Midlands again
Mum had given me a day off to go out on the bash for doing some really good work, so it was time to plan another trip in a few days time. I didn’t want to turf mum out of bed at stupid o’clock to take me for the 08:23 (I did this regularly enough) so I was going to have to go for the 10:04 for a day in the West Mids before coming back on the 15:55. Although it stopped everywhere (Warwick, Warwick Parkway, Dorridge, Solihull, Moor Street), this service had a highlight. It was the first Northbound 68 at Leamington in the Morning so I would be able to take a cat down for the same cat back. But things changed after seeing that dad was going to be taking the 08:23 to work on the 17th of July instead of the 06:26. This would give me loads of time on a WMDT before the 15:55, so that is the option I went for, giving Nathan a ring to see if he was free in the evening to head up to Bicester and do a ‘Bicester Spin’ which will be explained later. He was, so the plan was put into action.
I got up early and filled my bag with the stuff I would need for the day ahead. Camera and Trainspotting books. I don’t like to over pack (or under pack for that matter). Since dad needed some petrol for the car, we set off at 07:35 and headed to Leamington via the petrol station. Since dad had lost his Season Ticket and was trying to get that sorted, he bought both my ticket, and his ticket, both returns to Moor Street where I would buy my Day Tripper. We head left plenty of time for the train so I grabbed dad a latte from pumpkin, a kind of payment for my ticket to Brum.
Our train rolled in 10 minutes late so the turn around at Snow Hell would be quick for 168218 and 172102. We leaped off at Snow Hell and I had to say bye to dad not long after getting out of the station as I was bound for New Street and he needed to get to work, which is in the opposite direction. I wanted to get a few winner Starships today as I needed 6 LM ones and with 7 hours I was hoping I could get at least 3 of those. So after getting to New Street, I headed down to the platforms to see what was on the 09:35 to Lichfield City. The second I saw the number of the rear unit, I broke into a run and leaped aboard winner 323220 with dud 323206 up front for the run out to winner shack Aston.
I cursed my luck after seeing another of my winner Starships leaving Aston just before we arrived but it turns out that it was a late service so I only had to wait on the platform for 3 minutes before my train back to Brum arrived... with winner 323219 and dud 323240. Score! I spent the ride back to the bat cave looking at RTT to see what 323215 was on (the 323 that I saw leaving Aston as I arrived) and found that it was heading to Reddich. I knew I could get it later in the day and shack scratch Selly Oak at the same time so I went for a fill in move away from the Cross City line on the 10:08 to Wolves which had winner 350257 on. It left 4 minutes late, not helpful considering I had a plus 5 onto a pair of ATW 158s. It didn't make up any time and I wasn't very happy to see the 158s already in the platform. Mad dash time! I sprinted over the footbridge and came down onto the other platform and learnt a lesson after trying to leap onto the units. 158 doors close quickly and without any warning as I hit the doors mid leap. Luckily the guard saw me and motioned for me to join the train at the back. I sprinted down the platform and leaped on there, luckily not coming into contact with metal this time. I found out from the coach numbers that I was on dud 158824 leading another winner 158841! I happily found a seat for the 4.25-mile leap, getting off and heading over to platform 11b in time for the 10:32 to Selly Oak. This was running 7 minutes late meaning I wouldn't have to wait for so long at Selly Oak for 215 back. But even without 323215 I will have achieved my 3 winner Starships as the 10:32 was winner 323242. The winners just keep on coming!
I scored the winner shack and then just sat down and waited for 215 to make an appearance. I heard the 10:53 to Reddich being announced and decided to only take it if it had 323221 or 323204 on it. I wasn't expecting to have to stand up and go for a mega dash onto the other platform for winner 323221 to Bourneville where I should have a makeable connection onto another winner. The journey was quick and soon I was going under the lines and up onto the other side to be greeted by winner 323215. That is 1 London Midland 323 left now (204). I wonder if that will show up later...
I had seen earlier in the day that a winner 165 was on the Leamington to Brum shuttle so I decided to try and get it later. The 11:34 would allow me to head out on the 165 and back on a cat instead of a unit so I opted for that and after getting off the 323 at the hole of the Midlands, I transferred to Birmingham's nicest station and got on winner 165022 with lots of time to spare, taking the bay of 4 at the very front of the unit. The ride to Solihull was uneventful and I didn't have long to wait at all before my train back to Moor Street came howling into the station with 68012 'A Shropshire Mog'. The thrash was excellent on my short journey and it was a shame I had to leave it so soon. I guess I have some more Cat runs later on, one of which should be with A Shropshire Mog again.
