Friday March 18th – Another Yorkshire Interlude
Regular readers will note the complete absence of any reports since my very successful trip to South Yorkshire at the end of February. Since then, I managed to have a couple of quick spins on the DLR searching for my last and very elusive DLR unit, the unlucky number 13. However, while mileage accumulation with DLR units was quite successful, the unlucky number 13 continues to elude me. One day perhaps?
Fast forward to Friday 18th and I was going to have another day in Yorkshire courtesy of the East Coast Seat Sale. Yorkshire and back for a Tenner is excellent value for money in my book so with an early alarm set, I left the house in the company of Mrs KJ (unlike me with a day’s pleasure on the horizon, she had a 12 hour shift in prospect) and made for the Northern Line. 1995ts 51506+51507 provided the motive power as far as Stockwell where I switched to the Victoria Line – it’s somewhat of a trek to stay on the Northern all the way round via Bank. I was pleased with 2009ts 11043+11044 as 11043 was still sub 10 miles and it would clear the magic 10 mile barrier en route to The Cross.
At The Cross I picked up my tickets for the day and made for the platforms. I was horrified/annoyed/disgusted to see 91132 heading up my train but being on a fixed ticket, I took my seat and consoled myself with the fact that 91132 would clear 500 miles in the course of the journey. [Ed: I’m sure 55013 will be along in a minute to berate me and say that this particular machine is one of his lowest mileage 91s.] The journey went well until we were leaving Stevenage when the conductor came over the PA and announced that we were making an additional call at St Neots to pick up passengers from a failed train. At St Neots, we crossed from the fast to the slow lines - required micro track me thinks – and drew up alongside the failed service. It transpired that it had been there almost an hour and already three East Coast services had been allowed to pass so quite why we were singled out as the preferred service to take the stranded folk northwards seemed a little odd. A travelling fitter alighted from our train and made for the dead 91. Meanwhile we scooped up the delayed passengers who had spent most of the previous hour admiring the delights of St Neots! Again, we heard the delightful voice of the conductor on the PA – now we had an additional stop at Peterborough to set down folk from the failed train. As it turned out there was only two bods to alight as most of the other Peterborough bound folk had the common-sense to jump on the first available Great Northern service!
Leaving Peterborough, this fiasco had cost us about 18-20 minutes which put in jeopardy a whole series of moves for me further down the line. We did not pick up any time as far as Wakefield Westgate so I did a quick check of RTT and saw that the next service from Kings Cross was almost to time so with plan A out of the window, I bailed as I knew one of my lowest mileage 91s was up behind. 91107 rolled in and I joined SKYFALL for the dash into Leeds. While still my third lowest mileage 91, every 10 miles is of course welcome. Now the big question was what to do with myself as my carefully choreographed set of moves had gone out of the window some two hours previously and I’d not put any effort into a plan B.
185135 soon made the decision for me as it was badly in need of some attention from my red pen and at least by scoring this one, my overall 185 requirements drop into single figures. Huddersfield here we come so with a winner under my belt (and cleared for 10 miles as well) I felt a little more relaxed. I dropped a message to a mate with access to a Magic Box asking about red pen 153s along with mileage required 14x units. He must not have had a lot to do as the reply was almost instant but the news was not good – he could only locate two 144s for me. I pit in another request for gen and this time, he came up with the news that three of my winning 158s were out and about. Now, how many bits of the jigsaw, could I put into place?
I did not have long at Huddersfield before a second winning 185 appeared so it was back to Leeds with 185128. Departing Huddersfield, I noted 144005 in the bay on the Wakefield shuttle. That should stick all day so I was not overly worried and spent the journey back trying to piece the jigsaw together. In Leeds I had half an hour to wait for the next winner so time for a fill-in move. A conveniently placed 158793 took me out to Bramley for a +4 onto something back. I do not like Bramley as it is somewhat of a hike between the platforms and the road under the station bridge can be a swine to cross. But as I bumbled down the ramp from the Bradford bound platform, I noticed that there was now a Zebra Crossing to aid one’s passage across the treacherous highway. I made it over to the other platform in about 2 minutes but was surprised to see the train in and the doors closing. I lunged for the ever decreasing orifice and the guard must have noticed that he was closing the doors well before departure time as he suddenly released the doors! I later found that I was on 150137 which was ultra-low mileage so the four miles from Bramley back into Leeds was more than welcome.
Back in Leeds, I had a comfortable +8 to wander from the eastern end of platform 12 to the opposite end of platform 9 where my third winner should have been waiting. And indeed it was – hello 158755. I stepped on board and took my seat; in the centre car of this three-car unit of course. I had two options available to me now. Either to go somewhere with the winning 158755 and double back for another winning that was 45 minutes behind or try to cut across to the Huddersfield to Wakefield line to intercept one of my last two 144s that I needed for 10 miles. The latter idea won the day as the second winning 158 could be bagged later in the afternoon on its way back from Blackpool. But the only way to cut across to grab the 144 seemed to involve going all the way to Hebden Bridge and dropping onto the Manchester to Leeds via Brighouse service, leaving me with a +3 at Mirfield, albeit on the same platform. The latter seemed quite appealing especially as Hebden Bridge was a required shack although I had passed through many a time.
At Hebden Bridge, I had a +5 which was just sufficient time to change platforms via the subway and take a PNB. Dud 158787 rolled in spot on time for the uneventful run across to Mirfield where we arrived a shade early despite a signal check on the approaches to allow a late-running TPE service to pass. As soon as 158787 had cleared the platforms, I could see the headlights of a 144 on the approach which soon identified itself as the required 144005. Things were looking up! I stuck with the 144 as far as Wakefield Kirkgate passing the almost desolate wastelands that were once Healey Mills yard and depot – long gone are the days when HM allocated 37s ranked among some of the hardest to get for haulage although their 40s seemed to be somewhat easier to come by despite both classes being designated freight locos with minimal booked passenger work.
At Kirkgate, I alighted from 144005 which was now well over 10 miles and, much to the annoyance it seemed of the RPIs manning the exit, calmly walked through the subway to the opposite platform for a dud 144003 which was Sheffield-bound. I toyed with the idea of bailing at Darton to score the shack but then a light-bulb moment made me realise that I could get two shacks in the book instead. So I passed Darton, noting that when I get around to it, the +22 fester will basically mean out with a deck-chair, and carried on racking up the mileage with 144003 until I alighted at Chapeltown. At this new shack, there was a +10 onto a northbound service so I popped into the adjacent ASDA for a box of sticky buns before transferring my allegiances to the opposite platform – I declined the 600m step free walk for a quick dash down one set of stairs and up the other side. 144020 rolled in to take me to Wombwell and the third shack score of the day. Here I had a comfortable 12 minutes to change platforms to await my next chariot – time to break open those sticky buns!
144015 showed up more or less on time [Ed: That’s three dud 144s in a row] to take me to Meadowhall for a +1 onto 142087 to Rotherham Central for another theoretical +1. You might think that’s a bit risky but I knew that the second +1 was going to be more like a +5. That first +1 was exactly that and 142087 was dud but the +5 at Rotherham put me onto 144012, my last 144 that I needed for 10 miles. I went through to Sheffield with this evolving beast but the bash was evolving too! The comfortable +10 at Sheffield reduced to a nail-biting -1 due to a number of issues such as poor station working at Meadowhall, a dog on the track near the old Attercliffe Road station and a signal check just outside Sheffield. I was aiming for the next Leeds service and we drew up alongside it. But the gen was dud – I was expecting 158848 but it was ‘845 so I let it go and decided to reappraise the moves for the remainder of the afternoon. So with 144012 now cleared for 10 miles (along with all of its 22 class-mates), I first went for a celebratory photo of the refurbished 144 and its different paint garb. Then what could I salvage from the afternoon?
I hung around Sheffield for 20 minutes or so before anything of interest showed. Then I had the choice of two items either Manchester bound 185120 or Leeds bound 220018+220027. Both 185120 and 220018 were winners and I opted for some Vomit Comet mileage simply because I though a 17:00 arrival in Leeds would put me in a better place if only to access the 158 that I had flagged earlier. Both of the two 220s (220018+220027) were crowded but I managed to locate a seat at the very front and settled back for the uninspiring run back to Leeds. With 200018 now successfully “red-penned” as well as well and truly cleared for 10 miles, the next aim was to see about getting in that last 158 that I had a fix on. At this stage of the game, I could comfortably get to Halifax for it but I was a little distracted – I could hardly go to Northern land and turn down a required Tin Rocket. 153359 was couple up with 150139 on the shack-scratchers special, i.e. the Leeds to Goole via Knottingley service that serves all those rarely used shacks east of Knottingley such as Snaith and Whitley Bridge. I’d only asked my mate to look up winning Tin Rockets as he’d get overwhelmed if I added in mileage requirements. 153359 fell into the latter category – it would have simply been rude to refuse it and by the first stop of Woodlesford, the requisite 10 miles were on the clock. I trudged over the footbridge and soon 144016 showed up to take me back into Leeds
I passed 158794 on the approaches to Leeds and quietly cursed as that was the only 158 my mate could not find on the Magic Box but it appears that it was a rush-hour chuck-out from Neville Hill – he’s forgiven! I had a +2 at Leeds to get onto my next train so I made sure that I was by the front door so I could give it a go. I made it over the crowded bridge and onto 158757 in about three minutes, pushing my way onto the wedged train just as the platform staff were “blowing up”. I could only get as far as New Pudsey but that was good enough to clear 158757 for 10 miles. I crossed over to the opposite platform to await the arrival of a second winning 158 and about two down, 158795 rolled in having been all the way to Blackpool. The following train from Leeds out to New Pudsey was a theoretical +1 but in the event would have just missed so I was rather pleased that I made 158757.
I was in somewhat of a celebratory mood on the run back into Leeds with two winning 158s under the belt. I had around 20 minutes before my train back down south was due but there was no signs of it. Surely it was not cancelled? A swift check of RTT explained all – the inbound working was 15 late! I had enough time to dash out to Sainsburys to grab supper and returned to the station to see that the train was electric – I was expecting the booked HST! Rifling through RTT it appears that e failure which had delayed my northbound run in the morning was still having an effect many hours later and the HST that should have formed my homeward bound service, had been dispatched from Kings Cross earlier than planned. But that was not the end of it – the electric was 91126 which I had only a few weeks previously on the South Yorkshire trip. Are 91126 and 91132 stalking me, I wonder?
Anyway, I had no choice but to take the dud 91 all the way to Kings Cross – at least I had the products of the Sainsburys visit to distract me along with the remnants of the ASDA sticky buns. At Kings Cross, I made a mad dash for the Underground where I had 11045+11046 to Stockwell and 51501+51701 home to Morden. I had plenty of opportunity to reflect on the day. The obvious highlight was clearing my last two 144s for 10 miles followed by roping in five winners and three shacks. But there’s still plenty of work to do in Northern-land – shacks, winners, 10-milers ….
And to round off, here’s a list of the day’s moves and key milestones.
LU 51506+51507 Morden --> Stockwell ---
LU 11043+11044 Stockwell --> Kings Cross, St Pancras 11043 cleared for 10 miles
91132 Kings Cross --> Wakefield Westgate Cleared for 500 miles
91107 Wakefield Westgate --> Leeds ---
185135 Leeds --> Huddersfield WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
185128 Huddersfield --> Leeds WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
158793 Leeds --> Bramley Cleared for 10 miles
150147 Bramley --> Leeds ---
158755 Leeds --> Hebden Bridge WINNER, cleared for 10 miles
158787 Hebden Bridge --> Mirfield ---
144005 Mirfield --> Wakefield Kirkgate Cleared for 10 miles
144003 Wakefield Kirkgate --> Chapeltown ---
144020 Chapeltown --> Wombwell ---
144015 Wombwell --> Meadowhall ---
142087 Meadowhall --> Rotherham Central ---
144012 Rotherham Central --> Sheffield Cleared for 10 miles, last of class to clear for 10 miles
220018+220027 Sheffield --> Leeds 222018 = WINNER & cleared for 10 miles
150139+153359 Leeds --> Woodlesford 153359 cleared for 10 miles
144016 Woodlesford --> Leeds ---
158757 Leeds --> New Pudsey Cleared for 10 miles
158795 New Pudsey --> Leeds WINNER
91126 Leeds --> Kings Cross ---
LU 11045+11046 Kings Cross, St Pancras --> Stockwell 11046 cleared for 10 miles
LU 51501+51701 Stockwell --> Morden ---
Milestones
Winners 158755, 158795, 185128, 185135, 220018
Cleared for 10 miles 144005, 144012, 153359, 158755, 158793, 185128, 185135, 220019
Cleared for 500 miles 91132
All of class cleared for 10 miles 144
New Shacks Chapeltown, Hebden Bridge, Wombwell