London Mega Spot - Day 1 (15/2/17
Right then, off we go! A note that, to keep the length of this respectable, sighting logs at certain locations are hyperlinked. Rest assured all hyperlinks are to screenshots only, nothing else!
With the missus kindly taking me to Disley for the 0627 it was all aboard
150274 first up for the familiar journey down to Stockport. I alighted here, with the good lady staying on into Piccadilly to do an early days work. With 15 or so minutes at Stockport I took the opportunity to get the travel mug filled up for the first time on the trip (lemon and ginger to wake me up!) courtesy of Starbucks, then waited for
390013 to pull in a couple late for the first trip down to London in a while. Busy service, people drawn to it by the fact it runs express to Euston, but thankfully my allocated seat was a window one in a bay of four, with just a lady opposite for company. Nothing to get the pulse racing really on the way down, indeed after a pleasant chat with the aforementioned lady I stuck the Guardian football podcast on which passed the time until Watford. Freight en-route was sparse:
- 92044 6S94 Dollands MoorCarlisle N.Y
- 66525 4O14 Garston-Southampton
- 66590 4L41 Basford Hall-Felixstowe
Wembley sidings were rather quiet, but happily one of the three locos there was required
66102, the first winner of the trip. As Euston approached I also noted
350261 on its way up to Northampton (thanks to the TOPS thread for the heads up on this one).
From here it was down to the Northern line for the short journey to Charing Cross for my meeting. Id allowed plenty of time for this, reckoning upon the usual rush hour traffic, but the tube was eerily quiet, and I was out into the gloomy London air with 25 minutes to kill. I thus went for a quick sweep of the Charing Cross heavy rail platforms, scoring the
first Southeastern winners of the trip.
With that it was into the office, not to reappear until 1545.
Once I did reappear it was back onto the Northern line, changing at Tottenham Court Road for a long but pleasant walk to the Central line through the refurbished part of the station, which Id yet to experience. From here it was up to Stratford and, after a brief bit of confusion as to what platform I needed, it was aboard
315822+315823 for the cramped run up to Ilford.
The hotel (a decent Travelodge all told, recommended) was a couple of minutes away, and after changing out of the work attire it was back to Ilford for the above 315s to take me back to Stratford, where I alighted to fight my way through the shoppers and into Stratford International for some Eurostar and Javelin action. The nature of the station means the darkness descended very quickly, which in turn made it very cold all of a sudden. Nonetheless I made decent headway here over the next hour or so. Id been forewarned that the 373/4s passed through at a fair old lick but, one St Pancras-Lille working aside the rest actually crawled through fairly slowly, which was handy. The end result was
ten 395s, a couple of 373s and four 374s.
Hungry and a wee bit cold, it was time to head back through Westfield, stopping for a frankly average Greek wrap thing on the way, and to platforms 9/10 to set up camp for the remainder of the evening.
Plenty of comings and goings here, with my chosen spot allowing for easy identification of everything bar the TfL Rail services via platform 5. No issue though, as they were back through on platform 8 15 minutes or so later. The 90s rattling through caught me off guard initially, but I soon got into the swing of things. Highlight was getting the final GA 360,
360117 chalked off towards the end of the night.
There was also a plethora of freight through platforms 10/10a, which had a couple of winners in the mix for good measure, as well as
92033 in its sleeper livery doing some proper graft on the car carriers:
- 59005 6L21 Whatley Quarry-Dagenham
- 66558 4L10 London Gateway-Coatbridge
- 90043 4L90 Basford Hall-Felixstowe
- 66593 4S88 Felixstowe-Coatbridge
- 66762 4L18 Trafford Park-Felixstowe
- 66764 4M02 Felixstowe-Hams Hall
- 66121 4L40 Morris Cowley-Purfleet
- 66548 4M89 Felixstowe-Ditton
- 66514+516 4M92 Felixstowe-Lawley Street
- 66006 6V31 Dagenham Dock-Didcot
- 66182 4L56 Trafford Park-London Gateway
- 66104 4L10 Birch Coppice-London Gateway
- 66532 4M37 London Gateway-Garston
- 92033 6L48 Garston-Dagenham
- 66556 4L73 Lawley Street-Felixstowe
By this point it was 2245 so, in anticipation of a big day to come, it was onto
315824 and back to the hotel.
