backontrack
Established Member
Sounds like you had a good trip! Mmm...white chocolate & raspberry tiffin...
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Techniquest
Veteran Member
What in non-posh is a tiffin?!
68014 the best Cat? Clearly you've not had 003, 005 or 006
68014 the best Cat? Clearly you've not had 003, 005 or 006
Kite159
Veteran Member
What in non-posh is a tiffin?!
68014 the best Cat? Clearly you've not had 003, 005 or 006
Agreed, 68003 through the tunnels between Edinburgh Waverley & Haymarket is a lovely noise
But then so is 67007 at queen street low level
Backontrack - It was a great day out. And I fully agree with you concerning Raspberry and white chocolate tiffin!
Tech - Tiffin is a cake/biscuit sort of thing. Google 'White chocolate and raspberry tiffin' and look in images. Very tasty stuff! No, I haven't had 68003/005/006. But still, they'd never beat 014, not in 1,000,000 years! Clearly you haven't had 68014 out of Marylebone through the tunnels. And that's with plug doors!
Kite - I can well imagine that the cats make some brilliant noise when leaving Waverley! But they can't beat 68014 leaving Marylebone (or indeed, any other station!)
Tech - Tiffin is a cake/biscuit sort of thing. Google 'White chocolate and raspberry tiffin' and look in images. Very tasty stuff! No, I haven't had 68003/005/006. But still, they'd never beat 014, not in 1,000,000 years! Clearly you haven't had 68014 out of Marylebone through the tunnels. And that's with plug doors!
Kite - I can well imagine that the cats make some brilliant noise when leaving Waverley! But they can't beat 68014 leaving Marylebone (or indeed, any other station!)
backontrack
Established Member
What in non-posh is a tiffin?!
68014 the best Cat? Clearly you've not had 003, 005 or 006
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=w...x9TKAhWH7BQKHe5IAAEQ_AUIBygB&biw=1440&bih=688
Prepare to drool...
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I'd prefer caramel shortcake to that tiffin nonsense!
3, and 6 through the tunnel at Norths Queensferry is better 10 through Marylebone tunnels was good mind!
3, and 6 through the tunnel at Norths Queensferry is better
10 through Marylebone tunnels was good mind!
backontrack
Established Member
Seeing as you specifically specify a 'non-posh' description in your request...
...Tiffin is a form of cake-like confection composed of crushed biscuits (most commonly digestive biscuits), which provide a starch base to the tiffin, sugar and syrup, which sweeten the tiffin and help provide it with the consistency desired by the manufacturer, raisins, which are AAAAWWWEEE-SOOOOME and cocoa powder, which is most ambrosial and nectareous indeed (it is generally described as such universally, as any questions to this will always be unreservedly, unconditionally and totes in the affirmative). This confection is often covered with a layer of melted chocolate. Unlike more mainstream confection, Tiffin does not require baking. Instead, following preparation of the mixture, the confection is chilled until set. As a consequence the product may also be known as 'fridge cake' or another similar term. It was invented in the early 18th-century in Troon, Scotland.
Happy now?
backontrack
Established Member
Then it's this link that you need to drool on: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=w...19TKAhVBvhQKHTjFCcQQ_AUIBygB&biw=1440&bih=688
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Meh, you're welcome to that nonsense!
backontrack
Established Member
Says the guy who says 'froth' in every sentence. :P
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I'm not quite that bad!
Says the guy who shut down his own thread because he felt he spent too much time on here
Says the guy who shut down his own thread because he felt he spent too much time on here
47403
Established Member
Obi Wan the Geordie
Very good indeed.
Very good indeed.
backontrack
Established Member
Obi Wan the Geordie
Very good indeed.
Thanks!
I don't know what we'd call Tech, though...
I'm not quite that bad!
Says the guy who shut down his own thread because he felt he spent too much time on here
Says the guy who doesn't like Mornington Crescent!
HMS Ark Royal
Established Member
Thanks!
I don't know what we'd call Tech, though...
I have a fair few ideas, but you can't know them until you are older
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Thanks!
I don't know what we'd call Tech, though...
Says the guy who doesn't like Mornington Crescent!
You could always just call me Tech...
Aye Mornington Crescent gets on my nerves! Quite, I need to see if that's still a required shack...
After an eternity, here is the next one!
End of an era...
Barnetby has always been a special place for dad and I, me having loads of great memories of spending the day there and watching the semaphores and freights. Dad has been here for much, much longer than me and remembers things that aren't GM rubbish and donuts. So, with the semaphores going, we had to make sure that we got up there before they were gone. We needed a weekday and it had to be in half term so Nathan could also come so the date we chose was Friday the 30th of October, staying overnight somewhere on the 29th. Loads of premier inns in the area were looked at and we eventually decided on one near Donny (but on the right side for Barnetby), letting dad book it.
Finally, after a week of work (except the Monday, which was my WMDT), Thursday came. I had put a request on the forum for what was working the Highland Chieftain and the two tram sets that would overnight in Aberdeen to have some idea what would be coming south on what and immediately after getting the gen back from Minilad, I called dad. Why? 1S16 (Chieftain) was 43257/274, 274 being one of my last six VTEC trams, 1S20 (14:00 Angry ruler-Aberdeen) being 43251/311, 311 being one of dad's last three VTEC trams and 1S24 (16:00 Angry ruler-Aberdeen) being 43302/367, both being required for me an 367 being required for dad. Now, the question is, North East Round Robin or Barnetby.
Thursday evening came and, with everything packed, we headed out of the door for about 18:00. Nathan was picked up en route and shortly we were racing down the A roads towards the M1. But about half an hour in the journey we hit a slight problem. The M69 was stationary. This is a motorway, which I've never really seen a queue on but this one was huge! We wanted to get to Barnetby in good time to see quite a few freights but if the M69 is like this then what will the M1 be like? We had only reached Hinckley but it seemed that we'd never get to Barnetby. 45 minutes to travel about a mile is fairly good on a lot of motorways, such as the M1 or M25 but on this motorway it's terrible and after ages of waiting, we got onto the M1...
...To find it clear! The M1 was flowing perfectly and wasn't to busy at all! Because of this we had a quick run before reaching the stupid road works and trundling along at 50 for a long way. We passed the hotel that we'd be staying the night at just after Donny and continued along the road, eventually reaching Barnetby about half an hour later than planned. Six freight trains were seen in about half an hour, two of which had donuts on (colas 60021 and DB 60020). Then, a check of RTT was made and we found out that there wasn't anything else due in an hour! Dad didn't seem to be annoyed at this for some reason and said that during the time we could go for a drive and find somewhere to go to the toilet and get something to eat. So we all piled back into the tin rocket and headed off through Barnetby. For a few moments before parking in a little car park thing in front of a house. I immediately knew what was going on (after being told) but I had a much better grasp on it than Nathan, who thought that we were just going to the toilet at the Barnetby B&B. Dad had booked here instead of the premier inn at Donny because it was less than a 5 minute walk from the station, straight down the road. After checking in, we headed to the family room that was booked and got out a very useful thing that I'd remembered to pack. The timetable that I had on my North East Rover, showing every VTEC service and had what should be trams marked in (I did that in pen while on the North East Rover). That, paired with dad's work phone, which had RTT up, made us decide what to do the next day. My first North East Round Robin.
A plan for the first few moves was made before we headed back out of the B&B, stopping at the One-stop that was about half way down the road for a supply raid (thanks for this one Tech!). We got a couple of saussie rolls and a pasty to share along with some drinks and a few minutes later, we were going back to the station in order to see the next few trains. All were duds but I didn't mind at all, especially when the best donut (60011) came around the bend from Lincoln and started thrashing like mad to climb the hill after the really slow cross over at Wrawby Junction. This was followed with 66093 and eventually 60015. It was now about 00:20 so we decided to retire to the hotel room now, knowing that we had a great evening at Barnetby, seeing 11 locos, 4 of which were donuts. But before I finish for the day, I should note one more thing. Well two. The first is that the B&B doesn't do brekky at 05:40 and the second is that 43315 was finishing up at Edinburgh tonight, meaning that it could be coming south on any one of three turns. 315 is required for me and dad so if we could get that one too then that'd be brill.
I was woken by dad's alarm at 05:30 and after getting dressed and ready, the others were still in bed. It was now about 05:45 so both Dad and Nathan had lost there chance of a shower (I wouldn't want one anyway) as I got them both up and by 06:00, we were leaving a very silent B&B. What's with the stupidly early rise? The plan was to take the Hull executive from Brough to Donny in order to fall into stuff from there. A drive to Donny or York didn't seem fun at all and with the Hull Executive being the EMT set, which currently has a winner on for me, we decided to go for that. Not knowing how far it will be to get to Brough from Barnetby or anything, we decided to leave an hour and a quarter just to be on the safe side and after a nice car ride, crossing the Humber Bridge, we got to Brough at 06:15, an hour before the tram was due out. Oh well, better to be safe than sorry (I say this just because the alternative would be something like 'why the hell am I at Brough an hour before my train?! I could still be in bed!'). It was raining which is hopefully not a sign of the weather for the day (although it was meant to rain according to the weather) but, getting wet in the process, we bought a car parking ticket and headed over to get one adult, two child return to Doncaster with a Fam and Friends railcard. It was really expensive for the journey (about £20) but without it we wouldn't be going anywhere today! Then, we headed back to the car so we could stay warm while watching the Northern carts and the first London service leave. Then it was time to go onto the platform and get dad a coffee before the train. Thousands and thousands of birds were seen flying over us (no exaggeration) in the sky that was slowly getting brighter and they hadn't stopped by the time dad had his coffee and dud 43083 arrived leading 1A12 to Kings Cross. After checking at Donny, it was winner 43064 on the back so I'd already got my first winner while dad and Nathan were still at zero. I didn't mention this (thousands of times. Only hundreds.) but after getting to Doncaster, I didn't have too long to get tickets. We were close to the front of the train so they sent me ahead to get the frogg to York (I'd foolishly agreed to this) but caught up with me standing next to 43064 and watching it leave. I now really did have to get a move on so a quick trip to the TVM got all of our tickets, discounted with the Fam and friends. But if this were the discounted price, then I'd hate to see the regular! It was just over £20 for all of us to get to York and back! What a rip off! I didn't let it get to me and we all went up the stairs onto the platform for the 08:11 to Waverley. 67012, dad's misconception of the best shovel (logic says that it's 67014. Definitely.) was the thunderbird so we wandered over to take a look at that before getting in position for the milkfloat. I had my fingers crossed that it'd be a winner for all three of us but the moment I saw the livery on it, I knew that I'd been shot down with the first milkfloat of the day. Hello again 91110. This was a winner for Nathan (as long as it wasn't 91131 then he'd have got a winner) and it really surprised me to see that 'Battle of Britain memorial flight' was also a winner for dad! He needs less milkfloats than me (by quite a considerable amount) so I can't believe that he got one and I didn't! Now we were all even with one winner (silent rage. I can't say that I'm the highest now!) Dad and I got a bay of 2 and sat next to each other, Nathan occupying the seat in front of us and after a couple of moments festering, 110 began pulling us north, and into the action.
