FQ's trips around the globe

[507021]

An excellent read FQ.

 

[cactustwirly]

A good read, Thanks for keeping me company!

 

[Kite159]

Sounded like a productive day in London with a varied range of units, congrats on clearing the Thameslink 377s for sight

Coach 7 is better at Acton Main Line for a speedy exit as the doors on the rear coach are not released

I suspect the 357 emptied out at West Ham was for the jubilee line to Stratford for the small shopping centre there (plus Westfield)

 

[Techniquest]

Wow that was a busy day! Certainly you did well with all those winners!

 

[Cowley]

What an excellent day. Always enjoy reading about where you've been fq. Shame you didn't get to do that railtour as it sounded good, but the day out in London was a fair substitute.

 

[FQ]

An excellent read FQ.

Cheers!

A good read, Thanks for keeping me company!

Thanks for keeping me company

Sounded like a productive day in London with a varied range of units, congrats on clearing the Thameslink 377s for sight

Coach 7 is better at Acton Main Line for a speedy exit as the doors on the rear coach are not released

I suspect the 357 emptied out at West Ham was for the jubilee line to Stratford for the small shopping centre there (plus Westfield)

Cheers! Ah, I forgot about the announcements about that door not being released! Thanks for reminding me!

Wow that was a busy day! Certainly you did well with all those winners!

I did indeed. Have you got a London bash planned soon?

What an excellent day. Always enjoy reading about where you've been fq. Shame you didn't get to do that railtour as it sounded good, but the day out in London was a fair substitute.

London was indeed a good substitute - We'll get on a brush railtour later in the year.





Good to see you again

On Wednesday the 22nd of February I was looking at doing another spin. I was looking at doing my first Bristol/Reading spin of the year, and the first one since I'd had major problems at Reading, but after seeing a certain something was working up north in Mancc, I decided to go for that. This 'certain something' is non other than the absolutely brilliant, wonderful, amazing, stupendous, 67014. Yep, it's back on the Mancc set!

I'd looked at going to Holyhead and back on it from Mancc, but knocked that option on the head rather quickly for two reasons. The first is that I'd need to pay over £25 for a return from Mancc to Holyhead, plus getting to Mancc, plus brekky and lunch (it was my turn to get breakfast). The second is that I'd need to make a +2 at Crewe and a +3 at Mancc in order to be on it, so I'd be wasting £25 if I missed it. Because of this I decided on a Greater Manchester Rail Ranger and a loophole to get up there, coming out at £8. Bargain! This would also let me go from Manchester to Warrington on Thomas Telford in the evening to head south on the pendo, so it'd be most certainly worth it. I gave Nat a call to see if he wanted to come along, as I know that he was talking about getting up north to get a few more of his Northern winners, and he was up for it so we arranged to pick him up at 05:50 on the Wednesday morning. In the end I got to bed at 22:30 on the Tuesday evening, with my alarm set for 05:30.

I slept poorly, as I always do when awaiting a trip out, and woke at about 04:00. I, annoyingly, couldn't get back to sleep, so eventually got up at 04:45 and went on the forum for a bit before getting ready. We left at just before 05:50, picking Nat up on the way to the station. The car had soon been parked and we all wandered to the station together, me heading over to the ticket office to get our tickets. It took the clerk ages and ages to find the GMRR, but we eventually had that and our tickets to Mancc, so it was onto the platform with a short wait until 1G01. 165019 arrived on time, so we got on board, Nat and I going for a bay of 4 while day went in his usual bay of 2 behind us. A regular commuter on this service was sat opposite Nat and I and realized that he'd left his phone at home, so dad let him make a call home to ask if it was there (it was). We slowed before Hatton to let the ex Stratford cart, which was running slightly late, cross over in front of us, and we slowed to a stop for a couple of minutes between Lapworth and Dorridge before picking up speed again.

Lucky bridge (the bridge where the camp hill line goes over the line we were on at Bordesley) stuck again, with 37254 and an unidentified Colas tractor going over just as we and 68008 went under it. After that, nothing out of the ordinary happened before Snow Hell, where we arrived 2-late. To Wetherspoons!

We had soon arrived at the Square Peg and chosen a table. Nat decided to go for the pancakes with bacon as it had high recommendations from both dad and I, and he wasn't disappointed. My bank balance was though, as I'd lost £14.30 for a pancakes without bacon, two pancakes with bacon, a round of toast, two large orange juices and a refillable coffee. Brekky was excellent as usual, and very filling, and as we were getting ready to leave, the fire alarm went off. This was just a test though, so no one had to leave, and we were soon outside, dad heading to work, Nat and I heading to the bat cave.

We had a while to wait at New Street when we got there, but I checked both dezes heading towards Wolverhampton before my pendo to see if one of my last two was on either - it wasn't. Our pendo was slightly delayed by a late running 221, but it did mean that we got to see 43285 and 378 leave towards Plymouth on 'V44. Then, after about half an hour at New Street, 390148 arrived at 08:16, a minute after it was due to leave. Nat and I got a bay of 4, although we were both wedged out before departure, but at least we had a good window view. We were eventually out of New Street 4-late at 08:19, majorly lowering the chance of us making the connection onto the Mancc pendo at Crewe.

There was a red death at Wolverhampton steel terminal and, upon departure from the station I decided to check RTT to see the time we were expected through Stafford and the time the Mancc pendo was expected through. I found out that we were now expected to be through 2 minutes after the Manchester one, so unless they actually held the Mancc one to put us in front then the connection would miss. I did another check after we passed through Stafford, 3 minutes after our connection was meant to, and found that it had indeed been put in front of us, scuppering the connection at Crewe. 175 it is then!

Quite a bit could be identified at Crewe LNWR and Basford Hall, me identifying 3 brush, an 86, to gronks, a blue death, a dyson and the NMT with powercars 062 and 014. It is infuriating to know that I was passing two of my last 3 required powercars! Anyway, we had soon arrived at Crewe, on platform 11, with 15 minutes until our 175. Nothing of interest came through while we waited, although Nat did score one of his few required ATW 150s for sight, and I was glad to see an approaching 175 (that's probably the first time those words have been uttered ). I was hoping for a winner, but instead got a dud two car. Typical. Still, at least 175008 has only been had on an Occy Road leap before. We got on and, when we saw that the leading (dud) coach was the one that'd probably have the most seats in, we got on that one. When Nat saw that we'd need to wedge people out to get seats, he decided to go for the vestibule. I wasn't doing that, but as I wasn't with Nat I could go and get a seat in my winner coach, which I easily got. Because of this, 175008 was turned into a superdud on the ride to Stockport.

At about Cheadle Hulme I headed down to the front vestibule, where Nat was, to see if he wanted to bail at Stockport with me or continue to Mancc on this (to get more spotting time). He went for the former option, and we were soon on the platforms at Stockport, where we helped someone with the platform for Sheffield. My plan was to head over for the 10:01 Buxton, which I'd be able to take to Davenport if it had a winner on, for a +3 onto the ex Buxton back. Nat didn't want to do this, and decided that he'd get the next one through to Mancc, if I was on it or not. My plan fell apart when I saw that the 10:01 was expected at 10:06, so my +3 was not going to happen. Because of this it was back over to the Mancc bound platforms for the 10:06 starship.

I was very glad that I'd made the choice of bailing at Stockport, as it was to be winner 323229 taking us through to Piccadilly. We got to view the treble 150 on the Buxton as we left, the front one being the only winner of the 3, but I'd scored a 323, so I was happy enough for the journey through to Piccadilly. When on board this unit, I wrote down a list of my required 185s and handed it to Nat, asking him to let me know if he saw any of them while he was spotting, as my first port of call was the metrolink. He said that he would, and we parted ways after arrival, me going downstairs to the trams.

There was one arriving when I got down there, but it was a solo dud so I flagged it. There was now 4 minutes until the next one heading towards Piccadilly Gardens, so I ran over to the Ashton bound platform to see if there was one due out of there in the next 4 minutes. There wasn't, so I just headed back over to the city bound platform and waited for the next one. The next one was also flagged, but there was one right behind it, so I gave up the festering and just hopped on dud 3009 out to Piccadilly Gardens, noticing that another tram had arrived in the platform just as we cleared it. I decided to bail at Piccadilly Gardens to get this forward, so was soon on board dud 3101 for the ride around to the 'new' St Peter's Square. I got off here and decided that it was time to observe for some winners because I was now on the section where you get quite a few. A lot of platform changing was done to try and be on the correct platform for each tram, but it obviously wasn't possible for them all. The 2nd city crossing was, annoyingly, due to open 4 days after this trip, so I'll need to come back again soon to get that. Still, it'd another excuse to come to one of my favourite cities in the UK!

After 5-10 minutes of festering I finally saw a winner, heading towards Disbury. I was on the correct platform for it, so was pleased to get on dud 3115 and winner 3118, getting off at Deansgate a minute or so later. My plan was to now wait for winners.

I got a call from Nat while waiting for winners, saying that he'd seen one of my required 185s heading to Liverpool, so I decided to track that down and get it on an Occy Road move later in the day. I'd spent over 15 minutes at Deansgate waiting for a winner tram before another winner finally arrived. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that it was actually a pair of winners! You wait for ages to get one and then two come along at once! I was very glad to get 3116 and 3120 in the book on the ride to Cornbrook, where I immediately noticed that a winner had just terminated on the platform next to us from Manchester Airport, meaning that it'd be heading back in a few minutes. It certainly took its time at shifting into the siding, and was blocking the line for about 3 minutes, in which time 3 trams, on different services, had come up right behind it! A queue of 4 different services is the longest I've seen on the metrolink! Unfortunately, when I thought to get a photo, the front tram moved, but you can see 3 of them in this photo:
Busy at Cornbrook by fishquinn1, on Flickr
No winners passed until 3107 arrived from the siding to form the next Manchester Airport service, as expected. I took this one stop to Trafford Bar, where I decided to get a winner shack and took the following tram, double duds 3066 and 3099 to Firswood (a winner shack). I didn't have long to get over the footbridge here, as I could see dud 3084 approaching when I got off the previous set. These were taken to Trafford Bar, where I decided to try my luck with the following set. This gave me a double dud, 3015 and 3046, which I took to Cornbrook, with the plan being to head back to Mancc, as Nat had let me know that one of my required 185s had gone to the Airport, and I thought that I'd be on the 12:20 from Piccadilly to Cleethorpes. While waiting, I noticed 66702 pass through on a liner, and knew that Nat would be ticked off, as he's been tracking down 703 for ages. Sure enough, when I spoke to him later in the day he mentioned it with annoyance.

My plan changed rather rapidly when I saw winner 3072 on the back of a pairing with 3090 leading, so I got on board and was back at Trafford Bar a couple of minutes later. I then changed platform and waited for the next one back, getting a photo of a tram heading in the other direction while I waited.
Trafford Bar by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Dud 3053 had soon arrived to take me to Cornbrook, where no more winners arrived before duds 3016 and 3006, which I took back to Deansgate before taking the walkway over to the heavy rail station, with the 12:01 to Occy Road being my service of choice, it didn't provide me with one of Northern's worst.

I was pleased to see a 156 arriving after a mini wait, and I was even happier to see that it was a winner Heaton one, so I hopped on board 156444 for the short 0.25-mile hop to Occy Road, where I'd connect onto an unknown 185 through to Piccadilly. Just after we'd departed Deansgate, I noticed a tram in an advertising livery, which I hadn't yet seen. I got the number of it and it's partner, and wasn't too pleased to see that the one covered in vinyl was required! Still, it gives me something to chase later.

When I got to Occy Road, it was just a couple of minutes to wait for my diesel dez. I was hoping for a winner on this, and actually got one, in the form of 185112! Score! 1 down, 8 to go...

When I got to Piccadilly, it was over the footbridge and onto the platform for the Cleethorpes, which hadn't yet arrived. It was soon approaching, but I was annoyed to see that it wasn’t 185114, but was instead dud 185127. I wasn't going to take a dud, so instead decided to head over to see Nat. He was platform ending on (I think) platform 8, so we chatted there for a few minutes while waiting for the TPE dez to arrive (Nat still needed 3 for sight). He told me that he only needed 150146 to complete Northern's 150/1s, but we didn't see it while waiting. Once the dez had arrived with a winner for Nat I decided to get a photo of it and we both headed to the Metrolink, with about 45 minutes until I needed to be at Occy Road for my winner diesel dez from Liverpool.
Heading for the airport by fishquinn1, on Flickr

We got on the first tram to arrive after getting down there, dud 3008, and took this to Piccadilly Gardens. There wasn't anything right behind this and, as I was in need of lunch, we just walked over to Greggs so I could get a couple of chicken bakes and a custard slice, along with an apple juice. I told Nat to wait outside so he could view the trams to see if 3095, the one with the advertising livery, was coming past while I got my lunch. It didn't come past, and we were soon on Market Street tram stop, ready for dud 3048 back to Piccadilly, as it was time to get to Occy Road for my required 185.

Nat decided to come on the Oxford Road leap with me, so we both headed over to platform 14 and got the Liverpool 319 out, annoying 319386. We easily got a bay of 4 for the half-mile leap out to Occy Road, where we changed platforms and waited a few minutes for the Scarborough 185. As expected, this was winner 185130, and we were soon back at Piccadilly, where the decision was made to head back out to Oxford Road on the Scotland dez, to try and get back onto the metrolink at Deansgate. This was the same dez that we'd seen heading to the airport the hour before, 350405. I've cleared all of the TPE dezes, so they're one thing that I don't need to look out for on trips to Mancc. We'd soon got to Oxford Road again, where our options were the Southport cart or a dez back to Piccadilly. The Southport service throws up a 142 fairly often, so we decided to just head back to Piccadilly, as Nat wanted to see what the dez was anyway. There was a Hazel Grove service before the 350, so we decided to take that if it had a winner on for me. I was pleased to see that it was a pair of 150s, especially with the rear one being winner 150117. Dud 150149 was on the front. We were in the latter and, while on board, I was surprised that someone asked me if they could use my phone due to their one having ran out of charge! I'd never had this happen before 06:30 this morning, and I'd now had it happen twice in just a few hours! I let her use my phone, but it was at this point that it decided to play up, so she wasn't able to call who she wanted.

Back on the platforms at Piccadilly, Nat still wanted to wait for the ex Scotland TPE. It was running late, so we'd need to wait about 10 minutes, but I agreed to do so. He wasn't too happy when it rolled in with a dud. At this point, there was only a couple of minutes to wait before the Liverpool 158s, so we decided to get them out to Oxford Road, for the Liverpool stopper forward to Deansgate. Stalker dud 158813 was leading the pairing, but winner 158783 was on the back. We ventured into the middle of 158783 to get a bay of 4 for the tiny hop because... well... why the hell not?

As we arrived at Occy Road, I wasn't very happy to see a 142 sat in the bay platform. Why do you have to give me something I won't touch with a barge pole? We were about to head over to the Piccadilly bound platform again, when Nat noticed that it was coupled to a 156! Yay! We headed over, and I was even happier to see that it was annoying winner 156420, a unit that'd been avoiding me for ages, and my last required 15642x, except Anglian 422. We both got on the 156 and were soon on the move to Deansgate, where it was away from the heavy rail again and onto the Metrolink.

Our plan was now to head towards Victoria, as I hadn't seen anything on the Exchange Square route yet, and it might give me a winner. We got on the first available heading that way, duds for the day 3118 and 3115, and were soon getting to Victoria, where Metrolink revenue was out in force. There were well over 10 RPIs, and at least 5 BTP on the city centre bound platform, and the amount of people they were catching out was staggering - I can see them having made quite a bit of dosh out of that block! When Nat and I got there, instead of heading to the city centre bound platform, we headed for the heavy rail to get numbers. The rubbish barriers decided to reject our tickets, so the guy manning the barriers had to let us through, but we were soon through and identifying a 153 on the Clitheroe. I've never had a Northern 153 for haulage, so wanted to get it, but that wasn't to be as its doors had just closed and it'd just left. Doh! Still, it was my penultimate Northern 153 for sight, so there was some good!

We went back through the barriers after getting numbers and headed onto the RPI filled platform (the city centre bound one). We decided to get on the first one to come in, a pair that Nat needs (which is most of them as he hasn't really got started on them yet), duds 3104 and 3114. We took these one stop up the line to Shudehill, where there was another set following us by 2 minutes, and had a group of RPIs come onto the tram at Victoria and check everyone's ticket before leaving again. That certainly increased the amount of time it was sat in the platform! After a couple of minutes at Shudehill we could see the tram coming up the hill. Leading was dud 3058, but the rear one caught my attention in a big way - it was winner (and annoying) 3007! We hopped one and, the moment we left Shudehill, we noticed 3095 (the one in the advertising livery) coming up right behind us and stopping in the platform! Linear hop time!

Winner 3095 and dud 3085 took us from Market Street, where we had got off 3007, to St Peter's Square, and left me needing a mere 5 metrolink trams (out of the 120 strong fleet). I was very glad to reach this point, and didn't expect any more tram winners. That didn't mean I wasn't going to try though! Duds for the day 3099 and 3066 took us back round to Victoria, where we did another heavy rail platform check, that turned into a Salford leap when I saw a winner 150 on the soon-to-depart Southport. How soon? Nat and I just managed to get on winner 150116 before the doors shut!

We decided against bailing at Salford Central and instead continued to Crescent. On the approach, I noticed that there was a 153 and 150 pairing in the platform on an ex Clitheroe, but it, very annoyingly, had its doors locked before we came to a stop. Nat and I bailed and looked at the departure board. The next two Mancc services were heading for Victoria, so we decided to wait to see what was on those (not that we had much choice). While we waited, a member of platform staff came up to us and asked if we were trainspotters (we'd just written down the numbers of a pair of 156s heading for Blackpool). We said that we were, and he then asked if we were looking for anything in particular. Nat asked if he knew where his last 150/1 in Northern was, and he let us know that it'd passed earlier on and should be back through soon. He then headed away to help another passenger and, just before the first Victoria service arrived (with a dud 150), he called us over to him and led us into his office, where he offered to do a few TOPS searches for us! We gratefully accepted, but the units unfortunately weren't working at the time, so he could just do loco searches for us. We were happy with this though, and managed to find out which cat we saw on the pendo to Crewe (002) and the second tractor on the test train earlier in the day. We were in there for about 5 minutes, and had a good chat with the incredibly friendly dispatcher, before we had to leave for our train, as it was a winner. The cart that we were to be getting back to Mancc wasn't any winner though. As observed from the dispatcher’s office, leading was 150146, Nat's last 150/1 in Northern (for sight)! He was very glad to get it, and I needed it too, so it was a case of ignoring the steaming pile of s***e on the back (1420xx) and getting on the 150 for the ride back to Victoria.

We then headed back across to the Metrolink, where the RPIs had now disappeared, and decided to wait to see what the Exchange Square was 7 minutes after arriving. I was wounded by a Rochdale service rolling in with one of my winners while waiting, but it did take me to just needing one tram for sight in Metrolink (3119). The Exchange Square made the wound better though, as it was winner 3083! Just the 4 trams required now, all of them above 3110 (I need 3111, 3113, 3117 and 3119)!

We were soon at Exchange Square, where I expected it to be only about 5 minutes before 3083's return. It seems that it takes a much longer time for its turnaround than it used to though, because it was 13 minutes until the next one towards Victoria! No way we're waiting that long! We both decided to just walk over to Shudehill, and had to race a tram up the hill in order to be on the platform in time for it. We got there with no fuss a few minutes later, and duds 3021 and 3059 took us one stop to Market Street, where dud 3014, which was following these by a couple of minutes, took us back to Piccadilly to end our Metrolink bashing.

It was 15:45 by this point, and Nat wanted to do more spotting. I decided to do a few Occy Road leaps while he did this, as we only had an hour until our train to Warrington. I was soon on platforms 13 and 14, where a familiar sound was soon heard. I was very glad to see the best shovel arriving from Holyhead, even though I knew it would be Thomas Telford (185143 saw it on the North Wales coast earlier in the day). I got a photo before the 15:52 175 arrived, which I got on even though it was dud 175112.
Thomas Telford at Piccadilly by fishquinn1, on Flickr

Once at Occy Road, I needed to make a decision of what to do. My options were to get the 319 back to Piccadilly for a 185 back out, or wait even longer for a 185 back to Piccadilly for god knows what back out. I went for the first option, and dud stalker 319363 was turned into a superdud on the ride back to Piccadilly, where I had enough time to get to the other end of the platform for the Liverpool diesel dez, which was operated by dud 185123, which was another unit turned into a superdud en route. Hoping I'd not made a mistake and missed a winner by doing this, I viewed what was on the Scarborough as we passed it, but 185111 was also a dud.

At Oxford Road I only had a few minutes to wait for the 16:16 Buxton. This is a pair of 150s, so I was hoping for at least one winner in the pairing. Apparently this is too much to ask for, as it was double dud 150201 and 150210 that took me back to Piccadilly. When I got back to Piccadilly, the plan was to view the Southport and get on it if it had a non-pacer requirement. Alas it didn't being a dud 150 and a 142, but I noticed that there was a Barrow service 5 minutes after it, so hung around to see what was on that. Another Occy Road leap was needed when I found out what was on it, as winner 156452 was too hard to resist.

I'd forgotten about the ex Southport service from Occy Road and assumed that I'd be getting the EMT 158s back. I was happy to see that there was one that'd get me back to Piccadilly sooner, but decided to flag it after seeing another pair of dud 150s. The 158s would give me a +10 at Piccadilly onto the shovel, but they were running a couple of minutes late so this went down to a +7. I should have gone for the ex Southport 150s in the end though, because the 158s were stalker 158810, and high mileage dud 158785. Oh well, you can't have them all.

I met Nat at the Oxford Road end of platform 14, as the shovel was due in a matter of minutes. I could soon see the excellent front end of a shovel approaching, and it was just brilliant to get onto the amazing, the wonderful, the brilliant, the spectacular, the stupendous, 67014. Welcome back to the haulage book!

This was my first shovel of the year, and what a great run to start with. Nat and I each had vestibule windows to maximise the thrash, and we were soon heading out of Piccadilly. Due to half term, this service wasn't as busy as usual, and there were only 2 people along with Nat and I standing in the front vestibule upon departure from Occy Road. Although I didn't know it at the time, this run would be something special for me (along with getting 14 again). Why? Well, Thomas Telford would hit a milestone on the 22.25-mile run out to Warrington. Which one? Well, its a milestone that I've never had with anything else. Shovel 14 was already cleared for 1000. In fact its mileage was at 1989 before this run. What milestone did I reach? That's right. SHOVEL 14 IS CLEARED FOR 2000!

After an excellent run to Warrington, we had to bail (sad face). We immediately got several photos, also getting a video of it leaving, but it was still a shame to have to say bye to that for a pendo home.
Warrington Bank Quay by fishquinn1, on Flickr
We didn't have long to wait at Warrington for the 17:39 to Euston via New Street, and it was soon arriving with dud for 100 390121. We got decent seats in coach E and relaxed for the journey back to the Midlands. It wasn't a busy service and, dare I say it, was rather pleasant, but we'd decided to bail at Wolverhampton for the 170 to New Street to give us more time to get to Snow Hell. The run was smooth and we eventually got to Wolverhampton 3 early. It was then off the warm pendo and out into the cold of Wolverhampton, looking longingly at the 1st class lounge while we waited for our 170 to the bat cave. We knew that it was formed of 3 coaches when we saw it, so I was really hoping that it wasn't 170631, which is my 170 stalker. It wasn't, but 170633 isn't much better than it. Still, we managed to get a bay of 4 up front for the drone through to Brum.

Nat had requested that we wait at New Street for the 19:03 Leeds tram. I had no objections to this, and we actually ended up arriving at New Street alongside the rear powercar! This annoyed Nat though, as the rear powercar was the one that he's been chasing for ages due to the fact that its on a mere 69 miles for him (and his only one required for 100 of the XC examples) - 43301. I found it rather funny, and we headed over Navigation Street footbridge to get onto the platform before walking to the very front. The driver had pulled forward a very long way on arrival, but we could still ID the front powercar as another one that Nat would have liked to get (and me), 43207. It is the best member of the Cross Country fleet, after all.

We'd soon had our MTU fix as 'E63 disappeared into the night, and we both began the walk up Corporation Street to Snow Hell. A tram had left New Street less than a minute after we'd passed, so it was kind of a race up the hill, it overtaking us as it arrived at Bull Street. We'd soon made it to Brum's nastiest station, and we got onto the platform just as one of Chiltern's 170s arrived, 168321. We managed to get the decent bay of 4 at the very back of the train, and were soon on the move on our all shacks stopper.

The journey was uneventful until Widney Manor, where we slowed a lot and continued at the slow pace until Bentley Heath Crossing... Where we swung into Dorridge up loop! We were in there for a couple of minutes, and the reason became clear a couple of minutes later - We were in there so a 50-minute-late 221 could pass us. It was the same one that Nat and I had seen on the boards at New Street - the reason it was so late was due to 'a train fault'. Typical, unreliable 221s...

We were soon on the move again, and the rest of the journey went without problems, eventually getting to Leamington about 10 minutes late. Nat's dad was waiting in the car park, so we headed over to him after arrival and I was soon getting him after a highly productive day.

67014 cleared for 2000, 67014 in the mileage again, 67014 the first shovel of the year, 67014 seen again, 67014- OK, I'll stop now. Just one more thing...

6701- Fine! 4 metrolink trams required now. They'll land soon, as will, I hope, 67014!

 

[noddy1878]

You're doing well with your trams! It seems we were all up in Manchester last week! I need to get back there and have a proper day on the tram network.

 

[Kite159]

Sounded like a productive day in Manchester getting down to only 4 metrolink trams/

Just a word of warning, a few years ago there was a scam where random people would ask to borrow your mobile as theirs had died, only for them to call a premium rate number which was owned by that gang [I.e one of those which are something stupid like £2+ a minute]. [I.e. 070XX XXXXXX]


I suspect you will be returning to Manchester soon to score the 2CC, just beware the GM Rail Ranger is only valid on the trams within the city zone

 

[185143]

I suspect you will be returning to Manchester soon to score the 2CC, just beware the GM Rail Ranger is only valid on the trams within the city zone

I'm getting rather bored of telling Fishquinn that! And also his loophole ticket (if its the one I think it is) isn't valid via Warrington either! (As nice as that'd be for me...)

 

[55013]

An excellent couple of trips.
I suspect you'll get 68015 over the thousand before I've had it at all.

As for the GM rail ranger - I always get a Tram & Train combined travelcard instead, this (I think) covers the exact same mainline bits but is valid on the whole tram network.

 

[FQ]

You're doing well with your trams! It seems we were all up in Manchester last week! I need to get back there and have a proper day on the tram network.

It seems we were! I also need to get back up, for those pesky remaining trams and the 2CC.

Sounded like a productive day in Manchester getting down to only 4 metrolink trams/

Just a word of warning, a few years ago there was a scam where random people would ask to borrow your mobile as theirs had died, only for them to call a premium rate number which was owned by that gang [I.e one of those which are something stupid like £2+ a minute]. [I.e. 070XX XXXXXX]

I suspect you will be returning to Manchester soon to score the 2CC, just beware the GM Rail Ranger is only valid on the trams within the city zone

Thanks for the warning - I'll bare it in mind. This number wasn't an 070x, so I think I was fine there, and it didn't even get through anyway.

I know it isn't valid outside the city zone, but winner trams always seem to take me outside, and the nre map for it shows all of the tram lines...

I'm getting rather bored of telling Fishquinn that! And also his loophole ticket (if its the one I think it is) isn't valid via Warrington either! (As nice as that'd be for me...)

It is the one you think it is, but I had an itinerary for via Warrington on this trip

An excellent couple of trips.
I suspect you'll get 68015 over the thousand before I've had it at all.

As for the GM rail ranger - I always get a Tram & Train combined travelcard instead, this (I think) covers the exact same mainline bits but is valid on the whole tram network.

Read the next report... .

Thanks for the train and tram one - is it only gettable in Mancc?



Puddings and pasties day 1

4 consecutive days. Two different places. Two different foods (mmm... food). The first location has something to do with pudding, but not your usual pudding. A particular kind of savoury pudding. What am I referring to? Mmmm... Yorkshire pudding...

Dad has meetings for work every few months in different cities. The one before this was in Glasgow, this one being in York. I was joining him, as usual, and the plan was to head up on the Wednesday eve', utilising 'S51 (the 16:03 from New Street). Coming back on the Friday would mean the use of 'V64 (the 13:08 from Edinburgh to Plymouth, which is a tram on Fridays). Mum wasn't able to give me a lift to Leam on the Wednesday so I decided to go in with dad and do a day-tripper. I was really looking forward to this trip, so expected a bad night sleep. Still, it's the price you've got to pay, I thought as I got to bed at 23:00 on the Tuesday.

You'll never believe it! I... *looks left and right, and checks the room for bugs before whispering* I actually slept well! Damn. I've just realised that, although I did my bug search, I've just posted it on the forum. That's some time I'll never get back . Having got packed the night before, I just had to do the pre-trip amble, with dad and I soon heading for Leamington. The car journey went fine, and we were soon parked and walking to the station. A letter was posted on the way, and we son got to the station. Dad went to pick up our pre-booked York tickets while I went to the ticket office to get my single to Brum and my return from Reddich to Bromsgrove (no prizes for guessing what I'd be doing for part of my day). After getting tickets it was a short wait before 165012 arrived on 'G01. We got on board and, after seeing 66548 come through on a slightly late 6V25, we were on the move.

The sunrise around Lapworth was brilliant, and was a certain benefit of us having a window instead of the usual view of plastic. The journey went smoothly, and I saw 68015 on 1H15, which means I'll be able to get a cat clearance today if I want, as 1H15 works the 11:10 from Marylebone to Moor Street and the 13:55 back. I only need a Solihull-Moor Street-Warwick Parkway to clear it so I made a mental note of this. We'd soon got to Snow Hell, at which point it was off the cart and over to the usual 'spoons for the usual brekky, it was, as usual, great (and filling), but we unfortunately had to rush. Dad needed to go to Duddeston for work and wanted to be on the 07:57 from New Street. I was on the 07:59 to Bromsgrove, so we'd be able to go down together, but dad needed to go to the office for something there first, so we both left Wetherspoon at 07:30 and headed for his office.

After a few minutes there we were both ready to go. We took the usual walk to new Stret, dad getting his ticket to Duddeston before we headed to platform 7. The 07:57 Walsall and 07:59 Hereford form off the same terminating pair of 170s (the split after arriving), one leaving from 7A, the other from 7B. The terminating pair arrived late at 07:55m dad getting 170507 to Duddeston, me getting 170511 to Bromsgrove. We left 4-late, probably destroying my +3 at Bromsgrove, and I soon had to listen to the droning 170.

As expected, my +3 at Bromsgrove was leaving as we arrived. Never mind - I'd chosen this time knowing that there was another at 08:43, 20 minutes later. Or was there? I looked over at the PIS on the other platform after getting a photo of 170511, and saw that the 08:43 was cancelled. I'm not going to write what I said when I saw that, so let's just say that my reaction wasn't pretty. The next service wasn't until 09:11, giving me a god awful +50. Why? Just why?
The new Bromsgrove by fishquinn1, on Flickr

I gave dad a call to let hi know what had happened and to tell him that 1V44 would be passing through in a couple of minutes. Whatever was on this would be what we'd get to York later, so we wanted to know what was on it before hand, in case it wasn't hauled. I got my camera ready to record it coming though, and 43321 with 43304 were soon racing through on their way to Plymouth. Hellfire!

I headed over to the main building and popped to the toilet, which is only open when the station is manned. I took a quick look around, seeing that the lift down to platform 2 had a rather poorly worded sign next to it. It said 'in case of fire, do not use lift'. I think it'd be better as 'in event of fire, do not use lift'. After seeing the sign, I just had to get the lift down to the platform, wandering down the platform to the bus shelter thing. Some music was put on to kill the time before the 170, which was now 35-minutes.
Badly worded? by fishquinn1, on Flickr

After my herculean fester, 170513 was finally arriving. It was a busy service already, not helped by loads of people boarding at Bromsgrove, but I managed to get a seat due to being one of the first one. To University!

After a stagger up Lickey and a stagger along the Cross City, we were finally arriving at Uni. I had no idea how long I'd need to wait for something towards Reddich, so I was rather happy to hear an announcement saying that there was a 5-minute-late one approaching. I ran over the footbridge and was soon in a bay of 4 in a rather tatty 323211. Time for a long journey aboard this rather awful unit... How lovely...

It was onto winner metals after Barnt Green and I was soon bailing at Reddich. My plan had gone out of the window due to the delay, so I didn't know if I should got for Reddich or Alvechurch first. It was quite a nice run between Barnt Green and Alvechurch, being single track and rather twisty turney. I got a photo of 211 at Reddich before getting back on board, and then looked at RTT to see where to take this.
End of the line by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Barnt Green was chosen. There were a couple of idiots in the same coach as me, who had their feet on the seats and were talking on the (loudspeaker) phone very loudly and swearing for every 5th word (or so). Not very nice people! Barnt Green (a dud shack) had soon come, and I got a photo of the starship before changing platforms and waiting for 323243 to take me to Alvechurch, the last shack that I was looking at for today. That's it. Cross City line cleared!
Barnt Green by fishquinn1, on Flickr

I didn't have long to wait at Alvechurch before 323218 arrived on a Four Oaks service.
Alvechurch by fishquinn1, on Flickr
I got a bay of 6 and relaxed, calling mum and dad to see how it was going. I then made m mind up about what I was going to do next and where I was taking Starship 18 to: Uni. I needed to go to the ticket office there, so that's what I did. I was served by an incredibly grouchy ticket clerk, but i got my ticket. I then noticed that I should be able to go to Selly Oak as a fill in move, so I boarded 323222 and 323212, taking them one stop to Selly Oak. I then had to sprint over the footbridge to get onto the other starship back, and just made it onto 323210 back to the bat cave.

We arrived alongside the Stanstead Airport 170. I was horrified when I saw that it was one of my last 2 XC 170s (397), as I couldn't go out to Coleshill. It was hard to let it go without me, but I turned my attention to the Cardiff train, one that I could get, but regretted it as it was XC's other (dud) 170/3! Why couldn't they have swapped turns this morning?

I kept an eye out for winners, but the closest I got was 350113 (I need 112) before I had to go to Moor Street or Snow Hell. I decided to wait for the 12:08 Wolves and then head off, because it arrived just before 12. After identifying it as a dud, I left New Street and headed to Moor Street, as I had time to get a train through the tunnel before my cart to Solihull. 172215 and 172213 were responsible for taking me to Snow Hell.

The 12:12 Snow Hell to Marylebone is now permanently booked a 170 and 172 (it was 168327 and 172103), but I didn't get them (I wasn't planning to anyway). Instead I headed over to platform 3 and waited for 172217 and 172220 on the 12:17 Dorridge. I got a good bay of 4 to myself, and the journey out to Solihull was endurable.

I saw 153365 going onto Tyseley depot as we passed, which means I won't be getting that today (). We'd soon got to Solihull, where I had 13 minutes until Topcat was due to arrive. Yep, I'd decided to go for the clearance! The wait wasn't too bad, but it was certainly good to get on 68015 for the ride back to Brum.
Brum bound cat by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Brum bound cat by fishquinn1, on Flickr

I'd arranged with dad to meet up for lunch at 13:00, at the pizza hut next to the Odean Cinema (in the city centre). Pizza hut do a lunchtime buffet - £7.50 for unlimited pizza, pasta and salad, and it's something I've wanted to try on a bash for a while, but wouldn't do it in a place where I need loads of things. I doubt I'll miss anything in Brum, so it seems like a good idea to go for it today! When I got off Topcat, it was straight over to Pizza Hut. I got there a couple of minutes early but was only waiting for a minute before dad arrived. Then it was time for lunch.

Dad and I ate a good amount of pizza and garlic bread (but didn't overdo it) and had a great lunch. I decided to get lunch today, and we left Pizza Hut at about 13:40. Dad headed back to work, me to Moor Street, and I was soon sat on the 13:55 Marylebone, 68015 on the back getting ready to leave. Cleared by Hatton!

After some great Topcat thrash (including clearance), it was time to leave the train. I don't think it wanted me to though, because I'm pretty sure she hissed at me. On second thoughts, maybe that was the brakes... .
Leamington Spa by fishquinn1, on Flickr
I changed platforms when I got to Leam, after watching TC leave, and didn't have long to wait for 'R33, the 14:27 to Moor Street. This is also a cat turn. I knew that it was a fifty-fifty chance of GT being on this, but it didn't pull through. Instead, I got a cat that I'd like to get with apple pie, or any kind of pie/tart/pudding/food (anyone for custard with peas? Thought not ). Yep, 68011, Custard, would be taking me to Brum.
Leamington Spa by fishquinn1, on Flickr

I got the best bay of 4 on this service, and we were soon on the move. There was a problem with a door in our coach at Warwick Parkway, but the guard sorted it by opening and shutting all of the doors again. She came and looked at the door after departure, reporting the problem. Other than that there was no problems on the journey, and pulse guy was nowhere to be seen, which made my day .

Back at Moro Street, I knew that a 172 that I've been wanted to get for ages due to it having 2 required coaches was on the next one through the tunnel. I only needed to wait a couple of minutes, in which time I got the DVT with 011, for 172221 and 172331 to take me to Snow Hell. I then got on the 15:12 Marylebone, as both that and the 172 were superduds so it didn't matter which I chose (in other words, I couldn't be bothered walking over the footbridge). 168001 had soon taken me back to Moor Street, where it was onto 172211 and 172214 back to Snow Hell, where I headed to dad's work. I'd spoken to him at Moor Street, where he said that finishing up would take about 15 minutes, so I had ample time to get to his work. I wasn't waiting long, and we were soon walking to New Street.

When we got to the bat cave it was straight over to Costa for a Creamy Cooler/coffee (no prizes for guessing which I went for). It was then down onto platform 9, where we had to wait for 1S51. We weren't waiting for long before we could see a tram approaching. As expected, 43304 was leading, with 43321 on the back. We got on board and I was appalled. Truly, truly appalled. Beware, there's a rant coming. The electronic reservation systems weren't working and, instead of putting paper GWR ones in the seats as usual, XC have maid their own ones. I looked at these to work out which seats were free and, instead of being greeted by a 'from' and a 'to', the only information was 'This seat has been reserved for all or part of the journey'. Really?! What's the freaking point? Could they have been any less unhelpful? Poor show XC, the TOC that makes people cross (angry) all over the country.

We were soon on the move, having taken 2 seats that were reserved for some random part of the journey, that Cross Country through was too confidential to tell passengers. We saw various things on the way up to Derby, including a freight going through the low level at Tamworth while we were stopped in the high level. That wasn't all though, as the best 66 was at Kingsbury, 66135. There wasn't much at Derby RTC, but we saw 31452 as we arrived. While we were stationary in the platform, I looked over and saw two absolute monsters in the sidings next to the station - 47847 and 47848. Seeing two brush is obviously great, but 47848 was my last required, non-stored, mainline registered brush! Score!

As we left Derby, 47812 also became visible, meaning that there were 6 locos in Derby station at that one time - 2 tram powercars, 3 brush and a bed! Hellfire doesn't even begin to describe it. We were soon racing towards Chesterfield, with some nice scenery en route. I was very thirsty at this point, so decided to get a drink when the trolley came round, about 5 minutes before Sheffield. It seems that the amount of change I have has grown rather a lot; finding out that I had £19 of change was quite a shock! I gave £1.80 for an orange juice, but it was certainly worth it. When we were at Sheffield, I saw two road trams, one of them surprising me. 117 is Nat's last required one for sight so, in my laughter of having seen it, I forgot that it was also my last required one for haulage. Doh!

At Leeds, a soche Scottish guy joined the train. He had reservations for one of our seats, but let us stay there as we were only going to York, and sat opposite instead. He also thought that the reservations were rubbish, so at least it wasn't only me. We got stuck behind a stopper in the Garforth area, so lost a few minutes around there, but we were soon arriving at York, ready for our next service.

Next service? Yep. We'd got gen just after departing New Street that the 18:41 Sunderland (from York) had dad's last required passenger powercar on (score or what?). There had obviously been a chance of this happening, so I'd done some research before the trip and found out that there's a +3 at Thirsk onto a cart back. That's what we were to do, to get that annoying powercar in the book for dad.

We watched 304 and 321 leave before walking down the platform, ready for the GC tram. 43423 was soon arriving, a couple of minutes late, and I headed to the back to confirm that it was 43468 before we got on board. Score! We got on board and dad headed to the guard to say that we needed a ticket. I checked RTT to see how long we'd have at Thirsk as we left York, finding out that the 185 back to York was, very luckily, running late. Due to our delay, if the 185 was running on time it'd be a -3. Because of its delay, it would be a +2 at best, with over an hours fester if that was missed. Danger music time!

We were soon approaching Thirsk, dad and I getting to the vestibule a minute or so before arrival. The diesel dez could be seen approaching as we did the same thing, but it was further out than us. We were soon on the platform, where we made it onto the other platform before dud 185133 arrived. We even got to see the tram set leave before we had to get on. A bay of 4 was got on board and we had soon started the stagger down the slow lines. I was worried when I saw that it said 'Grand Central only' on our tickets, especially as the guard had issued the day return on the last GC service of the day at Thirsk (the last Southbound one left about 10 minutes before we arrived). Speaking to Yorkie the day after, this shouldn't have been done, and they should've issued it as any permitted. The guard didn't mention it though, so all was well. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we made it to York, where it was time to head to the hotel.

We left the station via the ticket office so I could get my frog for the next day, and we then walked to the Indigo Hotel. I had the route memories, so we didn't get lost, and we saw a few of dad's work colleagues in the pub on the way. There were soon to head for dinner though, so dad wouldn't be able to go for a drink with them. We checked in to the hotel without any problems and were soon in the large, clean, homey room, where we watched some big bang theory for a bit. We then decided to go for a walk, heading over to the minster. It was deserted at this time (about 21:00), unlike during the day when it'd be swamped with tourists, and it was a really pleasant walk. We had no idea what we wanted to do for tea at the moment, as neither of us were really hungry, so we just walked back towards the hotel and went into the same pub that dad's colleagues were in earlier, as it looked rather good. Dad got an (apparently rather good) beer, while I went for a fruit cordial, and we were in the pub for a really long time chatting about stuff.

This pub has apparently been affected rather a lot by floods since it opened, as they've marked the height of the water on some walls. 2015's floods were the worst, followed by 1982's. Hopefully it won't flood again! Dad got another beer when we were there, and we left over an hour after getting in. We thought about getting a kebab from the chippy opposite our hotel, but decided against it because it looked really tacky. Instead, we wandered on to see if there was another, better, one, but we didn't have any luck so just decided to head back to the hotel, where we had a hot choc and kit kat, which is provided in the hotel. Then it was time for bed, falling asleep at about 23:30 after a long, but certainly very fun day. 4 more powercars had for 2017!




Puddings and pasties day 2

I woke just before 07:00, the alarm going off a couple of minutes later. The hotel room was large and very comfortable, as was the bed. I'd slept really well, but got up when the alarm when off, to clean my teeth. I then headed back to bed for 5 minutes before the alarm went off again (dad had hit snooze first time round). I then decided to get the one condition of me coming on this trip out of the way - a shower. I said that I didn't want to waste water, but no, that wasn't enough to get out of it. After I had mine dad went to have his and we then headed to brekky, which was included in the hotel price.

It was a buffet for the continental part of the brekky, with a set menu for the cooked. I went for a full Yorkshire brekky, changing the mushroom and tomato for an extra saussie and bacon. Dad went for scrambled egg, but had my black pudding. I got some cranberry juice, melon and pineapple from the first buffet counter, with a chocolate twist and a chocolate muffin from the other. Both were very good quality, and my cooked brekky had arrived before I'd started on the muffin. Again, all of the ingredients were very good quality, and I was stuffed when I'd finished the muffin. An excellent brekky!

It was now back to the hotel room to grab our stuff before going to the station. I was on the 08:45 to Leeds, so we needed to get going (it was 08:20 at this point). The now familiar walk to the station was had, and I asked the guy at the info desk there if he could give me a couple of sheets of A4 paper, which he was fine with. Dad and I then went over to platform 9, where 43378 and 43285 were soon arriving. We left a couple of minutes late but were soon on the move towards Leeds.

I looked at the option of continuing to Wakefield on this set, and when I saw that it was a +10 onto an ex Kings Cross back to Leeds, decided to go for it if the 09:15 Leeds-Kings Cross was dud. We didn't pull far enough down the platform at Leeds for me to get the milkfloat number, so I just decided to stay on the tram for the additional mileage to Wakefield Westgate. Upon departing Leeds I found out that the 09:15 was actually skoda 19!

A boat was seen on the back of a lorry between Leeds and Wakefield, but nothing else out of the ordinary was spotted before arrival at Wakefield a few minutes late. I tried to get photos of the tram but they came out badly due to the sun (yep, there was actually sun).
Sunny Wakefield by fishquinn1, on Flickr
I changed platforms after watching it leave, and was soon watching dud 91116 arrive on the 09:33 Leeds. I got on board, seeing the skoda arrive on the Kings Cross, and was soon being pulled back to Leeds, where I arrived on time.

I'd checked RTT on the milkfloat and found out that I could have a +2 onto an Appleby service. I managed to make the connection and check that 158859 was a winner (it was) before getting on board. I got a bay of 4 and did an RTT check, finding that I had many options to get somewhere from Shipley, so got off the 158 there.

I knew that there was a Bradford-Leeds and a Leeds-Skipton due to leave at the same time, so I decided to check what the Leeds was and, if it were dud, try to run over for the Skipton. The running thankfully wasn't required, as winner 333008 was on the Leeds, so I hopped on for the ride to winner shack Apperley Bridge.
Bug eye at Apperley Bridge by fishquinn1, on Flickr

I'd read someone's trip report a while back saying that Apperley Bridge was infested with evil ladybirds. I'm not a bug person, so I didn't like the thought of this, but I didn't see any on my visit. I found out that my service away from here was running 8-late, taking my connection to a +16, but a couple of things came through while I was waiting and winner 322485 was soon arriving to take me back to Shipley.
Heading to Heysham by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Cousin of the dusty bins by fishquinn1, on Flickr
I got on board and, a few minutes later, I was back at the triangle.

My luck with Bradford services continued, with winner 333014 taking me back to Apperley Bridge, where I hoped the connection was running on time. It was, so I was soon watching dud 333010 arrive and take me back to Shipley.
333014 by fishquinn1, on Flickr
The toilet sink on this unit lacked water, so I would need to wash my hands on the next one, which was winner 333016 on an Ilkley after a run over the footbridge at Shipley. I washed my hands while taking 016 to winner shack Baildon, where I had a +12 onto a unit back. It would've made at Guiseley, but it's a dud shack. Winner 333013 was working the 11:11 Bradford, which I was very pleased at.

I made a dash across to the Skipton-Leeds side of the triangle when I got back to Shipley, and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that winner 333005 was in the platform on a Skipton. This meant that I only needed 2 333s! I couldn't believe it when I saw another of my winners at Bingley on a Bradford service. I didn't bail at Bingley, but knew that I needed to be on the next one to Shipley to try and get it. 005 was taken to Keithley, all of which was winner track after Shipley.

I had to run at Keithley to make the connection (be at the front of the train if coming from the Shipley direction). Dud 333002 took me back to Shipley, where it was a change of platform to wait for my penultimate 333. I saw a winner dusty heading to Skipton but decided to track it down later so I could get winner 333011 in the book. One to go!

I'd set out this morning hoping to get my 3 remaining Ilkley line shacks: Burley-in-Wharfedale, Ben Rhydding and Ilkley itself. 333011 was going to Ilkley so I decided to work out a plan to get them in. 011 was taken straight through to Ilkley, which was winner track after Menston. It was a pleasant journey and I was soon getting off at Ilkley to scratch the station. I was really thirsty and M&S was taunting me. I didn't have time to get a drink though before 333011 departed on the 12:21 to Bradford.

I got off this unit at winner shack Burley-in-Wharfedale, where I had 10 minutes. The battery on my camera had died, so photography was out, and I just waited for dud 322485 on the platform. I was in the motor coach for the one station ride out to Ben Rhydding, clearing the Ilkley branch for shacks. I went searching for a drink during my 12-minute fester but couldn't find anywhere and ended up back on 322485 at 12:53.

I knew that we were due to get to Shipley at 13:14, and I had my eyes on a service that left to Ilkley (from Bradford) at 13:23. This would give a +2 at Frizinghall, which has staggered platforms, but I didn't want to go back down the Ilkley branch. After having a few brief conversations with the soche guard (see the end of the report) I left the train. An RPI was at Frizinghall, but it didn't lose me much time and I still made the connection onto winner 321903, thanks to the road being clear. Back to Shipley then!

I was hoping to be on the EMT hire in set to Wakefield from Leeds at 13:45 but any hope of that went out of the window when I saw that the next Leeds was at 13:38, so I decided to wait at Shipley to see what was about. Both Bradford services (from Leeds and Skipton) were duds, so I turned my attention to the Morcambe and, upon seeing a 153, ran over to it. 153331 became my first Northern 153 (it was attached to a 142 that I, obviously, didn't get the number of) and I was soon at winner shack Bingley, where I had another fairly tight connection, this time onto dud 333003. Where's my last bug eye?

I bailed at Shipley again, where I decided that it was time to head towards Leeds. The next service wasn't for a while, so I thought 10 minutes would be long enough for a fill in move to Frizinghall. Due to a slight delay on dud 333002, this went down to 9 minutes, which wasn't enough time, so I stayed on to Bradford Forster Square.

I remembered the route to Interchange from when I last took it, in 2015, and had soon reached the station. There wasn't a Leeds service in yet, but one had soon arrived, and I was very glad to see a double winner, including my first 155. 153359 was leading, with 155345 on the back. I sat in the 153 because it was quieter and did a quick RTT check, seeing that there was a +1 at New Pudsey onto a Man Vic back to Bradford. I wasn't sure if I should try it or not, but I went for it after finding out that we were a minute early. I ran over the footbridge at the required shack, and I'm very glad I did because double winner 158851 and 153332 took me back to Bradford.

At Interchange, I just had to cross the island platform to get straight onto a slightly delayed winner 150207. I'm certainly not complaining about the delay; if it were on time I'd have missed it! I got on board and we left a couple of minutes later, me checking for connections at Bramley.

I'd noticed that, due to our delay, there's be a +7 onto a Man Vic or a +9 onto an ex Man Vic to Leeds, so I bailed at shack score 9, Bramley, and took the (stupidly long) walk to the other platform. I don't suggest risking anything under a +3 (a +2 if you can really get a move on). It looks like a fairly deprived area, too, but the large Morrisons was reassuring. I looked at RTT and found out that I could get the Man Vic to New Pudsey for an ex Blackpool 158 back, but decided to do this only if it was a winner. If it weren’t, I'd run to the other platform aand get on the Leeds. I could soon see the Victoria service approaching, but the moment I saw that it was the 155 I'd had from Bradford to New Pudsey, just no longer with the 153, I sprinted down the ramp, over the zebra crossing, under the bridge and up the steps onto the other platform. I was there less than a minute before dud (typical) 158755's doors opened. I got a bay of 4 on board and we were soon arriving at Leeds, where I had an hour until my required move to head back towards York.

I looked at the departure board to see what I should do, but nothing came to me other than to get a drink. I looked at a couple of options but they both got me back too late, so I just headed to Smiths for a couple of drinks and then noticed a comfy looking waiting room. I thought it strange to be asked to show my ticket as I entered, and I was soon sat on a sofa having been let through. That's the point I noticed the refreshments and 1st class lounge sign. Score!

I got my self a couple of biccys and a hot choc, both of which went down well, before wandering onto the platforms again at 15:45. I got to see my train arrive and terminate, but it wasn't announced for a while allowing me to get a good seat on dud 91113's MK4 set. I got wedged out before we left, but at least I got a seat. We were soon on the move, and it was a good enough run down to Donny, where I bailed.

67030 was the Donny thunderbird, with 37604 being sat on a test train next to it. I had some good entertainment from 08669, which was shunting wagons around with good noise. I spotted 91114 while waiting, so text Kite (as it's his last required 91) to let him know in case he was in London (he wasn't). The wait didn't feel too long before my service, the 17:05 to York, arrived with 43309. The rear powercar. 43277 was got after arrival at York. Nar really is going to kill me now, as 277 is one of his last 2 required VTEC ones! A really soche member of platform staff at York saw me getting the powercar number and invited me into 1st class, much to the annoyance of the cleaning lady (I didn't even get in her way). The member of staff then gave me a free pen! I've bumped into loads of soche members of staff today, which I'll list at the end of the report.

I had a York forum meal this eve' so began the walk over to this evening's venue, The Golden Fleece. I went to the cash machine en route before wandering over, waiting outside for a few minutes to go in with Yorkie, as I had no idea where I was going. We headed to the private upstairs room, which we'd booked for this evening, and Yorkie went to get my dinner when getting his own (as it's better for a solo 15 year old not to go to the bar alone). I went for the fish and chips, which was really good, as expected. Yorkie had set me a challenge to eat all of my fish and chips, which he didn't think I'd be able to. I managed to do so easily, also having Yorkie's peas. Then there was still room for pudding! I waited for a few minutes before going down to get a bread and butter pudding with ice cream with forum member 43094, who also got pudding. My bread and butter pudding was also really tasty, and it was great to meet up with people again.

The upstairs room was needed for something else at 20:00, so we needed to leave them. There wasn't sufficient room downstairs for all of us so we decided to head for the York tap instead (which is on York station) as a few of us needed to get trains away from York, so it made sense. We wandered over and took seats, Yorksrob getting me a tap water, and the time rattled by - it had soon become 21:45. Yorkie had received a call from Bungle965, who had left at about 20:30 only 20 minutes after he'd left, saying that he'd left his phone charger at The Golden Fleece. I was the only one heading past there, but I wouldn't be able to get it back to him for ages so it was decided that Yorkie would get it. We headed off at about 21:45, Yorkie walking with me to the Golden Fleece, where I waited with his bike while he went in to get Bungle's charger. We then headed in opposite directions, me going to the hotel. I spotted dad in Mumbai Lounge, the venue selected for his work's evening meal, on my way past, and was given a wave, which I returned (I'd called him just before leaving the York tap, so he was keeping an eye out for me).

I went back to the hotel room and watched some mock the week while waiting for dad to return. He got there about half an hour after I did, so we get a hot choc and a kit kat before heading to bed, as we were both shattered.

Right, as I said I would, here are the staff that stood out more than others today.

Guard on the 11:53 Shipley-Ilkley and 12:21 back (333011): Was incredibly friendly, wished me a good day and we had a quick chat.
Guard on the 12:53 from Ben Rhydding-Bradford (322485): She said that she liked my tee-shirt and was very friendly.
Guard on the 13:37 from Bingley-Leeds (333003): recognized me having seen me taking a photo of his train as it raced through Apperley Bridge and then chatted with me, wishing me a good afternoon.
Station dispatcher at York at 17:30: see main report.

That's be no means all of them, just the ones that stuck out.

A terrific day overall, with 15 winners for haulage, getting my first 155, Northern dusty and Northern dogbox. Finally, I now just need one bugeye, but didn't even see the darn thing. Hopefully it'll appear soon on a future trip to Leeds, but I have no idea when that may be.

 

[Kite159]

Sounded like a good couple days

 

[LordCreed]

Looks like you've had a good couple of days, with a lot of new haulage!

Reminds me that the trams in Manchester is yet another thing I need to do.

 

[55013]

Read the next report... .

I just have...I shall refrain from comment.

Thanks for the train and tram one - is it only gettable in Mancc?

I believe you can only get them from the ticket machines at every stop.
Metrolink do have an app, called "getmethere" which can be used to buy e-tickets; but I've just had a look and they don't seem to sell anything but tram only tickets (although I'm willing to be proved wrong on that).

Your West Yorkshire adventure looks good, there's a few very familiar numbers and stations among that lot!

 

[1D53]

Which 333 do you need?

 

[Techniquest]

Just caught up, a most productive time in West Yorkshire!

Why the adversity to a shower? That puzzles me, it's an awesome way to start a day, makes you so refreshed and awake, ready for a busy day.

 

[noddy1878]

Just caught up, a most productive time in West Yorkshire!

Why the adversity to a shower? That puzzles me, it's an awesome way to start a day, makes you so refreshed and awake, ready for a busy day.

Agreed! I don't leave the house without having one!

 

[FQ]

Sounded like a good couple days

It was indeed

Looks like you've had a good couple of days, with a lot of new haulage!

Reminds me that the trams in Manchester is yet another thing I need to do.

The metrolink is really good fun, so I highly suggest you head up there soon.

I just have...I shall refrain from comment.



I believe you can only get them from the ticket machines at every stop.
Metrolink do have an app, called "getmethere" which can be used to buy e-tickets; but I've just had a look and they don't seem to sell anything but tram only tickets (although I'm willing to be proved wrong on that).

Your West Yorkshire adventure looks good, there's a few very familiar numbers and stations among that lot!

You'll (hopefully) get it soon!

Thanks for the info - I'll look at it as an option when I'm not on a loophole to get to Mancc.

Which 333 do you need?

333001.

Just caught up, a most productive time in West Yorkshire!

Why the adversity to a shower? That puzzles me, it's an awesome way to start a day, makes you so refreshed and awake, ready for a busy day.

Waste of time
Waste of water
We live in Britain, so there really isn't the need
Waste of soap

Finally, feeling awake before a bash? It just wouldn't feel right




Puddings and pasties day 3

Day 3 started with an 07:00 alarm. I knew that dad was going to finish his day early (at about 12:45) and start early (08:30) but I had no idea what to do for the part of the day before I needed to be back at York, for 13:00 (so we could head to the NRM for a bit before our train). I got up and completed the usual morning tasks, including packing our bags again, finding out that dad had had a throbbing headache for most of the night, and still had it (damn). Neither of us were in the mood for brekky (I never am straight after getting up) so we waited until 08:00 and then headed down. Dad didn't want anything, and all I wanted to use was the buffet, so we didn't need to wait for any cooked food.

After another excellent brekky, we headed back up to our room, picked our bags up, confirmed we had everything and then went back downstairs to check out. Dad checked out, allowing me to head straight to the station as I had less than 20 minutes until my train (yep, I've decided where I'm going). I left just after 08:25 and ran most of the way to the station, getting there 10 minutes later. My tickets were issued with out issue (does that mean they were issued with just 'd'?) and I was soon watching my train to Leeds, the same one as yesterday, arrive. Yep, I'd chosen another West Yorks because it meant I'd be able to have a few hours in Leeds to look out for my last bug eye before coming back. Required for the year 43357 and 43384 were on the 08:45 Plymouth and would take me to West Yorkshire. 43384 was identified after I bailed.

A bay of 4 was located on board and I chilled out in the seats as we raced towards Leeds. I was further up the train than on Thursday so I could actually get the number of the milkfloat on the 09:15 Kings Cross. When I saw that it was a dud I just stayed on 357 and 384 to Wakefield Westgate, where I bailed after a fun journey.

I noticed that the Leeds milkfloat was running late, but I couldn't make out how late. My plan was to get the Donny stopper if the Leeds was a dud, having seen that it was a required 322, so I looked at the departure board and was surprised to see a Leeds bound milkfloat arriving. I ran over the footbridge and found out that it wasn't my Leeds service, but the 09:01 running 25 minutes late. I ran down to the loco to see if I needed it, but flagged it after seeing dud 91104 on the front. I then headed to the footbridge to get to a point where I'd be able to ID the Leeds milkfloat and get it if it was a winner, but also be able to get onto the Donny 322 if it were dud. I didn't need to go for plan B though, as a milkfloat that has annoyed me for ages, winner 91118, was to take me to Leeds.

So far I'd done identical moves to the day before, and this wasn't to change just yet. I did a run, my knees protesting (They seem to ne rather bad today and yesterday, so I've been galloping instead of running, which lowers the pain ) but made it onto winner 158792 for the ride to Shipley. We were on the move less than a minute after I'd got on. After 10 minutes I was alighting at the triangle station of Shipley, ready to look for my last bugeye.

The 09:59 Bradford, 10:08 Leeds and 10:08 Skipton gave no luck, which left me to figure out a way to ID both the Ilkley-Bradford and the Skipton-Leeds, which were due to leave within a minute of each other. For those of you that don't know Shipley, getting from the Leeds-Bradford platform to the Skipton-Leeds platform takes freaking ages. I worked out a way to identify the Bradford using the coach number (but not get it for haulage) and then get over to the platform for the Leeds. My thought was that the Bradford would be back in a minute but the Leeds wouldn't. I took my position in the car park and identified the Bradford as a dud, so ran over to the Skipton-Leeds platform, finding out that it was winner 322484. It's not my last 333, but it'll certainly do!

It was a busy service, so someone had to be wedged out for me to get a seat, but the journey was soon over and I was at Leeds. A look at the departure board told me that there wasn't much of interest heading out until the 10:45 Kings Cross. This is a book tram, but it was annoyingly vice, with a MK4 set in the platform. It wasn't in the bay platform, so I had a walk to see which milkfloat it was, but found out that it wasn't a milkfloat. It was winner 90019. I got a seat on board and, about a minute after sitting down, I saw a familiar face. It was forum member 43094, who I'd met at the York meal the day before! He was with someone, so we shifted to a bay of 4. He was armed with gen, letting me know what my last 333 was doing as well as my required milkfloats. Dad really wanted to know what 1V64, our train from York to New Street. was for peace of mind, so I asked for that too and was very glad to hear that it was 43301 and 43207. I finally asked for a few of my 185s and 43308 before having to get off at Wakefield. Thanks for the gen, and I owe you a drink when I next see you (but not alchol - I'm not allowed to buy that ).

I bailed at Wakey and, thanks to gen from 43094, knew that a winner milkfloat would be on the Leeds-Kings Cross half an hour behind. I thought that the next Leeds would be the VTEC that gives a -1 onto it, but ran over the footbridge to see winner 322481 waiting to work the 2-late Leeds stopper that should give a +4 (if it was on time). Excellent!

I was constantly watching the clock as we progressed towards Leeds, and the doors finally opened at 11:14 and 20 seconds, 3 minutes late. The milkfloat was due to leave at 11:15, so I sprinted up the escalator, over the footbridge and down the other escalator before moving down the platform slightly, and just managed to get on the MK4 set powered by winner 91121 before the doors shut. Thank got I made it - it would've been rather irritating if I hadn't! We were soon on the move, and Westgate was soon reached once again. I changed platforms after getting here, finding out that dud 91131 would be taking me back to Leeds. I already had a plan in my head for the rest of the day, so I just checked that it was doable on the milkfloat, and found out that all was fine and that I'd get back to York at 13:05.

My next train was already in the platforms at Leeds, so I just had to wander over to it and get a seat, with 10 minutes until it was due out. Dud 333004 was to take me to Shipley, and I made sure that I got in a winner coach on this. We were soon on the move on this lightly loaded service, and it was a pleasant enough journey, soon getting to Shipley where I had an 8-minute wait until what should be my last 333. I waited on the Skipton-Leeds platform, and got out of the waiting room as a bug eye was arriving. Would it be? Yes, it would! Winner 333001 was arriving to clear the class! How many regular trip reporters have managed that so far?

This was a busy service but I managed to get a seat for the journey back. It wasn't as nice a journey as on the way out, but it felt really good to clear a class that most certainly isn't local for haulage.

Back at Leeds I didn't have too long to wait before my diesel dez back to York. A tram set was in the platform, 43300 and 43299, so had something good to listen too while waiting for the 185. The awful 185 engine was a lot worse than the MTU, and I soon had to endure the vibrating floor on dud 185134. The journey wasn't a long one though, so at least I didn't need to listen to it for too long.

I'd forgotten to change my West Yorks day ranger from the top ticket on my wallet, so when I showed it to the guard around Colton Junction, he said that it was fine, turned to check the guy in the bay of 2 next to be but turned back to me before he'd managed to check him, saying that it wasn't fine, and that it was only valid to Micklefield. That's the point I noticed that I'd forgot to change it around, so I showed him my ticket from Micklefield to York, which he marked and then moved on, giving a group of lads a telling off for not having their ticket, but not having time to sell them a ticket after telling them off !

I headed to the footbridge at York to call dad, who was crossing the road outside the station now. This gave me time to go for a PNB before heading back to the footbridge to meet dad, who was feeling slightly better than earlier, but the weight of 2 heavy bags wasn't helping. I took one of them and we headed out of the station and over to the NRM to get our 87 fix. 87001 was our first port of call when we got there, and was looking brilliant as usual. We spent quite a while there before moving on, heading outside. I've only ever visited the NRM once when the depot has been opened, and that was in Railfest 2012. It always seems to be closed for maintenance. This is a shame but 47798 and 40122 were still viewable through the window.

We wandered around the great hall before going in the room with a lot of nameplates, 55002 and 55009 being seen on our way. Dad noticed the nameplate of his favourite brush, 47537, so after waiting for a school group to get out of the way, he got a photo of it. Hellfire! I noticed the time and saw that both the Northbound and Southbound chieftains would be due through in a minute, so we headed up to the observation room in time to see 43251 and 43208 come through on the Southbound. 208 is the best VTEC powercar, so it was great to see it again, but this pairing was rather odd as I'd been on the Chieftain to Inverness twice and had both of these powercars on them (208 on the 1st, 251 on the 2nd). 43274 and 43307 were on the Northbound, and it wasn't long to wait after they had gone for another tram, this time a GC one. Trams 468 and 423 were soon coming through, and dad managed to get a photo on his work phone, although it wasn't brilliant. We decided to wait for a bit longer, as a freight would soon be through. Sure enough, a rather claggy 66077 was soon coming through. After that came through we decided that it was time to head back to the station.

Dad didn't want to wander over to Sainsbury's with the bags, so I decided that dad could wait at the station while I headed to get lunch. We were back at the station at about 14:40, with just over an hour until our train back to Brum, so I said bye to dad and headed for lunch. I soon got there, but when I saw the poor selection they had I seriously considered running into the city centre to find a Greggs. I decided against this in the end though, and soon emerged from Sainsbury's with our lunch. Back to the station then!

I'd soon located dad again, on platform 3, and we ate lunch while waiting for a coal train led by 66765 to leave. It soon had, and the next thing of interest was an ex Aberdeen tram set. About 15 minutes before our tram to New Street we decided to head to Costa, me getting a BCCC and dad a latte. A tram rolled in instead of a milkfloat on the York terminator when we were in there. Tram heaven!

We headed over to platform 9 after getting our drinks and didn't have long to wait before we could see a Cross Country tram set approaching. 43301 was leading and we confirmed that it was indeed 43207 after bailing. A decent enough bay of 2 was sourced on board, with the electronic reservation systems saying that our seats were 'reservable en route to Plymouth'. This indicated, in a poor kind of way (it should just be en route Plymouth, the 'to' isn't needed) that our seats could be reserved from underneath us at some point on the journey. Thankfully they weren't, although we did keep checking. We were soon on the move, and we gained a good bit of speed on the fairly lightly loaded service. The lightly loaded bit ended at Leeds, where we'd hit the early Friday rush hour (it was a booked 16:11 departure from Leeds), and it became rather busy. More people boarded at Wakefield than got off, but there wasn't anyone standing yet. The guard on our service, a well known one for great customer service (Kevin Kramer), was living up to his reputation and made the journey that much better, so we've sent a praise e-mail in to XC (he was even saying that he hoped people had a good evening and weekend in his arrival at station announcements). Quite a lot of people got off at Sheffield but about the same number of people took their place. We didn't think that too many people would get off at Chesterfield, but were certainly proven wrong, as there was a mass exodus there. Next up, Derby.

The 3 brush that were at Derby on the way up were still there, as was 31452. 37800 had decided to join in the fun now too, and was sat there with a dud 375. I'd given Nat a call to arrange the day after while I had some signal here, and we were soon on the last 41 miles with these powercars. If only it was slightly more mileage though, as 43301 was up to 993.5 miles by the time we bailed! We headed to 207 to confirm that it was indeed that powercar, watching it leave before heading upstairs and over to Snow Hell for the 18:40 to Leam. It was only about 18:15 at this point, so we had a lot of time, but this was good as dad wanted to drop something off at the office before heading home. We went there and, after a few minutes, wandered back over to Snow Hell, where I was worried as I couldn't see the 18:40 on the first departure board. It was luckily still on the platform indicators though, so we headed downstairs and I was in for a major shock. There wasn't a 168 in the platform, as usual. It was a 165! Not the usual 2 coach 165 that you get at Snow Hell at least once a day though! It was a 3 coach 165! Getting one this far north is as rare as hens teeth! I immediately got my book out and checked if it was a winner, having had 4 of the 12 3 coach 165s that Chiltern had before. I was really glad when I found out that 165030 was indeed a winner! Score!

I still needed a ticket, so headed to the rear cab and asked the guard if he could sell me one on board. He said that he'd do it now, so I had my single to Leam before boarding the cart. We were soon on the move, making me need 6 Chiltern 165s, and the guard apologized about the sub-standard rolling stock and the fact that we were missing one coach upon departure from Moor Street, saying that it was due to a train failure around lunchtime in London. I'm not complaining though, that's for sure! We only lost 2 minutes between Snow Hell and Leam, where it was off the cart. We said bye to the guard and then headed out of the station, noticing the barriers were strangely still in operation. It was then the walk back to the car, which was thankfully still there, and we piled in for the ride back home, where we had a good evening. We were both really tired though, so got to bed at about 21:00. This would certainly be needed for the day after too, with an alarm set for 05:00. Kill me now.

 

[Kite159]

A good day in Yorkshire, congrats on clearing the 333s, plus a few additional 91s & 90019 into your book

How many of the 321/322s do you have left to locate within West Yorkshire?

 

[Segedunum]

Sounds like a productive time especially with the 90.

I cleared the 333s in July last year, having spent forever chasing 333005!

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[alexf380]

Slowly but steadily catching up with your reports Quinn. Hearty congratulations on clearing the 333s, and on scoring a few more of my beloved 322s.

 

[roversfan2001]

Great reports, as always

Congrats on clearing the 333s too!

 

[55013]

Congratulations on clearing the 333s.
It should surprise no one that I've had them all, in fact I've ridden in all 64 coaches!

 

[Cowley]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, you certainly do get around fq. Enjoyed catching up with your recent trips. Liked the photos and the thought of all the 47s at Derby, can't be bad in 2017.
Finally saw 43002 the other day too, saw it in the sun across the river Exe near Stoke Canon. It looked awesome. I've seen the IC one about 6 times but kept missing 002...

 

[Techniquest]

Nice work on clearing the 333s! I need 4 of the infernal things, but to be fair I've not been into that part of the world for years!

 

[185143]

If you fancy PMing me the itinerary for that loophole ticket, via Warrington that'd be lovely

 

[noddy1878]

Congrats on clearing the 333s. Good couple of days there.

 

[FQ]

A good day in Yorkshire, congrats on clearing the 333s, plus a few additional 91s & 90019 into your book

How many of the 321/322s do you have left to locate within West Yorkshire?

It was indeed

I need 321901, 321902 and 322482 to clear the West Yorkshire electrics.

Sounds like a productive time especially with the 90.

I cleared the 333s in July last year, having spent forever chasing 333005!

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

At least my last one didn't give me much hassle

Slowly but steadily catching up with your reports Quinn. Hearty congratulations on clearing the 333s, and on scoring a few more of my beloved 322s.

Thanks! I do certainly prefer the 322s and 321s to the 333s, although I like all of the dusty bins and things like them (that being 320s and 322s).

Great reports, as always

Congrats on clearing the 333s too!

Cheers!

Congratulations on clearing the 333s.
It should surprise no one that I've had them all, in fact I've ridden in all 64 coaches!

It'd be crazy if you hadn't cleared them . Good going with the coaches though - I'm many, many off from that number!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, you certainly do get around fq. Enjoyed catching up with your recent trips. Liked the photos and the thought of all the 47s at Derby, can't be bad in 2017.
Finally saw 43002 the other day too, saw it in the sun across the river Exe near Stoke Canon. It looked awesome. I've seen the IC one about 6 times but kept missing 002...

I do indeed get around, look at the trip report at the bottom of this post to see where I ended up the next day . It's a long way from Yorkshire, that's for sure!

Score on finally managing to see 43002 - it certainly does look good.

Nice work on clearing the 333s! I need 4 of the infernal things, but to be fair I've not been into that part of the world for years!

Thanks! You'll need to get back up to West Yorkshire to have a unit and shack clearout by the sound of it!

Congrats on clearing the 333s. Good couple of days there.

Cheers!



Puddings and pasties day 4


That's the pudding part of this trip over. Now it's time for the pasties! During the GWR seat sale we'd booked tickets from Reading to Penzance and back to Paddington for the 4th of March for (I think) £75 for all 3 of us return. PZ is a trip that we've really been wanting to get done, as we're trying to cover all of the 'original' tram routes before they get withdrawn. PZ was one that needed to be done, as is Newquay, Paignton and various others. A Devon day ranger will need to be done at some point me thinks! Dad only heard about his meeting after we'd booked the tickets, so we found out at that point that it'd be very tiring. Still, we certainly wouldn't be flagging this trip!

Having called Nat the evening before and arranging to pick him up at 05:30, we were all ready for the day. I slept like a log (no, not a class 50, an actual log) but the 05:00 alarm was hated and a few choice words muttered as I dragged myself out of bed. I got ready for the day as usual and dad and I were soon heading off in the car, picking Nat up a couple of minutes later. Then it was onwards to Didcot. I really remember very little of the journey, as I was dozing, waking up a few times before deciding to stay awake as we were fairly close. Our plan for brekky was Mc Ransids. I know, but there really wasn't another option as we wouldn't have long at Reading before our tram to PZ. At least the Didcot Mc Ransids is traditional though, as we went here quite a few times when I was a lot younger. We parked the car and had soon ordered brekky, taking a seat with a fairly good view of the line.

It's certainly changed a lot since I was last here. The once clear view of the line across the road is now obscured in a lot of places by buildings. This didn't stop us seeing a red death, a gherkin and a tram race by while we were eating our... edible meal. It wasn't anything great, but it was OK (although certainly expensive for what it is). We'd soon finished so it was back to the car for the short onward drive to the car park, where we took the short walk over to the station. Now to get the rest of our tickets (we already had the advances). It was eyewateringly expensive for a basic Didcot-Paddington return, but we had to pay it, and were soon through the barriers and heading towards the platforms. I'd noticed that there was a Temple Meads tram due 15 minutes before our own so, having charged up my camera the night before, I decided to head onto the same platform to get a powercar photo if it was required. Nat came with me, and we were soon watching 43168 arrive. That one was required for a phot, but we were at the very back instead of the very front so I decided that I'd only run down to get a photo of it if the rear one was dud. It wasn't, so a photo was got of 43035 before it headed off towards Bristol. Platform changing time!
Early tram at Didcot by fishquinn1, on Flickr

We didn't have long to wait on the platform before a powercar became visible. I didn't like the thought of getting this powercar as my first GWR one of the year, because of its livery. It was 43126, which is the one in the awful green and white livery. Why does it have to be my first one of the year - I would've much prefered a couple of blue ones. Still, at least the back one's blue. Which powercar have GWR given me on this set then. Hopefully a great
one that I need loads of mileage on, and a photo. Fat chance. When I saw the first part of the powercar that I could identify it by, I half laughed half cried in annoyance. Why? Why does freaking Michael Eavis appear on my first move on GWR for the year? My first freaking move? Why? You're a real annoyance 43026!

It was a short formed set on the 07:29 this morning, with no coach D, but wasn't too busy and we easily got decent seats. The ride to Reading was uneventful, apart from dad laughing at me and talking about the wither factor with 43026 (damn thing!), and I was soon seeing 4 GWR 387s in Reading depot. I wasn't quick enough to identify the first one, but I got the next 3, finding out that they were 2 winners and one dud (for sight). I'll have another attempt at the last one in a few minutes though!

We didn't have time to watch Eavis leave, as dad needed to get some cash out and we didn't have too long. After a trip to the on-station cash points we noticed that the tram that was in the platform next to us when we arrived still hadn't left. A departure board was checked, and we found out that it was the 07:29 Temple Meads and that it was currently 'delayed'. It was now after 07:45, so we wondered what the problem was. Our Penzance train was due out at 07:59, heading via Bristol, but was still expected on platform 9 (the same one that the 07:29 was occupying). We were expecting a platform alteration for ours, and that did indeed happen, with ours now expected on platform 8 by 07:50. I'd popped down to get a photo of the leading powercar on the 'delayed' service, as I needed a better one of 022, and we were soon wandering down onto platform 8.
Caped at Reading by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Annoyingly it was at that moment they decided to announce the 07:29 as caped, and that all passengers for Swindon, Chippenham, Bath and Bristol should get the 07:59. Time for a wedgex!

Due to waiting for a cart to clear the platform, our tram arrived a couple of minutes late, after I found out that this service was also formed of 7 coaches instead of 8! Damn! To make matters worse though, the coach that it was missing was the one with our reservations in, D. Someone at GWR must hate coach D, as it's the same one that Eavis' set was missing! Annoying stalker (probably the one that stalks me most after Eavis) 43186 was going to be taking us on the long journey and Nat, who was waiting further down the platform to get the rear powercar, told us that it was monster powercar 43147 on the back. I was one of the first on the train in our coach, and I managed to secure a bay of 2 for dad and I. Nat came into our coach just after departing Reading, about 10-late, and decided to go into the vestibule instead.

We were soon on the move and, after a stop at Didcot where even more passengers got on, we were on the dull section through to Swindon. At least it's fast, I guess. We'd soon reached Swindon, where a lot more passengers boarded. After departure Nat came into our coach and complained about the fact that he didn't have a seat. This may be, but he could've had one in the bay of 2 next to us until Swindon, where some sane person took it! Honestly *puts head in hands*. Nat continued standing as we got busier and busier, with loads of people boarding at Chippenham (it's the first train to Bristol for 40 minutes, factoring in our 10-minute delay). A lot of people thankfully bailed at Bath and Nat managed to get a seat after Temple Meads - he likes window hanging between Bath and Temple Meads anyway. We were soon on a route that dad and Nat hadn't taken since 2013, me since December last year when I went to Plymouth - the route to Taunton. It was a speedy run, me heading to the buffet to get dad a coffee en route. Cogload junction appeared several miles later, and we were then on the approach to Taunton.

The guard had announced that reservations for coach D had been placed in F on departure from Didcot, so Nat and I had headed down to see if they were any good. They weren't (typical) so we'd just stayed put. After Temple Meads we'd had a couple of bays of 2 for the 4 of us, so we were alright. It felt weird hearing announcements saying that the train is going to Penzance and knowing that you're not bailing at Reading or Bristol and are actually continuing all the way to the end. It was a funky ride, although Exeter St Davids produced hell on earth. In the platform next to us was a 221, but if you looked our the other window so you didn't need to look at it then you'd be looking straight at a pair of 159s! Dad and I just covered our eyes until the 221 had left, so we could look out that window. It was still fairly busy upon departure from Exeter, so we couldn't shift to the left hand side until Newton Abbot, but I got into a position where my head was over a foot higher than the seat backs, so I had a great view. Dad did a similar thing and we were soon enjoying the Dawlish sea wall, unfortunately without any huge waves to smash against us - that would've been incredibly funky.

I'd been in the window seat, dad in the aisle seat until now, so I let dad go into the window seat as he, like me, loves the Devon banks. It felt really weird sitting back down normally having been much higher than usual for Dawlish, and it felt as if the seat backs were even higher than normal (I know, I know - you're probably all saying that that isn't possible with these awful seats - any higher and they'd be going through the roof). The first ticket check of the journey occurred after Newton Abbot by a few RPIs that stayed on the train until Penzance, and I decided to window hang after Totnes for the excellent Devon banks. I really do think that this stretch of track is highly underrated, and is some of the best in the country. My face was very cold by the time I sat down after Laira, but it had certainly been worth it. We'd soon arrived at Plymouth, where a large amount of people got off, but probably an equal amount got on. You know what they say in physics - every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Who would have thought that Newton had thought up parallel worlds back in those days...

After leaving Plymouth we were on track that I hadn't been on since 2013 when we'd done a Devon Day Ranger and gone through to Liskeard. I did some window hanging until we'd crossed the Royal Albert Bridge, officially entering Cornwall, and then sat down again.

It was winner track for Nat after Liskeard. I'd had it once, many, many moons ago, so it was good to get it again. The connection for the Newquay 153 was held at Par, much to the delight of passengers going there as it meant that they didn't need to wait at Par for 2 hours. Nat had taken a couple of packs of sweeties, so we had one of those and put the wrapper in the brown paper bag that dad's coffee had come in (with the coffee cup also still in there. I'm telling you about this meaningless thing because, when Nat was windowhanging I kept on putting it into his bag . I think he found it in there about 4 times before we got to Penzance!

The RPIs that had joined at Newton Abbot actually asked Nat if he'd joined at Par despite having walked past him several times while window hanging, which annoyed him, but dad and I were really hoping that they'd ask if he boarded at St Austell upon departure from there because he'd completely detonate. You'd probably be able to hear his reaction in Bristol . They didn't, and it was a nice enough ride through Cornwall, albeit slow, and Nat and I were soon window hanging for the arrival at Penzance, where we both scored the Long Rock shunter for sight.

The plan after our on time arrival at Penzance (we'd made up all of the lost time) was to head for lunch at a chippy before having a wander around and getting back on board, as it'd be this same set that'd take us back to Paddington 40 minutes later. We left the station and found out that both of our possible chippys were now shut! Darn! We walked past several pasty shops, lots of which were claiming to be the first makers of Cornish pasties (were they all part of one large group then? ), as we wanted to see if a mead shop that dad and mum had visited when they were last in Penzance, 13 years ago, was still there. It wasn't, so we just wandered back down the high street. We were contemplating heading to the Co-op to get things for dinner, but decided against it in the end and decided that we'd just get twice the number of pasties from the shop that we'd decided on instead of chips. The large steak ones were absolutely ginormous, so we all got one of those for lunch along with a Belgian bun. For dinner Nat and dad went for chicken pasties, which were a little smaller than the steak ones, so I went for another steak. Due to getting the chicken ones we also got two saffron buns for free, which were enjoyed the next day. After getting our pasties it was over to a cafe that had been spotted. That cafe's name? Costa!

A creamy cooler and latte was got from here (Nat didn't want anything) and we then walked back over to the station, getting there just after 43186 had started up again. Our reservations were, once again, in coach D, which meant that they'd probably be in coach F again. We got on board and looked for our seats in F, finding out that they had been placed there and that we might have someone joining us at Totnes - damn! I looked for other free, unreserved bays of 4 but found out that there weren't any, so we just took our reserved seats, dropping everything off before Nat and I headed down to 43147, which was now leading, to get photos. After spending a few minutes at that powercar, it was time to get back on the train but, with just under 10 minutes until booked departure, I ran down to 43186 to get a couple of photos of that before heading back to Nat and dad and getting started on lunch.
End of the line by fishquinn1, on Flickr
End of the line by fishquinn1, on Flickr

Lunch was huge, filling and thoroughly, thoroughly good, and it was finished about an hour in the journey (no kidding - I honestly don't see how myself). Nat did a bit more window hanging as we progressed towards London, and we'd soon left Cornwall. The awful GWR seats were really starting to take their toll at this point, but we still had ages in them so just had to make do with them. There was no sign of the guy who had a reservation in our bay of 4 from Totnes, which was great news, as it meant that I could spread out. We were to be stopping at Newbury Racecourse on our way this evening, which worried me as it may mean that the Newbury races were on and that we'd be absolutely heaving from there. Dad confirmed that they were on using his smart phone. Shame.

These seats really are dire. Anyone who likes them is completely insane. It was an awful experience being sat in them for such a long length of time in the day, but we had to continue. We'd soon cleared Cogload Junction and then Somerset, entering the desert, also known as the Berks and Hants. It was even more dull in darkness as it was during light, so Nat and I ended up putting music on, dad his audiobook. I was actually the last of us to put headphones in, but with a really annoying couple of toddlers very close by, it was certainly needed.

After a long journey through the desert we were finally arriving at Newbury Racecourse. I was expecting to see a rammed platform, but there was only 10 people there, if that! The 165 about half an hour beforehand must have taken most people then! We didn't get wedged out and were soon heading onward towards Reading.

It was winner track on the approach to Reading due to the new station layout (I've had the B&H and the line towards Basingstoke before the remodel) and we were soon on the last 36 miles. We picked speed up rather quickly and were soon racing along the Great Western Mainline towards Paddington. We were running slightly late, jeopardizing our +5 at Paddington onto a tram back to Didcot, and we eventually arrived with 3 minutes to get onto the 19:27 back to Diddy, but there was loads of people blocking the aisle at this point as dad and I had stayed put in our bay of 4. The connection was missed, but we were able to get onto the 19:30 to Port Talbot Parkway (engineering works meant it didn't continue to Swansea) for the run to Reading instead. Required for 100 43134 was leading (and was cleared for 100 en route), with dud for 100 43144 on the back. We walked through the train due to not having much time, and I have to agree with Kite - drunk middle aged women are as bad, if not worse, than football hooligans at times. There wree seats available but none of us wanted to sit in the awful seats, so had a leg stretch for the ride to Reading anyway, me window hanging for some of the journey, including when we made an absolute racket coming through Twyford at speed. It was a shame to bail at Reading, where we'd have a 25-minute wait, but we headed up onto the footbridge and ate our dinner, my massive pasty going down really well, just like at lunch. After that had been finished it was time to head onto the platform for our tram back to Didcot. I knew which one it'd be, as it was at Paddington when we left, and duds for 100 43161 and 43127 had soon arrived. Dad and I got seats on this one as it wasn't a long journey, and we'd soon arrived at Dircot where it was out via the side exit to get to the car, hearing 43127 pass us as we did so. I fell asleep on the journey back, as usual, and Nat had soon been dropped off at we'd soon got home, where neither of us spent much time up before heading to bed, after a cracking day, although we both thought that we wouldn't be able to do it again on the awful excuses of seats that GWR have on their trams.

 

[Kite159]

I assume you are not a fan of the seats on a GWR HST then

Sounded like a good run to the south western end of the country and back

 

[Techniquest]

I don't know what you're complaining about with those seats, I did Paddington to Penzance in one go on them in 2012. I think out of the 5.25 or whatever hours I was on it, I was sat down around 4.5 hours and I survived just fine!

That really was a long day for you all there mind, I'd have been on several coffees all day! As for McDonalds breakfast, you'd have been better off buying a bacon baguette on the HST!