c2c's last blue train

[ainsworth74]

Thought this might be of interest to some people on here:

Final Day of the c2c Blue Livery

The train will depart from London Fenchurch Street Saturday 5 March at 09:00, arriving back at 19:00. The charter train will travel over the entire c2c network, lineside depots, sidings and routes rarely used including:

* Bow Junction - gas factory
* Depot run past Ilford
* Liverpool Street station
* East Ham depot
* Carriage sidings at Shoeburyness
* Laindon, platform 2
* Leigh-on-Sea, platform 2

To register please provide your contact details and we will telephone you to arrange payment.

The fare for the day is £20 and is non refundable, there are no child fares or further reductions or discounts available.

A special commemorative ticket will be issued for you to collect on the day of travel from the ticket office at Fenchurch Street.

There are no onboard refreshments but a lunchtime break is planned at Southend Central.

Only 282 tickets are available for the day through online registration so to avoid disappointment register now by entering your details below.

Prior to the day of travel we will choose one lucky winner from the free prize draw which you will automatically be entered into once you have registered to win a free cab ride over part of the route on the day itself.

Source

 

[Fred26]

Great. I'm not much one for liveries, but I have a soft spot for all of c2c. I'll miss the purple/mauve/blue, but the white is nice and crisp.

Bow Junction/Gas Factory; is that the line the District Line uses as it splits from the LTS, towards London, or is it the single line stretch which runs from the down LTS to the up GE line?

 

[lm321412]

Think I might be up for it

 

[anthony263]

already making plans for this, see how much megabus is from cardiff

 

[TomJ93]

See you there folks!

 

[W-on-Sea]

Great. I'm not much one for liveries, but I have a soft spot for all of c2c. I'll miss the purple/mauve/blue, but the white is nice and crisp.

Bow Junction/Gas Factory; is that the line the District Line uses as it splits from the LTS, towards London, or is it the single line stretch which runs from the down LTS to the up GE line?

The latter, i.e. single line stretch that connects Limehouse to Stratford.

 

[Oracle]

Bow Junctiion - Gas Factory Junction is the single line that is adjacent to the DLR line.

 

[ainsworth74]

Whilst I have no interest in this (I'm quite along way away from c2c land ) it's nice to see a TOC realise that there might be people out there interested in this event and therefore marking it in some way. It will be interesting to see what the loading is like.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Looks good, especiallty Leigh p2!

Gas Factory Jn-Bow Jn is the link between Fenchrch Street and Stratford 9Domestic), last used by passenger trains pre-WW2 I think, Bow Rd station was situated on the link. i think it can be used for diversions, and for railtours etc to get to the LTS! The line also has the DLR running alongside, and at Stratford, the old trains ran into the now none-exiastant platforms 4 and 7 - both London end bays, though 4 was briefly used by the DLR before it moved to its new terminus.

 

[MCR247]

It is a hell of a long time to spend on a 3+2 train hock:

 

[Royston Vasey]

It is a hell of a long time to spend on a 3+2 train hock:

And as far as ends of eras go, it's about as pointless and underwhelming as you can get!

 

[W-on-Sea]

The last time there was an (emergency, unscheduled) service over that stretch of line was for a couple of days a couple of summers ago, when an unexploded WWII bomb was found near the track by Bromley-by-Bow. meaning that the line between Bow and Barking (and the adjacent District line) couldn't be used. IIRC a reduced "main line" service was diverted to Liverpool Street, while selected trains on the Tilbury line ran Fenchurch St-Stratford-Forest Gate-Barking.

And, yeah, it is kind of an underwhelming "end of an era", to say the least....

I'd kind of like to travel over that stretch...but frankly spending a day going back and forth over the c2c network, with which I am already very familiar (and Leigh platform 2 is no stranger to me), in a type of train that serves a role a a commuter train very well, but which isn't really cut out for such extended periods of travel...really doesn't appeal in the slightest!

 

[NXEA!]

Looks good, especiallty Leigh p2!

Gas Factory Jn-Bow Jn is the link between Fenchrch Street and Stratford 9Domestic), last used by passenger trains pre-WW2 I think, Bow Rd station was situated on the link. i think it can be used for diversions, and for railtours etc to get to the LTS! The line also has the DLR running alongside, and at Stratford, the old trains ran into the now none-exiastant platforms 4 and 7 - both London end bays, though 4 was briefly used by the DLR before it moved to its new terminus.

I've used that link three times if I remember correctly, on one occasion there was a bomb alert at West Ham, and it was announced at Limehouse. We came to a stop at the junction, and waited around 10 seconds before the driver set off again and told us we would be diverted via Woodgrange Park, its got to have been one of the quickest informed diversions in relation to how recently the information regarding the disruption was passed on to the passengers.

 

[Jordy]

I'd like to do this - the track looks good...however I don't think I can cope with 10 hours on a 357, particularly one that could potentially be full (they are advertising the same number of tickets as there are seats on a 4 car 357!)

 

[Tottenham Flyer]

Does anyone know which 357 it's going to be? I'm only missing 4 of them then I've ridden on them all, and one of my missing 4 is blue; 046.

 

[jopsuk]

Fair play to them for managing to spin an event out of a non-event, especially if they sell out!

 

[raul]

Does anyone know which 357 it's going to be? I'm only missing 4 of them then I've ridden on them all, and one of my missing 4 is blue; 046.

357028 and or 357228 are ones i have seen recently

 

[scotsman]

Not bad at all for £20!

 

[anthony263]

Not bad at all for £20!

I agree £20 for such a tour is a bargain

 

[43167]

Something like this will appeal to track bashers. Fair play to C2C for doing it.

 

[jon0844]

Yes, it would seem like a good day out even if the train isn't exactly special (or even being scrapped or anything!).

Other TOCs could take note, as such specials can probably do well just for the off-route bits, and the souvenir ticket (either for eBay or for holding on to!).

 

[37092]

I have now paid for this - may be 2 units (one Blue and one some other colour?) as it is sold out but as I was number 17 on the list to book I will be in the Blue unit!

 

[anthony263]

I applied but i havent had any phone call from C2C for payment etc

 

[Tottenham Flyer]

I have now paid for this - may be 2 units (one Blue and one some other colour?) as it is sold out but as I was number 17 on the list to book I will be in the Blue unit!

I've now paid too. They called today. I'm apparently number 10 on the list so I'm in the blue unit too!

The lady didn't know which unit it would be, but this can be easily narrowed now to a few. She did say, that it would be a 12 car train. One blue, the green one and a white one would be nice!

 

[francisoldfield]

Ive applied for tickets for this. I believe the blue train has sold out. There website says a white one will be coupled to it.

Im not a track basher but a day out on the train for £20? Better than a slap in the face

(Plus as a conductor I'm on 377's all day anyway) Looking forward to it!!

 

[Ivo]

I would be up for this, especially when one considers that I am due to return home that very weekend...

...but there are three problems.

(1) It's a 357. For hours on end. In territory I know all too well. Yawn.
(2) I would have to go all the way to Fenchurch Street to travel on it, and all the way back again to go home.
(3) A certain video game is being released the day before, which is the exact reason I am going home. My brother and I intend to play it all weekend...

P.S.: The white livery is dull. At least the "blue" (surely purple?) looked interesting. I will concede that the white is tidy, though.

P.P.S.: I do however love the livery on 357010. It's rare for me to like green liveries, but it is an exception!

P.P.P.S.: I would however like to do the Bow Triangle section. I can't imagine me doing it any time soon.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Actually, scratch that; I've got an idea. I will endeavour to get to Thorpe Bay (or failing that, one of the three bridges between it and Shoeburyness) in order to get some photos of the train; if there is to be a break in service at Southend Central, as noted before, it may be a better option. Nonetheless, I intend to extend my blue/purple 357 collection beyond the, er, 1 it is at present before it is too late. I just wish I'd known about the 312 withdrawal eight years ago :cry:

Assuming that 010 is in use on the service, seeing white, green and blue/purple would be quite odd! Some picture that would be

Anyhow, can anyone provide some estimates for the timings at TPB/SRY please? TIA

 

[387star]

The white livery won't even last that long unless they intend to make it a neutral livery zone

 

[ChrisCooper]

Sounds good, other than being a 357. Some years back they did something similar for the final 312 run, which included Gas Factory Jn-Bow Jn. I don't know if that was restricted numbers, but tickets could be bought on the day and it was comfortably busy for a suburban unit. I know other tours I've done with 3+2 seated units they have only had 2 to a 3 seat, but all of those were older trains with bench seats (101, 205, 312, VEP) so it was possible to spread out nicely. Still, whilst hours on the above were very nice (in fact more pleasent that similar lengths of time on modern trains), a 357 is another thing. The 312 farewell tour for example had comfortable wide seats, opening windows and as an added bonus for those who got in the end coaches, a view of the line ahead/behind. No such luxuries with a 357. Also, the 312 tour appealed to the unit bashers and the track bashers. Very few are going to be bothered about a livery. Now if it was the 357s that were going, that would have more appeal.

 

[scotsman]

Are all 357s 3+2?

 

[transportphoto]

AFAIAA - Yes.