West Midlands Daytripper - Wednesday 26th September 2018 (Part One)
Originally my next big move had been planned for an outing to Reading via a stint in the 2nd city but circumstance changed this and a job interview in Smethwick saw a quickfire plan of action put into place for a day around the West Midlands using the well priced West Midlands Network 1 Day ticket. This is an £8.70 ticket that allows a full day of travel (peak time included) on trains, trams and buses within the network area. For those interested the link below details the area covered by the ticket:
http://www.railrover.org/rovers/west-midlands-day-tripper.html
This would be my first real experience of hopping around stations and services so I was quite excited to give it a go. I've marked trains I've had haulage behind before but never really marked them on my reports so for this one I will bold winners for sight as always and indicate winners for haulage in red with winners for both therefore being red and bold.
So on to the day and as the first part of my day was the more important aspect I decided not to rush about to try and see which 88 was on the morning Tesco train, instead choosing to take my time in getting ready and ensuring I at least looked the part. Unfortunately this effort proved to be unnecessary but we will get to that later. I could have travelled direct from Stafford to Smethwick Galton Bridge but I decided to break my journey at Wolverhampton as this would increase my variation of traction and also give me a chance to purchase my Daytripper ticket. I'd planned for the 0825 service as my opening train of the day and despite arriving at Stafford early enough for an earlier XC service and also an LNWR train, however I decided to get a coffee and hang around at Stafford to wait for a couple of freights to pass by. These freights comprised of a dud 66 and a dud 70 but I at least enjoyed my coffee. The 0825 XC service arrived and departed Stafford 1 minute late with a very packed
220011 doing the honours, so I took up my usual Voyager position in a crammed vestibule for the short hop to Wolverhampton. Having sat in the approach to Wolverhampton for what seemed like an eternity (apparently the M6 wasn't the only transport facility suffering with congestion this morning) we finally arrived 7 minutes late but fortunately I'd planned a lengthy layover to allow me time to grab my network ticket, which I duly did. I headed back to platform 3 to await my train to Smethwick and with little happening on the rails (a couple of dud 350s came and went) I got to admire the lovely looking bridge at the north end of the station - a very modern looking glass structure which gives nice views of the Northern approach as you cross it. Soon after, my next haulage arrived 2 minutes early with
158820 leading
158835 on their journey from Crewe and Wrexham General to Birmingham International for Arriva Trains Wales and having departed Wolverhampton bang on time, we were soon arriving into Smethwick Galton Bridge (low level) bang on time
ATW 158835 at Smethwick Galton Bridge by
The_Train
As I was leaving Galton Bridge, I did manage to bag my first 172s for sight as
172216 and
172217 went into the book but the next part of my day was the main event and as I'd given myself plenty of time I decided to walk it to my destination. The trek started with a wander along the local canal and I must admit that it was lovely, if not admit little secluded and quiet. Following my phone map I was soon back at street level and admittedly regretting the plan of walking as the weather gods had thrown up a sunny, warm day but I ploughed on nonetheless and was soon lost as my phone wanted me back on the canal at an area where the canal walkway was gated off. A quick scan of the map gave me a plan b and eventually I made it to my destination, just about on time and feeling a little sweaty (note to self, don't endure walks to interviews on hot days). A quick check of the companies sign in book showed me the guy I was seeing had had multiple visitors during the week and having endured a pretty pointless interview (the interviewer was ultra dismissive from the start and gave off the impression that I was keeping him from his 'real' work), it felt almost like his mind was made up even before my interview. Before I knew it, I was back outside feeling slightly dejected but knowing I had the remainder of the day on the rails perked me up a bit. I voted against a walk back to the station so began to hunt for local taxi numbers but as I did so an empty taxi pulled up on the estate and although he wasn't supposed to, I managed to talk him into taking me back to Galton Bridge (his next pickup was 15 minutes away anyway).
This was the part of the day where I'd not planned a specific time for my next train as I was unsure how long I would be in Smethwick for. My arrival back at Galton Bridge came just a few minutes before the next train to Birmingham Moor Street which would be my next destination. Whilst waiting on the high level platforms for this service
172332 went into the book as it headed towards Kidderminster before
172340 arrived to form my power towards Birmingham. My arrival into Moor Street was greeted by
168112 and
168106 forming a Chiltern service and having had a quick glance around I decided to cross the footbridge over to platform 2 as it seemed the best vantage point for all lines. Once over here I was able to chalk off
165007 which had terminated in the bays and as could be expected of a first visit to Moor Street I sat myself down to start chalking off the 172 winners which started with
335,
336,
331 and
342 within the first 10 minutes
WMT Class 172 172342 at Birmingham Moor Street by
The_Train
It was at this point that I realised just how nice and quaint a station Birmingham Moor Street is. For a station in the centre of the 2nd largest city in England to have maintained its remarkable historic features is a credit to all those involved in the upkeep of the station. And as we are talking about how nice something looks it seems apt that my next sight was that of a 68 arriving with a terminating service from London Marylebone with
68014 grumbling it's way up to the buffers and having trekked down the length of the platform I was able to ascertain that
82301 was the supporting act. I was able to tick off another 172 as
172339 came and went before I decided a coffee was needed so I nipped to the small coffee stand next to the barriers for a nice latte, if not a tad on the small side for the price. More 172s went into the book as
212,
221,
234 and
214 all came and went but I suffered an early setback as my first repeat action occurred sooner than I anticipated as 172216 and 172217 that I'd seen earlier at Smethwick came by along with 168112 which had been my first sighting at Moor Street. Undeterred by these minor issues, we were soon back on winner street as
172345 was bagged along with
172211 and
172218. It was all about the 172s at Moor Street and WMT certainly keep the station busy and although a few more duds passed through,
172341 did find its way into the book.