Since I was in the area, I decided to do a few trams in the hope of getting a few winner trams and shacks. To start this off, I headed over to platform 2 and waited for a couple of minutes before 172334 appeared (all LM 172s are dud). It was a really hot day so the aircon on the 172 was amazing, so much so I didn't want to get off at The Hawthorns. I got off here instead of Snow Hell because I wanted the shacks after the tram line turns away from the mainline so it was a short wait before winner tram 33 took me forward to Trinity Way for my first shack attack of the day. It was then a very short wait before dud (this is the first train of the day that is a dud when it could have been a winner) 29 took me back along the line to Kenrick Park (shack number 2). I then saw the opportunity for another 3 trams and 1 shack, so I took winner 25 back past Trinity Way to West Bromwich Central before coming back on another winner, 21 to Handsworth Booth Street, one of the few Midland Metro tram stops that was dud. Then another dud tram appeared in the form of 23 which I took for the one stop hop to The Hawthorns where I rejoined the heavy rail stuff with another single station leap on 172335. The station in question was Smethwick Galton Bridge and it was a fairly tight connection onto another train, 172341. This unit is one of them under 10 miles but I could make quite a dent in that with a trip to Moor Street. But I didn't get to Moor Street as en route I noticed that the tram chasing us was required so I got off short at Jewelry Quarter and waited for tram 22 to appear.
After getting off the tram at Snow Hell, I had a decision to make. Either take a 172 to Moor Street or wait an extra 10 minutes for a cat. But a phone call from dad saying that he had left his work logbook on 168218 that morning made my mind up for me. There was a plus 2 from the 68 onto what should be 168218 at Solihull so I opted for that, getting a seat in the coach right behind 68011, 'Custard' for the 7.25 mile journey. Dad said that the cart I was to connect with was 3 late as I left so I had faith in the connection and after a spirited run I was getting off the cat to wait for the cart, which rolled in 1 late with 168218. I searched the seats, table and luggage rack where we were but found no logbook so I headed to the guard to ask if he had picked it up. He said he hadn't so I gave dad a call to say. He thanked me for looking and said that he was waiting for a reply from Chiltern about where it was and would call me when he got one. I was going to get off at Moor Street to walk over to New Street but somewhere around Tyseley I realized that if I took it through to Snow Hell I could connect with the 170/153 combo back up. The 170 would be a dud because it is a booked 3 coach, all of which I have had but the 153 was a likely winner. So I got off at Snow Hell again and headed over the bridge to see the pair arriving with dud 170632 leading winner 153364. Since I just wanted to scratch them, Moor Street would do, and a couple of minutes later I was getting off the dogbox and into the fresh air again.
A brisk walk was had to the bat cave and after scanning platforms for winners I decided on the 14:14 to Euston which had winner 350116 on. Naturally I took this to Birmingham International, and since I wanted to be back at Moor Street to meet Nathan off 1R37 (14:25 from Leamington), I didn't have time to wait for a winner so dud 390050 was had for the speedy journey back to the city.
By now it was about 10 minutes until the scheduled arrival of Nathan's train at Moor Street, so after getting off the Unspeakable Horror, I headed out of New Street and took the very familiar walk to Moor Street where I watched the cat I would be having to Bicester in about an hour arrive. Vote Topcat (68015)! My plan now was to just do a leap to Smethwick Galton Bridge in the hope of getting a 172 that was required for 10 miles, so after chatting with Nathan for a couple of minutes, I headed off to catch the 14:58 away while Nat stayed behind to get a few photos of the cat that had taken him down from Leamington. My train away for formed of double 172s, 172217 and 172338, the latter of
which was required for 10 miles, something a leap to Galton Bridge sorted out.
After arriving, I got a phone call from Nathan saying that he was on the 15:17 from Moor Street and would get off at the Hawthorns to come back with me. I finished the call just before another 172 arrived so I took 172344 one stop to The Hawthorns before heading over to the other platform and waiting for Nathan's train to arrive. Since it was on-time, we had plenty of time to get to the other platform to wait for our train back to Brum: 172336 and it got us there bang on time at 15:50. I knew dad would already be on the 15:55 so we climbed aboard the rear coach, right behind 68015 'Topcat' and headed over to him at one of the right hand side bays of 4 before taking a seat with him. He was ok and had had a good day at work but wanted to continue through to Bicester with us. Unfortunately this wasn't an option as mum was heading out for the evening so he had to be at home to look after my brother. We left Moor Street bang on time and just ranted until Leam. Dad had managed to get his logbook back as the cleaners at Snow Hell were very good and the book was taken off 172102 and 168218s working back to Marylebone at Moor Street before being taken to the ticket office. Chiltern had called each of the stations that the duo had stopped at on the way back to London and since it was at Moor Street, Dad easily picked it up on his way to the train. But it seems he was having a bad day at leaving things behind as his bag almost continued with Nathan and I to Bicester. If it weren’t for my quick actions at Leamington, I would have an extra bag to carry for the evening.
After dad got off, we continued talking, which included a lot of moaning from Nathan and him saying that he never goes out on the trains anymore (umm, hello? You are on a train right now!). Eventually, we arrived at Bicester where we had a 30-minute wait before our next train for the Bicester spin appeared, 68012 'A Shropshire Mog'. I will take this opportunity to explain the Cat names I have been giving them. When I headed down to meet dad from work one day, we decided on some names for the Chiltern cats, which are nameless (to most people, me not included). We chose the names based on the old 67 ones. 68010, 68011 and 68015, were 3 shovels without names or ones that were never on the Chiltern network, so we gave them names based on cats. 68010 became known as 'Bagpuss', 68011 as 'Custard' and 68015 as 'Topcat' (as it is the highest Chiltern Cat). Then 68012, 68013 and 68014 had names based on the 67 ones, but also based on Cats. Shovel 12 was 'A Shropshire Lad' so Cat 12 became 'A Shropshire Mog'. Then 67013 was 'Dyfrbont Pontcysyllte' which when said sounds like a cat coughing up a hairball. So 68013 became known as 'Hairball'. Then finally, 67014 (the best shovel) was 'Thomas Telford' so 68014 (the best cat) became known as 'Ginger Tom'. Hopefully you could follow that! Anyway, back to reality.
Our cat arrived at Banbury on time where we had to leave after only 14 miles of thrash. And to make things worse, we had to go over onto a 168 back up instead of another loco hauled service. It wasn't so long to wait until our service appeared though, powered by 168003. The journey back didn't take so long and soon it was arriving back at Bicester North where we had 40 minutes to get into town, buy fish and chips and then get back to the station in time for the Banbury set (slam door stock). This would involve a little running as Bicester North is quite a way from the chippy so the moment after crossing the footbridge, we headed off on the familiar walk to dinner.
After a bit of walking, running and then walking again, we arrived at the chip shop, where a medium cod, a fishcake and some chips were got for me, with Nathan having a battered sausage and chips. We then headed back to the station; debating whether our train back to Banbury would be caped (as it had been 2 times we have done the Bicester spin). Thankfully it hadn't and we got back to the station about 10 minutes before our train arrived, giving me a bit of time to tuck into my fish as the next chance would be Banbury (as I would be at the vestibule window for the journey). It arrived at Bicester 6 minutes before it was due to leave, with 68008 'Avenger' providing the power. Avenger was the first cat I ever had for haulage so it was nice to get it again, this time with slam door stock. Bring on the thrash!
A brilliant 15 minutes later we had to leave the brilliant 68, but not before climbing in the cab, with the permission of the driver of course. Then, we wandered over to the far end of the platform and finished our tea, seeing Topcat come past on a Kiddy bound train. But the main thing we were waiting for hadn't come yet, but when it did we could hear it at least 2 minutes before we could see it. Bring on 4M99 with 70014 doing full whack through Banbury! Oh, the noise! Much, much, much better than at Leamington where it is doing 20(mph) if your lucky. After that, it wasn't long to wait before our train to Dorridge which was in the hands of 68009 'Titan', a winner for Nathan, leaving him with just 68011 to get (and yes, I did tell him I got it earlier in the day). It felt strange not getting off at Leamington but when you can get an extra 12.75 Cat miles then who isn't going to go for that option? That and the extra mileage would clear Titan for 100, putting it at 101 (where it still is now).
The journey went smoothly and after watching it leave we headed over the footbridge, stopping to look at a Colas betty in the loop which was too far out to identify. Oh well, what can you do? We stayed up there until we saw the headlights of 168110 coming our way. We sat down in the rearmost coach in the rearmost seats (those with no window view) and had to keep each other awake to avoid missing Leamington. Luckily we stayed awake and after a fairly short run, we got off and headed out to the car park to find Jackie, Nathan's mum waiting for us. Then it was just a quick car ride home and that was the end of my day out.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Just the usual
The 22nd of July was in Nathan's school holidays so we decided to head out for the day to do a bit of bashing. 3 guesses where too!
As usual, it was a spin and win in the West Mids, this time on a WMDR. Nathan wanted to get a tram in from Tamworth to New Street during the day so we both decided to make that a priority so at about 09:30 mum took Nathan and I to the station. As it was a weekday, the 10:04 would be hauled so after grabbing tickets at Leamington, we headed to the far end of platform 2 to await the cat to Brum.
After about 5 minutes of chatting, we were interrupted by the sound of a 68 coming around the corner. Nathan was hoping for 68011, his last Chiltern Cat and he was really happy to see that it was indeed 'Custard' pulling the train. After Nathan got a photo of the beast that was taking us forward, we got on the front coach ready for some thrash from 68011. It stopped at lots of stations en route to Moor Street where I got off leaving Nathan on board to take it back out for some extra mileage. I couldn't be asked walking over to New Street so I decided to head over via Smethwick to try and get a winner heading back to New Street. The 10:49 was my service away from Moor Street and it had 172211 and 172215 providing the power for the slog out to Galton Bridge. It wouldn't be a long wait at Smethwick as there is an 11:07 dez to Walsall, which I could take to New Street. The train after that was 15-minutes later so I decided to take it even though dud 350266 was the unit on it. The train was surprisingly busy but I managed to get a seat for the short journey. At Soho, I noticed that 08805 had been repainted into Railfreight grey and looked much smarter than it previously did. But all in all it was just a very familiar journey and it was nice to be getting off at New Street to try and locate a winner.
I really wanted to get 323204 today as then I will have cleared my London Midland 323s but the Cross Country tram was above it in the list of priorities. My plan was to head over to Moor Street to catch the 11:34 to Solihull and meet up with Nathan again there (because it had a winner 165 on) but after getting a phone call from Nat saying that his train back would be late I flagged that option and boarded the 11:30 Pendo which had winner 390112 on after saying that I would meet him on the 12:19 to Nottingham, the train that we would have to be on in order to get the 12:48 tram back. With 390112 off the list, this left 19 Pendos to get, seven 9 coach and twelve 11 coach.
Lots of trains were late heading back from International, and with my prefered train (the Edinburgh bound VT) getting later and later, I decided to play it safe and got on the 11:46 Back to New Street which was running 7 late with dud 350371. I got a bay of 2 to myself on the right hand side, and I was lucky there as this train was very busy. Eventually it arrived at New Street 9 minutes late. I now had 8 minutes until the 12:19 was due to depart so there was plenty of time to see what platform it was on. I got a call from Nathan saying that his Cat had arrived at Moor Street and he was on his way over. After telling him to hurry, I hung up and got a seat on our train to Tamworth, which was dud 170523. Nat joined me about 3 minutes before departure and the 170 left on time, just in front of the Stanstead Airport bound train.
There was nothing much of note in Lawley Street and we couldn't see anything in Kingsbury (as per usual). So after a less than thrilling journey, we were getting off at Tamworth, ready for a 10 minute wait and then thrash! We changed platform to the New Street bound one to see that it was running 10 minutes late. And that it was formed of 5 coaches. For goodness sake! We come all the way out for a tram and the service we wanted is a pigging 221! Our plan rapidly changed and we headed over to the low level platforms to wait for a Crewe bound train. A quick look on RTT shown that it wouldn't be long to wait at Lichfield for a New Street bound Starship, as since we both needed the line that was what we did instead. And who knows; maybe I will fall into 323204.
The ex Euston 350127 arrived right time so we both climbed aboard the dud unit and grabbed a couple of seats for the short northbound run. Lichfield Trent Valley is a winner shack for me so it was nice to get that one out of the way, just leaving Apsley, Polesworth and Rugely to get on the WCML between Watford and Crewe. It was a very easy change and we were sat on dud 323242 for about 4 minutes before departure. We wanted to get off at a station en route to shack scratch but with the next New Street bound service being from Four Oaks, we had to get off between there and Brum. Since we were both sick and tiered of 242 by Four Oaks we got off there to watch the 323 that we would be on to Birmingham arrive in the bay platform. I phoned mum while waiting and the call included cheering as the terminating train was winner 323204! I happily joined the train, followed by Nathan and the onward journey was much nicer, probably because I knew I had finally cleared the London Midland starships. This one was taken straight through to the bat cave where we had to decide what to do next. Nathan wanted to head to Birmingham International so we decided on that, taking the 14:36 ATW service. Unfortunately it had double duds on it, 158825 and 158830.
After arriving at Birmingham International, we found that loads of trains were late and the next one back would be the pair of 158s we had just arrived on. This was annoying as I was hoping to get a winner back, but since we wanted to be back at Moor Street in time for 1H69 we rejoined the 158s that we had just got off for another 8.5 mile journey.
We had time to kill after getting back to New Street so instead of walking straight over to Moor Street, we headed to Snow Hell to catch a train from there and it turned out to be a good call because the 172s on the 15:47 were 172219 and 172216, my lowest mileage two. Sure, 0.75 miles isn't much but it is something. From here we headed over to dad on the 15:55 which had the same cat we had earlier in the day, 68011. It was a nice journey back to Leamington where we all had a 10 minute walk to the car which took us home after a fairly good day on the rails.
