Do you need many of the Orange 317s?
Only need two of them - 709 & 729. And they are mileage needs. AGA requirements are 501 which is an all time need along with 504 & 514 which only have Bus Stop Bash mileage accrued thus far.
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And now folks, here is bundle of trip reports in case you are wondering where I have been ....
Tuesday 15th September – S is for Score!
The original plan for this evening was to go in search of my remaining three 317s on the Great Northern that I still needed for 10 miles but once I had seen the daily gen for the 317s on the UKmodernEMU group, I saw that the stars were certainly not aligned for me. The fall back was to go in search of yet more 378s on the East London Line but as we all know in the bashing game the best laid plans often go awry! And for me, today was definitely in that category.
I suppose that it all started on my way into work when I ran across a required set of S-7 stock on the circle line. My rules for bagging Underground stock are slightly different to that of stock that operates on the National Network – there’s no ten mile minimum (it’s one mile) but I do have to travel in both ends of all S-7, S-8 and 2009 tube stock. The daily grind only into work involves only 1¼ miles or so. This means that I either have to go beyond the work shack on the Circus Line or pray that the unit sticks to diagram and I can grab it after work. Today, I ended up with a free lunch hour that could be taken at a time of my choice so out I wandered to get the missing half of 21507+21508. Problem was that the first S-7 back was also required, 21469+21470. Only one thing to do; get the required one mile off of each of those as well. At least there was ample time to do this before returning to “Camp Gulag” for another afternoon’s “slave” labour. [Ed: you love your work but just do not want to admit to it!] Slight problem was that I saw yet another two sets of S-7 stock that I wanted and happily I knew their diagrams once I had looked them up in the on-line WTTs that TfL so helpfully put in the public domain these days.
Once the afternoon’s labours were over, I took the Jubilee Line (
96026+friend) out to West Ham in order to intercept the first of the sets coming in from Upminister. I made good time to West Ham and had enough time to go to Plaistow to meet 21465+21466. Only problem was that my traction to Plaistow was required
21475. I’ll have to get that one again another day (along with its mate 21476) as West Ham to Plaistow is only about ½ mile. First good bit of luck, train 033 rolls in with the expected
21465+21466 which I took to Stepney Green, switching between the two halves at Bromley By Bow. A set of D stock took me back to West Ham where I reckoned on about a +1 for my next target. That turned into a +3 but with the island platform at West Ham, anything over 5-6 seconds is definitely doable! Train 010 rolls in just behind time (about 1 minute) with
21461+21462, to give me four winning sets of S-7 stock in one day. I took this set to Whitechapel (the switch between the half sets taking place at Bow Road) where, an hour later than planned, the mini bash on the East London Line started.
Transferring down to the low-level platforms at Whitechapel, avoiding all the Crossrail-related hoardings that clutter the place up, I wondered what lay in store. I was on the northbound platform and first up was
378153. Winner! So off we trundled to Dalston Junction. I knew that if nothing else materialised in the 12 ½ minutes that 378153 was due to sit there, at least I’d have something back out. But I did not have to wait until 378153 had completed its layover as the first train south had mileage requirement
378207. As this was bound for New Cross, I opted for a Surrey Quays bail, leaving 378207 tantalisingly short of the 10 miles but that will be another for day. As I had spent so much time getting the S-7 sets, I needed to turn for home. Winner
378218 was generally heading in a homeward direction although not Clapham Junction which I would have preferred. Instead it was bound for Crystal Palace and had a decent connection onto a Southern train onwards from there. I’d only ever done the Overground out of Crystal Palace before so the reverse trip was a novelty for me (although the track was dud).
377608+377614 more or less followed my 378 up the hill from Sydenham thus providing a good connection to Balham where the Northern Line (51581+51713) provided my final rail journey of the day.
All in all, not a bad couple of hours and certainly more varied than just riding the ELL. I am sure that I will be venturing out on the District Line again as more S-7 sets are introduced but as for scoring four complete sets in one day – I’m not complaining. Throw in two new winning five-car 378s and more mileage on another set puts the evening into the very good category.
Friday 18th September – Over the Mule to the Donkey Sanctuary
The Major Trip Planning Processor had long suggested today’s trip where the primary objective was to clear up (as far as was possible) a small pocket of extreme irritation on the wants list. It was always known from the outset that the rate of attrition today would be extremely poor and there was a good chance that I might have to revisit the area in order to achieve the key objective. You, fellow readers and bashers, are probably wondering where I am off to; unless of course you’ve cracked the title of the trip [Ed: You could always cheat and look at the moves list at the end of Keith’s report].