Since dad had got the Brough to Donny tickets and me the Donny to York tickets then surely Nathan should get the Round Robins right (no left)? Apparently not! Dad was the one that got those after we got off at York and watched her leave. Nathan also got a phot of the nameplate, which, I have to admit, is pretty damn good. Then it was across to the booking office, getting the round robins with a railcard discount (£33 for dad, £9 each for Nat and I). It was up to Nathan to get brekky. None of us were too hungry at the moment though so it was just drinks that were needed. Costa calling! I don't think I need to say the drink that I got...
43316 and 43318 were on the 08:31 to Kings Cross vice 91, which surprised me but I made sure that I was at the back of the train on our next move to view the 08:55 to Kings Cross, the first of the trams out of Craigentinny in the morning. I was really hoping that this one would have a winner for all of us (all of us being me, me and me. OK, that's a lie. I did mean all of us) on but got well and truly spat on when 91131 rolled in. Nathan did too, this being the only milkfloat that he'd had prior to today but dad had actually got his second winner of the day! He needs less milkfloats than me too! I made sure to keep my eyes on the window to see what powercars were on the 08:55 but it rolled in with a milkfloat. Probably a set swap so the trams are on the 91 diagram and the 91 on the tram diagram. I headed forward a lot and was surprised to see that most of the carriages were almost empty! A bay of four was easily sourced and we all got decent seats for the run that I did the most on my North East Rover, to Darlington! This would put us onto 1E05 back to York, the second turn that we wanted to cover for 315. Darlington was reached on time and after changing platforms, we saw that the 09:28 was currently expected at 09:30. Two minutes late? That's nothing I hear you say. Our plan had us making a really tight connection at York after this one, getting either a winner for me or a pair of winners for Nathan. If it was the pair of winners for Nat, I wouldn't be getting a winner out of it but if it had the winner on for me then Nathan would be getting just one winner too. That's why pulling off this +3 was very important.
At 09:30 a red tram poked it's front around the corner and came into the platform. After an outburst from dad of 'You beauty', we got on board dud 43309 leading winner 43315. Dad's down to two and I'm down to five. More winners now please! Since it was this set taking us back, I was the one with the lowest amount of winners at two, with Nathan and dad both tying in top with three. How did Nathan just go from one to three? Well, the lucky little devil just got a double winner set! Although who am I to complain about getting a winner powercar? Dad certainly wasn't! Departure was at 31 minutes past, 3 minutes late so none of us were very hopeful about the connection making. Dad checked his phone and saw that our connection was running bang on time, which wasn't good news for us as 315 and 309 were currently running about four down, giving us a +1 at York. We were all in the vestibule ready as the tram stopped in platform 5...
...To see our connection in platform 3. It was 09:57 right now but, with it about to turn to 58, the departure time of the connection, we all absolutely sprinted, flying over the footbridge and onto the first available coach, me wedging the door open with my foot so Nathan and dad didn't miss double duds (double winners for Nathan and both winners for the centaury for dad) 43423 and 43465, still together after all that time. All what time? This is the pair of GC trams that I got most on my North East Rover by far and they're still together since then!
Ready to cross over by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Nat was very happy to get these, meaning that we both need two GC powercars, him needing 43467 and 43480, me needing 43468 and 43484. I wonder who'll get their last one first. Dad needs one Grand Central powercar for haulage, that being 43468, but he was happy with the ones that we got because the other set would have been one winner, one dud for the centaury for him. This one had two winners for the centaury so he was happy. This was dad's first time travelling on a GC HST (he'd had all but 43468 pre GC) and I think he quite liked the interior of it but not the exterior (who can blame him!). We got a bay of four easily and enjoyed the race to Northallerton, getting dad's first time actually stopping at Thirsk in the process. At Northallerton, just like on my North East Rover, there was a 30-minute fester for the next northbound loco hauled service but it seems that with company, the wait passes much quicker. A couple of tram sets raced through heading south while we were there and at the time that it was meant to leave, the Milkfloat still hadn't arrived. Then, about 5 down, my first winner 91 of the day came in, with 91106 providing the honors. This was also a winner for Nathan but was dad's first dud one of the day. Because of this, the winner count was like this.
Me - 3
Nathan - 6
Dad - 3
Nat and I got a bay of two on the right hand side in the front coach, which also happened to be the quiet coach. I have a theory as to why it is here and not further down the train. Being at the country end while at Kings Cross means that the normals just cram onto the first standard class coach that they come to and don't reach the quiet coach up front. Because of this, there is a lack of screaming children, annoying phone conversations and other irritating noises after leaving the Cross. Since it was the quiet coach, dad didn't join us straight away and instead headed to the vestibule to call mum to say hi. That went on for a few minutes but he was in the bay of two next to us (and next to a normal) before Darlo. And after Darlo. The plan had us taking 106 all the way to Newkey' to fall into the first ex Aberdeen back to York. This is where I had a problem. Dad and Nathan were completely safe, having a double winner on one for Nathan and one winner on the other set that ended up at Aberdeen and Dad having a winner on each but I had a double winner on one...
... And a double dud on the other. Why is this annoying? After all, I should get both sets shouldn't I? Well, yes but I also had one of my winners coming south on the Highland Chieftain, which is in the hour between the two ex Aberdeen trams. This is a problem because I couldn't get down to York on the 1st set and back up to Darlo in time for the Chieftain. And even if by some miracle I made the connection at York off the 1st ex Aberdeen and fell into the Chieftain at Darlo, then I'd have to pull off another ridiculously stupid connection at York (a -2) in order to get the set up to Darlo to connect with the 2nd ex Aberdeen. Are you following? It would be tempting to bale at Darlo and fester for an hour until the southbound chieftain appears if the 1st one out of Aberdeen is my double winner so I won't be missing out on the 2nd Aberdeen. Tempting, yes. But I am with dad and Nathan today. Both of them were OK with it though so I was really tempted if the first set was 367 and 302.
Arrival at Newkey' was 10 down, meaning that we only had a +7 onto the Midday back south. Probably not enough time to visit my favorite Geordie chippy
Or so I thought. One look at the departure board showed the 12:00 to London Kings Cross as expected at 12:07. Ample time! I tried my ticket in the barriers and, to my surprise (not) it didn't work. Then dad tried his, before involving the barrier staff to let us through. And his ticket worked the damn things! What do the stupid barriers have against child tickets?! Anyway, it was a really short walk and, with me knowing the way, I led and we walked in. I got a small doner, no chips and Nathan a fish and chips and after seeing my portion, dad got a large doner and chips...
... Thinking that I'd got a large doner meat. He got a huge portion and I couldn't help but laugh at him on the walk back. Still, it means that I get more kebab because there's no way that dad will be able to finish all of that! We got back to the station just after midday and made our way over to the platform that the late Kings Cross service was due from. It was now expected at 12:10 so we got a seat (that's an obvious lie. It's a train station. There's no such thing as seats) and began eating lunch. The doner meat was up to it's usual excellent standards and dad really liked it too. I finished mine and got some chips and a little bit of pitta from dad's, not to mention a bit more meat. Excellent swap me thinks! Nothing for a bit more food! The 'expected' board for the tram kept on getting later and later until 12:21, when double duds 43311 and 43251 (double winners for Nat, 311 a winner for dad) rolled in, leaving at 12:23. This meant that I was definitely going to York and staying with Nathan and Dad. The only notable thing on the journey down was the fact that the guard announced the times that the train would actually arrive at the stations and not the booked times, which would be wrong in this case (unless the tram makes up 23 minutes between Newcastle and Darlington). It was a nice scream down the ECML to York, arriving just under 20 down, giving us about 40 minutes until our next service. 150204 was very strangely on the service to Blackpool North and was right next to us as we left the train. Purple train spotting book out and number in, while sat on a bench. We were all getting thirsty now so, with quite a long time to kill, I decided to introduce Nathan and Dad to the Sainsbury's local that I used so much on my North East. It was a nice walk over and, while dad waited outside (he wanted a coffee), Nat and I went in and saw that milkshakes were very cheap for two. I went up to the counter and got one chocolate, one strawberry and paid before walking out of the store, one in both hand. Oh, what an idiot I am.
Once Nat was outside too, dad led us through a big arch and to a coffee shop that he'd once stumbled upon in York when he was there with mum. A coffee to go was got for him and it was time to head back to the station. We decided to head back via the City Walls so taking a climb right next to the coffee shop, we got a nice and familiar view for a short walk before descending to the roads again and taking the quick one to the station. 91111 was there when we got back, along with 158752. I didn't have my books in my hand so I needed to get my back off my back and I put it on the floor so I could have a rummage around to get them. They weren't there. Several checks of the bags followed before blind panic. My train-spotting books weren't in my bag and weren't in my hand. Dad did a few checks too and he had to try and get some info out of me. I now had a headache and struggled to think but after dad calming me down a little, I thought that it wouldn't be on it's way to London because I think I had them after then. The Highland Chieftain (the service that we had to take to Darlington in order to get what should be 367 and 302) was currently running about 8 minutes late, not good considering the connection at Darlington is a +8. This connection had to be made. But there wasn't enough time to get to Sainsbury's to check there before the service. Dad calmed me down a lot and gave Sainsbury's a call after looking for quite a while to get the number. No answer. Help me!
43274 and 257 came in on the southbound Chieftain meaning that I definitely could have made the connection but I couldn't care less at that point. I'd lost my train-spotting books and I had a high chance of missing a double winner tram set. And the day started so well...
The northbound Highland Chieftain came in 10 minutes late and to make matters even worse, we were stuck behind a Newcastle bound 185. Dad checked his phone and saw that the 09:52 from Aberdeen had left Newcastle a couple of minutes late. Will duds (winners for Nat) 43318 and 43316 get to Darlington in time?
