Juliano's World Frenzy/Tech's Trip Reports

[Techniquest]

HELLO? Over here?

If I was based in Cardiff my LM mileage would be far lower!

 

[Kite159]

All of Blackpool's lot is thankfully done, bar tram 005. Not bothered about the old trams to be honest!

Supertram is all covered trackwise (as is all of the UK light rail network), still several trams and tons of shacks to get scored. They are on the list to be done, might have to put that off until 2017 though. Hoping to clear all the Metrolink shacks this year and get my last 5 Midland Metro trams in too. Croydon trams I need too many of for my liking, same for the shacks there. Hoping to deal with some of that later this year...
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Glad to hear the exams are over, and going by your post on Red Pen 2016 you had a good trip in Manc so I'm looking forward to hearing about it!

I believe Blackpool tram has reopened a stop, at least that gives you a reason to go back to hunt for tram 5

 

[Techniquest]

I believe Blackpool tram has reopened a stop, at least that gives you a reason to go back to hunt for tram 5

Which stop would this be? The line to North Station is forthcoming I'm informed, even if still months/years to go, however I would love to get up there and get 005 in before then!

 

[TC60054]

Which stop would this be? The line to North Station is forthcoming I'm informed, even if still months/years to go, however I would love to get up there and get 005 in before then!

Norbreck North, opened 22/03/16

 

[Techniquest]

Fudge my life, I've got to go back and get the line's shacks cleared again! Still, at least I'm doing better than Kite on them

Cheers for the gen, will be planning moves to go and get it done now!

 

[Blindtraveler]

Count me in, I love blackpool and can introduce you to some qualitty accommodation.

 

[FQ]

I love blackpool

 

[backontrack]

Hey, Tim lives there!

And it's still better than Fleetwood.

 

[Kite159]

Fudge my life, I've got to go back and get the line's shacks cleared again! Still, at least I'm doing better than Kite on them

Cheers for the gen, will be planning moves to go and get it done now!

That you are, with only tram 9 in my book, with 4 of the stops covered (both ends, plus North Pier & Waterloo Road (aka the closest two stops to North & South station).

I might head up for a weekend later in the year, although making sure I time it to avoid the light show (so accommodation is dirt cheap), bolt it onto a Lancs day rover.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Anyone wanting cheep qualitty accom in blackpool PM me.

And Fishquin, I genuinely do love sunny blackpool!

 

[Techniquest]

13/06/2016 - Tech's Bopping It Up

This was a rather last minute decision, thanks to Blindtraveller twisting my arm a bit! I already knew I wanted to go bashing, but he provided me the inspiration and logic needed to get on with booking some late notice Advances. There were only 6 more Metrolink shacks standing between me and conquering the lot, they needed dealing with! The relevant tickets were all sorted by mid-afternoon, as the GWR app was being a pain and not letting me login. Why the fuss of using this one and GWR in particular? The answer is simple, Nectar points! Froth0mas is coming quick, the more Nectar points I can get over the next few months, the better! It won't surprise you to learn this hashtag and trip is another musical reference. This time it's Nightcore - Welcome to the Club, referencing the line "gonna bop it up now" in particular. It is one of my top tunes of 2016, and after yesterday I have now added another hashtag to my list to use this year. That one doesn't come into use until December though!

Having had an enormous roast chicken tea last night [I kid you not, you'd think it was Christmas Day's meal! - Ed] I still didn't need to fuel the stomach any further yet. This is a miracle in its own right! Tech's Fuel of Champions is made and I'm out the door at 0705 for the bus to town. The double decker was clearly not fit for service [again?! - Ed] today and the Volvo MCV is out in its place. I get started on typing up the trip report, obviously with Tech's Mobile Disco fired up. 0834 and I'm off the bus and off to Morrisons for a supply raid and PNB. Tickets are then collected, after observing the 0846 to Birmingham is 170503 on its own. This is the second Monday in a row the booked 153 on this service has not produced, is this part of the reduced capacity as a result of the works in Worcester? If so I'm glad I'm not using that service for a while!

175006 turns up to take me to Manchester, which will put me on a little over 805 miles off this one by the time I reach Manchester! No real bookwork to do this week, however I start compiling the list of Super Dud Club members, a job I should have started a while ago. Naturally, Tech's Mobile Disco is on for the 114 mile, 53 chain journey! The list was compiled by the time I reached Crewe, a rather respectable figure of 550 members of the Super Dud Club. Thousands more to go yet of course, and quite a few are close to membership of the club at least. At some point later, I'll be starting the very long list of what I still need to see and get haulage off! After a PNB, I observe that it's rather wet outside, oh this could be fun...

323206 is observed on Longsight, having come up yesterday for works to it. It is hoped the classic sound will not disappear during the overhaul, a la 465s, would be a lot duller in the Midlands if it happens! 150203 joins the Super Dud Club, member 551, for the trip to Deansgate. We get held at Oxford Road for some time, due to awaiting a replacement driver. So much for getting to Deansgate quicker this way...After a 17 minute or so wait, we get going and I join Metrolink at 1145. Dud 3057 led winner 3003 for a leap to Cornbrook, where I wait another 10 minutes before an Eccles bound tram turns up. Worth the wait as it turned out as dud 3077 led winner for everything 3099 for the trip to today's first shack score at Salford Quays. A short wait got me double duds 3078+3084 to shack score two, MediaCityUK.

3099+3077 are joined again and the driver lets us all on, then tries to depart but then stops in the platform again as she's not due out until 1224. Will I actually make it to the 4 shacks I need on the Rochdale loop in time?! I bail at Cornbrook and get lucky with winner 3056 with dud 3040 around to Victoria. We get held west of St Peters Square for 3 pairs of trams before we get our path through, I knew I should have tapped the tram AND train option earlier! As per usual, even though Shaw and Crompton terminators are shown it hasn't produced!

Not helpful that, always happens when I'm on Metrolink. The plan to do the 1316 to Rochdale instead drops out when winner 3104 produces on a Rochdale service, the 4th winner of the day, on I get to Derker for shack score number 3 today. By 1320 I'm ready to throw the towel in, but at least I got the shacks that will be unavailable soon until the end of August. It just means coming back up yet again, I really should have done these first, and not done that Deansgate leap on 150203! After a 27 minute journey I bail at Derker then jump onto dud 3088 a couple of minutes later for a shack score at Newhey. Will I make it back to Piccadilly for my booked Northern trip to Crewe at 1446?

3110 was dud for the trip back to Piccadilly via Oldham, and my expectation is that I'll miss my train by a hair. I'm starving at this point, and had been for the previous 2 hours by 1349. I just hope the congestion has eased in Manchester city centre a bit by now, although as it's been an issue all day that's unlikely. Due to the hunger levels [I foolishly didn't get any food during my supply raid! - Ed] I'm feeling fed up and more than ready to go home. I've had to leave Kingsway Business Park and Milnrow for another day, and I'm glad I was sat down as a Shaw and Crompton terminator actually ran! I happen to score 3115 for sight, which leaves just 7 more to see. 29 trams left to get for haulage now, 5 of which left to be delivered and/or enter service. Several of the ones I need are running today too, gutted!

Arrival into Piccadilly is at 1429, and I have enough time to get a pasty from The Pasty Shop before Starship 39 arrives to take me to Crewe. I'd have gone to Burger King, alas the queue was huge so my fix will have to wait for another day. My stomach is minorly satisfied, although to be fair I hadn't eaten anything since about 2310 last night so by the time I finished my pasty, at about 1452, I was rightly hungry! The noise of the Starship is most welcome now too, and it's been a long time since I last did the line to Manchester Airport, let alone the bit onwards to Crewe, so a nice change as well. A most welcome sight was observing two planes as we approached the airport, that sure put a smile on my face! Starship 39 is the 552nd member of the Super Dud Club too.

At Crewe, after turning my phone on again after giving it a break and finding it had gone down to 18% charge, I dive into WHSmith and buy a power bank! It's only a 2000mAh one for £9.99, whereas the one I was going to buy in PC World on Saturday was a 5200mAh one for £13.99. Still, thankfully this one is charged and ready to go, so when I get this headache gone, just under an hour of it at the time of typing, I can get Tech's Mobile Disco going again! A coffee and decent size bar of Galaxy also sourced, much needed. 175003 is rather busy and I manage a seat by some miracle, and I get the tunes banging away to keep me going for the 83 miles and 69 chains journey home. There's not much space around me at present, but after Nantwich I get the bookwork done. 3110 will be almost clear for 20 miles I see!

This powerbank is a bit weird, it was charging up to 24% but now, well, it's just holding it there. Or at least it was, then it went down to 23% as I typed about it. It might have to go back if it doesn't start behaving better than this! Aside from that, there wasn't a lot to talk about, and as we reach the outskirts of Shrewsbury I contemplate getting that chocolate going on. The only thing putting me off is the lad next to me, who stinks badly of body odour, as if he went to a festival or something and didn't shower or wash himself at all. Yeah, move seats fast...Chocolate devoured and stomach satisfied enough until I get home now, and while the powerbank is still 'charging' I'm down to 20% and going down. I think I'd have been better off ordering a new battery for my phone to be honest! Still, it's just about going to get me home, it can go back tomorrow as it's clearly not working properly.

Back in Hereford on time, then it was time for the bus home. Another bit of progress towards clearing the UK had, but STILL not quite there with Metrolink!

 

[backontrack]

Maybe you had charger woes because you plugged in the wrong Galaxy?

 

[55013]

Shame you don't seem to have had as much fun as you might have had.
Still, a good read and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before those last few tram stops fall.

 

[Kite159]

Have you charged the power-bank up since you got it from Smiths as it might be out of juice?

Well done on several more trams and shacks, I hope to start making a small dent on the 4th September in Manchester

 

[507021]

Great report as usual Tech. You're doing really well on the Metrolink, it's something that's on my list to do, but it's fairly low down with me focusing on Northern stuff at the moment. The plan is to get Northern's fleet all done before 2018 (although I think that's quite an optimistic target!) ahead of the new stuff arriving, so I can dedicate some time to other TOCs and light rail, but we'll see what happens.

I'll hopefully be continuing my plan to finish Merseyrail for haulage soon too.

I still have a few Northern 323s to get for haulage (323239 isn't one of them!), but annoyingly whenever I go to Manchester to go and do them all the duds turn up, so I end up doing something else or going back home! Ah well, never mind, the ones I need will turn up sooner or later.

 

[FQ]

A big shame that Metrolink turned against you for shacks yet again but hopefully one more trip will clear them!

Shame about the power bank - returning it sounds like a good idea!

 

[noddy1878]

Another good read. As for the power bank, I got a Aukey 20,000mAh one from amazon for £16. Can not fault it and goes on forever! Is a little bulky but worth it. Fits nicely in my bag and if needs be I just connect the cable to it and let it hang out the bag.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Youve had a bit of fun despite some down sides there. Thanks for sharing.

 

[crispy1978]

Good write up - shame about the couple of problems you had, but would it be as interesting if everything ran minute perfect I wonder, and everything was a winner. Perhaps perfection could get boring; just possibly?

 

[55013]

There would be no fun if it was too easy.
The thrill of the chase does it for me.
As soon as I catch one thing I'm thinking about the next.

 

[Techniquest]

Another good read. As for the power bank, I got a Aukey 20,000mAh one from amazon for £16. Can not fault it and goes on forever! Is a little bulky but worth it. Fits nicely in my bag and if needs be I just connect the cable to it and let it hang out the bag.

Once this one goes back, I'll get to ordering one of those! Cheers for the tip

The one I got from WHSmith was only bought around 1552 this afternoon Kite, so not had the chance to charge it yet. It was supposed to be fully charged and ready to go however!

I know the feeling there 55013, it never takes long for me to start planning the next chase. Next week I aim to be chasing some 150s and some Devonian shacks.

Glad you all enjoyed the read, and aye it would be boring if it all went perfect all the time! The last ones will be chased once Second City Crossing opens I suspect, then it's awaiting the construction of the Trafford Centre line!

 

[Keith Jarrett]

You're sloooowly g e t t i n g t h e re with clearing the Metrolink shacks. Why no leave it a while now and give it a good going over once all the new trams are in service. Or is it a case of having to live up to the "Lord of the Trams" title that you've been so graciously awarded?

 

[185143]

Metrolink was good to us when we went out together! (Apart from needing a PNB ALL DAY of course

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Unlucky with the Metrolink shacks. Still need five myself, so need to get on with it.

Mind you, Kingsway Business Park is probably the dullest place on the network...

 

[47403]

Good read again tech, shame it went a bit pear shaped but at least you still made a little progress, few winners for haulage and a couple for sight, another excuse to get out n about in Manchester can't be bad, plus it gives you a bit more time to snap up the new trams to come.

Not as productive as you wanted but still productive nontheless, still a bit more than you had in the books before.

 

[Kristofferson]

Damn shame about those last few shacks! Good read all the same - don't get too frustrated out there, it's better than not being out at all!

With the power bank, you may have been using the phone's battery faster than the bank could charge it. Which suggests a rubbish power bank. Maybe try one of the "power bank cases" on Amazon - I have one myself and it's no fuss as it's always attached and charges from the wall while your phone does.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Techniquest]

You're sloooowly g e t t i n g t h e re with clearing the Metrolink shacks. Why no leave it a while now and give it a good going over once all the new trams are in service. Or is it a case of having to live up to the "Lord of the Trams" title that you've been so graciously awarded?

I'm not convinced having a 'Lord of the Trams' title is a good thing!

Aye I won't be up on Metrolink for a while now, I'm in Devon next week on a family holiday. So I'll be doing some local stuff down there on a couple of days, although the tram thing won't be left alone as I plan to do the Seaton Tramway
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Metrolink was good to us when we went out together! (Apart from needing a PNB ALL DAY of course

 

[Techniquest]

The long awaited details of last week are almost totally ready, Day 3 shall be typed up later. Days 1 and 2 then:

21/06/2016 - Tech's a Devonian, Day 1

I'm typing this up a week after the event, so some details will end up missing. It's the week of a family holiday, and I was offered the opportunity to hit the rails. I wasn't turning that down, and my sister wanted to come along for a mini tour of Devon. After breakfast, we get a lift down to the station and get a Devon Day Ranger each. This is the first one of those I've ever bought, what a bargain ticket it is! 143620+153368 start the adventure off, and we take a seat in the 153 as my sister wanted a table seat. The journey is passed quite quickly up the branch from Exmouth to Exeter, and it's only a short wait for 220033 to Dawlish, one of the places my sister wanted to visit.

Having received word on my last 3 GWR 150s, I cross-referenced it with the timetable and we had a +3 here for one of them. A run over got us onto winner for everything 150938 for a trip to the day's only shack score at Starcross. The long wait at Dawlish Warren for an HST to pass us was boring, and the weather turned even more overcast! After 18 minutes 143611+153333 came along to take us back to Dawlish, thankfully no long fester this time at Dawlish Warren. It's lunchtime, so with an hour before the next train south, we end up in a cafe for mini fish and chips with peas for £4.30. If the weather had been better we'd have eaten it outside, but it looked like rain so best not! A small coffee was then purchased for 90p at Geronimos Cafe at the station. It's only Maxwell House stuff, but it did the job.

143612+153382 take us to Newton Abbot, as another 150 was available today on the 1450 Newton Abbot to Plymouth. When we get there, sure enough winner 150216 produced! My last one was on Falmouth Docks services annoyingly, and my sister was shown there wasn't much to see in Plymouth really, and as she wanted to do Paignton today we bailed at Totnes. Finally the weather was nice here! It's 153370 running solo on the 1448 Plymouth to Newton Abbot, which just feels weird on the mainline. We cross over into platform 1, which I believe was a required micro-grice. 143617+143603+150120 take us to more sunshine in Paignton, and I make the 150 into a Super Dud.

An ice cream is had by the beach, then the breeze got strong so we left and did some shopping before heading back to the station to join 143620+153368 all the way back to Exmouth. Hayfever also hit me now, so I had one of my sister's tablets for it. It's a long 90 minutes on here, but thankfully we got a table in the 153 so it was better than being in the 143! Upon arrival we get a lift back to the Haven site.

Not an exciting day as you'll have gathered, but a shack score and two winning 150s was not to be sniffed at! Well, the hayfever got some sniffing going on but let's not remember that...

22/06/2016 - Tech's a Devonian, Day 2

Today was the day I'd finally meet up again with noddy1878 from the forum, it's been a long time since our trip around London! Breakfast and a lift down to the station was had, with my Mum and sister coming along for the ride as far as Exeter Central, as they wanted to go shopping. A farce with tickets and the car park ensued, then 143621 takes us to Exeter. I make this one into a Super Dud, leaving just 143603 of the GWR batch to get to that stage now.

Upon arrival at Exeter St Davids, I meet Noddy and after a plan was formed and agreed upon, I need a coffee so we go to Pumpkin for it. 159017 is my first 159 haulage in many, many moons and it becomes a Super Dud for the trip to today's first winner shack, Honiton. The first of many visits for that matter! 159015+159019 take us west to winner shack Cranbrook, and 159021 is today's next 159 to become a Super Dud as we head east to Honiton again. This time we have a swift half in the local Spoons, thanks to Noddy's local knowledge of it. 159013 then takes us to winner shack Feniton, joining the Super Dud Club as we went. We have plenty of time to get a pint in The Nog Inn, the owner of which seems to be quite a strange bloke and we have to follow his very vague directions to the shop for a cash machine. Thankfully it doesn't charge Noddy for using it, and we get a winning beer in here. We sure didn't feel welcome here, so we didn't spend much time in this pub. Thankfully a good data signal was available outside, allowing us time to do an update on Untappd.

159019 is back to take us to Honiton again, joining the Super Dud Club now. Super Dud 159001 takes us west once again to winner shack Whimple. Sadly the pub nearby was closed for a few hours, so we return to the station, continuing our natter on all things trains. Super Dud 159013 takes us to Honiton for the 4th and final time today, with 159108 taking us back to Exeter St Davids. Pinhoe is the last shack with SWT between Exeter and Basingstoke to do, another day though as a more important one remained in the plan. Due to poor recording of moves back in the day, I needed all coaches on this 159, so still two stages to go on it. We have time for a TTF [Tech's Thriller Filler - Ed] up the hill to Central, another few chains for both of us off it.

143619 arrives to take us up the Barnstaple branch, and we note at St Davids that we're supposed to have 3 coaches on this service. Shortly before departure, 153369 is literally banged onto the front, the ID of which we discovered when we got to winner shack Lapford. This was an important move, as it was Noddy's last shack on Devon's mainline routes to visit! He just needs Sampford Courtenay now, then it's all preserved line stuff to get. 143621 arrives after a short wait to take us back to Exeter St Davids, and having missed lunch we head to winner (for me) Spoons at The Imperial. An excellent meal is had after a lengthy wait to get served, and a winner local beer for me too.

Back at St Davids, I'd not long missed an Exmouth train annoyingly, so I see off Noddy onto a Voyager and start catching up on the forum. Tech's Mobile Disco also helped destroy the 50-odd minute fester, and I progress 159105's Super Dud status as it takes 159017 with it for a TTF to Central. Another one I didn't log moves on properly back in the day, so all coaches were required. 143617 then takes me back to Exmouth, the journey at least passing fast with the banging tunes on. A lift back to Haven then followed.

Quite the productive day had, and Noddy's company was much appreciated too! 5 shack scores and good progress with making the 159s into Super Duds too, not to mention a fair bit of mileage. Stayed tuned for Day 3...

 

[Kite159]

Sounded like a good couple days in Devon, well done on two more 150s into the bag

I don't know which part Quinn will be more horrified with, the 143s, the 220 or the 159s

 

[AJM580]

Happy memories - 30 years ago to the day (21.6.86) you could have had the following on a Devon Day Ranger. 50017, 47560, 47105, 50004, 47354, 50045, 33040, 33201, 50027, 47513, 31404, 31447, 47594, 50023. Even Lord SpoonGoons machine was out that day.
Well done with the required units though - hope to get down that way before the end of the summer to revisit old haunts