Keith goes wandering

[Keith Jarrett]

5th July 2015 – A Sunday Afternoon Jolly

With opportunities to wander out on a Sunday expected to reduce considerably by the end of July, it would have been extremely rude to send up a chance to go out on the rails on a Sunday afternoon. So with the chores out of the way, I set sail for that favourite Sunday afternoon haunt of mine – Liverpool Street. While I had almost cleared out the West Anglia side of things, there were a few things on the Great Eastern Main Line that still needed attention. Today I had the added bonus of c2c running into Liverpool Street as the line from Barking to Fenchurch Street. With the District Line also out of action between Barking and Central London, there was the prospect of eight-car working on c2c.

I opted for the London Underground route to Liverpool Street rather than via the national rail network. As I arrived at Liverpool Street, the station announcements were warning of severe delays between Chelmsford and Colchester due to bridge repairs at Hatfield Peverel. The announcements implied that you might need to use a bus. The indirect effect of that as far as I was concerned was to put the Ipswich stoppers and Clacton services out of play. But at least I had c2c to play with along with whatever Abellio Greater Anglia put forward as sacrificial offerings on the Southend Victoria run (I still need 10 class 321s to clear for 10 miles including the elusive, from my point of view, demonstrator 321448).

First thing of interest to put in an appearance was solo 357041 which was only needed for a decimal of a mile before it could become eligible for membership of the 10 Mile Club. Given that the train was first stop Stratford, “that’ll do nicely” as they say. 357001+357021 followed up on a Southend Central train and my thoughts were to go to Upminster to clear 357001 for 10 miles (357021 being dud) but plans changed at barking when we drew in opposite 357029+357220. By swapping to this latter pair, I could knock 357220 on the head for 10 miles and realtimetrains was telling me that trains were on the move again through Hatfield Peverel so I thought it wise to stay closer to Liverpool Street should a requirement show up on the Ipswich/Clacton route. I stuck with 357029+357220 through to Liverpool Street and duly added 357220 to the membership list of the TMC. Staying with the 357s, 357042+357207 took me back to Stratford and while 357029 was dud, 357207 joined the TMC.

I did not have long to wait before the first up train from Clacton appeared – over 30 minutes late with 321422+321442. All ex Silverlink 321s are dud for me and have been for many a year but there’s a number that have not featured in the haulage log for many a year; 321422 is one of those and the last recorded travel with it was over 18 years ago in April 1997 from Euston to Harrow & Wealdstone. In total contrast, the 321/4s that were delivered new to the Great Eastern have, for me at least, always been rare beasts and 321442 is no exception to that rule. I was more than happy to take it into Liverpool Street to boost its mileage. Required 357s seemed to have temporarily dried up and as a result, I took advantage of the four minute turnaround with the 321/4 pair and promptly returned to Stratford with 321422+321442 and was more than happy to clear 321442 for 10 miles. I had not seen another 357 pair sneak into Liverpool Street during my brief stay with the 321/4s but realtimetrains told me that a pair had indeed done just that, hiding away in platform 18 which is normally the preserve of TfL Rail 315s. That 357 pair was also on a tight turnaround; this time timetabled whereas the 321s short stay at Liverpool Street was down to late running.

At Stratford, I fought my way through the morass of Sunday shopper in the subway to the slow-line platforms (all c2c services usually use the slow lines) and awaited the shy 357s. I had only about five to six minutes before 357032+357222 appeared and both were on the “wanted list” – their crime being under 10 miles. I was planning on going to Upminster with these two in order to eradicate them from my lists but at barking 357033+357042 were waiting in the adjacent platform bound for Liverpool Street. At this stage 357032 had cleared 10 miles so it was only 357222 forcing the Upminster move. But if I swapped over to the other pair, I’d clear both by the time I got back to Liverpool Street. Such choices, finish one 357 for 10 miles or get a pair. 357033+357042 won the day and back to Liverpool Street was the order of the day. Main Line services were starting to flow reasonably well, albeit late. We ran into Liverpool Street parallel with 321344+321362which I initially thought was a late running Clacton service but that was right behind. Instead, consultation with RTT confirmed that this was a Southend Victoria service which had 10-15 minutes layover at Liverpool Street. As there was nothing else in Liverpool Street – not even any shy 357s lurking in platform 18 – 321344+321362 were my way out. 321344 had only recently joined the TMC but 321362 was another of those 321s to pass me by since I first had it new way back on 24th August 1991. I took this back to Stratford and bailed but if I’d had my senses about me, I would have stuck with it to Romford to clear it for 10 miles. I just hope that it’s not another 24 years before I run into 321362 gain!

I viewed a couple of Liverpool Street bound trains but there was nothing to take my fancy. Neither did I fancy a ride on London’s longitudinal sweat box (in other words, the Central Line). The North London Line provided a convenient way out as there was a winning 378 on offer. I walked over to the NLL platforms and found that winning 378213 was about to depart so I joined all the retail therapists and set about my sideways journey. 378213 was on a Richmond service and the following one, to Clapham Junction was only a four car (all four cars are dud for me) so I had to think of a plan B to get home. It took milliseconds for the lightbulb moment to happen. Why not get my last NLL shack in the book – Kensal Rise. This is one of a number of shacks that I have recorded as visited but there’s no record in the travel log so by my rules, no definitive record means that I have to do it again. Kensal Rise is conveniently just over 10 miles from Stratford so it seemed the ideal place to bail. Rather than wait for the following train which was dud, a Bus Stop Bash back to West Hampstead for the following train (unknown five-car 378) was the move. 378215 was my traction to West Hampstead where a swift walk over the bridge landed me on winning 378208 to Willesden Junction. This in turn dropped me onto the Willesden Junction to Clapham Junction shuttle with winning 378201 with its gift-wrapped trailer. Unusually at Clapham Junction, the train was routed into platform 17 rather than the normal platform 1. Not a problem for me as it saved the long hike across the footbridge as my route home was Southern to Balham followed by the Northern Line with 455828 officiating on behalf of Southern.

I was pleased with the afternoon’s work with eight more units cleared for 10 miles (and by default admitted to the Ten Mile Club) along with four winning 378s in five-car format. To round off, here’s a list of the afternoon’s moves -

LU 51619+51620 Morden to Bank ---
LU 92159+428+074+231 Bank to Liverpool Street ---
357041 Liverpool Street to Stratford Cleared for 10 miles
357001+357021 Stratford to Barking ---
357029 Barking to Liverpool Street ---
357029+357220 Barking to Liverpool Street 357220 cleared for 10 miles
357045+357207 Liverpool Street to Stratford 357207 cleared for 10 miles
321422+321442 Stratford to Liverpool Street ---
321422+321442 Liverpool Street to Stratford 321442 cleared for 10 miles
357032+357222 Stratford to Barking 357032 cleared for 10 miles
357033+357042 Barking to Liverpool Street Both cleared for 10 miles
321344+321362 Liverpool Street to Stratford ---
378213 Stratford to Kensal Rise WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
378215 Kensal Rise to West Hampstead WINNER
378208 West Hampstead to Willesden Junction WINNER
378201 Willesden Junction to Clapham Junction WINNER
455828 Clapham Junction to Balham ---
LU 51537+51538 Balham to Morden ---
Milestones
Winner 378201, 378208, 378213, 378215
Cleared for 10 miles 321442, 357032, 357033. 357041, 357042, 357207, 357220, 378213
New Shack Kensal Rise

 

[Techniquest]

Nice bit of work there, the number of members in the TMC must be getting quite high now!

I haven't seen the demonstrator 321 myself, also a requirement here. Eventually it'll be removed from the rather long list of 321s I need, but probably not until 2016's planned huge London bash. Got a lot going on in 2016 so far already!

Doing well with the extended 378s I see, and well done on clearing your NLL shacks too.

So no more Sunday adventures for you? I seem to recall you mentioned there will be free time in the week though, that will no doubt be welcome

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Nice bit of work there, the number of members in the TMC must be getting quite high now!

I haven't seen the demonstrator 321 myself, also a requirement here. Eventually it'll be removed from the rather long list of 321s I need, but probably not until 2016's planned huge London bash. Got a lot going on in 2016 so far already!

Doing well with the extended 378s I see, and well done on clearing your NLL shacks too.

So no more Sunday adventures for you? I seem to recall you mentioned there will be free time in the week though, that will no doubt be welcome

Ten Mile Club membership is on the increase but potential members are still out there in significant numbers. There's still 150+ ScotRail units for starters, a similar number from Northern, 80 from the former Southern Region, 150 from other bits of the former Network South East area and around 250 spread over the rest of the country. So probably about 800 in total, of which 350 are outright winners. And none of this takes account of any loco winners (or those locos simply needed for TMC membership such as HST power car 43321).

London shacks are a priority with roughly 70 to go. Bad areas are Southern & southeastern in Zones 5 & 6.

I haven't even got all of 2015 planned out yet and only thoughts for 2016 are in respect of the annual trips such as Scotland.