The first part was an absolute storm towards County Durham but the brakes were heavily applied a few minutes before Northallerton and we came to a halt at a red signal. We've caught the cart then. After a few minutes waiting for the diesel dez to clear the station and get up to some speed, we shifted forward and began to gain a little more speed. We wouldn't get up to anything great since we were right on the heels of the 185, which is only capable of 100mph anyway. And the tram would have to wait outside Darlo station in order to let the 185 stop and leave. For some reason, I don't think this connection will make. Sure enough, just before the junction to Eaglescliffe, we came to a stand. But for less than a minute before moving forward again. But the 185 was still in the platform. Did this mean that we would be pulling in on the southbound platform? Apparently not because we passed the crossover for that and swung a left just before the station itself going to the left of the 185 on a loop that I didn't even know existed! It joined with the platform roads just after passing the Tinpot Express unit putting the tram set in front of the stopper. A huge well done to the signaler! Arrival at Darlington was 25 down and, expecting the worst, we headed to the other platform. 14:29 to London Kings Cross - Expected 15:02 (or something like that). I was still worried about my books so, needing a drink that isn't milk related, I told dad that I'd get a bottle of water from Smiths. They headed up to the northern end of the platform as I went in and, much to dad's surprise, emerged with a 2-litre bottle of water! My excuse? I was thirsty! I headed to the end of the platform with dad and Nathan and we decided that after arriving back at York, we'd head over to Sainsbury's Local again to see if my books are there and then take the 15:55 from York back out to Darlington. 15:02 came and went and finally, at about 15:05, double winners 43302 and 43367 rolled in. Because of this, Dad got all of his last VTEC trams in one day (315, 311 and 367) and I got a double winner! So, with that, the winner stats are like this.
Me - 5
Nathan - 11
Dad - 5
We all got on board the quite full train and got a window for the tram thrash away from Darlington. Soon we were leaving County Durham and entering Yorkshire, arriving at the county capital later on. It was a great race down the ECML until just outside York where we stopped to wait for a platform. We must have been there for about 10 minutes before the tram set swung across and arrived on platform 3. Now there was less than 10 minutes before the next one was due out. It takes about 5 minutes to get to the Sainsbury's, 5 minutes back plus waiting in a queue and them getting it. RUN!
Nathan was left at the station as dad and I sprinted down the platform. Dad slowed at the concourse to quickly check the departure board but told me to run ahead. Oh, did I run. It has to be one of the quickest runs that I've done and I made it to the store and got into the queue. When it was my turn, I asked if they had a red and a purple A5 book and that I thought I'd left them behind earlier. The person behind the counter said yes (yay!) and then said that they were in the office. She sent someone to get them and I waited in anticipation. Dad caught up just after the person had left to get them and they came back out with my train-spotting books in hand. Thank you so much Sainsbury's local, York! Before anyone asks, yes, I did leave an e-mail of praise. Later on, I remembered. It could only be at Sainsbury's or the coffee shop because I remember writing down 150204, which was sighted on the Blackpool service earlier in the day! I must have put them on the counter while paying and then just forgotten to pick them back up. But none of that mattered now. Dad checked the time. 15:53. Two minutes until the service is due out. We didn't need to say anything to get the message across. SPRINT! Another really fast run, notebooks in hand, and we got through the station, moving around normals as we did so and racing across the footbridge to get onto platform 9. A tram set was already in the platform. And then a terrible thing happened. I heard a whistle blow. It was over. This didn't stop us from flat out sprinting though...
... Just as a cart left the station! The whistle wasn't for the tram! Nathan was festering at the bottom of the footbridge and the moment he saw us, he ran over to the door and opened it, just in time for us all to collapse in a heap on double duds 43319 and 43295. The leading powercar (319) has a new, strange nameplate. That nameplate? 'Hello Techniquest'. What do you think it means? The set began to move and soon we were doing 125mph on another 'North East hop'. I wonder what will appear to take us back!
Arrival at Darlington was one down and we all left the train and immediately changed platforms. The PIS said that there was one train due, then a 'delayed' one and then another a few minutes later. Dad checked his phone and apparently we have a choice of 4 milkfloats to take us back, in the space of 15 minutes. This is apparently due to overhead wire problems in the Durham area but it helped us! It was decided that when a winner for me pops up then we'd take it because if it was a winner for me then it'd be a winner for Nathan too and dad didn't really care (he's not really fussed about 91s). The first one up was 91103, a dud for me and dad so it was flagged. Then, I got in position for the second and immediately after seeing a certain nameplate and vinyl, I yelled over to dad to say that this was ours. Earlier in the day, dad had shown me his milkfloat requirements list and this one was on all of ours. So it was 91114, 'Durham Cathedral', which was working the very late 16:03 to Kings Cross (it was now about 16:40). For the first time that day, we were forced to stand for the journey and also got our tickets checked by a very soche guard. Other than that, the journey went smoothly and we were shortly baling at a dark York. I took a terrible, terrible photo of the milkfloat (my digi camera works terribly in the dark) before it left and we then had a nice bit of time spotting at York.
The 18:02 to Kings Cross is a booked tram so that's the one that we were planning to get back to Donny for the Hull Exec' back to Brough. We watched the inbound working arrive and to all of our annoyance, it was a freaking Milkfloat. The loco was a winner for both me and Nathan but a dud for dad so we decided that if the 17:31, which was currently delayed by 10 minutes, had a winner on for me then we'd take it to Donny instead of the other. It didn't have a winner on for me but it was my favorite, 91130. I'd prefer a winner to my fave though (when it comes to 91s) so I decided against taking it. But it was a winner for dad. Because of this, he decided to take it to Doncaster with Nathan and I following him on the 18:02, which had winner 91105 on. We got a bay of four opposite someone and just waited for departure.
At 18:15, a 66 on a liner came through heading southbound. Meanwhile, the 18:02 to London Kings Cross was still stuck with the doors open at York. At the same time, someone came over the PA to say that the reason we were late at the moment is due to the driver and guard being stuck on a late running TPE service from Leeds! They then said that we should be moving shortly though. Eventually, at 18:20, the set pulled away and headed towards Donny. I called dad to say that we were late but moving and that we should hopefully be there fairly soon. We got up to some good speed for a while before dropping down to a crawl. Dad said once we arrived at Donny that this would have been because of 66567, the gherkin that had passed York 5 minutes before we left. Anyway, we met up again with dad before getting Costa hot chocolates and heading over to the platform for the 19:10 to Hull. We were all hoping that it wouldn't be the EMT set and would instead be a random VTEC one that they'd put on so we could claim another set for the day but that was too much and it was duds for the day 43064 and 43083 that would be taking us back to the car. A bay of four was sourced and the day was over, just a few hours after it started at the same location. We all wandered over to the car and got in for the long drive home, most of which I was asleep for. But after a brilliant and productive day, the scores stand at the following.
Me - 7
Nathan - 16 (lucky so and so)
Dad - 7
So, overall, dad got more milkfloats than me and cleared his trams. I now need 3 VTEC trams, 274, 296 and 308, all of which are annoying, pesky powercars. It can't be long before they are all done...
End of an era...
Barnetby has always been a special place for dad and I, me having loads of great memories of spending the day there and watching the semaphores and freights. Dad has been here for much, much longer than me and remembers things that aren't GM rubbish and donuts. So, with the semaphores going, we had to make sure that we got up there before they were gone. We needed a weekday and it had to be in half term so Nathan could also come so the date we chose was Friday the 30th of October, staying overnight somewhere on the 29th. Loads of premier inns in the area were looked at and we eventually decided on one near Donny (but on the right side for Barnetby), letting dad book it.
Finally, after a week of work (except the Monday, which was my WMDT), Thursday came. I had put a request on the forum for what was working the Highland Chieftain and the two tram sets that would overnight in Aberdeen to have some idea what would be coming south on what and immediately after getting the gen back from Minilad, I called dad. Why? 1S16 (Chieftain) was 43257/274, 274 being one of my last six VTEC trams, 1S20 (14:00 Angry ruler-Aberdeen) being 43251/311, 311 being one of dad's last three VTEC trams and 1S24 (16:00 Angry ruler-Aberdeen) being 43302/367, both being required for me an 367 being required for dad. Now, the question is, North East Round Robin or Barnetby.
Thursday evening came and, with everything packed, we headed out of the door for about 18:00. Nathan was picked up en route and shortly we were racing down the A roads towards the M1. But about half an hour in the journey we hit a slight problem. The M69 was stationary. This is a motorway, which I've never really seen a queue on but this one was huge! We wanted to get to Barnetby in good time to see quite a few freights but if the M69 is like this then what will the M1 be like? We had only reached Hinckley but it seemed that we'd never get to Barnetby. 45 minutes to travel about a mile is fairly good on a lot of motorways, such as the M1 or M25 but on this motorway it's terrible and after ages of waiting, we got onto the M1...
...To find it clear! The M1 was flowing perfectly and wasn't to busy at all! Because of this we had a quick run before reaching the stupid road works and trundling along at 50 for a long way. We passed the hotel that we'd be staying the night at just after Donny and continued along the road, eventually reaching Barnetby about half an hour later than planned. Six freight trains were seen in about half an hour, two of which had donuts on (colas 60021 and DB 60020). Then, a check of RTT was made and we found out that there wasn't anything else due in an hour! Dad didn't seem to be annoyed at this for some reason and said that during the time we could go for a drive and find somewhere to go to the toilet and get something to eat. So we all piled back into the tin rocket and headed off through Barnetby. For a few moments before parking in a little car park thing in front of a house. I immediately knew what was going on (after being told) but I had a much better grasp on it than Nathan, who thought that we were just going to the toilet at the Barnetby B&B. Dad had booked here instead of the premier inn at Donny because it was less than a 5 minute walk from the station, straight down the road. After checking in, we headed to the family room that was booked and got out a very useful thing that I'd remembered to pack. The timetable that I had on my North East Rover, showing every VTEC service and had what should be trams marked in (I did that in pen while on the North East Rover). That, paired with dad's work phone, which had RTT up, made us decide what to do the next day. My first North East Round Robin.
A plan for the first few moves was made before we headed back out of the B&B, stopping at the One-stop that was about half way down the road for a supply raid (thanks for this one Tech!). We got a couple of saussie rolls and a pasty to share along with some drinks and a few minutes later, we were going back to the station in order to see the next few trains. All were duds but I didn't mind at all, especially when the best donut (60011) came around the bend from Lincoln and started thrashing like mad to climb the hill after the really slow cross over at Wrawby Junction. This was followed with 66093 and eventually 60015. It was now about 00:20 so we decided to retire to the hotel room now, knowing that we had a great evening at Barnetby, seeing 11 locos, 4 of which were donuts. But before I finish for the day, I should note one more thing. Well two. The first is that the B&B doesn't do brekky at 05:40 and the second is that 43315 was finishing up at Edinburgh tonight, meaning that it could be coming south on any one of three turns. 315 is required for me and dad so if we could get that one too then that'd be brill.