With the alarm set for exactly an hour earlier than it would be on a normal working day, I got up with a spring in my step and was chomping at the bit to get out of the house and on with the day’s “work”.
319217+319448 provided the first entry of the day in the Haulage Book for the short journey from St Helier to Wimbledon. Battling my way over the footbridge at the latter location, I was sure pleased that Tramplink was not running into Wimbledon [Ed: They’re currently turning short at Dundonald Road so that the facilities at Wimbledon can be enhanced to deliver yet more Tramplinkers to annoy you!].
5854+5857 were the first up so I happily boarded and managed to get a seat – an hour later and you’d be lucky to squeeze on, let alone get a pew. I was pleased as there were no 57xx units in the train. Folks, I am not a fan of the silly looking ex-508 trailer in the 455/7s. I bailed at Clapham Junction, crossed to the opposite platform and while awaiting my conveyance westwards, dated up my freebie South West Trains Weekend Travel Ticket. Bang on cue,
159010+159018 showed up with the latter leading, meaning that 159010 would be dropped at Salisbury in order to allow 159018 to continue alone. The train was quite busy as far as Basingstoke – people doing a reverse commute (i.e. out of London for work rather than into The Smoke). After Basingstoke, I was able to secure a table all to myself which I managed to retain until much later in the journey. Unlike most Waterloo to Exeter services, this one called at all of the villages between Basingstoke – I was half expecting a certain crank to board at Grateley but it was only a handful of normals on the commute to Salisbury.
At Salisbury, 159010 was indeed left behind and presumably it would not be idle for too long before being used to strengthen another London-bound service.
159018 ploughed on westwards; the depot at Salisbury looked pretty empty with only a 158 and a solitary class 159 centre coach on view. That meant that either the two driving ends of a 159 were elsewhere on the depot having a date with the big, chunky spanner or out in service short-formed. There was no prizes for guessing which 158 was standing idle – 158885 of course. Thankfully I caught up with that a few weeks ago. It had been four years since I last travelled west of Gillingham on the LSWR route; on that occasion it was 159005 that took me west but the now familiar 159018 would bring me back.
When the guard came through the train after Axminster checking tickets, he was more than happy to sell me a Devon Day Ranger ticket. That would potentially save me time later on. At £6.60 with a railcard (and only £10.00 without), the Day Ranger must be quite a bargain although an Off Peak Day Return from Axminster to Plymouth will cost you exactly the same! I stayed with 159018 until the bitter end unlike most of the punters who preferred to bail at Exeter Central. Dropping down the hill from Central to St Davids, I could see that there was a sole 143 visible on the depot. This turned out to be 143620. Co-terminus with our arrival, a Cross Country HST appeared from the north but I sort of ignored it as I was after other things such as the 143 that was squealing out of the station bound for Exmouth. There goes target number one – 143603. Without me. At least it should come back but
I was not leaving anything to chance so half an hour later, I was heading for Exmouth aboard
150127+153372. The former was a mileage requirement with the only previous entry in the Haulage book being a Bus Stop Bash from Gospel Oak to Upper Holloway back in 2007 while the higher numbered unit in this pairing had also only featured once previously but that was way back in 1997 when I experienced Severe DBT – there’s nothing that can describe a single tin rocket thrashing away all the way up the Cornish Main Line from Par to Plymouth running non-stop! As we would have said way back in the 1970s, “Hellfire, my Lords!” This time, the passage was a little more sedate. Firstly grovelling up the bank to Central where 143612+1431619 appeared heading the other way. “The only thoughts to cross my mind were full of expletives and certainly not printable. At Exmouth Junction we veered to the right and I was on new track. Yes, dear readers, I need more track than you think … Not wanting to risk the quick switch at Topsham, I bailed at the very new looking Newcourt for the first shack scratch of the day. It was only a few minutes later and winning
143603 reappeared to return me to Exeter. The original plan was to go through to St Davids but checking RTT on the approaches to Central revealed that the next Exmouth bound train was a few minutes late leaving St Davids so off I bailed at Central for a quick leap over the footbridge to await the arrival of
150233 for the second jolly of the day down the Exmouth branch. This time, I bailed at Digby and Sowton for another shack scratch and about a 10 minute wait before
150127+153372 returned from Exmouth. This time I went through to St Davids and noted that 143612+143619 must have been split as 143612 was now sat on Exeter Depot leaving 143619 to plough on alone to Barnstaple.
