I'm surprised you still need 185s
What would you have done at retford if that northbound service had been terminated with the next being a Hull Trains 180?
They're not exactly my local fleet though
The 180 to Donny to get back onto the VTEC stuff
At least you've had a couple of scores there, although needing so few 91s I'd have prioritised getting them in the book. I'm nowhere near finishing them personally, and really not all that bothered about them.
I'm not to bothered with them either, but it would be nice to clear them if the chance presents itself.
I enjoyed the read Mr Quinn, it was quite a long day out. Especially liked the photo you took of crossing the Tyne, that'll be one to reminisce over in a few years time.
Cheers! I agree that it'll be a good one to look back on in several years - that's the reason that I'm getting so many photos of trams now.
Sounds like a good few days in the Northeast. I just wish I had so much free time!
You could make the free time
Id rather ride on a proper milkfloat day 5
The last day. Id set my alarm for 07:05 on the Friday morning, the 24th of March. Apart from wanting to beat one of granny and granddads dogs to death with its toy pheasant overnight (the yippy stupid thing kept waking my by barking) it was an OK night sleep. I decided to stay in bed for an extra 10 minutes when my alarm went off but I was soon up and ready, waiting for the day ahead. Dad took me to the station again and we left at about 08:40, having had loads of time to kill at Malton station the day before. The journey, thankfully, went without trouble and wed soon reached Malton car park, where I left dad and headed onto the platform.
I took a seat on one of the flowerpots along with a couple of other people and I could soon see that itd be
185101, a dud, taking me to York. I was in perfect position for the doors so I was first on and I immediately got into an unreserved seat for the journey up to York. The journey was uneventful, me putting some music on to kill the time, and wed soon got to York. I was to get the 19:40 back to Malton today because mum was on the 17:12 from Berwick back to York, which would connect onto that service. Because of this, I was glad to see that it would be a dud on the 16:40. Although this was dud there was a winner in the station though, but it certainly wasnt for me.
I wanted to get 1E09 today and could either get it from Newcastle or Darlington. Getting it from Newcastle would mean getting the 09:53 milkfloat, but Darlington would allow me to get the GC tram to Northallerton for a milkfloat forward. Knowing that the GC would have a required powercar for the year included, I decided to go for that if the 09:53 milkfloat wasnt 91122 or 91132, as Id get an extra 6 VTEC tram miles by taking this to Newcastle for E09 back. Before doing anything else, I headed to Costa to ask if theyd fill my bottle up with tap water (you know best was the reply, and he then filled it up). I then noticed on the boards that the 09:58 Sunderland was delayed. I checked RTT, finding out that it had passed Shalftholme junction on time but hadnt yet reached Temple Hirst, which it should have passed over 5 minutes ago. I looked at the boards for another couple of minutes, along with RTT, and when I found out that it still hadnt reached Temple Hirst Junction, I headed over to the info desk to see what was going on. The person behind the desk had no idea, but tried to find out. I knew that Id need to be on the 09:53 if the GC was to be delayed, and it was just arriving at this point so I just thanked her and ran over for it, heading to the milkfloat before getting on board. I dont believe it! Winner
91132! Just the one left now! I wandered through to coach C, having boarded in B, and managed to get a pretty rubbish bay of 2 to myself for the journey ahead. The doors locked on time and we were soon on the move. Then, after moving about 20ft down the station, the milkfloat went silent and we came to a rather quick stop, my bottle of water coming of the table and at me rather quickly. Only about 15 seconds alter this had occurred was the guard over the PA saying that the power had just dropped out and that the driver was trying to fit it, also saying that hed keep us updated.
I saw 1E05, a Kings Cross bound tram, arrive while we were waiting with 43308 and 315 on, annoyingly. Why annoyingly? 308 is required for 100, being only on 45.5 miles. Oh well, I might get it later. 5-10 minutes after wed come to a halt, the guard said that the problem had been sorted and that they were just waiting for the guard to return to the cab before leaving. Another couple of minutes passed before we had a second attempt...
...That went even worse than the first, only getting about 10ft before the power dropped out on the milkfloat again. Damn! During this time Id noticed that the Sunderland tram was moving again, now expected at York at 10:15, so I decided that if we were still at York at that time that Id go and get that. The doors had now been unlocked again, so I sat until 10:10 and then gave up and headed to the doors. On my way to the doors I heard another announcement, so stayed to listen to what it was. He apologized to all passengers and announced that wed now been cancelled. I didnt think thered be any more to the announcement, so I just left the train at this point, and noticed that 1E05 had been caped at York for some reason probably the same reason that the Sunderland tram was delayed. I looked at the departure boards after bailing and a smile immediately came across my face after seeing the boards. Instead of saying cancelled for the 09:53 it just said delayed still, and instead of platform 9 as the display, it said platform 5. Sat in platform 5 was the cancelled 1E05! I confirmed with platform staff that it was indeed the Edinburgh before running down to check that it was 308 on the back, having only seen 315 so far. It was
43308, so I happily got on board, with
43315 leading for the journey north. Its a shame that I had to miss out on 91132 (I havent counted it) but this is certainly a good substitute!
The catering crew on board were adamant that I had to leave the train because it was caped, not believing that it was now heading back to Scotland. I assured them that it was and I think they believed me when loads of other people could be seen boarding the train. I took a seat in coach G, a very good bay of 4, and didnt get wedged out. Its pretty good to go from a rubbish bay of 2 to a decent bay of 4! We left York at about 10:25, over half an hour late (hello delay repay), and picked up speed quickly. I checked RTT and found that Id have a +40 onto E09 at Darlington (as I obviously couldnt get through to Newcastle for it. It was this or have the same connection at Newcastle onto the first ex Aberdeen. Darlington wouldnt clear 308 for 100 but it would keep me on plan, which would have me on a tram (1E09) back to York for another tram forward to Donny to get onto the EMT set to Leeds and back, which currently has a powercar thats only on 8.25 miles on. My gut feeling told me to go through to Newcastle though. I decided to go with this, as I knew that its what I wanted deep down, and wed soon left Darlo.
We passed the tram that I would have got from Darlington at Durham, and Im glad that I didnt get that as it was just 307 and, presumably, 299 again. I knew that there was a 50% chance that Id get 43277 and 43309 again on the first ex Aberdeen, as they were one of the two sets that headed up there the day before (I dont know what the other was). Why did I choose Newcastle over Darlington anyway, when both would have had 40-minute festers? There were two reasons. Number 1 was that 308 would be cleared for 100 by continuing and that theres more to do in Newcastle with 40 minutes than Darlington what I planned to do was a Gateshead leap on the metro.
After bailing at Newcastle I changed platforms to get into the better light and headed down to 308, ready for a photo of it. Well, I would have been if the battery on my camera hadnt died at that exact moment. Typical! I watched it leave before heading off the national rail station and down to the metro concourse, asking one of the guys on the barrier how long it takes to get to Gateshead. He replied saying that it was only 2-3 minutes, so I thanked him and headed down, seeing a service arrive when I got down there. I was very surprised at which one it was. When I was at Monument on the Tuesday I needed to flag the first service because it was absolutely wedged. On the Thursday I was planning to do a Gateshead leap but wasnt sure if I had enough time. During that time, the same set that Id had to flag on the Tuesday had arrived, and would have been the one that Id have got to Gateshead. I couldnt believe my eyes because it was the same set that Id had to flag on both of those occasions, double winner
4031 and
4042! It must be trying to tell me something... Lets think. It may be saying that Im going to have problems in the day fairly soon. On the first time I saw it Id been demanded to leave Newcastle Central metro station over the tannoy with the threat of police if I didnt. On the second occasion Id been delayed at Retford by 25 minutes after missing the connection onto the chieftain at York. What this time? I can tell that a storms approaching, to blow this trip to its limit...