I was woken by dad's alarm at 05:30 and after getting dressed and ready, the others were still in bed. It was now about 05:45 so both Dad and Nathan had lost there chance of a shower (I wouldn't want one anyway) as I got them both up and by 06:00, we were leaving a very silent B&B. What's with the stupidly early rise? The plan was to take the Hull executive from Brough to Donny in order to fall into stuff from there. A drive to Donny or York didn't seem fun at all and with the Hull Executive being the EMT set, which currently has a winner on for me, we decided to go for that. Not knowing how far it will be to get to Brough from Barnetby or anything, we decided to leave an hour and a quarter just to be on the safe side and after a nice car ride, crossing the Humber Bridge, we got to Brough at 06:15, an hour before the tram was due out. Oh well, better to be safe than sorry (I say this just because the alternative would be something like 'why the hell am I at Brough an hour before my train?! I could still be in bed!'). It was raining which is hopefully not a sign of the weather for the day (although it was meant to rain according to the weather) but, getting wet in the process, we bought a car parking ticket and headed over to get one adult, two child return to Doncaster with a Fam and Friends railcard. It was really expensive for the journey (about £20) but without it we wouldn't be going anywhere today! Then, we headed back to the car so we could stay warm while watching the Northern carts and the first London service leave. Then it was time to go onto the platform and get dad a coffee before the train. Thousands and thousands of birds were seen flying over us (no exaggeration) in the sky that was slowly getting brighter and they hadn't stopped by the time dad had his coffee and dud 43083 arrived leading 1A12 to Kings Cross. After checking at Donny, it was winner 43064 on the back so I'd already got my first winner while dad and Nathan were still at zero. I didn't mention this (thousands of times. Only hundreds.) but after getting to Doncaster, I didn't have too long to get tickets. We were close to the front of the train so they sent me ahead to get the frogg to York (I'd foolishly agreed to this) but caught up with me standing next to 43064 and watching it leave. I now really did have to get a move on so a quick trip to the TVM got all of our tickets, discounted with the Fam and friends. But if this were the discounted price, then I'd hate to see the regular! It was just over £20 for all of us to get to York and back! What a rip off! I didn't let it get to me and we all went up the stairs onto the platform for the 08:11 to Waverley. 67012, dad's misconception of the best shovel (logic says that it's 67014. Definitely.) was the thunderbird so we wandered over to take a look at that before getting in position for the milkfloat. I had my fingers crossed that it'd be a winner for all three of us but the moment I saw the livery on it, I knew that I'd been shot down with the first milkfloat of the day. Hello again 91110. This was a winner for Nathan (as long as it wasn't 91131 then he'd have got a winner) and it really surprised me to see that 'Battle of Britain memorial flight' was also a winner for dad! He needs less milkfloats than me (by quite a considerable amount) so I can't believe that he got one and I didn't! Now we were all even with one winner (silent rage. I can't say that I'm the highest now!) Dad and I got a bay of 2 and sat next to each other, Nathan occupying the seat in front of us and after a couple of moments festering, 110 began pulling us north, and into the action.
Since dad had got the Brough to Donny tickets and me the Donny to York tickets then surely Nathan should get the Round Robins right (no left)? Apparently not! Dad was the one that got those after we got off at York and watched her leave. Nathan also got a phot of the nameplate, which, I have to admit, is pretty damn good. Then it was across to the booking office, getting the round robins with a railcard discount (£33 for dad, £9 each for Nat and I). It was up to Nathan to get brekky. None of us were too hungry at the moment though so it was just drinks that were needed. Costa calling! I don't think I need to say the drink that I got...
43316 and 43318 were on the 08:31 to Kings Cross vice 91, which surprised me but I made sure that I was at the back of the train on our next move to view the 08:55 to Kings Cross, the first of the trams out of Craigentinny in the morning. I was really hoping that this one would have a winner for all of us (all of us being me, me and me. OK, that's a lie. I did mean all of us) on but got well and truly spat on when 91131 rolled in. Nathan did too, this being the only milkfloat that he'd had prior to today but dad had actually got his second winner of the day! He needs less milkfloats than me too! I made sure to keep my eyes on the window to see what powercars were on the 08:55 but it rolled in with a milkfloat. Probably a set swap so the trams are on the 91 diagram and the 91 on the tram diagram. I headed forward a lot and was surprised to see that most of the carriages were almost empty! A bay of four was easily sourced and we all got decent seats for the run that I did the most on my North East Rover, to Darlington! This would put us onto 1E05 back to York, the second turn that we wanted to cover for 315. Darlington was reached on time and after changing platforms, we saw that the 09:28 was currently expected at 09:30. Two minutes late? That's nothing I hear you say. Our plan had us making a really tight connection at York after this one, getting either a winner for me or a pair of winners for Nathan. If it was the pair of winners for Nat, I wouldn't be getting a winner out of it but if it had the winner on for me then Nathan would be getting just one winner too. That's why pulling off this +3 was very important.
At 09:30 a red tram poked it's front around the corner and came into the platform. After an outburst from dad of 'You beauty', we got on board dud 43309 leading winner 43315. Dad's down to two and I'm down to five. More winners now please! Since it was this set taking us back, I was the one with the lowest amount of winners at two, with Nathan and dad both tying in top with three. How did Nathan just go from one to three? Well, the lucky little devil just got a double winner set! Although who am I to complain about getting a winner powercar? Dad certainly wasn't! Departure was at 31 minutes past, 3 minutes late so none of us were very hopeful about the connection making. Dad checked his phone and saw that our connection was running bang on time, which wasn't good news for us as 315 and 309 were currently running about four down, giving us a +1 at York. We were all in the vestibule ready as the tram stopped in platform 5...
...To see our connection in platform 3. It was 09:57 right now but, with it about to turn to 58, the departure time of the connection, we all absolutely sprinted, flying over the footbridge and onto the first available coach, me wedging the door open with my foot so Nathan and dad didn't miss double duds (double winners for Nathan and both winners for the centaury for dad) 43423 and 43465, still together after all that time. All what time? This is the pair of GC trams that I got most on my North East Rover by far and they're still together since then!
Ready to cross over by fishquinn1, on FlickrNat was very happy to get these, meaning that we both need two GC powercars, him needing 43467 and 43480, me needing 43468 and 43484. I wonder who'll get their last one first. Dad needs one Grand Central powercar for haulage, that being 43468, but he was happy with the ones that we got because the other set would have been one winner, one dud for the centaury for him. This one had two winners for the centaury so he was happy. This was dad's first time travelling on a GC HST (he'd had all but 43468 pre GC) and I think he quite liked the interior of it but not the exterior (who can blame him!). We got a bay of four easily and enjoyed the race to Northallerton, getting dad's first time actually stopping at Thirsk in the process. At Northallerton, just like on my North East Rover, there was a 30-minute fester for the next northbound loco hauled service but it seems that with company, the wait passes much quicker. A couple of tram sets raced through heading south while we were there and at the time that it was meant to leave, the Milkfloat still hadn't arrived. Then, about 5 down, my first winner 91 of the day came in, with 91106 providing the honors. This was also a winner for Nathan but was dad's first dud one of the day. Because of this, the winner count was like this.
Me - 3
Nathan - 6
Dad - 3
Nat and I got a bay of two on the right hand side in the front coach, which also happened to be the quiet coach. I have a theory as to why it is here and not further down the train. Being at the country end while at Kings Cross means that the normals just cram onto the first standard class coach that they come to and don't reach the quiet coach up front. Because of this, there is a lack of screaming children, annoying phone conversations and other irritating noises after leaving the Cross. Since it was the quiet coach, dad didn't join us straight away and instead headed to the vestibule to call mum to say hi. That went on for a few minutes but he was in the bay of two next to us (and next to a normal) before Darlo. And after Darlo. The plan had us taking 106 all the way to Newkey' to fall into the first ex Aberdeen back to York. This is where I had a problem. Dad and Nathan were completely safe, having a double winner on one for Nathan and one winner on the other set that ended up at Aberdeen and Dad having a winner on each but I had a double winner on one...
... And a double dud on the other. Why is this annoying? After all, I should get both sets shouldn't I? Well, yes but I also had one of my winners coming south on the Highland Chieftain, which is in the hour between the two ex Aberdeen trams. This is a problem because I couldn't get down to York on the 1st set and back up to Darlo in time for the Chieftain. And even if by some miracle I made the connection at York off the 1st ex Aberdeen and fell into the Chieftain at Darlo, then I'd have to pull off another ridiculously stupid connection at York (a -2) in order to get the set up to Darlo to connect with the 2nd ex Aberdeen. Are you following? It would be tempting to bale at Darlo and fester for an hour until the southbound chieftain appears if the 1st one out of Aberdeen is my double winner so I won't be missing out on the 2nd Aberdeen. Tempting, yes. But I am with dad and Nathan today. Both of them were OK with it though so I was really tempted if the first set was 367 and 302.
Arrival at Newkey' was 10 down, meaning that we only had a +7 onto the Midday back south. Probably not enough time to visit my favorite Geordie chippy
Or so I thought. One look at the departure board showed the 12:00 to London Kings Cross as expected at 12:07. Ample time! I tried my ticket in the barriers and, to my surprise (not) it didn't work. Then dad tried his, before involving the barrier staff to let us through. And his ticket worked the damn things! What do the stupid barriers have against child tickets?! Anyway, it was a really short walk and, with me knowing the way, I led and we walked in. I got a small doner, no chips and Nathan a fish and chips and after seeing my portion, dad got a large doner and chips...... Thinking that I'd got a large doner meat
. He got a huge portion and I couldn't help but laugh at him on the walk back. Still, it means that I get more kebab because there's no way that dad will be able to finish all of that! We got back to the station just after midday and made our way over to the platform that the late Kings Cross service was due from. It was now expected at 12:10 so we got a seat (that's an obvious lie. It's a train station. There's no such thing as seats) and began eating lunch. The doner meat was up to it's usual excellent standards and dad really liked it too. I finished mine and got some chips and a little bit of pitta from dad's, not to mention a bit more meat. Excellent swap me thinks! Nothing for a bit more food! The 'expected' board for the tram kept on getting later and later until 12:21, when double duds 43311 and 43251 (double winners for Nat, 311 a winner for dad) rolled in, leaving at 12:23. This meant that I was definitely going to York and staying with Nathan and Dad. The only notable thing on the journey down was the fact that the guard announced the times that the train would actually arrive at the stations and not the booked times, which would be wrong in this case (unless the tram makes up 23 minutes between Newcastle and Darlington). It was a nice scream down the ECML to York, arriving just under 20 down, giving us about 40 minutes until our next service. 150204 was very strangely on the service to Blackpool North and was right next to us as we left the train. Purple train spotting book out and number in, while sat on a bench. We were all getting thirsty now so, with quite a long time to kill, I decided to introduce Nathan and Dad to the Sainsbury's local that I used so much on my North East. It was a nice walk over and, while dad waited outside (he wanted a coffee), Nat and I went in and saw that milkshakes were very cheap for two. I went up to the counter and got one chocolate, one strawberry and paid before walking out of the store, one in both hand. Oh, what an idiot I am.Once Nat was outside too, dad led us through a big arch and to a coffee shop that he'd once stumbled upon in York when he was there with mum. A coffee to go was got for him and it was time to head back to the station. We decided to head back via the City Walls so taking a climb right next to the coffee shop, we got a nice and familiar view for a short walk before descending to the roads again and taking the quick one to the station. 91111 was there when we got back, along with 158752. I didn't have my books in my hand so I needed to get my back off my back and I put it on the floor so I could have a rummage around to get them. They weren't there. Several checks of the bags followed before blind panic. My train-spotting books weren't in my bag and weren't in my hand. Dad did a few checks too and he had to try and get some info out of me. I now had a headache and struggled to think but after dad calming me down a little, I thought that it wouldn't be on it's way to London because I think I had them after then. The Highland Chieftain (the service that we had to take to Darlington in order to get what should be 367 and 302) was currently running about 8 minutes late, not good considering the connection at Darlington is a +8. This connection had to be made. But there wasn't enough time to get to Sainsbury's to check there before the service. Dad calmed me down a lot and gave Sainsbury's a call after looking for quite a while to get the number. No answer. Help me!