168111 also gets the bold treatment as do
172343 working by itself and
172220 and
172215 working a tandem service towards Whitlocks End. A little break in play was ended by that glorious growl of a 68 as another ex London service crept into platform 3 but my excitement was tainted somewhat when I realised it was 68010 which I'd been surprised to see at Stafford recently hauling ballast from Mountsorrel
Class 68 68010 arrives at Birmingham Moor Street by
The_Train
However, it was an opportunity to chalk off another DVT and another trek down the platform allowed me to see that it was indeed a winner in the form of
82309. This wander was well timed because the service that had terminated in platform 4 was ready to depart so I was able to marvel in the sound of 68014 pushing it's way out of Birmingham
Class 68 68014 departing Birmingham Moor Street by
The_Train
I'd been at Moor Street for an hour and a half by now and the repeats were now starting to become more frequent but
172337 was a new addition to the collection of winners with
172344 following very shortly afterwards. A tandem
172222 and
172213 service to Stratford-upon-Avon was a pleasant break from duds and Chilterns
168216 was also chalked off. As the duds were mounting up by now, I decided my next move should be implemented so I jumped on the next service to Stourbridge Junction which was headed by
172221 with
172212 in support. It was a quiet service so I took a seat in the rear portion of the train but Moor Street wasn't finished with me yet and I was able to mark off
153354 and
170632 as we departed and they arrived working together on route to Whitlocks End. Not much to report on the journey to Stourbridge although passing through Snow Hill did give me my first opportunity to see the local trams but for the life of me I couldn't find where the numbers were - was I really looking for the numbers of trams? What has
@Skymonster done to me?
I put that to the back of my mind and settled in for the jaunt across to Stourbridge with only a few duds passing us by on the way before we arrived at the services final destination slightly ahead of schedule
Class 172 172212 at Stourbridge Junction by
The_Train
My plan didn't keep me in Stourbridge for too long as there was only one thing that I was there for and it didn't take long for
139001 to appear for my first sighting of this brilliant and slightly bizarre little machine. I made the short trip down to Stourbridge Town and you can certainly feel every little bump in the rails - not sure I'd like to travel much further on one of these. Also, why is there a door on both sides of the unit as surely the one side is the only one ever used? Anyway it was good to enjoy a trip on it for the novelty factor and after after quick photo at Town, we were back on our way to Junction. One thing of interest at this point in my day is that this was my 5th train of the day and was the first time I'd been asked to show my ticket!
Class 139 139001 at Stourbridge Town by
The_Train
As we headed back into Junction I remembered to have a look at the shed and as I'd been told it would be, the door was open and
139002 was visible so although it's a small fleet, it's still a completed class
my arrival back into Junction coincided with the arrival of
172332 which was heading back towards Birmingham so I jumped on and decided that I would sample Snow Hill this time around. Again we passed a few units but none of interest until we neared Snow Hill where I was finally able to locate the numbers on the trams and
33 was duly noted. As soon as my pen finished writing I could feel myself chasing
@Skymonster down that slippery slope
I instantly felt as though I needed to justify my logging of a tram and it was simple - they have wheels and carry passengers so a winner is a winner. Oh wait, buses do that as well.......oh dear, the slope is getting steeper
I needed to move on and fast, so I was unbelievably happy to see
168219 sat in Snow Hill as we arrived, seen here next to my haulage from Stourbridge to Snow Hill
Class 172 172332 at Birmingham Snow Hill by
The_Train
I found Snow Hill to be a strange little station. It had the look of a big station and is based in a big city, but there seemed to be little going on. In fact I spent a good chunk of my time there enjoying the sun and watching some crazy workers hanging out of an unfinished high rise building as a crane dropped a big piece of glass towards them. I hope they are paid well! The quietness of the station was broken (well not really as they don't seem to make any noise) by number
24 tram as it passed through before a treble of dud 172s came by. Snow Hill wasn't helping me at all so I plotted my next move to Tyseley but the next train heading that way wasn't calling there so instead I decided to head back to Moor Street just in case there was another 68 about.
172341 would take me to Moor Street but not before number
32 tram was added to the book. I needed to get out of here so I was more than pleased to see Moor Street once again, and even more pleased to see
68011 stabled in platform 3 and after a quick dash over there I was all so able to chalk off
82303 along with
168218 which had arrived into platform 2. I couldn't hang around though as the next service to Tyseley was due so a dash back across footbridge was required to hop on to see if I could grab anything out of the depot there - unfortunately I failed to note the number of the unit that was my haulage here. I've posted in TOPS with no response so far so if anyone reading this can help with what was on 2C50 1455 Kidderminster to Dorridge it would be appreciated
I'm about halfway through the day here so I will call this part 1 and take a break before returning later (hopefully) to complete the story of my day
Class 170 170634 arrives into Birmingham New Street
Class 323 323221 departing Birmingham New Street
VTWC Pendolino 390011 at Birmingham New Street
XC HST power car 43303 departing Tamworth