It was a nice view as we crossed Tyne and we were soon at Gateshead, a shack score, where I had 5 minutes until the next one back. Double winner
4005 and
4067 was soon arriving, and I hopped on board, answering a couple of survey questions for a member of Nexus while on board (they were going through the train asking people where they were going and what ticket they were using). The journey was soon over and I headed straight back up to the concourse after arriving, getting let through by the same member of staff whod let me into the station just over 10 minutes before (he did recognize me). I then headed onto the platforms and waited on the end of platform 4 for my service, after being denied another BCCC because they didnt have enough chocolate sauce.
I told myself to expect 277 and 309 again because it wouldnt be a disappointment if the 50/50 chance went the wrong way. I knew that it hadnt gone my way before the tram had even entered the platform it was indeed
43277 and
43309 once again. I wandered down to coach B and had to get the door for someone. At first, the person trying to get off couldnt get the handle far enough down to get the door of the latch. A normal then said that hed get it but, despite being on the outside, he also couldnt seem to work out that he had to actually turn the handle that tiny bit further to get the door to open. After about 10 seconds of trying I gave up and did it myself with no problems. Dumb normals...
Because I was first on, a bay of 2 was easily got for myself. We were soon on the move south to York, and I went through my tram list to try and work out what was on the second ex Aberdeen. I knew that I hadnt seen it the day before, and obviously today, which narrowed it down rather majorly. I decided that Id go for it because itd likely be a required set for the year. This would involve getting the northbound chieftain from York, giving me an hour to kill there after arrival. On the way south though, Id noticed that the 12:53 milkfloat to Edinburgh had lost 5 minutes, so I could take that to Darlington for the southbound Chieftain back to York as a fill in move. This was a plan I liked the look of, so I got to the vestibule around Thirsk and did some window hanging to make sure that I was first off.
We were arriving at the same time as dud
91128, which was heading north from platform 5 (we arrived on 3). I made it over the footbridge in time and was soon sat down on board, hoping for departure ASAP (as my connection was now a +3 if I was lucky more likely a +2 with a good run). We left at 12:59 and got up to speed fairly quickly. I kept on looking at RTT on the ride north to see how the southbound Chieftain was doing, seeing that it was running a couple of minutes early by Durham. This was good news for my connection at York onto the northbound one, but not so good for my connection at Darlo. Luckily we had a very good run down the ECML from York, and got to Darlington with 3 minutes until the Chieftain, which was already in the platform, was due to depart. I knew which powercar would be leading it as Id seen it head north the day before, but wasnt certain what was on the back, as they may have done a powercar swap. I headed straight to the rear powercar on arrival and confirmed that there was no swap (shame), and that it was
43306 with
43312 that would take me back to York. Typical Id already had this set twice on the rover
.
An IEP was in the up station loop, 101, so I was able to have a good view of that. First impressions? This thing hasnt been washed since coming over from Japan! They do look rather smart, but I dont think much of the seats from where I could see through the incredibly dusty windows who thought sand bags would be appropriate seats for an 8 hour journey
? Still, Im sure sand bags would be better than the seats GWR have in their trams
. We left Darlington on time and picked up speed rather quickly this was good news as I only had a +1 at York. I decided to stand in the vestibule and got some good 125mph window hanging on the way. Alas, the driver was fairly cautious on the approach to York and braked sooner than most drivers do for there, so we were arriving at York just as the northbound Chieftain was pulling out. Damn.
Still, it couldve been a lot worse. Heading to Inverness today was 43274 and 319 again, a pair that Id had several times already. There must have been some set swapping occurring either last night or this morning too because these had worked south from Inverness the day before! Not bad mileage really! Kings Cross-Inverness-Kings Cross-Inverness in three days, not including runs to other places before and after getting to Kings Cross! Anyway, I was pretty annoyed to see that my back up option, the 14:02 Kings Cross stopper, was a 91 that had followed Nat and I around on our 2016 North East, 91106. This could take me to Retford for a tram back to York though, so I decided to go for it. I headed up to the front standard class coach when a thought crossed my mind (cue stunned silence
). Because of this mornings disruption, what if the service back from Retford was vice? I decided to check what it had formed from on RTT, even though I didnt have much time, and this turned out to be a very good idea as it had been formed from the 10:03 York-Kings Cross, which I know was a dud milkfloat. When I found this out, I very quickly grabbed my stuff and left the MK4 set, with seconds to spare. A good choice to check RTT me thinks!
