Saturday 21st November – A Tale of Two Airports
Mrs KJ was working today so I had the opportunity to wander out. OK, I had to fit in around a house guest but she was planning to be out from about 09:30 and not expected back until after 19:00 so that gave me plenty of time to myself. The TPP for this particular trip came up with several ideas, namely –
• Clear up the remaining Thameslink 387s
• A Thames Valley Branches Day Ranger with the idea of knocking out my remaining GWR 165s & 166s still sub 10 miles and seeing what shacks might come my way
• Great Northern 365s, possibly including new track over the Hitchin flyover
• DLR track and shack attach
• Hounslow Loop & Windsor Lines shack attack plus formally logging the Windsor & Eton Riverside branch
• HS1 bash and/or Medway Valley line (objectives being 375/3s & 3954s
• Anything else in/around London that took my fancy
In the end, I opted for a combination of two of the above. First off, I trotted up to St Helier station where I was greeted with the arrival of 319373, one of the few remaining 3193/3s still working on Thameslink, for the short and uneventful run into Wimbledon. At this point I did not know that the South Western suburban was in disarray (something to do with a failed train) but once I was on the up suburban at Wimbledon, I was soon enlightened. At least, I had only a few minutes to wait before 5869+5903 rolled in to take me up to Clapham Junction.
At this point, I was pleased that I had not opted to pursue option five from my list (Hounslow loop etc.) as I was pretty sure that even though the operational problems were on the main line, the Windsor side would almost certainly fall over as well! Instead I went over to the Central side of the house for the first fast train to East Croydon which came in with 377609+377615 on a Brighton fast which I took to East Croydon. Here I had a theoretical +2 onto a southbound working to London Bridge to Brighton working but we were three down. Good news was I made the connection. Bad news was it was a pair of dud 387s. Ah well, can’t win them all! At least I had time to catch my breath and figure out what was going when dud 387106 paired with a winning 387128 came in from Brighton and promptly terminated on account of late running. If RTT was telling the truth, I had a chance on that winning 387 later on.
The next Bedford to Brighton working was due and I was pleased that I was in position for this one – it was a pair of winners that masqueraded as 387124+1387129! Not bad considering I only needed six 387s. A trip down to Gatwick Airport was the only option! After a nice fast run down the main line, we got held outside Gatwick Airport for a non-existent train to vacate the platform in front of us. Perhaps the signalling system could not cope with a Thameslink train that was on time? At Gatwick, I left the first thing to catch my attention was 166202 which was due to leave for Reading imminently. At least there was enough time to scramble over to it before it left. I was feeling quite good at this point as 166202 was only one of four 166s still required for 10 miles and it was a long term absentee from The Haulage Book. The only previous entry for 166202 being on 6 July 1997 and that was when I had it new from Ealing Broadway to Paddington. The spin up to Redhill sorted that one out for 10 miles. At Redhill, I had sufficient time to cross to the opposite platform to meet 377610 to take me back to Gatwick and the chance of another 387. On the trip to Gatwick 387109+387118 passed me on the fast lines heading to Brighton. That meant that there were now two winners south of Gatwick – 387128 which I saw earlier at Croydon and now 387109 was going to join it! There was only one thing to do. Set up camp and wait for the return workings; unless of course something else floated by in the interim.
There were odd 387s around but most Thameslink workings seemed to be 377-worked. Then came the appointed hour and by my reckoning, the first interesting pair back should be 387106+387128 and spot on time, I espied a pair of 387s approaching from the south. My mental calculations were spot on - cue the arrival of 387106+387128 with the latter one being the interesting one (as far as I was concerned). The train was bound for London Bridge and I would have probably stuck with it had I not known that there was another pair up behind which also interested me. Instead I alighted at East Croydon for what should have been a six minute wait but the Bedford bound train had managed to lose about five or six minutes on the run up from the south coast. The late running caused a platform change at East Croydon but at least intending passengers simply had to cross to the opposite platform face rather than endure the new windy and leaky footbridge. Cue the arrival of 387109+387118 - I naturally took my seat in winning 387109 rather than 387118 which already has two previous entries in The Haulage Book. I settled down for the slow totter to Blackfriars and as usual, we were routed via Crystal Palace which while slightly shorter than going up via Streatham, always seems much slower. We arrived at Blackfriars around 10 late and with winning 387109 now also cleared for 10 miles, it was time to get off. II still had four or five Thameslink workings to see but with the prospect of a lengthy wait, I decided to change tack for the remainder of the day.
Before then though, I wanted to source some lunch. I knew of a conveniently placed Tesco Metro which was a couple of minutes’ walk from Blackfriars but I never made it there as I first came across a Sainsburys Local. Spending £2.98, I came out with more than a decent lunch thanks to several items being heavily discounted on account of being on their sell by date. So lunch ended up being a packet of ham, a pack of bread rolls and a box of cream cakes with a banana and a bottle of pop for later. Much better than the planned meal that I had originally envisaged. I made my way back to Blackfriars but instead of heading to the Thameslink station I made for the underground and jumped aboard a D-stock set for the short trip to Monument. Leaving set 7024 at Monument I took the escalator down to the Northern Line platforms at Bank, followed by the stairs down to the DLR platforms which are almost immediately below the Northern Line tracks.
I’d been thinking about clearing up my remaining DLR track and having another go at DLR shacks and this afternoon provided a good opportunity to do that. First train out of Bank was formed of 16+46+49 which I took as far as Westferry before alighting as it was bound for Lewisham – that part of the DLR was completely clear and while my son lives near to one of the Lewisham branch shacks, he would have been at work so no point in heading that way! Instead I waited for the next train formed of 45+54 which I took as far as London City Airport and the first DLR shack of the day. 45 also cleared for 10 miles; only the seventh DLR unit to clear the 10 mile barrier. I was also on the lookout for unit 13 as that’s the only one I have never ridden but today was to be principally about track and shack clearing. 120+140 took me back to West Silvertown. Here I swapped sides and had 87+91 to King George V. Here I alighted as there was another train almost immediately behind. That train was 58+86 which I took under the Thames to Woolwich Arsenal. Within minutes 58+86 were retracing their steps back towards the north side of the Thames. I bailed at Pontoon Dock and with a noticeable wait for the next train towards Canning Town; I swapped sides for triple set 129+130+141 on a Bus Stop Bash back to London City Airport (again). The island platform here saved the normal inter-platform hike and I was able to take 78+98 back to Canning Town (low level). That move completed all of the track related to the Woolwich branch and all shacks were now clear.
In all my travels on the DLR, I had always ignored the intermediate shacks between Poplar and Canning Town. Now was the time to sort those out. 24+80 took me to Blackwall. A quick swap of platforms saw me heading back towards Canning Town on 47+79 for a linear bash to East India. A few minutes at East India and 07+48 took me back to base camp Canning Town.
My attention now turned to the Beckton branch. I’d done the line soon after this part of the DLR had opened but apart from Prince Regent, I needed all of the intermediate shacks so had quite a bit of work to do. And the low level platforms at Canning Town did not exist so I had to make sure that this particular connection was done as well. 37+71 were first up from the low level side so that was the “new” connection sorted. I bailed at Prince Regent to take advantage of the island platform; hopping across to join 69+90 back on a Bus Stop Bash to Custom House. Here I swapped sides again for 22+55+76 to Gallions Reach. A swift change of platforms and I scrambled onto 64+67 just as the doors were closing. Momentarily thinking I was heading for the eastern Mediterranean, I alighted at Cyprus. Carrying on the theme of linear bashing (much easier than swapping sides when the trains were so frequent, I took 37+71 on to Beckton Park, followed by 22+55+76 onwards to Royal Albert where I was expecting to see piles of bone china rather than a good view of London City Airport! I did not have long to wait until 01+42 arrived to take me on to Royal Victoria and thus my last shack on the Beckton branch. 36+52 then took me on to Canning Town.
Next up was the Stratford International line, some of which I had traversed in British Rail days but obviously not to Stratford International itself. I had almost ten minutes to wait for 87+91 to show up on the low level platforms, having missed the previous train by a whisker. I decided to get the required track out of the way first so I went straight up to Stratford International before swapping cars and so back to West Ham with 87+91. I swapped platforms for the short run back to Abbey Road with 117+154 and it was here that things fell apart. According to the train crew, there was a failure up ahead and we were initially going to wait in the platform but then the service was terminated and was going to be sent back south in order to maintain some sort of service. I jumped on board 117+154 which ran wrong line as far as West Ham before using the reversing crossover there. My thoughts were now getting out of this mess but the next northbound service was waiting at Star Lane so I swapped trains again and leapt aboard 56+98 which I stayed with to Stratford. The DLR was still recovering from the failure so I left the remaining shack on the International branch, Stratford High Street, for another day.
Time was progressing and earlier in the afternoon, I’d seen one of my lowest mileage Jubilee units, 96119. That was about two hours ago and thankfully I noted down the train number so once I had downloaded the Jubilee working timetable, I could work out when it was back. In about fifteen minutes was the answer. That meant I could get the next Jubilee down to Canning Town to meet it. Trouble was, that service had 96015 in the formation, one of the rapidly decreasing number of 1996 sets still needed for 10 miles. Plans were immediately recast and 96015 was had to Canary Wharf before crossing onto a dud 96102 back to Canning Town where I awaited the arrival of 96119. I knew it was coupled to 96120 so when the latter unit headed into Canning Town a few minutes later, I made for the rear of the train and was determined to nail 96119 for 10 miles. With the dirty deed done, I moved forward to 96120 at Bond Street as the leading unit was also deficient in the mileage department. Not wanting to stray too far, I only did a token leap to Baker Street where I pointed myself homewards via the Bakerloo Line and 3239+3467 to Oxford Circus. There I fell into 11073+11074 on the Victoria line, riding in both halves of the train to get the 10 miles up on each set. Finally at Stockwell, 51593+51594 were waiting to take me down to Morden.
So what of the day? Four from six 387/1s knocked on the head, a 166 cleared for 10 miles, all remaining DLR track traversed, 19 DLR shacks and two more 1996ts cleared for 10 miles. Pretty good for a day’s work. So here’s the moves if you could keep up with the text -
319373 St Helier to Wimbledon ---
5869+5903 Wimbledon to Clapham Junction ---
377609+377615 Clapham Junction to East Croydon ---
387124+387129 East Croydon to Gatwick Airport Both = WINNER & cleared for 10 miles
166202 Gatwick Airport to Redhill Cleared for 10 miles
377610 Redhill to Gatwick Airport ---
387106+387128 Gatwick Airport to East Croydon 387128 = WINNER & cleared for 10 miles
387109+387118 East Croydon to Blackfriars 387109 = WINNER & cleared for 10 miles
LU 7024 Blackfriars to Monument ---
DLR 16+46+49 Bank to Westferry ---
DLR 45+54 Westferry to London City Airport DLR 45 cleared for 10 miles
DLR 120+140 London City Airport to West Silvertown ---
DLR 87+91 West Silvertown to King George V ---
DLR 58+86 King George V to Woolwich Arsenal ---
DLR 58+86 Woolwich Arsenal to Pontoon Dock ---
DLR 129+130+141 Pontoon Dock to London City Airport ---
DLR 78+98 London City Airport to Canning Town ---
DLR 24+80 Canning Town to Blackwall ---
DLR 47+79 Blackwall to East India ---
DLR 07+48 East India to Canning Town ---
DLR 37+71 Canning Town to Prince Regent ---
DLR 69+90 Prince Regent to Custom House ---
DLR 22+55+76 Custom House to Gallions Reach ---
DLR 64+67 Gallions Reach to Cyprus ---
DLR 37+71 Cyprus to Beckton Park ---
DLR 22+55+76 Beckton Park to Royal Albert ---
DLR 01+42 Royal Albert to Royal Victoria ---
DLR 36+52 Royal Victoria to Canning Town ---
DLR 87+91 Canning Town to Stratford International ---
DLR 87+91 Stratford International to West Ham ---
DLR 117+154 West Ham to Abbey Road ---
DLR 117+154 Abbey Road to Star Lane ---
DLR 56+98 Star Lane to Stratford DLR 98 cleared for 10 miles
LU 96015 Stratford to Canary Wharf Cleared for 10 miles
LU 96102 Canary Wharf to Canning Town ---
LU 96119 Canning Town to Bond Street Cleared for 10 miles
LU 96120 Bond Street to Baker Street ---
LU 3239+3467 Baker Street to Oxford Circus ---
LU 11073+11074 Oxford Circus to Stockwell Both cleared for 10 miles
LU 51593+51594 Stockwell to Morden ---
Milestones
Winners 387109, 378124, 378128, 378129
Cleared for 10 miles 166202, 387109, 378124, 378128, 378129, DLR 45, DLR 98, LU 11073, LU 11074, LU 96015, LU 96119
New Shacks Abbey Road, Beckton Park, Blackwall, Canning Town (Low level platforms), Custom House, Cyprus, East India, Gallions Reach, King George V, London City Airport, Pontoon Dock, Royal Albert, Royal Victoria, Star Lane, Stratford (low level DLR platforms), Stratford International, West Ham (DLR), West Silvertown, Woolwich Arsenal
New Track Canning Town to Woolwich Arsenal, Canning Town to Stratford International, Canning Town (low level) to Royal Victoria, Canning Town (low level) to West Silvertown
no surprise that I picked such a day to complete the branch earlier in the year