FQ's trips around the globe

Techniquest · 28 Jun 2016

Somehow I never replied to this the other day! Top read as expected young sir, and that bottle of water you left with me is still waiting for when we next meet up! I kid you not, that bottle has been sitting on top of a chest of drawers for quite some time now!

RailUK Forums

FQ · 29 Jun 2016

Wow! High mileage bottle of water then if it made it to Hereford and then stayed there for a while!

FQ · 8 Jul 2016

Not much time for Cheshire!

On day 2 of this trip, I had the day off on the trains. Like most of the time I'm up at Granny's, I decided to head to Mancc for the day, heading via Shotton and Chester both ways with what should be a shovel on the way back. I got to bed at a reasonable time on the 21st (I had got up at 05:15!) and had my alarm set for 06:50 the next day.

I woke a few minutes before it went off so just turned it off, got dressed and headed downstairs. Granny was already up and insisted that she made me some brekky so I decided to go for a bagel to start the day. After that and a quick check of the forum using Granny's I-pad, it was time to head to the station. I was planning to walk down this morn' but Granny decided to drive me so I had slightly longer at the house before we headed off to Penyffordd station in time for the 07:47 to Bidston. It rolled in a few minutes after Granny had left to head home at 07:49. Dud 150253 was working it today. I always enjoy getting on an Arriva 150 earlier in the morning for some reason and the thrash towards Shotton was brilliant. The guard came through between Penyffordd and Buckley and easily issued my tickets; a return to Hawarden Bridge and a Cheshire Day Ranger. Instead of bailing at Shotton this time, I continued to Hawarden Bridge, as this is one of the only services that stop there. I'd been onto the platforms before but had never boarded or alighted from a service so couldn't call it a proper score. After departing Shotton, it was only a couple of moments until arrival at my destination. A trundle over the brilliant swing bridge was had before the 150 arrived at the station named after the bridge, Hawarden Bridge. This was shack score 0.5 as the other .5 had happened when I was on the platforms last time. I'm just going to call it shack score 1 though.

After alighting, I got a few photos of the 150 before going for a little morning walk alongside the River Dee towards Chester.

Hawerden Bridge station by fishquinn1, on Flickr
I took a couple of photos of the swing bridge from a distance while walking but, when I was about half way to where I wanted to be, I heard the faint sound of a GM engine so I turned and walked back slightly in the hope of viewing whatever loco it was and getting a decent photo of it crossing the bridge. Unfortunately, after just over 5 minutes of waiting, I concluded that it was just shunting stuff in Dee Marsh yard so I walked slightly further on but turned around before reaching the point I wanted to get to.

Hawarden swing Bridge by fishquinn1, on Flickr

While heading over to Shotton station, I paused at Hawerden Bridge (station) for a moment to get a photo before continuing across the river Dee (making use of the walkway right next to the railway line on the (former) swing bridge. It took me less than 5 minutes to get back to Shotton.

Hawerden Bridge station by fishquinn1, on Flickr
I had a short 10-minute fester before my 175 across to Mancc was due so, getting the digi camera out again, I got a photo of the 175 heading in the other direction.

Towards the coast by fishquinn1, on Flickr
A few minutes after that departed, I could see my cart approaching from the West. I got my camera ready for a photo of dud 175101 as it arrived. I'm certainly taking a lot of photos today!

Heading to Mancc by fishquinn1, on Flickr
A free bay of 4 was found easily enough and, instead of just watching the (rather dull) scenery roll past, I got out my pack of cards and started a game of patience. No, I wasn't waiting to see how long it'd take for me to do something with the cards; patience is another name for the card game solitaire. I wasn't wedged out at Chester (having the whole table covered with cards probably helps there) and I took a few glances out of the window because the scenery on this stretch is certainly better than on any other part of the journey. A few rounds were won, which I was certainly glad about and I wasn't wedged out at all on the journey. A couple of people were thinking about it at Frodsham but didn't when they saw that I had almost finished a game (which means that there is cards covering the whole table). There were several other bays of 4 with 2 spare seats though so I wasn't disrupting anyone. I continued to have a few more games, finishing my last one between Patricroft at Eccles, ready to leave the cart at Occy Road. We arrived one-minute late and I left the train with a few options of what to do now. I wanted to head through to Piccadilly instead of towards Deansgate so, after watching shovel 2 roll in while working the 09:50 to Holyhead, knowing that I should be getting it later, I crossed to platform 4 and waited for the first of the two services that I'd want to take to Mancc. The first one should be a pair of 156s, the second a 319. This was reversed today though, with the 319 arriving a few minutes early on platform 3 to wait for the 156s to pass it. The 319 was one that I'd had the day before (319383) so I waited for the arrival of the 156s and got a photo as winner 156429 rolled in leading dud 156461.

Purple at Oxford Road by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Getting in a winner coach (either of them) in the rear unit, I was soon at Piccadilly on platforms 13/14. The 156s were slightly late so the connection I wanted to make onto the 10:03 Blackpool, which was already in platform 14 when we arrived, was likely to miss. I really wanted to make the connection after seeing that it was a pair of 150s, one of which was a winner. I was first at the door and a major sprint down platform 13 was had to the waiting units but the doors had just locked. The guard noticed that I wanted to get on so invited me onto the unit via his local door! I was glad at this because it scored me 150276, which had dud 150204 on the back, which was the 1st 150 I'd seen with a disabled toilet. I didn't need to make use of it on the 0.5 mile journey out to Occy Road where a swift platform change was had onto an approaching Scarborough bound 185. I was very pleased to notice that this was winner 185125, which was taken for the short hop back to Piccadilly.

After getting off this one I decided that, because it was only a 5-minute fester, I'd take the 10:16 dez out to Oxford Road to go back on the other one on the off chance that either 350401 or 350403 were on one of them as they were my last two required TPE dezes. Unfortunately the 10:16 was dud 350409 but it was taken out to Occy Road anyway. A photo was got before I headed to platform 4 for my return to Piccadilly.

Dez to Scotland by fishquinn1, on Flickr
It turns out that this was a worthless leap because dud 350404 was had back to Piccadilly. When this gets back to Piccadilly, there isn't anything back out to Oxford Road for another 10 minutes (the EMT to Lime Street) so I headed over to the main platforms in hunt of winners. I noted that a winner 156 was on the 10:49 to Buxton so, with it being just before 10:30, I had 20 minutes to kill until departure. This would be ample time to get out to Piccadilly Gardens and back on the Metrolink so I decided to do that and then come back for the 156. A run down to the Metrolink platform was had (as always) and it turns out that, for once, it was actually needed because there was a tram in the platform already. I got on just before the doors began to close on double winners 3081 and 3086. Smart move!

Just after I left the double tram at Piccadilly Gardens, I could see another pair arriving heading back towards Piccadilly. I was very pleasantly surprised to see that it was another double winner set, this time 3004 and 3008. 29 chains later, I was back at Piccadilly.

I headed back up to the main concourse and, after heading past the RPIs, I got on board the Buxton service. RTT was checked while on board winner 156421 to see if I could just head out to Levenshulme to get back sooner (and score a winner shack) but it'd be a +15 onto the next service, which would be heading towards Stockport anyway. It'd be a +18 onto the next thing back to Piccadilly. I didn't want to bail at Heaton Chapel (it's a dud shack that isn't in a nice area) and, since there's a much better service frequency from Stockport, I bailed there. This service arrived on platform 0 so I had to go through a set of barriers at Stockport for the first time to get over to the Mancc bound platforms. I flagged a dud, slightly late running starship to see what was on the ex Buxton 5 minutes behind. This was a good move (although I know that forum member 185143 would disagree!) because it was winner 150133 on this. This was a pretty full service so, because I wanted a seat, I had to wedge out a couple of people in a bay of four.

On the front of my bag is a couple of enamel badges from Vancouver sea life center (from when I went to Canada). I didn't realize but the people I was sat opposite were Canadian and, after a few minutes, they asked me if I was from Canada (I hadn't spoken so they wouldn't have been able to tell I wasn't from my accent). I didn't know why they had asked me that before they pointed out the badges. They were apparently from Vancouver and were very soche people who I chatted to until the approach to Piccadilly. I saw a TPE dez in platform 13 as we arrived and I had to look again before knowing that it was one of my last 2 TPE dezes. I got to the door as quickly as possible and sprinted across the footbridge and down onto the platform but the doors had just locked when I got to the unit (this seems to be happening quite a lot today!). Unfortunately the guard decided not to let me (or another couple of people who had just missed it) on via the local door so I knew that I'd have to get it on its return journey to Scotland for an Occy Road leap so I watched it leave before deciding what to do next. There isn't much around this time and, with no winners in the area, I headed for the Metrolink again. I had a short wait on Piccadilly's 'underground' platforms before a tram set arrived. This was a pair and I was glad to see that 3061, which was up front, was a winner. It was dud 3078 on the back. I got a seat in the rear, less crowded tram (3061 stopped right outside the entrance where loads of people were) for my short, one stop hop to Piccadilly Gardens. There was a tram right behind this one and, as the tram I was on was heading towards Deansgate (and would probably be stopped waiting to move along the single line section), I wanted to leave the tram here. This was a good move because it was winner 3075 right behind this one. It was taken to Market Square where I noticed a double set arriving from the Victoria direction. I decided that if it was a pair of winners then I'd take it to Deansgate so, after identifying the trams as double winners 3047 and 3060, I leapt aboard. After a while waiting for a path through St Peters Square on the single line section, we got moving and arrived at Deansgate just over 5 minutes after leaving Market Square. I saw a pair of trams arriving on the opposite platform so I ran over and was happy to ID them as another double winner pair, this time 3044 and 3027. I don't think the Ads were up on the trams and at Metrolink stations when I did this trip (well I certainly didn't notice them until a trip at a later date) but Metrolink now has posters saying 'did you know that you'd gone green? By using Metrolink you have.' This is because Metrolink are now apparently only using electricity generated from renewable resources. Why the heck am I bringing this up (I'm guessing you think I've gone crazy!)? Well, in all of the posters, there is a photo of a person standing in a very green area with lots of flowers around them and tram 3044 passing. I now know that I've had a celebrity tram fairly recently

!

This pair was soon dropping me off at Piccadilly Gardens after a pretty clear run through the single line stretch. I knew that I needed to be back at Piccadilly fairly soon for 350401 but I noticed that there was a tram one minute behind this pair at Piccadilly Gardens so decided to bail on the chance of a winner to Piccadilly. This paid off because it was winner 3064 that took me the short 29 chain hop back to Piccadilly station itself. I headed over to the 'through' platforms and was waiting only about 10 minutes before I could see what looked like a very long line of toothpaste approaching. I was relieved to see that it was indeed my penultimate TPE dez, 350401, and I leapt aboard for the short hop to Occy Road. I was obviously hoping for my last one, 403, to form my train back to Mancc but my dez luck had ran out as it was dud 350407 that took me back to Piccadilly.

As the Metrolink had been good to me before I had to head off for 401, I decided to give it another shot. Deciding against getting lunch at this point (12:30), I made my way back underground and decided to get the first one out to Piccadilly Gardens. This was a pair and was luckily winner 3089 and dud 3063 that did the honors of taking me one stop towards the city centre. Right behind this tram at the Gardens was a Rochdale bound and the Metrolink gods were, once again, on my side as it was high numbered winner 3109 working this. Another one stop hop, this time to Market Square where I gave in to the temptation of lunch. I headed to the Boots a couple of metres away from the platform and got a meal deal, which I took back to the platform. On seeing a tram coming around the corner from the Piccadilly Gardens direction, I began to run. A quick check of the tram number in my platform 5 book told me it was required so, without hesitation, I leapt aboard. It was a Bury bound with 3038 providing power. The winners just keep on coming! Saying that didn't curse me as, after I got to Victoria on this tram, I could see another approaching. A quick platform change was required and I saw that it was another winner, 3088, that would be taking me up the hill and along the cobbled road to Shudehill. A swift platform change was also required here as a Rochdale bound tram was arriving again with another high numbered winner, 3104. I took this through to Viccy and then looked at my options (or more the PIS on the other platform). The next tram heading towards Shudehill was a dud so I flagged it and instead decided to get the new track to Exchange Square. This was unfortunately a dud but I got some winner track whilst on 3105 so I didn't mind. I 'accidently' didn't get off the tram in time at Exchange Square so I had to stay on for a bit more winner track to the current headshunt and get a winner crossover as the tram shunted back to Exchange Square. I did the 'leap off, leap on' technique for the shack before getting my seat again for the 20 chains back to Victoria. This is where the duds started to come as the first tram up was a pair of duds, this being 3056 and 3041. I took them out to Shudehill anyway, knowing that I should make the connection onto a Rochdale bound there. I wanted to do this because the Rochdale ones had mostly been throwing out high numbered ones and I obviously needed quite a few. This was no exception because, after a swift platform change at Shudehill, I was on winner 3103 back to Victoria.

Back at Viccy, the next double tram set heading in the Shudehill direction was a winner and a dud. This would obviously have been rude to refuse so I got on winner 3049 and dud 3036 for the two stop ride out to Market Square. Winner 3101 was right behind on an Ashton bound, which, not too surprisingly as it was a high numbered tram, comes from Rochdale. There wasn't much due at Piccadilly Gardens by the looks of things so I continued to Piccadilly. Deciding not to finish with the Metrolink just yet, I simply changed platforms. This was a good move as winner 3020 was sat there waiting to close it's doors on a Bury service. 29 chains later I was on the island platform of Piccadilly Gardens. There wasn't too much due so I decided to just get the next thing that rolled in. This was one in the Piccadilly direction and turned out to be duds for the day 3004 and 3008. That ended my time on the Metrolink (for now!).

I made my way over to platforms 13 and 14 after seeing there wasn't much of interest on the main platforms and waited for a few minutes to view the 14:03 Blackpool cart. This was one of 185143's faveorites (

), a 150/1, and I got on board after finding out that 150149 was a winner. A fairly swift connection at Occy Road was needed to get onto the Scarborough which, for once, wasn't caped due to a member of traincrew being unavailable. I was happy to note that the Oxford Road leap had provided two winners as it was winner 185111 taking me back to Piccadilly. I wanted to take the 14:16 dez for another Occy Road leap because both that and the return working from Occy Road would be 'unknowns' that could have 350403 on. The outward working said no as it was 350410 on this but I took it anyway because of the return working would give me a one in four chance of my last TPE dez. Unfortunately my hopes were crushed by 350402, which took me the half-mile journey back to Piccadilly. While looking at what to do next, I glanced across at the coach number of one of the two pendos in the platform and had to investigate further after seeing that it looked like the last two numbers of the coach I'd looked out were '06'. My investigation confirmed my suspicions and told me that one of my last 5 pendos was going to work the 14:55 Euston. Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to have a fill in move before it as it was now 14:30 and I didn't have time to do a tram leap after speaking to dad who confirmed my suspicions that an Occy Road leap wouldn't be possible. I had a nice conversation with him and, by the time I'd finished it was just after 14:40. I decided to just go and get a seat on board so I did a quick scan of the various coaches to see if any decent seats were free and, after getting to coach C and about to walk through to coach D, I spun in my spot after seeing that both C1 and C2 were free! They said 'reserved special assistant' as always but this special assistant has never appeared and if asked to move I would. I got a seat in C2 and never got asked to move on the short ride out to Stockport.

Once there, I changed platforms and flagged a dud starship in the hope of a winner on the ex Buxton 8 minutes behind it. I got my hopes up when I saw a 150/1 approaching and was even happier after seeing another one there too. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that there was 3! They were all 150/1s and I got more and more happy as I IDed them. Winner 150118 was leading, with winner 150138 in the middle and, just to cap it off, winner 150144 was on the end! Worth the wait me thinks! I couldn't believe my luck with 4 winners on a Stockport leap so, after clambering on board the rear coach of 138 (150144 was locked OOU), I found a bay of four with ease. It was a very empty service (in my part at least) and it was a very relaxing and swift ride back to Piccadilly, arriving right time.

I headed back over to the Occy Road platforms and was confused for a few minutes while looking at the departure board. On platform 14, on the departure board where the destination board was, it said 'Manchester Oxford Road'. Either something had gone very wrong or there was a pretty funky service at 15:41. It turned out that it was the latter and I knew that the moment after I saw a Starship approaching, that I was in for a fun ride if I wanted to take it. The sight of my fave 323 was a welcome sight and I knew that there was no way I was flagging 323232(3232323232323232) for the ride out to Occy Road. It may be a dud but it's still the best starship! It was surprising that I wasn't the only person boarding here but quite a few people were already on board. Nevertheless, I still easily managed to get a seat for the short hop. I had a few options now but the first departure from Occy Road was the one that got my attention. While heading in the wrong direction for Piccadilly, it did stop at Deansgate so I got on board dud 156455 and winner Heaton unit 156484 for the ride out to Deansgate. This service was heaving but I managed to battle through the crowds from one vestibule door to another (it's a different side of the train at Deansgate from Occy Road) before the 0.25 mile journey was up.

There wasn't too much heading in the other direction and, as I didn't have too long until I was planning to meet up with 185143, I headed for the Metrolink and decided to get on the first available. My Metrolink luck continued as it was winner 3042 and dud 3034 that took me back along the line to Piccadilly. 185143 (the forum member, not unit) was already at Piccadilly when I got there so I wandered over and we had a nice chat before having to head over to platform 14 for my train to Chester and his train to Occy Road. This was, if you hadn't already guessed, the 16:50 to Ludo. Having seen it earlier on, I knew that it'd be the only of the 3 blue shovels that I'd had for haulage but it was still shovel thrash and 67002 did well at producing it. It was a shame that 185143 had to leave at the first stop but it was nice to catch up with him again, even if it was only for about half an hour. The 16:50 was, as always, very busy but just like the last time I was on it, loads of people left at Newton-le-Willows. I spent the whole journey windowhanging right behind the shovel and even the police officer in the vestibule didn't mind one bit. If he's a regular then I guess that he's used to it. Unlike the last time I was on this service, I wasn't off at Warrington Bank Quay for a long and very nerve racking fester (as the last time I was on the 16:50 was back in Jan when dad and I headed to Mancc and the 221 arrived on our booked 390 turn home) and the shovel continued stopping at another three stops before it began the last leg of my journey, arriving at Chester a few minutes early. I got off and immediately got the camera out for a few photos as I listened to the brilliant sounds of a shovel waiting to leave and got a video as it thrashed away continuing its journey to Holyhead.

Heading to Holyhead by fishquinn1, on Flickr

Heading to Holyhead by fishquinn1, on Flickr
I then resigned myself to the 20-minute fester until my 175 to Shotton. It's annoying knowing that the shovel would pass through Shotton non stop and wouldn't connect onto anything back to Shotton at Flint or any other station up the coast to get me back to Shotton in time for the 19:09 to Penyffordd but there was nothing that I could do so I just got the numbers of stuff at Chester for a bit before seeing my 175 arrive from the Cardiff direction. It reverses here to get along the North Wales coast so has a slightly longer dwell time. Even with this, arriving at 18:23 for an 18:24 departure would mean we'd leave slightly late on 175106. A seat was found in one of my required coaches (any of them so that was pretty easy) for the short journey and my last on the Cheshire Day Ranger. We left only a couple of minute late but this was no problem for me because my connection at hell itself would have been a +37 if we were on time. 8 minutes later, I was stood on the platform at Shotton.

I needed to get some dinner in my 35-minute fester in Shotton (which really needs the first 'o' in its name being changed to another vowel

) and, knowing that there was a pretty good kebab house on the high street, I wandered over and simply got a small doner meat. I knew from past experience that a 'small' one of these is in fact very sizable so I didn't need chips or a larger portion. As it was now very dark (it was black with streetlights being the only source of light) so I didn't want to go for a walk, especially knowing how Shotton is during the day, knowing that it'd be worse at night, and instead took my kebab to the Wrexham bound platform on the Borderlands line and resigned myself to a 20-minute fester for the 150. Dinner was excellent as usual and it was soon all gone, with a very full me on the platform. I was the only person waiting for the 19:09 this eve and, with a pretty dark platform, it was easy to see the 150 headlights as they neared. I knew that the other unit on the Borderlands line today was a dud so I didn't mind which appeared. It turned out that I'd be getting the same unit as earlier on back to granny's local station, 150253. It was nice to leave Shotton on the lightly loaded service and, after a fun trundle along the line, it was arriving at Penyffordd. Granny said that she couldn't come to pick me up because of her 'night vision' supposedly being awful. She wanted me to get an earlier train like when I went for 67014 last August but this time I point blank refused and said that I'd walk back. Mum wasn't happy with me doing this in the complete darkness but both dad and I managed to persuade her, provided I was speaking with dad on the phone the whole time. I could happily do this and the 20-minute walk felt a lot shorter speaking to dad and I did so until I'd reached the door, after another wonderful day out!

507021 · 8 Jul 2016

Great read there FQ, really enjoyable. Nice photos too.

As I've said before in Tech's thread I really need to get over to Manchester to do some more of the Metrolink, although I'm trying to decide whether to do that or the Blackpool Tramway first. I haven't been on the Blackpool Tramway for 17 years (last time was in 1999, IIRC), so I might do that one first, especially as I have yet to have a ride on the Flexity2s.

FQ · 8 Jul 2016

The Metrolink is certainly good fun. I don't know about Blackpool though as I've never been. At least it isn't too far for you to go!

Kite159 · 8 Jul 2016

Sounded like a good day in Manchester area

Techniquest · 9 Jul 2016

Beast of a day there FQ! Certainly you did well with the winners, without a doubt I will have needed some of that lot. Metrolink appears to be quite popular with bashers!

3044 might be a local advert celebrity tram, but not a forum celebrity yet. Lots of trips to Manchester coming up over the years to get the last ones, a lot of festering around Deansgate and Shudehill I reckon for them!

Another excellent read young sir!

55013 · 9 Jul 2016

Very good that, I liked the photos as well.

FQ · 9 Jul 2016

Techniquest said:
Lots of trips to Manchester coming up over the years to get the last ones, a lot of festering around Deansgate and Shudehill I reckon for them!

How about St Peters Square so you can get things on both routes?

Techniquest · 9 Jul 2016

fishquinn said:
How about St Peters Square so you can get things on both routes?

Still miss stuff on Ashton to Rochdale runs and Piccadilly to Bury runs

FQ · 9 Jul 2016

Ok, then Victoria!

Techniquest · 9 Jul 2016

fishquinn said:
Ok, then Victoria!

Fair enough, Victoria isn't as bad for festering as it was once. Mind you, now there's more than one island platform it's not as easy! :lol:

185143 · 9 Jul 2016

You and rancid 150s.

FQ · 10 Jul 2016

Ouch!

47403 · 18 Jul 2016

just caught up with these young Quinn, my apologies, some great reading there, 350403 is my last one needed to clear em for haulage too.

I must get cracking with the trams in Manchester, however I seem to get stuck on winner moves at Man Picc and the trams become irrelevant.

Techniquest · 18 Jul 2016

I was like that for a long time myself, whenever I'd go up for a Metrolink bash the mainline network would win instead. Not been the case the last few times though, so now that my heavy rail needs have been neglected for some time I need to get back on the case!

FQ · 22 Jul 2016

Homeward bound

After a day at Granny and Gramps's on Wednesday the 23rd, not even seeing a train, I was to head home. A Cheshire Day Ranger was decided upon to get me back via Mancc and, getting to bed just after 22:00 on the Wednesday made my 07:15 alarm more bearable. I headed downstairs and got some brekky before chilling out for a bit. Eventually 08:35 came round so I got ready to head out of Granny's house for the last time in a while in her car. A 5-minute drive to the station later, I was saying bye to granny and going over the barrow crossing to get to the Bidston bound platform. The 08:49 was running a minute late today and eventually rolled in at 50 minutes past with winner 150258 bringing the first bit of good luck today. I got on board and the guard had no problems issuing my single to Shotton (as my second ticket is only valid North of Shotton) and my Cheshire Day Ranger. The journey was pretty smooth (if you can call the jointed track after Shotton 'smooth') and, after 20 miles (and 40 minutes), the bright blue cart arrived at the land of yellow. This was obviously Bidston. While we paused at Heswall on the way up (running right time), I looked at the PIS on the other platform, which said that the return working, the same unit on its way back from Bidston, was delayed by one minute! This shows that the Borderlands line has no faith in the timetable but I watched 258 thrash back down the line right time so I assume that it was wrong.

I had a short fester on the platform for the miseryrail unit that would take me towards Liverpool but could see it approach Leasowe (the next station up the line), stop and then move forward again to arrive at Bidston. The 08:36 to Liverpool was worked by dud 508122 today. It was a pretty full service but I doubted anyone would be heading where I was heading today (obviously Leam or, in the event of disruption, Rugby). The 508 did a good job is taking me 4 stops to Birkenhead Hamilton Square where I bailed, hoping that the one behind (an ex Chester) would yield more luck. Unfortunately not as, after a lot of screeching of breaks, it was dud 507009 that came to a stand. It was good to get a seat again as I had a large, heavy bag because I needed a larger one to put everything in today, such as my clothes from the last few days. I was only sat down for a few minutes though because I decided to both take a look at the newly refurbished Moorfields and try my luck with the New Brighton 5 minutes behind this. I got off at Moorfields as planned and it's a huge, huge improvement on the old one, now looking like other examples of the underground wirral line shacks such as Lime Street, the station I'd be leaving the Merseyrail network at under 10 minutes after getting off 507009. It was a short wait until winner 507017 arrived and carried me the rest of the way to Lime Street. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the number as it was the one that Tech had gone hunting for on the Monday after leaving me. Surprising how a dismal 507 in a dismal tunnel can bring back good memories!

At Lime Street, I bade farewell to the Merseyrail network and headed up (quite literally) to the national rail concourse. I went to locate my 09:12 Newcastle service that'd take me in speed to its first stop at Manchester Victoria but, however hard I tried, I couldn't find it on the boards or in the station. Not even 'cancelled'. I naturally headed over to a member of staff to ask why and apparently I'd missed the news that Manchester Victoria was completely shut! Oh well, there's still no shortage of trains to Mancc, even if I do have to stagger via Warrington. I was hoping not to so, after looking at the departure boards again, I headed over to the platform that the 09:16 to Manchester Airport was due out of and decided to go for some 319 actions. I wasn't happy to see a 156 sat there! Even though it was a winner one, it was pretty much full and I didn't really fancy suffering a 156 for the journey to Mancc. RTT was checked and it showed me that the 156 would get me to Mancc 10 minutes earlier than the dud 185 via Warrington but, knowing that the 185 hadn't even started boarding yet so wouldn't be too busy and that it'd be a much nicer ride on the diesel dez, I opted for that. Changing to the high numbered platforms for my 185 got me to the front coach just before the doors unlocked. I was first on in my set of doors and easily got a bay of four to myself on departure from Lime Street on dud 185129. I got ready for the long slog but it had been quite a while since I've had the stretch of line so it was good to get it again. The 185 passed through forum member 185143's local shack en route and was soon under the wires and passing through Deansgate. I knew that there wasn't much due at Occy Road around this time (it'd be a 10-minute wait for the next Mancc bound thing) so I continued to Piccadilly. I was obviously on the lookout for 350403 again as it was my last required dez so I headed back out to Occy Road on the dud dez from the airport, in the hope that the ex Scotland one back would be 403. 350410 took me there. A few rail enthusiasts boarded at the same set of doors as me and said hi so I had a quick conversation with them before I left the train (along with them) at Occy Road. They weren't doing a return trip though and were heading to Salford (I think) for a bit so I bade farewell to them and crossed to the other platform to see what the slightly delayed dez back was. It rolled in at 27 minutes past with a dud on so I flagged it and decided to view the ex Southport not long behind them. I was glad to see that there was no pacer in the mix and was really glad to see that it was winner 156489 leading winner 150111 on the Airport service! Looks like the extra 6 minutes festering paid off!

Upon arrival at Piccadilly, I couldn't help but notice one of my last few pendos in one of the other platforms. I saw that it was working the 11:55 to Euston so decided to flag everything else and fester. A good pair of seats was found in coach D on winner 390047 and I didn't have too long to wait before I could hear the iconic noise of the pendo I was on accelerating away. 3 left!

Once at Stockport, I didn't have long to wait before a winner pulled in. It was actually the first service to arrive while I was waiting and, as it was a starship, I was glad to get some motor noise. Winner 323226 did well at producing it and, after stopping at Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme, it was arriving at Piccadilly.

Back over to the through platforms and I saw that the Southport service was arriving so decided to go on it even though it was a pair of duds for the day. A coach was got in the 156 (as I went for the 150 earlier on so already had a coach marked off for it) and duds for the day 150111 and 156489 were suitable traction for the ride out to Occy Road. A short wait was had here as the ex Southport heading to the airport was a grotty, rancid pacer but the time passed quickly enough and soon the Norwich bound 158s were arriving. Dud 158773 was leading but 158862 was winner number 7 of the day on the ride back to Piccadilly. I waited on the island platform for a couple of minutes because I'd seen the 175 in Mayfield loop was a winner as I passed on the 323 and would be heading back to 'the land of the sheep' (or is that mid Wales?) a few minutes after I arrived. Sure enough, it was winner 175008 on the 12:50 to Llandudno and, after getting to Occy Road, I decided to wait for a winner to appear. It didn't take too long (only about 10 minutes because the 175 was slightly late) for one to appear but it wasn't heading for Manchester and was instead heading for Blackpool on the ex Hazel Grove. Winner 156491 took me the incredibly short distance to Deansgate where a tightish connection was pulled off onto a pair of 150/1s heading back towards Mancc. The front one was dud 150114 but winner 150147 was pushing so winner number 10 for the day was scored. I made my connection at Occy Road onto the 13:16 Lime Street via Warrington which I'd noticed had another winner on, this being 156460. Back out to Deansgate where I noticed the enthusiasts that were on 350410 earlier on waiting on the Mancc bound platform. I headed over and said hi again and we had a quick chat, during which a dez passed through heading to the airport. It was 403! I'd cleared my dezes for sight and could clear my TPE ones for haulage if I got it on its way back out! The enthusiast remembered that it was my required one so asked if I was going to go for it. Oh yes!

The next service heading for Mancc was due in minutes after the dez left so I stayed to see what it was. Alas it was a screechy pacer so I flagged it and waited for the next, which was a mere 5 minutes behind. The enthusiast had headed to Occy Road on the first one and, after seeing another rank nodding donkey approaching on the second, I headed straight across to the Metrolink. There wasn't much due in either direction except for a Deansgate to Altrincham dud but, as it was due to leave in two minutes when I got there, I decided that it'd be worth going for. A seat was found on dud 3056, which was taken out to the island platform at Cornbrook. A very short wait because dud 3050 and winner 3018 were arriving as we were. Back to Deansgate again where double winner 3100 and 3091 lured me back to Cornbrook. I couldn't believe my luck when winner 3040 was the first Deansgate bound to arrive after I got there. I saw another double winner arriving at Deansgate as we got there so I ran across and got on 3005 and 3003 back out to Cornbrook. It was here where I saw the time. Shoot! I had less than 15 minutes to get back to Piccadilly for 350403! The next tram to arrive was a Deansgate terminator but I got on anyway because it was winner (the Metrolink is being good to me today isn't it!) 3014. Back at Piccadilly, I was glad to notice that the next tram was a Piccadilly bound one but still didn't think that it'd be enough to get me back in time. This was winner 3062 and dud 3061 and a stop (even though it was short) waiting for the single line section to become clear wasn't nice. I had 4 minutes as the tram left Piccadilly Gardens and I was at the door all of the way, just waiting to get up. The tram arrived at 14:14 but it was very close to 14:15 and was by the time I got onto the platform, giving me one minute to get from the Ashton bound Metrolink platform to platform 14. Hell!

I absolutely sprinted and, as I already had my ticket in my hand ready to show the RPIs, I just ran past full pelt and flashed it too them (they'd already seen my ticket anyway). I wasn't happy to see that the travelators weren't working but still sprinted up and went down the stairs onto platform 14 as fast as possible. It was already in the platform and I flung myself into the train before the doors had even begun to close. The hustle alarm sounded just after I got on my very last TPE 350, 350403! Mission accomplished!

It was a very busy service for some reason so I was glad that I was only going one stop to Oxford Road where a platform change was necessary. I flagged the slightly late dez back, knowing that the ex Southport would be right behind it, and instead got on dud 156482 back to Piccadilly. The Lime Street 158s were arriving at Piccadilly at the same time as us and, after seeing that one of them was a winner, knew that I wanted to be on it. I ran down the platform (as services arriving at platform 13 head to the Stockport end of the platform, whereas services arriving on platform 14 draw to the Occy Road end) and hopped on dud 158770 and winner 158857 for the ride back out to Oxford Road. The connection onto the 158s back is now booked to miss and always has since it was put in place so I had to wait for a little while before a pair of 156s on the Airport service arrived. One of them was a winner so I happily hopped on the pair of Heaton 156s, these being dud 156484 and winner 156490. A seat was found on board and a late lunch was certainly calling now as it was about 15:00. As usual, I headed over to the Sainsbury's local, noticing that the number of a TPE 170 in the platform waiting to work the 15:06 to the airport was one of my last two so decided to try to get that after buying lunch. A Sainsbury's meal deal was purchased (a chicken triple sarnie, a bag of crisps and a Ribena) along with a bag of custard donuts and I ran over to the 170. I hadn't noticed that it was a pair of them while heading over so I ran to the front unit and was absolutely delighted to see that both of the 170s were required and it'd clear the TPE ones for me! I leapt in the front unit, 170308 and after a few minutes that and 170307 made the usual 170 drone and moved out towards the airport running 5 late. This was winner track after the junction heading off to Styal so I got a few more chains of winner track in the journey and, obviously, a winner shack in the form of Manchester Airport. There was quite a few options to get back to Piccadilly but, even though the 319 at 40 minutes past was required, I decided to go for the 15:33 to Middlesbrough which was a dud 185 so I could get back to Piccadilly in relative comfort and then just get the 319 on an Occy Road leap. This was 185137 and, until I got home, I didn't realize that this was my highest mileage 185 even before I had it from the Airport to Piccadilly. How high was it? 123.25 miles! It was the one that I'd had from Piccadilly to Doncaster and back to Stockport in 2014 and I'd also had it for the mega mileage move of Liverpool Lime Street to Liverpool South Parkway! Oh well, at least it's now slightly higher (at 134 miles).

The journey back was a stagger and even more so after joining onto the main line just before Piccadilly. It was a pleasant enough journey though, up to the point of watching the 319 from the airport that I was planning to get an Occy Road leap sail past us. It was 7 minutes behind from the airport too! This was irritating but I still decided to go out to Oxford Road but on the 16:03 to Blackpool. This was a dud though but I scored a coach on 156488 while taking it for the short hop. From Oxford road it was the usual fairly tight connection onto the Scarborough bound diesel dez which was another dud, this being 185133. We were held outside Piccadilly for a little while on this one but it gave me time to send a text to forum member 185143 to arrange when we should meet for a little while before my train home. He was already at Piccadilly by the time my diesel dez arrived so I wandered over and we had a nice time chatting, for the second day in a row before he headed for platforms 13 and 14 and I headed over to my train home. Dud for 100 miles (by quite a margin) 390046 was in charge of the 16:55 today so I got on board and, with just over 5 minutes until it was booked out, I didn't think I'd find a good seat. Imagine my surprise when I saw that both C1 and C2 were free! I took a seat in the latter, with a normal sitting opposite me after a few minutes but no one disturbed us as the train raced towards Crewe. Little to note about the journey except seeing 47192, 47712 and 87035 at Crewe Heritage Centre (as usual) and, after just over half an hour, the pendo was arriving at Crewe.

I had 35 minutes to kill before my Pendo to Wolves so I headed across to platform 12 to collect the number of the bodysnatcher acting as thunderbird before wandering across to platform 5 and simply waiting for my Euston service. After a while, I looked up and saw a Cross Country unspeakably horrible thing arriving on platform 5! It was there for at least 10 minutes and blocked the path for our pendo. It left at 18:07, 6 minutes after my pendo was due out meaning that I wasn't going to make the 170 at Wolverhampton that would get me to New Street quicker. This meant that I was less likely to make the cart from Moor Street to get back to Leam, which annoyed me greatly. When I think about it now though, the reason I was annoyed was probably because it was a Cross Country 221 that caused the delay and not a different TOC. Very low mileage (5.75) 390016 rolled in after the UHT had cleared the platform and left exactly 10 late at 18:11. I was very glad to see a 73/9 just outside the station with a 92 and was just about to get the number when a pendo heading in the other direction obscured my view of it! Oh, for goodness sake! I managed to get them from TOPS anyway and found that the ED was 73970 and that the Dyson was 92023. I could ID lots in Crewe LNWR and got lots in Basford Hall as well before we picked up proper speed and raced towards Birmingham. The guard announced that he was trying to get the Bournemouth 221 (the one that was at Crewe) held at Stafford so people wanting it could still bail at Wolves but, after a while, he came back and said that he was deeply sorry but they'd decided not to hold it. This obviously doesn't affect me but it seems stupid considering that the Bournemouth service was the reason that we were delayed in the first place.

Dad was called en route so I could say that it was pretty unlikely that I'd make the 168 from Moor Street but that I'd try to anyway. He said that if push comes to shove then he'd collect me from Rugby and, after he checked RTT, he saw that the 19:30 from New Street stopped there. I thanked him for this and relaxed for the onward journey South. The usual 15-minute fester at Wolverhampton was a mere 5 this eve and we continued staggering through the midlands towards Birmingham. Looking at the time as we came to a stop at Sandwell and Dudley, I knew I'd be able to make it as it's just over 5 minutes to New Street and it was only 19:03. We continued through towards Birmingham and eventually came to a stop in the New Street tunnels for some reason. We were there for about 3 minutes before the guard came over the PA and said that we were just waiting for a platform and would be on the move shortly. Another couple of minutes passed before we moved forward again and we came to a stand on platform 1 at 19:15. There was a mass of people going up the stairs and I completely forgot about the barriers, which took even more time. After I got out of New Street I ran across but it was too late and I could see the familiar lights of a 168 disappearing into the night when I got onto the concourse of Birmingham Moor Street. Rugby it is!

There was a 172 arriving as I got there so I decided to go for it for a ride through the tunnel and got another coach on 172342 in the process. I then made my way down Corperation Street to New Street again and got on the waiting pendo which was on the 19:30. This was 390001, a sub hundred mile one which passed the barrier between Brum and Rugby, where I bailed and found dad waiting with the two dogs. A great welcome and it was an uneventful drive home after a great few days.

Kite159 · 22 Jul 2016

Is the Cheshire Day ranger even valid on Metrolink?

Sounded like a productive day from many weeks/months ago, a good number of required 156s coming into your book

FQ · 22 Jul 2016

I didn't know it at the time (I think it was something that came up while chatting to 185143 that afternoon) but it isn't actually valid on the Metrolink :oops:

4 months in two days. In my defence I have been busy though...

185143 · 22 Jul 2016

I actually told you the day before

FQ · 23 Jul 2016

Ah.

You can't deny the pacers are screechy things though, surely! And that they're rank!

185143 · 23 Jul 2016

fishquinn said:
Ah.

You can't deny the pacers are screechy things though, surely! And that they're rank!

Pacers are screechy and bouncy yes, thats part of the fun!

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

FQ · 23 Jul 2016

Is being deaf fun?

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
New month, new tram

On the 1st of April, I decided that it was time to get back to the great land of HSTs, my last time on them being on a Thamesline just under a month ago. The North East was way too far in a day and way too expensive so I set my sights on the West. I knew a good value fare that'd cover me to Bristol and across to Reading so I decided to use that along with a return from Reading to Twyford so I could (hopefully) get two new units and a new shack and I booked all required tickets the night before, the plan being to pick them up at the TVM the next morning. Before getting to bed on the last day in March, I went onto the forum and asked for some gen on my remaining 5 GWR powercars for the next day when they come out. Then it was to bed for 23:00 with an alarm set for 05:25. Sounds fun...

After a fairly disturbed night sleep (because of the excitement of the trip), I got up on time and did the usual stuff that I do when I get up at 05:25 - groan, mumble, groan and wonder why the heck I'm up at this ungodly hour. Oh, and of course get dressed and get teeth done! I got dad's coffee on as I was up before him. Although he's used to it, dad felt exactly the same way I did when I got up but that it probably because he's been getting up at this time all week (as it was Friday). He's even crazier than me! Well. Maybe not. I guess I'm doing this through choice he's doing this through necessity. Who am I kidding (except anyone reading this report)? He's the crazy one! Not me! Honest...

We set off at 05:50 in the car and I was hoping the amount of suicidal pigeons encountered en route wasn't a sign for the day saying that there'd be lots of fatalities on my route (luckily it wasn't). We continued to the usual spot we put the car and easily found a place. It was then into the cold for the walk to the station. I collected my tickets from the TVM once there (as planned) and we ascended to platform 2 in order to wait for the 06:24. 66058 was the first loco sighted of the day and, a few minutes after that passed, 'G01 was announced. Lots of people came out of the waiting room - all regular people on this service - but I was already in position for the door. Just after the second announcement for it, I could see what turned out to be dud 165026 coming off the bridge and moving alongside the platform. After it stopped, the front set of doors was right next to... me! What a nice not-coincidence! I pressed the button to open the doors and immediately turned left and got into the usual bay of two. Dad joined me (obviously) and the cart set off right time towards Birmingham.

It was a pretty uneventful ride North with Hairball being on 1H15 this morning. We arrived a few minutes late at Snow Hell and, as we left, 1H17 to Marylebone was arriving from Stourbridge. As it was already in the platform, we decided to watch it leave so we could get some early morning cat thrash (and no, I don't mean the noises a cat makes when something is attacking it). It was Custard today and dad had already begun to head for the stairs so didn't notice something that I did about 011. Its tail-lights were off! I immediately brought this to the attention of dad and he managed to see it disappearing into the tunnel, with no red lights on the back. The driver that had taken us from Leam to Brum was now in the London facing cab so we wandered over to him and said informed him. He was already calling the signalman when we got there but thanked us anyway and, with that; we left the place of nightmares (Snow Hell).

Subway was visited as per usual and, after getting our mega melts, we headed to the office for a bit. Brekky was good as per usual and dad let me check the forum to see if my gen request had been answered. 455driver had answered it just after 02:00 (thanks!) but had only been able to find two because of the time he checked. The first looked gettable after following its diagram on RTT but further checks later in the day showed that it headed to Penzance via the desert. The second was going to go to Swansea and would be completely ungettable unfortunately. I had my hopes on the first one at the time though as RTT had it down as going to Bristol on one that I could easily cover.

It was just after 07:55 when I was 'BCB' (bat cave bound). Still no trams to New Street but Midland Metro are getting on with Corporation Street tram stop, just like they have been for the past several months. They've almost finished one of the platforms too, which, after at least 3 months, is pretty good going for Midland Metro

. What had to be done that took over 3 months (over 4 by the time it was done)? The herculean task of raising the curb by less than an inch and putting a shelter on the platform of course (yes, I know there is slightly more to it than that). Anyway, rant over. I got to New Street with plenty of time until my train so I had a little time to wait on platform 11 before my service was announced. I could hear my train arriving before I could see it as, like everything, even the best things screech around the curve that is platform 11 at New Street. I'd hate to hear a pacer arrive at New Street! Actually, scratch the last bit of that. I'd hate to hear a pacer arrive anywhere (I'm sure that 185143 is currently cursing me for putting that

)! Anyway, my train, the 08:12 to Plymouth (1V44) was today formed of 43366, the usual 7 mk3s and 43384. I got a decent bay of four on board for the journey South and was joined by a mother and her young child (about 6 or 7). I thought about moving but decided against it and I'm glad I didn't because the kid was really friendly and had an interest in trains too (well, as much as a boy that you can have). The mother was also really soche and apparently she worked for the railway and spent lots of time at Barton Hill (in Bristol)! They were heading down from Crewe to Cornwall for a holiday so had maximum tram mileage (New Street to Plymouth) of 366 and 384. I wouldn't be doing too badly myself by the end of the day either, with another 180 miles off each. I spent the journey chatting to them and it went by pretty quickly and we were soon the other side of Bristol Parkway. The child was very enthusiastic about seeing where his mum worked occasionally and guessed pretty much every workshop between Parkway and Temple Meads (for those of you who don't know the route, there's lots of them), with or without a rail connection! My attention had drifted by the time that we reached Barton Hill, probably because of the test train I could see parked up at Temple Meads with 37219, a Colas monster, on. I got a pretty rubbish photo through the window before saying bye to my company from the bat cave and stepping onto Bristol Temple Meads station for the first time in ages. A couple of photos were got of 366 while it was waiting to depart and soon I was watching it thrash away, next stop Taunton.

Bristol Temple Meads by fishquinn1, on Flickr

Bristol Temple Meads by fishquinn1, on Flickr

I then got ready for my next train, the 10:00 to Paddington. This is an ex Paignton so it wouldn't be departing from platforms 14 or 15 and it turns out that it was going from 5 today. After a few minutes of picking off the numbers of stuff in the station (UHTs obviously excepted) I saw a blue tram arriving from the same direction that my grey and brown one had departed only quarter of an hour before. 43196 was leading this set today and after 8 mk3s (maybe XC could learn something from this?), 43143 was there. I leapt aboard Coach A an, while in search of a free pair of seats, I saw that seat 'A73', a single one at the very back, was free. It was reserved from Bath but the person might not appear (this happens a lot) so I sat down in it. After departure, I headed to the vestibule to call dad to update him on the day before wandering back to my seat and getting ticket checked before I was even back in it. We began to gain speed and soon we were racing towards Bath. Someone came to my seat at Bath with the reservation for it so I moved to a pair of free, unreserved seats for the remainder of my journey. It was an uneventful ride but a fun one and we were soon leaving Swindon with the next stop Reading. I checked the forum to see if any gen had come through on any of my other powercars and I was very happy to see that I could get one of them on a simple run from Swindon to Temple Meads. This was also the point that I found out that the first powercar from earlier hadn't stuck to diagram and had instead headed to Penzance but I wouldn't be able to get them both anyway so thank you to Minilad for providing the gen!

It was great to absolutely hammer through Didcot at speed, something I haven't done in ages. Between Cholsey and Pangborne, the guard came over the PA and asked if anyone on the train was a doctor and if so would they please go to coach A at the back of the train. This had loads of people in coach A, myself included, looking round to see who was in trouble. There wasn't anyone obvious but it was someone at the table just across from me. There was a doctor on the train and he was OK in the end and we weren't delayed at all arriving at Reading, where I bailed. Apparently London Paddington is now also known as Ealing Broadway as that was the advertised destination for my next train when it'd actually be going to Paddington (yes, I know this is to stop passengers from Reading getting onto the slow, horrid, rank stopper instead of a fast service). This was 3 car 165 winner 165102 and it was a short ride (thank god) to Twyford, which was shack score one of the day. A nice enough station with a footbridge to change platforms, but the best thing about it was hearing trams at full 125mph roar through right next to you (if you're stood on the Reading bound platform). 165102 wasn't going anywhere in a hurry so I had time to get a photo of it from the Reading bound platform before it continued the long, tedious journey towards Paddington.

Twyford by fishquinn1, on Flickr
After a few minutes, my service back to Reading could be seen approaching as another single 3 car winner, this time 165108. I got on, glad that I'd got 2/2 winner units and a winner shack.

Back at Reading, it was now time to go for pies (obviously at Sweeney and Todd) and hopefully be back at the station in time for the 11:59 for a liniar move to Didcot. I ran some of the way to the pie shop and then got 3 chicken and ham pies (one for me, one for my brother and one for dad), which were taken back to the station. The 11:59 was already in the platform when I got back so I had to be fast at deciding if I wanted to take it or wait for the one behind for the mileage move. The front powercar was one of no interest to me as it was already well over 100 so I ran the length of the platform to ID the rear one before it left. This one was most certainly on my wants list, having only had it for the tiny mileage from Bath to Bristol at 11.50 miles so I leapt aboard and less than a minute after I got on, 43016 was pulling us towards the West and 43010 was pushing us. I couldn't resist the temptation of pie any longer so the moment I got in a bay of two, one of the pies came out and was gone by Didcot. No, two were still there before you ask! Dad was called after 17.25 miles of tram thrash to say that I'd got both him and T a pie and update him. I had a +5 here onto my next pair, which I'd be taking to Swindon to wait for my winner to Temple Meads. I also called mum while waiting to update her and by the time that was over, I could see my next set approaching. The front powercar, 43177 was of no use as it was already on 136 miles but the rear one, 43168, was on a mere 17.25 (which is a Didcot-Reading) so it was good to get it again.

By Swindon there was still two pies in my bag and, with 168's total boosted to 41.50, I felt a lot better. It was now a 20-minute fester at Swindon for my last GWR set of the day and, after seeing 6M40 roll through, it was a matter of minutes before my service was booked in. I had my fingers crossed as the leading powercar came into view and leapt into the air after seeing the leading powercar was winner 43162. I stayed on the platform to see what the rear one was but it was of no use to me as 43130 was already on 171.25 miles. But who cares? I got a winner powercar! I got a winner powercar! Finally, if you didn't read it on the first two times, I got a winner powercar! Swindon was departed on time and soon we were in the wilds of Wiltshire. After an uneventful 41-mile journey, I was alighting at Temple Meads where I had a 45-minute spotting session. I bade farewell to 162 and thanked it for putting my GWR powercar needs down to 4 (yes, 4!) before wandering over to the main bit to get lots of unit numbers. The yellow network rail 150 was there in the sidings and it didn't take long to get the numbers of everything in the platforms so it was just a case of watching stuff arrive to keep up. This was easy enough and it gave me time to get a few photos, one of which was an arriving 150/9 from the Severn Beach line (150925).

Bristol Temple Meads by fishquinn1, on Flickr

After that, I didn't have too long to wait before the 14:30 Glasgow service (1S51) was announced and the same powercars from earlier could be seen arriving. 43384 was leading this time with 43366 on the back and I knew that another 90 miles would make them even higher in my Cross Country tram mileage. I found a bay of four easy enough but got wedged out on departure. This is a surprisingly busy service considering the time but it was a pleasent enough run back towards Birmingham. I decided to window hang after Bromsgrove to get maximum thrash up Lickey and, looking at the time as we went through Barnt Green, I was sure that we were running early because it was about 25 minutes until we were booked to arrive at New Street. The booked arrival time at New Street for this service is 15:57, two minutes after dad's cat should leave Moor Street so I would have to get the cart behind, which is 16:12 from Snow Hell. Because of this, I really liked the idea that we were running early as it'd mean I'd be able to travel back with dad and get cat thrash. I called dad to say that I thought we were running early but he gave me some bad news. Unfortunately we were running completely on time and the reason 25 minutes is given between Barnt Green and New Street is because we're booked to be stuck behind a 323 all the way from Kings Norton to New Street. Oh god. KMN!

Dad was completely right and we slowed down dramatically just before Kings Norton and we joined the two track section at a snails pace (or slightly slower). Every signal was either a yellow or a red as we approached it and it got really annoying. Time trickled away minute by minute and the tram eventually arrived at New Street at 15:56. I had received a text from dad as we were arriving to say that he was away right time from Moor Street with a cat that I can't remember right now (but I think it was 10). Damn it! I hate the LM starships and the cross-city line! I didn't let this get to me though and ruin what had been a terrific day and, as it had been what I expected anyway, it was slightly better. I watched the trams head out before beginning to head over to Snow Hell, for the second time today.

I got there and got onto my platform to find 168002 waiting to work the 16:12. Getting into the very rear coach, I managed to get a decent seat for the ride home. Dad had text to say that tractor 688 was at Tyseley so I kept an eye out for it as we passed and, sure enough, it was sat there (and became the last loco sighting of the day). The ride back home was uneventful and I left the cart and headed out of the station to where dad and I had agreed to meet. This was the local model shop and it wasn't too far from the station so I got there and we had a chat with the owner as per usual. If you want to head there when you have time in Leamington then it's called 'Classic trains and motor bus' and is a great model shop, with loads of stuff even though it looks small. We spent a little time there before deciding that it was time to head home so we took the short walk back to the car and then piled in for the drive home.

A great day, that's for sure, and a cheap one too!

093, 142, 159, 194. How long can they last?

Kite159 · 23 Jul 2016

Nice bit of HST mileage there

Kristofferson · 24 Jul 2016

I'm up to "New Month New Tram", but my comments so far are...

Jolly good clear out on the 507s/508s and trams - and very well done on the last TPE 350, was wondering as I read the reports if you'd manage it!

Not sure I agree the Pendos have an iconic sound, unless you mean the sound of silence...

I once bought a Hornby Pendolino where someone had drilled speaker holes in it. I can only assume they gave up on that venture upon realising the Pendo didn't really have a noise!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

FQ · 24 Jul 2016

Kristofferson said:
Not sure I agree the Pendos have an iconic sound, unless you mean the sound of silence... I once bought a Hornby Pendolino where someone had drilled speaker holes in it. I can only assume they gave up on that venture upon realising the Pendo didn't really have a noise!

I've begun to notice that when you're on one and it just begins to start moving, there's this faint sound.

Glad you're enjoying the reads!

alexf380 · 24 Jul 2016

fishquinn said:
I've begun to notice that when you're on one and it just begins to start moving, there's this faint sound.

Glad you're enjoying the reads!

Nothing quite like the hearty grumble of a Voyager, though.

Kite159 · 24 Jul 2016

fishquinn said:
I've begun to notice that when you're on one and it just begins to start moving, there's this faint sound.

Glad you're enjoying the reads!

That is the sound of someone screaming when they get one of many seats with a view of plastic and with no power socket to charge their device

55013 · 24 Jul 2016

Looks like you had a great time.
You can't beat a day on the rails

FQ · 24 Jul 2016

3 trip reports in as many days?! What's going on?

A challenge for sure

The day after I'd been to Reading via Bristol was Saturday the 2nd of April, the date of the London Challenge forum meet, which I'd be attending with Nathan. Forum member Cactustwirly had asked to form a team with Nat and I - something I was more than happy to do. After a long day the day before (10 and a half hours on the rails), I was to have a day of simailar length on the Saturday with a planned 11 hours. This involved the 08:25 from Leam so the alarm had to be set FORWARD to 06:50!

I woke to the beeping from my alarm. A couple more hours in bed would have been nice but I got up immediately and had lots of time to go on the forum before heading out. There was no need to get brekky before leaving as Nat and I would be getting that at this brilliant place at Marylebone so I could pretty much chill until we headed off at 07:50.

Nathan was picked up en route Leam and it was dad taking us this morning. We got to the station with lots of time to hand over just under £15 each and get two bits of orange card back in return. Sounds like a good deal! As we headed under the subway so Leam, I somehow recognized someone walking up to platform 2 (no, it wasn't station staff). She seemed to recognize me as well but I shrugged it off until Nat said that he knew who it was. It was one of his old school friends who went to the same primary school as me when I was there many moons ago and went to the same secondary school as Nathan, in the same year. Apparently she'd mentioned to him that she'd be heading to London on the train from Leam sometime soon (this was about a month before) so he thought that's where she was going. If so, I'd narrowed it down to only a few possibilities of why her and her family were going onto platform 2 instead of 3.
1. They were going to the buffet before getting the cat
2. They were lost
3. They were crazy
4. They were rail enthusiasts in disguise and were getting the 08:23 to Snow Hell for a 172 to Rowley Regis and then pick up the cat that is 10:25 from Leam from Rowley for extra mileage

Alas it was the first one :lol:

We didn't have too long to wait before the red death that's booked through at 08:16 came through 2-late. This was very annoying because it always slows you down (quite dramatically) between Leamington and Banbury even when it's running on time so, when it's running late, the first bit of the journey is an absolute stagger fest. As expected, our cat was following the freight and arrived right time at 08:23. The 3 cats to end up at Stourbridge were 010, 013 and 014. Nathan just had one cat that he wanted to get out of the mix - 010. I wanted two so was guaranteed to get at least one of them. These were 013 and 14. So either way, one of us will be happy, right? Wrong! If Nathan doesn't get 010 then I can pretty much guarantee moaning from him, which will thoroughly tick me off. The DVT number told me what cat it was. I was happy at the outcome because it was my second pick out of the two, Hairball. Thanks 68013! This was pretty low mileage for me so another 89 miles would do no end of good to it. We'd be getting a different cat home so now it was 50/50 between Bagpuss and GT. Come on Gingertom!

Hairball gave some mighty thrash leaving Leam and we began to gain speed rather quickly but, as expected, it didn't last long. The read death that came through Leam while we were waiting was now stuck in front of us so it was an absolute crawl to Banbury, arriving 7 late. This wasn't nice but at least the stop at Banbury gave 66054 time to get out of the way and, with it heading straight at Aynho junction, we weren't stuck behind it again. It was time to pick up speed and we swung left at Aynho and onto the Chiltern only route to London. I had some music on (as did Nathan) and the journey was uneventful and passed rather quickly. There was 66098 at Northolt sidings and 68008 amongst other things at Wembley (I wonder who needs that

) but other than that, no loco was spotted until Hairball arrived at Marylebone 5-late (without padding). We bade farewell to the cat that had brought us to the capital and then headed over to the cafe to get brekky. It's an Italian place just outside the station and does the most amazing, large brekkies for excellent prices. I went for an option 'B' with extra fried bread (don't worry, I'm not getting more fried bread that what would already be there - option B doesn't come with it) and Nat went for a normal option B (I think). It was only about 5 minutes before our breakfasts appeared and they were as huge and as excellent as normal. I highly, highly recommend this is you're in London, that's for sure!

It took us about quarter of an hour to finish it all and, after that, it was time to head for the tube. I wanted to do a pretty ridiculous route to get to Kings Cross (the start point for the challenge), which was Bakerloo to Oxford Circus, Central to Holborn and then Piccadilly to Kings Cross. Unfortunately Nathan didn't like this idea and an announcement saying that the Central line was shut on the main core due to engineering works (something I'd completely forgotten about having read it a couple of weeks before) told us that an alternative route would have to be thought of. Nathan compromised with me and it was decided that we'd take the Bakerloo to Oxford Circus for the Victoria to Kings Cross. We headed back to the main concourse at Marylebone and then went down into the deep tubes running under London. 3252 and 3561 were the first to arrive heading for the city centre and they became winners one and two of the day respectively. As Nat and I agreed, these were taken along the tunnel to Oxford Circus where we had to change to the Victoria line. This didn't take too long and we were soon stood on the platform waiting for the arrival of one. It wasn't long before the very first one arrived, winner 11002+11001 and it was a fast, comfortable (I'm of course lying there. We were sat down so certainly weren't be comfortable!) journey to Kings Cross where we ascended to the main concourse and began to collect the numbers of the stuff there. No one had shown up yet so we had lots of time to get everything in the station before I got a text from Cactustwirly (for the purpose of this report, I'm just going to call him Cactus) saying that he was in the meeting spot. We wandered over to him and met up - this was the first time we'd met him - before looking out for the others. The meeting location was on the balcony but I didn't know which end of it. I did a quick scan of the balcony and saw a few familiar faces at the opposite end and, as Cactus has only been on one forum meet before this one, he didn't recognize them. I headed over (hi Kite!) and we found that the challenge organizer was running late so the start time had been postponed.

This was a 'Monopoly' challenge, where every team is given a forum made monopoly board and 3 cards. The board shows things you try to get and the cards each have one station on that you get points for. Points are deducted for not getting one of the stations on the cards. It was a funky way of doing things but I knew that it'd be challenging with so many stations spread out all over zones 1-6 on cards and the board. We were allowed to leave at 11:15 (it was meant to begin at 11:00) so, while everyone went different ways, we headed for the 11:22 to Peterborough, which we'd be taking one stop out to Finsbury Park. Working this today was double winners 365515 and 365531 and we headed to the virtually empty front coach for the short ride.

Once at Finsbury Park, we needed to get the Piccadilly line to Holloway Road for the first of our 3 chance cards. We ended up heading onto the wrong Piccadilly line platform and we actually got on a set heading to Cockfosters. A few forum members (I can't remember which ones - sorry!) left the Piccadilly line train that we just got on and it was at that point that Cactus looked at the map and found we were on the wrong train! We just had time to get off before the doors closed and we had to go back up the stairs and down onto the other platform in order to get onto the line heading in the right direction. It wasn't long to wait before double winners 131 and 112 appeared and they were duly taken to my very first shack score of the day, Holloway Road. It was also winner track between Finsbury Park and Holloway Road, which was a bonus. A platform change was had here and it was then onto 135 and 214 back out to Finsbury Park where we changed onto the Victoria line for the next part of the plan, which was getting a few on the board. We needed 3 London Overground shacks with 2 in zone 3 and one in zone 4 so it was onto winner 11091+11092 to Severn Sisters (shack score 2). We left the underground here in favor of the Overground system above and got there with a 15/20-minute fester until the next one heading away from London. We obviously spent the time chatting but, while there, I got a text from 185143 saying that he was in the Midlands today and would be getting the 19:25 cat from Leam to Moor Street. Nathan and I would be getting this cat back, but from Marylebone, so I said that we'd join him from Leam to Warwick Parkway. I wasn't expecting that!

Eventually, my very first 315 rolled in with 315801. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that this was a winner! We had to take this to at least Silver Street in order to get the points but I was keeping an eye on the PIS at each station we passed and found that we could probably take it to Edmonton Green before the next one would arrive. This was a good plan so we continued to shack 3, Edmonton Green for a tiny wait before the next service towards Liverpool Street. This was 315812 and we'd be on it for quite a while, even though it wasn't too far back to the nearest terminus. It was certainly an endurance for all of us and it was a relief to see the GEML at Bethnal Green. The plan was to take a skoda out to Stratford (probably because Nathan hates me

) once we got to Liverpool Street but, after getting there, we found that there was engineering works in the Chelmesford/Colchester area and that no skodas were running out of Liverpool Street. Nathan wasn't too happy about this but in my head I was simply thinking 'result!' As it was now 12:40, I decided to get some lunch. Once that was obtained, we decided what to do next. As there was no service to Norwich, we were going to head for the tube and go from there but as another of our cards was Emerson Park, I had the idea of taking the Shoeburyness service to Barking for something to Upminster so we could get that. It wasn't due to leave Liverpool Street for another 20 minutes though so we had a while to wait. I looked at the departure board and couldn't help but suggest that we take the 13:02 Southend service to Stratford and pick the 357s up there. This seemed OK with the others and I was very glad when I saw two dusty bins in the platform. We began to walk to the front one, me getting the numbers as I went and it was only when I got closer to the front that I noticed that it wasn't two units. It was 3! I was very, very happy, especially after seeing that it was a treble winner! Dustys 321307, 321316 and 321358 were my latest set of winners. Score and a half (times two

)

I ate some lunch on here along with having a well-needed PNB and we alighted at Stratford after a mere 4 miles with the best EMU. We had about 10 minutes at Stratford but a platform change was necessary so that lowered the fester time on the platform. A few minutes later, at 13:20, our pair of 357s rolled in. The front one was winner 357038 but the rear was my very first dud 357 and was 357034. Considering the amount I needed, I was surprised at getting a dud but the front one was a winner for sight so I was happy enough with the set C2C provided. We whizzed along the line and said bye to the Great Eastern Main line as we peeled off and headed for Barking. It was an uneventful, short ride and we were soon on the platform at our next port of call, where we bumped into another few forum members (again, sorry but I can't remember who). Considering the size of London, this was pretty weird but it was nice to have a quick conversation with them. Cactus had been telling us how much he likes D stock but it was unlikely that we'd get any because of the amount of S stock there was on the District line. This tied in nicely with the arrival of a D stock heading to Upminster on the opposite platform. We all thought it very unlikely that we'd make it but it didn't stop us from trying and we got on with over a minute before the doors shut on my very first D stock, 7015 and 7018. I've never liked the look of the D stock and I wasn't keen on them after knowing what the alternative was but, having never been on one, they're actually quite nice. Nowhere near as nice as the S stock but much better than a lot of other things on the London Underground. I knew that it'd be a fairly long journey with the amount of stops but it wasn't so bad and a lot more bearable than the 315 from Edmonton Green to Liverpool Street not so long before it. I needed all of the track after Barking, which was good, and I also needed our next line - the Upminster to Romford branch. I was hoping for a 321/4 to appear for us today but, after leaving at shack score 4, Upminster, we could see winner 317890 in the platform for the branch. We didn't have long at all to get across for it but we made it in time and took this all the way to journeys end at Romford, claiming another one of our cards on the way. I leapt off and back on again at Romford so I could claim it as my next shack score and we stayed in the same coach for the journey back.

Once we got back to Upminster, we checked when the next C2C would be, hoping that it'd only be a couple of minutes because we were running out of time fast. We were pretty miffed to see that the next would be for 25 minutes! There was no way that we were going to wait for it so we crossed to the District line platforms again and got on the waiting S stock, which was winner 21487+21488. We were only on for a moment before the doors shut and it began the journey.

We looked at our 'monopoly' board again whilst on this one and saw that we needed to be on a Hammersmith and City train from Barking in order to claim the LU shacks on that stretch as points. Because of this, 487/488 were taken along the line to Barking and we bailed to wait for a Hammersmith and City line one. Our last card was a pretty annoying one as there wasn't anything on our board to do while down there and it was quite a way out from the centre. The card said Worcester Park. Times were checked and it looked like we would just be able to get out and back to Kings Cross in time for the finish but it was likely to fail. The arrival of 21407+21408 was good because it meant we were on the move again and had a plan - this to Aldgate East, District line to Monument, walk to Bank, Waterloo and City to Waterloo and then over to Worcester Park. That was plan B though. Plan A was take this to West Ham for a C2C that didn't leave Barking long after us to Fenchurch Street and then to Waterloo from there. Unfortunately the C2C passed us while we were at Plaistow so plan B it was. Aldgate East was a required shack, as was Monument, which 7032 and 7057 took us to. What are the odds that that will be my last D stock I wonder?

Monument and Bank are the same station with different names for different parts. We wanted the Waterloo and City, which has the name Bank, meaning I could cross off another shack. We needed to run in order to have any hope of making our planned train to Worcester Park from Waterloo but even running and following the signs, it seemed to continue forever. Down one escalator, up a set of stairs a few minutes later, loads of twisty turney routes. Bank is a freaking awful station for changing lines at! It caught us all by surprise rather largely and we were stood on the Waterloo and City line platform 10 minutes after leaving the District/Circle line platform. We were running too! A set of 1992 stock was arriving as we got there and this would be my first time travelling on the Waterloo and City line. Winner track, shack (at Bank) and stock as it would be 65502 and 65501 taking us to Waterloo. The front coach of the set was completely empty apart from us when we got on and it was a short journey through the tunnel but our plan had completely gone out of the window. We decided to go for the one quarter of an hour later at 15:39, which was quite a busy service, even in the front coach. It was solo winner 5722 and Nathan had to stand. Cactus and I formed a plan for next but, when it came down to it, even tying in the point deduction for not getting Worcester Park, by doing the Jubilee line to Finchley Road for the Met to Uxbridge and back on the Piccadilly, we'd get a lot more points. This only came to my head after we'd left Waterloo though but Cactus agreed that it was a good idea so we told Nat that we were bailing at Vauxhall and did that, it becoming shack score 9 when we did. It wasn't long to wait before the next 455 arrived, this being winner 5856.

Back at Waterloo, we headed for the Jubilee line and I managed to successfully get the number of the first set to arrive through the screen doors. It was double winner 96014 and 96079. Finchley Road was decided for these as it meant we wouldn't need to faff around with the platform change at Baker Street and it was probably the same amount of time as the Met with the '96 stock's better acceleration. I wasn't going to complain either because Finchley Road gave me shack score 10. It was a very short wait here as the next service was an Uxbridge one so we found out that it'd be an 'S7+1' taking us away, in the form of winner 21323+21324. It was quite fun going non-stop through most of the stations and overtaking the Jubilee line stuff but we watched time pass very quickly and knew that we wouldn't make the finish time, even by bailing off this one at Rayners lane, which we did. It was all winner track to Rayners Lane and it was also a shack score. We changed to the other platform there and waited for a Piccadilly line service. Winners 227 and 194 rolled in after about 5 minutes of waiting and we had less than 15 minutes until the finish time when they left. Again, all winner track but we were more focused on getting back as quick as possible. I text Yorkie to say we'd be about half an hour late and I text him again at Ealing. Why? It'd just gone 17:00! He didn't think we'd get back to Kings Cross in time to get across to Marylebone but we kept an eye on the time and also decided to go to the Victoria line at Green Park as it'd probably be quicker than continuing on our Piccadilly line set. It was a very long journey on them and it was a relief to bail at Green Park (shack score 12) and head to the Victoria line. We were already half an hour late by the time we got to the Victoria line platform (as it was 17:30) but we luckily didn't have to wait long before winner 11008+11007 arrived and carted us off to Kings Cross, getting there just before 17:40.

We went to the main concourse and ran over to the finish point, the pub on the station and found everyone easily. Nathan and I couldn't stay for long at all so we said by to everyone and headed off. Mojo had given us a little advice regarding the Metropolitan line and getting to the Bakerloo line and he said that if the next one was a Met then make sure you're in the middle of it. I hoped to use this info but as we got to the subsurface platforms, at Metropolitan one was leaving. We didn't have the time (or the will) to wait for the next Met so we just got on winner 21315+21316 on a Circle or Hammersmith and City line one. It was taken to Baker Street where we changed to the Bakerloo line and were relieved to see that the next one was already arriving with double winner 3536 and 3262. A few chains later we were alighting at Marylebone and heading for our train home.

I was relieved to see the DVT there as it meant that our train, the 18:10, wasn't vice. We wandered the front, as per usual and leapt into the air after seeing that GT had made an appearance for our journey to Warwick Parkway. Thanks 68014! Nathan wasn't too happy and moaned the most he had all day (he'd been pretty good until now) but it didn't last long and he instead started telling me how much he hates normals getting onto this service to go to High Wycombe as it should just be for enthusiasts and people going further as it's a long distance service and there's no shortage of services to Wycombe. This conversation went on for a while and a couple of normals came to our seats and came to sit down. I was stunned that Nathan had the audacity to ask where they were going after one of them asked him to move his bag from the seat next to him. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing when the normal replied with "High Wycombe. Why?" Nat said no reason before relaxing. I did too and music was put on by both of us. As said, the normals that had joined us left at High Wycombe and we had the bay of four to ourselves on departure from there. It was a rather fast journey and I sent a text to 185143 at Banbury to say we were there and would be at Leamington in just over 15 minutes. We were waiting time at Banbury for 5 minutes before GT gave some more excellent thrash and began to roar towards Leamington. I sent another text to 185143 as we crossed the Fosse Way, saying that we had just crossed it. I got a reply saying he had no idea where that was. Oops, I keep on forgetting that people away from this area won't know where little things like that are! As we arrived at Leamington, I could see 185143 taking a video of the cat before boarding and finding us. We didn't have long but it was nice to very quickly catch up before saying bye and leaving at Warwick Parkway. A few photos were got of my bag and Gingertom here before listening and watching her disappear into the distance.

I knew I didn't leave the cat in the bag! by fishquinn1, on Flickr

I spent time looking at the PIS on the London bound platform which said it was about midnight and it was Nathan who pointed out our train back to Leam coming around the corner on the approach to the platform. RUN! We sprinted down the stairs, under the line and then back up onto the other side just in time to see dud (all Chiltern 172s are dud) 172104 arriving with a 168. I was still thinking about the PIS and Gingertom that I hadn't noticed that it was a 170 on the back (or '168/3') until I saw the number. And that's when the penny dropped. 168325! YES! MY LAST 168! As said, 168325 was my last think that is classified as a 168 so I'd finally cleared the class again. All the 170s that haven't yet come to Chiltern are dud too so I didn't need to worry about having to get the 168s again meaning I'd well and truly cleared them. We obviously sat in 325 for the journey back to Leam and I couldn't help of thinking of 168108 - my last 168 before the 170s came down. That one was scored completely unexpectedly from Warwick Parkway to Leam as well so it was most certainly a 'de ja vu'. To say I was happy was an understatement and this day has certainly gone the way I wanted it to!

Steve, Nat's dad, was waiting to pick us up from the station and I reflected back on the day. 12 winners for haulage (excluding tube. 37 including tube), 12 winner shacks and some great company. Thanks to everyone who organized it and thanks to Cactustwirly for helping make the day great. The same goes to everyone who was at the challenge and, obviously, 185143.

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