Now rather annoyed that my only options were milkfloats for the next two hours, I began the familiar walk over to Sainsburys to get some lunch. I decided to go for a meal deal, my first one since they made it rubbish, and left with a chicken and stuffing sarnie, a pack of crisps and a drink. Then I headed back to the station to eat lunch (OK, Ill admit that Id already started my sarnie on the walk back I was hungry). My main option was now a return to Doncaster on a milkfloat at 14:31. I sat next to the departure board to finish my lunch and, while eating, the time and day suddenly yelled at me (not literally I think my next stop would be a hospital, not a milkfloat, if that happened). It was a Friday at about 14:30! 1V64! For those of you not following (so, for everyone), the 13:08 from Edinburgh to Plymouth is a tram on a Friday. This gets to York at 15:40, so leaves Darlington at about 15:15. There was a 14:35 VTEC to Newcastle that would give me about 10 minutes at Darlo to get onto this tram back! Much better than a rubbish milkfloat to Donny and back!
I looked at the departure board to confirm that the 14:35 was running on time (it was) and, when I did so, I noticed an excellent, amazing, wonderful, brilliant, excellent, stupendous, excellent, excellent (fine, Ill stop) piece of information there too. The coach layout was down at the bottom, as it is a lot of the time, and instead of having a coach H and coach K, it had a coach G and a coach J. It was a tram! It isnt booked as one (Id checked) so I was lucky with a vice for once! Score!
I headed to platform 9 to wait for it, and could soon see the front end of an HST powercar approaching. I was incredibly happy to see which one it was. My favourite VTEC powercar, and second favourite overall,
43208 was leading the set! I hadnt even seen it this year, let alone had it for haulage, so I was very happy with this. I ran down the platform so I could identify the rear powercar, and couldnt believe my eyes when I saw the back one
43314. My dream team for the trip was these two powercars, and I had no idea they were even out, let alone together! 314 was on a very decent 911.5 miles, so was just on the brink of clearance. A Darlington return would just manage to do it. I say just, and I really mean it. At 44.25 miles each way, the return journey would put it on exactly 1000. No room for error here then! Finally, just one more rather odd thing about this pairing. Its exactly the same pair that wed had when dad and I had first done the Chieftain (208 was on 799 miles). A shame its not that excellent 581 miles, but it truly is great to get them both again.
I got on board and got my phone out to plan my next few moves. I found that everything slotted together perfectly for the whole afternoon/evening. It couldnt really be any better to be honest! I could get this set out to Darlington, for the Cross Country one back to York after 10 minutes. That would then give me a +10 at York onto an Aberdeen tram. I really wanted to get this Aberdeen service because I knew that itd have one of my last 3 VTEC powercars that are required for 100 on (because it wasnt on the northbound chieftain). Thatll work really well then! I could take that back up to Darlington for a +36 onto 314 and 208 back to York, clearing 314 in the process. That would then give me a +20 onto another Aberdeen tram which would get me to Darlo with 10 minutes until the same milkfloat as mum back to York. Perfect!
Id soon reached Darlington, where I headed up front to watch Lincolnshire Echo thrash out of the station. Once the set had disappeared from view I went over to the other platform and didnt have to wait long for the 15:13 to Plymouth. It felt weird watching a Cross Country tram arrive after getting used to the rather bright front end of a VTEC set, with
43357 leading today. I was glad to see that low mileage
43378, one of my two favourite XC powercars, was on the back. It pulled further down the platform than the VTEC ones do, catching me out (theyre formed of 7 coaches, not 9), but I still managed to be first on, meaning I could easily get a decent bay of 4. We slowed rather dramatically en route for some reason and stayed at the slow pace for a while, but we gained speed again a short while later so it wouldnt jeopardize my +13. Then, after another dull ride along the racetrack (although my first time along this stretch of track on an XC service), Id arrived at York...
...To find everything in total chaos. The storm that the Tyne and Wear metro warned me about has hit.
Milkfloats occupied both platforms 6 and 7, and the departure board said that my intended service to Aberdeen was now expected just over half an hour late quite an impressive task considering it was apparently on time when Id checked after leaving Darlo. I asked what all the problems where, to find out that the line between Donny and Leeds was apparently completely blocked so there was just a little congestion. A little congestion? Every single thing on the first page of the departure board was at least a minute delayed, and that includes TPE, Northern and XC stuff! Ill just have to wait and see what happens now though, I guess. The tram Id just got off was waiting in platform 9 for 5 minutes and eventually left 7-late.
My Aberdeen tram would have a +36 at Darlington onto 314 and 208 back to York if it was running on time. It had passed Grantham right time but had ended up passing Newark 37-late. Theres no way thats congestion for the Leeds branch! I kept an eye on it using RTT, but there really wasnt any need as the departure board told me everything I needed it was still losing time rather rapidly. I continued kicking my heels on the station while watching the staff do their best to try and sort passengers out. The reason for a VTEC to be in both platforms 6 and 7 was simple. The one in platform 6 was the 16:02 Kings Cross, as booked, and the one in platform 7 had been diverted to go to York instead of Leeds, with passengers getting trains across from Leeds to connect onto it. That had left before my service, which was 40-late through Donny (a -4 at Darlo now), had arrived. I continued checking RTT every few minutes, finding out that it was still losing time and was 44-late at Temple Hirst Junction. An announcement then occurred apologizing to passengers awaiting the Aberdeen, saying that it had been delayed due to a train fault. That makes more sense than congestion, thats for sure!
I knew that this service would have a required for 100-miles powercar on it, so I didnt like the thought that one of them was dead, as itd be a 50% chance that it was the one that I wanted. I headed to the information booth and asked if the problem was a powercar down and, after a minute or so of checking, they said that it was a very good guess and that one of them was indeed down. A 50/50 then.
I wandered to the southern end of platform 9 so I could see both powercars on arrival. I could soon see a tram set approaching, now running 47-late. I had my fingers crossed that the leading powercar had its engine working and it was soon right next to me...
...Making no sound what so ever. Blast! I waited there to see (well, hear) the rear powercar, the dud for 100, and it certainly had its engine working. Theres no way Im getting a set that only has one powercar working, especially as its a dud for 100 and would miss me my connection at Darlington anyway! I wandered back down to the leading powercar, 43302, and stood next to the silent thing for a few minutes before it finally started moving with 43296 providing the only traction for the 9 coach set, which set off 50-late. I then headed back to the departure board to see how the Stirling tram, which was also running slightly late, was doing. It was now expected in 20-late, meaning Id only be able to get to Darlington on it to be on mums milkfloat back to York. This was OK with me though because, although its a loss in mileage, it gets me more tram mileage than taking that faulty Aberdeen through to Newcastle (80.25 tram miles by going through to Newcastle with one powercar, or 88.5 tram miles by going to Darlo with 2). Anyway, I was soon watching my tram arrive (on platform 5), and everything suddenly fit into place like a jigsaw with all the pieces (unlike a lot of other parts of today, which fit into place like a jigsaw with several pieces missing). I couldnt believe my eyes and my luck when I saw the leading powercar. It was
43305. This powercar had been taken from Retford to York and back earlier in the trip, which had left it at the terribly annoying mileage of 993. That was about to change. Oh my life, I had a 1000-mile clearance!
I confirmed that it was still
43320 on the back before getting on board the fairly busy service and getting a vestibule so I could get some tram thrash. Id only cleared Cross Country powercars so far, so itd be great to manage to get another companys one into 4 figures. We were soon on the move, both powercars powering, and it wasnt a bad run down to Darlington, where I bailed with 305 now safely passed the thousand-mile mark.
I headed up front and watched the set leave before going into the waiting room and finding out that it had charging points. I plugged my phone in for some well needed charge and didnt like what I saw when I looked at the boards. Everything was now on time except for one thing: the service that I was to get south. That simply had delayed next to it, which really didnt fill me with joy. I kept an eye on it after looking it up on RTT and found out that it had arrived at Newcastle bang on time 10 minutes previously but still hadnt left. I kept glancing at the departure board and was relieved to see that, 10 minutes later, it had reverted back to a time, that being 18:44. I checked RTT which confirmed that it had indeed left Newcastle, running 16 minutes late.
I left the waiting room not long after, my phone now having a lot more power in it than when Id plugged it in, and decided to wander down the platform to kill some time, giving dad a call on the way down. I ended up back at the main area of the station with about 10 minutes to kill, but they passed quickly enough and I could soon see a DVT approaching, which did disappoint me a bit, I have to admit; I was hoping itd be vice. I was stood where I could see the milkfloat number and, when I saw that it had a nameplate (which told me itd be a dud), I had a hunch of which one itd be. I was really hoping that it wasnt, but it unfortunately was the only milkfloat Id had so for that day,
91128 (its the one that I had from York to Darlo). I located the guard before boarding and stood in the vestibule waiting for him to finish his duties with the doors and watching the train out of the platform. I then asked him how much itd be to upgrade to 1st class so I could join mum. Instead of looking at the price of an upgrade, he simply asked me which coach she was in before saying that he wasnt going to charge me and let me go and sit with her. Soche award of the day!
I went down to coach L and immediately located mum in the bay of 4 Id put her in using the seat selector. She didnt know that she was in 1st class before shed got to her reserved seat, so was very glad that Id booked her in there, but was very happy to see me. It was a pleasant run back up to York, me getting an orange juice on the way. Then, when wed arrived, I got mums bag and we left the MK4 set, my last loco hauled thing of the trip, and wandered back down the concourse, me giving a wave to the guard as the milkfloat left.
I knew that it should only be 20 minutes until our diesel dez back to Malton due to the delay, so I wasnt too happy to see that the stupid thing was running 20 minutes late. Mum was now really tired, so she wasnt too happy either, but we headed to the waiting room after watching a late running Cross Country tram depart for Glasgow.
I left the waiting room rather often to see various bits and bobs, including a VTEC tram set which I slammed the doors of before departure. There was a stupid drunk guy that tried to write on the tram cab using his beer but was immediately yelled at by the driver and, after Id got back to the waiting room, there was a message over the tannoy asking for the BTP to go to platform 5b, presumably for that guy. I got outside just in time to see the NMT come though as well, with 43014 and 43062. Two of my last 3 powercars in the same place at the same time and I cant get either of them. Shame
.
The 185 lost another 10 minutes so it was expected exactly 30 minutes late. I didnt mention this to mum, and we left the waiting room in time to see a Kings Cross bound tram arrive and leave. Thats not bad 4 tram sets in the 50 minutes we were at York. Dud
185106 was finally arriving, and we managed to get a couple of seats opposite someone in a bay of 4. We were soon on the move and, after a dull ride through the darkness, we got to Malton 28 minutes late. Why it couldnt have been two more so we could claim delay repay I dont know
.
Dad was waiting in the car park so, after putting mums bag in the boot, I clambered in to find that I was sharing the back with the same dog that had come to Malton each time to drop me off and pick me up. Anyway, it was a dull ride back to Pickering, where an excellent dinner ended an excellent trip. A truly wonderful time with only 3 required powercars for 100 in VTEC now too. Bring on the (likely) summer North East rover!
Massive TVM by fishquinn1, on Flickr
43468 at Northallerton by fishquinn1, on Flickr
43317 at Newcastle by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Crossing the Tyne by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Colas grids by fishquinn1, on Flickr
43302 at York by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Different front ends by fishquinn1, on Flickr
43357 by fishquinn1, on Flickr
The last little bit by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Arriving at Reading by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Gloucester by fishquinn1, on Flickr
The cathedral and the tram by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Cheltenham Spa by fishquinn1, on Flickr
Bristol Parkway by fishquinn1, on Flickr
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