways of making a good day of it?

• Is 7+ hours at Reading going to yield a high amount of repeats later in the day?
• If so, are these worthwhile alternatives

1. Spend time at New Street before going to Moor Street
2. Spend more time at Moor Street
3. Spend time elsewhere on the route ie Leamington Spa or Banbury? (I know very little about what either of these can offer)

• And the key question....what would I need to do to get some haulage behind a 68 out of Moor Street?

At the moment this is very early planning (ideally I want to play around with it a bit more to see if I can get the price closer to £40) so I am flexible on dates and times. What I don't want to happen is for me to plan a full day out but find that the last few hours have been pointless.

As always any advice from those who've experienced these areas recently (and when I say recently I mean more recent than my last visit to Reading in the early noughties) would be appreciated

 

[Kite159]

I believe the 10:55 Birmingham Moor Street - London is 68 pushed

Maybe extend your trip to cover Basingstoke to make a start with some SWR stuff?

 

[palmersears]

I would go with what you've got, but get the 1055 from Moor Street as Kite has mentioned so you can get a bit of 68 action. You can use the extra hour at New Street, or at Moor Street for more Chiltern stuff and the WMT 172s. That would still leave you six hours at Reading, which should get you a whole heap of stuff. I wouldn't bother with Basingstoke personally, concentrate on maximising your potential inroads into GWR. Given you've got nothing yet the six hours will be pretty busy!

 

[Skymonster]

I suggest spending an hour or so at New Street when you arrive as it will be in the peak and will be busy. Head over to Moor Street sometime after 0900 to get the WMT 172s and a few Chilterns - Chilterns aren't that frequent but there are 27 WMT 172s to go at and there are departures every five minutes or so (with repeats starting after less than two hours). Your choices for 68 are the 1055 to Banbury (as has been suggested) or the 1909 back from Banbury [just to Leamington Spa or through to Moor Street] but unfortunately those southbound and northbound services are part of one diagram and are thus likely to be worked by the same set. 1055 off Moor Street will get you to Biscuit Town shortly before 13:00 which should set you up nicely for the afternoon. Then I think if I needed everything I'd be tempted to stay put - some of the units only come out to play in the morning and afternoon peaks. But if you do decide to go somewhere else too check the frieght on RTT first for workings from / to Acton - the GW main line is one of the few places where the Aggregate Industries, Hanson and DBC 59s can be caught fairly easily.

 

[Keith Jarrett]

You'll need eyes in the back of your head at Reading if you want to cover everything! There's stuff terminating in bay platforms at both ends - at the London end bays you'll get SWR stuff from Waterloo plus Great Western 165s on the North Downs route while at the country end bays, there will be 165s going to exquisite places such as Basingstoke and Newbury. After a couple of hours or so the 165s, 387s, HSTs and IETs using the through platforms will start to repeat from the London end but from the country end it will take much longer for repeats, specially the HSTs/IETs coming from South Wales and the West Country. Then of course, there will be rush hour extras such as the 387s that spend the between peaks sat on West Ealing sidings which suddenly come out to play at going home time for all the wage slaves.
Hope you enjoy your day and looking to the write up in due course.

 

[47403]

It's your money and I would never dream of telling someone how to spend theirs but the 10.55 suggestion is a good one. If your after freight, go to Reading West. There's no amenities but I've heard it's a good spot to go to, saving you the extra few quid going to Basingstoke, if i was gonna go to Basingstoke, i'd go the full hog and do Eastliegh, however that's only my opinion.

 

[The_Train]

As always, great advice guys and my mind is clear as to my plan for the day.

@Kite159 - I won't pass up the opportunity to get some 68 action (not chasing haulage yet as such but when it comes to 68s....).

@palmersears - as my main target for the day is to nail as much GWR stuff as possible I will heed your advice and focus on that and leave Basingstoke for another day

@Skymonster - New Street now forms a part of my plan. As you say it will be peak time when I arrive so will keep me busy for an hour or so before heading to Moor Street for 9ish. Your mention of 59s pricked my ears but do any of them make it through Reading or do they all avoid?

@Keith Jarrett - some top information there for me to use as part of my preparation. Is it possible to settle in one place at Reading and just roam as necessary when something arrives into a bay or do you need to be on your toes all of the time?