43274 and 257 came in on the southbound Chieftain meaning that I definitely could have made the connection but I couldn't care less at that point. I'd lost my train-spotting books and I had a high chance of missing a double winner tram set. And the day started so well...
The northbound Highland Chieftain came in 10 minutes late and to make matters even worse, we were stuck behind a Newcastle bound 185. Dad checked his phone and saw that the 09:52 from Aberdeen had left Newcastle a couple of minutes late. Will duds (winners for Nat) 43318 and 43316 get to Darlington in time?
The first part was an absolute storm towards County Durham but the brakes were heavily applied a few minutes before Northallerton and we came to a halt at a red signal. We've caught the cart then. After a few minutes waiting for the diesel dez to clear the station and get up to some speed, we shifted forward and began to gain a little more speed. We wouldn't get up to anything great since we were right on the heels of the 185, which is only capable of 100mph anyway. And the tram would have to wait outside Darlo station in order to let the 185 stop and leave. For some reason, I don't think this connection will make. Sure enough, just before the junction to Eaglescliffe, we came to a stand. But for less than a minute before moving forward again. But the 185 was still in the platform. Did this mean that we would be pulling in on the southbound platform? Apparently not because we passed the crossover for that and swung a left just before the station itself going to the left of the 185 on a loop that I didn't even know existed! It joined with the platform roads just after passing the Tinpot Express unit putting the tram set in front of the stopper. A huge well done to the signaler! Arrival at Darlington was 25 down and, expecting the worst, we headed to the other platform. 14:29 to London Kings Cross - Expected 15:02 (or something like that). I was still worried about my books so, needing a drink that isn't milk related, I told dad that I'd get a bottle of water from Smiths. They headed up to the northern end of the platform as I went in and, much to dad's surprise, emerged with a 2-litre bottle of water! My excuse? I was thirsty! I headed to the end of the platform with dad and Nathan and we decided that after arriving back at York, we'd head over to Sainsbury's Local again to see if my books are there and then take the 15:55 from York back out to Darlington. 15:02 came and went and finally, at about 15:05, double winners 43302 and 43367 rolled in. Because of this, Dad got all of his last VTEC trams in one day (315, 311 and 367) and I got a double winner! So, with that, the winner stats are like this.
Me - 5
Nathan - 11
Dad - 5
We all got on board the quite full train and got a window for the tram thrash away from Darlington. Soon we were leaving County Durham and entering Yorkshire, arriving at the county capital later on. It was a great race down the ECML until just outside York where we stopped to wait for a platform. We must have been there for about 10 minutes before the tram set swung across and arrived on platform 3. Now there was less than 10 minutes before the next one was due out. It takes about 5 minutes to get to the Sainsbury's, 5 minutes back plus waiting in a queue and them getting it. RUN!
Nathan was left at the station as dad and I sprinted down the platform. Dad slowed at the concourse to quickly check the departure board but told me to run ahead. Oh, did I run. It has to be one of the quickest runs that I've done and I made it to the store and got into the queue. When it was my turn, I asked if they had a red and a purple A5 book and that I thought I'd left them behind earlier. The person behind the counter said yes (yay!) and then said that they were in the office. She sent someone to get them and I waited in anticipation. Dad caught up just after the person had left to get them and they came back out with my train-spotting books in hand. Thank you so much Sainsbury's local, York! Before anyone asks, yes, I did leave an e-mail of praise. Later on, I remembered. It could only be at Sainsbury's or the coffee shop because I remember writing down 150204, which was sighted on the Blackpool service earlier in the day! I must have put them on the counter while paying and then just forgotten to pick them back up. But none of that mattered now. Dad checked the time. 15:53. Two minutes until the service is due out. We didn't need to say anything to get the message across. SPRINT! Another really fast run, notebooks in hand, and we got through the station, moving around normals as we did so and racing across the footbridge to get onto platform 9. A tram set was already in the platform. And then a terrible thing happened. I heard a whistle blow. It was over. This didn't stop us from flat out sprinting though...
... Just as a cart left the station! The whistle wasn't for the tram! Nathan was festering at the bottom of the footbridge and the moment he saw us, he ran over to the door and opened it, just in time for us all to collapse in a heap on double duds 43319 and 43295. The leading powercar (319) has a new, strange nameplate. That nameplate? 'Hello Techniquest'. What do you think it means
? The set began to move and soon we were doing 125mph on another 'North East hop'. I wonder what will appear to take us back!Arrival at Darlington was one down and we all left the train and immediately changed platforms. The PIS said that there was one train due, then a 'delayed' one and then another a few minutes later. Dad checked his phone and apparently we have a choice of 4 milkfloats to take us back, in the space of 15 minutes. This is apparently due to overhead wire problems in the Durham area but it helped us! It was decided that when a winner for me pops up then we'd take it because if it was a winner for me then it'd be a winner for Nathan too and dad didn't really care (he's not really fussed about 91s). The first one up was 91103, a dud for me and dad so it was flagged. Then, I got in position for the second and immediately after seeing a certain nameplate and vinyl, I yelled over to dad to say that this was ours. Earlier in the day, dad had shown me his milkfloat requirements list and this one was on all of ours. So it was 91114, 'Durham Cathedral', which was working the very late 16:03 to Kings Cross (it was now about 16:40). For the first time that day, we were forced to stand for the journey and also got our tickets checked by a very soche guard. Other than that, the journey went smoothly and we were shortly baling at a dark York. I took a terrible, terrible photo of the milkfloat (my digi camera works terribly in the dark) before it left and we then had a nice bit of time spotting at York.
The 18:02 to Kings Cross is a booked tram so that's the one that we were planning to get back to Donny for the Hull Exec' back to Brough. We watched the inbound working arrive and to all of our annoyance, it was a freaking Milkfloat. The loco was a winner for both me and Nathan but a dud for dad so we decided that if the 17:31, which was currently delayed by 10 minutes, had a winner on for me then we'd take it to Donny instead of the other. It didn't have a winner on for me but it was my favorite, 91130. I'd prefer a winner to my fave though (when it comes to 91s) so I decided against taking it. But it was a winner for dad. Because of this, he decided to take it to Doncaster with Nathan and I following him on the 18:02, which had winner 91105 on. We got a bay of four opposite someone and just waited for departure.
At 18:15, a 66 on a liner came through heading southbound. Meanwhile, the 18:02 to London Kings Cross was still stuck with the doors open at York. At the same time, someone came over the PA to say that the reason we were late at the moment is due to the driver and guard being stuck on a late running TPE service from Leeds! They then said that we should be moving shortly though. Eventually, at 18:20, the set pulled away and headed towards Donny. I called dad to say that we were late but moving and that we should hopefully be there fairly soon. We got up to some good speed for a while before dropping down to a crawl. Dad said once we arrived at Donny that this would have been because of 66567, the gherkin that had passed York 5 minutes before we left. Anyway, we met up again with dad before getting Costa hot chocolates and heading over to the platform for the 19:10 to Hull. We were all hoping that it wouldn't be the EMT set and would instead be a random VTEC one that they'd put on so we could claim another set for the day but that was too much and it was duds for the day 43064 and 43083 that would be taking us back to the car. A bay of four was sourced and the day was over, just a few hours after it started at the same location. We all wandered over to the car and got in for the long drive home, most of which I was asleep for. But after a brilliant and productive day, the scores stand at the following.
Me - 7
Nathan - 16 (lucky so and so)
Dad - 7
So, overall, dad got more milkfloats than me and cleared his trams. I now need 3 VTEC trams, 274, 296 and 308, all of which are annoying, pesky powercars. It can't be long before they are all done...
backontrack
Established Member
Another brilliant report! Those trams won't take long...
Techniquest
Veteran Member
That was a long read, but most enjoyable too.
Stressful with the books, which I daresay we've all had happen to us before. Most of the time you never get them back, so you were lucky!
43319, no I'm not at all jealous...
I need 4 GC power cars and 43274 too, so getting up to the North East is becoming a priority...
As for the GC livery thing, I liked the original livery better but I still like the current one, black and orange just goes so well!
Stressful with the books, which I daresay we've all had happen to us before. Most of the time you never get them back, so you were lucky!
43319, no I'm not at all jealous...
I need 4 GC power cars and 43274 too, so getting up to the North East is becoming a priority...As for the GC livery thing, I liked the original livery better but I still like the current one, black and orange just goes so well!
Thanks guys!
I'm very glad that I got them back, that's for sure!
You really need to get the the North East Tech, with all of those trams, milkfloats and shacks waiting!
I'm not keen on the GC livery myself but I agree that black and orange go very well together.
I'm very glad that I got them back, that's for sure!
You really need to get the the North East Tech, with all of those trams, milkfloats and shacks waiting!
I'm not keen on the GC livery myself but I agree that black and orange go very well together.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I do need to get to the North East, there's just so much I need to go after it would take many trips to do the lot!
Flying equals freedom
A rather strange title this time but an accurate one nonetheless for the 27th of November 2015. My brother does Air Kicks every so often, a thing where you're put inside a big cage and really, really strong winds come from the floor and take you into the air, making you fly. Here is where the freedom part comes in. He does it in Milton Keynes. There is a trip that I've wanted to do for quite a while from Milton Keynes, which would hopefully produce loads of winners. All will be revealed later on though.
My day started at 06:45 with my alarm going off. I quickly got dressed and ready and popped on the forum for a bit before doing the final stuff in order to be away in good time. We set off at 08:25 for Milton Keynes, giving me an hour and 27 minutes until my train is due out. Ample time. We headed on the little back roads to get as far as Towcester before taking the main road straight into the heart of MK, arriving with about half an hour until my wanted train, the 09:52 to Euston. I bought my ticket, a return to Park Street, and headed onto the platform to see which dez would be forming my first service. I was pleasantly surprised to see winner 350252 at the northern end of a trio of dezzes. The two at the southern end would be heading to Bletchley depot but both were duds so I couldn't care less. I got my train-spotting books out and began recording numbers as stuff passed while waiting and saw the 09:41 to Euston arrive. This service was formed of 8 coaches today and with a winner leading and a low mileage dud on the back, I'd decided which set I'd take for my first journey. Winner 350374 was leading dud 350122 on this turn so I waved goodbye to 350252 and we took off like a shot, first stop...
... Bletchley. I was off here and I had a hunch that my day would go really well at this point. Why? It was winner 150109 on the 10:05 to Bedford, my last required London Midland 150. I headed across, getting a few photos of it before boarding and getting a bay of 6 at the very front. We left on time and I was hoping that the coal train sat on the line with the loco just out of view from the mainline would have 66200 up front, because I know that it was working out of Peak Forest at the time. It was a very long train and at the very end I saw...
66193. Oh well. We passed Fenny Stratford on the single-track section before joining the double track bit and passing a 153 at the next station, Bow Brickall. It was a really dull ride down the winner track towards Bedford, a group of loud, fare dodging teenagers joining at Stewartby, who weren't hiding the fact that they had no intention of buying a ticket and were hiding at the very front, trying not to get seen by the guard. Unfortunately, he didn't get to them before Bedford St Johns, where they left the train. The rest of the journey to Bedford was nicer than most of the other ride because there was a few track machines on route and, while not much, they added to the sightings for the day. I had printed out a list of 387 diagrams so I knew what they would be on and, just as my gen said, there was a pair waiting on the platform just over the bridge of the winner shack. Having not been on the Midland Mainline for over a year and a half, when I raced through Bedford at speed on a tram, I had no idea which direction the 387s would depart from. Thinking it would be the opposite way from arrival on the 150, I got a seat facing that way on the completely empty carriage of 387120, which was being led by 387118 as it turns out, not leading it. I only knew this when we began to move in the opposite direction but, with the coach being empty except for me, I just changed to a bay of four in the other direction and sat on one of the rock hard seats in my first 387 for haulage. Just after leaving Bedford, we came to a stop for about three minutes before continuing up the MML past those little Thameslink shacks. I was wondering where to get off, my plan saying that Luton Airport Parkway would be good but I then had a collision with a problem. At Harlington (or was it Flitwick?), I looked at the PIS on the other platform to see when the next one towards Bedford was and saw that it was 50 late with the next one 'cancelled' and the one after that 'delayed'. This didn't bode well! I know Thameslink will definitely have delays of at least 10 minutes on every route but 50 seems a little (emphasis on the little) extreme, even for them. Maybe.
I had no idea what would be working what now so just took this set to Luton, a winner shack, to wait for the next thing out. I had no idea what would be next out so had to take a look at the PIS but it seems that at Luton there is one better than that. The signaling display, showing all of the trains, was visible to all of the public and a very quick look said that there was a train approaching heading to Bedford. I had seen a pair of 377/5s at Bedford earlier so I knew that the next one out would be on time so I headed onto the other platform to get the very late 10:54 (the same time that my train departed Bedford) back one stop. It was double winners 377515 and 377521 that would be taking me to another winner shack, Leagrave. Previously, I'd only ever had 377501 and 502 of the Thameslink 377s and they were paired together so it's a high chance that I'd get loads of winners today, with all of the 387s and most of the 319s also being required. It had been so long since I had last had a TL 'trois-sept-sept' (they work to St Pancras don't they? Just one change away from France!) that I'd forgotten what the interiors are like! It was nice to refresh my memory for the short journey to Leagrave where I quickly changed platforms for another double winner 377, this time 377522 and 377523. I sat in the front unit for the journey back up to Luton, knowing that there was a service right behind this one heading towards the Airport. Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, double winners 387125 and 387106. Time for some more rocky seating! I wasn't in one for long though because a couple of moments later I was getting off at shack score number 3 for the day, Luton Airport Parkway. According to the PIS, the next one back was a Bedford train in 10 minutes, currently running over 40 minutes late. The delays on everything were because of overhead wire problems close to London, which explained why everything was delayed. The Bedford service came in with a double winner 319 on but just before people got ready to board the service (including me), it was announced that because of the delay, it would run fast to Bedford from here, not even stopping at Luton. I didn't want to be back in Bedford when I could be bashing units on short hops so I flagged that pair and waited for the next one in, which was about 10 minutes later. This turned out to be a good move as the next one back was a double 377 winner, 377212 leading the set with 377509 stuck behind. This was another Bedford train but it thankfully stopped at Luton so I got a seat for the short ride back to civilization, if Luton counts (which I don't think it does). At Luton, it was decision time again. I wanted to head back out to the airport but there wasn't anything due in quite a while. There looked like a service was heading towards Bedford, stopping at Leagrave fairly soon but a check of RTT and the signaling display showed that there wouldn't be anything back for a while. This was very irritating as that service had a treble winner 377 on! The Luton terminators were also really late but one eventually arrived but it still had 'delayed' next to it. I was chatting with a member of station staff, who was very friendly and during our conversation, I asked how long it would be until the service that was currently in the platform (after terminating here) would be leaving. She had no idea band said that it was awaiting a driver but about 5 minutes later the double winner 319 left. No matter, by the looks of things another service was waiting to terminate. Sure enough, another pair of winners rolled in, ready to form the 12:14 (which was about 20 minutes late) out. This time she said that the moment it got the green signal, the pair would be away so I got a seat in 319436, which was being led by 319219. The service left a couple of minutes later and we began whizzing towards the airport again.
I left the train a couple of minutes later and immediately ran onto the footbridge to get a photo of them with the funky windows that I'd seen earlier in the day. They were glass windows (I'm Sherlock Holmes. The windows were made of glass!) but were in the same shape as plane windows but much larger. I thought they'd be a good frame for a photo of the 319s leaving so I got a couple of photos before retiring back to platform level in time to get the delayed 12:21 back towards Luton. It came in several minutes down with double winners (I'm liking this trip report winner wise!) 377211 and 377518 providing the traction, making the winner count 16 for the day so far. I haven't been able to say that in ages (if ever)! Luton was reached and I had a very short wait here as the next one was only three minutes behind with double winners 387123 and 387117 providing the power. If I took these two to Leagrave then I'd have a decent connection onto one of the treble winners that I'd seen earlier in the day back up. The journey went smoothly and I quickly changed platforms to get onto what should be the triple winner...
... But turned out to be double winners 377511 and 377516, two of the three that I'd seen earlier. One of the stupid things must have uncoupled at Bedford! Since this set was currently running about 20 minutes late, I knew that it'd only be a wait of about 10 minutes at Luton until another treble winner would be there for a hop to the airport. This was one that I'd seen earlier on heading in and after about a 15-minute wait (it was running slightly late), triple winners (yay!) 377512, 377519 and 377517 came in on the 13:18 to Brighton. I got a seat in the middle unit for the very short hop back out to the airport where I decided to go in hunt for some food after seeing that I had 20 minutes until the next service back. I found a 'Cafe Express' just to the side of the railway lines but they wanted £3.70 for a sarnie in there. As if! I haven't won the lottery recently! Noticing that there wasn't anything else around, I headed back to the platforms but, just before going down an escalator and out of sight of the lines, I saw something that looked like a South West Trains unit! I ran over to the window and sure enough, it was one of Kite's locals heading towards London! It seems that 159102 was working back from Loughbrough after having some useless paint job that made it look no different from how it did previously. After watching that fade away, I headed over to the platform that the 10-minute delayed 13:37 to Bedford was due in on and festered for a short while. Sure enough, after a few minutes of waiting, winner 387114 came in with winner 387101 latched on the back. Time for lunch me thinks!
Luton is a dump. Fishquinn's motto, number 1.
And indeed it is (no offence to anyone who likes it)! After getting off the 387s, I headed over to the closed barriers and my ticket, surprise, surprise, didn't work them. I went to the barrier staff and asked to be let through but immediately got questioned about the validity of my ticket (it was most certainly valid). I said that I just wanted to be let through to get some lunch, which was met with a 'well why didn't you just say so!' and a grin as he opened them up. I headed through and immediately saw that there wasn't anything in the local vicinity. There was a Frothbucks, which was attached to a tourist information center (I don't really think it should be called that it Luton. Tourists? Never!) so I wandered over to the latter and asked where the town center was. I was given directions and immediately began heading there because I was very hungry now (I hadn't eaten all day). I reached the town center and decided to randomly choose a way to go in order to find a supermarket that'd do a meal deal. I was walking down the main road in the center for about 5 minutes before noticing a hideous shopping center next to me so I walked up and immediately saw a welcoming sign. No, it wasn't a 'welcome to this mall' sign or anything; it was the familiar blue of the entrance to a 'Greggs'. I smiled and ran towards it before stopping in my tracks. There were at least 20 people in the queue and it was queuing out of the door! NEXT! I walked on through the cramped, horrible shopping center until a wave of relief washed over me. Tesco Metro. There was a Tesco metro! I fought my way through the crowds in order to get in and I immediately got a meal deal and a couple of egg tarts (they were cheap and tasty!). The self-service checkout was the usual pain in the neck but I eventually purchased it and went back out into the shopping mall equivalent of a Penolino in a tunnel - cramped, dark and smells bad. I decided that a certain iced Costa drink was required so I exited the shopping center at the first available exit and walked along the pavement to a Costa that I'd seen on my way...
... To find that it was worse than Greggs queue wise. Back to the station then!
Luton is a dump. Fishquinn's motto, number 1.
My time in Thameslink land was almost over and I had to get back to the Westie fairly soon, but with a different route. Thanks to forum members AM9 and James Wake in particular (and everyone else who helped me of course!), I knew a nice walk to get from St Albans City to St Albans Abbey, using the Alban Way, a tree covered path. The train that I wanted to be on in order to get to St Albans was the 14:14 from Luton, giving me an arrival at 14:29. This would mean that I'd have 45 minutes to get between the two so I had time if I got lost (unlikely) or the train was late (It's Thameslink. With this in mind I say...
... Likely!). And sure enough, after getting back to the station, I only saw one 319 waiting at the end of the platform (Bedford end so far from the footbridge) with it expected out at 14:18. Another 319 arrived a few minutes later and coupled up to it. The 'expected' part of the board changed to just after 14:20 and, with the 14:18 to Brighton being one down, I decided to take that instead if it had a winner on. I saw it come in with a treble 387 and I recognized the numbers, which made me think that they were duds that I'd had earlier. I checked my notes to see and was very pleasantly surprised to see that I hadn't had any of 387122, 387115 or 387105 today. Another treble winner! I got a seat in 105 and got ready for the ride ahead, noting that both 319s currently sat in the platform next to us were required. After leaving Luton Airport Parkway, I checked RTT to see if they'd left Luton and, much to my delight, they had, only 9 minutes late (a new record for Thameslink?). This meant that I could get another two winners and a winner shack so after finishing most of my lunch on the 387s, I left at shack score number 5, Harpenden and waited for just over 5 minutes for my last Thameslink service of the day, which rolled in with double winners 319443 and 319426, meaning that in all of my time bashing the TL stuff, I got 28 winners and no duds! Not to mention the two LM winners that I'd had before these! I was on a roll, that's for sure!
I had no problems with the gateline staff at St Albans with my ticket and after getting through the barriers, I got two sheets of paper out of my bag, one with the detailed directions between the two and the other with photos from the route, very kindly taken by AM9 to help me find my way. They had basic directions with them and after walking the way that the directions told me to, I saw the location that the 1st photo was taken at. And then the second, third and 4th. I reached the Alban way, which was a nice footpath and it was surprisingly busy with both walkers and cyclists. A GBRF freight train passed over the bridge just before I walked under it and, with the help of the photos it was easy to find my way. I arrived at St Albans Abbey with a good 15 minutes before my train, and that's after going via the Sainsbury's en route for a PNB so it shows that you can do it really easily if needed. I had no idea which 319 would be on this service today but, since I've already had one of the LM 319s (when it wasn't LM), I was hoping that it wouldn't be that one. I was lucky (again) because it was winner 319429 on the 15:24 to Watford Junction. I got a seat in the very front coach, away from all of the normals that cramped in the rear two, and was surprised to see that there was LM green seat covers. It seems that London Midland have done something with their 319s then! I sat in a bay of 4 (or was it a bay of 5? Or 6?) for the journey back to the WCML and just thought how much nicer these units could be with a complete refurb. I could come up with a very good plan for a refurbishment on them that'd make them much nicer than they currently are! The journey was dull but I was shortly leaving the 319 at Watford Junction, where I had a little time until the next train that I wanted to catch for another winner. The board said that the 15:46 to Euston (a stopper from Tring) was formed of 8 coaches so I had a chance of a winner but the front one was dud 350234. So far today, I've had at least one winner on every service that I've been on. Don't end now! And it didn't! It was winner 350259 on the back! Now I just had to hope that the gods of London Overground and Southern were blessing me too and I'll have at least one winner on every service today! The former should be very easy because I had only had five 378s (all of which are /2s) but with the latter, I only needed two 377/7s, which are the two that I needed for sight. Anyway, at winner shack number 7, Bushey (St Albans City was number 6), I crossed over to the London Overground platforms to await my only 378 of the day, which would take me on a bit of winner track back to the Junction. I had a 5-minute fester for my service back and, with book in hand to tell me which ones are winners and which ones are dud, I watched it roll in. A lot of curse words were slung at the stupid dud 378233 under my breath as it came in as the third dud of the day, but the first dud that wasn't with a winner. What a bummer! Still, I got a winner bit of track on the journey back so it wasn't all bad.
Back at the Junction, I noticed that the 16:11 to New Street was running slightly late, meaning that if it had a winner on it then I could take it to either Hemel Hempstead or Berkhamstead in order to connect with my Southern service back to MK. The leading one was a dud and I couldn't help but laugh after seeing the number of the one on the back. It was dud 350125 leading winner 350240 on the service! Both units were quite full and had no seats available so I decided to bale at the first shack that they stopped at, Hemel Hempstead. The 16:27 Southern service to MK was about 5 minutes late according the PIS at Hemel so I had a fester of just over 10 minutes. 92011 came through during that time and I was really hoping for 377702 or 377708 to finish on a high note for the day but it was 377701 that rolled in. I got on board and found a seat before getting my books out and taking a look at how many winners I'd bagged for the day. It'd been a while since I checked my 377/7 requirements so I decided to take a look to just confirm that 377701 was a dud and was really happy to see that it was actually a winner! Now I only need 702 and 708! A very successful winner count for today at 34, with the duds only being at 4! I was mega happy at that! I received a call from dad to say that Torin and him would meet me at the center of the MK shopping center, which is very different to Luton's, that's for sure! Apparently they'd found a noodle place, the plan for dinner, so after leaving the 377, I took the 15 minute walk into town, met up with them and had a nice meal before heading back to the car and homeward after a really, really good day. Just a shame about that 378 though. But with 34 winners, how can I complain?
A rather strange title this time but an accurate one nonetheless for the 27th of November 2015. My brother does Air Kicks every so often, a thing where you're put inside a big cage and really, really strong winds come from the floor and take you into the air, making you fly. Here is where the freedom part comes in. He does it in Milton Keynes. There is a trip that I've wanted to do for quite a while from Milton Keynes, which would hopefully produce loads of winners. All will be revealed later on though.
My day started at 06:45 with my alarm going off. I quickly got dressed and ready and popped on the forum for a bit before doing the final stuff in order to be away in good time. We set off at 08:25 for Milton Keynes, giving me an hour and 27 minutes until my train is due out. Ample time. We headed on the little back roads to get as far as Towcester before taking the main road straight into the heart of MK, arriving with about half an hour until my wanted train, the 09:52 to Euston. I bought my ticket, a return to Park Street, and headed onto the platform to see which dez would be forming my first service. I was pleasantly surprised to see winner 350252 at the northern end of a trio of dezzes. The two at the southern end would be heading to Bletchley depot but both were duds so I couldn't care less. I got my train-spotting books out and began recording numbers as stuff passed while waiting and saw the 09:41 to Euston arrive. This service was formed of 8 coaches today and with a winner leading and a low mileage dud on the back, I'd decided which set I'd take for my first journey. Winner 350374 was leading dud 350122 on this turn so I waved goodbye to 350252 and we took off like a shot, first stop...
... Bletchley. I was off here and I had a hunch that my day would go really well at this point. Why? It was winner 150109 on the 10:05 to Bedford, my last required London Midland 150. I headed across, getting a few photos of it before boarding and getting a bay of 6 at the very front. We left on time and I was hoping that the coal train sat on the line with the loco just out of view from the mainline would have 66200 up front, because I know that it was working out of Peak Forest at the time. It was a very long train and at the very end I saw...
66193. Oh well. We passed Fenny Stratford on the single-track section before joining the double track bit and passing a 153 at the next station, Bow Brickall. It was a really dull ride down the winner track towards Bedford, a group of loud, fare dodging teenagers joining at Stewartby, who weren't hiding the fact that they had no intention of buying a ticket and were hiding at the very front, trying not to get seen by the guard. Unfortunately, he didn't get to them before Bedford St Johns, where they left the train. The rest of the journey to Bedford was nicer than most of the other ride because there was a few track machines on route and, while not much, they added to the sightings for the day. I had printed out a list of 387 diagrams so I knew what they would be on and, just as my gen said, there was a pair waiting on the platform just over the bridge of the winner shack. Having not been on the Midland Mainline for over a year and a half, when I raced through Bedford at speed on a tram, I had no idea which direction the 387s would depart from. Thinking it would be the opposite way from arrival on the 150, I got a seat facing that way on the completely empty carriage of 387120, which was being led by 387118 as it turns out, not leading it. I only knew this when we began to move in the opposite direction but, with the coach being empty except for me, I just changed to a bay of four in the other direction and sat on one of the rock hard seats in my first 387 for haulage. Just after leaving Bedford, we came to a stop for about three minutes before continuing up the MML past those little Thameslink shacks. I was wondering where to get off, my plan saying that Luton Airport Parkway would be good but I then had a collision with a problem. At Harlington (or was it Flitwick?), I looked at the PIS on the other platform to see when the next one towards Bedford was and saw that it was 50 late with the next one 'cancelled' and the one after that 'delayed'. This didn't bode well! I know Thameslink will definitely have delays of at least 10 minutes on every route but 50 seems a little (emphasis on the little) extreme, even for them. Maybe.
I had no idea what would be working what now so just took this set to Luton, a winner shack, to wait for the next thing out. I had no idea what would be next out so had to take a look at the PIS but it seems that at Luton there is one better than that. The signaling display, showing all of the trains, was visible to all of the public and a very quick look said that there was a train approaching heading to Bedford. I had seen a pair of 377/5s at Bedford earlier so I knew that the next one out would be on time so I headed onto the other platform to get the very late 10:54 (the same time that my train departed Bedford) back one stop. It was double winners 377515 and 377521 that would be taking me to another winner shack, Leagrave. Previously, I'd only ever had 377501 and 502 of the Thameslink 377s and they were paired together so it's a high chance that I'd get loads of winners today, with all of the 387s and most of the 319s also being required. It had been so long since I had last had a TL 'trois-sept-sept' (they work to St Pancras don't they? Just one change away from France!) that I'd forgotten what the interiors are like! It was nice to refresh my memory for the short journey to Leagrave where I quickly changed platforms for another double winner 377, this time 377522 and 377523. I sat in the front unit for the journey back up to Luton, knowing that there was a service right behind this one heading towards the Airport. Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, double winners 387125 and 387106. Time for some more rocky seating! I wasn't in one for long though because a couple of moments later I was getting off at shack score number 3 for the day, Luton Airport Parkway. According to the PIS, the next one back was a Bedford train in 10 minutes, currently running over 40 minutes late. The delays on everything were because of overhead wire problems close to London, which explained why everything was delayed. The Bedford service came in with a double winner 319 on but just before people got ready to board the service (including me), it was announced that because of the delay, it would run fast to Bedford from here, not even stopping at Luton. I didn't want to be back in Bedford when I could be bashing units on short hops so I flagged that pair and waited for the next one in, which was about 10 minutes later. This turned out to be a good move as the next one back was a double 377 winner, 377212 leading the set with 377509 stuck behind. This was another Bedford train but it thankfully stopped at Luton so I got a seat for the short ride back to civilization, if Luton counts (which I don't think it does). At Luton, it was decision time again. I wanted to head back out to the airport but there wasn't anything due in quite a while. There looked like a service was heading towards Bedford, stopping at Leagrave fairly soon but a check of RTT and the signaling display showed that there wouldn't be anything back for a while. This was very irritating as that service had a treble winner 377 on! The Luton terminators were also really late but one eventually arrived but it still had 'delayed' next to it. I was chatting with a member of station staff, who was very friendly and during our conversation, I asked how long it would be until the service that was currently in the platform (after terminating here) would be leaving. She had no idea band said that it was awaiting a driver but about 5 minutes later the double winner 319 left. No matter, by the looks of things another service was waiting to terminate. Sure enough, another pair of winners rolled in, ready to form the 12:14 (which was about 20 minutes late) out. This time she said that the moment it got the green signal, the pair would be away so I got a seat in 319436, which was being led by 319219. The service left a couple of minutes later and we began whizzing towards the airport again.
I left the train a couple of minutes later and immediately ran onto the footbridge to get a photo of them with the funky windows that I'd seen earlier in the day. They were glass windows (I'm Sherlock Holmes. The windows were made of glass!) but were in the same shape as plane windows but much larger. I thought they'd be a good frame for a photo of the 319s leaving so I got a couple of photos before retiring back to platform level in time to get the delayed 12:21 back towards Luton. It came in several minutes down with double winners (I'm liking this trip report winner wise!) 377211 and 377518 providing the traction, making the winner count 16 for the day so far. I haven't been able to say that in ages (if ever)! Luton was reached and I had a very short wait here as the next one was only three minutes behind with double winners 387123 and 387117 providing the power. If I took these two to Leagrave then I'd have a decent connection onto one of the treble winners that I'd seen earlier in the day back up. The journey went smoothly and I quickly changed platforms to get onto what should be the triple winner...
... But turned out to be double winners 377511 and 377516, two of the three that I'd seen earlier. One of the stupid things must have uncoupled at Bedford! Since this set was currently running about 20 minutes late, I knew that it'd only be a wait of about 10 minutes at Luton until another treble winner would be there for a hop to the airport. This was one that I'd seen earlier on heading in and after about a 15-minute wait (it was running slightly late), triple winners (yay!) 377512, 377519 and 377517 came in on the 13:18 to Brighton. I got a seat in the middle unit for the very short hop back out to the airport where I decided to go in hunt for some food after seeing that I had 20 minutes until the next service back. I found a 'Cafe Express' just to the side of the railway lines but they wanted £3.70 for a sarnie in there. As if! I haven't won the lottery recently! Noticing that there wasn't anything else around, I headed back to the platforms but, just before going down an escalator and out of sight of the lines, I saw something that looked like a South West Trains unit! I ran over to the window and sure enough, it was one of Kite's locals heading towards London! It seems that 159102 was working back from Loughbrough after having some useless paint job that made it look no different from how it did previously. After watching that fade away, I headed over to the platform that the 10-minute delayed 13:37 to Bedford was due in on and festered for a short while. Sure enough, after a few minutes of waiting, winner 387114 came in with winner 387101 latched on the back. Time for lunch me thinks!
Luton is a dump. Fishquinn's motto, number 1.
And indeed it is (no offence to anyone who likes it)! After getting off the 387s, I headed over to the closed barriers and my ticket, surprise, surprise, didn't work them. I went to the barrier staff and asked to be let through but immediately got questioned about the validity of my ticket (it was most certainly valid). I said that I just wanted to be let through to get some lunch, which was met with a 'well why didn't you just say so!' and a grin as he opened them up. I headed through and immediately saw that there wasn't anything in the local vicinity. There was a Frothbucks, which was attached to a tourist information center (I don't really think it should be called that it Luton. Tourists? Never!) so I wandered over to the latter and asked where the town center was. I was given directions and immediately began heading there because I was very hungry now (I hadn't eaten all day). I reached the town center and decided to randomly choose a way to go in order to find a supermarket that'd do a meal deal. I was walking down the main road in the center for about 5 minutes before noticing a hideous shopping center next to me so I walked up and immediately saw a welcoming sign. No, it wasn't a 'welcome to this mall' sign or anything; it was the familiar blue of the entrance to a 'Greggs'. I smiled and ran towards it before stopping in my tracks. There were at least 20 people in the queue and it was queuing out of the door! NEXT! I walked on through the cramped, horrible shopping center until a wave of relief washed over me. Tesco Metro. There was a Tesco metro! I fought my way through the crowds in order to get in and I immediately got a meal deal and a couple of egg tarts (they were cheap and tasty!). The self-service checkout was the usual pain in the neck but I eventually purchased it and went back out into the shopping mall equivalent of a Penolino in a tunnel - cramped, dark and smells bad. I decided that a certain iced Costa drink was required so I exited the shopping center at the first available exit and walked along the pavement to a Costa that I'd seen on my way...
... To find that it was worse than Greggs queue wise. Back to the station then!
Luton is a dump. Fishquinn's motto, number 1.
My time in Thameslink land was almost over and I had to get back to the Westie fairly soon, but with a different route. Thanks to forum members AM9 and James Wake in particular (and everyone else who helped me of course!), I knew a nice walk to get from St Albans City to St Albans Abbey, using the Alban Way, a tree covered path. The train that I wanted to be on in order to get to St Albans was the 14:14 from Luton, giving me an arrival at 14:29. This would mean that I'd have 45 minutes to get between the two so I had time if I got lost (unlikely) or the train was late (It's Thameslink. With this in mind I say...
... Likely!). And sure enough, after getting back to the station, I only saw one 319 waiting at the end of the platform (Bedford end so far from the footbridge) with it expected out at 14:18. Another 319 arrived a few minutes later and coupled up to it. The 'expected' part of the board changed to just after 14:20 and, with the 14:18 to Brighton being one down, I decided to take that instead if it had a winner on. I saw it come in with a treble 387 and I recognized the numbers, which made me think that they were duds that I'd had earlier. I checked my notes to see and was very pleasantly surprised to see that I hadn't had any of 387122, 387115 or 387105 today. Another treble winner! I got a seat in 105 and got ready for the ride ahead, noting that both 319s currently sat in the platform next to us were required. After leaving Luton Airport Parkway, I checked RTT to see if they'd left Luton and, much to my delight, they had, only 9 minutes late (a new record for Thameslink?). This meant that I could get another two winners and a winner shack so after finishing most of my lunch on the 387s, I left at shack score number 5, Harpenden and waited for just over 5 minutes for my last Thameslink service of the day, which rolled in with double winners 319443 and 319426, meaning that in all of my time bashing the TL stuff, I got 28 winners and no duds! Not to mention the two LM winners that I'd had before these! I was on a roll, that's for sure!
I had no problems with the gateline staff at St Albans with my ticket and after getting through the barriers, I got two sheets of paper out of my bag, one with the detailed directions between the two and the other with photos from the route, very kindly taken by AM9 to help me find my way. They had basic directions with them and after walking the way that the directions told me to, I saw the location that the 1st photo was taken at. And then the second, third and 4th. I reached the Alban way, which was a nice footpath and it was surprisingly busy with both walkers and cyclists. A GBRF freight train passed over the bridge just before I walked under it and, with the help of the photos it was easy to find my way. I arrived at St Albans Abbey with a good 15 minutes before my train, and that's after going via the Sainsbury's en route for a PNB so it shows that you can do it really easily if needed. I had no idea which 319 would be on this service today but, since I've already had one of the LM 319s (when it wasn't LM), I was hoping that it wouldn't be that one. I was lucky (again) because it was winner 319429 on the 15:24 to Watford Junction. I got a seat in the very front coach, away from all of the normals that cramped in the rear two, and was surprised to see that there was LM green seat covers. It seems that London Midland have done something with their 319s then! I sat in a bay of 4 (or was it a bay of 5? Or 6?) for the journey back to the WCML and just thought how much nicer these units could be with a complete refurb. I could come up with a very good plan for a refurbishment on them that'd make them much nicer than they currently are! The journey was dull but I was shortly leaving the 319 at Watford Junction, where I had a little time until the next train that I wanted to catch for another winner. The board said that the 15:46 to Euston (a stopper from Tring) was formed of 8 coaches so I had a chance of a winner but the front one was dud 350234. So far today, I've had at least one winner on every service that I've been on. Don't end now! And it didn't! It was winner 350259 on the back! Now I just had to hope that the gods of London Overground and Southern were blessing me too and I'll have at least one winner on every service today! The former should be very easy because I had only had five 378s (all of which are /2s) but with the latter, I only needed two 377/7s, which are the two that I needed for sight. Anyway, at winner shack number 7, Bushey (St Albans City was number 6), I crossed over to the London Overground platforms to await my only 378 of the day, which would take me on a bit of winner track back to the Junction. I had a 5-minute fester for my service back and, with book in hand to tell me which ones are winners and which ones are dud, I watched it roll in. A lot of curse words were slung at the stupid dud 378233 under my breath as it came in as the third dud of the day, but the first dud that wasn't with a winner. What a bummer! Still, I got a winner bit of track on the journey back so it wasn't all bad.
Back at the Junction, I noticed that the 16:11 to New Street was running slightly late, meaning that if it had a winner on it then I could take it to either Hemel Hempstead or Berkhamstead in order to connect with my Southern service back to MK. The leading one was a dud and I couldn't help but laugh after seeing the number of the one on the back. It was dud 350125 leading winner 350240 on the service! Both units were quite full and had no seats available so I decided to bale at the first shack that they stopped at, Hemel Hempstead. The 16:27 Southern service to MK was about 5 minutes late according the PIS at Hemel so I had a fester of just over 10 minutes. 92011 came through during that time and I was really hoping for 377702 or 377708 to finish on a high note for the day but it was 377701 that rolled in. I got on board and found a seat before getting my books out and taking a look at how many winners I'd bagged for the day. It'd been a while since I checked my 377/7 requirements so I decided to take a look to just confirm that 377701 was a dud and was really happy to see that it was actually a winner! Now I only need 702 and 708! A very successful winner count for today at 34, with the duds only being at 4! I was mega happy at that! I received a call from dad to say that Torin and him would meet me at the center of the MK shopping center, which is very different to Luton's, that's for sure! Apparently they'd found a noodle place, the plan for dinner, so after leaving the 377, I took the 15 minute walk into town, met up with them and had a nice meal before heading back to the car and homeward after a really, really good day. Just a shame about that 378 though. But with 34 winners, how can I complain?
Kite159
Veteran Member
Agreed that Luton is a bit of a dump
159102 was returning from having it's interior refurbished and modifications for the post 2020 regs for disabled loos
Sounded like a good round trip in the northern end of the Thameslink empire
159102 was returning from having it's interior refurbished and modifications for the post 2020 regs for disabled loos
Sounded like a good round trip in the northern end of the Thameslink empire
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I've never been off the station at Luton, so I can't comment there. However, you sure did well for winners, 377509 is my last required 377 for sight so I'm jealous of you having got it!
Certainly enjoyed the read, you're getting back up to date slowly with 'em!
Certainly enjoyed the read, you're getting back up to date slowly with 'em!
47403
Established Member
Just caught up with these young quinn, 2 great reads there, that BnB in Barnetby, I can certainly vouch for and trust me you missed a treat with the breakfast. However it seems like I've missed a trick with my North East Rover, reading your reports, I was unaware the North East rover was valid on GC.
I could've done them some damage too.
I could've done them some damage too.
It's actually not valid on GC at all but the likelihood of being pulled up on it is minimal. I've done York-Northallerton on an evening (the 2014 off York?) service and had it accepted without issue, but another guard did pull me up on it when I did Thirsk-Northallerton on it later in the week, saying that he wouldn't bother charging me but to bear it in mind.
Excellent reads Quinn, jealous of the TL bash, I basically require everything from that day!
Excellent reads Quinn, jealous of the TL bash, I basically require everything from that day!
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