There's a remote possibility of future Sunday outings but I reckon weekday evenings after work will be reasonably productive. Although there will be loads of people, at least they will know where they are going, unlike a lot of weekend dawdlers who have a habit of walking slowly/standing in the daftest of places/not knowing where they are going etc. But whatever, there will still be trip reports.

 

[Kite159]

A busy Sunday in London for you

 

[Techniquest]

Quite a bit to go after then! I know what you mean about weekend passengers, just think how awkward it could be in school holidays...

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Quite a bit to go after then! I know what you mean about weekend passengers, just think how awkward it could be in school holidays...

Don't even start me on tourists or the species that tend to go around in pairs incessantly yakking to one another without any sense of spacial awareness whatsoever.

 

[Keith Jarrett]

After Work “Micro Grices” – Part 1

With a new shift pattern emerging for the other half, I have taken up the concept of After Work Micro Grices to replace my Sunday Afternoon Jollies. These Micro Grices will be varied in length of time and also what I target. Sometimes, I plan on targeting just one unit while others will be more wide ranging.

So far I have done three of the Micro Grices, all with a common theme. The first, on Monday July 6th, was unplanned. My current route home from work entails going out of Waterloo on the Windsor side, partially to keep an eye on an appropriately time 455+455+456 working but also it allows me to get SWT 450s on the short hop to Clapham Junction before going over to the main line and on to Wimbledon and eventually St Helier.

Anyway, back to the 6th and 5714+5742+456018 had produced on the 10-car suburban working. I boarded as 456018 was one of my lower mileage 456s with the full intention of going to Clapham Junction and onwards via my usual route. At Vauxhall, I noted 458511+458531 heading into Waterloo. Oh dear, I need 458511! (I am re doing all the 458s as they become 5 car units, just like the 378s.) Initially I thought that I would have to bail at Vauxhall for a fifteen minute fester but a quick consultation of Real Time Trains showed that I had a move back to Waterloo. So haring down the stairs at Vauxhall in typical commuter fashion, I then scrambled up the other side onto 450010+450569 for the second Bus Stop Bash of the day back to Waterloo.

The +3 worked admirably and soon I was aboard my chosen pair of units, 458511+458531. All the former Gatwick 458s are dud but beggars can’t be choosers as to what partners a winning unit. As it was rush hour, 458511+458531 were both full by the time I made it to the appropriate platform so I opted to stand in 458511 as that was the winner. RTT came in handy again as it showed I had a +2 onto another pair of 458s at Twickenham which was pretty handy as going to the home of English rugby would allow me to clear 458511 for the requisite 10 miles. At Vauxhall we picked up more passengers before calling at Clapham Junction where I noted a pair of 458/5s going the other way but could not identify them due to the volume of folk interchanging here. Further calls at Putney and Richmond saw the train begin to empty and I actually bagged a seat for the short leap from Richmond to Twickenham. Here a decent number of folk left for their homes but I had a long way to go!

I crossed to the other side of the island platform to await the up Windsor service, hoping that another one of my required 458/5s would present itself. However, I was out of luck as 458534+458536 rolled in. Not having seen any required 458/5s out, I decided to call it a day and head home. 458534+458536 took me to Clapham Junction where I made the long trek over the footbridge to the Southern side of the station.377604+377626 were forming the first train stopping at Balham - 377626 seems to follow me everywhere which is borne out by it being my highest mileage 377/6! From Balham it was a swift descent down to the Northern Line and onwards to Morden.

I then had to wait for over another week before the next Micro Grice. I knew that on Tuesday 14th July, I was a free agent for a few hours and again I had the 458/5s in my sights. I was away from work about 10 minutes later than usual so I would have been pushed for the usual trains out of Waterloo. All the same, I thought that I would try to cover the know 458/5 workings in case any low mileage ones were out. First up was the Windsor service which I doubled back for the previous week and my arrival at Waterloo coincided with the inbound working. Ooops! Looks like we have a winner on our hands with the only running 458/5 that I needed outright! 458505 being the culprit so I happily boarded the pair of 458/5s, 458505+458524 and no prizes for guessing which unit I travelled in – and as I was there somewhat earlier than the previous occasion, I was able to grab a seat. I had a cursory glance at the pair of 458/5s that were on the next Hounslow loop service but I did not identify anything of interest. But as I had a winner on my hands I thought that it would be rude not to do the job properly and clear it for 10 miles straightaway so off to Twickenham again. This time RTT was telling me that the connection back towards London was tighter at a +1. Thankfully 458505 and friend kept time to Twickenham where, having clocked the necessary 10 miles, I bailed across the island platform straight onto dud 458502+458532. Not knowing whether any of the 458/5s that I needed for mileage were out, I contemplated my next move.

Our arrival at Richmond brought me back to reality – a required five-car 378 was sitting in the opposite platform! Rather than carry on with a dud pair of 458s, there was only one option; Bail! Thankfully I had plenty of time to stroll over to 378212 and take my seat in the recently added coach. I had not done the North London Line out of Richmond for many a year with the last recorded ride being with 313004 on 27th February 1999 so it made a welcome change to revisit the line. I did not fancy spending the rest of the evening on the North London Line so I contemplated how I might get home. The logical move would be to stay on to Willesden Junction and hope for a five-car 378 heading down the West London Line. All the trains from Stratford were coming through a few minutes late so I stuck with 378212 to Kensal Rise in order to cut the fester. I had just enough time to stroll over the footbridge before 378201 showed up. Ah, a five-car 378 and it was still needed for 10 miles. Also it was headed for Clapham Junction. Bonus! I managed to find a vacant longitudinal seat so sat back all the way to Clapham Junction, clearing 378201 for the required 10 miles in the process. My timings were wrong for a rail-only journey home as I’d have about 20 minutes at Wimbledon for a Thameslink to St Helier. Instead I took 377606+377623 [Ed: What, no 377626?] to Balham before sampling the Northern Line (51713 plus friend) to Morden.

I had a couple hours to play with on the following evening (July 15th) and having really got my teeth into knocking out the 458/5s, I thought that another go at these units might be the order of the day. I know that there are less than half the intended fleet in service but I want to keep on top of these units as SWT is almost my local fleet. I turned up at Waterloo just in time to board 5714+5740+456009 which were heading around the Kingston loop. The plan was to see the inbound stock for my favourite Windsor train at Vauxhall. This train had turned up a few “good” 458/5s and if this was no good, press on to Clapham Junction to await the return of a Hounslow Loop service which was also 10 car 458/5. As we rolled into Vauxhall, 458510+458536 departed for Waterloo. That didn’t concern me too much as I only needed a couple of miles off 458510 before it joined the Ten Mile Club (and Vauxhall to Clapham Junction would sort that). So rather than chase back to Waterloo (and a dodgy +3), I went for the fester at Vauxhall; this also allowed me to get a photo of 456009. It seemed like only a few minutes before 458510+458536 were rolling into the station to take me to Clapham Junction. That’s another 458/5 on ten miles.

At Clapham Junction, I had about a minute to barge my way through the subway as 458520+458525 were coming to a halt with a Waterloo bound service. Both were needed for 10 miles. The trot back into Waterloo would sort 458520’s membership of the TMC but my only previous journey with 458525 was a bus stop bash from Wandsworth Town to Putney so more work was need with this. The logical move was 458520+458525 into Waterloo and back out but there was a potential spanner in the works in the shape of a late running Hounslow loop train (which was also 2 x 458/5). Thankfully I did not need either unit from the aforementioned Slow Hound service which left me free to concentrate on 458520+458525.

My arrival at Waterloo saw 458520 successful achieve suitable accreditation for the TMC and going back out (to Putney) saw 458525 also join the TMC. Leaving 458520+458525 at Putney, I had seen nearly all of the 458/5 workings and as I only needed one running 458/5 for 10 miles (458530) I headed homewards. The logical way home from Putney for me would be to walk outside the station for a 45-50 minute slog on the bus home so that was dismissed in an instant. Instead 450027+450561 were taken back to Clapham Junction – both units required for the year where I crossed over to the Southern side of things and selected 377707 on a Milton Keynes to Croydon train as my conveyance to Balham. OK, not much more than a Bus Stop Bash but at least another unit scored for 2015. And while 377/7s are all members of the TMC, average mileage is not much more so anything to boost that is welcome. At Balham, I made the usual descent to the Northern Line where 51564 took me to Morden.

The first set of Mini Grices has allowed me to get the upper hand with the 458/5s. Now, I only want to boost 458530’s mileage along with getting winning 458518 and 458527 when they have completed their pre-service tests and enter traffic. I think that I’ll turn my attention elsewhere for the next few Mini Grices. I think that this might involve more lateral travel but stay tuned to see what I end up bagging!

 

[Techniquest]

Looks like these evenings are working out nicely for you so far, certainly you're doing better for 458/5s than me!

Not even half the 458/5 fleet done still?! Good grief, they really are taking their sweet time...