@47403 - I've checked Reading West out on RTT and it does indeed seem to be a busy place for freight movements. It's only a couple of the most sterling of pounds to get a return between Reading and Reading West so I'm going to keep this as an open option subject to what RTT says on the day and how my day is panning out. Your comment about Basingstoke has reminded me that Eastleigh is also on my radar but as a potential stopover so maybe I can work Basingstoke into that as and when it happens

Thanks again guys

 

[palmersears]

Reading West is ok, but you'll eventually see all the 66s that do head through at other points in the future, so I wouldn't spend valuable pounds on it to be honest. One of the key things I learnt in my early days was to spend as long as possible on nailing TOC requirements at key locations. Freight winners are just an added bonus.

You have to roam initially, particularly for the country end bays, but then you can settle at the London end of the station (exact platform numbers escape me, but in the middle, so to speak) and everything will be gettable that's passing through.

Eastleigh is a good shout, one I always wanted to do properly but it was always confusingly expensive to get to from Stockport. I'm heading through in a couple of weeks to pick up some of the quirky stuff at the works, a full day is probably a good bet at your stage.

 

[Far north 37]

As always, great advice guys and my mind is clear as to my plan for the day.

@Kite159 - I won't pass up the opportunity to get some 68 action (not chasing haulage yet as such but when it comes to 68s....).

@palmersears - as my main target for the day is to nail as much GWR stuff as possible I will heed your advice and focus on that and leave Basingstoke for another day

@Skymonster - New Street now forms a part of my plan. As you say it will be peak time when I arrive so will keep me busy for an hour or so before heading to Moor Street for 9ish. Your mention of 59s pricked my ears but do any of them make it through Reading or do they all avoid?

@Keith Jarrett - some top information there for me to use as part of my preparation. Is it possible to settle in one place at Reading and just roam as necessary when something arrives into a bay or do you need to be on your toes all of the time?

@47403 - I've checked Reading West out on RTT and it does indeed seem to be a busy place for freight movements. It's only a couple of the most sterling of pounds to get a return between Reading and Reading West so I'm going to keep this as an open option subject to what RTT says on the day and how my day is panning out. Your comment about Basingstoke has reminded me that Eastleigh is also on my radar but as a potential stopover so maybe I can work Basingstoke into that as and when it happens

Thanks again guys

Think all the trains from merehead and whatley quarries to acton pass through reading so a bit of time spent there you should be able to tick of a few class 59s.

 

[Skymonster]

@SkymonsterYour mention of 59s pricked my ears but do any of them make it through Reading or do they all avoid?

Yes, the 59s go right through Reading between the Mendips and London and vice versa. Well worth checking RTT on the day for anything ZZ that meets that criteria - particularly anything starting / finishing at Acton T.C. or Merehead / Theale / Whatley.

For what it's worth going to Reading West will net you more freights heading to the Midlands and the north (mainly the usual suspects - FLR or GBR 66s), but while you are there you'll miss a lot of units and HSTs/IETs on the main GWR.

 

[palmersears]

Think all the trains from merehead and whatley quarries to acton pass through reading so a bit of time spent there you should be able to tick of a few class 59s.

That reminds me, I still need to track down 59103 next time I'm in London. For such a small fleet they can take a long time to clear!

Edit:

59s head through at these times during your stay:

1335 Acton-Merehead 7C77
1425 Allington-Whatley 6V18
1530 Acton-Whatley 6C76
1615 Acton-Merehead 7C64
1640 Whatley-Dagenham 6L21

They tend to be fairly reliable runners, but the usual caveats apply.

 

[Far north 37]

That reminds me, I still need to track down 59103 next time I'm in London. For such a small fleet they can take a long time to clear!

Nightmare of a fleet to clear with those small numberplates cant easily id them from passing trains.
The 14.45 from acton to merehead seems to always throw up a 59/1 caught this at ealing broadway many a time.

 

[Kite159]

If you have a ticket to Reading then it might be valid to Reading West

The units in the Western bays will repeat after around an hour (bar the voyagers)

Problem sometimes is a 165 from Redhill will go into one of the platforms and be blocked from view due to a SWR unit

 

[Far north 37]

That reminds me, I still need to track down 59103 next time I'm in London. For such a small fleet they can take a long time to clear!

Edit:

59s head through at these times during your stay:

1335 Acton-Merehead 7C77
1425 Allington-Whatley 6V18
1530 Acton-Whatley 6C76
1615 Acton-Merehead 7C64
1640 Wheatley-Dagenham 6L21

They tend to be fairly reliable runners, but the usual caveats apply.

