37372
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Yes indeed!
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My ALR 2015 - Bashing & Beers
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Techniquest
Veteran Member
Quite the varied day there, it must have been a huge disappoint not getting the 121 after all that effort. Not getting the Banbury set must have been one helluva kick in the teeth!
Amazed 170273 is still in those colours! You've sure made me want to re-visit Anglia!
Amazed 170273 is still in those colours! You've sure made me want to re-visit Anglia!
DarloRich
Veteran Member
Bad luck on the bubble - despite being local to me i have never managed it. I have also started using untappd and need to back load all my beers. They are currently displayed on my flickr.
It was nice to read a bit about Acle. I lived for 2/3 years at various spots between Yarmouth & Acle and used the line often. Not so good when a track fault meant the trains ran via Berney Arms!
I am sure we had a thumper down there for a bit. I will go and ask on the forum!
I MUST write up my recent ALR!
PS Woodfordes is awful muck
It was nice to read a bit about Acle. I lived for 2/3 years at various spots between Yarmouth & Acle and used the line often. Not so good when a track fault meant the trains ran via Berney Arms!
I am sure we had a thumper down there for a bit. I will go and ask on the forum!
I MUST write up my recent ALR!
PS Woodfordes is awful muck
D841 Roebuck
Established Member
This seems to be my sort of ALR - variety of scenery, Loco haulage, covering much of the country and involving beer. 
Good read and good photos - thanks.
Good read and good photos - thanks.
Kristofferson
Member
- Joined
- 23 Nov 2012
- Messages
- 1,132
Still enjoying the read Shame about the lack of success that day!
Shame about the lack of success that day!
37372
Member
That's what I like doing these days... gone are the days of spotting, photting and videoing of my younger days. These days it's all about scoring loco's for haulage and finding decent beers around the country!
Day 6 - The South West (ish)
Today was a bit of an odd day. With it being a Saturday most loco hauled turns weren't out, places would be generally busy and some places had to be avoided at all costs due to the ongoing Rugby World Cup.
Purch was a little worse for wear after going drinking around Leamington the night before so I set off from home on my own and just intended on making things up as I went along and we'd meet up somewhere later in the day. The joys of doing an ALR with someone... you can keep meeting and leaving each other at various obscure places around the country every day!
The night before I'd been keeping an eye on allocations for the Ruggex workings from Paddington to Cardiff. All the 67's were dud but both 57's on the DRS set were required! Seeing as that was the case it didn't matter which way around they were, as whichever loco was leading was bound to be a winner. With that in mind I decided to aim for it off of Paddington just after 9am.
To do this I ended up on the 05:52 off Mexborough to Doncaster (again) with 158787, for the 06:24 forward to Kings Cross. This working is much nicer to do on a Saturday as rather than call at Newark, Grantham and Peterborough it runs fast to PBO and then fast to the 'Cross. 91106 was the loco of choice, one that I've only ever had once before some 4 years ago when it was my last one needed to clear the fleet. Another uneventful ride thundering down the ECML.
All lined up and ready to go at Kings Cross.
Once in London a steady ride over to Paddington on the Tube where I waited to see where the 57 would come in. The stock rocked up on platform 1 with 57306 on the rear which would then lead to Cardiff. To join the train I had to join the queue of rugby supporters on the concourse. I know nothing about rugby, or even who was playing that particular day, but I blended in pretty well! Everyone was in good spirits so even queueing with them for 15 minutes wasn't unpleasant. The things I do for a winning loco...
Having shown the gateline staff my ALR (which I expected being quizzed about with it not being a ticket to Cardiff) I walked to the front and stood in a vestibule. Despite the lengthy queue the long rake of tatty Riviera Mk2's in a multitude of liveries mopped up the supporters quite well. I even had an entire vestibule to myself.
Departing a couple of minutes late and having scored 57306 we sped west. Although Reading wasn't advertised as set-down, myself and several other cranks from within the train bailed off upon arrival. That was far enough for me. Just as well as it apparently emitted it's booked stop at Bristol Parkway later on due to being wedged out. Some were heading back into London to pick up the 67-hauled sets. I thanked myself that they were all dud so I didn't have to go back and queue up again.
57306 departs from Reading with the Ruggex to Cardiff.
Now... where next? Purch had text me to say he'd be leaving Leamington around 11 and that we ought to have a pint in Bath, as ya do. I had a bit of time to kill until he'd be down in that part of the world so I boarded a stuffy 165129 on the Basingstoke service which I did throughout. Upon arrival at Basingstoke I found myself questioning why I'd bothered coming here, so immediately jumped onto a busy and equally as stuffy 159019 heading across to Salisbury, a line I've seldom done before. The weather was lovely, it was warm and sunny without a cloud in the sky, a true indian summer day!
Outside the station at Salisbury was awash with RRB's, passengers and confused Americans so I went back onto the platform and waited for a FGW service which was heading to Cardiff... somewhere I intended going nowhere near today. The service started here at least. It drew in as a 5 car service with a 3 car 158/9 and a 150/2. Most people boarded the 158 so I walked down to the 150 which was almost empty. As we left I kept myself busy by reading the various complaints directed to the FGW Twitter feed about overcrowding on various parts of the network due to the rugby. A complete shambles seemed to be the general consensus.
I was still running early so for reasons still unknown to me now, I bailed at Westbury for a bit, intending on catching a following service across to Bath Spa. Row upon row of stone wagons were parked up in the yards, some Colas 70's were resting in a siding and all was quiet. The fester here was quite boring, there isn't much around the station nor was there anything to see ON the station. A SWT 158 came in on hire to FGW heading the opposite way, thoroughly packed out with people, and then came the announcement that my train was 15 minutes late due to signalling problems near Bruton.
A DB red 59 rolled slowly through the platform taking bringing stone hoppers into the yard from Avonmouth before eventually my train arrived. Advertised as formed of 4 coaches but instead a lone 150221 produced. Full and standing. Ah.
Boredom, hire-ins and sunny weather at Westbury.
The journey to Bath wasn't a pleasant one having been hemmed into the doorway and large crowds boarding at the likes of Trowbridge. It was so busy that a woman wanting to make her way to the front to alight at Avoncliff wasn't able to get through in time, having left it until the last minute to try and move, we departed before she'd even made it to the doors.
Finally in Bath I met up with Purch and we walked through the historic, bustling streets to the Salamander pub, owned by the local Bath Ales. The pub was quite old-school inside and was a pleasant retreat from the warmth and busyness outside. We had a couple of pints of their own brews (the names of which I can't remember as I had no phone signal for Untappd) which went down well. It was the first time I'd ever walked into the town from the station apart from a brief visit to Wetherspoons once. I couldn't believe how busy the streets were, they really were thronging with people.
Back at the station and we boarded a surprisingly quiet HST to Reading. Now I was faced with the same problem as before. Where to go from Reading? Purch still needed the Reading-Guildford-Redhill line so we decided on that. I think I've only ever done it once. A quick bite to eat from Burger Ching and we got settled on 165112 for the lengthy ride to Redhill, having missed the previous 'fast' service to Gatwick. People got on and off at pretty much every station along the way and the line was much nicer than what I remember once we got beyond Guildford.
At Redhill we had a couple of minutes before a busy 377457 came in on a south coast service which took us the short distance to Gatwick Airport. The idea behind this was so that we could have a ride back to London on a 442. Something about them appeals to me, not many units do that. 442414 greeted us upon arrival and was, as always when I've done Gatwick Express services, almost empty. The thought that they might be converted to push/pull stock when the new Gat-Ex units arrive is a strange one but makes sense!
The Piggy sped north towards London at quite a rate of knots, slowing only for East Croydon. Until the Battersea area that is, where the line flies over the top of the Waterloo line at Queenstown Road where we came to a very abrupt stop on the flyover. This was odd, we'd been going at line speed moments before. After a couple of minutes we were informed that the driver had been ordered to stop as there was apparently a trespasser reported in the area. Sure enough several trains below us had come to a halt along with a couple of Southern units in the distance. Talk about dicing with death... all those 3rd rails and frequent fast trains, what an idiot.
Thankfully after about 5 minutes we were on our way into Victoria so it didn't really affect us. As luck would have it there was a Leeds-bound HST out of St Pancras in half an hour. Unlike on Monday we'd be able to have an HST up the MML rather than some plastic nonsense!
A quick ride on the Victoria line and we were at St Pancras. We even managed to bag ourselves a table. When the guard came round she was surprised to see the ALR tickets but knew what they were as some of her work colleagues had done them before. "You've spent 6 days together and not killed each other yet?!" This even caused a few other pax nearby to chuckle. I guess the secret is having a few hours apart most nights to have a break from one another!
Purch bailed at Leicester for onward connections due to his intended 170 from Derby-Nottingham being an hour late off of Cardiff due to rugby. Upon arrival at Derby we had a set swap! For some reason we were de-trained onto another HST in the opposite platform. Thankfully we had 10 minutes at Derby so we still left bang on time. When we got to Sheffield I found out why. The rear powercar, 043, was completely silent. I did think the front powercar was making quite a bit of noise and that explains it, the poor thing was doing twice the work. No doubt it was swapped into a Leeds service to enable Neville Hill to fix it and Etches Park could keep the healthy set.
To head home I caught the 22:34 Goole service, formed of 158787. It was so quiet! The last train of the night to Doncaster is an hour later and is usually full and standing on a Saturday night, so for the 22:34 to be so quiet was lovely.
In short the day was nothing special, but I'd scored a 57 and been to places and lines that I rarely get chance to do.
Day 6 - The South West (ish)
Today was a bit of an odd day. With it being a Saturday most loco hauled turns weren't out, places would be generally busy and some places had to be avoided at all costs due to the ongoing Rugby World Cup.
Purch was a little worse for wear after going drinking around Leamington the night before so I set off from home on my own and just intended on making things up as I went along and we'd meet up somewhere later in the day. The joys of doing an ALR with someone... you can keep meeting and leaving each other at various obscure places around the country every day!
The night before I'd been keeping an eye on allocations for the Ruggex workings from Paddington to Cardiff. All the 67's were dud but both 57's on the DRS set were required! Seeing as that was the case it didn't matter which way around they were, as whichever loco was leading was bound to be a winner. With that in mind I decided to aim for it off of Paddington just after 9am.
To do this I ended up on the 05:52 off Mexborough to Doncaster (again) with 158787, for the 06:24 forward to Kings Cross. This working is much nicer to do on a Saturday as rather than call at Newark, Grantham and Peterborough it runs fast to PBO and then fast to the 'Cross. 91106 was the loco of choice, one that I've only ever had once before some 4 years ago when it was my last one needed to clear the fleet. Another uneventful ride thundering down the ECML.
All lined up and ready to go at Kings Cross.
Once in London a steady ride over to Paddington on the Tube where I waited to see where the 57 would come in. The stock rocked up on platform 1 with 57306 on the rear which would then lead to Cardiff. To join the train I had to join the queue of rugby supporters on the concourse. I know nothing about rugby, or even who was playing that particular day, but I blended in pretty well! Everyone was in good spirits so even queueing with them for 15 minutes wasn't unpleasant. The things I do for a winning loco...
Having shown the gateline staff my ALR (which I expected being quizzed about with it not being a ticket to Cardiff) I walked to the front and stood in a vestibule. Despite the lengthy queue the long rake of tatty Riviera Mk2's in a multitude of liveries mopped up the supporters quite well. I even had an entire vestibule to myself.
Departing a couple of minutes late and having scored 57306 we sped west. Although Reading wasn't advertised as set-down, myself and several other cranks from within the train bailed off upon arrival. That was far enough for me. Just as well as it apparently emitted it's booked stop at Bristol Parkway later on due to being wedged out. Some were heading back into London to pick up the 67-hauled sets. I thanked myself that they were all dud so I didn't have to go back and queue up again.
57306 departs from Reading with the Ruggex to Cardiff.
Now... where next? Purch had text me to say he'd be leaving Leamington around 11 and that we ought to have a pint in Bath, as ya do. I had a bit of time to kill until he'd be down in that part of the world so I boarded a stuffy 165129 on the Basingstoke service which I did throughout. Upon arrival at Basingstoke I found myself questioning why I'd bothered coming here, so immediately jumped onto a busy and equally as stuffy 159019 heading across to Salisbury, a line I've seldom done before. The weather was lovely, it was warm and sunny without a cloud in the sky, a true indian summer day!
Outside the station at Salisbury was awash with RRB's, passengers and confused Americans so I went back onto the platform and waited for a FGW service which was heading to Cardiff... somewhere I intended going nowhere near today. The service started here at least. It drew in as a 5 car service with a 3 car 158/9 and a 150/2. Most people boarded the 158 so I walked down to the 150 which was almost empty. As we left I kept myself busy by reading the various complaints directed to the FGW Twitter feed about overcrowding on various parts of the network due to the rugby. A complete shambles seemed to be the general consensus.
I was still running early so for reasons still unknown to me now, I bailed at Westbury for a bit, intending on catching a following service across to Bath Spa. Row upon row of stone wagons were parked up in the yards, some Colas 70's were resting in a siding and all was quiet. The fester here was quite boring, there isn't much around the station nor was there anything to see ON the station. A SWT 158 came in on hire to FGW heading the opposite way, thoroughly packed out with people, and then came the announcement that my train was 15 minutes late due to signalling problems near Bruton.
A DB red 59 rolled slowly through the platform taking bringing stone hoppers into the yard from Avonmouth before eventually my train arrived. Advertised as formed of 4 coaches but instead a lone 150221 produced. Full and standing. Ah.
Boredom, hire-ins and sunny weather at Westbury.
The journey to Bath wasn't a pleasant one having been hemmed into the doorway and large crowds boarding at the likes of Trowbridge. It was so busy that a woman wanting to make her way to the front to alight at Avoncliff wasn't able to get through in time, having left it until the last minute to try and move, we departed before she'd even made it to the doors.
Finally in Bath I met up with Purch and we walked through the historic, bustling streets to the Salamander pub, owned by the local Bath Ales. The pub was quite old-school inside and was a pleasant retreat from the warmth and busyness outside. We had a couple of pints of their own brews (the names of which I can't remember as I had no phone signal for Untappd) which went down well. It was the first time I'd ever walked into the town from the station apart from a brief visit to Wetherspoons once. I couldn't believe how busy the streets were, they really were thronging with people.
Back at the station and we boarded a surprisingly quiet HST to Reading. Now I was faced with the same problem as before. Where to go from Reading? Purch still needed the Reading-Guildford-Redhill line so we decided on that. I think I've only ever done it once. A quick bite to eat from Burger Ching and we got settled on 165112 for the lengthy ride to Redhill, having missed the previous 'fast' service to Gatwick. People got on and off at pretty much every station along the way and the line was much nicer than what I remember once we got beyond Guildford.
At Redhill we had a couple of minutes before a busy 377457 came in on a south coast service which took us the short distance to Gatwick Airport. The idea behind this was so that we could have a ride back to London on a 442. Something about them appeals to me, not many units do that. 442414 greeted us upon arrival and was, as always when I've done Gatwick Express services, almost empty. The thought that they might be converted to push/pull stock when the new Gat-Ex units arrive is a strange one but makes sense!
The Piggy sped north towards London at quite a rate of knots, slowing only for East Croydon. Until the Battersea area that is, where the line flies over the top of the Waterloo line at Queenstown Road where we came to a very abrupt stop on the flyover. This was odd, we'd been going at line speed moments before. After a couple of minutes we were informed that the driver had been ordered to stop as there was apparently a trespasser reported in the area. Sure enough several trains below us had come to a halt along with a couple of Southern units in the distance. Talk about dicing with death... all those 3rd rails and frequent fast trains, what an idiot.
Thankfully after about 5 minutes we were on our way into Victoria so it didn't really affect us. As luck would have it there was a Leeds-bound HST out of St Pancras in half an hour. Unlike on Monday we'd be able to have an HST up the MML rather than some plastic nonsense!
A quick ride on the Victoria line and we were at St Pancras. We even managed to bag ourselves a table. When the guard came round she was surprised to see the ALR tickets but knew what they were as some of her work colleagues had done them before. "You've spent 6 days together and not killed each other yet?!" This even caused a few other pax nearby to chuckle. I guess the secret is having a few hours apart most nights to have a break from one another!
Purch bailed at Leicester for onward connections due to his intended 170 from Derby-Nottingham being an hour late off of Cardiff due to rugby. Upon arrival at Derby we had a set swap! For some reason we were de-trained onto another HST in the opposite platform. Thankfully we had 10 minutes at Derby so we still left bang on time. When we got to Sheffield I found out why. The rear powercar, 043, was completely silent. I did think the front powercar was making quite a bit of noise and that explains it, the poor thing was doing twice the work. No doubt it was swapped into a Leeds service to enable Neville Hill to fix it and Etches Park could keep the healthy set.
To head home I caught the 22:34 Goole service, formed of 158787. It was so quiet! The last train of the night to Doncaster is an hour later and is usually full and standing on a Saturday night, so for the 22:34 to be so quiet was lovely.
In short the day was nothing special, but I'd scored a 57 and been to places and lines that I rarely get chance to do.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I'd have stayed with the 57 all the way to Cardiff for the mileage, and in my day when 47s still produced on the GWML for RugExs you'd have had to share that front vestibule!
A strange choice to go to Basingstoke then Salisbury, but weirder to break at Westbury!
Bath Ales do a really good selection that's for sure. Can't remember right now what I've had from their lot but it was really nice stuff. No signal for Untappd? Just write it on some paper and add it later on, that's what I do!
A strange choice to go to Basingstoke then Salisbury, but weirder to break at Westbury!
Bath Ales do a really good selection that's for sure. Can't remember right now what I've had from their lot but it was really nice stuff. No signal for Untappd? Just write it on some paper and add it later on, that's what I do!
heart-of-wessex
Established Member
Just read Day 4/5 so far, very interesting as always, especially the Anglia adventure!
It's not just me that get's that RTT delay, I find it seems to be in the morning. When I go to work at 0430am, if the Theale Tanks are due through Trowbridge I try and time my walk from my house to the rail bridge over the station to see what 60 is on. Then at it's expected time at Bradford Jn it never triggers it passing when you expect it. Then I leave, go over the bridge to find the repeater is yellow, yet RTT reckons it's yet to pass Bradford Jn. Minutes later, it then fills in all the gaps!
Still haven't got round to doing those loco hauled stuff to Yarmouth, sounds like they are fun, thrashy too I suspect?
As for the Class 121, I've been bowled out before only because I didn't realise the 121 packs up in the evening and a 165 takes over. That was a couple of years ago so I don't know if it's still the same operation, if it is then that may be why you had a 165, what time did you do it?
Must be well annoying missing the 68, I'd be hacked off too!
It's not just me that get's that RTT delay, I find it seems to be in the morning. When I go to work at 0430am, if the Theale Tanks are due through Trowbridge I try and time my walk from my house to the rail bridge over the station to see what 60 is on. Then at it's expected time at Bradford Jn it never triggers it passing when you expect it. Then I leave, go over the bridge to find the repeater is yellow, yet RTT reckons it's yet to pass Bradford Jn. Minutes later, it then fills in all the gaps!
Still haven't got round to doing those loco hauled stuff to Yarmouth, sounds like they are fun, thrashy too I suspect?
As for the Class 121, I've been bowled out before only because I didn't realise the 121 packs up in the evening and a 165 takes over. That was a couple of years ago so I don't know if it's still the same operation, if it is then that may be why you had a 165, what time did you do it?
Must be well annoying missing the 68, I'd be hacked off too!
DarloRich
Veteran Member
very interesting! I think I agree with Tech and would have stayed on the 57 to Cardiff - not for any spotterish wibbly reasons you understand 
PS getting into untappd now - i have 6 beers checked in! Can you add friends
PS getting into untappd now - i have 6 beers checked in! Can you add friends
Techniquest
Veteran Member
DarloRich:2320686 said:very interesting! I think I agree with Tech and would have stayed on the 57 to Cardiff - not for any spotterish wibbly reasons you understand
PS getting into untappd now - i have 6 beers checked in! Can you add friends
I got into Untappd because of noddy1878 on here. You can add friends on it, but I can't remember how right now to be honest!
DarloRich
Veteran Member
I couldn't really see the point of it but i think you can have friends and share reviews - i need to back load all my records
Minilad
Established Member
Funnily enough I feel exactly the same. But for differing reasons!
Tim R-T-C
Established Member
- Joined
- 23 May 2011
- Messages
- 2,143
Interesting reports, with good detail. Wish I had written them up so quickly, my two ALRs were in the early 2000s and I'm relying on photos and memory to recall exactly how they went.
37372
Member
Having done Ruggex's to Cardiff in the past (47's and 50's) I was in no hurry to repeat the experience of being crammed into a vestibule with lots of burley men! Reading was far enough for me and got it in the book
omething off Aylesbury. The Chiltern guy we got talking to said it should've been the green bubble but it had gone in for an exam and the blue one was at Tyseley.
As for Untappd and adding friends, looking at the web version as I type this, if you look in the top right-hand corner and click on friends (under the profile name/photo of yourself) it brings up a search function for finding people. If anyone is interested in adding me search 'Tom Curry' and find the username Tom372.
Now for the final installment (and a fun day too might I add!).
Day 7 - The 5 Taps Challenge
For those of you that may not know what this is, it's a tour of all five 'Tap' pubs; London Euston, Sheffield, Leeds, York and Harrogate. There may be others, Manchester for eg, but they're not owned by the Tapped Brew group like these five are. I was inspired to do this challenge by a fellow enthusiast on Twitter who had done it earlier in the year. I just never knew how and when to do it... so when we got stuck for what to do on the final day of the rover (particularly with it being a Sunday), we agreed this would be a great way to end it. The rough plan was to start at the Tap furthest away (London) and finish at the Tap closest to Home (Sheffield) to allow for an easy journey home on a Sunday evening.
For the final time on the rover I found myself setting out from home, this time walking to Swinton station for a change of scenery, as I live in between Mexborough and Swinton. The service was the 09:05 ex Swinton. In rolled 158842 and for some absurd reason it was full and standing at that time on a Sunday morning. Personally if I was off work and not on a rover I'd still be in bed at that time! Somewhat annoyed by this we headed onwards to Doncaster with lots more boarding at Mexborough and Conisbrough.
I only had a short wait at Doncaster before catching the 09:38 to Kings Cross. 91110 was providing the power this morning, calling everywhere apart from Retford. The train was fairly busy throughout but nowhere near as bad as the local 158. Despite this being one of many trips on the ECML this week today was slightly different. We left Doncaster via the slow lines which weave around south of Decoy Yard and fly over the top of the main line. Jointed track on a Mk4 set! Also, due to engineering works on the southern half of the line, we were diverted via Hertford North for a change of scenery, thankfully not getting stuck behind a 313!
Upon arrival at Kings Cross I spotted a plaque on the side of 91110 commemorating it's record breaking speed of 162mph - something I never knew about until I saw it. Would've loved to have seen a 91 doing that kind of speed. I had about an hour to kill until Purch arrived from Nottingham via the MML so I sat outside the front of the station for a while before walking to St Pancras. Considering it was London everything was so bright and peaceful outside Kings Cross. A man lay sunbathing with a personal radio, groups of tourists took selfies, a group of East Coast train crew sat having something to eat. It was all quite pleasant.
The plaque on the side of 91110.
When Purch arrived at St Pancras we walked down the road to Euston, arriving at the Euston Tap less than an hour after it had opened. We managed to get a table in the 'beer garden' and had a pint of Manchester Bitter by Marble Beers/Brewery. Method in my madness due to the fact that we wouldn't be doing the Manchester Tap as it isn't part of the group, so I'd have a Mancunian beer to make up for it.
With Tap 1 of 5 done and laughing at the realisation that we had actually travelled all the way down to London just for a pint we made our way back to Kings Cross to head up to York for the second one. The choices a VTEC Aberdeen service or a Grand Central Sunderland service. GC leaving only 7 minutes behind the VTEC, both being formed of HST's and both being fast to York. Had to be Grand Central. Plus my last required GC powercar was on it too - bonus! The train filled up quickly as they do on Sundays. The journey north was via the Hertford Loop again. We managed to pass Retford 6 minutes early but once again Doncaster and York soon put an end to our speedy running and as a result we arrived at York several minutes late. Held outside the station waiting for the Aberdeen train to leave the platform despite the excellent Open Trains Times signalling diagram showing the remainder of the platforms being empty. Thank you York Control for wasting valuable drinking time!
Once in the York Tap I had a pint of Thirst Aid by a brewery local to me - Exit 33. With a bit of time to kill until the next train and that beer having gone down rather fast we had enough time to pay a visit to another pub nearby which I'd never been in before, The Maltings, which was about a 5 minute walk from the station.
The next move was a Northern service from York to Harrogate, formed surprisingly of 158758. Rare luxury in comparison to the usual stuff around the loop during the week.
Not long after the Harrogate Tap was ticked off the list with a pint of Spectrum by the Salopian Brewery and a locally produced pork pie. Another fitting beer considering we had planned to visit the Salopian Brewery on Tuesday before things changed.
Back on the platform an hour later for the train onwards to Leeds and it was thronging with people despite the flower show finishing long beforehand. In rolled 155343 which took us the remainder of the way around the loop to Leeds.
I had never been to the Leeds Brewery Tap before but we found it easily enough, just down the road and around the corner from the station. A querky but pleasant place which even did pizzas! Sadly there was no time for such things as time was ticking on and we still had to get to Sheffield. The beer of choice from here was Sunrise by the Bristol Beer Factory.
Sadly next we had to endure a Voyager. 221138 to be precise, which took us from Leeds to Sheffield for the final Tap of the day. It was busy and rather loud on board, with a notice above the seats basically saying you may be kicked out of your seat even if you've been sat in it for hours as someone may reserve it en route. What we said about this cannot be repeated on a public forum with younger people on here.
Drawing into Sheffield and we made a beeline for the Sheffield Tap on Platform 1, an old favourite and regular haunt of mine. It was certainly the right choice to end the trip here. The final beer of the day was Katalyst by Hardknott - another relevant beer as it was brewed in Millom which we passed through earlier in the week. The bar staff were congratulating us when we told them of our Tap challenge completion although sadly it didn't earn us a free pint or T-shirt!
Reflecting on the week gone by we agreed it had been a decent and varied trip. We'd managed to spread far and wide across the UK and sampled a variety of TOC's, traction, towns and of course beer.
The final train of the ALR was a lone 153330 on the 21:36 Leeds service back to Swinton and Purch left on the 21:40 back to Nottingham.
Cheers! Myself (left) and Purch.
Will I do another ALR in future? Quite possibly! However normal service will soon resume with a foreign trip planned for later this month for a much greater selection of loco hauled services and a much cheaper and less restricted Interrail ticket. Total mileage for the week stood at 3752.
The Yarmouth run was great, both loco's are powering on load 3 so although it doesn't seem much - they were loud! The Bubble diagram we aimed for was the booked evening turn as listed in the diagrams on here, the 17heart-of-wessex said:
omething off Aylesbury. The Chiltern guy we got talking to said it should've been the green bubble but it had gone in for an exam and the blue one was at Tyseley.As for Untappd and adding friends, looking at the web version as I type this, if you look in the top right-hand corner and click on friends (under the profile name/photo of yourself) it brings up a search function for finding people. If anyone is interested in adding me search 'Tom Curry' and find the username Tom372.
Now for the final installment (and a fun day too might I add!).
Day 7 - The 5 Taps Challenge
For those of you that may not know what this is, it's a tour of all five 'Tap' pubs; London Euston, Sheffield, Leeds, York and Harrogate. There may be others, Manchester for eg, but they're not owned by the Tapped Brew group like these five are. I was inspired to do this challenge by a fellow enthusiast on Twitter who had done it earlier in the year. I just never knew how and when to do it... so when we got stuck for what to do on the final day of the rover (particularly with it being a Sunday), we agreed this would be a great way to end it. The rough plan was to start at the Tap furthest away (London) and finish at the Tap closest to Home (Sheffield) to allow for an easy journey home on a Sunday evening.
For the final time on the rover I found myself setting out from home, this time walking to Swinton station for a change of scenery, as I live in between Mexborough and Swinton. The service was the 09:05 ex Swinton. In rolled 158842 and for some absurd reason it was full and standing at that time on a Sunday morning. Personally if I was off work and not on a rover I'd still be in bed at that time! Somewhat annoyed by this we headed onwards to Doncaster with lots more boarding at Mexborough and Conisbrough.
I only had a short wait at Doncaster before catching the 09:38 to Kings Cross. 91110 was providing the power this morning, calling everywhere apart from Retford. The train was fairly busy throughout but nowhere near as bad as the local 158. Despite this being one of many trips on the ECML this week today was slightly different. We left Doncaster via the slow lines which weave around south of Decoy Yard and fly over the top of the main line. Jointed track on a Mk4 set! Also, due to engineering works on the southern half of the line, we were diverted via Hertford North for a change of scenery, thankfully not getting stuck behind a 313!
Upon arrival at Kings Cross I spotted a plaque on the side of 91110 commemorating it's record breaking speed of 162mph - something I never knew about until I saw it. Would've loved to have seen a 91 doing that kind of speed. I had about an hour to kill until Purch arrived from Nottingham via the MML so I sat outside the front of the station for a while before walking to St Pancras. Considering it was London everything was so bright and peaceful outside Kings Cross. A man lay sunbathing with a personal radio, groups of tourists took selfies, a group of East Coast train crew sat having something to eat. It was all quite pleasant.
The plaque on the side of 91110.
When Purch arrived at St Pancras we walked down the road to Euston, arriving at the Euston Tap less than an hour after it had opened. We managed to get a table in the 'beer garden' and had a pint of Manchester Bitter by Marble Beers/Brewery. Method in my madness due to the fact that we wouldn't be doing the Manchester Tap as it isn't part of the group, so I'd have a Mancunian beer to make up for it.
With Tap 1 of 5 done and laughing at the realisation that we had actually travelled all the way down to London just for a pint we made our way back to Kings Cross to head up to York for the second one. The choices a VTEC Aberdeen service or a Grand Central Sunderland service. GC leaving only 7 minutes behind the VTEC, both being formed of HST's and both being fast to York. Had to be Grand Central. Plus my last required GC powercar was on it too - bonus! The train filled up quickly as they do on Sundays. The journey north was via the Hertford Loop again. We managed to pass Retford 6 minutes early but once again Doncaster and York soon put an end to our speedy running and as a result we arrived at York several minutes late. Held outside the station waiting for the Aberdeen train to leave the platform despite the excellent Open Trains Times signalling diagram showing the remainder of the platforms being empty. Thank you York Control for wasting valuable drinking time!
Once in the York Tap I had a pint of Thirst Aid by a brewery local to me - Exit 33. With a bit of time to kill until the next train and that beer having gone down rather fast we had enough time to pay a visit to another pub nearby which I'd never been in before, The Maltings, which was about a 5 minute walk from the station.
The next move was a Northern service from York to Harrogate, formed surprisingly of 158758. Rare luxury in comparison to the usual stuff around the loop during the week.
Not long after the Harrogate Tap was ticked off the list with a pint of Spectrum by the Salopian Brewery and a locally produced pork pie. Another fitting beer considering we had planned to visit the Salopian Brewery on Tuesday before things changed.
Back on the platform an hour later for the train onwards to Leeds and it was thronging with people despite the flower show finishing long beforehand. In rolled 155343 which took us the remainder of the way around the loop to Leeds.
I had never been to the Leeds Brewery Tap before but we found it easily enough, just down the road and around the corner from the station. A querky but pleasant place which even did pizzas! Sadly there was no time for such things as time was ticking on and we still had to get to Sheffield. The beer of choice from here was Sunrise by the Bristol Beer Factory.
Sadly next we had to endure a Voyager. 221138 to be precise, which took us from Leeds to Sheffield for the final Tap of the day. It was busy and rather loud on board, with a notice above the seats basically saying you may be kicked out of your seat even if you've been sat in it for hours as someone may reserve it en route. What we said about this cannot be repeated on a public forum with younger people on here.
Drawing into Sheffield and we made a beeline for the Sheffield Tap on Platform 1, an old favourite and regular haunt of mine. It was certainly the right choice to end the trip here. The final beer of the day was Katalyst by Hardknott - another relevant beer as it was brewed in Millom which we passed through earlier in the week. The bar staff were congratulating us when we told them of our Tap challenge completion although sadly it didn't earn us a free pint or T-shirt!
Reflecting on the week gone by we agreed it had been a decent and varied trip. We'd managed to spread far and wide across the UK and sampled a variety of TOC's, traction, towns and of course beer.
The final train of the ALR was a lone 153330 on the 21:36 Leeds service back to Swinton and Purch left on the 21:40 back to Nottingham.
Cheers! Myself (left) and Purch.
Will I do another ALR in future? Quite possibly! However normal service will soon resume with a foreign trip planned for later this month for a much greater selection of loco hauled services and a much cheaper and less restricted Interrail ticket. Total mileage for the week stood at 3752.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I know the guy you refer to you did it on Twitter, not that I can remember his name right now. I followed that adventure and it looked like a really good time on the challenge.
A very good final day had there! 158s do seem to be available for the Harrogate Loop more often on Sundays than any other day, I've had one on a Sunday before on two occasions. In the condition they're in though they're not exactly luxury!
A very good final day had there! 158s do seem to be available for the Harrogate Loop more often on Sundays than any other day, I've had one on a Sunday before on two occasions. In the condition they're in though they're not exactly luxury!
DarloRich
Veteran Member
very good! i fancy a pint now - is leeds tap part of the station tap group. Is it not the Leeds Brewery tap?
heart-of-wessex
Established Member
Just read Day 6, again brilliant! Re other comments on the 57, I'd probably have done it throughout for the loco mileage, although I wouldn't have done the 57 as the ones that were out I did on the VT Pendo drags around Birmingham. On the flip side I do need 67008 that's out on the RugEx's though!
Could have come down to Westbury if I knew you were there if you were bored, I'm only up the road in Trowbridge. Westbury isn't the same as it used to be. I liked it back in the early 2000's when there was regular Yeoman Jumbo's, Class 60's on engineer's, more stone traffic and other type's of traffic, and not forgetting the Wessex 31's too. It's certainly died down over the years.
Bet the ride on the VP185 was great!
Could have come down to Westbury if I knew you were there if you were bored, I'm only up the road in Trowbridge. Westbury isn't the same as it used to be. I liked it back in the early 2000's when there was regular Yeoman Jumbo's, Class 60's on engineer's, more stone traffic and other type's of traffic, and not forgetting the Wessex 31's too. It's certainly died down over the years.
Bet the ride on the VP185 was great!
Sounds like a great trip. Looking forward to mine next week now. Most of it on my own but the last few days with a mate.
Adding friends is easy. I've noticed the app is slightly different on the iOS to Android versions but the should be similar. Click on the tab that brings up your profile. Click on the friends button and then click the search icon on the top right. Various ways to find people but if you type the other persons username in (if you know it) and search they should come up. My user name is StevenB007 for example.
very interesting! I think I agree with Tech and would have stayed on the 57 to Cardiff - not for any spotterish wibbly reasons you understand
PS getting into untappd now - i have 6 beers checked in! Can you add friends
Adding friends is easy. I've noticed the app is slightly different on the iOS to Android versions but the should be similar. Click on the tab that brings up your profile. Click on the friends button and then click the search icon on the top right. Various ways to find people but if you type the other persons username in (if you know it) and search they should come up. My user name is StevenB007 for example.
Iskra
Established Member
I think he's confused the names. The Tapped pub is on Boar lane near the Trinity Centre, you walk past the Leeds Brewery Tap to get to it from the station. Leeds Brewery Tap is an infinitely better establishment and better value. Friends of Ham is also worth a visit being just further along from the Leeds brewery tap.
37372
Member
Apologies - yes you're right, I mixed the names up, which I did several times that day too! We went to Tapped Leeds which is indeed the one on Boar Lane. Leeds Brewery Tap is the one closer to the station which we did not visit (well worth it though its a great place - owned by Leeds Brewery).
Well worth a go if on the off chance you find yourself stuck for things to do on an ALR or similar.
Yes the VP185 was much more entertaining than the MTU's throughout the week, but not a patch on the Anglia 37's of course
Well worth a go if on the off chance you find yourself stuck for things to do on an ALR or similar.
Yes the VP185 was much more entertaining than the MTU's throughout the week, but not a patch on the Anglia 37's of course
Kristofferson
Member
- Joined
- 23 Nov 2012
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- 1,132
What an end to the trip! 5 Taps sounds like my kind of challenge... If only a one day ALR existed
323235
Established Member
I really enjoyed reading this, very entertaining and plenty of drinking tips. I've enjoyed the delight of ramsgate and margate whilst doing a Kent Rover a few years back, I can't imagine why anyone would go to either towns out of choice, there again the absolute worst is sittingbourne.
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