So I typed up three reports yesterday, clicked "post" and then I had a log in error which lost everything I typed - grrrr
So we'll just have to try again, one at a time. This is the second time this has happened to me so please accept my apologies for the rushed nature of the reports, and lack of detail in places.
Here goes the first one... again!
4 June 2015: Northern Ranger No 5
It's yet another Northern Day ranger for me. I don't really have plans today, other than that I want to be home at a reasonable time later on. So to make the most of the day I set off on the first train I can from Crewe. And it's a winner:
323230 - I'm slowly managing to get through Northern's 323s on mandatory moves. Only 7 left now!
I get off at Stockport and decide to board the next train heading towards Buxton.
150135 and
156424 pull in bound for Hazel Grove - that'll do so I board and stay all the way to
Hazel Grove. I notice that the wires extend down here, so I wonder why they don't use the electrics down here? Anyway, on the platform waiting the the next service to take me down the line I consult the timetable and notice there's a potential shack scratch opportunity to be had if I can walk briskly enough. I decide to go for it, making my way through the nearby hospital grounds and walking onto the platform at
Woodsmoor, just in time for
150142,
156486 and
150115 to pull in. Three DMUs seems like a bit of overkill, but they're all winners so I'll take it!
I stay on as far as new shack
Whaley Bridge, where there's a short fester. I really don't mind as the the weather is good today and is helping to show off the marvelous peak district scenery. I make a mental note to come back here for a walking session in the not-to-distant future. The next move consists of
156488 and
150146 as far as
New Mills Newtown.
I now have a walk on my hands. I've driven through New Mills a couple of times, but never stopped to take time to walk around. I still don't have that much time today, but at least the walk allows me to take more in. It looks like a nice place and I'm particularly intrigued by the millennium walkway hanging over the gorge - another mental note is made to come back and visit!
At
New Mills Central I catch
150141 to Sheffield. The 150 is a nice surprise and provides a relatively luxurious journey compared to the usual 142s that work this route. During the journey to Sheffield I start to think about where I should go next - Doncaster seems like a rather big omission from my Northern coverage map so a decision is made to head that way.
At Sheffield I board
144006 for the short journey to Meadowhall. There's a bit of time before the next Northern train to Doncaster so I make my way to the shopping centre where a Greggs sandwich and Belgian bun are procured for lunch. Back at the station it's then onto 158851 (the palindrome unit) to
Doncaster - we avoid taking the line through Rotherham so I'll have to come back another day for this. At Doncaster I have just enough time to make it under the tracks to board
322481 to Leeds.
At Leeds I spend sometime decideing what to do next, but realise I should probably start heading back to avoid being back too late. I take the next available train to Sheffield: dud 144016. It's a long journey for a pacer, but it's going via Castleford which means a bit of new track for me, so every silver cloud and all that! At Sheffield I have to make my way all the way down the platform to catch the train back to Manchester. This is a very packed
142053.
As we leave Sheffield, however, we're immediately brought to a stop at the first signal and are stuck waiting for First Transpennine Express train to pass us. We get moving again after a five minute wait, but the going is very slow and we continue to lose time. We also spend a lot of time at each station, picking up plenty of walkers who've been making the most of the fine weather. It's good to see all of these people using the train but it's very cramped and as we get closer to Manchester we have to start turning people away.
If I want make the 18:30 bus home I need to be on the 17:38 from Piccadilly. If I miss it it's a two hour wait for the next bus. If everything went to plan this should be a nice and easy 11 minute connection. The late and slow running however meant we arrived at 17:37 and 15 seconds, giving me 45 seconds to make the connection. Unbelievably I make it!
Thanks to a bit of luck with the platform allocations and some running through the crowds! Dud 323232 is on duty for the run home back to Crewe.
Another good day, helped by the lovely weather. Although in hindsight if I engaged in a bit of planning before I set of I could have achieved much more. Anyway, I've started to notice a worrying trend in that all of my trips are starting to get quite frantic towards the end!
Total mileage: 234m12ch
Total winners for haulage: 12
Total new shacks: 6
Total cost: £12.50
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Again, apologies for skirting around some of the finer details!
8 June 2015: Northern Day Ranger No 6
Thanks to a very generous person I've had some more Northern tokens donated to me. I decide to use today's day ranger as a cheap way to get from the Yorkshire base to the Crewe, although being a Northern Day Ranger it will allow me to get a fair bit of track bashing in at the same time
I start today at the Yorkshire base, Hellifield, and it's
142091 all the way to Leeds. It's a 142 (which is rare on this route) but a very cheery guard has me in good spirits. At Leeds there's just enough time to pick up a morning coffee, before boarding
158752 which will be taking me to York.
It's then onto 142087. It maybe a dud but it'll be covering new track for me so worth it all the same. We set off down the east coast mainline, diverting at the Hambleton North Junction, so I'll have to come back for the route via Sherburn another day. I stay on as far as
Brough, and make a quick dash across the bridge to pick up another dud, 158796, which arrives moments later. This will allow me to add the line to Doncaster in the map.
I stay on past Doncaster and alight at Meadowhall. Having scouted the location a few days earlier I head back to the Greggs in the shopping centre to pick up lunch provisions, before hading back to the station. If you read the previous trip report you'll have realised I missed the line via Rotherham last time.
142089 allowed me to correct this oversight. The train was bound for Leeds and I stayed on as far as
Fitzwilliam, thus adding more track to coverage map.
Across to the other platform I saw 142091 approaching (the same unit I started with this morning), but in the intervening period
144010 had been attached to the back. For a bit of variety (and the fact the 144s have comfier seats) I made my way to the rear unit. We back-tracked our way back towards Sheffield, but this time I alighted at
Swinton. A dash across the bridge here allowed be to board a late running
142024 to
Moorthorpe (one of those occasions where you're happy the train is delayed as I wouldn't have been able to do this otherwise!).
The plan now was to take the line to York via Pontefract Baghill (more new track), but there was a 15 minute wait so I explored Moorthorpe station a little bit. It seems to have undergone a restoration recently and looks pretty good. I popped into the station cafe (which doubles as a sort of community centre) to grab a cup of takeaway coffee before
144002 showed up to take me towards York.
On the way I had a look at my West Yorkshire timetable booklet (very useful indeed!) and identified a shack scratch opportunity, so I bailed at
Church Fenton. As unstaffed stations go this is quite large with four long platforms. I didn't have to wait long before
158793 showed up to take me to York. The next objective was to get the line to Leeds via Harrogate which I still hadn't done, so I boarded dud 150268 which would be taking me all the way.
At Leeds it was time to start thinking about heading towards Manchester and Crewe, but a consultation with the timetable highlighted a couple of shack attack opportunities along the way. I boarded
144014 to
Halifax. I was feeling peckish, so the 15 minute fester here provided just enough time to find a Tescos in the town and grab a sandwich. Back at the station I then boarded
153358 and
155347 to
Todmorden where a couple of minutes afterwards dud 150141 turned up to take me the rest of the way to Manchester Victoria. The usual walk is had across the city centre to take me to Piccadilly, where I find 323231 ready and waiting to take me back to Crewe.
So, lots of mileage and new coverage today. This includes the Dearne Valley line which only sees a limited service, so I'm happy to have that under the belt. On the down side you may have noticed it was quite pacer heavy today - I don't mind them as such but I wish the seating was more comfortable!!
Total mileage: 341m69ch
Total winners for haulage: 10
Total new shacks: 7
Total cost: £17.50
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11 June 2015: A trip to Nottingham
Today I had to head for Nottingham for a work meeting. Work had purchased the ticket for me. It was an anytime return so while I was limited to my route I did have the flexibility to break my journey at various points along the way.
I was unable to get to Crewe early enough so pikced up the first train from Stoke-on-Trent instead. Yet more luck is had with the LM 350s as it's winners
350101 and
350119 to Tamworth. A dash up to the high level platforms meant I was able to pick up
170519 as far as
Burton-on-Trent.
There was a ten minute wait here for the next train, so I decideed to explore the immediate local area in search of caffine - this was unsuccessful! My caffine needs would have to wait for a little bit. Back at the station I boarded
221139 to Derby. At least here I knew there would be a trusty Costa coffee!
Coffee procured I then boarded
156415 towards Nottingham. My meeting location was actually halfwayu between Beeston and Nottingham stations, so I decided to alight at
Beeston now, and would leave from Notttingham on the way home.
Getting to Nottingham station after my meeting, however, was a bit of a faff. To begin with two bus drivers refused to accept my Nottingham Plusbus tickets (despite the buses having stickers on which said "Plusbus accepted"!). When the third bus let me on we then spent half an hour stuck in traffic. I'm sure I could have just walked it quicker... oh well.
At
Nottingham station I boarded
158777 to
Attenborough. I had a 30 minute wait here so went for a bit of an explore. After a few minutes walk I managed to find a few shops so procured provisions for the journey home (sandwich, crisps and a beer). Back at Attenborough station it was
153326 coupled to dud 153311 to
Spondon, and I then only had a short wait for
170101 to Derby.
I now had a choice to make. I could either take the direct train via Uttoxeter or I could travel back the same way I came, via Tamworth. A quick look at the departures board showed the direct Crewe train would be running late so I headed for Tamworth instead, with
170523 and
170112 taking me there. At Tamworth is was
350116 and
350125 back to Crewe.
So a short A to B trip there, but was able to score a respectable amount of winners and some new shacks along the way!
Total mileage: 170m55ch
Total winners for haulage: 12
Total new shacks: 5
Total cost: £23.20 (although work bought the ticket so it cost me £0.00!)