The allington - whatley is a solid 59/1 turn also see it most days through sheperds bush though the first part of the diagram is to acton tc assume it carrys on west as the same service then.

 

[The_Train]

For what it's worth going to Reading West will net you more freights heading to the Midlands and the north (mainly the usual suspects - FLR or GBR 66s), but while you are there you'll miss a lot of units and HSTs/IETs on the main GWR.

Sounds like I'd probably see the FLR and GBRf 66s that come through the local regularly then. It's only a backup plan anyway just in case things go a bit stale at Reading at any point which I doubt anyway.

59s head through at these times during your stay:

1335 Acton-Merehead 7C77
1425 Allington-Whatley 6V18
1530 Acton-Whatley 6C76
1615 Acton-Merehead 7C64
1640 Whatley-Dagenham 6L21

They tend to be fairly reliable runners, but the usual caveats apply.

If I can bag 3-5 during my stay I'd be happy with that considering my current balance stands at 1

If you have a ticket to Reading then it might be valid to Reading West

Ah, I did notice on trainsplit that you could break them into individual stops or alternatively select Reading or Reading West as a single option which I assume will offer a ticket to either. I'll see how the price varies when I do that

 

[Skymonster]

An off peak day return to Readimg West (from Banbury) is the same price as a return to Reading - in fact it is ticketed to Reading Stations. As the route will be via Reading and the ticket does not have a break of journey restriction you can use the same ticket to do both (if you wish) by breaking your journey in Reading in one or both directions. Don't put the ticket in the barrier at Reading though if you decide to leave the platforms as it will be retained and you will then have no means of getting to Reading West. Obviously an advance ticket would not convey the advantage of doing both for the same price.

 

[47403]

I was gonna suggest getting a Thames valley rover and Maybe do the 10.55 Moor St to Marleybone. Sure on I saw on GWR site an advance ticket was only about £6.40 and Maybe split the Reading Stafford journey home. The Rovers an extra 20 odd quid but you do get the option of whizzing back n forth between the 2, plus a tube journey from their to Paddington maybe a bit of a drain on already tight funds. Just a suggestion though.

 

[47403]

Just checked 0ct 2nd 10.55 Moor St-London Marleybone single is £6.40.

 

[Kite159]

I wonder if Mr Train was at Stafford on Friday evening to get two very fine looking 73s into his little book as they were enjoying the trip northbound with 92033 providing the power

 

[The_Train]

I wonder if Mr Train was at Stafford on Friday evening to get two very fine looking 73s into his little book as they were enjoying the trip northbound with 92033 providing the power

No Mr Train didn't
I assume this was the GBRf overnight charter? If so I'd read that it would be passing Stafford but it was to be just a 92 according to their website so as it wasn't passing until 2246 and as I'd sighted a couple of 92s recently I decided a trip out at that time (on a Friday night) wasn't wholly appealing. If there had been mention of 73s my mindset would have been very different as we don't get them up here (funnily enough).

GUTTED!!!

 

[The_Train]

I was gonna suggest getting a Thames valley rover and Maybe do the 10.55 Moor St to Marleybone. Sure on I saw on GWR site an advance ticket was only about £6.40 and Maybe split the Reading Stafford journey home. The Rovers an extra 20 odd quid but you do get the option of whizzing back n forth between the 2, plus a tube journey from their to Paddington maybe a bit of a drain on already tight funds. Just a suggestion though.

Good suggestion Mr 403 but I have a plan for making my first trip into the London area involving stop overs. Will probably be next year now but it's good to know that there are cheap advances out of Moor Street....hopefully they still exist when I go and hopefully the 68s are still hauling as it will be a good opportunity to spend some time behind one

 

[The_Train]

Just to bring everything up to date, I've paid a few visits to the local either through interest in a path on RTT or sheer boredom and they've thrown up a winner or two.

First I ventured across on the afternoon of Wednesday 13th September and bagged an early success with 66747 going into the book. The flying banana came through next headed by winner 43014 with dud 43013 at the other end.....
Flying Banana 43014 at Stafford by The_Train

.....and this was chased into the book of sights by 66433 working the Mountsorrel-Crewe stones. A few dud 66s passed by working the same old trains but it was to be the flasks that would offer the next reward as it was headed by 68017 and despite its partner, 68003, being a dud it was nice to get another 68 ticked off - 13 down, 21 to go
68017 passes Stafford by The_Train

66023 was also chalked off as it worked north to Halewood but that would be it for a while as dud after dud came by including 66779 working the cars despite a hint of excitement at seeing it listed as an electric locomotive on RTT. 70006 did finish my short stint on a high as it became the 12th of its class to enter my book - starting to see a fee more of the FLR 70s out and about now, are they slowly coming out of hibernation?

Next it was Wednesday 19th September where, after a slow start, 66956 was first into the book as it ran containers from Crewe to Felixstowe before 90039 produced a rare class 90 winner as it headed towards Daventry with dud 90019. A slow period of time suddenly burst into life as 92036 was taken south to Wembley by dud 90018 to take my slowly increasing tally of 92 winners to a mighty 3 before we were treated to some real locomotives as 37668 and 47804 growled their way through Stafford working a WCRC ECS move to Carnforth
37668 and 47804 pass Stafford by The_Train

66541 trundled by working containers towards Crewe to keep my collection of 66 winners ticking over with 66509 joining it in the book. Another 66 success next in the form of 101 working Arpley-Bescot before 345023 added me another of the Crossrail units without the need to travel all the way to London and made it another 9 winners for the short stint I was on the platform.

As I was passing by I decided to head back into the station on Friday 21st September but it was a short visit and didn't yield a massive amount of success. It all started well as dud 66719 rolled in towing rail milling machine DR79601 as they worked from Tonbridge West Yard to Carlisle Upperby Sidings
GBRf 66719 at Stafford by The_Train
High Speed Rail Milling machine DR79601 at Stafford by The_Train

And hot on the heels of this was a surprise on the Mountsorrel-Crewe ballast train as Chiltern liveried 68010 was providing the traction
Chiltern liveried 68010 passes Stafford by The_Train

Despite this impressive start the only other success I managed in this short visit was 66513 working north to Ditton.

Finally, a couple of spare hours today - Monday 24th September - placed me back on the platform and a wise decision it turned out to be. One of the reasons I'd decided to head across to the station was a path from Wembley InterCity Depot to Crewe Electric which I'd hoped was another 92. However, having noticed it was running lots early I hadn't noticed the extra time it was making up as it passed through the midlands and I was just about quick enough out of my apartment to catch winner 92044, with dud 90041 in tow, exiting the station and passing the north junction. Luck appeared to be on my side and this continued upon arrival at the station as 66158 headed south with a rake of cement trucks and 66105 entered the book as it ran containers towards London Gateway. It was a bit of a wait for the next freight action but it was worth the wait as it was yet another winner 66, this time GBRf 66702 doing the honours. It took just another 7 minutes for the next freight to appear and would you believe it, 66544 was added to the ever increasing number of shed winners. 325013 broke my run - still 3 units shy of completing the set of mail units - but another Crossrail unit was nabbed as 345026 tried to sneak through behind a departing Pendolino. A couple of dud Freightliner 66s passed through and the temperature seemed to plummet so I decided to see what the Toton to Crewe engineering train would throw up and it was well worth it as it was lead by the nicely liveried 66709 and even though it was supported by dud 66585 it was still a decent couple of hours to slowly creep the winner numbers upward.

That brings us right up to date with a few decent visits to the local. I have a couple of outings planned for the next couple of weeks so hopefully there will be more good news to post about soon

 

[Cowley]

You do seem to have some good fortune with the things you’ve seen...
I love a good bit of loco action and you’ve seen quite a variety of late.
Good reading your thread.

 

[Mills444]

wow that was quite the variety that is some local you have wish mine was that good.
If you don't mind me asking how many 66s do you still need

 

[The_Train]

You do seem to have some good fortune with the things you’ve seen...
I love a good bit of loco action and you’ve seen quite a variety of late.
Good reading your thread.

Thanks
We are quite lucky with what we get through the local when it comes to loco action. Lots of the standard pathed stuff can become a bit repetitive for a period although you'll usually see quite a few locos changed over after a few weeks on a particular train. Most days will also see at least one STP slotted into the schedule and invariably it is loco movements between the north or midlands and the south. It's certainly a handy place to have on my doorstep to keep winners ticking over between my jaunts further a field

 

[Skymonster]

Good to learn you are still ticking off a few at the local. Did you catch 60103 Flying Scotsman yesterday?

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U62729/2018/09/24/advanced

starting to see a fee more of the FLR 70s out and about now, are they slowly coming out of hibernation?

There's still ten in a long line stored at Leeds Midland Road...

Hope you have a great day out in the West Midlands tomorrow - enjoy the 139s!