Juliano's World Frenzy/Tech's Trip Reports

[Techniquest]

I'll never get every shack on this line so well done. Thanks for doing this writeup. Awating London when you get round to it.

Figured it would be nice to share the story of a bit of a different trip, such a different universe to even my more local area!

London trip report is kinda on the way, Internet issues today with Virgin Media again so it's not proving easy to get things done! I'll probably end up doing it on my commutes for a while, but I will be attacking this big task as soon as I can!

 

[Kite159]

Knucklas, isn't that the station where the town is in England but the platforms are in Wales?

Doing all the stations on the Heart of Wales will probably take a few days, and a bike to try and ride between them in between the trains

 

[Techniquest]

Knucklas, isn't that the station where the town is in England but the platforms are in Wales?

Doing all the stations on the Heart of Wales will probably take a few days, and a bike to try and ride between them in between the trains

That's Knighton, and I'm sure it's the town in Wales and station in England.

 

[Kristofferson]

That was quite a fun read, when I saw your Twitter update I assumed your mother had taken you for a driving lesson!

It's good that your family seems supportive of your hobby

 

[Techniquest]

That was quite a fun read, when I saw your Twitter update I assumed your mother had taken you for a driving lesson!

It's good that your family seems supportive of your hobby

Tolerant I'd say, my Mum has driven in many times over the years to take me in or pick me up. I do cover the fuel cost at least if I do need a lift.

As for driving lessons, nah she tried it once and she couldn't stand someone else driving her car! I sure wouldn't want to drive the Citreon Piccaso thing she's got now!

 

[PHILIPE]

That's Knighton, and I'm sure it's the town in Wales and station in England.

That's correct

 

[Techniquest]

I've finally added all my notes off my phone into my A4 book tonight, a bigger job than I expected but then when you've got 131 moves to write up it does take some doing!

The moves book, Quails and adding everything to RailMiles, as well as updating my ST Publications combine still all needs to be done but I'll get there eventually! Other stuff has taken over today, some of which has been outstanding for ages. I've found several unused notebooks of various sizes so these will be getting used on more of my trips this year. After all, some of them are far easier to use than my A4 book on the move!

I'm not writing the trip report up into said book and then typing it up too on here. Therefore I will be typing it up on here only, with reference to my notes as I go along as well as memory. So if it all comes out as less detailed than normal, it's because from 12 noon on 26th March and onwards I didn't keep comprehensive notes! Even so I'll try to keep it interesting, and I have some notes from the morning of 26th March so let's get started! The rest will follow in due course during my commuting on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning (the rest of the time I'm not on my own) and completed as soon as I can!

26th March 2015 - Techniquest's Capital Bash, Day 1

Finally, 2 months of waiting for this one are now gone and I'm on my first proper London bash in ages! I can't honestly remember my last proper London bash, high time that got changed! 0600 and the alarm is happily turned off and I jump out of bed as fast as I can, I really want to get onto this trip as soon as possible! Obviously I look forward to every trip, but because London hadn't been done for so long it was extra special. I devour breakfast and fill the travel mug with Douwe Egberts, this morning my sister joins me on the early bus to town. It's the usual nothing-to-write-home-about journey, and we visit The Walk Cafe for further food. £2.80 gets me a sausage sandwich and a coffee that left much to be desired, but the sandwich was nice. I treated it, in a way, as an early lunch [early?! Outrageously early! - Ed] which is not a bad shout when on a busy day of bashing!

Picking up tickets is the next order of business, I bought my travelcards for the 3 days online in order to pick up Nectar points [hey, it all helps pay towards Frothmas and to the household! - Ed], and it's soon time to join the first of many trains over the next 3 days, the 0849 Hereford to Birmingham New Street. Today it's got 153366 and 170514 on it, and it's my first LM journey in quite a while. My sister doesn't like 153s [what bad taste in trains these norms have! - Ed] so we sit in the 170. I resist using my phone much on this journey, one I've made more times than I care to count, despite knowing I can charge it on my next move [cough cough... - Ed] as for a change I managed to secure Advances using Virgin beyond New Street. £10.50 each way so at least £2.50 more than the cheapest LM Advance from Hereford, but I rarely see LM+Virgin Advances come up so this was a good call.

Costa at New Street is down to cash only on my visit, which after my transaction was down to pen, paper and a calculator! hock: The Gods of Railways are being kind to me today, as I get winner 390010 on the 1050 to London Euston! 8 more 390s to go, 1/0 and 7 /1s! I worked it out from the coach number only as I didn't see the end of the train, so all the way to Euston I was hoping I was right! I do feel like a traitor to LM here, but then they won't provide us with 350/3s in Birmingham so I guess we're equal!

Unfortunately part of my phone charger [it has a detachable two-pin section for some reason, known only to Samsung - Ed] is AWOL and I can't charge my phone now I did go through my bag twice to make sure it hadn't tucked itself away, to no avail. This is why, if you didn't get the tweet about it, I didn't tweet much during the first day, I had to conserve battery power! That and I was outrageously busy all day!

Oh. My. LORDZ! I had forgotten how much I love the tilt on sharp curves on 390s! Flying through MKC is also nice, I'm already planning to come back this way again some time! Nothing ID-able on Wembley, as I was seated on the wrong side of a busy Coach E. We get held outside Euston awaiting a platform, which clearly a 221 was in as once that went past us we were back on the move, arriving 1 minute early into platform 16. I check to make sure I was on 390010, sure enough I was so I was well chuffed!

Outside Euston I meet up with this forum's noddy1878 at long last and we make our way to Euston Square to begin the epic first day in London.

For now gang, I need a break so I'll carry on as soon as the opportunity arises, probably once I've had my coffee on the bus to work Hope the first part has wet the appetite for more!

 

[Kite159]

Was it a reserved seat in coach E (or did you decide to pick an unreserved seat as your given seat was pants?), or was it a 9-car 390/0 appearing instead of a 11-car 390/1?

 

[Techniquest]

No idea what it was booked, but I was reserved in coach E anyway. The 390 was heaving out of New Street!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
OK then, let's continue with this! Before I forget, many thanks are due to WVL14 for the 455 gen on Day 2. It was indeed a dud but nice to have that gap in my records filled!

It's an exceptionally full bus this morning, and I'm really cramped in, thanks to the Easter holidays having started and I have next to no room to sit let alone refer to my books so this will be fun! Thank God for earphones and coffee...

26/03/2015 - Day 1 CONTINUED!

We decide since we both need 319s that the first port of call should be to see what's happening on Thameslink, as the Southern network is going belly up already today. We get 21318 and 21317, double winners, for the trip to Farringdon and we compare notes on work during said trip. As you do of course

We both need different 319s, which meant that enduring dud 319s was guaranteed to be the case for both of us at various times. The first pair are 319006 and 319007, scoring the latter here, for the trip to City Thameslink. 319214 and 319423 take us forward up the hill to Blackfriars which got me a score with 319423. It's decided we need to head north again now, so the marathon route from the southbound platform to the northbound one is done, with the barriers having a hissy fit at the idea of us doing so! 319428 must have been a score for noddy1878 as it was dud for me on the Bus Stop Bash to City Thameslink. We've identified a couple of Sutton workings which he needs so we plan when they'll be back. He's less than amused about the 319 doing ECS moves to East Croydon and back mind as he needed it! 319218 it might have been, not sure now as I didn't keep comprehensive observations during the trip.

15 minutes pass until the next move, 319376 and 319460 to Farringdon. Back across the bridge for 319381 and winner 319432 back to City Thameslink. 377515 and 377520 scores me 377515 for the trip to Blackfriars, and the next few produce duds for both of us so we have another bit of a wait here before 319001 and winner 319440 takes us to Elephant and Castle. I've also now got my first 387/1 for sight, 387114, at long last! Next up was 319012 and winner 319010 back to Blackfriars. Again nothing either of us need turns up for a while, not until some 387s produce. Double winners for everything 387124 and 387122 become my first 387/1s for haulage on the leap to City Thameslink. On such a short journey I can't fairly comment on the comfort of them, but I can comment that it feels incredibly bizarre to write down 6 numbers for coach numbers! "It makes it sound like a 442!" I comment

During the interlude we continue discussing the future of the railways, and making predictions on what will go where, before double winners for everything 387119 and 387122 turn up for the leap to Farringdon. noddy1878 gets his pair of winners (pair of duds for me) on their return from Sutton with 319383 and 319438 for the trip to St Pancras. Winner 319453 and 319375 take us next to Kentish Town, where I happen to score not just another 2 387s but also 2 377/5s for sight. Only 2 more to see now then, with 2 more 377/6s and I think 2 more 377/7s as well before I finish the class for sight once and for all!

Double duds 319009 and 319448 take us back to St Pancras, with double duds 11023 and 11024 on the Victoria line to Highbury and Islington. Why are we going here? Well we decide to do a couple of prospective leaps as my travelling companion needs only a few Victoria line sets so we bail to see what follows us. Winner 11044 and dud 11043 take us next to Finsbury Park and winner 11028 and dud 11027 [finally clearing up those missing gaps in my former poor recording of Tube moves! - Ed] to Seven Sisters.

"Oh you're after 315s!" I hear you say. Not exactly. I need quite a few 315s yes, but we're off to Spoons for an early tea before we hit the evening peak. Anyone familiar with said time on the Great Eastern Main Line will know just how intense it gets and how little time there is to eat! I score winner 315851 with dud 315857 on our trip to Silver Street. It's Curry Club today in Wetherspoon, so we're going there for a winning Spoons for both of us [no surprise in my case! - Ed] at The Gilpen Bell. It's not the nicest area so we're both glad we didn't come here on our own! £5.85 was very well spent on a lovely meal and pint, and it's back to Silver Street with dud 315831 and winner 315839 for the trip to Liverpool Street. 20 315s to go then now!

There's no time to hang about, the evening peak and its resultant 12-car 321 services are already well underway! We fortunately don't need to head through the barriers as we head to platform 9 to join winner 321348, winner 321423 and dud 321444 on the 1720 out of The Street for a trip to Stratford. Annoyingly we're in platform 10a, so we race off to platform 10 and wonder where our chosen trio had gone as this one's not it. We see it roll into platform 10a, so it's a run like a bat out of hell again to join dud 321315, winner 321337 and dud 321435 for a trip to Romford. Or at least, so we thought...

I swear even now it said on the screens at The Street this trio calls at Romford, but no we pelt it through to Shenfield instead! We're now well away from the core action, so after a few photos of 90s, one running light engine towards London, we join double winners 321447 and 321314 for the trip back to Stratford, where we change for another pair soon behind us with dud 321356 and winner 321425 to The Street. We then run over to the next pair, then discovering we could have almost crawled to it as we had 9 minutes between trains! 321322 and 321430 are double winners for the trip back to Stratford, with a short wait for double winners 321304 and 321351 back to The Street. Back to Stratford [I'm already hating the thought of all these moves being typed into RailMiles! - Ed] with dud 321361 and winner 321310, and I'm glad we came here now as the next pair back is formed of double winners 321336 and 321346!

90015 passes Shenfield light engine by 43002, on Flickr

90s pass at Shenfield by 43002, on Flickr

Why's that so special, you ask? Simple, 321346 is my last 321 for sight! It's also my last GA train to see so I'm very happy about that! Back to The Street with them, and despite him needing at least one of the 321s going back out to Stratford, as it's 1919 now and they're not out until about 1936 noddy1878 has to say no as he's got to get back to Paddington. We get onto double winners [well, for me at least! - Ed] 21055 and 21056 for the trip to Farringdon, where I don't end up seeing any 387s before we get onto 21411 and 21412, double winners for me, to Paddington.

I see they've completely changed the route from the Hammersmith and City line to the mainline station, which shows how often I visit my number 1 station in all of the UK! It's off to The Mad Bishop and Bear for a pint next, as there's still time before the 2035 to Plymouth.

I am near the end of Day 1 but my journey to work is now over. I'll continue this later, obviously starting on Day 2 as well. Until then, enjoy!

 

[alexf380]

Cracking read there Tech, quite a few winning Tube units too! Looking forward to day 2

 

[noddy1878]

You were right about the units I needed! And yes the area wasn't that great but as you say the Spoons was alright. Good pint too! Looking forward to hearing about the days I wasn't involved with!

 

[Kristofferson]

A pleasure to read as always Nice one clearing GA for sight - although it's not as if they've bought many new trains so it's probably easier than clearing some other TOC's!

Not sure how you keep finding these cheap Wetherspoons... I work out in the sticks now and it's still £6.50 for Curry Club!

 

[FQ]

A pleasure to read as always Nice one clearing GA for sight - although it's not as if they've bought many new trains so it's probably easier than clearing some other TOC's!

Depending on the area you live in, Chiltern would probably be quite easy to clear for sight as they have a pretty small fleet spread over a fairly small area. LM is quite hard but I need 2 350/3s left to clear LM.

 

[noddy1878]

A pleasure to read as always Nice one clearing GA for sight - although it's not as if they've bought many new trains so it's probably easier than clearing some other TOC's!

Not sure how you keep finding these cheap Wetherspoons... I work out in the sticks now and it's still £6.50 for Curry Club!

Is that not a good price for reasonable food and a pint?

 

[Kristofferson]

It is excellent, but I keep seeing it's even cheaper in other Spoons Feel a bit ripped off!

LM is quite hard but I need 2 350/3s left to clear LM.

Watford Jct. Morning and evening peak. Job done

 

[FQ]

It is excellent, but I keep seeing it's even cheaper in other Spoons Feel a bit ripped off!


Watford Jct. Morning and evening peak. Job done

Problem. Who is going to want to be stood at Watford Junction in the peak when they don't need anything else that passes through. Maybe a Great Escape though. Not sure when the next one is yet though...

 

[Kite159]

Problem. Who is going to want to be stood at Watford Junction in the peak when they don't need anything else that passes through. Maybe a Great Escape though. Not sure when the next one is yet though...

Next Great Escape starts Tuesday next week (for 2 weeks)
http://www.londonmidland.com/great-escape/great-escape/

Another excellent read my fine sir

 

[FQ]

Next Great Escape starts Tuesday next week (for 2 weeks)
http://www.londonmidland.com/great-escape/great-escape/

Cheers! I will try and plan a trip then!

 

[Techniquest]

Glad to hear you all enjoyed the read! My local Spoons is £6.49 for Curry Club, which is still fantastic value! As noddy1878 says, if it's cheap it's not a great area to be in!

Fishquinn: Next GE is 7th-19th April I'm looking at 13th April for my next GE, first day I can do one really. That said, I'm already deep into yet another round of TPP for that trip which could be rather epic, if all goes to plan. Booking it all on Friday hopefully...

The GA fleet is quite spread out so takes some doing to get it all seen, nevertheless that's done now. The 321s weren't the only class I cleared for sight either, more of that during Day 2, so as always stay tuned for the details!

Day 1 is concluded below:

We have a lush pint of beer, not cheap at £4.20 each mind! Yes I haven't forgotten the generosity noddy1878, next time I'll get them in It's soon time to part ways, and despite my paranoid concerns it was fantastic to finally meet you noddy1878! Long time coming, hopefully I'll actually make it down your way during the summer!

I head to Praed Street's Paddington Tube station, and after a faulty train finally clears the way at Edgware Road I'm off on double winners 21436+21435. A change gets me onto double winners 21322+21321 to Kings Cross St Pancras. I finally find a replacement plug so I can charge my phone, £9.99 in WHSmith but it had to be done! I make it to the low level platforms in time to jump on the 2104 to Bedford, which had 377508 on it. I discover it's a dud afterwards, never mind! Changing at West Hampstead Thameslink for a train to Elstree and Borehamwood, I discover 377511 was on the back, winner for everything! Good thing I jumped on after all then! A short wait gets me onto dud 319012 forward, and it's off to base camp at Borehamwood Travelodge. I remember the walk from a stay there years ago, but after a while I still get the maps app on my phone going to make sure I hadn't gone the wrong way! Thankfully I hadn't but it was a worry for a while!

After the 30 minute walk, I'm checked into base camp for the 2 nights and it's time for some of the usual evening away procedures. Sadly the beds aren't any more comfortable than my last Travelodge stay in Watford last year, it'll have to do. I did wonder if I'd had a better night by doing the 2035 to Plymouth and the sleeper back, but I'd have not been able to charge my phone so it worked out in the end! I get to work on updating my notes, and I discover I scored 41 winners and 28 winners for sight, not bad at all, especially with a large class cleared for sight at long last!

Overall a fantastic first day of the trip!

27th March 2015 - Techniquest's Capital Bash, Day 2

0800 and the alarm's going off, although I'm not feeling as refreshed as I would like. De-rancification time [another benefit of having not done the sleeper option! - Ed] and I do feel a bit more with it now. Preparations for departure and filling the travel mug with some Douwe Egberts [fortunately I was sensible and took my work supply with me! - Ed] takes a good while, and I go looking for a bus to the station, the stop only being a couple of minutes' walk away. I was going to go to Spoons [dud from my last stay here, wonder if noddy1878 needs it! - Ed] for breakfast, however I decide on an alternative idea and go for a route 107 bus to New Barnet instead, as it goes to the station there. I bet you all know what I was planning on doing this morning then...

It takes about 28 minutes to get there, foolishly I got off on Station Road and not by the station, but it only takes a minute or so to get there. It was a fairly decent ride to be fair, certainly one to remember for next time I'm up this way. The boards here tell me it's 9 minutes until the next 313s are due to take me to the city, but I also spy an option a few minutes after them to join the 0956 to Kings Cross, non-stop to Finsbury Park. Interesting...As the 313s are both dud, I take up the option of breakfast at Frothy Coffee on the platform, and after checking to make sure they take cards I get a large coffee and a sausage roll for £3.40. They use a funky way of taking card payments, where you tap in your pin on the reader and it sends off the transction via an app on the iPad. Works very well, and it sends you a receipt by email. I can't recall the name of the system right now, but if I have the email still I can check. Such a thing could be incredibly useful in other outlets for sure, I hope it takes off as the number of us still using cash is growing smaller by the day!

I see the 0956 from New Barnet (weekdays only by the looks of it) is one of only a couple of workings which calls here from the Cambridge direction, certainly a move I want to remember [I must start keeping a book of these moves! - Ed] as it's a handy way of doing 365s in the zones that isn't just Finsbury Park to Kings Cross! Before double winners 365503 and 365539 turn up on it, 43059 and 43064 scream past towards Kings Cross. An EMT HST on the ECML, since when and why? I haven't experienced *that* feeling in a long time. What am I talking about? The shiver down your spine, the sheer "Phwoar!" and the huge grin on your face as you hear the familiar whoosh and scream of VP185s going at full pelt right past you. It's been way too long since I last enjoyed that, I hadn't realised how much I missed that! I have a video of the pair charging their way north through Harringay later on, it's on my YouTube channel [TechniquestS482 - Ed] but sadly doesn't quite capture the delight they brought me!

Time to devour breakfast on the way to Finsbury Park, and I also score 66762 for sight in the Hornsey area, bonus! It's only a short wait for the next 313s to show up, and I head to Highbury and Islington on dud 313028 and winner 313050. 10 313s to go! The Victoria line is also very kind to me today, with double winners for everything 11007 and 11008. I still need quite a few for sight yet, but I'm slowly getting there! I settle with changing at Oxford Circus for the Oven Line [sorry, Bakerloo line! - Ed] to Waterloo, sadly that produces double duds 3245 and 3465. Up and at 'em at Waterloo, as I need a LOT of SWT's enormous fleet! I finally find some winners that aren't RA Surbiton, and I join double winners 455865 and 455872 for a BSB to Vauxhall. Onto a Chessington South service next a few minutes later as I had seen winner 455867 on it, so it's off to Clapham Junction. Foolishly I forgot to check the rear 455, as I was getting desperate for a PNB by now, oops! Thankfully for me, WVL14 provided the gen after I requested it on the TOPS Request Thread, which I hate having to post on! I have now as a result found out it was dud 455850, so my many thanks again! On my way to Clapham Junction I get my first 458/5s for sight, yes I really have taken that long to get started on them!

I'm due to be at Waterloo at 1115 so I need to move it! I head to the lower numbered platforms to find a train with facilities, and end up on winner for everything 458520, the first of the 458/5s for haulage here. 35 to go! Annoyingly the facilities are OOU on here so I have to wait until we finally get to Waterloo 13 minutes later to race to the gents. 30p well spent at least, and I make my way to the station clock to find Kite159 who was also doing London today, the first time we've met too and about time too! As we use the escalator to head to Waterloo East, I happen to see 450569. YES! My last 450 for sight, the second time I've cleared the class for sight too [I had done it before SWT renumbered some of them to 450/5s - Ed]!

Our first train is winner 465026 and dud 465170 to Charing Cross, where we change to join winner 375611 and dud 375623. I was adament Sevenoaks was in the zones, thankfully Kite159 shows me the map and I realise I'm thinking of Orpington. Oops! Best alight at Waterloo East then, and I'm down to 38 375s for haulage now. 375604 in all its dudness takes me to Orpington, and I see for the first time the extent of the London Bridge works. Crikey isn't it a BIG job, no wonder it'll take until 2018 to finish the lot! We're not here long, as winner 465023 is waiting to leave so we jump on for a leap to Petts Wood. I don't want to think about how many times I've been here

Kite159 needs 465187, now my third time on it, so we're soon back to Orpington. It's a +3 onto double winners 465033 and 465007 for a trip to Petts Wood again, and we see a pair of 376s heading to Orpington on our way out, so we end up waiting a short time for them to come back. Double winners 376034 and 376021 take us to Lewisham, where we both suspect will get us more options and more winners. It goes without saying we've already discussed trains a lot, and said topic continues most happily all day!

Lewisham doesn't let us down, although it's still quite a maze to get around, and it's dud 465903 and winner 465920 to Waterloo East. By now I was getting rather hungry, so was Kite so we pop into Tesco for a meal deal. As I had long consumed the last of my 4 litres of Pepsi Max I sourced on Wednesday I also stock up on more pop, this time settling for Diet Coke. It's soon into Waterloo again, and this time to our surprise it's double winners 450090 and 450018 on the 1336 to Chessington South. I didn't know 450s did Chessington! Off to Vauxhall we go for the Victoria line to Seven Sisters, as Kite wanted to check into his base camp and drop stuff off. The Victoria line is again kind to me, producing double winners for everything 11053 and 11054!

That'll have to do for now, the commute is over. More tomorrow morning!

 

[noddy1878]

It is excellent, but I keep seeing it's even cheaper in other Spoons Feel a bit ripped off!


Watford Jct. Morning and evening peak. Job done

Barometer of how nice the area is i always reckon!

Beaten to it!

 

[FQ]

An EMT HST on the ECML, since when and why?

A set is currently on hire to EC.

 

[Techniquest]

An EMT HST on the ECML, since when and why?

A set is currently on hire to EC.

Ah fair games. I really want to head over that way again and sample the delights of VP185s, as well as hunting down the 16 222s I need. I really do feel a Heart of England rover coming on for the first time in years!

I still haven't ironed out the details for my next trip, finding hotels in the right place and for reasonable ching is proving difficult!

 

[noddy1878]

We have a lush pint of beer, not cheap at £4.20 each mind! Yes I haven't forgotten the generosity noddy1878, next time I'll get them in It's soon time to part ways, and despite my paranoid concerns it was fantastic to finally meet you noddy1878! Long time coming, hopefully I'll actually make it down your way during the summer!

No probs. Was a good pint and I must get some take out next time too!

I did wonder if I'd had a better night by doing the 2035 to Plymouth and the sleeper back, but I'd have not been able to charge my phone so it worked out in the end!

Well you could have charged on the HST down. Also unless you had berth you wouldn't have had a better nights sleep!

I was going to go to Spoons [dud from my last stay here, wonder if noddy1878 needs it! - Ed] for breakfast, however I decide on an alternative idea and go for a route 107 bus to New Barnet instead, as it goes to the station there. I bet you all know what I was planning on doing this morning then...

Nope. Done that one. Also done the one opposite New Barnet station!

 

[Kristofferson]

A good trip (and a good read) indeed so far.

I still sat you should pop down to the Southern region and take in the 377/7 noise on your next trip!

 

[55013]

Another enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to the rest.

I too did a London move recently with plenty of winners, just need to do a write up.
Mind you, I've been very busy recently so who knows when I'll get the chance.

 

[Techniquest]

A good trip (and a good read) indeed so far.

I still sat you should pop down to the Southern region and take in the 377/7 noise on your next trip!

Next time hopefully! So much to do in London it's hard to find the time to do it all!

noddy1878: I must have missed that Spoons somehow at New Barnet, I must remember it when I next go to London though!

55013: So that's at least 4 of us, 4 regular trip report writers at least, who's been in London lately! I look forward to your trip report when it's ready, know the feeling with finding time to do them.

I had a lift into town today so not had the opportunity to carry on with the trip report this morning. I shall be later on the bus home, when I expect to get to the end of Day 2 at the least. After that I've got the commute into work tomorrow morning to carry on, the rest of this week's travels to/from work I have company so won't be able to carry it on after tomorrow morning. Hopefully I'll get chance during the weekend to continue it, otherwise it'll have to be Tuesday.

Stay tuned for more of it later though!

 

[crehld]

As usual a good read (I've come to expect nothing less!) . Looks like you've been having a productive time in the Big Smoke. I'm eagerly awaiting the next instalment!

I'll be down in London in two weeks and will have an afternoon free to get some more coverage in... Can't wait

 

[Techniquest]

Mmkay then, let's carry on with Day 2!

27th March 2015 CONTINUED!

Once Kite had checked into his base camp we were back to the station, only a few minutes walk away. I really wanted to get Cambridge Heath visited as it was the last one between Enfield Town/Cheshunt and Liverpool Street via Seven Sisters. Dud 315821 takes us there and we peg it to the other platform to join double duds 315852 and 315823 to Hackney Downs. Very pleased to get that shack finally done! We initially choose to head to Liverpool Street next, but when winner 317887 and dud 317660 roll in we both needed 317887 so pelted it over to just make it on board!

Kite needs shacks up here, whereas I don't so we alight at St. James Street. Shame about the dud 317 on the back but I don't often get 317/8s in so pleased about that score. Double duds 317668 and 317890 take us to Liverpool Street, once we fought through the small gap in defective doors next to First Class! As we both need 313/0s it had been agreed we'd do the evening peak there. Double winners 21339 and 21340 are taken, and only just fitted into, for the trip to Moorgate. It takes a lot of staircases to get to the GN platforms, and the evening peak hasn't quite started yet but we end up on dud 313052 and winner 313047 for the BSB to Old Street, changing onto double duds 313056 and 313041 to Essex Road as Kite needed 313041. Of course, we kept an eye on what was heading to Moorgate to plan moves carefully, since we both needed different 313s in the main, a few (3 or 4) we had in common.

NSE at Essex Road by 43002, on Flickr

First Capital Connect still running?! by 43002, on Flickr

Winner 313048 and dud 313018 take us to Drayton Park and back to daylight. Dud 313029 and winning 313037 take us to Finsbury Park, and we fortunately fight through the barrier and subway just in time, as the hustle alarm was sounding, onto double duds 313064 and 313059 back to Drayton Park. Double duds 313054 and 313058 take us back to Finsbury Park, which was followed soon after by dud 313051 and winner 313044 up to Harringay. Kite is pleased as he scores a new shack, whereas I did all of the GN ones within the zones years ago. Double duds 313063 and 313036 take us to Hornsey, another shack for Kite and we make it just in time to join double duds 313049 and 313032 back to Finsbury Park.

Double duds 321420 and 321406 roll in soon after we get there so we're off to The Cross. Winner 317344 and dud 317347 take us back to The Park, followed very quickly by dud 313046 and winner 313057 for another BSB to Harringay. Double duds 313062 and 313038 take us back to The Park and a semi-fast to Welwyn Garden City has produced winner 317338 so we jump on to New Southgate. Only just managed to fit in mind, and had to reverse out of the carriage to alight! Kite needs one of double duds 313032 and 313048 so we're off to Oakleigh Park, as we can connect there into the same train we'd have to wait for at New Southgate anyway. Double duds 313058 and 313053 take us to Alexandra Palace, and due to me we miss the next southbound so join dud 313039 back to The Park.

By now we're both hungry so things start getting tedious. Double duds 313063 and 313059 take us to Drayton Park for double winners 313043 and 313060 up to The Park. Very happy at a pair of winner 313s, that hasn't happened for a long time! Due to a signalling problem at Stevenage all Kings Cross trains are being delayed, so we end up on double duds 313028 and the 313050 to Highbury and Islington [keen readers will note I did the same move on this pair several hours earlier! - Ed] where we change for the Victoria line to Kings Cross St Pancras. The Gods of the Victoria line are no longer being kind to me with double duds 11083 and 11084 for the short trip. We choose to exit via the Pentonville Road exit, which I see was the old Kings Cross St Pancras exit. Boy it's been a long time since that closed!

McDonalds for tea and my usual meal is devoured, rapidly. To be fair it had been over 5.5 hours since I had that sandwich! We both fancy a go on Thameslink so head to St Pancras Low Level, both feeling somewhat refreshed and able to carry on again. Winner 319216 and dud 319218 take us to Farringdon, and much to my surprise it's not long before winner 319370 and dud 319427 take us on the BSB to City Thameslink. We see dud 319426 and winner 319445 next so pelt it over to the other platform to just make it on board! Kite needs 319383 so we take it [dud for me if it wasn't obvious! - Ed] back to City Thameslink. We change platforms again, this time due to a lengthy wait for another southbound train, and we join 319003 and 319005, double duds for me [noddy1878 won't be happy as he needs at least one of those! - Ed] on yet another BSB to Farringdon.

Double duds [from the day before! - Ed] 387126 and 387124 take us back to City Thameslink, winners for Kite. Another fast run is needed here to join dud 319004 as Kite needs it, fortunately for me at Farringdon we find it was winner 319437 on the back. We see off plenty of duds for a while before dud 319429 and winner 319451 take us to St Pancras Low Level. Dud 377517 is paired with winner 377521 on the 2104 to Bedford this time, and it's off to West Hampstead Thameslink. Next up was dud 319432 to Cricklewood, a winner shack for Kite [I did them all years ago within the zones on this line - Ed] and we have just a few minutes before the next one back to the city. To my extreme surprise, it's a pair of winners with 319457 and 319431! We had observed the 2141 off West Hampstead TL was due to be a trio of 377s hence the move back to St Pancras, sadly we hear the hustle alarm just after we got off the 319s. Never mind!

Double duds 319370 and 319427 are next and I'm ready to head back to base camp now. Kite159 and I part ways at West Hampstead TL, and despite paranoid concerns it was a pleasure to finally meet you Kite159! Once back at Elstree and Borehamwood I discover I have a bit of a wait for the next 107 towards New Barnet, so I pop into the Spar just up the road for supplies, returning to the station to board the bus. I had no patience for walking! Back in the room I get the evening procedures done, choosing to de-rancify tonight as I knew I wouldn't have much time in the morning! Bag packing is also done ready, and I discover I scored 39 winners for haulage and 19 required sights were made. A very successful day indeed, especially considering I now only need 3 more 313/0s!

28th March 2015 - Techniquest's Capital Bash, Day 3

It annoyingly takes until nearly 0100 to get to sleep, I so hate Travelodge beds! 0600 and the alarm is going off, and final preparations are complete with me out of the Travelodge by 0613. Not bad for me fair dos! Off to the bus stop with a bit of a wait for a bus to the station, and the day begins with dud 319439 to West Hampstead TL. PNB had while the opportunity was there [I'd already finished my coffee, and knew opportunities today would be limited! - Ed] and the short walk to West Hampstead's Overground station is done in no time, had to fight the temptation to go to Costa! Winner 378211 is taken to Brondesbury Park for a shack scratch [yep you've guessed it, I'm on a mission to get as many as I can today! - Ed] before joining dud 378230 for the BSB to Brondesbury. Winner 378214 takes me to Kensal Rise for another shack attack, heading east on dud 378256 to Finchley Road and Frognal. I haven't got luck on my side today with dud 378216 forward to Caledonian Road and Barnsbury! I do see plenty of winner 378s out but I'm not doing leaps for them until I finish getting the shacks all done on the LO network.

Still no luck with dud 378212 to Canonbury, the last one I needed on the NLL core. 3 more to go west of Willesden, and some still south of New Cross Gate but those will have to wait. Winner [wahey! - Ed] 378207 takes me onto the ELL and I forgot how many trains run between Dalston Junction and the New Crosses. No doubt plenty of leaps here in the future! Off to Wapping to then head back up on dud 378151 to Shadwell. That clears the ELL core stations at long last, and I'm now changing my mission. Yes I'm still after shacks, but not on heavy rail for a bit. Yep, it's DLR time! My book has been rather empty on here for far too long, high time that was changed! How empty, I hear you ask? Well I needed 131 units on the DLR at this point so the vast majority were required!

I start off with triple winners 14, 59 and 05, the latter even needed for sight, for the trip to Elverson Road. I use the time here to finally eat, which was some of those Warburtons sandwich thins and ham. Fair games, I was dubious but they were surprisingly rateable! The same trio are soon back to take me to Deptford Bridge, where I discover it's trains every 5 minutes, well that's that sorted, it's time for some linear bashing! For the uninitated, that's getting off a train somewhere and joining the next one, heading in the same direction. I get triple winners 115, 127 and 142 for the BSB [it's all BSBs now for a good while, and in case it wasn't clear all shacks for a good while are winners too! - Ed] to Greenwich. No SET services today sadly, so I continue with the DLR and onto triple winners 49, 79 and 78 to Cutty Sark. Triple winners again with 149, 112 and 130 to Island Gardens for another 5 minute wait before joining another set of triple winners 114, 144 and 153 to Mudchute. Triple winners 72, 86 and 88 take me onwards to Crossharbour for triple winners 125, 123 and 136 to South Quay. Told you I needed a lot! Triple winners 60, 76 and 92 onwards to Heron Quays clears Lewisham to Canary Wharf stations on the DLR, nice!

For now guys, that'll have to do as I'm about to get off the bus. More tomorrow morning, when I anticipate concluding Day 3. In the meantime, enjoy!
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As usual a good read (I've come to expect nothing less!) . Looks like you've been having a productive time in the Big Smoke. I'm eagerly awaiting the next instalment!

I'll be down in London in two weeks and will have an afternoon free to get some more coverage in... Can't wait

Pleased to hear you're enjoying the read so far, certainly your comment has put a beaming smile on my face!

I'm looking forward to catching up on your latest trip report too, not had the time to read it yet. Certainly looking forward to seeing how you get on in London!
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Time to conclude the trip report! Outstanding bookwork still to be done is down to updating the ST Publications book, add all the journeys to RailMiles and the mammoth task of adding what is around 200 journeys (including the lot from Metrolink Madness) all in to my moves book. Got the Quails done last night so I'm getting there now!

28th March 2015 CONTINUED!

Canary Wharf's new Crossrail station building by 43002, on Flickr

Canary Wharf is literally a stone's throw from Herons Quays, one DLR shack I don't need thankfully having done it several years ago, so I get off triple winners 101, 141 and 140 at West India Quay to score it when I realise I can bail and head towards the Stratford line. The plan had been to alight at All Saints from the Stratford train, but I get off triple winners 128, 154 and 138 and realise I'm actually at long-time dud shack Poplar, oops! Never mind, not the end of the world, next up were double winners 133 and 116 to Custom House for ExCel. Yep it's the Beckton branch's turn to be cleared out! It's only a short wait for dud 83 and winner 12 to Prince Regent, clearly there's something on at the ExCel Centre as the trains are quite busy at both of these shacks.

Royal Albert is next and I score double winners 98 and 46 to get there. The wind's picked up somewhat by now which makes it difficult to underline the winners so far! Another pair of winners, this time 90 and 09 to Beckton Park. Dud 47 and winner 36 take me to Cyprus, which I find amusing and joke on Twitter that I didn't need to fly to get to Cyprus! Double winners 120 and 132 take me to my final required shack on the Beckton branch at Gallions Reach. Mission complete on this line, I join double duds 09 and 90 to take me to Star Lane. Yep, time to clear out the required shacks on the Stratford International line! I take advantage of the opportunity to spot Jubilee line trains here, as it runs parallel to the DLR here. Annoyingly the dividing wall means I can't ID southbound trains, but from the top end of the platform I can ID the northbound ones. I score quite a few as a result while awaiting the next northbound train to Stratford High Street, which got me scoring winner 131 with dud 124.

Cyprus (DLR) running in board by 43002, on Flickr

I just make in time over the bridge to join double winners 110 and 105 for the BSB back down to Abbey Road. Back north now this branch's shacks are done, only 4 more DLR shacks to go! Double winners 143 and 113 take me to Stratford, and I find my way to the DLR's other line to Stratford, the one from Poplar via Pudding Mill Lane. I've seen since in my Quail it was proposed to divert the DLR to a new stub at Stratford, although I have no idea if it's ever going ahead. Triple winners 08, 10 and 48 take me to Pudding Mill Lane, which has been hugely re-developed as part of the Crossrail works. No longer a tiny island platform next to the GEML, it's much bigger now. When I get the chance to upload the trip's photos [sometime next week, no idea when due to a 6 day week at work - Ed] you'll see what I mean!

Triple duds 138, 154 and 128 take me forward to All Saints, the only other shack I needed between Stratford and Poplar. An eleven minute wait gets me onto triple winners 97, 34 and 67 on the BSB to Poplar, where I change onto double winners 117 and 107 for a Thriller Filler before the planned move on the Woolwich Arsenal branch. Winner 101 and dud 134 take me forward to get my penultimate required shack on the DLR, London City Airport. By the time I get here it's 1242, and I'm leaving Euston at 1403 so I need to get on with heading back to town! On the way into the station I spot a BA plane, noting YJ as part of its registration on the tailfin. I'm sorry I haven't memorised the name of the forum member who filled in the gap, but it was found via the Aviation Discussion thread to be G-LCYJ, winner for sight!

Fortunately for me the next train back to the city is rolling in as I got there, and I was expecting duds by now but I was pleasantly surprised to score double winners 28 and 57 for the trip to West Silvertown, alighting here to avoid the maze at Canning Town for double winners 145 and 152 to Westferry. Mission complete, all DLR shacks done! Triple duds 72, 86 and 88 take me after a couple of minutes to Bank, and I'm feeling rather pleased with myself accomplishing all that. Lots of winners for sight too which was most welcome, I believe I'm down to just 9 more DLR units to see, only 1 of which is from the latest batch!

To the Northern line for the most direct route possible to Euston, which got me double winners for everything 51553 and 51709. Not terribly surprising really as I haven't done that many of the Northern line sets! I do dislike this ride, as its crammed and no air-conditioning doesn't help! It sure felt like more 9 minutes to Euston, and I'm rather glad to be at street level again. It's already nearly 1330 by now, good thing I didn't leave it any longer to get here really! Sainsburys is visited for some pop and Creme Eggs [hey, Easter's nearly here and I've barely had any this year! - Ed] before visiting Costa for my second coffee of the day. On a more regular bash this would have been at least my 4th! The Costa app plays me up yet again and it doesn't register my points. Not the first time this has happened and I'm fed up of that!

As soon as I've got it the 1403 to Birmingham New Street is announced and I see it's from platform 16. This will be at least the third time I've done this one now, 18 would have been preferred but hey ho. I can't complain though as Virgin are being kind to me again, providing winner 390117 for my journey home, excellent! I consider paying the £10 Weekend First upgrade, but I refuse to walk from the end First Class coach to coach C to pick up my complimentaries so I save my money! I find my reserved seat in coach C and settle in to get started on bookwork, send tweets and so on. Of course, I devour my coffee first which goes down beautifully! Before all that mind was a PNB, since I hadn't had one since around 0655!

Time for some tunes as we go like a bat out of hell up the WCML, again I'm thoroughly enjoying the tilt! I'm also in the mood to celebrate as I'm now down to 7 390s to get. 1 more /0 and 6 more /1s, it's going to get hard to find these now! Still, I'm only going back to doing leaps to score them once this year's North West trip is done. I need only 1 more 390-served shack, Penrith, so once that one's done [I don't think 390s serve Lockerbie, or do they? - Ed] it'll be back to leaping around Birmingham for them again. Or in Stockport should I be up there any time soon! That North West trip isn't due for a few months yet mind, still very much TBC.

The journey to New Street is over before I know it, and I've not made much progress with the bookwork yet! It made a nice change to not endure a long journey with LM up the WCML and was heavenly not having to endure the Northampton loop! I only just have time to source another Costa coffee, this time the app works, due to the amount of brats holding up the queue and queue jumping, before I head down for a very busy 170632 on the 1549 to Hereford. I find a table seat fortunately and get on with transferring the moves to the A4 book, and by Hereford I'm still nowhere near done! Nothing of interest really otherwise on the journey whatsoever.

I now have a +59 for the bus home [the 1649 provides a booked -4 onto it - Ed] so I go to Spoons and get two pints of different stouts on the beer festival, then meet up with two colleagues from work to have a social before going home. Turns out I was lucky to be off, I missed 3 evil shifts apparently! I've got the 58-plate Optare Tempo tonight to take me home, good news for me as I'm still only on 800-odd miles off it. A 55 minute journey home, which was mostly spent by being filled in even more on work happenings by one of my fellow colleagues, and I'm soon home for tea, which went down beautifully although this chicken tikka masala was a bit spicy compared to the one I had in Spoons on Thursday! By 2300 I was falling asleep, not surprising I suppose since I had been up since 0600.

So then, how did I do on Day 3? Very well indeed, with 64 winners and 34 scores for sight! I also got 31 required shacks done, very happy about that indeed, no doubt my next visited shacks count [due as soon as possible - Ed] will have skyrocketed somewhat after that!

All in all an amazing trip, now I can't wait to go back and do even more of London! Lots and lots to do down there yet, next time I really must get on with SWT and Southern, of course also aiming to find my last 3 GN 313s! Photos to come as soon as I can do them.

So what's next? As suggested earlier in the thread, I've got a Great Escape due soon. 13th of April is the provisional date but I'm aiming to book that tomorrow now. After that, probably a Daytripper in the Midlands to get started on the 68s!

Hope you've all enjoyed the read, I know a lot of it is practically listing what I did and when, but to be fair there was very little else to report on the BSBs on the DLR!

 

[Kristofferson]

Finished reading this on the train home - appropriate eh?

Another enjoyable report personally I'm waiting for the Wetherspoons cider festival, having missed out on a CAMRA one thanks to Greater Anglia!

 

[Techniquest]

Oh yes, won't be long until that's on again. Last time I found no ciders I liked which was a shame!