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Saturday July 18th - A PEP talk and an encounter with the FAB 4

“I know he can rabbit on but what’s he going on about now?” regular readers of this column might ask. Pep talks might normally be associated with managerial rants at a losing team during the half time break and the FAB 4, surely he means THE FAB 444, also known as 444018. All you football-ites can be assured that I will not be showing up at half time ranting at an underperforming team; neither does this report discussed the merits of travelling on “Arkwrights” on the South West Main Line!

With the alarm set for stupid O’clock, all the preparation that I had done for this trip was to purchase some advance tickets for two of us to head out of Euston to Liverpool for a day’s gricing. For once, I did not have to rely on my alarm clock to wake me; instead it was one of our cats having an early morning yowl. No way would I get back to sleep for just 10 minutes. End result was me leaving home 15 minutes earlier than planned. London Underground provided 51596+51597 form Morden to Stockwell and 11049+11050 onwards to Euston where I met my travelling companion, Martin. He’s one of the photographically-minded bunch who prefers looking at trains through the lens of his rather expensive camera! Anyway I’d not seen Martin for almost two months so it was good to catch up.

Virgin had helpfully provided us with a winning Pendo-Wobble and 390134 had the accolade of being the first score of the day; during the journey, as well as achieving winner status, it also managed the milestone of clearance for 100 miles [Ed: Far more coveted than the standard 10 mile award].We spent most of the journey nattering and discussing our wishes for the day, only pausing to note the massive earthworks that will result in the remodelling of the junction at Norton Bridge and my mentally noting that this will probably constitute new track to ride over. Martin’s aims were simply to photograph as many Merseyrail units as possible with a particular emphasis on finding one certain elusive unit. On the other hand, my aims were threefold –
1. Find my last four winning Mersyrail units
2. Clear as many Merseyrail units as possible for 10 miles (33 units required for 10 miles at the start of the day)
3. Try and travel on two units which had been absent from the Haulage Log for over 30 years
Anything else garnered during the day would be a bonus.

The trip to Lime Street went all to quickly and our first task was to purchase our Saveaway tickets (excellent value at £5.10). Martin set off trying to find a few Northern 319s to point his camera at while I immediately descended to the caverns of the Merseyrail network, stopping briefly to grab some timetable books from the Merseyrail shop. My intention was to do a Bus Stop Bash to Liverpool Central and make for the Northern Lines but low mileage 507019 on a New Brighton train made for a quick change of plans, heading instead for Wallasey Grove Road and the first shack score of the day. While not quite clearing it for 10 miles (figuring that I could grab it again later in the day) I did make a serious dent in 507019’s mileage deficit. At short wait and 507016 appeared heading back towards Liverpool – another one on the list and the run back under the Mersey around the loop to Liverpool Central ensured that it achieved 10 miles on the clock.

I then made for the Northern Line platforms at Liverpool Central and within ten minutes I was on the move with 507004+508117; the former was dud and the latter was need for a micro-mileage so a Bus Stop Bash to Brunswick sorted out 508117’s membership of the ten Mile Club. A brisk walk over the footbridge and I had only a few seconds before 507014+508140 rolled in with both of these being sub ten miles. I boarded and then started doing the arithmetic; I needed to go at least to Seaforth & Litherland before both would top ten miles. A quick consultation of the timetable told me that I had a train back within four minutes. Handily, Seaforth & Litherland possesses an island platform so no footbridge treks at the required shack. I was making an attempt to note the workings of any required unit that I saw in case I had to target missing ones later in the day and already had a few on the list.

With three units off the list already, I wondered when my luck would run out. “Not yet” was the answer as 507010+507021 rolled in – a swift check of the lists revealed that both were under 10 miles and 507010 in particular needed a good run to clear it so I headed off towards Hunts Cross. I went for the +3 at Cressington which turned into a +1 at this required shack for 507013+507017 back. 507017 was dud but 507013 was one of those annoying units that I needed only a fraction of a mile to clear it for 10. I soon turned this to my advantage by bailing at St Michaels in order to get the third consecutive shack scratch. I had no idea what I would meet coming the other way and it was not long before I was put out of my misery when 507012 rolled in accompanied by dud 508103. 507012 was only required for a small mileage so I thought that I would try the +3 at Cressington again. When I bailed off of 507012+508103, the connection turned into another +1 so it was a quick skip across the footbridge to join freshly dud 507010+507021 back to Liverpool Central.

It was time for a PNB and while most Merseyrail stations have facilities, they are locked and need to be released by a member of staff and prior experience has shown that this can take a while. Fortunately there are decent facilities at Liverpool Central that are not of the “request stop type” so nearly every time I passed through Central, I took advantage in case I were to get caught short … Feeling relieved, I returned to the Northern Line platforms and was greeted by 507007 readying itself for a trip to Ormskirk. 507 “Bond” was yet another unit that was needed for mileage so it would have been rude to decline it. We trundled off to Old Roan where I bailed, 507007 having cleared for 10 miles, for a +2 onto an unknown unit back. I’d seen several Ormskirk workings but not this one so was content when required 508110 came in. Without even breaking sweat, I had already knocked out 10 units from my fairly extensive list. By Sandhills, I had got bored of 508110 as it had cleared 10 miles so I bid it farewell and started to work out what turns on the Northern Line I had not seen. I was missing one Kirkby and three Southport turns but as to where they were in the cycle, I did not know. [Ed: The Kirkby line only has three units so that one’s not difficult to work out.]

But before I could fully collect my thoughts, 508130 came in on the front of a six-car set heading for Southport. It was about one or two minutes down and the guard was agitating for everyone to get on. And I had not even identified the back unit before he started to close the doors. I leapt in the back unit blind, making a note of the carriage number – 71521. Looking it up on my phone revealed that I was travelling with 508139. The first glance at my list revealed that 508139 was simply another dud – then I read the note that I had put against it. 139 was one of those units that whilst dud, had not benefitted from an entry in my haulage book during the 21st Century. In fact the only previous entry in the haulage log was on 23 February 1985 when I had it from Southport to Hall Road. Only four 315s and a 507 have the accolade of having no mentions in dispatches for longer! The Bus Stop Bash to Hall Road was enough to ensure 508139 lost its dubious status. By then I had worked out that the next train down from Southport was an unknown so I bailed from 508130+508139.

Bank Hall’s island platform saved more treks over bridges and it was only a short while before 507023+508104 presented themselves. 508104 was dud but the 507 was definitely needed for mileage and therefore I will not offer any prizes which unit I sat in! I had the usual theoretical +3 at Cressington but a slow run into Central plus some sloppy station working meant that I had to bail short at Aigburth. But that did not matter as by then, 507023 had moved the right side of the 10 mile marker. I knew that I was going for a dud pair as the last Southport turn that I needed to see was coming down from Southport. I joined recently dud 507014+508140 for the run back to Liverpool Central where I hoped to intercept the last unknown pair on Southports. My mate was texting me wondering whether I had seen his particular target but the answer was a very firm “No”. It was only minutes before the identity of the last Southport working was known to me – drum roll for 507020+507033. Why a drum roll? 507033 was the 507 that I referred to in the context of holding the accolade for the longest absence from the haulage log of any unit. Until today, its one and only entry in the haulage log was almost 32 years ago almost to the day (23 July 1983 to be precise when I had it from Moorfields to Sandhills). Was I pleased to see 507033? Of course and a single trip to Hunts Cross would not solve the 10 mile problem so I decided to do things in style and ride all the way to Hunts Cross and back to Central. 507020 was in need of some micro mileage to reach the magic 10 miles so two for the price of one was even better!

At Hunts Cross I grabbed quick photo while the crews changed ends and took up my place in 507033 for the return run back to Central. I had now almost exhausted the required units on the Northern Lines of the Mersey rail network. I’d done well with 13 units “knocked on the head” and I was certainly not in a mood for searching out the complaints department. As far as I knew, I still needed two 508s which were both on the Ormskirk road but as I had lost track of where they were I decided to attack the Wirral Lines so I descended to the murky depths of the low level platform. As I arrived the platform staff were bleating about a late running Chester train which would run non-stop to Hooton before picking up its normal pattern. The recalcitrant train appeared with 507029+507031 and took me by surprise as I did not think that there were any booked pairs on a Saturday on the Wirral lines (I’d seen pairs before on Saturdays on the Southport diagrams). 507031 was dud but 507029 was in serious deficit in the mileage stakes. Nonstop or not, I would have gone to Hooton with it! It seemed somewhat strange to be storming through places like Rock Ferry and Port Sunlight and a 10 minute late start at Central became a five minute early arrival at Hooton. Another photo opportunity was grabbed before I watched the par stagger out towards Chester. 508114 soon appeared from the Chester direction and “Yippee”, I needed it so straight back towards Liverpool was the order of the day. 508114 cleared for 10 miles somewhere under the Mersey so I bailed at James Street.

The next two trains at James Street were dud but the next Chester train produced 507009+508136 with the latter in need of some serious mileage – the 507 need a few miles as well to tip it over 10 miles. After a slow run round the loop including passing the closed platform at Moorfields undergoing refurbishment, I went under the Mersey again but this time the journey was more routine in that we stopped as booked. By now my mate had finished on the Liverpool side of the Mersey and as we passed Rock Ferry, I espied him in action with his camera. The trading of text messages started again and the subject was the elusive, from our point of view, Merseyrail unit. Neither of us had seen it! I stayed with the 507/508 combo as far as Eastham Rake by which time two more units had succeeded in joining the Ten Mile Club. Eastham Rake was also a shack scratch bringing the day’s total up to five.

Next up at Eastham Rake was 507027+508128. The 508 was dud but 507027 needed a nudge to clear for 10 miles so off I went to Bromborough Rake and in so doing it was shack scratch number six. I was certainly raking them in! I had a short wait at Bromborough Rake before 507026 rolled in having originated at Ellesmere Port. I needed a reasonable distance off of this one to clear for 10 miles. Moorfields would have been ideal but as it was closed I stayed on around the loop to Liverpool Central. There was five minutes for the next train (to New Brighton) so I dashed upstairs for the facilities again. My re-arrival on the low level platform coincided with 507019 which despite the earlier trip in the day, was still short of 10 miles by some silly decimal. I opted to stay on longer than necessary as Conway Park was another required shack. I watched 507019, my 20th Merseyrail unit cleared for 10 miles today, leave and noted a unit coming the other way out of the tunnel. I initially couldn’t make out the livery but was pretty certain that it was not either the standard Merseyrail grey or yellow. And it wasn’t 507002 as “Hope” was on the Northern Lines. It could only be one unit! I read off the number in some disbelief “Five, O, Eight, One, One, One”. “At last” was the thought that went through my mind. Then I wasn’t sure whether to break out into song – perhaps one of the old Beatles hits such as “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” or “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” would have been appropriate. On my six previous trips to the Merseyrail network since 508111 gained its vinyls advertising The Beatles Story, it had eluded me (and Martin had made five trips looking for it too!). I grabbed a quick photo or two before phoning a friend and instructed him as to the whereabouts of his prey.

Those of you who know Conway Park will realise that there’s no way you can switch platforms easily – it’s either a case of use the lift or the 99 stairs. Fortunately 508111 was Liverpool bound so I got the following train with 508126 back to Hamilton Square to intercept 508111 there. I had about five minutes to wait at Hamilton Square before 508111 appeared, bound for West Kirby. My first winner of the day and, far more importantly, I could now add the 508s to the list of classes cleared. Yes, I have now had all 43 of them including all the scrapped ones. Time was pressing on but I worked out that I still had plenty of time to go to West Kirby and back into Liverpool before our booked train home. The line to West Kirby was also required track as I’d only ever made it as far as Moreton before. At West Kirby, which was of course a shack scratch, I had plenty of time for photos before I rejoined 508111 for the run back into Liverpool (and clearing 111 for 10 miles along the way). I noted Martin with his camera at Birkenhead North taking loads of photos (he reckoned that he must have taken at least 50!). I went all the way to Liverpool Central so that I could use the Sainsburys there to grab supper before walking up to Lime Street where I met Martin for the trip home.

Virgin had provided a dud 390103 for the trip back to London but neither of us really cared. I’d had an excellent day, clearing 21 Merseyrail units for 10 miles, with no doubt as to what was the cherry on top of the cake. I’d also managed eight shack scratches. I’ll have to make another visit or two to the Merseyrail network as I still need 3*507 outright along with a further 2*507 and 7*508 for 10 miles. Martin reminded me that in our pre-trip banter I had made the rash statement that going on past successes I had far more chance of getting my three winning 507s than my last 508. How wrong that prediction turned out to be! Martin had had an equally successful day with over half of the Merseyrail fleet photographed and 508111 finally in the bag.

Here are the full moves for the day complete with a summary of milestones achieved –
LU 51596+51597 Morden to Stockwell ---
LU 11049+11050 Stockwell to Euston ---
390134 Euston to Liverpool Lime Street WINNER, cleared for 100 miles
507019 Liverpool Lime Street to Wallasey Grove Road ---
507016 Wallasey Grove Road to Liverpool Central Cleared for 10 miles
507004+508117 Liverpool Central to Brunswick 508117 cleared for 10 miles
507014+508140 Brunswick to Seaforth & Litherland Both cleared for 10 miles
507010+507021 Seaforth & Litherland to Cressington Both cleared for 10 miles
507013+507017 Cressington to St Michaels 507013 cleared for 10 miles
507012+508103 St Michaels to Cressington 507012 cleared for 10 miles
507010+507021 Cressington to Liverpool Central ---
507007 Liverpool Central to Old Roan Cleared for 10 miles
508110 Old Roan to Sandhills Cleared for 10 miles
508130+508139 Sandhills to Bank Hall ---
507023+508104 Bank Hall to Aigburth 507023 cleared for 10 miles
507014+508140 Aigburth to Liverpool Central ---
507020+507033 Liverpool Central to Hunts Cross 507020 cleared for 10 miles
507020+507033 Hunts Cross to Liverpool Central 507033 cleared for 10 miles
507029+507031 Liverpool Central to Hooton 507029 cleared for 10 miles
508114 Hooton to Liverpool James Street Cleared for 10 miles
507009+508136 Liverpool James Street to Eastham Rake Both cleared for 10 miles
507027+508128 Eastham Rake to Bromborough Rake 507027 cleared for 10 miles
507026 Bromborough Rake to Liverpool Central Cleared for 10 miles
507019 Liverpool Central to Conway Park Cleared for 10 miles
508126 Conway Park to Hamilton Square ---
508111 Hamilton Square to West Kirby WINNER, class cleared
508111 West Kirby to Liverpool Central Cleared for 10 miles
390103 Liverpool Lime Street to Euston ---
LU 11011+11012 Euston to Stockwell ---
LU 51598+51599 Stockwell to Morden ---
Milestones
Winner 390134, 508111
Class cleared 508
Cleared for 10 miles 507007, 507009, 507010, 507012, 507013, 507014, 507016, 507019, 507020, 507021, 507023, 507026, 507027, 507029, 507033, 508110, 508111, 508114, 508117, 508136, 508141
Cleared for 100 miles 390134
New Shacks Bromborough Rake, Conway Park, Cressington, Eastham Rake, St Michaels, Seaforth & Litherland, Wallasey Grove Road, West Kirby
New Track Moreton - West Kirby

 

[Techniquest]

Wow that was a good day! I wish I'd gone with you though, as I'd have got my last 508 (139) as well as two of my last 3 507s!

Very nice bit of work there, I need to return to Merseyside at some point for my last Merseyrail shack (Bootle Oriel Road) as well as to hunt the 3 507s and 1 508.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Sounds a busy and productive day.

If I'd have shadowed you I'd have done better on 507s (11 out of 17 required) than 508s (6 out of 16) - except I only count the unit travelled in so would have missed out on a couple of double winners. Pendo 34 would also have been a red pen job - and almost certainly the tube stuff.

Must get over there again soon...

 

[55013]

The trouble with all the different reports on this forum is every single one makes me think "ooh, yeah, I must do that soon", thus giving me a trip planning overdose

 

[Techniquest]

The trouble with all the different reports on this forum is every single one makes me think "ooh, yeah, I must do that soon", thus giving me a trip planning overdose

Yep, same for me too! Kite's been getting me wanting to do Devon, Keith's got me wanting to do Liverpool again and D841's got me wanting to do my first FoSS in at least 6 years!

 

[Keith Jarrett]

The trouble with all the different reports on this forum is every single one makes me think "ooh, yeah, I must do that soon", thus giving me a trip planning overdose

I find that various folk's reports give me inspiration too! Definitely thinking of either a Thames Branches Day Rover or a 3-day Thames Rover. And you cannot have too much trip planning even if the plans go out the window pretty quick.

Anyway, here's the next write up - it's definitely trip season for me (loads more in the pipeline)

Saturday 25th July - What a Rag Bag!

Regular readers of my trip reports might think “Two Saturday trips in a row, something must be wrong”. Thankfully all is in order and today’s trip was born out of the knowledge that the other half was making the annual trip to visit a friend in deepest Sussex for the day. I have often spent the free time in and around the smoke and when the date was fixed, my initial thoughts centred around a Thames Valley Day Rover and wagging some Turbo thrash. But then that nice Mr Branson intervened and held one of his Seat Sales. Coventry and back on a Pendolino for £10? It was simply too rude to decline the offer! I booked my tickets on services that were scheduled to be 11-car workings in order to maximise my chances of scores – all bar one of my Pendo-Wants are of the 11-car variety.

As it was a late start, instead of racing to Euston via the tube as I normally would, I did a proportion of the journey via Overground rail. 319438 took me into Wimbledon where I swapped to South West Trains for the onward trip to Vauxhall – 5736 was provided for the latter trip and I made sure not to sit in the former 508 coach. At Vauxhall I joined the stampede for the Victoria Line. Most folk bailed at Oxford Circus so I assume these poor souls were in for a spot of shop bashing and credit card battering. I still managed to arrive at Euston some 20 minutes before my departure time so occupied myself looking at 57309 “Pride of Crewe” which was sat on the blocks near platform 15. But all too soon my train was platformed and true to fashion, the number of the Pendolino on offer was familiar as one I had previously sampled. 390112 “Virgin Star” was a winner as recently as last month on my return from the Scottish jaunt. We ran slow line as far as Wembley which meant the train was at one point nine minutes down but in true West Coast style that was simply an invitation for some spirited running from the driver. By the time I left the train at Coventry, the deficit had been reduced by 3 minutes or so.

Once I had purchased my Daytripper ticket I returned to the platforms to be greeted by the sight of 153334, one of three London Midland Tin Rockets on my list, about to depart for Nuneation. Was I regretting not getting a West Midlands Day Ranger? “No” was the answer as I was on a short leash today and I would not get value for money. The Tin Rocket can wait for another day. My decisiveness paid off as the following train from Euston turned up a winning Pendolino in the shape of 390156 "Stockport 170". Ten and a bit miles later when I bailed at Birmingham International, it had gone from zero to hero and had successfully joined the Ten Mile Club. What next. Ultra-low mileage 323214 was certainly tempting but it was a pair of Arriva 158s that caught my eye; 158820+158832. In particular, it was 158820 that I was after as it was below 10 miles and had only one prior entry in the haulage book – 2 October 1993 from Southampton to Romsey. I went and took my seat in 158820 for the journey to New Street but before we left, I espied 350119 heading for New Street – one of the few 350/1s that I need. I figured that I could pick that one up later on. The run on the 158 pair into New Street was nothing spectacular but at least the driver did not have to play signal snooker outside New Street (sit at a red before getting another colour)! I left the 158 duo behind at New Street having cleared 820 for the requisite 10 miles and wandered off in search of 350119 which I found on the opposite platform. I had sufficient time to select a suitable seat before it left on its slow trek to Euston. Although less than 10 mile from New Street, I bailed from 119 at International; otherwise the only sensible place to go would have been Coventry.

I cross to the New Street bound platforms, noting that the next Arriva departure contained another 158 of interest to me. But I made the right move - the platform announcer was bleating about the next train being a nine-car Pendolino. I was secretly hoping he was wrong and that it would be an eleven-car but the announcer was right. “No chance” I thought followed by thoughts that equated to “YIPPEE! We have a winner on our hands”. At long last I was to be blessed with my last nine-car Pendo. 390005 “City of Wolverhampton” had succumbed at long last. The train was crowded and it was with some difficulty that I found a seat for the run into New Street. I would have liked to stay on further to get it over 10 miles but with a 158 that was under 10 miles behind, I opted to sort the 158 out in preference to the Pendo. I had a few minutes to get into position for 158826+158828 and was rather pleased that I did so. Reason being that that as the train rolled in, a hoard of young scouts with shedloads of camping gear appeared, their leaders trying to keep some semblance of order. Like 158820 from earlier on, 158826 had been absent from the haulage book for ages. In fact it was on the very same day (2 October 1993) that I had my one and only previous trip with 158826. Getting out of New Street was always easier than getting in – no signal snooker on the way out! Smethwick Galton Bridge was sufficient mileage to clear 158826 for 10 miles so we parted company there. I had to let a dud 323 and a dud 350 go before I found something on my lists.

323201 was on a Wolverhampton bound stopper. That did not bother me as if I stuck with it all the way to Wolves, I could invite it to join the Ten Mile Club. The Stour Valley line has always interested me, probably because I can appreciate industrial landscapes but also a few years back we had a canal boat for a week and ended up paralleling the line all the way from Wolverhampton to Birmingham. Just see for yourselves how much of the canal is close by. At Wolverhampton I had a +4 onto an Arriva service back towards Birmingham but I passed on that as both 158s were dud. Just behind was a Cross Country Vomit Comet, 220014, which was still needed for 10 miles so I felt obligated to board and knock it off my list. I spent the journey looking for the various bits of the canal that we had traversed a few years back on our family holiday - many of the landmarks were still familiar. Arriving into the dark caverns of New Street station, I felt the need to go in search of supplies and Google Maps came to my rescue telling me that I had all of two minutes’ walk to a Tesco Metro; that’s the first Tesco Metro that I have come across that’s on two floors and vital supplies such was bottled water were on the first floor! Suitably supplied, I made my way back to New Street and started to think about my next move.

That did not take too long as I came across a double Virgin 221 set, 221102 "John Cabot" +221109 "Marco Polo"heading for Glasgow Central. Both were winners and the act of taking them to Wolverhampton would also allow the 10 mile barrier to be breached. I enjoyed more canal-side views and it was not long before I was alighting at Wolverhampton. What next? Pendo-Wobble 117 was sitting in platform 2 but was not due to leave for another 10 minutes. “Ah, what’s that pair of 170s coming in?” I mentally muttered to myself. A quick consultation of the lists showed that I needed to board 170515+170517 as the latter was still under the 10 mile threshold; I had previously had the former in Central Trains days from Cardiff to Newport back in 2003. As I entered the details of this journey in my notebook, I realised that while I was generally travelling the same track, I was getting a variety of traction “in the book”. I was planning on going forward from New Street with Pendo-Wobble 117 but at New Street the station announcer brought my attention to an imminent Cross Country departure heading for Bournemouth. “Ah well, I better go and investigate. Just in case ….” I thought to myself. And I’m glad that I did as it was 221125 that was heading to the south coast and I needed it for 10 miles. International would sort that nicely and 390117 would still be behind.

I did not have long to bask I n the sunshine at International before 390117 “Virgin Prince” showed up and bound for Euston. Winner number six of the day. As we sped past intermediate shacks such as Tile Hill and Canley, I reminded myself that all these smaller shacks were still needed but that will have to wait as I was on a roll with the winners. A lively run to Coventry saw a two minute early arrival which gave me enough time to dash over the footbridge and onto an unknown Dessie. As I boarded, I noted the carriage number which was not at all familiar. The interior was also bright and sparkly. Then I rumbled that I was on a 350/3. Given that I knew the whereabouts of the only 350/3 that I had previously, this was winner number 7of the day. Before I could leap out onto the platform to get an ID of the unit, the whistle blew and the doors shut. As we moved off, I Googled the carriage number to put me out of my misery – I was on winning 350368! This was a stopper but no way was I bailing before International as I wanted to clear 368 for 10 miles.

Another tight connection at International saw me scramble onto 350130 just as the doors were closing [Ed: You’ll do yourself some damage one day if you keep making a habit of all this dashing around]. While 350130 was dud, I was pretty sure that I could get a shack attack out of the situation. I was indeed right, making my first ever visit to Hampton-in Arden. This time I had a comfortable 10 minutes to stroll over the footbridge to await an unknown 350 back to International. Bang on time, 350119 appeared and boy was I pleased to see that rather than the normal dud LM 350s that I seemed to be blessed with. OK, it was a winner from earlier but I had unfinished business with this particular unit as it still needed a nudge to push it over the requisite 10 miles which the short jog to International would look after. My return to International meant that the day out was almost over. I had about 15 minutes to find a winner and no such luck. LM offered up a dud 350 and Cross Country could do no better so I sat back to await the arrival of my train home. Spot on time 390141 “City of Chester” rolls in having come all the way from Edinburgh. The train was quite full as the previous service had been cancelled and I had some difficulty in finding a window seat but coach unreserved U came to my rescue. Once I had sat down, it dawned on me, 390141 was a winner and the journey from International would allow 141 to immediately join the 100 mile club, skipping the ten mile cub! Eight winners in one day is good going for me even if four of them were Pendo-Wobbles (I still need loads of 11 car Pendo-thingies). We had an additional call at Rugby due to the cancellation and once allowed back onto the mainline, another superb performance up the west coast main line. While I could have then gone home via the reverse of the route that brought me to Euston in the morning, I needed to pop by my local supermarket at Morden for a few bits so the London Underground had my custom.

Given that this was not a full day out with only six hours in Coventry, I was rather pleased with the results. Eight winners including my last 390/0, twelve units cleared for 10 miles and a new shack made sure that I would not be contacting the Complaints Department after the day’s exploits. And during the course of the day I rode on nine different classes of unit and five different TOCs – a right old rag bag indeed! As is now traditional, here’s list of the day’s moves -
319438 St Helier To Wimbledon ---
5736 Wimbledon to Vauxhall ---
LU 11053+11054 Vauxhall to Euston
390112 Euston to Coventry ---
390156 Coventry to Birmingham International WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
158820+158832 Birmingham International to Birmingham New Street 158820 cleared for 10 miles
350119 Birmingham New Street to Birmingham International WINNER
390005 Birmingham International to Birmingham New Street WINNER
158826+158828 Birmingham New Street to Smethwick Galton Bridge 158826 cleared for 10 miles
323201 Smethwick Galton Bridge to Wolverhampton Cleared for 10 miles
220014 Wolverhampton to Birmingham New Street Cleared for 10 miles
221102+221109 Birmingham New Street to Wolverhampton WINNER x 2, both cleared for 10 miles
170515 Wolverhampton to Birmingham New Street ---
170517 Wolverhampton to Birmingham New Street Cleared for 10 miles
221125 Birmingham New Street to Birmingham International Cleared for 10 miles
390117 Birmingham International to Coventry WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
350368 Coventry to Birmingham International WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
350130 Birmingham International to Hampton-in-Arden ---
350119 Hampton-in-Arden to Birmingham International Cleared for 10 miles
390141 Birmingham International to Euston WINNER, cleared for 100 miles
LU 11017+11018 Euston to Stockwell ---
LU 51518+51519 Stockwell to Morden ---
Milestones
Winners 221102, 221109, 350119, 350368, 390005, 390117, 390141, 390156
Cleared for 10 miles 158820, 158826, 170517, 220014, 221102, 221109, 221125, 323201, 350119, 350368, 390117, 390156
Cleared for 100 miles 390141
New Shack Hampton-in-Arden

 

[Kite159]

Busy day in the West Midlands

 

[Techniquest]

Wow you did well indeed! Well done on clearing your 390/0s, I still have one left of those myself to get, 390016. Hopefully this week it'll show up in the North West, along with the 4 390/1s that I need...