London Mega Spot - Day 2 (16/2/17)
Up at 0630 and out for the 0703 from Ilford it as again an interchange at Stratford, heading onto the Central line for the run to Oxford Circus before northwards on the Bakerloo to Marleybone. Regents Park brought back memories of the daily commute! Onto the main concourse at Marleybone first stop was Boots for some hair wax (Id left mine at home) and, after a bit of preening(!) I was onto the mainline platforms to see what Chiltern had to offer. Straight into the winners enclosure went
68002 & 68018, top and tailing the slam door stock, with the DVT also present. I believe this was due to the fact they do not have the required mods to operate with the slam doors?
After that it was basically
165s all the way, save for a few 168s later on. A young lad, who I assume had got dressed in the dark he was that shabby, was eagerly snapping away at one of the 68s, which sadly alerted a rather over-zealous security guard who asked me what my intentions were. Sadly my explanation that I just wanted to watch some trains wasnt the answer he was looking for, and I was asked to leave. I contemplate kicking up a fuss, but decided with other spots to hit to just leave him be.
Bakerloo line to Paddington next up, where the usual platform sweep was undertaken to score
43177 and
180108, as well as
387135+137, my ride out to Ealing Broadway. Still smelling new, the pair were very impressive, until I sat down. Good lord the seats are dreadful. I pity anybody making any kind of prolonged journey on them! As we headed out towards Ealing I noted
66759 taking its turn as the Crossrail donkey,
387141 on North Pole, and
59101 at Acton Yard, but sadly still no 800s, all undertaking testing elsewhere. As Ealing Broadway approached I had a sudden change of heart and, despite the crap seats, stayed onboard until Southall instead, hoping for some required WCR stock. The gamble paid off as both
37516 and
47237 were busy readying themselves for action. Southall itself was
decent enough in terms of sightlines for the 43s roaring through, but the undoubted highlight here was
360201 pulling in, which cleared both the class and Heathrow Connect in the process.
Freight was confined to
66150 working 6L56 Didcot-Dagenham, as well as
66730 on 6V56 Wellingborough-Whatley.
After 90 minutes I was in need of a wee, so hopped aboard
360202, alighting at Ealing Broadway for said PNB, followed by some porridge and a hot chocolate. After that I took up residence in the shelter on platform 3 to take a
few more numbers down. Sadly my work at Southall meant there was very little on the slows that required my attention, with only the 43s approaching from the west of any real use. A good bit of freight kept things interesting:
- 59206+203 7A09 Merehead-Acton
- 66102 4B38 Acton-Moreton
- 66588 4L31 Bristol-Felixstowe
- 66719 6Z59 Calvert-Cricklewood
- 66613 6M91 Theale-Hope
- 66092 6Z85 Hayes Tarmac-Acton
Clapham Junction was next on the agenda, so it was onto the Central line, before changing at Shepherds Bush for
378214 to the Junction, picking up
59205 waiting for us to cross at Latchmere Junction as it worked 6V18 from Allington to Whatley. Clapham arrived, but I wasnt for hanging around, as instead I was off to Streatham Common to have a look around my old home suburb.
377603 did the honours for the journey, whilst the journey also threw up
377438 and
377471 (Wandsworth Common),
377310, 377618, 377701 and
387201 (Balham), and
377328 (Streatham Common). Exiting the station the memories came flooding back (to be fair, Ive only been gone 2 years), and I hopped aboard the 60 to Streatham itself, before wandering leisurely up Stretham High Road, snapping away at things of interest, including my old house. Very little has changed, but it was nice to see the old stomping ground again.
It was getting on for 1400 by now, and I wanted to get a decent stint in at Clapham, so it was into Streatham Hill and a short wait for
377107+
315 back down to the hubbub of Britains busiest station. Once there it was straight over to the London end of platforms 9/10, which served me well last time I was there, and allowed for pretty decent views across most lines. Its obviously too busy to get everything that passes through, but I figured most of the Southern units would come back around a number if times, so I mainly focused on the SWT workings, particularly the long distance stuff which Id only get one crack at in some cases. What followed was manic, with the
red pen taking a right hammering for over three hours. The highlight was getting four of the new 707s in the book.
004+006 were first up, heading out of the yard for a quick wash, before heading back in again.
003+005 arrived 90 minutes or so later having been undertaking testing between London and Reading. All looked very impressive, but as with the 387s earlier the seats look suspiciously like ironing boards! Speaking of 387s, one of my final winners at Clapham was the pairing of
387142+145 on a mammoth test run from Bletchley to Brighton and back. Freight was more sparse, understandably, but I did get
66051 on 6V00 Newhaven-Acton, and
66847 on Hoo-Eastleigh.
1800 was now fast approaching, so I reckoned it'd be a good time to go 'against the flow' and head into Waterloo aboard
5910. From here it was the Jubilee to West Ham, followed by the hop up to Barking aboard
357023+044 for some c2c action, mixed with more freight. Having never been to Barking before it took a while to work out the best vantage point, but eventually settled upon platforms 5/6. It did mean risking getting bowled by the S7s, but they dont hang around for long each time so I was pretty safe. A good 90 minutes here produced a
surprisingly high number of winners, particularly in light of the number Id snaffled when in London in June, but hey, not complaining! Freight was just the following trio on working similar to the previous night at Stratford:
- 66599 4S83 London Gateway-Coatbridge
- 59005 6L21 Whatley-Dagenham Dock
- 66120 4L40 Cowley-Purfleet
Rather interestingly, and with little publicity or fanfare, it was announced at around 2000 that, due to engineering work between Fenchurch Street and Barking, all services were now diverting to/from Liverpool Street for the remainder of the evening. Much consternation followed amongst a number of those on the platform, but it offered me a much quicker route home, so I was more than happy to hop aboard
357039+
015 at 2024 and then get
315836 back to Ilford.
London Mega Spot - Day 3 (17/2/17)
The last full day in London, so it was up and out for 0707, and the non-stop run to Stratford on board
315853.
321320 was added to the book as we pulled away. At Stratford it was the long walk across to the Overground platforms and a cosy
378201, which took me to Highbury & Islington. Here it was a tossup between tube or 313, but with 8 minutes until the latter I opted for the tube and a quick hop up to Finsbury Park. I was intending to set up camp here for a few hours, but half the place is a building sight, so I made a snap decision to head out to the more tranquil surroundings of Hornsey again, ala June.
Good decision all told as it got me a whole heap of stuff on the depot (indeed a surprisingly large amount given it was morning peak!), as well as a good number of Great Northern winners.
66013 also showed its face, some three hours late, on 6L99 Peak Forest-Ripple Lane, and
37027 was present throughout at Ferme Sidings with a NR test train. No VTEC or Grand Central winners during the two hours I was there, so I fired off some requests to the TOPS thread, before heading back to Finsbury Park aboard
313061. Here I had 5 minutes or so before
387101 took me to Kings Cross, just long enough to get
387104 in the log, along with the last VTEC DVT,
82231.
The Cross soon arrived, I got
67021 in the sidings, which I think had worked the previous nights sleeper, as well as
90034, the latest hired-in 90 for VTEC. Speaking of hired-in locos, I also spied the latest EMT 43s giving VTEC a hand, namely
43044 &
43082. No time to hand around however, it was across to St Pancras, undertaking the usual sweep of the Eurostar platforms to get
3008, 3202, 3211 &
3214, before heading down to the Thameslink platforms for the clinical smelling
700018, my maiden journey aboard a 700. Very impressive all told, with the PIS offering all manner of useful information and a smooth ride. Again I would question the seats if undertaking a journey much beyond, say, St Albans, but I think thats a given on new units these days.
Once at West Hampstead Thameslink I made the north end of platforms 2/3 home for a while, picking off a
good variety of 43s, 222s, 319s, 377s and 700s. Indeed I am now down to just the one remaining 222 and four of the EMT 43s. There was a glorious moment when
43076+082 roared through platform 3, the noise and smell was fantastic. Pretty busy freight-wise as well:
- 66013 6M22 Cricklewood-Calvert
- 66143 6Z81 Angerstein-Churchyard Tarmac
- 66145 6F93 Churchyard Tarmac-Toton
- 66719 6Z59 Calvert-Cricklewood
Just before midday I got word of four requirements heading towards Kings Cross for the afternoon, so made a rough plan to head back down into the city fairly soon afterwards aboard
700106. It was quickly up to Kings Cross to capture
43465 (leaving one GC 43 to find), before
43300 arrived shortly afterwards. With that it was back to West Hampstead for another hour or so,
319007 doing the conveying this time. A few more winners added, although by now the duds were appearing with more regularity, and when 1431 came it was time to bid a final farewell to the MML, once more back to Kings Cross thanks to
700108 this time. Again I was hunting VTEC locos, with
43238 and
91127 added to the days growing list of winners. The latter is particularly significant, as it means the 91s are now cleared for sight.
From Kings Cross it was a straightforward move down to London Bridge next, via a sparsely populated Northern line.
After trekking for what I can only assume was 5 miles up through the building works to the new lower concourse (which was very impressive, I must say), I had to try and work out where would be best to start my assault on Southeastern units. I initially plumped for the platform 8/9 island, but that proved a little difficult in terms of sight lines for those workings that ran non-stop through platforms 5/6, so I instead swiftly moved across to the adjacent island, platform 6/7, which was far better. I settled in then for a good couple of hours, initially focusing upon everything going in and out, no mean feat, before then switching to just the inbound services after 30 minutes or so.
The results were fantastic, as youd expect from a ToC Id previously only seen 10 units from. I probably missed a couple of 466s sandwiched in the middle of some formations as well.
I was planning on staying for another hour or so when I saw
442406 pull in on the Southern platforms. Now avid readers will know Im not in this for the bashing, just the spotting, but given the impending completion of the withdrawal of the 442s, and having never been on a unit which divides opinion around these here parts, I thought it rude not to go for my one and only spin aboard one. As I wandered towards the front and took my seat I also picked up a few further Southern requirements, taking London Bridges winners list to a very healthy number.
First stop (and my stop) was East Croydon (I got
455810 at New Cross, and
171401 on Selhurst depot along the way), where it was a quick PNB, before boarding
455806+807 for my next destination, London Victoria. Along the way I reflected upon the brief yet pleasant 442 journey, and began planning what remained of my time in the capital. Balham threw up
455812 as we went the opposite way to the masses and into the capital. Victoria arrived, and I made my way across to the Southeastern platforms to pick off the units that were avoiding London Bridge for the evening. A couple of excellent pretzels were devoured whilst I watched the
comings and goings, and I made use of the 7 or so minutes 465014 was in town to get a free wee in, instead of having to shell out 50p for the station facilities. If that isnt living up to the tight Northerner stereotype then I dont know what is! By 2000 I was getting restless, and decided that, after a long day, it was time to begin meandering back to Ilford.
First move in this regard was
377159+
318 to Clapham, where I arrived just in time to head over to platform 5 and catch
37219+255 either end of a NR test train bound for Woking as 1Q56. I also caught
59203 on 7V67 Purley to Acton, but nothing else of note before I clambered aboard
5742+5907 for the short blast to Waterloo. Surprisingly a sweep of the units at the London end was most productive as I walked towards the underground, with
444029, 450082 and
450555 all safely in the book, which was a bonus. I was briefly tempted by Marylebone again, but quickly dismissed this in favour of a nice sit down on the Jubilee line all the way to Stratford.
Once back at the station I seemed to have spent half the trip at, the initial plan was to head straight for the hotel, but having checked RTT there were a few nice looking freight workings due through and, with a late start tomorrow, I reasoned I might as well hang around. I got a
few more Great Anglia units ticked off in and around the freight, mainly 321s, as well as two more 315s, but eventually they dried up to leave me to observe the locos coming and going through 10/10a:
- 66619 6M97 Thurrock-Tunstead (I occasionally see this up near home if Im out very early doors on a Saturday!)
- 66105 6V31 Dagenham-Didcot
- 66182 4L56 Trafford Park-London Gatewa (Often seen at Deansgate of a lunchtime!)
- 66597 6Z75 Brentwood-Whitemoor
- 66769 5Z43 Tonbridge-Ilford (Dragging an Arlington Fleet mobile wheel lathe or some such)
- 66599 4M37 London Gateway-Garston
- 92033 6L48 Garston-Dagenham
With 92033s passing I boarded
315836 for Ilford, and the end of day 3!
London Mega Spot - Day 4 (17/2/17)
With no real plan in place it was a comparatively late start on the final day as I check out at about 0820, having to wait a couple of minutes whilst a guy tried to locate his brother-in-law whod failed to return following some drunken escapades the previous night. He eventually found him sleeping in the entrance to the post office depot opposite the hotel!
With Tfl Rail suspended for the weekend due to Crossrail works it was instead onto the 169 bus to Barking, and
357032 to West Ham. I hung around here for 30 minutes or so, scoring nothing, before rather randomly deciding I fancied sampling the offerings at East Croydon. Jubilee line to London Bridge again, with an even longer walk to the new concourse than yesterday, and after a peppermint tea and porridge I did a
sweep of the platforms before boarding
455804 for the run to Croydon, done via the new dive-under at Bermondsey, which was a minor source of excitement. A number of winners en-route;
378142 at New Cross Gate,
455833 at Brockley,
378146 at Forest Hill,
378145 at Penge West, and
171721/722/723 shunting around on Selhurst.
Once at East Croydon I settled in my usual spot at the London end of platforms 3/4 and observed the
comings and goings. There were a number of chaps taking pictures of the 700s, often rather precariously (and irresponsibly) balanced towards the edge of the platform as the new units arrived each time. I would say Im surprised, but if Ive learnt anything since starting my quest its that some enthusiasts are utter morons. After a good couple of hours it was sadly time to depart, and so
377125+401 were chosen for the non-stop run back to London Bridge. Northern line taken to Euston, I emerged with 35 minutes before
390033 was due to take me home. Swinging via Marks for a nice chicken salad, some delightful garlic and coriander naan crisp things, and a bag of chocolate peanuts I was still a good 25 minutes early. Still, I ambled down the ramp to platform 4 with not a staff member in sight, so boarded coach F and bagged a table of four on the right hand side, stuck on the latest Guardian football podcast and settled in. Indeed I actually had to check we hadnt accidentally departed overly early when we pulled away with only me and two others in the carriage, but it was bang on 1340, so off we went for a first stop of Crewe.
A few bits and pieces of interest as we made our way out of the capital, with a plethora of duds on Wembley joined by
92011 Handel. The naan crisp things had long gone by the time Milton Keyenes approached, but I had my wits about me long enough to grab
350114 heading the opposite way. Just two 350s to go! The WCML was pretty quiet, even for a Saturday, and save for a dud 70 I saw nothing until Crewe, where Basford Hall was filling nicely ahead of engineering duties on Sunday. Sadly none I saw were required, but I did get
66422 on Crewe carriage sidings. After that it was all about ensuring we made it to Piccadilly on time, as technically I only had 2 minutes to get across to platform 1 for my 142 home. Thankfully we ended up 2 early, allowing plenty of time for me to clamber wearily aboard
142065 and back to New Mills Central.
All in all, a stupendous few days. 847 new sightings, Heathrow Connect cleared, along with the 91s and 360s. A good mix of locations allowed a good number of ToCs to take a battering, and the freight winners were also surprisingly plentiful. It leaves the London ToCs looking thus:
Abellio Greater Anglia - 148/247 - 60% (Not had a single DMU winner yet!)
c2c - 61/80 - 76%
Chiltern Railways - 55/81 - 68%
Gatwick Express (GTR) - 33/40 - 83%
Great Northern (GTR) - 128/138 - 93%
Great Western Railway - 180/294 - 61% (Got little of the Devon stuff)
Heathrow Connect - 5/5 - 100%
Heathrow Express - 13/14 - 93% (Damn you 332014!)
London Midland - 166/175 - 95%
London Overground - 68/96 - 71%
South West Trains - 283/400 - 71%
Southeastern Trains - 223/367 - 61%
Southern (GTR) - 227/293 - 77% (Got none of the 313s yet)
TfL Rail - 35/44 - 80%
Thameslink (GTR) - 93/127 - 73%
I do wish Id got more GWR stuff, and spent some time at Bethnal Green for the 317s and 379s, but that can be done another time. Indeed I do hope to return in May/June for more action in the big smoke.
As a minor addition to the above Ive since snaffled
158826 at Piccadilly, as well as
66601 on 6H51 Hardendale-Tunstead today whilst out on my run. I now need 36 Freightliner locos, and 19 ATW units.
Next few months will see trips limited as wedding preparation ramps up. Ive a day off next Friday, so I might head out early doors down to Birmingham to see if I can get the last few LM and XC units in the bag, but Im mindful I need to be back for 1700ish to go to the wedding venue (for reasons I cannot currently recall!). The other option is Leeds, but given both 155346 and 156479 are currently holidaying north of the border I might wait and get the last few units in one go.
Hopefully this will be offset by me catching some of the remaining LM requirements in and around New Street, but that's going to be a long shot. Might just have to fire up Spotify and catch up on some sleep!
hock:
