Not having reported any of my previous trips, I have decided to attempt a trip report:
On the 22nd, I managed to get cheap advances from Nottingham to Ely at short notice, so I could do an Anglia Plus day ranger, something which I haven't done and an area of the country I hadn't really covered.
I was booked for the second Norwich-bound departure from Nottingham (1L02) so naturally set a load of alarms so I'd get up in time to walk to the station and catch my train. In the end, I got up needing the toilet at 1am and decided it'd be safer not to go to sleep, so put in some time for extra planning. Anyhow, arrived at Nottingham station in plenty of time, boarded 158813... Everything ran smoothly and got to do the direct route between Loughborough and Melton Mowbray for the first time in what would be the first bit a lot of new track. Apart from that not much special, arrived three minutes early into Ely.
Went more or less straight for the booking office to purchase my Anglia Plus day ranger... an odd thing some of those interested in fares (ie people like me) would note is that it's issued as an off peak day single from origin to Anglia Plus, rather than in the standard day ranger format. Generally not valid before 0845, but it was valid on the 0833 to Ipswich, which I'd decided to board in order to get the Felixstowe branch out of the way. So I got the 0833, worked by 170270already noticed some freight staff getting on, were they going where I was going, I wondered...
The one thing I have to say about AGA (or maybe NXEA's as it looked like it hadn't been refreshed in a while) internal colour scheme for the 170s is yuck. It wasn't all bad and some of the colours were reminiscent of early BR Intercity,but then they'd gone for a weird and very 90's looking pseudo ethnic kitsch carpet to combine with this... it just doesn't work.
Service terminated at Ipswich, 3 mins early again (getting quite lucky with timings so far) and decided to hang around for a bit, awaiting the 0958 for Felixstowe, went outside the station to see if any shops nearby, none that I could see, at least nothing much. Several freight drivers were stood outside having a smoke, obviously waiting for something. Turns out they were going to Felixstowe after all, when we boarded 153306. This appeared to have been refurbed quite recently and wasn't at all bad for a 153 (does anyone else call them dogboxes? I've heard this applied 153s but also I believe some loco as well, either way the name seems to suit)... Not that the new LCD monitor based passenger information screen showed any other than a logo reminding us that it was a passenger information screen. Hint, AGA, some actual information on stops might be nice... Very few people got on... me, three freight drivers and a handful of normal passengers, so it was sufficient for its purpose anyway. Got a little busier later but not much, about the same number of passengers again from the intermediate shacks combined. Got into Felixstowe one minute early (is this the legendary poor punctuality of the East Anglian railways, I wonder?) and decided to have a wander around...
Nice place, though very grey (my brother lived in Blackpool and said the seaside is where the old go to die, pretending to enjoy themselves in the meantime - apologies in advance if this offends anyone but I couldn't see much contradiction to his statement!) Bit nicer than Blackpool, a lot smaller but with a lovely beach. After grabbing some refreshments at the EOE Co-Op it was time to head back.
Boarded 153306 again, nothing much to say other than it was a little busier and the shacks seemed to get a couple of people each to board the service... Arrived in Ipswich at 1153, again a minute early. I had been thinking of doing the line to Lowestoft but instead decided to do this from Norwich, so boarded 90007 'Sir John Betjeman' (is this the one BR named in the 80s?) at 12:08, arriving two minutes early into Norwich... At Norwich, straight to Lowestoft, with ten minutes to change on to 153335, which departed at 1258. A bunch of students were talking about the train, how small it was until one said of an journey on a 'dreadful' train from Darlington to Middlesbrough once - he'd eat his words if he knew what he was saying... I managed to keep my mouth shut. I always enjoy hearing normals' views on trains, though I am often puzzled by it I like to try and see things from the perspective of the common passenger, especially as I was one once (how I got into the hobby was simply researching what sort of train I was likely to get for any future journey). Arrived into Lowestoft 5 (!) minutes early. Had a brief look around but decided the weather wasn't suited (a bit more drab than in Felixstowe)... debated with myself where to go next,but knew it would involve a doubleback.
Got on the 1348 to Norwich, worked by 156418... Quite uneventful until Reedham, where I noticed a sign at the station 'Alight here for our brewery shop'.... Always willing to try a new beer, I rushed to the doors but I'd seen the sign too late. My mobile signal was rubbish so couldn't adequately research it, decided to bail at the next shack (Cantley).
Cantley is strange. A place barely suiting even the term 'village' with a massive sugar factory attached, right next to the station. Finally got some signal on my 'phone. Wouldn't be able to go to the brewery shop as it wasn't open at this time, this time of the year. Damn, so no point in doubling back into Reedham then, in any case I couldn't as when I found out the time of the next train, the crossing keeper put the barriers across the road and my only means of getting to the down platform went. Next service is to Norwich over an hour, so the only solution was to find a pub. After a bit of searching, noticed a sign pointing down a footpath. What a surprise, the pub was open. A couple of regulars inside, but no worthwhile beer on tap. I settled for a bottled ale in the end, something by Bombardier and at £3.50 I regretted my decision. It wouldn't be the only reason I'd regret my decision to walk away from Cantley station...
Heading back to the station, I'd noted that there was a train to Lowestoft, according to realtimetrains worked by some sort of sprinter, and shortly after another to Norwich. No point in doubling back as the brewery shop was closed, I'd proceed onward to Norwich, so no rush... I approached the station, the tractor sound, the deep blue livery, on the down platform... 3 DRS Mark 2 carriages, with a 37 at each end... Once again, the level crossing barriers prevented me from reaching the platform...Gutted isn't the word. The crossing keeper knew exactly what I was after: 'They'll be back about half past the next hour!' he shouted. To add to things, I needed the toilet (why didn't I go in the pub?) and would be unable to wait for the return working... So I boarded the train to Norwich (156418 again), quickly went to the toilet and bailed at Brundall to await the 37 set. I'd probably have to reject some track, but some times it's worth awaiting proper traction than spending your whole day on a sprinter of some sort.
Anyhow, after much waiting, but on time, 37419 and 37405 showed up at Brundall, I made my way on and departed towards Norwich, leaving at 1621. There was only one place to be of course, the vestibule window (the seats looked remarkably similar to the IC70 affairs on mk3 stock), I decided to take a look outside as the engine thrashed a bit, enjoying the breeze and inhaling way too much clag - an action that may meet with disapproval from some quarters I know... "Tickets please!" came the voice from behind, I jumped... But he just said 'That's great", handed me my ticket back without a word about the window-hanging. Quite surprised me, as that sort of thing is below my normal standard of behaviour. Arrived 10 mins later at Norwich a whole eight minutes up (AGA really need to use less padding in their timetable). My phone battery ran out after recording my moves on railmiles. So I went to look at the timetable, and also bought a notepad and a pen from one of the shops (sad, yes, but would this report have been complete without it?). It wouldn't be possible to go on the next 37 service to Great yarmouth further than Brundall or maybe Cantley and make it back for my advance. So with a heavy heart I rejected the 37s, having only had under 5 miles haulage from them and decided to get some more track in. Boarded 158863 at 1653 and got off at Ely.
I had noticed from arriving in Ely the sound of the 365s was remarkably similar to that of the 323s up North, a sound for some reason I have always liked. I decided to head to Cambridge and straight back, boarding 365516 at 1808, and arriving in to Cambridge a minute down at 1825, making for my first 'delay' of the day. I got on toward the centre, so no sound really. I got an AMT milkshake at Cambridge, then went on to 365532, chosing a seat in the carriage with a pantograph... Having only seen 365s anything like in up-close action from an HST, 125 or 180, I tried to form an opinion. Maybe the lovechild of a 323 and some other southern commuter stock? 'Welcome to this West Anglia Great Northern service to Kings Lynn' boomed the tannoy.... hmmm, well FCC never did bother to put much into the details and it seems TSGN aren't bothering either. It did seem liked I'd stepped into a 90s timewarp for much of the journey, only beaten by the 170 earlier... is that a bad thing? Maybe.
Got back into Ely to find severe disruption at Grantham, a surprisingly resilient customer service chap and the odd grumpy, cynical normal. 'A problem near the railway? What the ***'s that meant to mean?' said one to another. Turned out there was a substation on fire at Grantham, which as well as being near the line had affected the electrical supply at the station. Waited around, in the event departed on my planned train two minutes late at 19:54 (158858, if you must know, though I'm sure I've had it before). Ticket checked a few minutes into the journey, guard making regular announcements to keep pax updated, may not be calling at Grantham, may be getting diverted. I fell asleep, awaking briefly at PBO, it turned out we would be going via Grantham after all. I have to say I spent most of the journey asleep but woke up periodically to what seemed a very stop-start journey due to congestion presumably. When we got into Nottingham, I wondered how late we must be.... I glanced at the nearest clock - 2134 - turns out just one minute in total! Therefore the second delay minute of the whole day. Not bad, but maybe just goes to show the timetables need a little less padding, I'm sure the network wouldn't fall apart with less padding and we'd all get around faster.
For the record, anyone wanting to stalk me on the train can now do so here: mikeg.railmiles.me
On the 22nd, I managed to get cheap advances from Nottingham to Ely at short notice, so I could do an Anglia Plus day ranger, something which I haven't done and an area of the country I hadn't really covered.
I was booked for the second Norwich-bound departure from Nottingham (1L02) so naturally set a load of alarms so I'd get up in time to walk to the station and catch my train. In the end, I got up needing the toilet at 1am and decided it'd be safer not to go to sleep, so put in some time for extra planning. Anyhow, arrived at Nottingham station in plenty of time, boarded 158813... Everything ran smoothly and got to do the direct route between Loughborough and Melton Mowbray for the first time in what would be the first bit a lot of new track. Apart from that not much special, arrived three minutes early into Ely.
Went more or less straight for the booking office to purchase my Anglia Plus day ranger... an odd thing some of those interested in fares (ie people like me) would note is that it's issued as an off peak day single from origin to Anglia Plus, rather than in the standard day ranger format. Generally not valid before 0845, but it was valid on the 0833 to Ipswich, which I'd decided to board in order to get the Felixstowe branch out of the way. So I got the 0833, worked by 170270already noticed some freight staff getting on, were they going where I was going, I wondered...
The one thing I have to say about AGA (or maybe NXEA's as it looked like it hadn't been refreshed in a while) internal colour scheme for the 170s is yuck. It wasn't all bad and some of the colours were reminiscent of early BR Intercity,but then they'd gone for a weird and very 90's looking pseudo ethnic kitsch carpet to combine with this... it just doesn't work.
Service terminated at Ipswich, 3 mins early again (getting quite lucky with timings so far) and decided to hang around for a bit, awaiting the 0958 for Felixstowe, went outside the station to see if any shops nearby, none that I could see, at least nothing much. Several freight drivers were stood outside having a smoke, obviously waiting for something. Turns out they were going to Felixstowe after all, when we boarded 153306. This appeared to have been refurbed quite recently and wasn't at all bad for a 153 (does anyone else call them dogboxes? I've heard this applied 153s but also I believe some loco as well, either way the name seems to suit)... Not that the new LCD monitor based passenger information screen showed any other than a logo reminding us that it was a passenger information screen. Hint, AGA, some actual information on stops might be nice... Very few people got on... me, three freight drivers and a handful of normal passengers, so it was sufficient for its purpose anyway. Got a little busier later but not much, about the same number of passengers again from the intermediate shacks combined. Got into Felixstowe one minute early (is this the legendary poor punctuality of the East Anglian railways, I wonder?) and decided to have a wander around...
Nice place, though very grey (my brother lived in Blackpool and said the seaside is where the old go to die, pretending to enjoy themselves in the meantime - apologies in advance if this offends anyone but I couldn't see much contradiction to his statement!) Bit nicer than Blackpool, a lot smaller but with a lovely beach. After grabbing some refreshments at the EOE Co-Op it was time to head back.
Boarded 153306 again, nothing much to say other than it was a little busier and the shacks seemed to get a couple of people each to board the service... Arrived in Ipswich at 1153, again a minute early. I had been thinking of doing the line to Lowestoft but instead decided to do this from Norwich, so boarded 90007 'Sir John Betjeman' (is this the one BR named in the 80s?) at 12:08, arriving two minutes early into Norwich... At Norwich, straight to Lowestoft, with ten minutes to change on to 153335, which departed at 1258. A bunch of students were talking about the train, how small it was until one said of an journey on a 'dreadful' train from Darlington to Middlesbrough once - he'd eat his words if he knew what he was saying... I managed to keep my mouth shut. I always enjoy hearing normals' views on trains, though I am often puzzled by it I like to try and see things from the perspective of the common passenger, especially as I was one once (how I got into the hobby was simply researching what sort of train I was likely to get for any future journey). Arrived into Lowestoft 5 (!) minutes early. Had a brief look around but decided the weather wasn't suited (a bit more drab than in Felixstowe)... debated with myself where to go next,but knew it would involve a doubleback.
Got on the 1348 to Norwich, worked by 156418... Quite uneventful until Reedham, where I noticed a sign at the station 'Alight here for our brewery shop'.... Always willing to try a new beer, I rushed to the doors but I'd seen the sign too late. My mobile signal was rubbish so couldn't adequately research it, decided to bail at the next shack (Cantley).
Cantley is strange. A place barely suiting even the term 'village' with a massive sugar factory attached, right next to the station. Finally got some signal on my 'phone. Wouldn't be able to go to the brewery shop as it wasn't open at this time, this time of the year. Damn, so no point in doubling back into Reedham then, in any case I couldn't as when I found out the time of the next train, the crossing keeper put the barriers across the road and my only means of getting to the down platform went. Next service is to Norwich over an hour, so the only solution was to find a pub. After a bit of searching, noticed a sign pointing down a footpath. What a surprise, the pub was open. A couple of regulars inside, but no worthwhile beer on tap. I settled for a bottled ale in the end, something by Bombardier and at £3.50 I regretted my decision. It wouldn't be the only reason I'd regret my decision to walk away from Cantley station...
Heading back to the station, I'd noted that there was a train to Lowestoft, according to realtimetrains worked by some sort of sprinter, and shortly after another to Norwich. No point in doubling back as the brewery shop was closed, I'd proceed onward to Norwich, so no rush... I approached the station, the tractor sound, the deep blue livery, on the down platform... 3 DRS Mark 2 carriages, with a 37 at each end... Once again, the level crossing barriers prevented me from reaching the platform...Gutted isn't the word. The crossing keeper knew exactly what I was after: 'They'll be back about half past the next hour!' he shouted. To add to things, I needed the toilet (why didn't I go in the pub?) and would be unable to wait for the return working... So I boarded the train to Norwich (156418 again), quickly went to the toilet and bailed at Brundall to await the 37 set. I'd probably have to reject some track, but some times it's worth awaiting proper traction than spending your whole day on a sprinter of some sort.
Anyhow, after much waiting, but on time, 37419 and 37405 showed up at Brundall, I made my way on and departed towards Norwich, leaving at 1621. There was only one place to be of course, the vestibule window (the seats looked remarkably similar to the IC70 affairs on mk3 stock), I decided to take a look outside as the engine thrashed a bit, enjoying the breeze and inhaling way too much clag - an action that may meet with disapproval from some quarters I know... "Tickets please!" came the voice from behind, I jumped... But he just said 'That's great", handed me my ticket back without a word about the window-hanging. Quite surprised me, as that sort of thing is below my normal standard of behaviour. Arrived 10 mins later at Norwich a whole eight minutes up (AGA really need to use less padding in their timetable). My phone battery ran out after recording my moves on railmiles. So I went to look at the timetable, and also bought a notepad and a pen from one of the shops (sad, yes, but would this report have been complete without it?). It wouldn't be possible to go on the next 37 service to Great yarmouth further than Brundall or maybe Cantley and make it back for my advance. So with a heavy heart I rejected the 37s, having only had under 5 miles haulage from them and decided to get some more track in. Boarded 158863 at 1653 and got off at Ely.
I had noticed from arriving in Ely the sound of the 365s was remarkably similar to that of the 323s up North, a sound for some reason I have always liked. I decided to head to Cambridge and straight back, boarding 365516 at 1808, and arriving in to Cambridge a minute down at 1825, making for my first 'delay' of the day. I got on toward the centre, so no sound really. I got an AMT milkshake at Cambridge, then went on to 365532, chosing a seat in the carriage with a pantograph... Having only seen 365s anything like in up-close action from an HST, 125 or 180, I tried to form an opinion. Maybe the lovechild of a 323 and some other southern commuter stock? 'Welcome to this West Anglia Great Northern service to Kings Lynn' boomed the tannoy.... hmmm, well FCC never did bother to put much into the details and it seems TSGN aren't bothering either. It did seem liked I'd stepped into a 90s timewarp for much of the journey, only beaten by the 170 earlier... is that a bad thing? Maybe.
Got back into Ely to find severe disruption at Grantham, a surprisingly resilient customer service chap and the odd grumpy, cynical normal. 'A problem near the railway? What the ***'s that meant to mean?' said one to another. Turned out there was a substation on fire at Grantham, which as well as being near the line had affected the electrical supply at the station. Waited around, in the event departed on my planned train two minutes late at 19:54 (158858, if you must know, though I'm sure I've had it before). Ticket checked a few minutes into the journey, guard making regular announcements to keep pax updated, may not be calling at Grantham, may be getting diverted. I fell asleep, awaking briefly at PBO, it turned out we would be going via Grantham after all. I have to say I spent most of the journey asleep but woke up periodically to what seemed a very stop-start journey due to congestion presumably. When we got into Nottingham, I wondered how late we must be.... I glanced at the nearest clock - 2134 - turns out just one minute in total! Therefore the second delay minute of the whole day. Not bad, but maybe just goes to show the timetables need a little less padding, I'm sure the network wouldn't fall apart with less padding and we'd all get around faster.
For the record, anyone wanting to stalk me on the train can now do so here: mikeg.railmiles.me
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