Nice bit of variety there and a bargain bash with those fares it must be said. You found my usual spot for a supply raid in Birmingham, it is a well placed Tesco for sure. In the shop's defence, the stuff on the ground floor is a lot of what people will pop in for, like meal deals for example. It would be handy if the soft drinks were also on the ground level, but hey ho!

Very well versed with the New Street to Wolverhampton route, it is indeed surprising how much the line follows the canal.

Glad you enjoyed your trip to my stomping ground!

 

[Kristofferson]

All cracking stuff, although I will need to re read the most recent one when I'm more awake! Must be time to call it a night...

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Tuesday 28th July – North East Rover, Day 1

This trip has been in gestation longer than I care to think about. I first started to lay the ground for it almost a year ago when I realised the sheer quantity of requirements that inhabit the North East and that day trips to West Yorkshire would simply not have the desired effect – I needed more flexibility although it’s inevitable that I will be spending a lot of my time in and around the Yorkshire conurbation. My main targets above all else are the significant but dwindling number of Pacers that still squat on my requirements list. It was originally conceived as two 2-day trips but has since metamorphosed into four one day trips, all out and back from home. The availability of some cheap advances out of Kings Cross means that this will be no dearer than staying overnight (and probably a lot cheaper) but it means that I will clock up more mileage on the East Coast than I had originally bargained for.

With an early start out of The Cross, I used London Underground as my means of transport to get there. With everything working perfectly, I had over 20 minutes before I was due out so I purchased my rover from the booking office. This would allow me freedom to move immediately upon arrival at Doncaster rather than fanny around wasting time getting the rover at Doncaster. Hull Trains provided a dud 180111 for me; I was secretly hoping for my last HT 180, 180109 but no such luck! This was this first time that I had the unit with HT; my only previous trip being in 2003 when this unit was part of the Great Western fleet. I managed to clear it for 100 miles during the journey, the 4th 180 to reach these heady heights in the mileage stakes. The journey was uneventful and an on-time arrival at Doncaster was recorded.

I gave myself half an hour to get moving on something required. Long before the half hour was up, 322483 rolled in from Leeds and with the only previous logged journey being a short run on the Edinburgh to North Berwick route, this seemed like an ideal candidate to kick things off with. The Railway Gods had other ideas as less than a minute before 322483 was due to leave, a pacer comes bouncing into the station. “Neeeed that!” was the thought racing through my mind as 142092 identified itself. 322483 was left to run off to Leeds without me as a winning pacer definitely took priority. Only three more 142s then that’s the class cleared (a few more are needed for 10 miles). With 142092 having an ultimate destination of Sheffield, I had a variety of places where I could bail and I opted for Meadowhall as by then 092 would be well and truly cleared for 10 miles and there added opportunity of a variety of services available to me. We bounced and squealed our way along the Don valley, round to Rotherham Central and finally past Booths scrapyard to Meadowhall. At the 142 made its way out of the station 144003 came in from the opposite direction. This one was needed for 10 miles and it would clear just after Rotherham Central so Swinton seemed the obvious place to bail. Doubly obvious in fact as Swinton (South Yorks) was a required shack!

The first train out of Swinton was a dud 142 but with three more departures within 20 minutes, I was hoping for something on the lists. I was not to be disappointed as the next train, heading for Leeds, rolls in with 144013. Winner number two of the day and that’s the two-car 144s cleared; just the small matter of a foursome of three-car ones to sort out. Just as we were leaving Swinton, we passed the next train down from Leeds which was in the hands of 142066. This happens to be one of the three 142s that I needed outright so I had to position myself for its return working - I was banking on it coming back rather than going into the Sheffield melting pot. Thankfully the bashers’ friend, realtimetrains suggested that it would be returning. The first task in hand was to sort 144013 out for mileage. Initial thoughts suggested bail at Fitzwilliam and retrace my steps on the next Leeds to Sheffield but that might not be a good idea as that relied on a dodgy +1 at Swinton if the latter train was needed for the whole 10 miles. Then I hit on the idea of staying with 144013 to Sandal & Agbrigg for a +3 onto the Leeds Sheffield. I thought Sandal & Agbrigg was a required shack but alas my short stay of around three minutes did not see me score a new shack. Neither did I get a winning unit out of the joint as 142031 was dud all round. So rather than stay on for 10 miles or so, I bailed at Fitzwilliam (required shack) .

I had a decent wait at Fitzwilliam for the Doncaster to Leeds stopper which I had calculated to be 322483 (rejected earlier in the day) and thankfully the calculations proved correct. Wakefield Westgate would sort that out for the required 10 miles and 142066 was still behind! I watched a couple of East Coast services (yes, I know VTEC run the show now, but it’s still the East Coast Main Line) come and go along with a dud 142 heading to Sheffield. Then came the appointed hour, would I succeed in getting a second winning 142 on day one? Bang on cue, 142066 bounced across the viaduct into Wakefield Westgate and squealed to a halt. A definite winner for me and I boarded feeling pleased with myself. The ride to Leeds secured the 10 miles as well.

Our arrival in Leeds was a few minutes ahead of schedule which gave me enough time to briskly transfer over to platform 17 where the next winner was about to depart. Earlier on, I mentioned those three car 144s and a winning 144022 was imminently off to Sheffield via Castleford & Barnsley. I simply had to board so walking past a 158 on my wants list in platform 17B, I boarded 144022 for the run out to Castleford which is just over 10 miles away from Leeds so I was able to clear the 144 for 10 miles. I was going blind at Castleford for the return working to Leeds although I knew that if I waited for half an hour, there should be a two-car 144 about which was low on mileage. Thankfully, “Plan B” was not needed as, soon after the automated station announcement burst into life, 142064 squealed and nodded its way into the station for the obligatory reversal. 142064 was a mileage requirement as the only previous trip with it was from Moston to Manchester Victoria back in 2012. A suitably unimpressive run back to Leeds enabled 142064 to apply for its membership of the Ten Mile Club. The only thing of note on the way back was the uninterrupted view of Freightliner’s Midland Road depot where a brace of 66s, some class 70s and 47830 resplendent in two-tone green were on display.

Back at Leeds, I had to figure out my next move when I noted 150148 which was a definite mileage requirement as the only previous trip with it was back in 2012 on a Bus Stop Bash from Salford Crescent to Manchester Victoria. Paired with another 150 which was dud, 150148+150272 were about to leave for York going the long way round via Harrogate. In order to clear 148 for 10 miles, I had to go to Weeton where there was a comfortable +7 onto something back. It had been a very long time ago (try the mid 1970s) when I last ventured this far up the Harrogate line so was almost new territory for me. Once shot of urban Leeds, I found the line quite scenic with views across to some moorland. Weeton was a new shack for me and once I had switched platforms, I awaited the return train which staggered in bang on time with 150207. Another dud but I was not expecting to get anything out of this as I’d already dealt with 150148. Back in Leeds, I noted another three-car 144 sitting on platform 17 so I toddled off to investigate and was pleased to see a winning 144014. Also present on the same platform was 158845, another winner. I actually let 144014 go as I knew that while the 144 was messing around in Castleford, the 158 would overtake and I could drop onto the 144 at Wakefield Kirkgate. So the move ended up being winning 158845 on a Sheffield Fast to Kirkgate, wait 10 minutes and bag winning 144014 onwards to Barnsley. I alighted at Barnsley feeling quite pleased with myself that I was back to my winning ways and also knocking the units out for the 10 mile jobs as well. I had around 10 minutes or so at Barnsley before there was something out. First up was 158907 which I’d not sampled in over 10 years and was also low mileage so off to Meadowhall I went. Annoyingly, just south of Barnsley, I passed a winning 158 but hey ho, you cannot win them all! I figured that by going to Meadowhall, I would have a chance on something but what?

When I got to Meadowhall, it appeared that trains to and from the Doncaster line were experiencing time-keeping problems. Had I made the wrong move? Within about five minutes, the public address system was warbling on about a train to Bridlington. Ah, a 158 perhaps? Not just any 158, but a low mileage one rolled in, in the form of the recently named 158861. Once carrying Wessex Trains silver and the name “Spirit of the South West”, 158861 was now in standard Northern garb with the name “Magna Carta 800”. Running around 20 late, we had a spirited run to Doncaster where I bailed, having acquired the necessary mileage from this machine. Again, the dilemma as what to do next presented itself. With the Doncaster to Sheffield line in disarray, I decided to move on elsewhere. 91110 in its Battle of Britain colours presented the ideal opportunity to reacquaint myself with a loco that I last had for haulage in 1990 when the former “Northern Rock” was numbered 91010. I elected to take this to Leeds where I figured that I might catch some of the rush hour. An on time arrival at Leeds allowed me to inspect a few trains but all were dud then I happened upon 153328+158859. The 153 was one of my higher mileage Tin Rockets but the 158 was lacking in the mileage stakes. With an eye on the time (and shack requirements too), a leap out to East Garforth was the order of the day on this rush hour service as the 158 would clear for 10 miles well before my arrival at the required shack. From here I had the choice of two moves, either onto York or back to Leeds. The York train came in first with 158903 and I was not going to turn down the opportunity to clear the unit for 10 miles.

We arrived at York alongside a 91 that was heading for Kings Cross – I could take that to Doncaster and await my booked train home or go in search of supplies. The 91 was dud all round so off I went in search of supplies – Google Maps told me that there was a Sainsburys store in the town about eight minutes’ walk away. Perfect! I did the round trip including selecting and paying for my purchases in about 22 minutes so had just the right time to wait for 91105 down to Doncaster. Here I had time to observe a DRS 47 running light up to York (47828 from memory) and a Freightliner 66 on the fuel tank run from Immingham to Felixstowe. Spot on time, the evening HST from Leeds appeared, 43238+43272 for the record and I boarded, taking up my seat in the usual coach, the TGS. This was my first run with 43272 under its current number; my only previous run being back in 1986 when it was 43072 and ironically that was also an evening run from Doncaster up to Kings Cross. The train was on time but we were treated to an excellent run up the East Coast with Peterborough being the only stop. There we waited time for around five minutes before the mad dash to The Cross where we arrived well before time. I rapidly descended to the Victoria Line and was on the move before our scheduled arrival time! I walked in the house around 40 minutes after the train was due into Kings Cross and recounted the day. Six winners were not to be sneezed at, especially as five were from the Pacer family, along with a sizeable wad of units cleared for 10 miles and four unexpected shack scratches. I’m now looking forward to day 2 of my North East Rover. Can I better the tally?

To end, here are the day’s moves -

LU 51530+51531 Morden to Stockwell ---
LU 11027+11028 Stockwell to Kings Cross ---
180111 Kings Cross to Doncaster Cleared for 100 miles
142092 Doncaster to Meadowhall WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
144003 Meadowhall to Swinton Cleared for 10 miles
144013 Swinton to Sandal And Agbrigg WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
142031 Sandal And Agbrigg to Fitzwilliam ---
322483 Fitzwilliam to Wakefield Westgate Cleared for 10 miles
142066 Wakefield Westgate to Leeds WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
144022 Leeds to Castleford WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
142064 Castleford to Leeds Cleared for 10 miles
150148+150272 Leeds to Weeton 150148 cleared for 10 miles
150207 Weeton to Leeds ---
158845 Leeds to Wakefield Kirkgate WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
144014 Wakefield Kirkgate to Barnsley WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
158907 Barnsley to Meadowhall Cleared for 10 miles
158861 Meadowhall to Doncaster Cleared for 10 miles
91110 Doncaster to Leeds First time current number
153328+158859 Leeds to East Garforth 158859 cleared for 10 miles
158903 East Garforth to York Cleared for 10 miles
91105 York to Doncaster ---
43238+43272 Doncaster to Kings Cross 43272 first time current number
LU 11041+11042 Kings Cross to Stockwell ---
LU 51605+51606 Stockwell to Morden ---

Milestones
Winners 142066, 142092, 144013. 144014, 144022, 158845
Cleared for 10 miles 142066, 142092, 144013. 144014, 144022, 158845, 322483
Cleared for 100 miles 180111
First time current number 43272, 91110
New Shacks East Garforth, Fitzwilliam, Swinton, Weeton

 

[Techniquest]

An extremely good day there! Certainly the NRDMUG has been kind to you on that day.

It must be rather handy having the opportunity to head home at the end of each day, no risk of bad hotels and massively boosts the annual mileage totals! Not to mention having the opportunity to have proper food at home and so on.

Excellent read as always, hopefully the other 3 days will be as good if not better!

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Yeah, the random DMU thingy was smiling on me for once. I reckon I'll clock up an extra 1,200 odd miles by coming home every night. And your right about the comfort of my own bed. But 22:00 arrivals are too late for big meals so I tend to something to eat on the journey.

I'm deffo looking forward to seeing what days two to four bring but given my targets mainly live in and around Yorkshire, l'm doubt whether I'll end up using the full validity of my rover.

I've actually completed day two but yet to write it up. See what spare time I end up with. Days 3 & 4 are still to come.

 

[55013]

Another great write up.
Always good to see someone getting winners in my neck of the woods.

 

[Kite159]

Sounds like a busy day in the West Yorkshire area

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Friday 31st July – North East Rover, Day 2

After two days at work, I was ready to hit the rails again. Today was all about trying to further reduce the number of pacers that I need for the magical 10 miles and knowing that a friend with access to information was able to help was a great boon. I migrated up to Kings Cross slightly later than I normally would for a day out but there was method in my madness. I’d only ever sampled Great Central HSTs once before; that being my return to London after my first Tyne Tees Day Ranger in March of this year. Of the four days that I was using my North East Rover, today was the only one where I could find reasonably priced advances for both the morning train to York and the evening one back to London. I rolled up to Kings Cross fully expecting to see at least one of the power cars that I had sampled back in March then I had the joys of 43467+43484) but to my surprise, both were different being 43468+43480. Both were required for their current number and both had also been absent from the haulage book for almost 26 years. My only previous haulage with 43480 (as 43080) was on 9th September 1989 from Doncaster to Wakefield Westgate; fast forward all of six days and I recorded my previous haulage with 43468 (when it was 43068) from Doncaster to Kings Cross. 43480 is one of an ever reducing elite of HST power cars that have yet to achieve 100 miles and apart from the withdrawn 43173, all are still in traffic. The run from Kings Cross to York certainly saw 43480 break the 100 mile barrier! It was a good run down the East Coast and we were definitely chasing the 91 on the Edinburgh service immediately in front such that our arrival at York was several minutes early and the fleet of foot could have easily scrambled onto the 91 in front.

As I was awaiting information from my friend, I chose not to go further north. Before he could give me the required information as to the whereabouts of my remaining Heaton pacers, I was greeted by the sight of 142018 bouncing into York. “Ah, one required for 10 miles,” I said to myself. About 10 minutes later, I was leaving York bound for Selby. We stormed up the East Coast mainline to Hambleton Junction where we swung left onto the Leeds to Hull line and on target for an early arrival in Selby before we ground to a halt just outside Selby station. The conductor came over the intercom to say that the swingbridge was open and there would be a short delay until it was closed. Around 15 minutes later we were on the move into Selby station.

The first train out was York bound and alas my brain was not in gear. The train in question was one of those that did not take the direct route to York but went via Sherburn-in-Elmet via the Gascoigne Wood to Sherburn South curve, a required piece of track. I was not going to waste hours at Selby waiting for something required to come along and now that my friend had been in touch regarding the locations of my five remaining Heaton 142s, I had business to attend to. Dud 185113 provided a suitable means of transport to Leeds where I started to formulate a plan (or at least part of one) to access the two 142s that were in the Leeds area – but both would not appear until later on so I had a chance to further assault the Northern wants list. First up was a winning 333007 heading down up the Aire Valley and a bail at Frizinghall not only saw the obligatory 10 miles clocked up but also the first winning shack of the day. It was only a few minutes wait before winning 33012 appeared to return me to Leeds affording a second look at the works taking place on the new shacks at Apperley Bridge and Kirkstall Forge.

Next up at Leeds was 142064+144010. While the 142 had tipped over 10 miles earlier in the week, 144010 still needed a nudge to achieve the 10 mile status (being on nine point something miles). The train was heading to Sheffield via Wakefield Westgate with the first stop being Outwood (a required) shack. Normally I would find myself ignoring Outwood as Wakefield Westgate would get the 10 miles in on a winning unit. As luck would have it, the train back was a late running EMU from Doncaster (322484) rather than the 15+ minutes wait I was expecting for the next DMU from Sheffield. Bonus! Back at Leeds, 158860 attracted my attention bound for Manchester Victoria via Bradford so I headed off to Bradford Interchange by which time 158860 had been added to the tally of units cleared for 10 miles. I gave it 10-15 minutes for a requirement to show but nothing so with the aid of Google Maps I set off across town to Forster Square station. Here I was greeted by the imminent departure of winning 333008 which I would normally have taken a reasonable distance to get it out of the way for 10 miles but I knew that 322485 was coming the other way and I could intercept it at Shipley. 322485 was one of those one trip Johnnies that I had previously had a long time ago (on 26 August 1991 from Liverpool Street to Seven Sisters) and I judged that clearing a 1990-built unit for 10 miles was preferable to one some ten years its junior. The leap back to Forster Square would not suffice so I merely sat on 322485 while it laid over at Forster Square and went back to Frizinghall on a Bus Stop Bash. Job done!