Also of interest was
143621, another winner, which was due to leave for Paignton in around 20 minutes, first stop Newton Abbot. With no time for a fill in move, I decided to set up camp and await the arrival of the crew for 143621. With around 10 minutes to spare, both driver and guard showed up and on time we were off. Winning 143 number two. Going down the Exe Estuary and along the sea wall on a 143 was new for me. I was more used to doing this bit behind a BR blue unrefurbished class 50. Then memories of family holidays from the late 90s were evoked as we passed Shaldon Bridge (just after Teignmouth) as we spent some enjoyable holidays in Shaldon when my family were much younger. But all too soon the memories had been eradicated by the continued thrashing of the 143 alongside the River Teign and it wasn’t long before we’d arrived at Newton Abbot where I bailed.
It had been a good few years since I was last here on the platforms. Let’s say, my motive power on that venerable occasion was 47976 from Newton Abbot to Paignton, returning with 47793 piloting 47712. Those were the days. Fast forward to 2015 and I was awaiting the arrival of
143603 which was still short on miles so it was up to Starcross with this one getting another glimpse of Shaldon… There was a healthy +15 at Starcross so I went in search of food. I’d espied a Spar shop a few minutes’ walk away from the station coming in on the train but as I got off the train there was that unmistakeable aroma of freshly cooked chips. Where was that coming from? It transpired that there was a little chippy right by the station and while he was about to close up, he seemed happy to cook up one last bag of chips just for me. I had bailed for the last unknown working on the Barnstaple/Paignton to Exmouth circuit which I had calculated to be either 143611 or 143618. I was hoping for the lower numbered of the two and my wish was met. Obviously my friend Lady Luck was in the area.
143611 was a one trip johnnie which I had scored a few years back when 143s were commonplace in the Bristol area so was still deficient on mileage. I wanted to go through to Teignmouth with it to clear it for 10 miles but a late running Cross Country service saw us looped at Dawlish Warren for an excessive amount of time so I had to bail at Dawlish for an HST back to Exeter.
Power cars
43130+43193 officiated for the run back to St Davids where sitting in the middle platform was the lash up for the Torbay school train. I knew that winning 143619 should have been on this working but what else? 143612 was not visible on Exeter depot and dud 143620 was still outside the maintenance shed on the depot. Was 612 part of the lash up? Only thing to do was go and check! My suppositions were right, 143619 had indeed reunited with 143612 and they’d brought along 150263 for company. Without hesitation I leapt aboard 143612. There was no way that I was going to let my last winning 143s (and pacer of any description) go without me! The train composed of
143612+146619+150263 in numerical order was all stations to Paignton so it was a bit of a stagger down the Exe Estuary and then along the coast but I was on Cloud Nine as this meant that I could not score any more Pacer Winners on the national network. At Dawlish I swapped over to 143619 to make sure that it did not feel forgotten. By the time I had got to Newton Abbot, I was only after one 143 for mileage and that was 143611 which I could not do a proper job with earlier. But I had a plan; a cunning plan, my lords.
Most folk would have bailed at Teignmouth for 143611 on its return from Paignton but I had other ideas. First I cranked up my HST mileage by getting
43133+43164 passing 143611 recessed in the loop at Dawlish Warren. At St Davids I had all of two minutes to leap over the footbridge for a Bust Stop Bash of a train – a St Davids to St James Park service that would be eight minutes in front of my target 143. OK
150108 was dud but St James Park was a required shack so I did the service throughout.
143611 was running a little late on account of excessive passengers at Central wanting to go to Exmouth – it seemed that a vast herd of Italian students wanted to do the same as me by getting the required track to Exmouth! I managed to squeeze on 143611 and stood for the first part of the journey but I did not mind as I was clearing 143611 for 10 miles (my last 143 required thus) and beyond Newcourt it was required track!
My stay in Exmouth would be limited to the amount of time it took the train to empty out and for the driver and guard to change ends, or so I thought. There were the best part of 200+ people on the platform waiting to get on
143611 fot the trip to Exeter (and perhaps beyond) – they’d all obviously heard about the influx of Italian students and wanted to get out of town! Passing required shacks all the way to Newcourt, I contemplated my next move (any thoughts of attempting to bail at Exton and double back to Lympstone Village went out the window as it was impossible to communicate with the guard that I wanted the Exton request stop. So I resigned myself to going through to Polsloe Bridge and bagging that shack.
I had only six or seven minutes to wait for the next service towards Exmouth which was
143612+143619 coming back for an encore; they’d shed 150263 somewhere along a the way. Given that this service was more or less on time, I thought that I would risk the leap to Topsham to scratch yet another shack. My plan worked as the Exeter bound train was about nine minutes late and the signalman had time to raise the barriers in between trains. (Normally as soon as the train from Exeter arrives, the return service leaves and there’s no way to get from one to t’other as the crossing barriers are down).
150246 eventually staggered in from Exmouth somewhat lighter loaded than the previous train that I had caught from Exmouth. This was to be my final move of the day back to Central. There was just under half an hour for the next Waterloo service so I wandered into town and located Tesco in the name of supper for the train.
Back at Central, the Waterloo service was showing as being six cars as far as Salisbury with three beyond there. Bang on time
159019+159103 staggered up the bank. The snazzy liveried 159 was leading with its new variant of SWT livery so I would have 159103 through to Clapham Junction with 159019 dropping off at Salisbury. The journey was uneventful with most of it being in the dark – the daylight had gone by Yeovil Junction – until Tisbury where we were held for a late running down service. Being seven late away from Salisbury,
159103 flew like a rocket despite calling at all stations to Basingstoke but the real fireworks were to come. On leaving Woking the train absolutely flew doing the journey to Clapham in a shade over 18 minutes. I’ve had swift runs like that in the opposite direction but non London-bound because of the slow approach to Clapham Junction’s platform seven. A slowing near Weybridge was the only reason that the journey was not sub eighteen minutes. At Clapham, I crossed over to the suburban platforms for
5724+5866 back to Wimbledon.
As there was no suitably timed train, it had to be the bus for the final leg home. I reflected on the day – all four required 143s were bagged along with the 143 mileage requirement. In addition, I managed to clear one of three Great Western 150s for 10 miles, bag a fistful of shacks and grab some new track. Job Done! No, let’s rephrase that. Job very well done!
319217+319448 St Helier to Wimbledon ---
5854+5857 Wimbledon to Clapham Junction ---
159010+159018 Clapham Junction to Salisbury ---
159018 Salisbury to Exeter St Davids ---
150127+153372 Exeter St Davids to Newcourt ---
143603 Newcourt to Exeter Central WINNER
150233 Exeter Central to Digby and Sowton ---
150127+153372 Digby and Sowton to Exeter St Davids Cleared for 10 miles
143621 Exeter St Davids to Newton Abbot WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
143603 Newton Abbot to Starcross Cleared for 10 miles
143611 Starcross to Dawlish ---
43130+43193 Dawlish to Exeter St Davids ---
143612+143619+150263 Exeter St Davids to Newton Abbot 143612+143619 - Both WINNERs and cleared for 10 miles
43133+43164 Newton Abbot to Exeter St Davids ---
150108 Exeter St Davids to St James' Park ---
143611 St James' Park to Exmouth Cleared for 10 miles
143611 Exmouth to Polsloe Bridge ---
143612+14619 Polsloe Bridge to Topsham ---
150246 Topsham to Exeter Central ---
159019+159103 Exeter Central to Salisbury 159103 cleared for 10 miles
159103 Salisbury to Clapham Junction ---
5724+5866 Clapham Junction to Wimbledon ---
Milestones
Winners 143603, 143612, 143619, 143621
Cleared for 10 miles 143603, 143611, 143612, 143619, 143621, 150127
Cleared for 100 miles 159103
Class cleared for haulage 143
Class cleared for 10 miles 143
New Track Exmouth Junction to Exmouth
New Shacks Digby and Sowton, Exmouth, Newcourt, Polsloe Bridge, St James Park, Topsham
Monday 21st September – Same Again Please
With a couple of hours free after work, I decided to go out hunting for required units, especially as opportunities to get any rail travel in the book other than the daily commute over the next few weeks will become rather limited. Wanting to keep on top of the 458/5s I headed for Waterloo and my favourite three 458/5 trains but none that matched my lists were to be seen on my travels from Waterloo to Clapham Junction on
5716+5919+456012. So a swift change to plan B and see what London Overground could throw at me. Platforms 1 and 2 held 378215 and 378142 respectively. 378215 was a mileage requirement but unfortunately 378142 held the trump card as it was a winner in five-car format so I opted for the South & East London Lines rather than the West & North London Lines. The simplest thing to do was take
378142 all the way to Dalston Junction and clear it for 10 miles at the same time. It’s a bit of a trek from Clapham Junction to Dalston Junction in one go but the job had to be done!
At least I did not stay in the subterranean Dalston Junction for long as mileage requirement
378136 was readying itself to leave for New Cross. I would need to stick with it for most of the round trip from Dalston Junction to New Cross so I compromised and took it as far as Surrey Quays to see if there were any more sociable moves available. I keep wanting to call this shack by its former name of Surrey Docks as I lived about a mile away back in the mid 1980s and I was a frequent user of the East London Line with its single sets of A60/A62 stock.
I did not have long to wait before winning
378148 showed up heading for Clapham Junction. I simply had to take 378148 as this was my last but one 378/1 in five-car formation. Hopefully it will not be too long before 378149 comes my way and then all I need to do is crank up the mileage. I stuck with 378148 all the way to Clapham Junction when I decided that home was the best thing on offer. Southern graciously provided
377606+377708 for the run down to Balham where I decamped down to the Northern Line (
51609+51705) on to Morden and home.
For a couple of hours work, two winning 378s were not to be sniffed at and at the current rate of attrition, it will not need too many trips to knock all the 378/1s on the head for mileage as well. But let’s see what happens in practice!
Tuesday 22nd September – All Change!
Buoyed by the previous evening’s success with the 378/1 fleet, I thought that another attack on the East London Line would be appropriate. Rather than mess around with the Waterloo to Clapham Junction move, I went straight to Canada water on the Jubilee Line as I figured that I’s stand a better chance of bagging 378149 if I hung around the core section between Surrey Quays and Dalston Junction rather than attacking from Clapham Junction. Mileage requirement 96038 took me to Canada Water (I forgot to note its partner) and I went up to the ELL platforms and was almost immediately on the move with
378143 which needed just over a mile to tip it over 10 miles. That was easily solved by going up to Whitechapel. As there was a noticeable gap behind in the northbound service, I crossed to the southbound platform and within a few minutes winning
378210 presented itself. This was a New Cross service and I contemplated bailing at Surrey Quays to keep on the core but I knew what would happen – the first requirement, even if just a mileage need, on a Crystal Palace or Clapham Junction service would see me thinking of heading for home once I got to either of those two places. As a consequence, I headed for New Cross to “lock” me into ELL bashing for a bit longer. The Railway Gods had other ideas though.
While 378210 was laying over at New Cross, I kept an eye on the Southeastern services just in case a required 376 showed up but nothing appeared. That is until the driver had just shut the doors for the return journey when a 10-car 465/466 combo went through bound for London. In the formation was 465033 which is my last Metro 465 required for 10 miles. I simply had to get it one way or another. I quickly fired up RTT and identified the working along with the next leg of the diagram. I had 23 minutes to get to London Bridge. Easy, stick with
378210 to Canada Water and head for the Jubilee Line. The connection at Canada Water worked perfectly and I dropped onto
96030+96073 for the two stop bash to London Bridge. I hiked up to platform 1 and arrived with eight minutes to spare.
Bang on cue
465033+465159+466041 appeared heading for Slade Green – I made straight for 465033. While the run out to Greenwich is familiar now that my son inhabits that part of the world, it had been several years since I’d been any further. In order to clear 465033 for 10 miles, I needed to go out to Woolwich Arsenal as my only previous trips with 465033 had been a couple of Bus Stop Bashes on the Charing Cross to London Bridge corridor. At Woolwich I contemplated diving downstairs to the DLR but in the end I stuck with National Rail for the return trip back into London. Southeastern provided
465039+465244 to get me back to London Bridge where I made a move for home – the Northern Line with
51582+51583 seemed the best option.
As is often the case, the best laid plans are soon torn up once an unexpected requirement rears its ugly head; in this case the very welcome 465033. Bagging this particular unit has now made me think about going all out for my last 466 (466038) and my last 465 of all (Weald unit 465924). Both these are only mileage requirements but it would be nice to knock these two classes on the head before too long. And while I am looking at the Southeastern suburban, I might as well try and finish off the nine 376s that are still needed for 10 miles. Watch this space!
