Noddy's Trip Reports

[Kite159]

66s and 73/9s are a semi permanent fixture. 73s all have to go to Brush again for alternator attention at some point.

If what I hear is true, FW sleepers could be busier with cranks for a while

Indeed, even with Glasgow - Dumbarton leaps

 

[noddy1878]

Fantastic stuff.
The mention of Trainspotting (the film) reminds me that the sequel is on its way.
The iconic scene you mention is echoed in the trailer, with 156445 used (I paused it and it looks like 156445, but I'm not 100%): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RK7Cre-SS4

It does look like 156445. Very much looking forward to this film.

66s and 73/9s are a semi permanent fixture. 73s all have to go to Brush again for alternator attention at some point.

If what I hear is true, FW sleepers could be busier with cranks for a while

I'd read about that after the trip and the report was written. Certainly didn't know about before I went.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
15th September
Another earlyish start saw us on the 0744 on 156447. We took this to Upper Tyndrum from where we walked down into the valley. A stop for a tea and cake en route to Tyndrum Lower was welcome before 156450 arrived to take us onto Oban. We then headed out to Mull on a ferry and spent a few hours there.

We had lunch at Arleenes which was nice but boy was the women serving a miserable so and so. Not even acknowledging us as we left and said thank you. After lunch we went for a short walk.

Back in Oban we had a wonder before some Fish and Chips and the journey back home. 156485 was had to Crianlarich where we joined with 156457. It was then onto Ardlui and across to 156474 and 156450 to save the fester at Crianlarich. 156474 went onto Oban as we continued on 156450.

No winning trains today but three new shacks.

16th September
Time to move on from Fort William. The earliest start of the holiday so far meant we were at the bus station for 0700. An incredibly grumpy driver met us and I showed him our tickets. We had our suitcases and when I asked if I could put them inderneth the coach all I got was huffing and rolling eyes. I asked were we not to bring luggage I didn’t really get an answer but he got up to open the luggage compartment.

Once we arrived at Inverness we headed to the station where we were being picked up to get our hire car. We had already rung ahead so we shouldn’t be waiting for too long. After a phone call and 30 minutes later we were picked up and taken to the airport to get our hire car. The driver had picked up the wrong people. They weren’t even using the same company!

After all that faffing was sorted it was a tight connection now for the day’s plan. We drove out to Muir or Ord where with a +2 we met 158714! Made it!

Today would see us head to Kyle of Lochalsh. New route for me and wow! What a stunning route! Helped by absolutely gorgeous weather too!

At Achnasheen I noticed someone had got off. Turned out to be Kite after later in the day seeing his twitter feed!

Onwards to Kyle the line got more and more stunning. I am now torn! Kyle line or the West Highland Line?

20160916-Kyle of Lochalsh-158714 by Steven Booth, on Flickr

Once at Kyle we got off but didn’t stray too far. The picture didn’t do the weather justice. It was a lot sunnier than when I took that picture. Well it was further in land and that’s where were heading. Not to far we headed to Plockton. From here we were going to spend a few hours before the next train back.

A short walk into the village to find lunch. Well try to find lunch. Everywhere seemed to stop serving food. It seemed we were 5 minutes too late! So we had a wonder and drink. The sun was out and the village was in delightful setting. After that it we went for a walk.

The walk would see us wondering through woods and coastal paths until we got to Duncraig Castle. Some of the paths we closed (although there was no indication of this until you got to the blockage!) and the distances were very confusing. We completed the walk a lot quicker than we expected and upon arrival at Duncraig Castle we were greeted with it shut for refurbishment. No refreshments here then.

So we headed onto the station which was obviously built to serve the castle in days gone by. We sat down by a little inlet of water for a while before a quick shower made us move on. We ended up at Duncraig station and were pleasantly surprised to find a waiting room. Was a strange little hexagonal hut just off the platform. We weren’t in it long as the rain stopped.

Eventually 158711 arrived and it was back towards Inverness. I said to the missus if she was alright with me staying on and bailing at Beauly. She would then pick me up as we went back to Inverness. She said yes so that meant I got my 5th new shack of the day which was complimented by two winning 158s. A nice little day indeed!

 

[Kite159]

It looked like a lot of work was being carried out to the castle when I walked past it the following day. Achnasheen wasn't that bad as there is stuff around.

Better than Lochluichart which has nothing, but at least you got a rare(ish) stop at Lochluichart

 

[55013]

I love that part of the world and your report has just made me yearn for a few days up there.
I'll definitely be voting for a West Scotland holiday next year.

 

[FQ]

Sounds like another good couple of days there!

 

[Techniquest]

Gosh darn it I want a trip to the West Highland Line and to the Kyle line now!

 

[Cowley]

Lovely. Amazing coincidence that Kite was on the train as well. I once did a 156 to Mallaig, bus across Skye and 156 Kyle to Inverness, I'd only just remembered that trip actually, so I've done the Kyle line a couple of times. Stayed in Kyle and got the train in the morning, spent the evening drinking beer on the quay by the station and watching otters swimming around.
I think the West Highlands are breathtaking.

 

[Iskra]

A great trip Noddy. Shame about everything being closed in Plockton- I hear that the seafood is amazing up there. The Kyle line is my favourite Scottish line thus far.

 

[noddy1878]

Thanks for the comments everyone! The seafood is supposed to be good up there but neither of us are keen on fish!

20th September 2016
A few days since after our escapades in Northern Scotland (we ended up in Aberdeen for a couple of days too) we would spend the rest of the holiday down in Glasgow, staying with my wife’s Nana. I was allowed to do what I wanted on one of the days and the choice was easy, a Strathclyde Day-tripper. I was torn about what to do though. So much to do.

In the end I decided that I would aim to clear the spoons that were left in Glasgow and hope that I pick things up as I went. This means the next time I am here I won’t have any distractions from the trains (unless any more open!). I did have high hopes to clear at least one class of EMU but there are a few where numbers are low!

I was saved from a mile and half walk by Nana who was insistent that I was dropped at the nearest the station which was Busby. I hadn’t counted on getting there so soon and a train was rolling in just as I arrived. I didn’t know if I needed any of the three 156s on the train but saw an opportunity to start the day earlier. I spotted the guard and asked if I could get my ticket from her. “No problem” she said. “Just get on!” I did and she never came! Great! We’d now arrived at Central and I had to join the biggest queue I’d ever been in (with the exception of ones at theme parks!) just to get my ticket to get out of the station. The three 156s I caught in were 156456, 156467 and 156512! So that was one good thing!

I joined the back of the queue and noticed a 380 next to me. What was this. I spotted on the numbers on the side. Fantastic! 380003! My final 380 for haulage. It was all locked up though and no lights were on. I fired up RTT and looked movements from the platform it occupied.

If I had worked it out correctly it would be off 0918! I had 30 odd minutes to get off the platform and get my Strathclyde Day-tripper. Luckily the queue went down relatively quickly and I went and got what I needed for the day. It was then back to the platform where 380003 was! There on the screen was the 0918 departure advertised and 003 was working it! That was easy!

I took 380003 to Paisley Gilmour Street. I came back on 380008 and the next set of moves I did (which included walking) served no purpose other than to annoy myself. Absolutely no idea what I was thinking and why I did it! So 156474 was had to Pollockshaws West. A walk to Shawlands for 314207 to Pollockshields West and another walk to Pollockshields East. Finally 314211 for the train to Newton. I need the tiny bit between Mount Florida and Newton and needed Newton for the shack. What crazy move to get that bit in. I really was annoyed with myself!

From Newton I went back on 314211 to Kirkhill. It was then a walk via the Spoons at Cambuslang to the station. 318266 and 318257 took me forward to Rutherglen where I alighted for another quick spoons visit.

On the way back to the station I was trying to plan my next move but missed the road to the station so ended up walking further! No matter, I didn’t miss the train I needed and 318265 and 318258 took me to Motherwell. I had time to kill as I needed to be heading north so I took the same pair of units once more (they had formed a new service) to Hamilton West. A couple of minutes later I was heading back towards Motherwell on 318262. Passing through a busier than normal Mossend (well seemed like it to me), bagged me 08632 and 68020 for sight. I stayed on board until Coatbridge Central where I then walked via the Spoons to Coatbridge Sunnyside.

334006 and 022 were next up for a trek across Glasgow. I had one spoons left to do. Dumbarton Central was the next stop and I went off to find it. After a swift one I popped into Greggs for a baguette and then back to the station. Now I either went shack scratching or festered. I chose the later option to try and get some red pen action. The shacks in theory are always going to be easier to get and I’d rather scratch the units in the long run!

334006 and 022 (the other way round of course) returned and I took them to Hyndland. For the next hour I did the these moves.

320415 Hyndland - Partick
320304 Partick - Hyndland
318253 Hyndland - Partick
320416, 318261 Partick - Hyndland
320314 Hyndland - Partick

With Hyndland being the island I always make my way back there as Partick is a pain cross over if need be! Luckily one of the moves back was a winner. Was nice to pick up a couple of the recently converted 320/4s. I had had them all as 321s but they are classed as new in my book now and very much required. 318253 also means I now only need two 318s.

Next up was a move that if I had worked out right would get me a new shack and a unit that would be returning after I spotted it earlier. 320304 was had to Dalmarnock. From here I got on 318262 to Argyle Street. I let one train go as the one behind should have been a winner. It was. 320321 was had for the short leap to Glasgow Central.

Now (even though it was still early) was time to start heading home. At this stage I didn’t know exactly what time I needed to be home (it turned out to be about 1900 was the end of play time!). 156512, 156442 and 156495. I took this to Hairmyres and got the same set of units back to Thornton Hill. The next train should (and was) be 156514 and 156432 which I had seen earlier and worked out their move which I took to East Kilbride. It was a very swift (swift to the point I still can’t believe I made it) trek to the town centre (up hill) for the spoons and back in less than 20 minutes! I needn’t have bothered! The next train was 7 minutes late!

Anyway it was back to Busby on 156509 for my wife to pick me up. An enjoyable, if shorter than normal, day out. Nine winning units, cleared the 380s, nine new shacks and 125 miles traveled. I also cleared the spoons I needed in Glasgow. I now only need 5 in the whole of Scotland and two of them are at Edinburgh Airport!

The big question is, how long will it be before I can come back? Probably too long!

21st September 2016
I’m not going to go into detail for this. Basically I was given a couple of hours to do what I wanted whilst in Glasgow with the missus. We’d been to the Transport Museum (well worth a visit) and had had lunch. She wanted to go shopping and I was let off! To maximise my time I headed below ground. In the time I had I cleared the shacks on the subway (I had had two from a previous encounter) and scored 30 winning units.

Was happy with that and I topped it off with a visit to the Brewdog Bar at Kelvinhall. I had visited the Aberdeen one a few days before and I love them. There were no new Brewdog beers (for me) there so tried four of the guest beers and its safe to say they were best four beers I had ever had in a row! Wow! They were only thirds but with Decadent Imperial IPA weighing in at 10% (the others were 8.5, 6.2 and 6) it was a good job! I have gone off on a tangent!

That was a bonus day that I wasn’t expecting to be honest and made a big dent in the Glasgow Subway stock. Need to get the rest before they are replaced!

27th September 2016
An immense four days at work followed after my holiday. We had a director visit and ended up working over 38 hours over the course of the Friday through to Monday. I needed a well earned rest already! Somewhere on the train then?

I made use of my Network Railcard today but it does mean not much time at my destination, London. An advance to Axminster with my Devon & Cornwall and then a Super Off Peak Return to London Zones with my NSE card would see me catch 43163 with 43131 and then 159107. 159107 was attached to 159017 at Salisbury.

I bailed at Clapham and took 5854 and 5866 to Wimbledon to start some LU shack clearing.

21374, 21373 Wimbledon – Southfields
21533, 21534 Southfields – Wimbledon Park
21400, 21399 Wimbledon Park – Putney Bridge
7032, 8057 Putney Bridge – East Putney
21485, 21486 East Putney – Parsons Green
21534, 21533 Parsons Green – Fulham Broadway
21538, 21357 Fulham Broadway – Earls Court
21372, 21371 Earls Court – Chiswick Park
21564, 21563 Chiswick Park – Stamford Brook
21460, 21459 Stamford Brook – Gunnersbury (for tube clearance)
21491, 21492 Gunnersbury – Kew Gardens (for tube clearance)
378212 Kew Gardens (for clearance as mainline rail!) – South Acton
378216 South Acton – Gunnersbury (for clearance as mainline rail!)
21304, 21303 Gunnersbury – Hammersmith
21481, 21482 Hammersmith – Goldhawk Road
21507, 21508 Goldhawk Road – Shepherd's Bush Market
21452, 21451 Shepherd's Bush Market – Wood Lane
21490, 21489 Wood Lane – Latimer Road
21511, 21512 Latimer Road – Ladbroke Grove
21550, 21549 Ladbroke Grove – Paddington

In that lot I think I may well have got my last D stock moves. I haven’t seen any since. At Paddington I saw 387130 as we came in which gave me an idea. A quick check of its move and I was on it. 387130 and 387131 were had to Acton Mainline. a few minutes later 165122 arrived and I was back at Paddington.

My thoughts turned to what I could do for the next hour or so before I headed home. Jubilee line. That should pick me up some winners. I one hop stopped from Baker Street to Waterloo letting anything dud go. My moves were as followed

21510, 21509 Paddington – Baker Street
96046, 96073 Baker Street – St. John's Wood
96107, 96042 St. John's Wood – Baker Street
96063, 96064 Baker Street – Bond Street
96103, 96048 Bond Street – Green Park
96091, 96026 Green Park – Westminster
96105, 96004 Westminster – Waterloo
96079, 96052 Waterloo – Southwark
96012, 96077 Southwark – Waterloo

That was a good hour. I needed a pint to so went up to get one at a nearby pub. Then to the station for some food. A Bacon Double Cheese Burger Meal was devoured and then onto the concourse. There was a problem. The 1920 to Exeter was cancelled (signalling problem in Wimbledon area). I was in potential trouble now. A member of the gate line said I needed to go the help point to find out my options (the 2035 to Plymouth from Paddington sprung to mind!). They directed me to the ticket office. The display calling people to the ticket window wasn’t working and when I got to the front I went to a window once it became free. I was told quite bluntly by the women on the other side “I’m not ready. I will call when I am”. Now I know there is a lot of pressure on rail workers but a “sorry” wouldn’t have gone amiss!

I waited a little longer and saw a different person. I explained my train was cancelled and I needed to get to Plymouth. I also explained I had split my tickets (perfectly legal) at Axminster. He looked at it long and hard for a while. I said was there anywhere my ticket could be endorsed to go via Reading? He called over someone else and basically he said no. Because I had split my ticket I apparently had no rights and GWR at this moment weren’t accepting other operator tickets anyway.

This was no time for me to get into the nitty gritty details or arguing I needed to get home! I went back out on the concourse and was about to head to Paddington. In the past I have had good experiences with GWR and it’s predecessors with ticket acceptance. Once more I looked up at the board! 1920 delayed! No longer cancelled. Then it flashed to 1930 departure. I went and got on! Luckily I got a seat. It was absolutely rammed!

We left 16 minutes down! Now originally the train would have been timetabled into Exeter at 2247. That gave me 20 minutes before the train to Plymouth. I was now on a +4 but, and this was a big but, lots of single line running ahead so more inevitable delays! I was on the train though and it was now up to the TOCs to get me home. If I missed the train at Exeter someone I was very valid.

159013 led 159106 to Salisbury where the later was detached. We left Salisbury 13 minutes down. A +7, but it was now single line running. We got delayed pretty much as soon as approached Tisbury. We lost a few minutes there. The next point of delay was Axminster East Junction. Another three minutes lost! A +1! Was never going to make it.

For some reason I find SWT aren’t the speediest TOC at saving time at stations. At some shacks no one got off or on. Lets go!!!!! This guard though on this occasion to be fair did his best! We managed to gain two minutes before losing one somewhere. We got to Exeter Central and we were off! We rolled down the hill and for this service it’s slower than most as we cross over to platform 2! My train was on time and already in (led by 43002 with 43161 on the rear). I pegged it over to Platform 4 (normally this is a cross platform change during the day!) and jumped on! I made it! How I do not know but I didn’t care!

20160928-Plymouth-43002 by Steven Booth, on Flickr

Well despite the rather unnerving end to the day, a good day with what I achieved. 24 winning units and 19 new shacks. The LU network was a little closer to being cleared also. One more push and it would be done I reckon. 487 miles added to my September total. In fact September was my best month unsurprisingly for miles! 5577 miles in all which as things stand is a quarter of my total so far this year!

 

[FQ]

Sounds like a good few days there! Very lucky with the Exeter connection at the end of the day too!

 

[Kite159]

Apart from the bit of a farce at the end of the day it sounded like a good trip to London.

 

[Techniquest]

That was exceptionally lucky at the end, I'd have been recovering my breath until Dawlish!

Exceptionally good time in the Lowlands there, well jealous!

 

[noddy1878]

4th/5th October 2016
Another trip to London with a mate, and we had one thing on our mind. Try and get as many winners as possible. No shacks just as units as possible with a few that have a limited time left high on the agenda. The day would involve a but of everything from mainline to light rail.

I left home about 2315 and made my way to the station. My mate had come down from Exeter and met me there. Not long after 57604 arrived. Not 57605? Having issues apparently. Right time arrival and more sleep than normal into Paddington, we headed out to Liverpool street.

21451, 21452 Paddington – Great Portland Street
21531, 21532 Great Portland Street – Euston Square
21355, 21356 Euston Square – Kings Cross St Pancras
21461, 21462 Kings Cross St Pancras – Euston Square
21469, 21470 Euston Square – Farringdon
21560, 21559 Farringdon – Barbican
21445, 21446 Barbican – Liverpool Street

My mate had more success than me with that lot but at least I got one. Now we had managed to get hold of some gen and the news was potentially good with some of the GA units we needed (they were different requirements too). I planned my moves for the next couple of hours and so did my mate. As it turned out we were able to stay together for most of it.

We headed upstairs and saw one of my required 317s ready and waiting. My mate spotted a LO 317 he needed and a quick check saw that we could take it forward for the unit I needed behind. It got better for him too!

We walked passed his required 317891 to see what was on front. Required 317887! We couldn’t believe it! Of his four LO 317 units needed two were on the same train! We took this to Hackney Downs and then waited for the train behind. 317505 and 317652 duly arrived and we took this to Enfield Lock. The next unit should be good too if all went to plan. It was!

317650 led 317513 and we bailed at Tottenham Hale. Next up was 317672 to Stratford. My mate bailed at Lea Valley to go after another unit he needed whilst I went to Stratford. I had a long time before my next bit of gen would be anywhere back near London.

I waited for a while just watching the 12 coach Dusty Bins head on into London! After 20 minutes and letting quite a few trains pass, finally 321318! Yes! My final GA 321! It was leading 321351 and 321338 and off I went into Central London. With that done I now I had one GA unit left to find! Just one! If my gen was correct I needed to be at Tottenham Hale asap. I jumped onto 379018 and 379026. At Tottenham Hale I met my mate and we waited for the next and hopefully good unit into Liverpool Street.

317515 led 317668 and off we went. I had now cleared the GA units for haulage and now need just three 90s! A very good morning so far and it wasn’t even 0900! My mate had somewhere else he needed to be so I headed to the Central line for a bit. We had arranged to meet at 1000 for breakfast. The following moves took me out to Leytonstone and back with some productive results.

92225, 92262, 92250, 92303 Liverpool Street – Bethnal Green
92227, 92006, 92078, 92161 Bethnal Green – Mile End
92043, 92460, 92410, 92191 Mile End – Stratford
92035, 92283, 92110, 92105 Stratford – Leyton
92249, 92242, 92200, 92041 Leyton – Leytonstone
92275, 92114, 92074, 92157 Leytonstone – Leyton
92123, 92264, 92158, 92155 Leyton – Stratford
92031, 92066, 92030, 92013 Stratford – Mile End
92019, 92052, 92434, 92165 Mile End – Bethnal Green
92295, 92254, 92462, 92131 Bethnal Green – Liverpool Street

After breakfast we split once more and arranged to meet at Finsbury Park. My mate had tracked down his last 317 on the Great Northern side and seeing as though I needed it too made sense to go for it.

My moves were as followed. I should have just headed straight to the Piccadilly line but got sidetracked at Farringdon for ages with no success. Nevermind.

21037, 21038 Liverpool Street – Farringdon
21560, 21559 Farringdon – King's Cross St Pancras
21110, 21109 King's Cross St Pancras – Farringdon
21426, 21425 Farringdon – King's Cross St Pancras
211, 202 King's Cross St Pancras – Caledonian Road
243, 214 Caledonian Road – Holloway Road
155, 228 Holloway Road – Arsenal
246, 109 Arsenal – Finsbury Park

I got to Finsbury Park about 8 minutes before the train we were going for was due. I didn’t think my mate was going to turn up but he did right at the last second! We got on to 317339 and 317343 (turned out I needed the other half too!) keeping an eye out for what would be my last two 321/4. They only tend to work in the peaks so no sight of it.

After we arrived into Kings Cross we decided that we would come back later. We would try and see if the 321s we needed were out. My mate needed one (I also needed it) and I needed one other. Until then it was back underground!

116, 223 King's Cross St Pancras – Russell Square
229, 155 Russell Square – Holborn
105, 172 Holborn – Covent Garden
153, 220 Covent Garden – Leicester Square
101, 108 Leicester Square – Covent Garden
199, 154 Covent Garden – Leicester Square
209, 882 Leicester Square – Piccadilly Circus
147, 220 Piccadilly Circus – Green Park
96025, 96036 Green Park – Westminster
96087, 96018 Westminster – Waterloo
96071, 96088 Waterloo – Southwark
96121, 96122 Southwark – London Bridge
96062, 96117 London Bridge – Southwark
96113, 96006 Southwark – London Bridge
96059, 96008 London Bridge – Bermondsey
96061, 96016 Bermondsey – Canada Water
96019, 96106 Canada Water – Canary Wharf
96031, 96118 Canary Wharf – Stratford

Needing completely different stuff we arranged to meet at Stratford should we end up apart. This happened after Covent Garden! Once we reconvened at Startford it was onto 360120, my mates last 360 for haulage which we took to London Liverpool Street.

With that done we wanted to hit the DLR for a bit. It was down to the Central Line and 92145, 92194, 92172, 92139 took us to Bank. From there the following moves were made until such time we needed to be heading to Kings Cross for the start of the evening peak there.

31, 48, 64 Bank – Shadwell
98, 40, 57 Shadwell – Limehouse
80, 54, 12 Limehouse – Westferry
123, 117, 155 Westferry – Poplar
83, 55 Poplar – Canary Wharf
59, 25, 92 Canary Wharf – Heron Quays
02, 65, 94 Heron Quays – South Quay
58, 87, 14 South Quays – Crossharbour
131, 105 Crossharbour – Mudchute
52, 22, 61 Mudchute – Island Gardens
111, 101, 125 Island Gardens – Mudchute
127, 150, 139 Mudchute – Island Gardens
56, 72, 69 Island Gardens – Cutty Sark
38, 16, 42 Cutty Sark – Greenwich
109, 145, 112 Greenwich – Bank

We were a little tight on time (well it felt like it was!) and we jumped onto 51634, 51633 at Bank for a Northern Line train to Kings Cross. As it so happened we had about 5 minutes by the time we had reached the platform we needed. The gen we had found out was correct and 321410 led 321404 away from Kings Cross which we both needed. We got off at Finsbury Park. My mate had now cleared the GTR 321s and was heading off somewhere else. I hung around as I knew where my final GTR 321 was! I killed time with some fill in moves that worked an absolute treat!

I got onto winning 365515 and headed back into London. As we came in I spotted a pair of 317s. 317345 was the one I got the number of. I needed it so that was good. I started making my way to the platform it was on and happy days! 317344 was on the rear! Off to Finsbury Park once more and a short wait for 365537 to take me back to the cross!

I came in on platform 0 so made my way over to 8 where a pair of dusty bins awaited. 321408 on the back and………321401 on the front! My final 321/4! I now only had 2 left to clear the fleet and they’re up in Leeds! As I left I spotted a pair of 317s arriving. I only got one of them but I needed it! A quick check of RTT confirmed I could get to Finsbury park and back in time. 313057 and 313044 did the honours before once more I was off to Finsbury Park for the last time today with 317342 and the other one I hadn't seen 317346! Needed both!

Finally my train back topped a fantastically productive day! 317340 and 317341 saw me clear my 317s! I couldn’t believe it! I was pleased to have managed this as although I know there will be off to Greater Anglia for a while it meant I didn’t have to go looking for them. The same could be said of the 321s too although only half of them are going to GA as far as I know and the other 6 are not allocated as of yet!

It was now time to head back to Paddington.

21057, 21058 King's Cross St Pancras – Euston Square
21439, 21440 Euston Square – Baker Street
21509, 21510 Baker Street – Edgware Road
21540, 21539 Edgware Road – Paddington

Having met up again with my mate we went off in search of food. We went to the chippy and then went for a pint before 43021 and 43070 took us back home!

A great day! 64 winners! 317s cleared. All the London based 321s cleared! A big dent in my requirements in London so was very happy!

 

[55013]

A grand day in London.
I must make an attempt at those 317s and 321s that work out of the Cross, I need almost all of them.

 

[Kite159]

A very good day in London, clearing the NSE 321s plus the 317s is an excellent day.

Plus a lot of LU units (and now with the cooler days the deep level tube won't be so evil)

Hopefully those last few GA 90s will show up the next time you are in London.

 

[noddy1878]

I think I will wait until I head out to East Anglia before looking for the 90s again. Have a proper go on them.

 

[Kite159]

I think I will wait until I head out to East Anglia before looking for the 90s again. Have a proper go on them.

I'm waiting for a Sunday where the GEML is actually open to have a good run with a 90 towards Norwich to get West Runton into the book (on the 3rd attempt). For me it is more chance of scoring something required (either a 90 or a 321, as the only units around Cambridge I need are 2x 156s and the chances of them popping up on a Cambridge - Norwich are quite slim)

 

[Techniquest]

Wow! What an exceptionally brilliant day that was! Clearing all but 2 of the 321s on its own was good, but to also clear the GN 317s is nicely done. Add in all the LU moves and the DLR too and what a top turnout that was for you. Well jealous, and I want to get to London asap!

 

[D841 Roebuck]

That's an excellent day in London. Well done.

 

[FQ]

Sounds like an incredibly productive day there! Congrats on clearing the 317s and the London based 321s!

 

[noddy1878]

12/13th October 2016
A normal night move from Plymouth to Paddington with 57604 (I think it was jealous that I was always getting 605! I never seem to get 603 and 602 is broken as far as I know). I was on my own for this trip so it was more station orientated. The main aim of the day was to clear the shacks on the Underground.

We arrived into Paddington on time. I was hungry so went and got a Maccy Ds breakfast. Good job I did. I had toyed with the idea of having breakfast at the new spoons in Northolt. With that in mind I looked at the Chiltern shacks in the area and came up with a way to clear Northolt Park, Sudbury Hill Harrow and Sudbury & Harrow Road.

First up then was 21481/482 from Paddington to Notting Hill Gate. It was then down the central line. I had loads of time and nothing was heading West, so headed the wrong way. 92019, 92052, 92014 and 92165 were had to Queensway. I waited here for a while and something was wrong. There was still nothing coming. The westbound train had been on 20 mins for 10 mins. Eventually an announcement was made and due to a train fire the Central line had in effect fallen over. Foiled my plans and we hadn’t even got to 0600 yet!

Change of plan then I couldn’t get the three shacks on the Chiltern in now so I decided to leave that till the evening. So i headed east one more stop to Bond Street on 92183, 92182, 92056 and 92251. It was then onto the Jubilee to Baker Street on 96036 and 96025. It was then the short walk to Marylebone.

I was now going to head up towards the Zones 8 and 9 part of the Met. 165018 and winner 165028 took me to Harrow on the Hill. Good move as the next met train was winner 21025/026 heading to Watford. I bailed at Croxley for 21069/070 behind to Moor Park. Next was 21053/054 to Rickmansworth which was a new shack when using the Met. The next train north was 165004 with winner 165025. At Amersham it was onto 21054/053 once more to Pinner, both shacks needed for Met usage.

21099/100 were then were then had to North Harrow. That was all the LU shacks cleared on the Met. Whilst I was up here I decided I would fester for a bit. I jumped on 21074/073 to Harrow on the Hill where I was prepared to move platform should I need to! I didn’t.

A few minutes later 21023/024 rolled in and I was off to Northwick Park. My next few moves were made over the next hour off the island platforms.

21093/094 Northwick Park – Preston Road
21013/014 Preston Road – Northwick Park
21048/047 Northwick Park - King’s Cross St Pancras

After an hour I had decided to head out for my last LU shacks. I bailed at King’s Cross for a Hammersmith train. The one behind was winning 21543/544 which I took to Upton Park. It was then over to the other side for winning 21553/554 to Plaistow for my last LU shack!

Next up was some DLR. The aim, to clear the shacks.

148, 126 West Ham – Abbey Road
50, 92 Abbey Road – Canning Town
08, 86, 84 Canning Town – Gallions Reach
61, 22 Gallions Reach – Prince Regent
30, 52 Prince Regent – Royal Albert
84, 86, 08 Royal Albert – Canning Town
138, 143 Canning Town – Pontoon Dock
76, 37, 29 Pontoon Dock – West Silvertown
50, 92 West Silvertown – King George
67, 48, 88 King George – London City Airport
126, 148 London City Airport – Woolwich Arsenal

I had done it. Or had I? I realised when I got home that my PDF file on my phone which I had used to mark off shacks was wrong. I still had two left. More annoyingly I passed through them whilst do the moves above! Ah well, I need to go back for the last 25 or so units. It was a relief when reading Tech’s recent reports that I wasn’t the only one who thought having cleared something I realised I hadn’t!

Having got to Woolwich Arsenal it was time for a bit South Eastern shack scratching with the following moves.

465004, 465028 Woolwich Arsenal - Abbey Wood
466024, 465171 Abbey Wood – Plumstead
465169, 465159 Plumstead – Erith
465165 Erith – Belvedere
465250, 465239 Belvedere – Maze Hill
465171, 466024 Maze Hill – Woolwich Dockyard
376007, 376029 Woolwich Dockyard – Westcombe Park
465048, 465014 Westcombe Park – Deptford
465152, 465016 Deptford - Greenwich
65, 87, 14 Greenwich – Lewisham
465036 Lewisham – Welling
465023 Welling - Falconwood
466025, 465039, 465005 Falconwood – Kidbrooke
466012, 465010 Kidbrooke – Eltham
465152, 465016 Eltham – London Cannon Street.

My second numpty move of the day was Lewisham to Welling. I got off had a horrible feeling I had been here before. I then checked and I had. Doh! I was hungry now having missed lunch. From Cannon Street went down to the Underground and headed to Blackfriars on winning 21449/450. Upstairs was winning 700111 with which a short hop to Farringdon for a curry in the spoons.

After a well need meal, it was back to the tube and onto Marylebone. I had a bit of time and let a few units go as I made my way. 21561/562 was had to King’s Cross St Pancras before 21062/063 to Baker Street.

At Marylebone I waited for the announcement of what would be my train to Sudbury Hill Harrow. 168329 was the unit in charge. Excellent. At Sudbury Hill Harrow I then had 30 odd minutes to walk back to Sudbury & Harrow Road. From here 172104 was had to Northolt Park, my final winning shack of the day.

I then went off to visit the new spoons here (had a gorgeous Vanilla Stout) before another walk on to Greenford. I decided the Central line would be my route back towards London as I should get more winners this way.

92189, 92234, 92118, 92147 Greenford – North Acton
92205, 92458, 92422, 92309 North Acton – East Acton
92255, 92424, 92002, 92309 East Acton – White City
92161, 92078, 92006, 92227 White City – Notting Hill Gate
21488, 21487 Notting Hill Gate – Paddington

It was a desperately nervous last 20 minutes! The central line was moving along quite nicely until I got to White City. I had 45 minutes before my Plymouth train left at this stage! By the time I got to Paddington I had a +2! I made it to the platform my train was due off but it had been delayed anyway! Apparently a train had broken down somewhere on the Central Line and everything was being held up, but I made it.

43171 led 43170 home to Plymouth for the end of another good day. 45 winners in total, and 26 new shacks.

 

[Cowley]

45 winners in a day and 26 shacks. That's pretty good going. Living in Plymouth you must have amassed quite some mileage on our 125s by now.

I remember racing to Paddington in a panic when Mrs Cowley and I were booked 1st class coming home and we'd misjudged how long it would take to get back from Canary Wharf on the boat, we bailed at the Tower of London and found a cab, told the guy our predicament to which he said "no chance, but I'll give it a go". After racing through the city we made it by the very skin of our teeth and the taxi driver (who got a big tip) said he'd never got across London so quick in his life!
This would be a crap story if we'd missed the train of course

 

[Kite159]

A very good day in London racking up both units and shacks, well done for clearing LU

 

[FQ]

An excellent day there! The central line must have been madness in the morning peak with the train fire! Congrats on clearing LU for shacks too - it must have been really annoying with DLR though!

 

[noddy1878]

45 winners in a day and 26 shacks. That's pretty good going. Living in Plymouth you must have amassed quite some mileage on our 125s by now.

I remember racing to Paddington in a panic when Mrs Cowley and I were booked 1st class coming home and we'd misjudged how long it would take to get back from Canary Wharf on the boat, we bailed at the Tower of London and found a cab, told the guy our predicament to which he said "no chance, but I'll give it a go". After racing through the city we made it by the very skin of our teeth and the taxi driver (who got a big tip) said he'd never got across London so quick in his life!
This would be a crap story if we'd missed the train of course

at that! I agree if you'd missed it, it would be a completely different story! I have amassed over 45k miles on HST since 2010 and 13k off the 57s. I know some of it is with other operators but it is mainly GWR.

A very good day in London racking up both units and shacks, well done for clearing LU

Thanks

An excellent day there! The central line must have been madness in the morning peak with the train fire! Congrats on clearing LU for shacks too - it must have been really annoying with DLR though!

DLR was annoying but I felt a bit better after discovering it wasn't just me that did that sort of thing.

 

[Techniquest]

When that happened to me with the Metro shacks, the look of disgust on my face was unreal. Then the anger at myself kicked in and I seem to recall banging the seat next to me on 170205! So you can imagine when I discovered you'd made a similar mistake it was a relief.

It does go to show that it doesn't matter how long you've been in the hobby for, how many miles you've covered or how full your books are, novice mistakes are easy to make!

Some more fantastic reading as always there, I wouldn't have fancied being on the Central line that morning! Very good fortune with making the train home too.

As for GWR HST mileage, my own figures are quite significant. When I last looked over a year ago I had 44,000 on HSTs. Since then I suspect that number now applies just to GWR HSTs.

 

[noddy1878]

22nd October 2016 - Spa Valley Railway Diesel Gala
Quite a while back my parents had proposed going to London for the weekend. Me and my dad would be allowed to do what we wanted on the Saturday whilst my wife went off with my Mum. Originally a travel card was the plan but while on one of my regular checks of the PLEG website, I noticed that the Spa Valley Railway was having a diesel gala and Beer Festival the weekend we were in London. The bonus, not a million miles from London!

An early start as I had a spoons plan built into the day. After a disaster in the bathroom where I managed to flood it with an inch of water (to cut a long story short the shower curtain prevented water draining quicker than the shower was chucking it out! I realised after a minute but was too late!), I met my dad in the foyer of the hotel just after 0600 and we headed out to King’s Cross St Pancras. We had a wonder round The Cross to see what was about and then headed to the tube. We went and got our travel cards for Zones 1 to 6 and went for the trains. We had timed it just right and 51678 and 51677 took us to London Bridge.

This was the first time I had been here for a while and boy hasn’t it changed! A massive (and clearly not finished) open space leading to the platforms. We went to the ticket office and got boundary zone 6 to Crowborough return tickets. It was then upstairs to the platforms. Disappointingly 171804 arrived and that would be our train to Crowborough. The weather was looking promising (if a bit chilly which was not good as I couldn’t wear my jump which was the only victim of the the flooded bathroom!). We got to Crowborough and started on our trek (and boy was it that!) up the hill to the town centre!

A well deserved full english was devoured and it was to the bus stop outside the pub! A few minutes late, a bus turned up and it was onto to Eridge. We got our day rovers which incidentally was a bargain with my CAMRA membership (£15 against £22!). A little while later Thumper 1317 turned and on we got, as near to the front as possible!

20161022-Eridge-1317 by Steven Booth, on Flickr

Once we were off what a great sounding noise! As we approached Groombridge we came to a stop outside the station in the loop. We had to wait for the late approaching train. When it arrived it was not what was planned. It should have been the visiting 26, D5310. It was D3489 though. Hmmmm. This threw the plan into an unknown.

Once the Gronk had continued on it’s way we moved into the station and then onto Tunbridge. Once at Tunbridge we were off the Thumper and quickly round to the other platform (I use the term platform loosely here as it has temporary steps onto the train). It was now 31289 in charge and all the way too Eridge. At the passing point 33063 had bought the other train back. I had also found out that the 26 had failed after a traction motor problem after it went bang the night before!

20161022-Tunbridge Wells West-D3489 by Steven Booth, on Flickr

Now it was time for D3489 to go in the book, earlier than planned but what a beasty gronk! It made some noise and I would definitely be getting a few more miles out of it now the 26 was no longer out! Once back at Tunbridge 33063 was put onto the train and off we went once again. 33063 I had had before the last (and only time) I had done the Spa Valley. We got off at Groombridge and went and got our Beer glasses and tokens.

The beer festival is well organised and cleverly done. There are beers available at Tunbridge (the main part), Groombridge and Eridge which encourages the festival goers only to use the train to get to the other part of the festival! Win win for the railway! We had a couple of drinks from Groombridge and got something to eat. We let 31289, which was now coming back, go on as the next train to Eridge should be the two Gronks together. It was and 09026 was also now in the book.

20161022-Groombridge-D3489 by Steven Booth, on Flickr


20161022-Eridge-09026 by Steven Booth, on Flickr

31289 was the next arrival into Eridge.

20161022-Eridge-31289 by Steven Booth, on Flickr

It was then the two Gronks back to Tunbridge where we went and got some more beer and lunch! A burger went down a treat! It was more Gronk action now to High Rocks for the last shack required on the line. There was a pub here and obviously the way to the High Rocks but we stayed put having got another beer on the train before we bailed. D9537 was next up to Tunbridge.

One last chance to go and spend my beer tokens we headed back into the Engine Shed. It was then to the last train of the day on the Spa Valley, D9537 back to Eridge.

20161022-Eridge-D9537 by Steven Booth, on Flickr

We then went over to the other side to see the train off whilst we waited for train back to London.

20161022-Eridge-31289(2) by Steven Booth, on Flickr

171802 duly arrived and off we went back to London. We wanted to dump our stuff before anything else. 51562 and 51561 we had to King’s Cross from London Bridge before 51675 and 51676 back (it was where we were meeting my wife and mum). We then went off for dinner with my sister and brother in law.

An enjoyable day! A diesel gala and Beer Festival! What more could you ask for? Four new locos, a DEMU and four Northern units chucked in for good measure!

 

[FQ]

Sounds like a great day there but that ped is in a weird livery.

 

[Techniquest]

31289 looks a little odd in that blue livery! A rather good day had though, clearly!

 

[Cowley]

What livery is that? It looks like an old Triang model (there's one for the young'uns), I assume it's not finished yet, although continuing the NSE theme maybe they're going for calling it 'The Spa Valley railway' and painting it like 73004...

Loved the Thumper photo