On my way out of Forster Square, I had passed 333006 going in and was prepared to wait for it at Frizinghall but winner 333005 appeared and it would get me to Forster Square in time to link up with winning 333006. I could not go the full distance (10 miles plus) with 333006 as I had to get into position for 142050 which was coming in from Heysham Harbour. I bailed at Shipley, fully expecting to take another 333 up to Keighley but then I realised that a 158 to Carlisle was due. Winning 158909 took me slightly by surprise and I was disappointed to have to bail short of ten miles. However, the 142 took priority over the 158. I had a comfortable +7 at Keighley to wander over the footbridge and await 142050 which had just over two miles on the clock! Bang on cue, it squealed into Keighley before heading off to Leeds at a great rate of knots. The woman sitting behind me was obviously more used to 333s for the journey as she commented to her friend about the lively ride and the noise of the Pacer being thrashed [Ed: Liven up woman, Pacers are more rock and roll than 333s will ever be!]. I needed an on-time arrival at Leeds for a +4 onto a train out to Wakefield Westgate for the next leg of my cunning plan.

I was granted my wish of an on-time arrival at Leeds and stormed over to the waiting Sheffield train. It was to be my second altercation of the day with 142064+144010! They would now be both well and truly cleared for 10 miles! At Wakefield Westgate, I waited with some trepidation for my prey as I was advised that there was a possibility of a diagram swap. Thankfully, the suggested diagram swap did not take place and 142025 rolled in for the return trip to Leeds and automatic membership of the Ten Mile Club. Again, a lively run back into Leeds saw me make another dubious connection onto 150218+150274 out to Headingley where I planned to meet some Leyland-built sprinters on their way back into Leeds. The 150 pairing were dud but not so 153316+155345 as both were under 10 miles. The 155 was my target as clearing that would ensure that all remaining 155s on the national network would clear for 10 miles - I never got many miles of the Regional Railways 155s before they were spit and became 153s. Although I had succeeded with 155345, I had forgotten all about the need to clear the 153 for 10 miles and got distracted by a winning 153 paired with a 155.

With only a few minutes before 153304+155346 were about to depart, I charged over the footbridge at Leeds and jumped onto winning 153304. Having let one 153 go in the 10 mile stakes, I was not going to make the same mistake with 153304 so instead of bailing at Bradford Interchange [Ed: I know you want to call the station by its old name of Bradford Exchange] I stayed on to Halifax. I had passed through Halifax a number of times but have no record of ever bailing there so I effectively had an unexpected shack score. Dud 150214 took me back to Bradford Interchange where a late running 158790 (required for 10 miles) was waiting to forward me on to Leeds. There was another 158 coming up from Blackpool behind me which I had planned to take from Leeds to York but a cursory glance at the departure screens showed a late running Cross Country service which would do the job equally as well.

The Blackpool train turned up with a dud 158 and a few minutes later, the Cross Country appeared. I was expecting a Vomit Comet of some description and was hoping for one that was either still below 10 miles or even better still, an outright winner. I had a fair chance as well over half the Voyager fleet can be found on my requirements list. But I was out of luck; no winning Voyager for me today! Instead something better, one of Cross Country’s few HST sets. I noted the power car numbers as 43321+43357 and it took a while for the penny to drop [Ed: Brain not in gear again?] but when the aforementioned penny did finally clatter down to earth, I wanted to tell the world but felt it rather inappropriate to do so! While both power cars were required under their current numbers, were “One Trip Johnnies” and had been absent from the haulage book for many a year, that was not the factor in my elation. 43321 (or 43121 as it used to be) was the last HST power car that was required for 10 miles – my only previous trip on All Fools Day 1997 being a short spin from Bristol temple Meads up to Parkway. It was back in 2011 that I got my penultimate power car for 10 miles so this has been a long time coming! I certainly enjoyed every minute of the 22 minute run up to York.

At York, I had a comfortable +10 onto the evening Grand Central HST back to London. I already knew that I was due to have 43423+43465 having seen the working during my brief stay at York earlier in the day. As might be expected, both were needed under their current numbers but more importantly, both had been absent from the haulage book for a long time; particularly so in the case of 43465 where the only previous entry was over 30 years ago on 20 May 1984 when I had it new (as 43065) from Nottingham to St Pancras. The service was relatively lightly loaded – I would have thought than on a Friday night it would have been loaded with weekenders and return day trippers. The first task once on board was to eat. Once I had consumed the remnants of the day’s “noose bag” I set about seeing how well the train was performing and was pleasantly surprised to see that we were doing well on our progress to London. So well in fact that we almost caught the preceding Leeds train (also HST) at its Peterborough stop. An early arrival at The Cross combined with the Underground working its best, I was home around 15 minutes earlier than planned.

I had little time to reflect on the day but with only three Heaton 142s left to get, I knew that my focus for days three and four would have to change. I felt that seven winners, 10 units and a power car cleared for 10 miles along with such milestones as three new shacks and all Grand Central power cars now sampled under their current ownership said one thing about the day – success! Could I keep up the momentum for days three and four?

Finally, here’s the day’s move -

LU 51531+51556 Morden to Stockwell ---
LU 11073+11074 Stockwell to Kings Cross ---
43468+43480 Kings Cross to York Both - first time current number. 43480 cleared for 100 miles
142018 York to Selby Cleared for 10 miles
185113 Selby to Leeds ---
333007 Leeds to Frizinghall WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
333012 Frizinghall to Leeds WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
142064+144010 Leeds to Outwood 144010 cleared for 10 miles
322484 Outwood to Leeds ---
158860 Leeds to Bradford Interchange Cleared for 10 miles
333008 Bradford Forster Square to Shipley WINNER
322485 Shipley to Bradford Forster Square ---
322485 Bradford Forster Square to Frizinghall Cleared for 10 miles
333005 Frizinghall to Bradford Forster Square WINNER
333006 Bradford Forster Square to Shipley WINNER
158909 Shipley to Keighley WINNER
142050 Keighley to Leeds Cleared for 10 miles
142064+144010 Leeds to Wakefield Westgate ---
142025 Wakefield Westgate to Leeds Cleared for 10 miles
150218+150274 Leeds to Headingley ---
153316+155345 Headingley to Leeds 155345 cleared for 10 miles All 155s now cleared for 10 miles
153304+155346 Leeds to Halifax 153304 - WINNER & cleared for 10 miles
150214 Halifax to Bradford Interchange ---
158790 Bradford Interchange to Leeds Cleared for 10 miles
43321+43357 Leeds to York Both - first time current number. 43357 cleared for 10 miles. All 43 now cleared for 10 miles
43423+43465 York to Kings Cross 'Both - first time current number
LU 11083+11084 Kings Cross to Stockwell ---
LU 51647+51648 Stockwell to Morden ---
Milestones
Winners 153304, 158909, 333005, 333006, 333007, 333008, 333012
Cleared for 10 miles 43357, 142018, 142025, 142050, 144010, 155345, 158790, 158860, 322485, 333007, 333012
Cleared for 100 miles 43480
First time current number 43321, 43357, 43423, 43465, 43468, 43480
All of class cleared for 10 miles 43, 155
New Shacks Frizinghall, Halifax, Outwood

 

[Techniquest]

Very nicely done, congratulations on clearing the HST power cars for 10 miles!

I look forward to seeing what your focus was shifted to, doing exceptionally well with the 142s!

Certainly you did well on the 333s as well, and it's got to be said that I've really got a strong desire to get back to West Yorkshire now! I think I may have to put off a planned Blackpool tram bash this weekend (or next weekend, depending on hotel availability) and go to Leeds instead. Mind you I also want to do Manchester again!

 

[Kite159]

Did you make use of the declassified first class coach on the HSTs?

Sounds like an excellent day

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Did you make use of the declassified first class coach on the HSTs?

Sounds like an excellent day

Not possible on the way up in the morning as second first class vehicle was defective but I certainly did take advantage on the way back.

 

[FQ]

Which coach would that be?

 

[Kristofferson]

Wow, massive congrats on the power cars! That is an achievement

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Which coach would that be?

It's normally the one at the London end of the set. B for Bravo I think.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Wow, massive congrats on the power cars! That is an achievement

And that's every production HST power car including the ones that have been written off and the ones used in the NMT cleared for 10 miles. Target now is get the remaining ingredients ones for 100 miles. 14 are available (I missed 43173) and Cross Country 43321 is still the lowest mileage although there's three others that also need more than 60 miles to achieve the desired 100.

 

[FQ]

Thanks! Next time I am on a GC tram (may well be later today) I will aim for that coach: