Back on the platform

[Skymonster]

My next outings will be a planned visit to the local (hopefully on Monday) to see what is next to go on the cars....hopefully an opportunity to nab another 92.

And what's likely to be another 345 planned from Old Dalby on Crewe in the morning...

 

[The_Train]

And what's likely to be another 345 planned from Old Dalby on Crewe in the morning...

If it's anything like the other week, it will move to Crewe in the morning and then be out on test in the afternoon so yeah hopefully I can get another one of them chalked off

 

[The_Train]

There was no 345 movement today unfortunately, the afternoon run being cancelled. I did manage to chalk off another 92 with 014 working the empty car wagons back south but other than that it was just a GBRf shed that troubled the book of sights, 66752 working the early evening Toton to Crewe engineers train, as everything else proved to be a whole lot of dudness in the couple of hours I was on the platform. I did, however, get to see the newly liveried 221101 and it looks just as impressive as it does in the pictures.....talking of which
Newly liveried Virgin Voyager 221101 at Stafford by The_Train

And here are my 2 winners for the day.....
GBRf class 66 66752 at Stafford by The_Train
Caledonian Sleeper liveried 92014 passes Stafford by The_Train

 

[Skymonster]

Two hours on the platform and a whole lot of dudness - welcome to our world!

 

[The_Train]

Two hours on the platform and a whole lot of dudness - welcome to our world!

Haha, yes I feel more part of the spotting community now I'm reporting on less than 10 winners in an outing

 

[03_179]

I go to my local station and EVERY one is a dud LOL

 

[xotGD]

Mr Train - I am intrigued as to why you spot DVTs but not other loco-hauled coaching stock.

Many more lines in the book to be had from coaches!

Incidentally, on the subject of how to mark up a spotting book, I adopted the technique of shading in pencil what I hadn't seen and rubbing out the pencil when I saw something new. This had the advantage of making it much quicker to mark up a new book when you've seen most of the stuff.

 

[The_Train]

Mr Train - I am intrigued as to why you spot DVTs but not other loco-hauled coaching stock.

Many more lines in the book to be had from coaches!

Incidentally, on the subject of how to mark up a spotting book, I adopted the technique of shading in pencil what I hadn't seen and rubbing out the pencil when I saw something new. This had the advantage of making it much quicker to mark up a new book when you've seen most of the stuff.

The simple answer to the DVTs stems back to my childhood when as a youngster who simply loved being around trains and noting numbers, I just saw DVTs as a loco - I mean they look like one so why wouldn't I? Obviously my understanding of these improved as I got older but because of my childhood I see them as worth noting down. As for coaching stock, I'm not entirely sure why I've not noted them down and I think I regret it to be honest. The only reason I can possibly link to this is the fact that on my return to the hobby the vast majority of loco hauled services had gone and had been replaced by units (Pendolinos and Voyagers in particular at my local) and it kind of made noting the coach numbers pointless and I think this feeling has followed me even when seeing HSTs, Mk4 coaches and loco hauled Chiltern stocks. My thought process on this may change going forward.

Moving to your final point about the marking of spotting books, I must say your way seems to be particularly novel and I can definitely see how it would work. I assume you took up this process later in the hobby as opposed as from the start? The reason I ask is that this is my first book and as I have large swathes of numbers to find still it would require a lot of shading and I'm not sure I've got enough lead in the pencil for that......

 

[Skymonster]

Save the coaches for when you start spending hours on a station and all you get is duds. Oh wait...

And when the coaches start to let you down too there's always WAGONs!!!

 

[Kite159]

Save the coaches for when you start spending hours on a station and all you get is duds. Oh wait...

And when the coaches start to let you down too there's always WAGONs!!!

And when the Wagons start to let you down there's always Buses!

(From someone who might resume a quest to cover as many London bus routes as possible due to having pretty much bugger all left to look for within London!)

 

[The_Train]

Save the coaches for when you start spending hours on a station and all you get is duds. Oh wait...

And when the coaches start to let you down too there's always WAGONs!!!

It's funny you should say that as during my recent slump at the local I sat there checking out the wagon numbers as they went past. I didn't note any but I did learn that trying to follow the wagons makes me feel a little queasy so that could prove to be a problem if I do turn to wagons in the future

 

[The_Train]

And when the Wagons start to let you down there's always Buses!

(From someone who might resume a quest to cover as many London bus routes as possible due to having pretty much bugger all left to look for within London!)

Buses do nothing for me at all. In fact I've never ever enjoyed travelling on them and can't even remember the last time I used one. I'd much prefer to pay extra for a taxi.....is there such a thing as taxi spotting?

 

[DavidGrain]

As there are 19 pages to the thread I don't know if anyone has given advice on the Birmingham area. For passenger only services you have Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Moor Street. I do not recommend Birmingham Snow Hill as not all Chiltern services run through Snow Hill.

TOCs serving New Street are Virgin, Cross Country, West Midlands Railway, London NorthWestern Railway and the successor to Arriva Trains Wales.
TOCs serving Moor Street are West Midlands Railways and Chiltern Railways. Moor Street station is managed by Chiltern.
The only loco hauled services will be Chiltern Class 68 + DVT into Moor Street.

Leave New Street Station by the Stephenson Street entrance and you will find West Midlands Metro trams. A short run to Jewellery Quarter is a cheap fare of £1 each way. Jewellery Quarter as well as being a tram stop is also a station on the Moor Street/Snow Hill line to Stourbridge so you could return to the city centre by train if you wish.

For freight you will need to move out of the city centre and that has mainly fallen below my radar so I can't really advise a good vantage point. For example through my local station the only freight working is the Tesco train to Daventry in the late evening. Kings Norton is a possibility for freight on the Camp Hill line but many of those are shown as 'runs as required'.

 

[The_Train]

As there are 19 pages to the thread I don't know if anyone has given advice on the Birmingham area. For passenger only services you have Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Moor Street. I do not recommend Birmingham Snow Hill as not all Chiltern services run through Snow Hill.

TOCs serving New Street are Virgin, Cross Country, West Midlands Railway, London NorthWestern Railway and the successor to Arriva Trains Wales.
TOCs serving Moor Street are West Midlands Railways and Chiltern Railways. Moor Street station is managed by Chiltern.
The only loco hauled services will be Chiltern Class 68 + DVT into Moor Street.

Leave New Street Station by the Stephenson Street entrance and you will find West Midlands Metro trams. A short run to Jewellery Quarter is a cheap fare of £1 each way. Jewellery Quarter as well as being a tram stop is also a station on the Moor Street/Snow Hill line to Stourbridge so you could return to the city centre by train if you wish.

For freight you will need to move out of the city centre and that has mainly fallen below my radar so I can't really advise a good vantage point. For example through my local station the only freight working is the Tesco train to Daventry in the late evening. Kings Norton is a possibility for freight on the Camp Hill line but many of those are shown as 'runs as required'.

Hi David, welcome to my ramblings. I always appreciate extra information, particularly when it is centred around an area as this helps with my trip planning. However, I have already sampled the rails of Birmingham on a couple of occasions. I first enjoyed travelling around the area using the Daytripper ticket (head to page 14 for my write up on that) before then spending a bit of time in Birmingham on my way to a recent outing to Reading which included a trip out of Moor Street on a class 68 (post #475 onwards on page 16 will take you to that report). Got to say that I think Moor Street is up there as a favourite station of mine, just so lovely and quaint.

With regards to your freight at your local, I would assume the Tesco train also passes you in the morning as well? If it is the same service that runs through my local, between Mossend and Daventry, we see it early in the morning and then late at night

 

[DavidGrain]

With regards to your freight at your local, I would assume the Tesco train also passes you in the morning as well? If it is the same service that runs through my local, between Mossend and Daventry, we see it early in the morning and then late at night

Actually no. This is a one way service. It takes the Camp Hill route on the return. This is because of the need to avoid New Street and the junctions around Birmingham. If you follow it on RTT you will see that it is a rather contorted route

 

[DavidGrain]

Further to my post above, the Tesco train that goes through my local station (Rowley Regis) is from Wentloog in South Wales.

I am lucky with my local station as although it is a suburban station to the west of Birmingham, it has three Chiltern Trains every morning to London which I have used three time in the past two weeks. The only problem is that on weekdays it is also packed with commuters into Birmingham so I cannot get a seat before Snow Hill. My one criticism with the refurbished mark 3 coaches is that some of the seats especially those at the tables do not have sufficient legroom so I have to lift myself over the armrest when I get up.

 

[Skymonster]

is there such a thing as taxi spotting?

I'm not sure but if all else fails you could try Eddie Stobart spotting - that is certainly a recognised practice!

 

[NorthWestRover]

Border Lorry spotting used to be a thing

 

[The_Train]

I'm not sure but if all else fails you could try Eddie Stobart spotting - that is certainly a recognised practice!

Border Lorry spotting used to be a thing

I've seen many a lorry spotter on bridges over the M6. I also very much enjoyed the Stobart fly on the wall series on channel 5. Not sure they interest me enough to 'spot' them though.

Out of interest what is it that bus spotters log? Is it the registration plate or are buses identified via other numbers in the manner that trains are?

 

[Kite159]

I've seen many a lorry spotter on bridges over the M6. I also very much enjoyed the Stobart fly on the wall series on channel 5. Not sure they interest me enough to 'spot' them though.

Out of interest what is it that bus spotters log? Is it the registration plate or are buses identified via other numbers in the manner that trains are?

Buses have fleet numbers on the side which identifies them ie:

Stagecoach Bus 36964 at Sunderland

Sometimes this can be alphanumeric (for example in London, LT426)

(Gives me an excuse to post the Sun bus)

 

[NorthWestRover]

Back when I used to do buses a little, they had numbers just like trains. Warrington Borough Council had a fleet of around 60 buses with some good thrash available on a few! The numbers basically went from 1 to 105 (I think) with some gaps. The numbers sometimes reflected the numbers from the registration plate.

Other companies like Crosville were more complex and used three letters followed by a number. I can't remember much apart from some of the single deckers being SRG or SRL.

I've no idea how the deregulated buses are numbered, if at all.

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Other places not suggested thus far include Cardiff/Bristol I'm sure you could bag quite a few if you could manage a long day with say a minimum of 4-5 hours at each place. One perhaps for next year when the days start to draw out again.

 

[palmersears]

Other places not suggested thus far include Cardiff/Bristol I'm sure you could bag quite a few if you could manage a long day with say a minimum of 4-5 hours at each place. One perhaps for next year when the days start to draw out again.

I've done this on a day from Manchester, starting at Cardiff and then moving across to Bristol for the evening peak. It's probably a bit easier from Stafford but still definitely a full day job. Temple Meads is bloody freezing as well so one best saved for when the spring arrives again.

 

[Kite159]

A good 4-5 hours at Cardiff will certainly put a large dent in your Welsh Pacers, along with other Welsh units (and GWR units). With some freight which might throw up a required 60

 

[The_Train]

That's interesting to know guys. I will do some research into that area as it certainly sounds like a worthwhile outing. I assume Bristol will throw up some of the GWR units that work the South Western area as well?

 

[The_Train]

Also, I've recently arrived at Crewe and yes everyone is right in the sense that it's no longer the mecca it used to be. On my journey from Stafford can you clarify the yards/depots I would have gone past.

Was it Basford Hall first on the left (facing direction of travel)?
Then Arriva Traincare on the right?
Then the South Yard (where the 365s are stabled) on the left?
Then what is the part closest to the south end of the station called? (The part with all of the old coaching stock in the yard)

Thanks

 

[Kite159]

That's interesting to know guys. I will do some research into that area as it certainly sounds like a worthwhile outing. I assume Bristol will throw up some of the GWR units that work the South Western area as well?

The only thing I would be wary of is that the High Speed services do tend to interwork, so a service from Swansea will form a Bristol service at Paddington, so you might get repeating High Speed stuff (800/802/HSTs). It is roughly an half hourly service for GWR units (mix of 150/158/165/166s), but at Bristol you will get some more GWR units floating around.

Have a good trip to Crewe, there be a nearby Tesco Express in a near garage if you need reasonably priced food/drink

 

[palmersears]

Also, I've recently arrived at Crewe and yes everyone is right in the sense that it's no longer the mecca it used to be. One my journey from Stafford can you clarify the yards/depots I would have gone past.

Was it Basford Hall first on the left (facing direction of travel)?
Then Arriva Traincare on the right?
Then the South Yard (where the 365s are stabled) on the left?
Then what is the part closest to the south end of the station called? (The part with all of the old coaching stock in the yard)

Thanks

Yes
Yes
Yes
Crewe Holding Sidings

I think Crewe will probably give you all she's got within an hour or two if you don't need much Virgin stuff. Depending upon your ticket type (ie whether you'll get back in again) you could always head to the 'Horse Landing' (turn left out of the station, over the bridge and then left again down towards the Diesel Depot) as this will give you a view of any freight using the avoiders.

EDIT 2: There's a funky looking GBRF light loco heading through as I type, 57303 is due through around 1510 (assuming it doesn't take the avoiders), and a couple of potentially interesting workings later on, but it's pretty sparse these days.

 

[The_Train]

Yes
Yes
Yes
Crewe Holding Sidings

Ahhhh so that is what Crewe H.S. is. Thanks very much mate

 

[Kite159]

Yes
Yes
Yes
Crewe Holding Sidings

I think Crewe will probably give you all she's got within an hour or two if you don't need much Virgin stuff. Depending upon your ticket type (ie whether you'll get back in again) you could always head to the 'Horse Landing' (turn left out of the station, over the bridge and then left again down towards the Diesel Depot) as this will give you a view of any freight using the avoiders.

EDIT 2: There's a funky looking GBRF light loco heading through as I type, 57303 is due through around 1510 (assuming it doesn't take the avoiders), and a couple of potentially interesting workings later on, but it's pretty sparse these days.

Other than the units on West Wales - Manchester services, plus all the 350s on Crewe - Euston services.